Township History

On May 10, 1788, a tract of land containing 236 acres plus allowances and situated about one mile east of the present town of Hickory was patented to one Matthew Hillis, and the patent name given to the tract was “Mount Pleasant”. At that time, the area comprised within the present Township of Mt. Pleasant was an almost unbroken wilderness. Quite a number of white people had already located here, but the clearing of the forests had only begun. However, the elevation of the land, the richness of the soil and the excellent drainage provided by Chartiers Creek, Raccoon Creek and Cross Creek had attracted a good class of settlers. Mt.Pleasant was not one of the original thirteen townships of Washington County. The territory included within the Township was formerly a part of the now surrounding townships of Smith, Cecil, Hopewell and Canton, all of which were “original” townships, which were set up at the time Washington County was established in 1781. On January 6, 1806, a petition signed by citizens of this section of the County was presented to the Grand Jury of the Court of Quarter Sessions of the County, praying for the erection of a new township whose territory was to be taken from the four above-mentioned townships. The Grand Jury acted favorably on this petition, and in the May term of Court in that year of 1806, the action of the Grand Jury was confirmed and a decree ordered for the erection of a new Township to be called “Mount Pleasant”. Therefore, in 2006, Mt. Pleasant Township celebrated its 200^th Anniversary of corporate existence. An addition was made to the area of Mt. Pleasant in 1831 when a small strip of land was taken from Chartiers Township and annexed to Mt. Pleasant Township.