Magnetic Springs, Ohio

The first settlement was made in^ the southwestern part, on Blues Creek. The exact date at which it was formed, and the pioneer who first pitched his camp there, it is impossible now to discover, as these pioneers have all removed to other counties or died long since. They were mostly squatters, who came into the midst of a deep solitude for the purpose of hunting, long before the proprietors of the land could find ready purchasers for it. A cluster of settlers from Clark County settled here before 1820. and the central and most prominent figure in the group was Simon Gates He was a man highly esteemed in those days of rough frontier life, bi:^. did not stay long after the country around him began to be thickly settled. His father, Simon Gates, Sr., owned sixty-one acres in Survey 5,506, and c eparted this life a few years after he immigrated to the township.

Passage source: The History of Union County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns ... Military Record;, published 1883.

Culwell Williamson, of Lyncbbarg, Va., early in this century purchased Survey 3,694, of 1,000 acres, 200 acres being reserved by the grantor for two Virginian local j-yreachers - Kevs. Munson and Denton - the reservation to be surveyed by Mr. Williamson. In 1811, he visited the land, riding horseback from Virginia. No white settlers were then near, but the woods were full of Indians. Mr. Williamson soon I'eturned to Virgin a, and twice again came to see the land before emigratiug. In 1824, he gathered together his effects, and. placing them in a foui'-horse wagon, bade farewell to Old Virginia, and, with his sister, Mrs. Jane Martin, a widow, her tLi'ee children - Samuel, Culwell and Ann - and James and Nancy Oglesbie, a young nephew and niece, began a wearisome journey to Ohio. Eight weeks ' ,\n-e consumed on the trip. Procurinof assistance from the Scioto River. V.n men comings before 7 o'clock in the morning and working till late, ii ,;he one day the cabin was raised, clapboard roof placed over it and a door s; f 1 out and hung in place. That night, for the fir.st time since they left Virgii it rained; but there was shelter overhead, and the pattering rain-drops on t ' roof were music to tlieir ears. This was the first settlement in the upper p ^ of the township. The cabin stood on the farm now owned by O. Jewett, a ) iut one mile up Boke's Creek, from Magnetic Springs. Mr. Williamson wf s an old bachelor. By trade he was a carpenter. He surveyed his land nto small tracts, and sold much of it to incoming settlers. Thomas Tunks turchased 100 acres soon after, in the southwest corner of the survey. Jose "h Brannon, Heniy Hulse and Isaac White each obtained 100 acres, and Josej li White and Arad Franklin also became purchasers. Richard Hoskins bought the Rev. Dentou 100- acre tract, and ^A'ilJiam Wells the Munson tract. Mr Williamson died in 1828.

Passage source: The History of Union County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns ... Military Record;, published 1883.

Eichard Huskins was born in Franklin, Franklin Co., Ohio, in 1804; removed to Delaware County, and, in 1827, settled in Leesburg Township, on the iOO acre farm which Dr. Skidmore now owns, about a mile up Boke's Creek from Magnetic Springs. There was no clearing on the place when he settled there, and the remainder of his life was spent upon this home farm, to which he became deeply attached. He was well respected by his neighbors and his judgment and advice was always held in high esteem. In 1827, he married Ann H. Martin. Their marriage was blessed with a family of ten children, only four of whom survive, viz.: James M., proprietor of the Hoskins House, Magnetic Springs; Culwell; Ellen, wife of Ephraim D. Pitts; and Ann, the wife of James Deeper. Mr. Hoskins died in 1870.

Passage source: The History of Union County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Townships, Towns ... Military Record;, published 1883.

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 Leesburg Township - it names this place 55 more 55 times.