THE PAINES AND CHARLES ROBBINS.

     The commencement of the village history is generally claimed in the settlement of David Paine on lands between the present Wellston and Hamden.  Mr. Paine's log cabin is believed to be the first dwelling erected between McArthurstown and the Town of Jackson.  A few years after he erected it his son Lemuel moved to the present site of Hamden, near which was the home of Charles Robbins.  The Paines were from Massachusetts;  Mr. Robbins from Orange County, New York.
     Abraham Wilbur, who was a neighbor, was also a Massachusetts man, as were several others who composed the pioneers.  Incidentally most of them are also Methodists.

PLATTING OF CHARLESTON

     Nathaniel Richmond was among the earliest and in 1820 entered the land upon which the Village of Hamden was eventually platted.  In 1834 the property was purchased by Charles Robbins and J. K. Wilson, who laid out the village of 1829, the survey being made by O. M. Tyson.  As shown on the original survey, the village was located in the southern part of section 19 and extended over in section 30, being altogether forty-eight lots.  The plat was received by Justice of the Peace Richmond, of Jackson County, on Christmas, 1829, and recorded on the following day.  Mr. Robbins owned the land on the east side of Main Street and Mr. Wilson the tract on the west side.

FIRST STORES AND INDUSTRIES

     The first merchants in Charleston were William Burlegin and Augustus Frazee.  Jervis Leach lept the first hotel.  The first teachers were Polly Ward, Thomas and Thompson Leach, John Keenan and Thomas Hagins.  Samuel Tarr and Samuel Washburn built a tannery in an early day, which they soon after sold to George and Christian Yager, afterward erecting another.  In 1853 and 1854 the foundry was built by a joint stock company with a capital of $5,000.  During the previous year the village had been christened Hamden.
     The first postoffice in Clinton Township was kept one mile north of the present town of Hamden and was called Reed's Mill.  It was in the course of time removed to Hamden, which name it assumed and retained for a time.  It was then named Hamden Junction (its present name) to avoid confusion with another place in the state bearing the same name.

INCORPORATED AS A VILLAGE

     In 1876 Hamden was incorporated as a village and J. M. Thomas was elected its first mayor.  Its city hall, a neat two story brick building, was erected in 1882.

SCHOOLS.

     The first schoolhouse built on the village site was erected in 1861, and that was replaced by a far more substantial structure in 1888; and almost midway of these years the local press blossomed out.  The village schools are at present under the superintendency of Prof. W. H. Webb.
     In 1874 the Hamden Leader commenced publication under the ownership of J. W. Bowen, who had founded the Democrat-Enquirer at McArthur.  A. M. Vaughan was its editor.

THE HAMDEN ENTERPRISE

     The Leader was succeeded on January 1, 1880, by the Hamden Enterprise, the owners of which were William Cassill, F. M. Smallwood and K. J. Cameron.  The two latter were practical printers, and all three gave their time to the paper.  At the end of six months Mr. Cassill withdrew from the firm, and the remaining partners, Messrs. Smallwood & Cameron, continued its publication, getting up a very creditable local paper until April 7, 1883.  On May 7, 1883, the firm dissolved by mutual consent.  Just previous to this, that is, on April 7, 1883, Messrs. Smallwood & Cameron started a paper at Wellston, Jackson County, which was taken in charge by Mr. Smallwood.

K. J. CAMERON

     At the date of dissolution, May 7, 1883, Mr. Smallwood took the Wellston paper, a five-column quarto, called the Wellston Argus, while Mr. Cameron assumed sole control and proprietorship of the Hamden Enterprise, and this relationship is still maintained, so that Mr. Cameron is looked upon by the people of the county as a fixture.  He learned the printer's trade in the office of the Hamden Leader, perfected it in the office of the McArthur Democrat-Enquirer, and is still at his job as an editor.  Mr. Cameron is therefore the oldest newspaper man, in point of continuous county service, in Vinton County.  His brother, H. A. Cameron, has been associated with him for many years in the management of the Enterprise.

THE PURITAN BRICK PLANT

     Hamden has just at its eastern doors one of the largest brick manufactories in Southern Ohio, known as the Puritan Brick Company.  The great enterprise was placed fairly on its feet in 1909, when the brick plant - only one feature of the ultimate manufactory - was completed.  In April, 1908, capitalists from Detroit, Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and several points in Massachusetts, inspected the ground for the proposed industry.  The original plan contemplated brick works, an iron furnace and a cement plant, with a railroad leading from the main line of the Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern to the Puritan site.  At the inspection of 1908 Porter McMillan of Detroit, represented the iron interests; S. J. Heafield, of Columbus, the brick; and William L. Holmes, of Detroit, the cement.
     Within a year from that time ground covering 1½ square miles was acquired and Mr. Holmes, president of the Puritan companies, turned the first shovelful of earth for the Puritan Railway.  In the fall of 1909 both the railroad and the brick plant were completed along modern lines.  Everything is run by electricity.  The capacity of the plant is 100,000 fine face brick.  Two coal mines were opened for fuel supply and just below the thirty-two foot vein were found the deposits of white shale for the brick and cement.  The coal mines and crusher house are connected with the brick plant by the railroad, which is a mile long, and the material is conveyed in steel cars drawn by an electric locomotive.  The water used in the manufacturing operations is drawn from a dam across the valley which forms a storage reservoir known as Puritan Lake.
     The property of the Puritan Brick Company, as it has been developed within six years, is now valued at more than five hundred and forty thousand dollars, and includes the following assets:  Land to the extent of 980 acres with houses, barns, etc., $122,872.75; brick plant and machinery $213,873.94; power house and equipment, $38,800.98; railways and equipment, $56,028.92; laboratory, machine shop and saw mill, with equipments, $3,428.26.
     Besides furnishing the foregoing figures, President Holmes has supplied the writer with the following information as to the past, present and future of what is by far the most extensive industry now conducted within the limits of Vinton County:
     The Puritan Brick Company owns 980 acres of land free and clear, together with standard gauge and industrial railroads, plant, etc.  The brick plant was begun in September, 1908, and completed to a certain capacity in the fall of 1909.  The capacity of the plant is in process of enlargement at the present time and the buildings have been built to allow for expansion of capacity.  The plant is equipped for manufacturing both paving and facing brick.  The present capacity of the plant, if run wholly on paving brick, is about 66,000 per day, or if run wholly on facing brick is about 100,000 per day.

[Photo of Brick Works Near Hamden here.  Copy is not clear and must be gotten from original source]

     The company owns something over two miles of standard gauge railroad and about an equal mileage of industrial railroad equipped with electric motors, cars, etc.  The area of Lake Puritan is about twenty acres.
     The company owns large deposits of coal and mines and uses its own coal for manufacturing purposes.  It plans later to enter the market extensively in the sale of its domestic coal.  There are also very large deposits of iron ore on the property and in normal iron trade conditions the demand for Puritan iron is positive and considerable.
     The company plans to expand its brick plant operations as market and financial conditions warrant.  The shales from which the highest grade paving brick and facing brick are made are practically limitless in extent over our property.  There are also extensive deposits of the highest grade materials for manufacturing Portland cement and when cement market and financial conditions warrant a cement plant may also be built on the property.

CITIZENS BANK OF HAMDEN

    The Citizens Bank of Hamden was opened for business in November, 1908, with R. S. Wilcox as president; J. T. Ogier, vice president; and C. C. Roberts, cashier.  Its management has remained unchanged.  The capital stock of the bank is $25,000, surplus and undivided profits $5,500.

THE METHODIST CHURCH

     There are three religious societies which draw their membership from Hamden and the immediate neighborhood, the Methodist, Presbyterian and United Brethren.  The first named is the oldest and by far the strongest, its history being almost coeval with that of the town.  David Paine, who built his pioneer cabin between the future sites of Hamden and McArthurstown, was a sturdy and enthusiastic Methodist, and the pioneers of his faith often met at his home to listen to the early circuit riders who came into the region to expound the gospel.
     The first Methodist class was not regularly formed at Charleston until 1838.  Mr. Robbins, the founder of the town, had donated land for a schoolhouse, and both before and after the class was formed the Methodists often met therein.  The United Brethren, who organized about the same time, also worshiped there, and in 1893 erected a church on this site of the little log schoolhouse.  The Methodists erected a house of worship on the site of their present church in 1855-56.  In 1876 it was remodeled and a bell tower erected.  The latter was cut down in 1894 and other improvements made.  At that time the membership had increased to about one hundred and fifty.
     Rev. John Dillon was the first pastor after Hamden was made the head of the circuit, then came David H. Cherrington, 1856-58; Peter V. Ferree, 1858-60; W. H. McClintock, 1860-61; John N. Pilcher, 1861-62; Isaac B. Cartlich, 1862-64; John F. Dickson, 1865-65; Joseph Robinson, 1865-66; E. N. Nichols, 1866-70; J. H. Hopkins, 1870-71; Ralph Watson, 1871-73; William Abernathy, 1873-75; Mordecai D. Vaughn 1875-76; George Cherrington 1876-79; John C. Arbuckle, 1879-81; Ebenezer B. Finney, 1881-84; Samuel A. Crosby, 1884-87; Aquilla R. Neal, 1887-88; Charles V. Plenkharp, 1888-89; Wellington E. Prior, 1889-90; Alonzo B. Shaw, 1890-91; William S. Benner 1891-92; William H. Miller, 1892-95; David J. Smith and John Sieber, 1895; Isaac C. Peitsmeyer, 1896-98; Henry E. Brill, 1898-1903; E. E. Stone, 1903-07; J. W. Smith, 1907-09; J. A. Currier, 1909-12; C. F. Hager, 1912-14; J. H. Ludlow, 1914.
     The present membership of the Hamden church is 170; within Mr. Ludlow's charge are also Finley and Winters chapels, which add fully 180 to these figures.

SECRET SOCIETIES

     The Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Red Men are all well represented at Hamden.  Mineral Lodge, F. & A. M., was organized in October, 1854, with the following officers:  John Arnold, worshipful master; D. D. T. Hord, senior warden; Franklin Redd, junior warden.  It has a present membership of eighty with W. H. Webb, worshipful master; F. G. Sailor, senior warden; V. L. Ray junior warden; W. H. Henry, secretary; J. F. Ogier, Sr., treasurer.  The Masons have also a chapter.  They own a temple, which they purchased some time ago.
     Hamden Lodge, No. 517, I. O. O. F., was organized July 17, 1872.  The late Dr. S. W. Monahan, well known as a state legislator, was its first noble grand; B. W. Kelch, first secretary.  It now has a membership of about one hundred and twenty, with the following officers:  H. A. Robbins, noble grand; Walter Wilbur, vice grand; H. R. Foose, recording secretary; O. G. Cross, financial secretary.
     The Rebekahs (Carnation, No. 554), organized in July, 1902, and have a membership of seventy-five.  Officers:  Margaret Calvin, noble grand; Edith McCall, vice grand; Viva Foose, recording secretary; O. E. Ray, financial secretary.
     The Knights of Pythias are organized as Clinton Lodge, NO. 299, and as uniformed ranks.  Officers of the former: O. G. Cross, chancellor commander; John Marks, vice chancellor; Wilson Armstrong, Keeper of records and seal.  The Pythian Sisters are also represented at Hamden.
     The Independent Order of Red Men have formed a society at a comparatively late date and muster some forty members.