428 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNT. CHAPTER XV. BERKSHIRE TOWNSHIP-INCIDENTS OF EARLY SETTLEMENT-INDIAN ALARMS-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. " Where nothing dwelt but beasts of prey, Or men as fierce and wild as they, He bids the oppressed and poor repair, And builds them towns and cities there." -Old Hymn. THE world is now taking time to look back, and the story of the pioneer is becoming one of absorbing interest. Ohio was for so long a time considered "out West," that its people, scarcely yet out of the woods, took little interest in those traditions relating to a condition of society but little removed from their own. But "While History's muse the memorial was keeping Of all that the dark hand of Destiny weaves," the onward rush of civilization has pressed back the Western frontier, making the once Northwestern Territory the central link in the brilliant chain of States. This awakening to the true value of the pioneer history of this country, comes in many respects too late. The children of the pioneer settlements have been gathered to their fathers within the past decade, and the old landmarks, one by one, have decayed and passed away with those who placed them. The men who opened up the forest of Berkshire to the illuminating rays of civilization, though possessed of an unusual degree of culture for that day, were practical men. They came to better their material prospects, and, while they labored to bring about them those influences which would mold the new community into the highest form of social life, they did not undertake to demonstrate a theory in social philosophy. Their labor has not been in vain. To the thoughtful observer, the traces of their earnest watchfulness is everywhere apparent. In but few places elsewhere in the county did the schoolhouse and the church take such early and deep root as in Berkshire, and the careers of her sons and daughters at home and abroad, could they be spread before us, would furnish ample proof of the wisdom and pious fidelity of the early founders. But they are now gone. " O'er a' the ills o' life victorious," crowned with the "ornament of a meek and quiet spirit," the pioneer has been laid to rest. " No ominous hour Knocks at his door with tidings of mishap. Far off is he, above desire and fear; No more subjected to the change and chance Of the unsteady planets." But we who remain, upon whose untutored shoulders the burden of responsibility rests with so poor a grace, look in vain to the story of the early days for the secret of their success. They lived wiser than they knew, and, glad to think that the rising generation would be wiser than they, died and made no sign. The historian finds himself not more favored than the socialist. The men who faced the difficulties of frontier life in the opening decades of the nineteenth century, found no time to trace their record, and the following pages are presented more as the result of a fortunate groping in the dark than as an historical array of facts. Berkshire was formed of United States Military land, and is five miles square. It is bounded on the north by Kingston, on the east by Trenton, on the south by Genoa, on the west by Berlin, and was known in the United States Military Survey as Township 4, Range 17. The first organization of Berkshire as a separate township was in 1806. Previous to this time, it was a part of Sharon Township, in Franklin County, but on petition it was set off by itself and consisted of certain sections of townships which will be better understood if we use the names subsequently acquired. As originally erected, it included the fourth section of Brown, the third section of Kingston, the east half of Berlin and Orange Townships and the west half of Genoa, and the present Berkshire Township. June 8, 1813, the west half of Genoa HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 429 was set off to the township of Harlem, which then included the whole of Genoa. September 3, 1816, the east half of Orange Township was set off to form that township, and on the 8th of January, 1820, the east half of Berlin was set off to form that township. These subtractions left Berkshire in the form of an L, consisting of Sections 2 and 3 of the present Berkshire Township, with Section 3 of Kingston and 4 of Brown. When Delaware County was set off from Franklin, the eastern part of this county was set off, at the first session of the Commissioners' Court, into a separate township, with its boundaries as follows: "Beginning at the northeast corner of Section No. 2 of Township 5 (Kingston); Range 17, of the United States Military Survey; thence south with said line to the south line of county; thence with the south line of county to the east line of said county; thence north with said county line to the Indian boundary line; thence westerly with said boundary line to the east boundary of Marlborough Township ; thence south with said boundary lineto the southeast corner of said township; thence east to the place of be-innim,." By taking a map of the county and tracing the lines, it will be observed that the present townships of Harlem, Trenton and Porter, with the east half of the townships of Kingston, Berkshire and Genoa, were included in this township, besides the townships of Bennington, Harmony, Peru and Lincoln, now in Morrow County. This geographical "what-not," was called Sunbury, and has succeeded in handing down its title to the thriving village of that name, in Berkshire Township. By the erection of successive townships its territory was gradually diminished, until in 1821 it only included the east half of Berkshire and Trenton Townships. When Berkshire's loss of the sections in Kingston and Brown was compensated by the addition of Sections 1 and 4 from Sunbury Township, the absence of the record renders doubtful, but probably about the time of the erection of Trenton into a separate township. The surface is a fine, rolling country, lying high and in admirable shape for tilling, and, with the exception of a small prairie, a little northeast of Berkshire Corners, was originally covered with a dense forest. This prairie was a low piece of ground, about half a mile long, of irregular shape, reaching upward of a half-mile in the widest part. It was a noted deer lick in the early time and the resort of immense flocks of pigeons. Various opinions were entertained by the early settlers as to the origin of the spot, the preponderance being in favor of the theory that at a very early period the place was submerged by water held there by a beaver dam, or natural obstruction of fallen timber, and thus the natural growth of the forest prevented. The first settlers found the timber skirting the lower part of this spot made impassable by the number of fallen trees. There was a small spring here which still exists, and in the wet season the accumulated waters, obstructed by the fallen timber, backed up so that frequently they nearly found an outlet over the river banks into the Little Walnut, which flows across this plat. This stream, coming from the north, takes a southwest course at this point, but, changing its direction below the Sunbury road, it flows to the southeast, and joins the Big Walnut just below Galena. The latter river intersects the township just east of Sunbury Village, and, taking a southwesterly course, passes Galena and reaches the Scioto River in the southern part of Franklin County. This river was known by the early settlers near it, as Gehenna, but without any obvious reason, and lower down is still known by the local name of Big Belly. These streams afford Berkshire ample drainage, and at an early day afforded by canoes a means of communication with the older settlements. The high divide between these two streams constitutes nearly one-half of the township, and was formerly covered almost exclusively with oak. This timber is evidently of a second growth, giving ground for the opinion that at an early period the timber along this elevation was entirely prostrated by a devastating tornado. Across the Little Walnut, on the rise of ground beyond, is found the same quality of oak of immense size, evidently a part of the oringinal forest growth. Here is found also a generous variety of timber, including maple, hickory, walnut, butternut, elm, etc. Occasional elm swamps were found on the west side and in the northern part, but they dried up by a natural process when freed from timber and exposed to the influence of the sun. The general character of the soil is that of a light yellow clay, admirably adapted to grass and corn. The prairie and the elm swamps are the exceptions to the general rule of clay. In these is found a rich, black soil, highly prized by the farming community. Grain raising and feeding stock for market receive the principal attention of the farmers. Four places have at different times aspired to metropolitan honors in the township: Berkshire, in the northwest; Rome, near the middle; Galena, in the southern, and Sunbury, in the eastern middle part. 430 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. The two latter are thriving villages about the same size. The pioneer of Berkshire was Col. Moses Byxbe, of Lenox, Berkshire County, Mass. He was a man of wealth and standing in his native town; a man of shrewd business ability and of great decision of character. He united the business of "keeping hotel " with that of storekeeper, and in this way had come into possession of a large number of soldiers' land warrants, and located them in Section 2 of what is now Berkshire, and in Section 1 of the present township of Berlin, 8,000 acres in all. He afterward bought large tracts of land in Brown and Genoa, and was the largest landholder ever in the county. In June, 1804, he fitted out a four-horse team, in charge of Orlando Barker, a three-horse team, with Witter Stewart as driver, and a single-horse wagon, driven by Solomon Smith, and, loading with goods from his store and his household effects, started them for the West. Mr. Byxbe led the way with his family in a two-horse carriage, in that day an indisputable evidence of his wealth. He persuaded Azariah Root, a surveyor and resident of Pittsfield, Mass., to accompany him, promising to give him employment to pay for his land. He also brought his nephew, Edward Potter, then a boy of thirteen years of age, to act as clerk in the store he proposed to start. Taking up their line of march, the little colony started on their journey in the track of the Scioto colony, which had gone out the year before. Their course was to Fishkill, thence across the river through Newburgh to Easton, Harrisburg, Carlisle, and Shippenburg. Here the little carava held council as to the rest of their course, whethere to go to Chambersburg or to cross the Three Brothers to Strawsburg and thence on to Bedford The latter course was decided upon, Root taking the lead some distance in advance on the road toward Somerset. When near Bedford, Byxbe concluded to go to the left of the usual route, an struck the river at Redstone, now Brownsville. Here he found a Mr. Hutchinson and family bound for Cincinnati, and stayed five days. Deciding to take the river, a flat-boat was built capable of carrying fourteen horses, with wagons, baggage, and the united families. Thus provided, they started down the river to Pittsburgh. Here Byxbe made considerable purchases of iron goods, and, to lighted the boat; which found it difficult to navigate the river in its shallow state of water, sent the horse across the "pan-handle" to Wheeling. On arriving at Wheeling, learning that he was as near Worthington there as he would be at the mouth of the Scioto, he prepared to start overland to his destination from that point. He unloaded only a part of his goods and arranged that Hutchinson should land the balance at Portsmouth. From Wheeling, Mr. Byxbe came to Zanesville, thence to Lancaster, Franklinton, and Worthington, arriving at the last-mentioned place in the latter part of August. They overtook Root and his family at Franklinton, where they had been waiting some two or three days. At Worthington they found the colony in a woeful condition. The season had been extraordinarily wet, and there was water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink." The freshets had made-the river unfit to use, and the colonists had dug holes a few feet in the ground and used the surface water as it filtered in. The consequence was that the whole community were sick, shaking with the ague. Their crops had largely failed, and many had nothing but green corn to eat. Here Mr. Byxbe stayed nearly three months and built a two-story frame house. He sent men in canoes down the river to Chillicothe for flour and bacon, and bought a steer. This was killed, and, it is said, was eaten up before the meat lost its natural heat. While here he went to his land in Berkshire, and, choosing a building site on the banks of the Little Walnut, in the prairie, built cabins for his home, and stables. He also built a cabin for Mr. Root about a half mile south of where the "Corners" now are, on the Berkshire road. Meanwhile he had got his effects from Portsmouth and sold all his store goods to Nathaniel Little, before opening the packages. Early in November, the first load of household goods were sent forward to Berkshire from Worthington. It took a whole day to go and another to return, although the road had been chopped out by Col. Byxbe's direction after reaching Worthington. Load succeeded load until both families were established in their new homes. After making the cabins comfortable, Mr. Byxbe began to lay plans for settling up his purchase. Berkshire street was surveyed out through his land, and farms laid out abutting on it, the surveying being done by Mr. Root. Early in January, 1805, Mr. Curtis, a shoemaker, came to the settlement, followed by John Kilbourn, Ralph Slack, Elem Vining, Sr., a Mr. Harper, and Adonijah Rice. These came in singly, in close succession, during the winter. Close after these came some negroes, Sarah Brandy and Polly Noko, who went to Berlin lin afterward. Polly Noko's husband was detained HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 431 at Chillicothe, and sent fourteen cows by a negro boy, Jack, to the Salt Reservation, in the present township of Brown, where he was to cut browse for them, but the boy, becoming infatuated with a girl in the settlement, let them go in the woods, and went to work for Col. Byxbe. In the meantime, Maj. Thomas Brown, who had gone to Detroit looking for land to locate upon, came back by way of the Byxbe settlement. He was persuaded to cast in his lot with this community, and remained with them until June. Meanwhile the boy Jack, after asking Col. Byxbe to marry him to the girl of his heart (who explained his legal inability to accommodate him), applied to Maj. Brown. who possessed the title of Squire as well. Here the difficulty was not less insurmountable, as be had no jurisdiction. How the poor fellow made out is not known, but the cows starved to death for lack of attention. In June of 1805, by Mr. Byxbe's directions, . Mr. Root surveyed a road out to the present site of Granville, and as soon as this was completed, the Byxbe family, in their carriage, accompanied with a wagon in which rode Potter, Brown, and another man who furnished one of the two horses, started for Lenox, Mass.; Brown for his family, and Byxbe for more settlers. The whole male portion of the settlement escorted them, cutting out the road as far as surveyed, taking three days to accomplish the distance. Each night they built substantial camps of elm bark, which they left standing for those who might pass over the road subsequently. On their journey out they met the colony which settled at Granville, within two days' travel of their destination. In the following year, Maj. Brown returned with his family, accompanied by David Prince and John Patters -n with their families, Col. Byxbe remaining behind to spread the news of his new-found El Dorado and to sell it. Joseph Prince followed early the next spring. On arriving at the frontier, Maj. Brown found a wagon-track leading toward his destination, the first track to Berkshire over that route. It was subsequently found to be the track of Nathaniel Hall, who afterward built the mill on Alum Creek. About this time came the family of James Gregory-a family of high social position and mental attainment. The names of Solomon Jones, a Mr. Helt, and George Fisher also appear, and, further south, those of John B. Grist, Joseph Patrick, David Armstrong, Samuel and David Landon, and Gideon and William Oosterhaus. In 1806, steps were undertaken by Maj. Brown to have the township organized, and it was set off with the name of Berkshire. It was not long before Mr. Byxbe returned and occupied a double log-cabin, which he had built on the " street " just before he went East. In 1807, Ichabod Plumb, with his family, and Dr. Reuben Lamb, with his wife and child, came to Berkshire Corners. Some years before, Dr. Lamb, then an unmarried man, had started for the Mississippi Valley, but., meeting Col. Byxbe at Pittsburgh, was persuaded to come to Berkshire. He was disappointed with the place, however, and, thinking that Worthington promised to be a prosperous place, he left Berkshire after remaining a few months and settled in the former place. Here he married his wife and became intimate with Mr. Plumb, who was one of the original members of the Scioto colony, which went out from New Haven County to Worthington in 1803. A little previous to the time of which we write, Messrs. Plumb and Lamb had sold out their property in Worthington, and, on horseback, had made a tour of inspection through the country toward the Wabash River. On their return journey they passed through Urbana, and, attracted by the place, they decided to locate there. Soon after their return to Worthington, some member of Col. Byxbe's family falling sick, Dr. Lamb was summoned. Mr. Byxbe, finding, in this interview, that the doctor had not bought land elsewhere, set about securing so valuable a member for his colony at the Corners. This point, though considerably improved since Dr. Lamb's first visit, was even then not so promising as many other points, but the Colonel made him large inducements in the way of land donations, and, in view of subsequent event, doubtless gave him an insight to his plans which won him over to Mr. Byxbe's project. Nevertheless, he had given his word to join Maj. Plumb, and he did not feel disposed to break his pledge to his friend, but he set about bringing Maj. Plumb over to the new plan. When these two old friends met, and Dr. Lamb broached the subject, there was a warm discussion which lasted nearly all day. The result was that they both moved into the settlement, with the understanding that when the county of Delaware should be formed, the county seat should be located at the Corners. In the same year came John B. Grist, a native of Luzerne County, Penn. Mr. Grist depended upon his labor for the support of his family, and had spent the previous winter logging in the woods. He had thus secured considerable lumber, and, deciding to go West, he sought 432 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. to accomplish the double object of taking his lumber to market, and, at the same time; forward his family toward the destination he had chosen. Placing his family, household goods, his cart, oxen . and horse upon a raft. which he had constructed of his lumber, he launched out on the Susquehanna River. On reaching tide water he sold his lumber, and, with the proceeds of the sale as his sole capital, he prepared to strike out into the wilderness. At that early day the sale of his raft did not bring a fortune, and he had gone only a little west of Zanesville when his money gave out. Here he was forced to stop for some time, while he earned means to continue the journey. On reaching the Bin Walnut he made a short stay, and while here spent his last cent, for three bushels of cairn, which he bought, of a settler. Here he fell in with David Armstrong, who was, within a few cents, in as poor a financial condition as himself. Thus barehanded they came into the forests of Berkshire Township, and secured land of Col. Byxbe, a half a mile north of Sunbury. Their Families were illy provided for the winter that was fist approaching. There were no cabins in the immediate vicinity, their larder (to adopt the name of a latter-day convenience) was empty, and only the corn which they had purchased a few days before, stood between them and starvation. Hastily setting up some poles in tent fashion, they covered them with bark, and in this rude tabernacle placed their families and household goods. While on the Walnut., Armstrong had bought some corn, and, desiring to take it all to mill, they each mounted a horse for the purpose of carrying it to Chillicothe. The distance was considerable, but there was a blazed track most of the way, and the knowledge of the destitute state of their families spurred them on. They were soon on the return road and rapidly nearing their destination, when a heavy rain began to fall. Covering the bags containing the meal with deerskins, they experienced no difficulty in making their way across rivers and through the mud until they reached Alum Creek. This stream they found swollen to the brink, the water rushing along its course, threatening to sweep them away with its current, should they attempt to force a passage. The situation was distressing. Beyond the angry flood, their poorly sheltered families were without food, and with them was their only means of present subsistence. They were not long in deciding upon their action. Finding a hollow sycamore log in which they carefully bestowed the larger part of their meal, and fixing the bags containing, the remainder firmly to their horses, they plunged into the stream. The issue of the event for some time stood in doubt, but the heroic fortitude which made the early settler the fit pioneer of the nineteenth century, carried them safely through. Hurrying to their wigwam, they found their families anxious for their safety, and with the last morsel of food consumed. The meal was found thoroughly mixed up, and, without more ado, was transferred to the bake-kettle, and soon set before the half-famished family. In 1808, the Hon. Ezekiel Brown, one of the most. distinguished of Delaware County's early settlers, came to Berkshire and settled on land east and a little north of where Galena now is. Mr. Brown was one who would prove a valuable addition to any community. He came from Lycoming Co., Penn., where he had been elected to Congress for one or two terms. His native place, however, was in Orange County, N. Y., where he was born March 13, 1760. In 1776, he enlisted in the Revolutionary army, and, joining the forces under Washington just after the battle of Trenton, he participated in several engagements. Some two years later, while on a furlough to visit his home, then in what is now Lycoming County, Penn , he was unfortunately captured by the Indians. The incident, as related by his daughter, Mrs. Samuel Leonard, is as follows: There had been numerous Indian alarms, and the people had finally betaken themselves to a strong, hewed-log cabin, which was easy of defense. Here they awaited the onset of the savages, but in vain. The Indians were too wise in their style of warfare to accept such a gage of battle. They kept secreted in the neighborhood for days, until the settlers, lulled into a false feeling of security, sallied forth to their homes. It seems almost incredible at this day that so fatal a mistake could be so easily made. No sooner did the savages see their plans succeeding, than, rushing in upon the unsuspecting and defenseless settlers, they commenced their work of butchery. Brown's father and mother were ruthlessly murdered, and himself and a sister with her seven children were carried off into Indian captivity. It was some mitigation of their situation that they were in the same band, but this was not suffered long to continue. The mother was separated from her children, and the children from each other. Meanwhile Brown was forced to pass through the forms preceding adoption into the tribe. Three times during his journey to the main town of the Cayugas, near HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 433 where Scipio, N. Y., now stands, was he forced to run the gantlet. The first time he received a severe wound from a tomahawk; the second time, less fortunate, he received a terrible blow from a war club, which felled him to the ground in a fearfully mangled condition. His life seemed ended, but, finally recovering, he proceeded to the destination of his captors, where, after another I trial, he passed through the fearful ordeal unharmed, and was adopted by a family who had lost a son in the war. He was afterward taken to Canada, where he found his sister and got clue of her children. Here he managed to get into the employ of a trader, and soon bought his freedom, but the ties of kindred were too strong for him to leave his sister in captivity. He at once set about securing her release and that of her seven children. Through his efforts she was enabled to purchase her own ransom, while Mr. Brown bent all his efforts toward the release of the children. One by one they had been secured until all save the second child, a boy of twelve or fourteen years. It was nearing the time when he hoped to return to his friends, that he learned a party of Indians with the boy was about to start for a distant point to hunt. If this should occur, he despaired of ever seeing the child again, and determined to kidnap the boy. Calling the Indians into the trader's cabin, he treated them with the strongest potations at his command. When they were drunk, he pushed the Indians out and the boy within, and, barring the door, awaited the issue. This summary treatment was not relished by the savage lords of the forest, and they resented it by sundry kicks and more forcible attacks upon the door. There was no sign of yielding, and, as any other more forcible measures were deemed unsafe, they accepted the philosophy of the "fog and the grapes," and left the boy behind. But the difficulty was not so easily surmounted. The lad had become enamored with the wild life of the woody, and longed to be with his Indian friends. One day, when let out to play, his boy companion was instructed to watch him. He soon came rushing in saying that Nathan was going after the Indians. Mr. Brown, hastily going to the door, saw the boy a half a mile away, running with all his strength to regain his friends gone days before. With a sinking heart, almost in despair, he threw off his coat, and started in pursuit. The boy was finally recaptured, and, with the whole family, returned in 1783 to their friends in Pennsylvania. Seven years later, Mr. Brown came to Ohio, and, in 1808, came to Berkshire Township, where he died April 24, 1840. His arrival in 1808 was followed very soon by the families of Joseph Cowgill and Oliver Still. The next most notable accession to the pioneer ranks of this township was that of the Carpenter families. Judge Benjamin Carpenter, with his family, came in about 1811, and settled a little north of Sunbury Village, while Gilbert Carpenter came about a year previous, and settled near Galena. The Carpenters came from Luzerne County, Penn., and were active leaders in the communities which they left. Judge Carpenter had been a member of Congress, as well as Associate Judge, and his brother Gilbert a prominent Methodist minister. The effect of such additions to the mental and moral forces of this community was soon made apparent. The whole machinery of society was organized and vigorously in motion, before the other townships about had fully recovered from the retarding shock of transplanting. For some time Berkshire afforded the only church and school privileges of any sort for miles around. Up to 1808, when the county was formed and its offices located at the town of Delaware, Berkshire Corners continued to thrive as the probable location of the future county seat. Indeed, it was expressly promised by Col. Byxbe to the early settlers of Berkshire, and it had, doubtless, great weight in determining the settlement of many others. The formation of a new county, and the close proximity of its capital, offered peculiar inducements to the laudable ambition of the cultivated pioneer, and, although the county seat was located at Delaware, the county has honored itself and Berkshire in elevating several of its pioneers to positions of honor and trust. Hon. Ezekiel Brown was elected County Commissioner, and Thomas Brown as Associate Judge, at the first organization of the county. There had been some local consideration of the feasibility of removing the State capital to the Corners. It was shown with considerable plausibility that the location was central, it was as easy of ,access as any location, and the over-sanguine felt, that, with the county seat there, it was only a question of time when Berkshire would put off its rustic garb, and, donning urban habiliments, would grow prosperous and influential. What might have been can hardly be determined at this date. It is suffi cient to say that the first requisite for such an event was wanting. The leading genius of the place had opposing interests to satisfy. After disposing 434 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. of his land in the vicinity of the "Corners," in company with Judge Baldwin, Col. Byxbe came into possession of some 16,000 acres situated about the present bite of Delaware City, and at once transferred his family and interests to that place. Following the same line of action as at the "Corners," be called about him a colony which soon organized the county to their own liking, much to the dissatisfaction of the Berkshire community. In 1808, Nathaniel Hall erected the first mill in that section of the county, on Alum Creek. The structure was a saw-mill, grist-mill and distillery combined, and was situated on the creek, near the place now spanned by the covered bridge, on the Delaware and Sunbury pike. This site, though situated within the present limits of Berlin, was essentially a Berkshire institution. The project, however, commanded the hearty co operation of all the settlers around, who took their dinners with them one day and helped to build the dam. The science of engineering was in a crude state in the- settlements at that time, and the dams constructed were rough expedients made tolerable only by the stern necessities of the situation. Log pens were constructed six feet square, roughly locked and pinned together at the corners. A succession of these constructions were placed across the stream at short intervals, and filled with stone. These were the anchors of the dam, which were further strengthened by a mass of stone placed in front. Behind these was piled a quantity of brush, which formed a support for the mass of earth which wag placed upon it. Such a structure at its best estate could offer but little resistance to the dislodging power of a freshet, and required constant repairs, which made milling a discouraging business. This mill was situated on the main Indian trail which led up along Alum Creek from the south and east, and passed up the stream into Brown and on to Sandusky. Here the Indians brought their corn and traded for meal, but not always with complete satisfaction to themselves. They took some exception to the way of dealing and threatened to burn the mill, a threat they fortunately failed to carry out. The mill proved to be a great boon to the community. Heretofore, "going to mill " had been an arduous undertaking. Mills were at first from fifty to seventy-five miles away, involving a long, tedious journey through trackless woods and over unbridged streams. Such a journey took nearly a week's time, and, as but a small amount of corn or wheat could be carried, it involved a cost of time which the busy frontier farmer could illy afford. To obviate such difficulties, the early settler had recourse to various expedients. A common one learned of the Indians was to cut off a stump level on the top and burn out a large basin in the prepared surface. A conveniently placed sapling was bent over and made to do duty as spring-pole, to the end of which was attached, by a grapevine, a heavy wooden pestle. With these crude arrangements the early settlers crushed bushels of corn and wheat. Gradually mills were built nearer the frontier settlements, and the boys, as soon as they could balance a bag of corn or wheat on horseback, were " sent to mill." Owing to the faulty construction of the dams, grinding could be relied upon only about six months in the year, a fact which proved a great inconvenience. It is related of an early settler, that, starting out with a bag of wheat to be ground, he went from mill to mill without success, .and, after riding 150 miles, he reached his cabin with his wheat unground. At other times the crude machinery would get out of repair, or several bags of grain would be on hand, delaying the new-comer till late in the night. An incident of this nature is related by the widow of David Lewis, Jr., at this writing still living in Berlin, at the age of ninety-six. Going to mill with her husband one day, she mounted the horse and balanced the grain, while he led the way on foot. Arriving at the mill, they found themselves forced to wait until nearly night. Starting as soon as they could get their grist, they took the beaten track for home. After going some distance, and finding night fast approaching, Mr. Lewis desired to take a short cut across the untracked forest. To this Mrs. Lewis demurred, but finally, confiding in the judgment of her husband, at his suggestion, she headed the horse in the proper direction, gave him rein and trusted to his piloting them home. After proceeding in the dark for some distance, guided only by the instinct of the animal, they began to entertain some misgivings as to where they were going. Their fears were finally confirmed when the horse, turning into an open space in the forest, began to graze. They at once recognized the place as a favorite pasturage where their horses got the bulk of their living, and that there was nothing o do but to wait for the moon to rise, by which they could shape their course. They succeeded in coming out within a mile of their cabin, though obliged to HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 435 cross a stream on a log over which the water was flowing to the depth of eighteen inches, to reach it. This they accomplished in safety, Mr. Lewis supporting his wife, while he felt his way with his foot. In 1811, Maj. Brown built the first brick house in the township, placing it southeast of the " Corners," where it now stands. There is a tradition that the walls were pierced by portholes for muskets, and certain marks are pointed out to the visitor as the traces of these holes. This is a mistake. The house is the immediate successor of the log cabin, and was built of brick made near the spot where the building stands. It was a peculiarity of Berkshire that brick houses preceded " framed " houses, but it is explained by the fact that there happened to be a brick-maker and mason in the community. During the war of 1812, this house was used as a rallying point, and a place of security, for the families of the little settlement, but it was never called to face the foe. The war of 1812 affected Berkshire not essentially different from the other townships of the county removed from the frontier. Judge Carpenter furnished a large quantity of oats for the army, and John B. Grist and David Armstrong, who had been drafted, were detailed as teamsters to haul them to their destination. After Hull's surrender, in common with the whole Northwest, the Berkshire community shared in the fear that the Indians, unchecked by the presence of an army, would pour over the boundary line and carry fire and bloodshed into every exposed settlement. Nothing, however, occurred to excite special alarm until the scare occasioned by " Drake's detest." When this alarm spread, causing the people to forsake their homes, and, frantic with fear, to rush on blindly in search of safety, many took the main road through Berkshire Corners. When questioned, the terror-stricken refugees could give no intelligible answer save that the Indians were upon them. The alarm appeared to be so general that it excited some apprehension in the mind of Maj. Brown, and, in the course of a conversation with Crandall Rosecrans, the father of Gen. Rosecrans, he said he wished some one would go up the road and find out what the matter was. Rosecrans at once volunteered to go, and, setting out on foot, armed with a rifle, he prepared to meet the foe. He had got out about a mile, when he descried a horseman coming rapidly toward him. Stepping behind a stump, he awaited his approach. It proved to be a an officer sent. to inform the refugees that the alarm was a false one. He delivered his message to Rosecrans and returned. This alarm, though it proved to be a false one, put the people in a chronic state of fear. At another time, two men, coming in from Mount Vernon, camped out in the woods near the Corners. Toward morning they were aroused from their sleep by an unusual noise, and they rushed forthwith into the settlement with the alarm of Indians. They declared that they had heard Indians singing their war songs as they danced, and begged the people to put themselves ; in a state of defense. The fighting force at once rallied, and a party went out to investigate the disturbance. After a careful examination of the ; whole ground, nothing of a suspicious nature could be found. A large hog's nest was discovered, and, as the night was cold, it is probable that they made this noise which the terrified imaginations of the travelers construed into Indian war songs. Not long after, another alarm was given, but not generally credited by the settlers. Two men by the name of Sturdevant had been out for some time in the woods of Kingston Township, ostensibly boring for salt, though generally believed to be engaged in counterfeiting. They came rushing into the settlement one day, declaring that they had been fired at, but had escaped, and, in returning the fire, had hit an Indian. To satisfy the timid, a party went out to' look up the matter. The spot where the supposed Indian fell was found, and a single drop of blood, but nothing more. It was simply a ruse of these fellows to get a plausible reason for leaving. These alarms had but a transitory effect upon the settlement at Berkshire Corners or elsewhere in the township ; not even the most timid entertained for a moment the thought of abandoning their new houses. Nor did it interrupt the regular business of clearing the forest or improving their farms. The industrial enterprises engaged in by the early settlers were the outgrowth of their necessities and peculiar situation. The first great demand was for mills to grind their grain near at home, and others to furnish lumber with which to make homes and furniture and utensils of various sorts. Close upon these came the distilleries, which proved a mingled curse and blessing. Whisky was used with a freedom that would appear startling at this day, and was not essentially different in its effects then than now. The demand for these distilleries came not from the demand for drink, but from the demand for a market for their corn, which grew in such fruitful abundance. 436 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. There were, at different times, three "stills" in operation within the limits of Berkshire Township. A grist-mill had been built, about 1810, by Nicholas Manville, half a mile southeast of the present village of Sunbury, and, five years later, he added a saw-mill, and, a few years later, added a "still." It passed into the hands of Maj. Strong about 1817, and from him to Eleazer Gaylord in 1825. In its palmiest days, the business was carried on in a two-story stone building, about 25x35 feet. This sufficed to use up a large part of the surplus corn, or, rather, rendered it more to the taste of the pioneer. Here pure whisky was sold at 20 cents a gallon, and the settlers felt bound to support home institutions. Another "still" was erected just north of the village of Galena in 1820, by Joseph and Steven Larkin. This they soon after sold to George Vanfleet, an early settler in Galena, and built another just below the town, near the races which connect the Big and Little Walnut Rivers. A walnut tree and an abandoned well just south of the railroad depot in Galena, marks the site of the Vanfleet "still." The habit of using whisky without restraint was not contracted in the new country. The. early settlers, many of them, brought not only the custom with them, but the means to maintain its practice. The Oosterhaus brothers brought several barrels of whisky with them from the East, and supplied their less fortunate neighbors at 3 cents a drink or 16 cents a gallon. It is said that Gideon Oosterhaus' books are still preserved, which show accounts for whisky at the current rates against many of the names familiar to the present citizens of Berkshire. Nor was this whisky shorn of its intoxicating g qualities. A story is related of two intoxicated fellows who became enraged at each other, and proceeded each to "take it out of the other's hide." Longtime the battle stood in doubtful poise. The combatants, with nothing in the way of clothing left but their pants, were captured and separated No sooner were they left than they sought each other out and began their pounding. At last they were captured and put over the fence in fields on opposite sides of the road, and there, too drunk get over the fence, they remained breathing forth defiance like two enraged bulls. But the society of Berkshire by no means tolerated such bestiality. The boys of Sunbury, for their own amusement and to exhibit in some sense the feeling of the community, adopted a summary mode of punishing such delinquents. When found drunk upon the ground, one would seize each arm and leg, and, laying the victim on a barrel face downward, he was rolled until his stomach yielded its contents, and he was sobered up. One or two applications of this treatment sufficed to keep the victim off the street when in an intoxicated state. One inveterate old case, who was familiarly known as Uncle Tommy, seemed to defy the correctional force of the old method, and more stringent methods had to be adopted. He was seized one time, thrust into a hogshead, and rolled some fifty yards into the creek. The treatment was severe, but the cure was radical for the time. Nest in order came the establishing of tanneries. The distance of markets and the great cost of transportation made the tannery of prime importance to the early settler. All the material that entered into the snaking of shoes or harness, and for a long time a large part of men's clothes, called for a tannery to make it available. As early as 1816, William Myers sunk vats, and began to manufacture leather a half a mile southeast of Sunbury Village, across the creek from the saw and grist mill. Three years later, a Mr. Whitehead built a similar building at Galena, and did a thriving business. The business continued through a change of hands, and was discontinued in 1873. The building and tools are still there, near the mill-race, and are owned by Mr. Vanfleet. Traffic in stock was limited by the necessities of` the situation to the breeding and selling of hogs. These easily became acclimated and found a rich support in the nuts with which the woods abounded. Horses could not be raised fast enough to supply the home demand, and cattle were more difficult to keep, and for years were subject to diseases that took them off in herds. The hogs were of a half wild breed, and were suffered to run at will in the woods. They were sold to dealers, and the whole e neighborhood would turn out to drive then to the place of rendezvous. This was no easy task, but then the work was only half completed. Each hog had to be caught, his tusks which frequently grew to the length of several inches-broken off, and n then swung by a band to a pair of steelyards for o weighing. A hog turning 200 pounds was considered a heavy weight, and a drove averaging this would be the pride of a dealer and the envy of his fellows. Steven Bennett and David and Joseph Prince followed this business for some years driving them to Baltimore. The task of driving such herds of swine as they took to market can hardly be appreciated at this day. The ani- HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 437 mals were more than half wild, and likely to stampede at the first opportunity, and numbers of them were lost on every trip. At an early day, Steven Bennett brought sheep from Kentucky, and traded them for hogs, and it took a good hog of those days to buy a sheep. This was the first introduction of sheep into the township. There seem to have been two Indian thoroughfares through Berkshire when the red man roamed unmolested over the country. One led from a place known as Raccoon, in Licking County, northwest through Berkshire toward Sandusky. Another led from the east through the northeast corner of Berkshire to the salt licks in Brown Township, thence northward and west. The earliest of the settlers used these trails to a considerable extent when traveling on foot or on horseback, as the safest and most direct route. Much of the hardware and glass used at the Byxbe settlement was obtained at Sandusky, and these trails were used as the most distinct and plain to follow. The necessity for a wagon road soon caused the blazed roads to give way to more direct and more commodious thoroughfares. The road from Galena to Lancaster was an early one, and that from Columbus to Mount Vernon, passing through Galena and Sunbury, was laid out soon after 1810. The information as to particular dates in this matter is very unsatisfactory. Roads improve so gradually from trails to "cut-out " roads and then to graded thoroughfares, that even those who have seen the change almost forget that they were not always improved. As early as 1820, a line of four-horse coaches ran between the terminal points of this road, making the half-way stop at Sunbury. The coaches met daily near Galena, and constituted for that point the great event of the day. This was the main artery that j connected the Berkshire settlements with the out side world, and the appearance of the passengers, the change of mails, and the marvelous stories of the drivers, afforded abundant material for gossip. The coaches were of the regulation pattern, so often seen in old prints. They were painted a fawn color, ornamented with red. The body was swung high above the wheels on heavy leather springs, so that every lurch of the coach seemed to threaten sure destruction to the passengers. Azel and David Ingham were the noted Jehus of that day, and their exploits were the theme of many a thrilling story told about the roaring fireplaces of the settler's cabin. The road was cut up at times so as to be almost impassable, and the theory of the drivers seemed to be to gain sufficient momentum m in rushing into these ruts to carry the coach out n of them at the other end. The result of this theory to the passengers can better be imagined e than described, and was endured with a patience that has not been handed down to the modern traveler. It was the delight of the young men to be invited by the driver to try their skill at handling a four-horse team. Hon. O. D. Hough relates an experience of this kind, where, just as he was congratulating himself on his success, he ran against a post and stuck fast. A tale is told of a driver who ; was given to drinking, and when in this mood was inclined to give an exhibition of his skill by some foolhardy driving. One moonlight night, having some one on the bog with him whom he desired to startle, he whipped his team into a full gallop, and, taking to the woods beside the road, wound in and out among the trees and then to the roadway again without a mishap, enjoying only as such a character can the terrified expression of his companion. It is natural that such a road would be greatly prized by the fortunate communities through which it passed, and there was a continual strife between them and less fortunate villages to control the route. Below Galena there was a bad strip of road, which passed through a swampy piece of woods. Effort was made by those living along another and better road to divert the stage line from the old course. This appealed at once to the dearest interests of the people of "Yankee street," and a moonlight "bee" of all interested was made, and the road repaired. La Fayette, when visiting this country, took this stage line in June, 1825, and it is remembered that his cane, which had been lost, coming on a stage a few days afterward, attracted as much curious attention as did the distinguished visitor. The Delaware, Sunbury and Berkshire Pike is a much later corporation. The Company was formed in the county in 1868, and the road fitted up to furnish a good thoroughfare from Sunbury and intermediate points to Delaware. Some $40,000 were subscribed, but little, if any, over $35,000 was paid. There are two toll-gates, with receipts amounting to about $2,000 per annum, which just about pays the cost of keeping up the road. No dividends have ever been paid, and none are ever expected. There has been of late some agitation to make it a free road, but the people along the line of road are not disposed to vote a tag upon themselves for that purpose. The Cleveland, Columbus & Mount Vernon Railroad came in 1873, and tapped the 438 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. trade which the pike was intended to convey to Delaware, leaving no good reason for its existence as a toll road. The first tavern in the township was kept at Berkshire Corners by Adonijah Rice. He was also the first Postmaster, and kept the office in his hotel. Maj. Brown opened his house for hotel purposes about the same time. The prices charged in these primitive inns have a pleasant sound in these times. Board by the week was only from $1 to $1.50, and single meals from 15 to 20 cents. Rice's "hotel" was the great attraction for the loungers of the neighborhood, and many a tale is told where "Care, mad to see a man sae happy, E'en drowned himself amang the nappy." At this time, the people who lived near Galena were obliged to come to the Corners for their mail, and some one of the neighbors would get the mail for the whole neighborhood. Mr. O. D. Hough relates that one cold afternoon he persuaded his father to let him get the mail. He is represented as being a bashful, timid lad when young, and when he got to Rice's establishment, he found it crowded with a boisterous company of men, drinking, shouting and scuffling. This was more than he had counted upon, and the longer he stayed the more frightened he got. Finally, as the fun grew fast and furious, he incontinently broke for the door and made for home as fast as fear could impel his nimble feet, without so much as hinting his errand to any one. When he reached home, his pride returned with his courage, and he informed the expectant neighbors that there was no mail at the office. Other hotels were afterward erected at Sunbury and Galena, which are noticed hereafter. The information in regard to the organization of the township of Berkshire, is very meager. The name was given by Maj. Thomas Brown from the county of which he and Col. Byxbe were formerly residents. For some years this name included considerably more territory than now, the community gathering at Joseph Eaton's house, in Berlin, to vote and afterward at Dr. Loufbourrow's. Here was the general muster-ground in the palmy days of the early militia, the townships of Orange, Berlin, and Berkshire, uniting to form a company. Of the first township officers, it is known that Asa Scott, of Berlin was the first Treasurer, before the organization of that township, and Mr. David Prince was one of the Trustees. In 1819 Henry Hodgeson, now known as Squire Hodgeson, of Galena, was Township Clerk, but who his predecessors were is not known. Maj. Brown was the first Justice of the Peace, followed by Solomon Jones, David Prince, and James Gregory. As to the first birth, there seems to be a diversity of opinion, but it is pretty well established in the minds of those who have carefully gone over the ground, that Albert Root, born in 1807, was the first white child born in Berkshire Township. A son of Ralph Slack was an early birth, and, when this boy was born, Mr. John Patterson, one of the earliest. settlers, told Slack, if he would name the boy for him, he would give him three months' schooling, both parts of which contract were carried out. The boy died an old man some few years ago in Berlin Township. The first death was that of :Mrs. Vining, wife of Elem Vining,Sr., in 1806. The incident in regard to her burial illustrates the straitened circumstances of the settlers in a very forcible way. Of course, undertakers and cabinet-makers were unknown in the woods, and, what was worse, there was nothing but the standing timber, with an as and a crosscut saw to supply their absence. These were made to furnish the burial casket, and Mrs. Vining sleeps, some forty rods south of the "Corners," as peacefully as though above her was reared the "storied urn or animated bust." Doctors and ministers were the only professional men that the earlier settlers had need of in their simple life; greater, perhaps, of ministers than of doctors. The earliest follower of :Esculapius was Dr. Lamb, who came from Worthington to the "Corners," and later to Delaware. Dr. Skeel is another name which appears early in Berkshire's history. The first improvement on log cabins was a brick house built by Maj. Brown. About the first frame house was built some five years later in 1816, by David and Joseph Prince. The work on this house was done by Lovell Caulkins, an early settler in Berlin, and now stands on property owned by Hon. O. D. Hough. Two years later David Armstrong put up a frame building. An incident connected with the digging of the well near this house illustrates the fact that all the marvelous stories are not of a latter-day growth. John B Grist did the digging, and, in going down, struck a six-foot stratum of slate stone. About midway of this layer, Grist found, imbedded in the solid stone a toad, to all appearances lifeless. He tossed it out upon the ground, where it soon showed signs of animation, and before long hopped off as natural as though it had never HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 439 been buried. But such dwellings could be afforded only by the well-to-do of the settlements. Iron latches and regularly made doors held together with nails were luxuries to be dreamed of by the masses, and to be indulged in only by the rich. The same state of things, in regard to the furniture and the culinary conveniences of the cabins, existed. The commonest iron utensils were more highly prized than those of silver at this time. The distance from markets and the lack of roads made the transportation more expensive than the original price of the goods, and afforded opportunities for traffic which were not left long unimproved. John B. Grist was among the first to take advantage of this fact, and for years supplied most of the staple articles to his neighbors. He drove to Zanesville, taking out grain and bringing back iron goods, salt, etc. A staple article was a certain make of skillet manufactured at Zanesville, and this article formed in many a family their only dish with which to accomplish the various culinary operations incident to the domestic life of the cabin. It was the only oven; in it the meat was cooked, the potatoes boiled, the tea made, and in it the cow would have been milked if one had been possessed. This state of things existed but a short time, for, as the settler prospered, the iron pot and tea-kettle were added, but, with these additions, many a housewife labored for years under disadvantages that would send a modern housekeeper to the insane asylum. Salt, which is such a staple article in the domestic economy, was in large demand and difficult to Let. The indications of salt in the township north never proved to be of any considerable value, and this article was to be procured only at the expense of long, tedious journeys. Grist bought this by the bushel at Zanesville, and sold it in Berkshire at $1.50 for a half-bushel. Even at such prices, it did not prove a very lucrative business. The trip to market and back, under favorable circumstances, took four days.' In the mean while he camped out, cooking his meals in the inevitable skillet, frequently obliged to wait for a favorable opportunity to ford streams, and bringing home at last but a mere handful when compared with wagon loads of to-day. Under such disadvantages, it seems almost a marvel that the settlers were ever able to pay for their farms, even at the low price for which land was sold. It was years before any considerable quantity of grain could be sold, and then a market had to be sought so far away that the transportation robbed the farmer of half the fruits of his toil. The explanation is that every settler supplied his necessities by the industry of himself and family. The little patch of flax supplied the coarse fiber which the busy wheel of the housewife prepared for the loom. From the loom it found its way to the dye-trough, where, in a decoction of butternut bark, it took on the fashionable color of that day. This cloth was made up of part wool and part linen, called " linsey-woolsey," and furnished the garments for both men and women. For hats, men wore fur skins fashioned at home, while the women wore such things as they could contrive out of the coarse materials at hand. Leather was procured in the annual trip to Zanesville, or of some nearer establishment where skins were tanned on shares. From this the shoes of the family were made by shoemakers who traveled from house to house, making up the leather in shoes or harness as desired. In the same spirit of economy the house was fitted up and furnished. Doors were put together with wooden pegs, tables were constructed of puncheons laid upon pegs driven into the logs, and beds only differed from them in proportions and height from the floor. In the latter article of furniture a corner leg was found necessary, and is remembered now as the one-legged bedstead. But, even with such rigid economy as this, it was often almost impossible to meet the payments upon the little farm. It is related of one of the earlier settlers of Berkshire Corners, that he had failed to meet his payments to Col. Byxbe for his land. After considerable delay, the property was put in the hands of the Sheriff and advertised for sale. The distressed man sought everywhere to borrow money, writing to friends in the East in vain. Coming home disheartened and in despair the night before the sale was to take place, be learned that in the township north was a man who had a little money to lend. He did not wait for his supper, but started out, taking with him a friend to sign with him as security for the payment of the loan. He needed $240, which he succeeded in getting, and paid to the Sheriff the next morning. The note given for this money was not so easily paid. For ten years, this debt, growing gradually smaller, hung over him, and was finally extinguished by turning over to his creditor five sheep, the whole of his flock, and his cow. The Indian is often met with in the traditions of the earliest settlements of Berkshire. Their trails took them through this section, and, attracted 440 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. by curiosity and the results of begging, became frequent visitors at the settlements previous to the war. They seem to have accepted the logic of events with the unquestioning stoicism of their race, and were disposed to be on good terms with the whites without raising the question of proprietary rights in land or game. A marked characteristic of the Indian was his entire lack of anything like modesty in his demands. A story is told of one which sounds more like an exploit of a modern tramp than of the poetic red man of the forest. A pioneer, overtaken by night, had rolled himself in a blanket and lost himself in sleep, when he felt some one crawling under his blanket and making himself as comfortable as the situation would permit. There was nothing to do but to await quietly further developments. The Indian soon went to sleep and remained till morning, when he arose, expressed his thanks as best he could, and left the discomfited pioneer to regain his composure at his leisure. He considered it no breach of courtesy to enter a cabin unannounced, and it was no unusual thing for the settler to look up from his breakfast or supper and find in another room one or more Indians watching the family repast with greedy eyes. They expected to be fed, and the pioneers soon learned the wisest course to adopt. They supplied these aboriginal tramps with a generous portion of the meal in their hands, which they devoured with sundry grunts expressive of their satisfaction. This done, they departed with the same nonchalance with which they approached. Occasionally one was found who felt that some recompense was due for such favors and who seemed willing to make such remuneration as he was able. Such a one made the acquaintance of Mr. George Fisher in the usual Indian fashion. While busy at his clearing, he became aware of the presence of an Indian who was busily gathering brush and placing it in piles to be burned. He seemed to pay no attention to Mr. Fisher, nor to care whether he was observed or not. Finally, after doing as much as he thought would pay for a meal, he went up to the proprietor of the patch and made known his desire for something to eat. Mr. Fisher, probably desiring to encourage such industrious habits in his newfound assistant; promptly produced the wished-for meal. This maneuver was frequently repeated with fair satisfaction to both parties. Mr. Fisher had an occasion subsequently to reap the benefit of his wisdom in this case. This Indian absented himself after a little while, and had been entirely forgotten. Subsequently, when Mr. Fisher was returning from Sandusky with goods, his wagonaxle broke near the Indian camp, on their reservation. The delay was vexatious, but the difficulty was greatly increased by the long distance from any workmen or tools to repair the damage. He learned, however, of an Indian who had a set of tools, but could not prevail on him to lend them. He was about giving up in despair, when he was approached by a native, who made signs expressive of the utmost good will. He turned out to be the Indian of the clearing, and, learning the difficulty, at once secured the tools and assisted him to get his wagon righted up again. There was an Indian camp about two miles north of the Corners, and this furnished almost all the loafers that the earlier settlements had. They were ever ready for sport, challenging the settlers to wrestle, shoot, jump or run. Occasionally, when a pioneer accepted the challenge and threw his antagonist, the vanquished brave jumped up with a laugh as hearty and good natured as that of his successful opponent. They watched the traps of the settlers, and were the first to bring information of the game caught. Those set for wolves were of especial interest to them as providing then; with capital sport. These traps were of various plans; but a very common design was to build a log pen, six feet square and about three feet high, with a roof sloping up to a point some two feet. higher in the center. The roof was supported so as to leave a hole in the center just large enough to admit the body of a wolf The bait was fastened to the ground below the aper ture. When once in, the animal found it impos sible to jump up straight enough to effect hi; escape, and thus found himself entrapped. One of the settlers by the name of Helt had such trap, and the Indians informed him of the capture of a wolf, at the same time asking the privilege of taking the animal out alive for their own sport This was readily granted, and the braves proceeded to " beard the lion in his den." Cutting forkec sticks, two Indians thrust them between the log; and pinned the animal by the neck and body to the opposite side of the trap. A third leaped lightly into the trap and skillfully muzzled the animal with strips of bark. The wolf's legs were then trammeled so that he could run, but three himself when trotting or walking. He was then turned loose, and the Indians, like overgrows schoolboys, chased and sported with the terrific animal, until, completely exhausted, it refused to furnish further sport, when it was dispatched. The HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 443 intercourse of the whites with the natives were of a perfectly peaceful nature throughout, until the war of 1812 removed them from this vicinity. They were counted by the pioneers as generally well disposed and faithful to their friends, taking especial pains to manifest their loyalty on every occasion. Of the villages in this township, Berkshire Corners, though not ,the most important, came first in point of time, and for a while promised to play an important part in the affairs of the county. Its history was the history of Berkshire Township, and has therefore been rehearsed somewhat fully in the foregoing pages. Its first settlement was the first settlement of the township, but in its most brilliant days it never approached the dignity of a village. It was dubbed the "Corners," and is that now and nothing more, a place where two roads cross. But influence is not measured by geographical boundaries, and in this respect the "Corners " in its time occupied a place not less desirable than the other villages. From this point went out at an early date the dominating spirit of the township, and to it is largely due the eminent characteristics which marked its early history. After the removal of Col. Byxbe, and with him the hope of its future greatness, the place languished, and its business was diverted to other places. It was never platted, and the suspicion is entertained that Byxbe never intended it should interfere with his further projects. The first store or, rather, the first goods offered for sale, was kept by Maj. Brown. His stock consisted of lead, powder, tea and coffee, with a few pieces of calico and cotton cloth. A quantity of brown earthenware was added, but cost almost as much as the ordinary stone china of to-day. These goods were brought by wagon from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, thence by boats down the Ohio to the Scioto River, and thence on pack animals or in wagons to the consumer. The prices charged for these goods are astounding when the prices received for grain and meat, the farmer's only resource, are remembered. Tea sold at $2 per pound; coffee at 50 to 75 cents per pound; salt, at 10 cents per pound, and calico as high as $1 per yard. Maj. Brown died in 1816, and was succeeded in trade by Flavius Fuller. The laying-out of Sunbury about this time began to attract trade and enterprise in that direction, and Fuller's business was but short-lived. S. S. Bennett was an active business man, and did much for the business growth of the "Corners." In company with a by Benjamin Webb, who opened lap the first Mr. Comstock, of Worthington, he bought hogs all through that section of the country, driving them to Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. The hogs were taken in and weighed at the "Corners," and on such days made the little would-be village as lively as a bee hive. The hogs were paid for in goods, and thus added largely to the business at. tractions of the place. The former prestige has long since passed away, and a store, a blacksmithshop, two wagon-shops and two churches, with a quiet cluster of homes, now serve to mark where the early metropolis of Berkshire flourished. Sunbury, located southeast of the "Corners," and east of the central part of the township, is the legitimate successor of the "Corners " to metropolitan distinction. It was laid out by William and Lawrence Meyers on land formerly owned by a Mr. Alden, the original plat bearing the date of November 9, 1816. The site seems to have been admirably chosen for the future prospects of the village. It was situated near the conjunction of three counties-Knox, Licking and Delaware, and on the Columbus and Mount. Vernon road, which was for years the only thoroughfare by which to reach the outside world. It was reasonable to suppose, that, with such natural advantages to attract enterprising men, the newly formed village might grow to considerable size and attract to itself the business of that part of the three counties which was so remote from any town of considerable size. It is quite probable that the changes wrought by the substitution of railroads for coach lines has somewhat modified the sanguine expectations of its citizens, but there is still enough truth in the theory of its location to make it now a very active village. Sunbury, at this writing, is not incorporated. Several efforts have been made to secure its incorporation, but the majority of those to be affected, overawed by fears of the bur, den of taxation, have opposed the measure. But the village has not on that account stood still. It has pushed improvements in schools, sidewalks, roads and public buildings, by private subscription, to an extent which reflects the highest credit upon the enterprise of its citizens. About a year before the town was regularly laid out, the first store in Sunbury was opened by a Mr. Whitmore, from Worthington. He occupied a small brick.house which stood on the spot where now stands the residence of Mr. Joseph Letts. He sold goods for a short time only, when he engaged in another enterprise, and was succeeded by Benjamin Webb, who opened up the first 444 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. regular business in the place. He occupied a small room on the corner of Columbus and Granville streets, and built a house near it. The two buildings have since been united by inclosing the space between them and tearing down partitions, and it is now used as a hotel. A third store was built by Steven R. Bennett, which was situated diagonally across from Webb's, establishment on the corner of, what is now the public square, and occupied the site of the old log schoolhouse-the first one in Sunbury. He afterward built another, putting the first store in the rear for a warehouse, which may still be found, occupied by James Stockwell, where it was moved in 1837. Following close upon the building of the first store was the first tavern. This was a hewed-log building, and was placed on the lot adjoining Webb's, on the south. A Mr. Rogers kept hotel and accommodated the travelling public of 1816 with the best that the season afforded. There are those now living in Sunbury who remember the fare set forth in the old hotel, and who do not seem to think that hotelkeeping has improved any on the days of the old log house. In 1820, the stage line bringing more hotel trade to the town, naturally built up competition, and Lawrence Meyers put up the hotel which now faces the west side of the square. This was a frame building, and entirely eclipsed the Rogers house. Here the stage stopped, and it finally absorbed so much of the business that its humble competitor, accepting the logic of events, gave up entertaining strangers, and "kept boarders" at $1.25 a week. About this time, B. H. Taylor and B. Chase built a fulling-mill, provided with apparatus for carding and pressing. The motor power was a tread-wheel worked by oxen, and is described as follows : the wheel was laid flat upon its hub, the axle being inclined a little from perpendicular so as to afford an inclined surface on the wheel. In place of spokes, the upper surface of the wheel formed an inclined platform provided with cleats, upon which the oxen traveled. The upper end of the axle was provided with a spur-wheel, which, acting upon gearing on horizontal shafting, communicated the motion to the machinery of the mill. The old mill is now the property of Mr. Joseph Letts, and is used as a stable. The curious will find there the pit in which the tread wheel revolved, and the great timbers which once supported the heavy machinery of the mill. The establishment of this mill was a piece of enterprise which did much to stimulate the growth of the village. The people then made all their own flannel, but it needed fulling, carding and pressing, before it was merchantable. This was the only mill of the kind for miles about, and naturally attracted a good deal of business to the town. It afterward passed into the hands of Bennett, and finally passed away with the demand that called it into existence. Another old landmark is the old hewed-log schoolhouse, which stood on the southwest corner of the square. This was the first institution of the kind built in Sunbury, and served the public until 1831, when it was removed, and its successor built on the east side of the square. The new schoolhouse was about 20x30 feet, built of brick made by Rufus Atherton, on the place now known as the Widow Grist farm. This building served the community as schoolhouse and church for sixteen years. Under its sheltering roof the citizen of Sunbury became a cosmopolite in religious matters. Here the Methodist, the Universalist, the Baptist, the Presbyterian, the Episcopalian, the New Light and the Mormon worshiped in his own way, "with none to molest or make him afraid." In 1847, it was replaced by a wooden structure, 24x60 feet, which still remains. The saw and grist mill and distillery, built by Manville, and the tannery which was erected across the stream from them, are noticed in another place. Later, another saw-mill was erected by Samuel Peck and T. P. Meyers, a half-mile due east of Sunbury. In 1848, six years later, it was sold to Bailey, who added a gristmill. From his hand it passed through the possession of two other parties into that of Mr. Burr, who moved the mill, in 1875, to the village, and it is now an institution to which the citizen points with pride. Berkshire's early settlement was peculiarly favored in the number of its skilled tradesmen, and the result appears in the substantial progress of the early community. Brick residences and schoolhouses succeeded the primitive log structures, and frame buildings appear to be only an evidence of the degeneracy of a later day, and, reasoning from analogy, it is but fair to suppose that the pioneers wore better-fitting clothes than did their cotemporaries. At any rate, it was not for the lack of tailors if they did not. As early as 1816, the Collum Brothers set up their business of tailoring at Berkshire Corners. They furnished the first tailor in Sunbury from their list of apprentices. Haultz Evans first let the "goose hang high" in this village about 1828, but left for Granville about two years later. He was suc- HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY - 445 ceeded by James Smith in 1831, who has remained in the village, though having laid by the goose and press-board. About 1865, a company was formed to manufacture a general line of furniture. Machinery was procured, and the business got well a-going, but the project was marked more by the enterprise of the members of the company than by good management, and it failed in the crash of 1873, leaving a considerable loss to be shared by the stockholders. An attempt was made to manufacture extension tables exclusively. This promised well for a time, but eventually succumbed to the pressure of the panic. In 1868 the large building which occupies the center of the public square was erected, at a cost of $6,500, by public subscription. Fifteen hundred dollars of this amount was contributed by the lodge of Masons in the village, to build the third story, which thev own and occupy. The building is about 35x55 feet, three stories high, and built of brick. Col. G. A. Frambes, who was teaching a select school in the village, origin noted the movement, and was ably seconded by Mr. George Armstrong and others, and the building was soon furnished for school purposes, and known as the Sunbury Institute. Since the erection of the special school district, in 1868, the second story has been used as a public hall, and the lower story for church purposes. It is now called the Sunbury Town Hall. In October, 1872, the Farmers' Bank of Sunbury with a capital of $50,000, was organized. This is a joint-stock concern, and had for its stockholders some of the most substantial men of Berkshire. The original stockholders were E. Kimball, John Hall. Alanson Knox, George Armstrong, George Grist, E. R. Thompson, O. D. Hough and B. Moore The first officers were Elias Kimball, President; W. A. Thompson, Cashier; Elias Kimball, E. R. Thompson, Elanson Knox, O. D. Hough and B. Moore, Directors. On the death of Mr. Kimball, which occurred very soon after the formation of the bank, Mr. Moore succeeded him as President, and still holds that position. In January, 1875, Mr. O. H. Kimball succeeded as cashier, and still serves in that capacity with acceptance. Business was begun in a building on the east side of the square, built by Mr. Marble, but was afterward transferred to a building erected for the purpose by Mr. Moore three years later, on the south side of the square. In 1873, a number of the prominent citizens of Sunbury formed a stock company and furnished means to establish a weekly paper in the village ; it was very appropriately named the Sunbury Enterprise, and was managed for some nine months by D. M. Pyle. It was expected that he would take the paper and pay for it as he could earn it out of the office. The people supported the project, but there was an evident lack of the right man in the right place, and it was sold to Mr. Wayman Perfect, who changed the name to the Spectator. In this gentleman's hands, Me paper made rapid progress. It grew in popularity, and gained a paying subscription list of some six hundred, with an advertising patronage which afforded an ample support. In 1876, it was sold to J. S. Watson. He seemed to meet with the same success, but a better business arrangement being offered at another place, he suspended the publication of the paper in the spring of 1879, and moved the office and material out of the county.* The agitation in regard to the numerous grave robberies, resulted in Sunbury, as in many other places, in the formation of a Cemetery Association in the summer of 1879. This association bought about two acres of finely situated land, joining the old cemetery, and are just finishing a fine stone vault at a cost of $750. Located here is Sparrow Lodge, No. 400, of Free and Accepted Masons. The Lodge first worked under a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of 1867, and was chartered by that of 1868. There were eleven charter members, but the membership has increased to about eighty-five in the last ten years. The meetings were held twice a month during the first year, in the old "hotel building," but since then in their new rooms, in the third story of the town hall. There are three general stores, two jewelry stores, one hardware store, two shoe-shops, a machine-shop, two carriage-shops, two harness-shops, two tailor-shops, two blacksmith-shops, two millivery stores, three saloons, to one of which is attached a bakery, a bank of discount, flouring-mill, warehouse, tin-shop, picture-gallery, barber-shop, drug store, gun-shop, three churches, Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian ; two hotels, and a handle factory. This factory is a recently established enterprise, but has been quite successful, shipping goods to California and Europe. Machinery for turning spokes is to be put in, and * Since the above was written, a weekly paper called the Sunbury Monitor has been established by J. G. Sharpe. 446 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. that feature added to the business. The schoolbuilding for the special school is an object of pride to every citizen of Sunbury. It occupies a commanding position on the bill north of town, and presents a very attractive appearance. Whatever may be thought of the future of Sunbury, it cannot be denied that there is a spirit of enterprise among its people which will carry it triumphantly over many an obstacle. In 1865, $700 was raised by subscription and expended on the sidewalks ; three years later, $6,500 were raised to build the town hall ; in 1869, $20,000 was subscribed to the Delaware, Berkshire & Sunbury pike, and, in 1871, $22,000 more was subscribed to build the Columbus & Mount Vernon Railroad, a total of Dearly $50,000 within some seven years. South and west from Sunbury, on the southern boundary of the township, is situated the village of Galena. It is located between the Big and Little Walnut Rivers, near where they join, and is compactly built for a village of its size. It is reached from Sunbury by the Columbus &, Mount Vernon Railroad, which touches the northwest corner of the village. From the depot, a long street passes through the center of the village, leading to one corner of the square in the south end of the place, and passing through it into Genoa Township, becomes "Yankee street" further down. The earliest settlers in the vicinity of Galena have been mentioned in the preceding pages, but who originally owned the property where the village now stands, is not so clearly known. The plat of the village was made by William Carpenter, of Sunbury, April 3,1816, attested by Matthew Marvin, Justice of the Peace, April 20, 1816, and recorded on the 23d day of the same month, but has never been incorporated. Hon. Ezekiel Brown bought land on the Big Walnut River, northeast of the village, and it is quite probable that the Carpenters, coming in soon after, were the original possessors of the land. The Carpenter family was a large one. Gilbert settled at Galena, and his four sons-Benjamin, Samuel, Moses and Gilbert, Jr., the youngest of whom was thirty-eight years of age with their families. These names, with those of Judge Carpenter family, appear on every page of Berkshire traditions, and the traces of their activity are seen an felt yet in the southern part of the township Other names closely associated with the history of Galena are those of Nathan Dustin and George Vanfleet. The latter brought in a family of five boys and two girls, about 1820. At that time the public square bore a fine growth of bushes, which made admirable riding-whips. The earliest public building of which we can find information was an old log schoolhouse, which stood near the site of the present school building. This was used years before the town was laid out for both school and church purposes. Following close upon this was the erection of a saw-mill by Gilbert Carpenter, Sr. The location of the two Walnut Rivers is finely calculated for milling purposes. The larger stream is on a much higher level than the smaller one, and, taking advantage of this fact, he constructed a race from the one to the other, and got a motor power which is not excelled even at this day. This was done in 1809, and, nine years later, Benjamin Carpenter, Jr., the son of Judge Carpenter, constructed another race coming out a little south of the first one, and built a grist-mill, which, in the hands of Mr George Vanfleet, still does excellent work. The construction of a grist-mill at that time was a great undertaking. Day after day, Mr. Carpenter saddled his horse and went with his tools to a place in Liberty Township, where he cut out the buhrs for his mill. These were called "nigger-heads," and served the public of their day with a flour that was quite as palatable, if not so fine, as now. Later, "raccoon " stones were put in. Since then, the old wheel and stones have given place to more modern inventions. The first store was kept about 1810, by one Manter, in a log cabin situated near the bridge leading east out of town. He was closely succeeded by Elias Murray, whose establishment stood on the southwest corner of the square, it is said, in the very house now owned by Chester Campbell. Mr. Gilbert Carpenter, Sr:, is credited with building the first frame building. The earlier deaths are not remembered, but that of Mr. Gilbert Carpenter was early, though not perhaps the first one. The first marriage was the union of the two earlier and most prominent families of the settlement-the marriage of John S. Brown to Sarah, daughter of Judge Carpenter. This was in 1812. On August 19 of the following year, Nancy, the daughter of Hon. Ezekiel Brown, was married to Samuel Leonard, the ceremony being performed by Gilbert Carpenter. The village was platted under the name of Zoar, probably because they felt it to be a city of refuge though a little one. About 1834, when a post office was established here, it was found that there was already an office called Zoar. To meet this emergency, at the suggestion of Nathan Dustin, HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 447 the name of the village was changed to Galena. The law required, that, in order to secure a post office, the signature of the nearest postmaster was to be secured. Marcus Curtis then was Postmaster, on "Yankee street," and responded to the request of the Galena people for his name, that "it was no use, they would always have to come to 'Yankee street' for their mail," and refused his signature. At that time the stage line passed at the place of Curtis, and a daily mail from both directions was received. The post-office business is on another footing now, and "Yankee street" comes to Galena, where there is a money-order office. The growth of this village has been gradual and without any special efforts to stimulate it on the part of its citizens. It occupies a high ridge of land between the two rivers, and, viewed from the rise of ground east of the Big Walnut, presents a very attractive appearance. The principal public buildings are the Episcopal church, a large Methodist church, and the school building, lost of the business houses of the place are clustered about the square or on the street leading to it. There are two general stores ; a notion and millinery store combined; a drug store ; a tin and stove store ; warehouse; three blacksmith-shops; a harness-shop; shoe-shop; an undertaker's-shop; a tailor-shop; two saw-mills; a flouring-mill ; a lumberyard and a manufactory of agricultural implements, which is doing quite an extensive business. It should be mentioned as an evidence of the town's enterprise, that a subscription of $13,000 was paid toward securing the location of the railroad which passes through here, in addition to three acres of ground given for depot purposes. Galena was the place of the earliest organized Lodge of Masons in Berkshire. This was Charity Lodge, No. 54, a flourishing organization of some forty or fifty years ago, but it. was allowed to die because the members, scattered about the country, found it impossible to get to the regular sessions. The Galena Lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 404, was instituted in 1868, with Thomas Vanfleet, Roswell Cook, W. E. Copeland, G. A. Frambes, J. P. Maynard, D. L. Ferson and others as charter members. They hold their sessions in the building formerly owned by Charity Lodge, which they bought in 1869. Rome, in the western central portion of the township, is the last of Berkshire's village quadrilateral, but by no means the least. It has achieved a distinction which has been denied all the others. Its founder, Almon Price, was a man who had studied Roman history. He had read of a couple of orphans, brought up by a wolf, who, with scarcely a suit of clothes to their back, had founded a town "That sate on her seven hills, and from her throne Of beauty ruled the world." Fired with a lofty ambition, he laid off his farm into lots, and in 1838 Rome was incorporated. Here he lost sight of his great prototype and branched off into the chair business. He was fairly successful in making the "Windsor" pattern of chairs, but it needed something more to stimulate the growth of his city. He disposed of his land, and the purchasers, after enduring the farce of city life long enough, by petition secured the annulment of the act of incorporation. The place then took on the less ambitious name of Rome Corners, and is now satisfied with the distinction of being the voting precinct of the township. Mr. Price was long known as the Pope of Rome, a name he accepted with the dignity of a prince. The old chair factory still exists, and is now occupied by Newell Carpenter. The place is made conspicuous by the meeting of five roads at that point, and, besides three or four residences, is marked by a church, the town house and a saw-mill. The place has given its name to Grange No. 741, which was organized here March 24, 1874. The Grange started with twenty-four charter members, G. D. Searles as Master, and Mrs. J. N. Dyer as Secretary. Some two years ago, this Grange organized a movement which has resulted in establishing a Mutual Fire Insurance Company, with its principal office in Sunbury. The Company does not limit its risks to this township, but takes farm property wherever offered. It has an extensive business, which is rapidly increasing. The history of the churches and of the religious work of Berkshire Township is an interesting study, and dates back to the arrival of the first settlers. They were a religious people, and needed missionaries not so much as material for missionaries to work upon. The family of Col. Byxbe was of the Presbyterian creed, that of Maj. Brown belonged to the Episcopal Church, together with the Princes, Plumbs, and Curtises. With the advent of the Carpenters in the southern part of the township came in the Methodist element. Gilbert Carpenter was a minister in that church, of an active nature, and it was not long before the first church was organized in that part of the town. There were about fourteen members, and meetings 448 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. were held in a large hewed-log schoolhouse that was erected not far from 1813. Gilbert Carpenter and his nephew, Benjamin, Jr., supplied the preaching, with occasional visits from itinerant ministers. Some two years later, the Methodists organized a church at Sunbury, holding their meetings during the winter in the cabins around the neighborhood, and in Judge Carpenter's barn in the summer time. The people came from a distance of ten miles with ox teams, barefooted in summer, and frequently so in winter, to hear the Gospel preached. The ministers were not college-bred men, nor men marked with especial gifts for.tbe ministry. They wore the same homely garb of the settler, and were often compelled to suffer privations which were seldom known in the settler's cabin. In the southern part of the township the larger gatherings of the church were held in the mill and barns until 1825, when the frame building now standing in Galena was erected. This is the largest church edifice in the township, and continues to be the rallying-point of that denomination. At Sunbury the church used the brick schoolhouse until 1839, when their present building was erected at a cost of $1,500, which was built in connection with the Episcopal organization; each using it on alternate Sundays. The latter organization finally became extinct by removals and members changing their place of worship. To erect such a building in those days was quite a tax on the community, and there was a vigorous effort made to interest the outside community. James Smith, a young tailor, and full of life, took an active part, and rode three weeks to raise the subscription, starting the. list himself with $100, a sum greater than all his worldly possessions. Such interest is difficult at this time to explain, save on the theory of his own statement, that he had "got tired of seeing the girl's pretty faces in that old schoolhouse." The first circuit. was established in 1831, with Rev. James McIntyre as Presiding Elder. The church has numbered as high as 140 members, but now numbers about 67. At the "corners," a Methodist church was organized in 1858, by Rev. Amos Wilson, with about twenty-five members. The organization now numbers about eighty-five. They erected a place of worship in 1860, where they have maintained a Sunday school summer and winter. Church services are held one half day only on each alternate Sunday. The next church organization, in point of time, was the Protestant Episcopal. The first sermon was preached in Maj. Brown's house, at Berkshire Corners, in 1818, by Bishop Chase, the first Bishop of the diocese. On Easter Monday-; at the house of David Prince, March 23, 1818, those of Episcopalian belief met, and organized a church by the following election of officers Clerk, Carlos Curtis; Wardens, Ichabod Plumb and Joseph Prince. Vestrymen William Smith, Zenas Ross and Aaron Strong. Lay Readers, David Prince and Carlos Curtis. It was not until some ten years later that they built their church building, and, in the mean while, they held their services in private houses with Rev. Mr. Stem and others as Rectors. The church building is a brick house with a large triple Gothic window in front, which was considered, at that time, a great, achievement in the way of church ornament. This edifice is the third Protestant Episcopal building erected in the State, and among the very first of any denominational church buildings. The membership now numbers some twelve or fourteen persons, who maintain regular services and Sabbath school during the summer months. The leading church of this denomination, however, is at Galena, which was organized in 1875, by the Rev. John Ely, with eight or ten members. This drew a number of members from Berkshire Corners, and now numbers about thirty persons. In 1877, assisted by the community, they built one of the handsomest brick edifices in the county. It is small and plain, built from a plan drawn by a New Jersey architect, at a cost of about $1,750. Closely following the Episcopalians came the Presbyterian Church. There were at Berkshire Corners several families, Bennett, Gregory and Patterson, who went to services held in the old court house, by Rev. Mr. Hughes, a son-in-law of Col. Byxbe. Once in four weeks, Mr. Hughs came to the settlement and held services in the cabins. About 1818, Rev. Ebenezer Washburn, a Presbyterian minister, came to Berkshire Corners, and it is remembered that he drove into the settlement in a steel-shod sled, a circumstance that gave him no little distinction at the time. He held services in the cabins for two or three years, when he removed to Genoa Township. This denomination seems never to have gained a permanent home here until the organization of a church in Sunbury, in May, 1868. It started with a membership of some twenty-three, and now numbers some thirty-five. Rev. Robert Wiley was principally instrumental in organizing it. They have no church building, but rent. The HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 449 lower part of the town hall has been fitted up for their use and rented for several years. They maintain a Sabbath school the year round, which numbers about fifty. The Baptist denomination was represented in Berkshire as early as 1812, by Elder Henry George. He was a Welshman, spoke with a marked brogue, and was a plain man of excellent common sense. A church was not organized, however, until 1835. This occurred in District No. 2, of Trenton Township, and was called the Walnut Creek Baptist Church. Here they occupied a log schoolhouse until 1837, when the church was moved to Sunbury, and in the succeeding year built their present place of worship. The church building was built at a cost of some $2,000. The first Pastor after coming to Sunbury was the Rev. Mr. Gildersleeve, succeeded by a Rev. Mr. Roberts. It has a membership of some sixty persons, and maintains a Sunday school the year through. There is a church of the Free-Will Baptist denomination located at Rome Corners. In the winter of 1876-77, the Rev. Mr. Murray, of Sunbury, held a series of meetings which were crowned with abundant success, and he naturally sought to establish a church there. There did not seem to be a desire for such a church, and in a perfectly friendly spirit both minister and people joined in inviting a Rev. Mr. Whittaker to organize the church, which, in 1877, erected a place of worship at a cost of $900. Sunday schools as they existed in the days of the early settlements were not such as we have now. In many instances the rudiments of education were joined with instruction in the Scriptures. The first of this sort was opened by Julia Strong, daughter of Maj. Strong, in her father's house about 1814. The house stood on the Gaylord property, near the bridge east of Sunbury. Another school, akin to this, but rather nearer our idea of a Sunday school, was opened about 1816, by Miss Bowen, a sister-in-law of Ebenezer Washburn. Her method was to invite the little folks to her house on Sunday, when she would read them a passage of Scripture, then an historical sketch calculated to interest such little minds, and then asked them to learn a short passage from the Bible to repeat on the following Sunday. The Hon. O. D. Bough was one of her scholars, and believes this school to have been the first Sunday school ever held in the eastern part of Delaware County. The early settlers of Berkshire appear to have been agreed upon the necessity of education, and the historian finds it difficult, with settlements at three different points in the township, each one of which established a school at the earliest practicable moment, to determine the priority in the order of their establishment. The first authentic date we have been able to find is that of a school taught by Maria Denton, in 1810, in a log house near Hon. Ezekiel Brown's farm, now owned by H. Vanfleet. She had some ten scholars who paid for what they got, very much on the "European Hotel plan." This was not, however, the first school in the township. In the north part of the township, east of the Berkshire street, and a few rods south of the Granville road, stood an old round-log schoolhouse, built in the most primitive fashion. This was the first attempt of the Byxbe settlement toward advanced education. When it was built is not known, but it was very early. The first teacher in this schoolhouse was a Miss Thompson, from Worthington; she was succeeded by Cynthia Sloper, and by Solomon Smith in a winter school. Lucy Caulkins also taught here; but at a much later date. The first school at Sunbury is shrouded in obscurity. A hewed-log schoolhouse which stood on the southwest corner of the square is one of the oldest landmarks, but; to the date of its erection, or when first used for school purposes, the memory of man runneth not, Julia Strong was an early teacher, and perhaps the first, but there is no authentic information on that point. In the southern part of the township Nathan Dustin was an early teacher. He had a very strict sense of propriety, and was wont to give his scholars short lectures on rules of behavior On one occasion the "big girls" got very much interested at noon in a game of ball, and played with all the abandon of light-hearted girlhood This was too much for Mr. Dustin's spirit of pro priety, and, calling the girls in, he gave them ; severe rebuke, imitating their appearance when running, and the unladylike style of the whop proceeding. It proved too much for one girl, and she broke out crying, which ended the discourse It is not clearly explained whether it was on the principle of "if you won't cry I'll give you ; stick of candy," or the natural inclination of his heart, but he made this girl the second of his five v wives. Lexton was the name of another teacher in this part of the township, and it is said might we, be taken for the original of the doggerel lines: "Old John Cross kept a village day school, And a cross old man was he For he spared not the rod as he taught the old rule Of a b c, a b c." 450 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. He was an Irishman, and had the bad habit of carrying his whisky with him to school, a circumstance which aggravated the natural severity of his temper. Partially intoxicated, he frequently fell asleep, and, on awaking, punished at random the first one his eyes fell on. It was in one of these moods that he called upon all the larger girls after recess one day, and distributed sundry blows of the "ferule " among them, much to the discomfiture of their hands, because they had been sliding on the ice. The Berkshire Academy was the first attempt in the way of more advanced schooling. This was a chartered institution, located at Berkshire Corners, and was established in the winter of 1840-41. The building was a small frame, costing about $300 or $400, the expense of which was defrayed by the sale of shares of $10 each. The first session was held in the following winter, with an attendance of about thirty scholar, and G. S. Bailey, from Oberlin, as teacher. This was in the time of the anti-slavery agitation, before Ohio had been largely won over to the cause of human rights, and Oberlin was not a good place to hail from. Bailey was discreet, and said nothing of his future intentions, or of his antecedents, until the last week of the school term. The announcement of his opinions took the community by surprise, for, like the men of old, they looked for nothing good to come out of Nazareth, and, liberal as the old New England settlement was in the matter of education, they could not reconcile themselves to the thought that they had so long harbored an Oberlin agitator in their midst This school was maintained for some fifteen years, when it was discontinued for lack of support. The building still exists, and is now used as a residence, just east of the Episcopal church. The influence of this academy upon its patrons and the township at large cannot be easily estimated. It is a noteworthy fact, however, that the number of its pupils who have achieved more than ordinary distinction is large. Among their number is a Governor, a congressman, and a banker, and one whose active participation in the temperance and anti-slavery work upon the lecture platform has gained for her a wide circle of admirers. There are two special school districts in this township, organized in 1868, both of which are furnished with fine buildings. The one at Sunbury is a brick structure, somewhat in the form of a cross. The main arm, extending from cast to west, is about 38x18 feet; the arm crossing this at right angles in the center is 13 feet wide, and projects 24 feet in front and 13 feet to the rear. There are accommodations for four departments, but only three have as yet been used. The building stands upon a prominent site, north of the town, is ornamented with colored brick, contains a cellar under all, and is considered by the enthusiastic citizen as the finest school building in the county outside of Delaware. It cost $5,000, and was built in 1878. Just before the building was completed a fire broke out in it and threatened to destroy it, occasioning a loss of some $400 to the contractor. The enumeration of the district is 181. The average attendance in the winter is 120, and about 100 in the summer. A gentleman is employed as Principal, and two ladies as assistants in the other departments. The salary of the former is fixed at $600 for the school year of nine months. The other teachers are paid $30 per month. The building in the special district of Galena is situated near the square on a dry knoll which commands a fine prospect of the Big Walnut and the range of hills beyond. It is a square building, surmounted by a cupola. There are three departments, with a Principal and two assistants, who receive $70 and $30 per month respectively. The latest enumeration showed 145 persons eligible for school privileges. The enrollment reaches 125, with an average attendance of 110. There are besides these special districts six districts in the township, which are all supplied with brick houses save Districts Nos. 3 and 4. In these, neat frame buildings, supplied with modern furniture and conveniences, are provided. The first brick schoolhouse was erected in District No. 1, at a cost of $1,000, in 1871. A similar schoolhouse was built in District No. 2 in 1873. at a cost of $900. Districts Nos. 5 and 6 are also provided for in like manner. They are all supplied with improved school furniture, and are up to the most advanced schools of the time in this respect. The enumeration combined in these districts reaches 194. The average salary paid is $35 per month to male teachers and $20 pet month to female teachers, teachers boarding them selves. The majority of the teachers throughout the township are females. The town hall proper is located at Rome Corners. For some years, the schoolhouse was used for voting purposes, but when a new schoolhouse was built, the old school building was purchased at a cost of $100. (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE)