MEDIAPOLIS.
In 1867, a north and south railroad was talked up and subscriptions made. The citizens of Yellow Springs Township contributed $20,000 local aid, and in August, 1869, the track was laid and cars running to what is now Mediapolis. During the same month, W. H. Cartwright, A. Hemphill and W. W. King laid out town lots, which were surveyed by J. Wilson Williams. The first business building was put up in the fall of 1869, by Mr. Cartwright, and occupied by him with a general stock of goods in December, 1869. The erection of the depot building was commenced as soon as the track was completed to that point.
   Additions have since been made to the town by William Harper and D. G. Bruce.
   A tinshop was one of the early institutions. The post office was established in 1870, A. Messenger, Postmaster, who still retains the office. In 1875, $10,000 was subscribed to the B.&N.W.R.R., on which Mediapolis promises to be an important point, as it is already on the B.,C.R.&N. The Burlington & Northwestern Narrow-Gauge also passes through Mediapolis.
   Through the energetic labors of Rev. M. Bamford and his fellow lay workers, a good Methodist Church was built in Mediapolis in 1875, of which Rev. Bamford is still the Pastor.
   The United Presbyterians effected an organization in 1871, and built a church in Mediapolis in 1872. Rev. D. G. Bruce has for the past five years been its Pastor, having been preceded for short periods by Rev. Messrs. McDill, Blake and others. Since January, 1879, the Church has been without a minister.
The Independent District School, of Mediapolis, was established in temporary quarters in 1873, and taught by Miss Maggie Bruce. During the summer of 1877, a two-story frame schoolhouse was built at a cost of $2,500. The first teachers in the new schoolhouse were Miss Maggie Getty and Miss Minnie Cartright. The present teachers are Miss Maggie Getty and Miss May Cramer. The present attendance is about one hundred and thirty.
Progress Lodge, No. 226, A.,F.&A.M., was instituted under dispensation December 18, 1867, and chartered June 3, 1868. The first officers were: George Wright, W.M.; O. A. Paul, S.W.; D. M. Adams, J.W.; J. R. Backus, Secretary. The charter members were Morris Boss, George Wright, O. A. Paul, J. R. Backus, D. M. Adams, Isaac Guy and C. W. Littleton. The present officers are: R. W. Wilson, W.M.; N. B. Hixon, S.W.; H. C. Kline, J.W.; H. B. Cartright, Treasurer; Fred C. Tuttle, Secretary. The Lodge meets at Masonic Hall, has a present membership of forty-two, and property valued at $2,500.
   Garner Lodge, No. 379, I.O.O.F., was instituted under dispensation May 17, 1878, and named after Dr. Garner, first Grand Master of the State of Iowa, by A. J. Morrison, G. M., assisted by William Garrett, Grand Secretary. A charter was granted during the session of the Grand Lodge in October, 1878. The charter members were R. Smith, J. W. McCoy, J. W. Merrell, H. Ross, J. A. Nelson, J. S. Taylor and B. F. Stahl. The first officers were: R. Smith, N.G.; J. W. McCoy, V.G.; J. W. Merrell, Secretary; B. F. Stahl, Treasurer. The present officers are: J. W. McCoy, N.G.; J. W. Merrell, V.G.; T. H. Rhodes, Secretary; J. S. Taylor, Permanent Secretary; C. M. Adams, Treasurer. The Lodge meets in Masonic Hall, has a membership of twenty, and property value of $150.
Mediapolis Lodge, No. 67, of the Anti-Horse-Thief Association, was November 15, 1874, with the following as charter members: J. H. Guthrie, W. B. Bradley, H. C. Harper, Daniel Matson, Samuel F. Edwards, Joseph Carl, A. C. Brown, S. S. King, J. W. Talbott and E. G. Archer. The first officers were: John Talbott, W.P.; S. S. King, W.V.P.; John H. Guthrie, W. Secretary; A. C. Brown, W. Treasurer; Samuel Fry, W. Marshal. The secret work was given by the Grand Deputy, Henry Evans. The Lodge has now a membership of over forty, and has done some very efficient work. The object of this association is not to create a mob law, but to see that the laws of the State are properly enforced, and the community protected from rogues and outlaws. The present officers are: Fred C. Tuttle, W.P.; Thos. Davis, W.V.P.; J. P. Ware, W. Secretary; James Purcell, W. Treasurer; R. R. Lockhart, W. Marshal. Lodge meets in Carmean's Building.
The Mediapolis Brass Band was organized in October, 1878, with the following members: O. H. Talbott, R. Ware, Edward Bridges, Charles Deets, J. W. Hemphill, James McMullen, E. C. Loper, Charles Amborn; J. W. Hemphill, President; O. H. Talbott, Secretary.
The Enterprise was established by Newton & Green in December, 1874, with Mr. Newton as editor. It came into the possession of J. W. Merrill in September, 1875, after several changes of proprietorship. Mr. Merrill has conducted and edited the paper since that time. It is now in its fifth volume, and is enjoying a good local circulation.
   The business interests of Mediapolis consists of three general stores, two hotels, one hardware establishment, one drug store, one restaurant, one commission house, one grain firm, two harness-shops, two agricultural-implement concerns, three blacksmith-shops, one tinship, two wagon-manufacturing establishments, two physicians, two millinery firms, four carpenters, two shoe-makers, one painter, one jeweler, one watchmaker, one livery-stable, two tailors, one plasterer, one barber, one printing establishment, one real-estate firm and one butcher-shop.
   The township officers of Yellow Springs Township are: B. F. Stahl and Grafton Rhodes, Justices of the Peace; D. L. Tubbs and Edward Adams, Constables; L. F. Pierce, Clerk; J. H. Black, Assessor; J. R. Jones, J. R. Braden and William Housted, Trustees.

KOSSUTH.
   The first permanent settlement in this neighborhood was made by Jacob Westfall and Allen Eliot, near Yellow Springs, in the fall of 1834. Thomas and D. E. Blair made claims earlier, in the southwest part of this neighborhood, but coming on to improve, found them taken by others. Looking for unoccupied land, one went west as far as Mount Pleasant, the other came to Round Prairie, and was pleased with it. Both coming across next day, they found the Carter tribe, form the "State of Macoupin," making claims, and occupying from Thomas Hutchcroft's place to that of A. Rankin, inclusive. The man living on the last-named place offering to sell, they bought his logs and built a cabin, to which T. Blair moved his family in May, 1835. One day earlier, B. W. Clark and his relatives, moved in, occupying from the Mediapolis Road, south to Westfall's, and south of Westfall's to near Sperry. Allen Eliot had a claim on the north side of Round Prairie, the west half of which was sold to Joshua Swank, in March, 1835, Eliot retaining where J. and S. Waddle now live. Swank finding the bottom better for his stock, moved there the same spring, and with his brother Wesley and W. Milligan, were the first settlers there. Job Carter made his claim on which Kossuth now stands, and but a few rods from the present location his humble cabin stood
   July 3, 1836, the Territory changed its political relations, being then made a part of Wisconsin. The 4th of July dawned on a growing community. There were ten thousand people west of the river. They were opening farms and building houses; they were buying and selling; they were marrying and giving in marriage, and children were being born unto them.
   Allen Eliot and Miss Cole were married the previous winter, and so were Wesley Swank and Miss Henrietta Hilleary, but they were obliged to go within the jurisdiction of Illinois for the purpose. The first marriage in the neighborhood was that of Josiah Edwards and Miss Pamela Westfall, in 1837. In Huron, the first was Nathan Westfall and Miss K. McKee. The first birth was that of Jacob Westfall, Jr., at Yellow Springs. There were as yet no schools, but the Gospel was already preached by the adventurous and earnest Methodist itinerant. Rev. Mr. Stateler had made Westfall's a preaching-place in 1835, followed by Rev. Mr. Ruble, who died early in 1836. Father Isham Edwards, of the Newlight Church, also preached to his neighbors occasionally in the neighborhood of the Spring.
   The next ten years of Territorial life worked many changes. The main interest was agriculture, and the farmers became producers instead of consumers. Previously bread and meat had been hauled from Illinois. Hogs were few, and fattened on the acorns. Horses of that day would not satisfy the horsemen of this. Cattle were largely used for all kinds of labor, especially for breaking prairie, ten or twelve oxen making a plow-team. Many cattle died in the winter and spring from the scarcity of food. A traveler, finding a man beside a dead ox, offered sympathy; the granger replied "he didn't mind the loss of the ox, but as bothered for a place to dry the hide, as every panel of his fence was already in use." The coming years were years of plenty. The productiveness of the soil and freedom from weeds made farming easy. But there was no market except to new-comers, and new-comers and old settlers were alike hoarding their small means for the purchase of their homes. The land in Yellow Springs was sold in the winter of 1838. Claim organizations had been formed by the people throughout the country, and their rules were rigidly enforced.
   The first Justice of the Peace was William Dupont, who was appointed by Gov. Dodge in 1836. His decisions are still quoted, or rather those of his wife, for his family relations were like those of Adam, as given by the epigrammatist:
"He was the first by woman ruled,
The Devil ruled the woman."
Isham Edwards, Esq., Alexander and Philip Mascal, exercised the same office at an early day.
The Yellow Springs Presbyterian Church was organized September 12, 1840, by Rev. J. A. Carnahan with eleven members, and fourteen were added within the year. The first Elders were Thomas Blair, S. Fullenwider and John Bandy. The first preacher employed was Rev. W. C. Rankin in 1841. The Rev. S. Paine succeeded him in 1842, and the building of a church began. Rev. B. Roberts was his successor, remaining until 1847.
   During the summer of 1836, the members of two or three families met occasionally on the Sabbath, for Bible-reading and instruction, but no regular Sunday school was organized till April, 1837, at which time the "Round Prairie Sunday School" began its existence with thirty or forty scholars. T. Blair was the first Superintendent. The school was held in private houses at first, and afterward in a temporary schoolhouse until the summer of 1838, when it took possession of the schoolhouse here, and has had a home in Kossuth ever since. In 1841, a school was organized at the R. P. P. Church, and the school here took the name of "Yellow Springs Sunday School."
   A temperance society was formed in 1837, with Judge D. Rankin, President. A barrel of whisky was brought here in 1836, by Thomas Carter, for sale, but it was bought up by the temperance people, and the seller promised to bring no more, and intoxicating liquor has never been publicly sold in the neighborhood since.
   The first school was taught by Miss M. A. Blair, at the house of her father, T. Blair, in the spring of 1838. The next winter an unoccupied claim cabin was obtained, and Rev. Elihu Springer was employed. Miss Blair taught there the following summer. The same summer, Miss Becky McGinty taught the first school on the Bottom. In the summer of 1838, the first house built expressly for school purposes was erected here at Job Carter's spring, and William E. Gilliland taught the winter school. In 1841, May 15, the Board of School Inspectors of Yellow Springs Township, sent greetings through William Rankin, Township Clerk, to certain citizens in four districts of given bounds, to notify the electors to meet on the 19th of June following, to elect a Moderator, a Director and an Assessor for each of said districts, thus inaugurating the common-school system of free schools for the children of free men.
   In 1844, the charter for Jefferson Academy was obtained, and through the efforts of Rev. S. Paine, S. Fullenwider, T. Blair and others, the brick building, now the front of the Kossuth House was completed, and Rev. B. Roberts began, in the fall of 1845, his labors as Principal, with his daughter, Miss Louise, as Assistant.
   The close of the year 1846, December 28, found Iowa one of the States of the Union. In the first State Legislature were Dr. S. Fullenwider in the Senate, and D. E. Blair in the House. The political change of relation had little effect on local communities, or the life of the people. For the next ten years, the religious, material, educational and social interests of the county made steady advancement.
   The Methodists had raised and covered a log church at Yellow Springs, but loss of members at that point made a change desirable. In 1846, it was taken down and rebuilt as Wesley Chapel, two miles east of its first location, and occupied for ten years as a preaching-place by Rev. D. Crawford, 1846; J. Jamison, 1847; J. B. Hardy and J. T. Coleman, 1848; Thomas Kirkpatrick and N. King, 1849; Joseph McDowell and Joseph Cameron, 1850; H. N. Wilber and D. Dickenson, 1851; E. Lathrop, 1852; M. See and N. Wells, 1853; T. G. Thompson, 1854; J. Haynes, 1855. Through the efforts largely of Rev. J. Haynes a commodious and tasteful church was built at Northfield, 1855.
   In 1854, the Presbyterian Church was built at Kossuth, and Rev. B. Wall began his ministry there in 1855. The members seceding in 1846, united with the Yellow Springs Church. Rev. M. Whittlesey succeeded Mr. Roberts as preacher to that Church, followed by Mr. Eastman, for six months each. Rev. W. A. B. McCuistion began his ministry in 1849. Dying in 1851, Rev. G. W. Spaulding held the place for nearly a year. From 1852 to 1854, Rev. J. M. Philips labored here. After him, Prof. Ottinger filled the pulpit for a short time. Rev. E. J. Gillet was called to the pulpit in 1855, and supplied it for five years. In 1855, the ultra Abolitionists again bolted, and in 1856 built a church on the North Hill, in Kossuth. In 1850 and 1851, a general religious interest pervaded the entire community, and all the churches shared in ingathering of new members.
   Meanwhile, education was not neglected. Schools were established and well sustained everywhere. Rev. B. Roberts continued to teach at Jefferson Academy, assisted, in 1846, by Prof. M. L. Comstock and Miss M. A. Blair. In 1846, Porf. Comstock was Principal. For two or three years after this, it weakened badly, but began to improve in 1852, under the management of Rev. J. M. Philips. In 1853, J. W. McDill was a teacher, and also Prof. N. R. Leonard. Prof. Ottinger, in 1854, was its last Principal. The next summer, a new house was built, and it put on the new style of "Yellow Springs Collegiate Institute," and Dr. Gillet was called to the Presidency, with N. R. Leonard, Professor of Mathematics, and E. Pierce, of Language.
   The college prospered under the guidance and instruction of Dr. Gillet, Prof. Leonard, Pierce, Comstock and others, until 1861. From that time it declined, in spite of the efforts to sustain it by Prof. Pierce, S. R. Allen, J. W. Peet and others, till its final dissolution under W. D. Moore, 1869.
   July 5, 1873, Articles of Incorporation of "Kossuth Academy" were signed, and a school was started a few months later, with Miss V. L. Scott as Principal, and November 7, 1874, the college-building was purchased by the stockholders of the new institution. Under its present popular management, it presents a show of much good work done by both teachers and students.
   Yellow Springs had failed to become a center of either business or population, and in the fall of 1849, Messrs. W. H. Cartwright and J. J. Crowder, owning a stock of goods there, moved them to the basement of the Academy. In 1850, the postoffice was established and named "Kossuth," J. J. Crowder, Postmaster. S. S. McBride started a store later. Afterward, R. J. Harper was his partner. Still later, it was run by Heizer & Yost. Dr. Fullenwider was for some time a partner in the firm of W. H. Cartwright & Co., but retired and built the Kossuth House in 1856. In 1855, Oliver & Yost built and put in operation the Kossuth Mills, and sold, the year following, to Sweeney & Harper. The Kossuth Mills, after passing through the hands of Sweeney & Harper, Harper & Cox, Heizer & Cox, became the property of Heizer, Hutchcroft & Co., and under their management became one of the best paying institutions in the country, and the firm of Hutchcroft & Co. keep up their good name.
   A tile-factory a mile south of Kossuth, has added to the business, and greatly benefited the country. Messenger & McClurkin were its founders, in 1871. Messenger & Pierce are the present proprietors. So great has been the call for their products that the aid of a steam engine and much new machinery has been required and provided the present year. W. H. Cartwright continued his successful mercantile career here till the close of 1869. J. L. Yost, S. B. Heizer, James Waddle, S. Pollock, J. J. Crowder, J. W. Chapman, B. F. Vanleaven, James Vannice, John Bridges, M. Crane, R. R. and F. Wycoff, R. S. Hedges, J. N. Covert, M. L. Heizer, Joab Harper, T. Rhodes and others have sold goods here at various times with various results.
   The Free Church employed Rev. S. K. Kain in 1856, his pastorate lasting two years. Rev. D. Gilmore was their preacher in 1860. Rev. W. G. Kephart succeeded him, and preached till 1865, when Pastor and people were absorbed by the Yellow Springs Presbyterian Church, to which Mr. Kephart ministered until 1869. In 1870, April 13, the union of the Yellow Springs Church and that of Round Prairie were consummated and Rev. Alexander Scott became Pastor of the "First Presbyterian Church of Kossuth."
   Kossuth has now two general stores, one steam flouring-mill, one furniture store, one nursery, three physicians, two blacksmith-shops, one shoemaker, one millinery establishment and one steam tile-mill. The present Postmaker of Kossuth in John Bridges.

NORTHFIELD.
   Northfield is situated in the northeastern part of Yellow Springs Township. Part of the site of the village was claimed by Samuel Smith, who sold out to Silas Belknap. The latter entered the claim. The other portion of the present Northfield was originally claimed and entered by John Millard. Lewis Benedict was interested with Millard in the claim and sold the same to William Phiney. In the spring of 1837, James Carr came from Ohio and settled on a claim now partly joining and partly in Northfield. William Phiney, the founder of this village, was born in Connecticut, May 12, 1790, afterward lived in York State and Pennsylvania, from where, in 1836, he emigrated to Florence, Louisa Co., Iowa. There he kept a tavern and run a ferry-boat on the Iowa River. In 1843, he purchased the land heretofore referred to, which he improved and theron built a frame house. The neighborhood soon became thickly settled and went by the name of Hickory Point.
   In 1851, William McMullen and William Moore started a carding machine there, selling the next year to W. F. Robinson and Thomas Davis, who added much to the business and capacity of the establishment, and, in 1855, removed it to its present location. In 1852, the first dwelling-house was built by W. F. Robinson, and, in 1855, he was appointed Postmaster, the post office established and named Northfield. A store was started there in 1853, by Coty & Hiatt.
   The town lots were laid out by William Phiney, and surveyed by J. Wilson Williams, in 1866.
   In 1836, a German named Siedenbender established a claim just a half-mile north of the site of Northfield. He afterward sold to William Walter, he to Foster Carmean who now lives on it.
   Francis Blake residing in Huron Township, about two miles east of Northfield, was born in Franklin County, Vt., September 9, 1804. From there he emigrated with his brother Calvin Blake, to Peoria, leaving Vermont in September, 1834. They arrived at their destination in December of the same year. In April, 1836, Francis Blake and R. P. Burlingame, a nephew of Gen. Putnam, came to Iowa, on Iowa River, where they started a town called Iowa, and there opened a store. They dealt to a considerable extent with the Indians. During the summer of 1837, they dissolved partnership, Burlingame returned to Peoria, and Blake traded the remainder of his goods to Nathaniel Prime for a claim of 700 acres of land, which he commenced to improve at once, living in the old log cabin built by Prime. In 1849, Mr. Blake built a brick residence, which has since been enlarged, and where he now lives. November 3, 1842, he was married to Mary Houston, of Lee County. When Francis Blake came to Iowa, the following pioneers lived in the vicinity of Northfield: David Russell, Jerry Smith, Mr. Snowden, Thomas Sheridan, William Phiney, Thomas Blair, David Blair and Judge Rankin, most of whom settled in Iowa in 1836. In those days, religious meetings were held in private log cabins. The first preachers were Daniel Cartright, Mr. Comstock, Mr. Gifford, and N. Prime, all of whom were Methodists.
   The first school was taught in 1837, in a vacated claim cabin, located in what is now Yellow Springs Township, about three miles southwest of the present Northfield. In this cabin religious meetings were also held, and in the absence of a preacher, religious readings were substituted for sermons. Dr. S. Fullenwider was frequently the reader.
   The Methodist Church was the first house of worship erected in Northfield, and was built in 1855. James Haynes was the first preacher, and the present Pastor is T. J. Meyer. Previous to the building of this church, meetings were held in the schoolhouse, one-half of a mile east of the village.
   About 1856, the old school was moved into the village and taught by Miss Minerva Braden. In 1868, a new schoolhouse was built, and the teacher employed therefor was J. O. Andrews. The present teacher is D. C. Hubbs.
   A. N. Wycoff is the present Postmaster of Northfield.
   The village has two general stores, two blacksmiths, one shoemaker, one woolen-factory and two physicians.

LINTON.
   Linton is located five miles northwest of Mediapolis, and was founded by John H. McElhiney.
   John H. McElhiney, son of Robert McElhiney, born in Ireland in 1795, first saw the light of day in New York City July 9, 1827, and came to Iowa with his parents in 1841. They located in Louisa County, where Robert McElhiney still resides. In the spring of 1855, John H. McElhiney settled on 160 acres of land situated in the northwestern part of Yellow Springs Township. Afterward, he added 80 acres to the 160. Previous to bringing his family on to the farm, he erected a comfortable frame house as a residence. In 1869, when the railroad running north and south, called B., C. R. & M., or Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Minnesota, was graded to where Linton now stands, Mr. McElhiney laid out a portion of his property, 14 acres, into town-lots. He also presented the railroad company with 11 acres of ground, on condition that they build thereon a depot. This proposition was accepted, and the building was put up. The first buildings on the site of the prospective village were erected by John H. McElhiney, the same year the railroad-bed was graded, and one year prior to the coming of the first train. One of the buildings was occupied by M. Hughes as a wagon-maker's shop, and the other as a residence by the same. In the fall of 1869, J. H. McElhiney, J. McElhiney and R. R. Armour opened in the depot building the first store in Linton, the first being styled "R. R. Armour & Co."
   Linton has two general stores, one hotel, one blacksmith-shop, one shoemaker, one wagon-maker and one carpenter.
   The children of Linton attend the District School No. 1, situated one mile west of the village and taught by W. W. Carithers.
   The church-going people of Linton attend the Reformed Presbyterian Church, situated one and three-quarters mile southwest of the village, with Rev. T. P. Robb for Pastor.

DODGEVILLE.
   Dodgeville has for its founder John Lorton, who originally came from Illinois in the spring of 1836, and bought some two or three hundred acres of land about three miles south of the present village. The following spring, Mr. Lorton laid out town lots and adopted for the prospective town the name of Dodgeville, in honor of Gen. Dodge. When the lots were advertised for sale, some practical jokers struck out the letters d and e on the bills, making the word Dodgeville read Dogville, which angered the old gentleman greatly. The first store in Franklin Township was started by John Lorton, in Dodgeville, soon after the town was laid out.
   The first church edifice in Franklin Township was built by the Baptists in 1847, of stone, under the direction of James L. Gilmore, who was the first preacher in it. Surrounding this church is a beautiful cemetery, where are deposited the remains of the first Pastor and his wife. Rev. Gilmore died in Kentucky in 1865. In 1870, E. Ping was ordained Pastor, and has held the position ever since. Meetings are held in this church every second Saturday and Sunday in each month. The congregation was organized two or three years previous to the building of the church. The present membership is thirty-six.
   In 1840, John Thompson taught the first school in Franklin Township in a rented log building, near the site of the present district schoolhouse. After this a stone schoolhouse was built, and David Thompson taught the first school in it. In 1871, this structure was demolished, and on the same ground the present brick schoolhouse was built. The present teacher is Mr. O'Brien. The earliest settlers in Franklin Township were Mr. Naudy, an Irishman, who claimed 1,300 acres of land, on which he had built a log cabin. Claiming more than he could hold after the survey, part of it was jumped by Elias and Levi Larkin. Naudy finally sold the balance of his claim to G. Barnes and Dr. Hutchinson and left the country. After Naudy, came straggling along from 1836 to 1839, John Farrell, E. Dugan, John Burkhart, John McDonald, John Markley, Tillman Smith, Jonathan Zion, the Gilmores, Christian Cliner, W. C. Berry and Bolin Ping. The last-mentioned pioneer came from Pulaski County, Ky., in the fall of 1839, and settled on 320 acres, purchased of Levi Larkin, now a resident of Burlington. Mr. Ping's cabin was a mile and a half southeast of the present Dodgeville.
   The first post office in Franklin Township was established in 1836, at Burkhart's Point in a double log house with John Burkhart as Postmaster.
   Dodgeville has one general store, one blacksmith-shop, one wagon-maker, one hotel and one physician.

SPERRY.
   In 1869, John M. Sperry located on Sections 12 and 13 of Franklin Township, and started the post-station of Sperry. Mrs. Sperry was the first woman to settle there, and B. M. Sperry the first child born in the place. The first marriage was that of Leander Roberts and Martha Milligan, solemnized by Mr. Sperry, as Justice of the Peace. There is one church society in the village, the Methodists. Services are held in Sperry's Hall. The Methodist Episcopals hold monthly services there. There are two general stores and the usual mechanical places of business.
   Franklin Mills post office is located in this township.
   The first child born in the township was W. H. Smith, son of Tillman Smith, in 1835. The first flouring-mill was built by Mr. Burmeister, and was modeled after the ancient wind-mills. The mill was constructed of stone, circular in form, and was a genuine wind-mill. Many years were consumed in its erection, and the ruins of the old fortress-like edifice are to be seen at the present time. Modern improvements crowded out the primitive Dutch methods of making flour. The township was laid out in 1837, sectionized in 1838 and sold in 1839-40.

KINGSTON.
   Benton Township lies immediately north of Burlington. Kingston, located on Section 1, is a pleasant little village. It has two general stores, a blacksmith-shop, a shoe-shop, a hotel and other business interests. It was laid out by W. King. The old settlers in that vicinity were James Gordon, A. J. Hedge, Esquire Duryea and others. The present school averages an attendance of about forty, and is taught by J. Schenck. The Postmaster is W. G. Miller. Latty Station is a post office on the B.,C.R.&N.R.R., located in Section 20.

PLEASANT GROVE.
   Pleasant Grove is located on Section 11, of the township bearing the above name. The first settler in the township was William Miller, and the first white child born therein was his daughter, Lucetta. The first marriage ceremony was performed for a couple who were passing through in 1836--Mr. Elters and Miss Colton. The first schoolhouse was erected on Section 9. The first church was that of the Cumberland Presbyterian, built in the town of Pleasant Grove. The first minister was of that faith, and named Bonham. The township was laid out in 1838, surveyed into sections in 1839, and came into market in 1840.
   South Flint Post Office is in this township.
   Amityville and Huron are post offices in the Township of Huron. This township was settled in 1835, by Joshua and Wesley Swank. S. D. Coonrod came in 1839, and Benjamin Luckinbill in 1840. Nathan Westfall and Catharine McKee were the first couple married in this township.
   Washington Township has two post offices—La Vega and Roscoe. Yarmouth is a new town on the line of the Burlington and Northwestern Railroad.

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