LEE TOWNSHIP

Source:
History of Monroe County, Ohio
- Illustrated -
A Condensed History of the County;
Biographical Sketches: General Statistics; Miscellaneous Matters &c.
Publ. H. H. Hardesty & Co, Publishers
Chicago and Toledo
1882

Page 222      This township was erected by an act of the General Assembly, Feb. 10, 1869.  It lies on the Ohio river, is very irregular in shape, and is bounded on the north by Greene and Ohio townships, and on the east by Ohio township and the river, on the south by the Ohio river, and on the west by Jackson and Greene townships.  There are four sections, and three fractional sections and two fractional sections in township 2, of range 4, and a fractional part of section 19, in township 2, of range 4, in this township.  Opossum creek has its source in this township, and drains its western and northwestern parts.  A run, through the Havely lands, emptying into the river, drains its eastern part; Davis', or Patton's run, the central, and Narrow's runs the western parts.  Prof. Andrews says:  " Near Sardis two seams of coal are found, the lower one about ninety feet above the Ohio river, and the other about one hundred and ninety higher  The lower was not measured.  It is, probably, the equivalent of the Woodsfield seam.  The quality of the coal of the lower bench is good.  This seam is reported to be worked at another point, and found to be four feet thick.  This measurement, probably, includes the clay parting.  A seam of hard, blue limestone, ,two feet thick, is seen about one hundred and forty feet below the upper coal.  A very long section was taken at Baresville, extending to the top of a very high hill, about two miles from the village, which disclosed four seams of coal.  [Is this not the high hill on the Gehring farm in Lee?]  The lowest one, probably the Woodsfield seam, is about forty-five feet above low water in the Ohio river.  This is two feet thick  The next is one hundred and ninety-three feet higher, with nine inches of coal in the upper bench, separated from the lower bench of two feet by four inches of clay parting.  About one hundred and forty-seven feet higher is the blossom of another seam of coal.  Nearly three hundred feet higher, and on summit of the hill, is another blossom of coal.  This hill, by the barometer, is six hundred and seventy-nine feet high from the low water level of the Ohio river.  About one hundred and thirty-five feet below the top of the hill are six feet of limestone, the lower two of which are cement limestone.  It is, for the most part, a weary alternation of sand stones and shales."      The settlements made in what is now known as the Sardis bottom were among the very earliest in the county.  On what is called "the fraction," in the Havely farm, a Mr. McBride had a large improvement.  In 1802, he had upwards of forty acres cleared, with bearing fruit trees and good buildings thereon.  The date of the beginning of this improvement is unknown.  There was, also, an old improvement near this, where F. Shupbach's house now stands.  The next settlement was made where George Thistle now lives.  Johnston and Scott, who were the purchasers of all of fractional township 1, of range 3, lived here in very early days, probably as early as 1801.  Johnston and Scott opened a store, on this bottom about the year 1808 or 1809.  Stephen Scott, or, Yankee Scott, as he was called, the partner of Johnston, lived on the farm above this, known as the Wells farm, now owned by Bauman.  Other early settlers were Charles Wells, the descendants of Azariah Hoskinson, James Patton and his sons, John and David Patton, and the Nesbitts.  Perhaps none of the descendants of the first settlers now reside in the township, unless it may be some of the Martins, descendants of Abner Martin, who settled on the Frail farm in Ohio township, and the descendants of Azariah Hoskinson of Jackson.  The population has become, like that of Switzerland and Ohio, principally German and Swiss, by whom the soil is very carefully cultivated.      The Mount Moriah Methodist Episcopal Church, a United Brethren Church, and a Baptist, or Mennonite Church, are all in section 11, and a Methodist Church in Sardis.      The town of Sardis was laid out by James Patton, in 1843.  It is situated in section 33, on the Ohio river, and is a good business point.  The postoffice is of the same name.  The other postoffice in the township is called Moreton, situated some five miles back of Sardis.      The manufacture of cheese is a productive industry in this township, the number of pounds manufactured last years being 104,263.      The present justices of the peace are James Nesbitt and John Angus.      The population of Sardis, as reported for 1880, was 265, and of the township, including the town, by the census of 1880, was 1,241.      The school statistics for the township, for the year ending Aug. 31, 1881, was as follows:  Total amount of school moneys received within the year, $3,367.42; paid teachers, $1,309.99; paid for interest and in redemption of bonds, $562.00; paid for fuel, etc., $248.27; balance on hand, Sept. 1, 1881, $1,247.16; No. of school houses, 5; No. of school rooms, 6; value of school property, $8,300.00; No. of teachers necessary, 6; average wages paid teachers, per month, gentlemen, $36.00, ladies, $25.00; No. of pupils enrolled, 291.      In closing these imperfect sketches of the history of Monroe county and its several townships, it is due to JOHN B. NOLL, esq., of Woodsfield, to say, that to him the writer is greatly indebted for many of the facts and incidents herein narrated; and that but for his kindness in placing at the writer's disposal many memoranda of local and personal history that he had gathered together, these sketches would have been still more imperfect than the writer feels them to be.

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