Jefferson Township, Fayette County

How Jefferson Township, Fayette County began

Jefferson Township, in the northwest corner of Fayette County, was one of the county's six original townships in 1810 and is named for Thomas Jefferson. Paint Creek forms its eastern line and Sugar and Rattlesnake creeks cross it, the latter said by early settlers to carry the name of a chief whose camp stood on its banks. The Robinson family from North Carolina settled around 1804 on the ground that became Jeffersonville, followed by Virginians such as the Kendalls and Creamers; the township lost its southern point to Jasper Township in 1845. Jeffersonville, laid out in 1831, is its center, with the smaller settlements of West Lancaster, Parrott, Blessing and Pleasant View, and the railroad the township financed in the 1870s made it a grain-shipping district of 2,718 people by 1910.

Settled c. 1804, incorporated 1810 (original township), by William Robinson Sr. and sons (first settlers).

Where the name comes from

Named for Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States, following the common Ohio practice of naming townships after early presidents; Ohio has 24 townships named Jefferson.

Before the town

The county histories place several Native landmarks in Jefferson Township. Early settlers said Rattlesnake Creek was named for a chief called Rattlesnake whose camp stood on land later owned by Clement Shockley; the 1872 pioneer record puts the camp on the creek's west branch, on land first bought by William Harpole. When John Killgore's party came east from Xenia exploring for land, they found a camp of friendly Indians at a spring on what was later the Blessing farm and shared a bear with them for supper. The first public road through the township, later the Jeffersonville and Bloomingburg pike, followed an old Indian trace. William Robinson recalled that after the 1795 Treaty of Greenville the Indians were numerous but peaceable, attended cabin raisings, and left for the Sandusky country about 1811. The 1872 record also describes earthworks: a large mound called Dumpling Hill on Singleton Robinson's farm, where lead ore and charcoal were found; a large gravel mound on the widow Connor's farm from which gravel diggers removed about twenty skeletons; and stone axes and arrowheads on William Robinson's land three miles north of Jeffersonville. None of these features has been dated or assigned to a culture. Jackson Mound, the county's one surviving listed mound, stands in Madison Township to the east, not here. The land was ceded under the 1795 Treaty of Greenville.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee, Wyandot, Lenape (Delaware), Miami, Mingo (Seneca-Cayuga), Adena culture.

• Camp of the chief Rattlesnake (camp) — west branch of Rattlesnake Creek, on land later owned by Clement Shockley, historic, before about 1811 (settler tradition) (archive.org)
• Indian camp at the Blessing farm spring (camp) — spring on the later Blessing farm, near Sugar Creek and Benbow Creek, historic, before 1808 (archive.org)
• Indian trace (Jeffersonville and Bloomingburg pike) (trail) — route of the old state road, later the Jeffersonville and Bloomingburg pike, historic (archive.org)
• Dumpling Hill (mound) — farm of Singleton Robinson, unknown (archive.org)
• Connor farm gravel mound (burial) — farm of the widow Connor; about twenty skeletons removed by gravel diggers, unknown (archive.org)

Timeline

1. c. 1804 — William Robinson Sr. and his four sons, from North Carolina by way of Virginia and Greene County, settle on and around the future site of Jeffersonville.
2. 1805 — Aaron Kendall and his family come from Stafford County, Virginia, and settle on part of the Washington survey.
3. 1808 — John Killgore's family buys 125 acres on Benbow Creek from Thomas Posey at seventy-five cents an acre.
4. 1809 — George Creamer and his sons Michael, Joseph and David arrive from Berkeley County, Virginia, and settle on Sugar Creek (the history gives 1809 or 1810); George becomes the first justice of the peace.
5. 1810 — Fayette County, including the future Jefferson Township, is organized from Ross and Highland Counties.
6. 1810 — Jefferson is one of the six original townships laid out when Fayette County is organized.
7. 1811 — Peter Harness buys the western Duff survey and divides it among his sons.
8. 1816 — The first surviving township election, April 1, chooses Thomas Robinson justice of the peace and Jacob Jenkins, Joseph Kendall and Nicholas Robinson trustees.
9. 1826 — On March 18 the trustees divide the township into seven school districts; David Creamer is remembered as the first teacher, in a log cabin on Jacob Jenkins' farm.
10. 1831 — Jeffersonville is laid out in the center of the township.
11. 1834 — A post office opens at Jeffersonville.
12. 1843 — On April 20 Antrim Rankins is shot and killed when young men 'belling' a wedding at Straley's are fired on; the accused, John Hidy, jumps bail and never returns.
13. 1845 — Jasper Township is formed from the southern point of Jefferson and part of Concord.
14. 1875 — In December James Flax opens a store at Pleasant View, on the Jamestown and Jeffersonville pike, around which a hamlet of about fifty houses grows.
15. 1877 — The railroad through the township, financed by a $35,000 township subscription, is completed in the fall.
16. 1877 — The Pleasant View Christian Church is organized June 30 with fourteen members and builds a 30-by-40-foot frame church the next year.
17. c. 1900 — Jeffersonville's population peaks in this era at about 790 residents before settling lower through the 20th century.
18. 1910 — Jefferson Township, including Jeffersonville, has 2,718 people; West Lancaster has 142 and Parrott 50.

Stories

Naming a village for the president

When settlers laid out the village at the center of what became Jefferson Township in 1831, they chose to honor Thomas Jefferson directly rather than borrow a name from back east, calling the new town Jeffersonville. A post office followed within three years, giving the crossroads a formal place on the map. One of its native sons, Grayson L. Kirk, went on to become president of Columbia University and an adviser to the U.S. State Department on United Nations affairs, a considerable distance from the farm township where he was born.

A bear supper on Sugar Creek

John Killgore had come from Kentucky to the Xenia neighborhood in 1801, but within a few years game there grew scarce. With several sons and a neighbor, James Kent, he set out east to look for better country and crossed into what is now Jefferson Township. The first sign of settlement they found was a turnip patch beside Philip Powell's cabin; following Benbow Creek down to Sugar Creek, one of the party shot a bear. Seeing smoke near a spring on what later became the Blessing farm, they found a camp of Indians, who were friendly and invited them to stay the night, and the bear was served for supper. The Killgores went on to Madison County for a few years, then in 1808 bought 125 acres on Benbow Creek, where the family farm stayed in their hands into the 1880s.

The bogus-dollar mold

Counterfeiters worked in Fayette County in the early years, and their bad money reached Jefferson Township even though no gang was known to live there. Moses Thomas, a blacksmith, had settled on Sugar Creek in 1825. Years later, when Alfred Walston moved into the shop Thomas had used, he found hidden in it a mold for casting bogus silver dollars. How and when the mold came to be there was never learned; the 1881 county history called it a mystery to that day.

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

Mostly private wells The water here

• Jeffersonville Village48% of residentsGroundwater wells (6 wells)
• Washington Court House44% of residentsPaint Creek (Washington C.H. Reservoirs) + wells
• Jamestown Village7% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• South Solon Village1% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Ross County Water Co. Inc0% of residentsTeays Valley Aquifer (buried valley groundwater)
• Fayette County - culpepper Subdivision0% of residentsPaint Creek (Washington C.H. Reservoirs) + wells
• Western Water Company0% of residentsLittle Miami River valley wells (51%) plus Cincinnati Ohio River water (49%)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Spills reported since 2021 (16)

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 2024-09-03

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