People like to say that the story of Clintonville starts with the story of Thomas Bull Jr., who came to this area in 1812 with his family from Vermont, by way of Worthington. Bull purchased about 680 acres in Clinton Township, and bequeathed land to his children when he died in 1823. Bull and his family were Methodists and abolitionists. The family graves were moved in March 1910 to Union Cemetery, section “new”, lot 176, across from the flagpole. (Despite the section name, this is in the old area of Union Cemetery on the east side of Olentangy River Road.)

This is the Thomas Bull residence which stood on the east side of High Street between Dunedin and Piedmont. Some of the information about the house is conflicting, but Nancy Pendleton states that Alonson Bull helped to build the house around 1821 and lived there until the mid-1860s. The local Methodist congregation held services in this house until Thomas Bull’s death in 1823. Elias Pegg purchased it, along with its farm, in 1862 and raised his children there. The house was torn down in August 1931. This photo is from the Sunday edition of Cols Dispatch March 5, 1950.

Thomas Bull’s daughter Chloe came to the area with her husband Isaac Brevoort and son Henry around 1812. Isaac Brevoort was helping build a barn across the Olentangy River and was crossing the flood-swollen river in February 1814 when his boat was swamped and he drowned. He was 23 years old, and was buried just 100 yards from the river. That grave is now someone’s back yard. Some say the grave is behind 247 Kenworth; some sources say it’s behind 253 Kenworth; some sources say that Isaac Brevoort is buried behind 253, and Thomas Bull Senior (father of Thomas Bull Junior) is behind either 247, or 253, or 257.

Henry Brevoort’s house was built at 3620 North High Street, behind the original Brevoort cabin. The house continued to exist until around the 1970s, when it was torn down. The Brevoorts had an 80 acre farm; Developer Charles Johnson purchased the farm in 1909, and planned the Northmoor neighborhood carefully. He had the idea that vacant space induced people to build a nice house. Accordingly, he platted Northmoor Park and gave it to the city. He also did this with the bird sanctuary that today is known as “the Delta,” at the west end of Webster Park.

An early 1970s article stated that “stones still mark the [Brevoort] cabin” and that “once past the field stone gateposts [which were just wide enough for a carriage], the ancient barn where Frank Brevoort once operated a dairy still stands.” Does any of this still exist?

Clintonville was never platted as a formal village. Alanson Bull, the son of Thomas Bull, sold several small lots to tradesmen for their shops. Located at the northwest corner of High Street and Orchard Lane, a post office opened in 1847, in a two-story frame building on the northwest corner of High Street and Orchard Lane, and was given the name Clintonville because it was located at the center of Clinton Township. (This building has since been torn down.) The postmaster conducted a rag rug business upstairs. High Street at that time was a dirt and plank turnpike connecting Columbus with Worthington and Sandusky. In 1913 a new two-story brick building was erected on Dunedin at High. Mr. Legg operated a grocery store; Mrs. Legg sold notions. The post office moved there and remained until 1917—when, according to one source, RFD was offered, and according to another source, because the area was annexed by the city of Columbus. (I believe this second post office was a small building behind the corner building.) (Photo courtesy of the Clintonville Historical Society)

Alonson Bull and his brother Jason were abolitionists, Jason serving as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad from Clinton Chapel at 3100 North High Street. Jason’s photograph is in the Wilbur H. Siebert Collection at the Ohio Historical Society.

Edward L. Sebring (1839?-1905) worked with Jason Bull to aid fugitive slaves escaping to freedom in Canada from Columbus, Franklin County, Ohio, to the next safe station. His photograph is in the Wilbur H. Siebert Collection of the Ohio Historical Society.

James G. Bull (1838-1927) was a grandson of Thomas Bull. James served as Columbus Mayor from 1865 to 1868 and from 1871 to 1875. His grandfather, Thomas Bull, was the first white settler of the area and James’ father, Alonson Bull, founded Clintonville in 1846. (Photo courtesy of Columbus Metropolitan Libraries)

include the Smiths, Websters, Coes, Whipps, Hunts, Wilsons, Bucks, and the Cookes. John Buck acquired land around Henderson and High early on, and then sold some of the land to Chauncey Cooke. Cooke in turn donated the land to the Clinton Township in 1842 to be used as a school.

… is credited with starting Kenyon College somewhere near North High Street and Selby Roads, in a house that has since been razed. An earlier home of Chase still stands at 62 Lincoln Avenue.

I found this little biography about Frederick Weber (1806-1885) and his son George (b. 1843) in A Centennial Biographical History of the City of Columbus and Franklin County Ohio (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1901) pp. 278-280. I admit I have done little research on this Clinton Township family and have not even researched where their farm was located.

Barnabas Phinney (ca. 1813-1899) came to the area in 1838, and purchased 60 acres of land near the northwest corner of today’s Henderson Road and North High Street. In addition to farming, Phinney was an investor in the toll road running from Columbus to Worthington, and in the electric streetcar company. His house was said to be majestic. He and his wife had no children, and after his death most of the property was sold. A bit more biographical information can be found in A Centennial Biographical History of the City of Columbus and Franklin County Ohio (Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1901) p. 872 excerpted here. His obituary from the Columbus Dispatch January 30, 1899 is here.

Another one of the first families of Clintonville was the Cooke family. According to the family’s history, Roswell Cooke (1764-1827) came to Ohio with his wife and five children in 1800 from Connecticut. His two eldest sons, Rodney and Chauncey, took up land 6 miles north of the state house, their farms adjoining (in the vicinity of Cooke Road and North High Street). They cleared the land and both erected “houses out of round, unhewn logs, with puncheon floors and primitive fire places, with mud-and-stick chimneys.” The brothers lived the rest of their lives on these farms. Family history states that in 1827 they constructed one of the first grist and saw mills on the Olentangy River, which later became known as the Whipp and then as the Weisheimer Mill. They also operated a distillery. (Photo courtesy of Terry Miller.)

Rodney’s son, H.C. Cooke, was born in 1825, and took up residence on the old Cooke homestead at 4243 North High Street. Over time H.C. amassed 300 acres. He was a successful businessman, including in the stock business, and then owned the firm Cooke, Grant & Cooke, contractors in the construction of heavy masonry for railroad and other bridges. He was one of the officers of the Worthington & Columbus streetcar line. (You can click on this map to enlarge it.) (Photo courtesy of Carl Cooke.)

Just a bit more background information. The current name of the company Henry C. Cooke founded is the Fritz-Rumer-Cooke Co., Inc. They are still in business. The Secretary of State’s website states that one of their prior names was the Fritz Rumer Cooke Grant Company, changed to Fritz-Rumer-Cooke Co., Inc. in 1918. The company’s website states that it was founded in 1879 and incorporated in Ohio in 1911, and is still managed by descendants of the Cooke family. (This information courtesy of the Columbus Metropolitan Library.)