Providence Township:

Providence Township was first settled by Levi Reece, William Robbins, E.I. Reece and John J. Thornton in 1851l Since the early days, this good Quaker settlement is said to have been one of the wealthiest townships in Hardin county. Several of the other early founding fathers were James L. Tulbert, William Hobson, and Samuel Dillon. Some of the important first highlights of the township were: the first birth being Sarah B. Thorton in the fall of 1851; the first death being William Dobbins on September 6, 1852; the first couple married was James Dillon and the widow of Patrick Fitzgerld; the first church being the Society of Friends church, erected in 1854; the fist public school taught by James Tulbert in 1854; the first water mill was erected by L. Lawrence, it was later sold to J.S. Hadley and was known as Hadley's Mill.

Among the virtues of the Friends church and the local citizenry was that of letting alchoholic liquor entirely alone. When the vote was to be counted, after the heated temperance campaign of 1882 over the proposed constitutional amendment which finally carried by thirty thousand majority in Iowa, and was killed by the technical reading in the House, the neglect of an engrossing clerk and the ruling of the supreme court, it was found that out of the 250 votes cast in Providence township, only 2 solitary votes were cast "For" the saloon in Iowa, a record such as never before had been recorded in a vote of that size. The election was held June 27, 1882, and the to township has never had a saloon before or since in its borders.

New Providence was platted in 1855 by E. Andrews, Dr. Eli Jessup and Daniel Dillon and was filed for record on February 8, 1856. Some of the early establishments were general store run by Calvin McCracken in 1856, also other merchants in dry goods were Bench & Ketch, Robert King, Joseph white, Weldman & Owen & Company, Weldman Brothers, and C.B. Haworth. A hardware store was established in 1863 by J.B. Mulford. Lawn Hill was the site of the railroad station point, but never prospered in any size. New Providence was struck by a cyclone in 1860 and was crippled, but not nearly as bad as the fire of 1910 which took all the businesses and most of the homes leaving only the bank and post office untouched. In 1905 the town had a population of 240. It is one of Hardin county's oldest places, and its Friends Academy was wellknown throught the entire West. The post office was established in 1860. Since the records are somewhat incomplete, it is throught that either Stephen or Millard Mulford was first postmaster.

Sherman Township:

The township was named for General Wm. T. Sherman of Civil War fame. This township was entirely a paririe section and full of marshes and ponds, but as it became more settled they were drained by open ditches, then by blind ditches, and then by tiling. The majority of the land was gobbled up by speculators and held by them which greatly slowed actual settlement. There was no timber for fuel, fence rails and buildings. The first birth in Sherman township was Mary Williams, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philo Williams. She was born in July 1869. The first marriage was Fred Winterfield to Wena Radhoe in 1872. The ceremony was performed by Andrew Bronson, justice of the peace of Ellis township. The first death was a suicide of Ole Anderson in 1869 who was despondent because of the recent death of his wife.

A small pox epidemic in 1871 resulted in 5 deaths and the first cemetery was established in section 1 known as the Sherman cemetery. The town of Radcliffe was platted in 1880 on section 29, and named by a Mr. Bliss, a land man for the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Co. A.N. Drake erected the first building with lumber hauled from Hubbard by team and wagon and established the first store and post office. The railroad was completed in 1881. Other businesses of drug store, lumber yard, furniture store, grain elevator, and others were eventually added. An early fire destroyed some of the stores and in 1901 the town was bonded to build a water works system and 3 wells were sunk and a water tower put up. The town of Sherman was started on the Shortline Railway in 1903, with a general store and post office, a few shops, a grain warehouse, a hardware store and a machinery store were added.

Tipton Township:

Originally, Tipton township, Sherman Township, and Pleasant Township were organized together. Amasa Collins came into Tipton township in 1854 and built a pole cabin on section 22 and lived there until 1861 when he moved to Point Pleasant and engaged in merchandising about 1 year. John Cayton came from Ohio in 1854 to section 26 and lived there until his death in 1863. He was buried in the Boylan cemetery. T.J. Sheldon was in both mercantile and farming until 1858 when he quit the store and farmed 1400 acres of land in section 11. Augustus Mitterer came from Germany to Point Pleasant in 1855 when there was one house. He built 4 houses which he sold. The first marriage was M.C. Potts to Elizabeth Collins in 1858. The minister was Rev. Petter Shamp, a Protestant Methodist. The first death was a stranger by the name of Carpenter who stopped overnight at George Diltz home and was found dead in bed the next morning. He was given a decent burial in a lonely spot in the woods on Tipton Creek.

The first cemetery is located int he NE corner of the SW quarter of section 22 and is called Boylan Cemetery. The daughter of Mr. George Diltz was the first burial.

The first public school in 1857 was taught by Sarah Howell who became the wife of J.M. Boyd. The first post office was established at Point Pleasant in 1855. In 1859 Tipton township separated from Pleasant township in the first election held at Point Pleasant. In 1865 a post offic was established in Tipton Gove by John Boylan in his house on section 22 and was closed in 1880 when a Hubbard was established on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway line on land owned by A.J. Hunter.