THE territory of Claibourne has successively formed a part of many townships.  In 1825, shortly after the first settlement was made here, it became a portion of the new township of Leesburg.  In 1829, at the formation of Jackson, most of its territory was embraced in it, and so remained until the organization of Claibourne, in 1834.
     The journal of the County Commissioners under date of Mar. 4, 1833, contains this entry: 
     "This day Cyprian Lee presented a petition for dividing the township of Jackson into two townships, the southern part to be called "Claibourne, and the northern part to retain the name of Jackson; whereupon the Commissioners order that said township of Claibourne be laid off from said township of Jackson, beginning at the fourth mile tree southwardly from the northeasterly corner of said Jackson Township; thence parallel with the north line thereof."
     March 5, 1833. - "This day it was ordered by the Commissioners that Levi Phelps proceed to lay off the township of Claibourne, beginning at the fourth mile tree southwardly from the northeast corner of the township of Jackson; thence running westwardly, parallel with the north line of Jackson Township to the division line between the township of Liberty; to be done as soon as convenient."
     For some unknown reason the township was not then surveyed and organized as the following entry will make appear:
     "March 5, 1834. - This is the day it was ordered by the Commissioners - on the application of various individuals - that a new township to be called Claibourne, to commence on the east boundary of the county of Union at the first mile tree south of the Indian Boundary Line; thence west, parallel with the northern boundary of said county to the east boundary of York, to be laid off; to be run by Levi Phelps, prior to the next June session."
     The first election for State and county officers was held Oct. 14, 1834.  Absalom Carney, Nathaniel Wilson and George Clark were elected Judges; William Price and John P. Brookins, Clerks.  Nineteen votes were cast - those of Nathan Richardson, Absalom Carney, John T. Evans, John Carney, William Price, Nathaniel Wilson, J. P. Brookins, Philip Plummer, William Phillips, George Clark, John Calloway, John Dakin, William Sirpless, Adam Burge, Lar-

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kin Touguet, John Dilfavor, Eleazor Rose, Hiram Andrews and William Jackson.  For Governor, Robert Lucas received 14 votes, James Finley, 5; for Congressman, Sampson Mason, 18, Samuel Newell, 1; for Representative, Nicholas Hathaway, 13, Otway Curry, 6; for Senator, Samuel Newell, 18; for Commissioner, Thomas Parr, 19; for Sheriff, Calvin Winget, 19; for Coroner, John Adamson, 19.
     Politically, the township was for several years Democratic; it then became Whig, and that party maintained the ascendancy until its extinction.  Since then it has been strongly Republican.

VOTE FOR GOVERNOR.

     The complete vote of the township, from the date of its organization to the present, for Governor of the State, is herewith presented:
     1834 - Robert Lucas, 14; James Finley, 5; total, 19.
     1835 - Joseph Vance, 28; Eli Baldwin, 14; total, 42
     1838 - Joseph Vance, 27; Wilson Shannon, 35; total, 62.
     1840 - Thomas Corwin, 52; Wilson Shannon, 38; total, 88.
     1842 - Thomas Corwin 52; Wilson Shannon, 36; Leicester King, 2; total 90.
     1844 - Mordecai Bartley, 62; David Tod, 43; total, 105.
     1846 - William Bebb, 52; David Tod, 26; total, 78.
     1848 - Seabury Ford, 91; John B. Weller 42; scattering, 1; total, 134.
     1850 - William Johnson, 84; Reuben Wood, 59; Ed. Smith, 1; total, 144.
     1851 - Samuel F. Vinton, 103; Reuben Wood, 59; Samuel Lewis, 6; total, 168.
     1853 - Nelson Barrere, 58; William Medill, 90; Samuel Lewis, 47; total, 195.
     1855 - Salmon P. Chase, 125; William Medill, 55; total, 180.
     1857 - Salmon P. Chase, 128; H. B. Payne, 81; total, 209.
     1859 - William Dennison, 146; R. P. Ranney, 50; total, 196.
     1861 - David Tod, 192; H. J. Jewett, 53; total, 245.
     1863 - John Brough, 237; C. L. Vallandigham, 79; total, 316.
     1865 - J. D. Cox, 210; George W. Morgan, 78; total, 288.
     1867 - R. B. Hayes, 245; A. G. Thurman, 118; total, 363.
     1869 - R. B. Hayes, 229; G. H. Pendleton, 112; total, 341.
     1871 - E. F. Noyes, 258; George W. McCook, 100; total, 358.
     1873 - E. F. Noyes, 295; William Allen, 190; J. C. Collins, 28; G. T. Stewart, 22; total, 485.
     1875 - R. B. Hayes, 378; William Allen, 230; Jay Odell, 11; total, 619.
     1877 - William H. West, 385; R. M. Bishop, 222; H. H. Thompson, 5; total, 612.
     1879 - Charles Foster, 381; Thomas Ewing, 235; G. T. Stewart, 54; A. Sanders Piatt, 5; total, 675.
     1881 - Charles Foster, 371; John W. Bookwalter, 171; A. R. Ludlow, 72; total, 614.

JUSTICES.

     In 1829, Henry Swartz was commissioned Justice of the Peace for Leesburg Township.  He resided in the portion that is now Claibourne.  Philip Plummer was the Justice of Jackson Township, who resided in what is now Claibourne at the time of its organiztion.  His commisssion expired in 1836.  Since that time the justices have been as follows: 
 

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B. P. GLASCOE

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SURVEYS.

     The original surveys which compose the present limits of Claibourne Township, together with their original proprietorships, areas, surveyors, and dates of survey, are as follows:
     Richard Claibourne, No. 220, 1250 acres, surveyed Sept. 7, 1811, by Joseph Kerr;
     Richard Claibourne, No. 220, 416 acres, same surveyor and date,
     John Nicholas, No. 5,809, 2,000 acres, surveyed June 1, 1809, by James Galloway,
     Levin Joynes, No. 6,107, 633⅓ acres, surveyed by Joseph Kerr, Sept. 10, 1810;
     John Crouse, No. 6,161, 823 acres, surveyed by Joseph Kerr, Feb. 15, 1809;
     John Evans and Edward Owings, No. 6,228, 500 acres, surveyed by James Denny, Apr. 18, 1811;
     heirs of Buller Claibourne, No. 6,293, 4,267 acres, surveyed by James Galloway, Jr., July 21, 1809;
     William Pelham, No. 6,307, 1,200 acres, surveyed by James Galloway, Jr., Nov. 16, 1809;
     William Pelham, No. 6,307, 1,200 acres, same date and surveyor;
     William Pelham, No. 6,307, 380 acres, surveyed by James Galloway, Jr., Nov. 14, 1809;
     William and Isaac Coruthers, assignees, No. 1,008, 2,400 acres, surveyed Oct. 28, 1808, by James Galloway, Jr.;
     Andrew Moore, No. 7,008, 800 acres, surveyed Oct. 29, 1808, by James Galloway, Jr.;
     William Murdock, No. 12,654, 500 acres, surveyed July 10, 1829, by Allen Latham;
     Cawallader Wallace Nos. 13,440, 13,449 and 13,526, 614 acres, surveyed by proprietor, May 9, 1834;
     William Pelham, No. 6,308, 280 acres, partly in Delaware County, surveyed Nov. 14, 1809, by James Galloway;
     John Gibson, No. 7,869,  800 acres, surveyed Aug. 25, 1813, by John Kerr;
     representatives of Thomas Ruffin, No. 6,301, 400 acres, surveyed July 20, 1809, by James Galloway, Jr.
     There are also in the township small fractions of Nos. 6,129 and 6,162, which are mostly in Delaware County.
     Claibourne Township is located in the northeastern part of Union County.  It is bounded on the north by Jackson Township, on the east by Marion and Delaware Counties, on the south by Leesburg and Taylor Townships, and on the west by York.  It is one of the largest townships in the county and the second in population.  Its name is derived from the Buller-Claibourne Survey, which is the largest in the county, and which at the organization of the township contained nearly all the settlers, then within its limits of the latter.  Fulton Creek is the principal stream.  It enters at the northwest corner of the township from York and flows out near the southeast corner.  It is said that the stream received its name from the fact that Mr. Fulton, an attache of a surveying party, which was surveying land in this vicinity, while attempting to cross the creek over a log one cold winter day, slipped and fell into the water.  The stream was high and it was with difficulty that he was rescued by his comrades.  The soil is argillacious; the surface, generally level and in places slightly rolling.  A heavy growth of timber covered the township when

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first settled, interspersed with a thick growth of underbrush and vines, as the following incident will testify: Daniel Swartz, residing just north of Richwood, on going to mill once to Millville, thirteen miles distant, directed Mrs. Swartz to watch the cattle and not permit them to stray far from home.  After a while, not seeing them, she climbed an old log that had fallen partly to the ground, not far from the cabin door, and on looking around discovered the cows only a few yards away, almost at her feet, in the thick brush, that had obscured her view from below.

INDIANS.

     The Indian occupancy of the soil now embraced within the limits of Claibourne Township, as a hunting ground was for a long time undisturbed by the presence of white men after the settlement of pioneers in other parts of the State.  It lies adjoining the Greenville treaty line, the territory north of which had been reserved by treaty for the exclusive use of the red men.  Within the township were some favorite hunting grounds.  The site of Richwood, elevated slightly above the surrounding country, was rich not only with an abundant growth of plants and forest trees, but in game as well, and that the Indians often tented on these grounds is handed down by tradition, and is established by the many relics that have been found in the vicinity.  Knives, fragments of Indian saddles, brooches, tomahawks and all the accoutrements of camp life have been brought to light, in the preparation of hte soil for agriculture.  In the gravel pit owned by Mrs. Susanna Swartz, situated just north of Richwood, numerous skeletons have been exposed.
     After the earliest pioneers had taken possession of the country, the forests were ranged by hunters from both races for many years.  The Indians would not tolerate the presence of white men north of the Greenville line, but frequently hunted south of the line.  The best state of feeling did not exist between the Indians and settlers, though amicable relations were usually maintained.  Whether the red or white men were the first aggressors is not known, but if either committed a wrong, however slight, retaliation would surely ensue.  The Indians, either in a spirit of retaliation or from an innate proneness to evil, would occasionally shoot the settlers' hogs as they were feeding in the woods, and commit other depredations.  In bee-hunting, it was a custom sacred among the pioneers engaged in this pursuit that when a bee tree was found by one of them and marked with the finder's initials it at once became his property, to be relieved of its honey at the hunter's leisure; and for another to abstract the honey was regarded as detestable a crime as to steal a horse.  The Indians, however, were not affected by any such scruples, and when one of them discovered the home of a swarm of bees, he rifled it of its treasure, whether or not a prior badge of ownership had been stamped upon the tree.  Such proceedings naturally incensed the settlers.  The principal game was deer, but the practice of the Indians while hunting on the white man's hunting ground, were such as to drive the game from the vicinity.  They would crouch low in the tall grass, and, imitating the bleating of a fawn, attract the doe to the spot where they were concealed.  They would then kill and skin it, leaving the young to perish.  The stench arising from the decaying carcasses would drive teh deer to other grounds.  An old hunter claims to have counted in one Indian camp, between Fulton and Bokes Creek, the hides of sixty deer that had been killed in this way.  Yet a friendly relation was maintained.  They would engage with them in foot races and various kinds of games, and often hunt in their company.
     The tradition prevails that Henry Swartz and Ned Williams, two of the first settlers of Claibourne, killed two Indians on Peacock Run, in the south-

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ern part of the township.  The fact was never established, but the missing Indians were never heard of again, and circumstances pointed strongly to their removal from this world by these two primitive backwoodsmen.  Mr. Swartz possessed an irascible temper, which would often vent itself on the heads of the savages.  On one occasion he beat one of them with the ram-rod of his gun.  He would steal into their camps while they were off hunting and there play annoying tricks.  The Indians sought Swartz and wanted a reconciliation.  He gave them no satisfaction.  They then set up sticks with bullets on the ends around their camp ti indicate war.  Soon after, two Indians who had gone hunting did not return.  Their comrades searched diligently for them, but without any results.  Suspecting foul play, they carefully examined brush heaps and thickets and wandered excitedly along the banks of the creeks peering intently into their depths, but no trace of the lost men was found.  They had traced them to Peacock Run, but there found no further indications of their presence.  Capt. Henry Swartz, and Ned Williams had been clearing land and burning brush in this vicinity, and the Indians suspected them.  They visited Swartz's cabin; he was apparently unconcerned, but watchful.  They wished to be friendly, they said; wanted to shoot at a mark with him and to borrow his gun, but he refused every request.  One day an old Indian hunter came to him and proposed a hunt, to which Capt. Swartz at length agreed.  The Indian desired Swartz to lead, bu the latter declined.  They hunted for a long time, watching each other more closely than for game.  Finally the Indian brave proposed that they divide.  "You take that side and I this," he said.  "No, replied Swartz, "you take this side and I that," choosing the side toward home.  They separated, and when Swartz supposed he had left the Indian out of sight, he turned and hastened rapidly home.  The Indian soon followed and in a great rage exclaimed, "You lie, you no hunt, you lie."  But as a discharge still remained i the rifle of Capt. Swartz, the Indian made no further demonstration and departed speedily.  Mr. Swartz was always afterward very cautious and vigilant when he believed the Indians were near him.  They soon afterward withdrew permanently from the region.
     Capt. Swartz, when afterward asked about this affair, would never commit himself, one way nor the other.  He neither denied nor admitted that he killed or knew of the death of the Indians.  But "Neddy" Williams, when he was made somewhat indifferent to consequences by a few drinks of liquor, loved to boast that he knew where there were two good rifles in a hollow sycamore tree, and said they were put in by climbing a slender tree by the side of a sycamore and dropping them through an opening in the tree made by the breaking off of the upper part of the trunk.  There was a well-beaten path along the bank of Peacock Run by the side of which stood an old sycamore, from which had fallen a large limb, sinking deep into the ground.  This was near the place where Swartz and Williams had been clearing, and around the limb a large fire had been made.  After a fall of snow, Mr. Zach Stephens, a brother-in-law of Henry Swartz, while hunting for some lost cattle, stepped into the hole made by the limb. He fell, and on withdrawing his foot found the lower jaw bone of a human being clinging to the heal of his boot.  Suspecting the manner in which it had been placed there, he took it with him to Swartz's cabin, and holding it before the proprietor of the domicile, said: "Henry, do you know anything about this?"  Swartz grew pale, but made no response.  It was currently believed that he and Williams had killed the Indians and buried the remains.
     Cyprian Lee, is universally accredited with being the first settler of Claibourne Township.  He was heir to one third of the Buller Claibourne Survey of 4,267 acres, and for his share took the southern third.  The exact date

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of his settlement here is unknown, though it was some time between 1820 and 1825, and probably not far from the first-mentioned date.*  Mr. Lee was from Delaware.  He first came out about 1820, a young unmarried man, and to find and see the land he owned.  He then returned to Delaware, married Elizabeth Cooper and returned to his backwoods home with his young wife.  By trade he was a shoe-maker, and he followed the business to some extent in this township.  In physique, he was short and muscular and quick in action.  His was the first cabin built west of hte Scioto River in this region, and the date of its erection was a gala day for the settlers on the river.  It stood several miles south of Richwood on the south bank of Fulton Creek, a few rods west of the bridge on the Marysville pike.  The men who helped raise the cabin were mostly from the Scioto River.  Among them were John L. Swartz, and his two sons, Henry and Abram, John B. and Zachariah Dilsaver, James Cochran, Sr., John Hurd, Russell Fields and William Gallant.  The occasion was one of great hilarity, and the popular beverage flowed freely.  It was proposed, when the cabin was completed, that the place of the settlement of Mr. Lee should be named.  John L. Swartz, an old but jovial German, said, Boys, ketch Lee."  Lee eluded their grasp for some time, but finally submitted with good grace to the ordinance of christening.  The ceremony was performed by Mr. Swartz, who took a flask of whisky, and pouring the contents on the uncovered head of Lee, exclaimed with all the solemnity he could assume, "Vell, ve calls it Leesburg."  Thee name survived the occasion and was afterward given to the new township formed from this and other territory.  Mr. Lee did not remain on his farm here longer than a few years.  He was elected County Treasurer, and removed to Marysville, where he engaged in business and became a prominent citizen.
     The next three settlers were Edward Williams, Robert Cotrell and Henry Swartz.  Each of them purchased a farm from Mr. Lee and settled in a cluster,  neighbors to Lee.  Of the three, Ned Williams, as he was familiarly called, was the first to arrive, probably about 1822.  He bought 100 acres from Mr. Lee and settled on it with his wife, Rebecca (Wilson), and children, Sally and Wilson.  He was a hard working, industrious farmer, and keenly enjoyed hunting, and often engaged in it, and who was somewhat addicted to the practice, then quite common, of indulging freely in the products of the still.  He
died suddenly while on his way with a load of wheat to Portland, Lake Erie.  His widow after a time removed to other parts.
     To Robert Cotrell is accorded the honor of being the third settler within the present limits of Claibourne Township.  He came, perhaps in 1823.  A native of Virginia, he emigrated to Ohio and tarried for a space of two or three years on the west bank of the Scioto River, in Delaware County, about two miles up the river from the mouth of Bokes Creek.  He rented property here and farmed industriously, then bought 100 or more acres from Mr. Lee.  He had married Elizabeth Tyler in Virginia, and had two children when he emigrated to Ohio, and several were born since their arrival in this State.  They were Richard, Samuel, Gabriel, Eliza (Dilsaver), Jane (Lindsley) and Susanna (Kaiser).  Mr. Cotrell was a small, rather slightly built man, but active and fond of fun.  He owned only the few chattels which his neighbors did during the first years of his settlement, but when he was in a jovial mood he took delight in recounting to strangers the large amount of stock and other property he claimed to possess.  The County Assessor visited him one year, and Mr. Cotrell was not aware of his official position.  To the inquiries as to the extent of his personal wealth, he answered so much in accordance with the view of humor which then possessed him that his taxes were much
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     *See account of Cyprian Lee in history of Marysville, this volume.

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greater than those of his neighbors.  After some opposition, he paid the amount, but the experience made him more wary with strangers thereafter.  All in all he was an industrious and upright man.  He died on the place he first settled in Claibourne Township.

     Henry Swartz was born in Pennsylvania and emigrated with his father, John L. Swartz, to Highland County, Ohio; thence they moved to the Scioto River, in Delaware County.  Henry Swartz there married Ann Stevens, purchased a forest farm from Cyprian Lee just north of the Sidle Methodist Protestant Church, and built his cabin northeast of Fulton Creek.  The cabins of his three neighbors—Lee, Williams and Cotrell—were south of the creek.  Mr. Swartz moved over to his new home about 1823 or 1824.  He is described as being a tall, well-formed man, very strong, aggressive, not the least cowardly, and, withal, a kind, clever man.  He had been a soldier in the war of 1812, and understood the Indian character very well and had no love for it.  He was a great hunter, killing from sixty to eighty deer in a reason and cutting as many as seventy bee trees in a single fall, besides taking a considerable amount of other game.  He sold the farm he first purchased in this township and bought another just north of Richwood, where he lived a few years.  He was also in business for a short time in Richwood, but at last removed to Defiance County, where he died at a ripe old age.

     The Clarks, four brothers—James, George, Henry and John—probably made the next settlement in Claibourne Township.  The first three became the holders of 1,675 acres of land off the north part of the Buller Claibourne survey, just east of Richwood, divided it among themselves and settled on it in 1826.  They were from Amherst County, Va., and about 1822 emigrated to Miami County, Ohio, where they remained two years and then journeyed to the Scioto River in Delaware County.  Two years later they entered upon their extensive land possessions. George came first.  He was an old bachelor, and died on the place at the age of more than eighty years.  Henry was married to Mary Fay, in 1824, in Delaware County.  After residing in Claibourne Township for some time, he sold his property to Louis Hedges and removed to Illinois, where he died.  James married Sarah Wilson, sold his land to Jacob Beem and took up his residence in Delaware County, where he died.  John Clark came to Ohio in 1816 and settled first in Miami County.  He remained there until 1824, when he removed to Delaware County.  Four years afterward he purchased from one of his brothers a small place two and a half miles east of Richwood and settled there.  He died in Delaware County, in 1850, aged seventy-seven years.

     Mrs. Sarah Touguet, a sister of the Clarks, and widow, came with her eight children to Claibourne Township in 1826, and made the cabin of her bachelor brother, George Clark, her home.  Four of the eight children still survive—Clarka, the wife of Maj. John Calloway, Henry, of Logan County, John A. J., in this, and Steward in Jackson Township.

     David Field, a colored man, received 100 acres of land from Cyprian Lee for two years' labor and settled on it about 1826.  He was born a slave, given his freedom and brought to Delaware County when a boy by John Mark.  He was a strong, muscular man, and would not bear imposition.  For a while he was industrious and economical, but through sickness his farm became involved and he finally lost it.  He never regained any property and died a pauper in an adjoining county.

     Nathaniel Wilson came from Ross County, Ohio, about 1830, and settled on the Cyprian Lee farm.  He was of Scotch-Irish descent and by religious affiliation a Presbyterian.  His four children were Joseph, William, Elizabeth, who married William Touguet and Sally, the wife of James Clark.  Mr.

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Wilson afterward moved to Richwood, and after a time departed and took up his abode in some other locality.

     John Smith, or " Buffalo Smith," as he was universally called, a large, rough character, rough in physique and rough in manners, but kind hearted, took a "squatter's" claim on 100 acres in the Lee settlement very early and lived there for awhile.  He then removed to Marion County.

     The Henry Swartz place, three miles south of Richwood, was purchased by Henry Shisler, a German, who came to Claibourne from Licking County about 1832.  His children were John, William, Sarah (Beem), Mary (Rose), Elizabeth (Sturdevant), Lydia and Anna (Reed).

     Eleazor Rose, his son-in-law, came about the same tinie and settled upon the same farm.  He, too, was born in Licking County.  After tilling the soil a number of years at this place, he removed to a farm on Rush Creek, and there spent the remainder of his life.

     Basil Bridge, in 1834, bought a farm of 114 acres, now the L. Myers place, just southeast of Richwood, from one of the Clarks, and settled upon it with his large family.  It was then a dense wilderness.  He was a native of Canada, but moved to New York in 1812 and enlisted in the American Army, though then but sixteen years old.  In 1814, he married Almira Warner, a native of Vermont, and in 1815 emigrated to Ohio, settling in Ames Township, Athens County; thence he removed to the Scioto River in Delaware County, and to Claibourne in 1834.  He died in 1859 in Marion County.  His widow survived until December, 1874.  Of their ten children, the oldest, Sarah Jane, the wife of John Dilsaver, is the only resident of Union County.

     Zerah Lindsley, in the autumn of 1832, removed to Claibourne from Thompson Township, Delaware County, but not liking the country remained only till the following spring.  Fifty acres of land then sold for one horse and the labor of splitting 1,000 rails.  Mr. Lindsley now resides at Richwood.

     Thomas Andrews, a German, came from Licking County about 1830 or 1832 and settled on what is now the Elijah Harris place, about one and a fourth miles south of Richwood.  His wife was Phoebe, a sister of Ebenezer Rose; his children were Hiram, Peter, Phoebe and Elizabeth.  Mr. Andrews sold his farm and removed to Marion County.  He ultimately emigrated to Iowa and died there.

     Adam Andrews, a cousin of the above, came about the same time and from the same place.  He settled on a farm just south of Richwood, now owned and occupied by J. A. Phillips.  He soon after sold it to Adam Dilsaver and moved West.

     Adam Dilsaver came to Claibourne about 1832 from Fairfield County, after stopping a short time in Delaware County until he could look up a good location.  His wife was Sally (Winstead), and his three children, Harrison, Elizabeth, and Ann Maria.  After living for a few years on the place he had purchased from Mr. Andrews, he removed with his family to Winnebago County, Ill.

     John Dilsaver, in December, 1835, settled on the farm which he still owns, about two miles south of Richwood.  He had married Jane Bridge July 14 preceding.  He was born in Fairfield County in 1806, and about 1812 emigrated with his father, Michael Dilsaver, to the Scioto River in Delaware County.  John remained here, working out some, however, in this township, until his marriage and settlement on his own farm.  He was reared on the frontier, and in his youth wore deer-skin clothes, the usual garb of the backwoodsmen of that day.  From the earnings of manual daily labor, he saved means enough to purchase his land, and has since accumulated more.  He raised his family on this farm and is still a resident thereon, one of the old and highly esteemed pioneers of this locality.

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     Adam Imbody, about 1835, settled about three miles south of Richwood, north of Fulton Creek, on the farm now owned by D. A. Bigelow.  He was a German, and had emigrated from the State of New York.  He brought with him his wife and four children, and reared a large family.  He moved afterward to Marion County and died there.

     As will be noticed, all the above settlers occupied farms on the Buller Claibourne Survey.  Most of the other surveys were not yet in market, the proprietor doubtless withholding them for higher prices than were then current.  Between 1835 and 1840, the settlements became more scattering, and at the later date dotted all parts of the township.

     Among the most important settlements was that of the Grahams.  Samuel Graham, son of John and Jane Graham, was born in Jefferson County Nov. 3, 1800.  From Jefferson he removed to Carroll County, and from it to White-Eyes Township, Coshocton County, with his parents, while yet in his youth.  He was married October 16, 1821, to Sarah Butterfield, who was born in Fayette County, Penn., July 22, 1803, and came to Carroll County when two years old, with his parents.  Mr. Graham remained in Coshocton County, engaged in farming, until 1836.  In June of that year, he purchased 100 acres, just northwest of Richwood, from Henry Swartz, and in the following September moved to it with his family.  He continued to reside on this farm until his death, which occurred by accident on the railroad, Apr. 13, 1864.  Mr. Graham had occasion to visit Marion.  The railroad was then in process of building and he received permission to travel on the construction train.  On his return trip, the weather was severe and the car upon which he was riding, with others, an open one.  He was walking back and forth from one car to another to dispell the numbing sensation of cold, when a sudden jerk of the cars threw him beneath the wheels and he was instantly crushed.  He had been an upright man, and was a consistent member of the Methodist Protestant Church for thirty-three years.  Of his twelve children, three died young; John, is a Methodist Episcopal minister at Richwood; Margaret is the wife of William Fisher, of this township; Thomas B., a Methodist Protestant minister, is now at North Lewisburg, Ohio; Samuel P., died in Illinois in 1865; Francis M., died two years ago; Lydia Ann, occupies the old homestead; Joel D., resides in this township; William J., enlisted in the service and died in the Louisville, Ky., Hospital; Martha, wife of Benjamin A. Snowden, resides in Claibourne Township.
     In 1837, John and Jane Graham, the parents of Samuel, moved from Coshocton County and settled on a farm of 100 acres in the woods about one mile southwest from Richwood.  Mr. Graham was born in Pennsylvania, and was of Scotch-Irish descent; his wife was a native of Ireland, emigrating to America when seven years old.  Both were members of the Presbyterian Church.  Mr. Graham died about 1848 or 1849.  His wife preceded him to the grave two years.
     John P. Graham, in September. 1836, accompanied his brother Samuel from Coshocton County and settled on an adjoining farm of 100 acres.  It was then wholly unimproved, and he paid for it $3 per acre.  Mr. Graham died at this place.  His widow, Mrs. Eliza Graham, still survives.  Their children are Jane, Abigail, William, Hannah, Margaret, John L., Isaac, Francis and Marion, some of whom lived in Claibourne Township.

     Samuel Livingston, from Coshocton County, about 1839 settled on a small farm one and one-fourth miles southwest from Richwood, where he is still living at a venerable old age.  He followed farming and blacksmithing.  His wife was Jane Graham.  Mr. Livingston furnished five boys for the service during the rebellion, and all returned uninjured.

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     Daniel Swartz, in October, 1834, purchased from Philip Plummer fifty acres of land, situated just north of Richwood, and he moved to it at once.  He was born in Pennsylvania, but had emigrated when quite young with his father to Highland County, near Hillsboro.  He died Mar. 9, 1842, of consumption, aged forty-two years, leaving, a wife and five children.  The former Mrs. Susan Swartz, aged eighty-three years, is still residing at the old place.

     Peter Grace, in March, 1887, came from Licking County with his wife Nancy, and children, and settled one and a half miles west of Richwood, where he still owns and occupies a small place.  He was atone time a minister of the New Light Christian faith, but afterward became a Methodist Protestant, and later of the Disciple Church.

     In the western part of the township one of the earliest settlements was made by John Cahill.  He there accumulated a large property and became one of the leading, energetic and influential citizens of the northern part of the county.

     William Hamilton was one of the early pioneers of Claibourne Township and for a period of almost thirty years one of the foremost men of Union County.  He was born near Morgantown, Va., in 1789.  In 1807, he emigrated with his father, William Hamilton, Sr., to Muskingum County, Ohio, arriving at their pioneer home on his eighteenth birthday.  Here his energies were developed by his assistance in clearing the densely timbered land and reducing it to a well-improved farm.  He acquired extensive possessions, and in 1837 sold his large farm with the expectation to locate farther in the west.  For one season he tarried in Licking.  He then purchased from Cadwallader Wallace his survey of 1,000 acres, northwest of Richwood, paying $3,600 for it, and reached Claibourne Township, Apr. 30, 1838.  The survey was afterward found to contain nearly 1,400 acres.  Mr. Hamilton remained at Richmond until he could build a log house, when he at once moved into it and remained its occupant till his decease.  This large tract was as yet untouched by the woodman's ax, and the arduous labor of again developing a farm devolved upon him.  He was a man possessed of energies greatly superior to those of average mankind, and carried an enthusiasm and determination into whatever enterprise he undertook which insured its success.  In physique he was large and powerful.  Though not cultured, he was thoroughy honest and public spirited, and was perhaps more influential in creating a healthy moral atmosphere in. his community, by his example and teachings, of his withering denunciation of whatever was mean and contemptible, than any other individual.  His spirit was chivalrous, and to the weak or oppressed he was unusually kind.  He was a member of the Methodist Protestant Church and for nearly forty years a local minister of this faith.  In politics, he was strongly Whig, and later in life a Republican.  He had served in Muskingum County as Commissioner and filled the same office in Union County.  It was to his exertions and labors, largely, that the Infirmary farm was purchased and building erected.  His death occurred Aug. 12, 1867.  Mr. Hamilton had been twice married.  By his first wife, Miss Ewing, he had four children—Elizabeth, Samuel, William and Benjamin.  Elizabeth, married Jacob C. Sidle, a prominent farmer of Claibourne; Samuel, is a farmer in Marshall County, Ill.; William, a farmer at Wenona, same county; Benjamin, died in Claibourne Township.  The second wife was Lydia Springer.  By this marriage there were eight children—Cornelius S. (deceased), an attorney of Marysville; John W., Professor of Surgery at the Columbus Medical College; Joseph H., a Methodist Protestant Minister, now at Mount Vernon, Ohio; Isaac N., a physician, at Marysville; Horatio C., of Richwood; George B., a farmer of Claibourne; Susan R. (deceased); and Thomas B., a physician, who enlisted as

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GEORGE CODER

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Surgeon in the One Hundred and Fourteenth Illinois Regiment, and died at Memphis, Tenn., in 1865

     Lazarus Hartley accompanied Mr. Hamilton from Licking County, conveying his family and effects to the new home in a two-wheeled cart.  He leased a farm on the Hamilton tract and assisted greatly in clearing it.  Mr. Hartley was illiterate but possessed a remarkable memory.  Whatever he saw or once heard was always remembered, and it became quite a custom in the neighborhood where he lived to refer any disputed matter of fact to him for settlement.  He after awhile acquired a farm in Claibourne and some of his children now occupy it.  His death occurred a few years ago.

     Richard Ward came from Muskingum County with Mr. Hamilton and lived in the vicinity for ten or more years.

     About 1835, Peter Jackson removed from Pickaway County and settled on a farm in Survey No. 7,008, on Peacock Run, three miles south of Richwood.  His son occupied a portion of the same farm.  After a few years, both, with their families, returned to Pickaway County.

     Junkin Mulvain came about 1839 from White-Eyes Township, Coshocton County, and settled on a farm in Survey No. 6,307, about two miles west of Richwood.  He was a large, tall man, and a good citizen, and died in this township.

     Jacob Beem was born in Alleghaney County, Md., and when twelve years old emigrated with his brother's family to Jersey Township, Licking County.  He there married Phoebe Rose and in 1834 came to Claibourne Township, settling on a farm about two and one-half miles south of Richwood.  Mr. Beem possessed a strong and hardy character, well fitted to cope with the difficulties incident to pioneer life.  He remained a life-long and well-esteemed citizen of the township.  His death occurred in December 1878.

     John Beem removed from Licking County to Clairbourne in 1832, but a few years later sold his farm to Jacob Beem and emigrated to Webster County, Iowa.
     Aaron Beem settled early, about one and one-half miles southeast of Richwood.  The following settlers entered the township at some time prior to 1840, some of them several years before.

     John Atwood was originally from Virginia, but came here from Muskingum County.  He died on his farm about one and a half miles south of Richwood.

     Alexander and George Cowgill, father and only son, came from Ross County, and dwelt for a time on Bokes Creek.  They then settled in the south east part of the township, where the father, Alexander, died.  George removed to Jackson Township, and his family still resides there.

     Michael Cramer from Knox County, settled just south of Richwood on land now embraced within the corporation limits.  He was a farmer and died here.  His son Michael  removed to Marysville.

     Abraham Decker was a Pennsylvanian by birth.  He emigrated to this township a widower, with his children, and settled two or three miles east of Richwood.  In a few years he removed to Mercer County.

     Benjamin Fisher, now a resident of Richwood in his seventy-fifth year, in April, 1836, removed from near Mount Vernon, Ohio, to a farm one and a fourth miles west of Richwood.  He had come the fall before with five or six men and built a cabin on the place.  His brother-in-law, Atticus Neil, took immediate possession of it.  Mr. Fisher occupied it during the spring of his removal until he had constructed a hewed-log house.  At this time there were no settlers living between his farm and the village.  He purchased 160 acres, paying for it $2.50 per acre.  The York road was opened about the

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time he came.  There had previously been a trail to the Miller settlement in York Township.  His father, Larkin Fisher, came a few years later, but resided most of the time in Richwood.

     Isaac Gearheart about 1835 took possession of a farm about a mile south of Richwood.  He subsequently moved to Rush Creek, where he passed the remainder of his life.

     Sylvester Grindle,* formerly a resident of Pickaway County, settled about three miles west of Richwood, and by economy and frugality acquired considerable property.

     Elisha Higbee was an early settler.  He was a cooper by trade, and removed to Kenton.  Subsequently he went to Hancock County.

     Isaac Headley, from Coshocton County, settled about one and a half miles northeast from Richwood, and remained on his farm of 100 acres there through life.  He followed carpentering to some extent in connection with farming.

     Joseph Murphy in 1836 came from Allegheny County, Penn., and settled on the Joynes Survey, in the southwestern part of the township, near the site of Claibourne Village.  He pursued the avocation of farming, and died on his farm in 1857.  His widow, Mrs. Rebecca Murphy, still survives.  A brother, Samuel Murphy, accompanied him to this home.  He was an old bachelor, hunted a great deal, and died at Richwood in 1882, aged eighty-one years.

     Charles Morse, probably about 1839, settled on a farm of 100 acres just north of Richwood.  He was a Yankee, and afterward removed to Marysville.

     Samuel Moses in 1835 changed his place of residence from St. Lawrence County, N. Y., to Cuyahoga County, Ohio.  The year following he came to Jerome Township, Union County, and soon after settled on a farm in the eastern part of Claibourne, where he still resides aged eighty-one years.  His wife, Sally, died in 1882, aged eighty-two years.  Of their eleven children, eight grew to maturity.

     Abraham and James Moses, brothers, and distantly related to Samuel Moses, were also early settlers of Claibourne.  Abraham died about a mile east of Richwood and James moved to Mercer County.

     Isaac D. Stewart, from Muskingum County, settled in the southern part of the township on Fulton Creek.  He afterward moved to Iowa and died there.

     William H. Sherman settled in the northeastern part of the township.  He was from the eastern part of the State.  Not liking Claibourne Township, he soon returned to his former place of residence.  In answer to an inquiry as to the cause of his return, he said that the country was so wet that he could not find a dry spot large enough to set a hen, and had to use the stump of a tree for this purpose.

     William and John Wynegar, two brothers, in 1837, came from Highland County and settled on adjoining farms in the wilderness, about three miles west of Richwood, south of the Summersville road.  In 1852, John moved to Winnebago County, Ill.; and in 1882, to Kansas, where he now lives.  William removed to Starke County, Ind., in 1864, and died there.

      Tobias Robinson, about 1838, became a resident of the western portion of the township, where he remained until his death.  He was from Pickaway County.

     In 1837, John Warner, from Coshocton County, settled with his wife and one child in the southwestern portion of the township, near Claibourne Village.  He subsequently emigrated to Iowa.

     Martin Walters and Abram Taylor, brothers-in-law to Mr. Warner, in 1838 removed to the same part of Claibourne from Coshocton County.  Mr. Taylor died there, leaving a family which is now scattered, and Mr. Walters
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     * Sylvester Grindle is a relative of Sharon Wick, who is creator of this website.

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moved West.  In 1838, there were no settlements nearer than two or three miles to this group of pioneers.

     The first road in the township was probably the one passing north and south through Richwood.  About 1825, Cyprian Lee and Henry Swartz took the contract to cut this road from the southern to the northern line of hte township.  They only cleared away the under brush and small trees, leaving many obstacles in the shape of large timber.  The road was made fifteen feet wide.

MILLING.

     One of the serious problems that arose for solution in the pioneer times in Claibourne as well as every other newly settled locality, was how to reduce the corn and wheat to a degree of fineness sufficient for domestic purposes.  The family of Henry Swartz for several weeks ground all the meal they used in a hand coffee mill.  John Swartz, a settler on the Scioto River, was the happy owner of a little hand mill, upon which, by a vigorous exercise of muscle, a half bushel of grain might be reduced to a tolerably fine meal in several hours.  It was much resorted to by Robert Cotrell and others of the earliest settlers.

     Adam Dilsaver constructed a horse mill at his place a short distance south of Richwood, which was extensively used by his neighbors.  His customers must furnish their own horse power, and as three or four horses were necessary to operate the cumbersome machinery, several would sometimes arrange to be there at one time in order to help each other; this, however, was rarely necessary.  The capacity of the mill was so slight that it was usually in motion, and it was not uncommon for a farmer to start to mill at 2 o'clock in the morning in order to be first there, and consequently the first to have his wants attended to.  Occasionally the mill would run all night.

     Richard Irwin, whose farm was about one and a half miles east of Richwood, also had a horse mill.  These mills were so almost interminably slow that they were used only during dry weather when there was no water power, or during muddy weather when the distant mills were inaccessible.  Some pioneers preferred going forty miles to a good mill to using a horse mill, and this distance was sometimes traveled.  A large four-horse load was once taken to a mill on Mad River in Champaign County, where the press of business was so great that several weeks elapsed before the hungry settlers in this vicinity obtained their grists.  A mill on Owl Creek in Knox County, was occasionally visited, but usually the mills on Darby Creek were available.  No water grist mills are known to have been in operation in Claibourne Township.

     John Dilsaver operated a small tannery for a few years on his farm south of Richwood.  Another was for a long time operated in Richwood by the sons of John Graham.

SCHOOLS.

     A log cabin stood near the Sidle Methodist Protestant Church, a little northeast of it, which was built as a schoolhouse, and in which the first school in the township was held.  The primitive pedagogue here was Mr. Lamphere, an aged man, who taught in various localities.  The pupils were Ellison, James and Wilson Williams, Richard, Samuel and Eliza Cotrell, John A. and Elder Swartz, and perhaps the Wilson children and a few others from a distance.  The term lasted only about two months.

     Eleazor Rose was one of the earliest teachers in this locality.  He dwelt in one apartment of a double log cabin, and in the other enlightened the understanding of the youth in this community.  He was reputed an excellent teacher.

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     It would be impossible to make mention of the first teachers in all portions of the township.  The schools have had a gradual growth from very small beginnings, like all other institutions, and have now attained an efficiency equal to that found anywhere else in the county.

SKETCH OF THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF CLAIBOURNE TOWNSHIP. *

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JOHN PAVER

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als, deaths, etc., twenty-two, leaving the present number of communicants, fifty- five.
     Soon after the organization of the church, this congregation organized a Sabbath school, which has been reglarly maintained ever since.  It now numbers— officers and teachers, twelve; scholars, seventy- five.  The school is now, and has been from the first, a great source of spiritual strength to the church.
     There has been no marked periods of revival in the history of this church, but its growth has been gradual and constant—the result of patient and continuous effort.  Financially, the church is now out of debt, and, spiritually, it is in the most hopeful condition.

CEMETERIES.

     The earliest place of interment within the township was the one now most extensively used - at the Sidel Methodist Protestant Church, two miles south of Richwood.  It is on the land which formerly belonged to Henry Swartz, and burials were commenced while the place was yet in the midst of a deep wilderness.  Henry Swartz buried two small children here, and the deceased of his neighbors' families found their "eternal resting place" in the same secluded spot.  The burials of Mr. Garner, John Logue, Mrs. Ira Bennett and Mrs. Rose were among the first.  When Jacob C. Sidle became the proprietor of this farm, he donated an acre for a cemetery.  Afterward it came within the charge of the Township Trustees, and they made additions to its limits.  The grounds are located on rising land, and now receive the remains of "the departed" from Richwood and the surrounding country.
     The old graveyard, in Richwood, is no longer used for burial purposes.
     At the Lenox Schoolhouse, one and a fourth miles northwest of Richwood, William Hamilton donated a lot for a cemetery, which is still used to some extent.
     Another small graveyard, now abandoned, was situated on the Graham farm, just northwest of Richwood.
     At Stony Point, in the western part of the township, is a graveyard, where the dead of that vicinity are interred.

CLAIBOURNE

     Claibourne is the newest village in the county, and, though yet in its infancy, bids fair to surpass, in size and prosperity, some of the earlier settled villages.  It is situated in the extreme southwestern part of Claibourne Township, on the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad.  The plat was surveyed Mar. 14, 1881, by Frederick J. Sager, and contains ten and three-fourths acres, divided into thirty-nine lots.  William Jolliff, Jr. was the proprietor.  He made an addition of five lots, Mar. 4, 1882.  G. M. Warner was the first resident of the place who anticipated the location of the village.  He was appointed Postmaster in August, 1879, a position which he yet retains, and in September of the same year opened a stock of general merchandise in a building which he had jsut erected.  Through his exertions and representations, the railroad company laid a side-track, and during the winter of 1880-81 built and opened a station.  The first dwellings were erected in 1881.  About fifteen families compose the population.  One physician, Dr. T. F. Wurtsbaugh, is in practice here.  The village contains a saw mill, owned by Bell & Shearer, a shoe shop, a blacksmith shop, one hotel, a millinery store and two general stores.  A neat brick school building has just been erected, and a Methodist Protestant Church is close by.  The village is six miles distant form Richwood.

RICHWOOD.

     Richwood, the second town in size and importance in Union County, is located in the central part of Claibourne Township.  It is a wide-awake, business place, with an enterprising, public-spirited class of citizens, and for many years has competed successfully in trade with larger towns in surrounding counties.  Its streets are broad and regularly laid out.  Substantial and spacious business blocks are being constantly added to the number already erected.  It has just completed its first half-century of existence.  For thirty years its growth was slow; during hte last two decades, it has been more rapid.  Its success is due, principally, to the building of the railroad through the place.  A fine agricultural region surrounds the town, and the facilities for commerce, which the railroad afforded, made it at once the center of a large and widely-extended trade.  The population in 1840 was 99; in 1870, mainly through the growth of the last few years, it had reached 436; in 1880, it was 1,317, a ratio of increase rarely attained.
     Philip Plummer was the proprietor of Richwood.  He had come into possession of the William Pelham Survey, No. 6,307, of 1,200 acres, or the greater part of it, and in the summer of 1832 visited it, from Mount Vernon, Ohio, with his brother Thomas Plummer, Elisha Merriot and Dr. John P. Brookins, a physician in search of a good location for practice.  They traveled in a large two-horse wagon, and stopped on the way overnight at Daniel Swartz's house on the Scioto River.  The village was surveyed and platted in the midst of a dense wilderness, Aug. 8, 9, and 10, 1832, by Thomas G. Plummer, Special Deputy Surveyor, under the direction of the County Surveyor, Levi Phelps; and the plat was acknowledged before Ira Wood, Justice of the Peace, Aug. 20, 1832.  They all returned to Mount Vernon, and soon after Philip Plummer, and Dr. Brookins returned to Richwood.
     The original plat contains a full description of the location; stating that it is situated in a tract of land known as "Richwoods," about four miles west of the Scioto River, at the head-waters of Ottaway Run, on a broad and beautiful knob of tableland, unsurpassed in fertility.  The distances from many towns and cities are minutely given, and it is said that "the signs, by timber, of the fertility of the soil in the Richwoods are beech, blue ash, gray ash, black ash, hackberry or hoop ash, mulberry, wild cherry, black walnut, white walnut, white oak, red oak, buckeye, honey locust, lyden tree, coffee tree, a species of mahobany, hickory, red elm, white elm, sugar or hard maple, soft maple, box elder and dogwood, with a copse wood of spice brush and prickly ash, burning bush, grape vine, bladder bush and bramble.  The herbage is principally maiden hair, pea vine, bladder bush and bramble.  The herbage is principally maiden hair, pea vine, yellow root, ginseng, Indian and madder, etc.  The soil is of hte richest loam, mixed with clay.  The town plat is at an elevation of from fifteen to twenty feet above the bottom."
     The plat covered an area of 44,788, acres, was 84 poles and 1 foot square, bearing north 17½ degrees east, or south 72½ degrees west.  The principal street, north and south, was Franklin, 100 feet wide, with Fulton and Clinton streets, each five poles wide, parallel with it, the former west and the latter east of it.  The three streets east and west were Blagrove, Ottaway and Bomford; Ottaway, one hundred feet wide, the other two five poles.  There were four alleys running each way, each one pole wide.  The lots on Franklin and Ottaway streets, Nos. 1 to 112 inclusive, were each eight poles long and two wide; the lots on the other streets, Nos. 113 to 152 inclusive, were eight by four poles in size.  Besides these, there were sixteen outlots, each eight poles square, four at each corner of the plat.
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INCORPORATION AND OFFICES

ADDITIONS.

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

POSTMASTERS.

MILITIA. (pg. 594)

SOCIETIES (pg. 594)

PHYSICIANS (pg. 596)

ATTORNEYS. (pg. 596)

SCHOOLS (pg. 597)

NEWSPAPERS (pg. 602)

HOTELS (pg. 602)

BANKS (pg. 603)

MANUFACTURING INTERESTS (pg. 603)

SOME EARLY INCIDENTS (pg. 605)

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.