Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/547

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��The first was a log structure, built b}' John Hershey, and by him transferred to Charles Lewis, who owned it when destroyed by fire. In 1854, the pi'esent mill was built by Daniel Coffman. It contains two run of stone, and gi'inds about two thousand bushels of wheat in a year. In 1859, it was purchased by its pres- ent owner, John Charles, and is known as the Charles Mill.

"A fourth mill is on Zimmer's run, a branch of the Black Fork, on the southwest quarter of Section 24. It was built b}' James Neely, and is at present owned by James jMathews. A fifth mill is on Section 22. It was built in 1835 by John Staman, and is called the Twin Spring Mill, from the fact that it is built near two beautiful springs, which produce a large volume of clear water, which flows into the Black Fork. Nearly, or quite all, the mills have a saw-mill in connection, owned and run by the same per- son.

Mifflin is the oldest of the two towns in the township. It is located on the southeast quar- ter of Section 1 6, and was laid out on the 28th of June, 1816, b}^ William B. James, Peter Deardoff and Samuel Lewis. It was named Petersburg, from the given name of one of its founders, but, by an act of the Legislature, was changed to Mifflin, though it is still generally known b}- its first name. It is on the east side of Black Fork, half a mile from that stream. Its location was determined by two very large springs, which furnish the purest and best of water for all its people. The water is convej^ed to places convenient for general use. Early travelers across the State claimed for the Pe- tersburg springs the best water in the State.

The first store was kept by a ]\Ir. 3IcFadden in a log hut. In 1833, John Scott, William Lemon and John McCroy started the second store. The census returns of 1830 showed a population in the town of thirty-five. This was the only instance in which the census of the town was taken separately from the town-

��ship. It never had a corporate existence. In 1839, William Lemon died, and his brotlier John took his place in the store, buying out Scott. In 1844, John bought out McCro}', and has continued the business, with his sons, ever since. He was originally from Paisley-, Scot- land, and came to Haysville in 1818. His son James now runs the store. They carry a gen- eral stock of about $6,000 value.

The first hotel was kept b^- a jMr. Thomas in a log house ; the second by Jacob Will, on the corner where Lemon's store building now stands. These two being discontinued, the present building was erected in 1840 by James Hartman. The first blacksmith-shop was erected by a Mr. McKinsey.

The town has grown steadily, until the pop- ulation numbers about 250. At present. theiK are two groceries, kept by Charles Engle and James Budd ; a hotel, b}' Cyrus Keffer ; three blacksmith-shops, by John Baker, Nicholas Mathews and Isaac Mathews ; one saddlers shop, by Paul Keightley ; three shoe-shops, by William Batchelor, Jacob Black and John Pitts ; two wagon-shops, by Hiram Sweet and Nathan- iel Keightley ; a butcher-shop, b}' Frederick Dale and Frank Hershey. There are tw'o doc- tors, I. F. Markel and C. D. Sackett. The lat- ter has in his possession an interesting relic of olden times. It is a wooden clock, which was found secreted in the woods after the Zimmer and Copus massacre. The people at that time fled to the forts for safety, secreting their most valuable possessions in the woods.

The Evangelical Lutherans are the most nu- merous religious denomination in the vicinity of Petersburg. LTntil 1851, they worshiped in the log churches before mentioned. That year, the}' built a church in Petersburg. It was de- stroyed by fire in 1863, and afterward rebuilt. The several families of Cullers, residing in the vicinity, have always been influential in matters connected with this church, and have contribut- ed freely of their ineans to its support. A

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