Union County, Ohio - Chapter 2: Physical Features, 1915

Chapter 2: Physical Features

Union county occupies a nearly central position in the state of Ohio, and is bounded on the north by Hardin and Marion counties, on the east by Marion and Delaware, on the south by Franklia and Madison and on the west by Champaign and Logan. Its area by townships is as follows:

This acreage amounts to almost four hundred and twenty-four square miles. Union county contains fivn incorporated villages : Alarysville, Paris township; Richwood, Claibourne township: Milford Center, Union township: Union\-ille Center, Darbv townshijj: Plain Citv, Jerome township. (6)

The unincorporated villages and hamlets are as follows : Irwin, in Union township ; Dipple and Chuckery, in Darby township ; Arnold, New California and Jerome, in Jerome township; Watkins, in Mill Creek township ; Pottersburg, in Allen township ; Peoria and Raymond, in Liberty township ; Dover, in Dover township ; York and Boke's Creek, in York township ; Broadway, in Taylor township ; Pharisburg and Magnetic Springs, in Leesburg township; Claibourne, in Claibourne township; Arbelia and Byhalia, in \\'ashington township ; Rush Creek and Woodland, in Jackson township.

The entire area of the county of L'niou is drained into the Scioto river, the principal channels through which this is effected being Rush, Fulton, Boke's, Blue's, Mill, Big Darby and Little Darby creeks. The origin of a few of these names is known, as for instance. Rush creek, being a sluggish stream is probably named from the rushes which grow along its banks ; Blue's creek so called for an unfortunate individual named Blue, who was one of an early surveying party and received a ducking in its waters ; Mill creek was named probably from the fact of its furnishing power for very early mills in Delaware county; Darby creek is said to have been named after an Indian chief who once lived in this region. The general course of nearly all these streams is southeast. In former years they furnished fair mill power, but long ago it was found necessary to introduce steam for manufacturing or mill purposes.

The greater part of U^nion county is either level or gently undulating. The rougher portions are on the upper waters of Mill creek and in Jerome township. There is little in the county to which the term hill can properly be applied, although the divide between Mill and Blue's creeks would in some regions be termed a hill, and the broken lands along Big Darby approach nearly to that dignity. The streams ha\e cut below the natural level, Big Darby creek having the deepest channel. South of this stream are the wellknown "Darby Plains" whose fertile soil has yielded golden returns for the labors of the husbandman through many years. In Liberty, Paris and Allen townships, including the locality known as the "Bear Swamp,"' is a district formerlv known as the "Flat Woods," from being very level and covered with a dense growth of timber. The latter has been largely cleared away and a thorough system of drainage has reclaimed the land, including even the "Bear Swamp," in which corn now is grown where once was a wooded morass and a shallow lake. In Claibourne township, north of Richwood, is a very level tract known as the "Big Swale," which has been drained into Rush creek.

This portion of the cliapter will be principally from an account prepared in the eighties by X. H. Winchell (jn the state geological survey, with additional items concerning the waters which had then but recently been discovered on Boke's creek, at what is now the village of ^Magnetic Springs.

"Natural Drainage. The surface drainage all passes into the Scioto valleys by streams which flow with gentle current in a southeasterly direction. They rise in the Logan county corniferous area, a region of very rough or hilly surface, rising several hundred feet above the surrounding waterlime flats and toward the southeast enter upon another area of corniferous which, although presenting different surface features, yet is not so broken as the Logan countv area. There is a remarkal:)le uniforniit\- in direction and alteration in these streams. The principal valleys have a slope to the east or southeast toward the Scioto, the \-alley of which is excavated over a hundred feet in the bed rock in Delaware county. To one who has closely observed the systems of drainage in the various counties and has aimed to ascertain from the effects seen the causes that located streams in various parts of northwestern Ohio, this alone suggests a halting retreat of a glacier across the county, throwing do\A-n greater accumulations of drift where it remained stationar\- for a length of time. Such would be the divides between the streams, the valleys Ijeing in those lielts where the drift was left thinner. But, with a single exception, nothing of this is indicated by the surface features so far as the time devoted to the survey would disclose. The whole county was carefully examined. In counties further northwest, where such moraines are seen to guide the drainage diagonally across the general slope of the surface, the tri1)utar\- streams enter the main \'alleys from opposite sides. The surface between the streams is flat and there is no evidence of a thickening of the drift, except between Big Darby and Mill creeks.

"Surface Features. Between Big Darby and Mill creeks there is a very noticeable thickening of drift. It rises into long ridges and high knolls which consist of hardpan or glacier drifts. Northern boulders and stones are on the surface and in the soil indiscriminately, though the same is true to some extent throughout the county. This ridge of drift is greatly developed at New California, where wells are sunk to the depth of fifty-four feet without meeting anything but blue cla}-. the water obtained being bitter. West and south of Alarvsville two or three miles, the surface is high and roll- ing, with clay hills. Toward the north and east it is flat with gravel near the surface in some places. Between IMilford Center and Unionville, clay knobs and rolling land can be seen north of Darby creek, while toward the south and in Union township, the Darby Plains extend several miles. Wells at Pottersburg penetrate the drift over sixty feet without meeting the rock, but obtain good water at that depth. About Raymond there is a very rolling and bluffy tract of land, some of the wells obtaining bitter water in blue clay at fifty-two feet. This rolling strip of clay knobs dies out toward the south and west and toward the north and east. Throughout the rest of the county the surface is very nearly flat, wells being usually less than twenty-five feet. This belt of clay knobs crosses the entire county, although it seems to turn a little toward the north in Jerome township. The following elevations above Lake Erie are taken from profiles of railroads that cross the county :

"Soil and Timl^er. The soil is deri\-ed entirely from the drift and may be denominated in general a gra\elly clay. It exhibits the well-known characteristics of fertility and endurance that mark all the drift soils of northwestern Ohio. It shows a very fair sprinkling of stones and boulders, but in some places is very fine and heavy. It is only along the immediate river

Among the species of timber noted by Mr. W'inchell are sugar and soft maple, beech, several varieties of elm, ash and oak, linn or basswood, dogwood, shellbark and pig hickory, sycamore or "buttonwood," buckeye, prickly ash, blue beech, honey locust, hackberry, thorn, black willow, black walnut, black cherry, wild apple, ironwood, Cottonwood, papaw, trembling aspen and Judas tree: se\eral, others are found in different \'arieties of willow, the butternut, etc. He proceeds with the geological structure as follows :

"By the Hamilton is here meant the blue limestone which is quarried at Delaware and which is regarded by Dr. Newberry as partly Hamilton and partly Corniferous. It has been mentioned frequently by the writer in reporting on counties in northwestern Ohio under the designation of Upper Corniferous, in order to keep its district from the underlying limestone, which is plainly Corniferous. The Lower Corniferous is well represented in the quarries in Mill Creek township. The Oriskany has not been seen within the county but is probably conglomeratic since it has that character in Delaware county. These limestones with the Oriskany, make up the Devonian so far as represented within the county. The rock which immediately underlies the Oriskany belongs to the Tapper Silurian. It is the waterlime member of the Lower Helderberg. The Devonian is found only in the southeastern part of the county, although there are some evidences in the form of large fragments, that it extends as far west as ]\Iarysville. It underlies the most of Mill Creek and Jerome townships. The rest of the county is occupied by the waterlime.

"The Lower Corniferous. The Delhi .stone of the Lower Corniferous has been quarried at a number of places in Mill Creek township. The old quarry of Thompson & Brown, six miles southeast of Dover, exposed about four feet of fossiliferous, sometimes crinoidal limestone, in beds of two to four inches. It was principally burned for quicklime, but was also sold for cheap foundation stone. The lime which it made was like that already described made from the same beds at Delhi in Delaware count\'. The fossils seen here are Crytoceras undulatum, a handsome little Strophomena, a large Cyathophylloid coral, the pygidium of a trilobite and various remains of fishes. There are also common a large Strophomena and a small Cyathophylloid.

Conglomerate. The only proof that this, usually a sandy limestone or a clean quartz grit, has the character of a conglomerate in Union county, consists in the appearance of that character near the county line in Mill Creek. It there contains water-worn pebbles of the underlying water-lime, which are sometimes two or three inches in diameter. The whole thickness is not more than two feet.

and Springs. The following observations on the common wells of tlie county are of interest. They give some idea of the accessibility of Avater for domestic purposes and of the composition of the drift as well as of its thickness at various places : ( Here follows a description of thirtynine wells in various parts of the county, varying in depth from eleven to sixty-three feet. The shallower wells are sunk in gravel and afford good water, as a rule, while the deeper ones do riot always do so, it having in several instances a sulphurous, irony or bitter taste. The deep wells were sunk through the gravel and penetrated at various depths into yellow, blue and brown clay, nowhere striking the rock. The shallowest and the deepest wells are both in Allen township, according to Professor Winchell's table, and are but two or three miles apart.)

"The Waterlime. This limestone is so named from its known hydraulic qualities in other states as well as in some places in Ohio. It appears in outcrop in widely separated parts of the county and probably is the surface bedrock throughout the most of the county. The old quarry of William Ramsey, in the bed of Mill creek in Mill Creek township, although not now in operation, is sufficiently developed to show the waterlime characters. Aaron Sewell burned a little lime here. The foundation for the old court house at Marysville was taken out here. The stone is in beds of about four inches, but is wavy. Some of it is brecciated. The creek has excavated about ten feet in this limestone along here, the overlying Corniferous receding from the stream on both sides. This narrow belt of waterlime extends northward and makes, probably, an isolated outlier of Corniferous which occupies part of Dover township and crosses the Scioto in Delaware county from near Millville, southwesterly. The waterlime also is exposed on the old Ingham Wood farm one mile northwest of Pharisburg in Boggs (Boke's) creek. It is mainly a surface exposure in the beds and low banks of the creek. At Unionville the wateiiime appears in Big Darby creek. The beds are from four to eight inches thick and fine grained. This is said to be underlaid by a bkie clay which is four feet thick. It also occurs two miles above Unionville and a mile further down.

"The Drift. This deposit in Union county shows evidence of more recent date than it does generally in Delaware county. It appears very similar to the drift in the northwest corner of Delaware county. This evidence is of two kinds: first, that which pertains to the rock; second, that which pertains to the drift it.self. The streams of the county have not excavated channels in the rock and but very rarely expose it in their beds. This is not strictly true in the suutheastern part in the area of the Comiferous, where there is some erosion in the rock like that seen throughout the most of Delaware count}-. This indicates that in the southeastern corner the erosion by streams has been longest continued, although that part of the county has at the same time less elevation above Lake Erie - in other words, that the overspread, of drift in the southeastern part of the county was earlier than in the rest of the county. The rock, where exposed in the southeastern part of the county, has the same longweathered appearance even when freshly uncovered by the removal of the drift, that is obser\-ahle in Delaware county. The marks of glacial action are dim. Tiie natural jointing and planes of separation are loosely filled in with the effects of oxidation and decomposition to a greater depth than in the rest of the county. If we revert to the appearance of the drift itself, the most striking contrast is presented in the general smoothness of the surface thronghout the county, compared to the surface of Delaware county. This is partly due to the effect of less erosion on the drift by the streams and partly to the evenness of the rock surface. With a single exception, the drift seems ti) ha\e been very uniformlv and gently deposited in Union county. The uniform direction of and the regular intervals between the main streams may all ha\e Ijcen at first determined by slight differences in the thickness of the drift <lep(isited, but such differences are now so obscured that they cannot be detected by the eye, except in the interval between the Big Darby and Mill creeks. Besides this general flatness of surface, the yellowish color, caused by the formation and infiltration of hydrated oxides from above, does not extend so far downward in Union county as in Delaware. In the latter county the light-colored clay extends downward to the depth of fifteen or twenty feet and sometimes as much as twenty-five feet. In the former the blue clay is usually met within ten feet. It sometimes rises within eight feet of the surface and occasionallv the vel- lowish color extends to twelve or fifteen feet. The depth of such superficial coloring seems to vary not only with the length of time the drift may have been exposed to the air and surface water but also with the ease with which these agents find access below. A sandy or gravelly knoll is generally weathered deeper than one of clay and a rolling surface is apt to be more deeply oxidated than a flat one. The drift ridge which separates Big Darby and Mill creeks has already been alluded to under the head 'surface features.' Its exact form, limits and location, even within the county, have not been made out. The time given to the county would not allow a careful survey of this ridge in detail. It is well known to the inhabitants of the county. It forms a belt of high and rolling clay land which shows boulders and gravel somewhat more abundantly than the surface of the rest of the county. It is believed to be of the nature of a glacial moraine and was probably thrown down by the ice at a period when the retreating ice-foot was nearly stationary for a long time at about that place. It is very similar to those other very extended drift moraines that cross northwestern Ohio, but is somewhat more clavev than they. Its connection with them is not known, but it was doubtless cotemporaneous in origin with one of them. The elevated region in Logan county, where there is an island of Devonian rock which withstood the ice period, was a disturbing element in the otherwise very regular contour of the foot of the glacier. Union county seems to have been in the pathway of a spur or branch of the ice sheet and to have suffered very extensive erosion thereby. After the actual withdrawal of the ice from the county, the drainage of a large tract of ice-covered surface would have passed principally through the same pathway. This pathway is bounded on either side by a persistent barrier of Corniferous limestone. It is probable, also, that the \\'averh- overlaid this area, at least in the Logan county island, since fragments of the Berea grit are found in the drift in the southwestern part of L'nion county. The effect of this drainage over the county is probably seen in the near approach to the surface of heavy gravel beds in the drift over wide tracts, although the level of the county in the same tracts is now that of the general country and is perfectly flat. This may be seen in the frecjuent gravel pits about Richwood and Essex, where the surface is outwardly comparable to that of the Black swamp of northwestern Ohio, but is so closely underlaid with gravel that almost every cellar encounters it within three or four feet. This gravel belt runs southward toward Pharisburg and is also penetrated on the old Josiah Westlake farm a mile and a half north of Marysville, who used to aver that small shiner fish appear late in summer or in the fall of nearly every year, in a shallow well curb by a 'gum' which is inserted in an excavation penetrating to the gravel or to the water of a subterranean lake. This circumstance would not be mentioned had it not been frequently reported by others in reference to certain wells in Defiance and Fulton counties. The facts are given with great circumstantialitv and positiveness and cannot safely be denied.

"Material Resources. The most of the county is poorlv supplied with building stone. This necessary article is imported from Logan county, where the Onondaga cj'narries at Middleburg afiford a good stone: from the quarries in the Hamilton at ]\larion in Marion county and from the same at Delaware. Not much lime is made in the county: the drift clavs. howe\-er, are freely used in the manufacture of red brick and tile. The natural features and the geological structure of the countv will forever preclude the development of any other element of material wealth that will rank with that of agriculture."

Magnetic Springs

A more complete account of these springs and the village which has grown up around them in thirty-one }ears' time will be found in the history of Leesburg township, in which they are located. There is no doubt of the wonderful efficacy of the waters in certain diseases. The appended analyses of the waters of two of the springs will give an idea of their medicinal \irtues :

Sulphur Springs Magnetic Spring

These analyses are copied from the published report given after they )iad been made by Professor E. S. Wayne of Cincinnati in February, 1882.

Chapter Hi

It is interesting to trace the line nf descent of tlie connty of Union. By careful research it is ascertained that the territ(iry now included within its boundary lines furmeil portions of nine, and perhaps ten, different counties before it was finall_\- set oft" as Ihiion. The first two counties organized in the Northwest Territorx- were in that portion now forming the state of Ohio. Washington county, erected by proclamation of Gov. Arthur St. Clair, July 27, 1788, included all that portion east of a line passing from the mouth of the Cuyahoga river, up that stream to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the IMuskinguni ; thence across the portage and down the Tuscarawas to the site of old Fort Laurens, at the north boundary of what is now Tuscarawas county: thence west on a line identical with the subsecjuent Greenville treaty line to the Scioto vWcr and down that stream to the Ohio. It is thus seen that the county of Washington as originally formed included about half of the present state of Ohio. Hamilton county was next organized by the same authority, and included the region between the Miamis as far north as a line drawn due east from the standing stone fork of the Great Miami to the Little ^lianii; this was January 4, 1790. There is nothing to show that its limits were ever extended to the eastward, yet in the description of Wayne count}-, as formed by the proclamation of Governor St. Clair, August 15, 1796. it would seem that Hamilton had been extended to the Scioto: if so, it included what is now Lhiion county, and from that date (T790) should begin the existence of an organized county of which Union formed a part. Wa}'ne county, organized at the date above given, undoubtedly included the northern portion of Union, as the description will show : "Beginning at the mouth of Cuyahoga ri\-er upon Lake Erie, and with the said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas branch of the Aluskingum : thence down the said branch to the forks at the crossing ])lace abo\e Fort Laurens: thence by a west line to the east boundary of Hamilton county, which is a due north line from the lower Shawnee (Shawanese) town upon the Scioto river: thence by a line west-northerly to the south part of portage between the ]\Iiamis of Ohio and the St. Mary's rivers : thence by a line also w est-northerly to the southwestern part of the portage between the Wabash and Miamis of Lake Erie, where Fort Wayne now stands : thence by a line west-northerly to the south part of Lake Michigan: thence along the western shores of the same to the northwest part thereof, including lands upon the streams emptying into said lake; thence by a due north line to the territorial boundary in Lake Superior, and with the said boundary through Lakes Huron, St. Clair and Erie, to the mouth of Cuyahoga river, the place of beginning." After the treaty of Greenville, the limits of tiamilton county were extended westward to the boundary line designated by that treaty, which extended from Fort Recovery, in what is now ]\Iercer county, Ohio, directly to the Ohio river at a point opposite the mouth of the Kentucky ri\-er. The seat of justice for Washington county was at Marietta ; for Hamilton count}' at Cincinnati, and for Wayne county at Detroit, and these conditions remain unchanged to the present, except in the extent of territory in each county.

July ID, 1797, St, Clair issued a proclamation forming another county, and calling it Adams, the boundaries of which were as follows, and, as seen by noting them carefullv, included nearly the whole of Union county: "Beginning upon the Ohio ri\er, at the upper boundary of that tract of twentyfour thousand acres of land, granted unto the French inhabitants of Gallipolis by an act of the Congress of the United States bearing date the 3rd of March, 1795; thence down the said Ohio ri\-cr to the mouth of Elk ri^-er (generally known by the name of Eagle creek), and up with the principal water of the. said Elk river or Eagle creek, to its source or head : thence by a due north line to the southern boundary of Wayne county, and easterly along said boundary so far that a due south line shall meet with the interior point of the upper boundary of the aforesaid tract of land of twenty-four thousand acres, and with the said boun(lar\- ti) the place of beginning."'

The counties thus far mentioned were organized before the sound of the settler's ax had echoed in the forests of L'nion county. The next county, Ross, was organized in the same year settlements were begun here - Augrist 20, 1798, and was the last one under territorial government, its boundaries were described as follows: "Beginning at the forty-second mile tree, on the line of the original grant of land by the United States to the Ohio company, which line was run by Israel Ludlow, and running from thence east until it shall intersect a line to be drawn due north from the mouth of Elk river (commonly called Eagle creek) : and from the point of intersection running north to the southern boundar\' of the county of Wavne, and from thence easterly, with the said boundary of Wayne, until a north line to be drawn from the place of beginning shall intersect the same; and if it should be found that a north line, drawn from the place of beginning, will not intersect the southern boundary of Wayne, then an east line is to be drawn from the eastern termina'tion of the said boundary, until it shall intersect the aforesaid north line to be drawn from the place of beginning."' Ross county included a large part of Adams, with all the portion thereof embracing most of what is Union county.

March 24, 1803, Greene county was erected by act of the state Legislature, from parts of Hamilton and Riiss, and possibly included a narrow strip on the west side of Union. The following were its boundaries: "Beginning at the southeast corner of the county of Alontgomery, running thence east to Ross county line, and the said course continued eight miles into the said county of Ross: thence north to the state line: thence westwardly with the same to the east line of Montgomery county ; thence bounded by the said line of Montgomery to the beginning."'

A few days later, March 30, 1803, Franklin county was formed as follows, including a considerable portion of Union : "Beginning on the western boundary of the twentieth range of townships east of the Scioto river at the corner of sections number twenty- four and twenty-tive in the ninth township of the twenty-first range surveyed by John Matthews : thence west until it intersects the eastern boundary line of Greene county ; thence north with said line until it intersects the state line ; thence eastwardly with the said line to the northwest corner of Fairfield county ; thence with the western boundary line of F'airfield to the place of beginning." The county of Fairfield at that time extended north to the state line. February 20, 1805, the western portion of what is now Union county became a part of Champaign, the latter county being created that day including the following territory : "Beginning where the range line between the eighth and ninth ranges, between the Great and Little Miami, intersects the eastern boundary of the county of Montgomery ; thence east to the eastern boundary of the county of Greene, and to continue six miles in the county of Franklin; thence north to the state line; thence west with said line until it intersects the said eastern boundary of the county of Montgomery; thence to the place of beginning."

Delaware county ivas formed February 10, 1808, and embraced a large portion of L'nion. It was bounded thus: "Beginning at the southeast corner of township number three, in the sixteenth range of the United States military district ; thence west, with the line between the second and third tier of townships, to the Scioto ri\er, and continued west to the east boundary of Champaign county : thence, with the said boundary, north to the Indian boundary- Hne ; thence eastwardly, with said Hne, to the point where the north and south Hne between the fifteenth and sixteenth ranges of the said United States miHtary district intersects the same : thence south, with the said last mentioned hne. to the place of beginning." By an act of February 17, 1809. all that part of Franklin county h'ing north of Delaware was attached to the latter.

February 16. 1810, Madison county was formed, "beginning at the southwest corner of Delaware county, thence east, with the south boundary of the said county line, to a point that a line running due south will be the distance of twelve and one-half miles west of the county seat of Franklin county ; thence on a straight line, to the northwest corner of the county of Pickaway : thence with said line south until it intersects the line of Ross county; thence west with said line, to the line of Greene county; thence north with the line of Greene to Champaign county line : thence with Champaign line to place of beginning." The limits included the southern part of what is now Union county.

Next in order was Logan county, formed December 30, 18 17, with the following boundaries : "Beginning on the east line of Miami county, between sections number thirty-three and thirty- four in the third township, thirteenth range, and running east twelve miles, with the sectional line between the third and fourth tier of sections: thence south one mile; thence with the sectional line between the second and third tier of sections in said range, to the line between the United States and \^irginia military land, and thence east to the line of Champaign county: thence north with said line to the Indian boundary line : thence west to a point so that a line drawn from said point due south will strike the Indian boundary line at a point where the line between the counties of Miami and Champaign strikes said line; thence south, with said line, between the counties of Miami and Champaign, to the place of beginning; and also including the United States reservation at the rapids of the Miami of the Lake." Logan county, as thus formed, included a strip off the west side of LTnion, running north from Champaign.

Col. James Curry, wdiose home was in Jerome township, then a portion of Madison county, was the representative in the Legislature, in the session of 1819-20, from the district in which that county was included, and through his efforts an act was passed January 10. 1820, entitled. "An act to erect the county of L'nion." The text of this act is as follows:

Uniox Col'Ntv, Ohio

"Section i. Be it enacted, etc.. that .so much of the counties of Delaware, Franklin, Madison and Logan, and also so much of the territory within the limits of this state laying north of the old Indian boundary line as comes within the following boundaries, be and the same is hereby erected into a separate and distinct C(iunty, which shall be known by the name of the county of Union, to-wit : Beginning on the north lioundary line of Delaware county, on that part known by the name of the Old Indian or ftreenville line, at a point three miles west of the Scioto river: thence due south fifteen miles; thence east four miles: thence south unto the north boundary of Franklin county: thence south two and one-half miles into Franklin county; thence west to the east boundary of Madison county, and to continue west unto the east boundary of Champaign county ; thence north to the northeast corner of said count}- : thence west three miles ; thence north so far that a line due east will strike a point three miles north of the beginning; thence south to the said place of beginning.

"Section 2. That all suits or actions, whether of a ci\-il or criminal nature, which shall be pending, and all crimes which shall have been committed within the limits of those parts of Delaware, Franklin, Madison and Logan counties, so to be set off and erected into a new county previous to the organization of the said county of Lhiion, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution in the counties aforesaid, in the same manner as they would ha\e been if no such division had taken place: and the sheriffs, coroners and constables of the counties aforesaid shall execute all such process as shall be necessary to carry into effect such suits, prosecutions and judgments; and the collectors of taxes for the aforesaid counties shall collect all such taxes as shall have been levied and unpaid within the above described parts of the counties of Delaware, Franklin, Madison and Logan, previous to the taking effect of this act.

"Section 3. That all justices of the peace within those parts of the counties aforesaid, which by this act shall be erected into a new county, shall continue to exercise the duties of their respective offices until the term of their service expires, in the same manner as if they had been commissioned for the said county of Union.

"Section 4. That the electors within the fractional townships that may be set off bv the erection of the county of Union shall elect in the next adjoining township.

"Section v That on the first ^londay of April next the legal electors residing within the countv of L^nion shall assemble within their respective townships, at the usual places of holding elections, and shall proceed to elect their usual county and township officers, who shall hold their several offices luitil the next annual election.

"Section 6. That courts of the said county of Union shall be holden in the village of Milford until the permanent seat of justice is established for the said county of Union.

"Section 7. That commissioners shall be appointed, agreeably to the provisions of an act entitled, 'An act establishing seats of justice,' to fix upon a permanent seat of justice for said county of Union, and make report thereof to the next court of common pleas to be holden in and for said county, agreeably to the provisions of the above recited act ; and the commissioners aforesaid shall receive a compensation for their services out of the treasury of the said county of Union.

"Section 8. That so much of the territory lying north of the county of Logan as is contained within the following boundaries, to-wit : Beginning at the northeast corner of Logan county, thence running north five miles; thence west to a point from which a south line will strike the northwest corner of said county ; thence south to said corner ; thence east with the line to the beginning, shall be and it is hereby attached to the county of Logan, and shall hereafter form a part of said county.

"Section 9. That so much of the county of Franklin as lays within the following boundary, to-wit : Beginning on the line between the counties of Franklin and Madison, at a point two and one-half miles south of the north boundary of said counties ; thence east two miles ; thence south four miles ; thence west two miles : thence north to the place of beginning, be attached to and hereafter considered a part of the county of ^Madison. This act shall be in force from and after the first day of April next."

February 12, 1820, an act was passed erecting fourteen counties out of "all that part of the lands lately ceded by the Indians to the United States, which lies within this state." These counties are Van Wert, Mercer, Putnam, Allen, Hancock, Hardin, Crawford, Marion, Seneca, Sandusky, Henry, Paulding and Williams. February 4, 1825, the Legislature passed an act authorizing W'illiam Wilson, of Clark county, to run the line between Madison and Union counties, commencing at the southeast comer of the latter and running due west to the line of Champaign county. He was to receixe three dollars per day and the markers and chain-carriers seventy-five cents per day for the time necessarily employed in such survey. January 29, 1S27, another net authorized Jeremiah McLene, of Franklin countv, to run said line, beginning at the same place and running in 'a direct line so as to strike a point in the eastern boundary of Champaign county, two and onehalf miles south of the line formerly run between the counties of Delaware and Madison. The same compensation was allowed as by the previous act. January i8, 1828, an act was passed establishing the line between Madison and Union counties according ti> the survey made by Levi Phelps in 1820. February 4, 1828, another act authorized Silas G. Strong, of Union county, and James Eaton, of Delaware, to locate and establish the line between those two counties. Mr. Eaton was a very careful engineer, but used the magnetic needle, and as a consequence the line was somewhat crooked. In 1881, the permanent line between these two counties was run by F. J. Sager, surveyor of Union county, and stone monuments were set at prominent stations; a transit instrument was used, which insured accuracy. The survey was made by Mr. Sager, as being best c|ualified to do the work, although the adjoining counties in this and other instances shared the expenses and appointed men to assist in the matter. Mr. Sager was one of five persons who organized the State Association of County Surveyors in 1879.

The permanent line between the counties of Union and Logan was surveyed in 1876, the surveyors making their report to the commissioners, March 8, 1877. They were F. J. Sager, of Union, and W. H. McCormick, of Logan, and their report is filed in Vol. XVL Law Record, LTnion county clerk's oftice, pp. 1-9, with opinion of attorne}- in the case. The total length of the line as run was one hundred and two thousand one hundred and thirty feet, or about nineteen and one-fourth miles. Stone monuments were planted at all important points.

When the line between Union and Delaware counties was run in 1881, it was found that the official survey of 1828 was far from being on a straight line, as called for by the act creating the county, and, by order of the commissioners of the counties jointly, it was established on a slightly different course, being straightened somewhat. The "fifteen-mile line" (south from the Greenville treaty line) is straight from the northwest corner of Delaware county to a point in the south side of the old William Peet farm, recognized as the county line : thence straight to the point recognized as the county line at the Delaware and Bellefontaine road on the south side of Boke's creek; thence straight to the south end of said fifteen-mile line. The four-mile line was run straight as nearly as possible to the old line and the seven-mile line to the same. The variation in the old fifteen-mile line was probably attributable to local influences upon the magnetic needle in the sur\'ev of 1828. The (7) first angle in this line is nine hundred and ten rods south of the place of beginning, the point being one iuindred and ninety-four and four-fifths feet west of a straight line which would connect the two ends of said fifteen-mile line, the bearing being south thirty minutes west; thence south one degree two minutes east to the south end of said line ; thence north eighty-nine degrees twenty-eight minutes east to the east end of the four-mile line; thence south one degree twenty-two minutes east to the south end of the seven-mile line. Sandstone monuments three feet high with six-inch dressed faces were set at prominent points on the line.

The survey of the line between Union county and the counties of Marion and Hardin was made by F. J. Sager, of Union, W. H. Brown, of Hardin, and Isaac Young, of ]\'larion, beginning May 26, 1879. They could find no recorded evidence that the north line of Union county had ever been run. but liiund some e\idence in the field. The point on the Greenville treaty line at the east Ijoundar}' of the county designated as three miles west of the Scioto ri\cr, is actually three miles and sixteen rods. The line thence north to the northeast corner of the county was well marked, yet there was no trace of said corner ever having been marked, nor could any evidence be found to show where it was. The north boundary was found by examination to have been nowhere near straight as formerly surveyed, varying in places from a due east and west line as much as twenty rods. The surveyors established the northeast corner of Union county and marked it with a stone monument, planting similar monuments at other prominent points along the line. The distance from the Greenville treaty line north to the county corner is three miles and three and forty-eight hundredths rods long. The northern boundary was run, per order, from the established northeast corner to a point twentv-fi\e feet north of the floor of the old bridge across Rush creek on the Marvsville & Kenton state road, in a direct course, continuing in the same course to the northwest corner of the county, which was established and a stone monument set one hundred and seventeen rods south of the northeast corner of Logan county. The total length of north boundary is four thousand five hundred and eighty-nine and six hundredths rods.

May 10, 1803, at a meeting of the associate judges of the common pleas court of Franklin county, then newly formed and including a portion of what is now Union count}-, it was "Ordered, That the lands contained within the following boundaries, to-wit : Beginning on the west bank of*the

Scioto river, one mile, on a direct line, above the mouth of Roaring run; from thence, in a direct line, to the junction of Treacle's creek with Darby creek, which is frequently called the Forks of Darby: thence south unto the line between the counties of Ross and Franklin; thence west with said line until it intersects the county line of Greene; thence with the last-mentioned line north, and from the pijint of beginning up the Scioto, to the northern boundary of Franklin county, do make and constitute the second township in said count}', and be called Darby township.

"Ordered, That in Darliy township there be elected one justice of the peace, and that the electors of said township hold their election for that purpose at the house of Daxid Mitchell, in said township, on the twentv-first dav of June next."

Joshua Ewing was elected to the office at the date s]3ecified. Franklin township was formed at the same time with Darliy, and included "all that part of Franklin county contained within the following limits, to-wit ; Beginning at the forks of Darby creek, that is, at the junction of what is called Treacle's creek with L~)arby ; running thence south to the line between the counties of Ross and Franklin ; thence east with said line until it intersects the Scioto ri\-er : thence up the same until it comes to a point one mile on a straight line, abo\e the mouth of Roaring Run, and from thence to the point of beginning." An election for two justices of the peace was ordered to be held at Franklinton, the temporary seat of justice of Franklin count}', and Zachariah Stephen and James Marshall were chosen to fill the offices. The point designated as "one mile an a direct line, abo\'e the mouth of Roaring Run," was a little south of the present town of Dublin, Franklin count}', the stream being now known as Hayden's Run. The spot is referred to in Martin's History oi Franklin county (1858), page nineteen. It is seen from the description that Franklin township included a strip off the south end of the territory now included in Union county, while Darby township la}' to the north and west.

When Union count}' was organized in i8'JO its three subdi\'isions were the townships of Union, Darby and ]Mill Creek. At a meeting of the board of commissioners of Union count}' on the 12th day of ]\Iarch, 1821, it was "Agreed, that the county of Union be divided into townships as follows: Beginning at the southwest corner of I'nion county, running east five and one-half miles; thence north six miles: thence west three miles; thence north to the north boundary of Union county: all west to be Union township. Second township: Beginning at the southeast corner of Union township.

running five and one-half miles east; thence north six miles; thence west to the northeast corner of Union, to be Darby township. Third township: Beginning at the northeast corner of Darby; thence east to the east line of Union county all south to be known by the name of Gerome (Jerome). Fourth township : Beginning at the northeast corner of Darby, running west three and one-halt miles; thence north to the north boundary- of said county, all west to the line of Union township to be known by the name of Paris. Fifth township: All east of Paris to the east boundary of said county to be known by the name of Mill Creek. Ordered by the board, That notice shall be given bv advertisements to the electors of Paris township to meet on the first Monday of April at the house of Abraham Amrine, for the purpose of electing township officers. Likewise, that notice shall be given to the electors of the township of Jerome to meet on the first Monday of April at the house of Aaron Tossey, for the purpose of electing township officers."

On the first Monday in June, 1822, the Union county commissioners organized the township of Liberty, with the following boundaries: Beginning at the southwest corner of Paris township, thence west to the county line; thence north to the north boundary of said county; thence east to the west boundary of Paris township ; thence with said line to the beginning.

Leesburg township was next organized in 1825, but a careful search of the commissioners' records reveals nothing to show the amount of territory it originally included.

June 5, 1827, Allen township was set off from the south end of Liberty, and an order for the election of officers was granted the following day by the commissioners, said election to be held June 23, 1827, at William Milligan's.

March 4, 1833, an order was issued for the formation of Claibourne township from the south part of Jackson ; but for some reason the organization was not completed imder the first order, and a new one was issued ]\Iarch 5, 1834, at which date the civil history of the township begins.

officers therein, but no boundaries are shown on the record, probably from their not having been transcrilied from the petition asking for the formation of said township.

December 3, 1S49, '^ petition was presented to the commissioners for the formation of a new township from portions of Leesburg, Liberty and York. A remonstrance against any further division of York township was received at the same time, and both were laid over for further action. On the morning of December 5, 1849, the board agreed unanimously to erect the new township and gave it the name of Taylor. This was the last one organized in the county, making the total number fourteen, as at present. There have been various slight changes in the boundaries of the several townships, but none that ha\'e materially increased or reduced their area.

Agreeably to the act erecting the county of Union, the following joint resolution was passed by the Legislature on the 25th of February, 1820. It is found on page one hundred and forty of Volume XVIII, Laws of Ohio:

"Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That Stephen Bell, of the county of Greene, Reuben Wallace, of the county of Clark, and John Huston, of Newark, of the county of Licking, be and they are hereby appointed commissioners to fix the seat of justice in the county of Union."

These commissioners were required to make their report to the "next court of common pleas" for Union county, and doubtless did so, but there is nothing upon the records to show such was the case. Mention of Marysville as the county seat, on the pages of the court record, is found under date of May 15, 1821, when it was "ordered that David Comer be paid one dollar and fifty cents per day as director of the town of Marysville. the seat of justice of this county." Mr. Comer had been appointed to the position of director on the loth of July, 1820. Matters concerning the sale of lots, etc., will be found in the historical sketch of Marysville in this volume.

Village Plats

The first town plat laid in the county was North Liberty, by Lucas Sullivant, in 1797, as mentioned elsewhere. The others, in their regular order, are as follows, as shown by the record in the office of the county recorder :

I02 Union County, Ohio

Thomas McDonald, justice of the peace, April 8, 1816. It is now the oldest town existing in the county and is thus described on the original plat: "A town by the name of Milford, laid ofi and surveyed for George Reed on a certain tract or parcel of land lying and being in the county of Delaware, Union township, and state of Ohio, on the south side of the Big Darby, near George Reed's Mill - No. 3.016 - originally entered in the name of Levin Jones, sold to Alexander Carr, and patented in the name of George Reed and Robert Grant under a decree of a court of chancery held in Franklin county and state aforesaid. The above town is composed of streets, alleys and forty lots named and numbered as follows," etc :

Richwood. in Claibourne township, was laid out August 8, 9 and 10, 1832, by Philip Plumber, the suney being made by Levi Phelps. The town is on the Pelham sur\-ey, No. 6,307, which was long known as the "rich woods." In the description of the plat, the following varieties of timber are named as abounding in the immediate vicinity : beech, blue, black and gray ash, hackberr}', or hoop ash, mulberry, wild cherry, black walnut, white walnut, white oak, red oak, buckeye or horse chestnut, honey locust, linden tree, coffee tree (a species of mahogany), hickory, red and white elm, hard and soft maple, box elder and dogwood, with a "copse wood" of spice brush, prickly ash, burning bush, grape \ine, bladder bush, bramble ; the herbage was mostlv maiden hair, pea vine, yellow root, ginseng, Indian madder, etc.

Kingsville, in Liberty township, was surveyed for Samuel King, proprietor, September 26, 1834, by Levi Phelps; it contained thirteen lots on the state road leading from Carter's settlement to Garwood's Mills.

Somerville, York township, was surveyed for John Johnson and others by Levi Phelps ; the original plat contained forty-eight lots and was recorded August 11, 1835.

Watkins, Mill Creek township, was laid out by William C<.inklin and Thomas P. Watkins ( the latter represented by his attorney, Joseph S. Watkins), on Dandridge's survey. No. 1,307, on "road to Scioto river." July 12, 1838; the lots numbered from one to twenty-eight.

.\rbelia, Washington township, laid out July 25, 1838, contained forty-. fi\e lots and a public square, and was owned by Marquis L. Osborne ; this town is not now in existence.

Newton. Liberty township, surveyed for the proprietor, David Paul, by Levi Phelps, August 25, 1838, and crmtained t\vent\--five lots; the plat re-

Hainesville, \\'ashington township, had twenty-one lots and a public square, near present site of Byhalia ; it was laid out by Jonathan Haines, September 4, 1838.

^'ork Center, "^'ork township, had nineteen lots ; it was surveyed by Le\'i Phelps, June 14, 1841 ; the name of the proprietor is not given in description of plat: a new survey was made for Gregory Stormes, October 31, i860.

Frankfort, Jerome township; the original town, consisting of forty lots, was laid out by George Hensel, Amos Beach, Henry Beach and William H. Case; it was surxeyed by William B. Irwin, April i, 1846: tiie place was formerly known as "Beach Town" and "Pleasant Hill."

Unionxille, Darby township, had fifteen lots and a total area of seven and fi\-e-eighths acres; it was laid out b}' John Frederick and David Sager, and surveyed by William B. Irwin, I'ebruary 8, 1S47. It is now known as Unionville Center.

Pharisburg, Leesburg township ; Allen Pharis, proprietor, as administrator of estate of Robert Pharis, deceased ; the plat included forty-five lots, covering a little over ten acres, at the junction of the Bellefontaine and Aiarion roads - locality formerly known as "Scott's Cross Roads'" ; it was surveyed by William B. Irwin, July 21, 1847.

Xew California, Jerome township, contained twenty-seven lots; the name oi the pro]5rietor, S. B. Woodburn, is given on plat; it was surveyed August 2y. 1853. by William B. Irwin.

Dover, Dover township, was sur\-eyetl by William B. Irwin, for William Richey, Adam Richey, Thomas .Alpin and B. F. Benton, proprietors. May II, 1854.

Additions to Plain Cit\-, Jerome township, were made by Edward W. Barlow, April 2^^, 1859, and Charles Amann, July 26, 1875; the main town is in Madison county.

Union Center, Taylor township, was laid out November 9 and December 17 and 18, 1863, on a part of survey 829, by H. P. Gofif, Hiram Danforth, Ira A. Robbins and Charles J. Sayer; it included nineteen and ninetysix one hundred and ninet)'-sixths acres a short distance east of present site of Broadway; now out of existence.

Jvlagnetic Springs, Leesburg township, containing fifty in-lots and blocks A, B, C, D and E, was laid out November 24 and 25, 1879, on survey 3,696, by Duncan McLean and J. E. Newhouse; the locality was formerly known as Green Bend.

Homer, in Homer township, and Essex, in Jackson township, are two villages whose dates of platting are missing. Essex was laid out on Rush creek, on part of survey No. 9,922, on the state road from Columbus to Kenton. It consisted of forty lots, and was surveyed by William C. Lawrence, deputy county surveyor. Homer was laid out at an early date by Elisha Reynolds, on parts of surveys 7,789 and 4,946, on Little Darby creek, on the county road running on the line between the two surveys. It had thirty-five lots, and was for some time a village of considerable importance, but it is among the places now on the list of those that have seen better days.