Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/549

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��HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY.

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��CHAPTER LIII.

MONROE TOWNSHIP.

Boundaries and Physical Features — Pipe's Cliff — Capt. Pipe — Early Settlers and Settlements — Schools and School Teachers — Pioneers and their Reminiscences — Bears, Wild Cats and Wild Turkeys — Names of Settlers in 1819 — Election — Churches — Mills — Pinhook — Luca.s — Population.

��THIS township was organized February 11, 1817, out of the north half of Worthington. It contains thirty-six square miles, and corners with the southeast corner of ^ladison, having Washington on the west, Worthington on the south, and Mifflin on the north. Part of the north and all of the east line joins Ashland County. Its general surface is broken, and in places even hilly, but the land is generally fer- tile, producing large crops of everything raised from the soil of Ohio. It is well wa- tered with numerous springs and running streams. The beautiful Clear Fork crosses the southeast corner ; it only gives Monroe a short call. Switzer's Run, a tributary of the Clear Fork, crosses the southwestern portion of the township, and Rocky Fork and its tributaries and a portion of the Black Fork water all the northern part. The Rocky and Black Forks of the Mohican unite in the eastern part of the township. The Pennsjlvania Central Railroad enters the township on its eastern line with the Black Fork, follows that stream to its junction with the Rocky Fork and continues up the lat- ter stream to Lucas ; thence it turns north, leaving the township near its northwest corner. There is much beautiful natural scenery in- this township, although in that respect it may not quite equal Mifflin, but the country along Switzer's Run, and the valleys of the Clear and Black Foi-ks, are lovely to look upon, and were thoroughly occupied and appreciated by the Indians, as they now are by a more cultivated race. Among the landmarks worth mention-

��ing, is Pipe's Cliff. This romantic ledge of rocks is situated in the southern part of the township, near the center of Section 28, about two hundred 3'ards northeast of the residence of J. J. Douglas. The Lexington & Perry- ville road curves around the base of the rocks, but a fair view of them cannot be had from the road ; to appreciate the beauty and pictur- esqueness of the spot, one must climb up among them. They derive their name from old Capt. Pike, the noted Indian chieftain, who figured prominently in the early Indian wars, and was"for many years an inveterate enem}'' of the white race, until finding further resist- ance useless, he buried the hatchet, signed the treaty of Grreenville, and was ever after a firm friend of the whites. In the war of 1812, when the British attempted to secure the serv- ices of this chieftain, he nobly replied: "When I signed the treaty of Greenville, it was understood that I was not again to take up the hatchet while the trees grow and the water runs ; " and he kept his word. Mrs. Swigart, still living in Lucas at the age of eighty-three, remembers Capt. Pipe ver}' well, and says, the last time she saw him, he told her he was about one hundred j'ears old. It is said that a scouting party under Capt. Broad- head, or belonging to his expedition, while passing through this section, discovered a party of Indians seated upon some portions of the rocks belonging to Pipes Cliff, and unobserved by them, approached within shooting distance and fired upon the party, killing a sister of

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