Center Township, Mercer County

How Center Township, Mercer County began

Center Township was organized on June 2, 1834, from land that had been part of Union Township (a 1959 county history says Dublin Township), and held its first election at the house of William Bonafield on June 21, 1834. Michael Harner, a War of 1812 veteran, settled here in 1820, and Bonafield laid out the village of Neptune on December 2, 1837, keeping a travelers' tavern on the old Fort Wayne road, later the plank road from St. Marys to Fort Wayne and now U.S. 33. Unlike the German Catholic townships to the south, it was settled almost entirely by families of English descent, and its churches were Methodist, Baptist, United Brethren and Church of God. A small southern part of Celina now extends into the township, which borders Auglaize County on the east.

Settled 1820 (Michael Harner), platted 1837-12-02 (Neptune), incorporated 1834-06-02 (township organized), by Mercer County commissioners; Neptune laid out by William Bonafield.

Where the name comes from

One of nine Center Townships in Ohio; the name is generic, describing the township's position rather than commemorating a person.

Before the town

Neither Scranton's 1907 county history nor the Mercer County Historical Society's 1959 history records a Native village, trail or earthwork in Center Township; its pioneer accounts describe wolves, deer and turkey in the woods but no Native residents. The Fort Wayne road through Neptune followed the route between St. Marys and Fort Wayne.

Timeline

1. 1820 — Michael Harner, born in Maryland and a War of 1812 veteran, moves from Dublin Township onto 160 acres in what becomes Center Township.
2. 1827-1828 — William Bonafield enters land at the site of Neptune and moves his family there; the only other settler within three miles is a man named Crawford.
3. 1834 — Center Township is organized.
4. 1834 — Celina, a small southern part of which extends into the township, is founded by James Watson Riley.
5. 1834-06-21 — The first township election is held at the house of William Bonafield.
6. 1837-12-02 — William Bonafield lays out the town of Neptune.
7. 1838 — Rev. Timothy Hankins moves into the township and teaches its first district school, in James Thompson's old kitchen.
8. 1839 — A post office is established at Neptune; it operates until 1905.
9. 1840 — The township has 1,059 residents.
10. 1841-01-01 — William Bonafield dies; Benjamin Nichols of Pennsylvania takes over his hotel and store at Neptune.
11. 1843 — Rev. David Gray organizes the Center Chapel Methodist class of ten members at the home of Enos Hays, and the Mount Gilead Baptist Church is organized on Eight-Mile Creek north of Neptune.
12. 1850 — Rev. James Lay organizes the Mount Zion United Brethren Church in the schoolhouse on Twelve-Mile Creek.
13. 1851 — Copps' Chapel Methodist class is organized at the residence of Jacob Copps.
14. 1853 — Elder Cump organizes the Church of God at Beery Bethel with ten members.
15. 1860 — The Mount Gilead Baptist congregation builds a frame meeting house in Neptune.
16. 1861 — Lemuel Herbert Murlin, later president of Boston University, is born near Neptune.
17. 1875 — The present Center Chapel church, built for about $1,800, is dedicated in April.
18. 1880 — The township has 1,456 residents; in 1900 it has 1,493.

Stories

Neptune, a tavern town on the Fort Wayne road

William Bonafield came into Mercer County in 1823 or 1824, first settling near the village of Mercer in Dublin Township, and about 1827 or 1828 entered land in the middle of what became Center Township. He was a carpenter, and because his land lay on the old Fort Wayne road he kept a travelers' home for the traffic on it; on December 2, 1837, he laid out a town there and called it Neptune. After his death on January 1, 1841, Benjamin Nichols, a Pennsylvanian who had boarded with him, ran the hotel and store for many years. The plank road from St. Marys to Fort Wayne, Indiana, made Neptune a trading point, and Henry Lakamp opened a large country store there in 1865. By 1907 the trade had passed to Celina: the post office was gone, rural carriers brought the mail from Celina, and the town of about 150 people was known chiefly for the Center Township High School.

A township of chapels

Center Township's churches grew out of classes that met in settlers' homes. Rev. David Gray organized the Center Chapel Methodist class at Enos Hays's house in 1843 with ten members, and the same year a Baptist congregation formed on Eight-Mile Creek, worshiping from 1845 in a hewed-log meeting house on the Mendon road and from 1860 in a frame building in Neptune; its first pastor, Rev. James Drury, had come from Kentucky in 1838. Mount Zion United Brethren began in the Twelve-Mile Creek schoolhouse in 1850, Copps' Chapel at Jacob Copps's home in 1851, and three Church of God societies followed at Beery Bethel (1853), Fairview (1866) and Neptune (1869). The 1907 county history described the township's people as "almost exclusively of English descent" and church-going.

Photographs

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org · archive.org · archive.org · commons.wikimedia.org

Grand Lake St. Marys (surface water intake) The water here

• Celina, City Of94% of residentsGrand Lake St. Marys (surface water intake)
• Grand Lake Estates4% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
• Mendon Village2% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (4)

Money issues on the ballot since 2024: 1 of 1 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked.

Cite this page