Miller Township, Knox County

How Miller Township, Knox County began

Miller Township lies in the southern part of Knox County. It began as 'Sychamore,' set off from Morgan Township on September 4, 1813; at the first township election on September 15, residents unhappy with that name agreed to sell the naming rights at public auction at the October election: James Miller, a settler from Vermont, won by pledging five and a half gallons of whiskey, worth about fifteen cents a gallon, to be used at future elections. John Vance Jr., from Rockingham County, Virginia, built the township's first log house in 1808, and his daughter Hannah, born there in 1809, is recorded as the first white child born in the township; the log house still stood, used as a granary, when the 1881 county history was compiled. The village of Brandon grew up at the crossing of the Sycamore and Granville roads and nearly became 'New Windsor' before its two founders, Mott and Lockwood, feuded and abandoned a formal plat altogether. The township has no incorporated village of its own; Brandon hosts the township hall, and the Enoch Thompson House south of Mount Vernon on State Route 661 is the township's one National Register listing. Most of Miller Township's ZIP code (43050) covers Mount Vernon, the county seat, which lies just to the north in a separate township, so the township's public life is closely tied to Mount Vernon's institutions, including its municipal water and wastewater system.

Settled 1808 (John Vance Jr., first log house), incorporated 1813-09-04 (set off from Morgan Township as 'Sychamore'); renamed Miller at the October 1813 election, by Settlers chiefly from Vermont and Rhode Island; named for pioneer settler James Miller, who won the naming right at a whiskey auction.

Where the name comes from

The township was first organized under the name 'Sychamore' in September 1813. Dissatisfied residents agreed at their first election, on September 15, 1813, to auction off at the October election the right to name the township, to the person who donated the most whiskey for use at future elections; James Miller, a Vermont settler, won with a pledge of five and a half gallons, worth about fifteen cents a gallon. It is the only township named Miller in the state of Ohio.

Before the town

The 1881 county history records that Native people were 'quite numerous' when John Vance Jr. built the township's first cabin in 1808, and that they were frequent visitors, trading venison and other game for corn; one man in particular, unnamed in the record, became protective of the Vance family and on several occasions, when he learned the husband would be away overnight, slept across the cabin's doorway to guard Mrs. Vance and her infant daughter, telling her 'Pale-face shan't be hurt.' No source names a specific nation for this individual or ties a village, mound, or other site to Miller Township itself. At the county level, Knox County was occupied by Wyandot, Shawnee, and Delaware (Lenape) peoples before European settlement, following earlier Adena mound-builder presence; the McLaughlin Mound, containing an Adena burial and a later historic-era Native burial believed to be Chief Sac-a-manc, stands in Mound View Cemetery near Mount Vernon, just north of Miller Township.

Nations recorded here: Wyandot, Shawnee, Lenape (Delaware), Adena culture.

• McLaughlin Mound (mound) — Mound View Cemetery, near Mount Vernon (just outside Miller Township), Adena, with a later historic-era secondary burial (en.wikipedia.org)

Timeline

1. 1808 — John Vance Jr., from Rockingham County, Virginia, builds the township's first log house; Native people are described as 'quite numerous' and frequently trade venison for corn with the family.
2. 1809 — Hannah Vance, daughter of John Vance Jr., is born in the log house June 10, believed to be the first white child born in the township.
3. 1813 — The area is set off from Morgan Township as 'Sychamore' on September 4 and holds its first election on September 15; at the October 10 election, residents auction off the right to name the township for whiskey, and James Miller wins with a pledge of five and a half gallons.
4. 1814 — James Miller, Thomas Turner, and Otis Warren immigrate from Vermont; Miller buys 600 acres in the township's northwest corner.
5. 1825 — A severe May tornado crosses the township's southeast corner; three sons of John Vance are caught in the open and take shelter by a black walnut log, which the wind rolls over them, killing two and breaking the third boy's leg.
6. 1839 — The village that becomes Brandon is nearly platted and named 'New Windsor' by H. C. Lockwood, but a dispute with co-owner John Mott over the name leads them to abandon formal platting; the settlement becomes known as Brandon instead.
7. 1854 — A severe windstorm on January 20 tears across the township, destroying houses, barns, the Union church, and a brick schoolhouse in Brandon, breaking two people's arms but killing no one.
8. 1880 — The Enoch Thompson House is built south of Mount Vernon on what is now State Route 661 in Miller Township; it is added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1980.
9. 2020 — City of Mount Vernon council passes legislation establishing a Stormwater Utility to fund maintenance of public drainage systems serving the city and surrounding area, including parts of Miller Township along its edge.
10. 2023 — Mount Vernon's utilities commission approves a water rate increase (about 5%) effective March 1, 2023, the city's first since 2017.

Stories

A guard at the door

When John Vance Jr. built the township's first cabin in 1808, he often worked away from home and left his wife and infant daughter alone overnight, with only a blanket hung for a door. Native people were frequent visitors, trading venison and other game for corn, and one man in particular grew protective of the family. On evenings when he learned the husband would not return, he would ask Mrs. Vance directly whether 'Pale-face' would be home that night; rather than risk a lie, she told him the truth, and he replied, 'Pale-face shan't be hurt; pale-face need not be afraid,' then lay down across the cabin doorway and kept watch until morning. He did this on several occasions, according to the family's own account recorded seventy years later.

New Windsor that never was

By the early 1840s, John Mott and H. C. Lockwood jointly owned the land at the crossing of the Sycamore and Granville roads, long known simply as Four Corners, and agreed to have it surveyed into a proper town. While the surveyor was in Mount Vernon checking property records, he got drunk and disappeared for several days -- and in his absence, Mott and Lockwood fell into a bitter dispute over what to name the place, Lockwood insisting on 'New Windsor' and Mott holding out for 'Brandon.' By the time the surveyor sobered up and returned, the two men had abandoned the whole project of formally platting a town. The settlement was never laid out into regular lots -- each buyer simply purchased land to suit himself -- but it kept the name Brandon from that dispute onward.

Local history sources: en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · en.wikipedia.org · knoxpages.com · mountvernonohio.org · knoxpages.com · archive.org

Every historic place in Knox County on the full map

Wells drawing groundwater from the buried-valley aquifer along the Kokosing River near Mount Vernon The water here

• Mount Vernon City99% of residentsBuried Valley Aquifer (Kokosing River valley wells)
• Colonial Terrace Mhc Llc0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Westgate Mobile Home Community0% of residentsBuried Valley Aquifer (Kokosing River valley wells)
• Knox County Water and Wastewater0% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Grandview MHP A0% of residentsGroundwater wells (1 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

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, 2023 to 2024, released 2026-09-15

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