Township Officers.

     Joseph Smith and Aaron Elliott, Justices; Leonard Moore, Andrew J. Cryder, and Thomas McNeal, Trustees; Warren Senff, Assessor; Joshua Seney, Treasurer; Jacob Cryder, Land Appraiser.

Early Settlers—East Springfield.

     In 1805, Thomas and John Arthurs, and Thomas McNeal, Sen., emigrated from Brooke county, Virginia, and settled in East Springfield.  Thomas Arthurs' family consisted of two sons and one daughter.  Samuel, the eldest son, served in the war of 1812; Thomas, the other son, was a lieutenant in Captain Wall's company ; they are both living.  Mr. McNeal's father came from Scotland, and was a lieutenant in the Indian wars after the Revolution.  All of the family moved West, with the exception of Thomas, his oldest son, who is still a resident of this township, and all are now dead ; their names were Nancy, William, Samuel, and Jonathan.  Thomas is now eighty years of ago, and has served his township as trustee and justice several times.
     The Indian traces were plain in this region in 1805, and many arrow heads and stone axes are yet picked up in the fields.  Mr. McNeal says he has often counted as many as eighty Indians in a squad, passing through from Old Town to Salt and Raccoon creeks to obtain lead and hunt.  They generally returned with their pouches full and their horses loaded.
     Many of the early pioneers were noted hunters.  Garrett Boots, Philip Walden, Elisha Carpenter, Henry Hershaw,

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Joseph Taylor, Martin Overly, C. Neff, George Boots, Leslie Malone, Daniel Ducher, John Cummins, James Caruthers, William Pendleton, James Useley, and B. McNeal were all famous hunters and trappers.
     The following are the pioneers who came to this township vvvvvbefore the war of 1812:
     Adam, Alexander, and Joel McClintie ; T. Jones, Samuel Hershaw, Benjamin Deamons. Amos Taylor, Daniel Armstrong; Zachariah, Isaac, and Samuel Welsh ; James and Samuel Kilgore, Andrew Young, Thomas Wilkins, Caleb and William Odell, Joseph Harness, Felix Renick ; James, Henry, and A. Cartwright; Philip Argrebright, Jacob Shane, Geo. Patmore, Thomas Orr, William Zebulan, Thomas Hanks, Zachainah Linton, Hugh and Michael Dalihan, Benjamin Carnes, Philip and Stephen Roos, Aaron Doll, Peter Yeaker, James Kedman, Prancis and Richard Malone, Leonard Neff, Edward Satts, E. Murphy, A. Claypool, and Benjamin Hilton.
     Colonel Sifford, a resident of West Springfield, though not a pioneer, was an early settler, and a man of influence and enterprise.  He is now a representative from Ross county, and has served as United States marshal, county surveyor, and commissioner, and has held other important trusts.
     The first duel (so called) fought in the Scioto Valley was in 1793.  While the pioneers were exposed to the attacks of Indians, a stockade fort was maintained at the old station on the Scioto as a place of retreat.  One morning, John Vanasaw, a noted hunter, shortly after leaving the fort on a hunt, saw an Indian rise from an ambush, decked and painted in war costume.  Both raised their rifles to their shoulders at the same time, and fired.  The Indian fell, and Yanasaw, fearing there might be other Indians about, returned to the fort and reported his duel.
     Casper Senff, grandfather of Michael Senff, emigrated from Germany in 1773.  He was a king's hunter, and served as a spy in the Revolution.  Michael came to Ohio in 1803, served in the war of 1812, and died in 1845.  His sons were Michael,
 

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Jr., Jesse, Andrew, George, and John. Michael, Jr., owns the old farm, and is a great fruit grower.
     There arc two streams in East Springfield, Dry run and Lick run, and one sulphur spring.

Early Settlers—West Springfield.

     Michael Cryder, Sen., served as commissary in the Revolutionary war, and emigrated to the Scioto Valley in 1796.  He brought with him his wife and six sons, John, Henry, Michael, Emanuel, Jacob, and Daniel, all remarkable for their size and physical strength.  They settled in what is now West Springfield; all are now dead, and few of their descendants living.  About the same time, Henry Musselman came from Kentucky to the Scioto, and erected the first mill on the river, for many years the resort of all the neighboring settlers.  He was one of the first justices in the valley, and owned the land where Hopetown stands, and gave it that name.  He died at the age of eighty-five years. Jacob Mace and John Cryder emigrated in 1788; were relations of Michael Cryder; some of their descendants are still living.  Jacob Weider came from Pennsylvania in 1799, and settled near Hopetown, where he lived and died, aged eighty-eight years. His family are all dead or gone West, except Mrs. Julia Downs, who still lives in the township.  Mr. Weider was proprietor of a tavern and distillery at Barley Forks, now Hopetown.  Frederick Overly came to the Scioto Valley in 1797, and his son John still lives on the old farm.  Barton Overly came at the same time. Zachariah Jones came to Scioto in 1798, and is still living, in the one hundredth year of his age.  Alexander, Samuel, and Daniel McRoberts, Archibald McFarland, George Wheeland, and Philip Hines emigrated in 1800.  Zachariah Jones, Samuel McRoberts, David Cryder, and Jacob and Isaac Imnell served in the war of 1812.

Ancient Works.

     In Springfield township are many old forts, mounds, and circles.  One fort, containing some twenty acres, has walls ten

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feet high, with gateways on three sides.  The north side is inclosed by a circular embankment not quite so high.  The gateway on the south side has two embankments, forty feet apart, reaching down to the river.  At a number of places in the inclosure, holes in the earth seem to indicate where wells had been dug.  Many axes, arrow heads, animal teeth, etc., have been found here.
     The celebrated Mount Logan is in this township, overlooking the Scioto river and Chillicothe.  It was named after the celebrated Mingo chief, Logan, and is a great resort for celebrations, picnics, etc.  The view from it is one of the finest in the valley.

END OF SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP