Connersville Township

Connersville Township

/"CONNERSVILLE TOWNSHIP was organized ^-^ February 9, 1819, and its boundaries as then described wore: " Beginning at the southeast corner of Section 5, Township 13, Range 13; thence west to the western extremity of said county of Fayette; thence north four miles; thence east to the line dividing Sections 20 and 17, in Township 14, Range 12; thence east to the northeast corner of Section 20, in Township 14, Range 13, south to the place of beginning." In addition to its present territory, the township then included the two southern tiers of sections of Fairview Township, and the two northern tiers of sections of Orange Township, which land was taken from it on the organization of Orange Township, in 1822. It is the largest township of the county, having thirty-two full sections of land, and is centrally located.

Land Sales

The lands of the township as disposed of by the Government, with the year of sale and the purchasers' names, are set forth in the following list:

Early Settlements And Incidents

The first settlement in the township was made at Conner's trading-post or station, some time between the years 1804 and 1808. Here John Conner and family are believed to have dwelt for several years among the Indians, with no white neighbors save those on East Fork and on West Fork in what are now Union and Franklin Counties. However, the lands surrounding him were settled at a period beginning about the year 1811.

Alexander Saxon with family emigrated from Georgia in the fall of 1811, and settled on the southeast quarter of Section 25. Near a point opposite where the lower mill in Connersville now stands, was the place for crossing the river. Here Mr. Saxon kept a canoe, and ferried travelers across the river. n The localities of settlement of a number of the following named pioneers can be traced by reference to the land entries given above. Moses Lookhart from Kentucky, settled in the township in 1812. Thomas Reed, from the same State, settled the same year. Joseph Minor located on the land where Joe and Sam Minor now live in 1812. John and Thomas Reed built cabins on the same land. They were father and son. Larkin Sims, from Kentucky, and

Thomas Sergeant, a native of North Carolina, removed with his parents to Virginia in 1796. In 1807 he removed to Kentucky, and in 1813 to Indiana Territory, and settled south of Connersville. In 1820 he entered land in Rush County |at the land sales at Brookville, and that winter removed thereon, cutting the road for the wagon as he went.

Thomas Hinkson emigrated from Ireland to America in 1791, subsequently located in Adams County, Ohio, and in February, 1814, settled in this township on the land where his son Thomas, Jr. , now resides, which he had entered at Cincinnati, in the year 1812. The elder Thomas Hinkson was appointed the first surveyor of the county by Gov. Jennings, which position he occupied a number of years. He did much of the early surveying in this and in adjoining counties, having laid out some of the early additions to (Connersville. His death occurred in 1850.

John McCormack settled in the vicinity of Connersville very early, and in the act forming the county, his house was designated as the place for holding the first courts. Further reference is made to him in the history of Columbia Township.

Nathaniel Hamilton and family emigrated from Pennsylvania to Indiana Territory in 1810, and located above Brookville in the adjoining county, where they remained during the war of 1812, and in the spring of 1815 removed to what is now this township, on land entered by a son, Adam Hamilton. Nathaniel, Jr., a son of the pioneer, was born in 1798, and is yet a resident of the vicinity where he, with his parents, located nearly seventy years ago. He is yet in possession of all of his faculties, with a clear mind, and is remarkably well preserved in body. Two of the sohs of Nathaniel, Sr. , were in the war of 1812.

In 1815, besides those heretofore mentioned (all of whom resided west of the river) there had located on the same side of that stream John Philpott, emigrating from Kentucky, located in the northern part of the township in September, 1814 (on the Ezra Martin farm); Stanhope and Robert Royster, the former of whom served for a number of years as County Commissioner and one of the Associate Judges of the county; John Perin, a native of Massachusetts, who (in 1811) settled on land adjoining Hinkson; Benjamin Sailor (of the family who settled early in Franklin County) resided on the present farm of A. B. Claypool; Paul Davis, son of George, and James Alexander, from South Carolina; Zachariah Glover and one Hazlerigg; a Mr. Lacy; Benjamin Booe, from North Carolina, settled in Franklin

County in 1810, and in 1814 removed to this township; Avery Gates, a native of Massachusetts, though for years a resident of New York, from whence he emigrated to this township in 1817.

James Brownlee emigrated from Ohio to Franklin County, from whence he was gent as one of the delegates to frame the State Constitution. He came to this township about the year 1816, and subsequently filled the office of Associate Judge, and was a man of some prominence.

Of those who settled east of the river early was William Sparks, who had early emigrated from Laurens District, S. C, and settled east of East Fork, in what is now Union County, and in October, 1814, removed to the Stephen Stoops place. James O'Dare, from the same State, settled in the same neighborhood about that time. South of Sparks located Nathan Aldridge, from Tennessee, in 1814. In the same vicinity and about 1814 or 1815 settled Samuel Harlan from South Carolina, James Tweedy, Cornelius Williams and William Edwards.

In 1813 Douglass Burton, with family, emigrated from South Carolina to Scott County, Ky., and in 1819 located on land north of Connersville, just over the line in Harrison Township, where the father died the summer following, aud soon thereafter the widow with her children removed to what is now the Infirmary Farm. Calvin Barton and brother Thomas, yet residents of Connersville and vicinity, are two of the number.

The following extracts are from a letter written for the Examiner, in which it appeai-ed in 1878 over the signature of Brutus. The writer's early home was in the vicinity of Longwood, which he bad been absent from for a period of fifteen years:

" Fifty years since I 'pitched my tent'ou tlie shores of this beautiful stream (Williams Creek). Scarcely a soul lives here now that lived here then. What is called the ' rolling prairie, ' the'farm of Garner Clawson, was then owned by one Carmichael. He sold it to John Trent and John Alexander. Dan. iel Cunningham, a Baptist preacher, owned the farm where Willis Ball's stone quarry now is. little dreaming that such huge slabs of flagging were lying beneath bis hallowed feet, while Amos Smith, a brick mason, lived on the farm now owned by John Tate. John McCrory, an Irishman from Pennsylvania, settled where James Ochiltree now lives. He was a tailor by trade and a good citizen. He lived until a few years ago, and died leaving a number of descendants, most of whom live in this county. At that time John and Benjamin Huston owned the farm now in possession of Robert Moffett. They sold it to John Kellum, a citizen from Preble County, Ohio. This farm supported a still-house under the control of John Philpott, who also run another one on the farm now owned by Ezra Martin, but which belonged to him at that time. A little further up the creek lived an excellent character by the name of John Horsley. Frederick Sane lived on the same farm. Jonathan McCarty, a Member of Congress, owned eighty' acres just west of Horsleys, which in later years was known as ' Manis Porch,' and was a great resort for the boys. The farm is now possessed by Justice Reese and ' Dest-a-gob ' was its occupant. John Philpott and his son Will entered the farm known as the Moffett farm in 1838, and erected a flouring-mill thereon. A postofBce was afterward estaVilished here called Philpott's Mills. The name was afterward changed to Longwood, by Ross Smiley, in honor of the home of Napoleon at St. Helena. Mr. Smiley was the Postmaster for a quarter of a century. Dr. Ball came from Ohio and settled where his son Willis now lives, and has long since gone to that bourne from whence there is no return. Jacob Smith, a Pennsylvanian, and a Revolutionary soldier, the grandfather of our fellow-citizen, Sanford Smith, settled on the farm upon which Sanford is now nobly supporting his estimable mother. It was at the battle of Trenton, that, being hotly pursued by the British, he took his stand on a high bridge, solitary and alone, and as the enemy advanced he would pitch them over the side of the bridge with his bayonet, far down in the water below. He disposed of a score or two in this way. when the enemy yielded, and Jacob came off victorious; he fought nobly. Zachariah Glover then lived where Sam Atherton now resides, and ran a still-bouse. He sold to John Smiley, and he to Stout Atherton. Isaac Martin lived at the cross-roads just east of here, and was known as ' Amazing Grace,' on account of its piety. Timothy Orr lived where Theodore Applegate now lives. John Hawkins entered eighty acres where Sisson Joe now lives, after which he bought of Daniel Campbell, 160 acres joining him on the east. John Philpott, Jr., entered the Uncle George Smith farm, and built a meeting-house on what is now John Ludlow's farm in the year 1842. He was a Uoiversalist in belief, and did all he could for the advancement of religion. The house was dedicated by a Methodist minister by the name of Stone, who lived where Hamilton White now resides. Quite a number of the old pioneer preachers used to preach there, among whom were James Smith, Peter Wiles, Arthur Miller, George Campbell, Jacob Daubenspeck and a great many others. Still-bouses used to be numerous. There was one at Benjamin Booe's, Josh Wallace's and John Trents'. It was at the latter place that a man by the name of Massey shot and killed a negro. Massey made his escape and never was heard of after. John Ludlow, who is still among us, came here in 1839 and is one of the oldest residents in this part of the county. ******

Jonathan John, from Kentucky, settled in the vicinity of Connersville in 1816. He resided on the hill west of the city and his name, as will be noticed by the reader who peruses the pages of this volume, was closely indentified with the business interests of the county. He was an intimate friend of the Indian trader, John Conner. His death occurred in 1838.

The Adairs, Russells and Martins settled in the township early. About 1819 the McCrorys, John and William, settled in the township. Jeremiah Worgh- aman from Virginia, located along the river in 1811. John Baily and family, from the State of Kentucky, removed to Connersville in 1819, and subsequently located on a farm five miles west of the village. Thomas White, from Tennessee, with parents, settled quite early in the township. Justice Wright located on Fall Creek in 1821. He was a native of Pennsylvania. As early as 1812 Joseph Minor, a native of Kentucky, located where his son Joseph now resides. In 1814 J. F. Marshall, a native of Virginia, located in the township. William Edwards, a native of Maryland, settled here in 1817, also Rawlston Shields, a native of Pennsylvania, the same year. W. H. H. Tate settled here early.

Hon. Oliver H. Smith, in his "Early Indiana," thus speaks of one of the early settlers of the vicinity of Connersville: "In early times before the first land sales of the beautiful Whitewater Valley, where Connersville, Liberty, Cambridge City, Centerville and Richmond now stand, there lived upon the east bank of Whitewater, a mile above Connersville, a most remarkable woman by the name of Betty Frazier. She was a small, tough looking, rather swarthy, woman. Her husband, George Frazier, was a poor cripple, and with their children was entirely supported by Betty. They had settled upon a small fraction of Government land, intending to purchase at the sales. The land office was at Cincinnati, and Gen. James Findley was the receiver. The spring of the year, after a severe winter, had come; the sales were to take place the next winter, and Betty had the season before her to raise the money to pay for her land. She commenced with a young stock of hogs, caring for them daily, driving them to the best mast, and preparing a good patch of corn for the fattening process. She had one horse only to tend her crop, and to ride to Cincinnati when she drove her hogs down to sell, and buy her land.

" One day about mid-summer she saw a horseman ride up to her cabin in full uniform. She met him at the bars: 'Well Gen. Hanna, how do you do?' 'Very well, Mrs. Frazier.' 'What on earth has brought you all the way from Brookville to my poor cabin ? ' 'I am very sorry to tell you, Mrs. Frazier, that I am the Sheriff, and have an execution against your property.' ' Well, General, I always submit to the law; come with me to the stable and I will give you my only horse, as the best I can do. ' There were no ' exemption laws ' then. Betty and the General proceeded to the stable. It was a strong log building with a single door, no window, overlaid with a solid platform of logs, and filled above with hay for the horse. The door fastened outside with a large wooden pin in a log. ' There, General, is the horse - take him.' The General stepped in and commenced untying the horse. Betty immediately fastened the door outside, driving the pin into the hole to its full length, and left the General to his reflections while she attended to her household affairs. Time passed away; night came on, but no relief to the captured General. Morning came, and with it came Betty. ' Well, General, how did you sleep last night.' ' Not very well. I am ready to compromise this matter; if you will let me out and show me the ford over Whitewater (the river was muddy and high), I will leave you and the horse and return the execution ' no property found.' 'Upon honor?' ' Yes, upon honor.' Betty opened the door. The General mounted his horse and silently followed Betty down to the river side. ' There, General, you will go in just above the big sycamore, and come out at that haw-bush you see.' The General started; at the second step both horse and rider were under water out of sight, and the chapeau of the General was floating down the river. Still, he being one of the pioneer.s, and bis horse a trained swimmer, gallantly stemmed the current, and exactly struck the haw-bush, his horse swimming to the very, shore, while Betty stood on the bank screaming, ' I guess the Brookville oflicers will let me alone now until I have sold my pigs and bought my land.' The General rode on dripping wet to his brigade that mustered that day. But the end was not yet. Time rolled on; the pigs grew to be well fatted hogs. Betty mounted her pony; the little boys started the pigs for Cincinnati; they had ten days to get there before the land sales; the distance was about seventy miles. Nothing unusual occurred on the road until they arrived at New Trentoi, at Squire Rockafellow's. The night was stormy; the snow fell deep; next morning found Betty at the usual hour on the pony, well wrapped, with an infant a few hours old on her bosom. She arrived with her hogs at Cincinnati the day before the sale, sold them for cash, and the late Gen. Findlay told me that she stood by his side on the box and bid off her land, with her infant in her arms. Surely, ' truth is stranger than fiction.' "

About the year 1818 on the Larkin's Sims farm just below Connersville was erected for that gentleman, it is thought, the first frame house in the township (outside of the village of Connersville.) It was built by John Perin.

In 1823 or 1824 the frame portion of the dwelling house of Thomas Hinkson was erected and the large stone house - the main building, which, by the way, is very antique in its style of architecture, was built in 1827, as shown by an inscription on a stone forming a part of the chimney.

Eakly Schools

The first schoolhouse in the settlement along the western side of the river, and about Williams' Creek, was built prior to the spring of 1815; for it - the rude log-cabin house - was standing there, on the Hinkson farm, at that time, and the following winter, 1815- 16, school was taught in it by Thomas Hinkson, Sr. At this time Nathaniel Hamilton attended the school. Mr. Hinkson was the teacher in that settlement for a number of years. He was a man of liberal education, having been schooled in his native county in a Catholic school. Mr. Hamilton is of the opinion that school had been previously held in this house by the same master. In this same settlement in 1819, in a log-cabin near where the Lockhart school - house now is. Miss lugham is remembered as holding school. Later teachers in the same settlement were Hannah Hathaway, John Justice and Millie Perin. Subsequently the scholars too far to the north attended one of the schoolhouses located in Harrison Township and described in the sketch of that subdivision.

In the settlement east of the river was what was known as "Solomon's school." An account of this school was written some years since by "Rambler," which is given below: "The house in which it was taught stood fifty or sixty rods nearly east of the present residence of John Stoops, near the south line of the land of Robert Williams, and was with slight exceptions such a house as all the girls and boys of those days got their education in. And from such schoolhouses, scattered over the great West, have gone out men of honest hearts, of strong nerves, of high and noble resolves, that have made their mark in the world. And could we trace through the highways, the by-ways, and the cross-ways of life all that attended that school, no doubt but we could find some occupying prominent public positions both in church and in state at the present time. We have never met any of the scholars of that school but two since 1822, and both of these were ministers in the Baptist Church (Elders George Harlan and William Sparks).

"The building was about 18x22 feet, of round logs, with a fire-place occupying one end of it, and a file of six or eight boys were usually detailed to carry in the back-logs, while the lesser ones carried in the fore, middle and top sticks, and occasionally this huge pile of wood and the fire made by it would cause the cry of tire to be raised by some who were watching other things closer than their books. The windows consisted of one log removed from each of the three sides of the building, slats placed vertically in the space, and newspapers pasted on those slats and to the log above, then the paper oiled with melted lard applied with a feather to admit the light, then a temporary fortification, consisting of forks and poles was thrown up to prevent the stock from eating out the paper, thus saturated with the grease. The furniture in the room was as simple and primitive as the room itself. The writingtables were one long board under each window and the same length of it, attached to the wall, and driving pins therein, inclining a little downward at the outer end. At these the tables were placed, each writer sitting with his face to the window. The seats consisted of blue ash saplings, cut the j)roper length, split in two, two holes bored at proper angles in each end, and one in the middle for legs, then placed with the bark side up, the bark being all nicely shaved off. On these seats have we sat swinging our feet back and forth from early dawn to laterst eve, wishing we were anything else but a school-boy; wishing there was no such thing as a schoolhouse, school- teachers, schoolbooks, pen, ink or paper in the world. Foolish, inconsiderate, childish thought. But then we thought and acted and talked like a boy, but since we have viewed things from a different standpoint.

"Could the schoolboy of the present day compare the stock of books now in use in the schools with that used in those primitive times, he could appreciate his advantages over those of the early settlers of the country. Geography, grammar, globes, out-line maps, and other modern facilities for study were neither seen nor talked of in the school room of those days.

"There is one tribute of respect we willingly pay to the teacher, and that is, considering the time, the surroundings and the facilities, he taught a very good school.

"In those days there were certain inalienable rights claimed by the school-boys, which had been handed down from time immemorial from father to son, and that was the right to close the door against schoolteachers about the holidays; a right, too, to which in some localities they still adhere with the same tenacity that a descendant of Abraham adheres to his nationality. Now the big boys and the little boys were not willing that this time-honored usage should pass by unimproved on the present occasion. Accordingly a council of war was held and the subject discussed in the most formal manner, the question being: Shall we bar out the teacher and make him treat f was put and carried by such a vote that no veto could set aside. The nest great question was. How shall the castle, windows, door and chimney be so fortified that a successful attack cannot be made either from the front, fiank or rear. To do this, bolts, bars, benches, spikes, with a large lot of other weapons, offensive and defensive, were called into requision, not forgetting a good supply of fuel and provisions; for the siege might last several days. Morning came and with it came hope, fear, doubt, anxiety, solicitude, as to the result. Directly the teacher is seen in the distance, approaching the scene of contest quietly and peacefully ; he comes on unconscious of the spirit of mutiny and rebellion within. He comes to the door, attempts to open it; all is silence within; he guesses the cause, retreats, reconnoiters, examines the vulnerable points, gathers a huge rail and in old Roman style tries his battering ram on the door once. Crash it comes against the door. He retreats to a greater distance to give it greater momentum. Crash it comes the second time, down comes the door, in comes the rail full length into the school-room; all is hurryskurry within, and during the general fright, the teacher enters through the breach. ' Seize him and tie him,' was the rallying cry. It was like magic; soon he was surrounded, borne down by the crowd, who had merged all dignity in the right of the scholar. The teacher comes to terms, is released, and soon a equad of these quandam rebels is sent off to bring the treat. Meantime the benches are righted, the door is repaired, the good things come, all partake, and care nothing whether they were Presidents or plebians. Thus passed the Christmas of 1818 at the old log schoolhouse. For the purpose of showing the changes in a place since that time we give the names of some who attended the school. There were the Gilkeys, Sparkea, Aldridges, Harlans, Thomases, Streets, Whites, Denisons, McCreas, and Williamses. In the southeastern part of the township Jonathan Shields taught an early school.

Early Mills, Distilleries, Etc

Among the early industries of the township, outside of the village, were, lirst, the John Reed gristmill, which was ia operation in the spring of 1815; it was probably built in 1814. The mill was first constructed of logs in their natural state, but in the course of a year or more a frame mill building was constructed. The site of the mill was on Williams Creek, some three or four miles below Connersville. In 1816 a saw-mill was added. John A. White hewed the timber for it and assisted in its construction.

James Brownlee built what subsequently became known as the Nathan Buckley carding and fulling mill or machine. This was on Williams Creek, and was erected as early as 1818, if not earlier. Brownlee built in connection with it a saw-mill, and in 1825, or thereabouts, built a frame- for a grist-mill, which,

In the northwestern part of the township, on Williams' Creek, an early saw-mill was built by John Kellum, and below on the same stream, he operated a grist-mill.

Thomas Moflfett, who owned and operated a mill in Harrison Township, which had been built by John Philpott, subsequently (1847), erected a grist-mill further down the stream, in what is now Connersville Township.

Stills were then numerous, for 'twas in a day when whisky and religion were not divorced, but went hand in hand. The smoke from the little copper still or from the larger distillery could be seen curling heavenward from many a pioneer's land. Among those then distilling were Thomas Burris and Glover Perin, one Calloway, Jphn Perin, John Reed, William Miller, Tobias Smith, Larkin Sims, William Thompson, James Vance and many others.

East of the river, on Village Creek, in 1829, Christian Furry was operating a grist-mill with one run of stones. This mill is thought to have been built by Moses Wolverton, who also had in connection with it a saw-mill.

Churches And Graveyards

At the old burying-ground, in Section 20, on the E. Martin land in an early day, was built an Old School Baptist Church, which was used by that denomination for a number of years.

The earliest grave marked by a tomb-stone, whose inscription is legible, is that of Nesbit Alexander, who died May 27, 1825, in the twenty fifth year of his age. Among the aged whose remains rest hero are Samuel Martin, died in 1851, at the age of seventy-two years; Ann Martin, in 1863, seventynine years; Alexander Saxon, in 1844, seventy seven years; Mary Saxon, in 1855, eighty-one years; Philip C. Hoyl, in 1841, eighty-eight years; Benjamin Booe, in 1839, sixty years.

At the graveyard on the hill by the creek on the James Mount land stood a meeting-house built probably forty odd years ago by the Methodists, and by them was occupied for many years, and later by other denominations, but all traces of it are now lost to the passer-by, and the few tomb-stones around the yard marking spots sacred to many have been suffered to fall down, and are now scattered over the ground,

The first Methodist preaching place on the Gonnersville Circuit in the township was at the dwelling of the grandfather of Thomas Hinkson. In 18'J3 the class consisted of the grandfather and wife, son Thomas the surveyor and wife, Mrs. Basil Roberts and daughters and Merrill Williams.

There are now but two churches in the township, Bunker Hill and Village Creek. The former is a Methodist Episcopal Church and the latter an Old School Baptist.

The building, which is of brick, of the former denomination is the second house of worship. Both it and the original building were erected by general subscriptions, and were to be used by all denominations as a Union Church. The Methodists have for probably fifteen or twenty years held regular services at Banker Hill, the appointment being with some of the other churches along the western portion of the county.

The Village Creek Church was constituted July 24, 1824:, Elders and Messengers being present from Lick Creek, New Bethel and New Hope Churches. The constituent members were Robert Gilky, Thomas Wolverton, William Denman, William Sparks, Phineaa McCray, Stephen Harlan, James Wood, Sarah Gilky, Mary Donman, Mary Sparks, Mary Harlan, Sarah McCray and Hannah McCray. The constitution took place at the residence of Robert Gilky. The first house of worship was not built until 1826, meetings up to its completion being held at private houses. This hewed-log building was the meetinghouse of the church society until in 1848, when it was replaced by the present brick edifice located at the burying-ground on the hill, probably one and a half miles southeast of the city of Connersville. The regular resident pastors of the church have been Elders Minor Thomas, George Harlan (ordained in 1830), William Sparks (ordained in 1845), Samuel Harlan and Walter Benson and Charles M. Reed, the present incumbent. The present membership of the church is fifty-six. The entire number of members that have been identified with the church since its constitution has been 271.

The graveyard of the church, it wovild seem from the following epitaph on the tomb-stone of Samuel Harlan, Sr., was set apart for such purposes by him: organization. Among the aged who are here awaiting the final resurrection morn, are Sarah McCray, died in 1851 in her ninetieth year; Phineaa McCray, died in 1838 in his seventy-sixth year; Nancy Harlan, died in 1871 in her ninety-third year; Judith Honeywell, died in 1860 in her eightieth year; Abner Ball, born in 1785, died in 1846; Rhoda P. Ball, born in 1787, died in 1863; William Sparks, Sr., died in 1862 in his ninetieth year; John Milliner, born in 1786, died in 1856; Nancy Milliner, born in 1786, died in 1873; James Backhouse, died in 1849 in his eighty-seventh year; Charlotte Backhouse, died in 1864 in her eighty-fifth year; Bennett Langston, died in 1860 in his eighty-fourth year.

East Conneesville

Just over the river from the city of Connersville, is situated the village of East Connersville, which was laid out on the northwest quarter of Section 19, Township 14, Range 11, by Basil MeCann, in October, 1857. The village has since been incorporated and is provided with a substantial two-story brick sehoolhouse; and in the way of industries has two stores, a blacksmith shop, and a large planing-mill and wood-working establishment, which had its origin some ten years ago, in the Eagle Mills Manufacturing Company.

The little village bearing the above name is suburban to Connersville, and was laid out on the land of Austin B. Claypool, being acknowledged by that gentleman March 13, 1877. In 1882 a large and substantial two-story brick sehoolhouse, beautiful in design, was erected in the place, and at this writing there is in process of construction a brick church edifice, which is on ground donated for the purpose by A. B. Claypool, who is one of the trustees and is superintending its erection. The society was organized in the fall of 1883 by Rev. J. S. Tevis, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church of this city. The membership consisted of some twelve or fifteen persons who held membership in the city church, to which the charge is as yet connected, but will soon become an independent Methodist Episcopal Church. The village is supplied with one store.