Greenbush, Ohio

Along some of the streams is some broken land, but it is of small proportions, the land smoothing out as soon as the hill top is reached, and there are no hills of any great height. The climb from Pleasant run, east, of Greenbush, is the longest hill climb in the township, going up a hundred and thirty feet to the county line in a little less than a mile, but the slope is gradual all the way up.

Passage source: History of Preble County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions, published 1915.

Shortly after Leslie, came Alexander Pugh from Georgia, who bought some eight hundred acres in Pleasant Valley, north of Greenbush. About the same time William Swisher settled on section 1, north of Twin creek, and near him, about the same time, Hezekiah Phillips settled; his daughter, Rebecca Phillips, is claimed to be the first white girl born in the county. In 1804 Abraham Neff settled on Twin creek and later built the first mill. In the same year Levi Kinman came, and Abraham Wimmer and Nicholas and Jacob Gift settled at Gratis. A little later, Daniel Boone settled south of Gratis on a stream that yet bears his name. It is claimed he was related to the hunter, Daniel Boone, of Kentucky, whence he came.

Passage source: History of Preble County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions, published 1915.

During the years 1803, 1804 and 1805, over fifty families from the Carolinas and Georgia settled in southern Preble and northern Butler counties, the central point being around West Elkton, and of the number nearly all were Quakers and all acquired land. Some of them later became possessed of hundreds of acres, many farms yet being owned by descendants of the early owners. We will name a few and, so far as known, their location: Samuel Stubbs, from Georgia, settled in section 29. His grandson, S. N. Stubbs, still owns most of the farm. With Samuel came eleven brothers, it is claimed, who all settled in the township in that neighborhood or on the land nearby in Butler, and nearly all reared large families. Daniel Chrisman, from North Carolina, settled in section 11. Richard Brown, from Georgia, settled in section 20. Jonas Randall, from South Carolina, settled east of West Elkton. Christian Fall and Benjamin Fall, his son, settled near Greenbush. John Riner, from Virginia, settled in the eastern part of the township. Francis Jones, from Georgia, settled near West Elkton. Jesse Kenworthy, from South Carolina, settled on section 32. William Gifford, from North Carolina, settled east of West Elkton. Nathan Maddock and Samuel Maddock, his father, from Georgia, headed a colony of some fifty people to the land of freedom ; they settled generally in southern Preble and northern Butler. Samuel Maddock settled in section 32. Thomas Stubbs settled near West Elkton. Joseph Stubbs and his son, John, settled on section 34. Jonathan Roberts, from North Carolina, settled just across the line in Butler county, but many of the families have since moved into this township. George Kelley, from Virginia, settled near the middle of the township. Simeon Loop, from Pennsylvania, settled in the western part of the township. All the above named are claimed to have come before the close of 1805.

Passage source: History of Preble County Ohio: Her People, Industries and Institutions, published 1915.

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 Gratis Township - it names this place 3 more 3 times.