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230 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO SPRINGFIELD. PHYSICAL FEATURES. The surface of the township is everywhere rolling except along the Scioto river, and in many portions exceedingly rugged and hilly. In the western part, within three miles of Chillicothe, is Mt. Logan, which rises to a height of about five or six hundred feet above the city. From its summit a magnificent view is presented to the eye. At its foot lies Chillicothe and to the north and southeast stretches the beautiful Scioto valley, through which the river winds a tortuous course. North Pinnacle, the northernmost peak of the same range, reaches an altitude even greater than Mt. Logan. Circleville can be plainly seen from the crest and Columbus is conspicuously indicated still farther in the distance by a heavy cloud of smoke. Next to the Scioto river, which, for the most part, forms the western boundary of the township, the principal streams are Lick run and Dry run in the eastern part and the branches of the Scioto. A small stream, called Spring branch, runs through the northwestern part of the township, uniting with the river near Hope- town. The following lines were written a few years since upon the summit of the mountain by Col. William E. Gilmore and published at the time in magazine: THE SCIOTO VALLEY AS SEEN FROM MT. LOGAN. BY WILLIAM E. GILMORE. Ye, who love only nature's wildest form:-- The desolate rock, and desolating storm; The crackling, toppling avalanche of snow, Threat'ning with ruin all the plain below Where the poor peasant from the chilly soil Wrings half a maintenance with double toil; The beetling crag out-jutting from the shore, When ocean chafes with everlasting roar, Thoughtless how oft the drowning sailor's wail Has mingled there with winter's whistling gale; Who with romantic affectation call The dreary, lifeless desert, beautiful, Where bleaching bones of perished pilgrims lay Pointing successive caravans the way:— Go find such scenes where Lybian sands are spread, Or huge Mount Blanc uprears its glittering head, Or Scylla frowns, the seaman's constant dread, But thou, O gentle tourist, who dost feel A purer pleasure o'er thy spirit steal, When softer landscapes open to the view Their endless novelties of form and hue, Come wander here, with pensive step and slow, Where sweet Scioto's dancing waters flow And smiling nature owns how kind a God Gave man this bright and beautiful abode. (230) ANCIENT WORKS. In this township are several of these monuments of antiquity,'in which this portion of the Scioto valley so richly abounds. One of the most perfectly preserved is to be found near the river, a short distance above Hope- town. It consists of a square and circle in conjunction, embracing about twenty acres. The wall of the square where it has not been cultivated, at least of late years, is some ten feet high and about fifty feet at the base, and is broken at irregular intervals. The wall of the circle was evidently much less in height, originally, and, although it can yet be distinctly traced, will no doubt, in a few years, be entirely obliterated. From the opening in the northwest corner of the rectangle, extending down to the river, were formerly two parallel embankments about forty feet apart, but no trace of them can now be seen. The line fence between the farms of John Dun and Jeremiah McConnell exactly divides the earthwork at the point of intersection of the two inclosures. THE NATIVE FOREST AND WILD ANIMALS. The timber on the bottom lands consisted mainly of sugar, maple, black walnut, some oak and shell-bark hickory. On the upland and hills was found mostly the oak; the white oak predominating. The wild beasts inhabiting the woods when the white men came were the bear, panther, wild-cat, deer, wolf, wild-hog and smaller game, too numerous to specify. Among the pioneers of Springfield were many noted hunters. One of these was Samuel McRoberts, who came to this township with his parents when a boy, being one of its first settlers. When only fourteen years of age, with his gun and small dog, he encountered an old she-bear and five cubs on Walnut creek, and killed every one of them. When about twenty-one years of age he took his rifle and rode on horseback through the wilderness to Missouri on a hunting expedition. He was with Daniel Boone on several occasions and received some valuable lessons in hunting and trapping from the famous Kentuckian. PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS. Michael Cryder, sr., was one of the first. With his wife and sons Daniel, John, Michael, Henry, Emanuel, Jacob, and David, he emigrated from Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1796. He came down the Ohio river on a flat-boat to the mouth of the Scioto, thence on a keel-boat, pushed up the Scioto to Chillicothe. Here he remained a few months, during which he put up a cabin on the east bank of the river, west of Hopetown, into which, when completed, he moved. He HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 431 entered all of section six and the land west of it to the river, comprising some fourteen hundred acres. He lived in the cabin on the river a few years, then erected a two- story, hewed log house, which has since been weather- boarded, and now constitutes a part of the dwelling of Joseph Smith. There he died in 1816. He was a native of Pennsylvania, and served as commissary in the Revolutionary war. His wife Sarah died in 1817. They raised a family of eight sons and one daughter, Elizabeth —who was the first wife of the pioneer Henry Musselman. The oldest son, Israel, never emigrated west. The sons were remarkable for their size, and physical strength, which they inherited from their mother, who was a stalwart woman. It is said the son Michael, in a trial of strength in Chillicothe, with one Martin Boots, also a powerful man, set a cannon, weighing eleven hundred pounds, and which lay upon the ground, up on the muzzle, and then, putting his arms under the trunions of the gun, lifted it from the ground. He remained a resident of the county until his death, dying in Green township. John, Jacob, Emanuel, and David, lived and died in this township. Emanuel lived on the place now owned and occupied by David Umsted, and erected the stone dwelling there many years ago. David occupied the homestead for a number of years, then built on the river, near the site of the old cabin, and died there. Henry sold out to George Haynes, sr., and moved to Delaware county, and later to Illinois, where he died. Daniel settled in Lancaster, Ohio. Three sons of David Cryder are now living in this county, viz: Michael, in Chillicothe; Andrew J., in Hopetown; and Joseph W., in Green township. Martin Overley and his sons, Boston, Frederick and Martin, came from Bourbon county, Kentucky, in 1797. They built a bark shanty in section five, in which they kept bachelors' hall until fall, during which they cleared off a piece of land and planted it to corn. They subsisted principally on corn bread and sugar water, with an addition sometimes, by way of variety, of scalded nettles. For their meal and salt they were compelled to go to Kentucky. In the fall, after securing their crop, they returned for their families, moving out on pack-horses. There was no road, only an Indian trail through the dense forest. The wife of Frederick Overley carried on her horse, all the way from Kentucky, a spinning-wheel and her babe, eight weeks old. They all moved into the bark shanty until their several log cabins could be built. The father occupied the farm now owned by George Haynes. Frederick Overley erected the hewed log house, which, at this writing, is still standing and occupied by the widow of George Overley, in 1809 having previously located a short distance further north. He died in 1848, aged eighty-two, and his wife, Mary Ann, in 1850, aged seventy-five. He served as scout in the Revolutionary war. Boston and Martin, jr., settled in the same neighborhood, and the former died there about 1825. Martin raised his family here, but eventually removed to Indiana. Frederick Overley had a family of two sons and four daughters, of whom Mrs. Smitley and Mrs. Whelan, living in Harrison township, and Mrs. Jennings, in Colerain, are the only survivors. Alexander McRoberts, a native of Virginia, emigrated from Kentucky to Chillicothe in 1796. He built a cabin on the northwest corner of Second and Mulberry streets, after which he returned for his family. He entered three hundred acres in the south part of section seven of this township, and in 1798 or 1799 erected a frame house where Mr. Fetherolf now lives, thought to have been the first frame dwelling erected in Ross county. He died in 1800, his death being one of the first in the township. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and served from the battle of Bunker Hill to that of Yorktown. He was the father of three sons and four daughters, all of whom are now deceased. Samuel, the eldest son, mention of whom has been made elsewhere, was the first in the township to enlist in the war of 1812. He died in 1859. His son, John McRoberts, now living on a part of the old homestead, is the only representation of the family now living in this part of the country. Alexander H. McRoberts, second son of the pioneer, was a prominent citizen of Springfield and was its justice of the peace for many years. Squire McRoberts died in 1853. Henry Musselman came in soon after those previously mentioned, removing from Kentucky. His wife, as already stated, was Elizabeth Cryder, whom he married in Pennsylvania, and the favorable reports of the new country which he received from his father-in-law, induced him to emigrate. He entered the north half of section seven and erected a mill on the Scioto river, further mention of which is made elsewhere. He died in 1848, at the advanced age of eighty-five years and ten months. He was one of the first justices in the valley. George Haynes, sr., came from Shepherdstown, Virginia, in the year 1798. Colonel Thomas Worthington had visited Chillicothe in 1797, purchased a few lots and erected a frame house. On his return to Virginia he contracted with Mr. Haynes, who was a blacksmith, and one Joseph Yates, a millwright, to come out the following winter or spring and erect for him a saw-mill and a grist-mill on the north fork of Paint creek. For those mills Mr. Haynes brought the irons with him from Virginia. He put up a shop in Chillicothe on the corner of Paint and Water streets, without doubt the first blacksmith shop in Ross county. The first articles manufactured in Chillicothe were a pair of pot-hooks, made for a resident of the place by this pioneer blacksmith. He returned to Virginia after he had been here six about months and brought out his family, consisting then of wife and one child on pack-horses. While coming over the mountains they witnessed a painful accident. A family who were emigrating west were descending a steel) hill in a wagon, to the hind end of which was tied a log to serve as a lock. When part way down the hill, the rope with which the log was fastened to the wagon broke, and team and wagon were precipitated to the bottom of the hill, killing two small children. Mr. Haynes resided in Chillicothe until 1815, when he removed to this township, locating on the farm now owned by his son, George, though one-half mile east of 232 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. his son's residence. He erected a small grist-mill and distillery on Spring branch, in this township, but because of conscientious scruples in regard to the manufacture of liquor, soon discontinued it. He afterward moved to the place where the widow of Jacob Cryder now lives. It is said that he and a brother ironed the first steamboat that was ever built. He was born in York county, Pennsylvania, in 1770 and died in 1853. His wife, who was a native of Maryland, survived him, dying in 1860, at the age of eighty-one. They had a family of twelve children, five of whom survive Mrs. Applegate, near Burlington, Iowa, George, on a part of the homestead in Springfield, where he has resided since he was eight years of age, John, in Green township, Mrs. Basil Umsted, in Springfield and Mrs. Shepler, in Chillicothe. Thomas and Zebulon Orr were among the early pioneers of this township. When boys they emigrated with their parents, Thomas and Sarah Orr, from Ireland. They came to the Scioto valley from the south branch of the Potomac, as early as 1797 or 1798, built a cabin at "High bank" and cultivated a crop of corn. Subsequently Thomas returned for his family and also brought out his brother William and his sister Jane. It is said his team was the fifth one driven west of Wheeling. After remaining at High bank some five or six years he moved to Dry run, where he made a clearing, planted an orchard, and made other improvements. But his land was subsequently entered by another man, and he lost his improvements. He then purchased, in connection with his brother William, some three hundred and eighty acres where Henry Miller and Wesley Orr now live, and passed the remainder of his life there. He was first married to Rebecca Alexander, and, after her death, to Mary Jones, and was the father of twelve children, all of whom are now living, and eleven residing in Ross county. Zebulon Orr settled in the same neighborhood as that of his brother, and resided there until his death. James Cutright, who was among the first pioneers of this township, was born at Station Prairie, February 26, 1798, and, it is said, was the first white child born in the county. His father, John Cutright, came from Virginia with the Massie party in 1796. He remained at the station for a short time, then moved to the east side of the river, and settled on the hill where widow Carson now lives, on land belonging to Nathaniel Massie. He died there in 1830, and his wife, Elizabeth, the same year. James Cutright married Sabre Neff, and located first on a portion of his father-in-law's farm; afterward settled on the river, but finally bought out the Neff heirs, and occupied the place until his death, which took place June 16, 1870. He was an influential man in the settlement, and was commissioner of the county at one time. Of his twelve children who grew up, seven are living, as follows: Jerome, Elijah, Simon, Nelson, Eliza Ann (Mrs. Coon), Miranda (Mrs. David Barclay), and Angeline (Mrs. Hanks). All reside in the vicinity of their father's settlement, except Mrs. Coon, who lives in Huntington township. Besides James, there were eight other children of John Cutright, one of wh6m is yet living in Harrison township. A daughter—Catharine—was the wife of Colonel John McDonald, author of "McDonald's Sketches." John and James Davis were among the earliest of the pioneers who located on Dry run. They emigrated from Virginia on pack-horses, and located on the ridge north of Elijah Cutright's. They occupied for two years government land, then John bought and settled near Richmond, this county, and James on the "big bottoms," where he afterwards resided. He became wealthy. Zachariah Janes was an early pioneer in the central part of the township. He lived to be over one hundred years of age. George Wheeland arrived from near Winchester, Virginia, in 1802. He brought his mother and family, his father being dead. He located in section eight, and died there in 1856. He married Jane McRoberts, daughter of Alexander McRoberts, who died in 1865. Their sons, Samuel and Jonathan, live in Harrison township, and Walter B. in Springfield. Widow Hendricks and widow Welsh, sisters, moved out from the south branch of the Potomac, Virginia, prior to the land sales, and subsequently entered a.section of land where Mr. Veail now lives. Mrs. Hendricks lived where Wesley Drummonds now resides, and Mrs. Welsh on the place now occupied by Newton Jones. Isaac Redman moved in from the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, in 1804. He located first on the hill, above Huff's mill, afterwards on the farm now owned by William West. He 'finally removed to Walnut creek, in Harrison township, where he died many years ago, at the age of about eighty-two. A daughter, now the widow of George Overly, resides in this township. In 1805, Thomas and John Arthurs emigrated from Brooke county, Virginia, and settled in East Springfield. The family of Thomas Arthurs consisted of two sons and one daughter. Samuel, the eldest son, served in the war of 1812, and Thomas, the other son, was a lieutenant in Captain Wall's company. Thomas Hanks came from the south bank of the Potomac, Virginia, about 1800. He located at High Bank, and remained there until after the land sales, when he entered the half section in Harrison township, on which Jacob Coss now lives. He removed to Logan county, and died there in 1834. His son, Isaac Hanks, now among the oldest residents of the township, was born at High Bank in 1803, married Margaret Raypole, and bought where he now lives in 1834. Michael Senff came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in 1803, served in the war of 1812, and died in 1845. His sons were Michael, Jesse, Andrew, George and John. Thomas Jones came to Ohio when a boy, with his father, Moses Jones, in the early part of the present century. Moses Jones settled in Green township, a short distance east of Kingston. He died in that village. Thomas married Margaret, daughter of the pioneer, George Haynes, near Hopetown, and settled where the brick house of George Umsted now stands. Here ten of his eleven children were born. In the spring of 1840, he removed to the farm now occupied by his son Newton, where he resided until his death, in 1868. He HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO - 233 was familiarly known as "Major" Jones, acquiring his military title in the old militia days. His wife died in October, 1866. They left surviving them a family of five children, one of whom has since deceased. The children now living are Jeremiah, who lives in Green township; Mrs. Rosanna Laycock, in Kankakee county, Illinois; Mrs. Mary Jones, in Harrison township, and Newton, on the homestead. Leonard Neff came from Virginia, and subsequently, in 1809, he entered the southwest quarter of section twenty-four in this township, and occupied it until his death. An old apple tree still marks the spot where his dwelling stood. The patent for the land is now held by Elijah Cutright, whose mother was a daughter of Leonard Neff. He died about 1833. His eldest son, Abraham, is now living in Harrison township, aged seventy-three. This same year John Veail, who still resides in the township, came in from Roanoake county, Virginia, with his father, Thomas Veail, who settled a short time afterward in Pickaway county. John was then seventeen years of age, and he commenced work for Major Kilgore, with whom he remained eighteen months, at eight dollars per month. He afterwards bought a farm in Liberty township, cleared it up and occupied it twenty-three years. He now resides near the south line of the township, on section thirty. - He was born in October, 1792, and at the age of twenty-nine married Emily Hampton, from Loudoun county, Virginia, who died in 3852. Mr. Veail has five children living, and five deceased. He served several months in the war of 1812. James H. Abernethy removed from Hampshire county, Virginia, in 1809, with his family, consisting of his wife and two children. He located at Kingston, where he remained two years, when he settled in Cryder's bottom, Springfield township. He resided in this township until 1825, when he moved into Scioto township, locating above the Marfield mill. He died in Chillicothe, in 1847, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He was the father of eleven children, three of whom are now living, namely: Mrs. Robinson in Pickaway county, and James and John C., in Union township, Ross county. John Curtis, born in 1815, came from Virginia with his father, John Curtis, sr., when a year old. John Curtis, sr., lived in Chillicothe one year, when he settled at Station Prairie and died a year afterwards. His children now living are Elizabeth Dennison, Julia Ann, and William living in Chillicothe, and John in this township. Colonel Lewis Lifford, for many years a resident of west Springfield, was an early settler in Liberty township, removing from Lancaster, Ohio. He was a man of enterprise and influence, and held various positions of public trust. He was a representative from Ross county, a United States marshal for the Southern district of Ohio, superintendent of the southern division of the Ohio ca- cal and resident engineer, and held several county offices. He died a few years since. THE FIRST SCHOOL, according to the recollection of Mr. Haynes, was kept in a log house on his father's farm, about the summer of 1815. The house which had previously been the dwelling of Martin Overley, was moved by Mr. Haynes, sr., on to the road and fitted up for a school-house. The first teacher was James Finley, an old Revolutionary soldier. He taught one quarter and was followed by a man named McIntosh, also a soldier of the Revolution. The first female teacher was Tirza Robinson, and after her Abigail March. RELIGIOUS INTERESTS—CHURCHES. As early as 1805 or 1806 the Methodists held meetings in Musselman's mill, and afterward in the log schoolhouse which stood where Michael Cryder's orchard now is. The pioneer circuit preacher in the township and indeed in the Scioto valley was Rev. James Quinn. Michael Cryder, sr., was one of the earliest local preachers. A class was formed in west Springfield at an early date in the settlement of the township, composed of Henry Musselman and wife, John Cryder and wife, Jonas Rudisill and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Coleman and others not now recollected. Henry Musselman was an active and leading member, and was the first class- leader. In 1834 the church at Hopetown was erected, the ground for which and for the graveyard was given by Mr. Musselman. Methodist camp-meetings were held in the vicinity of Hopetown at an early date, and on one of these occasions the following incident, it is said, occurred: The meeting was held in a beautiful grove on the farm of Emanuel Cryder, and the exercises closed with the congregation marching around and singing the hymn beginning: “We are marching through Immanuel' s ground." Mr. Cryder, thinking the congregation meant this as a compliment to himself for the use of his grove, responded with unction, "You's welcome to it; its paid for." MOUNT CARMEL CHURCH. This is a Methodist society, and is the only church in the township beside that at Hopetown. It is situated in the eastern part of the township and was built about 1851 or 1852. Previous to the erection of the church edifice the society held their meetings in the old meeting-house on Walnut creek, in Harrison township, and at the dwelling of Thomas McNeal. EARLY MILLS. Soon after he came in from Kentucky, in 1797 or '98, Henry Musselman built a log grist-mill on the river, southwest of where Hopetown now stands. This was the first mill ever erected on the Scioto, and one of the first in the county, and people for many miles distant came there to get their grinding done. About the same time Governor Worthington erected a mill on the north fork of Paint creek, and McCoy one on Kinnikinnick, better known as Crouse's mill. These were the first mills in the country. Mussleman's mill was a rude affair, and was first run by horse power. Subsequently he erected a large frame mill, which went out of existence many years ago. David Cryder built further up the river, on the little 234 - HISTORY OF ROSS AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES, OHIO. stream called Spring branch, an "overshot" mill, in 1816 or '17. His father, Michael Cryder, had built in the same place a saw-mill in 1798 or '99. On this same stream, George Haynes, sr., had a small grist-mill and also a still. A grist-mill was erected at an early date on the river in the southwest corner of the township, by Major Kilgore. There are at the present time no mills in the township, except, perhaps, portable saw-mills. TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATION. Springfield township was set off from Green township by order of the county commissioners, March 9, 1808, as follows: Ordered, that a part of Green township be erected into a separate township, beginning on the Scioto river at the Cedar bank, the northwest corner of township eight in range twenty-one and township nine, range twenty; thence down the Scioto river to Joseph Gardner's ferry; thence along the line of townships seven, eight and nine to the southeast corner of section thirty- two; thence north to the northwest corner of section five; thence along the line of townships eight, nine and ten to the place of beginning. The said township to be known by the name of Springfield. Place of holding the elections to be at the house of James Wallace. The elections were subsequently held at the house of Zachariah Janes, near the center of the township, until the township was divided into two voting precincts, since which time they have been held at Hopetown and at school-house number four. The township records having been lost we are unable to give the names of the first township officers elected. HOPETOWN was laid out by Henry Musselman, the original owner of the land on which the town is situated, in 1819. As early as 1805 Jacob Weider kept a tavern where the dwelling of George Hosler now stands, at which point the roads then forked. Weider had here also a still and brewery, and the place was appropriately called Barley Forks. The tavern was a long frame building containing a row of nine rooms, and was known as the "long nine." This tavern was subsequently successively kept by a son of Jacob Weider, a man by the name of Campbell, Rider and Jacob Overley. The first store was opened by Peter Slimmer in a part of his dwelling which stood where A. J. Cryder now lives, afterwards changing his location to the western part of the village. Michael Cryder, now of Chillicothe, conducted a store on the pike in this village for some twenty-five years. The proprietor of the present store is John Steltz, who commenced in 1869, removing from Chillicothe, where he had previously been engaged in the grocery business. The village contains families, one store, a church, school-house and blacksmith shop. |