CHAPTER XVIII
WAYNE TOWNSHIP
This township, which is the smallest of the county in point of population, having 659 in 1900, is also one of the smallest in area, containing 26 square miles. It was named after the celebrated Revolutionary general and Indian fighter, Anthony Wayne.
The township lies west of the Scioto River and north, of Ross County and is bounded on the north by Jackson township and on the west by Deer Creek township. The Scioto River forms its eastern boundary, dividing it from Circleville and Pickaway townships. Plum Creek, the most important water course traversing the township, has its source in Jackson township, enters Wayne near its north-western corner, flows in a southeasterly direction across the township and empties into the Scioto River at Westfall. The southwestern portion of the township is watered, by Yellow Bud and Wolf Creeks. The Ohio Canal crosses from the east to the west side of the Scioto River in the northeast corner of the township, opposite the city of Circleville, and then continues through the township along the same course as the Scioto River. Several miles below Circleville in Wayne township, the State constructed important works in connection with the Ohio Canal. These consisted of the State dam across the Scioto River and the large reservoir, which was used as a feeder for the canal.
For the most part the surface of the township is level. Along the water-courses it is rolling. The soil is adapted to the raising of wheat and corn and is of a variable character, consisting chiefly of sand, gravel and clay.
Wayne township is one of the original townships, having been formed prior to the erection of Pickaway County. The early township records were destroyed by fire many years ago, so little is known as to the first officials. The township officials for 1906 are as follows : Trustees--William Cross, John Shaw and Jonathan Pontius ; clerk, William Barthelmas ; treasurer, George Dungan; assessor, D. R. Knowles; justice of the peace, George Dungan.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The settlement of Wayne township by the whites began about 1798. One of the first settlers, who may with propriety be called the pioneer, was William King, a Pennsylvanian, who early in life removed to Bourbon County, Kentucky, where he married Sarah Green. He and his wife came to Ohio in December, 1798, and located at Westfall in Wayne township among the Indians. Both Mr. King and wife were of Quaker ancestry and lived among their red-skinned neighbors without friction. In after years he established a ferry at Westfall. It is said that William King was the first justice of the peace of Wayne township. He had five children, of whom Jemima married Titus Dungan, son of John and Mary (Titus) Dungan.
John Dungan, who was born in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, became in early life a resident of Loudoun County, Virginia. There he married Mary Titus. Afterward, in the fall of 1802, he came to Wayne township and located on Yellow Bud Creek. His grandson,
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George Dungan, who is an honored and well-known resident of Wayne township; has held the office of justice of the peace for many years.
Henry Kirkendall, who was a Virginian, came to the Scioto Valley in 1798 of 1799 and located on Evans Prairie. James Thompson from Hampden County, Virginia, and Fergus Moor came here about 1802. The latter, who was an Irishman, came to America before the War of the Revolution and immediately enlisted with the Americans. He fought some five years and at the close of the war located at Chillicothe. He is said to have laid the first shingle roof in that city, using wooden pins to fasten the shingles in place. While there, he bought some property surrounding the village of Westfall and in 1802 moved upon the property. Thomas Wiggins, William Owens, Clement Thomas, John Fleming, J. W. Brown and the McCollisters were among the early settlers, while John Darby, George Barthelmas and the Mays came a little later. Other early settlers in the township were the following : Andrew Ducks, William Oliphant, Thomas McDonald, Balithe Lynch, Huldah Smith, James Quick, John McFadden, Cloudesbury Warren, Daniel and Powell Lane, Abraham Leonard, James and William Curry, John Crull, David Evans, Derickson Waples, Fielding and William Atchison, Isaac Williams, John and George M. Peters, Josiah Bivens, Isaac, John and Joseph Pancake, Daniel Whitesel, John Chipman, Philip McNemar, John Bond, Samuel Orison, Isaac Bowen, John Hubbard, Pritchard Mills, Stephen and Arterbridge Horsey,. Abraham Stipp, Thomas and Henry Bowdell, Jacob Thorp, Samuel Smith, James, David and John Sisk, Robert and William Campbell, Aaron Sullivan, William Foreman, Dr. Prentiss Park, Dr. Potts and Theophilus Williams.
Caleb King, the son of William and Sarah (Green) King, was the first white child born in Wayne township. The first brick building was erected by Samuel Smith. The township was without a postoffice until the establishment of mail service on the C. & M. V. R. R. Dr. George W. Hurst was commissioned postmaster. The office, which was called Wayne Station, was discontinued in 1858, since which time until the present date the township has been without a postoffice. The township has had two physicians, namely : Dr. Potts, who came about 1800 and located at Westfall, where he died several years later; and Dr. Prentiss Park, who came about 182o and practiced until his death a short time afterward. Two towns in Wayne township were platted at an early date--Westfall and Montgomery. Neither amounted to very much, although Westfall at one time had hopes of rivaling Chillicothe.
CHURCHES.
A Methodist Episcopal class was formed in Wayne township at a very early date. Some of the early ministers of this denomination who preached here, chiefly in the home of John Hubbard, were : Revs. Samuel Parker, Henry B. Bascom and Charles Wattle. In 183o a frame building, 30 by 50 feet in size, was built on the homestead of John Hubbard for church purposes. In this meetings were held until the completion of Union Chapel.
The Union society was organized on May 6, 1855, under the pastorate of Rev. Zachariah Wharton, of the Williamsport Circuit, the original members of the class being as follows: David_ and Elizabeth Terwilliger, William, Sarah and Julia Knowles, Jacob H. and Elizabeth Schryver, Mary A., Tacy A., Mary E., Amelia and' Edward L. Hall, Margaret and Elizabeth McCollister and Dr. George W. and Catherine Hurst. In 1859 a beautiful frame church building five miles west of Circleville on the Washington turnpike, was erected at a cost of $1,600, and was dedicated by Rev. Felton on January 1, 1860, as Union Chapel. Union Chapel is a charge of the Williamsport Circuit and its ministers may be found in connection with the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Williamsport, of which Rev. J. W. Blair is now pastor. The class has a membership of 15. The Sunday-school which was established prior to the formation of the church, has a membership of 35 ; Miss Bertha Jones is superintendent.
In 1818 a Baptist society was formed at the schoolhouse of District No. 3. Meetings were held for only a few years.
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SCHOOLS.
The first school in Wayne township was held in a five-cornered log building in 1814 and was taught by a Mr. Hunt. The structure was indeed primitive, the children using for seats the timbers intended for the support of the floor. In 1817 a movement was set on foot to erect a building designed solely for school purposes, and the following year witnessed the erection of the pioneer schoolhouse. This was occupied until 1860 when it was torn down and a brick school building, known as the West-fall school, in District No. 3, was erected on the site. The township now has six school buildings, all of which are brick structures. The township Board of Education, elected in the fall of 1904, is constituted as follows : Mil-ton W. Peck, Andrew Hoffman and George Wardell--four years; E. T. Tootle and S. P. Probst--two years. The clerk of the board is William Barthelmas.
DISTILLERIES AND MILLS.
At an early day there was quite a number of distilleries in this township, among which were those-of Abraham Stipp, a Mr. Hamilton, John Fleming and Steely & Morris. The first two mentioned were in operation before 1810. About 1828 a small carding establishment on the canal was put in operation by a man. named Sanford from Chillicothe. William Fleming purchased the property some years later and put in machinery necessary for the manufacture of cloth. The building was-destroyed by fire not long afterward. A horse mill for the grinding of coarse feed was built at a very early date on the Chillicothe road. In 1817 or 1818 Henry Nevill, the principal business man of the town of Jefferson, built a large flouring-mill on the Scioto River, near where the State dam is located. This was an extensive establishment, having quite complete machinery for that day. It was discontinued before the State built its works here. The venture proved a costly one for Mr. Nevill, the frequent breaking of the dam causing heavy expense. In 1812 a flouring-mill was built on the west bank of the Scioto in Wayne township, opposite Circleville, by William and Philip Foresman (the grandfather and great-uncle, respectively, of ' William Foresman, of Circleville). They entered into an agreement with George Renick, by the terms of which the latter agreed to the construction of a dam on his land, adjoining the Foresman land, in connection with the mill race. Philip Foresman died in a few years and his interest passed to his brother, William. The ownership of the mill property continued in the Foresman name until six years ago--a period of 88 years. In 1839 William Foresman and his son, Robert A., to whom he had transferred an interest in the mill property, began the erection of a new and larger mill, which was completed the following year. The contractor and builder was Henry T. Schopp, of Lancaster. In a few years Robert Foresman became sole owner and continued as such until 1869, when he sold out to William Foresman, of Circleville. The late George P. Foresman, a brother of William, later acquired an interest and the firm of Foresman & Brother greatly improved the property and later built a grain elevator. New and modern machinery and fixtures were placed in the mill in recent years. In 1900 William Foresman, the surviving partner, sold the property to Thomas W. Brown and William A. Bazore. In less than a year Thomas W. Brown became sole owner and from that time operated the mill until it was totally destroyed by fire, on July 27, 1905. The property was then known as the Pickaway mills, The mill was one of the oldest in the county.
WESTFALL.
The settlement of Wayne township was begun at this point, and only two other townships within the limits of Pickaway County were settled at an earlier date. Abel Westfall laid out the town and the plat of the village was recorded at Cincinnati, the county seat of Hamilton County, in whose territory this section was then included. Although at one time Westfall had every promise of becoming a good sized place, the location was found to be unhealthy, and little by little the town decayed. Another town that has disappeared is Montgomery, which was located a mile south of Westfall on the canal.