Handbook N-P - Fulton County Public Library

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located with his family in Section 23, and resided in the township until his death. In the same
season Peter Sanns located in the southeast corner of Section 32, where he cleared and improved a
large farm. In the spring of 1838, James Kennedy and family, John and Isaac Culver, Caleb
Montgomery and Richard Coplen, with their families, joined the settlement, and later in the same
season came Walter Courll, Joseph and Andrew Edwards and Leander Chamberlain. James
Jenkins located in Section 23 in the same year, residing in the township until his decease. George
Fultz came in the same year and located on a tract of land immediately south of Caleb
Montgomery. He cleared and improved a farm, and died a few years ago at the home of his son,
Samuel, in Rochester Township. Thomas Hamlett, Sr., came in the fall of 1838, and erected a log
house on his farm. His house was designated by the Commissioners as the place where the first
township election should be held, on the 25th day of March, 1839, and it is said this was the
voting place for a number of years afterward. Bartley M. Hamlett, brother of Thomas Hamlett,
Sr., came with his famiy in 1839, and erected a blacksmith shop on his farm, which was the first in
the township. William H. H. Hamlett, another brother, came in 1840, and Thomas Hamlett, Jr.,
came late in the same year, or early in 1841.
John C. Farry, with his family, came to the township in he fall of 1841, and located upon
a tract of land formerly occpied by Mr. Wilson, an unmarried man, who came in 1838, and died in
1840. Mr. Farry subsequently purchased the farm adjoining him on he north, where he resided for
a number of years. He died in Rochester Township.
Oliver A. Crary came in 1841, and purchased the land which Walter Courll had occupied
by the right of pre-emption, but did not locate permanently until 1857. He was quite wealthy and
proved himself a valuable citizen in the community by advancing to poor men the means with
which to purchase homes. But his usefulness as friend and citizen was of short duration, as he
died within a few weeks after his arrival, from the effects of a fall in the cellar of his house. Jesse
Emmons came in 1841, and Nathan Fairchild, a local preacher of the Methodist Episcopal Church,
came in 1843 or 1844. In the fall of 1845, George Perschbacher came with his family from
Wayne County, Ind., and purchased land in Section 10. He cleared and improved a large farm,
which he continued to cultivate until his death. Nicholas King, Sr., came from Henry County, Ind.,
in the spring of 1846, and Reuben Redman came shortly afterward. Silas Harvey Farry came in
1846, and located on the land pre-empted by Leander Chamberlain. He has cleared his farm, and
for nearly forty years has been identified with the interests and improvements of the township.
Amos Davis and Samuel Chambers, with their families, were among the settlers of 1846, and John
Sanders and Samuel Ball were among those who came in 1847. David Nichols, Hiram Mickey
and Peter Bryant located in Section 19 in 1844 and 1845, while Abner Barrett and Jefferson
Rhodes came as eary as 1841. Mr. Barrett located on the land now owned by Nathan Zolman and
others, and Mr. Rhodes located on the farm where he still resides, in Section 31.
From 1847 to 1850, a great many families took up their residence in the township, but an
accurate list of names at this late day is impossible. It is known however, that the families of
Samuel Ball, George Stockberger, Jacob Stockberger, Solomon and Peter Dumbauld, Daniel
Wagoner, Daniel Swineheart, Samuel Mechling, Jacob Mechling, Adam Brumm, William
Brumm, Jacob Miller and Frederick Packer were among this number.
Early Events
In the dawn of civilization within the wilderness, the building of a cabin, the harvesting
of a crop, the setting out of an orchard, etc., were events of more than passing interest, and are
worthy to be detailed as the first of their kind in a narrative of the events which go to make up the
township’s history. The cabin erected by Job Meredith in August, 1836, was the first dwelling
ever erected and permanently occupied by a white man in this township, and a few acres cleared
by him, in the immediate vicinity of this cabin, yielded the first crop of corn and potatoes,
although small crops were raised probably in the same season, by Peter Sanns and Benjamin
Montgomery. In 1839, Job Meredith purchased a lot of young fruit trees at South Bend, Ind., and
set out the first orchard in the township. Some of these trees are still in existence and bearing
fruit, but the majority have outlived their usefulness and gone to decay. The first white child born
in the township was Jane, daughter of James Wright. She was born July 2, 1837, and is now the