OHHAMILT-L Archives

From: "Linda Boorom" <>
Subject: [OHHAMILT] Columbia Twp.
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2000 17:59:25 -0500

COLUMBIA TWP. HAMILTON CO., OH.
from "History of Hamilton County Ohio" compiled by Henry A. Ford, A. M. and Mrs.
Kate B. Ford, L. A. Williams & Co., Publishers, 1881

ORGANIZATION pg. 263
Columbia is the oldest born of the townships of Hamilton county. Upon its soil,
as
originally constituted, was planted the first colony in the Miami Purchase - the
first white
settlement, indeed, anywhere in the Ohio valley between Limestone or Maysville
and the
falls of the Ohio, otherwise the mouth of Beargrass creek, or Louisville. From
this
lodgment of Major Stites and his people near the mouth of the Little Miami, and
his
designation of the cluster of cabins by the patriotic title then (1788) much
more in vogue
than now, the subsequent township of course derived its name. The history of
that
settlement, and to some extent of the gallant men who founded it, will be told
very fully in
the chapter devoted to Spencer township, with which Columbia, as a country
village, was
last associated, and to whose history its own seems properly to belong.
Columbia township was erected by the court of general quarter sessions of the
peace, in 1791; at the same time Cincinnati and Miami townships were formed; but
seems
to claim priority by virtue of its cattle brand, which was fixed to be the
letter A, the others
taking respectively the letters B and C. The boundaries of this town were then
assigned as
follows:
"Beginning at the foot of the second meridian east of Cincinnati, on the Ohio
bank;
thence north to the third entire (or military) range; thence east to the Little
Miami; thence
down the Miami to Ohio river; thence down the Ohio to place of beginning."
This was a vast township, larger than some counties are now. Cincinnati and
Miami townships, with it, included the whole of Hamilton county on the Purchase,
south
of the military range/ Beyond their north line, in the Miami country, there was
probably at
this time not a single white settler, and the extensive boundaries of the
township were
supposed to be sufficient to include all probable settlement in the east side of
the purchase
for years to come. It was not many years, however, before the call was made for
the
erection of townships in the further tracts of the Purchase now covered by
Butler and
Montgomery counties, as settlement rapidly progressed in them.
Upon the reconstruction of the Hamilton county townships in 1803, after the
erection of Butler county by the first State legislature, the boundaries of
Columbia were
thus changed:
"Commencing at the southeast corner of Cincinnati township, thence north to the
northwest corner of section thirty-six in fractional range two, township four;
thence east
to the Little Miami; thence south to the Ohio; thence westward to the place of
beginning."
This arrangement gave the township just the entirety of its present territory,
with
the whole of the later Spencer township, including so much of the city as is now
east of
"the second meridian east" of the old city of Cincinnati. The voters were at
this time
required to meet at the house of Samuel Muchmore, upon the present site of
Madisonville,
and elect three justices of the peace.
The first officers of the township, under appointment of the quarter sessions
court
in 1791, were as follows:
Ephraim Kibby, clerk; John Gerrard, John Morris, constables; Luke Foster,
overseer of roads; James Matthews, overseer of the poor.

GEOGRAPHY pg. 263:
When Spencer township was formed Columbia was cut down to its present limits,
and lost the famous old village from which it took its noble and high-sounding
name. The
township is now bounded on the west by the "second meridian line' aforesaid, to
a point
about a mile and a quarter north of the Ohio, separating it from Mill Creek
township; on
the north by the old line of 1803, from the northwest corner of section
thirty-six in the
fractional range two, township four, to the Little Miami, dividing it from
sycamore and
Symmes townships; on the south by that river, Spencer township, and a part of
Cincinnati,
and on the east by the same stream, which separates it from Anderson township
and short
front of Clermont county.............

PLACES MENTIONED

CAMDEN CITY pg. 270:
This village is on the Little Miami railroad and Cincinnati and Wooster
turnpike,
on the west side of section twenty-three, a mile and a half from the north line
of the
township. It was laid out in the year 1857 by William Winters.

GRAVELOTTE pg. 270:
This station on the Little Miami railroad, less that a mile southwest of
Camden,
was platted in 1873 by Mr. Thomas R. Riggs, upon whose extensive property on
section
twenty-eight it is situated.

INDIAN HILL pg. 271:
This famous locality, which is not a village, although covered with a quite
numerous population, is an eminence or ridge one to three miles northeast of
Madisonville, and between Camden City and Maderia Station, on the Marietta &
Cincinnati railroad, which passes to the west of it. Many fine views are
commanded from
points upon this hill, and some beautiful residences are built upon it. Here, it
is said, the
celebrated Ives Seedling grape took its origin. An extensive experiment was made
of it
upon Indian Hill by Colonel Waring in 1864, by which a profit of two thousand
dollars per
acre was realized. The tables were turned the next year, however, when there was
almost
a total failure of the grape crop throughout the Miami country.
The name of this highland was derived from the simple circumstance of the
burial
of an Indian upon it, as is more fully related further on in these pages.

MADERIA pg. 2712/4/00
This is the last station on the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, before it
leaves the
township in its course northeastward. The village is situated a little south of
the Sycamore
township line, on the dividing line of sections six and twelve, just halfway
across the
township from east to west. It was laid out in 1871 by Messrs. J. L. Hosbrook
and J. D.
Moore. They immediately began building and improving. a post office and railway
station
had previously existed here, taking their name from John Madeira, treasurer of
the
Marietta & Cincinnati railroad, who owned a large tract of land in the
neighborhood...

MADISONVILLE pg. 273:
Madisonville, or rather Madison, as it was originally called, was laid out upon
the
north part of school section No. 16, in fractional range two, township four, as
soon as the
lands, under the old system of leases, were made available. A considerable
settlement had
already gathered upon and about the spot; and when, January 27, 1809, the
legislature
passed an act providing for the disposition of the school sections, the people
of this
locality lost little time in proceeding to act thereon. The record of the survey
of the town
is dated march 30, 1809. John Jones, esq. William Armstrong, and Felix
Christman, were
chosen trustees for the purpose of platting the village and disposing of the
lots; and Moses
Morrison was their clerk. Joseph Reeder, Joseph Clark, and Ezekiel Lamard, were
appointed to fix the valuation of the ground. William Darling was surveyor;
Jeremiah
Brand and Joseph Ward senior chain carriers; Nathaniel Ross senior marker.
The plat of Madisonville was not recorded until May 27, 1829. The village was
incorporated under the old law, about ten years afterwards - March 16, 1839; and
under
the present State constitution, a certificate of incorporation was filed with
the secretary of
State, February 11, 1876.....

MONTAUK pg. 274:
This village is eligibly situated at the bridge connecting the station on the
Little
Miami railroad nearest to Milford, Clermont county, with Milford. It is in the
northeast
corner of fractional section twenty-three, on the Little Miami river and
railroad, and within
half a mile of Camden City. It was laid out in 1840, while the railroad was in
progress, by
Messrs. Joseph Longworth, Larz Anderson, R. M. Shoemaker, and L. E. Brewster.

MOUNT LOOKOUT pg.. 274:
This is a pleasant suburban locality, just at the northwest corner of the city,
where
the Observatory of the University of Cincinnati is situated, on the road from
Walnut Hills,
Woodburn, and O'Bryanville to the Red Bank Station. The Mt. Lookout building
association, for the improvement and development of this suburb, was
incorporated June
10, 1871. It has a fine pleasurepark, owned by a private company; and a new
Methodist
Episcopal church was put up in the vicinity, in the fall and early winter of
1880, and
dedicated December 5th of that year, with services by Bishops Wiley and Warren.

NORWOOD pg. 274:
This beautiful and noted suburb was formerly known in part as Sharpsburgh. it
is
on the Montgomery turnpike and the Cincinnati & Marietta railroad, in the
northwest part
of section thirty-four, near the west line of the township. some of the ground
near, as that
upon which the celebrated mound is situated (Norwood Heights), is among the most
elevated in the county. It was projected in 1870 by some well-known residents
and
Cincinnatians -Colonel P. P. Lane, Judge James McCullough, S. H. Parvin, the
well-know
advertising agent, Samuel Bolles, and Moses Buxton. Eight-two acres were laid
off in
spacious and elegant building tracts of one to six acres; and the quarter of an
acre
containing the mound was sacredly reserved, after the praiseworthy precedent set
to all
who appreciate the value of all such relics of antiquity, by the colonists of
Marietta.....

OAKLEY pg. 274:
This place, a mile and a half south - southwest of Norwood, and something less
from the northwest corner of Cincinnati, being just a mile from the Observatory,
began to
be considered a suburb of considerable importance by 1867, soon after the
completion of
the Marietta & Cincinnati railroad. It was not regularly laid out, however,
until 1870,
when Mr. Theodore Drake had the place surveyed and platted. It is beautifully
situated
upon the railroad named, upon the margin of the great interior valley mentioned
in our
description of the township, and is also conveniently reached by the Madison
pike, being
only five miles from the county court house, in the city. Its site was formerly
owned by
Anthony Brown, who sold it to Paul Shuster. among its flourishing institutions
have been
the Literary and Musical society, and the Oakley Coterie. By the census of 1880
the
village had two hundred inhabitants.

PLAINVILLE is a popular country village and suburb of Cincinnati, on fractional
section
three, almost due north of Newton, in Anderson township, with which it is
connected by a
substantial wagon and foot bridge, an excellent road, and a plank sidewalk about
a mile
long. It is also on the Little Miami river, the railroad along the same, and
Cincinnati and
Wooster turnpike. It was laid out in 1853, by Edward P. Cranch, Nelson cross,
and A. R.
Spofford. by the tenth census it had two hundred people.

PLEASANT RIDGE pg. 274:
This is the northernmost village in the township, except Maderia station, from
which it is distant, straight across the country, about four miles. It is on the
south side of
section thirty, a mile and a half from the northern township line and a mile and
a half from
the western. The Montgomery pike intersects it about two miles northeast of
Norwood
and five miles from Montgomery; and it is also intersected by the old Columbia
and
Reading road, thus making an important "cross-roads of the village. it became a
post
office as early as 1832. The characteristics of the place, physical and other,
are well
indicated by its name.
This is an ancient neighborhood for white settlement. In 1791 or '92 one of the
Columbia pioneers named Ferris, father of A. W. Ferris, of Montgomery station,
cut his
way through the woods from Columbia to this vicinity, where he encamped in the
primeval
forest until he could build a cabin and block-house. He paid tow dollars an acre
for the
land he bought here. among other early settlers was James C. Wood, of New
Jersey, who
planted his stakes at the homestead afterward occupied by his son. John C., W.
R., and W.
W. Wood, after the death of James C. wood, made a subdivision of the estate....

SHARPSBURGH was formerly the name of a pretty large locality, now covered in
part by
the village of Norwood. a town site, bearing the name, was laid out in 1868, on
the
Cincinnati and Marietta railroad, by J. W. Baker.

WEST MILFORD is as its name implies, a part of Milford, but is in Hamilton
county.

This thread:

• [OHHAMILT] Columbia Twp. by "Linda Boorom" <>