Our History

Vernon Township lies in the southeastern part of the county and was formerly part of Upper and Franklin Townships. It was organized in 1818 and is bounded on the north by Bloom Township, on the east by Bloom Township and Lawrence County, on the south by Lawrence County and Green Township, and on the west by Green and Porter Townships. It has an area of 22,890 acres.

Vernon Township was early settled and hunted over two or three years before the first permanent settler located his claim. The last buffalo killed in this section of country was by Phillip Salladay in Vernon Township about 1798 on the farm of Mr. Chaffin. Soon after this, a few pioneers settled on Pine Creek. Among those who first made Vernon Township their home were David Salladay, Rueben Smith, Reuben Chaffin, Shadrack Chaffin, Nathaniel Searl, Wyatt Chamberlin, Lemuel Cadot, Jacob Halterman, Richard Malone, Robert Bradshaw, William Bacon, Samuel Perry, Peter Bussey, Edward Barkalow, Francis Duteil, Lewis Duteil, James Patton, John Patton, and Jerry Patton.

Chaffin’s Mill was erected by John Shope in 1816 and sold to Henry Summer in 1819. The latter kept it one year when he disposed of it to Thomas Burt in 1820, who, after running it until 1823, sold out to T.S. Hayward. Mr. Hayward owned it until 1829 or 1830, when Reuben Chaffin became the owner and held it until 1863. It changed hands several times since passing through ownership of Dearborn Emory, Willis Newland, and Aaron Hollinshead, finally becoming the property of Jacob Newland. It was a saw and grist mill and had a general store in connection. It was located on the southeast corner of section 10, on Pine Creek.

The Howard Furnace was started in 1852 by Campbell, Woodrow, and Co. who continued the business until 1868. The Charcoal Iron Company took it in 1870 and ran it until 1877, then they disposed of it to John Campbell. The furnace was started up December 1879 by Mr. Campbell, but only ran two years when it stopped again.

The Clinton Furnace was erected in 1832 and went into blast the same year. It continued until September 22, 1848 when Thomas G. Gaylord sold it to Glidden, Smith, and Co. The furnace was then run until March 1, 1851. Mr. Smith retired, and George Crawford became a member of the firm and the business continued under the name of Glidden, Crawford, and Co. This firm kept the furnace in blast until October 15, 1867, when Mr. Crawford purchased the interest of the other partners and took in Wm J. Bell, changing the firm name to Crawford and Bell. The firm remained in blast until the fall of 1873.

The above information was abstracted from the Newsletter of SCCOGS and from the publication “History of the Lower Scioto Valley, both of which contain more information on the above township and individuals.