JONATHAN M. BURROUGHS

   Jonathan M. Burroughs, was born in New Jersey, September 15, 1794, and married Mercy Bell, a daughter of Daniel Bell, one of the early settlers of Mill Creek Township.  In the fall or winter of 1815, Mr. Burroughs located on Mill Creel, in what is now Dover Township, on 400 acres of land which he leased of Thomas C. Geary, of Virginia, 200 acres of which were situated on the south side of Mill Creek, and 200 acres on the north side.  Here Mr. Burroughs struck the first blow in opening out the mighty forests of Dover Township, and here he made his first financial start in life, beginning with no capital, not even an outfit for housekeeping.  He erected his little log cabin, daubed with mud, and in midwinter moved into it with his young wife and companion.  In one corner of the cabin was erected a frame for a bedstead, consisting of two poles extending from holes bored in the logs of his cabin, and supported by a single corner post, with poles laid across for slats, upon which was laid a straw bed, and for cover they had a feather bed containing about five or six pounds of feathers and one blanket; this was all the bedding they possessed.  Their table consisted of a large slab into which were put legs.  His wife had a broken skillet, the only cooking utensil she possessed.  She had one broken plate, one knife with a part of the handle broken off, and one fork with one tine broken off; these composed their entire outfit of dishes, and served for her use at their meals.  Mr. Burroughs made a wooden fork for his own use, and for a knife to eat with he used his pocket knife, partaking of his food from a wooden plate of his own manufacture.  These constituted their entire outfit of table ware.  Spring and the sugar-making season were near at hand.  The forests were abundantly supplied with sugar trees, and their first effort must be to manufacture all the sugar possible.  But here again was another difficulty; they had no utensils for making sugar Mr. Burroughs from some source obtained, by renting, three large kettles, and with his own hands made a large quantity of wooden sugar troughs and tapped about 200 sugar trees.  Now the work and labor commenced; day and night, "week in and week out," they toiled, gathering the sugar water, boiling it down and making sugar, till the season for such work was past.  Now, they must market their sugar, and purchase some necessary articles for the house.  The nearest store was that of James Ewing, near Plain City, about ten miles distant.  He had no horse, there were no roads, but mere bridle-paths run by blazed trees.  He took upon his back all the sugar he could carry, and traveled the entire distance to the store on foot.  In exchange for his sugar, he purchased one-half dozen plates, one-half dozen knives and forks, one half dozen cups and saucers, one tin teapot, and one-quarter of a pound of tea, and with these on his back, hetrudged his way back to his home.  His wife unpacked and washed the dishes, while Mr. Burroughs with his ax split out a large slab, and dressed it up as smooth as possible, and upon pins driven into a log in the cabin he placed his slab, to serve as a shelf, upon which was placed this new supply of table-ware.  With hearts full of gratitude, and eyes beaming with delight and satisfaction, on the opposite side of the room of that humble cabin, stood the young pioneer with his trusting and affectionate wife, gazing upon that small, but to them beautiful and bountiful outfit, the result of their first united labors toward obtaining a home and a livelihood.  Who can fully realize the rapture that now filled their souls as they there stood and viewed their entire worldly goods, and know that their own labor had produced them, under the most adverse circumstances!  And who would be surprised that Mr. Burroughs says,"I tapped my wife on the shoulder, and said to her, 'we'll make it yet!'"  Mr. Burroughs said he felt prouder at that moment, over that success, than in after years he would have done, had he been presented with $10,000 in cash.  Mr. Burroughs remained upon this land he had leased about three years, during which time he had cleared forty acres.  At the expiration of seven years, he owned two horses, a good wagon, a yoke of oxen, five milch cows, nine head of two-year-old steers, and forty head of hogs.  Truly, his assertion to his wife, "we'll make it yet," was verified; he was now on the sure road to wealth and a fortune.  He now purchased 187 1/2 acres of land on Blues or Little Mill Creek-land which is now owned by John Robinson-on Survey No. 5,499, and here commenced to open out a home and a farm for himself; and here he resided for thirty years.  In the fall of 1853, he sold his place and removed to Illinois, where he resided till 1875.  The success that crowned his first efforts in his start in life was continued in an increased ratio, commensurate with the increase of his property and advantages to accumulate; and now at this period of his life, after threescore years of diligent toil and labor, he finds himself in possession of an ample competency; in amount many thousands of dollars.  At the last-mentioned date-1875--he removed to Lafayette, Ind., and in July 1882, he again returned to Union County, Ohio, and now resides with his son in the village of Dover, in the eighty-ninth year of his age.  Mr. Burroughs has been four times married, and his last and fourth wife he buried several years since, while a resident of Illinois.  His life, while successful financially, has also been characterized by liberality and probity-giving freely of his own means and influence to all worthy objects, improvements and progress of the communities where he has resided.