This is known as township two, in range eighteen, and is one of the townships included in the United States military district.  The original township was known as Liberty, and at that time it extended for a considerable distance into what is now Delaware county.  Franklin county, was first organized, comprised but four townships, of which this was located in the northeast, Franklin in the northwest, Darby in the southwest, and Harrison in the southeast.  The names was changed from Liberty to Sharon, Mar. 4, 1806, and it was finally established, with its present boundaries, Mar. 4, 1816.  It is now five miles square, and is bounded on the east by Blendon, on the south by Clinton, on the west by Perry township in Franklin county, and has for its northern boundary the Delaware and Franklin county line.
     The first election, held in the original township of Liberty, took place at the house of Joseph Beaty, June 21, 1803, at which time Joseph Hunter and Ezra Brown were elected justices of the peace.  At the same election Jeremiah Morrow was made the first representative from the State of Ohio to Congress.

NATURAL FEATURES

     At the date of the advent of the early settlers, Sharon township, Franklin county, like nearly all portions of Ohio, was covered by a dense forest, consisting here of oak, elm, beech, maple, ash, walnut, and other varieties of timber.  When these were removed, by the gradual process of clearing and burning, a rich soil was revealed, especially in the valleys of the Olentangy, and the numerous runs which help to form that stream.  The entire surface of the township is naturally well drained, the land being of a sufficiently rolling nature to effect this without the use of any great artificial drainage.  The Olentangy river runs from north to south through the township, a number of small runs emptying into it on either side.  The eastern part of the township is drained by a number of small runs that empty into it on either side.  The eastern part of the township is drained by a number of small runs that empty into Alum creek, in Blendon township.

ORIGINAL OWNERS.

     Sharon township, or at least the western part of it, was originally owned by General Jonathan Dayton of Elizabethtown, New Jersey, and Doctor Jonas Stanberry, of New York city.  It is included in the military lands, appropriated by congress in 1796, to satisfy the claims against the government of the United States, held by officers and soldiers who served in the Revolutionary war.  These lands were surveyed about 1798, into tracts of five miles square, which were divided into quarters, containing each four thousand acres.
     On the fourteenth day of December, 1802, a colony was formed in the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut, to purchase land and found homes in Ohio.  Articles of agreement were made and signed by the owners of the land, comprising four sections (or quarters) situated upon and near the Whetstone (now Olentangy) river, in the military tract, as follows:  "In the eighteenth range, first township and first section, second township, second and third sections, and third township, second section, containing sixteen thousand acres."  The price agreed upon was one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre.
     The purchasers in the formation of the colony agreed

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between themselves that one lot of one hundred acres should  be perpetually used for the purpose of providing a school, and a lot of one hundred acres should be used for the benefit of the Protestant Episcopal church.  Also, two roads should be laid out, one running north and south, and one running east and west through the tract.  It was also agreed that at the crossing of these roads a square plat, consisting of one hundred and sixty acres, should be laid out and divided into one hundred and sixty lots, four of which, and those lying on the four central corners, should be given as a public square, to remain for a green or parade.  One of the town lots was also reserved for a school lot, and one for a Protestant Episcopal church lot.
     In the year 1804, the entire tract was partitioned off, and divided among the members of the company, each of whom received a little less than one hundred acres, with a certain number of village lots.  The following is a list of the original colony, and the lots apportioned to each person; James Kilbourn, lots 93, 94, 116, 117; Thomas T. Phelps, 5, 6, 156; Abner Pinney, 54, 59, 70, 102, 127, 128, 129, 130; Russell Atwater, 30, 40, 46, 86, 90, 108, 119, 120, 121, 122, 135, 136; Jedediah Norton, 15, 41, 42, 47, 48, 49, 50, 55, 56, 74, 83, 85, 87, 92, 106, 111, 113; Job Case, 84, 88, 91, 95, 155; Levi Hays, 13, 14, 19; Levi Buttles, 3, 4, 29, 149, 24; Jeremiah Curtis, 68, 69; Zophar Topping, 1, 20, 80; Ebenezar Street, 57, 81, Nathan Stewart, 67, 99, 100, 143; Roswell Wilcox, 133; Lemuel Kilbourn, 45; Jonas Stansberry, 36; Abner P. Pinney, 28; Josiah Topping, 23, 24, 53; Azariah Pinney 44; Moses Andrews, 21, 22; Samuel Sloper, 51, 52; William Thompson, 63, 77, 82, 103, 115, 141, 142, 146, 159, 160; Alexander Morrison, sr., 2, 26, 39, 58, 72; Samuel Beach, 11, 12, 149, 148; John Gould, 18, 109; Alexander Morrison, jr. 31, 32, 33, 34, 43, 77, 114, 125, 126; Ezra Griswold 16, 17, 61, 62, 78; William Vining, 104, 105, 123, 124; John Topping, 131, 132; Israel P. Case, 27; Israel Case, 37, 38, 137, 138; David Bristol, 7, 8, 60, 61; Glass Cochran 97, 107, 112, 139, 140, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154; Lemuel G. Humphrey, Ambrose Case, and Jacob Mills, 9, 93, 98; James Allen, 65, 69, 96; Nathaniel W. Little, 25, 71, 75, 118, 144, 157, 158; Icabod Plumb, 101; James Kilbourn, and others, committee, 10, 35, 64, 76, 134.

SETTLEMENT.

     In the winter of 1801 and 1802, a company of enterprising men in the States of Connecticut and Massachusetts, organized a company under the name of the Scioto company, the object being to form a community of congenial tastes at some point in the territory of Ohio, near its principal stream, the Scioto river.  Of their number, Rev. James Kilbourn was largely instrumental in promoting the enterprise, and he was appointed as agent to visit the west, and examine the country.  He made his trip of exploration in the spring of 1802, and after traveling one thousand miles on foot through the wilderness, he selected sixteen thousand acres of land in sections two and three, of what is now township two, in range eighteen (Sharon township), and section one, in township one, and section two, in township three.  He returned to Connecticut in the fall of the same year, and reported the purchase and location of the lands to the company.  The following year he came on again, and preparation was made for the removal of the families who were to become the pioneers in this part of the wilderness.  During the summer of 1803, Lemuel Kilbourn came to Ohio, with his family, accompanied by the following persons: Levi Pinney, Alexander Morrison, jr., Abner P. Pinney, William Morrison, Adna Bristol, E. C. Brown, and Israel P. Case.  This party came in advance for the purpose of erecting cabins for the use of the colony, and also to erect a mill.  On the fifteenth day of September, 1803, James Kilbourn, Ezra Griswold, with various others, and their families, commenced their journey toward the setting sun.  Ezra Griswold, with his family, first completed the journey, arriving on the ground where is now situated the village of Worthington (then a perfect wilderness), on the twenty-sixth day of October.  The other emigrants arrived soon afterwards.  Ezra Griswold occupied a cabin on the village lot number seventy-one; William Thompson, on seventy; David Bristol, on sixty; James Kilbourn, on sixty-one; Samuel Beach, on ninety-two; Zophar Topping, on eight-three; Alexander Morrison, on eighty-two; Nathan Stewart, on one hundred; and Glass Cochran, on one hundred and one.  All used the same well, which was dug on the south church lot.  A school-house was immediately built on south college lot, and the same winter the first school was taught by Thomas T. Phelps.  The first female teacher was Clarissa Thompson, who taught in the summer of 1804.  It is a fact that the first timber cut for any kind of building purposes, in the woods, where the village now stands, was for a school-house, and the first house erected was a school-house.  And as with the first settlers matters of education were foremost in their minds, and first in their work in the new country, so has it continued with the inhabitants of this town to the present day.  Worthington attained notoriety for furnishing the best schools of all kinds to be found in the State, and at the present time has an excellent public school, as well as a normal school.

     COLONEL JAMES KILBOURN came to Ohio to 1802, as agent of the Scioto company.  He made a purchase of sixteen thousand acres of land, situated about the present town of Worthington, and, in 1803, brought out the colony of which he was agent.  He was an Episcopal minister and held the first service of that church in this part of the country.  He was a prominent man in the early and later affairs of the colony; was instrumental in building the Worthington factory; kept a public house forty years or more; served in congress during 1812 and 1814; was in the State legislature in 1823, and again in 1838, besides filling various minor offices with credit.  He was thrice married, first to Lucy Fitch, in Connecticut.  She died in 1807, and he married Cynthia Goodale.  By his first wife his children were:  Hector, Lucy, Harriet, Orrel, and Byron.  The latter became a distinguished civil engineer, and founded the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; he was also a member of the legislature of that State.  His other children were: Eliza and Cynthia (twins), Lin-

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coln, Charlotte and James.  His son, Lincoln, in engaged in the hardware business in Columbus.  Colonel Kilbourn died in April, 1850.

     ROSWELL TULLER came from Simsbury, Connecticut, to Ohio in 1803, with his wife and six children.  They had three children after settling in Ohio.  He remained in Sharon township a few years, and moved to Delaware county, where he was killed by a stoke of lightning.  His son, Jonathan D., is the only one of the family now in the township.

     CAPTAIN ABIEL CASE came soon after 1803.  He owned a farm north of Worthington, and commanded a company in the war of 1812.

     MOSES CARPENTER came very early, and remained a few years, when he went to Cincinnati.  About 1829 he again came to Sharon township, and bought a small farm near the north line.  He children were: Rodney, and Olive.  Rodney lives near Worthington.  Olive married a man named Cummings, and went to California, where she died.

     JAMES RUSSELL came to Worthington at a very early day.  He was a machinist, and a natural genius, and while living here constructed an orrery, to illustrate the revolutions of the heavenly bodies.  This he sold in the east.  His children were:  Holman, James, Otis, Salome, Jerusha, and Mary Ann.  The daughters married, and some of them are now living in Columbus.

     ARIAS KILBOURN came soon after in 1803.  He was a hard worker, and after the factory was established worked there.  He accumulated quite a large property, and owned a farm east of Worthington.  Two of his sons went to the South, were they made homes.  In his late years he took up the practice of dentistry, and went south, winters, to practice.  His second wife was Phebe, daughter of Judge Stansberry.  Both were buried in Worthington.

     JUDGE RECOMPENSE STANSBERRY came soon after the Scioto company, and bought a tract of land in the south part of Worthington, where he lived and died.  He was a prominent man in the country, and was appointed associate judge in 1849.  In 1821, and again in 1841, he was postmaster at Worthington.  Phebe, his only child, married Riggs Chapman, a merchant of Worthington.  After the death of her first husband, she married Arias Kilbourn.

     JACOB FAIRFIELD was a well-known blacksmith, in an early day.  His father was Jacob Fairfield, who had two sons, Jacob and John.  Jacob Fairfield, sr., married, for his second wife, Mrs. Sabra Lewis, widow of Jedediah Lewis who came to Worthington in 1807.

     ISAAC CASE came from Simsbury, Connecticut, to Worthington, in 1804, with his family, consisting of wife and five children.  Two more were born after settlement.  He bought a farm of ninety-five acres, west of the river, but lived in the town, where he built a cabin, going from thence to his farm while engaged in clearing the land.  He remained in the village a year or two, and then erected a cabin on his land, with no chimney, but simply a hole in the roof, through which the smoke could escape.  They soon had a puncheon floor and chimney.  His children were: Orlando, who married and died on the farm; Melona, who died with consumption; Pyrene who was twice married, and died in Kentucky - her first husband was a tanner and currier, and had charge of that department in the Worthington factory; Philo, who died in Indiana, having a small family of children; Isaac Newton, who married Emily Vining, by whom he had two children - she died, and he married Mrs. Julia Case, by whom he has one child - and Jane, who married and died in Union county.

     SAMUEL WILSON came to Ohio, from Cooperstown, Otsego county, New York, in 1802.  His birthplace was in New Hampshire, but he lived sometime in New York, and was married before emigrating.  Chillicothe was the first place in which he settled, remainding two years, after which he came to Sharon township, in 1804.  One hundred acres of land were bought by him, on the east side of the river, and north of Worthington.  A part of it was owned by Roswell Wilcox.  When he came to Ohio he had four children, and three more were born here.  He died in 1813.  The children were: Laura, who married John Smith, and lived and died in Clinton township; Elizabeth, who married Alden Fuller, and died at Central college; Samuel, who was in the war of 1812 for a short time, and afterwards captain of a company of light-horse under the old State militia laws - he owned the old homestead after his father's death, and died there; Sarah, who married Jonathan Finney, and died in Delaware county; Jane, who married Ozem Gardner, and lived near Flint post office, where she died in 1869; Lucy, who married John Seller,  and died in Delaware county; John M., who married Jane Payne, now owns  the old homestead, and lives on the west side of the river.  Samuel Wilson, sr., came from New York by way to Pittsburgh, in a sleigh; from Pittsburgh by boat, to Chillicothe.  The first house in that city, covered with a shingle roof, was built by him.  After he came to Worthington he managed Colonel Kilbourn's grist-mill some eight or ten years.  He died in 1813, and his wife died in about 1847.

     BELA M. TULLER came from Simsbury, Hartford county, Connecticut, to Ohio, in 1805, and settled in Worthington.  He came in November, and in the spring of 1806, bought one hundred and twenty-five acres of land in Perry township, where he died in 1831.  Early in the summer of 1812 he took a load of provisions to Sandusky, arriving just after news was received that war had been declared.  He remained in Sandusky, with his team, until September, when he came home.  He was sick when he left Sandusky, but managed to drive to Delaware, and from there sent a message home for assistance.  His son, Flavel, went on, and brought him home.  His children were Flavel, Homer, Flora, Elvira (who died in infancy), Lydia, Holcomb, Achilles, Aurelius and Elvira.

     FLAVEL TULLER came with his father in 1805, then ten years of age.  When seventeen years old, in 1812, he went as teamster in the quartermaster's department, where he remained some three months, conveying provisions and supplies from Urbana to the army, under General Tupper.  His early education was obtained in Washington,

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where he studied for a time in Bishop Chase's school.  In 1832 he married Lucinda Holcomb, by whom he had eight children: Franklin F. and Homer (twins); Henry who died in 1834; Susan, Lucinda, and Henrietta.  Before his marriage about 1816, he built two boats on the Olentangy, which he loaded with produce, cheese, potatoes, butter, pork, etc., and floated them down to the Mississippi river, when he sold them, bringing, up finally, at Natchez, Mississippi.  About three years after his first venture he built another boat, which he took directly to Natchez, and there disposed of his entire stock.  About 1822 he engaged of his entire stock.  About 1822 he engaged in business in Worthington with his brother, Homer, remaining with him until about 1860.  Together they built the first distillery in Perry township.  The first year they did not do much business, but the second year they commenced before the  Christmas holidays, and worked, almost continuously, one hundred days and nights, sleeping in their clothing.  They cleared, at this time, about fifteen hundred dollars.  In 1826 Mr. Tuller started a packing-house for pork, which he operated for about ten years.  When in business in Worthington, they procured their goods by way of Baltimore and Wheeling in wagons; afterwards by wagon from Sandusky, until the canal was completed, when they were sent to Columbus.  He has in his family a Bible that was sunk in Lake Erie in November, 1838, when the schooner "Toledo" went down.  It was recovered, with other goods during the same season.  Mr. Tuller held an office in the old State militia.  He now lives with his son, Franklin, in Worthington, aged eighty-four years.

     HOMER TULLER, brother of Flavel Tuller, was his partner in business for many years.  He married Ann Eliza Kilbourn, Flora, a sister, married Treadwell More, and moved to Wooster, where she died.  Lydia married James E. Woodbridge, and moved to Mt. Union, where she died.  Holcomb married Jane Woodruff, and settled in Dublin, where she died.  Achilles died at Mt. Vernon, Indian.  Aurelius died young.  Elvira married R. W., Shawhan, and lives in Tiffin.

     MR. CHAPMAN came very early, and settled on the west side of the river, some three miles north of Worthington.  He had a large family, consisting of Ridge, Polly, Sally, Albert, Lucinda, Lucius, Harriet, and Sylvia.  His son, Albert, is a physician at Dublin.

     JOSIAH FISHER came about the same title as Chapman and owned a tract of land adjoining him, which he cleared and improved.  His wife died there, and he sold his land and moved to Illinois.  Dr. Timothy Fisher, his son, lives at Marion.

     MR. STARR came early, and settled north of Vining, in the north part of Sharon Township, on the west side of the river, where he died.  His widow married a man who worked for them, and afterwards sold the farm, and removed to near Carey, Ohio.  One of the family still lives there.

     CHARLES THOMPSON came from Massachusetts in about 1806, when about twenty years of age.  His father, Judge William Thompson, came at the same time, and settled a mile north of Worthington.  They remained on this land, clearing and improving it, until 1817, when Charles Thompson married Orill Morrison, and moved to a tract of land owned by his father, in Delaware county.  He remained there but about six months, when he returned to his father's, and worked with him about two years.  He then moved to a farm a mile further north, where he lived the remainder of his days.  Their children were Pamelia, William, Henry, Catharine, Harriet, and Mary.  Pamelia married Louis Johnson, and lives at the old homestead; Catharine married Christopher Calkins, and died in Delaware county; Harriet married Horatio Wright, and died in Worthington; Mary is engaged in the millinery business in Worthington; William died when a child.

     JONATHAN PARK came to Ohio from Bernardston, Franklin county, Massachusetts, in 1806.  He first settled, with his family, in the Rogers settlement, on the west side of the river.  He remained there about one year, when he moved to Middlebury, in what is now Liberty township, Delaware county, where he remained several years, finally returning to Sharon township.  He bought a farm of one hundred and fifty acres east of Worthington, where he built a cabin, and improved his land.  In 1865 he moved into Worthington, where he died the same year.  His wife died in 1878.  Their children were:  Rodney J., who lives in Missouri; Hulbert H., in Rock Island county, Illinois; William S., in Worthington, where he has a farm - he is also part owner of the Miami Powder works, at Xenia, Ohio; Sophia A., who lives in De Kalb county, Illinois; Sylvia M., who lives in Greene county; and Juliette, who was the youngest child.

     MOSES MAYNARD emigrated to Ohio, from Massachusetts, in 1806, with his family, consisting of eight children, as follows: Eber, Asa, Joel, Achsa, Moses, Electa, Apollos, and Lovisa.  Mrs. Maynard died before he came west.  He purchased two hundred acres of land from Nathan Stewart, besides several town lots in Worthington.  Eber, his son, married in Massachusetts, and after settling here, went back after his wife.  He worked with his father on the farm, and died there.  Asa never married,, and for many years taught school.  Joel died when a young man.  Achsa married Orange Johnson in 1814, and settled in Worthington.  In 1863 they moved to Columbus, where he died in 1876.  She lives with her daughter, Mrs. F. C. Sessions.  Moses, jr., married and died in Worthington.  Electa died young.  Apollos died south of Worthington.  Lovisa married Potter Wright, and died in Worthington.

     SAMUEL ABBOTT, came about the same time as Starr, and bought two hundred acres of land, near the north line of the township.  This property he sold, and moved to Worthington, where he served as justice of the peace in 1820.  A son, James, is engaged in the hardware business in Columbus.  Another son lives in Washington city.  Squire Abbott died in Worthington; his eldest son died near Granville, and his youngest died in California.

     JEDEDIAH LEWIS came from Westfield, Massachusetts, with the Granville company but a few months, when he removed to Worthington, where he built a saw-mill on the

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Olentangy.  this mill he run for a short time, and died nine months after his settlement here.  He built a cabin of buckeye logs when he first came, and for several years green sprouts and leaves started from the logs.  Following are the names of his children: Elias, Prudence, Martin, Lucy, Eliza, and Jedediah.  Immediately after her husband's death, Mrs. Lewis caused a frame building that he had erected near the river, to be moved into the village, on the lot now owned by Dr. Jedediah Lewis in which the family lived many years.  It was torn down in 1878.  Mrs. Lewis afterward married Jacob Fairfield, sr.  Of her children: Elias lives in Worthington; Prudence, a widow, in Virginia; Martin, a physician in Louisville, Kentucky; Lucy, a widow, in Columbus; Ezra, who died in Xenia; and Jedediah, who studied medicine in the Worthington medical college in1840, and now lives in Worthington.  He has practiced medicine in Indiana and Kentucky, and is now practicing here.

     ELIAS LEWIS was born in Lyme, Connecticut, and came to Worthington with his father's family in 1806.  His father died in 1807, and on Elias fell the care of the family.  He supported the rest of the children and his mother until 1820, when he married Martha Wiley, by whom he had three sons and two daughters.  His wife died in 1853, and in 1857 he married Eliza Paramore by whom he had one son.  His second wife died in 1866.  Mr. Lewis learned the trade of brick-laying and plastering, and followed that business for thirty years.  He built the chimneys and plastered Bishop Chase's house, in about 1820 or 1821, Salmon P. Chase carrying the brick and mortar he used.  During the building of the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis railroad, he had charge of a gang of men in constructing ten miles of the road bed.  On the completion of the road he ran an omnibus from Washington to Columbus, and after ten years continued the same line from Worthington village to the railroad station, and operates it now.

     STEPHEN MAYNARD came to Ohio with the Granville company in 1807, and soon afterward bought land on the west side of the Olentangy, his farm extending to the river.  His children were:  Stephen, Joshua, Samuel, Nathan, James, and two daughters, Thankful and Betsey.  All married and settled in this vicinity, but none now reside here.

     POTTER WRIGHT came to Ohio in charge of machinery for a cotton-mill, which belonged to W. Webb, but for some reason it was not put in operation here, and was shipped to Coldrain.  Mr. Wright came back to Worthington, where he worked in the factory for a time.  In about 1823 he erected a building, and put in a carding-machine and a cloth-dresser.  He also started a blacksmiths hop, and manufactured machinery for making woolen cloth.  He continued at this business until 1852 or 1853.  He married Louisa Maynard; a daughter of Stephen Maynard, and raised a family of eight children.  He died in 1855, and his wife died some years later.  Two of their children live in Illinois.  Horatio owns a farm near Worthington, and lives in the village.  H. W. lives in the east part of the town, where he has a sawmill.  He also owns a farm.  Cynthia lives at the old home in Worthington.  James P. is engaged in the mercantile business in the same place.

     DEACON GOODRICH came from Connecticut about 1807, and settled in the north part of the village of Worthington.  His children were Bela, John, Levi and several others.  Mr. Goodrich was well along in years when he came to Ohio, and lived with his son, John, who opened a store in t he north part of town.  He afterwards sold his business, and moved to Texas.  The other children moved to other parts.

     ISAIAH WALLACE came very early, but at what date is not known.  His son, Norman Wallace, was a drummer in the war of 1812.  All moved from here many years ago.

     STEPHEN HOYT was an early settler, and one of the first blacksmiths in Worthington.

     ORANGE JOHNSON came from Mansfield, Connecticut, to Ohio in 1813.  His business there was the manufacture of combs, and the expense of his journey was met on the road by the sale of this article of merchandise.  He engaged in the manufacture of combs in Worthington immediately after his arrival, working in an upper room of Col. Kilbourn's hotel, where he continued until 1814, when he married Achsa Maynard.  After marriage he removed his shop to his house, and continued there until 1816, when he erected a brick building for  his manufacturing business.  He worked at this until 1827, and did a good business, accumulating some property.  When he commenced in Worthington, his capital amounted to sixteen dollars and fifty cents.  In 1827 he gave up his business, and was one of the incorporators of the Columbus and Sandusky turnpike.  Col. Kilbourn  was also one of the incorporators, and surveyed the road.  Mr. Johnson was one of the leading commissioners, and principal agent of the company from first to last.  The road was eight years in building, and while connected with it, Mr. Johnson accumulated a handsome property.  At the same time he owned and managed a farm near Worthington.  He, with two others, made the first survey for the railroad from Columbus to Xenia.  He moved to Columbus in 1862; was for many years a director of the old Clinton bank, and afterwards a director of the Franklin State and National bank.  He erected the Johnson and the Sessions blocks in Columbus, and died there in 1876.  His daughter married F. C. Sessions, of Columbus, and her mother passes her declining years with them.

     DR. STARR came very early, but did not practice medicine here.  James, his son, owned a tract of land north of town, which he sold, and then removed to Texas.

     DEACON ABBOTT was an early blacksmith in Worthington.  He was a prominent member and deacon in the Presbyterian church, and owned a farm north of town.  When well along in years, he went to Granville, and died there at the residence of his son.  His remains were brought back to Worthington for interment.  His remains were brought back to Worthington for interment.

     MILTON GREEN came from Vermont, about 1812, and worked at carpenter work in the Worthington factory while it was in operation.

     WILLIAM PAGE worked in the factory, about 1816, in the cloth fulling department.

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     JOSEPH POOLE came from New York, quite early, and had a farm well cleared, near where Flint post-office now is, in 1817.  He was a hard worker, and was the father of ten children:  Simeon, Abijah, Joshua, Thomas, Joseph, and five daughters, one of whom married Marcus Cole, and one married a man named Higgins.  None of the family now lived in this vicinity.

     CHESTER GRISWOLD came to Ohio from Sackett's Harbor, New York, but at what date is not known.  He was employed in the Worthington factory, as book-keeper, and when the business was suspended he left this part of the country.

     JAMES STARR owned a farm north of Worthington, quite early, but where he went from here is not now known.

     BERKLEY COMSTOCK came to Ohio, from Vermont, very early, bringing with him his wife, and settled about two miles north of Worthington, and went from home as a soldier in the war of 1812; his wife died about the time of the close of the war, and he married Margaret Dixon, and raised a large family.  Rodney, his son, lives on the old farm; James lives near Worthington, and Theodore, in Columbus.

     RICHARD DIXON, a native of Ireland, was an early settler.  He came before 1812, and worked in the factory at Worthington after it was established.  A daughter married Milton Geer, who was also a native of Ireland, and came to Ohio with her father.  Another daughter, Margaret, married Mr. Comstock.

     IRA KELLOGG came to Ohio vey early, and was one of the first mail carriers from the region of Darby creek to Worthington.

     MRS. CYNTHIA BARKER, came with her husband in an early day - about 1810.  He died, and for many years she was a school teacher here and in the vicinity.

     REV. HENRY MATTHEWS was a well-known local Methodist preacher in this section, in an early day.  Mathew Matthews, a brother, was connected with the Worthington factory.  Another brother, Vincent, was a brick-mason.  There were other members of the same family - Hiram and Harvey, and several sisters.  Their father died here.

     MR. HARRINGTON was an early settler, who went as a soldier in the war of 1812, and died when on his return, and nearly home, leaving a widow.

     JOHN SNOW came to Ohio in 1814, from Providence, Rhode Island, and settled in Worthington with his family.  Here he engaged in the drug business, at which he continued until his death, in 1852.  There were three children: William T., George R., and John H., the latter of whom died in New Orleans in 1832.  Mr. Snow was a very prominent Free Mason, and became the first grand master of the fraternity in Ohio.  To him and Thomas J. Webb belongs the credit of systematizing the work of the craft in Ohio and the west.  At one time he held the third office in the grand chapter of the United States, which met in New York, and also held the second office in the grand encampment of Knights Templar in the United States.  As grand master of the State of Ohio, his jurisdiction extended throughout the west and south, in which the charters of many lodges bear his signature.

     DEMAS ADAMS came to Worthington previous to 1816.  He married a daughter of Colonel James Kilbourn, and was an assistant in the factory or store.

     STEPHEN M. FROTHINGHAM settled in Worthington before 1816.  He was a machinist, and after coming here engaged in the manufacture of carding-machines.  He had a shop, in which he carried on his business several years.  Ebenezer, his brother, came about the same time.  He was a clothier, and worked in the factory.

     OBEDIAN BENEDICT was a blacksmith in Worthington in 1816.

     ASA WEAVER owned a farm west of town in an early day.  His house was in the village.

     WILLIAM THRALL was a blacksmith in the factory.

     ELIPHALET, PETER, SAMUEL and BROOKS BARKER were early comers, and lived in Worthington many years.  Samuel and Peter were carpenters, and worked at that business.

     NATHAN MASON was an excellent machinist.  He came from Providence, Rhode Island, in about 1814, and worked in the machinery department of the Worthington factory.  When he came here he was single, but married Sally Wiley, by whom he had one daughter.

     A man named COLE was an early settler.  He was a graduate of an eastern college, and for many years was a school teacher in this vicinity.  He went east, where he died.  Many of his descendants now live in Franklin county.

     BISHOP PHILANDER CHASE came to Ohio in 1817, and settled in Worthington, where he purchased five lots, besides a farm of one hundred and fifty acres, south of the village.  His farm had about sixty acres of land cleared and fitted for cultivation, and cost him two thousand and fifty dollars.  The year he arrived he was appointed principal of the Worthington academy, and at the same time preached at the same place, and conducted the services of the Episcopal church.  He soon had five parishes on his hands, and gave up his principalship of the academy.  the first convention of the Episcopal church in Ohio was held in Columbus in January, 1818 of which he was president.  On June 3, 1818, the convention again assembled, at Worthington, and at his meeting, Rev. Philander Chase was elected the first bishop of the Episcopal church in Ohio.  He was consecrated to his high office, in Philadelphia, Feb. 11, 1819.  On Sunday, June 6, 1819, he confirmed seventy-nine persons.  His parochial district comprised Delaware, Berkshire, Columbus, and Worthington.  He established a school at his house, where he erected such buildings as he could, about 1818.  This he continued under many disadvantages for a number of years.  His son, Rev. Philander Chase, jr., taught with him.  He was also a teacher in the old college building.  In the spring of 1823 it was proposed that an Episcopal college be established in Ohio to educate men for the ministry.  Bishop Chase went to England to raise funds to build a college, and returned in the fall of 1824.  In June, 1825, the trustees of the Ohio theological seminary met at Zanesville, and the same month the convention located the seminary at Worthington.  Bishop Chase continued this

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school at his own house until 1826, when he made arrangements to purchase a tract of land in Knox county, where the seminary was, eventually, permanently located.  At this time he had thirty students at his own house, under the instruction of his son, Philander.  On Sept. 9, 1831, he resigned the episcopate of Ohio and the presidency of the seminary.  He soon after removed to Illinois, where he was again elected bishop, in 1835.  He established a college in that State while administering his episcopal duties.

     SALMON P. CHASE came to Ohio, to live with his uncle, Bishop Chase, in 1820, when but twelve years of age.  He did chores about the farm, drove the cows to pasture and home again, took grain to the mill, and was kept busy when not in school.  He once received instructions fro his uncle to kill and dress a pig, which was to be roasted for dinner; he knew how to go to work to kill and scald the diminutive porker, but either the water was too hot, or he left the pig in too long, for when he expected to remove the bristles easily, he could hardly pull out one at a time; he was aware that the pig must be ready in time for dinner, and bethought himself of his cousin Philander's razor, which he procured, and with which he neatly shaved the pig.  The job was well done, and reflected credit on the barber, but was bad for the keen edge of the razor.  Salmon was also accustomed to ride a horse belonging to 'Squire Chas. E. Burr, the same animal being a favorite with the college professors, and others; he found that by sticking his heels in the sides of the horse, it would resent the indignity by kicking.  He enjoyed the fun, and continued it until the horse would kick everything behind him, and could not be used for any purpose.  Salmon lived with his uncle from June, 1820, until November, 1822.  Mr. Elias Lewis, of Worthington, now in his eighty-third year, when a brick-layer, had Salmon P. Chase of a mortar carrier, and speaks with pride of the fact that a man who, afterwards became governor of Ohio and chief justice of the United States, once carried mortar him.

     OREM GARDNER came from Otsego county, New York, to Ohio, in 1817, then not quite twenty-one years of age.  Some two or three years after his settlement he bought a parcel of land three miles north of Worthington, exchanging land in Lewis Center for it, with a man named Connie.  He has since added to his purchase.  There were several cabins, and something of a clearing, when he purchased.  For five or six years he lived with Mr. Comstock, a mile south of his place, at the same time clearing and improving his land.  One season he burned brick on Mr. Thompson's land near Mr. Comstock's and three seasons burned brick at Worthington,  In 1823 he married Jane Wilson, and commenced house-keeping on his own place.  They raised eight children:  Harriet, Joseph, Samuel W., Orem B., Lucy J., Leonia's H., Parental, and Althea.  One child died in infancy; Harriet married John Potter, who owns a nursery on the adjoining farm; Joseph lives in Geneva township; Orem B. was chaplain of the thirteenth Kansas infantry, and was captured by bushwhackers, and shot, at Cabin creek, Arkansas; Juicy J. died; Leonia's lives on a part of the home farm; Parental married John De Witt, and lives in Morrow county; Althea lives at home, unmarried, and cares for her aged father.  Mrs. Gardner died in 1869.  Orem Gardner was an original abolitionist, and his house was an asylum for many fugitive slaves.  It was a station on the "underground railroad," from slavery to freedom.  He has assisted more than two hundred fugitives on their way, in all weathers and at all times of day or night.  No slave hunters ever came to his house, and no slave once in his care was ever captured.  He used to conduct them to Eden, in Delaware county, or to the Quaker settlement; sometimes up Alum creek, to another friendly station.

     JOHN BISHOP emigrated from Poughkeepsie, New York, to Ohio in 1817, and made a settlement in Blendon township, purchasing land on which now stands the village of Westerville.  He brought his family, consisting of wife and children, who were: John, William, Walter, Sarah, Esther, Angeline, and Elizabeth.  His children married and settled elsewhere, and his wife died.  In old age he came to  Sharon and lived a few years, until his death, with his son, William.

     WILLIAM BISHOP came to Ohio from Poughkeepsie, New York, in 1818, and became an apprentice to a saddler in Worthington.  After learning his trade he married Charlotte Wolcott, of Granville, and opened a saddler's shop in Worthington, where he continued until about 1850, when he commenced keeping hotel in the same place.  He continued in the hotel until 1864.  His first wife died, and he married Mrs. Nancy Stickney, who survives him.  They had one son, Frank W., who is the present postmaster of Worthington, as well as township clerk.  His children by his first wife were: Celia, Erville, Edward, Luella, and three who died in infancy.

     OZAIS BURR came from Bridgeport, Connecticut, to Ohio, in 1818, bringing with him one daughter.  He purchased two hundred and sixty acres of land, a mile north of Worthington, on the pike, from Squire Nourse and another man.  There were four cabins on the land, and a partial clearing of some forty-five acres, when he took possession of it.  He still further improved it, and built a framed house and barn soon after his arrival.  His children were: Philo, who was in the treasury department at Washington city; Jonathan N., who was a physician, at Mount Vernon; Charles E., who owns a farm of one hundred and twenty acres of the old homestead; Erastus who is an Episcopal clergyman in Portsmouth; George C., who moved to Illinois, where he died; Levi J., who lives in Jackson,, Michigan, where he is engaged in the mercantile business; William Henry, who went to the Mexican war and never returned; Catharine, who married Rev. Mr. Ufford, of Delaware, Ohio, and died in Iowa, from cholera; and Philander,  who is a merchant in Worthington, Indiana.

     REV. URIAH HEATH was assigned to Worthington, by conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, in 1839 and 1840.  He was largely instrumental in founding the female seminary of the Methodist church in Ohio, during

FLAVEL TULLER

these years.  The last work he did in Worthington was to plant the shade trees in the public square, now the pride of the town.  He was a man of progressive ideas, and wished to see improvements carried on.  To his great disappointment, just as the seminary was being established, he was removed from his charge to Zanesville, in 1842.  In 1862 he was again stationed at Zanesville and died there from a stroke of apoplexy.  At Zenia, in 1831, he was married to Mary Ann Perkins, by whom he had seven children.  One of them, Louisa, is the wife of James P. Wright, and lives in Worthington.

EARLY EVENTS.

     The first regularly recognized religious society was the Protestant Episcopal, which was organized in the winter of 1803-4.  It was incorporated as a church in 1806-7.  The first house for public worship was built by the Methodists in 1823.  The first marriage took place on the tenth day of February, 1804.  The ceremony was performed by Thomas Stephens, esq., of Franklinton in the log school-house at Worthington.  The persons united in marriage were Abner P. Pinney and Miss Polly Morrison, and Levi Pinney and Miss Charlotte Beach.  Every person then living in the place was supposed to be present.  The first justice of the peace was Ezekiel Brown who was elected in 1803, while what is now Sharon township was a part of Liberty township.  James Kilbourn was the second justice, he, also, being elected before Sharon was set off.  The first militia officers were:  James Kilbourn, captain; Aaron Strong, lieutenant; Abner C. Pinney, ensign.  The first brick house was built by James Kilbourn, in 1804.  It is still standing near the main street, on the southwest corner of the public square, and is at present owned and occupied by _____ Wells, esq.  The first fame house was erected by Ezra Griswold in 1805.  The building of the Protestant Episcopal church was commenced in the fall of 1828, and was completed the following year.  The Presbyterian church was built in 1829.  The first  tavern was kept by Ezra Griswold, on lot seventy-one, in a log cabin, in the year 1803.  The first store was kept by Nathan Stewart, in 1804, on lot seventy-one, in the log cabin occupied the preceding year by Ezra Griswold as a tavern, he having removed his tavern to lot number sixty-one.  The first distillery was erected, by Nathan Stewart, in 1804, on farm lot number twenty-five.  The first temperance society was formed in 1830.  The first grist-mill of any importance to the early settlers, or, in fact, to Franklin county, was erected by James Kilbourn, near Worthington, on the Olengangy river, in, or about 1805.  About the same time a Mr. Carpenter erected a mill on the same stream, in what is now Delaware county, but, at that time, was in Franklin.  Another mill was built on the Olentangy, near the village of Worthington, in 1807, by Preserved Leonard.  This mill was in operation a number of years.  The motive power was obtained from Rush brook, by means of a race, and wooden troughs, and was carried a distance of nearly a quarter of a mile, and allowed to fall on an overshot wheel.  Mr. Leonard, after running his mill a number of years, sold it to Joab Hoyt, who continued it some time, when it was allowed to go to decay.
     Samuel Maynard also built a mill on the Olentangy, at a later date, still farther down the stream.  This has been rebuilt and repaired many times since, and is now owned by Jacob Weisenheimer, who does a good run of custom, besides manufacturing and selling flour in Columbus market.
     Asahel Benedict had a blacksmith shop in Worthington before 1812.  Jabez Fairfield worked with him, and was very expert in shoeing cattle, and when the army marched from Franklinton toward Sandusky, in 1812, the teams remained here a week until they were shod.
     Indians frequently traveled through the country from their towns near Sandusky, and often stopped at the houses of settlers.  They were friendly, and did no harm to the people, but many were afraid of them.  Some time before the war a report was started that the Indians were on the war path, and were coming to slaughter the settlers.  The alarm was caused on the west side of the river at a log rolling.  While the men were at work in the woods, the women were gathered at the cabin, and while while they were in one room eating supper, a girl prepared to sweep the room they had been sitting in.  While doing this, she accidently knocked down a loaded gun that was standing behind the door.  The fall caused it to explode, and the women imagined the Indians were about to massacre them, and raised the alarm, whereupon the settlers made a stampede for the village.  Messengers were sent in every direction to war the settlers.  Many stayed during the night at the tavern of Ezra Griswold, and many in the academy building.  The next morning a stockade was built around the academy, and the place was fortified as well as it could be on such short notice, while men armed with guns, scythes, pitchforks and such weapons as they had, stood guard about the town.  In a few days the excitement subsided, when it was ascertained that there were no Indians within many miles, and the settlers returned to their homes.
     Another story is told of the cause of this Indian alarm.  A company of militia was encamped at Delaware, and the captain thought to try what stuff his soldiers were composed of.  One night he posted the entire company  on picket, with instructions to be watchful, as the Indians would probably attack them before morning.  Some time about midnight, the captain fired a gun, and gave the alarm that the Indians were coming.  The pickets did not stop to form the company, but every one broke for his home as fast as possible.  It is said that one man ran nine miles through the brush and briars to his home, and when he arrived there, the only article of wearing apparel he had on was a shirt collar. The bushes through which he ran, captured the remainder of his clothing.  No one was left in the camp besides the captain and officers who understood the cause of the alarm.
     Jedediah Lewis, sr., built a saw-mill on the Olentangy, in 1807.  He came with the Granville company, but did not like the location, and remained there but a few months.  He run his saw-mill until his death, which occurred when he had been here but nine months.

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     There was no regular mail to Worthington until 1805.  Previous to that time, the mail was brought from Franklinton by a young man, a clerk in a store at Worthington.  In the year 1805, the post-office was established in Worthington, and mail was received regularly.  The first postmaster was William Robe, who was a man of small stature, but well proportioned; he was well educated and afterwards became a teacher in the Worthington seminary.  He was then appointed to a clerkship in the office of the auditor of State.  His death occurred in January, 1823.

JUSTICES.

     The following is a list of justices of the peace who have been elected and served in Sharon township:
1803, Ezekiel Brown, elected when what is now Sharon was part of Liberty township;
1805, James Kilbourn, elected when what is now Sharon was part of Liberty township;
1806, Alexander Morrison, jr., in place of Ezekiel Brown, after the organization of Sharon;
1808, Ezra Griswold, in place of James Kilbourn;
1808, Isaac Case, under an order for an additional justice;
1809, Alexander Morrison, jr., re-elected;
1810, Azariah Pinney, in place of Morrison, who was elected judge;
1811, Ezra Griswold, re-elected;
1811, Reuben Carpenter, in place of Azariah Pinney, deceased;
1814, Recompence Stansberry, in place of Glass Cochran;
1814, Isaac Case, in place of Ezra Griswold;
1814, Cruger Wright, in place of Reuben Carpenter;
1815, Ezra Griswold, in place of Cruger Wright, who was set off to Harrison township;
1817, Stephen Maynard, in place of Isaac Case;
1817, Recompense Stansberry, re-elected;
1818, Ezra Griswold, re-elected;
1819, Arora Buttles, in place of Recompense Stansberry, appointed judge;
1820, Samuel Abbott, in place of Stephen Maynard;
1821, Nathaniel Little, in place of Ezra Griswold;
1822, Arora Buttles, re-elected;
1822, John Goodrich, jr., in lace of N. Little, deceased;
1823, Samuel Abbott, re-elected;
1824, R. W. Cowles, in place of Arora Buttles, appointed judge;
1825, John W. Ladd, in place of Goodrich;
1826, Samuel Abbott, re-elected;
1827, R. W. Cowles, re-elected;
1828, John W. Ladd, re-elected;
1829, Stephen Maynard, jr., in place of Abbott;
1830, R. W. Cowles re-elected;
1831, John W. Ladd, re-elected;
1832, Isaac Case, in place of Maynard;
1833, R. W. Cowles, re-elected;
1834; John W. Ladd, re-elected;
1836, R. W. Cowles, re-elected, and Asaph Allen, elected;
1837, Ira Metcalf, in place of Ladd;
1839, Stephen Maynard and Levi Pinney;
1840, George Taylor, in place of Metcalf;
1842, Stephen Maynard and Philo Burr;
1843, George Taylor, re-elected;
1844, Ezekiel Brown, in place of Maynard, resigned;
1845, Philo Burr, re-elected;
1846, George Taylor, re-elected;
1847, Ezekiel Brown, re-elected;
1848, Philo Burr, re-elected;
1849, George Taylor, re-elected, and Luther Case, in place of Brown;
1851, Philo Burr, re-elected;
1852, George Taylor and Luther Case, re-elected;
1854, I. N. Case, in place of Luther Case, and P. Burr, re-elected;
1855, George Taylor, re-elected, and Stephen Hoyt, in place of P. Burr, removed to Iowa;
1856, Charles E. Burr, in place of Hoyt;
1857, I. N. Case, re-elected;
1858, George Taylor, re-elected;
1860, C. E. Burr and I. N. Case, re-elected;
1861, George Taylor, re-elected;
1863, C. E. Burr and I. N. Case, re-elected;
1864, George Taylor, re-elected;
1866, I. N. Case, re-elected, and G. H. Griswold, elected in place of C. E. Burr;
1867, George Taylor, re-elected;
1869, George H. Griswold, re-elected and C. E. Burr, in place of I. N. Case.

WORTHINGTON VILLAGE.

     The village of Worthington was laid out in May, 1804, by Rev. James Kilbourn, as agent of the Scioto company.  It was surveyed and divided into one hundred and sixty-two lots, of which two were reserved, one for school, and one for church purposes.  The balance were apportioned among the members of the company, which, at the division of the property, was dissolved.  The lots were cleared, and cabins built as suited the needs and the means of the owners.  The school-house was at once erected, that the children of the community might at once begin the acquirement of an education.
     The village was incorporated by act of the legislature, Mar. 9, 1835, which ordered - "that so much of the township of Sharon, in the county of Franklin, as is comprised in the town of Worthington, was originally established, with the additional streets and lots thereunto annexed, as recorded in said county, be, and the same are hereby erected into a town corporate, to be known by the provided, "that it shall be lawful for the white male inhabitants of said town, having the qualifications of electors, to meet at the usual place of holding elections in said town, on the second Tuesday in March next (1836), and elect, by a plurality of votes, by ballot, a mayor, recorder, and five trustees, to serve one year, and until their successors are elected."  This act of incorporation was signed by John M. Creed, speaker of the house of representatives, and C. Anthony, speaker of the senate.
     An election was held, Tuesday, Mar. 10, 1835, at which the following officers were elected:  James Kilbourn, Mayor; George H. Griswold, recorder; Samuel Abbott, William Bishop, Ira Metcalf, A. H. Pinney, and William S. Spencer, trustees.  After the election, it was discovered that, by mistake, the charter would not go into effect until Mar., 2, 1836, and consequently the officers elect could not legally perform the duties of their office.  The legislature, at their next sesssion session (January 26, 1836), passed an amendatory act, ordering that the original act should be in force from and after its passage.  The regularly elected council met for business, Feb. 19, 1836, and appointed the following officers:  R. W. Cowles, treasurer; Captain Levi Pinney, marshal; Captain Chauncey Barker, street commissioner; Captain Abner Pinney, Captain Dayton Topping, and D. W. Harrington, fire wardens.  On Mar. 14, 1846, an ordinance was passed by the council, dividing the town into two wards, and, at the same time, repealing an ordinance, passed Feb. 19, 1836, establishing three wards.  Mar. 4, 1871, the two wards, established in 1846, were consolidated, by ordinance.  At the regular election, held Mar. 8, 1836, the officers of the preceding year were re-elected.  In 1837,

GEORGE H. GRISWOLD

MILA GRISWOLD

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G. H. Griswold was elected Mayor; Flavel Tuller, recorder, Elias  Lewis, Nathan Mason, George Taylor, Ansel Mattoon, and Kingsley Ray, trustees.  The corporation limits were extended Feb. 29, 1856.
     In 1873 the corporation and township, jointly, bought a building from the Worthington school-board, for use as a town-hall.  The cost of the building was two thousand five hundred dollars.  The upper story was soon afterward sold to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, for use as a lodge-hall.  the present corporation officers are:  Dr. W. W. Bickett, mayor; Dr. O. Johnson, clerk; W. F. Griswold, treasurer; James Beers, marshal; Horatio F. Griswold, treasurer; James Beers, marshal; Horatio Wright, William Yonel, S. T. Martin, F. F. Tuller, Dr. T. B. Asbury, and I. N. Wells, council.

POST-OFFICE

     The post-office at Worthington was established in 1805, in which year William Robe was appointed postmaster.  He continued in charge until 1815, when Arora Buttles was appointed.  Recompense Stansberry was appointed in 1821, and remained in changed of the office until 1841, when R. W. Cowles was appointed.  He died the same  year, and Recompense Stansberry was re-appointed and continued in the office until his death, in 1843.  He was succeeded by George H. Griswold, who administered the office until 1849, when George Taylor took charge of it.  He remained in the office until 1853, when George H. Griswold was re-appointed.  Charles Martin, jr., was appointed in 1857, and was succeeded by George Taylor in 1861.  Since that time there have been several post-master s: Mr. Carpenter, A. W. Wood, Mrs. Sanderson, D. H. Nash, T. B. Randall, T. B. Asbury, and the present incumbent, F. W. Bishop, who was appointed in 1877.  A money-order department was established in connection with the office July 1, 1874.
     A railroad station was erected on the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati & Indianapolis railroad, three miles north of Worthington, in 1868, and called Westerville station.  The same season a post-office was established at the depot, and was named Flint post-office.  A. J. Willoughby was the first postmaster, but Solomon Timmons, as deputy, had charge of the office.  H. M. & H. C. Johnson surveyed village lots near the station the same year.  A small store was opened at this point, in 1869, by Creighton Eakin.  In 1872 H. W. Johnson was appointed postmaster, and engaged in merchandising about the same time.  The office has since been kept at his store.

PHYSICIANS

     The first physician who practiced medicine in Worthington - Dr. Josiah Topping - came with the first members of the Scioto company in 1803.  Dr. Lamb came soon after, and remained until 1806, when his wife died, and he sold his property, removing to Delaware.  Dr. James H. Hill came to Worthington about 1810, and practiced medicine until 1818, when he sold his practice to Dr. Daniel Upson.  Dr. Wetmore practiced in 1820, and for many years thereafter, until about 1850, when he removed to Columbus.  Dr. Kinsley Ray came some time after Dr. Upson, but did not remain in practice here long.  He was of the regular old school, and the people of Worthington were favorable to the practice taught in the Medical College, which was the botanic school.  This was represented by Drs. Morrow, Jones, Paddock, and others.  The present physicians of Worthington are Drs. Asbury, Johnson, Bickett, and Lewis.  Dr. George R. Snow came with his father, John Snow, in about 1816, then a young boy.  He studied medicine in Worthington, where he commenced practice about 1830.  After about ten or twelve years he moved to Columbus, where he practiced some ten years, when he returned to Worthington.  In about 1852 he engaged in mercantile business, and remained at this until about 1858, when he failed.  He died some ten years later, leaving a widow, one son, and two daughters.  He was a prominent and successful who stood high in the profession.

WORTHINGTON MANUFACTURING COMPANY

     In 1811, Colonel James Kilbourn and others formed a stock company, and were incorporated under the above name, Colonel Kilbourn being president and general agent of the company.  A tract of land, lying adjoining the village on the southwest, and cleared and improved, and in two or three years  the company had a large factory in operation.  They manufactured woolen cloth, run a tannery, a shoe shop, cabinet shop, hat shop,  blacksmith shop, besides other industries.  They had stores in Worthington, Franklinton, and Columbus, and issued their own notes, which were in general circulation.  A part of the stockholders lived in the east, but invested considerable sums of money in the business.  The factory furnished employment for a large number of workmen, who were mostly paid from the stores of the company.  In 1819 or 1820 the concern failed, and those who had invested money in it were heavy losers.  While in operation, it contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of the place, and its downfall forced many of the workmen to change their vocation, or seek homes in some other place.  The land on which the old factory stood is now included in the village of Worthington, but no vestige now remains of the works where so many busy hands were employed in that early day.

NEWSPAPERS.

     The first newspaper published in Franklin county, was at Worthington, in 1811.  It was started by Col. James Kilbourn, who was the first owner, and was called the Western Intelligencer.  He continued its publication but a short time, when he sold it to other parties, and, in 1814, the office and material were removed to Columbus, where it was published by P. H. Olmstead, Joel Buttles, and Ezra Griswold.  Its name was changed to the Western Intelligencer and Columbus Gazette.   Since that time it has passed through many hands, and was the original foundation of the Ohio State Journal.  When published in Worthington, in 1812, it supported James Madison for the presidency.  About the year 1818, or 1819, another paper was started in Worthington - the fourth one published in the county.  Its projectors were Ezra Griswold, Jr., and Caleb Howard.  It was called the Frank-

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lin Chronicle, and was short lived, being discontinued in about two years.

SCHOOLS.

WORTHINGTON ACADEMY

WORTHINGTON COLLEGE

REFORMED MEDICAL COLLEGE

PREPARATORY SCHOOL.

FEMALE SEMINARY.

OHIO CENTRAL NORMAL SCHOOL.

     In 1871, Messrs. Mitchell and Ogden purchased the property known as the  Worthington Female Seminary, which included three acres of land, and a large four-story brick building, with ample accommodations for one hundred and fifty or two hundred students.  A normal school was inaugurated in September, 1871, which, from the start, received a large patronage.  The attendance the first year, was one hundred and eleven; the second year it had increased to one hundred and seventy-eight, with a graduating class of eight.  The third year, Professor Mitchell engaged in another profession, and the school was left in charge of Professors Ogden and Lewis.  This year the attendance was two hundred and fifteen, with a graduating class of seventeen.  In January, 1875, Mr. Lewis withdrew, and Professor Ogden was assisted by Rev. Charles H. Young, rector of the Episcopal church, in Worthington; also, by Miss Carrie Semple, and six members of the senior class, as tutors.  The attendance

REV. WILLIAM T. SNOW              ELECTA SNOW

JOHN SNOW

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that year was two hundred and fourteen, with a graduating class of twenty.  The course of study embraces a review of the common branches, the higher branches, and the languages.  In addition, there is a professional course, embracing the whole doctrine of educational growth and progress.  Two new departments have recently been added to the school, viz.: a model school, composed of three grades - primary, intermediate and high school, and a genuine Kindergarten, for the purpose of training teachers, as well as exhibiting the true methods of culture for little children.  A normal institute, of five or six weeks, in July and August, of each year, is an important feature of the school.  For the year 1879, the school is under the care of John Ogden, A. M., as principal, and W. H. Tibbals, A. M., as assistant principal.  The school ahs been re-organized the present season, by Professor Ogden, who is now the owner of the property.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

CHURCHES.

ST. JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

METHODIST CHURCH.

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PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

THE METHODIST CHURCH.

THE UNIVERSALIST CHURCH.

CEMETERIES

     Several meetings of citizens of Worthington were held, in November and December, 1858, and a committee was appointed to examine grounds for use for cemetery purposes, and to make a report as to the terms of purchase of a suitable tract.  They reported, in December, in favor of a ground on the land of Mr. Hoyt.  The report was favorably considered, and a meeting of the citizens, on the proposed ground, was held Jan. 20, 1859, which was largely attended.  At this time the committee perfected arrangements for the purchase, from Mr. Hoyt, of fifty dollars, with the view of selling all but ten acres.  These grounds are situated within one mile of Worthington, and south from the village, near the east bank of the Olentangy river, and in full view from the pike leading to Columbus.  They contain a little more than ten acres of land, and are covered with a growth of young walnut, trees, from which the cemetery is appropriately named.

RESIDENCE of HORACE W. WRIGHT, WORTHINGTON, FRANKLIN CO., O.

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Immediately after the purchase of the grounds, the labor of improving them was commenced.  The first burial, that of James N. Taylor, took place Feb. 1, 1859.  In June, 1861, the corporation of Worthington added some three acres to the cemetery, on the east, which was purchased from Mr. Park.  They also secured a road on the south line of Mr. Peck's land.  the grounds have been considerably improved since their purchase, and many bodies have been removed from the old grounds to the new.

SOCIETIES.

THE MASONIC FRATERNITY.

     New England Lodge, No. 4, at Worthington, was organized June 28, 1808, under a charter issued by the grand lodge of the Free and Accepted Masons, for the State of Connecticut, and dated October, 1803.   At the same time a charter was granted for the organization of Erie Lodge, No. 47, in Trumbull county.  The lodge at Worthington was designated, in the original charter, as New England Lodge, No. 48, and its charter was to continue to force until one year after the institution of a grand lodge in the State of Ohio.  Rev. James Kilbourn was appointed first master of this lodge.  No record appears of the formation of this lodge until 1808, at which time Ezra Griswold and James Kilbourn were appointed delegates to visit Chillicothe, and assist in the formation and institution of the grand lodge of Masons in Ohio.  Th_ first officers of New England Lodge, No. 48, were: James Kilbourn, W. M.; Zopher Topping, S. W.; Josiah Topping, J. W.; Ezra Griswold, secretary; Israel Case, treasurer; Stephen Maynard, S. D.; Roswell Wilcox, J. D.; Azariah Pinney, tyler.  At the meeting to consider the organization of a grand lodge in Ohio, the delegate from New England lodge, James Kilbourn, was not allowed to sit in the convention, the reason assigned being that the lodge itself had not been formally organized.  On June 28, 1808, Thomas Worthington, of Chillicothe, conducted the ceremonies of installation of the officers of New England lodge.   During the years 1808 and 1809, the lodge continued to work under the Connecticut grand lodge warrant.  In September, 1809, in response to an invitation from the grand lodge of Ohio, it was resolved to unite with them, and in January, 1810, the lodge made returns, and was represented in the grand lodge by Rev. James Kilbourn, then chaplain of New England lodge.  In 1814, six years after the formation of the grand lodge of Ohio, this lodge obtained its rank and number - four.  Number one was left blank for American Union lodge, which was chartered in 1776; number two was Nova Caesarea lodge, of Cincinnati; No. 3, Erie lodge, of Warren, Trumbull county, and No 4, New England lodge, of Worthington.  Many men of Ohio, eminent of civil life, was well as Masonry, have been members of New England lodge, among them are John Snow, Thomas Smith Webb, both of whom held high offices in the grand lodge and grand chapter of the United States; Chester Griswold, Aaron L. Buttles, Rev. Philander Chase, first Episcopal bishop of Ohio, and many others, who have held important places of trust in the State and nation.  In 1820, the Masonic fraternity of Worthington erected a substantial brick hall for lodge purposes, which is still used at this time - 1879.
     Mt. Vernon Commandery, No. 1, of Columbus, was organized at Worthington, Mar. 15, 1818, under a dispensation issued by the general grand encampment of the United States, Mar. 13, 1818.  this commandery was organized by Sir Knight John Snow, from St. John's encampment, Rhode Island, Sir Knight Frederick A. Curtiss, from _____ encampment, Ireland, and Sir Knight Thomas S. Webb, from the general grand encampment of the United States.  A charter was granted by the general grand encampment of the United States, Sept. 16, 1819, the Hon. De Witt Clinton then presiding over that body.  The first officers under the charter were:  John Snow, G. Com.; Chester Griswold, Gen.; James Kilbourn, Capt. Gen.; Joseph Hughes, prelate.  At a regular conclave, held on the twenty-second of February, 144, it was "unanimously resolved to accept the order of the grand encampment, made at its late meeting, at Lancaster, authorizing and empowering this encampment to hold its meetings, a portion of the year, in Columbus, and has, since that date, been kept in the capital city.  No order was ever again issued for the assembling of the encampment at Worthington.
     "In looking through its records, it is found that royal arch masons from Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Louisiana, received orders from this commandery.  All the grand masters of the grand lodges of Ohio, for nearly fifty years, with one or two exceptions, were knighted at this commandery."
     Horeb Chapter, No. 3, of Worthington, was organized under a dispensation from the deputy grand high priest of the grand royal arch chapter, of the State of Maryland and District of Columbia, Dec. 18, 1815.  Its first officers were James Kilbourn, H. P.; Chester Griswold, K.; Abner Lord, S.; Solomon Smith, secretary; Moses Byxbee, P. S.; H. Hyre, C. of H.; N. Potter, R. A. C.; A. Buttles, V. Shaw, S. Smith, M. of V.  The officers for 1879, were: F. A. Bull, H. P.; Horace W. Wright, K.; S. S. Pinney, scribe; J. P. Wright, treasurer; T. B. Asbury, secretary; George Clark, C. of H.; J. R. Topping, P. S.; W. R. Bartles, R. A. C.; E. Weibling, Charles Clark, R. Osborn, M. of V.; R. N. Richardson, guard.

INDEPENDENT ORDER OF GOOD TEMPLARS.

     Ark Lodge, No. 270, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was chartered by the Grand Lodge of Ohio, Feb. 22, 1855.  The charter members were Isaac N. Case, Anssel Mattoon, Isaac Thompson, Almon S. Wood, and James M. Fuson.  The lodge was instituted Apr. 16, 1855, by Thomas J. McLain, grand master of the State.  It has now a membership of sixty, composed of the best citizens of Sharon township.  In 1873 the lodge purchased the upper story of the town hall  building for a lodge hall, which is now neatly fitted up and supplied with the proper emblems of the order.  It is in a prosperous condition, financially, having a surplus of over one thousand dollars, and no debt.  The present officers are Thomas Bonner, N. G.; J. B. Stewart, V. G.; W.  

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W. Bickett, P. S.; Adolphus Tuller, treasurer; H. W. Wilcox, recording secretary.

OLENTANGY ENCAMPMENT.

     Olentangy Encampment of Patriarchs, No. 149, was chartered May 8, 1872, and was instituted May 31st of the same year, by Joseph Dowdall, R. W. grand scribe.  The charter members were L. T. Gardner, J. M. Fuson, D. M. White, W. W. Fuson, H. Chambers, J. E. Wright, H. B. Stickney, A. Tuller, A. S. Wood, and J. T. Bowen.  the first officers were D. M. White, C. P.; H. B. Stickney, H. P.; H. Chambers, S. W.; W. W. Fuson, S.; J. M. Fuson, treasurer; A. Tuller, J. W.  Meetings are held at Lodge hall of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

GRANGE.

     Sharon Grange, No. 690, was organized under a dispensation from the State Grange, Mar. 14, 1874.  It received its charter July 1st of the same year, at the time having twenty-five members on the roll.  The grange rapidly grew until in December, 1875, it had one hundred and six members.  Regular meetings are held twice every month, in the town hall.  The first officers of the grange were:  H. W. Wright, master; Marcus Case, overseer; G. B. Goodrich, lecturer; S. S. Pinney, steward; E. M. Stanley, assistant steward; J. P. Wright, treasurer; J. M. Fuson, secretary; Samuel Watson, chaplain; George Lewis, gate-keeper; Mrs. H. W. Wright, ceres; Mrs. George Lewis, pomona; Mrs. S. R. Holt, flora; Miss Ella Stanley, lady assistant steward.  Master for 1879 is Dr. T. B. Asbury; secretary, M. Case.

CELEBRATION.

     The first celebration of Independence Day in the new colony took place July 4, 1804.  The brush was cleared out from the space now occupied by the public square, and rude seats of logs arranged for the assembled people to sit upon.  An address was delivered by Col. James Kilbourn, and a national salute given by falling seventeen large trees, in honor of the seventeen States of the Union, instead of firing so many cannon.

SURVEYOR'S MARKS.

     As late as 1832, there was still standing, on the southwest corner of this township, a tree, marked "No. 1, T. 1, R. 19, I. L." (Israel Ludlow, all of which appeared very ancient, though no date appeared.  In making a survey in the settlement of a dispute as to lot lines, the fourth day of April, 1834, Ezra Griswold found, at a distance of forty-six rods west from the corner ascertained as the right hand lower corner of this plat of the Scioto company, another corner, or center of the township, near which was a tree, marked: "No. 4, T. 2, R. 18, I. L."  Another, marked: "No. 3, T. 2, R. 18."  Another marked: "No. 2, T. 1, R. 18., I. L."  The initials, "I. L., " it is presumed, means Israel Ludlow, who surveyed here, about 1798.

GAME AND FISH.

     For many years after the first settlement of the county, the rivers abounded in fish, and the forests were the haunt of a great variety of game.  Fish were caught by means of nets, and sometimes with a brush seine, which required from ten to twenty men to handle.  Large quantities of excellent fish were caught, there being at that time no obstruction to prevent their coming up all the streams.
     Hunting was followed by many from a love for the chase, for purposes of food, and for the protection of the crops.  A grand ring or drive hunt was organized before the country became very thickly settled.  A day was appointed, and a line formed at Columbus, and extending across the country from the Olentangy river to Alum creek, on the east.  Another line was formed near the Delaware county line, when the two parties commenced their march, meeting below Worthington.  On the conclusion of the hunt, it was found that five hundred wild turkeys, thirty deer, and several bears had been killed.  The wolves escaped to the swamps, and none were brought in.  In early times the squirrels became so plenty as to be a positive nuisance, and committing great damage to the corn. A notice was accordingly published in the Columbus Gazette, of Aug. 29, 1822, calling for a grand squirrel hunt of all the people in the vicinity, said hunt to continue two or three days.  The hunt took place Saturday, Aug. 31, 1822, and when the report of the slaughter was brought in it figured up to nineteen thousand six hundred and sixty scalps that were produced.  Very many of the hunters did not report, and it was impossible to give the exact number that were killed.

J. W.  WHITE

     REV. J. W. WHITE the subject of this sketch, was born in Palmyra, Maine, Nov. 2, 1813.  He was the eldest of the six sons of Deacon John White and Betsey White; three of whom have passed away, while each of the three remaining are ministers of the gospel.  Deacon White was a man of large frame, broad intellect, fixed principles, deep piety, and of great hospitality.  He was widely known, held many offices both in church and State, and, at eighty-seven years of age, called to his death-bed his children, and his children's children, blessed them, and passed peacefully to the home of the just.  His mother, Betsey Jewett, was one of the numerous Quaker Jewetts, of New Hampshire; a woman of culture and great sweetness of disposition.  She never struck one of her six sons or three daughters, and, after living happily with her husband for sixty-three yeas, and seeing well to the affairs of her household, she sweetly passed to a rich reward, at eight-three years of age, loved and mourned by all who knew her.  Her memory, to her children, is as a sweet perfume, lingering around a broken vase.
     Mr. White was raised in true New England style.  The first lesson taught him was that there were just as many months already as the barren soil could fill, and if he ate, his own hands must earn his subsistence.  He worked on a farm, or in a boot and shoe shop, in summer, and attended a district school in winter.  Fifty years ago, even a New England common school, with its broad seats without backs, mysterious text-books, and cheap, incompetent teachers was but a sorry place in which to gain knowledge.  In boyhood, a love of books became a passion.  At fifteen years, he had literally devoured the family library, which consisted of such works as "Baxter's Call,"  "Edward's Sermons,"  "Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress," "Robinson Crusoe," and the writings of John Calvin; while in poetry was "Rouse's Version of the Psalms" and "Watt's Hymns."  The first books he ever owned were bought with money resulting from a patch of potatoes raised by working early in the morning and late in the evening.  They were a novel by Walter Scott, "Pollok's Course of Time," "Milton's Paradise Lost," and "Blackstone."  With these, and a tallow candle, when his day's work was done, he held nightly converse.  Scott fired the imagination, Pollok soothed, while the grand numbers of Milton awoke reverence, and Blackstone came in to hold the boy level, and save him from poetic frenzy.
     In 1832, Mr. White began to cough, and it was thought best that he leave the farm and engage in a business where he would not be liable to so much exposure; he accordingly entered a store, as clerk.  His employer was a man of culture, and kindly aided him in his studies.  Here he made rapid progress.  During the fall and winter he recited to a college professor, and paid for text books and tutelage by chopping cord-wood, at thirty-seven cents a cord.  These were real life struggles, but to him they were what friction is to the diamond - they polished and brought out the lustre within him.  Achillean invulnerability can only be possessed by frequent baptism in the seas of difficulty.  Veterans are only made upon the battle-field.  The truest and grandest manhood is developed by early and heroic struggles.
     In 1833, he came in Ohio.  While in Granville, Ohio, under the preaching of Rev. Lyman Beecher, of precious memory, he sought the Savior, and made a public profession of faith in Christ.  He proved that He was able to save to the uttermost all who came unto Him.  The same year, while attending a protracted meeting, in Newark, he united with the Methodist Episcopal church.  In the fall of 1844 he was licensed to exhort, and preached his trial sermon in the Town Street church at Columbus.  He was licensed to preach, and was recommended as a suitable person to be received into the traveling connection, by the conference then sitting in Circleville.  In five days from the date of his license he had settled his business, equipped himself with saddlebags, bible, hymn-book, "Watson's institutes," "Fletcher's Appeal," the "Methodist Discipline," and "Butler's Analogy," and without theological training, had taken up his line of march to the then wild hills of the Hock-hocking, to enter upon his life work.  In 1836, he passed creditably an examination in his course of study, and was elected and ordained deacon.  In 1838, he had completed his course to the satisfaction of the conference, and was ordained elder.
     In June, 1840, he was happily united in marriage with Anna C. Williams, eldest daughter of the late Judge Hosea Williams, of Delaware.  Although reared amid luxury, she entered heartily into the arduous and difficult duties of the wife of an itinerant, aiding and cheering her husband, and patiently and heroically sharing his wandering life, and now shares his retirement in their beautiful home.
     Thus for forty years he has trod on in the active ministry; seven years on circuits, twenty-two years in city stations, and eleven years on districts as presiding elder.  In the fall of 1874, weary from long and active duties of his ministry, he asked and obtained a superannuated relation.  He then bought and refitted his first home, which he named "Maple Home," furnished it comfortably, and retired in the quiet village of Worthington.
     Their three children, all they have had, are living, happily married, and well settled.  We found this aged couple in their beautiful home, cheerful, hopeful and happy.  They have fought and won.  Blessed with plenty, surrounded with friends, and being of cheerful and grateful dispositions, very sunny is life's afternoon.  For such an evening one can afford to do battle all the live day.  the results of such lives may not be measured in time.

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HORACE W. WRIGHT

      The subject of this sketch was born in Worthington, Ohio, Jan. 30, 1830, and here he has since lived.  In his youth, he attended the schools of his native town, but did not pursue any prescribed course.  During the winter of 1849-50, he studied at Kenyon college, Gambier, and on his return worked for his father, on a salary, until the death of the latter, Sept. 3, 1855.  Potter Wright, the farmer of Horace W. Wright, came from Providence, Rhode Island, to Worthington, about the year 1815, in charge of machinery for a cotton-mill, which it was designed, and the owner shipped it to another point.  Mr. Wright came to the new country, owning to the glowing descriptions of the prosperity of the community and the grand future in store for the embryo town.  He expected to find a thriving village, already in a fair way to become a great city, but was disappointed when he saw it in a crude shape, and yet to be hewn out of the forest.  For some time after his arrival, he worked for Worthington Manufacturing company, on a salary, but eventually withdrew from their employ, before the affairs of the company became hopelessly deranged, and in payment for his services received a house and lot in the village, which afterward became his home, and is now occupied by his daughter, Cynthia.  After leaving the service of the company, he erected a shop, and engaged in the manufacture of carding and spinning machinery, and other machinery used in cloth making and cloth dressing.  Here he built up a business that extended to many States, and, during his lifetime, accumulated a considerable property, which, at his death, was administered by his son, Horatio, and was divided among his children.  His wife was Lovisa, born eight children: Horatio, Mason M., Cynthia, James P., Horace W., Henry, George, and Sarah, six of whom are now living, one at Danville, and one at Paxton, Illinois, and three sons and one daughter in Worthington.  Mr. Wright used, as a motto on the machinery he manufactured, the legend: "Flourish ye western manufacturers."
     Horace W. Wright, of whom previous mention is made, engaged in farming, which avocation he has followed during his life.  To this he has also added the care of the saw-mill in Worthington, which he has owned and managed during the past five years.  On Oct. 29, 1862, he was married to Henrietta S. Tuller, daughter of Flavel Tuller.  To them have been born five children - Kate, Frank, Albert, Bernard, and Helen.  Three of these, Albert, Kate and Bernard, were attacked by that dread disease, diphtheria, and all died within one week, on the ninth, tenth, and sixteenth of November, 1876.  Mr. Wright had been successful in his business life, and has accumulated a good property as the result of a life conducted under strict principles of integrity.  He built his present fine brick dwelling house, a representation of which appears herewith, in 1861.

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