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Formed by the retreating glacier more than 14,000 years ago, Buckeye Lake first existed as a shallow, swampy pond, named “Buffalo Swamp” by Ohio Company explorer Christopher Gist in 1751. Beginning in 1826 the State developed it as a water source for the Licking Summit of the Ohio and Erie Canal, it being the highest level between the Scioto and Licking rivers. Engineers dammed the north and west sides of the swamp, inadvertently creating a unique floating sphagnum-heath bog surrounded by water. Cranberry Bog, with boreal vegetation typical of glacial-era Ohio, is a registered National Natural Landmark. (continued on other side)
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On April 1, 1818, six families from the Cilcennin area of Mid-Wales sailed from Aberaeron, Wales to Baltimore. The group of 36 people was led by John Jones Tirbach. From Baltimore they traveled to Pittsburgh and then by flatboats down the Ohio River toward their destination-Paddy’s Run in Butler County in the southwest corner of Ohio. They stopped in Gallipolis for provisions where their boats were cut loose by either travel-weary women or citizens of Gallipolis who wanted them to stay. The men found work on the Gallipolis to Chillicothe road that was under construction. The terrain reminded them of Mid-Wales, so they purchased land near Centerville and remained. These Welsh prospered and wrote home to Wales with news of their success, prompting others to come. (continued on other side)
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Settlers from Connecticut were the first to come to Canfield Township in the late 1700s, and they were followed by a second wave of immigrants, Swiss-German pioneers who began arriving from Berks and Leigh counties in Pennsylvania in 1804. In 1810, these “Pennsylvania Dutch” established The Zion Lutheran and Reformed Church and built a log church and cemetery on this site. The church was destroyed by fire in 1845 and a new church served the congregation well until it too was destroyed by fire in 1894. The cemetery, known as The Old Dutch and German Burying Ground, German Cemetery, and Lynn Cemetery and now Old North Cemetery, is all that remains. Among the dozens of old stone markers, some in German, are markers for veterans of the American Revolution, War of 1812, Civil War, and other wars.
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Congress established the United States Military District in 1796 by an act to provide bounty land for Revolutionary War officers and soldiers. District lands consisted of 2.6 million acres in twelve Ohio counties, including Delaware County. The Union Land Company, organized by James Kilbourne of Connecticut in 1806, was formed to purchase Military District land. Kilbourne purchased 4,000 acres in southeast Liberty Township, Delaware County for $7,000, and, in turn, sold the land to 26 Union Land Company members for $2.00 per acre. Five members were from the Case family, and they purchased 950 acres–Ambrose, George, Jonathan, Seth, and Silas. George and Seth were Revolutionary War veterans who did not claim their bounty lands. George purchased lot 11, a part of which is in northwest Highbanks Park today, and Seth purchased 300 acres north of this site. By 1849 the Case family owned over 1,000 acres.
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Erected in 1828, the Randolph Mitchell House is a five-bay, Federal-style “I” house. Its facade features a doorway with an Adam-style fan and sidelights. The interior boasts a grand stairway in the foyer and fine woodwork throughout. Randolph Mitchell (1796-1847) was born in Rockingham County, Virginia. In 1819, Mitchell and his mother Sarah (1765-1844), settled in New Reading and he married Lydia Witmer (1798-1872). They had four children. A merchant, Mitchell kept an ample smokehouse and owned a tannery and real estate. He served as a justice of the peace for Reading Township. After Mitchell’s death, his son-in-law, Dr. W.W. Arnold (1818-1872) maintained his practice in the home, where he and Caroline Mitchell Arnold (1825-1888) lived. Their son William Arnold (1858-1948) acquired the house, which remained in the family until 1951. The property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.
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Following the American surrender of Fort Detroit in August 1812, panic spread along the Ohio frontier in fear of possible Indian attacks. The boundary of the Indian territory lay approximately 14 miles to the north at the Greenville Treaty line. Ohio Governor Return Jonathan Meigs, Jr. called out the Ohio Militia to defend the frontier and to construct blockhouses to guard against Indian attacks. A local militia company of 70 men was raised in present Union and Madison Counties to protect the settlements along Big Darby Creek. David Watson served as captain with Frederick Lloyd as first lieutenant.
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Born in Scotland. From 1787-1802, was first governor of the Northwest Territory, which included Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota. St. Clair established territorial court system and Ohio’s first nine counties, including Belmont in 1801 and named St. Clairsville its county seat. St. Clair’s promotion to major general in 1777 recognized his exemplary service to Washington in New Jersey during American victories at the battles of Trenton and Princeton. St. Clair was a delegate to Congress under Articles of Confederation in 1786 and in 1787 was its president when it adopted the Northwest Ordinance and authorized the convention that wrote the U.S. Constitution. His 1791 attempt to break Indian resistance to American settlement in the Ohio Country ended in bitter defeat. A Federalist, St. Clair disagreed with Jeffersonian-Republicans over the timing of Ohio statehood. This led to his dismissal as governor after 15 years in office.
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Near this location stood the settlement of African American families known as “The Lett Settlement.” The Lett Settlement was a self-sustaining community of mixed race families, including the Caliman, Guy, and Lett families. The families had formed ties through marriage and common background during the mid-1700s in Virginia and Maryland. These early African American pioneer families came to Ohio as “free people of color,” and began acquiring land in Meigs Township, Muskingum County, and surrounding townships in adjacent counties during the 1820s. They were soon joined by the Brown, Clifford, Earley, Simpson, Tate, and Pointer families. The families of the Lett Settlement were land owners and tax payers in Ohio before the Civil War and challenged the State of Ohio for the right to vote and for access to education during the 1840s, 1850s, and 1860s. (Continued on other side)
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