100 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. In fact, during the ministry of Rev. Lehman, a theological class was privately taught. This congregation and most of the other Lutheran Churches in the county was served by Rev. Chas, Hinkle who is buried in the old cemetery. The Thornville Lutheran Church was organized in 1810 by Rev. Foster in conjunction with Rev. King, of the Reformed congregation. Lebanon Lutheran Church at Junction City began its existence in 1815. For many years the Reformed people also worshiped in it. The Lutheran and Reformed congregations jointly built St. Paul's at Glenford in 1818. The same year, the Shelly, or Good Hope Church was organized. St. John's Lutheran Church in Mondaycreek was organized by Rev. Frankenburg in 1841, but preaching had been held in private houses and barns for six years previous. About a mile and a half east of Mt. Perry is the United Presbyterian Church on Jonathan Creek. This denomination was the third to organize a church in the county. They date from 1807. Their services were first held in a school house, or, if weather permitted, in a tent. The first pastor was Rev. Abraham Craig. Unity Presbyterian Church, in Clayton township, began its existence in the year 1809. The services were, at the beginning, transient, both barns and houses being utilized. In 1811, Rev. James Culbertson of Zanesville came once a month. The organization proper was made in 1816, when Rev. Wright of Lancaster became pastor. The old log school house was used at first. During his pastorate the log church was built in 1826. Unity congregation had a wide influ- HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 101 once. Her pastors were scholars. One was a graduate of Dartmouth and Yale, and another of Princeton. Rev. Moore rests in the cemetery beneath the shadow of the church, for which he labored so arduously. Rev. Henry Beeman of New Lexington, came to Unity in 1866 and for some years served as its efficient pastor. The Presbyterian congregation in New Lexington was organized in 1837. Rev. Moore had preached to the people before. This society deserves to be placed in the list of pioneers. The Dunkers or German Baptists, of whom there were, and are now, quite a number in the northern part of the county, worshiped in private houses in Thorn township as early as 1810. In 1817 a congregation was organized in Madison township near Mt. Perry. Hopewell Baptist Church, on Zane's, Trace, in Hopewell township is the pioneer church of that denomination. 1812 is the date of its organization. It was for many years one of the most influential of all the Baptist societies in the country. The Hazelton graveyard in Saltlick township is an old landmark. The church that stood there not only occupied a prominent position, geographically, but its influence gave it prominence in another direction. The Hazelton Baptist Church was the first in Saltlick township and the second of that denomination in the county. The church has for many years been destroyed and the congregation disbanded. The date of its beginning is 1820. John Hazelton for whom it was named was a soldier of the War of 1812. To walk from New Lexington to Hazelton's to attend church was a little difficult, and it was not long after the organization of the church in Saltlick township until the Baptists in the vicinity of New Lexing- 102 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. ton concluded that they, too, might support a church. Accordingly, about 1821, the organization was effected. In 1825, they built their church of hewed logs. It contained a gallery and was quite a commodious building for the time. The present building stands near the site of the first. It was built in 1845. A Baptist congregation existed for some years at Oakfield. It is worthy of being listed as a pioneer. In 1814 they organized and built a church, but the congregation was small and it soon disbanded. An organized society of this denomination was at Bristol in 1832. In the same year, Ebenezer, in Mondaycreek was founded. The pioneer Methodist Circuit Rider early found his way into the Perry county wilds. The Methodists held services in the county as soon as any of the denominations. But the first class was not begun till 181 1, when Rev. James B. Finley organized the congregation at Somerset. This was followed the next year by the formation of a class at Rehoboth. Church services were held in the latter place in a private house until 1818, when a log church was built The same year that the Methodists organized at Rehoboth, the Hopewell class or as it is better known, the Chalfant's. Church was formed. The Fletcher, or Holcomb M. E. Church is in Bear-field township. They built a 'church in 1825, but for ten years, the congregation had met in private houses. The first church in Harrison township was the Iliff, The log edifice was built in 1819, but that is not the exact date for the genesis of the society. Bishop Iliff of the M. E. Church is from this place. Madison has an M. E. Church, known as Bethel, HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 103 that antedates Iliff by one year. It organized in 1818' and in 1819 ,they erected a hewed log church. Zion Church in the same township is of later origin. It began about 1834. It is in its cemetery that General Ritchey, ex-Congressman lies buried. New Reading M. E. Church was organized in 1825. The New Lexington Methodist congregation was organized in 1828.. The services at first were held in the old log Baptist Church. .Eleven years later they built their church which was destroyed by fire in 1875, when the present brick structure was erected. The Asbury M.. E. Church in Monroe township may also be classed among the pioneers. Its beginning was in 1830. The Bible Christians built a log church in 1820 in Monroe township. A frame building was more recently erected and services are still held. The pioneer church of the Disciples was in the eastern part of Saltlick township where in 1830 a congregation began its existence. In 1847, with Daniel Rusk, the father of Jeremiah Rusk, at the head, a congregation was organized at Porterville. A log church was built which has since been- supplanted by a frame building. Daniel Rusk is buried in the cemetery adjoining the church. St. Matthew's Disciple Church near Mt. Perry was organized in 1851. The society was disbanded in 1867 and re-organized in 1880. A Disciple Church existed at Oakfield a few years subsequent 'to 1848. Otterbein United Brethren Church is situated on the Pike, four miles west of Somerset. It is the first church of that denomination in the county. It has al 104 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. ways been a large and influential society and is yet a strong organization. It dates from 1818. Zion Church, in Jackson township, is only a few miles from the mother church. Before a church home was procured, church services were held in the woods. When the frosts of autumn came, they would burn log heaps. The date of the beginning of this society is 1830. The Mennonite Church in Mondaycreek is the only representative of that denomination in the county. The exact date of its organization is unknown. Its members were mostly Germans and among them were many of the first settlers of that community. The date of its beginning is certainly before 183o. The first settlers of Perry county were mostly Protestants. In the north where the German element predominated, there were mostly Lutherans, German Reformed and Dunkers. In the central and southern parts of the county where the people were mostly Virginians the Methodists and Baptists were most numerous. However, among the first pioneers of the county, especially in the neighborhood of Somerset, were some German Catholic families. To Bishop Fenwick belongs the honor of being not only the missionary priest of Perry county but the very first to be settled in Ohio. It is said that Bishop Fenwick in traveling through Ohio reached the tavern of John Fink at Somerset, and upon discovering that his host was a Catholic celebrated Mass within the rude home of the pioneer. This is as far as known the first mass ever said within the bounds of the State. It was the genesis of the Catholic Church in Ohio. Bishop Fenwick was a priest of the Dominican Order which had established the HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 105 Convent of St. Rose in Kentucky. Dr. Fenwick was ably assisted in his missionary work by his nephew, Father Young. The Ditto and Fink families had entered at the land office, three hundred and twenty-nine acres of land, located two miles south of Somerset. This they donated to Father Fenwick for the express purpose of establishing a Church and Convent of the Dominican Order. Fathers Fenwick and Young were sent to take care of this endowment. They arrived at their destination about the first of December 1818. On the sixth of the same month, the little log chapel in the forest was dedicated. It was the first Catholic Church in the state of Ohio. The congregation consisted of but six families. Before the end of the year an addition of stone was built to the log chapel. Holy Trinity Church at Somerset was organized in 182o by the Dominican Fathers. About this time Catholics began to pour into the county. It was found that Holy Trinity and St. Joseph's could not accomodate all. Arrangements were made to enlarge the latter and in 1829 a substantial brick edifice took the place of the original. St. Joseph's was the headquarters of the Dominican Order in America. From its Convent walls, its preachers, for preaching is what the Dominican priesthood stands for, went into all parts of the country. With the exception of the Pacific coast, St. Joseph's is yet the American center of the Order. Most of the Catholic congregations in the county were organized through the agency of the priests at St. Joseph's. While all of these congregations, with the exception of Holy Trinity, have passed under the ecclesiastical 106 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. control of the Bishop of the Columbus Diocese, the honor of their organization belongs to the Dominicans. The Church and Convent were destroyed by fire in 1862. The present buildings were then erected. For a time St. Joseph's was also a college, where a purely secular education could be received. It is now but a Theological school. It has a magnificent ,library of about ten thousand volumes. Many of these are quite old and valuable. The Convent is to be taken to Washington City. At present the students begin their study at St. Rose's, Kentucky, and complete it at St. Joseph's. After the removal the initial work will be done at St. Joseph's and its completion in the Capital City. The "Rosary Magazine" at Somerset is published under the auspices of the Order. Father Fenwick who became Bishop of Cincinnati, purchased land opposite the church in Somerset for the purpose of founding a female academy. This school was opened in 1830 in connection with a Convent. Its success was unbounded till it burned to the ground in 1866. Because of a generous offer from Columbus, it was determined to accept the new location. The well-known school, St. Mary's of the Springs, in Columbus, is the successor of St. Mary's at Somerset. A few years subsequent to the founding of St. Joseph's, a Catholic Church was built in the eastern part of Clayton township. It was made of logs and was used till 1833, when it was abandoned. The congregation then met at Rehoboth, in a large building that hal been erected for a grist mill. The motive power of this mill was to be a perpetual motion. The architect didn't get the motion perpetuated and he was HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 107 glad to dispose of the building. This was used as a church till 1851, when a new one near McLuney was built. The Rehoboth congregation then worshiped at the new location. The McLuney church has in turn been united with the new organization at Crooksville. St. Patrick's Church near Junction City is one of the children of St. Joseph's. It was organized in 1830 by Father. Young of whom mention has already been made. The first building was of brick and was quite small. The present edifice was erected in 1845. It is one of the largest church organizations in the county. Chapel Hill is possibly one of the best known churches in the county. It may hardly be considered a pioneer church, since it was not organized till about 185o. Services are not held here now, and the building is nearing a state of ruin. The famous old Stone Church in western Saltlick is, too, in a ruinous condition. The congregation dates back to 1825. The building that is now falling to pieces was built in 1839. It was a magnificent structure for its day and is one of the landmarks of southern Perry. Schools. There were two factors in the development of education in our county. The Germans built the schoolhouses and the 'Irish furnished the teachers. In the settlement of our county, the church in every community was the first institution to be organized ; the school was the second. The result was that the school and the church were usually built ,near each other. Often the church building was used for the school, and more often the school-house served in the double capacity. The primitive school-houses of the woods 108 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. were crude affairs. They were all built on the same general plan. A pen was built of unhewed logs ; the spaces between the logs were filled with "chinks" and mud ; one end of the building was occupied by a huge fire-place, in front of which half of the pupil, alternately roasted and froze, that particular half being dependent upon whether he sat with his face or back to the fire. In this huge fire-place; the "dinners" would 'often be placed to keep them from freezing. The benches had no backs. There were low ones for the little fellows and high ones for the big boys. These benches were split from trees. The upper side of each was "smoothed" with an ax, and splinters were often numerous. The writing desks were along the walls of the building. A log had been left out above this place and when the opening' was covered with greased paper an elegant window was the result. Wooden pegs were driven into the logs upon which their caps were hung. The teacher sat upon a high chair, before a high desk, opposite the fire-place. Behind him within easy Teach was an abundance of rods. If there was not a sufficient supply to successfully impress the recalcitrant pupil with the glories and benefits of an education, there was no dearth of duplicates in the woods. The writing pens used by the pupils were made of quills, and one of the cardinal requisites of every teacher was that he should be able to make a good quill pen. The teacher "boarded 'round". and if he happened to be a genial sort of a personage his coming was .always welcomed. Only the elements of an education were taught. The spelling-book was always required. !if you were not the possessor of a Reader, any book you happened to have would serve quite as well. The Bible was read and at times the Prayer-book made a HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 109 suitable reading book. It has been said that the celebrated Hagerstown Almanac was often utilized. In searching for the first school in Perry County, we would naturally look toward New Reading, the oldest settlement. A subscription school of three months was conducted there during the winter of 1808. But it was not the first schooh It was the second. The year previous, an English school was taught about two miles east of Somerset. An English and German school was taught in Somerset, the very first year 0f the town's organization. School was conducted within the present limits of New Lexington, before the town was laid out. The building was a log cabin that stood at the foot of Brown street, near the spring that yet sends f0rth its sparkling water. This was in 1815. Five years later a school-house was built where the McClelland Livery Barn now stands. At about the same time, the rural districts began to arouse themselves and a school began its operations near where Arthur King now lives on the Logan road. In 1830 Pike Township was divided into districts, much in the way it is divided now. The first school in Madison was taught about one and a half miles south of Mt. Perry. N0 date can be found for this school but it evidently was quite early. Bearfield began to have schools about 1820. Some of the early teachers were men who knew very little about teaching. Again there were among them some of considerable ability. They were for the most part persons who would drop into a neighborhood, teach their term of school and drop out again. A few remained as fixtures. 110 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. In the Bethel Presbyterian Cemetery near Middletown, is buried one of these old time pedagogues. His name was Colonel Thorn. For many years he taught at Somerset, but finally, he like all teachers must, sooner or later, dropped out of the ranks. For many years afterward he was a familiar figure with his peculiar "teacher ways.", Prof. Charles Nourse was for many years a prominent teacher. In Somerset he taught a select school, under the very dignified name of "The Somerset Collegiate Institute." Prof. Nourse afterwards became principal of the New Lexington public schools. He was one of the examiners of Perry County, and an examination taken under him in 1866 is described as follows : "There were thirty-two applicants—ten men and twenty-two women. The applicants were arranged as a class in school and the examination proceeded orally. It seems that Prof. Nourse was the only examiner present. The questions were given to the head of the class and if answered correctly due credit was given, if not it was passed to the next, and so on through the class. When the examination was completed, those who had passed successfully were given certificates at once. At this examination all of the ladies received certificates, but only four of the, men were successful. In giving out the certificates, the examiner, who was evidently somewhat of a ladies'. man, remarked that it was no more than right to indulge the ladies." Our first schools were supported from the revenue of school lands. These being insufficient, the fund was augmented by private subscription. The pioneer school law of Ohio was passed in 1821. It provided for a tax, the division of a township into districts, and HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 111 the election of three men in each district to levy the tax, build the school-house, employ the teacher and be the judge of his qualifications. It was left to the option of the electors whether they would make such provisions or not. This made the district the unit and the people of Ohio still cling to that idea. In 1825, a law was passed, making it mandatory upon the township trustees to divide townships into school districts, each district- to elect three directors, who should build a school-house, employ a teacher, make the needful assessments and superintend the school. The teacher's qualifications were to be determined by a Board of County Examiners. In 1838 the law was enacted making the township clerk superintendent of the township-schools. His duty was to visit each school at least once a year and examine all matters "touching the situation, discipline, mode of teaching, and improvement thereof." At least six months of good schooling was required. In 1847 the celebrated Akron Law was passed. This gave the right, to provide "for the support and better regulation of the common schools in that town." The next year this law was made, general. And still the next year the "Law of 1849" was applied to all cities and towns. Under this law the modern High School had its origin. In 1853, a general law was passed, designating one of the sub-directors a member of the township Board of Education. It was practically as it is now with the exception that the township board had no voice in employing the teacher. Its jurisdiction was only general. This law also provided for the levy of one-tenth of a mill upon the taxable property for the purpose of fur- 112 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. nishing libraries and apparatus for the common schools, of the state. Under this provision $300,000 was spent during the years 1854-55-56 and 59. The books were the cream of the literature then extant and 400,000 volumes were distributed throughout the state. There was lack of system in their distribution and in many places they were allowed to be lost. The cry of economy on the part of the farmers was raised. It was for them and their children that the library was inaugurated. The law was repealed. It made no appreciable difference in the taxes of any farmer and as a consequence he had. '•cut off his own nose to spite his face." MADISON ACADEMY. - The glory of Madison Academy has departed. But it is still vivid in the memories of the citizens of Mt. Perry. They delight to tell of the palmy days, when their village was an educational Mecca ; when their streets were filled with young men and women, who had come to drink deep at learning's fountain. Those were halcyon days —the days when William D. Harper of the Chicago University, recited within the walls of the "Academy" and William O. Thompson of our own State University, came to Mt. Perry to attend church and Sunday School. Madison Academy was founded in 1871 under the direction of the Rev. James White. It was controlled by the United Presbyterian Church. This denomination is particularly strong in that section. The Academy served somewhat as a feeder for Muskingum College, at New Concord. But it had a better field of usefulness in another way. In the days before the High School era, the youth from the district school HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 113 repaired to its precincts for the benefits of a higher education. It did its work well for many years. Madison Academy is of the past but its influence is of the present. The building has been turned over to the Board of Education in consideration of their maintaining a Township High School. A school of higher education for girls, that is attracting some notice beyond the confines of our own County is ST. ALOYSIUS ACADEMY near New Lexington. It was organized in 1876 by Sisters of the Franciscan Order. It has had a steady growth, both in the number of students and influence. The buildings have been enlarged from time to time and its students go out into life with nothing but praise for the efficiency of instruction received from those sisters. Mills. The first manufacturing establishment of our county was the grist milh The mills were called "corn crackers." Their motive power was the horse. There were dozens of these in the county. A little later mills were built along the streams. They were water mills and they not only ground corn and wheat but also sawed lumber. The saw resembled our modern crosscut saw, and it stood upright. The boards could not be sawed off the logs entirely, and an ax was used to complete the work. There was hardly a stream in the county that had not several mills upon it. Jonathan Creek was "lined" with them. Hood's Run that flows from Somerset toward the Moxahala had five within as many miles. The best known of these were those of 8 H. P. C. 114 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. Parkinson and Hood, near Somerset. Little Monday-creek had three within three miles. Big Mondaycreek had several, while Sundaycreek and its tributaries and the South Fork of the Moxahala and Rush Creek had their quota. These old mills have disappeared as far as their being used is concerned. The dilapidated ruins of some are yet to be seen, while in many a farmer's field the boy of to-day looks with wonder at two great, round pieces of rock with a hole in the center of each. These are the burr stones that ground the grain for our forefathers. The presence of so many mills along our streams in former days shows how abundant the running water was and what a change has taken place. Few of our creeks could now furnish enough water. The cutting of the timber is thought to be the cause of this change. To James Moore of Bearfield Township, belongs the honor of being the inventor of the portable saw mill. It did its first work in Bearfield Township. It was only an eight horse power mill, but it was a great :step in the evolution of the manufacture of lumber. Oil Works. Before the days of petroleum the tallow dip served to light the pioneer cabin. Just before the Civil War it was discovered that a vein of cannel coal, which had its outcrop in Mondaycreek Township, contained a large percentage of oil. On Coalbrook, a branch of Little Mondaycreek a plant for the extraction of the oil was erected and for many years did a thriving business. There are yet living in Mondaycreek, many people who remember seeing the surface of the stream covered with the refuse oil from the Coalbrook oil works. HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 115 A similar plant existed west of Maxville. It was more extensive and did a greater amount of business. Large kettles were used in the extraction of the oil. The abundance of petroleum coming from the Pennsylvania oil fields made the manufacture unprofitable. The oil factories were razed to the ground and nothing but the burnt earth and loose stones from the old chimneys, yet remain to testify to this former Perry County industry. The Old Salt Kettle. The picture of the large kettle is taken from one that was used to boil salt water three-quarters of a century ago. It was used at the "salt lick" where McCuneville now stands. The Manufacture of salt began in 1826 and continued for some time. But the simplicity of manufacture was unequal to more advanced methods and it was discontinued. Nothing remained but a stone chimney that stood for forty years, as a monument of days of yore. But the old kettles still exist. The writer knows of at least three, yet doing service in the way of watering troughs or for boiling water at butchering time. The McCune Salt Works. The picture represents the McCune Salt Works at McCuneville. When the Straitsville branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was built to Shawnee; Mr. McCune of Newark, erected a considerable plant for the manufacture of salt. He expended about $40,000 in boring wells and getting improved machinery. A town sprang up and it gave every evidence of permanency. But the plant was bought by a "trust" 116 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. and it shut down never to operate again. Nothing remains of these works and their past existence is like the shadow of a dream. Tobacco. Houses. The picture represents one of the last of its kind. Fifty years ago the tobacco house was a familiar object. It has since gone into decay or been converted into stables or sheds, till it is a difficult task to find one in a good state of preservation. It has been relegated to the past. But the sight of one, or its picture, is an object lesson in the history of the development of the county. Without it the pioneer settler would not have been able to pay his taxes, to buy the farm necessities which he himself could not produce, nor to pay for the land itself. Nothing that the pioneer could produce had such a market value as tobacco. The soil of the county, especially in the southern part, was peculiarly adapted to its growth. It had the added merit of being the easiest crop raised. A very small patch of it yielded very large returns in comparison with other crops. It could be planted among the stumps of deadened trees and be cultivated by hand. When the leaves were ready for gathering they were stripped from the stalk and strung upon long sticks. These were hung upon poles in the tobacco houses. The houses were built very high, that the tobacco might be out of the reach of the flames. The entire upper part, reaching to the rafters was filled. Then a fire was started and the members of the family took turns at watching. It required close attention for a single spark striking the drying leaves would often set it on fire and crop and building would go up in smoke. This was always a calamity, for it HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 117 meant that the pioneer family would have to go without some things, and money would have to be borrowed to pay the taxes and probably for a payment on the land. Rehoboth and Maxville were the tobacco emporiums of the county. Huge warehouses were erected at these places, and the business that was done in a single day, during the tobacco season, was greater than is now done in the same village, in two months. It has not been many years since the old warehouse at Maxville was razed to the ground. The tobacco house occupied a very prominent place in the industrial history of the county. Lime-Kilns. The lime-kilns of Perry County were also factors in the industrial progress of the county's early history. Before the mines had begun to pour out their black streams of wealth, before the iron ores were being utilized, the lime deposits were drawn upon and changed into "coin of the realm" for their owners. With the exception of the salt, the limestone was the first mineral of the county to be used. Maxville was the center of this industry. Here in the early thirties the sub-carboniferous strata was quarried and burned. Logan, New Lexington, Lancaster and all intermediate points, went to Maxville to get lime to plaster their houses. The kilns were built of stone, placed against a bank. The lime was poured through an aperture in the top, and after sufficient burning it was raked through an opening in the bottom. Once, many of these kilns were in operation at Maxville, but they have all disappeared, and their site is now known only by the presence of piles of burnt lime, around a depression in the earth. The picture Here shown is such a 118 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY. representation. There were also a few kilns west of Carthon where the sub-carboniferous crops out near the tops of the hills. The last kiln ceased to operate in the county about 1885. The large quarries in the northern part of the state where the lime was more accessible, produced it more cheaply, although not better in quality. An Old Time Pottery. "Turn, turn, my wheel ! All things must change To something new, to something strange; Nothing that is can pause or stay; The moon will wax, the moon will wane, The mist and cloud will turn to rain, The rain to mist and cloud again, To-morrow be to-day."— Longfellow. The poet makes the potter sing truly, when he says, "All things must change, To something new, to something strange, Nothing that is can pause or stay." There is no industry in which that truth is more manifest than in the manufacture of pottery itself. True, a great deal of the product is yet shaped by hand, but the large concerns at Crooksville, employing scores of men, the work being done by machinery that turns out thousands where dozen were originally produced, is in sharp contrast to the "old timers," where the clay was ground by the family horse, and the wheel was turned by the foot.The kilns were but overgrown bake-ovens. Verily the world "do move." The utilization of potter's clay has for over sixty years been an important industry in the. county. As early as 1838, Caleb Atwater, Ohio's first historian, in speaking of Perry county said, "A white clay is HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY - 119 found in abundance, suitable for pots and crucibles. It stands the heat very well, growing whiter when it is exposed to the greatest heat. It will one day be used extensively in the manufacture of Liverpool earthenware. It contains no iron and is almost infusible before the blow-pipe." The neighborhood of Saltillo has furnished earthenware for a long time. Along Buckeye Creek and the South Fork of Jonathan, the potteries were frequent. About the time of the Civil War, a pottery was conducted in Mondaycreek. It produced a good quality of ware. Caleb Atwater's prophecy has proved to be true. The clays of Perry county are the best in the world. The manufacture of brick, stoneware or Portland cement can here be made a source of great profit. The abundance of clay, the presence of the coal fields, and the railroad facilities are making Perry county famous in the clay business. Perry county clay-ware is shipped in car lots to the states of the west and the south-west and the business bids fair to increase as the years go by. Blast Furnaces. "And far in the hazy distance Of that lovely night in June, The blaze from the flaming furnace Gleamed redder than the moon." — Longfellow. At one time the flames of seven blast furnaces in our county lighted the mid-night sky. Just a few rods across the Perry-Hocking line two others poured out their molten mass of the useful metal. The furnaces of Perry County were the first to utilize the raw coal in the production of iron. 120 - HISTORY OF PERRY COUNTY Baird Furnace, in Mondaycreek, was the pioneer Furhace in this region. Mr. Samuel Baird had charge of the .old char-coal furnace at Logan and became thoroughly acquainted with the mineral resources of southern Perry. Mr. Baird purchased quite a tract of land in easterh Mondaycreek, for the purpose of manufacturing iron from the native material. Many experienced iron men thought it a rash undertaking. The site of the furnace was three miles from a railroad. It would be expensive to get the product of his furnace to market. But Mr. Baird knew "his business." He built the furnace on an entirely new plan. The stack was placed against the hill. The coal was mined a few rods back of it and the track from the mine led to the top of the stack. The native ore was taken from the hills and the Maxville and Zoar limes were used as flux. It was asserted that pig-iron could be manufactured here cheaper than any place in the world. It was doubted. In January, 1876, the American Manufacturer contained a description of this furnace and the following estimate of the cost of a ton of iron.