The erection of this township took place June 15, 1810,
by order of the Board of County Commissioners of
Pickaway County. Its territory was previously
included in the townships of Madison and Walnut.
It is bounded on the north by Franklin County and a
portion of Madison township and on the east by Madison
and Walnut townships. The Scioto River and Walnut
Creek form its south and and western boundaries.
The latter stream divides it from Walnut township.
At the time when the first white settlers came here,
these streams contained untold quantities of fish, which
were captured in almost incredible numbers by means of
primitive seines, made of grape-vines and brush. Extensive levees or breakwaters along these streams,
especially along the Scioto River, have been built so as
to protect the rich bottom lands from inundation by
flood and the wearing effects of the current. A number
of extensive and disastrous floods are on record, the
earliest of which we have any account being those of
1805 and 1814. In the former year the entire section
between the Scioto River and Walnut Creek, south of
South Bloomfield, was under water.
At the period of its settlement, the greater portion of
the township was covered with a heavy growth of timber,
consisting of oak, ash, elm, hickory and honey locust,
with many black walnut and maple trees along the banks
of the streams. North and south of South Bloomfield
there was a section without forest growth known as plain
land. As this was ready for immediate cultivation, it
was the land first settled. Where it was necessary to
remove the timber, the trees were cut down and split
into rails or the logs were rolled into great heaps and
burned. When the first sawmills were put into operation,
a portion of the timber removed was utilized in
manufacturing lumber for local purposes. The township as
a whole is quite level, with sufficient incline to carry
off the surplus water. The soil in the bottoms along the
streams is a loam, with a mixture of sand and gravel in
places, while that back from the river is chiefly clay. There are a few hills along the river and creeks, but
none of great elevation.
Upon the erection of the township, an election was
ordered to be held on the 23rd of June, 1810, at the
house of Hugh Creighton, who became one of the first
justices of the peace. James Denny was also an early
justice of the peace, probably the first one elected.
All the early records of the township are either lost or
destroyed. In 1861 the trustees bought a frame building
on Main street in South Bloomfield for use as a town
house. About nine years later this was sold and a room
in the hotel used until 1878, when a small storeroom on
the opposite side of the street from the hotel was
purchased for use as a town house. The population of
the township in 1900 was 1826. The township officers
for 1906 are as follows: Trustees - S. C. Allison,
T. P.
Pierce and Fred Palm; clerk, Ward B. Powell; treasurer.
D. H. Ebert; assessor, Conrad Wiegand; justices of the
peace - George G. Brintlinger and
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George C. Eversole; constables - Sylvanus
Smith and William F. Wilson.
EARLY SETTLERS.
The first tracts of land settled in Harrison township
were located on the Walnut Plains, in the vicinity of
South Bloomfield, where no clearing operations - were
necessary to prepare the land for cultivation.
While the township, as a part of the Congress lands, was
not open for settlement until 1801, there were a few
squatters, attracted by the favorable features of the
plains, who settled here as early as 1798 or 1799 and
made improvements, which entitled them to first choice
at the government sales.
The first arrivals were James Short and
his son, Stephen, who came from Delaware in 1798
and squatted on the Walnut Plains, a short distance
below the present town of South Bloomfield, where they
planted the first crops raised in the township.
James Short, in 1799, sowed the first field
of wheat in the township on land owned by Adam
Millar. When it was ready to be harvested,
neighboring settlers, who had in the meanwhile located
here, assisted in cutting it. Most of the wheat
was saved as seed. When the land was offered for
sale by the government, in 1801, Mr. Short
bought section 15 and fractional section 16, the most of
which was plain land. To him was given the credit
of setting out the first orchard, in 1799 or 1800, and
of building the first frame dwelling in the township, in
1812. John Robinson came at the same
time as the Shorts and married a daughter of
James Short.
William Millar, who came here from
Virginia in 1798, was the next settler after James
Short but he did not make a permanent settle ment
until 1799, when he located with his family in the
southern part of the present township of Harrison, near
the junction of the Scioto River and Walnut Creek.
In 1801 he purchased section 23, lying partly in Walnut
and partly in Harrison, and fractional section 22, in
Harrison. In 1816 he built the first brick
building in Harrison township.
Benjamin Duvall came to Harrison township
from Bedford County, Pennsylvania, about 1798, when 19
years of age. After working for James and Stephen
Short several years, he settled near South
Bloomfield. He was in the War of 1812 for a time
and on his return settled in section 30, Madison
township, where he lived some 30 years, afterward
returning to Harrison township, where he lived five
wears, removing then to Shadeville, Ohio, where his
death occurred.
Jonathan Holmes came to Ohio as early as
1798 and located in Harrison township as one of the
first settlers. When the opportunity to purchase
land arrived, he bought a farm in section 22. The
first tavern in the township, located about three miles
north of South Bloomfield and known as the Half Way
House, was kept by Mr. Holmes in 1803 or 1804.
He married a daughter of James Short and
died soon after 1804; his widow married Samuel
Denny.
David Denny, a Virginian, came here in 1800 and
bought section 10 and fractional section 9. His
brother, James, located here in 1806 and another
brother came about the same time. Daniel Van
Sickle, a miller by occupation, came here as early
as 1800 and worked in Stephen Short's mill
near Ashville, afterwards working in Foresman’s
mill on the Big Walnut. The same year James
Neville, an Irishman, came to Ohio and at the
first sale of land purchased the north half of section
27 and fractional 28. Joseph Mackey came
into Harrison township about the same time as Neville
and bought the south half of section 27; it is thought
that he also purchased, from Neville, fractional section
28, as the ford across the Scioto from this land became
known as Mackey’s ford. Joseph Bogert came to Harrison
township about 1800 and lived a number of years in South
Bloomfield. John Martin came here
from Virginia in 1801 and purchased the north half of
section 22, where he settled.
The Renicks, from Virginia, established
themselves in this township in 1803. George Renick
became a resident of Chillicothe as early as 1798. In
1801 he entered land in Harris-
Page
123 -
township, in partnership with his brothers, William
and Thomas. The land he entered for himself
and Thomas included section 15, fractional
sections 16 and 21 and a part of section 22; when the
property was divided, he took the southern portion.
With his brother William he entered Sec. 3,
fractional Sec. 4 and parts of Secs. 9 and 10, and upon
the subsequent division of the property he took the
southern part. He never took up his residence
here, continuing to live in Ross County. His
brothers, with their families, came to Harrison township
in 103 and settled on the land that had been entered by
George. Thomas Remick and his
wife died on the same day about a year from the date of
their settlement. William Renick
cleared 10 acres of land in the river bottom in 1804,
and the following year planted it in corn. The
great flood of 1805 utterly ruined his crop, every hill
of corn and the soil in which it grew being washed out.
In the fall, though much discouraged with the prospect,
he put 20 acres of plain land in wheat, which turned out
well and convinced him that the plains were good land.
Joshua Burget
and his sons, Joshua, Joseph and George,
settled here before 1804. William Bennett,
an early justice of the peace, came into the township
about the same time. William Ront
and Joshua Hedges, from Virginia, and Philip
Cherry and his brother James became residents
of the township in 1804, while Isaac Snyder
settled here about the same time. Philip Cherry
had a blacksmith shop a ile and a half north of South
Bloomfield as early as 1806. Mrs. Lucinda Pratt,
with four children, and John Champ came here in
1809; Jacob Hott and Aaron Dean, about
1810; John Byerly and George Hoover, about
1811; and Philip Gatewood, William Evans and a
man named Van Gundy, a miller by occupation,
about 1812.
John Cochran, then an
ensign in the 19th Regiment of infantry, came to
Pickaway County in 1812, as a recruiting officer for the
army, having his recruiting office at Franklinton
(Columbus). At the close of the war, in 1815, when
he held a commission as 2nd lieutenant in the 17th
Regiment, he came to Harrison township; purchased land
and married Mary O'Harra. Colonel
Cochran was commander of a regiment of militia for a
number of years. He was a Whig in politics and
served in the State Legislature, in 1818, 1831. 1832,
1835, 1836 and 1850. He died in 1878 at the age of 88
years.
Joseph O'Harra, whose daughter Mary,
became the wife of Col. John Cochran, settled, in
1812, at Franklinton, where he kept a tavern.
After the War of 1812 he moved to Harrison township and
settled in section 27.
Thomas Vause emigrated from Virginia about 1814
and first settled in Champaign County, Ohio. About
1823 he bought land in Franklin and Pickaway Counties
and settled at Lockbourne, where he died in 1852.
David Adkins and Benjamin Whitehead
came to Harrison township about 1826; Stephen Simmons
in 1834; Dr. J. C. Thompson in 1837; and B. G.
Pontius about 1840. Philip Swisher, Charles
McDaniel, Elijah Wright, Dr. Burrell, Enos Cutler, Simon
Hadley, Jacob Stage, Abner Briggsb and Jonathan
Blue were also early settlers in Harrison township,
some of them coming here in the early days of the
settlement.
SOME EARLY EVENTS.
The first marriage in the township that can be recalled
was that of John Lewin and Salome
Clutter, both of whom came from Virginia with
William Renick. They were married in
1810 by Squire James Denny.
Sometime during the year 1807, Michael Miller,
of Harrison township, and John Davis, from
near Columbus, took a boatload of pork from below
Chillicothe to New Orleans by river, returning on
horseback. The first shoemaker in the township was
William Barr, who moved into the house
left vacant by William Millar, when the
latter first occupied his brick house in 1816. The
first tan-yard in the eastern part of the township was
established bv James Braden, an Irishman.
The first mail route through South Bloomfield was
established prior to 1812; at first the mail was carried
by post-boys, who made the trip from Chillicothe to
Franklin-
Page 124 -
ton on horseback, and later by the stagecoaches.
The Ohio Canal, from Cleveland to the Ohio River, was
built through Harrison township in the years between
1825 and 1830, in the prosecution of which work
employment was given to many of the people then living
there. Colonel Cochran had a contract for
work on the canal during these years.
EARLY MILLS AND
DISTILLERIES.
Simon Headley built a grist-mill near the site of
the South Bloomfield bridge about 1803. He sold it
a few years later to Mr. Van Gundy,
who continued it some years. It afterwards went to
decay. At the time the mill was running, a ferry
was established above the mill dam, by which people on
the west bank of the river could cross to the mill with
their corn or wheat, and return with the flour it
produced. About 1809 James Short
owned a saw and grist-mill on Walnut Creek, near
Ashville. and about the same period Mr. Shafer
built a horsemill in the eastern part of the township
for grinding corn - he also operated a tan-yard on his
property. James Short, in 1804,
built a still-house a short distance below South
Bloomfield on the east side of the turnpike. In
1812 a distillery was built by William Stage,
near Ashville, and in the same locality, about the same
period, Richard Stage also had one.
CHURCHES.
The first church in Harrison township was organized in
1814 by Rev. William Jones, a Presbyterian
minister, who conducted the first services about 1812.
Mr. Jones left a few years later and the
organization dwindled and finally died out.
South Bloomfield M. E. Church. -
Asbury Chapel, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, was
The Ashville M. E. Church
Page 125 -
Ashville U. B. Church. -
HARRISON TOWNSHIP
CEMETERY.
James Short furnished the first ground for burial
purposes, south of South Bloomfield; to this tract
William Millar added two acres in 1850. In
later years the cemetery was still further increased in
size. It is now under the control of the township
trustees and gives every indication of being well cared
for. Many very old gravestones are to be found
here some of which are so badly defaced by the action of
the elements that the inscriptions are scarcely legible.
Probably the oldest stone is that placed to mark the
grave of Sarah Holmes, daughter of
Jonathan and Rachel Holmes, w ho died in October,
1801, aged two years and five months.
SCHOOLS.
Page 126 -
one end of the building was the door, wile in the other
was the massive fire-place, which extended the full
width of the room and was fed with large logs, which
were rolled in by means of handspikes, or drawn in by a
horse. A log was cut out on each side of the
building and strips of wood were tacked across the space
this made, forming a kind of lattice-work. Over
these sticks oiled paper was fastened, which furnished
the necessary light. Dr. Samuel Taylor was
the first teacher in this schoolhouse; he was followed
by a Mr. Williams. The first frame
schoolhouse was built on land owned by Adam Miller,
in 1817, by William Millar, William Renick and
Stephen Short. This school was taught by
Joseph Olds and was supported by subscriptions.
The township has seven schools, including the one at
Ashville. The Board of Education of Harrison
township, elected in November, 1904, is constituted as
follows: F. B. Peters, F. S. Baum
and J. W. Hedges - four years; Henry Shannon
and Edward E. Runkle - two years. J. W.
Hedges is clerk of the board.
The South Bloomfield Special School District has a
brick school building of three rooms which was built in
the ’50's and is still in excellent condition. It
is valued at $4,000. J. M. Ater is
principal, being assisted by Loutie Browne and
Ida Calder. The total enrollment is
100. The high school department provides a
three-years course of study and is rated as a
third-grade school. The Board of Education of this
district, as elected in November, 1904, is as follows:
William Millar, Sherman L. Rasor
and Edward Roese - four years; Walter
Rayman and Fred Roese - two years.
Henry Roese is clerk of the board.
The Ashville village District has the following Board
of Education, elected in November, 1904: Chester B.
Hedges, William M. Miller and S. D.
Fridley - four years; Dr. R. A. Postle and
J. W. Snyder - two years. Ward B. Powell
is clerk. In 1902 a new brick school building,
furnace-heated, was erected at Ashville at a cost of
$14,000, taking the place of a four-room brick structure
which had been in service a long term of years.
Five rooms are devoted to grade work and two to high
school purposes. The high school is conducted
jointly by the boards of education of Harrison and
Walnut townships and the Ashville Village District,
acting through a committee of nine - three from each
board - of which committee William M. Miller is
chairman, as well as being president of the Ashville
Board of Education. Prof. Stanley Lawrence
is superintendent of the High School.
SOCIETIES.
Pickaway Lodge, No. 747, I. O. O. F., is 20 years old,
having been instituted in 1886. It has grown
steadily and has a present membership of nearly 100.
The lodge owns the Odd Fellows' Building, corner of Long
and Bortz streets. The auxiliary organization,
Linden Rebekah Lodge, was instituted six or seven parts
later than Ashville Lodge.
Palmetto Lodge, No. 513, K. of P., at Ashville, was
instituted Oct. 21, 1891. with 34 charter members.
The lodge has at the present time a membership of about
100 and owns the building in which it meets, having
purchased it recently. Frank Dumm is
chancellor commander and Dr. H. J. Bond, keeper
of records and seals.
Ashville Camp, No. 4,635, M. W.
of W., has been established since Feb. 15, 1897, and has
a present membership of about 65.
A tent of the Knights of the Maccabees, No. 560, was
organized at Ashville a little over a year ago.
There are now about 30 numbers.
Ashville Lodge, No.3,005, K. of H., was instituted
Sept. 25, 1883, with 16 charter members. It has a
small membership.
Morral Post, No. 167, G. A. R.
Page 127 -
was instituted with 27 charter members on Dec. 29, 1885,
as Morrison Relief Corps. The present name of the
corps was adopted some years later. The membership
is about 15. Mrs. Lettie Oliver is
president and Mrs. Annie Finney, secretary.
Ashville Lodge, No. 490, I. O. G. T., was instituted
Sept. 29, 1892, with 21 charter members; four years
later, Nov. 16, 1896, the lodge surrendered its charter.
For a period of some years, a branch of the Knights &
Ladies of Honor, Union Lodge, No. 1795, flourished in
Ashville. It is now no longer in existence.
Ashville has a strong and aggressive organization of
the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; Mrs. Lucy
Kline is president of the local union. South
Bloomfield also has a union, of which Mrs.
Elizabeth Ater is president.
PHYSICIANS
Dr. J. C. Thompson was one of the earliest
physicians of Harrison township. He located at
South Bloomfield about 1837 and practiced his profession
with great skill for over 50 years, until his death Jan.
7, 1889, lacking two days of being 78 years old.
His name stands high among the members of the medical
profession in Pickaway County and the State.
Drs. II. B. Smith and A. C. Kinnear also
practiced at South Bloomfield. Dr. Charles E.
Blacker was also located here for many years.
Dr. Charles Steward is the dean of the Medical
profession at Ashville, his period of practice covering
30 years - practically the whole life of the town.
In addition to his practice, he conducts a drug store
and is the proprietor of the Opera House. Dr.
Rowland A. Postle located in Ashville in 1891;
Dr. William H. Silbaugh, in 1897; and Dr. George
R. Gardner, in November, 1901. Ashville alone
has a dentist - Dr. Harry J. Bond, who has
practiced his profession here with good success since
1895.
BANKS.
The Citizens’ Bank of Ashville was organized in 1894.
The original capitalization, $25,000, was increased to
$75,000 in January, 1906. The deposits aggregate
$250,000. The directors of the bank are as
follows: James Ward, Sidner J. Ward, Thaddeus E.
Cromley. T. W. Baum and William M. Miller. James
Ward is president; T. W. Baum,
vice-president; and William M. Miller, Cashier.
The last named has been cashier of the bank ever since
it was founded. James H. Valentine was
president for the first two years of the Bank's
existence, being succeeded by James Ward, who had
been vice-president.
The Ashville Banking Company established the second
bank at Ashville, which was incorporated June 22,
1906, with a capital stock of $50,000, of which $25,000
was paid up. The bank, which is located on Main
street, was opened for business on Aug. 23rd. The
directors are: F. J. Peters, Samuel Hall, William M.
Wright. James H. Valentine, J. A. Baum, Irin F. Snyder,
R. G. Peters, James M. Borror and E. A. Snyder. The
president is F. J. Peters; vice-president,
Samuel Hall and cashier. E. A. Snyder.
ASHVILLE.
The land upon which Ashville is located was at an early
day the property of Richard Stage, who
started a small distillery here, which he operated for
many years, finally selling it to Mahlon Ashbrook.
Mr. Ashbrook increased its capacity and did a
large business. In connection with it, he built a
grist mill on Walnut Creek, about 1845, and owned a
large store for the time and locality. He finally
failed in business. James Short, of
Circleville, was in business with him for some time.
The store was closed about 1855, but the distillery was
run by other parties for a few years, when it, too. was
closed.
Very little business was done at Ashville from the time
of the closing of the distillery until 1874, when the
building of the Scioto Valley Railroad (now the Norfolk
& Western) through the length of Harrison township gave
a new impetus to business. The depot of the road
was located at Ashville in the following year, as was
the postoffice, with George C. Morrison as the
first postmaster.
Among the early business men were:
Ed-
Page 128 -
ward Soper, who kept a general store on Main
street for a number of years, dating from the early
'70's; George C. Morrison, who conducted a
general store for many years and also served as
postmaster for a considerable period; Samuel W.
Miller, who was in business here for nine yeas;
Robert Hughes, who operated the elevator now
conducted by Teegardin & Taylor; Joseph Hedges,
who had the lumber-yard now run by Edward W. Hedges;
John Messick, William Ward and Peter Arnold
who had blacksmith shops; E. Manges, dealer in
boots and shoes; Ezra Shuemaker, tinner; Z. T.
Baker, harness maker; and Henry Cromley,
boarding house and livery.
Ashville was incorporated as a village in the spring of
1880, the first mayor being W. R. Julian, who
later became a resident of Columbus. J. W.
Shoemaker was the first marshal and D. E. Julian,
the first clerk. Mayor Julian was followed
by Dr. Charles Stewart, W. H. Fortner,
S. D. Fridley, William M. Miller, A. S.
Longenbaugh, E. S. Hickman, G. A. Hook
and Emmett E. Fraunfelter, the present incumbent.
The following are the present village officials:
Mayor. Emmett E. Fraunfelter; clerk, Ward B.
Powell; treasurer, Dr. H. J. Bond; marshal,
Seymour Shook; Council - Enos Longenbaugh,
A. C. Nothstine, Oscar Ward,
Frank H. Hott, Stephen E. Selig and
Christian C. Foor. the village has a first-class
fire department, which is now operating under a new
system, introduced some four or five months ago, by
which the members, consisting of a chief, 1st and 2nd
assistant chiefs, three firemen and three substitutes,
are paid for the time consumed in practice and in
attending fires. This system gives every
indication of proving an entire success. About
1890, when a volunteer tire department was established,
a Howe fire engine and hose were purchased at a cost of
$600, and cisterns throughout the town were built a few
years later. Recently a chemical engine was added
to the equipment. On account of its favorable
location and the energy of its citizens, Ashville is
steadily growing and expanding. The population in
1890 was 430; in 1900, 654; and in 1906 a population of
at least 800 is claimed. Willis E. Payne is
postmaster and Marcus W. Payne, assistant
postmaster. One hundred and forty-four square
miles of territory are served by the four rural routes
running from Ashville. The Scioto Valley traction
line was built through Ashville in 1903.
The sweet corn Canning factory of the Scioto Canning
Company, of Circleville, was built at Ashville in the
spring of 1899 and has been in operation during every
subsequent season, giving employment to many hands and
contributing in no small degree to the prosperity and
well-being of Ashville and the vicinity. The sweet
corn canning season lasts about 40 days and during this
period about 540 hands are employed. The daily
capacity of the plant is 200,000 cans; and the annual
output is about 200.000 cases. Not so much corn is
being canned this year as previously, as the market has
been over-stocked for the last two years. The corn
used is raised by the farmers of the vicinity on
contract, the company furnishing the seed. The
company also has 655 acres of its own in corn. The
company manufactures its own cans and runs the plant
over 100 days to get the required quantity ready for the
canning season, having a capacity for making 50,000 cans
a day. Judge Festus Walters
has been president of the company from the elate of its
organization, Jan. 30, 1899. Wayne
Caldwell, who at first was vice-president, is now
treasurer; S. P. Deeds has continued to hold the
office of secretary; James Reichelderfer was the
first treasurer and Milton Morris is the
present vice-president.
Ashville has two grain elevators, which do a large
business, also dealing in coal, cement, lime,
fertilizers and seed. The oldest of these
elevators was built in 1875 by William Morris
and a Mr. Keyes, who sold it to Ezra
Hughes, who in turn disposed of it to Robert
Hughes. The last named conducted it many
years. It finally came into the possession of
Roekey & Teegardin. was later run by
Ward & Teegardin until four years ago,
when G. P. Teegardin took it and operated
it alone until July
Page 129 -
[PHOTOS]
View on
Long Street, Ashville
United Brethren Church, Ashville
Ashville High School
Scioto Valley Traction Company's Depot, Ashville
Page 130 - BLANK PAGE
Page 131 -
SOUTH BLOOMFIELD.
Has a history that spans a period of over 100 years.
The town was laid out in 1803 by David Denny, who
employed Gen. James
Page 132 -
Denny,
later of Circleville, to make the survey. The plat
embraced 40 acres of land in the southeast part of
section 10 and was divided into 80 lots. The hopes
of its founder, that South Bloomfield would become the
county seat, failed of realization. During the
early years of its history it was a place of some
importance, being on the regular line of the
stagecoaches, running between Chillicothe and Columbus.
With the withdrawal of the stage coaches, the town
subsided into a fairly quiet existence. It has
lacked adequate transportation facilities; the Ohio
Canal was built a mile to the east, and the Norfolk &
Western steam road and the Scioto Valley traction line
were constructed two miles to the east.
The first store in South Bloomfield was opened soon
after 1804 by Hugh Creighton, an early
justice of the peace, who also kept a tavern here in the
year mentioned. William and John
Bradshaw started the second store, in which the
first postoffice was kept. It was established
about 1810 and it is thought that William
Bradshaw was the first postmaster. The mail
route through the town was established preious to
1812. Henry Nevill, who laid out the
town of Jefferson in Pickaway township, started a branch
store in South Bloomfield at an early date.
George Donaldson established the first
blacksmith, shop here in 1806; John Motherspaw
was another early blacksmith. Col. John Cochran
built a store here after the War of 1812 and conducted
it many years.
The town was incorporated by special act of the
Legislature in 1833. Its first officers were:
President, Thomas Burrell; clerk, Henry N.
Hedges, Jr.; treasurer, John Cochran;
marshal, Samuel Goreley. The present
officers are: Mayor, Robert S. Thompson;
clerk, Herman Peters; treasurer, Henry
Roese; marshal, Charles Cook;
Council W. R. Brady, John Jones,
John H. Roese, F. E. Bezold,
Willis Green and one vacancy. George
T. Thompson is postmaster. The town has both
the Bell and the Citizens' 'phones and is lighted
by seven patent gasoline lights. The population of
the village in 1900 was 223.
The business of South Bloomfield is conducted by the
following persons: R. S. Thompson & Son, Chris. Roof
and F. E. Bezold, general merchandise; M. W.
O’Day and William R. Brady, groceries; Ed.
Mithoff, meats; Daniel F. Bock, shoemaker;
Milton Croman, shoemaker and harness and leather
worker; Jackson Gusman, Jonathan
Gusman and Charles Cook, blacksmiths;
Henry Roese,. undertaker; N. L. Darling,
veterinary surgeon; and Strade Brothers,
feed stable.
MILLPORT,
Located on the Ohio Canal between Ashville and South
Bloomfield, is a small settlement of some 20 or 25
families that has seen its best days, which were during
the period when the Ohio Canal was an important means of
transportation. As early as 1810 Stephen
Short erected a distillery and a mill at this place.
The town was laid out in lots about 1837 by Richard
Stage, who erected a number of dwellings and
established a pork-packing business, which flourished
for some years. He also set up his son-in-law,
Francis S. Burt, in business. About 1850 a
warehouse was built near the canal, for the purpose of
receiving and storing grain; a small grocery was
established in the building to furnish supplies for
canal men. At the present time Millport has three
groceries, run, respectively, by Ed. Toole,
John Burton and Taylor Ward.
DUVALL,
A station on the
Norfolk & Western Railway j in the northern part of the
township, has a population of about 50. John W.
Teegardin and daughter, Florence, have a tile
factory here and T. W. Baum, a grain elevator,
also dealing in coal and wood. A. E. Oman
sells general merchandise; Frank S. Baum deals in
hardware and agricultural implements; Lafayette
Dolby runs a blacksmith shop.
END OF CHAPTER VII. -
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