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In 1839, Bishop John Baptist Purcell recruited European priests to minister to his Ohio flock. Father Louis Navarron, a young French missionary, was appointed to the French Catholic population of Darke and Shelby Counties in the area now marked by the villages of Russia, Versailles, and Frenchtown. St. Valbert, a centrally-located log church, was dedicated in December 1840 by Bishop Purcell to serve the region. In Russia, a log chapel was dedicated on Jean Jacques DeBrosse’s farm in 1846. Parish boundary lines were established in 1850, Precious Blood priests arrived, and a new church was dedicated to Saint Remigius in August 1852. As the congregation grew, so did the church buildings. The current Saint Remy Catholic Church, built between 1891-1892, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
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The Grenadier Squaw Village was located between this area and Scippo Creek, upon the Pickaway Plains, the primary Shawnee settlement in Ohio. Non-hel-e-ma, born circa 1722, was the sister of the Shawnee Cornstalk and Silver Heels. Known as Grenadier Squaw because of her imposing stature, she spoke four languages, serving as peacemaker and interpreter. After the peace treaty with Lord Dunmore in 1774, and in spite of Cornstalk’s murder, she remained allied with the Americans. On October 1, 1978, Non-hel-e-ma was honored with a marker in Logan Elm Park near to those for Chief Cornstalk and Chief Logan. The “Burning Ground,” used as a site to burn captured prisoners at the stake, was located on the elevated hill just south of Grenadier Squaw’s Village. The Council House was located slightly to the northwest.
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(Stout Post Office) A thriving riverport in the 19th Century, founded in 1835 by William Stout. Elisha Stout, son of William, born and raised here, was one of the founding fathers of Omaha, Nebraska, and Denver, Colorado. Former site of Adamsville which served as the county seat of Adams County from Dec., 1797, to Dec., 1798. A log courthouse and jail were erected here to serve the public.
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Named for General Zebulon Pike, killed in the War of 1812, Pike County was organized in February 1815. Commissioners were charged with establishing a county seat and on May 12, 1815 accepted a conveyance of 40 acres from Elisha Fitch. The new seat was named “Piketon.” In 1816, the commissioners let a contract for the construction of a courthouse and jail. A fine two story courthouse with brick laid in Flemish bond was finished in 1819. A fire destroyed some country courthouse offices on October 9, 1844. The repaired courthouse was the seat of county government until 1861 and is part of the Piketon Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Limestone headers above the windows have the names of the county government offices.
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Joshua Dixon selected this site in 1805 as the center for Columbiana. The first local post office, established at this museum location in 1809, pioneered free mail delivery in 1837. The museum, an early log home in the village, was moved here and restored in 1975 by community effort for use as a museum and Bicentennial headquarters. The annex was built in 1978.
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Fowlers Mill (originally Fowler’s Mills) developed around a group of mills built in the 1830s on the Chagrin River. Opportunities from these mills led to Fowlers Mill becoming the commercial center of Munson Township. From the 1830s into the twentieth century, the community expanded with construction of churches, a post office, township hall, stores, hotel, blacksmith shop, schools, and houses built in such styles as Federal, Greek Revival, Italianate, and Queen Anne. This type of community center was common in rural, nineteenth century America, but rarely survives with so much original fabric intact. On Mayfield Road, the Disciple Church was built in 1842. East of the church, the brick central school built in 1913 replaced earlier one-room schoolhouses. The gristmill is the only mill standing in Geauga County. The cemetery contains burials dating from the 1830s. The Fowler’s Mills Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.
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James and Sophia Clemens’ lives are part of a story of tens of thousands of people of color who migrated north in search of land to farm and better lives during the first half of the 19th century. In 1818, James Clemens (1781-1870) purchased 387 acres in German Township, Darke County, Ohio. He and Sophia (Sellers) Clemens (1786-1875) were brought here by Adam Sellers (1742-1821) of Rockingham County, Virginia. In 1822, Thornton Alexander (1783-1851), emancipated by A. Sellers, purchased land in Randolph County, Indiana, about a half mile west of Clemens’ land. These purchases were the beginning of the Greenville Settlement on the Ohio-Indiana border. Other settlers of color followed, including the Bass family from North Carolina, in 1828. The 1830 census enumerated approximately 78 people of color in German Township Ohio and adjacent Green’s Fork Township, Indiana. (Continued on other side)
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The village was laid out on August 18, 1847, by Benjamin Todd, and consisted of 18 lots in Section 26 of Pleasant Township. Originally named Pleasantville, it was incorporated in 1858 and the name was changed in honor of Maj. Gen. Alexander Macomb, famous for defending Plattsburgh, N.Y., during the War of 1812 and later Commander of the U.S. Army. William Chapman was the first mayor.