50 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO Courthouse No. 2, built about 1815, had two stories, was of brick, and a square cupola "adorned" it. Court was held on the upper floor and the lower floor provided offices. The building stood on ground occupied by the present courthouse. In 1832 courthouse No. 3 was erected. It has been described as "a queer piece of architecture." It had two stories and a basement. Fire destroyed it in 1874. The present imposing courthouse was begun in 1876 and cost when completed about $190,000. The upper part was damaged by fire and was rebuilt at a cost of $40,000 to $50,000. The first common pleas court was held on January 25, 1813, and William Wilson was the presiding judge, while Timothy Rose, Henry Smith and Noah Fisher were his associates. William Stanbery, Licking County attorney, is mentioned in this connection. The next court convened January 22, 1816, the same judge and associates presiding. Among the Licking County attorneys mentioned were William Stanbery, Lucius Smith, Carrington W. Searle and Jeremiah R. Munson. In 1818 Thomas Ewing and Charles C. Goddard were appointed prosecuting attorneys. In 1821 William Wilson resigned as presiding judge, and in February, 1822, the Legislature appointed Alexander Harper, of Zanesville, to succeed him. CHAPTER LXXXV GENERAL SCHENCK GAVE NEWARK BROAD THOROUGHFARES THREW IN A BIG PUBLIC SQUARE FOR GOOD MEASURE-CUTTING DOWN THE MOUNDS AND FILLING UP THE PONDS CAME EARLY-A SCORE OR TWO OF LOG CABINS BUILT BY 1810-EARLY MERCHANTS NAMED-FIRST FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATED IN 1807-FIRST SCHOOL OPENED ABOUT 1809-FIRST SERMON PREACHED IN 1803 ON A HORSE-RACING SUNDAY-PRESBYTERIANS LED IN ORGANIZATION AND THE BAPTISTS CAME NEXT-LICKING COUNTY CHURCHES OF TODAY. Long before the Indian or his white successors passed over or settled upon the site of the City of Newark the mysterious Mound Builder made his home there in great numbers and rendered it necessary for the white man to level off many a mound when it came to grading the streets. Newark was laid out in the spring of 1802, and in March of the following year the plat was recorded, which shows the town enclosed on three sides by the Raccoon and South and North forks of the Licking. The site is a level plateau. The first plat extended from Front Street on the west and from Walnut Street on the south to Locust on the north. It is a square of which the public square is the center. It is very evident that General Schenck (who laid out Newark and named it after his birthplace in New Jersey) was very liberal-minded, for he laid the town out with broad streets and an ample public square. Many additions have been made from time to time. EARLY NEWARK WAS DECIDEDLY WET Newark's early growth was slow, as the following account of what it was in 1810, written by Dr. J. N. Wilson, proves : "We had at that time several log houses as well as some frame ones, but so scattered as to give but a faint idea of the shape and form of a town. These houses stood mostly north and northeast of the square. Scarcely could there be found in the town one - 51 - 52 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO hundred yards square without a pond or pool of water, standing most of the year. An ugly swamp was then in existence just north of Church Street along Fourth, with a gully running down by the corner of Church and Third streets to near the southwest corner of the square, with a large pond just northeast of the old wooden jail, which stood there in the center of the square. This large pond remained a dwelling place for frogs and a resort for ducks and geese, in some degree as late as 1837." FOUND FORKS GOOD PLACE FOR NEWARK'S SITE The arrival in 1802 of Gen. William C. Schenck was an event of importance to the spot now known as Newark. It was he who laid the settlement out. He was able, energetic and public-spirited. He and G. W. Burnet and John N. Cummins became owners of Section 4, in Newark Township. Schenck was an experienced surveyor and after the section was acquired he came from Warren County, Ohio, to survey the new tract and ascertain its value. These owners saw in the forks of Licking a suitable spot for a town and they platted Newark. In October of this year, 1802, came to Newark and Cherry Valley, Abraham Johnson, Abraham Wright, William B. Gaw, James Peddicord, Edward Nash, Carlton Belt, Benedict Belt, Acquilla Belt, Little John Belt, Black John Belt. (Long John Belt joined these other Belts a few years later.) May 20, 1802, Messrs. Schenck, Cummins and Burnet sold 285 acres of their land to John Warden. They were located on the east side of Section 4 ; on the same day the firm sold 150 acres adjoining Warden's purchase to Anthony Miller. Although Newark was laid out in the spring of 1802, the plat was not recorded until March, 1803. SOME SAMPLE NEWARK "FIRSTS" James Jeffries bought the first town lot. James Black built the first cabin—where the Park House later stood—and it became "Black's Tavern," the town's first house of entertainment. Other cabins built in 1802 were those of Samuel Parr, Beall Babbs, Catharine Pegg; and Samuel Elliott added a hewed log house. Abraham Johnson built a log tavern (Newark's second) in 1803, locating it at what is now the corner of Church and Third streets. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 55 As Dr. J. N. Wilson's foregoing story shows, Newark's early growth was slow, and as late as 1810 it had "several log houses and some frame ones, very much scattered." Another writer adds that by 1810 the settlement contained a score or two log cabins. "Black's Tavern," he says, "was a log building on the east side of the frog pond, now known as the public square. It was probably the most important building in the place, standing high and dry on an elevated piece of ground which has since been leveled." BLACK HORSE AND BELL TAVERNS Newark's third tavern was erected (on Second Street, facing the square) by Maurice Newman, who arrived in Newark in 1804. Tavern No. 4 was started in 1807 in the log house which Samuel Parr had built in 1802. This was the "Cully" or "Black Horse" tavern and it stood opposite the Park House. Col. William H. Gault erected a hotel on the south side of the square in about 1813. Its sign was a big bell and its name the "Bell Tavern." The jail also was near the south side of the square, and on the opposite side was the old courthouse, erected in 1809 or 1810, "a hewed log building," says Brister, "said to contain but one room, with no floor for some time after it was erected, and the seats were slabs, laid upon logs." FIRST MERCHANTS IN 1805 Robert Sherwood came from Shippensburgh, Pa., in 1803 and bought a lot at what is now the corner of First and Main streets, where the Hotel Sherwood was built long afterwards. Near the "Big Spring," close to his cabin, Jacob Wilson stuck into the ground a willow switch (brought by him from the Alleghany Mountains), which grew to be a big tree. In 1804 John Van Buskirk came to Newark and rebuilt the Peddicord & Belt grist mill at a later period. Archibald Wilson Jr., David Heron and David Hatfield reached Newark in 1805 and the first became one of Newark's earliest merchants, to be followed soon by Bradley Buckingham and David Moore. In 1812, Frederick Dent, whose daughter became the wife of Ulysses S. Grant, was a Newark merchant. 56 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATED IN 1807 Newark celebrated Independence Day very early in its history—in 1807. It has been thus described : "It was held on the north side of the public square. A hog, sheep and deer, well roasted, graced the table. Capt. Archibald Wilson, Sr., was president of the day. The military, under the command of Capt. John Spencer, were present in force and fired volleys in response to the toasts." Newark's incorporation seems to have been long delayed, as it did not occur until February, 1826. The census taken for 1830 found 999 inhabitants there. In 1831, according to a copy of the Ohio Gazetteer of that year, the village had 250 dwelling houses, 10 stores, 5 taverns, 2 printing offices, 2 large warehouses, a market house, a Methodist meeting house, and the usual county buildings. In this connection, the growth of the county seat's population is instructive. The census figures are : 1830, 999; 1840, 2,705 ; 1850, 3,654; 1860, 4,675 ; 1870, 6,698; 1880, 9,600; 1890, 14,270 ; 1900, 18,157; 1920, 26,718. The Chamber of Commerce estimates the present population at 31,000. NEWARK'S EARLY SCHOOLS The first of these is said to have been held in a log cabin which had been built in 1809 or 1810, and among the first teachers were James Maxwell, Archibald Wilson, Samuel English and a Mr. Mills. The first house built for school purposes, also of logs, was located at what is now the corner of Main and Fourth streets, according to some authorities. The man Mills referred to taught on Church Street, just west of the Presbyterian Church, in a cabin which had been used as a dwelling. These earliest schools were of the subscription kind, with a tuition fee of from $2 to $3 for each pupil during a three months' term. On February 28, 1848, Newark's friends of education met in the Presbyterian Church and decided to organize the "Educational Society of Newark Township." It was resolved that teachers' institutes made better teachers and through them better schools. A proposal also was endorsed to hold an institute in Newark March 27. This was carried out and its good effects were marked. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 57 TURNING POINT IN 1848 On August 12, 1848, an election was held, to choose six school directors, in conformity with the law, and Israel Dille, Isaac Smucker, Samuel D. King, Adam Fleek, Abner W. Dennis and Joshua Gibbs were elected. King became president, Dennis secretary, and Fleek treasurer. The schoolhouses secured were : a house in the rear of the Presbyterian Church ; a room in the basement of the Methodist Church; one in the basement of the Episcopal Church; one in the rear of the Welsh Church; Joel Arnold's house at Main and Fifth streets; Israel Dille's house on East Main Street; two rooms in the Franklin house on the east side of the square; a room in the A. J. Smith house in the Apollo Building, and two small buildings formerly leased as schoolhouses, one on Walnut Street and the other in East Newark. Thus arose Newark's graded schools. THE EARLY NEWARK CHURCHES "The old First Presbyterian Church is the pioneer church of Newark," wrote E. M. P. Brister, the historian, in 1909. "Like most things mundane, its beginning was small. In the summer of 1803 Rev. John Wright, a Presbyterian minister, visited the little hamlet of Newark, which then consisted of only a few log cabins situated amid the trees of the forest. He was told there was but one Presbyterian living here ; and as he was in straitened circumstances, the Reverend Wright stopped over night at Black's Tavern, which had been built in the previous fall of 1802, and stood about where Griggs' store now stands." The next day was Sunday, but that did not keep the inhabitants at home, reading their Bibles. Indeed, their chief interest was in a horse race that was to come off. The visitor at Black's Tavern did not forget the character of the day, however. In the open air both before and after noon he expounded the gospel to a little group of listeners. The sermon reached at least one heart : a man arose at its close, declared the truth had been uttered and suggested a collection. The hat was passed around and came back to its owner with contributions not disgraceful. 58 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO MORE PRESBYTERIANS ARRIVE The next recorded preaching in Newark occurred in 1806, when another Presbyterian minister, Rev. James Scott, delivered his message there during several months. In 1808 the population of Newark was swelled by the arrival of several Presbyterian families and a church was organized. But no regular preacher was there to shepherd the members until more than a year had passed. In 1809 Rev. George Van Eman was called and he accepted, but as he did not remain, the little flock was without a guide between 1812 and 1815, when Rev. Thomas Dickson Baird responded to a call. He remained five years and then took up his residence in Pennsylvania. The church had worshipped in a building situated on the north side of the public square, which was built of hewed logs and had but a single large room. The church's first permanent meetinghouse was contracted for in March, 1816. It was to stand "on the west side of the courthouse park," was to be of brick and to cost $2,700. Rev. Solomon S. Miles succeeded Rev. Thomas Baird in 1820 as an irregular preacher, and in 1822 the church's and the village's first Sabbath school was formed. In 1825 the church became unfit for use and was abandoned. The courthouse was first resorted to by the congregation and later a schoolhouse. A new edifice was erected in 1832. Rev. Solomon Miles gave up his pastorate in 1831 and the church called Rev. William Wiley, and in August of that year he was installed. The question of slavery and also of doctrinal beliefs brought about congregational differences which resulted in the withdrawal of over thirty members, who proceeded to organize the Second Presbyterian Church. Pastor Wiley's service lasted more than twenty years, and in 1854 he was succeeded by Rev. William M. Robinson. Temporary preachers served the congregation until 1863, when Rev. Henry Martin Hervey came. He died September 1, 1875. Rev. W. F. Brown was called to the pastorate in February, 1877. As the scope of this work admits of but a sketch of the pioneer periods of Newark's churches, we pass now to THE LICKING BAPTIST CHURCH which was organized August 22, 1807, with thirty-six members. Meetings were held in private houses. By 1818 the thirty-six SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 59 members had dwindled to fifteen. But in 1819-20 there were accessions, and in 1823 the members numbered ninety-four and a new meeting-house was completed. In the years that followed differences arose and in 1838 but twenty-seven members remained. Pastor Joseph Davis built up the membership in about 1854 to a total of eighty-eight. The church's fiftieth year brought a membership of 154. NEWARK BAPTIST CHURCH The congregation was organized April 13, 1832, with six men and six women members. By 1836 the members numbered thirty-two. A meeting-house begun in 1836 was occupied in 1840. In 1844 204 members were reported. But there was a falling off and a lack of permanent pastors. In 1847 the members numbered but 123. In 1851 the church was incorporated. There followed an ebb and flow of membership and pastorates were intermittent. In 1879 Rev. D. E. Owen became pastor and continued as such until 1882. He found seventy-four nominal members and left 250. Thus was this church established. FIRST METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH The first preaching was in private houses. Later services were held in a two-story frame building located in the middle of the street between West Main and Third streets. A meetinghouse was built and a church bell was bought—Newark's first. A revival in the winter of 1833 was blessed by 300 conversions. The first regular pastor was Rev. Cyrus Brooks, who came in 1840. Newark Methodism continued to prosper. Licking County Churches of Today THE PRESBYTERIANS The present status of the Presbyterian Church in the county is as follows: Newark, First Church, Rev. Frank H. Magill, membership 870; Second, Rev. Harold F. Wonder, 601; Woodside, Rev. Glenore McQueen, D. D., 130. In the country : Fairmont, supply pastor, 53 ; Brownsville, supply pastor and community church, 70; Outville, vacant, 125 ; Pataskala, vacant, 262 ; Granville, Rev. Emanuel Breeze, 360; Johnstown, Rev. R. W. Illingworth, 77; Hanover, Rev. L. H. Shane (also clerk of Presby- 5-VOL. 2 60 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO tery), 160; Utica, Rev. R. J. Werner, 167; Homer, Rev. Robert K. Ryall, 90. BAPTISTS OF THE COUNTY The Baptists maintain two churches in Newark, the First, at Granville and Fifth streets, Rev. Havard Griffith, 700; Second, Third and National Drive, 75. In Alexandria, supply, 254; Granville, Rev. H. E. Owings, 600; Welsh Hills Church, supply, 121. UNITED BRETHREN CHURCHES The United Brethren, First Church, Rev. P. E. Wright, enrolled members 1,118; C. E. Memorial, Rev. C. M. Bowman, 213; Stevens Street, Rev. B. C. Rife, 148; Pleasant View, Rev. M. A. Gehrees, 112; Pleasant Valley, Eden Township, Rev. Rife, supply, 73; Long Run, supply, 96; Mount Hermon, inactive; Mount Gilead, inactive; Jacksontown, E. M. Larason, 56; Amsterdam, supply, 34; Etna, J. A. Kelley, 96; Pataskala, supply, 63; Brownsville, supply, 88. The International Bible Students' Association has a representative body in Newark, with a meeting place at No. 29 1/2 West Main Street. It was established in 1885; Elders, W. C. Christian, H. M. Warman and H. M. Boylan. THE METHODISTS ARE STRONG The Methodist Episcopal Church is probably the most populous of the sects obtaining in Licking County. There are three church houses in Newark : First Church, corner of Fifth and Granville streets, Rev. W. T. Fessenden, enrollment 2,021; Neal Avenue, Rev. A. F. Noeblick, 620; East Main Street, Rev. W. C. Milliken, 878; Alexandria, Rev. L. J. Lewis, 235; Chatham, R. H. Pierson, 402; Croton, Frank Clark, 270; Granville, T. B. McIntosh, 392; Hanover, H. N. Smith, 211; Hebron, E. R. Anthony, 264; Jacksontown, J. G. Deeds, 150; Johnstown, D. S. Lamb, 495; Kirkersville, J. S. Ricketts, 322; Pataskala, W. E. Fetch, 376; Perryton, Mansell LaFollette, 267; Summit, M. R. Crabbe, 110. THREE CATHOLIC CHURCHES The Catholic Church is represented in Licking County by three churches, St. Joseph's Church in Johnstown, with Rev. F. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 61 Sullivan in charge ; St. Francis de Sales in Newark, with Rev. Fr. John J. Slattery in charge, 3,000 ; The Church of the Blessed Sacrament, in the east side, Newark, Rev. Fr. Charles H. A. Watterson, 1,100. All three churches maintain parochial schools, recognized by the other educational organizations of the state, and the second named maintains a high school having similar recognition. LUTHERAN AND CHRISTIAN UNION Lutheran Churches—These exist in the following villages : St. Louisville, Vanatta and Linnville. The Christian Union Church was early located in the county and was chartered in 1819, under the name of The North Ohio Annual Council. It has the congregational form of government and has not grown in recent years. It has three active churches in the county : Pine Street, Reverend Wickham, 60 ; Carmel Church, M. A. Lamp, 100; Linnville, Reverend Porter, 101. DISCIPLES, EPISCOPALIANS, PRIMITIVE BAPTISTS The church of The Disciples of Christ is strong in the County of Licking. In Newark, Central Church of Christ, Rev. L. O. Mink, 800; the Home Church, Thomas B. Shearer. In the county : The Old Stone Church in Brushy Fork, Reverend Althouse, who also supplies the churches in St. Louisville and Homer ; Perryton, H. H. Hoover, who also supplies the Rocky Fork Church ; Eden Church, H. H. Tilock, who also supplies the church in Croton ; Hebron, E. R. Anthony, 175 members ; Utica, C. C. Smith. The Episcopalian Church maintains two churches in the county: Trinity, East Main Street, in Newark, Lane Wickham Barton, 300 ; in Granville, Reverend LaFontaine. The Primitive Baptist Church maintains three church houses in the county, with itinerant supply. They are located in Licking Township, Hebron, and Newark. In the religious life and effort in the county are to be noted the activities of the Y. M. C. A., Christian Scientists and Spiritualists, all of whom are in their own homes with large followings. There are also church societies of the following faiths : The Seventh Day Adventists, Christian Apostolic, the Nazarene, Church of God, the Evangelical, Congregational, Holiness Mission, Orthodox Roumanian, Pentecostal Mission, Salvation Army, Negro Methodist, and Negro Baptist. CHAPTER LXXXVI THE OHIO CANAL A BOON TO FARMERS BEFORE IT CAME THEY HAD BUT ONE ROUTE TO THE MARKETS AND THEIR CROPS SOLD FOR A SONG-WORK ON THE WATERWAY BEGAN JULY 4, 1825, WITH A CELEBRATION-FARMERS HELPED TO DIG FOR $8 A MONTH BUT WERE GLAD TO GET THE CASH-"JIGGER" OF WHISKEY FIVE TIMES A DAY DEMORALIZED THE MEN-HENRY C. COCHRAN WRITES ABOUT THE CANAL-NATIONAL ROAD BEGUN AT ST. CLAIRSVILLE ON THE DAY WHICH SAW THE CANAL'S BEGINNING- NEWARK LOST IN FIERCE CONTEST OVER LOCATION-HEBRON ON BOTH CANAL AND HIGHWAY. In 1825, when there were in Ohio no railroads and no wagon roads worthy of the name, the prospect that a waterway would soon pass through the county, providing connection on the north with Lake Erie and on the south with the Ohio River, was one of overshadowing importance. Licking County had rich soil in many fertile valleys, a friendly climate and good farmers. Crops grew apace but the markets were practically inaccessible. So great was the surplus of produce that flour brought but $1 a hundred, hams 3 cents a pound, eggs 4 cents a dozen, whiskey 121/2 cents a gallon, and other prices were correspondingly depressed. There was but one suitable means of outlet to remunerative markets—by boat down the Licking to the Muskingum and thence to New Orleans and intervening centers. CANAL BEGUN AT LICKING SUMMIT, 1825 Imagine then the high expectations with which all Licking County assembled at Licking Summit, July 4,. 1825, to see the beginning of work on the Ohio Canal. The day was epochal. A vast throng saw a display of military, heard stirring music, listened to Thomas Ewing, orator of the day, watched Ohio's governor, Jeremiah Morrow, and New York's governor, De Witt Clinton, throw the first spadefuls of earth, and cheered them - 63 - 64 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO wildly. Dinner, prepared on a large scale, was free to the invited guests and cost the commonalty $1.50 a plate. The work of construction was as great a boon to labor as the canal later was to the farmer. The wages were small, $8 for twenty-six working days, 303/4 cents a day for days lasting from sunrise to sunset. But the workers were well served at meal time, comfortably lodged in shanties and during a few of the early months of construction received their drams of whiskey, no small inducement at the time. Men poured in from the country around to work on the canal. Here farmers earned the cash for taxes and other pressing needs. Micajah T. Williams and Alfred Kelley were acting commissioners, and proved themselves faithful public servants. They were often passing up and down the line, and saw the evil effects of the "jigger" of whiskey. They left a notice at each contract station that they would not pay estimates monthly if the contractors furnished whiskey on the work—an order that caused much grumbling among a certain class of men, but it was promptly obeyed by the contractors. A jigger was small, not a gill in measure, but fifty or sixty men taking five of these per day—at sunrise, at 10 o'clock, at noon, at 4 o'clock, and before supper—would exhaust a barrel of whiskey in four or five days. Men from Fairfield, Hocking, Gallia and Meigs counties and all the country around came to work on the canal. Farmers and their sons wanted to earn this amount of wages, as it was cash—a very scarce article—and they must have it to pay taxes and other cash expenses. GOOD FOR THE FARMER Before the canal was finished south of Licking Summit the north end from Dresden to Cleveland was in operation and wheat sold on the canal at 75 cents a bushel. Corn values increased proportionately. Contracts for the building of the canal had been made soon after the Licking Summit ceremonies occurred. The first award covered a section south of the Summit, including the embankment of the Licking Summit reservoir to the deep cut, so called. The next award covered the deep cut, whose length was about three miles, and the South Fork feeder. On the highest part of the cut there was a swamp which covered several acres, where there was a stand of water in the spring of the year and SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 67 the water in which, when raised by heavy rains, ran north to the waters of the Licking and south to the tributaries of the Scioto. The third contract was for work to start at the north end of Licking Summit and extend to Nashport, Muskingum County. It consisted of heavy work, including the dam at the lower end of Licking Narrows, twelve or fifteen locks, two aqueducts and culverts. The fourth contract covered work on the stretch from Irville north to beyond Roscoe, Coshocton County. The Granville feeder extended from Licking Summit to Raccoon Creek, at Paige's woolen factory, about a mile and a quarter southeast of Granville. The feeder was used until the Granville furnace was abandoned in 1838. CANAL FILLED AT NEWARK Collectors were stationed along the line to collect tolls and water rents. Canal boats were privately owned. Some of them were "passenger packets," neatly built and well furnished, which did a good business until the railroads came. The freight boats carried from fifty to eighty tons and drew from two to three feet of water. In 1861 a company leased the canal for a ten-year period and re-leased it in 1871, but abandoned the lease in 1878, the state resuming possession in May, 1879. Writing about the Licking County section of the canal in 1909, E. M. P. Brister said : "It has been, probably, twenty years since the canal has been in operation within the limits of Licking County. Sometime since the aqueduct crossing Raccoon Creek, between West Main and Jefferson streets, fell to pieces by reason of decay and was left in that condition by the state. The water in the canal, between this branch of the Raccoon and the North Fork of the same stream, diminished into pools in the canal bed, and in warm weather became stagnant and noisome; so much so that the health of the city was endangered thereby. Hence, in the fall of 1908, the council of Newark passed a series of resolutions relating to the condition of the canal and providing for the filling in of the canal on the streets crossed by it between the points above mentioned. This work has been completed, and where turn-bridges formerly stood solid roadways have taken their places. This work has all been done without any understanding being first obtained with the state authorities, and it is presumed the status quo will be eventually made permanent. 68 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO "But little of the Ohio Canal is now (1909) in practical use. Some traffic is kept up between Akron and Cleveland and appropriations for the canal are being urged, but it now looks as if the canal has about reached the limit of its usefulness." A detailed story which contains reference to more of the general aspects of the Ohio Canal than are handled in this chapter appears in the Muskingum County section of this work, and the Coshocton County section carries additional particulars concerning the character and operation of this old waterway. In the story referred to it stated that by May 30, 1829, the canal was completed between Licking Summit and Black Hand, and that by September 4, 1830, the canal was in operation as far west as Dresden, Muskingum County. We append here an account of some special features of the Ohio Canal as recognized by Henry C. Cochran, veteran Newark newspaper man, who writes about them as follows: LICKING SECTION OF THE CANAL By Henry C. Cochran The Ohio Canal was the result of a dream of empire by financial, transportation and mercantile interests in New York City. To understand it, the history of the time is to be considered. An immense traffic had grown with the advent of steam power on the Great Lakes; the Ohio River basin was being rapidly developed; a mountain range lay between the great cities of the eastern seaboard, and the products of the great fertile Mississippi River basin were being carried to New Orleans for distribution and export. New York was threatened as a port of entry and exit by New Orleans. In 1825 the State of New York had in operation a canal from Buffalo, N. Y., to tidewater in the Hudson River, but the fast developing Middle West was drawing south. In 1823 the State of New York had memorialized and offered aid to the Ohio Legislature to construct a canal from Cleveland to Portsmouth in Ohio. It was acted on, and July 4, 1825, the first shovelful was taken out four miles southwest of Newark, and the people of Central Ohio gathered to see Governor De Witt Clinton, of New York, take the first shovelful. Ohio completed the system in 1830, and constructed branch SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 69 canals to the coal measures of Eastern Ohio, and Southern Ohio. There were other branches, but the two named brought it in competitive touch with the two great soft coal fields. It became the great developer of Ohio, and fulfilled the dream of the Eastern empire builders. In 1859 the records show that the Ohio Canal had earned gross sixteen million dollars; the cost to that date was eleven million, or a net revenue to the state of five million dollars. The canal was leased in 1859 to a party of capitalists, and they operated it till 1877, and gave it up. The lessees turned it back to the state in bad physical condition, though the state operated it at a profit till 1893, when the last packet passed through this city, off the southern division to the northern division, which terminated here. Railway interests in Ohio were active in the Legislature, and public apathy allowed a good part of the right of way to be abandoned, partly by legislative action. The construction of the canal was a marvel of engineering by the early promoters. In passing from the Muskingum River basin to the valley of the Licking River, they passed through the Licking Narrows. In Licking County, too, they at two points solved the problem of passing a live stream of water over an impounded body of water without an aqueduct. The Licking Narrows is now passed through by the river, the B. & O. Railway, and the Southern Ohio Public Service Railway. In the glacial age the entire Licking Valley was a lake surrounded by the upheaval of the stratum of silurian sandstone. A convulsion of nature opened a rift in the rim of the ancient lake and the water escaped. The canal builders came along under the frowning cliffs, by shifting the towing path to the other side, or "berm bank," blasting a way through the "Point of Rocks," near the inlet lock at the west end of the narrows. Navigating the slack waters of Licking was one of the scare spots to the boatmen, many of whom were superstitious and feared to pass the grim walls, made darker by a growth of pine trees and bushes. Many weird stories passed current among the "sailors," and one was to the effect that one canal man had seen "the Devil himself." In the blasting at the "Point of Rocks," a human hand engraved on the outstanding rock was shot down, and lost. Of the hand, there are at least three different legends of "Black Hand 70 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO Rock," but the belief is general that it was placed there by the Mound Builders to mark the nearer spot along Licking River to the great flint mines, greatly resorted to by that lost race. Only horse power was used on the Ohio Canal and each freight boat was a complete plant, bow and stern, and cabins furnished eating and sleeping facilities. In the middle of each boat was the stable where two horses fed and slept while two others toiled on the tow line. The rest of the boat was devoted to tonnage, and each boat carried from 80 to 120 gross tons burden. Men who followed the canal were of exceptional hardihood ; they worked in all weather, and fought, swore or prayed as the individual and occasion demanded. Shipping is always cheaper on waterways than by other methods. A story showing the advantage of navigation was told, in his lifetime, by Benjamin Franklin, one of the founders of the Franklin National Bank in Newark. He had a brother in Cleveland, and through him ordered shipped here a boat load of timothy grass seed. He ordered by canal because the railway asked more. Before the seed was shipped, the state dam in the Licking Narrows was carried out by a flood. He wanted the seed and again consulted the freight agent and was told that the freight rate had advanced to double what it had been before. Mr. Franklin remonstrated and the agent replied : "Don't you know the dam is out?" The effect of the canal as a w.orld builder is still in evidence along the line through which it passed. In all of the towns along the system are yet to be seen many old but still substantial buildings, which were used in caring for the traffic. For miles back from the canal line still stand the grand old mansions, made possible a century ago because the builders of them had access to the markets of the world, with the products of a marvelously fertile country. A canal, of necessity, following the water gradient, passes through rich alluvial basins. On the Licking Summit, the early engineers, by constructing walls around a glacial lake, impounded nearly four thousand acres of water. With the decadence of the Ohio Canal the state dedicated the Licking Reservoir as a state park, and named it Buckeye Lake. An electric road was built to the lake in 1903, and the place developed into an inland "Atlantic City." For an average of a mile from the lake shores in Licking, Perry and Fairfield counties,. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 71 cottages and many mansions have been built. It has a summer population of from twenty to thirty thousand, and an immense tourist traffic. Many of the residents of Buckeye Lake live there the year through. The citizens of Newark utilized the national holiday, July 4, 1925, to fittingly observe the centennial anniversary of the building of the Ohio Canal. The movement took form by a resolution to that end passed by the Newark Trades and Labor Assembly. It was promptly endorsed by the Newark Chamber of Commerce bodies, each of which named representatives on a committee of arrangements. A fund was raised by subscription, and a contract made to erect with appropriate ceremonies, a marker on the site of the taking of the first shovel of earth from the canal bed. The marker is a sandstone shaft built of stone taken from a nearby canal lock. The marker is surmounted by a gray granite "drift boulder." On the boulder is a bronze tablet giving the date of the commencement of the Ohio Canal, and the date of the centennial observance. A large crowd of representative people gathered. Two bands, the Pythian Band and Buckeye Band, enlivened the program. The chief speaker of the occasion was Hon. W. M. Morgan, representative of the Seventeenth Ohio District in the United States Congress. The committee in charge of the ceremonies was a representative one as follows : E. E. Baker, president ; J. L. Hupp, secretary; Solomon Schoenberg, Anthony Stare, H. C. Cochran, Harry Cochran, C. A. McNeal, J. H. Sharritt, Edward Eis, E. S. Randolph, Mrs. Branch English and Mrs. O. J. Barnes. We turn now from Mr. Cochran's story of the Ohio Canal to our running account of other Licking County events. NATIONAL ROAD STIRRED ACTIVITY The same day which projectors of the Ohio Canal devoted to beginning that great public improvement in Licking County, July 4, 1825, the builders of the National Road devoted to launching at St. Clairsville the Ohio branch of that historic highway. It had been completed to Wheeling several years before and people living along and near the line which was expected to become the route of its westward extension welcomed the prospect with glowing hopes. Work on the Wheeling-Zanesville stretch was steadily pushed and by 1829 was nearly completed. When it came to 72 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO locating the route to Columbus the citizens of Newark did their best to have it bent their way but could not win. HEBRON ON THE PIKE, NEWARK MILES AWAY The engineers and perhaps others in power insisted on the shorter route, via Brownsville and Hebron. Hebron had already been given prosperity by being on the Ohio Canal when the National Road, completed through it about 1833 or 1834, gave a further impetus to its business. The next great line of traffic and travel, however, the Central Ohio Railroad, although but a short distance away, reduced the town's activities instead of extending them. The National Road's location and construction through Licking County resulted in the laying out of a number of new towns, Brownsville and Linnville, for instance, the former making good strides for a while. Speculation in the lots of such little centers was sometimes considerable. The stage coaches and pony express activities brought in new life and bustle. An observer of earlier years wrote entertainingly of the latter : WORD PICTURE OF PONY EXPRESS "The express ponies were ridden by boys and put through on a fast gallop, or half-run, the relays being five miles apart. The small saddle bags which contained the express matter were fastened to the saddle and at the end of each run the saddle and bags were almost instantly transferred from the exhausted, foaming pony to a fresh one, the rider mounted upon him and rode away at full speed, with a delay of not more than a minute. The stations in Licking County were Brownsville, Linnville, Etniers, Luray, Etna." Nearly a hundred years have come and gone since the pony express, the stage coach and the great freight wagons went back and forth over the National Road on its long stretch through Licking County. These activities made busy days for the people along that route. The taverns were thronged, the tavern barnyards were alive with teams and drivers and all these things lasted until the railroad began to take the highway's traffic from it, when less busy times on the pike warned its communities that the beginning of the end of its glories had come. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 73 CHANGED BUT NOT ABANDONED Then came in a similarly gradual fashion another cause of abatement: the surface of the roadway lost its smoothness and after some time it became at some points rougher than the average country road and well-nigh as impassable. The toll-gates disappeared and the counties neglected the road more than ever. It began to appear that the old thoroughfare was utterly doomed when the necessities of World war transportation and the effect upon public sentiment of the growth of the motor car's use started the work of restoration. Not only was the highway's surface restored but it was kept in good condition and probably always will be unless the airplane takes the auto's place. And now the old pike is a busier course of travel than it ever was. Farm houses have become tourists' taverns; green spots along the road are turned into tourist camps ; filling stations not only serve the needs of machines but refresh the traveler; handsome and modern homes line the roadway; hundreds of tourists pass these daily from every state in the Union and the old highway has "come back" in spectacular fashion. CHAPTER LXXXVII ONE OF NEWARK'S FIRST STEAM ROADS IN EARLY FIFTIES ITS GERM USED WOODEN WHEELS, WOODEN RAILS, AND DEPENDED ON HORSE POWER-LATER CONSTRUCTION RESULTED IN PLACING THE CITY ON TWO TRUNK LINES, THE B. & O. AND PANHANDLE-THE STRAITSVILLE BRANCH BROUGHT LOW-PRICED FUEL-ANOTHER LINE THROUGH THE COUNTY BECAME NEW YORK CENTRAL BRANCH-FIRST STREET CAR LINE IN 1888-MANY SUCCESSIVE OWNERS OF THE INTERURBAN WHICH FOLLOWED. The germ of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark Railroad, the Monroeville and Sandusky City Railroad, was chartered March 9, 1835. Originally the latter was operated on wooden rails and its small box cars, on wooden wheels, were hauled by horses between Monroeville and Sandusky City. Before very long steam engines were substituted for horses, but for a considerable later period the wooden rails with strap-iron tops remained in use. In March, 1836, a railroad to connect Mansfield with New Haven was chartered. A consolidation with the Monroeville and Sandusky City line followed, the gap between New Haven and Monroeville was filled and the road became continuous from Mansfield to Sandusky City, 54 miles, under the name of the Mansfield and Sandusky City Railroad. NEWARK'S FIRST RAILROAD REACHES LAKE ERIE The Columbus & Lake Erie Railroad was chartered March 12, 1845, and at length it was constructed between Newark and Mansfield, a distance of sixty-two• miles. When connected with the Mansfield & Sandusky City road it gave Newark direct access to the lake. The Huron & Oxford Railroad, extending a distance of eight miles from Huron to the Monroeville and Sandusky City Line, was chartered March 12, 1845. The three corporations were consolidated November 23, 1853, under the name of the Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark Railroad Company. - 75 - 6-VOL. 2 76 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO THAT OLD "WOODEN" RAILROAD The wooden roadbed of the first of the old railways has been thus described : A mudsill was laid down lengthwise, to which strong crossties were spiked. In "gains" cut into the ties the wooden rails were placed. The rails were about seven inches high, five inches wide at the top and broader at the base. A strip of hard wood lay on top of the rails, two and one-half inches wide and an inch thick and on top of this the iron strap rested, spikes penetrating the iron, the hard wood and the large rail. It is said that more than three times as much timber was thus used than is in the present system of ties. TOOK TWENTY YEARS TO GET THE FIRST RAILROAD About a year after the consolidation of the three companies the Columbus and Lake Erie line was finished. The enterprise had been agitated twenty years earlier, meetings in its behalf having taken place in 1834-5. It was a formidable task then—the population were too poor. Ten years later the road was chartered and after another decade came construction. But the company of consolidation was overtaken by financial ills too serious for a cure and on April 8, 1856, the Legislature passed an act intended to relieve stockholders and creditors. The Sandusky, Mansfield and Newark road was sold and the company was reorganized. Later, the Huron & Oxford line was abandoned and the rails were taken up. The future of the S. M. & N. road was secured when it was transferred to the Baltimore & Ohio Company February 13, 1869. NEWARK GETS PLACE ON A TRUNK LINE Newark's second railroad was the Central Ohio. Chartered February 8, 1847, to run from Columbus through Newark and Zanesville to such point 'on the Ohio River as its directors might select, it entered upon construction in June, 1850, between Columbus and Newark. This road also became insolvent and went into a receiver's hands in May, 1859. It was sold and reorganized in 1865. The "Pan Handle" road, now the Pennsylvania, had bought the undivided half of the thirty-three miles of road between Newark and Columbus for $775,000. The B. & O. Com- SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 77 pony took control of the Central Ohio property December 1, 1866. Three years later the B. & O. secured control of the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark road also and thus it was enabled to reach Lake Erie. Resolved to extend its line to Chicago, the directors built in 1873 the road from Chicago Junction to the great city on the lake—and gave Newark a trunk line. NEWARK'S THIRD RAILROAD BUILT This was the Steubenville & Indiana line. Chartered February 24, 1848, its directors began the work of construction on the eastern division in November, 1851. It was opened for traffic between Newark and Steubenville in April, 1855. The usual financial troubles set in against the new enterprise and Thomas L. Jewett was appointed receiver, September 2, 1859. By purchasing half of the Central Ohio's line between Newark and Columbus in 1864 he gave the road much needed western connections. The section of the road between Columbus and Pittsburgh was named the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad and on December 28, 1867, it was reorganized under the name of the Pan Handle. Upon completion it was leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad Company and has been operated by it ever since. In 1880 the company erected new freight and passenger stations at Newark. NEWARK'S FOURTH RAILROAD TAPS COAL FIELD The Straitsville Railroad was projected as early as 1854, the intention being to operate the road in connection with the Sandusky, Mansfield & Newark line. During nearly twenty years it was kept from fruition by numerous drawbacks and many of those in interest came to the conclusion that the project was dead. But after the close of the Civil war a Newark coal company at whose head were J. L. Birkey, William Shields, Lewis Evans and others secured control of extensive coal lands in Perry County. Needing transportation these men put new life into the Straitsville road project and the line was completed to that place in about 1875. The panic of '73 had defeated the coal project but the building of the road meant a great deal to Newark for the especial reason that it gave her people low priced coal. Soon after the road's completion the Baltimore & Ohio Company acquired it. 78 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO LAST RAILROAD MISSES COUNTY SEAT The Ohio Central Railroad was first called the Atlantic & Lake Erie Railroad and Thomas Ewing was its president. Projected in 1870 to connect Toledo and Pomeroy and to penetrate the Southeastern Ohio coal fields it was built in the early '80s, passing through the counties of Lucas, Wood, Seneca, Wyandot, Crawford, Marion, Morrow, Knox, Licking, Fairfield, Perry, Athens and Meigs. Entering Licking County near Licking Summit it follows the old canal to a point a few miles west of Newark and passes through Granville, Alexandria and Johnstown. It is now a part of the New York Central system. NEWARK'S FIRST STREET RAILWAY Altgeld, Clarke & Co., of Chicago, built a horse-car line to connect the Newark Cemetery with the fair ground and it went into operation May 12, 1888, its rolling stock consisting of four box cars twelve feet long. In the summer of 1889 Altgeld bought out his partners and added the Fourth Street line, the two lines having a length of five and one-eighth miles. On May 10, 1888, Benson Bidwell, Dr. Sedgwick, W. E. Miller, Waldo Taylor, J. W. Collins, W. H. Lane, J. S. Bradley, R. Scheidler, A. B. Clark, S. J. Davis, R. A. Cunningham, J. C. May-lone, H. C. Strong, J. W. Owens, Eli Hull, and Charles Kibler, Jr., incorporated a company for the purpose of constructing an electric line to extend from Newark to Granville and Miller, Taylor and Hull secured in donations and by the sale of stock and tickets the sum of $10,000. Judge Waldo Taylor was elected president of the company, P. S. Phillips vice president, F. Dickinson secretary and A. Clark Bane treasurer. Financial difficulties brought about reorganization on October 6, 1888, and other embarrassments followed. Track was laid from the power house to the Methodist Church, when, the funds failing, work ceased. But construction was resumed March 8, 1889, by August the rails were down to the canal bridge on Second Street and in March, 1890, the line was extended to Beuhler's. At this time R. Scheidler was elected president. ENTER ELECTRICITY, FAREWELL THE MULE On May 6, 1890, the Cleveland Construction Company contracted to complete the road to the fair ground and Granville for SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 79 $62,000 and the Sprague Company contracted to furnish three cars and a generator for $13,000. The road was then bonded, October 4, 1890, and the first car rolled up "the beautiful Cherry Valley" to Granville. It is said this was "the first electric road on record to carry Government mail" and that it was when built "the longest road of the kind in the world." In the summer of 1892 a completely equipped motor was installed. Meanwhile, the mules of the city line having been superseded by electricity, the electric line acquired the city line (April 7, 1892) at a cost of $100,000. B. G. Davis and associates bought the property from its original promoters, sold it to W. S. Wright, president of the Jewell Car Works, and associates and these sold it to Tucker, Anthony & Co. of Boston. The Boston parties had started to build the Columbus-Newark trolley line, whose title was the Columbus, Buckeye Lake & Newark Traction Co., and it was in operation when they acquired the Newark-Granville line. They organized the Columbus, Newark & Zanesville Electric Railway Co. and built the Newark-Zanesville Extension, when the C. N. & Z. Company absorbed the Newark-Granville road. The C. N. & Z. and the C. B. L. & N. were then consolidated and the Indianapolis, Columbus and Eastern Co. became owner. This company was in turn absorbed (in 1906) by The Ohio Electric Railway Co. The present operator is the Southern Ohio Public Service Co. This company operates the Columbus-Zanesville interurban line, which passes through Newark, but since about the close of 1926 its Newark city lines have been abandoned. This step originated in the growing use of motor cars, motor buses and trucks. When these greatly reduced the street car's revenue the company sought a new franchise carrying a higher fare and when the city council refused the increase the company ceased to operate. CHAPTER LXXXVIII LICKING'S SONS SERVED IN FIVE WARS FILLED FIVE COMPANIES IN THE WAR OF 'TWELVE AND DID NEARLY AS WELL AGAINST MEXICO-ALMOST 4,000 FOUGHT FOR THE UNION IN THE 'SIXTIES- SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL BUILDING BECAME LEMERT POST'S HOME-COUNTY FURNISHED ALL THE MEN CALLED FOR IN WAR WITH SPAIN AND THREE SCORE OF HER SONS LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES IN THE WORLD WAR. GOOD RECORD MADE IN 1812 When it is said that Licking County sent four companies of infantry and one of cavalry into the field against Great Britain and her Indian allies in 1812 strong evidence is given of her patriotism, for the county's population was light and her young men were exceedingly busy building homes and tilling the soil. Captains Rose, Davidson, Sutton and Spencer commanded the respective infantry companies. Capt. Bradley Buckingham recruited the mounted company, but First Lieut. John Sutton was its commander during the active service. DESCENDANTS PROUD OF RECORD MADE The Licking County volunteers joined Col. Lewis Cass' regiment, the Third Ohio, at Findlay. The troops reached Detroit in July, after a difficult march through the wilderness. When Hull surrendered his army to the British, the Licking County boys were in it, were paroled along with other Ohio troops and returned to their homes. "The descendants of these patriots now residing in Licking County," wrote a local historian in 1909, "point with pride to the achievements of their fathers who took such a creditable part in the establishment of the 'second independence of America'." Licking County's patriotism of 1812 was repeated in 1846 and took the form of furnishing the Government with two companies of infantry and one of cavalry for the campaigns against Mexico. - 81 - 82 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO The first infantry company, enlisted in May, 1846, proceeded to Camp Washington, near Cincinnati, under Capt. Richard Stadden, became Company H of the Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry and participated in the campaign on the Rio Grande route. Later Company H was at Camargo, at Marin, in the forced march of the command which reported to General Taylor, back to Buena Vista, was there until May 17, 1847, and was mustered out at New Orleans June 23 of that year. Two members of the company died of disease—Robert Wilkins and Harvey Courson; two were wounded—John Colvin and Jackson King, and one, Patrick McLaughlin, was captured. CHEERS FOR DEPARTING RANGERS Capt. John R. Duncan recruited the second company in May, 1847—Duncan's Mounted Rangers. Nearly every one of its hundred members furnished his own horse. Riding out of Newark May 27, with her people's cheers ringing in their ears, they reached Cincinnati, went aboard the Star Spangled Banner and reached New Orleans late in June. At the end of a week they went by steamer to the mouth of the Rio Grande and put in the whole of their service at Seralvo. Three men were lost through disease : Jacob Grear, John Smith and Harvey Stewart. Capt. Richard Stadden recruited the third company in August, 1847. Mustered in at Camp Wool as Company B of the Fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, it operated on the Vera Cruz route and was stationed at Puebla most of the time. It was mustered out at Cincinnati in October, 1848. Private Palmer, of Jacksontown, died on the Gulf of Mexico. LICKING IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION Flag of the free heart's hope and home, By angel hands to valor given! Thy stars have lit the welkin dome, And all thy hues were born in heaven. Forever float that standard sheet. Where breathes the foe but falls before us! With freedom's soil beneath our feet And freedom's banner streaming o'er us! —Drake. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 83 When it is stated that 3,160 Licking County volunteers were mustered into Civil war service for duty outside of the state; that 368 of her sons were drafted and that 404 of them were sent to the defense of Cincinnati, a total of 3,932, the only figures needed to prove the greatness of the county's response to calls of the Government are these : that her total enrollment of men fit for military service was 4,880 and that those who responded amounted to 80 per cent of the number enrolled. The high worth of the record is further enhanced by the fact that many Licking County soldiers served among those representing other counties and other states. Judge Samuel M. Hunter has left us a vivid picture of the departure for the seat of war of Licking's first volunteers : WHEN JOHNNY WENT MARCHING AWAY "How well we remember when Captain McDougal's company of the old Third Ohio, the first gift of Licking County to the Union, marched down Third Street that chill April morning forty-six years ago! Sumter had been fired upon and the rebellion had been inaugurated. Who does not remember the solemn faces and streaming eyes of the people as that little column filed down the street to take their place in the army of the Union? I see before me today faces and forms who were in that devoted band. It was they who were plunging into the great unknown; it was they who enlisted under the banner of a nation which had long been unused to war. They were the first—but they were quickly followed by other companies and regiments which marched down the same street and took their places in the army of the Union." THEY FOUGHT WELL THROUGH THE WAR Judge Hunter recalled how some of the lads who saw their fathers and brothers march away followed them to the front, so prolonged was the conflict; how the calls for such service were repeated and nobly answered ; what sacrifices were made, what precious lives were lost ; and he paid this eloquent tribute to the character of the service rendered by the valiant men of Licking : "Her sons have fought and her blood has been poured out on nearly a hundred battlefields, from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. And in all that struggle this county has never been 84 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO called upon to blush for their honor nor to share in their dishonor. Her sons have felt the scorching fires of Manassas; they joined in the wild cry of victory at Fort Donelson ; they helped win and wear the laurels at the siege of Vicksburg; they stood the brunt of the battle under the low-spreading branches of the forest of Shiloh; they fought among the clouds of Lookout Mountain; they pined and wasted in the prisons of the South; their blood has dampened the soil all over Virginia and with Sherman they `marched down to the sea'." M'DOUGAL'S WIDEAWAKES TRUE TO NAME That first company which Judge Hunter praised, H of the Third Ohio, was made up largely of "Wideawakes," those young Newark men who had been drilling, in anticipation of a call to arms, in an upper story of a Third Street building. They wore capes and bore torches in their street parades. "Almost to a man," says Brister, "these men enlisted and marched away under their gallant leader," Capt. Leonidas McDougal, who had captained the Wideawakes. Company H's first lieutenant was Leroy S. Bell. Its members were mustered into the Third Ohio June 13, 1861. The second company recruited at Newark, E of the Twelfth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was mustered into the service, June 22, under Capt. Andrew Legg; John C. Wallace was its second lieutenant. It proceeded first to Camp Dennison. Company D, mustered into the Twenty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, was recruited in the western part of the county by Homer Thrall, who became its captain. At first it had been assigned to a regiment raised for Fremont's Missouri department but in July, 1862, the secretary of war transferred the regiment, before known as the Thirteenth Missouri, to the state of Ohio, when it became the Twenty-second Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Company D's first lieutenant was George W. Asher; its second lieutenant, Albert G. Dinsmore. THREE MORE COMPANIES VOLUNTEER In the summer of 1861 Edwin Nichols recruited a company which was mustered in during August as C of the Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry. Nichols was its captain and George B. Upham, of Newark, its first lieutenant. Company G, which was assigned to the Thirty-first Ohio Vol- SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 85 unteer Infantry, had also been recruited in the first summer of the war. John H. Putnam, who had undertaken the work, became the company's captain. The regiment reported to Gen. 0. M. Mitchell, at Cincinnati, in September, proceeded to Camp Dick Robinson, Kentucky, October 2, and was thoroughly drilled. Ordered to reinforce General Thomas at Mill Springs, it reached that point too late to assist. Company G's first and second lieutenants were John H. McCune and Edward Ewing, respectively. Company G of the Forty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry was the second company raised in western Licking. Mustered in on October 16 it did not leave for Camp Chase until February 18, 1862. It was later attached to General Sherman's division at Paducah, Kentucky. Philip A. Crow, who had recruited the company, became its captain, Charles E. Taylor its first lieutenant and Hiram B. Wilson its second lieutenant. A REGIMENT OF LICKING VOLUNTEERS President Lincoln's second call for troops impressed Licking County patriots with the need for local recruiting action on a larger scale. Company after company had been raised with due speed but now it was time to raise a regiment and the work went forward. By October, 1861, eight companies had been recruited and they were assigned to the Seventy-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infantry for three years' service. This organization became known as the "Licking County Regiment." Brister says that "in the field it was poetically termed the 'Licking Volunteers,' earning its title from the fact that it never turned its back to the foe and all through its long and eventful service fortunately shared with the winning side many of the grandest victories of the war." RECRUITING GREW APACE In the foregoing paragraphs Licking County's support of the Union cause during the first year of the war has been set forth with considerable detail. It would give the writer genuine pleasure to record with equal fullness the origin and service of the troops furnished by the county during the war years which followed, but the scope of this work renders the same impracticable. As has been said, recruiting continued with full credit to the county. Company followed company until nearly 4,000 of her men were sent to the front. Among the detachments which took 86 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO their place in the ranks was one including a considerable number of colored men who enlisted in the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, later the Fifth Colored, United States Army. These boys saw fighting service under General Butler and a number of them were killed and wounded. The service of Johnny Clem, the "Drummer Boy of Shiloh," a native of Newark, will be related on another page. PRAISE DUE THE SQUIRREL HUNTERS Historian Brister declared that the war records would be incomplete without recognition of those sons of Licking who had suspended important affairs at home, shouldered their rifles and marched forth "without uniform or tactics." And he added : "When Cincinnati was threatened in September, 1862, by the rebel Gen. Kirby Smith, Governor Tod called upon the state to furnish instantly, for a short term of service, all companies or squads of men and individuals who would volunteer for the defense of the state." And Brister quotes from some writer the paragraph which follows : "Throughout the interior church and fire bells rang ; mounted men galloped through the neighborhoods to spread the alarm ; there was hasty cleaning of rifles and moulding of bullets and filling of powder horns and mustering at the villages; and every city-bound train was burdened with the host." Four hundred and four of these "squirrel hunters"—merchants, clerks, lawyers, farmers, etc.—went from Licking County to Cincinnati, crossed the Ohio to Kentucky and garrisoned the works which had been thrown up there. Lithographic discharge papers were delivered to the Squirrel Hunters after their return home, the danger being over. LEMERT POST, GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC A charter for this post was issued from Ohio G. A. R. headquarters at Toledo, Ohio, May 14, 1881. The post was named in honor of Captain Lemert, a Licking County veteran whose life went out on a southern battlefield; its first commander was Capt. James W. Owens, who later served the Licking district in Congress; and its charter members were : William C. Lyon, George W. Chase, A. E. Magoffin, J. R. Kingston, J. Worting, M. D., John Tenney, James W. Brown, H. P. Courtier, F. O. Jacobs, SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 87 M. D., Loyal U. Clouse, George H. Boggs, Charles D. Miller, John D. Vance, Ezra McConnell, N. S. Finnegan, D. J. Jones, Ezra H. Smith, Franklin Wise, Edwin Nichols. LICKING COUNTY SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION At a meeting held in January, 1891, the subject of forming such a body was first taken up. In due time the name which heads this paragraph was adopted and an association formed under it. The latter secured (April 9, 1891) from the General Assembly, authority to submit to voters a proposition to tax city (Newark) and township to the extent of $50,000 for the purchase of a site and the erection of a soldiers' memorial building thereon. The voters favored the tax and the common pleas court appointed as trustees : Jonathan Reese, L. P. Schaus, Samuel Hamilton, J. R. Davies, William S. Thacker, John Heiser and Richard Shide. The building was dedicated by Lemert Post March 13. 1895, the beautiful rooms being alive with the veterans, their families and friends. The Memorial Auditorium Theater Building was the scene of the exercises as the result of the memorial association's efforts. Its third floor was set aside entirely as the home of the G. A. R. with provisions for a lodge room, a committee room, a relic room and banquet hall, kitchen, pantry, etc. Only about forty members of Lemert Post remain. LICKING COUNTY IN THE WAR WITH SPAIN Whatever the general government had asked from this county in the spring of 1898 would have been as freely granted as was the support rendered in 1812, 1846 and 1861. Every man the Government would accept was furnished. When the United States declared war on Spain Newark had two military companies : Battery G, First Regiment Land Artillery, Ohio National Guard, and Company G, Seventeenth Infantry, Ohio National Guard. Hebron had Company K, Seventeenth Infantry, Ohio National Guard. Hebron men who were field and staff officers of the Seventeenth Regiment were : Lieut.-Col. H. D. Burch; Assistant Surgeon R. M. Bonar ; Chaplain J. M. Life. Newark's quota of officers included : Maj. Walter A. Irvine; Assistant Surgeon W. C. Rank; Lieut. I. Milton Phillips, battalion adjutant. 88 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO OFFICERS RENDER GOOD SERVICE The two companies of infantry with their officers assembled April 25 and next day joined their regiment at Chillicothe. Later they were transferred to Camp Bushnell, at Columbus, and were mustered into the United States service. Battery G was also ordered to report at Columbus. There the Seventeenth became the Seventh Regiment. Brister has the following to say of its officers : "For reasons not unconnected with regimental 'politics' Doctor Rank was dropped by the colonel commanding and thus the regiment lost probably the best medical officer it had ever had at the very time that his services were most needed. Lieutenant Phillips was suffering from physical injuries received while on duty with the Ohio National Guard and for that reason was not mustered. Lieutenant Phillips, an officer of distinguished ability, and a veteran in service in the guard, was retained on duty at Camp Bushnell and together with Maj. R. M. Davidson, Seventeenth Regiment, Ohio National Guard (retired), rendered valuable service during the mobilization of the state quota, including the second call in June." The officers of Company G were : Captain, Elmer Blizzard, later major of the Fourth Regiment, Ohio National Guard; first lieutenant, Carlos B. Allen ; second lieutenant, G. Cary Crawford. Company K's officers were : Captain, James Milhouse ; first lieutenant, Edward L. Jones; second lieutenant, Stamper Andrews. The military companies were sent in mid-May to Camp Alger,. Virginia, whence they departed September 1 for Camp Meade, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. On October 1 they returned to Columbus, were given a thirty-day furlough and were mustered out with the regiment November 6, 1898. Battery G, mustered in at Columbus, proceeded to Chickamauga and returned to Columbus, where it was mustered out. about October 1. Its officers were : Captain, William C. Miller; first lieutenant, Charles Sowersby ; second lieutenants, Frank. Symonds and Charles Kellenberger. IN THE WORLD WAR Licking County has a good record, according to her population, in comparison with the other counties of Ohio in numbers, speed. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 89 and loyalty with which the flower of her young manhood responded to the country's need. The call of President Wilson reached Licking County June 5, 1917, but not before a number of young Licking County men had gone to Canada and enlisted under the flag of Great Britain. They were lost to the records in the American service. The call to military service brought in 4,700 young men. Of that number, 1,900 were excused from duty by the examining board, for the causes which were outlined in the war plan. Many were engaged in pursuits deemed necessary and vital in the making of war supplies, the production of food supplies, and in the great railways which were soon to be worked to the limit in transporting men, food, clothing, arms and ammunition. A few were excused for physical defects, as the Government was exacting. The examining board of Licking County was three in number, Messrs. A. A. Stasel, W. C. Symons and Dr. W. H. Knauss, the present health officer of the city of Newark. The first two named have died since the war. The examination of the recruits was made in a room provided in the county courthouse. The medical men of the county rendered excellent service by making examinations before the board, and all worked without remuneration. The common dangers of the war and the community of interest in the welfare of each resulted shortly after the war, in the movement known as the American Legion, and Newark Post No. 85, with fifteen members, was chartered in October, 1919, establishing its quarters and fine club rooms in the second story of the Soldiers' and Sailors' Memorial Building at the northeast corner of the square, Newark, Ohio. It has grown to a membership of 300, and is growing rapidly. About the same time the ladies' auxiliary was formed, and now has eighty-five members. The present post commander is Neal Caldwell, and the presiding officer in the auxiliary is Mrs. Norris Taylor. LICKING'S DEATH TOLL IN THE WORLD WAR It was a heavy sacrifice, as the following list of those who died in action or from wounds received will show : Andrews, Charles F., Newark, October 14, 1918. Baughman, Hemery C., Johnstown, October 3, 1918. 90 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO Beckholt, Edward C., Utica, September 29, 1918. Berkshire, James E., Newark, November 7, 1918. Bibler, Charles M., Etna, October 9, 1918. Bonham, Jesse F., Newark, January 15, 1918. Brown, Samuel W., Newark, March 10, 1918. Brown, William E., Hebron, October 4, 1918. Buxton, Hugh M., Croton, February 26, 1918. Campbell, Frank H., Newark, October 6, 1918. Connor, Eugene, Newark, October 19, 1918. Coyne, George A., Newark, October 17, 1918. Crawford, Orville I., Hebron, April 11, 1918. Drake, George E., Newark, August 7, 1918. Erswine, Russell C., Etna, September 27, 1918. Evans, Homer, Croton, April 18, 1918. Fergus, Frank C., Newark, July 19, 1918. Frush, Walter G., Thornesville, October 9, 1918. Hintz, Carl J., Newark, January 23, 1919. Hite, Virgil O., Granville, October 26, 1918. Hottinger, Homer, Newark, October 13, 1918. Hottinger, Zennie, Granville, October 12, 1918. Hurtsey, Ross A., Gratiot, October 12, 1918. Hyatt, James A., Johnstown, September 12, 1918. Jones, John K., Newark, April 27, 1918. Knisley, Hugh, Utica, October 5, 1918. Koontz, Ralph G., St. Louisville, April 22, 1919. Korzenborn, F. W., Newark, October 14, 1918. Lamp, Ellis L., Newark, November 17, 1918. Lewis, Walter W., Johnstown, October 25, 1918. Lieber, Ernst T., Newark, March 2, 1919. Lightner, Lawrence, Utica, November 16, 1918. Livingston, Clyde D., Newark, November 22, 1918. Mathis, Wyvill L., Johnstown, May 9, 1918. Mazey, Clark, Newark, November 5, 1918. McCurdy, William J., Newark, October 25, 1918. McNight, Stanley S., Newark, October 29, 1918. Meckley, Homer C., Newark, October 9, 1918. Metheny, Enzley J., Newark, September 14, 1917. Miller, Thomas O., Newark, November 4, 1918. Moose, Roy J., Outville, March 9, 1919. Morgan, Leroy C., Pataskala, October 4, 1918. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 91 Pop, Isadore, Newark, July 29, 1918. Pound, Lee O., Newark, October 3, 1918. Repede, Toma, Newark, February 12, 1918. Richardson, Forest H., Newark, October 9, 1918. Roney, Dwight M., Newark, October 1, 1918. Rostofer, Samuel, Kirkersville, October 16, 1918. Scott, Orville G., Utica, October 2, 1918. Serrett, George B., St. Louisville, October 5, 1918. Smith, Charles E., Newark, November 28, 1918. Sturman, Rollo B., Newark, October 1, 1918. Taylor, Harvey, Newark, July 23, 1918. Thompson, George O., Hebron, October 8, 1919. Varney, Irven S., Newark, October 7, 1918. Wheeler, James G., Newark, October 4, 1918. Wheeler, Marion O., Newark, September 29, 1918. White, Earl T., Newark, October 10, 1918. Williams, Cecil R., Newark, October 13, 1918. Williams, Thurman E., Alexandria, April 4, 1918. Woolard, Wilmer A., Buckeye Lake, October 5, 1918. The foregoing list is taken from C. B. Galbreath's recently published History of Ohio, with his permission which is gratefully acknowledged. 7-VOL. 2 CHAPTER LXXXIX OIL AND GAS DEVELOPMENT IN LICKING COUNTY FIRST WELL DRILLED IN THE MIDDLE 'EIGHTIES-A YEAR LATER A WELL WAS SUNK ON THE EVERETT GLASS COMPANY'S PROPERTY-EVERETT, WEHRLE AND HEISEY BECAME ACTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL PROJECTORS -HOMER FIELD A HEAVY PRODUCER OF GAS-DRILLERS TURNED FROM GAS TO OIL AND BY 1925 LICKING WAS A FAMOUS OIL TERRITORY-COUNTY HAS OVER 1,300 WELLS-TWO OIL REFINERIES NEAR NEWARK. The county's first well was drilled along the western border of Newark probably in 1885, old-style pole tools being used. These and the 265 feet of drift made progress slow. The Berea sand yielded a showing of gas but when the drill was sent through 900 feet of the underlying shales no better results followed. In October, 1886, another well was sunk on the Everett Glass Company's property. When the drill reached a depth of 2,240 feet a heavy flow of brine ensued and the driller abandoned the well. Drilling was later renewed and at a depth of 2,385 feet a small flow of gas came. The wells appeared to indicate the existence of a field and a third well was sunk, yielding a flow of perhaps 300,000 cubic feet of gas a day, and a pipe was laid to the Everett Glass Company's plant. Other drillings followed apace and by 1889, with the plant's supply apparently assured, it was deemed safe to pipe the city. But the largest of these wells yielding only about 1,000,000 cubic feet a day the supply did not equal the demand in the winter of 1889-90. Drilling therefore went on and during the fifteen years which followed about twenty-four wells were sunk in Newark's vicinity, a fourth of which were dry. Later, a strip of territory between the city and Thurston was developed and some producers came in but by 1901 only two of them were flowing and these were small. Supplies were next obtained from the Sugar Grove field. On August 19, 1902, The Peoples Natural and Artificial Gaslight & Fuel Company received the right to pipe Newark. - 93 - 94 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO THE THURSTON FIELD, FAIRFIELD COUNTY The first well was drilled here in the spring of 1888 on the Brush farm near the railway station and it yielded gas enough to encourage further drilling. A well sunk a mile farther east came in with large production. It was reported to have had a closed pressure of 700 pounds and an open flow of 7,000,000 cubic feet of gas in twenty-four hours. Rapid development of the field followed and by the summer of 1889 production seemed to warrant the laying of a pipe to Columbus. This was done and by December of that year a ten-inch line was in position, the Capital City receiving its first supply in January, 1890. The factories being heavy users, it was found necessary to refuse them service, and by January 15, 1891, the Thurston field could supply very little of the Columbus demand. By 1902 all but two of the Thurston wells were dead. The Thurston field is in Fairfield County, but its nearness to the Licking County line lends interest to the story of its activities. THE HOMER FIELD Its first well was drilled in July, 1900, with production reported at a million cubic feet of gas a day. Other drillings followed with similar results and later better wells came in. In 1902 development was active ; few dry wells were encountered, some yielding 4,000,000 cubic feet a day per well. A producer of promising proportions came in (1902) on the Hunter farm, in Miller Township, Knox County, with an initial flow of 12,000,000 cubic feet a day. In December another well in the same section yielded 9,000,000 cubic feet and in January of 1903 a producer to the extent of 11,000,000 cubic feet a day, came in in the southwest corner of the same section. PRESENT AND FUTURE OF OIL AND GAS When asked about this, Henry C. Cochran, experienced Newark newspaper man who is well informed as to matters relating to Licking County's past, responded with the following interesting and comprehensive oil and gas summary : The gas and oil development in the Licking County field really dates from the late '80s of the last century when a well was drilled in a primitive way by the late John Blair. It was located south SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 95 of Granville road, near the western corporation line of the City of Newark. With some surface gas the well was drilled to about 400 feet when a strong pressure of water was encountered and the "gas well" was off with the early appliances for deep well drilling for a time. A park was maintained about the great fountain which bubbled a little gas. As yet Licking County was not under suspicion as an oil field but in the early '90s Edward H. Everett, then at the head of the glass-making industry here, later president of the American Glass Company and now one of the larger producers of oil in the United States, with interests in many of the large oil and gas fields of the United States, began development of the local gas field in an effort to supply fuel for his industries. A local company was formed with Mr. Everett as the guiding spirit and a well was started on his factory site in the north part of the city. The well did not reach the Clinton sands, the great oil and gas producer of the field. The little company ran short of funds, and all participants but Mr. Everett lost faith, though a celebrated geologist of the time had said that gas would be found here but that it would require the "dollar and the drill" to locate the gas. THE WEHRLES AND HEISEY ACTIVE Mr. Everett finished the well by modern methods and secured a good well. His next return was a well on the George N. Havens farm, south of Newark City. It came in strong and his lead was followed by scores of individuals and companies and two great producers developed on the ground. The brothers, William W. Wehrle and August T. Wehrle, formed the Wehrle Company and A. H. Heisey, then building the great glass factory in the east side, promoted the A. H. Heisey Co. Both made immense leasings and extensive development which was added to greatly by foreign companies coming into this field. In Washington Township local interests so developed that local field that two large glass-making plants were built, dependent entirely on the local gas supply, which was ample to meet all local demands and a surplus, which was marketed through rapidly-developing channels. At about the beginning of the present century the Licking County gas field was nearing its era of greater production. In the last fifteen years the product of the Licking County field has fallen off and consumers in Licking 96 - SOUTHEASTERN OHIO County in 1927 are using a supply of gas largely recruited from the more recently developed fields in West Virginia. GAS PRODUCTION HALTS, OIL GROWS To be brief, the gas-well development determined to some extent the boundaries of the great oil field now in the midst of its history. Most of the companies named in the natural gas industry find consolation as well as profits in turning from the hunt for gas to that of oil though much of the gas field is yet to be developed and a well finished at the present time finds at once a ready and willing market in one of the many pipe lines traversing the area of production. In the development in this field the three recognized oil-bearing sands have been tapped : the Berea or shallow sand, at about 500 feet; the Clinton sand at about 3,000 feet ; and there are four producers and two dry holes in the Trenton or deep sands. The Clinton sand was the greater producer in gas and oil in this field. The Berea sand has yielded many hundreds of paying wells, largely to the Wehrle Company, although there are a number of small companies developing in the Berea sand. The development of the Trenton sands is practically at a standstill at present. The immense cost of finishing a near 5,000-foot well is prohibitive to the smaller operators. Much of the known Berea and Clinton territory will in the future be drilled deeper, to the Trenton sand, which was discovered here by the Wehrle Company and much of the known Trenton field is owned by or is under lease to the latter. TWO REFINING PLANTS Government statistics issued for the year 1925 show that at that time the Licking County field had produced more oil than any similar area in the United States. The immense production of oil has caused to be erected in the last decade two large oil refining plants near the City of Newark. The Pure Oil Company plant is located at Heath, just west of Newark and on the Baltimore and Ohio, the Pennsylvania and the New York Central roads. The Stellar Refining Company has located its plant just east of the city and along the Pennsylvania railway. Both are connected with the pipe lines for producing territory and both receive in tank cars the smaller product from small and isolated fields. SOUTHEASTERN OHIO - 97 The Licking County oil field is still in prospect for future development. Recent statistics show that four or five townships of the county have produced the major part of the entire output. The following recent tabulation shows the location of the wells by townships. Mr. Cochran's oil and gas story concludes with the following. enlightening statistics: COUNTY HAS 1,353 OIL AND GAS WELLS Newton, Madison, Franklin and Hopewell townships claim nearly 600 wells. Five townships have neither oil nor gas wells, as the list reveals: Newton Township 162 Madison Township 125 Burlington Township 29 Bennington Township 8 Hartford Township 0 Monroe Township 0 Washington Township 41 Granville Township 55 McKean Township 30 Fallsbury Township 80 Franklin Township 190 Eden Township 28 Perry Township 62 Licking Township 76 Jersey Township 0 St. Albans 15 Liberty Township 34 Mary Ann Township 9 Lima Township 0 Hanover Township 93 Hopewell Township 104 Etna Township 0 Bowling-Green Township 65 Union Township 49 Newark Township 91 Harrison Township 7 Total 1,353 CHAPTER XC A CHAPTER OF LICKING COUNTY BIOGRAPHY ATTORNEY B. G. SMYTHE LISTS MANY OF THE COUNTY'S DISTINGUISHED SONS-INCLUDED THEREIN ARE THOSE WHO HAVE ADORNED THE BENCH AND BAR-OTHERS SERVED THEIR COUNTRY ON THE BATTLEFIELD-GENERAL WILLIAM C. SCHENCK, THE FOUNDER OF NEWARK, ALSO ITS BENEFACTOR-JOHNNY CLEM A NATIVE OF LICKING. Knowing that B. G. Smythe, well known Newark attorney, is deeply versed in Licking County history, we asked him to favor this work with brief biographical sketches of the county's distinguished dead. At that time Attorney Smythe was contributing historical articles to the Newark Advocate and American Tribune, and taking some of these which were of the character desired, he added others to the quota and sent them all in. In this way they will have done double duty when printed in this volume. Subscribers to this work will have them preserved in permanent form and ready for speedy reference. They preserve rich local biography while affording the reader pleasure, so admirable are they in scope and composition. The contribution follows : LICKING'S DISTINGUISHED SONS, DECEASED By B. G. Smythe Licking County has produced many distinguished sons, and a few distinguished daughters. The writer has had personal association with some of the really great men who were of the county native and adopted sons. Gen. William C. Schenck should be recognized as the father of Newark, and a benefactor of Licking County. He was a general in the War of 1812, and a civil engineer of acknowledged ability. He laid out the Town of Newark, in 1802, with its park and broad streets. Newark, at that time, was a part of the great - 99 -