"Biographical and Historical Record of Adams and Wells Counties"  
OSSIAN.

OSSIAN, a beautiful village of sober and industrious inhabitants, now numbering nearly 600, was laid out by the township trustees March 14, 1850, and is about nine miles north of Bluffton, on the Fort Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville Railroad, which was built through here in 1869. The railroad, however, running a half mile west of the business center, two mills and a number of dwellings have sprung up about the depot, receiving the name of West Ossian. The village is not yet incorporated.

BUSINESS.

The present business of the village is now represented by H. Hatfield, general store; Anderson Morton, dry goods, recently burned out, but is rebuilding; J. H. Hoover, drug store; Bell & Davis, drug store; F. S. Naus, furniture store and chair factory; Henry Kreigh, grocery; William Quawkenbush, grocery and bakery; Ellsworth Salisbury, tin, stoves, hardware, and is also undertaker; warehouse, H. Hatfield & Sons; William Earl and Harvey Spence, wagon shops; Stine & Son, and Stine & McCollum, blacksmiths; Marcellus Donaldson, shoe shop; N. Weaver, harness shop; Mrs. Mary Vincore and Mrs. Wilmington, millinery; James Gorrell, hub factory; Eastman, Hatfield & Craig, creamery; Robert Seaton, postmaster; John Chalfant, lawyer; J. I. Metts, A. H. Metts and M. N. Newman, physicians; besides the following, more at length: Woodword & Rupright's flouring mill is the successor of two on the site which have been burned out. The first was built in 1864 by James Gorrell and John Brown, who ran it about two years, since which time the proprietors have been: John Brown and James Milligan, eight years; James Gorrell and James Wilson, Wilson & Donaldson, —— Craig, —— Mannes and L. F. Wilson (burned out within six months), L. F. Wilson (burned out in three years), L. F. Wilson and A. Woodward, and since last February Woodward & Rupright. They do both merchant and custom work, with a forty-five horsepower engine, and two run of burrs for wheat, one for middlings, and one for corn. Koons & Co. (Philip Koons, William R. Beaty and Thomas A. Doan), near the depot, manufacture and deal in dressed and rough lumber, shingles, lath, mouldings, etc. Mill was first built in 1872 by Koons, Milligan & Glass, with only half the present capacity. The present company commenced in 1875, and they now have a sixty-five horse-power engine, employ nine hands, and run the mill nearly all the time.

E. Nimmons, with an average number of thirty hands in the winter, and fifty in the summer, manufactures oil-barrel staves and circled heading, which he ships to the Standard Oil Company. The mill was first built by Carey & Baker in 1870, was burned down in 1872, rebuilt in the autumn of the same year, sold to H. Hatfield in the fall of 1876, to Nimmons & Bros. in 1878, and since January, 1883, the present proprietor has had it alone.

Jacob Getty, who has resided in Jefferson Township thirty-two years, has kept the Ossian House and livery stable for the last sixteen years.

The present school building, a good twostory brick structure, was erected in 1878 at a cost of $5,000, by John B. Woods, contractor, and James Gorrell, trustee. Present trustee, Dr. M. N. Newman; present princi pal of the school, J. P. Bonnell, who commenced December 7, 1885; has four assistants. The course of study comprises some of the higher branches, as algebra, geometry, botany, geology, zoology, chemistry, natural philosophy and a two years’ Latin course. School is taught eight months each year. Present enrollment, 200; building will accommodate 230.
 

CHURCHES.

The Presbyterian Church at Ossian was organized in 1840 at the house of Adam Hatfield, by Rev. Isaac A. Ogden, with thirty members. The pastors since then have been Revs. W. M. Donaldson, John Mitchell and M. M. Lawson. Present membership, 180. Trustees, G. W. Glass, Edward Stine and H. W. Somers; treasurer, H. Hatfield. The house of worship is a plain frame building, 40 x 60 feet, will seat 400 persons, and was built in 1858, during the ministry of Rev. Donaldson. Their first place of meeting was a log church, about two and a half miles southwest of town. In connection with the church is a Sunday-school, having an average attendance of about 125 pupils; present superintendent, E. A. Vail; also a Ladies’ Missionary Society, and a Young Ladies’ Union (also missionary). Elders—Joseph Gorrell, William H. Rankin, John Hatfield, H. Hatfield, George Harter and M. J. Gorrell.

Mr. Donaldson was pastor of this church, together with those at Murray and Bluffton, twenty-eight and a half years, residing at the respective places portions of his time. He now resides in Summit County, Ohio.

Mr. Lawson, the resident pastor, was born in Hillsboro, Ohio, February 21, 1844, son of Isaac and Elizabeth Lawson, and was nine years of age when the family moved to Indiana; served from the age of eighteen to twenty-one in the Seventieth Indiana Infantry, being with Sherman’s army to the sea and return; received his classical education at Wabash College, and his theological at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, spending nine consecutive years in preparing for the ministry; was married December 14, 1875; in April following he was ordained at Marion, Ohio; served several churches in that State, and since 1883 has had charge of the church at Ossian, during which time seventy-two have been added to the same. Mr. Lawson married Miss Katie, daughter of Rev. James A. and Mary (McCutchen) Darrah, and a native of Missouri, and their children are—James McKnight, Mary, Florence and Isaac Harry. Mr. Lawson, serving at several points, has at present about 700 souls under his care within a radius of six miles.

El Hanan Presbyterian Church, three miles east and one-half north of Ossian, is a frame 26x36 feet, built on a lot donated for church and cemetery purposes by Robert Ewell, in 1845, during the pastorate of Rev. John Nevins. Present membership, about forty; elders, Alexander White, Charles Ferguson, James W. Ferguson; Sunday-school with thirty-five scholars, and Alexander White, superintendent. Pastor, Rev. M. M. Lawson.

The Methodist Episcopal Church at Ossian was organized about the year 1851, with about ten members, and John W. Foughty as class-leader. The present membership is about 100 and the present class-leaders are John W. Foughty and John W. Wilson. Sunday-school attendance, 140; Frederick Livengood, superintendent. Their house of worship, erected in 1857 or 1858, was enlarged in 1866, so that it is now 42 x 55 feet in dimensions, valued at about $1,000. This society has also a fine parsonage. Before the church was organized, Rev. Greenman preached awhile in this community, and the pastors since that time have been, in order: Revs. W. S. Birch, James Johnston, W. T. Smith, Asbury Andrew, A. Douglas, B. Armstong (and Erick, supplied), Stephen H. Clark, —— Colclazer, J. P. Nash, —— McNeal, O. D. Watkins, J. H. Slade, W. F. Curtis, J. W. Roberts, —— McMahon, —— Wolverton, J. Mann, J. B. Meridith, Newton Burwell, —— Ramsey, E. P. Church and Joseph Lewellen. Under Mr. Church's ministrations there was a great revival. Harvey Pierce, now deceased, was a local preacher, whose five sons, besides a son-in-law, also became Methodist ministers. Mr. J. W. Foughty, referred to above, is also a local preacher. Present stewards—J. W. Foughty, Sutton Potee and J. L. Wilson. Mr. Lewellen, the present pastor, is a native of Randolph County, Indiana, born in 1848; attended Asbury University, and was admitted in the annual conference in 1873. Ossian is his sixth charge, to which he was appointed in April, 1886.

Of this church, James Cartwright has generally been trustee, and always one of the main pillars.

Emmaus (formerly Salem) Methodist Episcopal Church, four and a half miles southeast of Ossian, is a frame, 30 x 40 feet, built in 1876. The society there was organized with about forty members, mainly from the United Brethren church. Class-leaders, George Hall and Williarn Sowards; stewards, Levi Hoover and Newton Carpenter. Michael C. Blue is superintendent of Sunday-school, which has about fifty scholars.

Prospect Methodist Episcopal Church.— From Mr. Levi Osborn we learn that this society was first organized in the Housel neighborhood, at the house of John A. Lepper in Jefferson Township, October 30, 1848, and was then in St. Mary's mission, Fort Wayne district. F. M. Palmer was the missionary, Samuel Brinton, presiding elder, and William W. Cotton, class-leader. The original members were: William W. Cotton and wife, Absalom Housel and wife, Hezekiah Allen and wife, William Quawkenbush and wife, Mary Cotton, John A. Lepper and wife; and Hannah Ady. We add that the present membership is about seventy, with William Lipkey and Simpson Todd class-leaders, and Levi Osborn and Simpson Todd stewards; local preachers, William Beaty and Jeremiah Soule. Sunday-school, with about sixty scholars, is superintended by Jacob Osborn. The church building, four and a half miles southwest of Ossian, is a frame, 40 x 45 feet, erected probably about 1861.

The Olive-Branch Baptist Church, a frame building, three miles northeast of Ossian, was 30 x 40 feet in size. The society there was organized prior to 1840, and has had as high as forty members at one time. Ministers there have been: Revs. W. N. Welker, —— Colton, Levi Harding, —— Schofield, J. H. Winans and others.  In the fall of 1881 the building was removed to Ossian, where the present membership is about forty five. Nathan Tobey, superintendent of Sunday-school. Preaching every two weeks, Sunday morning. Deacons, Jeremiah Clark, Abraham Clark and J. Rock; clerk, Nathan Tobey. Present pastor, since March, 1857, Rev. D. B. Reckard, of Decatur.

The Christian Church at Ossian was organized at the school-house November 20, 1872, by Elder McCormick, with thirty-three members. Local elders, J. E. Lepper and Peter Quawkenbush; deacons, David McDowell and Samuel Hughes. Ministers serving in a pastoral capacity have been: L. L. Carpenter, Messrs. Streeter, of Ohio, Lambert, Blaney, and perhaps others. The greatest number of accessions to the church were in Rev. Streeter's time. Have generally had a Sunday-school. Since Rev. Mr. Blaney ceased preaching here in June, 1886, there have been no regular public services. He resides at Kendallville, Noble County. Church edifice, a frame, 40 x 60 feet, costing $2,350, was dedicated November 3, 1873, by Elder L. L. Carpenter.

The Bethel United Brethren Church, at Ossian, is a frame, 30 x 40 feet, and was dedicated in August, 1882, by Rev. J. L. Luttrell. The membership has generally been over half a hundred. No pastoral services at present. The "Moneysmith" or Zion Church, four miles east of town, and the Hebron Church, three or four miles northeast, as well as the Ossian Church, are alive and keep up their Sunday-schools. William Vardiman, of Ossian, is a local preacher.
 

TEMPERANCE.

Ossian has had two or three indirectly successful fights with the saloon evil. As early as 1850, during the building of the plank road from Fort Wayne to Bluffton, it became strikingly manifest that a drinking place was the origin of most evil, as exemplified by the great number of cases brought before a justice from the boarding-house where drinking intoxicants were indulged in, while none came from an equally patronized temperance boarding-house near by.

Recently an attempt was made to establish a saloon and billiard hall in Ossian. The temperance people counseled together and came to an understanding that when the newcomer should start from the depot with his wagon load of saloon appliances, including billiard table, a steam whistle should be blown, as a signal for their rendezvous. The event occurring, they surrounded the wagon, and the driver could not get help enough to unload the table. The proprietor was informed by Messrs. Hatfield and Gorrell what opposition he would meet with here, and he was ultimately persuaded, on being paid $2, to leave the place.

On another occasion two men in partnership opened a saloon in Ossian, and, although they held their place for a short time, they had a falling out, and one was convicted for crime and sentenced to penitentiary for life. At another time a fire burned out the saloon that had been started a short time before; so that, "providentially," the saloonists have failed to sustain their cause in Ossian, and there is now no such ugly place of resort there as the bad element had contemplated.

A Murphy temperance society, with David Stine as president, was organized at Ossian in 1878, and worked nobly for about four years, when, the chief enemy having been providentially driven to other parts, there was little left before them to do.
 

SOCIETIES.

Ossian Lodge, No. 297, A. F. & A. M., met under dispensation September 30, 1863. John P. Nash, Worshipful Master; E. Covert, Senior Warden; B. F. Taylor, Junior Warden. The master appointed William Beatty, Secretary; J. I. Metts, Treasurer; Joseph Kreigh, Senior Deacon; Thomas Vail, Junior Deacon. Charter members, same as mentioned, the charter being dated May 27, 1864, and July 7, following, Amos Townsend, of Bluffton, a special deputy of Grand Master Hacker, organized the lodge by the installment of the following officers: J. P. Nash, Worshipful Master; E. Covert, Senior Warden; B. F. Taylor, Junior Warden; J. I. Metts, Treasurer; C. Sumpton, Secretary; James Johnson, Senior Deacon; A. H. Metts, Junior Deacon; T. Vail, Tyler.

The following have served as masters: J. P. Nash, J. I. Metts, James Gorrell, C. W. Beardsley, William B. Miller, James P. Swaim and William Stine, the present incumbent.

In 1877 the lodge room, with all the appurtenances, were destroyed by fire, without insurance, leaving the society bankrupt. This, together with certain deaths and removals, and the organization of a lodge at Zanesville, caused the lodge to run down; but, through the encouragement received from brethren of neighboring lodges, they revived, and they now have a nice room, well fitted up. There are now forty-seven members in good working order. Present officers: William Stine, Worshipful Master; I. Black, Senior Warden; H. Spence, Junior Warden; N. M. Newman, ——; James Gorrell, Senior Deacon, and James Clark, Junior Deacon.

William Swaim Post, No. 169, G. A. R., was established in May, 1884, with twenty members, now increased to sixty-seven. Meetings, second and fourth Tuesday of each month. S. C. Goshorn has been commander from the first to the present. The other officers are: J. A. D. Taylor, Senior ViceCommander; I. C. Black, Junior Vice-Commander; J. M. Henry, Officer of the Day; A. H. Metts, Adjutant; L. F. Wilson, Quartermaster; J. W. Foughty, Chaplain, and Dr. M. N. Newman, Post Surgeon. The post is in a very flourishing condition.

Camp Wilmington, No. 64, Sons of Veterans, was organized about the middle of November, 1886, with about twenty members, who are increasing in numbers. Meet once in two weeks. John Lepper, Jr., Captain; C. B. Henry, First Lieutenant; Curtis Goshorn, Second Lieutenant; Franklin Foughty, Officer of the Day; Camp Wilmington, Officer of the Guard; A. B. Tobey, Chaplain; Elmer Derr, Quartermaster, and Mason Powell, Jr., Color-Bearer.
 

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.

The first settlers of this township, of which Ossian is the present metropolis, were, in 1837, Samuel Ogden, who died here; Robert and William Craig (the latter dying in Allen County). In 1838, Richard Treenary, who resided here until his death; Thomas and James Ferguson, both deceased, in this township; Robert Ewell and Adam Hatfield, deceased. In 1839, John Davis, deceased; Jacob Bunn, whose widow is still living here; Levi Young; Samuel Weston, removed to Iowa and died; John Snyder and Joseph Hatfield. In 1840, J. B. Lefever, moved to Iowa and died; Jacob and Martin King, William Webster and John Ogden; Webster did not remain, and there were two by the name of Martin King, one of whom died here and the other lives in Kansas. Also among the earliest settlers who are still living are Joseph Gorrell, William Quawkenbush and Ellison Covert.

The first election in this township was held April 6, 1840, at the house of William Craig, with Samuel Ogden as inspector. For trustees they elected Philip Sower, Richard Treenary and Adam Hatfield; clerk, George Weston; treasurer, Jacob Bunn; justice of the peace, Samuel Weston.

This township is drained by Eight-Mile Creek, which receives its supplies mainly from the Grimm and Treenary prairies, and runs through Ossian, in a northwesterly direction.

The Ferguson road was the first opened in the township, running across east and west, a half mile north of Ossian, to Decatur.

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