PIONEERS AND PROMINENT SETTLERS.

     Jefferson was largely settled by pioneers from New Jersey, a portion of the lands being bought in a body by a citizen of that State.  The first settlers came into the township as early as 1802, or the following year, and located along Black lick.  Among the first were: Daniel Dagoe, Moses Ogden, Peter Francisco, William Headley, Michael and Abraham Stagg, Jacob Tharp, Jacob and John H. Smith, Jonathan Whitehead, and Isaac Baldwin.  Later than these pioneers, but still at an early date, arrived Joseph Edgar, Michael Neiswender, Shuah Mann, John Kelso, Richard Rhodes, Isaac Painter, John Inks, Joseph Compton, John Davenport, William Havens, William Armstrong, and others.

     The township contained, by the time of the war of 1812, about twenty settlers, some of whom, however, remained but a short time.  Comparatively few of the early pioneers are represented by descendants at present in the township, and those who do remain, as the descendants of the first settlers, are about to give but little definite information in regard to them.  Of those who came prior to 1812, Jacob Tharp was one of the most active, useful, and prominent.  He and his wife, Nancy Havens, settled where D. Headley now lives, in section one.  He built the first mill on Black lick, and operated it for several years, in addition to performing the various labors of a pioneer life.  Mr. Tharp was from New Jersey, and ultimately returned to that State, having become a preacher, of the Baptist denomination.

     Peter Francisco settled, also, in the first section, on the Black Lick road, and remained in the township until his death.

     Abraham Stagg and his nephew, Michael, came in from New Jersey, and settled where George and David, the sons of the former, now reside, in section two, near the Black lick road.

     Henry Huffman and his wife, Susan Dague, settled near the north line of the township in 1807 or 1808.  They came from Washington county, Pennsylvania.

     John and Esther Edgar, originally from Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, came into the township prior to 1812, and settled upon ninety acres of land, where J. C. Lennox now lives, near the southern line of the township, and near the west line of section four.  They removed to the township, directly, from Fairfield county, where they were pioneers as early as 1798.  Their descendants were:  Joseph, James, William, John, Silas, Jeannette, Margaret, and Esther.  Of this large family, all are dead, except the eldest, Joseph, and he is still a resident of the township.  He married Abigail, daughter of Moses Ogden, by whom he had a large family of children, viz.: Louis and Calvin, deceased; Margaret Lunn, George, William, Joseph (deceased), Albert (deceased), Harvey, Frank (deceased), and Martha.  Margaret, George, William, and Harvey, are residents of Jefferson.  Joseph Edgar has been bed-ridden for several years, but retains his faculties in a remarkable degree.  He has been a resident of the township all his life, and has seen it developed from an almost uninhabited wilderness to its present state.  An evidence of the high estimation in which he has been held, is afforded by the fact that he has been, for more than thirty-five consecutive years, elected township trustee.

     Isaac Baldwin

     William Armstrong

     William Headley

     John Davenport

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the township and is the only representative of the family remaining.

     Christian Strait

     John H., and his son, Jacob Smith, came from New Jersey, in 1813, and settled on the Black lick road, in section one.  Jacob Smith still lives in the township, but his father, who mar               MORE TO COME

     John Kelso

     In the same year came Isaac Painter, John Inks, and Joseph Compton, all of them from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania.  Isaac Painter located at the crossing of Black Lick road and Broadway pike, where J. Milburn now lives.  A son, Lewis Painter, is in the township, and is one of its large farmers, and representative men.

     Daniel Dague

     William and Elizabeth Havens

     Moses Ogden

     Among the settlers who followed closely those already mentioned, were Michael Neiswender, Andrew Allison, George Beals, A. Favel, and others.

     Michael and Barbara Neiswender

     Margaret Lunn

     Stephen and Sarah Stoel (or Stowel)

     Shuah Mann

     Brace Woodruff

     Edward Ricketts

     John Morrison

     Abram Sagar

ORGANIZATION

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EARLY SCHOOLS

PHYSICIANS

     Dr. Ezekiel Whitehead, of New Jersey, was the first physician in the township, and practiced there for many years, being as successful as could be expected in so small a
population, and with the competition of other physicians in the adjoining townships.  He removed to Jersey village, over the line, in Licking county, where he now resides, and was followed in Jefferson by Doctors J. Schaffer and David Kemble, who each remained several years.  There is now no physician resident in the township.

MILLS

STONE QUARRY

THE TAYOR STATION METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.

THE CHRISTIAN UNION CHURCH

was built at Havens‘ corners, in 1871, at a cost of about nine hundred dollars, though the society was organized prior to that time.  It consisted, in 1868, of the following members: Shuah, Lucy, Austin A., George M., Kelton S., Manning F., Nancy, Amba, Permelia, Kesiah, and Cordon Mann; Abram, Catharine, Ephraim, Henry, John, and Sophroma Sager; John, Christina, Rebecca, David P., and Frank M. Lytle; David C., and Amanda Runnell; E. W., Elizabeth, and Mary Ayres; Joseph, Mary, and Mary, jr., Sherman; Rebecca Smith, Margaret E., and Mary Havens; Nancy, Allen, C. H., Peter, and George W. Cline; Henry Busey, Rufus Putnam,
Theodore Heischmann, Elizabeth Ritzmiller, J. S. Hook, Martha E. Hook, Elizabeth Cisco, Sarah A. Decker, Jasper Cheney, and Daniel DeWitt.  The first pastor and organizer of the church was the Rev. R. M. Demham.  The present pastor is the Rev. George Stevenson, and the elders of the church are Abram Sager, Shuah
Mann, and Martin Welch.  The church has between

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forty-five and fifty members, and is in a prosperous condition.

VILLAGES.

     The village of Smithville, now called Black Lick station, is a small cluster of houses upon the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, near the southern boundary line of the township.  It was laid out in the year 1852, by William A. Smith.
     Grahamsville, or, as it is now universally called, Taylorstown, or Taylor’s station, is upon the Baltimore & Ohio railroad, about two miles west of Black Lick, and south of the center of section three.  The section was held by the heirs of L. Brien until 1850, when it was conveyed by them to David Taylor, esq., at ten dollars per acre.  He laid out the village which now bears his name, in 1853; built there a warehouse and saw-mill, and caused to be erected several houses.  The place had a small growth during the first few years after its establishment, but has not increased in the same proportion during later years, and is only a very small hamlet.

POST-OFFICES.

     The first post office established in the township was Ovid, at Headley’s corners, in 1832.  Dr. Ezekiel Whitehead was the first postmaster. William Headley succeeded him after a few years, and held the position for a long period.  The office was discontinued in 1875.
     Black Lick post-office was established at the station in 1852, and Thomas MeCollum was the first postmaster commissioned.  He was succeeded by C. S. Morris, and he by Ezekiel Compton, who is the present incumbent.  An office was established in June, 1879, at Havens’ corners, with R. J. Rhoads as postmaster.