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Butler township, in consequence of its
being bounded on the east by the Miami river and
on the west by the Stillwater river, is
irregular on these two sides. It has the
usual length of six miles from north to south,
but its greater width at the widest point serves
only to bring up the total area to the normal
size of a township - thirty-six square miles.
The township was formed from parts of Wayne and
Randolph townships, Oct. 7, 1817.
Its boundries have not since been
changed.
In the early times the northern part of the township
was denominated swamp land. By means of
artificial drainage it has been changed into the
best kind of agricultural land. The
surface along the rivers and in some other
parts, especially along Poplar creek, is broken
and hilly. Down to this time the country
abounds in large and numerous springs.
Butler township, and the adjoining part of Randolph
township had a class of settlers peculiar to
themselves, largely made up of people from North
Carolina and South Carolina. It was a part of
the stream that had settled Tennessee and
Kentucky turned north into Ohio. Probably
in 1800 Martin Davenport and
David Hoover, Sr., came from
North Carolina to the Stillwater region
prospecting for land. Well satisfied with
the land they started on their return expecting
to bring back with them their families.
Davenport died before reaching home.
Hoover accompanied by several families
from North Carolina, the most prominent
Page 911 -
of which was that of David Mast,
set out in the summer of 1801 for Ohio, or what
was to become Ohio. The company spent the
winter of 1801-2 nine miles north of Lebanon and
went on to their Canaan in the following spring.
John Quillan, who accompanied the
party, married the daughter of David
Mast and settled east of the Stillwater.
Thomas Newman, George
Sinks and Henry Yount with
their families were among the early settlers
coming from North Carolina.
In 1805 Daniel Waymire and Phillip
Plummer with their families came from
North Carolina. The parents of Daniel
Waymire came from Germany about the year
1735. The mother died on the voyage.
The father’s sisters were sold for their passage
and never afterward heard of. The father
settled in North Carolina and again married.
From the two unions there was a large family of
children, all of whom came to Ohio, and they
became the ancestors of a large progeny.
Many of the descendants of the founder of this
family in America reside in Butler township and
the surrounding territory, a due proportion of
them bearing the name Waymire.
Abijah Jones of North Carolina, a member
of the society of Friends, settled in the
southern part of the township in 1805.
William Compton settled in the
eastern part of the township in 1805.
Sylvanus Swallow settled on section
19 in the southern part of the township in 1808.
Both of the last named were members of the
society of Friends, both coming from North
Carolina. Thus was laid the basis of a
Friends’ meeting in the southern part of the
township, where in 1809 on section 29, a rude
meeting house was erected. Richard
Sunderland of Pennsylvania, settled in
the eastern part of the township in 1805. The
greater part of Butler township, lying adjacent
to the Miami river, corresponding to township 3,
range 6, of the originally surveyed township,
was sold to purchasers as follows:
| Sections
1 and 2 - Joseph Evans |
Aug. 17,
1806 |
| Section 3
- |
|
|
N. E. ¼
Samuel Freeman |
Aug. 9,
1805 |
|
N. W. ¼
John Rittenhouse |
May 24,
1806 |
|
S. E. ¼
James Reed |
Aug. 13,
1811 |
|
S. W. ¼
Jesse Johnson |
Nov. 26,
1810 |
| Section 4
- |
|
|
N. E.
¼
Samuel Martindale |
Dec. 2,
1817 |
|
N. W. ¼
T. Skinner and S. Jones |
Dec. 30,
1816 |
|
S. E. ¼
Edward Gallaher |
Nov. 18,
1811 |
|
E.
½
of S. W. ¼ Samuel Martindale |
Sept. 15,
1828 |
|
W.
½
of S. W. ¼ John Tenney |
April 8,
1829 |
| Section 5
- |
|
|
N. E. ¼
John Haddis |
April 8,
1829 |
|
E.
½
of N. W. ¼ Joshua Cushman |
Nov. 29,
1817 |
|
W.
½
of N. W. ¼ Austin Kelley |
Oct. 13,
1831 |
|
E.
½
of S. E. ¼ Thomas T. Newman |
Feb. 4,
1831 |
|
W.
½
of S. E. ¼ Keziah Jones |
Oct. 5,
1818 |
|
E.
½
of S. W. ¼ Elijah Cox |
Feb. 7,
1817 |
|
W.
½
of S. W. ¼ Charles B. Anderson |
Oct. 3,
1827 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
Page 912 -
Page 913 -
Page 914 -
Page 915 -
| Sections
24 - |
|
|
N. E. ¼
David Mast |
Sept. 27,
1805 |
|
N. W. ¼
John Builling |
Sept. 24,
1804 |
|
S. E. ¼
David Swidwell |
Aug. 5,
1806 |
|
S. W. ¼
Frederick Waymire |
Aug. 6,
1806 |
| Section
25 - |
|
|
N. E. ¼
Henry Young |
Dec. 28,
1802 |
|
N. W. ¼
John Waymire |
Sept. 24,
1804 |
|
S. E. ¼
Henry Yount |
Dec. 20,
1802 |
|
S. W. ¼
Andrew Waymire |
Mar. 15,
1805 |
The many mill sites in Butler township were
quite thoroughly used. A little stream,
sometimes called Wenger's branch, running
directly south and emptying into the Stillwater
about one mile below Little York was completely
lined with Mills. There were three
sawmills, two woolen mills and one or two
flouring mills on this small stream. There
was also a succession of mills at Little York.
There were also a number of mills in the eastern
part of the township, and distilleries, large or
small, everywhere.
TOWNS
Butler township has a number of villages.
LITTLE YORK was laid out by Andrew Waymire in
1817. Its nearness to the mills or
Wenger's branch helped to give it importance
when those mills were in full operation.
CHAMBERSBURG in the southern part of the township on
the Dayton and Troy turnpike and traction line
was platted in 1830. A postoffice was
established here in 1834.
JOHNSON'S STATION and TADMOR on the Dayton and Michigan
railroad serve the communities about them as
shipping stations and also as a center for local
trade.
VANDALIA was platted August 4, 1838, and was
incorporated Feb. 7, 1848. Benjamin
Wilhelm was elected the first mayor and was
twice reelected.
The present village officers are; mayor, J. M.
Seabrook; members of council,l P. N.
Rankin, Jeremiah wenger, James Craver, Joseph
Miller, Michael Bennert and John Eschbach;
clerk, R. W. Demmitt; treasurer, J. M.
Deam. E. O. Rankin is the
postmaster. He has served in that office
about eighteen years.
The facilities for transportation have been gretly
improved within a few years. The cutting
down of the hill at Tadmor and the macadamizing
of the pike between Vandalia and Tadmor have
greatly helped the freighting between those
places. The firm of Rankin and Son,
doing a general merchandising business, annually
receives by way of Tadmor fifty carloads of
goods. The Dayton and Troy, given its
franchise in 1900 through Vandalia, gives
valuable service in transporting both passengers
and freight.
The schools of Vandalia are under the care of a board
of education of which John R. Pease is
president and Dr. W. H. Riley is
secretary. A building with two rooms
furnishes the school accommodations. By
arrangement with the township board of
education, the eighth grade graduates who pass
the Patterson examinations are received in the
township high school, situated one and one-half
Page 916 -
miles west of the village. J. E. Smith
is superintendent of schools for the township
and also principal of the high school.
The practicing physicians in Vandalia are Dr. W. H.
Riley, located there eighteen eyars, and
Dr. J. M. Deam, located there twelve years.
Dr. Riley took the place of Dr. Lee
Corbin and Dr. Deam the place of
Dr. M. V. Patton. Some of the earlier
physicians were Drs. Miller,
Hillory, Kemp, Nunemaker,
Thompson and Swisher.
Vandalia is an orderly, well-kept village of three
hundred and fifty inhabitants. It is
surrounded by a prosperous community.
CHURCHES.
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