Madison Township (part 1 of 6)

Madison Township

*Boginning north on the boundary of the Kighth Range, south with the line dividing Madison aod Clark to the southeast corner of the latter. 'Thencu westward to the line of Greene, north on this line to the Righth Range again. Eleetion to be held for township officers on September 19, 1518, at the house of George Senrlott, in Charleston." Such ig the reeord of its organization. South Charleston, a fine town, sitnated in the north-central part of Madison, on the Little Miami, Columbus and Nenia Railway, was originally Jaid out on the Isth of January, 1816, by Conrad Crit, John Kelso being then a justioe of the peace. Ata later date Lightfoot oud Hedrieks were prominent nen ofthe place. Surlot kept the first store in the village, ina hewed log house. Best was proprietor of the original lavernstand, Uphraim Vanee was the second keeper of # publio house. Robert Ialsted was the first resident doctor. Eli Adams inaugurated shoemuking. logs, and stood near William Mognes's house. A church was built by the Methodist= in 1828, early preachers.

The teacher was Moses Piero. Reods, Gateh, and Williams were Tenue Davison was the first eliss-Jender, The present brick edifice hears dute of 1547. It ig sixty-two by forty-two: it cost five thousand The chureh has two hup- The pastor ie W. B. Molar. Presbyterians anil

W. Delong is the present principal. Here is a national T. W. Loy is president, and Milton Clark onshier. Capitn}, $100,000; civeulation, 580,500. Tloustem Brothers do 2 general business in zrain. A steain grist-mill was erceted about 1555, and pided the town, and was Ww convenience to farmers, mile east of Charleston, Philip Hendriek, on the old Chillicothe rond, south of Charleston, Christinn Lightfoot, and Lyhrain Vance were all loeuted near the present site of South Charleston, ship, veyed and laid out, and, for a time, was its sole resideul. Io preseut roud was but a blnzed puthway through the woods, 'The first sermon was prenched by a man named Trader, in 1815, in the enbin of Jeremiah Sutton, Daniel Cutler,

Kelso, n farmer, was tho tirst justice of the peace in the tuwn- Conrad Cyitz, above named, built the first onbin in the towu he had sur- 1815 the oldest

The first regular religious serViecs were held at Dayison's eabin. about W380, bails a trend saw-inill run by xen, Motion was onsily obtained but not so easily cheeked, and not till the oxen had accelerated motion (o a tremendoug rate, und finally beine thrown down and killed, wae the momentum Jost. Culler hag lis counterpart in business to-day, - those who got going with no provision for breaking, Jnmes Woolsy hus erodit for the oyeotion of the first twostory frame building, wd Philip Medrick for building the first brick. EB. Rowan and Georgd Iempleman were parties who did distilling trot the surplus eorn for the early settlers' use.

He who travels the surface of Madison will observe the generally level surface, the vich, black loam soil, and (he evidences of corn culture, Sheap were, but bogs are, Lhe principal stoek riised in the township.

The tirst Durial iu Charlestan cumetery was that of Mary Lott, im 1825. A tan named Wilson, in an early day, during a dispute, etruck another known is Garfield with an wxo-holye and killed him, A trial was had; the verdict was justilinble homicide, During those limes, for luek of dewaod and of moocy lo exchange for stock or produce, trading

Wilson, on being releused, lefé the country. wos a business with some and & pastime with others. flovses were numerous und extremely cheap. The best horses could be purchased for forty dollars. The linbit, of swapping horses, umdog fonmaters espocintly, was oniversal, and mets Otherwise scrupulously houesh thought it no wrong to take any adyautige tp u horse trade. John Ludlow gives the following in points 'Lf remember of going to Cineintatt wich 90 tewmeter when [wie a boy fourteou yours of age, and that he swapped horses three times on the way, and the last borse he gol died ao the same day he gut him; but he svou hit anetber from a farmer in exehange for his silver witals: ind sugh wos hie passion for swapyiog that le continued to banter every teamster he mot fora ewap."

The village of Selron is located ti (he southwest corner of Madison. Tt las the wdvantiges of turnpike and railrood. Tt has two ehurahes, blaoksmithshops, and séhocl-bouse, 'Ty the eye the lands south of the Minwi are bewntifal noi viluable. Upon the sarveyur's records thuy present a scone of almost inextovabin confusion; roads are tmade solely for avenues of travel, vid mark to Youndury of farm or section. Tn the northeast part of the township is the source

Trregular fn outline. Bounded on the west by the river whieh gave to it its ine, (he northwest side is traversed by tho paruel railronds, - the Athontie and Great Western, and Cleveland, Sandueky and Cincinnati; from oue to three miles to the right, the Dayton pike makes the third lino of cotntnunication across the From Warn D. Baker, the oldest resident of the township, we have the following items of wirly occurrences :

Vhe earliesl settlers of Mad River were Robert Layton, Thomas Williains, James Woods, Joseph MeKinney, James Bliew, and John Campbell, - these were seltled on their farms ou or before 1505, James Galloway, the first. township Waeksmith, came into the country In 1800, bringing along his anvil upon a "Jignvd" sled, and took up one and a half sections af land. Old man Shreve arrived nt ubout the snime period of time, und settled npon two sections of Inna located about two miles south of Enon. Christian Miller, accompanied by his funily, we were most of the settlers, located, in 1801, upon a large tract lying four miles southwest.of Kuen, Judge Joseph Layton, of Pennzylyunia, and Abel Crawford, of Kentueky, catne the saine year. William Palmer und family, of New York, lived two iniles uortheast of the present town of Huon. Coming in 1800, they found game plenty, and nade their living by hunting and trapping. Many deer and hears fell before their rifles. One evening Palmer beard wolves Ile took down "Old Cad," his riflo, londed with four balls; weut out, oud fired away, and killed two oxen. "Old Cad fetehes 'om, was the old man's charneteristic remark, ag he saw the result. Melyn Baker and family entne in 1805, und his descondints are well known and respeeted in the township. The bistory of Mad River records a murder,~the shooting, by a Dr. Robbing, of one Major Bracken, in June of 1805,

Mnou is the name ol'a village, of @ station, and of mills, on the central west ride of the township, Winnthan Cory and E.D. Baker Inid out the Village in 18s, Tho proprietors donated lots for school- nud meeting-houses, John KR. Miller built the first house, a frame, anid engaged in selling goods as the first storekeeper, Jussa Rose was the second inhabitant, - n enepenter. The first keeper of w tavern was Vranklin Cook, ho first physician was Dr. Hoyt. Ths first school-house wna builein 1840, and John R, Miller was the first teuchor therein. In 1841 the first church, the Methodist, was wreated. Noah Huff and Lovi PL Miller rode on the first. circuit. 'The ebureh ia still used, and has seventy-five members. The Christian chureh was built in IS48 to 1850. Tt is of briek, and cost <ix thousand dollars. Thov. Ludley wus the first proueher in it. The ebureh has ono bundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty members. with the building of the railroad, llere is wm paper-mill, the property of the Republio Company, of Springtiold, Initl in IST, The first tavern-keeper in the township was Pater Rogers, who upened lia bouse to Lbe public in 1804, for travelers upon the Dayton pike. Mad River woe forded of evorted in & canoe till the building of w frame bridge, in 1840, north of Enon, ou the section line, from subseribed funds,

The carliest known marringe was that of John Layton to Elizabeth Baker, hy Matthew Donnels, justice of the pence for Bethel Township,in 1805. The first death was that of Mrs. Groadis, a worthy womun, departing this lifa in 1806. She was buried at the "Kuo" graveyurd.

The township's lirst sehool-house, located one-half mile enst of Boon, on the farm of Malyn Raker, was built of loge, and bad fur windows oiled paper. It was raised in 1806, and bad for its first sebool-muster Samuel Gillen, u wan severe yol kind and competent. A second school-house was built four yours lator.

The firat pike in the township, bearing the name of "Springfield, was constructed in 1836, The State paid one huaif the expenge, the citizens the other. Shures were not remunerative, - five dollars will buy a fifty-dollar share, The road, done by contract, is excellent, and the toll-gato takes tho cootribulions.

In 1806 the Christiana erected a log chureli at the " Knob" or Mound. Tts first resident mivister was Vrancis Monfort, Teuben Daily and Thomas Kyle were early prenchera there, - the old house is of the past. Cump-meetings were held in this vieinity, to which people came from a distance of forty miles, nud religions

The township's first Justice of the peace wis Joseph Layton, elected about 1804. The first trustees were Reuben Wingard, J, Layton, and Samuel Martin. After the organization of the township, if ISIT, the first election was held at Miller's house.

The first grist-milla were constructed and run by John and James Levels; they are on Mad River, ure known as Tecumseh Mills, and hegan to ran about 1520. The Enon Mills were built in 1842, by [suae Shauk. The tirst tunuery Wag started by William Smith; be used the tan burk aud Wandled all kinds of leather, and began work in 1816. Williams, previously named, was a tanner of deer-skins fur wearing purposes, and many of the setUers got punts-stuff from his hands. In 1525, Judge Layton started w saw-mill. The first postmaster Was Joho R, Miller, appointed in 1937. 'The office was on the old road, uni when Enon was laid out, it was moved there, The muils were curried by stages. D. Miller erected the first frame barn, in 1818, nnd the first brick house, in 1824. J. Layton and A. Crawford were the first distillers; and Jumes Galloway set out the first orchard, in 1800, - though natural fruit, it was highly prized.

Earnest. Harmony Bell

Sieh soy AF eens Cee iia j {, wea} ; are 7 Pa imaeeent ert: EARNEST. HARMONY BELL. Res.or Levi Jones,FARMER & Stock DEALER. MADISON TF CLABK CO. OHO. os

Source changes here: from The History of Clark County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio; Map of Clark County; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, Etc. .., by Steele, Alden P, published 1881; 8,404 words in this source stream.

Madison Township

1844, December 20 - A. Waddle appointed by Mordecia Bartley, thirteenth Governor of Ohio, to cast the proxy vote of said Governor on the stock of the Jefferson, South 'Charleston A Xenia Turnpike Company.

The original roads seem to have been laid out regardless of section lines and cardinal points of the compass. The exceptions to this statement are few, and this fact mars the shape of many of the finest farms of Madison Township.

The West Jefferson, South Charleston A Xenia Turnpike was built by a stock company about the year 1844. The Springfield A South Charleston Pike was finished in I860. The Charleston, West Jefferson A Washington Pike was f - ' ' ;.=! iv. 1868. The average cost of these improved roads is put down at $2,000 per mile. *

Of The Early Settlers

The early settlers of Madison Township, like the pioneers of other parts of the great State of Ohio, were a peculiar people, and seemed providentially designed dor their parts in life's great drama. They were men and women of rude and - vifpolished manners, yet they were not lacking in the nobler qualities that fitted them to become the antecedents of a more polished civilization. The following brief mention is made of some of these families, who, braving the privations of frontier life, laid the foundations of society, on which their descendants have built and flourished:

George Buffenberger was a Virginian. He and family came to Ohio and settled in Madison Township as early as 1807, locating on the head- waters of the Little Miami. He owned a large tract of valuable land, raised a large family of children, and was characterized as the most eccentric nan of his generation. He possessed great wealth, yet was careless, and often shabby in his dress, and defied the ordinary customs of civilized life.

Christopher Lightfoot was a man of fine education, and a Scotchman. He settled where William Watson now lives, south of the Little Miami depot, some years before South Charleston was laid out, and was one of the prejectors of that village. He was a school-teacher and surveyor.

Elijah Pratt was probably the first physician of Madison Township. He was practicing as early as 1818. He lived northeast of South Charleston. Pie was from Xew England.

John Kolso w as among the first Justices of the Peace of the township. He lived on the Jamestown road, on lands now owned by Paullin's heirs. He reared a large family of children, all of whom are non-residents of the township.

William Holloway was an early settler near Selma, on the McDorman farm. He was a Quaker, and for many years tilled the office of Justice of the Peace creditably.

William Willis was an old and devout Quaker, and kept a hotel two miles west of South Charleston, on the Suite road from Xenia to Columbus, where Caleb Harrison lives. This place, being on the commonly traveled road from Cincinnati to Columbus, it was widely known, and was a favorite stopping-place for the distinguished men of the early times. Between the years 1839 and 1840, while Tom Corwin was a member of Congress, and was compelled to reach the national Capital on horseback, he made this hotel a regular stopping-place. He was sometimes accompanied by Henry Clay, of Kentucky, on similar trips, and the high old times had at the u Old Willis Hotel " by these distinguished guests often tried the patience of the quiet host. The house, a one-story log building of three rooms, still stands.

Mungo Murray was a Scotchman, and located on Section 12, on the northern border of the township, in 1817. His sons, James, George and Peter, were gentlemen of rare business qualifications. The last named built the u Murray House," of Springfield, and was at one time one of the foremost of the business men of that city. The elder Murray died in August, 1830, at the age of fiftyfive years.

John McCollum was a native of Virginia. He settled two miles south of South Charleston in 1814, on the farm now owned by D. V. Pringle. He was tv, fice married. By the second marriage he became the father of eight children - Rebecca, Henry, John, Alvira, Ev aline, Minerva, Seth O. and Russell B. He died in 1848, aged seventy-three ; his wife died in December, 1871, aged eightyseven.

David Vance was a Kentuckian. He settled in Madison Township in ISOS or 1609, one miie west of South Charleston, the farm now owned by James Pringle. He was a cousin of Joseph Vance, tenth Governor of Ohio. His sons - Ephraim, John, Daniel, Joseph, Elijah and Elisha - were worthy citizens. The last two were twins.

James Pringle, Sr., came from Kentucky and settled in Madison Township in 1812, on Section 16, now owned by D. O. Heiskell. His wife was a Vance. They raised a large family of children, who in after years filled well their several stations in life. Their sons were Thomas, David, William and James. Mr. Pringle died in August, 1867, aged eighty-four.

Isaac Davisson, about 1810, settled a short distance east of South Charleston. He married Sarah Curl in ISOS. His father, Isaac Davisson, Sr., was an early settler of Warren County. Isaac, Jr., and his bride, made their wedding tomr on horseback, Mrs. Davisson using a feather-bed for a side-saddle. They passed through Springfield on their way from Todd's Fork, in Warren County, to their new home, near Catawba. At this time, Springfield hacl but a few houses, and these were in the brush. After spending the first three years of their married life in Pleasant Township, they located in Madison, as stated. He purchased fifty acres of land, and in time added several hundred acres to his estate. He was of Methodistie stock, as well as his wife, and, in the years that followed their coming to the neighborhood, the early preachers held meetings in their humble cabin, and to the end of his days his devotion to the Master and his zeal for the church never waned. His wife still lives, and has passed the ninetieth milestone in the eventful race of life. They raised a large family of children; twelve of these lived to become married; they were William, Obadiah. Lemuel, Mary, Elizabeth, Xancy, Sarah J., Margaret, Julia Ann, Maria, James G. and Daniel.

Phillip Hedrick and his wife (Foley) settled on the north bank of the Little Miami in 1811, on the farm now owned by K. P. Truitt. Mr. Hedrick was a Kentuckian? his wife, a Virginian. He bought 600 acres of land at $1.25 per acre. The husband and wife died in 1838 and 1825 respectively. They were married in Kentucky, and five children were born to them in that State. Their children were Samuel, Lewis, David, Isaac, Henry, Joseph, Anna, Mahala and Rebecca. He assisted to lay out South Charleston in 1815.

Charles Paist was a native of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He married Abigail Perkins, of Wilmington, Ohio. He settled on the head- waters of

Green Tp

M a gio's Creek, on the Columbus and Xenia road, in 1S.15, and there built a store and carried on merchandising several years. He was the hrst merchant of Mad-

Township. He moved to South Charleston in 18*24, and there continued merchandising for some time. He served one term as Associate Judge of the (kart of Common Pleas, and was one of the leading Abolitionists of his time, Ix-iiig far in advance of the public sentiment of that day. The first anti-slavery address ever made in South Charleston was made from the porch of his residence, <<n Columbus street. He was a medley of contradictions, being a Democrat, a Quaker, an Abolitionist, and an ardent follower of Tom Paine. His children - Pane, William, Ch aides and Mary (Mrs. D. O. Heiskell) inherited the sterling qualities of the father. He died in 1358, aged sixty. His wife died the next year, aged fifty-eight.

Robert Houston was born in Scott County, Kentucky, April 1 1, 1800. At the age of twelve years, he came to Ohio with his parents. He studied medicine at Springfield. Ohio, and began the practice of his profession at South Charleston in July, 1821. He married Eliza Pearce November 25, 1822, and became the father of twelve children. lie continued the practice of medicine forty four years successively in this village. In 1865, he removed to Cham - rvion City. Ill-, where be died July 11, 1872, aged seventy -two years. He was an ardent Whig, a zealous Republican,' and tor nearly fifty years was a consistent and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Samuel Thomas and family came to Madison Township about 1814, where he remained until his death, in 1867, his wife dying in 1871- He was a native of Delaware, bom in 1785, and was married, in Warren County, Ohio, to Mary St. John, a native of NewT York, born in 1783. They had nine children, and their eldest child, John, is now residing in the township, at the age of seventytwo.

A Reminiscence

In 1828 or 1829, a debating society was held in s small brick sclioolhouse that stood very near the place where now stands the Methodist Episcopal Church. Capt. Brown was fond of debating, and was seldom absent from the meetings of the society. The subject of railroads and telegraphs wras just beginning to attract some attention in the Eastern States. Capt. Brown took up this theme one night, and, enlarging upon it, said the time was not far in the future when railroads would be laid all over the West; that one would reach from Cincinnati to Lake Erie which would not run far from the place where he stood. He added that men would yet travel fifteen miles an hour, and heavy burdens be pulled ove: these roads by steam power.

The Methodists were then in the dominance in the village. They, voted Capt. Brown a visionist, a castle-builder, and denounced his railroad theory as the rankest infidelity, and contrary to God's revealed word. They claimed that if God had intended his creatures to travel in the marvelous way spoken of, he would have foreshadowed it in the prophecies. Of those who were most outspoken in denouncing the Captain's theory, mention is made of John Mitton, Sarah Mitton, Eli Adams and wife, Susan Mitton, Joshua D. Truitt, Benjamin Truitt, James Woosley and his wife, John McCollum and wife, Asbury Houston and wife, Laughlin Kinney and wife, Horatio Murray and wife. No better nor more honored Christian people ever lived in Clark County than these above named; many of them lived to travel by railroad, and the news of the death of more than one of their number was flashed across the land by telegraph.

Reminiscence Of The Past

"In the year 1835, a man named Eastman, from one of the New England States, sent an appointment to address the people of South Charleston on the question of the abolition of slavery. At that time, there were barely a dozen souks in the village who sympathized with the anti-slavery movement. The existing political parties were alike indifferent, but the pulpit and the press had sounded a note of warning, which began to echo in the ears of a few Quakers here, and there. When Eastman arrived, he was met by a previously appointed committee, consisting of several of the best citizens of the place, who notified him that presence in the village was obnoxious to its citizens, and under no circumstances would the people consent that the slavery question should be discussed from the Abolitionist's standpoint.

14 Nlr. Eastman answered courteously that he was accustomed to such receptions, and that, notwithstanding the warning of the committee, he should certainly carry out the object of his visit and deliver his address; that he recognized a higher law than any statutory enactment, and that he feared God more than man. There was a good sclioolhouse and a church in the village, but had they been a thousand miles distant they would have served Eastman as well as now. Xo one dared to open the door of a public house to the agitator! But Charles Paist, a staid old Quaker, said. ; Thee may speak at my house,' and accordingly it was announced that the speaker would speak that evening from the porch of Charles Paist, on Columbus street. When the hour of the meeting arrived, the speaker found in front of him in the street a large crowd of men and boys whose demeanor meant trouble. They were all supplied with eggs, which had been provided by the merchants and grocers of the village, and nothing was better understood than that Eastman was to be egged. This was known by Eastman, and by Mr. and Mrs. Paist. So, when the speaking began. Mrs. Paist quietly took a position in front of the speaker, and so contrived, during the whole time of the speech, to shield Eastman from the egging that threatened him. Mrs. Paist was greatly esteemed, and no one dared throw an egg which would endanger her. At the conclusion of the speech, the speaker was conducted by a back way through a corn-field to the house of a man named Smith, where he was safe from the mob. The seed sown on this occasion took root. Twenty-one years later, when the Deputy Marshals of the United States, carrying off citizens of Champaign County under authority of the fugitive slave law, passed through the village of South Charleston, and by their overt acts set at defiance the local civil authorities. Judge Ichabod Corwin, by a strong antislavery speech in the street, enlisted the people in pursuit of the Marshal and his posse; the livery stock of the village was put at the disposal of the crowd; rifles, muskets, revolvers and other firearms were brought forth for use; the principal citizens joined in the pursuit, and were in at the capture of the Addison White rescuers."

South Charleston Agricultural Society

One of the first fair associations of Ohio, outside of Hamilton County, was organized at South Charleston in the fall of 1837, and the society held its first fair October 1(J and 20 of that year. The premiums offered to exhibitors ranged from 81 to 810, and aggregated 81 2-h Rowland Brown was President, and A. Waddle, Secretary. Among the exhibitors appear the names of Cyrus Reed, William Osborn, Silas Henkle, George Chamberlin, E. Hutton, Robert Houston, George Linson. Samuel Arthur, G. W. Sabin, Kendall Truitt, Jacob Landis, David Littlei, George Linson, Rowland Brown. James Woosley, James Johnson, Benjamin Moore, Francis Brock, J. W. Pope, Matthew Bonner. David Harrold, W. D. Pierce, A. Waddle, Benjamin Browning, John Watson. Innis Townsley, Jackson Jones, W. L. Warner, Eli Gummere, Milton Brown, Henry Bretney. 'b'mes H. Ryan, I«aac C. Dun, Milton Brown, Samuel Mormon, Mary LittJer and Hannah E. Pierce.

The Soldiers Of 1 86 1-05

Madison Township soldiers have a record of which her people may well lie proud. From that memorable day in April, 1861, when hostile traitor hands struck tlio old flag, and hostile batteries converged their murderous fires on Sumter, until the day of proud and lasting victory at Appomattox, the sons of Madison Township, with their lives and all they held dear, were at the service of the country and on the side of the Union. At the beginning of the war, their response was prompt, cheerful, practical. As months and years lengthened, the decimated ranks were filled by fresh and willing troops; and when the end came, there was scarcely a family in Madison Township that had not laid on the country's altar some costly sacrifice. From first to last, the township furnished 200 men. The greater number of these served in the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Forty- fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Ohio National Guards, Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Thirty -first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Eighth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Sixteenth Ohio Artillery, Seventeenth Ohio Artillery. While the men of the township contested the question of secession in the field, there was also an army of noble women at home, who bore no trifling part in the great contest. They never tired in their efforts to supply to the soldiers at the front many tokens of remembrance; the sick were supplied with innumerable delicacies, and the God of battles was continually appealed to that the right might triumph, and that the country might again emerge from the great contest purified by disaster and worthy of its great founder - Washington.

South Charleston Methodist Episcopal Church. - "The kingdom of God cometh not. with observation " is iust as true in the origin of religious societies in mod ern times as it was in the days of Christ, who was interrogated as to when the kingdom of God should come.

The first settlers of the neigborhood were chiefly from Virginia, Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania, who came to this county during the first fifteen years of the nineteenth century. Many of them had been converted and became Methodists in their former homes, and with them they brought the spirit of worship and the love of the church.

There being no places of public worship in the immediate vicinity, these people united to worship with a small society who met at the house of old Father Troxell, over the line in Madison County, live miles southeast of where South Charleston now is. Among these early settlers was Isaac Davisson, who, with his young wife and two children, settled in his new home, one mile east of South Charleston, in the spring of 1811. Their house was a log cabin of one room, and 'one story high, with puncheon floor and a door made of clapboards. The chimney was made of split sticks laid up in a mortar made of clay. The jambs and hearth were made of dried mortar; the house was lighted by a small opening through the wall, covered with oiled paper. This was the place where Methodism was to be cradled, and from which were to go forth influences to establish the church on a firm and lasting foundation. About the year 1814, two local preachers - AYilliam Irwin and Jonathan Minchell - were invited to preach here, and, accepting, they preached once in four weeks. The women would sit on the side of the bed, while the men found position on a flat rail supported by a chair at each end. The work grew. Prayer meetings were occasionally held at the houses of Jesse Ellsworth, J. Botkin and James Woosley, and thus for several years the seed was being sown, which, under God, was to produce a grand result. About 1817 or ISIS, Mr. Davisson built a house of hewed logy, of more ample dimensions than the first, and this house for several years following was the home of the church. In 1821 or 1822, South Charleston was placed on the plan of Paint Creek Circuit, and became a regular preaching- place for the itinerant ministry. Rev. Moses Trader is said to have been the first preacher in the place, and to have organized the first class in South Charleston. The 'folio wjjH.f-na.tned persons were members of the class:

Isaac Davisson (Leader). Sarah Davisson. Nancy Rowan, J. Ellsworth, wife and family, J. Botkin and wife, Eli Adams, the Creamer family, Mrs. Woosley, J. Mitton and family, P. Hedrick and wife, John and Elizabeth McCollum, Seth Saint John and wife, Nancy Pool and others. Preaching was continued at Mr. Davisson's house for ten years; the quarterly meetings were held here, the sacraments administered and enjoyed, and, besides this, more than one revival of religion occurred here, and results of lasting good followed.

In 1828, a frame church was erected near the site of the present one. It was 30x10 feet in size. In 1832, an addition of twenty feet was made, making the house 30x60; the pulpit was on the north side and the door on the south side, a stove in each end and a large drum in the. middle, before the pulpit. Wonderful work was done in this uncouth temple in the saving of souls and the. outpouring of the spirit. In 1834, a class called the " town class " was formed. It comprised the following-named members: Griffith Sweet (Leader) and wife, J. Asbury Houston (Leader) and wife, J. D. Truitt, Mary Truitt. Father Lott, wife and daughter, Elizabeth Bennett, Dr. R. Houston and wife, Mrs. Jane Houston, Joseph Houston, Mary Houston, Miss Jane Houston, Rev. Ed Williams and wife, Langlilin Kinney and wife, Elizabeth Janev and Ruth Janey. The first Sabbath school was organized in 1830, by Rev W. T. Snow; it met twice each Sabbath, and the preacher avowed that it should continue " as long as the sun, moon and stars should continue to shine."

In the years 1847 and 1848, the society erected the building now standing. It is of brick, large and commodious, with a lecture room and class room below, and a large audience room above. This building ought to be and is a monument to the faithful men and women of South Charleston who have been called from labor to reward. Of the numerous preachers who. in this expanse of Wears, have preached and labored with this people, let mention be made of Finley, Roberts, Gatch, John Collins, Russell Bigelow, W. H. Raper, Dr. Taylor, Frank Wilson, Dr. McCann and Jonathan E. Chaplin.

Many young men of the church have gone forth from here bearing the glad tidings to the world. Of these, let mention be made of James D. Webb. William I. Ellsworth, J. B. Ellsworth, Jesse Botkin, Charles B. Warrington and Jacob Pierce. Of the local ministers, Eli Adams, Abram Buckles, John Miskev and Richard Creamer had their training here and gave much fruitful labors to the church.

The society has had steady and permanent growth in years past, and now numbers nearly two hundred members. It maintains a vigorous Sabbath school. Rev. S. B. Smith, of the Cincinnati Conference, is its Pastor.

Wesley Chapel (Methodist Episcopal).- This extinct church was located nearly five miles east of Springfield, and was erected on a lot 120 feet square, donated by Absalom Foley, and deeded June 1, 1847. The building and nearly all who were wont to worship there have passed avray. The house was built of brick. Of those who contributed liberally to its erection, the names of William H. Harris. Absalom Foley, Henry Shugh. David Hayward, Griffin Moler and H. P. Harris are mentioned. The charge belonged to the Urbana District. Vienna Circuit. The house cost 81,400, and was dedicated by Rev. Grover. William H Harris served the society long and acceptably as Leader. Of the ministers who preached at Wesley Chapel, mention is made of "William I. Ellsworth, Bail, Swayne, Fields, Vance, Fleming, Mosgrove, Jackson, Dryden, Conrey, Keck, 8 token, Moler and others.

aSV. Chariot Borromco Catholic Church, South Charleston. - Tlio first Catholic settlement in this portion of Clark County was made in the fall of 1849, by the following-named persons, who came from Connecticut for the purpose of working on the Little Miami Railroad: Luke Hope, Bryan Conlan, William Dewit, Christopher Tuitte, James Quigley, Thomas Dolan, Jerry Murphy and Michael Lannon.

In the years 1850 and 1851, this colony received an addition as follows: Owen Riley, Daniel Hanifan. James Donahoe, Thomas Singleton, Thomas Cusack, Philip Smith, Michael Molan, Michael Can*, Daniel Sheehan, Patrick Booher. Patrick Quinn, Peter Mallon. Andrew Campion, Frank Tuitte, John Cusack Martin FaiTelh Owen Conroy. Martin Sweeney, Thomas Kinsella and Patrick Conway - nearly all of whom have since died or moved away, only eight of them, as far as can be ascertained, being still among the living.

In the next five years, the influx of Catholics was considerable, and it would now be almost impossible to give the names of all who came in those years. Suffice it to say that they came to stay, and many, if not most of them, are living, and those that are dead have descendants living in this vicinity.

in lo-oO. l ather Howard celebrated mass in the hotel which occupied the site of the present public school, this being the first service of the Catholic Church held in South Charleston.

In 1851, Father Thomas Blake, of Xenia, tool: charge of South Charleston Mission, saying his first mass at the house of Owen Riley; and from this time, services were held in different private houses, wherever most convenient.

About this period, the section house of the Little Miami Railroad was utilized for church purposes, and this was used until 1854, when Panllin's Hall served a similar purpose until early in 1866.

In he meantime, about 1858, Father Blake made arrangements to get the old Presbyterian Church, and held services there for about nine months, when the agreement was broken off and Paullin's Hall again became the Catholic place of worship.

In 1865, the lot upon which the present church stands was purchased from Dr. Houston for 8500, and ground was immediately broken for a new church.

In the fall of 1S65, the corner-stone was laid by the Rt. Rev. S. H. Rosecrans, then Coadjutor to the Archbishop, assisted by the clergy of Dayton, Springfield, Xenia and London. The building was finished early in 1866, and was dedicated by his Grace, J. B. Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati.

From 1866 up to the end of 1861. the Rev. John Conway, of London, attended to South Charleston, but early in 1868 the Rev. J. A. Maroney, of Springfield, took charge of this mission, and in 1872 became resident Pastor.

During his stay as Pastor, he completed the church, furnishing it with an altar, organ, pews and gallery; also bought house and lot, but, both being in his own name, were sold after he left South Charleston, which was in 1878, going to the Columbus Diocese, where he died in 1877, of consumption.

He was succeeded by the Rev. John J. Kennedy, who resided in London, and he was Pastor until November, 1878, when he was appointed to the Church of the Presentation, Walnut Hills, where he is yet.

October, 1871, when the Rev. William Grennan assumed the charge. He was a native of Ireland: spent many years in Buenos Ayres. South America, and in Mav, 1877, lie left this mission; remained a short time in Cincinnati, finally, in IS , vi, returning to South Charleston by way of Ireland, whither he went on a visit.

In June, 1877, the Rev. J. H. Rowekamp took charge of South Charleston Church, remaining until September, 1877, but, during his short stay, he built a new fence in front of pastoral residence.

He was bom in Cincinnati, educated at Mt. St. Wary's of that city, and ordained in May, 1873. His first appointment was Sidney, Ohio; his second, London; his third, Bradford Junction; his fourth, South Charleston; and his fifth, Six Mile, where he died in September, 1878.

The present Pastor, the Rev. C. M. Berding, was appointed to South Charleston in October, 1877; he was born in Heading, Hamilton Co., Ohio, February 5, 1853: began liis studies for the priesthood in the spring of 3 866, at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary, near Cincinnati, and was ordained December 18, 1875; was appointed Assistant Pastor of St. Raphael's, Springfield, where he remained twenty months, or until he became Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo's.

The church is 35x60, with a seating capacity of about three hundred and fifty, but tiie congregation numbers about five hundred and fifty souls, and is rapidly increasing; so the day is not far distant when a new church will be a necessity..

Since Father Berding came to South Charleston, he has paid off all debts which had accrued previous to his arrival; he has repaired the interior of the church, and remodeled the pastoral residence at a considerable outlay, and today the congregation is entirelv free from debt.

/South Charleston Presbyterian Church. - In the year 1822, this society had its original organization, Rev. William Dickey presiding. James Pringle, Sr., and David Wilson were elected Ruling Elders. At the same date, the following-named persons were received into the communion of the church, viz.: David Wilson, and Polly, his wife; James Rankin, and Margaret, his wife; Joseph Laird and his wife; Isaac Wilson and his wife; Jane Vance, Sarah Vance, James Pringle, and Sarah, his wife.

Not long after the organization, Rev. William Dickey administered baptism to the foil owing- named children : Thomas, Daniel 5'. and James, sons of James and Sarah Pringle. In 1824, William Dickey being Moderator, the session met and received, on examination. Martha Pratt, William Edgar and his wife; and soon after, Joseph Vance became a member. Previous to 1831, the ordinance of baptism was administered to John Edgar, Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, Mary Jane, Susanna, Joseph Colvin, Thurea and Elisha, sons and daughters of Joseph Vance; also Sarah P. and Mary E., daughters of David Wilson. In the year 1833, Nancy Waddle was received on certificate.

January 25, .1835, Rev. John S. Galloway as Moderator, and James Pringle Ruling Elder, the session received the application of John Heiskell, and Elizabeth. his wife. During this year, James Pringle, Jr., was chosen Clerk, in which position he served acceptably until the year 1858.

Clain preached to the society for a number of years. Mr. E. Edwards was Clerk for a time previous to 1861. On the 9th of March of that year, Milton Clark was elected to that office, and has filled it with ability ever since. Mr. Clark has held the position of Ruling Elder since 1862. James Pringle held the office of Ruling Elder from the organization of the society till his death, in 1867. He was a man of exemplary character, beloved and honored among men. James Pringle, Jr., was made a Ruling Elder in the year 1858, serving in that capacity until 1880, when, on account of continued ill-health, he was relieved.

Dr; Haight w as called in the year 1 859, and was the first resident Pastor of this church. Under his labors, the congregation took a new departure, and built their present house of worship. It is of brick, and was built at a cost of 85,000.

April 6, 1862, the congregation called Rev. N. S. Smith as Pastor. Bro. Smith accepted, but at the end of three months entered the Union army. He was succeeded in the pulpit by Rev. S. Jewett, temporarily. In August, IS 63, Bro. Smith returned and resumed his pastorsl labors. He was a man of remarkable activity in all labors of love - zealous, patient, pious. Under his labors the church prospered, and many were added to its membership. His wife w as an excellent Christian lady, well fitted to be the helpmeet of her husband, iii the )tiu IS 67, Ihc. Smith accepted, a call of a church in Ft. Wayne, Ind., greatly to the regret of his congregation here. On the 17th of August, 1867, the congregation called Rev. S. M. Schofield. His labors were full of good fruits; besides many being added to the church, the parsonage wuis built during his stay. He w as succeeded by Rev. - = - Thomas, who preached two years. In 1873, Rev. S. Kelsey was called. He remained four years, and, through his welldirected efforts, aided by those of his excellent wife, the church wras relieved of a burden of debt which for years had oppressed it. A spirit of harmony w as nurtured, the rich fruits of which were seen and felt on all hands.

Early in the history of the society, a Sabbath school w'as established. It has been continued from year to year w'ith good results. James Pringle, Jr., was Superintendent for several years. Rev. X. S. Smith served in this capacity long and well. George Shepherd w as the successor of Bro. Smith, and, in his peculiar style of usefulness, planted many seeds which have brought forth lasting good. He removed to Winchester, Ya., in 1869, followed' by many good w ishes by the community. J. M. Jones was chosen as successor of Mr. Shepherd, and, dining the past eleven years, has been earnest, efficient and faithful in his duties as Superintendent. During the same time, he has had the superintendency of a Sabbath school at Carthage, at which place he held Bible meetings a hundred nights in succession, resulting in the conversion of many. Miss Jennie Pringle served the church and Sabbath school as Organist and Chorister for more than twenty years, deserving to be named among those who labov for an imperishable reward. The membership numbers 125.

The Sabbath school of the society is organized as follows: J. M. Jones, Superintendent; William Ramsey. Assistant Superintendent; Secretary, James Hank; Treasurer, A. Comrie; Organist, Mrs. Jennie Jones.

The village of Selma is situated on the P. C. St. L. R. R., and in the extreme southwestern part of Madison Township. The State road, from Springfield to Hillsboro, crosses the Xenia & Columbus Pike at this place, Dr. Jesse Wilson, one of the early settlers, laid out the town in the year 1842; the lots are sixty feet front and 160 feet back. Dr.. Wilson was the first Postmaster of the village: the office was transferred from Oort svi lie to Selma in 1845.

Landis & White were probably the first merchants. W. G. Thorpe, in 1844, put up a storehouse and sold goods on the site now occupied by John Scanland. A. S. Ballard was connected with Thorpe in this enterprise.

The original society by this name was organized in 1822, and worshiped near the residence of Samuel C. Howell, three- fourths of a mile northeast of the village of Selma. Patience Sleeper was one of the first preachers. The records fail to give any very definite account of the early doings of the meeting, or of its membership, for the first four years. In 18*20, the society, here and elsewhere, on account of a question of doctrine, separated into two bodies: the one took upon itself the name " Orthodox, the other was afterward known as " Hicksites " - that is, followers of the doctrines as proclaimed by Elias Hicks.

Orthodox

This branch of the Green Plain Monthly Meeting of Friends left the Hicksites in possession of the meeting-house, and of whatever church property owned by the original society at the time of separation (1826), and, for lack of a meetinghouse. the residence of John Wildman was used for that purpose. Friend Wi 1dm an's house was one mile east of Selma. This branch, at the time of the separation, numbered 236 members. Following is a list of the fathers of the society, who, with their wives and children, were the principal members: Samuel Sleeper. Seth Williams, John Wildman, Cephas Atkinson, Thomas Atkinson, William Vickers. Thomas Embree, Levi Hutton, Jeremiah Warder, Thomas Lewis, Seth Smith, Jackson Allen.

On the 2Sth day of July. 1832, the meeting numbered 220 members. At this date, they determined to build a meeting-house, and thereupon they purchased for that purpose, of John Bocoek and Joshua Engle, one and a half acres of land near the village of Selma, and built thereon a frame church, 22x40 feet one story high, and with the customary partition. They worshiped here till the year 1871. when they built the house they now occupy. It is a brick structure, h >x52 feet, with vestibule front, and is of modern architecture. The cost of this house was 84,300. The present membership is 150. Jacob Baker is the present Pastor.

This branch of the Friends' Society had its origin with the original Green hlain Monthly Meeting, as elsewhere stated, in 1822. When the separation took place in 1826. this branch held the church property, the meeting-house being near the residence of Samuel Howell, three-fourths of a mile northeast of Selma. There is no record showing the strength of this branch when the society separated, but it is probable it was smaller than the branch known as the Orthodox.

They continued worshiping here till the year 1843. when on account of the agitation of the question of slavery, a division took place. A part of the society held extreme anti-slavery views, and a part were conservative; lienee the separation. The extremists held the church building for several years, and then became extinct, partly by their members joining with one or the. other branches of the original society, and partly by their joining other Christian denominations. The building, with the ground on which it stood, was abandoned. The conservative portion built a house of worship on the lands of Abel AY alter, a mile : vL.l. : t of the former one. completing it in March, 1844 ; their number at this time was 100. The church is of brick, 22x42 feet, and cost a cash out lay of $4! 5.06. The Building Committee was Thomas Merritt, Joshua Harrison, Isaac AYarner and Thomas Branson. The Title Trustees were John Ct. Oldham, Isaac Warner and Thomas Branson. Hannah P. AVilson and Ann Packer have preached to the society from time to time. The society now numbers nearly one hundred.

Selma Methodist Episcopal Church

Previous to the year 182S, the itinerant preachers of the Methodist Episcopal Church held occasional meetings at the houses of members of that church, who had settled in the country from other localities. Of these householders, mention is made of AYilliam Brooks, Isaiah Holloway and George Fox.

Out of this itinerant work grew an organized class, after the plan of John AYesley, and soon a society followed. The demand for a place to hold their meetings resulted in the building of " Brooks' Meeting- House " in 18 JO. It wras a he wed-log house, with a pulpit on the north side. The members at this time were not numerous, but they were full of zeal and good works. AYilliam Brooks and wrife, J. Holloway and wife. David King and wife, Abram Hyers and wife, Nancy Fox, Cornelius Hill, Catherine Marshall, Alary Murphy, and others, were of the original membership. Nearly all these were faithful men and women, and were instrumental in giving life, stability and character to the church of their choice. Brooks' Aleeting-House continued to be a regular preaching-place for a quarter of a century. Here, in 1837, a remarkable revival of religion, under the Bev. Reed, occurred, lasting the greater part of the winter and resulting in the conversion of many souls. Of this number was John AI. AYhite, who, in after years, became a noted preacher of the church. The society was favored in these years by the preaching of Samuel Clark, Joshua Boucher, E. B. Chase, and many other worthy men of this denomination. About the year 1842, the church became divided on the question of slavery, many of the members holding extreme anti-slavery sentiments, and nearly an equal number holding conservative views. The extremists withdrew and formed themselves into a so cietv at Cortsville, in the adjoining township, calling themselves AYesleyan Methodists. Those who remained were Catherine Marshall. Thomas Berry, David Fox, Elenor Baldwin, Cornelius Hill and Alary Alurphy.

The evil results of this separation were seen and felt for many years. In the year 1S55, the society built the " Gravel Church," which still stands on the site of the old Brooks' Aleeting-House. The Gravel Church was formally dedi - cated by Granville Aloody.

In the building of this church. Revs. AYesley Denit and T. Collett took a lively interest. Among the numerous Pastors who have tilled this' pulpit were Levi AAdiite. John G. Black, AYilliam Simmons, Andrew Alurphy, Joseph Newsom Allen AY. Tibbets, J. Arerity. 4. B. Ellsworth, David AYliitmer, Stephen F. Coney, H. Stokes, Al. P. Zink, J. L. Gregg and \Y. Q. Shannon. The charge belongs to Xeuia District, Jamestown Circuit, Cincinnati Conference. Since 1864, an interesting Sabbath school has been sustained during the summer months; average attendance, fifty.

Stewards, N. C. Kerslmer, Albert Negus; Sunday school Supeiutendent, Albert Negus; Class-Leaders, John Nelson, Albert Negus. The membership at present is about forty.

Green Plain Band Of Hope

An organization with the above name was effected at Selma April 3, 1873. Its object \uts to cultivate- among the young to talk abstinence from the use of intoxicating drinks, tobacco and profanity. The society was divided into two elasses - adult and juvenile. The officers were a Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent Secretary and Treasurer; also, an Executive Committee of three.

The constitution provided a pledge, as rollows: "I hereby solemnly pledge mvsolf to abstain from the use of all intoxicating drinks, including wine, beer and hard cider, as a beverage, the use of tobacco in every form, and from all profanity."

The officers of the adult organization were at lirst as follows; Superintendent, William AVildman; Assistant Superintendent, Daniel Lawrence ; Secretary, Eliza AVildman; Treasurer, Rebecca Parker; Executive Committee, Oliver Smith, E. AL Smith and Hannah Lawrence.

The juvenile department of the band was organized as follows: President. Alford Thorne; Vice Presidents, Eva Roadamer, Nettie Crampton and Lida Smith; Assistant Secretary, Maggie W. Hannabery: Treasurer. Thomas Thorne; Usher, Seth Atkinson. This society met each month. The exercises were held m public, and consisted of Scriptural readings, devotion, essays, declamations, discussions, music, etc., etc.

For the several years following its organization, the band held stated meetings, and its teachings and influence were beyond computation, molding and fashioning many a young heart in the better wav. In August, 1878. the band held its last meeting, so far as the record shows.

The colored Methodists of Selma organized a society in 1870. by the instrumentality of John Janitor and J. Underwood. They held occasional preaching at the schoolhouse and other places before building a house of worship.

A frame house costing 81,000 was built by this society in 1875. The principal contributors to the building fund were Airs. Perry Larkins, Airs, Alatlock, Nimrod Gibson, AYilliam Nickens, Levi Atkinson, John Scanland and E. Hollingsworth. At that time, the society numbered thirty members.

The Pastors who have served the church since its organization have been William Johnson, Edward Taylor, James Ross, Benjamin Combash and John Hammond. A vigorous Sabbath school is maintained the year round - John AIc- Uarrel, Superintendent - and the society promises well for the future.

The Underground Railroad

As early as 1830, the agitation of the subject of human slavery stirred up die people of Selma. Parts of the Quaker and Alethodist Churches of the village were particularly bitter in their opposition to any measure that tended to fa'-or the peculiar institution of the States of the South. This sentiment grew In strength and bitterness as years increased, until both the Alethodist Episcopal Hud the Hicksite Quaker Churches suffered disruption on its account. But the extremists never faltered. They were not outlaws; hut they recognized no human law which made them tools to capture and carry back to bondage the fugitive human chattel of an inhuman master. For many years they labored ail,l suffered for those in bonds, as bound with them. For many years they l>o\ved in Christian love before God, and prayed for an oppressed people. With an unwavering faith and a tireless energy, they worked in fraternal union for the freedom and enfranchisement of their despised colored brethren, and shared to- gethcr the odium attached to the name of Abolitionist, and, though many of them died before the dawning of the day of jubilee, they left to their descendants a legacy of daring devotion to a cause which redeemed the land from the curse of slavery, though with the atoning blood of many a battle-field.

For many years preceding the outbreak of the rebellion of 1861, Selma was known as a station of the underground railroad. This fact was nearly as well known in Kentucky and Canada as in Ohio. Slaves escaping from their masters in Kentucky were, by a succession of night drives, or by weary nights on foot, brought by parties further south to this point on the route. Here they waited only long enough to change the manner of travel, or to make some neces sary preparation for the remainder of the journey to Canada, and again were off in the direction of Mechanicsburg, Springfield or Marysville. The agents and employes of the route were well organized; their trips were made on time, their trains seldom collided, and, during many years of active business, no article of freight was ever lost. The road has gone down for lack of business. The descendants of Thomas Borton, William Thorne, Isaac Newcomb, Daniel Wilson, Joseph A. Dugdale, Bichard Wright and Press ly Thomas have no reason to blush at the mention of the daring deeds of their heroic fathers in connection with the history of the underground railroad.

South Charleston

The village of South Charleston was founded by Conrad Critz on the 1st day of November, 1815. The original plat contains eight squares of four lots each, and was surveyed by John T. Stewart-.

" Surveyed for Conrad Critz the foregoing platted town in Madison County, Stokes Township, described as -follows: Columbus street runs north, sixty-one degrees east, crossing Chillicothe street at right angles. Chillicothe street runs south, twenty-nine degrees east. Given under my hand this 1st day of November, A. D. 1815. - John T. Stewart."

The affidavit of Conrad Critz in acknowledgment of the above was made before John Kelso, a Justice of the Peace of said Stokes Township, and is dated January 18, 1816.

Clement- Stickley conducted a tannery on the western suburbs, near the residence of Henry Wilkinson, about 1825. The early settler remembers a large pond that extended from the present site of the post office to and beyond the Town Hail. It was a fine place for duck- shooting. An unpretentious schoolhouse4 was built near the present residence of Dr. Barnwell. It was 12x18 feet in size, and constructed after the plan of that day. Here Christopher Lightfoot dispensed the rudiments of education, and the generation whose footprints have since marked the sands of time conned dull lessons.

The building of the P. C. A St. L. B. B.. in 1848, gave new and lasting impetus to the business interest of the then little village, and from that day to the present it has enjoyed a fair share of prosperity.

Of the old residents in and about the village, and who were connected with its history and early growth, the names of David Vance, John Briggs, Nathan Low, James Pringle, Sr., Isaac Davisson, Jesse Ellsworth. Jeremiah Bodkin, Samuel Thomas, Seth Saint John and John McCollum appear as most prominent. Population -1850, 418; 1860,516; 1870,818; 1880,088.

In December, 1863, the First National Bank of South Charleston was organized. L. AY. Haughey being elected President and Milton Clark Cashier, this in- , doing a good business until March 24. 1877, at which date it surrendered its charter and continued as a private bank, under the name of the Bank of South Charleston, John Rankin becoming President and Mr. Clark still holding the position of Cashier. In 1871, a few of the more enterprising moneyed men of the town erected a large, commodious building for a hotel, which is called the Ackley House, in honor of one of the projectors who was most prominent in the movement. The P. C. & St. L. and Springfield Southern Railroads pass through South Charleston, giving good facilities to shippers. The town lias also a live newspaper - the South Charleston Republican - published by Rice A Yanmetre, which is a newsy sheet, and wields its influence for good.

South Charleston Official Directory Secret Societies

Clark Lodge . No. 166, I. 0. 0. F ., South Charleston. - Was chartered July 18, 1S50. The charter members were John A. Skinner, Pressly Jones, Isaac P. Paist, Daniel Smith, William Paist, Jr., Michael Lidigh, William L. Warner.

The original officers were: R. S. Fulton, C. P.; George It. Armstrong, H. P- ; William Watson, S. AY.; S. B. Hoadly, J. AY.; Edward Rott, Scribe; Darwin Pierce, Treasurer.

Fielding Lodge. No. 102, A F.ii'A.M., South Charleston. - Chartered October 1J, 1850. The original petitioners were John A. Skinner, E. \V. Steele, Alex

South Charleston Cemetery

This beautiful resting-place of the dead is situated a short distance from the village, and nearly north. It was purchased by the Town Council in September. 1855, and is under the care of a Superintendent. The lot contains eight acres, and was purchased of T. Mattinson and George Murray for $800. The location is a very desirable one, and the whole is inclosed by a neat and subetanial fence. The lot is platted into lots of convenient size, and the greater part of the walks and drives is properly graded and graveled, while numerous ornamental trees help to adorn and beautify the place, evincing taste and affec- Li oil Oii. me piii t Ot iiit* li \ iiig. miierous a £ i ... Ox maiole and gran ice mark the resting-places of the departed of all ages, while here and there rests the body of one who gave his life that the country might live. To these, affection has recounted, on marble tablets, how nobly they fought and how heroically they fell ; and here, when the joyousness of springtime comes to gladden the earth with flowers, the people meet, and, with twining leaves and flowers, bedeck the graves of those upon whose deeds the nation has built a proud history.

STATISTICS OF THE SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT OF SOUTH CHARLESTON. IN MADISON TOWNSHIP, CLARK COUNTY, OHIO, FOR THE' YEAR ENDING AUGUST 31, 1880.

Number of schoolliouses. 2; number of schoolrooms, 8; value of school property, $13,300; number of teachers employed, 8; prices paid teachers - gentlemen, $94; ladies, $38.

Rate of taxation in mills, 3.3; pupils enrolled during the year - boys, 122; girls, 159; total, 284; average mouthy enrollment, 255; average daily attendance, 240.

Number of pupils in each branch of study - alphabet, 42; reading, 281; spelling, 281: writing, 201; arithmetic, 261; geography, 167; English grammar, 87: oral lessons, 150; composition, 87; map-drawing, 50; United States history, 60; physiology, 9; physical geography, 30; natural philosophy, 11? algebra, 35; Latin, 9.

Number of subdistricts. 6; houses built during the year, 1; cost, $1,442; number of schoolrooms, 8; total value of school property, $8,000; average wages paid teachers - gentlemen, $45; ladies, $45; rate of school tax (mills), 2. t;

Source changes here: from The History of Clark County Ohio,, by Various, published 1881; 69,014 words in this source stream.

Madison Township

Madison Township occupies a position in the southeast part of the county, and is bounded north by Harmony Township, east by Madison County, south by Greene County and west by Green Township. Its width from north to south is five and a half miles, and its average length from east to west is'seven and twosevenths miles. Its area is forty and one-fourteenth square miles, containing 20,000 aeres. Some of this territory was originally a part of Madison County, from which its name is taken, and, previous to 1819, it was called Vance Township. When and for what reason the name was changed does not appear on the records, but it retained the name of Vance for about two years after the formation of Clark County. It is reasonable that the original name came from a family of that name who were of the earliest and most prominent settlers.

The lands of Madison Township are, for the greater part, Military lands, and lie south of the Little Miami River and east of Ludlow's line. This line has its southern terminus at the source of the Little Miami, in the northeastern part of the township. The value of real estate in 1850 was $335,962; in 1860, it was $624,026; in 1870, $984,410; in 1880, $1,069,462.

The Little Miami River has its source in the northeastern part of the township, and flows westerly. Massie's Creek rises in the southeastern part of the township, flows southwesterly. Willow Branch, in the southwestern part of the

South Charleston is the principal town, and is situated near the center of the township, at the crossing of the P. C. & St. L. R. R, and the Springfield Southern Railroad. It contains three churches - Methodist Episopal, Presbyterian and Catholic. The Union School building, Town Hall and the Ackley House are publie buildings deserving mention. i

Selma is a small village in the extreme southwestern part of the township, five miles from South Charleston, on the P. C. & St. L. R. R. It contains good society and has a fine school building with three departments. The Orthodox Friends, American Methodist Episcopal and Methodist Episcopal religious societies have each an organization and a house of worship. The Hicksite branch of the Friends' Society have a church in the vicinity. Selma, in ante-bellum days, was a noted station of the underground railroad.

From the records, it would appear that the township of Madison was made up of territory taken in part from Greene Counw and in part from Madison County, but the exact extent of each section cannot be accurately stated. The record of*the County Commissioners reads:

"April 25, 1818. - Ordered by the board that as much of that part taken from the county of Greene and now comprised within the said county of Clark, and formerly known by the name of Vance Township, be a separate and distinct township, and it is hereby organized into a separate and disinct township, to be known by the name of Vance Township."

* Beginning on the north boundary of the 8th Range, on the line dividing the eounties of Madison and Clark; thence south with said line to the southeast corner of said county of Clark; thence westwardly with the south boundary of Clark County to the east line of Green Township; thence north with said east line of Green Township to the north boundary of the 8th Range; thence east with said range line to the beginning. And the election for township officers shall be holden on the 19th day of September nex*, at the house of George Searlort, in Charleston."

The inhabitants of Madison Township are principally to the manor born. The original settlers were from Virginia and Kentucky, with a few from other States.

The Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers and Catholics have well-organized Societies. Infidelity and skepticism have found little root and less fruit. Schools flourish and the child of this day without a practical education has despised the offered opportunities.

Agriculture is the leading pursuit. Wheat, corn, oats, hay, potatoes and fruit are the main products of the land. Stock-raising receives much attention, and some of the foremost and most prominent breeders of fine cattle, sheep, horses and swine within Clark County are residents of Madison Township. Riha timber of the township is of good quality, and of sufficient quantity for practical purposes. Oak, ash, hickory and elm are the principal kinds of timber. The early settlers found very little timber here in the beginning of the nineteenth century, and therefore the timber found now is mainly the growth of the present century. Previous to the settlement of the land by the whites, the Indians annually fired the long grass which covered the country. This they did to facilitate hunting, and the result was the almost entire destruction of the small growth of timber. The surface of the country is generally level, but it is sufficienty rolling to make drainage by artificial means practically cheap and easy.

The records at hand are at fault to show who were the early officials and their succession in office. Between the years 1516 and 1855, the followingnamed citizens served in various official capacities: William Holloway, Robert Phares. Isaac Vandeventer. Adam Peters. Thomas Green, P. Sellers, John Kelso, James Wilson. Charles T. Arthur, Simon Armstrong, John Mitton, Rees Ellis, James Woosley. William Smith. Enoch Wilkins, Calvin Hale, John Curtice, Robert F. Evans, P. Hedrick, Francis Crispin, Gilbert Pierce, Clement Shockley, Samuel Briggs, Joseph Briggs, Isaac Dalyrimple, Jesse Ellsworth, William Beauchamp, John Reed, Rowland Brown, Seth Saint John, David Wilson, Eulass Ball, Isaiah Hunt, Jesse Griffith, William L. Warner, Greenfield Dooley, Christopher Fox, John B. Madden. Absalom Mattox, E. H. Broadbury, John Packer, Gregory Bloxsom, Cephas Atkinson. Matthew Crispin, George Bennett, John W. Johnson, Charles Paist, David Morgan, Epaminondas Hutton, G. W. Jones, Jacob Critz, George Hempleman. Jefferson Nagley, D. V. Pringle, Joshua D. Truitt, Griffith F. Sweet. T. F. Houston, Calderwood Hill, John Rankin. Washington Buffenberger.

1816, September 14 - Peter Monahan and Richard Baldwin were elected Constables of Vance Township, and Alexander Ross was a Constable at the same time, having been elected the previous April.

1818, April - James Pringle gave bond as Constable of Vance Township "and part of Stokes attached to Vance." Bond, $500, " current money of the State of Ohio."

1819, October 25 - James Donaldson, having been appointed Constable of Madison Township, gave bond in the sum of $500, "good and lawful money of the United States." Charles T. Arthur was Treasurer at this date.

Ne September 15 - Lewis Hedrick, Supervisor of District No. 5, bond, 1855, October 22 - W. D. Pierce, Supervisor of District No. 9, bond $100. 1848, January 6 - Joseph A. Houston, Justice of the Peace, bond, $1,000. 1844, December 20 - A. Waddle appointed by Mordecia Bartley, thirteenth

The original roads seem to have been laid out regardless of section lines and cardinal points of the compass. The exceptions to this statement are few, and this fact mars the shape of many of the finest farms of Madison Township.

The West Jefferson, South Charleston & Xenia Turnpike was built by a stock company about the year 1844. The Springfield & South Charleston Pike was finished in 1866, The Charleston, West Jefferson & Washington Pike was finished in 1868. The average cost of these improved roads is put down at $2,000 per mile.

Of The Early Settlers

The early settlers of Madison Township, like the pioneers of other parts of the great State of Ohio, were a peculiar people, and seemed providentially designed for their parts in life's great drama. They were men and women of rude and unpolished manners, yet they were not lacking in the nobler qualities that fitted them to become the antecedents of a more polished civilization. The following brief mention is made of some of these families, who, braving the privations of frontier life, laid the foundations of society, on which their descendants have built and flourished:

George Buffenberger was a Virginian. He and family came to Ohio and settled in Madison Township as early as 1807, locating on the head-waters of the Little Miami. He owned a large tract of valuable land, raised a large family of children, and was characterized as the most eccentric man of his generation. He possessed great wealth, yet was careless, and often shabby in his dress, and defied the ordinary customs of civilized life.

Christopher Lightfoot was a man of fine education, and a Scotchman. He settled where William Watson now lives, south of the Little Miami depot, some years before South Charleston was laid out, and was one of the prejectors of that village. He was a school-teacher and surveyor.

Elijah Pratt was probably the first physician of Madison Township. He was practicing as early as 1818. He lived northeast of South Charleston. He was from New England.

John Kolso was among the first Justices of the Peace of the township. He lived on the Jamestown road, on lands now owned by Paullin's heirs. He reared a large family of children, all of whom are non-residents of the township.

William Holloway was an early settler near Selma, on the MeDorman farm. He was a Quaker, and for many years filled the office of Justiee of the Peace creditably.

William Willis was an old and devout Quaker, and kept a hotel two miles west of South Charleston, on the State road from Xenia to Columbus, where Caleb Harrison lives. This place, being on the commonly traveled road from Cincinnati to Columbus, it was widely known, and was a favorite stopping-place for the distinguished men of the early times. Between the years 1830 and 1840, while Tom Corwin was a member of Congress, and was compelled to reach the national Capital on horseback, he made this hotel a regular stopping-place. He was sometimes accompanied by Henry Clay, of Kentucky, on similar trips, and the high old times had at the " Old Willis Hotel" by these distinguished guests often tried the patience of the quiet host. The house, a one-story log building of three rooms, still stands.

Mungo Murray was a Scotchman, and located on Section 12, on the northern border of the township,in 1817. His sons, James, George and Peter, were gentlemen of rare business qualifications. The last named built the " Murray House," of Springfield, and was at one time one of the foremost of the business men of that city. The elder Murray died in August, 1830, at the age of fiftyfive years.

John McCollum was a native of Virginia. He settled two miles south of South Charleston in 1814, on the farm now owned by D. V. Pringle. He was twice married. By the second marriage he became the father of eight children - Rebecca, Henry, John, Alvira, Evaline, Minerva, Seth O. and Russell B. He died in 1848, aged seventy-three; his wife died in December, 1871, aged eightyseven.

David Vance was a Kentuckian. He settled in Madison Township in 1808 or 1809, one mile west of South Charleston, the farm now owned by James Pringle. He was a cousin of Joseph Vance, tenth Governor of Ohio. His sons - Ephraim, John, Daniel, Joseph, Elijah and Elisha - were worthy citizens. The last two were twins.

James Pringle, Sr., came from Kentucky and settled in Madison Township in 1812, on Section 16, now owned by D. O. Heiskell His wife was a Vance. They raised a large family of children, who in after years filled well their several stations in life. Their sons were Thomas, David, William and James. Mr. Pringle died in August, 1867, aged eighty-four.

Isaac Davisson, about 1810, settled a short distance east of South Charleston. He married Sarah Curl in 1808. His father, Isaac Davisson, Sr., was an early settler of Warren County. Isaac, Jr., and his bride, made their wedding tour on horseback, Mrs. Davisson using a feather-bed for a side-saddle. "They passed through Springfield on their way from Todd's Fork, in Warren Couuty, to their new home, near Catawba. At this time, Springfield had but a few houses, and these were in the brush. After spending the first three years of their married life in Pleasant Township, they located in Madison, as stated. He purchased fifty acres of land, and in time added several hundred acres to his estate. He was of Methodistie stock, as well as his wife, and, in the years that followed their coming to the neighborhood, the early preachers held meetings in their humble cabin, and to the end of his days his devotion to the Master and his zeal for the church never waned. His wife still lives, and has passed the ninetieth milestone in the eventful race of life. They raised a large family of children; twelve of these lived to become married; they were William, Obadiah, Lemuel, Mary, Elizabeth, Nancy, Sarah J., Margaret, Julia Ann, Maria, James G. and Daniel.

Phillip Hedrick and his wife (Foley) settled on the north bank of the Little Miami in 1811, on the farm now owned by K. P. Truitt. Mr. Hedrick was a Kentuckian; his wife, a Virginian. He bought 600 acres of land at $1.25 per acre. The husband and wife died in 1838 and 1825 respectively. They were married in Kentucky, and five children were born to them in that State. Their children were Samuel, Lewis, David, Isaae, Henry, Joseph, Anna, Mahala and Rebecca. He assisted to lay out South Charleston in 1815.

Charles Paist was a native of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He married Abigail Perkins, of Wilmington, Ohio. He settled on the head-waters of

Green Tp

Massie's Creek, on the Columbus and Xenia road, in 1815, and there built a store and carried on merchandising several years. He was the first merchant of Madison Township. He moved to South Charleston in 1824, and there continued merchandising for some time. He served one term as Associate Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and was one of the leading Abolitionists of his time, being far in advance of the public sentimeut of that day. The first anti-slavery address ever made in South Charleston was made from the porch of his residence, on Columbus street. He was a medley of contradictions, being a Democrat, a Quaker, an Abolitionist, and an ardent follower of Tom Paine. His children - Isaac, William, Charles and Mary (Mrs. D. O. Heiskell) inherited the sterling qualities of the father. He died in 1858, aged sixty. His wife died the next year, aged fifty-eight.

Robert Houston was born in Scott County, Kentucky, April 11, 1800. At the age of twelve years, he came to Ohio with his parents. He studied medicine at Springfield, Ohio, and began the practice of his profession at South Charleston in July, 1821. He married Eliza Pearce November 25, 1822, and became. the father of twelve children. He continued the practice of medicine forty-four years successively in this village. In 1865, he removed to Champaign City, Ill., where he died July ll, 1872, aged seventy-two years. He was an ardent Whig, a zealous Republican, and for nearly fifty years was a consistent and useful member of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

Samuel Thomas and family came to Madison Township about 1814, where he remained until his death, in 1867, his wife dying in 1871. He was a native of Delaware, born in 1785, and was married, in Warren County, Ohio, to Mary St. John, a native of New York, born in 1783. They had nine children, and their eldest child, John, is now residing in the township, at the age of seventytwo.

A Reminiscence

In 1828 or 1829, a debating society was held in s small brick schoolhouse that stood very near the place where nowstands the Methodist Episcopal Church. Capt. Brown was fond of debating, and was seldom absent from the meetings of the society. The subject of railroads and telegraphs was just beginning to attract some attention in the Eastern States. Capt. Brown took up this theme one night, and, enlarging upon it, said the time was not far in the future when railroads would be laid all over the West; that one would reach from Cincinnati to Lake Erie which would not run far from the place where he stood. He added that men would yet travel fifteen miles an hour, and heavy burdens be pulled over these roads by steam power.

The Methodists were then in the dominance in the village. They voted Capt. Brown a visionist, a castle-builder, and denounced his railroad theory as the rankest infidelity, and contrary to God's revealed word. They claimed that if God had intended his creatures to travel in the marvelous way spoken of, he would have foreshadowed it in the prophecies. Of those who were most outspoken in denouncing the Captain's theory, mention is made of John Mitton, Sarah Mitton, Eli Adams and wife, Susan Mitton, Joshua D. Truitt, Benjamin Truitt, James Woosley and his wife, John McCollum and wife, Asbury Houston and wife, Laughlin Kinney and wife, Horatio Murray and wife. No better nor more honored Christian people ever lived in Clark County than these above named; many of them lived to travel by railroad, and the news of the death of more than one of their number was flashed across the land by telegraph.

Reminiscence Of The Past

"In the year 1835, a man named Eastman, from one of the New England States, sent an appointment to address the people of South Charleston on the question of the abolition of slavery. At that time, there were barely a dozen souls in the village who sympathized with the anti-slavery movement. The existing political parties were alike indifferent, but the pulpit and the press had sounded a note of warning, which began to echo in the ears of a few Quakers here and there. When Eastman arrived, he was met by a previously appointed committee, consisting of several of the best citizens of the place, who notified him that his presence in the village was obnoxious to its citizens, and under no circumstances would the people consent that the slavery question should be discussed from the Abolitionist's standpoint.

" Mr. Eastman answered courteously that he was accustomed to such receptions, and that, notwithstanding the warning of the committee, he should certainly earry out the object of his visit and deliver his address; that he recognized a higher law than any statutory enactment, and that he feared God more than man. There was a good schoolhouse and a church in the village, but had thev been a thousand miles distant they would have served Eastman as well as now. No one dared to open the door of a publie house to the agitator! But Charles Paist, a staid old Quaker. said, 'Thee may speak at my house,' and accordingly it was announced that the speaker would speak that evening from the porch of Charles Paist, on Columbus street. When the hour of the meeting arrived, the speaker found in front of him in the street a large crowd of men and boys whose demeanor meant trouble. They were all supplied with eggs, which had been provided by the merchants and grocers of the village, and nothing was better understood than that Eastman was to be egzed. This was known by Eastman, and by Mr. and Mrs. Paist. So, when the speaking began, Mrs. Paist quietly took a position in front of the speaker, and so contrived, during the whole time of the speech, to shield Eastman from the egging that threatened him. Mrs. Paist was greatly esteemed, and no one dared throw an egg which would endanger her. At the conclusion of the speech, the speaker was conducted by a back way through a corn-field to the house of a man named Smith, where he was safe from the mob. The seed sown on this occasion took root. Twenty-one years later, when the Deputy Marshals of the United States, carrying off citizens of Champaign County under authority of the fugitive slave law, passed through the village of South Charleston, and by their overt acts set at defiance the local civil authorities, Judge Ichabod Corwin, by a strong antislavery speech in the street, enlisted the people in pursuit of the Marshal and his posse; the livery stock of the village was put at the disposal of the erowd; rifles, muskets, revolvers and other firearms were brought forth for use; the principal citizens joined in the pursuit, and were in at the capture of the Addison White rescuers."

South Charleston Agricultural Society

One of the first fair associations of Ohio, outside of Hamilton County, was organized at South Charleston in the fall of 1837, and the society held its first fair October 19 and 20 of that vear. The premiums offered to exhibitors ranged from $1 to $10, and aggregated 3124. Rowland Brown was President, and A. Waddle. Secretary. Among the exhibitors appear the names of Cyrus Reed, William Osborn, Silas Henkle, George Chamberlin, E. Hutton, Robert Houston, George Linson, Samuel Arthur, G. W. Sabin, Kendall Truitt, Jacob Landis, David Littler, George Linson, Rowland Brown, James Woosley, James Johnson,

The Soldiers Of 1861-69

Madison Township soldiers have a record of which her people may well be proud. From that memorable day in April. 1861, when hostile traitor hands struck the old flag, and hostile batteries converged their murderous fires on Sumter, until the day of proud and lasting victory at Appomattox, the sons of Madison Township, with their lives and all they held dear, were at the service of the country and on the side of the Union. At the beginning of the war, their response was prompt, cheerful, practical. As months and years lengthened, the decimated ranks were filled by fresh and willing troops; and when the end came, there was scarcely a family in Madison Township that had not laid on the country's altar some costly sacrifice. From first to last, the township furnished 200 men. The greater number of these served in the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Forty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, One Hundred and Forty-sixth Ohio National Guards, Forty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Thirty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Eighth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, Sixteenth Ohio Artillery, Seventeenth Ohio Artillery. While the men of the township contested the question of secession in the field, there was also an army of noble women at home, who bore no trifling part in the great contest. They never tired in their efforts to supply to the soldiers at the front many tokens of remembrance; the sick were supplied with innumerable delicacies, and the God of battles was continually appealed to that the right might triumph, and that the country might again emerge from the great contest purified by disaster and worthy of its great founder - Washington.

South Charleston Methodist Episcopal Church. - " The kingdom of God cometh not with observation " is just as true in the origin of religious societies in modern times as it was in the days of Christ, who was interrogated as to when the kingdom of God should come.

The first settlers of the neigborhood were chiefly from Virginia, Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania, who came to this county during the first fifteen years of the nineteenth century. Many of them had been converted and became Methodists in their former homes, and with them they brought the spirit of worship and the love of the church.

There being no places of public worship in the immediate vicinity, these people united to worship with a small society who met at the house of old Father Troxell, over the line in Madison County, five miles southeast of where South Charleston now is. Among these early settlers was Isaac Davisson, who, with his young wife and two children, settled in his new home, one mile east of South Charleston, in the spring of 1811. "Their house was a log cabin of one room, and one story high, with puncheon floor and a door made of clapboards. The chimney was made of split sticks laid up in a mortar made of clay. The jambs and hearth were made of dried mortar; the house was lighted by a small opening through the wall, covered with oiled paper. "This was the place where Methodism was to be cradled, and from which were to go forth influences to establish the church on a firm and lasting foundation. About the year 1814, two local preachers - William Irwin and Jonathan Minchell - were invited to preach here, and, accepting, they preached once in four weeks. The women would sit on the side of the bed, while the men found position on a flat rail supported by a chair at each end. The work grew. Prayer meetings were oceasionally held at the houses of Jesse Ellsworth, J. Botkin and James Woosley, and thus for several years the seed was being sown, which, under God, was to produce a grand result. About 1817 or 1818, Mr. Davisson built a house of hewed logs, of more ample dimensions than the first, and this house for several years following was the home of the church. In 1821 or 1822, South Charleston was placed on the plan of Paint Creek Circuit, and became a regular preaching-place for the itinerant ministry. Rev. Moses Trader is said to have been the first preacher in the place, and to have organized the first class in South Charleston. The following-named persons were members of the class:

Isaac Davisson (Leader), Sarah Davisson, Nancy Rowan, J. Ellsworth, wife and family, J. Botkin and wife, Eli Adams, the Creamer family, Mrs. Woosley, J. Mitton and family, P. Hedrick and wife, John and Elizabeth McCollum, Seth Saint John and wife, Nancy Pool and others. Preaching was continued at Mr. Davisson's house for ten years; the quarterly meetings were held here, the sacraments administered and enjoyed, and, besides this, more than one revival of religion occurred here, and results of lasting good followed.

In 1828, a frame church was erected near the site of the present one. It was 30x40 feet in size. In 1832, an addition of twenty feet was made, making the house 30x60; the pulpit was on the north side and the door on the south side, a stove in each end and a large drum in the middle, before the pulpit. Wonderful work was done in this uncouth temple in the saving of souls and the outpouring of the spirit. In 1834, a class called the "town class" was formed. It comprised the following-named members: Griffith Sweet (Leader) and wife, J. Asbury Houston (Leader) and wife, J. D. Truitt, Mary Truitt, Father Lott, wife and daughter, Elizabeth Bennett, Dr. R. Houston and wife, Mrs. Jane Houston, Joseph Houston, Mary Houston, Miss Jane Houston, Rev. Ed Williams and wife, Laughlin Kinney and wife, Elizabeth Janey and Ruth Janey. The first Sabbath school was organized in 1830, by Rev W. T. Snow; it met twice each Sabbath, and the preacher avowed that it should continue " as long as the sun, moon and stars should continue to shine."

In the years 1847 and 1848, the society erected the building now standing. It is of brick, large and commodious, with a lecture room and class room below, and a large audience room above. This building ought to be and is a monument to the faithful men and women of South Charleston who have been called from labor toreward. Of thenumerous preachers who, in this expanse of years, have preached and labored with this people, let mention be made of Finley, Roberts, Gatch, John Collins, Russell Bigelow, W. H. Raper, Dr. Taylor, Frank Wilson, Dr. McCann and Jonathan E. Chaplin.

Many young men of the church have gone forth from here bearing the glad tidings to the world. Of these, let mention be made of James D. Webb, William I. Ellsworth, J. B. Ellsworth, Jesse Botkin, Charles B. Warrington and Jacob Pierce. Of the local ministers, Eli Adams, Abram Buckles, John Miskey and Richard Creamer had their training here and gave much fruitful labors to the church.

The society has had steady and permanent growth in years past, and now numbers nearly two hundred members. It maintains a vigorous Sabbath school. Rev. S. B. Smith, of the Cincinnati Conference, is its Pastor.

Wesley Chapel (Methodist Episcopal). - This extinct church was located nearly five miles east of Springfield, and was erected on a lot 120 feet square, donated by Absalom Foley, and deeded June 1, 1847. The building and nearly all who were wont to worship there have passed away. The house was built of brick. Of those who contributed liberally to its erection, the names of William H. Harris, Absalom Foley, Henry Shugh, David Hayward, Griffin Moler and H. P. Harris are mentioned. The charge belonged to the Urbana District, Vienna Cireuit. The house cost $1,400, and was dedicated by Rev. Grover. William H. Harris served the society long and acceptably as Leader. Of the ministers who preached at Wesley Chapel, mention is made of William I. Ellsworth, Bail, Swayne, Fields, Vance, Fleming, Mosgrove, Jackson, Dryden, Conrey, Keck,

St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church. South Charleston. - The first Catholic settlement in this portion of Clark County was made in the fall of 1849, by the following-named persons, who came from Connecticut for the purpose of working on the Little Miami: Railroad: Luke Hope, Bryan Conlan, William Dewit, Christopher Tuitte, James Quigley, Thomas Dolan, Jerry Murphy and Michael Lannon.

In the years 1850 and 1851, this colony received an addition as follows: Owen Riley, Daniel Hanifan, James Donahoe, Thomas Singleton, Thomas Cusack, Philip Sinith, Michael Molan, Michael Carr, Daniel Sheehan, Patrick Rooher, Patrick Quinn, Peter Mallon, Andrew Campion. Frank Tuitte, John Cusack Martin Farrell, Owen Conroy, Martin Sweeney, Thomas Kinsella and Patrick Conway - nearly all of whom have since died or moved away, only eight of them, as far as can be ascertained, being still among the living.

In the next five years, the influx of Catholics was considerable, and it would now be almost impossible to give the names of all who came in those years. Suffice it to say that they came to stay, and many, if not most of them, are living, and those that are dead have descendants living in this vicinity.

In 1850, Father Howard celebrated mass in the hotel which occupied the site of the present public school, this being the first service of the Catholic Church held in South Charleston.

In 1851; Father Thomas Blake, of Xenia, took charge of South Charleston Mission, saying his first mass at the house of Owen Riley; and from this time, services were held in different private houses, wherever most convenient.

About this period, the section house of the Little Miami Railroad was utilized for church purposes, and this was used until 1854, when Paullin's Hall served a similar purpose until early in 1866.

In he meantime, about 1858, Father Blake made arrangements to get the old Presbyterian Church, and held services there for about nine months, when the agreement was broken off and Paullin's Hall again became the Catholic place of worship.

In 1865, the lot upon which the present church stands was purchased from Dr. Houston for $500, and ground was immediately broken for a new church.

In the fall of 1865, the corner-stone was laid by the Rt. Rev. S. H. Rosecrans, then Coadjutor to the Archbishop, assisted by the clergy of Dayton, Springfield, Xenia and London. The building was finished early in 1866, and was dedicated by his Grace, J. B. Purcell, Archbishop of Cincinnati.

From 1866 up to the end of 1867, the Rev. John Conway, of London, attended to South Charleston, but early in 1868 the Rev. J. A. Maroney, of Springfield, took charge of this mission, and in 1872 became resident Pastor.

During his stay as Pastor, he completed the church, furnishing it with an altar, organ, pews and gallery; also bought house and lot, but, both being in his own name, were sold after he left South Charleston, which was in 1873, going to the Columbus Diocese, where he died in 1877, of consumption.

He was succeeded by the Rev. John J. Kennedy, who resided in London, and he was Pastor until November, 1873, when he was appointed to the Church of the Presentation, Walnut Hills, where he is yet.

October, 1874, when the Rev. William Grennan assumed the charge. He was a native of Ireland; spent many years in Buenos Ayres, South America, and in May, 1877, he left this mission; remained a short time in Cincinnati, finally, in 18 dd returning to South Charleston by way of Irelahd, whither he went on a visit.

In June, 1877, the Rev. J. H. Rowekamp took charge of South Charleston Church, remaining until September, 1877, but, during his short stay, he built a new fence in front of pastoral residence.

He was born in Cincinnati, educated at Mt. St. Mary's of that city, and ordained in May, 1873. His first appointment was Sidney, Ohio; his second, London; his third, Bradford Junction; his fourth, South Charleston; and his fifth, Six Mile, where he died in September, 1878.

The present Pastor, the Rev. C. M. Berding, was appointed to South Charleston in October, 1877; he was born in Reading, Hamilton Co., Ohio, February 5, 1853; began his studies for the priesthood in the spring of 1866, at Mt. St. Mary's Seminary, near Cincinnati, and was ordained December 18, 1875; was appointed Assistant Pastor of St. Raphael's, Springfield, where he remained twenty months, or until he became Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo's.

The church is 35x60, with a seating capacity of about three hundred and fifty, but the congregation numbers about five hundred and fifty souls, and is rapidly increasing; so the day is not far distant when a new church will be a necessity.

Sinee Father Berding came to South Charleston, he has paid off all debts which had accrued previous to his arrival; he has repaired the interior of the church, and remodeled the pastoral residence at a considerable outlay, and today the congregation is entirely free from debt.

South Charleston Presbyterian Church.. - YIn the year 1822, this society had its original organization, Rev. William Dickey presiding. James Pringle, Sr., and David Wilson were elected Ruling Elders. At the same date, the following-named persons were received intothe communion of the church, viz: David Wilson, and Polly, his wife; James Rankin, and Margaret, his wife; Joseph Laird and his wife; Isaae Wilson and his wife; Jane Vance, Sarah Vance, James Pringle, and Sarah, his wife.