CHAPTER XXVI.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS-DEPRIVATIONS OF THE PIONEERS--THE FIRST SETTLERS -THE POPULATION-THE INDUSTRIES-THE MINERAL RESOURCES-THE FIRST MILLS-TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS-ARMSTRONG'S MILLS-THE CHURCHES AND SCHOOL -EMINENT CITIZENS-HON. ISAAC WELSH AND LEROY WELSH.
Washington township was organized in 1830-31. It was the last township erected in the county, and it was formed from sections of York and Wayne townships. Its boundaries have been elsewhere described.
THE FIRST SETTLEMENTS
Were made along the banks of the Captina in 1797. This beautiful stream, and its tributaries, traverse the entire length of the township, emptying into the Ohio at Powhatan. In many places the creek is as wide and deep as a little river, and the limpid waters are well stocked with fish. Some of the old settlers boasted of having caught salmon weighing 16 pounds and upwards, and in the spring the stream was thronged with schools of bass, suckers, sturgeons, perch, salmon and sunfish. The death holes in the streams were numerous, and had to be carefully avoided by swimmers.
DEPRIVATIONS OF THE PIONEERS.
The bottom lands were first settled, but the clearing was very difficult; times were very hard, and while game was plentiful, they had no mills or stores or roads, but were obliged to travel over bridle paths to Wheeling to buy food, which consisted principally of corn and bacon. The corn was purchased at high prices. It was packed home on horses, and pounded ina homemade mortar, which was made of gum wood, with one end burnt in a funnel shape. It was the boast of the first settlers that they subsisted on but one meal a day. Sometimes they were obliged through necessity to abstain from eating food for several days. After these prolonged fasts, a large wild turkey roasted was eaten at a single meal. Because of these great privations, the pioneers were compelled to practice the utmost economy. Their clothes consisted of buckskins of their own tanning. Their plows were rudely made, with wooden mold-boards, which were split out of a block of wood. This was an excellent plow for rooty ground. In the matter of harness for their horses, ropes were used for trace-chains, corn husks were formed into collars, and hickory withes served for log chains.
THE FIRST SETTLERS.
The pioneers that first effected settlements in Washington township were the Danfords, Perkinses, Reeds, Hendershots, Armstrongs, Welshes, Groveses, Caldwells, etc.
The descendants of these old settlers have been prominently identified with every movement looking to the growth and development of the county and the State, and their children and children's children have been and are to-
304 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BELMONT COUNTY,
day active in politics, earnest in education, and foremost in religion.
THE POPULATION
Of the township in 1879-80 was placed at 1,500. The census of 1900 shows an increase of about 50. The valuation of personal property upon the tax duplicate for 1901 is $115,586, and in 1902 $120,621, showing an increase of $5,035, while the tax levy has been reduced from 1.93 in 1901 to 1.74 in 1902.
THE INDUSTRIES.
Washington being an inland township, its citizens are for the most part engaged in agricultural pursuits. The bottom lands bordering the banks of the Captina are extremely fertile and while the hills are abrupt and broken by streams they are highly productive when subjected to careful farming.
One of the leading merchants of Armstrong's Mills informed me that while sheep and wool and grain and grass were extensively grown in Washington township, the leading farm crops—the crops that brought in the largest returns—were poultry and eggs.
THE MINERAL RESOURCES
Of Washington township have never been fully developed, though the hills are underlaid with profitable veins of bituminous coal and numerous quarries of valuable building stone.
The Welsh mines at Armstrong's Mills have been in operation between 20 and 22 years, and not only supply the Bellaire; Zanesville & Cincinnati Railway with all the fuel they require, but all the towns touched by that railroad are supplied with coal from these mines.
The company at present employs 31 hands that mine from 2,000 to 2,500 bushels of coal daily. The coal mined is the No. 8 or Pittsburg vein.
Practically all the undeveloped coal in the township has been purchased and Messrs. Welsh and Armstrong, representing the International Coal Company, have bought and paid for 60,000 acres of coal at prices ranging from $8 to $20 per acre.
If the narrow-gauge road, which now traverses the township and which has been recently purchased by the Ohio & Western Railroad Company, is changed to a broad-gauge road in the near future, it is believed that this great coal field will be developed at an early day.
THE FIRST MILLS.
One of the first grist mills erected in the township was at Armstrong's Mills in 1828 by Thomas Armstrong, one of the pioneers, and the old water mill remodeled and repaired is still in operation after the lapse of 75 years. The present splendid steam mill has adopted the universal bolter system, with a capacity of 40 barrels per day. An extensive sawmill is also operated in connection with the flour mill. The first mills erected in the township were on Bend Fork and Crab Apple Creek, the former by William Frost, Walter Ring and Robert Lindsey, and the latter by the Patterson Brothers.
TOWNSHIP OFFICIALS.
The township officers in 1902 are : Trustees, —J. M. Wright, W. R. Carle and John Danford; township clerk,—T. H. Stoffel; treasurer.—C. E. Welsh ; justices of the peace,—E. B. Armstrong, David Brown and Winfield Moore.
ARMSTRONG'S MILLS.
The foremost village in the township is Armstrong's Mills, which was settled by Thomas Armstrong in 1811. It is one of the principal stations on the Bellaire, Zanesville & Cincinnati Railway, with a post office, telegraph office and telephone exchange attached. In 1846 a woolen factory was operated by Alexander Armstrong, who with his brothers owned and operated practically all the stores and mills in the village, Alexander Armstrong alone owning 1,000 acres of land in addition to his mill. The village has a population in
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS - 305
1902 of upwards of l00 and supports three stores, a flour mill, sawmill and coal mines.
THE CHURCHES AND SCHOOL.
There are two churches at Armstrong's Mills, namely : The Methodist Episcopal Church and Christian Church.
The Methodist Episcopal Church was established in 1843 in the old cemetery, and the first minister in the church, and it is believed the first in the Captina Valley, was Rev. Mr. Fordyce, who preached near the old graveyard at a very early day. In 1868 the church was removed from the cemetery to the village, where it now stands in charge of Rev. W. B. \Vest.
The present board of stewards consists of : Lizzie C. Welsh, T. D. Boston, Mrs. Emma Shipman and J. W. Taylor; trustees,—Silas Durig, William Rankin, C. W. Armstrong, John McKim, John W. Taylor and Richard Shepherd; class leaders,—J. R. Taylor and L. W. Armstrong.
The Christian Church has a membership of about 30, with three elders, namely : A. W. Burkhart, D. P. Meyers and J. W. Hess. The church at present is without a pastor.
The Belmont Ridge Christian Church.—The first meeting of the primitive organization was held June 28, 1856, at the residence of Lewis Mechem. The house of worship was built in 1857, the carpenters being Erastus and A. T. Moore. The present edifice was erected in 1885, with a seating capacity for 350 or 400 people. The present membership is 199. The first officers were : Elders,—Lewis Mechem, Jennings Perkins and Elihu Duvall; deacons, —Jacob Stukey, George Dawson and Erastus Moore.
The present officers are: Elders,—Jennings Perkins, Harvey Danford and Erastus Moore; deacons, J. J. Phillips, Clark Phillips and A. T. Moore. The present pastor is Rev. John A. Armstrong.
Mr. Reed says : "The first school teacher that I ever heard of in this country was old Josiah Rogers. He taught in a log house, not far from where the people of Washingtontownship now do their voting. He took his pay in anything he could get to eat, and boarded in his own cabin.
"People used to make fun of him for being so lazy. He never chopped any wood, but made a hole in his chimney and poked in the end of a log.
"The water he used was taken from a hole where the clay had been gotten to daub his cabin. He was a very exact man. I recollect his whipping some boys for snow balling. For some reason he struck each one of them just four times."
There is a village school conducted by Luther Perkins, with an enrollment of 40. The present School Board is composed of Z. Armstrong, R. Shepherd and J. W. Hess.
EMINENT CITIZENS, HON. ISAAC WELSH AND LEROY WELSH.
Hon. Isaac Welsh of Washington township deserves to be classed with such statesmen as Shannon, Cowen and Danford.
He was closely identified with the political and literary affairs of the day. Mr. Welsh was a farmer by choice, but found time to pursue a study of the political issues of the day. In 1855-59 he was elected for two terms as member of the Ohio General Assembly, and at the expiration of his term was chosen State Senator from the Belmont and Harrison district. Mr. Welsh was a Whig in politics, but strongly opposed to the extension of slavery.
In 1868 he was chosen as presidential elector of the 16th Congressional District to carry the vote of Ohio to Washington, D. C.
In the hard fought political contest of 1871, Mr. Welsh was elected Treasurer of Ohio, a position he filled with great acceptability for two terms, and died near the close of his term of office. He was an author of ability and contributed to the press many political and economic essays that gave him a wide reputation. He was also an able and convincing public speaker, because of the sincerity and fairness of his remarks.
His son. Leroy Welsh, was appointed Treasurer of Ohio by Governor Allen on the occa-
306 - CENTENNIAL HISTORY OF BELMONT COUNTY,
sion of his father's death in November, 1875.
Leroy Welsh was a promising young man of broad culture, who was cut off at the outset of a useful public carer. He was an historian of no mean ability and had collected a valuable store of local historic matter that unhappily fell into the hands of one who selfishly refuses to make it public.
In speaking of the death of Leroy Welsh, The Belmont Chronicle says : "The tidings of the death of Mr. Welsh were received with feelings of sincere regret, not only by the friends of the family, but acquaintances throughout the State.
"The subject of this sketch, after receiving a common school education, entered college at
Delaware, Ohio, where he completed the six years' course. The next year he spent in the study of the law, after which he entered the Cincinnati Law School, where he graduated in the summer of 1871.
"At the beginning of the following year, he entered the office of the Treasurer of the State of Ohio, as the chief assistant of his father, Hon. Isaac Welsh.
"At the close of his term, he opened an office for the practice of law in Columbus, Ohio.
"Mr. Welsh was a young man of fine intellect and broad culture; combined with these, his excellent social qualities made him one of our best and most esteemed citizens."