German Township, Clark County

How German Township, Clark County began

German Township, in the northern tier of Clark County along Mad River, was organized in 1818 (originally larger, until part of it was transferred to Moorefield Township in 1835) and was possibly named for its early German-descended settlers. The first arrivals were squatters around 1795-1797, followed by permanent families such as William Chapman and William Ross, for whom Chapman's Creek is named; Jesse Chapman, born in 1800, was the first white child born in the township. Jacob Kiblinger built one of the area's first mills on Mad River near the site later called Eagle Mills, and the village of Tremont City grew up on the river where a lime quarry opened around 1840. The township remains rural farmland north of the city of Springfield.

Settled 1795-1797, incorporated 1818, by Organized with the other Clark County townships in 1818; portions transferred to Moorefield Township in 1835.

Where the name comes from

Possibly named for the township's early settlers of German descent; no single naming document was found. Ohio has five townships named German.

Before the town

No mound, earthwork, or named village site specific to German Township was found in the sources checked. The 1881 township history records that the earliest white settlers found the region 'a dense wilderness inhabited only by the red men,' and preserves the recollection of pioneer Fanny (Rector) Thompson, born 1793, who as a girl 'often slept in the cornfield for fear of the Indians' and remembered block-houses standing along the valley; it also records that pioneer William Ross was kidnapped as a five-year-old boy by two Indians and nearly burned before a French trader intervened and ransomed him, though this happened before his family reached Ohio and is not tied to a specific place in the township. No treaty line or cession boundary specific to the township was found.

Timeline

1. 1795-1797 — Nathan Adams, Thomas Cowshick and Henry Storms make temporary squatter settlements north of present Tremont, near the future Clark-Champaign county line; Storm's Creek is named for one of them.
2. 1797 — William Chapman and William Ross, with their families, settle permanently in the township, Chapman from Virginia and Ross by way of Kentucky; Chapman's Creek is later named for Chapman as the first white settler on its banks.
3. 1800 — Jesse Chapman, son of William Chapman, is born, the first white child born in what is now German Township.
4. 1801 — Jacob Kiblinger begins the first of four trips from Virginia between 1801 and 1805, bringing Kiblinger and Pence family members to settle permanently in the township.
5. 1812 — William Ross builds the first frame house in this part of the county on what became the C. F. Rohrer farm, two stories with a shingle roof and tin spouting.
6. 1818 — German Township is formally organized, with elections to be held at the house of Archibald McKinley.
7. 1835 — Portions of German Township are detached and given to Moorefield Township, leaving German with its present boundaries.
8. c. 1840 — A limestone quarry opens about a mile south of Tremont, where Mad River first exposes the bedrock underlying the region.

Stories

The boy who was almost burned

William Ross, who would grow up to become one of German Township's early Methodist pioneers and settle near Tremont in 1797, had a childhood far from Ohio's forests. At five years old, while fishing with a white man, he was kidnapped by two Indians and was on the point of being burned; he had already been sent to gather the firewood for his own execution when a French trader happened by and talked the men out of it, paying with a blanket for each captor. The trader took the boy to Detroit and made him a page to his daughters, carrying the long trains fashionable among French ladies of the day. His family had given him up for dead by the time his brother John, serving as a soldier at Detroit during the French and Indian War, recognized him by chance and brought him home. Ross went on to marry Winneford Rector, raise eight children, and become a leading figure in German Township's earliest Methodist meetings, his house serving as the neighborhood's preaching place for years.

Chapman's Creek, an old light newly snuffed

William 'Billy' Chapman came from Virginia in 1797 and built his cabin on what became the Silas Card farm, entering several sections of land in the vicinity. His son Jesse, born in 1800, was the first white child born in the township. Chapman was a Methodist local preacher who later joined the New Light Church, a change his old brethren teased him about when they met him again: 'Well, so you are a New Light, are you?' Chapman answered, 'No, I am an old light newly snuffed.' He kept a well-known inn on the Dayton-Urbana road, doing a brisk trade with wagoners, before moving to Missouri in 1818, where he died in 1822. The stream that ran past his farm still carries his name, Chapman's Creek, called so, the 1881 county history says, in honor of the first white man who settled on its banks.

Photographs

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Springfield City75% of residentsMad River Buried Valley Aquifer (12 wells)
• Clark County Northridge7% of residentsMad River Buried Valley Aquifer (12 wells)
• Enon Village6% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Clark County Lawrenceville4% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Greenlawn Condos2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• New Carlisle City2% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Chateau Estates MHP1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Clark County Park Layne1% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• North Hampton Village1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Rolling Terrace MHP0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Honey Creek Village MHP0% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Brookwood MHP0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Public schools (2)

Police stations (1)

Superfund sites (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (4)

Spills reported since 2021 (2)

Money issues on the ballot since 2018: 6 of 7 passed.

Ballot issues

Elections for office

Winners in bold. Results from the county board of elections' official canvass unless marked. The county's results on file run through 2021-05-04; later elections are not loaded yet.

Statewide question: State Issue 3: Voter ID

Local questions for German Township, Clark County, Clark County and its school district:

• German Township: Authorizes an additional 1-mill property tax levy for the police protection of German Township for 5 years, beginning in 2026.
• Clark County: Renews a 1-mill property tax levy for the provide & maintain expenses of Health District of Clark County for 5 years, beginning in 2027.

Races, candidates and every question for an address: your ballot. County offices and judges are on your county board's sample ballot.

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