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360 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY CHAPTER XXVI.* KINGSTON TOWNSHIP-EARLY SETTLEMENT-SCENES OF THIS PIONEER DAYS-CHURCHES AND SUNDAY SCHOOL-POLITIC. ETC. "Reason's whole pleasure, all the joys of sense. Lie in three words-health, peace and competence. But health consists with temperance alone And peace, O Virtue! peace is all thine own." -Pope. SAN MARINO, one of the most ancient and limited republics of Europe, consists of a craggy mountain, 2,200 feet in height, situated amidst the lesser ranges of the Appennines, and encircled by provinces that formerly belonged to the Pontifical States. Amidst the mutations and revolutions of empires and kingdoms for a period of more than 700 years, this little republic and its free institutions and government have stood unchanged and undisturbed by the surrounding nations of Europe. The great Napoleon in his * Contributed by Hon. J. R. Hubbell. Italian campaign in 1796, sent a special ambassador to San Marino to assure the government that the rights of the republic should be scrupulously respected. It possesses a total area of twenty-one miles, and contains about 8,000 inhabitants. They are noted for their sobriety, industry, morality and genial hospitality. Kingston Township is the San Marino of Delaware County. Its inhabitants are likewise noted for their morality, industry and hospitality. There is not now, and never has been, with but one exception, a store, grocery or any place where intoxicating drinks or liquors were bought or sold in any quantity whatever. It was said, a small contraband, underground distillery was for a short time run by one Walter Bump, near the close of the war, in a very quiet way. But he soon fell into the clutches of the Government officials HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 561 who put an end to his occupation. Vice and immorality do not thrive and flourish in the presence of schoolhouses and churches. In its native or original state, there was nothing in Kingston Township to especially attract attention. It possessed no mineral wealth, and its water privileges for hydraulic purposes were limited, although favored with springs of good water, and spring-runs and small streams, which afford an abundance of most excellent water for stock. The principal stream is Alum Creek, which strikes the north line of the township about one-half mile from the west line, or northwest corner, and at the junction of the West Branch, and thence runs in a southwesterly direction about one mile before it crosses the west line of the township. Below the junction of the two branches, Alum Creek is quite a large stream, and, at an early day, much more than now, contained a large volume of water. But the channel was confined to that part of the township known as the Todd Section, which was not brought into the market until about twenty years ago, at which time, most everywhere, steam had taken the place of water-power. Next in size and in importance is Little Walnut Creek, with numerous tributaries and branches running in a southerly direction, and near the center of the township. West, and running nearly parallel with this, is Butler Run, which heads in the Butler Swamp, near the center of the township, north and south. In the northeast part is Indigo Run, and in the southeast part is Taylor Run, and a number of small strearns flow into Alum Creek in the northwest part, all of which afford an abundance of good water for firm purposes. The surface of the land is generally quite level, but the northern and eastern portion is more undulating, but perhaps there is not an acre of waste land in the township. Butler Swamp took its name from a Mr. Butler, who settled near it in 1807. It was supposed this land would never be fit for farming purposes ; but clearing it up and drainage has demonstrated the fact that it is, or can be made, tillable and highly productive. The best lands for farming purposes are along the streams, and in the eastern part of the township. Wheat, corn and oats are profitable crops, but the adaptation is better for grass and grazing than farming. The timber in the original forest was various. Along the streams, and especially along the Little Walnut and its tributaries, there was much black and some white walnut; also black and red cherry; in the swamp and on the lowlands there was an abundance of burr oak, black ash and white elm. The rolling and dry land was covered with the beech, sugar maple, white oak, hickory and white ash. The sycamore skirted the banks of the streams. The rich and alluvial lands were covered with the spice bush, black haws and papaw underbrush, which by the early settlers was regarded as an unmistakable proof of a fertile soil. Wild plums and grapes on the rich bottom lands grew spontaneously in great abundance, and were the only fruits the first settlers could obtain, except the wild crab apple. These fruits were used in various ways and for various purposes; sometimes dried, and thus kept over until another year. Sometimes they were preserved in maple sugar, the only sweetening to be had, except the wild honey. But these were enough to supply the hardy and enterprising pioneer with such luxuries as he needed and, in most cases, desired. On the lowlands and swails, there was an abundance of wild grass, sufficient to supply stock with pasture age, and in the summer it was mowed and cured for winter use. Very frequently young horses and cattle were wintered in these swails, and by browsing, without grain or dry feed. The swine of the early pioneers were allowed to run at large, without brands or ear marks, wintering and growing fit on acorn and beech-nut mast. So rapid was the increase of these animals that in a few years the woods were filled with wild hogs, and the backwoodsman soon regarded them as public property. For years, many families supplied themselves with pork from this source, and the rightful owner, if there was any, made no complaint. This species of nutritious food, so much needed at the time for the swine, as well as for the sustenance and support of the first inhabitants in Delaware County, was called by the expressive term, "shack." Thousands of hogs fattened upon it, and, without any corn feeding, were gathered from the woods in the fall or winter, sold to the drover and driven over the mountains to New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore markets. For the purpose of grazing and agriculture, together with its water-courses, the quality of its timber and the original fertility of soil, this township is quite up to the average of the county. Kingston Township is situated in Range 17, in the United States military lands, and is designated as Number 5 in the original survey. It was created as a township, June 8, 1813, and has had no changes made in its boundary lines since its 562 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. organization. It is a square, containing 16,000 acres of land, or an area of twenty-five miles, and is bounded on the north by Morrow County, on the east by Porter Township, on the south by Berkshire, and on the west by Brown. There are no towns or villages in the township, nor even a grist-mill. About forty six or eight years ago, however, a storehouse was built at what was known as Stark's Corners, near the east line of the township, and about the center, north and south, by a man of the name of James Moore, who sold goods for some years, and was succeeded by James N. Stark. But after a few years, he discontinued the business. There has never been but two water saw-mills in the township. One was built by Leonard Lott, about the year 1819, and the other some years afterward, by Peter Van Sickle, perhaps about the year 1830. These mills were both on the Little Walnut. They answered a good purpose in their day, but long since rotted down and were abandoned. The valuable timber destroyed, or wasted for want of mills to saw it into lumber, and facilities to ship it to market, would pay, twice over, at present prices, the original cost of all the lands in the township. Perhaps the walnut timber alone that then was standing, at its present high value, would amount to the price paid by the patentees of these lands. It will be remembered that these lands were given to the soldiers of the war of the Revolution, for their services. In the first place, warrants for 100 acres were, under an act of Congress, issued to the private soldiers. These warrants were made transferable, and could only be located in tracts of four thousand acres. This unjust and unwise provision compelled the soldier, who, in most cases, was poor, to sell his warrant to some heartless speculator, for whatever he could get. In many instances, the soldiers turned over their land warrants to the landlord, or tavern keeper, to pay the bar bill, and in that way, that which was intended to be a bounty from the Government was turned into a curse. Some years later, under the influence of Gen. William Henry Harrison, who was himself a soldier, and the soldier's friend, and a member of Congress, a change was made in that provision of the law, so that land warrants could be located by the soldiers, in tracts of 100 acres. It was in this way the four United States military sections, each containing 4,000 acres, which constitutes Kingston, or the fifth township in the seventeenth range of the United States military lands, originated. In most cases, the early settlers purchased their lands before they left their homes in the East, and without any personal knowledge of their character or value, moved their families on to them, and whether they were satisfied or not, they were compelled to submit to their lot. Many would have been glad to have returned to their old homes in the East, but their means would not permit it, and the " yoke was made easy that had to be worn." The first settlement in Kingston was made some time about the year 1807, but just where cannot be definitely settled. It was made in the southeastern part of the township, and on or near the Little Walnut Creek. As near as can be ascertained, John Phipps was the first settler, but of him little is known. Shortly after building his cabin and moving his family into it, he sold out and returned East to his old home. Mr. George Hess came into this township from Bucks County, in the State of Pennsylvania, in the same year, and settled near Phipps ; these first pioneers were probably from the same neighborhood, and old acquaintances. Hess cleared up his farm and lived on it until his death, which occurred in 1835. As his name would imply, he was a German either by birth or descent, and spoke the English language very imperfectly. Industrious and unobtrusive, he lived a quiet life and received the respect of his neighbors for his many virtues. While living, he had but few acquaintances, and they were his friends. He was married, but had no children. His wife survived him, but died many years ago. She, too, was of German extraction, and well suited to wear with her husband the marriage yoke. He is remembered as one of the pioneers who passed through the perils and dark days of the war of 1812. The old Hess farm, its quaint residence, Pennsylvanian barn, with its thatched roof, will long be remembered by the young, who knew nothing personally of its proprietor. In front of his barn, and at the side of the highway, he placed a large trough, which was supplied with water from a spring near by, for the accommodation of the traveling community. The old farm is now owned by Ceptor Stark. In the same season, and but a few weeks subsequently, two brothers, Abraham and James Anway, also from Pennsylvania, built cabins and settled near Mr. Hess. These brothers were building their cabins when Hess moved on his farm. They raised large families, and encountered all the privations and hardships of a frontier life. The first generation died long since, and their children and HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 563 descendants are scattered ; perhaps there are now none living in the township. Still later, in the year 1812, Peter Van Sickle came into the township from the State of New Jersey, with a young family. He located in the wilderness on a farm or tract of land lying on the west side of Little Walnut Creek, and adjoining the south line of the township, nearly two miles in a southwesterly direction from those who preceded him-Mr. Hess and the two Anway brothers. His family consisted of two sons, William G. and Asa Van Sickle, and four daughters, all of whom lived to manhood and womanhood, and were married. The entire family are now dead, `except Mrs. Lott, wife of Mr. R. J. Lott, the youngest daughter, and Elizabeth, who married Mr. James R. Stark, now deceased.- The oldest daughter married an older brother of James R. Stark, the Hon. Almon Stark, an intelligent an industrious farmer, who was an Associate Judge of the Common Pleas Court of Delaware County for several years. Both Judge Stark and his wife are now dead. Judge Stark settled, over fifty years ago, on a farm (in the southeast corner of the township) of about two hundred acres, improved it with fine buildings, which he sold not long before the war of the rebellion, and moved to Columbus, where he died. Peter Van Sickle was a very industrious man, helped his children pecuniarily in starting out in the world, and, at his death, left them quite a large estate. His old farm of 350 acres is now owned by the Hon. O.D. Hough, of Berkshire. Three years subsequently, a family by the same name, and distant relatives of Peter Van Sickle, settled in the eastern part of the township, about one mile and a half north of George Hess' farm. This family, too, emigrated from the State of New Jersey. Mr. John Van Sickle, like his cousin, Peter, came well prepared with goods and money to encounter the hardships of life in a new country, and at this time the two families of Peter and John Van Sickle were the wealthiest people in the part of the county in which they lived, and they were a great help to their less fortunate neighbors. John Van Sickle was an enterprising and intelligent farmer, and an exemplary Christian. He was born in Sussex County, in the State of New Jersey, in the year 1791, and in the year 1814, he was married to Miss Susannah Wicker, a native of the same county, and born in the year 1796. Mr. Van Sickle died about the year 1870. Mr. and Mrs. Van Sickle raised eight children, all of whom were married and raised families. David, the oldest son, is a farmer, and lives in Kingston, his native township, about two miles northwest from the old homestead. Peter, who settled on a farm in Porter Township, adjoining, died several years ago. William W. lives in Delaware. Elizabeth, who was married to George Blaney, lives in Porter. Mary married Charles Wilcox, and lived and died in Porter. Esther married a Mr. Knox, and lived and died in Trenton Township. Drusilla married Dr. H. Besse, and lives in Delaware. Jane married Mr. Lewis Buck, and now lives in Morrow County. Mr. Van Sickle owned a large farm of several hundred acres of valuable land, and carried on farming on a large scale. On arriving at maturity, he gave to each of his children 100 acres of land, and at his death, he left a good estate to be divided among his heirs. When the county was quite new, and the country wild, his public spirit and enterprise led him to employ hands and build a dam and a grist and saw mill on Big Walnut Creek, near Sunbury. The milling business he carried on in connection with his farming, for many years. The history of this mill will be found in the history of Trenton Township. From early life, he was a devout Christian and an exemplary member of the Presbyterian Church, and his lifelong enterprise in building-up and sustaining the church of his early choice was equal to his enterprise in the business affairs of life. For many years, he was the main stay and support for what was then and still is known as the old Blue Church. But, when the great question of slavery became a dividing principle in this denomination, he, with the late Charles M. Fowler, and a few others, verified their Christian principles by leaving the Old School Presbyterians and forming a New School Presbyterian Church; and they erected a house for worship at East Liberty, in Porter Township. Here he continued his connection until the time of his death. When the weight of years and hard work had enfeebled his once strong constitution, he sold his land and moved to the village of East Liberty, where he had built himself a comfortable home. Here he passed the remain der of his days, reverenced by all who knew him, for his strong will, earnest Christian character, and his unswerving integrity. He gave liberally to the church while living, and, at hi death, he left an endowment for the church, any his home for a parsonage so long as it remained a Presbyterian Church. The year before Mr. Van 564 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. Sickle settled in this township, and being early in the year 1814, two brothers of the name of Richard and Charles Hodgden emigrated to Delaware County from the State of Connecticut and settled in Kingston Township. Both were unmarried. They built themselves a log cabin, lived by themselves, did their own cooking and washing for some time, cleared up their lands and established for themselves comfortable homes. Both became profoundly impressed with the divine sentiment " that it was not good for man to be alone," and they married wives. Richard married a Miss Place; Charles married a Miss Blackman and, after her death, married for his second wife a Miss Brockover. Richard died on his old homestead, a few years ago, and Charles afterward moved to Union County, where he died. In 1815, Benjamin Benedict immigrated to Kingston Township from the same State as the Hodgdens, and located on Little Walnut Creek, about one mile south of the center of the township, where he cleared up a farm of 150 acres. Upon this farm he lived to the great age of eighty-eight years, and died in the year 1877. He was an upright and industrious man, lived in peace with his neighbors, and was greatly respected by all who knew him. Soon after he came to Kingston, he married a Miss White, who had an extensive family connection, among the early pioneers. She is still living. The fruit of this union were two sons, the older of whom, Nelson, was twenty years the senior of the younger brother, and died several years ago. The younger son, whose name is Sturgis, is living upon the old homestead. Mr. Benedict had a younger brother by the name of Kirby, who subsequently made his home with him and taught school, studied law, immigrated to the State of Illinois, and established himself in the practice of his profession in Decatur. He was successful in business, and represented his county in the State Legislature several years. During the administration of Franklin Pierce in 1854, he was offered and accepted the appointment of Territorial Judge for New Mexico. He subsequently was appointed Chief Justice of New Mexico, by President Lincoln, who was an early personal friend. Judge Benedict had been a Democrat, but he was patriotic, and a strong Union man, and, during the war, gave Mr. Lincoln's administration an earnest support. He was a good lawyer, scholarly and made a good Judge. His wife was a Miss Curtis, whose father was one of the early pioneers of the township. She survives her husband and is now living in Decatur, Ill. A younger sister of Mr. Benedict married James P. Crawford, of Berkshire, by whom she raised a family; they are both now dead. Their oldest daughter is married to Mr. William Frost, of Berkshire Township. Just previous to the war of 1812, Solomon Steward immigrated to Delaware County from the Green Mountains of Vermont. His father, William Steward, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. In 1815, he was married to Miss Nancy White, sister of Mrs. Benjamin Benedict, and soon after their marriage, they settled in Porter. Both are now dead. In 1809, James Stark, John Rosecrans and his four sons, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and John, Daniel Rosecrans and his four sons, Nathaniel, Jacob, Purlemas and Crandall, and Joseph Patrick and his wife Sarah (who was a Miss Taylor), and her father, Daniel Taylor, immigrated to Kingston from the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, and settled in different parts of the township. James Stark settled on the east part, on a farm of about two hundred acres, which he improved with good buildings, and for many years kept a house of entertainment for travelers, which was the only hotel ever kept in the township. The north and south road, called the Sunbury road, and the Mansfield road, cross on this farm, thus forming Stark's Corners. Mr. Stark's wife was a Miss Wilcox, whose family connection was very numerous, and he, having a very wide acquaintance, with the confidence of all who knew. him, exercised great influence in an early day among the pioneers. His letters to his old acquaintances in Pennsylvania induced a large immigration to Delaware County. By a former marriage, Mr. Stark had three daughters, all of whom were married and raised families. One married a Mr. Perfect, a farmer of Trenton ; one, Dr. Bigelow, of Galena; and one, Mr. Benjamin Carpenter, also of Galena. They and their husbands are now all deceased. By his second wife he had one son, James N. Stark, now owner of the old home; stead, but he does not occupy it. For many years, the son was extensively enraged in farming and mercantile pursuits. At one time he owned about two thousand acres of farming land in Kingston and Porter Township, but losses and shrinkage in values compelled him to part with a large portion of his landed property, and to greatly contract his commercial pursuits. The senior James Stark, who died many years ago, was a HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 565 good example of an old-school country gentleman. Oliver Stark, nephew of James Stark, was a native of Luzerne County, Penn., where he was born in 1801. He came to Kingston in 1825, settled on a good farm adjoining his uncle's on the south, cleared it up, and put it in a fine state of cultivation, with excellent buildings. In 1829, he married Miss Eliza Patrick, daughter of Joseph Patrick, and the first white child born in Kingston. Mr. Stark was a thrifty farmer; was a Justice of the Peace for twenty-one years, and a County Commissioner from 1846 to 1849. He died several years ago, leaving several children, and a large estate to his heirs. Cepter Stark, the largest landholder in the township, is his oldest son. Almon Stark, to whom reference has already been made, was a relative. Both Oliver Stark and his uncle James were exemplary members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and did much to promote the cause of religion. Joseph Patrick, one of the immigrant party of 1809, was a very remarkable man. His intellectual endowments were of a high order. He was unfortunate in having an impediment in his speech. His historical reading was as extensive as his memory was remarkable. He was a good business man, accumulated a large fortune for his day and generation, held many positions of trust; was County Treasurer, and an honest man. He removed from Kingston to Berkshire at an early day, and, some . years ago, at an advanced age, died, leaving a large family of children and grandchildren, many of whom are living in the eastern part of the county. Mr. Daniel Taylor, the father of Mr. Joseph Patrick, and grandfather of Mrs. Stark, settled in the southeast part of the township, on Taylor's Run. The "run" took its name from Mr. Taylor. He was an unobtrusive man, and died many years ago. Some of his children, and their descendants, are living in Kingston. Dr. Daniel Rosecrans first settled on Little Walnut Creek, and was the first Justice of the Peace in the township. The farm on which he settled about the year 1813, be sold to John Brown, and it is now owned by John W. Hall and Mr. Frank Owens. Dr. Rosecrans purchased lands further south on Taylor Run, now owned by the heirs of John Rosecrans. The doctor died many years ago. His son, Crandall, married Miss Jemima Hopkins, who was of the family of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. There were three sons born of this union, the oldest of whom was Maj. Gen. William Stark Rosecrans, whose great name and fame will be transmitted throughout the endless circles of time. He will be remembered in history as one of the most successful and skillful Generals in the Union army in the war of the great rebellion. Gen. Rosecrans was born on Taylor Run in Kingston on the 6th day of September, 1819. Soon after his birth, his father moved to Homer, Licking Co., where he engaged in the occupation of farming, and keeping hotel. In the year 1838., he obtained a cadetship for his son William at the military school at West Point. His attainments as a scholar were at this time of a high order, and he readily passed the necessary examination, and four years afterward be graduated, and was a professor at the school where he graduated (for some years), of civil engineering, with distinction, but he resigned his commission in the army, and engaged in private pursuits. He volunteered his services to his country at the commencement of the rebellion, and was appointed by Gov. Dennison Colonel of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and was soon afterward made Brigadier General of volunteers, and a little later Major General. He was conspicuous in the campaign in West Virginia, early in the first year of the war, and at the battle of Cheat Mountain; the bloody fields of Stone River, Iuka, Corinth and Chickamauga, furnish ample proof of his skill as military commander, and his courage and patriotism have never been questioned. After the close of the war, he was made a Brigadier General in the regular army, but he resigned his commission soon afterward. In 1869, the Democratic State Convention at Columbus nominated him for Governor of Ohio, an honor he declined to accept. Gen. McClellan, when Commander-in-Chief of the army, pronounced Gen. Rosecrans the best scholar in the American army. Indeed, old Kingston has reason to feel proud of her distinguished son and great General. Another son of Crandall Rose, craws, Sylvester, was scarcely less distinguished than his brother. He was eight years younger than the General, and born in Licking County. Through the influence of the General, a military warrant was obtained for him to a cadetship at West Point, and, after a regular course, he graduated at that institution. He joined the Roman Catholic Church, and commenced a regular course of theological studies. He was sent to Rome and educated at the Vatican under the Holy Father, Pio Nono, or Pius IX, for the priesthood. About twenty years ago, he was commissioned a Bishop 566 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. in the Roman Catholic Church, and was placed in charge of the diocese of Columbus. He was noted for his great executive ability, as well as his great learning and talents as a speaker. In the summer of 1879, Bishop Rosecrans, just after the completion of the St. Joseph Cathedral at Columbus, the great work of his life, suddenly died, without seemingly a moment's warning, at the early age of fifty-one years. His untimely death was lamented alike by Protestants and Catholics. His funeral procession was thronged by citizens, without regard to party or sect. Wesley, another son of Mr. Rosecrans, lives somewhere in the State of Iowa, and is a farmer by occupation. Crandall Rosecrans was an intelligent and enterprising citizen, and greatly beloved for his amiable qualities. He died some years before the war. The descendants of the family of Rosecrans, who settled in Kingston before the war of 1812, are numerous, and some of them are still living in the county. But many of them moved away and are scattered over the Western country. While Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were contributing their sons and daughters to the settlement of Kingston, West Virginia, in imitation of their example, did the same. In 1814, John White, of Ohio County, W. Va., purchased of the patentee 1,000 acres of land in Section 1, being the northeast quarter, and, in the fall of that year, built a log house on his land and moved his family into it. He had a large family of sons and daughters, some of whom were grown, and soon married and settled about him, John Brown, to whom reference has been made, was an immigrant from Ohio County, in West Virginia. He had married a daughter of Mr. White before he came to Kingston in 1812. In the spring of 1815, John Hall, also from West Virginia, came to Kingston, and the same year was married to a daughter of Mr. White. He purchased from his father-in-law 100 acres of land near by, and built a house and settled upon it, and cleared up a part of it. In 1817, Gilbert Potter, from the same county in West Virginia, purchased of Mr. Hall this farm and settled on it with his family, and Mr. Hall purchased another farm about two miles further south on the Little Walnut Creek. Mr. Potter, before he left Virginia, had married a Miss Farris. A few years later, perhaps in 1820, but the precise time is not known, a Mr. William Gaston, who had married a Miss Farris, and sister of Mrs. Potter, came with his family from the same county in Virginia, purchased land and settled on the same quarter-township, near Mr. Potter, and a few years later a brother of William, John Gaston, with his family, which was large and grown, purchased lands in the same neighborhood. Joseph Potter, brother of Gilbert, married a Mrs. Taylor, and settled on a large farm in the same school district, which, on account of the origin of the first settlers, who were noted for their morality, industry and their intelligence, was, and still is, called the "Virginia District." The influence of Mr. White was felt in his township immediately on his arrival. He way at the head of a large and rapidly increasing offspring, and he was soon, by all around him, looked upon in the light of a patriarch. His children were ever found following in the footsteps of their worthy father, who had taught them in their early youth the precepts of sobriety and honesty. This remarkable father in Israel and his aged wife, after many years of usefulness in the church and in society, died about the same time and of the same age, not far from their old homestead in Kingston, while living with their son-in-law, Mr. Benjamin Benedict, at about the age of seventy-six years. Their twelve children, four sons and eight daughters, all lived to manhood and womanhood, were married and raised families, with the exception of Mrs. Benedict and Mrs: Garner Wilcox. They are all dead, and with the "rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." Mr. John Hall, Mr. White's son-in-law, settled in 1817 on the Little Walnut Creek, upon a tract of 100 acres of land, which he cleared up and improved with good buildings, for that day, and died in 1840, at the age, of forty-six years. His wife died in the year 1854, at the age of fifty-six years. They had four children, three sons and one daughter. They are all living, except the daughter. She married John J. Wilcox, and died about twenty years ago. The oldest son, William is now living in the State of Iowa, and is a lawyer by profession. George W., a farmer, moved West John W. Hall, the second son, lives in Delaware and still owns the old homestead farm, to which he has added several other farms. In a worldly sense, he is a thrifty man. He married a Miss Susan A. Deninuck, a daughter of an early pioneer of this county, by whom he has raised a family of four children, three daughters and a son, all of whom are living except the daughter, Lenora who married a Mr. William R. Carpenter, and is now deceased. Mr. Hall, although not a church member, has been liberal in his contributions to the different churches in Kingston, and is a mora PAGES 567 & 568 NOT USED HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 569 and upright citizen. His brother-in-law, John Brown, whose farm joined his own on the north, was a person much respected for his exemplary and Christian character. He was a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and raised a large and highly respected family. Mr. Brown and his wife are dead, and none of his family are now living in Kingston. If any are living, they are in the West. Gilbert Potter died on the old homestead farm. He raised a large family, but they and their numerous offspring are scattered. His brother, Joseph Potter, a very enterprising and intelligent farmer, and his wife, are both dead. They left several children, and some are still living in Kingston, and the old homestead farm is still owned by the family. Daniel Maxwell, also a native of Ohio County, W. Va., settled upon a farm near the center of the township. His first wife was a Miss Farris, and a sister of Mrs. Gilbert Potter. His second wife was a Miss Haslett, niece of John Haslett, a native of Augusta County, Va. Squire Maxwell was a very intelligent and honest man. He, too, was a Presbyterian, and a good example of a Virginia gentleman of the old school. He was a Justice of the Peace of Kingston Township for ; near twenty years previous to his death. His son, William H. Maxwell, lives in the township, and is his father's successor in the office of Justice of the Peace. He left, other children, some of whom still live in Kingston. Among the early settlers in what is called the "Virginia School District," was James Gaston. He was familiarly called "Irish Jimmy," and settled in the north part of the township. He married Miss Jones, and raised a large family, was a native of Ireland, and a relative of the two brothers, John and William. They were all Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. The first generation of this numerous family are all dead, and their children and grandchildren greatly scattered. Two sons of John Carney, a native of Holland, immigrated to Kingston from Luzerne County, Penn., in the years 1820 and 1823. They were Thomas and James Carney. Their father was a soldier in the Revolutionary war. They bought farms and went to work in good earnest. Thomas was born in the year 1795, and married a Miss Lott. He came a few years before James, and had made some improvements on his farm when the latter came. The farm is now owned by L. S. Owens. He died on the old homestead at the age of sixty-five years, and left a large family. James Carney was born in 1797, and married, before he came to Kingston, Miss Jane Ostrander. Her father was a carpenter and ship-builder, and often took long trips on the ocean, going often to the East Indies. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution for a period of seven years, and was Lieutenant under Gen. Washington. They settled on a farm in or near the center of the township. Mr. Carney died about the year 1830, leaving four sons. Theodore, the eldest, was born in 1822, and all his life was a student, possessed a robust physical constitution, and great native intellect. He studied medicine with his uncle, Dr. Elijah Carney, of Berkshire, who was the leading physician in the eastern part of the county for many years, and graduated at a medical college in Cincinnati. This promising young man, of great personal attraction, died of cholera on the Upper Mississippi on board of a steamboat in the summer of 1851, at the early age of twenty-nine years. The second son, and brother of Theodore, Thomas Carney, was born in 1824, and in early youth was sprightly and precocious. He learned rapidly, and when quite young, he mastered the rudiments of a common-school education, and for a short time went to a select school in Berkshire. He left home to do for himself at the age of seventeen years. He was polite, good looking, a born gentleman, and was well qualified by nature and education for mercantile life. He sought and obtained employment in a dry-goods house in Columbus as a clerk, but remained there but a few months, when he established himself in business in Kenton, Ohio, as a merchant. He was most wonderfully successful in business, everything seemed to prosper his hands touched, and in a few years, he acquired the reputation of being a popular and prosperous merchant. In 1848, he went to Cincinnati and became the chief clerk and salesman of R. B. Bowler & Co., a wholesale dry-goods house on Pearl street, and in a short time he became the partner of Mr. Bowler in the house. In 1852, when Mr. Bowler retired from the firm, Mr. Carney succeeded him as the senior member of the new firm of Carney, Pendleton & Swift. Mr. Pendleton was a brother-in-law of Mr. Bowler, and a brother of the Hon. George H. Pendleton. They continued the business for some years, until January, 1857, when Mr. Carney withdrew from the firm and moved to Leavenworth in the State of Kansas. When he left, he had the reputation of being one of the wealthiest merchants in Cincinnati. He engaged extensively in business in Leavenworth, 570 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. had large Government contracts; purchased a large quantity of lands, and was personally very popular. He was elected to the Legislature of Kansas from the city of Leavenworth immediately upon the admission of Kansas into the Union as a State, and the first year of the war, he was elected by the Union party Governor of the State of Kansas. He was energetic and patriotic, and his administration was popular. Gov. Carney was not a politician, and had no taste for public life, and at the close of the war he retired from politics entirely. He is now a wholesale merchant in St. Louis. LeRoy, a vounger brother of the Governor, was engaged in business with him in Leavenworth. He was found in his room at the hotel, dead. The circumstances of his death were not known. The youngest and only surviving brother is Creighton, a farmer by occupation, who lives near Leavenworth. After the death of James Carney, his widow married Richard Waldron, and by this marriage, she had three children, Sarah, Harrison and Caroline. Mr. Waldron died a few years ago, leaving this venerable mother a widow for the second time. She is now an octogenarian, and living in the enjoyment of good health, with her son Harrison, upon the old homestead, and welcomes her children home once a year. Elder Thomas Wigton immigrated from the Wyoming Valley, in Pennsylvania, to Kingston in the year 1814, and settled with his family on a farm of 100 acres on the Little Walnut Creek near the center of the township. He was a local Baptist preacher, and was extensively known at an early day, his popularity as a preacher not being confined to his own denomination. All religious sects had confidence in his piety and sincerity as a minister of the Gospel. Free from bigntry and intolerance, his heart was ever filled with that "charity that is not puffed up," and that "rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." He survived his twelve children, except his daughter Nancy, who lives in Morrow County, and Mrs. Root, who lives in the West. He died in 1878, in Berkshire, at the great age of ninety-nine years and six months. One of the most remarkable men among the early pioneers of Kingston is Mr. Joseph Lott, a native of Luzerne County, Penn. He was born in the year 1786, and is consequently in the ninety-fourth year of his age. His health, mind and memory, for one of his great age, are remarkably good. He immigrated to Kingston Township in the year 1817, and settled on the East Branch of the Little Walnut Creek. He cleared up a farm, and raised a family of four children, two sons and two daughters. His two sons, Riley T. and Josiah Lott, are living upon their farms in Kingston. His oldest daughter married Mr. William G. Van Sickle, and Miss Eliza, his second daughter, married Mr. Ezekiel Longwell; they are both living. Moses Decker, with his family. moved into Kingston in 1820, from New Jersey, and settled on a farm in the eastern part of the township, and near his brother-in-law, Isaac Finch, who had previously moved from the same place in New Jersey. They raised large families, and their family connection by marriage is very extensive, and highly respectable, and many of them are settled in the eastern and middle part of the county. Mr. Decker is still living at the age of ninety years, and in good health and well preserved in mind and memory, as well as body. He was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was the first Postmaster in Kingston Township, and was a Justice of the Peace for several years. By trade he was a carpenter and millwright, which he followed for many years, and was an early advocate of the temperance cause. The first frame barn in the township was built by Elder Wigton on his farm. It was framed, raised and completed by Mr. Decker. In those days, the babit was universal to have, at raisings, for the hands, ardent spirits, or liquors of some sort, but generally whisky, and, on this particular occasion, at the raising of Elder Wig ton's barn, Mr. Decker would not allow any liquors to be brought on the ground. Notwithstanding the prediction that the barn would not be raised for the want of hands, it was raised on the first day, at the first trial, without accident, and when it was raised, it was a source of great rejoicing with all. This was in the year 1827. This structure, many years ago, by the wasting hand of time, rotted down, and is now numbered among the things that were, but the temperance movement created by this example, and the firm stand taken by Mr. Decker, has not in the least abated in old Kingston. This was the origin of the temperance enterprise in the township, and its influence was not confined to Kingston, but it reached the adjacent townships. Mr. Decker was a good citizen, and influential by precept and example. His father-in-law and family, Hiram Cuykendall, came and settled on a farm in the same year, 1820. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary war and in the war of 1812. His wife died in 1840 at the age of ninety-three HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 571 years ; he died about the same time at a very great age, but the precise age is not known. Mr. E. Killpatrick came from the same place, in New Jersey, and, after the death of the father of Mr. Decker, Mr. Kilpatrick married Mr. Decker's mother. He was the grandfather of Gen. Kilpatrick, of New Jersey, the noted cavalry officer of the late war, and recently the American Minister to Chili, in South America. He died at a very great age many years ago. In 1834, John Haselett, with his family, immigrated to Kingston, from Augusta County, Va. He purchased a farm in the east part of the township, of 150 acres, of Mr. Isaac Rosecrans, on which he lived until his death, which occurred in 1863, at the age of seventy-three years. His wife was a Miss Nancy Matheny, a native of Augusta County. Mr. Haselett was a kind-hearted man, was a local Methodist preacher, had a good native intellect, and in his religious exhortations was very enthusiastic and effective. He was an old Virginia gentleman, and noted for his hospitality. He raised four children, one son and three daughters. The oldest daughter, Miss Cecilia, married Mr. William Johnson, of Porter, and died in 1840. Miss Mary Ann married Mr. Thomas Potter, and lives in Delaware; the youngest, Miss Nancy, married a Mr. Sharron, and lives in Kingston. Harvey, the only son, married a Miss Abigail Potter, daughter of Joseph Potter, Sr., and owns and lives on the old homestead. In the year 1818, two brothers by the name of William and Samuel . Finley, from Ohio County, W. Va., settled in the Virginia School District. They cleared up their farms and resided on them for about ten years. Samuel Finley sold out to John M. Cammeron, who still owns it, and William sold to John Rodgers, whose heirs still own it. They were industrious farmers and exemplary members of the Presbyterian Church. Samuel Finley moved into Delaware and died a few years ago at the advanced age of nearly eighty, and his brother William settled upon and cleared up another farm in Brown Township, where he still lives with his son, an octogenarian. They both left children and grandchildren, many of whom are still living in Delaware County. The family, by marriage and otherwise, is extensively connected. Henry Sheets, with a large and grown-up family of sons and daughters, from Rockingham County, Ala., settled in the woods upon a new farm in the northwestern part of the township, in the year 1834. He had seven sons: Solomon and Peter are deceased; Daniel, Benjamin and Jonathan live in Brown Township ; Benjamin owns a large grazing farm situated in Brown and Kingston Townships; Henry Sheets, Jr., owns a large farm in Kingston, near the old homestead, and the youngest son, Jaeob Sheets, Esq., who for many years has been a Justice of the Peace, lives on the old homestead. The three last-named brothers are among the most enterprising and thrifty farmers in the county, and have done their full share of hard work in clearing up and improving their part of the township. The Waldron brothers, four in number, whose lather immigrated to Kingston in 1816, settled on new farms. This family was from the State of New York. George, the oldest brother, lives in Brown Township. Richard, as has already been noted, is dead. William lives on and owns the old homestead, a large grazing farm, which these brothers cleared up and improved. The youngest brother, Jonas, now owns and lives on the old Elder Wigton farm. In 1824, Daniel Terrill immigrated to Kingston, from Essex County, N. J., and settled on a farm in the southwest quarter section, on the township line. He settled in the woods on a tract of 200 acres of land, and raised a family of several children. His son, D. W. Terrill, now owns and lives on the old homestead. It will be seen in the first settlement of this little colony in Kingston there Were immigrants from different States, and of different nationalities and sects. The descendants of the Puritans of New England, the Germans of Pennsylvania, the English and Dutch of New Jersey, the English Cavaliers of Old, and the Scotch Irish of New, Virginia, constituted the major part of the early settlers. The customs and habits of these different races and nationalities were so different that it would not have been strange if bickerings and feuds had existed among these early families, but such was not the case. There was no neighborhood wrangling, and scarcely a discordant note was to be heard. In the most cases, the head of the family was a freeholder and tire owner of a homestead. There was among them no caste. In the interchange of civilities and hospitalities there was great cordiality, and, as it was in the beginning of the creation, they married and were given in marriage. They obeyed the commandment, to multiply and replenish the earth, and in the veins of the first generation born after the first settlement, the blood of the Teuton of Pennsylvania mingled freely with the blood of Scotch-Irish Celt of West Virginia. These early immigrants 572 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. were not backwoodsmen, such as are sometimes found on the borders of a new country, and whose occupation is hunting, fishing and trapping. They were enterprising farmers; some had left comfortable homes, and they were in search of new homes in a new country where they could purchase more lands, and better their condition, and the condition of their families. In morality, intelligence, industry, and all the elements which constitute high and noble character, they were quite up to the average of the families in the communities from wherever they emigrated. They were a Godfearing and Christian people, and believed implicitly in that religion that promises to the meek an earthly inheritance, and they brought with them the Bible, the prayer-book and the hymn-book, and they immediately applied themselves to the improvement of their homes, the construction of roads, and the building of churches and school-houses. For many years, religious services were conducted in private houses and in the early schoolhouses, and, when the weather was pleasant, meetings were held outdoors in the groves. It was not until the year 1822, that the first meeting-house was built. In that year, the Presbyterians erected a log meeting-house near the center of the township, as well as the center of population at that time, on the present site of the Old Blue Church, the cognomen by which it is now so widely known; and, while this humble church edifice belonged exclusively to the Presbyterians, when not occupied by them its doors were thrown open for all denominations. The Presbyterians in numbers were the strongest, and next in numerical strength were the Methodists, and then the Baptists. At this time, the church membership and the population were rapidly on the increase, and five years after this, in 1827, they raised by subscription the necessary amount to build on the old site a frame structure in place of the old one. This was quite an imposing church edifice for that day, but the growing congregation soon made it necessary to enlarge it, and it has been from time to time remodeled and enlarged until it has reached its present dimensions, but yet it remains the same old church. Moses Decker was its architect and builder. Among the membership of this church, at this early day, were Moses Decker and wife, John Van Sickle and wife, John White and wife, ---Finley and wife, James Wheeler and wife, Isaac Finch and wife, Gilbert Potter and wife John Brown and wife, Benjamin Benedict, William Wigton and his wife, Richard Waldron, Thomas Carney and his brother James and his wife, William Waldron and others. The Rev. Ahab Jinks was their Pastor. When finished, all but the painting, a skillful painter was employed to do the painting. He went to work, and soon had the outside painted a beautiful drab color. Not long after its completion, to the surprise of all, the color turned to a beautiful blue, which gave the church the name of the Blue Church, and it has ever retained that name, notwithstanding the change of color. The next church in the township was the old Methodist Episcopal Church at Stark's Corners. It was built in the year 1836, although the society that built it was organized ten years previous. The society held their meetings for many years in the old log schoolhouse, located on the first cross-road west of Olive Green. This society also organized about the same time a Sabbath school, which was held in this schoolhouse. When the weather would permit, they would hold their quarterly meetings in a.grove near by, where they had seats and a stand, and everything in readiness for the occasion ; but, when the weather was unfavorable or inclement, they used, by invitation, the Old Blue Church of the Presbyterians. The schoolhouse became too small to accommodate the congregation, and they changed their meetings to the dwelling-house of Mr. John Haselett. By his own personal effort, unaided by others, Mr. Haselett raised by subscription sufficient funds to build the church spoken of. The services of this congregation were irregular. The Pastors who rode the circuit were compelled to hold meetings nearly every day of the week to get round once a month over their charge. Thus they were compelled to have week-day services and hold prayer-meetings on the Sabbath. Moses Decker, the architect and builder of the Old Blue Church, was the architect and builder of the M. E. Church, aided by Mr. Reid M. Cutcheon. At this church the society met and worshiped for many years, when the question of repairing the old church came up ; it needed a new roof, re-plastering, re-seating and re-painting. All these needful repairs would cost nearly as much as a new church, with the assist' ance offered them; and then again, the congregatiun in numbers had outgrown the capacity of the church for their accommodation, and to repair it they thought would be a useless expenditure of money and time. Olive Green is a village threequarters of a mile distant, in Porter Township, HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. - 573 and its citizens held out inducements to rebuild the church and locate it there. At a meeting of the society, the Board of Trustees were directed to rebuild the church at Olive Green, which was done accordingly; and the new and much more capacious edifice was erected in the year 1853. Many of the membership in the southern part of the township obtained their letters from the Olive Green charge and joined the M. E. Church at Berkshire. The same year the Old Blue Church was built, Moses Decker, Isaac Finch, Samuel Finley and a few others, and their Pastor, Rev. Mr. Jinks, came together and organized a Sunday school, and held it in the old log schoolhouse on the corner, near the church. It is thought this was the first Sabbath school organized in Delaware County. They organized at the same time the first Sundayschool library in the county. It was made up of small Sabbath-school books and kept by the Superintendent, Mr. Decker, in a trunk, which is now in his possession. The M. E. Sabbath school was the second in order of time in the county, but it was organized several years afterward. The first schoolhouse in the township was built on the farm owned by Mr. Curtis, on the Little Walnut Creek, an about a mile from the south line. Mr. R. S. Lott now owns the farm. A Miss Eliza String taught the first school. The year when this house was built is not known, but it is supposed to have been built about the year 1820. The second schoolhouse was the one spoken of near the Blue Church, and the first teacher was Mr. James Wheeler, then a young man, about twenty-one years of age. He was a native of the Wyoming Valley, and had but recently immigrated to Kingston. He had many relatives among the early families from the Wyoming Valley, who settled in the eastern part of the county. He was well educated for that period, and his intelligence and upright life made him a universal favorite. He was raised in the Presbyterian Church, but when quite a young man he united himself with the Methodist Episcopal Church. In a few years he was licensed to preach, taken into the conference, and, when still a young man, entered the itinerant service, and succeeded the Rev. James B. Finley, as missionary among the Wyandot Indians, with whom he became very popular. When that tribe was removed to their Western home in Kansas, he again engaged in the routine duties of the ministry, until failinn health compelled him to enroll himself upon the superannuated list, and he settled among his friends in Bennington, Morrow County. Many years ago, he was appointed Postmaster, an office he retained until his death. He continued to preach as long as he lived, when his health permitted it. In 1876, when quite infirm from age, and in poor health, he went to Bucyrus to hold a quarterly meeting for a friend. On his way to the depot in Bucyrus when he started home, he was thrown from his carriage, and so severely hurt that he died from his injuries in a few days. This was the sad end of this devout and holy man of God. He left a widow and several children. His youngest son, who was a gallant officer in the war of the rebellion, and lost a limb, was County Treasurer of Morrow County for four years, and discharged the duties of this responsible office with great promptness and fidelity. The next schoolhouse built in the township was in what is known as the Virginia School District, and was located on the farm of Gilbert Potter. These schools were then supported by private subscription. But as the newer portions of the township settled up, and the population increased, new school districts and schoolhouses from time to time were erected. There are now seven school districts, all containing capacious and comfortable frame or brick schoolhouses structures with comfortable stoves, seats and desks, and with glass windows for the reception of light. The old log schoolhouse, with its puncheon floor, rough benches and greased-paper windows, has passed away with other relics of the pioneer days. Other changes are equally as marked, both in general society and domestic circles. The temperance example set by Mr. Decker and his friends at the raising of Elder Wigton's barn and the Blue Church was soon followed by others at raisings and log- rollings, at that day quite common, and the friends of the cause of temperance rapidly increased in number throughout the township, and very many, by this example, were induced to discontinue the use of intoxicating liquors altogether. It was about this time a temperance society was organized to promote sobriety, and protect the rising generation from the baneful influence of intoxicating liquors, and from that day temperance has been a striking feature of the citizens of all parties and all sects. The exhortation of the Apostle of the Gentiles to "live soberly, righteously and godly in this present life," seems to have addressed itself with peculiar force to those pioneers. Volumes have been written 574 - HISTORY OF DELAWARE COUNTY. containing much less advice than is contained in this pithy sentence. It contains man's whole duty. If he lives soberly, he discharges a duty he owes to himself ; if he lives righteously, he discharges a duty he owes to others, and if he lives godly, he discharges a duty he owes to his Creator. The influence for good of this temperance movement in that early day cannot be overestimated, for the good it created spread over the entire county. Kingston has ever been free from miasmatic fevers and malignant epidemics. From the first settlement the inhabitants of this township seem to have enjoyed robust health, which is to be attributed, at least in part, to its pure air and water, as well as the temperate habits of the people. But it is "appointed unto all men once to die." Kingston Township has two cemeteries. The first is at the "Old Blue Church," and was taken from the farm of Isaac Finch. The other is by the old Methodist Episcopal Church near Stark's Corners. One portion of the cemetery was deeded to the Township Trustees by James Stark Sr., and the other portion was deeded by John Van Sickle. In 1876, the Trustees of Porter and Kingston Township bought an addition to the cemetery from I. Sherman, thus enlarging the grounds and locating it in the two townships. It has the remains of an Indian, who returned with the Rev. Mr. Chase from the West, many years ago. He, during the winter, went to the Big Walnut Creek, and cut a hole in the ice to bathe. The cold bath proved too severe for him ; he took cold and it settled upon his lungs, producing pneumonia, from which he died. He was buried in this cemetery by his white friends, the Chase family. While there are no towns or villages in Kingston, the townships adjacent contain a half-dozen or more. In Peru, on the north, is Woodbury and West Liberty; in Porter, on the east, are Olive Green and East Liberty; in Berkshire, on the south, are Sunbury, Galena and the village of Berkshire, and, in Brown, on the west, is the village of Old Eden and Eden Station. Many of those among the living in Kingston worship in the churches of these villages, and many, too, bury their dead in their cemeteries. Politically, this township has always been onesided, so far as party was concerned. The old Whig party was greatly in the ascendency, numbering at the polls on election day five to one of the opposite party. And more recently, since the re-organization of parties, the Republicans pre dominate to about the same extent. Out of the 150 voters in the township, the Republicans would have on a full poll about 120 votes and the Democrats 30 votes. It is usually a straight vote between the two leading parties. There are no factions in parties, nor schisms in church. Political opinions, however much they may differ in this township, are nevertheless honestly entertained, and each party is alike patriotic. In the late war for the suppression of the rebellion, Democrats and Republicans, here as elsewhere, exhibited the same degree of patriotism and bravery, and to preserve the Union made the same sacrifices of blood and treasure. We will mention so far as we are able to ascertain, the names of those who gave their lives to save their country, and to-day fill a soldier's grave, viz., James Ferguson, Allen Potter, Patrick Elliott, of the Fourth Regiment of the Ohio Volunteer Infantry, William Brown, Thomas Carney, Sid. Stark, Henry Stark, L. Foulk, Ben Kempton, Charles Kempton, S. Stockwell, Robert McClintic, William White and Mr. Bear, all of whom, as near as can be ascertained, belonged to the One Hundred and Twenty-first Regiment. (RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) |