Monroe Township History

The first settlers in Monroe Township were George Washington Evans and his wife Lucy, from Green County, Pennsylvania. They came in 1806. Also arriving in 1806 were Charles and George Green, but they did not bring their wives until 1807. The first white child born in the township was Mahala Green, daughter of George and Diana Green. This was the Fall of 1807. Mahala later married Bazil Butt. Mrs. George Green had seventeen children, one hundred grandchildren, seventy great grandchildren and several great great grandchildren. She lived to be over ninety. Other early settlers were the Steinmetz Family, Elisha Willison, Jacob Barker, N. Alden, Henry Hoover, and William Sellars.
The first marriages in the township were between Ned Hatfield and Miss Timants and Regnal Green to Sarah Willison. Moses Foster was the first Justice of the Peace and Dr. S. A. Bigelow was the second. The first Constable was C. I. Graves.
Monroe Township was organized in 1812 and consisted of the entire northeastern corner of Licking County, which included the present-day townships of Bennington, Hartford, Liberty, and Monroe. In 1815, a line was drawn through the center from east to west, and the northern half became Bennington Township. Hartford was separated in 1819, and Liberty Township was created from the eastern half of Monroe Township in 1827. Before 1812, Monroe was part of Granville Township.
As early as 1818, the population of the township was 591. A sawmill owned by George Hoover cut 30,000 feet of wood that year, and a grist mill owned by James Mullen ground 1,000 bushels of wheat, 3,000 bushels of corn, and 100 bushels of barley. Distilleries, owned by Lennell and Orput and Eli Downing, made 5,700 gallons of whiskey, none of which were exported out of the area.

The first school in Johnstown was held in what was called the “Shakespeare House”.
The one room schools were Baker, Blue Jay No. 1, Blue Jay No. 2, Clark, Conway, County Line, Hill, Miller, and White. Baker School was on the northeast corner of Croton and Woodhaven Roads. It no longer exists.
Blue Jay was on the southeast corner of Woodhaven and Jacob White Roads. It was moved later and became a granary. A new one was built at the first site and it was called Blue Jay No. 2. It was burned by the Croton Egg Farm.
Clark School was on the north side of Edwards Road, about three-quarters of a mile east of County Line Road. It burned down in the late 1970’s and was located on Tom Hendren’s farm.
Conway School was on the west side of Mink Road, a short distance north of Duncan Plains Road. It is now a home.
County Line was on the east side of County Line Road, north of Fancher Road. It was moved across the road into Delaware County at some point and is now a home.
Hill School was on the south side of State Route 37, where Downing Road intersects it. It, too, is now a home and it still standing.
Miller School was at the intersection of State Route 62 and Miller Church Road. It burned down during the school year of 1927.
White School was at the northwest corner of State Route 37 and Clover Valley Road. It was later used as a Grange Hall, and now as a Church, which is still in use.
Other known schools were the Kaw School, which was a meeting place for the United Brethren in Christ Church in 1863, the Green School, which appears on a 1932 county map, and the Taylor School, which was at the northeast corner of Croton and Woodhaven Roads.
In 1884, a brick school building was built on College Avenue in Johnstown. It received an addition in 1912. By 1924, it had an enrollment of 350 students with ten teachers. A high school was built in 1928 at a cost of $125,000. This became the present Willis C. Adams Middle School when a new high school was built in 1965. The Middle School was demolished in 2019.
Cornell School, which was moved to Johnstown in 1991 to use as a History laboratory for students, was originally in St. Albans Township. It was established in 1886.
In 2018, the new Johnstown Monroe High School opened, as well as, a new Elementary School.

The first religious denomination to organize in Monroe Township was the Baptist. The Monroe Baptist Church was organized in 1819, approximately one mile north of Johnstown. This was founded by Reverend George Evans. Original members included Jacob Baker, Richard Orpret, Washington Evans and wife, M. Hoover, John Clark, and Abram Barlow. In 1830, they built a brick church at the cost of $600. One of the early ministers was Reverend Eli Ashbrook, who served for five years.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Johnstown was founded by Russel Bigelow in 1820. At that time, he had charge of the Columbus Circuit. The first members were George and Regnal Green, and Charles Green and his wife. The organizational meeting was held at Peter Stephen’s tavern and they met at members’ homes for five years until the church was built.
Another Methodist Episcopal Church was the Monroe Chapel, organized in 1837, by Uriah Heath. Its first members were Joseph B. Crawmer, John Robinson, Henry Beckathorn, Thomas Leitew, William Miller, and Mr. Cole. They built a church in 1840.
The First Presbyterian Church of Johnstown was founded by Joseph Matthews on July 15, 1837. Some of its first members were David Conway, John Follett, and Henry LeDue.
The Baptist Church of Johnstown was organized under F. R. Freeman in 1839. Its original members were William Beers, Eli Pratt, James Hoover, Simon DeWolf, John Clark, Julius Freeman, John French, William Gisesell, Mary Peck, Irene Baker, Eva Violet, Lucy Morgan, Anna Crosby, Betsey Morgan, Elizabeth Dolph, Lavina Beers, Rebecca Best, Mary Clark, Minerva Hoover, Mary Downing, Rachel Phillips, Barbara Shoemaker, and Annetta Baker. They built a church in 1869 for $4,000.
The United Brethren in Christ Church was organized in 1863 by Reverend William McDaniels, assisted by Silas Priest, Benjamin Clouse, Benjamin Green, Joseph Smith, and Elisha Green. Their first services were held at the Kaw Schoolhouse. They built a church in 1866 at a cost of $1,100.
Two other churches noted on old county maps were Eden Church and Green Chapel. The latter was at the northeast corner of Green Chapel and Clover Valley Road.

In August 1926, Friend Butt found two dead hogs on his farm and called in his tenant, James Bailey, and his twelve-year-old nephew, Charles Lake, to help him bury them. Their shovels hit something hard, so they buried them in another spot. Then they went back to the first spot to dig more and uncovered a tusk. After that, they dug by hand and realized the tusk was still attached to the skill. On August 24, a derrick was used to remove the whole skeleton because the skull weighed 450 pounds. One tooth weighted almost five pounds. They kept working until all parts were removed, treating each part to preserve it. The hip bones were five feet, eight and a half inches from tip to tip and were four feet across.
Experts from The Ohio State University were contacted. Scientists differed on the age of the skeleton, ranging from 8,000 to 30,000 years. Either way, once the word “mastodon” hit the newspaper, folks drove from all over Ohio and other states to see it. Thousands of people poured in, paying $.25 each, to see the bones. C. A. Benedict was given the photo rights, so no other photographs were allowed. The Ohio Archeological and Historical Society offered Mr. Butt $1,000 for the skeleton, but he had made more money than that in parking fees in three days, so he refused the offer. It was owned by several people before finally finding a home in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. A path and a viewing area has been added to the site of the mastodon discovery.
In 1985, Dave and Kay Currens uncovered a skeleton while excavating for a pond on Mink Road. It turned out to be from an ancient moose, dating between 10,000 to 14,000 years old, which became extinct during the last Ice Age. This one had died in a former swamp or peat bog. The Ohio Historical Society came to identify and preserve the bones.

Bigelow, or Old Village Cemetery, is on West Coshocton Street in Johnstown. The DAR states that eight Revolutionary War soldiers are buried here, including Elijah Adams (1755 – 1843), Caleb Hill (1756 – 1842), Abel Jewett (1760 – 1832), John Martin (1744 – 1845), Moses Scovell (1762 – 1836), Thomas Perkins (1762 – 1837), Peter Stephens (no dates), and Benjamin DeWolf (b. 1763), An article in the May 5, 1976 Johnstown Independent questions, however, whether Perkins, Stephens, and DeWolf are actually buried there.
Green Hill Cemetery is on the south side of State Route 37 about half a mile northwest of Johnstown. This is the approximate location of the Wyandot village of Raccoon Town was located. It is a very large and active cemetery.
Tuller Cemetery is on State Route 62 and County Road 26. It has about 24 surnames represented. This Cemetery might have been called Twelve Corners Cemetery at one time.