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PHYSICAL FEATURES.
The township is bounded on
the north by the townships of Darby and Muhlenburg, south by Perry
and Deer Creek, east by Muhlenburg and Jackson, and west by
Pleasant, Madison, and Marion townships, of Fayette county.
Its surface features are similar to those presented in the
surrounding townships: generally level, except along the streams.
The soil is varied. It is for the most part clay, and well
adapted to the growing of wheat and corn. The township is
traversed from north to south by several streams of water.
Clark's run, in the west part, heads near the north line of the
township, and flows in almost due south direction. Van Buskirk
and Mud runs flow a southeasterly direction, and both empty into
Deer creek, These streams are not of importance, so far as
water power is concerned.
SETTLEMENT.
The following sketches of
pioneer settlers are prepared from personal interviews. The
writer has been unable to ascertain to whom belongs the honor of
having been the first, or pioneer, settler in Monroe township.
Peter VanBUSKIRK,
who married Ruth RHODES, removed from Maryland to
Chillicothe, in 1799. Then but a few straggling log cabins
occupied the site of that now populous city, and the red man held
almost undisputed possession of the soil. After one year's
residence in Ross county, Mr. Van BUSKIRK removed to what is
now Pickaway county, locating on the bank of Deer creek, in Monroe
township. By some he is regarded as the pioneer settler in
Monroe township. The farm upon which he then made a
commencement is now owned by Samuel DUNLAP. Here Mr.
Van BUSKIRK died, April 9, 1836, and his wife died on the tenth
of November, 1841. Mr. Van BUSKIRK erected, in early
times, a grist-mill and distillery. At the time of his death
he was an extensive land owner. The family consisted of eight
children, of whom only one is now living: Mary, who
married Jacob GAYMAN, now lives in Delaware county, Indiana.
The names of the dead (some of whom became prominent in the affairs
of the church or State) are: Lewis, Isaac, Samuel, John,
Daniel, Abigail, and Sally.
Charles
LONGBERRY came from Pennsylvania, locating in Monroe
township in 1800. He was of English birth, and his wife was
Mary Van BUSKIRK. The family consisted of twelve children, but
two of whom are now living - Margaret, who married Seth
HATFIELD, and Anthony, who married Leah LITTLETON,
all residents of Monroe township at this time.
Christopher CARDIFF came from Maryland to Deer Creek
township in 1806. His wife's name was M. GORDEY.
He eventually located in Monroe township, where he passed the
remaining years of his life. There were several children in
the family, two of whom (Noah and Christopher) now
live in Monroe township. Noah, who has bene four times
married now occupies the old homestead. Christopher has
been twice married; his present wife was Anna Bolen.
Benjamin
HILL was a native of Maryland, and came from Carroll's
Manor, in that State, to near Chillicothe, in 1807. There were
numerous children in the family, but one of whom located in Pickaway
county. He was a soldier in the war of 1812. He married
Kitura VOADLEY, an, in 1822, settled some two miles southeast
of New Holland village, in Perry township, where he died on Sept. 6,
1842, and his wife in Nov., 1855. The children were:
William, who died in the United States' army, in 1843; Sarah
A., Elizabeth, Samuel, Mahala, and John F. Samuel
only lives in Monroe township. He married Ally Ann PORTER,
has a grocery store, and is postmaster, having been appointed when
the office was established, in 1855.
Sebastian
SOUTHWARD came to Ohio from Winchester, Virginia, in the
fall of 1808, and during the winter he remained in Ross county.
The subsequent spring he located permanently in Pike county, where
he died in the year 1835. The wife died in 1864. Her
maiden name was Mary GUY. There were six children in
the family, only two of whom are now living - Henry, who
married Catharine NICKSON, and lives in Wyandot county, Ohio,
and Pleasant, who located in Pickaway county in 1823.
He has been thrice married. His present wife was Abigail
ADKINS.
David MADDUX married Elizabeth LINGO,
and came from Maryland to Ohio in 1809, and located in Ross county.
Mrs. MADDUX died in 1852, and her husband in 1859. Of
the ten children composing this family but three are now alive -
William, who resides in Ross county; David M., who
married Tomsy Ann WILSON, and lives in Illinois; and
Collins, whose present wife was Miss Rachel DUNHAM; he
lives in Monroe township, where he has served as justice of the
peace for many years.
John D.
HATFIELD, lived on the north shore of Maryland, and came
to Ross county in 1810, where he remained until 1829, when he
settled permanently in Monroe township. Mrs. HATFIELD
died December 14, 1825; and Mr. HATFIELD married Maria
BAKER. He died April 15, 1845, and his widow still
survives. Eight children were borne by the first wife, two of
whom only are now living in Monroe township - Seth, who
married Margaret LONGBERRY; and John W., who married
Susanna FRAZIER. The children of the second marriage
numbered nine, none of whom live in Pickaway county.
In about 1811, three
brothers, Jeremiah, Josiah
and John THOMAS
came from near Harper's Ferry, Virginia, to Ohio, and located near
Chillicothe. In 1815 they settled in Monroe township.
Jeremiah married Eleanor NORRIS. His farm was on
Deer Creek, and is still owned by his heirs. The children
were: William, who married Elizabeth NORRIS (two
sons, Jackson and William H., live in Monore);
John, Leonard, and Richard. (For a more extended
sketch of the THOMAS family see the history of Perry
township.) Benjamin NORRIS and family came from the
same point and at the same period as the above. They located
eventually in Monroe township.
John
MERRELL married Milly SHORT in Delaware,
and came to Ohio early in the settlement of the central counties.
He first located in Fayette county, and after a time removed to near
Dayton, Ohio, where he died of cholera in 1831; age, fifty-five
years. The wife died soon after; age, fifty-two. There
were five sons and two daughters of the family; these but one lives
in Monroe township, Jacob, whose present wife was Sarah
ADKINS, and who has ten children living.
Samuel R.
DAWSON was born in Virginia, but removed to Kentucky with
his parents when but a lad. His father was killed, it is
thought, by the Indians. Samuel R. married Dorotha
ALKIRE, and in 1814 located in Monroe township, on land now
owned by Isaac COLLINS and John McCAFFERTY. Here
he died, June 12, 1846. His widow died Mar. 31, 1876.
The children numbered nine, five of whom are now living,
James and Perry (the latter of whom married Mary M.
HUMPHRY, ) live in Monroe township; Mary, who
married B. F. PARKER, and Caroline, who married Major C.
LONG, live in Nebraska. Olivia, who married E.
S. McCLINTOCK lives in Kansas.
 Stanton
ADKINS**, a single man, came from Wycomico county,
Maryland, to Ross county, in 1816. He married Anna TIMMONS,
by whom fourteen children were born. After some eighteen
years' residence in Ross county a removal was made and a permanent
settlement effected in Darby township, Pickaway county. Here
the wife died, and Mr. ADKINS married Rachel Ann GRINDLE,
who is still living. The date of Mr. ADKINS' decease
was Jun. 5, 1879. Eight children by the first and four by the
second marriage are now living: George, who married
Louisa WALSTON; Sarah who married Jacob MERRILL; Miranda,
who married Jacob WILLIAMS; Theodocia, Roxana, Ezra and
Mahala who live in Monroe township; Rodney, who married
Lovena ESKRIDGE; Stanton, who married Lucy GLEWER;
and Elizabeth, who married Henry BAILEY, and life in
Illinois; Mary A., who married Van CRESSUP, and lives
in Wyandot county, Ohio. David was a soldier in the
Forty-fifth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry. He was prisoner
for thirteen months in Libby, Danville, and the Court of Death, at
Andersonville. He returned home at the close of the war,
broken in health, and soon died.
George ROWE was a
soldier of the war in 1812, and in 1816 came to the then wilderness
of Pickaway county. He purchased nearly one thousand acres of
land in Monroe and Muhlenburg townships. His wife was Nancy
COLEMAN. Mr. ROWE died July 20, 1850. Mrs.
Rowe died Dec. 8, 1868. The children born prior to coming to
Ohio were Silas A., Absolom, and John, who are
deceased; and Lydia, who married Joseph INGLAND and
lives near Pontiac, Michigan. Of the children born subsequent
to removing to Ohio: Mahala, married William FRANCIS
and lives a widow on the old farm; and Matilda, is deceased.
John
PORTER, George RICHEY and
John FOSTER, with families, came from
Pennsylvania to Monroe township in about 1817. They located in
the southwest part of the township. Of the PORTER
family but one child remains: Aly, now the wife of Samuel
HILL. The RICHEY family are represented by a son:
Andrew, who lives near the old homestead. None of the
FOSTER family now reside in the township.
Milburn
SMITH was an early settler. John R. ROBISON,
a native of South Carolina, came to Clark county, married there,
Mariette EDMISTON, and in 1828, settled in Madison county, Ohio,
where he died, Dec. 26, 1876. Mrs. ROBISON died Apr.
22, 1848. Of the nine children composing the family, one only
lives in Pickaway county - Thomas P., who married Ellen
SAWYER, and resides in Monroe township. He is the owner of
a large amount of real estate, and is one of the public men of the
township. William BROOKS, of Jefferson county,
Virginia, settled in Deer Creek township, in 1830, and died there.
One of the children lives in Monroe township - Abasalom who
married Martha J. FRANCIS.
John G.
GRINDLE*, of Maryland, located in Monroe township in 1831.
His wife was Ellen WHEELER. After a residence of several
years in Pickaway county, the family removed to Union county, Ohio,
where the mother died in 1858. Mr. GRINDLE died Aug. 22,
1862. The children, who were all born prior to locating in Ohio,
numbered ten; but two now live in Pickaway county - Louisa,
who married Benjamin HENMAN, and lives in Muhlenburgh; and
Rachel Ann, the widow of Stanton ADKINS, who lives in
Monroe
William RIGGIN located in Monroe township,
on the farm now occupied by Joseph HAYS, in 1832. He
was from Delaware. His wife was Esther Ann LOWE.
She died in teh fall of 1834, and Mr. RIGGIN returned east,
and again married. He eventually removed to Illinois, where he
died in 1874. Of the eight children which composed this
family, four are now alive - Isaac, whose present wife was
Corlinda MADDUX, lives in Columbus; Jeremiah J., who has
been twice married, lives in Madison township, Fayette county, Ohio
(present wife, Mary J. DAVIS); Charles and Emeline
are married, and now live in Illinois.
Wilson MURPHY and
family, then consisting of a wife (Nancy) and seven children,
came from Maryland, about 1830, and settled on Paint creek, in Ross
county, where he resided until 1835, when he located, permanently,
in Monroe township, where he died Nov. 15, 1872. Of the
children, we learn that James, William, Wilson, jr. and J. W.,
now reside in Illinois; Thomas lives in Monroe township;
Rachel A., died soon after settlement in Monroe; and Mary
(Mrs. TIMMONS) resides in Kansas; Martha J. (Mrs. JUSTICE),
who was born in Ohio, now lives in the State of Indiana.
William C. WILLIAMS,
whose father was one of the pioneers in Ross county, located in
Monroe township, in 1836, and still resides there. His wife
was Hetty DAVIS, by whom three children were born. The
eldest, Mary, is deceased; Andrew G. and Cornelius
W., now live in Monroe township.
Rev. James MARSHALL,
who was a native of Virginia, came from Pennsylvania to Muhlenburg
township, in 1843. Five years later he came to Monroe
township, where he died, April 9, 1871. Mrs. MARSHALL
died on Mar. 3, 1879. There were eight children, three only of
whom are now living in the county - E. M., who is married,
and lives in Darby township; as does Mary (Mrs. John MITCHELL);
David H., who married Margaret BUSICK, and lives in
Monroe township.
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