ALEXANDER,
one of the four townships
into which the county was divided on its organization,
originally included the territory which now forms eleven
townships, viz: Bedford, Scipio and Columbia Townships of
Meigs county; Vinton county; and Lee, Lodi and Alexander of
Athens county. Its territorial extent was the same as
that of Ames and just twice that of Athens. The township
was located and surveyed in 1795. Athens and Alexander
being the "college townships, " were generally spoken of in
connection, and, as Alexander lay south of Athens, it was for
a long time familiarly designated as "Southtown." Among
the residents of Alexander as early as 1805 were Robert
Ross, William Gabriel, Amos Thompson, Enos Thompson, Edward
Martin, Isaac Stanley, John, Jonathan, Joseph, Thomas and
Isaac Brooks, Matthew Haning, Thomas and John Armstrong,
Jared, Israel and Martin Bobo, Caleb Merritt, Joel
Lowther, Michael Bowers, William Strond, Esquire Bowman, Abner
Smith, Charles and Isaiah Shepherd, Thomas Sharp,
and Richard and William Reeves. The
population of the township in 1820 was 854; in 1830 it was
882; in 1840 it was 1,451; in 1850 it was 1,735; in 1860 it
was 1,675. In Hebbardsville,1
pleasantly situated in the western part of the township, is
the principal center of population.
Jeremiah Clements and Israel Bobo, noted
as hunters in the early settlement of the county, killed in
one season sixty-five bears in one neighborhood, included in
the site of the present town of Hebbardsville. The same
men were fond of whisky, and, to get a supply, took a
horse-load of bear skins to the Ohio river and traded for a
barrel of the desired article. The next difficulty was
how to get it home. They finally cut two poles from the
forest and formed a sort of a drag to be drawn by the horse
the largest ends of the poles resting on the ground. The
barrel of whisky was then secured between the poles and thus
dragged through the woods to Alexander township, where they
lived. This was the first barrel of whisky ever brought
into Alexander. In after years the use of it became
common and greatly the fashion, but at the present time it is
not kept for sale at any place in the township.
In Alexander the Methodists were, as usual, the pioneer
church. At a very early day they built a meeting house
at "Centre Stake," and the Presbyterians not long after built
one near the site of the present Cumberland Presbyterian
church. There are now in the township three Methodist
churches, three Free Will Baptist, one Old School Presbyterian
and one Cumberland Presbyterian. Near the latter church
is located the principal cemetery in the township, which is
being tastefully improved. Pleasanton,
situated in the eastern part of the township, on the road
between Athens and Pomeroy, is a thrifty settlement,
containing about twenty-five families. Simon Pierce
built the first house here about 1817. Other settlers
located here from time to time, and in 1851 a post office was
established and the place called Pleasanton.
The early records of the township were destroyed by
fire in the house of John McKee in 1827 or 1828, but as
nearly as can be ascertained the first trustees were Caleb
Merritt, John Brooks, and Thomas Sharp, and
Caleb Merritt the first justice of the peace.
Trustees since 1829.
1829 Ziba Lindley, Sen., Samuel McKee, Nicholas Misner.
1830 Ziba Lindley, Sen., Samuel McKee, Elias N. Nichols
1831 Ziba Lindley, Jun., Samuel McKee, Elias N. Nichols
1832 Samuel Earhart, Asa Stearns, Benjamin Parks, Jun.
1833 Samuel Earhart, John V. Brown, Benjamin Parks,
Jun.
1834 Ziba Lindley, Jun., Jesse M. Mahon, Benjamin
Parks, Jun.
1835 Ziba Lindley, Jun., John Brooks, Samuel Earhart.
1836 Daniel Dudley, Ami Conde, Archelaus T. Clark.
1837 Samuel Earhart, John Brooks, Jun., Archelaus
Stanley
1838 Wm. B. Reynolds, John Brooks, Jun., Franklin
Burnham
1839 Wm. B. Reynolds, John Brooks, Jun., Franklin
Burnham
1840 John Rickey, Peter Morse, John W. Drake
1841 Franklin Burnham, John Grey, A. Love
1842 Franklin Burnham, J. H. Brooks, A. Love
1843 J. W. Drake, Ziba Lindley, Jun., A. Love
1844 J. W. Drake, Ziba Lindley, Jun., A. Burtnett
1845 J. W. Drake, Moses Patterson, A. Burtnett
1846 George Bean, Daniel Teters, A. Burtnett
1847 George Bean, John H. Brooks, Abram McVey
1848 Archelaus Stanley, John H. Brooks, Abram McVey
1849 James S. Hawk, A. G. Henderson, William Wood
1850 John Rickey, Joseph W. Blackwood, John W. Drake
1851 John Rickey, George Bean, William Wood
1852 John Rickey, Franklin Burnham, William Wood
1853 Daniel Teeters, Peter Long, William Wood,
1854 Missing
1855 Alexander Love, James H. Martin, Abram Coe
1856 Alexander Love, James H. Martin, William Campbell
1857 Moses Patterson, William Wood, William Campbell
1858 Moses Patterson, Isaac Stanley, George W. Sams
1859 E. N. Blake, John Rickey, George W. Sams
1860 E. N. Nichols, John Rickey, George W. Sams
1861 E. N. Blake, John Rickey, George W. Sams
1862 E. N. Blake, John Rickey, George W. Sams
1863 E. N. Blake, Isaac Bean, Isaac Brooks, Jun.
1864 E. N. Blake, Isaiah Been, Isaac Stanley, Jun.
1865 B. Rickey, Isaiah Bean, Peter Long
1866 B. Rickey, Isaiah Bean, Homer Chase
1867 S. B. Blake, Isaiah Bean, P. G. Hibbard
1868 Samuel Blake, Isaiah Bean, William Bean.
Justices of the Peace.
1829 Ami Conde, J. M. Gorsline
1831 Samuel McKee
1832 J. M. Gorsline, Alfred Dunlap, Samuel Earhart
1834 Josiah Wilson
1835 William Golden
1837 Josiah Wilson
1838 William Golden
1849 Franklin Burnham
1850 John Camp, Joseph W. Blackwood
1852 Franklin Burnham
1853 John Camp, Joseph W. Blackwood
1854 Joseph McPherson, George Adair
1855 Daniel Drake
1857 Joseph McPherson, A. S. Coe
1858 Daniel Drake
1860 James Strite, L. Oliver
1861 L. C. Crouch, Wm. B. Dickerson, A. S> Coe, A. C.
Murphy, S. H. Kinney
1863 Leven Oliver
1864 Wm. Watson, Amos C. Murphy
1866 Leven Oliver
1867 Wm. Watson, Amos C. Murphy
1868 Peter Vorhes
Personal and Biographical
(FOR BIOGRAPHIES, CLICK HERE)
* ARMSTRONG, Elmer
* ARMSTRONG, Thomas
* BLAKE, Samuel L.
* HIBBARD Family
* NORTHROP, Amos, Capt.
* SICKLES, William
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