Legacy Card for Amanda Township.
EST. 1805

AMANDA

TOWNSHIP
1840 Population
0
1880 Population
0
2018 Population
0
2020 Population
0
THE

SETTLERS

TOWNSHIP 13 | RANGE 20

“In the spring of 1800, three men, names not remembered, came from near Chillicothe and broke ground on the prairie in section number four, planted corn, and then returned home. They came back in due time and tended their corn twice. The next fall one of these men sold his share to Horatio Clark, receiving a horse in payment. The other two likewise disposed of their shares to parties not now remembered. In November of the same year, Wilkinson Lane, of Huntington County, Tennessee, settled on section eight, and was succeeded in the month of June following by Thomas Cole, who had entered the section. The family was never troubled by the Indians. In a few years Mr. Cole built a school-house on his land, hired a teacher, Abraham Cole, for eight dollars a month, and then invited all who wished to send their children and pay a pro rata share or not, as they could or would. In those days school hours were from “sun to sun,” or as soon as scholars arrived. On one occasion Broad Cole, son of Thomas Cole, born in 1802, and recently deceased, thought of beating the master at school some day, and after a few failures to do so, left home one morning about daybreak, but on arriving at the school-house he was greeted with a good fire, and found the master, a Mr. Smith, banking up earth against the school-house, to protect it against the cold. That house was built on the north part of section eighteen.”

THOMAS COLE

THE

HISTORY

AMANDA TOWNSHIP – Located in the southwest corner of Fairfield County, the gently rolling lands of Amanda Township stretched a thirty-six square mile tract of land and officially became established with thirty-six sections in November 1805 when the Fairfield County Commissioners gathered. Clear Creek cuts through the landscape from north to south, and before the land was drained in the southeast corner of the township, the low and marshy, peat covered ground inhabited a great danger warning the crossing of the “Muddy Prairie,” and held the great “Shaking Prairie” which both now yield excellent crops. Drainage became a demanding task as the newly implemented drainage system spanned across the land to ensure crops reached the fertile soil that lied beneath. The crops included fruit, vegetables, cereals, and sugar, along with walnut, ash, oak, cherry, and hickory timber for their structures. When the first pioneer settlers arrived on the landscape the entire township lie hidden and engulfed within a forest. As Zane’s Trace paved the way for many settlers to travel to Lancaster at the turn of the nineteenth century, settlers began pushing the boundaries of what the territory offered as some still traveled south through the dense forest trees. The southern part of Fairfield County officially became established about three decades later when Amanda Township became official in 1830, Berne the year before in 1829, and Clearcreek almost took another three decades, in 1854. The first pioneer and settler in Amanda Township, Frederick Leathers, traveled to Fairfield County from Virginia and became the first known settler within the township boundaries. After he settled in the southern part of the territory, he established the first tavern in the township on the old Chillicothe road, about one hundred yards east of the Amanda village. The large two-story log structure stood as a famous resort in those years and ranked among the firsts within the county. The property also included a still-house that supplied the tavern. Leathers incorporated a vision to create a central place for people to gather, and to secure this ambition he established three or four public roads that either crossed paths with the tavern or led straight to the front doors. Leathers later sold the tavern to Isaac Griffith, who ran operations until 1834. Over two decades later, flames engulfed the structure and razed it to ash in 1858. Once the early settlers reached Lancaster they were unable to travel any further since a heavy forest obstructed their path toward Royalton. Those that lived in the area received frequent friendly visits from the natives who lived in Tobytown, a local Indian encampment and engaged in trading. They crossed the prairies in single file with their packs on their backs, which they left outside when entering neighboring cabins.

THE

VILLAGE

AMANDA – Samuel Kester established the village of Amanda on November 18, 1819 and sectioned off sixty-four lots.

ROYALTON – The early settlers were known as vigorous and intelligent men and women. The first to arrive in 1799 were William and Horatio Clark who settled on Tobey Creek, situated one mile northwest of the Indian village of Tobey Town. The Allens also settled within the vicinity by 1800, and later had Col. William Hamilton lay out the village of Royalton for their family and named it after the town they left – Royalton, Vermont. Dr. Silas brought his family and settled in section 3 of the township.

NEW STRAUSBURG – History Coming Soon…

THE

PROPERTIES

AMANDA TOWNSHIP

1875 Map of Amanda Township, Fairfield County, Ohio.
1875 Map of Amanda Township, Fairfield County, Ohio from the Combination Atlas Map of Fairfield County - 1875.

AMANDA

1875 Map of Amanda, Fairfield County, Ohio.
1875 Map of Amanda, Fairfield County, Ohio from the Combination Atlas Map of Fairfield County - 1875.

ROYALTON

1875 Map of Royalton, Fairfield County, Ohio.
1875 Map of Royalton, Fairfield County, Ohio from the Combination Atlas Map of Fairfield County - 1875.

NEW STRAUSBURG

1875 Map of New Strausburg, Fairfield County, Ohio.
1875 Map of New Strausburg, Fairfield County, Ohio from the Combination Atlas Map of Fairfield County - 1875.
THE

PEOPLE

ALEXANDER

Eliza Jane
Alexander

ALLEN

Lemuel Cleveland
Allen

Silas Dunbar
Allen

ARNOLD

Susan
Arnold

ASHBROOK

Hazel Katherine
Ashbrook

BARR

Andrew
Barr

BLUE

Charles E.
Blue

Frank Corwin
Blue

CARLISLE

Benedict
Carlisle

COLE

Thomas Hamlin
Cole

CROSS

John
Cross

DEANER

John
Deaner

Joseph
Deaner

Mary
Deaner

Rebecca
Deaner

DYSINGER

George
Dysinger

FOSNAUGH

Isaac Marion
Fosnaugh

GLICK

Tobias
Glick

GROSH

Mary Ann
Grosh

HAAS

Benjamin
Haas

HARDESTY

Elizabeth Ann
Hardesty

HENDERLY

Harry Nathaniel
Henderly

HUGHES

Harriet
Hughes

HUNTER

Malinda
Hunter

JUDSON

Margaret Ethel
Judson

KEMP

Louisa
Kemp

LEATHERS

Frederick
Leathers III

MORRIS

Martha E.
Morris

Mitchel
Morris

Rhoda O.
Morris

NIGH

Johann Geörg
Nigh

John Adam
Nigh I

REBER

Thomas VanReed
Reber

ROWLES

Maggie May
Rowles

SCHLEICH

Lewis H.
Schleich

SWOPE

Thomas J.
Swope

TROUTMAN

Mary
Troutman

WALTERS

Sarah
Walters

WELSH

Amos
Welsh

Francis M.
Welsh

Henry
Welsh

Irvin
Welsh

Martha
Welsh

Mary Lorain
Welsh

William
Welsh

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THE REFERENCES

Albert Adams Graham. History of Fairfield and Perry Counties, Ohio – Their Past and Present (Chicago, Illinois: Beers, W. H. & Co., 1883), Part IV, 198-204.

Charles Milton Lewis Wiseman. Pioneer Period And Pioneer People of Fairfield County, Ohio (Columbus, Ohio: F. J. Heer Printing Co., 1901), 120-124.

Charles R. Goslin. Crossroads and Fence Corners: Historical Lore of Fairfield County (Lancaster, Ohio: The Fairfield Heritage Association, 1976), 94-109.

Charles R. Goslin. Crossroads and Fence Corners: Historical Lore of Fairfield County, Volume 2 (Lancaster, Ohio: The Fairfield Heritage Association, 1980), 143-151.

Henry Howes. Fairfield County, Ohio, 587.

Hervey Scott. A Complete History of Fairfield County (Columbus, Ohio: Siebert & Lilley Printers and Binders, 1877), 83-84.

L. H. Everts. Combination Atlas Map of Fairfield County, Ohio 1875 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: 1875), 24, 59, 101.

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EST. 09 DEC 1800