USA > Ohio > Darke County > The history of Darke County, Ohio, containing a history of the county; its cities, towns, etc.; general and local statistics; portraits of early settlers and prominent men; > Part 52
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The first preacher at Beamsville was Rev. M. Wintermute, Baptist, who was succeeded by Rev. Seymour Craig. Rev. George Adams, Christian, came in 1848-49. The United Brethren Church was built some six years earlier than this later date. A township house was built here in 1874. The place contains two wagon-shops-one owned by J. Stagger, the other by William Price. There is also a cornet band of ten horns and two drums which enliven the evening hours with inspiriting music. This band was organized in March, 1879, and is led by William Loudom and Frank Plessinger. .
The iron bridge over the Stillwater, just south of town, was constructed dur- ing the summer of 1878, and cost $1,900, exclusive of masonry. Another iron bridge over the same stream, west of Beamsville, on the Dallas pike, cost $2.100, besides mason work, and was erected in 1875.
Stelvideo, located near the center of the south line of Section 9, Range 3, Township 11 (the same being part of the boundary between Richland and Adams), is a small village, numbering 100 inhabitants. It was laid out in 1851. by Solo- mon Farmer, the present owner of 125 acres of land adjoining on the east. This person is now the oldest living resident of this vicinity, and one of the oldest in Richland. A few lots have been laid off since the original platting by George Hartell. Jr., but they are not in demand. Stelvideo is a station on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, surrounded by a fine farming country, well culti- vated and profitably productive. The population is composed mainly of the own- ers of adjacent or adjoining farms. Its origin is thus denoted : About the time when the "Forty-niners" were en route, overland, to the gold fields of the far Pacific. John Patterson determined to realize his expectations nearer home. He had inherited a large farm. located east of Stelvideo. There being promise of quite a village here. Mr. Patterson bought a number of lots, erected a steam saw- mill. a two-story tavern. and induced the erection of several other buildings. These improvements were made in 1852 and 1853. Through correspondence with Alfred Brisbane. S. Andrews, Dr. Nichols and other noted Socialists, Stelvideo soon became a center for modern radicalism of all kinds, save and except ยทยท free
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love." Meantime, the dress-reform movement was being agitated by Amelia Bloomer and other ladies. The costume was generally adopted by the feminine population of this village. So many isms and ologies, so much amplitude in free- dom and brevity in costume was obnoxious to the people resident in the neighbor- hood, who proceeded to make Patterson and his confreres desirous of going elsewhere. The Pluribus Unum Hotel was vacated, several houses partially com- pleted were left unfinished, the saw-mill and other property was disposed of at a sacrifice, and Mr. Patterson and his followers moved to Berlin Heights, in Huron County, where quite a colony of modern Liberalists of varions phases assem- bled. They published a weekly newspaper, and, for a time, attracted popular attention.
The first house put up in the immediate vicinity of Stelvideo was by Jacob Hartell. The first schoolhouse near by was a small log structure which stood about fifteen yards east of the present brick house, on the Solomon Farmer place. The first Postmaster was Aaron Frampton. It is stated by Peter Brewer, who is the second oldest resident, that in the early days, the residents here were accus- tomed to go about sixteen miles to mill, to where the present Coppock Mill stands. Sometimes the trip was extended to near Milton, and on occasion to Union, not far from Dayton. The present smithy here was built as a carpenter- shop in 1866, by Peter Farmer ; it was later used as a dwelling, and was finally, April 15, 1876, utilized by the present "village blacksmith," D. W. Inman, of whom it may be said :
" Week in, week out, from morn till night, You can hear his bellows blow."
And the distich is as applicable to him now and for four years past as ever it could have been to Longfellow's original.
There are no churches at this place. Dr. Ligafoo is the local physician. He was preceded by B. F. Zeller and Dr. Morrison, who was among the first doctors in this part of the township.
Messrs. Coppess, Brewer & Bro. are grain-dealers at the railroad warehouse. Their annual purchases range from fifteen thousand to twenty-five thousand bush- els of wheat and a smaller quantity of corn. The Brewer Bros. also have a store, located just northeast from the railroad crossing. One of the brothers, Jessner, is the Postmaster here, the other, John, is station agent. The speedy lapse of time will soon have made the record of these now active a worthy remembrance, and events are only as yet in a formative state, hence the descriptions of the present will be the history of the near future.
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
This township is one of the oldest in the county, having been constituted at one of the first sessions of the County Commissioners, in July, 1817. Its name was suggested by the prominent position occupied by Gen. Anthony Wayne, in the latter part of the last century, in matters pertaining to the permanent security of such settlers as might desire to make their homes in this locality. When Wayne was laid off, it contained all of the county north of a line commencing at the northwest corner of Township 12 north, Range 1 east, and running thence east to the northwest corner of Township 9 north, Range 4 east, thence south to the middle of said township, and east to the county line. In 1819, that part of Wayne lying in Township 9 north, Range + east, was attached to Adams Town- ship. A year later, and all of Wayne that lay in Range 1 was united to Wash- ington Township. In 1820, Richland was formed, which was taken principally from Wayne, but partly from Greenville and Adams. In 1841, Patterson was taken from the north end of Wayne, and contained all of that township that lay in Townships 12 and 13, Range 3, and 11 and 12. Range 4.
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The land is well watered and well drained. Its sections are traversed in a south of west course by the railroad. and supplemented to its fine farms are its villages, Versailles, Webster and North Jacksonville. In comparison with the townships heretofore named. Wayne is much the older. and, as is frequently the case, many of the settlers of Wayne migrating to the new townships became their pioneers. It is agreed that the first settler within the present limits of Wayne was David Ward, who, moving in from Covington, Miami County. in 1815. settled on land (more recently the property of Lewis Sherry), in Section 18. Ward had not long been established in his forest home when two neighbors moved in. Jacob Carlock entered land and made a clearing. where, in 1835. the village of Webster was laid out. and Zachariah Hole settled in the vicinity. Two years later, the population was increased by the arrival of Aaron Greer, Richard Bran- don and Lewis Baker, and in 1818, Henry Swisher moved in, and was soon after made a Justice of the Peace, and so became the pioneer arbitrator of petty dis- putes. In addition to those named among the pioneers, may be given those of Peter Radabaugh, William McGriff, John Wyland, Thomas Bayman, N. York and Joseph McDonald. Allan Reed. who later became a merchant and engaged in business at Versailles, came to Wayne in 1821. The first white child born in the township was Dr. Stephen A. Greer, now living near Woodland, Patterson Town- ship. The first man who died was named Atchison. The pioneer log school- house was erected about 1821. It is a cause of regret that so meager a record should be acquired of a township so prominent in the threefold interests of civili- zation, agriculture, education and religion.
During the war of 1812, and subsequently, an eccentric character by the name of Conner, and his son, occupied a cabin not far from the present site of Versailles. With an old ox. the boy tilled a little patch of corn. while Conner hunted deer and other game. When their supply of corn-meal was exhausted, the boy saddled up the old ox, threw a sack of corn over him, mounted the whole and started thirteen miles to Greenville Falls to mill. When night overtook him, he tied the ox, built a fire, cooked his supper. and lay down alone in the woods to sleep. Many anec- dotes are told of Conner, one of which we insert:
A man by the name of Wyland moved to the Laramie settlement, and a num- ber of men went from here to help him build his cabin ; among those were Conner and Killbuck, an Indian chief, who concluded to remain in the neighborhood awhile, and have a good time. To aid in their happiness, they bought a half- gallon jug of whisky, started to the woods and made a camp. It snowed at night about six inches, and in the morning, Wyland saw a smoke in the woods, and wondering what it was, approached it, and found Conner and Killbuck asleep. with the jug of whisky on one side, and their moccasins hanging on a stick on the other, and their guns leaning against a tree. Creeping softly up, he took a good drink out of the jug and emptied the balance out, and put the moccasins in the fire, and retreated to the house. Wyland, watching them from the house, soon saw old Killbuck slowly raise up and brush the snow away and reach for the jug. turn it up to his lips, and dash it to pieces on the ground ; then Conner and Killbuek both got up, went to their guns, reprimed them, turned their heads toward the cabin, and sat down by the fire. Presently old Killbuck started off through the woods barefooted to the settlement. Conner, on the contrary, started toward a thicket where he knew Wyland had a valuable sow and pigs. Wyland saw him. and his anxious ear soon heard the crack of his rifle followed by the squealing of a hog, yet was afraid to venture out, knowing Conner would shoot him as quickly as the hog. Shortly Conner returned to the fire, stirred it up, and after warming himself, started off through the woods after old Killbuck. Wyland went to the bushes and found his sow dead and partly skinned, and small pieces of hide lying around, the remains of a pair of moccasins Conner had made. About two weeks afterward. Wyland went to a Baptist meeting. In front of the "church" were two large logs. Wyland occupied one, and he was dismayed to see Conner approach
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and deliberately take a seat opposite to him, cross his legs, and bring his foot in unpleasant proximity to his face. Looking down, what should he see but the black skin of his poor old sow ornamenting Conner's foot, which he persisted in putting in his face at every opportunity. As soon as the country began to settle up, Conner went further into the wilderness, and was never heard of again.
Jacob Garlock was the first settler at Webster, and came here in 1817. Stopped on Bald Hill and camped with old Killbuck two weeks. The first graves in the township were on this hill, in which a woman and two children were buried, in about 1817 or 1818.
The first colored man, George Davenport, came to this township in 1817. Pre- viously to coming here, he was an itinerant pewter-spoon molder, and in his trav- els was accompanied by a dog, which the Indians stole, and he followed them to this part of the country, recaptured his dog, and was so highly pleased with the surroundings that he built him a cabin and remained here.
The little settlement now began to receive accessions. In the following year (1818), Henry Swisher and Aaron Grier came to this township, the former of whom was of a jovial and humorous disposition, and delighted to relate anecdotes of early pioneer life, many of which still survive and are repeated by those who had the pleasure of hearing them from his own lips. Soon following these, were Isaac Finkbone, whose prowess in the many pugilistic encounters in which he was engaged is well remembered by those who knew him ; and Aaron Grier, who came in about 1818. Within two years, it had received Allen Reed, who located in Section 19, and a family of Holes, who filled a space in the forest. Leonard Hess came to this township in 1836, and is still living here, as are also Mr. Simon, who came from France in 1839, and first located in the northeast part of the township, where he remained five years, then removed to the southwest part. remaining one year ; he came to Versailles. where he began business without capital and without knowing a word of English .. When Mr. Simon first settled here, his nearest neighbor on the east was five miles, through the woods ; one-half mile on the west, and two miles on the north and south, and L. R. Hugh, the oldest man in the township. Mr. H. retains all his faculties and jocosely boasts that he can outrun any man of his age (eighty-four) in the county. John J. Begien lives about three miles south- west of Versailles, aged eighty-six, and was a member of Napoleon's old army in France, an honor of which but few living men, in this or any other country, can boast.
Such were the men who penetrated these parts of nature, who courted the solitude of the illimitable forest, and we may add, in the words of Virgil : "They neither pined with grief, lamenting the poor, nor envied the rich ; what fruits the boughs spontaneously yielded, they gathered ; nor saw the iron-hearted laws, the madly litigious bar, or the public courts.'
The Hardshell Baptists had a little church, the corner-stone of which is still to be seen in the yard of Dr. Gordon, of Versailles, in this township, and. it seems, their rules required every applicant for membership to give in a brief experience as a test of his fitness for admission.
A person, living up the creek, by the name of Stoner, it appears, notwith- standing his hard name, was a little soft. Nevertheless, he wanted to join the church. He rose in the congregation and thus began : "I got up this morning, greased my shoes, combed my head and started to meetin'. . As I was a comin' along, I saw a tree ; I says to myself, Kin one man pull that ar tree up ? No ! Kin two men ? No! Kin ten men ? No! Kin twenty men ? No! Kin God Almighty pull that tree up ? Yes ! I feel like suthin' is going to happen." He sat down. The preacher rose and said : " Brethren, extend the right hand of fellowship to Brother Stoner, for this is the true bleatin' of the lamb.'
Frenchtown is a hamlet situated near the northwest corner of Wayne Town- ship, at the center of Section 11, Range 3, and, as its name denotes, has a popula- tion largely composed of French. The oldest living settler is J. P. Berge, who migrated hither from Stark County in 1838, and entered an eighth-section of the
M
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public lands. The people are quiet and industrious, frugal and enterprising, and give themselves little concern in regard to events which are remote from them.
There is built here a fine church, belonging to the Catholics, and valued at $3,000. It stands upon land formerly owned by JJacob Subler. Part of the cem- etery is upon land once the property of William Subler, and another part was owned by Catharine Subler. The present church edifice was built in 1866, at which time the Trustees were Joseph Beg. Henry Grilliot, George Grilliot and John B. Alexander. Father Kreush was then Pastor. A log church had stood on the same site for many years. The pioneer priest in this settlement was Father Navarron. A second church two and and a half miles east of Frenchtown was built about 1848 and 1849. The following is illustrative of the times when these churches were being built : About seven miles east of Frenchtown, there was a settlement, then known as " Russia," and a wager of two gallons of whisky was laid between the church members of that locality and those of Frenchtown, to be claimed by the party that would get the first log of a certain size and length, hewed and in place. Frenchtown got the whisky. The first burial in the ceme- tery was Mrs. Peter Goffena, in 1842. The present Catholic priest is Rev. J. N. Borion. The membership of the church is over three hundred. A Catholic teacher is employed in the district school, whose average attendance is twenty-five. The first, parsonage was built in 1850. The present parsonage is a neat brick cottage with pleasant grounds, and was built some few years ago. The first English teacher was B. Ward, about 1850. The principal store in the place, now kept by Michael Subler, was built in 1858, and has been used as a store from that time till now. Nicholas Krushet put in the first stock.
Versailles is the post town of Wayne Township. It was laid out by Silas Atchison in the year 1819, and at that time was known as Jacksonville. A school house was erected in 1821. There is now a good high school in the village. In 1820, the Baptists organized a society under the lead of Rev. Thomas Childers. Rev. Samuel Kyle, then resident near Piqua, Miami County, organized a Christian Church, and in 1823 a meeting-house was built by the Baptists, on land later owned by John Boyer, in Section 25. This church was the second one erected in the county. The Christians built about 1826, in Section 24, on land owned by William E. Larimore. There are a number of churches in the township, mainly at Versailles. The census of 1870 gave the population of Wayne as 1,983.
ADAMS TOWNSHIP.
This township was erected in March, 1819, and contained all the land east of a line running south from the northwest corner of Section 4, Township 10 north, of Range 3 east, to the southeast corner of Section 28, Township 9, of Range 3. It was detached from the east end of Greenville Township and the south end of Wayne. In 1820, Sections 3, 4 and 10, of Township 10, Range 3, were taken into Richland Township. In June, 1838, all of Township 8, Range 3, and Township 8, Range 4, that was in Adams, was taken into a new township, which was entitled Van Buren.
The second permanent settlement in Darke County was made in Adams Township. In 1808, Abraham Studabaker, with his wife, settled on the bank of Greenville Creek, opposite the present site of Gettysburg, on Section 25, on land now owned by A. Stoltz. From what the writer can gather. Mr. Studabaker was the first white man that became a permanent settler of Adams Township, as we have no account of any before him, and none other till the close of the Indian war of 1812. Very soon after the cessation of hostilities, Maj. George Adams, who had served in the armies of Harmar and Wayne, came to the township, and, studying the needs of the pioneers and his own interest as well, erected a flouring- mill on Section 33, where now stands the mill of Stoltz & Coppess. This was
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the pioneer mill of the county, and became known far and wide ; and there are many of the pioneers now living who have a pleasing recollection of the gallant Major and his old-time mill. Their estimation was shown by the perpetuation of his memory in the name of the township in which he made his home.
It is said of Mr. Studabaker that he entered a quarter-section, and put up a cabin built of such poles as he could handle himself, for his nearest white neigh- bors were on the Stillwater, fourteen miles east, and at Fort Black, now New Madi- son, seventeen miles to the westward.
He had all his provision to carry on horseback from the Stillwater settlement, as there were no roads at that time. Indians were peaceable, but none the less an occasion of apprehension and distrust.
One morning, two Indians called at the cabin, and finding Mr. Studabaker had gone out to a piece of ground he was preparing for corn, demanded from his wife some bacon which she was preparing for breakfast. She refused to give it up, as it was part of the supplies brought from the Stillwater late the pre- vious evening. One of the Indians seized the meat at one end, while she held fast to the other and cried loudly for help. The other Indian drew his knife and cut off the meat near her hand, and the two made off before her husband had time to come to her assistance.
The great thoroughfare of the Indians between Piqua and the Whitewater towns ran almost before his door, and, although they were not particularly hostile during the first years of his stay, they were troublesome. He brought with him a horse and a cow. and, some time after, his stock of animals was increased by the birth of a calf. During the first year. he partially cleared two acres, which he planted in corn. He had just got his little erop harvested, when his horse died of " milk sickness." In a short time, the calf was killed by the wolves. Hoping to catch some of these prowling beasts, he constructed a trap, and baited it with the remains of the calf. The cow, unluckily, was so overcome by enriosity as to put her head into the trap, which was sprung, and broke her neck.
For flour and meal, he was obliged to go to Milton, in Miami County. A journey to and from this mill occupied two days, even when the traveling was at its best. An incident will serve to illustrate the unpleasantness of the surroundings. In the winter, which was an unusually severe one. Mr. Studabaker started for the mill on Stillwater, at Milton. He had killed and dressed a hog the day before. He left his little family in the woods, with no neighbors nearer than Boyd's, in Greenville Township, on one hand, and, on the other, none between him and the Stillwater. In the night, a pack of wolves came around the house, and their howl- ing was not calculated to lull the lonely wife and children to sleep. Suddenly, there came a smothered yell of pain and affright from a single wolf, and, immedi- ately after, a chorus of yelling, snarling and yelping, as if pandemonium had broken loose. This lasted but a moment. when all became still. The silence lasted till morning. In the morning, Mrs. Studabaker opened the door, and there, within four feet of the threshold, lay a monster wolf, dead, and his protruding tongue was frozen fast to the ax which had been used to cut up the dead hog. It was supposed that this wolf, attracted to the ax by the bits of flesh and blood which adhered to it, had attempted to lick it, and the ax, being full of frost, caused his tongue to adhere, drawing from him a cry of pain, upon which the others set upon him and killed him. At all events, he was dead, and wolves never came near the house again.
The American panther (Felis concoler), or " painter," as it was called by the early settlers, a ferocious and dangerous animal, abounded in this region. Mr. Studabaker killed many of them during his residence here, and, on more than one occasion, came near losing his life in conflict with them. On one occasion, while working near the edge of his clearing, he saw an immense panther on the limb of a tree twenty-five or thirty feet from him, crouched ready for a spring. His rifle was standing by a stump within ten feet from him, but he dared not move or take
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his eyes from his stealthy enemy. The enraged brute sprang into the air toward him with a thrilling ery. At the same instant, he sprang for his rifle. and, as the panther struck the ground exactly at the spot he had just quitted, he fired. The ball struck the animal in the front shoulder, passing completely through, and so disabled it that it could not renew the attack, but it made the most terrific strug- gle, uttering frightful screeches and yells. until Mr. Studabaker reloaded his rifle, when he took a more careful aim and ended the struggle. This was one of the largest of the species, measuring eight feet from " tip to tip."
Deer apparently shunned that immediate vicinity, although Mr. Studabaker frequently shot them in his clearing. But they were much more numerous in other localities, and the Indians gave as a reason the mysterious " belly-sick." which the whites called " milk sickness."
The Indians never molested Mr. Studabaker with any hostile intent. In 1811, when they became threatening, he built a substantial block-house and moved into it. With the exception of Andrew Rush and the Wilson girls. no murders were committed in the neighborhood during this period. They frequently called on Mr. Studabaker for refreshment, and were never refused. Whatever was set before them they took away with them, even to the dishes. They would eat all they could, and, according to the statement of many old settlers, no system of surface measurement would give any idea of a hungry Indian's capacity, and what they could not by any possibility eat they would stow about their persons and carry away. They were almost daily visitors during these years, but the uniform kindness and hospitality with which they were treated, it is thought. saved the Studabakers from their fury.
Tecumseh Laulewasikaee, his father, Little Turtle, Black Hoof and other noted chiefs were frequent visitors. Tecumseh is described as a young man of grave, dignified. commanding presence, and appeared not only intelligent and courte- ous. but benevolent and humane. Sometime. while Mr. Studabaker was residing here, Tecumseh and his brother moved from their home near Greenville to escape the demoralizing effects of the whisky retailed to their people by Azor Scribner. who had a trading post at Minatown. The Indians of the neighborhood, it seems, would visit Scribner's once a week or oftener, for the purpose of obtaining whisky and ammunition, and on these occasions they often became noisy and boisterous, for it seems whisky had much the same effect on Indians it did on the whites.
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