HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO - 689

CHAPTER LII.

INDEPENDENCE TOWNSHIP.

Position and Division—The Ohio River Settlement—Prehistoric Inhabitants—The Valley of Dry Bones—Permanent Settlement—The Leath family—Other Pioneers—The First Orchard—An Early Tavern—The Settlement in Ala—Isaac Rinard and His Mills—The Captivity of Thomas Simons—A Girl Kills a Bear—The Vocalist of the Community—John Rea, the Irish Miller—The Rea Graveyard— Early Schools—A Temperance Movement—The First Store—A Union Church Building—The First. Public School—A Useful Settler —First Frame Dwelling--The First Post Office—A Victim of the Freshet of 1832—" One Niggah Enough"— Other Mills—Beginning of German Immigration—Anecdote of Washington—The First Four Wheeled Wagon—The Western End of the Settlements—A Heroine Kills a Ruffian—A Few Doctors—An Incipient Town—It's Store— Early Preaching—Three Churches and the Tripartite Agreement— The First Sunday-school—The Little Muskingum Settlement—The Archer's Fork Settlement—Archer's Home in a Tree—The First Marriage—The First Schools—Private Burial Places—The Decker Mill—The Settlement of the Germans—Other Settlers—The Scotch Neighborhood—The Waernicke Mansion—Churches—Independence Declared a Township—The First Election—A Novel Ballot Box.

INDEPENDENCE township, as now constituted, Is that political division of the county bounded on the north by

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Ludlow, on the east by Grand View, on the south by Newport and the Ohio river, and on the west by Lawrence. In its physical features it is divided into three parts, one of which directly slopes to the Ohio river, another contributes its waters to form Archer's fork, while the third part embraces the Little Muskingum valley.

The latter division barely lies within the township limits, the bounding ridge cutting, in a diagonal direction, sections thirty, thirty-six and thirty-five. The Ohio river division is a southeasterly slope of some two or three miles, beginning at a ridge entering near the encroaching corner of Grand View and reaching southwesterly to the further corner of section thirty-two. This portion of the township, a territory approximating thirteen square miles, was settled before the other two. The tide of emigration always seeks the valleys of the large streams first. The rivers were the only highways of the settlers, the banks of the rivulets their first foot-paths.

It does not belong here to treat at length of the first human beings who are known to have existed here, nor of that later race that made the country that our forefathers found, so much worse than uninhabited. This has been done at the beginning of the book. The most lasting reminders of their existence that were left here by these races were the graves and skeletons of their dead. One of the most remarkable of these traces existed until as late as, it may be, 1840. About a hundred yards from the Ohio, on the land now owned by John Butler, first owned by John Burris, is a rocky ledge, eight or nine feet high, under which was a collection of about a cart load of human bones, some of them of remarkable size. This circumstance gave name to the little stream—Bone run—in this vicinity.

SETTLEMENT.

The first white family that is known to have chosen what is now Independence for their home, was the Leath family. They settled at the mouth of the run bearing their name. This stream, rising far in Grand View, near its western boundary, as far north as Matamoras, takes a southerly course through one of the romantic valleys in which the country abounds, almost parallel to the Ohio, and empties into the latter river a few hundred yards on the Independence side of the Grand View line.

Little is known about this man or his family. He probably cleared the first land in the township, presumably above the mouth of the run. His settlement was either in the latter part of 1700 or first of 1800. His stay was short, for he moved away soon after burying his wife, Sarah, who died in 1804. She was buried in Grand View township near the line and the river. This, the first death in the township, was the origin of the first graveyard in the settlement.

In it now rest all that is earthly of the loved ones of the first families in the settlement : The Littles, Morelands, Riggs, Browns, Haldrens, as well as those of the settlement in Grand View—Burris, Dye, McMahon, Parr and others.

A few years ago the land composing the graveyard, was deeded by Mr. Haldren to the township, the matter having been neglected until then.

The second family was that of William Little. He and his household, which at that time consisted of himself, wife and three children, came from the Emerald Isle in 1805, in company with the family of William Rea. In 1806 he settled at the mouth of Leath's run, on land purchased and presented to him by his oldest son James, the son of his first wife, Mary Thompson. James had preceded his father and stepmother, Mary McKee, to America, settling in the Shenandoah valley, and rapidly amassing a fortune. William Little was a physician, having graduated at a medical college in Ireland. But his surroundings in that country were such that he could not succeed. He died in 1807, in his seventieth year. He was born in County Down, Ireland.

Of his two children by his second wife, Jane and Mary, Jane married Rhesa Moreland, and Mary married David Murdock.

As Mr. Little came down the Ohio on his way to his new western home, he stopped at Steubenville, and purchased young apple trees which he planted on his arrival, thus starting the first orchard in the township. The last tree was cut down in the winter of 1880–1—a truly patriarchal tree, the trunk measuring eleven feet in girth. The Ridgeway orchard in the same settlement was older than this, but was situated in Grand View.

The William Rea mentioned as the companion of Mr. Little in his emigration from Ireland, also settled as a neighbor, belonging to Independence. His land was that now belonging to Walter Brown. When he left Ireland, his family consisted, besides himself, of his wife, who was Nancy Martin, and two children. The latter number was subsequently increased to seven: William, Samuel, Martin, Margaret, Mary, Eliza, and Nancy. All are now dead, but Nancy, who lives in Mason county, West Virginia. Her first husband was E. A. Riggs; her second, J. P. Harvey.

The travel along shore and stream of the Ohio—the great thoroughfare between the east and her western children—increasing with the growth of the new settlements, it became necessary to provide more suitable accommodations than could be afforded to the belated travellers by the incommodious cabin of the pioneer. William Rea attempted to fill this demand by keeping a tavern at his home. In a short time, about the year 1808, he removed it to the mouth of the stream since named for him, Rea's run—a pretty stream, flowing two miles southeast to a point on the Ohio shore, a mile and a quarter below the mouth of Leath's run. Its waters are swelled by but one stream south, Farnsworth's branch, which enters it from the left, in the lower third of its course. The name that Mr. Rea thought appropriate for his hotel, was "The Travellers' Rest." Mr. Rea abandoned the enterprise, probably soon after the death of his wife in 1821. Mr. Rea was born in Ireland in 1777, and died in this township about 1848, being buried in the graveyard at the mouth of the run.

At this period of the settlement, a family arrived, whose domestic troubles alone cause it to be remembered.

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John (or George) Cline was the name of the head of the family, and his wife's maiden name was Clarissa McCardle, of Middle Island. Cline was constantly inflicting corporal chastisement upon his spouse, and his excuse or pretext for this was that she was too much a friend to alcoholic stimulus. The troubles of this interesting pair furnished a theme for a song that is yet spoken of among the oldest inhabitants. Some time after 1808, Cline with his wife moved away, leaving his first name and his destination to be a subject of differing opinion by his quondam neighbors.

Joseph Holdren and his wife, whose name before marriage was Ruth Ferguson, settled on the place left by Cline. Their children were Thomas, George and Grace. The first two live in Grand View; the daughter is not living. Coleman Holdren, Joseph's brother, settled on the river. He afterwards moved to the middle part of the Newport township shore. He had several children, two were named Joseph and James; the latter lives in Marietta.

By the year 1808 the settlers had become numerous enough to give the settlement a definite form. It lined the bank of the river, beginning with Oliver Aplin's home, over two miles in Grand View, extending down the river embracing the fields of Dickinson, Nathan Parr, David Smothers, Joseph Holdren, Benjamin Ridgeway, and Joseph Burris—all in what is to-day Grand View territory. Those of the settlement in what is at present Independence township have been mentioned. Above Alpin's there was no settler for a considerable distance; the next settlement below was that of Newport. It will thus be seen that the history of the Ohio settlement of Independence merges into that of Grand View and Newport.

The next addition to this settlement was the widow of Samuel French and her children. She came from-Tyler county, West Virginia, in which State her husband had died. She was poor and compelled to obtain a living as best she could, nowhere certain of a long stay, and working in different places. She died about 1845. The children of Mr. French and herself were three—two boys and a girl. Only one of these is now living, namely, Charles, who was born in Tyler county in 1803. Since his arrival he has always lived in the township. He was in those early days a youth who worked at odd jobs, helping Mr. Walker to construct Ridgeway's brick house for one thing, spending his leisure, which was probably ample, about the tavern with playmates, or learning to hunt with his stepfather, Thomas Simms. As Mr. French grew older he engaged in the nursery business— was connected with the boating interests of the river, was something of a farmer and has never been married. He lives now with his nephew, Martin 0. Hanlon.

The next was the Rizhar family, which settled up Leath's run. This stream has considerable fall, and at one point the valley. is very narrow, affording a good place for a dam.

Up to this time the settlement had been without a mill, and in their extremity the pioneers were obliged to resort for their flour and meal to Mills so distant as Devol's, on the greater Muskingum. Accordingly, a very important accession to the settlement was the skillful and enterprising Isaac Rinard, a German who came about 1809 or 1810 down the river, bearing on his raft millstones that were obtained at Laurel Hill, West Virginia. At the site before mentioned he built a dam and put up a mill. He built a cabin at the same place, which is still standing, though the old mill has long since been at rest. Not content with one enterprise, he built another mill at Mill creek, in Green View township, about 1822, also one on the Little Muskingum, in Monroe county, about four miles above Bloomfield. The children of Mr. Rinard and his first wife were John and Sarah; of the second wife Hester Elder, Isaac, James, Mary, Rebecca, Cynthia, Margaret, and Nancy.

Cotemporary with the settlement of Mr. Rinard was that of Rhesa Moreland, who came from Maryland in company with a friend. He was born about the beginning of the Revolution. He married Jane Littlë and was the father of three girls and one boy. The latter, John, was killed by the kick of a horse in the summer of 1875.

THOMAS SIMMS AND HIS CAPTIVITY.

About 1810 a man arrived, of adventurous and eventful history. When Thomas Simms was a boy of some eight years of age, living with his kindred near Wheeling, Virginia, the Indians attacked and massacred his grandfather, and several of the family to which he belonged, but spared his life. They took Thomas to what was called Sandusky plains, where they raised him in the ways of their tribe. He seems to have met with great favor in their eyes, for they made him their companion rather than their slave. They trained him carefully and well in the preeminent Indian accomplishment of hunting, teaching him all the subtleties of Indian woodcraft. In his youth he played with Indian playmates, whose almost constant sport was with the bow and arrow. He accompanied the tribe in their warlike expeditions, and was with them in their retreat from near Marietta, when the whites had almost starved them, when they buried their kettle and other utensils, only to have them dug up again by the whites. He learned their language. He was always well treated, except when they had their drunken carousals. During one of these orgies he was chased and wounded in the calf of the leg by a large knife, the blade passing completely through the fleshy part. He luckily managed to secrete himself in a hollow log where he lay all night, listening fearfully to the steps of his temporary enemies as they passed to and fro over his very , hiding place, but luckily never thinking to peer in the end of it.

When Simms had reached the years of manhood, the longing came strong upon him to visit the homes of his own race and learn of his friends and kindred. It is said that the Indians allowed him to go "on his own recognizance," having such confidence in his honor as to trust his promise to return. At any rate he did make a visit to his old neighborhood, returning to his foster tribe in a very short time. In a little while he went again to Virginia, and thus severed his connection with

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the Indians forever. The story is that he escaped from them by. frightening an old squaw who was with him at some distance from the camp with the exclamation that the whites were coming. She hurried back to the main body of the Indians, while Simms went in the opposite direction.

Once more with the white people, Simms found himself a child in the knowledge of his race. He took up his abode with James McMahon, in West Virginia, and set earnestly to work under the tuition of the Misses McMahon to retrieve as far as possible the lost years of his captivity. Under his fair preceptresses his progress was, no doubt, rapid, and he soon left the family to enter our settlement, marry Mrs. French, and devote himself to the arts of peace and civilization. He entered the farm where Mr. Charles French now resides, near the Ohio river, a few hundred yards west of Leath's run. Three daughters were born to him, but he took the most interest, apparently, and was oftenest in company with his stepson, Charles, then a youth of seven or eight years. Him he taught in the Indian ways, tutored in their language, told stories of their adventures, of their ways and customs, took with him when hunting—of which occupation the man was very fond, and in which Indian skill had made him an adept—taught to fire the rifle, to carry a deer as the Indians do—with a strip of bark against the forehead. Many other things he taught and told his young companion, most of which have been, unfortunately, forgotten. He identified himself with the tribe which had adopted him, to that extent that to insult or ridicule the tribe was a personal affront to him. A fellow-harvester, by the name of Benjamin Hartwell, once derided the defeat, Wore mentioned, of his tribe by the whites. Simms started for him with up-raised sickle and flashing eyes, and had not Hartwell run from the field it is probable that a tragedy would have been enacted. Now about that time a delegation of Indians came up the river in three keel-boats, bound for the capital. They stopped at this settlement two or three days, and the Indians frequently came to the house of Simms after learning that he could speak in the Indian tongue. It was on this account that they would eat at his house, refusing food at other places for fear of poison. Simms could converse with only one Indian, who had once belonged to the same tribe that Simms lived with, but had killed one of their number, and taken refuge-with the nation he was then representing.

Simms was drafted in the War of 1812, but was excused from service on account of a running sore in his leg. He is described as a small, but heavy-set man, of medium weight, with black hair and quick, dark eyes, but fair complexion. He was the swiftest runner in the whole region about him, and was in every way quick and active. He died about 1816, when a man of apparently forty-five years of age. His death was due to a cold caught from exposure while chasing a bear.

These bears seem to have been more numerous at that time in the neighborhood than in many other parts of the county. In 1815 a young woman of perhaps twenty years, named Susan Riggs, while crossing the Ohio, opposite the settlement, in a canoe, saw a bear about a year old, swimming in the river, and, it is said, killed it with the cafioe paddle.

Isaac Wilson and his wife, Margaret, settled a little below the mouth of Rea's run. He came, probably, during the War of 1812. He had but one child, a son named Abijah. He came from near Wheeling, and moved away in a short time to Marion county, as nearly as can be ascertained. He was a relative of Nathan Parr, who was a resident of the Grand View part of the settlement.

Near 1814 George Lewis arrived, from Virginia, it is thought, where he married a lady by the name of Cooper. Two of his children were Nathan and Polly. He was celebrated for his great talent as a singer. He moved down the river to Indiana, where his son, "Nace," has since achieved some political distinction.

In 1820 John Rea, a brother of William Rea, came to the settlement and bought the Rinard property. He had two sons and one daughter. The daughter built the wall about their private graveyard, which is still in existence, and contains but four graves.

John Rea was, of course, an Irishman. He immediately began running the old Rinard mill, which was then in a rather dilapidated condition. The creek got rather high one day when the mill was running, for in hilly countries, such as Independence township, rivulets rise and fall with great rapidity. The rumbling wheel gathered speed; the buhrs began to hum; the old mill tottered as if there were an earthquake, and the Irish miller, too much frightened to shut the water off, cried out to his oldest son: "Sam! Sam! let's go out on the bank an' let her run a weal of hours by hersilf until the wather ebbs."

In about eight or nine years Rea abandoned the old affair, and the site has been without a mill until three or four years ago, when John Yost constructed one at that place.

Samuel Rea, the Sam of the preceding narrative, was quite enterprising. With the exception of

William Rea, who made, perhaps, one trading trip, he was the first one of the settlement to carry produce, by boat, to New Orleans. He began this business about the year 1824. His method was to build a flat-boat in the summer, and in the meanwhile scour the country for its produce of dried fruit, such as peaches and apples, buying flour and meal of the millers, and also investing to some extent in other products. At that time vast quantities of peaches were raised in this region, the bottoms being almost covered with peach trees.

At this period an important industry of the district was the manufacture of tar. The forests abounded in fine, yellow pine trees, especially in the territory now included in Independence, Liberty, and Ludlow townships. The pine knots from these trees were gathered and burnt in kilns, furnishing the tar, which was sold to traders in the article. Bazil Riggs, living across the river, was a principal dealer in the tar, finding a market for it at Mr. Berry's rope works at Wheeling.

Returning to the year 1821, the death and burial of Nancy Rea, sr., at that date, was the beginning of the

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first graveyard within the township—that at the mouth of Rea's run. Since then his yard has received all that is mortal of many other of the oldest families—bearing such names as Farnsworth, Ellifrits, Kiddar, Price, Barkwill, and among them, four soldiers named Thompson Rea, Kemper Rea, Isaac Booth, and a Mr. Wolf. The land was given for the yard by William Rea, and is now filled with graves, so that burials in it have ceased.

At an uncertain date, but one not much later than this, a settler came to the neighborhood by the name of Martin 0. Hanlon. He was the oldest child of Richard Hanlon and was born in 1818 in what is Pleasant county, West Virginia. He was quite young, when he settled here. He has lived in the neighborhood ever since. His first wife was named Louisa Hearn and his marriage to her was in 1843. She dying in 1878, in 1879 he married Mary A. Heinselman, a daughter of Christian Heinselman, corn in 1834. The children are named Charles L and Mathias F. Charles married Lydia A. Sloan of West Virginia.

Not far from 1823; William Cathers taught a subscription school in a little dwelling house near the Grand View line.

Soon after, Alcinda Bridget, a sister of Dr. Gale, of Newport, opened a like school in a little house on the farm of Rhesa Moreland. These were the first schools in the settlement, as far as ascertained.

In 1830, David Murdock came to the township. His marriage to Mary Little has already been chronicled in the sketch of that family. Though a comparatively late settler, he took a prominent part in making the history of the township. He was born in 1768 in Pennsylvania; married in 1815; settled in the Shenandoah valley— then went to Newport village in 1827, where he kept store three years. He died in 1853 ; his wife in 1850.

The first temperance movement in the township began through his agency. He kept a temperance pledge in a store which he was managing. Many of the settlement were induced to sign it by his efforts. The store referred to was the first one in the township. By his endeavors, a movement originated, and was carried through successfully, to construct a building of hewed logs, twenty-four feet square, for the use of all religious denominations for worship, and for a public school as well. Thus this structure was at the same time the first church building and the first public school-house in the township.

The first teacher in this building, and consequently, of the first public school in Independence, was Matilda Foster. She began her work in the summer of 1835, and received for it six dollars per month, existing in the meanwhile by "boarding around." She had about twenty pupils. That winter, Ebenezer Battelle taught in the same building for ten or twelve dollars per month. The district school teacher of to-day, who justly, perhaps, feels that his thirty to fifty dollars per month is not a sufficient return for the preparation that a competent teacher must undergo, can still see considerable advance in his monthly salary over his scantily paid pioneer predecessor.

Another settler was Stillman Harvey, of Maine, who came to the settlement in the neighborhood of 1837. His wife was Lona Prescott, and his children were Stillman, John, Asa, Albion, Lona, Ann, James B., Edson Jackson, Barizillar Washington, William Morgareidge, Mary Louisa, Lucien Levant, and Franklin Clariville. He settled on the farm before occupied by Isaac Wilson, owned, however, by John Burris. Mr. Harvey lost all his property by the great freshet of 1832. With characteristic generosity John Burris gave Mr. Harvey his own time to pay for the land.

Mr. Harvey was a farmer and blacksmith, and built the first blacksmith shop in what is now the township. This was upon his first arrival, before which, the neighborhood was obliged to go to Newport village for blacksmithing. He also built, in 1836 or 1837, the first frame dwelling in the township. His views were decided. He was a very strong temperance man, and so strongly inclined to Democracy that he would not patronize, it is said, a store kept by a Republican, although at one time he had to do without his coffee on this account.

In 1845 or 1846, he traded his farm for a store-boat, went to Harmar, and kept store there for a while. He changed his residence often, at one time returning to Independence township and finally passing to his rest in Matamoras. His wife returned to Maine.

By the efforts of Mr. Harvey, David Murdock, Hezekiah Riggs, William Rea, jr., and perhaps one or two others, a post office was established at the settlement, with Mr. Harvey as the first postmaster, and the first, as well, in the township. This was called Ostend. Mr. Harvey was succeeded in this position by Mr. William Rea; the third postmaster was S. C. Riggs, who held the position throughout the administrations of Grant and Lincoln. He had the name changed from Ostend to Wade, in honor of Ohio's bluff senator. The present postmaster is John Bliss. The mail was originally carried to and from this office by a hack that ran between Marietta and Wheeling. Before the establishment of Ostend, post office, the neighborhood went to the town of Newport for their mail.

The freshet just now referred to, that occurred in 1832, did great damage to others in the settlement as well as to Mr. Harvey. All along the river, dwellings were swept away, and lives, too, were lost. In the summer of 1880, the erosion of the bank uncovered a large human skeleton that was but eighteen inches below the surface. This was about a quarter of a mile below the mouth of Leath's run, in a place built up by previous river deposits. All the circumstances indicate that this great 1832 freshet had drowned the victim.

By this time the wild animals that were so numerous in the inception of the settlement were comparatively scarce. The first game to disappear is uniformly the bear. In the year 1834 the said bear was killed in the Ohio river division of the township, George Berridge wounded it while he was hunting squirrels at the foot of the hills on Leath's run. The bear took to the river just above the mouth of the run. Bazel Riggs, who lived on the opposite shore, saw the animal and notified the boys at the house, who embarked in two boats. Two or three shots

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were fired; the bear attempted to board one boat, at the same time a negro occupant of the vessel, with that delicate consideration and sense of the fitness of things often displayed by the darkey race, began to climb out over the opposite gunwale. The bear was dispatched with an oar. The darkey explained his course of procedure by asserting that he considered "one niggah in de boat enough at one time."

In this year the Rinard mill having been abandoned for five or six years, the settlement was without a mill, and Isaac and Hezekiah Riggs supplied the want by the construction of one further up the run. It was a grist and saw-mill combined. The next mill in the settlement was built in about 1840 on the same stream by John Edwards, a native of England, who was born in 1794. He came to the township in 1735, from Pennsylvania. The children of himself and wife, Ann Jeffre, were John, who yet lives in Independence; Susan, who married a McMahon, a resident of Grand View; Jane, now Mrs E. Pinning, of Grand View ; Richard, of Independence; Mary Ann, now wife of P. Hutchison, of Grand View, and James, now dead. John, the eldest, was born in England in 1820. When twenty-seven years old he married Maria, a daughter of Charles and Phoebe Weber, also a native of England, where she was born in 1828. Their children were ten, seven of whom are now living. The fourth child, Richard, was born in England in 1827. He came to the township with his father, is still living in it, married Ann Weber, sister of Phoebe, in 1853, and is the father of eight children, all living. Both Richard and Johh are farmers. The next mill in the neighborhood was built by Henry Goodman, on Rea's run.

The old settlement of Independence has been largely replaced by a German element. It may be interesting to note that this phrase of immigration dates from about 1836, when Hans Huffman and John Kinsel came to the township together. Huffman paid Kinsel's passage over the Atlantic, and Kinsel paid the debt after his arrival by work. Huffman and wife, Catharine, had two children, Conrad and Catharine. He was a farmer and died lately. John Kinsel and wife, Catharine, were childless. He was a stonecutter and blacksmith. He died in the county infirmary in I 880, where his wife still lives. The third German family was that of Charles Berlett, a wagon-maker, who, however, removed in a few years to Sunfish, West Virginia.

In 1842 Squire D. Riggs crossed the river from Pleasant county, Virginia, where he was born in 1816. He was the ninth son and eleventh child of Bazel Riggs, whose father was an old settler in Grand View. Bazel was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, in 1774. When but three years old he called forth a manifestation by George Washington. Bazel and his oldest sister, Mary, were witnessing, near their Pennsylvania home, the movement of troops during the Revolution. The little child, Bazel, was bewildered and frightened by the unwonted sights and sounds, and began to cry. This attracted the attention of Washington, and he came to the little fellow, and in the kindest manner soothed and reassured the boy.

Mr. Squire D. Riggs married Nancy R. Moreland, a daughter of Rhesa and Jane Moreland, and born in 1818 in the township. The marriage, which was in 1838, resulted in twelve children: Luther P., David M., Asberry A., Mary E., William N., Theodore J., Henry M., Luther M., Benjamin F., Adaline M., Walter L., and Hattie G. Luther P., Mary, and Luther M. are dead. David M. married Loretta Flint, and is a resident of Monroe county; Asberry A. married Mary Morrell, and lives in the township; William married Mary Howell, and lives in Meigs county; Theodore married Rebecca Davis, and is a resident of Independence; Adaline M. married A. Farnsworth, and lives in Richland county; three children are still at home, and Henry lives with his brother Theodore.

The vehicles of the earlier times were crude beyond comprehension by one used to nothing but the stylish and finished affairs that glide along the modern highway. It was not until near 1843 that a four-wheeled wagon was introduced in the township. This was owned by Mr. Riggs. He also bought the first combined reaper and mower a few years ago.

The Chapman graveyard was formed about this time (1843-5) by the burial of George Chapman. By permission of this family, several other families have availed themselves of this ground as a resting place for their dead.

By this time settlement was proceeding in the western part of that division of Independence which is now under consideration. One of the representative settlers in this neighborhood was Richard Bayles, youngest child of Richard, sr., born in New York in 1816. He came to Independence in 1849, and has resided there ever since, his home being on Dana's run, a stream flowing almost due south to the Ohio river, near Newport town. He married Nancy, a daughter of Charles Haynes, and born in Noble county in 1819. This union, which was in 1837, resulted in three children: Mary M., Richard, and Westley.

The next incident, in point of time worthy of record, is a tragedy. The settlement had long stood in fear of a desperate character by the name of George McCammick, who seemed to threaten and commit violence without motive. His wife was in constant dread of him. One evening in January, 1852, he left her and her children with a threat of murder when he should return. About dusk he arrived at the home of John Cisk, an inoffensive citizen, and after threatening to kill the family, aimed a pistol at Cisk, who would doubtless have been murdered had he not possessed a courageous wife. She seized a chair and demolished it over McCammick's head. Then with another chair gave him a second blow, leaving him prostrate outside the house. Leaving her husband in care of the household, she made her way through the snow in her stocking feet to the house of a neighbor, a considerable distance away and brought back. assistance. McCammick was found dead, his skull having been fractured. The homicide was considered perfectly justifiable and no account was taken of the matter by the courts.

From the time of Dr. Little, down to the war of the

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Rebellion, there was no physician in the township. During the war Dr. Wilson located here; next to him was Dr. Sloan, who came at the close of the war, and left a short time ago. The present practicing physician is James Taylor, who began his practice in 1881.

The landing and post office at the mouth of Rea's run, has caused the erection of a few houses at the place. One of these is a store kept by Robert W. Bedilion, who came to the place in 1864. Re is the seventh child of Abraham Bedilion, and was born in Pennsylvania in 1837. In 1864 he married Mary L., daughter of Samuel Mansbarger, whose birth was in West Virginia in 1840. His eight children are: William D. J., Nancy M. R., Robert H. B., Mamie, Abbie L., Clem E., Julia L., and Sarah E. Mamie is dead. Mr. Bedilion has been justice of the peace and township treasurer.

It is remarkable, that not until this stage of the narrative the writer is able to chronicle the digging of the first well on the Ohio river bottom in the township. This was by James Louderback in 1874.

Two years after, in 1876, the exigencies of travel on the river, justified the establishment of a light station on the Independence shore. This is some three-fourths of a mile below the mouth of Rea's run.

It must not be supposed that during all these years the people of the settlement neglected their religious interests. It is almost certain that the first preaching in the community was done by Mr. Davis Smothers in the first decade of the century. He had a charge in West Virginia opposite his home, which was in Grand View. He also preached on the Ohio side from house to house. But from that time until the erection of the public church building before referred to, the dwellers in the settlement under consideration repaired to Newport for religious exercises. The building of this hewed-log church in 1835 obviated the necessity of this. It was begun in January and finished in May. Immediately three separate organizations of respectively Presbyterian, Methodist, and Baptist belief, began to use it. By an amicable arrangement they used it in rotation. This continued without difficulty or disagreement until 1855, when the Presbyterians consolidated with their brethren at Newport and ceased to use the building. In 1858 the Methodists built a meeting-house on the upper side of Rea's run. The Baptists continued in their old place of meeting until 1867, when they began to use a school-house built about that time near the church. The old public meeting-house thus deserted is now used as a barn.

The first members of the above organization of Presbyterians were John Green, David Murdock—who were also the first elders—Mary Murdock, Jane Moreland, Maria Bailey, John Green's wife, daughter and two sons; Ira Bosworth; Luther Edgerton, his wife and daughters, Ellen Cook, and William Rea. The church was organized under the leadership of Rev. Bennett Roberts. The first regular preacher was Rev. Luke Dewitt, who was employed by the Home Missionary society.

The Methodist church was organized with the following membership: Samuel Rea, class leader; Elizabeth Moreland, John Moreland, Eliza Rea, John Berridge, his wife and two daughters, Daniel Dye and wife, and others. The second class leader was Martin Rea, a brother of Samuel. The three earliest preachers were Charles Talbott, Pardon Cook, and Philip Green. At this time the church belonged to the Woodsfield circuit. They now worship in their building mentioned above, the dedication sermon of which was preached by Alexander Bell. Their present preacher is J. H. Doan. The church belongs to the Newport circuit, and the class leader is Henry

Whetstone.

The Baptists started with a very small membership— the Holdrens, Prices, and McMahons, with one or two others. The first preacher in the township was the father of Jeremiah Dale—the next was Jeremiah Dale himself. He began about 1825 to preach from house to house. In 1831 he died. The minister who held the first Baptist meetings in the union church building was Allen Darrow. The church is now without a pastor, the last one being Rev. Hanlon.

The first Sabbath-school in this division of Independence was held in a little house on Rigg's landing. This building was constructed by William Rea, jr., who used it as an office whence he watched for the arrival of steamers and employed his time in shoemaking and the like work. About 1834 Elizabeth Moreland organized and conducted a Sabbath-school in this building, whence it was removed to the union church. The next superintendent was Samuel Rea.

THE LITTLE MUSKINGUM SETTLEMENT.

Next to the Ohio settlement, in point of time, is that of the northwest corner of the township, which, by virtue of its location on the Little Muskingum river, is cotemporary with the old settlement along that valley, in Ludlow and Lawrence townships. Its history more properly belongs to either of those townships, but as township lines were not run for the convenience of the historian, a sketch of the little district will be inserted here.

It is something less than four square miles in area, and contains about a mile of the course of the Little Muskingum. This stream, passing diagonally through the corner section, cuts off about a quarter of it in its northwest part. The winding creek pays a second and very short visit to the township in section thirty-five, to receive the waters of Elk run, which stream rises in the centre of section thirty.

The first families to settle here were those of Jesse Flemming and Vachel Dickerson. It is not known who made the first settlement, but the distinction probably belongs to the Flemmings.

Jesse was the son of Peter Flemming, whose wife, Nancy, was the widow of James Burns, and daughter of James Wilson. Peter Flemming was one of the earliest settlers of Ludlow township, and died in 1833. Jesse was born at the mouth of Fishing creek, in 1791. He is said to have been the first white male child born between Wheeling and Marietta. His settlement was very early, and on section thirty-six. Paralysis ended his life at Matamoras, in 1872. His wife's name was Nellie Collins, who said she was born on "the eastern shore." The children

696 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO.

were Thomas, Joseph, Wealthy and four or five others.

Vachel Dickerson was raised in this part of the county, and was the son of Thomas Dickerson. He settled before 1818.

The early settlers of this section of so limited extent were necessarily few. The later settlers, however, cannot be treated in detail, but one or two representative families deserve mention.

In 1846 Joseph A. Duval, the third child of Marion and Mary (Chambers) Duval, came from Jefferson county, where he was born in 1823. He married, in 1845, Nancy C., daughter of Joseph Carle. Their eleven children are named respectively: Margaret E., Ephraim F., a resident of Kansas, Eva A., William B., Rebecca J., Joseph C., Maria A., Washington M., Jackson B., George E. and Mary C. Mr. Duval is a farmer, and still lives in Indiana.

The year of 1859 brought Henry Mead to the settlement. His father was named Uriah. Henry was born in Maryland in 1816. He changed his residence several times, finally coming to the township from Monroe county. In 1833 he married Orpha Dodd, of Belmont county. Eight children were born to them: Elizabeth C., Anna D., David G., Nancy A., Mary E., Joseph H., Rachel C. and Samuel H., one of whom, Elizabeth, is now dead.

In aide bellum times a post office was established here, on the Little Muskingum, and appears under the title of Lawrence. The postmaster is William Flemming.

ARCHER'S FORK SETTLEMENT.

The third and last division of the township is that drained by Archer's fork, an area of between twelve and thirteen square miles. The region lies between the two ridges, elsewhere described, . and furnishes to Archer several runs, named usually from some owner of the land through which they run. One stream, a short run, entering from the right near the centre of this district,. is named Coal run, from the attempts formerly made to mine that article from the hills that line its valley. It may be remarked here, that the coal of Independence township is not in thick enough seams to warrant profitable mining.

Archer's fork is named from an early settler or squatter, about whose settlement there is a difference of opinion. One story places Mr. Archer at the mouth of this stream, another relates that he was the first settler, or rather the first squatter in the division of the township now under consideration. According to tradition Archer eloped with another man's wife, came to this secluded region, chose his home about three hundred yards below the mouth of Cady's run, on the banks of the main stream, and there lived romantically with his companion in a hollow sycamore tree, with no go§siping neighbors to molest or make them afraid. Whether the pair tired of their solitude or wished to find some spot more likely to remain unpeopled by others is not known, but before the first permanent settler came into this valley, the couple had taken their departure.

The upper course of Archer's fork was settled first. The first permanent settler was James Cady, who came from the Ohio river January 8, 1818, to this valley, and settled on Archer, about a quarter of a mile below the mouth of Cady's run. He moved into a house built by Alexander Walker, a settler of Grand View, who had been on Archer the year previous, and lived in it from spring to fall. Mr. Cady was in this house until spring, then he moved into a building of his own erection.

James Cady was born in Vermont, near the year 1779, and died about 1865, aged eighty-six years. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, his business being that of a teamster. His wife was Elizabeth Chandler, who was born about 1783, and died about 1860. The children were: Charles C., Ira, Abijah, James, and Eliza. Only Ira and James survive. The latter moved to Indiana in 1861. Ira, who was born in 1810, married Veronica Sipple in 1849, and settled on Cady's run, a stream flowing west to the centre of the region under discussion. The children are: Norman S., George, Ira H., and Margaret Ellen, all living in the neighborhood.

The second family in the settlement was that of Benjamin Burris, who came from Grand View in the spring of 1818. His wife was Susan Riggs, and they had no children when they came, but during their residence on Archer's fork, eleven children were born to them, viz: Mary, Johnson, Basil, Jackson, Lemuel, Benson, Elizabeth, Harriet and Lavina (twins), Volney, and Adaline. Two other children were born in Texas, whither the family moved in 1839. About the year 1828 Mr. Burris built the first mill in the settlement, a saw-mill, situated just below the mouth of Coal run. After the freshet of 1832 he added to it the machinery of a grist-mill. Burris was a lumberman, running his lumber down the Little Muskingum, also from his own mill down Archer. The usual destination of the lumber was Cincinnati. He was also a stock raiser and trader. He made a trip or two to New Orleans in the latter business. He was one of the three that built the Templeton mill below the mouth of Archer's fork. He was a Free Mason. His oldest child, Mary, was born in 1818, and was the first person born in the settlement.

A considerable time having elapsed, the next arrival was that of Mr. Burris' paternal grandmother and her daughter, Nancy. They settled in a cabin probably built by the resident grandson, across the stream from the historic Archer sycamore. At that time the elder of the two was the widow of Peter Flemming, mentioned before as the parent of Jesse Flemming, the pioneer on the Little Muskingum. After two or three years the pair moved over to the Little Muskingum, where Mr. Flemming died. Nancy lived a while in Ludlow, and is now an inmate of the infirmary.

Following these was Jeremiah Treadway, who settled down Archer, near where the township line is, in 1824. His wife's maiden name was Hopp. They moved away in five or six years.

The next settlement was probably that of Samuel Parr, who came from Virginia to the Little Muskingum, in Ludlow township, and then arrived at Archer in 1828. His mother, then a widow of Obseliah Peyton, accompanied him, also two half brothers and a half sister. He

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO - 697

made his home about a half mile above the mouth of Cady's run. While in Ludlow, having become acquainted with Eliza, the daughter of James Cady, he married her, and thus she became the first bride in the settlement. Their marriage took place in 1825, Squire Felix Hanlon officiating.

About this time Solomon Tice moved into the neighborhood, and located at the mouth of Road run, a stream entering Archer's fork in section eleven, on the farm now owned by R. 0. Hanlon. Solomon and his wife had eleven children: David, Catharine, Susan, John, Mary, Solomon, Lavina, Louis, Amaziah, George, and Cynthia. In this decade the first school on Archer's fork was opened. It was a summer school, maintained by subscription, and taught in 1829. The teacher was Miss Anna Aplin, and the school-room was an up-stairs mop in the hewed log house of Benjamin Burris. There were nine pupils: Diana Cady, James Cady, Mary Burris, Johnson Burris, Bazel Burris, Lemuel Burris, Jackson Burris, Adaline Riggs, and Nancy Burns. The latter lived with John Burris in Grand View, on the Ohio river, but, there being no school in that neighborhood, she was sent to this settlement.

In 1834 or 1835 another subscription school was taught in the neighborhood by Elizabeth Moreland.

Near the year 1830, began the oldest cemetery in this district—the private one of the Cady family, although others also now use the ground. The occasion of its formation was the death of an infant child of Mr. Cady. The burial of the baby was the first in the cemetery. It is situated on land owned by Messrs. Hill and Schrader, and contains the graves of Zebulon Chandler, who came to the neighborhood about 1825, from Pennsylvania; James Cady and his venerable wife, David Cline and Sarah Cline.

The next oldest burying-ground is on the farm of Moses Decker. The first burial was that of a little daughter of Levi Decker, in 1830. Buried here are members of the Decker family, Joseph Luddington, who was killed by the fall of a tree, James Monroe Smith, and others. This, too, is a private yard. The settlement contains no public cemetery.

The next mill after the Burris mill, was built about 1833, by the Deckers—Abraham, Moses, and Levi. This was a saw-mill, and the furniture that the Decker brothers manufactured is described as very fine work. Specimens of their handiwork—tables, cupboards, and the like—generally made from wild cherry, still exist in the houses of some of the old residents.

The wave of German immigration that has so largely covered the township, reached Archer's fork about 1835. The first families were those of Goodballet, Sipple, and Yost. By this time settlers came in too rapidly to fully mention. About 1845 one of those moving in was Daniel Stewart, a native of Pennsylvania, who came to Monroe county, Ohio, in the first place, and removed thence to Independence. In 1857, or near that time, he returned to Monroe county and there died. He was the father of nine children—two boys and seven girls: John H., the oldest son, was born in Monroe county June 25, 1822; came to the township in 1853; has lived here since. He married Mahala, daughter of James Elson, who was born in 1827. This marriage was in 1843, and resulted in thirteen children: James P., Hiram, Whitten, Stanton E., Landora, Harriet I., William W., Louisa, Mary L., Bishop M., Eliza J., John E., and T. L All are living but James P. and Louisa.

Andrew McMaster became a member of the community in 1848. He came from Belmont county, where he was born in 1818. In 1842 he married Lavina, daughter of Zebulon Day, and born April 28, 1823. Mr. McMaster has been justice of the peace and notary public for several years.

Those acquainted with the township have noticed on the boundary ridge, between the Ohio slope and the valley, a small Scotch settlement. This originated with the advent of David Deuchers, a son of James Deuchers. David was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1820. He came from West Virginia to Independence and settled where he now lives, in 1852. He married Isabel, a daughter of Daniel Murray, and a native of Scotland, where she first saw the light in 1827. The wedding was in 1846, and the children born to them number eleven: James, Isabel, Virginia, David, Daniel, George, Catharine, Sarah, Alexander, Elizabeth and Maggie. All are living but Catharine and David. James married Martha Griffin. Isabel became Mrs. Timothy Bliss. Daniel wedded Eliza Bliss, and George became the husband of Margaret A. Sprague, all residents of Independence. David Deuchers is a blacksmith, and has been honored with the position of township trustee. James, the first born, keeps a store opposite his father's house that does a flourishing trade. The year of his marriage is 1873, and his children are David, Burton E., and Mary E.

Another and later settler in the settlement is James Taylor, the fourth child of Mungo Taylor, and born in Perth county, Scotland, June, 1814. His settlement in Independence dates from the year 1856. In 1839 he married Margaret Deuchers. His children number eight, as follows Mungo, Isabel, Catharine, John, James, William, David, and a child deceased. Mr. Taylor has been township trustee, and is a farmer.

In the following year (1857), William 0. Riley came to the settlement. He was the fifth child of Dennis 0. and Mary. His birth was in Belmont county, in 1826, whence he moved to Independence. His wife, Elizabeth, is the daughter of Abraham Ramsey, was born 1839; married in 1856, and is the mother of fourteen children; eight boys and six girls.

Near the residence of Mr. Deuchers is a church and cemetery. The latter began in April, 1864, when a child of Mr. Beaver died. This was the first burial in the yard.

About this time the first brick house in the township was erected—the building of Ernest Waernicke, a wealthy and enterprising citizen of the community.

The next enterprise in the vicinity that is worthy of remark was that of Nicholas Schar, who, about the year 1868, came from Monroe county with his family, settled in section eleven, and started a cheese factory. The en-

698 - HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, OHIO.

terprise lasted some three or four years, when, the business failing to prove remunerative, he abandoned it.

Until within three or four years the dwellers on Archer's fork were without a post office in their midst. At that time, however, one was established, close to the townhouse, with Augustus Hill as postmaster. The mail is carried overland, there being no other way at present to get there.

The history of the churches in this neighborhood begins with that of the Methodist organization. Sometime before 1843 the Methodist meetings, held as circumstances permitted, resulted in an organization of that denomination, comprising as members Abraham Decker and his wife, Jacob Shockey and wife, William Chapman and wife, and others. The meetings from house to house continued until 1847, when a log meeting-house was built on a half-acre deeded for the purpose by David Cline. Then in a few years the organization went down.

But a United Brethren minister by the name of Cecil came shortly before 1851, and organized a church of that denomination in the building. The membership embraced several of the old members of the Methodist organization. The new church lasted but two or three years.

For nearly a score of years the old structure was without regular services. Occasionally meetings would be held in it, oftenest by Alexander Bell. In 1869 the Christian Union church began to use it, and continued to do so until the building of their own meeting-house in 1874. The old log building is now used by the Methodists again, they haying taken possession in March, 1879. The church belongs to the Newport circuit, and the minister at present is Rev. J. H. Doan.

By the year 1847 or 1848, the German element in the vicinity had become strong enough to establish the German Lutheran church. The first members of this were Adam Yost, Martin Sippel, Henry Goodballet, Christian Hanselman, John Kinsel, John Wagner, William Saelick, and their wives, also Mrs. Huffman, then a widow, and others. A church building was erected on land given by Messrs. Yost and Holstein. The first preacher was the Rev. Bairnes. The present minister (1880) is Rev. Wintrin.

A series of meetings under the auspices of the Christian, or Disciple, denomination began to be held in the neighborhood about the year 1853. The leader of these meetings was John Henderson, of West Virginia, who may be called the founder of the church that resulted. About the year 1870, at a meeting in the Eddy schoolhouse, not far from the head of Coal run, an organization was effected, embracing in its membership Henry and Alfred Eddy, Simeon Bennett, Levi Thomas, Timothy and Stephen Ward, Savannas More, and their wives. For a period of about three years the church met in the school-house and other places. Then, near the year 1873, during the ministry of John Henderson, a meeting-house was erected on the ridge at the head of Coal run. Alfred Eddy bought and presented the ground on which it stands. Since that time the ministers who have served the congregation are John Moody, Joseph Thom as, Ezra Barker, and John Henderson, who is now pastor. The church has thirtyseven members, and is known by the name of Mount Hope.

Among many institutions that refer their origin to the great Rebellion is the Christian Union church. During the latter part of this war, Rev. C. F. Given, a graduate of Marietta college, a Methodist preacher, and a Democrat, claiming that his Methodist brethren treated him unfairly on account of his politics, issued a call for the organization of a new church with the avowed object of excluding politics from its doctrine, discussions, and practice. Several churches were organized in obedience to this call, under the name of the Christian Union church. A minister by the name of Daniel Keller, from the interior of the State, came to the neighborhood and held meetings under the auspices of this new denomination at "Duval's Knoll, called Point Pleasant."

Afterwards, William Weddele came and organized the church in Independence. Within the first year, about sixty members joined. This church held meetings on Archer's fork, some distance below Point Pleasant, but residents of that place were among the organizers of the church. Afterwards they organized a separate branch in their own neighborhood.

The building of this first church has already been referred to as erected in 1874. The land on which it stands is owned by Thomas Cline, who has given a lease to the church, permitting it to use the land as long as it chooses for church purposes. At present this branch has no pastor.

The Point Pleasant church, just mentioned, was organized about two years after the above body. The first minister was Mr. Weddele; the second, John Camden; and the third and present one, Thomas Cline. The meetings were held in a school-house until within three years of the preient. Then a church building was erected and dedicated a year or two afterward.

The Little Valley church, another one of this denomination, was organized in the spring of 1872. Then the meetings were held in the so called "Hanlon schoolhouse." Before organization meetings were held in Grand View, in the Delong school-house. In 1873 a meeting-house was built on land furnished by George Tice. The church now worships in this.

In the midst of the little Scotch settlement before referred to, is a small Baptist church building. The society organized in 1864, under the auspices of L. K. Adkins, of Newport. It was originally named Davis Run chapel—the meetings being at first held near the upper course of that stream. The building used for that purpose was a log school-house. Afterwards the present church building was erected, and is now familiarly known as "Deuchers chapel." This structure dates from 1871. Although at first called the Davis Run church, it was reorganized in 1870 by the efforts of David Deuchers, Isaac Atkins, A. C. Yonally, and the Rev. Rush. But it was not disconnected from the Newport church, of which it was a part from the first, until March 15, 1879. At that time, a request was presented and granted for the separation and independent existence of the Regular Bap-

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tist church, of Independence. The following persons signed the petition and may hence be considered the charter members of the church: Margaret A. Sloan, Loretta Yonally, D. Deuchers, Sarah M. Deuchers, Isabel Deuchers, George Deuchers, Virginia A. Deuchers, Isabel Bliss, Asa Yonally, Mary L Yonally, Samantha Sloan, William Todd, Julia A. Todd, Sarah E. Yonally F. C. Richardson, and S. T. Echols. The ministers were Revs. Messrs. Rush, Hiram Gear, Dunn, and Luther Hanlon.

The territory which was the scene of all that precedes was originally a part of Newport township. In March; 1840, the two eastern tiers of sections in the township were attached to Grand View. When Independence was established the sections numbered five, six, eleven and twelve were still allowed to remain with Grand View. In the commissioner's journal, under the date June 3, 1840, appears the establishing act, which may not be inaptly styled the declaration of Independence. It reads as follows :

On the petition of sundry inhabitants of the township of Newport, praying to be set off into a new township separately and apart from said Newport, on consideration of said petition, the commissioners do hereby agree to constitute a new township in the county of Washington, to be known and designated as the township of Independence, and to be constituted of the following territory, to-wit: Sections No. 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. 31, 32, 33. 34, 35, 36, and fractional sections Nos. 1, 7, and 13.

The early records of Independence township are missing from the clerk's office. Fortunately, however, something is remembered of the first election, which was for township officers. It was held in the cabin built by Benjamin Burris, after he came to Archer's fork. At that time it was occupied by John Goodman. It is thought that William Rea, jr., was the clerk of the election. The ballot "box" was a teakettle. The first justice of the peace was Stillman Harvey. Before his term expired, another justice was created by the election of James S. Cady. The latter was the first treasurer of the township, and remained in that office for many years.

For the past decade, the officers have been as follows: Trustees, 1870, Ruben Cline, Samuel Farnsworth, John Hoppel; 1871, George Brown, James Braden, John Hoppel; 1872, George Brown, William Sipple, Ira Cady; 1873, George Brown, John Hoppel, David G. Mead; 1874, David Mead, John Hoppel, James Braden; 1875-6, John Hoppel, Ira Cady, David G. Mead; 1877, John Hoppel, David G. Mead, George Brown; 1878-9, George Brown, John Hollstein, Samuel Miller; 1880, Walter Brown, John Hollstein, J. H. Bohlen. Clerks: 1870, J. W. Richardson; 1871, 2, 3, 4, and 5, Abner Powell; 1876, 7, 8, and 9, J. W. Richardson; 1880, J. M. Twinem.

Treasurers : 1871-2, Ernest Waernicke; 1873 and 4, R. W. Bedillion; 1875, Charles Schrader ; 1876, George Brown; 1877, 8, 9, and 1880, Charles Schrader. Assessor: 1871-80, Malachi Scott.

In 1880 the minority judge of elections was Henry Whetstone, and the constables were, L. H. Wells and W. B. Duval. The township has now eight ward districts and eight school districts. One of the latter is an independent district, and out of the control of the township board of education.

After the organization of the township, a log building was constructed as a town house. This has since been torn down, and about 1864 the present one was built

The population of Independence in 1840, was three hundred and thirty-five; in 1860, one thousand five hundred and seven; in 1870, one thousand three hundred and ninety-five; in 1880, one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight.