504 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
CHAPTER LVII.
MIDDLEBURY TOWNSHIP.
FORMATION-BOUNDARIES-TOPOGRAPHY-FIRST SETTLERS
-"FRIEND5--DANIEL LEVERING -TRUMAN STRONG -
BATEMANS-SARAH LATER SETTLERS OF
PROMINENCE- ROADS- MILLS-ELECTIONS-JUSTICES -
PRESENT OFFICERS-WATERFORD-"LEVERING'S" POST
OFFICE - "FRIENDS" MEETINGHOUSE-OTHER CHURCHES
-ODD FELLOWS-:SCHOOLS-NOTED MEN - POPULATION
-PRODUCTION.
MIDDLEBURY township was erected by act of the commissioners, December 3, 1823, as the following extract from their journal shows:
Ordered, That the following bounds be laid off into a separate township, to wit: "Beginning at the southeast corner of the eighth township, in the fourteenth range, and running west on said township line to the southwest corner of said township; thence north on the line between the fourteenth and fifteenth ranges to the boundary line; thence westerly on said boundary line to where the nearest north and south line in the new purchase strikes said boundary line; thence north on said north and south line to the north boundary of Knox county; thence east on the county line to where the west boundary line of Berlin township strikes said county line; thence south on the west boundary of said Berlin township to the place of beginning; which shall henceforth be entitled to all the privileges of a separate and distinct township, in the county of Knox, and be known and distinguished as Middlebury township."
An election was ordered to be held at the house of Luther Bateman on the first Monday in April, 1824, for the purpose of electing township officers.
Again, on the ninth day of March, 1825, the county commissioners had Middlebury township under consideration, and enacted as follows:
Middlebury township shall be composed of the following bounds, to wit: "Beginning at the northwest comer of the seventh township in the fourteenth range; thence north on the range line to the Indian boundary line; thence southwesterly to Franklin township; thence north on the east boundary of Franklin to the county line; thence east to the line between the fifth and sixth sections in Knox county; thence south on said line to the old Indian boundary line; thence northeasterly on said line to where the range line between the thirteenth and fourteenth ranges strikes said boundary; thence south on said boundary to the northwest corner of township seven, in range thirteen; thence west on the township line to the place of beginning."
The township thus constituted is situated in the northwest corner of the county. and is composed of twelve and. one-half square miles of territory, south of the Greenville treaty line, in the United States Military district, and seven and one-half square miles of territory, north of said treaty line, the latter being Congress land.
The surface of the country is gently rolling and well adapted to farming purposes. The soil is good, being composed of the debris of the olive shales mixed with glacial drift, and sufficiently impregnated with lime to render it very productive. Owl creek traverses the township from northwest to southwest, affording ample drainage and considerable water-power which the early settlers did not fail to improve.
The first permanent settlers of Middlebury township were Friends, from Frederick county, Maryland. In the fall of 1806 William W. Farquhar arrived in Knox county, and stopped temporarily with Henry Roberts in Morris township, but shortly thereafter in company with other Friends located at Fredericktown in Wayne township. Here he remained till 1808, when he moved to Middlebury and settled on the William Burkholder place, two miles north of Fredericktown, where he died. Mr. Farquhar was quite a prominent man. On the fourteenth of February, 1808, the general assembly of Ohio chose the first associate judges of Knox county, and William W. Farquhar was selected as
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 505
one of them. He discharged the .duties of that office with faithfulness and ability till December 12, 1813, when he resigned. The first jury case ever tried in the supreme court for Knox county, was that of William W. Farquhar vs. James Craig, in which a verdict was rendered in favor of the plaintiff for one hundred and three dollars and sixty cents. Mr. Farquhar was a stockholder in the Owl Creek bank, owning fifteen shares in that institution. In the year 1818 he was elected to the legislature from Knox county. Basil Farquhar, at an advanced age, still resides in Middlebury township.
Samuel Wilson, another Friend from Frederick county, Maryland, came about the same time as Farquhar and located in the Quaker settlement. His name appears on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, October 11, 1808, and in 1812 he was one of the judges of election in the same township. Mr. Wilson was a zealous member of the Friends society of Owl creek, and ran off an acre of land from the southeast corner of his farm which he donated to that society on which to erect a meeting-house. His son Joseph for a time occupied the old homestead, but it finally passed into the hands of strangers.
Thomas Townsend located on the A. M. Townsend property, one and one-half miles north of Fredericktown in 1808. He was one of the Friends from Maryland, and true to his Quaker principles, kept a station on "the underground railroad." It is related of him that he would harbor as many as twenty fugitive slaves at a time, and when they were sufficiently recruited, set their faces toward the north star, and send them on their way rejoicing. Mr. Townsend died March 18, x859, aged seventy-eight. He has no representative now in the township.
Samuel Willett was another of the Quaker fraternity who located on section twenty-one, north of Fredericktown in 1808.
Robert Wright and Jesse Vore were also early settlers of the same persuasion.
The names of John and Jacob Cook appear on the poll book of the first election held in Wayne township, at the time it included Middlebury. They came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and after sojourning for a time in Fredericktown, located in the southeast corner of Middlebury township in 1809. John Cook reared a family of ten children. His daughter, Armanella, married Noah. Levering, and reared a family of ten children-seven of whom are still living. She died June 13, 1879, in the seventy-first year of her age, and was buried in Levering graveyard, near Waterford.
Richard Hall was also an early settler. His vote is recorded October 11, 1808. He lived on his farm, south of the present residence of N. M. Strong, where he died and was buried.
Thomas Finch and John Mitchell were early settlers at Waterford. Mitchell's location is not definitely known, but Finch located on the property now owned and occupied by William Penn, adjoining the town plat of Waterford.
Daniel Levering came to Knox county from Bedford county, Pennsylvania, prior to the War of 1812, purchased some land of John Mitchell, near Waterford, and entered some other tracts. In the spring of 1813 he moved his family to his new home, and during the summer, with the assistance of a few others, built a block-house on his farm as a protection against the Indians. Mr. Levering was quite an ingenious man. He opened the first blacksmith shop in the township and built the first gristmill-a history of which is given elsewhere. He reared a large family, provided each with a home, and "left his foot-prints on the sands of time." He died December 31, 1820, aged fifty-six years and eleven months. His wife, Mary, died October 24, 1846, in her eighty-fifth year. Of his children, Grace, the oldest, married William Rambo, and died at Rich Hill, Knox county, January 8, 1853, aged sixty-four; Henry married Dinah Cook, the first marriage in the township; Charles went to Iowa, where he died; Nathan died December 20, 1872, aged seventy-seven years, and was buried at the old homestead; John was a prominent business man at Waterford for many years, and died March 13, 1871, in the seventy-fourth year of his. age; Noah was one of the proprietors of the town of Waterford, an enterprising business man, and died March 4, 1881, in the seventy-ninth year. of his age, and was buried in a reserved lot of the graveyard he had donated to the public; Joseph died May 26, 1871, in the sixty-eighth year of his age;
506 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
and William died September 4, 1864, aged eighty-four years.
Truman Strong was born March 7, 1790, at Poultney, Vermont, married Polly Ashley, March 21, 1811, came to Knox county in 1812, and located on lot eleven in the southwest quarter of Middlebury township. He was a minister in the Universalist church, traveled extensively and preached wherever he went. He also figured as a fourth of July orator, as the following extract from a published account of a celebration "by a respectable number of citizens of Wayne township," in 1816, shows: "The Declaration of Independence was read by Jabez Beers, and a patriotic and very animated oration delivered by Truman Strong." He reared a family of five children, Harvey A., Truman C., Eliza P., Franklin P. and Norman Murray Strong. The latter is the only one now living in the township.
Zebulon Ashley was born in Poultney, Vermont, married Thankful Pond, September 25, 1770, and moved to Middlebury township, Knox county, Ohio, in the fall of 1812. He located on lot twenty-two, and reared a family of six children, none of whom are now living in the township. Mr. Ashley died March 4, 1835, and was buried in the cemetery, the ground for which had been donated to the public by him.
Munson Pond was born in Stockbridge, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, September 18, 1772, married Anna Allen, June 17, 1796, at Middlebury, Vermont. She died in April, 1799, when he married Ruth Bateman in 1800, and came to Middlebury township in the early part of 1815. He settled on lot six, now known as the Elizabeth Ladd farm, and essayed to open up a farm. On this tract grew a sycamore tree twelve feet in diameter. This tree being hollow was cut down, a fourth of July celebration held in a section of it, and then turned into a bedroom. Mr. Pond remained here until 1830 when he removed to Huron county, Ohio.
Luther and Alvin Bateman came from Vermont about 1815, and settled in the vicinity of Batemantown. They tried hard to emulate the example of Romulus and Remus, but the fates seemed to be against them. Batemantown as an embryo city was not a success. Luther Bateman died July 2, 1852, in his sixty-fourth year, and Alvin died October 18, 1856, aged sixty-three.
John Ackerman settled in the northwest corner of Middlebury township in 1813. His sons, Stephen, Morgan, Leander and Harvey, are still residents of the township.
Jonathan, David, Richard and Robert Ewers, emigrated from Loudoun county, Virginia, and located in the eastern part of the township. They all raised large families, so that the name has become quite common in the neighborhood. Jacob Young had a saw-mill and corn cracker on the south fork of Owl creek in 1813, and was elected associate judge in 1813, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Hon. W. Farquhar.
William and Basil Murphy found a home one mile north of Batemantown in 1815, and in 1816 commenced the tanning business, which they carried on until 1863. Basil Murphy still resides near the old homestead, and William lives in Fredericktown. Sarah Murphy, the mother of Basil, and at whose house the first Methodist class-meeting was held, died January 9, 1854, in the seventy-ninth year of her age, and was buried in Levering's graveyard.
Obadiah Stillwell was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, March 27, 1776. Sarah Warford was born at the same place March 7, 1782. They were married March 6, 1804, and came to Knox county, Ohio, in October, 1817. Mr. Stillwell made his home on the northeast quarter of section nine, in the western part of Middlebury township. Here he reared a family of six children, Joseph W., Charlotte, Rachel, Arthur and Josiah D-I. Joseph moved to Morrow county, but returned and is now living in Waterford. Charlotte and Rachel are dead. Jackson moved to Illinois and Arthur to Iowa. Josiah lives on a part of th old farm, while the old homestead itself is occupied by the widow, Sarah Stillwell, now in her one hundredth year, and from whom the above facts were obtained.
Warren Owen came to the township in 1817, and William Watkins in 1819. The Johnsons, Denmans, Stevenses, Walterzes, Ebersoles, Grahams, Zolmans, Comforts, Fiddlers, Cravens, Eaveses, McPhersons and Martins were also early settlers of more or less prominence.
These were the men who felled the forests,
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 507
cleared the ground, erected the log cabins and made civilization possible. As education was an essential element in the development of the race, a school was taught in one of the log houses by Daniel Levering in 1814; he also taught the first singing school. The first brick house in the township was built on the J. B. Blackburn place by Darius Strong.
A road from Fredericktown by way of Cook's and Wilson's to Mansfield, was petitioned for June 5, 1809, by William Y. Farquhar, Joseph Moore, Amariah Watson, William W. Farquhar, Samuel Watson Daniel Ayers, Alexander Avery, Peter Wolf, James Ayers, Samuel Wilson, John Kerr, William Smith, Willis Speakman, John Cook, Thomas Townsend, Jacob Casper Fitting, Jeremiah Brown, Enoch Farquhar, William Mitchell, N. M. Young, E. N. Taylor, Daniel Johnson, Thomas Clark, jr., Amos Hartley and John Click.
Casper Fitting, James Bryant and Henry Roberts were appointed to view the same, and Jacob Young surveyor. These parties made their return July 1, 1809, and the road was confirmed by the county commissioners, September 5, 1809.
"Pond's road" was laid out from Fredericktown to Munson Pond's; thence to Luther Bateman's; thence to Daniel Levering's blacksmith shop, on a petition of Munson Pond, Luther Bateman, Henry Levering, Charles Levering, Augustus Strong, Zebulon Ashley, Abel Pond, Abel Convers, Abner Ayers, G. B. Mansfield, John Williams, David Graham, Alfred Manning, Robert Buchanan and Thomas Nevins. The viewers appointed by the county commissioners were William W. Farquhar, John Lewis and Henry Markley; Darius Strong was appointed surveyor.
A remonstrance having been presented to the commissioners, a review was ordered and returned December 3, 1817. It was confirmed as a county road in June, 1818, and made a State road in 1826.
The first saw- and grist-mill in Middlebury township was built by Daniel Levering at Waterford about 1815. He first erected a saw-mill, and shortly after put up a grist-mill with two run of buhrs, which he operated until his death in. 1820, when the mill came into possession of his son, John Levering. He sold to Alfred Walters, and he to J. C. Stump, who rebuilt the mills in r 860 and christened them "Owl Creek Mills." Joel Starmer was the proprietor who ran the same about seven years, when he traded the property to Dawson & Badger, and in 1875 Newton McCluckion bought Badger's interest. In February, 1876, Dawson sold out to J. Williams, when McCluckion purchased Williams' interest, and is at the present time sole proprietor. The mills are situated in the centre of a productive country and do a good business.
There was a saw-mill, fulling-mill and carding machine at Batemantown in 1824, but it was a short-lived institution.
Craft's mill was originally a saw-mill, and in 1840 James Blair erected a grist-mill on the site, which he operated about fifteen years, and then sold to Washington Ewers. Elias Craft bought out Ewers in 1865, and put in an extra pair of buhrs. The mill is now owned and operated by `t'. H. & A. L. Craft. It is situated on Owl creek on the northwest quarter of section twenty-two.
Abner Trowbridge built a saw-mill on lot 26, on the west fork of Owl creek in 1830. In 1845 he sold to J. N. Gorden, and he to Gilbert Owens in 1855. After passing through several hands it became the property of J. L. Nicodemus, who still owns it.
About 1850 William Watkins built a saw-mill one-fourth of a mile above Nicodemus', which ran five or six years and then ceased operations.
William Rambo, in 1845, built a saw-mill on Owl creek about the centre of section four, which he ran four or five years. After his death in 1853 it came into the possession of David Shaler, who operated it until 1875, when it fell into disuse.
In 1850 R. D. Ketchum had a store in Batemantown, which he kept four or five years, when he failed in business, and abandoned the enterprise.
A man named Hall tried the hotel business in Batemantown but met with no better success; in fact Batemantown seems doomed to never become a town at all. A half dozen houses constitute the village at present.
The first election was held at Luther Bateman's in 1824. The following is a list of the justices of the peace for Middlebury township: James Johnson, 1824, re-elected and served until 1848; James Graham, elected in 1831, and served three terns; Stephen McPherson, 1842 and 1845; Ezra Marvin
508 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
and John W. Loofborow, 1848 and 1851; George W. Ewers-and Thomas Craven, 1852; J. D. Burke and Daniel Ayres, 1855; J. D. Burke and Isaac Lynde, 1858, 1861, and 1864; Daniel Richards, 1865; David Ewers and David Cosner, 1867; O. B. Johnson and William Penn, 1870 and 1873; O. B. Johnson and J. L. Van Buskirk, 1876; F. V. Owens and Daniel Randall, 1879; G. J. Ewers, 1881.
The board of township officers is constituted as follows: John W. Craven, William Cooke, and Henry Wagner, trustees; George J. Ewers, treasurer, Vincent E. Dye, clerk; A S. Kirby, assessor; George E. Cook and F. H. Johnson, constables; William Burkholder, A. S. Kirby, J. G. Bayer, A N. Wertz, Daniel Randall and George E. McKinney, board of education; David Bullyer, Robert Martin, Jacob Zolman, Sylvester Caywood, J. C. Levering, Jerry Williams, A. N. Wertz, G. B. Ewers, F. C. Cochran, T. E. Carson, W. H. Craven, and George Palmer, board of road supervisors.
The elections have always been held at Batemantown, except one year when Hezekiah Windom was trustee. That year John Levering, by the magnetic influence of a turkey dinner, drew the polls to Waterford.
Waterford is situated on the north fork of Owl creek, six miles north of Fredericktown. It was laid out on the northwest quarter of section three, town eight, and range fourteen, of Congress lands, north of the Greenville treaty line. The land was owned by Josiah Fawcett and Noah L. Levering, and was surveyed by Merritt M. Beam, November 25 and 26, 1841.
The first house was built on the town plat by Josiah Fawcett.
The first store was kept by John and William Levering before the town was laid out. In 1865 Levering sold out to Benedict & Smith. The former sold his interest in the store to his partner in 1866. Benedict disposed of the stock to Barton and Leander Ackerman in 1867, and in 1868 they moved to Hagerstown.
Josiah Fawcett commenced keeping store about 1835, and continued in the business till 1858, when he moved to Fredericktown.
In 1862 William Killen commenced merchandising in Waterford, at Josiah Fawcett's old stand, and is still in the business.
The first post-office was established at Waterford, October 25, 1836, and named "Levering," in honor of John and Noah Levering, who were instrumental in establishing a postal route from Mount Vernon to Tiffin, Ohio, that year. While the= Democrats were in power John Levering was secure in the possession of the post-office, but with the accession of the Whigs to power the post office naturally gravitated towards the "shop across the way," kept by Josiah Fawcett.
With the varying phases of political fortune the post-office became a shuttlecock between rival stores, and once,
"While the lion and the unicorn
Fought for the crown,"
Batemantown stepped in and carried off the prize; but it was not long permitted to remain at the rival town. A united effort soon succeeded in restoring the office to Waterford, where it has remained ever since. Since 1853, the following persons have held the office: Columbus Levering, Dr. Thomas Watters, J. D. Burke, Dr. Clayton W. Townsend, Abraham Oberholtzer, Zoe Levering, Monroe Keys, Frank V. Owen, and Curtis Hardgrove,
The first tavern in Waterford was kept by j Charles Wagner. He opened in 1844 and kept till 1864, when he moved to Fredericktown. His successor was Newton McCluckion, who still entertains strangers.
The practicing physicians of Waterford since 1841 have been: Drs. Copeland, Griffee, Turner, Bird, Walters, Spooner, Townsend, Cook, King, and C. C. Hill, a graduate of Jefferson Medical college of Philadelphia.
Waterford at present contains one post-office, Curtis Hardgrave, postmaster; one gristmill, Newton McCluckion, proprietor; two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Presbyterian;. one schoolhouse; one Odd Fellows' hall; two stores, Curtis Hardgrove and William Killen, proprietors; one hotel, N. McCluckion proprietor; one blacksmith, V. E. Dye; one shoemaker, J. G. Bayer; one painter, E. L. Grubb; one harness maker, George Kolb; one sawyer, Robert Zolman; one barber, L. L. Glasser; twenty-three dwellings, and one hundred and seven inhabitants.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 509
One fourth of a mile north of Waterford is a cemetery which Noah Levering deeded to the trustees of the Methodist Episcopal church in 1844, reserving one-fourth of an acre for the Levering family. The first person buried here. was Allen Levering, January 26, 1817
The Quaker graveyard is probably the oldest burying ground in the township, but the date of the first burial is not within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant, and Quaker tombstones are proverbially as silent as the grave.
Some of the earliest and the principal settlers of Wayne, Middlebury and Berlin townships have been Friends, or Quakers, who emigrated from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Prominent among them were John Lewis and family, Thomas Townsend and family, Samuel Wilson and Family, Amos Farquhar and family, Henry Roberts and family, and Samuel Gregg and family. These people by strictly honest dealing and correct deportment won the respect and esteem of their neighbors, and by industry and economy added not a little to the wealth and prosperity of the settlement. People of their religious convictions and reverence for the peculiar form of worship which characterized their fathers, could not long remain destitute of a place, as the Quaker poet expresses it
" Where my brethren gather slow and calm."
So the Friends' society of Owl creek was organized in 1809, and their meetings were held for some time in private houses, and in course of time a meeting house was erected. The first structure was of the primitive type, composed of rough logs of the forest, which answered its purpose till 1822, when a brick building twenty-five by forty feet square, with a large fireplace and chimney at each end, was erected on the Fredericktown and Mansfield road, near the centre of section twenty. Here for years the Friends met together on the first and fourth days of the week to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, with none to molest or make them afraid, and perhaps no people are more faithful to their Christian obligations, or more punctual in their attendance at their meetings than they. For some time these people dwelt together in perfect harmony and friendship, seeming to enjoy a realization of "peace on earth and good will to men," but the serpent of discord entered the Eden of brotherly love, and a change came over the spirit of their dreams. Elias Hicks arose, and claiming to be guided by an inward light superior to that which lighted the path of George Fox, proclaimed divers new and strange doctrines in the hearing of the heretofore solemn and staid brotherhood. The consequence was, dissention in the course of time reached the Owl creek society, and the sliding partition in the brick meeting house became a permanent line of division between the Hicksites and the orthodox.
In their case the adage that "a house divided against itself cannot stand," was clearly verified, and at this day scarcely anything remains to memorize the Friends' society of Owl creek, except the old brick meeting house, with its large outside chimneys, plain front doors, moss-grown roof and weather-beaten walls, as it still stands there desolate and unoccupied in the pleasant beech and maple grove, whose welcome shade long years ago was sought by man and beast. There it stands the very picture of desolation, gradually yielding to the disintegrating tooth of rime, destined soon to share the fate of the little flock that used to meet within its malls.
The seasons roll on-spring time returns, and with it the grass on the old churchyard comes forth, matures, fades, and dies, untrodden by the foot of man save by the stranger whose curiosity may have led him thither. The beech and maple grove obeys Nature's call, and in due time puts on its robes of living green; the birds build their nests in its branches and sing their merry songs; but the ears that once heard them with so much pleasure hear them no more. Eyes that gazed with delight upon the surrounding forest see those beauties no longer, for quietly they now sleep beneath the green sod of the burying ground near the old church. They have gone to rest while many of their offspring-have gone to seek their fortunes in the far West, forgetting alike the scenes of their youth and their early parental instructions.
Among the more recent faithful ones belonging to this now extinct band were Joseph Barrington and wife. Elizabeth, widow of Joseph Barrington, and Birthday Cone are the only survivors that are now living within the bounds of the old society. They are now stricken in years, and when they have
510 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
gone to their long home the last lights of the Friends' society of Owl creek will have become extinct.
The class from which the Methodist Episcopal church of Batemantown originated was organized at the house of Mrs. Sarah Murphy, one to the north of Batemantown, in the spring of 1831. The original members were Alvin Bateman and Flora Bateman, his wife; Luther Bateman and Wealthy, his wife; Sarah Murphy; William Murphy and Sarah Ann, his wife; Jane Fiddler, Robert Murphy, Charles Post, Hiram Murphy and Hannah, his wife, and a man named Welch. Alvin Bateman was the first leader. Leonidas Hamlin was the first preacher and formed the class. This class met at the house of Mrs. Murphy until 1832 when a frame church, twenty-four by thirty-six, was erected on the Main road about one-fourth of a mile southeast of Batemantown. The trustees at that time were William Murphy, Alvin Bateman, Luther Bateman, Charles Post, and Robert Murphy. In 1844 the congregation was divided, a part going to Waterford where a society was formed, and in 1856 the Bateman society erected a new frame church, thirty by forty, at Batemantown in which they still worship. The present number of members is about thirty. The leader is Zachariah Zodiker.
The first class of the Methodist Episcopal church, organized in Waterford, was some time previous to 1844, by Rev. Sandford Parker, and in 1844 a regular church organization was effected, the following persons being members: William McCluckion and Joanna, his wife; Lucinda Dawson, Susan Dawson, Andrew Welch and Lydia, his wife; Joseph-Mann and Sarah, his wife; Charles Wagner and Anna, his wife, and Jemima his daughter; William Murphy and Sarah Ann, his wife; Basil Murphy and Abigail, his wife; Hiram Murphy and Hannah, his wife; Alfred Waiters and Winifred, his wife, and Elizabeth and Sarah V., his daughters; John Levering and Charlotte, his wife; Silas Pierson and Priscilla, his wife; N. Galliher, Samuel Galliher and Phebe, his wife; Joseph Galliher and America, his wife, David, his son, and Elizabeth, his granddaughter; William Levering, Ruth, his wife, Milton, his son, and Nancy, his daughter, and Prelett Taft. The classleaders were Joseph Mann, Samuel Galliher, and Alfred Walters. In 1844 a neat frame church, forty by sixty, was erected in Waterford, and the dedication sermon preached by Rev. Adam Poe..
The following have been the .preachers in charge of this congregation: Revs. Sanford Parker, John Scholes, Mansfield French, Hiram Shafer, ----Walter, John McNabb, James Wheeler, A K. Owen, James Wheeler, Daniel Lambert, John McNabb, F. J. Close, John Mitchell, John Bloomfield, Harvey H. Wilson, John Kellam, Oman Lawrence,. William Spafford, R. S. Moffatt, C. C. Ball, A. L S. Baseman, William Smith, G. R Walker, W. W. Smith, Silas Seymour, E. O. Buxton, M. B. Meade, Elnathan Raymond, and James McMahon. The maximum number of members was seventy-five. The present is number, twenty. William Penn is class leader.
The early Presbyterian preachers in the vicinity of Waterford were Revs. James Scott and James Cunningham, but no organization was effected till 1849, when Rev. J. M. Faris became pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. John Hughes, and he by Revs. Caldwell and Hamilton. The next in order was Rev. Luke Dorland, succeeded by Rev. W. W. Anderson. Following Anderson came Revs. Brown and McClelland. The present pastor is Rev. W M. Ferguson. The first members of session were J. J. Turner and William Killen. In 1849 a neat frame church, forty by fifty, was erected at the west end of the village, and the Presbyterian church of Waterford became one of the institutions of the town. The number of members is not known.
The Seventh Day Adventist church of Waterford, was organized at the house of E. C. Penn, in Morrow county, Ohio, by Elder O. Mars, of Bowlinggreen, .Ohio. The original members were George Bisel and wife, W. T. Carson and wife, E. O. Penn and wife, and W. S. Boon. Their first meetings were held in private houses until 1874, when a neat substantial frame church was erected on a lot purchased of R. S. Keyes, one-half mile west of Waterford. The building is twenty-eight by thirty-eight feet; cost one thousand two hundred dollars, and was dedicated by Elder H. A. St. John, in January, 1875. The present membership is forty-four. E. C. Penn is the present
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 511
elder. The church has no regular pastor at present. Owl Creek Lodge No. 686, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, located at Waterford, Knox county, Ohio, was instituted July 31, 1879, by Grand Secretary William C. Earle, assisted by Past Grands S. Brown, R. G. Mills, N. E. Edwards, E. F. Baugham, George Hostetter, and George W. Shun. The charter members were: V. E. Dye, J. A. Fish, J. G. Bayer, O. P. Dyer, E. Daily, Peter Drake, W. W. Ludwig, Jeremiah Williams, and John Gleason. The first officers installed were: J. G. Bayers, N. G.; J. A. Fish, V. G.; V. E. Dye, secretary; O. P. Dyer, treasurer. The first members initiated were: E. L. Grubb, Curtis Hardgrove, C. C. Hill, John Adlesperger, Leander Ackerman, and S. M. Painter. The lodge meets every Saturday evening at their rooms in Waterford. In addition to the charter members eighteen members have been initiated and one admitted by card. The total membership is twenty-eight. The officers installed January 1, 1881, are as follows: 0. P. Dye, N. G.; W. W. Ludwig, V. G.; Curtis Hardgrove, secretary; Meander Ackerman, treasurer.
Middlebury was named by the county commissioners, at the suggestion of Luther Bateman, to perpetuate the memory of Middlebury in Vermont, from whence many of the settlers came.
It is essentially an agricultural district, there being but one village, and no manufacturing establishments of any importance within its bounds. It contains six schools, of the ordinary district character, and at one time boasted of an institution denominated Westminster academy. It was situated in the town of Waterford, and conducted by Rev. Robert Morrison and his brother, Professor William Morrison, both of the State of Kentucky. This institution grew out of a division in the Presbyterian church on the subject of slavery and its abolition. Those who were opposed to that measure seceded and started an academy to perpetuate their views. It was well patronized for a time pupils coming from Holmes county and elsewhere who were in harmony with the political character of the institution, but after the settlement of the vexed question by the emancipation proclamation and the arbitrament of arms, Westminster academy passed into history.
Middlebury township has produced some men not entirely "to fortune and to fame unknown." Lawrence Van Buskirk (now deceased) came to Knox county in 1830 and located on the northwest quarter of section two, one mile east of Waterford In 1848 he was elected to the legislature of Ohio, and in 1851 he was elected to the State senate.
Hon. Columbus Delano was reared near Batemantown and went to Mt Vernon to practice law, whereby his history became identified with that of the city, where it will be found.
Hon. William Window was born in Belmont county, Ohio, May 10, 1827. His parents, Hezekiah and Mercy Window, came from Virginia and became members of the Hicksite branch of the Society of Friends. At an early age he came with his parents to Middlebury township and located on the northeast quarter of section two, one and a half miles east of Waterford, where his boyhood days were spent on the farm; but disliking the business he learned the tailoring trade with J. D. Burke, of Waterford. The first coat he made after finishing his apprenticeship was for John Waiters, now of Fredericktown, and was by no means a success as a fit. Being fully persuaded that he possessed "a soul above buttons," he went to Mt Vernon while yet a young man, and there entered the law office of the late judge R. C. Hurd. After being admitted to the bar he was elected prosecuting attorney of Knox county, as a Whig, in 1852, by a majority of three hundred While studying law he delivered temperance lectures through the country, and on one occasion, while lecturing in Morrow county, the roughs of Woodbury threatened to mob him if he attempted to speak. Nothing daunted, however, he proceeded to the hall, and laying a pistol on the stand, went on with his lecture unmolested. In 1855 he went to Winona, Minnesota, with his associate, Hon. Daniel S. Norton. Norton was elected to the United States Senate, and at his death was succeeded by Mr. Window, since which time his career is too well known to require repetition here.
In 1830 the population of Middlebury was 705; in 1840 it was 1,002; in 1850, 1,092; in 1860, 1,040; in 1870, 992; in 1880 it was 912. In 1880 the total number of acres returned for taxation. was 12,790; the number of acres cultivated was 4,781; number of acres in pasture, 6,457; acres in wheat,
512 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
971; bushels of wheat, 19,367; acres in oats, 571; bushels of oats, 18,704; acres in corn, 1,577; bushels of corn 52,268; acres in meadow, 1,280; tons of hay, 1,284; acres in potatoes, 45; bushels of potatoes, 6,265; pounds of wool, 34,044; pounds of butter, 40,300. The number of horses in 1880 was 378; the assessed value of the same was $20,955 ; the number of cattle was 849; assessed value of same, $12,070; number of sheep, 7,681; assessed value of same, $17,820; number of hogs, 994; assessed value of same, $3,132. Total value of all taxable property, $188,314; moneys and credits, $94,780.
CHAPTER LVIII.
MILFORD TOWNSHIP.
TOPOGRAPHY-TIMBER-WILD ANIMALS-ORGANIZATION -
NAME-FIRST SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS - THE WHERE
ABOUTS OF THE PIONEERS-THE GREAT WOLF HUNT -
FIRST ROADS-PROMINENT CITIZENS - THE GIANT-THE
BAND-THE FIRST VOLUNTEER COMPANY-THE RAILROAD
SWINDLE-THE SOLDIERS' MONUMENT FUND-POLITICAL -
FIVE CORNERS - LOCK - SCHOOLS - CHURCHES
THE surface is generally level, or slightly rolling. The north fork of Licking creek flows along near the southern border of Milford. Along this creek the soil is very fertile. Sycamore creek rises in the western part, runs an easterly course through the township near the centre; between these two creeks the surface is level, and the soil fertile. That part north of Sycamore is more rolling, and some portions is composed of a heavy yellow clay soil. Dry creek flows across the extreme northwest corner of the township. The surface generally slopes to the south and east, except in the extreme northern part, where the slope is north, towards Dry creek.
This township is well adapted to grazing; but by proper cultivation any portion of it produces most excellent crops or corn, wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat, and various kinds of vegetables and fruit in abundance.
It was originally covered with a dense forest, the principal, timber being beech, rock maple, soft maple, elm, white and black ash, hickory, white and swamp oak, black walnut, white walnut, wild cherry, basswood, cucumber, buckeye and sycamore, with a dense-growth of underbrush, consisting chiefly of spice-bush, black-haw, ironwood, dogwood, blue beech, etc. Along the streams and wet lands were an abundant growth of leeks, wild onions, cowslips, and many other varieties of vegetation.
Among the wild animals, the deer, opossum, por. supine, black and grey squirrel, raccoon and rabbit were very abundant. The grey wolf, was the most troublesome, frequently making sad havoc with the few sheep, in the country. Occasionally a black bear made his appearance among the first settlers. The wild turkey, pheasant, and several varieties of the owl and hawk, with many other species of the feathered tribe, were very abundant.
In 1808 Milford, and what now comprises Hilliar, Miller, Morgan and the west half of Clay, the south half of Pleasant, and the southwest quarter of Harrison township, constituted the township of Morgan.
On the fourth day of September, 1815, Morgan township was divided by the commissioners, forming a new township called Sycamore. This township, Sycamore, comprised what is now Hilliar, Milford, Miller, and a strip of land one mile wide from the west side of Morgan, and one section from the southwest corner of Pleasant.
On the tenth day of October, 1815, the name of this township was changed from Sycamore to Miller. *
In 1818 a petition was presented to the commissioners of Knox county, praying for the erection of a new township, to be taken off the west end of Miller, to be called Hilliar. On the twenty-eighth day of August, 1818, the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and Hilliar township was organized.
In 1825 a petition was presented to the commissioners of Knox country, praying for the erection of a new township, to be taken from the west side of Miller, to be called Milford.
On the third day of March, 1823, the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and Milford, from that time to the present, has constituted one of the townships of Knox county, and comprises a terri-
* See Miller township.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 513
tory five miles square. Norton says it received its name in the following manner:
The settlers met together and various names were presented; among the number, Judson Lamson proposed that it should be called Milford, taking the idea from his native town, New Milford, Connecticut. Some objection was offered to every other name but this, and in consideration of the fact that Mr. Lamson was one of the oldest settlers, and also of its being a New England name-those present being all from "down east"-it was adopted.
The north half of Milford consisted of unappropriated military lands; was surveyed into sections of six hundred and forty acres, and each section divided into quarter sections. The south half consisted of United States military bounty lands. The west half of the third or southwest quarter of the township was owned by Celladon Symms; and contained two thousand acres; the east half of the same quarter was owned by Burnett. The fourth or southeast quarter was owned by James
Parker, and contained four thousand acres.
The first white settlement in Milford was made in 1812. In the spring of that year, Thomas Merrill and James Pell, from Massachusetts, purchased the northwest quarter of section five, being the northwest quarter section in the township. They built their cabins and located there with their families the same spring. Mr. Merrill had one daughter, Mrs. E. W. Cotton, now residing in Mt. Vernon. In the fall of the same year, John Davis located with his family on the-southwest quarter of section six. He was an elder iii the Baptist church, and in those early times he usually wore buckskin pantaloons. His wife died about 1818, probably the first white person to die in the township. Mr. Davis was a small man-very industrious and persevering. About 1828 he removed to Allen county, Ohio, where he died, about 1855. He had one daughter, Matilda, wife of Arnold Bishop, now residing in the township, at the age of seventy-three years. She has lived in the township sixty-nine years, being its oldest inhabitant
In 1816, Major Buxton purchased the southwest quarter of section nine, and his brother Sylvester, the southeast quarter of the same section; each built a cabin on his lot and lived there about one year. These brothers were from Vermont, and they and their families are all dead long ago.
In 1817, John Beardslee purchased the southeast quarter of section nine of Sylvester Buxton. In 1818. William Beardslee, a brother of John, purchased the west part of this quarter section, and located there. In 1820 John Beardslee built a cabin on the east part, where he now resides, at the age of eighty-eight years; being the only one of the first settlers now living in the township. He lives with his daughter Mary on the old homestead. He has three sons living; George in Illinois, Charles in Washington, District of Columbia, and Henry in Nebraska William Beardslee lived on his farm until about 1850. He reared a large family; his oldest son, Platt G., long a resident of the township, died in the winter of 1880-81; John B. resides in Mt. Vernon; Betsy, wife of George Benedict, resides in Gambier; Catharine, widow of Erastus Rouse, resides in Brandon; Adaline, wife of Major Nathan Bostwick, in Newark; Job lives in Union county, Ohio, and Dr. William, in Ross county. Mary, wife of A. W. Hildreth, is dead The Beardslees are descendants of the Rev. John Beardslee, of Stratford, on Avon, Shakespeare's home. They removed to this place from New Haven, Connecticut.
In 1817, two brothers, Harris and Stephen Hawkins, from Rhode Island, purchased of Major Buxton, the southwest quarter of section nine. Here they spent their remaining days on earth-and both reared large and respectable families. Harris Hawkins has three children now living in the township, viz: Margaret, wife of Almon Mitchell; Martha, wife of James Rice, and Daniel Harris Hawkins was a blacksmith and worked at his trade several years, having the first shop in the township. In 1828 he built the first brick house in the township. He was an honest, industrious citizen, and died August, 1865.
Stephen Hawkins died in 1856; of his family only three are now living, viz: William, Sarah A., and Mary, wife of William Pickering; all reside on the old homestead. In 1817, Gardner Bishop purchased the southwest quarter of section three. This farm has been in possession of the Bishop family to the present time, his son, Daniel Bishop, now residing on it, though it has recently passed into the hands of Arnold Bishop, jr. , Gardner came from Rhode Island.
In the same year Jacob Simons, from Vermont,
514 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
located on the northwest quarter of section ten; he. had one son, Norton J., now of Mt. Vernon, and one daughter, Minerva, widow of Salmon Hooker, now living.
In the year 1817, Aaron Hill, from Massachusetts, who emigrated to Knox county in 1811, purchased the northwest quarter of section three. Mr. N. N. Hill, of Mt. Vernon, is the only son now living.
In the same year Erastus Riley and James Robinson purchased the northeast quarter of section one; James Fay purchased the northwest quarter of the same section, and John Lash, the southwest quarter.
In the same year Judson Unison, from Connecticut, purchased the northeast quarter of section eight. He came to Milford in the month of February, and after making maple sugar through the month of March, returned to Connecticut on foot, performing the journey at the rate of fifty miles per day. The same year he returned with his family, and made this his home. He died on the old homestead, May, 1867, aged eighty-eight years. He was a brick-mason by trade, possessed great power of endurance, and has probably performed more hard labor than any man that ever lived in this township. He was an honest, upright and much respected citizen. His daughter, Jane, wife of W. A. Disney, now resides in the township, and his son, Levi J., resides in Wisconsin. Three sons and one daughter are dead
In the same year - - - - Holister purchased the northeast quarter of section three. He reared a large family of which most are dead. Harmon resides in Liberty township.
During the next two years most of the north half of the township was settled-one of the first purchasers being John Jeffers in 1818, who settled on the southeast quarter of section three. Three of his children are yet living, viz: Mary Ann, widow of Smith Bishop, on the old Smith Bishop farm in this township; Almira, wife of Johnson King, in Springfield, Ohio, and Laura, widow of David Hill, now in her seventy-first year, in Mansfield, Ohio.
Jesse Smith settled on the northwest quarter of section two; Uziel Stevens, on the northeast quarter of section two; Leonard Simons, on the southeast quarter of section ten; John Simons, on the northeast quarter of section nine; Curtis Terril, on the northwest quarter of section nine. The latter has one daughter now living on the same farm. John Stevens settled on the southwest quarter of section two; Harvey Jones, on the southeast quarter of section two; James Severe, on the northwest quarter of section four; John Severe, on the southwest quarter of section five; John Lash, on the southwest quarter of section seven.
In 1819, the following persons settled in Milford: John Beardslee, on the northwest quarter of section eleven; Wilber and Russell, on the north. east quarter of section twelve; John Burbank, on the southwest quarter of section ten.
About 1824 William H. Smith purchased the northeast quarter of section eleven and the west part of the southeast quarter of section ten. On this lot he erected a tan-yard, and carried on the business of making leather several years. He was a representative in the Ohio legislature two terms. His widow is living-at the present time.
In the same year Smith Bishop purchased the southeast quarter of section four, and Arnold Bishop, the northeast quarter of section four where he now resides, being one of the very few pioneers now living in the township.
About 1826 Frederick J. Disney, from Maryland, purchased the west part of the northeast quarter of section thirteen; his widow now resides on the same farm.
About the same time Cornelius Sharp located on the northwest quarter of the same section.
In 1829 Preserve Smith, from Connecticut, purchased the southeast quarter of section eight, and made it his home until his death October, 1871. This farm is now owned by his son-in-law, F. S. Rowley.
About the same year Aaron Teegarden purchased the southeast quarter of section fifteen; the same farm is now owned by his son, Samuel. John Hard purchased the southeast quarter of section seven.
In 1830 Milton Keech purchased the east half of the southwest quarter of section eight, and John Bostwick, the west half of the same quarter.
In the same year Thomas Niel purchased the northeast quarter of section fifteen; and Samuel
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 515
Triplet, the northwest quarter of section fourteen. In 1831 Gilbert McKown, from Virginia, purchased the northeast quarter of section fourteen, the last quarter section held by the United States in this township.
About the year 1824 Abraham Jackson, from Pennsylvania, purchased of Lash the southwest quarter of section one. This Jackson family have continued much respected citizens of Milford to the present time.
About 1830 Platt G. Beardslee purchased of John Burbank the south part of the southwest corner of section ten, where he made his permanent residence until his death, January 30, 1881. He was a man much respected in the community where he lived.
About the year 1820 the west half of the southwest quarter of the township, owned by Celladon Symms, was surveyed and divided into twenty lots of various sizes and shapes. About this time he disposed of the south part of his section containing one thousand acres, to Harrison & Shorts; this being in the southwest corner of the township. This land was offered for sale in the spring of 1821 by Stanbery S Brice, agents..
In 1821 Frederick Myers, a Dutchman, from Virginia, purchased lot fourteen, being the first lot purchased in the south half of the township. Soon after this John Myers purchased lot thirteen. They reared large families, and quite a number of their descendants now reside in the township. They have been very honest and industrious citizens. George Myers, a son of Frederick Myers, now resides on the old homestead purchased by his father in 1821.
In the same year Eli Ford purchased lot eleven, where he now resides, and Joseph Morey, from Vermont, purchased lot twenty; several of his descendants now reside in the township.
In 1822 Poppleton purchased lot eighteen; Sylvanus Mitchell, from Massachusetts, purchased lot nineteen, and his son, Almon, is now a citizen of the township. Patrick Webster purchased lots fifteen and sixteen; he was a Methodist preacher, and a man of good intellect. Adam Stults purchased lot seventeen, and Samuel Woods lot twelve.
About the year 1833 Celladon Symms offered the remainder of his section for sale, and the following were the first purchasers: In 1834, Levi Debolt lot six, Ephraim Platt lot nine; in 1835, Moses Cummins lot eight, Thomas Warrick lot five. About 1842 Spencer Mitchell purchased lot one, and about 1845 James Debolt purchased lot ten, this being the last lot in the Symms section.
About 1826 - - - - Burnet divided the east half of the southwest quarter of the township into lots of one hundred acres each, and offered them for sale. Between this time and 1834 these lots were all sold. Among the first purchasers were Elijah Dowell, lot one; Joseph Evans, lot ten; Samuel Patch, lots eleven and twenty; David Jagger, lot two; John Brown, lot nine; Solomon Freeman, lot nineteen; John Redman, lot eighteen; John Wilson, lots eight and thirteen; John Dunn, lot four; Stephen Humphrey, lot fifteen. About 1830 James Parker divided the fourth, or southeast quarter of the township into thirty-four lots, and offered them for sale. Between this time and 1838 these lots were all sold. Among the first purchasers were the following: Phineas Taft, from Vermont, lot six; Thomas Larimore, from Virginia, lot fifteen; (his son Henry now owns this same lot); Gideon Hall, lots thirty-two and thirty-three, (his son is now living on lot twenty-nine); Peter Turst, lot nineteen, (his daughter, Mrs. George Neible, is now living in the township); Joseph Montonya, lot seven; Philip Rimer, lot twenty-two; Joseph Postleweight, lot twenty-three; Crisley Kratzer, lot thirty; Jacob Smith, lot twenty-nine; Lemuel Jones, lot twenty-one; Joseph Mott, lot sixteen; William Orme, lot one; Thomas Vanasdel, lot two; John Vanasdel, lot three; James Knox, lots eleven and twelve; Edward Potter, lot seventeen; Naham Butcher, lot twenty-eight. Not one of these families or their descendants are now living in the township. William Speelman purchased lot thirteen, where he now resides.
About the year 1838 Isaac Dripps bought lot twenty-seven, and George Myers lot thirty-four, being the last two lots sold in the Parker section. This completes the first settlement of Milford township. The population in 1830 was four hundred and ninety-eight; in 1840, one thousand one hundred and fifty-seven; in 1850, one thousand three hundred and forty-nine; in 1860, one thou-
516 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
sand and eighty-four; in 1870, one thousand and twenty-four; in 1880, eight hundred and seventy-four.
The early settlers of Milford were honest, industrious, intelligent, and social. The price of land varied from one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for Congress land, to four dollars per acre for the choice military land, and but few of the early pioneers possessed more than a sufficient sum of money to purchase a quarter section or lot of land, so that the early pioneers were very nearly on an equality, and each one had enough to do to attend to his own business.
The dense forest, the hooting owl, and the howling wolf, have nearly all passed away with the log cabin, the ox team, the spinning wheel, and the hand loom.
At the time of the settlement of this country, grey wolves were quite numerous, and continually committing depredations against the settlers, by killing sheep; and sometimes pigs and calves would fall a prey to their ravenous appetites.
For the purpose of assisting in the extermination of these animals the commissioners would pay from the county treasury a bounty of three dollars each for wolf-scalps, the wolf to be killed within the limits of Knox county.
In the winter of 1824-5, a grand wolf hunt was planned and carried into execution. About the tenth of February, 1825, was the time fixed for a great slaughter of the wolves. The plan was to form a circle around a large territory, and march toward the centre. For the purpose of making this hunt a success, three lines or circles were plainly designated, one within the other. The outer circle, with headquarters at Bryant's mill, now Knox county infirmary, extended in a southeast direction along the Utica road, to the Granville road, about one mile north of Brandon, in Miller township; thence south along the Granville road to Burlington, now Homer; thence west along the road to the southwest corner of Milford; thence north along the west line of Milford, to the Columbus road; thence down this road to the place of beginning-inclosing all of Milford, about one-half of Miller, and some other territory. The second line enclosed several hundred acres in the centre of the outer circle; this second line was plainly marked. The third line enclosed some one hundred and fifty acres, in the centre of the second circle. The circumference of this outer circle was about. twenty-five miles, divided into twenty-five sections, twenty-five captains being selected, and each captain required to procure a company of at least sixteen men, and to take charge of the particular section designated for his company. The programme was published throughout this section of the country, and many old hunters and young men from the surrounding country came to join in the sport. The captains found no difficulty in procuring the number of men required, and most companies had twice the required number.
The day arrived, and at early dawn old men, young men, and boys, armed with guns, axes, and pitchforks, were hurrying to their places in the circle. Each captain, armed with a tin horn and a bottle of whiskey, was at his post. A few minutes after sunrise the first signal horn was blown at Bryant's mill, and the sound was repeated by the captains to the left, around the entire circle. This signal indicated that the line was complete.
After this thirty minutes were allowed for the captains to complete the lines, at the expiration of which time the horn was blown a second time at the headquarters and repeated by the captains both right and left around the entire circle; this was the signal to advance. About eleven o'clock the line had reached the second circle; here they halted for the purpose of distributing the men around the entire circle and making any other arrangements necessary. At this time deer could be seen running in every direction. About twelve o'clock orders were given to march to the inner circle. The deer became frightened and collected in groups of from twenty to fifty, and in their fright many escaped through the lines. When the inner circle was reached the deer that remained in the circle had all collected in one large group and ran around in the circle about one hundred yards from the lines, thus giving the gunners time to load their pieces and to be ready each time they came around. A continual sound of the rifle was heard along the line for more than an hour, and during that time many of the deer escaped through the lines and many were killed. The wolves were no where to be found-not one wolf was killed. The re-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 517
sults of the labors of the day were one man, by the name of Pratt, wounded in the hip by a rifle ball; some four score of deer were killed, many wounded, and perhaps one barrel of whiskey drank. The next night the wolves were howling as if nothing had transpired to disturb their quiet repose.
The first public road established in this township was the Columbus road located in 1808, which passes across the extreme northwest corner of the township. The second was the Sycamore road running east and west through the township near the centre; this road was located and established in December, 1818. About the year 1819 the Johnstown road was located. These three were the first highways established in the township.
From the time of the first settlement of Milford down to the present time agriculture has been the leading occupation of its citizens. Since about 1855 wool growing has been one of the leading agricultural pursuits, and Milford now ranks as one of the best wool producing townships in Knox county.
Among the former and present citizens, the following appear somewhat prominent:
Dr. William Hayes, from Baltimore, Maryland, came to Milford about 1830. He was at that time a young man, a physician by profession, in somewhat destitute circumstances, and lived for several years with Judson Lamson. He became a successful physician and a minister of the gospel. He preached several years for the Christian church, then several years for the Disciple church, and was also a successful farmer. Having purchased some four hundred acres of land he made wool growing the leading branch of his agricultural pursuits. He now resides in the State of New York.
Major Nathan Bostwick, at the age of twenty-one years was in destitute circumstances. He was a carpenter and joiner by trade, but by industry and economy became one of the well-to-do farmers. At the commencement of the war of the Rebellion he enlisted in the Twentieth regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and before the close of the war was promoted to the office of major of the same regiment. He now resides in Newark, Ohio.
Isaac Hawkins has been a very successful farmer and stock dealer. Thomas Larimore was for several years a successful farmer. His son Henry is now one of the intelligent and successful farmers. Philip Rimer and Isaac Larimore were for several years among the thrifty farmers. David Staggers and Smith Bishop each had purchased several hundred acres of land. They are both dead.
Among the early settlers was a man by the name of Amzie Stevens who was remarkable for his quaint proportions. He was a blacksmith by trade and lived in the north part of the township. It is said that his foot measured sixteen inches in length, and that his limbs and frame were of the same gigantic proportions. For the purpose of perpetuating the fact of his existence, and also to show to future generations, the fact that giants lived in those days among the early settlers, he sold his body to Dr. Maxfield, for his museum, but the doctor died long before Amzie gave up the ghost; therefore, when Amzie died he was buried the same as other mortals. He was buried in Morris township, but the exact spot is not known.
From 1838 to 1844 this township was especially blessed with a martial band, for general or company musters, fourth of July celebrations, and other occasions when their services were required. The members were Harris Hawking, jr., Noble Bostwick, and J. D. Hooker, tenor .drummers; Charles Hawkins, bass drummer, and Joseph Hawkins, Nathan Bostwick, and Albert G. Simons, fifers. They had an excellent reputation and were often invited to considerable distances on fourth of July and general training occasions
The citizens of Milford have always had their full share of patriotism. About 1841 a company of volunteer infantry was organized under the then existing laws of Ohio. Platt G. Beardslee was the first captain, and served a short time in that capacity, when Ephraim Hawkins was chosen captain. This company made quite a soldierly appearance, and for several years was one of the institutions of the township.
About the year 1851 the Pittsburgh, Mt. Vernon & Springfield Railroad company was organized for the purpose building a railroad from Pittsburgh, by way of Mt.. Vernon, to Springfield, Ohio. This proposed road was to be located along near the north line of Milford, on the same line now occupied by the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus
518 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
railroad. For the purpose of obtaining large subscriptions from the citizens along the line of this road, the company offered many inducements. No stockholder was to be required to pay more than the interest on the amount subscribed for twenty years. Each stockholder was required to give a bond, payable in twenty years, with interest payable annually, and the payment of each bond, with the interest thereon, was secured to the company by first mortgage on real estate.
This road, by representation and on paper, was to be the most important road on this continent, and as soon as completed the stockholders were to receive large dividends. It was represented that all the subscribers would be required to pay would be the interest on their bonds, for a few years, until the road should be completed, when the stock would become a very valuable investment. The company obtained bonds from the citizens along the line of this proposed road in Knox county to the amount of ninety-five thousand dollars, which bonds were secured by mortgage on real estate probably worth four hundred thousand dollars.The road was never completed, but the stockholders had to pay the full amount of their bonds with the interest thereon. This caused much embarrassment to many of the best farmers along the line of the proposed road.
Later about the same operation was repeated in the case of the road from Mt. Vernon to Columbus. Many of the farmers mortgaged their farms, and were compelled to pay. The roadbed was only partially made when the company broke up. The road was subsequently finished by another company.
A history of Milford would not be complete without particular reference to the record made by the citizens during the war of the Rebellion. They were always ready to contribute their full snare for the purpose of maintaining the Government. One circumstance-the building of the soldiers' monument at Mt. Vernon-will suffice to show their patriotism.
About they first of July, 1866, a subscription was circulated among the citizens of Milford by Major Nathan Bostwick and P. G. Beardsley for the purpose of procuring funds for the erection of the monument. By the tenth of July one hundred and nineteen persons had contributed the sum of nine hundred dollars. The following are the names of the subscribers and amount subscribed:
N. Bostwick ..............;$25 Mrs. A. Bostwick ....................$10
G. F. Bostwick........... 5 P. G. Beardslee......................... 25
Mrs. P. G. Beardslee ....10 William S. Bums ..................... 20
G. L. Benedict.............. 5 P. Beach.................................... 10
Mrs. Beach................... 5 J. W. Beach................................ 5
A. Bishop. sr. ............... 5 William Bishop .........................10
D. Bishop..................... 10 A. Bishop, jr.............................. 5
S. Bishop....................... 5 B. F. Bishop............................... 5
C. Bishop...................... 5 H. A. Bishop.............................. 5
G. D. Bishop ................ 3 D. J. Burgoon............................. 5
L. Brollier..................... 5 G. F. Beardslee.......................... 10
S. Callihan................... 10 J. W. Callihan ........................... 5
S. Crego . . . . . . . . . . . 5 M. Crego . . .... . . . . . . . . . . . ... 5
William Coe................. 5 Mrs. William Coe....................... 5
D. Coe........................... 5 T. D. Coe..................................... 5
B. Crisman. .................. 5 Mrs. H. Disney............................ 1
B. A. Disney................. 5 D. V. Disney.................................5
William A. Disney......15 Mrs. William A. Disney............. 10
Miss A. Disney ........... 5 G. R. Disney................................ l
L. L. Ellis..................... 5 S. Elder....................................... 10
J. E. Fisher.................. 1 J. Graham.................................... 10
Miss C. Haves............. 5 Rev. William Haves ................... 10
J. H. Hayes.................. 5 I. Hawkins ................................. 50
J. Hildreth...................10 W. Hildreth................................. 16
Mrs. W. Hildreth........ 5 Aaron Hill, jr ................................ 5
S. B. Hawkins............. 1 D. W. Hawkins ............................. 5
William H. Hawkins.....5 E. Hawkins................................... 5
J. H. Hull..................... 5 Dr. William H. Hayes.................. 5
Mrs. A. Jagger............. 5 A. Jagger................................... 15
S. Jagger...................... 5 H. S. Jagger ................................. 5
A. Jennings . . . . . . . . . 5 William Kinsey ............................ 5
J. I. Kinsey.................. 5 J. Lamson..................................... 5
Mrs. J. Lamson............ 5 G. J. Lamson ................................ 5
T. Larimore. ......... . ..20 Captain H. Larimore................... 20
N Letts....................... 15 William C. Manson .................... 5
William McKinney . . . 5 A. :Mitchell, , . . . . ................... 20
S. Mitchell . ............... 15 Mrs. S. Mitchell.......................... 5
J. Morey....................... 5 J. McMannis ................................ 5
D. Myres...................... 5 L. E. Mahan ................................. 5
J. Niebel...................... 10 William Niebel . .......................... 5
Mrs. William Niebel ... 5 Rev. J. Pitkin.............................. 10
Miss E. H. Pitkin...........5 Miss S. F. Pitkin.......................... 5
T. Pitkin....................... 5 L. Pickering ............................... 10
C. O. Poland................. 5 C. L. Poland................................ 10
J. Poland...................... 5 L. F. Poland.................................. 1
Esquire D. Patterson.... 5 T. Ross. .......................................10
P. Rimer......................10 Mrs. P. Rimer .............................. 5
Mrs. R. Rimer.............. 2 J. K. Rimer ................................... 5
F. Rimer ..................... 2 S. F. Redman.................................. 5
P. Smith......................25 Mrs. P. Smith................................. 5
Captain B. C. Smith . . 5 S. Smith . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . ............ 5
William Spelman ......10 L. H. Spelman.................................. 5
J. W. Spelman............ 5 D. H. Spelman................................ 5
W. P. Simons ............ 2 Uzziel Stevens ...............................17
E. Stevens................. 3 A. H. Stevens................................. 3
M. Thomas. . ............. 3 S. Teegarden.................................... 5
Mrs. S, Teegarden..... 5 S. Thatcher .................................... 10
D. P. Weaver............ 8 C. R. Weaver................................... 10
Mrs. C. R. Weaver..... 5 S. C. Wilson...................................... 5
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 519
Politically the vote of Milford has been very evenly divided for several years between Republicans and Democrats. But few, if any, elections gave been held for the purpose of electing township officers, within the last ten years, in which either party has elected its entire ticket.
At the State and Presidential elections in 1880, the Republicans had the largest majority that either party has had for several years.
One of the prominent places in the township is known as the Five Corners, situated near its centre. At this place are two churches and a school-house. About 1843 a post-office was established here called Milfordton; Emor Hawkins was the first postmaster. James Rice, the present postmaster, has held the office several years.
The most prominent place in the township is the village of Lock, situate on its south line. In 1836 Isham Abbot purchased the south part of lot ten in the Burnet section, and engaged in the business of making potash. In 1837 he laid out a part of his purchase into town lots, and named the place Lock. Isham Abbot was the first merchant that sold goods in the place.
In 1839 a post-office was established, Isham Abbot being the first postmaster; Peter Eddy was the second, Edwin Horton third, Eber Smith fourth, James Stearnes fifth, and Washington Hildreth the sixth, and present incumbent, and has held the office since 1860.
The village at this time has two dry goods stores, one school-house, three churches, one blacksmith shop, one harness shop, one cooper shop, one wagon shop, one boot and shoe shop.
On the twenty-fifth of November, 1871, a society of Good Templars was organized here, and has been in a prosperous condition to the present time. Regular meetings are held in Hildreth's hall every Saturday evening.
On the twenty-fourth of June, 1875, the Knights of Honor organized a society at this place. They met in-Hildreth's hall once in two weeks, on Tuesday evenings.
A cornet band organized June, 1879, consists of thirteen members, and has an excellent reputation, both for its professional ability and the intelligent and moral character of its members.
The first school in this township was taught by Frederick Carey, m a cabin on the northwest quarter of section two. As in other townships the first schools were "subscription" schools, and were taught in private cabins, there being no public funds for school purposes.
The first school-house, making any pretensions to respectability, was built on the extreme north part of the southwest quarter of section nine, and near the Johnstown road, about 1829. It was a substantial hewed log about twenty-two feet square, with a large fire-place and a brick chimney. This same house was frequently used for religious meetings, singing-schools, etc. Previous to 1830 schools were supported entirely by subscription. About this time the legislature passed an act appropriating a small fund for the support of common schools, and also made it the duty of the trustees to divide their respective townships into school districts. As the population increased it became necessary to form new districts, and make other necessary changes; many changes being thus made between 1830 and 1850.
In 1853 the legislature passed a school law, which in substance is the present school law. This law created the township board of education, and made all common schools free schools. The school-houses, with puncheon floors and fiat seats, have all disappeared-and in their places are comfortable frame school-houses, with the most approved mod modern desks, and other suitable school apparatus.
At the present time Milford has nine schoolhouses conveniently located, to accommodate all the youth in the township. The schools are small -and competent teachers are employed, which gives to all the young an opportunity to obtain a good common school education.
James Smith, of the Christian denomination, preached the first sermon, and organized the first church in the township. The date of the organization of this church is uncertain, but probably occurred about the year 1824. In a few years it disbanded.
In 1833 Henry Ashley organized a Christian church at the school-house near the Five corners. This church was in a prosperous condition several years. Among the members were Harris Hawkins, Steven Hawkins and John Stevens. This denom-
520 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
ination has had no church organization in this township since. 1839.
In 1835 the first Methodist church was organized in the south part of the township, by Rev. Saxby. This church then consisted of seventeen members, among whom were Silas Jagger, Samuel Dowell, John Brown and Rachel Brown. In 1836 this church built a house for public worship, called the Dowell meeting house, and in 1845 a new meeting-house in the village of Lock, where the church is located at the present time, being the oldest church organization now in the township. Rev. Craven is present pastor. Among the present members are Jacob Lambert, Albert Ponnel, Harvey Spitzer and Henry Disney. In 1835 a Methodist church was organized at the school-house near the Five corners, by Rev. Lynch. Among the members were Frederick Disney, Preserve Smith, and Job Beardslee. In 1838 this church built a small log house on the present cemetery ground, near the Five corners, where they held their meetings until 1848, when meetings were held in the school-house, and continued there until 1869, when the church disbanded, part of the members joining the church at Brandon, and others at Lock.
On the thirteenth day of May, 1844, the Baptists held a meeting at the Dowell meeting-house, for the purpose of organizing a church. Elder Daniel Waldon and Elder James Seymore were present. At this time and place the Baptist church was organized, and consisted of some twenty members, among them were Joseph Mantonya, Joseph Jacobs, Benjamin Quick, and John Wilson. Elder James Seymour was the first pastor, and Thomas Larimore the first delegate to the Baptist association. In the year 1874 this church built a house for public worship in the village of hock.
The Congregationalists have a church organization at the village of Lock. Among the original members of this church were Peter Eddy, Potwin Stoughton, and Nathaniel Stoughton. In 1844 the church built a house for public worship. Rev. Mr. McKeen is their pastor at the present time.
In 1839 Rev. John Pitkin, of the Presbyterian denomination, organized a church in the schoolhouse at the Five corners. The elders of this church were Cicero Camp. Martin Beach, and Nathaniel Jackson. In 1848 a house for public worship was erected at the Five corners, and for several years was very prosperous. About 1855 it began to decline, and about 1870 the organization was abandoned. Rev. John Pitkin preached in this township, and for this church thirty-two years. He was formerly from Vermont; and preached for the Presbyterian churches forty-four years. He now resides in Milford, and is very active for a man who has lived to see eighty-seven years.
In 1845 Rev. William Hayes organized a Disciple church at the school-house in the southwest part of the township. This church has been known as the First Milford Congregational (or Simmons) church. Soon after this church was organized a log meeting house was built where meetings were held until 1853, when the house was destroyed by fire. In 1854 this congregation built a new house. George Litzenburg, David Weaver, David Pattison, Benjamin Compston, and - Cook were among the original members. This church front the time of its organization to the present has been the most prosperous of any church in the township. At the present time it numbers one hundred and thirty members, among whom are Timothy Ross, John Litzenburg, James Scott, Levi Fadeley, and William Moreland. O. W. Kyle is the present pastor.
In 1845 Rev. William Hayes organized a Disciple church at the school-house near the Five corners. Emor Hawkins, W. A. Disney, William Hawkins, Stephen Hawkins, and Daniel Hawkins were among the original members. In 1848 this church built a meeting-house at the Five corners, which continued in a prosperous condition several years. At the present time it is in a very weak and sickly condition. Daniel Bishop and Daniel Haw kins appear as prominent members at this time.
In the winter of 1852-3 Andrew McNutt, of the United Brethren denomination, organized a church in a log house situated in the northeast part of the township. The most prominent members were Stephen Smith, Marcus Knowles, Nicholas Murrey, Bradley Smith, and Lovina McNutt. At first the members were very zealous and enthusiastic, but their ardor soon cooled, and the church had an existence of less than four months.
Successive justices of the peace:
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 521
1823-Nathaniel Stoughton. 1852-John Litzenburg.
" John Stephens. 1853-John Stephens.
1826-John Jeffries. 1855-Silas Daggers.
" Nathaniel Stoughton. 1857 John Stephens.
1829-John Jeffries. 1858-David Patterson.
" -Nathaniel Stoughton. 1860-George F. Beardslee.
1830-Sylvanus Mitchell. 1861-David Patterson.
1832-john Jeffries. 1863-Platt G. Beardslee.
1833-Sylvanus Mitchell. 1864-David Patterson.
1835-Smith Bishop, 1866-Platt G. Beardslee.
1836-Platt G. Beardslee. 1867-John H. Daggers.
1838-David L. Hill. 1869-John Graham.
1839-Platt G, Beardslee. 1870--John H. Daggers.
1841-David L. Hill. 1871-Isaac Monroe.
1842-Joseph Montoyna. 1872-Edward Cummins.
1845-Emor B. Hawkins, 1873-Brown K. Jackson.
1848 James Condon. 1875 John Graham.
" -William Orme. 1876-Brown K. Jackson.
1849-Smith Bishop. 1878-F. S. Rowley,
1851-William Orme. 1879-Brown K. Jackson.
CHAPTER LIX
MILLER TOWNSHIP.
TOPOGRAPHY - ANIMALS - ORGANIZATION - - NAME -FIRST
SETTLEMENTS A\D SETTLERS - POPULATION - PIONEER
MATTERS - ROADS - BRANDON - POST OFFICE-STORM -
CHURCHES - SCHOOLS - MILITARY MATTERS-JUSTICES OF
THE PEACE,
THE surface of this township is generally level, or, slightly undulating. 'there are no large streams of water within the township. Sycamore creek is the largest and runs an easterly course through the township, near the centre. Vance's creek, in the southern part, runs nearly parallel with Sycamore creek, and several small tributaries empty into these creeks, which form the natural drainage of most of the township. The northwest part is a heavy, yellow, clay soil, the east and south part has mostly a rich fertile soil. There is probably no township in Knox county that has a grade of soil so even as Miller. It produces most excellent grass, and any portion of it, by proper cultivation, produces excellent corn, wheat, oats and rye, various kinds of vegetables, and fruit in abundance. It was originally covered with a dense forest; the principal timber being beech, sugar or rock maple, elm, white and black ash, hickory, white and swamp oak, soft maple, black walnut, white walnut, wild cherry, buckeye, basswood, and sycamore, with a dense growth of underbush, consisting of spice-bush, black-haw, dogwood, blue-beech, ironwood etc. ?lung the streams and wet lands, were an abundant growth of leeks, wild onions, nettles, cow slips, and many other kinds of vegetation.
Among the wild animals, the deer, raccoon, porcupine, opossum, wood-chuck, and rabbit were very abundant. Wolves were too plentiful in an early day for sheep raising, and occasionally a black bear would make his appearance; wild turkeys and pheasants were very abundant. 'The last wild deer killed in this township was by David Ash, on the farm now owned by George Milligan, in the fall of 1839. The last wolf killed in the township was by John Milhawn, in the winter of 1829-30, on the north part of the farm now owned by J. P. Jones. The only black bear ever killed in this township by any white man was by Otis Warren, in the fall of 1817, on the south part of the farm now owned by Dana Miller. The wild turkey gradually disappeared, until about the year 1855, since which time, but few, if any, have been seen in this township.
Previous to September, 1815, this township, with several others, belonged to and constituted a part of Morgan township. On the fourth of September, 1815, Morgan township was divided by the commissioners of Knox county, forming a new township called "Sychamore." This township comprised what now constitutes the townships of Miller, Milford, Hilliar, and a strip one mile wide, from the west side of Morgan, and one section from the southwest corner of Pleasant.
September 15, 1813, an election was held at the school-house, in what is now sub-district No. 1, in Miller township, for the purpose of electing three trustees and a clerk, for the township of Sychamore. William Bair, . Jonathan Hunt, jr., and Lemuel Chapman were elected trustees, and John Mott, jr., clerk. The citizens were not satisfied with the name given to this township by the commissioners, and at this election they determined to give it another name. Several names were proposed by different persons, and each urged his claim to the right and privilege of naming the township.
The State election was to be held on the tenth of October following, and it was agreed that the privilege of giving the township a name should be
522 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
sold at public auction on the day of the October election. As whiskey was at that time considered a necessary article-almost a legal tender-it was agreed that the person giving the most whiskey, to be used for drink at future elections, should have the privilege of giving the new township a name. James Miller was the successful bidder, giving five and one-half gallons of whiskey, at that time worth about fifteen cents per gallon. At that election there were seventeen votes polled. From that time to the present, the township has been known by its present nameMiller. Mr. Miller was a prominent and influential pioneer.
Among those seventeen voters were Riverius Newell, Otis Warren, Samuel Rowley, Gideon Mott, Riverius Newell, jr., Aaron Hill, Abner Hill, Alpheus Chapman, and James Miller.
In 1862, of these parties but one was living, viz.: Aaron Hill. Mr. Hill died in Mt. Vernon in 1870, in the eighty-eighth year of his age, honored and revered by the whole community. His wife was a daughter of Riverius Newell.
The name of Sychamore, as a township, is known to but few in the county at this time.
Of James miller's family, James Warner, the old merchant, now living in Newark, who married Mary Bryant; Madison, of :Miller township, who married Sarah Hill; Henry H., John F., Dr. Volney and Dana, were the boys. Mrs. Rosannah Sanford, Mrs. Harriet Knox, Mrs. Sally Sanderson, Mrs. Lucinda Ellis, and Mary were the girls.
In 1818 a petition was presented to the commissioners praying for a division of Miller township, and for the establishment of a township from the west part of it, to be called Hilliar. August 20, 1818, the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and Hilliar was organized. In 1823 a petition was presented to the commissioners for the erection of a new township to be called Milford. March 3, 1823, the prayer of the petitioners was granted, and Milford was organized. In 1825 a petition was presented to the commissioners for the erection of the township of Pleasant. March 9, 1825, the prayer of the petitioners was granted. Thus Miller was reduced to its present boundaries; comprising a territory five miles long from north to south, and four and one half miles wide.
Miller township was composed of military lands, except the second or northwest quarter, which was unappropriated. The first, or northeast quarter, was owned by William Stanberry, and contained about twentyfour hundred acres. The third, or southwest quarter, contained about four thousand acres, and was owned by George Bomford. The fourth, or southeast quarter, contained about three thousand acres, and owned by George B. Jackson. In the year 1808, Jackson sold the first piece of land that was probably sold to any actual settler in this township.
John Vance, sr., from Rockingham county, Virginia, purchased lot number three and sold the west part of same lot to his son, John Vance, jr. Here, in 1808, John Vance, jr., erected the first log house, it is believed, in this township. This piece of land has been in possession of the Vance family down to the present time, and is now owned by Daniel Vance, a son of John Vance, jr. The same old log house is standing, and will most likely be kept in repair so long as the farm is owned by the Vance family. It is used for a granary, and looks as if it might be good for several generations to come. The first white child born in this township was born in this house. This was Hannah Vance now widow of Daniel Houck, who was born in this log house June 10, 1809. Daniel Vance, the present owner of this farm, is now sixty-eight years old, and is the oldest native of this township now residing in the township. He was born in this house.
Daniel Vance narrates the following facts in relation to those early times: At the time John Vance came to what is now Miller township the Indians were quite numerous. After Mr. Vance had built his log cabin (size sixteen by sixteen), and moved into it, he used a blanket for a door.
He worked away from home and frequently would remain away over night, leaving his wife and child (now Mrs. Hannah Houck) alone. The Indians were frequent visitors to the cabin of their new neighbors, and frequently brought venison and other game to exchange for corn. One Indian in particular seemed more warmly attached to the pale-face neighbors than the others. Upon one occasion he came to the cabin in the evening and asked Mrs. Vance if "Pale-face" would be home that night. Mrs. Vance's first impulse was to tell
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 523
him yes, as she did not know his designs in asking such a question, but she thought it would not do to tell him a falsehood, so she said no he would not be at home that night, as he went to work for corn. The Indian replied, "Pale-face shan't be hurt; pale-face need not be afraid." He then lay down in front of the door, and remained there all night. He did this on several occasions.
In, the year 1809 Abraham Cairnes, from Virginia, purchased lot number one in the Jackson tract, being the southeast corner of the township. The same year Andrew Thompson purchased lot number two.
In 1810 Cornelius Thompson, from Hardy county, Virginia, purchased lot number four. He died in a few years, leaving two children, one of which, Enoch Thompson, now resides in the township.
About 1812 Daniel Bailer purchased lot number nine, William Campbell lot number ten, and Henry Row lot number five. The latter has one son, Henry Row, now living in the township.
About 1816 Peter Weaver purchased lot number eleven. He has two sons now living in the township.
About 1816 George B. Jackson died and his lands remaining unsold, went into the hands of minor heirs. The balance of this tract was a wilderness for several years, and was not all occupied by actual settlers until about 1840.
In 1814 James Miller, Thomas Turner, and Otis Warren, from Vermont, immigrated to Miller township. James Miller purchased section number five, the northwest corner of the township, containing about six hundred acres. On this farm he erected the first frame barn and the first brick house built in this township. The barn was built in 1815; the house in 1824. He was a man of much energy and perseverance, and reared a large and respectable family. He died in 1844. The youngest son, Dana, now owns and resides upon part of this farm, being the only one of the Miller family now residing in this township. Thomas Turner purchased the northeast quarter of section six: he was about sixty-five years of age when he came here. He had no children. The first labor he performed after building was to clear a piece of ground for a graveyard for himself; it is the same now used for a graveyard in the northwest part of the township. He died April, 1826, aged seventyseven years. Otis Warren was an adopted son of Thomas Turner; preferred to hunt rather than labor, and would spend his money for whiskey instead of bread for his family. In 1815 Cyrus Gates, from Rutland, Vermont, purchased the southeast quarter of section six, where he resided until his death, August 21, 1867. He reared a family of nine children, of whom four are now living, and all reside in this township. The farm is now owned by Lewis Gates, the youngest son now living.
From this time to 18ig all this quarter of the township was occupied by actual settlers; and it is now almost impossible to give a correct account of them ail. William Hildreth, from Connecticut, in 1817, purchased the northwest quarter of section four, on which farm he died in 1828. He reared a family of five sons, of whom only two are now living. They both reside in this township-Arnold W. and Epaphro. Rufus Ward, from Vermont, purchased the northeast quarter of section four. This same farm is now owned by his grandchildren. The southwest quarter of section four, was purchased by Alpheas Chapman, from Vermont, who had one daughter, Mrs. John Colopy, now residing in the township. In 1817 Nathaniel Lash purchased the southeast quarter of section four. Phineas Squires, from Vermont, purchased the southwest quarter of section three, and reared a family of eleven children, of whom but one is now living. He resides in this township. Royal D. Simons purchased the southwest quarter of section three, of Phineas Squires in 1818. Jacob Simons, from Vermont, in 1813-14, purchased the northwest quarter of section eight, and sold it to 1817 to John Olney who came from Rhode Island in 1816. Emor Harris purchased the northeast quarter of section seven, where he lived until his death in 1851. He was elected to the office of justice of the peace seven times. He was very much respected in the community, and has one son and and one daughter, now living in the township. James Sealts purchased the northwest quarter of section seven. He is living at the present time, being the only man among the first settlers of this quarter of the township now living. His age is about ninety-two years. Levi, Hiram and Manley. Rowley, Riverius New-
524 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
ell, Silas Mott, John Mott, and his sons, John, Gideon and Samuel, Lemuel Chapman and Aaron Hill were among the early settlers. Salmon Hooker came from Vermont in 1816; his widow is now living in the township, aged eighty-six years. Aaron Hill was born near Boston, Massachusetts, emigrated to this county in 1811, and shared in the privations and toils of life in the new country. During his residence in this township he worked as a carpenter and joiner, a blacksmith and a farmer, and with true Yankee instinct, lent a hand at whatever work the wants of the country required. Of his family of five, Norman N., of Mt. Vernon, is the sole survivor. Riverius Newell (the father-in-law of Aaron Hill) was one of the first, and many yet believe him the first, settler in the township. He died in Mt. Vernon, and was buried by the Masons, March 30, 1835.
About 1820 Richmond Hillard purchased the east half of the northwest quarter of section six. This was the last piece of lend held by the Government in this township, and is the same piece now owned by J. M. Hillard.
The first, or northeast quarter of the township, owned by William Stanberry, was divided into twelve lots of two hundred acres each, about 1815. About 1816 Timothy Colopy and William Colopy, brothers, formerly from Ireland, were the first to locate in the northeast quarter of the township. Timothy purchased lot No. 6. He had a good education, was a man of good natural ability, and much respected by his neighbors.
William Colopy purchased lot No. ii; he has one son, Timothy, and one daughter, Mrs. Marquand, now living in the township. His widow is yet living, aged about ninety-two years, and is probably the oldest person now living in the township.
In 1818 Benjamin Chambers, from Pennsylvania, purchased lot No. 8, on which he lived until his death in 1839. His son Benjamin, who now owns the farm, came here with his father in 1818. His wife, who, was Miss Rachel Walker, was born in Morris township, this county, in 1802; * she is the oldest person now living in this township, that was born in Knox county.
John Smith, about the year 1818, purchased the
* This is probably an error, as it is generally believed there was no white settler in the county as early as 1802.
lot in the northeast corner of the township, and died on his farm in 1877. His two sons, Robert and Finley, now own the farm.
In 1818, John McCardle and David Morton purchased lot No. 5.
In 1820, Isaac Lesser and Samson Shadley purchased lot. No. 7.
In the same year Solomon Shafer purchased lot No. g, and James Fletcher lot No. 10.
The third, or southwest quarter, owned by George Bomford, was divided into lots of one hundred acres each in the winter of 1829-30, and was offered for sale in the spring of 1830. The first sale was of lot No. 23, being the same now owned by Joseph West and N. A. Chambers. It was purchased by William and Alpheas Baker. Within the next two years all the lots adjoining the Granville road were sold.
Among the first purchasers were James Osborn, lot No. 19, John Osborn, lot No. 32, Thomas Osborn, lot No. 35. William Beadle purchased lots Nos. 24, 25, and 33; Richard Mawn and Orville Fosdick the south part, and Thomas Fosdick the north part of location lot; and Dr. Stimpson and Luther Hall, lot No. 12. Of these families, none are living in this township at this time..
Enoch Thompson purchased lot No. 34, and resides on the same lot at the present time. Lanson Crippen bought lot No. 13; his son Henry resides on the south part of the same lot.
S. F. Vose, Samuel Egely, William Chambers, and Alpheas Beadle, were among the early sutlers on this road.
In 1834 John Conaway, from Coshocton county purchased lot No. 18; Reuben Hall lot No. 19; and in the same year erected a saw-mill on Vance's creek, in the west part of the Bomford section.
In 1835 a road was established from the Sycamore road south, through the west part of this section. Soon after this road was located the lots remaining in this section were sold.
The first purchasers were as follows: Samuel Mason, lots Nos. 1 and 8; Thomas Ash, lot No.2z; Oliver Squires, lot No. 7; Luther Freemam, lots Nos. 10 and 17; John Conaway, lot No. 9; William Paul, lot No. 28; Amos Hilliar, lot No. 27; Bryant Thornhill, lot No. 30; John Butcher, lot No. 38; Samuel Hunter, lot No. 3; Levi Ward,
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY - 525
lot No. 6; Jacob Oldaker, lot No. 11; David Row, lot No. 16; S. F. Vose, lot No. 21r ; Levi Dilaplane, lot No. 26; James Cunningham, lot No. 36. In 1839 Joseph Pearson purchased lot No. 20, the last lot owned by-Bomford. This completes the first settlement of the township.
The population of Miller township in 1830 was 548; in 1840, 977; in 1850, 1,064; in 1860, 996; in 1870, 929; and in 1880, 827.
The principal occupation of the first pioneers of this township was clearing the land and farming. Zanesville was the place where most of the trading ; was done. In the spring of the year considerable quantity of maple sugar was made, taken to Zanesville and exchanged for salt and groceries. Their ' clothing was mostly manufactured at home, as each j farmer kept a few sheep, and the wool was spun and wove into cloth by members of the family, and made into clothing for winter. A small piece of ground was sown in flax by each farmer, from the ' lint of which the summer clothing was manufactured; all the labor of producing this clothing being performed at home. All farm products were sold at very low prices-wheat seldom so high as forty cents a bushel, and corn brought from eight to fifteen cents. A first class cow would sell for eight or ten dollars, and all other farm products at equally low rates. Even at these rates it was almost impossible to get the cash. Money was scarce and almost all kinds of business was carried on by barter. The merchants would sell their goods to the farmers on time, the farmer agreeing to pay with wheat, or pork, when he slaughtered his hods. The wheat and pork were again exchanged by the merchant for goods. Thus trade was carried on with a small amount of money. The wheat was made into flour and packed in barrels, the pork was also packed in barrels, and a considerable quantity of corn converted into whiskey. All this made a demand for cooperage, and Miller furnished her full share of coopers. Rufus Ward, Levi Ward, Cyrus Gates, Emor Harris, James Sealts, Oliver Squires, and Chester Coleman were, all engaged in coopering for several years. Since 1850 the farmers of this township have been largely engaged in wool-growing, and it is among one of the largest wool-growing townships in the county.
The first public road located in Miller township was the Granville road, leading from fit. Vernon to Granville, and was established about 1810. The second was the Bryant's Mill road, leading from Bryant's mill to Utica. This mill was situated on Dry creek, near where the Knox county infirmary is now located, and the road was established in 1815. It has been changed materially from its first location, and a large part of the original road has been vacated. That part from the north line of lands owned by M. C. Bone, to the north line of lands owned William McCuen; also from the Granville road west to J. M. Hillard's, thence north to the township line, is nearly on the original survey; the remainder of this road has been vacated. The third road is what is called the Sycamore road, and was located and established in 1818. It has been changed in many places from its original location.
The village of Brandon is situated near the centre of Miller township, at a point where the Sycamore road crosses the Granville road The first house was built by James Hare, on the northwest corner, about five rods from the Sycamore road, and about two rods from the Granville road. The second house was' built by C. L. Bennett, on the south side of Sycamore street, near where Dr. Hatcher now resides. .bout 1824 Phineas Squires purchased the land in the northeast corner-he probably owned sixty-eight acres, then all a wilderness. He built a hewed-log house, near where J. C. Harstock now resides, which is worthy of notice. It was the largest log house ever built in this township; that is, there were more logs used in the building than any other log house built in this part of the country. The exact dimensions cannot be given at present, but it was probably about forty-five feet long, twenty-four feet wide, and two stories high. It took two lengths of logs to reach the length. The partitions and floors were of logs hewn on three sides. The chimney was built in the centre of the house, with a huge fireplace on two sides of it. There was probably nearly as much solid timber in this house as there is in all the houses in the village at the present time. Phineas Squires was captain of the militia, and the neighbors called this house the "war office."
About 1830 Manley Rowley purchased one acre of land in the southeast corner, on which he erected
526 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
a building for a hotel, being the same property now in use for that purpose.
In 1830 Simeon A. Bagley and Enos Barnes formed a partnership in the blacksmithing and wagonmaking business. Barnes purchased James Hare's lot. In 1831 they built a brick shop on the lot now occupied by J. R. Milligan's residence. This shop was about fifty feet long, twenty wide and one story high, with a brick partition through the centre, making two rooms, one for a wagon shop the other for blacksmithing. Soon after they had everything in good working order, the shop with all its contents was destroyed by fire. Bagley then sold his property and left the place. Barnes put a new roof on the building, made other necessary repairs, and continued blacksmithing in one of the rooms several years. The other room was used several years for a school-room and meeting-house and some time for a dwelling. In 1839 Enos Barnes sold his property to H. C. Lockwood, which included some fifteen acres on the northwest corner. Previous to this time John Mott had sold a piece of land, eight rods wide, along Sycamore street, from the corners west to the section line, and there had been three cabins built on this piece of land. In 1842 John Mott owned all the southeast corner, and he and H. C. Lockwood made an agreement to lay out a certain amount of their lands into town lots. According)), they employed a competent surveyor, and some fifteen acres of the southwest corner were surveyed and staked off into lots, streets and alleys, when a dispute arose about the exact location of the Granville road. The surveyor went to Mt. Vernon to examine the records, got drunk, and it was several days before he returned. Previous to this time the place had been known by the name of Four corners. During the absence of the surveyor a dispute arose about the name for the new town, Lockwood claiming the right of naming it, and gave the name of New Windsor. Mott wished to give the town the name of Brandon. These parties waxed warm in their dispute, and when the surveyor returned they had abandoned the project of making a new town. From that time to the present the village has been known as Brandon. It never was regularly laid out into town lots, each person purchasing lots to suit himself, for size, shape and location. Levi Rowley in 1841 was the first merchant. A postoffice was established on the fifteenth of February, 1839, called Hildreth, and Miner Hildreth was the first postmaster. About 1832 Hildreth resigned, and H. C. Lockwood was appointed postmaster; about this time the name of the post-office was changed to its present name-Brandon. J. R. Milligan, the present postmaster, has held the office since 1869.
Sycamore Valley Lodge No. 553, I. O. O. F., was instituted at Brandon July 31, 1873, by the most worthy grand master, John E. Bell, of Cincinnati, assisted by Past Grands T. P. Fredericks, W. R Hart, J. R. Wallace, and G. R. Martin, of Mt. Vernon.
The charter members were John L. Slater A. M. Welsh, H. C. Harris, Adam Williams, W. S. Harrod, N. A. Chambers, H. J. Glaze, Orlando Truman, John C. Jacobs, G. H. Phillips, J. Hartsook, Morgan Beaver, William Beaver and T. D. Poland.
In 1873 the following officers were duly installed: G. H. Phillips, N. G.; J. C. Jacobs, V. G.; H. J. Glaze, financial secretary; H. C. Harris. secretary; D. F. Poland, treasurer.
Those initiated at the first meeting were A. W. Brown and W. H. Evans. The officers, July 1, 1880, were as follows: J. C. Hartsook, N. G.; L. French, V. G.; G. W. Stout, financial secretary; A. W. Brown, secretary; A. Williams, treasurer.
During the year 1880, aided by friends of the order, the lodge erected a fine two story frame building for lodge purposes, on the corner of Granville and Sycamore streets. The first floor is intended for a store room, and the second is devoted to lodge purposes. The entire cost of the building and furnishing was about one thousand dollars.
On the fifth of August, 1880, the hall was dedicated to the use of Odd Fellowship in an impressive manner by Most Worthy Grand Master Gravatt, of Columbus, assisted by Past Grands Thomas Trick and W. R. Hart, of Mt. Vernon lodge No. 20; J. B. Warren, of Quindaro Lodge NO. 316; J. H. Hamilton, of Ellicott Lodge No. 267, and W. O'B. Honey and H. S. Bunnell, of Sycamore Valley Lodge No. 543
Brandon has, at this time, two churches, one
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 527
town hall, one steam saw-mill, one cider mill, two wagon shops, one blacksmith shop, one dry goods store, one grocery, one hotel, one boot and shoe shop, one harness shop, two physicians, one artist, and one butcher shop.
Isaac Coleman is the oldest resident of the village, having resided here since 1836.
L. W. Gates has held the office of notary public in this place since 1868.
This township has been visited several times with severe wind storms; the most disastrous of these occurred on the twentieth of January 1854, passed across the township in a northeast direction, and was from forty to sixty rods in width. It first struck the township at the west line of lot number nine, in the third quarter of the township. At this place it was not very severe. It then crossed lot eight and the east part of lot one, owned by John Robinson, taking off the top of his log house; next it struck lot two, owned by John Turner, and completely demolished his house and other buildings, scattering fences and everything movable, in wild confusion. Mrs. Turner had an arm broken grain sack owned by Mr. Turner was found after the storm near Danville, a distance of about twenty miles. It next struck the woods of George Milligan, making a clean sweep of his standing timber, and then crossed the farms of David Watson and J. W. Baxter, passing south and east of their buildings. Their fences and everything movable in its course, was left in wild confusion. It next struck the farm of Chester Coleman, taking off the roofs of his house and barn, and passing to Dr. Wheaton's, where J. W. Baxter now resides, completely demolishing his new frame house and barn. The doctor was in the barn at the time, and when it had left him he found himself among some rubbish, with one arm broken. The Union church, standing on the site now occupied by the Methodist Episcopal church in Brandon, was entirely destroyed. The brick school-house, occupying the present site of the town hall, at the time occupied with a school of about fifty scholars, was blown down to its foundations, but no one was killed or dangerously injured. The roof was blown from what is now the Baptist church. Several buildings in the west part of the village were more or less damaged. Oliver Squires resided in a brick house a few rods north of the village; on the approach of the storm he and his family took refuge in the cellar. The house was blown down to its foundation, likewise his barn, and everything movable scattered about promiscuously. The storm continued its northeasterly course, crossing the east line of the township a short distance from the northeast corner, causing a general destruction of fences and everything movable in its course. The house of Mr. Slater, situated in its course, met the fate of others, being blown to the ground.
About 1825, in May, a severe tornado passed over the extreme southeast corner of this township. At this time John Vance had three sons at work on the farm, who saw the storm approaching and attempted to make their way to the house; the storm overtook them; they took shelter by a large black walnut log in the open field; the wind rolled the log over them, killing two of them and breaking the other boy's leg. The course of this tornado was in a northeast direction, and it was from eighty to one hundred rods in width. The east part of section six, in the second quarter, had been visited by a tornado not long before the first settlement of the township.
The first pioneers of Miller paid but little attention to religious matters. Elder John Mott was a Baptist minister, and made his home here in an early day. Elder James Hare, a Baptist minister, came here in 1822. Daniel Barler and perhaps a few others were also Baptists. The Colopy families were Catholics, and perhaps some others made profession of religion, but no church was organized prior to 1830. In that year a church was organized by Isaac N. Walter, of the Christian denomination. Among the leading members at the time of its organization were Simon A. Bagley, Daniel Rowley, Leonard Simons, and Enos Barnes. At this time there was no house for public worship in the township, and meetings were held at private houses in the winter season; in the summer they were held in the grove. This church soon became one of the leading institutions in the community. In 1832 a house was built for public worship on the present site of the Methodist s Episcopal church at Brandon, his being the first house for public worship in Miller township. In 1854 it was destroyed by a tornado. In 1858 this
528 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
church built another house one and one-half miles west of Brandon, which is now called Sugar Grove church.
Since this church was organized in 1820 it has passed through many changes in membership. Those that composed the first church organization have all passed away, and the first pastors have likewise passed off the stage of action. At this time it is composed of about forty members. Among the former pastors of this church were J. N. Walter, Samuel Marion, Harry Ashley, Daniel Long, Edward Lewis, James Hayes, J. W, Marvin, and Mills Harrod. Andrew Hanger is the pastor at the present time. Amzie Harrison, Nelson Smith, Joseph Johnson, and Ruben Chrisman are among its leading members.
In 1833 Harry Ashley, of the Christian denomination, organized a church in the southeast part of the township. Among the members at the time of its organization were John Weaver, Andrew Oldaker, John Row, Martin Lohr, and James I Oldaker. The members that first composed this church have all passed away except James Oldaker, who has been a member from the time of its organization to the present.
This church held its meetings at the schoolhouse, in district No, 1, until about 1844, when a house of worship was built. This church is known by the name of Fairview. J. W. Marvin was pastor twenty-seven years. It is now the largest church organized in the township, having sixtythree members. Douglas Black is the pastor.
Since 1830 the Christian denomination (or New Lights as they were sometimes called,) have been the most prominent religious organization in Miller township, and its membership has been composed of some of its very best citizens.
About 1834 the Methodists organized a church at the house of James Nolan, in the northwest part of the township. Among the leading members were James Nolan, John Conaway, Joseph Hare, Andrew McNutt, and William Allison. In a few years this church organization was abandoned.
In 1841 the Methodists organized a church at the school-house in district No. 6, south of Brandon, on the Granville road. Among the members were S. F. Vorse, John Osborn, William Beadle, and Alphea Beadle.
About 1843 the Methodists organized a church at the school-house in the southwest part of the township. Among the members were John Buxton, John Conaway, and Charles Conaway.
In 1851 a Methodist church was organized at Brandon. Miner Hildreth and Erastus Rouse were among its leading members. These three churches continued in a sickly condition until 1863, when they were consolidated into one church at Brandon, where they built a church edifice, since which time this church has been in a prosperous condition. Rev. Craven is the pastor at the present time. Its members number about sixty. Among the leading members were F. A. Buxton, Adam, William and Nathaniel Hunter and Gideon Long.
In 1853 a Methodist church was organized in the east part of the township. A house of worship was erected near Hunt's Station. Its members mostly aside in Pleasant township. At the time of its organization its members were John Sliger Jonathan Wood and James Strong, of Pleasant;, Christian Stinemates and John Phifer, of Miller. This church is known by the name of Asbury; Rev. Cravan is the pastor at the present time. Probably fifteen or twenty members reside in Miller, among whom are Thomas M. Jones, George Sliger and Peter Sout. This church is in a prosperous condition.
About 1834 Rev. Pitkin, of the Presbyterian denomination, commenced preaching in the Union church at Brandon, and continued two or three years, but probably no Presbyterian church was organized at that time.
In 1852, under the leadership of Dr. Ramsey, Dr. Wheaton and Levi Beach, a Presbyterian meeting-house was built at Brandon, dedicated by Rev. Swift, and an effort was made to organize a church, but it does not appear that any church of the Presbyterian denominaiton was ever organized in the township.
In the fall of 1856 Elder Raymond, of the Baptist denomination, held a series of meetings at Brandon, and organized a church in the month of January, 1857. Among the members at the time of its organization, were Emor B. Harris, Isaac Stull, Philip Stull, J. H. Davis, H. C. Welch, A. M. Welch, and Rodham Tulloss. In the spring of 1857 the church purchased the house formerly
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 529
built by the Presbyterians, which house they have continued to occupy to the present time. This church has continued to exist since the date of its organization. Elder Lewis is the pastor at the present time. Among the members are J. H. Davis, William Wynkoop, H. J. Glaze, Isaac Stull and N, A. Chambers.
It may have been observed that the first two settlements were in the extreme, corners of the township, the southeast and northwest. A school-house vas built near the line in 'Morgan township, and near the southeast corner of Wiper, which accommodated the scholars in the southeast corner of Miller for several years.
The first school-house built in Miller was situated on the Granville road, one mile north of Brandon. This was a log house, and built about 1817 for the accommodation of the scholars in the north part of the township. In the spring of 1825 two school-houses were built, one on the farm now owned by Dana Miller, a short distance east of the road west of his house; the other on the farm now owned by Lewis Gates, and about midway between his residence and the cross roads west of it.
Previous to 1830 schools were supported by individual subscription. About that time the legislature passed an act, appropriating a small school fund for the support of, common schools; and also for the purpose of establishing school districts. Under the provisions of this act the township was divided into school districts, the first in the southeast corner of Miller, and including a part of Morgan. The schools were continued in the house formerly built in Morgan township. The second district was in the north part of the township-and continued to use the house north of Brandon. The third district was composed of the northwest part of Miller, and the northeast part of Milford. This district erected a new house on the north part of the farm now owned by J. P. Jones.
The trustees of the townships had control in districting the townships. In 1833 a new schoolhouse was built in district No. 1, and on the site of the present school-house in sub-district No. 1. As the population increased it became necessary to form new districts and make other necessary changes, and but few years passed from 1832 to 1850 that some changes were not made with district lines. In 1850 there were nine school-houses. In 1853 the Ohio legislature passed a school taw which in substance is the present school law. It created the township board of education, and made all common schools free schools.
The first frame school-house in the township was built in 1839, in what is now sub-district No. 6, about one and one-half miles south of Brandon. In the same year the first brick school-house was built in Brandon. The same house was afterward destroyed by a tornado.
In 1867 the board of education determined to reduce the number of sub-districts to eight, and erect a new school-house for each sub-district; the houses to be of brick, twenty-four feet wide and thirty feet long, with a height of ten feet from floor to ceiling. The house in sub-district No. 3 was built in 1857; No. 5 in 1870; Nos. 1 and 6 in 1872; No. 7 in 1873; No. 2 in 1874; No. 8 in 1876; and No. 5 in 1878. The first seven were built by L. W. Gates, the last one by N. W. Buxton.
The schools in Miller are small; good teachers are employed, and each child growing up in this township has an opportunity to obtain an education suitable for the business transactions of life.
A history of Miller township would not be cornplete without the following from its record during the late war:
Total number enlisted from Miller during the war .. . . .. ... 114
Total number killed in the army . . . . . . ..... . . . . .. . . . . . . . 5
Total number died during the war. ........................................16
The following regiments were represented by enlistments from Miller: Fourth, Sixteenth, Twentieth, Thirty-second, Forty-third, Sixty-fifth, Seventy-sixth, Seventy-eighth, Eighty-second, Ninety-sixth, One Hundred and twenty-first, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth, One Hundred and Forty-second, and One Hundred and Ninety-Seventh volunteer infantry; Third West Virginia Cavalry, First Ohio cavalry, First Marine brigade, Second Heavy artillery, and Eighteenth United States infantry.
The sanitary records show that two societies were organized by the ladies of Miller township for the purpose of furnishing necessary supplies for the sick and wounded soldiers. They continued their labors from the spring of 1863 to the close of the war. The estimated value of articles furnished various hospitals amount to the sum of six hun-
530 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
dred and twenty-six dollars and seventy-six cents. The successive justices of the peace have been:
1816-John Mott, jr. 1849-Emor Harris.
" John J. Tulloss. 1850-Emstus Rouse.
1819 John Mott, jr., " -Rufus Ward.
" John J. Tulloss. 1851-W. B. Beardslee.
1820-James Miller. 1853-Erastus Rouse.
1822-John Mott, jr. " -Rufus Ward.
" John J. Tulloss. 1856-Erastus Rouse.
1825 John J. Tulloss. " -Rufus Ward.
" John Mott, jr 1858-Jesse Babbs.
" James Miller, 1859-Rufus Ward.
" -Royal D. Simons. 1861 Jesse Babbs.
1828 John Morey. 1862-Rufus Ward.
1831-Timothy Colopy. 1865 James Oldaker.
" -Emor Harris. " -Rufus Ward.
1832-Nathaniel Lash. 1868-Charles J. O'Rourke.
1834-Emor Harris. " -Rufus Ward.
1836-E. S. S. Rouse, 1871-Lyman W. Gates.
1837-Emor Harris. " - W. A. Hunter.
1839-E. S. S. Rouse, 1874-Charles J. O'Rourke.
1840-Emor Harris. " -W. A. Hunter.
1842-E. S S. Rouse 1875-John.B. Conaway.
1843-Emor Harris. " -Daniel Fishburn.
1845 James Osborn. 1876-Lyman W. Gates.
1846-Emor Harris. " -Newton A. Chambers.
1848 James Osborn. 1879-Henry C. Harris.
1879-Newton .A, Chambers.
CHAPTER LX.
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
ERECTION- TOPOGRAPHY-TIMBER-EARLY SETTLERS -
LATER RESIDENTS OF PROMINENCE -ROADS-MILLS -
CHURCHES- ELECTIONS-LIST OF JUSTICES-TOWNSHIP OFFICERS-AREA-POPULATION- PRODUCTION-VALUATION.
MONROE township shall be composed of the seventh township in the twelfth range-thus reads the brief entry made in the journal of the county commissioners, March 9, 1825. The new township was named in honor of President Monroe.
This part of the county consisting of a high undulating table land was originally covered with glacial drift. Erosion has intersected this township with narrow ravines, and filled it with small streams, leaving a succession of well rounded hills of very graceful outline, characteristic of the Waverly group. This peculiarity is only modified by outcrops of the Waverly conglomerate. The soil is mainly composed of the debris of the olive shales, and moderately productive. The township is well watered, and a considerable portion of it is still covered with the original forest.
The principal stream in the township is Schenck's creek, which traverses it from northwest to southeast, and is fed by numerous springs. This stream took its name from General W. C. Schenck, who at one time owned a large tract of land in the township. The southwestern portion of the township is drained by Centre run, which empties into Owl creek just below Mt. Vernon. The timber found in Monroe is mainly white and red oak, sugar and soft maple, hickory, white and black walnut, gum beech, white and black ash, elm, sycamore, cherry and line.
Joseph Coleman was one of the earliest settlers of Monroe township. He emigrated from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, in 1806, and lived that year in the Haines' settlement, south of Mt. Vernon, and the next year moved to the Daymude place, on Schenck's creek. At the first election ever held in the county, at Mt. Vernon, April 4, 1808, Mr. Coleman was elected trustee for the county, as division into townships had not yet taken place. He also served as justice of the peace from 1841 till 1853. He died in 1830, aged fifty-six. None of his children now reside in the county.
Seely Simpkins was born in New Jersey in 1791, and came with his father to Knox county in 1804. They first located on Owl creek above Mt. Vernon, but in 1807 moved to Monroe township, and located on the Wesley Clements' property on Schenck's creek. Here John Simpkins, Seely's father, died and was buried in 1809. Mr. Simpkins is the eldest of twelve children, and is himself the father of twelve children, having married Christina Dial, September 2, 1813. His wife having died he married Levina Durham, September 14, 1846, and is now in the ninetieth year of his age, living in the northern part of the township.
David Johnson was also an early settler. He located on Schenck's creek, where Henry Barker now lives, and erected a block-house as a protection against the Indians. To him belongs the credit of planting the first orchard in Monroe township. In 1820 he erected a saw-mill on his property, it being the first of the kind in the township. Mr. Johnson came to Knox county from
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 531
Washington county, Pennsylvania, but the exact date of his settlement in Monroe township is not known. His name is found on the records of Knox county as grand juryman in 1809.
Mr. Johnson failed in business about 1829, and his property was purchased by James Smith, esq., of Mt. Vernon, who occupied the same until 1837, when he sold to Mr. Barker, and moved to Lancaster.
Another early settler of some notoriety was an eccentric character named James Smith, who was the first to locate at Monroe Mills. His cabin stood on the west bank of the creek, not far from the site at present occupied by Ranna's store. His name is to be found on the first jury empanelled in this county.
John Adams came from Frederick county, Virginia, and located in the extreme southwest corner of Monroe township in 1811. He was a quiet and industrious citizen, and continued to reside at the same place until his death, which occurred August 20, 1829.
Rev. William Thrift moved from Morris township to Monroe at the close of the War of 1812, and located near where Commissioner Stephen Craig now resides. Mr. Thrift was a Baptist minister, and as such was authorized to solemnize marriages by the first court of Knox county, held at Mt. Vernon, May 2, 1808.
William Ireland was also an early settler. He located on Schenck's creek, one-half mile above Gilcrest's mill, where he resided until the present year, when he moved to Morrow county, Ohio.
Later residents of prominence were the Dowds, Craigs, Lauderbaughs, Dixons, Clementses, Becks, Irvines, Skeens, Youngs, Hunts, Hulls, Berrys, Barkers, and Millers.
The history of the early roads laid out by the county in Monroe township is very similar to that of other townships, and does not require special mention. The State road to Wooster was laid out by Benjamin Martin, Joseph Eichar, and James Carpenter, commissioners appointed by the legislature of Ohio, and a copy of the survey filed in the office of the commissioners of Knox county, September 1, 1818.
The Coshocton State road was surveyed by John Stewart, and returned to the county commissioners by Thomas Watt and John Hawn, jr., April 12, 1822.
Schenck's creek in its passage through Monroe township has considerable fall, consequently, affords good facilities for milling, and this circumstance was early taken advantage of by the settlers in the erection of both saw- and grist-mills on its banks. In 1825 Robert Gilcrest built a saw-mill on the property now owned by Allison Adams, and in 1833 he erected a grist-mill with three run of burhs and all the machinery to constitute a first class mill for that day. In 1837 this mill ground forty thousand bushels of wheat, the flour from which found a market in Zanesville. Mr. Gilcrest operated the mill till i845- when he sold out to Peter Skeen, who operated it about three years. A carding machine and fulling-mill were attached to this mill in 1837 and successfully operated till 1847, when Mr. Paige, the operator, built a fulling-mill of his own farther up the creek. The flouring-mill was owned and operated by different persons until 1876 when it became the property of William Vian, and on the night of April 13, 1876, it was destroyed by fire and never rebuilt,
Mr. Davis erected a saw-mill on Schenck's creek one half mile below Gilcrest's mill in 1828, and a short time thereafter erected a grist-mill and added a fulling-mill and carding machine. This mill was operated successfully for several years after Mr. Davis' death which occurred in 1857.
The next mill built on Schenck's creek was near the western line of the township by Scott Gilcrest and Truman Purdy in 1835, and in 1844 Henry Boynton and Jacob Davis erected a grist-mill near the same place, now known as the Monroe Mills. The mills did a good business and the proprietors branched out into various enterprises. They established a store and post-office in 1846, farmed, and dealt in stock. In 1860 Mr. Boynton failed and made an assignment of his property to Jacob Davis, James Graham, and James E. Woodbridge. They operated the mills a few years and then turned the property over to the Knox County bank. Nelson and George Critchfield purchased the mills of the bank for four thousand dollars and operated them for seven or eight years. Jacob Horn, Hiram Magers, Jacob Lybarger and James McElroy at various times held an interest in the prop-
532 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
erty. James McElroy is the present proprietor. The Lhamon mills are located on the Wooster road near the north line of Monroe township. The original mill was a saw-mill erected by Jacob Lutz in 1840. Mr. Lutz owned the mill but a short time when it came into the possession of Jacob Davis, who erected a grist-mill adjoining the same containing one pair of flouring buhrs and one set of choppers, both of which are still in use. In 1868 he old saw-mill was torn away and the present one erected by Abner Lhamon. The mills are now owned and operated by William Lhamon.
A sawmill was also built on- the J. W. Perkins' property by John Merron but its history is unimportant.,
A tannery was built about the year 1815, on the H. H. Young plan, by Joseph Ropers, who sold it to Joseph Robinson in 1821. Mr. Robinson operated it for four or five years, when it was abandoned.
Gilbert & Spindler's carriage, wagon and blacksmith shops are located at Monroe. mills. The blacksmith shop has been in operation about forty years. The carriage and wagon shop was erected in 1861, by Harmon Lybarger, who operated it till the spring of 1864, when he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-second regiment Ohio volunteer infantry, and died at Portsmouth, Virginia. The shop was sold by his administrator to Silas A. Spindler, who still operates it, manufacturing wagons and buggies of all kinds, which are ironed by John C. Gilbert.
In 1846 the first stare was opened at Monroe mills, by Boynton &: Davis, since which time the following persons have engaged in merchandizing at that place: William Shrimplin, Lewis Ralston, John McFarland, James Bebout and M. J. Ranna. The first school-house in the township was built on the C. A. Young property in 1814, and the pioneer teacher was William Marquis. The hewed log house was erected by John Adams in the southwest corner of the township in 1818, and the first brick house was built by James Adams on the Hunt property about the year 1825. Later, brick houses were built by William Marquis and Allen Scott.
Ichabod Coleman, son of Joseph Coleman, claimed to be the first white person born in the township.
In 1830 Andrew Miller kept tavern where the Coshocton road crossed Schneck's creek, since known as Monroe mills, and about the same time a hotel was opened on the Wooster road, known as the "Four Mile House." It was kept at various times by Clementine Wolverton, R S. Clements, Charles Bird, William Harold and others. It is no longer used as a public house.
James Martin was the first to introduce fine cattle into the township. In 1860 he brought some fine short-horn Durhams from Kentucky, and has been very successful in their propagation.
Pleasant Valley Methodist Episcopal church was originally organized at Brown's meeting-house Howard township. Some of the original members were Joseph Brown, Anna Brown, Philip Brown, Mary A. Brown, John Smith, Margaret Miller, Thomas McMann and wife, John Tym and his wife, Elizabeth, John Hunter and wife, Isaac Critchfield and his wife, Sarah, Joel Bartlett and wife, Buckley Willis and his wife, Susan, Richard Lybarger and his wife, Rebecca, Walter King and his wife, Sarah, Alexander Lybarger and his wife, Margaret, George Lybarger, and his wife, Sarah, William King and his wife Mary Ann, John Hardin and his wife, Sophia, A. K. Fobes and wife, Daniel L. Fobes and wife. Joseph Brown was the first ctassleader, about 1830
In 1857 it was determined to move the church to Morgan township. Accordingly Joseph Hill donated one half acre of ground situated one-half mile south of Monroe Mills, as a building site for a new church. A building committee consisting of Joseph Hill, Nelson Critchfield and Thomas Caldwell was appointed, and a frame building thirty by thirty-five feet was erected in October of the same year. The new church was completed and the first sermon preached in it by Rev. Wolfe June 12, 1858 The dedication sermon was preached by Rev. Daniel Lambert. Subsequently one-half acre adjoining was purchased for a burial ground and the first persons interred therein were Mary, wife, and Adelaide, daughter of Basil L. Critchfield. This church attained its maximum strength in 1864 The membership was then about sixty. Various causes have tended to weaken it till at the present time the entire membership is but nineteen. J. C Gilbert is classleader, and John Bennett and J
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 533
Stough, stewards. Rev. Lorenzo B. Shaw is the present pastor. A Sunday-school of about forty members is attached, and George Bennett is superintendent.
Ebenezer Methodist Protestant church was organized' in August, 1842, by Rev. John Lamb, at the school-house on the Wooster road, near the hotel known as the Four Mile house. The early meetings were held in the above named schoolhouse about two years. The original members were Robert Thompson and wife, Jacob Bricker and wife, Joseph Goodale and wife, George Benson and wife, Jeremiah Belt and wife; James Kennedy and Lyman Benson. The first house of worship was erected by this congregation in 1844, and the second in 1872. The latter is a neat frame thirty-two by forty feet and is located on the Wooster road one-half mile northeast of the Four Mile house. The successive pastors of this church are as follows: John Lamb, John Dorcas, Moses Scott, A. S. Robinson, J. M. Winn, Thomas Potter Samuel Catlin, John Lamb, N. S. Brown, W. H, Marshall, D. B. Dorset', E. S. Hoagland, J. Fister, John McFarland, C. C. Ball, J. H. Hamilton, W. A. Sampson, E. W. Grimes, J. M. Woodward, L. Bowman, G. W. Hissey and J. H. Hamilton. A Sunday-school is connected with this church, the date of the organization of which is not now known. The present superintendent is David Adams.
Monroe township was organized in 1825, but no record of early elections has been preserved. The list of justices of the peace, is as follows: Thomas Dixon, 1821 and 1824; William Beck, 1826; Thomas Dixon, 1831and 1834; M. N. Scott, 1836; Thomas Dixon, 1838; M. N. Scott, 1839; Joseph Adams, 1840; Joseph Coleman, 1843; M. N. Scott and Thomas Dixon, 1843; Joseph Coleman, 1844; M. N. Scott and R. S. Clements, 1846; Joseph Coleman, 1847; M. N. Scott and R S. Clements, 1849 Joseph Coleman, 1850; Isaac Irvine, 1851; M. N. Scott and R S. Clements. 1852; John Craig, 1854; R. S. Clements and Henry Boynton, 1855 Joseph Hutchinson, 1856; R. S. Clements, 1858 John Hutchinson and James Hutchinson, 1859 Robert S. Clements, 1861; William Hartsock, 1862; John A. Beers, 1864; Allison Adams, 1865 John A. Beers, 1867; Allison Adams, 1868; William Hartsock, 1870; Allison Adams, 1871; John A. Beers and Allison Adams, 1874 and 1877; Allison Adams, 1879, George W. Clements, 1880.
From 1855 to 1867 the elections were held in White Hall school-house number five. In the latter year a town house was built in the centre of the township where the elections have ever since been held.
The present board of township officers is constituted as follows: Allison Adams and George W. Clements, justices; J. W. Clements and Adam McGough, constables; James W. Davis, clerk; Solomon Doup, James Paige, and LeGrand Marshall, trustees; William Grubb, treasurer; John W. Perkins, assessor; Allison Adams, land appraiser; Solomon Doup, E. S. Graham, Henry Patterson, Rush Stough, and W. B. Dowdz, board of education.
Monroe township is five and one-half miles square, and returns for taxation 16,465 acres of land. Its population in 1830 was 437; in 1840, 1,258; in 1850, 1,324; in 1860, 1,085; in 1870, cultivation in 1880 was 6,296; the number of acres in pasture was 7,490; acres, in wheat, 1,853; bushels of wheat, 24,306; acres in oats, 563; bushels of oats, 18,089; acres in corn, 1,978; bushels of corn, 58,536; acres in meadow, 1,563 ; tons of hay, 1,073; acres in potatoes, 61; bushels of potatoes, 5,553 pounds of butter 48,000; pounds of wool, 22,612; number of horses, 458; assessed value of same, $16,962; number of cattle, 1,055; assessed value of same, $14,541; number of sheep, 5,349 assessed value of same, $9,970; number of hogs, 1,504; assessed value, $2,631;moneys and credits, $40,431.
534 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
CHAPTER LXI.
MORGAN TOWNSHIP.
LOCATION-NAME-TOPOGRAPHY-ANCIENT WORKS- AG
RICULTURE - FIRST SETTLERS AND SETTLEMENTS -
SKETCHES OF THE PIONEERS-SCHOOLS-CHURCHES.
MORGAN belongs to the southern tier of townships, with Pleasant on the north, Clay on the east, Licking county on the south, and Miller township on the west. It was named after General Daniel Morgan, a noted officer in the Revolutionary war. As originally organized, May 2, 1808, it comprised within its limits the present townships of Morgan, Miller, Hilliar, Milford, the west half of Clay, the south half of Pleasant and the southwest quarter of Harrison. In the general reorganizations of townships in March, 1825, it was reduced to its present limits. It is well watered with numerous streams. Sycamore creek, the principal stream, rises in Milford township, flowing generally east and south through the townships, and with Tumas run finds its way into the Licking. Big run, which rises near the village of Martinsburgh, crosses the northwestern part, passing into Pleasant. The Rocky fork heads in the eastern part of Morgan, running in a southeasterly direction into Licking county. These are the principal streams, but several small brooks are found in various parts. Muck Shaw run and Owl creek water the northern part.
There are several mounds in the township, one of these, on the farm of James Campbell, is about five feet high and forty feet in diameter. Some years since it was opened, and ashes and charcoal were found, but no remains of human beings. In the immediate vicinity an unusually large number of Indian arrowheads were found by the early settlers. The other mounds have not yet been explored.
Agriculturally considered the land is excellent. The soil is very rich and productive, and Morgan township is noted for the wealth of its farmers, and the large crops of wheat, corn and vegetables raised.
The timber presents the usual varieties in Ohio -----beech, sugar, poplar, walnut, ash and oak. Although much of this timber has been cleared away, there still remains large forests of red and white oak, beech, sugar and poplar, and it is claimed that there is more valuable timber in Morgan than any other one township in the county. The land is owned comparatively by a few individuals, and is not divided into small farms as is general throughout the county.
The inhabitants are made up largely of Virginians and Pennsylvanians, and their descendants. The Pennsylvanians preponderate. There is also a sprinkling of the New Jersey and Maryland elements. There are but few foreigners to this or the other townships in the southern part of the county. The absence of the foreign element is a noticeable feature, and probably but few localities in Ohio, of equal population, can compare with it in this respect.
No colored persons are residents of this township at this time.
The first settlers located their lands in the western part of the township.
John Green was probably the first white man to settle within the present limits of Morgan. He came from Maryland about the year 1805 or 1806, entering land in the northwestern part of the township. He was a prominent citizen in early times, and served as justice of the peace and in other local offices for many years.
Cornelius Bartalow, sr., was one of the very first to settle here. He emigrated from Martinsburgh, Virginia, in 1806, and located forty acres of military land near the village of Utica, Licking county. When he came Indians were numerous, and were about all the neighbors he had for some years. After residing some years here, he removed to Clay township, near the village of Martinsburgh, where he died in 1814, and was the second person buried in the cemetery at that place.
Azariah Davis came from Green county, Pennsylvania, and settled in Utica, Licking county. He was born in 1756, and was a participant in the war for independence. The season prior to his removal from Pennsylvania, he harvested a crop of wheat which he threshed and hauled to Zanesville, Ohio, where he had it ground into flour and stored in a mill at that place. As often as the necessities of his family required it he went to Zanesville and procured flour from this storage. By this precaution his family was well provided with breadstuffs
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 535
until he could clear up a patch of land and raise a crop. Although Mr. Davis lived several years among the Indians, he had little difficulty in living peaceably with them. He raised a family of nine children, all of whom are dead but Mrs. Rachel Stevens, who resides at Utica, Licking county, in the eighty-fourth year of her life.
Jacob Hanger came from Virginia about the year 1809, and settled in the southeastern part of the township. He was married to Miss Rebecca Davis about 1796, and reared a family of twenty children, ten sons and ten daughters. He was a man of strict integrity and figured quite prominently in the early history of Knox county. He served twenty-one years as justice of the peace in this township, and was otherwise honored by his neighbors with local offices. He died in 1834.
The Pumphreys were among the pioneer families of Morgan who were quite prominent in its early history. They were zealous Methodists, distinguished for their piety, intelligence, and hospitality, and their home was the stopping place of all the early itinerant ministers of that denomination. Caleb, the patriarch of the family, died in 1817. .There are none of the family now residing here.
John Sellers, still living in Morgan, is the largest landholder in the township. He is the owner of eleven hundred acres of valuable land. Mr. Sellers came from Green county, Pennsylvania, in 1823, located two hundred and fifty acres of land in the northern part of this township, erected a cabin, returned to Pennsylvania, and permanently removed to Morgan in 1824, where he has since resided. He is possessed of great energy and perseverance, which is no doubt the secret of his success in accumulating property. He is now about eighty-five years of age. In connection with Mr. Seller's history it would be proper to mention the memorable tornado, known as the "Burlington storm," which passed over his place on the eighteenth day of May, 1825. It originated near Burlington, now Homer, Licking county, entering the southwest corner of Morgan, and sweeping across the township from southwest to northeast. Its path through this township was from one-half to three-fourths of a mile m width. It caused a terrible destruction of timber, fences, cabins, etc. Thousands of forest trees were uprooted or twisted off at the tops; houses were torn down or unroofed, fences prostrated and the rails. carried through the air, shingles were blown from Homer into this township, and a featherbed was taken up from a dwelling house and lodged in a tree in Harrison township, several miles distant. James Honey had five head of cattle and three horses killed, and Mr. Sellers had many acres of timber prostrated. After it became thoroughly dry he filed it, and it was completely consumed. He was saved the labor and expense of chopping down the trees and rolling the logs together, and thus the old adage was verified that "it is an ill wind that blows nobody good" The roads in the township lying in the path of the tornado, were all blockaded by the fallen timber, and all the able bodied men in the neighborhood were busy in removing the debris, and bringing order out of confusion. Providentially no one was killed or severely injured in this township, although there was a loss of life in other places where the storm passed by. It spent its force among the Mohican hills.
Aaron Davis came from Essex county, New Jersey, in 1819, and was at one time the only Whig voter in this township. In course of time he was reenforced by another Whig, a Mr. McFarland.
Mr. Davis was of Revolutionary stock, his father, Joseph Davis, having served several years in the patriot army, being for a time one of General Washington's body-guards. When the British army occupied Elizabethtown, New Jersey, he was engaged to be married in two weeks, and had purchased his wedding suit, which the British secured with the other plunder, and he afterwards saw an English officer wearing it. The proposed marriage was postponed until after the close of the war.
Aaron Davis resided many years in this township, and was an honorable, upright citizen and an active working member of the Martinsburgh Presbyterian church. He died in 1842.
John F. McLain, another prominent citizen, removed to Morgan from Pennsylvania in 1828. He was a large landholder and extensive stock dealer, and was several years part owner of a store in Mt. Vernon. He died in 1858.
The Bells have long been prominent citizens both of Morgan township and of Ohio. James Bell emigrated from Green county, Pennsylvania,
536 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
in 1815. He hauled his household goods in wagons from Pennsylvania, and was sixteen to seventeen days on the road, settling in the eastern part of Morgan township,-where he resided until his death, which occurred in June, 1867. His son Samuel, who was born in 18oo, and who now resides in Licking county, was also an early settler in this township, having removed with his father in 1815 from Pennsylvania. He was married in 1819 to Miss Betsey Hannah, by whom he had ten children ; only one, his son Lee, is now residing in Morgan township. Another of his sons, William Bell, has long been a prominent Democratic politician of Ohio. He has served several terms as sheriff and auditor of Licking county; was elected secretary of State in 1864, and served one term as railroad commissioner, by appointment of Governor Bishop. Samuel Bell is still living in the enjoyment of reasonable health and a competency. He has long been an earnest member of the Bell Disciple church.
John Clutter came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1818, and settled near the centre of the township. He has been twice married, and reared fourteen children. He has been a member of the Owl Creek Baptist church thirty-six years, and has served several terms as justice of the peace. Eight of his children are still living, and all but two residents of Knox county.
Jacob Sperry was an early settler, and influential man in this township. He was born in Hardy county, Virginia, April 24, 1789, and removed to this township in 1812, settling about two miles from Utica, Licking county. He was married January 6, 1813, to Miss Mary Wilson, of Virginia, who bore him seven children. He was a prominent and active member of the Owl Creek Baptist church, not in its early history, but in later years. Mr. and Mrs. Sperry were killed by the cars of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad while crossing the track, with their team on the second of August, 1872.
James Honey came from Virginia in 1818, and settled on the third military section. At that date wild animals were numerous, and he had much trouble in protecting his flocks of sheep from depredations by wolves. His neighbors, when he first moved into the township, were John Green, Jacob Sellers and John Lash. For some years he hauled his wheat to Zanesville, where he sold it for thirty-one and one-fourth cents per bushel, and paid five dollars per barrel for his salt. He is still a resident of Morgan, and is eighty-seven years old.
David Campbell, who was born in Ohio county, Virginia, in 1793, came to Morgan in 1824, locating one hundred and forty acres on military lot, No. 14. He was married in 1817, to Miss Maria Vance, of Virginia. They had three children: James, Elizabeth and Margaret. James still resides in the township, and is a Republican politician of some local prominence, and a leading member of the Baptist church. Among the early settlers in addition to those mentioned were Abram Debolt, Moses Marion, John Boyle, John Dunlap, William Beam, Samuel Harrod, Philip Melker, Philip Smith, Abner Brown, George Cooper, John Harris, Jonathan Agnew, John Vance, Michael Mills, Titus Rigby, Cornelius Callihan, Abraham Carnes, Isaac Beam, Smith Hadley, David Debolt, Bernard Reece and William Green. As far as ascertained they are all dead.
The Browns were a prominent family, and among. them several good hunters. On one occasion the elder Brown, needing some articles that could not be had without money, determined upon securing a bear, as bear hides always brought the cash. For this purpose he went out one moonlight night, taking his dogs, his flint-lock rifle and one of his sons, the latter carrying an axe. The dogs were successful in treeing a bear, and Mr. Brown fired at it, but on account of the insufficiency of light only wounded it in the leg. This was, however, sufficient to bring bruin to the ground, where he was fiercely attacked by the dogs, several of which he wounded in the fight, and one was killed. The boy came bravely to the rescue with the axe, and the bear was finally dispatched. Adventures of this character were frequent in those days.
The first wedding in the township was that of Thomas Huston and Elizabeth Brown, and the first funeral was that of Calvin Brown, and the second that of a Mrs. McLain. John Harrod was the first person buried in the Owl Creek Baptist cemetery, and Ziba Leonard, sr., the second. James and Asa Beam probably built the first saw-mill. It was situated on the head waters of the Rocky fork.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 537
John Lash also erected a saw-mill at an early date. There have never been any gristmills built within the present limits of the township.
The Baltimore St Ohio railroad runs north and south across the entire western part of Morgan, but there is no station in the township.
The first road was the one leading from Mt. Vernon to Newark, which was cut out about 1805 or 1806. The second was the Utica and Martinsburgh, laid out about 1817.
Ziba Leonard, jr., now living in Martinsburgh, claims to have taught the first school. The schoolhouse was a small log cabin, on Benjamin Bell's farm. It had no floor and greased paper constituted the windows. It was in the summer when he taught this school, and neither the teacher nor any of his scholars wore any covering on their feet during the entire term.
Among the students who attended this school were Luther Brown, Eleazer Brown, Joseph Hunt, James and Asa Beam, Maria Spratt, Uriah Reece, and John Hays. Mr. Leonard charged one dollar and a half per scholar for tuition, and says he "never got half of that." James Kirkland probably taught the second school in the township. All of the householders in Morgan township who had children of sufficient age, patronized these schools. The log school-houses have been supersceded by neat and commodious brick and frame buildings.
Probably the first church in Morgan was built in the western part, on the Mt. Vernon and Newark road, about 1807 or 1808, and was of logs. Benjamin Leonard, a bachelor, and a very zealous Presbyterian, was the prime mover in its erection. In this house, on the Sabbath day, a few individuals religiously inclined would assemble. Leonard would lead in prayer, and read a sermon from an old book published in England two hundred years ago, and which is now in possession of Ziba Leonard. He would also appoint prayer meetings to be held on week-day evenings, in the settlers' cabins; and he never neglected an opportunity to sow the seeds of gospel truth. His earnest, unpretentious labors were blessed, and their fruits are seen to this day. The Martinsburgh Presbyterian church, one of the strongest country churches of that denomination in the county, sprung from this little band of Christian pioneers; for after worshiping some years in this little log church the organization was transferred to Martinsburgh and merged into the Presbyterian church of that village.
The Owl Creek Baptist church was organized in 1809, by the Rev. Amos Mix. The society worshipped in a log church from 1809 to 1842. In the latter year a neat and substantial frame house of worship was erected, at a cost of six hundred dollars. The present brick structure was built in 1865, and dedicated February 4, 1866. Its cost was forty-two hundred dollars. This old organization is one of the strongest Baptist churches, both numerically and financially, in the county. Rev. Amos Mix was its pastor from 1809 to 1817; Thomas Rigdon, 1817-33; Revs. Ashbrook and James Berry, 1833-4; Rev. Kauffman, 1834-7; James Seymore, 1837-42; D. E. Thomas, B. Thomas, and Benjamin H. Pierson, 1842-4; D. D. Walden, 1844-7 ; C. Platt, 1847-52 ; C. E. N. Willoughby, 1852-4; N. Martin, 1854-7; Rev. Wilson, 1857-8; Rev. Fink, 1858-9; Rev. Stanley, 1859-63; John Lefts, 1863-8; D. B. Simms, 1868-71; C. King, 1872; L. Yarnall, 1872-4; A. J. Wiant, 1874-8. The present pastor, J. Tudor Lewis, settled with the church in May, 1879.
The original number of members was twelve. The present membership is one hundred and ninety-six. This church has been visited with several revivals. During the pastorate of the Rev. D. E. Thomas, in the winter of 1843, sixty were added to the church; in the winter of 1854, thirtyseven; in the winter of 1859, fifty; and in the winter of 1865, forty-eight. 4 parsonage was erected in 1858. A Sabbath-school was organized in 1840; W. O. B. Honey is the present superintendent.
The Bell church, Disciple, was organized in 1829, and in 1834 a neat church edifice was erected on the farm of Benjamin Bell, sr., in the southeast corner of Morgan township, and on the line between Knox and Licking. The original membership was ten, viz: Rev. James Porter, Benjamin Bell, sr., Stephen Harris, Isaac Henthorn, and their wives; Elizabeth Bell and Isaac Stout. Rev. James Porter preached for this church several years.
The society has had no settled pastor for a long time, but Elders John Secrest, John Reed, Reuben
538 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Davis, John Sargeant, James Mitchell, Jesse B. Ferguson, Arthur Critchfield, James J. Moss, William Hayes, J. H. Jones, Andrew Burns, Abner Lemert, David Sharpless, David Weaver, Jonas Hartzell, Isaiah Jones, David G. Mitchell, and Benjamin Bell, jr., have preached at various times to the congregation. Being contiguous to Licking county, a majority of the members are residents of that county. There are about one hundred and fifty members at this time. The Bell church is one of the strongest, numerically and financially, of the Disciple churches in the county. A flourishing Sunday-school is sustained.
There are no other church organizations or edifices in the township at the present time. In the early history of Morgan, the Methodists held frequent meetings in the houses of the settlers, but they did not erect a church for worship. John Green, esq., and Caleb Pumphry were very zealous members of the Methodist church at an early day, and labored ardently for its success, but the organization finally disbanded, and the members connected themselves with the Utica and Martinsburgh Methodist societies.
Rev. James Scott, the pioneer Presbyterian preacher of Knox county, frequently preached to the pioneers of Morgan. The citizens generally are believers in the religion of Christ.
There are .no villages in this township. An effort was made to establish one at an early date in its history; some lots were sold but no buildings erected thereon, and the project was abandoned. The people do their trading at Mt. Vernon, Utica and Martinsburgh.
There are no physicians or lawyers resident here, nor has any post office been established in Morgan since its organization, the inhabitants receiving their mail matter at Utica and Martinsburgh.
The press is liberally supported by the citizens of this township, a large number of .both secular and religious papers being in circulation.
CHAPTER LXII.
MORRIS TOWNSHIP.*
SITUATION-WILLIAM DOUGLASS-DOUGLASS' MILL-SAM-
UEL H. SMITH-CLINTON LAID OUT-THE OHIO REGIS-
TER-LAMES LOVERIDGE - COLONEL ALEXANDER ENOS -
OTHER EARLY SETTLERS-ROADS-STORES-DISTILLER -
IES-SCHOOLS- CHURCHES- MILLS- TANNERIES- CLIN.-
TON-ELECTIONS-JUSTICES.
AT the time of the first division of Knox county into townships, the territory now comprising Morris township was equally divided between Wayne and Clinton townships. Occupying a central position, being watered by the two principal branches of the Kokosing, and affording some of the finest agricultural lands in the county, this section naturally attracted home seekers at the earliest period in the history of this part of the State.
The western half of the township-as at present constituted-comprises two military sections of four thousand acres each; the southwest quarter of the township being known as the Canfield section, and the northwest quarter as the Armstrong section. The eastern half was laid out in lots of one hundred and sixty acres each. The former half is mostly level bottom land, an alluvial deposit with a gravelly substratum, and few springs, while the eastern half is moderately undulating upland, abounding in good springs.
One-half mile east of Fredericktown, on the bank of Owl creek, may be seen a mound about twenty feet high and sixty feet in diameter, surrounded by a ditch and embankment, the latter being outside the former. On the land of William Loveridge, north of the former site of Clinton, exists a relic of the Mound Builders, in the form of a circular ditch and embankment, very closely resembling a modern circus ring. It is about forty yards in diameter, the ditch being inside the embankment.
William Douglass left his home in Morris county, New Jersey, and wending his way to the far west, pitched his tent on the bank of Owl creek, just below the junction of its principal branches in 1804, the first permanent settler in Morris township. At this time the settlers in and' around Mt. Vernon were obliged to go to Newark or Lancaster to mill,
* Hon. William Bonar furnished much of the material for this chapter.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 539
and Mr. Douglass determined to relieve them of that inconvenience by erecting a mill on his land above Mt. V Vernon. With such a man as Douglass, to conceive an idea was equivalent to its execution; so calling to his aid his son Aaron he built a dam, dug a race and erected a saw-mill, preparatory to the erection of a grist-mill; but as that undertaking involved considerable labor, time and expense, he put a corn cracker in his saw-mill, which served a good purpose until the grist-mill proper was completed in 1806. He also built a fulling-mill and carding machine about 1808. These were of inestimable advantage to the settlers.
The utility of the carding and fulling establishments can hardly be appreciated to the extent of their merits at the present time, when the old-time process of domestic manufacture of clothing material has been superceded by modern woollen and cotton factories. Each farmer kept a small flock of sheep. The wool from these was taken to the machine and carded. It was then spun and woven in the family, taken 'to the fulling-mill and finished into cloth, suitable for men's wear, or, if designed for women's wear, merely colored and pressed.
So highly were Mr. Douglass' achievements valued by his appreciative neighbors that the county commissioners made this entry on their journal, May 2, 1809.. "The tax on William Douglass' mill is ordered to be taken off as it is a public benefit."
The first grand jury impaneled in Knox county May 2, 1808, included William Douglass, and at the first election held in Clinton township on October 11, 1808, he was elected county commissioner. In the War of 1812 Mr. Douglass ten dered valuable service as captain of a volunteer rifle company, and in that capacity escorted the Greentown Indians beyond the lines.
Captain Douglass having some surplus capital in 1816 he invested the same in Owl Creek bank stock, and at the settlement in 1818 he was found to have paid on his seventy shares the sum of six hundred dollars. Being a man of enterprise and desiring a field of operation commensurate with his ambition, the gallant captain in 1830 sold out to Anthony Banning and removed to Indiana with his son Aaron, where they have .both since died.
His daughter Phoebe married Richard Ewalt, and Sarah married James Rogers. They are both still living in the county.
James Walker, sr., came from Pennsylvania in 1804 and located near Douglass' mill site, just south of where Mr. Thomas Banning now lives. He occupied a little log cabin, said to have been built by Captain Fitting in 1803- Mr. Walker was the Father of Philip, Joseph, Alexander, James, Robert, and John Walker, who figured more or less in the history of the county. His daughter, Sarah, married Stephen Chapman, and Mary, his other daughter, married Solomon Geller, and subsequently moved to Morrow county. Mr. Walker and his wife died many years ago and were the first persons buried in Clinton graveyard, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, burying-grounds in the county. No stone now marks the spot where they lie. Let these lines be their monument.
John Simpkins, with his son Seeley, arrived from Virginia in 1804, and settled temporarily about a mile above William Douglass', on the place now owned by George Cassell, between the main branches of Owl creek. He subsequently removed to Monroe township.
To Samuel H. Smith, from New England, Morris township is indebted for the first and only town laid out within its borders. With true Yankee enterprise Mr. Smith conceived the idea of laying out a town and selling lots at a considerable advance on the first cost, to those who might follow him beyond the beautiful Ohio in quest of homes.. In pursuance of this idea he prospected up the Kokosing, and having, as he thought, found the land of promise, he blazed a tree-the recognized sign of possession-wended his way to Franklinton, procured compass and chain, returned and laid out the town of Clinton, in section four, township seven, and range four, of the United States Military district. The new town contained one hundred and sixty lots, streets, public square, and all the appointments of a first-class town-on paper. The plat was duly acknowldged before Abraham Wright, justice of the peace for New Lancaster, December 8, 1804, and received the name of Clinton, in honor of Governor DeWitt Clinton, of New York.
Mr. Smith by his energy and business tact soon
540 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
succeeded in drawing around him a colony of mechanics, laborers, and businessmen, which soon gave to Clinton not only the appearance, but the actual advantages, of a central town. The first house erected on the new town plat was Mr. Smith's. Samuel Ayres got out the timber and Amariah Watson, James Loveridge, and William Douglass, assisted in raising it. On the second day of March, 1808, Mr. Smith was appointed county surveyor; being the first to fill that office in Knox county. He was also a member of the first grand jury. In 1807 Mr. Smith opened the first store in Clinton. It was kept in a small frame building a few rods west of the present residence of Uriah Walker, a large brick building erected by Mr. Smith in 1808 for a hotel. Being a man of varied accomplishments he was not contented with being surveyor, storekeeper, and landlord, but must needs play tanner also. To this end he built a tannery in 1812, at the junction of Clinton street with the Mt. Vernon and Frederick road, and advertised to pay two dollars and fifty cents per cord for oak bark. In July, 1813, Mr. Smith induced Mr. John P. McArdle to engage with him in the publication of a newspaper at Clinton. A press was put up in a small log building on Clinton street, west of Smith's store, and there the first newspaper ever printed in Knox county, styled The Ohio Register, made its appearance, printed and published every Tuesday by Smith & McArdle. The warming fortunes of Clinton and the rising greatness of Mt Vernon caused the office, with all its material, in 1815, to be transferred to the latter place. In 1809 Mr. Smith also figures as worthy master of Mount Zion Masonic Lodge No. 9, organized at Clinton that year, and in 1814, at a meeting of the Grand lodge at Chillicothe, Samuel H. Smith was the representative. During the time of his mercantile operations he received a good deal of money, and on one occasion he threw a shot-bag full of specie on the counter and said that any one who could run away from him with that bag, might have it. Taking him at his word Henry Smith, his nephew, an active young man, grabbed it and ran, pursued by the .owner. After coursing down the road some distance, and finding the old gentleman gaining on him, the young man climbed over into the field to escape, but Samuel caught him, and he gave up the bag amid the shouts and cheers of Captain Nye's cavalry company, who witnessed the ludicrous scene. It appears that with all his energy, tact and business qualifications, Mr. Smith could not stand the enervating effects of prosperity. He became involved, failed in business, and emigrated to Texas, where he was at the outbreak of the Rebellion, engaged in surveying.
James Loveridge was a native of Morris county, New Jersey, who in 1805, in company with his wife, sought shelter at William Douglass' place until he could erect a cabin of his own. Just above Douglass' cabin a small stream put into the creek, and this Loveridge followed up until he discovered a beautiful spring, which caused him to select that spot as his future home. The only Yankee then in the country claimed to have located the land, and proposed to sell it to Loveridge at a higher price than the Government rate, which was then two dollars per acre. Concealing his intentions from all but his wife, Loveridge slipped off to the land office, examined the record and finding the land unsold entered it himself, returned with his patent in his pocket and bid defiance to speculation. In the spring of 1806 he built his first log house near the spring above mentioned, and as soon as he got a spot of land cleared he sought out Johnny Appleseed and laid in a supply of apple trees, which he planted just above the spring, and there a number of the same trees are still standimg patriarchs in Pomona's domain. One of them measures nearly eight feet in circumference, and another recently cut down exhibits seventy annual rings or growths. In the year 1807 Mr. Loveridge built the first tannery it Knox county. It stood just below the road leading from Mt. Vernon to Mansfield, and near the house now occupied by William Loveridge, son of James. The old log building was replaced by one of brick in 1822, which is still standing; the tannery business having been carried on at the same place for seventy consecutive years, William Loveridge relates that when the prisoners taken at Hull's surrender were subsequently returning home, many of them stopped at Clinton in a destitute condition, and that his father cut up his hides and made them moccasins. James Loveridge was on the first petit jury
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 541
empanelled in Knox county, May 2, 1808. Mr. Loveridge's barn, built by John Johnson, the carpenter, was the first frame structure of the kind in Morris township. His old log house was replaced by a substantial brick in 1820, which he occupied till his death, in the ninety-first year of his age. Mr. Loveridge was noted for his industry and an inveterate tendency to blossom out in rhyme in conversation. His son William, born on the eleventh of June, 1806, inherited his father's broad acres and his partiality for words that "hunt in pairs."
One of Samuel H. Smith's right hand men was Ichabod Nye, captain of a troop of horse, who acted a prominent part in the scenes of the early history of Clinton. His name first appears as a member of the first grand jury impanelled in the county. Captain Nye lived on the north side of Clinton street and just west of Smith's tavern. In 1811 he was elected sheriff of Knox county, assisted in organizing the Masonic lodge in Clinton, served acceptably in the War of 1812, and kept hotel in Clinton in 1813. The captain, as well as his brother Samuel, have long since passed away.
Amariah Watson arrived from Wyoming, Pennsylvania, and put up with William Douglass in 1805, but in 1806 moved to Fredericktown.
The spring of 1806 brought with it a new element into the wilderness region, in the form of Friends, the forerunners of a large number of that society, who, by their quiet yet industrious ways, have contributed very much to the prosperity and peace of the county. The venerable Henry Roberts may be justly regarded as the head of this emigration from Maryland. In r 805 he left Frederick county, in that State, with his family, and directed his course to the far west; but on reaching Belmont county he found it necessary to winter his family there. On the seventh of April, 1806, he landed .at Henry Haines', in the Ten Mile settlement, and after spending a few weeks looking for a good location, on the fourteenth of that month settled down with his family at the little prairie, five miles above Mt. Vernon, of late known as the Armstrong section. His family consisted of his wife, three sons, and one daughter. William moved to Illinois, Isaiah to Missouri, and Richard to Berlin township. His daughter, Massah, married Dr. Timothy Burr, and died at Clinton in 1814
The Roberts family at once proceeded to farming, and with a four-horse team broke up nine acres of the prairie and planted the same in corn. It was a difficult operation, but yielded them an abundant crop, fully remunerating them for the labor expended.
Mt. Roberts was joined in the fall by William Y. and William W. Farquhar, and from this nucleus sprang the numerous families of Quakers in Wayne, Middlebury, and Berlin townships in after years.
John Johnson, of Chester county, Pennsylvania, found his way to Knox county in the fall of 1806, and located near a large spring on the property now owned by William Day's heirs, in Morris township. The spring spoken of was situated on an Indian trail known as the Greentown trail. The Indians journeying to and from Greentown used to camp at this spring in considerable numbers, and were a great source of annoyance to Mr. Johnson. On one occasion a big Indian went so far as to enforce his demand for butter by flourishing a large knife in a very threatening manner. Mr. Johnson, who happened to be within hearing, came to the assistance of his ;vile, and the Indian was driven off; Soon after this the Greentown Indians were removed, much to the relief of the entire settlement. Mr. Johnson was one of the first carpenters in the country, and to his skill not a few of the better class of citizens are indebted for the comfort of the homes they occupy. He served in the War of 1812, and was at the siege of Fort Meigs. His sons were Thomas, known as the jailer of Knox county for. many years; William, who moved to Hardin county; John, who lived on the old homestead; Joseph, now living in Miller township; Samuel Johnson, who now lives in Polk county, Iowa, and Isaac Johnson, who resided on a farm just south of the old homestead. John Johnson, sr., died in March, 1858.
William Mitchell came to Morris township in 1807. His children were Jacob, Nathaniel, Abigail (Mrs. John H. Mefford), Mary (Mrs. John Young), Hannah (Mrs. William Mefford), Naomi (Mrs. Thomas Evans), Sarah (Mrs. Cyrus Cooper), John, Silas and William. Nathaniel was one of
542 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
the scouting party that went out at the time of the Copus massacre in 1812, and died in 1813, from disease contracted by exposure in the Indian campaign. William Mitchell, sr., died August 12, 1848, in the eighty-third year of his age.
Daniel Cooper moved from Butler county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, and located west of the main branch of Owl creek, on the Philip Leveridge property, and was followed shortly after by his brothers, Carey and Elias. Carey Cooper's sons were Charles, Elias, Hugh, John and Lewis. Carey Cooper was elected justice of the peace in. 1822. Daniel had seven children: Thompson, William, George, Henrietta, Julia, Josiah and Sarah. Thompson Cooper was justice of the peace in 1836, 1839, 1842, 1845, 1848 and 1851.
Hiram, Uzziel, Cyrus and Timothy Ball came from New Jersey, and located on the Owl creek bottoms where their father owned one thousand acres of land which is still owned and cultivated by their descendants.
Colonel Alexander Enos was another of Samuel H. Smith's New England coadjutors, and lived in Clinton, east of Smith. He was a private in Captain Walker's company in 1812, and at the time of Hull's surrender, was taken prisoner. After the war Colonel Enos practiced law, being the second lawyer in the county, and in 1815 was elected representative. Inter he moved to Richland county.
Dr. Timothy Burr was the first physician in Morris township. In December, 1813, the following advertisement appeared in the Ohio Register:
Samuel H. Smith having added a large stock of goods to his former assortment, will trade for butter, sugar, country linen, rye, corn, hides, deer skins and furs.
Dr. T. Burr is duly authorized to attend to his business, and will prescribe gratis to purchasers of drugs and medicines.
In the War of 1812 Dr. Burr was surgeon and paymaster in Colonel Alexander Enos' regiment. The above named were the more prominent of the early settlers. Prominent citizens of a later date were Jabez Beers, Joseph Coleman, Ichabod Marshall, Benjamin Barnet, Joseph Rickey, John Trimble, Richard Loveridge, Barnet Bonar, Benjamin Jackson, John Wheeler, Samuel Youman, Peter Rush, John Irvine, John McAbee, Joshua Braddock, and Christian Rinehart.
Barnet Bonar came to the county in 1812, from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and located on Granny's creek. He died in May, 1844, aged eighty. His son, William, was elected to the State senate in 1859, and resides at present in Mt. Vernon.
The Winterbothams were a highly intelligent family, but one of whom now resides in Knox county. Mrs. Ann S. Stephens, the accomplished authoress, residing in New York, is a descendant of this family.
May 8, 1808, a petition was presented to the county commissioners for a road from Mt. Vernon to Fredericktown, signed by Jacob Young, Nathaniel M. Young, William Mitchell, A. McLaughlin, Ziba Jackson, William Smith, Eliphalet Lewis, Simeon Lyons, John Kerr, Casper Fitting, Amariah Watson, John Lewis, Samuel Watson, William Y. Farquhar, Amos Yarnell, William W. Farquhar, Daniel Ayres, Richard Hale, Abram Ayres, Henry Markley, and Joshua Vennum. Viewers: William Gass, James Colville, and Matthew Merritt. Surveyor: William Y. Farquhar. Their report was approved and recorded April 7, 1809.
June 4, 1810 John Young, jr., William Evans, Jacob Young, John Haldeman, William Mitchell, Andrew Kilpatrick, John Young, sr., James Lewis, Aaron Young, Matthew Young, Adam Hand, Calvin C. Lawrence, Ephraim Lyon, and Charles Cooper petitioned for a road from Douglass' mill to the Young settlement. William Gass, Henry Haines, and Joseph Walker were appointed viewers, and John H. Millikin. surveyor. The view was returned July 9, 1810, and approved September, 1810.
John Fish, Daniel Johnson, and William Bevans were appointed commissioners to lay out a State road from Johnstown, Licking county, through Knox county to New Haven, in Huron county, and having performed their duty, filed a copy of said survey in the office of the comissioners of Knox county, July 11, 1820. That road is now called the Mt. Vernon and Mansfield road.
Samuel H. Smith had the first store in Clinton , in 1807. Richard Fishback's store stood on Clinton street, just west of the present residence of J. B. Banning. Ralph Granger kept store in Clinton in 1815, and J. S. Banning near the old Douglass mill in 1835. The first hotel was also kept by
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 543
Samuel H. Smith. Benjamin Barney followed in 1810, and in 1813 there were four houses of public entertainment with their inviting signs swinging in the breze, in the streets of Clinton. The respective hosts were Ichabod Nye, Alfred Manning, John Barney, and Samuel Youman.
Very early in the history of Knox county, Morris township became somewhat famous for its distilleries, in which the surplus rye and corn were converted into whiskey, or "fire-water," as the Indians aptly called it. Simeon Carpenter and his brother Freeman were amongst the first to engage in the business. William Douglass had a distillery a short distance east of his mill. Richard Philips carried on the business on the west side of the Fredricktown road, near Smith's tannery. Smith Hadley, on land now owned by James Ramsey, and Robert and James Rogers on the Harvey Cox place, east of the Fredericktown road. In addition to these there were several other distilleries in operation. The excuse for the existence of these establishments was the fact that whiskey, in those early times, was an article of almost universal consumption. The exceptions to the rule were found amongst the Society of Friends, a few of whom settled in the west part of the township.
The pioneer school-teacher of Morris township was Ichabod Marshall. In 1812, he taught in a little log house which stood at the junction of Clinton and Main streets, where J. B. Banning now resides. The next school was taught in a house built especially for that purpose, which stood northeast of Smith's hotel Silas Knapp was teacher. The third house stood southwest of J. B. Banning's, and the first school in it was taught by James Brown. The fourth stood on the hill south of Clinton, Hill, teacher. The fifth was erected north of the Wooster road, at its junction with the Mansfield road, near William Loveridge's house, Milton Lewis, teacher. The sixth in succession stood on the south side of the aforesaid road, William Drake, teacher. The present house is the seventh, a fine frame structure, erected in 1873, and stands on the east side of the Mansfield road, about midway between J. B. Banning's and William Loveridge's houses, Alexander A. Hanna, teacher. William Loveridge is the only surviving pupil of the first school taught at Clinton.
There are at present six school-houses in the township, all good substantial buildings.
Rev. James Scott, of the Presbyterian church, was the pioneer preacher in the vicinity of Clinton. As there were no churches in those early days, meetings for religious purposes were held in James Loveridge's frame barn until a house of worship could be built; hence that structure became known for miles around as "God's barn," verifying the adage that "the use sanctifies the place."
In 1814 the Presbyterians built a frame church on a lot in Clinton, where J. Blackstone Banning's barn now stands. This building was never finished as a church, and in 1820 it was moved to James Loveridge's orchard, and turned into a cider-press, the first of the kind in the county. Rev. Scott, at the time referred to, lived about one-half mile west of Loveridge's tannery. He subsequently moved to Mt. Vernon, where he died September 18, 1850, in the seventy-ninth year of his age.
About the year 1830, under the auspices of Rev. William Thrift, of the Baptist denomination, a frame church was built on the Fredericktown road, two miles north of Clinton. For a time this congregation grew and flourished, but the vicissitudes of time and fortune have left scarcely a trace of its history.
A third church was built as a non-sectarian edifice, and was called the Morris Union chapel. It is a neat frame structure, situated four miles northeast of Mt. Vernon, on the old Greentown road, and was erected about 1870- It is free for all denominations, but is principally used by the Methodist Episcopal church, that persuasion being the more numerous in that locality.
As heretofore stated, the mill of William Douglass was the first built in the township. In 1830, Douglass sold out to Anthony Banning, and he in 1835 sold to his son, James S. Banning, who remodeled and repaired the same. These mills did good business until 1851, when the close proximity of the Newark & Sandusky railroad rendered them useless for custom work. A few years after this a freshet destroyed the dam, and the mills were abandoned.
About the pear 1835, B. H. Taylor built a similar establishment to that of Douglass, near Fredericktown. Still later; Henry Cooper and John
544 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Duyer built saw-mills on Owl creek, and about the year 1832 James Turner built a flouring-mill on the same stream, two and a half miles north of Mt. Vernon. This mill contained three runs of buhrs, and was subsequently owned by Eli Miller, Elias Boudinot, George W. Brown and Uriah Walker. It ceased running in 1862.
In 1825, Aaron Jackson built a saw-mill on the south fork of Owl creek, and in 1836 James Walker purchased the property and erected a gristmill, which was subsequently owned by N. M. Jackson, William Parrish, States Williams, Elias Butler, John Horner, and J. Stump. It ceased operations about 1875.
As before stated, James Loveridge was the first tanner in Morris township. He was succeeded by Samuel H. Smith, Benjamin Corwin, John McMahon, Hugh McMahon, James S. Banning, and others.
James Miller dressed deerskins and manufactured them into all kinds of buckskin goods. He was succeeded by Joseph Rickey, who added a preliminary department to the business-that of killing the deer. Mr. Riley still survives, and resides with his son-in-law, Mr. Cramer, of Liberty township. He is now in the ninety-fifth year of his age.
The pioneer blacksmith in Morris township was John Sawyer. His shop stood about eighty rods southwest of Thompson Coopers-where Mr. Banning now lives. Sawyer was followed by Abel Cook and others.
John Wheeler was the first carpenter, followed by John Johnson, the Woodruffs, Bartletts, and others.
The first stone cutter in the neighborhood was a Welchman by the name of William George, from Chester township. It was he who cut the stone for the foundation of James Loveridge's brick house.
William Douglass employed William McCloud to build the first stone house in the township.
Daniel Zerrick came to Morris township in 1814, and brought with him a machine for weaving stockings. He died in 1851 aged eighty-six. His daughter Patsey married John Miller and is still living on the Mansfield road, north of the former site of Clinton.
A chair factory was at one time carried on in Clinton by John Barney.
The founder of the town of Clinton entertained a laudable ambition to make that town the permanent seat of justice for Knox county, and to all appearance Clinton's advantages were far superior to either of the other competing towns. Population, improvement, wealth and intelligence apparently preponderated in Clinton, but
The best laid schemes of mice and men
Gang aft aglee."
and Mt. Vernon won the prize. Clinton made a gallant fight, but fate was against her, and the once flourishing town-with tanneries, mill, distilleries, shops, hotels, stores, a printing press-on which was printed the first book ever issued in the county and other business enterprises went into a decline. One by one her business men deserted the sinking ship. The legal existence of Clinton was terminated on the seventeenth of April, 1818, when the court heard the petition of Samuel H. Smith, Ichabod Marshall, Elihu S. Webster, Lathrop Shurtlif, John P. McArdle, Benjamin Barney and Richard Ayres for a vacation of a part of the town of Clinton, and granted the prayer. The Clinton post office, established in 1810, was the first in the county. Its successive postmasters were Samuel H. Smith, Richard Fishback, Ichabod Marshall and S. H. Smith. The last known of it, Andrew Clark was acting as deputy postmaster, in 1819.
Daniel Norton bought Samuel H. Smith's interest in the real estate of Clinton, but was dispossessed in a suit at law by Hosmer Curtis. J. S. Banning bought fifty-six acres of it and Uriah Walker the residue.
On the second day of March, 1812, upon petition of several citizens this township was laid off, and an order issued for an election, to be held at the house of Benjamin Rush, for township officers. A majority of the early settlers being natives of Morris county, New Jersey, caused the name of Morris to be selected. The officers of the election this year were William Douglass, Daniel Cooper and William Thrift, judges; James Trimble and John Wheeler, clerks. The township was listed by N. C. Boalse, who received a six dollar county order for his services.
At a special meeting of the associate judges, March 14, 1812, three justices were allowed to this township. At the election ordered by the county
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 545
commissioners there were fifty voters. James Trimble was chosen township clerk, Scott Dnrbin and James Miller constables, and James Loveridge treasurer.
The following is a list of the justices of the peace of Morris township: John Trimble, Benjamin Barney and Joseph Coleman, 1812; William Douglass and Joseph Coleman, 1816; James Dickson, William Douglass and Joseph Coleman, 1819; Alfred Manning, 1820; Carey Cooper, 1822; Uzziel Ball and John Trimble, 1823 and 1826; James Adams, 1830; B. H. Taylor, 1831; Uzziel Ball, 1832; James Adams, 1833; B. H. Taylor, 1835; James Adams and Thompson Cooper, 1836; B. H. Taylor, 1838; George Irwin, 1837; Thompson Cooper, 1839; George Irwin and John Durbin, 1840; B. H. Taylor, 1841; Thompson Cooper, 1842; Alexander McGrew, 1844; Thompson Cooper, 1845; B. H. Taylor, 1847; John H. Winterbotham and William Bonar, 1848; Benjamin B. Brown, 1850; Thompson Cooper, 1851; Uzziel Ball, 1853; John McIntyre, 1854; B. T. Smith, 1855; Allen Scott and Uzziel Ball, 1856; John McIntyre, 1857; I. L. Jackson, 1859; John McIntyre, 1861; I. L. Jackson, 1862; John McIntyre, 1863; Adam Rinehart, 1865; John McIntyre and Isaac L. Jackson, 1866; E. J. Mendenhall and Edward Burson, 1869; Isaac L. Jackson, 1871; James Steele, 1872; Isaac L. Jackson, 1874; David Cosner, 1875; Thomas Banning, 1877; Edward Burson and Isaac L. Jackson, 1878.
CHAPTER LXIII.
PLEASANT TOWNSHIP.
SITUATION-BOUNDARIES-TOPOGRAPHY-PIONEERS-MILLS
-BREWERIES-ROADS-CHURCHES-FIRST THINGS-OR -
GANIZATION-PRESENT OFFICERS-MT. VERNON NURSERY
-POPULATION AND PRODUCTION-JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
PLEASANT township is situated directly Southeast of Mt. Vernon, and its original boundaries are set forth in the following order of the county commissioners, bearing date March 9, 1825.
"Pleasant township shall be composed of the sixth township in the twelfth range."
The name Pleasant was given to the new township by John Kerr, a prominent citizen of the same, on account of its pleasant scenery. December 7, 1838, the county commissioners ordered that "the first quarter of Pleasant township be struck off into a separate township." That was accordingly done, and the new township named College-in honor of Kenyon college. Pleasant township was thus reduced to its present size. The northern portion of the township is traversed by Vernon, or Kokosing river, consequently is somewhat bluffy and rough, but the southern portion, drained by Big run, is comparatively smooth and presents excellent facilities for farming operations, the average crop of wheat being twenty bushels to the acre.
The general surface of Pleasant is somewhat higher than the surrounding townships, consequently the deposit of glacial drift is not so deep, and in many places is entirely wanting. White oak, ash, maple, white and black walnut, hickory, elm and beech, are the varieties of timber that formerly covered the soil No mounds are found in this township.
At this date it cannot be determined who the first inhabitant of Pleasant township was. Amongst the earliest settlers was James Colville. He came from Washington county, Pennsylvania to Knox county about 1803-4. In 1804 he purchased one hundred acres of land, east of Mt. Vernon, in Pleasant township, cleared some land, planted an orchard, and raised a crop in 1805. The same year he built a small log house, and in 1806 he got married and moved into it. This was setting an example worthy of imitation, which others were not slow to follow.
Jonathan Hunt, born in Somerset county, New Jersey, October 23, 1780, married Honor Wells, of West Virginia, and moved to Knox county, Ohio, in 1806. In company with his father, Jonathan Hunt, sr,., he located in what is now the southwest corner of Pleasant township. Being a gunsmith he was often employed to repair guns for the Indians, previous to the War of 1812. Mr. Hunt was present at Mt Vernon on the twenty-eighth of March, 1808, when the commissioners appointed to locate the seat of justice for Knox county arrived, and volunteered to work on that memorable occasion. His name appears on the panel of the
546 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
first grand jury for Knox county, May 2, 1808, and at an election held in Sychamore township, September 13, 1815, he was elected trustee. During the War of 1812 he served under Major Kratzer, and was a part of the time employed in repairing guns, for which he received one dollar per day extra pay. License was granted to him to keep tavern in 1815. Hunt's Station perpetuates his memory.
Silas Brown came about 1806, and located near the line between Pleasant and Clinton townships, north of Hunt's Station, on land now owned by the Schnebley family. At the first election held in Knox county, April 4, 1808, Mr. Brown was elected sheriff, commissioned by Acting Governor Thomas Kirker June 6th, and reelected October 11, 1808. During his first term of office William Hedrick was sentenced to be publicly whipped-an account of which will be found elsewhere-and Sheriff Brown performed his duty by executing the sentence. Mr. Brown was also justice of the peace for Pleasant township in 1832, and was re-elected in 1835.
James Parks and William Patrick were early settlers, who located near James Colville, and probably came at the same time. Mr. Parks was justice of the peace in 1832. His son, Joseph V. Parks, was elected justice in 1857, and held the office till 1875.
Daniel Applegate settled near where the election house now stands, but little is known of him at this time.
William Harrod was one of the pioneers, and used to boast that he had killed more than two hundred deers sitting on old baldy's back.
William Buckingham lived on the Martinsburgh road, near where George Hughes now lives, and John Ste inmetz on the same road, near the place now occupied by William Hyatt.
Philip Smith lived on Big run, in the southeast part of the township, and George Crouse resided further down the run, north of the present Hopewell Methodist church.
The Grahams, Veatches, Beatys, Crawfords, arid Rohrers, were reckoned amongst the pioneers of Pleasant township, but time has almost obliterated. their history. The most of them were located along the Mt. Vernon & Martinsburgh road. Frederick Rohrer was justice of the peace in 1825, and Robert Graham in 1835.
In 1815 John Kerr resided at Nashport, in Muskingum county, but having lived in Knox county, he determined to return to the vicinity of Mt. Vernon, and purchasing a tract of land on the Kokosing river, two miles below the town, he employed Solomon Geller to build a dam and erect a saw-mill, for which he paid him one thousand dollars. Early in 1817 Mr. Kerr moved to his new purchase and erected a grist-mill, fulling-mill and carding machine. In 1819 he erected the first brick house in Pleasant township, and in 1825 he built a distillery. This last building was of stone, thirty feet square, and for a while did a flourishing business, but
"Change is written on all things earthly,"
and this one soon joined the long procession of distilleries gone before to the limbo of the past. Mr. Kerr removed to Missouri in 1837, and the property came into the hands of his son Benjamin, who sold out to John and James Morrison, from Eng land. In the course of a few years the property came into the possession of Robert Miller, who added a new saw-mill and greatly improved the grist-mill. This mill, together with a large amount of grain stored in it, was totally destroyed by fire on the night of August 11, 1880.
A brewery was erected on the Gambier road in 1835, by Jacob Kurtz, and by him sold to George Pfeifer. About 1850 it came into the possession of John Bechtel, who operated it till the "Crusaders" depreciated his business and the brewery was abandoned. Frederick Rohrer, who lived on the Martinsburgh road in 1825, kept a tavern and conducted a brewery at the same time.
Hurford's steam grist-mill is situated on Big run, in the northeast corner of the township. This was originally a small water-mill, built by a man named Hurford, afterwards owned by a Mr. Wyant. It then became the property of Mr. Simon Dudgeon, who added steam to the motive power, put in an extra pair of buhrs, and still operates it.
Warmon's steam grist- and saw-mills are located near the Martinsburgh road, on the old Graham farm, five miles southeast of Mt. Vernon. The original structure was a Mulay saw-mill, built by the Bell Brothers, in 1850, and operated by them a few
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 547
years. The Bells sold the mill to Mr. Graham, who sold it to John Warman, sr., in 1860 Mr. Warman operated it until 1865, when the present proprietor, John Warman, jr., purchased it from his father. The original mill was burnt down in 1866. After the erection of the new mill Mr. Warman put in a circular saw, which he operated a few years, and then put in a feed chopper. In 1876 he added a pair of wheat buhrs.
One of the first, if not the first, public road surveyed through Pleasant township, was the Mt. Vernon and Newark road. A petition was presented to the county commissioners August 5, 1808, by John Dunlap, Samuel Dunlap sr., Abraham Sherry, John Nash, Joseph Conrad, Joseph Harris, Alexander Walker, William Brown, Gilman Bryant, James Walker, Andrew Craig, Thomas Brown, James Craig, Jesse Severe, William Douglass, Jabez Beers, Calvin Shepherd, Samuel Kratzer, William Critchfield, John Lewis, Nathaniel Critchfield, and Samuel Barter, praying for the establishment of the road. William Gass, Henry Haines, and James Colville were appointed viewers, and John Dunlap, surveyor. The road was accordingly viewed, and the return made to the county commissioners on the twenty-second of September, 1808.
On petition of John Kerr and others, James McGibney, John Hawn, jr., and John Mefford were appointed, June 1 1818, viewers, and William Y. Farquhar, surveyor, to lay out a county road from Mt. Vernon to John Kerrs mill, in Pleasant township. The road was confirmed July 16, 1818.
The Mt Vernon and Martinsburgh road was also laid out in an early day, but it was not until the winter of 1823-4 that the legislature appointed commissioners to survey the present State road. A copy of their survey was filed in the office of the commissioners of Knox county, November 25, 1824. The Gambier road was also made a State road at the same time.
Pleasant Hill Christian church was organized at Pleasant grove on the Mt. Vernon and Martinsburgh road, by Rev. Isaac N. Walter, September 24, x832. The original members were: William Buckingham, James K. Litzenberg, Jane Litzenberg, Mary Staggers, Margaret Price, Dorcas Carey, Elizabeth Smith, Rhoda Harrod, Sarah Seaborn, Sarah Price, Elizabeth Harrod, Nancy Buckingham, John Mahanna, John Graham, Mercy Graham, Elizabeth Kisor, Morgan Litzenberg, Mary Wise, Christina Kisor, and James Hartsock. January 21, 1835, Samuel Price, Abraham Wise, and James R. Litzenberg were elected trustees. The same year William Buckingham donated three-fourths of an acre of ground near the junction of the Gambier road with the Mt. Vernon and Martinsburgh road, for church purposes, and a frame building thirty by forty-five feet was erected thereon. February 8, 1845, Levi Harrod and D. D1. Carey were elected trustees. August 10, 1845, Elder James Hose was employed as pastor for one year. A Sunday-chool was organized May 9, 1846, with «'. H. Stevens and D. M. Carey as superintendents. August 20, 1846, Elder James W. Maroni became pastor. March 9, 1853, Isaac Lefever was elected trustee, and Mills Harrod clerk. June 24,. 1854, Isaac Lefever, sr., Levi Harrod, and Thomas Boyle were elected trustees, and Mills Harrod and Levi Harrod deacons. August 1, 1862, Elder Mills Harrod was employed as pastor for one year.
In 1854 a new frame church was built near W. T. Hyatt's, and the name changed from Pleasant grove to Pleasant hill. April 22, 1876, James Bell, J. W. Marvin, and W. T. Hyatt were elected trustees, and May 27th Elder J. W. Wright, F. S. Ulery, and James Bell were elected deacons, and W. T. Hyatt clerk. No regular services are held at this time.
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran church.-As early as 1820 Rev. Jacob Bovee preached in the neighborhood. He was succeeded by Rev. Baughey, but no church was organized until June 4, 1853, when Rev. William M. Gilbreath preached at Crawford's school-house on the Martinsburgh road. The following persons were members of the first class: George Beckley, Nancy Beckley, William Morgan, Maria Morgan, Martin Bechtel, Sophia Bechtel, John Sensal, Catharine Sensal, David Dean and his daughter, Laurensa, David Stecher, Anna-M. Stecher, Henry Smith, Catharine Smith, and George Koutz.
In 1854 a subscription was taken up to build a church, and Benjamin Kerr appointed treasurer. A frame church thirty-six by forty feet was erected one-half mile south of Kerr's mill, on the Martins-
548 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
burgh road, and dedicated July 1,1855, by Rev. J. W. Sloan.
August 23, 1857, Rev. J. L. Gilbreath, who had labored jointly with Rev. W. M. Gilbreath from September, 1854, was elected and installed pastor. He continued his ministrations until 1875, when his connection with the church ceased. The congregation was without a regular pastor until January 12, 1879, when Rev. J. K. Booher, the present incumbent, took charge.
The following is a list of elders: George Beckley and David Dean, 1853 ; George Beckley and Martin Bechtel, 1855 ; Martin Bechtel and Henry Heefer, 1857 to 1861 ; Henry Heefer and George Stinnet, 1863; John Senzal and John Hammond, 1865; Jonathan Wending, 1868; Martin Bechtel and John Wending, 1875; David Stecher and Henry Mills, 1870; George Bechtel, 1880 Deacons: David Stecher and William Morgan, 1853; David Stecher and Lemuel Beckley, 1855; David Stecher and Henry Mills, 1857 to 1861; Martin Bechtel and David Stecher, 1863 ; Henry Mills and Martin Bechtel, 1865 to 1875; Henry Mills and Burr Shaffer, 1875; John Taylor and John Sensal, 1879. Trustees: George Beckley, Henry Mills, and Burr Shaffer. The present number of members is fifty-six. A small Sunday-school is connected with the church, of which Daniel Steam is superintendent.
Pleasant Hill Presbyterian church was the result of the labors of Rev. Henry Hervey, who preached a number of years in the southern portion of Pleasant township. The date of the first organization is not positively known, but may be set down as about 1845. The original members, as near as can be ascertained, were Robert Graham, Martha Graham, Matthew McKibben, Jane McKibben, Enoch Bebout, Eliza Bebout, John Allen, Martha Allen, Charles McLain, Ruth McLain, James Marquis, Nancy Marquis, Charles Swaney, Ann Swaney, Henry Barnes, Gracie Ann Barnes, Henry Graham, Martha Graham, and Mrs. John McLain. In 1850 a neat frame church thirty-five by forty feet was built on the Martinsburgh road, about one mile from the south line of the township, which is still used by the congregation as a house of worship. The following pastors have had charge of the congregation: Rev. James Anderson, Henry Hervey, James Read, Rev. Helfride, Rev. Walkinshaw, Dwight Hervey, O. H. Newton, and John Watt, the present incumbent. The elders are John Warman, Charles McLain, jr., and Ebenezer Bebout, and the clerk is Charles McLain, sr. The present number of members is forty.
Hopewell Methodist Episcopal church is situated on the East Union road, one mile west of the east line of the township. Its history cannot be obtained. The following facts are all that can be ascertained in reference to it. The present structure-a frame thirty-six by forty feet-was built under the auspices of Rev. Allen Moffat, in 1855. The present number of members is forty-three. The class leaders are William Smith and David B. Kerr. A Sunday-school of thirty-five scholars is attached to this church. Michael Noon is superintendent.
To each of the above churches a cemetery is attached, the date of the establishment of which is coeval with the building of the churches. Besides these, there are a few burying-grounds separate from any church building-the oldest of which is that situated about a mile and a half east of Hunt's Station.
William Marquis was the pioneer pedagogue. He taught the first school in this section, in a log cabin on the property of James Colville, about the year 1825. This school was not different in its character from others of the period, and needs no special mention. Pleasant township has at the present time six fine brick school-houses. Good teachers are employed and a high standard of qualification maintained.
There are no villages in the township, and but one railroad station - Hunt's. A store was opened and a post office established at this point soon after the, opening of the Newark & Sandusky railroad, in 1851. William Beech was the first proprietor; then came John Graham, Homer Stoughton, Hiram Coleman, William Platt, and W. H. Tucker, the present postmaster and ticket agent.
About 1870 A. W. Mavis opened a small store at Hurford's mill, in the northeast corner of the township, and is still engaged in merchandising at that point. Martha Colville was born August 25, 1807, and is believed to be the first white child born within the present bounds of Pleasant town-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. -549
ship. The first blacksmith was Jonathan Hunt. His shop was on the Newark road, just east of the present railroad station. Dr. Eggleston, who practiced medicine between 1860 and 1870, was the only resident physician. Dr. Augustus Marvine commenced the practice of dentistry in 1860, and still pursues that calling. James Morrison was the first to import thoroughbred short-horn Durham cattle into the township; he having in 1838 brought thirteen head from England. The first thresher and separater was introduced from Pennsylvania by Thomas Anderson. The first election for township officers was held at Frederick Rohrer's tavern, on the Martinsburgh road, in 1825. No records of the proceedings have been preserved, consequently the original board of officers cannot be given.
The following is a list of the justices of the peace: David Ash and Frederick Rohrer, 1825; Harvey Brown, 1827; Frederick Rohrer, 1828; James Parks and Silas Brown, 1832; Robert Graham and Silas Brown, 1835; Alvin Foote, 1837; Robert Graham and James D. Porter, 1839 to 1845 ; Robert Graham and Richard Hunt, 1845 to 1854; Robert Graham and' John Colville, 1854; Joseph V. Parks and Henry McLain, 1857 to 1867; Joseph V. Parks and W. H. McLain, 1869 to 1873; Thomas Colville, 1875; A. W. Mavis, 1877; Thomas Colville, 1878; Francis M. Lhaman, 1880. The other township officers areas follows: Josiah Hutchinson and Samuel Beeman, constables; G. W. Glenn, assessor; Abraham Barber, treasurer; Joseph Ulery, A. F. Hilliar, and T. B. Gorsuch, trustees; Alexander Debolt, clerk; J. W. Forry, William Morgan, J. V. Parks, William Smith, Abraham Barber, and William Houck, board of education; J. K. Schnebley, land appraiser.
Mt. Vernon nursery is located in the northern part of Pleasant township, on the Gambier road. It was established in 1848, by Barton Starr. The nursery contains all kinds of fruit trees, such as apples, peaches, pears and plums; also grapes and a variety of small fruits. About five or six years after its establishment Mr. Starr added to his stock all kinds of ornamental trees and shrubbery. The business was successfully conducted by Mr. Starr until his death in 1874, when his son, Newton P. Starr, took charge of the establishment, and has made extensive improvements, and has now one of the best nurseries in this part of the State.
The Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad traverses the valley of the Vernon river for some distance below the city, and passes through the northern portion of Pleasant township, but has no depot within its bounds. The Lake Erie division of the Baltimore & Ohio railroad passes through the southwest corner of the township, and by the location of Hunt's station furnishes the citizens of that vicinity with railroad facilities.
In 1830 the population of Pleasant township was 918; in 1840, 1880; in 1850, 909; in 1860, 828; in 1880, 851; and in 1880, 1,033.
The reason of the sudden increase, as shown by the census of 1840, was the laying out and growth of Gambier, the site of Kenyon college, and the cause of the decrease, as shown by the census of 1850, was the setting off of Gambier into the new township of College.
The number of acres in the township is 12,220; number of acres under cultivation, 4,115; acres in pasture, 6,086; acres in wheat, 1,388; bushels of wheat, 20,926; acres in oats, 250; bushels of oats, 7,015; acres in corn, 1,440; bushels of corn, 43,375; acres in meadow, 907; tons of hay, 722; acres in potatoes, 32; bushels of potatoes, 2,525; pounds of butter, 32,208; pounds of wool, 29,113.
Number of horses, 369; assessed value of same, $17,482; number of cattle, 879; assessed value of same, $12,469; number of sheep, 5,775; assessed value of same, $15,549 ; number of hogs, 956; assessed value of same, $2,361; moneys and credits, $22,422; total value of all taxable personal property, $108,754.
550 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
CHAPTER LXIV.
UNION TOWNSHIP.
BOUNDARIES-TOPOGRAPHY-FIRST SETTLERS-FIRST ELE-
CTION-FIRST BIRTH-SKETCHES OF THE FIRST SETTLERS - MILLS-ROADS-SCHOOLS-CHURCHES-DANVILLE-MILL -
WOOD-GANN STATION ROSSVILLE-BUCKEYE CITY -
CAVALIO.
THIS township as originally organized in 1808, consisted of Brown, Jefferson, Union, Butler, Jackson, Howard, three-fourths of Harrison, and the east half of Clay. In 1825 it was reduced to five miles square, having Jefferson on the north, Howard on the west, Butler on the south, and Coshocton county on the east. Union retained the boundary given it in 1825 until 1876, when one mile from the south side of Jefferson was attached to it.
Union contains within its limits a very fine body of land, embracing almost every variety of soil, which is well adapted for the production of grass .or grain, as well as every variety of fruit and vegetables grown in Ohio. The surface is broken and hilly, especially along the Mohican river and Owl creek, where there are numerous high bluffs, for the most part still well timbered. Beyond these hills the township is moderately undulating, and is covered with fine farms and farm houses. The farmers are generally well and comfortably settled, and many evidences of wealth and prosperity are seen while passing through the township. It is well watered. The two largest streams in Knox county flow through the township. Owl creek crosses the southwest corner, and the Mohican river cuts across the northeastern part, passing out of the township into Coshocton county, and flowing southwardly, it again enters Union in the southeastern part of the township, and continuing a southeastwardly course about three-fourths of a mile it again passes into Coshocton county.
Little Jelloway and its tributaries water the northern portions, and several small streams the central and southern portion of the township.
The Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad runs diagonally across the northern part of Union, the direction being northeast and southwest.
Originally the township was densely timbered, but owing to the large amount destroyed in clearing up the land, and the demand for fuel and building purposes, the timber is now confined to the high hills, and to small tracts in other parts of the township.
The first white people who remained permanently, came to Union about 1806 or 1807. George Sapp, sr.; entered the first piece of land within the present limits of Union about 1806. He settled in the northwestern part of the township.
Jacob Baughman came from Somerset county, Pennsylvania, in 1809, and located in the central part. .
Paul Welker emigrated from Pennsylvania in 180'7 or 1808, and located his farm in the western part of the township.
The Critchfields, Robinsons, Rightmires, Durbins, Spurgeons, McMilllns, Hibbitts, Logues, Greers, George Davidson, Jacob Black, Charles Ryan, John Wood, William Shaw and John Arnold, settled here prior to 1814. The settlement of the township progressed slowly until after the War of 1812. At the election held in 1810 but twenty-three votes were polled. In 1816 the number had increased to forty-five.
After the close of the War of 1812 settlers came in from Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia in large numbers, and Union, notwithstanding the large amount of territory detached in the formation of other townships, ranks among the first in population in the county at this time.
The Sapps, who were the first to settle in the township, as now constituted, have long been prominent in the county. Four brothers, George, Daniel, William and Joseph, emigrated from Maryland to Knox county in 1806, two of the brothers, George and Daniel, settling within the present limits of Union.
The ancestors of the Sapps were members of Lord Baltimore's colony of Maryland. Jonathan, son of George Sapp, sr., who was born in Union, July 17, 1809, was the first white child born in the township. He was married in 1830 to Miss May Durbin. Their children were Simeon, Catharine M., Susan, Francis, William, Francis second, Edmund, Sarah Ann, Susannah, John B. and Timothy. George Sapp, sr., was a soldier of the War of 1812, acting as ensign in Captain John Greer's company. His brother Daniel was a lieutenant in the same company.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 551
The settlers lived in great fear of the Indians, and during the absence of George Sapp in the. army his wife would take her children each night to a block-house, which stood near the present site of Rossville, and stay over night Daniel Sapp raised a family of twelve children. Hon. William R. Sapp, one of his sons, was many years a leading citizen of the county. The four brothers have been dead many years, but their descendants are still numerous in Union and adjoining townships.
The Welkers deserve more than a passing notice.
John Welker, sr., came from Pennsylvania in 1808, settling on section fifteen. About the same time his brother, David Welker, came. The Welkers were of German descent. These pioneers were industrious, energetic, hard-working. men. They had to encounter all the privations of early occupation of unsettled territory. At that early day they packed their salt and other necessaries with horse and pack saddle from Zanesville, through an almost unbroken wilderness, and did their milling at the same place. In the War of 1812 John Welker served as a high private, and received a land warrant for his services, and that was the highest position he ever sought. Although often urged by his neighbors to accept office, he always refused. He reared a family of fourteen children, all of whom lived to the age of manhood and womanhood. One of his sons, Martin Welker, born in Union in 1819, left the farm in 1831, and went with his brother, John, jr., to clerk in his store at Millwood, where he remained several years. He intended to make a merchant of himself, but an incident occurred, which changed his plans of life. In the store one day, a man offered him a bank bill which, on inspection he found to be counterfeit, and so informed the man. It was passed on another individual, and he prosecuted, and Martin was subpoened as a witness, before the grand jury at Mt. Vernon. He attended, and was compelled to remain several days. He had never seen a court, or a live judge. He there saw judge Dean, then in the prime of life on the bench, and who seemed to him a much greater man than General Jackson, of whom he had heard. He also there saw Brown, the Curtises, Delano and other lawyers engaged in court matters, and he concluded it would be a great thing himself to be a lawyer. Sitting beside another boy of his acquaintance, he informed him that he would be a lawyer and a judge, and some day take the place of judge Dean. He kept that resolve before him, and worked for that aim and purpose, and within twenty years, with their great changes, he became a lawyer, and was elected in 1851, judge of the district over judge Dean, who was his opponent at the election. He sat upon the same bench, held the same court at Mt. Vernon, the holding which by judge Dean had inspired his youthful ambition. After leaving his brother's store, he studied law with the late Hon. W. R. Sapp at Millersburgh, Holmes county, and subsequently practiced law in partnership with him for several years. In 1851 he was elected judge of the sixth district as before mentioned. In 1857 he was elected by the Republicans, lieutenant-governor on the ticket with Governor Salmon P. Chase. He served one term, and declined a renomination. In 1864 he was nominated for Congress for the fourteenth district, and elected, and was reelected in 1866 and 1868, serving six years in Congress. During the war he served as aid-de-camp to Governor Dennison, and assistant adjutant general with Governor David Tod, with the rank of colonel. In November, 1873, he was appointed by President Grant, district judge for the United States, for the Northern district of Ohio, which office he still holds. John Welker, sr, lived many years in the enjoyment of the fruits of his pioneer labors. He died in 1869.
William Lydick, a brother-in-law of John Welker, sr., came at the same time with him to Union township. He settled on section sixteen. He was married while residing in Pennsylvania to Miss Catharine Welker. He continued to reside in Union until his death in 1861. One of his sons, Reuben, still lives here:
Another early settler was Dr. Charles Waddle. For many years he was engaged in the mercantile business, and also practiced medicine at Danville. He was a man of great ability and energy, and one of the most eloquent Methodist preachers of that region and day, having a remarkable power over a congregation. He died a year or two since at the ripe age of eighty-seven.
John Hann, sr., came from Pennsylvania in 1808. He first settled in Mt. Vernon, where he followed
552 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
the occupation of hatter until his removal to this township in 1825. Mr. Hann was an intimate personal friend of Hon. Henry Clay and wife, having been a resident in the locality of Mrs. Clay, prior to her marriage and of his removal to Pennsylvania. Naturally, from his associations with and personal regard of Mr. Clay, he was politically an ardent Whig, and during the existence of that party was an earnest advocate of its principles. Mr. Hann was a soldier in the War of 1812. His father, John Hann, sr., was a Revolutionary soldier, and his grandson John Hann a soldier of the war of the Rebellion. One of his sons, Gilman Hann, was the second white child born in Mt. Vernon. John, sr., died in 1856.
Jesse Winterringer, sr., came from Maryland to Jefferson county, Ohio, early in this century, and removed from that county to Union township in 1816. He located his farm near the centre of Union. His family of twelve children are all dead but two sons, Jesse, jr., and Barney, who still reside here. The Winterringers are active working members of the Presbyterian church of Millwood. Jesse Winterringer, sr., died on .he nineteenth of September, 1854.
David Welker came from Pennsylvania in 1809. He purchased one hundred and ten acres on section fifteen, and he reared a family of eight children. He died in 1853.
Joseph Workman emigrated from Alleghany county, Maryland, in 1814. He was a very zealous minister of the Dunkard or German Baptist church, and was the first to promulgate the principles and doctrines of that sect here. His labors were crowned with much success, as that denomination numbers many members in the southern and eastern part of Knox county.
Rev. Jacob Hammond, although not of the very first settlers of Union, has long been an influential and useful citizen. He removed from Alleghany county, Maryland, in 1824, first settling on section sixteen. He engaged in farming for many years after his arrival in Union. In 1848 he was ordained a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church, since which time he has been actively employed in ministerial labors. He has solemnized some fifty marriages and preached one hundred and twenty five funeral sermons of persons residing within a circle of ten miles of Millwood since his ordination in 1848.
Among the latter settlers are various names more or less familiar. Jacob Ross, proprietor of Rossville and a very public-spirited citizen, has been a resident of Union for many years. George Gann, who became a resident of Union in 1876, by reason of the annexation of a portion of Jefferson, was a man of more than ordinary enterprise. He came to Jefferson township in 1831. In consideration of his services in securing the right of way for the Cleveland, Pittsburgh & Mt. Vernon railroad, Gann, one of the stations on the railroad, was named in his honor. He died September 7, 1877.
The first grist-mill was erected by Robert Griffin, about 1812 or 1813. It was located in the southeastern part of the township, on Owl creek. Although a very insignificant one, when compared with the mills of this period, it had an extensive patronage. The settlers residing in Knox, Coshocton, and other counties were its patrons. It was torn down many years ago, and no vestige of it remains. Another grist-mill was built by John Greer, on Jelloway creek, in 1815 or 1816. The first saw-mill in the township was built about the same time, by Daniel Sapp, on Little Jelloway creek.
The first road was the Mt. Vernon and Coshocton, cut out about 1809. The Mt. Vernon and Millersburgh road was laid out soon afterwards.
For some years after the first settlement, the schools were held in the houses of the pioneers and in small log school-houses. John Wells probably taught the first school in the township. William Critchfield was another of the first schoolteachers. He taught in a log shoot-house near the site of Millwood.
The Catholics were the religious pioneers of Union. Shortly after the first settlers came to the township, George Sapp, sr., Elias Arnold, David Logsdon Samuel Durbin, sr., Thomas White and wife, Catharine Sapp, Mrs. Daniel Rogue, Benjamin Durbin and wife, and Isaac Dial, organized what is now known-as "St. Luke's Catholic church, of Danville," which is situated about one mile west of that village. The congregation consisted chiefly of emigrants from Maryland, who were descendants of Lord Baltimore's English Catholic colony. The society was organized by Rev. Edward Fen-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY - 553
wick. Among the resident pastors were Reverend Fathers Dominick Young, Rymaker, Francis, Marshall, O'Leary, McAlear, Hill, Joseph Martin, Boland, Myers, Berger, Brink, and Lamy, who is now archbishop of the diocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico; Thomas J. Boulger, Julius Brent, who died in 1880, and the present priest, Rev. Francis Marquery.
The first church building, a log one, was built about 1809 or 1810. George Sapp, sr., donated the land for the church and cemetery attached to it. During the pastorate of now Archbishop Lamy, a frame church was erected, in which the congregation worshiped until 1877, when the present beautiful and commodious brick edifice was erected at a cost of about twelve thousand dollars. The church is probably the strongest numerically of any country church of Roman Catholics in Ohio. One hundred or more families are members and regular attendants of St. Luke's. The parsonage, or priest's residence, is situated near the church, on land donated by Henry Porter, sr., one of the early members. A new parsonage is in process of building. The cemetery attached to the church was laid out probably before 1812. It is enclosed with a neat, board fence. Many beautiful evergreens, emblematical of a life that never ends, is planted at proper distances in the grounds, and affords a very desirable resting place for the hundreds of devout Catholics interred there.
The German Baptist church was organized about 1832, by Elder James C. Workman. Solomon Robinson, Jacob Shultz, Isaac Workman, William Robinson, Jacob Robinson, and their wives, were the first members. Solomon Robinson was the first deacon. Elder J. C. Workman was the first pastor. He was succeeded by Elders Elias Workman, John L. Workman, and John J. Workman, who is the pastor at this time, From 1816 to the organization in 1832 the Dunkards, or German Baptists, held frequent meetings at the houses of the Workmans and other adherents to the church. The present church building was erected in 1861. It is a frame forty-five by sixty-five feet in dimensions, located about one mile south of Danville.
There are two or three other organizations and churches situated in Miller and other townships of Knox county known as the Danville German Baptist church, but are all considered as one organization and one church. The total membership of all the societies in the different townships which are included in the Danville church is one hundred and sixty-one. Near the church is a cemetery, neatly fenced and properly cared for, in which many repose. The foregoing are the only churches in the township, outside of the towns.
There are five villages in Union: Danville, Millwood, Gann, Rossville and Buckeye City. None of them, have been incorporated.
Danville is one of the oldest towns in the eastern part of Knox county. The exact date of its laying out cannot be ascertained. Jonathan Sapp, son of George Sapp, sr., who with Robert Waddle was the founder of the town, puts the date as late as 1818, although it is generally claimed to have been as early as 1813 or 1814. John McDaniel built the first house, McConnell and Grant were the first merchants and William M. Brooks the first physician. William Critchfield kept the first hotel. The first post-office -in the eastern part of Knox county was established at Danville, and W. R. Sapp was the first postmaster. The first schoolhouse was a hewed log building erected a short distance south of the village, and the first school was taught by James Cain. The present population is about four hundred, and is steadily increasing. For many years before the advent of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad the town was at 'a stand still, but since its completion through Union township, the business of Danville has greatly increased. There are now two dry goods stores kept by L. Frost & Son, and Workman & Workman; one grocery by Julius Sapp, one drug store by Burns & Shaw, one clothing store by John Smithhiser, one hardware store by Sapp Brothers, one hotel by Emrick & Sapp, one furniture and undertaking establishment by T. M. Metcalf, one wagon shop by Jacob Shindle, one blacksmith shop by Welker Bimm, one cooper shop by Jesse Riser, etc. George Shaw is postmaster. The village has a flourishing district school, and it is probable the union school system will be adopted before many years.
There are two churches within the village limits, Christian and. Methodist. There was a society of Presbyterians established here a few years after the
554 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
laying out of the village, which had an existence of some years, when the organization was disbanded, and the society was reorganized under the name of the Presbyterian church of Millwood, and transferred to that town. The Christian church of Danville was organized April 20, 1834, by Elder James Hays. The first members were Daniel Sapp, William Robinson, William Shaw and Elizabeth Robinson. In 1837 Elder James Marvin succeeded Elder Hays as pastor, and remained such until 1861, when he resigned his pastorate. The church was without a stated pastor until 1868, when Elder Marvin again resumed the pastoral charge of the congregation, and continued in that relation until 1872, when he was succeeded by Elder C. A. Williams, who in turn was succeeded by Elder A. Hanger, the present minister. From 1832 until 1840 or 1841, the society held their meetings in the Methodist church of Danville, and until the present frame church edifice was erected. This building was repaired in 1866, to the amount of nine hundred dollars. In 1866 a series of meetings were held by Elders Harrod and Chrisman, which resulted in an addition of forty-six members to the society. There are about sixty members in full connection with the church at this time. The officers at present are: Deacons, H. C. Robinson and Joseph Church; trustees, Thomas Snow, Eliza Porter, H. C. Robinson and Joseph Church.
The Methodist Episcopal church was organized at an early date, but as no records were kept, and the first members all dead, but little of its history can be obtained. Among the early members were the Welkers and Waddles; and the early preachers were Rev. John Welker, jr., and Rev. Charles Waddle, both for several years residents of Danville. Both were men of much note in the Methodist church and in the community at that time. They were men of great ability and eloquence, and were instrumental in doing much good. The frame church in which the society now worships was erected many years since. The church. enjoys moderate degree of prosperity.
Antioch Lodge, No. 286, F. and A. M., located in Danville, was organized under a charter dated October 23, 1856.
Charter members-Dr. John White, Wait Whit ney, U. B. Kinsey, Isaiah Hieth, S. W. Corner Zachariah Hibbets, John Biggs, Daniel Hess, B. S. Church, A S. Church, Miner Hildreth, Solomon W. Sapp, B. Casteel, C. W. Page.
The first officers (1856) were: Dr. John White, W. M.; Wait Whitney, S. W.; U. B. Kinsey, J. W.; Miner Hildreth, treasurer; Solomon W. Sapp, secretary; Benjamin S. Church, S. D.; Zachariah Hibbets, J. D.; Abram S. Church, tyler.
First initiation was that of Henry Hibbets, January 5, 1856, while the lodge was working under dispensation.
The officers, July 1, 1880, were: Francis M Hibbets, W. M.; Edwin D. Cash, S. W. William R. Langford, J. W.; Dr. William Balmer, treasurer; Edward T. Slaight, secretary; Matthias Tressel, S. D.; Levi Frost, J. D.; Nathaniel Critchfield, tyler.
The following members of the lodge have deceased since its organization: 1857, Dr. John White, April 20th; 1862, Wait Whitney, October 12th; 1864, Ebenezer Wilson, April 26th; 1866, Daniel Hess, April 20th; 1869, Solomon W. Sapp, March 1st; 1870, William Magers, December 18th; 1871, Mark Greer, April 29th; 1872, Thomas S. Barber, August 29th, John M. Church, November 23d; 1873, Solomon H. Porter, May 27th, Samuel Kinsey, August 31st, Dr. Isaac Putnam, October 7th; 1876, Alonzo Gardner, march 29th, William Porter, October 2d; 1879, John Spurgeon, October 1st-total deaths, fifteen.
Millwood is situated in the southeastern part of the township. Owl creek flows along its north border. It was so named in consequence of the first mill in the locality being built in the woods, although it is claimed by some of the citizens to have been named in honor of a Air. Millwood of Virginia, a friend of the founder of the town. It is a neat and. ordinary village of about two hundred inhabitants. At one time it was the most flourishing village in Union, and a large amount of business was transacted in the place; but since the location of the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad at Howard and Rossville, the tide of business has ceased to flow here and has been diverted to those villages. The town was .laid out about 1825, by John Hann. James Britton built the first log house, ! and Israel Houseworth the second one. Ross Arbuckle built the first flame dwelling. The first grist-mill was built about 1825, by John Hann and Eli-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 555
sha Gibbs. The present grist-mill, the second one in the town, was erected by John Hann. The first school-house, a small log building, was built on Jacob Hammond's farm about 1829, and William Critchfield taught the first school in this house,
John Welker was the first merchant and also the first postmaster. Israel Dillon was another of the early merchants and leading business men. The first tanyard was built in 1829 by Jacob Garret. Samuel Welker kept the first hotel. This hotel was the favorite resort of the students of Kenyon college when that institution was in its palmiest days. During the summer season they would make frequent trips in small boats down Owl creek to the locality known as "The Caves," near Millwood. After rusticating among the caves and hills until satisfied they would adjourn to "Uncle Sam's" hotel where they would spend many hours in social conviviality before returning to Gambier.
There are three churches in the town, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Disciple. The first church yeas erected in 1833: it was a small brick building, and known as the "Union church," no particular denomination having control but free for all sects to hold meetings in.
The Episcopal church was organized about 1831. Jacob Hammond, John Welker, James Britton, and their wives, were of the first members. Rev. John Hazzard and Hooper were of the first who preached in this society. Some of the later pastors were Revs. Abner Gough, Hiram Shafer, Jacob Hammond, David Gray, and Abner Shaw, the present minister. The society worshipped in the Union church several years, when it became unsafe and was torn down, after which they held their meetings in the school-house until about 1850, when the present frame building was erected. The original membership was about twelve, the present, seventy-three.
The Presbyterian church at Millwood is a continuation of the Danville Presbyterian church which was organized at an early day at Danville, and after an existence of several years the organization was transferred to Millwood and thereafter known as the Millwood Presbyterian church. The society worshipped some years in the Union church, school-house, and private houses, when on the seventh of January, 1855, a deed for the building lot was made, and soon after the church in which the congregation now worship was built. Rev. John Burns, a graduate of Kenyon college, was the first pastor, and remained such until his death in 1859. The society being weak there has been no settled pastor since his decease. Rev. J. Newell, Rev. Henry Hervey, J. D. Walkinshaw, and -Newton have preached at various times. The original membership was fourteen, present, forty. Jesse Winterringer and Ephraim McMillin were the first elders. The present elders are Daniel L. McGugin, Edward Gash, and Jesse Winterringer. During the. pastorate of Rev. John Burns he taught a select school which was attended by students from various portions of the county.
The "Disciples of Christ" organized a society in 1858. The early members of this church were William Moody, Albert Ellis, Lewis Critchfield and wife, William Cassell, Laura Moody, Benjamin Ellis and wife, Eliza Gist, Elizabeth Cassell, Norman Farmer and wife, and John Wolford and wife. The first officers were: Elders William Moody, Albert Ellis; Deacons Lewis Critchfield and William Cassell. The first pastor was . Elder William Moody, who was succeeded by Elders William H. Taylor, Uriah Hoffman, Charles Van V Voorhes, and O. \V. Kyle. The church has no pastor at this time. A frame church was erected m 1858. The society is in a flourishing condition, having eighty members in full connection with the church at present. A Sunday-school is connected with the church; Abram Ryan is superintendent. There are several other features of the town which adds to its completeness, and its desirableness as a place of residence. A fine, new iron bridge spans Owl creek at the approach on the southeast of the village. Much beautiful natural scenery is to be found in the immediate vicinity, consisting of beautiful high hills, rocky elevations, and "the caves," a subterranean opening in the banks of Owl creek. The town has one first-class dry goods store, one grocery, one shoe store, two hotels, one harness shop, one shoe shop, etc.
Gann, formerly Mt. Holly, was laid out by John Hibbitts in 1838. It is finely situated on the east side of the Mohican river. It has a population of about two hundred. The name was changed from Mt Holly to Gann by the president of the Cleve-
556 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
land, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad, in honor of George Gann, deceased. John Hibbitt built the first house, Robert Long built the first gristmill about 1840. It is still standing and is now owned by Isaac and James Thompson. Isaac Means kept the first store. The village contains two dry goods stores, two groceries, one hardware store, two hotels, one drug store, one harness shop, one blacksmith shop, etc. The village school is taught by Joseph Bluebaugh. Joshua Ferenbaugh is the agent for the Cleveland, Mt. Vernon & Columbus railroad. A fine iron bridge, several hundred feet long, spans the Mohican river.
There are two church edifices in the town, but only one organization at this time. The Methodists organized a church in 1848. At that time a series of meetings were held in the village by Rev. Lawrence, resulting in a large number of conversions, and a class of some forty members was formed; James and John Hibbitts and Elizabeth Titus were of the first members. Rev. Lawrence was the first pastor. His successors were Revs. Jacobs, Wheeler, Baughman, Barnes, Markum, Houston, Harris, and Ayres, the present pastor. The church was built in 1864.
The United Brethren organized a society and built a church in 1864. Some of the first members were Stephen Day, William Black, Charles Hibbitts, L. Severns and their wives, Isaac Hyatt, and Edward Day. The organization continued a few years, when it was discontinued and the church building sold to the Catholics. There is no organization of Catholics in Gann, the church being used principally for funeral occasions.
Rossville was laid out by Jacob Ross, about the time of the completion of the railroad. It is situated one-half mile south of Danville, and has a population of about two hundred and twenty-five. It is a live village and is steadily advancing. There are one dry goods store, one drug store, one grocery, one hardware store, one steam flouring-mill, one planing-mill and lumber yard, one jewelry shop, one hotel, etc., in the village. As yet there are no churches erected in the village. Last and least is Buckeye City, laid out in the fall of 1880 by J. C. Tilton, who has an insurance office in the embryo village. The new school edifice, a large and substantial brick building, is located in the village. These structures, with two or three dwellings, comprise the sum total of buildings. As the village is situated midway between Danville and Rossville, it is not probable that it will ever attain much prominence. The three villages will, no doubt, in course of time be consolidated.
Cavallo was among the many towns that have had an existence in Union. It was located in the southeastern part of the township, on the Mohican, and for several years enjoyed a large measure of prosperity. From 1840 to 1848 were its best days. Three or four large warehouses were erected for the receiving of the exports and imports that were conveyed to and from the town, and shipped via the Mohican through the Walhonding canal. The building of numerous railroads in central Ohio was the cause of its death, for it ceased to be a village many years ago, and no trace is left to mark its location.
CHAPTER LXV.
WAYNE TOWNSHIP.
ORGANIZATION AND DIMENSIONS-TOPOGRAPHY-MOUND
BUILDERS AND THEIR WORKS-THE INDIANS-KILLING
OF THE INDIAN HORSE THIEVES BY HUGHES AND RATLIFF
-REMAINS OF THE INDIANS THUS KILLED-FIRST SET -
TLERS-NATHANIEL MITCHELL YOU\G-THE "JERSEY
SETTLEMENT"-TRAPPING WOLVES-THE QUAKERS-OC-
TOBER ELECTION OF 7808-ROADS-MILLS-LUCERNE-
THE LEWIS BLOCK-HOUSE-GREEN VALLEY-CHURCHES -
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.
And I have said, and I say it ever,
As the years go on and the world goes over,
'Twere better to be content and clever,
In the tending of cattle and tossing of clover,
In the grazing of cattle and the growing of grain,
Than a strong man striving for fame or gain.
JOAQUIN MILLER.
THE original Wayne township was No. 1 in the division of the county into four townships by the county commissioners at their session May 2, 1808. The journal reads:
Ordered, That the following bounds. be laid off into a separate township, to-wit: Beginning at west boundary line of said county between the fifth and seventh township line, and running east to the west of the thirteenth range line, thence north to the centre of the seventh township line; thence on the east to the
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 557
east line of the thirteenth range; thence north to the county line which shall be called and known by the name of Wayne township.
Recorded April 5, 1809.
In the commissioners' journal, April 15, 1815, this entry is found:
Ordered, That all that part of Knox county lying north of Wayne township be attached to the said Wayne township, and henceforth be considered a part of the same.
Again, June 8, 1813, the following entry is found in the commissioners' journal:
Ordered, That the boundaries of Wayne township shall be altered, and that in future the following shall be the boundaries, and recorded as such: Beginning at the southeast corner of township number seven, range number fourteen, and running to the southwest corner of the same; thence due north to the north boundary of Knox county; thence east on said boundary so far that a line running due south would strike the old boundary line where the line between the thirteenth and fourteenth range in the old purchase strikes the old boundary; thence to run south on the last described south line to the place of beginning.
May 2, 1820, the commissioners again used the pruning knife, as the pages of their journal is evidence:
Ordered, That the east boundary line of Wayne township be altered as follows, to-wit: The alterations to begin at the northwest corner of Ellicott's section in the eighth township and thirteenth range, and running east to the southeast corner of lot number eleven; thence north so as to strike the centre of section number four, township number eighteen; thence north to the county line, which line shall henceforth be the division line of said township.
March 9, 1825, an entry on the commissioners' journal reads as follows
Wayne township shall be composed of the seventh township in the fourteenth range.
In 1830 it listed sixteen thousand two hundred and fifty-eight acres of land for taxation, and contained one thousand and forty-eight inhabitants. In 1850 it contained one thousand eight hundred and sixty-four inhabitants, in 1860, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine; in 1870, one thousand six hundred and fifty-eight, and in 1880, one thousand six hundred and eighteen.
The above quotations from the journal of the commissioners are unintelligible to the general reader, owing in part to the fact that the whole of Richland county, which included parts of the present Ashland and Crawford counties, was at first a part of Knox, as was also a part of the present Morrow county. Wayne was named in honor of "Mad Anthony" Wayne, the hero of Stony Point and Fallen Timbers, and at one time embraced within its limits the present townships of Franklin and Chester, in Morrow county, and Middlebury, Berlin, Wayne, and the north half of Morris townships in this county. Reductions were made from time to time, and it reached its present dimensions in 1825, as stated in the commissioner's report.
Topographically considered, the township, at the present day, presents a beautiful appearance, every acre of its soil, except the timber land, being under a high state of cultivation. It is well watered, the surface gently rolling, and possesses uncommon attractions to the agriculturalist and the seeker after a prosperous and happy home.
In its primitive condition it was densely timbered with all varieties of hard wood-beech, oak, hickory, ash, sugar, black walnut, and other varieties, the beech, perhaps, predominating. Possibly one or two little patches of prairie appeared on the Owl creek bottom, whether cleared of timber by Indians or white men, or whether natural prairies will probably remain unknown. The south branch of Owl creek passes across the township near its centre, from west to east, and this, with its numerous branches, waters the northern and central portions, while the pretty and historical little stream called Granny's creek, with its tributaries, waters the southern portion. Many mills .were, in an early day, erected along these two streams, and around these mills clustered a large amount of fact and romance that might profitably enter into these pages could it be gathered and truthfully presented.
Centuries before any white man set foot on its soil, possibly before any white man had an existence in the now known world, this same territory of Wayne township was inhabited, perhaps densely populated, by that "lost race" known as the Mound Builders. Where they came from, who they were, and what became of them, are questions as yet unanswered-problems yet unsolved and probably unsolvable.
So far as known none of their works now exist in this township, with the single exception of one in the woods, not well preserved, in the southern part; but when the first settlers came a very perfect
558 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
work existed within the present limits of the town of Fredericktown. The older inhabitants of this place yet remember this work. Its location was upon the highest point of the hill, upon which the town stands, directly in Sandusky street, a little east of the public square. The entire work covered perhaps an acre of ground, and included a portion of the lots upon which the present Methodist and Baptist churches stand, and also contiguous lots. In the grading of the street and building of the houses, the work has entirely disappeared. The embankment was in a circular forth, two or three feet in height, with ditch inside, and a gateway opening toward the east. A mound was within this enclosure, and in size was thirty or forty feet in diameter at the base and seven or eight feet in height at the date of the first settlement. The soil here is somewhat sandy and loose, and favorable to the erection of these works. The Mound Builders seemed to have a preference for sandy, loamy soil, and seldom erected their works upon other soil. From the summit of this mound an extensive view could be had of the valley of the Owl creek, several miles to the southward, and across the valley to the hills some distance eastward. Some three or four other mounds, located in Morris and Berlin townships, were evidently connected with this one, and would be in view were the timber cleared away, a condition of things probably existing when the Mound Builders occupied the territory.
It is not unlikely that many other works of this mysterious people existed in this vicinity, but all have disappeared, except those mentioned. What could be expected to survive the ravages of a thou sand years or more? The wonder is that any trace of this people remain.
The next race to occupy the soil of this township, so far as known, eras the red Indian; a race almost as mysterious as the Mound Builders. They have -no written history and even tradition is silent as to their origin. Several such races might have inhabited this territory and passed away,-leaving no trace of existence, as the Indian hill leave no permanent footprint behind when he is gone; and were it not for the little history of him preserved by the white race, coming peoples, who may occupy this territory in the coming centuries, would not know of his existence. This race was here, however, when the white race came to drive him out and subdue the wilderness. Probably many permanent Indian camps were located along Owl creek and its wild and pretty tributaries; but about the time of the first white occupation no permanent Indian camp existed within the limits of Wayne township. Temporary camps for hunting purposes existed along Owl creek, and occasionally an Indian hunter and his family occupied a lone wigwam in the depths of the forest, where he fished, hunted, and lounged away his life in happy ignorance-like the beasts of the field, of whom Joaquin Miller thus sings:
I have said it once and I say it over,
And can prove it over and over again,
That the four-footed beasts on the red-crowned clover.
The pied and horned beasts of the plain
That lie down, rise up, and repose again,
And do never take care, or toil, or spin,
Nor buy, nor build, nor gather in gold,
Though the days go out and the tides come in.
Are better than we by a thousand-fold.
It was probably within the limits of this township that the Indian horse-theives were killed, by Hughes and Ratlif from the Licking valley, in Licking county. They were overtaken and killed in the bottom, just south of Fredericktown-probably on the south branch of Owl creek: The facts are that in 1801, a party of Indians stole some horses from a little enclosure near the cabins of Elias Hughes and John Ratliff, who, in 1798, had located on the Bowling green about four miles below the present city of Newark, on Licking river. Hughes and Ratliff were the first settlers of Licking county, were related, the latter being a nephew of the former, and lived ,near each other with their families on a beautiful natural prairie. At the time the horses were stolen, a Mr. Bland, who lived further down, at the mouth of the Licking, was a visitor at Hughes' cabin, and his horse was among the number stolen. In the morning, finding the horses gone, these three men started in pursuit, following the trail of the savages, gaining rapidly upon them, and overtaking them on Owl creek, at the place mentioned. They came upon their camp at day-break in the morning, shot the Indians, recovered their horses, and returned unmolested to their cabins on the Licking. It is said that Bland and Rat-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 559
lift relented when they saw they had the Indians in their power, and were in favor of taking the horses and letting the Indian thieves go; but Elias Hughes was not that kind of a man; he was an old Indian fighter and hater, and he expressed his views in such emphatic language that the others gave up to his .way of thinking and the Indians were killed.
Elias Hughes was a well known pioneer of Licking county, and died near Utica, Ohio, in December, 1814, at the age of ninety years or thereabouts. His son, Jonathan, is yet living in Utica at an advanced age.
The information comes from William Mefford, an old citizen of this township, that when he was clearing off the ground on which to erect his house, on Mile run, he plowed up the remains of the two Indians killed by these pioneers; also a rusty gunbarrel, brass guard, and other pieces of a gun, which had not decayed. This was in 1835, and these relics were placed in the hands of Jacob Mitchell. George Conkie gathered up the bones and reburied them, and the house was built on the spot. It is the old Peck place on Mile run bottom, where Mrs. Acre has since lived.
In. early days there was a favorite camping ground about three-fourths of a mile from where these Indians were killed. Large parties camped here for the purpose of hunting. They were the Delawares and Wyandots from the Sandusky plains, as well as the Greentown and Jerometown Indians, under Chiefs Armstrong and Captain Pipe, who were often seen in this vicinity.
Indians remained in this vicinity until the War of 1812, when they generally disappeared, never to return. The bear, deer and wolf rapidly followed the retreating savages, and upon their heels came the all-conquering white race.
The first settler in this township was the first permanent settler within the present limits of Knox county. His name was Nathaniel Mitchell Young. Andrew Craig, who was in the territory embraced within the county limits several years before Mr. Young, can hardly be called a settler at' all. He was not a permanent resident, he did not purchase or enter land; he was a sort of renegade, living among the Indians, and shortly after the whites began a settlement he went away to Greentown, where a small tribe of Indians were encamped under Chief Armstrong. It was within the present limits of Ashland county. Mr. Young may, therefore, be called the first settler of Knox county. He was from New Jersey, and wandered up into the this wilderness in the spring of 1805. He was a hardy, adventurous fellow, and a sort of blacksmith. He probably came by way of Zanesville and Newark, the latter place having been laid out the year before, after leaving which he found no further white settlers, until he reached the cabin of Craig on Owl creek. Why he continued on up Owl creek to the spot where he ever afterward lived, is not certainly known, but it is probable that he had a land warrant in his pocket, was hunting for, and found up here, the land it called for. It must be remembered that this belonged to the United States military lands, and was consequently first settled, either by Revolutionary soldiers or their heirs, with land warrants. The "axe maker," as the Indians soon named him, had probably one of these warrants, and he located upon his land on the south branch of Owl creek in the western part of this township, five to six miles a little south of west of the present town of Fredericktown. From the fact that several of his kinsmen soon followed him and settled around him, this came to be known far and wide as the "Jersey settlement," and one of the most important settlements in the county.
Mr. Young erected a little log pen for a shelter, and as Indians visited him often, he soon began to employ his leisure time, between hunts, having a few tools with him, in repairing the knives, tomahawks and guns of his red neighbors; hence the sobriquet of "axe maker," which for more than half a century afterward clung to him. He was soon followed by. Jacob Young, Abraham and Simeon Lyon, and not long afterward by Eliphalet and John Lewis, and James Bryant-all from New Jersey.
In the winter of 1805-6 this settlement entered into a written agreement among themselves to give nine bushels of corn for each wolf scalp that might be taken; and during the winter some of them did a flourishing business catching wolves, three of them securing forty-one in steel traps and pens.
The early history of this settlement is similar to that of every other pioneer settlement. They erected cabins, chopped and cleared their farms,
560 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
hunted the game in the forest and fished from the stream at their leisure; erected mills; tried to build a town; lived to see such changes as they never dreamed of, and passed away; most, if not all are dead, but their descendants and others occupy the farms staked out by them in the wilderness. These lands are probably unexcelled for productiveness. James Bryant was followed by several others of the same name, who settled in the vicinity. James was a strict, steady man, with a "Sunday-go-to-meeting" face, and because his neighbors to the west of him did not walk as near to his way as he thought they should, he called the place Sodom, a name it has ever since borne.
Some years after Mr. Young settled here, Jabez and Daniel Beers, and Joseph Denman also joined the settlement.
In 1806 a party of Quakers came from Maryland and settled on Owl creek, though the first who came, William Y. Farquhar, and his cousin, Henry Roberts, probably first settled within the present limits of Morris township. These were soon followed by William W. Farquhar and family, and in 1807 by Samuel Wilson and John Kerr, all Quakers, the two latter making, probably, the second settlement within the limits of this township, upon the site of Fredericktown. These good people, by their sobriety, industry, and honesty, placed some of the best material in the foundation of the present structure of society in this township. They composed the first settlement of Friends in this part of the country. Amariah Watson was also a settler in this township, near the site of Fredericktown, in 1806. His place was subsequently sold to Jacob Ebersole.
The next settlement made in this township, as before stated, was in 1807, on the site of Fredericktown, by Kerr and Wilson. The former began immediately the erection of a grist-mill upon the site of a mill yet standing near Fredericktown; he also laid out Fredericktown on the first quarter, seventh township, fourteenth range, United States military district, which, on the eleventh of November, 1807, he acknowledged in the presence of George Chambers, before William W. Farquhar. The history of this settlement will be followed upin the next chapter, on Fredericktown.
At the October election of 1808, the first regular vote was taken for State and county officers.
The following is a copy of the poll-book of this township, one of the most populous in the county:
Poll-book of an election held in the township of Wayne, in the county of Knox, and State of Ohio, the eleventh day of October, 1808, at the house of Daniel and Abner Ayers. in the town of Frederick. John Kerr, chairman, Nathaniel M. Young, John Cook, Henry Roberts, judges, and Jacob Young, William W. Farquhar, clerks of the election, were duly sworn as the law directs, previous to their entering on the duties of their respective offices.
Certified to by me,
WILLIAM W. FARQUHAR, A. J.
Casper Fitting. Joseph Talmage, Amariah Watson, Abraham Lyon, Joshua Vennom, Samuel Wilson. Charles McGowen, Joshua Milligan, Reuben Skinner, Jacob Cook, Henry Roberts, John Kerr, Henry Markley, Nathaniel M. Young, John Walker, William W. Farquhar, Jacob Young, John Cook, Richard Hall, Thomas Durbin, Samuel Durbin, Jeduthan Dodd, Thomas Townsend.
Samuel Huntington had at the above election, for governor, a majority of twenty-three votes (all the votes that were cast); Jeremiah Morrow, for Congress, received twenty-one,. and Philemon Beecher two.
William Trimble and Jacob Button had a majority of twentyone votes each for the senate.
Hezekiah Smith had two votes for senator, and Elnathan Scofield two.
Alexander Holden, for representative, had twenty votes, and Jeremiah R. Munson two.
For commissioners, William Douglass had twenty-one votes, Calvin Shepherd two, Henry Markley twenty-three, Mathew Merritt twenty-one.
For coroner, John Merritt had twenty-one votes.
For sheriff, Silas Brown thirteen, Ichabod Nye nine.
John Harrod had two votes for commissioner, and Joseph Walker two.
Attest: WILLIAM W. FARQUHAR,
JACOB YOUNG,
Clerks.
An examination of the above list of voters, will give a pretty fair idea of the number and names of the settlers in Way ne township in 1808, though Wayne township then occupied a large territory, and only a portion of those named then lived within the present limits of this township. There was no opportunity then, and probably no inclination, to "bulldoze" the voters, stuff the ballot-boxes with tissue ballots, and miscount the ballots in favor of one party, as is done at this age of the Republic.
Roads were of primary importance to the first settlers of Wayne, as of many other townships not located on navigable streams. Preliminary steps were taken as early as 1809 to open the first regular highway through this part of the county. On the twenty-third of January of that year "Mr.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 561
Holden presented to the legislature a petition from sundry inhabitants of Licking county; also a petition from sundry inhabitants of the counties of Licking, Knox, and Richland, setting forth their remote situation from water carriage, and the necessity of having good roads; that they have no road whereby they can receive letters, or any kind of intelligence, or any property from any part of the United States, or this State, except by chance or private conveyance, nearer than Newark or Zanesville, and praying for the establishment of a road from Newark, in Licking county; thence to Mt. Vernon, in Knox county; thence to Mansfield, in Richland county, and thence to the mouth of Huron river, Lake Erie," etc.
The petition for this road was granted, and in March of the same year a portion of the route was surveyed by William W. Farquhar, and the road opened that spring from Mt. Vernon to Fredericktown and thence to Joseph Denman's, by James Colville and Matthew Merritt. :bout the same time a road was opened through the influence of the Youngs and Bryants, from Douglass,' in the present township of Morris, near the forks of Owl creek, to the Jersey settlement on the South branch. These two roads gave the people an outlet for their produce, and communication with the outside world. It was not, however, until 1811, that the north and south road was finished through to the lake.
Mills were a most necessary thing in the early settlement: Before the erection of the Kerr mill at Fredericktown, the settlers were compelled to get along with hominy blocks, horse-mills, and other crude structures, occasionally, however, packing their grist to Ten Mile, beyond `It. Vernon, where the first mill in the county was erected; or over on the Mohican, or down on the Licking river.. There were but few settlers in this township when Kerr built his mill in 1807-8. Subsequently many mills were erected along Owl creek and its branches, both grist- and saw-mills, for this stream furnished plenty of water for milling purposes-much more in those days than at present. Several mills were erected on the South branch, in Wayne township, also on Granny's creek in the southern part of the township; the saw-mills were especially numerous. But the days of the old water saw-mills are gone forever, because they are no longer needed. Timber is getting scarce and the saw-mills are now confined to the cities and larger towns, except in unsettled portions of the State. Probably the second mill in this township was the Young mill in the Jersey settlement. It was a primitive affair at first, like all otherearly mills-a mere "corn-cracker" = but improved as the years went by; has changed hands several times, and is yet doing business. It is now a good-sized frame structure and owned by James Cunningham. A saw-mill was connected with it as long as there was sawing to be done.
The Lyons were early settlers in the vicinity of this Jersey settlement, and many of that name yet reside there. They were also, probably, from New Jersey. These go-ahead and enterprising Jerseymen, in addition to the grist-mill and several saw mills, which they erected at different times, attempted the building up of a town, which they called Lucerne. Daniel and Jabez Beers owned the land and started this town about 1835 or 1840. John Beebe had previously located his saw-mill there, and established a factory for making wind-mills. He sawed his own poplar lumber, from which the mills were made, and did, for some years, quite a business in that line. The Beers built a frame dwelling house and a woollen-mill, and for fifteen or twenty years, run a carding and fulling mill. These mills were very common in those days, but have long since disappeared. Messrs. Byrant & Leonard, probably fifty years ago, also erected a still on the creek near this place. Several dwellings were erected in this place, a blacksmith shop, a church, and for some years Conger & Lewis kept a small store. A post-office was first established at Young's mill, and afterward moved to the store in the village. Like so many other places, however, with bright prospects, it has almost disappeared. Four or five dwellings remain; the mills have generally disappeared, as has also the business of the place. In 1812, when the war with Great Britain broke out, and an Indian invasion threatened, these settlers erected a block-house for the protection of their families. John Lewis now owns the land upon which this stood. It was built in a circular form, on a high bank above the creek, of logs set on end and standing fifteen feet above the surface of the ground, a stockade. It has long since dis-
562 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
appeared. It was not attacked, but these families occupied it frequently during the war.
A little town called Green Valley, located on Granny's creek in the southern part of the township, struggled some years for existence and -finally died. It was started fifty years ago or more by a New Englander named Cromwell Newcomer, and was first called Newcomerstown. It is located in a beautiful and productive valley. Thirty or forty years ago a Union church was erected here. It was built mostly by the Methodists and Presbyterians, but is used by all denominations, as was intended by the projectors. Preaching is not regularly held in the church, but it is in frequent use by various religious societies. Prior to the erection of this church, services were frequently held in the Granny's creek school-house, where a Union Sunday-school was established and maintained with considerable regularity many years. A temperance society was also organized at this schoolhouse in an early day, and the interest kept up many years, sowing seed that is no doubt yet bearing fruit.
There are six churches within the limits of the township; only two, however, besides the above, are located outside of Fredericktown. One of these called the Wayne Baptist church (Old School) is located on Owl creek in the Jersey settlement. It was probably organized as early as 1810, and is, therefore, one of the first in the township. The Lewises were, probably, the most influential in its establishment; William, John and Eliphalet and their wives being among the original members. A Mr. Ackerman, a Revolutionary soldier, was also among the first members. The first meetings of the organization were held in the cabins of the Lewis family. Their first church was erected about 1815. It was a frame building, for their saw-mill was in active operation; but it was never wholly finished. It had been the intention to put in a gallery, but this was never done, owing to the fact, in part, that it was sufficiently commodious to accommodate the scattered settlers without one. The seats were rude puncheon benches. It was used until 1837, when the present church was erected in its place. The present building is a neat white frame, with green shutters, comfortably seated and in size is, perhaps, twenty-six by forty feet. At present the membership is twenty or thirty. They have no Sunday-school, as the Old School Baptists are not much in favor of Sunday-schools.
Another church, the Salem Methodist Episcopal, is located in the northwestern part of the township. The Jacksons, Lyons and Beers were probably influential in establishing this church. It was organized as early as 1830, of before. The original members were Daniel Lyons and wife, Daniel Beers and wife, Henry Wider and wife, James Beebe and wife, Mrs. Jeffers, Aaron Jackson, Mr. Young, and probably some others.
Their first meetings were held in a school-house, but about 1831 a church was erected. It is a two story frame, with gallery, about thirty-two by forty-four feet in size, and is at present in a dilapidated condition. The congregation is preparing to erg erect a new one.
Among the early preachers here were Rus Goff, Pilcher and Bishop Hamlin. Rev. Allen Moffitt has charge at present. There are thirty or forty members. and a Sunday-school is maintained.
The following list comprises the names of the successive justices of the peace of this township: William Y. Farquhar, 1808; Daniel Ayres, 1809 : Abner Ayres, 1812; W. W. Farquhar, 1815, also 1818; Abner Ayres, 1816, 1819, 1822, 1825; Daniel Beers. 1817; Anson Brown, 1821; David Wadsworth, 1826; Byram Leonard, 1826, also 1829: Michael Sockman, 1830; George H. Bull, 1831, 1834, 1837, 1840; John Allen, 1830; Samuel Braant, 1836, 1839, 1842, 1845, 1848; Byram Leonard, 1837; John Lewis, 1840; A. Greenlee, 1843; G. W. Woodcock, 1846, 1849, 1852, 1855; Peter Ink, 1846; J. B. Roberts, 1849; Mitchell Lewis, 1851; George T. Potter, 1852, also 1855; W. G. Strong, 1855; T. V. Parke, 1856; A. Greenlee, 1857, also 1860; Henry Phillips, 1858; D. S. Beers, 1859; W, D. Bonner, 1860; D. S. Beers, 1862; William Wyker, 1862; A. B. Ink, 1863; Samuel Wright, jr., 1863; Archibald Greenlee, 1865; John Randall, 1866; William Wilkinson, 1866; A. Greenlee, 1868; J. W. Lindley, 1868; James Cooper, 1869; William J. Struble, 1871; Andrew Cayton, 1871; J. W. Lindley, 1871, also 1874; Columbus D. Hyler, 1875; Benjamin W. Phillips, 1875; M. H. Lafever, 1877; John W. Lindley, 1877, also 1880; and Samuel J. Castner, 1880.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 563
CHAPTER LXVI.
FREDERICKTOWN.
LOCATION-LUCAS SULLIVANT-JOHN KERR AND HIS MILL
-LAYING OUT THE TOWN-FIRST CABIN AND FIRST
BRICK HOUSE-THE QUAKERS--NAMES OF THE EARLIEST
SETTLERS-THE AYERS - APPEARANCE OF THE TOWN
IN 1812-GARRISON AND HIS STORE-NICHOLAS MCCARTY
-THE BUSINESS AND WHEREABOUTS OF A FEW OF THE
SETTLERS-CAPTAIN WILLIAMS - FIRST FOURTH OF JULY
CELEBRATION-THE. BLOCK-HOUSES AND INCIDENTS CON-
NECTED WITH THEM-"UNCLE ABNER" AND HIS "TAVE-
RN "-HOTELS OF FREDERICKTOWN-THE MILLS AROUND
THE TOWN-PRODUCE DEALERS-BANKS-NEWSPAPERS
-MAYORS-.A SUMMARY OF THE BUSINESS-:SCHOOLS -
CHURCHES.
It was once a city only in name, The houses and barns had not yet a frame, The streets and the squares no mortal could see, .end the woodman's ax had scarce hit a tree.
SEVEN miles from -It. Vernon lies the pretty, quiet village of Fredericktown, situated on a bluff, on the west bank of the east fork of Owl creek. It is in the northeastern corner of Wayne township as at present defined, though when first brought into life, it was in the midst of a vast wilderness, and surveyor's lines were few and far apart. The foot of the Mound Builder had pressed the soil centuries before, and the red Indian had hunted through the silent forest for. other intervening centuries, but the savage white man came at last, to destroy and build up, to sweep the ground of everything old, and build upon it a new civilization.
This particular military section of four thousand acres was purchased from the Government by Mr. Lucas Sullivant, of Franklinton, and it may be of interest to the good people of Fredericktown to know something of the man who first owned the land upon which their beautiful village stands. Mr. Sullivant was born in Mecklenburgh county, Virginia, .in 1765. He was well educated and adopted surveying as a profession, being employed in Kentucky in that business in early, life, and afterwards in Ohio. He was appointed deputy surveyor under Colonel Richard C. Anderson, a distinguished officer of the Revolution, and surveyor-general of the Virginia Military Land district, of which a large part was in this State. The surveying operations of Mr. Sullivant gave him an extensive knowledge of Ohio lands, and in 1797, having possessed himself of lands on the Scioto, he laid out the town of Franklinton, opposite the present city of Columbus. He married Sarah Starling, daughter of Colonel William Starling, of Kentucky, and settling at Franklinton, remained there until his death. His descendants are yet living in that neighborhood. He died August 8, 1823, aged fifty-eight years. Among his early acquirements of landed property was the Sullivant section in Wayne township, lying between the south and east forks of Owl creek. Mr. Sullivant early discovered the excellent facilities for a mill seat, afforded by the east fork of Owl creek, on his land, and with commendable liberality, and a view to the enhancement of the value of his property, gave John Kerr his choice of fifty out of four thousand acres of land, including the mill seat, if he would settle there and erect a mill. Accordingly in the fall of 1807 Mr. Kerr constructed a dam, raised a little log building, and set one run of stone to grinding or "cracking" corn. This was the beginning of the future village. Very few settlers had then penetrated the wilderness to that point.
The Jersey settlement, with Nathaniel Mitchell Young at its head, had been in existence tour years; there were a few settlers in, the region further south, about Mt. Vernon and Clinton; but settlers were rapidly coming, the old Revolutionary heroes, with land warrants in their pockets, were seeking homes in the west, and Mr. Kerr knew that his mill would not be idle, and it never was idle; settlers came from far and near to patronize it. For several years afterwards it was the main reliance for those pioneers north of it, in Richland county.
Upon the fifty acres given Kerr, and near his mill he laid out the town of Frederick, November 11, 1807, and soon after, he purchased four hundred and fifty acres of land around it. William Y. Farquhar surveyed and platted the town, and erected the first cabin in it, giving it the name Frederick, in honor of his old home in Maryland. Mr. Farquhar afterward moved to Mt. Vernon, and became a prominent man in the county, holding many offices of trust and profit.
The first road opened through this place was the north and south road, in 18og, and has been
564 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
alluded to in the previous chapter. The original plat of the town was in the form of a parallelogram, the length being north and south, and greater by one square than the width. It extended from Mulberry street on the west to the present township line on the east, and from one square beyond Donation street on the north to Sixth street on the south, with an ample public square in the centre. Additions have since been made to the east and west; that on the east side extending into the present limits of Morris township. The streets were named First or Donation, Second, Third or Sandusky, Fourth, Vine alley, Chambers, State Road or Main, and Strawberry alley.
Mr. Kerr built his cabin upon the lot now occupied by Mr. Simons, the merchant; and upon this same lot Mr. Williams, who bought out Kerr in 1814, erected the first brick house in the village, and probably in the township.
W. W. Farquhar, a brother of W. Y. Farquhar, and a cousin, Henry Roberts, were very early settlers in this neighborhood. They were Quakers, and with some others comprised the first settlement of that society in this county. W. W. Farquhar was justice of the peace in 1815 and 1818 in this township. He was subsequently a resident of Middlebury township, where some of his descendants yet reside.
Among the earliest settlers in Fredericktown are found the names of Abner, Thomas, and David Ayers, John Milligan, Jeduthan Dodd, John and Jacob Cook, Jacob Haldeman, William and Isaac N. Richardson, Samuel Watson, John Wright, Charles McGowan, Thomas Durbin, Samuel Wilson, Thomas Townsend, John Walker, Willis Speakman, John Garrison, John Vennum, Nicholas McCarty, James Rigby, George Girty, Joshua Vennum, Samuel Wolf, Anson Brown, Absolom Thrift, Osgood Dustin, Celestial LeBlond, Amariah Watson, Mr. McCoy, Ebenezer Taylor, Jedediah Peck, John Williams, and Dr. John Byers.
The next family to locate within the town plat after Farquhar and Kerr, was that of Mrs. Ayers; Tier sons, David, Abner, and Thomas, soon becoming leading citizens. There were quite a number of Ayerses, and some of them subsequently moved further north, into the nurthern part of Richland county, where, in connection with Abraham Trux, they established the village of Truxville, since called Ganges. It was quite an important town in an early day, but has gone down.
John Milligan and Jeduthan Dodd were from Ten Mile, Pennsylvania, and came shortly. after the Ayerses to Fredericktown, with their relatives, John and Jacob Cook and Jacob Haldeman. In 1809 Rachel Richardson purchased the little improvement of John Cook, and settled there with her family, consisting of William; Isaac N., Polly, and Nancy. The girls subsequently married Samuel Watson and John Wright.
In 1812 there were in the town nine log cabins and one frame building, and they were probably occupied by Willis Speakman, Rachel Richardson, John Garrison, W. Y. Farquhar, John Kerr, John Vennum, and the Ayerses.
Mr. Garrison opened the first store in 1812, and lived in the only frame house; it was situated where the Methodist church now stands, He led a somewhat migratory life; was a native of New Jersey; married near Philadelphia; moved to New York; thence to Knox county, where he sold goods several years; thence to Mansfield; from there to Detroit; then back again to Knox; thence to Chicago, Illinois; and when last heard from resided in Cedar Fall, Iowa, in the ninety-first year of his age.
Nicholas McCarty was the second merchant, and came here from Mt. Vernon.
Mr. Norton thus writes regarding the early days of Fredericktown
In July, 1817, Nicholas McCarty & Co. closed up their mercantile business and left their notes and accounts with Abner Ayres, esq., for settlement, and also a quantity of lake fish. The mother of Mr. McCarty died at Fredericktown; he moved to Indiana, and for many years drove a prosperous trade at the State capital. In 1853 he returned to Frederick on a mission of filial affection, and erected a monument at his mother's grave. In 1855 he paid the debt of nature, leaving a large family in prosperous circumstances. During his life he was a zealous Whig, and represented the capital district in the senate of Indiana, and was also the candidate of his party for governor of the State. He had the respect and confidence of all, and well deserved the title he bore-" Honest Nic. McCarty. "
James Rigby long and faithfully followed merchandising here. George Girty was another merchant, who left this section about 1815 for other parts. Joshua Vennum, the first house-joiner, built the first frame house in the village. None of his name survive in this county:
Mrs. Wolf kept the first boarding-house. She is dead long since. Her oldest son, Peter, lived on a farm near the Burkholder flat, which he sold to Henry B. Carter, who was a brother to Jacob Cook's wife, and moved to Knox county in 1810.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 565
Samuel Wolf was a sterling man lived in Richland, and served as sheriff. When the county went wild for Jackson he was an Adams man, and consequently "done for politically." Her daughters have done well. Artemissa married lawyer May, of ifansfield; Eliza, as elsewhere related, Mr. Drennan, and Mary married and lived in the neighborhood of Lancaster. The first tavern was opened by Abner Ayres, and with a slight intermission during the war, when, for good and sufficient reasons, his brother Daniel took it; the same hotel was kept up more than forty years. " Uncle Abner " was not any "great shakes" in the way of dancing attendance on guests, but "Aunt Amy" did know how to have the culinary department carried on; and for making good brandy mince pies, and brandy peaches, she was unsurpassed by any of womankind since Eve eat the forbidden fruit. She knew just when, where, and how to apply the spirit to make it most palatable, as all of the generation, who feasted there during sleighing excursions, well know. They have both departed to a better land, leaving the record of a life spent in contributing to the happiness of their fellow-creatures. Abner served as captain in the War of 1812. as a justice of the peace fifteen years, and associate judge seven years, a county commissioner three years, and postmaster near forty years. He was as quiet, unassuming, and well disposed man as ever wore shoe-leather.
The first preaching was in the little school-house, hereafter mentioned as a fort, etc. In it ministers of various denominations held forth at stated times. About 1820 the Presbyterians undertook to build a church, but having started out on too large a scale they were compelled to succumb, and the building in its unfinished state, a mere shell, was sold to Absalom Thrift, who converted it into a warehouse, and it is to this day used as a livery stable. Some time after this the U Universalists, who have ever been quite numerous in this locality, erected a spacious frame church, which they have since occupied, until for a few years past the supply from some cause has ceased. The Presbyterians made another effort, and built the present excellent edifice; and the Methodists and Baptists have also fine churches. The population is of a decided "go to meeting', character; they have also been noted for their zealous efforts in behalf of temperance, and have kept up varions organizations of a reform class many years.
The first blacksmith was Thomas Ayres, who went to work in 1808, and continued many years. The first school was kept by William Y. Farquhar; the first shoeshop by Osgood Dustin. The first hatter was Celestial Le Blond, a little frisky Frenchman, whose vote, in 1811, is entered .as "Celestial Light" on the poll-books. He was the son of a wealthy French gentleman, and had to flee from his native land in consequence of having killed an antagonist in a duel. He frequently received from his father remittances of five hundred dollars or so, but made very foolish bargains. With money once sent he bought a mill seat, set about erecting a mill where Shaler' s now is, and "broke flat" by the time he got a saw-mill up. The premises were then sold to Christopher Brollier, and by him to David Shaler, an energetic millwright. Shortly after this Celestial received another remittance and moved to Bellville. In 1838 he went to France, obtained a considerable sum of money, and returned with a large stock of goods. He died at Bellville, leaving a very respectable family. An old man named McCoy, a sort of cobbler, tried his hand at making cloth shoes for the women at an early day. The men then generally wore moccasins. A singular freak of another creature in 1809, has been related. His name was Ebenezer
Taylor, and he undertook to do work in the shoe line, but before he got fairly started an itinerant preacher came along, and Ebenezer was so taken with his discourse that he followed him off, leaving his kit of tools and an estray animal, which he had taken up and advertised, and has never been heard of since. Speaking of shoemakers. brings to mind a somewhat noted man in these harts, Jedediah Peck, who attempted to get up a patent way of making boots, having last and tree all together, but found that it was easier to make-them on, than to get the boot off the tree; and after vain attempts, he concluded to fasten the tree to the house, and hitch on a mule to pull the boot off. His house was built around a walnut tree, and it was considerable of a curiosity to travellers to see a tree growing out of the top of a house. Jedediah and his wife died without issue, and his two pretty nieces, who dwelt with him, are gone also.
In 1815 Captain John Williams, of .Frederick, Maryland, bought out John Kerr's mill property, and at the same time started a store in the village. He brought out forty thousand dollars in money, and dissipated through the country. He was a man of talent, clever and sociable, and is spoken well of by all old settlers. He came to this county in 1814 with his family. His children are much scattered. William moved to Peoria, Illinois; Thomas to Henry county, in that State, as also Rachel, wife of Colonel Prather, to the same county; Eliza, wife of Milton Bevans, to Fulton county, Illinois; Pendy died in Illinois, Abraham in this county, and Gist W. in Missouri, in 1852.
The post office was kept, from its establishment, by Abner Ayres, until 1850; B. J. Lewis succeeded him; in May, 1852, Thomas A. Reed was acting postmaster, in place of Lewis, resigned; L. S. McCoy followed, and his successor was George Ball.
In 1840, Fredericktown contained five hundred inhabitants; in 1850, seven hundred and twelve; in 1860, seven hundred and ninety, of whom sixteen were negroes, and in 1880, eight hundred and fifty. The place in 1850 put on city airs, and with George W. Woodcock as mayor, and T. A. Reed, recorder, carried on a right sharp crusade against "doggeries." The warfare was subsequently taken up by the common pleas courts, and for a time better "order reigned in Warsaw." In later years, however, the "spirits" assumed, at times, a very bold and threatening appearance; and in 1873 a second grand crusade was inaugurated, which had the effect of closing all the saloons. They have since opened out, but, taken altogether, Frederick may be said, during its existence, to have been a model town in the line of "law and order." In 1816, the entire township cast but eighty-one votes.
The fourth of July, 1817, was duly commemorated at Anson Brown's, in Fredericktown. Daniel Beers was chosen moderator, and Anson Brown, clerk. The committee of arrangements consisted of Christian Haldeman, Job Allen, Munson Pond, Joseph Talmage, Jacob Young, and Henry Markley. Munson Pond was officer of the day; Job Allen commanded the volunteer company; Jabez Beers was reader; Truman Strong, orator; Benjamin Jackson, Anson Brown and Benjamin Jackson, jr., conducted the singing. The Rev. John Cook and James Scott were present-and last, but not least, Alvin Bateman was toast master. A good dinner was eaten, all felt glorious. The McCutchens, Strubles, Cochrans. Cravens, Sagerses, Beerses, Leonards, Thrifts, Harters, Strongs, and Corbins, were present. Of the Cochrans, William and Samuel were young men of good mind. The former is dead, and the latter became a preacher of celebrity in New York. Jabez Beers was one of the old set-
566 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
tlers, and his son, Joseph, lived in Frederick at an early day. Dr. John Byers located here in 1812. He moved about 1835 to Hardin county. His three sons emigrated to Arkansas; Thomas and John are both dead. The boys acquired considerable distinction as attorneys. The old gentleman was one of the earliest practitioners of medicine in this township. Dr. David Wadsworth, another physician, died many years ago. His son, T. B., died a soldier in the Mexican war; and his daughter, Eliza Ellen, became Mrs. Struble.
In 1812, when the Zimmer and Copus families were murdered by Indians on the Blackfork, and Jones was ambushed and shot near Mansfield by the same stealthy foe, the few settlers at Fredericktown, as well as along the entire frontier, were greatly alarmed, and immediately sought the protection of block-houses. Three were constructed in Wayne township. The Lewis block-house, on the South fork, has been mentioned.
William Mitchell prepared his cabin for a siege by making heavy batten doors, with iron bars, portholes for guns, etc. One of his boys rode the express; another kept out with scouting parties, and the old man, with the two workmen, who were with him, were constantly on the lookout for an attack. The girls practiced shooting with rifles, so as to be ready for a large force of Indians at any time; and with the two dogs, Gunner and Rover, that two-story log cabin was prepared for emergencies.
The block-house at Fredericktown ryas a light frame building, enclosed in a heavy stockade, and located on the bluff overlooking the railroad depot, in rear of the present Presbyterian church. The building was constructed on the square, under the direction of Captain Ayers. Mr. W. B. Cox, of Fredericktown, thus writes of it:
The block-house was surrounded by a stockade, commencing a few feet southeast of the southeast corner of David Struble's dwelling house, and running west to the southeast corner of the Presbyterian church lot, thence north to the brow of the hill, above the Baltimore & Ohio depot; thence east to a point near the centre of David Struble's garden; thence south to the place of beginning. The stockade was so arranged as to be nearly bullet proof, and moved on wheels to its position, a commanding one, overlooking the valley of Owl creek. This building was used for a school-house and church for several years after.
The settlers were several times alarmed and fled to this block-house. Upon the occasion of the killing of Jones, Captain Douglas had followed the Indians in the direction of Upper Sandusky, but not finding them, and thinking it unsafe to return by the way he went, came back by way of Fredericktown. His men, some fifteen in number, were roughly dressed, and had handkerchiefs tied about their heads instead of wearing hats. They looked more like Indians than white men, and as they were going into Fredericktown they fired off their guns, by way of salute, and greatly frightened the inhabitants. Two women fainted in the street, and a general stampede for the block-house took place. The news of the killing of Jones was carried to Fredericktown by Johnny Appleseed, who went as a volunteer from the fort at Mansfield to alarm the settlers and obtain reenforcements from further south, as it was supposed an attack would be made on the fort at Mansfield. Johnny ran all night barefooted through the woods, stopping at the cabin of every settler on the way, and arriving at Fredericktown in the morning. The news, of course, caused the greatest excitement. along his route, and many amusing and ludicrous things were said and done.
Samuel Wilson, who then lived near the Quaker meeting-house, within the present limits of Berlin township, was so badly scared that he sprang from his bed, and putting on his overcoat and taking his pantaloons under his arm, ran in that condition all the way to the Fredericktown block-house.
Abner Ayers, who kept the tavern in Fredericktown at that time, raised a company of twelve rangers, by authority of Governor Meigs, and went to the assistance of the garrison at Mansfield.
Uncle Abner Ayers, as he was called, was an important citizen of the village. On the commissioner's records of February, 1808, it appears that the Ayerses were licensed to keep a house of entertainment in Fredericktown on payment of five dollars. Abner, in addition to his tavern, kept the post office, was justice of the peace, judge, etc. In his later years, he was fond of telling how General Har. rison stopped at his tavern, and how he and the general consulted together regarding the war, and seemed to be under the impression that he and General Harrison were two of the greatest men in the world. His tavern stood on the present site of the Wagner house, and was a hewed log; a very solid, substantial building, and was patched up and added to from time to time, and weather-boarded over, but finally was compelled to succumb to the
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 567
ravages of time; was torn down and the present substantial brick erected in its place.
While on the subject of hotels, it may be well to mention that the next one was erected on the southwest corner of the square. It is yet standing, is a large square frame, was used many years as a hotel and is now used as a boarding-house.
The Commercial house was erected twelve or fifteen years ago, and is now the principal hotel in the place.
Abner Ayers and most of his cotemporaries have long since passed away, and many of the younger generation will call to mind the appearance of that sedate old man as he walked the long porch that surrounded two sides of his brick hotel (now the Wagner house), with his hands crossed behind him, and his clay pipe in his mouth, ready to greet a friend or join in pleasant reminiscence of the past, or tell some laughable story of his early life, for which he was much noted.
The Kerr mill property has always been considered among the important industries of Fredericktown. Williams sold it about thirty years ago, or more, to Mr. Struble, who, in turn, sold it about 1873 or 1874, to Cuykendall & Seiler, of Plymouth, Ohio, and shortly after it was destroyed by fire. The owners, however, rebuilt it, with some help by the citizens, and conducted it a few years, but were unable to recover from the effects of the fire, and sold out to S. S. Tuttle and others, who still keep its wheels turning.
When the Baltimore & Ohio railroad (then the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark) was completed to Fredericktown, the village took along step forward. It had been in existence about forty years before this important event occurred. John D. Struble built the first warehouse and began a shipping business, and for many years this was comparatively a large produce market. Struble's old warehouse is yet standing, having been purchased by the railroad company and moved to its present location; being now used as a depot and warehouse by the company.
Peter Boyce was also an early grain dealer, as were Messrs. Charles Strong & Sons. The latter took in grain at their mill, located about a mile above Fredericktown, within the present limits of Berlin township. This mill was also destroyed by fire.
Charles R. Hooker, now a resident of Mansfield, was many years a resident of this place, a large produce dealer and an influential and honored citizen.
After the war a bank was started in the town by Daniel Struble and William Merrin; other partners were connected with it in the course of time, and a large business conducted several years, but it failed through the dishonesty of Merrin, who succeeded in getting away with most of its funds. Within the year succeeding the failure, Daniel Struble and his father-in-law, N. M. Young, started a private bank, which they are yet conducting. S. S. Tuttle is also in the banking business as well as engaged in other business enterprises, including 'merchandising, manufacturing sash, doors, etc. He, with others, is also conducting a foundry, at which farm-bells constitute the principal article manufactured. Mr. C. Hosack, the druggist, and Mr. Cummings are also connected with this foundry business.
But three newspapers have made their appearance in town to date. The first of these was the Rainbow, a migratory journal, which opened out at 'It. Vernon, and removed to Fredericktown about 1845; removing thence in about a year to Bellville, and when last heard of was at Tiffin. It was conducted by Rev. A. Laubach. In 1871 Mr. A. M. Smith started the Independent, and was succeeded in 1872 by W. S. Ensign, now of the Cardington Independent. He sold out to C. W. Townsend who conducted it until April, 1875, when he failed for want of proper support, caused, probably, by the strong prohibition tendencies of his paper. M. F. Edwards purchased the press and material, and the first issue of the Free Press made its appearance June 1, 1875. This was conducted by Mr. Edwards until October, 1880, when the present proprietor, Mr. H. P. Johnson, took charge of it. In politics it is Independent Republican; is a five-column quarto,. and a live paper.
The mayors of Fredericktown have been George W. Woodcock, A. Greenlee, W. B. Cox, C. R. Hooker, Morgan LeFever, and Gideon Elliott, the present incumbent.
The following is very nearly a correct summary of the present business of the place: There are two hardware stores, kept by H. Cassell, and Hill & Haggerty; two stove and tin stores, by C. W. Lyon,
568 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
and E. R. Edwards; three dry goods stores, by Cassell & Lewis, M. J. Simons & Sons, and Fawcett & Co.; two drug stores, by Wyker & Vincent, and C. Hosack; five grocery stores, by W. P. Gerhart, J. M. Axtel, C. M. Hildreth, A. Thrift, and G. W. Wells; three boot and shoe stores, by W. B. Cox, Condon & Co., and C. F. Karr; two jewelry stores, by U. C. Simons, and O. P. Rowley; two banks, by Daniel Stubble, and S. S. Tuttle; three millinery establishments, by Miss Clara Rowley, the Misses Flattery, and the Misses Mount; one newspaper, conducted by H. P. Johnson, one merchant tailor, A. B. Thrift; one manufacturing tailor, J. F. Ghrist; two harness makers, S. J Cassell, and L. Rigby; one photographer, J. L. Scoles; two hotels, the Wagner house, by A. V. Gest, and the Commercial house, by J. McNabb; two butcher shops, by Braddock & Hurst, and Remy Brothers; two livery stables, by John Walters, and I. H. Steele; two carriage shops, by Stephens & Scott, and. William Gibson: two undertakers, George Rinehart, and Louis Sargent; two furniture dealers, George Rinehart, and Hill & Haggerty; two barbers, C. Chauncey, and Thomas Miller; two dentists, A. J. McGrew, and Swingley; four physicians, S. B. Potter, W. E. Edwards, E. M. Hall, and William Burch; one leather and findings, G. A. Kraft; lawyers, J. L. Baldwin, and B. F. Moree; S. S. Tuttle & Co. conduct the bell foundry, the sealing wax factory, the planing-mill and lumber yard, and the Fredericktown flouring-mill; they run two steam engines; the marble works are conducted by John Getz; the steam feed-mill by Elliott & Co.
The benevolent societies consist of three churches; the Masonic Hall Lodge No. 176; the Ellicott Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows, No. 267; the Sons of America; Washington Camp No. 33, and Royal Arcanum.
One of the best things about Fredericktown, as about every other town and township in this free State of Ohio, is the public schools.
It is believed the first school in the place was taught either by Artemas Corbin or William Y. Farquhar in the little frame building erected during the War of 1812 for a block-house. About the same time a school was opened in the cabin that stood on the Columbus road, within the present limits of Morris township, on the farm of Benjamin Dowler. Alma Ashley was a teacher here, as was also Artemas Corbin and Mr. Curtis Allen; the last of whom taught four years. Asa B. Woodward and Mr. Ausburn were among the first teachers.
Mr. Philo Doolittle was one of the early; prominent, and long continued teachers in Fredericktown. He erected for himself a dwelling house with school room attached, on the ancient earthwork near the public square, and taught a select school until he died He taught altogether, probably, twenty-five years.
The second school-house was erected very near the old block-house, and is yet standing, being used for a cabinet shop by Mr. Sargent. It is a good sized frame building, and was used twenty years or more, or until the present brick was erected.
Asa B. Woodward was one of the teachers in the old block-house. He taught here as late as 1828, and must have been its . last teacher. This fact throws light upon the time the block-house stood, and when the second school-house was built.
Among others who taught in that building were Sturges, Wilcox, Horner, Duncan, Baugh, Miss Elizabeth Duncan, Miss Roberts, and others.
The system of Union or graded schools was established in 1852. At the first meeting in the district for the election of a board of education, W. B. Cox and Philo Doolittle were elected to serve one year; Dr. L. Dwyer and Thomas A. Reed two years; and S. W. Woodruff and C. R. Hooker three years. Mr. Cox had been in the board several years prior to this, and is yet a member of it. The first board under the new law organized by electing Dr. Dwyer president, Philo Doolittle secretary, S. W. Woodruff, treasurer; Rev. John M. Farris, Philo Doolittle, and Rev. H. D. Webb, school examiners. The district deeming it necessary to furnish more extensive accommodations, directed the board to levy a tax, purchase and erect a new building. After much deliberation the present site was selected, containing about two and a half acres in the west part of town, in Woodruff's addition, and the present substantial and beautiful edifice erected. It is thirty-eight by fifty-eight feet on the ground, two lofty stories in height, and divided into four spacious rooms, two recitation
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 569
rooms, and a hall, furnished in modern style. The building is surmounted by a cupola. Before deciding upon the particular arrangement of the house, the board consulted a number of experienced teachers, and spared no pains, compatible with the means placed at their disposal, in securing the best possible adaptation to the wants and conveniences of the schools. In the early part of September, 1853, the schools were formally opened with the following instructors: William Mitchell, of Columbus, Ohio, superintendent and teacher in the high school; Miss :Mary S. Rogers, teacher in the grammar school; Miss C. E. Gates, secondary department; Miss Olive E. Weatherby, primary department. This school has been in successful operation since, and yearly turns out into the world of strife its proportion of educated young people.
The Presbyterian church was the first organized in Fredericktown; this being accomplished as early as 1808, by Rev. Mr. Wright. The members of this organization were Jacob Cook, Matthew Merritt, Jeduthan Dodd, Abner Brown, and Ziba Leonard. Their meetings were held in. the old blockhouse after its erection, and prior to this, in the cabins of its members. As before mentioned they attempted to build a church about 1820, but failing to pay for the same, it passed into other hands. The building is now used as a livery stable. This congregation was associated with the Mt. Vernon and Martinsburgh churches until September, 1827, under charge of Rev. James Scott. Rev. John MeKinney, of Washington county, Pennsylvania, was probably the first pastor regularly installed in this church. The present building, which is on Main street; near the site of the old block-house, was erected about 1840. It is frame, about thirty by fifty feet, with columns in front, cupola and bell.
Mr. W. B. Cox adds the following regarding this church:
In 1836 Rev. Simeon Brown was called by the Fredericktown church. While he was perhaps the most inferior looking minisler the church ever had, vet much the most interesting in the pulpit. He had a low retreating forehead, one leg shorter than the other, so that his carnage was not very graceful, and one of his flock who got offended at him gave him the name of "Old Limpy." During his administration the church prospered, and the present house was built, finished and paid for.
Among those that followed him as ministers were Revs. John W. Ferris, Mr. Colwell, Mr. Engleson, Mr. Brough, and others for shorter terms. The church, perhaps,, never had a minister and his family that they so much loved, on account of good qualities, as they did J. M. Ferris and family.
Mr. M. Ferguson is pastor of the church at this time. . He came here from Columbus, Ohio, where he served as chaplin of the Ohio penitentiary during Governor Bishop's administration.
The Methodist Episcopal church is located on Sandusky street, near the public square. It was organized about 1818, the first subscribers being Catharine Haldeman, Mr. and Mrs. Aker, 'Mr. Fidler and wife, Hannah Benedict, S. Doty, and probably some others. Its first meetings were held in the old block-house, and afterward in 'Mr. Haldeman's shop, until the erection of the first church about 1840.
Christian Haldeman was not a member of any church at that time, but a clever old Pennsylvanian, who swept out his shop on Saturday evening and placed temporary seats for the accommodation of. the audience. His shop and dwelling stood near the place on which Dr. Hosack's dwelling now stands.
The new church was a frame and stood on Sandusky street. It is still standing on the same street west of the square, being used as a dwelling by David Condon. The present beautiful brick structure was erected in 1856. It is an honor and ornament to the place. A few of the early ministers were Revs. Havens, Crawford, Camp, Oldfield, and others. The present minister is Rev. E. O. McIntyre, and the present membership about two hundred.
The Sunday-school connected with this church was organized in Mr. Haldeman's shop about 1828, and has been in successful operation ever since. Its present membership is about one hundred. A Protestant Methodist church was organized here about 1830, and continued several years, but went down, the members generally joining other churches.
The Fredericktown Regular Baptist church was organized by Rev. John Thomas, sr., Saturday, March 17, x838. The members constituting this first organization were five in number, viz: Mrs. Mary Struble, now the widow of the late John D. Struble; Mary Wright, wife of Dr. Lyman Wright; Miriam Corbin, Jacob Mitchel, and John Colgrove, all of whom are now dead except the first named, who is yet active and influential in the church.
The first pastorate ended in 1841 when Rev. D. E. Thonas was called, and was eminently success-
570 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
ful in his labors. During the single year of his pastorate about forty members were added to the church. He was succeeded, for a few months only, by Rev. Stovers as supply.
In 1843 Rev. H. B. Fuller entered upon a five years' pastorate. He was an excellent pulpit orator and a man of a good deal of business ability. It was during his pastorate that the present house of worship was erected and paid for, he having the t hearty cooperation of a united and active congregation. The lot upon which the building stands was donated by the wife of judge Ayres, and the stone for the foundation of the church by Absalom Thrift. H. H. Struble gave one hundred dollars towards securing the bell and placing it in the tower, which was accomplished in 1856.
Rev. A. P. Mather supplied the pulpit from 1848 to 1851; Rev. J. C. Miller, a short time in 1852; Rev. E. D. Thomas was recalled, and served from 1852 to 1855. A great revival resulted from his labors, as many as twenty-five persons being baptized in a single day.
Rev. Amos Pratt was pastor from 1855 to 1858; Rev A. J. Buell served as supply during six months of the latter year. Rev. J. B. Pratt served the church during the stirring times incident to the breaking out of the war, from 1859 to 1862. He was a man unusually devoted to his duties, both to the church and country and as a citizen, and, withal, an excellent preacher.
Rev. J. Hall, D. D., president of Denison university, at Granville, Licking county, Ohio, was pastor from 1863 to 1865; Rev. G. W. Miller served the church during the year 1866, and was succeeded by the Rev. William B. Watson, who was ordained in 1866, and continued to labor with much success for five years. He was very popular and efficient, many members being added to the church during his pastorate.
Rev. D. B. Simms became pastor in 1871, and was followed in 1872 by Rev. B. F. Siegfreid, who in turn was succeeded by Rev. B. F. Tulloss in 1875. Rev. J. B. Tuttle was the next pastor, and closed his labors of sixteen months in 1879.
The church during all its history has been singularly fortunate in the high moral and intellectual standing of its ministers. It has included in its membership during its career many wealthy and prominent families. The membership is now a large and active one, numbering at present about one hundred and sixty, though this is less than it has been heretofore
The following have been the deacons of this church: James Mitchel, David Brown, James Jackson, Usual Ball, David Cosner, S. Wright, John Cosner, Daniel P. Kenyon, William J. Struble, William McClure, James F. Ghrist, and H. C. Simons. All these were good and true men, and some of them have passed to the "shadow land."
The present pastor, Rev. J. A. Kirkpatrick, M. D., began his labors in 1879, but did not enter fully upon his work until January 18, 1880, when he brought his family and settled in town. A revival in 1880 resulted in twenty-two additions to the church.
The church has for many years maintained an interesting and prosperous Sunday-school under the leadership of James F. Ghrist as superintendent. It promises grand results for the future. The church and school are in the habit of contributing liberally to every benevolent work.
A Universalist church was organized in Fredericktown about 1831. It was quite weak at first and grew very slowly for several years. After building a good house of worship and securing a minister that attracted attention, the increase in members was more rapid, and for a few years the society was in a flourishing condition. The members of the first organization were principally eastern people; among them the Strongs, Corbins, Clarks, Doolittles, Benedicts, Wadsworths, Johnsons, Ponds, Gillits, and others. Truman Strong was their preacher many years, and was a very exemplary man. The organization went out of existence many years ago. For many years their church edifice was used as a masonic hall.
A Congregational church was organized in Fredericktown about 1841, by a Mr. Mead, who was at that time preaching. to a church in l--It. Vernon. The prime movers in the organization were Joseph Hitchcock, and Pascal Dunklee, both men of means and liberality. Among the early members of the society were Messrs. Dunklee, Hitch. cock, Dr. Allen, J. M. Allen, James Richards, Daniel Richards, Gavin Blair, S. H. Sherwood, L. W. Foot, Mrs. Cone, Mrs. Hitchcock, Miss Wright,
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 571
Mrs. Dunklee, Mrs. Sherwood, and others. The society built a. very good church edifice on East Sandusky street, and for some time their meetings were well attended, but it began to decline, and in the course of fifteen years was extinct. The lot and building were purchased by D. C. Lewis, and the timber and lumber now forms a part of his dwelling house.
The Protestants and Methodists some forty years ago had a flourishing society and a comfortable house of worship, but they, too, have long since disappeared.
The Fredericktown lyceum was organized October 12, 1832, by electing James Rigby president, William Byers, secretary, and Philo Doolittle, treasurer.
Among its first members may be found the names of James Rigby, William Allen, Philo Doolittle, James Shaw, Asa Gregg, G. W. Woodcock, Eli Smedley, James Reed, Rev. John McKinney, Dr. John Byers, Eli Greg g, and others.
The society had a continued existence from 1832 to 1856. The records show that during that time it had a membership of over two hundred. Its last recorded meeting was held at the schoolhouse in the fall of 1856.
The village at an early day had a public library comprising about a hundred and fifty volumes. James Rigby was president, and George H. Bull was librarian many years, but no record of it appears anywhere to-day.
Thrall Lodge, No. 170, F. and A. M., is located in Fredericktown, and is working under a charter granted October 18, 1849.
The charter members were Benjamin J. Lewis, Israel Underwood, William McK. Amadon, Delano Dexter, John Garrison, Thomas Trahern, H. M. Shafer, Jesse L. Holley, Truman Strong, Abner Ayres, B. H. Taylor, and Benjamin F. Smith.
The first officers installed were: Chancy Hill, W. M.; T. V. Parke, S. W.; A. Keller, J. W.; O. W. Rigby, secretary; D. C. Beach, S. D.; D. P. Coffinbury J. D.; J. Wages, treasurer; N. S. Reed, tyler.
The first member installed was Morris Sharpe.
The officers elected July 1, 1880, were: N. J. McGrew, W. M.; L. B. Ackerman, S. W.; John W. Leedy, J. W.; O. G. Fawcett, treasurer; W. E. Edwards, secretary, C. «'. Edwards, S. D.; C. A. Lindley, J. D.; D. R. Hackinson, tyler.
The number of members at present is sixty-seven.
Mr. Israel Underwood, formerly sheriff of Knox county, now a citizen of Mt. Vernon, and Benjamin F. Smith, now a citizen of Minnesota, are the only charter members now living. Mr. Underwood still retains his membership in Thrall lodge.
Ellicott Lodge, No. 257, I. O. O. F., Fredericktown, was instituted April 11, 1855, by M. W. Grand Master T. J. McLain, assisted by Past Grands William M. Bunn, John W. White, J. Frank Andrews, R. C. Kirk, J. W. Lybrand, A. C. Elliott, of Mt. Vernon Lodge, No. 20, and George W. Shurr, of Chester Lodge, No. 204, of Chesterville, :Morrow county.
Charter members-A. Love, T. Mosure, G. Cole, B. F. Mosure, R Cole, N. B. Rowley, G. W. London, J. Z. Griffith, Alden Snow, jr., J. B. Roberts, and J. W. Condon.
The first officers installed were: G. W. Condon, N. G.; J. Z. Griffith, V. G.; Alexander Love, secretary; R Cole, treasurer.
Those initiated at the first meeting were D. S. Headley, C. G. Mount, R Ewers.
This lodge, July 4, 1857, gave their first public celebration, P. G. John Lamb being the orator of the day.
The officers, July 1, 1880, were: L. H. Lewis, N. G.; M. Hagerity, V. G.; John Davis, secretary; A. Stephens, permanent secretary; G. W. Glosser, treasurer; J. C. Merrin, sitting past grand.
Number of deaths since organization, four. Present number of members, one hundred and ten. Representatives to Grand lodge, J. Z. Griffith, and Issacher Rowley.
In 1872 the lodge dedicated their new hall, situated on Main street, with appropriate ceremonies. The building is a frame one, sixty-five by sixty feet, and three stories high. The first story is intended for commercial purposes; the second is used as a public hall, and on the third floor is the lodge. The building and finishing of the whole, cost the lodge six thousand dollars, and is considered one of the neatest halls devoted to Odd Fellowship in central Ohio, outside of the cities.
Knox Encampment, No. 211, I. O. O. F., was instituted at Fredericktown, June 30, 1877, by Grand
572 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
Patriarch J. W. Porch, of Mansfield, assisted by a number of past patriarchs from Mansfield and Belleville
The charter members were William Gordon, Henry Cassell, Abram Stephens, G. W. Glosser, Levi Cassell, M. P. Howes, and J. C. Ebersole.
The first officers were: J. C. Ebersole, C. P., D. W. Gordon, H. P.; Levi Cassell, S. W.; G. W. Glosser, J. W.; A. Stephens, scribe; H. Cassell, treasurer.
The following persons were initiated at the first meeting: H. C. Simons, E. S. Winterbotham, Harrison Rowley, Alex. Trahern, S. R. Glosser, Robert Darling, and George W. Ditwiler.
The officers, January 1, 1881, were: A. Trahern, C. P.; J. C. Ebersole, H. P.; M. P. Howes, S. W.; A. Stephens, J. W.; James Duncan, jr., scribe; J. S. Mosteller, treasurer.
CHAPTER LXVII.
TERRITORY DETACHED FROM KNOX COUNTY.
MADISON, GREENE, CHESTER, BLOOMFIELD, AND FRANKLIN
TOWNSHIPS.
THE act establishing the county of Knox was passed January 30, 1808, and was to go into effect March 1, 1808. An act establishing Richland county was also passed January 30, 1808, which contained a provision placing it under the jurisdiction of the county of Knox until the legislature may think proper to organize it. In pursuance of said provision, the commissioners of Knox county, on the eighth of June, 1809, declared the entire county of Richland a separate township, named Madison, which at the annual election of said year cast seventeen votes, and only nineteen votes at the annual election in the year 1811. The first judges of election were Melzar Tanneyhill, Isaac Pierce, and Samuel Lewis. Peter Kinney and Thomas Coulter were the clerks.
The election judges in 1810 were James Copus, William Gardner, and John Foglesong; and John C. Gilkison and James Cunningham were the clerks. At one of the early elections Madison township cast fourteen votes for Jeremiah R. Munson for the legislature, and three votes for William Gass, In 1811 Winn Winship and John C. Gilkison were the election clerks. Archibald Gardner was elected justice of the peace in May, 1809; Henry McCart, in 1810; George Coffinberry and Peter Kinney, in 1812; and James McClure and Andrew Coffinberry, in 1814.
On the *seventh of January, 1812, the county commissioners divided Madison township, and established Greene township, which at the annual election of this year cast forty-one votes. The common pleas court of Knox county on the fourteenth of March, 1812, ordered that three justices of the peace be elected in Greene township.
By act of the legislature passed January 7, 1813, which took effect on the first Monday in March of said year, Richland county was organized. On the second of April, 1809, John Heckewelder, John M. Connell, and Moses Ross, as commissioners, established Mansfield as the county seat. In February, 1813, Thomas Coulter, William Gass, and Peter Kinney, were elected associate judges of the Richland common pleas court, who subsequently elected Winn Winship clerk of said court. He was also the first postmaster of Mansfield..
ORGANIZATION OF MORROW COUNTY.
Knox county in 1848 contributed the three townships of Chester, Bloomfield, and Franklin, toward the creation of the county of Morrow. Chester was organized April 10, 1812; Bloomfield township June 23, 1817, and Franklin was erected December 23, 1823. They were three important townships of the county, diminishing its population nearly four thousand, and their detachment from Knox county destroyed its symmetry and marred its form and proportions.
The first election in Chester township was held April 25, 1812, the judges being Joseph Duncan, Henry George, and Evan Holt. William and Samuel Johnson were the clerks.
Rufus Dodd was the first assessor of taxable property.
A branch of Owl creek passes through this township, and Chesterville is its chief town or village. The population of the township in 1830 was seven hundred and seventy-eight: in 1840 it
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 573
was one thousand two hundred and ninety-seven, and in 1850 it was one thousand six hundred and twenty.
Enos Miles was the proprietor of Chesterville, which was situated on the road from Mt Vernon to Mt. Gilead, distant from the former fourteen miles, and from the latter ten miles. As early as 1830 its population was two hundred and fifty.
Evan Holt, who served six years in the Revolutionary war, and who settled in this section of Knox county in 18o8, was one of the most noted men hereabouts. He lived here nearly forty years, and died at the age of more than eighty-three years.
The following is a list of the justices of the peace of Chester township from its organization until it became a part of Morrow county, together with the time of service of each:
William Johson, 1812 to 1817; Rufus Dodd 1817-19; Joseph Denman, 1817-19; W. Van Buskirk, 1819-20; Enos Miles, 1820-22; Daniel Beers, 1820-22; W. Van Buskirk, 1822-23; Daniel Beers, 1823-24; John Stilley, 1824-26; John Beebe, 1826-27; Moses Powell, 1827-29; John Beebe, 1829-30; Moses Powell, 1830-32; John Beebe, 1832-33; Moses Powell, 1833;Enos Miles, 1833-35 ; Henry Dewitt, 1835-38; Enos Miles, 1836-39; Byram Beers, 1836-39; Henry Dewitt, 1838-42; Enos Miles, 1839-42; Byram Beers, 1839-43 ; P. B. Ayres, 1842-44; Thomas Peterson,. 1843-45, Charles Dalrymple, 1844-48; Byram Beers, 1845-47 ; P. B. Ayres, 1845-46; Davis Miles, 1846-48.
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP.
This was another of the western townships of Knox county that was-attached to Morrow county in 1848. In 1840 the inhabitants of Bloomfield township numbered one thousand two hundred and fifty-two; in 1850 they had increased to one thousand three hundred and ninety-five. In 1818, the year after Bloomfield was organized, Benjamin H. Taylor served in the office of assessor of taxable property. There were but sixteen voters in the township. The first post office established in Bloomfield was Clark's (X) Roads, and was located at the intersection of the road leading from Johnstown to New Haven, with the road leading from Mt. Vernon to Delaware-a central point-being thirteen miles from Berkshire, Mt. Vernon, Chesterville and Johnstown. It was subsequently called Bloomfield. The second post office was established at Sparta, a small village situated on the old State road leading from Mansfield to Columbus; Sunbury and Fredericktown being intermediate towns.
The first brick house built in Bloomfield township was erected in 1825, by Roswell Clark: and the first two-story frame building was built in 1828, being the one long occupied by Sheldon Clark. The first church erected in Bloomfield township was by the Methodist Episcopal church in 1839. The same denomination built the second church in Sparta in 1846; and in the same year the Christian church erected a church edifice in Sparta. Revs. Thomas Kerr and Mr. Cooper, of the Methodist church, and Rev. James Smith and a Mr. Britton were Christian or New Light pioneer preachers. In 1850 the Wesleyan Methodists built a small church near Sparta, in which the distinguished abolitionist, Rev. Edward Smith, officiated, and near which he was buried in 1859.
Marshall Clark died in 1818, and was the first death in the territory that soon after became Bloomfield township. The family of Artemas Swetland settled in this section of the county in 1812, and are generally regarded as the first settlers. Those that succeeded them not long after were the Clarks, Walker Lyon, Preston Hubbell, Seth Nash, John Helt, William Ayres. John Blinn, Dr. Bliss, Samuel Whitney, Lucius French, Stephen Marvin, Samuel Mead, Lemuel Potter, and others. The Clarks were from New Haven county, Connecticut; as were also Lyon, Hubbell, Nash, Whitney, French, Marvin, and Mead. Helt and Ayres were from Washington county, Pennsylvania.
In Norton's History of Knox Cotinty it is stated that Bloomfield township received its name in this wise: Several of the settlers were at the house of Sheldon Clark early in the spring of 1817, talking about the prospective township, when John Blinn called attention to the flowers in the field in which they were, and suggested that as the field was in bloom the new township should be called Bloomfield, and it was so called.
Matthew Marvin was the first justice of the peace
574 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
of Bloomfield township. He was elected in 1818; Walker Lyon, 1819; John Manville, 1820; Walker Lyon, 1822; Stephen Dodd, 1823; James Thompson, 1824; David Bliss, 1825; John Manville, 1827; R Clark, 1828; John Manville, 1830; James Thompson, 1833; David Bliss, 1834; James Shumate, 1836; David Bliss, 1837; John Beebe, 1837; David Bliss, 1840; John Beebe, 1840; Jared Irvine, 1843; Jacob T. Thompson, 1844; Jared Irvine, 1846; Wheeler Ashley, 1846; Charles M. Eaton, 1848.
One of the noteworthy incidents of Bloomfield township, given by Norton, is as follows:
An aeronaut by the name of F. H. Westbrook met with a terrible end on the Fourth of July, 1862. There was a large concourse of people at Sparta, commemorating our national anniversary, who were addressed by Rev. Mills Harrod, W. L. Bane, esq., and Hon. A. Banning Norton, and at 5 o'clock P. M., as previously announced, a balloon went up with Westbrook in it, to the height of perhaps five hundred feet, when it burst in pieces and fell to the earth, killing him instantly. About three thousand people witnessed the sad termination of an otherwise joyful occasion.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, KNOX COUNTY.
Franklin is the third and last of the western townships of Knox county that were annexed to the county of Morrow in 1848. It was authorized December 3, 1832, named in honor of Benjamin and the first election for township-officers was held on the first Monday of April, 1824. The population of Franklin township in 1830 was eight hurn dred; in 1840 it was one thousand three hundred and forty-three; and in 1850 it was one thousand four hundred and fifty-six. Pulaskiville is the principal business place of the township. Allen Kelly, an emigrant from Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, was one of the earliest settlets here. David Peoples, David Shaw, William T. Campbell, Washington Strong, the Petersons, Hickmans, Blairs, and Van-Buskirk's were also pioneer settlers.
Abraham Blair, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, settled upon the farm in 1811, on which he died in his ninetieth year, on the second of October, 1846. He served as a minute-man during the Revolutionary war, and participated in the battles of Trenton and Monmouth.
David Shaw served his fellow-citizens over twenty-one years as a justice of the peace, and was a county commissioner nine years.
Colonel Strong was one of the noted military men and politicians of Franklin township. So also was Lieutenant Bernard Fields. Among office holders or prominent men of Franklin township may be named the Swingleys (emigrants from Hagerstown, Maryland), Samuel Livingston, Henry Weatherby, Anson Prouty, William Faris, William Gordon, Benjamin Corwin, Alexander Wilson, Jonathan Olin, William Lavering, Caleb Barton, H. P. Eldridge, C. Sapp, William Linn, B. O. Pitman. David Ewers, Ebenezer Hartwell, B. and E. Lyon, Benjamin Hathaway, and Thomas Morrison.
Upon the organization of this township William Van Buskirk, a justice of the peace within the territory, who had been reelected in 1822, continued to act until again elected in 1824. In 1824 John Truas was also elected, and in 1827 David Shaw was again elected, and reelected until 1848, when the township was carried over into Morrow county. H. W. Strong was elected in 1834, and reelected in 1837. William Van Buskirk was elected in 1840, reelected in 1843, and in 1846, and during his term of service the connection with Knox county was severed.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 575
CHAPTER LXVIII.
PIKE TOWNSHIP.
ERECTION-BOUNDARIES-TOPOGRAPHY-FIRST SETTLERS
ELECTIONS -.PRESENT OFFICERS - JUSTICES-MILLS -
SCHOOLS-CHURCHES-AMITY- ODD FELLOWS - KNIGHTS
OF HONOR-NORTH LIBERTY-STATISTICS.
PIKE TOWNSHIP was established June 8, 1819, by act of the county commissioners and given the name of Pike in honor of General Pike. The following extract is taken from their journal for the date above given
Ordered. That the following boundaries be and are hereby set apart into a separete township, viz.: Beginning at the southeast corner of township number eight, and range number twelve, and running west to the east line of range number thirteen; thence north to the southeast corner of township number eight in range thirteen; thence west to the southwest corner of said eighth township; thence north on the line between the thirteenth and fourteenth ranges to the north boundary- of said Knox county; thence east on said boundary to where the line between the eleventh and twelfth ranges intersects said boundary; thence north on said range line to the place of beginning, which shall henceforth be considered a separate and distinct township, and enjoy all the privileges of such, which shall be called and known by the name of Pike township.
At their session the next day the commissioners ordered an election to be held at the house of Michael Harter, on the twenty-sixth day of June instant, for the election of township officers.
On the ninth of March, 1825, the commissioners changed the boundaries of Pike as follows:
Pike township shall be composed of the eighth and ninth township in the twelfth range, and the twentieth township in the seventeenth range.
Pike township is situated in the northern part of the county, and contains thirty-six square miles of territory, a portion of which lies north of the Greenville Treaty line, adjacent to Richland county. The surface of the country is somewhat broken by Schenck's creek, which traverses the township from north to south. The soil is not of the best, being principally composed of the debris of the Waverly sandstones, but is well adapted to the production of grass, oats and wheat. About one-fourth of the township is still in woods, chestnut, white oak and hickory predominating. By judicious farming Pike township has been enabled to rival her more favored sisters in wealth and improvement.
* The manuscript history of this township was received by the printers too late for insertion in its proper place.
The date of the first settlement has not been ascertained; but in 1816 an Irishman named Henry Lander was found living on the southwest quarter of section No. 13. He was a man of giant stature and Herculean strength, and had been a member of the Irish dragoons, the exploits of which he used to relate with great gusto. He was six feet six inches high, weighed two hundred and fifty pounds, and would wager whiskey for the crowd that seven men could not take off his hat. He would then back up against a wall or tree, and with his long arms swinging in the air defy all approach of his adversaries.
John Arnold was born in Maryland in 1785, came to Pike township in 1816, and located on the southwest quarter of section No. 8, where he reared his family, one of whom, William Arnold, is still living in the township, aged seventy-seven.
Charles McBride also came from Maryland, and settled on the southwest quarter of section No. 4, in 1816, where he lived and died. His sons, Hugh and William, moved to the west about 1855: None of his descendants now live in the township.
Aaron Bixby came from Huron county, Ohio, to Howard township, and moved from there to Pike township in 1816, and located on the southeast quarter of section No. 0, known as the Josiah Crawford place. Mr. Bixby taught school in the first school-house built in the township. It was a rude, round log structure, and stood about one-half mile south of the present town of North Liberty, in 1823. He has now, no representative in the township.
Philip Armentrout located on the northwest quarter of section No. 8, where he remained till his death. None of his family now reside in the township.
Nicholas Headington was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, and moved to Pike township, Knox county, in 1822. His son, Nicholas, brought the first tobacco seed to Knox county, and raised the first tobacco for shipment.
Aaron Wilson was also an early settler and a useful citizen. He moved west in 1837. His son Lewis still lives in the township, and has reared a large family.
William Wright came to where Amity is now located when quite small-about 1819.
576 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
The first election was held at the house of Michael Harter, June 26, 1819, but as no records have been preserved the names of the officers elected cannot be given. The entire number of voters in the township in 1822 was nineteen. Their names were John Arnold, Robert Kennedy, Jacob Swartz, Thomas Elwell, William Wright, Aaron Wilson, John Scoles, William Smith, Thomas Scoles, Andrew Scoles, George H. Scoles, Phillip Armentrout, Benjamin Austin, John Butler, William Spry, Francis Popham, David Holloway, John Gordon, and Cyrus McDonald.
The present board of township officers is constructed as follows: John Nichols and Henry Lockhart, justices of the peace; Philip Arnold and Henry Philips, constables; James J. P. Mishey, treasurer; John Wallace, assessor: John Wyman, Joseph Stoffer, and George Shipley, trustees; John Fletcher, clerk; S. D. Parrish, Thomas Simmons, John T. Read, Joseph Stoffer, John Nichols, Samuel Burger, Calvin Loney, John Wineland, board of education; Wesley Bryant, Silas Daniels, William Horn, Henry Stoffer, Miles Dakins, Samuel Burger, David Leedy and Samuel Horton, board of supervisors.
The elections have generally been held at the school-house near the centre of the township, but about 1840 the polls were changed to the Six Corners, and vibrated between the two places for some time. Finally the present location, school-house No. 4, was settled upon.
The following is a consecutive list of justices: Andrew Scoles and Robert Silcost, 18ig; William Smith, 1820: Bernard Reece, 1822; William Smith and Aaron Bixby, 1823: Bernard Reece, William Johnson and William McNear, 1825; Andrew Scoles, 1827: William Smith, 1829; Hugh Kirkpatrick, 1850; F. Popham and John Cochran, jr., 1831; William Smith, 1833; John Gordon and F. Popham, 1834; John Cochran, jr., 1836; John Gordon and J. Y. Barnhard, 1837; John Cochran, jr., 1839; John Gordon, 1840; Emanuel Wagoner, 1842; John Gordon and William Arnold, 1843; John Ramsey, 1844: Amos De Haven and W. W. Maneer, 1846; John Ramsey, 1847; W. W. Maneer and Eli Dickerson, 1840: C. P. Frederick, 1850: Eli Dickerson and W. W. Maneer, 1852: R. C. Sweeney, 1853; H. P. Roberts and J. D. Hammell, 1855; R. C. Sweeney and David Brad. dock, 1856; J. D. Hammell and Samuel Kirkpatrick, 1858; John Weis, 1859; R. C. Sweeney, 1860; J. D. Hammell, 1861; Matthew Cunningham, 1862; R. C. Sweeney, 1863; John B. Scarborough, 1864; R. C. Sweeney, 1866; David Porch and J. B. Scarborough, 1867; W. W. Walkey and J. Scarborough, 1870; W. W. Walkey and S. F. Hunter, 1873; Henry Lockhart and John Nichols, 1876 and 1879.
The first grist-mill in Pike township was built by John Arnold in 1831, or. Schenck's creek, on the southwest quarter of section No. 8. It was a small mill, containing but one run of buhrs, but did a good business for one of its size, grinding sometimes one hundred bushels in the course of twenty-four hours. It continued in operation till about 1851. The next gristmill was built by a man by the name of Hillis, who erected a small mill on the northwest quarter of section No. 23, in 1834. He sold out to James Stephens. Stephens sold to Benjamin Spry, who sold to John Walkey in 1836. Mr. Walkey put in two run of buhrs, and operated the mill until 1874.
The first saw-mill was built by an Englishman named Thomas Smith, on the southwest quarter of section No. 18, about 1832. This mill sawed a great deal of lumber, and was a very useful one. Silas Daniels bought it in 1836.
Jacob Wineland built a saw-mill on the southwest quarter of section No. 4, in x833, which is now owncd by his son, John Wineland, and is running.
A saw-mill was also built by Daniel Armentrout in 1854, and sold to Martin Kunkel. It is not now in operation.
In 1849 John Walkey built an excellent sawmill on Schenck's creek, near the centre of section No. 23, which is still operated by Mr. Walkey, he filing his own saw without glasses at the age of eighty-four.
The first school was taught by William Scoles, in a pact of his own house in the southwest quarter of section No. 13.
The first hewed log school house was built on the land of Robert Kirkpatrick, near the present election house, about the year 1833.
The first brick house in the township was built by Francis Popham on his property-.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 577
David Braddock kept store at Braddock's Cross roans from 1840 till 1850, being the only store kept outside the villages of Amity and North Liberty. David Hatch, the son-in-law of Isaac Vernon, who located on the northwest quarter of section twenty-four now occupied by J. R. Phillips, in 1834 brought with him the first threshing-machine and first cooking stove seen in Pike township.
John Arnold and Daniel Grubb at one time ran a distillery, but at the present time Pike township, with a population of one thousand three hundred and seven, has not a single saloon, or other place within its borders, where intoxicating drinks are sold.
The first Methodist preaching in Pike township was held in private houses, by Rev. ----- Goff. Meetings were held at McBride's, Wilson's, Bixby's, and Vernon's. The first class leader was Aaron Wilson; and the early members were Aaron Bixby and Nancy, his wife; Isaac Vernon and Martha, his wife; Charles, Thomas, and William McBride, Thomas and Sally Wilson, the Fletchers, Elwells, Deems, and others. The first quarterly meeting was held in Aaron Bixby's barn-the first frame barn erected in the neighborhood-now owned by Henry Eckenrode. A great revival occurred at this meeting, and the accessions to the church were so numerous that it was determined to build a house of worship. Accordingly a small plat of ground was obtained of Hugh Hardesty, on the southwest quarter of section twenty-four, and in 1827 Hugh and John Cochran built a log church, which served the purpose until 1850, when a more commodious and substantial edifice was erected. The new building is a frame, forty by fifty feet, the lumber for which was hauled from Waterford, Middlebury township. The building committee were Richard Scoles, Joseph Hollis, and Reuben Kettle.
Among the ministers who preached in the old log church were Revs. John Scoles, John Morey, James Quigley, Elnathan Raymond, Daniel and William Conant, Zephaniah Bell, Revs. Block, Clark, and Blue, Oliver Burgess, John Burgess, and Daniel Lambert. The present preacher in charge is Rev. John Thompson. The present number o members is about seventy-five. Allen Kirkpatrick i recording steward, and Lyman Magers, W. W. Walkey, and George H. Scoles class leaders.
North Liberty Methodist Episcopal church is an offshoot of the old Pike Methodist church; and some of the same persons who were early members of that congregation were early members of this. Among them were Francis Blakeney and Hannah, his wife; George Frizzle and wife, Charles McBride and wife, Thomas McBride and wife, William McBride and wife, J. Nelson Dean and wife, John Arnold and wife, William Arnold and wife, Henry Armentrout and wife, and Simon Armentrout and wife. Charles McBride was the class leader.
About the year 1840 a frame church, thirty-five by forty-five feet square, was built in the village of North Liberty, which is still used as a house of worship. In 1861 the demon of political discord entered this church, and it was rent in twain. During the war, and for some time afterwards, the church stood idle; but after the settlement of the vexed question, slavery, the church revived, meetings were once more held, and now there is a membership of about fifty. William Penrose and Lockhart Arnold are the class leaders. Rev. John Thompson is the preacher in charge.
A Methodist Episcopal church was built on the southwest quarter of section ten, about 1845. An organization had been effected some years previous to the erection of the church, and the members held their meetings in the school-house. David Guthrie donated the land and most of the timber for the church, which was built of hewed logs.
John Cochran and wife, Eli Dickerson and wife, John Ruby and M. Truckle and wives were of the first members.
Revs. John Scoles, John McNabb, and Absalom Waddle were among the first pastors.
The organization was dissolved about 1856, the members uniting with the Methodist church at Amity and North Liberty. There was a cemetery attached to this church, which was laid out 'many years before the church was built. David Guthrie was the first person buried in the cemetery. John Cochran, one of the first members, was buried here in August, 1835.
A union church is now being erected, which is free for all denominations to worship in, but will be known as the Pike Cumberland Presbyterian church.
Rev. William Gilbreath preached in the vicinity
578 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
of North Liberty in 1846, and formed a Lutheran class, amongst whom were Henry Boven and wife, Jacob Gower and wife, William Worley and wife, and Adam Stump and wife.
In 1860 the congregation had become large enough to need a church building, and a neat brick edifice, thirty-six-by forty-six feet square, was erected in the town of North Liberty.
The following is a list of communicants in December, 1862: George Stahl, jr., Elizabeth Stahl, Margaret Stahl, Mary M. Stern, Margaret Stern, Jacob Gower, Mary Gower, Samuel Gower, Elizabeth Gower, William H. Stahl, Amy Stahl, Nancy Stahl, John Wohlfort, Catharine Wohlfort, Joshua Kneffer, Elizabeth Kneffer, John H. Kneffer, Mary J. Loney, Jacob Myers, Elizabeth Myers, Julian Smith, Allen Smith, Racina Smith, Abraham C. Shawton, David Whorley, Elizabeth Whorley, Mary A. Phillips, David Porch, Catharine Porch, Adam Stump, Rebecca Stump, Lovina Reeps, Jacob Bowman, Melchior Krise, Alary Krise, Sarah Stahl, Eliza Knarr, Elizabeth Myers, Mary J. Myers, Louisa Myers, Elmira Arnold, Andrew Balliet, Mary Semly, Eli F. Pond, Sarah Pond, John Bishop, Eliza Loney, Michael Crunkleton, and Caroline Crunkleton.
The successive pastors have been William Wonders, 1852; A. S. Miller, 1856; George Leider, 1860; D. I. Faust, 1862; Sensabaugh, 1864; William Gilbreath, 1866; S. Ritz, 1872; G. Z. Coachill, 1873: and James Williams, 1879.
Amity is situated to the southeast corner of Pike township. It is a neat and and orderly village, having a population of about one hundred and fifty. It was laid out in 1832 by David Jackson, who owned the land on which the village Nvas located. It was originally called Emmettsville, but the name was changed from that to Amity about 1837. The town was on the line of the old stage route leading from Wooster to Columbus, and in an early day was a place of considerable business. Lewis Strong was the first merchant in the village. His successors were Scott Gilchrist, Alackey Mateer, Joseph Mateer, Frank Popham, Dr. Wright, and Isaac Cline, tinder the firm name of Wright & Cline. About 1840 John Collins started another store in the village, which he carried on for about two years, when he sold his stock of goods to D. P. and E. R. Wright. The firm of D. P. & E. R. Wright was dissolved in 1844, and a new firm, D. P. & C. W. Wright, commenced business, continuing about a year, when D. P. Wright purchased his partner's interest in the establishment. D. P. W right was in turn succeeded by Dowds & Barber, who are still doing business.
David Jackson kept the first hotel. His successors in the hotel business were Muncie, Willet & Paxon, Benjamin P. Wright, Joseph Popham, Scott Gilchrist, John Riddle, Jones, D. P. Wright, E. W. Douds, and John Weirick. John Britton was the first blacksmith. Johnson was the first physician. Drs. Mire and Stinger were also early physicians. A post office was established a short time after the village was laid, and named Democracy. William Gordon was the first postmaster; he was succeeded by Henry Yarrick, James Gilchrist, D. P. Wright, Jerrod Parrish, and C. C. Barber, the present incumbent. The first school-house, a log building, was erected about 1833; it was situated in the south part of the village. McDermott taught the first school in this edifice, and Jesse Cain the second one. This structure was burned about two years after its erection, and the village school was taught for some years afterwards in an old log cabin outside of the town. This log building, that was destroyed by fire, was replaced by a neat frame school-house, built within the village limits about 1842.
At present the village contains two dry goods stores, owned by M. A. Barber and son and J. A. Wright; one hotel, kept by John Weirick; one steam tannery and saw-mill combined, owned and operated by Charles Fletcher; two blacksmith shops by C. Doup, jr., and C. C. Clements; one wagon maker, S. D. Parrish; one shoemaker, James Westcott; one undertaker, D. P. Wright; one physician, J. L. Black; two lodges of secret societies, Odd Fellows, and Knights of Honor; and two churches, Methodist Episcopal and Baptist.
Amity Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, was organized October 23, 1879, with a membership of ten, viz: J. L. Black, C. W. Wright, James McGinley, Jeremiah Belt, L. G. Mavis, L. A. Wright, James Reed, Ziba Leonard, H. W. Phillips, and J. Hetrick. The first officers were:
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY. - 579
L. A. Wright, N. G.; H. W. Phillips, V. G.; Ziba Leonard, R. S., and J. L. Black, treasurer. L: A. Wright, the first noble grand, died before the expiration of his term of office, and by a special dispensation of E. K. Wilson, grand master, J. L. Black was elected to fill the vacant chair as noble grand for the remainder of the term. This lodge is known as Bartholo Lodge No. 692, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and is the last lodge instituted within the county up to the present date. It has not yet had an opportunity to make for itself a history, but being located in a wealthy and intelligent community, its future is bright and full of encouragement. There has been but one death since its organization. The present membership is twenty-nine. The officers at this time are: H. «'. Phillips, N. G.; Ziba Leonard, V. G.; J. L. Black, secretary, and James McGinley, treasurer. The lodge holds its regular meetings on each Saturday evening.
Amity Lodge No. 111, Knights of Honor, was instituted May 20, 1875. Its charter members were: William Loney, Curtis Fletcher, S. D. Parrish, Henry Davis, J. L. Graves, George McClurg, Miles Dakins, Henry Snyder, Samuel Hardin and J. B. Lybarger. The first officers were: C. Fletcher, dictator; Miles Dakins, reporter; William Loney, treasurer.; S. D. Parrish, past dictator; George McClurg, assistant dictator ; Henry Snyder, guide, and Henry Davis, sentinel.
The present officials are: Miles Dakins, dictator Curtis Fletcher, reporter; William Loney, treasurer; George McClurg, past dictator; William Loney, guide; Samuel Hoag, assistant dictator; Thomas Berry, sentinel; J. B. Lybarger, financial reporter. The present membership of this lodge is seventeen. The regular meetings are held the first and third Saturday evenings of each month.
The Amity Methodist Episcopal church, organized about 1834, was the first in the village. The early members of this organization were, Rev. Francis Popham and wife, Samuel Britton and wife, Albert Grubb, Absalom Waddle, -----McNear, and Henry Oram and wife. Two of the prominent members of this society were also licensed local preachers, viz: Absalom Waddle and Francis Popham, who frequently preached to this church. The meetings were at first held in the houses of the members, and in the village school-house. About 1840, a frame church was erected at a cost of one thousand five hundred dollars. One of the earliest ministers was Bishop W. L. Harris. His ministerial labors were greatly blessed, and during his pastorate a remarkable revival occurred, and one hundred and seven members were added to the church. The following ministers have officiated as pastors, of this church since 1848. 1849-50, E. Raymond, assisted by O. Mitchell and William M. Conant; 1851, John McNabb; 1852-3, Leonard Parker, assisted by John K. Ford and Baruch Jones; 1854-5, Joseph Wolf, assisted by Albert Cochran and Daniel M. Conant; 1856-7, Philip Plummer, assisted by Benjamin F. Heskitt; 1858-9, D. Lambert, assisted by Benjamin Heskitt; 1860-61-62, Chilton Craven and William Hudson; 1863, Daniel M. Conant; 1864, Daniel Lambert; 1865, supplied; 1866, Joseph McBarnes; 1867-8, supplied; 1869-70, William Kepler; 1871-2, Thomas G. Roberts; 1873, S. Z. Kauffman; 1874, G. E. Scott; 1875, W. W. Smith; 1876-7-8, A. S. Moffitt; 1879-80, J. W. Thompson. In 1871 a new church edifice was erected at a cost of one thousand five hundred dollars, and in 1874 a parsonage was built at a cost of about one thousand dollars. The present membership is fifty-three, thirty-two being in full membership, and twenty-one probationers. The present officers are: class-leaders, J. W. Rockwell and J. W. Simmons; stewards, Michael McGinney and J. W. Simmons; trustees, Frank Cunningham, Martin Fletcher, J. W. Rockwell, and J. W. Simmons.
The second church organized in the town was the Amity church of Disciples of Christ. This society was organized about 1840, by Elder John Gordon. Its early members were, Joseph Gordon, Jacob, Esther, and Eleanor Pealer, William Gordon, Samuel Pealer, Elias Pealer and their wives, Rigdon Gordon, John Gordon and wife, Elizabeth Gordon, Catharine Gordon, O. Quimby and wife, John Riddle and wife, Mrs. Ball, John Quimby, Jesse Edgar, Amos Nichols, William Hartgrove, John Pond, James Harrison and their wives, and Latta. Elder Sanders was the first stated pastor, and remained in that relation several years. John Stannard and Monroe Simons were also of the first ministers. The church depended principally on
580 - HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.
supplies from other societies for its preaching. This society held their meetings in private houses until 1850, when a frame edifice was erected, in which the members worshipped until 1880, when it was torn down. On account of removals, deaths of members, and dissensions in the church, the organization was disbanded several years since.
The Amity Baptist church was organized June 21, 1847, under the auspices of Rev. James Seymour. The original members were William Wright, Daniel Hardin, Joel Odors, Mary Wright, Elizabeth Hardin, Mrs. Odors, Marion Daniels, Jane Vian, Jane Daymude and Sarah Hicks. Prior to the organization, and about the year 1845, Elders Stoors, and David Thomas, of Mt. Vernon, occasionally preached in the village, and by their earnest labors laid the foundation for the organization of this society. Rev. Daniel Thomas was the first stated pastor. His successors in the pastorate were Elders Reason Lockheart, James Fry, Benjamin George, James Seymour, Rev. Tullison, Benjamin Tulloss, Benjamin Morrison. This church enjoyed a high degree of prosperity for several years after its organization, but in course of time several of the members having emigrated to the west, and a large number dying, the society became weak, and they were without a regular pastor for several years. In 1880 Rev. J. A. Davis took ministerial charge of the church, and the church has now regular preaching. The society worships in a frame edifice erected by the Presbyterians, but subsequently purchased by this society. The present offices are: C. W. Wright, deacon; B. F. Vian, clerk.
North Liberty is situated in the northern part of Pike township, and was laid out by Francis Blakeley, William Johnson, Daniel Grubb, and J. Nelson Dean, in 1838. The first house on the new town plat was built on the northwest corner of the principal street crossings, by Daniel Grubb, for a dwelling house. A store room now occupies the corner owned by James K. P. Mishey. The first frame house was built by Daniel Grubb for a tavern and store room, and was situated on the southeast corner of the street crossing. David Grubb dug the public well, assisted by -the most public spirited citizens of the new town. The store room on the southwest corner of the crossing was not built till 1849, by Jacob Smith. The first store in the village was kept by a man named Doolittle, in the store room built by Daniel Grubb. His successors were Henry Reichart, Jacob Smith, Israel and Miller Moody, Charles Hedges, Philip Frederick, William Arnold, and his brother Philip, James Pearce, Samuel Bishop, and Christian Mishey, Jacob Myers, M. L. Lane, Truman Mix, and James Mishey. Mr. Mix died and Daniel Beal became Mr. Mishey's partner, remaining in business with him about two years, since which time Mr. Mishey has carried on the business himself. Mr. Christian Mishey also kept a grocery in the post office corner, where Albert Mishey now keeps a grocery. J. N. Ruby also kept a grange store from 1875 till 1880.
Daniel Grubb kept the first tavern in the house built by him for that purpose. His successors were Jacob Myers, Samuel and George Black, George Sickles, John Bishop, Lloyd Meeks, Henry Westonhaver, John Fry, William Armstrong, Samuel Shyers, Jacob Beal, John Hammett, and Dr. Charles Mahaffey.
The post office was first established at Jonathan Smith's, in the northwest corner of Pike township, in 1848, with Jonathan Smith as postmaster, but in 1850 it was moved to North Liberty, and Henry Taney appointed postmaster. His successors were Levi Ponds, Joshua Kneffer, Robert Sweeney, Christopher Mishey, Seymour Hunter, and Albert Mishey, who was appointed January 1, 1880.
The practicing physicians of North Liberty have been Drs. John Waddell, Robert McLaughlin, Edward Booth, T. Jefferson Young, George Shira, and Charles Mahaffey, the latter of whom is the present practitioner.
The first blacksmith was James Huston; then Jacob Lautz, Hugh Beach, David Kenig; James Ward, Samuel Brown, Wilson Turney, and John Shanton.
North Liberty at present consists of one post office and grocery, Albert Mishey, postmaster; one dry goods store, J. K. P. Mishey, proprietor; two churches, Methodist and Lutheran; one cabinetshop, William Loose, proprietor; one wagon shop, Caleb Brokaw, proprietor; two blacksmith shops, thirty-five dwellings, and one hundred and fourteen inhabitants.