History

Fairfield Township was founded in 1795. The Township is part of the Symmes Purchase negotiated in1794 by Judge John Cleves Symmes and others at his headquarters in Trenton, New Jersey. Major Benjamin Stites visited this area and returned to New Jersey to report his impression of the territory to Judge Symmes.

The northeast to the southwest corner of the Township is bounded by the Miami River. The river was essential for the key mill industries in the area in the 1800’s. Those mills included grist mills for barley, wheat, and corn, fulling mills and paper mills. There may also have been a sawmill that was water driven.

The earliest Fairfield Township Board of Trustees official records date back to 1818.The three trustees for that year were Hugh Wilson, John McDonald (his farm is now part of Harbin Park), and Dennis Ball. The clerk for the Township was William Murray. Overseers of the Poor were John Wallace and William Orson. Fence viewers (inspectors) were Solomon Line and Hezekiah Brodbury. In addition to all of these positions, the Township also employed seven road supervisors and two property appraisers.

Township officials were elected the first week in April. The polls, located in individual’s homes, remained opened for two days to allow for travel by foot or horseback. Judges and clerks were paid one dollar and fifty cents for every two days worked. Township trustees received fifteen dollars per year and the clerk received twenty dollars per year. Road supervisors received three dollars and mileage by horseback.

By 1826, the amount of tax collected in Fairfield Township amounted to $386.38. Road taxes were separate from property taxes and remained in effect for many years. These road taxes were usually paid either in money, labor, or material furnished by the property owner a long their expanse of road.

Property tax collectors in the Township earned 15% of whatever taxes they collected. This 15% included mileage on horseback. The remaining monies went first to the Township treasurer, and then to the county auditor.

Early pioneers of this area were lucky to survive. In 1830, the trustees of Fairfield Township had to levy a “Poor Tax” of two and half mills on the dollar to help care for the paupers. Each month, the Township took care of three to ten paupers.

By 1835, the first mention was made about the necessity of a tax for schools in the amount of one-half mill on the dollar. Township trustees were in charge of appointing directors for the establishment of school districts, long before the schoolhouses were even built. For many years, parents, by voluntary subscription, paid half of the cost needed for educating their children.