The third settlement in the township was made by George
Coons, in the T. Bowyer Survey, No. 5,289. Mr. Coons purchased 100 acres, about two miles
north of York Center, and in the fall of 1829 came out from his home in Fairfield County,
and built a cabin. During the winter, he brought out several wagon-loads of goods, and in
the spring following came with his family, arriving at the now home April 1, 1834. The
Miller settlement, and the settlement just below the site of Summersville, were the only
portions of the township occupied by settlers at this time, and the labor of cutting a
wagon road to his home in the wilderness devolved upon Mr. Coons, and was performed by
arduous labor. Mr. Coons was a farmer, and spent the remainder of his life on the farm he
first settled. He died October 19, 1856, aged seventy-eight years. His wife, Keziah,
survived him twenty years, and died at the age of ninety-three. The family of the pioneer
and highly-esteemed couple consisted of four sons and four daughters, all of whom became
early residents of the township. The four sons, John, Thomas S., Brice and Harris, and two
daughters, Letitia, who afterward married Levin Wright, and Rhoda who afterward became the
wife of A. G. Brooks, accompanied their parents to the township. The other two daughters
had entered married life in 1829 - Sally with Jacob Bollenbaugh and Allis with John
Stamates. Mr. and Mrs. Bollenbaugh, in 1830, at the same time the Coons family settled
here, moved from Fairfield County to Hancock County; but after a sojourn there of several
years came to York Township, and settled among their friends. Mr. Bollenbaugh was a
straightforward, industrious German, Democratic, and afterward Republican in politics,
and, like the Coons, of the Baptist persuasion. Besides farming, he operated a little
tannery for a time. He died a few years ago, leaving a family of children to possess his
homestead.
Nathaniel Brooks settled in the Coons settlement in 1832. He
was from New York, and was class leader in the Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics he
was strongly Whig. He died in 1836, leaving a family of four sons, Archibald G., James,
Joseph and Robert, and several daughters. Archibald G. was a man of prominence in the
township, and died recently.