OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Tidbits of Ohio -- Part 48A ************************************************************************ USGENWEB ARCHIVES(tm) NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm All documents placed in the USGenWeb Archives remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, these documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. They may be used by non-commercial entities so long as all notices and submitter information is included. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit. Any other use, including copying files to other sites, requires permission from the contributors PRIOR to uploading to the other sites. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. http://www.usgenwebarchives.org ************************************************************************** File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by Darlene E. Kelley http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374 May 16, 2005 ************************************************************************** Historical Collections Od Ohio And Then They Went West Know Your Ohio by Darlene E. Kelley Tid Bits- Part 48 A notes by S. Kelly ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Tid Bits - Part 48 A. Adams County and its Townships Adams County lies on the Ohio River fifty miles east of Cincinnati and one hundred miles south of Columbus. It derives its name from John Adams, second President of the United States. It was formed proclaimation of Governor St. Clair being then one of four counties into which the North-West Territory was divided. The three others previously formed were Washington, July 27, 1788; Hamilton Jan 2, 1790; and Wayne, 1796. The townships set off in Adams County are as follows; Bratton; Franklin; Green; Jefferson; Liberty; Manchester; Meigs; Monroe; Oliver; Scott; Sprigg; Tiffin; Wayne; and Wichester. Bratton Township Bratton township lies in the central north part of the county bordering Highland. It was organized by the Board of County Commissioners Sept 04, 1887 from territory cut off the west side of Franklin Township and was named in honor of Jhn Bratton, an old respected citizen of the township. The surface is undulating and hilly, with deep and narrow valleys formed by erosion of small streams that flow into the East Fork of Ohio Brush Creek. This beautiful stream rises from the Three Forks on the northern limit of the township and flows in a deep channel south across it, uniting with the West Fork at Newport in Meigs Township. On its upper course and within sight of the Three Forks is the Great Serpent Mound. The valley along the East Fork is narrow but very fertile, and the top hills along its middle and lower courses contain a fine quality of Iron Ore. Early settler John Shepherd, a brother of Abraham Shepherd of Eagle Creek, who represented Adams County in the State Senate several terms, was among the first settlers of this township. He located in 1801 on the East Fork, on lands formally owned by Peter Andrews. " Shepherd's Crossing" of Brush Creek is on the trace made by John Shepherd from Orr's Ferry, below Aberdeen, to his settlement on the East Fork. Following Shepherd, came William Armstrong, who settled on the East Fork above the present village of Loudon in 1802; and about this date, Benjamin, Joseph, and John West came from Pennsylvania and settled on lands bought in the Abraham Shepherd survey on upper East Fork. These Wests were relatives of Benjamin West, the celebrated painter. Samuel Shoemaker, Jacob Wisecup, Adam Keller, and Michael Beaver were among the early settlers. Small villages were Loudon, which was near the Great Serpent Mound that began about Lovett's store in 1839, as Lovett sold small parcels of land for residences and shops. Marble Furnace was built up about the old Marble Furnace which was a settlement of mechanics, tradesmen and furnace men, but after the abandonment of the furnace in 1834, the village rapidly declined. Louisville was laid out by Dr. John Gustin in Dec of 1838 on a plat of 11 acres and divided into 40 lots. The site turned into farm lands. The first school in Bratton was taught in 1815 by an old teacher named Vinsonhaler, in a house belonging to James Trimble, afterwards Governor of Ohio. Although it is questionable, as Samuel McCollister taught in the Bush Creek settlements as early as 1809. Just above old Marble Furnace was once a sight of an Indian Village, and here after the whites had settled there and along Ohio Bush Creek, Indian families would come to hunt and fish. While Thomas Davis, who resided on Bush Creek just above the Fristoe Bridge, was away from home, an Indian squaw stole John and Katy Davis, two of hs small children, and carried them to the camp on East Fork. The mother of the children gave the alarm, the squaw was followed to the camp, and the children were rescued. Franklin Township Franklin Township was organized Feb 25, 1828 from territory taken from Meigs Township, and at the time of its organization included what is now Bratton Township. It takes its name fom America's wisest patriot Benjamin Franklin. Early settlers were Peter Platter, Peter Wickerham, James Horn, James Boyd, Aaron Freeman, Robert Earl, William Pemberton, William Ogle, George Heller, Jesse Wethengton, John Evans, and John Chapman. Platter and Wickerham came in 1797/98 and the following year Wickerham opened a tavern at what was know as Palestine, then on the line of Zane's Trace. Afterwards, James Horn, who lived a mile north of Wickerham's on the Trace, opened a tavern where a public house was kept for many years. Wickerham built the first brick house in the region. Locust Grove is the first village in the Township. Curis Cannon in 1805 kept a tavern on the site of the of the residence of John Kendall. He also carried on a tannery, the first in the region. In 1830, his son, Urban W. Cannon built a hotel and planted a grove of Locusts opposite the hotel, where he had a flourishing trade in the days of the old stage coach line from Maysville to Chillicothe. In 1835, he laid out a town about the site of his hotel, which he called Locust Grove. As late as 1820, bears, catamounts, wolves, and wild cats were plentiful in this region. One day in the autumn of 1817, the children of Peter Platter, while playing about their home discovered a large catamount closely eyeing them from a branch of a tree inthe door yard. The older ones gave the alarm and James Horne was sent for, who shot the ferocious animal, and upon the inspection pronounced it one of the largest of its kind. Massie Springs of this township, in 1802, is where General Nathaniel Massie built a health resort at the sulfur spring which bore his name. On the old trace north of Locust Grove stood a huge long building which was known as Menshon's tavern. When Dr. Cuming traveled over the trace from Limestone to Wheeling in 1807, he stopped overnight at Menshon's and in is notes comments on the fiddling talent of the landlord's sons, and their entertainment of guests with music. Green Township In the latter part of the eighteeth century, in the days of Territorial Government in Ohio, what is now Green Township was known as Iron Ridge Township. It was not until December of 1806 that the Commissioners of Adams County gave the township its present name, in honor of General of Revolutionary fame. The township is bounded as follows; Beginning at the left bank at the mouth of Ohio Brush Creek, where it empties into the Ohio River; thence up the creek to the mouth of Beasley's Fork; thence on a straight line to the headwaters of Black's Run; thence on the highlands of Ohio and Scioto Brush Creek to the east line of Adams County; thence south along said county line to the Ohio River; thence down said river to the beginning. Township has fourteen miles of river frontage. After leaving the river bottom land is a very large proportion of the surface is high, hilly and rough. The highest point of land in the State of Ohio, is said to be within the limits of Township just above Rome on the Ohio River. The first white settler of Green Township was Obediah Stout, who was a native of New Jersey, and had served in the Revoutionary War. Mr. Stout had ten children, the youngest two, Obediah and John had been scalped by the Indians in Kentucky. They moved to Green Township in the year of 1796 and settled on Puntenney's Fork, which he named Stout's Run. In 1796, Obediah Stout, Jr.. (grandson), was born, being the first white child born in the Township. Soon after, several other families came to the neighborhood, among whom were the Colvins, Pettits, Montgomerys, Samuels, Russels, George H. Puntenny and his father-in-law, William Hamilton, who taught the first school in Green Township. George H. Punteeny's son, James Punteeny was born Septemeber 01, 1800, being the second white child born in the Township. George Punteeny and his wife, Margaret, were among the most prominent citizens of the township. There are several mounds within the limits of the township. They are just below Rome, on the high bank of the river, two hundred yards from the water, is a mound two feet high and fifty feet in diameter. In this small structure were found no less than twenty-two skeletons, some of which appeared to have been buried in part only. There were many fragments of pottery in the mound, but it is thought the presence of these is due to the fact that the earth immediately was scooped up to form the mound, consequently much of the village site debris was gathered in baskets, and dumped upon the structure. Perforated mussel shells were with many of the bodies, a bone awl, and a slate celt polished at both ends. There were three arrow heads, three war points, and three worked pieces of shell. Some twenty perforated humeri were secured, but no whole skulls, as one was broken, as were most of the long bones. The vertebral columns of some of the skeletons were only half present, which leads us to believe that some of the bodies had been gathered when the flesh was denuded from the bones. Possibly from a battle field, possibly from a chamel house. The most important find was the bones of an exceedingly large individual. These bones were very badly decayed, but the tibia was removed in fair shape. The width of this bone was nearly two inches, being very massive, and somewhat bent. The femora were very large and more curved than is usual. Many pipes and ornaments have been found around this mound. In the year 1809, a young woman named Elizabeth Catt was charged with infanticide, having, as charged strangled her day-old infant to death. She was arrested and given a preliminary hearing before a jury of twelve women, residents of Green Township, whose names were as follows; Elzabeth Eakins, Elizabeth Stout, Margaret Puntnney, Margaret Montgomery, Hannah Eakins, Charity Hubbard, Frances Russll, Nancy Wood, Margaret Stout,Sr., Margaret Stout, Jr., Sarah Cole, and Mary Colvin. The accused was bound over to the Court of Common Pleas and upon trial before the jury, was acquitted of the charge. Among the lofty crags near the headwaters of the Black's Run on the northwestern border of Green Township is a remarkable cavern known as " The Haunted Cave." In pioneer days it was the dwelling place of desperadoes who preyed on the fleets of emigrant boats as they floated down the Ohio to the gateway of the Virginia Reservation and the Ohio Northwest Territory. It is a tradition that the notorious James Girty, a brother of Simon Girty, made this cavern the place of rendezvous of this band of savages and desperadoes prior to the settlement of the whites in that region. The murder of Greathouse who was captured with his companions on a pirogue near the mouth of the Ohio Brush Creek in 1790, and tied to a tree and whipped to death, is attributed to Girty and his followers. Mysterious murders at the mouth of Long Lick, and the vcinity of Brush Creek Island are said to have been cmmitted by dwellers in the Haunted Cave. The cavern, which consists of numerous large rooms in one of which is a sparkling stream of water, and is entered by means of a ladder down to the outer chamber, and was accidently discovered by old Jonathan Waite while exploring the crags and crevices of the region for a traditional lead mine in the early part of the eighteenth century. The Loughry lands of 745 acres lie in Green Township and in the Nile Township in Scioto County, Ohio. The entire tract in Adams County is perhaps the largest tract under one ownership. The steamboat landings at Buena Vista and Rockville are in this tract. There is deep water along the entire front. Fifty five acres are in the river bottoms, which varies from six to twenty rods wide. Three small streams flow into the river from this tract; Flat Run, Gregg Run and Rock Run. The latter is a canyon and the scenery along it is picturesque. The main residence on these lands is the village of Rocksville, where Mrs. Sallie B. Loughry resides. Here she ran a summer boarding house. The bottom lands produced excellant crops of corn, grass and wheat. In years gone by, extensive peach orchards grew, and yielded lucious crops. No finer peaches were ever produced than these, that grew in Ohio. The City Ledge was a building stone quarry that was named by John Loughry and owned by him. No finer building stone was produced. It was used for the canal locks in and about Cincinnati. John Loughry at first dragged the stone to the river with ox teams, but afterwards built chutes in the hillsides and slid the stone down, and lastly made good roads and hauled the stone in wagons. It proved to be the most popular stone in Cincinnati. It was a light drab or gray in color. For special orders, blocks containing three hundred cubic feet and weighing twenty four tons have been quarried and shipped. The Miami canal locks were built of a yellow ledge near the top of the hill of the quarry. This stone, too, was used for the piers of the suspension bridge at Cincinnati. But stone is not the only mineral wealth of this tract. The clays too, were most valuable. The shale extending from the level of the bottom land to the first ledge contained much oil. It was distilled for lubrication and illumination oils. The clays are of redish color and was used for pottery at Cincinnati, as well as for building brick for house fronts. Jefferson Township Jefferson Township, was named for President Jefferson, and was organized in 1806 from territory formally included in Iron Ridge Township. It is the largest township of Adams County, both in area and population. It contained 50,450 acres of land, and was divided into four voting precincts of Wamsleyville, Cedar Mills, Lynx and Chum Creek. It is not possible now to learn who the first white inhabitant was of this region. It was a hunters paradise containing buffalo, elk, deer, bears, wild turkeys, and other game found in great abundance. The streams, whose waters are so soft, so clear ad sparkling, redeemed with the finest bass and pickerel. It is said, that this region that the most daring hunters came and made their abode before the husbandman seeking a farm built his cabin and cleared away the forests. Among the first settlers were James and Joseph Williams. They came about 1796, and James Williams erected a cabin on the east side of the Ohio Brush Creek. Isaac Wamsley, Senior, about the same date settled a little further down the creek. Then Jonathon Waite settled on the Peter Wycoff farm, and Phillip Lewis built a cabin near the mouth Blue Creek. Among the early settlers was Jesse Edwards, John Newman, Lazalel Swin, David Newman, John Prather, John Beckman, George Sample, and Philip and Thomas Lewis. William Lewis, a son of Philip Lewis in writing of the early settlers in Jefferson Township wrote; " My father, Philip Lewis, came to Jefferson Township in 1796/97, and settled on Blue Creek near where it empties into Scioto Brush Creek. He built a saw and grist mill the same year. James and Joseph Williams were there when father came. They had come the year before. They were squatters, followed hunting and lived in the shanties without floors. Old man Foster, also, was a squatter and settled where Wash. McGinn now lives. Jesse Edwards, who killed the big bear, came the same year father did. He was a Revolutionary soldier and lived where David Collings now does. He died at the age of 110 years. The bear referred to was killed on our place on an ash tree that stood on the left of the run as you go up it, right opposite where Clark Compton lives. It weighed something over three hundred pounds." Villages were; Wamsleyville, a pretty little village on Scioto Brush Creek in the northeaster part of Jefferson Township and about one mile from the Scioto County Line and was laid out in 1874 by William Wamsley. Blue Creek, a little hamlet lying along the valley at the junction of Blue Creek with Scioto Brush Creek, including the lower valley of Mill Creek. There was a good hotel near there conducted by John W. Lightbody. Cedar Mills is on Cedar Run where old Bush Creek Furnace was located. Lynx was on Grenbriar. It was named from the wild animals of that ame that once infested that area. Selig hamlet is in the southern part of Jefferson Township and was named for Hugo Selig, once a merchant of that point. Churn Creek is a peculiar name for a beautiful stream. It is said that a party of pioneer surveyors, while in this vicinity, resolved to procure some " Old Monongahela " from Graham's station across the Ohio in Kentucky, and sent one, Armstrong to fetch it. He made his way to the station ad secured the " double distilled." but had no vessel to carry it in. Finally a cedar churn was procured and in it the refreshment was put and carried back to camp in the wilds of Iron Ridge. From this circumstance it is said the stream was immediately named Curn Creek. In July 1817, there was a cloud burst in the region of Churn Creek, and the waters of that stream, it is said, rose to a height of twenty feet, destroying crops, and otherwise doing great damage along that stream. Scioto Brush Creek suddenly rose from the flood in Churn Creek and vicinity and soon overflowed its banks. Lazaleer Swim, grandfather of Samuel B. Wamsley, was then living on the farm recently owned by the latter. Seeing the approaching storm, he sent his two little boys to pen the sheep in a building in the bottom below the house. It was evening and growing dark. Suddenly the waters burst in a swift current between the house and the pen in which the children were securing the sheep, and the horrified father saw they could not be rescued. he called to them to climb on top of the sheep pen, which they did, taking up a favorite dog with them. The flood continued to rise, and soon swept the pen with the boys and dog on its roof down the creek where it lodged in a drift of rails and logs against some large sycamore trees near where Wamsleyville is now situated. Here the children remained until the waters began to subside, when they were rescued, amost dead from fright and exposure, by their parents and neighbors who had been aroused by the frantic cries for help and pitiful howling of the dog. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Adams County Cont. In Tid Bits Part 48B