500 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Henry Whitsel, Henry Dildine, Harmon Dildine, James McLeish, Samuel Bishop, Abednego Davis, John Gander, Jacob Gander, Jacob Rhoads, Simon Helpman, Michael Rohr, John Needles, George Needles, Philemon Needles, Andrew Needles, Cubbidge Needles, William Elder, John Kile, Alexander Cameron, Adam Haveley, Adam Sarber, Christian Sarber, the Daylong family, John Ranger, Zebulon S. Leigh, George Seymour, William Patterson, James Sandy, Samuel Murphy, Peter Long, Wesley Toy, George Edwards, Philip King, James B. Evans and Samuel Gares. The first settlers met and conquered the usual' hardships of pioneers and won for their descendants rich and beautiful homes, but the conquest of the land was more than usually difficult here, as the richness of the soil had produced a lavish forest growth. But there was firm purpose back of their migration into the wilderness. For instance Esau Decker walked all the way from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia, carrying with him a cane which he cut from a willow tree at his old home. This cane he stuck into the soil to mark the spot he proposed to preempt and then walked back home for his family. When he again came to the "Land of Promise," this time with his family, he found that, as an omen of future growth, the cane that he had thrust into the ground had, after the manner of its kind and despite its long dry journey, struck root and branched out. It grew into an enormous tree, from which Mr. Decker wished his coffin to be made. He was dissuaded from this, and the tree was for more than a century pointed out as one of the first fruits of the original settlement. Samuel Brown, one of the first arrivals, married in 1809 Margaret Kelly of Pickaway County and was well on the way to the making of a comfortable home in the wilderness when he was killed by the falling of a tree which he was chopping down. His widow, despite the hardships of her early life, survived another marriage and lived to see her descendants of the fourth generation and to attain the age of 93 years. Elias Decker, a brother of Esau, was a veteran of the Revolutionary War when he came to Ohio and added to this evidence of loyalty a service in the War of 1812. At an advanced age he moved to Hancock County, in this state, where he died only a year short of being a centenarian. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 501 The first village center was laid out in 1817 by Isaac Decker and was named Middleton, the name being changed in 1830 to Oregon. It is situated in the southeastern part of the township and has not grown much since its inception. It has never been incorporated and is still a crossroads hamlet. Saw mills and grist mills were necessarily constructed in the most available parts of the township as soon as there was a promise that they would approach the point of being self-supporting. In 1806 Matthew Taylor, Sr., built a grist mill on Alum Creek and J ohn Sharp put one up on the Winchester Pike, where it crosses Big Walnut. Both were long ago destroyed and no trace of them now remains. A saw and grist mill was built on Little Walnut south of Canal Winchester at an early date by Louis Kramer and one on Black Lick by John Rhoads. The digging of the canal opened up a new source of water power and Judge Chaney and his son, 0. P. Chaney, built on the canal just west of Winchester a mill in which both steam and water power could be used. A carding and fulling mill was built at lock 19 on the canal by Isaac and George Cowen and operated until it was bought by Judge Chaney, removed to lock 21 and much enlarged. Judge Chaney and his son were long prominent and public spirited citizens of the township and the family did much to make Canal Winchester what it is, one of the best small towns in the state. Benjamin Rarey started the first tannery and Adam Rarey and Isaac Decker opened the first taverns in the township, the former being the first landlord in Groveport. It was from this family that John Rarey, the greatest horse tamer in history, whose exploits are treated more at large elsewhere in this volume, sprang. The handsome residence which John Rarey built on the old Rarey farm has been remodeled and is now a popular hotel in Grove-port, where tourists stop and automobilists resort from the city. Decker's tavern was located at Oregon. Canal Winchester was laid out in 1826 by Reuben Dove, and was named for the town of Winchester, in Virginia, from which the Dove family had migrated. There were other places in this state which bore the same name, having been platted by pioneers from the Virginia town, and, when the canal was dug, the noun "Canal" was prefixed to the original name to distinguish the village from others. 502 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Jacob L. Vance opened the first store and soon found competitors in Jacob Carty and Israel Julian. These mercantile ventures were followed by David Dixon, John F. and Samuel Bartlett, Samuel Pond, Christian and David Gayman, Tallman, Allen & Co., Tallman, Speaks & Co., Weisman & Spielman and Spielman Brothers. General John C. Speaks, who has served the Twelfth Ohio District for many terms in the National House of Representatives, and who rose from private in the Ohio National Guard to the rank of major general, serving through two wars and the Mexican frontier expedition, came from the family that early established itself in the business of Canal Winchester, of which he is a native. His brother, Oley Speaks, also was at Canal Winchester. He is one of the best known song composers in the United States, his compositions being of the highest grade, and is a leading baritone singer on the concert stage. Miss Alice Speaks, who died recently, also was widely known as a musician, her voice being a beautiful contralto. Peter C. Benadum opened a tavern soon after the town was laid out and was followed by Samuel Taylor and Iran Mason. After the pioneer tavern had gone its way the village had a succession of modern hotels, its business being such as easily to support two good modern institutions of the kind. The country lying around Canal Winchester can not be excelled in productiveness of corn and naturally the business of the village centers around grain. An enormous amount of corn and wheat is bought by the granaries of the town every year and shipped to the larger markets. There are several elevators, warehouses and mills, and even back in the days of canal transportation a great amount of grain was shipped from Madison Township. Hiel Brockway, a resident of Canal Winchester, ran a line of canal packets from Lockbourne to Cleveland and amassed a fortune. He died at Brockport, N. Y., whither he removed when the canal business declined. The village of Groveport is the result of the union of two independent efforts at founding a community. In 1843 Jacob B. Wert leased some land from Adam Rarey and laid out what afterward became the western part of Groveport. He called his embryonic municipality Wert's Grove. The next year Mr. Rarey platted what is now the eastern part of the village and named it Rarey's Port. Both ven- HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 503 tures proved successful and the rival communities throve side by side until it became evident that the only proper course was a union of interests and organization. But neither community founder cared to give up the name he had chosen for his village. Then the residents, considering themselves as much interested as anybody, decided to effect a compromise. They would permit the village to be distinguished by the name of neither of the founders, but decided to adopt the unimportant second parts of the two compound names. And so the new village became known to the world as Groveport and under that name was incorporated in 1846. Mr. Wert was one of the heaviest shippers of grain and live stock in Central Ohio. A corn country, Madison Township was also a hog producing territory, and in one year Mr. Wert killed and packed 35,000 hogs, which would compare favorably with the activities of many packers of the present day in much larger communities. The second store in Groveport was opened by William H. Rarey and James Cooken. Other prominent merchants were William and Samuel Darnell, A. C. Headley and the Eberlys. The latter removed to Columbus and were for many years among the foremost wholesale merchants of the capital city. These two villages, Groveport and Canal Winchester, are today among the best and prettiest in Central Ohio. Although they are so near each other, there has never been bitter rivalry between them. Groveport has become more of a pleasant small town residential center, while Canal Winchester has taken on more business airs, has a newspaper of long standing, published for many years by the Gaymans. Between the two lie several smaller communities, with distinctive names, but unincorporated, whose residents for the most part are employed in Canal Winchester. The Methodists were the first religious sect to find a home in Madison Township. They put up a log meetinghouse on Black Lick in 1820 and an annual camp meeting was held in the vicinity, the moving spirit being John Stevenson. The congregation grew into the organization at Asbury Chapel, a brick church built in 1872. So zealous were these early churchmen to have communion with their fellow spirits that, it is told, Ezekiel Groom and William Bush first blazed and then with axes cut a path eight miles long through the 504 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY wilderness to give them a short cut to a place of meeting. Two other Methodist churches were organized, Hopewell, from which the Grove-port Methodist Church grew, and the Methodist society at Canal Winchester. A Lutheran church was established in Canal Winchester in 1839, the first minister being Mr. Wagenhals, the pioneer founder of a family prominent in the county. From this family came Lincoln Wagenhals, one of the very successful theatrical producers of New York City. Mr. Wagenhals is a son of the late Dr. Wagenhals, a brother of the late Dr. Frank Wagenhals, and a graduate of the old Central High School in Columbus. A United Brethren church was organized in Groveport in Canal Winchester early in the history of that village, and a Presbyterian congregation was got together by Rev. Dr. James Hoge, whose activities in the early church movements in Franklin County are familiar to all who know the history of the local Presbyterian communities. A tract of three acres for a church and burying ground was donated by William Patterson and the first person buried there was his daughter, who died within a week after the gift was made. In addition to these, there are a Reformed Church, a Mennonite church and a Catholic church in the township. MARION TOWNSHIP. Marion Township, which lies east and south of the city of Columbus, is fast going the way of the political divisions abutting on that municipality. It has already lost most of its territory to Columbus and the suburban city of Bexley, and the rest of it is going rapidly. Only the southeast corner remains as a distinct political entity, as the city of Columbus recently reached beyond Bexley and incorporated into its own municipality a large territory east of that suburban city. The township was originally bounded on the north by Clinton and Mifflin Townships, on the east by Truro Townships, on the south by Hamilton Township and on the west by the Scioto River. Now it is hemmed in on the west and north by Columbus and Bexley. The latter, a residential community of the highest and most exclusive type, is now a city, having, according to the 1930 census, a population of 7412. The township was settled along Alum Creek, which was originally a handsome stream, but has become polluted by city sewage, HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 505 and the problem of clarifying and purifying it is just now being worked out. The first settlements in the township were made in 1709, when David Nelson, Sr., located his home south of where Columbus now stands. Nelson Road, the beautiful thoroughfare running along the west bank of Alum Creek within the city of Columbus, is named for the family, which for many years operated a grist mill on the creek, about where Long Street crosses that stream. The old Nelson home was long remarkable for an enormous sycamore tree which stood in front of it, but was sacrificed to the exigencies of traffic. William Hamilton, another early pioneer, settled close to Mr. Nelson, and the farm which he owned is in part still in the hands of his descendants. John White, a veteran of the Revolution, settled on what is now Livingston Avenue, and the last remnant of his big farm was a few years ago platted and sold at high figures as city lots. It was in the possession then of Mrs. J. C. Campbell, a direct descendant of the pioneer. Colonel Edward Livingston, a member of the prominent New York family of that name, came to Marion Township about the same time as the aforementioned, and bought a large tract of land on Alum Creek. One part of that tract is still in the possession of a descendant. The street and main traveled road known as Livingston Avenue got its name from Colonel Livingston. That gentleman married a daughter of David Nelson, Sr., took an active part in public affairs, and was made associate judge of the Franklin County courts. William Merion and William Palmer came to Marion Township in 1807 and both founded families and large estates. The Merion family at one time owned about 1800 acres of land in this county. It was divided by inheritance and sale, but a large tract of highly valuable land on South High Street was farmed up to within a few years by Captain Charles Merion, a descendant of the pioneer. Merion road was named for the family, and it has been claimed that the township got its title from them, but it was in fact so named in memory of the Revolutionary general who, as the "Swamp Angel," was such a thorn in the British side during the Revolutionary struggle in the South. The first starch factory in the West was built on South High Street, in Marion Township, by Julius J. Wood, a prominent citizen who died in the early eighties. Mr. Wood was prominent not only in 506 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Columbus, but throughout the nation as well. He was at one time national Republican committeeman from Ohio and was during the Civil War a close friend and adviser of President Lincoln. His handsome old residence on South High Street is still standing, being used as an office building by one of the numerous corporations operating there. South High Street, in fact, both inside the city limits and just outside, and all the adjacent territory in the township, is a hive of big industry, and farther south is a continuous series of highly developed market gardens. In the southeastern part of the township is located the Franklin County infirmary and for some years a tuberculosis hospital was maintained just south of the infirmary. Still farther south was the model farm owned by the Josephinum Catholic College, and just across the road from the infirmary is the only orthodox Jewish cemetery in the township. Another public charitable institution, the County Children's Home, is situated in Marion Township, and Bexley, formerly a part of the township, can now boast two colleges, the Lutheran College on Main Street and a new institution of learning on Broad Street erected by the Catholic diocese of Columbus. The township was originally rich in churches, but the inroads of the city have alienated the residents from their rural associations and most of the church going inhabitants are now members of city congregations. CHAPTER XXXII TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES (Continued) . MIFFLIN TOWNSHIP-JAMES PRICE, PIONEER AND HUNTER-A GIANT SYCAMORE TREE-THE PIONEERS-GAHANNA, EAST COLUMBUS AND SHEPARD STATION-ST. MARYS OF THE SPRINGS-MUNICIPAL AIRPORT-NORWICH TOWNSHIP-MARBLE CLIFFS QUARRIES-FIRST SETTLERS-SAMUEL DAVIS- VILLAGE OF HILLIARDS-THE YELLOW SALMON-PERRY TOWNSHIP-UPPER ARLINGTON AND MARBLE CLIFF-THE STORAGE DAM-THE KOSCIUSKO LANDS-THE BUTLER SPRINGS-PLAIN TOWNSHIP-SCOTT AND MORRISON SETTLEMENTS-NEW ALBANY-EARLY TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT-PLEASANT TOWNSHIP-PLEASANT CORNERS, GEORGESVILLE AND HARRISBURG-FIRST SETTLERS-PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP-THE DARBY BOTTOMS-OLD FIVE MILE HOUSE-GALLOWAY, ALTON AND ROME. MIFFLIN TOWNSHIP. Mifflin Township is fast losing its political identity and becoming a part of the city of Columbus and there is hardly a part of it which does not now present more of an urban than a rural appearance. As organized and established in 1811, it was five miles square and belonged to the United States Military Survey. Alum Creek and Big Walnut Creek flow through it from north to south and their banks, which throughout this township are in most places unusually high, display deep deposits of shale, which have not, however, as yet been put to any practical use. It is believed by many that the township and the territory to the east lie over basins of natural gas or oil, and this belief is strongly supported by the fact that a well, sunk in search of oil on the west bank of Alum Creek a short distance north of the hamlet of Mifflinville, now a part of the city of Columbus, made a strong showing of natural gas. The well, strange to say, was drilled - 507 - 508 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY on a very small lease of less than twenty acres and, although the flow of gas was strong, the casing was pulled and the well abandoned. The owner of the little property put in a section of casing, capped the well and for many years used the natural gas to heat and light his residence and a conservatory in which he raised flowers and vegetables for the city markets. A flambeau of natural gas, which he burned every evening and which stretched upward many feet, was for years a little understood sight to persons driving along the Sunbury Road on the opposite side of Alum Creek. The original owner, Mr. Arnold, is dead, and the well has been abandoned. Experts claim that there must have been a considerable vein of natural gas on which this well drew, for the well was for years filled almost to the brim with water, yet still gave off a steady flow of gas. This territory, owing to the wooded heights along the streams, teemed with game when the first settlers arrived, and one of them, James Price, is said to have bagged no less than 500 deer from the time he settled there in 1811 to the time when the deer finally disappeared, about 1848. He also was a mighty butcher of wolves and other game small and large. Many stories are told of his prowess as a hunter. The first settler in Mifflin is believed to have been William Read, who arrived on the ground in the last year of the eighteenth century. He was quite prominent, being a member of the Legislature and afterward a judge of the Common Pleas court. Ebenezer Dean followed him and soon built a mill. He and his family took up a thousand acres in the western part of the township. It is told that on this land there stood a sycamore tree so large that, after it was cut down, a horse and rider passed through the hollow trunk. Other early settlers were Frederick Adler, Daniel Turney, George Baughman, John Saul, James Price, John Scott, Louis Patterson, Philander Patterson, Andrew S. Smiley, James Latta, John Starrett, William Smith, Nathaniel Harris, D. Stygler, George Bartlett, John Clark, Robert Paul, Thomas G. Schrock, John Dalzell, Zachariah Kramer, John Dill, James Park, George Harwood, Henry Carpenter and Sarah Crouse Ramsey. Most of these were founders of families that have become prominent in business and the professions and some of whom have held the original lands until they became enormously valuable, notably the Aglers, Parks and Clarks. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 509 The village of Gahanna, known in part as Bridgport, was laid out on the bank of Big Walnut in 1849 and 1853, the Gahanna part by John Clark and the Bridgport part by Jesse Baughman. The two were soon united and the name of Bridgport dropped. Mr. Clark owned one of the finest farms in the county just outside the village, which has developed into a handsome suburb. It is a very busy little place, as it has a large tourist patronage and is close to the airport recently established by the city of Columbus. The hilly country surrounding Gahanna is fast being taken up by residents of Columbus for handsome suburban homes and for extensive orchard projects. The village of East Columbus has grown up on the Pennsylvania Railroad in the southern part of the township about the Ralston Steel Car Works, one of the largest manufacturing concerns in Central Ohio. A military storage plant of mammoth proportions was constructed along the line of this railroad just east of East Columbus and is still maintained by the federal government. East Columbus had a population at the time of the census of 1930 of 1960. The pretty hamlet of Shepard Station is the seat of a large sanitarium founded by Dr. Shepard, but this has become a part of Columbus. Just north of Shepard Station is the seminary of St. Mary's of the Springs, an institution for the education of girls and young women. It is under the control of the Dominican Sisterhood of the Catholic Church, and is a beautiful and romantically situated institution. The Sunbury Road, which runs along the west bank of Alum Creek through the township, is one of the most beautiful places of suburban residence in the state of Ohio and has been built up on an elaborate basis. The location of the Columbus municipal airport in this township has given it a phenomenal impulse and it is believed that no part of it can long retain a rural aspect. NORWICH TOWNSHIP Norwich Township still generally out of the way of metropolitan development is for the most part a typical rural district of high character. It was laid out and organized under its present name in 1813, but it included until 1820 the southern part of what is now 510 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY Perry Township. Norwich is bounded on the north by Washington Township, on the east by the Scioto River, which divides it from Perry Township, on the south by Franklin and Prairie Townships and on the west by Brown Township. On the east it faces the beautiful stretch of the Scioto River above the first storage dam constructed by the city of Columbus, and on that side alone is threatened by urban growth. In the southeastern corner of the township, as well as in the extreme northeastern portion of the adjoining township of Franklin, and extending for several miles up the west side of the Scioto River, is the enormous plant of the Marble Cliffs Quarries Company, which employs hundreds of men and furnishes material of all sorts made from the heavy limestone deposits of that section. With the single exception of cement, these products include all that are possible to be made from limestone, and it is said that all the ingredients for the making of cement are to be found there. It is also said to be probable that the company's operations will in the not far future be extended to the manufacture of that great staple of modern construction. The common labor and some of the skilled labor of the quarries are performed for the most part by Italians, who form a large community in this district. Norwich Township was first settled in 1807, the first pioneer being Daniel Brunk. He was soon followed by Rev. Benjamin Britton, a "New Light" preacher, who founded a church in a log cabin. The congregation, after a few years of struggling, disbanded and joined a congregation at Dublin. Other early settlers were Isaac Grace, George Rager, Peter Lattimer, Samuel Davis, Ephraim Fisher, William Armistead, Asa Wilcox, Robert Elliott, Henry McCracken, Moses Hart, Harmon Groom, Martin Miller, Francis Wilcox, Samuel King, John Laird, John Van Schoyck, Daniel Roberts, John McCann, Ezekiel Lattimer, William Watts, Samuel Paxton, David Thomas, David Smiley, Edmund Warren, Isaac Davidson, Abraham Sells, Jonathan Charles Peyton, Apollos Rogers, Daniel Avery and the Hoppers, Everetts and Cutlers. Samuel Davis planted the first orchard in the township. His descendants are now to be found in the neighborhood of Dublin, in Washington, the next township north, and one of them, also a Samuel Davis, has long been active in the Democratic politics of the kind HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 511 and has filled many public positions, his latest being in the office of the auditor of Franklin County. The first efforts toward manufacturing were, as usual among pioneers, along the line of sawmills and gristmills, the first saw mill being built by Samuel Cox and the first gristmill by Joseph Corbin. The banks of the Scioto, in what is now Norwich Township, were a favorite camping place of the Wyandotte Indians. The famous old chief, Crane, long camped every year on the farm of Abraham Sells and the memory of his tribe was long kept alive by the Wyandotte Club, an exclusive social organization of Columbus, which had a park on the west bank of the Scioto in Norwich. The original Samuel Davis of the settlers was on terms of close intimacy with the Indians, knowing their language and their habits almost as well as one of that race. He was born in Connecticut and served in the Revolutionary War, during which he became an adept in scout service. At the close of the Revolution he migrated to the wilder country of Kentucky, where he served as a scout under the famous Indian hunter, Simon Kenton, whose grave is still kept green in this state. At one time Mr. Davis was captured, with a companion, by the Indians, but by a ruse made his escape. He and General McArthur, afterwards governor of Ohio, were at one time associated as hunters for the infant colony. He was a silversmith, a blacksmith and a gunsmith and in all three capacities was a useful man to the immigrants. Although the Piqua division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad pass through the township, it has but one incorporated village, Hilliard, situated on the Pennsylvania Railroad in the northwestern part of the township. The village was laid out in 1853 by John R. Hilliard on his farm in view of the proposed building of the railroad, but was not incorporated until 1869, the first mayor being John R. L. Seegur. Norwich Township has from the first been rich in churches and has had excellent schools. The first congregation was formed by Methodists, who have always been strong in the section, the church at Hilliard having as far back as 1876 a membership of more than 300. Other churches which were organized early in the history of the township were the Evangelical Lutheran, the United Brethren and the Disciples. 512 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY The advance of civilization cut off at least one resource that was a delight of the pioneers. The Scioto River, before the construction of dams made it impossible for them to make their runs upstream, teemed with yellow salmon, which found a favorite feeding ground on the Norwich Township frontage of the Scioto River. The stream there is fed with innumerable springs welling up from the river bottom and the water was always peculiarly clear and fresh at this point. PERRY TOWNSHIP. Perry Township is the longest and narrowest township in Franklin County. It stretches from the Delaware County line on the north to Fifth Avenue in the city of Columbus, a distance of ten miles, and is from one to three miles in breadth. It is bounded on the north by Delaware County, on the west by the Scioto River, on the east by Sharon and Clinton Townships and on the south by Fifth Avenue. It was originally a part of Liberty Township, afterwards a part of Washington and then a portion of it was attached to Norwich Township. Its present boundaries were established in 1820, when it received its permanent name. The township was until very recent years purely agricultural, but the growth of Columbus has had influence here and now it contains Upper Arlington, which lies along the northern side of Fifth Avenue and is an exclusive residential district and an incorporated village. This village was laid out on artistic lines on the farm of the late James Miller, a progressive and cultured citizen, and was developed by the brothers, King G. and Ben S. Thompson. It is a remarkable community of a high type. The restrictions as to the value and type of buildings were severe, business was for a long time excluded and every intelligent effort was made to build up a refined community sentiment and life. In this the projectors have been marvellously successful. There are community playgrounds, community churches and recently community retail shops have been opened, but the building of business centers is thoroughly restricted. Upper Arlington, by the constant care of the founders and the cooperation of the owners of the many fine homes erected, has become one of the most beautiful and unique residential sections in the state of Ohio. HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 513 Just west of Upper Arlington is the village of Marble Cliff, with according to the census of 1930 a population of 293, most of whom are employed in the enormous stone quarries on the west side of the Scioto River. The Toledo division of the Hocking Valley Railroad traverses the township from north to south and on that line are the hamlets of Lane Avenue, Olentangy and Linworth. The last named was formerly known as Elmwood, but the name was changed on account of constant confusion with the village of that name in Hamilton County. The first huge dam to store water for the supply of the city of Columbus was constructed in the Scioto River between Perry and Norwich Townships, forming a beautiful body of water which overflowed the original Dublin Pike, which runs along the east side of the Scioto, and necessitating the removal of that thoroughfare a few rods east, to the top of a small bluff. The great beautification of the scene has made this a delightful place for suburban homes and some of the handsomest and most costly residences in Franklin County have been built along the Dublin Pike overlooking the impressive stretch of river above the dam. For his services in the American Revolution a tract of 500 acres in the northern part of this township was assigned in 1800 by Congress to Thaddeus Kosciusko, the Polish patriot. He tried to assign the patent, but there was a defect in the title, and Kosciusko never gained any benefits from the gift. The land was later claimed by relatives of that patriot of two nations. A large part of the township was originally owned by residents of Baltimore, Maryland, who had the land divided into 100 acre tracts and sold to actual settlers. Among the first settlers were Ezekiel and Morris Brown, Bela M. Tuller, Samuel Boyd, Peter Millington, Paul Deardurff, Samuel S. Shattuc, Harding Pearse, Amaziah Hutchinson, William Walcott, his son Robert and John McCoy. The old Tuller farm was still in the possession of Tuller heirs in 1830 and a descendant of Paul Deardurff owned and ran the principal store in Linworth, while Fred Shattuc, who was at one time champion professional clay pigeon shot of the United States, owned and made his summer home on a farm on the east bank of the Scioto about two miles north of the Worthington and Dublin Pike. 514 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY About 1813 Thomas Backus built a flour mill on the Scioto, which afterward became McCoy's Mills, Matere's Mills and finally Marble Cliff Mills and was a great boon to the settlers, who in the first years of settlement were compelled to go as far as Chillicothe and later to Franklinton to have their wheat ground. In 1830 a brewery was started a short distance south of where Olentangy Station later stood and was run for several years, but was finally, after being turned into a dwelling house, destroyed by fire. Shortly after the establishment of the brewery a distillery was started close by in a log house by Simon Shattuc. The business did not last long and the log house, strange transformation, became the meeting place of a Methodist congregation. This small society grew later into Asbury Church and erected a brick church under the leadership of Rev. Uriah Heath, who organized also Fletcher Church. Later church edifices dotted the township. The remains of a number of prehistoric works, attributed to the Moundbuilders, are to be found in different parts of this township, some of them of considerable size. Three such works were formerly plainly to be distinguished on the farm of Joseph Ferris, about a mile north of the Dublin bridge. One of these measured eighty feet in diameter and another was larger still. A peculiar phenomenon is found on the farm of Fred Butler, adjoining on the south that of Fred Shattuc, a short distance north of the Worthington and Dublin Road on the highway that follows the east bank of the Scioto River. Just at the foot of the little bluff that rises on the east side of the road and within a few yards of each other two never failing springs give a copious flow of water. One of these is of the usual "hardness" of water running through a limestone district and is deliciously cool in the hottest weather. The other spring is as soft as newly fallen rain. Mr. Butler installed an hydraulic ram and supplies his house and outbuildings with a constant supply of water, either soft or hard as the need may be and without any other effort on his part than that of turning on the faucet. The township always had good farms, but, since the growth of the good roads movement, these lands have increased greatly in value, being priced now at many times what they were before the HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 515 development of the automobile and the improvement of highways. The farms along the Scioto, which were at one time of not so much value, are now high priced, being in great demand for the suburban residences of persons of means. PLAIN TOWNSHIP. Plain Township occupies the northeast corner of Franklin County. It is bounded on the north by Delaware County, on the east by Licking County, on the south by Jefferson Township and on the west by Blendon Township. It is part of the United States Military Survey and was first known as Township Number Two, in Range Sixteen. The southeast quarter of the township was laid out in 100 acre lots for the benefit of Revolutionary soldiers, and the north half in sections a mile square which were afterward divided into quarter sections. The southwest quarter was patented in 1800 to Dudley Woodbridge, who two years later sold it to John Huffman for a gallon of whisky an acre, or 4,000 gallons, to be delivered at Marietta. In the first year of the nineteenth century Joseph Scott and a Mr. Morrison settled in the township, the first to do so, Scott near the south line of the township and Morrison farther north. Scott's Plains and Morrison's Prairie are names of localities that still keep alive the memories of these early settlers. Descendants of Mr. Morrison have owned property -in the township ever since and a farm not far from New Albany was in their possession until very recently. These first arrivals were followed quickly by Adam Baughman, Henry Hoffman, George Baughman, Thomas B. Patterson, Jesse Byington, Lorin Hills, Gilbert and Philip Waters, Mathias Dague, Daniel Dague, George Dague, Matthew Campbell, George Campbell, John Robinson, Jacanias Rose, William Goodhart, John Shesler, Roger Hill, Benoni Hill, David Cook and his son Emil Cook, John Smith, John Daniels, Christian Horlocker, James Daniels, Jacob Wagner, John Clymer, Jacob Bevelheimer, John Alspach, and Daniel Triplett. The township was organized in 1810, including at that time the territory of what is now Blendon and Jefferson Townships, which were set off later on. The soil of the township is not as rich as soil 516 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY in some other parts of the county, but some prosperous farmers have lived there and live there still, the land being good for grass and the raising of stock. The natural water supply is especially good and adds a factor needed in the dairy and stock industry. Several attempts to found villages were made, but only one succeeded. In 1837 the village of New Albany, near the center of the township, was laid out on the Worthington and Granville Pike and became a permanency, where is located the only postoffice in the township. The founders of the village were Daniel Landon and William Yantis, members of a family that became very prominent in that part of the county. Dr. C. P. Landon was later one of the most prominent physicians in Westerville and the father of two sons who were well known in the newspaper work of Ohio, and a Yantis was at one time a congressman from another state. The first mayor of New Albany was S. Ogden, and the other officers of the municipality were : Recorder, C. S. Ogden ; councilmen, F. Johnson, J. McCurdy, C. Baughman, A. B. Beem, S. Stinson ; marshal, R. Phelps. Most of these names are still borne by residents of the village, which has become a very handsome place of semi-rural residence, with good streets, improved sidewalks, handsome homes and considerable business. Earlier than the organization of New Albany an effort was made by Lorin Hills and Lester Humphrey to found a village not far from where New Albany now stands, but no improvements were made and the village lots were merged back into the adjacent farm land. Francis Clymer, too, tried to develop a village center on his farm, but the effort failed. Descendants of the early settlers are found among the prominent people of Columbus, for the pioneers were interested in education and general improvement. Dr. R. A. Kid, raised on a farm in this township, is at the head of the famous old sanitarium at Shepard's Station, and the names of the Swickards and Horlockers, besides those already mentioned, are known throughout the county. George Dague and Mary Baughman contracted the first marriage in the township, in 1810, and the first death was that of a daughter of Adam Baughman. The first cemetery was set apart on land donated in 1814 by John Smith, and the first person buried there was John Smith, the donor. The first barn was built by George HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 517 Baughman, the first frame house by Daniel Triplett and the first brick house by Henry Smith. The first school was taught by Philip Waters, and the first schoolhouse, in which the first teacher was Jacob Smith, was built in 1821. The Methodists and United Brethren were the first to organize churches in the township, but their activities did not precede by great length of time those of the teetotalers, who as early as 1820 began a movement to stop the dispensing of whisky at house raisings, corn huskings, turkey shootings and like affairs. Abraham Adams was the prime mover in this effort at reform, but his missionary work met so much opposition that it was dropped and whisky continued to be a prime attraction at social affairs in which the male sex predominated. PLEASANT TOWNSHIP. Pleasant Township occupies the extreme southwest corner of Franklin County and has always been a purely rural community. It was organized in 1807 and was at that time about five times its present size. The organization of Jackson Township in 1815 and of Prairie in 1819 reduced it to its present area. It is bounded on the north by Prairie Township, on the east by Jackson Township, on the south by Pickaway County and on the west by Madison County. It has two considerable streams, Big Darby and its tributaries, Little Darby and Heil Branch Run, which, with other smaller tributaries of the Big Darby, cut up the surface of the western part of the township and make that section quite rolling. The bottom lands are extraordinarily rich, however, being famed as corn lands, and the level parts of the township are so fertile as to justify the name adopted. It contains three villages, Pleasant Corners, Georgesville and Harrisburg, the last of which alone is incorporated. According to the census of 1930 Harrisburg, which is situated on the line between Franklin and Pickaway Counties, had a population of 276. Pleasant Township was settled very early, the first pioneers there being Thomas and Elijah Chenowith, natives of Maryland, who came to Pleasant Township directly from Pike County, Ohio, in 1799. They bought 200 acres of land each where the present village of Harrisburg stands. They were followed by Benjamin Foster, Sam- 518 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY uel Kerr, John Biggart, John Dyer, Thomas Roberts, James Gardner, Philip Huffman, Adam Spangler, Foster Price, James Walker, John McKinley, William Cummins, Marmer Duke Story, Handy Smith, William L. Foster, James Bradfield, George Francis, R. M. Worthington, Gideon Walton, Samuel Kerr, Reuben Chaffin, William D. Adams, John V. Leach, John Turner, Charles Hunter, Morris Yates, John Harvey, George Goodson, Simon Cochran and James Walker. Descendants of these pioneers still hold much of the farm lands of the section. John B. McKinley, formerly an official of Franklin County, still held a few years ago part of the land settled on by his ancestor. The first tavern was built at Harrisburg and through several changes developed into a modern hotel, the United States. Harrisburg was incorporated in 1851, the village officers being as follows : Mayor, Dr. J. Helmick ; recorder, Z. G. Weddle ; trustees, Henry Miller, J. Chenowith, O. T. Curry, L. W. Syfert, Dr. George W. Helmich. The Big Four Railroad cuts through the northwestern corner of the township, having the unincorporated village of Georgesville on its line. An electric line from Columbus to Morgan's Station and the State Farm for Imbeciles passed through the southeastern part of the township, but this was abandoned some years ago. PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP. Prairie Township is one of the smaller townships of Franklin County. It is bounded on the north by Brown and Norwich Townships, on the east by Franklin Township, on the south by Pleasant Township and on the west by Jefferson Township in Madison County and by Brown Township in Franklin County. The line between Prairie Township and Madison County is the Big Darby, once a famous stream for fishing and even yet occasionally rewarding the Waltonite with a full creel. The Darby bottoms are noted for their fertility and, where the surface is rougher, the picturesque scenery has attracted many city dwellers who have built summer cabins there. The National Road traverses the township from east to west and the trend of residential construction along that highway is carrying urban population far out into what only a few years ago was purely farm land. The Pennsylvania and the Big Four Railroads and the Ohio Electric Railway cut through the breadth of the town- HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 519 ship, the last named following the line of the National Road, and Darby Creek, Darby Run and Scioto Run furnish natural drainage. Most of the land is extremely fertile and in the early days of the county attracted settlers, whose descendants have been among the most prosperous farmers in the county. Among the earliest settlers were Samuel Higgins, Shadrack Postle, William Mannon and the Clovers, a sprig from the latter family being Phil Clover, for many years the foremost painter of Columbus. The Postles have long been among the prominent people of Columbus and vicinity. After the construction of the National Road there was a steady stream of travel along its length and of course through Prairie Township, many of the travelers having in mind entertainment at the old Five Mile House, a famous tavern situated at the western end of what was to be Camp Chase, now a part of the city of Columbus. Scattered throughout this vicinity, in both Prairie and Franklin Townships, was a large settlement of Quakers, who built a church in a part of Franklin Township that has long been incorporated with the city of Columbus. Their homes were always open to visitors. Of the later early settlers probably the most interesting was Daniel Harrington, who settled in Prairie Township in 1824, five years after it had been set off from Franklin Township. His father, mother, brother and sisters were all killed by the Indians in Kentucky, where he was born. He and Solomon and Samuel Clover, brothers, were expert hunters, Solomon Clover especially being proficient with a gun. Solomon was credited with killing more wolves, bears and deer than any other man in the county. Peter Clover, another member of this family, was more inclined to intellectual pursuits than to the chase, and he established in a log house on his farm the first school in the township. Hamlets sprung up at Galloway, Alton and Rome, the latter two being on the National Road and Alton being the seat of the first tavern in the township. The city is fast extending its way along the National Pike, residence construction being almost continuous as far as Rome, but it will probably be many years before Prairie loses its township identity, if it ever does. CHAPTER XXXIII TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES (Concluded) . SHARON TOWNSHIP-SUBURBAN RESIDENCE SITES-BIG HUNTING IN EARLY DAYS-EARLY LAND COMPANIES-REV. JAMES KILBOURNE AND FOUNDING OF WORTHINGTON-FAMOUS FIRST FAMILIES-THE WORTHINGTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY-ORANGE JOHNSON AND JOHN SNOW-THE ACADEMY-BISHOP CHASE-UNDERGROUND RAILROAD STATION-FIRST NEWSPAPER-TRURO TOWNSHIP-REYNOLDSBURG AND BLACKLICKTHE PIONEERS-STONE QUARRY-SUBURBAN RESIDENCE DEVELOPMENT -WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP-SETTLEMENT OF DUBLIN-HAYDEN FALLS-LEATHERLIPS MONUMENT-THE SELLS FAMILY-THE TULLERS-A BIG BEE HUNTER. SHARON TOWNSHIP. Sharon Township is one of the northern tier of townships in Franklin County, being the middle one of the five that border on the Delaware County line. It is bounded on the north by Delaware County, on the east by Blendon Township, on the south by Clinton Township and on the west by Perry. It contains good farm land, some of it rolling just enough to insure good drainage. These farms have been brought to the highest state of cultivation and a great fruit industry has been established there. The Brown fruit farm has been developed along the wonderful highway that is an extension northward of High Street. This orchard is one of the foremost in Ohio and some of the developments there are as important and as instructive to orchardists as the work done at agricultural experiment stations—often more so, as the experiments can be carried on much more extensively on the Brown farm than they can be on the more limited areas of experiment stations. - 520 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 521 The township is peculiarly fortunate in its means of transportation. North High Street, extended so as to run from Columbus to Delaware, is one of the best paved highways in the country. The Columbus and Delaware Road, running along the west bank of the Olentangy River, which traverses the township from north to south, is a beautiful drive. The scenery along it is so diversified that it has been made the site of suburban residences and of a suburban resort which has attracted many summer residents, not alone for the beauty of the spot, but also for the valuable mineral springs that are located there. The late N. Monserrat, president of the Hocking Valley Railroad Company, and the late Al G. Field, the famous minstrel man, both had handsome homes in this neighborhood. The summer residence development was made on the Monserrat farm. From west to east, through Worthington, runs the much traveled Worthington and Granville Turnpike, and the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Big Four Railroad and the Columbus, Delaware and Marion electric line all pass completely through the township from south to north, making Worthington an important station on all three of the lines. Sharon was one of the four original townships into which Franklin County was divided, being the northeasternmost. It was finally established, with its present boundaries, March 4, 1816. The country was covered with forest, which abounded in game. The game, indeed, were so numerous that they were a pest to the farmers, destroying crops. To thin out these depredators a great hunt was organized early in the century. A line of hunters was formed from the Olen-tangy to Alum Creek at the northern boundary of Columbus, and another line was formed at Delaware County. The two lines marched, one north and the other south, until they met south of Worthington. The bag included 500 wild turkeys, thirty deer and a number of bear. August 31, 1822, another great hunt was started, for the purpose of thinning out the squirrels, which were destroying the corn crop. In this hunt 19,660 squirrels were killed. The greater part of Sharon Township was originally owned by General Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey, to whom had been patented so much land in this vicinity, and by Dr. Jonas Stansberry of New York City. It was a part of the Military Lands set aside by Congress 522 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY in 1796 for soldiers who had served in the armies of the Revolution. The township was first settled by the Scioto Company, which was formed in Granby, Connecticut, in the winter of 1801 and 1802 and consisted at first of eight associates. These associates drew up articles of agreement, in accordance with which the whole number of members was limited to forty and no one could be admitted to membership without unanimous consent of the others. In the spring of 1802 this company sent out Rev. James Kilbourne to select a township for the residence of the proposed argonauts. This Rev. James Kilbourne was a remarkable man. He was born in New Britain, Connecticut, in 1770 and, being apprenticed to a farmer, learned mathematics and Latin from the farmer's son. He became a mechanic, acquired a competence as a merchant and manufacturer, and in 1800 took orders in the Episcopal Church. He was also colonel of a frontier regiment. He was the grandfather of the late Colonel James Kilbourne of Columbus, prominent as a manufacturer and public man and at one time Democratic candidate for governor of the state. In 1804 he retired from the ministry and was appointed by Congress surveyor of public lands. In 1812 he was on the commission to settle the boundary lines between the public lands and the Virginia Reservation, and from 1813 to 1817 he was a member of Congress. As a member of Congress he originated the plan to grant the lands of the Northwest Territory to actual settlers and was chairman of the special committee appointed to draw up the bill for that purpose. He was also a poet, the author of the once well known "Song of Bucyrus." He was married three times, and died in 1850 and was buried in the Worthington Cemetery. An intimation of his rugged character may be drawn from the fact that, prior to his death, he had carved on the tombstone over his lot in the cemetery the names of all his family, including his own and that of the wife who survived him. This lady objected to having her name on a tombstone before her death and insisted that she should not be buried in its shadow. Her tomb is therefore to be found in the Kilbourne lot in Greenlawn Cemetery in Columbus. The Rev. Colonel Kilbourne, in his trip in 1802, made selection of Sharon Township as the site of the new settlement, but he did not at HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY - 523 the time complete a purchase, which he had been authorized to do. He did, however, make from the records of the office of colonel, afterward Governor, Worthington, who was then register of the United States land office at Chillicothe, the first authentic map ever drawn of the territory of Ohio. The delay in making the purchase was due to the fact that there was an uncertainty whether, despite the provision in the charter of the Northwest Territory prohibiting slavery, Ohio might not be admitted to the Union with a constitution favorable to that institution. Immediately upon learning that the constitution of the new state of Ohio forbade slavery, in the spring of 1803 Colonel Kilbourne completed the purchase of the township, containing 16,000 acres for the sum of $20,000 or $1.25 an acre. There is now land in the township, lying along and adjacent to High Street, which could not be purchased for $10,000 an acre. The character of the new proprietors may be surmised from the fact that one of their first acts was to set aside a tract of 100 acres, to be devoted perpetually to the cause of education, and another tract of equal size was deeded for the support of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to which all these pioneers, being of English descent, belonged. It was also provided that two roads, running east and west, should be dedicated and improved as much as possible and that the new village should be located at their intersection. These two roads are now the wonderfully improved North High Street, along which the city of Columbus has grown until it reaches to within a short distance of the older village, and the other is the much traveled Worthington and Granville Turnpike. The original plat of the village contained 160 acres, divided into lots of one acre each. The four lots at the intersection of the two highways were set aside as a public park or green and some years later there were planted there the maple trees which grew with the years to such size and beauty as to make the square the pride of the town and one of the prides of the county and state. One lot was set aside for the school and another for the Episcopal Church and the remainder of the purchase was divided among the new settlers, each obtaining in this way about 100 acres of land. The character of these pioneers was such that there could be no doubt of the success of their enter- 524 - HISTORY OF FRANKLIN COUNTY prise, and their worth is reflected in that of most of their descendants, who have been outstanding in the history of the county and the state. In advance of the main movement of the company came a small band to erect cabins and to build a sawmill for the use of the colony. In this small band were Colonel Kilbourne, Lemuel Kilbourne, Levi Pinney, Alexander Morrison, Jr., Abner P. Kinney, William Morrison, Adna Bristol, E. C. Brown and Israel P. Case. The whole company was on the ground by the end of the year 1803. The first timber cut was for the purpose of erecting a schoolhouse and this building was ready for the children of the settlers the first winter after their arrival. The first teacher was Thomas T. Phelps. When the Ohio Legislature was looking about for the site of a capital city the claims of Worthington were urged, but they were overlooked for the undeveloped site of Columbus. As that city is growing, however, it looks as if it would not be long before it will include Worthington in itself and the original ambition of that community may be realized in a manner not even guessed at. Among the men who came with the first of the pioneers were the founders of important families in this section of the state, including such names as those of Roswell and Bela Tuller, Abiel Case, Moses Carpenter, James Russell, Judge Recompense Stansberry, Jacob Fairfield, Samuel Wilson, Josiah Fisher, Charles Thompson, the Starrs, Jonathan Park, Moses Maynard, Potter Wright, Deacon Goodrich, Isaiah Wallace, Stephen Hoyt, Orange Johnson, Deacon Abbott, Milton Green, William Page, Joseph Poole, Chester Griswold, Berkley Comstock, Richard Dixon, Ira Kellogg, John Snow, Demas Adams, Obadiah Benedict, Stephen M. Frothingham, Asa Weaver, William Thrall, the four Barkers, Nathan Mason, Azem Gardner, John Bishop, Ozias Burr and Rev. Uriah Heath. Contrary to a widely spread belief, the village of Worthington was not named in honor of Colonel and Governor Worthington of this state. It was named for the parish of Worthington in Connecticut, near that of New Britain, where Colonel Kilbourne was born. By December, 1803, there were 100 settlers in Sharon Township. The Sunday after the arrival of the third family, services of the Episcopal Church were held in the first log house raised in the town-