JACKSON TOWNSHIP

Grove City - Urbancrest - Borror’s Corners - Cottage Mills - Ridpath

Jackson Township came into being in 1815 carved mostly from Franklin Township and a southwest portion of Pleasant Township. It was originally part of the Northwest Territory. The land was also part of the Virginia Military Land Grant. The grants were awarded Virginia’s Revolutionary War veterans as compensation for their military service.

The early years were difficult for those moving into Central Ohio. Roads were not much more than animal trails; those who chose to live in the township area braved a wilderness that was wild and sparsely settled except for Native American settlements.

Families lived in the area prior to 1815. The first permanent white settler in the area now known as Jackson Township was Hugh Grant Sr., his wife, Catherine Barr, and three children. Unable to identify the land purchased, Grant and family became squatters on the banks of the Scioto River. The Shawnee also had settlements near the river stretching from Columbus to Chillicothe.

The land was flat and fertile but it was also damp and not readily suitable for farming. As more people moved into the township, farmers drained acres of ground using clay tile diverting standing water into the natural runs that led to the Scioto River. Jackson Township had thick forests that included walnut, oak, sycamore, maple, beech, chestnut and tulip trees. There were numerous other smaller trees that included dogwood, wild plum, crab apple, redbud and pawpaw. Grapevines hung from many of the towering trees and there was a plentiful undergrowth of blueberry bushes, raspberry and blackberry vines that covered the landscape.

Neighboring Franklin County communities once referred to Jackson Township as the “backwoods township” because of the hardship settlers had to face. Many were of German descent who relocated from Pennsylvania.

Others made the move to Ohio from Virginia and Kentucky. The earliest pioneers didn’t arrive by covered wagons. Most passages were not more than narrow Native American trails; settlers arrived by foot, mule or horseback and sometimes a cart pulled by oxen or simply by human hands.

Settlers from northern states likely followed the Ohio River from Pittsburgh to Zane’s Trace near present day Wheeling, West Virginia. The trail led to Chillicothe and from there, settlers could follow the Scioto Trail north into Central Ohio. After Ohio became a state in 1803, efforts were made to improve the various trails to accept wagon traffic.

Settlers from Virginia and points east followed a path cut in 1775 by Daniel Boone that became known as the Wilderness Road. Kentucky residents moving north could get on Zane’s Trace at Maysville and follow the Trace north to Chillicothe. The land mass that became Ohio and Kentucky was once part of Colonial Virginia. In 1784, Virginia relinquished its western territory north to Canada including all lands west of the Ohio River to the United States to allow settlements.

Early Pioneer Settlers

Hugh Grant Sr., and family are considered the first permanent white settlers but at least one other individual arrived the same year as Grant. He was Percival Adams who also arrived in 1803. Grant was considered a successful hunter and harvested 82 deer in the township.

The township suffered greatly from good roads, but the construction of the Harrisburg, Franklin and the Cottage Mills Turnpikes, all passing through Jackson, improved access. Read about Grant history here.

Others included: Wollery Conrad (1804) (also known as Woolery Coonrod), Nicholas Haughn (1804), Samuel Breckenridge (1804), John White (1804), Samuel White (1805), Jonas Orders (1806), Joseph Hickman (1806), William Duff (1806), Henry Huffman (1807), John Hoover (1807), William Brown (1807), Jonah Smith, (1808) and Henry Baumgartner (1808).

Other early settlers were James Seeds, William Miller, Joseph Bennett, John Keyes, Magdalene Borror (widow of Jacob), John G. Neff, John Mitchell, Hawes Barbee, Valentine F. Shover, Abraham Miller, Andrew Gantz, John Haines, Zachariah H. Marsh, Wesley Preston, John Martino and John Houghn (Haughn).

In those early years, almost everything early residents consumed was grown on their farms. Commonly purchased items included crackers, rice, salt, sugar, coffee beans and molasses in gallon buckets.

The housewife was expected to put three large meals on the table every day. Because most people did physical work before breakfast, they were ready for a hearty meal. There would be fresh frying sausage or liver pudding, along with homemade bread, coffee cake and coffee. The noon meal was another large meal centered around meat and potatoes. Read more about Grove City here.

Other Facts

Historic records can prove to be very challenging especially when dealing with information that is often 100-200 years old. It has been a long-accepted fact that Nancy Duff, born in 1806, the daughter of William C. and Catherine Duff, was the first-born white child in the township. New evidence uncovered by Historian Dick Shover indicates Nicholas Haughn and wife, Catherine Kile, had a son, John Haughn, who was born in the township March 14, 1802. John died in 1876 and is buried in Greenlawn Cemetery.” Keep in mind the “township” we reference was Franklin Township; Jackson Township wasn’t created until 1815. Other interesting bits of information indicate Percival Adams might have settled in the southwest portion of the township, now called Jackson, in 1803, a year before the Hugh Grant family arrived from Pennsylvania via Chillicothe. The first brick house in the area was built by William Brown in 1814. The first sawmill was built by Robert Seeds on Turkey Run, a location that can no longer be clearly identified on a map. Historic accounts say Seeds built a second mill on Grant’s Run. There is a possibility Seeds’ sawmill around 1850 was steam powered. Other early factories included drain tile operation, wagon factory and numerous blacksmith shops.

Churches

According to the Historical Publishing Company, reprinted in Reflections II, the first church in Jackson Township was the Scioto Chapel which was erected by the Christian Faith denomination that was organized in 1812. The Rev. Benjamin Britton of Norwich Township traveled to Jackson Township as early as 1828 to preach for the New-Lights believers living in the area. The New- Lights were frequently referred to as either Congregationalists or Baptists who embraced revivals to spread their faith. Another early pastor who came to Jackson Township was the Rev. Chandler Rogers, pastor of a Universalists congregation in Perry Township.

Prior to 1840, Methodist and Presbyterian circuit riders conducted services in the township. The first religious service in the Grove City community was conducted by the Rev. R. K. Davis, a Presbyterian minister who came to the area with William Foster Breck around 1846. Breck eventually became the founder of Grove City in 1852. A simple log building had been constructed for religious services and community meetings around 1846 that became known as the Highland Road Meeting House. It was also known as the Union Meeting House, Highland Mission House and the Highland Mission.

Besides worship services, village meetings were held in the building. It was located on land to the rear of the Carl Willert building on South Broadway. Festivals, dances, shows, and general gathering were held at the site. Seats in the building were elevated so all might have a clear view at various gatherings. After it served its purpose, the old building was deserted. A.G. Grant purchased it and moved it to his property as a barn.

Three denominations were born from the Highland Mission. They included a German-English Lutheran congregation in 1853, a Presbyterian church in 1856 followed by a Methodist Church in 1859.

The first church in Jackson Township was years earlier. It was a log building erected around 1839 identified as Concord Methodist Church. There were two other Methodist denominations. One was Hopewell, a wood building on the Jackson Turnpike, erected in 1839, and the other was Hickory Seminary, erected for the double purpose as a church and schoolhouse. The date is unknown.

Schools

The subscription school at Borror’s Corners was the only school in Jackson Township for many years. It opened in 1815. According to research by Harold and Faye Morland, the first public school was a log building in the Village of Grove City that opened for classes in 1853. It was operated by a Jackson Township Board of Education. For more information about township schools, click here.