NAME

     The township was first settled by emigrants from Pennsylvania, and they gave the place of their choice the name of their old governor - Mifflin.

CIVIL BEGINNING.

     The township was organized and established within its present limits in 1811, previous to that time having been in common with Blendon and Jefferson, attached for civil and judicial purposes to Plain.  The first justices of the peace were Frederick Agler and John Scott.  In 1815 John Scott was re-elected, and Stephen Harris was chosen in Agler's place.
     The first fall election of officers shown by the records is that which occurred in 1815.  At that time the election was held at Frederick Agler's house, William Read, John Turney, and Agler acting as judges, and James Shannon and Henry Hawken as clerks.  Following is the full list of officers elected; William Read, John Turney, and James Price, trustees; Geo. Baughman and Asa Roberson, supervisors; Hugh Price and Asa Roberson, constables; James Shannon and Jacob Isanheart, overseers of the poor; John Agler and Geo. Ridenour, fence viewers; Henry Hawken, clerk; Stephen Harris, treasurer; James Shannon, lister; Stephen Harris, house appraiser.
     The present officers are: David Beers, William Shephard, and William A. Stygler, trustees; John Zuber, clerk; Thomas D. Cassady, treasurer; Eli Chrysler and David Beers, justices of the peace; Levi Benedict and Daniel Beers, constables.

PIONEERS AND EARLY SETTLERS.

     Mifflin township was settled in 1799 or 1800.  The exact time cannot be stated, nor can it be said definitely who was the first settler.  Many of the earliest families have no representatives left in the township or county, and others, who are still represented by their descendants, cannot be definitely placed.

     WILLIAM READ, who was , in all probability, the first, owned several hundred acres in the southwest part of the township, and lived near the present location of St. Mary's seminary.  He was a prominent man - an associate judge of the court of common pleas, and a member of the legislature.  None of the family are now living in this part of the country.  His son, Adam, who was also at one time a member of the legislature, was killed at the raising of a log barn.

     FRED AGLER was another of the early pioneers.  He, like Read, settled on Alum creek, but about three miles farther north.  He bought a large amount of land, made many improvements, and remained in the township until his death, in 1824.  Margaret, his wife, also died at an early date.  They raised quite a large family of children, of whom Samuel, Louis, Elizabeth (Mrs. Peter Horlocker), and Margaret (Mrs. James Park), are residents of the township.  The Aglers came as early as 1806 or 1807.

     MATHIAS RIDENOUR and his wife, Catharine Fage, came in  in 1810, and settled on Big Walnut creek.  They were originally from Maryland, removed from there to Pennsylvania, and thence to Ross county, from whence they came to Mifflin.  Their family consisted of David, George, John, Susan, Mary, and Catharine.  All are now dead, except David, who is a leading citizen of Westerville, Blendon township.  Susan married Daniel Turney, Mary married John Turney, and after his death, Frederick Neiswender, of Jefferson township.  Catharine  married John Scott.

     DANIEL TURNEY and his wife, Susan (Ridenour), of Pennsylvania, emigrated, in 1806, to Chillicothe, and came from there to Mifflin township in 1811.  They settled first upon Big Walnut, above the present site of the village of Gahanna, and soon afterwards, removed to Alum creek, and settled upon what is known as the Cynthia Turney farm.  They had nine children, of whom seven are still living, as follows:  John, in Morrow county; Mary (Dill), Susan (Bell), Daniel in Iowa; Catharine (Noble), as in Indiana; Phebe (Noble), in Iowa.  Daniel Turney died in 1856, and his wife, in 1857.  They were among the best known and most liked families in the township.

     GEORGE AND BARBARA BAUGHMAN, with their families,

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first settled in Plain township in 1805, but subsequently removed to Mifflin, where they spent most of their pioneer life.  They were from Washington county, Pennsylvania.  Samuel Baughman, a son of George, was grown up and married, and when others of the Baughmans moved into Mifflin he brought with him a family.  Jesse Baughman, another son, was for many years one of the prominent interprising citizens of Mifflin.  He laid out the village of Gahanna; was engaged in manufacturing; was a farmer, and in other respects assisted the advancement of the township, none, perhaps, doing more.  He was twice married, his first wife being Catharine Turney, and his second Mary Albery, a sister of Judge Albery, and who is still living.  Jesse Baughman died in 1878.  A sister, Mary, was a party in the first marriage performed in Plain township.   Henry Baughman, another son of George and Barbara Baughman, raised a family in Mifflin, but he, himself, removed to Auglaize county in 1834, where he remained until his death.

     JOHN SAUL another settler from Pennsylvania, was one of those who arrived early in the township.  He located on Big Walnut, and there raised a family.  Three of his daughters, Lydia Jacobs, Ann Shanks, and Polly Sherrick, are now residents of the township.

     JAMES PRICE, a native of Maryland, but for some years a resident of Virginia, came to Mifflin in 1811, and settled where his son, Hugh, now lives, on the Price road, near Big Walnut, there being at the time no other settlers in the east part of the township except the Ridenours, where Gahanna now stands.  He was a soldier in the war of 1812.  Besides having a farmer, he was by occupation a blacksmith, and if not the first in the township, was certainly the first in the east part.  He also served as justice of the peace.  He died in 1853.  His family consisted, when he came to Mifflin, of only a wife, Mary McComb, of Virginia, and one child, Jane, now in Adams county, Illinois.  The children born after settlement, were: Harriet, deceased, Hugh, Eliza, who lives in Iowa, William, deceased; Oliver P., who lives in Indianapolis; and James, who died in 1862.  Robert Wert came with James Price, and like him, was a soldier of the war of 181.  Stephen R. Price, father of James, became a settler in the township in 1815, but bought land there as early as 1808, when he made an inspecting trip.  He was one of the most intelligent and well informed of the pioneers, having been educated in London, England, for the ministry.  In 1776, when he was nineteen years of age, he ran away to the United States and enlisted in the American army, and served all through the war.  He took a prominent part of the affairs of Mifflin, and a year after his arrival was elected justice of the peace, and subsequently re-elected three times.  He died in 1832.

     JOHN SCOTT and his sons were squatters, east of Big Walnut creek, in 1811, when James Price arrived.  They came through the country with the surveying parties of Thomas Worthington, Duncan McArthur, and Nathaniel Massie.  John Smith, jr., subsequently settled near Gahanna, and Andrew in Fairfield county.

     The DEANS were prominent and early settlers, arriving soon after 1810, or, possibly, in that year, and taking up a thousand acres of land in the western part of the township.  The family consisted of Lebious Dean, his wife, Rhua, and several sons, among them Ebenezer, who became a permanent settler.  They made their settlement very nearly upon the ground now occupied by Francis B. Dean's house, and where there originally stood a giant sycamore tree, so large that, after it was prostrate, a horse and rider could pass through its hollow.  Ebenezer Dean built one of the earliest mills in the township, which is elsewhere spoken of.  He was one of the township's most active residents until his death, in 1841.  He married Rachel Dalzell, of New York State, who is still living, in Columbus.  Their children were: Francis B., a resident of Mifflin; Robert D. and John, citizens of Columbus; George (deceased), Ebenezer and Sally Maria.

     LUTHER PATTERSON and his son, Philander, the latter still a resident, came in from Massachusetts, in 1816, and settled on Alum creek.  A daughter, Laura, married Simeon Moore, one of the early settlers of Blendon.  Andrew S. Smiley, a brother-in-law of Stephen R. Price, settled south of the latter on Big Walnut, in 1816.

     ANDREW S. SMILEY, a brother-in-law of Stephen R. Price, settled south of the latter on Big Walnut, in 1816.

     JAMES LATTA, a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, came to the township, on foot, in 1818, to make arrangements for the settlement of his family, who came in a flat-boat, by way of the Ohio river, and thence up the Scioto, shortly after.  His father had about eight hundred acres of land in the township, and James Latta and his wife, Elizabeth, located upon it, near the east line of the township.  He died in 1826, leaving a family of eight children: Martha, Sarah, and Mary, now deceased; William and Hannah, in Miami county; John, a resident of Mifflin; James and Elizabeth, deceased.  John Latta married, in 1842, Phebe T., daughter of Robert Paull.

     JOHN STARRETT came with the Lattas.  He became quite noted as a local school-teacher, and was a resident of the township until his death, in 1859, at the advanced age of eight-eight years.

     WILLIAM SMITH was a settler of the period of 1820, and a native of Pennsylvania.  He settled in the northeastern part of the townships.

     NATHANIEL HARRIS came into the county in 1814, from the State of New York, and was noted as a singing-teacher, and, afterwards, as a lawyer and doctor.  He left the State in 1855, and located in Springfield, Illinois, where he now lives, aged eight-nine years.  He was twice married.  One son, Edwin is now a resident of Gahanna.

     WILLIAM DALZELL and HENRY ZINN came in about 1818.

     D. STYGLER, son of John and Bulah Stygler, of Belmont county, Ohio, natives of Virginia, who emigrated from there in 1810, came into Mifflin township in 1825, and beginning with nothing, has attained a large property.  The farm he first settled upon in 1833, was the one up Walnut creek, on which his son now resides.  He has since bought the property on which he resides on the Columbus and Gahanna pike, and other real estate, amounting in all to about two hundred acres.  He married Harriet, a daughter Zachariah Paull, of Truro township.  His daughter, Sarah Parks, lives in Plain township; Leander, upon the old farm, which his father

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cleared up; Mary Jane is deceased; and William is in the township, upon a farm which is a part of his father's accumulations.

     GEORGE BARTLETT came in in 1825, and made the first improvement upon the Columbus and Gahanna pike, where Mrs. Culberson now lives.

     JOHN CLARK, a son of Joseph Clark who was a settler of 1798, in Ross county, was born there in 1804, and in 1828, moved to Mifflin township, and made a clearing just east of the present site of Gahanna, upon a portion of the eight hundred acres lying in Mifflin and Jefferson townships, and bought by his father from Governor Worthington, in 1814.  He was here handsome improvements, including a fine residence, built in 1840.  He married Mary Murray, by whom he has had seven children - Joseph, Elizabeth, William, Phebe, Harwood, James, and Rufus, all of whom are living except Joseph, the first born.

     ROBERT PAULL came into the township in 1830, from Berkeley county, Virginia, by wagon and has cleared up the farm which is on the road from Gahanna to Central College, and in the northern part of the township.  He had, by his first wife (who died before his removal to Ohio), two children - Robert and Phebe (Latta)  He died in 1852.

     THOMAS G. SCHROCK came to the township with his father, William Schrock, from Hampshire county, Virginia, in 1831.  There also came, at the same time, three others of the family - Pierce, William, and George, all three of whom are now dead.  Mr. Thomas G. Schrock made his settlement, where, he now lives, and upon the farm which he has cleared in 1834.  He married Christina, daughter of Isaac Griswold, the first female child born in Blendon township, by whom he has reared a family of whom five are living, viz: Isaac W., Orentia, Ursulla Jane, Editha, and Lacylum.

     JOHN DALZELL and his wife, Catharine, of Oneida county, New York, in 1831 or '32, made their settlement in the township.  John Dalzell had been, previous to his removal to Mifflin, a resident, since 1822, of Columbus, and a warden in the penitentiary.

     ZACHARIAH KRAMER came in in 1830, and settled north of Gahanna, and David Shull, in the same year, settled on the same farm, where the family now lives, which had been somewhat improved by Isaac Johnson, of Jefferson, then a squatter.

     About this time came also, the DILLs from Nova Scotia.  There were John Dill and his wife, Sophia Beckwith.  Their children were: Edward, who lives in Blendon; William and George, in Mifflin; David, John, Augustus, Joseph, and James.  Of the five last named, all are dead, except John, and he resides in Blendon.  August married Elizabeth Turney by whom he had three children; William A., a resident of Blendon, and John B. and Joel W., of Delaware county.

     JAMES PARK, son of Amos and Sarah Park, of Ontario county, New York, came into Delaware county, in 1816, and from there into Franklina county, in 1830, where he located upon his present farm, on the Sunbury pike, in the northwestern section of Mifflin township.  He married Margaret, a daughter of Frederick Agler.  The elder Park followed his son into Mifflin, in 1832, and remained there till his death, in 1851.

     GEORGE and ELLEN HARWOOD came in from Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1835, and located on the farm which the family improved, and upon which a son - Thomas - now lives, situated on the road from Gahanna to Central College.  They had a large family: Eliza, John, Thomas, Charles, Benjamin, Harriet, and Alvin, of whom only Thomas survives.  He married Christina Wilkins.

     HENRY and HENRIETTA CARPENTER came into Mifflin in 1839, from  Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and later moved into Jefferson townships.  Henry Carpenter died at the advanced age of one hundred and four years, and his wife at ninety-eight, both being people of wonderful strength and splendid health.  Charles Carpenter, a son, is now a business man of Gahanna, and one of its leading citizens.  Ae He has been several times a justice of the peace.  A sister, Julia Ann (Beecher), lives in Indiana.

     SARAH CROUSE RAMSEY, widow of the late John Ramsey, son of Joel, an old settler of Plain township, and herself the daughter of Christian Crouse of Strasburg, Germany, who came to Columbus 1841, is a resident of the township.  John Bagshaw, a native of England, is one of the most prominent of the later settlers, and an influential man in the township.  His farm, on Alum creek, has been almost entirely cleared up by him.  Philip Keim, a native of Virginia, came into Mifflin, from Licking county, in 1851, and took up the place where his widow, Susan Keim, now resides.  He was one of the useful men of the township, until his death, in 1858.  Samuel Powell, a native of England, came to this country in 1838, and located in Licking county, and, in 1852, removed to Mifflin, where he died in 1879.  His widow, Matilda, daughter of John and Mary Keim, who came from Pennsylvania to Ohio, in 1826, resides upon the farm which her husband improved.

VARIOUS FIRST THINGS.

     The first marriage in the township was that of James Scott, to Miss Judy McManaway.  The first death was that of a daughter of Ake Anderson.  The first cemetery was in the southwest part of the township, the one near the Mifflin chapel.  It was here that Judge Read was buried, also Ebenezer Dean, and the Dalzells.  Polly Smiley was buried at an early day near the Big Walnut, but the ground is not now used for burial purposes.  The first tavern was kept by George Read, son of Judge Read, where the water-cure establishment of Dr. Shepherd now is.  It is probably that the first road ever traveled in the township was the old Zanesville road, leading to Columbus, and running through the southern part of the township.  Some of the early settlers came in on this road, and then cut their way through the forest to their locations.  This road was long since abandoned, except a little part which is still in sue. and which lies just south of the New Orphans' home.  The first school-house was built on  Big Walnut, where Gahanna now is; the second, on top of the hill,

JESSE BAUGHMAN

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west of Alum creek, and on what is known as the Alum creek road; and the third, in the Parks neighborhood.
     The first brick house was built by Judge Read, about 1815, but one was erected by Andrew Agler about the same time - the one in which Peter Horlocker now lives.

DEER HUNTING.

     JAMES PRICE, father of Hugh Price, at present, a resident of Mufflin township, was, in the early years of the settlement, a great hunter, and particularly fortunate in killing deer.  He seemed to have a natural instinct for hunting; and his knowledge of the woods and of the habits of animals was so thorough that he seldom failed to come home, within a half hour, with a haunch of venison on his shoulder, or some other game slung across his back, when he went into the woods with his trusty rifle.  He supplied his own family and the neighbors with venison and other meats, and often, when the larder was low, his services were brought into requisition with good effect.  It was thought that from the time of his arrival in Mifflin (1811) to the time that the deer disappeared from the woods (about 1848), he killed as many as five hundred deer, to say nothing of smaller game.  He rid the country of wolves, too, as late as 1826, trapping an old she-wolf that had been a great source of annoyance, to all the settles, because of her frequent and very bold depredations.
     Mr. Price had some experiences which proved deer hunting not an altogether safe sport.  One adventure, in particular, showed its danger.  One evening, in October, he took his small bore rifle and the tomahawk which he always carried, when hunting, and went into the woods to cut a few hoop poles, which he needed.  It was customary in those days to carry a gun, whenever going any distance from the cabin, either for self-defence, or to bring down any game that might, by chance, be seen.  Mr. Price, on this occasion, had gone but a short distance when he saw a fine, large deer.  He fired, and it fell.  Supposing it to be dead, he went up to the animal, laid his gun down, and prepared to remove the skin and choice parts of meat.  Just as he drew his tomahawk from his belt, the deer, quick as lightning, sprang to its feet, and came furiously at im.  He aimed a blow at the deer's head, but the handle of the tomahawk struck one of the deer's horns, and the weapon flew from his hand many feet away.  Then a life or death struggle commenced between the weaponless man and the infuriated animal.  The deer tried to gore Price with its horns, but he being a very strong man, succeeded in holding the animal so that it could not reach him.  He was jerked violently backward and forward, however, and the deer's sharp hoofs struck terrible blows upon his person, cutting entirely through his clothing, and producing painful wounds.  The deer jumped upon Price frequently, and finally, he became so weakened by the loss of blood and the violence of the battle that he was scarcely able to keep up.  The fight lasted about half an hour, and just as Mr. Price was about to give up, it ended in a singular way.  The deer setting its feet firmly in the ground, began to pull back with all its strength, and when the strain was most severe, Mr. Price suddenly relaxed his hold, thinking to dodge behind a tree before the animal could reach him.  As he let go, the deer reared upon its hind feet, and fell heavily backward.  As it made a struggle to rise, Mr. Price saw that one of its horns had become fast under the root of an elm tree.  He was quick to take advantage of the situation, and drawing his pocket-knife, cut the deer's throat.  When Mr. Price arrived at home, he was in a very pitiable contion.  His clothing was blood-stained, and hung upon his person in tatters, his face was cut and bruised, so as to be scarcely recognizable, and his left thumb was out of joint, and his strength completely gone.
     On another occasion, Mr. Price was so badly hurt by a deer that he had shot, that he only got home with great difficulty in half a day, although the distance he had to travel was not more than a mile and a half.

CHURCHES.

     The Rev. Ebenezer Washburn, of Blendon, began preaching in Mifflin, in 1819, his first services being held in the barn of William Smith.  This was the beginning of Presbyterianism in the township.  In the same year the Rev. Charles Henkle founded a Lutheran church.  These two denominations have ever since held the precedence in the east part of the township.

THE LUTHERAN CHURCH.

was the first one organized, though, as stated above, the Presbyterians were as early in holding religious services, and, it is also probable, that the Methodists were equally early, but this denomination, usually the pioneers of Christianity, were later in Mifflin than any other township of the county.  Teh first preaching by the Lutheran was in George Ridenour's house, at Daniel Forneys and at - Neiswender's, in Jefferson township; afterwards, services were held at a school-house, in the same township, which was built by Michael Neiswender.  The meetings were held in various localities, for the accommodation, in turn, of the different settlements.  The early members of the church (organized as above stated, in 1819) were: George and John Ridenour, Michael Neiswender, George Baughman, Jesse Baughman, David Ridenour, John Saul, Daniel Turney, Jonas Souder, and, perhaps, a few others.  The house of worship was built in 1838, just north of the present site of Gahanna, and upon a lot donated, for the purpose, by Zachariah Kramer  An addition was found necessary, and was accordingly built, in 1843.  The church has now a total membership of one hundred and sixty persons, and is under the pastoral charge of teh Rev. Lewis T. Meyer.  The elders are Isaac Souder and G. Neiswender; Serenus Souder and Nicholas Heischman, deacons; Samuel Neiswender, John Kramer, and John Souder, trustees.

THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.

as shown by the record, was organized in 1840, by the Rev. Ebenezer Washburn and E. Fitch, who were appointed to the duty by the presbytery of Columbus.  The members were: James, Mary, Eliza, and Hugh Price, John Starritt and Martha Starritt, Mary Clark,

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Elizabeth Latta, Nathaniel and Sophronia Harris, George, Eleanor, and Eliza Harwood, William and Jane McCutcheon, Edward, Jane and Mary Dill, Susan Turney, Christiana Schrock, and Mary Starritt.  George Harwood, William McCutcheon, and Nathaniel C. Harris,  were chosen as elders.  The church edifice was built soon after the village of Gahanna, or Bridgeport, was laid out.  This church has now fifty-five members, and no resident minister.  The elders are John Clark and Robert Paull.  Isaac Shull, Walter Paull, Jesse Price, Rufus Clark, and William Stygler, trustees; John Clark, treasurer.

EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION.

     This denomination has a church building at Gahanna, which was built in 1870.  The society is not in a flourishing condition.  The first class formed was at a considerably earlier date than the building of the church, and it consisted of Mr. H. Ulery, Elizabeth and Peter Neiswender, and Polly Nofzger.

PHYSICIANS.

     The first physician was Samuel Stambaugh, who commenced practice in 1846, and remained until the fall of 1850, when he removed to California.   His successors, who remained long enough to entitle them to mention, were Jonathan Flathery, Dr. Williams, John Baughman, who died in 1862, David Ridenour, who now lives in Indiana, and Frank Beatley who now resides in Columbus.  Of the physicians now in the township, all but one are located in Gahanna.  Dr. R. P. Anderson of he Eclectic school, and a graduate of one of the Cincinnati colleges, has been in practice about twenty-five years.  He practiced in Albany, Plain township, until 1876, and then removed to his present location, where he has quite a large patronage.  The other medical men are Thomas Young, _____ Sensenig, Wm. A. Wilson, and T. J. Clouse.

ST. MARY'S OF THE SPRINGS.

is a seminary for young ladies; is under Catholic control, and is one of the well-known educational institutions of central Ohio.  It is beautifully situated upon a gentle eminence, near the southwest corner of Mifflin township, and just three miles from Columbus.  It is near the lines of the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis and the Baltimore & Ohio railroads.  It has claim to the latter part of its name from the fact that, within the extensive grounds, there are several excellent springs from which bubbles up an abundance of pure, cold water.  There is also an iron spring, and one of white sulphur, which are said to be among the most valuable medicinal springs in the State.  The institution, which has recently been incorporated by the legislature, was established in 1868, and is now under the direct superintendence of the bishop and clergy of Columbus, and the Rev. S. A. Clarkson, O. P.  The superior is Mother Francis.  The academy is a large and well-built structure, three stories in height, and has all the conveniences and luxuries that belong to a place of its kind.  The school is in a very flourishing condition, and has been well patronized from the time of its establishment.  A handsome view of the seminary is given herewith.

DR. SHEPHERD'S WATER-CURE

     Dr. W. Shepherd has, in Mifflin township, a private sanitarium and water-cure, which has attained quite a wide celebrity.  It is situated in the southwest corner of the township, upon the Alum creek road, and is about four miles from the State house.  The buildings are, in themselves, attractive, and they ornament a beautiful landscape.  The grounds are extensive, including about forty acres, and are tastefully laid off, and adorned with trees and all the varied greenery that can combine to lend beauty to the place.  Dr. Shepherd, who is a graduate of the Eclectic medical college of Cincinnati, established the sanitarium in 1853.

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MILLS IN MIFFLIN.

     Early in the history of the township, Ebenezer Dean built a saw-mill on Alum creek, which he run for a number of years, and in which was sawed a vast deal of lumber used in the surrounding country.  His son, Francis B. Dean, also operated the mill a number of years, and Judge Heyl was at one time its owner.  This was the first mill in the township.  The exact date at which it was built can not be ascertained, but it was undoubtedly earlier than 1825.  James Park built a mill on the same creek about a mile up stream, and Andrew McElrain put up one, about where St. Mary's seminary now stands, in 1839.  Dr. William Janney, of Virginia, who was temporarily a resident of Mifflin, built a saw-mill, in 1837, until Big Walnut.  Samuel Powell had a steam saw-mill in operation for about ten years, near where his widow now resides.  There are now steam saw-mills in, and near, Gahanna, the former owned by J. W. Caldwell, and the latter, upon the Columbus pike, owned by Eli Chrysler.
     The first and only grist-mill in the township was built in 1859, at Gahanna, by Joel and Jesse Baughman, and is still in operation.  Eli and Elias Chrysler bought out the Baughmans in 1865.  It subsequently passed through a series of ownerships, among the various proprietors, either wholy or in part, being Joel Baughman and Eli Chrysler, Edwin Harris, R. S. Katterman and W. W. Berris, the present owner.

POST OFFICES.

     The first post-office in the township was established at Gahanna, and is known by the name of the village in which it is located.  It was established in 1849, and Thomas Young had the first commission as postmaster.  Another was established on Alum creek, at Park’s saw mill, in 1851, and Jeremiah Lasure was appointed postmaster.  Two years later he was succeeded by James Park.  This office has since been removed to the toll gate, upon the Columbus and Westerville turnpike, where it crosses the west line of the township.

THE VILLAGE OF GAHANNA, OR BRIDGEPORT

is a hamlet of about three hundred population, of comparatively recent growth.  It is located in the east part of the township, upon Big Walnut creek, and midway between the northern and southern boundaries of the township.  That portion of the village which is Gahanna, was laid out in 1849, by John Clark, esq., and the other, properly called Bridgeport, was laid out in 1853, by Jesse Baughman.  The village was never incorporated.  The first place of residence which was built upon the site of Gahanna, was a log cabin, erected by John Ridenour, and dwelt in by John Starritt.  The first tavern was kept by James Staley, and was known as the Mifflin hotel.  The first store was kept by Thomas Young, and the second by William Beecher.  Gahanna has had a slow growth and very moderate business improvement.  Three of the four churches of the township are situated in the village, and it has a good school, at present under the charge of Leonard Graham, of Reynoldsburg.  William Ross is postmaster, storekeeper, and hotel landlord.  The other stores are those of Mrs. S. A. Quinn and Mrs. F. M. Percy.  Wagon making is carried on by John Zuber and Jonas Glick, and Jacob and Charles Breiret are manufacturers of carriages.  Theodore Carpenter is a tinner and hardware dealer.

INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS.

     Mifflin Lodge, No. 518, is a flourishing organization of Odd Fellows, which meets in Gahanna.  It was instituted June 27, 1872, by Joseph Dowdall, P. G., and consisted of the following charter members:  G. H. Gunderman, S. L. Quinn, D. Hollen, W. Beechard, W. P. Dawson, C. Goodman, A Man, E. Ayres, L. Stag, John Shilling, W. J. Cheney, John Miller, J. Winsor and H. Cummins.

________oOo________

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

SAMUEL L. QUINN.

EBENEZER BUTLER.

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THOMAS HARWARD.

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