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CHAPTER XXXIII.
CONGRESS TOWNSHIP.
THIS township was organized October 5, 1818. By the census of 1870 its population was 2,581. The following is the list of officers of the township, as appears upon the township records :
1822. Trustees—H. Totten, David Garver, Andrew Moore ; Clerk—N. W. Perrine.
1823. Trustees—George Poe, Henry Totten, Jacob Shellenberger ; Clerk— James Boyd ; Treasurer—George W. Howey.
1824. Trustees—Henry Hall, Hector Burns, James Patterson ; Clerk—James Boyd; Treasurer—David Garver.
1825. Trustees—James Boyd, N. N. Perrine, G. W. Howey ; Clerk—Squire Pettit ; Treasurer—David Garver.
1826. Trustees—John Jeffrey, ,Samuel Sheets, Henry Totten ; Treasurer— Hector Burns.
1827. Trustees—John Park, James Carlin, Abram Yocum ; Clerk—Michael Debolt ; Treasurer—John Nead.
1828. Trustees—John Rickel, David Brown, James Carlin ; Clerk—David Perky ; Treasurer—Solomon Bonewitz.
1829. Trustees—Michael Totten, Michael Funk, John Vanosdoll ; Clerk- Squire Pettit ; Treasurer—Solomon Bonewitz.
1830. Trustees—Solomon Bonewitz, James Carlin, Thomas McKee ; Clerk— John Vanosdoll ; Treasurer—Thomas McKee.
1831. Trustees--James Shallenberger, Walter Elgin, George W. Howey ; Clerk—John Shafer ; Treasurer—Squier Pettit.
1832. Trustees—James Carlin, Thomas McCoy, Charles Hoffstetter : Clerk— David Perky ; Treasurer—Squier Pettit.
1833. Trustees—Joel Fisk, John Jeffrey, Charles Hoffstetter ; Clerk—J. Carlin ; Treasurer—Solomon Bonewitz.
1834. Trustees—Henry Hare, Thomas McKee, John Vanosdoll; Clerk—M. T. Brewer ; Treasurer—David Garver.
1835. Trustees—Hector Burns, David Weaver, Pemberton Pancost ; Clerk— M.. Anderson ; Treasurer—David Garver.
1836. Trustees—James Patterson, George W. Howey, John Jeffrey ; Clerk— Frank A. Warring; Treasurer—David Garver.
1837. Trustees—John Vanosdoll, Thomas McKee, William Carlin ; Clerk— John S. Lee ; Treasurer—David Garver.,
1838. Trustees—Robert Mahan, Sol. Bonewitz, William Gibson ; Clerk— David Carlin ; Treasurer—William Carlin.
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1839. Trustees—Jacob Secrist, John Trauger, H. Burns; Clerk—D. Carlin ; Treasurer—William Carlin,
1840. Trustees—Leonard Crawford, John Dulin, Michael Clouse; Clerk—Neal McCoy ; Treasurer—William Carlin.
1841. Trustees—Hector Burns, Thomas McKee, Sol. Bonewitz; Clerk—Mat thew Brewer ; Treasurer—David Garver.
1842. Trustees—James Reed, J. Brinkerhoff, H. Henderson; Clerk—John Vanosdoll ; Treasurer—D. Garver.
1843. Trustees—John Brinkerhoff, Christian Garver, Samuel Kline ; Clerk—. Saul Littell ; Treasurer—D. Garver ; Assessor—Moses Baxter.
1844. Trustees—John Brinkerhoff, Samuel Kline, C. Garver ; Clerk—W. C. Moore ; Treasurer—David Garver ; Assessor—David Carlin.
1845. Trustees—John Brinkerhoff, Samuel Kline, Christian Garver ; Clerk— David Carlin ; Treasurer—David Garver ; Assessor—Moses Baxter.
1846. Trustees—Christian Garver, Samuel Kline, John Vanosdoll: Clerk—H. A. Powell; Treasurer—David Garver ; Assessor—Walter Elgin.
1847. Trustees—John Vanosdoll, Josiah Clinker, Robert Shaver ; Clerk—J. W. Zuver ; Treasurer—David Garver ; Assessor—David Carlin.
1848. Trustees—Robert Shaver, Sol. Bonewitz, Thomas Beall ; Clerk—Isaac Crane; Treasurer—David B. McCoy ; Assessor—Matthew Brewer.
1849. Trustees—Thomas Beall, Solomon Bonewitz, Mahlon Myers; Clerk— J. L. Crane; Treasurer—D. B. McCoy ; Assessor—M. F. Brewer.
1850. Trustees—Mahlon Myers, John Keeler, William Burns ; Clerk—Samuel Vancleve ; Treasurer—D. B. McCoy ; Assessor—Matthew T. Brewer.
1851. Trustees—John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Peter R. Heney ; Clerk– J. W. Johnson ; Treasurer—D. B. McCoy ; Assessor—M. T. Brewer.
1852. Trustees—John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Peter Eicher ; Clerk—D. K. France ; Treasurer—D. B. McCoy ; Assessor—M. T. Brewer.
1853. Trustees—John Keeler, Jacob Leatherman, Henry Herr ; Clerk—J. S. Firestone; Treasurer—David Carlin; Assessor—William Lusk.
1854. Trustees—Henry Herr, William Smith, John- Dulin; Clerk—D. C. Dinsmore; Treasurer—Peter Eicher ; Assessor—William Lusk.
1855. Trustees—D. Gindlesperger, J. Leatherman, Samuel Herr ; Clerk—D
K. France; Treasurer—Peter Eicher ; Assessor—William Hoegner.
1856. Trustees—D. Gindlesperger, J. Leatherman, D. McCauley ; Clerk—D. K. France; Treasurer—Peter Eicher ; Assessor—J. W. Hoegner.
1857. Trustees—D. McCauley, John Meyers, A. J. Burns ; Assessor—J. W. Hoegner ; Treasurer—P. Eicher ; Clerk—J. Breneman.
1858. Trustees—D. S. McCauley, Robert Shaver, A. J. Burns; Assessor—J. W. Hoegner ; Clerk—M. H. Dodd; Treasurer—Peter Eicher.
1863. Trustees—J. W. McVicker, Thomas Howey, Daniel Barnhart ; Treasurer—Jacob Leatherman ; Assessor—Daniel Gindlesperger ; Clerk—D. K. France.
1865. Trustee—Samuel Ewing, William Smith, Enoch Moore; Treasurer— Peter Eicher ; Clerk—William A. Bonewitz; Assessor—J. W. Hoegner.
1866. Trustees—P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, J. B. Snyder ; Assessor—James A. MCoy ; Clerk—G. A. Whitmore; Treasurer—Daniel Gable.
1867. Trustees—P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, J, D. Snyder ; Assessor—James A. McCoy ; Clerk—G. A. Whitmore ; Treasurer—Daniel Gable.
1868. Trustees—P. R. Henney, W. W. Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse; Assessor— Thomas Ferguson ; Treasurer—John Moyers ; Clerk—G. A. Whitmore.
1869. Trustees—W. W. Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse, Daniel Gable ; Assessor— Thomas Ferguson ; Treasurer—John Myers ; Clerk—G. A. Whitmore.
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1870. Trustees—Daniel Gable, David Mitchel, James Campbell ; Assessor— Ezra Jacobs ; Treasurer—John Myers ; Clerk—Paoli Sheppard.
1871. Trustees—Dan Holtzberg, E. Bonewitz, C. Aukerman ; Assessor— Samuel Ewing; Treasurer—John Heiman ; Clerk—D. Mitchel.
1872. Trustees—William Reid, A. G. Rittenhouse, Peter Funnalman ; Assessor—Samuel Ewing; Treasurer—Allen Greely ; Clerk—David Mitchel.
1873. Trustees—Peter Funnalman, William Reid, David Vanorr ; Assessor— J. T. Hazzard ; Treasurer—Allen Greely; Clerk—William H. Barch.
1874. Trustees—William Reid, John Zehner, J. B. Snyder ; Assessor—James T. Hazzard ; Treasurer—W. R. McClellan ; Clerk—David Mitchel.
1876. Trustees—David Holtzberg, William Addleman, M. M. Patterson ; Assessor—David Baker ; Clerk—Allen Greely ; Treasurer—W. R. McClellan.
1877. Trustees—William McKee, Dan. Gable, J. K. Saltsman ; Assessor— David Mitchel ; Clerk—John Hosler ; Treasurer—John Zehner.
Justices of the Peace—Nicholas Perrine, 1822; George Poe, 1822; N. N. Perrine, 1825 ; Henry Hull, 1825 ; Michael Funk, June 21, 1831 ; David Park, January 31, 1833; Michael Funk, June 50, 1834; Hector Burns, January 20, 1836; William Carlin, June 2, 1837 ; John Jeffrey, January 22, 1839 ; William Carlin. April 16, 1840; Hector Burns, February t, 1841 ; William Carlin, April to, 1843; D. Gindlesbarger, January 13, 1845; David Carlin, March 24, 1846; D. Gindlesbarger, January I, 1848; David Carlin, March 24, 1849 ; D. Gindlesbarger, December 17, 1850; David Carlin, February 21, 1852 ; Solomon Bonewitz, May 8, 1852 ; Philip Mattison, April 13, 1854 ; David F. Young, January 25, 1856 ; G. P. Emrick, April 4, 1856; D. Gindlesbarger, January 8, 1857; Peter Ruff, April 22, 1857; John G. Ford, January 13, 1859; David Carlin, January 9, 1860; Jacob McGlenen, January 21, 1862 ; David Carlin, January 3, 1863 ; Dan Barnhart, January 20, 1865; David Carlin, January 1, 1866 ; R. Summerton, April 13, 1866 ; Dan Barnhart, April 11, 1868 ; R. Summerton, April 13, 1869 ; J. R. Henney, April 13, 1869 ; Dan Barnhart, April 10, 1871 ; Jacob Leatherman, April 9, 1872 ; J. R. Henney, April 9, 1872; J. K. Andrews, April 14, 1874; Henry Herr, April 12, 1875; Enoch Morr, J. F. Simon, April 1877.
Reminiscences of Congress Township by Hon. Michael Totten and James Carlin.— In 1815 the first families moved into what is now Congress township. Some time during the first week in February Michael and Henry Totten accompanied George and Isaac Poe, and cut a trail from Wooster to where the village of Congress stands, which at that time was all forest, the lands having not been entered. We encamped with George Poe, about one-half mile from the village, until we could erect a cabin, which we built on section 27, on the lands owned by John Garver. When we got our cabin completed, some time during the month of February, 1815, Henry and myself went to Wooster and moved our mother and our sister Catharine the first two white women in the township) and all the household furniture on a sled from Wooster to our cabin.
On the first of April following George and Isaac Poe and other families came into the township and settled upon the same section. The same spring Peter Warner, with his family, moved into the south-west corner of the township. In 1816 Matthew Brewer and James Carlin, with their families, moved to the same farms upon which they lived till their deaths.
The next to come were George Aukerman and John Nead, with their families. After this period emigrants came in so fast and settled in such widely different parts of the township that it would be impossible to trace them, or where they located. The first white person who died was Mrs. Amasa Warner, and the second my
812 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
mother. The first school ever taught was by John Totten in the first cabin built. George Poe was the first Justice of the township. The first school-house was built in 1819, on the south-west quarter of section 37. The first year after moving into the township my brother Henry and I cleared five acres and planted it in corn, which we cut off in the fall and put down in wheat, and which was the first corn and wheat raised in the township. Game was very plenty, and for some time after our arrival it was our chief article of food. We could not raise hogs or sheep after our settlement, as they would be devoured by wolves. One winter we had twelve sheep enclosed in the same lot in which the house stood, thinking they were safe, and that the dogs would guard them, but a herd of wolves, during the night, as. sailed them and destroyed eleven; the remaining and last one escaped, and running into the house, awoke the family, but the hungry scavengers of the woods had fled. The next day, there being snow on the ground, I pursued them as far as the Harrisville Swamp, in Medina county, but got no opportunity of shooting at them. Near this swamp were encamped about 30 or 40 Indians. Among other early settlers of the township were John Jeffrey, Walter Elgin, David Gardner, Jacob Holmes, Jacob Shellebarger, Peter and Samuel Chasey, G. W. Howey, David Nelson, the father of James Grimes, James Boyd, Hector Burns, Samuel Sheets, N. N. Perrine, A. Yocum, John Vanasdoll, Rev. John Hazard and family, Isaac Matthews, and others.
James Carlin says : The first couple married in Congress township was Jesse Matteson and Eleanor Carlin, the ceremony by Judge James Robison, and that the first sermon preached was by a Presbyterian minister, Matthews, who spoke with a sword girded to his body. The first grist-mill was built by Naftzger, where a man named Buchanan was killed, waiting for a grist. George Howey was the first blacksmith, and Michael Funk the first merchant. The first physician was a Mr. Mills, and the first carpenter and joiner was Jacob Matthews.
Daniel Chasey was a native of Saratoga county, N. Y., and with his wife immigrated to Wayne county as early as 1814-15, settling a mile north-west of Lattasburg, on old Appletree Moyer's place. He died at his son Samuel's, west of Congress village, about 1867. He married Miss Elizabeth Allen. Samuel Chasey was born in Saratoga county, N. Y., October 21, 1802, and immigrated to Ohio with his father. He was married to Selona Warner July 26, 1826, and had twelve children, as follows : Abner G., Andrew, Ithamer, Daniel, Martha Ann, Mary E., Cyrus, Amanda, Samuel H., Jeremiah, Obadiah and Margaret. His wife died May 2, 1873, he surviving her until July 15, 1876.
Thomas McKee was born in Northampton county, Pa., June 22, 1796, but came from Westmoreland when he removed to Wayne county, Ohio, in 1818. He at once commenced milling for Joseph Stibbs, with whom he remained ten years, during which time, in 1824, he married Anna Brown, daughter of Frederick Brown. In 1830 he removed to Congress township, on a farm he had purchased there eight years previously, and where he now resides,
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but which in later years was largely added to by other lands. His wife died January 25, 1851, aged 46 years. They had ten children, as follows : Joseph, Mary, Thomas, Margaret, Ephraim, William, John, George B., A. E. and Sindalena. By industry and good management he has succeeded in surrounding himself with the wealth and comforts of life, and now, in his old age, enjoys the proceeds of a remarkably well-spent life. He is the firmest of Democrats, and popular with his fellow citizens, having been elected Trustee and to other township offices, and was honored with being made one of the first County Infirmary Directors under the new constitution.
Jacob Leatherman came to Congress township March 26, 1842, settling on a farm two miles south west of the village of Congress, land which his father, Peter Leatherman, in early days had entered from the Government, Jacob afterwards purchasing the same from him. He was married January 16, 1841, to Miss Urith Sherrod. In 1857 he quit farming and removed to Congress village, there engaging in the dry goods business, and in April, 1864, went to West Salem, where he continued in the mercantile trade until 1869, and where he at present resides, at the same time owning and managing his farm near Congress village. His life has been an earnest one, and his business career characterized by the strictest probity. For years he has been one of the most enterprising and leading business men of the township, closely identified with all its projects for improvement, and by dint of unflagging industry and perseverance, aided by good common sense and clear judgment, has secured a competency. He is courteous in manner and of kindly disposition—will go all lengths to befriend a friend, but, on the other hand, will exert himself just as much to punish a person who has done him an injury. He is an uncompromising Democrat, taking a prominent part in local and state politics ; and as a man, to a great extent, commands the respect and esteem of the community at large.
John Dulin was born near Wellsburg, West Virginia, and with his wife came to Wayne county in 1834, settling upon the farm now partly owned by Abraham Billhammer, where he died May 21, 1845, at the advanced age of eighty-five years. Mr. Dunn served one year in the Revolutionary war and drew a pension until the time of his death. He was married to Miss Sarah Sharp, 01
814 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Virginia. His son, John Dulin, came to Wayne county about a year prior to his father and settled on a farm about three miles south-west of Congress, in Congress township. He was married to Miss Mary Cope, of the city of Dublin, Ireland, and had eleven children. He was a soldier in the War of 1812, and died February 2, 1861. His wife died September 26, 1864. To his daughter, Margaret J.,who married C. H. Weltmer, we are indebted for these facts.
John Keeler was born within four miles of Philadelphia, Pa., August 20, 1819. His father came to Wayne county at an early date, bringing his family, and worked for a period on the Samuel Funk farm in Chester township. He then removed to Galion, Ohio. John, however, remained in Wayne county, and was married to Hannah Matthews, of Wooster, whose mother was Catherine Poe, sister of Mrs. Kuffel, and daughter of old Adam Poe, the Indian fighter. After marriage they removed to Congress village, and lived there until Mr. Keeler's death, February 14, 1875. They had four children, two of whom are dead, one dying when a child. William, a son, was a soldier in Company F, 102d Regiment, and was killed by the explosion of the steamer Sultana, on the Mississippi river, April 28, 1875. Sarah C. is the wife of Joseph McVicker. Thomas B., married to Ida J. Weltmer, is a lawyer in practice in West Salem.
Congress.—This village, originally called Waynesburg, was laid out March 6, 1827, by Philip Gates and David Newcomer, and surveyed by Peter Emery; plat and certificate recorded March 27, 1827, and can be found in vol. 6, page 24, County Records.
Robert Lowry, a gallant soldier of the Mexican war and the last conflict between the North and South, informs us that Michael Funk and Elmer Yocum built the first house in the village of Congress, and that it was situated upon the site of the present Methodist church ; that Jacob Hare was the first postmaster, the office being kept on lot No. 5, in the village ; that Dr. Mills was the first permanent physician ; that George Wicks kept the first hotel, and that David W. Poe established the first tannery in the village. An Indian died in the house now occupied by the Beard family, and was buried in the old Congress graveyard. The old Indian and his wife were on a tramp, and stopped at Griffith's Tavern, where they got tight and abusive, and the landlord's wife threw a pot of boiling water on him, and he died.
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We here reproduce the line of officers of the incorporated village since 1838 :
1838. Mayor—John Tarr ; Recorder—William Rogers ; Councilmen—Joe Fish, John Zuver, P. Pancost, R. Summerton, John Potts.
1839. Mayor—William Rogers ; Recorder—John Tarr ; Councilmen—John Rogers, Samuel N., John Stickle, A. Warring, G. K. Hickok.
1840. Mayor—R. Summerton; Recorder—A. Warring ; Councilmen—M. Funk, John Stickle, John Tarr, William Rogers, G. Boydston.
1842. Mayor—David Carlin; Recorder—L. Firestone ; Councilmen—David Moore, P. D. Campbell, W. W. Hunter, G. H. Helfer, G. Boydston.
1844. Mayor—George Fresh; Recorder—L. Firestone; Councilmen—P. P. Pancost, John Stickel, Eli Wagner, John Keeler, A. Kline.
1846. Mayor—David Moore ; Recorder—L. Firestone; Councilmen—D. B. McCoy, G. W. Helfer, P. Ross, John Keeler, A. Kline.
1848. Mayor—D. B. McCoy ; Recorder—D. B. Littell ; Councilmen—George Dulin, J. F. Crane, J. Stickle, A. Kline, P. Wagner.
1850. Mayor—William Lusk ; Recorder—William C. Moore ; Councilmen— D. B. McCoy, L. Firestone, D. Carlin, G. S. Dulin, J. Stickle.
1851. Mayor—G. K. Hickok ; Recorder—L. Firestone ; Councilmen—John Keeler, John McCoy, John Stickle, Jacob Fresh, Dan. Helfer.
1853. Mayor—G. K. Hickox ; Recorder—John Tarr ; Councilmen—A. Wieler, G. Seacrist, G. Fresh, I. Fresh, D. K. France.
1855. Mayor—R. Summerton ; Recorder—W. C. Moore; Councilmen—P. Pancost, J. P. Dorland, J. Brenneman, Dan. Helfer, J. T. Shepperd ; Marshal—E. Brubaker.
1857. Mayor—P. Pancost ; Recorder—I. S. Tarr ; Councilmen—J. Leatherman, J. Warner, John Keeler, W. C. Moore, G. H. Helfer ; Marshal—J. Lemon.
1861. Mayor—John Eliott; Recorder—R. B. Lowry ; Councilmen—John Thornby, John Dorland, John Galaher, John S. Tarr, George Fresh ; Treasurer— A. Weiler.
1869. Mayor—G. M. Michael ; Treasurer—G. Galloway ; Recorder—J. H. Breneman; Marshal—W. C. Berry ; Councilmen—P. J. Brown, Joseph Garver, Joel Good, G. Leiter, H. L. Shepherd.
1871. Mayor—G. A. Whitmore ; Recorder—George Michael; Treasurer— George Fresh ; Marshal—R. Sardam ; Councilmen—P. J. Brown, John Shepherd, J. P. Patterson, W. A. Bonewitz, B. S. Burgan.
1872. Mayor—G. A. Whitmore ; Recorder—G. W. Galloway ; Treasurer— George Fresh ; Marshal—W. S. Brown ; Councilmen—W. A. Bonewitz, B. S. Burgen, P. J . Brown, H. L. Shepherd, J. P. Patterson, R. S. Dulin.
1874. Mayor—G. A. Whitmore ; Recorder—S. B. Stecher ; Treasurer—George Fresh ; Marshal—W. A. Bonewitz ; Councilmen—P. J. Brown, J. H. Breneman, B. S. Burgan, H. L. Shepherd, A. Weiler, R. C. Dulin.
1876. Mayor—Philip Madison; Recorder—R. Summerton; Treasurer—Geo. Fresh ; Marshal—R. H. Sardam ; Councilmen—J. K. Andrews, J. Breneman, J. Lawrence, William Rice, R. C. Dulin, P. J. Brown.
1877. Mayor—Philip Madison ; Recorder—William H. Carlin ; Treasurer— George Fresh ; Marshal—John Ward ; Councilmen—J. K. Andrews, J. Lawrence, J. Breneman, R. C. Dulin, W. Brown, N. Patterson.
816 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
David Carlin, son of James Carlin, who emigrated from Ireland to America about 1798, was born in Columbiana county, this State, in 1811. We extract the following from an obituary, published in the Wayne county Democrat:
He was, in infancy, brought by his parents to Wayne county. They settled in Congress township in 1814, which was then an almost unbroken wilderness.
Although in early life he never had the facilities and advantages of a modern education ; yet, from his own native strength of mind and love of mental improvement, he acquired, under one of the severest afflictions incident to childhood, which made him a suffering cripple for life, that cultivation of mind which prepared him for life's stern duties, and which enabled him to fill well his place in the world as an active, energetic and highly useful man.
His neighbors and immediate friends around him, for a long series of years, can attest his worth as a ready helper in their business affairs. Their confidence in him, as all know, was almost unlimited. Trusts of importance were given him. Official positions of every description in his township were thrust upon him. His county placed in his hands the highest and most important trust, that of Treasurer, it had within its gift. Through all of these, as everyone knows who knew him, he walked the upright citizen, the pure and honest man. In all his worldly transactions his integrity and honesty were never questioned or doubted. His death occurred several years ago.
Reminiscences of Royce Summerton.—Phineas Summerton, my father, was raised near Boston, and was a native of Massachusetts. His father, for many years, was a sea-going man, engaging in whale-hunting and otter pursuits of that jolly old comrade, the sea. Abandoning that occupation, he removed to the then western wilds of Cayuga county, New York, settling about sixteen miles from Auburn, where he purchased 600 acres of land, and there he died.
His children were Phineas, Thomas, Kitura and Phoebe. Father was born in Cayuga county, State of New York, where he married Rhoda' Royce. After the expiration of twenty years after his marriage he immigrated to Kendal, Stark county, where he stopped with a Quaker family named Clay. Leaving his family with Mr. Clay, he came to Wayne county and entered the north-east quarter of section 1, in Perry township, then in Wayne county, and now in Chester township, and owned by Mr. Jacobs. He then removed his family from Kendal, and staid with Isaac Matthews, on the farm now owned by Samuel Shoemaker, west of Lattasburg. With Matthews the family remained until Mr. Summerton could build a cabin, which was 18x24, with clap-board roof, clay floor, chimney in the end of it, cupboard in notches in the logs, and blankets for a door, as he was too busy with his crops to make one. Indians frequently came into the house. Once they came when he was away, and seeing bottles upon a shelf, asked for them, thinking they contained whisky. He had six children, to-wit : Hannah, Amanda, John, Taber, Royce and Thomas. Of this family only Taber, Royce and Thomas survive. Father, aided by his sons, cleared up his lands, and soon thereafter bought another quarter in Chester township, and continued accumulating until he acquired six quarter sections.
But prior to his removal to Wayne county, he had purchased a farm, and his father had given him one. Selling the one that had been presented to him, he formed a partnership with a Mr. Hungerford, in the saw-mill business in the pine country, in connection with which they built a carding machine and cloth-dressing
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factory. When they were about ready to begin operations, a cloud-burst occurred, and the water of the two streams on which their mills were located, rose to the hight of eighteen feet, sweeping mills and everything in its course. Father and Hungerford, and a hired man, were in one of the mills at the time, and barely escaped. This accident likely induced him to remove west, where they started in a two-horse wagon, crossing to Buffalo, and then up the lake shore, over roads so bad that, at times, they had to remove the children from the wagon. He was a hard working, quiet, industrious man, a member, with his wife, of the Baptist church in New York, but after his arrival in Wayne county he united with the Methodists. He and the father of President Fillmore were neighbors, and at this time Millard began the study of law.
Royce Summerton, son of Phineas, was born October 14, 1811, and removed to Wayne county with his father. He was married June 19, 1834, to Martha A. Helfer, of Ashland county, by which marriage he had two children, viz : Maria A. and Mary J. Summerton. The former became the wife of A. M. Beebe, then residing at Cleveland, she dying March 6, 1864, Mary J. married W. Pancoast, and died January J0, 1861, and was re-married to G, A. Whitmore, November 14, 1864.
Mr. Summerton remained on the farm until April 1, 1832, when he was hired as a clerk in the store of William Spencer, where he remained to September, 1833, when his father rented a store-room in Congress village and gave him $1,000, and when he went to New York City, gave him $1, 100 more. This latter sum, Mr. Summerton says, in three years cost him $3,600. His father was first a partner with him for three and one-half years, and after that his brother Thomas for twenty-two months. He went out of the mercantile business in 1838, lay idle two years, then resumed it, and continued in it until March, 1852, when failing health compelled him to abandon it entirely. He now invested his money in real estate, owning between 700 and 800 acres of land.
Mr. Summerton is one of the most enlightened and intelligent of the pioneers of Congress township. He is probably the wealthiest man in it, and has made his money by the reduction to practical application the irreversible and incontrovertible maxims of business. He is a man of strictest and most unrelaxing integrity, of irreproachable life, who for forty-five years, with his wife, has been a member of the Methodist church.
Taber Summerton, son of Phineas, was born in Cuyahoga county, and removed to Wayne county with his father. He was married in May, 1831, to Elizabeth Kuffel. After owning and ex-
52
818 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
changing various estates he finally removed to his present residence —the farm originally opened up and owned by Samuel Thorley. He has been devoted to the pursuits of the farm all his life, and has been prosperous and successful in his labors. He has a family of ten children, and has been a member of the church, with his wife, for forty-eight years.
Other Reminiscences of Royce Swmmerton.—When father and his family moved into the county there were but five neighbors within a radius of several miles. Isaac Matthews came in as early as 1814, and the Poes were here and Peter Chasey and his son Samuel. On one occasion, when father and I were coming from Naftzger's mill, with two oven in the wagon and one horse in front and I mounted on the horse, the wolves gathered in large numbers around us, and I got terribly scared, but father just laughed and said there was no danger. After butchering day the wolves were troublesome, and on one occasion a large hog was missing for three days, when it returned mangled and fly-blown, having been, as was supposed, attacked by a bear.
In the early days the woods were infested with pea-vines, which crept over the ground and would climb small shrubs and trees to the hight of two and three feet, and in the fall the cattle would eat it and fatten on it, and many of them died, and, it was believed, from the effect of this vine.
In the tirst log church (Methodist) in Congress Harry 0. Sheldon was preaching at a quarterly meeting, and there being a large crowd present, it was difficult for all to be seated. Joseph Ewing stood up defiantly in the center of the church. Mr. Sheldon came back to him and asked bin) to be seated, which he refused, when Sheldon caught him violently on his hip, carried him out and forced him to kneel down while he prayed with him.
Charles J. Warner, M. D., was born in Wayne township, Wayne county,Ohio, January 1, 1836. His father, Peter Warner, was a farmer and a native of Sunbury, Northumberland county, Pa., with whom the subject of this sketch remained until he was eighteen years of age. The farm life, we are quite ready to believe, harmonized with the developing manhood of Dr. Warner, and enables us to describe him as a splendid specimen of physical and muscular outline. While thus engaged, he utilized every opportunity and employed his leisure hours in study and in the perusal of such books as he could make accessible, and which would most benefit him in establishing a foundation for future acquisitions and fields of usefulness.
He availed himself of such advantages as the common schools afforded, and was diligent and vigilant in his exertions to qualify himself for some honorable and worthy sphere of labor. Like most of our self-made professional men, he made his first debut to the public in the role of teacher, in his nineteenth year, his servi-
PICTURE OF CHARLES J. WARNER
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ces being first rendered in the Rumbaugh district, for which he obtained eighteen dollars per month and boarded himself. In the summer he would attend school, and in the winter teach, and in this line of employment as preceptor and pupil, he assiduously applied himself for five years. During this time he became a proficient English scholar, and acquired a valuable knowledge of the Latin language.
It seems that the Doctor, from an early age had conceived the idea of the Divinity, as Dr. Holmes would say, of the Healing Art, and that if Day and Firestone had
" Hurled a few score mortals from the world,"
They had
" Made amends by bringing others into it ;"
And why should not he enter this most honorable profession, and " hurl " and " bring " like them—and like them carve a name, and bare a
" Snow-white arm to wield.
The sad, stern ministry of pain."
In pursuance of his contemplated purpose, in March, 1857, he entered the office of W. C. Moore, M. D., then a practicing physician in Congress village, with whom he remained four years, three as a student, and one in partnership with him.
He then removed to Homerville, Medina county, Ohio, where he Staid two years, and during this time attended a course of study at the Cleveland Medical College, where he graduated in 1862.
In the spring of this year he returned to Congress, since which time he has resided there. His tireless and unremittent efforts to prepare and fortify himself for the responsible duties of his profession have been rewarded by a profitable and lucrative practice, and though but a little past forty years of age, he has attained a deserved popularity, and compasses within his professional jurisdiction as wide a circuit as any rival in the county. He was married September 15, 1859, to Mary E. Pancoast, of Congress village, and has had two children, A. C. and Ellsworth, the latter dying September 7, 1863. After a happy marriage relation of a little over seven years, his wife died, December 8, 1866.
Of Charles J. Warner it can literally and truthfully be said, that he is in the meridian of his years. His sun has barely climbed to its zenith; it burns with clear and steadfast ray upon his path, without the remotest sign of dipping toward the western sky.
820 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
He stands solid six feet high, weighs two hundred and seventeen pounds, is built of substantial material, has a bright, intellectual face, is a man of pleasing manner and affable dispoSition, of fair complexion, firm and erect carriage.
He is emphatically a self-made and self-taught man, and one of the most pronounced and enthusiastic advocates of a popular and more diffusive education in the community. Realizing the obstacles that lie too often in the path of the ambitious youth who aspires to the loftier levels of intellectual culture, and the measureless advantages that accrue from a more general diffusion of knowledge, he places himself to the fore-front of the vast army of educators, and his voice is heard ringing along the line, and mingling with the ech0, of "more 'schools, more and better teachers, and wider diffusion of knowledge, and a greater enlightenment of the
masses!"
Dr. Warner believes with Froude, that
We ought not to set before a boy the chance of becoming President of the Republic, or President of anything ; we should teach him just to be a good man, and next to do his work, whatever it be, as well as it can possibly be done. It is better that a boy should learn to make a shoe excellently than to write bad exercises in half a dozen languages.
He believes that all men should be educated, not simply those who contemplate an entrance into the professions, but those as well who are to exert their activities on the lower planes of life. We extract from one of his published addresses the following, touching upon this point :
The idea of educating our youths to fill some humble station is entirely ignored, and every boy and girl that has a memory sufficient to contain so much poetry is almost constantly repeating the stanza written by Longfellow:
" Lives of great men all remind us,
We can make our lives sublime,
And departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time."
This sounds very finely, but it is " only a musical cheat." It sounds like truth, but it is a falsehood. The lives of great men all remind us that they have made their own memories sublime, but they do not assure us at all that we can leave footprints like theirs behind us. If you do not believe it, go with me to the cemetery yonder. There they lie—ten thousand upturned faces—ten thousand breathless bosoms. Dreams of fame and power once haunted those hollow skulls. Those little piles of bones, that once were feet, ran swiftly and determinedly through the forty, fifty, sixty, seventy years of life ; but where are the prints they left ? He lived—he died—he was buried—is all that the headstone tells. We move among
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the monuments, we see the sculpture, but no voice comes to us to say that I sleepers are remembered for anything they ever did. Natural affection pays tribute to its departed object, a generation passes by, the stone grows gray, and t man has ceased to be, and is to the world as if he had never lived. Why is it the no more have left a name behind them ? Simply because they were not endow by their Maker with power to do it, and because the offices of life are main humble, requiring only humble powers for their fulfillment. The cemeteries of o: hundred years hence will be like those of to-day. Of all those now in the schoc of this country, dreaming of fame, not one in twenty thousand will be heard of- not one in twenty thousand will have left a footprint behind him.
My idea of correct teaching is this : that the pupils be taught that all use and legitimate callings in life are honorable, though ever so humble ; that they ca not all attain to " high places," and that many will be compelled to fill some station in the "lower walks of life ;" that the laborer is worthy of respect ; that a man ca be as truly great following the plow, wielding the hammer, or shoving the plant as in any of the public positions in lite. In teaching, one of the principal object should be to educe the entire "character and disposition of the pupils ;" and whet any individual is found to be incapable to fill some important and responsible sta tion, he should be persuaded to select another calling less ditficult and responsible They should not be taught any less than they now are ; but should be taught more practical knowledge and less of the ornamental. No difference how humble tilt station we occupy may be, we can not know too much to fill it honorably and successfully.
Education, considered in its proper light, is not designed merely to fit men " to read and write, to peruse newspapers and keep accounts," but aims to make an individual thoughtful, reflective and intelligent ; to render the mind vigorous and constant in purpose, and prepare it to conduct business skillfully, intelligently and successfully. There is not a calling in life that is not made much less laborious and more efficient by the laborer understanding his own powers, and the qualities of the objects with which he deals; and it will make life much more pleasant and cheerful to know that he is an intelligent being, and that he is filling the station in life that God intended him to occupy. Education, then, rightly understood, makes labor honorable and the laborer happy, and clothes it with dignity, as well as the higher professions of life.
It will be well to remember that only one in every thousand is needed for public life, and only one in that number really fitted for the place. This teaching all scholars to aspire to the highest stations in life, without reference to mental capacities, is certainly a great curse to the prosperity of our country. It creates a morbid desire for distinction, engenders an unnatural thirst for public life, and brings out many candidates for office, men utterly unfitted to fill the place to which they aspire ; and the result is that many of our public offices are occupied by men of small mental capacities and inferior business qualifications.
Thousands seek to be " somebodies " through the avenues of professional life ; and so professional life is full of " nobodies." The pulpit is crowded with goodish " nobodies "—men who have no power, no unction, no mission. They strain their brains to write common-places, and wear themselves out repeating the rant of their sect and the cant of their schools. The bar is cursed with "nobodies " as much as the pulpit. The lawyers are few ; the pettifoggers are many. The bar, more than any other medium, is that through which the ambitious youths of our country seek to attain political eminence. Thousands go into the study of law, not so much for the sake of the profession, as for the sake of the
822 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
advantages it is supposed to give them for political preferment. Multitudes of lawyers are a disgrace to their profession, and a curse to their country. They lack the brains necessary to make them respectable and the morals requisite for good neighborhood. They live on quarrels, and breed them that they may live. They have spoiled themselves for private life, and they spoil the private life around them.
As for the medical profession, I tremble when I think how many enter it because they have neither piety enough for preaching, nor brains enough to practice law. It is truly lamentable to see the number of inferior men that yearly enter the medical profession, being a disgrace to their calling, and a curse to all who repose confidence in them.
It is the duty of every parent and teacher to ascertain by close and constant observation to what particular calling each individual scholar is by natural qualifications best adapted, and ilducate them, so far as it is possible, to fill that station with honor, profit and success. Teach them that it will be much more honorable to be a good blacksmith than an inferior minister of the gospel—an accomplished shoemaker than a pettifogger—an honest boot-black than a quack doctor; and that in pursuing some humble occupation successfully, they will contribute incalculable good to their fellow man; while on the contrary, were they to pursue some public or professional calling, and not be qualified for it either by nature or education, they will only be doing evil, and that continually. And should we be convinced that we are not adapted by nature or education to occupy any of the "high places" in life, it will be consoling to know while pursuing our humble caning, that God condescended to do little work before man had an existence. He made the pebble, as well as the mountain ; the smallest insect, as well as the largest quadruped; the tiny plant, as well as the giant oak ; and painted the wings of the butterfly, as well as the transcendently beautiful drapery of the setting sun. It requires just as much skill and ingenuity to construct a watch as it does an engine; it is just as difficult to do a " small thing well as a large thing, and the difficulty of accomplishing a deed is the gauge of the power and ingenuity required for its doing." And let us bear in mind that "when we go down, we are going just as directly toward infinity as when we go up, and that every one who works God-ward, works in honor."
As a co-worker in the cause of education, Dr: Warner has distinguished himself for his activity, earnestness and zeal. He has delivered twenty different addresses upon the subject in Wayne and adjoining counties, which have been published and received the most favorable indorsement of the press.
His style is aggressive, vigorous and fresh, his suggestions valuable, solid, practical and felicitous, his reasoning cogent and conclusive, his subject matter thoroughly digested and ingeniously arranged.
To the duties of his profession he addresses himself with the strictest attention and devotion. With him to restore order to deranged constitutions is the consummation of professional wisdom and skill. Life, which " the scratch of a bare bodkin," or " the sputter of a pistol-shot " will rend assunder, is a sacred trust with which to be invested. He is not an experimentalist, a theorizer, a system-maker, or a builder of logical card-castles.
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He has made the pilgrimage of the best authors of the school and practicalized their thoughts and methods in the disposition and treatment of disease. He has been, and is a student, an a scholar in his profession. He possesses in an eminent degree th mainsprings of prosperity and success— rigid integrity, economy and industry. With his splendid personal appearance, facility of acquaintance, ease and grace of manner, fine scholarship, modest and refinement of culture, it is not difficult to interpret the secre of his popularity and influence.
He is a man of many social and domestic virtues, and is a hospitable, courteous and considerate gentleman. He is not only self-taught, but self-poised and self-dependent, flatters no patron, foments no professional disputes, and pierces no victim. He aims to take care of himself, adheres to and performs the right, and cares not if the question is asked, " Who did it ?"
Solomon Warner was born December 6, 1807, in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, and removed to Wayne county with his father, Peter Warner, in 1816, who died November 14, 1824. Peter had seven children, to wit : Peter, Mary, Jonathan, Martha, David, Salome and Solomon. Of this family, but Jonathan, Martha, wife of James Reed, deceased, Mary, who lives with Jonathan, and Solomon, are alive. Jonathan Warner was born August 27, 1798, in Northampton county, Pa., and was married to Lorainne Pettit, of Washington county, Pa., and has ten children, all of whom are living.
Solomon Warner is unmarried, and lives in Congress village. He was a soldier in Company F, 16th Ohio Volunteer Infantry ; was in the charge of Chickasaw ; captured September 29, 1862 ; held a prisoner 75 days, exchanged, sent to Camp Chase, and then ordered to New Orleans and discharged, February 2, 1864. Mr. Warner is possessed of great accuracy of memory, and is an observant, worthy and intelligent man.
Philip J. Brown was born in Somerset county, Pa., October 14, 1827. Being left an orphan in early childhood, he was obliged to live among strangers, and at the age of fourteen he was " bound out," in accordance with the custom of the times, for seven years as an indentured apprentice to a blacksmith, of which time, however, he only served five years. From Pennsylvania he made his way to Virginia, where he followed his trade several years, noted as a skillful mechanic. January 14, 1850, he was married to
824 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
Miss Margaret, daughter of John King, of Preston county, West Virginia. A few years later he adopted the dental profession, which he has successfully pursued for a quarter of a century. In the spring of 1864, with his wife and two sons, he removed to Wayne county and settled in Congress village, where he still resides. Dr. Brown speaks several languages with fluency, and being, also, a minister of the Gospel in the German Baptist church, he has formed a wide acquaintance, and his superior intelligence, cordiality and upright character have gained him the friendship and confidence of a large portion of the citizens of Wayne and adjoining counties.
West Salem was laid out by Peter and John Rickel, June 14, 1834, and surveyed by George Emery. Plat and certificate recorded June 17, 1834, Vol. 2, page 443, County Recorder's office. The following is the line of officers since its incorporation, and from 1868:
1868. Mayor—D. H. Ambrose ; Trustees—D. Eshleman, D. Gable, J. Georget, J. J. Shank, W. R. Huber ; Recorder—E. Fritzinger ; Treasurer—John Zehner.
1869. Mayor—David Mitchel ; Trustees—John Myers, Ed. Elgin, Dan. Eshleman, 0. G. Franks, John Shellhart ; Recorder—Edward Fritzinger ; Treasurer —John Zehner.
1870. Mayor—E. McFadden ; Councilmen—John Myers, Dan. Gable, J. W. Read, E. Elgin, D. Baker, P. Bahl ; Treasurer—John Zehner ; Clerk—E. Fritzinger ; Marshal—G. W. Saltsman.
1871. Mayor—John Shank ; Councilmen—W. D. Humiston, David Jacobs, John Hosier.
1873. Mayor—John Shank ; Councilmen—C. C. Stouffer, J. P. Bush, Henry W. Morr ; Clerk—Allen Greely.
1874. Mayor—John W. Read ; Clerk—Daniel Eckerman ; Treasurer—William R. McClellan ; Marshal—William E. Straight; Councilmen—James Cronemiller, A. Hoff, John Shellhart.
1875. Mayor—John W. Read ; Clerk—Allen Greely ; Councilmen—A. J. Gerhart, David Herr, Henry Berry; To fill vacancies—John Barret.
1876. Mayor—James Jeffry ; Clerk—Allen Greely ; Treasurer—John Zehner ; Marshal—Joel Berry ; Councilmen—John Hosier, G. W. Burns, E. Northrop, Henry Berry, A. J. Gerhart.
Reminiscences of Mrs. Peter Rickel.—It was fifty-five years ago yesterday (October 10, 1877), when Peter and I landed here with our two children, coming from Bedford county, Pa., where he was a farmer. We settled in the woods near where I now live, built a cabin with puncheon floor and stick chimney. My first neighbors were Rev. John Hazzard, Mr. Ford and Charles Crile. Peter, however, had been out here two years before we moved, and entered a quarter of land, on which West Salem is now largely built. There were no roads then around here, and we
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had a hard time getting the two-horse wagon through. Peter was born in Virgini January 30, 1794, and died October 7, 1865. My maiden name was Nancy Ricke and I was born in old Lancaster, Pa., May I, 1803. We had seven boys and tw girls, by name, Sophia, Joseph, Michael, Levi, Matthias, George. Wesley, Catherine, William and Alexander. I used to work in the fields, and fainted in the fie', once while husking corn. Folks had to work then indeed, and I used to help hat logs, and such things, and now would like to live again in the woods instead of ii town, for then I could hear the wild birds sing as in the old days. John Rickel who, with Peter, laid out West Salem, was a brother of mine. He was a native o old Lancaster, Pa., and came to Wayne county three years before we did, and some of the town is built upon lands he settled on at that time. John was an Albrigh preacher, and was married to Rebecca Swaysgood. He had nine children, and died in February, 1860.
Joseph Harbaugh put up the first house in West Salem after it was laid out. building it on the spot where McVicker's tavern now stands. It was an old-fash• ioned frame, and he paid ten or fifteen dollars for the lot. Jacob Hyatt first rented it, and died in it three months after he moved in. James Houston kept tavern in the house afterwards, and his was the first tavern in Salem. John Reasor put ur the second house, building it where Zehner's store now is. Cass and Emerson were among the first doctors. William Cass started the first store, without any counter save a bench. He bought eggs, butter, etc. Rev. Beer was an early preacher.
Orrin G. Franks, the oldest son and child of Abraham Franks, was born in Chippewa township, April 8, 1826, and worked on the farm until sixteen, when he went into the dry goods store of A. & A. Franks, in Doylestown, where he continued until the dissoplution of the partnership in 1849, at which time he became a partner of his father, and continued as such until 1861. He then removed to a farm. In the spring of 1868 he came to West Salem and entered into the dry goods business, continuing there for two years, after which he went into the stock trade, and then engaged in the boot and shoe business for two years. He next purchased a half interest in his present business—Bush & Franks, wholesale dealers in butter, eggs, dried fruit, etc., at the same time having an interest in the flax mill. He was married May 31, 1855, to Anna C. Musser, of Norton, Summit county, and has five sons and four daughters. Mr. Franks is a representative business man of the county, always on the alert and full of go-ahead energy. He is a prominent Democrat, and held several offices in his native township, where all the great Franks family rank high for capacity and worth.
Mahlon Moyers is a native of Westmoreland county, Pa., where he was born April 18, 1807. He immigrated with his father, John Moyers, to Wayne county in April, 1819, settling in Plain township, south of Reedsburg, and lived with him until twenty-one,
826 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
when he branched out for himself, and purchased a farm about one mile south-west of West Salem, Congress township, where he has since continued to live. He has been twice married, and is the father of fourteen children, ten of whom are living. His father, who died in 1847, introduced the nursery business, and was the first person in Wayne county to grow grafted fruit, a business Mahlon successfully followed until within the last four years.
The West Salem Press.--The first printing press introduced in West Salem was by Dr. Justin Georget, in December, 1866, who issued a monthly paper called the West Salem Review, devoted to science, literature and local news. It was published about a year, then changed to Medical Review, which was continued another year, when, owing to his professional engagements, the Doctor suspended it. The next paper was the West Salem Journal, in 1868, a weekly, neutral in politics, and devoted to general news, edited ,by John Wicks, of Medina county, the publication of which was continued two years. He was succeeded by J. P. Hutton and S. B. McCain, who carried on the paper for two or three months, when the office was sold to John A. Wolbach, who removed the material to Orrville.
In 1869 F. G. McCauley commenced the publication of a weekly paper named The True Citizen, which he suspended after three months. On January", 1871, Mr. McCauley re-appeared with another paper under the tide of the Agricultural Commonwealth. This was conducted a year, when the name was changed to Buckeye Farmer, an exclusively agricultural paper, which was afterwards changed to the West Salem Monitor, devoted to general and local news, neutral in politics. In June, 1875, Mr. McCauley sold the Monitor to Messrs. Brenizer & Atkinson, who ran it until June 25, 1877, at which date Mr. McCauley bought it back, and is now publishing the paper with good success.
Mr. McCauley has made considerable reputation as a young man of ability. He was born in Westmoreland county, Pa., January 18, 1846, and came to Ohio with his father, David McCauley, in 1854. October 7, 1868, he was married to Miss Adeline Sherrod, of Congress township, and has three children..
Reminiscences by J. R. Henney.—Adam Henney was born in Center county, Pa., in 5776, and immigrated to Ohio about 181o, and was the third settler in the "mile strip," in what was then known as Jackson township, located on the Muddy Fork, about two miles north of Salem with his brother Peter, and on this place he lived until his death, which occurred February 9, 1862. In 1853 Peter went to Henry county, Illinois, where he purchased land and settled his children. In the winter of 1872 he came back on a visit to his daughter, Mrs. Christena Hines, where he suddenly died, at the advanced age of seventy-six. Adam and Peter were both members of the Evangelical Association from their boyhood—the former for ten or fifteen years filling the position of circuit preacher.
The small creek that puts into Muddy Fork near where Myers' mill now stands, was named after Captain Wolf, an Indian who frequently visited the house of Mr. Henney. Near the creek on the north side of Wolf run, on the north line of Peter Henney's farm, now known as Naftzger's, a child of Captain Wolf is buried.
I. R. Henney, son of Adam Henney, was born in Congress township, Wayne county, Ohio, August 19, 1826, and remained with his father until he was 21 years old. The first few years of
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his life after arriving at manhood were devoted to teaching school, after which he went to the western part of the State and took a position in the dry goods store of R. W. Shawhan, of Tiffin. Here he remained two years, when, on the 27th of May, 1852, he was married to Miss Lucy A. Clay, and in the spring of 1853, with his wife, immigrated to Henry county, Illinois, where he remained about one year, when he returned to West Salem, and where, after various experiences in mercantile pursuits, he was, on the completion of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad, appointed ticket agent at that place, serving in this position about five years. In 1869 he was appointed postmaster, and has held the position ever since. Has served several terms as Justice of the Peace. Mr. Henney has in his possession two German Bibles— one printed at Basel in the year 1736, formerly the property of Abraham Bechtel. The other was published by Christopher Froshoer, in the city of Zurich, in 1556-321 years old.
Abraham Plank, of the great family of millers, was born in Mifflin county, Pa., March 28, 1807. His father, Jacob Plank, came to Wayne county with his wife and eleven children in the spring of 1821, settling in Wayne township at the mill property built by Jacob Garver in 1815, from whom, with the mill, which was a small affair, only 30x40 feet, he purchased two hundred and forty acres of land. Old Jacob and his wife died at his son-in- law's, John Kurtz, two miles west of where he settled when he first came into the county. The following are the names of their children: John, Christian, Jacob, David, Jeptha, Abraham, Barbara, Mary, Fannie, Rebecca and Sarah, of whom only Christian, John, Abraham, Mary and Fannie are living.
Abraham, the subject of this sketch, is a miller by trade, and began milling at the time his father came to Wayne county, and followed that pursuit with great success for forty-five years. He married Nancy King, of Half-Moon Valley, Pa., and had fourteen children, ten of whom are living: Benjamin, Samuel, Hiram, David, Albert, Jemima, Melissa, Ellen, Abraham and Levi. The sons are all millers except David, who is a blacksmith, in Bryan, Ohio.
The Planks are a remarkable family, more identified with the milling interests and running more mills in Wayne county than any other. Among the earliest in that pursuit, they have handed it down from generation to generation, the business born and bred
828 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
in them, until " Plank's mills " are household words, and their brand of flour always commands the highest figures in the market.
Silver Lodge Knights of Honor, No. 123, was organized June 19, 1875, the following being the charter members : E. Fritzinger, John Zehner, C. C. Stouffer, M. D., J. S. Cole, M. D., Uriah Clouse, Z. B. Allee, W. R. McClellan, R. L. Lashels, L. H. Plank, George Musser, A. J. Gearhart, A. Plank, Jr., H. E. Lind, F. M. Atterholt, Robert McKibbens, H. N. Neal, J. K. Saltsman, Ben Meyers, J. A. Case, J. N. McHose-41 members. The following are its present officers: R. L. Lashels, Dictator ; J. T. Hazzard, Vice Dictator ; F. M. Atterholt, Past Dictator ; A. P. Neal, Assistant Dictator ; Allen Greeley, Treasurer ; A. F. Dunlap, Financial Reporter ; J. S. Cole, M. D., Reporter ; D. Mitchell, Chaplain ; Uriah Clouse, Guide ; 0. Chacey, Guardian ; Robert McKibbens, Sentinel.
West Salem Masonic Lodge, No. 398.—This Lodge was organized under a dispensation granted petitioners, November 21, 1866. Its charter members were, H. P. Sage, Edwin Fritzinger, C. C. Clay, M. H. Dodd, David Ambrose, J. B. Houk, D. F. Young, Enoch Moore, S. W. Signs, Jacob McGlenen, Josiah Buffett, J. H. Morrison, Isaac Harbaugh, Israel Moyer and James Lowe. Its first officers were H. P. Sage, W. M.; J. H. Morrison, Treasurer ; M. H. Dodd, Secretary ; J. Buffett, S. D.; S. Signs, J. D.; Jacob McGlenen, Tyler. Present membership, 73.
West Salem Lodge No. 442, I. 0. 0. F.—This Lodge was instituted June 10, 1870, with the following as charter members: John S. Addleman, M. H. Huffman, W. H. Fishack, J. S. Carmack, W. C. Baker, John Keeler and Neal Patterson. Its first officers were, J. S. Addleman, N. G.; M. H. Huffman, V. G.; W. C. Baker, Sec., and W. H. Fishack, Treas. The present officers are : S. A. Aikens, N. G.; J. R. Drushal, V. G.; Amos Best, Sec.; A. P. Meal, Treas., and T. A. Linn, Chaplain.
Agricultural Society of West Salem.—This organization was effected in 1867, when forms and by-laws for its government were adopted and first officers elected, as follows: William Buchanan, President ; John Wicks, Secretary ; D. Eshleman, Treasurer, and John Zehner, Peter Stair, and Captain Mitchell, Directors. Its present officers are H. M. Huffman, President ; B. Yoxheimer, Vice-President ; J. R. Henney, Secretary ; John Zehner, Treasurer ; John Berry, Marshal ; D. Jacobs, Chief Police.
Rev. John Hazzard. —This pioneer Methodist divine was born in Connecticut, June 29, 1778. When fourteen years of age his parents removed to near Albany, New York, where he acquired a good common school education, and in early manhood was converted and began to preach, He came to Wayne county in 1818, and first lived in Plain township, in a little log school-house near the residence of the late Daniel Silvers, four miles west of Wooster. In March following he removed to his own cabin in Congress township, and soon became known throughout the county as preacher, school teacher, farmer and best of men. As a Christian he was distinguished for his faith, and his transparent character
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and guileless life made him a model. As a preacher he was both scriptural and logical. He traveled far and near, and was ever a welcome visitor and friend. He died near West Salem January 7, 1869, aged ninety years. Death to him was without dread, and among his last exhortations in West Salem he used the words: "I am soon to leave earth, and am glad of it ; all of my early associates have passed on before, but, thank God, I am hard after them!" His wife was an amiable woman, possessed of rare intelligence, teaching school in the early days, and there are yet living in Wayne and Ashland counties old men and women who received their education from her. Her piety was of the quality of her husband's, and her life a genuine Christian's life. They reared an interesting family, who have proved useful members of society.
West Salem School Building.—This was completed in 1877, at a cost of $35,000, and is decidedly the finest school building in Wayne county, outside of Wooster. The structure is brick and stone, 102 feet long, by 75 wide, and 40 feet high, with additional steep roof and tower. It contains eleven rooms, which for convenience and beauty of arrangement can riot be excelled, all filled with modern school-furniture and desk-seats for 350 pupils ; also a large hall having capacity for 700 persons ; a library, founded in 1874, containing four hundred choice volumes. The building is situated on an eminence in the eastern part of town, in a lot containing four acres, which is tastefully adorned with many varieties of evergreen and forest trees.
Prof. F. W. Atterholt, who for the last four years has had charge of the above schools, is a native of Columbiana county, where he was born December 19, 1848. He graduated at Mt. Union College, in the summer of 1870, and that fall was made Superintendent of the Columbiana schools, where he served for three years. In the autumn of 1871 he was one of the proprietors and the editor of the Independent Register, of Columbiana, Ohio.
He was married December 31, 1872, to Miss Mary E. Beard, of Columbiana, a lady of culture, refinement and education, and at that time a teacher in the public schools of that place. He taught one year in the Medina Normal school, when he was chosen Superintendent of the West Salem public schools, which, under his management, have made marked progress, and now rank with the best in the county. Mr. Atterholt is a ripe scholar, a man of fine personal appearance, and a polished gentleman.
Justin Georg-et, M. D., was born in Mountusaine, in the north of France, June 23, 1830, and with his father, in 1840, immigrated to America, and then removed to Canton, Ohio, where he died.
After various peregrinations he entered the United States army, remaining one year at Governor's Island, when he was transferred to West Point Military Academy, where he continued four years.
He read medicine with J. P. Bairick, of Massillon, graduated, and, after a series of removals, came to Congress village, and
830 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO
thence to West Salem, in the winter of 1866, where he is now engaged in practice. Dr. Georget is a man of thorough education, both in and out of his profession, a man of intellect, and emphatically a man of ability, force and originality.
J. S. Cole, M. D., is a native of Allegheny City, Pa., born February 19, 1836, and attended Vermillion Institute, at Haysville, Ashland county, Ohio ; afterward read medicine with Dr. Glass, and graduated from Cleveland Medical College. He began practice in Reedsburg, Ashland county, and moved to West Salem in 1873. He is married to Ruth A. Smith, daughter of James B. Smith, of Ashland. Dr. Cole is an efficient man in his profession, and is a skillful and successful practitioner.
ADAM POE, THE INDIAN FIGHTER.
The dusk and swarthy foeman felt the terror of his might."
" The forest aisles are full of story."
Adam Poe, whose name is familiar the world over with every reader of American border warfare, was born in Washington county, Pat in the year 1745, and died September 23, 1838, in Stark county, four miles west of Massillon, at the residence of his son, Andrew Poe. He was twice married, and by the first union had but one child, a daughter, named Barbara, who married a Mr. Cochrane, of Pennsylvania. His second marriage was to Betsey Matthews, a widow lady, and a native of Ireland, who came to America when but twelve years of age. She had a brother named William Matthews who was a Presbyterian preacher. They were married in a fort in Western Pennsylvania. His second wife died December 27, 1844. By this second marriage Adam and Betsey Poe had ten children, to wit : George, Andrew, Thomas, Isaac, John, Barney, Adam, David, Catharine and Sarah.
George Poe, eldest son of Adam Poe, came to Wayne county in 1812, bringing with him his wife and children. He lived in Wooster three years and removed to Congress township in 1815, locating one-half mile south of the present village of Congress. Prior to his removal there he had entered a half section of land, which he improved and cultivated several years, but sold it to John Yocum, father of Rev. Elmer Yocum. He was the first Justice of the Peace in Congress township. He then went to Crawford county, Ohio, near Bucyrus, where his wife died, her maiden name being Betsey Roberts. There he was married a second time to Letta Campbell, a former acquaintance in Columbiana county, Ohio, after which he removed to Michigan and died.
Isaac Poe came to Wayne county in the spring of 1812, with his brother George, stopping in Wooster for a few years, and removing to Congress township April t, 1815. He had previously entered a quarter section of land, upon which a portion of the village of Congress now stands, where he lived three years, and then sold his farm to David Garver and Lawrence Rix. He then bought the John Lawrence farm, in Plain township, from Hon. Benjamin Jones, lived there a year, and sold it back to Mr. Jones, who sold it to Christian, father of John Lawrence, Esq., of Wooster township, From the Lawrence place he emigrated to Kentucky, thence
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to near 'St. Louis, on the American Bottom, in Illinois, where he died. He was married in 1804, to Jane Totten, sister of Hon. Michael Totten, of Wooster, at Adam Poe's house, on the west fork of the Beaver, in Columbiana county, Ohio. They had five children.
David Williamson Poe came to Wayne county with his father, Adam Poe, when a boy, and with him removed to Congress township. He started the first tannery ever established in Congress, which occupation he followed for several years, when he purchased a small farm not far from Cleveland. He afterwards, in company with one of his sons, went to Kansas to look at land, and by means of exposure, or accident, both were frozen to death. Hon. Joseph Poe, member of the Ohio Legislature, from Cleveland, is his son. Thomas Poe resided for a time four miles north of Congress Village, in Wayne county, but returned to Pennsylvania. His sons live in Georgetown, Beaver county, Pa., and are said to be owners of vessels plying the Ohio river, and very wealthy. Catharine Poe was married to Jacob Matthews, of Wooster, a partner of Robert McClarran, one of the first carpenters, and the first Justice of the Peace of the county. She died in Congress, and is buried in the graveyard there.
Sarah Poe, wife of Adam Kuffel, the youngest of the ten children of Adam Poe, is the only survivor of the family, and lives in Congress village, Congress township, Wayne county. She was born July 15, 1791, in Washington county, Pa., and was married in Columbiana county, Ohio, at her father's house, to Adam Kuffel, a native of Washington county, Pa., in 1809. He was born April 15, 1788, and died March 54, 1868. They removed to Congress township in 1825, and settled on the farm now owned by John Howey. The following are the names of their children : Elizabeth, Catharine, Sarah, Diantha, David, Nancy, Adam, Mary Ann, Isaac, Matilda, Samantha and Wesley. Taber Summerton, of Congress township, is married to the eldest daughter.
After leaving Pennsylvania Adam Poe removed to the west fork of Little Beaver, in Wayne township, Columbiana county, where he entered several quarters of land. From Columbiana he removed to Wayne county in 1813, bringing with him his wife and youngest son, David, and his daughter Catharine. He first settled in Wooster, his family living on North Market street, and he following the business of shoemaking for three years, on the corner where Dr. Robison has his office, being then nearly seventy years old. He was a tanner by trade, and an excellent shoemaker. He then removed to Congress township, and purchased sixty acres of land from his son, George Poe, and there he lived for nearly twelve years, when, growing old and infirm, he removed to Stark county, where, with his son Andrew, he died, as above stated. He was a member of the old Lutheran church.
Mrs. Kuffel relates the following as the circumstances of his death : A great and enthusiastic political meeting was being held in Massillon. The crowd hearing that Adam Poe, who had killed the celebrated Indian, Bigfoot, lived but a few miles distant, dispatched a delegation after him. When he appeared upon the ground he was wonderfully lionized and made the hero of the day. He was caught and carried through the crowd on the shoulders of the excited multitude. "It was a big day," says his daughter, and old as he was, being past ninety, " he had as much pluck as any of the boys."
That day of excitement, however, sounded the death-knell of the mighty borderer, the iron nerved heroic Adam Poe. He returned from the political meeting prostrated, enfeebled and sick, and soon thereafter died. A son of Andrew Poe, at whose house Adam died, hurried to the residence of Mrs. Kuffel, at Congress, to inform her of the dangerous illness of her father. She received the news about
832 - HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY, OHIO.
nine o'clock, and being then forty-seven years of age, mounted a horse and rode through the darkness and over uncertain roads, reaching her father's in time only to see him, to whom this world had no terrors, succumb to the King of Terrors and the Terror of Kings.
The terrible encounter of the Poe brothers—Andrew and Adam—with the stalwart chief Bigfoot, occupies a conspicuous page in the annals of our border strifes. It should contribute a most interesting feature to the history of Wayne county, that we are able to furnish with extraordinary accuracy the brief sketch of the brother, Adam, who for over twelve years was a citizen of our county. His sons were among the earliest of the pioneers in Congress township, and made the first improvements in that section, and he was a pioneer of 1813 in the town of Wooster.
The critical reader of our State and border history will perceive in the exploits of the brothers Poe with Bigfoot, the most palpable contradictions, incongruities and transpositions. Even as good an authority as McClung, in his " Western Adventures," published in 1837, substitutes the name of Adam for Andrew, and that prince of brilliant historical muddlers, John S. C. Abbott, in his recent History of Ohio, contradicts himself in the most inexcusable manner on the pages where he seeks to describe the contest.
Royce Summerton and Michael Totten, whose sister was married to Isaac, son of Adam Poe, confirm the statements of Mrs. Kuffel. These gentlemen deride and flout the idea of this use of Adam for Andrew. Adam Poe himself wondered that narrators of the occurrence could be led into such mistakes, and he was often heard to say, " Why, Andrew was wounded in the hand, struck with the little Indian's hatchet, but you see no wound or scar on mine."
The statement, as furnished by Mrs. Kuffel,* and the corresponding testimony of his neighbors, who intimately knew him, and held daily and weekly intercourse and conversation with him, is sufficient, in our judgment, to settle for all time the question upon which historians have been divided.
Mrs. Kuffel's Statement of Adanz and Andrew Poe's Celebrated Fight with Bigfoot. —A body of seven Wyandots made a raid upon a white settlement on the Ohio river near Fort Pitt, and finding an old man in a cabin, killed him, stole all they could and withdrew. The news of the murder spread rapidly, and my father, Adam Poe, and my uncle, Andrew, together with half a dozen neighbors, began pursuit of them, determined to visit sudden death upon them. They followed the Indians all night, but not until morning did they get closely upon them, when they discovered a path, or trail, leading to the river.
My uncle Andrew, who, like father, was a strong man and always on the lookout, did not directly advance to the river, but left his comrades and stealthily crept through the thicket to avoid any ruse of the Indians, and, if possible, surpris e them. He at once detected evidences of their presence at the river, but not seeing . them, he quietly crept down to its bank with his gun fixed to fire. He had not far descended when he spied Bigfoot and a little Indian with him, both of whom had guns, and stood watching along the river in the direction whence the remainder of the party were. He (Andrew) now concluded to shoot Bigfoot, and fired at him, but his gun did not discharge its contents. The situation instantly became terrific.
*Mrs. Kuffel is in full possession of her faculties, lives by herself, does her own work, and delights to dwell upon the exploits of her father and uncle. She wonders how the names have got mixed, for, says she, " It was Andrew that wrestled with Bigfoot, and went into the water, but it was father (Adam) who shot him."
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The snapping of the gun alarmed the Indians, who, looking around, discovered Andrew. 1t was too late for him to run, and I doubt if he would have retreated if he could, for he was a great wrestler, and coveted conflict with the Indians. So he dropped his gun, and bounding from where he stood, caught both the Indians and thrust them upon the ground. Though he fell uppermost in the struggle he found the grip of Bigfoot to be of iron, and, as a consequence, the little Indian soon extricated himself, and instantly seized his tomahawk and advanced with fatal purpose toward Andrew. To better assist and aid the little Indian, who had the tomahawk aimed at the head of Andrew, Bigfoot hugged and held him with a giant's grasp, but Andrew, when he struck at him, threw up his foot and kicked the tomahawk out of the little Indian's hand. This made Bigfoot indignant at the little savage, who soon repeated his experiment with the tomahawk, indulging in numerous feints before he delivered the main blow, which Andrew parried from his head and received upon his wrist.
Andrew now, by a desperate endeavor, wrenched himself from the clutches of Bigfoot, and seizing the gun of one of the savages shot the little Indian. Bigfoot, regaining his perpendicularity, got Andrew in his grasp and hurled him down upon the bank, but he instantly arose, when a second collision occurred, the issue of which threw them both into the water, and the struggle now was for the one to drown the other. Andrew finally caught Bigfoot by the hair, and plunged him in the water, holding him there until he imagined he was drowned, a conclusion in which he was sadly mistaken. Bigfoot was only playing off and soon recovered his position and was prepared for a second encounter. The current of the river had by this time borne them into deep water, when it became necessary to disengage themselves and seek to escape immediate destruction.
A mutual effort was at once made to reach the shore and get possession of a gun and close the struggle with powder and lead. Bigfoot was a glib swimmer, and was the first to reach the bank. In this contingency Andrew wheeled about and swam further out into the river to avoid, if possible, being shot, by diving strategies. The big chief, lucklessly to him, seized' the unloaded gun with which Andrew had shot the little Indian. Meantime, Adam Poe, having missed his brother and hearing a gun-shot, inferred he was either killed or in a fight with the Indians, and hastened toward him. Adam now being discovered by Andrew, the latter called to the former to shoot Bigfoot. Unfortunately Adam's gun was empty as was the big Indian's. The strife now was between the two as to which could load quickest, but Bigfoot in his haste drew his ramrod too violently from the gun, thimbles, when it escaped from his hand and was thrown some distance, but which he rapidly recovered, which accident gave Adam the advantage, when he shot Bigfoot as he was in the act of drawing his gun upon him.
Having disposed of Bigfoot, and seeing his brother, who was wounded, floating in the river, he instantly sprang into the water to assist him, but Andrew, desiring the scalp of the great chief, called to Adam to scalp him, that he could save himself and reach the shore. Adam's anxiety for the safety of his brother was too intense to obey the mandate, and Bigfoot, determined to not let his scalp be counted amongst the trophies of his antagonist, in the horrid pangs of death, rolled into the river, and his carcass was swept from the eye of man forever. Andrew, however, when in the stream, made another narrow escape from death, as just as Adam arrived at the bank for his protection, one of the number who came after him mistook Andrew in the water for an Indian, and shot at him, the bullet striking him in the shoulder, causing a severe wound, from which he, in course of time, recovered.
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So that it was my uncle Andrew that had the wrestle on the bank with Bigfoot, and the struggle with him in the river, and it was my father, Adam Poe, who shot Bigfoot when he came to shore. The wound that my father received, he got in the fight with the body of six Indians who were overtaken, five of whom were killed, with a loss of three of their pursuers and the hurt done to my father.
The locality on the Ohio river where the struggle occurred is in Virginia, almost opposite to the mouth of Little Yellow creek.
He has a Terrible Fight with Five Indians and Whips them *.-While living on this side of the Ohio two Indians crossed the river, both of whom were intoxicated, and came to Adam Poe's house. After various noisy and menacing demonstrations, but without doing any one harm, they retired a short distance, and under the shade of a tree sat down and finally went to sleep. In the course of two hours, and after they awoke from their drunken slumber, they discovered that their rifles were missing, when they immediately returned to Poe's house, and after inquiring for their guns and being told they knew nothing about them, they boldly accused him of stealing them and insolently demanded them. Poe was apprehensive of trouble, and turning his eyes in the direction whence they came, discovered three more Indians approaching.
Without manifesting any symptoms of surprise or alarm, he coolly withdrew to the house, and saying to his wife, "There is a fight and more fun ahead," told her to hasten slyly to the cornfield near by with the children, and there hide. This being accomplished he seized his gun and confronted the five Indians, who were then in the yard surrounding the house, and trying to force open the door. He at once discovered that the two Indians who came first had not yet found their guns and that the other three were unarmed. So he dropped his gun, as he did not want to kill any of them unless the exigency required it, and attacked them with his fist, and after a terrific hand to hand encounter of ten minutes, crushed them to the earth in one promiscuous heap, and having thus vanquished and subdued them, seized them one at a time and threw them over the fence and out of the yard.
* This adventure has never been given to the public before, and comes from his daughter.