MOHICAN TOWNSHIP.

     On the twelfth of April, 1812, the commissioners of Wayne county, one of whom was John Carr, then a resident of what is now Mohican township, divided Wayne into four township, the western part including what are now Jackson, Perry, Mohican and Lake, and part of Washington in Holmes, and the west half of Clinton, Plain, Chester, and Congress townships in Wayne; and organized this territory into one township under the name of Mohican.  This was a large township.  John Carr was one of its principal citizens and one of the first commissioners of the county.
     The first justices of the peace are believed to have been Nathan Odell and James Loudon Priest, who were succeeded by John Weatherbee and John Newkirk in 1815.  A new justice was added in 1815, and William Metcalf was elected.

GREEN TOWNSHIP

was erected in 1812; prior to that time, Richland county constituted but a single township, which was named Madison.  That township was authorized to elect several justices of the peace.  As early as 1810, Archibald Gardner was elected a justice in what became Mifflin; and Henry McCart in 1811, and Peter Penney in 1812, in what subs4equently became Green; and James McClure and Andrew Coffinberry in 1814, in the balance of Madison township.  In 1812 this arrangement was deemed inconvenient, and the township was divided on the seventeenth range, giving the territory in ranges sixteen and seventeen to the jurisdiction of the new township, which was called Green.  It is asserted by some, that it was named after General Nathaniel Greene, of revolutionary fame; but probably received the name of the Indian village in the west part of the township.  Peter Kinney was acting as a justice when the township was organized.

LAKE TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Wayne county, in September, 1814; and in 1824, upon the organization of Holmes county, a strip from the south side of the township was ceded to that county.  In 1814 the population of Lake was very sparse.  The settlements were east of the Lake fork, in the region of Odell's lakes, and were composed, principally, of those who forted at Priest's in 1812.  Nathan Odell and James Loudon Priest are believed to have been acting as justices of the peace at the organization of Lake.*

PERRY TOWNSHIP

was organized at the same session of the commissioners with Lake, in September, 1814, and had jurisdiction over the territory of Jackson until 1819.  The pioneers of Perry at that time (1814), are believed to have been John Carr, John Ewing, Joseph Chandler, Aaron Cory, John Cory, John Raver, Benjamin Emmons, James Scott, Richard Smalley, Henry Worst, ARthur Campbell, Cornelius Dorland, and John Jackson, who was the first justice of the peace.

JACKSON TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Wayne county in February, 1819.  The township, at that period, was thinly settled.  The pioneers of that date are believed to have been Noah Long, Isaac Lyons, John Chilcote, John Jackson, John Davault, Charles Hey, Jacob Berry, Thomas Cole, James A. Dinsmore, Jonas H. Gierhart, Josiah Lee, Jesse Mathews, Michael Richel and Mathias Richel.  The pioneers concur in the statement that John Jackson was the first justice of the peace of Jackson township.

HANOVER TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Richland county in 1818.  The major part of the township being exceedingly rugged and difficult of cultivation, retarded settlement.  At the period of its organization it is believed the following heads of families constituted the majority of the settlers:  William Burwell, Thomas Taylor, Robert Dawson, George Davidson, George Snider, Amos Harbaugh, William Webb, Abner Winters, Stephen Butler, Abel Strong, John Hilderbrand, John Burwell, and ____ Chapel.  Stephen Butler was the first justice of the peace.

VERMILLION TOWNSHP

was organized in December, 1816, by the commissioners of Richland county.  It is difficult to ascertain the precise number of the heads of families at that time, the township records not being in existence.  It is believed the following families resided in the township as early as 1818:  Ezra Warner, George Eckley, James Wallace, Robert Finley, Samuel Bolter, Jonathan Palmer, George McClure, William Harper, William Karnahan, William Reed, William Ryland, Joseph Workman, Peter and John Vangilder, Joseph Strickland and sons, Mr. Harlan, Mr. Lattimer, Mr. Crabb, Mr. Beabout, Mr. Beck, and the late John Scott, sr.  James Wallace was the first justice of the peace.

MONTGOMERY TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Richland county in 1816.  Prior to that time Vermillion and Montgomery each elected one justice of the peace and acted as one township.  The pioneers of Montgomery, at the period of its organization, are believed to have been Robert Newell, Daniel Carter, Jacob Fry, Benjamin Cuppy, Henry Baughman, Samuel Burns, Daniel Mickey, Solomon Urie, Jacob Figley, William Montgomery, Jacob Crouse, James Kuykendall, Joseph Markley, John McNaull, Michael Springer, John Springer, Henry Springer, Daniel and Henry Vautilburg, and probably a few others not now remembered.  The first justice of the peace was Robert Newell, who was succeeded by Daniel Carter, sr.

ORANGE TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Richland county in 1818.  The pioneers of that date are believed to have been Christian Fast and sons, Martin Mason and sons, Jacob Young, Vachel Metcalf, Amon Norris, John McConnell, Patrick Murray and sons, Jacob Mason, Joseph Bishop, John Bishop, Frederick Heiffner and sons, Thomas Green, Mordecai Chilcote, Philip Fluke and sons, James Clark, William Patterson, and probably others not now remembered by the present generation.  The first justice of the peace of Vachel Metcalf.

MIFFLIN TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Richland County in 1815.  The pioneers at that date, as near as can be ascertained, were John Lambright, Leonard Croninger, David Braden, Michael Culler, Daniel Harlan, George Thomas and sons, Jacob Keiffer and sons, James and Wesley Copus, sons of Rev. James Copus, Daniel Hoover, Elijah Hart, sr., William B. James, Peter Deardorf, Samuel Lewis, and many others not now remembered.  The first justice of the peace in Mifflin, was Archibald Gardner, who served one term, and was succeeded by William Gardner.

MILTON TOWNSHIP

was organized in 1816, by the commissioners of Richland county.  The pioneers of that date are believed to have been Jacob Foulks, Alexander Reed, Robert Nelson, Benjamin Montgomery, James Andrews, Peter Brubaker, John Clay, Henry Keever, Frederick Sultzer, John Hazlett, Joseph Charles, Andrew Stevenson, David Markley, James Crawford, David Crabbs, Elijah Charles, David McKinney, John Ferrelll, Abel Montgomery, William Houston, George Burget, and possibly a few others.  Prior to 1816, Milton had been under the jurisdiction of Mifflin.  The first justice of the peace was Robert McBeth, from what is now Clearcreek, then under the jurisdiction of Milton.

CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Richland county in 1820.**  The pioneers at that period are believed to have been David Burns, John Richards, John Freeborn, James Haney, William Shaw, Abraham Huffman, Peter Vanostrand, Isaac VanMeter, Elias Ford, Thomas Ford, John Bryte, Nathaniel Bailey, Daniel Huffman, James Burns, Abraham Clayberg, Jacob Foulks, Richard Freeborn, Thomas Haney, John Haney, Abel Bailey, John Bailey, Thomas Wright, John McMurray, John Cuppy, Patrick Elliott, Isaac Harvout, John McWilliams, John Aten, Robert McBeth, and perhaps others, not now remembered.  Robert McBeth, who had been justice during the jurisdiction of Milton over Clearcreek, was also the first justice of the peace for Clearcreek.

RUGGLES TOWNSHIP

was organized in 1826, by the commissioners of Huron county.  It was called after Judge Almon Ruggles, who surveyed the Fire Lanes.  It was erected from the Five Lands, and was five miles square, and subdivided into four quarters, each being again subdivided into lots containing from fifty to five hundred acres.  The jurisdiction of Bethel township was extended over Ruggles until her population was sufficient for home rule.  At the time of the Organization, in 1826, the following heads of families are believed to have resided in the township: Bradford Sturtedevant, Daniel Beach, James Poag, Harvey Sacket, Aldrich Carver, Norman Carter, Enoch Taylor, Reuben Fox, Jacob Roorback, Perry Durfee, A Bates C. Sanders, Abraham Barnes, and, perhaps a few others, not now remembered.  Harvey Sacket is believed to have been the first justice of the peace after Ruggles assumed self-government.

TROY TOWNSHIP

was organized by the commissioners of Huron county, in 1835.  It was erected out of territory known as the "Gore," and was four miles wide and five miles long.  At the time of its organization it abounded in the forests, and was the resort of wild game.  It had been attached, for purposes of civil rule, to the township north of it, in Huron county.  The pioneers, at the date of its organization, are believed to have been:  Joseph Parker, Nathaniel Clark, Benjamin Moore, Christian Bush, David Mason, Ralph Phelps, Nicholas Fast, Christian Fast, and Sanford Peck.  Benjamin Moore was the first justice of the peace after the township assumed its organized condition.

SULLIVAN TOWNSHIP

was organized in 1819 by the commissioners of Lorain county.  It is divided into lots in the same manner as Ruggles, being five miles square.  This township was originally heavily timbered and abounded in wild game.  The Canesadoohaire, or Black river, famed as the region of deer and bear in Indian times, rises in Sullivan township.  The pioneers at that date of its organization were - Sylvanus Parmely, John Parmely, Asahel Parmely, Jesse Chamberlain, Abijah Chamberlain, Thomas Rice, James Palmer, Aretas Marsh, George Mann, J. M. Close, Henry Close, and Rhesa Close.  These were followed in 1818, by Whitney Chamberlain and Mr. Durfee.  John Gould is believed to have been the first justice of the peace in Sullivan.
     This concludes the organization of the various townships, and shows their original position in the counties, from which they were, at a later day, detached.