Clearcreek Twp Early Settlers
This page is part of the Warren County Ohio GenWeb project
You are our [an error occurred while processing this directive] visitor since 26 October 2004 -- thanks for stopping by!

Early Settlers

Previous
Index
Next

Contributor::

Transcription contributed by Martie Callihan 26 Oct 2004

Sources:
The History of Warren County Ohio
Part IV, Township histories
Clear Creek Township
(Chicago, IL: W. H. Beers Co, 1882; reprint, Mt. Vernon, IN: Windmill Publications, 1992)

Page
598

When, where and by whom the first permanent settlement was made in the township is a question difficult to decide, as several parties claim the honor for their ancestors. But the probabilities are that settlements were made in several different parts of the township at about the same time. In 1795, Abner Crane came from Essex County, N. J., with his mother, brothers and sisters and settled in Butler County. He bought a tract of land in Franklin Township, Warren County, near where Red Lion now stands, and moved on it. One day while out hunting, he discovered a fine spring of pure water, where his son, Samuel R. Crane now lives, and decided to secure that place, and, in 1796, he built a cabin on the new purchase and moved into it, thus becoming one of the first settlers in the township.

Page
599
Wild beasts and wild men were here in abundance at that time. Mr. Crane bought both tracts of tracts of Judge Symmes, and, as did hundreds of other, had to pay for it a second time. Not being able to pay for both, he gave up the tract in Franklin Township. His brother Jonathan settled on the Todd farm; his brother Moses settled on the Benajah Gustin farm, and John H. Robinson settled on the Earnhart farm, the four taking the whole section and settling on their land at nearly the same time.

Robinson built a brick house on his farm in 1808, which is still in a good state of preservation.

Elkanah Gustin came from Greene County, Penn., in 1800, and settled on the farm now owned by John Conover, his father, Jeremiah Gustin, having bought a large tract of land in that vicinity. Elkanah was the father of seven boys and eight girls, of whom Benajah, aged eighty-four, is the only survivor.

William Sweney came from Pennsylvania in 1799. and settled in Clear Creek Township on the farm now occupied by his son Eli. He died, in 1848, at the age of seventy-eight. He was the father of nine children, of whom Eli is the only one living; Robert, the eldest son, was with Gen. Hull, at Detroit, when he surrendered his army. Eli was, for a number of years, a Captain in the Ohio militia. He is now in his seventy-fifth year, and is hale and hearty for one of that age. He says he remembers distinctly of going on horseback. with his father, to the old mill at Springboro--mentioned in the preceding pages-—when there were no roads worthy of the name in all this section of country—nothing but mere bridle-paths marked by "blazing" trees along the route. Joseph Kirby, Joshua, Joseph and James Carter, James Wills and Jonathan and William Garwood were among the early settlers in the southeastern part of the township.

George Harlan was born in North Carolina in 1767, from whence his father came to Pennsylvania, then to Kentucky, and, in 1797, to Ohio. After a short stay at Deerfield, they settled in Clear Creek Township. Mr. Harlan filled several different offices of trust and honor in the township, county and State. He died, in 1846, at the age of seventy-nine.

Moses Harlan, his son, was born in 1810, and occupies the old homestead. He, likewise, has been honored with a number of positions of public trust, having, among others, filled the office of Justice of the Peace for eighteen years and Township Trustee for twenty-seven years. The Eulasses, Blackfords, Keevers, Richard Lackey, Thomas Venard and the McDonalds were among the pioneers in the eastern part of the township. Richard Lackey came from Kentucky with the Harlans, and settled on the farm now owned by his son Richard, about a mile east of Ridgeville. He purchased land of Highway, who, like Symmes, could not pay for it, and it reverted to the Government, and those who had bought of him had to pay for their land again.

Richard Lackey, Jr., was born in 1811, and was married in 1832 to Permelia Dyke. He is the father of eight children, of whom one son and three daughters are living. Mr. Lackey was for twelve years Township Treasurer; for four years, County Treasurer; Real Estate Appraiser in Turtle Creek Township, and has filled the offices of Justice of the Peace and Township Trustee for several years in this township.

Martin Keever was born in Maryland in 1727, and came with his family to Ohio in a very early day, and settled on the farm where his descendants now reside. When about thirty years of age, he was captured by the Indians, and remained a prisoner for nearly two years. He died, in 1824, aged ninety-seven; his wife survived him thirteen years. His son George was born in 1781, and came to Ohio with his father. He was married, in 1808, to Abigail Bunnell. He was thrown from a sulky, in 1845, and, being a large, corpulent

Page
600
man, the fall killed him.; he left but one child—Dr. M. H. Keever, who was born in 1810, and who inherited the home place. Dr. Keever died from heart disease while sitting at the breakfast-table, April 7, 1878; his death was universally regretted by the citizens of this and adjoining townships, as he was a genial, whole-souled man, and a physician of marked ability.

Among the first settlers in the vicinity of Springboro, were the Richardsons. Nulls, Frys, Dearths, Greggs and Mullins.

Edward Dearth, in the spring of 1798, came from Fayette County, Penn., and settled where I. N. Dearth now lives; he had five sons who came with him; he purchased over 1,400 acres of land in a body. When they settled there, they knew of but one family within three or four miles of them, on what is now the Vail farm. As an instance of their loneliness and their anxiety to welcome the advent of families into their neighborhood, it is related that one evening, after all the family, except Mr. and Mrs. Dearth, had retired, Mrs. Dearth heard a dog barking in the direction of the present site of Springboro. She called her husband's attention to it, and he thought at first that it was a wolf, but finally decided that it was a dog, and that they would try and ascertain, in the morning, from whence the sound came. So, when the morning came, they started through the woods, feeling certain that they would find a human habitation of some kind. After going about two miles, they came to a cabin in the woods, and were greatly pleased to find that they had other neighbors, even that far of, but they soon regretted the acquaintanceship thus formed, for they proved to be notorious horse-thieves and counterfeiters. There were three brothers of them, named Daniel, Isaac and Aaron. Daniel, however, was not connected with the other two in their nefarious practices, but was a quiet, inoffensive citizen. Isaac and Aaron finally left this part of the country and located somewhere below Cincinnati. The settlers there soon found that they were not a very valuable acquisition to pioneer society, and tried every peaceful means to induce them to " go West," and, as a last resort, a vigilance committee was formed for the purpose of forcing them and all others of that class to leave. One evening Isaac was shot and killed while standing in his own door, by some one supposed to be one of the committee. The other brother left at once for parts unknown.

Samuel Gregg came from Pennsylvania in 1796, and settled in Deerfield, where he resided till the fall of 1798, when, having purchased a tract of land in Clear Creek Township, he moved on it and began the labor of making for himself and family a home—a work in which he was eminently successful. He died, in 1844, at the age of seventy-one. His son William, who succeeded to the homestead, was born in Deerfield in 1798, and grew up with the country. He lived to see the township grow from an almost unbroken wilderness to its present populous and highly cultivated condition, having lived to the age of eighty-one. Mr. Gregg, though moving in a comparatively humble sphere, was a man in the truest sense of the word. His every-day life merited the approbation of all who knew him. Such a reputation is certainly much more to be desired than one which would call forth the unmeaning plaudits of a fickle public. Two of their sons—James A. and Jonah B.—are living on the old farm.

Isaac Mullin was born in Virginia in 1777; was married, in 1801, to Miss Haines, in New Jersey, and came to Ohio the same year. He settled at Waynesville, but the next year he removed to Clear Creek Township; he died in 1839. Job Mullin, son of Isaac Mullin, was born about the year 1806. He relates that he has heard his father say that when he settled in this township he knew of but two other families nearer than Waynesville—but of course there were others, of whose location he had not learned—that, hearing a cow-

Page
601
blank page
Page
602

R. M. Cox
Page
603

bell one day in the woods, and, following the direction from whence the sound came, he found a family named Grimes, who had " squatted " on a claim, and were proceeding to build a cabin. They, of course, received a hearty welcome from Mr. Mullin. Mr. Job Mullin says he has a very vivid recollection of his early school days. His father had to mark the route from their house to the schoolhouse by blazing the trees, so that the children might not get lost on their way to and from school; he remembers going to school to Mary Smith, when Gen. Clay passed through here with his Kentucky troops during the war of 1812, and the teacher dismissing the school to allow the pupils to see the soldiers.

We have not tried to give a complete list of all who had come into the township prior to 1802 or 1803, but only a few of the first and most prominent ones in each neighborhood.

One of the most prominent men who came later was Jonathan Wright, a surveyor, and who, it is claimed by his descendants, laid out the city of Columbus, Ohio, though Howe, in his Historical Collections of Ohio, gives the credit to Moses Wright. Jonathan Wright was a very influential man in the township, because of his intelligence and his uprightness of character, together with his energetic spirit in building up and improving the country. But we have no space to notice, even briefly, all the early settlers, and will therefore pass to another subject.


FOOTNOTES: [a place to add additional information that you might want to submit]

     

Previous
Index
Next

NOTICE: All documents and electronic images placed on the Warren County OHGenWeb site remain the property of the contributors, who retain publication rights in accordance with US Copyright Laws and Regulations. These documents may be used by anyone for their personal research. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or their legal representative, and contact the listed Warren County OHGenWeb coordinator with proof of this consent.

This page created 26 Oct 2004 and last updated 20 October, 2010
© 2004-2005 Arne H Trelvik  All rights reserved