CHAPTER X
SCOTT TOWNSHIP
p. 457
It lies in the
northern tier of townships bordering Highland County.
It was formed from the north part of Wayne township,
Feb. 25, 1818. Since then Manchester and a portion
of Oliver Townships have been taken from its original
territory. It was named in honor of Edwin Scott,
an old and respected citizen.
Surface and Soil.
The western
portion of the township is undulating and comprises some
of the best farm lands within it. Along West Fork
are very fertile alluvial bottoms, and bordering this
stream are moderately high hills and table lands of
marked fertility of soil. The northeaster portion
is hilly and the soil for the most part is unproductive.
Streams.
The
principal stream is West Fork which flows across the
southern part of the township from the northwest.
It is a beautiful stream and receives in the west, Buck
Run which rises in Highland County, and in the
southeast, George's Creek which rises in the east
central portion of the township. This tributary
was named from a family by the name of George,
members of which settled below the present site of
Tranquility in early days.
Flat Run, in the northeastern part of the township,
flows east and is a tributary of East Fork of Ohio Brush
Creek.
First Settlers.
John
McIntyre and William McIntyre who settled on
the lands recently owned by Hon. J. T. Wilson at
Tranquility; Robert Elliott who settled on the
A. C. McCullough farm; John Hamilton who
settled west of Tranquility; Reuben Smith, James
Montgomery, George Secrist, and John
Oliver on George's Creek were among the first
settlers, who came about the year 1800. Joseph
Gaston, David McCreight, Mathew McCreight, James
McCreight and their families came from the South
Carolina to George's Creek in the year 1802.
The Williamsons, the Simmondses, the
Martins, and the McCulloughs came a few years
later to the same vicinity.
Mills.
The
first mill was built by Peter Simmonds on
George's Creek. Of the other early mills, were
Smith's and McCormick's on West Fork, and
Campbell's on Buck Run.
Villages.
TRANQUILITY,
a hamlet on George's Creek in the central portion
of the township, was founded by Hon. John T. Wilson.
In 1832, Mr. Wilson opened a small store on
George's Creek at the house of John Smiley
about a half mile above the present village, where he
sold dry goods, groceries and whiskey, as was the custom
in those days. Afterwards the store was conducted
at his late residence. In 1861, W. A. Blair
built a store room on the present site of Blair's
store where the Wilson and Blair business
has been conducted ever since. In the meantime a
number of families built homes near Wilson & Blair's
store and the place took the name, Tranquility, as
suggested by Mr. Wilson to the postoffice
department when the office was established there in
1848. John McCreight was the first
postmaster.
MAY HILL
- this is not a regularly laid out village, but like
Tranquility grew up round a country store. It is
located in the northeastern portion of the townshp on
the border of Bratton Township, on high rolling land,
and is surrounded by a poor hilly country. A
postoffice was established there in 1850 with John A.
Williamson as postmaster.
SEAMAN -
This village was laid out after the extension of the
Cincinnati and Eastern, now called in Cincinnati,
Portsmouth and Virginia Railroad, from Winchester to
Portsmouth. It is one of the new and thriving
villages that have sprung up along the line of that
railroad. It was laid out on the lands of Mrs.
Ann Mower in 1888. A postoffice was
established in 1880 with A. Day first postmaster.
The first store in the place was kept by J. Q. Roads.
It now contains two dry goods stores, one hardware and
implement store, one millinery shop, two blacksmith
shops, one saw-mill, two hotels, two livery stables, and
has a population of 175 inhabitants. It is one of
the pretty, thriving villages of Adams County.
BUCK RUN -
This postoffice was formerly located at Campbell's
Mills on Buck run, but in recent years has been kept at
a private house. It is in the western portion of
the township.
Schools.
Thge first
schoolhouse was a round-log cabin erected in 1807 on the
hill near the site of the U. P. Church at Tranquility.
Here the children of the McCreights, the
Glasgows, the Milligans, the Elliotts,
the McCulloughs, the Montgomerys, the
Williamsons and the Beards were taught to
read, write and cipher, by Samuel McCollister and
James McGill.
The township at present is divided into nine
sub-districts with the following enumeration of school
youth:
No. |
Males. |
Females. |
No. |
Males. |
Females |
1 |
13 |
12 |
6 |
22 |
14 |
2 |
18 |
15 |
7 |
14 |
13 |
3 |
20 |
25 |
8 |
35 |
29 |
4 |
19 |
21 |
9 |
23 |
19 |
5 |
19 |
17 |
|
|
|
PORTRAITS OF JAMES N. HOOK, REV.
W. T. QUARRY, REV. JOHN P. VAN DYKE, WILLIAM ELLISON
Churches.
TRANQUILITY
U. P. CHURCH - This is the oldest church
organization in the township, and was formed in 1807,
with John Milligan, John McCullough, James
Montgomery, Alexander McCullough, Robert Elliott, James
Wright, David McCreight, Sr., David McCreight, Jr.,
Robert Glasgow and Joseph Glasgow and their
families as members. The first church building,
called "Hopewell Meeting House," was a log structure,
erected about 1810, and was used for a church house for
this congregation for forty years, when in 1853 it was
supplanted by the present frame building. The
congregation is a very large and wealthy one, and was
originally known as West Fork Association. See
history of U. P. Church under Wayne Township.
MOUNT ZION
M. E. CHURCH - The congregation was organized in
1866. In 1868 a frame church building was erected
on lands purchased from John Martin in the
northeast corner of the township. After the
village of Seaman began to grow, the building was
removed from its former site to that village where it
now stands.
MOUNT LEIGH
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH - This is one of the oldest
congregations in the township. The site of the
church building, a commodious frame, is on the Buck Run
Pike about one mile north of the village of Seaman.
FLAT RUN M.
E. CHURCH is situated in the northeastern portion of
the township on Flat Run near the Highland County line.
REMINISCENCES.
On the
Criswell farm on West Fork at what is known as
"Indian bottoms" was a village site of a tribe of
Shawnee Indians. Families of these Indians came
here to camp as late as 1803. While in camp at
this place a son of James Montgomery, a lad about
sixteen years old, became acquainted with the Indian
boys and joined them in their sports. He became so
attached to his Indian friends and their mode of life
that he ran away from his home and accompanied them to
their villages on Mad River. He could never be
induced to return to the home of his parents.
A Pioneer Nurseryman.
One of the most
welcome comers of a pioneer settlement was the old time
nurseryman with his stock of apple, peach, and cherry
trees. These he grew from the seed and grafted and
budded the young trees himself and warranted each tree
to be true to name. Under his methods apple trees
lived and bore fruit for fifty or seventy-five years.
In the pioneer days of the township, David McCreight
conducted a small nursery on his farm on West Fork near
"Hopewell Meeting House" where he grew "ingrafted
fruit trees," and warranted as genuine, such delicious
old varieties as Belle Flower, Warner's Russet, Golden
Pippin, Vendiver, Romenite, Cannon Permain, Nutt's Large
Early and Butter apple.
An Object Lesson in Politics.
Near the
village of Seaman in this township is the old homestead
of the Silcott family where Craven Edward
Silcott, once a prominent character in local affairs
and county politics, was born and reared. He
resided for many years at the village of Youngsville
near his old home where he was engaged in merchandising
and conducted a general store. While here he was
nominated on the Democratic ticket for county auditor,
in 1878, but was defeated at the election following,
that campaign being regarded as the bitterest contest in
the history of partisan politics in the county. In
the campaign mentioned, one of his staunchest supporters
was John P. Leedom, afterwards a member of
Congress from Adams County. Silcott and
Leedom became very close personal friends and when
the latter was chosen Sergeant-at-Arms of the House
after the expiration of his term as a member of that
body, he persuaded Silcott to leave his business
and took him to Washington and made him his cashier and
chief accountant, a very responsible position. It
was then the custom for the Sergeant to draw the
salaries of members upon their vouchers, who checked on
his cashier for funds. In this manner hundreds of
thousands of dollars came into the hands of the cashier
for temporary care.
But life at Washington under the baneful influence of
"the lobby" had begun to tell on "the statesman from
Adams" and soon it dragged down the "genial merchant
from Youngsville."
They frequented the races, and, it is said, lost large
sums of money. They became involved, and the
cashier in 1889, fled the country, a defaulter, or
embezzeler rather, to the amount of $75,000.
Many of Mr. Leedom's friends in Adams County had
gladly gone on his bond when he was first chosen
Sergeant-at-Arms of the House, and the news of
Silcott's embezzlement and flight, brought anxious
days and sleepless nights to them, until an
investigation revealed the welcome fact that upn his
selection as Sergeant-at-Arms, for a second term, Mr.
Leedom had not given a new bond, and the first was
invalid.
Silcott fled to Mexico where afterwards his
family joined him and where recently he died a
dishonored, broken-hearted man. Leedom lost
caste with his former friends and associates, separated
from his wife, and died penniless among strangers.
It has been said by some that Silcott assumed
the disgrace and fled to shield his bosom friend
Leedom. Others assert that Leedom was
basely betrayed by Silcott whom he had so
implicity trusted. Be that as it may, the awful
fact remains that two bright and useful citizens of the
county sacrificed home, family, friends, honor, all
through the allurements of modern politics.
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