USA > Ohio > Union County > The History of Union County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, towns military record; > Part 33
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The permanent line between the counties of Union and Logan was sur- veyed in 1876, the surveyors making their report to the Commissioners, March 8, 1877. They were F. J. Sager, of Union, and W. H. McCormick. of Logan, and their report is filed in Vol. XVI, Law Record, Union County Clerk's office, pp. 1-9, with opinion of attorney in the case. The total length of the line as run was 102,130 feet, or about 194 miles. Stone monuments were planted at all important points.
When the line between Union and Delaware Counties was run, in 1SS1, it was found that the official survey of 1828 was far from being on a straight line, as called for by the act creating the county, and, by order of the Commis- sioners of the two counties jointly. it was established on a slightly different course, being straightened somewhat. The "15-mile line" (south from the Greenville treaty line) is straight from the northwest corner of Delaware Coun- ty to a point in the south side of the lands of William Peet, recognized as the county line: thence straight to the point recognized as the county line at the Delaware and Bellefontaine road on the south side of Boke's Creek: thence straight to the south end of said 15 mile line. The 4-mile line was run straight as nearly as possible to the old line, and the 7-mile line the same. The var- iation in the old 15-mile line was probably attributable to local influences upon the magnetic needle in the survey of 1828. The first angle in this line is 910 rods south of the place of beginning, the point being 194.80 feet west of a straight line which would connect the two ends of said 15-mile line, the bearing being S. 0' 30' W .; thence S. 1º 2' E. to the south end of said line; thence N. 89' 28' E. to the east end of the 4-mile line; thence S. 1º 22' E. to the south end of the 7 mile line. Sandstone monuments three feet with six inch dressed faces were set at prominent points on the line.
The survey of the line between Union County and the counties of Marion and Hardin was made by F. J. Sager, of Union, W. H. Brown, of Hardin, and
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
Isaac Yonng, of Marion, beginning May 26, 1879. They could find no re- corded evidence that the north line of Union County had ever been run, but found some evidence in the field. The point on the Greenville treaty line at the east boundary of the county designated as three miles west of the Scioto River, is actually three miles and sixteen rods. The line thence north to the northeast corner of the county was well marked, yet there was no trace of said corner ever having been marked, nor could any evidence be found to show where it was. The north boundary was found by examination to have been nowhere near straight as formerly surveyed, varying in places from a due east and west line as much as twenty rods. The surveyors established the north- east corner of Union County and marked it with a stone monument, planting similar monuments at other prominent points along the line. The distance from the Greenville treaty line north to the county corner is three miles and three and forty-eight hundredths rods long. The northern boundary was run, per order, from the established northeast corner to a point twenty-five feet north of the floor of the bridge across Kush Creek on the Marysville & Ken- ton State road, in a direct course, continuing in the same course to the north- west corner of the county, which was established and a stone monument set 117 rods south of the northeast corner of Logan County. Total length of north boundary, 4,589.06 rods. The west boundary of Union County has not yet been permanently fixed, although probably very little change would be made in it should the Commissioners order a new survey to be made.
SUBDIVISION OF THE COUNTY INTO TOWNSHIPS.
May 10, 1803, at a meeting of the Associate Judges of the Common Pleas Court of Franklin County, then newly formed and including a portion of what is now Union County, it was "Ordered, That the lands contained within the following boundaries, to-wit: Beginning on the west bank of the Scioto River, one mile, on a direct line, above the mouth of Roaring Run; from thence, in a direct line, to the junction of Treacle's Creek with Darby Creek, which is frequently called the Forks of Darby; thence south unto the line be- tween the counties of Ross and Franklin; thence west with said line until it intersects the county line of Greene; thence with the last-mentioned line north, and from the point of beginning up the Scioto, to the northern boundary of Franklin County, do make and constitute the second township in said county, and be called Darby Township.
"Ordered, That in Darby Township there be elected one Justice of the Peace, and that the electors of said township hold their election for that pur- pose at the house of David Mitchell, in said township, on the 21st day of June next. "
Joshua Ewing was elected to the office at the date specified. Franklin Township was formed at the same time with Darby, and included "all that part of Franklin County contained within the following limits, to wit: Be- ginning at the forks of Darby Creek, that is, at the junction of what is called Treacle's Creek with Darby; running thence south to the line between the counties of Ross and Franklin; thence east with said line until it intersects the Scioto River; thence up the same until it comes to a point one mile on a straight line, above the mouth of Roaring Run, and from thence to the point of beginning." An election for two Justices of the Peace was ordered to be held at Franklinton, the temporary seat of justice of Franklin County, and Zach- ariah Stephen and James Marshall were chosen to fill the offices. The point designated as " one mile on a direct line, above the mouth of Roaring Run," was a little south of the present town of Dublin, Franklin County, the stream being now known as Hayden's Run. The spot is referred to in Mar-
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
tin's History of Franklin County, 1858, page 19. It is seen from the description that Franklin Township included a strip off the south end of the territory now included in Union County, while Darby Township lay to the north and west.
When Union County was organized, in 1820, its three subdivisions were the townships of Union, Darby and Mill Creek. At a meeting of the Board of Commissioners of Union County. on the 12th day of March. 1821, it was "Agreed, That the county of Union be divided into townships as follows: Be- ginning at the southwest corner of Union County, running east five and one- half miles; thence north six miles; thence west three miles; thence north to the north boundary of Union County; all west to be Union Township. Sec- ond township: Beginning at the southeast corner of Union Township, running five and one-half miles east; thence north six miles; thence west to the north- east 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: Begin- ning 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 Aprile at the house of Abriham Emrine [Abraham Amrine], for the purpose of electing township officers. Likewise, that notice shall be given to the electors of the township of Gerome to meet on the first Monday of Aprile at the house of Aaron Tawsey, for the purpose of electing township officers."
On the first Monday in June, 1822, the Union County Commissioners or- ganized 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 Milligan's.
Jackson Township was formed March 3, 1829, from the north end of Lees- burg
March 4, 1833, an order was issued for the formation of Claibourne Town- ship, from the south part of Jackson; but for some reason the organization 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 Lib- erty, 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 of March, 1839, for the organization of Dover Township. and the election of 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.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
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 town- ship, and gave it the name of Taylor. This was the last one organized 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 140 of Vol. XVIII, Laws of Ohio:
Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That Stephen Bell, of the coun- ty of Greene, Reuben Wallace, of the county of Clark, and John Huston, of Newark, in 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 Marysville 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 $1.50 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 Sulli- vant. in 1797, as mentioned elsewhere. The others, in their regular order, are as follows, as shown by the records in the office of the County Recorder:
Milford-George Reed, proprietor; acknowledged before Thomas Mc- Donald, J. P., April 8, 1816; 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 Chan- cery held in Franklin County and State aforesaid. The above town is com- posed of streets, alleys, and forty lots named and numbered as follows," etc.
Marysville, the county seat, fully described elsewhere, was laid out Au- gust 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. 6307, 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, hack- berry, or hoop ash, mulberry, wild cherry, black walnut, white walnut, 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, burn- ing bush, grape vine, bladder bush, bramble; the herbage was mostly maiden hair, pea vine, yellow root, ginseng, Indian madder, etc.
Kingsville, in Liberty Township; surveyed for Samuel King, proprietor,
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
September 26, 1834. by Levi Phelps: thirteen lots ou State road loading from Carter's settlement to Garwood's Mills.
Summersville, York Township: surveyed for John Johnson and others by Lovi Phelps: original plat contained forty-eight lots: recorded August 11. 1835.
Watkins, Mill Creek Township: laid out by William Conklon and Thomas P. Watkins (the latter represented by his attorney. Joseph S. Watkins), on Dandridge's Survey. No. 1.307. on " road to Seioto River." July 12. 1838; lots numbered from one to twenty-eight.
Arbela. Washington Township: forty-five lots and a public square, by Marquis L. Osborne, July 25. 1838: this town is not now in existence.
Newton. Liberty Township: surveyed for the proprietor. David Paul. by Levi Phelps. August 25, 1838: twenty-five lots; plat resurveyed for Nathaniel and Melissa Raymond, twenty. three lots, February 1. 1839.
Hainesville, Washington Township: twenty-one lots and a public square. near present site of Byhalia: laid out by Jonathan Haines. September 4. 1838.
York Conter. York Township: nineteen lots, surveyed by Levi Phelps. June 14. IS41 : name of proprietor not given in description of plat : new survey made for Gregory Stormes. October 31. 1860
Frankfort. Jerome Township: original town, consisting of forty lots, laid ont by George Hensel. Amos Beach, Henry Beach and William H. Case: sur- veyed by William B. Irwin. April 1. 1846; place formerly known as " Beach Town.
Unionville. Darby Township: fifteen lots; total area of plat. 72 acres; laid ont by John. Frederick and David Sager, and surveyed by William B. Irwin, February S. 1847.
Pharisburg. Leesburg Township: Allon Pharis, proprietor, as administrator of estate of Robert Pharis, deceased: 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;" surveyed by William B. Irwin. July 21. 1847.
. New California. Jerome Township: twenty-seven lots: name of proprietor not given on plat: surveyed August 27. 1853, by William B. Irwin.
Dover. Dover Township: surveyed by William B. Irwin: William Richey Adam Richey, Thomas Aplin and B. F. Bonton, proprietors, May 11, 1854.
Additions to Plain City, Jerome Township. made by Edward W. Barlow. April 23. 1859. and Charles Amann. July 26. 1875. Main town in Madison County.
Union Center. Taylor Township: laid out November 9, and December 17 and IS. 1863. on a part of survey 829, by H. P. Goff, Hiram Danforth, Ira A. Robbins and Charles J. Sayer: included 19,26 Viss acres a short distance east of present site of Broadway; now out of existence.
Broadway, Taylor Township: laid out August 15 and 16, 1865, by Z. C. Pooler and Leonard Richey, and surveyed by A. S. Mowry, who gave the town its name.
Pottersburg. Allen Township: twenty-four lots laid out May IS, 1869, by David A. Williams and George F. Bennett.
Peoria. Liberty Township; twenty-eight lots; platted by Joseph K. Rich- ey. June 20. 1870.
Magnetic Springs, Leesburg Township: fifty in-lots and blocks A. B. C. D and E: laid out November 24 and 25. 1879. on Survey 8,696, by Duncan McLean and J. E. Newhouse: locality usually known as Green Bend.
Claibourne. Claibourne Township: thirty-nine lots on Survey 6.107; laid ont by William Jolliff. Jr., March 14. ISSI.
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3RP UNION COUNTY COURT HOUSE, BUILT AT MARYSVILLE, A.D. 1838 & TORN DOWN FEBY. 1883.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
Homer, in Union Township, and Essex, in Jackson Township, are two villages of which we have not the dates of platting. 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. Lawrence, 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 is among the places now on the list of those that have seen better days.
COURT HOUSES.
Union County could not boast of a court house until subsequent to 1822, and the first building of the kind erected was a frame structure which stood on the south side of East Center street, on the east side of the alley between Center and East streets .* This was in use a number of years.
March 5, 1834, James Herd. William B. Irwin and David Galland, Com- missioners, ordered " that a notice be put up by the Auditor that a proposal will be received at their session in June next for making and laying into the walls of a court house from one hundred to one hundred and fifty thousand bricks, to be completed by the 1st day of August, 1835; the bricks to be 9 inches long, 4} inches wide, and 24 inches thick after being burnt; the bricks are to be of the first quality, and computed in the walls, the doors and win- dows to be reckoned in the count; the walls to be two lengths of a brick thick, all but the gable end and partition." June 6, 1834, the Commissioners agreed to levy 2} mills tax per dollar on the grand levy, for the purpose of building a court house, 33 mills for county expenses, and 2 mills for road purposes. On the 30th of the same month, they examined bids for brick, and awarded the contract for building the walls of the court house to Harvey Ward, his proposals being the lowest and best. December 12, 1834, the Commissioners met to form a definite plan for a court house, and Levi Phelps was ordered to procure a draft, also the advice of competent judges, as to the best manner of laying off the court house-" whether the court room shall be formed on the first or second floor, and also for placing the jury rooms; also the height of each story."
December 27, 1834, the Commissioners met to make arrangements for covering and inclosing the " contemplated court house in the town of Marys- ville;" employed Nathan Adamson to furnish a draft, description and schedule of necessary timbers to be used, and ordered the posting of notices for pro- posals for furnishing said timbers and materials, and "doing the carpenter work for inclosing said court house." Proposals were to be opened January 22, 1835. Another meeting was held on the appointed day, but the record does not show who was the successful bidder. Harvey Ward was on that day allowed $100 in part pay for stone work for the foundation of the building to enable him to pay for hauling said stone. A very lengthy description of the building, from the plans drawn, is given in the Commissioners' record for March 3, 1835, and it must have required nearly as long a time to "compile " it as it did to erect the court house. June 6, 1835, the Commissioners appointed William Page " Superintendent over the performance of labor in building the walls of the court [house ] in the town of Marysville." On the same date, they agreed that the Auditor might " enter into an agreement with Henry Kezartee for his purchase of 20 feet in front and 5 poles back of Lot No. 50, the lot on which the present court house stands."
* This building was two stories high, about 20x40 feet on the ground, and was not of much account. It was used for various purposes after it was s Id by the County Commissioners.
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
October 8, 1835, the Commissioners settled with Harvey Ward for brick work in the court house, and found that 194,348 bricks had been used in the construction of the walls. The total amount paid Ward was $1.085.41. March 8, 1836, it was agreed that the stairs, doors, floors, window casings and paint- ing should be completed, and proposals for the same were advertised for, to be opened on the 2Sth of the same month. On the day appointed, Silas G. Strong was awarded the contract for laying the floor and filling in ashes on the same as high as the second tier of joists. Adam Wolford received the contract for building the stairs, casing the windows, making the doors, etc., and Benjamin Hopkins was awarded the painting contract. The job of painting was accepted as satisfactory on the 9th of July following. A good story is related of this part of the work, by Capt. H. C. Hamilton, of Richwood, who was then a boy, carrying the mail between Richwood and Marysville. It was said that the paint was mixed up with buttermilk, and left standing in a tub outside the building; and that the hogs got at it one night and ate it all up, much to the chagrin of the painter. Material for making paint was so costly at the time, that the contractor undoubtedly considered he could make more out of the job by using buttermilk. It caused a smile to spread over the faces of the inhabit- ants.
January 26. 1837. the Commissioners met for the special purpose of sell- ing the old court house, and also for selling the work of finishing the interior of the new one. The old building was sold on that day to M. Bentley and Noah Garret, for $151.50, for which sum they gave their joint note, payable nine months after date. These parties were also to have the use of the ground on which the old court house stood, together with a space of twenty feet front, running back as far as the court house, for five years. The sale of the work for finishing the interior was postponed to the 6th of February, 1837, when Adam Wolford contracted for work amounting to $110, Enos Wood, $130. and James M. Wilkinson, $600. Wolford's work was settled for October 14, 1837. William M. Page and David Sprague plastered the building in the fall of 1837, and were partially settled with on the 13th of November, when the sum of $309.86 was paid them. At the same time, Levi Churchill was paid $47.56 on his contract for laving brick floors in the building, and James M. Wilkinson $150 for inside work. Harrison Frank made a case and some tables for the Recorder's office, and Calvin Winget made cases for the Auditor's and Clerk's offices. Bills were allowed March 5, 1838, as follows: To William H. Frank, furniture for offices, $34; to Calvin Winget, book and paper cases for Clerk, Auditor and Commissioners, $67.50; appropriated for pitcher, broom and crock for stove in Auditor's office, per C. Lee, 6S cents. March 6, Stephen McLain was allowed $40 for two stoves, and on the 12th of June, 1838, final settlement was made with James M. Wilkinson for work on the cupola, etc.
The court house, when completed, was the most imposing building in the county, and the citizens were proud of it. June 4, 1840, the Commissioners directed William B. Irwin to procure a bell for the court house, and see that it was properly hung. The bell cost $$5, and the expense of transportation, hanging, etc., was $19.26; settlement was made with Mr. Irwin December 8, 1840. December 8, 1846, the Commissioners ordered that a chain be attached to the posts along the sidewalks in front of the building. In the public offices, wooden floors were substituted for the brick ones, as the latter were cold and the cause of much discomfort in the winter season. The structure was never a first-class affair, and its days of actual usefulness were numbered long before it was abandoned.
July 16,- 1880, the Board of County Commissioners, having contracted for
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HISTORY OF UNION COUNTY.
certain lands for a court house site, executed bonds of the county in the sun of $4,500, payable in four and five years, to Mrs. Drusilla Cassil, who executed and delivered to the board a warranty deed for said lands, described as all of In-lot No, 67, and two-fifths of the south half, east side of Out-lot No. 3, situated in the village of Marysville. At the same date, the Commissioners issued bonds in the sum of $3,000 to, and received a warranty deed from, the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church of Marysville, for two-thirds of the south part of In-lot No. 66, in Marysville, being the ground on which the society's parsonage stood. The buildings on the land purchased were sold by the Commissioners at public auction, for the sum of $683.10, the parsonage alone bringing $612. August 3, 1880, Commissioner J. B. Whelpley was authorized by the board to contract for 600,000 bricks for the new court house. David W. Gibbs, a Toledo architect, had been authorized, on the 16th of July, to prepare plans for the proposed building, and they were unanimously ap- proved August 14, 1880, upon the following resolution by Mr. Whelpley: "Resolved, That the plans, drawings, representations, bills of material, etc., made and presented by David W. Gibbs, architect, for the purpose of being used in the erection of and completion of a court house in the county of Union, and State of Ohio, be and the same are hereby approved." September 22, 1880, the Commissioners awarded the contract for erecting and completing the court house to Karst & Woodruff, for the sum of $84,350. A somewhat lower bid from a Toledo firm was rejected on the ground of general incom- petency. The Legislature, by an act passed April 1, 1880, anthorized the Board of Commissioners for Union County to issue bonds to build said court house, and they were subsequently issued to the amount of $65,000; they were sold for $66,275. A second act was passed in the winter following, authorizing the issue of additional bonds in the sum of $25,000, and the Com- missioners carried out its provisions. The work was begun and pushed rapidly forward, and a magnificent. imposing structure now stands in the center of the space (north and south) designed for it, fronting to the east, with entrances also at the north and south. It is of brick, with cut stone and galvanized iron trimmings, and is one of the finest edifices for county purposes in the State. Surmounting the well-proportioned tower is a colossal figure of Justice, and in the tower is a fine clock and bell, the latter weighing 2,500 pounds; the cost of the clock, which was set in place in November, 1882, was $2,500. The building is heated entirely by steam, the apparatus having been purchased of Brooks & Kemper, of Dayton, Ohio, for $4,300. The dials of the clock are illuminated, and the interior of the building is very finely and tastefully frescoed. The entire cost of the structure, in round numbers, has been about $135,000. The county officers took up their quarters in it in December, 1882, but the court room was not quite ready for the sitting of the court in Jan- mary, 1883, and the old building was necessarily used. The new court house is a model for beauty, elegance and convenience, and will be the pride of the citizens of the county for many years.
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