BROWN COUNTY, OHIO
OHGenWeb Project
Pleasant Township
submitted by Yolanda Campbell Lifter
Pleasant Township was one of the original five into which Clermont County was divided at the first term of the Justices' Court of General Quarter Sessions, February 25, 1801. The other four were Williamsburg, Ohio, Washington and O'Bannon. The records do not reveal its original boundaries or extent, but it is certain that it included much more territory than it contains at present. Washington Township seems to have intervened between it and the river, extending to the old Adams County line, and Lewis Township formed from the eastern end of Washington in 1807, included a part of what is now Pleasant. By the successive formation of neighboring townships, Pleasant has been reduced to its present limits. Its location is in the south central part of the county. Lewis and Clark Townships bound it on the west, Scott and Franklin on the north, and Jefferson and Union on the east; the Ohio forms its southern boundary. Its outlines are irregular. The meandering waters of White Oak Creek encompass it on the west, and the greater part of its eastern line is marked by the channel of Straight Creek, which is straight only in name. In size, it is third in the county. Perry exceeds it considerably, and Lewis slightly. Its area is 23,153 acres. Topographically, it exhibits all the varieties of surface, from almost perfectly flat and level farms to the deepest and most precipitous gorges found in this region. From the narrow valley that lines the Ohio, the hills rise to an altitude of several hundred feet, but break away within a few miles into rolling land, which toward the northern part of the township, becomes level. The little runs that drain the township into White Oak and Straight Creeks have cut their way through the limestone strata to a great depth, forming ravines so steep that they are scarcely approachable in places. The soil is usually argillaceous. Along the hills, the limestone, which enters into its composition, yields it the strength which makes it most excellent tobacco land. On the ridges in the southern part of the township, it possesses great fertility, but becomes more shallow and less productive toward the north. Ash, walnut, maple, sugar, linn and other varieties of timber grew luxuriantly in the southern portion, but toward the north, save in the bottom lands of the streams, the prevailing types were poplar, beech, hickory and oak. Tobacco is extensively raised, and may be considered the leading crop, though corn and wheat are also produced in considerable quantity. Much land in the northern part is used for hay and grass.
Early Settlers
Foremost among the pioneer settlers of Pleasant Township were the Ellises. By general assent, they are regarded as the first white men to make a permanent settlement in the township. Five brothers—Samuel, James, Hezekiah, Jeremiah and Nathan Ellis— in 1796, floated down the Ohio in a keelboat from Virginia, in quest of Western homes. Nathan landed at the site of Aberdeen, and subsequently became its founder, and a prominent citizen. Jeremiah and Hezekiah both settled on Eagle Creek, while James and Samuel continued on down the river in the boat until they reached a point one and a half miles above the month of White Oak Creek. Here they stopped and agreed to locate. They retained possession of the boat, using it for a residence until they had erected log cabins. The cabin of James was built farther down, within half a mile of the White Oak Creek bridge. James here kept one of the earliest distilleries in the county. He raised a family of children, but none of them or their posterity now live in that vicinity. Samuel soon purchased the land he settled on, and rose to opulence and prominence. He was tall in stature, possessed a vigorous constitution and indomitable energy. He died in his ninety-third year. At his request, he was interred on the spot where he first pitched his tent on landing in the Northwest Territory in 1796, but so close was it to the shore of the river that subsequently it became necessary to remove the remains to another portion of the farm. His children were James, Noah, Abram, Samuel, Matilda, Mary, Christina, India Ann, Nancy and Rebecca.
The History of Brown County, Ohio Containing A History of the County; Its Townships, Towns, Churches, Schools, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men; History of the Northwest Territory; History of Ohio; Map of Brown County; Constitution of the United States, Miscellaneous Matters, Etc., Etc. (Chicago: W.H. Beers & Co., 1883), 371-372.
Yolanda Campbell Lifter, Brown County Coordinator
Copyright © 2005-2006 Yolanda Campbell Lifter
This site may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without my consent.