250 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO The Straitsville Mining Company laid out New Straitsville in 1870 and the place grew rapidly. Coal mining and shipping were done on a large scale. Newcomers from many parts of the land multiplied. Straitsville was laid out in 1835 by Jacob and Isaac Strait. Located a mile distant from New Straitsville, the old town is situated on a commanding ridge. HARRISON TOWNSHIP This subdivision was created in 1820, having been taken from Clayton. It contains but twenty-four sections. Under most of its surface lie coal seams Nos. 5 and 6. McLuney was established in 1855 and became an important little mining center. HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, ORGANIZED ABOUT 1810 A fine agricultural township with well cultivated farms. The quarrying of its glass rock has been an important industry. In prehistoric times Harrison Township territory was a favorite haunt of the aborigines and a description of "Old Fort" and the "Stone Fort," located near Glenford, will be found in the introduction to this Berry County history. RAILROAD MADE THE VILLAGE OF GLENFORD Glenford came into existence after the Newark, Somerset & Straitsville line was established. It became an important ship-ping point for stone and glass sand. The famous "Old Fort," less than a mile away, can be seen from the village. JACKSON TOWNSHIP ORIGINALLY IN FAIRFIELD COUNTY Its fertile soil and favorable topography have lent themselves to Jackson's agricultural development, and fruit production has been a source of profit. At one time iron ore was mined and shipped to Zanesville, Shawnee, etc. The township was first set-tled in 1802 or 1803. JUNCTION CITY—Laid out by George Wolf and John Edmis-ton in 1872. It had been known for a generation as Wolf's Station, a point on the C. & M. V. Railway. Three railroads pass through it—the Pennsylvania, the New York Central, and the Baltimore & Ohio. These, the discovery of oil and the drilling of many wells developed it into a busy spot. By 1909 it had, as SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 251 a Perry County chronicler has said, "large industries, a bank, fine schoolhouses, many stores, two hotels, lumber yards and machine shops." This writer of 1909 added that Junction City had become "the busiest place in Perry County." The 1920 census gave the village a population of 890. It is a prosperous place in 1928, with its three railroads, sewer pipe works, oil interests, and nearly three dozen business establishments of various kinds. The Junction City Bank is a useful financial institution. Its president is D. T. McCann ; its cashier, J. C. Henry. Middletown, Crossenville, Clarksville, Mount Hope and Wolftown are Jackson Township's other contributions to Perry County's village list. MADISON TOWNSHIP One of Perry County's original townships and surveyed at an early day. One of its earliest settlers, William Dusenbury, a Revolutionary soldier, came to Perry County about 1800 from Sussex County, New Jersey, and located at the junction of Jonathan Creek and Turkey Run. He lived there all his life and was laid away on his own farm, having been buried with the honors of war. Mount Perry's first lots were laid out by Nathan Melick. perhaps in the late '20s. In 1876 John Danison laid out the Danison Addition. By 1880 it had about 110 inhabitants, an academy, three churches, two stores and a post office. Sego enjoyed the distinction in 1849 of having. a mill which, built by Benjamin Williams, carded, spun and wove woolen goods. Run by steam, this plant operated during four years, when fire destroyed it. The owners did not rebuild. MONDAY CREEK TOWNSHIP ONCE IN FAIRFIELD Organized in 1823. At one time landowners occasionally mined their iron ore deposits and hauled the ore to the Logan furnaces. A furnace was built in the eastern part of the town-ship in 1874. It is said that pig iron was more cheaply produced here than at any place in the world. Maxville was laid out in 1850 by William McCormick, on Little Monday Creek. Plasterers' lime was for a considerable period made there. The Maxville limestone is widely known among geologists, manufacturers and builders. By 1880 Max- 17-VOL. 2 252 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO ville had a population of 200 to 300. Baird's furnace was at work in 1883. MONROE TOWNSHIP ONCE PART OF BEARFIELD It was organized as an independent township in 1823, how-ever, with six full sections, but lost five of these later to Pleasant Township. The whole township lies in the Hocking Valley and is in Ohio's richest coal section, with the "Great Vein" seam under most of its surface and the Norris and Stallsmith beds also present. Potters' clay also abounds. John McDonald and James Dew were the earliest settlers—in 1814. Tobacco was much cultivated in Monroe at one time. Some of Monroe's coal mines were opened and worked in a small way as early as 1832. In 1879 and 1880 came completion of the Ohio Central road to Rendville and Corning, and later the building of the line up Sunday Creek's west branch, and coal development then began in earnest at Rendville, Corning, below Corning, Hemlock, Buckingham and Borbec. By 1882 Monroe's coal shipments exceeded those of any township in the county. Millertown was laid out by Jacob Miller in 1834, and by 1880 its inhabitants numbered eighty-four. Thompsonville was laid out in 1849 by George Thompson and Bryan Murtaugh. The village is usually called Chapel Hill, Ferrara was laid out in 1871 by James Taylor and Nelson Rogers. RENDVILLE—Established in 1879 by William P. Rend, Thomas J. Smith and others. Coal mines were opened and worked with marvelous speed and the appurtenances of a new mining town followed with corresponding quickness. Although it had been just established, Rendville exhibited a population of 349 in the 1880 census tables. Two years later it could lay claim to a railroad station, a post office, two churches, a large union school, a hotel, numerous stores--and its population was estimated at 2,500. CORNING—Came into existence in 1878, when Joseph Rogers laid it out. The phenomenal building campaign which followed was of a substantial character and many beautiful homes were from time to time erected, as well as the ordinary miners' residences. Within four years Corning possessed post office, railroad SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 253 station, large union schoolhouse, a newspaper, two churches, many stores, and several attorneys and physicians were practicing there. The 1880 census gave it a population of 270, and two years later estimates gave it a population of 2,500. The census of 1920, however, credited Corning with 1,628 inhabitants. A brief survey in 1927 listed nearly fifty business activities of various kinds. It was a very busy coal mining center before the strike of April, 1927. Buckingham was laid out by Benjamin Sanders and James Taylor in 1873, but did not grow until 1881, when, the Ohio Central extension reaching it, mining began. Borbec became a mining. town in 1881 and the home of a large colony of German miners. PIKE TOWNSHIP This subdivision was organized in 1814, when a part of Fairfield County. Four sections of the original southeastern corner were later made a part of Pleasant Township. About two-thirds of Pike's territory is in the Hocking Valley and one-third in the Muskingum Valley. Nature underlaid the township with two valuable coal seams. John Fowler was the first settler, locating about three-fourths of a mile east of New Lexington's public square. He came to Perry County about 1811. The first school was taught where New Lexington now stands, about 1815, an Irishman, Jonathan Sturgeon, being the master. A log. schoolhouse was erected about 1820 on the lot back of the Horahan Block, on Jackson Street, and it was used for school purposes eight or ten years. The township was divided into school districts about 1830. About at this time the second school-house, a frame, was built in the New Lexington district, where its Jackson Street predecessor had stood. It was abandoned after being in use for school purposes over twenty years. After this, schools were taught in the churches and rooms about town until 1858, when the new brick union schoolhouse was erected, and in this the graded schools were housed. A considerable addition was made to it in 1876. Bristol was laid out by Samuel and Jacob Hattenback in September, 1816, and at first called Burlington. Dicksonton was laid out by W. H. Price and George Detwiler in 1875. 254 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO PLEASANT TOWNSHIP Nine sections of the township came from Bearfield Township, three from Pike and one from Saltlick, and organization was effected in 1850. A four-foot vein of coal underlies the territory. A vein of iron ore was found south of Moxahala seven feet in thickness. When William Fowler settled in section 30, about 1814, there was but one house between it and New Lexington, seven miles distant. Moxahala was laid out by A. S. Biddison in 1873. At the end of ten years it had acquired a blast furnace, two hotels, five stores and had a population of about 400. READING TOWNSHIP Although this subdivision seems to have been chartered as early as 1805, the records of 1807 are the first to show its organi-zation. Peter Overmyer, who came to the township in 1802 from Reading, Pennsylvania, named it in honor of his home town. Reading was originally a part of Fairfield County. It has earned good repute as an agricultural township. BRIEF HISTORY OF SOMERSET John Fink and Jacob Miller laid out Somerset in 1810 and it was at first called Middletown. Its early growth was slow. A Perry County historian has gone into details on that score, and this is what he says of the village at a later date : "As early as 1844 Somerset was compactly and neatly built up, in a great measure of brick, and was one of the handsomest towns of its size in Ohio. It just about held its own in population and business from 1844 to 1857, when the seat of justice was removed to New Lexington. This did not prove as much of a calamity as was feared, though it had a depressing effect for several years. When the railroad was built in 1871 the old town revived to a great extent." The account given on other pages of the contest over the county seat has much to say about this beautiful, well built, pros-perous village which is so attractively located and is the center of so rich a farming country. The old courthouse still stands, and in front of it is a fine equestrian monument to the memory of Gen. Phil Sheridan, whose boyhood days were spent in Somerset, SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 257 which still preserves also the old home where he lived. By 1920 the population was 1,339. It is a much admired spot in 1928, as are the fine farms which surround it. New Reading is Perry's oldest village. In early times better known as Overmyertown. New Reading was laid out in 1805, by Peter Overmyer. SALTLICK TOWNSHIP Organized about 1823, this subdivision took its name from a deerlick located near what is now McCuneville. When Pleasant Township was formed it was given a small part of one corner of Saltlick, and when Coal Township was created Saltlick gave its southern part to the new township. Extensive seams of coal were deposited by nature beneath the township's surface. In 1829 a company was organized which erected salt works at the deerlick and for years it produced there a good quality of salt. SHAWNEE—Laid out in 1872 by J. T. Davis. Its mining operations underwent a great growth and four furnaces were established, the two together bringing about a marked increase in the population. Ten years after it was founded Shawnee had a newspaper, a large union school, two hotels, five churches and many stores. The Masons, Odd Fellows and Pythians all main-tained lodges and the town's total population grew to about 3,000. McCuneville was founded in 1873. THORN TOWNSHIP This subdivision was a part of Fairfield County when created about 1804 and now forms the northwest section of Perry County. As Walnut Creek heads in Thorn's western part and flows into the Scioto River, it may be said that a small area of the township lies in the Scioto Valley, and that portion of Thorn which is drained into Buckeye Lake is in the Muskingum Valley. Thorn's farm lands are regarded as the best in Perry County in fertility and its farmers are progressive and enterprising. The early settlers in the north section of the township found several little lakes here in whose pure, clear waters were many fish. These little lakes became a part of Buckeye Lake. Most of Thorn's pioneers previous to 1820 were Pennsylvania Germans and it has been said that the township's prevailing language "in churches, schools and society" was German in early times. 258 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO THORNVILLE—Laid out in about 1811. The Thornville of 1928 is beautifully situated, has a population of 451, and thirty-four business establishments serve the community. The farms around it are large, fertile and productive. The eastern end of Buckeye Lake is very near. The Thornville People's Bank cares for the community's financial needs. Additional mention of a number of the Perry County towns and villages will be found in the chapter on coal development. TOBACCO CROPS AND INDUSTRY IN EARLY DAYS  Tobacco houses and fields were familiar objects in the '50s. Tobacco was a boon to the farmers of southern Perry, especially where the soil produced good crops of it with comparatively little labor on the owner's part and prices were remunerative. Martzolff says of results: "Rehoboth and Maxville were the tobacco emporiums of the county. Huge warehouses were erected at these places and the business that was done in a single day during the tobacco season was greater than is now done (1902) in the same village in two months. It has not been many years since the old warehouse at Maxville was razed to the ground. The tobacco house occupied a very prominent place in the industrial history of the county." If little labor was required to raise tobacco, the farmer did not find it so in getting his wheat ready for market. The follow-ing verse indicates how it was done in pioneer days: "The young man now would be amused To see some things his grandsire used, Some things he ne'er had seen : The way in which we cleaned our wheat, When two strong men with blanket sheet Would winnow out the chaff and cheat, And twice or thrice the thing repeat Until the grain was clean." CHAPTER CXI EARLIEST WORSHIP IN HOMES, BARNS AND GROVES THEN FOLLOWED LOG MEETING-HOUSES AND LATER THE BRICK CHURCHES- PERRY COUNTY'S FIRST SERMON PREACHED IN GEORGE WEISMAN'S ORCHARD-OHIO'S FIRST LUTHERAN CHURCH ORGANIZED AT NEW READING AND HER FIRST CATHOLIC CHURCH AT SOMERSET-THE MANY AND VARIED CHURCHES OF TODAY. "The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned To hew the shaft and lay the architrave And spread the roof above them—ere he framed The lofty vault to gather and roll back The sound of anthems—in the darkling wood, Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks And supplication. Let me then, at least, Here, in the shadow of this aged wood, Offer one hymn—thrice happy if it find Acceptance in His ear." —William Cullent Bryant. In Perry as in other Ohio counties during pioneer times early religious activities were plain and simple. Settlers and their families gathered in private homes, in barns or in groves to hear the gospel from the lips of the itinerant preacher. Then came the log church and more frequent gatherings. Progress was slow but the pioneers were steadfast, substituting for the old log meeting-house a neat frame, and later still a brick. Gradually the circuit of the minister was shortened, religious services were thereby increased, and in due time each growing. congregation was prosperous enough to support a pastor of its own, while Sunday schools became useful adjuncts. Writing in 1882, E. P. Colburn, the historian, was of the opinion that the Methodist Episcopal organizations were then the county's strongest, and those of the Catholics probably next. The records left by all of the county's religious bodies are so complimentary to their faith and zeal as to merit much fuller mention than we have space for - 259 - 260 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO here, and we must be content with the following curtailed references to Perry's pioneer churches: ORCHARD THE FIRST PLACE OF WORSHIP Rev. William Foster, a Lutheran missionary from Pennsylvania, came to Overmyertown soon after its settlement. The first sermon ever preached in the woods of Perry, it is said, was heard in an orchard owned by George Weisman. The first Lutheran church in the state was organized at New Reading in 1805. In 1806 Zion's Church, Thorn Township, was erected by the Lutheran and German Reformed congregations, and it came to be known as the second oldest in the county. The Reformed minister, Rev. John King, who settled in the county in 1803, was the first to permanently locate here. Rev. Foster organized the Somerset Lutheran Church in 1812. He died in 1815 and is buried in Zion Cemetery. The Somerset Church, located in what became known as the Old Lutheran Cemetery, was built of hewed logs and had a gallery and pipe organ. In this church, in 1818, the Joint Synod of Ohio was organized, and Rev. Andrew Hinkle, the first preacher, was licensed to preach. The Lutheran Standard, the official organ of the Synod, was once printed in Somerset. Reverend Foster, in conjunction with Reverend King, of the Reformed congregation, organized the Thornville Lutheran Church (in 1810). SUNDRY ORGANIZATIONS In 1815 Lebanon Lutheran Church, at Junction City, began its existence. For many years the Reformed people worshipped in it. The Lutheran and Reformed congregations jointly built St. Paul's, at Glenford, in 1818. The Shelly, or Good Hope Church, was organized in 1818. St. John's Lutheran Church, in Monday Creek, was organized by Reverend Frankenburg in 1841. During six previous years services were in homes and barns. The United Presbyterian Church, on Jonathan Creek, was the third (1807) to organize in the county. Their earliest services were held in a schoolhouse, or a tent. The first pastor was Rev. Abraham Craig. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 261 ZANESVILLE PREACHER AT UNITY Clayton Township's Unity Presbyterian Church began its career in 1809 with transient services in barns and houses. Rev. James Culbertson, of Zanesville, came once a month in 1811. Formal organization came in 1816, when Reverend Wright, of Lancaster, became pastor. At first an old log schoolhouse was used. The log church was built in 1826. Unity had great influ-ence and scholarly pastors. One was a Dartmouth and Yale graduate and another was of Princeton. In the cemetery, beneath the shadow of the church, the pastor, Reverend Moore, rests. To Unity in 1866 came Rev. Henry Beeman, who for years served faithfully. In New Lexington the Presbyterian congregation was organized in 1837. Reverend Moore had preached to the people before. This society earned the right to be called pioneers. THE BAPTISTS WERE ZEALOUS The Dunkers, or German Baptists, worshipped in private -houses in Thorn Township as early as 1810. In 1817, in Madison Township, near Mount Perry, a congregation was founded. Hopewell Baptist Church, on Zane's Trace, in Hopewell Township, was organized in 1812. For many years it was one of the most influential of all the local Baptist societies. The Hazelton graveyard, in Saltlick Township, is an old land-mark. A church was there which occupied a prominent position and its influence enhanced its prominence. The Hazelton Baptist Church was the first in Saltlick Township and the second of that denomination in the county. The church building, begun in 1820, was long ago destroyed and the congregation disbanded. John Hazelton, for whom it was named, was a soldier of the War of 1812. Not long. after the organization of the church in Saltlick Township the Baptists in the vicinity of New Lexington con-cluded to support a church, and about 1821 the organization was effected. They built a new church of hewed logs. It had a gallery and was quite commodious for the time. In 1845 a second church was built. The Baptist congregation which existed for years at Oakfield should be listed as a pioneer. In 1814 they built a church, but 262 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO the congregation was small and it soon disbanded. A society of this denomination was at Bristol in 1832, and in the same year, Ebenezer, in Monday Creek, was founded. METHODISTS WAXED IN STRENGTH The first Methodist class was not begun till 1811, but the pioneer Methodist circuit rider came into the county very early. Rev. James B. Finley organized the congregation at Somerset in 1811. The next year a class was formed at Rehoboth, where church services were held in a private house until 1818. A log. church was then built. The Hopewell class, or, as it is better known, the Chalfant's Church, was formed the same year. The Fletcher, or Holcomb M. E. congregation, in Bearfield Township, built a church in 1825, after having for ten years met in private houses. The first church in Harrison Township was the Iliff, whose log meeting-house was built in 1819. Bishop Iliff of the M. E. Church came from this place. Bethel M. E. Church, in Madison, antedated Iliff by one year, organizing in 1818 and erecting. a hewed log church in 1819. Zion Church, in Madison also, began about 1834. It is in its cemetery that General Richey, ex-congressman, lies buried. New Reading M. E. Church was organized in 1825. The New Lexington congregation was organized in 1828 and held its first services in the old log. Baptist Church. In 1839 they built a church which fire destroyed in 1875, when the brick struc-ture was erected. The Asbury M. E. Church, in Monroe Township, founded in 1830, belongs in the pioneer list. VARIOUS DENOMINATIONS The Bible Christians of Monroe Township built a log church in 1820. A frame building was more recently erected. The Disciples' pioneer church was in the eastern part of Saltlick Township, where in 1830 a congregation began its existence. In 1847 Daniel Rusk, father of the famous Jeremiah Rusk, was at the head of a congregation organized at Porterville. A log church was supplanted by a frame building. Daniel Rusk's body lies in the cemetery adjoining the church. St. Matthew's Disciple Church, near Mount Perry, was launched in 1851. Disbanded in 1867, it was reorganized in SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 263 1880. A Disciple church existed at Oakfield a few years subse-quent to 1848. Otterbein United Brethren Church, built on the pike four miles west of Somerset, became Perry County's first church of that denomination. It dates from 1818. Zion Church, in Jackson Township, held services in the woods before a church home was procured. When autumn frosts fell, worshippers burned log heaps. This society was launched in 1830. The Mennonite Church in Monday Creek became the only representative of that denomination in the county, but the exact date of the beginning is unknown—certainly prior to 1830. Ger-mans made up most of the membership. Perry County's first settlers were mainly Protestants. The German element predominated in the north, mostly Lutherans and German Reformed Dunkers. In the central and southern parts, where Virginians were in the lead, the Methodists and Baptists were most numerous. CATHOLIC ACTIVITIES But in the Somerset neighborhood were some German Catholic families. Bishop Fenwick was not only the missionary priest of Perry County, but the first to settle in Ohio. It is said that in traveling through the state he reached John Fink's Somerset tavern and, on finding that his host was a Catholic, celebrated mass there, as far as known the first mass ever said in Ohio and the beginning of the Catholic church in Ohio. The bishop was a Dominican priest and the order had established the Convent of St. Rose, in Kentucky. Father Fenwick was ably assisted in his missionary work by his nephew, Father Young. The Ditto and Fink families had entered 329 acres of land located two miles south of Somerset. To Father Fenwick they gave the land to establish a church and convent of the Dominican order. Fathers Fenwick and Young came to care for this endow-ment and reached their destination about December 1, 1818. On the 6th the little log chapel in the forest was dedicated. It was Ohio's first Catholic church and the congregation consisted of but six families. Before the end of the year a stone addition was built to the chapel. Holy Trinity Church was organized in 1820 at Somerset by the Dominican Fathers. Catholics began to settle in the county 264 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO and it was found that Holy Trinity and St. Joseph's could not accommodate all. Arrangements were made to enlarge the latter and in 1829 a substantial brick edifice took the place of the original St. Joseph's structure. Clement L. Martzolff said of this institution in 1902 : "St. Joseph's was the headquarters of the Dominican Order in America. From its Convent walls, its preachers, for preaching is what the Dominican priesthood stands for, went into all parts of the country. With the exception of the Pacific coast, St. Joseph's is yet the American center of the Order. Most of the Catholic organizations in the county were organized through the agency of the priests at St. Joseph's. While all of these con-gregations, with the exception of Holy Trinity, have passed under the ecclesiastical control of the Bishop of the Columbus Diocese, the honor of their organization belongs to the Dominicans. The Church and Convent were destroyed by fire in 1862. The present building's were then erected. For a time St. Joseph's was also a college, where a purely secular education could be received. It is now but a Theological school. It has a magnificent library of about ten thousand volumes. Many of these are quite old and valuable. The Convent is to be taken to Washington City. At present the students begin their study at St. Rose's, Kentucky, and complete it at St. Joseph's. After the removal the initial work will be done at St. Joseph's and its completion at the Capital City. The Rosary Magazine at Somerset is published under the auspices of the Order. Father Fenwick, who became Bishop of Cincinnati, purchased land opposite the church in Somerset for the purpose of founding. a female academy. This school was opened in 1830 in connection with a Convent. Its success was unbounded till it burned to the ground in 1866. Because of a generous offer from Columbus, it was determined to accept the new location. The well-known school, St. Mary's of the Springs, in Columbus, is the successor to St. Mary's at Somerset." A few years after St. Joseph's was founded a log church was built by Catholics in the eastern part of Clayton Township. It was used till 1833, and then abandoned. The congregation then met at Rehoboth, in a large building built for a grist mill. It served as a church till 1851, when a new one was built near McLuney. The Rehoboth congregation then worshipped at the SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 265 new location. The McLuney church was later united with the new organization at Crooksville. St. Patrick's Church, near Junction City, organized in 1830 by Father Young, is a child of St. Joseph's. The first building. was of brick and was quite small. A much larger edifice was erected in 1845. The famous old Stone Church in western Saltlick dates back to 1825. The building was erected in 1839. It was a magnificent structure for its day and became a southern Perry landmark. CHAPTER CXII EARLIEST SCHOOLS DECIDEDLY PRIMITIVE SCHOOLHOUSES OFTEN USED AS PLACES OF WORSHIP-TEACHING BEGAN VERY EARLY AT NEW LEXINGTON AND SOMERSET-MT. PERRY'S MADISON ACADEMY HAD DISTINGUISHED VISITORS-FREE SCHOOLS AND GRADED SCHOOLS A LONG TIME COMING. All activities were plain and primitive while the white man was wrestling with the Perry County wilderness, and that of teaching the pioneers' children how to read, write and cipher could not be otherwise. The first teachers drew meager remuneration by the subscription process and it was a long time before the free school came into existence, and a longer time still before the graded system and uniform school books followed. Many of the first schoolhouses were abandoned log huts until the pioneer began to build log schoolhouses, and even the latter were very rude and primitive, with their earthen floors, slab seats and "desks" and glazed paper windows. The subject is exceedingly inviting and we could with pleasure write chapters about Perry's schools. Instead of that, we must be content with pages only. THE EARLIEST SCHOOLHOUSES In Martzolff's "History of Perry County," the chapter on schools has the following enlightening introduction. There is no way to state the case better: "There were two factors in the development of education in Our county. The Germans built the schoolhouses and the Irish furnished the teachers. In the settlement of our county, the church in every community was the first institution to be organized; the school was the second. The result was that the school and the church were usually built near each other. Often the church building was used for the school, and more often the schoolhouse served in the double capacity. The primitive school-houses of the woods were crude affairs. They were all built on - 267 - 18-VOL. 2 268 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO the same general plan. A pen was built of unhewn logs ; the spaces between the logs were filled with 'chinks' and mud; one end of the building was occupied by a huge fireplace, in front of which half the pupil alternately roasted and froze, that particular half being dependent upon whether he sat with his face or back to the fire. In this huge fireplace, the 'dinners' would often be placed to keep them from freezing." EDUCATION NOT NEGLECTED In searching for the first school in Perry County, we would naturally look toward New Reading, the oldest settlement. A subscription school of three months was conducted there during the winter of 1808. But it was not the first school ; it was the second. In 1807 an English school was taught about two miles east of Somerset, and at New Reading a subscription school was con-ducted in 1808. An English and German school was taught in Somerset the very first year of the town's organization. Before New Lexington was laid out there was a school there. The building, a log cabin, stood at the foot of Brown Street, near the spring. This was in 1815. Five years later a schoolhouse was built where the McClelland livery barn was afterward erected. At about the same time, the rural districts bestirred themselves and a school was opened near the Arthur King home on the Logan road. In 1830 Pike Township was divided into districts. Madison's first school was located about one and a half miles south of Mount Perry. The date is to the writer unknown, but it was an early school. Bearfield began to have schools about 1820. Prof. Charles Nourse taught a select school in Somerset, called "The Somerset Collegiate Institute." Later he became principal of the New Lexington public schools and was one of the examiners of Perry County, and an examination taken under him in 1866 is described as follows : "There were thirty-two applicants—ten men and twenty-two women. The applicants were arranged as a class in school and the examination proceeded orally. It seems that Prof. Nourse was the only examiner present. The questions were given to the head of the class and if answered correctly due credit was given, if not it was passed to the next, and so on through the class. When the examination SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 271 was completed those who had passed successfully were given certificates at once. At this examination all the ladies received certificates, but only four of the men were successful. In giving out the certificates, the examiner, who was evidently somewhat of a ladies' man, remarked that it was no more than right to indulge the ladies." MADISON ACADEMY AT MOUNT PERRY Mount Perry's Madison Academy was the pride of the village when it drew young men and young women to the place and gave them draughts from the fountain of knowledge; when William R. Harper of Chicago University spoke inspiring words within the institution's walls and when William O. Thompson of the Ohio State University came to attend Mount Perry's church and Sunday school. Founded in 1871 by Rev. James White and controlled by the United, Presbyterian Church, Madison gave youths from the district schools that higher education which the high school had not yet come forward to offer. The academy building was in due time turned over to the board of education in consideration of its being maintained as a township high school. ST. ALOYSIUS ACADEMY This well known Catholic institution, organized in 1876 by Sisters of the Franciscan Order and located near New Lexington, has grown steadily in number of students and influence. Additional data relating to the public and parochial schools of today will be found in a later chapter. CHAPTER CXIII MANY CHANGES IN PERRY COUNTY NEWSPAPERS "WESTERN WORLD AND POLITICAL TICKLER" THE FIRST TO START, IN SOMERSET-"THE FLAG OF '76" A SOMERSET NEWSPAPER OF 1836- A WAR DEMOCRAT'S NEWSPAPER OF THE EARLY SIXTIES-FIVE WEEKLIES NOW PRINTED IN PERRY COUNTY-TITLES AND PROPRIETORS' NAMES GIVEN. The Western World and Political Tickler, launched at Somer-set March 28, 1821, appears to have been the first newspaper printed in Perry County, and John Lidey and E. P. Alford were its publishers. The Perry Record succeeded the Tickler in the spring of 1822 and its publisher was John M. Laird. Laird re-turned to the east about three years later and the Record was discontinued, the Peoples Advocate, its successor, being published by John Miller, while Henry Filler and Henry Crumrine are under-stood to have been its owners. In May, 1831, William F. and Louis J. Moeller purchased the Advocate and changed its name to the Western Post and Perry Advertiser. A few months later the former assumed full control and named the paper the Western Post. In January, 1835, Louis J. Moeller acquired ownership and changed the title to the West-ern Post and Perry Democratic Advertiser. In April, 1837, Samuel McAfee and Jonathan W. Ream bought Moeller out. CHANGE FOLLOWED CHANGE McAfee and Ream dissolved partnership in September, 1839, and S. H. McAfee and John H. Shearer were its owners. In August, 1840, William F. Moeller bought McAfee's interest and a few weeks later sold it to A. T. M. Filler. In September, 1840, the firm name was changed to J. H. Shearer & Company and later to Shearer & Filler. February 1, 1845, Shearer purchased Filler's interest and on November 1, that year, renamed the paper the Western Post. Until 1840 the Post was neutral, but in that year it championed the whig cause. Shearer leased the Post in 1847 - 273 - 274 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO to James W. Shirley and John W. Bugh for two years. The latter I retired in 1848 and in 1849 Shearer again assumed control and maintained it until 1855 when E. S. Colborn bought the establishment and merged the paper with the Perry County American and 41 Somerset Post. "THE FLAG OF SEVENTY-SIX" In 1836 E. J. Ellis began at Somerset to publish the Perry Democrat. A year later Ellis enlarged the Democrat and called it the Ohio Courier and Perry Democrat. In 1838 John W. and Henry Davis bought the paper and a little later sold it to Isaac Pepper, who in 1839 changed its name to the Somerset (Ohio) Advocate and Perry Democrat, and later to the Democrat and Advertiser, of which paper Henry M. Davis became the sole proprietor in 1841. A year later Robert H. Hickman of Mount Vernon, Ohio, bought the paper and called it the Flag of Seventy-six. Two years later Hickman sold it to Daniel Kelley. A year later Hiram Shaw became the owner, who at the end of another year or so parted with the paper to James Sheward. In 1849 Sheward sold the establishment to E. J. Ellis. Ellis changed the paper's name to the Perry County Democrat. In June, 1851, he sold the property to Vanatta, Forquer & Company, of New Lexington and E. S. Colborn became editor and business manager. At the end of about a year the latter and W. C. Hickman acquired the property. The latter retired after a few months and Colborn became sole proprietor. In November, 1853, the Democrat ceased publication. The publication for a few months that year of the Perry County True Democrat caused party divisions and other damaging conditions which were the main reasons for the discontinuance of the Demo-crat. COLBORN'S PERRY COUNTY AMERICAN In December, 1854, E. S. Colborn reestablished in a new Somerset building the old Perry County Democrat office and launched there, January 3, 1855, the Perry County American. Two years later the American was discontinued and the office materials were transferred to New Lexington. In 1854 E. S. Colborn had renounced allegiance to the democratic party and allied himself with the new republican party. The Perry County American then became a republican newspaper, supporting Salmon P. Chase for SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 275 the Ohio governorship in 1855 and John C. Fremont for the presidency in 1856. The materials of the True Democrat office came into James Sheward's possession and in 1855 he began publication of the Democratic Union. A few months later Dr. Martin Kagayf became his partner and remained as such until the close of the presidential campaign of 1856. With minor intermissions the Union was published during 1857 and 1858. George M. Dittoe purchased the property soon after October, 1858, and sold it to Charles E. McGruder in the spring of 1864, who at the end of about a year sold it to Charles D. Elder. Elder published the paper in Somerset until May, 1866, when the paper and office were transferred to New Lexington. A WAR DEMOCRAT'S PAPER John H. Shearer purchased from E. S. Colborn in 1857 some of the materials of the Somerset Post and began to publish a neutral newspaper, the Somerset Review. W. C. Hickman bought the Review and discontinued it at the end of a few months. During the summer of 1861 the Semi-Weekly Flag, a war democratic newspaper, was published by Martin Kagay. Established in the fall of 1866, the Somerset Advocate, a neutral sheet, was published about two years by Kagay. J. F. McMahon founded the Somerset Tribune in the fall of 1871, the county's first nine-column paper. Removed to New Lexington in March, 1873, it became a republican newspaper. The Somerset Press was established by an incorporated company in 1873. M. J. Mains was editor and publisher. W. P. Magruder became its editor and proprietor in 1879. The Plain Dealer was a transient sheet printed in Somerset about the time of the war with Mexico. The Somerset Visitor, published in 1881 by William Mains, lasted but six months. NEW LEXINGTON NEWSPAPERS The New Lexington Visitor, an independent newspaper, was published about a year (1848) by James Taylor and discontinued. The Democratic Organ was conducted about a year, beginning December, 1853, by M. A. Boling, when it also gave up the ghost. With P. Bastian as proprietor and James Taylor editor the New 276 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO Lexington Locomotive succeeded the Democratic Organ. It republican and lasted about two years. The Democratic Sentinel's existence began in May, 1859, and ended in about eighteen months. At different times P. J. Ankeny, John R. Meroy and Robert G. Mossgrove were its proprietors. E. S. Colborn began early in 1857 the publication of the New Lexington Ambrotype. At the end of two years the office came under the control of P. J. Ankeny who started the Democratic Sentinel. In October, 1859, E. S. Colborn came into possession of the old Ambrotype office and having purchased new type started the Perry County Weekly. The paper had one or two brief suspensions but lived about ten years. REPUBLICAN AND TRIBUNE MERGED Mr. Colborn leased the Weekly to Dr. Jerome Oatley for a few months in 1868 and in the spring of 1870 changed the paper's name to the Mineral Region News. In August, 1872, he sold the newspaper to the New Lexington Publishing Company. The Perry County Weekly, the Mineral Region News and the Ambrotype were all republican newspapers. The publishing company started the Perry County Republican. At the end of seven months the paper and the New Lexington Tribune were merged. After Charles D. Elder transferred the Democratic Union from Somerset to New Lexington in May, 1866, he published it until December, 1867, when the office passed to the ownership of Butler, Duffy & Meloy, who changed the paper's name to the Democratic Herald. A little later Lewis Green acquired Butler's interest. In the spring of 1870 George Hendricks purchased the property but at the end of a few months sold it to the former owners, Duffy, Green and Meloy. There were ownership changes until 1876, after which time the Herald was printed by Green & Meloy. In 1881 Philip Cullinan, of Zanesville, bought Green's interest and then the paper was published by Cullinan & Meloy. The New Lexington Tribune, started in Newark, 1873, by J. M. McMahon, became the republican organ of the county. John H. Marlow & Company launched the Perry County Democrat September 11, 1879, and after publishing it ten weeks sold it to E. S. Colborn & Company, who published it until March, 1881, when they discontinued it. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 277 OTHER PERRY COUNTY NEWSPAPERS Junction City's first newspaper, the Perry County Vidette, was established in 1880 by James Haynes and discontinued about a year later. The Shawnee Journal was started in 1878 by Cook & Davy. It was discontinued after about a year. Two years later the Shawnee Banner was unfurled. The Corning Times had been published about a year by Sopher & Weaver in 18483. The Collegian, a monthly, was in 1854-5, for a year or two, published at St. Joseph's College. PERRY COUNTY NEWSPAPERS OF TODAY Five weekly newspapers printed in four villages, aid in their respective localities in distributing news happenings. These papers are sold under titles of the Perry County Tribune, a consolidation of the Crooksville Advance and the New Lexington Tribune; the New Lexington Herald, the Shawnee Advocate, the Somerset Press and the Thornville News. The Herald and the Tribune are both printed by H. J. Bierly, owner and publisher. The Press is printed in Somerset, being an independent paper published by C. L. Mortal and A. K. Kyle. The Shawnee Advocate is edited and published by John C. Fleming and the Thornville News by D. N. Bell and Son. CHAPTER CXIV RAILROADS ARE PARTS OF THREE GREAT SYSTEMS PENNSYLVANIA LINE, BEGUN IN PERRY 1853, OPENED THE NEXT YEAR-LIVELY CONTEST OVER ITS LOCATION, AND NEW LEXINGTON DEFEATED SOMERSET- BUT THE OLD COUNTY SEAT WON THE STRAITSVILLE ROAD AND PHIL SHERIDAN'S FATHER WAS ONE OF THE CONTRACTORS-PERRY REJOICED OVER ACQUISITION OF THE OHIO CENTRAL LINE-RAILROADS WERE STRONG FACTORS IN PERRY'S DEVELOPMENT. The Cincinnati, Wilmington & Zanesville Railroad was chartered by the Ohio Legislature during the session of 1850-51 to build a line between Morrow, Warren County, and Zanesville, through the counties of Morrow, Clinton, Fayette, Pickaway, Fairfield, Perry and Muskingum. These counties were authorized to subscribe for stock in the road provided a majority of their voters were in favor of it. Through Perry County two main routes were proposed, one through Rush Creek Valley and New Lexington ; the other, by way of Somerset. LIVELY CONTEST AS TO ROUTES The friends of these two routes each raised about $100,000, to be paid on condition that the route was run as they had specified. The directors of the company found it difficult to decide, but in December, 1852, they formally located the line on the New Lexington-Rush Creek route. Construction began in the spring of 1853 but cars from the west were not running to New Lexington until September, 1854. During several months stages carried passengers and mail between New Lexington and Zanesville. When the tunnel located three miles east of the first named was completed train service between Zanesville and Morrow was established. This road is now a part of the great Pennsylvania system. SCIOTO AND HOCKING VALLEY RAILROAD This line was chartered in 1849 with Newark and Portsmouth as the terminal points. In the session of 1850-51 the law was - 279 - 280 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO amended so that the route might run through Perry and Hocking. counties if the directors thought best. These officials did not decide upon the location until 1853 when, at Portsmouth, they chose the Perry County instead of the Fairfield or Pickaway route. It was a knowledge of Perry's vast coal deposits which moved the directors in her favor. Says Historian Colborn of this victory : "The people of Somerset and vicinity were much elated at securing the location of the Scioto and Hocking Valley. There was an impromptu but great celebration in honor of the event which lasted nearly all night. Immense bonfires were made, tar barrels burned, speeches delivered, songs sung and every demonstration of joy was made. The result was scarcely expected and when assured was almost overwhelming. Perry Countians subscribed about $185,000 for this enterprise and all but $13,000 of that sum was expended upon construction of the line. GENERAL SHERIDAN'S FATHER A CONTRACTOR The section of the road between Portsmouth and Jackson was completed in 1852 or early in 1853. Among the contractors on the section between Jackson and Newark were Adam Fink and Henry Dittoe, of Somerset, operating. as Fink and Dittoe. Their contract called for making a deep cut at Somerset. They worked with a large force throughout six or eight months, when financial troubles compelled them to cease. Their northern section was sublet to John Sheridan, father of Gen. Phil Sheridan, who completed the contract. Financial difficulties made life miserable for directors, stock-holders, contractors and sub-contractors. Foreclosure finally was made in 1864 when a Providence, Rhode Island, bank became the road's purchaser, paying $411,000. Between 1854 and 1861 the Scioto and Hocking Valley company made strenuous efforts to get on its feet and complete the road, but the coming of the Civil war "closed all negotiations." NEWARK, SOMERSET & STRAITSVILLE RAILROAD Incorporated in 1869 this company purchased that part of the Scioto and Hocking Valley line located between Newark and the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley's (the old C. W. & Z.'s) tracks and in 1870 began construction at the Newark end. In the next spring work on that difficult stretch, the deep cut at Somerset, was SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 281 undertaken. Meanwhile the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company leased the Newark, Somerset & Straitsville road and pushed construction with great energy and by 1872 the whole road was built to Shawnee, its southern terminus. The completed road developed a huge traffic in coal and helped to make growing towns of Shawnee, McCuneville, Dicksontown, Junction City and Glenford. HOCKING VALLEY ROAD'S STRAITSVILLE BRANCH This link is twelve miles long and connects old and New Straitsville with Logan. The railroad company was incorporated in 1869 and cars were running in 1870. Its activities created the now large town of New Straitsville and multiplied by four the population of old Straitsville. ATLANTIC & LAKE ERIE RAILROAD Credit for the inauguration of this enterprise was earned by a group of New Lexington men who, having gathered information as to Perry County's mineral wealth, realized that only by tap-ping it with a railroad along the right line could rapid develop-ment be achieved. They concluded that a road stretching from Toledo to Pomeroy which should pass through New Lexington and pierce the great Sunday Creek coal region was something well worth working for. In due time the Atlantic & Lake Erie Company was organized with that object in view and it was incor-porated in 1869. The line first surveyed from New Lexington northward traversed Clayton and Madison townships in Perry County and ran thence via Brownsville, Licking County, to Newark. The citizens of Newark seemed to be rather lukewarm and heavy grades were encountered, whereupon surveyors were directed to run a line by way of Bremen, Rushville, Pleasantville, Millersport and Hebron, which was meant to leave Newark several miles distant on the east. This route was adopted and construction began at New Lexington June 22, 1870. Colborn has left us a vivid account of how Perry's county seat disported itself on that occasion. NEW LEXINGTON REJOICED "The day was one of great pomp and magnificence. A large meeting was held in Kelly's grove, at a point now within the corporate limits. Speeches were made by Charles Follett, of New- 282 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO ark, Ohio; D. B. Swigart, of Bucyrus; Darius Talmage, of Lancaster and by various other gentlemen. Thomas Ewing, Sr., who had intended to be present and speak, but was unable to attend, sent a carefully written address which was read at the meeting. The meeting was extraordinarily large and its proceedings were telegraphed to leading newspapers in all parts of the country. The ceremony of breaking ground took place precisely where the track is now laid, a few rods north of Water Street. A few weeks later work was commenced upon the tunnel, one and a half miles southeast of New Lexington and a little later upon the one at Carter's Summit, near Oakfield." PANIC WROUGHT HAVOC Construction went on along the line northward during 1871- 72-73 but the financial panic of that period checked operations at a time when grading was nearly completed between the New Lex-ington tunnel and the northern terminus. The company, by this time known as the Ohio Central, was forced to sell its entire property in March, 1878, and eastern capitalists were the purchasers. These sold that portion of the road between Granville, Licking County, and Chauncey, Athens County, to a syndicate who organized a company for road construction from Columbus to the Sunday Creek Valley, intersecting the Ohio Central line at Bush's Station (Hadley Junction), Fairfield County. The contractors began on this Columbus and Sunday Creek Valley line and had it completed in the early part of 1880, including the 1,600-foot tunnel at Carter's Summit, with cars running. between Columbus and Corning. Early in 1881 cars were running. between Corning and Toledo and Corning and Columbus, intersecting at Bush's Station. The public utilities table on another page is very enlightening, especially as to Perry County's railroads. CHAPTER CXV PERRY COUNTY IN THE COUNTRY'S WARS HER TERRITORY SENT MEN TO FIGHT UNDER HARRISON-TWO COMPANIES SERVED IN THE MEXICAN WAR-THREE THOUSAND BOYS IN BLUE HELPED TO SAVE THE UNION-MORGAN RAIDERS GALLOPED ACROSS THE COUNTY. Perry County had no official existence when the United States and Great Britain clashed for the second time but the territory now forming the county furnished its quota of soldiers. These were mainly mustered into service with Muskingum and Fairfield companies. They were ordered to Northern Ohio and some of them were among the troops surrendered by Hull. But most of them served under General Harrison and at Fort Meigs helped to defend it. THE WAR WITH MEXICO Fletcher Noles and Isaac DeLong, both of Somerset, recruited the first Perry County company after Congress had declared that war with Mexico existed and Noles and DeLong became the company's captain and lieutenant, respectively. Enlistments included men from various parts of the county. Perry's two militia regiments were massed in Dittoe's woods, west of Somerset, which then was the county seat, and fervent speeches were made urging the men to enlist. "A creditable number of volunteers" is said to have been obtained that day. Captain Noles marched his men to Zanesville and there they went into camp on Putnam Hill. After several days of drill the command went to Cincinnati by steamer and were organized as Company H, Third O. V. I. Not long after this the regiment descended the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, whence it proceeded to Point Isabel and went into camp. - 283 - 19-VOL. 2 284 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO COMPANY MET WITH HARDSHIPS Later the regiment was ordered to Matamoros and did garrison duty there. It proceeded successively to Camargo, Monterey and Buena Vista. Before it could participate in other campaigning its term of enlistment expired and the regiment came home, after being mustered out at New Orleans. Historian Colborn states that although the soldiers had taken part in no pitched batties they saw many hardships. Several of Captain Noles' company died from sickness and others passed away after reaching home, from disease contracted while in the service. TO THE FRONT IN A CANAL BOAT Warren Filler and Thomas Ross, members of Company H, recruited the second company and became its captain and lieutenant, respectively. A few members of the company were from other counties. Rendezvousing at first at Somerset the company marched to Lancaster, embarked in a canal boat and proceeded to Portsmouth. Thence it went to Cincinnati where it became a part of the Third Regiment O. V. I. The journey to New Orleans was made by steamer ; thence the regiment went to Vera Cruz. It was in skirmishes with guerillas but in none of the pitched bat-tles. After the Mexican capital fell the Third Ohio proceeded to the capital, doing camp and guard duty. When peace came the regiment returned to New Orleans and the boys were mustered out. Some of Perry's soldiers died away from home and others from sickness which began before they reached home. Other sons of Perry served in regiments other than the Third Ohio. PERRY COUNTY IN THE CIVIL WAR "Ah ! then there was hurrying to and fro And gathering tears and tremblings of distress, And cheeks all pale which an hour ago Blushed at the praise of their loveliness ; And there were sudden partings such as press The life from out young hearts and choking sighs Which ne'er might be repeated ; who could guess If ever more should meet those mutual eyes." When President Lincoln's first call for troops was issued Lyman J. Jackson, Perry County's prosecuting attorney, asked Governor Dennison for leave to enlist a company of soldiers and on SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 285 obtaining the same launched the local campaign of patriotism. A meeting was held at the courthouse and addressed by Mr. Jackson and W. H. Free, each of whom enlisted then and there. Other speeches and enlistments followed and the latter went on next morning. Volunteers poured into New Lexington. Courthouse meetings were daily and nightly occurrences. The roll of the company was completed in a few days and when the volunteers assembled at New Lexington Lyman J. Jack-son was elected captain of the company, William H. Free first lieutenant and Benjamin S. Shirley second lieutenant. The ladies of New Lexington were meanwhile coming to the front. At the courthouse they were turning bolts of red flannel into shirts and presently they had a garment for each volunteer. "IN THE NAME OF THE LORD" These the boys wore without coats and thus they had a rather striking negligee uniform. Those were busy days at the county seat. Drums were beaten, fifes were played, drilling. went on, the country folk flocked to town and came under the spell of the spirit of war. There was a Sunday which followed the company's organization during. which drilling and other military activities went on. But Rev. L. F. Drake, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church, did not forget the spiritual claims of the day, for at the regular hour of service, on the greensward fronting the church he spoke to the soldiers and people on the text "In the name of the Lord we will raise up our banners." Before the volunteers turned away each was presented with a copy of the New Testament. SKIRMISHING IN WEST VIRGINIA Having reported at Lancaster, Captain Jackson's company entered the three-months' service as E of the Seventeenth O. V. I. The regiment joined General McClellan's forces in West Virginia and first trod the soil of that state on reaching Benwood, appearing successively at Clarksburg, Grafton and Buckhannon. The command rendered effective service in a number of skirmishes. On one of the scouting expeditions Lieutenant Free and a detachment captured a group of influential Confederates and they were taken to the military prison at Camp Chase. The Seventeenth Regiment served four months instead of three and was mustered out at Camp Goddard, Zanesville. The service had made good 286 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO soldiers of Perry County boys without taking any of their lives and it is to their credit that a majority of them re-enlisted in three-year regiments and served gallantly on many battlefields. CAPTAIN FREE TO THE FRONT John W. Free, a New Lexington man but at the time engaged in business at Straitsville, asked and obtained leave to raise a company for the three years' service, as soon as he learned that the president had made a call for troops. Free was captain of an independent military company organized at Straitsville. A majority of its members enlisted and soon the new company's quota was filled. Free's achievement was looked upon as marvelous and on returning to his New Lexington home on Saturday evening he announced that his new company would be in New Lexington the following Tuesday to take the train for Camp Chase. Historian Colborn wrote a thrilling. account of that arrival which we submit in full : COMPANY ROYALLY RECEIVED "About 10 o'clock in the forenoon, a great cloud of dust was seen to rise in McClellan's lane, about a mile south of town. It was produced by the members of Captain Free's company and their friends in buggies, expresses, carriages, wagons, on horse-back and afoot, preceded by a good martial band, altogether making a procession of nearly two miles in length. In many cases not only fathers and brothers, but mothers, sisters, cousins and sweet-hearts accompanied the boys to this place. "As the imposing and altogether unprecedented procession moved into town windows, doors, balconies, and sidewalks were filled with spectators, handkerchiefs and flags were waved and cheer upon cheer was given for the Union and the starry banner that symbolized it. Just such a demonstration the town never saw before or since and probably never will again. When the volunteers got aboard the cars there were many tearful words and sad farewells as well as many a jovial laugh and cheerful kindly goodby. GOODBY DAY AT NEW LEXINGTON "As the train moved slowly away from platform and car win-dows came a half tremulous yet loud and exultant cheer that will SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 287 linger long in the memory of those who heard it. Many of those brave boys never saw home or friends again ; and of those who did, on furlough of some kind, many died afterwards in hospitals, on the march, in their tents or amid the awful carnage and surrounding's of the battlefield. Many of them repose in unknown graves. Capt. J. W. Free's company reported promptly at Camp Chase and at once became Company A of the Thirty-first O. V. I." THE SPIRIT AND ATMOSPHERE The foregoing history of the earliest local activities connected with the Civil war tells of the spirit which actuated those who en-listed and those who served the Union cause while remaining at home. We must be content with a setting forth of that spirit and with indicating' the atmosphere of the times which immediately followed the attack on Fort Sumter and President Lincoln's early call for troops. In a history of this scope it is impracticable to describe the enlistment of all the Perry County companies which followed into the field those whose organization. has been here described and to report the campaigns which those companies took part in. All we have space for is a condensed list of the regiments which the sons of Perry served in and a statement to the effect that about three thousand of those sons fought for the Union cause. The Ohio volunteer regiments which contained groups of Per-ry County soldiers are given in a history of the county published in 1883 as follows : The Thirty-first, Thirtieth, Sixty-second, Nineteenth, One Hundred and Fourteenth, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth, Seventeenth, Sixty-first, One Hundred and Twenty-ninth and One Hundred and Sixtieth. Many other Perry County boys served in the Civil war in various other Ohio regiments, the Sixteenth, Eighteenth, Thirty-second, Forty-sixth, Seventy-fifth, Sixty-eighth, One Hundred and Twenty-second. Several Perry County detachments were in cavalry regiments, among the sharpshooters, in the artillery companies and in the signal corps. Perry County soldiers did their full duty at Bull Run, Rich Mountain, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, South Mountain, Antietam, Gettysburg, Shiloh, Stone River, Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, Champion's Hill, Vicksburg, Kenesaw, Fort Wagner, in the Wilderness, 288 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO at Winchester, Petersburg, Cedar Creek and on other important battlefields. MORGAN RAIDERS IN PERRY COUNTY When John Morgan's command left Nelsonville, Athens County, July 22, 1863, it appeared to be headed toward New Lexington and an excited resident of Vinton County rode furiously toward the town to give warning. Citizens hastily concealed money and valuables and rode or sent their horses out of the raider's reach. The morning went and no Morgan came. At Sunday Creek cross roads he had the choice of riding to New Lexington or to Glaud Run, with little difference in distance, and he chose the latter, turning to the right and passing in through Middletown to Chapel Hill, camping all night of the 22nd on Island Run, near Porterville. He had sacked the stores at Middletown and Chapel Hill, confiscated whiskey, and there and at other points had taken fresh horses and left his wornout ones behind ; had taken possession of food on tables and in pantries. The story of the crossing of the Muskingum River at Eagleport, of the march through Muskingum, Guernsey and Harrison counties and into Columbiana where he was captured, has been told elsewhere in this work. IN THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR The call to arms in '98 was answered in Perry County by 106 patriots, of which number seventy-one immediately volunteered when the summons was issued April 15. Only three days were required for mobilization which took place in the basement of the present courthouse, then used as an armory. Shortly after the company had been organized orders for their removal to Chillicothe were issued. It was at this place that the Seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment was mobilized and the brave sons of Perry County became members of Company A. After remaining in Chillicothe some ten days they were transferred to Camp Bushnell for more than a month's encampment, when they were dispatched over the Toledo and Ohio Cen-tral, through New Lexington, to Camp Alger, Virginia. While there much time was devoted to military maneuvers and intensive drills. From Camp Alger they went to Camp Meade, near SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 289 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Their stay there and in Virginia occupied almost six months. From Camp Meade the company returned to Camp Bushnell. While there a thirty-day furlough was granted by Congress with pay, which served as a bonus. The company was then granted a leave and after the required period returned and was discharged. While at Chillicothe Capt. Thomas D. Binckley and Sergt. J. W. Patton, returned to New Lexington for recruiting purposes and signed thirty-five additional volunteers which brought the total enlistment to 106. Col. Arthur L. Hamilton was in charge of the regimental mobilization at Chillicothe. LIST OF PERRY'S SONS WHO SERVED IN WAR WITH SPAIN The roster of the first seventy-one volunteers in Perry County follows: Captain, Tom D. Binckley. First lieutenant, Dell W. Stinchcomb. Second lieutenant, Arthur J. Teal. SERGEANTS (First) James W. Patton; (Q. M.) John H. Emrick, Whitney P. Carroll; Harvey L. Irvin; Charles R. Bowman; Fred L. Minor. CORPORALS John H. Siemer, John W. Hitchcock, Rufus S. Mason, Victor F. Wilson, Howard S. Ricket, William T. Rambo, Edwin B. Mil-nor, Earle E. Gayer, Harvey H. Harper, Charles J. Spencer, Caleb Blake, Charles E. Adams. Bugler, T. R. Kelley; Bugler, Ed. H. Bowman; Art., Ed. M. Watkins. PRIVATES Allen, Martin H.; Alvis, James R.; Braddock, Frank M.; Brown, Charles; Bland, Septimus; Brown, Harry Lee; Blair, Charles D.; Boling, Ralph W.; Brown, William J.; Bell, Eli F.; Black, William E.; Colborn, Charles E.; Colborn, George B.; Crawford, Charles; Carson, Clarence C.; Carson, Ira H.; Compton, Fred W.; Connor, Paul M.; Crooks, Shelby B.; Cooke, Herbert M. ; Drake, John W.; Ferriter, Richard; Funk, Charles A.; 290 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO Freeman, Frank M. ; Goodin, George B. ; Garlinger, William ; Ginder, Samuel ; Hankison. Worle H. ; Horton, Fred C. ; Holcomb, Ephraim K.; Harmon, James A. ; Johnson, Frank F. ; Keck, Jacob W. ; Kelley, Joseph A. ; Lewis, Schuyler C. ; Lewis, James; Lowery, Muril C. ; Larimer, Vernon A. ; McKiernan, Edward I.; Penrod, Cyrus F. ; Patch, Jesse C. ; Penrod, Peter S.; Perrigo, William H.; Quest, Frank P. ; Rarick, Samuel A. ; Rinker, Samuel; Ricket, Charles C. ; Ricket, Leo P. ; Rinehart, James C.; Seifert, Birchard R. H. ; Sheppard, Howard E. ; Sheppard, Thomas D. ; Slisher, Harry R. ; Spencer, Paul R. ; Sperry, Charles M. ; Sowers, Marvin L. ; Steele, Charles W. ; Stine, Forrest R.; Stowe, Samuel E.; Skinner, Charles C. ; Severance, Jacob ; Sheldon, Virgil C.; Spitzer, Elmer ; Tague, Jerome ; Teal, James A. ; Voorhees, Alfred N.; Wallace, Edmund S. ; Warfule, Frank H. ; Whitmer, Charles E.; Williams, Thomas B.; Wahl, Joseph F. ; Williams, Lewis C.; Wright, Thomas H. ; Wiseman, John A. ; Walker, Harry J.; Walker, George M. Discharges: Sergt. Arthur J. Teal, (Promoted to Second Lieutenant) ; Wagoner James Edward ; Privates Guy A. Boring, Marcellus D. Davis, Benjamin Graves, Weaver E. Mason, Robert W. Puterbaugh, John L. Port, W. Lee Rowe and Carlos A. Whitaker. Transfers: Pvt. William J. Isham, to s. c. ; Pvt. Horace S. Taylor, to Company D, Seventh O. V. I. DECEASED VETERANS The following veterans who saw service in the Spanish-Amer-ican war are now deceased : First lieutenant, Dell W. Stinchcomb ; first sergeant, James W. Patton ; corporal, Rufus S. Mason ; bugler, Ed. H. Bowman. PRIVATES Ralph W. Boling, Ira H. Carson, Shelby B. Crooks, Richard Ferriter, Charles A. Funk, Frank M. Freeman, Ephraim K. Holcomb, Jacob W. Keck, Joseph A. Kelley, Muril C. Lowery, Vernon A. Larimer, Jesse C. Patch, Frank P. Quest, Samuel Rinker, James C. Rinehart, Thomas D. Sheppard, Jerome Tague, Joseph F. Wahl, Thomas H. Wright, Harry J. Walker, Guy A. Boring, Weaver E. Mason, Robert W. Puterbaugh, John L. Port. Arthur J. Teal enlisted in Company A, Seventh Regiment, Ohio National Guard, May 19, 1888, under Capt. T. J. Smith, was SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 291 commissioned Second Lieutenant May 18, 1890, and served as such during the Spanish-American war ; enlisted after the Span-ish-American war and was commissioned First Lieutenant of Company H, Seventh Ohio National Guard, June 16, 1902, under Capt. T. O. Crossan. Discharged at Camp Sheridan, Ala., June 12, 1918, after having served twenty-nine years and eight months continuously. Served as First Lieutenant of Company H, One Hundred and Forty-eighth Regiment, of the Thirty-seventh Division. TWELVE HUNDRED PERRY'S SONS IN THE WORLD WAR Col. Tom O. Crossan and staff, the headquarters company and Company H, Seventh Regiment of Ohio Infantry were given a fitting farewell by New Lexington and Perry County residents on their departure to Camp Sheridan, Montgomery, Ala., October 14, 1917. More than 10,000 persons saw them off that Sunday morn-ing., 4,000 of whom marched to the station as a guard of honor. The last morning for the soldiers in New Lexington was made a pleasant one. Homes were thrown open to the boys for breakfast and each member was given a well-filled lunch box to take along. Many of the churches suspended morning services and the whole town turned out to pay the boys tribute. The parade and demonstration was one of the biggest ever held in Perry County. A. D. Fowler was grand marshal and the formation was as follows: Roseville-Crooksville band, public and parochial school children, Boy Scouts, Spanish-American war veterans, G. A. R., Crooksville band, Red Cross women, Knights Templar, Masons, Maccabees, Odd Fellows, Knights of Columbus, Holy Name Society, Elks, Seventh Regiment band, Col. Tom O. Crossan and staff, headquarters company, Company H and citizens. Farewell addresses were made by Judge John T. Pyle and Dr. J. H. Dobbyn. These men numbered about two hundred, just about one-sixth of the total number representing Perry County in the war. They were trained at Camp Sheridan and in due time sailed overseas but not as soldiers of the Seventh Regiment, for a reorganization of regiments caused them to be transferred. They became soldiers of the famous Thirty-seventh Division and as such fought in some of the bloodiest battles "over there." Following is a list of Perry County men who gave their lives in the World war. 292 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO It was a feature of C. B. Galbreath's "History of Ohio," and here submitted with his permission. THE PERRY COUNTY DEAD Allen, Elmer L., Crooksville. October 11, 1918. Beever, John A., New Lexington. October 5, 1918. Burrell, Guthrie O., New Lexington. September 26, 1918. Christie, Alfred D., Crooksville. November 5, 1918. Cobel, Guy R., Chalfants. November 18, 1918. Cooperrider, Lorin H., Glenford. July 28, 1918. Deavers, William D., Dixie. April 15, 1919. Dew, Charles V., Crooksville. October 17, 1918. Elder, Charles M., New Lexington. October 7, 1918. Ferguson, Fred, Corning. October 8, 1918. Hankinson, Ben H., New Lexington. October 22, 1918. Hankinson, Earl D., Crooksville. October 8, 1918. Kaldt, Davis S., New Lexington. October 31, 1918. Knaup, John, Corning. October 12, 1918. McNulty, Hugh, New Lexington. November 4, 1918. Miller, James G. October 31, 1918. Milliron, Jesse E., New Straitsville. November 4, 1918. Orr, Edgar A., Thornville. October 28, 1918. Palmer, Lester A., Corning. October 31, 1918. Penrod, Milford S., New Lexington. October 5, 1918. Ridenour, Edgar R., Glenford. March 20, 1918. Robinson, George E., Junction City. July 21, 1917. Ryon, Leo, Somerset. April 20, 1918. Snyder, Albert V., New Lexington. October 5, 1918. Sweet, Earl W., New Lexington. October 5, 1918. Tague, John A., New Lexington. October 31, 1918. Welch, Emmert, Shawnee. October 6, 1918. Williams, Charles F., Saltillo. July 18, 1918. Wilson, Clarence L., Congo. November 2, 1918. Wohrle, Christian W., McCuneville. November 5, 1918. CHAPTER CXVI THE COUNTY'S VAST MINERAL WEALTH HER THICK VEINS OF HIGH. GRADE COAL WERE LONG UNHEEDED-COL. TAYLOR DID MUCH TO START DEVELOPMENT, BUT REAL MINING CAME IN THE WAKE OF RAILROADS-PERRY FIRST IN PRODUCTION IN 1878, 1885, 1890-RICH IRON ORES USED IN SEVEN LOCAL BLAST FURNACES-OIL ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED AT CORNING IN 1891-PERRY'S PEAK PRODUCTION NEARLY HALF-MILLION BARRELS, IN 1896-GREAT GAS WELLS CAME IN WHEN CORNING TERRITORY WAS TAPPED. COAL DEPOSITS LONG UNHEEDED The average pioneer knew nothing. of the mineral riches hidden in his hills and did not need coal for his own use since his fast-multiplying clearings yielded more waste wood than he could burn. In the absence of authoritative knowledge as to when Perry's coal was first discovered we may report that limited quantities of it were used as early as 1816. Somerset drew her earliest supplies from mines of St. Joseph's neighborhood. Doctor Ponjade, a Frenchman, opened a mine near Rehoboth in 1830 and in that year some Saltlick and Monday Creek mines were opened. The building of the Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Railroad in the middle '50s brought about mining at McLuney. It was Col. Jas. H. Taylor who gave that publicity to Perry's coal which has so greatly added to the county's wealth. His distin-guished part therein is reported in the biographical sketch on another page. The real coal era began in 1870. By 1878 the county led all the counties dealt with in this work, its coal production, according to assessors' reports made in May, being 11,672,138 bushels, Athens coming next with 9,829,991 bushels and Meigs third with 6,868,003 bushels. VILLAGES, RAILROADS AND MINES The rise and growth of these in Perry County furnish a highly interesting composite story. Shawnee and New Straitsville, laid out in the early '70s, grew with marked rapidity when the rail- - 293 - 294 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO roads reached them. Their growth was about equal, Shawnee shipping great quantities of coal by the B. & O. Railway and New Straitsville by the Hocking Valley. By 1883 about ten mining- companies were busy at each place. The Atlantic, Pacific and Erie, completed between New Lexington and Moxahala in 1874, did not do a great deal for mining. until the Oakfield tunnel was opened up and the road had been extended down Sunday Creek valley. This and the completion of the road to Columbus and Toledo, developed mining at Rendville and Corning. Late in 1880 and early in 1881 the railroad extension from the main line below Corning up the west branch of Sunday Creek to Buckingham and Hemlock brought about development there, a feature of which was the importation from Germany of nearly eight hundred skilled miners. NOTABLE RECORDS IN COAL PRODUCTION Readers who are interested in mines and mining. will find food for reflection in the production table included in the general his-tory which introduces this work. The Perry County reader will find the figures worth weighing. for the reason that Perry has stood in the front rank as a mining county for years. In 1885 and 1890, for instance, Perry County's coal production exceeded that of any of Ohio's other thirty coal counties and only Jackson County was ahead of Perry in 1895. In 1900 the county was still in the second rank, with Hocking in the lead. Although the county's records were only a little lower in 1905 and 1910, four other counties outranked her in each year. In 1915, however, her production fell off about one-half. A strong upward trend took place in 1920 but five years later production fell off again in Perry as it had done in other Ohio coal counties. The strike of April, 1927, of course put Perry County's mines substantially out of business. PERRY COUNTY'S IRON ORES With more than a dozen strata of ores in their hills Perry Countians years ago felt that their territory would some day become a great metal working center, the greatest of these deposits being what is usually called the Black Band Ore. It lies about one hundred and fifteen feet above the Great Vein coal seam and SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 295 showed up in the days of its working with a thickness of from three to five feet. It was at one time mined at Bristol, Moxahala and east of New Lexington on the Hone farm. BLAST FURNACES SEEMED PROMISING There was a time when seven blast furnaces were operated in Perry County, turning the county's own ore into pig-iron and using her own coal in the process. Samuel Baird pioneered in this industry in Monday Creek, purchasing a tract of land and planting his furnace at a point three miles distant from railroad service. But he managed well, placing the stack against the hillside and mining coal in the rear of it. The native ore was near and the Maxville and Zoar limestones were brought to the plant for flux. Other furnaces followed : The Bessie, built near Straitsville by Moss & Marshall ; the Fannie, the XX and the New York, at Shawnee; another at Moxahala, which later was removed to Columbus. All were taken away or went to ruin, because larger ore fields were discovered and the price of iron declined. PRODUCTION COST VERY LOW The American Manufacturer of January, 1876, described the Baird furnace and submitted the following estimate of the cost per ton of its iron : Two and three-fourths tons of coal at 50 cent $1.375, say - $1.40 Two and three-fourths tons of ore at $2.25 - 6.00 Three-fourths of a ton of limestone at $1.30 or $1.05 - 1.10 Labor - 3.00 Repairs - 1.00 Interest and discount - .50 $13.00 Says Martzolff of results: "The cost of the furnace was $45,000. After constructing the road over which the iron was hauled by oxen and counting the cost of construction as current expense the net profits of the 296 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO first year's work was $25,000, or 55 per cent of the original cost of the furnace." THE DISCOVERY OF OIL IN PERRY Perry County's great development of coal and coal lands, beginning in the '70s, had a corresponding repetition in the '90s as a result of the discovery of oil in the Corning district. The latter was not the first event of the kind, however. Back in the '60s at a point in Sunday Creek Valley about four miles south of Corning a well, reported to have been sunk to the salt sand, liberated salt water. The Geological Survey of Ohio, Fourth Series, Bulletin One, says of it : "This well, however, seems not to have aroused suspicion that there might be valuable liquids other than salt water buried in the rocks." Along with that water there was gas enough to be ignited. Bulletin One then tells of an event that did count : "The discovery of oil in the Corning field was a matter of accident and resulted directly from a scarcity of water for the Toledo and Ohio Central Railroad. To remedy this a deep well was drilled in August, 1891, at the round-house, about three-fourths of a mile south of Corning. The only water found was in the salt sand, which is reported to have been struck at a depth of 630 feet. The supply was copious but the salinity prevented its being used in locomotives. This brine was shut out of the well by casing and the drill forced down to a depth of 1,507 feet. Finding no water at that depth work ceased, but a few days later oil was thrown to the top of the derrick and there were smaller eruptions later. However, further disturbances of this sort were prevented by the company closing the well." TO CHECKMATE STANDARD OIL The well was closed but the story of that oil which had shot up derrick-high from the depths opened human curiosity, cupidity and enterprise so wide that oil men soon began to pour into Corning in streams and to lease territory. Fearing that the Standard Oil Company would capture the field and seal it up, Corning citizens organized (in February, 1892) the Sunday Creek Oil and Gas Company and began the work of development. Success followed. By January 1, 1898, stockholders had re-ceived 255 per cent in cash dividends and by July 1, 1900, twenty SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 297 wells were being pumped, with a daily production of forty barrels. The company's first well was sunk on the William Fisher farm in Monroe Township, the Berea sand having been reached at a depth of 1,012 feet. The signs were so discouraging that nitro-glycerine was not used to test the well until June 2, 1892, nearly a month after drilling ceased, when eighty quarts of nitro brought results. The well began to produce twelve barrels a day and a year later it gave a daily yield of ten barrels. The drilling of other wells followed in nearby sections and among twenty-five but three came in dry. The field was presently enlarged, with the Corning district as a center. In 1900 the Oakfield territory was developed. The first well was located on the Porter farm and it yielded thirty-five bar-rels of oil the first day ; the second well, on the Monahan farm, followed a little later with a flow of forty-five barrels a day. Two wells on the Lonstreth farm produced fairly well. Another on the Donnelly place yielded 125 barrels the first day and two on the Grannan farm followed with 75 and 90 barrels, respectively. ROSE TO A PEAK AND THEN FELL Great impetus was given development when, on August 13, 1893, the Buckeye Pipe Line was completed to the Perry County field, boosting production from about 500 barrels a day to 1,300 in 1896. There was a later decline, as the following table of production figures proves :