Clinton county was formed from the
territory of Highland and Warren counties and Green township had
been organized while this territory was still a part of Highland
county. Clinton county was not organized until 1810 and
evidently Green township was organized some two or three years prior
to this date. In some of the early township books we find this
record: "(1) Oct. 28, 1809, William Noble's ear mark of
his hogs, sheep and cattle is a crop and under-slit in the right ear
and a hole in the left." "(2) Dec. 4, 1809, Thomas Cox's
ear mark of his hogs, sheep and cattle is a swallow fork and
under-bit in the left ear and a hole in the left."
It is also a matter of record that the early citizens
of this township paid tax as citizens of Green township, Highland
county. Two of the tax receipts are given as evidence of the
fact: "Tax receipt, Oct. 6, 1807. Received of Micajah
Nordyke $2.65 of land and county tax for the year.
Received by B. W. Johnson." "Nov. 9, 1809.
Received of Micajah Nordyke his state and county tax; state
tax $2.25, county tax 45 cents; 300 acres of land, No. 4,397."
Therefore, we can safely draw the conclusion that this township was
formed as early as 1809.
Green township lies in the southeast part of Clinton
county. It is bounded on the southeast by Highland county; on
the west by Clark, Washington and Union townships; on the north by
Union and Wayne townships and on the northeast by Wayne township.
Its form is rhomboidal. This township contains about
forty-three square miles of land, or twenty-seven thousand five
hundred and twenty acres. The northeast part of the township
lies on the waters of Paint creek; the southwest part lies on the
headwaters of the Little Miami river.
TOPOGRAPHY.
SETTLEMENT.
The white man evidently
made his first appearance in this township about the year 1800.
The exact time when he came here is not a matter of record, and
tradition is not authentic in such matters. The first settlers
to take out land with the intention of making this their permanent
home were Joseph Anthony who came here from Virginia;
Abner Van Meter and Samuel Clevenger; Morgan Van Meter,
who was a native of Morgantown, Virginia, and who settled in the
vicinity of Snow Hill in the year 1800. Van Meter purchased
two hundred acres of land, on which he erected a double log house
and this was the first log cabin erected in the township.
It is thought by older inhabitants of this township
that the first settlement was made a little southwest of the center
of the township on the East fork of the Little Miami river.
Micajah Nordyke was among the first settlers to locate here.
He was a
[Pg. 270]
native of North Carolina and came to this county in the year 1804.
In 1806 he sold his former claim and settled a short distance west,
in the same township. The Nordyke brothers were born in
North Carolina, but, while yet quite young, moved to South Carolina
and remained there a short time, when they moved to Tennessee, on a
stream called Lost creek. They came direct to Clinton county
from this place and remained here until their death. They
purchased their land for two dollars and fifty cents an acre of
Col. A. Buford, who then owned a large tract of this region.
As one bit of living organism will attract others, so
this small settlement in the far-off wilderness served as a nucleus
around which many others gathered. Joshua and Stephen
Hussey emigrated from North Carolina, their native state, in the
year 1806-07 and bought land in this township, a portion of which is
included in the present limits of the town of New Vienna. The
first house built by these brothers was only a short distance
from New Vienna. Charles Harris who was the father of
Elisha Harris, bought a tract of land in this township and
began the work of improving it and getting it under cultivation.
About the same time, Thomas Cox, who was the father of
Vincent Cox, of New Vienna, settled here. Other early
settlers who assisted in the upbuilding of the township, are
Joseph Anthony, William Noble, Sr., Aaron Cox and Eliha
Noble. Charles Harris built the "Snow Hill house," and
opened a tavern there, probably the first opened in the county.
Mr. Harris's brother-in-law, Samuel Wasson,
built a house about the same time and near the Snow Hill house and
commenced to entertain travelers.
The land in the northwest part of the township was held
originally in large tracts, which Congress had bestowed for military
services rendered in the Revolutionary struggle, or in repelling the
attacks of the savage aborigines of the county. In consequence
of this, the northern and northwestern part of the township was not
settled as early as the southern and southeastern part. The
pioneers of this region were brave, big-hearted, truthful, generous
and kind. They left the civilization of their early homes and
sought their fortunes in the wilds of the Mississippi valley.
After these men had found the lands which they had bought, the first
thing they did was to erect a rude structure called a cabin, for the
protection of those for whom they were ready to sacrifice their
lives. When suitable sites were located on which to build
their cabins, they at once began the work of construction, which
consisted in the hewing and shaping of the logs and putting them
together, and in a marvelously short time there would rise in the
woods these embryo homes. In these crude homes, the loving
housewife and playful children were afterwards to share the love and
caresses, hardships and privations of their noble husbands and
fathers. These log homes were usually small, with but one
large room, some sixteen or eighteen by twenty feet square, eight or
nine feet high, constructed of rough logs, covered with clapboards,
three or four feet long and six to ten inches in width, laid in
layers and held to their places with poles. The spaces between
the logs were filled with pieces of timber and covered with mortar
made of clay and water. The floor was rough, made of puncheons
or slabs, split from the trunks of trees and smoothed on one side.
In the center of one wall the chimney was constructed, which usually
took up the entire side of the house. This was constructed by
cutting away three or four of the lower logs at one end of the
buildings and then building them to the wall again by attaching
pieces between the ends of the logs removed and parts still
remaining in the walls. Against these logs and timbers, stones
were placed, against which the fire was built. This was called
the back wall and the chimney was constructed by laying together
small pieces of timber and plastering these within and without with
clay mortar. The clothing of these early pioneers was
hand-made and was called linsey-woolsey.
A gloom was cast over the thinly-settled community by
the death of the child of Abner Van Meter, which was the
first death to occur in the township.
[Pg. 271]
For several years after the coming of the first
settler, the growth of the township was slow. Emigrants came
in from the south and east, but the influx was rather scanty.
By 1820 the population had increased until practically all of the
lands were occupied. The growth and progress was steady from
then to the present time and the farms which now yield large crops
were reclaimed by these sturdy pioneers.
FIRST SCHOOL.
It is rather
uncertain where the first school was located in this township, but
popular opinion among the older inhabitants seems to point to the
town of New Vienna. This house was built about the year 1812.
Robert Peggin was first employed to keep this school, but he
was a man of intemperance and lax morals and was soon released.
James Savage was the next employe, but, morally, he was very
little better, hence he is likewise released.
The following are the officers of Green township in
1915; Trustees, William Cushman, C. B. Miller and Charles
Johnson; clerk, H. L. Bower; treasurer, William H.
Holmes. Population, two thousand one hundred
fifty-eight.
NEW VIENNA.
By A. W. Boden.
New Vienna is located
between Cincinnati and Chillicothe, on the main line of the
Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern. It is situated within the
boundary line of Clinton county but borders on Highland.
Hussey sold his interest to Joseph Starr.
"Buzzard's Glory," as the town was first called,
was laid off as a village April 21, 1835, by Nathan Linton,
surveyor, for Thomas Hussey (father of Stephen Hussey).
It was called "Buzzard's Glory" from the fact that a man by the name
of Mortimer, in the early days, about 1812 or 1813, was
running a tanyard over in the "Canada" part of town. It was
part of the Collohill survey No. 1,078. While thus
employed, he became financially embarrassed, and his stock was
levied on. The hides were taken out to the vats preparatory to
sale and hung on poles where they remained for several days,
affording bait for an innumerable throng of buzzards, and while they
were thus flocking to feed on Mortimer's hides, the place was
dubbed "Buzzard's Glory." Harkens T. Van Winkle gave
the town its present name of New Vienna.
Among the first settlers were Thomas and Joshua
Hussey. They started a grist mill in 1826, near where the
home of John T. Wright is now located. They continued
in business until the year 1833, when they purchased an engine and
began running a steam grist and saw-mill.
During the year 1827, Rafe Mortimore and
Stephen Hussey sunk a tanyard in that part of town now known as
"Canada." This tanyard was located just between what is now
known as the William Moore property and the home of
William Rollison. Remains of the old tanyard can yet be
seen there. The firm continued in business until 1829, when
Mr.
In 1829, Stephen Hussey and William Reese
opened a store in a building that stood where the present residence
of William Triplett stands. This was the first business
of its kind ever conducted in New Vienna. They sold their
goods to Thomas Hussey and Henry Kennedy. These
gentleman were afterward succeeded in business by George Townsend
and he by Judge Isaac Thornburg.
In 1829 Jonathan Haworth and
Thomas Reese started a carding-mill. About the year 1834,
Zion Rains put in operation an oil-mill for the manufacture
of linseed oil.
The first hotel in New Vienna was kept by Girard
Morgan on the lot now occupied by the residence of Frank W.
Hadley. John E. Dalton was the first practicing physician
of the village. Granville Osborne was the first, as
well as the present, tinner of the town, and John Spears, the
principal blacksmith.
Among the names of the early settlers in this community
are some of the well-known
[Pg. 272]
family names of today. Their names and date of settlement are
as follows: Micajah Nordyke, 1806; Jehu Ellis,
1806; Morgan Van Meter, Charles Harris, William Noble, James
Johnson, John Shockley, Nathan Hockett, Joseph Hockett, John Hockett,
Eleazer Johnson, Absalom Van Meter, Stephen Hussey, Sr.,
Joshua Hussey, Nordyke and others settled around them.
When they began to hear their neighbor's dog bark they thought they
were getting pretty close.
The first public improvement in the new settlement was
to build a house of worship. Micajah Nordyke donated
three acres of land where what is now known as the Quaker cemetery
is located, on the farm of Lawrence Wright On this site
was built a log house of two rooms, with one door and one window in
each room. The two rooms were connected by siding shutters in
the partition. A stone hearth was placed in the center
of each room to burn charcoal on, as stoves could not be procured at
that time. This was in about the year 1809.
The first house of worship.......
[Pg. 273]
NEW ANTIOCH.
New Antioch is but a
hamlet, of probably one hundred and fifty inhabitants, situated a
half-mile to the northeast of the New Vienna and Wilmington pike,
and about eight miles from the former place. It was platted by
Charles Underwood, surveyor, for Paul Hulls, Jr., David
Marble and others, on Feb. 28, 1851. It is part of
Johnson and others' survey No. 2,386. Its buildings are
all frame, but good and substantial, and takes on an appearance of
thrift. Two pikes pass through the town.
The early industries consisted of a mill, operated by
John Duchane; two stores, run by the Layman Brothers
and the Rulon Brothers. John Barrett was the
early shoemaker, and Pressley Bulon accommodated the early
citizens with harness. The present business and professional
interests consist of one general merchandise store, owned by C.
V. Murphy; one grocery store, owned by J. W. Summers;
three blacksmith shops, Thomas Devers, Elmer Urton and
William Arrsmith operating them; Nelson Hall is the
village barber; James Hobson runs a shoe shop; J. W.
Durham owns and operates a flour and saw-mill, and V. E.
Hutchins is the village physician.
Snow Hill is the only other hamlet in this township,
and is one of the early towns laid out in the county. It was
platted and laid out for Charles Harris, proprietor, Nov. 11,
1817, on the William Talifairo survey No. 192.
[Pg. 274]
Morgantown is a defunct town of Green township.
The village was first laid out on what is known as the Washington
Spear farm near Snow Hill, now owned by the Swingley
estate. This settlement was called Morgantown and there
were but a very few houses built there.
This village was platted on Feb. 23, 1816, and laid out
for Isaac Pearson, Jr., and Mary Van Matre, the
proprietors. This was part of the William Tallifairo
survey No. 1,101. It remained a town but a short time, and was
then vacated and reverted back to farm land.
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