Liberty Township, Darke County

How Liberty Township, Darke County began

Liberty Township, in southwestern Darke County, was organized in December 1820 as German Township from the south of Washington and the north tier of Harrison, and was renamed Liberty in the 1910s. Both the 1880 and 1914 county histories describe it as a favorite resort of Native people: two large village sites near springs on sections 3 and 10, many camps, and about a thousand artifacts collected by one resident between 1876 and 1880. James Cloyd was probably the first settler, about 1814; Palestine was laid out in 1833 by Samuel Loring. In 1822 James Clemens brought his family from Rockingham County, Virginia, founding the African American settlement that grew into Tampico, platted in 1850; the James and Sophia Clemens Farmstead is on the National Register.

Settled 1814 (James Cloyd), incorporated 1820 (as German Township); renamed Liberty Township in the 1910s, by split from Harrison and Washington townships.

Where the name comes from

Organized in December 1820 as German Township, apparently for the Pennsylvania German and German-descended families among its early settlers (the 1880 history says the Wagners, Ketrings and Teafords were of German descent). Wikipedia says it was renamed Liberty Township in the 1910s; the sources checked give no reason.

Before the town

The 1880 county history says that 'from indications' German Township 'was a favorite resort for the aboriginal occupants': several Indian camps were found when the whites arrived but disappeared within a few years, a spring on Elias Ross's land drew both Indians and game, and there were 'at least two Indian villages of considerable size', one on section 10 and one on section 3, both near fine springs. Indian implements were strewn over the surface, and C. M. Young, living on section 3, collected about 1,000 specimens between 1876 and 1880, most from the township; skeletons believed to be Indian were taken from gravel banks, including one skull of remarkable size. The 1914 history repeats that the West Branch prairie was a favorite dwelling place where Indians built several villages, also on upper Crout Creek, and left 'numerous distinct marks'. In the winter of 1816-17 the young Wagner brothers, wintering stock on the prairie, had a family or two of Indians as nearest neighbours. No nation is named. The land was ceded by the Treaty of Greenville (1795).

• Indian village near a spring, section 10 (village) — section 10, Liberty (German) Township, undated; before white settlement (archive.org)
• Indian village near a spring, section 3 (village) — section 3, Liberty (German) Township, undated; before white settlement (archive.org)
• West Branch prairie and upper Crout Creek village sites (camp) — West Branch prairie and upper Crout Creek, Liberty (German) Township, undated (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1814 — James Cloyd becomes the first settler within the township's bounds.
2. 1816 — Daniel and William Wagner winter stock on the West Branch prairie in a hut, with a family or two of Indians as their nearest neighbours.
3. 1817 — Martin Ketring, George Teaford, Henry Ross and George Stingley arrive in the fall, the real beginning of settlement; Henry Ross plants the township's first orchard.
4. 1820 — German Township (later Liberty Township) is organized from parts of Harrison and Washington townships; the first school opens near Palestine that same year.
5. 1822 — Freeborn African American families from Rockingham County, Virginia, evicted from their home county, found the settlement later platted as Tampico.
6. 1823 — Reuben Bass and his wife arrive from Guilford County, North Carolina, joining James Clemens's settlement and entering 200 acres.
7. 1826 — The township's first church, a Lutheran congregation, is built.
8. 1827-06 — German Township is reduced to its present size, all of township 11 north, range 1 east.
9. 1833 — Samuel Loring lays out Palestine.
10. 1850 — Tampico is formally platted; a post office of the same name opens, operating until 1876.
11. 1868 — German Baptists erect a frame meeting house half a mile south of Palestine, and Universalists organize under Rev. Elihu Moore.
12. 1870 — The township counts 515 school-age youth, 364 white and 151 colored, with three of eleven schools in the colored settlement.
13. 1910s — German Township is renamed Liberty Township.
14. 1910 — The township has 1,628 inhabitants, 166 fewer than in 1890; Palestine has 216.
15. 2001-03-15 — The James and Sophia Clemens Farmstead, northwest of Palestine, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
16. 2020 — Liberty Township has 986 residents.

Stories

Tampico: a town built by families who were forced out of Virginia

In 1822, freeborn African American families evicted from Rockingham County, Virginia made their way to this corner of Ohio and settled land that would not be formally platted as the town of Tampico until 1850. For twenty-six years, from 1850 to 1876, Tampico had its own post office, and the community was, by the records that survive, built up exclusively by African Americans -- farmers, craftsmen, and their families making a home in a state that, while free, was itself often hostile to Black settlement in this period. Tampico sat within the same stretch of southwestern Darke and neighboring Ohio counties as Longtown, a larger and better-documented mixed-ancestry Black settlement whose Union Literary Institute gave African American children a rare vocational education in the mid-1800s; together they represent one of Ohio's more significant clusters of free Black rural communities before the Civil War.

Two Indian villages and a thousand arrowheads

The pioneers of what was then German Township found signs of Native occupation everywhere. The 1880 county historian wrote that the West Branch prairie had been a favorite resort, that settlers found several Indian camps that vanished within a few years, and that old settlers said a spring on Elias Ross's land was prized by Indians and wild animals alike for the sweetness of its water. He noted at least two considerable village sites, on sections 10 and 3, both beside good springs, with implements strewn over the ground. C. M. Young, who lived on section 3, spent the years 1876 to 1880 gathering about a thousand specimens, most from the township and some rare. Gravel pits turned up skeletons thought to be Indian, one with a skull of remarkable size. The 1914 history adds that Indians built villages on upper Crout Creek too, and that Daniel and William Wagner spent the winter of 1816 on the prairie with an Indian family or two for neighbours, shy and distrustful of each other.

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

Every historic place in Darke County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Greenville City75% of residentsGreenville Creek (primary, ~78%) blended with 8 wells
• New Madison Village24% of residentsGroundwater wells (5 wells)
• Sherwood Forest MHP1% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)
• Northtowne Communities Llc0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

Money issues on the ballot since 2022: 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.
• Financial Audit, 2024 to 2025, released 2026-06-11
• Agreed Upon Procedures, 2022 to 2023, released 2024-08-20

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