Dawn, Ohio

This schoolhouse was erected probably about the year 1825. perhaps a year or so earlier. The first teacher in this structure was .John Wilkins. and his successor was Thomas Crawson. There are now seven districts in Richland. All the houses are iniilt of brick, and have been in use for the past ten years. They are commodious, well arranged and permanent, fully accommodating the ueeds of the community. The school building at Dawn cost nearly $1,800. It is two stories, and will seat 124 pupils. There is a like structure at Beamsville.

Passage source: The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880.

In the line of improvements for the aid of settlers in building, there was a horse-mill on Hartell's farm. In connection therewith, was a still-house, the two being operated by Jacob Hartell in 1837 and 1838. There was another mill on the Hathaway farm, one mile southwest of Beamsville. This was a water mill. used only in grinding corn, and had sandstone " grayheads " for buhrs.- This mill was the property of Thomas Hathaway. The next mill was built as a saw-mill and remodeled into a grist-mill, at what was called Johnson's Station. The town. Dawn, was then designated Eden. The last-named mill was run by steam, and in it was used the first stationary steam engine used in the township. In addition to these, there was the u Bloomer Mill," located at Bloomer Town, now called Stelvideo. This structure was raised about the same time as the Eden mill during the years 1853 and 1854.

Passage source: The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880.

There is a church at Dawn, built by the Methodists in 1872, on land donated by C. W. Demem. The business of the place supports three stores kept by J. W. Duckall, J. B. Wertz and James Woods. The first named is also a grain and produce dealer, the last named is Postmaster. J. F. Shoud is the proprietor of a large saw-mill with which he does an extensive business. Rush & Chirger operate a steam grist-mill. It has two stories, has four runs, and is propelled by a fortyhorse power engine. This mill stands on Section 20, and does both custom and job work. Its capacity is sixty barrels a day. 0. Davison erected a tile factory in the spring of 1877, on his lands just south of Dawn. Twenty kilns of 275 rods, assorted size, are burned annually, requiring 130 cords of wood. It is the only tile factory in the township. The drying shed is 120 feet long and a second shed of 60 feet in length is being built. The village of Beamsville is situated on the Stillwater at the center of the west side of Section 32, Range 3. and at the crossing of the Greenville and Dallas pikes. There is about 150 population. It was laid out by John Beam in 1837. The first house put up in the place was raised by the proprietor of the village and it is still standing. Additions to the original plat have been made by Messrs. Hartell, Earheart and Plessinger. The Stillwater Hotel, kept by Samuel Paulas, was built in 1834-35. It was primarily a single story, but several years having elapsed, a second story was added. The first landlord was named Stillwell. John C. Dill was storekeeper in the early day, and among physicians were Drs. Ford, Smith, Hoover, Hostetter, Peck and Tillman.

Passage source: The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Richland Township - it names this place 10 more 10 times.