(RETURN TO THE TITLE PAGE) HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 349 PICTURE OF MAIN STREET, DURING “EAGLE” CARNIVAL OF 1905 350 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY Cardington has some as fine streets as can be found in any town, no matter what the size may be. The principal thoroughfares are paved with brick, and the residents of all streets take an especial interest in developing the beautiful side of the town. The sidewalks are of sawed stone, six feet wide over much of the residence section, and in every way the place has the best in the way of. improvements. The park is the latest attempt of the town towards civic beauty. A few years ago a swampy grove between Depot street and the railroad, and- extending on both sides of the depot, was filled with dirt, walks made, band-stand erected, seats purchased, flower beds made, several cages of native animals purchased, and the place made a pleasant one for rest and recreation. In a log cabin in the park are many relics of. Morrow county pioneer days. Much of the credit for the park is due to the present mayor, Henry Retter. The Olentangy river at Cardington is noted for its scenic beauty. For a mile through and above the town a concrete dam furnishes water for excellent boating and bathing, while a high bank, well wooded, protects the pleasure seeker from the sun and makes it as fine a place for these enjoyments as can be found anywhere. The fraternal and social side of Cardington is well sustained. The Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, Maccabees, Royal Arcanum, Grand Army and Eagles are well represented and have flourishing organizations, and a lodge of Modern Woodmen is about to be instituted. These with the Order of the Eastern Star, Rebekahs, Pythian Sisters and Lady Maccabees carry forward the work of charity and good friendship that is the aim of the orders. The social clubs flourish and add much to the pleasures of the town. The work of the Current Topics Club is literary and it has for six years belonged to the Federated Women's Clubs of the state. Its membership is limited to thirty-six and the programs for the year are made out and printed in advance. The Ladies' Musical Club has been in existence two years. Its membership includes forty of the musically inclined residents" of the town, and it also has each year's program made out and printed at the beginning of the year. There are many other clubs, purely social. The physicians of Cardington rank with the best and their practice extends over a wide scope of surrounding territory. They are : Drs. H. S. Green and W. D. Moccabee, Dr. C. H. Neal, Dr. Florence Smith-White and Dr. E. C. Sherman. Dr. Moccabee is coroner of the county: The two veterinary surgeons, Dr. J. T. Molison and Dr. F. F. Griffin, both have automobiles and respond to calls as far as twenty miles away. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 351 The Ladies' Public Library was established about twenty-five years ago, and has always been controlled by women, who have made it a success. That the effort to have a library here is appreciated is shown by the manner in which the citizens have supported it and have come to its help, when help has been needed. It has always been the desire of the association and friends to have an established home and they are looking forward to the day when some liberal, public-minded citizen will make such a thing possible The members of the association try to give the reading public the best and newest books that it possibly can with the limited amount of money it has to command. The library room over the Independent office is very pleasant and open to the public every Saturday afternoon. It is to the credit of Cardington that in this respect it is in the front, for no other town of its size in the state posseses a library. Cardington has never had but one newspaper, now known as the Morrow County Independent and published by W. R. Conaway, who was reared at Caledonia, but came to Cardington and, with W. E. Hull, took the paper June 1, 1897. On December 1, 1908, he purchased his partner's interest and has since been sole proprietor. The Independent has a plant up-to-date and complete in every way for publishing a newspaper and doing all kinds of printing. The plant is composed entirely of new equipment and includes the only typesetting machine in the county, a Junior linotype, which has been in operation five years. There seems to be no history of its early years, but so far as the writer can learn the Independent has in its lifetime had five different names, although it is now in its fortieth year as the Independent. Charles Maxwell established it as the Carding-ton Flag in 1856. A copy of the twenty-fifth issue on file at the Park Museum is dated October 30, 1856, and gives G. D. Hastings as proprietor. The second year of its publication it was called the Morrow County Herald. During the exciting period of the war its editor was D. B. Holcomb and he had many thrilling experiences with some of those who did not agree with his views. His office was upstairs in the rooms now occupied by the Buckingham garage, and on one occasion he threw a man named Jones, from Harmony township, out of the window and to the alley below. In 1864 it was published by W. F. Wallace and brother. In September, 1865, it was changed to the Cardington Reveille and C. B. Lindsey was then its editor. In 1867 it appeared as the Cardington Republican, with Ed James as editor. A few years 352 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY later it was called the Cardington Independent, an issue of March 18, 1875, bearing that name, with S. Brown as editor. During the later seventies and early eighties W. S. Ensign was publisher. He sold in 1887 to the Neal Brothers, Johnson and E. E., who published it until the death of the former, when E. E. Neal was proprietor until selling, in 1897, to Hull and Conaway. CHAPTER XVIII. CHESTER AND SOUTH BLOOMFIELD. FIRST SETTLERS OF CHESTER-THE CHESTER SETTLEMENT-FIRST MILLS IN THE TOWNSHIP-CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS-CHESTERVILLE-FIRST CHURCHES- CHESTERVILLE (MILES' CROSS ROADS) FOUNDED-SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP- SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES-SPARTA OF THE PRESENT-METHODIST AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES- SPARTA OF THE PAST-BLOOMFIELD. It was the splendid opportunity given to the poor man that induced the people of the eastern states to turn their eyes toward the great west, where they might find homes for themselves and their little ones ; where they might sit under their own vine and fig tree and see the sun of their life's evening peacefully sink in the western sky. So the people who first settled Morrow county and Chester township were in the end happy and contented, and surely they ought to have been, as they were surrounded by fertile farms and fruitful orchards ; blessed with a climate carrying sunshine enough for song and snow enough for courage ; and, indeed, possessed of everything essential for a rural life of peace and content. At the close of the War of 1812, the Indians, having been temporarily restrained, came back to their old haunts. The valley of Owl creek had been a favorite hunting ground from their earliest traditions, and they regretted their departure from it, which they saw must be in the near future. The trail which led down from the Sandusky plains to Mt. Vernon passed through Chester township and brought a large number of savages to this settlement on their way to the latter point for trading purposes. In their migrations they traveled with a few ponies that carried their household belongings. Upon reaching a camping spot, the women unloaded the ponies, turning them loose with bells attached to their headstalls, and, while the women prepared the fire, the men went among the cabins to beg or trade. Chester township was - 353 - 354 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY favorite place for them to camp, and they would remain for days. hunting and trading. They seemed to have a high appreciation of the white woman's cooking, and they were constant beggars.. FIRST WHITES OF CHESTER. The land in Chester township at the time of the arrival of the pioneers was all that they could have desired for the establishment of their homes. A dense forest of heavy timber covered the entire township. Streams reached out in every direction, which afforded drainage for the land and water for the stock, besides affording ample power for the industries so necessary to pioneer life. Chester township was surveyed by Joseph Vance, in 1807, and the first settler came close upon his track, erecting his cabin in 1808. The township was first organized by the commissioners of Knox county as a part of Wayne township, one of the four divisions into which that county was formed at its organization. In 1812 Chester, including the township of Franklin, was set off as an independent fraction of the county, its name being suggested by some of the earliest settlers, who were natives of Chester, in the county of the same name in Pennsylvania. In 1823 Franklin was set off and Chester was left in its present shape, five miles square, its lines coinciding with township 5, range 17, of the United States military survey. It is bounded on the north by Franklin, east by Knox county, south by South Bloomfield, and west by Harmony. The middle branch of Owl creek which enters 11w township at the northwest corner, and the south branch of the same stream, which enters a little further south, join just a little further southwest of the village of Chesterville, forming the main body of Owl creek, which passes the eastern boundary of the township a little north of the middle line. Streams from either side drain the land, and furnish during the larger part of the year a plentiful supply of water for stock. The timber consists of a heavy growth of black walnut, maple, buckeye and cherry, with a lesser quanity of ash, elm, oak and beech. The soil, generally, is a rich loam, mixed with a limestone gravel, a combination that furnishes an almost inexhaustible resource for grain raising. The first settlement within the present limits of Chester was made by the original holder of a. military land warrant, in 1808. Evan Holt, a native of Wales, but a long resident of Chester county, HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 355 Pennsylvania, had served six years in the Revolutionary army, and, receiving a warrant for his services, moved on to his land as soon as surveyed by the government. His claim was situated near the central part of the township, on a fine stream of water, and is now owned by Joseph Trowbridge. Although he lived nearly two-score years upon this place and raised a large family that settled about him, but little is remembered of him by those now living in the township. He was an earnest, conscientious man, and commanded the respect of his fellow-townsmen In April, 1812, the community in this section received another accession of Welsh people in the family of Edward 'Evans, who bought the traditional plat of fifty acres of David Jones, situated about two miles and a half south of the present site of Chesterville. Preceding him had come James Irwin and Peter Rust, from Pennsylvania; Joseph Howard, from West Virginia ; Lewis Johnson, Rufus Dodd and John Kinney, and settled in this vicinity. In November of 1812 the family of James McCracken came from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and bought one hundred and sixty acres about a mile and a quarter south of Chesterville, on the Sparta road. He was induced to come to Chester, through the persuasion of Miller. A married daughter of the latter, who had been to Ohio on a visit to her parents, in a casual conversation mentioned a neighbor in Fayette county, who was looking for an eligible country to which he could move. Her father at once called her attention to a fine piece of property, located near him, and told her to inform Mr. McCracken of its advantages. On her return she performed her errand so well, that her neighbor at once set about his preparations for leaving for the Ohio lands. He was without a team, however, and, informing Miller that this was the only obstacle that prevented his coming, the latter at once proceeded to Pennsylvania, with his team, to bring him home. During his absence, the difficulties that had been brewing between England and the States, culminated in the declaration of war. The Miller family living in an isolated place naturally became alarmed, and Mrs. Miller took her little family to the block house at Mount Vernon. A block house was early built across the road from Rush's mill, and thither, upon occasions of alarm, the larger part of the community repaired. Mr. Miller, returning with Mr. McCracken and his goods, found his family at Mount Vernon. They arrived in Chester in November and never left their homes again for protection. Mr. McCracken built a cabin on his property, leaving his family at Miller's cabin until his own was finished, 356 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY and afterwards during the period of the war, his family slept there for their mutual protection in case of actual danger. These families, thus closely associated for their mutual protection, were destined to be more strongly united through the marriage of William McCracken with a daughter of Mr. Miller, some years later. Among those who came during the war, and just after, were Joseph, William and Uriah Denman. This family settled near Chesterville, and were prominent in all enterprises affecting the interests of the new community. Some years later came John Stilley, whose family was the first to explore this region. His uncle was early captured by the Indians and taken through this section, and, attracted by the beauties of the country, came back after he was liberated and settled near Mount Vernon. THE CHESTER SETTLEMENT. The Chester settlement was one of the earliest in Knox county. The first one was made not far from 1803 ; two years later, Mount Vernon was named, and in 1808 Evan Holt moved on his claim, and John Walker on his purchase, within the present limits of Chester. The growth of Mount Vernon, situated on a fine stream, and more remote from the frontier, was far more vigorous in its earlier years than could be expected of this settlement, and soon furnished the principal store, mill and post office for the surrounding settlements less advantageously placed. Both settlements, at first, were obliged to patronize the same mill, situated some twelve or fifteen miles below Mount Vernon with a large advantage, in point of distance,. in favor of the latter place. Going to mill was a very serious business to the settlement of Chester. The journey was some twenty-five or thirty miles, and with delays incident to the crudeness of the machinery two or three days were lost. The meal was but little more than cracker corn, and served after sifting through a pan punched with holes, one part as hominy, and the other as flour for bread. This waste of time was saved, to some extent, by sending the boys to mill. As soon as they were able to balance a bag of corn on a horse's back they were made to do this duty, thus gaining their first introduction to the life of a pioneer. The popular phrase of "sending a boy to mill," expressive of the inadequacy of means to ends, probably originated in the incidents growing out of their misadventures at these times. John Meredith related that at one time when coming home from mill, the horse on which he rode ran against a tree and broke a HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 357 hole in the bag, causing a serious loss of the meal. He was equal to the occasion, however, and taking off his vest he stuffed it into the wound. Another boy, returning from mill in the same way, had the misfortune to have his load thrown entirely off his horse by running against a tree. He was too small to replace it, and, after chasing the hogs that abounded in the woods, away from the vicinity of his meal, he tied his horse, and running to the nearest cabin, some two miles away, secured assistance to replace it. The place of holding elections; at an early day, was at Shur's cabin, but after 1823, when Franklin was set off, the voting place was removed to McCracken's, south of the village, and nearer the middle of the township, as then limited. After the village of Chesterville assumed more importance, the voting precinct was moved there ; but not without exciting considerable feeling in sentiment, as it was geographically, by the creek. Salt could be secured only at Zanesville, at fifteen to eighteen dollars per barrel, and iron goods and glass at the same rate. Leather was equally necessary, and as difficult to procure, and John Meredith relates that he used to go to Mount Vernon to husk corn, getting a pound of leather a day for his labor and bringing home his week's earnings on his shoulder every Saturday night. James Breese,. who came from near New London, Connecticut, in 1818, and settled two miles east of the village used to haul flax to Zanesville, and poplar lumber to Columbus, and get a dollar a thousand. The first tannery was started south of Chesterville by David Holloway, who, in the absence of oak, tried the virtue of beech bark. This experiment was a failure, and shoes made of the leather would get soaked up, and when hung up to dry warped so out of shape that they had to be soaked again and dried on a last, to be of any service afterward. These industries thus supplied, sufficed the necessities of the community, until, Chesterville being laid out, business began to come in, and rival even some of the older villages in its prosperity. During the War of 1812 soldiers were seldom seen here. The township was not in the line of march of any of the troops, there was not a single trail of importance, and the settlement was too new and sparsely settled to attract recruiting officers. Shur and Walker were pressed into the service with their teams, but they were not long retained. So little apprehension was felt here that the tide of immigration scarcely showed any signs of falling off. A large tract of land had been purchased by a Mr. McLaughlin, of Chillicothe, and desiring to put the land upon the market, he Vol. I-23 358 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY offered John Walker fifty acres of land at fifty cents per acre, if he would go out to it and clear it, which he concluded to do, and in March, 1808, he moved out with his family from Washington, Pennsylvania, to Chester township, choosing a barren knoll just north of the present site of Chesterville. A fine spring was on the land, which was the chief consideration in making his choice, and the soil has since become fair farming land. When he came he found Indians encamped upon the site of Chesterville. Jacob Shur came from the same county as the Walker family, in the fall of 1810, bringing his wife and family with him, and all were hailed by the Walkers with delight. Mr. Shur bought one hundred and twenty-five acres of land and erected a double-log cabin, about a quarter of a mile northwest of where a hotel was later built.. In the spring of this year David Miller came from Fayette county, Pennsylvania, and settled about a half mile south of where the village stands on the Sparta road. Here he bought fifty acres of McLaughlin, on which some slight improvements had been made. Mr. Miller packed his family with a few household goods in a cart, and, yoking his cow with an ox, made the tedious journey through the wilderness to his new home in Chester. In the succeeding year, Henry George came and settled in the vicinity of Chester church, near the center of the township. David Jones had come previous to this, and they settled upon the same section. In this settlement there were only seven cabins, occupied by Samuel Shaw, David Peoples, Evan Holt, John Walker, Jacob Shur, David Miller and Wilson Johnson. The game which proved such an attraction to the Indians and was such a benefit to the early settlers, continued for nearly twenty years after the first settlement was made. Deer, turkeys, wolves and bear thronged the forests, furnishing food, sport, etc. The settlers found the wolves to be dangerous besides being numerous, and, as both the state and the county offered bounties for their scalps, they were killed in large numbers, and, as their scalps were legal tender for the payment of taxes, commercially they were a benefit.. FIRST MILLS IN THE TOWNSHIP. Dr. Richard E. Lord came to Chesterville in 1833, and was the first practicing physician in the township. His labors of love and self-sacrifice are yet kindly remembered. Later in life he retired from practice and turned his attention to the cultivation HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 359 of his farm. In 1839 he put up a grist mill, four stories and a half high, and located it on the Mt. Gilead road, a little southwest of the center of the village. This did not prove to be a very profitable investment for Dr. Lord, for its construction and equipment cost more than the business at that time would warrant. An accident, which nearly proved fatal, occurred to the millwright. He was standing on the top superintending the raising of one of the massive bents that were peculiar to that time, and, missing his footing, he was precipitated into the mill-race below. The bent was partially raised, and, with admirable presence of mind, realizing that if the men became demoralized, they would let the bent fall and crush some of them, he gave an order while in the very act of falling, and he was not missed until, straightening the bent up, they looked for further directions. He was immediately rescued, and for a while his life was despaired of, but he finally recovered, none the worse for his sixty-foot descent. In 1819 the first mill in Chester township was erected. It was a small one story structure. Later the mill was enlarged and a saw mill with steam fixtures added. In 1825 John Dewitt, Sr., put up a saw mill on the site of the Rush grist mill, which was burned down a few years later. In 1833, he rebuilt the saw-mill. The buhr stones were got at Bellville, and John Dewitt, Jr., related that while he was at that place, there occurred that remarkable phenomenon of "shooting stars," that has been so widely noted and a sketch of which is herewith given. On November 13, 1833, lights resembling stars were seen falling for three or four hours, in the after part of the night. The appearance was like a shower of stars. One writer said it was the grandest and most charming sight ever witnessed by man. Awakened from sleep, he sprang to the window, thinking the house was on fire, but when he looked out he beheld stars, or fiery bodies, descending like "torrents." He wrote that the shed in the adjoining yard to his own was covered with stars, as he supposed, during the whole time. A professor in Yale college wrote that he thought the exhibition was the finest display of celestial fireworks that had been witnessed since the creation of the world. CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS. The first religious denomination represented in the township was the Old School Baptists. Henry George was a Welsh preacher of that faith, was given a farm on condition that he would give 360 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY four acres for church purposes. Accordingly, in 1819, a hewed-log cabin was erected on this land. About three years before this, however, Preacher George had formed a church organization. The first church edifice stood on a corner of the George farm, was about. twenty by twenty-five feet and had greased paper windows and a huge fireplace at one end. In 1830 a frame building was erected. About 1836 there was a division of the church, the Old School part withdrawing and establishing a church in Harmony. The first school teacher in Chester township was John Gwynn, who taught one term in the old Chester church. The coming of Enos Miles, in 1813, aroused new interest in the educational cause for he was a professional teacher and largely instrumental in securing the first school house in the township, selling the land on which it was built for a pint of oats. He taught school in the old Baptist church, and later in a part of Shur's double cabin. This first log school house was like the usual structure of the frontier, with greased paper windows, huge fireplace and puncheon floor, and thither the scholars found their way from miles distant along the blazed paths. CHESTERVILLE. Chesterville is one of the most prominent villages in Morrow county, and its people are classed in the front rank as to respectability, intellectual endowment and other attainments. The site of the village embraces beautiful landscapes and an attractive topography, with the romantic Kososing coursing around its southern borders. Chesterville at the present time has three churches. The Methodist Episcopal church, built in 1851, is of brick and seems in as good condition as when erected. The Baptists and Presbyterians have frame houses of worship of quite attractive appearance. All the churches are in a prosperous condition. The old United Brethren church building is now used as a barn, having been abandoned for religious purposes for many years. FIRST CHURCHES. We are told that the first church building in the village stood on the corner of the George farm ; that its dimensions were about twenty by twenty-five feet, and that it had greased paper windows and a huge fireplace. It was built by the Baptists, and, while the HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 361 date of its erection is not given, it must have been at a very early date, for in 1830 they erected a frame building a little northeast of their present house of worship. About 1836 there was a division of the church, the Old School part withdrawing and establishing a church in Harmony township, leaving the New School part in Chesterville. About four years later they erected a better church building, it being a frame structure. The Methodists next founded a church home in Chesterville, and among the early circuit ministers were Pilcher, in 1829, followed by David Young, Jas. McMahon, Leroy Swampsted, John H. Power, Elmore Yocumb and William Criste. About 1836 a class was formed and meetings were held in the old school house. A church building was erected, which later served as a school house. A new church building of brick was erected in 1851, which is the one occupied by the Methodists at present. In 1845 the Presbyterians formed a society in Chesterville, and later built a church. The first membership of the society was taken largely from other churches of that denomination in adjoining localities. The building in which the post office is located is the oldest structure in Chesterville. It was erected by William Gordon for a Mr. Squires, who later died of cholera in this same building. Diagonally across the street stands the second house erected in the place. This has been remodeled and is now quite an attractive residence. Both of these old buildings were erected as residences, and have remained as such, except that the postoffice is now in the north half of one which was originally a double house. The old brick hotel which stood for many years at the northwest corner of the cross streets, was a few years ago destroyed by fire and was not rebuilt. A part of the old foundation is yet visible. More than sixty years ago George Shaffer kept tavern in Chesterville in a house which was later remodeled into a residence and is now the home of Joel Brown. The history of Chesterville records that Enos Miles, Sr., came to where Chesterville now stands in about 1817, and built his cabin a little back of where the old hotel later stood, carrying the water used in the household from a spring on the William Denman place, until about 1833, when a well was dug near the center of the square, which supplied the wants of the village in that line for years. At the coming of Mr. Miles, in 1817, a piece of about ten acres in the southern part of the village had been felled and partly chopped over. 362 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY CHESTERVILLE (MILES' CROSS ROADS) FOUNDED. The village was laid out in 1829, and named Chesterville from the name of the township, but the local name of Miles' Cross Roads was given the village for some time. The first sale of lots occurred the following April. In the fall of this year the old tavern was built, where Mr. Miles entertained the public until 1833. The house was afterwards kept by Phineas Squires, William Ash, P. B. Ayers, Davis Miles and others. In 1838 Mr. Miles erected a brick building west of the hotel, which he intended for an academy, but as there was no demand at that early date for such a school, he turned it into a dwelling. At that time brick houses were few on account of the scarcity of brick masons. The first one was built in 1815 by Henry George for Robert Dalrymple. The second was Jacob Shur's house, built in 1825. Among the early merchants were W. T. Bartlett, Stephen Husey, Enon Jackson, Sharon Burgess, Wells and Arnold, Mark Ketchem, Sharon Miles and Page and fiance. A post office was established at Chesterville in about 1837, with Enos Miles, Sr., as post master. For some time it was kept in the hotel, but it was afterwards removed to another room, and later to one of the stores. The mail was carried from Marion to Mount Vernon twice a week on horseback, the carrier generally stopping at Chesterville over night. About 1860 the route between Fredericktown and Mount Gilead was established, mail being carried three times a week, and in 1865 it was changed to a daily route. John McCausland the present postmaster, has held the position for a number of years, and will probably continue in the same position for years to come as the office of that class is under civil service rule. There are no rural routes starting from this office. Davis Miles was the first mayor of Chesterville and the present incumbent is D. S. Mather. The village has four fraternal orders, the F. and A. M., with its auxiliary ; the Eastern Star; the I. 0. 0. F. and Rebekahs. The first practicing physician in Chesterville was Robert E. Lord, who came to the place in 1833. It was he who erected the four story grist mill just at the edge of the village, and which served its purpose for many years until patent utilities relegated it out of business. When the roller process mills began operation, making seven or eight different brands of flour, which became very popular in the market, the old buhr process was no longer in demand, and, as the law of demand and supply controls the HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 363 markets, the old mills had to shut down. Dr. Lord is dead, and the mill has been sold a number of times--once for $5,000 and the last time for $1,125. The old building is yet standing, but is now used as a barn. The old Shur mill, at the southeast part of the village, has been cut in two, one part being used as a barn and the other removed a short distance and fitted up for a residence. Chesterville has a fine brick school building and the graded system is carried out. The first school house in the village was built of logs. It was the usual school house of that day. The first PICTURE OF HIGH SCHOOL, CHESTERVILLE. school was taught in the old Chester church. When Enos Miles a teacher by profession, came to the village, he taught in the old Baptist church, and later, in a part of Ben Shur's double cabin. In driving from Sparta to Chesterville, the Bethel church and cemetery are passed, as is also the cemetery and old site of Mt. Pisgah church, the church having been removed about two miles west, to an elevation on the road leading west from Fredericktown. The first church building was destroyed by fire, but another was erected. The Old School Baptists worship there. About two miles from Chesterville, on the Sparta road, is a New School Baptist church, with a cemetery in the rear. The building is a white frame structure, and is at the corner of the cross roads. 364 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY Roger's lake is about a mile southwest of Chesterville, and covers about ten acres of ground. Grounds have been fitted up for a picnic and summer resort, and they are rendered attractive by reason of their natural beauty, development and the care which is taken of them. SOUTH BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP. The magnificent country, of which South Bloomfield township is now a part, was less than a century ago but a vast waste of luxuriant nature, where amid the scenes of primeval solitude, wild beasts and savage Indians roamed at large. Nature built the wigwams in the hidden recesses of the forests, and on the banks of the winding streams. But finally the pioneers—the torch-bearers of civilization—wended their way toward this virgin territory, and soon the smoke from the cabins and the noise from the woodman's ax proclaimed the beginning of a new era. In the autumn of 1813 three hunters left Mount Vernon and pushed into the wilderness, armed with their rifles, for the purpose of hunting beyond a settlement. They also desired to fix upon a location. Their names were Peter and Nicholas Kile and Enoch Harris. They entered South Bloomfield township at the southeast corner, coming from the east, and, admiring the country, decided to locate and form a settlement. The scene before them was a very pleasing one. There was the branch of Dry creek, threading its way amid, green banks and grasses and mosses. There was the narrow valley of the creek, skirted with long rows of beech and walnut and maple, and the neighboring hills crowned with clusters of trees, the bright foliage of which was tinted with the rich coloring of autumn. From the foot of the hills crept out small brooklets that stole rippling down to the creek. These three hunters were delighted with the outlook and entered into an agreement to enter a quarter section each. All being satisfied with their selections, they returned to Mount Vernon to complete the purchase of their new homes. THE FIRST SETTLERS LOCATE. During the following winter, Harris went out with his ax and cleared sufficient land to afford material for the erection of a house, and in March, 1814, with the assistance of some friends from Mount Vernon, he erected the first log cabin ever built in HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 365 South Bloomfield township His family consisted of a wife and one child, and they moved into the cabin the same spring. But little is known of Enoch Harris, and that which is told of him is mostly traditionary. One-half the people in the township never heard of his existence. He was said to be a jovial, good-natured fellow, built like Hercules, and with that enviable courage and fortitude that distinguished the pioneer. When he left the neighborhood is not definitely known. At the expiration of about five years, himself and family vanished like the shadows of night, and never afterward lived in the township. During the fall of 1814, Peter and Nicholas Kile, and Timothy Smith settled in the township, the former two on the land they had selected, and the latter about a mile northwest of Sparta. A small clearing was known to have been made, in 1813, on the land which was afterward occupied by Smith, but no cabin was built, and many distrust the story of the clearing. In 1815 John Helt, Jonathan Hess, John and Fleming Manville, and Thomas Orsborn, appeared and began to make improvements, the first four locating a mile or two north of Bloomfield, and the latter in the eastern part, on Dry creek. In 1816 Roswell and Marshall Clark, Thomas Allington, William Ayers, Archilus Doty, Augustus and Giles Swetland, Solomon Steward and a few others came in. In 1817 Roger Blinn, Isaac Pardy, David Anderson, Isaac Mead Harris, James Duncan, Samuel Mead, Walker Lyon, Runey Peat, John and Jonathan Harris, Matthew Marvin, Reuben Askins, Seth Nash and a few others arrived. Many came in 1818, among them being Dr. David Bliss, the first physician in the township, and elsewhere credited as the first practicing physician in the county ; Artemas Swetland, Elder William H. Ashley and Crandall Rosecrans, the father of the well known General Rosecrans. In 1818 there were as many as twenty-five clearings in the woods. In 1817 there were sixteen white male inhabitants over twenty-one years of age ; and in 1820, sixty-nine. The heavy forests began to disappear, and the entire country to change. Deer, wild turkey and wolves were every day sights. Small herds of deer, scared by wolves, would come out of the woods, leap the fences and go scampering across the clearings. Early one morning, Elder Ashley shot and wounded a large buck, which darted bleeding into the forest. He pursued it rapidly until noon, when, coming upon it suddenly, it was dispatched. During the afternoon, five more deer were shot, and all were conveyed to 366 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY his cabin on horseback. Turkeys were very large and numerous. and, when cooked by the skilful backwoods woman, would charm the appetite of an epicure. Wolves were numerous, very troublesome and often dangerous. Though shy and Silent during the day, when the shades of night settled down, they became bold and would howl around the cabins until daybreak. Sheep were unsafe in the woods at any time. Cattle and horses were safe during the day, but if they became mired down, or were caught .in the windfalls at night, they fell victims to the rapacious wolves. The settlers in Bloomfield township usually came in wagons, drawn by horses or oxen, and their log cabins were often built and occupied before the land had been purchased. Some of the earlier settlers often lived in their wagons, or in temporary tents made of boughs and bark until they, could get their cabins erected. William. Lyon and wife came all the way from Connecticut in one wagon drawn by two yoke of oxen with a horse, ridden by one of the party, on the lead. They were forty days on the road, and, when their destination was reached, freezing cold weather had set in. It was too cold to mix mortar, so the chinks in their cabins were filled with moss gathered from the woods. Augustus and Giles Swetland came two years in advance of their parents and the rest of the family. They erected a small log cabin and began to clear the land their father had previously purchased. They did their own cooking, except their corn and wheat bread, which was baked for them by Mrs. Allington. An abundance of venison and wild turkey was to be found on their table. Roswell and Marshall Clark endured the same privations and enjoyed the same repasts. They came a year or two before to prepare a home, so that some of the privations of pioneer life might be saved their families. As many of the early settlers in Bloomfield township came from. the vicinity of Mount Vernon and Delaware, but were originally from the eastern states, although located with only enough money to enter land, they brought with them fortitude and energy sufficient to endure the hardships and privations of pioneer life in the woods. Their cabins were not structures of beauty or models of elegance, but were ordinarily built of, rough logs and contained but one room each; occasionally a double cabin was erected which contained two rooms, with one end in common to form the partition. The cabins were sometimes built from hewed logs, which improved their appearance. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 367 The township was named Bloomfield on account of the rich, fragrant clusters of wild flowers, growing in forest and field when the lands were first opened. South Bloomfield township is one of the finest sections of Morrow county. In 1848 it was separated from Knox county, the township was closer to Mount Vernon than it was to Mount Gilead, and the former place was larger and a better trading point. South Bloomfield has a beautiful country cemetery. In 1821 John Helt and Mathew Marvin each gave half an acre to be used as a burial ground, and to this addition have been added at different times. There are many evergreen trees in the grounds, and many costly and beautiful monuments. The location commands an extensive view of all that region of country, and is an ideal resting place for the dead. SCHOOLS AND CHURCHES. The first school in the township was taught by Miss Melvina Hubbell, in the summer of 1819, about a half mile west of Sparta, in a log building intended for a dwelling. During the same year a log school house was built near the old Swetland farm, and during the succeeding winter Dr. A. W. Swetland taught school there. It was a subscription establishment, and was the first taught in the township held in a regular school house. Roger Blinn also taught a few scholars in his dwelling house at an early date. There was a log school house built near where Peter Kile lived, in 1820. Just south of the cemetery one was erected in 1820, and William Sanford was the first teacher. He was considered a very good instructor for that early period. After an existence of about two years, this school house was burned to the ground, with its contents, consisting of books, slates, etc. It was not rebuilt, but in 1823 a small hewed log school house was built on Clark street to take the place of the one burned near the cemetery. This was found to be too small; as it was required to do the duty of a church as well, so in 1830 a much larger one was erected near it. Later school houses were built in different parts of the _township, served their time and purpose, fell into ruins and others were built. In 1822, Reverend James Smith, from Mount Vernon, established a New Light Church Society, in the vicinity of Sparta. It grew and prospered, and for many years was the strongest society in the township. Elder William H. Ashley figured prominently 368 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY. in this society for many years. The meetings were first held in the settler's cabins, afterward in the school houses, and finally in the Christian church at Sparta, erected in 1841. A Methodist society was organized near Sparta, about 1822. It was a strong one, and did much to improve the settlement. In 1850 the Wesleyan Methodists erected a small church one and a half miles west of Sparta ; but the building, for several years past, has been used for other purposes. The United Brethren own a small church in the southern part of the township. Aaron Macomber settled about half a mile northeast of Sparta, in 1823.. He made wooden bowls from cucumber wood, turning them out with machinery run by horse power. Hugh Hartshorn lived near him with a small storeroom in which he kept a stock of hats, which he manufactured from wool, in a small log building near his house. In 1824 Macomber secured the services of a surveyor, and laid out a small town which he named Aaronsburg. It does not appear that the lots were sold, and the town project was soon abandoned. In 1827 Lemuel Potter laid out a town not far from Potter's hill and named it Rome, but it passed into oblivion, and was gradually forgotten. Sketches of the two existing towns —Sparta and South Bloomfield—are given elsewhere. "Tread-mills" were early introduced into the township, and were set in motion by horses or cattle walking upon an inclined plane, to which was attached an endless belt connected by shafting with the stone that ground the grain. They were finally changed to water-mills. POLITICAL AND PHYSICAL. The township, as a whole, is well drained and is quite fertile. It is bounded on the north by Chester, and on the west by Bennington township ; on the east and south by Knox county. It is composed of twenty-five sections, the northern five being fractional. Prior to 1848, the township was part of Knox county. In the spring of 1808, the county o Knox having been formed by act of the legislature, the commissioners divided it into four townships—Wayne, Morgan, Union and Clinton, the latter including South Bloomfield, which was afterward created a separate township. The township is bountifully supplied with numerous springs of hard, cold water, many of them being used as wells by the citizens. A great many are brackish, some quite salty, and a few contain iron, soda, magnesia and other minerals. Heavy timber HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 369 at one time covered the whole surface, though the hand of the settler has leveled it until but one-sixth of the land is covered with primitive woods. The native timber consists mainly of beech, ash, hard maple, black walnut, elm, oak and hickory. There are also found, though to a limited extent, soft maple, butternut, sycamore, whitewood, dog-wood, linden, cucumber, chestnut, etc. There are no large streams ; yet along the valleys of the creeks, and in the small well-drained basins, the drainage is good. SPARTA OF THE PRESENT The old state road passing northeast and southwest through Sparta, was laid out before the War of 1812. Sparta is a very old PICTURE OF HIGH SCHOOL AT SPARTA. town and a very interesting one, and had houses, stores and industries long before Morrow county had an existence. The town is upon an irregular tableland, from which small streams flow in all directions. The writer's visit to Sparta was full of interest, and the stories narrated to him were very fascinating. He delighted in walking the streets which were trodden by the pioneers, almost a century ago ; and to have the old land marks pointed out as "here was the old factory, there was the old mill, and yonder was 370 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY the old store kept by Benjamin Chase," who was the father and grandfather of the Chases known to him. "That large, old frame building to the right," our informant said, "was the store of Dr. A. W. Swetland, whose successor was William Chase. One room in the building was occupied as a drug store. The old frame structure is now used as Knights of Pythias hall and a hardware store. It is supposed to have stood there at least sixty-five years. And the building diagonally across the street was the residence of Dr. Swetland, which has since been remodeled somewhat and is now the home of Freeman Jackson. Dr. Tim's house and office on the opposite side of the street from Dr. Swetland's old home, is now occupied by George Herrod as a residence." There are three churches in Sparta—the Methodist Episcopal church, the Christian and the First Day Adventist. The large brick school house does honor to the place. In it is taught a graded school, with a second grade high school. METHODIST AND CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. When the Methodists wished to build a new church, P. B. Chase, of Washington, District of Columbia, told them to go ahead and raise all the money they could for that purpose, and he would duplicate the amount; which they did, and now they have a fine cement block building that would be a credit to a place double the size of Sparta. The old church building was sold to the Reverend Wilson Grove, who removed the same to the opposite side of the street, and has remodeled and fitted it up as an opera house. The Methodists erected their new structure upon the old site. The Sparta Christian church was organized by Reverend James Smith in June, 1820, in a barn west of town on the Marengo toad, now the property of Mr. Edwin Frost, just twelve years after the denomination had published its first religious newspaper, September 8, 1808. For many years services were held in cabins and barns, and time would fail us in recounting the sacrifices made by these pioneers in a new country as they declared the doctrines they believed were correct. Reverends James Smith, Robert Close, W. H. Ashley, Hiram Westbrook and James Marvin served as pastors, for many years. In 1844 the present edifice was erected, on land purchased of Augustine Swetland and Hannah, his wife, the deed being recorded in Mount Vernon, as the village at that time was in Knox conty. In 1861 Reverend Mills HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 371 Harrod was engaged to preach, and his services as pastor continued until 1873 (except the time spent in the service of his country, during the Civil war) and perhaps to his energy and earnestness, more than to any other, is due the progress made by the church during those years that so tried men's souls. The church building has been remodeled, and at the present time is in good repair. During the past fifty years the following ministers have served as pastors : Reverends Harrod, Lohr, Hutchinson, Black, E. Peters, Duckworth, Frank Peters, McReynolds, Butler, Long and B. F. Hoagland (who is pastor at this time). One of the members has been a kind benefactress, Mrs. Angeline Bennet Bell, leaving to the church' she loved a bequest of five hundred dollars in the hands of the trustees to be used in keeping up the property. In 1900 the church celebrated it eightieth anniversary and in 1920 looks forward to a centennial service. Like all other similar bodies there have been things to mar its peace and progress for a little time, but one would look a long way before he would find a more affectionate family than at this writing. The first board of trustees consisted of the following: Thomas Richards, W. H. Ashley, Hiram Westbrook, Reuben Beard and J. W. Tims. The present board consists of five members, as follows : Kelly Palmer, chairman ; Wilbur Buckmaster, Ira Vail, Dr. Huggins and R. Anna Sheldon. The deacons are Elza Daugherty and Wilbur Buckmaster. Other officers : church clerk, R. Anna Sheldon; treasurer, Mrs. Lettie yail. To continue the general description of Sparta as it is : Entering Sparta on the Marengo road, at the edge of the town, there is a tile and saw mill, and judging from the hum and buzz, it is supplying all demands. The old steam grist mill has been remodeled into a residence and is the home of the Reverend Grove and his estimable wife. There is a feed and chop mill yet remaining in the place, all the other old industries having given place to more modern inventions in railroad centers. The Chase farm at the edge of the village has been in the possession of the family since its first entry. P. B. Chase has fitted up golf links there, where he spends his vacations, free from city life and business pares. Retrospectively, we will now consider the early history of Sparta, going back to its first log cabin. 372 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY SPARTA OF THE PAST The first building in Sparta was a double log cabin, built by William B. Carpenter, in 1826. A month later he erected a small log house across the street, just opposite his dwelling, to be used as a store room and in which he opened up a stock of goods. The second dwelling was erected in 1828 by Joseph Skinner, who was a carpenter by trade, and located in the western part of the town. The third was built by David McGinnis, in 1829. Mr. McGinnis entertained travelers, and in one part of his cabin kept a small stock of notions. Osgood Dustin built his cabin in 1830. These four families comprised the population of Sparta in 1830. Carpenter had an ashery and exchanged his goods for ashes, which were made into "scorched" and "white salts," and a small amount of "pearlash " Mr. Carpenter later sold his ashery to Dr. A. W. Swetland, who placed in the store room a stock of goods. The doctor s brother, Fuller Swetland, clerked for him during the winter of 1832-3, and in the spring of 1833 the doctor himself brought his family cu from Delaware county. After this Sparta, which was then known by the general appellation of Bloomfield, became an extensive trading point. Dr. Swetland increased his stock of goods from time to time and continued to run the ashery in connection with the store, the goods being exchanged for ashes. This ashery became one of the most extensive in central Ohio. The town began to improve on account of its business activity, and the settlement increased in number. All got their goods at the store on trust. Butter sold then at six cents per pound. Dr. Swetland was the projector and proprietor of the town of Sparta. helping to survey it in 1837, and giving it the name it now bears. Ile secured the location of a post office there in 1838 and became the first post master. The surveyor of the town was Johnson Stone, of Knox county, who laid out twenty lots on each side of the Columbus road. Additions were later made. The village of Sparta was not incorporated until about 1870. In 1835 Chase & Bliss had a stock of goods in eastern Sparta and in 1838 Potter & Bliss conducted a store on Potter's hill. William Chase became Dr. Swetland's successor, buying him out in 1854 and entering into partnership with his brother John. This firm did a large business for a country store. They dealt largely in wool, which sold then at seventy-five cents per pound. Sheep were bought and sold and handsome profits realized. Byron Swetland kept a stock of goods there for many years. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 373 In 1838 Benjamin Chase established a wool carding and cloth dressing mill in eastern Sparta. He operated the mill for about ten years, when he disposed of it to other parties. In the sixties, Elisha Cook ran a steam, saw and grist mill in Sparta. A few lawyers located there, among whom were P. C. Beard, Wesley Harris and Henry Weaver. Dr. Swetland was the first physician of the place, but he did not practice. Dr. Thomas Richards was the first practicing physician. He was followed by Drs. C. M. Eaton, Henry Ames, James Page, Burns, Wilson, Gunsaulus, Tims, Bliss and Buxton. Among the early industries were cabinet making and harness making. BLOOMFIELD The village of Bloomfield was surveyed and platted April 18, 1845, the surveyor being Thomas C. Hickman and the projectors, Elizur Loveland and Alexander Marvin. The town was originally laid out into thirteen lots. The first building was erected by Floyd Sears, in 1846. It was located on the southeast corner and was designed as a storeroom. Into this, William Kincade, of Martinsburg, moved a stock of goods and kept a general store, Mr. Sears being the salesman. Later Mr. Sears and his brother-in-law, L. F. Dewitt, bought the store. In 1854 Eli Hollister bought them out and moved his stock into a new building on the northeast corner. He was succeeded in the business by Knode, Sheldon, Bottomfield Chase & Richard, Wright & Vail, Smith, Harris and Harper. During the Civil war an excellent business was done here. Marvin Lyon opened a shoe shop in 1862 ; in 1873, he began with a general assortment of goods, and later had quite a valuable stock. Robert Patton was the first blacksmith, working in a shop erected in 1847 by Floy Sears. Samuel Harvey made wagons in 1852 ; John Millison did a small undertaking business; Charles Sprague had a tin shop in 1868 and Larkin Hobbs made barrels and tubs in 1857. William Scuddle erected a steam saw mill at Bloomfield in 1850, and John Cavert was employed as sawyer. A school house was built in the town in 1852, arid another, just north of the town, in 1877. Earnest Lyon was one of the teachers. Dr. McClernand located near Bloomfield in 1842, being succeeded by Drs. Hubbell, Mendenhall and Hess. A post office was secured at Bloomfield in 1833, and Samuel Whitney was the first post master. The Bloomfield of today is not as large as it was thirty or forty years ago. Like her sister towns, she has gone backward, and now a few houses and a Methodist Episcopal church comprise the buildings of the place. Vol. I-24 CHAPTER XIX. BENNINGTON AND CANAAN TOWNSHIPS. EVENTS UP TO THE EARLY THIRTIES-MARENGO-PAGETOWN AND VAIL 'S CROSS ROADS-MORTON'S CORNERS-CANAAN TOWNSHIP -FRIENDS IN NEED-CHURCHES OF THE TOWNSHIP-DENMARK -CLIMAX. It is always interesting to note the history of a community in the beginning, to follow society in its formative state, and to note its material development and scientific achievements The history of this township is as an open book. The pioneers made advancements and improvements as no other class of people ever did, and their achievements are due not only to their strength and courage, but to their sturdy character, as well. They laid the foundation of our greatness. And the citizens of Bennington township and Morrow county must depend for their future progress and advancement upon the education of the people for good citizenship. As early as 1804-6 pioneers had formed settlements at Sunbury, Delaware and other portions of Delaware county. In a few years these settlements became quite populous, and land in their vicinity went to a higher price than many could afford to pay; therefore the settlers of a later day began to branch out into the trackless forests. A large percentage of the earliest settlers of Bennington township came from Delaware county, which was chiefly settled by New Englanders and Quakers. The pioneers, aware of the treacherous nature of the savages and knowing that attacks from them would come unheralded, made rapid preparations for their safety by the erection of strong stockades. These forts or block houses, capable of resisting sudden onslaughts by the savages, were erected in the more populous localities, and messengers would be dispatched to carry warning of danger to venturesome settlers on the outskirts of the settlements. Families often came in confusion and excitement to these block houses, with thrilling stories of narrow escapes from impending conflicts with Indians. - 374 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 375 EVENTS OF THE EARLY THIRTIES. But one settler is known to have lived in Bennington township prior to the war of 1812. This man was John Rosecrans, a distant relative of General Rosecrans. As the settlers slowly began to leave Sunbury and Delaware, and to locate north along the banks of Walnut creek, John Rosecrans finally overstepped the present southern boundary of Bennington, and built a small log cabin about half a mile north of the present site of Pagetown. This cabin was erected in 1811, and a small clearing made around it, barely sufficient to insure its safety in case of wind storms. In 1812, Rosecrans raised a small crop of corn and potatoes, which, with the addition of a little wheat flour obtained at Delaware, constituted his vegetable diet, while his never failing rifle supplied him with any quantity of the choicest venison or turkey. He had a wife, but no children, and was a great hunter, roaming the forests for miles around, in search of more stirring adventures with animals of greater courage and ferocity than deer and wolves. One day in the winter of 1811-2, while hunting in the woods about eight miles from his cabin, he heard a peculiar sound above his head, and glancing quickly up, saw the green, glaring eyes of a huge wildcat fixed upon him from a large limb, behind which it was endeavoring to conceal itself. It was about forty feet above him, and, raising his rifle, he took deliberate aim at its head and fired. With one convulsive spring, it bounded to the ground, striking within a few feet of where he stood, scattering and tearing up the leaves and snow in its dying struggles. It was one of the largest of its kind, and had a fine mottled skin, which was made into a cap and was worn by Rosecrans for many years. On the 22nd of April, 1817, the commissioners of Delaware county authorized the creation of a new township, and, on that day, the county surveyor laid out the new township from the following bounds : "Beginning at the southwest corner of Clinton township, Knox county ; thence west on the line between townships 5 and 6, to the center of the 17th range ; thence north to the county boundary; thence east on said line to the stake between 15 and 16 ranges; thence south on said line to the place of beginning." Dwinnell assisted in the survey, and was the one to suggest Bennington as the name of the new township Subsequent to its creation, it had been surveyed into lots or sub-sections of irregular size and shape. This township is one of the most fertile in the county. Its 376 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY natural drainage from geological slopes renders the character of the soil largely alluvial and greatly productive. It is usually a rich sandy loam, with a large proportion of alluvium. Walnut creek, or "Big Belly," runs south through the western half, and its winding branches drain the entire township, except the northeastern corner and the central portion of the western side. Since the forests have disappeared, the action of the sun is unchecked, rendering the hills (containing a fair percentage of clay) subject to severe baking after a heavy rain followed by sunshine, but fitting the valleys for satisfactory and unlimited production. These facts account for the almost invariable rule followed by early settlers in selecting their farms from the higher land. Two or three quarries have been opened in the township, and a fair sample of sandstone obtained. A quarter of a mile west of Marengo, on an extensive prominence, is a large earth inclosure, made by Mound Builders. In 1813 two brothers named Olds erected a rude cabin north of Pagetown, on the east side of Walnut creek, and began to clear the land. They experienced several Indian alarms, and were compelled to return for short periods to the fort. In 1814 they sold their partly-earned title in the land to a man who became the most prominent in the early history of the township. This man, Allen Dwinnell, invested largely in land, becoming one of the heaviest land holders for miles around. He was well educated, for the backwoods, and was a lawyer, the first in the township Shortly after Allen Dwinnell bought the Olds property, in 1814, Thomas fiance came into the township and erected his cabin two miles north of Pagetown. Mr. Hance became well known, for he kept the first store in the township, and he also had the first carding mill. The mill was built in 1824, and was a two story frame building. The machinery occupied the upper story, and the tread wheel, which furnished the motive power, the lower. In 1828 a small room was partitioned off from the carding room in the upper story, and filled with a stock of goods for a general store. This was the first store in the township. Mr. Hance purchased his goods at Delaware. In 1815 Dr. Alfred Butters settled in Bennington township, building his log cabin about a mile north of Morton's Corners. One corner of his cabin he used as an office. His practice became quite extensive. He was intelligent and a good talker. He usually went dressed in a complete suit of deer skin. Allen Sherman, the first blacksmith, appeared in 1815, and HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 377 worked at his trade for many years. Stephen Barnaby came in the same year and began making tables, chairs, spinning wheels, bedsteads, etc. In 1816 Joseph Vining, Joseph Powers, Samuel Page, Joseph Horr and Peleg Sherman made homes in the forests of Bennington township. Sherman was a wagon maker, but did not build a shop until 1819. The others were farmers and settled near Pagetown. In 1817 David Wilson, Justin Dewey, Benoni Moss, Stephen Sprague, John Stoddard and James Westbrook settled in the northeast corner of the township. The settlers in the southern part of Bennington township got their grinding done, either at the Sunbury mills, or at the Quaker settlement on Alum creek. There were no roads then merely bridle paths and trails through the woods—and often in the night time wolves would attack belated travelers on their way home from mill. In the spring of 1819 a log school house was built about a half a mile north of Pagetown, and Sally Dwinnell was the first teacher. She died the following year, and her death was the second in the township, that of Mrs. Lawrence being first. Solomon Westbrook taught school during the winter of 1819-20, which was very long and cold. The settlers suffered in their cabins, many of them having no flour or meal for months. Wild animals came close to the cabins, distressed with hunger. Frederick Davis taught in the same school house the next winter. In 1828, a log school house was erected near Isaac Davis' cabin. Samuel Lott was the first teacher in the eastern part of the township. William Bailey taught soon after him, and was the first to introduce the system of object-teaching. A frame school house was built at Morton's Corners in 1835. The year before, the first one built in the northern part, was a half mile north of Marengo. George Mead taught in the northeastern part of the township in the winter of 1837-8. A Methodist society was formed in the southern part of Bennington township in 1818. The members began meeting at the settlers' homes ; afterwards in school houses and finally in churches. Elders Tivis and Swarmstead, from Delaware county, visited them about every two. weeks, preaching to the settlers. Dr. Butters was one of the earliest members, and was himself a local preacher, taking the elder's place when they were absent. He was a popular citizen and a good physician. Through his exertions, a small log church was built near his cabin, north of Morton's Corners, in 1828. Camp-meetings greatly strengthened 378 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY the society. In 1838 the Methodists erected a building at Morton's Corners, which took the place of the hewn-log one near Dr. Butters'. In 1848 a rupture occurred in this church, dividing the congregation, and forming a new one known as Wesleyan Methodists. In 1850 seven members met at the house of Marcus Phillips, in Peru township, and organized the Wesleyan society. These seven were Marcus Phillips, Henry Bell, Mary Ann Whipple, Martha Crist, Henry Crist and his wife Amanda, Caroline Ames, and another, whose name is forgotten. The Wesleyan Methodists then erected a church building at the Corners. The Methodist Episcopals organized a society at an early day and built a church near Marengo. A church society was organized in the southeastern part of the township about 1830, which flourished for a time and then ceased to exist. Christopher Wilson and Henry Cronk owned saw mills in the eastern part of the township in about 1833. Since then, numerous mills have been started, sufficient to supply the citizens with all classes of rough building material. The mills, with the exception of a few in later times, have been run by water power. The streams have considerable fall, making it easy to secure an excellent water power by means of strong dams. The earliest wheels were re-action, and the mills were called "up-and-down" mills; but the overshot wheel soon supplanted the former kind, and "muley" and "circular" mills took the place of the less convenient up-and-down ones. Vast heaps of logs were collected during the winter months, as the snows rendered their transportation much easier, at that season ; then, in the spring and fall, when the equinoctial rains came on and large quantities of water were dammed up, the saw was run night and day until the logs were converted into suitable building timber The settlers hauled their logs on sleds to the mills, where they would remain until the sawyer could work them up. The following was related by Jonas Vining, one of the early settlers of Bennington township : He had gone to the Sunbury Mills, and, being obliged to wait until late at night for his bag of flour, resolved to start for home, though the night was dark and the path obscure. It was a chilly night late in autumn, and the wind sighed mournfully through the branches of the trees, and the sudden rustling of leaves and weird creaking of the trees kept the traveler on the anxious lookout for signs of danger. The wolves began uttering their discordant notes, and, to add to the unpleasant situation, heavy thunder was heard in the distance. Mr. Vining HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 379 drew his "great coat" closely about him, and urged his horse on as fast as could be safely done through the deep woods. Finally a startling wail, ending with a peculiar, heavy tone, was heard above the rustling leaves and sighing winds, and he knew that he was followed by a panther. He heard it bounding lightly over the leaves to "leeward," endeavoring to ascertain by scent the nature of the game it was in pursuit of. It- appeared several times, but only for an instant, as it flitted through the glades of the forest. It finally veered off into the wilderness, and its screams were lost in the sounds of the gathering storm. When his jaded horse carried him into the clearing at home, which he reached in safety, it was almost daybreak. MARENGO. Marengo is an attractive village and an important station on the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad, south of Mt. Gilead, in Ben- PICTURE OF PUBLIC SCHOOL, MARENGO. nington township. The town is situated upon an elevation and the topography of its site adds much to the beauty of the village. Marengo, with a population of two hundred and eighty-three, has one church—the Methodist Episcopal—and a post office from which five rural routes supply between six and seven hundred families. M. W. Steritt is the post master, and seems to be a very obliging one. Five post offices have been discontinued since these 380 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY routes were established, namely : Pagetown, Fargo, Penlan, Stan ton and Bennington. The village has also a well conducted public school. The village has a bank, several general stores and the usual amount of business for a place of its size. L. W. Mead is the mayor of the place, and the physicians are Drs. Platt and Thompson. Marengo has been so unfortunate as to have a number of disastrous fires, in years past, which destroyed much valuable property, including the mill and the railroad depot. The steam grist mill there at present is on the site where the depot stood, and tat planing mill is near where the old grist mill was. There is also a creamery near these plants, which is a branch of the Sunbury establishment. The village has two hotels where the public can be hospitably entertained. Curfew rings at Marengo at 7 o'clock, and the children seem to be very observant of the rule. The first building erected in what is now Marengo was a log cabin, built in 1843, by Isaac P. Freeman. Two years later he erected a two story frame building for a store room and placed in it a stock of goods valued at about fifteen hundred dollars; this made Marengo quite a central point for the northern part of the township. A post office was secured in 1847 and named Marengo, honoring the victory of Napoleon over the Austrians at Marengo, in 1800. The early merchants of the place were Freeman, Mc-Masters, Standish, Green, Ingraham, Powers, Livingston, Evans, Hance and Noe. Both in 1871 and 1874 Mr. Noe suffered by fire. In 1873 Marengo was surveyed and platted into thirty lots, Robert L. Noe being the projector and proprietor. Additions were later made by Mr. Noe and Mr. France of one hundred and five lots. After the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad was built through the town, it improved at a rapid rate and new business interests were opened. The Noes were prominent in the early settlement of northern Bennington. Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Noe came to where Marengo now is at an early date. Mrs. Noe is yet living, and at the age of eighty-three is yet well preserved, looking at least ten years younger. She has the full possession of all her mental faculties, and talks very interestingly about the early settlement of the town and township. As she expressed it, she came there in the "deadening." Lest some of the readers of this work may not understand the meaning of that word, an explanation may here be in place. Preparatory to clearing the forest the trees should be deadened, HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 381 and this was done by barking and cutting a ring around the trees about two feet above the ground; then in a year or two the trees could be felled, cut into length and made into log-heaps and burned, thus creating a bi-product of ashes, which could be profitably marketed. Marengo was laid out upon the Noe land, he having bought it of Isaac P. Freeman, who had come to the vicinity from New Jersey at a still earlier date. Mrs. Noe lives in the large, handsome frame house which was built in Jersey style by Mr. Freeman, and which is located in a grove of native trees at the south limit of the village. Major Johnson, of Marengo, is the only Mexican war survivor in Bennington township. PAGETOWN AND VAIL'S CROSS ROADS. Pagetown was laid out as a village in 1827, under the management of Marcus and Dr. Samuel Page, and Marcus was appointed the first postmaster of the place. Prior to platting the town, Isaac Page owned the land upon which it was laid out. In 1837 he sold seven acres to Marcus Page, who employed a surveyor to plat the land into lots, and in honor of its founder the place was named Pagetown. It is situated in the extreme southern part of Bennington township, near the Delaware county line. The Mortons had already opened a store at the Corners, when Pagetown was platted. Samuel Johnson established a store at Pagetown in 1842, but it did not run any great length of time. About the time a tavern was opened at Morton's Corners, Ball Fish commenced entertaining the public at Pagetown. A carding mill was established there in 1847, which ran for several years and did good work, and a foundry was erected at about the same period. The latter was an important industry. The foundry did a general casting business for a number of years, making plow-points, and irons, etc., from pig and scrap iron. In 1819 a log school house was built about a mile north of Pagetown. Sally Dwinnell was the first teacher. She died the following year, and her death was the second in the township. Solomon Westbrook taught there during the winter of 1819-20, which was very long and cold. The old Methodist Episcopal church which was built at Morton's Corners in 1838, was later removed to Pagetown, and is now used as a barn. 382 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY A church society was organized in the southeastern part of the township in 1830. It grew slowly until 1850, when the members built a small church at Vail's Cross Roads. Elders David Lyon and Robert Chase were among the earliest pastors. Through their influence the society continued for many years, but it finally died out. Vail's Cross Roads, or Five Corners, is in Bennington township. In the early settlement of the township, there was a tavern at that place built in 1839, but it has long since disappeared. There is now an Adventist church at that locality, which was never known as a village ; just a few houses at a cross roads. A son of the Vail who kept the old hostelry is now living in Sparta. MORTON'S CORNERS. In 1838 a village was platted in the southern part of Bennington township and named Olmsteadville, in honor of its projector, Francis C. Olmstead, who then owned quite a tract of land at that point, having purchased it of John Nimmons. Many years before the town was laid out Jonas Vining, one of the earliest settlers, had entered the land and owned it until about ten years before the plat was made. Mr. Olmstead thought, when he had the village platted, that it would in time make a flourishing town, but his anticipations were never realized. The place was later known as Morton's Corners, as Mr. Morton opened a store there and succeeded in getting a post office established. The Mortons also erected an ashery at the Corners, and made black and white salts and pearl ash, giving orders on their store, or money, in exchange for ashes. A tavern was also opened at the Corners by Caldwell Olmstead. A school house was built here in the spring of 1835, and in 1838 the Methodist Episcopals erected a house of worship. There was quite a rivalry between Morton's Corners and Page-town, largely on account of their close proximity to each other, but now the industries of both places are gone and only a few houses mark their old locations. In 1848 a rupture occurred in the Methodist Episcopal church at Morton's Corners, dividing the congregation, and forming a new one known as Wesleyan Methodists. They were permitted to meet a while in the Methodist Episcopal church at the Corners, but later they were denied this privilege, and in the following year the church building was removed to Pagetown. The Wesleyans then built a church at the Corners. The church which the Wesleyans HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 383 built at Morton's Corners, about 1859, was later remodeled and in March, 1911 was destroyed by fire. It was insured, and with the amount thus realized and what they may be able to raise, in addition, they hope to soon erect a new building. Morton's Corners, now known as Fargo, is situated half a mile west of Pagetown. The post office there has been discontinued, and the community is now supplied by the rural route delivery. CANAAN TOWNSHIP The unknown has always had and will always have for thinking minds a peculiar fascination. It was this which led the pioneers to leave their homes in the east, become settlers in the New Purchase, and carve out for themselves and their children new hopes. We often hear much about social conditions and surroundings, and are sometimes excusing their short comings because of their environment. We should consider what the pioneers did within their 'environment. One could scarcely think of more untoward circumstances than those in which the pioneers often found themselves; and yet amid those environments they planted schools and colleges, built churches, opened up and developed magnificent farms and on them reared sturdy, cultured, helpful sons and daughters. Originally, Canaan township embraced the territory at present forming four townships Tully, Scott and Claridon townships, Marion county, and what is now Canaan township, in Morrow county It is told that a Mr. Stewart, a pioneer in this section, gave the township its name. This division of the present township with their present boundaries occurred in 1821. The soil is as fertile as any to be found in Morrow county. This fact is manifest in the timber which originally covered the entire territory, making it a dense wilderness. While such varieties as hickory, oak, ash, beech and maple were abundant, walnut was most common among the trees of its forests. The most of the early fences were built of walnut rails, while from the maple trees sugar was made in sufficient quantities to supply the wants of the settlers. And the forests abounded in game; so that the pioneers had at hand the necessaries of living while subduing the forests. Flour and breadstuff, however, were scarce and hard to obtain. The township was slow in developing, on account of its low, wet, swampy condition. Slow creek and south and middle forks of the Whetstone, in their circuitous courses through the territory ought to have 384 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY given good drainage, it would seem, yet the soil remained wet until a sufficient quantity of the timber was felled to allow the sun's rays to penetrate the soil. Later, under drainage aided much in drying up places shut off from the sunshine ; this being accomplished, the soil soon became fit for cultivation. Canaan township is located in the western part of Morrow county. It is bounded on the north and west by Marion county and on the south and east by Gilead and Washington townships, Morrow county, and is known in an early survey as township 5, range 17. FRIENDS IN NEED. In the spring of 1821 John Rice came from Greenfield, Fairfield county, this state, prospecting for land and a home. He found in Canaan township an unbroken forest, a swamp, and the Indians roaming at large ; he also found two white settlers, Comfort Olds and Abraham G. Andrews. Mr. Andrews had entered land immediately south of the mound just one week before, and Mr. Olds had taken possession the day before of a tract in the near vicinity. Mr. Andrews was sick and induced Mr. Rice to buy him out. Here Mr. Rice built his cabin, improved the land and made his home. Mr. Olds was likewise busily engaged. They became acquainted with each other, in the unbroken wilderness, Mr. Rice being led to where Mr. Olds was working by the sound of his ax. There were no other neighbors. within miles. When Mr. Rice had completed his cabin he returned to Fairfield county for his family, consisting of a wife and three small children. In August of that year, he gathered together the things that were necessary and moved into his new home. It took four days to make the journey, which would not now require two hours in an automobile, notwithstanding that he made the trip in the best time of the year, as the streams he would have to ford were low. Mr. Olds was very poor and would have suffered for the necessities of life had not Mr. Rice divided with him the supplies he had brought with him from his old home. There was no thought that any return would ever be made for this, but a time of need brought about a possibility of restoration when it was especially appreciated. Mr. Olds had removed to the plains in. Marion county and put up a horse mill. The sickly year came. The squirrels stole everything. Corn was worth one dollar per bushel and everything else high in proportion. Mr. Rice went to the mills on the plains and HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 385 obtained two bushels, for which Mr. Olds would receive no remuneration. Corn was too valuable to sell, but not too valuable to give to one who had proven himself a friend in need. This reminds the writer of a somewhat similar case in Richland county, which adjoins Morrow on the east. John Moody was a pioneer preacher of the faith of the Disciples of Christ (Campbellites), and owned a large farm and a grist mill near Belleville. These industries enabled him to be of great assistance to the people in the financial panic of 1837, and through the season of the drought of 1838. When a man went to his mill for wheat or flour, Mr. Moody would inquire if he had money. If told he had, he would tell him to go elsewhere for his supplies, as the flour and meal at Moody's mill was without money and without price, to be given to those who were not able to buy. Mr. Moody's mill and farm prospered far beyond the expectations of the people, who had predicted he would fail on account of his liberality. When other farms failed to produce good crops, Moody's produced an abundance, and his name has gone down in the history of his county as a great benefactor. His old mill near Belleville is yet standing as a monument to his generosity. He was the father of the late Captain Miller Moody. During the same year (1821) two other families had built cabin homes in this wilderness, adjoining those of Olds and Rice. Their names were Nathan Arnold and Asa Gordon. The following spring there came two more families to the neighborhood William Conrad and a Mr. Welsh. During the following summer came Matthew and Thomas Merritt and settled in the central part of the township, calling the settlement "Denmark," the name by which the little village which later sprung up is known, although the post office which was located there was known as "Merritt's post office." Among other early settlers are found the names of Jeremiah Doughty, David Cristy, Daniel Cooley and Zenas Leonard. Some of these remained and their lives became interwoven with the township, while others moved away and little is known of them. John Boyles settled on a farm in Canaan township in 1823. It contained a quarter section of land in the near vicinity of Denmark. The following spring a township election was held for the purpose of choosing two justices of the peace, three trustees, two constables, one township clerk, one treasurer, two overseers of the poor and two fence viewers. At this time there were ten voters in the township ; therefore it was necessary that some of these ten should hold two offices. 386 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY Grandmother Merritt narrated that upon one time when she was left alone, a squad of Indians came to their cabin. They brought with them a number of scalps of white men, which they laid in a row upon the floor, and beside them placed the tongues of the whites, which they would count over in their native language, apparently gloating over them with savage vengeance. They left, however, without attempting her any injury. At this time there was but one road through the township, and it might be said to have been all over the township, since the shortest (to Mt. Gilead) was the one chosen until that thoroughfare became so badly cut up as to make it impassable, when it became necessary to go farther around. However, there was another, but it could scarcely be called a road, being part of the old army trail and had been blazed from Chesterville to Upper Sandusky. What was known as the state road was later made and was then employed as the mail route. There were no bridges in those days, and at the time of high water people must stay at home, waiting till the streams subsided. There was also another road through the town ship, from Claridon, on the west, to the southeast corner of the township. All these roads contrast painfully with the pike roads which now traverse the township, with good substantial structures bridging the streams at every crossing. Among the later arrivals in the township, we find the names of Thomas Patton, William Feigley and James McKeever. Mr. Patton was a native of Ireland. On coming to America he entered land in this township, and upon his arrival in Mansfield it was necessary to secure a guide to the land he had entered, blazing his way as they went. There is a mound in Canaan township erected by the Mound Builders, a prehistoric people whose origin and fate are unknown. We know of them only by the monuments they reared in the form of earth works, and as such memorials are principally mounds, we call the people who made them "Mound Builders." But the term is not a distinguishing one, for people the world over, since time commenced, have been mound builders. Prehistoric mounds speak of bygone ages, of people over whom time has spread its pall of silence and left them wrapped in mystery. In the early settlement of the township it was necessary to go to Mt. Vernon to get wheat ground. Mr. Boyles rigged up a rough mill structure, which was run by horse power, to grind corn. It had a capacity of about fifteen bushels per day. Such mills were not employed longer than circumstances made it necessary, but in HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 387 the early times they were quite a convenience. The first saw mill run by water power was built on the Middle fork of the Whetstone, about 1825, by William Shaffer. It was later run by several parties, then ceased to exist. Mr. Rice also built a saw mill on the same stream, about the year 1833, but four years later he moved to the South fork of the Whetstone, where he ran it until 1851, when it went out of commission Canaan township is a farming district. The soil is too rich to be encumbered with mills when they are so convenient in adjoining townships, and farming and stock raising pay too well for the Canaanites to engage in anything else. Sheep are raised in large numbers in all the townships in Morrow county, and the enterprise has proved satisfactory, as has also that of raising blooded horses for the market. The first school house in the township was built in Denmark, and will receive further notice in the sketch of the village. CHURCHES OF THE TOWNSHIP. The first religious services in Canaan township were held in log cabins, and the elder Merritt was the superintendent. The younger scholars were taught to read, while the older ones recited verses of scripture they had committed during the week. Occasionally preaching was had in connection with the Sunday School, if a circuit rider happened in the community. The Rev. William Matthews was one of the early preachers. He formed a Presbyterian society in 1825 at Denmark. The North Canaan Methodist Episcopal church was first organized, in 1833, by the Rev. James Wilson. It was then merely a class of five members, over whomJacob Geyer was appointed class leader. In the year 1842 a protracted meeting was held at the home of Mr. Geyer, by the Rev. Mr. Sharp. This meeting resulted in a large number of accessions, and a more complete organization was made, with the following official board : Class leaders, Jacob Geyer, Jacob Harrison and John Campbell ; stewards, Abraham Foulk, Jacob Geyer and Richard Stime ; trustees, Abraham Foulk, Jacob Geyer, Jacob Harrison, S. Valentine and John Campbell. The first church edifice was of hewn logs, and erected in 1846. Prosperity marked the history of the church till 1861, when the old log building was superseded by a beautiful frame structure ; when in the act of raising the building, a part of the frame fell, and several workmen were caught beneath the falling 388 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY timbers, and, though several were seriously hurt, yet no one was fatally injured. When the raising was going forward, a neighbor drove up with a fast trotting horse, and many of the bystanders were attracted out to the road to see him try his speed, and by this means were out of danger when the building fell. The work progressed, however, to completion, and was dedicated in the fall of the same year. This building is yet standing. It has a beautiful location for a country church, being surrounded by a grove of trees and standing at the crossing of two well built pike roads, one running east and west and the other north and south. It is yet known as the Canaan church and is prosperous. The other churches in the township at an early day were two of the Protestant Methodist denomination, one of these being located at Denmark and the other in what was known as the Queen settlement. In those times people went to church, following a course blazed upon the trees.   The men were clad in linsey-woolsey, and the women had handkerchiefs tied over their heads or wore sun bonnets. These two churches belonged to the same circuit. DENMARK. Denmark is a little to the south of the center of Canaan township, and is a very small village of less than fifty people. The most important thing that attention is called to is that it was the old home of Calvin Brice, a noted capitalist in financial railroad circles and at one time a United States Senator. He is now deceased. The house in which Mr. Brice was born was near the center of the village, and was destroyed by fire a few months ago, the ashes only remaining to mark the place. Denmark has a general store, and one church, the Methodist Episcopal. The old church was burned and a new one has been erected. The other old church there is now standing idle. An attempt was made to turn it into a public hall, but after the floor was relaid and other repairs made the project was for the time at least abandoned. There is no post office at Denmark, it being on the Rural Free Delivery. The old Denmark Episcopal church was first organized in 1849, with the Rev. John Orr, as pastor. The first church edifice was erected the following year, and the society formed a part of the Iberia circuit. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 389 CLIMAX. Climax is a station on the Toledo & Ohio Central Railroad, in the northeast part of Canaan township, and although the place is of more recent origin, it is larger than its sister town of Denmark. It has about a hundred inhabitants, a United Brethren church, a town hall, a post office and a general store. Vol. I-25 CHAPTER XX. CONGRESS AND FRANKLIN TOWNSHIPS. SOIL AND DRAINAGE OF CONGRESS TOWNSHIP-PIONEERS WILLIAMSPORT- FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP-DEFUNCT TOWNS-SCHOOL HOUSES-JOHN COOK AND OTHERS-PULASKIVILLE. There are no more forests to subdue ; the men who felled them are dust, and this work is only a faint attempt to render them due honor. We have arrived at an age when luxuries are supplanting simple wants, and the demand for the "ready-made" is blotting out the individuality that was so distinguishing a trait in the character of the pioneer. The influence of the farm will yet reassert itself, and when the education and culture of the farm is coequal with that of the professional field, it will again be the best spot on earth for a birth place and a place on which to be reared, trained and reside. There is a force arising in The agricultural world—in its agricultural schools, colleges, experiment stations and working departments of agriculture—that will uplift and finally triumph. SOIL AND DRAINAGE. Congress township in its general appearance and character resembles Bloomfield, being rather level, yet gently undulating in some portions. The land is tillable and the soil fertile. There are several streams coursing through this region, affording drainage and supplying stock with water. The early settlement gravitated between two points Williamsport and West Point. The Whetstone or Olentangy, enters the township a little east of West Point, flows almost south through sections 5 and 6, when it changes to a westerly course, passing out through section 7. A tributary of this stream rises in section 2, runs southwest two or three miles, changes to a westerly course, passes out a little south of the Whetstone, and unites with the latter in the south part of Washington township. Two or three other small tributaries have their - 390 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 391 sources in the southwest part, and flowing southward, empty into the Whetstone near Mt. Gilead. Owl creek has its source in section 13, flows almost south, and passes out through section 36. The middle branch of Owl creek rises near Williamsport, starts out in a westerly direction, and then, with a curve of several miles extent, changes to the southward and passes through the township on section 33. The northeast quarter of the township was generally known as the Owl Creek prairie, and is a fine farming region. The timbered portion of the township is stocked with the different species common to this section of the state. PIONEERS OF CONGRESS TOWNSHIP. Perhaps the first settler in Congress township was John Cook, Sr., who located on a farm three miles south of Williamsport in 1811. William Levering settled on Owl creek at an early day and built a horse grist mill, which was the only thing practicable then, and the settlers for miles around brought their grist of wheat and corn on horseback, hitched their horse to the grinder and ground their own grain ; then mounted and returned home. Mr. Levering built the first saw and grist mills in the township about 1815, on Owl creek. Enoch Hart was among the pioneers of Congress township. He entered a piece of land embracing what was later the site of Williamsport. William Rush, of Washington county, Pennsylvania, settled there in 1821. He was a soldier of the War of 1812. When Mr. Rush and wife came to Congress township, there were but five families there. Among the early settlers, besides Rush and Levering, were Samuel Graham, Jonathan Brewer, Samuel Graham, Timothy Gardner and a Mr. Bailey. When white people first began to settle in Congress township, they had to go to Mt. Vernon or Fredericktown to mill, and it took several days to make the trip. This was before Levering built his mill on section 25, which proved a great convenience to the people. A country store and the country blacksmith early put in an appearance. Dan Mitchell was perhaps the first blacksmith, and John Levering the next. In the early settlement there were plenty of Indians passing to and fro through Congress township They would encamp near the streams and hunt for several days at a time. They were great beggars and when they could not beg they would steal, and there- 392 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY fore required constant watching when in the neighborhood. But after a few years they were removed to the reservations the government had provided for them, and their old haunts and hunting grounds in the forests of Morrow county are among the things of the past. Gideon Chamberlain was an early settler near the southern line of Congress township, where he located in 1828. He has a son, Squire Chamberlain, now living in Williamsport. Samuel McCleneham settled in Congress about 1831-2. He died in 1873, but his widow is still living. Mr. Foultz, who settled in the northeast part of the township very early, is said to have been a soldier under Napoleon Bonaparte, and participated in the ill-fated expedition to Moscow. He is now dead. John Moffett came from Pennsylvania, but was of Scotch descent, and came to this township in 1831, where he died in 1846. His widow is still living and is ninety-three years old. She crossed the mountains with her family, in 1802, and settled in southern Ohio, where she lived until her marriage and removal to this township She has been a member of the church for more than sixty years. John Garverick was from Pennsylvania in 1833, and settled in north part of township, where he died in 1872. In 1830, there were scattered through the township the following additional settlers : Amos Melotte, Thomas Fiddler, William Andrews, Joseph Vannator, George and James Thompson, John Swallum, Enoch Hart, William Williams, Jerry Freeland, and perhaps a few others. Melotte was from Pennsylvania originally, but had been living for some time in the southern part of the state. He settled here in 1831 about one and a half miles south of Williamsport. Thomas Fiddler settled originally in this township, but moved over into Franklin township. Andrews settled where A. B. Richardson now lives, moved to Wisconsin and died there. Vannator came about the time of Andrews' arrival. The Thompsons came in 1830, and were originally from Ireland George Thompson was the father of James, and died in 1859. Swallum was from Virginia, and is living on the place of his original settlement. His father was one of the Hessians captured by Washington at Trenton during the Revolutionary war. There was a family living on the adjoining "eighty" to that on which Swallum settled, when he came, but they are now all gone. Hart was from Pennsylvania, and his wife was from Maryland. He, with his father, settled in what is now Perry township, at an early day. Enoch Hart entered the land on which the village of Williamsport now HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 393 stands, in 1827, and soon afterward he and his young wife settled on it. He erected a cabin on this land, and lived one year in it without a door, except a quilt hung before the opening. This afforded but a slight protection against the wolves, which sometimes became very fierce and forced the family to guard the opening against the intrusion of the unwelcome animals Mr. Hart sold his property to a man named Freeland, and moved into the northern part of the township, where he died in April, 1878. Probably the next arrival, after those already mentioned, was John Russell. He was from New York, and is supposed to have settled about 1824. He entered the place where Dan Mitchell lived and died, and where his widow is still living. He sold out to Mr. Mitchell, upon his arrival in 1828, and bought a farm between Bellville and Lexington. Here he remained but a few years, when he sold his place and removed farther west, where he died some years afterward. Dan Mitchell, who went by the name of "Dan," and did not allow himself to be called Daniel, bought out Russell. He was from Washington county, Pennsylvania, and settled originally in. Perry township, in the spring of 1823, where he dwelt until the fall of 1828. He then sold out and removed to Congress township, and settled where his widow now lives, one mile east of the village of Williamsport. She is seventy-nine years old, and enjoys good health. They came from Pennsylvania in wagons, and were sixteen days on the road. It was at a disagreeable season of the year, the ground was muddy, and over much of the route their wagon was the first to open the way. Often they had to stop and cut out a road and build pole bridges over the streams. But "time, patience and perseverance" finally overcame all obstacles, and the journey was accomplished without accident. Mr. Mitchell died about a year ago, but has several children still living, among whom is Z. H. Mitchell, who owns a saw mill east of Williamsport. Another son keeps a hotel in that village. The elder Mitchell was a man of some prominence in his neighborhood, and was one of the early county commissioners. The schoolmaster was an early addition to the settlement, as well as the pioneer preacher. One of the first schools taught in the township, was by Benjamin P. Truex, about 1834. It was kept in a small cabin, built for school purposes, not far from the village of Williamsport. A man named Hayden taught school near Dan Mitchell's, at a very early day, perhaps the next school after that taught by Truex. The house in which Truex taught was the first built in the township, perhaps, for school purposes. It was the usual log cabin school house. 394 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY The first birth in the township was that of Lavina Mitchell, a daughter of Martin Mitchell. She was born in 1829. The first marriage could not be ascertained. One of the first deaths was that of Samuel Peoples, who was killed at a house-raising at a very early day. Margaret Swallum died in 1832. The first roads through Congress township were the Indian and emigrant trails. The first laid out by authority was the Delaware and Mansfield road, which passes through the township. Congress township has excellent roads, which in most cases are laid out on sectional lines, and are kept in good condition. The pioneer preachers came into the township at an early date, and some of them were pioneers themselves. Private houses were used to hold services in until churches or school houses were built. The preachers in those days were seldom college graduates, but they had physical power and could be heard at a considerable distance, and they would preach from three to four hours. When called upon to preach a funeral, exposure to cold and wet and storm did not prevent an answer to the call of distress from stricken fellow pioneers. It was considered as a part of the work of the Master, and was done without money and without price. It cannot be definitely ascertained who was the first preacher in Congress township, but the Rev. Silas Ensign was one of them and is supposed to have been the first Methodist preacher in the field here. He used to preach at Gardner's long before there was either a church or school house in the township. The Revs. David James and John Thomas were Welshmen and two of the pioneer Baptists. The Rev. Mr. Shedd was one of the first Presbyterian preachers. WILLIAMSPORT Williamsport, near the center of Congress township, has less than a hundred inhabitants ; two general stores, a hotel and a blacksmith shop. There is no church in the place United Brethren which worships in an old frame building. The youth there attend a district school. Williamsport was laid out in 1836. Enoch Hart entered land upon which it is located, and after a few years sold out to Jerry Freeland He sold to William Dakan, who laid out the village and called it Williamsport, in his own honor. The first store was opened by William Andrews, as soon as the village was laid out; later he built a dwelling and a store house. Dakan also had a HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 395 store of nearly the same size. A post office was established at the house of William Andrews, about half a mile west of the town. The community is now served by the rural delivery. The first, tavern was kept by Reuben Luce, and it was a favorite place of resort, being on the direct road from Delaware to Mansfield, and a place where news from the outside world could be obtained from the travelers. Martin Mitchell was also an early hotel keeper in Williamsport. The first school taught in the village was by Z. H. Mitchell, in 1842. Although Williamsport is an old town, it never obtained much size, but there is plenty of room for growth. There are several country churches near the place. Mount Tabor Methodist Episcopal church is about two miles southwest. It was organized in 1836. There is a cemetery adjacent to the church, which contains the mortal remains of its early members, as well as many of the pioneers of the township Pleasant Grove Disciple church was founded about sixty years ago ; a log meeting house was erected on a corner of John Swallum's land, and later a frame church structure was built near the site of the old log one. A neat little burying ground adjoins this church. Rev. William Neal, a very earnest advocate of their doctrine and a very worthy man, has been one of its ministers. Bryn Zion Baptist church was formerly in this township, but since the addition to Gilead township of a section or two from the southwest corner of Congress, the church is just across the line in Gilead. This is a very old church organization, having been founded more than seventy years ago. WEST POINT. The village of West Point is situated on the line between North Bloomfield and Congress townships, and is divided about equally between, them. It is a small place, with a general store and a church the Free Methodist. The post office has been discontinued, and the community is now supplied by the Rural Free Delivery from Galion. FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP. The pioneers brought their moral standards and their social conscience with them and established here a type of society as good as they had left behind They cultivated and manifested the 396 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY great virtues of courage and of endurance indispensible qualities in pioneer life. They had days of hard labor and lonely nights in the primeval forests. They had persistent struggles with the firece wilderness to subjugate the soil, hoping that those who should come after them would reap the fruit of their sowing, and through their sacrifices enter into security and peace. Franklin township is situated on the Greenville treaty line, and is composed in part of United States military lands and Congressional lands, the latter being that portion north of the treaty line. It was originally surveyed in 1807. That portion of the township situated below the treaty line was then described as being level and of second rate quality, bearing principally sugar, beech and ash timber Above the treaty line the land is more rolling, forming somewhat of a ridge along the line of the road passing through Pulaskiville, which divides the waters of the two branches of Owl creek. The Middle branch takes its source in Congress township, and flows in a southerly course through the western portion of Franklin. Another small tributary to Owl creek takes its rise just north of Pulaskiville and follows a southeasterly direction, joining the main stream in Knox county. The soil is somewhat clayey, but the bottom lands are better soil and have some walnut timber. In the pioneer period some of the land was swampy and needed draining. The boundaries of Franklin township are quite irregular. For twenty-five years it was the extreme township in the northwest corner of Knox county. At that time Harmony township extended northward to the natural boundary of the treaty line. When the township was set off to form a part of Morrow county, a row of sections was taken off the eastern end above the treaty line. Franklin township is bounded on the north by Congress and Perry, on the east by Middlebury, Knox county, on the south by Chester and Harmony, and on the west by Harmony and Gilead townships. The territory thus embraced is well adapted to general farming, and under the management of the owners has proven to be second to none in the county. Grain raising is the principal pursuit of the farmers, although stock raising has also proven profitable. The place on the map called Pulaskiville is really only a cluster of houses at the crossing of the two main roads north of the center of the township This cross road hamlet was laid out in 1834 by William Linn and Richard Traux, on land which they owned. The original plat exhibits several streets and a number of lots. In 1836 a one story frame building was erected. HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 397 DEFUNCT TOWNS. Many years ago a town was projected by Allen Kelley. It was situated in the western end of the township on the land later owned by William Kelley. The site was one admirably adapted to a village site with the corners of four counties centering near it, and the founder might well entertain sanguine hopes of its ultimate success, but the reorganization of the counties changed the whole aspect, and Jamestown became a thing of the past. The House. Brothers had a store there early, where they did business until Mount Gilead began to show elements of growth, when they removed to that place. This establishment attracted trade from all points. Sometime previous to 1823 the village of Florida Grove was laid out on the land later owned by Thomas P. Morrison. The project was inaugurated by Reverend George Van Eman, who then owned the land, together with Plumb Sutleff and Samuel Hardenbrook. A number of lots were sold, but the would--be town failed to thrive, and has long since become a part of the farming land of the township. There were no large landholders in this township save James Brady of Greensburg, Westmoreland, county, Pennsylvania ; and most of the settlers bought direct of the government at the land office in Canton. The congressional lands were a part of what was known as the new purchase, and were put on the market about 1809, or as soon as practicable after the necessary survey was completed. The first actual settler was Samuel Shaw, who came from Washington county, Pennsylvania, in 1810. He was born in Carlisle, that state, in 1762, and came to Pickaway county, Ohio, in 1809, locating at Franklin a year later and settling on land where Salathiel Bonar later lived.. He had bought six hundred acres there in 1808. Mr. Shaw is represented as a clever, quaint old gentleman, who commanded the universal respect of his fellow-townsmen. He brought a large family of children, the oldest of whom, David, achieved considerable distinction in a local way. He was an early school teacher, the third person to be elected to the position of justice of the peace an office he held for twenty-three years a colonel in the peace establishment, and a county commissioner for nine years. David Peoples came from Jefferson county, Ohio, to Frankln, in 1810, shortly after Mr. Shaw. He was young, unmarried, and in straitened financial circumstances. After securing one 398 - HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY hundred acres of land, he had not money enough to buy an ax with, and worked for some time at clearing, for four dollars per acre, to get money to help himself. He got his first lot cleared early and had the first rolling of the season, and afterward was called upon to "return the compliment" every day for six weeks. About this time his horse, his only possession, died, and he was forced to put in his corn without plowing, using his hoe for all purposes of plowing and planting. In the meanwhile, he had boarded at Mr. Shaw's, but, having prepared a home and got in his crop, he returned for his mother, whom he brought to Franklin in the same year. In the fall of 1810, John Cook started from his home in Maryland in search of a better land and a newer community, where he might turn his limited capital to a larger account. He was a native of New Jersey, but had emigrated in 1794 to Maryland. SCHOOL HOUSES. School houses were among the first structures built by the pioneers of Franklin, and in some instances preceded the meeting houses. The first one was built about 1815, on the site of the Owl Creek Baptist church (North branch), in the northeast corner of the township It was a round log affair, with a huge fireplace in one end, and greased paper windows. This was used until 1822, when it was burned, the fire originating from some defect in the rude chimney In the following year, another house was put up on a part of Mr. Levering's land. This had a brick chimney, and boards overhead, but without glass in the windows. It was considered a fine building, and served the public for years. About 1820, a log school house was erected a little southeast of Center Corners. Nellie Strong was the first teacher here, and W. T. Campbell followed her. The school building was made of round logs, with an inclined puncheon running along the side of the wall, supported by pins driven into the logs, just above which a part of one log was cut away to give light. This was covered by greased paper, which admitted all the light needed for school purposes. Here Mr. Campbell taught the rudiments of reading, writing, “ciphering” and geography to some thirty or forty scholars. In explanation of the number of scholars, it should be said that they came from three or four miles away, and that each family sent several—those of Shur and Walker, in Chester, sending five pupils each. A little later a school house wa§ built near the cross roads, HISTORY OF MORROW COUNTY - 399 which was constructed on a. unique plan borrowed from the pioneer structures of "York State." It was a large, square log building, with a fireplace in the center of the room. A large surface of stone was laid, in the center of the room, at each corner of which, out of reach of the flames, was placed a large post which supported the chimney about six feet above the fire. The formation of Ohio as a state had opened up a vast amount of land to the enterprising pioneer. Maryland at that time furnished. one of the most available markets for the frontier settlements in the new territory, and it was no uncommon occurrence to see a string of pack-horses, numbering from ten to thirty animals, ladened with flax, making their way to Hagerstown, to return with supplies for the Ohio settlements. The reports concerning the beauty and resources of the country, and the fertility of its soil, brought to the attention of those who began to feel crowded in the older communities the advantages to be found in Ohio. JOHN COOK AND OTHERS. It was this condition of affairs that induced John Cook, John Ackerman and William Levering to mount their horses in the fall of 1810, and start to investigate the new country. They stopped at the settlement in Wayne township, where some fifty families had settled, and were there directed to lands which are now a part of Franklin township, as desirable for farming purposes. They were pleased with the prospects, and purchased lands adjoining those of the elder Cook. The latter had commissioned his son to look after the boundaries of his land, and to see that it was located as he supposed it to be, and found that it was not that the supposed spring and grove which would have added so much to his purchase were not on his land. When this was reported to Mr. Cook he secured another half section, taking in the desired property. Late in the year 1812 Mr. Cook started for his new home in Ohio. With his effects and family stowed in one of those Pennsylvania wagons known by the expressive name of land-schooners, with a team of five horses as the motor power, he started for the "far west." The route took them along the Hagerstown pike, which had been partially completed, for about forty miles. From this point, they followed a plainly marked road, along which there was considerable travel. They could make but slow progress at best,