ANDERSON TOWNSHIP comprises
that part of Hamilton county southeast of the Little
Miami river. Comprising as it does the triangular
area situated between the Little Miami and Ohio, its
surface is much broken by the hills characteristic of
the country contiguous to the last named stream.
Clough creek, Five Mile creek, Little Dry run, and Big
Dry run are the principal interior streams.
Covalt's Station was a military post of
importance during the period of Indian hostilities in
this region. It derives its name from Abraham
Covalt, and was situated in the Little Miami valley
twelve miles from its mouth. A detachment of
twenty soldiers was stationed here in 1791. The
protection they afforded seems to have been inadequate,
however, for Covalt was killed and scalped while
hunting near the fort. Gerard's Station was
situated on Turkey Bottom, near the mouth of the Little
Miami.
Anderson was organized as a township in 1793, and
originally included parts of Clermont, Warren, and Brown
counties. It was reduced to its present limits by
the erection of Clermont in 1800. The first
township officers were John Garrard, clerk;
Jesse Garrard, constable; Richard Hall,
overseer of roads; Joseph Frazee and Jacob
Backoven, overseers of the poor; Joseph Martin
and Jonathan Garrard viewers and appraisers.
The whole of Anderson is situated within the Virginia
Military Reservation, and extensive tract between the
Scioto and the Little Miami, reserved by Virginia for
the payment of her soldiers in the Revolution. The
following is a partial list of original purchasers:
Bennett Tompkins, John Crittenden, John Anderson, Holt
Richardson, Robert Blair, William Cassel, John Demsey,
Benjamin Gray, John Halfpenny, Daniel Sahon, John Green,
James Giles, John Steele, Robert Powells, Abram Hites,
Joseph Egglestone, Robert Morrow, Theodore Bland, A.
Singleton, William Taylor, Jacob Fears, James Friggin,
James McDonald, James Payton, John Brown, William Moore,
William Mosileye, John Parke, James Pendleton, Gen.
James Taylor, Hites & Robinson, Edward Stevens, Col.
Richard Clough Anderson, Edward Clark, Joseph Neville,
John Mead, Gen. George Washington, Nathaniel Wilson,
Gen. Nathaniel Massie, John Nancarrous, P. Higgins, John
Hains, Frank Taylor, John English, George C. Lights.
VILLAGES.
Mount
Washington was laid out in 1846 by
John L. Corbly, and originally consisted of a
limited number of lots on the Ohio pike. The first
purchaser was Stephen J. Sutton, by whom the
first store was established. He was also the first
postmaster, and to him the village is indebted for its
name. The store was conducted in a brick building
at the corner of Corbly street and Ohio pike.
This was the first brick building in the village, and
was erected by Mr. Sutton, who still resides in
the village in the enjoyment of a hale and hearty old
age. Other early residents were Michael LeClere,
Charles H. Wolff, William Dunham, David A. Garrett,
and Stephen Corbly. The first mechanics
were Nelson and James Fisher, carpenters;
Michael LeClere, stonemason; James Judgeon,
carpenter; David A. Garrett, carpenter; Robert
Wheatley, James Mullen, and Stephen D. Corbly,
Jr., blacksmiths. George Strasser
manufactured farming implements, plows, carriages,
wagons, etc., at one time, but the only manufacturing
establishment in operation at the present time is the
Colton canning and packing house.
Mount Washington was incorporated October 24, 1867.
The first village officers were John H. Gerrard,
Mayor; William H. Gerrard, recorder, and
George M. Short, John Bogart, Stephen J. Sutton,
John B. Corbly, and Benneville Kline,
council. The succession of mayors, with the year
of election, has been as follows: 1867, John H.
Gerrard; 1869, Benneville Kline; 1874, G.
M. Short; 1876, D. W. Stevens; 1877, David
A. Garrett; 1880, J. S. Martin; 1882, W.
E. Atkins; 1886, a. W. Colter; 1892, David
A. Garrett.
The first omnibus line to the city through Mount
Washington was established in 1847 by Stephen J.
Sutton. Amelia was the eastern terminus of the
line. The village subsequently enjoyed the
advantage of a line from Georgetown and Bethel.
The Cincinnati, Georgetown & Portsmouth railroad was
constructed in 1877-78, and affords convenient
facilities for travel and transportation.
Newtown,
notwithstanding its name, is one of the oldest villages
in the county. It was laid out by Elijah Yates
for Gen. James Taylor, who gave it the name of
Mercersburg, in honor of the Revolutionary hero, Gen.
Mercer. There was a collection of improvements
here as early as 1798, and early in this century the
village had attained fair proportions. Among early
merchants were William E. White, John H. Gerrard
and Henry Diebolt; John D. arr, shoemaker;
Hubbard Brown, blacksmith; Henry Crossley,
carpenter, and George Earhart, wagon maker, were
early representatives of their respective vocations.
The "Miami House," of which one Newhouse was
probably the first proprietor, was an old and well-known
hostelry. Originally a log building, it was
replaced by the present brick structure, sixty years
ago. this was erected by William Fisher.
Newtown had a population of 552 in 1890.
California - The
founders of this village were Joseph Guthrie, John W.
Brown, and Thomas J. Murdock. It is
situated on the Ohio river, in the southwestern part of
the township. A corporative industry was once
conducted here under the name of the Molders' Union
Foundry, but was not a success.
The remaining post villages of the township are
Clough, on the turnpike of
that name; Sweet Wine, in the southern part of
the township; Cherry
Grove, on the Georgetown
and Ohio pike, three-fourths of a mile from the station
of that name on the Cincinnati, Portsmouth & Virginia
railroad; Forestville,
a village of recent growth, on the same turnpike and
railroad, and Cedar
Point, the location of St.
Gregory's College, an institution for the training of
priests.
CHURCHES.
There are three
churches at Newtown, viz., Methodist, Baptist, and
Universalist. The Methodist church was originally
erected in 1813, and the ground was given by Mrs.
Edmond. Rev. Aaron W. Burdsal, a local
preacher, organized the society. The present place
of worship was erected in 1867. The Baptist church
was organized in 1840 by Daniel Bryant, and the
present brick church was built in 1841. The
Universalist church was built in 1854, Aquilla
Durham, John Gerrard, and Jacob Thomas
constituting the building committee. The church
was organized at Mt. Carmel, in 1850.
The churches at Mt. Washington are the Methodist
Episcopal and Methodist Protestant, erected
in 1851; the Baptist, erected in 1868 and the
Church of the Guardian Angel (Roman Catholic),
erected in 1892. Five Mile United Brethren
church was built many years ago, but has been recently
remodelled. Bethesda Methodist Protestant church
was built in 1830, and rebuilt in 1865. Salem Methodist
Episcopal church was built in 1863. The United
Brethren church, of Cherry Grove, was erected in 1854.
The Methodist Protestant church, of Clough, was built in
1870, and the United Brethren in 1886. The Clough
Baptist church is a very old building, erected probably
seventy years ago.
The churches of California are the Methodist
Episcopal and St. Jerome's Roman Catholic.
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