Liberty Township

Parent Township(s):

Liberty Township was the sixth township in the county to be created.

First Settled: 1813 or 1814

First Settler:

Levi Carter was the first settler in this area between 1813 and 1814. He came to the area upon hearing that General McArthur would offer 100 acres of land to anyone who would permanently settle upon it.

Surveyed: The first surveys in this township were made in 1799.

Recorded: June 1822

Name Origin:

Past and Present Towns and Places of Habitation:

Past and Present US Post Offices:

One-Room Schools: Number 1 - Lunda, Shirktown, College Hill, Carter, Raymond(Newton), Flat Branch, Stickney, Peoria, West Flat Branch, and Leatherwood.

Carter's Settlement -

Garwood's Mills -

Kingsville - This village was surveyed and platted in September of 1834 for Samuel King by Levi Phelps, County Surveyor. The town was properly recorded in the in October 1834 in the county office, but no building ever took place on the town site. Raymond, called Newton when it was originally platted, was eventually built on nearly the same site within four years.

Lunda - Lunda was never much more than a mail station on the railroad. It was located at the intersection of present day SR 347 and Lunda Road.

Newton - Newton is the name that Raymond was orginally known by. Newton was platted on August 25, 1838 for David Paul. Nathanial and Melissa Raymond had the town resurveyed on February 1, 1839. Over time, the town became known as Raymond's Post office, after the first post master, John Raymond. Over the year the "s" was dropped.

Peoria - This small village was started as a station on the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Railroad. Peoria was surveyed in May of 1870. The first store in this village was operated by Robert Finley. The post office was established here on September 26, 1872, with Robert Finley serving as the first postmaster. At one time there was a general store, a warehouse, and a sawmill in the town. The village now consists of several houses.

The Peoria Special Rural School District was chartered in this village in 1930. The school building for this district was ebuilt in 1905. Students from this school went on to either Raymond High School or Marysville High School to complete their education after eitgh grade.

Pepper Corners - This is another reference to Lunda.

Raymond - Raymond was founded as Newton in 1838. Hezekiah David built the first house in this village. The first hotel was erected and maintained by John Raymond. The US post office was established in this village in 1839, and John Raymond was commissioned the first post master. At one time the town supported a shoe shop, three church congregations, a photography studio, a harness shop, two general stores, a hotel, a school, a furniture shop, two blacksmiths, and a drug store. Today, a branch of the Marysville Public Library is also located in Raymond.

The Liberty Rural School was eventually consolidated at Raymond. The building for this school was built in 1914. This district received its charter in 1916. The school district was eventually consolidated into the larger Marysville Exempted Village Schools. The Marysville school district maintains an elementary school in the village today.

Lunda - The post office at Lunda was opened on August 18, 1896. The post office was closed on February 14, 1906. The area is now served by the West Mansfield post office.

Newton - This post office was established in May 6, 1839. John Raymond was the first postmaster. As a result, the post office was soon referred to as Raymond's

Peoria - Robert Finley served as the first post master of this small village when it was established on September 26, 1872. This post office was closed on August 11, 1967.

Raymond - The Raymond post office was originally established in 1839 as the Newton post office. It was known as Raymond's post office until January 13, 1896. This post office has been known as Raymond since January 14, 1896. Today the post office remains in service with a zipcode of 43067.