Hopewell Township, Mercer County

How Hopewell Township, Mercer County began

Hopewell Township was set off from Dublin Township on December 6, 1842, a level, streamless tract six miles east to west and five miles north to south between Center and Liberty townships. Its western part was settled mostly by German families such as the Fetters, Hellwarths, Sielschotts and Sieberts, and its northern and eastern parts by English-speaking settlers from older Ohio counties, a split still visible in its Lutheran, Evangelical, Church of God, United Brethren and Friends congregations. In 1907 it had country stores at Stedcke, at Tamah on the Cincinnati Northern and at Oregon on the Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton, but no village. It has no incorporated place; the histories opened do not explain its name.

Settled 1830s (Jacob Eichar, September 10, 1837; William Y. Wallace, 1837), incorporated 1842-12-06 (township organized), by Mercer County commissioners, detaching it from Dublin Township.

Where the name comes from

One of five Hopewell Townships in Ohio. Neither Scranton's 1907 county history nor the Mercer County Historical Society's 1959 history explains the name, and neither ties it to the Hopewell archaeological culture.

Before the town

No Native village, trail, mound or earthwork in Hopewell Township is recorded in the county histories opened. The Mercer County Historical Society's 1959 history lists the county's known prehistoric remains, which it attributes to the Hopewell culture, as five enclosures, four burial places and one mound, located near Fort Recovery, Celina, Rockford, Mercer, in Marion Township and near Sharpsburg in Gibson Township; none of the places it describes is in Hopewell Township, so the township's name and the archaeological culture share a word and nothing more on the record.

Timeline

1. 1820s — The Hitchner family (1820) and McChristy families (before 1830) are among the earliest arrivals in what later became Hopewell Township, per the 1959 county history.
2. 1837 — Jacob Eichar arrives from Stark County on September 10, and William Y. Wallace settles the same year.
3. 1842 — Hopewell Township is organized.
4. 1851 — J. C. Brookhart settles in the township; Samuel Brookhart follows in 1852.
5. 1866-05-21 — St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran congregation is incorporated, with William Grube Sr., Charles Weis and J. Frahm as trustees.
6. 1868-06-26 — The Hoffming class of the Evangelical Association meets at Mount Hope church and elects trustees, the start of Hope Church.
7. 1880 — The township has 1,185 residents.
8. 1883 — Tabor Church of God, a frame building, is built for $1,500 and dedicated in September.
9. 1886 — A tornado destroys Pleasant View Church of God; only the floor and the lectern, with the Bible still on it, remain.
10. 1892 — Union United Brethren Church builds a church near the center of the township for $1,500.
11. 1894 — Hope Church of the Evangelical Association builds its present church in the western part of the township for $1,300.
12. 1900 — The township has 1,313 residents.

Stories

The Pleasant View tornado

The tornado of 1886, which did its worst damage in Washington Township to the southwest, came down again in Hopewell Township near the Garman home on the Mud Pike. It destroyed Pleasant View Church on what is now Route 118, leaving only the floor and the lectern; the Bible on the lectern was found closed and undisturbed. The Jacob Botkins home was destroyed and the L. Garman house was carried off its foundation. John H. Now of Hopewell Township, ten years old at the time, was still telling the story when the Mercer County Historical Society collected it for its 1959 history. A Pleasant View Church of God congregation in the western part of the township was still active in 1907, served by the same pastor as Tabor Church and Mount Carmel in Liberty Township.

Two settlements in one township

Hopewell Township was cut from Dublin Township in December 1842 and filled from two directions. German families took the western part: Wilhelm Fetter, Michael Hellwarth, John Miller, John Frahm, Frederick Sielschott, Henry Beathler, John Now and the Sieberts, followed in the 1850s and 1860s by German-born settlers such as John E. Smith, William Regedanz and Tobias Eichenauer. English-speaking families from older Ohio counties, among them Jacob Eichar from Stark County and William Y. Wallace, settled the north and east. By 1907 the township had six congregations reflecting the mix: St. John's German Evangelical Lutheran and Hope Church of the Evangelical Association in the west, Tabor and Pleasant View Churches of God, Union United Brethren near the center and a Friends meeting in the northwest corner.

Photographs

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

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

• Celina, City Of87% of residentsGrand Lake St. Marys (surface water intake)
• Rockford Village7% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Grand Lake Estates4% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
• Mendon Village2% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (2)

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.

Auditor of State record

• No fiscal caution, watch or emergency on the Auditor of State's lists.
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-10-15

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