Early Inhabitants
Since this township was originally a part of Harrison County it is
difficult to say who the first settlers were. According to some of the
older history books there were quite a few early pioneers who started
farms here. One such family was that of Peter and Elizabeth
Rutan. In the year 1818,
Peter and Elizabeth with their six children moved from Fayette County,
Pennsylvania to what was then Harrison County. Of their six children was
their son Alexander. He married Sarah Wortman and on August 16, 1843
they became the parents of David. David would go on to the Rural
Seminary at Harlem Springs for the winter of 1864-1865 and then enlisted
in the military. He returned in 1867 to complete his education at Scio
College. The Rutans had another son, named James, who also served in the
military during the Civil War. He enlisted as a volunteer from
Pennsylvania and was commissioned a first lieutenant. After the war he
served three years as State Senator from Pennsylvania, six years as
United States marshal and four years as collector at the Port of
Pittsburgh. Later he was appointed consul at Florence, Italy, by
President Grant, but refused the appointment. A third son, Samuel,
served in the Ninety-eighth O. V. I. and served as a sergeant until he
was wounded at Chickamauga.
Another early family was that of the
Tiptons. Miles Tipton was
born in Pennsylvania in 1809 and came with his parents to Harrison
County Ohio during the War of 1812. Later the farm would become a part
of Perry Township in Carroll County. Miles’ wife was Susanna Ross. Her
father came to the area from Ireland after serving as pay-master in the
War of 1812. She too was born in Pennsylvania and it is said her parents
came to the US from Ireland by the way of Germany.
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The Kirby family is
probably one of the most recognized in Perry Township and had an
early part in the township’s history. Joseph Kirby married
Catherine Anderson and had eight children. Joseph served in the
War of 1812 and became a cripple. He died in Bedford County,
Pennsylvania in 1822 and so his widow packed up the eight
children and moved to what is now Carroll County. There, their
son Ephraim met and married Elizabeth Bear. Elizabeth was the |
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Kirby Family Reunion 1927
taken outside of the Kirby Hotel |
The Bear family
moved to Ohio in 1813,twenty
years before Carroll County was |
At
the time the land was mostly wilderness and they had to contend with
Native Americans, bears, wolves and other wild animals.
Oddly enough, this township seemed to have a number of doctors in
its midst. To look at the area now, it’s surprising to believe there
were even towns of any significance.
From 1824 to 1907, the area of McGuire Creek (on Bramble Road)
was home to the county’s first doctor. His name was Dr. Andrew J. Scott
and he and his wife, Jane, reared 10 children. Sadly, six passed away
from tuberculosis.
One of the best known doctors was Hiram Tope. Hiram’s
grandfather, George, built the first grist mill in Union Township and
helped found Petersburg. George’s son Henry was a gunsmith by trade and
in June 1836 he married Catharine Croghan who was also a native of
Carroll County. In 1849 Henry and Catharine were living in Peru,
Illinois when a cholera epidemic overcame them both and the two died
within days of each other. Needless to say, their children were sent
back to Ohio to live with Grandpa George. At that time, George Tope was
living in New Hagerstown. Hiram was only six years old. At the age of
nineteen Hiram went to Columbus, Ohio where he studied
medicine for four years, even teaching at some intervals to help
pay for his education. He graduated and practiced medicine in
western Ohio for one year. Then he returned to Perrysville. He
served his country during the Civil War as Surgeon on the field.
When he once again returned to Perrysville, Dr. Tope brought
with him his warhorse, Julia. Dr. Tope practiced medicine in
Perrysville
West
Main St.
Julia with Ulysses I. Tope holding Flag
Blanket has a listing of all the
battlefields he served
Like most of the county, Perry Township had at least one
grist-mill. Three miles east of Perrysville, was the farm of the Amos
family. Benjamin Amos moved to this location from Maryland. He and his
wife Charity Webb Amos built a grist-mill with a mill race one mile
long. The Amos family also
ran a general country store which made them one of the more prominent
families in the area.