USA > Ohio > Logan County > The historical review of Logan County, Ohio > Part 12
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compelle I to live upon the game, which was abundant, and such grain and stock as they could raise.
Edward Bates, one of the early settlers. has told frequently of the hardships endured and the long and steady winters, which were trying upon the people, and especially upon the domestic animals; brush was cut and trees felled for browsing the stock, while the settlers were at the same time busily employed in the hunt, or in clearing the lands, logging and burning the waste. il frequently the wood itself.
Sugar-making was a part of the late winter and early spring work, and Mr. Mo- ses Bell has told me that he frequently eimped for six weeks or two months at a time in the woods all alone. hauling water. cutting the wood, boiling sap and making sugar, and that the wolves would come about the camp and howl during the entire night, unless frightened away with burn- ing brand, or shot and killed with the ever ready rifle.
The raising of hogs of the lean, long. razor-back breeds was quite common : they were permitted to run wild, and were almost as thin and lank as a Kentucky thorough- bred, and about as fleet of foot as the deer that was quite plentiful.
The price of pork in the market, when killed and smoked. was seventy-five cents per hundred. and it was weighed upon the old-fashioned steel-yards.
Skins, venison, maple sugar, beeswax and bacon were legal tender for store trade and were about the only commodities which were at the command of the early settlers.
The southern part of Bokes Creek con- tains a large colored settlement; it is
It was a wild and outlying portion of known as the "Flatwoods." and it was orig-
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inally a part of the land of General James original township of Mian. It is situated Taylor, of Kentucky: Christopher Wil- in the northwest corner of the county, and was for many years a most forlorn and des- olate part of the county liams. a colored man from Fayette county. purchased lands here in 1854, and was soon followed by others, who in time formed quite a large settlement: they are a steady, industrious and home-loving people and have brought this part of the township up to a good state of cultivation. .
There is a small village in the extreme southern part called North Greenfield. which boasts of the first church in the township. and for a time was quite a flourishing set- tlement.
West Mansfield is quite a prosperous village; it has a railroad, the T. & O. C. and is the center of quite a prosperous see- tion of the county. It has grown rapidly since it has secured a railroad : its first ho- tel was built by one John Cousins, its first store was in a log house, and was kept by Samuel Danforth and William Kellar; James Wilgus had the first shoe shop: the blacksmiths were Mark Austin and John Cousms.
The first school-house was a log struc- ture; a man named John Dobey taught the first school: William Perry Hughes was one of the first teachers in the town- ship. and was for many years a justice of the peace and one of its best citizens: the present school-house is a commodious brick building, and finely located.
West Mansfieldl is one of the thrifty, thriving. growing and must prosperous towns in the county, with a bank, a hand- some city hall, and almost every kind of business.
STOKES TOWNSHIP.
Stokes township was organized in 1838, and was cut off from the north end of the
It was within the Lewistown Indian Reservation, and was a part of the territory set off and assigned to the Indians by the treaty of Maumee Rapids, in 1817, when forty thousand three hundred acres were set apart for the Senecas and Shawonoes.
The Indian council house was on the Banks of the Muchinippi: it was not a very imposing affair, as it was without doors, windows or floor, but it served its purpose, and within its inclosure very many important councils were held, and conclu- sions reached by the red men.
No attempt was made to make any set- tlement in this township until after the re- moval of the Indians in 1833, and among the very first of these settlers were George Harner, Shockley Marsh. Joseph Wright. Martin Pence and Peter Bruner, and about the same time came William and James Fenton, from Ross county; it is said that Jeseph Fenton brought trees with him for an orchard. John B. Stamats moved into the township in 1835-
Long before any of these parties came into the township one George Hover built himself a cabin on the banks of the Indian lake and was noted as a Inter and trapper. William Knox and Jacob Curts built cabins near to Hovers. George Ometz. Henry Schoonover and Thomas Powers also set- tled in this neighborhood.
About 1838 there came into the town- ship a most important addition in the fam- ily of William Vanhorn; of this family there were ten children, and they came to le the most influential and important factors
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in the settlement and improvement of the township.
Of these children Jacob. Job. John. Eli. and William were for many years the lead- ing citizens in the northern part of the township.
k. Robert Houchins was for very many years an active and most influential citizen.
About 1840, or before, quite a number of settlers found their way into Stokes. in- cluding John Hendershot. Solomon Shaui. Alexander West, William Botkins. John Taylor. Abraham Gardner and George Tay- lor: many of these I have known person- ally, and they were most substantial and re- liable people, and did no small part in the opening up of this new country.
Benjamin Dressbaek about 1845 built a rude saw-mill on the Muchinippi : after- wards a small run of stone, made from the field boulders, was added: this mill was swept away in one of the floods of the Mu- chinippi creek. Dressback had quite a fam- ily of boys, who were at the time of the building of the Lake Erie and Mad River Railroad employed as foremen of the men working on its construction.
The first school-house was built in the Vanhorn neighborhood in 1839. It was of logs, there being no other kind of ma- terial at that time in the township: Wil- liam Earl was the first teacher: the schools of this township of today are in keeping with those in other portions of the county.
The Lewistown reservoir is built in the east part of this township, and covers six thousand one hundred and thirty-four acres of land: its purpose was to store waters to supply the canal in time of low water: the Indian lake. a beautiful body of water, once the fishing ground of the Indians, is included within the reservoir.
The reservoir was constructed in 1851- '52. and 1856 to 1860. It cost $341.126.33.
One of the curious characters of this township was George Harner, and one of its earliest, if not its first settler.
He was a recluse, and lived in a house for many years, gathering into his keeping the most motley collection of relics and ar- ticles of virtu it was possible to imagine; he would frequently walk to Belleion- taine and back home in the same day, a dis- tance of thirty-five or forty miles: when offered a "lift" on the road he generally declined it, giving as a reason that he was in a hurry. After his death the collections which filled all of his house were brought to sale and sold for fabulous prices.
The Methodists began holding meetings in this township soon after it was first set- tled. under the lead of the Fentons, Botkins and others.
In 1846 the Presbyterians, under the lead of John Ghormley. C. R. Brooks. Amos Coflet and E. Durkey, formed a church or- ganization. The United Brethren in 1850. with the Carlisles and Boyer as leaders in the movement.
The Methodist Protestant church was formed in 1878 by Rev. B. F. Tucker, and among its members enlisted Eli Vanhorn. Lloyd Thomas, G. M. Clover, George Wal- ters and others.
About 1850 a Virginia slave owner named John M. Warwick, of Amherst county, Virginia, determined to manumit his slaves, some three hundred in number : and calling to his assistance Doctor David Patterson, took measures to this end; he purchased a large tract of land in the north- east corner of Stokes township, and on the waters of Indian lake, and, having made provision for their care and transportation.
..
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HISTORICAL REVIEW OF LOGAN COUNTY.
sent them under charge of Doctor Patterson to Ohio.
I have heard some of these slaves, made free by the great-hearted Virginian, de- scribe their leaving the Old Dominion; in wagons and other vehicles, especially equip- Ded for the purpose, amidst the rejoicing of great numbers of people, they started on a sort of triumphal march to their free homes in the west.
Prior to this John Randolph. the great Virginia Senator, had manumited his slaves and settled them upon lands purchased by him in Auglaize county. .
The Warwick contingent arrived in Lo- gan county and Stokes township early in 1851 : cabins were built and every prepa- ration was made for the care and safety of the newly made freemen; unfortunately about this time the Lewistown reservoir
It is divided from Bloomfield by the- Great Miami river which runs through the Lewistown Reservoir, and runs along the was built, and the waters held back by its- west line of Washington, through Miami banks, covered large bodies of these lands, township, and on to the western borders of Logan county, near Port Jefferson, in Shelby county, and thence south, emptying into the Ohio, below Cincinnati. and the low lands so covered by back and stagnant water, became unhealthy and ma- larious, and it greatly affected not only the Warwick settlement. but almost everybody in the township, and the settlement was in great measure broken up, and the colored people scattered far and near ; some of them however, still remain in that neighborhood.
The only village in the township is Lake- view, built at the southwest corner of the Lewiston reservoir. For many years it was simply a small trading post. far distant from the county seat, and without great oppor- tunity for improvement.
Within a few years the T. & O. C. Rail- way has touched at Lakeview passing from St. Mary's to Columbus, and perhaps no town in the county ever improved so rapidly as Lakeview has done within so short a period: houses were built in all direc-
tions. factories located, ware-houses con- structed, streets improved, and business of all kinds seemed to be coming from all di- rections; it now has three hotels, a drug store, a bank, two dry goods stores, two or three groceries and all kinds of business in a flourishing condition; and being in the cen- ter of a rich and productive country it will continue to thrive and prosper.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
Washington township was formed 'in 1839. It is an oblong, irregular township in form, and was made by cutting Pleas- ant, Blomfield and Stokes, and it is a part of the original township of Miami, and prior to 1838 being a part of it.
Washington township was partly within the reservation set apart for the Senecas and Shawonoes by the treaty of Maumee Rapids in 1817, and little was done toward the attempted settlement of the township until the removal of the Indians in 1833.
Some few scattering settlers or squatters occupied lands but had no titles to them.
General James McPherson was the owner of a large tract of land secured from the Indians by trade and barter; he kept a trading post or store, and the Indians having bought goods and trinkets of him, and failing to pay for the same, by an ar- rangement they conveyed to him certain lands in payment for his goods.
Among the first settlers was Henry
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HISTORICAL REVIENT OF LOGAN COUNTY.
Hanford, a New Yorker, who bought six hundred acres of land near Lewistown. Mrs. B. F. Mckinnon, a daughter of Han- ford, now owns and occupies a portion of this land: Michael Karnes, a Virginian, was an early comer into the township and owned a large body of land; William and Alexander Kirkpatrick. William S. Lowery. Abraham Cherry, James Renick. John Fogge and Isaac Cooper settled near Lew- istown.
Mrs. Plum came from Virginia with five children. her sons Jonathan and Isaac were for many years most prominent among the citizens of the township: they were largely interested in stock raising and did much for the development of this part of Logan county. Their children are now among the foremost citizens of the township.
James B. Mckinnon. Alexander Trout. Joseph and Daniel Deardorf, James Craig. John Williams, Samuel Firestone. Daniel Downs, Isaac Clemmens. John and George Mefford. Daniel Martin, John Parrish, John Price. George Strickland. Dennis Moore. John F. Amos, John Brunson and Philip Shade were all early settlers in this town- ship.
There was not the usual amount of hardship in this as in the earlier town- ships for the reason that the county was by this time well filled with settlers, and almost every section was well supplied with stores, trades and industries of all kinds. and there was no great difficulty in obtain- ing the necessaries from these different points.
Lewistown. the village, was named after Captain Lewis, one of the village chieis oi the Shawonoe Indians, and it became the center of the trade and barter of that neigh- borhood.
It was at Lewistown, in August 1831. that treaties were negotiated with the tribes at Wapakoneta and Lewistown for their re- moval to the west and the surrender of their lands in these counties; James Gard- ner and John McElwain were the govern- ment commissioners.
The Indians were not removed until the following year, September, 1832, when they were conducted to the Indian Ter- ritory; before leaving they spent some time in their religious ceremonies preparatory to their removal: they put out their council fires, destroyed all vestige of their burial places. and took up their march to the west- ward and surrendered their homes to the white men.
Henry Hanford built a saw-mill east of Lewiston, which served the purpose for awhile: he afterwards. in connection with Stamats and Conley built both a grist and saw-mill at Lewistown, which for many years served the people.
Like all the early settlements, Lewistown had a distillery, but it soon went into de- cav.
A part of the In use now occupied by Mrs. Dr. B. F. Mckinnon, was formerly the residence of her father. Henry Han- ford, and before that the residence of Chief Lewis, of the Shawonces.
Mr. Hanford, the owner of the land, platted it and laid out the village of Lew- istown about the time the Indians left for the west.
The first hotel, or tavern, was kept by a man named John Pell. and Dr. James Morehead was the first physician: he was succeeded by Dr. James Pollock, and he again by Dr. B. F. Mckinnon.
One of the first things done was the
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HISTORICAL REVIEW OF LOGAN COUNTY.
erection of a school-house and this was com- pleted in 1833.
The T. & O. C. Railroad now runs through the village and furnishes a means for the shipping of all kinds of grain : there is a good warehouse at this point and there is a general air of improvement to be seen.
Like all the other townships. the Meth- ogists were first in line for church services. and under the leadership of some of that de- nomination a church was founded in 1836 by the Methodist Protestant church, and in 1852 the Methodist Episcopal church was organized: the Evangelical church was or- ganized about 1853-4.
The township is one of the best agricul- tural townships in the county, and for many years was largely engaged in stock raising. a business which seems to have languished under the competition of the western prairie.
There are many beautiful farms in this township, and some fine and substantial farm improvements, and it is a township fully in keeping with its early neighbors.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
Pleasant township was organized in t831 and it was originally a part of Miami township.
sale: they were in the midst of a wilderness as unbroken and unclaimed as could have been found anywhere upon the face of the earth. They set about to make habitations and for the following years devoted them- selves to clearing their land, subsisting in the meantime upon wild game, the fish from the river, and the grain they were able to get from their newly cleared fields.
Their nearest markets were at Urbana, where the prices of commo dities of all kinds were so great they were prohibitory: tea, two dollars per pound : calico, one dollar per yard, and salt ten dollars per barrel.
Moore had a wife and five children, and Dickson a wife and three children, and this was the beginning of Pleasant township. These men lived to see this township thickly populated. its forests cleared away and its fields brought under cultivation.
It was not until I&II, that other set- tlers moved into this section of the county, when Alfred Mathews and John Means, with their families, arrived and settled in the township.
There were no other settlements until after the war of 1812. when Alevander Piper. Robert Ellis, and Robert MeMullen came from Kentucky to join the small forces in the field, and they were the only settlers until 1820.
The first settlers in Pleasant township were James Moore and Robert Dickson, who came from Kentucky in 1809; they brought wth them two yoke of oxen each. After this time came Peter Hanks. John Hill. Daniel Mckinnon. Samuel Geish, and Addison Henderson. During the war of 1812 the government sent a company of soldiers to Logansville, and erected a block house about one mile east of that place. and their household goods, together with their families and settled upon three hun- dred acres of land north of Logansville. Moore taking the north half and Dickson the south half. There was absolutely noth- ing but an unbroken wikleiness for the re- James Moore built a grist mill in 1820. to which he added a saw mill. and to them again added a distillery: these mills were ception of these people, and they were in fact pioneers without roads, without neigh- Fors, without opportunity for barter or all situated on the Miami just north of Lo-
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HISTORICAL REVIEW OF LOGAN COUNTY.
gansville where John R. Long for so many years had his mill.
Thompson Dickson built a tannery which at that early day was a most impor- tant industry.
John Dickson about 1835 built a tavern at Logansville, and the building is still there, while the builder is long since dead. His house was long noted as a most fa- mous place of entertainment.
I road was cut from the direction of DeGraff to Bloom Center, running through Logansville, about 1830. It crossed the Miami at Moore's mill. where a rough ferry boat was kept by Moore and a small charge made for crossing.
Logansville was called for Logan, the Mingo chief, and was laid out originally in 1827. by Thompson and Dickson, but the advancement of steam and electricity left it to one side, and the village has not made any progress since the building of the rail- way which threw all the custom and trade to DeGraff.
It was formerly a very bustling trad- ing point and the center of a very thriving community, but upon the building of the Bellefontaine and Indiana Railroad through DeGraff the traffic nearly all went to that point.
The first school house was on the farm of William MeMullen, just east of Logans- ville, built in 1813. William MeMullen was for many years a justice of the peace and a most exact and careful man whose counsel was sought by many of the settlers.
Another school house was built in Lo- gansville upon the establishment of the vil- lage.
The first meeting house was built in 1824. by the Christians or New Lights and
shortly afterwards, the Presbyterians form- ed an organization.
Pleasant township was out of the line of travel, and for many years did not have equal advantages with the earlier settle- ments. but it is a rich and prosperous community and within its limits are some of the most successful farmers of the county.
RICHLAND TOWNSHIP.
Richland township was a part of the original township of Lake, but was cut off with and remained a part of McArthur township until 1845. when it was taken from Me. Arthur and created a separate township.
Among the first. if not the first. set- tlers in this township were James Hill and Samuel Tidd and their families; they came from Ashtabula county in 1810 and settled at Zanestown and remained there until 1817. when they removed to that part of the county which afterwards be- came Richland township: they were soon joined by Thomas Rutledge and Thomas Benton.
It was a fortunate thing for the county and hastened its settlements that these early settlers all had large families of chil- dren. William Lease came in 1823. These first settlers were followed by Lorenza Dowling. William Thompson, William Wallace. James McClure. Joseph Wil- mouth, William Reid. John Hemphill. James Gray. Jacob Powers. Lewis Wy- song. James Harrod. William Brooks. William Holt. Lemuel Liles. Jacob Sess- ler. Daniel Colvin. Robert Mitchell, Ger- shom Anderson. Alexander King. Wil- liam Johnston. J. S. Johnston. Robert Scott and Cornelius Jamison. The neces-
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HISTORICAL REVIEW OF LOGAN COUNTY.
sities of the times were great, and every tric lights, and is most thriving and pros- possible method was resorted to to over- perous in every way. come the hardships of these early settlers.
The first grist mill was built by Joseph Wilmouth in 1830; like all the frontier mills it was of logs and a very diminutive affair : the capacities of these mills were only three or four bushels a day, and the party taking his grist to mill was compelled to wait until it was done, and frequently. if it happened that there were many others ahead of him. it caused a delay of a day or two; Gershom Anderson rebuilt this mill: it was in my day, as late as 1852. doing a good business, and if I am not mistaken, it was operated by Joseph Liles. who pow runs a large steam fouring mill at Bellecenter.
Samuel Mitchell built a tannery near Bellecenter.
The village of Richland was laid out in 1832, and flourished for several years until the building of the M. R. & L. E. railroad, when Bellecenter came to the front and Richland went into decay.
James S. Johnston was one of the orig- inal proprietors and was active in the in- terest of Bellecenter. He removed his store to this town and for many years was an active and useful citizen. Bellecenter although commenced in 1852. was not incorporated until 1867.
Parker Haycock, started a sawmill and factory here in 185t and did a flour- ishing business.
Bellecenter. like Jonah's Gourd, grew rapidly and became an important station on the new railroad: it was situated in a very rich country and has always enjoyed a good trade, and is quite a large shipping point for grain.
The village has natural gas and elec-
Its schools are as good as can be found in the county, and its churches in keeping with its prosperous condition.
Again. the Methodists. as far back as ISIS, took the lead in this township in church organization, and the first meet- ings were held at the house of the pioneer. James Hill: a house of worship was not built until 1850.
The Disciple church was formed in 1839. Like the others, the meetings were held at private houses, the first being held in the house of Samuel Harrod.
In 1833 the Presbyterian church was organized by Rev. Thomas Clark and a division in this church in 1839 resulted in two churches, the old and the new school; the new school was established at or near Richland under Rev. Pogue, while the old school remained at or near Bellecenter : neither branch was able to build a church, and they both failed and services were dis- continued: in 1852 the two branches were brought together, and a new church was organized at Bellecenter by Rev. Price, Samuel Hoover and others, with Rev. J. N. Meeks as pastor.
The Reformed Presbyterian church was established in Northwood in 1846. and a branch in Bellecenter in 1877.
This church at Bellecenter within late years has almost bodily gone into the United Presbyterian church which has a fine place of worship in Bellecenter.
The present school building in Belle- center is a handsome structure and is in keeping with the growth of education and the common school system.
Near the southern boundary of the township was the old Indian village of
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HISTORICAL RETTEIT OF LOGAN COUNTY.
Solomonstown; it was a Wyandot vil- lage and was called after Chief Solomon. an old and very distinguished chief of that tribe, who for many years lived at this point. It afterwards became the village of the Wyandot war chief Tarhe. "The Crane;" he was one of the great war- riors of the Wyandot nation, and was with Black Hoof and Blue Jacket in all of the contests with the whites for many years.
The village was situated on the farm How owned by S. A. MeClure, and on the west side of the road. and was upon a beautiful plateau: it was on the line of Hull's trace.
The spring which was of such im- portance still remains near the house of Mr. MeClure, and is known as the Indian spring.
It was to this village that Girty brought kenton after he had rescued him at Wapatomica from the awful death by torture which had been near at hand, and it was at this village that the Shawonoe warriors overtook them. with the mes- sage from the council chamber requiring Girty to return to Wapatomica and tor bring with him the prisoner, Simon Ken- ton.
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