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This was the last constituted township of Hardin County; the act
of the Commissioners setting apart this territory, which was
taken from Buck, Taylor Creek and McDonald Townships, as a new
township, was done Sept. 8, 1857, and named by them "Silver
Creek." An election was duly called, and the same was held
at the house of W. D. Gunn, on Sept. 19, 1857, with A.
A. Piper, Milton Iron and Nathaniel Norman as Judges;
J. M. Piper and W. D. Gunn, Acting Clerks.
The following officers were elected Trustees: Joseph
Brown, S. S. Cutts and Daniel S. Vermillion; Clerk
J. M. Piper; Treasurer, John Rice; Constable, M.
Borst. On Apr. 5, 1858, was held a regular township
election, when the same officers as mentioned above were
re-elected, and, in addition, A. A. Piper was elected
Assessor. At the above-mentioned election, Sept. 8, 1857,
a vote was taken by the citizens upon the name of the new
township should take. Three names were proposed and voted
for, viz., Lynn, Fillmore and Silver Creek. For the former
twenty-one votes were cast; four for Fillmore and two for Silver
Creek; hence its name was established by its citizens to be
Lynn, and from that time since it has been recognized as Lynn
Township. This township is abundantly supplied with a
species of tree known as the Lynn tree, and this, it is said,
was the pretext for its name. The township occupies a
central position in the county, and is bounded as follows:
On the north by Cessna Township, on the east by Cessna and Buck
Townships, on the south by Taylor Creek, and on the west by
McDonald Township. It is about six miles long from north
to south, and three and seven-eights miles wide from east to
west, containing twenty-three and one-quarter square miles, or
14,880 acres. STREAMS,
SURFACE, SOIL, TIMBER, ETC.
Page 749 -
Page 750 -
EARLY
SETTLERS.
As nearly all of the
first settlers are deceased, and as in this township it appears
that in many instances their descendants, who still survive,
have all moved away, thus making it more difficult to obtain as
definite information, in some cases, as we would desire, yet we
have endeavored to make use of all the remaining sources from
which to obtain a knowledge of them, and from what we have
gathered it seems very probable that
John
Canaan was the first permanent settler in what is now Lynn
Township. He came here from near Hanging Rock, on the Ohio
River, about 1828, and settled near where Henry Norman
now lives, where he resided many years, and perhaps till his
death. His children are all deceased or moved away.
Of his children were Miritta, William, Jehu, Washington,
and it is believed some others whose names we could not learn.
Washington was killed in a well, which accident is
mentioned on another page. One
grandson, a son of Jehu, now resides in Kenton,
this county.
William Haines was probably the
next settler, who located here near where Mrs. Canaan
settled at about the same time. It appears that he married
Miss Nancy Hatfield in Logan County, Ohio, and removed
from there here and remained a resident here till death.
He served as a soldier in the war of 1812. They had the
following children: Elizabeth, Sarah, Matilda, Jackson
and Thomas.
Daniel S. Vermillion was
born in Monroe County, W. Va., Oct. 7, 1807. He married
Priscilla Hisey in 1830. He removed to Ohio and
settled in Lynn Township in 1834, upon the tract of land where
he still lives, having made a continued residence here of nearly
half a century. He was one of the first Trustees of the
township, and has been one of her enterprising and useful
citizens whose biographical sketch appears in this work, giving
a more full account of his wife and family.
William Koons, it is believed,
was a native of Virginia, where he married Martha Shepherd,
but early removed to Ohio and settled near Bellefontaine.
About 1836-37, he removed to this township and settled on the
David Wallace Survey, and remained near where he first
located till his death. His children were Martha
and Mary (twins), William and Jacob.
Edward Wilcox was twice married;
his second wife was Mrs. Jane Monroe, whom he married in
Ross County, and, about 1836-37, removed to this county and
settled on land where his son James now lives, and there
resided till his death. He was a quiet, unassuming man, a
good neighbor and a worthy citizen. Their children were
Anna, John, Aaron, William, Sarah, Jane, James, Edward, Gordon
and Thomas. Joseph Brown married Elizabeth Koons
and removed here from Logan County soon after Mr. William
Koons settled here, and located just west of him on the
Wallace Survey, where it is believed he remained till his
death. His children were Martha, Jacob and John.
Jonathan Wilcox, a brother of
the above Edward Wilcox, married Roxaline McConkey;
settled here about 1839-40, was a blacksmith by trade and
carried on that business through life; he was, it is believed,
the first mechanic of that trade in this township. He
seemed to possess a natural mechanical genius, and was an
excellent workman. Subsequently he removed to Belle
Centre. His children were Anna, Eliza, Sarah, George W.
(now a blacksmith at Round Head, John and Alexander.
Clement Rice was a native of
Pennsylvania, where he married Eliza McCracken, and at an
early day removed to Muskingum County, Ohio; thence, in 1832, he
removed with his family to this county and settled where
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Mrs. Mary Rice now lives in Lynn Township, and here
resided till his death. Of his children, James, John,
Robert, Richard, William, Rebecca and Margaret are
deceased; George resides in Fayette County, Ohio, and
Thomas in Taylor Creek Township, this county. John,
who was the oldest child who came to this county, married
Eliza Seaton and settled near his father, where he resided
till his death. He died Dec. 20, 1861, aged fifty-nine
years. He was a man of undoubted integrity and held many
of the most important offices of his township; he was several
years Treasurer of Taylor Creek Township, and at the
organization of Lynn Township was elected its first Treasurer
and held the office by continued re-election up to the time of
his death. In an early day he served as a Captain in the
militia, and at one time served as County Assessor. He was
a worthy member of the United Presbyterian Church, and a useful
and worthy citizen. His children were Calvin
(deceased), Robert, Rebecca, John S., Thomas, Adam M.,
Nancy Jane, Albert N. (deceased), and Martha A.
All those surviving are residents of Hardin County, except
Thomas, who resides in Fayette County, Ohio.
Robert Stewart, a native of
Virginia, married Isabella McDonald, and, in 1841,
removed to Ohio and settled in this township on land now owned
by the heirs of Davis Derr. After a residence here
of many years, and having cleared up and obtained a good farm
and home, he removed to Illinois, but remained there but a short
time, when he removed back to Hardin County; thence he removed
to Kansas, remaining there only two or three years; he
again returned to this county, where he died, Jan. 25, 1868,
aged seventy years. His wife survived him and died May 1,
1876, aged eighty. Their children were as follows:
William, Mary, Martha Jane (deceased), John, Rebecca
(deceased), James (deceased) and Robert, who
died in infancy.
William Wilkin, married a
Miss Holmes and removed from Highland County, Ohio, to
Hardin County about 1844, and settled on land on the A. Walke
Survey, where he resided till his death. Of his children,
two are remembered, Mary and Curtis.
Henry Albert was born in
Switzerland, but emigrated to America in an early day and became
a resident of Clark County, Ohio. In 1845-46, he removed
to this county and settled on the Walter Dun Survey, No.
9,935, where he resided till 1881; he removed to Illinois.
He was a kind neighbor and a good citizen. His children
were Martin, Frank, William, Philip and John.
John R. Gunn was born in Logan
County, Ohio, Oct. 24, 1814. He had two brothers,
Walter D. and Robert, and one sister, Isabella S.
Their father, John Gunn, was born in Sutherlandshire,
Scotland, in 1770; emigrated to Canada in 1800 with the English
Army, in which he served several years. He finally settled
in Montreal, thence at Malden, and from there went to
Wapakoneta, as a trader among the Indians in 1804. In
1808, he removed to Logan County, Ohio, and settled on McKees
Creek, where, during the war of 1812, he kept a tavern and
rendered aid to the United States in the Commissary Department,
for which services, after his decease, his widow received a
warrant for 160 acres of land. He died in 1842. His
widow survived him many years and died in 1864. John R.
married Miss Emily Garrett in 1844, about two years
after having settled in this county. He became a resident
of Lynn Township in 1842, with his two brothers, Walter D.
and Robert, all of whom followed surveying, and many
lands of Union, Logan, Hardin and Champaign Counties were sur-
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veyed by them. John R. Gunn was an active,
enterprising business man, and became a large land holder,
owning 1,000 acres or more. He took an active part in all
the public improvements of his community, and in building or
roads, schools and churches. His children were as follows:
Mary A., Clara, Angus, Agnes, Alice, John M., Kenneth C. C.,
Florence V., Elgin and Robert.
Nathaniel Norman was a native
of Virginia, born Oct. 30, 1805. He married Tabitha
Perry and settled in Brooke County, Va. In 1847, he
removed to Hardin county, Ohio, and settled in this township on
land where his son, Henry W., now lives remaining her
until his death of Feb. 11, 1872; his wife died Feb. 8, 1868.
Mr. Norman served as a Justice of the Peace eighteen
years, and filled the office of Township Trustee and other
offices many years.
Amos Piper was born near Lowell
Mass., July 31, 1792, and was united in marriage to Betsey
Caldwell, and removed to Ashland County, Ohio, in 1834, and
to Lynn Township, Hardin County, in 1848. He died Jan. 1,
1868; his wife died Feb. 8, 1855. He served one year in
the war of 1812.
MILLS.
SCHOOLS.
CHURCHES.
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SOCIETIES.
AN
ACCIDENT.
In 1854, while
several men were engaged in digging a well near the Norman
Schoolhouse, two men, Washington Canaan and William
Rice, were killed by "fire-damp" in the well. It is
believed that carelessness, recklessness and ignorance were the
causes of this disaster, by which two men in the prime of life
lost their lives.
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ALONZO HARVEY
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