378 - HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXV.
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP.
BOUNDARIES-COVALT'S STATION -ORGANIZATION - FIRST PURCHASERS - VILLAGES -
ANDERSON TOWNSHIP comprises that part of Hamilton county southeast of the Little Miami river. Comprising as it does the triangular area situated between the Little Miami and Ohio, its surface is much broken by the hills characteristic of the country contiguous to the last named stream. Clough creek, Five Mile creek, Little Dry run, and Big Dry run are the principal interior streams.
* The records show that in 1851 the contract for the courthouse was awarded for $695,25329. It had a front of 190 feet. With a depth of 190; was 60 feet in height and had three stories. The jail, which withstood all assaults of the mob, was built in lain of Dayton limestone, and cost $921,570. The first courthouse, built in 1802, was burned in 1814 through the carelessness of some soldiers quartered in it. The second. which was erected on the site of the one destroyed by the mob, was completed in 1819, and turned July 9, 1849. What a strange fatality has attended the courthouses of Hamilton county!
HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY. - 379
Covalt's Station was a military post of importance during the period of Indian hostilities in this region. It derives its name from Abraham Covalt, and was situated in the Little Miami valley twelve miles from its month. A detachment of twenty soldiers was stationed here in 1791. The protection they afforded seems to have been inadequate, however, for Covalt was killed and scalped while hunting near the fort. Gerard's Station was situated on Turkey Bottom, near the month of the Little Miami.
Anderson was organized as a township in 1793, and originally included parts of Clermont, Warren, and Brown counties. It, was reduced to its present limits by the erection of Clermont in 1800. The first township officers were John Garrard, clerk; ,Jesse Garrard, constable; Richard Hall, overseer of roads; Joseph Frazee and Jacob Backoven, overseers of the poor; Joseph Martin and Jonathan Garrard, viewers and appraisers.
The whole of Anderson is situated within the Virginia Military Reservation, an extensive tract between the Scioto and the Little Miami, reserved by Virginia for the payment of her soldiers in the Revolution, The following is a partial list of original purchasers: Bennett Tompkins, John Crittenden, John Anderson, Holt Richardson, Robert Blair, William Cassel, John Demsey, Benjamin Gray, John Halfpenny, Daniel Sahon, John Green, James Giles, John Steele, Robert Powells, Abram Hites, Joseph Egglestone, Robert Morrow, Theodore Bland, A. Singleton, William Taylor, Jacob Fears, James Friggin, James McDonald, James Payton, John Brown, William Moore, William Mosileye, John Parke, James Pendleton, Gen. James Taylor, Hites & Robinson, Edward Stevens, Col. Richard Clough Anderson, Edward Clark, Joseph Neville, John Mead, Gen. George Washington, Nathaniel Wilson, Gen. Nathaniel Massie, John Nancarrous, P. Higgins, John Hains, Frank Taylor, John English. George C. Lights.
VILLAGES,
Mount Washington was laid out in 1846 by John L. Corbly, and originally consisted of a limited number of lots on the Ohio pike. The first purchaser was Stephen J. Sutton, by whom the first store was established. He was also the first postmaster, and to him the village is indebted for its name. The store was conducted in a brick building at. the corner of Corbly Street and Ohio pike. This was the first brick building in the village, and was erected by Mr. Sutton, who still resides in the village in the enjoyment of a hale and hearty old age. Other early residents were Michael LeClere, Charles H. Wolff, William Dunham, David A. Garrett, and Stephen Corbly. The first mechanics were Nelson and James Fisher, carpenters; Michael LeClere, stonemason; James Judgeon, carpenter; David A. Garrett, carpenter; Robert Wheatley, James Mullen, and Stephen D. Corbly, Jr., blacksmiths. George Strasser manufactured farming implements, plows, carriages, wagons, etc., at one time, but the only manufacturing establishment in operation at the present time is the Colton canning and packing house.
Mount Washington was incorporated October 24, 1867, The first village officers were John H. Gerrard, mayor; William H. Gerrard, recorder, and George M. Short, John Bogart, Stephen J. Stilton, John B . Corbly, and Benneville Kline, council. The succession of mayors. with the year of election, has been as follows: 1867, John H. Gerrard; 1869, Benneville Kline; 1874, G. Al. Short; 1876, D. W. Stevens; 1877, David A. Garrett: 1880, J. S. Martin; 1882, W. E. Catkins; 1886, A. W. Colter; 1892, David A. Garrett.
The first omnibus line to the city through Mount Washington was established in 1847 by Stephen J. Sutton. Amelia was the eastern terminus of the line. The village subsequently enjoyed the advantage of a line from Georgetown and Bethel. The Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth railroad was constructed in 187778, and affords convenient facilities for travel and transportation.
380 - HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.
Newtown, notwithstanding its name, is one of the oldest villages in the county. It was laid out by Elijah Yates for Gen. James Taylor, who gave it the name of Mercersburg, in honor of the Revolutionary hero, Gen. Mercer. There was a collection of improvements here as early as 1798, and early in this century the village had attained fair proportions. Among early merchants were William E, White, John H. Gerrard and Henry Diebolt; John D. Carr, shoemaker; Hubbard Brown, blacksmith; Henry Crossley, carpenter, and George Earhart, wagon maker, were early representatives of their respective vocations. The "Miami house," of which one Newhouse was probably the first proprietor, was an old and well-known hostelry. Originally a log building, it was replaced by the present brick structure, sixty years ago. This was erected by William Fisher. Newtown bad a population of 552 in 1890.
California.-The founders of this village were Joseph Guthrie, John W. Brown, and Thomas J. Murdock. It is situated on the Ohio river, in the southwestern part of the township. A corporative industry was once conducted here under the name of the Molders' Union Foundry, but was not a success.
The remaining post villages of the township are Clough, on the turnpike of that name; Sweet Wine, in the southern part of the township; Cherry Grove, on the Georgetown and Ohio pike, three-fourths of a mile from the station of that name on the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia railroad; Forestville, a village of recent growth, on the same turnpike and railroad, and Cedar Point, the location of St. Gregory's College, an institution for the training of priests.
CHURCHES.
There are three churches at Newtown, viz., Methodist, Baptist, and Universalist. The Methodist church was originally erected in 1813, and the ground was given by Mrs. Edmond. Rev. Aaron W. Burdsal, a local preacher, organized the society. The present place of worship was erected in 1867. The Baptist church was organized in 1840 by Daniel Bryant, and the present brick church was built in 1841. The Universalist church was built in 1854, Aquilla Durham, John Gerrard, and Jacob Thomas constituting the building committee. The church was organized at Mt. Carmel in 1850.
The churches of Mt. Washington are the Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Protestant, erected in 1851; the Baptist, erected in 1868, and the Church of the Guardian Angel (Roman Catholic), erected in 1892. Five Mile United Brethren church was built in 1844; it is a stone building, and the site was donated by Jacob Markley. Liberty chapel was built in 1848, and is a brick building. Five Mile Methodist Episcopal church was built many years ago, but has been recently remodeled. Bethesda Methodist Protestant church was built in 1830, and rebuilt in 1865. Salem Methodist Episcopal church was built in 1863. The United Brethren church, of Cherry Grove, was erected in 1854. The Methodist Protestant church, of Clough, was built in 1870, and the United Brethren in 1886. The Clough Baptist church is a very old building, erected probably seventy years ago.
The churches of California are the Methodist Episcopal and St. Jerome's Roman Catholic.