The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 74

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081

USA > Ohio > Warren County > The History of Warren County, Ohio > Part 74

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and great physical strength. He was a soldier of the war of 1812. He brought his son Conrad with him.

Jesse and Hannah Stump emigrated from Virginia to Massie Township in 1817, and remained until 1858, when they moved to Indiana, where both died. They had six children, five of whom survive.

CHURCHES.

The Society of Friends' Grove Meeting House, situated on an eight-acre lot about one and one-half miles south of Harveysburg, was the first church. built. The deed of the ground, dated January 26, 1820, shows that David Macy, William Gray and Levi Lukens, as trustees of Grove Meeting, bought the lot of Richard Moon. The first house built was of hewn logs, used for many years as both church and school house. Among the first teachers of the school taught here were Archilles Dicks, John Brevett, John Gilpin, Hannah Brown (nee Lukens), Charles Mills, Noah Wheeler, David Wickersham, Enoch Harlan, Robert T. D. Lewis, Benjamin Dyer, Elizabeth Welch, Mary Wales and others. In 1820 there was a division in the society and both branches moved to Harveysburg.

The United Brethren Church was organized in 1823 by Daniel Bonebreak and Alfred Carder, and in 1839 the present brick church was built in place of the log one that formerly occupied the ground. Abigail Ham and her husband and Ephraim Mills were among the first to join the church after its organization.

About - the year 1820, near where the road from Waynesville to Wilmington crosses the Clinton County line, a log church was built in the interest of the Seceders, with the assistance of other denominations and those not belonging to any society. As it was free to all, it was known as the Public Meeting House. It also was used as a schoolhouse. In the ground surrounding it many bodies were buried, most of them having since been moved to other grounds; but many remain there, andthe ground is now held by the township for burial purposes.

Beech Grove Freewill Baptist Church is located on the Harveysburg and Freeport Turnpike, in Massie Township. The society was organized by Elder John Hisey in the year 1849, and now numbers about fifty members. About the year 1851 a churchi was built on a lot donated by Wesley Warwick. Previous to this time the members worshipped in the schoolhouse and in private dwellings. In 1863, the society having largely increased, a more substantial and commodious building was erected on the same site, the old church having been removed. The original membership has now almost disappeared, many having left the neighbor- hood, and others died. Previous to the organization of Massie Township this church was known as the "Second Church in Wayne," but it was afterwards changed to its present name. Elder John Hisey was pastor until 1879, when Edward Pemlott, a young minister, was chosen, and after retaining the charge eighteen months, left for Michigan in August 1881, since which time the church has been without a pastor.

The first schoolhouse in what is now Massie Township, was built in 1817, on . the land of Isaac Wales, about one and one-half miles north of Harveysburg. It was a rough log house covered with clapboards, held down by weight poles, with a puncheon floor, stick chimney, and no door. An opening in the logs, covered with greased paper, admitted a little light, and served as a window. The first teacher of the school was Judith Butterworth (nee Welch), who is now living in Laporte, Ind., in the eighty-second year of her age. The school was next taught by Robert Way, of Pennsylvania, and afterwards by Jeremiah Reynolds, Isaac Thornbury and others. It was a prosperous school from the first, and soon became so popular that scholars came many miles to attend it. The school was so large, and the house was so small, that in pleasant weather the scholars were obliged to study in

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the surrounding woods and only repaired to the house when necessary to recite their lessons.

Other private and public subscription schools were soon opened throughout the township, and continued to be taught until our present school system was fully in operation.

INDUSTRIES.

The industries of Massie Township are only such as are usually found in dis- tricts where the water power and shipping facilities are inadequate for manufacturing enterprises. The first blacksmith shop was started in 1815 by Isaac Wales, on the west bank of Cæsars Creek, opposite the site upon which Harveys- burg has since been built. A few years later one was started about a mile north- east of Mr. Wales, by James B. Edwards, with whom several persons learned the trade, and carried on the business in Harveysburg after the town was laid out. Some of these are still living in and near the town. Among them were William Ham, Larkin Edwards, Darvin Harris and William Smith.

In 1820 Samuel G. Welch, a son of Samuel Welch, Sr., started a tin shop on his father's farm, west of Harveysburg, where he continued the business for many years and then moved to Harveysburg, where he and his son W. W. Welch, are now engaged in the same business. With few intermissions Mr. Welch has fol- lowed the occupation of tinner for sixty-one years, probably the longest period of service of any business man in the township.

The first sawmill was built by Levi Lukens, on Cæsars Creek, in 1815, near where he, in 1823, built a gristmill, which has since been twice destroyed by fire, and rebuilt by Abram Herr. It was run successfully until within the last few years.

The first gristinill was built some time before the above by Hugh Tate and brothers. It was built on Jonah's Run, and consisted of one run of stone, the bolting being done by hand. The gristmill that now stands on Caesar's Creek, near Harveysburg, was built in 1889 by Amos and Samuel G. Welch and Thomas M. Wales. It has been run constantly since its erection, and is now the only one in operation in the township. It is forty feet square and three stories high, and works three runs of stone. Since its original owners, it has been successively owned by Isaiah Fallis, John and Thomas Fallis, George Wikle, William Harlan, William Starry, George Ross, Alfred Edwards, and the present proprietor, T. E. Lawrence.

The first bridge on Cæsar's Creek was built in 1846 at the present crossing of the Waynesville and Wilmington turnpike. It was built by the county aided by private subscriptions. It was covered, weather-boarded and painted by the county in 1848. On the 7th of January, 1850, it was washed away, and in the same year was replaced by a substantial 120-foot span, arch bridge, which was burned by in- cendiaries on the 9th of February, 1876. The county then built in its stead the present handsome and substantial iron structure.

The Waynesville and Wilmington Turnpike road was built in 1851-2, under a charter granted by the Legislature in 1889. The incorporators of the company were Webster G. Welch, Turner Welch, John Lukens, Joseph B. Chapman, Wm. . Harvey, John M. Hadden, David Evans and Benjamin Satterthwait, of Warren County, and Thomas Hibbin, John B. Pasey, John C. Work, Nathan Linton, Robert Finley, James Dakin, Jonathan Collett, Joseph Doan, Archibald Haynes and Abraham Brook, of Clinton County. The entire length of the road is fifteen miles. It was originally a toll road under the management of the company, but within the present year (1881) it was bought by the county and made a free pike. There are now no toll roads in the township.

HARVEYSBURG.

This is the township seat and principal village of the township. It is situated on the east bank of Cæsar's Creek, at an elevation of over 100 feet above the level of

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the stream. The land on which it now stands was entered by Colonel Abraham Buford, August 6, 1787. It was afterward owned by Rhoden Ham, who located on it in March, 1815. William Harvey, after whom the town was named, became the proprietor in 1827. He platted and laid out the town in 1828, and recorded the plat on the 3d of January, 1829. According to this plat, the town lay along the State road and contained forty-seven lots, numbered consecutively from number one to forty-seven. There were twenty-five lots six poles wide by twelve poles long, seventeen lots six poles by six poles, two lots five and four-tenths by six poles, one lot three by ten poles, two large, irregular-shaped lots, and a church lot. The State road formed the principal street, and the road to Middletown the principal cross-street. There were also South Street, one cross street not named, and three cross alleys.

The town is in a healthy location, and is surrounded by fertile and productive farm lands. It is noted for the philanthropy, enterprise and morality of its inhabit- ants. For many years pork packing was carried on extensively within its limits, as was also the traffic in wool and grain.

In the early history of the town, Dr. Jesse Harvey erected a carding mill on the bank of the creek, where he carried on the business of carding for many years. He disposed of his business to Joseph Cobner, who moved the mill into the town.

Jesse Paskill was the first wagon-maker of the town. He was succeeded in his business by Aaron Benham, Benjamin Carmon, J. G. Stevenson, and J. H. Lippencott, who still follows the business. David Macy was an early settler; he was a harness and collar maker. His son, William Macy, is a shoemaker.

William Ham, a son of the original proprietor of the land on which the town was built, was the first blacksmith. He, with Larkin Edwards, carried on the business for many years. Darvin Harris was also an early blacksmith.

Soon after the town was laid out, Joseph H. Burgess started a tannery, which . he conducted for many years in connection with boot and shoemaking. William Harvey opened the first store. He was succeeded by John and Jesse Hare, Simon D. Harvey, David Harvey, A. L. Antram, Robert Lafetra, Reuben Thompson, Allison Hill, William & Isaac Coffee, and Joseph Wertimer.

The cooper business was carried on first by Jones Sons, who were followed by Mahlon Cadwallader and his sons William, John and Achilles, the latter, at times, employing ten and twelve journeymen.

The first schools of the town were taught by Richard Clegg, George Baily, Dr. Jesse Harvey, Simon D. Harvey, Charles Mills, and others. The present schoolhouse was built for a seminary by a stock company. Among its first teach- ers were Dr. David Burson, Wilson Hobbs, Israel Taylor, Oliver Nixon, and Wm. P. Nixon. The building was afterwards purchased by the Board of Education, since which time the district school has been taught in it. There are now 150 scholars, presided over by a principal and two assistants. About 1831, Elizabeth Harvey opened a free school for the colored people. This is said to have been the first school for this race in Ohio. From the opening of this school to the present, the colored people of Harveysburg have had no lack of educational advantages. They now have a district school set apart for them, with two teachers.

Harveysburg now contains six churches-two Friends (one of each branch), one Methodist, one United Brethren, and two colored (Methodist and Baptist); two Masonic Lodges, (one white, which received its charter in 1839, and one col- ored); three drygoods stores, three groceries, one bakery, two drug stores, and three physicians. The town has recently had telephone connections established with Corwin, Waynesville and Lebanon.

For thirty-five years there has not been a saloon or public tippling-house in the village, and the sentiment of the people is such that there is not likely to be one opened there soon.

In 1870 the village purchased a fire engine, and built a large and commodious engine house, thirty by fifty feet, with firemen's hall in the second story.

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In the early history of the town, John Scroggy built a saw mill on the creek at the foot of the hill; its place was supplied by a steam saw mill, built by George Carver on the lot now owned by Mary Edwards, but afterward was removed to the east end of town by Thomas Wilson, who attached a planing mill to it, and oper- ated it successfully until his death, which was caused by an accident in the mill.

The post office was established in Harveysburg in 1839, with Robert Lafetra as first postmaster. He has been succeeded by Budd Scroggy, Mrs. Fannie Taylor, George Scroggy, Gus. Lloyd, Hiram Madden, and Miss Eliza Nedry, the present incumbent.

William Harvey, one of the founders of the village, was for many years its most prominent business man, being largely engaged in the pork business. He afterward moved to Parke County, Indiana, where he remained for a few years, when he returned to Harveysburg, and there died in December, 1866. His widow, Mary Harvey, lives with her daughter in Harveysburg.

Simon D. Harvey, a brother and partner of the above, sold his interest in the village and removed to a farm in Clinton County, but after a few years' residence there, returned to the vicinity of Harveysburg. He was of a religious tempera- ment, and frequently accompanied ministers in their visits to the different sec- tions of the country. In 1841 he traveled with David and Druzella Knowles through Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and the Cherokee Indian Reserva- tion, after which he accompanied them to their home in Canada. In 1856 he and his wife became missionaries to the Shawnee Indians in Kansas, where they re- mained two years. They some time afterward spent two years more in the same service. William and Simon D. Harvey were sons of Isaac Harvey, who spent the latter part of his life in Harveysburg. A full account of him is given in Henry Harvey's " History of the Shawnee Indians."

DR. JESSE HARVEY.

The following sketch of the life of this philanthropist and scholar was pre- pared by his grandson, Jesse H. Blair:

Dr. Jesse Harvey was born on the 26th of November, 1801, in Orange County, North Carolina. His parents were Caleb and Sarah Harvey. When he was six years old his parents settled at Todd's Fork, then an entirely new country. Good schools, at that time, were few, and he had little time for attending such as there were. Being the eldest child, much of his time was taken in helping his father, who could ill afford to spare his services. He did not attend any school after the age of thirteen years, but books were his constant companions in his leisure hours. His thirst for knowledge and natural inclinations led him to the study of medicine. Although his first efforts in this direction were met by the opposition of a religious prejudice, the fear that the study of science tended to infidelity being then preva- lent. Yet he saw an opening for great good in this profession, and between work- ing hours studied from such books as he could buy or borrow. At the age of 22 years he became a student of Dr. Uriah Farquer, of Wilmington, O. A distance of six miles made it very inconvenient for him to have such intercourse with his pre- ceptor as was desirable, so he was in the habit of going once a week to be ques- tioned on what he had read. He entered the Medical College of Ohio, and at- tended the session of 1826-7, and, obtaining a license to practice, settled in Har- veysburg in 1830, and soon became busy in his profession. Besides the study of medicine he had done a great deal of general reading. He was well posted on law, and was often consulted by his friends and neighbors on legal points. He also kept abreast of scientific knowledge. His studious habits led him to be interested in the cause of education. In order to give his own children and young folks in general advantages for study, he in 1887-8 established the Harveysburg High School. He erected a commodious house, and was at considerable expense to furnish com-

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petent teachers and suitable apparatus, going to the East to secure the best astronom- ical and chemical instruments. He delivered lectures twice a week, to the public, on history, languages and the natural sciences. He sustained the school for eight or nine years, notwithstanding high prices, the panic, and the fanatical sentiments of many of his patrons. He always had a desire to teach the Indians, and spent considerable time with the Shawnee Nation at Wapakonetta. About a year after the school closed, in 1847, he was appointed by the Society of Friends as Superin- tendent of the Friends' school and farm among the Shawnee Indians in the Kansas Territory. Arriving there with his family in July of the same year, he worked faithfully for about seven months, when his already weak constitution gave away, and, after an illness of three months, he died on the afternoon of the 12th of May, 1848. A hard student, a practical Christian, and a man who believed that, while humble himself, there were many who needed his assistance.

In a history of Harveysburg High School, written by Dr. Harvey himself, he says: "The Principal had for some years believed that a permanent school establishment should be instituted in every town and village throughout the land, and had much wished to have one somewhere near so that he might have an op- portunity of associating with good teachers and thus, perhaps, improve himself, and particularly his children." He gave much attention to different methods of establishing and conducting schools, and concluded to make it a personal effort. "After a pretty severe struggle" he had erected and furnished, in 1887-8, a com- modious building. The school opened with about eighty scholars, Wilmington, Lebanon, Waynesville, Dayton, Cincinnati and vicinities sending their share. The Doctor delivered public lectures twice a week on astronomy, geology and other natural sciences. He employed two competent teachers, " not doubting but that he would be sustained by every friend of education." The great expenses of this be- ginning, especially as Dr. Harvey wanted the most improved school furniture and apparatus, and the panic and hard times soon following, involved him in debt. In two years he found himself so out of pocket that he was unable to proceed. He then determined to reorganize the school, and a company of sixteen members, in- cluding himself, procured an act of incorporation. In this character the school proceeded several years, reducing expenses as much as possible. Still losses were sustained, and finally, after eight or nine years existence, arrangements were made with the teachers to receive as recompense such amounts as were paid in by the pupils. Together with the causes before mentioned, political feelings among the patrons caused the enterprise to fail, the patrons being divided regarding abolition, and, making the school their battle-ground of course weakened it. To illustrate the strength of such partisan feeling, and its rapid growth, the following incident may well serve:

In 1840, during the Harrison Presidential campaign, Aaron Vestal and some other parties, were returning from a political rally at Waynesville in a wagon, the bed of which was canoe-shaped, and in accord with the campaign song, " A Nice Log Cabin and a Bar'l of Hard Cider." had a miniature representative of each of these articles, one on each end. This wagon stopped at the crossing of the main streets of Harveysburg. After listening to a speech from Isaiah Morris, then candidate for Congress, the crowd called, "Harvey!" " Harvey!" Not being a political speaker, Dr. Harvey asked Mr. Morris to say a few words favoring the abolition of slavery and the elevation of the colored race. Soon as the crowd gath- ered the drift of the speaker's words, they cried " Down!" and would not listen to anything regarding the freedom of the negro. Four years afterward the same people were so far changed in their views that, because Dr. Harvey in his school provided (and maintained at his own expense, even after the company was formed) a separate department for the colored children, they termed him a " pro-slavery" man, and demanded that such a distinction should not be made, and that the two classes of pupils should be taught in the same room. The feeling was so strong

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that the Doctor finally acceded and then found that some of the loudest complain- ants withdrew their children to prevent such intimate association.

In relating the above there is no desire to revive prejudices. It simply shows how, impelled by political passion, we are apt to drive one good thing until it overruns another.

However, aside from financial failure, the school succeeded, and Dr. Harvey had his desire realized to a great extent. He found help in his studies, indulged his inclinations to help others, and many remain to-day to testify to the good done during the short time the school existed. In the neighborhoods from which came students, and scattered throughout the States, are good, substantial citizens who remember with pleasure and gratitude the lessons and associations of the school.

SALEM TOWNSHIP.

BY J. L. MOUNTS, M. D.

This township was formed from the township of Hamilton, on the 24th of Jung, 1818, and its boundaries fixed as follows: " That part lying east of a line drawn south from the mouth of Todd's Fork to the south boundary line of Warren County, shall be erected into a new and separate township-beginning at Robert Whitacre's corner on the Little Miami River, at the mouth of Todd's Fork, thence south to the south boundary line of Warren County, thence east with the county line to the southeast corner of the county, thence north with the county line to Wayne Township, thence with Wayne Township line until it strikes the Little Miami River, thence down the river to the beginning." From the records of the commissioners we learn that on June 8, 1818, "a petition was laid before the com- missioners signed by a number of citizens of the townships of Hamilton and Sa- lem, praying that a part of the township of Hamilton may be attached to the township of Salem, and that a new township be laid off and erected, of a part of Salem, adjoining the township of Wayne, and the commissioners having been sat- isfied with the reasonableness of said petition, do order and agree as follows: that the following described territory of Hamilton Township, beginning on the Little Miami River at the northeast corner of McGuire's survey, being the upper corner on the river of said survey, thence due south to the county line, be attached to and made a part of the township of Salem; then, beginning at the said northeast corner of said McGuire's survey on the river, thence up the river with the me- anders thereof and binding thereon to Mahlon Roach's upper corner on the river, thence east to the county line, thence south with the county line to the southeast corner of the county, thence west with the county line to the first mentioned line between Hamilton and Salem Townships, thence north with said line to the Little Miami River to the said corner of McGuire's survey as aforesaid, shall compose the township of Salem." Harlan Township was formed from Salem by an act of the Legislature, passed March 16, 1860, and the same act gave to Salem the name of Corwin Township, which it retained until June 6, 1860, when the commission- ers on petition changed it again to Salem. In 1860, a part of Union Township was added to Salem, giving it its present shape. After all these changes, each of which was the source of much local controversy and no little bitterness, we have s township in the shape of a very imperfect right-angled triangle, containing over twenty square miles. That part of the township taken from Union, and lying north of the river, is called North Salem, and is divided into sections; that part

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lying south of the river is called South Salem, and is composed entirely of surveys of very irregular size and shape. This is explained by the fact that the part of the township lying south of the Little Miami River was included in the Virginia Military lands; a full account of which is given in the general history of the county.

The first land warrant located in Warren County was survey No. 899, opposite Waynesville, and described as being fourteen miles west of Old Town. It was lo- cated August 1, 1787. The second was directly east of this. The third, and the first in the neighborhood of Todd's Fork, was No. 520, now in Hamilton Township. It was located by William McGuire, August 21, 1787, and called for 1,000 acres of land. Other warrants were located as follows:

No. 1494, August 21, 1787, Capt. John Peyton Harrison enters 4,000 acres of land, part of a military warrant, No. 171, on the Miami River, beginning at the mouth of Todd's Creek, which empties into the Miami about ten miles below the mouth of Cæsar's Creek; at the mouth of said creek, on the upper side, is a honey locust marked M, another W E and a sugar tree No. 8; running up the river 640 poles when reduced to a straight line, thence at right angles from the general course of the river easterly for quantity. This was surveyed by Nathaniel Massie, District Surveyor, and bears the date October 10, 1792.

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The History of Warren County, Ohio, Part 74

Author: W. H. Beers & Co. Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 1081

Author: W. H. Beers & Co.
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 1081