Carlisle Was Part Of Warren County's 'Westward Expansion'

Deep in the northwest corner of Warren County lies a quaint little village named Carlisle. It is one of the oldest settlements in the County, with the earliest inhabitants settling shortly after 1800. Harriet Foley, editor of "Carlisle, The Jersey Settlement in Ohio," has graciously allowed this writer to draw much material from her book.
The area of Carlisle was not always in Warren County. The State of Ohio was formed on the first Tuesday of March 1803 (date debatable), and Warren County was established March 24, 1803.
Clinton County was formed in 1810. It was found not to have enough territory to establish the 400 square miles that both Ohio Constitutions called for. At this time Warren had just over 400 square miles. Clinton County expanded westerly which caused Warren County to expand in a westerly direction. In 1815, the County of Warren extended to the west side of the Great Miami, thus consuming a portion of Butler County.
The early residents of the Carlisle area migrated from New Jersey. Like many other pioneers they moved with their families over the Alleghenies on packhorses, or down the Ohio River on flatboats. Land sites were chosen, cleared and homes were crudely built. It is said that a family could clear and burn an acre of ground in about three weeks. The new home consisted of a huge fireplace along with homemade furniture.
The first landowners were thought to be the Barkalow brothers. In about 1804 it is thought they bought land from the mouth of Twin Creek to the Great Miami River dam and thence as far west as Carlisle.
At the same time Arthur VanDerveer, of Freehold, New Jersey, bought land above them. Other early landowners were: Hendrick Lane, Daniel DuBois, Dr. Benjamin DuBois, the Schencks, Denises, Conovers, Van Tuyls, and the Francises.
Some other landowners from the twenties to the fifties were: Dickey Francis, Kinny Anderson, the Chamberlains brothers, Wykoffs, Conovers, Emleys, and Bairds, to name a few.
The "Jersey Settlement," as it was known far and wide, had a definite foothold on civilization. Transportation at this time was simply by horseback. The roads were atrocious, merely wagon tracks. The farmer rode his horse to the mill with his corn and wheat; his wives rode to market and visited distant friends; and the preacher, lawyer and doctor all making their rounds on horseback. Some year's later toll-roads were established and one of the old tollgates was located on the southwest corner of State Route 123 and Central Avenue.
In the early days of the settlement, Dr. Benjamin DuBois was the only physician on the west side of the river, having settled here in 1804. He was a doctor of wide renown.
The first church in the Jersey Settlement was established on August 14, 1813, at the house of William Barkalow, which was called the New Jersey Presbyterian Church. The first meetings took place at different residences and barns. A Mr. Monfort was ordained and installed as the first pastor June 14, 1814. The membership was 22 and the salary for the pastor was $150 in half-yearly payments. The first church was built in 1815 just back of the present building, with a land donation of two acres given by Daniel DuBois.
As time went on markets were established and prices more or less conformed to the times. Wheat was 12 cents a bushel, butter from 3 to 5 cents per pound, and eggs 2 to 3 cents per dozen. Foreign imports were high with the price of coffee set at 50 cents per pound, tea 80 cents, and gingham 50 cents per yard.
The first gristmill in the area of Carlisle was the old Van Derveer mill, which sat on the east side of the Great Miami River, just north of Pennyroyal Road on Old Rt. 25 below the dam site. It did a great business, but it came to a halt in the 1860's and went into the hands of a receiver. The machinery was moved to Franklin and the old building was left to decay, leaving no identifiable trace.
The Van Tuyl gristmill was located on the Van Tuyl Road (now Martz Paulin Road, established in 1817), which stood on Twin Creek near the intersection of Martz Paulin and Dian Drive.
Miss Dora Fleming, late resident of Carlisle, was calling with a friend on an old gentleman in Lebanon. It was mentioned that she lived in Carlisle. He said: "That Jersey settlement! The smartest women on earth live over there. Get up and do a big washing and go visiting for dinner on Monday. The men will treat you like a king, give you a big dinner and then cheat you out of your eyes in a horse trade."
The Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad (C H & D) revived the Jersey Settlement, which allowed the vicinity to expand. The railroad ran over a three-mile course through Carlisle Station. The first excursion train traveled over the road from Cincinnati to Hamilton September 13, 1851; trains began running regularly between Cincinnati and Dayton on September 22, 1851.
Carlisle Station was the only railroad in the proximity of Franklin and Germantown, this being the only passenger and freight-shipping depot in the entire vicinity. Everybody was out to see the first train pass through. A Mrs. Winters tells how she, a mere child, ran with schoolmates to see the cars, and then fled in terror in the opposite direction as the awful monster went rolling by.
Mr. George Carlisle, vice-president of the C H & D, purchased about 150 acres from Benjamin DuBois, and Benjamin and George Conover, which he platted into 30 lots. He offered the villagers a triangle of land to build a "Literary Society" meetinghouse if they would call the community "Carlisle." The building is still standing and is the old section of Carlisle's town hall.
With the coming of the railroad, a freight depot, warehouses, a post office located in a general store, stockyards, livery stable, and a boarding house were established. The freight depot was located along the C H & D tracks behind the Gross Lumber Company. For years the station was just a railroad car.
Eventually a fine passenger station was built. Mr. Patrick Sweeney was freight agent for many years. Mr. Mulford Tapscott was the first ticket agent, and a Mr. Chase took care of the station, which was also a boarding house.
The "Mackinaw Railroad" was brought to Carlisle Station in 1887. The train station was moved to the northeast junction of the Cincinnati Northern and the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton, which was located on Park Drive.
The "Literary Society," previously mentioned, was formed March 20, 1856. There were five trustees elected who were: Henry Eby, William Hendrickson, Jacob DuBois, Norman DuBois, and Andrew Baird with J.C. Fleming as clerk. On March 22, a meeting was held at Mr. Eby's storeroom and a resolution was made to build a good hall. A dedication for the new building was held on May 17. There was singing by a choir, a building report given, and an address by a Reverend Hall and Reverend Weaver was delivered.
Aside from the donation of the land by Mr. Carlisle, the total cost of the building was a little over $1200. A subscription of $400 was presented which left a debt of over $800. The final payment was made in March of 1860.
Some of the early enterprises of Carlisle were: a Mr. Yehring had a dry goods store; Mr. Tunis DuBois for several years had a dry goods store; and a Mr. Eby owned a grocery store. After his death Mr. Stevenson bought the grocery, and about 1858, sold out to Mr. Alfred and Lew Craig. A new building was built by the latter and was later owned by Charles Mount. A livery stable was located at the northwest corner of Park Drive and Hillcrest. The business thrived as people came to park their wagons and carriages in order to catch the train to places far and wide.
Next to the town hall was a blacksmith shop and a saloon establishment. Mr. Dye had a harness shop where Breeding's home is located.
With the advent of the railroad, and Carlisle established as a large shipping station, an elevator was built and first run by a Mr. Green. He later sold his business to John Hankinson. The latter lost his sight and later sold it to Owen Gross and William Basore. Mr. Gross bought out Mr. Basore and when he retired, his son James took over, and after his retirement, the establishment reverted to his son James, Jr.
The first post office was named Carlisle Station. A chronology of the early post office and postmasters is as follows: "Carlisle Station," Jacob M. Tapscott, December 3, 1852; Henry Eby, February 18, 1854; Tunis V. Dubois, September 30, 1858; Alfred S. Craig, May 31, 1865. Alfred S. Craig, June 15, 1869. Changed to "Carlisle," November 29, 1882. Alfred S. Craig, November 29, 1882; Albert W. Barr, June 2, 1893; Charles Mount, April 21, 1897; Ethel VanDerveer, August 1940 to May 26, 1961.
The Carlisle post office became a branch of Franklin post office May 26, 1961. At this time there was not enough revenue to set up delivery service independently. The residents were spread out too far to frequent the post office.
The different addresses at this time were: Rt 1, Germantown; Mounted Route Miamisburg; and Mounted Route Franklin. With the move and a promise from Franklin, Carlisle was allowed to keep their name and address.
Mrs. Ethel VanDerveer (now deceased) stated that the school was a two-story brick with the first six grades in the two rooms down and the seventh and eighth grades grouped with the high school upstairs. Some students had two years; some three and some had four years of high school. When the new building was built across the road, the old building and ground were sold to Mrs. Howard Monger. She had the old building torn down and houses were built with part of the salvaged material.

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This page created 23 July 2004 and last updated 28 September, 2008
© 2004 Arne H Trelvik  All rights reserved