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 60
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111
The Methodists, progressing with the van of civilization, were here, as else- where, carly promulgators of the Scriptures in Twin Township. The first organ- ization was effected at Ithaca, in 1840, with forty-two members, and two years
461
HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.
subsequently, their present house of worship was erected, the first in the town- ship. They now have three societies-one at Ithaca, one at Gordon, and the third at Arcanum. Four other organizations, two of them Lutherans, one German Reformed and one Baptist, complete the list of the religious associations in Twin Township.
There are two cemeteries in the township ; these cities of the dead are both located at Ithaca. One is under the control of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the other belongs to the township, and takes its origin from the date of the first settlement therein. Here was buried Jacob Baumgardner, who died in the spring of 1817, and was the first burial in the township.
Twin has its full proportion of villages, there being three regularly laid out villages within its limits. The oldest in point of survey is Ithaca, which was platted by John Colville. in 1832. This served as the trading center for a cir- cumference of many miles and for a number of years. Joseph Evans established the first dry-goods store in the place. It was kept by "Jacky " North, previously mentioned. The first tavern, or at least place where the public were invited to " bed and board," was kept by Eli Shearer, upon the site occupied by the present hotel. The village now contains one dry-goods store, one grocery, one clothing store, two blacksmith-shops, one hotel, and among shops, a shoe, a meat, a harness. a cabinet and an undertaker's. There is a single physician only in the place.
Here are the headquarters of Ithaca Lodge, F. & A. M., No. 295, whose charter was granted July 17, 1857. At this time the members were William H. Matchett, Daniel Ridenour, William Colville, S. C. Engle, Martin J. Colville, Milton McNeal, J. H. Engle, Caswell Sharp, Clark Baker and Elijah Heath.
The first Master was William H. Matchett ; the first Senior Warden, Clark Baker ; the first Junior Warden, Martin Colville. The lodge has a present mem- bership of sixty-three, and is in a flourishing condition. They have a large three- story building, whose uppermost room is large, spacious, well furnished and in use as a lodge-room.
The next place laid out was Arcanum, in 1849, by Gunder. As growth continued, additions were successively made by land-owners, on all sides. Of these were addi- tions to the north and west by Ivester; Allread & Houck, on the south, and by Falk- ner, on the northeast. On June 20, 1851, the first store in the place was begun, by Messrs. Samuel and John Smith, and in the year following, the railroad came through from Dayton. The building of this road, which extended diagonally across the township, from north to south, marked an epoch in the history of town- ship and village. It put an end to the necessity of the previous long, tedious and expensive journey, through swamps and over corduroy roads, to Dayton, with produce. It brought a good market to the township, and, to the extreme surprise of many, " increased the price of horses." The M. E. Church was built in 1856, and the people came here instead of to the old log church on Painter's Creek. The United Brethren was put up in 1872 or 1873, and they were no longer depend- ent upon the old schoolhouse, and the Reformed Church perfected an organization in 1879.
On June 20, 1851, the Messrs. Smith, as stated, engaged here in merchandise and trade, and to their energy Arcanum, now a village of 1,000 people, largely owes its present prosperity. It contains four dry-goods houses, seven groceries, two drug- stores, two hardware, four harness, three carriage, four blacksmiths, three meat, three shoe, two milliner, three dress making and two barber shops. There are two livery stables, a hotel, a printing office, two bakerys, four grain warehouses, one lumber yard, two flouring-mills, a saw-mill, a planing-mill and a sash and door factory. A synopsis this of the interests of a live, thriving place. Among pro- fessional men, there are four physicians and one dentist. A schoolhouse has eiglit rooms and four teachers employed therein. Taken in business, religions, educa- tional or other views of the village, it is seen to be aspiring and enterprising, man- ifesting a spirit valuable to the community and securing prosperity to themselves.
462
HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.
The presence of such places in a township serve as a stimulus to trade and agri- culture, enhancing real estate values and ineiting to cultivation.
BUTLER TOWNSHIP.
The most current statement with regard to the name chosen for this township is that it was in honor of Maj. Butler, who fell in the battle known to history as St. Clair's defeat ; but this is probably true in an indirect way only. The town- ship was principally settled, to begin with, by pioneers from the neighboring county-Butler-and direct reference was had to the old home county rather than to the hero. in the choice of the name which the new township should bear. Butler County. however, was named undoubtedly in honor of the hero above men- tioned.
The history of Butler Township will be somewhat meager, owing to the unusual difficulty of collecting data concerning it; but enough has been gleaned from various authentic sources to form an interesting and instructive sketch.
It is somewhat remarkable that the most diligent search of the records in the county offices gives no information concerning the date, ete., of the organization of this township, and conversations with the oldest residents now living afford no definite clew to the mystery. The general impression among those who are now most likely to have opinions on the subject that approximate accuracy is that it took place in 1819-20. Dr. J. P. Love, now in his seventy-fifth year, and a resident at New Castine since 1833, says that about twenty years after the first settlement of what became Butler Township, the anomaly existed of four school districts that had never been legally or formally constituted, and of several road districts that had not been authoritatively defined ! In 1834, for the first time, these districts were legally bounded and laid out.
Butler Township is situated in the southwestern part of the county, being in the southern tier, and the second from the Indiana line, Harrison intervening. It is six miles square. The general surface is level, but is somewhat broken in the northwestern portion and in the vicinity of New Madison. There was a small traet in the central part, known as Maple swamp, the value of which was depre- ciated on account of being subject to frequent inundations, but a drain was put through it by order of the County Commissioners. thereby draining this locality and rendering the " swamp " the richest and best of farming land, from the deep alluvium of the surface soil. Originally, the township was heavily timbered with such woods as no weak land can produce, and the fair proportion of timber that is still left standing is stalwart and symmetrical. It has been claimed that since the reclamation of Maple swamp there is less untillable soil in Butler than in any other township of Darke County. This is saying much, probably too much, but the fact remains that its fertility attracted within its limits at an early day men of ability and energy, who have brought it to a high state of cultivation and of public and private improvement. Eleven years ago, it had thirty miles of turnpike (or almost a mile to every square mile of its area) under contract, at a cost of $60,000-ample evidence of the truth of the above statement. The land was originally entered in eighty and one hundred and sixty acre parcels, princi- pally, but more of the latter than of the former. In some instances. quarter- sections have been divided, but in more cases two eighties have been thrown together. Among the large farms of to-day are Joshua Fowble's, 250 acres and upward, one and a half miles northeast of New Castine ; Jacob Wolverton's, about 175 acres, just north of Castine, and Esquire Voris', just south.
The Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railway runs through the northwest- ern corner of the township. Twin Creek rises near the northern boundary of But- ler, runs almost south into Section 22, thence southeasterly to New Castine, and by a circuitous but still southeasterly course leaves the township a short distance west of the center of Section 36. Between Section 22 and the south line of Butler,
463
HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.
it sends off several branches to the right and left, at an average distance of three- fourths of a mile apart. Mud Creek also enters near the center of the township line and extends southeast into Section 8. The Middle Branch of Mud Creek enters the township one-fourth of a mile east of the railroad, in the eastern part of Section 5, near the center of which it crosses the railroad and then runs nearly par- allel therewith until it leaves the township, at the northwestern corner of Section 18. The first turnpike was built in 1869, a north and south road, running from Greenville to Eaton, through New Castine, called the Greenville & Eaton Pike. The east and west road, crossing the other at right angles at Castine, is popularly known as the "New Garden Road." The name arose from the circumstance of semi-annual meetings held by the Quakers of New Garden, Ind., and the regular pilgrimage thereto of large numbers of Quakers from Union Township, Miami County, this State, over this road.
Joh Camp, who came in 1814, is reputed to be the earliest settler in Butler. Francis Harter and his sons, also James Mills, came in 1817 or 1818; Jacob Wein- gardner in 1819. Abram P. Freeman came only a little later. Charles Harriman came to Butler in 1821 and settled where New Castine now stands. Jonathan Pitman, Joseph Danner and John Ellis also came at a very early date. Ellis was from Kentucky. Job Camp was from Hamilton County, but was raised in New Jersey. Jacob F. Miller was Justice of the Peace as early as 1816. Mark Mills represented the county in 1832 or 1833, and was probably also a Justice of the Peace.
David Harter, one of the oldest settlers, lived in the northwestern part of the township. Esquire Peter Fleck, for a long time a Trustee, lived close to the north line, toward the east. Esquire Baker, somewhat noted as a Democratic politician. lived east of Castine. He was elected to the State Legislature and settled in Green- ville in the practice of the law. Politically, Butler Township is largely Democratic -so much so as to have been termed the "South Carolina of Darke County." Religiously, most of the people are either church members or in sympathy with the church. There are five church structures in the township, at which services are held at stated times, and six resident local preachers-men capable and earnest in their calling.
The first schoolhouse was built in 1824, on Section 35, near the present site of New Castine. A second schoolhouse, a log cabin, was located up the road toward the creek. A man by the name of .Bentley now lives on the ground occu- pied by the old schoolhouse, in the southeast corner of the town. The third schoolhouse in this neighborhood was a frame building, located about half a mile east of Castine. The fourth was a brick structure, put up on the same ground. The last and present schoolhouse is a frame, two stories, also on the same ground. One teacher is employed in the summer and two in the winter. There are nine school districts in Butler Township ; the houses are mostly of wood. Samuel Sat- terley was the first teacher in Butler. James L. Hunt and P. V. Banta (the latter now of Greenville) were teachers about 1833. The first meetings were held in pri- vate houses, and afterward in schoolhouses. The first church was built at New Castine in 1849, by the United Brethren ; Otterbein Chapel, located in the north- western part of the township, was built about the same time. In 1830, a black- smith-shop was built by Joseph Danner, on the west side of the southeast quarter of Section 26 ; his land patent, for eighty acres, bears date the same year. In 1833, Dr. J. P. Love bought him out. From 1833 to 1837, coopering was the most conspicuous mechanical business in the township, but there were also blacksmith- shops, while shoemaking had begun to be quite a business outside of household manufacture ; pottery was carried on at Castine and elsewhere, and there was also a hatter's establishment in the place. From that time until 1842, we are credibly informed by an old resident, the little village did more business than ever before or since. These and the still earlier days of which we have spoken formed the log-cabin period. The old-fashioned spinning-wlieel was in every home, the flax
N
464
HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.
brake on every farm, and in every third or fourth house the loom did faithful serv- ice. Candle-molds went the rounds, and woe to the unlucky borrower who caused a dent therein. Splint-bottom chairs served the twofold purpose of seats and, when turned over, of racks, for the suspension of tallow dips in the formative stage. The distinction between base-burning parlor and cooking stoves had never entered the heads of the foremost families ; indeed, the only arrangement for botli heating and culinary purposes was the old-time, wide-mouthed, friendly fireplace, save and except an occasional plain box-stove. made of unadorned plates of iron- and these were scareer in the community then than pianos are now. Even as late as 1833 the township was a wilderness. Hardships had to be overcome, of course. and difficulties surmounted, but it should not be supposed that there were no com- pensating advantages. The pioneers not only lived, but lived well. Game, fish, wild fruits, berries, etc., were abundant and cheap. Clothing, though not stylish, was neat and comfortable, and cost little more than the labor necessary to make it. The habits of the people were simple, and their expenses light. Per contra, nearly all modern conveniences were wanting, and modern luxuries unthought of. The usual place for milling was at Frazier's stone mill, six miles down Twin Creek, in Preble County. The market was at Dayton and Cincinnati-thirty-two and sixty-two miles distant. Now the distance is two miles to the nearest shipping point, viz., Manchester, on the Dayton & Western Railroad. In 1830, the popula- tion of the township was 512; in 1870, 1,524.
NEW CASTINE.
This is a village of 200 inhabitants, a little over twelve miles south from Greenville and six and a half miles southeast from New Madison. It is located on Sections 35 and 26, at the center of the east and west line between them, and one and a half miles within the eastern boundary of Butler Township. New Castine was laid out in 1832, on land that belonged to John Ellis, Joseph Danner and Frederick Smith. Dr. J. P. Love, who came in 1833, bought out Danner's and part of Smith's, and a man from Pennsylvania, Samuel Brosserman, bought the rest of Smith's interest. The original proprietors had, without legal notice or due course of law, got a surveyor to lay off lots and had commenced selling the same. when Mr. Love, who was somewhat posted in legal matters, informed them that they had no right so to do, and that for every lot they had sold they were liable to a fine of $50. A plat was immediately made, and the necessary steps taken to prevent prosecutions. Castine was incorporated in 1842-43, but the charter was allowed to expire through default of the citizens, and the place has now no corpo- rate existence. Dr. J. P. Love occupied the first house built in Castine-on the northeast corner of Main and Main Cross streets. At the same time, another log cabin was put up by William Boswell, but not finished until afterward. Soon after, another was erected by George Hickman. The present "Eagle Hotel " was built by John L. Robinson, located at the southwest corner of the two principal streets. Russell Evans, now deceased, ran a hotel on the east side of Main street. the third lot from the corner. He began in the hotel business in 1843. He had been keeping a " grocery " here and there in rented quarters. His hotel was burned down in the fall of 1879. "The Eagle" was the first and only hotel built as such. It has changed hands many times. James Hanway was for a long time a resident of New Castine, but moved to Kansas in 1857. R. M. Pomeroy, now President of the Pacific Railway, sold goods here two years from 1838 to 1840. Pomeroy kept store at New Paris, then at Castine. then at Spartansburg, Ind., then at Cincinnati, and finally went to Boston. Mass. Dr. Love sold the first goods in New Castine and continued in the trade until 1838 ; he began again in 1842 and continued until 1851; for six years, he dealt in pork and hauled the cured meat to Cincinnati in wagons. He has only practiced medicine at intervals and upon urgent solicitation of his patrons. The following physicians have practiced in the village and township since 1833, viz.,
465
HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.
Drs. Birt, Cooper, David Marsh, Stevens, Palmer, John L. Matchett. T. R. Luff, Isaac Thomas, Humphrey and Frank Matchett, the two latter being the present resident physicians.
The United Brethren Church was built in 1849, as before stated. Among the leading promoters of the enterprise were George Byers, Samuel Coblentz and Henry Wehrly. The Dunkard Church was built about eight years ago. Wendell Min- nich, a preacher of that denomination, was the first man who worked up an inter- est in the matter. At first, the meetings were held in a house that was built for a potter's house, located on Lot No. 12. Minnich died some twenty years ago, after which his brother-in-law, George Syler, was preacher till the new house was erected eight years since. The Dunkards bought their lot of Frederick Trump. Among the early preachers in this vicinity was a Presbyterian named Cracken. William McCale preached in George Byers' barn in 1833. The United Brethren held meet- ings there, and also at Samuel Coblentz. For an account of the schools, see Town- ship History.
HARRISON TOWNSHIP.
Harrison is one of the very best townships in the county and is peopled by able and thrifty farmers, who are purchasing many of the small lots of land here- tofore occupied as farms and attaching them to their first possessions. This shows fewer farms than in 1860. In other townships there are greater portions of the land unoccupied, and as it settles, population increases.
The township was erected May, 1818, from territory taken from the west end of Twin Township, and contained all of that township west of a line commencing at the southeast corner of Section 31, Town 10 north, Range 2 east, and running thence north to the township line. It was reduced to its present size in 1820. Numerous streams have their source within its boundary, the principal of which are East Branch of Greenville Creek, branches of Mud Creek flowing northward and eastward, and the East Fork of Whitewater, which rises in the northeastern part and flows southeasterly through its lands. The Middle Fork of Whitewater flows across the northwest corner, while many springs gushing out from the hillsides contribute their waters, which by their natural channels supply abundance of water and an excellent natural drainage. Save in the northwest. the valleys of these streams and much of their basins were swampy and well-nigh impassable. In some places. there were tall rank grasses and swamp weeds ; in others, timber and thickets of vinous brush-briery and woven as a network of nature's weaving, while on higher ground bordering these were walnut. hackberry, sugar maple and oaks ; in the southeastern part, beech predominated. The native scenery presents an appearance of a western forest repelling the settler from interference with its domain. Such were the general features of this region before the pioneer had chosen his home, or any surveyor had ventured to trace the boundaries of town or range. All was wood and swamp. Nature reigned in unbroken solitude save the song of birds, the graceful flight of deer, the nightly howl of wolves and the occasional unearthly screech of the American panther. Abundance of game. the rolling lands, the springs and streams were marked by explorers.
Ishmael Bunch, one of the earliest settlers of Wayne Co., Ind .. if generally accepted tradition may be accepted, built a log cabin and lived some time previous to the Indian outbreak on land now included in Harrison Township, but he was rather a roaming frontiersman than a pioneer settler. and depended more upon his rifle than upon his plow for subsistence.
Before the war of 1812, the Brawleys, Purviances and McClures, had made entries in the southern part along the present beautiful East Fork Valley, but the hostile attitude of the Indians compelled them to seek more secure quarters for their families. Some went to the fort at Greenville and some to the older settle- ments south. Again the lands were left to solitude and the rude attempts at settlement, but served to make the wilderness more wild and strange. Soon after
466
HISTORY OF DARKE COUNTY.
the treaty at Greenville, the families above mentioned returned and repaired the work begun, and entered anew upon the clearing-up of lands for future farms. They were shortly after joined by William and John Wade, who located farther north and near to Fort Black, and by Zadoe and John Smith, whose entry included the old fort, while James Emerson, Joseph Gist, the Tillsons and the Harlands, selected lands lying along the Middle Branch of Whitewater. The ring of the woodman's ax, and the triumphant shout of the pioneers as the last log was placed by the " corner men" upon each new cabin, proclaimed the progress of civilization here.
So rapid was settlement that by 1817, Zadoc Smith was encouraged to attempt the speculative movement of laying out a town at Fort Black. This old fort was established during the fall of 1813 by Lieut. Black, of a company commanded by Capt. Nesbitt, who at the same time built a fort in Preble County. David Baldwin, now of Kansas, aided to build the fort, and was for some time one of its garrison. Mr. Smith platted a tract of land near the fort, which was for many years and till its incorporation called by the name of Fort Black. On Christmas Day, 1817, a public sale of town lots was held, but the sequel proved that he had anticipated the needs of the times. Henry Hutton and Frederick Fulke were the only pur- chasers who built upon lots then sold; nevertheless, there were besides the families of these two men. Dennis Hart, Judson Jaqua and the Lawrences, in the neighbor- hood which became known as Yankee Town; Solomon and Jonathan Thomas, southwest of Madison ; John and Aaron Rush, on Section 11 (?) and 14; Thomas Micham, on Section 16; John Downing, on Section 10; Frances Spencer, on Section 3 ; Samuel Roberts, at Fort Nesbitt, and his brother George, on Section 29, and John and Jacob Miller, Daniel Owens, David, James P. and Daniel Edwards and John Watson were in the central part and north of Fort Nesbitt. There was also John Tibbs, who gave his time to hunting, and David Gibbs and Newland, mill- wrights, and Robert Campbell, in the southwest portion. The openings had grown numerous, elearings were no longer far between, and now the township was consti- tuted and the people entered upon a government for themselves. Among addi- tional settlers were Ernestus Putnam, Solomon Broderick, James Wooden (who were the first Justices of the Peace in the township), M. Buckingham, Nazareth Bunch, John Carrier, William Jones, Daniel Forkner, Jonathan Thomas, the Motes brothers, John Foster, E. Lovall and Thomas Gray. The lands of 1830 had all been entered, and some localities presented an appearance of a continued occupation. It must be borne in mind that these settlers came not as emigrants go to Kansas and other Western countries, upon the railroad. Neither had they cash in hand, nor an abundant outfit. The greater number were sons and daughters of the pioneer families of Kentucky, older portions of Ohio and the enterprising of Eastern and Southern States. Putnam and Foulke came from Washington, D. C. Here having married, they sought permanent homes, and being poor, their outfit was indeed meager. In some cases, a horse, a cow, a few swine, and some rude tools for felling trees and cultiva ting the ground. Those who came from Ken- tucky, especially, had a horse and a few cooking utensils. They journeyed, some on foot, while others more fortunate had teams. Generally two or three families came together, and had a wagon and team in common. Such was the case with McClure and his sons, the Wade brothers, the Smiths, Tillson and sons and the Harlands. In their course, they traveled over the new roads of the older settle- ments, as most not from the older portions of Ohio came in by way of Cincinnati, up the Miami from Dayton and the Stillwater, or up the Whitewater via Richmond to or near the present Miami County line. They then struck through the woods, sometimes being compelled to cut their own way until they reached the spot which husband or friend had previously selected. The family sometimes entered a cabin provided months before by these pioneers, while other times the immigrant sought temporary shelter in the cabin of a neighbor, while yet others made rude shelter until a cabin could be built.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.