CEDARVILLE TOWNSHIP

     CAESAR'S CREEK TOWNSHIP, one of the four into which the county was divided in 1803, originally included all the southeastern section of the county but has been successively reduced to its present limits by the formation of other townships. Paintersville, the only town, was laid out in September, 1837, for the proprietor, Jesse Painter. It is ten miles southeast of Xenia. It has a Methodist Protestant church, a school, two stores, barber, wagon, and blacksmith shops, restaurant, and saw mill. Societies are represented by the Knights of Pythias and the Junior Order, each with its auxiliary of ladies (the Pythian Sisters and the Daughters of America respectively). Population, about 125.
      was organized in 1850 from portions of Xenia, Miami, and Ross, to which fact its singular outline is due. The natural antipathy to new things led to a protest on the part of the inhabitants of the older townships, which however was of no avail. It lies entirely within the Virginia Military District, and incidentally the Cedarville School District treasury is benefited annually to the extent of about fifty dollars from the Federal Government—a relic of the famous Revolutionary War grant.
     The area of the township is 23,000 acres. The soil is very fertile, and underlaid with limestone, which is the basis of one of the chief industries. The chief stream is Massie's Creek, named after a noted Indian fighter. In its efforts to reach the Little Miami it has cut its' way through the rock, forming cliffs forty feet deep and a mile long, one of the most picturesque

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scenes in America. Along its course are a fort of the prehistoric races and a mound which occupies a prominent place in the land­scape. (See the article by Prof. W. K. Moorehead).
     The first settlers were John and Thomas Townsley, who came here from Kentucky in 1801. They were soon seen forced by a colony of Scotch Covenanters from the Chester District of South Carolina, who left there because of their antipathy to slavery. These immigrants were a great reenforcement to the struggling congregation of Reformed Presbyterians, or Covenanters, which had been established in 1804. In spite of a division in 1833 into "Old" and "New Lights," these congregations have vitally determined the religious life of the township.
     The village of CEDARVILLE was laid off by Jesse Newport in 1816, long before the township was formed. It has been variously known as Newport's Mill, Hanna's Store, the "Burgh," and Milford. To avoid confusion of post offices and perpetuate the memory of the cedars, the present name was adopted in 1834. The population, which was 1189 in 1900, is now about 1300. It is on the P., C, C. and St. L. Railroad.
     The interests of town and township are closely allied in all matters, religious, civil, and industrial. There are six churches in the village: the Reformed Presbyterian, New School, founded 1804; Reformed Presbyterian, Old School, founded 1833; United Presbyterian, founded 1830; Methodist Episcopal, founded 1804; Colored Baptist, founded 1830; and the A. M. E. church. Cedarville College is described elsewhere.
     The first school house in the township was erected in 1806; the first in the village was started in 1B23. There are now eight school houses in the township, and the village has a high school.
     The first newspaper, the "Enterprise," was founded in 1876. It was succeeded by the      "Herald," which still flourishes. In 1902 was founded the "Record."   Among prominent buildings may be mentioned the township hall, built in 1888, and the public Library, representing a donation of $11,000 to Cedarville College by Andrew Carnegie.
     Aside from the cereal products, the farmers of Cedarville Township take pride in their fine breeds of cattle, sheep and hogs.

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CEDARVILLE
School Building - Alford Memorial - Town Hall - Main Street

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which have taken many a trophy.  (See the article by O. E. Bradfute.).
     Among the industries of the village are the elevators of D. S. Ervin and Kerr & Hastings Bros., the Ervin lime kilns, the Tarbox Lumber Co., and the Hagar Strawboard and Paper Co. The latter employs over sixty hands, makes a carload of paper a day, and hunts for straw as far as Kentucky.
     But the greatest product of Cedarville Township is its citizens. Pioneers are always the soul of enterprise, else they would not become pioneers. Coming from the older settlements of the East, and reenforced by the Scotch Covenanters, they put forth a civilizing energy which has not yet spent itself, but has been car­ried to greater heights by their descendants. Most prominent is the Hon. Whitelaw Reid, Ambassador to the Court of St. James, and for a third of a century editor of the New York Tribune. Without the honors which the world has bestowed, he would still be highly deserving as a model son, especially in the care he bestowed upon his widowed mother during her last years. As a mark of affection he keeps the old homestead in a condition that makes it a place of interest to visitors from far and near. Many other sons of the township have been prominent in civil life, among them being U. S. Senator James H. Kyle, Judge Samuel Kyle, and Gen. Robert Jackson.
     Cedarville was well represented in the War of 1812 and the Mexican War, and in the Civil War she was the banner township of the banner county of the banner state, in the number of soldiers sent out.

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