658 - HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
BY JAMES ARBORGAST.
This township is situated in the northeastern part of Clark County, the northern boundary separating it from Champaign County, and the eastern being the boundary between it and Madison.
The eastern and southern portions are comparatively level. In the northern and northwestern parts, the surface is diversified by hills and narrow valleys.
The principal streams are Sinking Creek, in the southwest, and Buck Creek in the northwest. The latter flows through a narrow, but exceedingly fertile valley, bounded on either side by a range of hills. The only water-power of any special importance to the miller or manufacturer is afforded by this stream.
The soil, especially in the valleys, is generally fertile, directing attention chiefly to agricultural pursuits, which, from our earliest history, have formed the chief basis of prosperity and wealth. The principal products are wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, fruit, etc.
Manufacturing thus far, has received but little attention.
The area of timber land, although somewhat reduced each preceding year, is sufficiently large to supply almost all local demands. The several kinds of oak, hickory, maple, ash and walnut are the most important varieties of timber.
The lands of this township are known by one or the other of the two historic names of the "grants," comprised in part within its limits.
These grants are the following: Congress Land and the Virginia Military. The former comprises the western part of the township, and the latter, situated to the east of this, from which it is separated by Ludlow's line, was appropriated to the claims of Virginia soldiery in the war of the Revolution.
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"In consequence of an option to the holder of a warrant to situate it where he chose, if not previously located, the survey of these lands present a field of irregularity perplexing to the surveyors, and a fertile source of litigation for the holders of adverse titles."
The C., C., C. & I. R. R.-the only one in this township-extends across the nortwestern part for an inconsiderable distance.
The survey of this township was made, and its present limits established in the year 1818; and its organization was effected soon after.
In 1802, Joseh Coffey, then living in the State of Pennsylvania, becoming dissatisfied with the prospect presented to himself and family in the rough region where he lived, determined to remove to the then almost uninhabited, but to him, inviting West.
He accordingly pursued his journey westward to a point about nine miles north of Cincinnati, where he remained during the year; but, as malarial diseases were alarmingly prevalent in that locality, he made successful preparations for a second removal.
Loading into an ox cart such articles as the necessity of pioneer life required, he, together with the other members of his family, consisting of his wife and two sons, Tatom and Joseph, commenced the tedious, and we may safely add, perilous journey toward the North.
He had conceived the idea that he might find a more healthy location near the source of the Little Miami, or some one of its tributaries.
The journey was pursued for several days through the unbroken forest infested by Indians, until he reached what seemed to be the object of his search, May 6, 1803.
Here near an Indian camp he halted upon the summit of a hill overlooking a rich valley, through which a stream of water coursed its way.
At the base of this hill, gushed forth the cool waters of a beautiful spring.
This is the place where the first pioneer of Pleasant Township settled, and is now the site of the residence of this pioneer's only surviving son, William Coffey.
The first morning after the arrival of this family-May 7-it was discovered that a snow several inches deep had fallen.
A sort of rude tent was hastily constructed, and in this the first few months of the family life were spent.
The pioneer had, in this time, made arrangements for building a cabin. He was assisted in its erection by Thomas and Jesse Pierce, then living in Champaign County, and by two or three Indians.
This was the first cabin built by a white settler in this township.
Soon after his arrival, the pioneer, leaving his family alone in the tent, started out in search of food; and, luckily, at the cabin of a neighbor over in German Township, he obtained a small amount of corn, which, unfortunately, had been somewhat damaged by the early frosts of the preceding autumn.
In possession of his supply of corn he proceeded to Simon Kenton's Mill, where it was ground into meal, with which he returned to his family. The Mill of Kenton was on the present site of Lagonda. In the autumn of 1803, Isaac Agmond and his family came to this township, and built a cabin where Mart Mahar now lives. At this point was another Indian camp, the two being connected by an Indian trail. In 1804, Archibald McConkey and family accompanied by the father of Mrs. McConkey, removed here from Kentucky. The wife and mother performed the journey on horseback, carrying with her the three children-Alexander, Elizabeth and Daniel the wardrobe and lighter effects of the family. The other members of the party traveled on foot. It may not be amiss to state that a cow was also brought from the Kentucky home, and perhaps the only one in the little company of pioneers.
660 - HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
Archibald McConkey soon built a cabin a short distance to the east of Joseph Coffey's, on the farm afterward owned by his son-in-law, Mahlon Neer. Three daughters of these parents-Margaret, Nancy and Mary-were born here.
The other families settling here in this year were those of Samuel Lafferty, Henry Dawson, William Hendricks, the father-in-law of Mr. Lafferty, and George Metsker.
Lafferty and Hendricks were the joint owners of the farm on Buck Creek, where they lived, and which they afterward sold to Nathaniel Cartmell, from whom it received its present name "the old Cartmell farm."
The Lafferty family consisted of the parents and one daughter-Catharine. Hendricks and Lafferty were from Virginia. Metsker lived on the farm now owned by William Hunter, and better known as the Lofland farm.
Henry Dawson settled on what to the present day is called the Dawson farm-now owned by George Runyan. The children of this family were Ellen, George, John, Richard, Harriet and Elizabeth. Henry Dawson, the father, had served in the Revolution as Lieutenant.
He removed to this locality from Kentucky, from which he brought several fruit trees, these having been carried in a Dutch oven, and were the first of their kind to produce fruit in this locality. It may be necessary to state that one or two of those apple trees, once near the Dawson cabin, are still living after the lapse of seventy-six years.
Solomon Scott came in 1805, from Virginia, as did also Jonathan Hunter, with a large family. The sons and daughters were named respectively William, George, Jonathan, Jeremiah, James, Elizabeth, Mary, Nancy, Rachel and Sarah.
Jonathan Hunter located upon Section 22, which he purchased soon after.
On the 29th of June, 1805, Constantine, wife of Henry Dawson, died. This was the first death that occurred among the early pioneers. A grave was prepared near the cabin home, and the little company of neighbors and friends, amid wild forest scenes, performed the humble rites of burial, while the bereaved family wept the irreparable loss.
It seems especially proper in this connection to note the fact, that on the day following this burial, John, the third son of Joseph Coffey and wife, and first white child born in this township, "first saw the light."
Sarah Coffey, now the aged wife of Enos Neer, was born May 29, 1808, and was the first female born here.
William, the fourth son, was born January 11, 1811.
The first marriage was that of John Gillmore, of Urbana, to Miss Ellen Dawson; this occurred about 1805.
Soon after Jonah Baldwin was married to Sarah, daughter of Solomon Scott.
William Hunter and Blanche Hendricks were married, February 1, 1807.
There is an interval of a few years, during which no accession was made to this early settlement; but, from the year 1808 to 1812, and about that time, the spirit of enterprise seemed to have prevailed in the older settlements, and a number of fearless men with their families joined the brave and hardy pioneers. The men who came at this time were Nathaneil Cartmell, Daniel Wren, Peter Arbogast, Andrew Bumgardner, George, Joseph and Abraham Runyan, William Curl, Edmond West, George, Richard and Charles Botkin, Jonathan Jones, W. T. Hunt, Andrew Hodge, Absalom Clark, Thomas and Philip Tunks and George Jones.
David Waltman and Simon Ropp came about 1820.
Nathaniel Cartmell settled on Buck Creek as before mentioned.
Peter Arbogast, Andrew Bumgardner, Andrew Hodge, Abraham, George
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PAGE 662 - BLANK
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 663
and Joseph Runyan, William Curl and George Jones, formed the first settlement at Asbury.
Edmund West lived on the farm now owned by William Waltman. The Tunks brothers, Philip and Thomas, located on the two adjoining farms, one now owned by the heirs of Henry Arbogast, and the other by John McClenen. Philip established a tannery at the latter place. It was doubtless of the most primitive kind, as was also the distillery a short distance to the north, at a house now owned by Israel Everhart. Absalom Clark lived at this place, engaged in the management of the distillery.
Thomas Tunks subsequently sold his claim, in 1816, to George Botkin, Philip disposing of his to Mathew Shaul some time later. Charles and Richard Botkin lived near each other. A cabin where George Coffey now lives was the home of Richard, while that of Charles was situated a short distance west of the present dwelling of Armstead Tavenner.
Near the residence of Samuel H. Grove may still be seen the log cabin, once the home of David Waltman, whose farm adjoined that of his pioneer neighbor, Simon Ropp, he having built a cabin on the farm now owned by Jonathan Page.
Jeremiah Curl, the father of Mrs. William Coffey, and Bazill Harrison, were early settlers. The former located on the north side of Buck Creek Valley, a short distance to the southwest of the present residence of Albert Cheney, and the latter on the Columbus road, at a cabin on the eastern part of the farm now owned by Nelson Hammond. It will be noticed that the first settlements were established in the western part of the township. This circumstance deserves a brief explanation. The eastern portion of the township, it will be remembered, is Virginia Military land, and one hindrance to its settlement was the question of conflicting claims a difficulty peculiar to these lands-and another, was the fact that large tracts were owned by Thomas M. Bailey, who, like most land speculators, deferred the sale of his lands for a great many years; hence the settlement of the Bailey lands has been of comparatively recent date.
The first neighborhood was formed, as may be readily supposed, by the families of Joseph Coffey, Archibald McConkey, Isaac Agmond, Henry Dawson. Samuel Lafferty, William Hendricks and Jonathan Hunter. The second was that near Asbury, comprising the families located there from 1808 to 1811, Those forming the first neighborhood in the eastern part of the township were the following:
Samuel West, Henry Curl, Otho Arbogast, David Runyan, William Neer, Lemuel Davisson and Nicholas McCauley. The latter, an earlier settler than many of the others, lived on the farm afterward owned by S. R. Dickson. Amos Neer came to this township from Virginia in 1817.
The roads of those early times were only roads in name; they were indeed nothing more than Indian trails, from which the logs and saplings had been removed by the efforts of the pioneers.
The first road to Springfield-then consisting only of a few log cabins-was the kind described above.
The Columbus road, extending across the southern part of the township, was the first permanently located within its limits.
The Urbana and London road was the second. The traditionary history of its location is, that it is upon, or near, the route taken by Gen. McArthur in his march, in 1812, from Chillicothe to Urbana, preparatory to joining Hull at Detroit.
A few years later a third road leading from Springfield to Mechanicsburg was located. The route of this road, in this township, was surveyed by Samuel Lafferty.
664 - HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
The first saw-mill in this locality was built by George Dawson. It was situated upon or near the present site of the grist-mill, now owned by J. M. Runyan.
Mr. Dawson later built a small mill for grinding corn only; there was a carding machine in connection with this mill, which was situated upon his own premises, the water-power being furnished by a famous spring.
The first grist-mill was built on Buck Creek in about 1819, by William Hunter. It is now owned by Jonathan, son of the preceding.
A few years later, about 1822, Nathaniel Cartmell added another to the number of grist-mills; this was situated further west upon the same stream, to which place he afterward added a woolen-mill and distillery,
These mills evidently met a demand rendered pressing by the increasing products as well as inhabitants.
The principal agricultural products of those early times consisted of wheat, corn, potatoes, etc. The surplus of these was disposed of to the later settlers, until the area of cultivated land increased to such an extent that these increasing commodities induced their fortunate possessors to seek a better market.
The wheat was generally ground into flour, and afterward hauled in wagons to Cincinnati, where the salt and other necessities were obtained.
Upon the completion of the canals of Dayton and Columbus, these towns became the chief places of trade. But corn could not be advantageously converted into money at a market so distant as those mentioned, and this disadvantage directed attention to the rasing of hogs, which, when fattened, were for a time driven to Cincinnati and Baltimore. Droves consisting of from one thousand to twelve hundred have often been seen upon the roads, moving slowly forward to the Eastern market, hundreds of miles away.
Where Nathan Neer now lives, Cornelius Palmer built the first blacksmith shop in this township; here, assisted by Robert G. Dickey, Mr. Palmer established his business.
Henry Dawson was the first cooper: and one evidence of the genuineness of his work may be found in the fact that a barrel made by him for Joseph Coffey, and afterward the property of his son William, was in use upward of sixty years, it having been accidentally destroyed only a very few years ago.
William T. Hunt, the first cabinet-maker and undertaker, lived for many years in a log house, still standing, near the present residence of N. S. Conway.
The earlier settlers were not wanting in a proper estimate of the advantages of education. This is fully illustrated by the fact that the first effort was made for the public benefit resulted 'in the building of a schoolhouse. It was situated on the north bank of Buck Creek, where Charles Loveless now lives.
Jesse Reese taught the first school in this about 1810; but unfortunately a malignant disease called the "cold plague," terminated his life and labors before the close of his term. His immediate successor was John Dawson. The second schoolhouse was situated on the north branch of the same stream, at the angle formed by the stream and the present road. Edward Watts is believed to have been the first teacher at this place. Notwithstanding the fact that Watts was the first teacher in this second house, it is positively stated that a school was taught by John Harvey in a cabin where George Coffey now lives, some time before that taught by Watts-about 1811.
Other cabins for school purposes were afterward built in the neighborhood of Jonathan Hunter, Samuel Lafferty, William Hendricks and others.
The first of these was erected at Mount Vernon, and was for a considerable me used as a place of religious worship.
As this house became less adapted to the wants of the increasing popula-
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 665
tion, another was built on the school section at a cost of $40, the work being performed by George Botkin.
A cabin situated a short distance northwest of the residence of Nathan Neer, another southwest of that of James Hodge, and yet another where the Vernon House now stands, complete the number of schoolhouses in this locality.
A man named Curtiss, Redmond Eaton and Samuel' Lafferty were the early teachers.
At a short distance south of Asbury Chapel, on the land now owned by Josiah Jones, was erected the first schoolhouse in the Asbury neighborhood. The second was situated near the site of the present dwelling of William A. Jones.
Schools were maintained at short intervals at one or the other of these places from about 1815 to 1824, when a third building was erected on the site of Asbury Church.
This house, like that of Vernon, was used as a schoolhouse and a place of worship.
Isaac Putnam and Samuel Lafferty are said to have been the first teachers here. These were succeeded, some time later, by John Runyan.
About the year 1807, religious services were first held in the township by Hector Sanford and Saul Henkle, at the house of Jonathan Hunter.
Similar meetings were held later-about 1815-at the houses of Abraham Runyan and Andrew Bumgardner, Saul Henkle, John Strange-Goddard and the two Finleys-father and son-were the ministers who conducted the services.
This religious work, performed by the above-named ministers, was under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
Enoch Harvey, a minister of the "New Light" denomination, preached regularly at the houses of Joseph Coffey and Peter Arbogast. It was due to his efforts that a log church was built upon a lot donated by himself and his old neighbor, Charles Botkin.
The affectionate regard with which the history of these pioneer preachers is told by those who knew them, assures us that they did not labor in vain.
The first church was built in the Asbury neighborhood in the year 1824, and was called Asbury in honor of the Bishop of that name. A religious society was soon organized under the ministerial care of the two preachers, Strange and Goddard.
Abraham Runyan was the first class-leader in this society.
The church at Mount Vernon was built in 1825.
The society at this place was organized in due time, under the charge of one or more of the minsters above named.
Rev. Loraine organized the first Sabbath school at Asbury; this was also the first in the township.
The first Sabbath school at Vernon was organized by Moses Henkle in the year 1828. Archibald McConkey being appointed Superintendent.
The village of Catawba was laid out in 1835-36, by Cass and Marsh. The land upon which it is situated originally belonged to Israel Marsh and George Dawson (not the son of Henry Dawson.)
Henry Neer built the first house in this village. It was occupied by his son-in-law, Cornelius Stires, a shoemaker.
The second was built for Miller Williamson, a blacksmith.
Joseph Laybourn and William Albrison, the former a blacksmith, and the latter a shoemaker, were early residents.
William Pearson, a carpenter and cabinet-maker, built the first frame house in this place.
About 1831, Joseph Newlove came to this village with a stock of goods
666 - HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
and established a store in a small room on the site of the store now owned by Joseph Pearson. Newlove soon afterward sold out to Herriman Chamberlain.
In 1833, or about that time, through the influence of Hon. Joseph Vance, member of Congress, a post office was established here, and Chamberlain was appointed Postmaster.
The name suggested for the office was Newburg; but as there was already an office in the State by this name, it was called Buck Creek.
In 1838, the first tavern was opened in the southwest corner of Champaign and Pleasant streets. The proprietor, Henry Runyan, some time before having purchased the store of Chamberlain, succeeded him in the office of Postmaster. The mercantile business of Mr. Runyan continued for many years. Among the number engaged in the same business at a later date may be mentioned J. D. Creamer and Samuel Conway and son.
The first mail carriers were John Neer and Joseph Pearson, who were required on some of the routes to travel on horseback a distance of fifty-six miles in one day. Letter postage, in those days, was 25 cents-payable at the office of delivery if carried 400 miles; and for a less distance, it was diminished proportionately.
The first place of burial was on the western part of the Dawson farm.
The mortal remains of Henry Dawson and wife rest here.
At a point about one hundred yards east of the "old Cartmell Mill," on the south side of the race, was another place of interment.
The parents of the first Hunter family settling here in 1805, William Hendricks and wife, and perhaps a few others were buried at this place.
For some reason unknown, interments at the above-named places were soon discontinued, and other locations better suited to the public taste were selected.
Of the present cemeteries, McConkey's was the first; and the first burial in this was that of a child of Archibald McConkey. The second was that of Jesse Reese, who died, as will be remembered, in 1810. Vernon is the second and Asbury third, in the order of time.
A Mrs. Evans was the first buried at Vernon, and a child of William Eels was the first, and Susannah, the venerable mother of Abraham, George and Joseph Runyan, the second at Asbury.
The Thompson Cemetery, on the Columbus road, although located at an early date, is believed to have been later than that at Asbury.
The first physicians practicing here were the following: Drs. Bains, Needham, Hunt and Blount.
These, however, were not residents of the township.
Dr. E. Owen was the first resident physician; he was followed by Dr. Skinner, who was also succeeded in the profession, about the close of the year 1839, by Dr. M. R. Hunter, his practice commencing in 1840, and continuing until the present date-1880.
Of the social customs of the early pioneers, their opportunities for religious and educational culture, their efforts in the important art of agriculture, we have no record. All we can know, at best, must be gathered from the reminiscences of the few living and venerable actors in the new and wild scenes with which our early history begins.
It is doubtless true that what is called the pioneer spirit was often nothing more than the manifestations of a roving, shiftless nature, stimulated by the prospect of new dangers and adventures, rather than the desire for a better home, with the prospective blessings of prosperity and a better civilization.
But, fortunately, it was the fixed purpose, of those of whom this humble sketch is written, to found a permanent settlement.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 667
This is clearly established by the results that attended their efforts. They came hither to be the possessors of lands, and the builders of cabins, schoolhouses and churches.
It is not to be supposed, however, that either taste or convenience were displayed in the first buildings erected. Indeed more uncouth structures are rarely seen.
The first cabin, that built by Joseph Coffey, and not unlike those of his neighbors, was sixteen feet in length, by fourteen in width.
It was provided with a huge fire-place, built of stone, the chimney being composed of sticks and clay. The rude door turned upon wooden hinges secured to their places by wooden pins. Rough slabs, split from the forest trees, served as a floor, and a piece of oiled paper, attached to a light frame in an opening in the wall, admitted the light.
Nails not being then in use, the clap-boards forming the " leaky" roof were held in position by the poles resting upon them.
The hearth-stones of this, the first cabin, may be seen at the present day by the curious observer. What plans for the future were considered at the "pioneer meetings," that assembled here.
The scanty furniture of those days was the product of the simple tools-the auger and ax-employed in the construction of the cabins that sheltered the pioneers.
They were in the midst of a dense forest of timber, which was soon removed from a small piece of land, near the cabin of each, and this planted in corn, which was often planted so late in the season, owing to the many difficulties to be encountered in clearing the land, that it was frequently much damaged by the early frosts.
In that case it was sometimes dried by a fire, and thus rendered fit for the wants of the family.
Immediate supplies of food were obtained from the Indian hunters, and from the distant and earlier settlers.
Life presented little indeed, that seemed at present attractive.
Exposed to disease and the depredations of Indians, subsisting on the scantiest diet, the hardy pioneers, inured to toil and hardships, cleared their lands, acre by acre, and at the same time provided for the ever-recurring wants of their families.
As other settlers came in, men came from a distance of many miles to assist in raising the " log shanties." We are assured that if ever the injunction "Love thy neighbor as thyself "-was showed with anything like a general and willing obedience; it was then.
Pride and independence, so often engendered by wealth and social position, were unknown.
Men were drawn together by their mutual dependence and sympathies, which resulted in an enduring friendship.
With a remarkably homely and ill-shaped plow with a wooden mold-board, the newly cleared land was broken.
Money was exceedingly scarce, hence business was carried on by barter. Corn is said to have been the chief article thus used. It was frequently sold at 10 cents per bushel, but the more general price was a few cents higher.
Vegetables were readily taken in exchange by the Indians for venison, etc. Wheat, though produced later than corn, was universally cut with the sickle; and it was the custom to thresh with the flail, or to tread it out with horses.
The price of this product was, for a considerable time, remarkably low. This may be better illustrated by the statement that it is known to have been taken on horseback to Urbana and exchanged for coffee at the rate of one bushel
668 - HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
of wheat for one pound of coffee, and also that, thirty bushels have been given for one barrel of salt. But in the course of time, as mills became more numerous and possessed better facilities for business, their proprietors purchased the wheat of the pioneers, paying about 37 cents per bushel.
The price of pork usually ranged from $1.50 to $2 per hundred, net. It was usually hauled in wagons, however, to some distant town.
The article of clothing, like that of food, demanded immediate attention. . It therefore became necessary, in order to provide for the ever-present demand of bodily comfort, to compass the desired end by the cultivation of flax. This, after having passed through the tedious processes preparatory to its manufacture, was spun and woven into cloth by the wives and daughters, who also performed the work of making the garments required by the different members of the family. Many a youth in those early times could boast of no better clothing than those of tow. But after the introduction of sheep in the settlement, wool and flax were, by domestic manufacture, converted into linsey, and wool alone into flannel, which happily conduced to greater security against the severity of winter.
Clad in the home-spun of the times, and generally barefooted, the children at short and irregular intervals attended the schools in the cabin schoolhouses, which were built by a few persons, each donating a certain amount of labor, and a stated number of logs. The houses were beyond question illy adapted for the purpose for which they were designed. Instead of glass for the windows, pieces of oiled paper were used.
Rude benches served as seats; and to add to the too numerous discomforts, the cold in winter-as this was before the introduction of stoves--was by no means agreeable.
Great severity was used in the school government, and it was no uncommon thing for young men even to receive the most severe corporal punishment.
That no transgressor might lose his reward, the instruments of correction, gathered with care from the adjacent thicket, were constantly kept in full view; and with these the schoolboy was urged forward along " the flowery path of knowledge."
There may have been many schoolmasters then, but there certainly were few teachers, for the methods of that day, if they did not utterly repress, at least must have checked the loftiest aspirations that belong to youth.
Text-books were few and imperfect The beginner learned the alphabet from a thin piece of wood, upon which the letters were printed. The first lessons in reading were learned from the Testament.
The schools were maintained by subscription, the tuition being about $2 per scholar for a " quarter," consisting of sixty-five days.
A number of circumstances conspired to render the education of the young very defective. First, the tuition for even a small family could illy be spared from the scanty savings accumulated by the most rigid economy; and secondly, that the assistance of each member of the family was demanded; lands were to be cleared, rails made, and fences built, crops planted, cultivated and harvested.
Flax must be spun and woven by the wives and daughters, whose labors embraced many duties upon the farm, as well as those of the household. Can it be wondered at that education was so imperfect? However imperfect it may have been, who can estimate its benefits?
Books and papers were exceedingly scarce; the American Preceptor, the English Reader and the Testament, were generally the literary treasures of the family.
The Springfield Republic, founded in 1817, was the first paper patronized by the early settlers.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. - 669
Notwithstanding the meager supply of the means necessary to the development of the mind, the young of those times have since become, not only the most zealous patrons of education, but many of them the most diligent readers of books.
The first cabin-church like the first schoolhouse was built by voluntary effort. It was humble indeed. The internal appearance could only excite surprise at the present day.
In winter, a charcoal fire burned upon a small space covered with earth inclosed by a wooden box-in the center of the room. Around this fire, seated upon the slab-benches, the people were assembled to listen to the pioneer preacher, while he unfolded the great doctrine of Christianity.
The log schoolhouses and churches are among the things of the past; but the simple fact of their early erection, gives us the true conceptions of the character and intelligence of the early pioneers.
While they were thus laying the foundations of education and religious customs, they were also contributing to their own weal and that of their posterity by a method, not yet improved by the profoundest wisdom.
Each of the five prosperous religious societies of the present has a substantial and attractively furnished church in which well-attended services are regularly held. Revs. Jackson and Smith are the ministers in charge of the Methodist Episcopal societies, and Rev. Spahr of the Methodist Protestant society.
The Sabbath school interest is the object of the unremitting and studious efforts of these societies.
The nine school districts of this township, are provided with large and commodious brick houses furnished with modern improvements necessary to the indispensable work of education. These houses were built by Thomas Wingate at a cost of $18,700, and all except one since Mr. Wingate selection to the office of Treasurer in 1872.
Through the management of the present efficient Board of Education, the condition of the schools is generally satisfactory.
Schools are usually in session eight months in each year, the tuition being $3 for each.
Of the number of teachers it is proper to mention the name of N. M. McConkey and Benjamin Hendricks, who have been engaged in the profession upward of twenty-five years.
The latter has also performed the duties of Township Clerk for about twenty-six years.
Catawba, the only village of the township, contains the grocery and dry goods store of Thomas Wingate, Martin Hunter and Burgess, N. S. Conway, Joseph Pearson, the boot and shoe store of Benjamin Golden, and the drug store of William Jacobs.
There are two excellent churches and a graded school in this place.
Drs. Hunter, Bloyer, Beach and Allen, practicing physicians, are residents of the village.
The first election in the township was held at the house of Joseph Coffey, and resulted as follows: Joseph Coffey, Andrew Hodge, Trustees; Samuel Lafferty, Clerk; Henry Dawson, Treasurer; and Solomon Scott, Justice of the Peace.
William Saylor, a resident of this township, served for two terms as Sheriff of the county, and William Bunyard as County Assessor for several terms. Subsequently, N. M. McConkey was for two terms a member of the Board of County Commissioners, and is at present a member of the Legislature.
Of the number having served in some official capacity in the township at a rather early period may be mentioned the names of Samuel Lafferty, Joseph
670 - HISTORY OF CLARK COUNTY.
Coffey, Henry Dawson, William Coffey, Cornelius Arbogast, Henry Curl, Joseph Wilkinson, Daniel McConkey and J. V. Cartmell. And those thus serving at a more recent date may be recorded the names of D. H. Randall, Otho Arbogast, George Yeazell, Matthew Neer, Joseph Pearson, Jonathan Page, William Hardman, John McClenen, John W. Yeazell, Luther Jones, Enos McConkey, George Coffey, N. M. McConkey, J. H. Baldwin and John Q. Skillman.
The present township officers are the following: Mart Mahar, Hiram L. McConkey and T. M. Silvers, Trustees; Thomas Wingate, Treasurer; and Dr. W. E. Bloyer, Clerk. N. S. Conway and William Jobes are the two Justices.
As a direct result of the tag levied annually for their improvement, the roads of this section present a condition greatly superior to that of former years.
The free pikes of the township embrace about twenty-five miles of road, thus furnishing connection with other excellent routes of travel to the neighboring cities and towns-Springfield, Urbana, London, Mechanicsburg and South Charleston.
The temperance cause has not been without its zealous defenders among all classes of the people; and it has been a matter of special pride, that, with the exception of a short interval, no saloon has been for several years permitted within the township. Hence respect for law and order has generally prevailed.
The political complexion of the township has been for a number of years or perhaps more properly since the rebellion-decidedly Republican.
At the Presidential election of November of the year 1880, the vote was as follows: Republican, 315; Democrat, 72; Prohibition, 7.
The population of Pleasant Township, according to the census of 1880, is 1,488.
The value of real estate and personal property is $1,201,372. This amount includes $33,930 of real, and $36,183 of personal property in Catawba.
The period of business depression has happily ended, and we are beholding the dawn of a prosperity perhaps not surpassed in our past history.
Three successive and abundant harvests have added thousands to the wealth of our citizens, inspiring a confidence-real and permanent-like the basis upon which it rests.
It may be regretted that unfortunately many facts connected with the history of our early pioneers have been lost, hence much, which, if possessed, would be of real interest, was unavoidably omitted. Nevertheless, it is confidently hoped that the preceding sketch, however imperfect in detail, embraces all the knowledge of the subject at present available.
Finally, to the pioneers by whose courage, industry and perseverance, the early settlements were formed, to the few still living to tell the story of those early struggles by which our present prosperity was made possible-to these this short and unpretending history is respectfully dedicated.
The writer is especially indebted to William Coffey for the greater part of the material of the preceding sketch.
The following gentlemen have likewise rendered material assistance: James Page, Dr. M. R. Hunter, Henry, George and A. B. Runyan, Lemuel Hunter and Cornelius Arbogast.
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