Madison Township was originally a portion of Lemon. It lies on the = north=20 border of the county, and is divided from Lemon by the Miami River, = which flows=20 from north-east to south-west, and separates the two townships in such a = way=20 that the lower part of Madison is very narrow. Nearly the whole distance = north=20 of Trenton the hills border on the river; but below the bottom spreads = out, and=20 forms a wide alluvial plain. At Middletown the river divides in two = parts, the=20 old and the new, the latter increasing in volume year by year, and the = former=20 lessening. The bridge across the river here is precarious, and liable to = be=20 washed away by the flood at any time. A couple of miles west of the = river the=20 hills rise to a great height, and afford beautiful views.=20
Settlement was begun about 1802, when the lands were offered for = sale; but=20 there were a few squatters there before. The first compact settlement = was at=20 what is now known as Trenton. This is the most considerable village in = the=20 township. Other places are known here as Miltonville, Poasttown, Madison = City,=20 and Woodsdale. Astoria is a local name applied to a neighborhood in the = west=20 center, where there was formerly a post-office. Elk Creek is the = principal=20 stream beside the Miami; but all the brooks and creeks are liable to = sudden=20 overflows, and then become torrents of no mean magnitude. The = Cincinnati,=20 Hamilton and Dayton Railroad passes through the length of the township = near the=20 river bank, and is of great value to the inhabitants.=20
Samuel DICKEY, wife, and four children emigrated from Franklin = County,=20 Kentucky, and settled on Section 28, Township 2, Range 4, east, April, = 1799,=20 where Isaac DICKEY was born in the same year, being the first white = child in=20 that township. He was followed by Jesse MCCRAY in 1799, and Edward GEE = and Job=20 GEE, in the same year; Joel MARTIN, Llewellyn MARTIN, Llewellyn SIMPSON, = and=20 Bambo HARRIS, colored, in 1800; Alexander CHAMBERS and William BALDWIN, = in 1801;=20 Adam DEEM and Thomas ISRAEL, in 1803; the widow WHITE and Daniel DRAKE, = in 1804;=20 Andrew WAGNER, Henry HUFFMAN, Noah LONG, Gideon LONG, and David LONG, in = 1805.=20
The following settlers came before the war of 1812: Noah LONG, Gideon = LONG,=20 David LONG, Abraham MILLER, John SNYDER, Sen., John MILLER, Jeremiah = MILLER,=20 Abraham MARTS, Jacob FRANCIS, Jacob SNYDER, Jr., Samuel SNYDER, John = SNYDER,=20 George SNYDER, Daniel KEMP, John KEMP, Jacob KEMP, Philip KEMP, Nathan=20 DOUGHERTY, Adam DEEM, John H. DEEM, John DEEM, Sen., John SARVER, John = CHAMBERS,=20 Alexander CHAMBERS, Andrew GARISON, Jacob WIDNER, John WIDNER, Samuel = WIDNER,=20 John LINGLE, Sen., John LINGLE, Jr., Philip LEFFLER, Adam LEFFLER, = Thomas=20 LEFFLER, Leonard LINGLE, Thomas LINGLE, Michael DE BOLT, Henry WEAVER, = John=20 THOMAS, Joseph HINKLE, Elias COMPTON, Thomas ISRAEL, William WEAVER, = Noah LONG,=20 Gideon LONG, David LONG, John LUCAS, Samuel LUCAS, David BANKER, John = BANKER,=20 Soll BANKER, Jacob TEMPLE, Christopher REED, Andrew WAGGONER, Henry = HOFFMAN,=20 John FRANCIS, Christian COON, John WEBBER, Edward GEE Job GEE, Samuel = DICKEY,=20 Llewellyn MARTIN, Joel MARTIN, Daniel DRAKE, William BALDWIN, Bambo = HARRIS.=20
The first grist-mill was built on Elk Creek in the year 1800, by = Bambo HARRIS=20 (colored). It was on the south-east quarter of Section 18. Previous to = that=20 time, the pioneers of Madison Township had to go near the mouth of the = Little=20 Miami River, in Clermont County, to get their corn ground for bread.=20
The first saw-mill was built on Elk Creek in 1801, by Joel MARTIN, on = the=20 south-east quarter of Section 7. The first manufactory was built by = George=20 DICKEY, on Elk Creek, in the year 1819, where wool was carded, cloth = dressed and=20 pressed, and flax-seed oil made. The oil was shipped to New Orleans on=20 flat-boats.=20
On the north-east quarter of Section 17, belonging to the heirs of = Thomas=20 LINGLE, deceased, is a remarkable red sulphur medical spring, which is = visited=20 every few days by people from a distance, with kegs and jugs for water = for their=20 health. On the north-east quarter of Section 33 are two remarkable fresh = water=20 springs. They are about forty feet apart, one on the north side of a = hill, the=20 other on the south side of another prominence, facing each other. The = amount of=20 water from each spring would fill a three-inch tube.=20
On the north-east quarter of Section 33 is a rock which is = forty-three feet=20 one inch in circumference. About two-thirds of this rock is in the = ground, and=20 six feet above ground. On Brown's Run, in Section 34, on the land of = Lewis=20 WAGNER, is a cedar tree about four feet in diameter. The tree has been = recently=20 discovered. A part of the tree is in a hill two hundred feet above the = part in=20 the bottom of the creek.=20
Near the mouth of Elk Creek was a mill built about the year 1810, by = Mr.=20 GUNKEL. The building was made of hewed logs and had three run of buhrs. = A=20 saw-mill was attached. The next flouring-mill was built at what is now=20 Miltonville, about the year 1814, with a saw-mill also; and a third was = built by=20 a Mr. MORRISON on Section 19. The third merchant mill on Elk Creek was = built by=20 Jacob SNYDER, on the north-east quarter of Section 18, with three run of = buhrs,=20 and a saw-mill also.=20
The SNYDER mill manufactured more flour, which was shipped to New = Orleans,=20 than all the other mills on Elk Creek. These mills have gone down, = except the=20 one in Miltonville, which confines itself to grist work. The VAIL mill, = on the=20 Miami River, was for many years the prominent merchant-mill on this = portion of=20 the Miami River.=20
Trenton is situated on the corners of Sections 5, 6, 31, and 32, = about a mile=20 from the Miami, on the great highway which passes east and west, and was = formerly known as the State road. It sprung from a colony of New Jersey = people,=20 who came here about the year 1800, headed by Deacon Michael PEARCE and = Elder=20 Stephen GARD. Some of the members of this colony had come out = previously, and=20 their attachment to their native State was shown by the names they = conferred=20 upon the village which afterwards grew up there. Bloomfield was its = first title.=20 It was named after Governor BLOOMFIELD, of New Jersey, who was one of = the early=20 successors of William LIVINGSTON, and who was also a United States = Senator. Its=20 plat was dedicated about 1815, but there was a cluster of houses there=20 previously. When it reached the dignity of a post-office it was found = that there=20 was another Bloomfield in the State and the name was changed to Trenton, = also in=20 honor of New Jersey.=20
Here existed in the first year of the century a Baptist Church, = originally a=20 little west of the town, but afterwards moved in. This was the earliest = Church=20 organization in the county, and it is still in existence. Here in this = village=20 lived the Rev. Stephen GARD and Dr. Squier LITTELL, the first resident = minister=20 and doctor of the county, Trenton, indeed, is an older settlement than = any other=20 in our limits, except Hamilton, Rossville, and Middletown. The Rev. Mr. = GARD=20 organized the present Church at Trenton in 1800, and was its pastor at = his=20 death, August 14, 1839. He organized the present Church at Trenton in = 1800, and=20 was its pastor at his death, August 14, 1839. He organized nearly all = the=20 Baptist Churches within the Miami Valley -- Trenton, Middletown, = Franklin,=20 Hamilton, and the First Church of Dayton, and some others. He was born = November=20 3, 1776, in Essex County, New Jersey. He received his education in a = common=20 school, except a few months in a private classical school in his native = county.=20 He was married to Rachel PEARCE in 1801. He emigrated to Ohio about the = end of=20 the last century, making a temporary stay at Columbia, and moving to = Trenton the=20 same year. He came to Ohio in company with his father-in-law and family, = Dr.=20 LITTELL accompanying them.=20
Michael PEARCE was in good circumstances, and he had a large family = of=20 daughters. Mary married Squier LITTELL. She was a very excellent woman. = Rhoda=20 and Sarah married Joseph TAYLOR; Rachel married Mr. GARD; Phebe married = Joseph=20 GARD; Elizabeth married Alexander VAN PELT; Anna married James URMSTON. = Mr.=20 PEARCE had two sons, Squier and John. John died here, and Squier died in = Laporte=20 County, Indiana.=20
Deacon Michael PEARCE died at his residence in Trenton on Monday, the = fourth=20 day of June, 1838, in the eighty-ninth pear of his age. He was born at = Scotch=20 Plains, Essex County, New Jersey, in August, 1749, and lived there for = many=20 years, and married Phebe SQUIER, of the same place, by whom he had = eleven=20 children, ten of whom lived to be men and women. He served as a deacon = of the=20 regular Baptist Church more than forty years and died, as he lived, full = and=20 strong in the faith of the Gospel. He was a firm friend to the liberties = of his=20 country, and bore arms in the Revolutionary War. He was eighteen years a = merchant of Morris County, New Jersey, and with the pioneers of the West = removed=20 with his family to Cincinnati in the Summer of 1792, entered land in = Butler=20 County, and removed on it in 1804, where he remained until taken away by = death.=20
The Rev. Stephen GARD's daughter Eliza married William WILSON, of = Middletown.=20 She is dead. WILSON was a merchant, afterwards going to Laporte, = Indiana, and=20 buying two sections of land. Phebe married Wilkeson TAYLOR, brother to = Joseph=20 TAYLOR. Dr. Isaac N. married Louisa TODD, of Newport, Ky., and Dr. = FAIRMAN=20 married Lucy, a sister of Louisa. Sarah married John C. POTTER. Mary L. = married=20 Ezra POTTER, and Rachel died unmarried. Rev. Mr. GARD was twice married. = His=20 second wife was Mary VAN HORN. By here he had one child, William V. = GARD, a=20 physician in this county and in Warren.=20
John SMITH was the first tavern-keeper in the place. Report says that = 'Squier=20 LITTELL and Stephen GARD were the first store-keepers, and Clark POTTER = the=20 second. They were succeeded by James PATTERSON and MCKNIGHT & Lee. = Ezra=20 POTTER, of Hamilton, was a store-keeper there for a long time. Stephen = GARD was=20 the first man who had shingles on his house. The town has had a very = slow=20 growth, and now only numbers about three hundred inhabitants. There are = three=20 stores. Henry BURKE kept store here twenty years, but is now deceased. = Frederick=20 M. BURKE occupies the same building, and has carried on business a = little more=20 than a year. Dill ANDREWS and Joseph EICHER are the other store-keepers. = There=20 is one hotel, kept by John KINZEL, and six drinking saloons. Jacob = HINKEL, in=20 the carriage, buggy and spring-wagon manufacture, has been in the = business for=20 eighteen years. MCKINNEY also carries on the blacksmith business.=20
Trenton has four churches. The Baptist Church was founded in 1800, = the German=20 Reformed in 1868, and the Evangelical Lutheran was remodeled in 1878. It = is the=20 finest structure in Trenton. The Roman Catholic Church is very pretty, = and is=20 situated on high, elevated grounds. There are four cemeteries, all of = which are=20 adorned with monuments and slabs scarcely equaled elsewhere by any = similar=20 place. The place takes deep interest in education, and has a fine school = building, which is two stories high and has six rooms, all well = furnished, and=20 about two hundred pupils, J. W. COYLE is the superintendent.=20
At the railroad, there is an elevator carried on by DEITZ, GOOD & = Co.,=20 merchants and grain dealers, which cost $6,000. It was put up in the = year 1877,=20 and has a capacity of thirty thousand bushels of grain, The building is=20 eighty-four feet long by forty feet wide, and has a large steam-boiler = and=20 engine to operate it. It also moves a grist-mill.=20
Jeremiah MARSTON was born in Kennebec County, Maine, March 19, 1798. = His=20 father was a Methodist minister, and as is generally the case with the = clerical=20 profession, had but little of this world's goods to bestow upon his = children.=20 Jeremiah left his native State in the year 1819, and came to Butler = County,=20 where he passed the remainder of his days. In June, 1821, he was united = in=20 marriage with Miss VAIL, with whom he lived happily for thirty-five = years. From=20 this marriage eight children survive them.=20
Mr. MARSTON was strictly an upright man. Industrious an persevering = in=20 business, economical in the management of his affairs, he was enabled to = accumulate a sufficiency of this world's goods to live in easy and = independent=20 circumstances, so far as wealth is concerned. Kind and generous to the = poor and=20 unfortunate, and honorable in all his dealings with his fellow-man, he = had an=20 extensive circle of friends. In politics he was a Whig while that party = had a=20 living existence; thence he was found acting with the Republican party. = At one=20 time he held the appointment of associate judge. He died about the = beginning of=20 the war.=20
There is an association in Madison Township that can lay some claim = to=20 antiquity. The subscribers met on the 28th of October, 1843, at Trenton, = and=20 appointed Jeremiah MARSTON president, and Ezra POTTER secretary, and = resolved=20 that they would organize and form themselves into a society for the = purpose of=20 protecting their property against thieves and counterfeiters, and that = they=20 adopt a constitution and by-laws. The names of the organizers were = Jeremiah=20 MARSTON, Ezra POTTER, Ellis MILLER, Robert BUSENBARK, Aaron BALL, John = HUNT,=20 Samuel LANDIS, John GOOD, Henry GOOD, David PAULIN, Silas LONG, Henry = SELLERS,=20 James LAW, and Francis CORNTHWAIT.=20
The society has held its meetings quarterly for thirty-three years. = It has=20 had upon its roll of members fifty-seven names, and now numbers thirteen = members. It had for a protection fund in 1876 three hundred and = twenty-four=20 dollars. It is a regularly incorporated company, by the name of the = "Trenton and=20 Miltonville Benevolent Protection Society." It is generally nicknamed = "Horse=20 Company." The members in 1876 were John HUNT, Henry GOOD, John GOOD, = Elias=20 MATTIX, Theodore MARSTON, Benjamin De Bolt, Elias LONG, Henry GAUTCHY, = John LAW,=20 Peter THOMAS, John THOMAS, William RICHTER, and J. G. LONG. The = admittance fee=20 is three dollars.=20
The following persons are buried in the cemetery of the German = Reformed=20 Church:=20
Henry SMITH, born 1788, and died 1872; aged 84. John M. YAGER, died = March 11,=20 1867; aged 72.=20
In the Lutheran grave-yard are the following:=20
Henry SELLERS, died February 23, 1879; aged 82. Catherine, consort of = Henry=20 SELLERS, died July 29, 1871; aged 76. Henry BERK, died 1881; aged 65. = Barbara=20 BERK, died April 23, 1877; aged 62. Jacob WIKEL, died January 23, 1878; = aged 76.=20
These are in the Mennonite grave-yard:=20
Jacob AUGSPURGER, died November 2, 1867; aged 56. Catharine = AUGSPURGER, died=20 October 2, 1856; aged 17.=20
In the Trenton cemetery the first burial was in the year 1801. The = name is=20 Phebe GARD. The stone is so worn by time that the full inscription can = not be=20 given.=20
In memory of Reverend Stephen GARD, who died August 14, 1839; aged 62 = years 9=20 months and 11 days. Rachel GARD, wife of Rev. Stephen GARD, died April = 1, 1816;=20 aged 36 pears. David GARD, son of Stephen GARD, died February 6, 1807. = In memory=20 of Mary MAXWELL, formerly Mary LITTELL, died February 5, 1813; aged 62 = years.=20 Sarah KERR, died June 15, 1835; aged 80 years. Michael PEARCE, died = August 27,=20 1838; aged 88. Phebe PEARCE, died March 27, 1832; aged 76 years. Rhoda = TAYLOR,=20 died April 2, 1819; aged 27 years.=20