Jefferson Township, Scioto County

How Jefferson Township, Scioto County began

Jefferson Township, in northern Scioto County and named for Thomas Jefferson, was organized before 1810. By 1833 it supported two water-powered gristmills, a sawmill, a horse-powered mill and distillery, a tavern and a tanyard; Clarktown, a census-designated place, is its modern center, and the eastern half of the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility falls within the township. Its most remembered vanished hamlet, Diffen (also called Fallen Timber), was founded by Irish immigrants and became briefly famous in 1896 for a "living funeral" that reportedly drew thousands of spectators. Its 2020 population was 2,555.

Incorporated before 1810, by named for Thomas Jefferson.

Where the name comes from

Named after Thomas Jefferson; it is one of twenty-four Jefferson Townships in Ohio.

Before the town

No Native site or event specific to Jefferson Township was found in the sources consulted.

Timeline

1. 1808 — Settlement of the present Jefferson Township begins on Long Run in the southeast corner, with James 'Painter' Wilson, Joshua Tritt, J. H. Munn and others among the earliest settlers.
2. 1826-12-05 — The township's boundary is first altered when the east half of the southeast quarter of Section 25 is taken from Jefferson and attached to Madison.
3. 1833 — The township supports two water-powered gristmills, a sawmill, a horse-powered mill and distillery, a tavern and a tanyard.
4. 1851 — The township has eight school districts; the county history notes that few townships had a better school system.
5. 1859 — Blue Run Methodist Episcopal Church is organized and builds a church; Rev. Harrison Willis is its first pastor.
6. 1860 — Valley Township is divided from Jefferson, which had included it; the eastern part keeps the name Jefferson.
7. 1865 — Fallen Timber Christian Church is organized with Rev. Asa Eblin as its first pastor; it has nearly 100 members by 1903.
8. 1876 — Flat Woods Methodist Protestant Church is organized with Rev. Perry Orr as first pastor.
9. 1887 — A post office opens at Crone under first postmaster Henry C. Crone; it runs until 1906, at a site no longer identifiable.
10. 1890 — Irish immigrants found the hamlet of Diffen, also known as Fallen Timber; its post office runs until 1904.
11. 1896 — Lorenzo Dow McKinney, 80 on June 17, has his own funeral sermon preached before 6,000 to 8,000 people in the grove at Fallen Timber, on John Diffen's farm six miles east of Lucasville, the Rev. Forest E. Evans taking his text from 2 Timothy 4:6.
12. 1972 — The Southern Ohio Correctional Facility is built near Lucasville, its eastern section falling within Jefferson Township.

Stories

A funeral without a corpse at Fallen Timber

Lorenzo Dow McKinney, known as Uncle Dow, had been planning for twenty-five years to have his funeral sermon preached if he lived to be eighty. On June 17, 1896, his eightieth birthday, the services he had directed were held in the grove at Fallen Timber, on John Diffen's farm six miles east of Lucasville. He announced the plan six weeks earlier, and it was printed in the big daily papers and even the London Times. The county history counts 6,000 to 8,000 people and names reporters from the Blade and the Times. The Rev. Forest E. Evans of Pride, in Ross County, preached from 2 Timothy 4:6, 'The time of my departure is at hand,' while the guest of honor sat on a round platform among a dozen reporters and now and then talked to people in the crowd. When the service ended, everyone present filed past to shake his hand, which took an hour, and the crowd picnicked and attended afternoon and evening services. McKinney, a widower, had said he would marry again if he survived, and received more than a hundred offers by mail, some with photographs, at his post office, Scioto. He then took a long trip west and was received like a celebrity; at 86 he lived with a granddaughter in New Boston.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · ohioghosttowns.wordpress.com · en.wikipedia.org · archive.org

Mostly private wells The water here

• Northwest Regional Water District51% of residentsTeays Valley Aquifer (wells near SR 348)
• Scioto Co. Regional Water District #131% of residentsTeays Valley Aquifer (wells near SR 348)
• Scioto Water Inc.-rose Hill15% of residentsPurchased: Scioto Co. Regional Water Dist. #1 (Teays Valley Aquifer)
• Scioto Water, Inc.-davis Camp2% of residentsTeays Valley Aquifer (wells near SR 348)
• Portsmouth City0% of residentsOhio River

Fire and EMS stations (1)

Public schools (2)

Spills reported since 2021 (3)

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