An American Family History

Although this township was very late in its settlement and organization, its development was steady and its progress, along every line, rapid. It boasts of the two most important towns in the county, aside from the county seat, in Botkins and Anna, although the latter is partly in Franklin township. It is regular in its outline, being six miles square, and is centrally located in the northern tier of townships of Shelby county, its north line being bounded by Auglaize county.

The commissioners' records show the township to have been independently organized on December 3, 1832. Pursuant to an order by the commissioners of the county, the citizens of the township met at the home of Joseph Green, December 25, 1832, and elected the various township officers. Dinsmore township is level, practically speaking, and the soil is such as to attract agriculturists, being well adapted for the growing of the various grains and grasses. It is drained by a number of small streams which take their rise in the township.

It seems the first real settlement was made here in 1832, which marked the arrival of a number of families, but it is reasonably certain some located farms here the previous year, notably Wilham Blakely, of Franklin county, Ohio, and Silas D. Allen, of Pickaway county, Ohio.

There has always been a diversity of opinion as to who was the. first to take up residence within the township, many according the honor to George Turner, who came from Greene county, Ohio, in 1832. The latter did not remain long at that time, owing to the prevalence of milk sickness, but in1837 again returned but took up a different farm.

Mr. Turner was followed, in the same year, by Joseph Green, from Warren county, Ohio, who with his wife and five children, located on a farm in section 28, on a part of which the village of Anna is partly located.

John Munch, of Greene county, Ohio, whose farm also lay in section 28, and was partly included in the village of Anna; Richard C. Dill, of Hamilton county, Ohio, who brought his wife and eleven children; Samuel Blakeley, of Franklin county, Ohio, who came here from   Franklin township where he had settled in 1830; and Richard Botkin, who came from Hamilton county, Ohio.

The following year, 1833, witnessed   the arrival of: Alfred Staley, of Montgomery county, Ohio; Hector Lemon, of Chester county, Pennsylvania: Joseph Park, of New Jersey; Erasmus B. Toland, of Miami county, Ohio; Philip Good, who came from Greene county, Ohio, but was a native of Pennsylvania; and Philip Hagelberger, a native of  France.

In 1834, there came: Jacob Wilford, his wife and five children, from Virginia; Philip Brideweiser, from Franklin county, Ohio; David Taylor, his wife and eight children, from Greene county, Ohio; Peter Boling  and family, from Montgomery county, Ohio; William Ellis and family from Virginia; Frederick Oxburger, of Germany; and Samuel and William Elliott, who located in section 4.

Thomas Iiams and family came from Warren county, Ohio, in 1835; Cornelius Elliott, of Licking county, Ohio, in 1835; Daniel Toland, of Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1836; William H. Abbott, in 1836; John Fahr, of Perry county, Ohio, in 1836; and Diadrich Schulte in 1838.

This is by no means regarded as an exhaustive list of those who came during the period mentioned, but time has thoroughly obscured facts once so easy to obtain. Settlement was quite backward in the early years, largely because of milk sickness, but became very general in the forties, and as a whole those who came were of a wholesome and progressive class. . .
Farming has generally claimed the attention of the rural residents of Dinsmore township, and such industries as have been fostered have been mainly in the villages.

There was in earlier years considerable sawing done, but timber too quickly disappeared for that industry to be other than a small one here. A very successful plant, established in Dinsmore, on the William P. Davis farm, in 1871, was a tile yard which was given the name of the Montra Tile Yards, being three-fourths of a mile west of Montra. It was   started by William P. Davis and M. Merkling and was operated by them some years before passing into other hands.

In 1849 a saw mill was established in section 26, operated by a forty-horse power engine. Silas D. Allen and George Duff, the original owners, conducted it until the death of the former in June, 1850, after which the latter carried on the business until in 1851. He then sold a half interest to Michael Fogt and the firm of Duff & Fogt continued for several years. It was then operated by several owners until 1861, then existed in a state of disuse until it was  finally torn down.

In 1874, Messrs. L. Davis and J. C. Linton established what was long known as the Linton steam saw mill, they conducting it in partnership until 1878, when Mr. Linton conducted it alone. The business was discontinued here many years ago the proprietors moving to Dayton, Ohio. . .

The first regular school in the township was conducted in a crude log structure, about twenty feet square, with puncheon floor and seats. A large fire-place extended the full width of the building, on one side, and there was a stick chimney and a one-light window. It was built in 1836 and the first teacher there was William D. Johnson.

A second building of similar type, except as to windows, was built in section 23 in 1840, and here William Wilson and E. T. Mede were early teachers. The third schoolhouse, also log, was erected in section 14, and became known as the Beck schoolhouse, the first teacher there being James Beck. The buildings of the next period represented the advancement from the round log to the hewed log and frame type, and were variously located throughout the township. A uniform plan of locating them came into being, a building being erected in the center of every four sections, thus making nine schools. An additional school was established for the colored children, but in 1870 race segregation was abolished. As new school laws came into effect, the districts were much changed from time to time.

Anna, a station on the C. H. & D. Railway, was surveyed for John L. and Fletcher S. Thirkield. in 1867, and lies in Dinsmore and Franklin townships. The name, Anna, was given it in honor of Mrs. Anna Thirkield. It is a prosperous place, the last census showing its population to be 460, and it is steadily growing. The plat of the town was recorded April 25, 1868, and in 1877 a petition was presented to the board of county commissioners for its incorporation as a village. . .

The greatest civilizing agency we have, the church, was not long in establishing itself, in fact before the township was more than sparsely settled. Brief mention is here made of the history of the various congregations:

St. Jacob's Evangelical Lutheran Congregation
One of the most beautiful church edifices in the county is that of St. Jacob's Evangelical Lutheran at Anna, which was dedicated August 4, 1907. The birth of this church was eighty years ago in 1832, when a few Lutherans, strong in their faith, settled in the virgin forest near Anna and the first preacher was the Rev. Henry Joesting, whose parsonage was a log structure of one room, which served as a residence, a schoolhouse, and a place for Sunday services.

The names of John Altermath, Michael Altermath, Louis Bey and John Moothart, appear on the records, and they were soon joined by Germans of like faith. In the fall of 1833 their number was increased by Philip Jacob Hagelberger, John Fogt, John Jacob Finkenbein, John Jacob Zimpher, Frederick Knasel, Henry Breitweiser, Henry Schaefer, Samuel Schaefer, and Benjamin Werth, with their families.

A log church was erected in 1835-36, thirty-six feet long and twenty-four feet wide, for which the contractor, Jesse Weistch, got $100 for his labor. The seats were boards on trestles. It was built on the site which afterwards was the Lutheran cemetery, David Swander giving the land.

Botkins Methodist Episcopal Church
The congregation of this church was in existence some years before a church edifice was erected. It was organized in 1833 or 1834 at the home of Richard Botkin, by the Rev. Daniel D. Davidson, assisted by Rev. James Smith. Among the prominent early members were: Richard Botkin and wife, Henry Hildebrant and wife Cornelius Montfort and wife, Cornelius Elliott and wife, and Samuel Elliott and wife. For several years services were held in the home of Richard Botkin, and subsequently in a log house in Botkins until 1841, in which year they erected a hewed log church, on ground donated for that purpose by Richard Botkin

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