Wayne township
occupies the northeastern corner of Montgomery
county. It joins Miami county on the north,
Clark and Green counties on the east.
Green county being again a part of the boundary
on the south. January 1, 1810, the township was
formed consisting of the township as it now is
and all of township 3, range 6 west of the Miami
river except the two western tiers of sections.
It was named in honor of Gen. Anthony
Wayne. The first township election
was held at the house of Benjamin Van
Cleve on the Staunton road on the 20th
day of January, 1810. Upon the formation
of Butler township, Oct. 7, 1817, all that part
of Wayne township west of the Miami river was
used in the erection of that township. The
township as it now is has been credited with an
area of twenty-one square miles, one square mile
less than the legal minimum size for a township
without an incorporated town. No question,
however, has been raised as to this discrepancy.
More than one-third of the township was
purchased by Peyton Short in 1801
on the basis of his contract with Judge
Symmes. This land was sold in
larger or smaller divisions to individual
settlers. His land ventures do not seem to
have been profitable, as later we have notice of
his having made an assignment.
At a meeting of the overseers of the poor of Wayne
township, it was recorded as the action of the
overseers that said board “doth bind John
Slider, a Poor child, aged fourteen years
against the 1st day of April next ensuing this
date (17th October, 1812), to James
Forgas, of Miami County, Tanner, to Learn
the art and mystery of the Tanning business, for
the term of seven years,” at the expiration of
which, all the covenants of each party being
fulfilled, he was to receive “his freedom and
one suit of Superfine clothing and one suit of
Coarse Clothing, and one horse, sadle and
bridle, to be worth $75.” On what terms
girls were cared for is shown by another action
of the overseers of the poor dated October 5,
1817. The record recites as follows: The
Overseers “Do put & place Sarah Reiser,
a poor child of the county and Township
aforesaid, with them to Dwell & serve from the
Day of the Date of these presents, until she
shall arrive to the full age of Eighteen years.
* * * During all which Time the said apprentice
her said Master shall faithfully serve on Lawful
Business according to her Power, wit and
ability,” for which the other parties covenanted
“to learn her to Spin, sew & to Do common house
work, and one year’s schooling and one Spinning
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wheel and one second rate Cow and two suits of
Clothing and a good Decent quality and a freedom
suit valued at $18, and one good Bed and Bedding
& one new Bible.”
Among the early settlers of the township, the following
named located prior to the year 1810: Rev.
Joseph Tatman, John Ainsworth,
Robert Miller, James Miller,
John Booher, John Duncan
Campbell, John Hacker,
Henry Jennings, Peter
Sunderland, John Slagle,
Jacob Arnold, Valentine
Shearer, Mrs. John Cuppy
nee Lydia Oilar, Henry
Oilar, Levi Jennings,
Simon Brenner, Jacob
Brenner, Lewis Brenner,
Samuel Petticrew, John
Petticrew, John Shafer,
Joseph H. Johnson, Nathan Maddux,
Ignatius Maddux, Henry
Deam, James Black, John
Booher and John McFadden.
Before 1811, Benjamin Van Cleve
had purchased all of section 27 on the Troy pike
and made improvements but resided for no
extended period on this land.
During the
decade between 1810 and 1820, there were with
other accessions to the immigrant population,
Jonathan Knight, George
Favorite, Elias Matthews,
John Matthews, Robert
Archibald, David Archibald,
James Kay, Abraham Buckley,
William Hoover and John
Zediker.
Among the more noted of the early pioneers, was
Rev. Joseph Tatman, who
immigrated from Kentucky and located in the
township in 1800. He was a minister of the
Methodist Episcopal church, and, aside from his
duties in managing his farm, was actively
engaged, at least a part of the time, in
ministerial work. Thomas Crook,
the father of Gen. George W. Crook,
settled on a half section of land opposite
Johnson’s station.
George W. Crook was born on this farm September
8, 1828. He entered West Point in 1848 and
graduated July 1, 1852. He was appointed
brevet second lieutenant and was assigned to the
Fourth United States Infantry then located in
California. He was engaged in many scouts
and skirmishes in the Indian country. In
1861, he was made colonel of the Thirty-sixth
Ohio Infantry. In the spring of 1862, he
was placed in command of the Third Brigade of
the Army of West Virginia. In July, he was
transferred to the Army of the Potomac. He
was later made brigadier-general. In
January, 1863, he was transferred to the Army of
the Cumberland. July 20, 1863, he was breveted
major-general. Gen. Crook
was in the various campaigns conducted by Gen.
Sheridan in the Shenandoah valley.
He participated in all movements of Sheridan’s
cavalry during the war, and, in the eleven days
preceding Lee’s surrender, his regiment
lost one-third of its number in killed or
wounded. When Gen. Sheridan
was assigned to a command in the southwest,
Gen. Crook was placed in command of
the cavalry corps. He was honorably
mustered out of the volunteer service on the
15th of January, 1866. In 1888, he was
appointed a major-general of the United States
army.
The Brenners were large landholders in the
township. A scion of one of these
families, Hon. Simon Brenner,
has lent credit to the township.
A log schoolhouse was erected on the premises of
John Shafer, on the banks of Dry Run,
in the autumn of 1809. Another schoolhouse
was built the same year in the eastern part of
the township. This building was destroyed
by fire in 1813, and a larger and more suitable
one was then erected on the farm of Henry
[Page 869]
Cuppy. In this house, Methodist
meetings were held until Palmer’s chapel
was erected in the same neighborhood.
Here, also, under the superintendency of Rev.
Joseph Tatman, the children of the
pioneers attended their first Sunday school.
The first building erected exclusively for public
worship was a rough log structure erected
probably in 1816, which served as a place of
worship for the Methodist Episcopal and other
denominations until the schoolhouse was built on
the old Troy pike in the southern part of
section 30. In 1846, the Methodists built
Wayne chapel on a lot adjoining that on which
the schoolhouse stood. The lot was donated
by James Black. In 1852,
Montgomery chapel was built on land donated by
Thomas Crook. The lot was
deeded to the United Brethren church but all
Christian denominations were expected to have
the use of the building. An unfortunate
controversy arose as to the use of the building
which had been in use for school as well as for
religious purposes. The building was torn
down and the materials sold and scattered.
There is a United Brethren church at Sulphur
Grove of which Rev. E. J. Arthur is
pastor. The congregation numbers one
hundred and twenty-four members.
The township trustees at the present time are: P. W.
Artz, S. K. Smith and William L. Snell.
The township board of education is composed of
the following members: W. H. Darst, S. K.
Smith, William Shoup, F. R. Grimes,
William L. Snell. F. M. Copenhefer is the
clerk of both boards.
A peculiarity of Wayne township is that it is
altogether rural, having at the present time
neither a postoffice nor a village. At an
earlier period there were postoffices at
Taylorsville, and at toll gate No. 2 on the old
Troy pike in the southwestern part of the
township, the name of this office being Fishburg.
Later there was an office known as Sulphur
Grove. The township is now served by rural
routes and by postoffices outside of its own
bounds. The people of the township are
well supplied with schools, and are well abreast
the people of other parts of the county in
intelligence and uprightness. There is a
very small proportion of foreigners in the
township. The present population are in
large part the descendents of the early settlers
in the township.
The soil of the township is noted for its fertility.
Wheat, corn, oats, potatoes, hay and tobacco are
the main crops. The farmers are keeping in
touch with the times and learning more and more
to use the methods approved in the agricultural
experiment stations. The Agricultural
Bulletin together with farm papers can be found
in nearly every farmer’s home.
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