LEWIS CENTER OHIO HISTORY

This Township was originally known as Township 3, Range 18 of the United States Military Lands. On September 18, 1816, the county commissioners granted a petition to set off the original survey as a separate township. The Township was to be called the classic name of Virgil, but this was too much for the simple minded folk of those days and a petition was presented to the commissioners to change the name to Orange.

Soon after the War, Lee Hurlburt settled on the west bank of Alum Creek. Hurlburt had gone to the War of 1812 as a substitute for his father who had come to the township with him, bringing his family of twenty-three children. The first settler on Alum Creek was probably Samuel Ferson who came from Pennsylvania and settled here about 1819. The beautiful area by the Alum Creek Reservoir is interesting because it was settled early. Its homes and people have had exceptionally long lines and extended families.

In 1824, David Patterson, Cyrus Chambers, Thomas McCloud and Nelson Skeels settled on the west bank of the creek. The Samuel Patterson’s purchased a farm for $2.06 per acre on the east side of the creek and built here. Other family members also built on the land. They were originally built of hand-built bricks they made themselves. Sam’s house was used in the chain of "underground railway stations" during the Civil War. Many notable families later chose to live here.