Union township is situated in the west central portion of Madison county and is bounded on the north by Somerford and Deer Creek townships; on the east by Fairfield and Oak Run townships, on the south by Oak Run and Paint townships, while on the west the border is the Clark county line.
     The surface of the township is generally level, and considerable portions of it were originally oak openings and prairies.  The surface is rolling along the streams and creeks, and inclined to be somewhat hilly in a few localities.  The principal streams are Glade run, Deer creek, Oak run and Walnut run.  Glade run and Deer creek cross the eastern portion of the township, flowing from north to south.  Oak runs rises in the northwest part of the township, flows southeastward through London and the central part of the township, and on through Oak Run township and is a branch of Walnut run, which rises a little south of the headwaters of Oak run and flows in a southeast direction into Paint township.  It enters the township again to cross the southern neck from west to east, a distance of about two and one-half miles.  In the southwest and western portions of the township the surface is quite level.  On the tributary of Walnut run and the headwaters of Oak run, the surface is rolling.  Between said tributary and Oak run is a large extent of very level and beautiful country, and also the same condition exists between Oak run and Deer creek.  The most uneven and hilly locality, and in fact about the only portion which can with propriety be called hilly, is the southern portion, along Oak run and Walnut.  The entire township possesses a rich, strong and productive soil.  The more level portions generally consist of a black loam, with here and there a small admixture of clay.  Almost the entire township is especially well adapted for grazing and the raising of stock, which has ever been one of the foremost occupations of the farmers of the township.  The western portions of the township have the highest elevations.  The township is well watered, and good wells, with lasting water, are obtained from fifteen to forty feet below the surface.  In some parts of the western portion of the township there are flowing wells, the water being impregnated very strongly with iron, and perhaps with other minerals.  Therefore, there must be extensive subterranean courses, which are supplied with water from some distant source of very high elevation, and this source, or somewhere along the subterranean course, before it reaches the surface, must be abundantly supplied with iron.
     The variety of timber is about the same as in other portions of the county.  On the more level portions, and in the oak openings, burr oak predominates, with some hickory and elm; in some wet portions, elm rather predominates.  In some places, and along the creek bottoms, was formerly found considerable walnut timber.  On the more elevated lands, with clay soil, were white, black and red oak, hickory and ash, as the prevailing species.  The prairies, as first occupied by the pioneers, were found with an exuberant growth of grass, which formed excellent pasture range for their stock, the grass often growing seven and eight feet high.  But late in the season, when it became very dry, it became as dangerous an element as it was beneficial to the settler in the early part of the season, for often the grass would be set on fire, and burn and destroy everything of a destructible nature which lay in its course.  When once started, with a brisk wind, it would travel at railroad speed, and many a farmer had his buildings, grain and every-

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thing swept away in a few minutes of time.  Sometimes, by a combination of neighbors making a hard and continued fight with the fire before it got to near their homes, they would succeed in saving their property.  But in the fall of the year it required continued watchfulness on the part of the settlers to guard against these destructive fires.

PIONEERS.

     Union township was not settled as early as the eastern portion of the county.  As the settlements were formed from the Ohio river up the Scioto and its tributaries branching off westward up Deer creek, the Darbys and their tributaries, and thus penetrating the eastern townships first, before reaching the central and western portions of the county, it would be a natural consequence that the eastern townships would receive the first permanent settlers.  And this was natural also from the fact that Chillicothe became the seat of supplies for the first settlers of this county, they at first obtaining their groceries and farming implements, all the equipment of agriculture and the necessities for their homes and families from that place.  And as settlements were made up these streams, northward and westward, and as roads were opened and means of communication established, these settlers pushed on in advance.  After settlements were made in the eastern townships, it took but a few years for them to penetrate into the territory now found within the boundaries of Union township.

     WILLIAM BLAIR and JAMES LaBARR are probably the persons to whom should be accorded the honors of having been the first to locate within the present confines of Union township.  These men probably located on Glade run about the same time, and that very soon after the year 1800, perhaps, 1802-04.  Blair was a preacher in the New-Light Christian church.  He located on the land that was afterward known as the Josiah Melvin farm.  LaBarr was a miller by trade and remained in this neighborhood but a short time, moving on to the Darbys, to follow his trade in a mill that was early erected there.  John Deeds, of German descent, was probably the next to locate in the township.  He, with his family, settled on the Marshall lands, about 1803-5; he was a blacksmith by trade, probably the first in the township and, perhaps, in the county of his children, were George, Philip, John G. and one daughter.  They remained here a few years, sold out to William Smith, and removed to Pickaway county, Ohio. John McDonald, a native of Virginia, married a Miss Schuyler, and at an early date emigrated to Tennessee.  In April, 1807, he, with his family, came to Madison county and settled on the Glade, where he died in 1811.  His children were as follow: Maudlin, who died in Tennessee; Thomas, who died at Woodstock, Champaign county, Ohio; James and John, who died on the Glade; Samuel, who died in St. Clair county, Illinois; Betsy, who died in Alabama; George, who also died in St. Clair county, Illinois, and Schuyler, who died on the Glade.  Of the above, James, the third child, married, in Tennessee, Nancy Cook, a native of New Jersey, and, with his family, came to this county with his father, and with him settled on the Glade run. Their children were: Mary, who married a Mr. Ferguson; George, who married Malinda Ferguson, by whom he had one daughter, Mary Ann, who married Judge Fulton, of Columbus; Phebe, who married a Mr. Luffburrough, of Iowa; Elizabeth, who married John Davis; Charity, who married Walker Graham; John, who died unmarried; and Maley.

     In about the years 1808 or 1809 the MELVIN FAMILY settled on the Glade.  They were, perhaps, natives of Virginia and came to this state by way of Tennessee.  The first family of this name to locate in this township was that of Thomas Melvin, who came here in the spring of 1808.  He was born on Jan. 21, 1782, and died in the fall of 1808, a few months after arriving here.  He was the eldest son of John Melvin, Sr., who married Jane Barnes and, with his family, came to the Glade in 1809, and there resided until his death.  Besides the eldest son mentioned above, they had the

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following children: Charles, Polly, Abby, Bartholomew, Joseph, Samuel and Jefferson.  Joseph Melvin, a cousin of John Melvin, Sr. settled on the Glade about the same time with his family.  He married Phebe Van Vacter and was the father of the following children:  Benjamin, John, Silas, Joseph, Sallie, Thomas and Jane.  About 1808-10, Lewis Coon a native of Virginia, and several of his nephews located on Deer creek, on or near the Minshall lands, and it is probable that he died here.  Of the nephews, there is record of the following names:  Jacob, Henry, Adam, Lewis and Abraham, who all married and had large families; each family had a "Jake", "Fatty Jake," "Yankee Jake," "Fiddler Jake," "Little Jake" and "Cutty Jake."  They were a family well known for their honesty and uprightness, being good neighbors and respected citizens; but most of them moved West after several years' residence.  Probably the last to go was Jacob Coon, Sr., who resided here until 1848, when he removed to Missouri, and subsequently to Illinois, where he died, at the age of ninety-five years.

     In 1808-9 WILLIAM STARNS, from Tennessee, settled on the Glade, where he resided until his death, about 1830; his wife, Nancy, died a little earlier.  Their children were: James, Betsy, Nancy, Polly, Margaret, William, Abby, Rebecca and John.  Mr. Starns was a farmer and a man of sterling worth and integrity.  William Smith, a native of Pennsylvania, came to the Glade as a young, unmarried man, about 1812-13. He made his home with James McDonald at first and afterward purchased the old Deeds farm.  He returned to his native state, married, and returned with his wife to his new home on Deer creek about 1814, when he erected a saw-mill.  He lived but a few years, had no children and was buried on the place.  William Aikin settled near the Melvins, on the Glade, about 1810-12.  He resided there for six or seven years and sold out to the Melvins, and moved back to his native state.

     The foregoing were early settlers of the eastern portion of the township and the reader's attention is now called to those of the other parts of the township.  PHILIP CRYDER was born in Pennsylvania, but, while young, removed with his father to New town, Virginia, where he grew to manhood, and married Nancy McClintick.  In 1806, in company with David Watson, Jonathan Minshall and others, thirty-nine persons in all. he emigrated to Ohio, first stopping at Chillicothe, where he purchased a tract of land embracing eight hundred acres, for which he paid two dollars an acre.  Others of this company purchased large tracts.  They then organized a surveying party, ‘under Col. Elias Langham, and left Chillicothe to survey and locate their lands.  Mr. Cryder, David Watson and a few others composed this party.  They had, as may well be imagined, a very rough tour, camping out at night and coursing through the wilderness, but they accomplished their purpose.  In 1807-8, Mr. Cryder located with his family on his land, erecting a cabin, in which he was assisted by two neighbors, Mr. Fry and Major Withrow, and two Indians.  One of the latter was the well-known hunter, Captain John, who visited the early settlers throughout this section very frequently. and who, it is said, was killed in combat with a deer, both he and the deer being found dead, lying side by side, as they had fallen.  Mr. Cryder was a recruiting officer in the War of 1812, and a major of a company of horse, yet he saw no field service.  Once during the war it was reported that the enemy were coming to massacre them all, and it produced a severe scare; Major Cryder started with a company of men for Ft. Wayne, but while on his way he ascertained that there was no danger and returned home.  In the meantime his wife, with two little children, mounted on horseback and started for Chillicothe.  On the place where he first settled, Mr. Cryder remained the rest of his life.  In the early years of their settlement here they were in great danger from prairie tires and at two different times came very near losing all their property which was destructible by fire, but, by a combined effort of the people of the surrounding country, aided by help from the citizens

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of London, they succeeded in staying the flames, and thus saving their property.  However, in the severe struggle, Mr. Cryder became overheated and cooled off too suddenly, thus laying the foundation for consumption, with which he died, at the age of sixty-eight years, in 1838.  His wife survived until August, 1856, aged seventy-six.  They were interred in the Watson cemetery.  Of their nine children, three died young and six grew to maturity: Mary married Jonathan Markle; Arabella married John Palmer; William; Eliza married William Jones; Samuel married Isabel Watson, and Nancy married Samuel Watson.  Mr. Cryder was a wagonmaker by trade and was probably the first in Union township.  He followed his trade in connection with farming through out his life.  He was one of the township's best citizens, and of his devoted wife it is worthy of note that, though she was reared in a home that owned many slaves, who performed all of the household work, she was a 'noble helpmate and a brave pioneer, and endured many hardships with fortitude and a willing heart.  In the early days of the settlement they had no wells, and if they located where there was no permanent and lasting spring, they often had to carry water a great distance.  Of Mrs. Cryder, it is said that at times she carried water for drinking and culinary purposes a distance of half a mile.

     About 1808-9 JAMES CRISWELL became a resident on the Harford lands.  He was a very peculiar and eccentric old man, yet honest and honorable in all his dealings, always endeavoring to meet his obligations promptly.  The story is told of him that one evening he was out in the clearing quite a distance from his cabin.  It became quite dark and at some distance from him he observed, as he thought, a remarkably thick cluster of stumps, when suddenly the dark objects, supposed to be stumps, gave evidence of life and began to approach him.  He ran for the house with all possible speed, pursued by a pack of wolves and barely reached his cabin in time to escape them.  He was a blacksmith.

     One of the best known of the pioneer families of Madison county and of Union town ship was the WARNER FAMILY.  Joseph Warner, Sr., was a native of Maryland, but, while a young man, removed to Virginia, where he married a young lady whose given name was Ruth and who became the mother of the following children: Henry, Robert, Joseph. John, William, Amélia, Sarah, Margaret and Ann.  About 1804 Mr. Warner, with some of his family, removed to Ohio and stopped first near St. Clairsville; in about 1808-10, some of his sons, among whom were Joseph and William, came to this county.  Joseph Warner, Sr., lived to the remarkable age of one hundred and four years.  When one hundred years' old, he rode to Washington, D. C., on horseback and back again, and when one hundred and three years of age he rode the same horse to Indiana, to visit one of his children, then residing there, and where he died a year afterward.  Joseph Warner, Jr., was a carpenter by trade, which business he followed for many years, in connection with farming.  He built one among the first houses erected in London, after the laying out of the town, and for several years did a great amount of carpentering in London; subsequently he moved with his family to town, but, after a few years' residence there. he moved back to the farm.  He subsequently purchased more land, until he owned three hundred acres.  He married Sarah Atchison, by whom he had the following children: John, who married Phebe Jefferson (twice married afterwards) and lived in Colorado: Eli, Smith, who married Elizabeth Pancake; Charles, who married Isabell Chenoweth: Rebecca, unmarried; Samuel, who married Susan Maria Sheperd; Rachel, who married James Scarf.  Mr. Warner was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, an energetic pioneer, and became a prosperous farmer.  He sustained an unblemished character and was a much esteemed and respected citizen.  He died on Aug. 30, 1865, in his eighty-first year.  His wife died on Apr. 7, 1850.

     LEVI H. POST settled two and a half miles west of London, on the Springfield pike.

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at a very early day, but of him little can be learned, as it appears that he moved away after a few years’ residence in this township.  The county records show that he served as county treasurer from 1811 to 1815.  Daniel Brown, a native of Virginia, settled south west of London. near Philip Cryder, about 1808-10.  He erected a wind-mill for grinding corn, but it failed to work satisfactorily and he ran the mill by horse-power.  He had few equals as a man of character, honesty and conscientiousness in all his business relations.  This is well shown by the following story that-is told of him: James Withrow owned land on the south of Mr. Brown. and they concluded that it would be mutually beneficial to each of them to exchange ownership in these two tracts of land; consequently, the trade was made, the deeds duly executed and thus the business consummated.  Finally, one day Mr. Brown called to see Mr. Withrow and informed him that he had reason to believe that the title to the land he had deeded to him was defective, and, as neither of them had recorded their deeds, he proposed that the trade be made null and void by destruction of the deeds. which was accordingly done; subsequently, it was proved that his fears were not without foundation, and in a short time he lost the land.  Thus, by the honesty and unselfishness of Mr. Brown, Mr. Withrow was saved from loss or trouble.  Mr. Brown by his wife Rachel, had several children, of whom Betsey married Samuel Watson; Rachael married Walter Watson; Daniel and Ruth.  Some of the children moved west, and married there, but their names are not remembered.

     WILLIAM WINGATE was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, eight miles from Washington city.  In 1800 he was married to Margaret Warner; in 1805 removed to Belmont county, Ohio; and in 1809, to Madison county, but did not remove his family here until 1811.  He located near David Watson on Walnut run.  He died in this township on Nov. 19, 1863, at the age of nearly eighty-four; his wife died in 1834.  Their children were: Ruth, who married Thomas Rea; Nancy, who married David Dye; Amelia who married Joseph Ward; William unmarried; John; Elizabeth; Sarah Ann who married Richard Hern, and Margaret.  Mr. Wingate served in the war of 1812.  He was in industrious man, of undoubted integrity, and all his life a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal church.

     About 1809 BENJAMIN KIRKPATRICK, of Irish descent, with his wife, Mary, settled one and a half miles west of London, where, a few years afterward, he died.  He located there about 1809, was a good, honest farmer and a member of the Presbyterian church.  The Kirkwood cemetery was named after  him.  He died on Dec. 5, 1821.  Of his children, were the following: John and James, who died in 1822; Joseph, who married Ellen Conly, and soon afterwards died; William, who married Harcy Hammond; Harriet, who died from a rattlesnake bite, and Samuel.  Hezekiah Bayless, who, it is understood, was a native of Virginia, settled, with his wife, Sarah, on land in this township about 1810, as he was known to be here during the War of 1812.  He resided here for several years and then  removed to Champaign county, Ohio, where he died.  They were the parents of several children, but the names of but two, Sarah and John, have been preserved.

     The above are given as true pioneers.  In addition there were a number of early settlers, who, on account of the hardships endured, labors performed, and prominent spheres in which they acted, were, some of them, more fully identified with the improvement, growth and progress of the township and county, than many who settled earlier.

     DAVID GORVES, who was a native of Loudoun county, Virginia, married Elizabeth Stipp, of the same county, and emigrated to Pickaway county, Ohio, in about 1805; in about 1811 he came to Madison county and settled in Union township.  Soon after settling here he erected a tannery, which was said to be the first in the county.  Here he remained and carried on businesses one or two years, when his wife died, and soon afterward he sold his property in town and moved back to the farm.  In 1846 he sold his farm and again moved to town to live, and here he resided until his death in his eighty-fourth year, in

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1855.  He was a man of undoubted integrity, firm in character, and a devoted member of the Methodist church for years.  He served as a soldier in the War of 1812 under General Harrison and was near Detroit at the time of Hull's surrender.  He was the father of eight children: Keturah who married Charles Soward; Sarah who married Wilson Dungan; George, unmarried; Letitia, who married Squire Knight; Rachel, who married A. A. Humes and Mary, married Absalom Neff.  John Moore, a native of the state of Virginia, married a Miss Smith, and, in 1811, emigrated to Ohio, remaining one year in Ross county; in 1812 he settled in Madison county, locating in the northern part of Union township.  Mrs. Moore died and he subsequently married Sarah Littler.  By his first wife he had two children and by the last wife, nine.  Mr. Moore was a reserved, unpretentious man, yet full of fun and quick with repartee, and enjoyed life well.  He followed farming throughout his life; a man of kind heart and a substantial and worthy citizen.

     In 1813 JOHN F. ARMSTRONG came to Madison county and settled on what was later known as the Hiram Richmon farm.  Armstrong was born in Kentucky, Mar. 13, 1772. served a short time in the War of 1812; and married Elizabeth Warren, a native of Pennsylvania.  He was successful at stock farming and breeding, which he made a specialty the remainder of his life.  He owned about three hundred acres in this county. besides quite an amount of western land.  He was the father of twelve children.  James Porter, a native of Maryland, emigrated to Ross county, Ohio, about 1800, and there married Elizabeth Kibourn.  He served during the War of 1812, and about 1815 settled in this township, on land known as the Porter farm.  Here he built his cabin and soon afterward set out an apple orchard with trees that he raised by planting the seeds from some old rotten apples which he had carried to this county.  This was the first orchard in the neighborhood and some of the trees are still standing, old and gnarled.  His wife died in October, 1829, with the “trembles,” or “milk-sickness.”  He was left with six small children on his hands, whom he took to his brother in Ross county; there he subsequently married Mary Bradley, and, in 1835, brought his children back, and then resided the remainder of his days on the farm where he had first located.  The children by his first wife were: John, who married Mary Timmons; Peter, who married Mary Jane Ayers, moved to Illinois and later to Kansas; Amelia; Ann, who married John Troud; James G., Samuel and Lucretia.   The children by his second wife were, Nancy, Joshua, Malinda, Harriet (who married A. J. Coover), and William H.  Mr. Porter was a large, robust man, six feet four inches in height, and his average weight was two hundred and fifty pounds.  His wife died in 1849, and he died in 1852, at the age of sixty-three years.  George Boocher, believed to have been a native of Maryland, married Gatty Truitt, and settled near where the infirmary is now located, about 1814-15, where he resided until his death.  He had one child, Mahala, who married Charles Warrington.  Robert Smith, a son of James Smith and a native of Virginia, came to this county about 1815 and settled on what is known as the Phifer place.  He was married in Virginia to Anna Littler, in the year 1800.  Mr. Smith died in 1816. In 1817 his widow married William Noteman, an early settler of Deer Creek township.  Mrs. Noteman died in 1826.

     In November, 1814, WILLIAM JONES and wife, with one child, Job K., emigrated from Tennessee and settled in London.  Later there were born to the parents, Isaac, John, William and James.  The father was a blacksmith by trade and the first to follow that vocation in London.  He was afterward engaged in various occupations and became very wealthy.  He suffered severely in the crisis of 1837, by paying security debts, and removed to his farm in Union township; subsequently he returned to London and lived with his son, Job K., at whose home he died.  He was everybody's friend and was familiarly known as “Dad Jones.”  Of the children, Job K., remained a resident of London until his death, which occurred on Apr. 4, 1877.  He possessed, at one time, over eight hundred acres

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of land in Union and Deer Creek townships, Madison county.  John became a merchant in London and James a lawyer in Champaign, Illinois.

     THOMAS JONES, a native of Worcester county, Maryland, emigrated to Ross county, Ohio; about 1817 removed to Madison county and located in the southwestern part of Union township, where he purchased land.  Later P. P. Helphenstine purchased a large tract of land of Fulton & Creighton, of Chillicothe, from which Mr. Jones obtained enough to make his first purchase of one thousand acres.  He remained where he first located the remainder of his long and useful life.  In politics he was at first a Whig and later a stanch Republican.  He served, under the old constitution, as an associate judge for several years, and also as county commissioner.  He was a man of kind heart and noted for his deeds of love and charity.  His wife was Mary P. Truitt, a native of Maryland, by whom he had seven sons and one daughter: James J., who married Josephine Kerr; William G., who married Eliza Cryder; Edward A., who married Margery Elkin; Doctor Toland, who married Frances A. Toland; John E., who married Mary McLene; Eliza J., who married J. B. Evans (later Thomas O. Smith); Kendall P., who died in 1854, and Addison, who married Sarah F. Godfrey.  Mr. Jones died in 1859 and his wife in 1865.  Samuel Messmore, a native of Pennsylvania, married Mrs. Michael Lohr, nee Mary C. Miller, who was born in Rockingham county, Virginia.  In 1810 she married Michael Lohr, who died in 1818.  By him she had two sons and two daughters: Margaret Ann, who married William Campbell; George W., who married Sarah F. Reeder; John, who married Ann Noteman, and Mary, who married Michael Carr.  Mr. Messmore married Mrs. Lohr in 1819.  In 1820 they removed to Ohio and settled in Union township, Madison county.  He was the master of two trades, bricklaying and shoemaking, the latter of which he followed in connection with farming all through his life.  He died in Midway, this county, having moved there just a year or two before his death.  He was a man of excellent character, honest and upright in all his dealings, kind and liberal in his habits, and in his later years a devout member of the Christian church.  By Mr. Messmore, Mrs. Messmore was the mother of three children: Mary Catherine, who married James Gossard; Isabel, who married Alexander Wilmoth, and James Madison, who died in childhood.

     JAMES GARRARD, a native of Pennsylvania, was born on Jan. 28, 1780, and emigrated to Warren county, Ohio, about 1796-97, where he married Mahitable Buckles, who was born Aug. 14, 1772, in Virginia.  They later moved to near Lisbon, Clark county, Ohio; from thence, in 1828-24, to Union township, Madison county, locating in the west part, where he purchased land and remained until his death.  Their children were: Mary, who married David Smith, who died, and she married Robert Buckles; Jonah never married and died in this county about 1848; James, who married Mary Buckles, and died in this county, July 24, 1880; and Stephen, who married Nancy Davis.  Mr. Garrard's wife died on Oct. 8, 1836.   He later married Martha Hollar, by whom he had two children, Martin Van Buren and Thomas Jefferson.  Mr. Garrard died on January 28, 1845.  About 1829, Mr. Garrard built a grist-mill on Oak run, just above the Roberts' mill, made of hewed logs and run by water-power.  Soon after he erected a small distillery; these he ran until about 1840, when he sold the mill to Charles Roberts and the still was discontinued.  He was an active worker in the Democratic party organization.  He was soldier in the War of 1812.  Dr. Simon Steers, a Yankee by birth, located in the north part of the township about 1810 and was one of the first physicians of this township.  He lived here until his death.  He and his wife are both interred in the cemetery near Newport.

     JAMES RANKIN, one of the prominent and leading business men of the county, was born in Maryland, May 20, 1786.  On Feb. 10, 1807, he married Margaret Truitt, who was born in Worcester county, Maryland, Jan. 1, 1788.  In the spring of 1817, they

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emigrated to Ohio, and were all summer making the trip, arriving in the county in the fall of the same year.  In the spring of 1818, they located on the land now known as the county infirmary farm.  Mr. Rankin was a contractor and builder by profession and was one of the contractors for a county jail built about this time.  However, he made farming his life occupation.  He was a prominent member of the Presbyterian church of London and was one of its constituent members at the time of its reorganization in 1829.  He was also a loyal member of the Masonic fraternity.  He held the office of township trustee for more than fifteen years.  Politically, he was an ardent Whig.  He died on Aug. 21, 1857; Mrs. Rankin died on Dec. 12, 1871.  They were the parents of the following children: John T. N., who married Charity Ann Fullerton; Albert G., who married Abigail Cooper; Charlotte Ann Selby, who married William Stroup; Joshua Truitt, who married Sarah Evans; Mary Atkinson, who married Fulton Armstrong; James, who married Ann Eliza Warner, and Washington Purcell, who died in childhood.  Edward Evans settled in Paint township, in 1813, and, a little later, located in Union township, on land belonging to the James Armstrong heirs, where he died.  He was a native of Virginia, a good honest farmer, a worthy and respectable citizen, and a member of the Methodist church.

     A cripple by the name of JESSE PAINE, a native of Maryland, settled here about 1820.  He had a large family of children, by whom were John, Zadoc, Samuel and James, all good, industrious men, and who, starting in life poor, became thrifty farmers.  In about 1818, James Rayburn, a native of Virginia, first emigrated to Ross county, thence, in the same year, to Madison county.  He first settled eight miles south of London, at Willow Springs, and about 1830 removed to near London, where he lived until his death.  He married a Miss Corbit, by whom he had seven children: Henry, who moved to Indiana; James, who became a member of the Legislature and an associate judge and later moved to Illinois; John; William; Creighton M. and one daughter named Patsey, who married Dr. James Allen. James Kiscaddin settled here about 1824, a good, industrious man; he never owned property, and later removed to Marlon, Ohio.

     SAMUEL CARR, a native of Harrison county, Virginia, came, when a single man, to Madison county and settled near Newport, purchasing land of Col. Elias Langham; but this he lost entirely, having a worthless title.  Thereafter he rented a farm.  In 1824 he purchased what is still known as the Carr place, where his son John lived for many years, and he resided there until his death.  He married Amelia Warner, by whom he had the following children: John W.; Minerva Ann, who married Robert Withrow; Maria Jane, who died unmarried; Eliza Ruth, who died at eighteen years of age; Frances and Mary, who died in infancy; Amanda, who married Henry R. Dun, and Samuel, who was killed by being thrown from a horse when twelve years old.  Mr. Carr came to the county prior to the War of 1812 and served in that war.  He spent his life as a farmer and stock raiser, and accumulated considerable property.  He died on May 18, 1864, at the ripe old age of eighty-one years; his wife died on Aug. 31, 1864, aged seventy-two years. William Jackson, a native of Pennsylvania, of Irish descent, removed to Virginia, and there married Nancy Rea, a native of Maryland, of Welsh descent.  They came to Ohio in 1828 and settled in the western part of Union township, where they resided until their deaths.  Robert Armstrong, a son of Judge James Armstrong, of Ross county, was born on Apr. 7, 1801; he married Elizabeth Earl, and settled in this county, four miles south of London, about 1824-5.  His wife died in 1844, and he afterwards married Mrs. Maria Coover, nee Cowling.  He was the father of fifteen children.  Mr. Armstrong was an extensive farmer and stock raiser and very successful in business; he became the owner of fourteen hundred acres of land in Madison county and a large amount of western lands, besides a large amount of personal property.  He died in 1865 and his wife in 1873.

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     LANCISCO, GIDEON and GEORGE PECK, sons of Gideon Peck, of Ross county, Ohio, settled on a tract of land in the west part of Union township, which was purchased by their father.  They settled here about 1828.  Of other early settlers known to have settled here about 1812-15, were John and George Sutherland, John and James Beatty, Henry Ward and an only son, Joseph.

ORGANIZATION OF THE TOWNSHIP.

     In the commissioners' records for the date of Apr. 30, 1810, we find the following:
     "Ordered, that the following boundaries compose a township, to be known by the name of Union, and is bounded as follows, viz.:  Beginning at the mouth of Oak run, thence east to the Franklin county line; thence north four miles; thence west to the line; thence north four miles; thence west to the line of Deer Creek township; thence west with said line to the Champaign county line; thence with said line the southwest corner of Champaign county and the north corner of Stokes township; thence with the north line of Stokes three miles; thence eastwardly to the southwest corner of Judge Baskerville's survey; thence direct to the beginning."
     At a meeting of the commissioners on Dec. 7, 1812, it was ordered that "the line of Union township between Union and Pleasant, running from the mouth of Oak run to the county line, be vacated; and it shall run northeastwardly to the state road leading from London to Dyer's mill, so as to leave all the inhabitants on main Deer creek in Union, and all those on Opossum run in Pleasant township; said line to continue with the state to the county line."
     On June 2, 1829, it was "Ordered by the commissioners, that the following lines, as run by Henry Warner, be established as township lines between the townships of Union, Pleasant, Range and Stokes:  Beginning at the northwest corner of Samuel Baskerville's survey, running south twenty-four degrees west about fifty poles; thence south twenty-two degrees west to the line between the counties of Madison and Fayette, a short distance east of McIntosh's farm, for the line Stokes and Range townships.  The line between Pleasant, Range and Union, running from Baskerville's said corner north seventy degrees east to Langham's road, near Samuel Kingern's; continue the same course two hundred and twenty poles; thence north twenty degrees west forty poles; thence south seventy degrees east to the Chillicothe road; thence north fifty-three degrees east to Deer creek; thence up the creek to the mouth of Oak run; thence north fifty-two degrees east to the line between the counties of Madison and Franklin."
     Again, on June 6, 1836, "at a meeting of the commissioners of Madison county, on petition being presented, ordered that the line between Deer Creek township and Union township be altered to run, to-wit:  Begining at the northwest corner of Jefferson Melvin's farm, and southwest corner of John Adair's land, and to run westerly to strike the Lafayette road ten poles south of the Glade, between B. Bowdry's and D. J. Ross; thence the same course continued until it strikes the present line, which divides said township so as to include D. J. Ross into Union township."
     On Mar. 2, 1840, it was "Ordered by the commissioners of Madison that the line between the townships of Union and Somerford be so altered as to include Daniel Wilson and the land on which he lives into Union township."
     So it is seen that the boundaries of Union township passed through several changes prior to 1841, and it is to be observed that its present boundaries are still different from the above, as Fairfield township has since been erected, and with other changes which have from time to time been made, have constituted its boundaries as they now exist.  The township is now about eleven miles long from east to west, from two to six miles wide from north to south, and has the honor of containing London, the county seat of Madison county.
     Because of the absence of any records of the township for the first ten years after\

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the erection of the township, it is possible to give only the first officers that appear on the existing records, which is for the year 1821: George Chappell, William Smith and Patrick McLene trustees; Stephen Moore, Jr. clerk; William Jones, treasurer; William Athey assessor; Henry Warner, Edward Evans, and James Campbell, constables; Henry Coon, William Jones, Edward Evans, Thomas Brown and John Asher, supervisors; Aquilla Toland and Simon Steers, fence viewers; John Moore and A. G. Thompson, overseers of the poor; John Simpkins and Jonathan Minshall, justices of the peace.

EARLY MILLS.

     Henry Inn, in about 1840, erected a carding-mill, with a saw-mill attached, on Oak run, about one mile north of London, run by water-power.  He continued the business there about five years, when he sold the property to C. K. Slagle, who continued the business for four years, when he erected a new building, two stories high, thirty by fifty feet, attached to the old building, in which he placed machinery for the manufacture of all kinds of woolen goods.  This machinery he ran by steam power, and in 1850 had it in full operation, when he rented the property to William Fish, who was a practical manufacturer.  Mr. Slagle then erected a tannery near the woolen mills.  Mr. Fish, after conducting the business two years, associated himself with Dennis Clark and thus continued two years.  Then Mr. Fish retired, Mr. Clark purchasing his interest and continuing the business until June 28, 1864, when the whole property was destroyed by fire, caused by sparks falling on the roof from the chimney.   This fire also destroyed Mr. Slagle's tannery and all his property.  The mill was never rebuilt.

CEMETERIES.

     Probably the first to receive interment within the township were two infant children of Thomas Melvin on Glade run, who died in the summer of 1808, and were buried on his land, which afterward became a regular burying ground for that neighborhood and vicinity and was known as the Lower Glade cemetery.  The first adult person to be interred was Thomas Melvin, the father of the above mentioned children, who died in the fall of 1807.  In 1811, the body of John McDonald, Sr., was deposited in the same piece of ground.  From this time the deaths and burials became more frequent, as the neighborhood of the Glade filled up with settlers, and for many years much sickness prevailed.  After the death of Thomas Melvin, this land came into the possession of Charles Melvin who fenced around about an acre of ground and donated it for cemetery purposes.
     In the extreme western part of the township, many of the pioneers were buried in the Turner burying ground, just in the edge of Clark township.  Also a few persons were interred on the James Garrard farm, which was, in the early days, known as the Sutherland burying ground.  But it is now all in an open pasture, and not a mark left to show who was buried there.  In the southern and southwestern portions of the township, many of the early dead were interred in the Watson cemetery.
     At London there were two burying places quite early established - one in the north part of town, usually known as the Methodist, and the other west of the town, known as the Presbyterian.  These were used for many years and until the purchase and establishment of the present grounds known as Oak Hill and Kirkwood cemeteries.

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