Flushing Township - Belmont County
History of Flushing Township
Flushing township was erected from parts of Kirkwood and Union, and organized
March 14, 1817. It is situated in the northwest corner of the country, and
bounded as follows: on the north by Harrison county, on the west by Guernsey,
on the south by Kirkwood and Union townships, and on the east by Wheeling
township.
It is three miles wide and ten miles long, and contains thirty sections,
eighteen of which were taken from Kirkwood township, range 6, township ten and
twelve from Union township, range 5, township nine. It received its name from
Flushing, the principal village in the new township.
The Topography
Of the township is somewhat varied, and depends upon its geological structure
� the soil being composed of the limestone and shales of the "upper
productive" coal measures. The soil being of soluble nature, and the locality
elevated, the streams cut for themselves deep beds with lateral ravines,
making the surface of the country somewhat broken and hilly. An anticlinical
axis or dividing ridge runs through the eastern portion of the township
forming the dividing line between the waters of Wheeling creek running
eastward and those of the Big Stillwater running westward into the Tuscarwas.
Notwithstanding the unevenness of the surface the soil is of excellent
quality, being strongly impregnated with lime, and bears good crops of wheat,
corn and grass. The land is especially adapted to sheep raising and wool
growing is the principal business of the farmers, the merino sheep being the
breed best adapted to the locality. Coal is abundant and forms an excellent
fuel, nut the consumption is confined to home use as there is as yet no outlet
to market by rail. The "Cleveland, Tuscarwas Valley and Wheeling Railroad"
traverse the township from northwest to southeast, but is not yet completed.
It is impossible at this date to state with certainty who was the first
settler in Flushing township, the reader is referred to the biographies of
early settlers for information.
Township Officers
The first election was held in the village of Flushing on the first Monday of
April, 1817,when the following board of township officers were elected, viz:
Justices of the Peace � Henry Long, James Crozier and James Judkins.
Trustees � Isaac Branson, James Wright, Enos West.
Clerk � Edward Bethel.
Treasurer � Samuel Holloway.
Fence Viewers � Abraham Brokaw, John Lewis.
Constables � Josiah Wickersham, Levi Harseman.
House Appraisers � Josiah Wickershaw, Samuel Pickering.
Overseers of the Poor � William Kirk, John Howell.
Road Supervisors � Jonas Pickering, Joseph Wright, Thomas Morrow, Henry
Stotler, Jonathan M. Ellis.
About 1832 the township trustees moved the polls from Flushing to Rock Hill,
and in April, 1877, the township was divided into two precincts the polling
places being established at Flushing and Belmont Ridge.
Township Officers for 1878-9
Justices of the Peace � John Moore, Jr., W.G. Cash, Levi Starkey.
Treasurer � Elihu Hollingsworth.
Assessor � W.J. Vance.
Board of Education � Joshua Kirk, chairman, Levi Starkey, clerk, Albert
Conrow, Wm. McDonough, John Moore, Jr., M.C. Dunn, Robert Todd, Henry Savage,
John Nabb, M. Greenfield.
Trustees � Samuel Fisher, Hirman Howell, J.L. Chandler.
Township Clerk � Levi Starkey.
Constables � John Henry, James E. Gardner.
Supervisors of Roads � Elisha Ellis, William Kirk, James Randolph, T.C. Mills.
Summary
There are at present in the township, seven churches (a separate account of
which will be found elsewhere); twelve schools, two stream flouring mills and
one woolen factory.
Population
The population of Flushing township in 1830, was 1,671, or 825 males and 846
females, (including the village of Flushing.) The population according to the
census of 1870, is as follows:
Township (White) 1,352 Colored, 132; total 1,484
Village " 195 " 11; " 206
Total 1,690
Reminiscences Of Early Settlers
A man by the name of Elisha Ellis, familiarly known as "Big Elisha," in
contradistinction to another gentleman of the same name, of less stature, says
that he came to the township in 1804; crossed the Ohio at Wheeling, struck
into the woods, followed a trail westward, and settled on section 33, R. 5,
T.9. At that time there were no houses in the vicinity of Flushing, and the
town site was a thicket of underbrush and grape vines. A man named John
Winters kept a small store at St. Clairsville to exchange for powder, lead,
and salt. Ginseng sold for 10 cents per pound, snake root for 25 cents,
powder $1.50, and lead 50 cents per pound. Salt was an article greatly sought
after, and commanded a high price. It was brought from Alexandria, Virginia,
on horseback, two and a half bushels to a horse � one man managing three
horses � and when transported to Ohio, sold for $8 per bushel. Later, when
wheat was raised, the farmers traded one bushel for a pound of coffee. Eggs
sold for three or four cents per dozen.
Hanna Ellis � wife of Elisha (the lesser) � says that when her father, Levi
Hollingsworth, came to Flushing, in 1804 he occupied a shanty 12 x 14, with
puncheon floor, door, ceiling, table and cradle, with greased paper as a
substitute for window lights. Beds were made by setting a post at a proper
distance from the wall, placing poles from that to the wall, and stretching
deer skins thereon.
Elisha Ellis relates that his father, accompanied by his mother, had gone
away, taking the gun with him, when the children, going out to swing, looked
up to the bent oak from which the swing was suspended, and saw a large animal
resembling a dog looking down at them. They ran into the house and barred the
door, when the panther sprang to the ground, ran the dogs under the house, and
then killed a deer in sight. When the parents returned in the dusk of the
evening and called the cow, the panther answered. It was shot the next day.
A circumstance illustrative of the manner in which the early pioneers were
obliged to manage to secure a living, is given by David Conrow, who, when a
boy got up at midnight, shelled a grist of corn, placed it on the back of a
faithful old ox, carried it to the mill, hitched the oxen into the mill and
ground the grist by moonlight, and returned home in time for his mother to
bake cakes for breakfast.
Submitted and transcribed by:
Diane
Source:
History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio
by
J.A. Caldwell
1880
Return to Townships Page | Return to Belmont Co Home Page