USA > Ohio > Clinton County > The history of Clinton County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its townships, cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; history of the Northwest territory, Volume 2 > Part 41
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The first saddler and harness-maker was John Hadley. He used to make his saddle-trees out of dogwood forks. He, with Eli Hale, opened the second store in the village. Afterward he engaged in the pork trade and dealt largely in cattle. His personal efforts and the general business planned and carried on by him formed a very important part in making the town the prosperous business place it was in early times. Elisha Kirk was the first hatter. Eli Helmich and Abram Nicholson were among the first blacksmiths. Jacob Longstreth opened the first store in the place. Among the first carpenters were Samuel T. Louden, James Abbott and William Michel, afterward Judge Michel, of Lebanon.
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The first shoemaker ; was Joseph Wysong. Samuel Hyde was the first c.
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cabinet-maker; his shop was an old building on the lot now owned by N. K. Snook; the building was afterward used as a schoolhouse. William Slater carried on the business of cabinet-making where J. Whitaker's shop now is. The business was afterward carried on by J. Thomas, E. Titus and Alfred Cast. John McCarty was the first cooper. The immense pork trado of Clarks- . ville made coopering a very important business in the place, and there were several large cooper shops running at the same time. James Coyle's cooper shop stood where A. A. . Linton's new store is. William Dogget carried on a cooper shop where John Starry now lives, corner of Main and Second streets. Isaiah Wilkerson, at a later date, ran a shop near where the Baptist Church now stands.
John Kelley, father of S. C. Kelley, was probably the first tailor; his shop was on the lot now owned by William M. Reeder. This was an important business in early times, and tailor shops have been carried on by Harrison Comp. ton, S. H. Wilson, K. S. Kearns and others. A business, which has disappeared from the smaller towns, was making hats. This business was carried on in Clarksville in early times, first by Dick Lackey, afterward by one Black. John Dempsy was a hatter. He served in the Mexican war; was Constable of Ver- non Township for many years. He was crippled by palsy. His was a peculiar character; his gestures were odd, his body and arms writhed and twitched in a wild gesticulating manner, sometimes almost laughable, when he talked, but he was possessed of a good deal of hard sense, and, in a passage of words, fow could get ahead of him. He died in Clarksville.
The first wagon-maker was George Harris. Samuel French was an early stone-mason. James Morrow was the first and only distiller. Joseph Wysong was the first Postmaster of the town.
Jacob Longstreth was the first physician. Summing up, we find that soon after its establishment or laying out, Clarksville was well represented in the trades. Merchants, tanners, tailors, wagon-makers, blacksmiths, carpenters, hat. ters, harness-makers, coopers were making the town lively and business-like. But at a later day, about the year 1840 or 1844, the town assumed its utmost im- portance. The pork trade at that time was immense. Hale & Cook's pork house was near where J. A. Kelley now lives. They slaughtered on the East Fork, just above the bridge, on the Goshen pike. John Hadley's pork house stood near where A. A. Linton's house stands. Jim Lindsay slaughtered near where John Kelley's stable now stands. Hogs were driven from all parts of Clinton County, as well as from Highland and Ross Counties, to Clarksville. The hogs slaughtered in those days were not of the improved breeds we have now. Now it is with difficulty we can drive one mile or two to market. In early times they were partly fattened on mast, and they were wild, raw-boned, with snouts so long sometimes, that the expression used by an old settler in describing them that "they could root nine feet into the ground after a poko root, and still see a man over the top," does not seem much of an exaggeration. We do know they were driven ten or twenty miles sometimes, and then had to be caught with dogs or shot at the slaughter pens. The lard from the slaughtered porkers was put in kegs, and together with the meat just from the salt, was hauled to Cincinnati in wagons. The time taken by a toamster in making a trip was about six days. Regarding the number slaughtered, one old resident told me he thought as high as 40,000 or 50,000 hogs would be slaughtered and packed in Clarksville in one season. This brought an im. mense trade to the town, and stores, hotels and all the trades flourished; there was an army of shoemakers, tailors, coopers, etc.
Some of the heavy teamsters of that day were William Morrow, William McCray, Charles Urton, and later, Armstrong McCray, Milt Watson, Jamon
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Villars. These teamsters would take their provisions, horse feed and bedding along, and sleep on the floor of some tavern It was a rough life, but was relished by the men. The independence of the wild, rough life was by no means unpleasant.
The first school was taught in a house on the lot owned by N. K. Snook; as to who taught the first school, the information I get conflicts somewhat. Among the early teachers were Nancy Tufts, David Eachus and Carter B. Harlan, brother of the late Judge R. B. Harlan. Until the year 1868, when Clarksville was made a special district, there were two schoolhouses for the youth of the town and vicinity. Schoolhouse No. 1 is now used by M. C. Wysong for a wagon shop; No. 2 School, near the mouth of Sewell's Run. For a number of years the Friends or Quakers maintained a separate school in a building of their own; the building still stands, and is used as a dwelling. This school was called the High School; the higher branches were taught, and it was patronized by others besides Friends.
About the year 1823, the Baptists built a brick church in Clarksville. The church is still standing, but the society has gone down. About the year 1875, Rev. James Villars bought the church property, and at his individual expense refitted the old building, making a fine, commodious church, which is now controlled by the Protestant Methodist Church. The Methodist Episcopal Church organization is the leading one in the town. The first church built by this society stood on the lot now owned by J. Norton's heirs. About the year 1856, they built a large frame church-the present Methodist Episcopal Church.
The Odd Fellows have a lodge in the town, No. 323. The Masons also have a lodge.
Clarksville is at present, and we believe has always been, well supplied with physicians. The first who put out his sign was Jacob Longstreth. Then came Dr. Hampton, Dr. Crawford, Dr. A. T. Davis, Dr. Tribbey. Though in early times disease was more prevalent, such diseases as were caused by ma- larial poison-fevers, ague, etc .- it seems the physicians did not prosper and grow fat and independent as they are at the present day; and we rarely find a- physician in the small towns in early times depending solely on his profession for a livelihood. Dr. Longstreth kept a store; Dr. Tribbey was a farmer as well as physician; Dr. A. T. Davis represented the county in the Legislature. In early times their duties were laborious and their pay scanty and uncertain; but, during the last thirty or forty years, they have made such rapid strides in magnifying their bills and multiplying their charges that, if it continue to in- crease in the same ratio for the next thirty years, it will compel the man of moderate means to accept one of three things: First, not to employ a physician; second, to let the township pay his bills as a pauper; or, third, not to pay his bills at all. The only physician who died in Clarksville was Dr. John Gard. ner. He read medicine under Dr. A. T. Davis; afterward had a good practice. He was agreeable and gentlemanly in his manners, of a fine scholarly appear- ance, and enjoyed the confidence of the community for his honesty and integ- rity. He died about the year 1874.
Dr. H. W. Baugh came to Clarksville in 1850, from the town of New Burlington, Clinton County. He was born in Tennessee in 1817. He has a good practice at the present time. He is a man of powerful build, with a firm, smoothly shaven face; is inclined to be abrupt in his manners. He is positive and decided in his opinions; his integrity is unquestioned, and his moral character above reproach.
Dr. T. S. Garland came to Clarksville in the same year (1850). He was a school-teacher, and a poor man when he came, and started in the practice of
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, medicine. Dr. Garland has steadily followed his profession; has always on- joyed the confidence of the community; still has a large practice, and has amassed considerable property. He seems to be devoted entirely to his pro- fession, takes very little interest in public affairs; is not so decided and posi- tive in his opinions as Dr. Baugh.
Dr. Z. T. Garland, a very popular physician, is a son of Dr. T. S. Gar- land. He was raised in Clarksville, studied medicine with his father, and has been practicing about twelve years; is of fine appearance, and is probably the best dressed man in the village. He is even-tempered and agreeable in his manners, and has a large practice.
Dr. E. S. Stevens is a late arrival. HA is a young man of boyish ap- pearance. He came in 1880, and boldly put out his shingle in the face of three old and popular physicians. He shows a good deal of vim and energy. His father is Dr. Stevens, of Lebanon, Warren Co., Ohio.
Levi Collins came to Clarksville or vicinity in 1814, when he was fivo months old, and has done more to populate the town than any other individual, being the father of twenty-one children, nearly all of them living. He is a cooper by trade; has lived in Clarksville nearly all his life; has been twico married. His first wife was Martha Brannan, by whom he had twelve chil- dren. In 1860, he was married to Elizabeth Rife, by whom he has nino chil- dren.
John Thomas, familiarly known as Jack Thomas, and long a resident of Clarksville, was born in Harrison County, Va., in 1812. He came to Clarks- ville about the year 1824; learned cabinet-making with his brother-in-law, William Slater, and carried on the business in Clarksville for a number of years. He was an employe of the C., W. & Z. Railroad, in the capacity of Superintendent of Bridges, and other structures, for fifteen years; is at prosont keeping a restaurant in the town.
The first silversmith of Clarksville was James H. Starry. He was born in Jefferson County, Va., and came to Vernon Township in 1840. He married Nancy Kelley; has raised a family of six children, all boys. Mr. Starry and wife live at present on a farm about one and a half miles from Clarksville.
S. C. Kelley is probably as closoly identified with Clarksville as any other man. Mr. Kelley is a son of John Kelley, who came to Clarksville in 1833." and carried on a tailor shop in the village. Samuel C. was born in Hamilton County in 1829. His father died when he was quite young, and he was thrown on his own resources. At a very early age, he developed business tact and management. When quite young, he was employed by the pork-packing establishments in responsible positions. At the age of fifteen, in the year 1844, he commenced business for himself in a small building 10x20 feet, on the lot now owned by Jack Thomas. Mrs. Wysong and Daniel Norton each loaned him $50, and with this $100 capital, all borrowed, he commenced the business of dealing in groceries, which he has followed nearly all the time since. At the time Mr. Kelley commenced business, George Morrow and Dr. Gardner kept general merchandise where G. M. Morrow now lives. Lindsay kopt store where Wilson now has a store. Pyle & Austin also kept store. Amos Everett carried on the hatting business. Hale & Cook, John Hadley, and probably other firms were engaged in the pork business. Mr. Kelley soon moved to a larger building, and went into partnership with George Dunn, near where J. D. Starry's harness shop now is. He bought the corner where he now keeps, in 1854. In March, 1854, he was burned out, losing everything, but built again on the same spot in May of the same year, and carried on the business at the same place to the year 1857, when, being tired of business, and fancy. ing he was an excellent farmer, he sold out to Daniel Hutchinton, bought a
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farm of L. B. Oxley and Pyle, the same now owned by Hildebrecht, of 305 acres, and went to farming. In 1859, Mr. Kelley was elected Sheriff, as an independent candidate, by the Democrats of Clinton County. He moved to Wilmington, filled the office of Sheriff creditably, and moved back to his farm. Ho remained on the farm about six months longer, when he sold out. After this he spent one year in the Clarksville Mills, then owned by Smith & Knowlton, then moved to Marshall County, Iowa. It seems that the climate, or some thing of Town, did not suit Mr. Kelley; so, after remaining there about six months, he moved back to Clarksville, in reduced circumstances. The people of Clarksville and vicinity still had great confidence in Mr. Kelley as a busi- ness man, and he was soon installed in his old business again in a building now occupied by J. D. Starry. His business prospered, and, in 1869 or 1870, he built his present storeroom, and has continued to increase his business to the present, which is carried on now under the firm name of S. C. Kelley & Son.
Mr. Kelley is a small man, quick and activo in temperament, every look and motion shows the business man. Ho is a man of much general informa- tion, is agrooable in his manners, a good conversationalist; has a way of ap- poaring interested and sympathizing in the cares and business of others He makes a customer feel that it is a pleasure to wait on him or to do him a favor in any way. Mr. Kelley has raised a large family, and has acquired consider- able property; is public spirited, and has done his full share toward improv- ing the town.
James Linton was for many years a prominent business man of Clarks- ville. He married Maria, daughter of John Hadley, of Clarksville, and began to keep house in Adams Township. He soon afterward moved to Clarksville, to assist his father-in-law in the pork trade. Subsequently, he moved to what is known as the Yeazel farm, two miles east of Clarksville. on the Goshen pike. On this he built a large brick house, and erected a saw-mill. From the Yeazel farm he moved to Clarksville again, where he died.
"James Linton, though humble and modest, was no ordinary man, and the multitude of business be carried on and superintended was no ordinary busi- ness. During all his married life he carried on farming on a large scale for this country, and many seasons he engaged in the wool and pork trade, and for years owned and managed a dry goods and grocery store. All who knew him regarded him as a man of few words and of sound judgment. He was scholarly enough to lay off a bridge, engineer a pike or build a mill. Practical and unostentatious, he possessed an integrity which, among his neighbors, was above suspicion." He was a member of the Society of Friends, and leaves a wife and seven children.
Joseph Wysong was an early settler of Clarksville. He was a shoemaker by trade; was the first Postmaster of the town, an office which he held for a great number of years. He kept a hotel up to the time of, his death, and in carly times his hotel was a popular stopping-place for teamsters and travelers: He was a peculiar man, gruff and almost severe in his manners, yet there was an undercurrent of humor and kindly good nature in his character. Numerous anecdotes could be told of him, of the rich jokes and paysages of wit and sarcasm he indulged in with the teamsters, who enjoyed the old man's gruff ways. Three of his sons still live in Clarksville.
S. F. Wescoat, W. H. Gardner, A. A. Linton, J. D. Starry, are promi- nent business men of the town at the present time.
CONCLUSION.
Perhaps I owe this explanation to the people of Vernon Township, that is, that the selection of myself for writing up Vernon was not the first selection.
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It was late in the spring before I undertook the work, and it has carried me into the busy season of corn tending and harvest; and my readers will not be astonished at the incompleteness of my work when they know that I was obliged to send in my manuscript leaving parts of the subject untouched. There are many families who deserve honorable mention in any history of Clinton County, that I failed to get data for personal sketches-the Villars, Had- leys, Lintons, and many other families I have failed to represent, not through prejudice, but from lack of time. With this I submit the work, and it can be taken for what it is worth.
C. L. SEWELL.
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WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
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WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. BY PETER CLEVENGER, ESQ.
T THE township bearing the above name was organized by order of the Com- missioners of Clinton County, at their regular session, in June, 1835, on a petition containing the following description:
"Beginning in the line of Union Township, one mile west of the north- west line of Clark Township; thence southward to Marion Township, where the township line crosses the road leading from David Wright's to Blanches- ter, and continuing same course one mile into Marion Township; thence east- ward to intersect the line one mile south of the northeast corner of said town- ship; thenco across Clark Township so as to include Samuel Batson; thenco to the road loading from Cuba to Martinsville, eighty polos to the north of Rob. ert Groon's house; thence to where the Wilmington & Hillsboro road crosses the College Township road; thence with the south side of said College Town- ship road to the northeast corner of Clark Township; thence westward with the line of Union and Clark Townships to the beginning, containing twenty-four and one-third square miles of land."
The geographical location of this township is very nearly central, being the only township except Union that does not border on the county line. The land is generally level, being slightly hilly along the streams in the west and southwest, the soil generally fertile and very well drained naturally. The ar- tificial drainage, however, of the last twenty years, has worked a vast and ben- eficial change in the face of the country, as well as in the crops. The swampy and unproductive lands have been transformed, by the laying of tile, into the most fertile lands in the township, good crops being now raised without any failure. The prevailing timber is beoch, sugar maple, ash, hickory, walnut and the different varieties of oak, linn, hackberry, buckeye-in fact, almost all varieties found in the Miami Valley. The finest trees have disappeared from our forest, howe-or, having yielded to the blasts of many winters, the neces- sities of the settler, or the temptations offered by the timber speculator, until now there can scarcely be found the old sturdy black walnut of thirty years ago. The township is well watered, the streams running in a general westerly course through it. The following are the names of the principal streams: Cowan's Creek, Silver Creek, and the East Fork of Todd's Fork; the latter stream flows from east to west through the south part of the township, while Cowan's and Silver Creeks and their tributaries drain the northern and central parts. East of Cuba for several miles, the country presents a plain of gently undulating land. The capacity of the soil in this plain in productiveness is equal to that of any land in the country; in fact, in all the products from soil culture, Washington Township will compare favorably with any portion of the county.
The settlements on these rich alluvial lands commenced about the year 1805. The Legislature of Ohio, at its session of 1802-3, provided for the location of a road, loading from Chillicothe, by way of Morgantown, to the College Township, in Butler County; and this, passing directly through Wash- ington Township, and being opened immediately, formed a great thorough- fare for emigration, assumed the name of the College Township road, and was the first road opened in Southern Ohio.
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HISTORY OF CLINTON COUNTY.
EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
The first emigrant to the prosent limits of Washington Township, as far as the writer hereof has been able to find out from the meager information to be obtained at this day and date, was Isaac Wilson, perhaps the first settler, who came from Virginia, who settled in Col. Carrington's Survey about the year 1803, on the land now owned by George Brown. Next came Jonas Sea- man and a Mr. Armstrong, both settling upon the present sito of Cuba, the lat- ter opening the first house for the entertainment of the public in the year 1805.
Thomas Thatcher, one of the carly pioneers to the Miami Valley, was born in Frederick County, Va., in 1769, and emigrated to the present limits of Washington Township in the year 1805, and purchased a large tract of land in Capt. John Stoel's Survey, No. 1,458, where he settled on Silver Creek. Coming with a four-horse team and the typical old Virginia wagon, by the usual route through Pennsylvania, on his way he encountered the common do. lays, annoyances and vexations of the early emigrant. After a weary journey, he arrived at Wheeling, W. Va., situato on the south side of the Ohio River. The only means of conveyance over the river was the old-fashioned flat-boat, with oars worked by men. This means of crossing lay on the opposite side of the river. To the eye of Thatcher, the river did not look very wide or deep. He inquired of some boys near by if he could ford, and they carelessly said, "Yes." Mounting his saddle, with his wife and one child in the wagon, and the bound boy, David Fisher, on the off horse, he boldly drove into the stream. He had passed but a short distance from the bank into the stream before bis horses were swimming and his wagon floating. As the water came up around young Fisher, he cried out in a fearful tone. Mr. Thatcher said, in an en- couraging tone, "Hold fast to the hames, David," and some men on the Ohio side, seeing him at this time, beckoned to him, and, under their guidance and his own cool judgment, he swam his team across the river without accident or injury to his inestimable load. This was Mr. Thatcher's introduction into the new State of Ohio. He had made a contract with Col. Samuel Martin for a thousand acres of land, where he intended to make his future home. Some time after his arrival, he took possession of his survey of land on Silver Crook. His title soon proved worthless, and he had to buy his land a second time. He divided his lands and sold to immigrants, settling a portion himself, where he resided for over thirty-five years. He was one of the first Justices of the Peace of this part of what was then Warren County, acting in that capacity for twenty-one consecutive years. Amongst his early associates, Mr. Thatcher was a very popular man, not only acting as Justice of the Peace in name, but in fact, reconciling contending neighbors, and restoring harmony and good will among them. He magnified his office in preventing litigation, and not encouraging it. Mr. Thatcher was a resident of the territory of Clinton County sixty-two years. The great moral organ of benevolence was too large and active to permit great acquisition of lands and tenements or the hoarding of money. In the social relations, few complaints were ever made against Mr. Thatcher. His sense of justice and right was strong. He was moral and upright, and exerted a good influence on his pioneer neighbors. In fact, Thomas Thatcher was the right man in the right place, and well did he act his part. Long may his good examples be imitated and his memory cherished. He deceased in the year 1867, at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. On his arrival on Silver Creek, he found Joseph Roberts, John Jack, Samuel Ru- ble, John Wright and Edward Powers, they having come a short time before -from whence the writer hereof has been unable to find out, except in the case of Edward Powers, who was born in the North of Ireland, emigrated to America and came to Ohio in 1805, bought land of Col. Martin, in Fern's
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Survey, 699, on which he resided several years, becoming a soldier in the war of 1812, enlisting in the American Army while yet a British subject; was sur." rendered at Hull's surrender, and, by reason of his being a British subject, was in danger, if discovered, of execution. To avoid this, he secreted himself in the fortress, among army supplies, otc., until an opportunity offered, when he made his escape through the guard lines, and, by great caution and privation, eluded the thousand and one hostile Indian camps, that, at that time, blazed throughout the Northwest, and, solitary and alone, traversed the distance from Detroit to Silver Creek on foot. In time, he discovered that the title to his land, like Thatcher's, was worthless. With great indignation, he called on Martin and domandod tho money which he had paid, in lion of which Martin gavo him other land which he owned, somewhere in Groene or Clark County, and thither omigrated Edward Powers.
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