OHIO GENEALOGY EXPRESS - History of Marion Co., Publ. 1883

History of Marion County, Ohio
CONTAINING
A HISTORY OF THE COUNTY; ITS TOWNSHIPS, TOWNS, CHURCHES,
SCHOOLS, ETC.; GENERAL AND LOCAL STATISTICS; MILITARY
RECORD; PORTRAITS OF EARLY SETTLERS AND PROMINENT MEN;
HISTORY OF THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY;
HISTORY OF OHIO; MISCELLANEOUS
MATTERS, ETC. ETC.
~ILLUSTRATED~
CHICAGO:
LEGGETT, CONAWAY & CO.
1883.

PART V.
CHAPTER V.

GRAND TOWNSHIP
pg. 757

GRAND TOWNSHIP was organized June 7, 1824, the first day of the Commissioners' first session after the organization of the county, and it was then the largest township in the county, as it comprised of three full surveyed townships and sufficient Virginia Military Lands to form the fourth, all of which will appear from the following entry:

JUNE 7, A.D. 1824

Commissioners of Marion County met for the first time after the organization of said county. Present: Matthew Merit, Amos Wilson and Enoch B. Merriman; Auditor; Hezekiah Gorton.
ETC. ETC.

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

NAME.

This township received its name - Grand - from the fact that at the time of its organization it was the largest division of the county, and therefore designated the "grand" division, or, more properly, Grand Township.

SETTLEMENT.

     At the time of its organization, there were within its boundaries quite a number of settlers. AT the fist election, held June 26, 1824, twelve votes were cast for WILLIAM COCHRAN, who was elected Justice of the Peace. At a subsequent election, held Oct. 12, 1824, thirteen votes were cast for JEREMIAH MORROW, for Governor and six for ALLEN TRIMBLE, showing an increase of seven in the vote in the space of four months.
     Among the first permanent white settlers within the present limits of this township were JAMES STIVERSON and family, who settled on the north part of Section 26 in 1821-22. JOSEPH and MYRICK HIGGINS and their families, and JACOB SEABURN followed some time between the above date and 1828; HENRY DEAL and ELISHA DAVIS (with wife NANCY), in 1828. CHAMPNESS TERRY and family, from Virginia, came in 1830; WALTER DAVIS and his family, in 1832; NOAH GILLESPIE, in 1835; JONATHAN NEAL and family, 1834; EDWARD, THOMAS and JOSEPH RUBENS, CHARLES MERRIMAN, HUGH LONG GILBERT OLNEY and son BENJAMIN, GEORGE BARNES, JOHN LINDSAY, THOMAS LAPHAM, GEORGE GRAY and others.
     Among the first schoolhouses in this township was one about a quarter of a mile west of the east line of the township, on what would be the road dividing Sections 36 and 25. It was built about the year 1827 or 1828. MRS. SEABURN says there was a log schoolhouse on the northeast quarter of Section 25 when she settled here in 1828, and thinks that probably it had been built one to three years. MRS. NEHEMIAH DAVIS, formerly MARY ANN SMITH, says she attended school at this house in 1826. The first teacher she remembers was MISS NANCY BROWN. Another was MICHAEL VINCENT, a good teacher, but cross, and followed the old-fashioned theory that if you spared the rod you spoiled the child. THOMAS LAPHAM was another teacher in an early day. This schoolhouse was built of hewed logs, which were afterward taken down and removed to Scott Town. There are now three schoolhouses in Grand Township, namely, on Sections 22, 25, and 28.

CHURCHES.

Before the Union Church was erected, the Methodist and Christian societies held meetings in what is now known as the Seaborn Schoolhouse, on the northwest quarter of Section 25. The church, on this section, was built in 1869, at an expense of $2,200, besides $50 for the ground. Three fourths of the expense was incurred by the Methodists and one-fourth by the Christians. Of the Methodists, NATHANIEL OSBORN paid about $300; BENJAMIN RONEY, $400; ABRAHAM SMITH, $300; MILTON ROADS, $300, and others. Of the Christians, JACOB SEABURN paid $550, and others paid small amounts. The church is 36x46 feet in dimensions, will seat 250 to 300 people, and was built under the supervision of REV. AVERY WRIGHT, and REV. HARVEY WILSON preached the dedication sermon.

Zion Methodist Episcopal Church - The present membership of this church numbers fifty, who hold regular meetings at the above place once in two weeks. Sunday school every Sunday, with about fifty pupils. The ministers have been REVS. AVERY WRIGHT, DWIGHT COOK, RANDOLPH COOK, DAVID RHINEHART, STALEY, HAGER, CAMERON, SENTERS, DOWNING, LUCAS and P. T. WEBSTER, the present pastor.

     Paw Paw Free-Will Baptist Church was organized Mar. 16, 1850, by REVS. JOHN WALLACE and A HATCH. JAMES OTIS, JOHN KING and MYRACK HIGGINS were among the first members and were elected Trustees; JOHN KING, clerk. Meetings were held for a time in the house of MYRACK HIGGINS, but he soon gave a site for a house of worship on Section 33, in Grand Township, and a church edifice was built the following year and dedicated.
     REV. JOHN WALLACE was the first pastor. After his labors closed, REVS. G. W. BAKER and G. H. MOON and others preached at intervals. The membership remained small. At last, public services were discontinued for several years and the hose became dilapidated.
     About the year 1872, the Free-Will Baptists and Methodist Episcopals jointly repaired and used the house. About that time the second Montgomery Free-Will Baptist Church, which was organized Feb. 28, 1852, by REVS. A. HATCH and K. F. HIGGINS, consisting of JOHN KING and wife, JOSHUA DAVIS and wife, WILLIAM LAUDERBACK and HIRAM OWENS, and which enjoyed the pastoral labors of the two ministers who organized it, and afterward of REVS. G. W. BAKER, D. D. HALSTEAD, JAMES ALDRICH, and perhaps others, disbanded, most of the members uniting with the church at Larue, but some of them uniting with the Paw Paw Church. Since then the congregation has held its usual number, though still small, and preaching has been sustained portions of the time except for the last year, when both societies have been without preaching and the hose been unoccupied, except on funeral occasions.
     The Christians have a meeting once a month in the above described church, REV. HENRY HOLVERSTOTT being the minister.

MISCELLANEOUS

The Clerk's books containing the records of Grand Township were destroyed by fire about the year 1880, and hence some of the data of history are irrecoverable.
The present Township Trustees are GEORGE EVERETT, WILSON PETERS and JAMES DAY; Treasurer, THOMAS ANDERSON; Clerk, J. C. RUBIN.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES FOR GRAND PRAIRIE TOWNSHIP.
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To complete the history of Grand Township, we give the biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men.

DAVID J. BOWER
ENOCH CLARK
ISAAC CLARK
HENRY DEAL
[PORTRAIT OF OBADIAH MILLER]
S. C. DODDS
NEHEMIAH DAVIS
WILLIAM EVERETT
VALENTINE FEHL
NOAH GILLESPIE
NATHANIEL OSBUN
EDWARD H. RUBINS
JOSEPH S. RUBINS
JACOB SEABURN
CHAMPNESS TERRY

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