Delaware County, Ohio History

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 575

CHAPTER XXVII*

PORTER TOWNSHIP-PIONEER TIMES-EARLY FAMILIES-GROWTH OF SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES

-ROADS AND EARLY INDUSTRIES. .

"Ye pioneers, it is to you

The debt of gratitude is due ;

Ye builded wiser than ye knew,

The broad foundation

On which our superstructure stands ;

Your strong right arms and willing hands,

Your earnest efforts still command

Our veneration."

-Pearre.

THE precise date of the organization of this township is not known. It was some time between the 1st of March, 1826, and the 1^st of March, 1827. The journal of the County Commissioners, from 1821 to 1831, which contain he order creating Porter Township, was mislaid, but it is quite certain the order was made at the June session of the Commissioners in 1836. It was named after the Hon. Robert Porter, of the city of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, who received, from John Adams, the second President of the United States, a patent for 4,000 acres of land in this township, it being Section 3, in the fifth township of Range 16, in the lands appropriated and set apart by Congress to satisfy warrants issued by the Government for military service. It is believed this was the first patent issued by the Government for lands in this township.

The principal stream in the township is Big Walnut Creek. This stream has its source in the northern part of Harmony Township, in Morrow County, which, in an early day, was known by the expressive name of "Big Belly Swamp." The swamp contained several hundred acres of land, and was covered with water the year round. A large beaver dam surrounded a large portion of swamp, which must have been constructed, judging from the size of the timber growing upon it, by these ingenious amphibious animals before the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. The banks adjacent to this stream are not high, and, in time of a flood, when the country was new and the channel obstructed by flood-wood, it frequently overflowed its banks, and the stream, too,

* Contributed by Hon. J. R. Hubbell.

especially the upper part and near its source, was called "Big Belly," which was thought to be an appropriate name to give it when on a " boom." Big Walnut Creek runs, in a southerly direction, through Morrow County, and crosses the line into Porter Township about one mile and a half east of the west line, and crosses the south line of the township about one-half mile from the west line. It is a branch of the Scioto River, and intersects the Scioto near the line between the county of Franklin and Pickaway. Big Walnut Creek is one of the largest of the tributaries of the Scioto River. There is much rich bottom land along this stream, and, before the forest was felled by the age of the woodman, there was an abundance of valuable timber, such as black walnut, hickory, butternut, ash, oak and the sugar maple. Wild grapes, wild plums and black haws were in abundance. This stream has a great number of tributaries in Porter Township, among which are Long Run, which has its source in Morrow County, and runs west and southwest until it intersects Big Walnut, a distance of about three miles from the northeast corner of the township. Long Run is very meandering, and has a great number of small tributaries fed by springs and spring runs.

Further to the south is Sugar Creek, which runs diagonally from the northeast corner to the southwest, through the township, to its intersection, about one mile from the south line, and is well supplied with springs and spring runs; and, still further south, running in the same direction, from the east part of the township, is Sugar Creek, with large tributaries, among which is the Wilcox Run. Sugar Creek is quite a large stream, and has its source among the springs at the foot of Rich Hill, in the edge of Knox County, and intersects the Big Walnut in Trenton Township, on the south of Porter. It will be seen, by reference to a map, that these streams have their sources in the dividing ridge which separates the waters flowing in a southeasterly direction to the Muskingum River, and the waters flowing in a southwesterly direction to the Scioto. This dividing

576 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

ridge is near the line between Knox County and Delaware. It will be seen, too, that this township is well supplied with a great abundance of pure, healthy water, both for family use and stock. In this respect its advantages are not equaled by any township in the county. This township, too, is blessed with pure air and clear water, and has been noted for its health and freedom from epidemics and malignant fevers. Porter possessed almost every variety of timber, before the first settlement was made by the white people, to be found in the State of Ohio. Along all these streams we have named, walnut, ash, hickory, sycamore, sugar maple, spice-bush underbrush and papaw, were found in great abundance. Upon the higher and more rolling lands, there were white oak, ash, beech, hickory, sugar maple, and in the swails and on the flat lands there was elm, red oak and black ash. The hickory, white oak and beech covered the ground with mast or shack for the squirrel, groundhog, the wild turkey and the deer, upon which these animals fed and grew fat, and furnished meat for the pioneer and his family. Soon after domestic animals were introduced, swine fattened upon mast, and the woods were soon filled with wild bogs. There is no waste land in this township. Along the streams, there is considerable bottom land, which possesses a rich and fertile soil. Back and off the streams, the lands are gently undulating and rolling. There is some flat land that requires drainage, but not a large portion of the township. The network of creeks, brooks, and spring runs, that nature spread over these lands, superseded the necessity, to a great extent, of artificial drainage. The soil in this township is well adapted to the growing of wheat, corn, oats, barley, flax, and all the productions raised in this climate, but the great supply of pure water for stock, and the luxuriant pastures, make the lands more profitable for grazing than for farming purposes. There are no mineral lands in this township, and the occupations of farming and grazing furnish most of the inhabitants with employment. All kinds of grasses grown in this latitude do well in this township-timothy, red-top and clover. The blue grass, which springs up without the grounds being seeded, does well on the newly cleared land. Along the Big Walnut Creek, the Waverly sandstone crops out, and furnishes the country valuable quarries. This stone is of nearly the same composition as that found at Berea, but of a much finer grit and quality, and the vein contains a less quantity. On the farm of Zenas Harrison, situated on the west side of the Big Walnut Creek, is a quarry of this stone. An investigation of the depth and extent of this quarry has not been made, but it is known to be a stone of superior quality for building purposes, and probably extends down into the earth to a great depth, and belongs to the Waverly vein, reaching from the Scioto River, in Pike County, to Berea, in Cuyahoga.

Porter Township is bounded on the north by Bennington Township, in Morrow County; on the east by Hilliard Township, in Knox County ; on the south, by Trenton, and on the west by Kingston, and is designated in the United States Military District as Township 5, in Range 16. In chronological order, it is the youngest township in the county. It was the last township organized by the County Commissioners within the present limits of Delaware County. There have been no changes in the original boundary since its first organization, and no survey of the township has been made since the original Government Survev. The first village or town in this township was Olive Green, and was laid out in 1835. The proprietors were Christopher Lindenberger and Festus Sprague. The surveying and platting was done by Joel Z. Mendenhall, Esq. The village was laid out in eight regular squares, and has eight streets and several alleys. It is located upon the State road that runs from Mount Vernon to Columbus in a southwesterly direction, and at its crossing of the north and south road, running from Sunbury to Mount Gilead, in Morrow County, and is about one-half mile from the Big Walnut Creek, on the west. The main street is on the Mount Vernon and Columbus road, on which all the business is done and the inhabitants reside. The original site of this village was seemly and suitable for a town, and at one time it had the prospect of becoming a flourishing village, but, like "some flower born to blush unseen," was doomed to suffer disappointment. In the year 1851, the Springfield, Mount Vernon & Pittsburgh Railroad Company was organized under a former charter, and projected a railroad from Springfield, Ohio, to a point that would intersect the Pittsburgh & Fort Wayne Railroad in Wayne County, and passing through Mount Vernon and Olive Green. The right of way was purchased, and the earthwork on the road was prosecuted until its completion nearly the entire length of the road, but upon the completion of the western part of the road to Delaware, the Company was compelled for the

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 577

want of means to abandon the enterprise. Olive Green contains now two storesMr. D. Morehouse has one, and Mr. Conard occupies the old storeroom of Mr. James N. Stark. It has two churches; one blacksmith-shop, worked by John Roberts; one physician, Dr. Foster; one shoe-shop; one millinery establishment, kept by Miss Mary M. Connard, and one carpenter and joiner shop. It has about forty dwelling-houses, and contains about one hundred inhabitants. The Kingston Center Post Office is located here. The Postmaster is D. Morehouse. The first Postmaster in Olive Green was Mr. James N. Stark, who was appointed in 1860. The first store in the town and township was kept by Mr. Christopher Lindenberger, one of the proprietors of the town. Mr. Baird built the first frame house. East Liberty was the second and the only other town in Porter. It was laid out in 1840, by William Page, Jr., on his farm, situated on the east bank of Big Walnut Creek, and the Mount Vernon and Columbus State road, about one-half mile east of Olive Green. It was laid off into four regular squares, and the lots were readily sold. The purchasers built houses, and it for awhile flourished as a business point of some importance, but the failure of the railroad discouraged the parties most interested from further efforts in the way of making improvements. There is one saw-mill, owned by Mr. W. Page, and the Presbyterians have a church edifice, and there still remains in this village a schoolhouse and some thirty or forty inhabitants. It formerly contained nearly one hundred inhabitants. The first physician whe settled in this village was Dr. H. Bessee, who located here in 1847, and remained in East Liberty until the commencement of the war in 1861. He now lives in Delaware. The physicians practicing in this vicinity, prior to Dr. Bessee, were Dr. Elijah Carney, of Berkshire, and Dr. Samuel Page, of Pagetown, in Morrow County. The first hotel was kept by Mr. George Blainey, and he was the first Postmaster of the place. The infidel writer, Volney, meditating upon the ruins of Palmyra, said : "Here once flourished an opulent city, but to the tumultuous throng that once visited these temples has succeeded the solitude of death." It is not likely the wail of lamentation by a distant traveler will ever be heard over the ruins of this deserted village.

In the absence of an authenticated record, after three generations have come and ;one, it is difficult to give an early history in detail of the first settlers. More than seventy years have elapsed since the first pioneer settled in Porter; and it is only those to whom an unusual length of days has been allotted by Providence, that are now living of those who were then born. In sketching the early settlers, though not one of them, the name of Robert Porter must not be overlooked. It was to him the first patent for 4,000 acres in the United States military land in this township was issued. He belonged to one of the most prominent families in the State of Pennsylvania, and was a lawyer by profession, and, for many years, a Circuit Judge in his native State. He frequently came to Porter to look after his lands; at a very early day and about forty years ago, his son, Robert W. Porter, lived for a short time in this township. As we have seen, Judge Porter's patent was issued by President John Adams, on the 21st day of March in the year 1800, nearly three years before Ohio was received into the Union as a State, and when there was not a white man living within the present boundaries of Delaware County. The family name of the principal proprietor of this township is historical. The Hon. James M. Porter, of Easton, in the State of Pennsylvania, was a lawyer by profession and eminent at the bar. He was a Cabinet Minister under the Administration of John Tyler, and held the portfolio of the War Department. He was a younger brother of Judge Porter. Another brother, David R. Porter, was a great party leader in the politics of his time, and, in the year 1837, succeeded Joseph Ritner as Governor of the State of Pennsylvania ; he was re-elected, serving two terms, each of three years, and proved an able and popular Governor. The first settlement in this township was made by squatters in the Porter section, and perhaps as early as the year 1807. A number of families settled on this section before the war of 1812 as squatters, and followed the occupations of fishing, hunting and trapping. Not being the owners of the lands on which they settled, they had no motive to improve them. They were a rude people, and much given to frolic and pleasurable indulgence. They subsisted on wild game and wild hogs, and raised but little grain. They were known in an early day as "Taways," although they were white people, and not of blood kin to the Indian tribe of that name. Like all the early settlers of Delaware County, they were from different States and of different nationalities-English, Dutch and Irish-and their descendants were among these backwoodsmen. It

578 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

has been supposed by some, from the fact that Section 4 in this township was popularly called the "Irish Section," that these people were Irish Paddies or their descendants ; but such was not the case. Many of these families were from the Wyoming Valley in the State of Pennsylvania. The name of the " Irish Section " was applied to Section 4, for the reason that the legal representatives of Hugh Holmes and Robert Rainey, who located this section, were residents of Ireland, and the patent for these lands was issued by President James Monroe on the 28th day of November in the year 1817, to the heirs at law of Hugh Holmes and Robert Rainey, who at that time lived in Ireland. These parties, by their attorney in fact, on the 10th day of April. 1837, conveyed this section to George C. Bumford, of the city of Washington, and, in 1837, Col. Bumford conveyed by deed this section to John W. Worden, and soon afterward Worden conveyed one-half of this section to Benjamin S. Brown, of Mount Vernon, Knox Co., Ohio. Mr. Brown died late in the autumn of 1838, and it was not until about this date that this section was brought into market There were squatters on this section of the "Taway tribe" much earlier than this, perhaps soon after the war. These peculiar families were not enterprising ; their wants were few, and however many were their sins, the sin of covetousness was not one of them, nor was the sin of ambition, which caused the angels to fall, their sin. They took no interest in schoolhouses or churches, and but few of them were ever known to darken the door of the house of prayer. They obeyed at least one Scripture injunction-they took no thought for the morrow-and, like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, "they toiled not, neither did they spin."

This tract of land was set apart in the first place by act of Congress, to satisfy warrants issued by the Government for military service, but this section, by a subsequent act of Congress, was granted to the United Brethren society for the purpose of propagating the Gospel among the heathen. These "Taways," perhaps, were not especially benefitted by this grant, but it is certain no heathen in pagan lands ever stood in greater need of the Gospel than they did. One of the earliest among the pioneers was Daniel Pint, who lived and died in Porter; then came Timothy Meeker and Timothy Murphy, all of whom raised large families, but few, if any, of their descendants are now living in that part of the county. The first generation are all dead, and their children and grandchildren retreated further West, as the civilization of the country advanced. Two brothers, by the name of Peter and Isaac Plan, with their families, settled in the south part of the township in 1810. They raised large families, who intermarried with other families in the surrounding townships. They died many years ago, but at this remote period but little is known about them. The second generation, who knew them personally, are nearly all, either by death or removal, gone, and they live only in tradition. In 1817, Ebenezer Lindenberger and his brother Christopher and their families settled in Porter, in that part of the township where the village of Olive Green is now located. They came from the State of Rhode Island. The family owned several hundred acres of land. . About the same time, two other parties from the same State came, and settled on adjoining lands. They were Festus Sprague, Esq., and Edward Mason, Esq.; they were married to sisters of Ebenezer and Christopher Lindenberger. Being settled on adjacent farms they formed the nucleus of a new colony. The Lindenberger family were well educated, and in good circumstances financially. The elder brother, Ebenezer, was a graduate of an Eastern college, and Christopher had an education that well qualified him for all the business transactions of life. Edmund Mason was well educated, wrote a good hand, and was by his intelligence and capacity well qualified to discharge the duties of almost any office in the township, county or State. In early life, he was employed as clerk and book-keeper for Mr. De Wolf, the great West India slave-trader. Dr. Wolf, whose successful trade on the high seas made him a millionaire, and secured him a seat in the Senate of the United States as Senator from Rhode Island. Had Mr. Mason possessed the enterprise and ambition equal to his education and natural endowments, he might have acquired fame in political or commercial life. From the time he emigrated to Porter until his death, which occurred about the commencement of the war, he held the office of Justice of the Peace, and other township offices. He always discharged his official duties in a manner highly satisfactory to all parties in interest. The principle of inertia was strongly developed in his composition ; he moved like other large bodies, slowly, and, for the want of exercise, he acquired great obesity, which gave him an aristocratic air, and he was known as well by the name of "Pompey " Mason, as he was by the legitimate

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 579

title of Esquire Mason. He was kind and indulgent to his family, kindred, neighbors and friends, and made a model magistrate. His court was one of conciliation. His policy was to use every means before a trial, to effect by compromise a settlement between the parties ; and, by so doing, he often saved the parties costs, and, as a peacemaker, he made them friends. Having thus passed to another world, it is to be hoped that he enjoys the peacemaker's reward. He was never a church member, and never made an open profession of religion, and, were he to be judged by a sectarian standard, he would not be pronounced a Christian, but his heart was filled with that charity that rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth, and is not puffed up. He died as he had lived, without enemies.

Festus Sprague married a sister of Mr. Mason. In early life, he encountered many hardships and privations. He possessed a native intellect of great strength and activity. Those who know him best, thought that he was never conscious of its power, or that it was kept in restraint by a timid nature. His family brought him to a new country when young, and he had not the early opportunities of his brothers-in-law, the two Lindenbergers and Squire Mason; but, nevertheless, he was well educated for one educated as he was he was self-taught. His education was such as to enable him to teach a common school, when a young man; and to hold various official positions with complete acceptance. He was a Justice of the Peace for many years, and, although not bred to the profession of the law, he was regarded by those in the legal profession who knew him well, as a lawyer by nature, and his counsel was sought and greatly respected in important cases. He was a near kinsman of Gov. Sprague, of Rhode Island, and related to that highly intellectual and influential family of Spragues of New England, which, for three generations, have been so distinguished in literary and political circles. Judge Esick Cowen, a celebrated lawyer and jurist of his time, was a near relative. This early pioneer of good sense, some time about the year 1857, sold his property and, with his family, moved to Utah. Some years previously, he became infatuated with the strange delusions of the "Latter Day Saints," and his good sense deserted him. What made his conversion to the doctrine of this polygamous sect the more mysterious, was that he had reached the "sere and yellow leaf" of life, and was never libidinous or given to licentious indulgences. But little is known of his life after he left Delaware County. He died soon after he went to Utah. What became of the family, is not known to the author. He will long be remembered by those who knew him while he lived in Porter. Ebenezer Lindenberger and family moved West nearly forty years ago, and Christopher Lindenberger and a part of his family became, like Mr. Sprague, converts to the doctrines of the polygamous saints, and emigrated to Utah. John Lindenberger, son of Christopher, died in Porter a few years ago. He was a good business man, was a Justice of the Peace and held several township offices, and was a faithful and competent officer. The accession of these Rhode Island families to the Porter " Taways" proved to be of great value as a means of civilization. It gave impetus to new enterprises for the development of the resources of this township. They improved the character of the cabins and barns, and the j settlement they formed proved to be the beginning of various educational and business enterprises. About the year 1818 or 1819-the precise date cannot be ascertained-another early settler immigrated from the State of Delaware and settled in immigrated Joel Z. Mendenhall was the son of Thomas Mendenhall, who was a merchant by occupation, and resided, in the first part of the present century, in Wilmington, in the State of Delaware. On the 19th day of May, in the year 1800, Judge Robert Porter, of Philadelphia, who was the patentee of Section 3 in this township, conveyed, by deed of that date, 300 acres of land in said section to Thomas Mendenhall. This land was situated on the Big Walnut Creek. about three-quarters of a mile south of the village of Olive Green. This land the father, who was an enterprising merchant and prosperous in business, gave, as a part of his patrimonial estate, to his son Joel. Upon it Joel erected his cabin and settled his family in the year 1819. He had married his wife in Philadelphia, before his immigration to Ohio, and, in the year 1816, he came to Mount Pleasant, Jefferson Co., Ohio, where he lived some two or three years. He was a practical farmer and surveyor, and he pursued for many years both occupations.

From 1820 to 1830, the settling-up of the county, and the divisions and subdivisions of lands, furnished much employment for practical surveyors, and Mr. Mendenhall was occupied much of his time in his professional occupation. His wife was a Miss Eliza Mendenhall, and her

580 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

parents, at the time of their marriage, resided in Chester County, Penn. He was a few years her senior, and she was born in the year 1795. They were second cousins. Their ancestors belonged to the Society of Friends, and they always venerated the name and memory of George Fog, the founder of this benevolent and exemplary sect of Christians. Their great-grandfather came over from England to America on the same ship with the celebrated William Penn, the friend and patron of George Fox, and the colony and State that bear his name. This ancestor had two sons, whose names were Robert and Benjamin ; the former was the grandfather of Joel, and the latter was the grandfather of his wife, Eliza. Mr. Mendenhall was well educated. wrote a neat and elegant hand as a penman, performed well official duties, was a Justice of the Peace and held other offices; was an honest man, and a kind and obliging neighbor. In 1835, they moved to the town of Delaware, where they lived for a period of seventeen years, and a large portion of the time, he discharged the duties of Justice of the Peace. He built him a neat cottage residence and seemed to enjoy every comfort, but was not satisfied, and, in 1853, he sold his town house and moved back to his farm. Some years later, old age .and bodily infirmities compelled him to abandon altogether the occupation of a farmer. He built a house in Olive Green, where he lived at the close of life, and died about the year 1872. His widow is now living at the great age of eighty-five years, and, although blind and helpless, enjoys good health. In the same year the Lindenbergers came to Porter, Samuel Page emigrated from Broome County, in the State of New York, to Ohio, and settled on a new farm in the western part of the township, near the township line between Kingston and Porter, and a little north of the center of the township, on the Sunbury and Mount Gilead State road. This was in the year 1817. Mr. Page had a wife and several children, and he at once built a cabin on his new farm, and commenced improving and clearing it up. But, about two years later, a brother of his, Mr. William Page, immigrated to Porter from the same county in the State of New York, and purchased the farm of his brother Samuel, upon which he settled. Samuel Page bought and settled on a ne farm farther north, on the Big Walnut Creek, in Bennington Township, where the village of Pagetown is now located. Upon this farm he lived about twenty years, and died in the year 1839. The farm descended to his son, Marcus Page, who died a few years after the close of the war of the rebellion. His wife was a Miss Wheeler, and sister of the Rev. James Wheeler, the famous Wyandot missionary. Mrs. Page is still living, and thin farm is still owned and occupied by the Samuel Page family. William Page was an industrious and exemplary Christian, and greatly respected. He cleared up his land, built comfortable buildings on his farm, and raised a large family. He was drafted in the war of 1812, but the war having been closed soon after he was drafted, he saw but little active service. He died, on the farm he had cleared up, in the year 1846. His wife, a most estimable woman in every relation of life, was a :Miss Sarah Edwards. They arrived in Porter on New Year's Day, and received their New Year's farm in a new country, as a New Year's present. The names of his sons were William A., Roswell, Samuel, Washington and Ransom. None of these brothers are now living except Roswell and Ransom. There was in this family one daughter, who married a Mr. Wells. As already stated, William A. Page was the proprietor of the village of East Liberty, and was an enterprising, intelligent citizen, respected by his neighbors and acquaintances ; held the office of Justice of the Peace and other township offices. He died nearly thirty years ago, and his family are considerably scattered ; some are dead and others have moved away. Roswell Page married a Miss Sarah Sherman, and settled on his farm of about one hundred and forty acres, situated on the Big Walnut Creek, near East Liberty. This was in the year 1835. He is still living; upon this farm.

David Babcock, who came from the State of Rhode Island, settled in Porter in the year 1839, on the east side of the Big Walnut, and near the north line of the township. He cleared up his farm and occupied it until his death, which occurred in the year 1871, at the age of seventy-two years. The farm is still owned by the family, and his widow occupies it. Mr. Andrew Hemminger, a Presbyterian of German descent, moved into Porter Township from Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in the year 1830. After the death of a former wife he had married a firs. Weaver, who had several children by her former marriage with Mr. Weaver. These united families numbered in all fifteen. He settled on a new farm on the north hart of the township and adjoining the county line on the Mount Vernon and Columbus road, and at

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the time he was the only settler on the road between East Liberty and the old Vail tavern stand in Bennington, and for many years movers and travelers were compelled to stop over night with Mr. Hemminger. Forty or fifty teams were known to stop over night at one time, so great was the travel at that early day upon this road. The family put up a double log house on the main road, and went to work clearing up the farm. They had much work to do, and did it. After the death of Mr. Hemminger, which occurred many years ago, his wife took charge of the family and farm. By her good example she taught the children industrious habits, and upon the farm they performed much manual labor, under the watchful eye of their most affectionate mother. This remarkable old lady, after the death of her husband, made several trips on foot to visit her friends in her native county, Tuscarawas, a distance of nearly one hundred miles. She was always accompanied by her faithful old dog "Tiger." This watchful animal would guard his mistress with jealous care by day and night. She lived on the old farm to see all her children grown. She died only a few years ago at a great age. In the year 1833, Mr. Aaron R. Harrison located in the western portion of the township, on the road running directly north from Sunbury to Mount Gilead, upon a tract of several hundred acres. His parents were English and he was born in Essex County in the State of New Jersey. He settled near his New Jersey friends in Kingston Township- the Deckers, Van Sickles and Finches. Mr. Harrison was born in the year 1778, and he married, in the year 1805, Miss Mary Condit. She was a relative of the Condit family living in Trenton Township south of Porter. As usual with the early immigrants, Mr. Harrison and his wife were blessed with a large family of children. He brought them with him from New Jersey in wagons. There were four boys and five girls. His double log house was erected just opposite the house where his son Zenas now lives. Here they lived many years in almost a wilderness, and were compelled to listen to the frightful scream o the panther and the hideous bowl of the wolf. He enjoyed many happy days with his family in this new country, and was greatly beloved by all who knew him. It is now a little less than fifty years since Mr. Harrison settled in Porter, and such has been the improvement of the country the present generation can scarcely credit the fact that in his time in Porter, the panther and the wolf were so plentiful, the safety of sheep required them to be housed nights and carefully guarded by day. When traveling from the schoolhouse after the spelling-school at night the boys sometimes were seen quickening their steps to secure safety at their homes. The first frame barn in this township was built by Mr. Harrison. It was 30x50 feet. He has been dead for many years and his son Zenas now owns and lives upon the old homestead farm, and his son George lives in Peru in Morrow County. These two sons have ever retained the confidence of their fellow-citizens. Zenas for many years filled many township offices, and, during the past four years, he has been twice chosen one of the County Commissioners.

In 1837, four years after Mr. Harrison settled in Porter, Mr. Charles M. Fowler located in the northeastern portion of the township. He, at an early period of life, left the old homestead farm of his father's in the Catskill Mountains, and, in partnership with Messrs. Snyder and Pratt, began the manufacture of oil cloth, but the business proved unprofitable, and Mr. Fowler emigrated to Ohio, and married a Miss Catherine Ann Gray, of New Philadelphia, in 1840, and immediately moved with his young wife to his new farm in Porter. Mr. Fowler and his wife came overland in a spring wagon-it was the first spring wagon in the neighborhood. Here they built themselves a cabin on their land. Mr. Fowler had purchased 200 acres in the first section of the township, and joined on the north by Bennington Township. He went to work in earnest to clear up his land. So dense was the forest that tbev could not see forty rods from the house, and only reached this neighborhood by following a path that was marked by blazed trees. After remaining here for four years with his young wife, who had never been out of town or away from home, Mr. Fowler returned with his family to his old home in the State of New York, going as far as New Philadelphia by wagon, and the rest by the canal and wagon. He rented out his farm for four years to Mr. McCreary. He again engaged in the business of manufacturing for f about five years, when he sold out his interest in the manufacturing establishment, and returned to his n farm and commenced improvements, and he soon 1 had his farm under good fences and cultivation. y He built a large frame house and two large frame d barns, set out an orchard, and soon had everything about him for his convenience and comfort in the t best of order. He and his wife were Presbyterians, and for many years they were regular

582 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

attendants of the Old Blue Church in Kingston, a distance of seven miles from their home, but, great as the distance was, they were seldom too late, either for the Sabbath school or the church. But when the New School Presbyterians built their church in East Liberty, he went there, which shortened the distance about three miles. In this new church, Mr. Fowler and Mr. John Van Sickle, of Kingston, were the main props and support. He made several trips to his old home in the Catskill Mountains, and was frequently visited by his father and his mother; she is now living a the advanced age of ninety-three years. Mr. Fowler died in Delaware, where be had moved but a short time previously, on the 12th day of June, 1872, and was buried in the cemetery he had helped to lay out, near the old church he had been so long connected with in Porter. His widow and a part of his family now live on the old homestead. His oldest son, Dr. Fowler, a medical graduate and a young man of promise in his profession, lives in Delaware. Old Mr. Fowler was a great reader, well versed in the Scriptures, and in history, both ancient and modern, and all who had business with him had confidence in his ability and integrity as a man and a Christian.

Mr. Harvey Leach settled in Porter Township in 1834, and married a daughter of Mr. Dunham, who lived on the State road, near the county line between Morrow County and Delaware. Mr. Dunham settled on this farm quite early, but the precise date is not known. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and, in the latter part of his life, he became blind. Mr. Leach is still living, and occupies a farm adjoining the land that belongs to the estate of Mr. Dunham, his father-in-law. One of the early families in this part o Porter Township is the family of Mr. A. G. Kenny. He came from the State of Maryland, in 1828, and settled on a farm about one-half mile from the north line of the county, on a branch of Long Run. He was born in the year 1803, and his wife, whom he married in the State of Maryland in 1822, was born in 1802, being one year his senior. They settled in the woods, cleared up a good farm, raised a family of ten children, built the first brick house in the township, and by their industry, sobriety and honest dealing, have won the confidence and esteem of all who know them. They are both still living and enjoying good health, and still own and occupy the old homestead. Just south of the farm of Mr. Kenny, Mr. Samuel Dowell settled on the head-waters of Sugar Creek, about the year 1830. He was a native of the State of Maryland, and an old acquaintance of Mr. Kenny. He was married to a young woman in Maryland previous to their immigration to Ohio, but they were not blessed with children. They settled down in the woods, and cleared up a farm. Mr. Dowell built a water saw-mill upon Sugar Creek, and for many years sawed great quantities of lumber, this mill proving to be a great help to many early settlers in Porter. Mr. and Mrs. Dowell were noted for and near for their hospitality, and their friends from great distances frequently visited them. The old inhabitants remember them, from the time they first came to Porter only as old people. He was born in the year 1769, six years before the commencement of the American Revolutionary war, and died at the great age of nearly one hundred years. His wife was born in 1800, and died at the age of seventy-five years. On the Sugar Creek, near the center of Section 1, and of the township, north and south, the Rev. Henry Davey settled with his family, about the year 1832, from Tuscarawas County, Ohio. It was then woods, and Mr. Davey commenced to clear up his farm with a will, built a saw-mill on the creek running through his farm, and, in a few years, his farm was well improved, and had good buildings. He was a man of great energy and will power, enjoyed robust health, and possessed great power of endurance, and was capable of performing great mental and manual labor. He belonged to the Society of Dunkards, and he was far and near known as the "Dunkard Preacher." He dressed in the habit peculiar to his sect. He wore a low crowned, broad-brimmed, brown fur hat, and a single-breasted, brown cloth coat, with rounded skirts. His hair was moderately long, and his beard heavy and flowing gave him quite an apostolic air, although he seemed free from vanity or hypocrisy. He was recognized as a leader of his sect, and for many years his ministerial duties called him a greater part of his time from home. Although well to do in this world, he and his family were unostentatious, and by no means extravagant in their style of living. In 1856, he sold his farm on Sugar Creek and bought another on Big Walnut, where he lived for several years, and where he again sold out his farm and moved to the western part of the State, where he is still living, but is advanced in years and compelled to be less active in his ministerial labors. While living on his farm in Porter, he induced his people to hold

HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 583

an annual meeting at his house. The communion and baptismal services were held on the Sabbath day. The announcement having been made several weeks previously, hundreds were brought, out of curiosity, to the services of this peculiar sect. This was the first and last tame they ever held their annual meetings in this county. During the day, they had preaching and baptized a great number by immersion, and in the evening and night they ate " the feast of the passover," and administered the ordinance of washing feet. The fatted lamb had been prepared in readiness, and they all sat down around the table. The people were all especially anxious to witness this part of the ceremony, and the number in attendance did not in the least diminish by the approach of nightfall. At the hour of midnight, the washing and wiping of feet began, and when the ceremony closed, they turned around in their seats, and ate the supper of the passover. This ended the programme, and all repaired to their homes. One amusing incident occurred during the " feast," which greatly excited the mirth among the young of the Gentiles. A lad of only a few summers, somewhat acquainted with the Davy family, had been a careful observer, during the day, and having had nothing to eat from early morning, before leaving his home, became very hungry. He supposed this supper was for all present, and for himself as well as others. This belief was strengthened by the young men at the table whom he knew, and he seated bimself at the long table, with the communicants. His little eyes were steadily fixed on the communicants, who were washing and wiping feet, and his young mind was thinking all the while about the good supper he was about to have. Outsiders enjoyed greatly his mistake. The smell of the savory soup and lamb greatly excited his hunger, when, greatly to his disappointment, he was taken from the festive board and led to the kitchen by the kind-hearted leader, where his keen appetite was well supplied.

In about the same year, and as early as the year 1830, Mr. William Per and the Gray family moved from Tuscarawas County, Ohio, and settled in Porter, near the north line of the township, in Section 1. His connection with the M. E. Church dates back a period of more than fifty years. He is a local preacher, and is an efficient worker among his own sect, but his mind is broad and catholic, and he frequently goes among other denominations, and with them performs his most efficient work for the promotion of the cause of the Christian religion. He has a beautiful home, has everything about him arranged in methodical order, and devotes much of his time to reading. He married a daughter of Mr. Gray, now deceased, who lived on an adjoining farm. . He has raised two children, both of whom are married daughters, and have interesting families. He relates with great interest, amusing incidents connected with his frontier life. He and his wife are now in the decline of life, but they enjoy good health, as well as the respect of all who know them. S. A. Ramsey, Esq., immigrated from the State of New Jersey about the year 1844, and purchased land and located on what is called the "Irish section," being Section 4 of Porter Township. At this time, this part of the township was very new. This was the last section brought into market for actual settlers. The titles, up to 1838, were in he hands of speculators. Mr. Ramsey settled upon a tract of about two hundred acres, located in the woods, near the center of the section. By his energy and industry, in a few years he put his farm in a good state of cultivation. His buildings, fences and orchards are all in the very best condition, and Mr. Ramsey now, after many years of hard work, finds himself surrounded by the comforts of life, and able, if he chooses to do so, to live, and live well, without labor. He has raised a large family, and is much respected by his fellow citizens, who have frequently honored him with their confidence by electing him Justice of the Peace, and to other township offices ; and in the discharge of his public duties he has been faithful, and is regarded as an honest man. He is a relative of ex-Governor Ramsey, of Minnesota, who is now a member of President Hayes' Cabinet as Secretary of War. James B. Sturdevant, who is a farmer by occupation, and lives one mile east of Olive Green, is one of the oldest residents now living in Porter Township. His father, when James was a small lad, settled in this township nearly sixty years ago. Mr. Sturdevant is a hard-working and honest man, and has cleared up and owns a good farm. His younger brother, Chauncey H. Sturdevant, is also a farmer, and owns the farm where he now lives, and has lived for nearly, forty years. He has done his full share of hard work, in clearing up his home in the woods of Porter Township. Mr. Charles Patrick, son .of Joseph Patrick, Esq., of Berkshire, settled on the Porter section in 1830, and has cleared up his land and has a well-improved farm of about three hundred acres. Mr. H. Blackledge settled upon a farm, which he has highly improved, many years

584 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY.

ago. His farm is well adapted to the raising of stock, and, for many years, Mr. Blackledge took great pains to improve the quality of stock in his part of the county, and has raised the best stock of any farmer in Porter Township.

One of the most active and prominent business men of Porter Township, and not to be overlooked in this history, is Mr. George Blainey, a native of old Virginia. He immigrated to Ohio in 1873, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in Kingston Township, at Stark's Corners, for several years. He was three times married, and twice married in Virginia. His first wife was Miss Mary Sutton, and after her death he married Miss Mary Kempton, who was his wife when he came to Ohio, but she died a few months after his arrival, and in 1838, he married Miss Elizabeth Van Sickle, the oldest daughter of Mr. John Van Sickle. In 1840, Mr. Blainey removed from the Corners to East Liberty, in Porter, and immediately built there a large frame building for a hotel and store, and for years he kept a hotel and a store of goods, and at the same time engaged in farming. Mr. Blainey was widely known and greatly respected for his well-known ability and honesty. He was a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church, and possessed much more than ordinary ability. He died deeply lamented in the year 1869, leaving a wife and several children. A few years after the death of Mr. Blainey, Mrs. Blainey married Mr. Richard Harbottle, a farmer who had purchased the farm already spoken of and known as the "Henry Davey Farm." Mr. Harbottle was a native of England, and horn a subject to the crown of Great Britain, but he did not believe in a monarchical system of government, and, when quite a young man, immigrated to America. With a wife and family, on his arrival, he had nothing to begin life with but his hands and head. Mr. Harbottle has been very prosperous in the home of his choice, and is now known as one of the most enterprising and thrifty farmers in this township. In 1865, the oil speculation in Ohio reached fever heat, and like an epidemic spread over the State. In this year, the Delaware & Hocking Oil Company was organized by Judge Isaac Ramsey, Mr. David Coban, Dr. H. Bessee, Mr. Huston and others, with Charles H. McElroy, Esq., Secretary. The Company, after making a careful and minute examination, discovered what they regarded as marked and unmistakable surface indications of oil. The Company prepared themselves with the necessary machinery, and proceeded to bore for oil on the Big Walnut, not far from East Liberty: The excitement grew from day to day, the stock advanced and sold rapidly to those who were more hopeful than wise, and expected in a few days to become rich. They sunk the drill to the depth of 900 feet, through the Waverly sandstone, blue clay and clay shale. They were compelled to pronounce the work impracticable, and abandoned the enterprise.

The Company suffered a heavy pecuniary loss besides the mortification of failure. Thus ended the visionary speculation of the Delaware & Hocking Oil Company in Delaware County.

The church history in this township is quite brief. The New School Presbyterians organized a society soon after the division of the church, which was occasioned by the slavery agitation ; and in 1810, in East Liberty, they built a large frame church edifice. The principal parties in the building of this church were Mr. John Van Sickle, Charles M. Fowler, William Guston, Isaac Finch, Jesse Finch, Charles Wilcox, George Blainey and others. Their Pastor was the Rev. Dr. Chapman. They at once organized a Sabbath school in connection with the church, which for several years prospered, and was productive of great good. Mr. Ried M. Cutcheon was the architect and builder of the church edifice. In the year 1864, the same parties who built this place of worship laid out and established a cemetery just east of the church and town of East Liberty, in which the remains of many of those most conspicuous and enterprising in the construction of the church and the Sabbath school now sleep.

As near as can be ascertained, the first marriage in this township was that of Reuben Place to Miss Rachel Meeker, at a very early date, but there is neither a public nor private record to be found which contains its date. The first birth is invulved in the same uncertainty, but it is believed the first child born in this township was Miss Eliza Allen Mendenhall Pint, and the first death was Polly Place. Joel Z. Mendenhall, Esq., was the first Justice of the Peace elected in this township after its organization, and, as already stated, he was repeatedly re-elected, and made an efficient and competent officer.

The first schoolhouse built in this township was near where Mr. Day now lives, and was called the "Block Schoolhouse," and was built in about the year 1825. Mr. William Wolfe taught the first school, and took his pay in dried apples, at least in part for his wages. There was no market

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nearer than the town of Delaware for his goods and he had no team. The only way or means he had to convey his fruit to market was to carry it on his back and on foot. He had two loads and was compelled to make two trips. The distance he had to go was about fifteen miles, and it took him two days to make a trip. The first day, about the hour of high twelve, he felt the necessity of calling off for rest and refreshment. He had now reached a more densely settled community. He came up to a small cabin and went in, and asked the privilege; of taking rest, and called for refreshment, all of which was granted. The only occupant of the house, although unknown to him at the time, proved to be a charming widow. In a short time, the dinner was prepared, and he ate heartily of what was set before him, and when he had finished his dinner, he offered to pay his hostess for her hospitality, but she refused to accept any pay. On his return the following day, he was again fatigued, and called for rest and refreshments, and he was again hospitably received and treated. Before leaving her house, he told his hostess he would be back in a few days on his way to Delaware with more marketing, and that unless she gave him her consent to become his wife, he would regard his life as a miserable failure, and that he must have a positive answer on his return. When he made his next trip, she told him she couldn't say no. This ended the courtship, and they were soon married. Whether this story is truth or romance, the writer does not vouch, but he relates it as it was related to him. This schoolhouse has multiplied in number over the township, and now in every neighborhood, there is, at convenient distances, a comfortable schoolhouse, where a school at the public expense is kept up on average more than six months in the year, and taught by a competent teacher. The thirty years previous to the year 1880 witnessed a great change in the character, habit and customs, as well as in the fortunes, of the people of Porter Township. An agricultural people, they are enterprising, intelligent and industrious, and free from every manner of vice and immorality. Grog-shops and houses of ill-fame are not to be found in the township, and the citizens generally, if not universally, are well fed and well clothed, and are prosperous and happy. If the "Taways," who lived in the township a half-century ago, were to return to Porter with their long beards and buckskin apparel, they would produce as much sensation among the present inhabitants as a menagerie of wild animals.

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