CONCORD
TOWNSHIP.
Lying in the
southwest corner of Delaware County, Concord is one of the county's
most interesting townships in point of historical heppenings
and incidents of pioneer life. The derivation of its name is
unknown, but the popular belief exists that it was named from the
town of Concord, Massachusetts, of Revolutionary fame.
Delaware was set off from Franklin County in 1808, and three
townships established in the new county, of which Liberty was made
to include what is now Concord. When Union Township was
created June 16, 1809, it included that part of Concord lying west
of the Scioto River. Apr. 20, 1819, Concord Township came into
being, its boundaries being fixed in the following manner:
"Beginning at the county line between Franklin and Delaware
Counties, on the east bank of the Scioto River, and running up the
river to where the range line between 19 and 20 strikes the river ;
thence north on said range line to the southeast corner of fourth
quarter, fifth township, and twentieth range; thence west to the
Scioto River, thence up said river to where the State Road from
Delaware to Derby crosses the same; thence westward along the south
line of said road until it strikes the westerly line of survey, and
extra No. 2,994; thence southwardly on said line and on the west
line of survey Nos. 2.993, 2.989, 2,998, 3,006, 3,005 and 2,991, to
Franklin
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County line; thence east to the place of beginning." Very
irregular in outline, it was taken from and added to so frequently
in early days, it became a matter of jest as to whether those who
resided near the border, would awaken in the morning in the same
township in which they had sough repose the night before.
About 1852. Scioto Township was allowed one school district from
that portion of Concord lying east of Scioto River, extending north,
between the river and Delaware Township, to the south line of
Radnor. A few years later, on petition of the voters affected
a school district was added from the southwest part of Delaware
Township, for political reasons, it is thought; and still later a
small triangular part of the southwestern part of Liberty Township
was added, but in a few years restored to that township. A
school district lying in the bend of Mill Creek, in the northwest
part of Concord, was segregated and annexed to Scioto. This was the
last of the many changes. That part of the township lying west
of the Scioto River, originally formed a part of the old Virginia
Military Lands, and the farms were laid out by the claimants'
surveyors to suit them, being extended one direction to include a
desirable building spot, another direction to take in a valuable
spring, and so on as their fancy led them, without regard to
sections or section lines. This land was heavily timbered with
oak, walnut, hickory, sycamore and maple, and east of the river,
between Bellepoint and Delaware Township, there was a vast swamp,
considered valueless in the early days. It was many years
before there was a road to Delaware through this swamp, the settlers
going to that city, either by the old pack-horse trail two miles
south, or by Rigger's Ford, where the covered bridge on the
Marysville Pike crossed the Scioto, and the State Road.
After the surrounding forest had been cleared away and an effective
system of drainage instituted, the swamp land was reclaimed and
became very valuable as it was exceedingly fertile. Scioto
River. Mill Creek, Big Run and Deer Lick Run are the streams of
Concord Township, and the first named, affording excellent rafting
in the days before the construction of many dams, drew many of the
early residents who were thus placed within easy reach of Columbus
and other river towns. The business of rafting was carried on
extensively, trips down the river being made, sometimes, as far as
the Ohio River. Mill Creek excelled in its water power, not
showing the effect of the dry seasons as early as did the Scioto.
The first white settler of Concord was George
Hill, an old Revolutionary soldier,who, in 1811, made his way
from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, on pack horses, and settled
two miles south of Bellpoint on the banks of the river. He
built a log cabin on the site of the old Hill home,
which he built of stone in 1823. and there with his family lived
among the Indians, who were his only neighbors for a short time.
His brother-in-law, Christopher Freshwater, followed
him shortly to Delaware County, making the journey from
Pennsylvania, afoot, being handicapped in his travel by a gun and
broad-ax which he carried on his shoulder. He bought fifty
acres adjoining Mr. Hill's, and for many years
followed his trade of carpentering. Many of his descendants
still reside in the county. Joel Marsh, the
third settler in point of time, located near Hill and
Freshwater, and his marriage to a daughter of the former, was
the first in the township. George Freshwater,
son of Christopher, was the first white child born there, and
Mrs. Hill, mother of George Hill, was
the first who died in the township, as well as the first buried in
Hill Cemetery. She was eighty years old when the
journey was made from Pennsylvania, and died in 1821, aged ninety
years. John Day. Sr., a negro slave,
the property of George Hill, was brought here in 1811
and immediately upon arrival was granted his freedom. After
living there some years he moved to Delaware. Among othersof
the name linked with Concord's early history, may be mentioned those
of William Carson, who came in 1821; George
Oiler, wholocated on the east bank of the Scioto; James
Kooken, the original proprietor of Bellepoint, who had been a
man of prominence prior to locating in Concord in 1835; J. E.
Hughes,
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step-son of James Kooken; John Robinson;
William Jackson, who was a child when his father
brought him to the vicinity of White Sulphur Springs; D. W. C.
Lugenbeel, who for more than half a century taught school
without missing a term; John Cutler, first township
treasurer and owner of 800 acres of land; Daniel Creamer;
Francis Marley, the pioneer blacksmith; Joel
Liggitt; Gilbert Smith; Jacob
Wolford; John Black; Daniel Gardner;
William Stone; John Jones; Aaron
Gillett; John Artz ; Thomas Bryson; and
A. Depp, a colored resident
whose coming dates back to 1834, when he purchased a tract of 400
acres. The last named was the organizer of the old
colored Baptist Church, long
since abandoned and torn down, which stood on his property and was
known as "Depp's Church." Dr. Samuel White,
another colored citizen, came in
1836 and for many years was a practicing physician near the
Industrial Home. Among the first to locate in the Mill Creek
Settlement was Colonel Seburn Hinton, who
bought and settled upon 1,000 acres of land. There he built
the first saw and grist mill of the township, which afterward was
enlarged and for many years did a flourishing business. In
connection, he conducted a store at his mill. Others of Mill
Creek settlers were William Smart, who came from
Pennsylvania; Presley The first bridge in the township
was built over Said; Daniel Robbins; and
Randall Murphy. Mill Creek by the people of the
neighborhood and was located on the line of the old Sandusky Millitary
Road.
The White Sulphur Springs, or Fountain, as it is
sometimes called, is the home of one of the State's most important
institutions. The Girl's Industrial Home, one in which the
county and state take a just pride. The history of the Springs
date back to the time the firm of Davis & Richards
made borings for salt, but instead of that article struck a great
flow of sulphur water at a depth of 460 feet. They left off
operations in discouragement, and the well remained in an unfinished
state until 1842, when Nathaniel Hart conceived the
idea of establishing a watering place for pleasure and health
seekers. Purchasing the property of its owner, Christopher
Freshwater, he erected a large building and several cottages
for the accommodation of guests. His success was not such as
anticipated and in time Mr. Hart sold to Andrew
Wilson, Jr., who continued the place as a resort until
1865. At that date a transfer of the property was made to
John Ferry, who remodeled, enlarged and refurnished the house at
a considerable expense. He carried on the business with but
little success until 1869, then sold the property to the State of
Ohio, which established thereon the State Reform School for Girls,
which project was the result of a petition to the Legislature by
some of the benevolently inclined citizens of Delaware county.
The name of the institution was changed in 1872 by special enactment
of the Legislature to "The Girls Industrial Home."
The village of Bellepoint, situated in the angle formed
at the junction of Mill Creek and Scioto River, was laid out by
James Kooken in 1835, and wild speculation followed for a
time, the value of lots going steadily upward on the strength of a
plan to slack the Scioto River and fit it for steamboat navigation.
It was soon demonstrated that slack water navigation was
impracticable, owing to the fall of the river between Bellepoint and
Columbus, and choice lots in the new town became, suddenly, almost
worthless. Its founder and a few others still strove to build
up the town, but their efforts met with failure. A post office
was established there in 1836-37, with Walter Borgan
as postmaster. A tavern, conducted by Josiah Reece,
the blacksmith shop of Francis Marley, a church and
school house, together with a few dwellings, was the extent of
Bellepoint's claim to classification as a village.
Concord Township, peopled with an intelligent, refined
and law-abiding class of citizens, was rudely awakened from its
peaceful pursuits on Sept. 8, 1838. when the news spread that a
cold-blooded murder had been committed on the camp-meeting grounds,
near Rigger's Ford. An Irishman, a stranger in the community,
had been killed by Levi Bowersmith as the result of an
argument over money matters. The Irishman had engaged the
Bowersmith brothers, Isaac and Levi, to
haul some goods from Columbus to the campmeeting grounds, and the
job completed, it is said the latter demanded a larger sum of money
than that agreed upon. Hot words were passed and the two
brothers left the cabin in a rage, but Levi soon returned and
with a club struck the Irishman on the back of the head, crushing
his skull. The victim of this assault died soon after in the
cabin of Protus Lyman. In the trial which
followed, Isaac Bowersmith was acquitted, and Levi
was found guilty, being sentenced to one year of imprisonment.
The officers of Concord Township for the year 1908, as
reported to the county auditor, are:
A. Bean and N. Chambers, justices of the
peace; J. N. Ropp, F. V. Staley and G. D. Freshwater,
trustees; O. C. Hutchisson, clerk; H. O. Moore,
treasurer; O. Robinson, assessor; S. W. Clover and J. J.
Chambers, constables; L. Jones, A. Avers, and W. W.
Sands, cemetery trustees.
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