Turtle Creek Township, Shelby County

How Turtle Creek Township, Shelby County began

Turtle Creek Township, in the northwest of Shelby County, takes its name from Turtle Creek, which drains the part of the township south of the Greenville Treaty Line; its oldest surviving township records date from June 1820, and Wikipedia gives 1825 for its organization. Hardin, platted October 5, 1816 and named for Colonel John Hardin, was the first platted village in what became Shelby County and served briefly as county seat before the seat moved to Sidney in 1820. Five settlers were on the ground by 1812, according to the county history, and the township had five churches by 1883. The unincorporated communities of Hardin, St. Patrick and Uno lie in its northwest. The Turtle Creek Culvert and Embankment, despite sharing the township's name, is a Miami and Erie Canal structure located across the line in Washington Township.

Settled by 1812 (John Kennard, William Carddingley, Cephas Carey, Thomas McClish, William Bush), platted 1816 (Hardin, platted October 5), incorporated records begin June 1820; Wikipedia gives 1825.

Where the name comes from

The township was named after Turtle Creek, the stream that runs through it.

Before the town

The Greenville Treaty Line (1795) runs through Turtle Creek Township: the 1883 county history says the part of the township south of the treaty line, twenty-four full and four fractional sections, is drained by Turtle Creek, while the part north of the line, four full and four fractional sections, is drained by White Feather Creek. The first village, Hardin, was named for Colonel John Hardin. The 1913 county history's chapter on the township describes Indian relics found there, including bones, skulls and burial vessels, mostly on gravelly elevations it judged to have been Indian burying grounds of unknown age; no Native village or earthwork inside the township is recorded.

Nations recorded here: Shawnee.

• Greenville Treaty Line (treaty) — crosses Turtle Creek Township; White Feather Creek drains the part north of the line, 1795 (archive.org)

Timeline

1. 1792 — Colonel John Hardin, for whom the township's first village is later named, is killed by Shawnee warriors in what becomes Shelby County.
2. 1812 — By or before this year five settlers are in the township: John Kennard from Kentucky on the south half of section 31, William Carddingley, Cephas Carey and Thomas McClish and William Bush near the site of Hardin; the 1883 county historian calls Turtle Creek one of the first and oldest settlements in the county.
3. 1815 — Richard M. Cannon moves from the site of Sidney to a place about a mile east of Hardin, and Richard and John Lenox and Joseph Steinberger settle near the Hardin site.
4. 1816 — Hardin is platted on October 5, becoming the first village in present-day Shelby County.
5. 1816 — William Davis comes from Kentucky and the Stephens, White and Grooms families settle; the Hardin and Wapakoneta road is laid out about this year, partly cut out by Davis a few years later, and the road from Hardin to Sidney about 1817.
6. 1818 — On June 3 Cephas Carey, Esq., marries Richard M. Cannon and Miss Mary Brodrick, the first marriage in the township; only two new families, James Thatcher and Joseph Lyons, come this year.
7. 1819 — Shelby County is organized, and Hardin becomes the first seat of justice.
8. 1820 — The Shelby County seat is moved from Hardin to Sidney.
9. 1820 — The oldest township records in the clerk's keeping begin in June with a list of taxable property returned by lister Robert Aldrich; the township treasury holds a balance of $59.76 at the first Monday of March; William Davis is appointed constable on December 26.
10. 1822 — The township is divided into four road districts on the first Monday of March; the treasurer reports a balance of $27.62 after paying small sums to men including William Mellinger, William Davis and Nathan Coleman.
11. 1825 — Turtle Creek Township is organized and named for the creek running through it.
12. 1829 — Joseph Steinberger builds the first frame house on his land near Hardin; William Davis builds the first brick house in 1831 on the west half of the northeast quarter of section 18.
13. 1883 — The township has five churches (one Presbyterian, two Methodist Episcopal, one Christian and one Roman Catholic), about twelve miles of pike including the Newburgh or Turtle Creek Valley Pike, and the Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Indianapolis railroad along its southern boundary at Hardin Station.
14. 2020 — The census counts 1,605 people in Turtle Creek Township.

Stories

Hardin: the county seat that lasted less than a year

Before Sidney existed as a town, the first seat of government for what became Shelby County sat in Turtle Creek Township. Hardin was platted October 5, 1816, in what is now the township's northwest. When Shelby County organized in 1819, Hardin briefly served as the county's first seat of justice. The arrangement did not last: within a year, in 1820, the seat moved to the newly laid-out town of Sidney, and Hardin settled into life as one of Turtle Creek Township's small unincorporated communities, alongside St. Patrick and Uno, that it remains today.

Hardin before the county seat

The 1883 county history calls Turtle Creek 'one of the first and oldest settlements within the county' and traces it to five settlers on the ground by or before 1812: John Kennard from Kentucky, William Carddingley, Cephas Carey, Thomas McClish and William Bush. More came after the War of 1812, Richard M. Cannon moving from the site of Sidney in 1815 and William Davis arriving from Kentucky in 1816. The first road was the Hardin and Wapakoneta road laid out about 1816, and the first marriage on June 3, 1818 united Richard M. Cannon and Mary Brodrick before Esq. Cephas Carey. The township kept its books on the scale of the time: the treasurer, Samuel Marshall, reported in March 1821 that the money in the treasury, mostly from fines, was a balance of $59.76 carried from the year before plus a few dollars of fines, from which small sums of two or three dollars had been paid to men such as A. Davenport and J. White, and in March 1822 reported a balance of $27.62. The township's oldest records still in the clerk's keeping begin in June 1820.

Photographs

Local history sources: ohiogenealogyexpress.com · en.wikipedia.org · familysearch.org · commons.wikimedia.org · archive.org

Every historic place in Shelby County on the full map

Mostly private wells The water here

• Sidney City82% of residentsGroundwater wells (Great Miami River valley + Washington Twp) with Tawawa Creek/Miami R. backup
• Anna Village13% of residentsGroundwater wells (3 wells)
• Mccartyville Well Association3% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Shelby County Water and Sewer2% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)
• Kettlersville Well Association0% of residentsGroundwater wells (2 wells)

Spills reported since 2021 (1)

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, 2023 to 2024, released 2026-02-24

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