1200 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. dered to Alexandria on the Red River, where it joined General Banks's army in his retreat after his terrible defeat, and endured the suffering which Banks's command had to undergo in getting back to the Mississippi River. "This campaign was very severe. Forced marches of ten days' duration, through the stifling heat and dust, and being continually harassed by the enemy on both flanks and rear, made it almost unendurable." In November, 1864, at Morganza, the One Hundred and Fourteenth and One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Infantries were consolidated, retaining the number One Hundred and Fourteenth. This rendered eleven or twelve officers supernumerary, and they were honorably discharged. Among these was Captain James Duffy, of Vinton County. Company F, became Company A of the new regiment and was commanded by Captain E. L. Hawk. The regiment was not idle after the new organization, although it had no severe engagement. Colonel Cradlebaugh had resigned in 1863, and Lieutenant Kelly had been promoted to Colonel. He commanded the regiment from the time Colonel Cradlebaugh was wounded (in May, 1862), but the regiment being below the minimum number he was never mustered as Colonel. The regiment marched and traveled by land and water, over 10,000 miles, performed duty in ten different States, was engaged in eight hard-fought battles, and in skirmishes without number. It lost in killed and wounded six officers arid eighty men. It lost heavily by disease in the first year of its service, over 200 dying and quite a number having been discharged for disability. It is impossible, from data at hand, to give the death list of Vinton County men. The regiment was ordered to Ohio in May, 1865, and mustered out of the service. TWELFTH OHIO CAVALRY. In September and October, 1863, a company of men was recruited in Vinton County for the cavalry service. It organized by electing William A. Gage, Captain; James J. Defigh, First Lieutenant and Charles S. Rannells, Second Lieutenant. It went into camp at Cleveland, where the regiment (the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry) was organized Nov. 12, 1863, by the selection of Robert W. Radcliff, Colonel; Robert H. Bentley, Lieutenant-Colonel; John F. Herrick, Miles J. Collier and Erastus C. Moderwell, :as Majors. Captain Gage's company was Company L. One half HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1201 of the regiment, including Company L, were ordered to Johnson's Island to guard prisoners of war; the other half remained at Cleveland until the return of the men from Johnson's Island, when the regiment went to Camp Dennison, where it was mounted and equipped in the spring of 1864, and from which point it started South. In May, 1864, it was brigaded with the Eleventh Michigan Cav-alry and Fortieth Kentucky Mounted Infantry, under Colonel True, of the Fortieth Kentucky, and it was assigned to the division of General Burbridge. May 23, 1864, the command of' General Burbridge started to Saltville, Va., to destroy the Confederate salt works, but on nearing Bund's Gap it was learned that the rebel General Morgan was pushing his command into Kentucky on a raid, thereupon the command of Burbridge turned back to take care of Morgan. Lieutenant Defigh was in command of Company F through the fight at Mount Sterling, and until the regiment reached Lexington. June 9, 1864, the command reached Mt. Sterling, which place Morgan had captured on the day previous. After a sharp fight with some convalescents of the Twelfth, under Sergeant Wm. L. Brown, of Company L, who went into service from McAthur, it was not until Sergeant Brown fell, shot dead on the line, that the little band surrendered. On reaching Mt. Sterling General Burbridge threw forward the First Battalion of the Twelfth, includink Company L, and by a gallant dash upon the enemy routed them, recaptured the Union soldiers taken the day before, together with the captured stores and a number of Confederate prisoners with stores of the enemy. Morgan retired to Cynthiana where Burbridge followed him up again, made an assault and routed General Morgan's command, taking a large number of prisoners. The Twelfth Ohio Cavalry was in the advance in this fight as well as in that at Mt. Sterling. These two fights closed Morgan's career as a " great rebel raider." Colonel Basil Duke admits that it was the complete destruction of Morgan's command. He says: " Morgan's loss at Cynthiana was very heavy and he was compelled to march back to Virginia." Rev. T. Sonour, in his " Morgan and His Captors," says: " Morgan's prestige was gone, and from this time (the Cynthiana fight) he sinks out of light as the worst whipped rebel General ever sent on a raiding expedition." President Lincoln telegraphed his thanks to General Burbridge and his command. In these engagements First Lieutenant Defigh, of Company L, but commanding - 76 - 1202 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. Company F, led a gallant charge and was mentioned for his dash and pluck. During a portion of the fight at Mt. Sterling Company L was commanded by Lieutenant C. S. Rannells leading the company in the charge in which Defigh led Company F. We have made mention of these fights with Morgan more in detail than we otherwise would, from the fact that when the rebel raider came to Vinton County he did not get his just deserts, and it is some consolation to know that Vinton County men helped to close his military career. After having cut short Morgan's raid into Kentucky, Burbridge again started for Saltville, Va., arriving there Oct. 2, 1864, throwing forward the Fourth Brigade, the Twelfth taking its usual place in advance. A severe engagement took place, lasting all day. The enemy was supported by artillery and reinforced by General Early with 5,000 men and the Federal forces were compelled to retire. Finding his forces outnumbered and the enemy strongly entrenched, General Burbridge returned to Lexington, Ky. At this fight the Twelfth lost forty-nine men killed and wounded. After the command returned to Lexington it was placed under command of General Stoneman, and bore its part in the celebrated "Stoneman:s Raid." In these the Twelfth Ohio had some hard fighting, and a carefully prepared history of the regiment mentions some daring charges made by the Twelfth. In one of these the command became surrounded and Lieutenant Defigh was taken prisoner, but in the haste and excitement they forgot to disarm him. When a rebel soldier gave a him harmless blow with his sabre and innocently inquired, " You d–n Yankee s–n of a b—, how does that feel?" Defigh drew his saber, struck the fellow a blow across the head, and, turning his horse toward his friends, made good his escape. Stoneman's raids into Virginia required a great deal of endurance and the men suffered terribly. Besides this, they were for days in the presence of the enemy, fighting more or less severely. At Yadkin River, ten miles from Saulsbury, they fought a heavy force under Pemberton, captured 1,304 prisoners and 3,000 stand of small arms, the Confederates being beaten and utterly routed. The command was in the heart of the confederacy for weeks, destroying railroads, bridges, stores, arsenals, and capturing prisoners. It captured the great rebel cavalry, General Wheeler and his staff, also the Vice-Pesident of the confederacy and his escort. It marched and fought and worked during the winter and spring of 1864 and '65 in a manner which HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1203 seems almost incredible. One, the last Stoneman raid, our historian, Captain Mason, says: " For sixty-nine days it had not drawn a Government ration or seen the national flag. During that period it had swept around a circle that lay through six States, and measured with all its eccentric meanderings fully a thousand miles. It had shared in the last and longest cavalry raid of the war." In speaking of the Twelfth, General Burbridge says: " I had no better regiment under me, and at Mt. Sterling, Cynthiana, Kingsport, Marion, Wytheville and Saltville, the regiment and officers distinguished themselves." They returned to Camp Chase, Ohio, and were mustered out Nov. 24, 1865. ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-FOURTH OHIO INFANTRY. In March, 1865, the One Hundred and Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, " one year " regiment was organized at Camp Chase, Ohio. Two companies of Vinton County men were enlisted for this regiment, about 180 men. Company D organized by electing John Gillilan, Captain; David Guthrie, First Lieutenant, and Frank Rowlie, Second Lieutenant. Company K organized by electing Henry Lantz, Captain; Wm. W. Buckley, First Lieutenant, and Anthony W. Bratton, Second Lieutenant. Lieutenant Bratton resigned July 12, 1865. These two companies thus organized went to Camp Chase, Ohio, where the regiment organized by the mustering in of Anson G. McCook as Colonel; 0. C. Maxwell, Lieutenant-Colonel; H. Lee Anderson, Major. On the 14th of March, 1865, the regiment left Camp Chase for Charlestown, Va., where it was assigned to Major General Eagan's division. The regiment being well officered was rapidly becoming proficient in drill, and but for the surrender of Lee, which occurred when they were just ready for the field, they would no doubt have been heard from at the front. They returned to Camp Chase and were mustered out Oct. 24, 1865. ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT NATIONAL GUARDS. In May, 1864, in response to a call of Governor Brough, the One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment of Ohio Infantry, called " National Guards," was formed at Marietta, Ohio. 1204 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. Three companies of men from Vinton County went into camp, out one company was distributed around to fill up other companies. Company 0, Captain, Jos. J. McDowell; First Lieutenant, Hanson P. Ambrose, Second Lieutenant, Robt. S. Barnhill, retained its organization, as did also, Coinpany H, Captain, Isaiah H. McCormick; First Lieutenant, Nathan Murphy; Second Lieutenant, Saml. G. Scott. Second Lieutenant Win. H. Jenning, of Captain Garrett's company, was retained in service, assigned to another company. The regiment was organized by the mustering in of Thomas W. Moore as Colonel; Isaac R. Kinkead, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Wm. L. Edmiston, of Vinton County, as Major. The regimental organization was completed May 18, 1864, and as most of the officers and many of the men had seen service, the command was at once ready for the field. On May 23 they left Marietta for Harper's Ferry, where they remained until June 6, when they went to Washington and thence to Bermuda Hundred. Here Lieutenant Saml. G. Scott died. After remaining a short time at Bermuda Hundred they went to City Point, and while there an explosion of an ordnance boat took place, and some of the men of the regiment were killed, but none of the Vinton County men. On the 5th of September, 1864, the regiment returned to Marietta, and on the 14th was mustered out, having completed its " hundred days " of service. DETACHMENTS. In addition to the companies organized in Vinton County a num-ber of men enlisted in other commands, and were officered by men from other counties. FIFTY-THIRD OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. In the Fifty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as nearly as can he ascertained, there were ten Vinton County men in Company F, about the same number in Company D, and about thirty in Com-pany E. R. E. Phillips, of Vinton County, was made Second Lieutenant of Company E, and soon after the battle of Shiloh he was promoted to First Lieutenant. The Fifty-third was organized at Camp Diamond, near Jackson. Jesse J. Appler was first Colonel; Robert Fulton, Lieutenant-Colonel HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1205 and Harrison S. Cox, Major. The organization was completed in January, 1862 April 18, 1862, Captain Wells S. Jones was mus-tered in As Colonel, vice Appler " mustered out." Lieutenant Phillips was afterward made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifty-ninth United States Colored Infantry, in which capacity he served until Dec. 8, 1863, when he resigned his commission. The Fifty-third Ohio was unfortunate in its first Colonel. and while the men suffered severely at Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh, and did good fighting for the chance they had, the conduct of their Colonel, J. J. Appler, was such as to cast a cloud upon the entire regiment. The men of the regiment, as brave and true as the men of any other Ohio regiment, felt the disgrace keenly, and right well did they redeem their good name, by soldierly conduct, galladt fighting, and heroic endurance on the march, under Colonel Wells S. Jones. General Sherman said, in 1864, that " under another leader, Colonel Jones, it (the Fifty-third) has shared every campaign and expedition of mine since, is with me now, and can march and bivouac and fight as well as the best regiment in this or any army. Its reputa-tion now is equal to that of any from the State of Ohio." THIRTY-SIXTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. Lieutenant Aaron Martin and Lieutenant Lafayette Hawk and a number of men from the eastern and southeastern part of the county enlisted in the Thirty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. As nearly as can now be ascertained, about thirty-five men enlisted in Companies C and K; ten of these were from Wilkesville Township. The Thirty-sixth was organized at Camp Putnam, Marietta. A brief sketch of the services performed by this regiment will be found farther along in the additional military history of Athens County. SIXTY-SIXTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. Henry Strong and Samuel Rowley enlisted in the Sixty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry; they marched with Sherman to the sea. ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-THIRD OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. In the One Hundred and Seventy-titird Ohio Volunteer Infantry there were a few Vinton County boys. David W. Miller and Hi-ram Hawk, of Wilkesville, were among the number. 1206 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. SEVENTEENTH UNITED STATES COLORED TROOPS. Ed Arrington and four other men from Wilkesville Township went into the Seventeenth United States Colored Regiment and served till the close of the war. ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTEENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. Michael Strausbaugh and some others from Wilkesville, Knox and Vinton townships enlisted in the One Hundred and Sixteenth. As nearly as can be ascertained there were fifteen or sixteen men from Vinton County in this regiment. FIRST UNITED STATES VETERAN VOLUNTEER ENGINEERS. Charles L. White, present Auditor of Vinton County, and six or eight other Vinton County men enlisted in this regiment, Colonel William E. Merrill commanding. They were mustered into service in October, 1864. The regiment served until after the close of the war, and was mustered out at Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 30, 1865. THIRTIETH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. Five or six men from Knox Township enlisted and served in Company C, of the Thirtieth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. ELEVENTH OHIO LIGHT ARTILLERY. John Robbins and eight or ten other Vinton County men enlisted in the Eleventh Ohio Light Artillery, Captain Frank Sands commanding. This battery was in General Pope's army. It saw a great deal of service. SECOND OHIO HEAVY ARTILLERY. Wallace E. Bratton and some other Vinton County men enlisted in the " Second Heavy " and soldiered in East Tennessee. THIRTY-FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. George Gaffney and about ten men from Swan Township enlisted in the Thirty-first Ohio, Colonel Moses' Walker's regiment. They were in the Army of the Cumberland. HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1207 TWENTY-SEVENTH OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY. Armineus Gear, Henry Gear, Jacob Gear, Hiram Gear and David Gear, all from Wilkesville Township, enlisted in the Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Hiram and David died iu the service. MISCELLANEOUS. Dr. David V. Rannells, of McArthur, was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon in August, 1862, and assigned to duty in the Fifth Ohio Cavalry. In October, 1864, he was coin missioned as Surgeon, and remained with the same regiment until May 5, 1865. Dr. H. H. Bishop, of Wilkesville, was also a Surgeon in the Tennessee army. Dr. Charles French, of McArthur, was Assistant Surgeon of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Rev. G. W. Pilcher, of Vinton County, was Chaplain of the Eleventh Illinois Cavalry. He being in Illinois in 1862 enlisted in that regiment and was commissioned as Chaplain. He remained in the service two years. Rev. John Dillon, of Vinton County, was Chaplain of the Eighteenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In addition to these commands and detachments Vinton County men went into various regiments and batteries, and while it is impossible to trace them and give date of enlistment and discharge it is yet true that Vinton County sent out about 1,400 men in various commands to do battle for the country and the flag. CHAPTER XLV. ELK TOWNSHIP, INCLUDING CITY OF McARTHUR—THE PIONEER ORGANIZATION OF VINTON COUNTY. THE PIONEER TOWNSHIP - THE PIONEERS OF ELK - PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF MRS. C. E. BOTHWELL-ITEMIZED-SCHOOLS -CHURCH-POPULATION BY DECADES-MCARTHUR-LOCATION-INCORPORATION - VILLAGE OFFICERS- FIRES-POSTOFFICE-MC-ARTHUR IN 1883— CHURCHES - SOCIETIES - SCHOOLS - VINTON COUNTY BANK-TOWN HALL-RAILROAD STATISTICS-MILLS- BIOGRAPHICAL. THE PIONEER TOWNSHIP. Elk Township is the pioneer township of Vinton County, and the first settler was a, Mr. Musselman, in the year 1805. He was a miller by trade, and something of a geologist. He first discovered the fine burr stone in Elk Township, and started the first quarry in the spring of 1806. Elk Township is rich in coal and lies directly in the great coal measure of Southwestern Ohio. It is not a rough and broken township, but it is hilly. With the exception of Swan, which it fully equals, it is probably the best agricultural township in the county. The valleys are fertile, being rich in an alluvial soil. Elk Township is also rich in iron ore and in fire-clay. The Elk Fork of Raccoon Creek waters its eastern portion. Little Raccoon runs through sections 1, 2 and 12, in the northeast section of the county, while Elk Fork passes through the center of the township, taking its rise in Swan and Jackson townships, and enters Elk in the northwest and north, flowing south through the center, turning east and thence southeast, leaving the township in that section. Puncheon Fork flows from the west central section of the township, just touching. the village of McArthur on the south, and running east flows into Elk Fork. Little Raccoon Creek rises in the southwestern corner of the township, flowing south and passing into Clinton and Richland townships. - (1208) - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1209 ELK COMES TO THE FRONT. On March 7, 1811, the commissions. s of Athens County made the following order of record: " Ordered, That all that part of Alexander Township lying west of the 15th range, being townships 10 and 11, of range 17, and townships 9 and 10, of range 16, be erected into a new township by the name of Elk." SIZE AND BOUNDARY. For a number of years Elk Township retained her size, being composed of a trifle over one third of the present county of Vinton, but when Vinton was created a county she was shorn of her territory, and was made as she now is, a congressional township, bounded as follows: on the north by Swan Township, east by Madison Township, south by Clinton Township, and west by Richland and Jackson townships, and is congressional township number 11, of range number 17. She has one town or village within her border, McArthur, the county-seat of Vinton County, which is principally located on section 21. She also has a station called Vinton Station, on the Cincinnati, Washington & Baltimore Railroad, located about three miles east and south of McArthur, on section 26, but about on the section line between 25 and 26, and is the shipping point for the product of the Vinton Furnace, which is situated a little over a mile from the station in Madison Township. PIONEERS. Among the first settlers of Elk Township, were the Friend Brothers, who located on the present site of McArthur, but did not remain long. Levi Kelsey was the first permanent settler of the township, coining here with his family about 1802. Isaac Phillips came in 1806; John Phillips in 1807. A Mr. Cassill came in 1807 or 1808, and settled on section 26. His child, Sarah Cassill, was the first death in the township. Levi Johnson came in 1811. He put up the first horse-mill, and first still-house. He was the first Justice of the Peace, and performed the first marriage in the township. Jacob Shry came in 1811 and settled on section 25; his brother, Paul Shry, settled on section 28. One of the most noted pioneers of Elk Township was George Fry, a soldier of the war of 1812, who came in 1816. James and William Mysick came in 1815, and 1210 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. settled on section 25 and 26. Edward Salts, came in 1816 and entered the land upon which McArthur Junction now stands. Some of the later arrivals were Thaddeus Fuller, David Richmond, Rev. Joshua Green, Letnuel and Allen Lane, Joseph Gill and Isaac West. The following condensed from the personal recollections of Mrs. Bothwell is worthy a place in this history : PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS OF VINTON COUNTY SIXTY YEARS AGO. BY CHARLOTTE E. BOTHWELL. McArthur, Ohio, July 5, 1874.—It is just sixty years this day since my husband and myself, with two children, started to move to Ohio. We had been married four years, and living at Silveysport, Md., where we had moved from Fayette County, Pa., where I was born, Jan. 22, 1788. I wa twen cy-six years of age; my husband was twenty-nine. We hired a man with a wagon to move us to Geneva, a town on the Monongahela River, about thirty miles, where we intended to go on a flatboat. This was before the discovery of steam-power. When we got there the river was so low the boats could not run. We waited ten days, but the water was still getting lower, and my husband bought a large pirogue and put our movables in it, and hired a man for a pilot at $2 per day. My husband's brother came with us. We started on Thursday. We were not two hours on the water till both the children were very sick with vomiting. We stayed the first night in Brownsville; Saturday we got to Pittsburg, about an hour before sun-down. As the children were very sick we intended to stop with a family of old friends by the name of Brison. My husband and the other men went up into town, and left me alone with the children. We remained in Pittsburg till Wednesday, when, the children being much better, we started again. As soon as we were on the water the children got worse. We arrived at Marietta on Saturday. The youngest child was very sick. My husband had a sister with her family that lived there. This sister was the grandmother of President Scott, of the Ohio University, at Athens. We stayed there till Wednesday, when we started again. On Monday morning we arrived,at Gallipolis. There came up a very great storm, and I took my children and hurried up in town. The first house HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1211 I came to was a bakery. I went in, sat down with my children, called for a pint of beer and six cakes. I did not want thetn, but I wanted an excuse to stay. In the afternoon it cleared off, and my sister's husband, Isaac Pierson, came with his wagon to move us to: our journey's end. They put our movables in the wagon, and we stayed that night at the tavern. Tuesday morning we started; Thursday morning we took breakfast where the town pf Jackson now stands. It was then a salt-works, a number of rough, scattering cabins and long rows of kettles of boiling salt water. It was nine miles to Mr. Paine's; that was the first house after we left, the salt-works. About the middle of the day it commenced raining very hard and rained all that day; everything was soaked with water. My youngest child lay in my arms wet and cold, and looked more like it was dead than alive. Several times we stopped the wagon to examine the child to see if it was dead. But we had to go on; there was no house to stop at till we got to Mr. Paine's. It was more than an hour after dark when we got there, wet, cold, and still raining. We found Mrs. Paine one of the best and kindest of women. If we bad got to mother's or sister's we could not have been more kindly treated. After breakfast, on the next morning, we started and got to my brother-in-law's the evening of the 5th of August, where, four days afterward, our child died. We were just thirty-two days on the way. The weather was pleasant enough until we got to Gallipolis. From there here the weather and the roads were very bad—the bad roads of to-day bear-ing no comparison to them. In point of fact, there were no roads, but mere paths, and the men compelled to cut out roads with axes, and drive along side-hills, where it was all the men could do to keep the wagon from upsetting. My husband had been here the spring previous, entered 160 acres of land—being the farm now owned by David Bay—and reared the walls of a cabin upon it. When we got here it had neither floor, door, window, chimney nor roof. My husband hired two men to make clapboards to cover it and puncheons for a floor, we remaining with my brother-in-law until this was done. We then moved into our new house, to finish it up at our leisure. Isaac Pierson then " scutched " down the logs, my husband chincked it, and I daubed up the cracks with clay. There was no plank to be had, the nearest saw-mill being Dixon's, on Salt Creek, twenty miles away, and I hung up a table-cloth to close the hole left for the window, and a bed-guilt for a door. The back wall of a fire- 1212 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. place occupied nearly one whole side of the house, but the chimney was not built on it, and when the wind blew, the stnoke in the house would almost drive me out. We lived in this way five months. I was not used to backwood's life, and the howling of the wolves, with nothing but a suspended bed-quilt for a door, coupled with the other discomforts of border life, made me wish many a time that I was back at my good old home. On the 14th day of January, 1815, the chimney Was built; my husband had got some plank and a sash, and made the door and the window. The hinges and latches were of wood. Our cabin was the only one in the whole country, around that had a glass window. On the same day, while the men were working at the house, I finished a suit of wedding clothes for David Johnson, father of George and Benjamin Johnson, who still live here. I had the suit all done but a black satin vest when he came. I didn't know it was a wedding suit, and tried to put him off, but he would not be put off. The next day my third child, Catharine, who is the widow of Joseph Foster, and lives near Sharonville, Ohio, was born. My husband was a cabinet-maker and a painter, but bed-steads and chairs and painting were not in use here at that day, and his business was confined to making spinning-wheels and reels. He did not get his shop up until the first day of May. He had first started out here the previous May, and not worked any for a year, and consequently our little accumulated earnings were all spent. However, we were now comfortably fixed. I had got some pipe 'clay and white-washed the inside of the cabin, and some of our neighbors regarded us as very rich and very aristocratic—thought we put on too much style for this country! I had learned the tailoring business, and found plenty of work at it. There was not much money in the settlement, and I was more frequently paid in work than cash; but we wanted our farm cleared up, and therefore needed work. It cost ns about $10 an acre to clear the land, besides the fencing. Lands all belonged to the Government and could be entered in quarter sections, or 160 acres, at $2 per acre, to be paid in four annual payments of $80. When we first came here there were perhaps fifty families in and around this settlement, most of them quarrying and making millstones. There was no person making a business of farming. All had their patches of garden, but making millstones was the principal business. Isaac Pierson, the father of Sarah Pierson, of Chillicothe, had the moit extensive quarry. Afterward Aaron HISTORY OF HOCKING V ALLEY - 1213 Lantz and Richard McDougal had large quarries. A man named Musselman first discovered the stone in 1805, and employed Isaac Pierson to work for him in 1806. This was on section 7. There were no white people here at that time, and the two camped out, and worked that year. Musselman quit; but the next year Pierson, having found the business to be very profitable, moved out, built the first cabin, and made the first permanent settlement. He employed hands to help him, and soon the settlement began to grow. The business was very profitable, and all engaged in it would have become independently rich but for one thing—whisky. Nog of them drank, and nearly every pair of millstones that were Bold must bring back a barrel of whisky, whether it brought flour or not. If the flour was out they could grind corn on their hand mills; but they made it a point never to get out of whisky. Trading was done principally at Chillicothe. There was no store closer than Chillicothe or Athens. Everything we bought that was not produced in the 'country was very dear. The commonest calico—such as now sells at 6 to 10 cents—was 50 cents per yard; we made our own sugar; coffee, 40 cents; tea, $1.25. We made it a point, however, to buy as little as possible. Our salt we got at Jackson—gave $2 for fifty pounds of such mean, wet, dirty salt as could not find a market now at any price. All kinds of stock ran loose in the woods. Each person had his stock marked. My husband's mark was to point one ear and cut a V-shaped piece out of the other. I marked my geese by splitting the left web of the left foot. These marks were generally respected. There was good wild pasturage for the cattle, and hogs grew fat upon the mast. When one was wanted for use it was shot with the rifle. A wilder country than this in early days it would be hard to imagine, with its great systems of rocks and hills, and interminable forests. Indians, wolves, wild game and snakes were more numerous than interesting. I remember distinctly, one time my son Thompson was a baby, I put him to sleep in his cradle one afternoon, and went out to help my husband in the field; he had an Irishman working in the shop. In the course of the afternoon he went in the house to get some tobacco. He came running out and holloed to us in the field: "Oh, Mon! Come quick; the devil is in the house!" We hastened to the house and found a large rattlesnake, which had been lying by the cradle. Our presence disturbed it and it ran under the bed, and my husband got a club and dragged it out and killed it. 1214 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY ITEMIZED. The first marriage in Elk Township was that of Abraham Cassill to a young lady living with Mr. Jacob Shry, who came from Virginia. Squire Levi Johnson was the officiating parson. This was in 1813. The first horse-mill in Elk Township was erected by Levi Johnson. The first death was a child, Sarah Cassill. The first preaching in the township was by Rev. Jacob Hooper. The first white settler in Vinton County was Levi Kelsy, who came in 1801. The first known cemetery was called Calvin's graveyard. The first church was one built of logs and was used as such for about twenty-five years. SCHOOLS. The first school-house was on section 16 in the year 1820, close to the present residence of Ezekiel Robinett. It was a subscription school-house, being built by Mr. Levi Kelsy and others. William Clark, a son-in-law of Mr. Kelsy, taught the first school. The following year another log school-house was erected on section 12, in which Mr. Clark again taught during the winter of 1821—'22. Elk Township has now nine school districts besides the McArthur school district, which has one graded school. Five male and eleven female teachers were employed in 1882. The total cost for the year for the township schools amounted to $2,143.02. There was a total enrollment Of children of school age of 254, of which 135 were boys and 119 girls. The average attendance was 71 per cent. There were 73 youths between sixteen and twenty-one years of acre in the township. These figures are from the auditor's report for 1882, and show the advance made in this department. United Brethren, Church, was organized in 1843 with the following constituent members: George Speed and wife, Nathan Robinett and wife, David Markwood and wife, Isaac Wescoat and wife, Charles Dowd and wife, Mr. Sherril and wife, John Bullard and wife, William Ervine and wife, William Colvin and wife, William Swaim and wife, Lewis Blackman and wife, William Matthews, Joseph Cayler, Sabina Fry and Tena Fry. At the organization steps were taken to erect a place of worship, and they commenced at once a large church building near where HISTORY QF HOCKING VALLEY - 1215 the infirmary buildings stand, and it stood and was used in an unfinished condition for many years. It was finally taken down, and a new church, the present neat building, erected in its stead. The church is now in fair condition with encouraging promise for the future. POPULATION. The population of the township from 1830 to 1880, by decades, is as follows : in 1830, 922; in 1840, 1,261; in 1850, 1,645; in 1860, 2,234; in 1870, 2,063; in 1880, 2,000. Up to 1860 her progress was rapid; since that time a gradual decline has taken place. M'ARTHUR, THE MINERAL CITY. This village, the county seat of Vinton County, is located nearly in the center of the county and but little south of the center of Elk Township. Its situation on a slightly oval surface between the two main branches of Elk Fork and near their confluence is a pleasant one, rarely surpassed in modest rural beauty. These streams are small, mere brooks, but for an inland village, this site is hardly equaled in all of Southern Ohio. This strip of land is considerably elevated, forming a small plateau, the edges of which are in some places deeply carved by the action of running water. Elk Fork, which has its beginning at the junction of the two smaller streams, embracing the site of McArthur, is a branch of Raccoon Creek, into which it flows in the southern part of the county. Of these two small streams the larger one comes from the north and the other from the northwest. Cabins of early settlers had made their appearance on this little plateau prior to the year 1815, while nearly all was yet a forest. But these, so far as can be learned, were only two in number and occupied by two brothers, William and Jerry Pierson. About this time some burr-stone quarries in the northern part of the county were being worked, and the roads over which these stones were hauled from two of the quarries coming together at this place made it of some importance as a stopping place. ITS LOCATION. Its eligibility for tha location of a town attracted the attention of men of capital who happened to see it. In 1815 Isaac Pierson, Levi Johnson, Moses Dawson, George Will, and John Beach—the two latter from Adelphi—forming a company, purchased the guar- 1216 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. ter section on which McArthur is situated, and laid out the town on the 25th of November in that year, The situation is the southeast quarter of section 21, of township 11, range 17, and at that time belonged to Athens County. As laid out at this time it contained 112 in-lots and twenty-five out-lots. These lots were conveniently provided with streets and alleys crossing each other at right angles. Main street, running due east and west, is eighty-two and one-half feet wide, while North, High, Mill and South streets, all run-ning parallel to Main, are each sixty-six feet wide. Boundary alley, which was the western boundary of the original plat, is thirty-three feet wide at the southern end arid forty-eight feet at the northern end. All the alleys within the in-lots are each sixteen and one-half feet wide. Main, Market and North streets are each continued through the out-lots. The dimensions of the in-lots are ten poles in length from north to south and four poles in breadth from east to west. In-lots Nos. 63 and 64 were alloted for public ground and reserved for court and market house and jail. April 10, 1840, the first addition was made to the original plat by Aaron Lantz and P. and S. H. Brown of 109 in-lots. In May, 1842, P. and S. H. Brown made another ad-dition of nine out-lots. August 7 and 8, 1844, David Rich-mond's addition was surveyed and laid out. B. P. Hewitt and Robert Sage made another addition in April, 1854, of eighteen in-lots, and Sept. 3, 1858, at the instance of Thomas B. Davis, another addition of twenty-four in-lots was made. The newly laid out-town was named McArthurstown in honor of Hon. Duncan McArthur, a prominent Ohio statesman at that time. The lots sold well at first, six or seven houses going up the first year. Stanbaugh Stancliff built the first house after the town was laid out. Stancliff was the grandfather of Judge Du Hadway. William Green was the first shoemaker who lived here, and his daughter was the first child born in the village. Sire was"presented with a town lot by the town company. A Mr. Washburn was the first blacksmith to locate here. In 1815 a Mr. Paffenbarger started a tan-yard just east of the graveyard. In 1816 Joel Sage built the first tavern in the village. His wife died in a year or so and he rented the tavern to Thomas Wren, who kept it for several years. It stood on the corner of Main and Market streets. In the same year the tavern was started John Phillips and Dr. Windsor started the first store. The store was owned by Phillips and Windsor, was managed by Windsor, and handled general merchandise. It stood where Dr. Wolf now lives. HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1217 Several years later J. K. Will started another store, and from that time on this business has held a steady sway. No lawyers lived here then as this did not become a seat of justice until 1850. The old tannery east of town continued to operate until about 1842 when it was abandoned and another built on Mill street. The old one had been owned for several years by Sisson and Hulbert. In the earliest history of the town the only efforts toward religion were made by the Methodists, who built a church on the old cemetery lot in about 1820. The Disciples, or New Lights, as they were then called, had meetings occasionally at a very early date, but no regular preacher. Before the Methodist church was built the burying ground was on the hill just west of town, known as the Calvin burial ground. The first interment here was that of Elizabeth, a young daughter of Rawley Dawson. The first man buried here was James Stevens. The new cemetery just north of town was set apart for this purpose in 1873. Before the farmers of the county turned their attention so much to stock-raising, considerable wheat and corn was raised on the surrounding country and McArthur was made a market for some of this produce. The new and larger steam mill just east of town, which was built in 1856, for a time produced flour far in excess of the local demand and considerable was shipped to other points. Pork-packing was also engaged in on .a small scale by some of the merchants of McArthur between 1840 and 1850. Before the construction of the M. & C. R. R. through the county, shipments to and from McArthur were made on wagons by way of Gallipolis and Pomeroy on the Ohio, by Chillicothe, and after the completion of the Hocking Valley Canal, some by Logan. The mail was carried .. through from Athens to Chillicothe on horseback. The tannery. built on Mill street in about 1842 was" run only a short time. It had been built by Jacob Waltz, and in about two years after he built the one now owned by John Seal, on High street. INCORPORATION. The census of 1850, the year before the incorporation, showed the population of the town to be 424. At that time there were four stores, and the only industries of any extent were to be found in the tannery and the old water flouring mill. In the year 1850 Vinton was formed into a new county, when McArthurstown became the county seat. On the following Feb. 7, 1851, the town was in_ - 77 - 1218 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. corporated by a special act of the Ohio Legislature and the name changed from McArthurstown to McArthur. With this action came the necessity for county offices, a court-house and a jail. The jail was built in 1852, and the court-house finished in 1856. After this became the county seat, and before the completion of the courthouse, courts had been held in a private house for a year, and afterward in the Methodist or in the Presbyterian church. Section 1 of Act incorporating McArthur reads as follows: "Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, that so much of the territory in the township of Elk, in the county of Vinton, as is included within the original plat and survey of the town of McArthurstown, together with such additions as have been or may hereafter be made to said town, be, and the same is, hereby created a town corporate by the name of McArthur, and by that name shall be a body corporate and politic, with perpetual succession." VILLAGE OFFICERS. McArthur was incorporated by special act of the General Assembly in February, 1851, and the name changed from McArthurstown to that of McArthur. An election was ordered to be held the following April for the election of corporation officers, and this was done April 5, 1851, with the following result: Mayor, J. S. Hawk; Clerk, L. G. Bort; Trustees, B. P. Hewett, Charles Brown, David Richmond, Joel A. Waldron and W. Swepston. The officers of McArthur for 1883: Mayor, Moses M. Cherry; Clerk, G. F. Gilbert; Marshal, H. K. Matteson; Attorney, Wm. J. Rannells; Treasurer, Van R. Sprague; Justice of the Peace, Alex. Pearce; Councilmen, P. Horton, D. C. Gill, J. M. McVey, J. E. Sylvester, Wm. H. King, J. W. Delay. G. F. Gilbert having removed from the city, the office of City Clerk was declared vacant. It was then filled by the appointment of J. Ira Bell, as City Clerk, May 23, 1883. June 4, 1883, Wm. H. King resigned his position as councilman, and Henry W. Coultrap was appointed to fill the vacancy for the unexpired term. The following have served as Mayor of McArthur, since its incorporation: 1851, J. S. Hawk; 1852-'53, no record; 1854-'57, L. G. Brown; 1858, J. C. Mackey ; 1859-'61, L. G. Brown; 1862, D. N. Kineger; 1863, S. C. Case; 1864, Parker Rankins; 1865, H. C. Jones; 1866, Joseph Kaler; 1867-'71, William Mark; HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1219 1872-'73, Henry Payne; 1874-'75, Paris Hester; 1876-'77, Robert Sage; 1878-'79, L. D. Vickers; 1880-'81, Morris Evans; 1882-'83, Moses M. Cherry. In 1850 the population was 424; in 1860, 822; in 1870, 861, and in 1880, 900. FIRES. McArthur has been remarkably conspicuous of later years for her devastating fires: Her three great fires occurring within the space of thirteen years have swept away the principal part of the heart of the town, so that when rebuilt the town will, in a measure, have lost its identity. These fires were apparently small, but one at least, the last one, was much larger in proportion to the size of the town than the great fires of Chicago or Boston in 1871 and 1872. FIRE OF 1883. This was by far the most destructive fire ever visited upon McArthur. It swept the entire square on the north side of Main street, between Market and Jackson streets. It came in the night, breaking out about 11 o'clock P. N. of Jan. 16, 1883. Great efforts were put forth, aided by hook and ladder apparatus, but the buildings, with one or two exceptions, were old wooden shells and burned like tinder boxes. Following is a list Of the losses : The Davis building occupied by A. R. Lantz, grocery; Farley & Harris, oyster saloon; H. K. Matteson, cigar shop; P. Matts, jewelry store; J. E. King, shoe shop, and the Armory of the Fenton Guards. This was the first building to burn, and was situated near the east end.of the square. From this the fire moved rapidly toward the west, taking the buildings and dry goods store of C. M. Shively & Bro. ; H. P. Ambrose, saddle shop; J. H. King, shoe shop; Dan McKeever, saloon; Reynolds & Clements, meat store; Geo. W. Farley, barber shop; D. Will & Bro., dry-goods; Mrs. Leah Kaler, residence; J. J: Murphy, meat store; building owned by E. p. Dodge; Mrs. Lyle, residence; j. P. Ankram, dry goods, and Masonic Hall building owned by D. C. Gill; D. C. Gill, residence; J. W. Delay's building on east end of square occupied by W. H. King, grocery; L. Pierce, drug store; Record printing office; C. W. Taylor, barber shop; E. A. Bratton, law office, and E. A. Bratton's residence. The entire loss of this fire was estimated at upward of $55,000, about $20,000 of which was covered by insurance. 1220 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY POSTOFFICE. The postoffice was first established at McArthurStown in about 1828. Prior to this time the few inhabitants obtained their mail from Athens or Chillicothe. Thomas Wren was the first Postmaster, appointed by President John Q. Adams. The mail at that time was carried on horseback between Athens and Chillicothe and reached this place only once a week. After 1835 the trip was made twice a week. After the completion of the M. & C. R. R, in about 1856, the town was accommodated with a daily mail. It was made a money-order office in the fall of 1867. The amount of business done by the office at the present time is shown by the stamp sales of last year (1882), which amounted to $1,560.32. The stamp sales for 1878 amounted to $1,002.28. which shows a considerable increase of business in the last four years. The following is a list of the Postmasters from its first establishment to the present time : Thomas Wren, Sr., 1828 to 1833 ; Nathan Lord, 1833 to 1848; James Allen, 1848 to 1853; Judson Caldwell, 1853 to 1861; J. N. McLaughlin, 1861 to 1866; Horace Redd, 1866 to 1867; Mrs, Higenbottorn, 1867; J. N. McLaughlin, since 1867. MARTHUR IN 1883. McArthur now numbers nearly 1,000 population and has some very good buildings, notwithstanding her recent fire. The surrounding country is well adapted to grazing and is rich in iron ore and coal. It has four churches, a system of union schools, three newspapers, two hotels and one bank, three general stores, three hardware stores, three boot and shoe stores, two groceries, one jewelry store, one clothing store, one drug store, one cigar' and tobacco store, two harness stores, one furniture store, one millinery store, one meat store and two saloons, two flour-mills, one woolen mill, one marble works, one tannery, one saw-mill, one tailor shop, one brick yard, One livery stable, one nursery, two wagon and carriage shops, four blacksmith shops and one barber shop, one iron and coal, one insurance, one Adams Express, one Western Union Telegraph and one sewing machine, eleven attorneys, four physicians, one dentist, three ministers and three editors. HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1221 CHURCHES. The Methodist Episcopal Church, of McArthur, is probably the oldest church organization in the county of Vinton, having been first organized in 1814. Rev. Joel Havens was the first regular preacher. Services were held in the house of some one of the members, Isaac Pierson's being generally selected. McArthur having been laid out in November, 1815, the society soon after, or in the spring of 1816, changed their placu of meeting from Isaac Pierson's to Benjamin Keiger's. Previous to this removal preaching was had occasionally from. Jacob Delay, who lived near the salt works in Jackson County. He was represented as one of the most talented preachers of his time. The Paffenbarger tannery' purchased by Benjamin Keiger, was used up to 1820 most of the time, but in that year the first church was built. Some have placed the erection of this church as early as 1818, while others place the time even later, but undoubtedly it was the year first above mentioned. The church was built of logs, hewn, and presented quite a neat appearance. While belonging to the Methodists, all denominations used it. The first preacher was Rev. Benjamin Keiger, followed by the Rev. Jacob Hooper. The first regular preacher was Rev. David Culverson. This church stood where the present cemetery is, and remained there until 1843, as their place of worship. In 1843 the present brick church was erected some four or five blocks from the old one, a good substantial edifice which has served it-s purpose for forty years. It cost about $1,800, and is 42 x 50 feet in size. The .church has always advanced with the growth of the village, and at this time has a membership of seventy. Its present Pastor is the Rev. J. W. Williams. Church of Christ.—Many believers in the faith of this church lived in And about McArthur quite early in the town's history, but like most religious denominations in the early history of a country, this one was served but occasionally by ministers coming from some distant settlement or stopping as they traveled through. In 1861 the members of the denomination felt strong enough to undertake the erection of a church, and in the same year the cor-ner-stone of the present house was laid by Jonathan Brine. The church building was completed in the following year. Benjamin Franklin, then editor of the American Christian Review, con-ducted the dedicatory services. The church has met with varied 1222 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. success, as is common with all churches. In 1871 there was considerable progress made, and a large increase to the membership. Numerous improvements were made to the church, among others the building of the cupola and placing in it the bell weighing upward of 500 pounds. H. D. Williams, the present Pastor, came in February, 1883. At present the pastor remains with the congregation continuously, preaching twice every Sabbath. Mr. Williams is a young man belonging to an undergraduate class of Bethany College, West Virginia, but he is an earnest worker and ably fills the position to which he has been temporarily called. The Trinity Episcopal Church held its first service in 1863, the Rev. Thomas J. Davis, of Philadelphia, Pa., officiating. Service was occasionally held in the court-house by the Rev. Erastus Burr, D.D., of Portsmouth, Ohio, and others. The church became a regular mission in 1868, and service was held every two weeks, and a Sabbath-school established. The service has been held in a room in the second story of a frame building, which has never been ceiled or plastered.. This room has been known all these years as the Episcopal Hall. The church has grown from three to eighteen members, and in 1882 they commenced the building of a church of brick, in gothic style, slate roof, costing, when completed, about $2,500, the size being 27 x 45 feet. The first service was held in it Sunday, June 24, 1883. The Rector is the Rev. Jacob Rambo. Presbyterian Church.—Preaching by men of this denomination began in McArthur as early as 1838. For the first few years men came from Athens, generally from the University there. Meetings were held in the old school-house in McArthur, and in the Methodist church. In about 1849 Rev. Chauncey P. Taylor was secured to remain with the society as its regular Pastor. Very soon after this the church building was erected on the corner of High street and Boundary avenue, completed in 1851. Since 1878 the church has had no regular preaching. About this time and prior to it the society had grown weak, owing to the removal or death of many prominent members, and a lack of harmony between those who were left. The church, a large frame building, still stands, but its doors are closed, and the society has practically passed out of existence, although it was once, and for a long time, one of the leading social institutions of the town. HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY - 1223 SOCIETIES. Delta Lodge, .No. 207, A. F. & A. M.—The dispensation for Delta Lodge is dated July 21, 1851, and is signed and sealed by Wm. B. Hubbard, Grand Master, who appoints L. S. Bort, Master; B. P. Hewitt, S. W., and Joseph Magee, J. W. The first meeting was held July 30, 1851, brethren being present as follows: L. S. Bort, W. M.; B. P. Hewitt, S. W.; Joseph Magee, J.,W.; Jacob G. Will, Treasurer; W. M. Bolles, Secretary; E. D. Harper, S. D. ; E. B. Clark, J. D., and L. G. Brown, Tyler; visiting brethren, L. Hutchins, of Mingo Lodge, No. 171, and J. W. Caldwell, of Hebbardsville Lodge, No. 156. The petitions received were those of Silas D. Parker, Wm. H. Baird and Rev. S. Maddux. The Grand Lodge granted a charter dated Cleveland, Nov. 4, 1851. The names on this instrument are: L. S. BOrt, B. P. Hewitt, Joseph Magee, J. G. Will,Wm. M. Bolles, E. B. Clark, Wm. Carson and L. G. Brown. The first election of officers was held Nov. 8, 1851, resulting in the election of L. S. Bort, W. M.; Joseph Magee, S. W. ; J. W. Caldwell, J. W.; J. G. Will, Treasurer; Wm. M. Bolles, Secretary ; E. D. Harper, S. D.; L. W. Bort, J. D., and L. G. Brown, Tyler. Of these officers, only L. S. Bort, now of Logan, Wm. M. Bolles, now of Portsmouth, and, probably, E. D. Harper, residence unknown, are living at this writing. . At the close of the year 1851 there were eighteen members, since which time about 200 have joined; but owing to the formation of lodges at Hamden, Mt. Pleasant, Zaleski and Adelphi, in great part of members of Delta Lodge, and the consequent narrowing of the jurisdiction of the said lodge, together with the deaths, demits and expulsions, its present number of members is only sixty. March 24, 1882, its hall, leased for a term of years, and on which several hundred dollars had been expended, was consumed by fire. A new lodge-room was secured of D. C. Gill, and a considerable sum expended in fitting it for meetings of the craft, . but Jan. 16 it also was destroyed by fire. Meanwhile arrangements had been completed for a perpetual lease of premises owned by Messrs. James M. McGillivray and A. H. Dowd, on in.lot No. 67, and the brethren pushed forward the work of constructing a new hall during the winter of 1882–'3 with such success that they were able to hold their meetings in it in March, 1883. The lodge, notwithstanding its misfortunes, is but little in debt, and may-be reported in a flourishing condition. 1224 - HISTORY OF HOCKING VALLEY. The following is a list of brethren wl:i have served as Masters of Delta Lodge: L. S, Bort, 18;:1 and 18n, B. P. Hewitt, 1853 to 1857; Alexander Pearce, 1858 to 1861; S. C. Case, 1862; E. B. Clark, 1863 to 1865; George Lantz, 1866; D. V. Rannells, 1867; A. W. Ullorn, 1868; E. L. Hawk, 1869; C. P. Ward, 1870; J. A. Felton, 1871 and 1872; 0. T. Gunning, 1873; J. W. Delay, 1871 to 1876; Alex. Pearce, 1877; W. J. Kennard, 1878—'79—'80; J. W. Delay, 1881; H.. C. Jones, 1882 and 1883. McArthur Chapter, No. 102, R. A. M., was organized under a dispensation from George Rex, M. E. G. H. P., dated Jan. 7, 1867, issued to Companions Samuel Sayler, Alex. Pearce, George Lantz, Owen T. Gunning, Samuel C. Case, Jehiel A. Felton, A. W. Ullom., E. L. Hawk, James H. Leach, and Orlando Saylor. A charter was granted by the Grand Chapter of Oh io, dated Cincinnati, Oct. 12, 1867, and at the first election thereunder, Dec. 2, 1867, the following companions were chosen officers: Alex. Pearce, H. P. George Lantz, K.; S. C. ,Case, S.; J. A. Felton, C. of the H.; A, W. Ullom, P. S.; D. S. Dana, R. A. Capt.; O. W. Gillman, G. M. 3d V.; D. V. Rannells, G. M. 2d V.; H. C. Jones, G. M. 1st V.; E. L. Hawk, Treasurer; E. A. Hulbert, Secretary; William Eckles, Guard. The last annual report exhibits the names, of fifty-five members. The present H. P. is C. P. Ward, who was first elected in December, 1881, his only predecessors being Companions Samuel. Saylor, who presided from June to December, 1867, and Companion Alex. Pearce, who served from the latter date fourteen successive years. McArthur Lodge, No. 364, I. O. O. F., was instituted July 3, 1861, by Grand Master Win. F. Slater, and charter granted. The charter members were: John P. Spahr, Charles Brown, Joseph K. Will, John S. Hawk, Daniel Will, and H. P. Ambrose. The lodge elected the following as the first officers of the organization: J. P. Spahr, N. G.; H. P. Ambrose, V. G.; Daniel Will, Secretary; Charles Brown, Treasurer. When the order was first established they held their meetings in what was known as the ".Davis 'Building." This was destroyed by fire on the night of Jan. 16, 1883, and since then they secured the fine hall over the Vinton County National Bank. The lodge owns no real estate. The order has been quite successful, has contributed much to charitable purposes, and now numbers fifty-six members. The list of Past Grands is here given: J. P. Spahr, H. P. Ambrose, J. D. Hawk, Daniel Will, C. Billinghurst, P. G. Mathias, J. W.