MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 75 Grand Chaplain J. W. Dillon. The reverend gentleman proceeded to read in an impressive manner the beautiful prayer Prescribed by the rubic, at the close the 'brethren responding, "Amen and amen." After the band had rendered another stirring air, J. D. Maddux presented the trowel to Grand Master Burdick, who received it with appropriate remarks. John P. Bowers, on behalf of the commissioners of Madison. county, then delivered the following address: "Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons: "The board of commissioners of Madison county having official charge of the structure now in the process of erection upon these premises, recognizing the importance and dignity of your ancient order, and being impressed with the propriety of your ceremony of laying corner stones of public edifices, have unanimously resolved to invoke your services in laying the corner stone of our magnificent court house. "It is a matter of pride to us that we are honored by your distinguished presence today, and we trust that you will regard the occasion as being worthy of the sacrifice of time and effort which you have made in answer to our invitation: "We are about to erect a temple to Justice—to Justice, the greatest of the four cardinal virtues to which the Masonic order is devoted; to Justice, the foundation of our security as citizens; to Justice, the very genius of good government. "All .preparation being now complete it is my privilege to formally communicate to you our desire, and to respectfully ask that you do now perform the ceremony of laying this corner stone.", The grand. master complimented the members of Chandler lodge on the thorough manner in which the occasion had been provided for. He said that. he had hoped'. to have the governor present, but he had been unavoidably prevented froth coming by sickness. He then directed the senior grand warden, J. B. Sprague, to proclaim to the junior grand warden, J. Swetland, and he to the craft and others present that the corner stone of the structure would now be laid in due and ancient Masonic form, which proclamation was duly made.. After music the grand master made inquiry of the grand treasurer if the deposit had been prepared and was in readiness Grand Treasurer Bridgman replied that all was in readiness, and by order of the grand master read the list of the contents of the casket as follows: Acts of the Legislature empowering the commissioners to build the new court house; proceedings of the building committee, specifications for the erection of the new court house, copy of bills of materials, notice to contractors, schedule of bids, advertisement of sale of bids, bids for bands, lithographic cut of the old court house, notice to tax payers of the year 1855, issued by W. A. Athey, county treasurer ; copy of the 'Ohio statutes for the year 1899, Daniel J. Ryan, secretary of state; articles written by Samuel P. Davidson, Esq., giving names ages and nativity of .Madison county pioneers who, at the time the article was written, June 1, 1888, had attained the age of seventy years, also an article by the same author giving observations on the weather from June 6, 1818, to June 18, 1888; short sketches of the history of the various church organizations and benevolent institutions of London up to that date, furnished by the pastors of the churches and secretaries of lodges; census figures of 1890 pertaining to Madison county, through the kindness of Hon: S. H. Prettyman, central supervisor of the fifth district of Ohio; copy of the London Times of October 3, 1890, copy of the Madison County Democrat of October 1, 1890, copy of the London Enterprise of. October 3, 1890, copy of the London Vigilant of September 30, 1890, the Daily Nickel Plate of October 3, 1890; history of Chandler Lodge No. 138, Free and Accepted 'Masons; portrait of. Leander Burdick, grandmaster ; copy of the Masonic directory of London, Ohio ; copy of the printed ceremonies of the laying of the 76 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. corner stone of the court house of Madison county ; copy of the Masonic Monitor and a Photograph of the interior of the, new Masonic hall at London. The grand master then instructed the grand treasurer to deposit the casket with .its contents in the cavity prepared for its reception, and added : "May the Grand Architect of the Universe in His infinite wisdom, grant that ages upon ages shall pass away ere it again be seen by human eyes," an the brethren responded, "So mote it be." PROVING THE WORK. While the band was playing the patriotic air, "America," the stone was slowly lowered within a few inches of its destined place and then held in suspension while the choir sang "Faith, Hope and Charity," after, which followed the ceremony of proving the work. The grand marshal presented to the grand, master a plumb, a level and a square, which he distributed to his, fellow, craftsmen, each of whom applied his instrument to the corner stone and announced in his time that the work was plumb,; level and square. The grand master then proclaimed, that the stone had been tested by the proper implements of masonry and he declared it to be well formed, true and trusty, and correctly laid according to the rules of the craft. He then spread the mortar and. while the band played a solemn air, the stone was lowered to its final resting place. The deputy grand master then advanced with a vessel filled with corn, which the grand master poured on the stone as, an emblem of plenty. The senior grand warden presented a vessel filled with wine, which the grand master emptied on the stone as an emblem of joy and gladness. The junior grand warden then came forward with a vessel of oil, which the grand master took, saying, "I pour oil as an emblem of peace." The grand master then, with extended hands, made the, following invocation: "May, the all-bounteous Author of Nature bless the inhabitants of this place with an abundance of the necessaries, conveniences and comforts of life; assist in the erection and completion of this building, protect the workmen against every accident, long preserve the structure from decay, and. grant to us all a, supply of the corn of nourishment, the wine of refreshment and the oil of joy. Amen." The grand marshal then presented J. H. Decker, as the architect of the building, to whom was returned. the square, level and plumb and plans of the building. Then followed music, after which the grand master proclaimed in the name of the grand lodge of Ohio the cornerstone to be laid according to the ancient customs. After a few remarks by the grand master and by Deputy Grand Master Levi C. Goodale, the benediction was pronounced by Rev. J. W. Dillon, of the Methodist Episcopal church, and the vast crowd dispersed. COMPLETION OF THE STRUCTURE On September 2, the commissioners had bought lot No. 41 and the southwest halves of lots Nos. 42 and 43, owned by G. W. Lohr, for ten thousand dollars. This made the court house grounds include the entire square—two hundred and eighty and one-half feet by two hundred and eighty, and one-half feet. Owing to the death of Architect Maetzel, the commissioners appointed Joseph Dauber as the architect of the building, June 22, 1891. On October 16, 1890, bids were received to furnish two boilers and accessory materials for heating the court house, jail and sheriff's residence and the contract was awarded to Borger Brothers & Company, of Columbus, Ohio, for twelve hundred and ninety-four dollars. The contracts for the furnishing of the wood furniture for the court house was given to A: H. Andrews & Company, of Chicago, and for the metallic furniture to the Fenton Metallic Manufacturing Company, of Jamestown, New York, on December 23; 1891. C. F. Thornwald, MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 77 of Cincinnati, was given the contract of furnishing the grates and mantels for the court house, jail and sheriff's residence, on February 4, 1892. February 6, following, McHenry & Company received the contract for the combination gag and electric-lighting fixtures: on February' 10, the Seth Thomas. Clock Company of New York, received the contract for the tower clock, dials and bell, agreeing to furnish an eight-day; striking, twenty-eight-hundred-pound tower clock with gravity escapement and fourteen-foot pendulum, with a three thousand-pound bell, for two thousand; one hundred and twenty-two dollars. The commissioners having been notified that the court house; jail and sheriff's residence were finished; inspected the same on July 16, 1892, accepted them from the contractors and ordered that they be settled with in full." The contract for lightning rods was given to Edward Pickering; for grading the sidewalk's, walks and grounds around the court house, to Edward Neville; for furnishing the materials and constructing the walks, pavements and curbing, to G. W. Doerzback; for furnishing two hundred and forty chairs for the assembly room in the basement, to Edward Armstrong. THE JAIL The commissioners received authority to build a new county lair under the same legislative enactments that gave such authority in regard to the construction of a new court house. Architect Maetzel, of the court house then under, way of construction presented plans to the building committee for a new county jail on September 22, 1890, and for a sheriff's residence in connection with the jail, at an estimated cost of about forty. thousand dollars including steam heat. After a few minor changes from the original idea these plans were accepted by that committee on October 14. The plans called for a neat two-story brick of modern style. The jail proper contained sixteen cells—eight on each of the two stories. The front of the building was to be used as the sheriff's residence, having six living rooms and three cells for females. Bids for the construction of the jail were received and opened on December 18, 1890, and, although James Self, of London, was the lowest bidder; at thirty-five thousand dollars, the contract was awarded to G: W. Doerzback, of Sandusky, ft& thirty-five thousand eight hundred and eighty dollars: The matter was brought into court and in February the specifications were ordered changed and the contract set aside. Bids were again received and opened on July 9, 1891, but were so suggestively close together that the commissioners made no awards and ordered the auditor again to advertise for bids. The third set of bids was opened on August 10, 1891, and the contract was let to D. W. McGrath, a prominent young contractor of Columbus, Ohio, for twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and eighty-five dollars. The plumbing was done by the Sanitary Plumbing Company of Columbus. The plans and specifications Were made by Joseph Joesph, of Columbus, for which he received one hundred and fifty dollars. The building was accepted at the same time as was the court house; as stated above: BOND ISSUES The first issue of bonds to pay for the construction of the new court house; jail and sheriff's residence was ordered by the commissioners, July 15, 1890: The issue Was to be for fifty one-thousand-dollar bonds, to bear interest at six per cent payable semi-annually, the bonds to be paid off in bunches of ten bonds. Twelve bids were received on this issue and they were sold to the First National Bank of Chillicothe, Ohio, on August 7, 1890, for fifty-three thousand nine hundred and one dollars. On March. 1891, the commissioners Ordered another issue of seventy-six one-thousand-dollar bonds to bear date of April 23, 1891. They were issued in thirteen series, and bore six, per cent interest, payable semi-annually. They were sold' on that date to Farson Leach & Company, of Chicago, at a premium of three thousand six hundred 78 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. and ten dollars. The third issue of court house and jail bonds was, voted on November 16, .1891,: and was to consist of. seventy-four one-thousand-dollar bonds in twelve series, to bear the date of December 17,1891. These were sold to Seasongood & Mayer, of Cincinnati, on that. date, for eighty thousand, three hundred and sixty-nine dollars and fifty cents. On July 16, 1892, the commissioners ordered that a bill be prepared and sent to Hon. James Martin,: representative of Madison county in the General Assembly, to be submitted to that body, authorizing the issue of bonds not to exceed twenty thousand dollars at six per cent. interest for the purpose of furnishing the court house. This bill was enacted into law on April 12, 1892, and twenty-one thousand-dollar bonds were issued bearing the date of November 12, 1892. These bonds, "for the purchase of furniture and fixtures for the court house and improving the court house grounds," were sold to Spitzer & Company, of Toledo, Ohio, for twenty-two thousand and forty-three dollars. PRISON BONDS. When the colonies proclaimed their independence and shook off the grasp of tyranny, a relic of English barbarism, known as imprisonment for debt was engrafted into the laws of the young republic. This law was an outrage upon honest, poverty and was the cause of untold misery. The prisoner confined for debt, upon giving good security to his creditors, was allowed a certain defined limit outside of the jail in which to exercise his manhood, and this limit was known as the "prison bounds," but. by crossing this line he forfeited his security, arid, therefore, his liberty. In 1799, a law was passed in the Northwest Territory, making two hundred yards, in any direction from the jail, the prison bounds. In 1800 this was increased to four hundred and forty yards, and reduced to four hundred in 1805. In 1821, the corporation line became the boundary, and in 1832, it was extended so as to embrace the whole 'county. Thus it remained until the adoption of the new Constitution, when this relic of a feudal nation was erased from the statutes of Ohio. From the proceedings of the court of common pleas, held by the associate judges; February, 1815, the following item is culled : "Ordered that the prison bounds of the county of Madison shall be and that they are hereby established by and with the out- lines of the town plat of London, in the county aforesaid, including the out-lots, unless the said plan of said town should be too large for prison bounds as are directed by law; in that case, the said prison bounds shall be laid off to the limits of the law, making the jail of said county the center thereof, and ordered that. Patrick McLene, Esq., county surveyor, of said county of Madison, be, by the clerk, notified to run, lay off and mark sufficiently said prison bounds by blazing, putting up posts, etc., so as to make the said bounds plain and easy to be found and discovered, and that the said surveyor make a return thereof to the next term of this court." In compliance with this .order the prison bounds were established by Patrick McLene, June 19, 1815, and ran as follows: "Beginning at the south corner of out-lot No. 11, which is the graveyard, running thence west until the line strikes Glade run, above William Pinkard's tanyard ; thence down said run, with the meanders thereof, until it intersects with Oak run; thence down Oak run; with the meanders thereof, to the south corner of lot No. 18; thence S. 570 degrees E., 53 poles, to the north corner of out-lot No. 1; thence N. 56 degrees .E., 46 poles, to Main street, including George Thompson's pottery shop; thence N. 36 degrees E., 50 poles; to the west corner of out-lot No. 6 ; thence N. 45. degrees W., with the 'range of out-lots Nos. 7, 8, 9 and 10, 92 poles to the beginning." These bounds were enlarged in 1821, to 'the corporation limits, and in to the boundaries of Madison county, which was in harmony with the laws enacted in those years. With the progress of *civilization, all such laws as imprison- MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 79 went for debt became obnoxious to the spirit of enlightenment and humanity, which civilization engenders, and are therefore annulled as they ought to be.   COUNTY INFIRMARY. Throughout the pioneer days of Madison county, each township supported its own poor, but finally the duty devolved upon the county, and private individuals were engaged to support indigent persons, or pay for doing so. In September, 1857, the county commissioners appropriated fifteen thousand dollars toward purchasing land and erecting suitable buildings for a county infirmary, provided, however, that the county vote in favor of said appropriation at the following October election. Whether or not the commissioners' action was ratified, is not a matter of record, but nothing was done toward establishing the infirmary for more than six years subsequent to that event. On the 9th of June, 1864, the commissioners purchased one hundred and ten acres of. land from Jesse Watson and James Q. Minshall, paying for the same ninety-five dollars per acre. This tract was situated immediately south of London, and a portion of it is now inside the corporate limits. Fruit trees were planted, fences built and the property somewhat improved, but no buildings were erected, nor was it ever occupied for infirmary purposes, and was finally sold. The present county farm was purchased on June 6, 1866, from James Rankin, Jr., and originally contained sixty-eight and one-quarter acres of land, for which the county paid seventy-five dollars an acre. Additions have since been made and the county now has a farm of one hundred and ninety-five acres. The commissioners met on July 2, 1866, and appointed three infirmary directors, J. W. Carr, William Cryder and Richard Baskerville, and they in turn, subsequently, appointed G. W. Darety as superintendent of the infirmary. On July 17, 1866, he took possession of the frame house standing on the farm when purchased, and on July 31, following, the first inmates were admitted. On the 3rd of August, 1866, bids were advertised for the erection of a "lunatic building," and on September 3, following, the contract was awarded to Ginn & Henry, of Cedarville, to be completed by November 5, at a cost of $4,999. On the 6th of November, the contract for erecting a new infirmary building was given to the same firm, at a cost of $18,000. After the erection of this building, it was found very imperfect ; even prior to its completion it had been discovered that the contractors were not doing the work according to contract. The building was found absolutely unsafe, and on August 31, 1868, was condemned by Anderson & Hannaford, architect's of Cincinnati, whom the commissioners called upon to examine the structure. The board then took the matter in hand, remodeled and strengthened the building wherever necessary, and carried the whole. to completion. Mr. Darety continued as superintendent and moved into the new building on January 11, 1872. In August, 1873, Isaac Curl succeeded Mr. Darety and served until April 1, 1875, at which time William. M.. Jackson become superintendent, and he, in turn, was succeeded by J. Smith Davidson, April 1, 1877. DESCRIPTION OF THE INSTITUTION. In 1872 Samuel P. Davidson, one of the infirmary directors, was employed by the commissioners to lay off the grounds surrounding the new buildings, and make such improvements as were necessary to the comfort and convenience of the inmates and to the attractiveness of the institution. He drafted a plan of the grounds, which the commissioners approved. In the front of the building the landscape was laid off twenty yards square, with a heart-shape driveway froth the gate to the main entrance of the building. Cutting this figure in two, is a gravel walk from the gate to the front door of the infirmary. Within the driveway, flowers, shrubbery and ornamental 80 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. trees decorate the grounds, while surrounding it are planted fruit trees and various kinds of evergreens, giving to the whole a handsome appearance, and reflecting much credit upon its worthy projector, as well as upon the county whose general munificence has created this asylum for poor, suffering. humanity. The building is of brick with stone foundation forty-five by one hundred and eight feet in size; four stories high, with a rear wing thirty-two by forty-five feet and of the same height as the main structure. The basement, first story, contains nineteen rooms and there are located the kitchen, bakery, laundry; Children's dining-room, milk house and storage rooms, also the engine and boilers which heat the building throughout. Bach of the other stories Contain twenty rooms. On ascending a flight of stone steps from the driveway, the first floor above the basement is reached. This floor contains the superintendent's office and reception room, two dining-rooms, and sixteen bedrooms for the inmates. The central and western portion of the net floor' is occur pied by the family of the superintendent the rest of it being used for inmates bedrooms, bathrooms, and a wardrobe wherein the wearing apparel of the inmates is kept, neatly folded away for their use. The top floor is divided into bedrooms for the inmates and the help engaged at the infirmary. There is also located on this floor a school room, where the children stopping at the institution receive regular instruction; by a competent teacher employed for the purpose. The building contains. three cells, in which insane inmates are confined when such a course is necessary. Close to the rear of the Main structure stands a brick washhouse, a brick smokehouse, a frame icehouse, and all other outbuildings common to zilch institution. The county farm lies about three and: one-half miles southwest of London, in Union township, and is Situated between the Jefferson, South. Charleston, and Xenia turnpike and the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, & St: Louis railroad. It is the highest elevation between London and Cincinnati and possesses an excellent soil. The water is unequaled in the county; and contains splendid tonic qualities; while the premises at and around the infirmary have wells and pipes from which constantly flows a never-failing supply of water for all purposes: The farm is well improved, contains an ice pond, has an orchard of several acres of the finest varieties of fruit trees is kept in the best condition possible, and for a healthful, pleasant location cannot be surpassed anywhere in Madison county. The present superintendent of the infirmary is R. W. Thomas. MADISON COUNTY CHILDREN'S HOME. Prior to the year 1889 the indigent children of Madison county were kept in the children's homes of other counties. In May of that year a carefully prepared contract was entered into by the commissioners with Mrs: Auburn Smith, of London. to care for the children for a period, of three years. The county at that time bad twenty-six wards in the Franklin county children's home, who were to be transferred on July 1. By the agreement with Mrs. Smith she was to clothe, feed and care for the children and receive a compensation of thirty-six cents a day per capita. She remodeled her home in the northern part of town and the children were taken there. These contracts with Mrs. Smith were: renewed from time to time until September 1, 1896, when she refused to renew the contract on account of ill health and the need of rest. In the spring of that year a bill was prepared, as pushed through the state Legislature, authorizing the county to issue thirty-five thousand-dollar bonds for the purpose of building a. county children's home. This bill was passed on April 21, 1896. They court of common pleas appointed William H. H. Morgan, M. L. Rea and John T. Vent to act in connection: with commissioners for approval of plans, drawings, representations, bills of materials, specifications, work, etc. The commissioners voted to issue twenty-five one-thousand-dollar bonds on June 8, 1896. Seventy-five acres Of MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 81 ground was purchased on the same date, of A. T. O'Neill, for a farm. This farm is located one and one-half miles north of the court house on the east side of the Marysville pike. It is the north end of the old "Billy" Wingett farm and a part of old John Phifer farm in Deer Creek township and has a frontage on the pike of eighty yards and the cost of the same was seventy-five dollars an acre. The bonds were sold, to Farson, Leach & Company, of Chicago, at a premium of eight hundred and five dollars, but they refused to take them and the contract was cancelled. They were again advertised for sale and sold on August 20, 1896, to the Fourth National Bank of Columbus at a premium of two hundred and sixty dollars. These bonds bear date of September 10, 1896. The commissioners hired George F. Hammond, of Cleveland, Ohio, as architect and approved his plans and specifications on December 16, 1896. These plans called for a plain, unelaborate structure of common brick.. whole structure presents a frontage of one hundred and seventy-three and one-half feet, consisting of a two-faced administration building, thirty-nine and ,one-half feet front, with twenty-five feet corridors on each side connecting with one-story sleeping cottages, each forty-two by sixty-two and one-half feet. The main building has a depth of seventy and one-third feet back, inside measure, not counting front or back steps. The cottages and corridors also are of brick, with stone trimmings, all roofed with slate. The front steps lead to a large piazza from which entrance is gained to a vestibule, fronting the hall, forty-two by thirty-six feet, divided by a fourteen-foot sitting-room and a ten-foot family dining-room back, and also an open stairway. Back of the hall is a fifteen by twenty-eight foot dining-hall, supplied with a forty-foot kitchen, and large pantry. The side corridors connect with the cottages by arch doors, making it possible to see from one side wall to the other. The cottages have each three front dayrooms, all connected together, leading back to linen-rooms, cribrooms, sleeping-rooms, attendants' rooms and twenty-two by thirty-four-foot dormitories. The second floors contain chambers, closets, a large schoolroom and bedroom. The basement contains boiler-room, coal houses, laundry, etc. Clint Morse was chosen to superintend the construction of the building. The contract for its construction was let to James Self, of London, for the sum of $16,456.18. The building was inspected and accepted by the commissioners on February 22, 1898. About May 1, the children, about eighty in number, were transferred from the Logan county children's home at Bellefontaine, to which place they had been taken at the expiration of the contract with Mrs.. Auburn Smith. A board of trustees to have supervision of the home was. created on February 25, 1898, composed of C. M. Butt, Lester Bidwell, M. L. Rea and Xerxes Farrar. Mr. Butt died on January 12, 1904, and Howard Black was appointed to fill his unexpired term and was reappointed.. He served until he left the county in 1911, when S. W. Beale was appointed to fill his unexpired term and was then reappointed. The other men have served continuously since the home was erected. Daniel Kulp was appointed the first superintendent, with his wife as matron, by the trustees. He served until B. F. Linson, the present superintendent, was appointed. The present visiting committee consists of J. B. VanWagner, Henry Lenhart, J. R. Atchison, Lucy Beach, Mrs. G. T. Clark and Mrs. A. J. Strain. The present matron is Mrs. B. F. Linson, the wife of the superintendent. The report of the trustees for the year ending August 31, 1915, showed that there were thirty-one children in the home—seven having been admitted during' the year. There have been one hundred and fifty-eight children admitted since the foundation of the home— seventy-eight being the greatest number at any one time and fifteen the least. (6) 82 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. STATE REPRESENTATIVES. Under the Constitution of 1802, the 'legislative representative apportionment was established by the same law as the senatorial apportionment, but the members of the rower house were chosen annually, while under the later constitutions, their official term is fixed at two years, and the apportionment is designated by dividing the whole Population of the state by ______ and the quotient thereof is the ratio of representation in the House. The law provides for this apportionment every ten years. After the admission of Ohio; and prior to the formation of Madison county, this district was represented in the first General Assembly (1803), by the representative of Ross county, and in the second (1803-04) , third (1804-05) , and fourth (1805-06), by those of Ross and Franklin; in the fifth (1806-07) and sixth (1807-08), by Ross, Franklin and Highland ; in the seventh (1808-09) and eighth (1809-10), by Franklin and Delaware. This brings the date up to the time of the formation of Madison county, which first appears in the formation of a legislative district in the ninth General Assembly (1810-11), Franklin, Madison, Delaware and Pickaway counties composing the same. In the next session (1811-12); only a portion of Pickaway was in this district, while in the eleventh (1812-13), Madison and Delaware were together, and the district so existed until the fifteenth General Assembly (1816-17), when Madison county stood alone. It remained separate district until the nineteenth legislative session (1820-21), at which time Madison and the newly created county of Union were united. For eight years they voted' together, but in the twenty-seventh General Assembly (1828-29), Madison, Union, Logan and Hardin are found forming a district. Hardin county was cut .off from this district ere the twenty-ninth Assembly met (1830-31). No other changes were made until the thirty-fifth session (1836-37), when Madison and Fayette were placed together. This formation remained for four years, and in the thirty-ninth General Assembly (1840-41), Clark county replaced Fayette. The 'next apportionment came 'in the forty-third Assembly (1844-45.), which placed Madison and Franklin together. Before the meeting of the forty-seventh session (1848-49), this was changed, Madison, Clark and Champaign counties forming a district. This combination existed until the adoption of the new Constitution in 1852, since which time Madison county has been entitled to one representative. COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. The first acts of the state of Ohio that made provisions for county commissioners were adopted from the statutes of Pennsylvania. By an act published June 19, 1795, three commissioners were ordered to be appointed in each county for one year, and each succeeding year one was to be appointed to take the place of the commissioner first named. These appointments were made by the justices of the court of general quarter sessions of the peace on the first day of their January term. In 1799, the length of the official term was designated as follows: The first commissioner named on the list, one year; the second, two years, and the third, three years; one being appointed every year, as before,- to supply the place of the retiring member., Their powers and duties were fully defined, and they were to meet annually on the first Monday in July to attend to all the county business coming under their jurisdiction. This law of appointment lasted until February 13, 1804, when a law was enacted requiring three commissioners to be elected in each county, said election to be held on the first Monday in April, 1804. The commissioners-elect were determined by lot the length of time each should remain in office, as follows One to serve until the following October; one until the October election in 1805; and the third until the same election in 1806. Thus the office became rotary and has remained so every since. Vacancies were filled by MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 83 the associate judges, said appointee to remain in office until the succeeding October election. The board was to meet annually in June to perform such duties as the law required. On February 22, 1805,, an act was passed by which, upon the erection of a new county, the commissioners elected at the first election only held office until the next annual election and on January 15, 1810, all former acts were amended or repealed, but no changes were made in the manner or time of holding office or elections, the duties of the commissioners simply being enlarged and more fully described. A great many acts have since been passed defining and regulating the powers and duties of the county commissioners but these laws have not affected the office to a great extent. COUNTY AUDITORS. The office of county auditor was not created until 1820, when an act was passed, February 8, of that year, by which said officials were appointed by a joint resolution of the General Assembly; to hold office one year, but, in case of a vacancy occurring, the court of common pleas was authorized to fill the same. The duties of the office were defined by. the same. act, and, on February 2, 1821, a law was enacted, providing for the election of auditors in the following October, to hold office for one year from March 1, 1822. The power to fill vacancies had previously, by the act of 1821, been transferred to the county commissioners. Another , law was passed, February 23, 1824, making the official term two years; it remained thus until in 1878, when an act was passed by the, General Assembly fixing the tenure of office at three years. Prior to the creation of this office, the duties which have since been taken over by the auditor were performed by the county commissioners and their clerk. The following is a list of those who have served in this office up to the present time: 1830-44, Patrick McLene; 1845-50, John Melvin ; 1851-54, John Rouse, who resigned in the fall .of the latter year; November, 1854, to March, 1857, P. R. .Chrisman ; March, 1857, to March, 1863, Oliver P. Crabb ; March, 1863, to March, 1865, J. Peetery ; March, 1865, to March, 1875, Noah Thomas; March, 1875, to November, 1880, M. M. Thomas; November, 1880, to November, 1883, Samuel M. Prugh, 1883, until November, 1886, and on November 8, 1886, was appointed to fill an interim of ten months due to the change in length of term of this office, and served until 1889; W. C. Ward, 1887:93; W. D. Wilson, 1893-99; B. A. Taylor, 1899-1905; J. J. Shaffer, 1905-11; H. M. Chaney, 1911-1915; A. M. Blacker, since October 18, 1915. COUNTY TREASURERS. The office of county treasurer was created in the Northwest Territory on August 1, 1792, but in 1799 the law was amended: On April 16, 1803, the Legislature of Ohio passed an act, conferring the power of appointing the county treasurer on the associate judges. The following year, February 13, 1804, this power was transferred to the county commissioners. It remained an appointive position until March 12, 1831, when the office was made biennially elective. The following citizens have held this office in Madison' county: 1810-11, Thomas Gwynn; 1811-15, Levi H: Post, who resigned in December of the latter year ; 1815-16, John Simpkins; 1817-25, Amos G. Thompson; 1826-38, Robert Hume; 1838-50. Henry Warner; 1850-56, William A. Athey; 1856-60, William T. Davidson; 1860-64, William H. Chandler ; 1864-66, Abraham Simpson; 1866-68, Alva L. Messmore; 1868-69, Horace Putnam, who began his duties in September and died in May, of the latter year, Biggs D. Thomas being appointed to fill out the unexpired term ; 1870-74, Benjamin T. Custer ; 1874-78, Henry T. Strawbridge; 1878-82, E. R. Florence; 1882-86, Abraham Tanner; 1886-90, Jones ; 1890-94, J. T. Vent; 1894-98, Benjamin Emery; 1898-1902, J. Scott Chenoweth; 1902-06, R, L. Farrar ; 1906-10, E. S. Gordin; 1910-14, Charles A. Wilson; since September 6, 1915, M. E. Hummel. 84 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. COUNTY RECORDER. The office of county recorded and the duties thereof were adopted from the statutes of Pennsylvania, in 1795. After Ohio had entered the Union, in 1803, an act was passed giving the power of appointing the recorder to the court of common pleas, the term of service being fixed at seven years. The duties of the office were changed and redefined by subsequent acts of the Legislature, until February 25, 1831, when a law was enacted. Making the office elective every three years, all vacancies to be filled by the county. commissioners. It will be seen that the same men filled the offices of clerk and recorder at the same time for the first twenty-nine years of the county's career, as, doubtless; the labor did not justify an official for each office during those early years. The following is a list of men who have served the county in this capacity from the time of its organization up to the present time: 1810-15, Robert Hume (resigned in July) ; July 18, 1815, to June 27, 1839, John Moore (died) ; July 6, 1839, to May 9, 1854, Robert Hume (died) ; Oliver P. Crabb served out the unexpired term from May 10, 1854, until the following October ; October, 1854, to May, 1857, William Love (died in office) ; 1857, June, W. A. Athey filled the unexpired term until January 1; 1858-63, George Bowen ; 1864-66, G. W. Darety; 1867-69, Sylvester W. Durflinger ; 1870-June, 1880, Leonard Eastman; in June, 1880, E. W. McCormack was appointed to fill out the unexpired term ; 1881-93, Samuel P. Trumper; 1893-99, H. H. Johnston; 1899-1905, Charles T. LeBeau;. 1905-11, R. W. Woodhouse; 1911-1915, J. W. Millholland; since September 6, 1915, Leroy Cornwall. COUNTY SURVEYORS. The office of county surveyor was created and his duties defined by an act passed on April 15, 1803. Later acts which dealt with this office were passed in 1816, 1817, 1819, 1820 and 1828, in which the duties of the office were changed and more fully defined. At first the term of office was fixed at five years or during good behavior, and the incumbent was appointed by the court of common pleas. On the 3rd of March, 1831, an act was passed providing for the election of the county surveyor triennially by the legal voters of the county. Up to this time there had been only one county surveyor appointed, Patrick McLene serving for a period of twenty-one years. The following is a .list of those who have filled the office, but the early records are incomplete and vague, causing many irregularities in dates which cannot be explained. In some of these cases there were resignations and the successor was appointed to serve the unexpired term : 1810-31, Patrick McLene; 1832-37, Henry Warner ; 1838-40, Elias Warner ; 1841-50, Henry Alder ; 1851, J. M. Chastain; 1852-53, Henry Alder ; 1854, James S. Burnham; 1855, William G. Allen; 1856-58, Henry Alder ; 1859-64, Levin Willoughby ; 1865-67, Henry Alder; 1868-70, James S. Burnham; 1871-73, Henry Alder; 1874-76, Jonathan Arnett; 1877, Lewis Creamer; 1878-80, Jonathan Arnett; 1881-87, Clinton Morse ; 1887-90, William Reeder; 1890-93, Clint Morse; 1893-99, H. L. McCafferty; 1899-1905, J. H. Asher; 1905-1915, H. L. McCafferty ; since September 6, 1915, J. H. Asher. CORONERS. The office of county coroner was established under the territorial government in 1788, and on April 15, 1803, an act was passed making it elective and describing the duties thereof. By subsequent acts the duties were changed and more fully defined. The coroner, in case of the resignation or death of the sheriff, becomes the occupant of that office during the unexpired term, and the sheriff holds the same official relations toward the coroner's office. It has fallen to the lot of the coroner of Madison county to fill the office of sheriff no less than four times in the history of the county. Since the organization of the county this office has been filled by the following men: 1810-13, John Timmons; 1814-16, John Blair; 1817, J. K. DeLashmutt; 1818-19, Amos G. Thomp- MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 85 son ; 1820, M. H. Alkire ; 1821-24, Henry Warner ; 1825-27, Josiah James ; 1828, John Graham ; 1829-34, E. T. Haze11; 1835-48, David Dunkin ; 1849-50, George W. Lohr ; 1851-52, Samuel P. Davidson; 1853, Toland Jones ; 1854-55, David Dunkin ; 1856-59, Calvin Newcomb; 1860-61, Andrew L. Brown ; 1862-63, Francis M. Chapman ; 1864-65, Abraham Zombro ; 1866-67, George Harding ; 1868-69, Francis M. Chapman ; 1870, Owen Thomas ; 1871-72, A. V. Chrisman ; 1873, Andrew L, Brown ; 1874-75, Francis M. Chapman ; 1876-83, A. V. Chrisman ; Timothy Haley, appointed November 5, 1883, (resigned) ; L. H. Miller, appointed May 20, 1885, to fill unexpired term, but resigned August 23, 1887 ; D. L. Fox, appointed August 23, 1887, and served until 1890 ; J. M. Bunch (colored), January, 1890, until, he resigned, October 6, 1890 ; Daniel L. Fox, appointed October 7, 1890, and served by appointment and subsequent election until January, 1896 ; Edward H. Parks, 1896-99 ; W. H. Carl, 1899-1909; H: V. Christopher,. 1909-13 ; W. E. Lukens, 1913-15. (Lukens was elected in the fall of 1914, but failed to qualify for the second term, and consequently the county was without a coroner from the first Monday in January, 1915, until James Baber was appointed by the county commissioners to the office, on July 12, 1915.) TAX COLLECTORS. There have been many changes in the manner of collecting taxes in the counties of Ohio. During the early history of the state, the chattel tax was collected by township collectors and a county collector gathered the land tax. From 1806 to 1820, the state was divided into four districts, and a collector of non-resident land tax was appointed by the Legislature for each' district, while at the same time the county collector gathered the chattel tax and the tax upon resident lands. The county collector gathered all taxes for state and county purposes, from 1820 until 1827, but in the latter year the office was abolished. Since that time it has been the duty of the county treasurer to receive or collect all taxes. The men who served this county as collectors were as follow : 1810-11. John Moore; 1812, William McCormack; 1813, James Ballard; 1814-15, Philip Lewis; 1816, James Ballard; 1817, John Simpkins; 1818, William Ware; 1819-24, Nathan Bond; 1825-26, Stephen Moore. LIQUOR OFFICIALS. The granting of liquor licenses in Ohio has been in the hands of three different boards within the past three years. Prior to 1912 they were granted by the county commissioners in each county. In 1912 the General Assembly passed an act creating a board of two liquor commissioners in each county. They were to be appointed by the liquor-licensing commission of the state, by and with the consent of the governor. The statute further provided that the appointees were to be of opposite political faith and to have a salary fixed by the county commissioners. Horace G. Jones (Republican) and William D. Morrisey (Democrat) have filled the office in Madison county since the law went into effect. They receive ten dollars a month for their services. The county now has nine saloons, seven at London and two at West Jefferson. However, this statute had but fairly got into operation before it was replaced by the McDermott law. (Laws of Ohio, 105-106, pp. 560 seq.) This law went into effect on September 5, 1915. This new act divided the state into thirty-four districts, Hamilton and Cuyahoga counties constituting separate districts, the remaining districts being composed of two or more counties. Madison county is in the seventh district, with Clark and Greene counties. The law provides that an appointive board in each district, consisting of the presidents of the boards of county commissioners, the clerks of the courts and the recorders of the several counties composing each district, shall select two liquor traffic supervisors of opposite political faith for the said district. This appointive board in the seventh district will, therefore, consist of nine men. The two men the board selects will choose a third man as secretary. The salary of the liquor traffic supervisors 86 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. is to be fixed by the appointing board, subject to the approval of the state budget commissioners. The appointive board met for the first time five days after the law went into effect and will meet biennially thereafter to select the supervisors. Just how this law will operate, the future alone can tell; if Ohio votes this fall (1915) to prohibit the sale of liquor in the state, the law, of course, automatically ceases to operate. If prohibition is voted down, it is safe to say that new liquor legislation will soon be on the Statute books of the state. Past history shows that no question is subject to such frequent statutory changes as the liquor question. ROSTER OF MADISON COUNTY OFFICIALS, State senator, Dr: Charles T. Gallagher; state representative, L. R. Mous; common pleas judge, Roscoe G. Hornbeck; probate judge, Frank Murray; prosecuting attorney, Charles, C. Crabb; clerk of courts, Wilbur D. Hume; court bailiff, Gideon, T. Clark (appointed by common pleas judge) ; sheriff, Charles Weimer; jury commissioners, R. V. Coons, J. W. Hume; auditor, A. M. Blacker; recorder, Leroy Cornwall; treasurer, M. E. Hummel; surveyor, J. H. Asher; coronor, James Baber; county commissioners, George Fitzgerald, Pierce Gregg, Berthier or sealer of weights and measures, L. J. Leonard (appointed by, auditor) ; district assessor,. J. Scott. Chenoweth (office ceases. January 1, 1916) ; liquor commissioners, Horace G. Jones W. A. Morrisey (abolished. September 3, 1915); county superintendent of schools, Runyan (appointed by president of boards of education) ; humane officer, Daniel McGuire (appointed by Humane Society) ; clerk of election board, John Gorry (appointed by. board of elections) ; election, board, Edward Armstrong (president,), Dr. F. A. Noland, M. A. Horen, J. R. Atchison; superintendent Children's Home,, Benjamin F. Linson (appointed by board of Children's Home) ; hoard of Children's, Home, M. L. Rea, Lester Bidwell, Xerxes Farrar, S. W. Beal; board of complaints, M. L. Rea, Stanley Carpenter, A. F. Burnham; superintendent of poor farm, Ralph Thomas (appointed, by county, commissioners) ; secretary of Agricultural Society, Le Mar. Wilson. . . CHAPTER IV CANAAN TOWNSHIP. Canaan township is located in the northwestern corner of Madison county and is bounded on the north by Darby township, on the east by Franklin county, on the south by Jefferson township, and' on the west by Monroe township. Canaan was not one of the original townships and the following; taken from the commissioners' records, shows it to have been organized in 1819: "June 7, 1819:--At a meeting of the commissioners, present, Burton Blizzard, Ira Finch and Patrick McLene, on petition being presented, ordered that the following bounds compose a new township, to be known and designated by the name of Phelps : "Beginning at the northeast corner of Madison county, running south on the line between Franklin and Madison counties five miles for a corner of Darby township ; and thence continue South five miles further and corner for said new township; thence west to the east line of the townships west, and corner ; thence north five miles and. corner for Darby and the new township; thence east between Darby and said new township to the place of beginning." A short time afterward the name of Phelps was changed to Canaan. Since the above erection of the township, the formation of Pike township and Union county have taken place and changes in the boundary or Darby and of the line between Madison and Franklin counties have brought Canaan township to its present boundaries. THE PIONEERS. As has been pointed out .elsewhere in this work, in the settlement of this portion of Ohio, the tide of emigration seems to have followed. up the various. streams and ,creeks, and the Darby and Deer creeks, appear from their position, together with the richness of the lands that bordered them, the abundance of deer, turkeys and other game, to have held out superior, attractions to those seeking a favorite location to settle and make a home for themselves and their posterity. And also it appears, probably for the self-same reason, to have been a favorite spot for the Indians prior to the coming to the white man. The history of Canaan township may be said to have, begun at the same time as we accredited the beginning. of the history of Darby township, in 1796, when Jonathan Alder was discovered by Benjamin Springer living with his Indian wife on the west banks of the Darby. These were the first white settlers known to have settled on the Darbys or, within the present limits.of Madison county. Of Jonathan Alder and Benjamin Springer we shall say nothing further .here, but refer the reader to the history of Darby township. Luther Cary, who was born in New Jersey and in that state had married Rhoda Leonard,. in an .early day had emigrated to the Redstone country in Pennsylvania, from there down, the Ohio river, settling first at.or near Marietta, Ohio; thence, in .1800, with his family, he moved to Madison county and located on the Big Darby on land just north of Amity, in Canaan township, where. he lived until his death; October 8, 1834, at the. ripe old age of seventy-four years. His wife died. on May 15, 1846, at the still more advanced age of ninety-one years. Their children were Benjamin, who married and settled near Wooster, Ohio, where he died; Luther, who settled. in Miami county ; Calvin, who married and settled at Cary, Ohio, giving that place its name; Stephen, who married Catherine 88 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. Johnson, and settled in this township, residing here until his death ; Ephraim, who married Mathilda Gandy, settled in this township, but later moved to Union county, where he died ; Jemima, who married Jacob Johnson, and settled in Jefferson township, where she died, and, subsequently; Phebe, who had married John Davis, and was left a widow by his death, married Mr. Johnson ; Lydia, who married John Johnson, and settled just below Amity, where they resided until about' 1855; when they removed West; Rachel, who married Alexander McCullough, and settled near Amity, but afterward removed to Putnam county, Ohio, where she died ; Abijah, who married Catharine Johnson, and settled in this township, remaining here until his death, February 21, 1854; aged seventy-three years; his wife died February 4, 1851, in the sixty-fifth year of her age. They had the following children : Mary, Solomon, Absalom, Sarah, Rhoda. Abram, Rachel, Eliza and Lucinda ; all grew to maturity, married and raised families, and all were prosperous and good citizens of Madison county, most of them becoming members of the Presbyterian church and honored and respected citizens of the community. Abijah Cary was born on March 6, 1781, and, when a lad of nineteen years, came to this county with his parents. He was a man of remarkable industry and passed through all the arduous and dangerous trials of the pioneer days: Two brothers, Jonathan and Joel Harris, natives of New Jersey, emigrated to. Ohio in about 1805 and settled within the present confines of Canaan township. Jonathan Harris married a Miss Casto, by whom he was the father of the following children: George, Amos, William, Joel, Rebecca and Pattie. Joel married and soon afterward settled in Franklin county. Nahum King, a native of Vermont, married Sarrepta Norton, and settled on the land later known as the Moore farm, wheence he removed and settled below Amity. About 183738 he went to Missouri and in 1.844 to Oregon, where he died. He was one of the prominent men of this township during his residence here; very intelligent and well informed, and filled to the satisfaction of all several offices of the township. John Kilgore, a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, emigrated, with his wife Jane and family, to Ohio and settled, as was the usual custom of emigrants to this portion of the state of Ohio, in Ross county in 1797; thence, about 1800, they removed to Madison county and settled on Three-Mile run. about one and a half miles west of Big Darby, where he died soon afterwards. His wife subsequently moved to Union county, where she remained until her death, at an advanced age. Thomas Kilgore, their eldest son, was about eighteen years old when the family settled on Three-Mile run. In 1812 he married Jane Patterson, who was born in Botetourt county, Virginia, October 8, 1792; they settled in Canaan township, on the Kilgore farm, and here remained until their deaths. He died at the advanced age of eighty-one, February 11, 1872; his wife died on June 3, 1862. They were the parents of eleven children: William, Eliza, Rebecca, Sarah, Lucinda ; John, who married Maloney Beach; William, who married Mary Boyd; Harvey, who married Judith Sherwood; Simeon, who married Elizabeth Cary ; Elizabeth, who married Chauncey Beach, and Rebecca, who married Jacob Taylor. Thomas Kilgore lived a long and useful life in Canaan township, having been, at the time of his death, a resident of that township for over three score years and on the same farm on which he first settled. He as one of the true pioneers and did his share nobly in the development of the county. He was a man of great moral worth and character and exerted. a great influence in molding the general character of the community, both politically and religiously, as during his lifetime he held most of the important offices of trust within the gift of the people of the township, and, religiously, had been a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church from his manhood. His example before his family and community was one worthy of admiration and imitation. MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 89 James Moore, who became a settler on Mammoth run as early, probably, as 1808-10, is believed to have been a native of the state of Pennsylvania. He married Betsey Patterson, by whom he was the father of the following children Stephen, who married Caroline Beebe and settled near his father, later. moved to Illinois, where he died ; Moses, who married Serretta King, also settled near his father and, also, later moved to Illinois, where he died ; the one daughter married William Frakes and settled in the West. Mr. Moore was a man of great influence in the township and 'held many of the township offices. He died in the prime of life, being cut dawn during one of the sickly seasons of 1822 and 1823, and was buried on the farm on which he had settled. Ira Finch was a native of Vermont, who emigrated to Ohio and settled in Canaan township, about one mile and a half south of Amity, on Mammoth run, in about 1808 or 1810. He married Nancy Bull and remained in the township until his death, in about 1856. Their children were : Armenus, who died young; Pattie married Thomas Kilbury; Sarah married Thomas Harris; Madison married Nacy Clark and settled here, where he resided until his death ; Minerva married Sanford Frazell ; Commodore married Emiley Robey ; John married Emily Kilbury, and settled in and remained a resident of this township until his death; Joshua. married Catharine Crego, and lived at Amity. Thompson married Nancy Taylor, and Ruhama married Silas Scribner and moved to Missouri. William Taylor, .a native of northern Virginia, emigrated to Ohio in 1803 and settled in Darby township, where he married. He later moved to Canaan township. He was the father of fourteen children: Sarah married Philip Harris; Hannah married .Henry Fuller; Samuel; Polly; Jacob married Rebecca Kilgore; Rhoda married Richard Edgar; Margaret married Isaac Arthur ; William married Martha Arthur ; Nancy married Thompson Finch; Mary married James Talpniny ; Moses, and three who died in infancy. Mr. Taylor was a man. of reserved habits and a great lover of home and family; a man of firm principles and noble character; a good farmer, a kind neighbor, and a much esteemed and respected citizen. Henry H. Gandy settled one mile south of Amity, about 1812-14, and lived and died there. He reared a large family of children. Luke Knapp, an Englishman by birth, came to America and settled in Connecticut, where he resided several years; thence removed to New York, where he died. In 1812, his son, Elihu Knapp, moved to Pennsylvania; and in 1815 came to Madison county and settled on land on the west side of Big Darby, where the cemetery is now located, and died there in 1823, and his wife in 1836. His wife was Amy Anders, by whom he had three children, Electa, who married Joshua Holtner; Cynthia. who .married Solomon Norton, and Elihu, who Married Kesiah Norton and settled in Darby township. Richard Stanhope, with his family, settled on the William Atkinson land, in 1812, the only colored family in that day in the neighborhood. He was a very honest man and quite a good farmer, yet very illiterate. with no advantages of education. He was nevertheless affable and good natured, with the politeness' peculiar to his race. James Gut was then one of his nearest neighbors and practiced a good many jokes on Richard, one of which we shall retell. It seems that all the early settlers cultivated flax, for the fiber, which was converted into clothing. This crop was always sown in a certain change of the .moon. The following Friday after this change was the proper time, which, in this instance, happened to be Good Friday. Mr. Gut informed him that Good Friday of that year came on Sunday. Being a religious man, Stanhope was loath to desecrate the Sabbath, so he sowed his flax on Saturday night. Stanhope had been a slave of George Washington's arid was with him during the Revolutionary War. He later sold his farm on the Plains and removed to Urbana in 1836, where be died, it is claimed, at the extreme old age of one hundred and twenty years. 90 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. Peter Strickland, who was a New Englander by birth, settled on the east bank of the Big Darby. opposite Amity, and remained a resident of the township the rest of his life. He was married four times and reared a large family of children, nearly all of whom settled in Canaan township. He was one of the early settlers, a very industrious farmer, a good neighbor and a well-to-do Citizen. David Garton, a native of New Jersey, emigrated to this county and settled on Big Darby, about two and a half miles south of Amity, about 1812-14, and remained a resident of the county until his death. He married Martha Harris, by whom he had two sons, Hosea; who Married Rebecca Harris, and David. 'His Wife died and he later married Hannah Richman; with whom he lived until his death. By his last wife he was the father of several children. Jr. Garton was an honest and upright man in his life and character. Isaac Fuller, a native of New York, Married Lucy Warner, and settled on the east bank of Big Darby, about two miles south of Amity; about 1812. He here erected a grist-mill about 1814-15, which was one of the first mills erected in Madison county, and, though roughly and poorly constructed, preyed a great :convenience to the early settlers of the county. He later added a sawmill to it. Mr. Fuller ran the mill for forty years, when he sold the property to Mr. .Byers and moved to Iowa, where he died. He was the father of the following Children: Arnold, who married Sallie Green ; James married, but his wife lived but a short time, .and he subsequently married Lucinda Francis; Shubel married Rhoda Ann Worthington; Henry married Hannah Taylor ; Olive married William Harris; Nancy married George Harris: These children are all by a former wife, whose name is forgotten. By his last wife, Lucy Warner, he had one child, Isaac, who married Arminta Fuller and settled in Iowa. Henry Robey settled just west` Of Jacob Millikin, about 1816. He married a Miss Johnson, by whom he had no children; she died and he married Mrs. Millie McDonald, by whom he had four children, Hezekiah, Henry, Nelson and Millie. About 1830 he removed to Hardin county, Ohio, where he resided until his death. He was a man of very reserved habits, never holding or desiring office, but an excellent man and neighbor, and one of the best blacksmiths and Mechanics of his day; possessing great skill, he could make any kind of tool or implement that was needed on the farm or in the house, and hence was a man of great value in a frontier community. Elisha Bidwell settled in the southwest Part of Canaan township about: 1816. Mr. Bidwell was a man of excellent character, and took a great interest in educational matters and the general good of the community; but as a business man he was not very successful. Knowlton Bailey settled in the township about 1816-17, but remained only a few years and moved to Jefferson township, where he resided until his death: Samuel Beebe, a New Englander by birth, settled in the township about 1815. He had served during the Revolutionary War. Stephen Hallock. a native of Vermont, was another early settler here, probably about 1816-18. He Married Rhoda Beach. They were the parents of two children, Hymen and Washington. Mr. Hallock died a few years after settling here, being carried away during one of the sickly years of 1822-23. Lemuel Greene settled one mile below Amity about 1818-20. He married, for his second wife, Rachel Brown, by whom he had a large family of children, of whom were Asa, Ira, Sallie, Maria, Louisa, Nancy and Cynthia. Mr. Greene was a shoemaker by trade and resided in the township until his death. Levi Francis is thought to have settled in the township about 1820; he reared a large family of children. Mathias Slyh, a Virginian, settled on the farm known by his name about 1820. He buried his first wife and married, for his second wife, Sallie Patterson, with whom he lived until his death. He was a member of the Baptist church, and one of the township's most substantial and. esteemed citizens. Warren Frazell settled east of Amity about 1825, where he lived until his death. He was a preacher in the, Methodist Episcopal MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 91 church for many years; he reared a large family of children,. who became good, respectable citizens of the township Richard Kilbury was born in Vermont, where he married Obedience Baldwin, and in the fall of 1814, emigrated to Ohio, settling this township on lands in survey. No. 7386. After residing here a short time, it -proved so sickly. that he moved to near Cleveland, and later to Maumee valley, but, after a short residence there, he returned. to Madison county and Presided in Canaan township until his death. He was a blacksmith by trade and spent his life following that vocation. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a man. of •firm and substantial ,character. and undoubted. integrity and held several. township .offices. He was twice married .and. was the father of nine children. He died in May, 1854,            Luther Lane, born in Massachusetts, married Lodica Green, a native of, Connecticut. They removed to Vermont. about 1800 in 1817 they came to Ohio and settled in Union County, near Milford ; thence An 1829, they removed. to Pike township, Madison county, where Mr. Lane died the same year Mrs. Lane had. died during their residence in. Union County, in January. 1823. They had the following children : Fannie married David Harrington and settled in this county; where they resided several years and where she died:. Eliza married David Gitchel and settled in Union county ; thence they removed to Illinois, but later returned and she died in Plain City ; Lodica died unmarried ; Elizabeth married Otis Williams and settled in Madison county where she died; Hannah became the second wife of Otis Witham, and settled and died in this county David, the youngest, married Elizabeth Cox, and settled in Union county; and Luther, the next elder than David, married Elizabeth Morrison, and in 1833 settled in Canaan township. In 1834 he entered into the mercantile. business. with Dr: Lorenzo : Beach in Amity, in which he continued for eight years. In September, 1841, he purchased and settled upon a farm. Elisha Perkins came and settled on the Plains when that strip, of prairie was still pasture land of the wild animals that frequented this portion, of the county. He did not live long, however; .after . reaching. his new home, being carried off by, those deathly years. of 1822-23. His sons were Isaac, James, Eli, Horace and Dr. Hiram Perkins. Lewis Ketch settled on the Plains in 1814. He was a shoemaker by trade and worked with Nahum King in a, shoe shop at his tannery on the Plains. He did not live for many years after reaching his new home. His widow married Parley Converse, with whom she lived till separated by death. Samuel Sherwood, the father of A. H. and J. C. Sherwood, settled on the Plains, in the tear 1814 and. lived on the farm known as the Calhoun farm, The house in which he lived was built on a high piece of ground that proved to be a, gravel bank, and was used to improve the Wilson pike, Mr, Sherwood was. an economical and industrious farmer, but fell victim to. the sickly . years of 1822-23. EARLY FAMILIES. In 1817 a large faintly of brothers and sisters cape to Madison county, following Uri Beach, who came in 1814. The brothers of the, family were Uri Ambrose, Amos, Lorenzo, Boswell, Obil and Oren Beach, the last two named being twins. They were natives of the state of Vermont. At first they all settled in Darby township, but subsequently most, if not all, of them became settlers of Canaan township. 2 Uri Beach, when he first came to the state of Ohio in 1812, worked for a short time near Marietta ; thence he went to Worthington, Ohio, where he married; thence became to Madison county and settled on land Darby township, later owned by Cary, residing there until 1819, when heremoved to Big Darby and settled where Amity is now situated. He was among the first to turn attention to the satisfaction of the Wants' of others. His first enterprise was the erection of a saw-mill: At that time there was but one mill in this part of the county of that kind, the Saeger mill, farther up the Darby, 92 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. near the border of Union county. He selected a site for the mill on what was called Finch run, and here built a mill that proved a real blessing to the community. Mr. Beach soon recognized another great want namely means by which to facilitate the domestic operations in clothing the families and rendering them comfortable during the winter months. Among the early settlers, the manufacture of woolen goods for the family was a tedious operation, especially in preparing the wool for spinning. Before this latter operation could be performed, the wool must be carded into rolls, which then had to be all .performed by hand, with a pair of what was called "hand cards." This operation was exceedingly, slow and laborious. Something to facilitate the labor of carding was the great want of the people. The operation of spinning and weaving was only a secondary consideration, for a woman who did not know how to spin and weave was not considered at all qualified for the holy, state of matrimony. To supply these wants, Uri Beach undertook to build a carding-mill.. The chief obstacle that crossed his path was the great distance and the question of the transportation of machinery. The site was selected for his carding machine just below his saw-mill, not for the purpose of using the water of Finch run for power, but because it was near his other mills. The building was erected, the machinery obtained, and all put in running order. For a few years the machinery in operation was a picking, carding and fulling .machine, to which he afterwards added two small spinning jacks. This factory was in operation for fifteen years or more. It is thought that the first frame house in the township was the one standing on the hill, at the foot of which .stood the carding-mill. Uri Beach, in Company with his brother, Lorenzo, purchased of Doctor Comstock a tract of land from which they laid out the town of Amity, and here Mr. Beach died. Ambrose Beach, the next son in age to Uri, purchased a farm on the Plains, just east of his brother, in the same year they came to Ohio. This place was his home for several years. He, having had some experience as a clothier, finally consented to connect him, self with his brother in the factory, where, for several years, he was engaged in the manufacture of woolen cloth. The weaving in this factory was all done by hand, with what was called a spring-shuttle loom. He later sold his farm on the Plains and purchased land in Brown township, Franklin county, Ohio, where he spent the remainder of his days. Dr. Lorenzo. Beach, the fourth son of the family, was born in Vermont in 1797, and came to Ohio as early as 1813, settling at Worthington, with practically no worldly effects. His education was only such as could be obtained on a country farm in the Green Mountain state, where the entire time of the farmer is taken up with an endless fight for a living from the sterile soil. He studied medicine with Doctor Carter, of Urbana, and commenced his practice at Amity, about 1820, being, it is. believed the first practicing physician ever located in that place. During the sickly seasons of 1822-23 he and Dr. James Comstock; who was associated with him, attended nearly all the sick of the district, which extended for many miles-around, but the center of the virulence was between the two Darbys. His field. of practice must have been large, for his fame is still considerable among the old residents of this portion of the county. However, it is believed that he lacked faith in himself and his remedies, to a degree that prevented any enthusiasm in his profession, and that the responsibilities attached to the life of a physician became exceedingly irksome to him. Therefore, he abandoned his profession for the more lucrative, and to him more agreeable, life of a merchant. For several years subsequent to 1833, he was actively engaged in merchandising and, later, in real estate operations. Seeing an opportunity for the better employment of capital and his abilities, he removed, in 18.53, to Livingston county, Illinois, where he continued to reside until his death, in August, 1878, at the age of eighty-one years. MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 93 Roswell Beach, who purchased land in Darby township, where Solomon Cary afterward lived, observing the prosperity of his brothers in the woolen-mill, and the population about Amity rapidly increasing, and that there was a growing demand for greater and more extended facilities to meet the demands and wants of the people, he, with his two younger twin brothers, Obil and Oren, in order to meet these requirements, selected and purchased a site on Big Darby creek below Amity, on what was known as the Stone farm. Here they built a dam and erected a building for a factory, purchasing the machinery of the elder one of their brothers, also a new set of cards and other machinery necessary for extensive operations in a new country as this then was. In connection With this plant, Mr. Fulton, a son-in-law of Roswell Beach, put in operation a pair of buhrs for grinding corn. It was expected by the proprietors of this enterprise that large profits would be realized as a reward for their outlay and labor. Howeyer, this factory was in operation for only a few years. The village of Amity had greatly increased in population, but with each returning fall the inhabitants of the little town suffered severely from malarious diseases. It was suggested that the stagnant water produced by the erection of the factory dam across the Darby was the existing cause of the suffering of the inhabitants; consequently, a petition was circulated and signed by many citizens of the place,. asking the court to declare this property a public nuisance. Effort was made by the petitioners to substantiate the claims set forth in the petition. This was the first case of the kind ever put before our courts of justice. After hearing all the testimony in the case, the court declared the property to be a public nuisance; therefore, this dam across the Darby was torn out in the early part of the summer. The facts are, that during the autumn of that year there was More suffering from sickness than any previous year. The effect upon the owners and proprietors of the factory can be easily imagined. But there were a few citizens interested in the financial welfare of these men, who gave them something to relieve their embarrassments. They, however, became disheartened and discouraged, sold their effects and removed to the West, where, by industry and frugality, they recovered from this financial shock. Roswell settled in Iowa ; Obil and Oren settled in Kansas. The latter died in 1863. Dr. Charles McCloud, a native of the Green Mountain state, emigrated with his father, Charles McCloud, to Delaware county, Ohio, and soon afterward to Madison county, where his father, in 1814, purchased a farm one mile east of Chuckery, and here they settled, and here young McCloud, then only six years old, was reared. He was born February 2, 1808. He studied medicine with Dr. Alpheus Bigelow, of Galena, Delaware county, Ohio, and on the completion of his studies located in Amity; Madison county, Ohio. The first year or so his practice must have been light, for he engaged to teach school for a term or so ; but in a few years his practice became very extensive, his patrons being scattered all through the Darby Plains; up Big Darby and on Sugar run in Union county, and in the neighborhood of Dublin,. Franklin county. In 1844 he was the Whig member of the lower house of the Legislature of Ohio and in 1850 a member of the convention to revise the Constitution of Ohio. In figure he was slight,. never weighing over one hundred and fifty pounds, with a slight stoop in his shoulders. His complexion was dark. .1n manner he was grave almost to severity. This gravity was not assumed, but natural, rarely leaving, even in family circles. He was an inveterate reader, and in his younger days must have been a great and keen student of his profession, as he had a well-worn library. Later in life he gave up his profession and entered merchandising, but still kept up his habits of study. He took up the study of astronomy at one time in his life and later became an enthusiastic student of geology, so much so that he delivered several lectures on it. illustrated by maps of his own drawing. A few years before his death he 94 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO. took to reading fiction and poetry. He read the works of Charles Dickens with great interest, and was not only a great reader of Shakespeare, but became a critical student of that great poet as well. He was a debater and writer of more than ordinary force. He was in no sense a politician, and what positions of honor he occupied were unsought. As a physician, he was cautious and conscientious, and in his diagnosis and prognosis of disease remarkably accurate, which secured to him the great confidence of his patients. Although commanding a large practice; it appears that he accumulated but little from his profession, as he was a poor collector and his charges astonishingly low. Doctor McCloud, in all the relations of life, was honest and upright; his character being absolutely above reproach. He married Mary Jane Carpenter, by whom he had four children. He died in Plain City, April 1, 1861, at the age of fifty-three years. William D. Wilson, the son of Valentine and Eleanor Wilson, was born on February 27, 1807, and was only nine years old when his parents settled in Somerford township, on Deer creek. Here he spent the years of his youth and, arriving at maturity, married Nancy Moore. He purchased two hundred acres of land on the Darby Plains, in Canaan township, at eighty cents per acre. This purchase amounted. to one hundred and sixty dollars, to meet which, he borrowed' thee money, with his uncle Daniel as his security. He located in Canaan township about 1829-30, so can hardly be called one of the township's pioneers, but rather one of its settlers. He at once built a cabin, and very soon entered quite largely into the stock business, as his land was better adapted to grazing at that day than tillage. As a financier and trader' he was a remarkable success. Shrewd and careful in all his transactions, economical and industrious, and carefully investing his gains in more land, he soon became the owner of a vast amount of the best land on the Darby Plains, counting his acres by the thousands. He died at his homestead place, March 25, 1873, at the age of sixty-three years. He was the father of eight children: Alexander, who married Martha Jane Milliken; Ellen married Benjamin Morris, but died, childless, December 3, 1857; James Monroe married Achsa Burham; Lafayette married Sarah Temple; William M. married Mary M. Slyh; Sarah married John Price; Washington married a Miss Wilson, of Kentucky ; and Taylor, who married Eliza Daily, died on February "17, 1875. A Mr. Martin, probably a native of Pennsylvania, settled in the township about 1812. The following were his children : George, Rachel, William; Benjamin, Susan and John: They lived here for several years and then removed to Champaign county, Ohio. A Mr. Richey, of Irish descent, settled on land later owned by the Wilsons, about 1816-18. Joseph and Isaac Bidwell settled about the same date. Among other early settlers of whom it is impossible to learn any important history, were David Harris, Paul Alder, a brother of Jonathan, Christian Adams, Joseph Loyd, John Johnson, David Ellis, J. Phelps and Patrick Johnson. EARLY MILLS. We have already seen 'how Uri Beach built the first saw-mill in Canaan township about 1820, on what was then known as Finch run. This mill was situated on 'the south bank, west of the Plain City pike, on the brow of the hill. Traces of the old mill race can still be seen, but of the mill itself the last vestige has long since been removed. This mill sawed all the limber for the first frame buildings in this portion of the county and for the bridges across Big and Little Darby creeks on the National road. This saw-mill and the one later built further below on the Darby at the grist-mill by Isaac Fuller have been the principal water-power saw-mills of the township ; since their time; there have been several portable steam-mills that hate, as occasion demanded it, been transported to various portions of the township. In about 1814-15 Isaac Fuller, having located on the east bank of the Big' Darby, MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 95 about two miles south of Amity, erected a grist-mill which was one of the first in this part of the country, right opposite on the west bank of the stream. Mr. Fuller ran this mill for over thirty years, when he was succeeded by Mr. Byers; he died and was followed by John Acton in the ownership of the mill. A little below the Beach saw-mill, spoken of above, the same Uri Beach, soon after erecting his saw-mill, built a large, two-story frame building, with a basement, which was quite an imposing structure for the day. The basement was where the power for driving the machinery was placed. The power Made use of was unique and the wonder of the age; though very cumbersome,. it (fully met the owner's expectations. It consisted of what was called `.tread power." A large tread-wheel was placed in a horizontal position, or rather at an angle or incline of about ten degrees, and this, by its revolutions, communicated motion to a smaller cog-wheel fitting into it which, by an upright, communicated motion to the machinery above. Then upon this inclined tread-wheel were placed a yoke .of oxen, which were tied in position and, the wheel tending to move downward by the weight of the oxen, to the lowest point of the wheel, the oxen were made to keep walking up the incline of the wheel, which kept it in, motion. The stopping of the machinery, at the will of the operator was effected by means of a heavy friction brake, let down by lever power upon the tread wheel. The entire arrangement was a curious devise, but, nevertheless, effectual and powerful, propelling a large amount of machinery. This factory was in use for about fifteen years, employed about forty hands, and was a great benefit to the people of the then new settlement. It was succeeded by a mill built by his three brothers just below Amity. As has already been pointed out, this was declared a .public .nuisance a few years later, and the dam was torn away and the mill became useless. SURFACE, SOIL AND STREAMS. The one principal stream of Canaan township is Big Darby creek, which enters the township from the north about one and a half mile west of its eastern boundary, flows southward until it reaches the Franklin. county line, and continues, its southerly course, forming the boundary line between Franklin county and this township, until it reaches the southern limits of Canaan township. In the north part of the township it receives a. tributary known as Mammoth run, which, in spite of its name, is a. very small stream. It follows a general easterly course entirely through the township before it empties into Big Darby. In the south part of the township Big Darby creek receives Three-Mile run. which takes its rise in the southwest part of the township, flows: almost due east until it mixes its waters with those of the Big Darby. The surface of the country along. the Big Darby is somewhat uneven and broken, but almost the entire township. west of the Big Darby is an extended plain, very level, and originally, as the first settlers .found. it, consisted of oak openings and prairie, much of which was covered with water several months during the year. CEMETERIES A list of the early burying-grounds of the first families would include the one on the Joseph Atkinson farm; one on the Nugent farm, just below Amity ; one on the banks of Big Darby, further down the stream, near the Henry Conyers farm; and one still further down the same stream on the old Millikin farm. About 1860. the trustees of the township purchased of Luther Lane ground for a cemetery, situated just in the rear of the Baptist church, and which was dedicated to use by the reception of the mortal remains of Thurza Reece the same year. This land was fenced in and fitted up as a permanent cemetery for use of the residents of the township., In 1882 a nice vault was erected and placed under the charge of a board of trustees. CHAPTER V. DARBY TOWNSHIP Darby was among the first townships settled in Madison county, its history dating as far back as 1795. The first white man to locate within this township was Jonathan Alder, who was discovered by Benjamin Springer living on the banks of Big Darby. creek with his Indian wife in 1796. Alder was bon). in New Jersey, about eight miles from Philadelphia, September 17, 1773. His parents were Bartholomew and Hannah Alder. When Jonathan was about seven years old, the family moved to Wythe county, Virginia, where the father soon afterward died. In 1782 he and his brother were captured by a band of prowling Indians, his brother being killed but he being held a prisoner. He was adopted by the tribe and became, in practically every sense, an Indian. He married an Indian woman and made his living by hunting and farming through the country now covered by Madison county. In 1796, as mentioned above, Benjamin Springer, with his wife and two sons, Silas and Thomas; also his son-in-law, Usual Osborn, and wife, settled on Big Darby. creek. They were natives of Pennsylvania, and built their cabin on, land later owned by John Taylor, close to. the north line of Canaan township and just within the limits of the same. But their, names are mentioned here because of their close proximity and close relations with the early pioneers of Darby township. In 1798, the Ewing brothers, James and Joshua, emigrated from Kentucky to present Darby township and settled a short distance northeast of the site of Plain City. They bought farms lying on both sides of .Big Darby creek. One reason for making their purchases on both sides of• the stream was that they Might have ready access to the prairie grazing lands, and at the same time have tillable lands. on the elevated bottoms along the creek. They supposed, as did many others, that the open prairie land would afford them pasturage for Many years to come. In this, however, they were mistaken, for they were in time owned by industrious farmers and inclosed with good fences. Financially, James Ewing was more favored than the average pioneers and was known in the neighborhood as a rich man. He was one of the directors of the Franklin Bank, of Franklintown, Ohio, and this connection made him useful to the community in which he resided. The person in need of capital, by getting Mr. Ewing's recommendation as to the financial safety of his note, could always get, ready cash. For many years the only postoffice in that region of the country was kept by him for the accommodation of his neighbors, and in connection with it he handled dry-goods, groceries, notions, etc., in such quantities as would meet the pressing demands of those early people. Joshua Ewing died during the "sickly season" of 1822-23. He was a surveyor and made many of the early surveys of Madison county. Upon the erection of Union county, in 1820, the property of the Ewing brothers was thrown into the new county. The Taylor brothers, John, Daniel and Richard, natives of New York state, emigrated to Kentucky in 1795 and settled on land they purchased near Lexington. They became discouraged and disgusted because of the constant litigations over titles, and determined to seek new lands. John Taylor, going to the man from whom he had made his purchase, made a trade with him for lands in the then territory of Ohio. By this exchange he became the owner of three hundred acres of land on the banks of Big Derby,. now in Union MADISON COUNTY, OHIO - 97 county. He moved to his new farm in 1800, sold his first purchase to Frederick Sager, and bought another about one mile south of Plain City, on both sides of Big Darby creek, from John Graham. Here he erected a log cabin, stable and outbuildings, and soon afterward, probably about the year 1804, he married a widow McCullough, sister of Judge Mitchell. Two children blessed this union, a daughter and a son. The daughter died in infancy, but the son, John Taylor, Jr., lived on the old homestead for many years, and is still remembered by the older residents of Darby township. The other Taylor brothers followed John from Kentucky about 1803. They had lost much of their property in the bogus land titles of Kentucky, and were, like most of the early pioneers, comparatively poor. Daniel Taylor, with his fatally, went directly to the Indian village above Plain City, where Jonathan Alder was at this time living. Alder surrendered the use of his hut to Taylor and his wife, and they immediately took possession. He, however, soon afterward built another beside this one, the former being used for a kitchen and the latter for bed, parlor and sitting room. There the children of Mr. Taylor and those of the Indians became intimately associated in their plays. All of the Taylor brothers settled on or near Big Darby, and, by industry and economy, they secured a generous competence.' Another early pioneer of this township was James Norton, who came here with his family in about 1810 or 1812, purchased a farm on Sugar run, east of Big Darby, and lived there until his death, in 1836. With him came his two sons, John and Solomon Norton. John Norton, in 1820, married Sarah Taylor, daughter of Daniel Taylor. In the year 1814 Jeremiah Converse, a Revolutionary soldier, and Rhoda Converse, his wife, emigrated with their family to this township. Converse was born in New Hampshire in 1760. He emigrated with his father to the state of Vermont prior to the Revolutionary War. Before the clime of this conflict he enlisted in the American cause. During his service he was severely wounded, and was discharged. He subsequently became, a traveling minister in the Methodist Episcopal church. On his arrival in Darby township he and most of his sons bought land in close proximity to each other and about three miles west of Big Darby creek, on what was then known as the Darby Plains. The Rev. Mr. Converse was the first pioneer minister in this portion of the county. He always lived on the farm .he first purchased, where he died in 1837, at the ripe age of seventy-eight years. His eldest son, Sanford Converse, settled in Licking county, Ohio. but the following sons settled near their father : Parley, Squire, Lathrop, Jeremiah, Jr.. Silas and Charles Converse. Parley Converse was a farmer and mechanic. He was an exhorter in the Methodist Episcopal church for over forty years. He was also elected a justice of the peace and filled that office with great credit to himself and justice to the persons he met officially. On his retirement from his farm he moved to Plain City, where he died in 1866. He was the father of two sons, Caleb and Parley, Jr., who were both for many years residents of Union county. Squire Converse was also a farmer, settled on the plains and died during one of the sickly seasons. He was the father of Jasper R. and Edwin Asa Converse. Jasper R., the eldest, was a large farmer on the plains and made a specialty of breeding thoroughbred sheep. He died in 1859. He was the father of Augustin Converse. Lathrop Converse, a son of Rev. Jeremiah Converse, lived on the plains until his death, in 1822. one of the sickly periods. He had three sons, two of whom were Darius and Joel N. Orinda, daughter of the Rev. Jeremiah Converse, married Samuel Sherwood, who lived in Canaan township. Jeremiah Converse, Jr., son of the Rev. Jeremiah Converse and a native of Vermont. was born in 1790. In 1813 he married Malinda Derby, a descendant of the titled family of Derbys in England. He emigrated with his and his father's families to Darby township (7) 98 - MADISON COUNTY, OHIO in 1814. He was the. father of a large family, and, like others, suffered many privations incident to the life of the pioneer and early settler. He bought a small farm of Walter Dun, for one dollar and a quarter an acre, and even at this low price it took him nine years to complete his payments.. He was a drum major in the militia regiment of this county under the then existing military laws of the state. He was an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church for over thirty years. He died in 1849. He was the father of C. D., Jeremiah and L. D. Converse. The eldest son, C. D. Converse, became the owner of one of the finest farms in the township and was a resident of the township for many years. Doctor Jeremiah, the second son, practiced medicine in Darby township for years. L. D. Converse, the youngest son, also became a farmer and spent his life in Darby township. Silas Converse, another son of Rev. Jeremiah Converse, came as a young man with his father to this township in 1814. He was married four times. Charles Converse, the youngest child of the Rev. Mr. Converse, was a mere child when they emigrated to this state. During his childhood he was subject to terrible attacks of inflammatory rheumatism, which left him a cripple the rest of his life, necessitating the use of crutches in walking. He became a prominent stock raiser in the township. He died in 1869. He was the father of three sons, James N., R. B. and Charles Converse. Later in the same year that the Converse family came (1814) Abner. Newton, Sr., emigrated from the state of Vermont to this township and purchased a farm in the Converse settlement. He was a wheelwright and chair manufacturer. The demand of the times for that class of articles made him rather prominent in the affairs of the township. His wheels were unsurpassed for workmanship and were a necessary article in almost every family. The chairs he made, were less in demand, but were purchased as the people became able to afford such luxuries. The more common seats used were long benches. or three-legged stools. Prior to and after Mr. Newton's death, his youngest son,. Abner Jr.. continued to manufacture the above articles as long as they were in demand or until machinery supplied their place. He later became quite an extensive manufacturer of boots and shoes, and partly in connection with it, or soon after, he dealt in dry-goods, groceries, etc. His health later broke down and he was forced to retire. The pioneer millwright of this portion of the county was Daniel Bowers, who came to. Darby township in 1814. He settled near the present village of Amity, being a single man at the time of his emigration, but within a few years thereafter he married Diadam Phiney, a young lady who came with Abel Beach and family in the same year. He was early employed by Frederick Sager to put up the building and make all the necessary machinery for a water-power grist-mill. This was the first mill of the kind ever put up in this part of the county and was situated about one mile north of Plain City, on Big Darby, which at that time was in Darby township, but now in Union county. The grinding-stone used in this mill was made from a great boulder taken from the farm of John Taylor, being. worked and dressed into proper shape by Mr. Sager himself. This part of the machinery was used for many years, being almost equal to the French buhr. He was later employed by Uri Beach to build a saw-mill, and, soon afterward, a. carding-machine. This latter was run by horse-power. The nature of the tread power used was a great novelty, consisting of a great wheel, perhaps twenty feet in diameter, with a strong center shaft and iron journals and bearings. Into this shaft strong arms were framed. extending about ten feet from the center and well braced underneath, and the whole was covered with a tight floor. The wheel was then set inclined, one side .much lower than the .other. The horses were harnessed, taken upon the floor and hitched to a stationary post or beam; hence their. weight and the act of walking revolved the wheel beneath their feet, and thus set the machinery- into motion. This. was considered wonderful achievement over the- former method of carding all the wool for clothing by MADISON COUNTY, OHIO- 99 hand. In the settlement by the government of some Indian reservations, Mr. Bowers was employed by the agency as an interpreter, being the only person here who understood the Wyandot language. His trade being insufficient for the support of himself and his family, he purchased a farm in the Converse settlement, where he lived until his death, in 1834. There Were three children in this family, two sons and a daughter. The eldest, John P. Bowers, resided for many years on the old home estate as a farmer. He became a man of great promise in the township, being several times elected to the office of trustee, also as township assessor, real estate assessor, and held the place of justice of the peace for twenty-seven years. The youngest son, S.. W. Bowers, likewise became prominent in agricultural circles of this part of the county. Charles Warner also came to the Plains in the year 1814 and purchased a farm that was to become known many years later as the I. W. Converse farm. Here he made farming his business and as a side line, took up distilling. He erected a distillery, where he made whiskey and peach brandy for the market. He usually kept three or four yoke of cattle, which were used in wagoning the products of his still to the chief trading points--Chillicothe, Sandusky and Zanesville—taking, in exchange, salt, glass and such other articles as were in demand among the pioneer families. During the spring of the year he turned his heavy ox teams to good account by breaking large quantities of the prairie sod, which was too tough for the ordinary horse team to plow. He died quite early in the history of the township and left no descendants. Also in the year of 1814 came Charles McCloud, Sr., to Darby township, buying a farm and settling near the post road. Here he. supported his family and made an honest living out of his farm. He died at his son-in-law's in 1844. He was the father of two sons, Curtis and Charles McCloud. Charles McCloud, the youngest of these two sons, lived and worked on the farm of his father until of age, when his inclination and desire for a profession induced him to  select the science of medicine as being the most congenial to his nature: He went to Granville, Ohio, where he studied in the office of Dr. Alpheus Bigelow. On completing his studies, he returned and settled in Amity, and for many years, by close application and undivided attention, he was not only a successful physician, but a leader in the profession. But, like many others in a new country, as this was at that tithe, with almost impassable roads at times, he became weary of the hardships incident to the profession, and longed for a more retired and less responsible life. With this end in view, he, in company with Wesley Carpenter, purchased quite an extensive tract of land below Amity, with a view of making stock-raising and farming a specialty ; but, by a few years' experience' in this new enterprise, he was convinced of the fact that bone and muscle, especially in those days, were among the essential features of success. He, therefore, sold his interest in the farm, to Mr. Carpenter, and immediately purchased a large stock of dry-goods and groceries and entered the general merchandise business in Amity. Here he remained until  after that place was visited by the Asiatic cholera. He subsequently sold his property and purchased in Plain City, where he engaged largely in the mercantile business. In 1844 he was elected a member of the Ohio Legislature and filled that position with credit to himself and his constituents. During the campaign of 1840, he had taken a very. active part in county politics. He made quite a reputation for himself as a public speaker and so favorably impressed the people in this and subsequent campaigns that when the call came for delegates to the constitutional Convention of 1852 he was the people's choice. He died at his hone' in Plain City in the year 1860, survived by his widow and' two sons, R. C. and Newton McCloud. Early in the history of the township came Titus Dort, who purchased a farm about One mile south of Plain City. As he was a blacksmith by trade very little of his tune could be taken up on his farm. At this time good blacksmiths were very scarce, but very