Tubbs--Sourwine House

Ii was along this military road that the first settlers advanced in search of homes in the ^Yest, and naturally enough, upon this road that the first settler in Plymouth Township is found, upon the present site of the village of Pl3'mouth. Here, on the headwaters of the Huron River, Abraham Trux erected his cabin, on the northwest quarter of Section 5, in the spring of 1815, and became the first settler. This cabin stood on the bank of an insignificant branch of the river, which passes through the village, and was a double cabin, of round logs. The lot is now owned by Aaron Kappenberg, and his butcher-shop occupies the exact spot upon which this first caljin was erected. Other settlers came in during this year (1815), some of them probably about the same time with 3Ir. Trux. Among these were John Concklin, who settled on the northeast quarter of Section 6 ; Daniel Kirkpatrick, northeast quarter of Section 8 ; Robert Green, southeast quarter of Section 4 ; and John Long, northwest quarter of Section 13. William and Daniel Prosser also came in this year or eai-ly in 181(3, the former settling on Section 19, and the latter on Section 13. In 1816, came John Morris, who settled on Section 15 ; Thomas McCluer, Section 14 ; James Gardner and Michael Gipson, Section 1 ; James Douglas, Section 35. Settlers continued to arrive rapidly until in 1818, when there was a suflflcient number to organize a township. The first election was held in the spring of 1818, in which Abraham Trux was made Justice of the Peace, Stephen Weliber, Constable ; John Concklin, John Long, and Thomas McClure, Trustees. Thomas Mc- Cluer was made Clerk, and Asa Murphy, Treasurer.

Passage source: History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the Original Boundaries) ; Its Past and Present, Containing a Condensed Comprehensive History of Ohio, Including an Outline History of the Northwest, a Complete History of Richland County ... Miscellaneous Matter, Map of the County, Biographies and Histories of ... the Most Prominent Families, &c., &c., published 1880.

There were prol)a])ly not more than five hewed-log houses in the township prior to 1820. These were owned by Alexander 3IcBride, Mr. Grrifflth, John Long, Benjamin Wooley and Jacob Vanhouten. Long and Vanhouten had boards, supported by poles, in front of their cabins, upon which was inscribed " Entertainment," wdiich meant, in those days, "hog, hominy and whisky," which were enjoyed by the weary traveler at a moderate compensation. Whisky was 15 cents per gallon - the pure stuff - and was therefore used about as freely as w^ater. Until 1822, the mails were carried on horseback and on foot, but about this date stages made their appearance, a route having been established from Columbus to Portland (now Sandusky City). These stages followed "Beall's trail " through this part of the country. What a wealth of fact and romance must have been crowded into the lives of those stagedrivers ! The first post office established in that part of the country was about the year 1817, a few miles east of Plymouth Village, on the military road, on Section 4 of what is now Cass Township. It was kept by a jolly old Hollander by the name of Jacol) "V^anhouten, and called "Plymouth." The regular sixhorse teams began also to make their appearance along the trail, loaded with produce for the lakes. Arriving at the lakfe, they would discharge their cargoes and load up with salt, fish, etc., for the return trip.

Passage source: History of Richland County, Ohio : (including the Original Boundaries) ; Its Past and Present, Containing a Condensed Comprehensive History of Ohio, Including an Outline History of the Northwest, a Complete History of Richland County ... Miscellaneous Matter, Map of the County, Biographies and Histories of ... the Most Prominent Families, &c., &c., 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 Plymouth Township - 83,405 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.