Preble County, Ohio - Chapter 5: Lands, Streams and Roads, 1915

Chapter 5: Lands, Streams and Roads

Preble county is bounded on the north by Darke county, on the east by Montgomery and Butler counties, the line between said counties being one and one-half miles north of the southeast corner of Preble county, on the south by Butler county, and on the west by Union and Wayne counties of Indiana, the line between said counties touching the west line of Dixon township, about forty rods south of the northwest corner of section 7 in said township.

In writing the history of Preble county, and its townships, one of the most puzzling questions to the citizens of the county is why the townships are so numbered by the government surveyors and why the section lines differ in passing from one township to another. The reasons are these :

In 1796 Congress passed a law that a meridian line should be drawn north from the mouth of the Great Miami river, and the government land east and west thereof should be surveyed into townships six miles square, beginning at the mouth of said river, and numbered thence consecutively north. The land east of the Great Miami river was not at that time government land, a large body between the Great Miami and Little Miami rivers having been sold to John Cleves Symmes and his associates called the Symmes Purchase, hence the east line of the townships could not go further east than the Great Miami river. The first line of townships north was called range 1 east and the second line range 2 east, etc., and the ranges ran north to the Greenville treaty line. And as the Great Miami river flowed southwesterly in its general course, the townships touching it would have their eastern side slanting, or oblique with the course of the river, and would not be square and full townships, hence are called fractional townships, but in the survey whenever they got six miles north of the starting point, the north line of the township was established.

Owing to the trend of the Great Miami river to the west, at the end of twelve miles from its mouth, the north line of township 2 struck the river before it reached the east line of range 2 east, and the third line of townships, or range 3 east, began on the river as township 1, range 3 east, opposite township 3, range 2 east, making a difference of two townships, and numbering north in the first two ranges, the first townships in the county are number 6, and in the third range the first township is number 4.

As the Greenville treaty line, beginning at its east and slanted southwest to Loraine, thence northwest to Fort Recovery, the six-mile measures north did not run out just at that line and the north townships of each range were measured to the line only, and are also called fractional townships.

The Congressional requirements were that each township should be surveyed, beginning at the southwest corner of the township, thence east six miles, thence north six miles, thence west six miles, thence south six miles to beginning, establishing a corner at the end of each mile surveyed.

Mixed Measurements

Now, to make it understandable why the section or mile lines do not coincide, let us take a case: say township 7, range 2 east, or Gasper township, counting it to Main street, Eaton. In the survey they began at southwest corner, or northwest corner of Somers township, and ran east six miles, and north six miles, and west six miles, then south six miles, and placed a corner at each mile, measured regardless of the previous measure of the north line of Somers township, and the east line of Dixon township, on which lines mile corners were established by measuring west on north line of Somers, and north on east line of Dixon townships. Hence, the mile corners being established by measuring in opposite directions, it would be more remarkable if they agreed than if they differed.

The four township corners always agree, of course. Our roads being generally on section lines, in crossing township lines the jogs are very noticeable and are often commented upon. The least and greatest variations known to the writer are at the northwest corner of section 2 of Gratis township, difference eight inches, and at southwest corner of section 6 of Twin township, difference sixty-seven rods.

The townships were surveyed by the government surveyor, who for most of the county was Israel Ludlow ; then the section lines were run by the deputy surveyors, by running lines from the section corner on the south line of the township to the opposite corner on the north line, beginning at that corner one mile west of the southeast corner of the township, and at the end of each mile run they measured and ran east to that mile corner^ correcting themselves, and setting corners at each half mile, and when north line was reached, beginning again at the south line of the township at the next mile corner, and running north as before, and so repeating, until they reached the fourth line when they ran north and measured east as before, except after correcting their corner they measured and ran west two miles to the opposite corner on the west line, and set a corner at each mile and half mile, and when they reached the west line the last measure might be more or less than a half mile, and as we come north with the meridian lines, they slowly approach each other; and the rule was made to throw the deficiency, if any, into the west side of the township, and into the northwest corner thereof. Hence we have the northwest quarter of Washington township containing only seventy acres, and being the smallest quarter of the county.

This was the theory of the survey of the county, and it was fairly well carried out, most of it being done from 1798 to 1806. And when we remember that the county was covered with a dense forest, through which they must cut a sight road, and that most of the work was done with a heavy chain, and a Jacob staff compass and that the surveyors hired their own help, and that their pay was three dollars per mile for each mile run, thus inciting to haste instead of accuracy, we wonder that the work was so well and accurately done as it was.

Each township is divided into thirty-six sections, number 1 being in the northeast corner, then numbering west to section 6, then east and west alternately, until number 36 is in the southeast corner of each township, and the same system of surveying and dividing public land is employed by the United States today.

A Better Plan

The United States surveyors' system of naming and reporting the sections, quarters thereof and the corners, is the shortest and simplest that has been devised, and is much used and taught in the western parts of the United States. Thus, the northeast quarter is marked as N. E. and the northeast corner as N. E. cor., and since the half mile corners on the four sides of a section divide the section into quarters, they are marked N. cor., and E. *4 cor., and so forth, and for all other corners and quarters around the section.

The complete history of every line run by the United States surveyors, on both the township lines, and the lines dividing the same into sections, giving the crossing of every stream, a description of the country and tim- ber, and giving the distance that the corners on township lines miss the comers on the adjoining townships, has been made by the United States and a copy of same is deposited in the office of the auditor of state at Columbus, Ohio.

While surveying the township lines Israel Ludlow is said to have made his camp at a fine spring, west of Zion's church about four miles north of Eaton, for some weeks, which was by the early settlers called Ludlow's spring, by which name it is yet known.

Rewarding The Soldiers

In Ohio there are no less than twenty different surveys or systems of dividing the land, chief of which are the Congress lands just described, and the seven ranges surveyed at Marietta for the Ohio Company, and the Western Reserve in the northeastern part of the state, and the United States military land, reserved for United States soldiers of the Revolution and lying east of the Scioto river, and the Virginia military land, reserved for the Revolutionary soldiers of Virginia, and being west of the Scioto, and limited by Ludlow's line west, and Greenville treaty line north.

In the last named tract, each soldier received scrip which entitled him to a certain number of acres, in accordance with his time of service or his disability incurred in the service, and as the scrip was transferable by assignment, many soldiers sold their scrip, and the buyer of several scrips would locate the land by employing a surveyor, and having the full number of the acres called for by all his script surveyed in any shape he desired, so it did not overlap a previous survey, and having the lines run, if possible, so as to include good land and cut out the poor land, and then file the survey of location in the land office and receive a patent for that tract of land.

Hence, in the Virginia military land, the lines being so various, the retracing of the old land lines is a most difficult task, and must ever so remain, because, as the country was divided in the beginning it will so continue.

The western line of the Virginia military land, called Ludlow's line, begins at the head waters of the Little Miami river, and runs thence north twenty degrees west, across Green, Clark, Champaign, and Logan counties to the Greenville treaty lines.

The Symmes Purchase was between the two Miami rivers, and measured north from the Ohio river until the land included was the number of acres paid for.

The other divisions of land in Ohio, French grant lands, Zane's township, etc., were of comparatively small tracts of less than one hundred thousand acres each. The Fire lands were five hundred thousand acres off the west end of Western Reserve.

This description of the methods of division of our land system is given because it is the most permanent of our institutions, and will probably remain unchanged until our people follow the mound builders into oblivion, or until some war lord gains such an ascendancy that he can divide it up to suit his own notions of how it should be done to reward his flunkeys and retainers, which time we think will be so far distant that it ought; not preclude our boys and girls from learning our present system, and thus help them to avoid long and bitter disputes with neighbors, because it is a fact known to all lawyers, that disputed land lines bring about the bitterest and most protracted litigations in our courts.

The county, being about eighteen miles wide by twenty-four long, comprises four hundred and thirty-two square miles, and each township was intended to contain twenty-three thousand and forty acres of land, but because the surveyors were not perfect men, there is generally a variation of a few acres.

Nomenclature Of The Streams

Many of the streams of our county were named after the names of prominent early settlers, who settled and owned land along those streams. The larger streams of the county so named are: Dixon's branch, Aukerman creek, Banta's fork, Price's creek, Miller's fork, Beasley's branch, Leslie's run, and a number of smaller streams were likewise similarly named, in the different townships, and the names still remain, and ought to be retained. And as I visited and learned them as county surveyor, I will give the names of the greater number that have been so designated: Paxton's branch, Harris's run, Kelly's branch, Nisbets's branch, Brinley fork or Little creek, Jacqua creek or Jocquewaw creek, Sheideler's run, William's branch or Big Cave run, Pottenger run, Tibbett's branch, Bulls' run, Owen's branch or Skunk run, Beall's run, Robert's branch, Elliott's branch, Fleisch ditch, Stubbs branch, Denny run, Boone's branch, Halderman branch, there are two, one flows into Twin and one into Aukerman, Sams run, Rapes run, Jims run, Lick run, Elkhorn creek, said to be so named because the early settlers thought its bending course resembled a deer's horn; Lowry's run, named from Lieutenant Lowry's battle with Little Turtle, on its banks near Ludlow spring; Swamp creek, from the waters of the land along its upper course; Elk creek, the name brought by the early settlers from their eastern homes; Hopewell creek, the name given by the early Presbyterians who settled along its banks; Goose creek, there are two of that name, one flowing past Antioch school into Seven Mile, and one flowing through the northeastern part of Washington township into Lowry's rim, each getting its name, because on its banks in an early day lived a thrifty German couple, who each year for many years, raised large numbers of geese that were allowed to stray along the stream, and the young men of that day were as ready with nick names as they are today, hence the name.

Pleasant run, there are two of this name, rising on the same farm, one flows north into Twin, and one flows south into Elk creek. Paint creek is said to have been so named because the Indians found a reddish yellow ochre along the stream, with which they painted themselves (probably small ochre deposits from the remains of interglacial forests). Whitewater, named after the larger stream in Indiana into which it flows; Rush run, from the swift flowing rush of its waters; Garrison branch, because it flows past the site of old Fort St. Clair; Periwinkle creek, or West fork of Seven Mile, because along it were found many of the little curling shells of what they called periwinkles; while Rocky ford, Rocky run, Dry fork or Twin, Sugar run. Opossum run, and Morning Sun branch name themselves.

The largest drainage stream of the county, Twin creek, had an Indian name that meant, a pair, or one of a pair, because the two streams joined like two fingers at Germantown, and the white man adopted the idea, and name one Little Twin, and the other Big Twin, according to their size; Seven Mile, or St. Clair's creek, was named by Wayne's engineers, because it crossed seven miles from Fort Hamilton ; and Four Mile creek, and Fourteen Mile, and Seventeen Mile creeks, also because they crossed at those distances.

But it seems as though the Indian names are often more fitting. The Indians named Four Mile, "Talawanda," meaning "clear water,'' which well describes it; and the College Corner springs have been named Talawanda springs, because the wells are on the banks of Little Four Mile creek. And the Miami Indians called Seven Mile creek, "Metatamanee," meaning "pebbly bottom," which will be recognized by all acquainted with the stream as a very correct description of the whole stream. It is a curious fact that the western drainage slope of all the main streams of the county is two or three times greater than the eastern drainage slope.

How The Roads Were Laid Out

The roads of the county are generally laid out along section or half section lines, because by so doing the farms and fields are left square shaped, and are easier tilled. But in the early days of the county, land was not so valuable, and the first consideration in laying out roads was the convenience of travel, and to render the distances as short as possible, hence we'have many diagonal roads.

From Eaton, the county seat, there were four roads laid out, leading towards the four comers of the county, and today the traveler to the county seat from those directions heads for one of those roads, because shorter.

The road made by St. Clair was only a trail through the woods and was abandoned soon after, and its location is now problematical. Of course, the first road laid out in the county, that has remained as a road, is Wayne's Trace, or Old Trace, as it is called, and although it has been much changed to make it fit land lines in a number of places, it is said to be substantially where originally cut out.

The first road laid out by the authorities of the state is what is yet known as the Franklin road, from Franklin, through Germantown and Winchester, now Gratis, to Eaton, and was laid out while this county was a part of Montgomery county.

The first road laid out by the authority of the commissioners of Preble county, was granted June 8, 1808, and extending from northwest corner of Eaton to Gettysburg and New Paris. - Road Rec. 1, page 1.

The Great National road, beginning at Cumberland, Maryland (from which place to Baltimore existed a good turnpike), was intended to extend by the straightest and most practical route to St. Louis, and thence to St. Joseph, Missouri. But the first act, passed and approved by Thomas Jefferson, March 29, 1806, only contemplated extending the road to the Ohio river at Wheeling, West Virginia, and on March 13, 1825, a bill was passed to extend said road to the permanent seat of government of Missouri, and to pass through the seats of government of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois ; and in 1826 was surveyed as far west as Indianapolis, and from its crossing of the Ohio river it ran a straight line through Zanesville, Columbus to Indianapolis, except where compelled to bend to ascend or descend hills, or cross streams, the surveyors refusing to vary the road from a straight line for the cities of Newark and Dayton, which they missed six and nine miles respectively, and this action greatly incensed the people of those cities, and they proceeded to build roads for themselves.

There was considerable government work done on the National road in Indiana and Illinois, but a much greater amount of continuous road building was done in Ohio. The road from Cumberland to Columbus, Ohio, practically followed old Indian trails, and hence was often called, "The Old Trails road." It was cut out eighty feet wide to the Mississippi river.

The last appropriation by Congress for building was made in 1836. Along the road were placed mile stones, every mile, and on the stories were given the distances to Cumberland, and to Columbus and Indianapolis for all stones west of Columbus.

An Uncompleted Work

The National road, headed straight as an arrow to its destination in the great west, passes across Preble county about seven miles north of the court house, and went straight to Richmond, Indiana; but now, about a half mile west of the state line, is diverted south a half mile to the turnpike, to help the farmers avoid triangular fields. The road was never finished in this county by the government, but along that old road, across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, until the middle of the nineteenth century, poured a steady stream of the emigrant flood to settle the great west; and it became, and was one of the most important factors in that settlement, and was talked of then as the great trade artery between the east and the west, and the same as some of our railroads are today. The government only completed the National road continuously as far west as Springfield, Ohio. In 1836, two companies were formed to build toll turnpikes: one from Springfield to Dayton, and one from Dayton to Eaton and Richmond, called the Dayton and Western turnpike. These roads were finished in 1839 and 1840, and as the government had its mile stones erected as far as Springfield, these toll roads began their numbers as if consecutive with the National road, and erected one every mile, giving the distance from Cumberland; and having built most excellent roads, they diverted much of the travel from the unfinished part of the National road, and the continuous numbering of the mile stones has caused many people to think and believe that the National road passed through Dayton and Eaton, but it is erroneous, the facts being as above stated. The National road across the county has now been bridged, graded, and graveled by the citizens living along the road, under the two mile road law, and they have made a most excellent road, one of the best in the county, and it is much traveled by touring automobile parties, on account of its straightaway course.

One of the mile stones on the Dayton and Western turnpike stood about a square east of the Pennsylvania railroad crossing on Main sflreet, Eaton, and it bears the words, Cumberland 349, Columbus 90, Indianapolis 90. It is now standing in front of the Stotler block, in Eaton, because E. S. Stotler was the last president of the company for twenty years.

A Proposed Roadway Orchard

There are in the county just about nine hundred miles of full roads, counting the roads on the county lines as half roads, because the one-half is in the adjoining county. Most of our roads are forty feet wide, and the roadsides are generally useless ; but since in Ohio the farmer is the absolute owner of the land, and the public has no rights but that of travel, it does seem that the road lines could be set with standard apple trees, the trimming of which would be no more trouble than cutting weeds, and making a liberal allowance for crossings and turnouts, each mile would hold three hundred apple trees, which would certainly beautify the roads, and furnish much fruit for the farmer to sell, and thus be profitable, and even if a traveler or boy ate a few apples, they would never be missed.

The agitations for better roads in Ohio seem to be periodic; and especially so in Preble county. From 1800 to 1825 probably three-fourths of the roads of the county were located; then there was a pause for ten or twelve years, when a movement began for toll roads, and lasted until about 1850, and then all was quiescent for the next twenty years, except in the formation of one mile assessment roads, commonly called free pikes, of which over two hundred were listed, requiring the appointment of over six hundred free turnpike commissioners and those roads were made better and better, as the years went by, and they helped educate the people to build roads for themselves instead of for toll companies; and in consequence thereof, about 1870 a new movement for better roads and free roads started, and people began to build roads under the two-mile assessment law, called improved rbads, and the completion of the road was let by contract, and the people along the line soon had a good road, graded, drained, bridged and graveled. This movement continued to about 1890, during which time over two hundred miles of road were built or toll roads taken over and made free, until, only the road from Eaton to Dayton was left as a toll road; and in 1897, the Dayton & Western Electric railroad, in order to secure a right of way, bought the stock of the toll road for a nominal sum (as it had not been remunerative for some years), and granted the right of way to the railroad (itself) and then sold the bridges of the toll road to the county and turned over the road to the county as a free road, and thus ended the last toll road in the county.

People Somnolent On Roads

About 1890, the people again took a sleep on the road question for about twenty years, only to be waked up by the demand for better roads by automobile owners, and the demand became so insistent, that about 1910 the county again embarked in the road building movement, and several miles of improved macadam roads have been built, and in this year, 1915, Eaton has paved Main street and North Cherry street, being the first paved streets ever built in the county.

There is a rising demand for brick roads on the main inter-county roads, and where and when the movement will again stop is a question that must be answered by the future historian, but transportation facilities will be better, distances will become shortened, loads will be increased, and hauling cheapened by better grades and harder surface for the roads. And it is to be hoped that our farmers will not look alone to the utility of the roads, but as the years go by, they will make the road lines more beautiful and attractive to the travelers, who are largely farmers themselves.