History of Columbiana County, Ohio � Harold B

							History of Columbiana County, Ohio – Harold B. Barth
Historical Publishing Company 1926
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CHAPTER III

TOWNSHIPS AND VILLAGES

BUTLER TOWNSHIP – DAMASCUS – WINONA VALLEY – CENTER TOWNSHIP –
ELKRUN TOWNSHIP – ELKTON – FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP – COLUMBIANA –
MIDDLETON – AND EAST FAIRFIELD – FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP – SUMMITVILLE
– HANOVER TOWNSHIP – HANOVERTON –GUILFORD – DUNGANNON –
KENSINGTON –KNOX TOWNSHIP- NORTH GEORGETOWN – HOMEWORTH.

       Butler Township lies on the northwestern quarter of Columbiana County on the northern
border. It has an area of 32 square miles. It is well dotted with fertile farms on its hilly uplands.
The lands is conducive to general farming and stock raising. Its numerous streams find egress to
the Mahoning and Little Beaver Creeks, making admirable drainage.

        William Whinnerry entered Section 27 in 1800 or 1801 and with his six sons, Robert,
John, Thomas, James, William and Zimri, became the first settlers in it, they taking permanent
possession by 1806. Other early residents included David Burson and John Johnson who located
therein in 1803. William James Randels in 1806, Henry Woolf and family in 1804, Isaiah Harris
and family of seven in 1806, Garrett Campi and family of Germany in 1804, John and Hugh
Burns, Jacob Gaunt and Phillip Irey in 1805. William Hereford, John Cappock, Samuel, Aaron
and Keziah Woolman, Jesse Lynch, Jesse Walton, Obadiah Crew and Jacob Schriver all
established themselves in the township was given by the legislature in 1806. The first and
second volumes of the records, however, were lost. The third begins with 1839 and show that
the trustees to have been from that year to 1841: Joseph Coffee, Jonathan Walton and John
Eliott.
        Its leading villages are Damascus, Winona and Valley. The latter was established in
1809 by John Emrich. He erected a large grist mill therein which was utilized for many years
thereafter. Winona became a postoffice in 1868 with James Dean as the first postmaster.
Damaascus was platted in 1808 by Horton Howard, agent for its proprietor, a Mr. Hooper, of
Pennsylvania.

        Damascus lies in the midst of a fertile agricultural community. It has two Friends’
Churches, the “Gurney” and the “Wilbur” beside the yearly meeting house with a seating
capacity of 1,000 through 1,500 are occasionally accommodated at the large sessions held in it.
The first yearly meeting in the place was held in 1864 or 1865. Previously the meeting had
alternated with Mount Pleasant.

        The first meeting house of Friends was erected in the village in 1805, before it was
platted. It was a small, primitive structure of logs. Its first ministers were Joshua Lynch, of New
Jersey, and Catlett Jones, of Virginia. In 1827 a commodius building of brick was erected on the
same site. This was blown down in a storm in April 14, 1856, but it was rebuilt almost at once
and became known as “The Old Brick Meeting House.” On the matter of discipline the church
membership split in 1854 but the spirit of brotherly love persisted while six different factions
worshipped at different intervals in the early structure. After the blowing down of the first brick
building the Wilbers erected their own church edifice.

         William Woolf contributed five acres of land for burial and the plot in Damascus became
the first for the purpose in the township. The first marriage in the settlement was performed on
Christmas Day of 1806 when Keziah Woolman was the groom and Abraham Warrington, Jr., the
officiating official. The ceremony was performed in the Friends’ Meeting House in Damascus.

        Organized in 1803 Centre Township was given its name because of its location in the
county. In the northern section the land is rolling and fertile. Elsewhere its surface is much
broken by precipitous hills. The middle fork of Beaver Creek crosses the township, cutting off
the northeast third of the division. Coal, fire clay and excellent building sandstone are found in
quantities within its confines. Oil and gas have also been procured in considerable quantities.
For a time also, much iron ore was procured. Its saline wells in former days were productive of a
great quantity of salt. Cement also has been obtained, its manufacture having been one of the
community’s greatest industries for a long period.

        Lewis Kinney laid out Lisbon in Feb. 16, 1803, following his settlement in the township
the previous year. With the idea of securing later the county seat he set off a number of lots
where was built in time the Union school. He was induced ot change this location to the present
Public Square. On it was built the court houses that have been utilized for county purposes ever
since. He also contributed the first block for the use of the town as a cemetery.

        The township history is strongly intertwined with the commercial development of Lisbon,
the county seat. Its adjacent farmers have been prosperous with the years and the city has grown
into a community that is rich in tradition of great personages developed with the further
advantage of being an ideal place in which to live with its fine homes, excellent churches and
law abiding residents.

       Elkrun Township, broken by rough hills, has fertile valleys. The Middle Beaver is the
principal stream. It was first settled in 1800 by John Snyder and others. Among the latter were
Levi Haines, John Gardner with his five sons, Jason Morlan, William Neal, Benjamin Harrison
and sons, William and Latham James Cowgill, Nathan Heald, William Siddell, Golbert
Williamson, Smith Bell, Isaiah Morris, whose wife lived to be 102 years of age, Hugh Pike,
Alexander McCoy, Frederick Zeppernick, William Caldwell, Henry Walter, Robe Whan and
Thomas Hawkins.

        The township was organized in 1806. The Village of Elkrun was platted on April 30,
1835, by County Surveyor J. G. Williard. Its postoffice was established in 1845, George Kemble
being the first postmaster. On Aug. 11, 1861, Elton elevated but a few feet above the Middle
Beaver Creek and Elkrun, which formed a confluence near, suffered a flood that was so rapid in
formation that the water stood eight feet over Canal Street, its principal thoroughfare and four
persons lost their lives: Mrs. Susan Kemple, mother of the founder of the village, aged 73; her
grandson, Alonzo Hawkins, 15; Mrs. John Huffman and her two year old child. The destruction
to property was great.

        In 1810 the Society of Friends established the first meeting house in the township on the
piece of land contributed by Isaac James. In 1828 some of these joined the “Hicksites.” The
Methodists formed an organization in 1814. Rev. Joshua Monroe was active in this initial work
of the denomination. The Bible Christians some time later became active in the townships. John
Paxton occasionally administered to the society. In 1828 the first meeting house was built at
Church Hill. In 1840 a fund was raised for what became known as the “Elkton Free Church,”
which was built and dedicated to the use of a Christian denomination under proper restrictions.
Through the munificence of Alfred Dickey this structure was supplanted by another in 1870.

        In 1842 the people of Elkton built the White House, a frame structure which was erected
alongside the Free Church for Sunday Schools, singings, township meetings and other public
gatherings. It was contributed to by persons in all sections of the township.
        Fairfield Township was organized in 1805. It is township 12, range 2 in the northern
border of the county. Its entire area is susceptible to cultivation. Its surface is level in the
northeast, undulating in the center and hilly in the southern portion. It has no large, but many
small streams and its soil is favorable to fruit growing of which a great deal is done.

        Mathias Lower, a native of Maryland, was the first settler, he locating in the Valley of
Bull Creek in 1800. With William Heald he afterward purchased section 23, the former taking
the northern part. In the barn of Mr. Lower, the first session of the Columbiana Common Pleas
Court was held in the fall of 1803. This building was destroyed when struck by lightning in
1898. Several of Mr. Lower’s descendants lived in and about Columbiana for a number of years
and some still reside there. These included George Mathias and Samuel Lower, Mrs. Bradfield,
Mrs. Trucksass, Mrs. Gleckler and Mrs. Gilbert.

         William Heald was a surveyor. He afterwards moved to Cedar County, Iowa. This was
about 1850. He died in 1867 at the advanced age of 100 years and eight months. Other early
settlers were Samuel Oliphant, William Farrell of Virginia, John and Isaac James, Joseph
Bradfield and the Holloway family, who came from Virginia.

        The Village of Columbiana is located in Fairfield Township. It was incorporated as a
village in 1856 with George Lamb as mayor. It was laid out by Joshua Dixson in 1805 after
settling in the locality in 1902* following his leaving his former home in Brownsville, Pa. He
contributed eleven children to the community’s population. All later became prominent.

         Nicholas Firestone arrived in the place in 1803 from Virginia. He was the forbearer of
the famous Firestone family of the present day, who have been so prominent in rubber and tire
activities in and about Akron and other world points. Robert Hanna settled in Section 10 prior to
the arrival of Mr. Firestone. His son, Benjamin Hanna, who later removed to Lisbon and became
the father of Dr. Leonard Hanna, the father of Mark Hanna, was the first person married in
Columbiana and Fairfield townships. His bride was Miss Rachel Dixson. With Jesse Allen
Benjamin Hanna conducted the first store in the settlement in 1812. Joseph Wallace, Moses
Copeland and Jonathan Esterly were also early merchants. John Young was the first justice of
the peace as well as the initial apothecary.

        Though the village was not incorporated until 1856 a charter was granted it in 1837 when
out of a total of 21 votes cast William Hickman was elected mayor and Samuel Nichols recorder.
The charter had to be surrendered in 1842, but with the acquirement of the railroad spirit
incorporation was had fourteen years later with George Lamb becoming the mayor and Jonathan
Esterly, recorder.

        Mails were initially received by stage from Pittsburgh and Wooster, Ohio. The first
postoffice was installed in 1809 with John Dixson as postmaster.

       The town has consistently grown until it has numerous factories of various kinds.

       The Columbiana Union School was formed in 1858 as a special district with David
Woods, Jacob Greenamyer and Michael Henry as trustees. The first trustees of the township
were: Robert Hanna, Caleb Cope and Nicholas Firestone.

        Among the early settlers of Fairfield Township the Friends largely predominated. They
organized the first religious organization in the township. This branch took several forms finally.
In time The Evangelical Lutherans, The Grace Reformed Church, The Methodists, Presbyterians,
Disciples and other denominations erected worship places.

       Columbiana has its own water works and electric light plants. There are a number of
important manufacturing plants here and retail business enterprises and the professions are well
represented here. Population in 1920 was 2,144.

        Moses Curry is believed to have been the first settled physician in Columbiana. Other
physicians who practiced long and quite successfully were: Drs. Gustavus Allen, John B.
Preston, John McCook, John C. Levis, Gideon Wansettler, Enoch Cloud, Eli Sturgeon, George
Willand, Nicholas Sampsell, D. Beard, Sylvanux Fisher and A. C. Yengling. Dr. Yengling
removed to Salem. Other Columbiana physicians were: Drs. John Metzger, Daniel Deemer,
George S. Metzger, A. L. King, J. B. Thompson, Enos Greenamyer, John B. Weaver and Charles
Orr.
        Among the early settlers of Fairfield Township, the Friends largely predominated. They
founded a religious society which was the first in the township, and was the second Monthly
Meeting of the Friends in Ohio. In 1803 a delegation was appointed by the Redstone Quarterly
Meeting of Pennsylvania to visit the new settlement and organize what was afterwards known as
the “Middleton Monthly Meeting of the Society of Orthodox Friends.” The same year a log
house was built near the center of section 26, which was used as a place of worship until 1810,
when a brick house was built in Middleton. This was destroyed by fire in 1858, and a frame
structure erected in its stead. A school for instruction in the common English branches was
maintained by the Friends at Middleton for many years. The membership of the Middleton
Meeting was reduced by the formation of societies in adjoining townships, and by deflections to
other factions and denominations. To accommodate those living in the northern part of the
township a social meeting house was built of logs, before 1820, in what was afterward the
Friends’ graveyard in Columbiana. For a time worship, held according to the custom of the
Orthodox branch, was maintained but most of the members in that part of the township became
Hicksites, and meetings were held by that organization. And so the Hicksite Friends’ Meeting of
Columbiana may be said to have a distinct history since 1832. The regular Monthly Meeting
was discontinued in 1867.

        The Carmel Meeting of the Orthodox Friends was organized in Middleton about 1810. In
that year a log meeting house was built on a lot donated by Jacob Heacock, and was used until
1835, when a new one was built, which was partially destroyed by fire in 1845. The first
Monthly Meeting at Carmel was on December 12, 1817. The monthly meetings were
discontinued in 1854, nearly all the old members having either died or removed. However, the
Friends living in that neighborhood held monthly meetings in Middleton, after that date, and in
1828 the Hicksites formed a separate Meeting in Elkrun Township. Here until about 1845 the
meetings were well attended, but soon after that date members began to remove, and after
December, 1851, no monthly meetings were held. The Carmel Monthly Meeting for Women
was established in 1820, but discontinued in 1840.

        About the year 1813 a Reformed Church missionary from the East by the name of
Mahnesmith visited the northeastern section of the State, preaching in Columbiana and
Mahoning counties. This missionary’s labors continued with greater of less regularity at
Columbiana until about 1830. August 13, 1814, the “School and Meeting House Society of
Columbiana” was organized, the object of which was to build a house on a lot granted the society
by Joshua Dixson, “proprietor of the town of Columbiana.” The only conditions of fellowship
required in this society were a “practical conformity to the principles of equity, and that every
member shall be considered as possessing in himself an orginal* and inalienable right to believe
and worship God as his own conscience may dictate, without being called into question by any
of the other members.” It was “allowed for any licensed preacher that preaches the Gospel of
Jesus Christ in purity to preach in the above meeting house, if he makes application to the
trustees; and should it happen that application should be made for two preachers in one day, let
the one preach in the forenoon and the other in the afternoon, so that none may meet
disappointment.” The house built by this society was hewed logs and stood on the lot afterward
occupied by Grace Reformed Church. In 1821 a movement was started by the Lutheran and
Reformed congregations to build a new union church. The effort succeeded in 1822 in which
year the building was dedicated. Each congregation had its own pastor, elders and deacons, but
the trustees, a secretary and a treasurer were elected annually by the congregations in a joint
meeting. The house occupied the site where Grace Reformed Church afterwards stood. After
the separation of the two congregations – Reformed and Lutheran – the latter worshiped in the
old Methodist meeting house. A few years later they built a fine house of worship of brick in the
southern part of the village, which received the name of “Jerusalem Church.” In 1905 Grace
Reformed Church had no settled pastor. Rev. G. A. Uber was pastor of the Lutheran Church.

        Application for the formation of a church organization for Columbiana was made to the
Presbytery of New Lisbon in May, 1865. Accordingly the church was organized May 13, 1865,
with 13 members. In July, William C. Faulkner, a licentiate, began his ministry with the church.
The first meetings were held in School Hall, but in 1867 a frame building was erected by Hiram
Bell for the society. Rev. J. F. Kirkbride was pastor of the church in 1905.
       In 1834 a small meeting house was built on the Petersburg road, in the edge of
Columbiana, which was intended primarily for the Methodists, but was to be free for other
denominations when not occupied by the former. This house was used until 1859, when the
brick building on the lower part of Main street was erected by the denomination. In 1873 a
parsonage was built on the lot adjoining on the south.

        A temporary organization of the Disciples faith was effected December 29, 1876.
Meetings were thereafter held in School Hall, and in January, 1878, a hall on Main street was
fitted up by the society as a place of worship. The society afterward adopted the name of the
Christian Church of Columbiana. The removal of a number of the members to other points
brought about the abandonment of the organization before the close of the century. However,
about 1898, a new organization was effected.

       Methodist meetings were held in East Fairfield as early as 1835. An organization was
formed a few years later. About 1842 a small house of worship was built, which in 1876 was
replaced by a larger and more presentable edifice.

       About 1825 a society was organized at East Fairfield, which assumed the name of
“Primitive Christians” and worshiped according to the forms of that body for several years.
They built a meeting house on a lot which later formed a part of the cemetery. In February,
1828, ministers of the Disciples Church held a series of meetings which resulted in many
conversions, and in the adoption by the society of the tenets of Disciples. The old meeting house
was used until 1851, when a brick edifice was built.

        A little earlier than 1840 a meeting house was built of logs on the farm of Elias Holoway,
on section 29, which was at one time occupied by a flourishing congregation. It was known as
the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. The congregation disbanded prior to 1860.
        In 1835 the people of the western part of the township built a small meeting house, in
which a society of Bible Christians and others worshiped, the latter belonging chiefly to the
“Church of God.” In about 10 years this home was removed to section 20, three-quarters of a
mile northeast of its original location. Then the title to the new property was vested in Samuel
Ney, David Galbraith and Samuel Heaton and their successors, as trustees, “To be free to all sons
and daughters of Adam.”

         The Mennonite denomination built a log house of worship, near the west line of section
7, Fairfield Township, about 1828, for the use of people of their faith in that township and of
Beaver Township, Mahoning County. The log building was replaced in 1873 by an
unpretentious structure of brick. In 1905 it still occupied a beautiful knoll surrounded by stately
forest trees.

        Middleton was originally platted by William Heald soon after the settlement of the
township, to embrace the southeast corner of section 23. It was always well supplied with
churches and schools, with a few shops for mechanical industries in a small way, and with
several stores at different times. In 1905 the population was less than 200. The inhabitants
generally engaged in fruit culture.
        East Fairfield was laid out in 1803, on the southeast quarter of section 36. It is the oldest
village in the township; but never having had a railroad it was outstripped by its neighbors with
less natural advantages. It contained a good school house, two churches and a public hall, with a
population of nearly 300. The postoffice is one of the oldest in the county. The village was on
the old stage route, and was supplied with mail earlier than 1809. The first permanently located
physician was Gustavus Allen. The father of William McKinley was in the foundry business in
East Fairfield before 1850.

       William King settled Franklin Township in 1804. It has healthful climate and is well
adapted for agricultural purposes with its undulating surface, small streams and but few high
hills.

       William Laughlin and Phillip Willyard arrived in the locality in 1805. Other early
residents were: Thomas Ferguson, Robert Smith, Hugh McElroy and his mother, James
McQuilken, William Winder, Samuel Reeder, Samuel Brown, James Anderson, William
Knepper, Thomas Fife, Anthony Dunleavy, John Morrison, and Matthew McGuin.

         Its principal village, Summitville, was platted by Peter Friedt in 1853. Its name is due to
its altitude, it being on the highest point of the heaviest grade on the C. & P. railroad. Millport,
two miles north of Summitville was laid out by Phillip Willyard and Hugh Laughlin.

        On Camp Run it is said that Gen. Mad Anthony Wayne once camped for a night, the
identical spot in which he pitched his tent being known.

        William Laughlin, the first justice of the peace in the township, performed the initial
marriage ceremony in it with Henry Hull of Wayne Township as the groom and no records
preserved of his bride. However, the justice’s fee of three bushels of corn was remembered by
those contributing the historical data. John Willyard had the distinction of serving the township
as justice of the peace from 1828 to 1875 with the single intermission of one year.

       James McQuilken was the township’s first blacksmith and Thomas Ferguson, the first
shoe maker. The families of Phillip and Mary McQuilken used the first looms in it. John
Morrison was the initial carpenter while Phillip Willyard, Andrew Sweeney and Hugh Brennon
were the first, it is said, to make whiskey within the confines.

        Franklin Township was organized in 1816 with 36 sections, but when Carroll County was
organized in 1832 it was deprived of three rows of sections on the west, but was compensated by
one row of sections from Wayne Township leaving it but 24 sections with an area of four miles
east to west and six miles north to south. The first poll book was made in 1816 by James B.
Morrison, who was the township’s first elected constable.

        Rev. James Robertson organized the first Presbyterian Church in the township though
Revs. Clement Vallandingham and Mr. Robertson had previously preached in it. In 1822 the
first church building was erected by the denomination, which in 1855, was replaced by another
of larger dimensions.
        As early as 1838 Roman Catholics held worship on the McAllister farm. There a church
was built know as The McAllister Church. It was attended also by persons from Hanover and
Centre Townships. In 1841 a log building originally intended for a store in Summitville, was
purchased and remodled* into what became known as St. John’s Church which for years was
maintained as a mission point in which priests from other churches held services. In 1848 a
brick structure, costing $10,000, was erected. The first pastor was Rev. James Conlon. He was
followed by Revs. James Kennedy, Francis Stoker, Michael Prendegast, Thomas Welsh, D.
Tighe, P. J. McGuire, D. A. Kelly, E. J. Murphy and others.

       Beginning in 1818 the Friends held services in the township, but they were finally
discontinued.

        In 1812 James Barr, the first school teacher, began his work in a schoolhouse erected on
Section 2 while it was still government land. Matthew McGuire entered the land and tried to sell
the building on it, but the settlers refused to buy it and built a second school house on the land of
William Laughlin. William Kneppert and Patrick Smith taught in the new school house.
Scholars in those days paid $1.50 per quarter as tuition.

        Hanover Township, six miles square as it was originally laid out, is hilly and picturesque,
has good soil and a large are of coal deposit. It was organized in 1806. In that year William
Winder settled in section 33. He was followed in turn in nearby sections by William Rhodes,
Samuel Reeder and Benjamin Stackhouse. Andrew Millburn occupied what is now Kensington
in section 31. Other early settlers prior to 1808 were Joseph Rhodes, Stephen McBride, John
Rupert, Phillip Fox, David Wyley, John Sinclair, Frederick Bayard, a great hunter, Griffith John,
Joseph Milner and Joseph Criag.

       In 1812 Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Murray arrived as did Thomas Robertson, Samuel Fugat,
George Brown, Price Keith. The earliest inn-keepers were William Nixon and Owen Williams.
In 1807 Amos Frost and Nicholas Miller settled in the eastern end of the township and Joseph
Dutton and Levi Miller arrived in it in 1810.

       Within the boundaries of the township are five villages: Hanoverton, New Garden,
Guilford, Dungannon and Kensington.

       Hanoverton, first called Hanover, was laid out in 1813 by James Craig. Michael Arter
removed to Hanoverton from New Lisbon in 1817. He lived in the town for 62 years when he
passed away. He became the mayor of the village in 1836 when the village was incorporated.
He early took a pronounced stand against slavery and assisted in the escape of numerous slaves,
Hanoverton being a station in the “Underground Railroad.”

        James Craig, organizing a co-operative company, kept the first store in town. George
Sloan and Charles Pope also followed as merchants. The latter committed suicide for some
unknown cause. In 1834 prospects loomed brightly for the village when additional land was laid
in it. The panic of 1837 gave the boom a backset which was revived in 1845 when the canal
seemed certain of being an asset but its failure two years later caused a retrogression from which
it did not entirely recover. On the old state road in what is now New Garden, James Waugh kept
a tavern in 1815. Five years previously Benjamin Saunders and Jacob Ritter laid out New
Garden. James Graham was the postmaster for forty years.

         Kensington was platted in 1852 by William Holland and Robert Miller. It was first
named Maysville, but this was changed to New Kensington in 1876. Jacon Dutton was the first
railroad agent in the town and B. C. Battin the initial hotel keeper, he starting in 1859. The
initial church in the township was that by the Society of Friends which was organized by the
Rev. James Robertson in 1830. He became its first pastor and the leader of the faction that
formed the Free Presbyterian Church when the members differed on the slave question. William
Craig, passed away in 1808, was the first person buried in the Friends Cemetery, the initial one
so utilized in the township.

        Dungannon was organized as a hamlet in 1838 when George Sloan purchased 20 acres on
section 35. He named the place for his native town in Ireland. Many of the early inhabitants of
the place were Catholics; in it they organized St. Phillip’s Church in 1814 and thirteen years later
an edifice of worship was erected on the site of the Catholic cemetery. In 1847 a large brick
building was erected within the town at a cost of $15,000 and services thereafter held in it. Like
Hanoverton and Guilford, Dungannon suffered in the failure of the Sandy and Beaver canal.
        In time Methodists, Disciples, Presbyterians, Lutherans and other denominations
organized congregations and built churches which with the years were substituted by large ones
that were needed for the growing memberships.

       Knox Township, slightly rolling and well adapted to farming and grazing, is well drained
by the Mahoning River and its tributaries. It was settled in 1804 by John Thomas and his large
family who entered claims on Sections 27, 28 and 29. He passed away in 1818, aged 73. He
was a native of Pennsylvania; Jacob Shaffer arrived also in the same year.

        The early settlers included Cornelius Sheehan, James Johnson, James Beer and his son,
the Rev. Joshua Beer, Christian Dellenbaugh and his son, Dr. John Dellenbaugh, who practiced
his profession in the township for 28 years. Daniel Borton and Samuel Hoffman.

      Knox Township was organized June 14, 1808 with Jacob Crumbacher and Benjamin
Anderson as the first trustees.

       The first regular divine services in the township were held in the summer of 1816 in the
woods near the site later occupied by the Middle Sandy Presbyterian Church. It was in charge of
the Rev. Robert Semple of the Hartford, Conn., presbytery. In Nov. 10, 1821 the Presbyterian
Church was formed by Rev. John Core, of the same presbytery. A church was built in 1825 and
another in 1853. The Baptists built a church in 1860 in Section 27, after beginning meetings in
1810. It became one of the largest denominations in the township. The Disciples held informal
services as early as 1830 as did the German Reformed and Evangelical Lutherans; the Methodist
Episcopal in 1840. The first log school house was used in 1806, it being located in Section 29
and built by Samuel Thomas. The teacher was Thomas Anderson. By 1860 the township had
been divided into 12 school districts.
      North Georgetown was laid out in 1830 by John Whiteleather and George Stiger. John
Weaver, in 1828, built the first log house on the site.

       Homeworth was laid out in Aug. 28, 1851 but its proprietors, Jonas Ruff, Samuel Fox
and Jacob Williams. The first named erected the first hotel in 1852. He placed over the door the
words: “Call and see Jonas Ruff.”

        Several houses had been erected on this site as early as 1840. The postoffice of the place
was known as “Sandy postoffice” up to 1869. It was given impetus by the passing through it of
the Cleveland & Pittsburg railway. Another boom came to it when oil was discovered in and
about it. Prior to 1880 agriculture tools in great quantities were manufactured in the place;
Homeworth is a prosperous village in the midst of a rich surrounding country.

       Reading, situated between Homeworth and North Georgetown on a plot of about 40 acres
and believed destined to surpass in growth both, soon became extinct following its being platted
in 1840.