Delaware County, Ohio History

HISTORY OF DELAWARE - 491

CHAPTER, XIX.*

CONCORD TOWNSHIP-ITS DESCRIPTION AND TOPOGRAPHY-SETTLEMENT-EARLY HISTORYCHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-THE GIRLS' INDUSTRIAL HOME - AN INCIDENT-BELLEPOINT.

"All honor be, then, to these gray old men,

When at last they are bowed with toil;

Their warfare then o'er, they battle no more,

For they've conquered the stubborn soil.

And the chaplet each wears is the silver hairs,

And ne'er shall the victor's brow

With a laurel crown to the grave go down

Like the sons of the Good Old Plow."

CONCORD is one of the most picturesque and interesting townships in Delaware County, and is rich in historical scenes and incidents. Its primeval forests, rolling rivers, winding creeks, babbling brooks, its green hills and fertile valleys, to one imbued with poetic fancy, present a field of inexhaustible wealth. The origin of the name, Concord, and its bestowal upon this township, is somewhat in doubt. There is a tradition that it was named from the old town of Concord in New Hampshire, made famous by the part it took in the war of the Revolution. In absence of proof to the contrary, we will willingly accord it the Honor of thus attaining the name.

The township is very irregular in its boundaries, and more changes have been made in its territorial limits, perhaps, than any other subdivision of the county. Additions have been made to it, sections and lots have been taken away from it, and changed around, until the people used to get up of a morning in doubt as to whether they were in Concord or some other township. The county was originally divided into three townships, one of which was Liberty, and in it Concord was included. Union Township was formed June 16, 1809, and comprised in its limits all that part of Concord west of the Scioto River. On the 20th of April, 1819, Concord Township was created, and bounded as follows: Beginning at the county line between Franklin and Delaware Counties, on the east bank of the Scioto River, and running up the river to where the range line between 19 and 20, strikes

*Contributed by H. L. S. Vaile.

the river; thence north on said range line to the southeast corner of fourth quarter, fifth township, and twentieth range ; thence west to the Scioto River, thence up said river to where the State road from Delaware to Derby crosses the same; thence westward along the south side of said road until it strikes the westerly line of survey, and extra No. 2,994; thence southwardly on said line and on the west line of survey Nos. 2,993, 2,989, 2,998, 3,006, 3,005 and 2,991, to Franklin County line; thence east to the place of beginning. It was bounded on the north by Scioto, Radnor and Delaware Townships, on the east by Delaware and Liberty, on the south by Franklin County, and on the west by Union County and Scioto Township. About the year 1852. Scioto Township was allowed one school district from that portion of Concord east of the Scioto River, and extending north between the river and Delaware Township, to the south line of Radnor. A few years later, a school district in the southwestern part of Delaware Township was added to Concord. . This was effected by a petition of the voters, of that section; setting forth their preferences for Bellepoint over Delaware as a voting place. The shade of politics, however, is believed to have been the true incentive of the petitioners. Bellepoint was strongly Democratic, and Delaware was strongly Whig and afterward Republican ; the petitioners were adherents of Gen. Jackson, and desired to vote with kindred spirits. A small triangular portion of the southwestern part of Liberty Township bordering; on the Scioto River was once annexed to Concord, but in a few years was restored back to Liberty. Lastly, a school district was taken from the northwestern part of Concord, which lay in the bend of Mill Creek, and is now that part of Scioto Township lying below Ostrander and south of Mill Creek. With all these changes it would not appear at all startling, if the border-settlers of

492 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

Concord sometimes found themselves at a loss to determine just where they actually belonged. At present, Concord is bounded on the north by Scioto and Delaware Townships, on the east by Delaware and Liberty, on the south by Liberty Township, Franklin and Union Counties, and on the west by Union County and Scioto Township. Its greatest length from north to south is six miles and ninety rods ; the greatest breadth is about three mile. That portion lying west of the Scioto River is embraced in the old Virginia military lands, in the survey of which, and its division into sections. quarter-sections and lots, each settler had his own surveyor, and his own idea of boundary lines. Hence, there is but little order or regularity in these subdivisions. The Scioto River flows through from north to south, dividing the township into two almost equal divisions. Originally the river was bordered by fine forests of oak. hickory, maple, walnut and sycamore. The banks, in some places, rise into precipitous cliffs of stratified rock, twenty to thirty feet high, which present a firm wall, defying further erosion. Mill Creek enters the township from the west., and flows into the Scioto at Bellepoint. Big Run and Deer Lick Run have their sources in the western part, flow in a southwestern direction and empty also into the Scioto. A number of other brooks and rivulets meander through different parts, but are so insignificant as to remain nameless.

The country back from the Scioto bottom, is generally undulating, except that portion lying between Bellepoint and Delaware Township. This, when the country was first settled, was a vast swamp, apparently valueless. But since the clearing-up of the forests, and an improved system of drainage instituted, the land has been gradually reclaimed, and instead of bog and treacherous marl are fertile fields, rather flat, but of extraordinary richness, near the river, owing to the many little streams flowing into it ; the land in places is broken by ravines, presenting quite a rolling surface but is highly fertile. Back from the river the land is rich, and produces grain abundantly. Owing to the heavy timber in this section, and especially along the river bottoms, rafting, in the early days of the occupation of the country by white people, was carried to a considerable extent, and was a lucrative business. Large rafts were gathered along the banks of the river and its tributaries, and at " high tide " floated down to Columbus, and sometimes even to the Ohio River. The raftsmen brought back groceries and such other goods as pioneer life demanded. The business of rafting was begun before the river was so much obstructed with dams as at present, thou thought them were a few at that date, and many are the anecdotes told of the way these huge rafts were made to "shoot" the dams, but our space will not admit of a repetition of them.

On the west bank of the Scioto River, about two miles south of Bellepoint, and one mile from White Sulphur Springs, stands an old gray-colored stone house. In this old house, built in 1823, lives Mr. Benjamin Hill, the last of the "hermits." and a son of the first white settler in Concord Township. His father George Hill, came to Ohio, and settled in this division of the county in 1811. He, was a soldier of the war for independence, and, on the lone winter evenings, when his children Lathered around his knee for a story, he used to takedown his old, long-barreled, flint-lock rifle from its customary place above the fire, and recount to them the hardships he had experienced in the old war of the Revolution, when half-fed and half-clothed, he had followed the banner of Liberty under the immortal Washington. He came from Pennsylvania, Westmoreland County, and made the trip on pack-horses. Upon his arrival, he built a log cabin upon the site of the old stone horse occupied by Len Hill. and settled down anion; the Indians. Joseph Hill, another son of George Hill, served in the war of 1812, and carried the same rifle that his father had carried in the Revolutionary struggle. He was out but five months, and. on his return, reported to the few scattering settlers in this part of the country the surrender of Hull and the capture of Detroit. Mr. Hill's cabin stood on the direct trail north and south, and hence many of the soldiers of 1812 used to pass by, in going to and from the seat of war, and many were the exciting stories they told of the Indians, and " wars and rumors of wars." A man named Saunders, from Tennessee, being badly wounded, remained at Hill's cabin for some time. He reached the place by floating down the Scioto River in a canoe, which several of his friends had made for him in Hardin County, of linden bark.

There were no roads to Delaware as early as 1812. A great and almost impassable swamp lay between that place and the ford on the Scioto, at the mouth of Mill Creek. Even the pack-horse trail wound two miles south to avoid the treacherous bogs. The usual and safest way of reaching Delaware was by going north to what was known as

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 493

Riggers' Ford, and then striking the State road, one of the first roads through this portion of the county. Benjamin Hill, relating some of his recollections of pioneer life, when he came here a boy with his father, says : "The woods were full of wolves, which, in along, hard winter, driven wild by cold and famine, would come often at night, and jump against my father's cabin door, in vain endeavors to break through. Many and many a night, we children would huddle closer together in bed, and cover our heads with the bed-clothes, when we heard the sound of the wolves around the cabin, shuddering as they made night hideous with their dismal howls, the lullaby most common to the children of the frontier. Woe betide the benighted traveler; if he escaped there it was by a miracle. The Indians told us that a pack once broke into their camp, and, before they could be driven off, had devoured two men and several children.

"Rattlesnakes were very numerous, often covering the driftwood in the river so completely that their mottled skins gave it the appearance of calico. They had a den in the cedar cliffs just below our house. My brother 'Josh' killed the king rattlesnake in our orchard. It was the largest of its kind ever seen in this locality, and weighed thirty pounds. Brother 'Josh' was once bitten by a rattlesnake. but upon frequent potations of whisky, he came out all right. George Freshwater met a similar accident. and was cured by a poultice given him by the Indians. We often tried to find out from them of what the poultice was composed, but without success. The secret they would never impart, and when they left the country they carried it with them."

Mr. Hill, the original settler of this township, has long since passed to his reward, and lies buried in the little graveyard on his original settlement, and, as we have already said, Benjamin, his last surviving offspring, lives upon the old homestead. His relatives are scattered around him. Solomon Hill, his cousin, lives just below him-a short distance from the sulphur springs. A niece, Mrs. Robinson, lives opposite him on the road to Bellepoint. His brother "Josh" and a sister, who were his constant companions for years, died two years ago. "Uncle Ben," of all his father's large family, is alone left; the grim tyrant has claimed the rest for his own.

"He laid his pallid hand

Upon the strong man, and the haughty form

Is fallen, and the flashing eye is dim."

For forty years, Mr. Hill has not left his farm ; the things that are transpiring in the busy, bustling world around are unknown and unheeded by him. The Mexican war, the great rebellion, the trials and triumphs of the Government for nearly a half century are to him as a sealed book, or "as a tale that is told." Once a pioneer, fifty years in advance of the time, he now stands half a century behind-a living monument of the past. Old and feeble, he is tottering en the brink of the hereafter, and soon he will know all.

The next settler in Concord was Christopher Freshwater. He came to the township about the same time as Hill, probably with Hill. They were brothers-in-law and neighbors in Pennsylvania. He bought fifty acres of land adjoining Hill, and was a carpenter by trade. On his trip from Pennsylvania to this State, which was made on foot, he carried his nun and "broad-as " on his shoulder. Many of his relatives still live in the township; among them C. Freshwater, Jr., B. H. Freshwater, D. Freshwater, and George Freshwater. The latter is his son, and was the first white child born in the township. Joel Marsh settled here soon after Hill and Freshwater, and located near them. It may be that the handsome daughter of George Hill was the attraction which prompted him to build his cabin adjacent. At any rate, he was not long in wooing and winning this frontier maiden, whose marriage is chronicled among the early historical incidents of this section. They both sleep in the Hill Cemetery after a long life of usefulness. Josiah Marsh, their son, an old man now of eighty-eight years, lives but a short distance below Benjamin Hill's. He is a man of considerable natural ability, and, withal, quite a poet. At the close of the war, then past his threescore and ten years. he wrote a little poem, dedicated to the Union and the soldiers who fought to maintain it, which contains considerable merit, and, would our space permit it; we would gladly give it in this connection.

Another of the pioneers of this township, William Carson, came from Pennsylvania in 1806, and settled in Ross County. In 1821, he came to Concord and settled on the place where his son, C. T. Carson, now lives. Here he died in 1873, in his seventy-second year. George Oller came here from Loudoun County, Va., in 1839, and settled in a small cabin on the east bank of the Scioto River. He was an old soldier of 1812; and died at the age of eighty-four years. His sons, John. George and M. Oller, still live in the township,

494 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

and are wealthy and influential farmers. J. E. Hughes also came in 1839, and is a minister of the United Brethren Church. He was born in 1822, and his father dying soon after, his mother married James Kooken, the original proprietor of the town of Bellepoint. Mr. Hughes lives on the cast side of the river, on the old section-line road, about half a mile from Bellepoint. His grandfather, J. O. Hughes, was, at one time, President of Miami University, and his father, J. S. Hughes, who came to the county in 1810, was the first Presbyterian preacher within its limits, and established the first church of that denomination in Liberty and Radnor Township. He was a chaplain in the war of 1812, and was taken prisoner at the surrender of Hull, but was soon after exchanged and returned to his home at Delaware, where he died in 1823. James Kooken was from the neighborhood of Philadelphia, and cause to Ohio in 1810. Soon after his arrival, the war of 1812 broke out, when he enlisted, and fought until peace was declared. After the close of the war, he carried the snail from Chillicothe to the frontier, and from 1816 to 1823, he was Warden of the Ohio Penitentiary. About the year 1824, he moved to Delaware County, and started a tavern three. miles south of Delaware, near where the town of Stratford is located. hi 1833. He moved to this neighborhood. and two years litter, laid out the village of Bellepoint. John Robinson, from London, England, settled here early. A short time after his settlement in Concord, his wife died, when he married a neice of Benjamin Hills and now lives just opposite to him on the road to White Sulphur Springs. William Jackson came to the township with his father when he was a mere child, and now lives about a mile from White Sulphur Springs. He relates as ail incident of some interest, the fact that his grandfather was one of those, who, in colonial days, had to choose his wife by lot. He shut his eyes and "selected" her from a shipload of females that had been sent over to the colonies from the old country. Thus he "drew" what he always termed his "little Dutch girl." When he first married her, they were unable to understand each other, but. soon learned enough to get along without trouble.

D. W. C. Lugenbeel, the veteran school teacher, lives near the Sulphur Springs. He is now engaged in teaching his fifty-third terns without a single interruption. He was one of the first students admitted to the Ohio Wesleyan University after its opening, but left it after a course of several years without graduating. John Cutler was anions the old settlers of Concord, and came from Delaware. He remained in his native State until some thirty years of age, when he came West and enlisted in the war of 1812, in a company commanded by Capt. Brush. After the close of the war, he returned to the State of Delaware, but came to Ohio in 1828, stopping first in Chillicothe, where he remained but a short time, then went to Columbus, and in 1830 came to Concord Township, and bought 800 acres of land. Here he lived until his death, which occurred about ten year, ago, at the advanced age of ninety years, he was the first Treasurer of Concord Township. The following are a few of the early settlers who bore the toil and endured the privations" of frontier life, and whose records could not be fully obtained : Daniel Creamer, Francis Marley, the old blacksmith, Joel Liggitt, Daniel Gardner, William Stone, Aaron Gillett. John Artz, Thomas Bryson, Gilbert Smith. John Black, Jacob Wolford, John Jones, and others, perhaps, who are entitled to the same honors but whose names are now forgotten.

There is quite a colony of colored people who may be reckoned among the early settlers of Concord. The first of this race of "American citizens " who settled in this region was John Day. He was brought to Ohio a slave by George Hill, when he came here in 1811, but immediately upon arrival he was given his freedom by Mr. Hill. John remained in the township for a time when he went to the town of Delaware and opened a barbershop. He is still living there a feeble old man, and the business of harbor is carried on by his son, John Day, Jr. A. Depp, another colored man, came to the township in 1834, and bought 400 acres of land. He is dead, and his wife, a very old woman, lives still upon the land where her husband first settled. John Day came long before Depp, but did not identify himself with the township as did Depp, who was a man exerting a large influence in his neighborhood. Upon his land was built the old colored Baptist Church, which is said by some to be the oldest church in Concord Township. "Depp's church," as it was called, was built of logs, and the cracks stopped with clay-mortar. However, the congregation growing smaller year by year, left the church nearly empty, and it was finally abandoned and torn down. Dr. Samuel White, another old colored settler, is well and favorably known to the citizens of the township, and came to the place where he now lives, half a mile south of the Industrial Home, in 1836. He

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 497

was born a slave, in the State of Virginia, but was a free man when he came here. His father bought him and his mother from their master, and then brought them to this settlement. Samuel White is a physician, and, although now sixty-four years of age, is still actively engaged in the practice of his profession; he ranks among the well informed men of Concord Township.

The Mill Creek Settlement, as it is called, was made on Mill Creek. One of the first settlers in this locality was Seburn Hinton, who bought 1,0o0 acres of land here and settled upon it at a very early date. Col. Hinton, who received his military title, we believe, in the peace establishment, like many of the pioneers, had experienced few opportunities for obtaining an education, and was rather illiterate, but possessed excellent business qualities. He built a saw and grist mill on the creek, the first in the township, and did a large business in lumber ; also in rafting logs and lumber to Columbus, and even down the Scioto to the Ohio River. He kept a store at his mill, which was another of the pioneer institutions of the township. Just the date of the building of the old Hinton mill is not known, but in 1838 it was somewhat enlarged, and a few years later, n account of the increase of business, new machinery was put in it. However, it still contains one buhr-stone, which was put in it by Col. Hinton, and to this day it is moved and shifted in the old-fashioned way-by a crane. Col. Hinton knew nothing of figures, and used to keep account by means of characters that he himself originated ; each character standing for a certain sum of money. Although he did a large business, and in its various branches employed many hands, it is traditional of him that he was never known to make a mistake. In 1838, he sold out to Jabez Coles and removed to Goshen, Ind., where he died some years ago at a rile old age. Coles, who bought him out, continued the business as Hinton had begun it. He came from New York, but was originally from Connecticut. He married in New York, and his willow is still living in the western part of Delaware Township. She is eighty-seven years of age, and still persists in doing her own washing, regardless of the expostulations of her relatives, and, only a year ago, she spun a large day's work of wool, illustrating in a striking manner the energy of the pioneer ladies. After Coles had operated the mill for a few years, it became the property of Mr. Decker, who finally sold it to Cruikshank. Several other changes were made in the proprietorship, when Dr. Blymyer bought it. He made considerable improvements in it. Soon after it passed into the hands of Dr. Morrison, of Delaware, who still owns it.

Another of the early settlers in Mill Creek was William Smart, who came from Pennsylvania. He cleared and opened up a fine farm in this neighborhood, where he finally died, and was buried in the Mill Creek graveyard. Many of his relatives still live in this locality. Presley Said, another old settler, came from Bath County, Ky., in 1821. His son, Abner, is now Postmaster at Ostrander, but the old gentleman himself moved to Illinois some years ago. Daniel Bobbins and Randall Murphy are also old settlers in this section. Robbins came in early and settled a farm upon which he died several years ago. Murphy bought land from Hinton, but at present lives in Delaware.

The water privileges of Mill Creek are excellent. The mills built upon its banks are able to perform their allotted tasks long after those on the Scioto cease operations in the dry season. This fact renders these mills of vast benefit to the surrounding country.

Among, the early incidents of this township, we may mention that the first white child born was George Freshwater, who at present resides on Mill Creek. The first marriages were Christopher Freshwater and a sister of George Hill, and Joel Marsh, who married George Hill's daughter. Mr. Hill's mother way the first death. She was eighty years old when he determined to remove to the Western country, and, nothing daunted at the danger of such a trip and the great distance. came with her son to Ohio. She died in 1821, at the age of ninety years, and was the first burial in the Hill Cemetery - the first laid-out cemetery in the township. At her burial, many Indians were present, and looked on in great wonderment and curiosity at the ceremonies performed in the burial of the Christian dead.

The first road through Concord was the old military road, over which supplies were conveyed to our army at Fort Meigs. An Indian trail conveyed up Mill Creek, and a pack-horse trail through the swamps to Delaware. But no township in the county is better supplied with excellent highways than Concord is at the present day. The first mill, that of Col. Hinton, has already been mentioned. The name of the first Justice of the Peace we were unable to learn. The first bridge in the township was built over Mill Creek, on the line of the old Sandusky Military Road, and was built by the people of the neighborhood. The first over the Scioto

498 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

River (in this township) was at the White Sulphur Springs. There was one built over the Scioto at Bellepoint, by Henry and Everet Sherwin. The span being long, however, and considered dangerous, it was taken down. A new bridge was afterward erected in its stead.

Upon the farm of Mr. Courtwright, about one mile below the Girls' Industrial Home, on the west side of the river, is a spot to which is attached a romantic legend ; upon this spot stands the ruins of the "Haunted House." This ghostlike appellation long since became current among the good people of the township, and the county, for the matter of drat. But the nursery stories told of this a "haunted habitation " are too absurd for a work of this kind. and we leave them to newspaper reporters who wish to regale their readers with something to make their hair stand on end.

The first church building in Concord Township was an old granary, donated for that purpose by James Kooken. Soon after this, A. Depp ( colored ) put up a log cabin church on his, farm as a place of worship for the colored Baptists. The Bellepoint United Brethren Church was formerly situated in close proximity to the old Oller Cemetery, about a mile below Bellepoint, on the east side of the river. The church was originally started by the Ollers, Jacob, Peter and George, and was a frame building. The early records are lost, and hence much of its history cannot be obtained. In 1864, being somewhat torn by internal strife and differences, some of the most prominent members left and formed a new society called the Christian Union Church. The frame structure, after existing for thirty-five years, was torn down, and the charge transferred to Bellepoint. The present church is a fine brick building, and is the first built at the village. It cost about $2,600, and the fund for its erection was raised by general subscription. It was dedicated by bishop Weaver, of the northern Ohio Conference, in June, 1873, and the first sermon preached in it was by Elder Long, a Christian minister. The names of the different ministers since its removal to the village are as follows: Revs. John V. Potts, J. C. Beady, D. W. Downey, J. B. Resler, J. H. Crayton, C. L. Barlow, C. F. Cinder, J. E. Hill and E. Barnard.

The new Christian Church was formed of dissatisfied members of the old United Brethren Church. The society was organized the first Sunday in April, 1864; at the house of Rev. R. Gates; and the first sermon was preached by him. For several years, the society had no meeting-house. They made an effort to buy the old frame church, but owing to the high price they were unable to do so, and for a time their meetings were held in private residences and, when the weather would admit, in the proves, "God's first temples." After great exertions, they at length succeeded in building a comfortable brick edifice, 40x30 feet, at a cost of $1,050. It was erected on the site occupied by the United Brethren Church. The following ministers have officiated since its formation: Revs. R. Gates, W. W. Lacy , George W. Higgins, Jacob Haskins, Levi Ely. Purdy King, William Davis and ------ Hawermalt.

The Baptist Church is the first regularly organized society of drat denomination in Concord Township. It is situated on the lake, a half-mile east of Bellepoint, and was established in 1853. The following ministers have had charge of the society: Rev. Levi R. Jones, who officiated from October, 1855, to March. 1860 ; Rev. R. Gates, who held the charge from March. 1860 to March, 1865, when he joined the Christian Union Church. The church then accepted the ministrations of Rev. Seth Gates, his brother, who had just repudiated the United Brethren Church. He officiated until 1869, when the church completely died out, and continued in a dormant state until 1879, and was then resuscitated. On the 24th of May, of this near, it was again opened for worship, and the day following, Rev. Isenbarger, of Delaware, preached an excellent sermon. Since that time, they have had their pulpit occasionally supplied by Pastors of other charges.

The Eversole United Brethren Church takes its name from old father Eversole, who built it, and was long instrumental in keeping it up. As no records are to be found, an authentic history of it is not easily obtained. Its present Pastor is Rev. Mr. Bernard.

Many years ago, camp-meetings used to be in vogue in Concord, as they were in many other secbuns of the country. The first of which we have any account was held at the house of Mr. Eversole, near where the United Brethren Church now stands. After a few years, the place of holding the meetings was changed to grounds near Riggers' bridle, which spans the Scioto where the Marysville pike crosses it. The bridge is now in Scioto Township, but at that time (about 1838-39) was in Concord. For a number of years, this was a place of holding camp-meetings; and the scenes of

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much good and some evil, as we shall have occasion to notice before closing this chapter.

The first school in Concord Township was taught at the house of James Kooken, and the first schoolhouse was the old granary donated by him for church and school purposes. A few decades make wonderful changes in educational advantages, even of a township, and to-day nine brick schoolhouses, large and commodious, and located at convenient distances from each other, show the facilities of the township for educating its youth. The following statistics taken from the Auditor's books will be of some interest to our readers: Number of schoolhouses, 9; number of districts, 9 ; number of teachers, 10 ; number of teachers who have taught the entire year, male, 2 female, 5 ; average number of weeks taught, 19 ; average wages per month, male, $26, female. $22; number of pupil, males, 193 females, 177 ; average monthly enrollment, male, 107. females, 101; average daily attendance, males, 81, females, 90; number of pupil enrolled between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one, males, 40, females, 38. Amount of money on hand, $1,059.69 ; State tax, $528; local tax for school and schoolhouse purposes, $1,537.36; total. $3,159.19 ; amount paid to teachers within the year $1,814. Fuel and contingent expenses, $354.46. The brand total of expenses, $2,168.46, leaving balance on hand, $900.73. Total value of school property of township is estimated at $6,400.

The White Sulphur Springs, Ira Fountain, as it is called sometimes as elsewhere stated in this work, is the result of borings made in early times by Davis & Richards for salt. The well was sunk 460 feet, and instead of salt a great volume of sulphur water rushed out. The men, at what they supposed the failure of their efforts, left the well in an unfinished state. About the year 1842 a man of the name of Nathaniel Hart, believing there was money to be made by turning it into a watering place, bought the land from the owner, Christopher Freshwater, and put up one large building and a number of cottages for the accommodation of guests. Mr. Hart sold out to Andrew Wilson, Jr., who, in renting to seekers after pleasure and health, retained possession of the property until 1865, when he sold out to John Ferry. The latter gentleman enlarged, remodeled and refurnished the house, beside building an addition, and put a great deal of money into it. In 1869, he sold the property to the State and it became the "State Reform School for Girls," but, by a special act of the Legislature, in 1872, the title was changed to"The Girls' Industrial Home." This project of a home for girls was the result of a petition to the Legislature by some of the public-spirited and benevolently disposed citizens of Delaware County, who, seeing the fine property going to ruin and decay, and taking a deep interest in the furtherance of any public project for the benefit of unprotected girls, gave the subject their hearty support. The following is the act of the Legislature establishing the institution:

AN ACT TO ESTABLISH A REFORM AND INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL

FOR GIRLS:

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That there shall be established, on land conveyed to the State for the purpose, a school for the instruction, employment and reformation of exposed, helpless, evil-disposed and vicious girls, to be called the State Reform and Industrial School for Girls ; and the government of said school shall be vested in a Board of five Trustees, to be appointed and commissioned by the Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, whose term of office shall be for five years, and until their successors are appointed, except those first appointed, one of whom shall hold his office for the term of one year, one for two years, one for three years, one for four years, and one for five year, from the date of their appointment, and their terms shall he designated by the Governor; two of whom shall be residents of the county in which the school is located. If any vacancy shall occur in said Board by resignation or otherwise, during the recess of the General Assembly it shall be the duty of the Governor to fill said vacancy by appointment, and the person so appointed shall hold his office until the next session of the General Assembly, and for twenty days after the commencement of said session. The Trustees shall receive no compensation for their services, but shall be pail their necessary expenses by the State Treasurer on the order of the Auditor.

Sec. 2. Before entering upon the discharge of their duties, they shrill take awl subscribe to an oath or affirmation, to obey the Constitution of the United States sod of the State of Ohio, and faithfully to dis charge the duties of their office, which shall be recorded in their journal. They shall organize by electing a President and Secretary, who shall be of their number and a 'treasurer, who may or may not be of their number. The Treasurer, before entering upon the discharge of the duties of his office, shall give a bond in the sun of $10,000, with good and sufficient securities, to be accepted by the Governor and deposited with the Treasurer of State, and he will properly account for all money that may come into his hands by virtue of his office.

Sec. 3. When the buildings are ready for occupancy the Trustee shall give notice of the fact, and shall take charge of the general interests of the institution ; shad see that its affairs are conducted in accordance wit the requirements of the Legislature, and of such by laws as the Board may from time to time adopt for the

500 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

orderly and economical management of its concern: they shall see that strict discipline is maintained therein; shall provide employment for the inmates, and bind them out, discharge or remove them, as is hereinafter provided. They shall appoint a Superintendent, who shall hold his office for three years, unless sooner removed by them for cause, and such other officers to be nominated by the Superintendent as in their judgment the wants of the institution require, proscribe their duties, remove them at pleasure, appoint others in their stead, determine their salaries respectively, and exercise general supervision over the institution. A majority of said Board shall constitute a quorum.

Sec. 4. All salaries shall be paid quarterly on the certificate of the President and Secretary of said Board, by an order drawn by the Auditor of the State on the State Treasurer, and all money for building purposes and current expenses shall be drawn in like manner, but not more than $2,000 shall at any one time be drawn from the State treasury. No Trustee, Superintendent, offcer or employee of said institution, shall be interested in any sale, trade, or business carried on in said institution; and for any violation of this provision, such officer or employe shall be subject to a fine of not less than $100, nor more than $1,000.

SEC. 5. The said Board of Trustees shall receive and hold, or invest, all legacies, devises, bequests or donations made to the school, of every description, in behalf of the State.

SEC. 7. Whenever any girl above the age of seven and tinder the age of sixteen years, shall be brought by any constable or police officer, or other inhabitant of any town or city or township of any county in this State, before any Probate Court of the proper county, upon the allegation, or complaint that said girl has committed any offense known to the laws of this State, punishable by fine and imprisonment, other than such as may be punishable by imprisonment for life, or that she is leading an idle, vagrant or vicious life, or has been found in any street, highway or public place within this State in circumstances of want and suffering, or of neglect, exposure or abandonment, or of beggary it shall be the duty of said Probate .Judge to forthwith issue an order in writing addressed to the father of said girl, if he be living and resident of the town, township or city where said girl may be found, and if not, then to her mother, or her guardian if there be one, else to the person with whom the girl resides, which order shall require said father, mother, guardian or other person, as the case may be to appear before said Probate Judge to show cause, if there be any, why said girl shall not be committed to the reform school for girls established by this act; and upon the appearance of the party named in said order, or failure to appear, as the case may be, said Judge shall proceed to examine said girl and party, and hear such testimony as may be presented before him in relation to the case; and should it appear to the satisfaction of the Judge aforesaid, that the girl is a suitable subject for the reform school established by this act, he shall commit said girl to the same.

Sec. 10. The Trustees may bind out as an apprentice or servant, any girl committed to their charge, for a term not longer than until she arrives at the age of eighteen years; and the person to whom the girl is bound, shall, by the terms of the indenture, be required to report to the Trustees, as often as once in six months, her conduct and behavior, and whether she is still living under his care, and if not, where she is.

Sec. 11. A person receiving an apprentice under the provisions of the last section shall not assign or transfer the indenture or apprenticeship, nor let out her service for any period without the consent in writing of the Trustees. If the person for any cause desires to be relieved from the contract, the Trustees, upon application, may in their discretion cancel the indenture, and resume the charge and management of the girl and shall have the same power over her as before the indenture was made.

SEC. 12. If the person is guilty of cruelty or misusage to the girl so bound out to service, or of any violation of the terms of indenture, the girl or Trustee may make complaint to the Probate Judge of the proper county, who shall summon the parties before him and examine into the complaint, and if it appear to be well founded, he shall, by certificate under his hand, discharge the girl from all obligations of future service, and restore her to the school, to be managed as before her indenture.

Sec. 17 One or both of the resident Trustees shall visit the institution at least once a month, at which time the girls shall be examined in the schoolrooms and workshops, and the register inspected. A record shall be kept of these visits in the books of the Superintendent. Once in every three months the school in all its departments shall be thoroughly examined by a majority of the Trustees, and a report thereof entered upon the record.

Sec. 18. The Salary of the Superintendent shall be at the rate of twelve hundred dollars per annum and of the principal matron four hundred dollars per annum.

Sec. 20. That said Board of Trustees, when appointed and organized under the provisions of this act, is authorized, empowered, and hereby is directed forthwith to purchase from the proprietor the property known as the Ohio White Sulphur Springs, situated on the Scioto River, in Delaware County, containing one hundred and eighty-nine acres of land, with all the buildings and appurtenances to the same belonging, the title to he examined and approved by the Attorney General; provided, the consideration to be paid by the said Board of Trustees for the premises aforesaid shall not exceed the sum of fifty-five thousand dollars ; which sum shall be paid on the order of said Trustees upon the warrant of the Auditor of the State, out of moneys in the treasury not otherwise appropriated; and the sum of fifty-five thousand dollars is hereby appropriated for that purpose.

Signed F. W. THORNHILL,

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

J. C. LEE, President of the Senate

RUTHERFORD B. HATES, Governor.

The law having passed. the following Board of Trustees were appointed, who elected Dr. John

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 501

Nichols, of Geauga County, to the office of Superintendent. F. Merrick (President), A. Thomson, M. D. Leggett, Clark Waggener and Stanley Matthews. The first report, November, 1869, shows an attendance of 6 girls. The next year, 1870, Stanley Matthews retired, and William M. Gravey took his place on the Board of Trustees. The report shows an attendance of 50. The next year, 1871, M. D. Leggett retired, and M. F. Cowdery was appointed to his place; number in attendance 104. In the year 1872, there was no change made in the Board; total number of inmates, 162, In the year 1873, there was no change in the Board, but a serious calamity befell the institution on the 24th of February ; while a deputation from the Legislative Committee were making their annual visit to the house, and, while in the very act of expressing their opinions concerning the satisfactory workings and prosperity of the institution, fire suddenly broke out in the old mansion house, which was soon consumed, together with the chapel and Superintendent's home. The number of pupils this year was 185. In the year 1874, W. M. Gravev retired. and V. D. Stayman took his place. The number in the Home was 143. In the year 1876, J. K. Newcomer had taken the place of Clark Waggerner on the Board; number of girls in attendance, 203. In 1877, Dr. Nichols retired, and Dr. Ralph Hills was appointed Superintendent. The report of 1878-79 shows the following expenses: Current expenses, $21,579.75, salaries. $6,048.67: ordinary repairs. $634.88; library, $257.95: grading at new building, $69.43 new brick family building, $5,578.64; furnishing, new building; $1,200: building turnpike, $500 ; pumps. pipes. boiler. etc.. for water supply. $171.37 removing old frame building $300 gas works $2,852.77 The report also shows that two of the Board who have been with the institution from its beginning retired. viz., Dr. Merrick and A. Thomson. The new Board of Trustees is as follows: F. A. Thornhill, President; J. W. Watkins, Secretary ; T. D. West, H. R. Kelley and R. R. Henderson. Mr. Hills the Superintendent, died in October, 1879, and Rev. Dr. Smith was appointed to fill vacancy. Number of pupil, in attendance, 227.

While the citizens of Concord Township, and the surrounding community, are moral and law-abining people yet the township was once the scene of a cold-blooded murder. The camp-meeting ground already mentioned was the place where it occurred. The circumstances are briefly these: On the 8^th day of September, 1838, in one of the small cabins which stood along the road from the grounds to the ford on the river, the Bowersmith brothers killed an Irishman with a club. The difficulty arose out of a misunderstanding in regard to the hauling of some goods from Columbus for the Irishman to the camp-meeting grounds by the Bowersmiths. They demanded a certain sum of money for hauling the goods, more, it is said, than he had contracted to pay them. High words ensued, when the brothers left the cabin in a rage, but one of them, Levi, returned again and struck the Irishman on the back of his head with a club, crushing the skull. He was taken to the cabin of Protus Lyman, which is still standing at the west end of the railroad bridge at White Sulphur Station, where he soon after died. The brothers were immediately arrested, and, while in jail at Delaware awaiting trial, their mother died, and they were allowed to attend her funeral in charge of the Sheriff. Their trial took place at the May term following, and Isaac Bowersmith was acquitted, while Levi was sentenced to the penitentiary for one year. There were three of these brothers, George, Isaac and Levi. Isaac is a rich farmer in Union County; Levi is a speculator in California, and George lives in Columbus.

The war history of Concord Township is similar to that of other townships, and of every other portion of the county. Some of the first settlers were Revolutionary soldiers, others served in the war of 1812, and the Indian wars of the period. In the Mexican war, the township was pretty well represented. Among those who engaged in the contest were Nathan Daily, James Cutler, Joseph Borgan, J. Riddile, Jacob Hay Alvin Rose and George Taylor. Daily was killed at the battle of Buena Vista. Borgan was wounded, but recovered from it. The others all lived, we believe, and returned to their Homes. In the late war, Concord, with the same zeal which characterized her people in these earlier wars, sent large numbers of her best sons into the: army of the Union. Their achievements receive bill justice in another chapter.

Concord, since its settlement, in 1811, has been Democratic in politics. In 1840, in the great Harrison campaign, when "log cabins and hard cider " was the battle cry, the Whigs carried the township by ONE vote; but such a departure from Democratic principles has never occurred since. From the organization of the Republican party, Concord has been as hopelessly in the minority, as in the

502 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

days of the old Whig party, and the township is still known as a Democratic stronghold.

The village of Bellepoint is pleasantly situated, in an angle formed by the junction of Mill Creek and the Scioto River. It was laid out by James Kooken in 1835, and was the result of a wild speculation. A few wealthy capitalists were going, to slack the Scioto River, and thus subject it to steamboat navigation. These capitalists and speculators were going to buy large tracts of land; and sell it out at immense profits, and so become millionaires. Kooken, dazzled by these visionary schemes, was easily persuaded to come to this section and buy a large tract of land. upon which he laid out the town of Bellepoint, as above noted. It was in the form of a square, and consisted originally of 160 lots, which, for a time, went off' rapidly at $50, and some as high as $75. Suddenly came the news that the fall of the river, between the new town and Columbus was so great as to render slack-water navigation wholly impracticable. Land, which a few days previous had been held at $14 per acre, dropped to $1.25, and the "corner lots" of Bellepoint could not be given away. Kooken and a few others, however, not in the least discouraged, continued to push matters at the "Point," and by every means endeavored to build up their town, but their enterprise availed nothing.

A post office was established at Bellepoint in 1836-37, with Walter Brogan as Postmaster. Francis parley kept a blacksmith-shop very early. His shop stood, not "under the spreading chestnut tree," but on the east side of the river. The first tavern was kept by Josiah Reece. The first church and schoolhouse, of which mention has already been made, were located at this point, and the first school was taught by John C. Cannon in 1835. He died in an unused cabin in the neighborhood, of exposure, resulting from protracted dissipation. The first sermon preached in the township we are informed. was at the house of James Kooken, by Rev. Mr. Van Demem.

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