Hancock County OhArchives History - Books .....Chapter XIII, Part III 1886
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/oh/ohfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Ann Anderson ann.g.anderson@gmail.com July 17, 2005, 7:09 pm
Book Title: History Of Hancock County
CHAPTER XIII.

BLANCHARD TOWNSHIP.

ITS HISTORIC NAME— ERECTION, AREA, LOCATION AND POPULATION BY DECADES—STREAMS
AND RUNS — DESTRUCTION OF THE TIMBER — SOIL AND TOPOGRAPHY — TILE FACTORY AND
WHAT IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED — PIONEERS — FIRST DEATHS AND MARRIAGES-SAMUEL EDWARDS,
THE NOTED HUNTER AND SUBSEQUENT AUTHOR— JUSTICES— CHURCHES— EDUCATION— VILLAGES—
OAK RIDGE POSTOFFICE— CEMETERIES.

   THIS subdivision was named Blanchard at the suggestion of Richard Dukes, one
of its pioneers, in honor of the stream which crosses it from east to west. Col.
John Johnston, for about half a century an Indian agent, says, in Howe's
"Historical Collections," the Shawnees called this stream Sha-po-qua-te-sepe, or
"Tailor's River," while by the Wyandots it was called Quegh-tu-wa, or "claws in
the water." According to Col. Johnston, a Frenchman, named Blanchard, a tailor
by trade, married a Shawnee squaw and lived upon the river, before the
occupation of the country by the whites, and the real meaning of its Shawnee
name is "one who sewed garments." When the whites took possession of Ohio the
surveyors named the stream Blanchard's Fork of the Auglaize, in memory of this
Frenchman, and so it has since remained. Thus Blanchard Township has an historic
name, one that goes back into the fading traditions of the past.

   It was erected March 7, 1831, from territory previously included in Liberty
Township, and has always embraced the full Congressional Township 1 north, Range
9, or 23,040 acres. March 4, 1834, Township 2 north, Range 9, was attached to
Blanchard for judicial purposes, but March 2, 1835, it was erected into a new
township named Pleasant, leaving Blanchard as originally formed. It lies in the
western range of townships, with Pleasant Township on the north, Liberty on the
east, Union on the south and Putnam County on the west. In 1840 Blanchard had a
population of 629; 1850, 1,051; 1860, 1,161; 1870, 1,304, and 1880, 1,286.

   This is one of the best watered portions of Hancock County. The Blanchard
River enters the township in the northeast corner of Section 13, and winding in
a southwest course across the township strikes the Putnam County line near the
northwest corner of the southwest quarter of Section 19. It is here a very
crooked stream, and in its marked sinuosity much resembles a huge snake. Though
often becoming very low during dry weather, it sometimes leaps its banks and
spreads over the adjacent lands. There is always sufficient water in its bed,
even in the driest season, for stock purposes. Several small runs drain the
north part of Blanchard into the river, while the main branch of Pickens Run
heads on Section 3, whence it takes a northwest course into Pleasant. From the
south the Blanchard is fed by two or three tributaries, Ottawa Creek being the
most important. The headwaters of this stream are located in Van Buren Township,
and consist of two main forks, which unite on Section 36, Union Township; thence
passing in a general northerly direction through Union and the southeastern
portion of this township discharges its waters into the Blanchard in the
southwest corner of Section 14. These streams and runs have been of great
utility to the inhabitants of Blanchard, furnishing good drainage facilities and
an abundant water supply. In early days fish were very plentiful in the
Blanchard and Ottawa Creek.

   When the first settlers built their cabins along the Blanchard a heavy forest
covered the land. But the clearing up process, as a matter of stern necessity,
went on so ruthlessly that very little of the most valuable woods, such as
walnut and poplar, now remain. What was not cut down and burned, or converted
into rails and lumber, has nearly all been sold long ago to dealers and
manufacturers. But the fertility of the lands has largely repaid their owners
for the mistake made in the destruction of the valuable timber which grew
thereon, as those gigantic trees were evidences of the strength of the virgin
soil. Along each side of the Blanchard we find a deep sandy vegetable loam that
cannot be excelled in the production of corn. South of the river, except on
Ottawa Creek, where the lands are somewhat diversified, the country -is
generally very level and requires considerable ditching, but the soil is also a
vegetable loam with here and there a mixture of clay and sand, which properly
drained is very rich and productive. Upon reaching the rolling uplands north of
the Blanchard a strong clay soil predominates, though mixed in places with sandy
deposits, the soil on the flatter lands being locally termed a muck A sand ridge
crosses the southeast corner of the township, along which the lands are highly
prized. Benton lies upon this ridge. West of Benton to the county line the
country is exceedingly level, and much of it was originally very wet. Prudent
ditching and tiling, however, soon render these lands among the most valuable in
the county.

 . There is perhaps no enterprise in the township that has done so much toward
its prosperity as the tile factory established some twelve or fifteen years ago
by Lewis Dukes, Sr., on his farm in Section 10. He subsequently sold the ground
and buildings, and this factory has ever since supplied the whole surrounding
country with draining tile. The greater portion of the flat lands has been
brought under a high state of cultivation by a plentiful use of the tile made in
this factory, and thus the wealth of the township has been annually increased
and multiplied. No portion of Hancock County can compare in improvements with
the Dukes, Davis and Moffitt settlement, and we very much doubt that it is
excelled by any country neighborhood in Ohio. The productiveness of the lands
here is largely due to the judicious use of tiles, and this factory has
therefore been of inestimable value to the farmers of Blanchard Township.

   Pioneers.—The first settlers of Blanchard came principally from the older
counties of Ohio, though most of the heads of families were natives of other
States or countries. In the spring of 1823 John Hunter and Benjamin Chandler
came from Fairfield County, Ohio, and built their cabins in the southwest
quarter of Section 15. Hunter's stood on the south bank of the Blanchard, and
Chandler's immediately north of the former and on the same side of the river.
They were brothers-in-law, and about 60 acres of land were here entered by
Hunter in September, 1825. At the first election held in Findlay Township, July
1, 1823, Chandler was one of the judges of election; and at the second election,
April 5, 1824, Hunter was elected one of the two fence viewers of Findlay
Township. On the first tax levy, taken by Wilson Vance in 1824, Hunter is
assessed with one horse and eight head of cattle. In April, 1831, they sold out
to George Shaw and Selden Blodget, and removed to Michigan. They were the first
settlers to locate in this township, but left the county at such an early day
that few remember them only by tradition, though their names are frequently met
with in the early records.

   George Shaw was the next settler of Blanchard, locating in Section 16, south
of the river, in the spring of 1827. The following autumn he returned to Stark
County, Ohio, and brought out his wife, Dorcas, and eight children. He could not
then enter or buy the site of his settlement, as that section was school land,
but he lived there till April, 1831, when he purchased John Hunter's improvement
of about 42 acres in Section 15. When the school lands were sold, in 1837, he
bought 200 acres on Section 16, and thus became the owner of his first
settlement. Two of his children died, one in 1828 and the other in 1829, which
were the first deaths in the township. Mr. Shaw voted at the first county
election in April, 1828. In 1839 he was elected commissioner, and re-elected to
the same office. He died February 1, 1861, in his seventy-eighth year, his widow
surviving him till August 16, 1875, and dying at McComb, in the eighty-fourth
year of her age. Mrs. William Shafer, of this township, is the only one of their
four surviving children residing in the county.

   Lewis Dukes, Sr., came to the township in the fall of 1827. He was born in
Franklin County, Ohio, in 1811, and his parents, John and Mary Dukes, were
natives of Virginia. His father died when Lewis was quite small, and the widow
married William Powell, who, with his wife and two children, Asa and William H.,
and also Dillard K. Dukes, accompanied Lewis from Franklin County, Ohio, to the
Blanchard. Mr. Powell returned on business to Franklin County the same fall, and
there died. In the spring of 1828 the widow and her two younger children went
back to Franklin County, and remained there several years before again coming to
Hancock; but Lewis Dukes has been a resident of the county since first settling
here, more than fifty-eight years ago, and is to-day the oldest settler in the
township. In a few years he had saved enough from his daily labor to enter his
first piece of land, and from time to time added thereto until he became one of
the largest land owners in the township. In 1838 he married Miss Laura W. Bean,
who died in 1874. His second wife was Mrs. Harriet Alward, daughter of James
Caton, a pioneer of Liberty Township, who now watches over his household. Early
in life he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and is still a consistent
adherent of that faith. In his younger days he was noted for his vigorous,
forcible character, economical habits and untiring industry, which enabled him
to amass a respectable fortune from agricultural pursuits. Quiet and unassuming
in his every-day life, he is passing his declining years on a finely improved
farm, surrounded by the many comforts that wealth enables its possessors to enjoy.

   In November, 1828, Richard and John Dukes joined the settlement. Both were
natives of Virginia, and elder brothers of Lewis, Sr. Richard was married in
Franklin County, Ohio, to Mary Blue, who had borne him one son, Lewis, ere the
family settled north of the Blanchard in Section 15, where thirteen children
were afterward born, nine of whom grew to maturity. Mrs. Dukes died on the old
homestead Mr. Dukes was subsequently married twice, but no children were born to
these two unions. He died in Findlay in 1876, whither he removed from the old
farm, April 1, 1873. Lewis, Jr., and Eli, of Blanchard Township, and W. E., of
McComb, are the only members of his family living in this county. Lewis, Jr., is
regarded as the most successful farmer that Hancock County has ever possessed.
He was an infant when his parents came to the Blanchard, and, excepting his
uncle Lewis, is the oldest resident of the township. John Dukes was a single man
when he came here, but the same fall he was married to Hannah Howchings, by Rev.
Thomas Thompson, this being the first marriage in the settlement. She died April
15, 1829, which was the first death of a grown person in this part of the
county. He was afterward thrice married, his second wife, Jane, dying in 1841,
and his third wife, Mary, in 1862. After clearing up a farm in Section 15, north
of the river, and spending the greater part of his life in this township, he
sold his property, and in his old age removed, with his fourth wife, to Wood
County, where he passed the few remaining years of his earthly existence,
leaving no descendants to perpetuate his name and memory.

   Thomas and Adaline Groves also settled north of the Blanchard in the fall of
1828. Mr. Groves was a native of Rockingham County, Va., whence he removed to
Pickaway County, Ohio, where he married Adaline Choate, a native of Vermont, who
was the mother of two children when her husband came from Pickaway County and
took up his abode on Section 14, Blanchard Township. Ten children were born
after coming, making a family of six sons and six daughters, eight of whom
survive, three sons living in Hancock County. Mrs. Groves died upon the old
homestead December 21, 1875, in her seventy-fifth year, and here too her
venerable husband passed away July 31, 1881, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.

   In the fall of 1828 Jeremiah Colclo, with his mother and son, William M.,
came from the central part of the State and settled north of the Blanchard, on
Section 17. After building a cabin and commencing an improvement, Mr. Colclo
went back for his wife and balance of his family, whom he brought out in the
spring of 1829. He entered a large tract of land, and was a very hard-working,
industrious man. The parents died on the home farm; William M. went to Indiana,
and the other children also died or removed from the county. The family are
kindly remembered in the neighborhood where they settled and lived.

   In the spring of 1829 George Epley and Joseph Bowen, brothers-in-law, came
from Ross County, Ohio, and located on land in Section 18, entered by Henry
Epley in 1827. They were sent out by the latter to make an improvement on his
land, and prepare for his coming. Both resided here for many years, Epley dying
in the township, but we were unable to learn whether Bowen died here or removed
from the county.

   The year 1830 brought into the township Thomas Moffitt, Mordecai, Enoch and
Eli Haddox, Henry Epley and William Downing, all of whom settled permanently at
that time. Thomas Moffitt and family came from Ross County, Ohio, in the spring
of the year, and located in Section 17, north of the Blanchard. In 1831 he was
elected justice of the peace, being the first citizen of Blanchard Township who
filled that office. He was again elected in 1841, and re-elected in 1844. After
residing here till about 1850 he sold out to his brothers, William and John, and
went to Iowa. The Haddox brothers were natives of Virginia, and first settled in
Franklin County, Ohio, whence they removed to Section 17, this township. Their
mother, Hannah, came with them and died in 1835. Mordecai and Margaret Haddox
reared a family of five children. Mrs. Haddox was a native of Germany, and died
in 1855, Mr. Haddox surviving her till 1879. John, their eldest son, resides in
Section 18, on a part of the old farm. Enoch and his wife, Anna M., also died
here, the latter in 1856 and the former in 1863. Eli was a single man, and after
his marriage moved into Putnam County. Henry Epley was from Boss County, Ohio,
and in 1827 entered the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 18, upon
which his brother, George, settled in 1829, and he in 1830. Henry resided on the
Blanchard till his death in 1846, his widow, Elizabeth, surviving him thirty
years and dying in 1876. William Downing was born in Maryland in 1797, his
parents removing to Pike County, Ohio, where he grew to manhood. He there
enlisted and served in the war of 1812, being then but a boy of sixteen. In
1830, with his wife, Elizabeth, he came to this township, and built his cabin in
the southwest quarter of Section 12, where his wife died in 1851. He was again
married, and in 1863 was laid beside his first wife in the Dukes Cemetery. The
old homestead is still occupied by his widow.

   Selden Blodget came from the Tymochtee as early as 1827, and voted at the
first county election in April, 1828. In April, 1831, he bought of John Hunter
about twenty acres of land in Section 15, Blanchard Township, upon which he
located with his family of two sons and one daughter. In July, 1832, he gave a
power of attorney to Squire Carlin and Charles McKinnis to dispose of his land,
and removed to Michigan. His first wife died on the Tymochtee, and he married
Mrs. Lydia Davis, of Franklin County, but they separated ere his removal to
Hancock. After he went to Michigan, his wife, with the children of her first
marriage, settled on the Blanchard, where she resided till her death in 1877.

   Solomon Foglesong, William and John Mires, and Richard and John L. Carson all
settled in the southeast corner of the township in 1831. Mr. Foglesong entered
the southwest quarter of Section 36, April 23, 1831, and with his wife,
Catherine, at once settled upon it, erecting his cabin on the east bank of
Ottawa Creek. Here he resided for more than half a century. His wife died
February 20, 1872, and he survived her till January 9, 1883, leaving no
descendants to perpetuate his name. William and John Mires located on the east
half of the northwest quarter of Section 35 in the summer of 1831. In November,
1835, William laid out the village of Benton, and in June, 1836, they sold their
land to David M. Baldwin, afterward purchasing land southwest of Benton in Union
Township, but after some years they again disposed of their property, and went
West. The Carsons came from Franklin County, Ohio, in the fall of 1831, and also
located on Section 35. In 1834 John L. was elected county commissioner and
justice of the peace in 1836. Dick Carson was known as the champion fighter of
the township. He was a large muscular man, and, though for the times rather
peaceably inclined, was ever ready to resent an insult or accept a challenge to
a "rough-and-tumble" encounter. An old settler in speaking of him to the writer
said, "Dick, when a little full, would fight at the drop of a hat, and never
found his match in this county." Fighting was not then frowned upon as it is
to-day, in fact such pleasures (?) were rather encouraged, and thus became a
part of the festivities at nearly every, public gathering. Many years ago the
Carsons removed with their families to the West.

   John Downing came here in the spring of 1832, from Pike County, Ohio, cleared
a small patch on Section 13, south of the river, and put in a crop. The
following autumn he brought out his family, consisting of his wife and eight
children; the sons being David, George, William, Isaac and John. One son,
Timothy, was born on the Blanchard after settlement. In 1849 George and William
went to California, and in 1850 David followed them, but after a few years spent
in the gold regions, all returned to this county. About twenty-five years ago
William removed to Kansas, whither he was soon afterward followed by his father
and brothers, Isaac and Timothy. George subsequently went to Iowa, and David,
now a resident of Findlay, is the only one of John Downing's children living in
Hancock County.

   David Millham and Nimrod Smith both located on Section 14, in 1832. The
former was an Englishman, who in the spring of 1832 came from one of the older
settled counties of Ohio, made a small clearing, put in a crop and built a cabin
north of the Blanchard. The following autumn he brought his family. His house
soon became known as the most filthy in the whole settlement, and none of the
neighbors cared to visit the Millhams. In 1851 he assisted in laying out
Lewisville, and subsequently moved with his family to Indiana, Nimrod and Polly
Smith settled south of the river, but in 1835 sold his land to John Spreaker,
and moved to a farm near the home of Thomas Moffitt, where he accidentally shot
himself some years after.

   John C. Wickham and family came from Ross County, Ohio, to Findlay, in 1827,
and he taught the second school in that town. He was clerk of the first county
election held in April, 1828 (at which he and his son Minor T. voted), and also
the second postmaster of Findlay. In October, 1828, he was elected sheriff of
Hancock County and served one term. In 1832 his son William removed from Findlay
to Section 13, Blanchard Township, and in 1833 the parents and son, Minor T.,
also settled on the same section. Mr. Wickham taught the second school in the
township and, in 1835, was elected as its second justice of the peace. He died
soon afterward while on a business trip to Wayne County, Ohio, but some of his
decendants yet reside in the county.

   In October, 1829, Philip Powell, a native of Pennsylvania, and a previous
settler of Fairfield County, Ohio, came to Hancock County, and entered two
quarters of land on Ottawa Creek, lying in Section 35, Blanchard Township, and
Section 2, Union. The following year, with his sons, William and Jacob, he again
visited this county and began an improvement on his land, immediately east of
the site of Benton. For the succeeding three years the Powells continued to
visit and clear up their lands preparatory to settling permanently thereon, and
in 1830-31-32 and 33 the father entered 560 acres more in this township in
Sections 25, 26, and 35. In 1834 William, with his young wife, took up his
residence in Section 35, where he has ever since resided. Jacob afterward
married, and settled in Section 25, where he died April 20, 1870. John and
Daniel did not settle here for several years after William and Jacob, and both
still reside upon their farms southeast of Benton, Daniel's home being across
the line in Union Township. All of the sons were born and reared in Fairfield
County, Ohio, and the parents resided there till death.

   Michael Fishel, John Knepper and Owen Hughes all settled near the site of
Benton in 1833-34 and 35. The Fishel family located in Liberty Township in
March, 1828, whence Michael removed in 1833, to the southeast quarter of Section
34, Blanchard Township. In 1876 he took up his residence in McComb, where he is
now living. John Knepper was a brother-in-law of Solomon Foglesong, and, August
16, 1831, entered the east half of the northwest quarter and the west half of
the northeast quarter of Section 36, upon which he settled three years after. He
spent the balance of his life on this farm. Two sons and one daughter of Mr.
Knepper are residents of Blanchard. Owen Hughes and wife, Elizabeth, and family,
came here from Fan-field County, Ohio, and located on the west half of the
southwest quarter of Section 35, which he entered in 1831 and settled upon in
1834 or 1835. Mr. Hughes was twice married and reared quite a large family, most
of whom are residents of Hancock. His first wife died in 1856, and his second,
whose name was also Elizabeth, in 1868. Mr. Hughes died upon his farm, where he
had lived nearly half a century, January 11, 1879, in his eighty-fourth year.

   In 1834 Mrs. Lydia Davis nee Dukes (sister of Lewis Dukes, Sr.), with her
sons John, Alfred, James and Newton, settled on the Blanchard. Her first
husband's name was Ishmael Davis, who died in Franklin County, Ohio, and the
widow afterward married Selden Blodget, but they soon parted, and Blodget came
to this county in 1827, where he resided till 1832, leaving before the coming of
the Davis family. Alfred has been the most prosperous of any of the sons, and is
to-day one of the largest land owners and wealthiest farmers in Hancock County.
Newton is also a resident of the township, and the mother died here January 16,
1877, in the eighty-eighth year of her age.

   Samuel Edwards settled north of the river in the Moffitt neighborhood, in
January, 1834. He was a native of Pennsylvania, but was married in Pickaway
County, Ohio, whence he removed to Hancock County. Edwards was known far and
wide as the most expert hunter in northwestern Ohio, and in 1850 sold out and
moved to Henry County, where game was more plentiful. In 1880 he published in
book form the history of his life. He claimed that Robert Bonner of the New York
Ledger offered him $1.000 for his sketch, but Edwards regarded the amount as too
small, believing he had a fortune within his grasp. Like many other authors poor
Sam's high hopes were destined to be blasted. His little book "fell flat" upon
the reading public, had a very limited sale, and his expected "mountain of gold"
dwindled away to nothingness. Edwards sold a few copies of his book to his old
neighbors on the Blanchard, who took it "for the sake of auld lang syne."

   Two other settlers of 1834 were Seymour Hastings and John Mathews. The former
located in Section 14, south of the Blanchard; in June, 1836, he sold his farm
to William Smeltzer, and moved to Section 19, where he resided till death.
Mathews carne from Pike County. Ohio, and settled north of the river. It is said
that he never owned any land here, and died in the township.

   In the fall of 1835 Charles, William and John Moffitt, Joel Pendleton, John
Spreaker and Thomas Downing came into the township. The Moffitt brothers, with
their mother, Sarah, located south of the Blanchard on a part of their brother
Thomas' land, who had preceded them several years. Charles married a sister of
Alfred Davis and died in Union Township. William and John also married here,
bought out Thomas and became quite wealthy. The former died June 30, 1884, but
John is still one of the active farmers of Blanchard. Three of William's sons
reside in the township. Joel Pendleton settled in Section 23, but after living
here nearly four years sold out and moved into Findlay Township, were he is yet
living. Mr. Pendleton was surveyor of Hancock County for nearly thirty-five
years, and is a very intelligent man. John Spreaker was a Pennsylvanian, who
bought the farm of Nimrod Smith in Section 14, south of the river. After living
here about twenty years he went to Illinois. Thomas Downing was a brother of
William, who came in 1830. He, too, removed to Illinois.

   A large number of settlers came to the township in 1835-36 among whom were
Alpheus Edwards, Joseph Horner, David Braucht, David M. Baldwin, William
Smeltzer, Phineas Mapes, Stephen Smith and James McClish. Mr. Edwards was born
in Connecticut in 1808, immigrated to Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1819, there
married Leah Shriner, and in March, 1835, with his wife and four children,
settled on the east half of the northwest quarter of Section 32, where he has
ever since resided. He reared nine children, eight of whom are living. His wife
died in 1879, and perhaps before this meets the reader's eye he, too, shall have
passed away, as he is now quite old and feeble. Joseph Horner and family came
the same time as Mr. Edwards and settled in Section 31, where he lived until his
removal to Indiana a few years ago. David Braucht and family were from Stark
County, Ohio. He entered a large tract of land south of the Blanchard, May 17,
1834, and, doubtless, settled in Section 13, the following year. Both he and his
wife died on the old homestead, and Mrs. L. C. Groves is the only one of their
children now living in the county. David M. Baldwin, of Fairfield County, Ohio,
purchased the farm of John and William Mires, in Section 35, June 13, 1836, and;
with his wife, Sarah, and family, at once took possession. Mr. Baldwin afterward
opened a tavern, which he carried on for many years. He died on his farm near
Benton, February 20, 1875, and his widow still occupies the old home, while five
sons and three daughters reside in the neighborhood. William Smeltzer was a
Pennsylvanian, who had lived in the county previous to his purchase, in June,
1836, of Seymour Hastings' farm, in Section 14, where he resided until his
death. Phineas Mapes located in Section 19, and here both he and his wife died.
Stephen Smith settled in the southeast quarter of section 28, whence he moved
into Union Township, and there spent the balance of his life.

   James McClish, a native of Maryland, married Patience Bishop, of New Jersey.
She bore him eleven children, ten of whom grew to maturity. He settled on the
farm now owned by his son N. B., where he died a few days after reaching his
destination. While the headstone over his grave says he died October 6, 1835,
the family now claim that his death occurred in 1836, and that the date on the
stone is incorrect. Seven children came with the parents to this township, but
N. B. is the only one now living here, the mother having died January 21, 1867,
in her eighty-first year.

   Of other settlers, Peter Foltz and Jacob Engle are kindly remembered. Mr.
Foltz and his wife, Elizabeth, came from Fairfield County, Ohio, in 1836, and
settled on Ottawa Creek in Section 25, where both died. Mrs. Foltz died August
9, 1850, and he was again married, and reared a large family by his second wife.
On the 11th of March, 1874, he, too, passed away and was laid beside his first
wife in a little private cemetery southeast of Benton, on the west bank of
Ottawa Creek. Several of his children are residents of the county. Jacob Engle
was a German, who came here from Somerset County, Penn., about 1837, and settled
near the site of Benton, where he died in 1859, his family afterward removing to
Iowa. Others might be mentioned who came into Blanchard Township about this
period, among whom were John M. Radebaugh, Charles Frost and Samuel Rudesill;
but the names of the real pioneers have been given, the only object in view.

   Justices.—Upon the organization of the township in 1831, Thomas Moffitt was
elected justice of the peace, and his successors have been John C. Wickham, John
L. Carson, John M. Radebaugh, Charles Frost, Henry Cook, Eli Dunning, John
Boylan, William H. Conine, Mathew E. Hopkins, Philip Ballard, W. H. Kilpatrick,
George Downing, Robert Marshall, John Wortman, Ephraim Mathias, Hiram W. Hughes,
Joseph Thompson, W. P. Dukes, Amos Wittemeyer, John Bergman, John C. Wickham,
John Wortman, Samuel G. Robinson and Amos Wittemeyer.

   Churches.—The Methodist Episcopals organized the first society in the
township, at the house of John Dukes, as early as 1831. Rev. Thomas Thompson was
the minister present, and Richard Dukes and wife, John Dukes and wife, Thomas
Moffitt and wife, and Mrs. William Downing, were about all that took an active
interest in the organization. Several other Methodist families came to the
township soon afterward, some of whom joined the class. Among these were William
Wickham and wife, Mrs. William Powell, Mrs. David Millham, Mrs. John Mathews and
Mrs. James McClish. Services were first held at the houses of John Dukes,
Richard Dukes and Thomas Moffitt. About 1836 or 1837 a hewed-log building was
erected on the farm of Richard Dukes, which is yet standing. With the growth of
the society, this structure became too small and primitive, and a frame building
was put up farther west. This served the congregation until the erection of the
present brick church in 1880. In 1871 the Methodists built another church at
Benton, and it, too, is a brick building. The United Brethren and Evangelical
denominations held meetings and organized societies quite early in this part of
the county. The former has three churches in Blanchard; one in Section 36, which
was the first church built in the vicinity of Benton; one in Section 32, and one
in Section 18, north of the river. This denomination has perhaps the most
numerous following in the township. The Evangelical Association erected its
present church in 1858-59, one-half mile west of Benton, in Section 34, but in
1868 it was moved into the village and is still used by the society.

   Education. —In 1832 a school was taught in one end of John Dukes' cabin by
Amanda Kilpatrick. The Dukeses, Shaws, Groves and Millhams were the pupils. The
next year a small log schoolhouse was built on the farm of Thomas Groves in
Section 14, which was opened and taught by John C. Wickham in the winter of
1833-34. It was attended by the Shaws, Dukeses, Groves, Downings, Millhams,
Wickhams, Hastings and others who then lived in the township. Frederick Ballard
was the next teacher, and then came Joel Pendleton and Mr. Choate. Another early
school was taught in a cabin on the farm of Enoch Haddox, and attended by the
Haddoxes, Epleys and others of that vicinity. As the country settled up the
little log schoolhouse made its appearance in other sections of the township
until all were supplied. Blanchard can now boast of ten schoolhouses, wherein,
school is held during the full legal year.

   Villages.—-Benton was laid out November 5, 1835, on the east half of the
northwest quarter of Section 35, by William Mires, and named in honor of Hon.
Thomas Benton, the great Democratic statesman of Missouri. It originally
contained thirty-six lots, but several additions have since been laid out.
Benton lies about nine miles southwest of Findlay, on the same ridge which here
crosses the county, and has always been a small country town with a limited
local business. In 1840 a postoffice, named Benton Ridge, was established here,
with David M. Baldwin as postmaster. His successors have been William Miller,
Philip Ballard, Isaac Sperow, Michael Merchant, David M. Baldwin, T. J.
Saunders, J. G. Saunders, J. H. Saunders, J. Gr. Saunders, H. W. Hughes, John C.
Wickham, T. J. Saunders and R. N. Cherry. In March, 1875, the village was
incorporated for special purposes, and has since had two mayors: B. S. Palmer
and Amos Wittemeyer. Its present business interests consist of one dry goods and
grocery store, a dry goods, grocery and hardware store, a grocery store, a
druggist, a steam gristmill, a steam saw-mill, two general blacksmith shops, one
of which manufactures plows, a cabinet-maker and undertaker, a shoe shop, a
saloon, a good hotel and one physician. Benton Lodge, No. 418, F. & A. M., was
instituted October 21, 1868, with twenty-one charter members. This lodge has
recently been removed to Bawson. The Methodist Episcopals and Evangelical
Association have each a church in the village, and there is also a schoolhouse
located here. In 1880 the town had a population of 179, and now claims over 200,
which, indicates a slight growth.

   Lewisville was laid out by William H. Powell, David Millham and Michael
Shearer, in April, 1851, on the north part of the northeast quarter of Section
14, and the southeast quarter of Section 11. A general country store was opened,
a schoolhouse built, and three or four residences erected, but that is as far as
its growth ever reached. The store was carried on by John Boylan for a few
years, and then abandoned, and the village site was gradually returned to the
uses of agriculture.

   Oak Ridge Postoffice was established in 1848 at the house of William Downing,
with Mr. Downing as postmaster. The office has always been in the same
neighborhood, and Mr. Downing's successors have been as follows: Robert
Marshall, Daniel Morris, Mrs. William Downing, Rezin Cook, David Downing, Eli
Dukes, L. C. Groves and Thomas McKinnis. Oak Ridge, though of little importance,
has nevertheless been a great accommodation to the people in this section of the
county, and is therefore regarded with much favor.

   Cemeteries.—The Dukes Cemetery north of the Blanchard is the oldest in the
township, as two of George Shaw's children were interred there in 1828 and 1829,
and also the wife of John Dukes in the latter year. George Shaw, Richard Dukes.
Mordecai and Enoch Haddox, Henry Epley, William Downing, William Moffitt and
James McClish, with their wives, also Mrs. Lydia Davis and many other pioneers
are buried in this graveyard. It is located on a sand hill in Sections 15 and
16, lying partly in both, is decorated with evergreens, and contains quite a
number of nice monuments. The Benton Ridge Cemetery is also a neat little
ground, and was opened at an early day. It lies immediately west of that village
on the Sand Ridge, and is naturally well adapted for a cemetery. Here Thomas
Groves, Jacob Powell, Owen Hughes, David M. Baldwin, Jacob Engle and others of
the pioneer fathers were laid to rest. The Braucht Cemetery, in Section 13, is
quite an early public burial place, not at present much used.

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/oh/hancock/history/1886brown/chapter013.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ohfiles/

File size: 35.6 Kb