Plain Township

Plain Township

Plain township, the second from the south line of the county and on the western line of Wayne county, contains about forty-two sections of land, being seven miles east and west by six north and south. It was organized in 1817. It derives its name from the plains, or grades, that to so large an extent constituted its timber growths at the date of its settlement. The population of this township in 1900 was one thousand six hundred and sixty-six.

James Childs farm. William Meeks, a native of Virginia, was the second settler in this township. The first justice of the peace in the township was Cyrus Baird. George and David Lozier settled upon the prairies in 1814, south of Blachleyville. They came from Pennsylvania and owned good farms. Benjamin White, a shoemaker and preacher, was another of the sturdy pioneer characters. Daniel Miller built a sawmill in 1815. He also built the first house in Blachleyville, where Swain's hotel later stood. He kept a tavern and sold whisky ; went to Indiana and began the practice of medicine. Augustus Case settled as early as 1814. John Cassiday rvas the first to teach school wdthin this township. The first minister of the gospel was Elder French, a Baptist. Another early settler was Philip Arnold, of Lehigh county, Pennsylvania, who came in 1812; for many months after their arrival they had no bread in the house and were compelled to live on venison, honey and potatoes.

Dr. William B. Blachley, born in New^ Jersey, lived in Washington county, Pennsylvania, until 1816, when he emigrated to Wayne county, Ohio, settling in Plain township. He practiced his profession in Blachleyville for nineteen years, then moved to Valparaiso, Indiana, where he died, aged seventy-four years. The town of Blachleyville was named for him.

Benedict Mellinger, Sr., Aaron Baird, Cyrus Baird, John Tyron, Robert Eason, John Folgate (who reached the age of one hundred and eleven years, the oldest of any man in the county), William and Henry Rouch were all settlers of a very early date in Plain township, and had much to do with laying the foundation stones of the township's government and helped to make its first pioneer improvements.

Towns And Villages Of Plain Tow'Nship

The town plattings of this township are indeed cpiite numerous. Millbrook received its title from General Thomas McMillan, wdio named and surveyed it. It was laid out by Elijah Yocum August 10, 1829. A gristmill was built by McMillan to the east of the town site in i8ifi for John Nimmon; later this was turned into a carding-mill.

Jefferson was platted June 30, 1829, by Stephen Williams and Alexander Hutchinson. This place is four miles west of Wooster and came to be a place of much business importance. It was on the Wooster and Ashland stage route, making it a desirable quarter in which to live.

Reedsburg was laid out by William Reed in December, 1835, and its first settlers were Matthias Starn, Joseph Mowery, John Peters and William Hagerman.

Remains Of Buffaloes And Cedar Trees

Land owners in plowing and ditching on the way between Springville and Millbrook, many years ago, unearthed the remains of large cedar trees, and about 1830 immense logs were taken out three feet from the surface that had probably lain there for ages. Trees were found from three to four feet in diameter. South of Millbrook, while cutting a ditch, more of these large cedar trees were found. What is strange about all this is the fact that there are no cedar forests in this section, nor is there any knowledge of any having been here in the centuries past. In about the same locality were also found numerous buffalo skulls and horns and the remains of human bodies of great size. Who they were and what their history can only be conjectured at this late day.

Clinton Townsfiip

Clinton township is the extreme southwestern township in Wayne county and contains twenty-eight sections, its domain being four miles north and south by seven east and west. Ashland county is on its west and Holmes county to its south. It was organized June 7. 1825, and in 1870 had reached a population of one thousand five hundred and two, but according to the United States census of 1900 the township had a population of two thousand and twenty-eight. It derived its name from Governor DeWitt Clinton.

The first white men to invade the wilds of this township for the purpose of effecting a permanent settlement were as follows : Nathan G. Odell,

John Newkirk, Joshua and Thomas Oram, Thomas Odell, Abner Lake, Jacob Funk. Abner Eddy, Thomas McConkey, John Jones, Stephen Morgan, Asa Griffith. William and J. Wells, Reuben and Philip Aylesworth, Noah Whitford, Lorenzo D. Odell.

The first election in the township was held in the cabin of John Jones. Nathan G. Odell was chosen first justice of the peace, but he declined to serve.

when James Priest was elected and served the remainder of his life. The first public road opened w-as the one running from Wooster to Loudon\-ille. An Indian trail extended from the head of Odell's lake to Millersburg, and one to Jeromeville from the same point. The Indian town was located on the north side of the lake and contained about three hundred Indians, under Mohican John.

What was known as the Big Prairie was at first looked upon as an impassable swamp; it was soggy, w'et, full of ponds, dangerous to stock and counted of no value.

The first man known to have died within Clinton township was Thompson, an emigrant who took sick while stopping with John Newkirk. He was sick but a short time.

The first physician in the township was Dr. Henry Peters, who located at the intersection of the roads at the Newkirk graveyard. The first woman to die in the township was the wife of Thomas Oram.

In 1814 Reuben Newkirk and Thomas Odell, two young men, went to Wooster to procure a coffin, carrying it home on the backs of their horses. Each bore one end of it, though at times the end would strike the trees, when they would singly, time about, have to carry it on their shoulders.

The first school house in this township was called the Newkirk school. It was located on Henry Newkirk's land. It was a small log affair, the neighbors having met, cut trees and converted them into a school house. It was covered wdth shingles, and contained three long benches for the children, and a fireplace running the whole length of it. The first teacher was a lady from Holmes county who received seventy-five cents per week for teaching.

Cornelius Quick built the first mill at the outlet of the lake, in 1825 ; his dam backwatered the region and raised the lake about fifteen inches. Nathan C. Odell sold the land, not wishing to litigate over the matter. Comer, however, later had a law suit over it and, after long years of lawing, both men were financially ruined.