The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 98

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 98

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ROADS.

The first roads in the township were the paths which the early settlers t trough the thick and matted underbrush of the forest to allow the pass- e f their teams and families as they laboriously worked their way to their tre homes. These were, however, not entitled to the name "road." The steal road made in the township was the Germantown road through Farm- svle to Tom's Run; it was established in 1805. The next was a road from Ion; Run, about a mile from its month, to Nesbitt's mill, on Twin Creek, I ele County, established 1805. The Dayton & Eaton to the State line, thirty- hre miles long, running through Harrison, and between Madison and Jeffer- bon ad Perry and Jackson, was established in 1806. The road from Salem sont seventeen miles to Germantown, 1808. The road from the Dayton &

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

Germantown pike southwest twelve miles, through Liberty and Farmersville the county line, 1809. From the northwest to the southwest corner of county, 1823. From this time on, roads were rapidly surveyed and establish until now the township is a complete network of fine hard, macadami pikes and beautiful summer roads, almost every section line being marked a road.

TOWNS AND VILLAGES.

This township does not boast of having as many towns as some of neighbors, but, in point of size and beauty, they compare favorably with th of any township in the county. There are but three of them, viz., Farm ville, one and a half miles south of the center of the township, in Section and Johnsville and New Lebanon, both on the extreme northern border. these, the largest is Farmersville. It was laid out by Oliver Dalrymple, Aug 30, 1832, and so named on account of his selling the lots to farmers. He been keeping a store there for some years, before having himself built the house in 1822, which is still standing and occupied by his widow. The ( dren went to school in a little schoolhouse, where Jacob Aulbach now lives 1830. Then to a brick schoolhouse just below the German Reformed Chu There is now a large two-story brick schoolhouse, employing three teachers furnishing educational advantages for all the children of the town. The physician was Dr. Livengood, in 1833, while the town was still a mere ham The first liquor sold in the town was in 1822, by Mr. Dalrymple, who in dition to his store, had a quasi tavern. In March, 1849, a bill was introdu in the Legislature and passed, incorporating the town under its original na The following is the first board of officers: Mayor, Jonathan Burz; Recor J. Zehring; Council, Manassel Coolman, James Archer, O. Wysong, S. H and J. H. Butt, the first election being held on the 14th of April, 1849. T are several fine stores in town, including groceries, drug, hardware and goods stores. two hotels, two carriage manufactories, which make about vehicles per annum, barber-shops, blacksmith-shops, etc. The first ch built was the United Brethren. The society was organized in 1831, and meetings in the houses of Jacob Crider and John Reel until 1841, when bought a half acre of ground of Dalrymple, for $36, and built a church $700. The first pastor was Frederick Baunbreak.

The present pastor is Bowey. The church is a station in the circuit and numbers twenty-five n bers. The German Reformed, the next in order, was organized in March, 1 with thirty members. The organization was the direct result of a difficult the Slifer Church. The new organization employed Rev. George Long, held services in the United Brethren Church until 1841, when Lots 40 at were purchased of Elizabeth Hollenbach for $70, and an $800 church, 3 feet, built in 1848, by W. Wysong, the contractor. It was dedicated Ma 1848, by Rev. Henry Crow, in German, and Henry Williard, in English. A church was projected in 1869, on account of the incapacity of the old buik The corner-stone was laid with impressing ceremony, May 12, 1870. anq church formally dedicated, Sunday, Jan. 1, 1871, by Rev. D. Van Horn, of Da It is an imposing one-story brick structure, costing $4,500; it has a ga across one end, a belfry and bell, and a capacity for seating 400 people. church now has a membership of 175. The following is a list of tho pa in the order of service: George Long, W. K. Le Fever, J. H. Reiter, Comfort, Levi Rike and M. F. Frank, the present incumbent of the pasto The church also owns a pleasant two-story frame parsonage of seven ro adjoining the church, which was built at a cost of $1,300. The St. And Lutheran Church is a branch of the old Staver Church, formed in 1850 the purpose of giving the town members a convenient place of worship.

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JACKSON TOWNSHIP.

bight a lot of Mr. Hollenbach, and built a small. one-story brick. where they wrshiped until 1872, when a new lot was procured and a large two-story brick w; commenced, which was completed and dedicated June 7, 1874, by G. W. Ychling. It is the most imposing building in town; it cost $10,000, has a c acity to seat 500. with an organ, gallery, belfry and 940-pound bell; the mnbership now numbers 150. Some of the preachers were Andrew Bowman, A drew Hinkle, Revs. Stairwalt, Hinkle and Amos Poorman, the present pastor. I> Methodist Episcopal, generally the pioneer of all churches, was not here .anized until 1840, and, until 1861, the little band of worshipers held ratings in their private houses and in other churches. But in that year, [. Leslie donated a lot, and the church built a one-story brick for $800. Wen organized, it consisted of about thirty members, but, for some reason, decreased to eighteen members. It is a station in the Germantown Circuit al is ministered to by the preachers on that circuit. The New or Masonic L heran Church was organized in 1879, with fourteen members, and took the ) church which the St. Andrew's Church vacated, and which has since been I led to them by the owner, Mr. Swartzell. In 1867, a " split " occurred in h higher courts of the Lutheran Church on questions of doctrine, and this ·Irch belongs to the new branch formed by that schism. They retain the nginal number of members.

Johnsville .- This is a small town not incorporated and lies in the north as of the township on the Eaton road. Though as many houses are on the ich side of the road as on the south, the south side is the only part that is afully entitled to the name, as it is the only part platted. It was platted in $) by John W. Becker. There has been a tavern here for over fifty-five "E's. When the stages ran through this place, it was a station of some im- Gance, but is now only a small wayside town. It has three stores, a hotel, a aon, blacksmith-shop, a shoeshop, etc. In the neighborhood are two tile aories, which were started a short time ago and are now doing a good busi- €. There are also some churches, which will be duly noticed in the history f he churches of the township.

The next and last town to mention is New Lebanon, which is composed of « additions in Jackson Township and one in Perry. The Jackson Township Ations were made June 3. 1843, by John Brouse, and, in 1854, by Mr. J. J. Fever. This town will be fully spokenof under the head of Perry Township. "Ise towns contain all the business interests of the township, which are not lessarily great, as the city of Dayton is within easy driving distance of all as of the township.

We will now close this sketch with a word concerning the early settlement" o settlers, and their conveniences in life. Among the early civil officers, we .r the name of Schideler, a Justice of the Peace for fourteen years; Kenne. 4. and Stuxley, also Justices of the Peace in early days. The first mill was .w-mill on Tom's Run, built by Adam Staver in 1813; previous to that time u! work was done with an ax. This closes a sketch of one of the first set- I townships in the county. The cabins of the pioneers have disappeared ro among us, and their bones lie moldering in the little graveyards that dot h township. Their children, now grown to old age in many cases, enjoy the forts of large brick houses and improved farm machinery. Indian villages la) given way to white towns; wild beasts are replaced by domestic animals: wnps by meadows; thickets by orchards, and the silence of the wilderness by h hum of civilization.

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

H E who attempts to present with unvarying accuracy the annals of a tow ship the history of which extends back through a period of more th three-quarters of a century imposes upon himself a task beset with difficult. on every hand. In the absence of records, these difficulties are often augmer ed by statements widely at variance furnished by early settlers and their c scendants as data from which to compile a true record of the past. To cla: for a work of this character perfect freedom from the slightest, or, in sor cases, even grave inaccuracies, would be implying to arrogate to one's self th degree of wisdom which alone resides in the councils of the Omniscient. therefore, the time and place of recorded events do not in every instance agi with the individual opinion of the reader, please bear in mind we have alwa inclined to those statements which seem best supported. To give facts a facts only should be the highest aim and ambition of every writer who profes: to deal with incidents of the past. This shall be our goal, this our guiding sta

The township in question is in the northeastern part of the county, a comprises the territory between the two rivers, Stillwater and Miami. northern boundary is Miami County, and Harrison Township adjoins it on t south. Its shape is somewhat irregular. following, as it does, for its easte and western boundaries, the windings of the rivers. Its extreme width is abc seven miles, and length six miles, and contains about forty-five sections a fractional sections of land, which formerly belonged to the townships of Ra dolph and Wayne. The Commissioners of the county, at their session he October 7, 1817, ordered that those parts of Wayne and Randolph Townsh which lie between the Miami River and Stillwater be erected into a new tow ship by the name of Butler. The latter title was given it in honor of a fic officer of the militia. The surface of its territory is level, excepting the pa contiguous to the rivers and that which follows the meanderings of Pop Creek, yet any part is easily susceptible of drainage. In the early history the township. the north central part was denominated swamp land, and wh once wild geese and ducks in countless numbers swam lazily about, wh squirrels and pigeons gamboled or fluttered overhead, we now see, by artific drainage, finely cultivated fields, teeming with the fast ripening harvest. F many years, however, this portion was entirely neglected, or rather avoided, the interior could not be drained until sufficient outlets were furnished by the living on the borders. The soil of this section is a rich black loam, with y low or blue clay subsoil, and is exceedingly fertile and productive. This pervious clay subsoil, however. renders tiling absolutely necessary in m parts. The land adjoining the streams has loam or clay surface, underla with gravel. Water is easily obtained, even in the highest portions, at a der of from twenty to thirty feet. Originally, the whole country was covered w heavy timber, consisting of walnut, oak, poplar, ash, maple, beech, sugar, € and hickory chiefly, the greater portion of which, during the past half- centu has succumbed to the ax of the woodman. Within the township are seve small streams, the largest of which is Poplar Creek, flowing southeasterly fr the vicinity of Vandalia, emptying its water into the Great Miami. This tov ship is crossed in either direction by several well-built pikes, among which the National road, extending east and west through its center. The D. & R. R., running parallel with the Great Miami, passes through its extre

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BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

aern border. The villages of Vandalia, Little York and Chambersburg are winin its domain; also the stations Tadmor and Johnson's, on the railroad actioned.

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

At about the beginning of the century, Martin Davenport and David Hoo- e Sr .. came from North Carolina to the Stillwater region, prospecting for a , and, on examining that in the vicinity of the present village of Union, n 'andolph Township, were suited. Davenport died before reaching his home. Inne summer of 1801, several families from the same vicinity of North Caro- nl including David Hoover and family and David Mast and family, with tlrs, left their native State for this region, and stopped south of Dayton, and Je spent the winter, moving in the early spring to the land selected. While 1 settlement was made in what has since become Randolph Township, the tement just over the river was made about the same time, and so closely Jected with it that it is necessary to mention it in order to properly intro- 11 the pioneers of Butler Township. Hoover was so delighted with the ap- arance of the country that, on his return, vivid descriptions of it were given e entire neighborhood, which excited them to a desire for a home in the 76. John Quillan, then a young man, accompanied these first familes to the tiwater region, driving thither the team of David Mast, and, soon after their a ral, was united in marriage to Obedience, a daughter of Mr. Mast, and set- dion the opposite side of the river (in Butler Township) to those families, it ing the northeast quarter of Section 11. Quillan spent his life in this city, living to a ripe old age, dying during the late civil war. He became eather of quite a number of children, who assisted in converting the wilder- esof that period to the cultivated fields of the present. Mr. Quillan served "e war of 1812. His son William is said to have been the first child born 'is township. It is held by some that Thomas Newman came with these . sfamilies, to whom he was related, having married a Hoover, and, with his try, settled along the east side of Stillwater. We failed to verify this, but, Conversation with Aunt Mollie Sheets, who was a Hoover, and came with e advanced families, that Newman came very soon afterward, if not with 10; The families of George Sinks and Henry Yount, hailing from the same i borhood in North Carolina, immigrated to the Stillwater settlement that n year (1802), locating, the former in Section 2, Township 5, Range 3, he he entered 320 acres of land; and the latter in Section 25, same town- i and range, entering the full section. He also entered one-half of Section , 'ownship 3, Range 6, land adjoining the other tract. Mr. Yount had been a.ed in North Carolina, to Mary Waymire, and had grown children on · mig. George Yount entered Section 3, Township 5. Range 5, lying partly itler and partly in Randolph Townships; also a quarter of Section 1, ship 5, Range 5. The sons and daughters of Henry Yount were John, new, Daniel and Sarah. In November, 1805, the families of Daniel Way- .r and Philip Plummer, coming from Guilford County, N. C., moved on the Tely Yount land in Section 25, Yount vacating and going down into Warren orty, on Clear Creek, where he remained two years and returned, and dur- gis absence Waymire farmed his land, there being two fields of about eight- ncres cleared. Plummer only remained until spring, and then went fur- weinorth, entering the northwest quarter of Section 13. After raising two c )} on the Yount land. Waymire moved on the section to the north (24), and ron there to the Plummer land, which he purchased. These early families Werall related, and were neighbors in the State of North Carolina. The par- enteof Daniel Waymire were from Germany, and while crossing the ocean. abo the year 1735, the mother died, and her remains were given to the mighty

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HISTORY OF. MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

deep. The father's sisters were sold for their passage, and never afterwar heard of. The father settled in North Carolina, and again married, and from the two unions have since descended over three thousand persons. Fathe Waymire died in 1800, and his children all came to Ohio. Daniel marrie Sophia Plummer, and to them were born Davis, Mary, Solomon, Daniel, John Catharine, Elizabeth, Henry, Sarah, Rebecca, Rosana and Isabelle, several ( whom are now residing in the township. Davis, the oldest, was born in tl: year 1802, is hale and hearty, and has resided in the township longer than an one in it, and for a period of nearly forty years served the people as a Justi? of the Peace, and was their Clerk for thirty years. The father, Daniel Way mire, died July 3, 1825, and was buried in the old Lutheran Graveyard o "Independence Day;" the mother, too, was buried there. The Plumme family was large, none of whom are now residing in this locality. The chi dren, as nearly as we could learn, were Sophia, John, Catharine, Sarah, Bets Susan, Delilah and Philemon. Turning your attention to the eastern part ( the township, where, in Sections 13 and 14, Township 3, Range 6, in the yer 1806, Richard Sunderland and William Compton settled, having together el tered 707 acres of land. Sunderland, in company with two brothers, had, prid to the year 1804, entered 160 acres each in Section 20, Washington Township where he had been twice burned out. Thence he went to the land above de scribed. The Sunderlands were from Pennsylvania. The wife of Richard wa Nancy Martin, a native of the Keystone State; their children were William an Elizabeth, twins; the latter married Isaac Miller, the father of the Millers no residing in the eastern part of the subdivision; William Sunderland married daughter of James Miller, and to them were born six children. The pareat; Richard and Nancy Sunderland, died, and were buried on the farm, in the year 1863 and 1846 respectively. Their remains have since been removed to th cemetery in Miami County. William Compton was from North Carolina. H. family was quite large, wife's name was Martha. They belonged to the societ of Friends, or Quakers. Both were interred on the homestead. Mr. Compton share of the above-described entry was 303 acres, lying in the southern part d the sections named. Abijah Jones and family, from North Carolina, settled i the southern part of the township in 1805. He was a minister of the Friends society, and his name is the first recorded as such on the books of the old "Rar dolph meeting," an account of which will be given under the topic of churches Mr. Jones died in 1852, in his eighty-fifth year. Sylvanus Swallow and wife Elizabeth (Barnard), and family, emigrated from North Carolina in the spring of 1807, and settled in the northeast quarter of Section 29, on land entered b him. Mr. Swallow was a native of Delaware, where he was born February 28 1776, and his wife of North Carolina, born June 4, 1782. On reaching th above tract of land. Mr. Swallow pitched his tent, in which the family reside for several months. Their children were James O., John A., Sampson B. Cynthia, Belinda, Catharine and Priscilla. This was a family of Friends, an the remains of the parents were interred at the Friends' meeting-house grave yard. Some time prior to this, the father, John Swallow, came to this localit. and entered 160 acres in Section 19. The Barnards, consisting of mother and son, accompanied the family of Sylvanus Swallow and settled in Section 28: The son was a single man, Samuel by name, and late in life married Rebecc! Compton. Benjamin Hutchins, Sr., of English descent, with a numerous fam ily, settled in Section 29, there entering 160 acres of land, he having com from Rockford County, N. C. Isaac Hutchins, a son of Benjamin, married Rebecca Jones, eldest daughter of the old patriarch, Abijah. Their son, Dan iel H. Hutchins, was a minister of the Friends' Society, and served the people of this vicinity many years. Joseph Pearson and wife, Margaret Cammack

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BUTLER TOWNSHIP.

migrated from South Carolina in 1808, and, after stopping for awhile on land wned by George Yount, on the west side of Stillwater, crossed that stream and tered one-half of Section 1, Township 5, Range 5. They raised a large mily of children, two of whom are the wives of Davis and Henry Waymire. r. Pearson, as likewise did other of the above-named families, left the South ainly on account of slavery. He did not want to raise his children under its fluences. Father Pearson died January 17, 1840, and the mother July 17, 354. Prior to the year 1809, the following-named had settled between the vo rivers. but at what date they came we cannot establish, but it is evident at they were here before the beginning of the second decade of the century: ohn Curtis, Joseph Beeson, Daniel and Stephen Jones, John Holderman, the obles, Henry Crowel, Henry Woodhouse, James Insco, James Reed, William allohan, Joseph Evans, John Mooney, Benjamin Kiser, Jacob Stokes, John ryback, David Fox. William Miller, Jacob Rhodelhamer, John Sloan and ichael Engle. Mr. Curtis was from North Carolina, and entered one-quarter Section 1, Township 5, Range 5. He died at the close of the late war, at e advanced age of eighty-five years. Beeson was from the same neighbor- od in North Carolina that the Swallows came from, and settled in the vicin- y of where Chambersburg now is. His wife was Mary Barnett. Daniel and Sephen Jones were from North Carolina, and the former entered 160 acres of ` ction 32, Township 3, Range 6. Holderman was a Pennsylvanian, and en- 1'ed 477 acres in Section 11, Township 3, Range 6, and, before he was mar- rd, lived with Richard Sunderland. His wife was Elizabeth Blickenstaff. 'te Cobles were from North Carolina. The father was Nicholas Coble, and Id the following sons and daughters: Anthony, Nicholas, Emanuel, Margaret Hannah, some of whom were married prior to their settling here. They Tre also from North Carolina. Anthony entered 160 acres in Section 18, 1wnship 3, Range 6, and a quarter of Section 1. Township 5, Range 5. (owel was from Virginia, and had there married Elizabeth, daughter of Jo- sh Cress, and to them were born sons and daughters seven, namely: John, )ry, Jacob, David, Polly, Abraham and Henry. He entered a quarter of Sec- tn 12, Township 5, Range 5. Woodhouse was from the South. His entry Ts a tract of 160 acres in Section 33, Township 3, Range 6. Insco was from 0; of the Carolinas, and entered a quarter of Section 1, Township 5, Range 5 James Reed, whose wife was Mary McMahon, emigrated from North Caro- 1 2, settling in Section 3, Township 2, Range 6, where he entered 160 acres of Jad. Both were buried in the Reed Graveyard. In 1817, the Gallohans, VIliam and his brother Ned, lived on the farm now occupied by the Grays. Eans was from one of the Southern States, and entered several hundred acres o and in the township. Mooney was from Virginia. Kizer and Stokes set- tll in the vicinity of Section 23. Fryback entered 534 acres in Sections 23 a. 24, Township 3, Range 6. Fox was from New Jersey. William Miller st led in Section 35, on the Great Miami. Rhodelhamer entered 160 acres in S tion 24, Township 5, Range 5, and 160 acres in Section 34, Township 3. Rige 6. John Sloan was a native of Pennsylvania, from where he emigrated all settled on the southwest quarter of Section 28, Township 3, Range 6, which w entered by him. His wife was Elizabeth Rummage, and their children we Martha, Jane, Mary, John, Elizabeth, William and Sarah. The father ar mother died in 1833 and 1832 respectively. Michael Engle settled in Sec- ti 13. Township 5, Range 5, where he entered 160 acres of land. In 1810, My Johnson, a widow, with four children, John, Jesse, David and Mary, came fra North Carolina and located in the northeastern part of the township. See time prior to this, two daughters had settled in Miami County. William N 'man entered the northeast quarter of Section 13, Township 3, Range 6,

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HISTORY OF MONTGOMERY COUNTY.

prior to 1811. This same year, the Thomas Newman above spoken of own the old John Quillan tract in Section 11. Jacob Staley owned forty-three acr of land in the township as early as the year 1811. William Anderson, a nativ of Pennsylvania, settled here that year. His wife was a native of Warre County, Ohio, born in 1798. She died January 23, 1881. Mr. Anderson die November 23, 1867. Not later than the war of 1812, Abraham Cox, the M. Knights, John and Alexander, John Williams, William Kennedy, Robe Hosier, William Mason and William Snodgrass, had settled here. Kenned came from Pennsylvania in the year 1812, and entered the northeast quarter Section 28. He served for a number of years as County Surveyor. Kosi was from Virginia. His father, Abram, entered land at an early day in il vicinity of the present village of Beavertown, where Robert was married Nancy Compton. Robert's family was quite large, several of whom now resid in the vicinity of the old homestead. Kennedy and Hosier, as will be ser further along, laid out Chambersburg. Isaac Hosier, a brother, entered 16 acres in Section 27, Township 3, Range 6, adjoining the tract entered by Ro ert. In 1797, Smith Gregg, a native of Pennsylvania, immigrated to the pre ent site of Shakertown, in Van Buren Township, settling on Beaver Cree, where he remained until 1814, when he removed his family to what is no Butler Township, having entered 160 acres of land in Section 32, Townsh 3. Range 6. Mr. Gregg served in the war of 1812. His wife was Sarah Ral sey, who, too, was a native of the Keystone State, and their children we. James, Martha, Margaret, John, William, D. H., Andrew, Smith, Julia, Eliz beth and Sarah. William is residing near the Friends' Meeting-House. Jol Furnas emigrated from the State of South Carolina in 1818, with his fathe who settled in Miami County. He was born April 12, 1796, and died July 1 1874. His wife was Sarah Evans. In 1835, Mr. Furnas was the Whig cand date for the Legislature, and was defeated by one vote. However, afterwar lie was elected to the Legislature, and served one term; also served as Coun Commissioner. Samuel Wells, a native of Maryland, emigrated from Albi marle County, Va., in 1817, and located in Miami County, and in several yea removed into what is now Butler Township, of which he has ever since been resident. His wife was Mary Johnson, a daughter of the Widow Johnson b fore mentioned. They were married September 18, 1822, and, should th live until the coming September (1882), will have been sharing together life joys and cares for a period of sixty years.

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The history of Montgomery county, Ohio, containing a history of the county, Part 98

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