June 9, 1949
Section 5 Township Range 7 East
Have you drawn your four-inch square and divided it into one inch squares. If so lets start on the west side at the center section line or the line between 5 and 9. Your map shows this to be the road that runs past the Mendon church and cemetery.
The early road we traced in Section 6, entered Section 5 near this spot and ran east to State Road 9, and from the information I have been able to gather, I believe this old road continued east across Section 5.
So far, the story of Mendon is rather confusing. It will take time to hunt up all the details, and I would be glad to have some of the local organizations undertake this part of the story.
I will mention a few brief items that were copied from County Histories and other articles.
The U.B. church at Mendon was built in 1844. The Antioch M.E. church was first organized about 1831. This organization met in a big log house that served as a church and school house.
In 1842, a frame church was built. Another item says the present church was built in 1868; also, a school house was build just east of the M.E. church and cemetery.
Such notes as these may help to uncover a more accurate history of this community.
I found dates as early as 1832 and 1833 in the burial plot of John Lambert in the old cemetery. If anyone knows of the Lamberts at the present time there might be a family history which would give some of the information we are seeking.
While we are talking about the location of Mendon, I think this is the place to mention that the Pendleton and Eden turnpike or the present State Road 9 was not built until 1862.
This road had nothing to do with the early days of the township.
We will leave the locality of Mendon and move east along this mid-section line to square No. 7; here, just north of the road and about 20 rods east of the west line of 7, was located a log cabin. This is on land owned by James bradley; about 20 rods south of this location in No. 11 and to the west some 10 or 12 rods is another place where a cabin was supposed to have stood. This ground has been in heavy sod for a number of years and it is impossible to check for evidence.
Between this supposedly cabin site and the north line of No. 11 was a gravel pit. W.C. Wood, or Cliff Wood as most of us know him, told me that back in the early ’90s, while hauling gravel from this pit, he found the upper part of a human skeleton, also other bones that were thought to be a part of a dog. Some of the bones were charred. The burial had fallen into a pit with a cave-in during the night and all evidence of the nature of the burial were lost.
While we are in the southeast quarter, move over in square 12 and place your cabin mark about 10 rods south of your north line and 20 rods west of the east line. This would be near and just south of Wilbur Woods’ house. Now drop down in the lower part of square 16 and place a cabin mark some 10 rods north of the county line and close to the line between 15 and 16.
This is all of the cabin sites that I know of at the present time in the lower half of this section; as to the old roads, one is almost forced to believe after looking over this land, noting the high and low ground, knowing of the other early names in adjoining sections to the east and south, that an old road led up from Hancock County along a general course similar to the present road that runs north and south through there. It probably joined the east and west road near the ford in Lick Creek close to where the creek now crosses the east section line.
I find but one log cabin site in the upper half of this section. It is in square 3 east of its west line about 20 rods and one the north bank of the creek. Some of the older folks have mentioned it as the Wiseman home. There should be more cabin sites here.
An incident happened in this locality back in 1883 that shows the progress our medical profession has made and their ability to cope with such a dreaded disease as smallpox.
Alonzo Shaul was stricken with this disease, and to protect the community, he was placed in a small frame house, which stood in the southeast corner of No. 1 about 10 or 15 rods west of State Road 9.
Frank Davis, who lived nearby, had had the smallpox while serving in the Army, and it fell his lot to take care of him.
People so feared the disease that some would not pass along the highway. After Shaul died, the house was never used as a dwelling. Landowners in this section at the present time are Emory Davis, Wm. Rogers, J. C. Bradley, W. C. Wood, Mrs. Noah Vernon, Clarence Gahimer and Carl Higginbotham.
Fifty years ago, the list read like this: Lorenzo Guy, calvin Davis, B. F. Davis, Cora Hayden, John Kuhns, Albert Wood, Abner and Jemina Vernon.
In 1843, we found Adam Lambert, Jacob Lambert, Christine Lambert, Daniel Hasting, Ted Kingcaid and Dan Tyson.
Before leaving this section and the community at Mendon, I want to mention what I think was part of an old road leading between the early settlement of Eden and Mendon.
About half a mile south of the county line, (State) Road 9 makes quite a bend to the east. If this road ran straight north to Lick Creek it would not miss very far the location of the Carter house and church that stood on the south bank of the creek in Section 6. It would have joined the east and west road near this place.
And by the way, Lewisville was moved east into Section 4.
