SURFACE, SOIL AND STREAMS.

ANCIENT REMAINS.

A BEAR HUNT.

JEREMIAH CLARK
(w/ portrait)

WILLIAM ROHR
(w/ portrait)

SETTLEMENT.

     The first settler was, probably, JOHN DILL, who came from York county, Pennsylvania, about the year 1800, and entered twelve hundred acres of land in the north and entered twelve hundred acres of land in the northwest part of the township, residing first in Franklinton, where he was one of the first settlers.  He soon afterwards sold the half of the tract to Michael Fisher.  He lived on the bank of the river, and his old log house is yet standing, and is now occupied by Edward Fisher.  Dill was an early justice of the township.  His life was cut short by accident.  While riding, in company with Judge Flannagan, he was thrown from his horse by a mis-step of the animal, and sustained an injury to his head, which caused his death a few hours after.  His wife survived him.  They were both buried in the old Franklinton graveyard, but there is nothing to mark their resting place.  They had no children.

     MICHAEL FISHER settled in the same vicinity soon after John Dill.  He was a native of Hardy county, Virginia, and was born Sept. 15, 1767.  After his marriage to Sarah Petty, he resided in Kentucky one year, when he moved to Ohio, some time prior to 1800.  He purchased a military claim of about eight hundred acres, Just west of the river, in Franklin and Jackson townships, and located in the bend of the river.  He lived there a year or two, and then sold a part of his land, and bought six hundred acres of John Dill, and moved into this township.  He built on the bank of the river, on the Chillicothe road, as it then run.  He had a saw-mill there at an early day, which was demolished when the canal was built.  Mr. Fisher was also an early justice of the peace of Hamilton.  He died in this township, Jan. 15, 1824, and his wife Jan. 2, 1843.

     THOMAS MORRIS settled in Hamilton, in 1803 or 1804.  He had been in this section with a surveying party, in 1799.  He was a native of New York city, and was born Sept. 1, 1767.  At the age of nineteen he went to Kentucky, and in the fall of 1802 came to Ohio, and with others located on the Scioto river, at what was called "high banks," south of Chillicothe.  A year or two afterwards he removed to this township, and entered section twenty-seven, than which there is no better section of land in Franklin county.  The old patent, therefor, issued Oct. 23, 1805, and signed by Thomas Jefferson, president, and James Madison, secretary of State, is now in possession of Thomas M. Clark.  Mr. Morris located where widow Clark now lives, and resided there until his death, July 16, 1853.  He was a man of energy, of character, and of strict integrity, and every object looking to the moral well-being of society, found in him a warm supporter.  He was largely instrumental in the establishment of the Walnut Hill church, formerly called the Morris church, to which he made a donation of land, and at his death bequeathed the income of one thousand dollars for its support, and that of the burying-ground located there.  He, too, served as a justice of the peace in an early day, in this township.  He was married twice, and had two daughters, one of whom (Jane) was the first wife of Dr. Jeremiah Clark.

     STEWART.  A family by the name Stewart were early settlers in Hamilton, just south of where the starch factory now stands.  A son, William, married Betsey Fisher, and occupied the place after his father's death.

     JOHN STAMBAUGH and family, consisting of his wife and four children, moved in from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1804.  He lived where the widow of his son, Frederick, now resides (now Marion township), taking up the west half of section three.  He had two sons and four daughters, all now dead but one daughter - Mrs. David Mooberry, who lives in Illinois.  Frederick, who occupied the homestead up to the day of his death, in 1861, was born there, in 1811; he married Elizabeth Baylor, who is still living on the same property.

     PERCIVAL ADAMS, about this time, settled on a part of the southwest quarter of section twenty-seven.

     DAVID SPANGLER, one of the earliest settlers of the township, emigrated with his family, from Rockingham county, Virginia, and settled where his grandson, W. T. Spangler, now lives.  He built the old brick house there, about sixty-five years ago.  He had a large family, but only two sons are living - one in the northern part of the State, and the other in Illinois.  David, his son (now deceased), married Julia Holmes, who is still living, near South Bloomfield, Pickaway county.  David Spangler, sr., died July 26, 1841, aged nearly seventy-six.

     THE RAMSEYS - Samuel, James and Robert - were among the early pioneers of the county.  Samuel and James settling in the west part of Madison township, and Robert, in this, on the east line of the township, on Big Walnut, where the bridge now is.  His sons run a ferry across the creek as early as 1814 or 1815,  Their boat was flat-bottomed and was capable of carrying a loaded wagon and team of six horses at a single time, and frequently ferried across wagons loaded with merchandise from the east.

     FERGUSON MOREHEAD, originally from Pennsylvania, came to Ohio from Kentucky with his mother and a brother.  In 1806 he married Jane Williams, and settled on the Scioto river south of David Spangler's.  He died there about the year 1846, and his wife in 1825.  Mrs. Maria Holmes, now living in this township with her son, Isaac Holmes, was their oldest child.  She was born Oct. 1, 1807, in the cabin on the bank of the river, and was rocked in a sap-trough for a cradle.  She married Isaac Holmes Sept. 6, 1827, and spent her married life in Harrison township, Pickaway county.

     GEORGE W. WILLIAMS came from Maryland in the spring of 1805, and located in Franklinton.  A year afterward he moved into Hamilton, and settled where his son, David, now lives, section eleven, now Marion township.  He opened a tavern on the Groveport road, in 1812, which at the time was the principal stopping place between Middletown, now Oregon, in Madison township, and Franklinton.  Mr. Williams kept a tavern there until his death, in 1829.  His wife survived him many years, and died at the age of over eighty.  They were the parents of twelve children, four of whom survive, viz.: George W. Williams, living in this township; Eli, in Mifflin; Mrs. Mary Earhart, in Columbus; and David in Marion township.  The first named was born in Hamilton, in 1809, and is, without doubt, the oldest inhabitant of Hamilton, who was born in the township.  He married Laura Ann Moore, whose father, Simeon Moore, Jr. was an early pioneer of Blendon township.

     JOHN WEATHERINGTON came into the township in 1805, with his son-in-law, George W. Williams.  He entered a part of section seventeen, and resided there until his death.  His sons, Isaac, John, and William, all settled in the township.  His daughter, Rebecca, was the wife of Mr. Williams, and two other daughters - Margaret and Comfort, married, respectively, John and Josiah Williams, brothers of George W., sr.

     JAMES and ANDREW CULBERTSON joined the settlement about this time; also, ROBERT SHANNON, and his sons, Samuel, Hugh, James, John, Joseph, and William.

     JOHN HUFF came with EMMER COX ( who settled in Madison township), in the year 1807.  He settled where AMOS CULP now lives, in section twelve, and died on that place at an advanced age.  He was a Revolutionary soldier.

     HENRY HORNBAKER was an early settler, in the southeast quarter of section thirty-six, and Thomas Swan, in the northeast quarter of the same section.  Swan sold out, in 1818, to Mathias Wolf, and went west.

     The SULLIVANTS - Thomas, William, and James - settled at an early day, on a portion of section thirty-six.  They bought no land, but took a lease, at the expiration of which, they moved out of the county.

     ZEBULON GRAY came from Maryland, at an early day, and a family, by the name of German, came at the same time.  Gray and GEORGE GERMAN moved to Indiana.  Jesse German was a resident of Hamilton until his death, and some of his children now reside here.

     WILLIAM THOMAS was an early occupant of section thirty-six, not far from where WILLIAM ROHR, now lives.  He removed to Indiana, and died there.

     The LAMBERTS settled, quite early, on the farm now owned and occupied by THOMAS M. CLARK, the northwest quarter of section thirty-five.  The father and mother both died there.  Two of the sons moved west.

     JACOB WOLF was an early settler on the farm now occupied by his son-in-law, Timothy Sherman and died, only a few years since, at the age of nearly ninety.

     GEORGE HAYS located, at an early date, in section twenty-four, and occupied, as a renter, the farm now owned by HARVEY LISLE.

     LEVIN SHINN was an early pioneer of Hamilton, and settled in section thirty-four.

     In 1809, SAMUEL PURSEL came to Ohio, from near Brownsville, Pennsylvania, a town on the Monongahela river.  Shortly after coming, he was married to Nancy O'Harra, whose parents were pioneers of the old town of Franklinton, and located in Hamilton, a short distance south of where Rees' station now is.  Subsequently, he settled in the west part of the township, on the Chillicothe road, where he lived until his death, which occurred in the year 1844.  Mr. Pursel was a volunteer in the war of 1812, and assisted in building the blockhouses at Upper Sandusky.  He was an expert hunter, and, during the early years of his settlement, killed a great many deer, wild turkeys, and smaller game, whic, as was the custom among the pioneers, he divided with hid neighbors.  Ten children were born to him.  Mrs. Harriet Stimmel, now residing in this township, was the eldest, and was born in this township, in March, 1811.  She became the wife of Yost Stimmel (now deceased), son of Michael Stimmel.  Mrs. Stimmel has three children: Mrs. John R. Cook, in Columbus; John, in this township, and Smith Stimmel, an attorney at law in Cincinnati.  She has buried four.

     ASA DUNN, from New Jersey, was an early settler near where Shadville now stands, on the bank of the river.  He had a distillery and a small corn-mill on the river.

     MICHAEL STIMMEL, with his wife and two children, came from Hampshire county, Virginia, in 1810.  They made the journey on horseback, the father carrying one of the children and the mother the other, who was then about a year old.  Mr. Stimmel located first on the farm of William Renick, in Pickaway county, where he remained for a year or two, when he came to Franklin county, and settled in this township, on the farm now owned by the family of Thomas Johnson, jr.  He was a blacksmith by trade, and kept a shop there.  This farm he occupied about seven years, and then purchased and settled on the farm now owned and occupied by John Stimmel, his son, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying there in the spring of 1859.  Peter, Daniel, and Jacob, brothers of Michael Stimmel, came out afterward, and married and settled in this county - Peter and Daniel in Hamilton, and Jacob in Franklin township.  They are all now deceased.

     JOHN SHOAF, and family, consisting of his wife and ten children: John Plum, wife, and daughter, and Samuel Riley, moved in together from Hardy county, Virginia, on the south branch of the Potomac river, in the fall of 1812.  HENRY and JACOB PLUMB had arrived some time before this.  Shoaf and family spent the following winter in a cabin of ANDREW CULBERTSON, and in the spring located near the present site of Lockbourne.  Some eighteen months afterward, he made a trip to Virginia, during which he contracted a cold, and died soon after returning to Ohio, in the spring of 1814.  Of this large family, John, living in Hamilton, is the only survivor.

     JOHN PLUM  settled where WILLIAM RILEY now resides, in section fifteen.  He purchased there two hundred acres of land, and also a farm in the vicinity of Lockbourne.  He lived but a few years after his settlement, but his wife lived until the age of ninety-five.

     SAMUEL RILEY was single when he came to Ohio, but afterwards he married Susan, daughter of John Plum, and occupied the place on which her parents settled.

     DAVID WILLIAMS came from near Morefield, Hardy county, Virginia, and in connection with his brother, Abraham, who lived in Chillicothe, located some seven hundred acres of land in the southwest part of the township.  Apr. 23, 1811, he married Margaret Kerns, and settled on the land he had purchased, first occupying a cabin a short distance south of Mrs. Catharine Williams' present residence.  He afterwards built a brick house on the same location.  The frame house now occupied by Mrs. Williams, he erected fifty-four years ago, and occupied it until his death, in 1834  His wife died in May, 1840.  They had nine children - Abraham, Mary, Abner K., David, Rebecca H., William, Benjamin, Isaac, and Sarah E., all now deceased, except Mary, wife of Felix Renick, of Pickaway county, and Rebecca, who married P. L. Howlett, and is now living near Springfield, Illinois.  Abner K. lived in this township, where his son, David, now lives; and David, near Lockbourne, on the place occupied now by his family; William married Mrs. Nancy McKinley, and after her death, Mary Williams, widow of his brother, Abner K.; she now lives in Shadeville; Benjamin was married to Catharine Wright, of Missouri - she still occupies the old homestead of David Williams, sr.; Sarah E. was the wife of Seymour Renick.

JACOB STOUTZENBARGER,

one of Hamilton's substantial farmers, is the eldest of two children of John and Hannah (Rowe) Stoutzenbarger, and was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, Dec. 26, 1810.  His father died when he was three years of age, and when he was ten years old his mother also died.  After her death he worked out for a living, and when he was fifteen years of age, hired to a farmer for four dollars per month.  He was economical with his small earnings, and at the end of the year had saved twelve dollars.   In this saving he laid the foundation of his successful business life.  When his year on the farm expired, he learned the carpenter's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years and a half, and subsequently worked at the trade, on his own account, for about three years.  Having by this time accumulated a capital of about a thousand dollars, he opened a store in a small country town of Pennsylvania, called New Providence.  He conducted the little store for six years, when he sold out for six thousand dollars.  Having a capital to invest, he was induced by his friend, Amor Rees, to come to Hamilton, and with him purchase a saw-mill.  They afterwards built a distillery on Big Walnut creek, a short distance above the present residence of W. T. Rees.  This they operated about four years, when Mr. Stoutzenbarger, sold his interest to his partner, the business not proving as profit able as he desired.  He then went to Marion county, and erected a distillery at Caledonia, which he carried on some seven years, with success.  He then disposed of the still, and concluding to engage at farming, he returned to Franklin county, and purchased the one hundred and sixty acres on which he now lives.  He has since, at different times, added to his original purchase, until he now owns nearly one thousand acres in this county, besides a considerable landed interest in the west.  Mr. Stoutzenbarger's extraordinary success in the accumulation of property, having never received any assistance whatever, has been due to his prudence and industry, combined with a large degree of sagacity.  Unlike many whose success in this direction is the result of questionable methods, Mr. Stoutzenbarger's honesty and integrity were never doubted, and he enjoys the confidence and respect of all who know him.
     Mr. Stoutzenbarger was married March, 1843, to Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob and Julia Ann Frank (afterwards wife of Amor Rees), who was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in the year 1823.  She became the mother of four children, and died in 1848.  Three of the children died in infancy; the other, Susan, born June 28, 1844, married C. S. Herr, Dec. 21, 1864, and resides with her husband on a farm of her father's, near Shadeville.

Residence of JACOB STOUTZENBARGER, Hamiton Tp., Franklin Co., Ohio
 

     MATHIAS WOLF and family moved into the township in 1812.  He settled in section twenty-six, and lived there until his death, in March, 1849, aged fifty years.  His wife survived him ten years.  They had but one child - a daughter, who became the wife of William Rohr.

       FREDERICK STOMBAUGH, with his wife and six children, came from Pennsylvania during the war of 1812.  He settled on the place now occupied by Dr. Blish, on the Lancaster pike, and died there about 1849 or 1850.  His wife died previous to that date.  They raised a family of six children, of whom there are living: Samuel, who lives in Iowa; Frederick, who lives north of Columbus; and Elizabeth, widow of George W. McCloud, who lives in Marion township.  Mrs. McCloud is now seventy years of age.

     JACOB SHOOK came from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, with his father, Philip Shook, in 1812.  His father, with his family, settled in Madison township, Pickaway county, where Abraham Shook now lives, and resided there until his death.  Jacob Shook, in 1817, married Judeth Glick, who came to Fairfield county with her parents in 1808.  Mr. Shook settled about a mile north of his father, on forty acres of land, on the south part of the tract now owned by Z. H. Perrill.  In 1822 he came into this township, but remained only two years, when he returned to his former place of residence, in Pickaway county.  In 1828, he erected a saw-mill on Slate run, in Madison Township, Pickaway county, the race for which he was five years in completing.  In the spring of 1849, he removed to his township, and located on the southeast quarter of section twelve, which had previously been purchased by his sons, Elias and Jeremiah.  He died there in 1860, at the age of seventy years.  His wife died in March, 1879, at the residence of her son, Elias Shook, at the age of nearly eighty-one.  They had six children, of whom Elias is the only survivor.  In 1859, the latter married Rebecca, daughter of Henry Allspaugh, and occupied the place on which his father had resided until about eighteen yeas ago, when he moved to the farm on which he now resides, at Lockbourne.

     GEORGE KLICKENGER came from New Jersey about 1820.  He stopped in Franklinton for about six months, when her purchased eighty acres in the northeast quarter of section eleven.  He died there some twenty years ago.  He had nine children, all of whom were born in New Jersey, but the youngest, John B., living on the old homestead, and Mrs. Jasper Berger, in Iowa, are the only surviving members of the family.

     ALDRIDGE WATKINS, a native of Massachusetts, came to Ohio from Ontario county, New York, arriving in this township July 4, 1822.  He first located in section two, but subsequently moved to section twelve, where he lived for some time; finally settling where his son Q. A. now resides.  He died in March, 1849.  Much of his life was spent in work at jobs on the roads, on the canal, and the streets of Columbus.  He was the father of seven children, four of whom are now living, viz:  Philo B. and Quincey A. who are among the substantial farmers of Marion township; Madaline, widow of Capt. Morrison, in Columbus, and Emeline, wife of Philomel M. Gray, in Scioto township, Pickaway county.  The mother, now in the seventy-eighth year of her age, lives with her son, Quincey A.

     ALEXANDER HARRISON, then a boy twelve years of age, came with his parents to Ohio from near Winchester, Virginia, in 1802.  They settled at Lancaster, Fairfield county, where, Jan. 6, 1813, he married Nancy Strode who came to the same vicinity from Berkeley county, Virginia, in 1806.  Mr. Harrison came to Hamilton in 1829, and settled in the southwest quarter of section one.  He was a carpenter by trade, and worked on the canal, in the construction of locks, for about three years.  He died in this township Dec. 6, 1853, aged eighty-three.  His wife died Nov. 24, 1857.  There were three children:  William H., the only one now living, married in 1846, Mary Kiger, who died about two years after marriage.  Mr. Harrison has resided in the section where he now lives continuously since 1829.  Mar. 4, 1852, he married Susannah Gushart, with whom he now lives.

     ALEXANDER HARRISON, SR., was a Revolutionary soldier, serving through almost the entire war, and was in several important engagements.  He was a guard at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, when the Declaration of Independence was read.

     SAMUEL RANCK has been a resident of this township about forty years.  He was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1811, and emigrated to Ross county, Ohio, in 1834.  The next year he came to Franklin county, and resided in Madison township nearly five years, when he moved to Hamilton.

     JOSHUA BETTS settled, where Shadeville now stands, in February, 1834.  He married, in the spring of 1835, Catharine Lilley and kept, for several years, a boarding house in a cabin that stood on the site of the present residence of Mrs. Seeds.  He located, where he now lives, in 1844.

EARLY EVENTS

EARLY SCHOOLS

RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH

WALNUT HILL METHODIST CHURCH

THE METHODIST CHURCH

Mr. & Mrs. John Lisle

John Lisle Residence

JOHN LISLE
 

ARTHUR O'HARRA
 

HAMILTON PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

     This society was organized, at an early date , by Rev. Dr. Hoge, of Columbus. They aided the Methodists in the erection of the church building at Walnut Hill, and held their meetings therein until the erection of the brick church south of Mr. Shoaf's. This church was built about 1841 or 1842. The organization has run down, and no meetings have been held for several years. The church is now used by the grange.
     The United Brethren had a church organization at Lockbourne for many years until within the last few years. The class was formed at the former dwelling of Samuel Ranck, about the year 1842, by William K. McCabe, the first circuit preacher. There has been prior to this time, local preaching in the neighborhood by Rev. Louis Kramer and others of the denomination, for several years. Preaching was held at Mr. Ranck's on the Dresbach place, in Madison township, this county, as early as 1837. The earliest members of the class were Samuel Ranck and wife, Daniel Dresbach and wife, Henry Hammond and wife, and H. P. Jeffers and wife. Meetings were held regularly at Mr. Ranck's every two weeks, until the building of the frame meeting house in Lockbourne, which was commenced in 1843, and completed and occupied in 1844. Local preaching had been held before this in the school house in Lockbourne. The society in its infancy met with opposition, and even persecution, from a class of individuals who had no regard for religious teaching, and the school house was finally locked against them. The church of the society was open to all orthodox denominations, and the Methodists and the Lutherans also occupied it for a time. The church numbered at one time about fifty members, but it was substantially broken up a number of years ago, and on meetings have been held at the church for three years; and a year ago it was sold to the village of Lockbourne for a town hall.
     Mr. Ranck was the leader of the class, and the leading member of the church many years.

MILLS.

THE COTTAGE MILLS,

located at Shadville, were erected by James and John Dalzell and A. G. Hibbs, in the year 1841.  They operated them some ten years, when the Dalzells sold their interest to Hibbs, who made some additions to the building.  The mill is now owned by C. & J. W. Seeds.

PHYSICIANS.

GRANGE SOCIETIES.

HAMILTON CHURCH GRANGE, NO. 557.

MASONIC SOCIETY

W. H. BLAKE, M. D.
 

REV. ELIAS GOODRICH

[Portraits of Fred'k Stombaugh, Allen Orders & Mrs. Allen Orders ]

BIOGRAPHIES:

THE LISLE FAMILY

THE STOMBAUGH FAMILY
(w/ portrait)