450 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. two are living—Corydon and Frank. The latter enlisted in the war of the Rebellion in the First Ohio Artillery and served three years. He was wounded in the head at Fort Republic. He now lives at Tolono, Champaign Co., Ill. John C. Robey was born in Valley Township, Scioto Co., Ohio, Dec. 10, 1816, a son of William and Mary (Collins) Robey. William Robey was born in Maryland, Nov. 15, 1777, and when a child his parents removed to Kentucky. His father, with several of his neighbors, was murdered by the Indians while locating a homestead near Louisville. His mother afterward married Philip Moore and about 1781 or 1782 removed to Pennsylvania and settled near Harrisburg, and in 1797 came to Ohio, locating in Nile Township. Our subject's grandfather, John Collins, and John and Amos Moore, brothers of Philip, came about the same time. To the latter and wife were born four children—John, Philip, Levi and Elinor. William Robey married Mary Collins, and to them were born eleven children—Levi, Jemima, William H., Cynthia, John C., William W., Mary, Thomas L., Elizabeth, Francis A. and Mary J. Jemima, William H. and Mary died in Ohio; Thomas L. and Mary J. in Texas. In April, 1834, they moved to Illinois and rented a farm, near Hennepin, and raised a crop of corn. In the fall they sold their corn and moved by wagons to what was then Jo Daviess County, forty miles east of Galena. They lived there thirteen years, and then in April, 1847, set out with wagons for Texas, and located in Travis County, thirteen miles from Austin, where William Robey died in 1875, aged nearly ninety-eight years, and his wife in 1869, aged seventy-nine years. J. C. Robey was married Jan. 6, 1840, in Freeport, Ill., to Maria Wait, by Rev. Asa Balinger. He went with his father to Travis County, Texas, where Mrs. Robey died March 19, 1864. To them were born four daughters- Fidelia Frances, now Mrs. J. M. King, residing in Texas, has a family of seven children; Hester Ann, died in Illinois; Emily Amelia and Mary L., died in Texas. In 1870 Mr. Robey returned to Ohio, and Feb. 14, 1871, married Mrs. Angeline Brouse, widow of Andrew Brouse, of Sugar Grove, Scioto County. To them have been born three children—John W., Ida M. and William; the latter, born Sept. 11, 1876, was named for his grand father. C. C. Schlichter, proprietor of Cedar Grove Dairy, was born Dec. 25, 1839, in Dresden, Ohio. He settled in Scioto County in 1859. In 1861 he enlisted in Company C, Fifty-sixth Ohio Infantry. He re-enlisted in 1863 and served until the close of the war. He participated in about twenty hard-fought battles. He was married in 1863 to Elizabeth Hauck. They have three children—Mary, Valentine and Caroline. Mr. and Mrs. Schlichter are members of the Presbyterian church. He established his dairy in March, 1879. He has twenty-five extra cows, Alderneys, Durhams, Holsteins, etc.,—and has invested in business $1,500. He sells about forty gallons of milk per day in Portsmouth. He owns a farm of 150 acres on Pond Creek. When he first came to this county he had but 50 cents, and has by his own exertions accumulated his property. Politically he is a Republican. Isaiah W. K . Smith,, deceased, was born in Virginia, Feb. 27, 1807, a son of Joel W. Smith. He was married in 1832 to Tryphena Noel. They had one son who died at the age of seventeen years. Mrs. Smith died April 21, 1843. Jan. 23, 1845, he married Mary E. Denning. They had one child—William D., who died in April, 1853, aged six years. His wife died Jan. 26, 1848, and Dec. 24, 1850, he married Christiana, daughter of Jonathan W. Smith, of Virginia. They had a family of nine children, six of whom are living—Mrs. Eyle Vaughters, Mrs. Laura Wishan, Alice, Maria, May and Isaiah O. Mrs. Ade- HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 451 laide McNamar, Ellsworth and Pearl are deceased. Mr. Smith was Township Trustee, Justice of the Peace, Treasurer and Assessor many years, and was one of the representative citizens of the township. He was a member of the Methodist church. He owned 300 acres of good land. He died June 4, 1874. Mrs. Smith's father, J. W. Smith, came to this township in 183. He married Amanda Freeman. They reared a family of four children—Christina, Clementine (died December, 1853), Baldwin (killed at the battle of Kennesaw Mountain in 1863) and Julia. Mr. Smith was a prominent man of the township and held many of the local offices. He died Feb. 3, 1849. His wife died March 3, 1853. She was a member of the Baptist church. Nathaniel F. Smith, was born in Adams County, Ohio, in 1827, a son of William and Margaret (Bragher) Smith, natives of New York. In an early day his grand-parents, Henry and Esther (Moore) Smith, came to Ohio from New York and settled in Adams County. His father died in 1832, leaving three children—Nancy, wife of Leonard Craine, deceased; Esther, wife of Solomon Johnson, deceased, and Nathaniel F. His mother afterward married Isaac Williams and removed to this county in 1836, and in 1843 removed to Pike County, where she died in 1844. Our subject spent his boyhood days in this county, and when twenty-three years of age went to Defiance, Ohio, where he lived six years, returning again to this township, where he now owns fifty-four acres of land on Carey's Run. In 1875 he went to Kansas and remained two years, entering 160 acres of land on the Osage Indian Reserve. Politically he is a Republican. He has served a number of terms as Township Trustee and one term as Infirmary Director. In 1864 he was appointed by Salmon P. Chase United States Treasurer's Agent on the Mississippi River and served four months. He was married in 1860 to Rachel, daughter of 0. and Lydia Craine. They have no children. Peter J. Smith, a son of William Smith, an early settler of Scioto County, married Rebecca Moore and located in Washington Township. He subsequently bought the place where Mrs. Smith now resides. He was successful through life and accumulated a good property. To him were born eight children, only two now living—William F. and Leroy F. John D., Joseph C. and four infants are deceased. Mr. Smith died Oct. 31, 1853. He was a member of the Methodist church. Mrs. Smith's paternal grandfather, Joseph Moore, came from Kentucky to Ohio as early as 1792. He was a local preacher of the Methodist church and was instrumental in organizing the first church of that denomination in the Northwest Territory on Brush Creek. He married Rebecca Foster, and to him were born seven children—Aaron, Foster, Mary, John, Joseph, Firman and Jemima. He died in Brown County, Ohio, and his wife in Kentucky, at the home of their youngest son . Their son Firman married Anna Wesley, and subsequently settled in Scioto County in 1865 he removed to Mercer County, Ill., where he now resides, aged. ninety-one years. He and his brother Joseph were soldiers in the war of 1812. He was converted when twelve years of age and has always taken an interest in religious matters. To him was born nine children— Patience F. , Rebecca F. (now Mrs. Peter Smith), Ray S., Charles, W. Sienda, Joseph B., John W., Jedediah F. and Francis A., all reared in this county, but only one, Rebecca, now resides here. Mil. Moore died July 19, 1848, and Mr. Moore afterward married Rebecca Hooveler.. They have no children. Mrs. Smith's maternal grandfather, John Wesley, was born in Pennsylvania and married Patience Frazier. In 1798 he came to Washington Township. To him were born eleven children, all deceased—Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Alin, John, 452 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. Patience, Nancy, Lydia, Susan, Mary and Sarah. William F. Smith, postoffice Dry Run, was born in Washington Township in 1842, a son of Peter J. and Rebecca (Moore) Smith. His early life was spent on the farm, being educated in the district schools. He enlisted in 1862 in Company C, Ninety-first Ohio Infantry, and was appointed Corporal. He participated in ten or twelve hard-fought battles, besides a number of skirmishes. He was discharged in 1865 and returned home. He, with his mother and brother, owns 125 acres of excellent land. He is serving his third term as Trustee of the township, and has held other minor offices. In 1867 he married Sarah Briggs, a native of Scioto County, born in 1850, and a daughter of Samuel Briggs, an early settler of the county. They have two children—Emma and Wilbur. Mr. and Mrs. Smith are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. George J. Sommer, farmer, postoffice Portsmouth, was born in Baden, Germany, in 1826, a son of Andrew and Emma Sommer. In 1847 he emigrated to America, landing in New York, Aug. 1, and coming direct to Portsmouth. He first worked two years for Dr. Hemstead, then moved to the furnace, where he worked a number of years. He subsequently bought seventy-three acres of land where he now resides, and engaged in farming. He has his land mostly under cultivation, and has one of the best farms in the township. Mr. Sommer has held the office of School Director and Road Supervisor, the former seven years. In 1864 he enlisted in the One Hundred and Fortieth Ohio National Guards and served four months. He was married in 1850 to Mary Glockner. They have had a family of eleven children, but ten now living—George, Barney, Frank, Leo, Adam, Henry, Herman, Mary, Charles, Louis. Their eldest son, John, died in 1883. Mr. Sommer and family are members of the Catholic church. William Turner was born in Washington Township, Scioto Co., Ohio, in 1831. His early life was passed on the farm and his education was obtained in the common schools. When but thirteen years of age he commenced life for himself, working on a farm. He now has 550 acres of good land, all well cultivated and adapted to the raising of grain. He has been Township Trustee a number of years, and in 1876 was elected County Commissioner, serving till 1882. He was married — —, —. They have had a family of seven children, but six now living—William F., Louisa, Albert, Charles, Andrew B. and(twins). Lotta is deceased. Mr. Turner's grandfather came to Scioto County from Virginia, in the early settlement of the State, bringing his slaves, which he afterward set free. His children located in this county, but afterward removed to California. Samuel's two sons, William and John, are the only representatives of the family now living. John M. Vaughters, a son of William and Sophia (Graham) Vaughters, was born on the farm where he still resides, in 1846. He married Eliza J., daughter of Henry McCall, an old settler of Scioto County. They have a family of six children—Enos J., Anna M., John E., Lena F., Grace M. and Sarah B. Mr. Vaughters has held the office of Township Trustee and several minor offices. He owns fifty acres of excellent land. His father came to this county in 1830, where by industry and good management he accumulated 400 acres of valuable land. He was Trustee of his township and Infirmary Director a number of years. He and his wife, Sophia (Graham) Vaughters, had a family of four children—Mary, John M., Thomas and Sophia (deceased). John and Thomas are residents of Scioto County. R. N. Vaughters, fanner, was born in Sci- HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 453 oto County, Ohio, in 1854, a son of William and Mary J. (Bryson) Vaughters. He was married in 1878 to Eyle P., daughter of I. W. K. Smith, an old settler of Scioto County. She was born in Washington Township in 1858. To them have been born three children, but two now living—Warren C. and Christina Mabel. Orrin W. is deceased. Mr. Vaughters' mother was a daughter of David Bryson, of Kentucky. She died March 17, 1881, aged fifty years. She was the mother of eight children, only five now living—R. M. and William C., residing on the old homestead ; Carey W. and George S., of Kansas, and Ella, residing with her brother, R. M. Lulu Bell and two infants are deceased. Thomas G. Vaughters, M. D., was boru in Caroline County, Va., in 1823. His father was of English descent, but a native of Virginia. His mother, Catherine (Masson) Vaughters, was of Scotch descent, but a native of Philadelphia. His father died when he was quite young, and his mother, three brothers and a sister came to Ohio in 1830. In 1832 he left Virginia, and came with his uncle and on foot to Jackson, Jackson County, where his mother was then residing; but the next year his mother died and he was left with no one to guide him, and to the care of his two elder brothers. In 1834-'5-'6-'7 and 8 he attended the public schools of the neighborhood, walking a distance of three miles, and burning pine knots at night by which to learn his lessons. Getting beyond his teacher in mathematics, he walked eight miles to a teacher who was able to assist him in that study. Thus by working in the summer and studying in the winter he, in 1842, received a certificate as a teacher. He taught three months in Ohio, and then went to Kentucky and taught a year in Siloam district, and began the study of physiology and anatomy. Progressing rapidly, in the fall of 1844 he entered the office of Dr. D. H. Mitchell, a prominent physician of Jackson. He remain- ed with Dr. Mitchell three years, and then went into the office of Dr. J. M. Keenan, of Hamden, and read and practiced under his instruction till 1850, when he started out to seek a permanent location. He visited his brothers in Scioto County, one of whom was sick, and became acquainted with the attending physician, Dr. J. W. Dennis, who persuaded him to locate at Friendship, as it was sometimes difficult to secure a physician from Portsmouth, there being no bridge over the Scioto River at that time. Dr. Dennis proved a warm friend to the young physician. In 1851-'52 he took a full course of lectures in the University of Louisville, Ky., and then settled down to active practice. In the malarial years of 1853-'4-'5 he found little rest, catching the most of his sleep on his horse, while riding from one patient to the other. In the winter of 1872, while County Physician, he received a severe fall which resulted in a broken bone. In March, 1872, after presenting himself at the Ohio Medical College, he received from that thorough institution the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He has been President of the Scioto County Medical Society two terms. On the organization of the Hempstead Memorial Academy of Medicine he was chosen one of its Trustees and appointed its first Vice-President. June 11, 1872, he received a diploma from the Ohio State Medical Society and was elected a member. Dr. Vaughters was married May 25, 1851, to Ara B. Jennings, daughter of Enos and Catherine Jennings, of Vinton County. She was born in Muskingum County, Ohio, in the year 1833, and a sister of the late S. B. Jennings. Six children have been born to them —James S., Enos J., John E., Alice H., Flora M. and Loulie K. John E. is deceased. The eldest daughter is married and lives in Wisconsin, and the youngest son is married and lives near Friendship. Dr. Vaughters is generous to a fault, and was never known to turn off a patient on account of his poverty. He has 454 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. gained an enviable reputation by his indomitable will and energy, and stands among his fellow men a peer, having the confidence and esteem of all of his acquaintances. William C. Vaughters was born on the old homestead in Washington Township, Scioto County, Ohio, in 1857, the second son of William H. and Mary J. (Bryson) Vaughters. He was reared a farmer, receiving his education in the district school. He married Mary E., daughter of E. A. Moore, an old settler of Scioto County. They have one child—William. Mr. and Mrs. Vaughters are members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Caleb Wilcoxson, deceased, was born near Baltimore, Md. ,and came with his family to Scioto County, Ohio, in 1818 or 1819. He settled on land now owned by the Calverts. A few years later he rented his land and removed to Kentucky on account of sickness caused by miasma, but subsequently returned to his former home, where he died July 9, 1849, of cholera. He was a man universally respected and useful in the community. He possessed good executive ability and was Justice of the Peace a number of years. He married Nancy Fisher, of Maryland. They had a family of twelve children, six of whom are now living, two in this county—Drusilla Williamson and Barbara Ann Coffrin. Three sons, William, Caleb and Hillery, were in the late war of the Rebellion. Mrs. Wilcoxson died in 1865, aged seventy-one years. Mr. Wilcoxson was in later life a member of the Methodist church, and served the church as Class-leader. His daughter, Drusilla, was born in Kentucky in 1812, and married John D. Smith, a son of Joel Smith, a Virginian, who settled in Scioto County in an early day, and died in 1824. John D. Smith died of cholera in 1849. He left a family of five children—William (deceased), John O., Oliver D., Eliza, wife, of M. G. Nichols, and Fanny, wife of Silas C. Cole. Mrs. Smith afterward married Thomas Williamson. He was a successful farmer and accumulated a good property. They had no children. Mr. Williamson had previously married Lucinda Oard, by whom he had two children, but one now living—Louisa. Isaiah C. is deceased. Mr. Williamson died Sept. 5, 1874, aged seventy-six years. He was a member of the Methodist church, as is also Mrs. Williamson. George Williamson was born in Washington Township, Scioto Co., Ohio, in 1830, a son of Joseph and Catherine (Shaffer) Williamson. He has always lived on the farm where he was born. He was married in 1865 to Eliza C., daughter of William and Elizabeth (Elliott) Givens. Six children have been born to them, but five now living--William G., John A., Joseph, George H. and Sadie. Mary R. is deceased. Mr. Williamson is an enterprising, wide-awake farmer, and owns about 400 acres of land, 250 of which lie in the Scioto bottoms, being most excellent grain land. He is no aspirant for office but has held many of the local offices of the township. He enlisted in 1864 in the three months' service and was captured by Morgan's men in Vinton County, but was soon after paroled. He is a member of the I. O. O. F. His father first married Ruth Wilcoxson, who lived but a short time. They had one child, now deceased. He afterward married Catherine, daughter of John Shaffer. They had a family of ten children, six now living—John, Elizabeth, George, Barbara, Frank and Sarah. Jacob, William, Christena and Henry H. are deceased. The latter was a member of Company E, Thirty-third Ohio Infantry, and was killed at the battle of Perryville, Ky., in 1862, being shot through the heart. Frank was a member of the same company and was wounded at Perryville a few minutes after his brother was killed. Joseph Williamson died in 1849, and his wife died in 1880, aged seventy-eight years. She was born in Germany in 1802 and came with her parents to America in 1816.. They had a family of eight children—George, HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 455 Catherine, Adam, Rosanna, Christina, Sabina, Barbara and Jacob. Catherine was the only one that remained in Scioto County, the rest going to Delaware and Hamilton counties, Ind., where her father died. Our subject's grandfather, Joseph Williamson, Sr., came to Ohio from New Jersey and located on Government land on the site of the present town of Alexander. He had a family of nine children—Frank, William, Joseph, Peter, James, Thomas, Margaret (wife of. Leaven Wilcoxson) Anna (wife of Nicholas McAttee), and Sarah (wife of John Nottingham). He died in 1812, and his wife, Martha (Fort) Williamson, died in 1834. Both are buried in this township. UNION TOWNSHIP. Union Township was one of the original townships and took in a part of Washington, which was made from Nile and Union, all of Rush and Morgan, and probably all of Brush Creek except what belonged to Nile. It has now been curtailed of its dimensions to a considerable extent, and from being one of the largest in the county at its organization in 1803, it is now one of middle size, eight townships being larger and six smaller, not counting Portsmouth. Union Township is now bounded on the north by Brush Creek and a corner of Morgan townships, east by Rush, south by Washington and Nile, and west by Brush Creek Township. It has an area of 19,118 acres, the land being very broken and hilly, with a far better surface for stock-raising than for that of grain. Upper Pond Creek, the word " upper" being used to designate it from the Pond Creek or Run of Nile Township, rises in the southwest part of the township, runs northeast, and passing through Rush flows into the Scioto. Brush Creek winds through its northern central part, from east to west, with a large bend called the Horseshoe Bend. Its assessed valuation for 1882 was: real estate, $81,620; personal property, $40,577; total valuation, $122,197. The population of the township was: In 1840, 570; 1850, 605; 1860, 1,070; 1870, 552; and 1880, 1,168. In 1867 Rush was taken bodily from Union Township, which caused its sudden loss in 1870, but in the last decade it has grown wonderfully. The old settlers of this township came in early, but it is doubtful if the territory now known as Union Towuship was settled until some time about 1808 or 1809. What is now Rush and Washington townships, lying in the valley of the Scioto, was, when this county was organized, called Union Township, and it was settled as early as 1796 at the lower end, for Alexandria was part of Union Township then, and the upper part of the valley, now Rush was settled in 1797. Thus in giving names of old settlers, many of them, will not be found in the Union Township of to-day, but of that part of Union Township which is now designated as Washington and Rush. The following names were settlers of Union Township between 1796 and 1802: Peter Noel, William Russel, James Norris, Philip Moore, John Collins, Gabriel Feurt, Benjamin Feurt, William Lucas, Jr., John Noel, William Campbell, John Devers, Peter Noel, Jr., John Pollock. Conrad Throne, John White, Henry Utt, William Robey, James Collins, Joseph Williamson and Thomas Williamson. Gabriel Feurt was the first Collector of Union Township in 1803, and continued for five years. The first Assessor, or in those days called "Linters," was David Gharky, who first came to Alexandria, and was for years a prominent citizen of Scioto County. In 1821 Samuel G. Jones, who was also well known in early days, moved up to the mouth of Brush Creek, to help General Kendall build his mills; was a Justice of the Peace of Union in 1821. The first school-house in the present Union 456 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. Township was in what is known as the Horseshoe Bend. Away back in 1802 Benj. Feurt had a small distillery running at a place called " Stony Hill." A part of the stone foundation of that still is yet to be seen. There are no church organizations in the township, the citizens attending those in the adjoining townships near their border. There is occasionally services held at the residences of some of the citizens when they can secure a preacher. The western part, however, is very thinly settled, and there are not neighbors enough to make either a church organization, or children to attend a school, but in the latter respect it is well provided, although some of the pupils have some distance to travel. There are six school districts in Union Township. The Cincinnati & Eastern Railway will pass through the northern part of the township south of Brush Creek, from east to west. It has immense forests of timber, and, outside of farming, getting this timber out, cutting into lumber and into staves, and headings, has become quite a noted industry. VILLAGES. Lombardsville is the ancient point of settlement, but it is hard, at this day, to make even a hamlet of it. There is one store at this place. It has been a postoffice for quite a number of years, and there is a large stave factory. It is also the voting precinct of the township. Perhaps Henly, with its great transportation facilities, and on a trunk line of railway leading to the Queen City, may wipe out the whole of the business interests of Lombardsville, including its position of a voting precinct. Henly is now the terminus of the Cincinnati & Eastern Railroad. It has two small stores, a saw-mill, and a postoffice. OFFICERS. 1809.—Trustees, Peter Noel, Perry Liston and James Norris; Clerk, S. G. James; 1810.— Trustees, Peter Noel, Benjamin Rankin and James Norris; Treasurer, Benjamin Feurt; Clerk, S. G. James; Overseers of the Poor, John White and Philip Moore; Fence Viewers, Warren Johnston and John R. Turner; Constable, William Howell. The early records were not all found, bu the above is given, for they represent man of the first settlers in the township. 1883.—Trustees, Moses Wickline, Austin Crow and Theopolis Varnier; Clerk, Thomas H. Garvin; Treasurer, Charles Lovernier; Justices of the Peace, Joseph Kelley and N. R. Wilson; Constables, G. B. Mershon and Wm. Holdenness; Assessor, James Kelley. JACKSON COUNTY. CHAPTER XXII. JACKSON COUNTY FROM DATE OF ORGANIZATION. THE MISTY AGES OF THE PAST. Away back in the misty ages of the past the history of Jackson County may he said to begin, and the first white men who trod its soil were undoubtedly the French traders and trappers. The Indians built no towns and villages within its borders, but Jackson County was a favorite hunting ground. The Indian war was hardly ended when Jackson County was visited on account of her then famous salt works, and the settlers of the Ohio purchase made early pilgrimages to these salt springs. The year 1798 saw several parties busy at these springs securing the needful and very necessary article of salt. It was the visit of parties to these springs which gave it its first permanent settlers. Several from Marietta and the Ohio purchase found pleasant homes not far from the springs. Prospecting parties went out, and the inviting vales of Jackson were like oases in a desert. The lands were as fertile as in Washington County, but, with the exception of Salt Creek Valley, the hills were less rocky and barren, and the valleys larger in area, while the hills were not so high as those in the East and South, and so the richness and extent of her soil, the beauty of the landscape, and the salt springs, which if not so dense in saline matter were strong enough to make all the salt necessary for home demand in the then sparsely settled country, found favor in the eyes of the pioneer. And while the Indians had roamed over her hills and vales for centuries, and the French traders had traversed her territory for nearly a half a century her permanent white settlement does not go back of the year 1798. A portion of her territory was first surveyed in that year, and it soon found occupants. The early settlers of Jackson County were mostly from Virginia. There seems to have been at that early day an intuitive feeling that the Northwest Territory, as then called, would some day become an empire in both population and wealth, and the people of the Atlantic States sought the country to secure cheap lauds and become settlers and citizens of the great country. In many respects Jackson County was an inviting field for the early settler, for while her surface was hilly, it was not so broken or so rugged as much of the land sold to the Ohio Company, and which lay just to the east of it. The coal and iron belt, however, extends through this country, and it is therefore somewhat similar in its general formation and appearance. Among the first white men who trod her soil was Samuel Davis, who had hunted and trapped through the big sandy country of Kentucky, was captured with his partner. - 457 - 458 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. William Campbell, in the fall of 1792, and brought across the Ohio. On their way the Indians camped at the salt springs in Jackson County, and it was there that Davis, about daybreak made a dash for liberty and achieved it. What became of Campbell is not stated, but if he wasn't burned at the stake he probably turned Indian to save his life. Many pale-faces were adopted by the Indians, especially boys and girls, and some times grown women, but men seldom, and the chances are that Campbell, who was something of a coward, lost his life. The country was in its natural state, rugged and broken enough to be the home of the wild denizens of the forests, where they could find safe retreat from their foe, and this made it often the home of the pale face hunter and trapper, as it had been for centuries of the wild untutored Indian. But these both gave way to the onward march of civilization, and while the hunter marked a path, the pioneer bazed a roadway broad enough and wide enough for civilization and Christianity to walk hand in hand. But ere this could greet the eye, the pioneer had spent a lifetime amidst its wilds, and had wrought many weary years to give to future generations a country fit for the home of a free, loving and God-fearing people. The country to day attests how faithfully he performed his task. TOPOGRAPHY. Most of the territory of which Jackson County is composed is rough and hilly. The largest streams or creeks are Symmes, Little Raccoon, Scioto, and Salt creeks. These are beautiful sights for the eye to dwell upon. Along most of these creeks, and especially along the latter, is some of the most beautiful, romantic and picturesque scenery the eye of man ever beheld. The conglomerate rocks form the hills on each side, and these rocks are composed of millions of shells, pebbles and boulders, which show that these valleys were either the bottom of a mighty sea, or the bed of a river which once washed the banks from hillside to hillside. On the road leading down the creek from Jackson is an ancient fort, apparently of earlier date than the Indian settlement. THE EARLY PIONEER generally came in the early spring and put up his rude shanty, to protect himself and family from the weather. Then commenced the preparations for the patch of corn. The small bushes were pulled up by the hand and the trees girdled or cut down, and, with the brush, burned. This work and clearing more land, tending cabin-raisings, corn huskings, and loggings, wood-choppings and flax-pullings were their principal employments. COUNTY ORGANIZATION. Jackson County was organized March 1, 1816, and was named after General Andrew Jackson, not President Jackson, as has been published, for he was not then President. The act which gave to Jackson County her in. dependence and a place among her sister municipalities, reads as follows: “AN ACT TO ERECT THE COUNTY OF JACKSON. " SECTION 1. Be it enacted, etc., That all that part of the counties of Scioto, Gallia, Athens and Ross, included within the follow. ing limits, to wit: Beginning at the northwest corner of township No. 10, range No. 17, and running thence east to the northeast corner of said township; thence south to the southeast corner of tow7nship No. 8 in said range; thence west to the southwest corner of section No. 34, in township No. 7, in said range; thence west to the southwest corner of said township; thence south to the southeast corner of said township No. 5, in range No. 18; thence west to the southwest corner of sec tion No. 33, in township No. 5, in range No. HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 459 19; thence east to the range line between the seventeenth and eighteenth ranges; thence north with the same to the place of beginning, shall be a separate and distinct county by the name of Jackson. "SEC. 2. That all suits and actions pending, whether of a civil or criminal nature, which shall be pending, and all crimes which shall have been committed within the said counties of Scioto, Gallia, Athens and Ross previous to the organization of the said county of Jackson, shall be prosecuted to final judgment and execution within the counties in which such suits shall be pending or such crimes shall have been committed, in the same manner they would have been if no division had taken place; and the sheriff, coroner and constables of the counties of Scioto, Gallia, Athens and Ross shall execute within such parts of the county of Jackson as belonged to their respective counties previous to the taking effect of this act such process as shall be necessary to carry in effect such suits, prosecutions and judgments, and the collectors of taxes for the counties of Scioto, Gallia, Athens and Ross shall collect all such taxes as shall have been levied and imposed within such parts of the county of Jackson as belonged to their respective counties previous to the taking effect of this act. "SEC. 3. That all justices of the peace and constables within those parts of the counties of Scioto, Gallia, Athens and Ross which by this act are erected into a new county shall continue to exercise the duties of their offices until their term of service expires, in the same manner as if no division of said counties had taken place. " SEC. 4. That on the first Monday in April next the legal voters residing within said county of Jackson shall assemble in their respective townships, at the usual place of holding township elections, and elect their several county officers, who shall hold their offices until. the next annual election: Provided, That where any township shall be divided, in consequence of establishing the county of Jackson, in such manner that the place of holding township elections shall fall within the counties of Scioto, Gallia, Athens or Ross, then, and in that case, the electors of such fractional township shall elect in the next adjoining township or townships in said county of Jackson. "SEC. 5. That the courts of said county of Jackson shall be holden at the house of William Givens, within the reserved township, at the Scioto Salt Works, until the permanent seat of justice for said county shall be established. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of March next." [Passed Jan. 12, 1816.] Two years later another act was passed relative to the territory of Ross and Jackson, and the sixth section of the act referred to the increase of territory to Jackson, the same being taken from Ross County. It read: "SEC. 6. That all that part of the county of Ross which is comprised within township No. 9, in range No. 18, and township No. 9, in range No. 19 of the United States land, be, and the same is, hereby attached to and made a part of the county of Jackson, and, all suits and prosecutions which may be pending at the taking effect of this act shall be prosecuted to final judgment in the same manner as if this act had not been passed; and all officers within the township aforesaid shall hold their respective offices in the said county of Jackson until their successors are elected and qualified. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after the first day of March next."—[Passed Jan. 3, 1818.] These two townships remained a part of Jackson County until 1850, when they were transferred to the new county of Vinton, organized that year. 460 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. THE ORIGINAL SURVEY, NOW JACKSON COUNTY. Madison Township-Township 6, range 17, John G.Macan, Deputy Surveyor, 1801; township 7, range 17, surveyed by Levi Whipple, July, 1798; subdivided by Joseph Fletcher, 1805. Bloomfield-Township 8, range 17, surveyed by Benjamin F. Stone, October, 1801. Milton-Township 9, range 17, surveyed by Levi Whipple, June, 1798; subdivided by John Collett, 1806; township 10, range 17, surveyed by B. F. Stone, November, 1801. Jefferson-Township 5, range 18, surveyed by John G. Macan, June, 1801. Franklin-Township 6, range 18, surveyed by Elias Langdon, May, 1798; subdivided by Thomas Evans, 1806. Lick-Township 7, range 18, surveyed by Elias Langdon, December, 1801. Washington-Township 8, range 18, surveyed by Thomas Worthington, August, 1799; subdivided by John Collett, 1805. Hamilton-Township 5, range 19, surveyed by Elias Langdon, April, 1799; subdivided by James Denny, 1805. Scioto-Township 5, range 20, surveyed by Elias Langdon, May, 1798; township 6, range 19, surveyed by Elias Langdon, June, 1801; subdivided by James Denny, 1805. Liberty-Township 7, range 19, surveyed by Elias Langdon, May, 1798; subdivided by James Denny, 1805; township 6, range 20, surveyed by Elias Langdon, June, 1801. Jackson-Township 8, range 19, surveyed by Jesse Spencer, March, 1801; township 7, range 20, surveyed by Thomas Worthington, August, 1799; subdivided by James Denny, 1805. The Scioto Salt Lick Reserve was surveyed by Joseph Fletcher in 1825, consisting of part of townships 6 and 7, range 18, and townships 6 and 7, range 19, into 80-acre lots as near as practical. MEETING OF THE COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. The first Commissioners of Jackson County, appointed by the Legislature, were: Emanuel Traxler, John Stephenson and John Brown. Their first meeting was held at the house of William Givens, on the first Monday in March, and the only business trans acted was the dividing of the county into three townships, viz. : Milton, Lick and Franklin, and appointing judges and clerks of the election to come off on the first Monday in April, 1816. A special meeting of the newly elected commissioners was called, and met April 25, 1816. This meeting was held in the house of Jared Strong, in Lick Township. They appointed Nathaniel W. Andrews, Clerk, and authorized the listers of the three townships to attach the fractions lying alongside to their separate townships. At this session Daniel Harris presented a petition for a new township, but action upon it was postponed until the regular session on the first Monday in June following. The next meeting convened June 3, 1816, and lasted two days. This meeting was at the house of Nathaniel W. Andrews. The first day the board was in need of a copy of the Ohio Statutes to guide their actions, and adjourned without business until the following day. At this day's session, which convened at nine o'clock, Abraham Welch was appointed Collector of the county, and John James was appointed Treasurer, both giving bond and security according to law. At this meeting the license for retailing merchandise in the county was fixed at $15 per annum, and for keeping tavern at $6 per annum. Nathaniel W. Andrews was appointed keeper of the county seal, and sworn into office as such, after which the board adjourned to the first of July following. On the first day of the July session the townships of Jackson and Clinton were formed HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 461 in accordance with petitions presented by the inhabitants of each. Milton and Bloomfield Townships were acted upon on the same date, and made independent divisions, both townships being made after the original survey. In July, 1816, a petition was presented and favorably acted upon from the inhabitants of the proposed township of Madison, praying for a new township. The boundary included just thirty-six sections, but the township was very irregular in shape. It included a part of the present Madison and part of Jefferson townships. The township of Lick had its boundary changed at this session, and the townships of Franklin and Scioto were formed. The commissioners gave a bounty for wolf scalps, of $2 for all over six months old, and $1 for those under that age. FIRST ROAD. The first road petition presented was by Isaac Baker, with a number of other signatures, praying for the establishment of a road beginning at the forks of the creek, two and one-half miles above Levi Mercer's, on the new county road running from Portsmouth to the Scioto Salt Works; thence running by the best route to Hugh Gilliland's, on the waters of Symms Creek; thence to Abraham Baker's place; thence by the nearest and best route to intersect the new road leading from the salt works to Gallipolis, at or near Mr. Redebouth's place. This petition was favorable received, and Levi Mercer, John Horton and Lewis Atkins were appointed Viewers, they having offered to do it without compensation. Gabriel McNeil was appointed Surveyor. The total taxes collected for the year 1816, being the first. year of its existence, were $301.20. The October election of 1816 changed somewhat the county officers. The County Commissioners elected were: Emanuel Traxler, John Stephenson and Robert G. Hanna, the latter being elected in the place of John Brown. In drawing for the terms of three,two and one year, Mr. Traxler drew three years, Stephenson two, and Hanna one year. The road business assumed importance before the commissioners, and the county began to be dotted with roads, and the surveyor to be busy. In 1817 the State road from Jackson toward Waverly, as laid out by the State, was put under way, and Abraham Welch was appointed to superintend its construction and opening. John Stephenson was to look after another State road in the direction of Wilkesville, northeast, and in Vinton County. TOWNSHIPS AND TAXATION. Up to the year 1818 Jackson County had organized eight townships within her borders, their names being Clinton, Milton, Bloomfield, Madison, Franklin, Lick, Jackson and Scioto. The Listers of these townships for the year 1817 and the taxes collected for the same resulted as follows: Clinton Township —Downey Reed ; tax, $29.60. Milton—Joseph Crouch; tax, $39.50. Bloomfield—Joshua Scurlock; tax, $48.55. Madison—John Shumate; tax, $48.90. Franklin—Isaiah Shuord ; tax, $53. Lick—Solomon Goodenough; tax, $67.60. Jackson—Jno. Stephenson; tax, $35.70. Scioto—Peter McKane; tax, $32. Total, $354.85. In addition to the above, at the regular June settlement (of 1817), the sheriff returned of fines collected for the year the sum of $40. 00. FIRST JAIL. Jackson County, like all other counties which had been nurtured into advanced civilization, required the restraining influence of a jail to curb some of the more refractory citizens. To accomplish this notices were put up on July 4, 1817, for the letting of a contract to 462 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. build a jail. The cost of keeping and guarding prisoners without this necessary article of restraint was very great, and so a jail was agreed upon. A case of expense for want of a jail is here given, which occurred in August, 1817. Marshal, a prisoner, was guarded about two days at a cost of $39.75. Thirty-six men were employed, but 'the prisoner then made his escape. He was recaptured however, by one Wm. Jolly, who was allowed $25 in addition to guard service. The first insane person in the county was a man by the name of John Allen . This was in the fall of 1818. ADVANCING. Two new townships had been added to the municipal division in the year 1818, Harrison early enough in the year to be assessed as a separate township, and Richland, which was not formed until August, 1818, both townships, however, being given to Vinton County in 1850. John Runkle was first County Road Commissioner, and he was succeeded in 1818 by Robert Ward. This year the streets and alleys of Jackson were ordered to be cleared of old buildings and other obstructions. The county commissioners paid $30 for wolf scalps, and county orders were refused for taxes. Washington Township was organized in September , 1821; Jefferson, in January, 1822, and the boundary of Bloomfield Township changed in 1831, and changed back again in 1836. Hamilton Township was organized December, 1825, and a change made in Clinton Township in March, 1827. TOWNSHIPS, ETC., 1824. The townships in the county up to 1824 had increased to eleven, and in the election for 1824 the following Judges and Clerks were appointed, they being all representative men of their respective townships. Lick Township--Judges, Reuben Long, Jas., Milliken, Wm. Hare; Clerks, Christopher Long, Daniel Pavey. Jefferson—Judges, John Johnson, Thomas Elliot; Clerks, James Walton, John Shumate, Theo. Blake." Franklin—Judges, John Martin, Wm. Ward, John Farney; Clerks, Isaac Baker, Abijah Dawson. Richland—Judges, Enoch Reed, George Claypool, Samuel Darby; Clerks, Sol. Redfearn, Wm. Hurst. Clinton—Judges, David Paine, John Snook, Downey Reed; Clerks, Patrick Shearer, Wm. Crow. Milton—Judges, John Kite, John Hanna, Henry Wheatly; Clerks, Holly Whitman, Joseph Crouch. Bloomfield —Judges, George Campbell, John Callahan, Alex. G. Stephenson; Clerks, John Stephenson, John Corn. Harrison—Judges, Samuel Reed, Jr., Ed. eating, Wm. Dixon; Clerks, Lawrence Raines, Thomas Reed. Washington—Judges, J. W. Ross, Solomon Goodenough, John McClure; Clerks, George Anthony, James McGhee. Madison—Judges, Jesse Corn, Wm. Hawk, Wm .Walton; Clerks, James Romines, Reuben Roach. Scioto—Judges, Samuel McDowell, George Deaver, Ed. Crabtree; Clerks, Sol. Deaver, Michael McCoy. COURT-HOUSE. The court-house seemed to give the county commissioners considerable trouble. The finishing of the upper story was contracted to S. M. Burt and Moses Gillespie. They made their return as a complete job July 16, 1825, but the commissioners declined to receive it as not being finished according to contract. A referee was called to decide the case and fix the price of the work. Then on Dec. 6, 1828, Moses Gillespie took a contract for pitching and sanding the roof of the courthouse, and the commissioners again refused to receive the work, as not being properly done, or in accordance with the contract. Three HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 463 gentlemen were named to decide on the case, viz.: Samuel M. Burt, Robert Mimms and Christian Heath, and they endorsed on the back of Gillespie's bond, that " it was their unanimous opinion that the contract had not been properly fulfilled." Another case of compromise, and this also was settled. Probably the first and last bridge in Jackson County built by a woman was in 1828. Elizabeth Strong secured the contract to build a bridge across Salt Creek, on the Jackson and Chillicothe road, for the sum of $99.331, and the same when completed was accepted by the county commissioners as a first-class job. The expenditures in 1827 exceeded the receipts by $311.35, but it was owing to courthouse work and bridge repairing. According to the county commissioners, Thomas Dougherty, County Auditor, whose term expired in 1831, was short in his account to the amount of $232.32, or he was overpaid that amount, and the County Treasurer was ordered not to pay any warrants in the name of Dougherty. Suit was brought against him by the county commissioners, but as Mr. Dougherty denied the overpay, the case was carried to the Supreme Court, and just how it came out was not made of record. In 1827 Scioto Township boundary line was again changed. The turnpike fever raged from 1838 to 1848; several were projected and a few were built. GOING BACK. The first meeting of the county commissioners was held at the house of William Givens, as ordered by the Legislature, but there is no record saved of that first meeting, which started the wheels of an independent county, by the divisions into three townships, appointing officers, ordering elections and appointing judges, etc., the first meeting of record being at the house of Nathaniel W. Andrews, April 16, 1816. The next move after getting the county machinery in order, was the holding of the civil courts of the county. The first Court of Common Pleas was held at the house of Wm. Givens (the first day under a big white oak-tree near by) on the salt reservation, whose house was the temporary seat of justice for Jackson County. The presiding Judge was the Hon. Jno. Thompson and the associates, Hugh Poor, David Payne and Wm. Givens. The court was opened on Monday, Aug. 12, 1816. Nathaniel W. Andrews was made Clerk, pro tempore, and Abraham Welch was the Sheriff in attendance. The Sheriff made his return of the venier facias, and the following persons, composing the 'first Grand Jury of Jackson County, responded to their names: James McDaniel, Gabriel McNeal, Geo. Campbell, Robert Erwin, Emanuel Traxler, Jas.. Higinbotham, Jno. McBride, Wm. Martin and Wm. Stephenson. The other named persons who had been summoned not appearing the sheriff summoned a sufficient number among the by-standers to complete the panel of fifteen; their names were: Joseph W. Ross, Joseph Crouch, Joshua Winks, Andrew Donnally, Mason Hill and Jared Strong, the latter being chosen foreman of the jury. The court appointed Joseph Sill as prosecutor. The first case of record is that of Brown L. McCort vs. Peleg Potter, case for debt, and Josiah Shackford vs. Abraham Welch, also debt. The second term of the Common Pleas Court was held in November, 1816. The grand jury was selected from the towuships, as follows: Jackson Towuship, 1; Lick Township, 3; Bloomfield, 2; Franklin, 2; Scioto, 2; Milton, 2; Clinton, 1, and Madison 2. The men selected for this second term of court, to serve as a jury, were: Francis Rolland, Jos. W. Ross, Geo. L. Crookham, Sam'l A. Hall, Michael Stoker, Wm.. Jenkins, Jno. Callahan, Jno. Atkinson, Peter Neele, John 464 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY Baccus, Jno. Snooke, Wm. Martain, Peleg Potter, E. Brandt and Ross Nelson. The house of Wm. Givens, where the Common Pleas Court was held during the year 1816, was situated just north of the present court house. In 1817 the court was held at the house of N. W. Andrews, the Clerk; at Andrew Donnally's; at the house of Jos. W. Ross in 1818, and at the last two mentioned houses and at the Widow Richmond's in 1819. LAND SALES. Among the earliest recorded sales of land was the n. w. of section 20, township 6, of range 18. This was a deed from President James Madison to Emanuel Traxler, dated Sept. 27, 1814. The first deed recorded was from Daniel Hollingshead to Wm. Hollings-head, of 64 64-100 acres on section 20, township 10, of range 17. This was in Clinton Township, which was in 1850 joined to Vinton County. The next deed was for land in the same township and range, but on section 8. This deed was from James Madison, President of the United States, to John Snooks, of Athens County. It was dated June 9, 1814, but was not recorded until April 18, 1818. VOTE ON SALE OF SCHOOL LANDS. In the year 1825 a vote was taken upon the sale of school lands in Jackson County, in the several townships, which was carried by a large majority. The prices set upon these lands, in the several townships, is given below: Bloomfield, lands valued at 25 cents per acre; Madison, 50 cents per acre; Franklin, 50 cents per acre; Lick, 25 cents per acre; Jefferson, 87 1-6 cents per acre; Hamilton, 25 cents per acre; Clinton, 37 1/2 cents per acre; Scioto, 37 1/2 cents per acre; Milton, 50 cents per acre; Jackson, 12 1/2 cents per acre; Harri son, 50 cents per acre; Washington, 25 cents per acre; Richland, 50 cents per acre. There was only one deed recorded in 1816; one in 1817, eleven in 1818, four in. 1819, fifteen in 1820, and forty-one in 1821, which gives some idea of the immigration and the change of property in different hands. In fact Jackson County grew rapidly for a new country, in the decade between 1820 and 1830. Her population in 1820 was 3,741, while ten years later, in 1832, it was 5,941, a gain of 2,195, or nearly sixty per cent. The growth of the county did not stop there, but the gain the next decade was almost exactly at the same ratio of increase, that of sixty per cent. for the decade, the gain being 3,506, and the total population 9,447. To show Low nearly equal the gain of these two decades were the exact figures are that between 1820 and 1830 it lacked fifty-two of being sixty per cent.; and between 1830 and 1840 it lacked just fifty-three. DECADE BETWEEN 1840 AND 1850. Jackson County had made pretty steady progress and that progress had not been slow. She had been receiving a healthy immigration from Pennsylvania and from .Wales and England ; these being mostly farmers began to develop her agricultural resources in a manner to attract others to her fruitful soil. In 1840 Jackson County was divided into the follow ing municipal divisions, being fourteen in all, and had the following population : Bloomfield, 721; Clinton, 824; Franklin, 1,055; Harrison, 378; Jackson, 410; Madison, 724; Ham-, ilton, 415; Liberty, 474; Milton, 912; Lick, 822; Jefferson, 752; Richland, 548; Washington,481; Scioto,931. Total,9,447. It has besides its coal and iron fine quarries of stone. An article of a superior quality for miller's burrs is found, and in early times was shipped in considerable quantities, along with its lumber. The farmers began early to raise cattle as well as hogs, horses and sheep. It has also some HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 465 splendid tobacco land and this had been a leading crop. Jackson County's industry had been so divided that in cattle, horses, hogs, wool, lumber and tobacco it took a foremost rank at an early day in the counties of the State. At that time her mining interests had not been developed to any great extent though some iron ore had been shipped. The iron business was in its infancy. Up to 1840 but one furnace was in the county—the Jackson Furnace. It was owned by Ellison, Tewksbury & Co. and was in the southern part of the county. Besides Jackson, the county seat, there were four small villages in the county, a store, postoffice and blacksmith shop being about the extent of their business. They were Allensville, Middleton, Oak Hill and Charleston. It was stated by newspapers published in 1837 that the remains of a mastodon had been found in the county. That some well-formed teeth, and a fair skeleton, including legs, back-bone etc., had given evidence of its being a mastodon. OLD SCIOTO SALT WORKS. These famous salt works of Jackson had doubtless been known to the Indians for centuries. They had been known to the French settlers as early as 1745, and in 1755 a map giving the outlines of the country was published. The location of the springs was not definitely placed, but the country around in which they were located was shown on the old map. The Indians made annual visits to these springs up to the time the country became possessed by the whites. Daniel Boone, while a prisoner, being captured in Kentucky, was at these springs in company with the Indians during his prison life, and Jonathan Alder, taken prisoner in 1781, was also,while in captivity, brought to these springs and helped the Indians to make salt. Alder was captured in Virginia, in his eighth year. The Indians first brought him to these springs - 30 - in 1782. Mr. Alder remained with the Indians until the treaty of peace was concluded in 1795. He was probably the first white person who knew of these springs. Before the treaty of peace was made which firmly allowed the whites, to take possession of the country, it was pretty generally known that salt springs were located in Jackson County, not known by that name then. The prisoners who had escaped and the hunters who-had hunted and trapped on the Scioto had found these springs or their location. The great scarcity of salt made them very valuable, being so near to Marietta and Athens, the principal settlements of the Ohio Company. This company believing that these springs were on the land purchased by the company made, the following announcement " WHEREAS, it is believed that the great Salt Springs' of the Scioto lie within the present purchase of the Ohio Company, therefore, "Resolved, That this sixth division of land to the proprietors is made upon the express condition and reserve, that every salt spring now known, or that shall hereafter be found within the lands that shall fall to any proprietor, be and are hereby reserved to the company, with such quantity of land about them as the agents and proprietors shall think proper to assume for general purposes, not exceeding 3,000 acres; the person on whose land they are found, to receive other lands of equal value." Unfortunately for the Ohio Company but very fortunately for the people the Ohio Company did not own these springs, for they proved to be over the line, but only a few miles distant. The first attempt to find these springs was in the fall of 1794, by Griffin Greene, Major Robert Bradford and Joel Oaks, the two latter holding a half interest in any discovery that might be made, and Mr. Greene the other half, he paying half the expense of the trip. 466 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. They found the springs, but had a narrow escape for their lives: The Indians discovered them and made pursuit, but they having satisfied themselves of the fact of it being the springs, their location on the Indian's hunting ground and not many miles from their village at Chillicothe, immediately returned and reported their discovery. The Indians came in sight before they had got fully away, but fortunately beyond rifle shot. Previous to the manufacture of salt at these springs, all the salt used in the Ohio Company's settlements from 1788 to 1798 had been packed on horses over the mountains and of course was very dear, a bushel of eighty pounds varying in price from $6 to $10. Of course, finding these springs caused great rejoicing and the people were not slow to secure some of the precious stuff by taking kettles, going to the springs and camping out until they had made their supply. A good many stayed awhile and made salt to sell. The first made was in 1798 by persons from the Ohio .Company's settlement, and the price came down from $6 and $10 to $3 and $4 per bushel, the former being the ruling price for the next ten years. In 1806 salt springs were found on the Great Kanawha, which being found far more pregnant with saline matter, works were established that soon turned out the article in sufficient quantity to meet all demands, but also to make the important item of a reduction in price. When Ohio was formed into a State in 1803, this saline was thought so important to the country that Congress set apart for the use of the State a tract of six miles square, embracing these springs within its limits. The settlers had been using these springs free for Bome six years, but in 1804 the Legislature of Ohio passed an act placing them under State control and appointing an agent to attend to it and rent out to persons a certain amount of territory to make salt, when the water was most abundant. Congress had ceded to Ohio these and Other salt springs, which, being considered very valuable, were never to be sold by the State, and when leased, not for a greater length of time than ten years. The Jackson Saline Springs were not strong, and after being worked for some twenty years were finally abandoned, and the State secured an act of Congress allowing them to dispose of the land like any other, and it was so sold. This Legislature was secured in the Nineteenth Congress and in the winter of 1825-'26. This put an end to these famous salines, which for years had been of such vast benefit to the pioneers of early days. Others far richer in the strength of their briny fluid have since been discovered, so that salt can be delivered far cheaper than can be made at these springs. THE COURT-HOUSE. The court-house history of Jackson County is an interesting one. The place where the first court was held in the county was a large one with plenty of room, under the spreading branches of a large white oak, near the slope, in August, 1816, and near the present court-house square. The next court was held in an old log cabin near the salt springs. When this old but gave way the legal luminaries took possession of an old house near where the Methodist church is located, and made it the court-house. This was not much better than the old log hut, with the exception that it could stand alone and was a trifle nearer the then embryo city. This continued until 1821, when the new court-house, at that time, was completed, and possession was taken at the June term of the Commissioners' Court. The Common Pleas Court was held in the same room until the court-room provided for it could be finished, and it was designated as the temporary court-house. The court-house was a brick structure, square in form, two stories high, commenced in 1819 and not entirely finished inside until several years afterward, but first HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 467 occupied as a court-house in 1821. The contractor was Elijah Fitch, who took the contract Dec. 4, 1819, at the price of $4,061, and gave bonds. The work was to be commenced by the following June, to be enclosed by Dec. 1 of the same year, 1820, and the lower story fully completed by June 1, 1822. The building was to be of similar form and structure to the Pike County court-house at Piketon. Mr. Fitch's bond was endorsed by Levi Mercer, William Given, Hooper Hurst and Jared Strong. The latter not long afterward joined Mr. Fitch in erecting the structure as an equal partner. There appeared to have been no failure in regard to this edifice, and the whole, when completed, was accepted by the commissioners. THE FIRST JAIL. The contract to build the first jail in Jackson County was let to Ashley Gibbs, Jared Strong, John George and Levi Mercer, and bond given for faithful performance of contract, July 7, 1817, to be completed within five months. The specifications called for a two-story double log building, 20 x 30 feet, made of two thicknesses of logs twelve inches square, one thickness to lie upright and the other one a horizontal layer, and to contain a dungeon. The building was to have a good shingle roof; and the whole outside to be covered with " weather hoarding handsomely planed." This ended the erection of public buildings for some forty-five years. THE COURT-HOUSE IN FLAMES. The " old court-house" stood the ravages of time well, and while not up to the style of the architectural beauty of later times, it showed that in its erection the contractors had rendered honest work. While time had made but little impression upon its sturdy walls, the fire fiend got in its destructive work. Sept. 21, 1860, the court-house erected in 1820 was destroyed by fire. The property of O. C. Miller, the Masonic Hall, was rented for one year in December, 1860, and afterward court was held in Gratton's Block, up stairs, until the completion of the new court-house in 1868. In 1861 a proposition to build a courthouse and jail was submitted by the county commissioners to the people, and they voted it down by an overwhelming majority. The election was held in April. This settled the question for that year, and as the war came on nothing further was done until the year 1866. The friends of the court house movement, remembering the heavy vote cast in opposition some five years before, concluded to ask the legislature to pass an act giving the county commissioners power to erect a suitable building for the use of the county. The act was passed. Whether or not the people generally knew of its passage no opposition was made during the time it was before that body, and there seemed to have been none after it had passed. The people probably knew a court-house had to be erected and made no comments. The bill passed in March, 1866, and the commissioners made arrangements to levy taxes and start the work. Advertisements were given of the fact that such building would be erected, and Benjamin Trago took the contract for the brick to be delivered on the ground for $6.86 per thousand. He went to work to get out the brick. Feb. 14, 1867, the contract for building the court-house was let to R. C. Saunders, of Portsmouth, for the sum of $19,760. The corner-stone was laid with imposing Masonic ceremony, May 30, 1867, and the building finally completed in the fall of 1868 at a cost of $30,000. The treasurer moved in the last week in April, being the first occupant, and the court took possession in October of that year. The following year, 1869, the sheriff's residence and jail was erected at a cost of $15,000, and completed that year. These buildings are still standing. The court-house the present year, 1883, is 468 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. being repaired, and in the court-house yard, a short distance from the court-house, a massive jail is being constructed of double layers of stone a foot square and of chilled iron, one of the most modern in construction, and for durability and solid strength has no superior in the State. The brick residence in front is of modern architecture and an ornament to the city, and has all the modern improvements. The residence and jail are two stories high, and when completed will cost $20,000. The residence is one of the prettiest in the city. COUNTY INFIRMARY. Jackson County Alms-house is situated two miles east of Jackson on a beautiful mound, with a commanding view of the fertile farm of eighty. acres which surrounds it. In 1833 the Ohio State Legislature passed an act granting the commissioners of the respective counties the power to tax their counties, for the erection and conduct of infirmaries, one to each county, but Jackson did not improve this opportunity until nearly twoscore years had passed. In 1872 the commissioners purchased, after the following vote had been taken: For tax, 2,167; against tax, 674; majority for tax 1,493, 160 acres of land known as the Radcliff farm, but since have sold eighty acres. In 1873 the present commodious and substantial three-story brick building as erected at a cost of $16,000, and the paupers of the respective township admitted in January, 1874, under the superintendency of John Hildenbrand. This gentleman after serving about three years died, and was succeeded by V. C. Martindale. Mr. Martindale filled the position until the fall of 1879 when the present worthy Superintendent, G. W. Harbarger, took charge and it has been ably conducted under his administration. The building affords room for eighty persons, all of whom are kept clean and neat. The building is well ventilated which adds much to the healthfulness of the occupants, who now number forty-five—twenty males and twenty-five females. The Infimary is almost self-sustaining. CHAPTER. XXIII. THE OLD PIONEER—SKETCHES OF EARLY SETTLERS—OFFICIAL LIFE—ITEMS. OLD SETTLERS. While there may have been now and then a settler to be found within the limits of Jackson County previous to the year 1800, the actual settlement of the county commenced about that time. When the scarcity of salt became a burden to the people, then the salt works of Indian tradition became a veritable fact, and Jackson County received her first immigration from the temporary salt boilers of Marietta and Washington County in the latter years of the eighteenth century. At the time when the savage foe had been driven from her border and the white pioneer's ax was heard to echo in its forests, Jackson County had not come into existence, and at that time, 1800, of the four counties, Scioto, Gallia, Athens and Ross, from whose territory Jack son County was formed, Ross County alone had an existence. Those that first made their homes here came principally from West Virginia as now known, yet Pennsylvania contributed quite a number. A few also came from Wales, who were followed later by quite a number of their fellow countrymen. Quite a large number of settlers came in, and the first decade of the nineteenth century showed such an influx of settlers that, even in the year 1810, the people began to talk of a separate county organization. There were almost too many even at that date to enumerate, but we give a few of the most prominent names—men who figured at that early day more or less in municipal affairs: John Stephenson, John Brown, Emanuel Traxler, Daniel Harris, Nathaniel W. Andrews, John James, Abraham Welch, Jared Strong, Levi Mercer, John Horton, Lewis Atkins, Gabriel McNeal, John Atkinson, Richard Johnson, Joshua Scurlock, Robert G. Hanna, Alexander Poor, Hugh Poor, John Book, John Brandon, Peter McCain, Joseph Sill, Moses Gillespie, Olney Hawkins, Jacob Mohler, Theodore Blake, James Weeks, George Martin, John Baccus, William Reed, Anthony Howard, James Dempsey, Peter Williams, William Groves, Reuben Long, Richard Johnson, James McDaniel. OLD SETTLERS' SKETCHES. DAVID MITCHELL.—Among those who came to make this their permanent home was the Hon. David Mitchell, who early settled on the salt reservation, where he followed his trade, blacksmithing, and administered to the wants of his neighboring friends in this line. He settled here in 1808 and remained a resident until his death. He was born and reared in Kentucky, but moved from Dayton, Ohio, to this place, and at the time was newly married. His wife died in Jackson also. He was an industrious man, close observer, and at all times willing to assist in the general improvement of the county. His desire to read and the faculty he had for remembering, coupled with his sound judgment, placed him well up in the scales of honor, intelligence and popularity, and he was elected and served two terms in the State Legislature. His political - 469 - 470 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. affiliations were in behalf of the Whig party, to which he ever adhered. HON. JOHN JAMES was born in Connecticut, and on reaching the age of sixteen went to Reading, Penn., and the following year came to Marietta, Ohio, where he volunteered in the Indian war and served until its close in 1795. After receiving his discharge he made his home at Parkersburg until 1800. While there he was married to Miss Nancy Cook. He lived for a while on an island on the Ohio River, known as James Island, but in the spring of 1807 came to what is now Jackson County, settling on the Salt Reservation, with which he had become acquainted, having been over it during his service in the Indian war. Having been burned out on James Island; his means on arrival here were limited, but his will power and good right arm soon placed before him a good log house for himself and family. His first business venture was the opening of a tavern on the old Chillicothe and Gallipolis road, which he kept until the year 1819, when he sold out, crossed the creek and located near the then embryo village of Jackson. From this date on he followed fanning and stock-trading until his death, which occurred about the middle of the present century, after a long and eventful life as a pioneer and frontier woodsman of Jackson County. He was six feet two inches in height, 225 pounds in weight, and was very strong, active t,nd wiry. At the time of the war of 1812 he volunteered and marched to Fort Meigs under General Roop. He was a zealous worker in the Methodist Episcopal church and did much to build it up, but later in his life he became a member of the Methodist Protestant church. In this he took a decided part which evinced all of his good faith. He donated a lot on which to erect a house of worship, west of the present Gibson House. His wife belonged to the same church, and most of the children. He was a man who at all times kept himself posted on the questions of the day and of the Government, and in consequence of these possessions he was chosen to represent his district in the State Senate in an early day. JOHN D. JAMES, a pioneer of Jackson County, Ohio, is a son of Hon. John James, mentioned above. He is the fifth of the family and was born on James Island, in the Ohio River, March 23,1806, but since 1807, has lived in Jackson County, Ohio. He has lived to see the county grow from a dense forest to a populated and well-improved country, which he was in part instrumental in bringing about. He had the advantages of only the meager educational facilities of that early day, and started in life for himself by opening a store in Jackson. This he did not continue long, but gave his attention to his farm and stock. raising. In 1832 he was married to Miss Sarah, daughter of Hon. David Mitchell, by whom he had thirteen children. Mrs. James was born on the present site of Jackson in 1814. JUDGE HUGH POOR was born of German parentage, in the State of North Carolina, and remained there until he reached man's estate. He then went to Virginia where he married Miss Martha Hutchins, and soon after came to Ohio, settling near the hamlet of Vinton, Gallia County, in the year 1804, and in 1811 settled in Bloomfield Township in this county. He was a hard-working and honorable man, and was one of the first Associate Judges of the Common Pleas Court of the county. He was successful in business, but lost largely at one time from over-confidence in his fellow. men. He, however, was fast recovering when he died, in the year 1829. He was for fourteen years Associate Judge, from the organization of the county was an upright, honest and honorable man and a prominent citizen until his death, at which time he was the candidate of his party for Representative. His wife survived him till 1860. She died in Jay HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 471 County, Ind. They had eleven children. His father lived to the age of 104 years, and died at his old home near Vinton, Ohio. EMANUEL TRAXLER, who became somewhat noted in the early days of Jackson County, was from Virginia, and first settled on the site of the present city of Portsmouth in 1796, but Henry Massie getting the advantage of him he was compelled to give up his claim. He first came to Jackson in 1812, and finally settled here the following year and was one of the first three County Judges of Jackson County, an honest and energetic man, a millwright by profession, and an honored citizen during life. JOHN STEPETENSON.—This was another of the early pioneers of Jackson County, coming in the year 1814, at the age of twenty years: He died' June 5, 1861. He was born in South Carolina, Sept. 11, 1792, but was with his father for a few years, a resident of Cabell County, Va., from which , place they came to Jackson County. Young Stephenson soon became prominent from his superior natural abilities and genial ways. He was first elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, which he held for years; was Mayor of Jackson; was elected to the office of County Auditor for a number of years, and was at his death Recorder of the county. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, an honored and honorable citizen. PETER SEEL.—On Friday, Feb. 21, 1868, Peter Seel, an old pioneer, died at his residence in Jefferson Township, in Jackson County. He was quite healthy until a week before his death. Mr. Seel was over eighty-four years old, and his wife, who survived him, was over eighty-one. They had lived together as husband and wife for more than sixty years, and their descendants numbered nearly 140 persons. Mr. Seel was the first white man who settled in Jefferson Township. His cabin was a few rods west of the present residence of John Phillips, near the railroad, a mile east of Gallia Station. This was in the year 1814. The county of Jackson was not organized until two years after, and the township was not named, but was known as township No. 5, range No. 18, Ross County. The nearest neighbor Mr. Seel then had was Lewis Adkims, who lived four miles from him, on the farm now owned by Joseph F. Cackley, one mile northeast from Oak Hill. His next nearest neighbor was John Clingman, where Webster is now located, in Scioto County, and ten miles from where Mr. Seel lived. Ten years after Mr. Seel settled in Jefferson Township, the following were all or nearly all the families residing in the township: Joseph Phillips, Abner Phillips, Robert Massey, Moses Massey, George Crump, Teter Null, Jesse Kelley, Solomon Mackley, John Mackley, John Walton, James Kelley, Dr. Gabriel McNeel, Joel Arthur, William H. C. Jenkins, Amos Jenkins, Enoch Ewing, John White, John Horton, Matt Farley, John Farley, Thomas Farley, and perhaps two or three others. Mr. Seel paid the first tax ever paid in Jefferson Township, being the sum of 75 cents. Mr. Seel was a native of Germany and came to this country when a youth. He never could speak the English language plainly. He could talk fluently, but retained the German brogue. Mr. Seel possessed a large amount of sterling good sense, and a considerable fund of native wit. He was a patriot. He loved Germany, and he loved the United States, and he loved Jefferson Township. Some thirty years before his death he was converted, and joined the church of the United Brethren, and remained a worthy member until his death. He was strictly an honest man, and hated trickery or dishonesty of any kind. GEORGE L. CROOKHAM was born of English parents, in Pennsylvania, in the year 1779, and came to Jackson, Ohio, about the year 1802, when the county was a wilderness, and where he engaged in making salt, at which business he continued until about 1812. Dur- 472 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. ing this time he was addicted to drinking intoxicating liquors, and it is said that nothing less than a pint of whisky sufficed him for a single drink. In after years hue became a great advocate of the temperance movement in all its phases, and, as he never did anything by halves, he became radical on the subject of temperance, and advocated the principles of total abstinence and entire prohibition. He was also an ardent and uncompromising anti-slavery man and ministered to the wants of many a poor run-away slave. One of his buildings, containing a rare collection of plants, insects, minerals, relics, and curiosities, which he had spent many years in acquiring, was burned by some incendiary, who, probably in a spirit of revenge, resented his anti-slavery principles. To be a temperance man and an anti-slavery man in those days required an unusual amount of courage, and brought persecution, denunciation and social ostracism, which few men cared to encounter. His physical proportions were immense. He weighed not less than 350 pounds; was not tall, but broad, thick set, fleshy, and somewhat ungraceful in his locomotion. He was rather a gourmand than an epicure. He required a great deal of substantial food, and for some years before he died ate but one meal a day, and that at noon, but that was a dinner that might have satisfied half a dozen common men. In his boyhood he attended school but little, and had few opportunities for acquiring an education. His remarkable scholastic acquirements were the result of private study under many difficulties. He was eminently what is called a self-made man, and his peculiar traits of character were so marked and unique that he stood out as a prominent figure, and attracted the notice of the public to a remarkable degree. After leaving the salt business, he bought a farm about a mile and a half from Jackson, and began teaching school, which he continued for about thirty years, and as a teacher he was very successful. In the sciences he seemed at home. He excelled in the higher mathematics, was a great naturalist, historian and grammarian—in short hue seemed to grasp any and every subject as by intuition. He solved the most difficult problems in mathematics with an ease and rapidity that seemed astonishing and marvelous. His memory was equally as great as his reasoning powers, and so hue became " a walking encyclopedia," being regarded as a stand and authority, from which there could be no appeal. Many of the oldest citizens of Jackson were his pupils, and they will readily testify that this sketch is not overdrawn. Tie had sixteen children, thirteen of whom lived to maturity, and several of whom attained wealth and prominence. For several years after he ceased teaching, hue continued to reside on his farm, engaged in study and intellectual pursuits. After his wife died hue lived with a daughter until his death, Feb. 28, 1857, aged seventy-seven years, three months and ten days. He was a politician rather than a partisan—first a Whig and then an Abolitionist. He cared more for principles than for candidates. He never sought an office and never held one. Withal hue was a good Christian and church member, fair and honorable in all his dealings. In his manners he was without-polish—a diamond in the rough. In expression he was plain, blunt, and abrupt, not sour nor surly; a good talker, not boastful, but always interest. ing and instructive; radical in sentiment; terribly in earnest and withering in denunciation. Many anecdotes are told concerning him. An example in algebra, which had proved too hard for a senior class in college, was solved by him in five minutes, while sitting on a woodpile. On going to Chillicothe for a certificate to teach, the examiners handed him a newspaper upside down, which 'he held in that position and read with the same ease that an experienced printer would have read it under similar circumstances. One of HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY - 473 his pupils having been nominated for the office of county surveyor, and the qualifications of the candidate being doubted, the old man said: "What! he not qualified? Why, he was one of my pupils; my best boy; he has not bees sitting at the feet of Gamaliel for nothing. I'll stand sponsor for him." This, of course, removed all doubt, and the old man's confidence in the ability of his pupil was fully justified. In order to encourage his pupils and to signify his approbation, he would often place his hand upcn their heads as if granting a benediction. Sometimes his hand was heavy and the pressure great, but the pupils would bear it bravely because of the commendations which he never failed to bestow. He had his playful moods, and generally was pleasant and genial, seeming to enjoy himself and tc be at peace with all the world, but when he became aroused and indignant at some great wron.g,his wrath was like that of an avenging angel, and terrible in its manifestations. Yet he was in and just and, free from malice and revenge. He cared little for dress or fashion. Independent in his'principles, he pleased himself, and did nothing in order to court or enlist public or poputar favor. Such men are never duplicated. There could be but ono Crookham. No mere sketch can do anything like justice to his memory; a volume would be required for that purpose. The old man sleeps in peace and in the midst of the very surroundings where his triumphs were achieved. SOME OTHER PROMINENT MEN. Among the old settlers and among the first resident physicians of the county was Dr. Gabriel McNeel, who was a resident of the county At the .time of its organization. He lived in Madison Township, not far" from the present town of Oak Hill. He was considered an eminent man in his day as a physician, which reputation he achieved by a large and successful practice. He was also the first Surveyor of Jackson County, and surveyed the south half of the town of Jackson. He died much regretted in the year 1848. Not all of the old settlers of Jackson County can be remembered, but a large number can. There was Judge Wm. Salter, of Portsmouth, and ex-Governor Joseph Vance, who worked at the salt works in this county, in 1803; and some years later were Moses and Robert Massie, James Phillips, Jesse Kelley, Solomon Mackley and others, in the southern part of the county. Jesse Rees, from whom Rees Ridge takes its name, was also a pioneer and lived in Jefferson Township. The first grist-mill built in the county was s corn-mill on the Black Fork of Symmes Creek built during the year 1808 by Daniel Faulkner, and was on the land since owned by Thomas A. Albans. Abraham Welch and William Warth were aalt boilers as early as 1806 and settled en the Salt Reservation. Welch, however, opened up a tavern and kept a bar. He removed from the county in 1818. Warth removed to the Kanawha Salt Works about 1812 and followed the same business there. Jackson County, like manners, had in that early day the draw-back of non-resident land holders. Speculation was rife, and it often happened some of the most eligible sites for towns and farms were in the hands of those non-residents, who careu nothing for progress only so far as it advanced the value of their lands: There were in 1821, 104 nonresident holders of land in the county. There was, however, enough land to give farms to all who might come. Still the main settlement was on the Salt Reservation and in the southern part of the county at first, and quite a hamlet had squatted on section 29, township 7, of range 18. This was the village of Jackson and Lick Township. The village, however, was not laid out until 1819, but Jan. 14, 1817, the Legislature passed an act to sell the section on which Jackson was located. 474 - HISTORY OF LOWER SCIOTO VALLEY. EARLY PREACHERS OF JACKSON COUNTY. The following article is taken from the Jackson Standard of Feb. 25, 1869, contributed by Rev. John Stewart, then of Monroe, Wis. The sketch is important, embracing as it does to a considerable extent the early church history of the county. " I believe I was never within the bounds of what is now Jackson County, till August, 1816, at which time I assisted David Young, Presiding Elder of Scioto District, and John Tivis circuit preacher of Salt Creek circuit, in holding a camp-meeting about one mile east of where Jackson town now stands. I spent a few days there, and left for my home, which was in Athens County, Ohio. This, as I said, was in 1816. Then I was absent from that county for many years, but in the meantime I kept a lively remembrance of it from year to year till it was included in my field of labor, which was Portsmouth District in 1846. After an absence of about thirty years, which had passed away as a dream, I familiarized myself with what had occurred during that thirty years. But its history came in review and was full of interest to me as I looked back to 1816. The memorable David Young was the Presiding Elder of the Scioto District, including what is now Jackson County, and John Tivis, the preacher on Salt Creek Circuit, including what is now the town and county of Jackson. "David Young had a popularity of so high a grade, that but few if any have been known to equal. "John Tivis rose high as a preacher, and bad few equals. They after a long life of usefulness have passed away in honor: "In 1818, '19, and '20 John Collins was the Presiding Elder on the Scioto District, Salt Creek Circuit, including Jackson, which was a part of his charge. He was a very popular preacher, excelled by few, if any. In 1818 Burris Westlake was on Salt Creek Circuit. He was a good preacher and commanded respect. In 1819 G. R. Jones was on the same circuit, a man of clear head and pious heart. In 1820 William Westlake had the same charge bearing the same name. He was an able preacher but very eccentric. In 1821 Samuel West was the Presiding Elder in Scioto District, which still embraced Jackson. He was considered an able preacher and a sound divine. " After a few years he retired from the itinerant work, but continues with us to this time as a local preacher, residing in the neighbor. hood of Cincinnati. In 1821 James Havens was on Salt Creek Circuit, embracing Jackson. I He had a long and useful career, but has at last passed away. In 1822 G. B. Jones was made Presiding Elder of the Scioto District, and continued four years. He was a man of a clear head and a pious heart—one of the best of business men. The church confided much in him. In 1822 William Crawford was on Salt Creek Circuit, and was faithful to his charge. In 1823 Andrew S. McLain was on Salt Creek Circuit—a very laborious and able minister. After some years he retired from itinerant work, but was faithful as a lo- cal preacher to the end. In 1824-'25 William Page was on Salt Creek Circuit—a man and a minister approved by all who knew him. He too has passed away. He died of cancer. In 1826 the circuit was taken from Scioto District and attached to Kanawha District. Zachariah Connell was made Presiding Elder, and continued such four years. Connell was a man of talents, de. voted to his appropriate work. He died at a good old age, an honor to the country and the church. John Walker was on Salt Creek Circuit in 1826. He was a faithful preacher and died of consumption, in Portsmouth, Ohio, soon after his appointment. Richard Branduff was on Salt Creek Circuit in 1827—a devoted, faithful preacher, who some years after left the Methodist Episcopal church and