778 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

CHAPTER VII.

GREEN CAMP TOWNSHIP.

THIS township lies in a picturesque portion of Marion County, southwest of the county seat. The beautiful Scioto is the principal stream flowing through this township, and, with its numerous little tributaries, drains all the territory of this region. The mouth of the Little Scioto is at Green Camp Village. The township is of irregular form, containing about eighteen square miles as the aggregate of its area, and is bounded on the north by Big Island Township, on the east by Pleasant Township, on the south by Prospect Township and Union County, and on the west by Bowling Green Township.

ORIGIN OF THE NAME.

There has been some difference of opinion as to the origin of the name "Green Camp." It has been thought by some that the name was derived from a camping ground of early day near the Scioto, which was particularly a green, grassy place. The weight of authority, however, seems to gravitate to the opinion that the region took its name from the fact that Capt. Green encamped here with a company of soldiers during the war of 1812. The exact spot is said to be the land now owned by the heirs of Frank Johnson. According to the latter theory, also, the place was called "Green's Camp " for a long time. The probability being very great that the Captain with leis company encamped on a green, grassy place, the origin of the name in question could very easily be twofold, as is sometimes the case in other instances.

SETTLEMENT AND REMINISCENCES.

Daniel Markley was one of the first settlers in this township. His cabin was located near the old block-house in the northeast part of the township, a short distance from John Rayl's residence. He went further up the Scioto for awhile, but after a few years returned to Green Camp, and died there some twenty-five years ago.

Alexander Porter settled in this township in 1819, before the land was surveyed or ready for sale, near where his grandson, David H. Porter, now resides. He afterward entered eighty acres of land, since owned by Isaac C. Davis.

The same year a man named Wicks "squatted " on land now owned by the Johnson heirs. This land was entered by Levi Hammond about 1820 or 1821. A man named James (or John) Owen located a little further south about the same time, on land now owned by Isaac C. Davis, Henry Laneous and David C. Moore. His cabin was on Davis' land.

In 1820, Armanus Ashbaugh entered the block-house tract. Among others who came within a year or two, were Andrew Sullivan, David A. Town James Murphy, Levi Perry, Ebenezer Perry and George Wright.

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Wright was for a number of years an associate with the Indians at Upper Sandusky. While with them he married an Indian woman, by whom he had two children. He finally accepted the idea that it was not right to live with a woman of such opposite color, and left her, giving her all his land, and came to Pleasant, now Green Camp Township, and entered seventy acres of land, on which he resided until death. He was a man who possessed a peculiar genius for invention, and manufactured many articles of his own design. He made hair combs, finger rings, and various kinds of jewelry, and at his death had such a stock on hand that it took a two-days' sale to dispose of them. The Indians from Upper Sandusky would always bring their rifles to him whenever they needed repairing. Wright possessed some commendable traits of character. At his death, he bequeathed his whole farm, which is now owned by Jesse Johnson, to the township for school purposes.

John Logue Alexander Jenkins and John Straw were squatters in 1820, but never bought or entered any land in the township. William Humphreys and Samuel Powell were early settlers.

Andrew Sullivan settled in Green Camp about 1820, on land now owned by James Coffy, but he entered land now owned by Mrs. Jacob Free, formerly Mrs. Moore.

David A. Towne settled in 1820 or 1821 on the farm now owned by Samuel Rayl. David, William and Ezra Travis entered the old Jesse Walker farm, on a part of which Alexander Porter "squatted." This portion of the Walker farm was purchased some years ago by John H. Porter for his sons; so that the old home of the squatter fell back into the possession of his descendants.

In 1820, James Murphy entered the land now owned by David R. Thomas. Levi Perry, in 1820 or 1821, entered land now owned by Isaac Wynn. Ebenezer Perry entered land now owned by J. R. D. Morris. John Logue, Alex. Jenkins and John Straw were squatters in 1820, but none of them ever bought or entered land in the township. William Humphrey settled on the Fish lands, and Samuel Powell on the Travis lands.

The block-house above referred to, in the northeast part of the township, was erected during the troublesome times between this country and Great Britain, to guard white Americans against those Indians who had been made hostile by British influence. Such a house was a sort of two-story structure, made of heavy hewed logs, the lower portion having only one entrance and that well guarded, and the upper perforated with numerous small apertures through which the refugees within could shoot at the approaching enemy. The upper portion of the building projected beyond the lower all around, to render it difficult for the Indians to climb up on the outside. The timbers being securely spiked together, the block-house constituted a good fortification against the Indians of that day.

About 1832, a colony of Germans emigrated to this country and purchased a tract of land four miles west of the Scioto River, and settled on it. They opened a wide street through the entire tract, and built their houses on either side, extending for about one mile. They built a corn mill with twenty-four inch buhrs, which was turned by hand. In 1838, they got what is known as milk sickness, and several died. The remainder sold their land and moved away, some to Hancock County, Ohio, others to Missouri and other places in the West.

As a characteristic early incident, it may be related in this connection that, as Mr. John Beem was returning home, in 1837, through the woods, from a visit to one of his neighbors, a violent storm came up suddenly, and not being able to reach home ahead of it, he crept into a hollow log which lay near the path. Soon after the wind blew a large tree across the log he had entered,

780 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

making him a prisoner; but late in the afternoon a neighbor, happening to pass by, heard his cries, and, getting an ax, chopped him out. This was a very narrow escape, as not many travelers were upon any road in that clay.

In 1838, what is now Green Camp Township hacl the following settlers, among others : John Sifritt, on Survey 9,965; Lewis Cookes, John Britton and Adam Imbody, on Survey 9,943 ; James Chard, on 9,985 ; James Johnson, on Section 1 ; D. R. Thomas and John Thatcher, on Section 13 ; Jacob Cooper and J. Kersey,ou Survey 9,966.

Green Camp Township has shared in the experiences of pioneer school teaching. The first school taught in District No. 5 was in the winter of 1838 -39. It was commenced in one of the houses vacated by the Germans, but in a short time the house caught fire and burned down. Adam Imbody had lately built an addition to his house, but had not yet occupied it, so he gave the school permission to occupy it. But a disturbance soon arose, and it again became necessary to remove, which was done to a house 12x14 feet, in which Mrs. Sifritt had kept her loom when weaving. Here the term was finished. The next winter, the directors secured another house, which was used for several years. It was built of round logs, with clapboard roof, the boards being held in place by poles laid across the building on top of them. The floor was made of puncheons, made by splitting large logs into slabs about three inches thick, with one side hewed smooth. The seats were made of lin logs, split apart, and legs put in them. The cracks between the logs were filled with clay taken from under the floor, and as the clay washed out each year and had to be replaced, it soon made quite a hole under the floor. The room was lighted by greased paper windows. About one-half of one end of the building was occupied by the fire-place, the back wall and jambs of which were made of stones, and the chimney of sticks and mud.

Until a comparatively recent period, the practice was followed of barring the teacher out on the day before Christmas until he would agree to treat the school on apples and cider. On that morning, the scholars would get to the schoolhouse before daylight, and by piling the benches against the door would have it securely fastened when the teacher arrived. In the winter of 1842, a young man named Cyrus Carter taught the school in District No. 5, and when the time arrived he was barred out; according to custom. But, thinking to outwit the school, he climbed upon the roof, and, removing the boards, made an opening, through which he dropped to the floor. However, he had no sooner landed than the large girls of the school caught him, and, raising one of the puncheons, put him in the hole underneath the floor, where they kept him until he agreed to treat the school.

Until about 1854, wolves were very troublesome to settlers who owned sheep. Instances have been known of their killing sheep within six rods of an occupied house. A bounty of $8 was paid for the scalp of every full-grown wolf, $4 for that of every young wolf, or "whelp," and $2 for that of every wild cat. By such special efforts have these " varmints " been exterminated from the land, to give place for the encroachments and occupation of the white man. The last black bear seen in this section was killed by James Chard, near the southwest corner of the township.

It was customary in the spring for farmers to mark the ears of their hogs, and turn them into the woods, where they would soon become wild as deer. When snow fell the following fall, they would generally be found in some hollow log. After fastening them in, teams would be brought, then they would be chopped out, tied and hauled home.

CEMETERIES.

The march of the white race upon the wilds of America was a solid

GREEN CAMP TOWNSHIP. - 781

phalanx, as compared with the thin and straggling sojourns of the Indian. While the latter, therefore, left but little sign of burying grounds behind them, after an occupation of the land for generations, and probably for centuries, the former, within the first generation, established numerous cemeteries, wherein the remains of their beloved friends may be placed away, and marked by monuments as enduring as the rocks themselves. The first white settlers, within two, three or five years, begin the filling up of a graveyard.

The Block-House Cemetery.-Among the first, if not itself the very first, of the cemeteries commenced or laid out by the pioneers of our race in Green Camp Township was that which was called the "Block-House Cemetery," as it was located near the block-house, that fortification of defense against the Indians already described. It was laid out by that prominent pioneer, Armanus Ashbaugh, who buried in it a daughter. Although there are about twenty-five graves within this sacred inclosure, there is but one tombstone, which is placed over the grave of Mr. Ashbaugh's daughter, just referred to. On this tombstone is the following inscription : "Sophia Ann, daughter of John and Sophia Ashbaugh, died November 6, 1825, aged one year ten months and one day.

` Sleep on, my infant daughter, sleep,

Till Christ shall bid thee rise,

And you and I shall meet again

Above the starry skies.' "

This burying-ground is situated just south of the block-house site, and comprises an area of one-fourth of an acre.

Green Camp Cemetery was laid out in the year 1866, under the direction of the Trustees of the township. The extent of its area is one and a half acres, and its location is just east of the corporation limits of Green Camp Village, in a picturesque locality near the river. In this secluded and sacred spot lie the earthly remains of some of the oldest pioneers of the township, many of whom have died since the survey and dedication of these grounds. The first person buried here was Ezekiel Thatcher, who was killed by a falling tree in 1821, his remains being removed here from their old resting place. Several years elapsed before any other interments were made in this cemetery. At present it marks the burial places of many of its citizens, some of them by very fine monuments. Among those buried here is Robinson Stevens who was a Lieutenant in the Mexican war, serving throughout that contest. He had been a member of the regular army.

AGRICULTURAL.

Following is the crop report for 1883: Wheat, acres sown, 2,112; bushels produced, 31,971. Oats, acres sown, 256 ; acres sown for crop of 1883, 166; bushels produced, 16,648 Corn, acres planted, 2,756 ; acres planted for crop of 1883, 2,397 ; bushels produced, 114,707. Meadow, acres, 482 ; tons of hay, 737. Clover, acres, 414 ; tons of hay, 485 ; bushels of seed, 235. Potatoes, acres planted, 84 ; acres for crop of 1883,103 ; bushels produced, 6,176. Butter, 30,494 pounds. Sorghum, acres planted, 82 ; gallons sirup, 614. Maple sugar, 135 pounds ; gallons sirup, 63. Eggs, 38,419 dozen. Apples, acres occupied, 120 ; bushels produced, 1,653. Peaches, 123 bushels. Pears, 21 bushels. Lands, acres cultivated, 6,331 ; acres of pasture, 518 ; acres of woodland, 2,644 ; total number of acres owned, 8,758. Wool 8,843 pounds. Milch cows, 290. Stallions 4. Dogs, 729. Sheep killed by dogs, 37 ; value, $156 ; injured by dogs, 62 : value $132. Hogs died 217 ; value, $1,295. Sheep died, 106 ; value, $276. Cattle died. 76 ; value, $606. Horses died, 22 ; value $2,105. Losses by- floods, live stock, value, $704. Grain, etc., value, $1,050. Fences, etc., value, $230.

For the business done at the station, see a little farther on.

782 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

OFFICIAL.

At an election held May 11, 1824, for Justice of the Peace, Joseph Boyd received eleven votes, Samuel Fish seventeen. At the State election, in the fall of that year, this township cast seven votes for Trimble and three for Morrow. The township was organized June 8 1824. For the last ten years, the following have been the officers of Green Camp Township

Clerks.-T. A. Malone, 1873-75 ; C. L. Patten, 1876 ; 8 Grubb, 1877 ; J. L. Patten, 1878 ; W. A. Showen, 1879 ; J. B. Taylor, 1880 ; C. L. Patten. 1881-82 ; D. H. Stallsmith, 1883.

Treasurers.-J. N. Matthews, 1874 ; D. H. Porter, 1876 ; J. N. Matthews, 1878 ; D. H. Porter, 1879 ; J. A. Porter, 1880-81 ; Joseph Wall, 1882-83.

Trustees.-1874-J. H. Thomas. Hugh Johnston and John Weston ; 1875 -John Weston, J. H. Martin and Martin Miller ; 1877-John Kersey, Israel Irey and J. C. Porter ; 1878-D. J. Smeltzer, Israel Irey and William F. White; 1880--W. F. White, J. C. Riley and John Reichardt ; 1881-Isaac Wynn and J. C. Riley ; 1882-John F. Irey, S. A. Fish and H. B. Petty ; 1883-W. A. Carey, Gottlieb Kellar and J. C. Martin.

GREEN CAMP, FORMERLY BERWICK.

This village was laid out in June, 1838, by David Beach, who owned forty acres, which he had entered, and now forms the site of Green Camp. The first house erected upon this ground was a log structure, fourteen by sixteen feet ill dimensions, and was situated where the Methodist Episcopal Church now stands. It was built by John Thatcher, who lived in what was afterward the eastern part of the village. This building, however, was not occupied until May, 1843, when John G. Bradshaw took up his residence in it and occupied it for a time. This man was then running the Isaac Halderman mill on the Scioto River. In 1844, he moved into Jackson Township, Union County, just over the line ; but in 1846, he returned to Green Camp Township, and in 1862 came into the village. Mr. Bradshaw was the first citizen of the village.

About 1851 or 1852, Thomas B. Berry opened the first grocery and dry goods store in Green Camp, and he continued this store until the time of his death, which occurred in the year 1858. William Cummins then bought the stock and succeeded him in the business, which he continued until 1863, when he also died. The stock was then purchased by Hiram Tyler, who followed the mercantile business until 1865, when he sold out and removed to North Lewisburg.

John J. Davis started a store here in 1867, and kept it till 1869. In 1871. J. N. Matthews, now Probate Judge, established a store in Green Camp, and conducted it alone until 1874, when D. H. Porter became a partner, and the firm continued as Matthews & Porter, who did an extensive business.

William Hinds was the first blacksmith ; he, however, did not enjoy a very lucrative trade, and in a few months he moved away.

Dr. Michael S. Adams was the first physician. He located here in 1858, and practiced until 1864, when he moved to Van Wert, Ohio. Dr. Milton Patten came next, in 1860, and has since practiced his profession here. In 1864, Dr. Daniel Free came, and in 1866 Dr. J. T. Martin.

MILLS.

Saw-Mill.-As early as 1838, Messrs. Halderman & Fisk erected a saw-mill on the banks of the Scioto, on a site which is now within the corporation limits, and was run most of the time until 1878, when it was discontinued and the machinery taken away.

Berwick Flouring Mills.-These were erected in 1866 by Foster & Knable. The building is a steam mill, two stories high, has four run of buhrs, and

GREEN CAMP TOWNSHIP. - 783

employs four men. The above firm operated this mill a short period, and it then passed into the hands of Burk & Hopkins and subsequently into the possession of the Porter Brothers, who in May, 1883, made an assignment, when Morgan E. Burk and T. P. Wallace purchased the mill and have since run it, under the firm name of Wallace & Burk. The property is now valued at $8,000.

MUNICIPAL.

Berwick continued as a village up to 1875, when it was incorporated and given the name of Green Camp. The post office also continued as " Berwick " to this time, when, on account of there being another post office by the same name, in Seneca County, this State, which interfered with the mails, the post office at this place was designated as " Green Camp." The office was established in 1854, through the instrumentality of John H. Porter and F. W. Yoe, the latter of whom was appointed Postmaster, and served until 1866. His successors, in order, have been William Strod, two years ; John J. Davis, J. N Matthews and Dr. J. T. Martin, the present incumbent.

In 1856, Porter's Addition to the village of Green Camp, comprising two and a half acres, was made by John H. Porter, and in 1874 Isaac C. Davis made an addition of four acres.

Green Camp has now one dry goods store, one grocery and provision store, and two churches.

In 1862, Green Camp was made a special school district, and in 1864 a commodious two-story brick house was erected, an octagon, at a cost of $4,600. It has two departments. Mr. Poling is Principal and Miss Elizabeth Stose, assistant. The present School Board consists of Dr. Daniel Free, President; Edward Dowell, J. C. Davis, John Nebergol and S. C. Davis.

There are eleven school districts in the township.

RAILROADS.

The N. Y., P. & O. Railroad, completed just after the war, crosses the Scioto at Green Camp, running southwest to Cincinnati. Below is given the amount of business done at Green Camp Station during the past two fiscal years 1881--Freight forwarded, 13,313,709 pounds ; earnings, ;6,444.79 ; freight received, 2,930,184 pounds ; earnings, $717.14 ; passenger tickets sold, $1,127.28. 1882-Freight forwarded, 12,774,109 pounds ; earnings, $6,053.96 ; freight received, 2,661,093 pounds; earnings, $ 7 82.50 ; amount of passenger tickets, $1,178.83.

Lumber and grain are the principal articles of shipment from this depot. During the months of July and August, 1883, they shipped thirty car loads of grain per month.

VILLAGE OFFICERS.

Mayors.-J. N. Matthews, John L. Patten, Richard Bradshaw, John J. Davis, David H. Stallsmith.

Recorder.-Dr. John T. Martin, from date of incorporation to the present time.

Treasurers.-Edward D. Leach, from the time of incorporation to the spring of 1883, when Joseph Wall was elected to the position.

GREEN CAMP FREE-WILL BAPTIST CHURCH.

The Green Camp Free-Will Baptist Church was first organized in the year 1825, in Pleasant Township, on the Prospect pike, about three miles from Marion ; E. Farnham, Jesse Walker and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Parrott, Mr and Mrs. Humphrey, and others, were among its earliest members. The location was afterward changed to the Radnor road, about five miles from Marion

784 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

Revs. David Dudley. A. Hatch, S. Wyatt and G. W. Baker were among its early pastors. Rev. O. E. Baker and Rev. K. F. Higgins also preached to the church, and revivals were enjoyed.

The church worshiped in schoolhouses till about the year 1845, when a commodious house was erected on a site given by Jesse Walker. In 1865, the building was moved two miles to its present location in the village of Green Camp, on New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad, and enlarged under the direction of Rev. S. D. Bates, who was then pastor. The name was changed from "Pleasant" to "Green Camp," the name of the village and township. Since the year 1858, Rev. S. D. Bates was pastor nine years; Revs. C. O. Parmenter and W. Whitacre, three years each, and Rev. J. A. Sutton, five years, who is pastor at the present time. Revivals took place and additions were made under the labors of all these pastors.

The present number is 121. The officers are D. Free, Clerk; William Cole and J. G. Woolford, Deacons.

GREEN CAMP LODGE, NO. 644, I. O. O. F.

The dispensation was received and lodge instituted July 18. 1876,* with the following membership: J. F. Sifritt, J. N. Matthews, Nelson Walker, J. C. Porter, Reuben Hopkins, John Kersey, S. C. Davis, D. H. Porter, J. W. Sifritt, R. R. Bradshaw, Albert H. Kersey, E. D. Leach and David Vestal. The first officers were: J. F. Sifritt, N. G.; J. N. Matthews, V. G.; E. D. Leach, Rec. Sec. ; David Vestal, Per. See.; Nelson Walker, Trees. The place of meeting has always been over C. L. Patten's drug store. Present membership, forty-seven, and financial condition good. The lodge meets each Saturday evening. Present officers: Joseph Wall, N. G. ; A. S. Somerlot, V. G. ; J. W. Wynn, Rec. Sec. ; A. C. Johnston, Per. Sec. ; W. P. Rayl, Trees.

PATRIOTIC ORDER SONS OF AMERICA.

Washington Camp, No. 48.-The first members of this order in Green Camp were: A. L. Slack, E. D. Leach, J. W. Elsroad, W. A. Showen, B. F. Fulton, Dr. 0. W. Weeks, George W. Sbowen, George M. Clark, T. T. Rathell (deceased), C. T. Rathell, D. F. Uncapher, William Hyatt, John Gillett, Frank Thomas, J. A. Leaverton, T. J. McNeal, A. Schlosser, William Thatcher and S. M. Lyon. The organization was effected February 22, 1881, by George L. Phelps, District President.

For nearly two years, the lodge met in the Temperance Hall, and since then in the Patriotic Order Sons of America hall above the township hall. There are now thirty-two members, and as a society is in a prosperous condition. Meets every Friday evening. Present officers: John Doran, President ; Robert W. Johnson, Vice President; J. A. Leaverton Past President; S. A. Fish, M. of F. & C.; W. B. Kesler, Treasurer; F. M Dice, Financial Secretary ; Charles E. Uncapher, Recording Secretary ; W. R Collins, Conductor; Byron Uncapher, I. G.; I. J. Petty, O. G.; R. W. Johnson Chaplain.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF TEMPERANCE.

Division No. 71. S. and D. of T., was organized in the spring of 1879, by Rev. A. M. Collins, traveling lecturer for the Order, at the close of a series of lectures. The charter was dated April 7, 1879, and signed by Harriet N. Bishop, Grand Worthy Patriarch, and E. G. Morris Grand Scribe. The charter members were Messrs. A. B. Morris, D. W. Narrance, Thomas L. Rayl, Wesley Free, James Maddox, C. R. Summerlot, John W. Elsrode, James B. Berry, J. W. Gambrie, William Thatcher, Isaac A. Leaverton, D. J. Smeltzer,

* By Nathan Jones, W. G. M., and Amos Harding, Dep. G. M.

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T. H. Phillips, W. H. Burns ; Mesdames L. M. Davis, L. D. Martin, Pharaby Davis, Mary Phillips (nee Stallsmith), A. M. Burke, Laura Gardner Amanda Narrance, Elizabeth Elsrode, Lucy Smeltzer, Mary Garnes (nee Campfield). Ellen Green, S. E. Patten, Lou Porter, Lucinda Gambril, Rebecca Thatcher, Alice E. Johnson, Lillie C. Morris (nee Rayl), Carrie Rayl (nee Place) ; Misses Hattie Hudson, Laura Johnson (deceased), and Hattie Davis ; Rev. Jonathan look, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr. J. T. Martin.

The membership afterward increased to about seventy. Several public meetings were held. A public celebration was held in Rayl's Grove, which was addressed by Gen. W. H. Gibson and others. In the course of something over three years, however, the division went down.

WOMAN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.

On Monday evening, June 25, 1883; Mrs. S. M. Perkins, of Cleveland, Ohio, lectured in Green Camp upon the subject of temperance. at the close of which a "Woman's Temperance Union " was organized, having the following roster of officers: President, Mrs. Ruth A. Bebout ; Vice President, Mrs. Julia Stall, smith ; Secretary, Mrs. Elizabeth Martin ; Treasurer, Mrs. Ella A. Sutton. This organization maintains its regular meetings, and bids fair for long life and prosperity.

804 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

CHAPTER VIII.

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP.

ORGANIC.

THIS township originally included the present territory and that of Bowling Green, both of which were taken from Grand Township. It was set off according to the following described boundaries, in December, 1831, which will appear from the following entry:

MONDAY, December 5, 1831.

Ordered by the Board, That Township No. 5 south, of Range No. 13, and all the Virginia Military Land lying south of said Township 5, Range 13, within said county, be and the same is hereby set off as a new township, by the name of Montgomery.

Montgomery Township continued to include all of the above-described territory until the year 1838 when Bowling Green Township was erected from that portion of it south of the Scioto River, which comprises all of the Virginia Military Lands mentioned in the foregoing entry. Thus Montgomery Township, after an existence of nearly seven years, as it was first organized, was divided and the southern division was given the name of Bowling Green, as appears from the following entry:

MONDAY, March 5 1838.

Commissioners met pursuant to the statute in such cases made and provided. Present: Charles Merriman, John Shunk and George Beckley. And whereupon, on petition of Thomas Parr and others, it is ordered that a new township to be called and named "Bowling Green," be and is hereby erected and set off as follows, to wit: Beginning at the southwest corner of the county of Marion, thence north to the south bank of the Scioto River; thence down said river with its meanderings until it intersects the range line dividing Ranges 13 and 14 in said county; thence south on the line of Green Camp Township to the line dividing Marion and Union Counties; thence westwardly on said line dividing said counties of Marion and Union, to the place of beginning.

During 1875, this township was divided by the County Commissioners into two election precincts, as follows: Beginning at the northeast corner of Montgomery Township, thence west along the north line of said township to the northwest corner of Section 3, thence south along the section line on the west of Sections 3, 10, 15, 22 and 27, until it intersects the Scioto River; thence in a southeasterly direction with the river to the southeast corner of the township; thence north on the east line of the township to the place of beginning, to be known as the " East. Precinct;" the western portion to be known as the"West Precinct."

EARLY SETTLEMENT.

The first white man to settle in what is now Montgomery Township was Daniel Markley. He erected a cabin on the Scioto River, at the crossing of the Mechanicsburg and Upper Sandusky trail, on the old James Walker farm, about the year 1820. He was the only settler in this region for several years, and kept a sort of pioneer tavern for the accommodation of those who passed that way; it was then the only traveled trail for twenty-five or thirty miles either way on the Scioto. He resided here until in 1824, when he moved away. His cabin was destroyed by fire during the burning

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 805

of the woods some years after, and the place was afterward known by the early settlers as the site of "Danny's cabin."

Samuel Franklin effected the next settlement in the township. He came with his family from Fayette County, Ohio, in 1821, and "squatted" on the northeast quarter of Section 1, where he built a log cabin. He lived on this land, which wets still in the possession of the Government, till 1823, when he was "entered out" by Col. William Cochran, who took up eighty acres, the land occupied. by him. Franklin then removed to Salt Rock Township, and in 1831 returned to Montgomery and entered eighty acres on Section 2. His wife died on this farm, and in 1836-37, he went to Michigan.

Col. Cochran was born in the "Old Dominion," and about the time of the war of 1812, emigrated to Ohio, then the " far West," and settled in Ross County. In 1823, he moved with a large family to Marion County and settled on Section 1 of this township. A post office was established at his house, and consequently took the name of the worthy pioneer, which name it has ever since retained. The mail was carried from Marion to Bellefontaine on horseback, the mail carrier following the half beaten path of the Indians. Col. Cochran occupied his "entered" farm till about 1837 -38, when he went with his family to La Grange County, Ind., at which place he subsequently died. The Colonel was ail excellent, specimen of a pioneer, and could relate in a graphic manner many interesting frontier experiences of his own, and could crack a joke or tell a story with remarkable expertness. He was a great hunter, and many were the deer that he killed. He was a member of the church and was active in all its services. As a citizen and a neighbor, he was kind and obliging.

The next settlement was made in 1825, by Maj. William LaRue, the original founder and proprietor of La Rue Village. He located on land that a quarter of a century after became the site of a village, of which he was the founder. April 11, 1827, he entered from the Government seventy-three and one-quarter acres, on which he had settled in 1825. The patent for this land was signed by John Quincy Adams.

W. Crandall came in 1824 and took up the west half of the southeast quarter of Section 17. He came from Ross County and died some three or four years after, leaving a widow and three children-John, Jehu and Sallie-who remained in the forest of the township till 1837 or 1838, when they emigrated farther West. McMurray Johnson came in the same year and settled on the east half of the northeast quarter of Section 2, which. land he entered. In 1831-32, he entered 180 acres more on Section 2. He died on his original entry in 1859, aged seventy-five years. He came to Montgomery Township from Worcester County, Md.

Isaac Berdine came into the township in 1827 from Big Island, where he had made a settlement three years previous. He came from Fayette County, Ohio, and his settlement in this township was on the south part of Section 2. He resided here till 1838, when he and family, accompanied by " Old Mother Neville," and two sons-William and Joshua--removed to Northern Indiana. Mrs. Neville and sons came from Fayette County, Ohio, in 1824, with Mr. Berdine and family.

February 22, 1827, Gardner Crandall entered at the Delaware Land Office eighty acres on Section 17. From early in 1827 to 1831, few, if any settlers came in the township. Most of those who effected settlements in the southwestern part of the county during this time, were made south of the Scioto River, in Bowling Green Township, which at that time

806 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

formed a part of Montgomery Township. The nest to settle in Montgomery Township proper, of whom we have any account, was William J. Virden, now the oldest surviving pioneer settler of the township. He emigrated to Warren County, Ohio, in 1827, and in January, 1831, to Marion County, settling within the forests of this township. July 31, following, he purchased from the Government the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 1, where he now resides. In January, 1831, the following, with their families, constituted the band of pioneers that inhabited Montgomery Township, viz.: Col. William Cochran, Maj. William LaRue, William J. Virden, McMurray Johnson, Isaac Berdine, Mrs. Neville and Mrs. Crandall.

The next year William Bryan entered and settled on the southeast quarter of Section 8, which land a few years later he sold to Gen. James H. Godman. During the spring of this year (1832), a number of settlers came into the township and settled on the Scioto, north of La Rue. Among them were William Vesey, James Ramey, John Tucker and Jeremiah Jones. William Vesey built a tavern on the river bank, and shortly after W. Hopkins came along and put up for the night. The house was situated on a low spot of ground. and during the night the heavy rains swelled the river till it was out of its banks, and the next morning Mr. Hopkins had to swim his horse back to the road. The same year, Moses Van Fleet, Allen Johnson, William and Benjamin Little, J. T. Walker, William McNeal, Joseph Sturges, V. Dutton, Russell Carey, W. W. Carey, W Wingate Carey, J. Elland, J. Lint, --- Huls and ---- Clayton settled north of the river, and these, with those previously mentioned, composed the settlements at this. date. In 1833-34, the State road from Marion to Lima was constructed, and the territory along its route was rapidly settled up. Those who settled on the line of this road in this township were Albert Dudley, Asahel and Alonzo Scoville, ----- Whaler, Robert Clark, Hiram Corn, Zachariah Louderback, Charles Coulter, Richard Carter, Joseph Prettyman, Manson Virden, H. Hinkle, John Clark, Joseph Anderson, P. Harder, J. and C. Wallace and Isaac Owens. Robert and Sarah Gillespie settled in this, township in 1832.

In June, 1832, Montgomery Township was organized, and comprised, in addition to its present territory, Bowlino Green Township. At this election, Almon Bryan, Jerry Jones and McMurray Johnson were chosen, Trustees, Maj. La Rue, Clerk; and John Tucker, Superivsor. Money was. scarce and there being no township fund, a Treasurer was not elected, Su. pervisor Tucker summoned his hands out in the fall and put in two days" work on the Montgomery & Grand Township line road, which was the only laid-out road in the township. On their return, they "cut out" a road from. Bryan to the river settlements, a distance of four miles. At the Presidential election in the same fall (of 1832) seventeen voters were polled, which included the voters of the " Tymochtee Windfall " and Rush Creek settlements of Bowling Green. Of the votes cast fifteen were Democratic and two, were Whig. At this election Col. Cochran was chosen the first Justice of the Peace, and William H. Davis was the second in the township.

The first marriage in the township was that of Almon Bryan, a brotherin-law of Maj. LaRue, to Miss Jane Cochran. It was celebrated in 1832, by Rev. David Dudley. The first white child that was born in the township was either Nancy Cochran or a child of Mr. Berdine.

W. Crandall was the first of the early settlers of the township that died..

He located on Section 17, in 1824, where his death occurred about 1827 or 1828. He was buried on the west side of a ravine running through his farm..

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 807

FIRST IMPROVEMENTS.

Mills.-One of the greatest difficulties that the pioneers encountered in early days in Montgomery Township was to get bread material. Mills were far away and the roads were difficult to travel. West Liberty was one of the places where the early settlers went to mill. In order to reach that place, they had to go to Scott Town, thence west to Judge Wheeler's, at which place they struck the Bellefontaine road, which they there would take. On these trips. which required three or four days, they camped out wherever night overtook them. To avoid these difficult trips, Maj. La Rue bought a hand-mill, which was patronized and used by the whole neighborhood for several years. Wheat bread was seldom used, and was considered in those days a luxury. Hominy was one of the chief articles of food. It was made by burning a hollow place in the center of a green white-oak stump; then, after scraping out the charred surface, a spring-pole, after the style of an old-fashioned well-sweep, would be erected. A short pole would be tied to this, and at the lower end an iron wedge would be attached. After placing the corn in the stump, they would work the spring pole and the wedge would soon reduce the corn to a coarse meal or hominy. Such were some of the modes used by the pioneers to secure the necessary things for subsistence.

The first mill in Montgomery Township was built at the "bend" of the river, now on Topliff's Second Addition to the village of La Rue, by Jacob Myers and Washington Armstrong in the spring of 1835. It was a water sawmill, and was run a few months, wheu a " corn-cracker " was added. A dam was constructed across the river, which was about 110 feet long. It kept breaking, and the mill could not be used regularly. Mr. Armstrong sold his interest to John J. Johnson, and Myers & Johnson ran it till 1837, when it was purchased by Lewis Topliff, who a few months after abandoned it. About this time, Joseph Sturges and L. Ramouse began constructing a mill race at " Mud Bottom" on Section 38. The river at this place incloses about ten acres of ground, and the two bends, of the river are but fifteen rods apart. Sturges & Ramouse abandoned the work and Daniel Longacre took it up and completed it, and purchased a part, of Toplift's old " corn-mill " at La Rue, which he erected at this place. It was covered with a shed of clapboards. In 1840, he built a water mill, 30x40 feet in size. It was used for several years as a place for political meetings, and in the celebrated campaign of 1840 was a rendezvous for political gatherings. This mill was run for a good many years. Lewis Topliff bought three acres of land of Maj. La Rue, and in 1837 built a water grist and saw mill, completing it in 1838. This mill, which was a rude structure, was operated till 1845, when the grist department was torn away, and the saw mill, which had a " sash saw," was purchased by Samuel Simpson, who ran it till 1880.

In 1845, Topliff erected a large two-and-one-half-story mill adjoining the saw mill. It contained two run of buhrs and cost about $1,500. Shortly after the completion of the mill, a carding machine was added to the upper story, and was run in connection with the mill till 1851, when the building was abandoned. This mill was used as a place for religious worship by the early settlers. Lewis Topliff built, in 1852, a steam saw mill, near the site of his former mill, at a cost of $3,000. It was framed by Hiram Mills, and in 1853 or 1854 a corn buhr was put in. B. F. Todd bought the mill and about two years after sold it to Jack Keelen. It was destroyed by fire in 1857 or 1858.

808 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

The farmers were then compelled to go to Marseilles for milling until 1865, when the La Rue Mills were bailt.

Tannery.-In 1839, Elias and Jonathan Myers built a tannery on the northeast quarter of Section 20, one and a half miles north of La Rue. The building cost $1,000, and was conducted by them until 1849. when Jonathan sold his interest to Elias, who ran it one year, and then the tools and apparatus were sold to J. J. Johnson, George Williams and Abram Rosebaum, who soon afterward abandoned it. In 1857 or 1858, Jonathan Myers bought tools again, and located a tannery on the southeast quarter of Section 16, with eight vats, and it was run until some time in 1861, when it was finally abandoned.

SCHOOLS.

Montgomery Township comprises Subdistricts No. 2, 3, 4. 5, 6 and 9, and Joint Districts No. 2, 7, 8 and 10, containing in all ten schoolhouses. The enumeration in 1882 gave as a result 134 male children of school age and 151 female children; total, 285.

RELIGIOUS.

Religious services were at first held in private houses and schoolhouses. The first preaching was by Elders Hatch and Dudley. The first protracted effort was conducted by the Methodists in Maj. LaRue's barn, in 1845, Mr. Armstrong being the leading preacher. A platform and pulpit were erected of rough boards and of similar material were seats improvised upon the cleared floor. These would be filled, principally by women, while the men and boys reclined upon the hay. All observed good order. Meetings were held day and night for three weeks, and with good results.

The Free-Will . Baptists succeeded the Methodists with a protracted meeting in the same barn,which lasted one week, and was then removed to Mr. Topliff's mill, which was built in 1845. This was a strange place for meetings. In order to get into the mill. they laid a plank from the edge of the bank to the mill door, and it seemed rather unsafe. Here the same kind of seats were used as before. The pulpit platform was the elevation upon which the mill-stones were mounted. At this meeting the preachers were Rev. George Baker and his son, Rev. Oscar E. Baker, of Marion, and Rev. Kendall Higgins. A number were converted and joined the church.

After the close of the above-mentioned meeting and the carding season was over, Mr. Topliff moved the carding apparatus out of his mill, where meetings were held until the next carding season arrived. After this, school. houses were used.

The first Sunday school in this neighborhood was organized in Bonner's Schoolhouse, by Peter Marsh, and was maintained during the summer for many years.

The "Montgomery" Methodist Episcopal Church was organized September 5, 1846, by Rev. S. J. Burgess, and J. Bunker, with seven members, among whom were S. Cook, Robert Hayward and Martha Hayward. Meetings were first held at J. Clark's and Father Hincklin's, conducted by S. Cook and Thomas Franklin. The first Class Leader was S. Cook, and Steward, T. D. McElhany. Meetings were held from house to house until 1849, when a church was built in the western part of the township, within a half mile of the county line, near the present site. Its size was 24$36, and cost $200. The present building, owned by the Methodists and United Brethren, was built in 1870, at a cost of $1,700. Present number of members, ninety-three; Class Leaders, J. Kin.-, Benjamin Kemper and Frank

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 809

Cossner. The preachers in charge have been: J. Burgess, 1846; S. Mower, 1848; J. Sterling, 1819; J. Blanpied, 1850; J. Fegtley, 1852; R. Biggs, 1853; J. S. Cuttler, 1854; I. Henderson, 1856; B. Powell, 1857; J. S. Deleal, 1858; S. Roberts, 1860; William Boggs, 1862; S. Boggs, 1864; J. M. Longfellow, 1866; A. D. Matthews, 1868; H. Boyer, 1870; A. D. Matthews, 1872; F. B. Olds, 1873; L. O. Cook, 1874; D. B. Rinehart, 1876; D. Bowen, 1878; J. Williams, 1881 to 1883. Under the last mentioned has occurred the principal revival.

The other churches of this township are described further on, under the respective heads of the villages.

AGRICULTURAL.

The following is the crop report for 1883:

West Precinct.-Wheat, acres sown, 932; bushels produced, 11,403. Cats, acres sown, 205; acres sown for crop of 1883, 39; bushels produced, 5,610. Corn. acres planted, 1,394; acres planted for crop of 1883, 901; bushels produced, 39,982. Meadow, acres, 803; tons of hay, 1.042. Clover, acres, 140; tons of hay, 198; bushels of seed, 150. Flag, acres, 9; bushels of seed, 212. Potatoes, acres planted, 45; bushels produced, 3,047. Butter, 9.310 pounds. Sorghum, 26 gallons. Maple sirup, 60 gallons. Bees, 56 hives; pounds of honey, 981. Eggs, 14,600 dozen. Grapes, 1,600 pounds. Apples, acres occupied, 121; bushels produced, 2,685. Peaches, bushels produced, 77. Pears, bushels produced, 12. Lands, number of acres cultivated, 2, 547; number of acres of pasture, 4,184; number of acres of woodland, 1,225; total number of acres owned, 7,985. Wool, 34,177 pounds. Milch cows, number owned, 178. Stallions 2. Hogs died, 149; value, $1,046. Sheep died, 53; value, $222. Cattle died, 30; value, $350. Horses died, 4; value, $400. Losses by flood-live stock, value, $10; grain, etc., value. $240; fences, etc., value, $135.

East Precinct.-Wheat, acres sown, 894; bushels produced, 10,940; number of acres sown for harvest of 1883, 775. Oats, acres sown, 230; acres sown for harvest of 1883, 175; bushels produced, 5, 564. Corn, acres planted, 1,475; acres planted for crop of 1883, 1,052. Meadow, acres, 572; tons of hay, 745. Clover, acres, 287; tons of hay, 234; bushels of seed, 128. Potatoes, acres planted 32; acres for crop of 1883, 40; bush. els produced, 2,161. Butter, 13,250 pounds. Sorghum, 3/4 acre; 47 gallons sirup. Maple sugar, 360 pounds; sugar, 69 pounds. Bees, 88 hives: pounds of honey, 1,025. Eggs, 13,715 dozen. Apples, acres occupied, 84; bushels produced, 1,930. Peaches, 35 bushels; pears, 44 bushels. Lands, number of acres cultivated, 2,792; number of acres pasture, 1,042; number of acres woodland, 1,041; total number of acres owned, 6,254. Wool, 7,797 pounds. Milch cows 102. Sheep killed by dogs, 17; value, $309; injured by dogs, 9; value, $50. Hogs died, 170; value, $877. Sheep died, 42; value. $112. Cattle died, 4; value, $61. Horses died, 2; value, $120.

RAILROADS.

Montgomery Township is highly favored with railroad facilities, there being two good railways traversing its whole length. The Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus & Indianapolis Railroad, formerly the Bellefontaine & Indiana, was completed through this township in 1852, and the town of La Rue started; and the Chicago & Atlantic was put in operation about June 1, 1883, with a depot upon it within the limits of this township. Agosta is the second depot on the other road in this township, making a total of four

810 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

depots for Montgomery. At La Rue Station alone, in 1882, there were received 6,671,410 pounds of freight, and 8 639,065 pounds forwarded: while passenger tickets to the amount of 86,189.57 were sold.

TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS.

Trustees--1871-72, John Bain, Charles Quigley and Martin Uncapher.

1873-Martin Uncapher, Charles Quigley and J. Berger.

1874-J. Berger, J. Myers and M. V. Uncapher.

1875-George W. Virden Charles Quigley and Jacob Berger.

1876-Charles Quigley, H. M. Virden and George V. Virden.

1877-W. R. Morris, J. N. McMillen and J. F. Marsh.

1878-W. R. Morris, M. Morral and J. F. Marsh.

1879--Edd Anderson, M. Morral and N. L. Prettyman.

1880-M. Morral, N. L. Prettyman and G. C. Allinger.

1881-B. W. :Miller, A. Kridler and John Fluelling.

1882-A. Kridler, James Church and Frederick Rush.

1883 -Frederick Rush, J. M. Haffer and Jacob Beckley.

Clerks.-1871-72-W. J. Campbell; 1873, G. N. Myers; 1874-75, H. B. Mills; 1876-77, B. F. Waples; 1878 to 1882, J. L. Frederick; 1883, H. M. Virden.

Treasurers-1871 to 1880, John J. Hopkins; 1881-82, W. J. Campbell; 1883, G. N. Myers.

LA RUE.

La Rue was laid out June 3, 1851, by Maj. William La Rue, who owned 307 acres of land on the east bank of the Scioto River; most of this land he had taken up from the Government and had resided on it from 1825. In that year he erected on the site of Allinger & Quigley's flouring mill a log cabin sixteen feet square. This was the first structure in the shape of a house on the site of the present village. Maj. La Rue occupied it about one year; then erected a hewed-log house on what is now Market street, and at the same time built a log house sixteen feet square adjoining, which was used till 1838, when it was destroyed by fire. The same day that it burned, he put up a frame barn, which was the first within the limits of the township. In 1845, he built a one-and-a-half-story frame residence near the site of the old log house, which stood till 1882, when it was moved to South street, and is still occupied. About the same time, Lewis Topliff erected a frame house of the same size, where Charles Allinger's residence now stands. When the original plat of La Rue was laid out, it contained ninety lots, described as follows: All the lots have sixty-six feet front, with 155 feet back, except those situated between Vine and Market streets, which have sixty feet front, with 155 feet back, excepting all the fractional lots situated along the railroad ground, which vary in their size.

Lewis Topliff bought three acres of Maj. La Rue, May 17, 1852, and made an addition of seventeen lots to the village plat.

July 6, 1864, Maj. La Rue made an addition of thirty-three lots.

April 16, 1866, Lewis Topliff made his second addition, which consisted of twenty-two lots.

Maj. La Rue made his second addition, which contained five lots, April 6, 1871.

J. F. Marsh's first addition contained twenty-five lots; it was made September 20, 1871.

August 23, 1879, Hopkins & Leonard made their addition of nine lots.

J. F. Marsh made his second addition June 13, 1881, containing six

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 811

teen lots, and his third addition, which was composed of twenty-four lots. March 24, 1882.

Maj. William La Rue, the original owner of the site and founder of the village of La Rue, was of French Huguenot origin, the members of the family having fled from France into Holland to escape religious persecution just before the revocation of the edict of Nantes. The name is originally De Is Rue. From Holland they came to America about the year 1070 to 1677. The first La Rue in a direct line of ancestry that. can with certainty be named, is Abraham La Rue, the grandfather of Maj. La Rue, who lived first in New Jersey, moved to Loudoun County, Va., thence to North Carolina and finally to Greenbrier County, Va., where he died. Jacob La Rue, the father of Maj. La Rue, was born July 25, 1774, in Greenbrier County, Va. He started in company with another man. from Washington County, Ohio, where he resided, to visit his brother Peter, who lived in Livingston County, Ky., and was never heard of afterward, but was supposed to have been killed by the Indians or his companion.

Maj. William La Rue was bore: in Washington County, Ohio, December 22, 1799, and was married September 7, 1820, in Meigs County, Ohio, to Cynthia Brine. Mrs. Celinda Marsh, of La Rue, Marion County, is the only surviving child of this marriage. He first came to Marion County in the fall of 1823, and in the spring of 1825 he built a residence in the woods, on land now occupied by the village of La Rue. He entered about seventy acres of land, which quite exhausted his means, but he lived to be the possessor of many hundred acres, here and elsewhere, and to see a thriving village built upon what was once his forest farm. He died at La Rue, August 1.8, 1880, his wife having preceded him in November, 1857. He emigrated with his wife and daughter to this county in 1825, beginning pioneer life in real earnest, in a wilderness inhabited only by Indians, with only one family of whites within six miles. He laid out the village of La Rue June 1, 1851; he donated four lots for the use of the different churches,. and otherwise Look great pains for the improvement of the village. When a railroad was first talked of, he got up a subscription, headed it with $1,000, and gave the company the right of way, binding them, however, to make La Rue always a watering place, thereby causing all trains to make a stop at that point. He was a marked man in many respects, and greatly honored and esteemed.

BRIDGES.

The first bridge across the Scioto at this place was built in 1843, by the citizens of the neighborhood. It was built about 1843 to 1845 eight rods below the present Market street bridge, and was 100 feet long. It was an open structure and the abutments were made of logs and the pier of frame work. It was made by volunteer labor, and Maj. La Rue sawed the timber. There was not a dollar paid out for work. It stood about eight or ten years, and was taken away by a freshet.

The same year (1853), another open bridge was erected, four rods north of the first. An appropriation was made by the County Commissioners and the rest was made up by subscription. It was a frame bridge with hewed timber abutments and a bent. It was washed away, and the present one was built by the county in 18-. It is a covered bridge, 110 feet long, and cost about $2,200. There is also a covered bridge across the river on High street.

BUSINESS.

Hotels.-The first hotel in La Rue was the Union House. It was a two-story frame building, and was erected in the spring of 1852, by Horace

812 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

Roberts and was owned and run by Roberts, Patten & Gillespie till 1857, when it was sold to Edward Stoltz, and the subsequent year to Dr. Copeland. In the fall of 1865, it was purchased by William Bailey, who died before he moved into it. His family conducted it till 1868, and sold to Philip Loebrich, and from him it passed into the possession of B. W. Miller, who ran it till within the last year. It. is now known as the National House.

In 1868, T. 5. Miller, one of the pioneers of Montgomery Township, built the La Rue House on High street, and opened it to the public in the spring of 1870. He ran this hotel until 1875, when he sold it and two years later built the Commercial House, at a cost of $2,000, opening it in the fall of 1.8 78.

Stores.-The first store in La Rue was opened by Henry C. Seigler in the summer of 1851. It was situated on the river bank, on the site of Charles Quigley's blacksmith shop. He continued a short time and sold his stock, which consisted of dry goods and groceries, to Horace Roberts, who did business on the river bank and subsequently moved to High street, where he was engaged in trade ten years. In 1852, John B. and David Wyatt built the first store building on the site of C. Graceley's present hardware store. It was a building twenty-two feet front, by forty feet deep, and was rented by Wheeler Bros., merchants, who two years after admitted G. W. De Long as a partner, and the firm of Wheeler, De Long & Co. continued a number of years. Soon after Wheeler Bros. started in business, N. S. Banning erected a storehouse, 16$25 feet in size, on Lot No. 1. He carried on a mercantile business till 1863, when he sold out. married and moved on a farm. He died in La Rue September 21, 1873. The first brick store room in La Rue was built in 1870 by J. F. Firstenberger and was a two-story building with a front of twentytwo feet. It was subsequently purchased by C. Gracely & Bro., who now own and occupy it.

In 1871, a substantial two-story brick block, seventy feet front by eighty-five deep, and containing three store rooms, was erected by Hopkins & Leonard, J. Copeland and M. L. Evans. Daring the summer of 1877, Hopkins & Leonard built a store room adjoining on the south, the F. & A. M. order building the upper story, which they use for a hall. Hopkins & Leonard have a double store, one room containing dry goods, groceries, etc., and the other clothing and the bank. They established the bank, which is a private institution, in 1876, and do a large deposit business. Messrs. Hopkins & Leonard were the leading merchants in the village till 1883, when Mr. Hopkins went out, and the firm was changed to Leonard, Rhodes & Co. In 1881, Mrs. Mary Henninger built a two-story brick business house adjoining C. Gracely & Bro. on the north. It is occupied by McCrary & Harraman, grocers. The nest year, W. L. Marsh put up a twostory brick south of Hopkins & Leonard's, and is now occupied as a hardware store by E. Anderson & Co. The same year. J. W. Knapp erected a two-story storehouse on Lot No. 9, which he occupies as a grocery.

Carriage Factory, corner of Vine and Chestnut streets. George D. Delauder established this business September 1, 1872, in a small building that had been used for a stable in the alley just back of the present post office, and in 1873 moved his business to where it is now located. This industry is one of the most important in La Rue. In it is manufactured annually fifty buggies and wagons, giving employment to eight men the year round. The factory occupies three buildings. The wood, paint and trimming shop is two stories, 24x65 feet, .blacksmith shop 20$40 feet, and a two-story building, 20x48, for a repository and finishing room. The business amounts to about $10,000 per annum.

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 813

La Rue Wood-Beading Works. -These works were established in 1888 by C. Bechtold, and in 18 70 the present buildings were erected at a cost of $6,000. They are situated on Front street, and are 25x100 feet in size and two stories high. Mr. Bechtold came to La Rue in 1858 and ran a wagon shop till 1870, since which date he has devoted his attention to his present business. He employs five men the year round and manufactures shafts, felloes, buggy bows, buggy poles and other kinds of bent work. His work finds ready sale in the principal cities of the East, and some of it has reached Europe. The annual sales amount to $10,000.

Warehouse.--A small warehouse was built on the site of the La Rue elevator by Horace Roberts. It was owned by two or three parties, and finally was purchased and enlarged by J. L. Franklin, who ran it from 1880 to 1872, at which time it passed into the possession of N. S. Banning, and subsequently into the hands of Ezra Anderson. It was destroyed by fire May 24, 1878.

La Rue Elevator Company.-This company was organized July 6, 1878, principally through the instrumentality of Messrs. Hopkins & Leonard. Twenty-four stockholders composed the organization as follows: Hopkins & Leonard, G. `V. Virden, Robert Hayward, A. Robinson, E. Gillespie, J. F. Marsh, E. Anderson and John Bain, Luke Lenox, W. R. Morris, Charles Blow, C. H. Topliff, M. S. Burdge, J. W. Thew & Bro., J. A. Mouser, J. D. Guthery, John Jones, Elijah Rizor, T. P. Dodd, W. L. Robb, Charles Noyes, Thomas Ward, William La Rue and S. A. and W. E. Gutherv. John Bain was chosen President, J. J. Hopkins, Secretray, and Luke Lenox, Treasurer. J. J. Hopkins, J. F. Marsh and J. A. Mouser were made Directors. The incorporated stock of this company was $3,000.

They erected a steam elevator, two stories high and 35x65 feet on the ground, which coot $3,000. It has a capacity of 12,000 bushels. It was first leased to Ramsey & Colton, and after nine months A. C. Ramsey, of this firm, leased and ran it till 1880, when S. H. White, of Upper Sandusky, rented it. In 1882, DeWolfe & Gregory took charge of it, which firm continued till June 20, 1883, when S. E. DeWolfe became the sole lessee. This elevator does an annual business of $100,000. All the grain is shipped to Eastern markets, principally to Philadelphia and Baltimore. The present officers of this company are Isaac F. Guthery, President; J. J. Hopkins, Secretary, and Luke Lenox, Treasurer. Directors are John Jones, J. F. Marsh and M. S. Burdge.

The La Rue Mills were built by Ludlow & Elliott. The mills. are two and a half stories high, and with the saw mill in connection, cost $7,000. G. C. Allinger was employed as miller, who, February 7, 1866, bought out Ludlow's interest, and the firm of Elliott & Allinger continued one year, and Charles Quigley was admitted as a partner, changing the name to Elliott, Allinger & Co. This firm lasted till the spring of 1867, when Allinger & Quigley bought Elliott's interest. The mills have four run of buhrs, and have a capacity of twenty-four barrels per day. In 1880, the "new process" was added, and they manufacture custom and merchant flour of good quality.

The first drug store in La Rue was opened by Jones & Manley, from Circleville, Ohio, in 1866. After changing hands several times, this store was destroyed by fire March 31, 1870. W. J. Campbell is the present druggist.

Leonard Rhodes & Co., merchants of La Rue, carry as large a stock as any store in Marion. They have two large stores, one devoted to dry goods

814 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

and the other to the sale of ready-made clothing; their sales amount annu ally to $$40,000 and upward, carrying from $20,000 to $25,000 stock. These gentlemen are deservedly popular.

The first undertaker in La Rue was Hiram Mills, who came in August, 1851; went away in 1854; was here again from 1857 to 1863, and 1868 to the present time.

The first tailor was George W. Miller, who was here a few years.

The first blacksmith was Leonard Orth, on the banks of the river near Topliff's mill.

Shipping Cattle.-In 1875. Levi Nichols came from Buffalo, N. Y., for the purpose of buying cattle for the Buffalo market. Mr. J. F. Marsh became associated as a buyer, and within one year they bought and shipped to Baltimore $46,000 worth of cattle and all within a radius of ten miles of La Rue.

La Rue News.-For an account of this paper, see chapter on the newspaper press.

Altogether there are about sixty business establishments in La Rue, and the average standing of the men is high, doing as much business as any town of the same population in this part of the country. The annual commercial and manufacturing business is estimated at $350,000.

PHYSICIANS.

The first M. D. to locate in La Rue was a Dr. Wilkins who came in 1848. He practiced here about three years and moved to Marseilles, but returned to La Rue in 1854. In 1856„ be went to Chicago. He was a successful physician, and was generally esteemed. Milton Patten came in 1850, and after four years of practice, went to Missouri and finally returned to Marion County and now follows his profession at Green Camp.

Dr. Olds was the next to locate here, coming in the fall of 1851, and in the following year went to Marion, where he died with the cholera in 1854

In 1850-51, Dr. Warner established himself here. He was an excellent physician. His efficient professional career was suddenly terminated by death from cholera during a business visit to Marion in 1854.

Dr. Joshua Copeland began the practice of medicine here May 31,1852, and continued until October, 1882. Dr. P. W. Lee came in 1857 from Salem, Ohio. He practiced till 1861, when he entered the army as Second Lieutenant in the Eighty second Regiment of Ohio Volunteers. He served one year and returned to La Rue, and a year- or so later removed to Essex; thence to Salem, from which place he came.

In 1859. Dr. H. P. DeLong came from Roundhead, Hardin County, and has since practiced the profession here.

Dr. A. W. Disney came in 1863, and was active until his death, which occurred September 20, 18 75.

Dr. J. A. Mouser arrived in 1865 and Dr. Isaac K. Scott in 1876. They both are successful physicians.

Dr. Lilley practiced here from 1881 to 1883, and Dr. Munson during 1882.

Drs. Charles E. Sawyer and J. M. Wood located here in 1880.

LA RUE CEMETERY.

This burial place was laid out in lots in the year 1857. It comprised about one acre of ground, which was purchased by subscription of John Bonner. It is situated on the west side of the Scioto, and affords a very

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 815

appropriate place for the interment of the dead. The first. burial was that of Mrs. Cynthia La Rue, which occurred November 10, 1857. Maj. La Rue, Lewis Topliff and many other pioneers of Montgomery, repose here. At a very early day a graveyard was started on Lot No. 68, and among those who sleep within its silent walls are William Little and wife, Moses Van Fleet and wife, George Johnson, Mrs. Elizabeth Brine, Almira C. Little (formerly Miss La Rue) and child, Lyman Little and wife, and other early settlers. It was finally abandoned and donated by Maj. La Rue as a site for the Baptist Church.

LA RUE FIRE DEPARTMENT.

The fire department was organized in February, 1878 consisting of sixty-eight of the citizens of the town. C. Bechtold was elected Chief of the department. In January, previous to the organization, an engine was purchased of Ramsey & Co., of Seneca Falls, N. Y. The engine. hose carriage and 500 feet of hose were secured at a cost of $958. W. E. Parker was chosen Foreman of the engine company, and W. H. Hoke Foreman of the hose company. In 1878, W. E. Parker was elected Chief of the department, and has since served in that capacity. A frame engine house was erected in 1878 on Lot 63, at a cost of $360. The department enjoys the advantage of four large cisterns and three hydrants, which furnish water from the water tank of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis Railroad.

Fires.-The fire department is very efficient. Since its organization, only one building has been consumed, namely, that of George Seibert, in January, 1883, entailing a loss of $1,000. The principal fires have been the following: April 1, 1870, a fire broke out in the drug store of Manley & Campbell and consumed both it and the whole block of which it was a part; loss. $10,000. It was very windy at the time, and there was no fire department. July 7, following, a fire originated in Gregg's store on Lot 46, and spread from the hotel to the dwelling on Lot 45, covering the whole space now occupied by the brick block; loss, $5,000. In the fall of 1877, Anderson's elevator was burned; loss, $1,600.

POST OFFICE.

The post office at La Rue was established February 15, 1853, with George W. DeLong as Postmaster. The following is a list of Postmasters with date of appointment, viz.: Norton S. Banning, May 21, 1857; William C. De Long, August 29, 1861; John L. Frederick, December 12, 1864; John J. Hopkins, November 29, 1867; James H. Leonard, March 31, 1869; James M. Wood, July 25, 1881; William E. Parker, March 21, 1883. During the quarter ending June 30, 1883, about 7,000 letters and postal cards were mailed at this office, being at the rate of about 30,000 a year.

LA RUE SCHOOLS.

The first schoolhouse within the corporation of La Rue was a log structure, which was used till 1846, when a frame was erected on the east part of Maj. La Rue's farm, now on the south side of Market street. It was, some years after, destroyed, and a frame was erected on Lot 15. This was maintained as a district school till 1865, when it was organized as a -Union school, Lewis Topliff, T. S. Miller and H. P. De Long constituting the Board of Directors. A two-story frame schoolhouse in the shape of a " T" was erected on High street, on the south end of Maj. La Rue's First Addi-

816 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

tion. The building and grounds, which comprise three acres, cost $5,000. In 1882, a two-story frame building was erected on the southeast corner of the lot, and the lower room is occupied by the primary department.

The union school has five departments, all of which are efficiently conducted.

The following is a list of the Principals, with the years they served: Rev. John L. Collier, 1865 to 1867; William Reed, 1867-68; Miss O. T. Aldeman, 1868-69; W. F. Filler, 1869; R. C. Manley, 1869 to 1871; C. M. Iams, 18 71-72; C W. Watkins, 1872; R. H. Newsome, 1872-73; J. Q. Codding 1873-74; D. N. Kemper, 1874-75; U. K. Guthery, 1875-77; Wilbert Ferguson 1877-78; W. L. Fulton, 1878 to 1880; John L. Lewis, 1880-81; U. K. Guthery, 1881-82; L. L. Bruck, 1882-83; W. O. Bailey, 1883-84.

CHURCHES.

Maj. La Rue donated a lot each to the Free-Will Baptist, Methodists Episcopal, Presbyterian and Catholic Churches, and gave $10 to each church in addition, thus exhibiting a very liberal spirit.

La Rue (formerly Montgomery) Free-Will Baptist Church.-This society, as before noted, was organized in Topliff a mill, November 29, 1845, by Rev. G. W. Baker, where meetings had been conducted for a week or two by Revs. G. W. and O. E. Baker, of Marion, and K. Higgins. The first members were K. F and Amelia Higgins, Lewis and Susan Tepliff, H. Mustain, Joseph and Sarah Anderson, Cornelia Barns, Patience Vesey, John Bonner, John and Mary King, and one other, numbering thirteen in all. The first Trustees were K. F. Higgins, John Bonner and Jonathan Myers; Lewis Topliff, Clerk. Meetings were held at Maj. La Rue's residence and barn, Topliff s mill, and then in meeting-houses. The first church building was erected in 1850, 24x46, on the site of their present church, at a host of $800. The new church was erected in 1877, at a cost of $6,500. The pastors have been Revs. G. W. Baker, K. F. Higgins, S. H. Moon, S. D. Bates, D. D. Halsted, S. L. Collier, C. O. Parmenter, R. J. Poston, four years; B. F. Zell since 1878. There are now forty-seven members. Deacons, John Bonner and Samuel Hopkins.

Presbyterian Church.-In the history of Bowling Green Township, an account is given of the organization of this church in 1843. Their building was moved to La Rue in 1862, upon a lot given by Maj. La Rue for a Presbyterian Church, on High street. Here they worshiped until 1881. since which time they have held services in the Free-Will Baptist Church. The present membership is thirty-six. Thomas S. Miller and J. F. Marsh are the Ruling Elders.

The ministers who have served this church are Revs. Cephas Cook, James Robinson, -Axtell, B. Wall, Henry Hess, five years; E. Evans, I. N. Shepard, A. S. Thorn, W. H. Honnell, L. D. Smith, S. A. Hummer and A. B. Struthers. Of the original members, all are dead but Mrs. Gilmer, who is now eighty-two years of age, being born June 22, 1801, near West Union, Adams Co., Ohio, and came to this county in 1842.

Catholic Church.-In 1868, when there were twenty-four families in this church, a frame edifice was erected, 20x40 feet, costing $2,200, in which religious services were held until in 18 72, when Stephen New erected a brick church, 22x40 feet, at an expense of $3,000. This denomination at first comprised the following families: A. O. Flaherty, Michael Crowley, L. O'Harra, M. Carter, P. Cone, J. McGraw, A. McNeff, T. Me. Neff, P. Kramer, J. Kearse, Thomas Crowley, P. O'Brien, J. Cramer, M.

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 817

Snakenberger, Frank Miller, George Albert, C. Seitz, J. Carter, Frank Columbus, Israel Columbus, John O'Connel, J. Hogan, Thomas Mulranen, John Mulranen, Mrs. Kane and Thomas Gilrane.

The Methodist Episcopal Church is the leading religious organization at this place, but no extended account of it was ever received.

SECRET SOCIETIES.

La Rue Lodge, No. 435, F. & A. M.-This was organized May 18, 1872, by J. A. Rodgers and A. P. Cutting. The following were the first officers: A. P. Cutting, W. 141.; S. A. Guthrie, S. W.: Luke Lenox, J. W.; J. H. Leonard, Secretary; Henry Thew, S. D ; G. F. Riley, J. D.; C. W. Knapp, Tiler. There is now a membership of sixty and the present officers are: Luke Lenox, W. M.; T. P. Dodd, S. W.; W. L. Marsh, J. W.; G. C. Allinger, Treasurer; W. A. Rhodes, Secretary; A. J. Anderson, S. D.; S. G. Long, J. D.; J. Hazlett, Tiler; H. Thew and B. F. Stivers, Stewards.

Washington, Camp, No. 46, P. O. S. of A.-This is a camp of the "Patriotic Order of the Sons of America," whose object is the inculcation of the American principles of political government. Preliminary meetings were held in M. B. Chase's law office December 14 and 27, now the hall of the camp, in the brick block, over C. F. Seffners & Bro.'s store. A dispensation was granted January 3, 1881, and a camp organized by Frederick Haberman and George L. Phelps, with the following membership: M. B. Chase, J. A. Mouser, J. M. Hoffa, N. Mustain, C. M. Smallwood, H. C. Bireley, W. H. Cleveland, R. J. Myers, A. McCrary, E. Meek. C. Hill, B. A. Walters, C. H. Topliff, J. F. Keeler, F. E. English, Edward Stivers, George Long, F. Long, William Heybeck, C. N. Little, T. L. Leonard, Edward Mealey, N. A. Showen, F. C. Judd and J. D. Henkle. The officers were: T. L. Leonard, P. P.; M. B. Chase, P.; J. H. Hinkle, V. P.; J. M. Hoffa, M. of F. & C.; A. McCrary, Recording Secretary; F. E. English, Financial Secretary; W. H. Cleveland, Treasurer; F. C. Judd, Cond.; Edward Mealey, I. G.; E. Meek, O. G.; Edward Stivers, Assistant Secretary; William Heybeck, R. Sent.; Robert J. Meyers, L. Sent.; J. A. Mouser, Chaplain; and M. B. Chase, J. M. Hoffa and H. C. Bireley, Trustees.

The present number of members is twenty-nine, and the officers are: N. Mustain, P. P.; B. F. Stivers, P.; R. J. Myers, V. P.; C. M. Smallwood, M. of F. & C.; J. M. Hoffa, Recording Secretary; H. C. Birely, Financial Secretary; W. H. Cleveland, Treasurer; W. E. Robbins, Cond.; E. Meek, I. . G.; C. Hill, 0. G.; A. Mouser, Assistant Secretary; C. F. Layman, R. Sent.; 0. Prettyman, L. Sent.; J. A. Mouser, Chap.; and H. C. Bireley, J. A. Mouser and N. Mustain, Trustees.

The camp has, in cash, furniture and paraphernalia, $211.82--July, 1883. Meets each Monday evening.

Day Lodge, No. 328, I. O. O. F.-Prior to organization, several preliminary meetings were held. Dispensation was received from the Grand Lodge early in the summer of 1857, when the members consisted of T. S. and H. S. Miller, M. J. Burdge, Christ Mackley and William McClaren. The lodge was organized August 31. 1857, by William Chidsey, in the carpenter shop of T. S. & H. S. Miller. The meetings are now held in their nicely furnished hall on the southwest corner of Market and High streets, Saturday evenings. The first officers were: Christ Mackley, N. G.; H. S. Miller, V. G.; M. J. Burdge, Secretary; William McClaren, Treasurer; T. S. Miller, R. S. N. G. Present number of mem-

818 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

bers, fifty-three, with $548.76 in their treasury. Present officers: Thomas Deyson, N. G.; Gustave Trap, V. G.; J. M. Hofa, Secretary; T. S. Miller, Treasurer; N. T. Prettyman, O. G.; William Guy, I. G.; G. D. Delauder, W.; J. A. Mouser, Cond. ; Robert J. Fields, R. S. N. G.; A. J. Thomasson, L. S. N. G.; N. Mustain, R. S. V. G.; Jacob Rizor, L. S. V. G.; N. McBride, R. S. S.; J. D. Myers, L. S. S.; George W. Holverstott, Chaplain.

There is also a G. A. R. Post here.

TEMPERANCE.

The first well. defined temperance movement in La Rue was the organization of the Good Templars in 1865, Hiram Mills, W. C. T. It prospered until the winter of 1866, when the "Ohio Broadaxe," Rev. Chance, delivered a course of six lectures in the old Baptist Church. The lodge met every night and took in the new converts, from eight to fifteen; so that by the close of the week its numbers had increased from about thirty to nearly a hundred, among them nearly all the worst drinkers in the community. Then a hall was fixed up in costly style and the treasury depleted until the dues to the Grand Lodge could not be paid. It kept up meetings until the fall of 1867, when it underwent total extinction.

During the fall and winter of 1866-67, a joint-stock company was formed to enforce the laws, and with the aid of the Good Templars, some prosecutions were instituted, a few of which were sustained. But the cause of temperance from the legal standpoint went by fits and starts from that time onward. A lodge of the Sons of Temperance and a society auxiliary to the State Temperance Alliance have each existed here a short time.

Among the revivals was the " woman's crusade " of 1874, which did not result in a signal victory, although some liquor sellers were persuaded to discontinue their illegal business. After a time, a kind of moral suasion educational society was formed, which had a few ups and downs and then died; and now there is no so called temperance society in La Rue, although the churches and some of the secret societies inculcate temperance, that is in the sense of total abstinence from intoxicating liquors. Prohibition and total abstinence sentiment is strong, and is thought by its friends to be on the increase.

MUNICIPAL OFFICERS.

The first Council of LaRue consisted of H. P. De Long, A. P. Johnson, J. M. Little, A. Pickering and T. S. Miller.

Mayors.-Daniel Laufman, 1863 to 1866; Hiram Mills, 1866-67; Charles Quigley, 1867-68; John J. Hopkins, 1868-69; Joshua Copeland, 1869 to 1873; Hiram Mills, 1873 to 1876; Henry Weis, 1876-77; W. E. Parker, 1877-78; Henry Weis, 1878-80; Joseph R. Quigley, 1880; J. M. Dickason (by appointment), 1881; T. P. Dodd, 1881-82; C. H. Chamberlain 1882 to 1884.

Recorders.-John S. Peck, 1863; AV. C. De Long 1865; D. Wilder Halsted, 186'7; R. C. Manley, 1868; S. H. Kemper, 1869; W. J. Campbell, 1870; Joshua Halsted, 1871; D. N. Kember, 1872 to 1876; B. F. Waples, 1876 to 1878; J. L. Frederick, 1878 to 1884.

Treasurers of the Village.-T. S. Miller was elected Treasurer at its in corporation and served till 1875, during which year William Seffner filled the office. In 1876, T. S. Miller was re-elected, served one year and was succeeded by John J. Hopkins, who filled the office till 1881, when W. J. Campbell was elected, serving till 1883; then John A. Vanorsdall was elected, the present incumbent.

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COCHRANTON.

Col. William Cochran was born in old Virginia, and removed to Ross County, Ohio, thence to Montgomery Township in 1822. He lived here till 1837-38, and removed with his family to La Grange County, Ind., and died there. Cochranton, named after Col. Cochran, was started first by Samuel Franklin, who built a log cabin. Col. Cochran came in 1822 and occupied it a short time, then built a frame, 18x20 feet in size. The post office was established previous to 1828, and-Col. Cochran was appointed Postmaster, and served until he went West, keeping the post office at his house. Alexander Gillespie was then appointed and served two or three years. Frazier Gray, a Revolutionary soldier, succeeded him and served till his death, which occurred some ten years after.

Heman Scott came and bought 120 acres of Col. Cochran's farm and started a store in 1844-45, and the place then took the name of Scott Town, while the post office retains the old name of Cochranton. In 1851, Mr. Scott went to California; other merchants were subsequently Thomas Mahan, Allen De Long and W. C. De Long, for about four years; John Kennedy, three or four years; A. W. Buell and others. The present dry goods merchants are John Holstotter and John Grubb. Dr. Stroup is the physician and druggist. There are two blacksmith shops and one church building, occupied by the Methodists.

CHURCHES.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at this place was organized in the spring of 1868 at the schoolhouse, by John Sites (Seitz?), with eleven members, among whom were W. A. Butler, C. Postles, M. J. Webb, J. H. Mason, H. C. Mason, C. Sprague, S. Pixley, W. R. Hatfield, H. Brown, E. Brown and Jane Gray. The official members were W. A. Butler and J. H. Mason. For about three years the meetings were held in the schoolhouse, and since then in the church, which was erected in 1871, in size 32x48, at a cost of $3,000. The pastors have been J. Parlett, 1868-69; C. Weaver, 1869-70; D. B. Rinehart, 1870-72; V. Staley, 1872-73; R. Hager, 1873-74; E. H. Cammann, 1874 to 1876; M. L. Senters, 1876--77; C. M. Birdsall, 1877-78; J. Williams, 1878 to 1880; P. T. Webster, 1880 to 1883. The present membership is sixty, and the official members are J. Clark, William Robinson, H. M. Virden, J. B. Virden, W. M. Davis and J. H. Mason. The ecclesiastical year begins and ends in September.

Salent Presbyterian Church.-Preliminary meetings of this denomination were held here previous to 1830, at the schoolhouse near J. McElvy's, by Rev. Barber; it was a missionary station. The church was first organized in 1843, at the Union Church, two miles east of Scott Town, by Rev. A. C. Miller. It consisted of twelve members, viz.: John McElvy, Mary McElvy, Smith Frame, W. J. Virden, Sarah Virden, Ovington and Jane Day, Sarah Hewett, Harriet Wheeler, Mrs. Neff, Miss R. McElvy and Mrs. L. Frame. The first official members were John McElvy, Smith Frame and W. J. Virden. The Union Church building was erected about 1836; size, 30x40 feet. In this house the Presbyterian Church meets. The pastors have been Revs. Barber, Cratty, Miller, Braner, Templeton, Thorn, Smith, Lynn and Struthers. There are now probably about fourteen members. W. J. Virden is the Ruling Elder and is the only one of the original members now living here. Sunday school has been kept up most of the time.

FRAME CEMETERY.

This was laid out in sections in 1878, on a sandy knoll about ninety

820 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

rods south of Scott Town, on the east side of the creek. Smith Frame at first donated one acre of ground for the purpose, and since then one acre has been added.

AGOSTA.

This place has also had the names of "Carey Station," "Belfast" and " New Bloomington." Its oldest name is derived from that of two men, W. W. and Wingate Carey, who, in 1858, laid out the village. The former laid out the lots on the east side of Main street, south of the railroad, and the latter that portion lying east of Main street north of the railroad. At the same time Carey Darlington laid out the west side north of the railroad, and Armstrong M. Smallwood the part south of the railroad west side of Main. The last named died May 20, 18--, and Dr. A. W. Buell bought the property of the widow. cut the lots into different shapes and sizes, laid out other lots and lived here until 1880, when he went away.

Some years after the first platting of the village, each of the Careys made an addition W. W. Carey donating a .lot to the Methodist Episcopal Church. When the Bellefontaine & Indiana Railroad was built through here there was but one house at the point, a log cabin, and W. W. Carey erected the first frame house, and also the first store and warehouse. The village was known as Carey until 18-, when it was changed to New Bloomington, and in 1879 the station was changed to Belfast, while the post office continued as New Bloomington, until April 1, 1883, when both office and station were changed to Agosta.

The first dry goods and grocery store was opened by W. W. Carey and A. and George H. Smallwood, under the firm name of Carey & Smallwoods. In two or three years they sold out to George R. and Wingate L. Carey, who conducted business under the name of Carey Bros. one year, and then sold to Russel De Long and A. M. Smallwood. De Long soon sold his interest to Smallwood, who prosecuted the business until his death.

In 1871, James Elliott came from Marion and established a general store where the hotel now stands, and in February, 1872, sold out to T. R. Shinn, also from Marion. During the summer, he built the store room on the corner of Main and Buell streets, at a cost of $2,800, and commenced business in it in October, in the line of dry goods and clothing. In April, 1880, he sold out and bought the storehouse on the southwest corner of Main and Buell Streets, where he sold groceries, queensware, boots and shoes. This building was erected in 1878 by Lewis Merriman, of Kenton, at a cost of $2,500. Mr. Merriman, and his son-in-law, David Roby, as the firm of Merriman & Roby, carried on mercantile business until the fall of 1879, and sold to John Byers, who, in turn, in Aril, 1880, sold to T. R. Shinn. The latter, in April, 1883, sold to Bathard & Taft, of Mount Gilead, who bought both stores and still run them.

In 1873, Jacob Berger started a hardware store, which he sold out in 1878, to B. F. Severns, who still conducts the business.

In 1875, B. B. Hathaway erected a two-story building anti rented it to Anderson & Hite, who did business one year and sold their stock to T. R. Shinn, and soon after L. Merriman placed a stock under the charge of Uncapher Bros. The store was then occupied by La Rue & Roderick, who sold to T. J. Bish in the fall of 1882, the present merchant.

Besides the foregoing, D. H. Hathaway and Thomas Munday have been merchants in New Bloomington.

The warehouse was built by Burke & Porter, of Green Camp. It is a two-story steam elevator, with a capacity of 5,000 bushels. In 1880, Por-

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP. - 821

ter sold his interest to Burke, who has since been alone in the position. Ships 150 cars yearly.

In 1880, T. R. Shinn started a livery and feed stable, which he still runs.

In 1879, the station house was built, at a cost of $1,000, of which $300 was donated by the village. The amount of business done at this station may be indicated by the following figures: During the first half of this year (1883), 790,145 pounds of .freight were received here, being an average of 131,691 pounds a month; and 1,776,587 pounds forwarded, or 296,098 pounds a month. During the year 1882, $2,012.43 worth of passenger tickets were sold.

The telegraph office was established at the same time with the station, and G. W. Bailey appointed operator.

Dr. W. S. Paul was the first physician in the place. Dr. S. B. Marshall has been practicing here a number of years, and in 1882, he opened a drug store. The first drug store here was started by William M. Reed.

The Methodist Episcopal Church has a membership here of 100. Rev. L. O. Cook is pastor. Their house of worship was erected, in 1875, at a cost of $1,500.

EDUCATIONAL.

The " New Bloomington Union School District" was organized in 1875. Two acres were purchased of Wingate Carey, Sr., and in 1876 a school building was erected, at a cost of $2,500, and was furnished with the latest improved furniture at an expense of $1,000. At that time, the School Board comprised A. W. Buell, C. W. Powelson and A. W. Ward. Since their organization in 1876, there has been expended for the union schools an aggregate of $8,774.90, being an average of $1,253.70 per year. The schools have an average attendance of 110. There are three departments. The Principals have been Hattie Hudson, 1876-77; J. Q. Codding, 1877-78; Frank Umpbreys, 1878 to 1880; O. B. Zell, 1880-81; A. N. La Rue, 1881-82; M. F. Dutton, 1882-83; C. R. Marshall, 1883; M. F. Dutton, 188384.

MAYORS OF NEW BLOOMINGTON, NOW AGOSTA.

Jacob Zimmerman, 1873-74; A. W. Bull, Webster Buell, W. B. Tunget, S. B. Marshall and Thomas R. Shinn, the present incumbent.

POST OFFICE.

The post office was established May 14, 1857. Following is a list of the Postmasters of Agosta, with the dates of their appointment: Armstrong M. Smallwood, June 28, 1864; William B. Smallwood, December 14, 1865; Abraham W. Buell, August 26, 1872. February 5, 1883, the name of the post office was changed to Agosta, and March 2 following, T. R. Shinn was appointed Postmaster.

866 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

CHAPTER IX.

PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.

AN impenetrable and almost unbroken forest, with no timber removed save that which time and the disturbing element had plucked and destroyed, and whose primitive beauty and density remained as a natural shelter for the savage beasts and scarcely less savage men, and as beautiful bowers in which "the Indian lover wooed his dusky mate," is, in a measure, descriptive of Pleasant Township at the dawning of the present century. Beneath those leafy bowers and in the many shady dells, mythical, legendary and traditional scenes have been enacted, which, together with indisputable facts, have traced the pathway of the years to the present time and formed a fascinating history of the township for a period extending, over fourscore years. It is our purpose, however, to record only well authenticated facts in this chapter, leaving the traditional or uncertain history to be handed down from one generation to another, or to perish, unforgotten in the past. Yet, however interesting the history of the red Iran, and possibly the Mound-Builders, of this territory, however much we should like to know of their habits, customs, modes of living, and the minute details of their every-day life, or even however much we should like to record the many amusing as well as the many touching incidents of early pioneer life, all must be omitted unless well authenticated.

He who attempts to trace the outline of the history of this township from the past to the present, with the aid of but few records or the assistance of but few living witnesses, must needs go but a short distance into the backward path ere he becomes involved in a labyrinth of mystery scarcely less dense than the primeval forests themselves. However, there are authenticated historical facts that especially concern the present and the future generations of this township which in nowise should here be omitted.

ORGANIC HISTORY.

Pleasant was one of the original townships of this county, it being the name given to the greater portion of surveyed Township No. 6, Range 15, on

PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 867

the second day of the first session of the County Commissioners, after the organization of .Marion County. The board, then consisting of Matthew Merritt, Amos Wilson and Enoch B. Merriman, Commissioners, and Hezekiah Gorton as Auditor, met in first session on June 7, 1824, and on June 8 we find the following entry: .

MARION June 8, 1824.

Ordered, That surveyed Township No. 6, in Range 15, except two tiers of sections on the west, be and the same is hereby set off as a new township, by the name of Pleasant Township.

This name was suggested by Humphrey Mounts.

A full surveyed township, made in accordance with the law, consists of six sections square, or thirty-six sections, so that, according to the above order, Pleasant Township did not originally include the full surveyed township by two tiers or twelve sections on the west side. But since then a number of changes have been made, until now it includes a greater portion of the originally surveyed township. The first change was made at the June session in the following year, when those two tiers of sections were restored to Pleasant Township, as will be seen from the following entry:

MARION June 6, 1825.

Commissioners present John Page, Amos Wilson, Zachariah Welch:

Ordered, That so much of Greed Camp Township as lies in surveyed Township No. 6. in Range 15, be and the same is hereby set off to Pleasant Township.

A contention and strife for the possession of these two tiers of sections seems to have been going on at that time between the citizens of Green Camp and Pleasant Townships; for at the December session of the County Commissioners in the same year, we find the following order recorded, which gave back to Green Camp Township one tier of sections, the half of which had been recently restored to Pleasant Township:

TUESDAY, December 6 1825.

Ordered, That one mile on the west side of Pleasant Township be, and the same is hereby set off to Green Camp Township.

But this boundary was not destined long to remain. In March, of the following year, the County Commissioners' record shows the following entry:

TUESDAY, March 7, 1826.

Ordered That so much of Green Camp Township as lies in surveyed Township No. 6, in Range 15, be and the same is hereby set off to Pleasant Township, except the Sections No. 6, 7 and 18.

A year later the following order was made by the Commissioners:

TUESDAY, March 6, 1827.

Ordered, That the south tier of sections now belonging to Big Island Township and one-half mile on the west side of Township 6, Range 1:, south, be and the same is hereby set off to Green Camp Township; and that the east half of Sections 6, 7 and 18 in said township above described be and the same is hereby set off to Pleasant Township.

There wore still other changes made in the boundaries, as will be seen from the following portion of an entry made in the Commissioners' record in the year 1838:

MARCH 5 (1st Monday), 1838.

Commissioners met pursuant to the statute in such case made and provided. Present, Charles Merriman, John Shunk and George Beckley. Whereupon, on petition of John Britt and others, it is ordered that the half-mile strip taken off of the west end of Township 6 south, Range 15, in this county, and attached to the township of Green Camp in said county, also the whole of Township No. 6 south Range 14 in this county, be and the same is hereby detached from said township of Green Camp and attached to the township of Pleasant in this county. * * *

In the year 1848, another change worthy of mention was made, as we gather from the records of that date as follows:

868 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

June 5, 1848.

This day the Commissioners of Marion County met pursuant to the statute. Present: Hugh . Smith and John Uncapher, Commissioners; and Peter Beerbower. County Auditor:

This day came Alexander Porter and others, being the majority of the householders residents within the territory hereinafter described, and made application by petition for an alteration in the boundaries of Green Camp and Pleasant Townships, by attaching to said Green Camp Township the following described territory from Pleasant Township, to wit: Sections 1, 2, 3 11 and 12, and the north half of fractional Section 13, in Township 6 south, Range 14, and the west halves of Sections 6 and 7, and the northwest quarter of Section 18, Township No. 6, Range 15. And it appearing to the satisfaction of the Commissioners that legal notice of said application had been given, and that said proposed alteration is necessary it is ordered that the said territory above described be and the same 1's hereby attached to the said township of Green Camp.

In June, 1848, when the township of Prospect was organized, a portion of Pleasant Township was added to the new township, as will be seen from the following portion of an entry made at that date:

MARION COUNTY, Ohio. June 5, 1848.

This day came George Beams, Christian Gast and others, being a majority of householders within the territory hereinafter described, and made application by petition for the erection of a new township to be called Prospect, to comprise and inclose the following territory, to wit: All those portions and parts of Radnor and Thompson Townships attached to the county of Marion by the act erecting the county of Morrow. passed February 24, 1848, including that portion of Radnor Township incorporated in Waldo Township by the Commissioners of Marion County at their March meeting in 1848; also Sections No. 31, 32, 33 and 34 in Township 6 south, Range 15, being in Pleasant Township; also fractional Section No. 36, Township 6 south, Range 14, in said Pleasant Township. * * *

On the following day, a portion of Section No. 33 and all of Section 34 were restored to Pleasant Township, as will be seen from a portion of an entry made in the Commissioners' record of that date:

TUESDAY MORNING, June 5, 1848.

On application and good cause being shown, it is ordered that the order of the Commissioners entered as of yesterday, erecting the new township of Prospect, in Marion County, be so amended that the whole of fractional Section ho. 34 and the east half of fractional Section No. 33. Township 6 south, Range 15, be restored and attached to the. township of Pleasant, from which the same was taken. * *

On the same day, an order was made by the Commissioners, which gave a portion of the territory belonging to Pleasant Township to Waldo Township, as will be observed by the following portion of an entry made at that time:

TUESDAY, June 6, 1848.

This day came Daniel S. Drake and others, being a majority of the householders within the territory hereinafter described, and made application by petition for an alteration of the boundaries of Waldo and Pleasant Townships, in Marion County, by attaching to said Waldo Township the following territory from said Pleasant Township, to wit: The whole of fractional Sections No. 34, 35 and 36, and the south halves of Sections 25, 26 and 27 and the southeast quarter of Section No. 28, in Township 6 south, of Range 15. * * *

Thus it will be seen by the preceding entries, taken from the Commissioners' records, that while the western and southern boundaries of this township have been frequently changed, the northern and eastern bound. pries have remained undisturbed. The township originally consisted of twenty-four sections, being six sections in length from north to south, and four in width from east to west. In the second entry of date of June 6, 1825, it will be observed that "so much of Green Camp Township as lips in Surveyed Township No. 6, Range 15,"was restored to Pleasant Township, thus making it at that time the full originally surveyed township, containing thirty full sections and six fractional sections. Subsequently, all of surveyed Township No. 6, Range 14, at first belonging to Green Camp

PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 869

Township, and comprising all of the territory of that township lying east of the Scioto River, was added to Pleasant, as will be seen b; the entry of the date of March 5, 1838, and remained an undisturbed portion of Pleasant Township for more than ten years, at which time it, with the exception of fractional Sections 24, 25, and the south half of fractional Section 13, was restored to Green Camp. At that date the west halves of Sections 6 and 7, and the northwest quarter of Section 18, in Pleasant Township, was given to Green Camp Township, and thus stands the western boundary of Pleasant Township to this day. Off of the southern boundary has been taken fractional Sections No. 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 aura 36, also the south halves of Sections No. 25, 26 and 27 and the southeast quarter of Section 28. Of this territory, Sections 31, 32 and the west half of Section 33 now belong to Prospect Township and the remainder of it to Waldo Township. Pleasant Township is composed wholly of Congress lands and the surface is generally level. The soil is the richest and most productive, perhaps, of any portion of this fertile county. .

SETTLEMENT.

Among the early settlers of this township, and perhaps the very first of the number, was the Rev. Jacob Idleman, who, with his wife and three children, came from Highland County, Ohio, to a place in this township known then as "Slab Camp," one mile north of the Greenville treaty line, just on the opposite side of the road, from where Levi Jones now resides. He arrived there early in February, 1820, and there he hastily erected a temporary cabin, in which he and his family passed the remainder of the winter and the following summer. In August of that year, Mr. Idleman attended the land sales at Delaware and purchased 160 acres of land one mile north of that point, on what is now the Marion & Delaware pike, where he resided till his death, and where his son Silas has since resided until within the last two years. On this farm Silas Idleman was born in 1822, being the first white child born within the present limits of the township, and here also the members of his family were born and reared.

Rev. Jacob Idleman was soon joined by other settlers, and among them were William Wyatt and family, who came in the summer of 1820 and settled on the place where John W. Myers now resides. Afterward, but during the same year, Van Horn and family, David Tipton and family, John Staley (or Stealey) and family and Henry Peters became a part of this settlement In the autumn of that year, a settlement was being formed in the southwestern portion of this township in a territory which, when the county was first organized, was given to Green Camp Township, but which, for a number of years, has been a permanent portion of Pleasant. The first of this band of settlers were Humphrey Mounts and his family, who came here from Radnor Township, Delaware County, in the fall of 1820, and who were soon joined by John Matthews and his wife, who were also from that county. Early in the following year, Joseph Boyd and his family, natives of Pennsylvania, but more recently from Delaware County, joined this settlement. In 1822, John Nickleson and his family also became members of this community, and in the following year William David and his wife Magdalene, from Delaware County, also joined the settlement. Later, Friend Biggerstaff and Hugh Cummins, with their families, were numbered among the settlers here, and year after year immigration here from Delaware County and other places increased the population until much of the fair lands of this portion of the township were occupied and the set-

870 - HISTORY OF :MARION COUNTY.

tlement had extended its limits far in the direction 'of the one started by Mr. Idleman.

In the meantime, other settlements were being formed in the township, and the one in the western or northwestern part is, perhaps, the next in chronological order. Frederick Court and family were among the first to take up their abode there, which they did in 1830, and in 1834 Messrs. William and Frank Gooding joined them, and Sylvester Gooding came the following year. Mr. Beamer and family also located in this settlement at. an early date. Each of these settlements received many new accessions from time to time, until the individual settler is lost in the multiplicity of acquisitions.

PROGRESS.

These early settlers for the most part were possessed of indomitable wills, untiring energy and unflagging industry. Soon around their cabin homes sufficient land was cleared to raise ample crops of grain and vegetables for the sustenance of their families. Year after year, these clearing:. were extended into fields and meadows of no small pretensions and later the orchards and vineyards planted by the hand of the prudent husbandmen, yielded in abundance their rich and luscious fruit, and the comforts and conveniences of home were added as the years went by.

Since the organization of this township in 1824, a most wonderful transformation has taken place. What was then dense forests, interspersed with only a few humble cabins of the hardy pioneers, have been changed into beautifully arranged and well-tilled farms, upon whose broad acres of richest soil, annually, luxuriant grasses, golden grain and extended fields of corn wave to the winds of Heaven like inland seas of verdure and beauty Instead of the wild and ferocious animals that infested the country at that time, making night hideous with their ceaseless orgies, disturbing the peaceful slumbers of the woodman and his family, the people now have many useful domestic animals, together with flocks and herds that can scarcely be told or numbered. The red man, whose treachery, cunning, and love of revenge was the occasion of constant fear and dread. has gradually disappeared before the advancing tide of civilization and left the superior race in the enjoyment of the unbounded wealth of the lands that he once occupied as hunting grounds.

In comparison with the primeval picture above drawn, contrast the following figures, compiled from the last Assessor's report:

Wheat, acres sown. 2,498; bushels produced, 36,647; number of acres sown for harvest 1883, 2,270. Oats, acres sown, 525; bushels produced, 11,417. Corn, acres planted, 2,675, bushels produced, 105.740. Meadow, acres, 965; tons of bay, 1,434. Clover, acres, 537; tons of hay, 688; bushels of seed 734. Potatoes, acres planted, 881-; bushels produced, 6,442. Butter, 38,971 pounds. Sorghum, acres planted, 2/3, gallons sirup, 79. Maple sugar, 50 pounds; gallons sirup, 45. Bees, 35 hives; pounds of hone, 120. Eggs, 33,642 dozen. Grapes, 1.725 pounds. Apples, acres occupied, 285; bushels produced, 6, 589. Peaches, bushels produced. 278. Pears, bushels produced, 60. Apples, acres cultivated, 6,117. Lands, number of acres pasture, 2,294; number of acres woodland, 3,298; total number of acres owned, 12, 208. Wool, 6, 507 pounds. Milch cows, 406. Dogs, 150. Sheep killed by dogs, 52; value, $171; injured by dogs, 82; value, $216. Hogs died 64; value, $273. Sheep died, 14; value, $34. Cattle died, 13; value. $297. Horses died, 13; value, $1,095.

Owen Station is located in this township on the Columbus & Toledo

PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 871

Railroad, which traverses the whole length of the western half of the township from north to south. At this point is located a post office named Owen, a hotel, store, express office, etc. In this vicinity John Owen burns and ships considerable quantities of quick-lime; a quarry here also furnishes a good quality of building stone.

EDUCATIONAL.

At an early date, schools were founded and religious societies formed, both of which at first held their meetings at the humble dwelling of some cottager. The first school that was held in this township was organized in the early part of the winter of 1821, and consisted of fifteen pupils. The term was of three months' duration, and the teacher was paid from private funds. The school was taught in the cabin first occupied by Van Horn and family and afterward owned by Henry Peters. The first schoolhouse erected in what is now Pleasant Township was built in 1823, on a farm then owned by John Nickleson, but which now is in the possession of Mrs. Patterson.

The schoolhouses built in those early days presented a strange contrast to the modern handsome brick and frame structures with all of their conveniences, comfortable patent seats, with desks attached, and with blackboards, maps and charts in plenty that. now adorn their walls. This, the first schoolhouse in Pleasant Township, was no exception to the rule. It was a rude structure, unattractive in appearance and quite uncomfortable in many respects. It was constructed of split logs, the flat sides of which formed the walls of the interior of the building and the chinks were stopped by moss being placed in the crevices. The large fire-place was built of wood, with clay back-wall an,! jambs. The chimney was built of small sticks, cemented together with a mortar made from clay. The door, made of clapboards, hung on two huge wooden binges. The floor was constructed of puncheons laid loosely upon the "sleepers" and the writing desks were formed by putting long pins into the wall and placing puncheons along on them. There was a window on either side about eight inches in width, running the entire length of the building. The sash were formed by placing small sticks perpendicularly in this aperture about every twelve inches, over which greased paper was placed, which, although not trans. parent, served to admit a dim, though sufficient light.

The first teacher who taught in this schoolhouse was a young lady by the name of Hannah Baker, who was also paid out of private funds. She made her residence in the schoolhouse, and although she did not furnish it in the most elegant or extravagant style, she managed to live there and teach the young ideas how to shoot for a period of one year, at the end of which time she was married to Mr. Wood. It is said that while she resided in the schoolhouse the furniture used was a rudely. constructed bedstead, a few rickety chairs; and a store box. used as a cupboard and table, completed the entire a outfit.

SOCIAL.

In common with the custom of that day, the "quilting bee," the " husking bee," the "wood chopping," the "apple cutting," and such other gatherings. which partook of both an industrial and social nature, were of fro. quent occurrence, and much work was thus accomplished by the combined mutual and reciprocal labor of the various households of the different communities, and also much pleasure and enjoyment were derived by the young people from the social feature which invariably followed.

872 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

In 1825, Henry Milisor married Betsey Berry, which was the first event of the kind that transpired in the township.

MISCELLANEOUS.

In the early history of this township much sickness prevailed. Among the most deadly diseases was that of the trembles, or milk sickness. Among the many early victims of this dread disease were Henry Stealy and wife, James Ales and wife and a Mr. Meeks and his wife. Henry Stealy was the first of the number, and his death doubtless was the first that occurred in the township, he having died in the early autumn of 1823. At that early time, no graveyard was yet started, and the dead were frequently buried in the door-yard, about the only places then cleared. The remains of Mr. Meeks and wife repose in what now constitutes George Rupp's dooryard, and those of James Ales and wife slumber beneath the lawn in front of Ephraim Luke's door.

Samuel Fish, one of the three oldest surviving pioneers of Pleasant Township, was born in Foster, Providence Co., R. I., September 27, 1793, son of Preserved and Elizabeth (Sherman) Fish, of Portsmouth, Island, of Rhode Island and Rhode Island. Parents were married in Rhode Island, and came to Union County, Ohio, in October, 1821. The next spring they came to Pleasant Township, where Mr. Fish entered eighty acres of land from the Government and cleared about two acres, where he expected to build. In June, while cutting out a road, a tree fell upon him, killing him. His widow survived him until August, 1822. They had two children --Samuel and Eliza A. The latter died in August, 1822.

Samuel Fish, the subject of this sketch, was reared on a farm until eighteen years of age, when he served an apprenticeship of seven years at the carpenter's trade. This he followed until 1821, when he came to Darby Plains, Union County, Ohio, where he resided until his father was killed; he then moved to Pleasant Township and took charge of the homestead. At the death of his mother and sister, he became the sole owner of it. He cleared up that land and made all the improvements upon it. In 1847, he built a frame residence, 18x41 feet in size and two stories high. This was the first frame house in the township and the best residence at that time. He added to his land possessions until he owned 700 acres, entering about 600 himself. He dealt some in real estate, and during his last years on the farm he was engaged in rearing fine cattle and sheep. He was an exhibitor at one of the first fairs in the county. Mr. Fish resided in Marion a year about 1825, and March 31, 1880, he returned to town after having spent a long life upon the farm. He has lived retired, however, about twenty-five years, his son, Royal Fish, taking charge of the farm.

In 1821, he married Hannah Love, daughter of Charles and Mary Love. She was born in Coventry, Kent Co., R. I., December 5, 1801, and died April 3, 1856. Of their nine children, eight are living: Susan E., wife of Elias Riley; William P., born April 28, 1825, the first male child born in Marion; Samuel S., who died March 3, 1854; Royal, Eliza A., wife of T. P. Crafty; Ruby J., wife of T. H. Roberts; Louisa E., wife of Joseph Underwood; Hannah C., wife of Hiram W. Riley; and Effie M., wife of F. W. Fish.

Mr. Fish is a Republican; formerly a Whig. Was Justice of the Peace nine years, and Township Trustee one term. His land he has divided among his children. Mrs. Fish owns 240 acres of laud in Marion Township.

PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 873

RELIGIOUS.

The first religious society in this township was formed by Henry Peters, Jacob Idleman and Christian Staley in 1820, and was of the Methodist Episcopal denomination. Meetings were first held in the various cabins of the settlers and were conducted by a local preacher named Stewart, until in the following year, when a minister named James Murray was sent them by the Methodist Episcopal Conference and soon after they were received into the Delaware Circuit. In 1823, the society built a church on the Idleman purchase. The building was of hewed logs, with clapboard roof, containing rough benches for seats and a strangely modeled and rudely constructed pulpit. This church was formally dedicated by the Rev. James Gilruth in the year 1823. This, doubtless, was the first church building erected in the township and was used many years by this society, but in 1866 a frame edifice thirty-eight feet square, was erected upon another portion of the Idleman farm, on Section 14, at a cost of $2,100. There are now about thirty members. Among the pastors have been Revs. Powell, Matthews, Farrow, Fant, Mattison, Squires, etc. The Sunday school, of fifty pupils, is presided over by Michael Waddol. This is known as the "Locust Grove Church."

The Pleasant Ridge Methodist Episcopal Church was organized and their house of worship (frame) built in 1871, on Section 17. The membership now numbers tan, and Sunday school pupils forty; Superintendent, William H. Stallsmith. The pastors have been Revs. L. A. Belt, William Jones, L. C. Webster, I. R. Henderson, D. D. Waugh and S. O. Young. There is no pastor at present.

Mount Union Church of the United Brethren in Christ, house of worship in the southwestern part of the township. It is 28x37 feet, and built about 1855, at a cost of $800. The first meeting of this denomination here was about 1836, at William Strode's, Pleasant Township, conducted by Rev. Kaufman. The society was organized in 1837 or 1838, at 1). Barnhart's, this township, with the following members: G. and D. Barnhart, William and E. Strode, and William and M. Biggerstaff. Meetings were held at D. Barnhart's until 1845; then at a log church at the Mounts Graveyard until about 1857, when the new church was occupied. Pastors, Revs. J. Staub. 1852; J. T. Seiter, 1853 and 1854; S. Jacoby, J. Bright, W. Martin, J. C. Beady, J. W. Wagner, D. F. Condor, and others. Present membership thirty. Official members, N. C. Barnhart, Samuel Biggerstaff and I. J. Nickelson.

Another church of this denomination exists near the northeast corner of the township, comprising about fifty-five members, with a Sunday school of sixty or more pupils; J. J. Myers, Superintendent. Rev. A. . Davis, of Marion, is pastor. They have a nice house of worship, erected about 1870.

Trinity Congregation, Evangelical Lutheran.-This society was organized about thirty years ago, under Rev. Lasar. He was followed by Revs. Kornbaum, Eirich, G. Reif, P. H. Mueller, and since 1877, Rev. J. J. Sutter. Members: The families of Frederick Romoser, Christian. Rausch, J. Maechtle, L. Strobel, C. Baessler, J. Straub, W. Kroener, E. Lauer, J. Fink, J. Schlecht, Jacob Lust, John Lust, John Romoser, A. Hirsch, J. Hoch, W. Hoch, K. Hoch, F. Laner, J. Brauinger, C. Romoser, T. Kroener, J. Augenstein J. Gabler, M. Loeffler, J. Benzler Z. Berger, J. Lichtenberger, G. Maier, C. Fatzler, J. Wolfinger, John Augenstein, Jr., Jacob

874 - HISTORY OF MARION COUNTY.

Thibaut, J. Thibaut, W. Thibaut, Gottlieb Behner, H. Behner, John Behner, O. Weisseise, F. Loeffler, A. Sauter, A. Reuter and G. Dutt.

About fifteen years ago, a new church edifice (frame) was erected under Rev. G. Reif.

From the county records we learn the United Evangelical Dreieinigkeits Church was organized January 1, 1853, the house of worship being situated at the southeast corner of Anna ldleman's land, in Pleasant Township. Membership, fifty-nine. Justus Bender, John C. Neidhart and Daniel Klein, Trustees; John Buck, Moderator; and George Rubl, Clerk. This was a union of the German Reformed and Lutherans, called "United Dutch Evangelical Dreieinigkeits," being a denomination of Christians usually called German Reformed. This church built a meeting house about 1853, in dimensions about 24x32 feet, in which they still worship. They have a Sunday school kith an average attendance of thirty-seven. Jacob Ullmer is Superintendent; present Elders, Daniel Augenstein and George Neidbart; Deacons, Justus Zieg and Christian Zieg. The pastors have been Revs. Philip Ruhl, Aschmyer, Joseph Kester, etc.

Canaan Church of the Evangelical Association,.-This church was organized in 1870, by Rev. C. F. Negley, since whose time the following have served in the pastoral relation: Revs. G. Heinrich, 1871-72; A. Leonhard, 1873; D. Stull, 1874-75; J. Strome, 1876; C. Halderman, 1877; E. B. Crouse, 1878 to 1880; H. T. Strauch, 1881; F. K. Tutbers, 1882; John Stull, 1883. The last named resides at Steam Corners, Morrow County. This church elected Trustees November 12, 1877, and March 16, 1880. The house of worship (frame), 35x42 feet, was erected in 1870, at a cost of $2,200, and was dedicated by Bishop R. Dubbs. The membership now numbers sixty-four; Michael Click, Class-Leader; Henry Millisor, Assistant. Class-Leader. The Sunday school, comprising a hundred pupils, was also organized in 1870, since which date Joseph Klinefelter has been its Superintendent.

Presbyterian,.-The first church, built of hewed logs, was erected by the Presbyterians in the Mounts Graveyard. Rev. Henry Van Deman was the first Presbyterian minister to preach in the township and held meetings in the house of Hugh Cummins in 1825 or 1826. Rev. Barbour organized the first Presbyterian Church; and Joseph Boyd and Samuel Cratty were elected Elders. This church was afterward used by the United Brethren, as before noted.

Besides the foregoing, there is a German Methodist Episcopal Church, and a German Reformed Church, on Section 24, in this township.