Deerfield township is noted for its large and extended plains, rich and fertile bottoms on the Scioto and Deer creek, the ancient park for the elk and deer.  Clarksburg, in this township, derives its name from Colonel William Clark, a veteran of the war of 1812, who resided on Hays creek.

Township Officers
     J. W. Thimmons and A. S. Holloway, Justices; James Templin, Clerk; E. W. Templin, Treasurer; Samuel Cochran, Peter Baker, and J. W. Hurst, Trustees; O. M. Hinson, Assessor; James Templin, Jr., Land appraisers.

Early Settlers:
     Captain Clement Brown emigrated, in 1802, from Delaware.  In 1803 he married Miss Rachel White, and permanently settled on the land which he had purchased on the rich bottoms of Deer creek.  Mrs. Rachel Brown, his mother, came out that year, with the rest of her family - White, Henrietta, Kethura, Zaccheus, and Mary.  John Wiley, who afterward married Henrietta, came out with them.  Captain Brown cleared his land and cultivated it until 1812, when he and his company went to Fort Seneca, under Colonel Clark.  On his return he continued the cultivation of his farm.  He died at the age of eighty years, and such had been the increase in the value of land, that that which had cost him but little, was, at the time of his death, considered worth $200,000.  He left a son and a daughter, Thomas W. and Sarah.  Thomas W. Brown lives on his farm of two hundred acres at Mount Pleasant.  He owns, beside, two thousand acres

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at other places.  He has served his township in various capacities, as trustee, assessor, etc.  His family consists of Richard N., N. W., Ambrose, Sina, Rebecca, Richard P., Rachel, Elmore, and Kate W.
     White Brown erected the first mill in the township.  He was an exemplary man, a class leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church for many years, and the father of Methodism in Deerfield township.  He died, much lamented, in 1841, aged ninety-one years. His family consisted of Rebecca, Lucian, Amelia, Elizabeth, Anna, Margaret, Nelson, Mary, William, Sarah, Francis, and Priscilla.
     Edward Tiffin, a relative of Governor Tiffin, emigrated to Deerfield in 1803, and located on the Scioto.  He served in the war of 1812.  He married a daughter of White Brown, and they had the following children:  Mary Ann, Milton, Martha, Cynthia, Margaret, and Edward; by his second wife he had three children - Newton, James and Isabella.
     Rev. Lorenzo Dow preached in White Brown's barn in1828.  Rev. Stephen Timmons, who emigrated to Deerfield in 1802, was the first Methodist preacher on Deer creek.  He served several terms as justice of the peace, and was an early advocate of anti-slavery.  He raised a large and respectable family.  Abraham Shanton emigrated in 1803, and was in the war of 1812.  Nathan Hide was a man of some note and popularity in the county.  He was representative in 1865, and held, at various times, important township offices.  He moved to Illinois.  Colonel Hegler was in the war of 1812, as was also George Hill, a farmer and hunter,  Samuel Clark was a son of Colonel William Clark.  William Bryant, C. P. Davis, H. Ransom, P. H. Potts, and William Goldsberg were farmers;  William Stagg, a noted panther hunter; Abram Payne, a singular man, but good company.  William Haggard, who died at the age of eighty-three years, and M. Bragg, a farmer, were in the war of 1812.  Jacob Switzer, Jacob Robinson, Daniel Counts, Len. Counts, Isaac Fleming, and James Miner were in Captain Brown's company in 1813.  Levi Noble emigrated in 1800.  He was a noted hunter, and was in the war of 1812.  His father served in the Revolutionary war.  Abram Alter, Jacob Lister, E. Hide (who served thirty-three years as justice), and Thomas Hardy, were all in the war of 1812.  J. H. Hervey, Ives Wagill, and William Kerkendall were early emigrants - about 1801.
     Colonel William Clark, a farmer and tanner, was an early settler in Deerfield.  He commanded a regiment of militia several years, and was at Hull's surrender.  William Lister was an early pioneer; he served in the war of 1812; is now ninety-seven years of age, and voted at the last election.  Joseph Timmons, son of the Rev. Stephen Timmons, the old pioneer preacher, is a man of ability and influence; he is now a justice of the peace.  John Foster came to Deerfield in 1802, and was the first school teacher in the township.  His sons were Charles, John, Andrew, and James.  John and James Tuttle owned large farms on Deer creek; were men of influence and wealth, and early settlers in the township.  David Jones was chaplain to General Wayne, in 1793-95, and Andrew Jones was one of his spies.  Colonel Evans was in the Revolutionary war; came here in 1796.  John McNeil.  J. Wise; died aged one hundred years.  Frederick Bray, Indian killer, died aged ninety-one years.  Persal Smith, Joseph Conrad; had at one time three wives; died aged ninety-nine years.  Byron and Baron Leffenwell were soldiers in the war of 1812.  William Pennell was a fife-major under Colonel Clark.  Thomas Carney and S. Howell were pioneers in 1801.  Henry Mallow, George Smith, M. States, B. Thomas, Henry Lawrence, Robert Taylor, and Elwell Brown were mechanics, farmers, and merchants, useful citizens, and early emigrants.  Benjamin Grimes,Curtis Williams, James Tender, Thomas Junk, David Hagar, Joh m McCarthy, M. P. Junk, Amos Seropes, William Jones, Michael Bush, John Bush, S. Mangood, John Farlow, David Plilly, Edward Young, C. Stratton, Martin Peterson, John Holloway, G. Vincent, John Junk, Henry Colsten, J. Clemens, Aaron Beatonham, Lemuel Holloway, Thomas Carney, S. Chester, and Rufus Betts were all early pioneers, and nearly all in the war of 1812.
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     James Templin, Sen., emigrated from Kentucky to this township in 1795.  His familyl consisted of Solomon, Robert, Jeremiah, Isaac, Margaret and John.  He landed at Portsmouth, and came up the Scioto to the station.  He bought his land from General Massie.  Old Town was then the headquarters of the Indians.  He and his brother John were in Colonel Clark's regiment in the war of 1812, and helped build Fort Meigs.  At the close of the war he resumed the cultivation of his farm.  He was twice married, and had fourteen children.  He is now eighty-one years of age and rather feeble.  His children are scattered, most of them being in the West.
     The following pioneer names were handed in by Captain Hoddy:  Lieutenant John Jackson; James Huffman; Noah Downs, fifer in Captain Brown's company; James Baker, drummer; Rev. P. Baker, first Baptist preacher and father of Peter Baker; Edward and Thomas Noland, Stephen Emory, and Uriah Betts.  The above were all farmers, and were in Colonel Clark's regiment.
     Colonel William Clark's staff, in 1812, were:  Robert Hoddy, Adjutant; Benjamin Grimes, Chaplain; James Miner Paymaster; William Clawson, Quartermaster; John Clark, Sergeant-major; M. E. Peterson, Lieutenant-colonel; and Major Calloway.

END OF DEERFIELD TOWNSHIP -