(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) 400 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY and four weeks had passed before they reached their journey's end. On their way they met with persons leaving their frontier homes, and giving the most discouraging reports of matters on the border. At Cambridge, they met one of the soldiers who had been wounded at the Copus affair at Mansfield, who almost discouraged Mr. Cook from proceeding farther ; but he was a "plucky" sort of a man, and was determined that nothing short of actual danger should impede his progress. On reaching Mount Vernon he found that his former neighbors, who had settled near the farm to which he was going, had fled to Mount Vernon and Fredericktown for protection from the Indians, who, it was feared, were about to make a descent upon the unprotected settlements in that region. It was but natural that this news should create a lively alarm among the isolated settlements; the towns of Mount Vernon and Fredericktown were thronged with families anxious to arrange some plan for defense. It was in this situation that Mr. Cook found affairs when he arrived at Mount Vernon. He came as far as Middlebury, where he took possession of an empty cabin belonging to an old surveyor by the name of Mitchell, which he occupied until he got a cabin of his own erected. When built, his cabin was a structure eighteen by twenty feet, "staked and ridered," a chimney constructed of "cat and clay," and contained one room and a loft. The following year was a busy one for this part of the township Among Mr. Cook's neighbors were Benjamin Hart, in the edge of Perry township ; John Ogle, Henry Sams and his sons,, who were married, and lived near,. Andrew and Henry Sams, Jr., and a family by the name of Hoofmire. But little improvement had been made upon their farms, and about three days in the week were spent by each family in assisting to build cabins for new arrivals, or helping to roll their neighbors' fields. The plan was for each one to cut the timber on three or four acres, and then invite all the neighbors for three or four miles around to roll these logs into piles for burning. During the work, it was expected that the beneficiary would provide plenty of whiskey, and a supper when the task was finished. The logs were cut twelve or fourteen feet long, and were handled with "handspikes" alone, as oxen were too slow motioned for the enthusiastic ardor of the pioneers. Meanwhile his first cabin had proved a rather uncomfortable home even for a pioneer family, and Mr. Cook employed some persons who carried on a rude carpentry, to erect a two storied, hewed log house, eighteen by twenty-six feet. This building was HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 401 provided with a brick chimney and a shingled roof, and was considered as quite an aristocratic residence for that time. Abednego Stevens, who came with a large family of grown-up children from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, was among the first families to settle in the township. His son William had been in the army under Harrison, and in coming home had been attracted by the country in this township, and had entered a considerable tract lying in the southeast section of the congressional portion of the land. In 1812, Benjamin Corwin came to Franklin, being a tanner by trade, and on arriving immediately set about resuming his trade ; he sunk vats on the Johnston road, in the eastern part of the township, and set up the first and only tannery in this vicinity. The dearth of the raw material for his trade made the first efforts rather insignificant, but a murrain which broke out among the cattle soon furnished him with ample material for the exercise of his ability ; there was but little stock save what the necessities of the situation demanded. Cows were indispensable, and most of the pioneers brought one or more of these animals, but so great was the fatality among them that the settlers for miles around lost all they had. It seems that the cause of this fatality was something the animals found in the woods, and the pioneers were in the habit of giving them alum, soot, soap, etc. There was a considerable demand among the men for buckskin leather, which furnished substantial and not unattractive clothing ; the skins were treated in some way and then smoked to a fine color that was permanent and attractive. Pants of this material were made tight-fitting, as they were the reverse of comfortable on a cold day if not kept in close contact with the person all the time. This material in many instances furnished the whole suit, which was capped by a hat made from the skin of some fur-bearing animal. PULASKIVILLE. Pulaskiville is a small village in Franklin township,. At present it has not more than a dozen houses and one general store. It has Methodist Episcopal and New School Baptist churches. The Baptist society was formed about 1830 by Elders James and George, of Chester. They had previously preached at the cabins of Stevens and Campbell. They afterwards used the school house to hold services in, and in 1840 the whole neighborhood assisted them in building a frame structure for a house of worship. In 402 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY 1874 a new church was erected at a cost of $2,200. The Greenville treaty lines run about a mile and a half south of this little village. This Greenville treaty line runs through Morrow county from east to west, somewhat diagonally, entering the county in Franklin township, and forming the north boundary of Harmony; thence through the southern part of Gilead, forming part of its southern boundary passing along part of the northern boundary of Lincoln through the southern part of Cardington township and Cardington village leaving the county at the northwest corner of Westfield township. CHAPTER XXI. HARMONY AND LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF HARMONY TOWNSHIP-SETTLERS PRIOR TO 1830 -LATER SETTLERS-RELIGIOUS. ORGANIZATIONS-PENLAN LINCOLN TOWNSHIP ERECTED-PIONEER SETTLERS-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-FULTON. The settlers who came to Harmony township were men of thrift. They clipped the hilltops of their wild forests, and converted the township into a land of plenty. They helped to advance the march of civilization, built homes that rank among the best in Morrow county, and founded schools and churches, thus giving to their descendants a true and abiding Christian prosperity. The early pioneers who came to this locality were largely from the eastern states. Some families hesitated to plunge into forests remote from the older settlements, and located along the .old Granville road by the Alum creek trail and up the Olentangy river, settling up the southern part of the county. When the county was formed and the business and social center was at the county seat, the tide of emigration went further north, but still measured its advance by the proximity of its settlements to the newly formed center. This was of vast importance to the pioneers in those days of blazed roads and unbridged streams. For years the county seat was the vital and social nucleus, besides being the of center of the communities that settled about it. There the sessions of the court were held ; there was a store and a grist mill, and thither the Settlers must go to pay their taxes. Under such influences, a large part of the northern and eastern part of the county was for years but little more than the common hunting grounds of Indians, yet occasionally a few white settlers could be found who were more venturesome than the majority. PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE TOWNSHIP. This large area of territory was formed into a small township called Sunbury, and from it, at various times since, smaller divisions have been formed, until now only the thriving village of - 403 - 404 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY that name in Berkshire serves to perpetuate its name. Harmony was set off from this comprehensive township June 5, 1820 ; and, was first erected, included the northern half of Bennington, the northeast section of Peru, the eastern half of Lincoln, the whole of the present township of Harmony, and a strip of country of this width extending to the northern boundary of Crawford county. It retained this wide area of territory for a short time only. The erection of other counties curtailed its jurisdiction to the limits of the treaty line, and, in 1828 was restricted to its present bounds by the erection of Lincoln township As now situated, it is bounded on the north, following the treaty line, by Franklin and Gilead, on the east by Franklin and Chester, south by Bennington and west by Lincoln. The general character of the surface of Harmony township is that of low, wet ground. The northern part was surveyed, in 1803, by Jesse Spencer, and the southeast section by William Harris in 1811. This section was then wet, with only narrow tracks of solid land winding among the swamps. These swamps the early settlers designated by names, suggestive of their different characteristics. In the northern part of the center of the township was an extensive swamp called Long swamp ; to the south and east, a short distance, were the Prairies and Feather Bed swamps. About the middle of the township was located the Wild Cat swamp, and a little to the east of that was the Rosy swamp. This part of the township has undergone a remarkable change in the course of clearing. The swamps have disappeared under the influence of the sun and drainage, and the site of some of them is now among the finest farming land in the township. Across the corner of this quarter of the township flows the Middle branch of Owl creek, and flowing up from the south, along the eastern border of the township, the Southern ranch of the same stream is found. This was once locally known as "Taylor's run," but that name was soon lost sight of, and it is now generally called the South branch of Owl creek. Owing to the lay of the land, however, these streams afford but little drainage. In the western portion of Harmony township the Big Walnut takes its rise, formerly heading in a swamp. This stream flows south along the western part of the township, without reaching any considerable size in this region, and with few branches. To the west of this stream, the surface is higher, and is fine, rolling clay land. East of the river the general characteristics of the township prevail. The general business of the township is farming. The soil in most places is a rich, black muck that yields abundant returns. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 405 The swamps of Harmony township had quite an attraction for the Indians in an early day. Wild fruits grew here in great abundance, and wild flowers bloomed in every corner of the wood. "Rosy" swamp which occupied a part of Mr. Meredith's farm gained its name from the profusion of wild flowers that brightened its damp recesses. This was also a favorite haunt for certain kinds of game that the Indians delighted to hunt. In the swamps near the center of the township, wild cats of great size were found, and though but few remained for the whites to capture, Wild Cat swamp obtained its name from the traditions of the Indians. SETTLERS PRIOR TO 1830. The commissioners' records of Delaware county show that Harmony township was erected in 1820, but so far as can be ascertained no settlements were made within the present boundaries until about 1826. The land was known, and would doubtless have been early settled if the status of the land had been more secure. The southeast quarter had been bought by General James Taylor, of Newport, Kentucky. The southwest quarter was school land, and the rest was congress and military lands. Many settlers who would have settled on this land were diverted to other parts because they did not care to hunt up the character of the land when there was plenty at hand just as good, where no difficulty of that nature existed. To set the matter at rest, however, early in 1824 William Davis, a resident of Knox county, wrote to Chillicothe for information, and in that year entered the first congressional land within the present limits of the township. The tract was located near the bend in the South branch of Owl creek. The first actual settler, however, was Alexander Walker, who had come some years before as one of the earliest settlers to the site of Chesterville. He came originally, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and stayed in Chester some fifteen years. He located his land where Hugh Green later lived, building his cabin on the banks of Owl creek, but, following the bent of his mind, he left the township in a few years in search of a newer country. If not the second family, that of Charles McCracken very closely followed that of Walker. McCracken came to Chester from Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, but finding the land of Harmon, not so generally taken entered a farm of one hundred acres in the eastern part of the township, near where runs the Cardington and Chesterville road. Coming close upon this family was William Vol. I-26 406 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY Kramer, from Franklin county, Ohio, who settled on a small tract just west of McCracken, on the branch of Owl creek. The way thus opened was soon followed by those who had become restless in the older settlements and desired a newer country, and, notwithstanding the forbidding character of the soil, the northeast quarter settled up quite rapidly. The settlement was thus principally made up from the older settlements near at hand, and to considerable extent by those, who, after partially clearing up their farms, moved again to newer territory. Among those who came into this section within a few year of the first settlers, was James McCrary, originally from Licking county. He came to Chester, and then removed to Harmony, settling in the land just north of Kramer and on the opposite side of the stream. Zabad Pierce entered a farm in the same vicinity, and George Burns, who came from Columbiana county, located on the land now owned by Jacob Fogle. On January 7, 1826, Samuel Hayden came- into the township and settled on the Cardington and Chesterville road just north of the stream, his farm lying right on the boundary line between Chester and Harmony townships. With his parents, he moved from Greene county, Pennsylvania, when about five years old, and settled in Licking county, in November, 1808. The two hundred miles which intervened was traveled on horseback within the space of eight days, the party being delayed one day by a storm. William Hayden, the father, came by way of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, in order to bring the household goods. The mother, with a fortitude rarely equaled, performed the long journey overland, riding on horseback, carrying her infant daughter, and leading a horse on which Samuel and his younger brother rode. Soon after Hayden, Jeremiah Smith moved on to land in the northeastern part of the township, which he had entered as early as 1825. Mr. Smith came from Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, in 1824, and settled at Berkshire, but did not purchase any property until the following year, when, after looking the whole township over, he chose that in the northeast part of the township. The land was then pretty much under water, but there was quite a large cleared spot which bore a luxuriant growth of grass, and near by was an excellent spring. It did not take him long to discover that the land could be drained and made into excellent farming land, while the spring would prove a perpetual treasure. The grass-land, though too insecure for cattle or horses to walk on, would furnish an amount of feed that was a valuable consideration HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 407 at that time. Mr. Smith at once entered two hundred and fifty acres of this land at the office in Chillicothe, his deed bearing date August 5, 1825, and paid $297.02 in cash for it. He made no improvements on this property, however, until late in 1827, when he put up a cabin, and in March of the following year moved his family into it. The prospect here was not inviting, and would have discouraged any one not trained to the hard experiences of the pioneer. The whole country was but little more than a succession of swamps, many of them so soft as to mire the dogs of the coon hunters. On Mr. Smith's farm was a large beaver dam, of semi-circular shape, enclosing about thirty acres of swamp, which was known as the Feather Bed swamp, on account of its softness. It seemed to have no solid bottom, a pole having been thrust into it to the depth of twenty feet without touching firm soil. In 1827 a settlement was made in the southeast corner of the Taylor quarter, by Enoch George, who, when a boy in 1811, came to Chester township with his father, an Old School Baptist preacher. Jonathan Frost and E. Salisbury were also early settlers in Harmony township, as were also the families of Timothy Foss, Symmons and Heald. LATER SETTLERS. Among those who came to Harmony township in 1833, were Japheth West, from Clay township, Knox county.; Thomas Madden, Ashley Nutt,. William Bennett and Christopher Stovenaur. In 1837 Enoch George, who had gone back to Chester after selling his farm in the southeast corner of the township, to Mr.- Salisbury, returned and bought eighty acres near Burns' Corners. Here he stayed but a short time, when he sold out, and, leaving his family there, he went to Iowa to work for a home. Familiar all his life with a timbered country, the rough fashion of, the prairie winds discouraged his idea of emigration, and he bought one hundred acres. In the fall of 1840, Thomas Meredith, a native of Chester township, came into Harmony and bought a hundred acres of land in the Taylor section, at five dollars per acre. The cheapness of land all about this quarter, had left this part of the township for the most part unsettled, and Mr. Meredith found it, at that comparatively late date, fraught with all the obstacles that the earliest settlers met. The absence of any considerable streams and the nearness of 408 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY Chesterville, where mills, tanneries and a general store supplied the meager demands of the settlers, operated against the establishment of similar enterprises in this township. There were two saw mills that were built rather early, one about 1835, about three-quarters of a mile north of Jeremiah Smith's farm ; and another by Chilcoat, on Owl creek. These afforded the first opportunity for the improvement of their dwellings, and Mr. Smith built the first frame house in the township. In 1846 William Bennett built a brick house in the southeastern part of the township, and in 1850 John Ralston erected another, Jesse Vernon burning the brick on the place. There was a post office, a store and mills at Chesterville, and this was the point of attraction to the settlement in Harmony township. At that time Cardington was scarcely known, and a blazed road from the northeast corner of Harmony, out to the treaty line, was the only road to the two or three cabins that have since grown to the now thriving town of Cardington. RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS. Religious missionaries were early in the community of Harmony, the first denominational influence in the township was probably that of the Old School Baptists. Their first place of worship was built in the middle of the township, and was known as the "Wildcat Church." Ebenezer church was one of the oldest organizations in the township This was located in the southeast part of the township, and was organized by the Reverend Mr. Kaufman, an Old School Baptist minister. Among the early members were Peter Powell, Tunis Ashbrook, Joseph Ullery, Charles McCracken and wife, James James and wife, and Benjamin McCrary and wife. Pisgah church was of the New School Baptists and had its origin in the divison of the old Chester church, which occurred in 1836. Harmony chapel was built by the Methodist Episcopal denomination in 1850. In 1831 Jeremiah Smith laid out a small cemetery, donating a quarter of an acre to this purpose, and in August of that year buried his first wife there. Later he added another quarter of an acre, and, as he was desirous of having a church in that community, he offered a building site to any denomination that would build a house of worship on it. The proposition was taken into consideration by both the Baptists and Methodists, but the latter came to a decision first and were given the site. The HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 409 first class had been formed about two years previously under the influence of such preachers as Russell Bigelow. Mr. Bigelow has been described as an orator of divine inspiration. It is said that his unequaled and soul-stirring appeals have caused people to leave their seats and go as near the pulpit as possible, apparently unaware of having changed their seats. "Such vast impressions did his sermons make That he always kept his flock awake." Pleasant Hill church was built about the time Harmony chapel was erected. It was constructed by the United Brethren denomination, but not long afterwards they sold the building to the Old School Baptists. As a dissension arose among the purchasers, however, which caused a split in the church, the former owners sold it to private parties. The early ministers preached for some time in the cabins of the settlers, before the community was strong enough to erect places of worship. At Jeremiah Smith's cabin, for some time, services were held by the Reverend William Dowling and Rever end Henry Moffit, of the Disciple church, the Reverend Ashley, of the New Lights, and others who came on missionary tours. The southwest quarter of Harmony township was part of the land set aside for school purposes, and did not come into the market until late. Ere this most of the available government lands had been taken up, and the price of land had risen considerably. These were principally taken up by settlers from Muskingum, Perry and Knox counties. PENLAN. While Harmony township has no town within its borders, there are several places worthy of mention. There is a township hall near the center, in which any desired meetings can be held. Penlan is the name given a cross roads, where there are a few dwellings and a general store. There was a post office there by that name but it has been discontinued, and the Corners are now served by the Rural Free Delivery. LINCOLN TOWNSHIP. The faith of the pioneers should also animate us. We should believe as they did that there are better days coming; that our labors will not be in vain. They did not despair of future success 410 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY even here in the wilderness, with trackless forests encircling them and stubborn soils defying them, and bloody foes lurking everywhere in ambush for them. We honor and applaud the courage and heroism of the pioneers, and close akin to their courage was their faith in the future. It takes a high order of faith to discern the beauty and bounty of the ages to come, and be willing to live for them and die without seeing them. This township was named Lincoln in honor of General Lincoln, distinguished in the Revolutionary war. The community at that time was not isolated from the outside world and the ordinary privileges of the older settlements, as were the first pioneers, and yet the stores and mills were reached only after traveling through miles of woods and fording unbridged streams, guided only by blazed trees. Game was found here in great abundance. Deer, turkeys and wolves thronged the, woods at an early day, and bears of the largest size were frequently killed by the early settlers. Lincoln township in the early settlement was a favorite place of the Indians. They had left their haunts further south in the county with great reluctance, and, finding the settlements had not disturbed the native quiet of this locality, they had settled down in the vain belief that they could make this their permanent home. But they soon found that immigration and civilization were on their track, but they continued to retain their camps until about 1833. The Indians in Morrow county were remnants of several tribes. The disintegration of their tribal bands had been going for some time, and no one tribe remained intact. They built bark wigwams and dug holes in the ground in the center for their fire. Occasionally the whites had some trouble with the Indians, growing out of their propensity to pilfer and sometimes, carried to the extent of stealing horses. THE TOWNSHIP ERECTED. Lincoln township originally formed a part of Harmony. Later, as the lands within the present limits of Harmony were taken up and settlements began to multiply, there was a movement for a separation, and on March 3, 1828, the commissioners of Delaware county erected the new township from "that part of Harmony and Westfield townships beginning on the north line of the county, in. Westfield township, one mile east of the line between ranges 17 and 18, thence south on lot line to south line of Westfield township and the line between the 6 and 7 townships ; HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 411 thence east one mile beyond the west line of range 16; thence north through Harmony township to north line of the county ; thence west along the north line of the county to place of beginning. The eastern border of the township is a natural boundary, the land rising so as to form a dividing line between the waters of Big Walnut and Alum creek, Just west of this ridge, the latter stream takes its rise in two branches in the low land in the northern part of the township, flowing in a southerly course through it Along the upper branches of this stream is found some bottom land, though of no great extent. Below the forks of the creek, the banks, though not high, are abrupt, the clay formation coming in contact with the water. In the western part of Lincoln, the West branch of Alum creek takes its rise, and, flowing in a southwesterly course, passes through a part of Westfield, and, changing its course, unites with the other branch in the southwest corner of Peru. The upper end of this branch .has been widened, and is known as the Williams ditch, and thus serves to drain considerable territory, which was before inadequately provided for. The western part of the township is low, and bears such timber as sugar, burr oak, birch and hickory. On the high land in the eastern part is found white oak, maple and beech, while on the bottoms originally grew black walnuts of mammoth size. The streams afford but little drainage. The banks are low, and the fall is so slight that the surplus water occasioned by heavy rains, floods the fields to a considerable extent, while in other parts large ditches and extensive underdraining are necessary to the proper cultivation of the land. The predominant characteristic of the soil is that of a yellow clay on the higher ground, a good strong soil for grass, corn, and, when well farmed, for wheat. On the bottoms is found a rich black soil, which yields large crops, and is easily renewed. The ordinary style of farming raising corn, oats, rye and wheat, with a little stock is the occupation of most of the residents of Lincoln. The early organization of the township bounded it on the north by Gilead, on the east by Harmony, on the south by Bennington and Perry, and on the west by Westfield. Subsequent changes to accommodate the growing village of Cardington took a piece a mile square out of the northwest corner, and later six lots were taken off the northern part, and attached to Gilead, to maintain the balance of power between the rival villages and their townships. This was originally United States military lands, and 412 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY was surveyed by Jesse Spenser in 1807. The third quarter; however, was surveyed as early as 1803 by the same civil engineer. The original notes class the quality of the land as third rate, and its appearance before the cultivating hand of the pioneer had wrought its changes doubtless warranted this estimate PIONEER SETTLEMENT. The settlement of this country was due principally to the Quaker colony that settled in what is now called Peru. This community continued to receive accessions from the east, who, finding the farms pretty well taken up, resorted to lands further north. Others came single, and, marrying, sought a home in the lands of Lincoln. The first settler was Benjamin Collins, a native of Rhode Island, but emigrating from Junius, in the state of New York, to this township. He was a man considerably advanced in years, and brought with him an only child, a married daughter, with a large family He bought a cabin situated on the banks of Alum creek, This cabin was built in 1814 by Edmund Buck and Amos Earl. After coming to Peru, they struck out in the lands to the north, and, assuming a squatter's right, built a cabin and kept "bachelor's hall" for some six months. Three years later, William Steiner came. He was a native of Maryland, and, emigrating to Ohio, had stopped a few years in Fairfield county, but the ague seized him here and drove him out in search of a better situation. He was attracted by the prospect in Lincoln, and built his cabin on the Sunbury road, a little south of where the Carding-ton and Chesterville pike crosses this road, boarding in the main while at Mr. Collins'. After selling out to Collins, Edmund Buck went some two miles up the river and built his cabin on the Sunbury road, just north of the pike. Buck's mother was a widow, and related to the Benedicts, and was induced to emigrate from New York state to give her boys an opportunity to get a start in the world. She came with friends in 1812 to the settlement in Peru, Edmund making the journey on foot with a cousin by the name of Earl. While Steiner is credited with the second cabin, Buck really made the second settlement, the former not bringing his family on until about a year later. There was an earlier cabin erected than those built by either Steiner or Buck, erected in the northern part of the township by a Mr. Beadle, but it was not occupied until 1818. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 413 Closely following the preceding families came Joseph Kingman and Noah White, from Clinton county, New York. Kingman came west with his father-in-law, to Peru. He had just been married, and, having accumulated but little property, made the journey on foot; Mr. Wood bringing his wife and household goods on his wagon. For this transportation, he paid his father-in-law twelve and a half cents per pound. Fortunately for his slender purse, his wife only weighed about a. hundred pounds, and the rest of his baggage was light, but aggregated to the amount of two hundred pounds, costing him twenty-five dollars. White was a nephew of Mr. Wood, and came with the party, a young man, to try the fortunes of the west. Kingman and White both bought land in Lincoln, locating opposite each other on the Sunbury road, just above Buck's cabin, on land now owned by V. T. Kingman. White married in Bennington, and finally, in 1823, selling out to Kingman, went to Cardington, where he lived and died. King-man's father, Alexander, an old Revolutionary soldier, came about the same time to Lincoln and settled just north of Steiner. North of Kingman, Stephen Westcoat made his home, and Alanson Platt just north of him, and just west of the latter Paul White built his cabin. The earliest roads here were laid out about 1823. The state road, west of Alum creek, was originally the famous Indian trail, which led up from Pickaway county along this stream. This trail was fitted for the passage of wagons by the settlers, and there are frequently found, on the unused portions even yet, some mementoes of the travelers who once used this road. The state engineers straightened the, angles of this road, and it serves the same purpose it did in years gone by. The Sunbury road, east of the creek, was blazed out at a very early date, and was the one principally used by the earlier Lincoln settlement. It was laid out in 1824. The settlement in Lincoln, growing out of the Quaker community in the adjoining township, would naturally be an early supporter of church influences. The first families were intimately related to the Quakers, or joined their society', and all attended their meetings. There were other denominations firmly established in the communities settled not far away, and they were fortunate in having such able evangelists as Russell Bigelow, Leroy Swampsted, Henry George and others. It is difficult to determine what denomination came first to share the work and responsibilities of the Quaker in Lincoln. Russell Bigelow was here early, and preached at the cabin of 414 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY William Steiner, and a society was formed very early here. A log church was built about eighty rods south of where "Steiner's Corner" now is, Alexander and Joseph Kingman and William Steiner being the principal movers in this project. This was the first place of worship erected in the township. Russell Bigelow preached his first sermon within the bounds of the township, but that was before the township was organized He traveled the Columbus circuit in 1819, and one of his appointments was at Butter's, some twelve miles south of Steiner's. He completed the circuit once in six weeks. Stopping one day at Steiner's for refreshments, and pleased with the cordial welcome he received, he appointed a meeting six weeks from that date at his host's cabin. The preacher and the people came at the appointed hour, and among the rest a mother had brought her rather mischievous boy. The lad disturbed the great preacher, and, turning to him, Bigelow shouted at him, telling him to get under the bed and keep still. The boy was taken by surprise, and obeyed with considerable promptness. Edmund Buck gave a site for a church and a building was erected on the Sunbury road, just north of the pike, about 1850. An acre of ground was later bought by this society for cemetery purposes and the church building was removed onto this property. It is known as the Ashley church. About the year 1818, Sylvester Dillingham, a young man, worked for Jonathan Wood in Peru township, for an acre of land per week. He worked a year, and having accumulated a farm of fifty-two acres, married and moved onto the land. It was situated in the northern part of the township. In 1820 Marquis Gardner, Joseph Philbric and Stephen Doty, Sr., came to Lincoln township and bought property, Philbric buying about two hundred acres. This was in the southern part of the township, which was but sparsely settled then, and it is related that Gardner was obliged to invite the settlers for miles around to assist him in raising his building. Doty was a native of Maine and first "squatted" on the school lands in Harmony township, but in a short time bought land. Appleton Shell, from Maine, and James McConica, an Irishman, came into the settlement, and, marrying daughters of Mrs. Hubbell, built cabins and became members of the little community. The Pompey section, as it was called, was settled, about 1828, by a number of families that came originally from Pompey, New York. Prominent among these were the families of Leander Benson and his brothers. Darius and Almeran ; Job Davenport, Ephraim Davenport, John H. Warner, Lyman Wheeler and HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 415 Job Liggett. A little later, to the southern part of the township, came Peter Powell and T. P. Ashbrook. The organization of the township of Lincoln in 1828, was mainly due to the efforts of Collins Buck, Steiner and. Shadrack Hubbell. The first election was held on the first Monday in April, 1828, at Hubbell's cabin. It resulted in the election of Edmund Buck as justice of the peace, and as there were but seventeen men to fill twenty-four positions each of the voters present was elected to one or more offices. In 1818, Alexander Edgar came to Peru and put up a store and distillery. This was then the nearest store, and absorbed the greater part, of the trade of Lincoln trade until the business at Chesterville and Cardington divided it. The nearness of these places of business and the lack of any good water power in the township had the effect of discouraging the undertaking of similar enterprises in Lincoln. A saw mill, was built very early on Edmund Buck's place, near one of the branches of Alum creek, by Shadrack Hubbell. This afterwards passed into the hands of Mr. Buck, and later into the possession of Stephen Doty, Jr. In 1830, after Stephen Doty, Sr., bought the Collins Buck place, his son, Geo. W., built a small saw mill on the stream as it pusses through that property. A tannery was early established on the Fulton farm by Stephen Corwin, which supplied the neighborhood material for shoes, clothing and harnesses. About 1850 Thomas Roby establish another tannery on the Ashbrook farm ( but it did not prove a permanent affair. The Westfield, Cardington and. Chesterville pike was projected by J. H. Benson, John Andrews, Dr. I. H. Pennock, M.. P. Brooks, J. T. Buck, J. B. Trimble, Lester Bartlett and others. It was surveyed by J. T. Buck and was built to Windsor Corners, where it connected with the Ashley and Delhi pike. It was constructed east only about four miles and a half, because it was found that further expenses would not be warranted. Toll was collected for a while, but it never resulted in a sufficient income to keep the road in order and it was abandoned as a pike. CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. The Lincoln Christian church was early organized by Reverend William Ashley. Among the members of the first class were Leander Benson, Nelson Wheeler, John Mann, J. H. Warner and their wives. Meetings were held in school houses and log cabins, 416 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY from about 1843 to 1858, when a church building was erected. The Center United Brethren church was organized with but few members. Meetings were held in log school houses until 1853, when a neat frame building was erected. A school was established in 1819. The first structure for that purpose was built of logs, sixteen by nineteen feet, on lot 37, section 2. The first teacher was Nathan Randolph. Among the early school houses was one near the east toll gate. This building was about twenty-four feet square, and was built in 1839. Log School houses became things of the past about the year 1857. A township hall was built in 1872, and is situated near the center of the township. FULTON. Fulton is comparatively a new village, having sprung up, almost Aladdin-like, on account of the stone quarries there and PICTURE OF SCHOOL BUILDING AT FULTON. because of being a station on the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad. It is about midway between Mount Gilead and Marengo. The recent census gave it a population of 285. The citizens had hoped it would reach the three hundred mark, but it fell fifteen short of the desired number. The stone quarry is about a half mile from the village, and it has quite an output and the railroads HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 417 affords it ample shipping facilities. The stone is of a grayish color, of the nature of the Berea grit, and is used for building purposes, flagging, abutments, fence posts, etc. Wire fencing is extensively used, and upon corners large stone posts are sunk to which the fencing can be attached, stretched and its tension maintained. There is a post office at Fulton and two general stores. The place supports two churches— Methodist and Baptist. Fulton has also a town hall and an I. O. O. F. hall. These are both in one building, the town hall occupying the ground floor, and the Odd Fellows the second story. There is a large frame school house in the place, in which three grades are taught. Work is now progressing upon a new pike which passes through the place. The day the writer visited Fulton, he arrived there just as school was dismissed for the day, and meeting a bevy of young school girls upon the street, interrogated them as to the town, its population and history, and a more intelligent class he never encountered. They were not only intelligent, but courteous as well, and. judging the population of the town by these girls, he formed a high opinion of the inhabitants of Fulton. Fulton is upon an elevation, with Alum creek coursing at its base. About a mile south of the village is a tile mill. CHAPTER XXII. NORTH BLOOMFIELD AND PERRY. FORMATION AND NATURAL FEATURES OF NORTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP-EARLY SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS-ROADS AND POST OFFICES-BLOOMING GROVE-PERRY TOWNSHIP-PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS-ORGANIZED-THE EARLY ARRIVALS-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-JOHNSVILLE-NORTH WOODBURY. As a township North Bloomfield has kept pace with her sister townships of Morrow county. Slowly but surely has the township progressed, until it now stands upon a solid foundation of morality and education. FORMATION AND NATURAL FEATURES. This township joins Troy on the west. It was embraced within the limits of the latter, which was then twelve miles long from east to west and six miles wide. On March 4, 1823, a tract six miles square was set off from the west and named North Bloomfield. The surface of this township is quite smooth, and the soil is free from stone. The early settlements clustered about two points, located in the extreme northwest and southwest portions of the township, West Point and Blooming Grove. North Bloomfield township originally extended north to the Mansfield and Galion road, but, upon the formation of Morrow county, one tier of sections was added to Sandusky township in Richland county; thus it is one tier of sections short of a congressional township Its territory is well drained by the several little streams that have their source within its limits and their natural tributaries. The North fork of the Mohican rises in section 2, and flows nearly north for six or eight miles, when it changes its course to the eastward, and passes nut into Troy township through section 12. The Clear fork of the Mohican rises also in section 23, flows in a southeast direction, and passes out through section 36. The Whetstone has its source in section. 27, flows west for a few - 418 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 419 miles, and then changes southward, passing into Congress, near the little village of West Point. A number of other rivulets and brooks traverse the township, which are nameless, but which form a natural system of drainage. The surface of North Bloomfield is sufficiently rolling as to require but little artificial draining, but cannot be termed hilly or broken. It is one of the finest farming regions in Morrow county, and the comfortable and even elegant farm houses denote the prosperity of the people. Grain of all kinds is extensively grown, while considerable attention is paid to stock raising. The township was originally covered with fine timber, consisting of oak, walnut, beech, hickory, elm, ash and other species. EARLY SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS. Stephen Borham who settled about four miles south of the village of Blooming Grove, came to the vicinity before 1820. His daughter, Mrs. Eckler, was perhaps the first white child born in Bloomfield township William Harris also came about 1820. About 1833 quite a tide of immigration came to this part of Morrow county. A Mr. Maxwell also became a settler about the year 1820. He came from Pennsylvania and sold out to the Hardings. Amos Harding, the patriarch of the Harding family, located first, and settled in what is still Richland county, about the year 1819. Ebenezer, one of his sons, was the next corner and brought out Maxwell in 1821-22. The following year his two brothers, George T. and Salmon E., came and settled near him. While the elder Harding settled north of the village, his two sons located south of it. Salmon laid out the village of Blooming Grove, but after wards sold his property and removed to Galion, where he died. His remains were brought back and buried in the village cemetery upon ground he had donated for cemetery purposes. Ebenezer did not remain long, removing further west. George died a short distance from where his father had settled when he came to the' township. The son of George Harding was wont to narrate many facts of interest connected with the early settlers of this section. He used to go to old Benny Sharrock 's mill down on the Whetstone, when he was a lad but seven years old, and was so small they had to tie both him and the sack of corn on the horse. Once he was belated, and the shades of evening settled down before he reached home. His father and mother became somewhat frightened, and, unable to endure the suspense, the former mounted a horse and went in 420 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY search of him. He had but a short distance to go, when the trails separated, and either one went to the mill. He deliberated some time as to which to take, but finally made up his mind and hurried on. Scarcely had he passed out of sight, when the boy came in on the other trail and pursued his way on home, ignorant of the fact that his father had gone the other, trail to meet him. Upon his arrival at home, his mother hastily lifted him from the horse, jerked the bag of meal off, and mounting, immediately took the back track after the old gentleman, to try, if possible, to prevent his going on to the mill. When we remember that wolves were plenty, and when maddened by hunger did not hesitate to attack grown-up people, we can realize readily the anxiety of the parents when their boy was detained at the mill until after nightfall. Mr. Harding remembers Galion when there were but two houses in it, and the place was called "New Moccasin," and afterwards " Spongetown, and still later when it enjoyed several other names equally as rude. He also remembers Mansfield when it consisted merely of an old block house, which was, at a later day, improvised into a jail and court house—the upper story used for a court room and the lower for a prison. Indians were plenty in those days, but none lived in the immediate vicinity, but often passed through from Upper Sandusky to Mount Vernon. Their hunting grounds embraced all this country, and squads used to come down and hunt for weeks. William Buckingham settled a little northeast of West Point in 1831. He came originally from Pennsylvania and settled in Knox county as early as 1828, whence he came to this settlement. He died in 1837. John Elder settled first in Troy township, in 1829, and, in the fall of 1830, removed to this section, where he died in 1837. A son told of hauling corn from the old place in Troy township, the first winter they lived here. It was a winter of unusual severity, and, with oxen hitched to a large sled, they would go back and forth through the snow, taking two days to make a round trip and carrying their provisions with them, as the country was not thickly settled as it is now. Jacob Sief was the next settler after Elder, and came in 1829. He was originally from Baden, Germany, but had lived some time in Columbiana county, Ohio, before settling in North Bloomfield township From the coming of the Hardings up to 1827, the following families came to the neighborhood from Pennsylvania : James HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 421 Stearns, Hiram Stephens, James Wells, a Mr. Bascom, James Kerr, Isaac Barnes, John Crawford, Amos Webster and perhaps others. They all cleared farms and are now dead. Bascom and Kerr came all the way from Pennsylvania in wagons which were then the common means of traveling, and settled in the then unbroken forest. Among those who came to the Sief neighborhood were Daniel Bolgard, Philip Flock and Vincent Dye, all from Pennsylvania. Flock and Dye came about the same time. Farms were soon cleared up in every direction, the pioneers' cabins dotted the plains and the valleys, and domestic animals filled the forests instead of bears and wolves. John Warner came to the settlement a few years after the Elders. Henry Snyder, from Pennsylvania, located there in 1834. He moved to Indiana, where he afterwards died. Arch McCoy and Reverend Mr. Hosler were early settlers ; the one was an early teacher and the other a preacher. McCoy went to Missouri, where he became a prominent man, was elected to the legislature and was also a delegate to the national Democratic convention that nominated James Buchanan for president. He was killed in Missouri during the late war, but by whom was never known. William Kenyon, another of the early settlers of this township, came from the Isle of Man originally, about 1831. He and his wife are both dead, and sleep in the little burying ground at Ebenezer church, of which they were members in life. SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES. Education received the earnest attention of the pioneers, and at an early day the log school house made its appearance. Even before the people were able to build these primitive temples of learning, schools were taught in deserted cabins, barns, old stables, or any kind of a building found vacant. The first school of which we have any account in this township was taught by Arch McCoy, in a rude log cabin near Aaron Sief 's, which had been built for a dwelling. The howling of the wolves and the whooping of the Indians were yet to be heard when the pioneer ministers most of whom were circuit riders came to North Bloomfield. They were so early in the field that the only place for them to hold worship was in the cabins of the settlers, or in warm weather in some cool grove. The Reverend Mr. Hosler, of the faith of the Albrights, was one of the very early preachers in the township, and is the first one re- Vol. I-27 422 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY membered in the west part of it, where he used to preach every two weeks at the house of Peter Ferestermaker. He finally removed to Illinois, where he died. Elder Knapp, Reverends Bell, Camp and DuBois were also early preachers. Ninety years ago the pioneers found an unbroken forest, marked only by Indian trails. Now the historian finds well-cultivated farms, beautiful homes, churches and school houses, where once the woods stood dark and dismal. To obtain the necessaries of life was the great source of worry to the pioneers. Meat was easily procured by killing deer or wild turkey, as often deer could be shot from the cabin door. But bread was not so easily obtained The mills at Mount Vernon and Fredericktown were quite a distance and it took several days to make the trip. A mill which was patronized considerably by the early settlers was a small concern which was operated by "Uncle Benny" Sharrock, as he was called. It was little more than a corn cracker, but he ground corn, wheat and buckwheat on the same run of stones, which were made of "nigger heads." ROADS AND POST OFFICES. There are excellent roads in the township, generally being laid out on section lines. The first road in the township was that passing through the village of Blooming Grove, running from Galion to Lexington. It is one of the highways of the township that was laid out regardless of section lines. The next road through the township was the Mansfield-Marion road. The first post office in North Bloomfield township was established at the residence of William Wallace, who lived on the state road running from Delaware to Mansfield, three miles south of the village of Blooming Grove, at a very early day. Wallace was the post master and the name of the office was Barcelona. He kept it until it was removed to Blooming Grove village, after the place had been laid out. Blooming Grove is in North Bloomfield township and West Point is divided by the boundary line which separates the township from Congress (which see). BLOOMING GROVE. Blooming Grove is very pleasantly situated. It is quite an ideal little home town not a business center, but is an ideal place of HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 423 rural domesticity. It has not more than a hundred citizens, a post office and two general stores. The name of the post office, as stated, is Corsica, and the postmistress is Miss S. S. Williams. There are three churches in Blooming Grove, the Methodist Episcopal, Baptist and Seventh Day Adventist. The Methodists built their church in 1870 and it is a very neat brick structure, the Baptists erecting an edifice about the same time. The Seventh Day Adventists erected their church building about the year 1879. It is at the edge of the village. The Methodist Episcopal church, of Blooming Grove was organized in 1835, and the Baptists three years previous. Each of these church societies was organized outside of the village, but later removed to it. The Adventists organized in the seventies. About four miles south of Blooming Grove, the Methodists are preparing to erect a new church building—Ebenezer Methodist Episcopal church. Blooming Grove is the home of the venerable Doctor McFarland, who is now past eighty years of age, who has been engaged in the practice of medicine there more than fifty years, and has been the longest in practice of any physician now living in Morrow county. The day the writer was in Blooming Grove the doctor had just returned from making a professional visit, having been called from the plow for that purpose. He is an agriculturist as well as a physician. Dr. McFarland is in full possession of his mental faculties, the infirmities of age not having yet come to him. The village of Blooming Grove was laid out by Salmon E. Harding, upon whose land it was mostly located, and the plat was recorded March 5, 1835. A small portion of George T. Harding's land was embraced in the original survey, and several additions have since been made to the plat.. The first residence was built by William Johnson, and the first store house was built by Carl and Dunlap, who were the first merchants. Carl and Dunlap were succeeded by a Mr. Whitaker, who carried on a store for some years. The post office established here was removed from Wallace's to this place in 1841, after the town had been laid out, and the name changed from Barcelona to Corsica. I. G. Baker was the first post master after it was removed to Blooming Grove. The first tavern in the place was kept by John Johns. J. C. Johnston was the first blacksmith of the village, and opened a shop in 1836. Blooming Grove is a moral town and a religious one. The 424 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY citizens did not permit a saloon in the place, even before Morrow " went dry." There is a cemetery adjacent to the town, the land for which was donated by Salmon Harding. This was the first graveyard in the neighborhood and several additions have since been made to it. In the northern part of North Bloomfield township, on the south side of the Mansfield-Marion road, there was formerly a large frame building called the Buckhorn tavern, which was a popular hostelry for many years especially during the Civil war period. It was kept by a Mr. Lewis and after his death was continued by his widow, but it is now no more. Mrs. Lewis and her two daughters usually wore "bloomers," a style of dress somewhat in vogue in those days. PERRY TOWNSHIP Less than a hundred years ago a few intelligent and determined white men settled here in the unbroken wilderness, which settlement soon became and has ever since remained the center of a far reaching salutary influence. It was one of the important and permanent steps toward reducing to cultivation and civilization the wilderness of which Perry township is now a part. When we look around and see the wondrous transformation which has taken place in such a comparatively brief period, our minds are filled with amazement and our hearts with thankfulness that we are so bounteously blessed as a people. PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. Perry township is one of the first surveyed congressional townships, and before it was divided contained thirty-six sections. Its surface is less diversified than that of the townships adjoining it. The township may be reached as the tableland of the broken country that characterizes eastern Ohio, and in which originates some of the headwaters of the Clear fork of the Mohican river and the Owl creek, and makes it the dividing ridge between these two streams. Owl creek cuts diagonally across the southwest corner of the township, and has several tributaries from it. The Clear fork flows almost eastwardly through the second tier of sections from the north, after the union of the two branches into which it is divided. The declivity toward Owl creek is rapid and, very broken, while towards the Clear fork it is comparatively gentle, HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 425 with a surface more smooth. The most fertile soil in the township is found along the streams in the northern part. Originally a large part of the township was covered with forest, principally beechwood, while the ground was covered with a dense growth of nettles, and the decayed accumulation of years formed a surface soil which could be easily plowed. This variety of land was very inviting to the pioneers. TOWNSHIP ORGANIZED On February 24, 1848, the general assembly of the state created Morrow county, and Perry township was divided. Since then the eastern eighteen sections have exercised all the privileges of an independent township, and to the western half a tier of half sections were added from the congressional township, which has exercised the same privilege. The township of Perry obtained its name in the following manner. Abraham Hetrick and Philip Stiltz, who were living here at the time of Perry's victory on Lake Erie, resolved to perpetuate that event by giving the name of Perry to the neighborhood where they dwelt. This name was confirmed, when, in 1817, the organization of a township took place. Eleven men met in the early spring of the year mentioned above, at the house of Philip Stiltz, on section 16, and proceeded to organize the township by electing the necessary officers. Jehu Singrey was elected justice of the peace and treasurer; William Van Buskirk, constable ; John Stout, Abraham Hetrick and Peter Wirick, trustees ; Jonathan Huntsman, clerk. When Morrow county was formed, the township was divided through the center, and each half, both in Richland and Morrow counties, retained the name of Perry. THE EARLY ARRIVALS. The first actual settler in Perry township was John Frederick Herring, who came there in 1809 and built a mill, which was afterwards known as the Hannawalt mill, at the crossings of the Lexington-Fredericktown and the Bellville-Johnsville roads. O. M. Herring, of Mansfield, is a grandson of this pioneer, John F. Herring. John Ogle is supposed to have been the first white settler to have erected a cabin in the Perry township of Morrow county, as early as 1811. He was from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, 426 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY and entered the land upon which he had settled after his arrival. He and the Blairs came together, and they had to cut a road from Mt. Vernon to the place where they settled. Mr. Ogle was a great hunter and killed many bears and deer. Mr. Ogle died many years ago. Benjamin Hart settled in the township shortly after Mr. Ogle's arrival. Mr. Hart also came from Pennsylvania, as did the majority of the pioneers of this locality. He is also dead, as are all the pioneers of this period. Philip Stiltz, David Carr, James Welsh and James Huntsman came to Perry township among the early settlers, being all men of families. Lawrence Lamb came to the settlement in 1816. Although he entered land in 1812, he did not occupy it until that year. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and after its close moved to his new home. John Shauck, another early settler and soldier of the War of 1812, came from Pennsylvania and entered his land in 1814. Francis Baughman came from Maryland about the same year and entered land in Perry. Some of his descendants live in that part of the country yet. Adam Lucas, Abraham Hetrick and John Ely were also arrivals from Pennsylvania, the first two coming about the year 1816 and the latter a few years later. The Singrey family has been closely allied with the settlement and progress of the township. Jehu Singrey came from Baltimore county, Maryland, in 1815, and settled on the site of Shauck's mill, entering one hundred and sixty acres of land. Upon this land he built a cabin, and moved into it in the spring of 1816. At the time of his settlement there was an encampment of about one hundred and fifty Indians nearby and they remained there for about seven years. While looking at this land, before entering it, Mr. Singrey met with three Indians out hunting with their bows and arrows ; he shot the deer which he divided with them. After that they entertained a very high regard for him, and always called him the "White Chief." Chief was one of their most honorable titles. Mrs. Singrey often baked bread for the Indians. The first wheat Mr. Singrey had to sell he hauled to Zanesville and sold it for fifteen cents per bushel, taking pay in sugar, rice, salt and leather. His son, Dr. .D. M. L. Singrey, was a prominent physician, and lived on the old homestead for many years. Another pioneer of Perry township was William Lockart, a Revolutionary soldier. He came from Pennsylvania in 1833, and died in 1846, at the age of eighty-seven years. Dan Mitchell was HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 427 from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and settled in the township in 1823, where he lived until the fall of 1823, when he removed to Congress township. William Halferty was a settler of 1822, and died in 1828, leaving his wife in the woods with a large family. Rev. Benjamin. Green was from Baltimore county, Maryland, and settled in Perry in the fall of 1817. He was a Baptist preacher, and traveled across the mountains as a missionary preacher. He was one of the early pastors of the old Baptist church, at Shauck's mill. Adam Baker settled on the line between Perry and Congress townships. He was a native of some one of the Franco-German provinces, and a soldier under the first Napoleon. He accompanied that famous general on his ill-fated expedition to Moscow, and was one of the few of that grand army of 600,000 men who survived the disastrous retreat from the ancient capital of the Russias. Although he could speak little English, yet, whenever the name of Napoleon was mentioned, his eye would blaze with excitement, and he would take off his half-military cap, which he always wore, and show the scars upon his head the remains of wounds received while fighting under his great military leader. He died a few years ago. Samuel Dennis came from Pennsylvania in an early day. He was drafted as a soldier of 1812 in Pennsylvania, but hired a substitute. Henry Stephens was an old settler of the township. Among the early industries and pioneer improvements of Perry township were mills, tanyards, carding machines, blacksmith shops, etc. The first milling was done at Mt. Vernon, and other places equally remote. One of the first mills in the township was a grist and saw mill on the Clear fork of. the Mohican, built by Ely & Shauck, about a mile and a half east of Johnsville. This flouring mill served its purpose for two thirds of a century, but was destroyed a few years ago and has not been rebuilt. Perry township has two "first births." A daughter of Benjamin Hart was one of the first, and Phoebe Ogle the other; both of these are claimed as the first. Their fathers were the first two settlers, Ogle coming in 1811, and Mr. Hart in the fall of the same year or the next spring. Which is entitled to the preference, we are unable to say, and, as they are both ladies, and ladies are usually sensitive about their ages, we refrain from giving dates. Henry Sams' was the first funeral which occurred in the settlements. The first wedding is not remembered. In olden times, before the era of railroads, the business of teaming was very extensive. Goods were hauled in wagons from 428 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY Baltimore and Philadelphia, and even from New York. David Paxton, of this township, was one of these old-time teamsters, and made many a trip to those Eastern cities with his large wagon drawn by six horses. Such a trip took up about two- months by traveling "every day and Sunday too," and the expense of the trip was not far short of one hundred dollars. CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. A church of the Old-School Baptists was built at the mill in Perry township about 1825, and ten years afterward was burned. It was used both as a church and school house. A brick church was built about 1845 and served the congregation until 1877, when the present new frame was erected. Rev. Benjamin Green was one of the first pastors of this church. One of the oldest graveyards in the township is adjacent to this church, In addition to the Old-School Baptist church at Shauck's mill, Perry township has another outside of the villages. The Evangelical Lutheran church, situated a few hundred yards north of North Woodbury, was organized more than forty years ago. As early as 1835-6, a few persons met out-of-doors near the site of the present church, among whom were George B. Hasler, Martin Bechner, Samuel Hoffman, Henry Sowers, Sr., Peter Baker, John Snyder; Henry C. Buhl and Henry Sowers, Jr. They were members of the German Reformed and the old Lutheran churches. In 1836, they employed Rev. Samuel Leiter, of Mansfield, to preach for them. He was of the German Reformed church, and administered the sacrament to the members of the new congregation. About this time, Peter Baker donated one acre of land, upon which, during the summer of 1839, they erected a frame building thirty-five by forty feet. Rev. Mr. Myers preached the sermon at the laying of the corner-stone. During the summer of 1840, Rev. Barney Hoffman preached to them. He was from Pennsylvania and was of the Evangelical Lutheran denomination. In December a protracted meeting was held, when the society was organized into an Evangelical Lutheran church, and increased to over one hundred members before the close of winter. The first school taught in Perry township was by Lawrence Van Buskirk, in 1817, near the farm of Joshua Singery. He taught in the Owl Creek settlement several terms in succession. The next schools, perhaps, were taught in the villages of Johnsville HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 429 and. North Woodbury. The schools of the present day are in a flourishing condition, and in striking contrast to those of the early times. JOHNSVILLE. Johnsville is situated in the north central part of Perry township, and has at the present writing about a hundred inhabitants. It has a fine brick school house, in which are taught three grades, one of which is a second class high school. It also has a telephone exchange, and several churches. The United Brethren church is near the center of the town ; near the west end is situated the United Evangelical church. About a mile from Johnsville, on PICTURE OF VIEW AT JOHNSVILLE. the Lexington road, there are two churches, nearly opposite each other ; the brick building belonging to the Old-School Baptists and is occupied by them ; the other is the Mennonite church the house being a frame structure. Near these is a large brick house, which is pointed out as the old home of John A. Shauck, who is now one of the judges of the supreme court of Ohio. The post office at Johnsville bears the name of Shauck. The Shaucks were early settlers there and have ever been a prominent family in the township. The village has two general stores, one drug store and a hardware store. A Mr. Hosier is the present post master, and he is of an old and prominent family. 430 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY The village of Johnsville was laid out in 1834, by John Ely and William H. Shauck, each owning a quarter section, and on a part of each man's land the town was located. The first residence in the place was built by Francis Holmes. The first merchants were Boyd & Ackley who opened a store there in about 1837, and the next year were succeeded by Creigh & Shauck. Asa Cover opened a tavern in about 1839, which was the first in the town, and which continued in business until 1860. A post office was established there in 1825 by John Shauck, was named for him, and he was the first post master. The first blacksmith was William Shauck. John T. Creigh was also a post master there. He was one of the first county commissioners and was elected to the state senate in 1854. A fact worthy of note about this village is that every man who engaged in continuous business there, became rich. Two men are yet remembered who came to the place poor, but by perseverance and steadfastness of purpose, they became wealthy. NORTH WOODBURY. North Woodbury is a small village, situated about the center of Perry township. There is a general store but no post office, the place being on the Rural Free Delivery. At the west edge of the village, the Albrights have a frame church building, and about a quarter of a mile north of the place a Lutheran church is located. The village of North Woodbury was surveyed and laid out by Elisha Cornwall, David Tuthill and Charles Campbell, who owned the land upon which it was located, and the plat was recorded June 30, 1830. Terry and Cornwall, hatters by trade, built the first residence on the village site. The first store in the place was opened, in the spring of 1835, by John Markey, John Ruhl and Elkanah Van Buskirk. In the spring of 1836, they built a store house, but prior to this Morgan Levering had bought Markey's interest in the store, and as Mr. Van Buskirk also withdrew the firm became Levering & Ruhl. The proprietorship of this store changed a number of times, but the business was continued. Other stores were opened up but did not continue in business long. There is now but one mercantile establishment in the place, and that is a general store. Nearly all the village stores in Morrow county are of this description, keeping dry goods, groceries, notions and whatever else is supposed to be needed to supply the needs of a small place. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 431 A post office was established in North Woodbury in 1843, and John Boner was the first post master. The name of the office was Woodview. The office has been discontinued, the rural mail service supplying its place. The first tavern in North Woodbury was kept by a Mr. Sherley. Mr. Paxton was also an early tavern keeper, as were also William Kreps and a Mr. Acton. George Kepper was the first shoemaker ; Adam Bechtel, the first tailor ; Adam Hoffner, the first wagon maker ; Peter Burkeybite, the first blacksmith ; and Timothy Sherley, the first cooper. The first school house in the place was built of logs, about 1832. Among the first teachers were Dr. Floyd and a Mr. Spears. The first cemetery was laid out by George B. Hosier, and Elizabeth Ruhl was the first person buried in it. A tan-yard was an early industry in the place and was run by Peter Rauhauser. A distillery was also operated for a short time. North Woodbury was a lively little town at one time, and did a large business, but that was before the appearance of railroads and the more extensive industries of this later period, which have caused her smaller manufacturers to be abserbed by larger and richer communities. Among the early doctors of North Woodbury were Drs. Rundall, Hull and Main. Dr. Ruhl came at a little later period. CHAPTER XXIII. PERU AND TROY TOWNSHIPS. GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF PERU TOWNSHIP-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS SIDE BY SIDE-PIONEER CHARACTERS AND EVENTS-SOUTH WOODBURY-WEST LIBERTY-OLD TIME TRAPPING AND HUNTING-EARLY SETTLEMENT ON ALUM CREEK-GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF TROY TOWNSHIP-FIRST WHITE SETTLERS-STEAM CORNERS. Generation after generation of pioneers have gradually carried the star of empire westward, until it would seem as if the work of the pioneer were nearly done. As these hardy and adventurous men and women opened up the new world to civilization, they were closely followed by other settlers who joined them in their joys and their sorrows, helped them to build their rude homes and to defend them against the natives of the forests. The flood of years which has borne this township and Morrow county so far upon the stream of time is still bearing it onward. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. Peru township is the southwestern township of Morrow county. In the early settlement this section was called the "Sciota country." It was then a part of Sunbury township, Delaware county. In 1813 it was set off to Kingston ; in 1819 to Bennington, and in 1820 to Peru. In 1848, when Morrow county was created, Peru was set off into that county. Peru township is bounded on the north by Lincoln ; on the east by Bennington township, Morrow county, and on the south and west by Kingston and Oxford townships, Delaware county. The name was given the township by the early settlers who came from Peru township in New York. The streams of the township consist of the east branch of Alum creek and its tributaries. Alum creek rises in Gilead township, flows diagonally through the township from northeast to southwest, and empties into Big Walnut in Franklin county. Its main tributaries in the township are Big Spring, Gulf, Indigo and Big runs; also, Basin branch which flows through the northwestern part and empties into the west branch in Delaware county. The east and west branches of Alum creek unite near the southwest - 432 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 433 corner of the township. The early settlers usually located in the vicinity of the streams. The Friends' settlement was on the east branch of Alum creek ; the Edgar settlement, was on Indigo run ; the Randolph, Flemming and Whipple settlements farther down Alum creek. The Morehouses and Woods located on Basin branch in 1830-1. The first township officers elected in Peru after it became a part of Morrow were : Trustees, Smith Goodwin, William Flemming and William Morehouse ; justices of the peace, Isaac Goodwin, Stephen Morehouse, Jr., and Elijah Freeman ; treasurer, George N. Clark ; township clerk, Nathan F. Randolph. The elections were held for a good many years at the residence of James F. Randolph, it being near the central part of the township. The soil in Peru township is well adapted for agricultural purposes, especially since the swails have been reclaimed. The timber is varied, embracing nearly all the useful sorts, as oak, hickory, elm, ash, maple, Walnut, Butternut, beech, buckeye, etc. From a paper written by Bartorn Whipple, of Peru, in 1817, we take the following facts : In 1817 the township contained the families of Israel Dagett, Otis Dagett and family, Walter Dunham, Harlock Dunham and their families, Nathan Clarke and family, Solomon Smith, Jesse Champlain, Zenas Root, John Thatcher, Henry Fleming, William Fleming and Isaac Fleming, all of whom had families and were settled along Alum creek. Still further up were Jacob Van Deventer, Abram Vanduser and their families, Nathaniel Earl, William Benedict, Aaron Benedict; Joseph Keene, Ezra Keene, David Osborn, Andrew Buck, Reuben Benedict, Daniel Wood, John Gardner, Jirah Smith, Peleg Bunker, John Dillingham, William Gidley, and some transient Indians. The last named fifteen families were known as the "Quaker settlement," while near the forks of Alum creek, an emigrant from Providence, Rhode Island, had made the pioneer cabin and clearing. Of the foregoing, nearly all have died or removed to other localities. Another settlement was composed of Zenas Root, John Eaton, John. Thatcher, Jesse Ohamplin, Henry Fleming, Stein. Sackett, Jacob Vandeventer, Nathan Clarke, and Smith (who was the first blacksmith in the township), Noah Agard, Asa Deford, Joseph Eaton and Asahel Potter. CHURCH AND SCHOOL SIDE BY SIDE. A beautiful feature of Christian civilization is to see the church and school house rise side by side, or, if only the school house be erected, as in those days, its appropriation to Christian purposes, 434 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY by common consent, as was the case in the Agard settlement ; although the understanding in the erection of that primitive structure was that it should be used both as a church and a school house. Identical with this was the instance in the Quaker settlement ; there the church edifice was used for the double purpose of a church and a school house. Benjamin Earl and Daniel Wood were teachers, and were without superiors in round hand writing and arithmetic, to the "single rule of three." The school primer of that period had this very significant couplet, " In Adam's fall, we sinned all." Many who may read this, will recollect how allowable was the use of the birch and the ferule, the leather spectacles and the dunce block, in the schools, and how many a boy was made to dance who did not know one tune from another, and keep step with the music, too. We sometimes hear persons sigh and wish for the good old times, but remind them of those customs, and they do not want them, especially if they have had a personal experience of them when in vogue. But in Peru a great change has taken place. The primitive structures, both public and private, have all disappeared. We now notice the modern buildings which have supplanted these ruder edifices. Reuben Benedict's brick house was the first of that kind in the township ; the Methodist church built in 1840, was the first church edifice, and the best in the township in its day. A brick structure succeeded this early church building, and was also used for school purposes by Prof. J. S. Harkness. And when the ravages of time necessitated a new building, it arose and stood in robes of white, of modest pretensions, though comfortable appearance ; still a house for worship, a sanctuary for the Most High. The first church was erected about 1816, and it was not until 1834 that the next religious edifice, that of the Baptists, was erected, on the lands of Noah Agard, on the Worthington and New Haven road. It drew its audiences from the following named families : Zenas Root, John Eaton, John Thatcher, Jesse. Champlin, Henry Fleming, Stein Sackett, Jacob Vandeventer, Nathan Clarke, (whose widow, since Nathan's death has twice been married, her last husband being John Evans), Smith (the first blacksmith in the township), Noah Agard, Esq., Asa Defred, one of the first teachers, Asahel Potter and Joseph Eaton. In 1836, the Methodist Episcopal church had an organization, but no building until 1840, when one of very moderate pretensions was erected in South Woodbury. Hitherto school houses had been used instead of churches. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 435 The first church erected in the township was a log structure on the land of Reuben Benedict, and used for the double purpose of a church and a school house. Of the schools the first were subscription schools now, besides the common schools provided for by laws of the state, there are two schools of a higher order in the township, to wit, Hesper Mount Seminary and Alum Creek Academy. Hesper Mount Seminary, the erection of which commenced in 1844, was not occupied until 1845, at which time, under the auspices and supervision of Jesse S. and Cynthia Harkness, it was opened for the admission of students and dedicated to the interests of education. PIONEER CHARACTERS AND EVENTS. The pioneers of the western and northwestern part of the township also deserve proper notice here. John Eaton built the first cabin on the Eaton section. In 1830 Stephen Morehouse opened the road along which he moved with his family, and settled on Basin branch ; hence the name, Morehouse settlement, by which it has since been known. In 1831, the Baldwins and Woods settled in the northwestern part, as did also the Schofields. In the Morehouse settlement, a school house was erected on the lands of Daniel Morehouse, and in this the first school was taught by Isaac Monroe. In this neighborhood the salt used by the settlers was brought from Zanesville, and in 1817 that commodity cost fifteen dollars per barrel at Fredericktown, the nearest point at which it could be obtained. In view of its scarcity, and the discovery of it in numerous deer licks near the East fork of Alum creek, salt was bored for on the lands of Henry Flemming, to a depth of four hundred feet; thereby salt water was obtained and salt works were established and operated from 1818 to 1820. But upon the whole it was not a paying enterprise and was abandoned. The first foot bridge for crossing the creek was at the rear of Reuben Benedict's mills, and consisted of a long hickory log hewn on the upper side, one end resting on the mill frame and the other resting on an abutment of logs built up in a square pen and filled with stone to prevent high water from moving it. Another log was laid, one end on this abutment and the other on the west bank. To one side of these, logs a railing was fastened by which persons could steady themselves in crossing. These were the only crossings available for about thirty five years, except when the water was low enough to cross on the riffles ; but in 1847 the wagon bridge 436 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY was built across the creek on the Ashley and Marengo road. This bridge was a wooden structure, covered, and was built mostly by subscription. It did service for over thirty years, when it was replaced by an iron bridge in 1878. The first marriage in the settlement was that of John Keese and Sarah Benedict, performed by Edmund Buck a justice of the peace, on June 4, 1815. The couple built a house and lived on a piece of land the bride's father had donated on the opposite side of the creek from his residence. The second marriage was that of Robert Gardner and Polly Benedict, July 27, 1816. The first burial in the settlement was that of Aaron Benedict, Sr., in 1816, and it occurred in the woods before any roads were laid out. The widow, Elizabeth Benedict, was the next burial, in 1821. The first cabin in Peru township was built by Cyrus Benedict in 1810. The first hewn log house was built by William Benedict in 1814. In 1828 the first two brick houses were erected ; the first frame house was built in 1830, the first frame barn in 1819, and the second barn in 1821. These barns were built without nails, the siding being pinned on and the clapboard roofs held in place by knees and weight poles. The first saw mill on Alum creek was built early in the spring of 1816, by William Benedict and David Osborn, Sr. In the latter part of the same season they purchased a pair of small millstones and rigged their mill up to grind wheat and corn. Reuben Benedict built the first grist mill about the year 1818. It was constructed of logs and stood on the east side of the creek. The mill-stones were made out of large hard head rock found on Big Spring run, and were dressed and prepared for grinding by two Welchmen named James. This mill was in successful operation for many years, and was afterwards rebuilt by Mr. Benedict's son. There were also attached to this grist mill, a saw mill, a shingle machine and a machine for breaking and swinging flax, all of which were run by water power. The plant was called the "Benedict Mills." There have been quite a number of saw and grist mills run by water in Peru township, but they have all passed away. From 1810 to 1820 the nearest post office to this settlement was at Berkshire In the year 1820 Alexander Edgar was appointed post master and given a grant to establish Bennington post office, and the mail was carried once a week to and from Berkshire The post office was kept at Edgar's house, in the southeastern part of what is now Peru township. The mail route was HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 437 later changed and the mail carried to and from Delaware, a distance of ten miles, and the carrier received thirty-seven and a-half cents for each trip. The postage on a newspaper for one year was at that time seventy-five cents ; postage on letters, up to 1845, was, for a distance not exceeding thirty miles, six and one-fourth cents; over thirty and not exceeding eighty miles, ten cents; over eighty and not exceeding one hundred and fifty miles, twelve and one half cents ; over one hundred and fifty miles and not exceeding four hundred miles, eighteen and three-fourths cents; over four hundred miles and not exceeding five hundred miles, twenty cents; and twenty-five cents for all distances over five hundred miles. The postage was paid by the receiver. In 1845 a great reduction was made by congress, and in July, 1851, letter postage was reduced to three cents per half ounce for all distances. Nathan F. Randolph was next appointed post master, and sometime afterwards he removed to South Woodbury and took the post office with him The route was again changed, being established from Sunbury to Mt. Gilead and the mail carried twice a week. In 1862 a daily route was established from South Woodbury to Ashley. The towns in the township are South Woodbury and West Liberty, sketches of which follow. SOUTH WOODBURY. The village of South Woodbury was laid out about 1830. The land was owned in 1810 by Jonas Stansberry was known as lot No. 12, and contained one hundred acres. Mr. Stansberry sold it to John and Joseph Horr, and they sold it to Daniel Wood, who laid out the town. The first building, a log cabin. was erected by Joseph Horr, and the first frame building was erected by Andrew Scofield as a store room. The first hotel was erected by Shadrack Hubbell and Eli Johnson, during the year 1832-3. Among the early merchants were Shadrach Hubbell, Aaron Chapman, G. W. Clarke, David White, Andrew Buck, Stephen Morehouse, William Waters, J. B. Benson, Levi Starr, R. Wood and D. S. Osborne. The first church was organized in 1836 by the Methodists, and in 1840 the first church building was erected. The next public building was the Odd Fellows' hall, erected in 1871. The society had twenty members At that time. Among the early industries there were a wagon shop and a blacksmith shop, but no saloon. Early ministers were Hill Seymour, Allen, Burgess, Conant, Vol. I-28 438 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY Blampede, Plummer, Mitchell, Ketchum, Wheeler, Brandyberry, Ayers, Craven, Seymour, Waddell, Webster, Jones, Bell, Lawrence, Chilson, Heustes, Close, Baldwin,- Conley and Yourtes. The early doctors were. Patee, Sapp, Breese, Pennock, Swingley, Conklin, Mills, Wilson, Shaw and Immo The hotel keepers, prior to 1880, were Solomon Westbrook, William Westbrook, R. Benedict and Philemon Conklin ; the coopers were S. Doty and Rufus Pierce; the saddlers, Lyon, Patterson and Smith ; early post masters, George N. Clarke, Isaac Gooden and Richard Wood. The first mail, carried from Delaware to Woodbury on contract was by Shadrach Hubbell, and the Hon. J. Randolph Hubbell was the first post boy. The first child born in the village was Celestia Horr, and the first person buried in the village cemetery was Mrs. Rachael Buck. The first traveled road ran along the west bank of Alum creek, and the- first cabins were built along that highway. Colonel Kilbourne and his assistants surveyed a road from Worthington, Franklin county, to New Haven, Huron county, and the Delaware and Mt. Gilead road is a part of that route. It was opened for travel in 1825, and is the one on which Woodbury was subsequently laid out. WEST LIBERTY. The town of West Liberty was laid out about the year 1837, On land owned by John Julian. It was platted by County Surveyor Eaton, near the west bank of Alum creek, on the Worthington and New Haven road, near the southern boundary of Peru township. It was given the name of West Liberty. The first and only settler for some time was Jesse Stanton, and on account of this the town was often nick-named Stantontown. Jesse Stanton was a soldier under General Harrison in the war of 1812. Although the village was named West Liberty, it is still locally known as Stantontown, honoring its first settler. At present it has a school house, a church and about fifty inhabitants. It formerly had a post office, but is now on, the Rural Free Delivery. Peter Fox kept the first grocery. Thomas Stewart was the first cooper. Miller Davis was the first shoemaker and Elijah Freeman the first merchant. The first school house in the village was built in 1839, and the first teacher was Amos Potter. In 1873 a fine brick school house was built on the site of the old one, and furnished with the latest improved patent desks. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 439 In 1843 a religious society named Christians was formed. Some of the prominent members were Harmon Earl and wife, Miss Adeline Randolph, Walter F. Pearson, Samuel Linscott and wife, and William Linscott. The first ministers were Aaron Groves, John McInturf, William H. Ashley and Perry G. Watson. Meetings were held at private houses until 1847, when the society, numbering about forty, built a frame meeting house in the village. West Liberty is four miles south of South Woodbury, and situated on an elevation of sufficient height to command a fine view of the surrounding country. The first physicians of the place were Drs. Hull and Jenkins. OLD TIME TRAPPING AND HUNTING. (As told by A. S. Benedict, of Peru Township.) A number of the early settlers were good hunters and supplied themselves as well as some of their neighbors with meat, such as venison, wild turkey, etc. When one of these hunters started out in the woods with his gun he was about as sure to return with a saddle of venison or a wild turkey as the farmer is now to go to his pasture for mutton or to his barnyard for poultry. Almost the only things that the early settler could turn, to ready cash were furs and skins—such as coon, mink, otter and deer skins, and wolf pelts. There was a bounty on wolf scalps of five dollars for the old ones and two dollars and a half for the young ones, the scalps would pay taxes as well as the cash. Coons were mostly caught in dead falls in the spring of the year. These dead falls were set on logs in swamps which coons frequented in their search for frogs. Dead falls were made with two poles twelve or fifteen feet long, the butt ends of which were laid across the log, one on the other. Four stakes were then driven in the ground to hold these poles in place, a sufficient weight being placed on the upper pole, after which they were raised to the proper height and figure. Four trap sticks were used, a small strip of elm bark being fastened to the spindle passing back between the poles and secured to a stake to keep it in place. The coon passing along the log, endeavoring to get through the trap, comes in contact with the bark, the least touch of which will spring the trap, and if set by an expert trapper will catch the animal by the neck. Minks were caught in the same kind of a trap. A small pen was built on the one side of the trap and the bait was put in this 440 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY enclosure. In order to get at the bait they had to pass between the poles which brought them in contact with the bark (as in the coon trap), which would spring the trap and catch the mink. Otters were caught in steel traps set in the foot of their slide. They have a very singular habit of amusement. Their favorite sport is sliding, and for this purpose, in the winter, the highest ridge is selected, to the top of which the otter scrambles and lying on his belly with his fore feet down, bent backwards at the top of the slide they give themselves an impulse with their hind legs and swiftly glide, head foremost down the declivity, sometimes a distance of twenty yards. They continue the sport apparently with the keenest enjoyment, until hunger or fatigue induces them to desist. In summer these slides are often made on clay slopes along the banks of streams. The least disturbance or tracking by men about the slide, causes the otter to leave it permanently; so the trapper either goes in a canoe or wades in the water to the slide to set his trap. He is careful not to touch the bank anywhere near the trap above the surface of the water. He fastens his trap at the foot of the slide, and the unsuspecting otter in the excitement rushes to its fate. Wolves were caught in large steel traps and in pens. Trappers would manage to get some old worthless horse and lead him out into the woods, near a swamp or windfall which the wolves frequented, shoot the animal and cover the carcass with logs so that the wolves could get but a small portion of it at a time. They would leave one or two of the horse's legs exposed so that the wolves could get a taste, and the little that they got in that way only whetted their appetites and made them more easy victims. By covering up the bait and giving them a little taste at a time, the hunters could make the bait last all winter; whereas if the carcass were left exposed the wolves would devour the whole horse in one night. The men set their steel traps in different places, two or three rods from the carcass, because the wolf is very shy and hard to catch, and would be almost sure to scent the trap if set by the bait. The wolf thinking that the danger is at the bait, is caught when not looking for danger in another place. Many wolves were caught in pens made of logs, about five by six feet square. A floor of poles was first laid on the ground to prevent the wolf from digging out, and upon this foundation the pen was built, the corners being pinned or writhed together and the top covered with logs. On one side one log was fixed so that it HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 141 could be raised up, leaving an opening so that the wolves could go in. Under this were placed trap sticks with a string or bark attached to the spindle, running back and then across the back to the pen. The bait was placed back of this string and the wolf going in would come in contact with the string before he got to the bait, which would spring the trap, and the log in falling would close the entrance and the wolf would be imprisoned. One settler went to his wolf pen one day and found two or three of his hogs in it, and one with its head mashed under the log, the trap being sprung by those inside, as he wes entering. This mishap, which was quite a loss, gave him one encouraging thought, and that was that the dead hog would make more wolf bait. One man, near Old Eden, got caught in one of his wolf traps. After he had got his trap set he crawled in to fix something about the trigger, in handling which he sprung the trap and was caught in it. At night he was missing and no one knew where he set his traps. Next day the settlers went to hunt for him and they got in hearing of him about noon. He had managed to keep from freezing, although it was a bitter cold night in the winter. In order to find a den of cubs which were generally in a hollow log, two or three of the settlers would join and go into the woods somewhere near where they supposed the old ones had their young, and camp out, taking a pocket compass with them. The male wolf would howl near the den in the dusk of the evening, and the mother wolf woul answer. They will also call and answer just at the break if day. The hunters would set their compass by the direction of the sound and follow until they found the den which generally contained from seven to nine cubs, for which they would get two dollars and a half per scalp, the money being quite an item to the new settlers. Deer were hunted mostly by stalking or still hunting, as it was generally termed, the hunter taking his gun, moving as silently as possible through the woods, and facing the wind if possible, so that the wind would blow from the animal to the hunter. When snow was on the ground the hunter would put on a white gown over his other clothes so that his dress would be less likely to attract the attention of the deer, and in this garb he would sally forth quietly and noiselessly and soon bring down his game. A second mode was to put a bell on a horse, with one hunter astride the horse and another on either side and several rods ahead ; the deer being attracted by the horse and bell, the outside hunters could get within easy range of the animal. Cattle belonging to 442 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY the settlers ran at large in the woods, with a bell on the leader of the herd, and the deer became so accustomed to seeing the cattle and hearing the bell that it did not alarm them. The hunter, aware of this fact, would put a bell on his horse and go deer hunting by himself. Very many deer were killed in this way. During the summer season the settlers also killed a great many deer at the salt "licks," of which there were a number in the immediate vicinity and the surrounding forests. The deer visited these licks in the dusk of the evening. The hunter acquainted with their habits would go to their haunts a litle before sundown, get behind his blind or screen which he had erected some time previous and placed within easy range of the lick, and there wait in perfect stillness for the approach of the deer. There were ten deer licks within the boundaries of Peru township. Wild cats were very numerous, were not so shy as the wolf, and were easily caught. They annoyed the wolf trapper very much by getting into their traps and eating the bait. Their pelts were almost worthless, did not pay for skinning ; therefore the beasts were considered by the trappers as pests and nuisances. Bears were scarce ; but occasionally one would pass through a settlement and sometimes catch a hog. The only one killed near Alum creek settlement was in 1814, by Reuben Benedict, in the western part of the township. He was on horseback about two miles from home, and must of necessity devise some plan to get his bear home. He made a collar for his horse with the stirrup straps of his saddle, twisting one end around the collar and the other around the jaws of the bear; thus the horse was harnessed and hitched to the bear and drawn home. Barton Whipple tracked an old bear and her two cubs to near the "basin lick," which was on the Pennock farm, a few rods south of the road. Here the bears went up a large oak tree and into a hole. Barton then went for help to get them. A number of the settlers joined him, taking their dogs, axes and guns with them. By that time, however, it was too late to cut the tree down before dark, and as it would not do to leave it for fear the bears would escape the hunters watched all night. They commenced to fell the tree so that they could have it down early in the morning; as soon as the men began to chop, the old bear stuck her head out of the hole and one of the hunters shot at her head. When the smoke cleared away there was no bear to be seen. Afterward the men felled the tree and stopped the hole so that the bears could not get out, but when they cut into the hollow they found the mother HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 443 dead. The cubs were let out for the dogs to have a tussel with, and then they were killed. William Waters was going from the West branch of Alum creek, through the woods to a settlement on the Whetstone, and his dog found a bear in a hollow log. The dog went in to tackle the bear, but the latter gave the reckless dog a death hug. Waters then carried logs and chunks to fasten the bear in the hole while he went for help to kill it. When they got back the bear had got out with the dead dog and was pawing and rolling him around, apparently playing with him. When the bear discovered the hunters he made off, and that was the last seen of him. Daniel Wood, while working in his clearing, on the present Site of South Woodbury, heard one of his hogs squealing. He ran to where the hog was and found that a bear had the animal down. Having nothing to kill the bear with Mr. Wood ran at it shouting, and the bear left its intended victim and ran off. One way of hunting wild turkey was to take the small bone in the second joint of the wing of a hen turkey. This hollow bone the hunter placed in his mouth, and by sucking through it he could, so nearly imitate a turkey's call that he could deceive the most expert hunter as well as the bird. The hunter used this bone to locate flocks of turkeys and as they would readily answer this call he sometimes got very near them. A great many turkeys were caught in pens made of poles or rails, five or six feet high by ten or twelve feet square. One side was open at the bottom so that the turkeys by squatting down a little could go in but as soon as they found themselves caught they kept their heads up trying to get out at the top, never looking down for the hole by which they entered. Turkeys were frequently kept in the pens and if the supply was greater than the demand plenty of corn was fed the imprisoned birds, and other turkeys seeing this would crawl in and get caught. In this way the supply was kept up. In this way settlers who had no guns, or did not enjoy the chase, caught a great many turkeys, and thus supplied their family with the delicious and wholesome meat. The settlers depended altogether on maple sugar and honey for sweetening. In order to find a bee tree, an open place in the woods was selected and fire was built by means of a steel flint or punk (matches were not known in those days) stone was placed in the fire and when sufficiently hot beeswax was placed upon it, and the smoke of the burning wax would attract the bees if there were any near. If the bees came the hunters would put out their 444 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY bait for honey, with which the bees would load themselves and return to the tree. After loading themselves with honey they would make a straight line for home, and it is from this fact that the expression "bee line," as applied to railroads and other direct courses, originated. By watching the course of the bees after leaving the honey, the hunters could get the exact direction of the "bee line." If the hunter, in following this line, was not successful in finding the tree, he would go a little distance at right angles with the line, and put out another bait in order to get a line crossing the first. Where these lines crossed would be found the bee tree. Bees were very fond of the water found in deer licks in the summer season, and hunters would visit them in order to get lines of bees and sometimes they would get four or five lines from one lick, and perhaps find as many bee trees. In the fall of the year the bee hunters would take buckets and tie them together with a short rope or bark, hang them across a horse's back and start for the bee trees, inviting their neighbors to go along and assist in the sport of cutting the trees and securing the honey. Cutting bee trees was rare sport for the boys and was equally enjoyed by those who were not boys ; the only trouble was, if they ate too much warm honey it would make them sick. EARLY SETTLEMENT ON ALUM CREEK. Cyrus Benedict and wife came from Peru township, Clinton county, New York, in the year 1798, and settled on Alum creek. The following sketch was written by Mrs. Benedict. “With our then three children, Anna, Sylvester and Clarinda, we started for the far state of Ohio, a distance of nearly one thousand miles. Our journey was over the Allegheny mountains, no nearer route having been opened. To obtain company on the way and in the new settlement we expected to make, we loaned Abraham Vanduser fifty dollars and agreed to take our pay of him in labor or grain in Ohio. We had a long and tedious journey, arriving in Sunbury, Delaware county, Ohio, on the 15th of November, 1809. We moved in with another family. Our second son was born on the 15th of January, 1810, and when he was two weeks old we moved onto a farm which we had rented in Sunbury for one year. "Soon after this Cyrus was taken sick, and for a long time In, HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 445 recovery was doubtful. He had gained strength by planting time to walk a little. The neighbors were very kind to us in his sickness. They provided wood, shaved him, and otherwise assisted me in taking care of him ; they plowed three acres of land and planted it with corn. He was able to ride out and get help to hoe the corn, though very feeble, and went over twenty miles to the mill, but was not able to labor much until winter. "We sold our wagon for provisions and ten dollars worth of apple trees. Cyrus purchased a lot of land of Jonas Stanberry, on Alum creek, fifteen miles north of where we then lived. Most of the way to the land was through the thick woods. It lies on the east side of Alum creek, about one half of a mile northeast of South Woodbury, and is now owned by Reuben Gardner. Having nothing to pay down, Stanbury agreed to wait on us for pay, without interest, until we could raise stock and pay off the claim. But having poor success in raising stock on account of murrain and other causes, we could not pay for the farm until we sold it, when we paid Stanbury and bought congressional land on a branch of the Whetstone creek (which Cyrus named Shaw creek), of which to make us a new farm, and had some money left for improvements. "I must return now to the subject of our first preparation to move into the woods on Alum creek. It brought many trials and hardships on me. Cyrus' health being poor, he could not labor much, but was, however, a good hunter, and found a number of trees containing wild bees, the honey and wax of which, together with the deer and turkeys which he killed, helped us much. Late in the year of 1810, he and a neighbor of ours, Michael Munson, went up to Alum creek to cut logs, to build each of them a cabin on the Stanbury section. They took cooked provisions to last them until the day of the raising, which was fixed upon before they left us. The neighbor's wife was to cook and send up provisions for their hands at the raising and invite the neighbors north of us to attend, and I was to cook and send up for our hands and also invite the neighbors south of us. " The day before the raising, I rode around and invited the hands, allotted to me, to go up and assist in making the shingles and assist at the raising, which would take place in three days, including going and returning, and engaged Vanduser (who came to this state with us) to be at our house by daybreak the next morning with his team. He was to take up provisions for the raising, and haul the house logs. By this time it was noon and 446 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY nothing had been done towards cooking the victuals. Of course, I had neither oven nor stove. I had to use the great iron kettle to boil meat and stew pumpkins, and the large baking kettle or Dutch oven for baking bread, of which I had to make several loaves. We had plenty of venison, pumpkins, crab apples and honey, and I made twenty-four mince pies and baked them in a large spider by putting in the crust without a plate, used metheglin in them in the place of cider, and packed them in a large churn. The weather being cool, they carried safely. The men said they were not bad to take in the woods, and were very acceptable, as was also two gallons of metheglin which I sent along to drink with the victuals. "I did not lie down that night. Our daughter, Anna, was old enough to do some chores and look after the younger children in my absence. Abraham Vanduser was on hand a little after the break of day, took the provisions and our neighbors, and the cabins were soon built. Between Christmas and New Years we moved into ours, which was without door, window, chimney, or floor, except the ground, but it had a good place for all of them. The weather was moderate, and we had that week the heaviest thunder storm that I ever witnessed. Our nearest neighbors, except the Indians, were eight or nine miles distant. I stayed one night and two days alone with my children. "We learned from friends that during this lonely night she was obliged to keep fire to keep the wolves from coming into the house, and in order to have some employment to keep her awake she sheared their dog, which had long hair of different colors, and carded, spun and knit a pair of mittens, which, on account of their mixed colors, were said to have been very beautiful. And thus she passed the lonely hours of a long winter night. In two weeks our neighbor came on and occupied his cabin ; so we had company. Before spring, Cyrus hired a man to help him clear a piece of land for corn, and another in which to set apple trees about twenty of which are still bearing fruit. "Before we left Sunbury, Vanduser engaged us thirty bushels of corn (as he owed us) for twenty-five cents per bushel; but he only let us have seven, and said he would supply us with more after harvest. We wanted part of the corn for our hogs, which we drove with us to Alum creek. The large one cost us seven dollars. The Indians shot her, cut out a piece of her side and left the balance ; some of the others died and some strayed off. When we first came, we brought two cows and a calf, and the wolves killed the HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 447 calf, as we supposed, while at Sunbury. Afterwards each of the cows raised a calf, and we drove the two cows and two calves to Alum creek. The cattle soon ate something that poisoned them and the calves died, and one cow got hurt and died ; so we had three hides. "I went to Berkshire to the man that owed us apple trees to see if I could not get corn instead of all, or part, of the trees. He would not consent to let me have corn ; said the price had raiseu to seventy-five cents per bushel, but that he would give me one bushel. I stopped with an acquaintance before getting to Berkshire, and he said he had turned off one man who offered him seventy-five cents per bushel for corn, but that I should have a bushel for twenty-five cents ; so I had two bushels which I took on my horse and started for the mill, which was four miles further down Alum creek through the woods. When about half way my horse gave out and laid down. I got off her and let her rest a while and got her up again, holding onto the sack to prevent its falling off; for if it fell off I could not get it on again or leave it to get help, for the hogs would be likely to destroy it before 1 could return. I walked a while and lead the horse, and thus made out to get to the mill. But I could not get the corn ground ; had to leave it. The man that Cyrus had engaged to help him clear land was at the mill ; he said he would move up in a few days and would bring the meal up with him, and I received this as a great favor. "Then having no load I went to see James Gregory, in Berkshire, having heard that he had plenty of grain and had been offered seventy-five cents per bushel for corn, but was waiting for the price to get higher. I went to him with a heavy heart to offer him those three hides, for I had no money. I had seen him once when Cyrus was sick, in Sunbury, and he came to bring him some preserves. I thought they were grand folks, and I felt very queer and poor, but I ventured in. They treated me kindly and gave me my dinner. I told him my errand, and he readily said he would take the hides; said he had turned way those who had offered him money at seventy-five cents per bushel, because grain was scarce and he thought those who had money could go elsewhere and buy. He was willing to take the hides, but said we had better keep them and get them tanned for our own use ; said he would let me have what I wanted for twenty-five cents per bushel and would let me have some wheat; he had beans and seed corn we could have, and he would wait until we could pay him. I told him how many bushels 448 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY of corn and wheat we would need, with a half bushel of beans and seed corn. I then left with a thankful heart, and have ever since remembered the Gregorys with feelings of love and gratitude. "I then went from Berkshire to Sunbury to see Vanduser to get him to take the grain to mill, get it ground and bring it up to us with the seed corn and beans; which he agreed to do, as he still owed us. This finished the days work. Next morning I started home with more courage, thinking that we might now get along. We were afterwards so favored to get the money with which to pay James Gregory to his full satisfaction. "The man came on the last of February to help clear the land for corn. I helped all that I could and, with some of the children's help, piled most of the brush and burned it off. Vanduser came with his team and helped to log the ground. I set fire to the log heaps and picked up the chunks, and Anna took care of the children. We then commenced to fence it. Cyrus laid the bottom logs for the fence—the large ones—and the rails on them, I took our horse and hauled the rails to him, by fastening the chain around the end of several at a time, and let them drag on the ground, as I could not lift them. Cyrus was taken with a lame back before he got the fence high enough to turn the hogs in, and as it was the last of May, he left the fence expecting to make it higher after planting, and started to plow, I had to drive the team, and his back was so lame that he gave out after plowing several times around the first land. We had rented a garden spot to a man who helped about the chopping and he built him a cabin and moved into it. At Cyrus' request I went to see if he could help us plow that afternoon, thinking Cyrus might be better the next day. The man was a porter by trade and, although he had never plowed any, he said he would come and try. He did so, but I had to drive the team. I was soon tired of that, and thought I could take one horse at a time and change them ; hold the plow myself and let my oldest son, Sylvester, ride the horse. The ground was mellow and we got along very well, plowing about four acres. Cyrus got better so that he finished it, and got it planted to corn the 11th of June. We had a very good crop, I helped to plant and hoe it, and thought it no hardship, being quite spare in flesh and having good health. "At the time we lost our cattle by poison, one cow lived ; although she dried entirely up and we were without milk for a time ; but our neighbors at Sunbury heard of it and they bought us a cow for twenty dollars paying thirteen of it themselves, and HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 449 driving the cow and calf to us. We knew nothing of it until they came. We then paid the balance and thought it a great favor, as we were strangers in a strange land with not a relative near us. The following summer the cow went back to Sunbury and when we found her she was nearly dry. The next spring we sold one of our horses and took a cow in part pay, kept her about one year, and then she strayed off with a drove that passed through Sunbury. Others were missing, one of which came back. "After harvest I went to Sunbury to get some wheat of Vanduser, I got the wheat and was going several miles with it to mill when an acquaintance offered to send a boy with it and let me rest, which kind offer was kindly accepted. The boy was gone until near dark, I was twelve miles from home, mostly through the woods, but I wished to start, late as it was. They said if I could not stay they would let their son take part of the load and go with me. We had moonlight three or four miles, but after the moon set the sky clouded over and was very dark. My horse was acquainted with the path and I let her take her own course ; sometimes she had to go around fallen timber and I apprehended that we 'should be lost in the woods, but after a long time, we got safely home. Cyrus was very sorry that I had made such an effort to get home, but I was afraid that the family would suffer for bread stuff. At another time I was at Sunbury on an errand and when I had come about four miles on my way home from the last house I found my horse was sick. I thought she would die and I saw no way by which I could reach home that night. I felt very badly, but after I let her rest a while she seemed better, and I got her up and led her some distance. Not having much of a load I ventured to get on again, and rode slowly, reaching home about dark. "In the fall of the next year Cyrus was taken with what is called a frog felon, on the thick part of his heel. It was very painful and he tried to open it with his knife ; but the pain increased and I thought best to have it lanced. I knew of no one who could do it but George Hess, and he lived nine miles from us. So I started in the afternoon and rode very fast, and when I got off my horse I should have fainted if I had not laid down on the grass to rest. Hess soon started back with me and we got through in time to lance it before dark. Lancing gave it so much relief immediately that I felt fully paid for my trouble. "We had many errands that called us to the settlements, such as weaving, milling, or trading a little at the store when we had bees-wax or fur to sell, to get salt or other necessaries. I went