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This township was formed from Jackson and
Madison townships, Mar. 7, 1820. The most of the
territory of the township is level and at an
early time was very wet, water standing in some
places all the year. The larger part of
the township was therefore not settled until a
comparatively late date. The
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eastern and northeastern parts of the township
being higher and more rolling, were first
settled. Underneath the surface of a part
of the township there is a layer of rock
valuable for building purposes. The
streams draining the land of Perry township are
Wolf creek, Beer creek, Little Twin, Tom’s run
and Leslie’s run. The people settling in
the township were prevailingly of German
descent.
Some of the settlers whose families became prominent in
the history of the township, were Henry
Shank, Sr., George Brumbaugh,
Andrew Clemmer, Daniel
Mundhenk and Peter Swank.
The number of original settlers became more numerous as
by a change in the land laws, the government
began to sell land in smaller lots. Perry
township corresponds to township 5, range 4, of
the originally surveyed townships. The
following table gives the names of original
purchasers with date of purchase:
| Section 1
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N. E. ¼
John
Arnold |
July 4,
1805 |
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| Section 1
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N. W. ¼
John
Reichard |
Jan. 11,
1815 |
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N. W. ½
John
Clayton |
Aug. 26,
1826 |
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N. W. ¼
Abraham Hostetter |
July 13,
1811 |
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S. W.
¼
Peter Replogle |
Sept. 12,
1814 |
| Section
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Page 909 -
| Section
33 - |
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N.
E. ¼
John Collins |
Jan. 10,
1818 |
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N. W.
¼
John Staver |
Dec. 9,
1817 |
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The first gristmill in Perry township was built
in 1816 by Andrew Clemmer on Tom's run in
section 32. In 1834 Daniel Mundhenk
built the first steam sawmill in the township.
It was run by his son Frederick. In
1846-47 the Mundhenks erected a steam
gristmill.
The first schoolhouse was a small log cabin in the
northern part of section 29. The next
schoolhouse was built in 1814. A
schoolhouse was built in section 36 about a
quarter of a mile east of New Lebanon as early
as 1823. The subscription schools in the
township did not disappear until long after the
state had made provision for common schools.
PYRMONT is the only town wholly within the
township. It was laid out in 1835 by
Daniel Mundhenk. The first store was
opened in 1835 by Joseph Mixwell.
The postoffice was established in 1840. At
one time the town was incorporatedd, but the
people losing interst in a town administration
allowed the charter to lapse. The
population is placed at about three hundred.
The
smaller part of the town of New Lebanon is in
Perry township. The town was incorporated
in 1878.
The part of the town of Johnsville is also in Perry
township.
CHURCHES.
The first church in Perry township was organized
about 1824. It was called the Presbyterian and
Lutheran congregation. In 1825 two acres
of ground in section 11 were donated to the
church for a burying ground and churchyard, and
shortly afterward a church was built thereon.
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Antioch church belonging to the United Brethren
is the successor to the work of several
cooperating congregations. These were the
Lutheran, Reformed and United Brethren, which
united in building a frame church in 1850 on
section 13. There was a society of United
Brethren much earlier which had held meetings in
private houses. Later the Lutherans
withdrew and built a church of their own.
The Reformed and Methodist organizations became
extinct and the United Brethren society became
inactive for a time but was later revived and
reorganized. A new church building was
then built on a new location at a cost of three
thousand dollars. It was dedicated in
1872. It was remodeled in 1907 at a cost
of four thousand, eight hundred and fifty
dollars. At present it is served in
connection with the Brookville church by Rev.
Ivory Zimmerman. The membership
numbers one hundred and forty-six.
In 1860 the Lutherans bought a lot a short
distance from the location of the Union church
and erected a building at a cost of two thousand
dollars. They also purchased land for a
cemetery near by.
The first religious society organized in Pyrmont
was a Methodist society. In 1836 they
built a church which was rebuilt in 1872.
The United Brethren society of Pyrmont was formed in
1847, and two years later a small house of
worship was erected by them. In 1866 the
old church was removed and a more commodious and
suitable building erected. This church is
served in connection with the Lewisburg church
with E. P. Huddle as its pastor.
The membership numbers ninety-six,
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