Mohican Township (part 8 of 8)

Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, resided near the road to Mansfield, one mile south of Jeromeville. He was the chief of the Jeromeville Indians. He had a beautiful daughter; she refused the hand of a young warrior, whereupon he poisoned himself with the may-apple. Captain Pipe was a great warrior, and the implacable foe of the whites; he was in St. Clair's defeat. He and his tribe left Jeromeville some short time before the Seymour murder and Copus battle.

The town of Petersburg (now Mifflin) was laid out June 28, 1816, by William B James, Peter Deardorf, and Samuel Lewis. The census return of 1830 showed a population in the town of 35. This was the only instance in which the census of the town was taken separately from the township. It never had a corporate existence.

The town now contains two churches, (one Lutheran and one Union,) two physicians, two taverns, one drygoods store, three boot and shoe shops, one cabinet shop, two blacksmith shops, and one grocery.

There was a Presbyterian Church organized under the. name of " Mifflin," in the summer of 1851, and Petersburg agreed upon as the place of public worship. Immediately after its organization, Rev. W.T. Adams became its stated supply for a year or two, and Rev. James Rowland succeeding him, acted in the same capacity for one year. This church, small at the time it was organized, became less, and has

This "Union Church" was organized in March, 1851 - John Lemon, Luke Selby, and Jonas Bolyeat, trustees. The Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists have generally occupied the church building, although it has been open to all denominations. The Baptists and Albrights used the house at stated intervals during the last year.

The Evangelical Lutherans - whose church building was destroyed by fire on the night of the 18th of February, 1863 - are the most numerous religious denomination in the vicinity of Petersburg. The expenses of the church have been mainly sustained through the munificence of Messrs. Culler. Rev. Mr. Ruth is the present pastor of the church.

Successive Justices Of The Peace

1838. William Gardner, elected. | 1848. Elijah Hart, elected. 1838. James Doty, elected. 1850. Samuel Culler, re-elected. 1839. John Fleming, re-elected. | 1851. Elijah Hart, re-elected. 1841. James Doty, re-elected. | 1853. Samuel Culler, re-elected. 1842. Isaac Gates, elected. : 1856. John Charles, elected. 1844. James Doty, re-elected. |1856. Samuel Culler, re-elected. 1845. Isaac Gates, re-elected. | 1859. John Charles, re-elected: 1846. George Roberts, elected. |1859. Samuel Culler, re-elected. 1846. Charles Boals, elected. 1862. Henry Blust, elected. 1847. Samuel Culler, elected. |1862. Joseph Doty, elected. 1848. Isaac Gates, re-elected.

David Braden

David Braden, an emigrant from Washington County, Pennsylvania, removed to Mifflin Township in the fall of 1815, and died the year following, at the age of 52. His son, Solomon Braden, now resides in Green Township.

Leonard Croninger

Leonard Croninger, originally from Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, removed from Trumbull County, Ohio, to Mifflin Township, in April, 1815, and died in December, 1833, at the age of 52. Benjamin Croninger, son of the deceased, now occupying the old homestead, is the oldest survivor of the settlers in the north part of the township.

Michael Culler

Michael Culler, in 1816, purchased of Philip Seymour, Jr., the farm upon which the tragedy described 'in the preceding pages was enacted. The cabin which was the scene of the strife was occupied by Mr. Culler about a year. The bodies of the slain are deposited within a few rods of his present residence. He had visited the country in 1815, but commenced his residence in 1816.

Daniel Harlan, Sen

Daniel Harlan, Sen., an emigrant from Virginia, removed to Mifflin Township, with his family, in April, 1815. Died in 1824, at the age of 53.

Samuel Harlan, of Vermillion Township, and Daniel Harlan, Jr., of Green Township, and the wife of Solomon Braden, also of Green Township, are the only surviving children of the late Daniel Harlan, Sen., now residing in Ashland County.

Benjamin Henshey

Benjamin Henshey emigrated from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in October, 1825, and settled upon the southwest quarter of section 31, Montgomery Township; being Jand that he had purchased the year previous. A year or two subsequent he purchased, of Andrew Newman, the mill property on the Black Fork, in Mifflin Township, which he subsequently sold to its present owners, the Messrs. Stayman.

Thomas Selby

THOMAS SELBY. Thomas Selby settled in Mohican Township, in April, 1813. Since April, 1855, he has resided in Mifflin Township. Many incidents connected with the early experience of Mr. Selby, in Mohican Township, would be of much public interest; but his absence in the West, during most of the time this work has been in preparation, has placed it beyond the power of the writer to obtain his valuable contribution.

Jacob Staman

Jacob Staman emigrated with his family, from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to Mifflin Township, in October, 1825. Of his sons, Benjamin and. Jacob are the only two who composed his family at the time he settled in the country, who now reside in the county.

A portion of the farm upon which Benjamin Staman now resides was owned by Martin Ruffner, when the latter, with others, was murdered by the Indians in 1812. The stream which propels Mr. Staman's saw-mill is known as " Ruffner's Run."

Johnny Appleseed had a nursery on the Ruffner quarter section, which is not enumerated among those mentioned in the proper place. Apple trees of a gnarled appearance, and bearing marks of age, were scattered among those of the natural forest, and remained there until the land was cleared about twelve years since.

The system of appraisement in 1826 did not, it is true, approximate as near the actual value as that now established; but it must also be remembered that

Extracts From The Official Record

Now it came to pass when men began to multiply on this side the river westward toward the lake, even the great Lake Erie, and the inhabitants of Milton Township became numerous and strong, that they said one to another, Go to, let us separate ourselves from Mifflin Township, to which they aforetime had been attached; for why should we be oppressed by our brethren, and costs multiplied on us in carrying us before strangers? Let us select a goodly number from among our brethren that shall bear rule over us. And they prayed the court at Mansfield, and their request was granted. Milton was organized, and became a free and independent township. This happened in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixteen.

Election Of April 1, 1862

ELECTION OF APRIL 1, 1862. Trustees, John Nelson, James Wharton, and Elisha Barton - Clerk, Henry Piper - Treasurer, Scott Nelson - Assessor, Abner Mercer - Constables, Charles McCready and Wm. Ohl.

Successive Justices Of The Peace Of Milton James Andrews

James Andrews immigrated to the eastern division of the territory of the United States, within the limits of what is now Columbiana County, about the year 1800. In 1816 he purchased and removed to the farm upon which he now resides. Mr. Andrews served in the war of 1812, as captain in a company of the 2d Regiment, 2d Brigade, Ohio Militia, and subsequently as brigade inspector. He served twenty-seven years as justice of the peace of Milton Township.

Abraham Doty

Abraham Doty removed from Virginia to Milton Township, in October, 1816. He died on the 28th of February, 1843, Of his sons, two are residents of the county, namely, John Doty, of Orange, and Joseph Doty, Esq., of Mifflin.

William Lockhart Alexander Reed

Alexander Reed immigrated to Milton Township, in 1814. He was the original purchaser of the land adjacent to the old Hopewell Church. The body of his wife, who died November 17th, 1820, was the eleventh that was interred in the old Hopewell churchyard. In 1821 Mr. Reed sold to Joseph Marklay his farm above mentioned, containing eighty acres, of which thirty were cleared, for 550 gallons of whisky. He was also the owner, at different times, of town lots in Uniontown, (now Ashland,) among which are some of the most valuable of any now in the town, which he sold at from $12 to $14 per lot - payment mostly "'in trade." Mr. Reed was an emigrant from Pennsylvania.

John Woodburn Additional Pioneers

In addition to the above, PETER BRUBAKER, JOSEPH BECHTEL, JOSEPH CHARLES, JOHN CLAY, JOHN Hazuett, Henry KEEVER, Joun Neat, and MicHaEL SMELTZER, were among the early settlers of Milton Township.

Chapter Xx

Tuis township, when organized in 1826, and until the erection of Ashland County, twenty years later, belonged to the County of Huron. It probably derived its name from Almon Ruggles, who settled in that county in 1808, and who, in 1815, laid out the town of Norwalk.

Ruggles Township, as well as the whole of the original territory of Huron County, was within the "Fire Land" district. These fire lands embraced a tract of country containing seven hundred and eighty- one [781] square miles, or nearly five hundred thousand [500,000] acres, in the western part of the Western Reserve. The name originated from the circumstance that the State of Connecticut had made a grant of these lands in 1792, as a donation to certain sufferers by fire, occasioned by the invading English during the revolutionary war, particularly at New London, Fairfield, and Norwalk. This tract was surveyed into townships of about five miles square each; and these townships are then subdivided into four equal quarters, No. 1 being the southeast, No. 2 the northeast, No. 3 the northwest, and No. 4 the southwest. And for individual convenience, these are again subdivided, by private surveys, into lots of from fifty to five hundred acres each, to suit individual purchasers. The surveys were made in 1808.

In 1820 there existed in Huron County a township named Bethel, with which it is supposed the ter- - ritory of Ruggles was associated for civil purposes. Whether this township of Bethel embraced the present townships of Greenwich, Fitchville, or New London, or all of them, cannot be clearly ascertained by the writer of this.

In addition to those causes which have operated, during the last several years, to diminish population in other townships of the county, is the fact that there existed, at the time of the opening of the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati Railroad, a flourishing town known as "Ruggles Corners." The con- struction of the railroad caused the business and population to rapidly decline, until it is now without a single business or mechanical establishment. The post-office, which was formerly here, is now removed to the center of the township.