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CHAPTER V
LIBERTY TOWNSHIP
p. 434
Liberty
Township was organized December, 6, 1817, from territory
taken from the north end of Sprigg Township. Under
the territorial organization what is now Liberty was
included mostly in Manchester Township, the western
portion however was within the limit is of Cedar Hill.
The first election in Liberty Township was held at the
house of David Robe in April, 1818.
Early Settlers.
It is said that
Governor Thomas Kirker was the fist settler, but
it is more accurate to say he was among the first of the
pioneers of this region. His cabin was erected on
Zane's Trace on what is known as the old Kirker farm
in the southeastern part of the township. James
January came as early as 1796 and one year later
opened a tavern on the on the Trace at the foot
of the hill west of West Union on the Swearingen
farm. About this date also came Needham
Perry, Alexander Meharry, Richard Askren, John Mahaffey,
Rev. Thomas Odell, David Robe, George Dilllinger,
Bezebel Gordon, Col. John Lodwick, Daniel Marlatt, James
Wade and Joseph Wade. And later,
James McGovney, John Stivers, Conrad Foster, and
Lewis Coryell. These were mostly Revolutionary
soldiers from Virginia, and to perpetuate among their
descendants the memory of the cause for which they had
struggled, the name Liberty was given to this township
when formed. Land warrant number one issued to
Richard Askren, was laid in this township.
As indicative of the frugality and integrity of the
citizens of Liberty Township, a chronicler of local
history in the year 1880 noted the fact that there had
never been an assignment made by any of its citizens.
Surface and Soil.
The
surface is rolling and in localities bordering the
streams somewhat hilly. Bald Hill and Cave Hill,
in the northeastern part of the township, are remarkable
elevations, the first about 650 and the second over700
feet above low water at Cincinnati. They have the
same geological position as the elevations on which West
Union stands and are "outliers" of the cliff limestone.
Cave Hill is one hundred feet higher than West Union,
and was one of the stations in the United States
Geodetic Survey. The western portion of the
township is in the Cincinnati or blue limestone belt and
the soil is generally fertile, producing good crops of
corn, tobacco, wheat, oats and clover. The surface
is furrowed by numerous streams, wheat, oats and clover.
The surface is furrowed by numerous streams, tributaries
of Eagle Creek, the largest of which is East Fork which
receives the waters of Hill's and Kyte's Forks in this
township.
Villages and Postoffices.
FAIRVIEW, near the Brown County line on the old
Cincinnati turnpike, was laid out by William Mahaffey,
March 15, 1844, on a plot of nine lots.
Benjamin Whiteman kept a store there previous to
that time, and a postoffice named Hill's Fork had been
established with Robert Patton as first
postmaster. The village contains one store, store,
one church, a blacksmith shop and a few residences.
Churches.
The first church in the township was a log structure
erected by the Christian Association of "New Lights"
near the old Kirker Cemetery in 1800; but he
Associate Reformed Presbyterian congregation held
meetings at the house of James January as
early as 1797. See history of U. P. Church under
Wayne Township.
BRIAR RIDGE M. E. CHURCH. This is one of the
pioneer churches of the township and county. A log
house was erected there in 1804, and afterwards a small
brick, which was replaced by the present frame building.
Near here on the creek, Rev. Odell and Rev.
Roberts Dobbins founded in first Methodist class in
this part of Adams County. Peter Cartright,
afterwards a celebrated Methodist divine, used to preach
at Odell's in this locality.
CHRISTIAN UNION CHURCH. About 1868 a division in
the M. E. Church at a Briar Ridge took place over
questions of politics growing out of the Civil War, and
many members joined the new Christian Union Association,
and about 1873 erected a comfortable frame church house
near the site of the Methodist edifice.
GERMAN M. E. CHURCH. Some years before the Civil
War, a small colony of German families settled in the
vicinity of Hill's Fork. In 1853 they built a
house of worship at Fairview where services have been
held, with slight interruptions, to the present time,
but not as formerly in the German tongue.
LIBERTY CHAPEL, M. E. This church is on the North
Liberty and erected in 1879, at a cost of eight hundred
dollars.
Schools.
It is said that
the first schoolhouse in this township stood on the
Kleinknecht farm and that an English woman, Mrs.
Dodson, was the first teacher in 1803. There
was a schoolhouse on East Fork near January's
tavern as early as 1805. We are inclined to the
belief that William Dobbins, a son of Rev.
Robert Dobbins, was one of the first schoolmasters
in this township.
The following in this enumeration in each of the
sub-districts of the present year:
| No. |
Males. |
Females |
No. |
Males |
Females. |
| 1 |
27 |
20 |
6 |
11 |
24 |
| 2 |
15 |
18 |
7 |
17 |
17 |
| 3 |
17 |
11 |
8 |
21 |
40 |
| 4 |
19 |
21 |
9 |
19 |
13 |
| 5 |
18 |
18 |
|
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REMINISCENCES.
Campmeetings.
The old
camp meeting ground on the Noleman farm was a
favorite retreat for the Methodists in early days.
There such famous pulpit orators as John Collins,
Henry Bascom, Peter Cartright and William
McKendree preached in "God's first temples" and led
repentant sinners to the "house of the Lord."
Crawford's Stable.
There were many
Indians in this region when the first settlers came,
after a treaty of Greenville, and they annoyed the
pioneers greatly by begging and pilfering, and
occasionally stealing horses. William Crawford,
in order to protect a valuable horse from being stolen,
but a stable in one end of his cabin in which he secured
the animal at night.
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