100 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. eight feet high. A splendid half-mile track had been laid for a beautiful drive. The receipts were $1,989, leaving a deficit of $149. In 1861-2-3-4-5, the years of the great Civil war, conditions were disastrous to the agricultural society. Many had gone to the front in defense of their country's flag and things were at a standstill at home. After the fair of r863 a committee of the following were appointed to collect from the general government the bill for damages done the fair grounds when occupied by the Forty-third Ohio Regiment of Volunteers : Samuel Israel, Charles Baker, John Lyal and Columbus Delano. The fair of 1865, on account of a rainy fall and poor crops, was little else than a dismal failure and it ran behind in expenses. The society on January 1, 1866, was badly in debt. The fair of 1866 was one of the best in the history of Knox county. The war was ended and the farmer-soldier returned to his plow. The fair receipts, with liberal side donations, put the society in good working order again. George B. Potwin was president that year. In 1867 the same president and many of the old officers held over. The fair was a great success. The excess of receipts over the expenses amounted to $717.73. In 1868 the fair was on the society's own grounds in October. George B. Potwin was still president. In September, 1869, the fair met disaster on account of two rainy days in the start. Mr. Potwin was president. The number belonging to the society that year was about four hundred. In 1870, with the same president in charge, the fair was held the last week in September and the board was authorized to borrow one thousand dollars to help out some deficit. In 1871 Robert Miller was president and the fair was the last week of September. Fifty new stalls were made that year ; also a new deep well was made. The exhibits were never finer to that date. In 1872 the fair came off the last of September with over one thousand entries. Receipts were $3,300; besides paying old debts of $600, $2,000 was paid in premiums. Robert Miller was president that year. On motion, a resolution was adopted "that it is expedient to sell the present grounds in accordance with a petition of the city council and signed by numerous citizens." George W. Steele, president. The 1873 fair was held the last week in September. Half the week was fair and half rainy. One th0usand entries were made and the receipts were about three thousand dollars. A small debt was still hanging over the society at that date. During that season the following was produced in Knox KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 101 county : Wheat, 20,858 acres ; potatoes, 926 acres ; oats, 15,136 acres; meadow, 19,196 tons ; corn, 30,639 acres ; butter, 634,443 pounds. The president in the year 1874 was George W. Steele; 1875, C. A. Young; 1876, Alexander Cassil, who also served in 1877; 1878, John C. Levering; 1879, John C. Levering; during that year eleven hundred entries were made. In 1880 John C. Levering was president, and the fair was held in October; gate receipts were $2,780. In 1881, E. A. Pealer was elected president. At the annual meeting of the Ohi0 State Agricultural Society, that year, John C. Levering was chosen one of the board of managers, the first time such honor had come to Knox county. He was appointed to the department of mechanics' and manufacturers' products. This was the wind-up of the fair holding its annual exhibits at the fair grounds purchased many years before. The society became financially involved ; the people did not come to the rescue of the society, as they had previously, and the result was, the society went down, as had many another in the state, for lack of interest and support. For about a dozen years the county was without a regular agricultural association. In 1894 the matter was taken in hands by enterprising farmers and live business men in Mt. Vernon and in the smaller towns of the county. A new society was organized, which is still in existence, and bids fair to become one of more value and strength than any of the former attempts. The grounds once improved and owned by the old society have long since gone to other uses, buildings erected thereon and nothing left to mark the spot but a few old evidences in way of seats, sheds, etc., in decay. The present agricultural society holds its annual exhibits at Hiawatha Park, the "prettiest spot in Ohio," as it is termed over its entrance. This place is leased for fair week each season and great crowds assemble from all over the county. The fair held this year, 1911, bade fair to be one of the best in the history of the county, but two days of rainy weather nearly ruined the attendance. Yet it was a success and farmers believe that they should own the park themselves, and a move is on foot to secure control of it, by lease or otherwise, that the society may make ample improvements there and keep alive the interest in agriculture, horticulture and stock raising. The display of fruits and live stock was never as good as the present season. The dates of exhibition days in 1911 were September 12th to 15th, inclusive. The officers for this year have been : Charles B. Jackson, president ; J. F. Beatty, vice-president; Howard C. Gates, secretary ; L. G. Simpson, treasurer. 102 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. TEACHING AGRICULTURE. The state commissioners of common schools has issued, recently, the following bulletin to the board of education in the southeastern agricultural district, of which Knox county is a part : "The new day and the new subject for our schools is here. Ohio has formally entered the play and the work of her children in the schools and in their homes to better weld these together for a more complete education of her Buckeye boys and girls by a closer study of plant and animal life ; our school system will be more helpful outside the school house and off the school grounds. "The Legislature provided that agriculture must be taught in our schools, but wisely left the manner in which it was to be taught and how much was to be done to the boards of education, superintendents and teachers. "Do your pupils know how to market their produce so as to receive a proper share of the profits as a reward for the excellence and quantities of their productions ? Is not the teaching of this good geography and good arithmetic practice? "Please be on the lookout for the new manuals on teaching agriculture; they will be in the hands of the county auditors by the middle of October and there will be one for each teacher and superintendent:" The Grange or Patrons of Husbandry was once very strong in this county, and there are still several granges, one of the strongest being known as the Clinton Grange, whose exhibit at the last county fair was of much interest to everyone present. The grange, now no longer a political machine, is doing good work, like farmers' clubs in other counties are. CHAPTER X. RAILROADS, TRANSPORTATION AND TELEGRAPHS. Freighting is an old business enterprise, but railroading, telephoning and telegraphy are classed among the modern advantages enjoyed by the civilized and commercial world. The principal towns of note to the first settlers of Knox county were Lancaster, Chillicothe and Zanesville, which were but mere villages at the date of the organization of this county. The people were exceedingly neighborly then and would be only too glad to do any errand for a neighbor who wanted some commodity or trinket brought back from one of these far-off trading hamlets. Freighting did not commence until a much later date, and then was not what it was in many other counties in Ohio, for the railroads made their advent at a pretty early day. Hence, without going into detail about the people who went to mill and market by ox and horse teams in pioneer days in Knox county, the reader will be introduced to the first steam railroad constructed through this country, together with their original names and something as to how they were built. Suffice to say, in this connection, that the early mails and goods were brought hither by team and wagon and carts, over trackless regions, along winding valleys and over =bridged streams. The coach stands rusting in the yard. The horse has sought the plow ; We have spanned the world with iron rails, The steam king rules us now. One of the oldest railroad systems in Ohio runs through Knox county. It was originally known as the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark line (now Lake Erie division of the Baltimore & Ohio company). That section to the north of Mansfield was granted a charter March 12, 1836, three-quarters of a century ago. It was styled the Mansfield & New Haven railroad, running from the city of Mansfield to a point near New Haven, in the southern part of Huron county. March 9, 1835, a charter had been granted to the Sandusky & Monroeville line, running from one city to the other. This road was 104 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. thirteen miles in length and was finished before the Mansfield & New Haven line. The last named corporation purchased the rights of the former short road, making its total mileage forty-four. Prior to 1853 this road enjoyed the monopoly of the grain trade of this, the central portion of Ohio. One who was thoroughly posted concerning the construction and operation of this road (now the Baltimore & Ohio through this county) many years since penned the following description of its make-up : "The purchase of the Monroeville & Mansfield line by this company 'put a new life into its extension. The roadbed was solid, if a large number of timbers could make it so, for this, remember, was A WOODEN RAILROAD, and not iron or steel. First a 'mud sill' was laid down lengthwise of the grade ; strong cross-ties were then spiked on the 'mud-sill,' into these 'gains,' as they were called, were cut, which received the wooden rails, sawed to fit the gains. These rails were about five inches wide, and broadened as they reached the gains, and were about seven inches high. On them the 'ribbon' was spiked, being a strip of hard wood about two and a half inches wide, by one inch thick, and on this the strap-iron rail was laid. Spikes were driven through the strap-rail and the ribbon into the larger, heavier wooden rail beneath. The heads of the spikes were sunken into 'eyes' in the strap rails, leaving a smooth surface for the wheels. This superstructure required three times as much timber as the present system of ties and steel rails." An extension farther south than Mansfield began to be talked of before this road was put in real working order. Considerable opposition, however, was exhibited among many classes of citizens at Mansfield, who firmly maintained that a prosperous railroad town must be a terminal point. A charter for a road, known as the Columbus & Lake Erie, was granted March 12, 1845, and six years later a road was built between Mansfield and Newark, where it could connect with a road from Columbus, then known as the Ohio Central, now a part of the Baltimore & Ohio system, and which was completed in 1854, so that through transportation was begun. Cars were running to Newark by January, 1851. The Mansfield & Sandusky City and the Columbus & Lake Erie lines remained under separate corporations until November 23, 1853, when consolidation took place, the name given being Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark railroad. The combination did not work out financially, and under an act of the Ohio Legislature, passed in April, 1856, the road was sold and a new company organized, but owing to various things, among which was the coming on of the Civil war, the transaction was not all KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 105 completed until March 29, 1865. In 1869 it passed into the hands of the Baltimore & Ohio corporation, and it is their property still. Work commenced on the south end of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark division in June, 1847, and it was let out in short mileage contracts, Peter Davis having a mile contract near Utica and Frederick Bumpus the one near Mt. Vernon. During the autumn of 1850 the construction train first made its appearance near Dry creek. The bridges over Dry creek and Kokosing river were rapidly nearing completion. The Mt. Vernon Banner, under date of December 3, 1850, said : "Hereafter the Newark, or eastern mail, will arrive in the cars at nine o'clock in the morning, and go out at four in the evening. The Columbus mail will be sent via Newark in a short time." Again in the same local paper, under date of January 7, 1851, is found this notice : "The whole railroad line between Newark and Sandusky City is finally completed, and last night, January 6th, a train of four cars passed Mt. Vernon, presenting quite a fine appearance." The connecting of the two ends of the road was effected January 5, 1851, thus giving Mt. Vernon its first complete line of railroad. OTHER RAILROADS IN THE COUNTY. Many of the first railroad companies failed and had to have receivers appointed by the courts. Such has been the fate of new railway schemes in almost every section of the country. The Pittsburg, Mount Vernon, Columbus & London Railroad Company was incorporated in May, 1869, to be built from a point in Wayne county, on the line of the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago line, at or near Orville, through the counties of Holmes, Knox, Licking, Delaware, Franklin, through Columbus to Madison county, at or near London. After a number of assignments, purchases and sheriff sales, with the usual complications in courts, the above named line of railway was bought, and merged into what is now known as the Pennsylvania system. The main line was completed to Columbus and train service established thereon September 1, 1873. The Ohio Central railroad passes through Hilliar township, this county, with Centerburg as a station point. This road was built under various names and under many trying circumstances, by local and foreign capitalists—mostly foreign, however. It was at first projected as a coal road, strictly speaking. It was built as far as Fostoria, then extended on to Toledo, its present northern terminus. It is but of little value to Knox county, save that portion running through Centerburg. 106 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. The only other railway line touching the territory of Knox county is the one traversing parts of Jefferson township, in the extreme northeastern part of the county. This is the T., W. V. & O. railroad, completed through this county in 1893. Its station point in the county is the crossing of the Pennsylvania line at Brinkhaven. The railroad mileage in Knox county in 1911 is : The Cleveland, Akron & Columbus (Pennsylvania line), thirty-six miles ; the Baltimore & Ohio, twenty-three and one-half miles ; the T., W. V. & O. line, twelve miles ; the Toledo & Ohio Central line, five miles, a total of seventy-six miles. TELEGRAPH COMPANIES. A few years prior to the advent of the first railroad, a telegraph line had been established, and an office opened in Mt. Vernon, with John W. White in charge. Two young telegraph experts undertook to put in a line from Zanesville to Sandusky. The line ran along the wagon road from Zanesville to Mt. Vernon, dropping an office at Irville, and Mashport, Muskingum county ; Newark and Granville, in Licking county ; and to Mt. Vernon via Alexandria, Homer and Brandon, leaving no office between Granville and Mt. Vernon. At Mt. Vernon the office was opened in the Hosmer Curtis brick block, north of the public square, and moved about from one business point to another f0r a number of years. In 1861, Mr. Buckingham offering the operator a position as assistant bookkeeper, the office was removed to his foundry, it occupying the counting room. There it remained all through the dark days of the Civil war, when it was taken to the depot of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark railroad, the operator, a Mr. White, having been selected and appointed as deputy depot agent at the Mt. Vernon station. By the time Messrs. Kent and Garlock had reached Mt. Vernon from Zanesville, J. H. Wade had completed a line of wire from Cleveland, on his way to Columbus and Cincinnati. The last named bought out the rights of the Zanesville line and after that it was known as the Cleveland, Columbus & Cincinnati Telegraph Company. A new corporation made Mr. Wade its president and J. W. White its secretary. In a few years, the Wade lines were united with the Speed and Cornell eastern lines, when the secretary's office was removed to Rochester, New York. Not many years passed away before all was merged into what is now known as the Western Union Telegraph Company. The small shareholders in the original lines lost heavily. One of the many interesting incidents connected with early-day telegraphy at this station must here find space for permanent record : KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 107 The oldest of present citizens of Mt. Vernon doubtless recall the quite. famous Hinton mail robbery. It occurred in the palmy days of Neil, Moore & Company's stage line. Mr. Hinton was the superintendent of the stage line from Newark. to Cleveland, via this city. Money letters were so frequently missed that the postal department placed detectives on the track. A detective visited every postoffice on the route on the arrival of mails from the stages. The losses were sustained between Mt. Vernon and Wooster. Another remarkable fact was made known, that all losses occurred on the occasions that Hinton accompanied the stage. Then it took about thirty-six hours to perform the trip ; the night driving occurred between Mt. Vernon and Wooster. A. J. Smith, then a banker at Newark, ascertaining that Hinton would pass through over the route on a certain day, prepared a large decoy package for that day's mail, directed to Cleveland. Arrangements were made at Newark by Smith and General Jones, United States marshal, at Mt. Vernon, that they should have exclusive control of the wires that night after eight o'clock. Smith prepared a complete description of every note in the package, the letter, the bank and the denomination. All bills were for small amounts so as to make the package look as large as possible. Smith had forgotten to furnish Jones with a descriptive sheet, hence the wire came in good place that night. That message was probably the longest local message ever passing over the wire at that early period in the history of telegraphy in Ohio. At ten o'clock that night Thomas Jones, a brother of the marshal, started on horseback for Mansfield with that message in his pocket. At Mansfield he took the train for Cleveland, arriving there at daylight. Hinton was arrested, and bound over for trial. By some unknown miscarriage he escaped the hard clutches of the postal laws. A few years later he was seen in Cuba, where he bore another name, and that ended the whole matter so far as can be learned. EXPRESS COMPANIES. On the heels of the swift-flying railroad trains, came the express business, and the organization of numerous "legal robbers," as these soulless corporations have come to be known these latter days. The first to establish a business in Mt. Vernon was the American company, whose office was kept at the depot, and up to 1873 the station agent was the express agent also. About 1878 the United States company established its local office in Mt. Vernon. However, in 1866 there had been a company, known then as the Merchants, that attempted to do express business here, but failed. Upon the coming of the Cleveland. Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad the Union Express Company 108 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. was established in an office in Mt. Vernon, with W. J. Horner as agent. Later he became the only express agent in the city, all employing him to attend to the combined business of all offices. Late in the seventies, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company concluded to control their own express business here and opened an office, with John W. Stephenson in charge. Among the early and largest shippers by express carriers in Mt. Vernon was George B. Potwin, who was engaged in the produce business. Frequently fifty barrels of eggs were sent by express by him, at 0ne time. He also sent a hundreds tubs of butter to New York markets this same way. But perhaps the most valuable commodity ever sent from here was in Civil war days when on one day fifty thousand dollars in money was sent by the banks here in gold coin billed to the New York city markets. Some brought as high as two dollars and eighty-five cents in greenbacks for every dollar in gold. CHAPTER XI. EDUCATIONAL 1NTERESTS OF THE COUNTY. Ohio, including Knox county, has always been fully up to the standard of the free, common school system. Her early pioneers came from eastern countries where education was at par, and in settling here in the wilderness they first provided a home and then at once began to erect log schools houses in which was held the subscription school. Elsewhere in this chapter will be given a full account of such schools. Down as late as 1840 there were hundreds of little log school houses nestled in the timber and ravines and on the hillsides of this county, and many were used for church purposes as well as for schools. About three months each year was all the farmer boy got of schooling. He had to "do chores" and work on the farm, mostly between the ages of five and twenty-one years. There was no school in the spring or fall, for the student had to help at home. The schools were indeed poor systems, taught by quite inferior teachers, yet they managed to impress many with the notion of gaining knowledge. Their books were anything that the parents thought best to provide them with. The teacher was hired to teach and no question was asked about what kind of books should be taught from. Up to 1850 there was no regular school book system in Ohio, as a general rule. For example, Patrick Gass' "Journal 0f the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Mouth of the Columbia river in 1804-5-6," and Weem's "Life of George Washington," constituted the "readers." Parents bought children whatever books fitted their fancy, regardless of the value as a text book, and the teachers were supposed to let them use them—no matter what number and variety were sent to him from the cabin homes of the district in which he taught. A geography was a geography and a grammar was a grammar—just so the leaves were all in the book. However, the rule was to teach reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling, and later, geography and grammar. Boys would commence and study these books for three months and then work at home nine months and commence in the fore part of the same books again, as usually they had forgotten nearly all they had learned in the previous term, unless exceptionally bright scholars, and these sometimes were allowed to begin part way through the book at the second term. Teachers changed frequently and this made matters still worse. One student might get as far as "vulgar fractions," or the "rule of three," and in 110 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. Webster's Speller, the first class probably got as far as "antiscorbutic" and maybe through; while the second class would get as far as "cessation," and the third class over to "baker," certainly not farther than "amity." These old books were conned over year after year until literally worn out and the children grown up to be of a marriageable age. Many never did learn what the back part of their first: school books contained. Yet these subscription schools cannot altogether be despised when we remember that men like Lincoln. Douglas, Edwin M. Stanton, etc., attended such educational institutions. In the spelling classes there was always much rivalry to see how many "head marks" could be gained in a given term of three months. Later, the best speller would stand at the head until he or she missed. These classes sometimes contained thirty and even forty scholars, which made it hard work for a pupil to gain the head of his class. The spelling schools were the beauty and real glory of the olden-time country and village school days. Teachers were ever being implored to appoint a given night for a "spelling school." About twice each month this desire was gratified. A moonshiny evening was generally selected, and at a time when good sleighing obtained, when the neighboring schools were invited to take part in the program, especially in "spelling down." Everybody came from far and near; the old folks, the young folks, the children and every dog on the premises followed the jingle of the merry sleigh bells. The great box stove filled up with the best fuel on earth, hickory wood, crackled and sent forth a glow appreciated by all till way along in the program, when the air in the log building became intense. The good spellers were permitted to choose sides, drawing cuts for who should be selected first. A tally sheet was carefully kept to see who missed the most words. After recess the "spelling down" began in earnest, and the home stretch was always interesting. He or she who stood the longest against the jaw-breaking words found in Webster was accounted a hero or heroine indeed. It is noticed of late years that men and women do not spell as correctly as did their fathers and mothers, and a good feature of this, the first decade of the twentieth century, is the spelling matches which, in many sections of this country, are being revived. Probably the first school house erected in Berlin township was the one built on the site of Ankenytown, on a lot directly opposite where Mr. Gregor's store was located at one time. John Lewis, a son of Governor Lewis, taught there once. The building was a log house later used as a dwelling. The next school house was placed on land donated by Abraham Leedy. In Brown township, the first school house, so far as is now known, was built near the village of Jelloway about 1830, and in it Joseph Dunlap taught the first school of the township. The district in which it stood embraced a KNOX COUNTY, OHIO 111 large portion of the township and children of all ages came a long distance through the forests to get an education. This, as nearly all primitive school houses, was also used for a meeting house and for lectures, speeches, singing and spelling schools. Another early instructor there was Joseph Pinkley. In Butler township, for several years after the beginning of the settlement, little attention was paid to schools or churches. The teachers were very illiterate and the school buildings were simply abominable, as viewed from a modern Ohio standpoint. Pioneer George McLarnan once described one of the school houses which he attended when a boy : "It was situated on a knoll about four rods from a fine spring of water in the midst of a dense forest. It was constructed of round logs, twelve and sixteen feet long, one-story high, with a log across the north end placed four to five feet high from the floor, and about the same distance from the wall, upon which and against the end wall was erected a large stick chimney, plastered with mortar, joined in a stone back-wall cemented with the same material. The roof was made of clapboards that were held in their places by weight poles, which in turn were held by a small log, notched into the ends of the top logs, and called a butting pole. Not a single nail was used. Greased paper was employed in place of window glass. The ground floor was composed of rough puncheons, faced and jointed by some pioneer with his sharp broad-ax, and then laid upon large logs placed as sleepers. The seats were made from small trees, cut into logs, the proper length, and split in two, the hark taken off, and the other side hewn and made reasonably smooth; two-inch holes were then bored into the ends and middle, into which sticks were placed as legs. Holes were bored into the walls on the west side and south end and large wooden supporters placed therein, upon which were laid boards to write upon ; then, to complete the structure, the door was made by cutting a hole in the southeast corner of the house five and one-half feet by three and a half feet : the same was then cased with timber, split, hewn and shaved and fastened with wooden pins. Among the first teachers in this district was William Braddock, whose educational qualifications allowed him to "read, write and cipher some," as one of his pupils has related. These rude school houses have all disappeared from the county and instead are to be seen the neat frame or brick buildings with modern furnishings and everything to entice, rather than drive the young from the building as was the case in the olden time—yet many a smart man and woman had the grit to obtain the elements of their later excellent education within the dingy walls of those old log school houses. Another one of the early teachers in this township was "Judge" Davis, from Maryland. One of his pupils related away back in the eighties the fol- 112 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. lowing concerning him : "He wore linsey-woolsey pants and home-made linen vests, a red flannel wammus, cowhide shoes, the sole and upper leather both of his own tanning, together with overshoes made from sheep skins with the wool on. He was born, reared and educated near Hagerstown, Maryland, emigrated to old Virginia, and from there to Knox county, where he set up as farmer, tanner, politician and school teacher. He was a believer of the Methodist religious faith and in politics voted the good old Democratic ticket, of course, and he was among the best of citizens in the township over which he chiefly presided in official matters. The books used in this school were the "United States Speller," the "Stories of Gulliver's Travels," "Robinson Crusoe," lives of Washington, Penn and Marion for reading books Geographies, grammers and higher arithmetics were unknown here then. In Clay township the first school was taught by an Irishman named Samuel Hill. He taught in a small log building, with greased paper windows. Reading, writing and arithmetic constituted the branches taught. Not over eight scholars ever attended at any one time. The second school in this township was taught in a small log cabin, near the present village of Martinsburg cemetery. In place of such rude places, the township is now dotted with beautiful farm houses and school houses to match. In Clinton township, in 1880 there were (outside the city of Mt. Vernon) six fine school buildings which had displaced the few log "shacks" found there in the first decades of the township's settlement. In Harrison township the first school was taught in a small log building in the Dudgeon settlement. Moses, Jane, Charles and Thomas Dudgeon, John, Charlotte, Levi, David and Elizabeth Harrod, Levi, Mary and John Riggs and Mary Ross were among the scholars. Samuel Hill was among the earlier teachers in this, as well as Clay, Butler and Jackson townships. For many years after the first settlement was effected, schools were either taught in dwellings or in very small log houses built of poles for school purposes. The establishment of the Martinsburg Academy and Kenyon College, both near by, was of lasting use to the youth of Harrison township. In Howard township the same style of log school house obtained as has been frequently described in other places in this chapter. The earliest of these was built on Joseph Critchfield's farm. The early instructors, "masters," as they were called, were Joseph Dunlap, Nathan Heddington, William Williams and Jacob Lyons. With the building of the college at Gambier, education was soon on an up-grade and has kept apace with Ohio schools everywhere. In Jefferson township, as in most i f not all the townships in Ohio. at that date, the schools were of the "subscription" kind, there not being any KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 113 school fund at that time in Ohio. At first these schools were taught in private houses. The first school house was erected in 1826 on Nicholas Helm's farm. It stood eighty rods west of Greersville and was made from hewn logs. Another was erected in nearly the center of the township, on Phillip Hardinger's farm, and a third was built a few years later near where later still was erected Wesley chapel. These were all log structures. Among the very earliest to teach and flog in these school houses were Elisha Ross, Robert Greer, David Buzzard and Isaac Beann. In Milford township the first school house of any considerable note was on the extreme northwest part o f the southwest quarter of section 9, and near the Johnstown road, about 1829. This was a substantial hewed-log building, twenty-two feet square, with a large fire place and brick chimney. Previous to 1830 all schools were supported by private subscription, but at that date a small school fund was provided for by the state of Ohio and districts were ordered set off and a fair school system provided for the people. By 1880 this township had nine school houses of modern style of architecture and accommodations. In Miller township the early school house facilities were coupled with those of Morgan township, as the settlements were in the corners of the two subdivisions of the county. The first school house in Miller township was erected on the Granville road, a mile north of Brandon. This was a log house built about 1817, erected for the scholars in the northern part of the township. In the spring of 1825 two more schools were added, one on the farm later owned by Dana Miller, a short distance from the road west of his house. The other was on the farm later known as the Lewis Gates property, about midway between his residence and the cross-roads west of it. Here, as everywhere prior to about 1830, the schools were all supported by private or individual subscription. But about that year the state changed its school laws and an appropriation was allowed from each county for school purposes and districts were organized which were under the immediate control of the township trustees. In 1833 a school house in district N0. I was erected and others soon followed, until in 1850 there were nine school houses within the township. In 1853 the Ohio Legislature passed virtually the present system of school laws and created a board of education for each township, thus making a free instead of a subscription school system. The first frame school house in this township was erected in 1839 in what came to be styled No. 6 district. This was about a mile and a half south of Brandon and during that year a brick school house was erected in the village of Brandon. The last named was destroyed by a tornado. Things moved along until 1867, when the board of education decided to reduce the (8) 114 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. districts to eight and erect a new building for each sub-district ; the houses to be made of brick, twenty-four feet wide and thirty feet long, with ten feet in the clear between floor and ceiling. The first seven of these school houses were built by L. W. Gates and the last by N. W. Buxton. Hence it will be observed that no child growing up within Miller township has ever had to complain of its lack of opportunity of gaining a good common school education. In Morgan township it is claimed by those who are in a position to know that the first school was taught there by Ziba Leonard, Jr., who later resided in Martinsburg. The school house was a small log building on the old Benjamin Bell farm. It was without floor and had greased paper for window lights. The first school was a summer term and neither teacher nor pupils wore any covering on their feet the entire summer season. Mr. Leonard charged a dollar and a half per scholar tuition, and tradition says he never received half of that amount. James Kirkland taught the next school in the township and it is related that every child who was old enough in the township was enrolled and generally attended school. Nearly half a century ago the log school house disappeared and in their place were erected neat frame or substantial brick buildings. In Morris township the first attempt at schools was in 1812, when Ichabod Marshall taught in a little log house that stood where J. R. Banning's residence was afterward built, on Clinton and Main streets, Clinton village. The second school was taught in a building erected especially for that purpose, northeast of Smith's hotel. Silas Knapp taught there first. As the years went by and the settlement grew, more school buildings were erected in the township and by 1880 there were six modern buildings, all provided with up-to-date teachers. In Pleasant township the first teacher was William Marquis, who taught a school in a log cabin on the property of James Colville about 1825. The township now has good educational facilities and is fully up to the Ohio standard of public schools. In Union township there were no schools until several years after the real settlement had been effected that were not of the crude type and were taught in log cabins and at the homes of farmers. Among the earliest teachers may be recalled John Wells, and William Critchfield was another very early teacher who taught in a log building near the site of Millwood. In the town of Fredericktown schools have always been good. Either Artemas Corbin or William Y. Farquhar taught the pioneer school at this point in a little frame building erected during the war of 1812 for a blockhouse. About the same time a school was opened in the cabin that stood KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 115 on the old Columbus road, within the present bounds of Morris township, on the Benjamin Dowler farm. Alma Ashley taught there, also Curtis Allen. Among the first to teach were Asa B. Woodward and a Mr. Ashburn. Philo Doolittle, another pioneer teacher, erected him a house for dwelling purposes and had attached to it a school room in which he taught many terms of school. This building stood on the borders of the famous and ancient earthwork, near the public square. He taught "select school" there until his death, probably a quarter of a century in all. The next school building was near the block-house and this was a good sized frame structure and was used for school purposes for more than twenty years until a brick building took its place. Among the teachers of note in this building were Sturges, Wilcox, Homer, Duncan. Baugh, Elizabeth Duncan, Miss Roberts and others whose names are not now recalled by historic research. The system of union or graded schools was established in 1852. Doctor Dwyer was made president of the board under the new system ; Philo Doolittle, secretary. and S. W. Woodruff, treasurer. The school examiners at that date were Rev. John M. Farris, Philo Doolittle and Rev. H. D. Webb. After great pains and much expense to provide the thirty-eight by fortyeight-foot school building, of two stories in height. erected by direct taxation, a school was opened up in September, 1853, with William Mitchell, of Columbus, as superintendent. Since then the school has been in successful operation and has turned out into the great field of life's action many good men and noble. highly educated women. In Pike township the first school was taught by William Scoles in a portion of his own house in the southwest corner of section 13. The first hewed-log school building was on the land of Robert Kirkpatrick, the date being about the year 1833. The first brick house in the township was built on the Francis Popham property. WESTMINSTER ACADEMY. In Middlebury township schools have always been looked upon as the most potent factor in civilization. The early schools were "private subscription" in character, but the township was eager to establish the free school system and took an active and early part in so doing. In 1880 it supported six good district schools and at a much earlier date boasted of an academy, "Westminster," a Presbyterian institution. It was situated in the village of Waterford and conducted by Rev. Robert Morrison and his brother, Prof. William Morrison, both from Kentucky. This school grew out of the division in the Presbyterian church over the subject of slavery and its proposed abolition. Those who were opposed to that measure 116 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. started this institution (how short-sighted) to perpetuate their views and create public opinion for their cause. For a time it was well patronized, but after the civil war came on and, as a "war measure," as it was called by some, the slaves were declared free, this institution went down. MOUNT VERNON COLLEGE. This institution of learning is conducted by the Seventh-Day Adventists and was the outgrowth of the old Mount Vernon Academy. Many years ago there was a sanitarium established by this sect at this point, but in the conference held in Baltimore in 1893 it was decided to do away with that and convert the buildings into a school for the church. In the fall of 1893 the school was thrown open for pupils for Ohio, but many were admitted from other sections of the country. "Its object was to train workers for the cause of God," says their account of it. The missionary cause was chief in mind in establishing this academy. In 1905 it was thought best to enlarge and convert the academy into a college, and as such it was incorporated in March, 1905. It is within the Columbia Union Conference and takes in many states. There are more than two hundred Advent churches in this conference and a membership of six thousand people of this faith. The conference contains seventeen million people, hence the need for a college teaching the doctrines of the church, as well as other things to fit men and women best to serve their Master. Here one finds all that goes to make up a great college, conducted on modern plans. The buildings are brick and frame; a power house, laundry, printing house, all heated by steam and lighted by electricity. There are libraries, laboratories, a museum, etc. Literary, scientific and normal courses are here taught ; also music and nurse training departments are included in the things thoroughly taught here. None but Adventists in religious faith are accepted as students. There are now about one hundred and eighty students enrolled in this college. The 1911 officers are : B. G. Wilkinson, president ; S. M. Butler, secretary and treasurer; E. R. Brown, auditor. The college is an attractive place; the fine campus and the surrounding landscape scenes are calculated to inspire one with awe and reverence for the Creator of all things. Its location is to the east of Hiawatha Park, near the street car line from the city. PUBLIC SCHOOLS OF MT. VERNON. The history of the Mt. Vernon schools, private and public, date back to near the date of platting the village in 1805, more than a century ago. The early records are not in existence, if indeed there were any kept. But both KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 117 newspaper files and well-founded tradition makes it quite certain that the following was about the chain of schools and the principal buildings that have been used for school purposes in the city, from its earliest day : As a result of the determination on the part of parents in Mt. Vernon, a small log school house was erected on the southwest corner of the public square, near the line of High and Main streets, its size being about fourteen by eighteen feet and only one story high. It was covered with clapboards nailed on; it was lighted by small windows and heated by a large' old-fashioned fire-place, with no furniture but the teacher's chair and rough slab benches for pupils' seats ; desks made of boards attached to the walls, inclining inward and a little downward, on which the pupils placed their books and slates and copy books. Pupils all sat with faces to the walls and backs to the teacher. Such was the pioneer school house of Mt. Vernon. The only ornament in way of wall decorations was a map of the town of Mt. Vernon, drawn by the teacher with his pen, to exhibit his skill in wielding the little instrument which he took much pride in. Among the very earliest to teach in this building was an Irishman named Thomas Irvine, who located here in the spring of 1811 and taught for a number of years. In 1816 came John Roberts, from Pennsylvania, and he soon became the teacher, continuing for two seasons. About 1818 or possibly a year or so later, this building was abandoned and where it had stood so long the market house was erected in 1832. Another subscription paper was circulated for the purpose of raising money with which to build the second school house for Mt. Vernon. The committee purchased two lots on Mulberry street from John Williamson. By the united efforts of the subscription committee, the school trustees and the members of the Masonic lodge, a neat two-story brick building was erected on the lots just named, in 1818. The upper story was occupied by the Masonic fraternity, while the ground floor was for school purposes. But the money ran low and its walls were left unplastered and old log and slab benches were employed: same as in the log building, which condition obtained until more means could be raised. Joseph Chapman, brother of Judge Chapman, taught several terms of school in this building. In it, also, were held the Sunday regular religious services, making it one of the most popular of buildings in the little village of Mt. Vernon. In 1824 it was resolved by the citizens to plaster the building. This was done under supervision of pioneer Henry B. Curtis, and the house was also comfortably seated. The central part of the school room was an open space, occupied by the teacher, and the classes when called out to recite. After the general Ohio school law was enacted the schools were under the control of the trustees of Clinton township up to 1845. But, strange to 118 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. relate, the common people did not take kindly to the new school law. In fact many kept their children at home rather than sanction it. Many of the more wealthy and aristocratic ones felt that they dare not allow their children to mingle with the rougher, poorer classes, hence they went back to the old select school plan. It really took many years to overcome this prejudice. In the meantime the select school and academy were immensely popular. Rev. R. R. Sloan established such an educational institution and it was conducted more than twenty years. Later, it was converted into a female seminary, which flourished for a few years and died a natural death for lack of attendance. In 1845, when Mt. Vernon was incorporated as a town by act of the Ohio Legislature, the schools went into the hands of the mayor and council, each ward becoming a sub-district. the councilman being director from his district-ward. Old records show that in September, 1845, these directors met and agreed on paying the sum of twenty-two dollars per month to instructors who should provide themselves with a suitable room, fuel and furniture to be approved by the directors. It was also provided that when the district found any part of these school furnishings that the wages should be proportionately less. Another provision was that the people and the directors themselves should reserve the right to visit the schools and to cause the discharge of any teacher for good reasons, at any date in the term, when no further pay should be collected. After a time, the brick school building on the square, which was badly run down, was leased to Rev. R. R. .Sloan and John K. True, for educational purposes, with the understanding that it should be suitably repaired. Thus the old building was leased for a term of fifteen years. and the schools of Mt. Vernon forever taken from the hands of the mayor and town council. The members of the board of education appointed by the town council met in April, 1856, Samuel Israel being president, and Joseph F. Davis was made clerk of the new board. In June, the same year, they resolved "That this board fix, as their estimate of the probable cost of a suitable public school building, the sum of ten thousand dollars." An election was duly called and held and at such election there were five hundred thirty-eight ballots cast, of which all but thirty-two were favorable for the erection of a union and high school, as it was then called. It also called for the purchase of lots known as the George W. True site, at a cost of four thousand five hundred dollars, which lots were eight in number. This .being out of the way, the matter of fixing teachers' wages came before the board and it was decided to pay forty dollars to men and twenty-five to women, which was a great step forward and insured a good grade of instructors, for those days. In October, 1857, the bids were opened for the erection KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 119 of the new central or union school building. Out of eight bids, that of Henry Haller and Joseph Gardner was accepted. The building was to be completed in August, 1859. When all sized up and provided for use, the lots, building and furniture cost the city districts the sum of about thirty thousand dollars. William Mitchell was secured as the head of the first union school. He established four grades, primary, secondary, grammar and high school. The school year was fixed at ten months, the first term to begin in the first week in September. Thirteen teachers were then engaged and the new system prospered from the very start. In 1867 the grades were changed and a new course of study was introduced and later other necessary changes were effected. In 1873 there was commenced a new two-story brick building, with four large, comfortable rooms ; this was finished in the autumn of 1874. This building was the one erected on a very fine, elevated site, at the west end of North street in the fifth ward of the city, purchased of Dr. J. W. Russell. Fowler & Armstrong were the main contractors. In 1877 another neat two-story brick school house was built in the second ward, southeast corner of Scott and Vine streets. 0. W. Hubbel was the contractor. The above facts have been largely extracted from a lengthy article on Mt. Vernon schools written by Joseph S. Davis, A. M.. about 1880, and brought the matters up to that date, which are of interest, coming, as they do, from one so well versed in school history here in Mt. Vernon. Since 1877, when the last school house he speaks of was erected, there have been the following erected : The old third ward school building was torn down in 1883 and a new structure erected, costing thirteen thousand dollars. This is on Chestnut street. The fourth ward building was enlarged in 1892. This is near the Baltimore & Ohio depot. The high school building, erected in 1858 at a cost of thirty thousand dollars, was added to in 1902-3, making it a very large, well planned school building and centrally located. It stands on the corner of Mulberry and Hamtramck streets. The second ward school building was erected in. 1877 on Vine and Scott (Jackson) streets. The fifth ward, now called the Davis school house, was built in 1875-6 and is situated on Lamartine street. It was named in honor of Judge Davis, who served many years as a member of the board of education. It is still in use and a well preserved building, too. At this date (October, 1911) the superintendent of the city schools, Prof. J. S Alan, gives the statement that the following have served as superin- 120 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. tendents since 1879, when R. B. Marsh was in charge : 1879-83, R. B. Marsh ; 1883-89, Jacob A. Shawan; 1889-1898, Lewis S. Bonebrake; 1898-1905, John K. Baxter ; 1905-07, Joshua G. Leland ; 1907 and still serving acceptably, John S. Alan. The total number of graduates in the history of the school, eight hundred and seven ; number of graduates in 1911, forty-four. There are now employed forty-five teachers in the city schools, thirty-five in elementary and ten in high school work. Prof. Alan receives the sum of two thousand dollars per year for his services. SCHOOLS IN GENERAL. At the close of 1910, Knox county had the following showing in the state school reports : Number of township districts, 111 ; separate districts, with elementary schools in, 8, and with high schools in, 9; total number of school rooms, 214. The same authority gave the school property a valuation of almost $600,000. As to the teachers employed at that season it may be stated that the total in the county was 210, and the wages run as follows : In the elementary schools men received $43 and women $41 per month ; in the high schools men received $85 and women $65. The total different teachers that year was 215. The county contained children of school age, 7,610; the grand total of enrollment was 5,705 for the 1910 school year. There were ten high schools in the county at date last mentioned, all doing excellent educational work. The total receipts for school purposes that year was $116,000. The above is in marked contrast to other decades when the county was in a state of growth and development and school houses were few and far between. Knox may justly be proud of her common schools and other higher educational institutions. This people believe education is wirth more to the child than an easy time and the possessor of many "golden spoons !" HIGH SCHOOLS OF COUNTY. Amity—Grades, three; salary of superintendent, $700; high school houses in district, one; number of rooms, four ; teachers, four ; wages, $82. Bladensburg—Salary of superintendent, $500; school rooms in district, four; value of school property, $2,500; teachers, two ; average for wages, women, $42; men, $62. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 121 Centerburg—Grades, one ; salary of superintendent, $1,500 ; school rooms in district, seven ; value school property, $10,000 ; wages for men, $ii1 ; women, $75. College township—Grades, one ; salary of superintendent, $800; school rooms of district, six ; value of school property, $35,000 ; wages men, $85 ; women, $45. Danville, Buckeye City—Grade, one ; salary of superintendent. $792 ; school houses in district, six ; valuation school property, $30,000 ; wages, men, $100; women, $65. Fredericktown—Grade, one ; salary of superintendent, $1,200 ; schoolrooms in district, ten ; value school property, $30,000 ; men's wages, $100, women's wages, $65. Gann—Grades, two ; salary superintendent, $588 ; schoolrooms, two ; value school property, $3,000 ; wages of men, $75, women, $40. Howard—Grades, three ; salary of superintendent, $640; schoolrooms, four; value school property, $10,000 ; wages, men $74. Jelloway—Grades, three ; salary superintendent, $640; schoolrooms in district, three ; value of school property, $8,000 ; wages for men, $80. Martinsburg—Grades, two. Mount Vernon has special instructors as follows : Music, penmanship, and the wages for each teacher is, penmanship, $75 ; music, $85. BOOKS 1N LIBRARIES. Amity 200 Centerburg 1,000 College township 500 Danville—Buckeye City 500 Fredericktown 1,800 Howard 380 Jelloway 150 COLLEGES AND PARISH SCHOOLS. In Knox county there are now the following colleges and parish schools : Kenyon College (Episcopal), with thirty-two students from other than the state of Ohio ; expense to students aside from board, $125 ; located at Gambier, College township ; founded in 1824 ; number instructors, fourteen ; number in attendance 1910-11, 125 ; volumes in library, 47,000. St. Vincent de Paul (Catholic), located at Mt. Vernon, Ohio ; 251 students in 1910. In Mt. Vernon is located a modern business college, where both sexes may receive a thorough business and commercial education. The Mt. Vernon College is the latest school established, being the institution of the Seventh-Day Adventists. See its history elsewhere. CHAPTER XII. HISTORY OF KENYON COLLEGE. By President William Foster Peirce. The diocesan convention of the Protestant Episcopal church meeting in November 1824, at Chillicothe, Ohio, appointed a committee "in relation to the seminary," consisting of Col. John Johnston, Charles Hammond and W. K. Bond. This committee reported a constitution for the new institution and recommended that a committee be appointed to procure the passage of an act of incorporation. The act of incorporation was passed by the Ohio Legislature on December 29, 1824. By the provisions of this act the Right Rev. Philander Chase, the Rev. Messrs. Roger Searle, Intrepid Morse, Ezra B. Kellogg and Samuel Johnston, and Messrs. Bezaleel Wells, William K. Bond, John Johnston and Charles Hammond, and their successors, were constituted a body corporate and politic by the name of the "Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the Diocese of Ohio," and to this body as a board of trustees the care and management of the seminary and its estate and property were committed. An act, bearing date of January 24, 1826, supplementary to the first act. provided that "the president and professors of said seminary shall be considered as the faculty of a college, and as such, have the power of conferring degrees in the arts and sciences, and of performing all such other acts as pertain unto the faculties of colleges, for the encouragement and reward of learning: and the name and style by which the said degrees shall be conferred. and the certificates of learning given shall be that of the 'President and Professors of Kenyon College in the State of Ohio.' " On March 16, 1839, an act was passed providing for the establishment of a college. and halls for preparatory education, committing the power of conferring degrees in the arts and sciences to the president and professors of Kenyon College, and the power of conferring degrees in theology to the president and professors of the Theological Seminary. On August 19, 1891, in accordance with notice duly given, the corporate name of the institution was changed to "Kenyon College." Amendments to and changes in the original constitution of 1824 have been made in the years 1826, 1839, 1857, 1872, 1881, 1904. KNOX COUNTY, OHIO - 123 PHILANDER CHASE, FOUNDER OF KENYON COLLEGE. The first American ancestor of the founder of Kenyon College came over in 1640 from Cornwall and settled in New Hampshire. His descendant, Dudley Chase, the father of Philander, was the first settler at the place which he christened Cornish above Fort No. 4, on the Connecticut river. Philander, born December 14, 1775, was the youngest of fourteen children and planned from early boyhood to become a farmer, but his parents wished otherwise and sent him to Dartmouth College, from which he graduated in 1795. The finding and study of a prayer book during his college course led him to enter the Episcopal ministry, in which he was ordained in 1798 by Bishop Samuel Provost, of New York. Although he was for a while comfortably and happily settled at Hartford, Connecticut, his great energy and extraordinary force of character led him to seek work in the wilderness, so that in the spring of 1817 he undertook the perilous journey to Ohio. Traveling from early in March through July, he at last purchased a farm and accepted the rectorship at the little town of Worthington, Ohio. He received from the trustees of Worthington Academy the appointment of principal to oversee the destinies of that institution. He was elected bishop of Ohio, June 4, 1818, and consecrated in Philadelphia, February 11, 1819. In 1831 he resigned the episcopate of Ohio, became bishop of Illinois in 1835, and he died at Robin's Nest, now Jubilee, Illinois, September 20, 1852. A friend writes thus concerning the Bishop : "In height he was six-feet and over ; the span of his chest was nearly, if not quite, equal to his height. and with that noble trunk his limbs were in full and admirable proportion. In a crowd his giant figure, in front or back, excited, wherever he moved, universal attention. Large and heavy in stature as he was. he was remarkably light and graceful in his movements, and when not ruffled with opposition or displeasure, exceedingly agreeable, polished and finished in his manner. Towards those who betrayed hauteur in their deportment with him, or whom lie suspected as actuated by such a spirit, or who positively differed with him as to his policy, and especially toward those whom he looked upon as his enemies, he was generally distant and overbearing, and sometimes when offended, perhaps morose. In his bearing toward them his noble countenance was always heavy and lowering, and his deportment frigid and unmistakably repulsive; but in his general intercourse, and always with his particular and intimate friends, his address and social qualities were polished, delightful and captivating; his countenance was sunlight, his manner warm and genial as balmy May, and his deportment winning to a degree rare among even remarkably commanding and popular men." 124 - KNOX COUNTY, OHIO. He is thus described by another friend : "I first saw him, not long after his consecration, in the year 1819. He was then forty-four years of age. He was of large stature, tall, of clear, florid complexion, rather full habit, but well proportioned. His appearance was very striking and attractive. A stranger passing him on the street would instinctively turn to notice further his retreating figure. His manners were strikingly courteous and affable even to his inferiors. In powers of conversation he excelled all persons whom I have ever known. In a large company he unconsciously became the central figure on account of his lively and interesting talk. I have seen a large roomful of people attracted towards him, even when occupying some obscure corner, to catch his words, which were addressed immediately to only a few. These personal and rare traits of the Bishop indicated a high degree of cultivation as well as Christian character, and perhaps constituted an element of success among the cultivated and refined people of England to whom he made his plea for aid in his great and holy purpose of founding an institution for the preparation of men for the sacred ministry." Countless incidents are related illustrative of his originality, his pioneer spirit, his energy and untiring industry. His "Reminiscences," in two volumes, contains his own vibrant narrative, and the "Kenyon Book," compiled by William B. Bodine, fourteenth president of Kenyon College, has in it a wealth of interesting material. THE FOUNDING. The granting of the charter of Kenyon College in the year 1824 marks the beginning of the first missionary enterprise of the Episcopal church in the West. That Bishop Chase, the founder of Kenyon, and the men who were associated with him regarded their work as a means of missionary activity for the church is amply apparent from their letters and other reminiscences. That Kenyon has done a great missionary work is suggested by a comparison of the numbers and influence of the church in Ohio with its strength in the neighboring state and diocese of Indiana. For many years the clergymen and laymen trained at Kenyon determined the religious character of the diocese, and to the present day Kenyon men have, if no longer a paramount, yet an important, influence in all the religious activities of the diocese of Ohio. Nor have Kenyon's services to the church been confined to the narrow territorial limits of Ohio; throughout the country, in the episcopate, in the ministry, in lay work, men whom Kenyon has trained are advancing the work of Christ and His church.