396 - HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
CROSBY TOWNSHIP.
GEOGRAPHY-LAND PURCHASES-NEW HAVEN--NEW BALTIMORE - WHITEWATER- CHURCHES.
CROSBY TOWNSHIP was erected in 1804 from territory originally included in Whitewater. It is bounded on the north by Butler county, on the east by Colerain township, on the south by Miami township, and on the west by Harrison township. In size it ranks with the smaller subdivisions of the county. The Great Miami river forms its eastern boundary. The Dry Fork of Whitewater and its two principal tributaries, Lee's creek and Howard's creek, are the principal streams within the township lines. The township derives its name from Crosby village, founded by Joab Comstock, and named by him in honor of his mother's family name.
The largest land purchase in the township, when it was first opened to settlement, was made by Jeremiah Butterfield and five associates, viz., Asa Harvey, Noah Willey, Knowles and Alvin Shaw, and Esquire Shaw, the father of the two last named. They purchased about two thousand acres, situated in the northeastern part of the township. The first settler, however, was probably Joab Comstock, from Connecticut, who located a mile and a half east of the village of New Haven.
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Hartman Vantrees, the well-known surveyor, was the first township clerk, serving from 1803 to 1805, and among his early successors-were Robert Simmonds, Daniel Bailey, Elijah Thompson and John Cavender.
VILLAGES.
The village of New Haven was founded by Joab Comstock and Charles Cone, under whose auspices the plat was surveyed in 1815 by Joseph Sater, assisted by the two proprietors. It was so named by Comstock, a native of New Haven, Connecticut. The State road from Hamilton through Venice to Lawrenceburg passes through the village, which is also the terminus of the road leading to Cincinnati through New Baltimore. These considerations, as well as the natural eligibility of the location, doubtless determined its selection as a town site. The first frame house was built in 1826 and the first brick house in 1832. Among the first residents were Dr. George Little, hotel-keeper; William Wakefield and Ransom S. Pierce, merchants; Alexander Cavender, undertaker; Thomas Ellsworth, school teacher; Latham S. Bartlett. shoemaker and tanner; Leonard Hathaway, shoemaker; Lot Day, tanner; Edmund C. Archibald, wagon-maker; John Shrozer, cabinet maker and undertaker; Thomas Makin, dry-goods merchant. Drs. James Comstock, Jason F. Brevoort, and William H. Bentlett have been well known as medical practitioners, all of them having prosecuted the duties of the profession at New Haven for a period of years. The post office was established in 1826 under the name of Preston, the middle term in the cognomen of Alexander Preston Cavender, the first postmaster. At the present time the village has two stores, two churches (Methodist and United Brethren), two blacksmith shops, two wagon shops,. and a population of about two hundred.
New Baltimore was founded by Samuel Pottinger, under whose auspices the plat was surveyed in 1819. The proprietor. came to this county in 1815 and was an active business man. He established flouring-mills, distillery and sawmill, and these industries gave the place a strong impetus. Mayor Radcliff added a woolen mill, and during the period the three establishments were in operation the place enjoyed great prosperity. The first merchants were Findlay Morris and James W. Pottinger. Joseph Scull was the first postmaster. The postal designation is Safer, and postal facilities were secured through the efforts of Gen. Banning when be was Congressman from this District. At the present time there is a population of 180. A flour mill is in operation, and local business and industrial interests also comprise two stores, two blacksmith shops, and one wagon-maker shop. There is one church, an organization of the United Brethren denomination.
WHITEWATER.
The United Society of Believers, commonly called Shakers, was organized in New York in 1712, and has its principal organization at New Lebanon in this State. The community at Whitewater is under the jurisdiction of this central organization. It had its origin in 1823, when, after a Methodist revival in the neighborhood, several Shakers from the community at Union Village, near Lebanon, Ohio, presented the views of their faith regarding the second corning of Christ. Forty acres of land were purchased, several log cabins were erected thereon, and brothers and sisters to the number of eighteen sought to realize here the conditions of the Pentecostal church. Their numbers and resources were materially increased in 1824 by the arrival of forty persons from Derby Plains in northern Ohio. Additional land was purchased, brick and frame houses were built, and the temporal affairs of the community prospered greatly. In 1846 seventy persons, adherents to the doctrines of the Second Adventists, joined the society from Cincinnati. Its members have fluctuated greatly. In 1870 the population of the settlement was placed at 123; at the present time it is about sixty. The Society owns thirteen hundred acres of
398 - HISTORY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY.
land, all in one body, with the exception of a detached tract of one hundred and sixty acres. The first trustees were Ezra Sherman and Ebenezer Rice ; the first elders, Calvin Morrell, Jacob Holloway, Mary Beadle and Phoebe Seeley. The present trustees are Henry Bear, Charles Sturr, Amanda Rubush and Matilda Butler; elders, Henry Bear, Charles Forady, Amanda Rubush, and Adaline Wells for the central village. and Lafayette Parker, John Tyler, Mary Gass, and Carrie Burk for the upper village. The community was formerly divided into three villages, but the lower village has been temporarily abandoned.
CHURCHES.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Now Haven was built in 1830 and dedicated in January of the following year. The site was donated by Dr. James Comstock. Other prominent early members were Latham Bartlett, Joab Comstock, Mrs. Alexander Cavender, and Moses Carpenter. The present frame church was built in 1887-88 under the supervision of a building committee consisting of the pastor, Rev. John W. Shortan. and Messrs. D. C. Buell, John Parlee, Robert Blackburn, and Charles Butts. Bishop Joyce preached the dedicatory sermon.
The United Brethren Church of New Haven was organized by Rev. William Sturr and John Myers. A church edifice was built in 1850; a belfry was added in 1866, and the building was remodeled in 1874. The present place of worship was dedicated December 15, 1888. The building committee by which it was erected was composed of the pastor, Rev. A. A. Dunkelberger, J. L. Wakefield, J. C. Bevis, Joseph Sater, and A. T. Hawk.
The United Brethren Church of New Baltimore was founded principally by Samuel Pottenger, who donated the ground upon which it is built, and contributed liberally toward its support. The first church building was destroyed by fire in 1855, and replaced by the present structure in 1859. This church is united with New Haven in the formation of a charge.