The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 96

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214

USA > Ohio > Montgomery County > The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county > Part 96

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Joseph H. Johnson, a native of Hampshire County, Va., figured conspicu- s; among the early settlers. He left the Old Dominion in March, 1806, capanied by his wife, on horseback. While he took care of his rifle and a a package of clothing, she, in her side-saddle, carried in her lap their only wii. After a toilsome ride through an almost unbroken wilderness, they ar- rive safely on the banks of the Great Miami, and erected a cabin on the pres- tt te of Taylorsville. Mr. Johnson was an active, industrious and enter- ing man, endowed by nature with a powerful physique, brave, generous diospitable. He was widely known and universally esteemed. Game of all him in those days was very plenty, and Mr. Johnson had the reputation of it " a crack shot " among the woodsmen of the Miami Valley. A sketch of 3 fe and experience as a hunter, his numerous hair-breadth escapes from lcanimals of the forest, would be of great interest to those who knew him } prime; but few now remain who have a personal recollection of the noble- and Virginian who cleared and cultivated one of the finest farms on the ny of the Miami.

llias Matthews, from Maryland, who located in 1814, was one of the use- en of the township, repeatedly serving as one of its officers, magistrate, uee, Clerk, etc. He served one term in the General Assembly, and, later 1.,, was one of the three County Associate Judges as provided under the ne constitution of the State. His untimely decease, in 1844, caused by a il rom an apple tree, was sincerely regretted throughout the county. His le son, George W., married the mother of Schuyler Colfax, who afterward 8 ice President of the United States.

'homas Crook, who arrived about the same time, and brother-in-law of [atthews, was the father of Gen. George W. Crook, U. S. A. George vite, father of the venerable Capt. Elias Favorite, of Dayton ; Henry boa, John McFadden, James Black, John Booher and John Cuppy, a soldier tł American Revolution, an Indian scout in Capt. Brady's company in Gen. Nye's army from 1791 to 1794, were among the most highly esteemed citi- Is The latter, who was the last survivor of Brady's scouts, died in 1861, at e of one hundred years and four months.

ames Kay, an Englishman by birth, purchased a large portion of the 10 section (16), on the Bellefontaine road. Industrious and economical, he

haste slowly " in accumulating wealth. Farming, fattening and bric ring cattle, hogs and sheep was his occupation, and for a circumference of mes he furnished fresh meat to the inhabitants. Among his eccentricities was ) affectation of skepticism (for his honest, kindly heart forbade the idea that ? was unchristian), and he did not attain the social standing he otherwise migl have done in consequence.

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Had he followed the teachings of Beecher and Talmage, instead of P and Voltaire, his social standing and usefulness would have been equal to of any other citizen of the township. His reputation of being "ungodly" not a barrier to his honesty and fair dealing among his neighbors. He his companion through life lived long enough to celebrate their golden ding.

Mr. Kay was a man of fine physique, great nerve and iron will. countenance and general contour of features had a remarkable resembland the portrait of Shakespeare.

John Duncan Campbell, one of the early magistrates and useful serv of the township in other offices, was the father of the first male white c born within its limits, namely, John Campbell, Jr., born August 28, 1807.

Mr. Campbell was the son of Capt. John Campbell, who was taken ] , oner by the Indians, near Sandusky in 1784, and bound at the stake, when subject of this sketch was but ten months old. He came to Ohio with his owed inother in 1804, and purchased the north half of Section 4, on River, in the eastern part of the township, and sixty of a fractional sectic Greene County, bounded on the east by Mad River and on the west by lands in the township. The locality is considered the garden spot of the River Valley, and is owned and occupied at this time by his son, James Ca bell, Jacob Kissinger and Capt. Jacob Beyl. Mr. Campbell kept a hou: entertainment for the accommodation of the traveling public for many y. His kind and hospitable nature and fine social qualities combined to make universally esteemed among the early pioneer settlers of the Mad River Va Benevolent and charitable to a fault, his death cast a gloom over the e. township and the surrounding country.

SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES.

Besides the log schoolhouse erected on Mr. John Shafer's land, of v mention has been made, a schoolhouse was built, and the first one in the ea part of the township, in the same year (1809), on the farm at present o and occupied by Abraham Kendig, and the first teacher in charge of i Daniel Harman, uncle to Hon. Samuel Sullivan, of Miami County. The s was open in the winter of 1809-10, and its average attendance about thir Its only pupil now living is Miss Rebecca Tatman, daughter of Rey Je Tatman, hereinbefore noticed. That pioneer structure was destroyed by i the summer of 1813, but a new and more commodious building was erecte ensuing autumn on the premises now owned and occupied by Henry Ci This primitive edifice was used for religious service, and the first chur ganization in the township (Methodist Episcopal) held their meetings nately in it and at the residence of John Slagle, near where Palmer's C now stands. The congregation was under the pastoral care of Revs. Sa Malay and Joseph Tatman. In this schoolhouse, under the superinten of the latter named, the pioneers' children attended their first Sabbath so

The edifice first erected for public worship exclusively was on the M. den farm, now owned by Thomas Smith. The precise time cannot be defi, ascertained, but, from the best information, that rough log structure was p in 1816, and was used as a place of worship by the Methodist Episcopa other orthodox denominations until the schoolhouse was built on the old road in District No. 3. In 1846, the Methodists built Wayne Chapel, on adjoining that upon which the school building stood. The lot was donat a pioneer, James Black. It may be observed that, prior to the buildi church edifices, a large number of the inhabitants of Wayne Township att public worship in churches contiguous to the township line, but in adjo

WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

01 ties. These, with the schoolhouses, afforded for the time being ample acities for " stated preaching."

Montgomery Chapel was erected in 1852, at a cost of $1,250, cash sub- motion, exclusive of donations of labor and materials to the amount, prob- ab, of $150. The aggregate cash subscriptions of the persons named in the ol wing list, as nearly as can be ascertained, was $850. The lot upon which thechurch was built was donated by the late venerable Thomas Crook, who ulcribed $100 in addition to the building fund. Except for the subscrip bos of these liberal-minded citizens, the church could not have been built; but 16, the unpleasant task of writing a few pages of discreditable history might a been avoided. The list of names before referred to is: Thomas Smith, dard Smith, Wheatly Smith, William Johnson, Abraham Stoker, Thomas Lrik, Daniel Carles and David Carles.

Neither of these public-spirited and enterprising citizens were ever con- Leod with any religious sect. Except David Carles, all have seen "the last : rth."

The deed donating a site for the edifice-ten rods by eleven-after recit- mg he metes and bounds, conveys "one hundred and ten rods for the pur- vos and uses of a house of public worship and burial-ground, said lot of land lo plong to said Trustees and their successors in office, under the name and titlof 'The United Brethren in Christ,' for devotional exercises, or other bus- me pertaining to church matters, to be open and free to all other Christian (1minations."

The district schoolhouse near the church was destroyed by fire in March, and the School Trustees, by the permission of those in authority, leased te hurch until a new building could be erected.

The conditions stipulated in the conveyance of the site that the building icld be free to all Christian denominations, and the large congregations as- oled when the Methodists and other sects held service, excited, perhaps, a fra usy among the United Brethren officers. Whatever it was that prompted e in their sacrilegious proceedings, in the month of April following, a well- rgiized mob of self-styled guardians of the Lord's property assembled at the Luh and ordered the teacher (Miss Alice Brentlinger) to dismiss the school. ne then began the work of unroofing and demolishing the building. The a rial was laden on wagons and divided among the spoilsmen, who drove to e homes and reported the great victory they had achieved over the " ungodly cle" (the unsectarian subscribers to the building fund), who had built a dutch in such a benighted region! The brick were sold to Mr. Troup, who Iche contract for rebuilding the schoolhouse, and the residue of the promis- toly scattered material was disposed of at a mock auction, held under the Viings of "Golden " Chapel, near the Brandt Turnpike. It is something conundrum as to what use was made of the proceeds of the sale.

The materials of which the altar and pulpit were composed were used in construction of hog-pens by some members of the secretly organized mob ucazed the religious (?) temple, and a portion of the brick, not used in re- mi ing the schoolhouse, were taken to Tippecanoe, Miami County, and used le building of a saloon. That the participators in this disreputable busi- -shad secretly arranged their plan of operation is not a matter of doubt, and wird off suspicion of their contemplated action, one of their party adopted the nesse of sending his children to the school on the very morning he after- war appeared with his team to carry away his portion of the spoil. Yet these chujh-destroyers claimed to be "United Brethren in Christ," though their con ict on this occasion demonstrates that they were actuated and stimulated by spirit totally different from and at variance with the spirit of Him who

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

taught men to love one another. to render good for evil, and, if need be, suffer even "persecution for righteousness' sake." Possibly these misguic (if not viciously inclined) men imagined they were fulfilling a mission, ¿ were really illustrating in a tangible form the expression of the religious poe

"God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform."

TOPOGRAPHY.

Wayne Township is a fractional portion of what was included in Day Township by the original survey of the Government lands, and derived name from that celebrated hero who was so highly esteemed by the early s tlers of the Miami and Mad River Valleys.

The surface of the soil is gently rolling, being higher and more rolling the central portion of the township, extending from the extreme northern to southern boundary, than the eastern and western portions.

The early settlers in the Miami and Mad River Valleys experienced gr inconvenience, and frequently suffered serious loss, from the destruction their crops by the overflow of these rivers. The channels of these streams w often so completely obstructed and gorged by large accumulations of drift ar inundate what is now the finest agricultural portion of the county. The ea emigration waif, with but few exceptions, would only purchase such lands in his opinion, would not be liable to overflow from the Miami or Mad Riv and for this reason the central portion of the township was much more attra ive to the early pioneer and land speculator.

During the summer months following the great spring freshets, causing rivers to inundate large tracts of land in the bottoms, the pioneer famil suffered severely from malarious fevers and chills, and it was no uncomm thing to find the dispenser of calomel and quinine in the humble cabins of 1 unfortunate sufferers every week during the period that was known and des nated as the "sickly season." The only remedies used and known among learned disciples of Esculapius at that time, and recommended as a certi panacea for all ills that flesh was heir to, was the lancet, blister, calom quinine and antimonial wine.

The topography of the township when undeveloped, and its natural st as described by the early pioneers, was unusually attractive to the backwool man and those seeking homes on the borders of civilization; game of ali kir was abundant, and the enterprising hunter and trapper realized some pro from the sale of skins of the wild animals that fell an easy prey to the cra shots of the hardy and daring pioneers.

Among the many privations and hardships that the early settlers of township had to endure, there was none that they felt more keenly than 1 lack of mills. The great distance they were compelled to travel in order have the little grain they raised manufactured into meal or flour, and the roa during the greater portion of the season impassable, and the streams with bridges or any other means of crossing, made it necessary for every family times to make use of the limited means at their command to manufacture th breadstuffs at home.

A hominy block was made from the trunk of a tree by squaring the end the log and burning a basin of sufficient size to hold about three gallons. iron wedge or an ax was then inserted into a pole about two feet in length, a with this simple arrangement the best of hominy could be made. The homi block could be found at the cabin of every pioneer in the township, and v a household necessity that could not be dispensed with.

The first mill erected in the township was built by Mr. Robert Miller,

WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

S Mile Run, near the old Troy road (now known as the Kellenberger Mill), al was known for many miles around as " Miller's Corn-Cracker." Here the fimers came for many iniles around and had their corn ground on the old rac- con buhr. This mill was built in 1809. Shortly after this (the exact date which we are unable to ascertain), a structure similar to that of Mr. Miller's w erected and operated by Mr. Lewis Brenner on Spring Run.

These mills ground no other cereal than corn, and the meal had to be used The family without sifting. John Campbell, Esq., on Mad River, rejoiced the ownership of the first corn-meal seive in the eastern part of the town- b), which was used for some time afterward by the entire populace of the nghborhood.

The introduction of the seive made the johnny-cake board a necessary sihen utensil, and the kitchen furniture of no cabin was considered complete h was not provided with this useful baking apparatus.

An amusing pioneer anecdote is related of a neighbor of Squire Campbell's wyją called at his house a few days after his arrival in the neighborhood to rure assistance in raising his cabin. The female members of the family we preparing the dinner, and the long johnny-cake board occupied nearly the nre space in front of the cabin fire. The new neighbor, after taking a sor- oful view of the board, inquired if the other members of the family who were opresent were all sick, and was answered in the negative, and informed that hof were all in the enjoyment of their usual good health. "Well," said he, car madam, what are you going to do with all these poultices you are warm- n,by the fire?"

The early pioneer was compelled to use corn bred for many years, and not nl about 1811 was flour manufactured from wheat and buckwheat on Mad Rir. A man by the nameof Robinson erected and put into operation a small ni on the premises now owned and occupied by Mr. G. W. Harshman, in Mad ir Township, about the same time Mr. John McCormick commenced the maufacture of flour in Greene County, six miles northeast, on the site where Incate John Kneisley, in 1855, erected the large merchant mill and distillery Lo owned by Mr. John Harries.

The ax, grubbing-hoe, maul and wedge, with the wooden mold-board plow, and the old "snake-killing " corn hoe, were about the only implements of 1. 1: andry used in preparing the ground for the seed.

The good housewife had her spinning-wheels and roughly constructed 0, upon which she manufactured the wearing apparel of the family. Wal- und oak bark were used for coloring material of the homespun linsey-woolsy, whh constituted the wardrobe of both sexes, old and young. The young lady vh was the fortunate possessor of a calico dress was the cynosure of all e at corn-husking frolics or places of public worship.

The first blacksmith shop in the township was built by Mr. Stoffel Coon, te fall of 1807, on the premises now owned and occupied by Mr. Daniel et ck. Mr. Coon did the iron work on the plows that were used in his neigh- rod, and Squire Campbell, who was styled the jack-of-all-trades, manu- cfred the wooden mold-boards and put the finishing touches on the " ma-

About the year 1812, Mr. John Zediker emigrated from Maryland and 6-ttd on the farm now owned and occupied by his son, Mr. Jacob Zediker, Esq: Mr. Zediker was a blacksmith by profession, and brought his kit of toolwith him, with the exception of anvil and bellows. A huge stone with a sroth surface was used for an anvil, and his neighbors furnished him with a f deer-skins with which he managed to construct a bellows. A pit of

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

charcoal was burned, and Mr. Zediker then commenced the work of maki and repairing the few rough agricultural implements used by his neighbors.

The manufacture of lime and the working of the stone quarries are t. leading and most profitable branches of industry in the central part of t township. The quantity and quality of the lime produced excels by far th of any other township in the county, and affords employment to a large nur ber of laborers at remunerative wages. No finer article of building stone c be found in this part of the State than are taken from the Booher quarries the old Troy pike. The stone used in building the cathedral in Cinciun. was taken from this quarry.

PUBLIC ROADS.

There are about sixty-two miles of authorized public roads in the townsh including five miles of toll road, eight miles of free turnpike, and four mi. on the south boundary line, one-half of which is kept in repair by Mad Riv Township and Greene County; they are generally kept in good repair. Su stantial bridges and stone culverts have been built where they were consider necessary by those in authority. An anuual road tax of $1,000 has been levi since 1865, for the purpose of keeping the roads in repair. As no portion this fund is used in building and keeping in repair the bridges and culverts. would seem that the roads of general utility should, by the expenditure of t] enormous sum, in connection with the two days' labor required by law of able-bodied men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty-six, should all be as good repair as any toll road in the county.

The township is what might be designated, in the very fullest sense of term, a rural township, as it is the only township in the county without a v lage within its limits, unless you choose to apply that appellation to Sulpl Grove, née Kildeer, or Taylorsville. The customs and habits of the people marked with great simplicity, as the good habits of the early settlers, uncd taminated by modern degenerate practices that are now too prevalent to c duce to a healthy state of morals were not indulged in. The children of pioneers found amusement and sociability at home; there were no grog-sh or gambling dens to lure them from their forest homes to spend their evenin in debauchery and cultivate habits of vice and dissipation and the census tal show that the township is made up more from the descendants of the pion settlers than any other in the county and contains a much less foreign popi tion than any rural township in the Miami Valley. The few foreigners liv here are a sober, industrious, frugal class of people, chiefly engaged in ag cultural pursuits. Their manners, customs and religion harmonize with native-born citizen.

One of the greatest and most annoying inconveniences experienced by pioneer inhabitants of the township was the lack of mail facilities and the mote distance from any post office. The only office accessible to the early 1 neer was at Dayton, where a semi-weekly mail was received. When the of was first established, in 1803, the mail was carried from Cincinnati on hoi back, and was very irregular during the winter and spring season, owing to condition of the roads and the difficulty experienced in crossing the stream:

The first post office established in the township was at Taylorsville. 1846, and the Hon. Samuel Sullivan, who was then engaged in mercantile [ suits, received the appointment of Postmaster. In 1857. an office was est lished at Toll Gate No. 2, on the old Troy pike, in the south western part of township, known as Fishburg. In 1879, the department established a ] route between Dayton and New Carlisle, in Clark County, over the Dayto Brandt Turnpike and National road, and a new office was established on route, near the geographical center of the township, known as Sulphur Gro

WAYNE TOWNSHIP.

| In less than two years after the office at Fishburg had been established, J. John Prill, the Postmaster, resigned the position and moved to Miami (unty, and the office was abolished, for the reason that no person could be find in the immediate vicinity who would accept the appointment. As a rule, t: inhabitants are liberal patrons of the post offices. In almost every family wl be found the leading newspapers and periodicals of the country, and many bre large and well-selected libraries of the standard historical and miscella- nous publications of the times.

" The people of the township have good reason to feel proud of their school o anization, of their comfortable and well-furnished schoolhouses, and their e cient school officers. It is not going beyond the bounds of truth to say that từ schools will compare favorably with those of any rural township in the Jami Valley. We give below the report of the Clerk of the Board of Education fi the past year, which will be interesting and instructive to the friends of e ication in the county :

Number of schoolhouses, 5; number of scholars in attendance, 303; whole n nber between the ages of six and twenty-one years-males, 200; females, 168; tal, 368; total amount expended for school purposes, including pay of teach- e: and incidental expenses, $2,027.51. Township school fund for the year 130, $1,602.19; in addition to the township school tax, the State tax and in- test on Section 16 is $646. 10, making a total fund of $2,248.49. A two-story scoolhouse has recently been built in Subdistrict No. 2, and a juvenile school istcept in the basement story during about one-half of the school season. Es- iated value of school buildings, $10,000; average wages paid teachers per unth for the year 1880, $42.10. In Subdistricts No. 1 and 2, instruction na been given in natural philosophy and the higher branches of mathematics tl past winter.

As evidence of the economical manner in which the finances of the town- glo were managed, we quote from the record a settlement that was made by 1 3e in authority on the 5th of March, 1820:

officers.

To. John Shafer Jr Constable for advertising Election of township $ 1 00

To Shaphat Macrea warning in the township officers to be sworn 1 00

Levi Jennings services overseer of Poor. 1 00

Moses Shearer making out two duplicates for poor tax an one day services for Levying the Same for the year 1821. .. 2 00

To Elias Mathews trustee for his services for township purposes .. 2 50

Do to one day laving poor tax.

1 00

To Jerome Holt one day laying poor tax.

1 00

Do Services as trustee. .

2 50

To John D. Camphell services as trustee & one day laying poor tax .. 3 50

John Slagel Supervisor 1st Dist. returned in full. 2 00

Henry Brandenburgh 2d Dist. returned in full 3 00

Peter Slutman 3d Dist. returned in full. 1 00

Samuel Koogler 4th Dist. returned in full. 1 00

Total. $24 50 Settled with Jacob Arnold Treasurer and there remains in his hands the sum of. . $4 69

It was further agreed on representation of David Archibald and John Zediker over- tens of the poor that a tax be levyed for the support of John Steward a pauper of said oaship, and that the clerk be ordered to make out a list of poor tax and deliver the a to Samuel Longstreth for collection, taking his hond with two frecholders as securetys in puble the amount of tax to be collected. Said tax to he 40 cents for each Horse beast, an 15 cents for each head of neat cattel. The following hill was presented by John Ai worth for necessarys furnished John Steward a pauper, and order granted:

3 Yards of lineey for hriehes. $1 50

7 yards of flannel for shirts. 2 80

2 Coon Skins for cap. 40

HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

1 Pair of Sauks. 25

1 Pair of nit gallowses. . 25

Haff Soalin Shoes. 25

25 Mending briehes and Shirts Flannel for wamus. 1 00

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The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 96

Author: W.H. Beers & Co Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co. Number of Pages: 1214

Author: W.H. Beers & Co
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Chicago, W. H. Beers & co.
Number of Pages: 1214