Sharon township consists of a five-mile-square block, which constituted a very small fragment of what was once Liberty township.  It is geographically known as township 2, in range 18.  It was erected Mar. 4, 1806, and christened Sharon from the Biblical Sharon.  The settlement of the township began in the spring of the year 1803 under the auspices of the Scioto Company composed of migrants from the state of Connecticut under the lead of Colonel and Rev. James Kilbourne who had come west a few years previously and ''spied out the land" of the New Canaan.

A Famous Dwarf.

     The town of Worthington was duly "laid out" in 1804, and in 1805 it was made a government postoffice, and William Robe was installed as the first postmaster.  Mr. Robe was a dwarf and an undersized one at that, and was, in stature at least, the prototype of P. T. Barnum's celebrated Tom Thumb of the middle of the nineteenth century.
     His maximum weight was fifty pounds, and his stature did not exceed a yardstick.  And withal, he was highly educated, cultured and was neat in appearance, perfectly proportioned, dressed in the highest style of his day and was "a perfect gentleman" in every respect.
     He became a teacher in the Worthington Seminary, the foremost educational institution west of Pittsburg in that day.  Later he was made chief clerk or deputy in the office of the state auditor.  He died January, 1823, at the age of forty-five.

The Pioneer Postmasters.

     Mr. Robe continued as postmaster until 1815, when he was succeeded by Aurora Buttles, and he was followed by Recompense Stansberry who held from 1821 to 1841 in which year he was succeeded by R. W. Cowles, who died within less than a year.  Recompense Stansberry was again appointed postmaster and held the office until 1843, during which year he passed away and George Taylor was in charge from 1843 to 1849; George H. Griswold from 1849 to 1853 ; and Charles Martin, Jr., from 1858 and past.

Manufacturing Company Incorporated.

     In 1811 the Worthington Manufacturing Company was incorporated by act of the legislature, and Colonel James Kilbourne became president and general agent of the company.  With the erection of the necessary buildings completed, the company went actively into business in 1813.  The company manufactured a high grade (for that period) of woolen goods, but carried on numerous mechanical branches in other lines.  The company also engaged in banking, its charter being so comprehensive that it could engage in any and all kinds of business.  In both banking and mercantile business, it became the most important concern in Ohio or the west for a number of years, and it maintained stores in Columbus and Franklinton as well as in Worthington.
     The company met with reverses, however, in 1819-20, and went into liquidation.  It paid out all of its liabilities, but when its affairs were settled, the stockholders had sacrificed proportional shares of their private fortunes, while the community as a whole had profited by the energy and enterprise of the concern and its projectors. Co-incidental with the incorporation of the above company, Colonel Kilbourne launched the first newspaper in Franklin county and among the early papers west of the Alleghenies.  This was the Western Intelligencer, the progenitor of the Ohio State Journal of the present day.

Worthington Incorporated.

     The town of Worthington was incorporated by act of the legislature in 1835, and in the spring of 1836 the first town officers were elected as follows Mayor, James Kilbourne; recorder, G. H. Griswold; trustees, Samuel Abbott, William Bishop, Ira Metealf, A. H. Pinney, William S. Spencer and R. W. Cowles; treasurer, Levi Pinney; marshal, Chauncey Barker; street commissioner, Abner P. Pinney; fire wardens, Dayton Topping and D. W. Harrington.

The Pioneer Mayors.

     The pioneer mayors of Worthington in their order and date of election were: 1836, James Kilbourne; 1837, G. H. Griswold; 1838, Peter Wright; 1839, John Snow; 1840-41, James Kilbourne; 1842, Levi Pinney; 1843, Sylvester Hayes; 1844, William Bishop; 1845, George Taylor; 1846, James Kilbourne; 1847, G. H. Griswold; 1848-54, Stephen Hoyt; 1855-58, Stephen L. Peck.

Other Pioneer Citizens.

     Among the heads of the pioneer families of Sharon township in addition to the foregoing named prominent citizens and public officials were Ezekial Brown, Alexander Morrison, Jr., Ezra Griswold, Isaac Case, Azariah Pinney, Glass Cochran, Rueben Carpenter, Crager Wright, Stephen Maynard, Samuel Maynard, Nathaniel Little, John Goodrich, Jr., John W. Ladd, Stephen Maynard, Jr., Asaph Allen, Ira Metcalf, Philo Burr, Luther Case, Charles E. Burr and I. N. Case.

Almost Stationary Population.

     For more than forty years there has been but little change in the population of Sharon township and Worthington, town.  In 1840 the town and township had a population of one thousand one hundred sixty-eight; in 1850, one thousand five hundred nine; in 1858, one thousand six hundred twenty-one; in 1900, one thousand seven hundred ninety-nine, of which four hundred

Page 405 -

SOUTH EAST VIEW OF WEST CREST, 1842.

Page 406 - Blank

Page 407 -
fifty were residents of Worthington.  The estimate for 1908-9 is one thousand eight hundred thirty-six.  It will be observed that the actual population of Sharon township, as indicated by the census of 1900, was but two hundred ninety more than it was by the official census of 1850, an increase of less than six persons per year.  This may be accounted for, however, on the theory that outside the town of Worthington, the real-estate owners hold extensive tracts, and lease only to those who assist in agricultural pursuits, thus reducing tenants to the minimum; while in the town itself, the large majority own their own houses and lots and tenants are the exception.
 

NEXT - PLEASANT TOWNSHIP