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Benson Road and the North Urbana Lisbon Road (SR 54) in Champaign County was the site of the 1950 National and Ohio Plowing Matches and the National Association of Soil Conservation Districts Field Days. The three-day event drew a crowd of nearly 75,000 and was headquartered in the woods of the Edwin (Ned) Kirby farm located a quarter mile north on Benson Road. The National Association of Soil Conservation Districts sponsored the National and Ohio Plowing Matches. The first national matches were held in Mitchellville, Iowa in 1939 and continued until halted by the start of World War II. They resumed in 1945. Ohio’s 1950 Champaign County-Union Township National Plowing Matches was the first “National” to be held outside Iowa. (continued on other side)
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The U.S. Army built a two-story blockhouse on a nearby hill during the War of 1812. The blockhouse was one of a series of such structures erected along the Greenville Treaty line to guard against Native Americans who supported the British during the conflict. After the war, Daniel Markley, one of Green Camp Township’s first white inhabitants, settled near the blockhouse. In 1963, the graves of twenty-five prehistoric Glacial Kame Indians and six white settlers were discovered near the blockhouse site. Seventeen War of 1812 veterans and eight others were also buried there. These bodies were subsequently removed and reinterred at Green Camp Cemetery. An abandoned right-of-way of the Erie Railroad, Dayton line, also passes through the area. Prairie grasses that once dominated parts of Marion County can still be found in the vicinity.
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The Friends Burying Grounds, once located here on Lot 17 in the Village of Damascus, is the oldest cemetery in Butler Township, Columbiana County. Expansion of the Friends Church necessitated the re-location of the Friends Burying Grounds. No markers were found to identify the graves of the 118 persons exhumed here. The exhumed remains were re-interred in the Damascus Cemetery on Valley Road, one block east of this location. The exhumation (2001-2002) was directed by Prof. Dr. John White of Youngstown State University, assisted by staff, students, and volunteers.
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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.
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Isaac Scales (1786-1821) settled on this site. At his death, he was buried in his back yard. A large rock marked his grave. The land was reclaimed by Charles Olmsted who deeded it to the Township in 1835 for a public burial ground. Early settlers and veterans, who fought in six American wars including the Revolutionary, are buried here. The crypt was built in 1879.
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Mifflin was founded in 1816. Originally known as Petersburg, the name was changed in 1827 in honor of the settlers that moved here from Mifflin Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. The first village jailhouse and crossroad watering trough are located here, on the grounds of the historic St. Michael Lutheran Church. Organized in 1835, the church built this house of worship in 1890. As early as 1810, stagecoaches traveled Mifflin’s main thoroughfare between Wooster and Mansfield, stopping at the watering trough, known for “the best spring water in Ohio”. In 1925, the trough was removed to allow room for the construction of the Lincoln Highway built in 1928. A Lincoln Highway “L” marker stands in the village today, in its original location, directing motorists eastbound.
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Pulaski and Pulaski Township in Williams County are named for Casimir Pulaski, a Polish cavalry officer who died to win America’s independence from Great Britain during the Revolutionary War. Charged with attempting to kidnap the king of Poland, Pulaski (1747-1779) fled to Paris and then to America in 1777, met General George Washington, and joined the colonies’ struggle. At the Battle of Brandywine, Pulaski covered the American retreat with a daring charge at pursuing British forces. After Brandywine, the Continental Congress commissioned Pulaski a Brigadier General of Cavalry. Pulaski later resigned his command and petitioned Washington to organize what came to be known in March 1778 as Pulaski’s Legion.
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Zion (Ribel’s) Church was built on this site in 1808. The log structure was located in the Zion Ridge Cemetery, adjacent to the first school in Thorn Township. The congregation of Zion Reformed Church is the oldest in Perry County still in existence. The church was officially organized in 1806 when the German Reformed and Lutheran congregations joined together in building the first church in Perry County. They purchased this land on June 30, 1806, and shared the building, alternating Sundays, until 1911. In 1803, Reverend Johannes Christian Koenig (John King) became the first minister to settle in Perry County and became the founding minister for the German Reformed congregation. In 1805, Reverend Wilhelm Georg Forster (William Foster) was the first Lutheran minister to settle in Perry County and was the founding minister for the Lutherans. The present Zion Reformed Church was built across the street from the original church in 1910.