Prairie Township, Holmes County

How Prairie Township, Holmes County began

Prairie Township, in western Holmes County, holds the site of the very first cabin built anywhere in what became Holmes County: in July 1809, Jonathan Grant of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and his young son walked in through the woods and built a cabin on Salt Creek, about a mile east of the Killbuck, months before organized settlement of the surrounding country began. Holmesville is in central Prairie Township. The township's population grew from 1,347 in 1840 to 3,133 by 2010 before a slight decline to 3,096 in 2020.

Settled July 1809 (Jonathan Grant's cabin on Salt Creek, the first in what became Holmes County); Jonathan Butler's family came to the Big Spring in the Killbuck valley the same month, incorporated December 1825 (county commissioners organized Holmes County into 14 townships; Prairie is No. 12), by Jonathan Grant and Jonathan Butler.

Where the name comes from

Neither Wikipedia nor the early county accounts say why the township was called Prairie. It is one of two Prairie Townships in Ohio (the other is in Franklin County).

Before the town

Prairie Township has a well-documented Native history. A 1764 map of Indian towns on the Killbuck, as described in the early county history, shows three: White Woman's Town at the junction with the Walhonding, Killbuck's Town near the northern boundary of what became Holmes County, and Beaver Hat's town (also called Apple Orchard) at Wooster; the county history says the river and its valley were named for Gelelemend (Captain Killbuck), 'noted and humane' Delaware chief, and his father. Jonathan Butler's neighbor Jesse Morgan settled in 1809-10 'three miles up the valley at the old Killbuck's town.' Grant's 1809 cabin was found by a passing Indian, who directed the boy to Butler's camp at the Big Spring. Col. William Crawford's 1782 expedition against the Sandusky towns crossed Holmes County on May 30-31, 1782: down Martin's Creek, through the Dawson gap, over the flats at Holmesville, across Salt Creek on the Croco farm, and encamped at the Big Spring on the Jones farm, where a sick man died and was buried. In 1812 the settlers built a blockhouse on John L. Dawson's land half a mile east of Holmesville, where forty-five people took refuge, though no raid came. The treaty-era 'Indian boundary line' (set at Fort McIntosh in 1785) crossed the county diagonally, and Prairie Township lies north of it, in the 'new purchase': a treaty at Fort Industry in 1805 extinguished the Indian title to land west of the Connecticut Western Reserve and north of the line, Congress ordered the survey in 1806, surveying began in 1807, and the first entry north of the line was John Beaver's 320 acres in 1808 (Grant's 1809 cabin stood on the 'Beaver land'). Settlers north of the line paid their taxes at Wooster and those south at New Philadelphia or Coshocton.

Nations recorded here: Lenape (Delaware).

• Killbuck's Town (Gelelemend's Delaware town) (village) — on the Killbuck near the northern boundary of Holmes County; Jesse Morgan settled 'three miles up the valley' from the Big Spring at the old town, 1760s-1780s; mapped in 1764 (archive.org)
• Big Spring on the Killbuck (Butler's camp; Crawford's army camped here in 1782) (camp) — Killbuck valley north of Holmesville, on the Jones farm, 1782 and 1809-10 (archive.org)
• Blockhouse on the Dawson land (other) — half a mile east of Holmesville, at the gap that Crawford's army passed through, 1812 (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1782 — On May 30-31 Col. William Crawford's volunteers cross the township on their way toward the Sandusky towns, camp at the Big Spring on the Killbuck, and bury a sick man there under a tree marked with his initials.
2. 1805 — A treaty at Fort Industry extinguishes the Indian title to the lands west of the Western Reserve and north of the Indian boundary line, the 'new purchase' that includes Prairie Township; surveying begins in 1807 and John Beaver makes the first entry north of the line, 320 acres, in 1808.
3. 1809 — In July Jonathan Grant of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and his son build the first cabin in what becomes Holmes County, on Salt Creek about a mile east of the Killbuck; Grant falls ill and survives 28 days on roots until a passing Indian directs the boy to settlers at the Big Spring.
4. 1810 — On February 4 Hannah, daughter of Jonathan Butler, is born at the Big Spring, the first white birth in the county; in April Edwin Martin, John L. Dawson and David and Robert Knox settle on Martin's Creek a mile south of Grant's cabin, and John Nevil raises the county's first hewed-log house with shingle roof that fall.
5. 1811 — In April the first election in the county is held at Jonathan Butler's, where David H. Knox is chosen justice of the peace; the Guinns and Buckmasters settle in Prairie and Salt Creek townships.
6. 1812 — The settlers build a blockhouse on John L. Dawson's land half a mile east of Holmesville and forty-five people shelter in it; William Kerr, the first blacksmith near Holmesville, settles on the farm later called Henry Croco's; Joseph Edgar teaches the county's first school in Josiah Bell's house on the future Holmesville site.
7. 1814 — Edward Martin builds the first sawmill in the county on Martin's Creek.
8. 1815 — John Guinn builds the county's first gristmill on Salt Creek; in the fall John Painter builds the Poulson bridge over the Killbuck opposite Holmesville, the first bridge in the county.
9. 1818 — Jonathan Butler builds the first mill on the Killbuck itself.
10. 1825 — In December the county commissioners lay out Holmes County into townships; Prairie is No. 12 and its boundaries remain unchanged.
11. 1833 — A post office named Prairie opens in the township; Holmesville's post office follows in 1837.
12. 1840 — Township population recorded at 1,347.
13. 1873 — The Italianate Croco House is built near Holmesville; the Keifer Croco farm is later remembered as an Underground Railroad stop and the house is listed on the National Register in 1985.
14. 1880 — Township population recorded at 1,462.
15. 2020 — Township population recorded at 3,096, down from 3,133 in 2010.

Stories

The first cabin in Holmes County

In July 1809, Jonathan Grant of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, walked into the unbroken woods that would become Holmes County with his young son, carrying a gun, ammunition and tools, and built a cabin on Salt Creek about a mile east of the Killbuck. They cleared some ground and sowed turnips. Grant fell gravely ill and lay twenty-eight days on a bed of bark and leaves, reduced to a skeleton and living mostly on roots, with only the boy to tend him. An Indian passing through found the cabin, asked for something to eat, was told there was nothing, and said that 'paleface' was camped down at the big spring. The boy went and came back with Jonathan Butler and some provisions: Butler, from Virginia, had reached the valley with his family the day before. With Butler's help Grant recovered, helped raise Butler's cabin, and later served the surveyors of the 'new purchase' as their guide. His turnip patch produced a large crop that fed Butler's family through the winter, though some turnips were taken from the hole by Indians or by white men looking for land. The following April, Edwin Martin, John L. Dawson and the Knox brothers settled a mile south on Martin's Creek.

Crawford's army at the Big Spring

On May 25, 1782, Col. William Crawford led over 400 mounted volunteers from the Mingo Bottom on the Ohio River to punish the Indians on the Sandusky. They crossed the Tuscarawas near the mouth of Sugar Creek and entered what is now Holmes County in Paint Township, then went down Martin's Creek to the gap on the Dawson farm, over the flats at Holmesville, across Salt Creek on the Croco farm and on to the Killbuck at the Big Spring, where they camped. One of the men died in the night and was buried early next morning, May 31, with his initials cut on a tree. The army then went up the valley, crossed the Killbuck at the mouth of Lee Hershey's run, and turned west by the north side of Odell's Lake. Among the volunteers was Nicholas Dawson of Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, the grandfather of the man who farmed the gap in the county historian's day.

The Croco farms and the Underground Railroad

The Croco farm near Holmesville appears at the start and the end of Prairie Township's story. Crawford's army crossed Salt Creek on it in 1782, and in 1812 William Kerr, the first blacksmith near Holmesville, settled on the farm later held by Henry Croco. In 1873 the Italianate Croco House was built there. Wikipedia says the Keifer Croco farm was a stop on the Underground Railroad, and the neighboring John Croco farm played a similar role: the house has an attic hiding place reached through a trap door in the ceiling, and the John Croco barn, about half a mile away, had a cellar where runaways could shelter. It was listed on the National Register on June 20, 1985, and was restored by new owners around 2001.

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

Every historic place in Holmes County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Shreve Village46% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Millersburg Village34% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Berlin Water Company8% of residentsGroundwater wells (4 wells)
• Fredericksburg Village7% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Bloomfield Water Company5% of residentsGroundwater wells (5 wells)
• Walnut Creek Water Co.1% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Nashville Village0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Public schools (1)

Private schools (10)

Bridges rated poor (1)

Police stations (1)

Facilities reporting toxic releases (2)

Spills reported since 2021 (2)

Money issues on the ballot since 2016: 5 of 6 passed; of those asking for new or higher taxes, 0 of 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 2026-02-03

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