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CORNELL  UNIVERSITY 

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ITHACA,  N.  Y.  14583 


JOHN  M.  OLIN 
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HISTORY 


COSHOCTON    COUNTY, 

OHIO: 

ITS    PAST    AND    PRESENT, 

-Mcl740-1881.*-s- 


CONTAININa 

A  COMPEEHENSIVE  HISTORY  OF  OHIO  ;  A  COMPLETE  HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY ; 
ITS  TOWNSHIPS,  TOWNS,  VILLAGES,  SCHOOLS,  CHURCHES,  SOCIETIES,  INDUSTRIES, 
STATISTICS,  Etc.;   A  HISTORY  OF  ITS  SOLDIERS  IN  THE  LATE  WAR;   POR- 
TRAITS OP  ITS  EARLY  SETTLERS  AND  PROMINENT  MEN;   VIEWS 
OF   ITS  FINEST  BUILDINGS   AND  VARIOUS  HISTORIC  AND 
INTERESTING   LOCALITIES;    MISCELLANEOUS   MAT- 
TER;   MAP  OP  THE  COUNTY;    BIOGRAPHIES 
AND  HISTORIES  OF  PIONEER  FAM- 
ILIES, Etc.,  Etc.,  Etc. 


COMPILED  BY  N.  N.  HILL,  Jr. 


ILLUSTRATED. 
NEWAEK,  OHIO: 

A.  1.  SRAHAM  .&  CO.,  PUBLISHERS. 

1881. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  In  the  year  1881,  by 

A.  A.  GRAHAM  &  CO., 

In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


CAELON  <t  HOLLENBECK, 

PBINTEB8     AND     BINDEKS, 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IND. 


PREFACE. 


This  work  is  presented  to  the  reader  with  a  due  sense  of  its  shortcomings,  but  a  hope  that  it  may 
not  utterly  fail  of  its  mission  to  please,  and  satisfy  whatever  desire  may'have  been  created  for  a  com- 
plete history  of  Coshocton  county.  The  work  has  been  accomplished  with  much  difficulty  and  labor, 
but  we  are  not  unaware  of  the  criticism  that  may  be  in  store  for  it,  largely  due  to  the  fact  that  almost 
every  reader  is  personally  cognizant  of  the  facts  it  contains.  The  student  of  general  history  grants 
the  truth  of  its  statements  without  question,  for  the  reason  that  he  personally  knows  nothing  of  the 
events  themselves;  had  he  this  knowledge,  he  would  quickly  see  the  imperfections  of  the  work,  and 
at  once  understand  that  the  production  of  a  county  history,  if  the  work  be  conscientiously  done,  is  a 
most  difficult  and  thankless  undertaking. 

The  publisher  and  compiler  have  labored  faithfully  to  produce  a  true  history,  and  feel  under  ob- 
ligations to  the  people  of  the  county  for  the  generous  patronage  extended,  and  especially  so  to 
Messrs.  James  E.  Johnson,  Colonel  E.  L.  Pocock,  T.  C.  Eicketts  and  Dr.  S.  H.  Lee,  of  Coshocton ; 
James  Le  Eetilley,  of  Eoscoe ;  Colonel  Pren  Metham,  of  Jefferson  township ;  J.  C.  McBane,  of  Frank- 
lin township;  Joseph  Love,  James  Magness,  Thomas  Piatt  and  Joseph  Heslip,  of  Linton  township, 
and  others  who  freely  and  generously  gave  their  aid,  information  and  influence  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  work.  To  the  county  officials,  Messrs.  John  Crawford,  recorder,  John  W.  Cassingham,  auditor, 
Israel  Dillon,  clerk,  John  Beaver,  treasurer,  and  William  Walker,  deputy  treasurer,  our  grateful  ac- 
knowledgements are  also  due  for  courtesies  extended.  Among  the  many  publications  and  other 
printed  material  used  in  the  compilation,  we  are  indebted  to  "  Historical  Collections  of  Coshocton 
County,"  by  William  E.  Hunt  (a  very  valuable  aid) ;  "Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio ;  "  "  His- 
torical Sketches  of  Coshocton  and  Vicinity,''  published  in  1850,  by  Eev.  H.  Calhoun ;  "  The  Practica,! 
Preacher,"  a  Coshocton  publication,  as  well  as  "  Eeid's  Ohio  in  the  War,''  and  others.  The  war 
history  was  gathered  largely  from  the  old  files  of  Coshocton  papers,  and  from  the  lips  of  the  surviving 
veterans,  to  many  of  whom  the  manuscript  was  submitted  prior  to  publication,  and  by  them  pro- 
nounced correct. 

A.  A.  Graham's  history  of  Ohio  occupies  the  opening  chapters,  as  it  seems  necessary  to  a  com- 
plete county  history,  so  closely  are  the  interests'  and  history  of  State  and  county  connected.  The 
early  history  of  the  county  was  largely  the  work  of  Hon.  Isaac  Smucker,  of  Newark,  who  has  spent 
the  greater  portion  of  his  long  life  in  historical  research,  and  is  especially  well  versed  in  the  early 
history  of  Ohio.  The  chapters  on  the  townships  and  the  town  of  Coshocton  are  due  to  the  faithful 
labors  of  John  B.  Mansfield,  a  careful  writer,  and  now  a  promising  attorney,  who  personally  visited 
every  portion,  of  the  county  and  conversed  with  the  citizens,  thus  gathering  from  the  pioneers  facts 
of  importance  not  otherwise  attainable.  He  was  ably  seconded  by  Mr.  Frank  J.  Longdon,  to  whose 
faithful  work  and  general  supervision  much  of  the  success  of  the  enterprise  is  due. 

The  field  of  labor  has  been  one  prolific  of  great  events,  especially  in  the  years  immediately  pre- 
ceding the  white  settlement.  The  valleys  of  the  Muskingum  and  its  tributaries  teemed  with  human 
life  in  pre-historic  times,  as  the  numerous  mounds  and  earth-works  clearly  attest;  and,  later,  a  great 
host  of  Eed  Men  were'here;  and,  at  the  confluence  of  these  beautiful  streams,  whose  musical  names 
will  forever  perpetuate  their  memory,  stood  the  capital  city  of  onQ  of  the  most  intelligent  of  these 
tribes  of  the  forest. 

We  trust  the  reader  will  get  from  the  following  pages  a  faithful  account  of  their  occupation,  as 
well  as  the  principal  facts  of  the  settlement  and  work  of  the  race  that  succeeded  them. 

N.  N.  H,Jk. 


CONTENTS, 


HISTOEY  OP  THE  STATE  OF  OHIO. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER  I.— Introduction,  Topography,  Geology,  Prim- 
itive Eaces,  Antiquities,  Indian  Tribes 11 

CHAPTER  II.— Explorations  in  the  West 19 

CHAPTER  III.— English  Explorations,  Traders,  French 
and  Indian  War  in  the  West,  English  Possessions 37 

CHAPTER  IV.— Pontiac's  Conspiracy,  Its  Failure,  Bou- 
quet's Expedition,  Occupation  by  the  English 48 

CHAPTER  v.— American  Exploration,  Dunmore's  War, 
Campaign  of  George  Rogers  Clark,  Land  Troubles, 
Spain  in  the  Revolution,  Murder  of  the  Morovian 
Indians 52 

CHAPTER  VI.— American  Occupation,  Indian  Claims, 
Early  Land  Companies,  Compact  of  1787,  Organiza- 
tion of  the  Territory,  Early  American  Settlements  in 
the  Ohio  Valley,  First  Territorial  Officers,  Organiza- 
tion of  Counties 60 

CHAPTER  VII.— Indian  War  of  1795,  Harmar's  Cam- 
paign, St.  Clair's  Campaign,  Wayne's  Campaign,  Close 
of  the  War 73 

CHAPTER  Vm.— Jay's  Treaty,  The  Question  of  State 
Rights  and  National  Supremacy,  Extension  of  Ohio 
Settelments,  Land  Claims,  Spanish  Boundary  Ques- 
tion      79 

CHAPTER  IX.— First  Territorial  Representatives  in 
Congress,  Division  of  the  Territory,  Formation  of 
States,  Marietta  Settlement,  Other  Settlements,  Set- 
tlements of  the  Western  Reserve,  Settement  of  the 
Central  Valleys,  Further  Settlements  in  'the  Reserve 
and  elsewhere -. 85 

CHAPTER  X.— Formation  of  the  State  Government, 
Ohio  a  State,  The  State  Capitals,  Legislation,  The 
" Sweeping"  Resolutions „ 121 

CHAPTER  XI.— The  War  of  1812,  Growth  of  the  State, 
Canal,  Railroads  and  Other  Improvements,  Develop- 
ment of  State  Resources 127 

CHAPTER  XII.— Mexican  War,  Continued  Growth  of 
the  State,  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Ohio's  Part  in  the 
Conflict 132 

CHAPTER  XIII.— Ohio  in  the  Centennial,  Address  of 
Edward  D.  Mansfield,  LL.  D.,  Philadelphia,  August  9, 
1876 :..  138 

CHAPTER  XIV.— Education,  Early  School  Laws,  Notes, 
Institutions  and  Educational  Journals,  School  Sys- 
tem, School  Funds,  Colleges  and  Universities 148 

CHAPTER  XV.— Agi-iculture,  Aiea  of  the  State,  Early 
Agriculture  in  the  West,  Markets,  Live  Stock,  Nur- 
series, Fruits,  Etc.;  Cereals,  Roots  and  Cuourbita- 
^  ceous  Crops,  Agricultural  Implements,  Agricultural 
Societies,  Pomological  and  Horticultural  Societies . ...  151 

CHAPTER  XVI.— Climatology,  Outline,  Variations  in 
Ohio,  Estimate  in  Degrees,  Amount  of  Variability,..,  163 


HISTORY   OF    COSHOCTON    COUNTY. 

PAGE. 

CHAPTER  XVII.— TopoGEPHY  and  Geology.— Topo- 
graphy—General  Geological  Structure  of  the  County- 
Local  Geology 165 

CHAPTER  XVtII.  —  AECHJEOLOGY.— Mound  Builders 
and  Indians— Antiquities— The  Different  Classes  of 
Mounds,  Effigies  and  Inclosures- Lessons  Taught  by 
These  Works  —  Implements  used  by  the  Mound 
Builders  and  Indians i 180 

CHAPTER  XIX.— Indians.— Geographical  Location  of 
the  Various  Tribes— The  Delawares— Their  Towns  in 
this  County— Brief  History  of  the  Tribes  of  Ohio — 
Ca^itain  Pipe— White  Eyes— Wingenund  and  Kill- 
buck— Netawatwees-Manners,  Customs,  Feasts,  etc.— 
Cabins,  Wigwams,  ■  Food,  etc. — Amusements  and 
Hunting— Removal  Beyond  the  Mississippi 193 

CHAPTER  XX.— Bouquet's  Expedition.- The  Causes 
Which  led  to  the  Expedition— The  Pontiac  War- 
Bouquet  Ordered  to  the  Relief  of  Fort  Pitt— His 
March  From  Fort  Pitt— Incidents  of  the  March- 
Indian  Trails— March  Down  the  Tuscarawas— Coun- 
cil with  the  Chiefs— Bouquet's  Camp  at  the  Forks  of 
the  Muskingum— The  Treaty  of  Peace— The  Recovery 
of  Prisoners— Sketch  of  Colonel  Bouquet's  Life 205 

CHAPTER  XXL— Colonel  Beodhead's  Expedition.— 
Causes  of  the  Expedition— The  Objective  Point- 
March  of  the  Army— Arrival  at  the  Forks  of  the  Mus- 
kingum—Destruction  of  Indian  Villages— Return  of 
the  Army— War  of  Extermination— Col.  Brodhead's 
Official  Report— Biographical  Sketches  of  Col.  David 
Shepherd  and  Col.  Daniel  Brodhead : 213 

CHAPTER  XXII.— Wetzel  and  Beady.— Lewis  Wetzel— 
His  Character— The  Wetzel  Family— The  Murder  of 
Lewis'  Father— Capture  of  Wetzel  by  the  Indians— 
His  Adventures  in  the  ]^uskingum  Valley— Tragedy 
at  Indian  Spring — The  Expedition  to  the  Muskingum 
under  McMahon — Wetzel  takes  a  Scalp — The  Turkey 
Call — Various  Adventures  —  Imprisoned — Wetzel's 
Personal  Appearance  and  Death. 
Samuel  Brady— His  Expedition  to  Walhonding— A  Brief 
Sketch  of  his  Life  and  Services 217 

CHAPTER  XXm.  —  MOEAVIAN  Missions.  —  Establish- 
ment of  Lichtenau— Religious  Services— Moravian 
Towns  on  the  Tuscarawas— Abandonment  of  Lich- 
tenau—Biographical  Sketches  of  Rev.  David  Zelsber- 
ger  and  Rev.  John  Heckewelder 228 

CHAPTER  XXIV.  — FiEST  White  Occupation.— Mary 
Harris— Christopljer  Gist— George  Croghan- William 
Trent  — James  Smith  — Bouquet's  Army— Chaplain 
Jones— David  Duncan  —  Murder  at  White  Eyes- 
William  Robinson- John  Leetb— Brodhead's  Army— 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

John  Stllley— The  Moravians— The  Gertys  and  Oth- 
ers— Heckewelder's  Ride 236 

CHAPTER  XXV.— Scraps  of  History.— Name— Forma-  ' 
Hon— First  Settlers  and  Settlements— Population- 
Flora  and  Fauna— Early  Roads  and  Transportation— 
A  Pioneer  School-House— Prices  for  Produce— Early 
Taverns— Starting  a  Town— Character  of  the  Pioneers 
—Social  Gatheringis- Trapping— Wild  Pigeons 254 

CHAPTER  XXVI.— John  Chapman 264 

CHAPTER  XXVII.4- Pioneer  Times.— Where  the  Pio- 
neers Came  From — Thieir  Condition  and  Character — 
What  They^ived  On— The  "  Truck  Patch  "—Hominy 
Blocks  —  Mills  —  Cooking  —Cultivation  of  Domestic 
Animals  —  Wild  Turkeys  —  Whisky—  Superstitions- 
Dress  of  the  Men — The  Flax  Wheel  and  Loom — More 
About  Clothing—"  Kicking  Frolicks  "—Dress  of  the 
Women  — White  Kid  Slippers— Dyeing— Fourth  of 
July  and  Militia  Musters— Cabins  and  Their  Construc- 
tion-Furniture of  the  Cabins— Hoosier  Poem— Early 
Land  Laws  —  Tomahawk  Rights  — Hunting  — Early 
Weddings— Dancing  and  ' '  House  Warming ' ' — School- 
ing, School  Teachers,  etc. — Spelling  Schools — Conclu- 
sion   267 

CHAPTER  XXVIII.— The  Canals.— A  Great  Work— Cel- 
ebration of  the  Opening  of  the  Ohio  Canal  at  Licking 
Summit — Work  on  the  Canal — First  Boat — Walhond- 
ing  Canal— Length,  Capacity  and  Business  of  the 
Canals...., 283 

CHAPTER  XXIX.— Railroads.- River  Transportation— 
The  Pan  Handle— Extracts  from  Hunt's  History  and 
the  Zanesville  Courier ■. .-. 288 

CHAPTERXXX.—Agricultuee.— Agricultural  Features 
of  the  County  —  Present  Condition  —  Crops  —  Corn, 
Wheat,  etc.— Fruit  Culture— Stock  Raising— Sheep— 
Cattle— Hogs— Horses— County  Agricultural  Society...  290 

CHAPTER  XXXI.— County  Buildings  and  Officers.- 
First  Jail — First  Court  House  —  The  Present  Court 
House— Other  Public  Buildings— List  of  County  Offi- 
cers— Commissioners — -\uditors  —  Clerks — Treasurer's 
— Recorders — Sheriffs —  Prosecuting  Attorneys — Sur- 
veyors-Coroners—  Infirmary  Directors — Representa- 
tives— Congressmen,  etc 297 

CHAPTER  XXXII.— Bench  and  Bar.— First  Courts- 
Early  Judges  —  Associate  Judges  — Judge  Sample- 
Early  Bar- First  Lawyers— David  Spangler— Present 
Members 306 

CHAPTER  XXXIIL— War  of  1S12.— Companies  Raised 
in  Coshocton  County— Hull's  Surrender— Muster  Roll 
of  Johnston's  Riflemen— March  of  Colonel  Williams' 
Command— Their  Services  on  the  Frontier— Defense 
of  Fort  Meigs— Rev.  H.  Calhoun's  Communication....  310 

CHAPTER  XXXI^'.- War  with  Mexico.— Causes  of  the 
War— Muster  Roll  of  Captain  Meredith's  Company— 
The  Third  Ohio  Regiment— Its  Operations  in  the 
Field— The  Fourth  Ohio  Regiment  and  its  Services- 
Close  of  the  War 314 

CHAPTER  XXXV.— War  of  the  Rebellion.— Prepara- 
tions in  Coshoctoh— Three  Months'  Men— Muster  Rolls 
—Operations  of  the  Sixteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  In- 
fantry   321 


page. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. —War  op  the  Rebellion,  Con- 
tinued.—Organization  of  "  Given's  Rangers  "—Their 
Assignment  to  the  Twenty-fourth  Ohio,  and  Depart- 
ure to  the  Field— Sketch  of  Josiah  Given— Orgoniza- 
tion  — Captain  W.  M.  Stanley's  Assignment  to  the 
Thirty-second  Ohio,  and  Departure  for  the  Field — 
Twenty-fourth  and  'Thirty-second  at  Cheat  Mountain 
—Twenty-fourth  in  the  Field  and  Mustered  out — 
Thirty-second  in  the  Field  and  Mustered  out 326 

CHAPTER  XXXVII  — War  of  the  Rebellion,  Con- 
tinued.—Fifty -first  Regiment— Muster  Rolls— Its  Ope- 
rations in  the  Field 337 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII.  — War  of  the  Rebellion  Con- 
tinued.—Eightieth  Ohio— Time  of  Enlistment— Mus- 
ter Rolls  of  Coshocton  Companies— Paducah  and  Cor- 
inth —  On  to  Vicksburg  —  Resignation  of  Captain 
Mathews  — Battles  of  Jackson  and  Mission  Ridge — 
Defense  of  Resaca— Sherman's  March  to  the  Sea- 
Closing  Scenes  of  the  Eightieth's  History 345 

CHAPTER  XXXIX.  —  War  of  the  Rebellion,  Con- 
tinued.— Sixty-ninth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry — Mus- 
ter Roll— Services  in  the  Field— Seventy-sixth  Ohio- 
Muster  Roll  and  Record '. 356 

CHAPTER  XL.— War  of  the  Rebellion,  Continued.— 
The  Ninety-seventh — Rosters  of  Companies  Hand  I — 
Review  by  John  M.  Compton — Historical  Record  of 
the  Regiment— Correspondence  and  Reminiscences...  362 

CHAPTER  XLI.— War  of  the  Rebellion,  Continued.- 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second— Muster  Rolls — 
Record  of  its  Services— Seventy-eighth  Regiment— Its 
Services  in  the  Field 368 

CHAPTER  XLII.— War  of  the  Rebellion,  Continued.— 
Fifteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry — Its  Operations  in 
the  Field— Thirty-seventh  Ohio— A  Record  of  its  Ser- 
vices   379 

CHAPTER  XLIII.— War  of  the  Rebellion,  Continued. 
—Sixty-ninth  Battallion,  or  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
second  0.  N.  G.  and  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third 
O.  N.  G.~Review  of  the  Sixty-ninth  BattiiUion-Rosters 
of  Five  Companies— Record  of  the  One  Hundred  and' 
Forty-second  and  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third- 
Correspondence  from  the  Front...; 390 

CHAPTER  XLIV.— War  of  the  Rebellion,  Concluded. 
—Cavalry  and  Artillery— History  of  the  Ninth  Ohio 
Cavalry  —  Roster  of  Company  M  —  Correspondence 
from  the  Front— History  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Battery 
—Its  Organization  from  the  Thirty -second  Infantry- 
Petition  of  Veterans,  and  endorsement  of  Coshocton 
County— Military  Committee  for  New  Organization...  396 

CHAPTER  XLV.— Early  History  of  Coshocton.— Its 
Site  an  Indian  Village— Early  Settlement— Colonel 
Charles  Williams— Ebenezer  Buckingham- Dr.  Sam- 
uel Lee —Tradition  of  Louis  Phillippe  — The  Cold 
Plague— A  Lost  Child  — The  Whoo-whoo  Society— 
The  Journal  of  Colonel  Williams 4H 

'CHAPTER  XLVI.— Growth  of  Coshocton— Press-Fra- 
ternities.— Location  of  Tuscarawa — Description  of 
Original  Plat— Additions  to  Coshocton— Increase  of 
Population  — Incorporation  —  List  of  Mayors— Post- 
masters—City  Hall— The  Press— The  Coshocton  Re- 
publican—Spy—Democratic Whig 421 


CONTENTS. 


:^^s 


PAGE. 

CHAPrER  XLVII.  —  Meboantile  and  Other  iNons- 
TBIAL  iNiEEEsra.— Eirly  Taverns— Present  Hotels- 
First  Store— Early  Merchants — James  Calder — Hedge 
and  Hammond — James  Renfrew" — Benjamin  Ricketts 
—Robert  Hay— Present  Business  Directory— Banking 
— The  Johnson  Brothers— Rioketts  Bank— First  Na- 
tional'Bank— Commercial  Bank— Savings  and  Build- 
ing and  Loan  Association— Ferries— Coshootion  Iron 
and  Steel  Works— Paper  Mill— Various  Other  Indus- 
tries—Past  and  Present 429 

CHAPTER  XL VIII.  —  Schools  and  Churches  of  Co- 
shocton.—Early  Schools— First  School  Houses  and 
Teachers- Election  of  Buildings— Progress  and  Statis- 
tics —  Churches  —  Early  Preaching  —  Presbyterian — 
Methodist  Protestant— Methodist  Episcopal— Catholic 
—German  Lutheran— Baptist— Episcopal 

TOWNSHIP  HISTORY. 

CHAPTER  XLIX.— Adams  Township.— Location— Phys- 
ical Features— Its  Military  Sections— Organization — 
First  Officers— Early  Justices- Indian  Encampments 
—Early  White  Occupation— Settlers— Mills— Oil— Phy- 
sicians—Schools— Churches— Bakersville 453 

CHAPTER  L.— Bedpokd  Township.- Location— Organi- 
zation—Name— Topography— Early  Settlers— Indians 
-First  Road— Schools—  Mills  —  Distilleries  —  Cannel 
Coal  Oil  Operations — Churches— West  Bedford., 461 

CHAPTER  LI.— Bethlehem  Township.— Name— Boun- 
daries— Streams  —  Surface  —  Soils — ' '  Deuman's  Prai- 
rie"—Name  of  the  Killbuck— Legend  of  the  White 
Woman— Hunting  Grounds— ..lounds— The  Morrisons 
—Mrs.  Kimberlyand  the  Det.— Other  Early  Settlers 
—Squatters— Saw  Mill- Brldgeo  .lud  Canal— Schools 
—Churches 470 

CHAPTER  LII.— Clark  Township.— Location— Topo- 
grahical  Features— Organization— Name— Early  Set- 
tlements—Indians— First  Schools- Mills  — Helmick— 
Bloomiield — Churches — Population 476 

CHAPTER  LIII.  —  Crawford  Township.  —  Location— 
Survey- Soil — Settlers  —  Population  —  First  School— 
Industries— Churches— New  Bedford— ChlU 486 

CHAPTER  LIV.— Franklin  Township.— Boundaries- 
Physical  Features — Canal  and  Railroad— Early  Set- 
tlers and  Settlements— Major  Robinson's  Captivity- 
Indians— Schools  and  Churches— Taverns— Distiller- 
ies and  MUls—Postofaces— Coal— Oil 491 

CHAPTER  LV.— Jackson  Township.— Size-Location- 
Organization — Streams — Canals — Settlement — Mills — 
Roscoe— Its  Growth— Business— Schools — Physicians 
— Fire  Losses,  etc.— Fourth  of  July  Celebration — 
Churches 500 

CHAPTER  LVI.  —  Jefferson  Township.  —  Primatlve 
Race — Flint  Mining — Other  Remains — Topography — 
Organizatien — Early  Settlers — Whisky- Mills — Schools 
—Coal  Oil  Speculations— Warsaw— Mohawk  Village— 
Postofflces— Churches .' 510 

CHAPTER  LVII.-Keene  TOWNSHIP.-Boundary-Streams 
—Springs— Soil— Military  Land— Arch£eology— Settle- 
ments— First  Pliysicians — Mills  and  Distilleries- 
Early  Schools— "  Loud  Schools  "—Early  Preaching— 
Keene—N.ewport— Churches 623 


PAGE. 

CHAPTER  LVIII.— Lafayette  Township.— Organiza- 
tion— Name — First  Officers — Location — Topography — 
Early  Settlers— School  Section— Prominent  Men- 
Taverns — Mills — Schools — West    Lafayette — Churches 

— Birm.ingham — Bridges — Mounds — War  Matter ,,  531 

CHAPTER  LIX.— Linton  Township.— Location— Name  ' 
—Topography— Primative   Races-Indians— Doughty 
—Early   Settlers   and   Settlements— Soldiers  — Wills 
Creek— Early  Navigation— Ferries  and  Bridges— Mills 
—  Distilleries— Salt— Tanneries— Schools— Churches  — 

Villages — Population 540 

CHAPTER  LX.— Mill  Creek  Township.— Boundary- 
Streams— Survey— Organization— Settlement  —  Popu- 

lation-TPostoffices—Mills—Sehools— Churches. 555 

CHAPTER  LXI.— Monroe  Township.— Boundary  Topo- 
graphy-Population —  Settlers— Mills  —  New  Prince- 
ton— Spring  Mountain — Churches 559 

CHAPTER  LXIL— New  CaStle  Township.— Location 
Physical  Features— Scenery— Indian  Mound— Indian 
Villages— Eeminisoences— Block  House— Early  Nurs- 
ery—Thomas Butler Panther  Hunt— Robert  GifiFen 

-Other  Early  Settlers— Mills— Distilleries— Other  In- 
dustries—Bridges— Schools— Churches-New  Castle— 

Walhonding— Mount  Airy 565 

CHAPTER  LXIII.— Oxford  Township.— Location-Phys- 
ical Features  —  Organization  —  Settlement—  Mills  — 
Distilleries— Taverus-Bridges-Schools-Millsville — 

Evensburg— Orange — Postofflces— Churches 576 

CHAPTER  LXIV.— Perry  Township.— Name— Organiza- 
tion —  Physical  Features  —  Early  .Settlements  —  East 

Union— Churches— Schools— Mills 580 

CHAPTER  LXV.— Pike  Township.— Boundaries— Topo- 
graphy—Settlers— Slab  Camp— Bear  Story— Distiller- 
ies—Mills— Schools— Chnrchos—West  Carlisle 586 

CHAPTER  LXVI.— Tiverton  Township.— Name— Loca- 
tion—Streams— Physical  Features  — Aboriginal  Re- 
mains—Johnny Appleseed— Early  Settlers— Popula- 
tion— First  School — Churches Tiverton   Center — 

Rochester 594 

CHAPTER  LXVII.-^TUSCARAWAS  Township.— Boundar- 
ies—Soil— Railroad  and  Canal— Military  Sections- 
Early  Settlements- Fulton's  Mill— Early  Milling- 
Indian  History  —  Bouquet's'  Expedition  —  Indian 
Towns- Burial  Ground — Blounds — Murder  of  the  In- 
dian,   Phillips— Mining,    its    Development    in    the 

Township— Canal  LewisviUe— Churches 599 

CHAPTER  LXVIII.— Virginia  Township.— Surveys — 
Organization— Description— First  Settlers— Churches 

— Schools-^Industries — Moscow — Willow  Brook 610 

CHAPTER  LXIX.— Washington  Township.— Early  Set- 
tlers—Location-Topography—Early Justices— Indian 
Camp— First  Road- Mills  and  Distilleries— Wakatom- 

ica  Postofflce— Schools— Churches 614 

CHAPTER  LXX.— White  Eyes  Township.— Organiza- 
tion and  Original  Boundaries— Topography— Ancient 
Fort— Settlement— Population— Postofflces- Avondale 

—Mills— Churches 618 

Biographical  Sketches 627 

Addenda 825 

Errata 833 


'-t. 


HISTOEY  OF  OHIO. 


BY    -A.. 


GR^HA-M. 


CHAPTER    I. 

INTEODUCTORY  —TOPOGRAPHY  -GEOLOGY  —PRIMITIVE-RACES  —ANTIQUITIES  —INDIAN 

TRIBES. 


THE  present  State  of  Ohio,  comprising  an 
extent  of  country  210  miles  nortli  and  south, 
220  miles  east  and  west,  in  length  and  breadth — 
25,576,969  acres — is  a  part  of  the  Old  Northwest 
Territory.  This  Territory  embraced  all  of  the 
present  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Michigan, 
Wisconsin  and  so  much  of  Minnesota  as  lies  east 
of  the  Mississippi  River.  It  became  a  corporate 
existence  soon  after  the  formation  of  the  Virginia 
Colony,  and  when  that  colony  took  on  the  dignity 
of  State  government  it  became  a  county  thereof, 
whose  exact  outline  was  unknown.  The  county 
embraced  in  its  limits  more  territory  than  is  com- 
prised in  all  the  New  England  and  Middle  States, 
and  was  the  largest  county  ever  known  in  the 
United  States.  It  is  watered  by  the  finest  system 
of  rivers  on  the  globe ;  while  its  inland  seas  are 
without  a  parallel.  Its  entire  southern  boundary 
is  traversed  by  the  beautiful  Ohio,  its  western  by 
the  majestic  Mississippi,  and  its  northern  and  a 
part  of  its  eastern  are  bounded  by  the  fresh-water 
lakes,  whose  clear  waters  preserve  an  even  temper- 
ature over  its  entire  surface.  Into  these  reservoirs 
of  commerce  flow  innumerable  streams  of  limpid 
water,  which  come  from  glen  and  dale,  from 
mountain  and  valley,  from  forest  and  prairie — all 
avenues  of  health,  commerce  and  prosperity. 
Ohio  is  in  the  best  part  of  this  territory — south 
of  its  river  are  tropical  heats ;  north  of  Lake  Erie 
are  polar  snows  and  a  polar  climate. 

The  territory  comprised  in  Ohio  has  always  re- 
mained the  same.  Ohio's  history  differs  somewhat 
from  other  States,  in  that  it  was  never  under  Ter- 
ritorial government.  When  it  was  created,  it  was 
made  a  State,  and  did  not  pass  through  the  stage 
incident  to  the  most  of  other  States,  V.  e.,  exist  as 
a  Territory  before  being  advanced  to  the  powers  of 


a  State.  Such  was  not  the  case  with  the  other 
States  of  the  West ;  all  were  Territories,  with  Terri- 
torial forms  of  government,  ere  they  became  States. 

Ohio's  boundaries  are,  on  the  north.  Lake  Brie, 
and  Michigan ;  on  the  west,  Indiana ;  on  the  south, 
the  Ohio  River,  separating  it  from  Kentucky; 
and,  on  the  east,  Pennsylvania  and  West  Virginia. 
It  is  situated  between  38°  25'  and  42°  north 
latitude ;  and  80°  30'  and  84°  50'  west  longitude 
from  Greenwich,  or  3°  30'  and  7°  50'  west  from 
Washington.  Its  greatest  length,  from  north 
to  south,  is  210  miles;  the  ^extreme  width,  from 
east  to  west,  220  miles.  Were  this  an  exact  out- 
line, the  area  of  the  State  would  be  46,200  square 
mUes,  or  29,568,000  acres;  as  the  outlines  of  the 
State  are,  however,  rather  irregular,  the  area  is 
estimated  at  39,964  square  miles,  or  25,576,960 
acres.  In  the  last  census — 1870 — the  total  num- 
ber of  acres  in  Ohio  is  given  as  21,712,420,  of 
which  14,469,132  acres  are  improved,  and  6,883,- 
575  acres  are  woodland.  By  the  last  statistical 
report  of  the  State  Auditor,  20,965,3711  acres  are 
reported  as  taxable  lands.  This  omits  many  acres 
untaxable  for  various  reasons,  which  would  make  the 
estimate,  25,576,960,  nearly  correct. 

The  face  of  the  country,  in  Ohio,  taken  as  a 
whole,  presents  the  appearance  of  an  extensive 
monotonous  plain.  It  is  moderately  undulating 
but  not  mountainous,  and  is  excavated  in  places  by 
the  streams  coursing  over  its  surface,  whose  waters 
have  forced  a  way  for  themselves  through  cliffs  of 
sandstone  rock,  leaving  abutments  of  this  material 
in  bold  outline.  There  are  no  mountain  ranges, 
geological  uplifts  or  peaks.  A  low  ridge  enters  the 
State,  near  the  northeast  corner,  and  crosses  it  in  a 
southwesterly  direction,  emerging  near  the  inter- 
section of  the  40th  degree  of  north  latitude  with 


13 


HISTOKY   or    OHIO. 


the  western  boundary  of  the  State.  This  "  divide  " 
separates  the  lake  and  Ohio  River  waters,  and  main- 
tains an  elevation  of  a  little  more  than  thirteen 
hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  ocean.  The 
highest  part  is  in  Logan  County,  where  the  eleva- 
tion is  1,550  feet. 

North  of  this  ridge  the  surface  is  generally  level, 
with  a  gentle  inclination  toward  the  lake,  the  ine- 
qualities of  the  surface  being  caused  by  the  streams 
which  empty  into  the  lake.  The  central  part  of 
Ohio  is  almost,  in  general,  a  level  plain,  about  one 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  sHghtly 
incHning  southward.  The  Southern  part  of  the 
State  is  rather  hilly,  the  valleys  growing  deeper  as 
they  incline  toward  the  great  valley  of  the  Ohio, 
which  is  several  hundred  feet  below  the  general 
level  of  the  State.  In  the  southern  counties,  the 
surface  is  generally  diversified  by  the  inequalities 
produced  by  the  excavating  power  of  the  Ohio 
River  and  its  tributaries,  exercised  through  long 
periods  of  time.  There  are  a  few  prairies,  or  plains, 
in  the  central  and  northwestern  parts  of  the  State, 
but  over  its  greater  portion  originally  existed  im- 
mense growths  of  timber. 

The  "  divide,"  or  water-shed,  referred  to,  between 
the  waters  of  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio  River,  is 
less  elevated  in  Ohio  than  in  New  York  and  Penn- 
sylvania, though  the  difference  is  small.  To  a  per- 
son passing  over  the  State  in  a  balloon,  its  surface 
presents  an  unvarying  plain,  whUe,  to  one  sailing 
down  the  Ohio  River,  it  appears  mountainous. 
On  this  river  are  bluffs  ranging  from  two  hundred 
and  fifty  to  six  hundred  feet  in  height.  As  one 
ascends  the  tributaries  of  the  river,  these  bluffs 
diminish  in  height  until  they  become  gentle  undu- 
lations, whUe  toward  the  sources  of  the  streams, 
in  the  central  part  of  the  State,  the  banks  often 
become  low  and  marshy. 

The  principal  rivers  are  the  Ohio,  Muskingum, 
Scioto  and  Miami,  on  the  southern  slope,  emptying 
into  the  Ohio ;  on  the  northern,  the  Maumee, 
Sandusky,  Huron  and  Cuyahoga,  emptying  into 
Lake  Erie,  and,  all  but  the  first  named,  entirely  in 
Ohio. 

The  Ohio,  the  chief  river  of  the  State,  and  from 
which  it  derives  its  name,  with  its  tributaries,  drains 
a  country  whose  area  is  over  two  hundred  thousand 
square  miles  in  extent,  and  extending  from  the 
water-shed  to  Alabama.  The  river  was  first  dis- 
covered by  La  Salle  in  1669,  and  was  by  him  nav- 
igated as  far  as  the  Palls,  at  Louisville,  Ky.  It  is 
formed  by  the  junction  of  the  Alleghany  and 
Monongahela  rivers,  in  Pennsylvania,  whose  waters 


unite  at  Pittsburgh.  The  entire  length  of  the 
river,  from  its  source  to  its  mouth,  is  950  miles, 
though  by  a  straight  line  from  Pittsburgh  to  Cairo, 
it  is  only  615  miles.  Its  current  is  very  gentle, 
hardly  three  mUes  per  hour,  the  descent  being  only 
five  inches  per  mile.  At  high  stages,  the  rate  of 
the  current  increases,  and  at  low  stages  decreases. 
Sometimes  it  is  barely  two  miles  per  hour.  The 
average  range  between  high  and  low  water  mark  is 
fifty  feet,  although  several  times  the  river  has  risen 
more  than  sixty  feet  above  low  water  mark.  At 
the  lowest  stage  of  the  river,  it  is  fordable  many 
places  between  Pittsburgh  and  Cincinnati.  The 
river  abounds  in  islands,  some  of  which  are  exceed- 
ingly fertile,  and  noted  in  the  history  of  the  West. 
Others,  known  as  "tow-heads,"  are  simply  deposits 
of  sand. 

The  Scioto  is  one  of  the  largest  inland  streams 
in  the  State,  and  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  riv- 
ers. It  rises  in  Hardin  County,  flows  southeast- 
erly to  Columbus,  where  it  receives  its  largest 
affluent,  the  Olentangy  ©r  Whetstone,  after  which 
its  direction  is  southerly  until  it  enters  the  Ohio  at 
Portsmouth.  It  flows  through  one  of  the  rich- 
est valleys  in  the  State,  and  has  for  its  compan- 
ion the  Ohio  and  Erie  Canal,  for  a  distance  of 
ninety  miles.  Its  tributaries  are,  besides  the  Whet- 
stone, the  Darby,  Walnut  and  Paint  Creeks. 

The  Muskingum  River  is  formed  by  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Tuscarawas  and  Waldhoning  Rivers, 
which  rise  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  and 
unite  at  Coshocton.  From  the  junction,  the  river 
flows  in  a  southeastern  course  about  one  hundred 
miles,  through  a  rich  and  populous  valley,  to  the 
Ohio,  at  Marietta,  the  oldest  settlement  in  the 
State.  At  its  outlet,  the  Muskingum  is  over  two 
hundred  yards  wide.  By  improvements,  it  has 
been  made  navigable  ninety-five  miles  above  Mari- 
etta, as  far  as  Dresden,  where  a  side  cut,  three 
miles  long,  uiites  its  waters  with  those  of  the  Ohio 
Canal.  All  along  this  stream  exist,  in  abundant 
profusion,  the  remains  of  an  ancient  civiliza- 
tion, whose  history  is  lost  in  the  twilight  of  antiq- 
uity. Extensive  mounds,  earthworks  and  various 
fortifications,  are  everywhere  to  be  found,  inclosing 
a  mute  history  as  silent  as  the  race  that  dwelt  here 
and  left  these  traces  of  their  evistence.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  all  the  other  valleys  in  Ohio. 

The  Miami  River — ^the  scenes  of  many  exploits 
in  pioneer  days — rises  in  Hardin  County,  near  the 
headwaters  of  the  Scioto,  and  runs  southwesterly, 
to  the  Ohio,  passing  Troy,  Dayton  and  Hamilton. 
It  is  a  beautiful  and  rapid  stream,  flowing  through 


HISTOEY   or    OHIO. 


13 


a  highly  productive  and  populous  valley,  in  which 
limestone  and  hard  timber  are  abundant.  Its  total 
length  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles. 

The  Maumee  is  the  largest  river  in  the  northern 
part  of  Ohio.  It  rises  in  Indiana  and  flows  north- 
easterly, into  Lake  Erie.  About  eighty  miles  of 
its  course  are  in  Ohio.  It  is  navigable  as  far  as 
Perrysburg,  eighteen  miles  from  its  mouth.  The 
other  rivers  north  of  the  divide  are  all  small, 
rapid-running  streams,  affording  a  large  amount  of 
good  water-power,  much  utilized  by  mills  and  man- 
ufactories. 

A  remarkable  feature  of  the  topography  of 
Ohio  is  its  almost  total  absence  of  natural  lakes  or 
ponds.  A  few  very  small  ones  are  found  near  the 
water-shed,  but  aU  too  small  to  be  of  any  practical 
value  save  as  watering-places  for  stock. 

Lake  Erie,  which  forms  nearly  all  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  State,  is  next  to  the  last  or  lowest 
of  America's  "inland  seas."  It  is  290  miles  long, 
and  57  miles  wide  at  its  greatest  part.  There  are 
no  islands,  except  in  the  shallow  water  at  the  west 
end,  and  very  few  bays.  The  greatest  depth  of 
the  lake  is  off  Long  Point,  where  the  water  is  312 
feet  deep.  The  shores  are  principally  drift-clay  or 
hard-pan,  upon  which  the  waves  are  continually 
encroaching.  At  Cleveland,  from  the  first  sur- 
vey, in  1796,  to  1842,  the  encroachment  was  218 
feet  along  the  entire  city  front.  The  entire  coast 
is  low,  seldom  rising  above  fifty  feet  at  the  water's 
edge. 

Lake  Erie,  like  the  others,  has  a  variable  sur- 
face, rising  and  falling  with  the  seasons,  like  great 
rivers,  called  the  "annual  fluctuation,"  and  a  gen- 
eral one,  embracing  a  series  of  years,  due  to  mete- 
orological causes,  known  as  the  "  secular  fluctua- 
tion." Its  lowest  known  level  was  in  February, 
1819,  rising  more  or  less  each  year,  until  June, 
1838,  in  the  extreme,  to  six  feet  eight  inches. 

Lake  Erie  has  several  excellent  harbors  in  Ohio, 
among  which  are  Cleveland,  Toledo,  Sandusky, 
Port  Clinton  and  Ashtabula.  Valuable  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  some  of  these,  at  the 
expense  of  the  Greneral  Government.  In  1818, 
the  first  steamboat  was  launched  on  the  lake. 
Owing  to  the  Falls  of  Niagara,  it  could  go  no 
farther  east  than  the  outlet  of  Niagara  River. 
Since  then,  however,  the  opening  of  the  Welland 
Canal,  in  Canada,  allows  vessels  drawing  not  more 
than  ten  feet  of  water  to  pass  from  one  lake  to 
the  other,  greatly  facilitating  navigation. 

As  early  as  1836,  Dr.  S.  P.  Hildreth,  Dr.  John 
Locke,  Prof.  J.  H.  Riddle  and  Mr.  I.  A.  Lapham, 


were  appointed  a  committee  by  the  Legislature  of 
Ohio  to  report  the  "  best  method  of  obtaining  a 
complete  geological  survey  of  the  State,  and  an 
estimate  of  the  probable  cost  of  the  same."  In  the 
preparation  of  their  report.  Dr.  Hildreth  examined 
the  coal-measures  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
State,  Prof.  Riddle  and  Mr.  Lapham  made  exam- 
inations in  the  western  and  northern  counties, 
while  Dr.  Locke  devoted  his  attention  to  chemical 
analyses.  These  investigations  resulted  in  the 
presentation  of  much  valuable  information  con- 
cerning the  mineral  resources  of  the  State  and  in 
a  plan  for  a  geological  survey.  In  accordance 
with  the  recommendation  of  this  Committee,  the 
Legislature,  in  1837,  passed  a  bill  appropriating 
$12,000  for  the  prosecution  of  the  work  during 
the  next  year.  The  Geological  Corps  appointed 
consisted  of  W.  W.  Mather,  State  Geologist,  with 
Dr.  Hildreth,  Dr.  Locke,  Prof  J.  P.  Kirtland,  J. 
W.  Foster,  Charles  Whittlesey  and  Charles  Briggs, 
Jr.,  Assistants.  The  results  of  the  first  year's 
work  appeared  in  1838,  in  an  octavo  volume  of  134 
pages,  with  contributions  from  Mather,  Hildreth, 
Briggs,  Kirtland  and  Whittlesey.  In  1838,  the 
Legislature  ordered  the  continuance  of  the  work, 
and,  at  the  close  of  the  year,  a  second  report,  of 
286  pages,  octavo,  was  issued,  containing  contribu- 
tions from  all  the  members  of  the  survey. 

Succeeding  Legislatures  failed  to  provide  for  a 
continuance  of  the  work,  and,  save  that  done  by 
private  means,  nothing  was  accomplished  till 
1869,  when  the  Legislature  again  took  up  the 
work.  In  the  interim,  individual  enterprise  had 
done  much.  In  1841,  Prof.  James  Hall  passed 
through  the  State,  and,  by  his  indentifioation  of 
several  of  the  formations  vrith  those  of  New  York, 
for  the  first  time  fixed  their  geological  age.  The 
next  year,  he  issued  the  first  map  of  the  geology 
of  the  State,  in  common  with  the  geological  maps 
of  all  the  region  between  the  AUeghanies  and  the 
Mississippi.  Similar  maps  were  published  by  Sir 
Charles  Lyell,  in  1845;  Prof.  Edward  Hitchcock, 
in  1853,  and  by  J.  Mareon,  in  1856.  The  first 
individual  map  of  the  geology  of  Ohio  was  a  very 
small  one,  published  by  Col.  Whittlesey,  in  1848, 
in  Howe's  History.  In  1856,  he  published  a 
larger  map,  and,  in  1865,  another  was  issued  by 
Prof.  Nelson  Sayler.  In  1867,  Dr.  J.  S.  Newberry 
published  a  geological  map  and  sketch  of  Ohio  in 
the  Atlas  of  the  State  issued  by  H.  S.  Stebbins. 
Up  to  this  time,  the  geological  knowledge  was  very 
general  in  its  character,  and,  consequently,  errone- 
ous in  many  of  its  details.     Other  States  had  been 


14 


HISTORY   or   OHIO. 


accurately  surveyed,  yet  Oliio  remained  a  kind  of 
terra  incognita,  of  -which  the  geology  was  less 
known  than  any  part  of  the  surrounding  area. 

In  1869,  the  Legislature  appropriated,  for  a  new 
survey,  $13,900  for  its  support  during  one  year, 
and  appointed  Dr.  Newberry  Chief  Geologist ;  E. 
B.  Andrews,  Edward  Orton  and  J.  H.  Klippart 
were  appointed  Assistants,  and  T.  Gr.  "Wormley, 
Chemist.  The  result  of  the  first  year's  work 
was  a  volume  of  164  pages,  octavo,  published  in 
18Y0. 

This  report,  accompanied  by  maps  and  charts, 
for  the  first  time  accurately  defined  the  geological 
formations  as  to  age  and  area.  Evidence  was  given 
which  set  at  rest  questions  of  nearly  thirty  years' 
standing,  and  established  the  fact  that  Ohio  in- 
cludes nearly  double  the  number  of  formations  be- 
fore supposed  to  exist.  Since  that  date,  the  sur- 
veys have  been  regularly  made.  Each  county  is 
being  surveyed  by  itself,  and  its  formation  ac- 
curately determined.  Elsewhere  in  these  pages, 
these  results  are  given,  and  to  them  the  reader  is 
referred  for  the  specific  geology  of  the  county. 
Only  general  results  can  be  noted  here. 

On  the  general  geological  map  of  the  State,  are 
two  sections  of  the  State,  taken  at  each  northern 
and  southern  extremity.  These  show,  with  the 
map,  the  general  outHne  of  the  geological  features 
of  Ohio,  and  are  all  that  can  be  given  here.  Both 
sections  show  the  general  arrangements  of  the 
formation,  and  prove  that  they  lie  in  sheets  resting 
one  upon  another,  but  not  horizontally,  as  a  great 
arch  traverses  the  State  from  Cincinnati  to  the 
lake  shore,  between  Toledo  and  Sandusky.  Along 
this  line,  which  extends  southward  to  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  all  the  rocks  are  raised  in  a  ridge  or  fold, 
once  a  low  mountain  chain.  In  the  lapse  of 
ages,  it  has,  however,  been  extensively  worn 
away,  and  now,  along  a  large  part  of  its  course, 
the  strata  which  once  arched  over  it  are  re- 
moved from  its  summit,  and  are  found  resting  in 
regular  order  on  either  side,  dipping  away  from  its 
axis.  Where  the  ridge  was  highest,  the  erosion 
has  been  greatest,  that  being  the  reason  why  the 
oldest  rocks  are  exposed  in  the  region  about  Cin- 
cinnati. By  following  the  line  of  this  great  arch 
from  Cincinnati  northward,  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
Helderberg  limestone  (No.  4),  midway  of  the  State, 
is  still  unbroken,  and  stretches  from  side  to  side ; 
while  the  Oriskany,  the  Comiferous,  the  Hamilton 
and  the  Huron  formations,  though  generally  re- 
moved from  the  crown  of  the  arch,  still  remain 
over  a  limited  area  near  Bellefontaine,  where  they 


form  an  island,  which  proves  the  former  continuity 
of  the  strata  which  compose  it. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  great  anticlinal  axis,  the 
rocks  dip  down  into  a  basin,  which,  for  several 
hundred  mUes  north  and  south,  occupies  the  inter- 
val between  the  Nashville  and  Cincinnati  ridge  and 
the  first  fold  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  In 
this  basin,  all  the  strata  form  trough-like  layers, 
their  edges  outcropping  eastward  on  the  flanks 
of  the  Alleghanies,  and  westward  along  the  anti- 
clinal axis.  As  they  dip  from  this  margin  east- 
ward toward  the  center  of  the  trough,  near  its 
middle,  on  the  eastern  border  of  the  State,  the 
older  rocks  are  deeply  buried,  and  the  surface  is 
here  underlaid  by  the  highest  and  most  recent  of 
our  rock  formations,  the  coal  measures.  In  the 
northwestern  corner  of  the  State,  the  strata  dip 
northwest  from  the  antichnal  and  pass  under  the 
Michigan  coal  basin,  precisely  as  the  same  forma- 
tions east  of  the  anticlinal  dip  beneath  the  Alle- 
ghany coal-field,  of  which  Ohio's  coal  area  forms  a 
part. 

The  rocks  underlying  the  State  all  belong  to 
three  of  the  great  groups  which  geologists  have 
termed  "  systems,"  namely,  the  Silurian,  Devonian 
and  Carboniferous.  Each  of  these  are  again  sub- 
divided, for  convenience,  and  numbered.  Thug 
the  .Silurian  system  includes  the  Cincinnati  group, 
the  Medina  and  Clinton  groups,  the  Niagara 
group,  and  the  Salina  and  Water-Line  groups. 
The  Devonian  system  includes  the  Oriskany  sand- 
stone, the  Carboniferous  limestone,  the  Hamilton 
group,  the  Huron  shale  and  the  Erie  shales.  The 
Carboniferous  system  includes  the  Waverly  group, 
the  Carboniferous  Conglomerate,  the  Coal  Meas- 
ures and  the  Drift.  This  last  includes  the  surface, 
and  has  been  divided  into  six  parts,  numbering 
from  the  lowest,  viz.:  A  glacialed  surface,  the  Gla- 
cial Drift,  the  Erie  Clays,  the  Forest  Bed,  the  Ice- 
berg Drift  and  the  Terraces  or  Beaches,  which 
mark  intervals  of  stability  in  the  gradual  recession 
of  the  water  surface  to  its  present  level. 
_  "  The  history  we  may  learn  from  these  forma- 
tions," says  the  geologist,  "  is  something  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  First.  Subsequent  to  the  Tertiary  was  a  period 
of  continual  elevation,  during  which  the  topog- 
raphy of  the  country  was  much  the  same  as  now, 
the  draining  streams  following  the  lines  they  now 
do,  but  cutting  down  their  beds  until  they  flowed 
sometimes  two  hundred  feet  lower  than  they  do  at 
present.  In  the  latter  part  of  this  period  of  ele- 
vation,  glaciers,   descending  from   the   Canadian 


9  ly 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


15 


islands,  excavated  and  occupied  the  valleys  of  the 
great  lakes,  and  covered  the  lowlands  down  nearly 
to  the  Ohio. 

'^Second.  By  a  depression  of  the  land  and  ele- 
vation of  temperature,  the  glaciers  retreated  north- 
ward, leaving,  in  the  interior  of  the  continent,  a 
great  basin  of  fresh  water,  in  which  the  Erie  clays 
were  deposited. 

"  Third.  This  water  was  drained  away  until  a 
broad  land  surface  was  exposed  within  the  drift 
area.  Upon  this  surface  grew  forests,  largely  of 
red  and  white  cedar,  inhabited  by  the  elephant, 
mastodon,  giant  beaver  and  other  large,  now  ex- 
tinct, animals. 

"Fourth.  The  submergence  of  this  ancient  land 
and  the  spreading  over  it,  by  iceberg  agency,  of 
gravel,  sand  and  bowlders,  distributed  just  as  ice- 
bergs now  spread  their  loads  broadcast  over  the 
sea  bottom  on  the  banks  of  Newfoundland. 

"Fifth.  The  gradual  draining-oiF  of  the  waters, 
leaving  the  land  now  as  we  find  it,  smoothly  cov- 
ered with  all  the  layers  of  the  drift,  and  well  pre- 
pared for  human  occupation." 

"  In  sis  days,  the  Lord  made  the  heavens  and 
the  earth,  and  rested  the  seventh  day,"  records  the 
Scriptures,  and,  when  all  was  done.  He  looked 
upon  the  work  of  His  own  hands  and  pronounced 
it  "  good."  Surely  none  but  a  divine,  omnipotent 
hand  could  have  done  all  this,  and  none  can  study 
the  "work  of  His  hands"  and  not  marvel  at  its 
completeness. 

The  ancient  dwellers  of  the  Mississippi  Valley 
will  always  be  a  subject  of  great  interest  to  the 
antiquarian.  Who  they  were,  and  whence  they 
came,  are  still  unanswered  questions,  and  may 
remain  so  for  ages.  All  over  this  valley,  and, 
in  fact,  in  all  parts  of  the  New  World,  evidences 
of  an  ancient  civilization  exist,  whose  remains  are 
now  a  wonder  to  all.  The  aboriginal  races  could 
throw  no  light  on  these  questions.  They  had 
always  seen  the  remains,  and  knew  not  whence 
they  came.  Explorations  aid  but  little  in  the  solu- 
tion of  the  problem,  and  only  conjecture  can  be 
entertained.  The  remains  found  in  Ohio  equal 
any  in  the  Valley.  Indeed,  some  of  them  are  vast 
in  extent,  and  consist  of  forts,  fortifications,  moats, 
ditches,  elevations  and  mounds,  embracing  many 
acres  in  extent. 

"It  is  not  yet  determined,"  says  Col.  Charles 
Whittlesey,  "  whether  we  have  discovered  the  first 
or  the  original  people  who  occupied  the  soil  of 
Ohio.  Modern  investigations  are  bringing  to  light 
evidences  of  earlier  races.     Since  the  presence  of 


man  has  been  established  in  Europe  as  a  cotempor- 
ary  of  the  fossil  elephant,  mastodon,  rhinoceros 
and  the  horse,  of  the  later  drift  or  glacial  period, 
we  may  reasonably  anticipate  the  presence  of  man 
in  America  in  that  era.  Such  proofs  are  already 
known,  but  they  are  not  of  that  conclusive  charac- 
ter which  amounts  to  .a  demonstration.  It  is,  how- 
ever, known  that  an  ancient  people  inhabited  Ohio 
in  advance  of  the  red  men  who  were  found  here, 
three  centuries  since,  by  the  Spanish  and  French 
explorers. 

"  Five  and  six  hundred  years  before  the  arrival 
of  Columbus,"  says  Col.  Charles  Whittlesey,  "the 
Northmen  sailed  from  Norway,  Iceland  and  Green- 
land along  the  Atlantic  coast  as  far  as  Long  Island. 
They  found  Indian  tribes,  in  what  is  now  New  En- 
gland, closely  resembling  those  who  lived  upon  the 
coast  and  the  St.  Lawrence  when  the  French  and 
English  came  to  possess  these  regions. 

"  These  red  Indians  had  no  traditions  of  a  prior 
people ;  but  over  a  large  part  of  the  lake  country 
and  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi,  earth-works, 
mounds,  pyramids,  ditches  and  forts  were  discov- 
ered— the  work  of  a  more  ancient  race,  and  a  peo- 
ple far  in  advance  of  the  Indian.  If  they  were 
not  civilized,  they  were  not  barbarians.  They 
were  not  mere  hunters,  but  had  fixed  habitations, 
cultivated  the  soil  and  were  possessed  of  consider- 
able mechanical  skill.  We  know  them  as  the 
Mound-Builders,  because  they  erected  over  the 
mortal  remains  of  their  principal  men  and  women 
memorial  mounds  of  earth  or  unhewn  stone — of 
which  hundreds  remain  to  our  own  day,  so  large 
and  high  that  they  give  rise  to  an  impression  of 
the  numbers  and  energy  of  their  builders,  such  as 
we  receive  from  the  pyramids  of  Egypt." 

Might  they  not  have  been  of  the  same  race  and 
the  same  civilization  ?  Many  competent  authori- 
ties conjecture  they  are  the  work  of  the  lost  tribes 
of  Israel ;  but.  the  best  they  or  any  one  can  do  is 
only  conjecture. 

"  In  the  burial-mounds,"  continues  Col.  Whit^ 
tlesey,  "  there  are  always  portions  of  one  or  more 
human  skeletons,  generally  partly  consumed  by 
fire,  with  ornaments  of  stone,  bone,  shells,  mica 
and  copper.  The  largest  mound  in  Ohio  is  near 
Miamisburg,  Montgomery  County.  It  is  the 
second  largest  in  the  West,  being  nearly  seventy 
feet  high,  originally,  and  about  eight  hundred  feet 
in  circumference.  This  would  give  a  superficial 
area  of  nearly  four  acres.  In  1864,  the  citizens 
of  Miamisburg  sunk  a  shaft  from  the  summit  to 
the   natural   surface,   without   finding  the  bones 


16 


HISTORY   or    OHIO. 


or  ashes  of  the  great  man  for  whom  it  was 
intended.  The  exploration  has  considerably 
lowered  the  mound,  it  being  now  about  sixty  feet 
in  height. 

"  Port  Ancient,  on  the  Little  Miami,  is  a  good 
specimen  of  the  military  defenses  of  the  Mound- 
Builders.  It  is  well  located  on  a  long,  high,  nar- 
row, precipitous  ridge.  The  parapets  are  now 
from  ten  to  eighteen  feet  high,  and  its  perimeter 
is  sufficient  to  hold  twenty  thousand  fighting  men. 
Anothel"  prominent  example  of  their  works  exists 
near  Newark,  Licking  County.  This  collection 
presents  a  great  variety  of  figures,  circles,  rectan- 
gles, octagons  and  parallel  banks,  or  highw;ays, 
covering  more  than  a  thousand  acres.  The  county 
fair-ground  is  permanently  located  within  an 
ancient  circle,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  diameter, 
with  an  embankment  and  interior  ditch.  Its  high- 
est place  was  over  twenty  feet  from  the  top  of  the 
moat  to  the  bottom  of  the  ditch." 

One  of  the  most  curious-shaped  works  in  this 
county  is  known  as  the  "Alligator,"  from  its  sup- 
posed resemblance  to  that  creature.  When  meas- 
ured, several  years  ago,  while  in  a  good  state  of 
preservation,  its  dimensions  were  two  hundred 
and  ten  feet  in  length,  average  width  over  sixty 
feet,  and  height,  at  the  highest  point,  seven  feet. 
It  appears  to  be  mainly  composed  of  clay,  and  is 
overgrown  with  grass. 

Speaking  of  the  writing  of  these  people.  Col. 
Whittlesey  says  :  "  There  is  no  evidence  that  they 
had  alphabetical  characters,  picture-writing  or 
hieroglyphics,  though  they  must  have  had  some 
mode  of  recording  events.  Neither  is  there  any  proof 
that  they  used  domestic  animals  for  tilling  the  soil, 
or  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  the  imposing  earth- 
works they  have  left.  '  A  very  coarse  cloth  of 
hemp,  flax  or  nettles  has  been  found  on  their 
burial-hearths  and  around  skeletons  not  consumed 
by  fire. 

"  The  most  extensive  earthworks  occupy  many 
of  the  sites  of  modern  towns,  and  are  always  in 
the  vicinity  of  excellent  land.  Those  about  the 
lakes  are  generally  irregular  earth  forts,  while 
those  about  the  rivers  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
State  are  generally  altars,  pyramids,  circles,  cones 
and  rectangles  of  earth,  among  which  fortresses  or 
strongholds  are  exceptions. 

"  Those  on  the  north  may  not  have  been  cotem- 
porary  or  have  been  built  by  the  same  people. 
They  are  far  less  prominent  or  extensive,  which 
indicates  a  people  less  in  numbers  as  well  as  indus- 
try, and  whose  principal  occupation  was  war  among 


themselves  or  against  their  neighbors.  This  style 
of  works  extends  eastward  along  the  south  shore 
of  Lake  Ontario,  through  New  York.  In  Ohio, 
there  is  a  space  along  the  water-shed,  between  the 
lake  and  the  Ohio,  where  there  are  few,  if  any, 
ancient  earthworks.  It  appears  to  have  been  a 
vacant  or  neutral  ground  between  different  nations. 

"  The  Indians  of 'the  North,  dressed  in  skins, 
cultivated  the  soil  very  sparingly,  and  manufactured 
no  woven  cloth.  On  Lake  Superior,  there  are 
ancient  copper  mines  wrought  by  the  Mound- 
Builders  over  fifteen  hundred  years  ago."  Copper 
tools  are  occasionally  found  tempered  sufficiently 
hard  to  cut  the  hardest  rooks.  No  knowledge  of 
such  tempering  exists  now.  The  Indians  can  give 
no  more  knowledge  of  the  ancient  mines  than  they 
can  of  the  mounds  on  the  river  bottoms. 

"  The  Indians  did  not  occupy  the  ancient  earth- 
works, nor  did  they  construct  such.  They  were 
found  as  they  are  now — a  hunter  race,  wholly 
averse  to  labor.  Their  abodes  were  in  rock  shel- 
ters, in  caves,  or  in  temporary  sheds  of  bark  and 
boughs,  or  skins,  easily  moved  from  place  to  place. 
Like  most  savage  races,  their  habits  are  unchange- 
able; at  least,  the  example  of  white  men,  and 
their  efibrts  during  three  centuries,  have  made 
little,  if  any,  impression." 

When  white  men  came  to  the  territory  now  em- 
braced in  the  State  of  Ohio,  they  found  dwelling 
here  the  Iroquois,  Delawares,  Shawanees,  Miamis, 
Wyandots  and  Ottawas.  Each  nation  was  com- 
posed of  several  tribes  or  clans,  and  each  was 
often  at  war  with  the  others.  The  first  mentioned 
of  these  occupied  that  part  of  the  State  whose 
northern  boundary  was  Lake  Erie,  as  far  west  as 
the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga  River,  where  the  city 
of  Cleveland  now  is ;  thence  the  boundary  turned 
Southward  in  an  irregular  line,  until  it  touched  the 
Ohio  River,  up  which  stream  it  continued  to  the 
Pennsylvania  State  line,  and  thence  northward  to 
the  lake.  This  nation  were  the  implacable  foes  of 
the  French,  owing  to  the  fact  that  Champlain,  in 
1609,  made  war  against  them.  They  occupied  a 
large  part  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and 
were  the  most  insatiate  conquerors  among  the 
aborigines.  When  the  French  first  came,  to  the 
lakes,  these  monsters  of  the  wilderness  were  engaged 
in  a  war  against  their  neighbors,  a  war  that  ended 
in  their  conquering  them,  possessing  their  terri- 
tory, and  absorbing  the  remnants  of  the  tribes  into 
their  own  nation.  At  the  date  of  Champlain's 
visit,  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie  was  occupied 
by  the  Eries,  or,  as  the  orthography  of  the  word  is 


:v 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


17 


sometimes  given,  Erigos,  or  Errienous.*  About 
forty  years  afterward,  the  Iroquois  (Five  Nations) 
fell  upon  them  with  such  fury  and  in  such  force 
that  the  nation  was  annihilated.  Those  who 
escaped  the  slaughter  were  absorbed  among  their 
conquerors,  but  allowed  to  live  on  their  own  lands, 
paying  a  sort  of  tribute  to  the  Iroquois.  This  was 
the  policy  of  that  nation  in  all  its  conquests.  A 
few  years  after  the  conquest  of  the  Eries,  the 
Iroquois  again  took  to. the  war-path,  and  swept 
through  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  even  attacking 
the  Mississippi  tribes.  But  for  the  intervention 
and  aid  of  the  French,  these  tribes  would  have 
shared  the  fate  of  the  Hurons  and  Eries.  Until 
the  year  1700,  the  Iroquois  held  the  south  shore 
of  Lake  Erie  so  firmly  that  the  French  dared  not 
trade  or  travel  along  that  side  of  the  lake.  Their 
missionaries  and  traders  penetrated  this  part  of 
Ohio  as  early  as  1650,  but  generally  suffered 
death  for  their  zeal. 

Having  completed  the  conquest  of  the  Hurons 
or  Wyandots,  about  Lake  Huron,  and  murdered 
the  Jesuit  missionaries  by  modes  of  torture  which 
only  they  could  devise,  they  permitted  the  residue 
of  the  Hurons  to  settle  around  the  west  end  of 
Lake  Erie.  Here,  with  the  Ottawas,  they  resided 
whey  the  whites  came  to  the  State.  Their  country 
was  bounded  on  the  south  by  a  line  running 
through  the  central  part  of  Wayne,  Ashland, 
Richland,  Crawford  and  Wyandot  Counties.  At 
the  western  boundary  of  this  county,  the  line  di- 
verged northwesterly,  leaving  the  State  near  the 
northwest  corner  of  Fulton  County.  Their  north- 
ern boundary  was  the  lake ;  the  eastern,  the  Iro- 
quois. 

The  Delawares,  or  "  Lenni  Lenapes,"  whom  the 
Iroquois  had  subjugated  on  the  Susquehanna,  were 
assigned  by  their  conquerors  hunting-grounds  on 
the  Muskingum.  Their  eastern  boundary  was  the 
country  of  the  Iroquois  (before  defined),  and  their 
northern,  that  of  the  Hurons.     On  the  west,  they 

*  Father  Louis  Hennepin,  in  his  work  published  in  1684,  thus 
alludes  to  the  Eries:  -'These  good  fathers,"  referring  to  the 
priests,  "  were  great  friends  of  the  Hurons,  who  told  them  that  the 
Iroquois  went  to  war  beyond  Virginia,  or  New  Sweden,  near  a  lake 
which  they  called  ^Erige,^  or  'JErie,'  which  signifies  ^the  cat*  or 
'  nation  of  the  cat^''  and.  because  these  savages  brought  captives  from 
this  nation  in  returning  to  their  cantons  along  this  lake,  the 
Hurons  named  it,  in  their  language,  *  Edge,'  or  '  Erihe,*  '  (fee  lalie  of 
,  the  cat,*  and  which  our  Canadians,  in  softening  the  word,  have 
called  '  Lake  Erie.'  " 

Charlevoix,  writing  in  1721,  says:  "The  name  it  brars  is  that 
of  an  Indian  nation  of  the  Huron  (Wyandot)  language,  which  was 
formerly  seated  on  its  banks,  and  who  have  been  entirely  destroyed 
by  the  Iroquois,  Erie,  in  that  language,  signifies  *  caf,'  and,  in 
some  acounts,  this  nation  is  called  the  '  cat  nation.*  This  name, 
probably,  comes  from  the  large  numbers  of  that  animal  found  in 
this  region." 


extended  as  far  as  a  line  drawn  from  the  central 
part  of  Richland  County,  in  a  semi-circular  direc- 
tion, south  to  the  mouth  of  Leading  Creek.  Their 
southern  boundary  was  the  Ohio  River. 

West  of  the  Delawares,  dwelt  the  Shawanees,  a 
troublesome  people  as  neighbors,  whether  to  whites 
or  Indians.  Their  country  was  bounded  on  the 
north  by  the  Hurons,  on  the  east,  by  the  Dela- 
wares ;  on  the  south,  by  the  Ohio  River.  On  the 
west,  their  boundary  was  determined  by  a  line 
drawn  southwesterly,  and  again  southeasterly — 
semi-circular — from  a  point  on  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  Hurons,  near  the  southwest  corner 
of  Wyandot  County,  till  it  intersected  the  Ohio 
River. 

All  the  remainder  of  the  State — all  its  western 
part  from  the  Ohio  River  to  the  Michigan  line — 
was  occupied  by  the  Miamis,  Mineamis,  Twigtwees, 
or  Tawixtawes,  a  powerful  nation,  whom  the  Iro- 
quois were  never  fully  able  to  subdue. 

These  nations  occupied  the  State,  partly  by  per- 
mit of  the  Five  Nations,  and  partly  by  inheritance, 
and,  though  composed  of  many  tribes,  were  about 
all  the  savages  to  be  found  in  this  part  of  the 
Northwest. 

No  sooner  had  the  Americans  obtained  control 
of  this  country,  than  they  began,  by  treaty  and 
purchase,  to  acquire  the  lands  of  the  natives. 
They  could  not  stem  the  tide  of  emigration ;  peo- 
ple, then  as  now,  would  go  West,  and  hence  the 
necessity  of  peaceiuUy  and  rightfully  acquiring  the 
land.  "  The  true  basis  of  title  to  Indian  territory 
is  the  right  of  civilized  men  to  the  soil  for  pur- 
poses of  cultivation."  The  S3,me  maxim  may  be 
applied  to  all  uncivilized  nations.  When  acquired 
by  such  a  right,  either  by  treaty,  purchase  or  con- 
quest, the  right  to  hold  the  same  rests  with  the 
power  and  development  of  the  nation  thus  possess- 
ing the  land.  ' 

The  English  derived  title  to  the  territory 
between  the  Alleghanies  and  the  Mississippi  partly 
by  the  claim  that,  in  discovering  the  Atlantic  coast, 
they  had  possession  of  the  land  from  "ocean  to 
ocean,"  and  partly  by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1763.  Long  before  this  treaty  took  place, 
however,  she  had  granted,  to  individuals  and  colo- 
nies, extensive  tracts  of  land  in  that  part  of  Amer- 
ica, based  on  the  right  of  discovery.  The  French 
had  done  better,  and  had  acquired  title  to  the  land 
by  discovering  the  land  itself  and  by  consent  of 
the  Indians  dwelling  thereon.  The  right  to  pos- 
sess this  country  led  to  the  French  and  Indian 
war,  ending  in  the  supremacy  of  the  English. 


18 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


The  Five  Nations  claimed  the  territory  in  ques- 
tion by  right  of  conquest,  and,  though  professing 
friendship  to  the  English,  watched  them  with  jeal- 
ous eyes.  In  1684,  and  again  in  1726,  that  con- 
federacy made  cessions  of  lands  to  the  English, 
and  these  treaties  and  cessions  of  lands  were  re- 
garded as  sufficient  title  by  the  English,  and  were 
insisted  on  in  all  subsequent  treaties  with  the 
Western  Nations.  The  following  statements  were 
collected  by  Col.  Charles  Whittlesey,  which 
show  the  principal  treaties  made  with  the  red  men 
wherein  land  in  Ohio  was  ceded  by  them  to  the 
whites : 

In  September,  1726,  the  Iroquois,  or  Six  Na- 
tions, at  Albany,  ceded  all  their  claims  west  of 
Lake  Erie  and  sixty  miles  in  width  along  the 
south  shore  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  from  the 
Cuyahoga  to  the  Oswego  River. 

In  1744,  this  same  nation  made  a  treaty  at 
Lancaster,  Penn.,  and  ceded  to  the  English  all 
their  lands  "that  may  be  within  the  colony  of 
Virginia." 

In  1752,  this  nation  and  other  Western  tribes 
made  a  treaty  at  Logstown,  Penn.,  wherein  they 
confirmed  the  Lancaster  treaty  and  consented  to 
the  settlements  south  of  the  Ohio  River. 

February  13,  1763,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Paris, 
France,  between  the  French  and  English,  when 
Canada  and  the  eastern  half  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  were  ceded  to  the  English. 

In  1783,  all  the  territory  south  of  the  Lakes, 
and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  was  ceded  by  England 
to  America — the  latter  country  then  obtaining  its 
independence—by  »which  means  the  country  was 
gained  by  America. 

October  24,  1784,  the  Six  Nations  made  a 
treaty,  at  Fort  Stanwix,  N.  Y.,  with  the  Ameri- 
cans, and  ceded  to  them  all  the  country  claimed 
by  the  tribe,  west  of  Pennsylvania. 

In  1785,  the  Chippewas,  Delawares,  Ottawas, 
and  Wyandots  ceded  to  the  United  States,  at 
Fort  Mcintosh,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Beaver, 
all  their  claims  east  and  south  of  the  "  Cayahaga," 
the  Portage  Path,  and  the  Tuscarawas,  to  Fort 
Laurens  (Bolivar),  thence  to  Loramie's  Fort  (in 
Shelby  County) ;  thence  along  the  Portage  Path  to 
the  St.  Mary's  River  and  down  it  to  the  "  Omee," 
or  Maumee,  and  along  the  lake  shore  to  the 
"Cayahaga." 

January  3,  1786,  the  Shawanees,  at  Fort  Fin- 
ney, near  the  mouth  ;of  the  Great  Miami  (not 
owning  the  land  on  the  Scioto  occupied  by  them), 
were  allotted  a  tract   at   the  heads  of  the  two 


Miamis  and  the  Wabash,  west  of  the  Chippewas, 
Delawares  and  Wyandots. 

February  9,  1789,  the  Iroquois  made  a  treaty 
at  Fort  Harmar,  wherein  they  confirmed  the  Fort 
Stanwix  treaty.  At  the  same  time,  the  Chi]ppewas, 
Ottawas,  Delawares,  and  Wyandots — to  which  the 
Sauks  and  Pottawatomies  assented — confirmed  the 
treaty  made  at  Fort  Mcintosh. 

Period  of  war  now  existed  till  1795. 

August  3,  1795,  Gen.  Anthony  Wayne,  on 
behalf  of  the  United  States,  made  a  treaty  with 
twelve  tribes,  confirming  the  boundaries  estab- 
lished by  the  Fort  Harmar  and  Fort  Mcintosh 
treaties,  and  extended  the  boundary  to  Fort  Re- 
covery and  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River. 

In  June,  1796,  the  Senecas,  represented  by 
Brant,  ceded  to  the  Connecticut  Land  Company 
their  rights  east  of  the  Cuyahoga. 

In  1805,  at  Fort  Industry,  on  the  Maumee,  the 
Wyandots,  Delawares,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Shawa- 
nees, Menses,  and  Pottawatomies  relinquished  all 
their  lands  west  of  the  Cuyahoga,  as  far  west  as 
the  western  line  of  the  Reserve,  and  south  of  the 
line  from  Fort  Laurens  to  Loramie's  Fort. 

July  4,  1807,  the  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Wyan- 
dots, and  Pottawatomies,  at  Detroit,  ceded  all  that 
part  of  Ohio  north  of  the  Maumee  River,  with 
part  of  Michigan. 

November  25,  1808,  the  same  tribes  with  the 
Shawanees,  at  Brownstown,  Mich.,  granted  the 
Government  a  tract  of  land  two  miles  wide,  from 
the  west  line  of  the  Reserve  to  the  rapids  of  the 
Maumee,  for  the  purpose  of  a  road  through  the 
Black  Swamp. 

September  18,  1815,  at  Springwells,  near  De- 
troit, the  Chippewas,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies,  Wy- 
andots, Delawares,  Senecas  and  Miamis,  having 
been  engaged  in  the  war  of  1812  on  the  British 
side,  were  confined  in  the  grants  made  at  Fort 
Mcintosh  and  Greenville  in  1785  and  1795. 

September  29,  1817,  at  the  rapids  of  the 
Maumee,  the  Wyandots  ceded  their  lands  west  of 
the  line  of  1805,  as  far  as  Loramie's  and  the  St. 
Mary's  River  and  north  of  the  Maumee.  The 
Pottawatomies,  Chippewas,  and  Ottawas  ceded  the 
territory  west  of  the  Detroit  line  of  1807,  and 
north  of  the  Maumee. 

October  6,  1818,  the  Miamis,  at  St.  Mary's, 
made  a  treaty  in  which  they  surrendered  the  re- 
maining Indian  territory  in  Ohio,  north  of  the 
Greenville  treaty  line  and  west  of  St.  Mary's  River. 

The  numerous  treaties  of  peace  with  the  West- 
ern Indians  for  the  delivery  of  prisoners  were — 


V 


HISTOKY  OF   OHIO. 


19 


one  by  Gen.  Forbes,  at  Fort  Du  Quesne  (Pitts- 
burgh), in  1758  ;  one  by  Col.  Bradstreet,  at  Erie, 
in  August,  1764;  one  by  Col.  Boquet,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Walhonding,  in  November,  1764 ; 
in  May,  1765,  at  Johnson's,  on  the  Mohawk,  and 
at  Philadelphia,  the  same  year ;  in  1774,  by  Lord 
Dunmore,  at  Camp  Charlotte,  Pickaway  County. 
By  the  treaty  at  the  Maumee  Rapids,  in  1817, 
reservations  were  conveyed  by  the  United  States 
to  all  the  tribes,  with  a  view  to  induce  them  to 
cultivate  the  soil  and  cease  to  be  hunters.  These 
were,  from  time  to  time,  as  the  impracticability  of 
the  plan  became  manifest,  purchased  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, the  last  of  these  being  the  Wyandot 
Reserve,  of  twelve  miles  square,  around  Upper 
Sandusky,  in  1842,  closing  out  all  claims  and  com- 
posing all  the  Indian  difficulties  in  Ohio.  The 
open  war  had  ceased  in  1815,  with  the  treaty  of 
Ghent. 

"  It  is  estimated  that,  from  the  French  war  of 
1754  to  the  battle  of  the  Maumee  Rapids,  in 
1794,  a  period  of  forty  years,  there  had  been  at 
least  5,000  people  killed  or  captured  west  of  the 


Alleghany  Mountains.  Eleven  organized  military 
expeditions  had  been  carried  on  against  the  West- 
ern Indians  prior  to  the  war  of  1812,  seven  regu- 
lar engagements  fought  and  about  twelve  hundred 
men  killed.  More  whites  were  slain  in  battle  than 
there  were  Indian  braves  killed  in  military  expedi- 
tions, and  by  private  raids  and  murders ;  yet,  in 
1811,  all  the  Ohio  tribes  combined  could  not  mus- 
ter 2,000  warriors." 

Attempts  to  determine  the  number  of  persons 
comprising  the  Indian  tribes  in  Ohio,  and  their 
location,  have  resulted  in  nothing  better  than 
estimates.  It  is  supposed  that,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Revolution,  there  were  about  six 
thousand  Indians  in  the  present  confines  of  the 
State,  but  their  villages  were  little  more  than 
movable  camps.  Savage  men,  like  savage  beasts, 
are  engaged  in  continual  migrations.  Now,  none 
are  left.  The  white  man  occupies  the  home  of 
the  red  man.     Now 

"  The  verdant  hilla 
Are  covered  o'er  with  growing  grain, 
And  white  men  till  the  soil, 
Where  once  the  red  man  used  to  reign." 


CHAPTER    II. 

EARLY  EXPLORATIONS  IN  THE  WEST. 


WHEN  war,  when  ambition,  when  avarice 
fail,  religion  pushes  onward  and  succeeds. 
In  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  wherever 
man's  aggrandizement  was  the  paramount  aim, 
failure  was  sure  to  follow.  When  this  gave  way, 
the  followers  of  the  Cross,  whether  Catholic  or 
Protestant,  came  on  the  field,  and  the  result  before 
attempted  soon  appeared,  though  in  a  different  way 
and  through  difierent  means  than  those  supposed. 
The  first  permanent  efibrts  of  the  white  race  to 
penetrate  the  Western  wilds  of  the  New  World 
preceded  any  permanent  English  settlement  north 
of  the  Potomac.  Years  before  the  Pilgrims 
anchored  their  bark  on  the  cheerless  shores  of  Cape 
Cod,  "the  Roman  Catholic  Church  had  been  plant- 
ed by  missionaries  from  France  in  the  Eastern 
moiety  of  Maine;  and  LeCaron,  an  ambitious 
Franciscan^the  companion  of  Champlain,had  passed 
.  into  the  hunting-grounds  of  the  Wyandots,  and, 
bound  by  the  vows  of  his  life,  had,  on  foot  or  pad- 
dling a  bark  canoe,  gone  onward,  taking  alms  of  the 
until    he  reached  the    rivers    of   Lake 


Huron."  This  was  in  1615  or  1616,  and  only 
eight  years  after  Champlain  had  sailed  up  the  wa- 
ters of  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  on  the  foot  of  a  bold 
cliif  laid  the  foundation  of  the  present  City  of 
Quebec.  From  this  place,  founded  to  hold  the 
country,  and  to  perpetuate  the  religion  of  his  King, 
went  forth  those  emissaries  of  the  Cross,  whose  zeal 
has  been  the  admiration  of  the  world.  The  French 
Colony  in  Canada  was  suppressed  soon  after  its  es- 
tablishment, and  for  five  years,  until  1622,  its  im- 
munities were  enjoyed  by  the  colonists.  A  grant 
of  New  France,  as  the  country  was  then  known,  was 
made  by  Louis  XIII  to  Richelieu,  Champlain, 
Razilly  and  others,  who,  immediately  after  the  res- 
toration of  Quebec  by  its  English  conquerors,  entered 
Upon  the  control  and  government  of  their  province. 
Its  limits  embraced  the  whole  basin  of  the.  St. 
Lawrence  and  of  such  other  rivers  in  New  France 
as  flowed  directly  into  the  sea.  While  away  to 
the  south  on  the  Gulf  coast,  was  also  included  a 
country  rich  in  foliage  and  claimed  in  virtue  of 
the  unsuccessful  efforts  of  Coligny. 


20 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


Religious  zeal  as  much  as  commercial  prosperity 
had  influenced  France  to  obtain  and  retain  the  de- 
pendency of  Canada.  The  commercial  monopoly 
of  a  privileged  company  could  not  foster  a 
colony ;  the  climate  was  too  vigorous  for  agricult- 
ure, and,  at  first  there  was  little  else  except  relig- 
ious enthusiasm  to  give  vitality  to  the  province. 
Champlain  had  been  touched  by  the  simphoity  of 
the  Order  of  St.  Francis,  and  had  selected  its  priests 
to  aid  him  in  his  work.  But  another  order,  more 
in  favor  at  the  Court,  was  interested,  and  succeed- 
ed in  excluding  the  mendicant  order  from  the  New 
"World,  established  themselves  in  the  new  domain 
and,  by  thus  enlarging  the  borders  of  the  French 
King,  it  became  entrusted  to  the  Jesuits. 

This  "Society  of  Jesus,"  founded  by  Loyola 
when  Calvin's  Institutes  first  saw  the  light,  saw  an 
unequaled  opportunity  in  the  conversion  of  the 
heathen  in  the  Western  wilds ;  and,  as  its  mem- 
bers, pledged  to  obtain  power  only  by  infiuence  of 
mind  over  mind,  sought  the  honors  of  opening  the 
way,  there  was  no  lack  of  men  ready  for  the  work. 
Through  them,  the  motive  power  in  opening  the 
wilds  of  the  Northwest  was  religion.  "  Religious 
enthusiasm,"  says  Bancroft,  "colonized  New  Eng- 
land, and  religious  enthusiasm  founded  Montreal, 
made  a  conquest  of  the  wilderness  about  the  upper 
lakes,  and  explored  the  Mississippi." 

Through  these  priests — increased  in  a  few  years 
to  fifteen — a  way  was  made  across  the  West  from 
Quebec,  above  the  regions  of  the  lakes,  below 
which  they  dared  not  go  for  the  relentless  Mohawks. 
To  the  northwest  of  Toronto,  near  the  Lake  Iro- 
quois, a  bay  of  Lake  Huron,  in  September,  1634, 
they  raised  the  first  humble  house  of  the  Society  of 
Jesus  among  the  Hurons.  Through  them  they 
learned  of  the  great  lakes  beyond,  and  resolved 
one  day  to  explore  them  and  carry  the  Gospel  of 
peace  to  the  heathen  on  their  shores.  Before  this 
could  be  done,  many  of  them  were  called  upon  to 
give  up  their  lives  at  the  martyr's  stake  and  re- 
ceive a  martyr's  crown.  But  one  by  one  they 
went  on  in  their  good  work.  If  one  fell  by  hun- 
ger, cold,  cruelty,  or  a  terrible  death,  others  stood 
ready,  and  carrying  their  lives  in  their  hands, 
established  other  missions  about  the  eastern  shores 
of  Lake  Huron  and  its  adjacent  waters.  The 
Five.  Nations  were  for  many  years  hostile  toward 
the  French  and  murdered  them  and  their  red 
allies  whenever  opportunity  presented.  For  a 
quarter  of  century,  they  retarded  the  advance  of 
the  missionaries,  and  then  only  after  wearied  with 
a  long  struggle,  in  which  they  began  to  see  their 


power  declining,  did  they  relinquish  their  warlike 
propensities,  and  allow  the  Jesuits  entrance  to  their 
country.  While  this  was  going  on,  the  traders 
and  Jesuits  had  penetrated  farther,  and  farther 
westward,  until,  when  peace  was  declared,  they 
had  seen  the  southwestern  shores  of  Lake  Superior 
and  the  northern  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  called 
by  them  Lake  Illinois.*  In  August,  1654,  two 
young  adventurers  penetrated  the  wilds  bordering 
on  these  western  lakes  in  company  with  a  band  of 
Ottawas.  Returning,  they  tell  of  the  wonderful 
country  they  have  seen,  of  its  vast  forests,  its 
abundance  of  game,  its  mines  of  copper,  and  ex- 
cite in  their  comrades  a  desire  to  see  and  explore 
such  a  country.  They  tell  of  a  vast  expanse  of 
land  before  them,  of  the  powerful  Indian  tribes 
dwelling  there,  and  of  their  anxiety  to  become  an^ 
nexed  to  the  Frenchman,  of  whom  they  have 
heard.  The  request  is  at  once  granted.  Two 
missionaries,  Gabriel  Dreuillettes  and  Leonard 
Gareau,  were  selected  .as  envoys,  but  on  their  way 
the  fleet,  propelled  by  tawny  rowers,  is  met  by  a 
wandering  band  of  Mohawks  and  by  them  is  dis- 
persed. Not  daunted,  others  stood  ready  to  go. 
The  lot  fell  to  Rene  Mesnard.'  He  is  charged  to 
visit  the  wilderness,  select  a  suitable  place  for  a 
dwelling,  and  found  a  mission.  With  only  a  short 
warning  he  is  ready,  "trusting,"  he  says,  "in  the 
Providence  which  feeds  the  little  birds  of  the 
desert  and  clothes  the  wild  flowers  of  the  forest." 
In  October,  1660,  he  reached  a  bay,  which  he 
called  St.  Theresa,  on  the  south  shore  of  Lake 
Superior.  After  a  residence  of  eight  months,  he 
yielded  to  the  invitation  of  the  Hurons  who  had 
taken  refuge  on  the  Island  of  St.  Michael,  and 
bidding  adieu  to  his  neophytes  and  the  French,  he 
departed.  While  on  the  way  to  the  Bay  of  Che- 
goi-me-gon,  probably  at  a  portage,  he  became 
separated  from  his  companion  and  was  never  after- 
ward heard  of  Long  after,  his  cassock  and  his 
breviary  were  kept  as  amulets  among  the  Sioux. 
Difficulties  now  arose  in  the  management  of  the 
colony,  and  for  awhile  it  was  on  the  verge  of  dis- 
solution. The  King  sent  a  regiment  under  com- 
mand of  the  aged  Tracy,  as  a  safeguard  against 
the  Iroquois,  now  proving  themselves  enemies  to 

*Mr.  C.  W.  ButterJeld,  author  of  OraKfarSn  Campaign,  and 
good  autbority,  says :  "Jolm  Nicholet,  a  Frenchman,  left  Quebec 
and  Throe  Rivera  in  the  summer  of  1634,  and  visiteii  the  Hurons  on 
Georgian  Bay,  the  Cbippewaa  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  and  the  Win- 
nebagoes  in  Wisconsin,  returning  to  Quebec  in  the  summer  of  1635, 
This  was  tho  first  white  man  to  see  any  part  of  the  Nortliwest 
Territory.  In  1641,  two  Jesuit  priests  were  at  the  Sault  Ste,  Marie 
for  a  brief  time.  Then  two  French  traders  reached  Lalse  Superior, 
and  after  them  came  that  tide  of  emigration  on  which  the  French 
based  their  claim  to  the  country." 


s^i 


HISTOBY    or    OHIO. 


21 


the  French.  Accompanying  him  were  Courcelles, 
as  Governor,  and  M.  Talon,  who  subsequently  fig- 
ures in  Northwestern  history.  By  1665,  affairs 
were  settled  and  new  attempts  to  found  a  mission 
among  the  lake  tribes  were  projected. 

"With  better  hopes — undismayed  by  the  sad 
fate  of  their  predecessors"  in  August,  Claude 
Allouez  embarked  on  a  mission  by  way  of  Ottawa 
to  the  Far  West.  Early  in  September  he  reached 
the  rapids  through  which  rush  the  waters  of  the 
lakes  to  Huron.  Sailing  by  lofty  sculptured  rocks 
and  over  waters  of  crystal  purity,  he  reached  the 
Chippewa  village  just  as  the  young  warriors  were 
bent  on  organizing  a  war  expedition  against  the 
Sioux.  Commanding  peace  in  the  name  of  his 
King,  he  called  a  council  and  offered  the  commerce 
and  protection  of  hLs  nation.  He  was  obeyed,  and 
soon  a  chapel  arose  on  the  shore  of  the  bay,  to 
which  admiring  crowds  from  the  south  and  west 
gathered  to  listen  to  the  story  of  the  Cross. 

The  scattered  Hurons  and  Ottawas  north  of 
Lake  Superior ;  the  Pottawatomies  from  Lake  Mich- 
igan; the  Sacs  and  Foxes  from  the  Far  West;  the 
Illinois  from  the  prairies,  all  came  to  hear  him,  and 
all  besought  him  to  go  with  them.  To  the  last 
nation  Allouez  desired  to  go.  They  told  him  of  a 
"  great  river  that  flowed  to  the  sea,  "and  of  "their 
vast  prairies,  where  herds  of  buffalo,  deer  and 
other  animals  grazed  on  the  tall  grass."  "Their 
country,"  said  the  missionary,  "is  the  best  field 
for  the  Grospel.  Had  I  had  leisure,  I  would  have 
gone  to  their  dwellings  to  see  with  my  own  eyes 
all  the  good  that  was  told  me  of  them." 

He  remained  two  years,  teaching  the  natives, 
studying  their  language  and  habits,  and  then 
returned  to  Quebec.  Such  was  the  account  that 
he  gave,  that  in  two  days  he  was  joined  by 
Louis  Nicholas  and  was  on  his  way  back  to  his 
mission. 

Peace  being  now  established,  more  missionaries 
came  from  France.  Among  them  were  Claude 
Dablon  and  Jacques  Marquette,  both  of  whom 
went  on  to  the  mission  among  the  Chippewas  at  the 
Sault.  They  reached  there  in  1668  and  found 
Allouez  busy.  The  mission  ^as  now  a  reality  and 
given  the  name  of  St.  Mary.  It  is  often  written 
"  Sault  Ste.  Marie,"  after  the  French  method,  and 
is  the  oldest  settlement  by  white  men  in  the  bounds 
of  the  Northwest  Territory.  It  has  been  founded 
over  two  hundred  years.  Here  on  the  iilhospitable 
northern  shores,  hundreds  of  miles  away  from 
friends,  did  this  triumvirate  employ  themselves  in 
extending  their  religion  and  the  influence  of  their 


King.  Traversing  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes 
near  them,  they  pass  down  the  western  bank  of 
Lake  Michigan  as  far  as  Green  Bay,  along  the 
southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior  to  its  western  ex- 
tremity, everywhere  preaching  the  story  of  Jesus. 
"  Though  suffering  be  their  lot  and  martyrdom 
their  crown,"  they  went  on,  only  conscious  that 
they  were  lajjoring  for  their  Master  and  would,  in 
the  end,  win  the  crown. 

The  great  river  away  to  the  West  of  which  they 
heard  so  much  was  yet  unknown  to  them.  To  ex- 
plore it,  to  visit  the  tribes  on  its  banks  and  preach 
to  them  the  Gospel  and  secure  their  trade,  became 
the  aim  of  Marquette,  who  originated  the  idea  of 
its  discovery.  While  engaged  at  the  mission  at  the 
Sault,  he  resolved  to  attempt  it  in  the  autumn  of 
1669.  Delay,  however,  intervened — for  Allouez 
had  exchanged  the  mission  at  Che-goi-me-gon  for 
one  at  Green  Bay,  whither  Marquette  was  sent. 
While  here  he  employed  a  young  Illinois  Indian 
to  teach  him  the  language  of  that  nation,  and  there- 
by prepare  himself  for  the  enterprise. 

Continued  commerce  with  the  Western  Indians 
gave  protection  and  confirmed  their  attachment. 
Talon,  the  intendant  of  the  colony  of  New  France, 
to  further  spread  its  power  and  to  learn  more  of  the 
country  and  its  inhabitants,  convened  a  congress 
of  the  Indians  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary,  to  which 
he  sent  St.  Lusson  on  his  behalf.  Nicholas  Perrot 
sent  invitations  in  every  direction  for  more  than  a 
hundred  leagues  round  about,  and  fourteen  nations, 
among  them  Sacs,  Foxes  and  Miamis,  agreed  to  be 
present  by  their  embassadors. 

The  congress  met  on  the  fourth  day  of  June, 
1671.  St.  Lusson,  through  Allouez,  his  interpre- 
ter, announced  to  the  assembled  natives  that  they, 
and  through  them  their  nations,  were  placed  under 
the  protection  of  the  French  King,  and  to  him 
were  their  furs  and  peltries  to  be  traded.  A  cross 
of  cedar  was  raised,  and  amidst  the  groves  of  mar 
pie  and  of  pine,  of  elm  and  hemlock  that  are  so 
strangely  intermingled  on  the  banks  of  the  St. 
Mary,  the  whole  company  of  the  French,  bowing 
before  the  emblem  of  man's  redemption,  chanted  to 
its  glory  a  hymn  of  the  seventh  century : 

"The  banners  of  heaven's  King  advance; 
The  mysteries  of  the  Cross  shines  forth."* 

A  cedar  column  was  planted  by  the  cross  and 
marked  with  the  lOies  of  the  Bourbons,  The 
power  of  Prance,  thus  uplifted  in  the  West  of 
which  Ohio  is  now  a  part,  was,  however,  not  destined 


^ 


23 


HISTOKT   OF   OHIO. 


to  endure,  and  the  ambition  of  -its  monarchs  was 
to  have  only  a  partial  fulfillment. 

The  same  year  that  the  congress  was  held,  Mar- 
quette had  founded  a  mission  among  the  Hurons 
at  Point  St.  Ignaee,  on  the  continent  north  of  the 
peninsula  of  Michigan.  Although  the  climate 
was  severe,  and  vegetation  scarce,  yet  fish  abounded, 
and  at  this  establishment,  long  maintained  as  a 
key  to  further  explorations,  prayer  and  praise  were 
heard  daily  for  many  years.  Here,  also,  Marquette 
gained  a  footing  among  the  founders  of  Michigan. 
While  he  was  doing  this,  Allouez  and  Dablon  were 
exploring  countries  south  and  west,  going  as  far  as 
the  Mascoutins  and  Kickapoos  on  the  Milwaukee, 
and  the  Miamis  at  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan. 
Allouez  continued  even  as  far  as  the  Sacs  and  Foxes 
on  the  river  which  bears  their  name. 

The  discovery  of  the  IMississippi,  heightened  by 
these  explorations,  was  now  at  hand.  The  enter- 
prise, projected  by  Marquette,  was  received  with 
favor  by  M.  Talon,  who  desired  thus  to  perpetuate 
his  rule  in  New  France,  now  drawing  to  a  close. 
He  was  joined  by  Joliet,  of  Quebec,  an  emissary 
of  his  King,  commissioned  by  royal  magnate  to 
take  possession  of  the  country  in  the  name  of  the 
French.  Of  him  but  little  else  is  known.  This 
one  excursion,  however,  gives  him  immortality, 
and  as  long  as  time  shall  last  his  name  and  that  of 
Marquette  will  endure.  When  Marquette  made 
known  his  intention  to  the  Pottawatomies,  they 
were  filled  with  wonder,  and  endeavored  to  dis- 
suade him  from  his  purpose.  "  Those  distant  na- 
tions," said  they,  "  never  spare  the  strangers;  the 
Great  Kiver  abounds  in  monsters,  ready  to  swal- 
low both  men  and  canoes ;  there  are  great  cataracts 
and  rapids,  over  which  you  will  be  dashed  to 
pieces;  the  excessive  heats  will  cause  your  death." 
"I  shall  gladly  lay  down  my  life  for  the  salvation 
of  souls,"  replied  the  good  man;  and  the  docile 
nation  joined  him. 

On  the  9th  day  of  June,  1673,  they  reached 
the  village  on  Fox  River,  where  were  Kickapoos, 
Mascoutins  and  Miamis  dwelling  together  on  an 
expanse  of  lovely  prairie,  dotted  here  and  there  by 
groves  of  magnificent  trees,  and  where  was  a 
cross  garlanded  by  wild  flowers,  and  bows  and  ar- 
rows, and  skins  and  belts,  offerings  to  the  Great 
Manitou.  Allouez  had  been  here  in  one  of  his 
wanderings,  and,  as  was  his  wont,  had  left  this 
emblem  of  his  faith. 

Assembling  the  natives,  Marquette  said,  "  My 
companion  is  an  envoy  of  France  to  discover  new 
countries ;  and  I  am  an  embassador  from  God  to 


enlighten  them  with  the  Gospel."  Offering  pres- 
ents, he  begged  two  guides  for  the  morrow.  The 
Indians  answered  courteously,  and  gave  in 
return  a  mat  to  serve  as  a  couch  during  the  long 
voyage. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  next  day,  the  10th 
of  June,  with  all  nature  in  her  brightest  robes, 
these  two  men,  with  five  Frenchmen  and  two  Al- 
gonquin guides,  set  out  on  their  journey.  Lifting 
two  canoes  to  their  shoulders,  they  quickly  cross 
the  narrow  portage  dividing  the  Fox  from  the 
Wisconsin  River,  and  prepare  to  embark  on  its 
clear  waters.  "Uttering  a  special  prayer  to  the 
Immaculate  Virgin,  they  leave  the  stream,  that, 
flowing  onward,  could  have  borne  their  greetings 
to  the  castle  of  Quebec.  'The  guides  returned,' 
says  the  gentle  Marquette,  'leaving  us  alone  in 
this  unknown  land,  in  the  hand  of  Providence.' 
France  and  Christianity  stood  alone  in  the  valley 
of  the  Mississippi.  Embarking  on  the  broad 
Wisconsin,  the  discoverers,  as  they  sailed  west, 
went  solitarily  down  the  stream  between  alternate 
prairies  and  hillsides,  beholding  neither  man  nor 
the  wonted  beasts  of  the  forests ;  no  sound  broke 
the  silence  but  the  ripple  of  the  canoe  and  the 
lowing  of  the  buffalo.  In  seven  days,  '  they  en- 
tered happily  the  Great  River,  vrith  a  joy  that 
could  not  be  expressed ; '  and  the  two  birehbark 
canoes,  raising  their  happy  sails  under  new  skies 
and  tQ  unknown  breezes,  floated  down  the  calm 
magnificence  of  the  ocean  stream,  over  the  broad, 
clear  sand-bars,  the  resort  of  innumerable  water- 
fowl— ^gliding  past  islets  that  swelled  from  the 
bosom  of  the  stream,  with  their  tufts  of  massive 
thickets,  and  between  the  wild  plains  of  Illinois 
and  Iowa,  all  garlanded  with  majestic  forests,  or 
checkered  by  island  groves  and  the  open  vastness 
of  the  prairie."* 

Continuing  on  down  the  mighty  stream,  they 
saw  no  signs  of  human  hfe  until  the  25th  of 
June,  when  they  discovered  a  small  foot-path  on  the 
west  bank  of  the  river,  leading  away  into  the 
prairie.  Leaving  their  companions  in  the  canoes, 
Marquette  and  Joliet  followed  the  path,  resolved 
to  brave  a  meeting  alone  with  the  savages.  After 
a  walk  of  six  miles  they  came  in  sight  of  a  village 
on  the  banks  of  a  river,  while  not  far  away  they 
discovered  two  others.  The  river  was  the  "  Mou- 
in-gou-e-na,"  or  Moingona,  now  corrupted  into 
Des  Moines.  These  two  men,  the  first  of  their 
race  who  ever  trod  the  soil  west  of   the   Great 

*  Bancroft. 


HISTOEY   OP   OHIO. 


33 


River,  commended  themselves  to  God,  and,  uttering 
a  loud  cry,  advanced  to  the  nearest  village. 
The  Indians  hear,  and  thinking  their  visitors 
celestial  beings,  four  old  men  advance  with  rever- 
ential mien,  and  offer  the  pipe  of  peace.  "  We 
are  Illinois,"  said  they,  and  they  offered  the  calu- 
met. They  had  heard  of  the  Frenchmen,  and 
welcomed  them  to  their  wigwams,  followed  by  the 
devouring  gaze  of  an  astonished  crowd.  At  a 
great  council  held  soon  after,  Marquette  published 
to  them  the  true  God,  their  Author.  He  also 
spoke  of  his  nation  and  of  his  King,  who  had 
chastised  the  Five  Nations  and  commanded  peace. 
He  questioned  them  concerning  the  Great  River 
and  its  tributaries,  and  the  tribes  dwelling  on  its 
banks.  A  magnificent  feast  was  spread  before 
them,  and  the  conference  continued  several  days. 
At  the  close  of  thg  sixth  day,  the  chieftains  of  the 
tribes,  with  numerous  trains  of  warriors,  attended 
the  visitors  to  their  canoes,  and  selecting  a  peace- 
pipe,  gayly  caparisoned,  they  hung  the  sacred 
calumet,  emblem  of  peace  to  all  and  a  safeguard 
among  the  nations,  about  the  good  Father's  neck, 
and  bid  the  strangers  good  speed.  "I  did  not 
fear  death,"  writes  Marquette;  "I  should  have 
esteemed  it  the  greatest  happiness  to  have  died 
for  the  glory  of  God."  On  th^ir  journey,  they 
passed  the  perpendicular  rocks,  whose  sculptured 
sides  showed  them  the  monsters  they  should  meet. 
Farther  down,  they  pass  the  turgid  flood  of  the 
Missouri,  known  to  them  by  its  Algonquin  name, 
Pekitanoni.  Resolving  in  his  heart  to  one  day 
explore  its  flood,  Marquette  rejoiced  in  the  new 
world  it  evidently  could  open  to  him.  A  little 
farther  down,  they  pass  the  blufis  where  now  is  a 
mighty  emporium,  then  sUent  as  when  created.  In 
a  little  less  than  forty  leagues,  they  pass  the  clear 
waters  of  the  beautiful  Ohio,  then,  and  long  after- 
ward, known  as  the  Wabash.  Its  banks  were  in- 
habited by  numerous  villages  of  the  peaceful 
Shawanee^,  who  then  quailed  under  the  incursions 
of  the  dreadftil  Iroquois.  As  they  go  on  down  the 
mighty  stream,  the  canes  become  thicker,  the  insects 
more  fierce,  the  heat  more  intolerable.  The  prairies 
and  their  cool  breezes  vanish,  and  forests  of  white- 
wood,  admirable  for  their  vastness  and  height,  crowd 
close  upon  the  pebbly  shore.  It  is  observed  that  the 
Chickasaws  have  guns,  and  have  learned  how  to 
use  them.  Near  the  latitude  of  33  degrees,  they 
encounter  a  great  village,  whose  inhabitants  pre- 
sent an  inhospitable  and  warlike  front.  The  pipe 
of  peace  is  held  aloft,  and  instantly  the  savage  foe 
drops   his  arms  and  extends  a  friendly  greeting. 


Remaining  here  till  the  next  day,  they  are  escorted 
for  eight  or  ten  leagues  to  the  village  of  Akansea. 
They  are  now  at  the  limit  of  their  voyage.  The 
Indians  speak  a  dialect  unknown  to  them.  The 
natives  show  furs  and  axes  of  steel,  the  latter  prov- 
ing they  have  traded  with  Europeans.  The  two 
travelers  now  learn  that  the  Father  of  Wa- 
ters went  neither  to  the  Western  sea  nor  to  the 
Florida  coast,  but  straight  south,  and  conclude  not 
to  encounter  the  burning  heats  of  a  tropical  clime, 
but  return  and  find  tbe  outlet  again.  They 
had  done  enough  now,  and  must  report  their  dis- 
covery. 

On  the  17th  day  of  July,  1673,  one  hundred 
and  thirty-two  years  after  the  disastrous  journey 
of  De  Soto,  which  led  to  no  permanent  results, 
Marquette  and  Joliet  left  the  village  of  Akansea 
on  their  way  back.  At  the  38th  degree,  they  en- 
counter the  waters  of  the  Illinois  which  they  had 
before  noticed,  and  which  the  natives  told  them 
afforded  a  much  shorter  route  to  the  lakes.  Pad- 
dling up  its  limpid  waters,  they  see  a  country  un- 
surpassed in  beauty.  Broad  prairies,  beautiful  up- 
lands, luxuriant  groves,  all  mingled  in  excellent 
harmony  as  they  ascend  the  river.  Near  the  head 
of  the  river,  they  pause  at  a  great  village  of  the 
Illinois,  and  across  the  river  behold  a  rocky  prom- 
ontory standing  boldly  out  against  the  landscape. 
The  Indians  entreat  the  gentle  missionary  to  re- 
main among  them,  and  teach  them  the  way  of  life. 
He  cannot  do  this,  but  promises  to  return  when  he 
can  and  instruct  them.  The  town  was  on  a  plain 
near  the  present  village  of  Utica,  in  La  Salle 
County,  111.,  and  the  rock  was  Starved  Rock, 
afterward  noted  in  the  annals  of  the  Northwest. 
One  of  the  chiefs  and  some  young  men  conduct 
the  party  to  the  Chicago  River,  where  the  present 
mighty  city  is,  from  where,  continuing  their  jour- 
ney along  the  western  shores  of  the  lake,  they 
reach  Green  Bay  early  in  September. 

The  great  valley  of  the  West  was  now  open. 
The  "Messippi"  rolled  its  mighty  flood  to  a  south- 
ern sea,  and  must  be  sully  explored.  Marquette's 
health  had  keenly  suffered  by  the  voyage  and  he 
concluded  to  remain  here  and  rest.  Joliet  hasten- 
ed on  to  Quebec  to  report  his  discoveries.  During 
the  journey,  each  had  preserved  a  description  of 
the  route  they  had  passed  over,  as  well  as  the 
country  and  its  inhabitants.  While  on  the  way 
to  Quebec,  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids  near  Montreal, 
by  some  means  one  of  Joliet's  canoes  became  cap- 
sized, and  by  it  he  Ipst  his  box  of  papers  and  two 
of   his   men.     A    greater    calamity    could   have 


24 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


hardly  happened  him.  In  a  letter  to  Gov. 
Frontenac,  JoHet  says : 

"  I  had  escaped  every  peril  from  the  Indians ;  I 
had  passed  forty-two  rapids,  and  was  on  the  point 
of  disembarking,  full  of  joy  at  the  success  of  so 
long  and  difficult  an  enterprise,  when  my  canoe 
capsized  after  all  the  danger  seemed  over.  I  lost 
my  two  men  and  box  of  papers  within  sight  of  the 
French  settlements,  which  I  had  lefb  almost  two 
years  before.  Nothing  remains  now  to  me  but 
my  life,  and  the  ardent  desire  to  employ  it  in  any 
service  you  may  please  to  direct." 

When  Joliet  made  known  his  discoveries,  a 
Te  Deum  was  chanted  in  the  Cathedral  at  Quebec, 
and  all  Canada  was  filled  with  joy.  The  news 
crossed  the  ocean,  and  the  French  saw  in  the  vista 
of  coming  years  a  vast  dependency  arise  in  the  val- 
ley, partially  explored,  which  was  to  extend  her 
domain  and  enrich  her  treasury.  Fearing  En- 
gland might  profit  by  the  discovery  and  claim  the 
country,  she  attempted  as  far  as  possible  to  prevent 
the  news  from  becoming  general.  Joliet  was  re- 
warded by  the  gift  of  the  Island  of  Anticosti,  in 
the  St.  Lawrence,  while  Marquette,  conscious  of 
his  service  to  his  Master,  was  content  with  the 
salvation  of  souls. 

Marquette,  left  at  Green  Bay,  suffered  long  with 
his  malady,  and  was  not  permitted,  until  the  au- 
tumn of  the  following  year  (16Y4),  to  return  and 
teach  the  Illinois  Indians.  With  this  purpose  in 
view,  he  left  Green  Bay  on  the  25th  of  October 
with  two  Frenchmen  and  a  number  of  Illinois  and 
Pottawatomie  Indians  for  the  villages  on  the 
Chicago  and  Illinois  Rivers.  Entering  Lake 
Michigan,  they  encountered  adverse  winds  and 
waves  and  were  more  than  a  month  on  the  way. 
Going  some  distance  up  the  Chicago  River,  they 
found  Marquette  too  weak  to  proceed  farther,  his 
malady  having  assumed  a  violent  form,  and  land- 
ing, they  erected  two  huts  and  prepared  to  pass 
the  winter.  The  good  missionary  taught  the  na- 
tives here  daily,  in  spite  of  his  afflictions,  while 
his  companions  supplied  him  and  themselves  with 
food  by  fishing  and  hunting.  Thus  the  winter 
wore  away,  and  Marquette,  renewing  his  vows,  pre- 
pared to  go  on  to  the  village  at  the  foot  of  the 
rocky  gitadel,  where  he  had  been  two  years  before. 
On  the  13th  of  March,  1675,  they  left  their  huts 
and,  rowing  on  up  the  Chicago  to  the  portage  be- 
tween that  and  the  Desplaines,  embarked  on  their 
way.  Amid  the  incessant  rains  of  spring,  they 
were  rapidly  borne  down  that  stream  to  the  Illi- 
nois, on  whose  rushing  flood  they  floated  to  the 


object  of  their  destination.  At  the  great  town  the 
missionary  was  received  as  a  heavenly  messenger, 
and  as  he  preached  to  them  of  heaven  and  hell, 
of  angels  and  demons,  of  good  and  bad  deeds, 
they  regarded  him  as  divine  and  besought  him  to 
remain  among  them.  The  town  then  contained  an 
immense  concourse  of  natives,  drawn  hither  by  the 
reports  they  heard,  and  assembling  them  before  him 
on  the  plain  near  their  village,  where  now  are  pros- 
perous farms,  he  held  before  their  astonished  gaze 
four  large  pictures  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  and  daily 
harangued  them  on  the  duties  of  Christianity  and 
the  necessity  of  conforming  their  conduct  to  the 
words  they  heard.  His  strength  was  fast  declining 
and  warned  him  he  could  not  long  remain.  Find- 
ing he  must  go,  the  Indians  furnished  him  an 
escort  as  far  as  the  lake,  on  whose  turbulent  waters 
he  embarked  with  his  two  :^ithftil  attendants. 
They  turned  their  canoes  for  the  Mackinaw  Mis- 
sion, which  the  afllicted  missionary  hoped  to  reach 
before  death  came.  As  they  coasted  along  the 
eastern  shores  of  the  lake,  the  vernal  hue  of  May 
began  to  cover  the  hillsides  with  robes  of  green, 
now  dimmed  to  the  eye  of  the  departing  Father,  who . 
became  too  weak  to  view  them.  By  the  19tii  of 
the  month,  he  could  go  no  farther,  and  requested 
his  men  to  land  and  build  him  a  hut  in  which  he 
might  pass  away.  That  done,  he  gave,  with  great 
composure,  directions  concerning  his  burial,  and 
thanked  God  that  he  was  permitted  to  die  in  the 
wilderness  in  the  midst  of  his  work,  an  unshaken 
believer  in  the  faith  he  had  so  earnestly  preached. 
As  twilight  came  on,  he  told  his  weary  attendants 
to  rest,  promising  that  when  death  should  come  he 
would  call  them.  At  an  early  hour,  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  20th  of  May,  1675,  they  heard  a  feeble 
voice,  and  hastening  to  his  side  found  that  the  gen- 
tle spirit  of  the  good  missionary  had  gone  to  heav- 
en. His  hand  grasped  the  crucifix,  and  his  lips 
bore  as  their  last  sound  the  name  of  the  Virgin. 
They  dug  a  grave  near  the  banks  of  the  stream 
and  buried  him  as  he  had  requested.  There  in  a 
lonely  wilderness  the  pea,cefiil  soul  of  Marquette 
had  at  last  found  a  rest,  and  his  weary  labors  closed. 
His  companions  went  on  to  the  mission,  where 
the  news  of  his  death  caused  great  sorrow,  for  he 
was  one  beloved  by  all. 

Three  years  after  his  burial,  the  Ottawas,  hunting 
in  the  vicinity  of  his  grave,  determined  to  carry 
his  bones  to  the  mission  at  their  home,  in  accor- 
dance with  an  ancient  custom  of  their  tribe.  Hav- 
ing opened  the  grave,  at  whose  head  a  cross  had 
been  planted,  they  carefully  removed  the  bones  and 


l^ 


HISTOKY    OF    OHIO. 


25 


cleaning  them,  a  funeral  procession  of  thirty  canoes 
bore  them  to  the  Mackinaw  Mission,  singing  the 
songs  he  had  taught  them.  At  the  shores  of  the 
mission  the  bones  were  received  by  the  priests,  and, 
with  great  ceremony,  buried  under  the  floor  of  the 
rude  chapel. 

While  Marquette  and  Joliet  were  exploring  the 
head-waters  of  the  "Great  River,"  another  man, 
fearless  in  purpose,  pious  in  heart,  and  loyal  to 
his  country,  was  living  in  Canada  and  watching 
the  operations  of  his  fellow-countrymen  with 
keen  eyes.  When  the  French  first  saw  the  in- 
hospitable shores  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  1535, 
under  the  lead  of  Jacques  Cartier,  and  had  opened 
a  new  country  to  their  crown,  men  were  not 
lacking  to  further  extend  the  discovery.  In  1608, 
Champlain  came,  and  at  the  foot  of  a  cliff  on  that 
river  founded  Quebec.  Seven  years  after,  he 
brought  four  Recollet  monks ;  and  through  them 
and  the  Jesuits  the  discoveries  already  narrated 
occurred.  Champlain  died  in  1635,  one  hundred 
years  after  Cartier's  first  visit,  but  not  Tintil  he 
had  explored  the  northern  lakes  as  far  as  Lake 
Huron,  on  whose  rocky  shores  he,  as  the  progenitor 
of  a  mighty  race  to  follow,  set  his  feet.  He,  with 
others,  held  to  the  idea  that  somewhere  across  the 
country,  a  river  highway  extended  to  the  Western 
ocean.  The  reports  from  the  missions  whose 
history  has  been  given  aided  this  belief;  and  not 
until  Marquette  and  Joliet  returned  was  the  delu- 
sion in  any  way  dispelled.  Before  this  was  done, 
however,  the  man  to  whom  reference  has  been 
made,  Robert  Cavalier,  better  known  as  La  Salle, 
had  endeavored  to  solve  the  mystery,  and,  while 
living  on  his  grant  of  land  eight  miles  above 
Montreal,  had  indeed  effected  important  discoveries. 

La  Salle,  the  nBxt  actor  in  the  field  of  explor- 
ation after  Champlain,  was  born  in  1643.  His 
father's  family  was  among  the  old  and  wealthy 
burghers  of  Rouen,  France,  and  its  members 
were  fi-equently  entrusted  with  important  govern- 
mental positions.  He  early  exhibited  such  traits 
of  character  as  to  mark  him  among  his  associates. 
Coming  from  a  wealthy  family,  he  enjoyed  all  the 
advantages  of  his  day,  and  received,  for  the  times, 
an  excellent  education.  He  was  a  Catholic, 
though  his  subsequent  life  does  not  prove  him 
to  have  been  a  religious  enthusiast.  From  some 
cause,  he  joined  the  Order  of  Loyola,  but  the  cir- 
cumscribed sphere  of  action  set  for  him  in  the 
order  illy  concurred  with  his  independent  dis- 
position, and  led  to  his  separation  from  it.  This 
was  efiected,  however,  in  a  good  spirit,  as  they 


considered  him  fit  for  a  difierent  field  of  action 
than  any  presented  by  the  order.  Having  a 
brother  in  Canada,  a  member  of  the  order  of  St. 
Sulpice,  he  determined  to  join  him.  By  his 
connection  with  the  Jesuits  he  had  lost  his  share 
of  his  father's  estate,  but,  by  some  means,  on  his 
death,  which  occurred  about  this  time,  he  was 
given  a  small  share;  and  with  this,  in  1666, 
he  arrived  in  Montreal.  All  Canada  was  alive 
with  the  news  of  the  explorations;  and  La 
Salle's  mind,  actively  grasping  the  ideas  he 
afterward  carried  out,  began  to  mature  plans  for 
their  perfection.  At  Montreal  he  found  a  semi- 
nary of  priests  of  the  St.  Sulpice  Order  who  were 
encouraging  settlers  by  grants  of  land  on  easy 
terms,  hoping  to  establish  a  barrier  of  settlemente 
between  themselves  and  the  Indians,  made  ene- 
mies to  the  French  by  Champlain's  actions  when 
founding  Quebec.  The  Superior  of  the  seminary, 
learning  of  LaSalle's  arrival,  gratuitously  ofiered 
him  a  grant  of  land  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  eight 
miles  above  Montreal.  The  grant,  though  danger- 
ously near  the  hostile  Indians,  was  accepted,  and 
La  Salle  soon  enjoyed  an  excellent  trade  in  furs. 
While  employed  in  developing  his  claim,  he  learned 
of  the  great  unknown  route,  and  burned  with  a 
desire  to  solve  its  existence.  He  applied  himself 
closely  to  the  study  of  Indian  dialects,  and  in 
three  years  is  said  to  have  made  great  progress 
in  their  language.  While  on  his  farm  his 
thoughts  often  turned  to  the  unknown  land  away 
to  the  west,  and,  like  all  men  of  his  day,  he 
desired  to  explore  the  route  to  the  Western  sea, 
and  thence  obtain  an  easy  trade  with  China  and 
Japan.  The  "  Great  River,  which  flowed  to  the 
sea,"  must,  thought  they,  find  an  outlet  in  the 
Gulf  of  California.  While  musing  on  these 
things,  Marquette  and  Joliet  were  preparing  to 
descend  the  Wisconsin;  and  La  Salle  himself 
learned  from  a  wandering  band  of  Senecas  that  a 
river,  called  the  Ohio,  arose  in  their  country  and 
flowed  to  the  sea,  but  at  such  a  distance  that  it 
would  require  eight  months  to  reach  its  mouth. 
This  must  be  the  Great  River,  or  a  part  of  it: 
for  all  geographers  of  the  day  considered  the 
Mississippi  and  its  tributary  as  one  stream.  Plac- 
ing great  confidence  on  this  hypothesis.  La  Salle 
repaired  to  Quebec  to  obtain  the  sanction 
of  Gov.  Courcelles.  His  plausible  statements 
soon  won  him  the  Governor  and  M.  Talon,  and 
letters  patent  were  issued  granting  the  exploration. 
No  peciiniary  aid  was  offered,  and  La  Salle,  hav- 
ing expended   all  his  means  in  improving    his 


26 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


estate,  was  obliged  to  sell  it  to  procure  the 
necessary  outfit.  The  Superior  of  the  seminary 
being  favorably  disposed  toward  him,  purchased 
the  greater  part  of  his  improvement,  and  realiz- 
ing 2,800  livres,  he  purchased  four  canoes  and  the 
necessary  supplies  for  the  expediti<)n.  The  semi- 
nary was,  at  the  same  time,  preparing  for  a  similar 
exploration.  The  priests  of  this  order,  emulating 
the  Jesuits,  had  established  missions  on  the  north- 
ern shore  of  Lake  Ontario.  Hearing  of  populous 
tribes  still  further  west,  they  resolved  to  attempt 
their  conversion,  and  deputized  two  of  their  number 
for  the  purpose.  On  going  to  Quebec  to  procure 
the  necessary  supplies,  they  were  advised  of  La 
Salle's  expedition  down  the  Ohio,  and  resolved  to 
unite  themselves  with  it.  La  Salle  did  not  alto- 
gether favor  their  attempt,  as  he  believed  the 
Jesuits  already  had  the  field,  and  would  not  care 
to  have  any  aid  from  a  rival  order.  His  dispo- 
sition also  would  not  well  brook  the  part  they 
assumed,  of  asking  him  to  be  a  co-laborer  rather 
than  a  leader.  However,  the  expeditions,  merged 
into  one  body,  left  the  mission  on  the  St.  Law- 
rence on  the  6th  of  July,  1669,  in  seven  canoes. 
The  party  numbered  twenty-four  persons,  who 
"were  accompanied  by  two  canoes  filled  with 
Indians  who  had  visited  La  Salle,  and  who  now 
acted  as  guides.  Their  guides  led  them  up  the 
St.  Lawrence,  over  the  expanse  of  Lake  Ontario, 
to  their  village  on  the  banks  of  the  Genesee, 
where  they  expected  to  find  guides  to  lead  them 
on  to  the  Ohio.  As  La  Salle  only  partially  under- 
stood their  language,  he  was  compelled  to  confer 
with  them  by  means  of  a  Jesuit  stationed  at  the 
village.  The  Indians  refused  to  furnish  him  the 
expected  aid,  and  even  burned  before  his  eyes  a 
prisoner,  the  only  one  who  could  give  him  any 
knowledge  he  desired.  He  surmised  |the  Jesuits 
were  at  the  bottom  of  the  matter,  fearful  lest  the 
disciples  of  St.  Sulpice  should  gain  a  foothold  in 
the  west.  He  lingered  here  a  month,  with  the 
hope  of  accoipplishing  his  object,  when,  by  chance, 
there  came  by  an  Iroquois  Indian,  who  assured 
them  that  at  his  colony,  near  the  head  of  the  lake, 
they  could  find  guides;  and  offered  to  conduct 
them  thither.  Coming  along  the  southern  shore 
of  the  lake,  they  passed,  at  its  western  extremity, 
the  mouth  of  the  Niagara  River,  where  they  heard 
for  the  first  time  the  thunder  of  the  mighty  cata- 
ract between  the  two  lakes.  At  the  ^'iUage  of  the 
Iroquois  they  met  a  friendly  reception,  and  were 
informed  by  a  Shawanese  prisoner  that  they  could 
reach  t^ie  Ohio  in  six  weeks'  time,  and  that  he 


would  guide  them  there.  While  preparing  to 
commence  the  journey,  they  heard  of  the  missions 
to  the  northwest,  and  the  priests  resolved  to_  go 
there  and  convert  the  natives,  and  find  the  river 
by  that  route.  It  appears  that  Louis  Joliet  met 
them  here,  on  his  return  fi-om  visiting  the  copper 
mines  of  Lake  Superior,  under  command  of  M. 
Talon.  He  gave  the  priests  a  map  of  the  country, 
and  informed  them  that  the  Indians  of  those 
regions  were  in  great  need  of  spiritual  advisers. 
This  strengthened  their  intention,  though  warned 
by  La  Salle,  that  the  Jesuits  were  undoubtedly 
there.  The  authority  for  Joliet's  visit  to  them 
here  is  not  clearly  given,  and  may  not  be  true, 
but  the  same  letter  which  gives  the  account  of 
the  discovery  of  the  Ohio  at  this  time  by  La  Salle, 
states  it  as  a  fact,  and  it  is  hence  inserted.  The 
missionaries  and  La  Salle  separated,  the  former  to 
find,  as  he  had  predicted,  the  followers  of  Loyola 
already  in  the  field,  and  not  wanting  their  aid. 
Hence  they  return  from  a  fruitless  tour. 

La  Salle,  now  left  to  himself  and  just  recovering 
from  a  violent  fever,  went  on  his  journey.  From 
the  paper  from  which  these  statements  are  taken, 
it  appears  he  went  on  to  Onondaga,  where  he  pro- 
cured guides  to  a  tributary  of  the  Ohio,  down 
which  he  proceeded  to  the  principal  stream,  on 
whose  bosom  he  continued  his  way  till  he  came  to 
the  falls  at  the  present  city  of  Louisville,  Ky.  It 
has  been  asserted  that  he  went  on  down  to  its 
mouth,  but  that  is  not  well  authenticated  and  is 
hardly  true.  The  statement  that  he  went  as  far  as 
the  falls  is,  doubtless,  correct.  He  states,  in  a  letter 
to  Count  Frontenac  in  1677,  that  he  discovered 
the  Ohio,  and  that  he  descended  it  to  the  falls. 
Moreover,  Joliet,  in  a  measure  his  rival,  for  he  was 
now  preparing  to  go  to  the  northern  lakes  and 
from  them  search  the  river,  made  two  maps  repre- 
senting the  lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  on  both  of 
which  he  states  that  La  Salle  had  discovered  the 
Ohio.  Of  its  course  beyond  the  falls.  La  Salle 
does  not  seem  to  have  learned  anything  definite, 
hence  his  discovery  did  not  in  any  way  settle  the 
great  question,  and  elicited  but  little  comment. 
Still,  it  stimulated  La  Salle  to  more  effort,  and 
while  musing  on  his  plans,  Joliet  and  Marquette 
push  on  from  Green  Bay,  and  discover  the  river 
and  ascertain  the  general  course  of  its  outlet.  On 
Joliet's  return  in  1673,  he  seems  to  drop  from 
further  notice.  Other  and  more  venturesome  souls 
were  ready  to  finish  the  work  beg-un  by  himself 
and  the  zealous  Marquette,  who,  left  among  the , 
far-away  nations,  laid  down  his  life.     The  spirit  of 


^  '/'Uad'y  ^^/f.7 1.  ./juost' 


■V 


.^ 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


29 


La  Salle  was  equal  to  the  enterprise,  and  as  lie  now 
had  returned  from  one  voyage  of  discovery,  he 
stood  ready  to  solve  the  mystery,  and  gain  the 
country  for  his  King.  Before  this  could  be  ac- 
complished, however,  he  saw  other  things  must  be 
done,  and  made  preparations  on  a  scale,  for  the 
time,  truly  marvelous. 

Count  Prontenac,  the  new  Grovernor,  had  no 
sooner  established  himself  in  power  than  he  gave  a 
searching  glance  over  the  new  realm  to  see  if  any  . 
undeveloped  resources  lay  yet  unnoticed,  and  what 
country  yet  remained  open.  He  learned  from  the 
exploits  of  La  Salle  on  the  Ohio,  and  from  Joliet, 
now  returned  from  the  West,  of  that  immense 
country,  and  resolving  in  his  mind  on  some  plan 
whereby  it  could  be  formally  taken,  entered 
heartily  into  the  plans  of  La  Salle,  who,  anxious  to 
solve  the  mystery  concerning  the  outlet  of  the 
Great  River,  gave  him  the  outline  of  a  plan,  saga- 
cious in  its  conception  and  grand  in  its  compre- 
hension. La  Salle  had  also  informed  him  of  the 
endeavors  of  the  English  on  the  Atlantic  coast  to 
divert  the  trade  with  the  Indians,  and  partly  to 
counteract  this,  were  the  plans  of  La  Salle  adopted. 
They  were,  briefly,  to  build  a  chain  of  forts  from 
Canada,  or  New  Francfe,  along  the  lakes  to  the 
Mississippi,  and  on  down  that  river,  thereby  hold- 
ing the  country  by  power  as  well  as  by  discovery. 
A  fort  was  to  be  built  on  the  Ohio  as  soon  as  the 
means  could  be  obtained,  and  thereby  hold  that 
country  by  the  same  policy.  Thus  to  "La  Salle 
alone  may  be  ascribed  the  bold  plan  of  gaining  the 
whole  West,  a  plan  only  thwarted  by  the  force  of 
arms.  Through  the  aid  of  Prontenac,  he  was 
given  a  proprietary  and  the  rank  of  nobility,  and 
on  his  proprietary  was  erected  a  fort,  which  he,  in 
honor  of  his  Governor,  called  Fort  Prontenac.  It 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Kingston, 
Canada.  Through  it  he  obtained  the  trade  of  the 
Five  Nations,  and  his  fortune  was  so  far  assured. 
He  next  repaired  to  France,  to  perfect  his  arrange- 
ments, secure  his  title  and  obtain  means. 

On  his  return  he  built  the  fort  alluded  to,  and 
prepared  to  go  on  in  the  prosecution  of  his  plan. 
A  civil  discord  arose,  however,  which  for  three 
years  prevailed,  and  seriously  threatened  his 
projects.  As  soon  as  he  could  extricate  himself, 
he  again  repaired  to  France,  receiving  additional 
encouragement  in  money,  grants,  and  the  exclusive 
priviTege  of  a  trade  in  buffalo  skins,  then  consid- 
ered a  source  of  great  wealth.  On  his  return,  he 
was  accompanied  by  Henry  Tonti,  son  of  an  illus- 
trious Italian  nobleman,  who  had  fled  from  his 


own  country  during  one  of  its  political  revolutions. 
Coming  io  Prance,  he  made  himself  famous  as  the 
founder  of  Tontine  Life  Insurance.  Henry  Tonti 
possessed  an  indomitable  will,  and  though  he  had 
suffered  the  loss  of  one  of  his  hands  by  the  ex- 
plosion of  a  grenade  in  one  of  the  Sicilian  wars, 
his  courage  was  undaunted,  and  his  ardor  un- 
dimmed.  La  Salle  also  brought  recruits,  mechanics, 
sailors,  cordage  and  sails  for  rigging  a  ship,  and 
merchandise  for  traffic  with  the  •  natives.  At 
Montreal,  he  secured  the  services  of'M.  LaMotte,  a 
person  of  much  energy  and  integrity  of  character. 
He  also  secured  several  missionaries ,  before  he 
reached  Fort  Prontenac.  Among  them  were 
Louis  Hennepin,  Gabriel  Ribourde  and  Zenabe 
Membre.  All  these  were  Flemings,  all  Recollets. 
Hennepin,  of  all  of  them,  proved  the  best  assist- 
ant. They  arrived  at  the  fort  early  in  the  autumn 
of  1678,  4nd  preparations  were  at  once  made  to 
erect  a  vessel  in  which  to  navigate  the  lakes,  and 
a  fort  at  the  mouth,  of  the  Niagara  River.  The 
Senecas  were  rather  adverse  to  the  latter  proposals 
when  La  Motte  and  Hennepin  came,  but  by 
the  eloquence  of  the  latter,  they  were  pacified 
and  rendered  friendly.  After  a  number  of  vexa- 
tious delays,  the  vessel,  the  Griffin,  the  first  on  the 
lakes,  was  built,  and  on  the  7th  of  August,  a  year 
after  La  Salle  came  here,  it  was  launched,  passed 
over  the  waters  of  the  northern  lakes,  and,  after  a 
tempestuous  voyage,  landed  at  Green  Bay.  It  was 
soon  after  stored  with  furs  and  sent  back,  while 
La  Salle  and  his  men  awaited  its  return.  It  was 
never  afterward  heard  of.  La  Salle,  becoming 
impatient,  erected  a  fort,  pushed  on  with  a 
part  of  his  men,  leaving  part  at  the  fort, 
and  passed  over  the  St.  Joseph  and  Kankakee 
Rivers,  and  thence  to  the  Illinois,  down  whose 
flood  they  proceeded  to  Peoria*  Lake,  where 
he  was  obliged  to  halt,  and  return  to  Canada 
for  more  men  and  supplies.  He  left  Tonti 
and  several  men  to  complete  a  fort,  called 
Fort "  CreveccBur  "^broken-hearted.  The  Indians 
drove  the  French  away,  the  men  ■  mutinied,  and 
Tonti  was  obliged  to  flee.  When  La  Salle  returned, 
he  found  no  one  there,  and  going  down  as  far  as 
the  mouth  of  the  Illinois,  he  retraced  his  steps,  to 
find  some  trace  of  his  garrison.  Tonti  was  found 
safe  among  the  Pottawatomies  at  Green  Bay,  and 
Hennepin  and  his  two  followers,  sent  to  explore 
the  head-waters  of  the  Mississippi,  were  again 
home,  after  a  captivity  among  the  Sioux. 

La  Salle  renewed  his  force  of  men,  and  the  third 
time  get  out  for  the  outlet  of  the  Great  River. 


30 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


He  left  Canada  early  in  December,  1681,  and  by 
February  6,  1682,  reached  the  majestic  flood  of 
the  mighty  stream.  On  the  24th,  they  ascended 
the  Chickasaw  BluflFs,  and,  while  waiting  to  find 
a  sailor  who  had  strayed  away,  erected  Fort  Prud- 
homme.  They  passed  seversJ  Indian  villages  fur- 
ther down  the  river,  in  some  of  which  they  met 
with  no  little  opposition.  Proceeding  onward,  ere- 
long they  encountered  the  tide  of  the  sea,  and 
April  6,  they  emerged  on  the  broad  bosom  of  the 
Gulf,  "tossing  its  restless  billows,  limitless,  voice- 
less and  lonely  as  when  born  of  chaos,  without  a 
sign  of  life." 

Coasting  about  a  short  time  on  the  shores  of 
the  Gulf,  the  party  returned  until  a  sufficiently 
dry  place  was  reached  to'  effect  a  landing.  Here 
another  cross  was  raised,  also  a  column,  on  which 
was  inscribed  these  words: 

"  Louis  le  Grand,  Eoi  de  Feance  et  de  Navarke, 
B.EGNE;  Le  Neuvieme,  Avril,  1682."  * 

"  The  whole  party,"  says  a  "  proces  verbal,"  in 
the  archives  of  France,  "  chanted  the  Te  Deum, 
the  Exaudiat  and  the  Domine  salvum  fac  Regem, 
and  then  after  a  salute  of  fire-arms  and  cries  of 
Vive  le  Roi,  La  Salle,  standing  near  the  column, 
said  in  a  loud  voice  in  French : 

"In  the  name  of  the  most  high,  mighty,  invin- 
cible and  victorious  Prince,  Louis  the  Great,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  King  of  France  and  of  Navarre, 
Fourteenth  of  tliat  name,  this  ninth  day  of  April, 
one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty  two,  I,  in 
virtue  of  the  commission  of  His  Majesty,  which  I 
hold  in  my  hand,  and  which  may  be  seen  by  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  have  taken,  and  do  now 
take,  in  the  name  of  His  Majesty  and  of  his  suc- 
cessors to  the  crown,  possession  of  this  country  of 
Louisiana,  the  seas,  harbor,  ports,  bays,  adjacent 
straights,  and  all  the  nations,  people,  provinces,  cities, 
towns,  villages,  mines,  minerals,  fisheries,  streams 
and  rivers,  comprised  in  the  extent  of  said  Louisiana, 
from  the  north  of  the  great  river  St.  Louis,  other- 
wise called  the  Ohio,  Alighin,  Sipore  or  Chukago- 
na,  and  this  with  the  consent  of  the  Chavunons, 
Chickachaws,  and  other  people  dwelling  therein, 
with  whom  we  have  made  alliance;  as  also  along 
the  river  Colbert  or  Mississippi,  and  rivers  which 
discharge  themselves  therein  from  its  source  beyond 
the  Kious  or  Nadouessious,  and  this  with  their 
consent,  and  with  the  consent  of  the  Illinois,  Mes- 
igameas,  Natchez,  Koroas,  which  are  the  most  con- 
siderable nations  dwelling  therein,  with  whom  also 


*  LoniB  the  Great,  King  ot  France  and  of  Navarre,  reigning  the 
ninth  day  of  April)  1682. 


we  have  made  alliance,  either  by  ourselves  or  others 
in  our  behalf,  as  far  as  its  mouth  at  the  sea  or 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  about  the  twenty-seventh  degree 
of  its  elevation  of  the  North  Pole,  and  also  to  the 
mouth  of  the  River  of  Pahns;  upon  the  assurance 
which  we  have  received  from  all  these  nations  that 
we  are  the  first  Europeans  who  have  descended  or 
ascended  the  river  Colbert,  hereby  protesting 
against  all  those  who  may  in  future  undertake  to 
invade  any  or  all  of  these  countries,  peoples  or 
lands,  to  the  prejudice  ofthe  right  of  His  Majesty, 
acquired  by  the  consent  of  the  nations  herein 
named." 

The  whole  assembly  responded  with  shouts  and 
the  salutes  of  fire-arms.  The  Sieur  de  La  Salle 
caused  to  be  planted  at  the  foot  of  the  column  a 
plate  of  lead,  on  one  side  of  which  was  inscribed 
the  arms  of  France  and  the  following  Latin  inscrip- 
tion: 

Kobertvs  Cavellier,  cvm  Domino  de  Tonly,  Legato, 
R.  P.  Zenobi  Membro,  RecoUecto,  et,  Viginti  Gallis 
Primes  Hoc  Flvmen  inde  ab  ilineorvm  Pago,  enavigavit, 
ejvsqye  ostivm  fecit  PervivTm,  none  Aprilis  cio  ioo 
LXXXII.  ' 

The  whole  proceedings  were  acknowledged  be- 
fore La  Metaire,  a  notary,  and  the  conquest  was 
considered  complete. 

Thus  was  the  foundation  of  France  laid  in  the 
new  republic,  and  thus  did  she  ^  lay  claim  to  the 
Northwest,  which  now  includes  Ohio,  and  the 
county,  whose  history  this  book  perpetuates. 

La  Salle  and  his  party  returned  to  Canada  soon 
after,  and  again  that  country,  and  France  itself, 
rang  with  anthems  of  exultation.  He  went  on  to 
France,  where  he  received  the  highest  honors. 
He  was  given  a  fleet,  and  sailors  as  well  as  colon- 
ists to  return  to  the  New  World  by  way  of  a  south- 
ern voyage,  expecting  to  find  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  by  an  ocean  course.  Sailing  past  the 
.  outlets,  he  was  wrecked  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  and 
in  his  vain  endeavors  to  find  the  river  or  return  to 
Canada,  he  became  lost  on  the  plains  of  Arkansas, 
where  he,  in  1687,  was  basely  murdered  by  one  of 
his  followers.  "  You  are  down  now.  Grand  Bashaw," 
exclaimed  his  slayer,  and  despoiling  his  remains,  they 
left  them  to  be  devoured  by  wild  beasts.  To  such 
an  ignominious  end  came  this  daring,  bold  adven- 
turer. Alone  in  the  wilderness,  he  was  left,  with 
no  monument  but  the  vast  realm  he  had  discov- 
ered, on  whose  bosom  he  was  left  vrithout  cover- 
ing and  without  protection. 

"  For  force  of  will  and  vast  conception ;  for  va- 
rious knowledge,  and  quick  adaptation  of  his  genius 


HISTOKY   OF    OHIO. 


31 


to  untried  circumstances;  for  a  sublime  magnani- 
mity, that  resigned  itself  to  the  will  of  Heaven, 
and  yet  triumphed  over  affliction  by  energy  of 
purpose  and  unfaltering  hope — he  had  no  superior 
among  his  countrymen.  He  had  won  the  aflFec- 
tions  of  the  governor  of  Canada,  the  esteem  of 
Colbert,  the  confidence  of  Seignelay,  the  favor  of 
Louis  XIV.  After  the  beginning  of  the  coloniza- 
tion of  Upper  Canada,  he  perfected  the  discovery 
of  the  Mississippi  from  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony 
to  its  mouth;  and  he  will  be  remembered  through 
all  time  as  the  father  of  colonization  in  the  great 
central  valley  of  the  West."* 

Avarice,  passion  and  jealousy  were  hot  calmed  by 
the  blood  of'La  Salle.  All  of  his  conspirators  per- 
ished by  ignoble  deaths,  while  only  seven  of  the  six- 
teen succeeded  in  continuing  the  journey  until 
tKey  reached  Canada,  and  thence  found  their  way 
to  France. 

Tonti,  who  had  been  left;  at  Fort  St.  Louis,  on 
"  Starved  Rock"  on  the  Illinois,  went  down  in 
search  of  his  beloved  commander.  Failing  to  find 
him,  he  returned  and  remained  here  until  1700, 
thousan(S  of  miles  away  from  friends.  Then  he 
went  down  the  Mississippi  to  join  D'Iberville,  who 
had  made  the  discovery  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi by  an  ocean  voyage.  Two  years  later,  he 
went  on  a  mission  to  the  Chickasaws,  but  of  his 
subsequent  history  nothing  is  known. 

The  West  was  now  in  possession  of  the  French. 
La  Salle's  plans  were  yqt  feasible.  The  period  of 
exploration  was  now  over.  The  great  river  and 
its  outlet  was  known,  and  it  only  remained  for  that 
nation  to  enter  in  and  occupy  what  to  many  a 
Frenchman  was  the  "Promised  Land."  Only 
eighteen  years  had  elapsed  since  Marquette  and 
Joliet  had  descended  the  river  and  shown  the 
course  of  its  outlet.  A  spirit,  less  bold  than  La 
Salle's  would  never  in  so  short  a  time  have  pene- 
trated for  more  than  a  thousand  miles  an  unknown 
vrilderness,  and  solved  the  mystery  of  the  world. 

When  Joutel  and  his  companions  reached  France 
in  1688,  all  Europe  was  on  the  eve  of  war.  Other 
nations  than  the  French  wanted  part  of  the  New 
World,  and  when  they  saw  that  nation  greedily 
and  rapidly  accumulating  territory  there,  they  en- 
deavored to  stay  its  progress.  The  league  of  Augs- 
burg was  formed  in  1687  by  the  princes  of  the  Em- 
pire to  restrain  the  ambition  of  Louis  XIV,  and 
in  1688,  he  began  hostilities  by  the  capture  of 
Philipsburg.     The  next  year,  England,  under  the 

*  Bancroft. 


lead  of  William  III,  joined  the  alliance,  and  Louis 
found  himself  compelled,  with  only  the  aid  of  the 
Turks,  to  contend  against  the  united  forces  of  the 
Empires  of  England,  Spain,  Holland,  Denmark, 
Sweden  and  Norway.  Yet  the  tide  of  battle  wa- 
vered. In  1689,  the  French  were  defeated  at 
Walcourt,  and  the  Turks  at  Widin;  but  in  1690, 
the  French  were  victorious  at  Charleroy,  and  the 
Turks  at  Belgrade.  The  next  year,  and  also  the 
next,  victory  inclined  to  the  French,  but  in  1693, 
Louvois  and  Luxemberg  were  dead  and  Namur 
surrendered  to  the  allies.  The  war  extended  to  the 
New  World,  where  it  was  maintained  with  more 
than  equal  success  by  the  French,  though  the  En- 
glish population  exceeded  it  more  than  twenty  to  one. 
In  1688,  the  French  were  estimated  at  about 
twelve  thousand  souls  in  North  America,  while  the 
English  were  more  than  two  hundred  thousand. 
At  first  the  war  was  prosecuted  vigorously.  In 
1689,  De.  Ste.  Helene  and  D'Iberville,  two  of  the 
sons  of  Charles  le  Morne,  crossed  the  wilderness 
and  reduced  the  English  forts  on  Hudson's  Bay. 
But  ill  August  of  the  same  year,  the  Iroquois,  the 
hereditary,  foes  of  the  French,  captured  and  burned 
Montreal.  Frontenac,  who  had  gone  on  an  ex- 
pedition against  New  York  by  sea,  was  recalled. 
Fort  Frontenac  was  abandoned,  and  no  French 
posts  left  in  the  West  between  'Trois  Rivieres  and 
Mackinaw,  and  were  it  not  for  the  Jesuits  the  en- 
tire West  would  now  have  been  abandoned.  To 
recover  their  influence,  the  French  planned  three 
expeditions.  One  resulted  in  the  destruction  of 
Schenectady,  another,  Salmon  Falls,  and  the  third, 
Casco  Bay.  On  the  other  hand.  Nova  Scotia  was 
reduced  by  the  colonies,  and  an  expedition  against 
Montreal  went  as  far  as  to  Lake  Champlain,  where 
it  failed,  owing  to  the  dissensions  of  the  leaders. 
Another  expedition,  consisting  of  twenty-four  ves- 
sels, arrived  before  Quebec,  which  also  failed 
through  the  incompetency  of  Sir  William  Phipps. 
During  the  succeeding  years,  various  border  con- 
flicts occurred,  in  all  of  which  border  scenes  of 
savage  cruelty  and  savage  ferocity  were  enacted. 
The  peace  of  Ryswick,  in  1697,  closed  the  war. 
France  retained  Hudson's  Bay,  -and  all  the  places 
of  which  she  was  in  possession  in  1688;  but  the 
boundaries  of  the  English  and  French  claims  in 
the  New  World  were  still  unsettled. 

The  conclusion  of  the  conflict  left  the  French 
at  liberty  to  pursue  their  scheme  of  colonization 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  In  1698,  D'Iberville 
was  sent  to  the  lower  province,  which,  erelong, 
was  made  a  separateindependency,  called  Louisiana. 


'A 


33 


HISTORY   OP    OHIO. 


Forts  were  erected  on  Mobile  Bay,  and  the  division 
of  the  territory  between  the  French  and  the 
Spaniards  was  settled.  Trouble  existed  between 
.  the  French  and  the  Chickasaws,  ending  in  the 
cruel  deaths  of  many  of  the  leaders,  in  the 
fruitless  endeavors  of  the  Canadian  and  Louisi- 
anian  forces  combining  against  the  Chickasaws. 
For  many  years  the  conflict  raged,  with  unequal 
successes,  until  the  Indian  power  gave  way  before 
superior  military  tactics.  In  the  end.  New  Orleans 
was  founded,  in  1718,  and  the  French  power 
secured. 

Before  this  was  consummated,  however,  France 
became  entangled  in  another  war  against  the 
allied  powers,  ending  in  her  defeat  and  the  loss 
of  Nova  Scotia,  Hudson's  Bay  and  Newfound- 
land. The  peace  of  Utrecht  closed  the  war 
in  1713. 

The  French,  weary  with  prolonged  strife, 
adopted  the  plan,  more  peaceful  in  its  nature,  of 
giving  out  to  distinguished  men  the  monopoly  of 
certain  districts  in  the  fur  trade,  the  most  pros- 
perous of  any  avocation  then.  Crozat-  and 
Cadillac — the  latter  the  founder  of  Detroit,  in 
1701 — were  the  chief  ones  concerned  in  this. 
The  founding  of  the  villages  of  Kaskaskia,  Ca- 
hokia,  yincennes,  and  others  in  the  Mississippi 
and  Wabash  Valleys,  led  to  the  rapid  develop- 
ment, according  to  the  French  custom  of  all 
these  parts  of  the  West,  while  along  all  the  chief 
water-courses,  other  trading  posts  and  forts  were 
established,  rapidly  fulfilling  the  hopes  of  La 
Salle,  broached  so  many  years  before. 

The  French  had,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  four  principal  routes  to  their 
western  towns,  two  of  which  passed  over  the  soil 
of  Ohio.  The  first  of  these  was  the  one  followed 
by  Marquette  and  Joliet,  by  way  of  the  Lakes  to 
Green  Bay,  in  Wisconsin ;  thence  across  a  portage 
to  the  Wisconsin  River,  down  which  they  floated 
to  the  Mississippi.  On  their  return  they  came 
up  the  Illinois  River,  to  the  site  of  Chicago, 
whence  Joliet  returned  to  Quebec  by  the  Lakes. 
La  Salle's  route  was  flrst  by  the  Lakes  to  the  St. 
Joseph's  River,  which  he  followed  to  the  portage 
to  the  Kankakee,  and  thence  downward  to  the 
Mississippi.  On  his  second  and  third  attempt, 
he  crossed  the  lower  peninsula  of  Michigan  to 
the  Kankakee,  and  again  traversed  its  waters  to 
the  Illinois.  The  third  route  was  estabHshed 
about  1716.  It  followed  the  southern  shores  of" 
Lake  Erie  to  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee  River ; 
following  this  stream,  the  voyagers  went  on  to  the 


junction  between  it  and  the  St.  Mary's,  which 
they  followed  to  the  "  Oubache  "—Wabash— and 
then  to  the  French  villages  in  Vigo  and  Knox 
Counties,  in  Indiana.  Vincennes  was  the  oldest 
and  most  important  one  here.  It  had  been 
founded  in  1702  by  a  French  trader,  and  was,  at 
the  date  of  the  establishment  of  the  third  route, 
in  a  prosperous  condition.  For  many  years,  the 
traders  crossed  the  plains  of  Southern  Illinois  to 
the  French  towns  on  the  bottoms  opposite  St. 
Louis.  They  were  afraid  to  go  on  down  the 
"Waba"  to  the  Ohio,  as  the  Indians  had  fright- 
ened them  with  accounts  of  the  great  monsters 
below.  Finally,  some  adventurous  spirit  went 
down  the  river,  found  it  emptied  into  the  Ohio, 
and  solved  the  problem  of  the  true  outlet  of  the 
Ohio,  heretofore  supposed  to  be  a  tributary  of  the 
Wabash. 

The  fourth  route  was  from  the  southern  shore 
of  Lake  Erie,  at  Presqueville,  over  a  portage  of 
fifteen  miles  to  the  head  of  French  Creek,  at 
Waterford,  Penn. ;  thence  down  that  stream  to  the 
Ohio,  and  on  to  the  Blississippi.  Along  all  these 
routes,  ports  and  posts  were  carefully  msftntained. 
Many  were  on  the  soil  of  Ohio,  and  were  the  first 
attempts  of  the  white  race  to  possess  its  domain. 
Many  of  the  ruins  of  these  posts  are  yet  found  on 
the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Erie,  and  at  the 
outlets  of  streams  flowing  into  the  lake  and  the  Ohio 
River.  The  principal  forts  were  at  Mackinaw,  at 
Presqueville,  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph's,  on 
Starved  Rock,  and  along  the  Father  of  Waters. 
Yet  another  power  was  encroaching  on  them :  a 
sturdy  race,  clinging  to  the  inhospitable  Atlantic 
shores,  were  coming  over  the  mountains.  The 
murmurs  of  a  conflict  were  already  heard — a  con- 
flict that  would  change  the  fate  of  a  nation. 

The  French  were  extending  their  explorations 
beyond  the  Mississippi;  they  were  also  forming  a 
political  organization,  and  increasing  their  influence 
over  the  natives.  Of  a  passive  nature,  however, 
their  power  and  their  influence  could  not  with- 
stand a  more  aggressive  nature,  and  they  were 
obliged,  finally,  to  give  way.  They  had  the 
fruitful  valleys  of  the  West  more  than  a  century; 
yet  they  developed  no  resources,  opened  no  mines 
of  wealth,  and  left  the  country  as  passive  as  they 
found  it. 

Of  the  growth  of  the  West  under  French  rule, 
but  little  else  remains  to  be  said.  The  sturdy 
Anglo-Saxon  race  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  and  their 
progenitors  in  England,  began,  now,  to  turn  their 
attention  to  this  vast  country.    The  voluptuousness 


■^ 


'A 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


33 


.  of  the  French  court,  their  neglect  of  the  true 
basis  of  wealth,  agriculture,  and  the  repressive 
tendencies  laid  on  the  colonists,  led  the  latter  to 
adopt  a  hunter's  life,  and  leave  the  country  unde- 
veloped and  ready  for  the  people  who  claimed  the 
country  from  "sea  to  sea."  Their  explorers  were 
now  at  work.     The  change  was  at  hand. 

Occasional  mention  has  been  made  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  State,  in  preceding  pages,  of  settle- 
ments and  trading-posts  of  the  French  traders,/ 
explorers  and  missionaries,  within  the  limits  of 
Ohio.  The  French  were  the  first  white  men  to 
occupy  the  northwestern  part  of  the  New  World,, 
and  though  their  stay  was  brief,  yet  it  opened  the 
way  to  a  sinewy  race,  living  on  the  shores  of  the 
Atlantic,  who  in  time  came,  saw,  and  conquered 
that  part  of  America,  making  it  what  the  people 
of  to-day  enjoy. 

As  early  as  1669,  four  years  before  the  discov- 
ery of  the  Mississippi  by  Joliet  and  Marquette, 

^  La  Salle,  the  famous  explorer,  discovered  the  Ohio 
River,  and  paddled^iown  its  gentle  current  as  far 
as  the  falls  at  the  present  city  of  Louisville,  but  he, 

-  like  others  of  the  day,  made  no  settlement  on  its 
banks,  only  claiming  the  country  for  his  King  by 
virtue  of  this  discovery. 

Early  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  cent- 
ury, French  traders  and  voyagers  passed  along  the 
southern  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Maumee,  up  whose  waters  they  rowed  their  bark 

■  canoes,  on  their  way  to  their  outposts  in  the  Wa- 
bash and  Illinois  Valleys,  established  between 
1675  and  1700.  As  soon  as  they  could,  without 
danger  from  their  inveterate  enemies,  the  Iroquois, 
masters  of  all  the  lower  lake  country,  erect  a 
trading-post  at  the  moiith  of  this  river,  they  did 
so.  It  was  made  a  depot  of  considerable  note, 
and  was,  probably,  the  first  permanent  habitation 
of  white  men  in  Ohio.  '  It  remained  until  after 
the  peace  of  1763,  the  termination  of  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  and  the  occupancy  of  this  country 
by  the  English.  On  the  site  of  the  French  trading- 
post,  the  British,  in  1794,  erected  Fort  Miami, 
which  they  garrisoned  until  the  country  came 
under  the  control  of  Americans.  Now,  Maumee 
City  covers  the  ground. 

The  French  had  a  trading-post  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Huron  River,  in  what  is  now  Erie  County. 
When  it  was  built  is  not  now  known.  It  was,  how- 
ever, probably  one  of  their  early  outposts,  and 
may  have  been  built  before  1750.  They  had  an- 
other on  the  shore  of  the  bay,  on  or  near  the  site 
of  Sandusky  City.     Both  this  and  the  one  at  the 


mouth  of  the  Huron  River  were  abandoned  before 
the  war  of  the  Revolution.  On  Lewis  Evan's  map 
of  the  British  Middle  Colonies,  published  in  1755, 
a  French  fort,  called  "Fort  Junandat,  built  in 
1754,"  is  marked  on  the  east  bank  of  the  San- 
dusky River,  several  miles  below  its  mouth.  Fort 
Sandusky,  on  the  western  bank,  is  also  noted. 
Several  Wyandot  towns  are  likewise  marked.  But 
very  little  is  known  concerning  any  of  these 
trading-posts.  They  were,  evidently,  only  tempo- 
rary, and  were  abandoned  when  the  English  came 
into  possession  of  the  country. 

The  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga  River  was  another 
important  place.  On  Evan's  map  there  is  marked 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Cuyahoga,  some  distance 
from  its  mouth,  the  words  "French  House"  doubt- 
less, the  station  of  a  French  trader.  The  ruins 
of  a  house,  found  about  five  miles  from  the  mouth 
of  the  river,  on  the  west  bank,  are  supposed  to 
be  those  of  the  trader's  station. 

In  1786,  the  Moravian  missionary,  Zeisberger, 
with  his  Indian  converts,  left  Detroit  ia  a  vessel ' 
called  the  Mackinaw,  and  sailed  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Cuyahoga.  From  there  they  went  up  the 
river  about  ten  miles,  and  settled  in  an  abandoned 
Ottawa  village,  where  Independence  now  is,  which 
place  they  called  "  Saint's  Rest."  Their  stay  was 
brief,  for  the  following  April,  they  left  for  the 
Huron  River,  and  settled  near  the  site  of  Milan, 
Erie  County,  at  a  locality  they  called  New  Salem. 

There  are  but  few  records  of  settlements  made 
by  the  French  until  after  1750.  Even  these  can 
hardly  be  called  settlements,  as  they  were  simply 
trading-posts.  The  French  easily  afiiliated  with 
the  Indians,  and  had  little  energy  beyond  trading. 
They  never  cultivated  fields,  laid  low  forests,  and 
subjugated  the  country.  They  were  a  half-Indian 
race,  so  to  speak,  and-  hence  did  little  if  anything 
in  developing  the  West. 

About  1749,  some  English  traders  came  to  a 
place  in  what  is  now  Shelby  County,  on  the 
banks  of  a  creek  since  known  as  Loramie's 
Creek,  and  established  a  trading-station  with  the 
Indians.  This  was  the  first  English  trading-place 
or  attempt  at  settlement  in  the  State.  ,  It  was  here 
but  a  short  time,  however,  when  the  French,  hear- 
ing of  its  existence,  sent  a  party  of  soldiers  to  the 
Twigtwees,  among  whom  it  was  founded,  and  de- 
manded the  traders  as  intruders  upon  French  ter- 
ritory. The  Twigtwees  refusing  to  deliver  up 
their  friends,  the  French,  assisted  by  a  large  party 
of  Ottawas  and  Chippewas,  attacked  the  trading- 
house,  probably  a  block-house,  and,  after  a  severe 


84 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


battle,  captured  it.  The  traders  were  taken  to 
Canada.  This  fort  was  called  by  the  English. 
"  PickawUlany,"  from  which  "Piqua"  is  probably 
derived.  About  the  time  that  Kentucky  was  set- 
tled, a  Canadian  Frenchman,  named  Loramie, 
established  a  store  on  the  site  of  the  old  fort.  He 
was  a  bitter  enemy  of  the  Americans,  and  for  a 
long  time  Loramie's  store  was  the  headquarters  of 
mischief  toward  the  settlers. 

The  French  had  the'faculty  of  endearing  them- 
selves to  the  Indians  by  their  easy  assimilation  of 
their  hg,bits;  and,  no  .doubt,  Loramie  was  equal  to 
any  in  this  respect,  and  hence  gained  great  influ- 
ence over  them.  Col.  Johnston,  many  years  an 
Indian  Agent  from  the  United  States  among  the 
Western  tribes,  stated  that  he  had  often  seen  the 
"  Indians  burst  into  tears  when  speaking  of  the 
times  when  their  French  father  had  dominion 
over  them ;  and  their  attachment  always  remained 
unabated." 

So  much  influence  had  Loramie  with  the  In- 
,  dians,  that,  when  Gen.  Clarke,  from  Kentucky, 
invaded  the  Miami  Valley  in  1782,  his  attention 
was  attracted  to  the  spot.  He  came  on  and  burnt 
the  Indian  settlement  here,  and  destroyed  the  store 
of  the  Frenchman,  selling  his  goods  among  the 
men  at  auction,  Loramie  fled  to  the  Shawanees, 
and,  with  a  colony -of  that  nation,  emigrated  west 
of  the  Mississippi,  to  the  Spanish  possessions, 
where  he  again  began  his  life  of  a  trader. 

In  1794,  during  the  Indian  war,  a  fort  was 
built  on  the  site  of  the  store  by  Wayne,  and 
named  Fort  Loramie.  The  last  officer  who  had 
command  here  was  Capt.  Butler,  a  nephew  of 
Col.  Eichard  Butler,  who  fell  at  St.  Clair's  defeat. 
While  hero  with  his  family,  he  lost  an  interesting 
boy,  about  eight  years  of  age.  About  his  grave, 
the  sorrowing  father  and  mother  built  a  substantial 
picket-fence,  planted  honeysuckles  over  it,  which, 
long  after,  remained  to  mark  the  grave  of  the 
soldier's  boy. 

The  site  of  Fort  Loramie  was  always  an  im- 
portant point,  and  was  one  of  the  places  defined 
on  the  boundary  line  at  the  Greenville  treaty. 
Now  a  barn  covers  the  spot. 

At  the  junction  of  the  Auglaize  and  Maumee 
Rivers,  on  the  site  of  Fort  Defiance,  built  by  Gen. 
Wayne  in  1794,  was  a  settlement  of  traders, 
established  some  time  before  the  Indian  war 
began.  "  On  the  high  ground  extending  from  the 
Maumee  a  quarter  of  a  mile  up  the  Auglaize, 
about  two  hundred  yards  in  width,  was  an  open 
space,  on  the  west  and  south  of  which  were  oak 


woods,  with  hazel  undergrowth.  Within  this  ^ 
opening,  a  few  hundred  yards  above  the  point,  on 
the  steep  bank  of  the  Auglaize,  were  five  or  six 
cabins  and  log  houses,  inhabited  principally  by 
Indian  traders.  The  most  northerly,  a  large 
hewed-log  house,  divided  below  into  three  apart- 
ments, was  occupied  as  a  warehouse,  store  and 
dwelling,  by  George  Ironside,  the  most  wealthy 
and  influential  of  the  traders  on  the  point.  Next 
to  his  were  the  houses  of  Pirault  (Pero)  a  French 
baker,  and  McKenzie,  a  Scot,  who,  in  addition  to 
merchandising,  fiDllowed  the  occupation  of  a  silver- 
smith, exchanging  with  the  Indians  his  brooches, 
ear-drops  and  other  silver  ornaments,  at  an 
enormous  profit,  for  skins  and  furs. 

Still  further  up  were  several  other  fami- 
lies of  French  and  English;  and  two  Ameri- 
can prisoners,  Henry  Ball,  a  soldier  taken  in  St. 
Clair's  1  defeat,  and  his  wife,  Polly  Meadows, 
captured  at  the  same  time,  were  allowed  to  live 
here  and  pay  their  masters  the  price  of  their 
ransom^he,  by  boating  to  tbfe  rapids  of  the  Mau- 
mee, and  she  by  washing  and  sewing.  Fronting 
the  house  of  Ironside,  and  about  fifty  yards  from, 
the  bank,  was  a  small  stockade,  inclosing  two 
hewed-log  houses,  one  of  which  was  occupied  by 
James  Girty  (a  brother  of  Simon),  the  other, 
occasionally,  by  Elliott  and  McKee,  British 
Indian  Agents  living  at  Detroit."'^ 

The  post,  cabins  and  all  they  contained  fell 
under  the  control  of  the  Americans,  when  the 
British  evacuated  the  shores  of  the  lakes. 
While  they  existed,  they  were  an  undoubted 
source  of  Indian  discontent,  and  had  much  to  do 
in  prolonging  the  Indian  war.  The  country 
hereabouts  did  not  settle  until  some  time  after 
the  creation  of  the  State  government. 

As  soon  as  the  French,  learned  the  true  source 
of  the  Ohio  and  Wabash  Rivers,  both  were  made 
a  highway  to  convey  the  products  of  their  hunt- 
ers. In  coursing  down  the  Ohio,  they  made 
trading-places,  or  depots,  where  they  could  obtain 
furs  of  the  Indians,  at  accessible  points,  generally 
at  the  mouths  of  the  rivers  emptying  into  the 
Ohio.  One  of  these  old  forts  or  trading-places 
stood  about  a  mile  and  a  half  south  of  the  outlet 
of  the  Scioto.  It  was  here  in  1740',  but  when 
it  was  erected  no  one  could  tell.  The  locality 
must  have  been  pretty  well  known  to  the  whites, 
however;  for,  in  1785,  three  years  before  the 
settlement  of  Marietta  was  made,  four  families 


*  Narrative  of  0.  M.  Spencer. 


^C 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


35 


made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to  settle  near  the  same 
place.  They  were  from  Kentucky,  but  were 
driven  away  by  the  Indians  a  short  time  after 
they  arrived,  not  being  allowed  to  build  cabins, 
and  had  only  made  preparations  to  plant  corn 
and  other  necessaries  of  life.  While  the  men 
were  encamped  near  the  vicinity  of  Piketown, 
in  Pike  County,  when  on  a  *hunting  expedition, 
they  were  surprised  by  the  Indians,  and  two  of 
them  slain.  The  others  hastened  back  to  the 
encampment  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto,  and 
hurriedly  gathering  the  families  together,  fortu- 
nately got  them  on  a  flat-boat,  at  that  hour  on  its 
way  down  the  river.  By  the  aid  of  the  HDoat, 
they  were  enabled  to  reach  MaysvUle,  and  gave 
up  the  attempt  to  settle  north  of  the  Ohio. 

The  famous  "old  Scioto  Salt  Works,"  in  Jack- 
son County,  on  the  banks  of  Salt  Creek,  a  tributary 
of  the  Scioto,  were  long  known  to  the  whites  before 
any  attempt  was  made  to  settle  in  Ohio.  They 
were  indicated  on  the  maps  published  in  1755. 
They  were  the  resort,  for  generations,  of  the  In- 
dians in  all  parts  of  the  West,  who  annually  came 
here  to  make  salt.  They  often  brought  white 
prisoners  with'  them,  and  thus  the  salt  works  be- 
came knpwn.  There  were  no  attempts  made  to 
settle  hire,  however,  until  after  the  Indian  war, 
which  closed  in  1795.  As  soon  as  peace  was  as- 
sured, the  whites  came  here  for  salt,  and  soon  after 
made  a  settlement.  Another  early  salt  spring 
was  in  what  is  now  Trumbull  County.  It  is  Slso 
noted  on  Evan's  map  of  1755.  They  were  occu- 
pied by  the  Indians,  French,  and  by  the  Americans 
as  early  as  1780,  and  perhaps  earlier. 

As  early  as  1761  Moravian  missionaries  came 
among  the  Ohio  Indians  and  began  their  labors. 
In  a  few  years,  under  the  lead  of  Revs.  Fredrick 
Post  and  John  Heckewelder,  permanent  stations 
were  established  in  several  parts  of  the  State,  chief- 
ly on  the  'Puscarawas  River  in  Tuscarawas  County. 
Here  were  the  three  Indian  villages — Shoenburn, 
Grnadenhutten  and  Salem.  The  site  of  the  first  is 
about  two  miles  south  of  New  Philadelphia ;  Gna- 
denhutten  was  seven  mile's  further  south,  and  about 
five  miles  still  on  was  Salem,  a  short  distance  from 
the  present  village  of  Port  Washington.  The  first 
and  last  named  of  these  villages  were  on  the  west 
side  of  the  'Tuscarawas  River,  near  the  margin  of 
the  Ohio  Canal.  Gnadenhutten  was  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river.-  It  was  here  that  the  brutal 
massacre  of  these  Christian  Indians,  by  the  rangers 
under  Col'.  Williamson,  occurred  March  8,  1782. 
The  account  of  the  massacre  and  of  these  tribes 


appears  in  these  pages,  and  it  only  remains  to 
notice  what  became  of  them. 

The  hospitable  and  friendly  character  of  these 
Indians  had  extended  beyond  their  white  breth- 
ren on  the  Ohio.  The  American  people  at  large 
looked  on  the  act  of  Williamson  and  his  men  as  an 
outrage  on  humanity.  Congress  felt  its  influence, 
and  gave  them  a  tract  of  twelve  thousand  acres, 
embracing  their  former  homes,  and  induced  them 
to  return  from  the  northern  towns  whither  they  had 
fled.  As  the  whites  came  into  the  country,  their 
manners  degenerated  until  it  became  necessary  to 
remove  them.  Through  Gen.  Cass,  of  Michigan, 
an  agreement  was  made  with  them,  whereby  Con- 
gress paid  them  over  $6,000,  an  annuity  of  $400, 
and  24,000  acres  in  some  territory  to  be  designated 
by  the  United  States.  This  treaty,  by  some  means, 
was  never  efiectually  carried  out,  and  the  princi- 
pal part  of  them  took' up  their  resideilce  near  a 
Moravian  missionary  station  on  the  River  Thames, 
in  Canada.  Their  old  churchyard  still  exists  on 
the  Tuscarawas  River,  and  here  rest  the  bones  of 
several  of  their  devoted  teachers.  It  is  proper 
to  remark  here,  that  Mary  Heckewelder,  daughter 
of  the  missionary,  is  generally  believed  to  have 
been  the  first  white  child  born  in  Ohio.  How- 
ever, this  is  largely  conjecture.  Captive  women 
among  the  Indians,  before  the  birth  of  Mary 
Heckewelder,  are  known  to  have  borne  children, 
which  afterward,  with  their  mothers,  were  restored 
to  their  friends.  The  assertion  that.  Mary 
Heckewelder  was  the  first  child  born  in  Ohio,  is 
therefore  incorrect.  She  is  the  first  of  whom  any 
definite  record  is  made. 

These  outposts  are  about  all  that  are  known 
to  have  existed  prior  to  the  settlement  at  Mari- 
etta. About  one-half  mile  below  Bolivar,  on 
the  western  line  of  Tuscarawas  County,  are  the 
remains  of  Fort  Laurens,  erected  in  1778,  by 
a  detachment  of  1,000  men  under  Gen.  Mc- 
intosh, from  Fort  Pitt.  It  was,  however,  occu- 
pied but  a,  short  time,  vacated  in  August,  1779,  as 
it  was  deemed  untenable  at  such  a  distance  from 
the  frontier. 

During  the  existence  of  the  six  years'  Indian 
war,  a  settlement  of  French  emigrants  was  made 
oil  the  Ohio  River,  that  deserves  notice.  It  illus- 
trates very  clearly  the  extreme  ignorance  and 
credulity  prevalent  at  that  day.  In  May  or  June 
of  1788,  Joel  Barlow  left  this  country  for  Europe, 
"  authorized  to  dispose  of  a  very  large  body  of 
land  in  the  West.  "  In  1790,  he  distributed  pro- 
posals in  Paris  for  the  disposal  of  lands  at  five 


'A 


36 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


sHllings  per  acre,  which,  says  Volney,  "  promised 
a  climate  healthy  and  delightful ;  scarcely  such  a 
thing  as  a  irost  in  the  winter ;  a  river,  called  by 
Way  of  eminence  '  The  Beautiful, '  abounding  in 
fish  of  an  enormous  size ;  magnificent  forests  of  a 
tree  from  which  sugar  flows,  and  a  shrub  which 
yields  candles ;  venidon  in  abundance ;  no  military 
enrollments,  and  no  quarters  to  find  for  soldiers." 
Purchasers  became  numerous,  individuals  and 
whole  families  sold  their  property,  and  in  the 
course  of  1791  many  embarked  at  the  various 
French  searports,  each  with  his  title  in  his  pocket. 
Five  hundred  settlers,  among  whom  were  many 
wood  carvers  and  guilders  to  His  Majesty,  King  of 
France,  coachmakers,  friseurs  and  peruke  makers, 
and  other  artisans  and  artistes,  equally  well  fitted 
for  a  frontier  life,  arrived  in  the  United  States  in 
1791-92,  and  acting  without  concert,  traveling 
without  knowledge  of  the  language,  customs  and 
roads,  at  last  managed  to  reach  the  spot  designated 
for  their  residence.  There  they  learned  they  had 
been  cruelly  deceived,  and  that  the  titles  they  held 
were  worthless.  Without  food,  shelterless,  and 
danger  closing  around  them,  they  were  in  a  position 
that  none  but  a  Frenchman  could  be  in  without 
despair.  Who  brought  them  thither,  and  who  was 
to  blame,  is  yet  a  disputed  point.  Some  affirm 
that  those  to  whom  large  grants  of  land  were  made 
when  the  Ohio  Company  procured  its  charter,  were 
the  real  instigators  of  the  movement.  They  failed 
to  pay  for  their  lands,  and  hence  the  title  reverted 
to  the  Government.  This,  coming  to  the  ears  of 
the  poor  Frenchmen,  rendered  their  situation  more 
distressing.  They  never  paid  for  their  lands,  and 
only  through  the  clemency  of  Congress,  who  after- 
ward gave  them  a  grant  of  land,  and  confirmed 
them  in  its  title,  were  they  enabled  to  secure  a  foot- 
hold.    Whatever  doubt  there  may  be  as  to  the 


causes  of  these  people  being  so  grossly  deceived, 
there  can  be  none  regarding  their  sufierings.  They 
had  followed  a  jack-o-lantern  into  the  howling 
wilderness,  and  must  work  or  starve.  The  land 
upon  which  they  had  been  located  was  covered 
with  immense  forest  trees,  to  level  which  the  coach- 
makers  were  at  a  k)ss.  At  last,  hoping  to  conquer 
by  a  coup  de  main,  they  tied  ropes  to  the  branches,, 
and  while  a  dozen  pulled  at  them  as  many  fell  at 
the  trunk  with  all  sorts  of  edged  tools,  and  thus 
soon  brought  the  monster  to  Ihe  earth.  Yet  he 
was  a  burden.  He  was  down,  to  be  sure,  but  as 
much  in  the  way  as  ever.  Several  lopped  off  the 
branches,  others  dug  an  immense  trench  at  his  side, 
into  which,  with  might  and  -main,  all  rolled  the  ■ 
large  log,  and  then  buried  him  from  sight.  They 
erected  their  cabins  in  a  cluster,  as  they  had  seen 
them  in  their  own  native  land,  thus  affording  some 
protection  from  marauding  bands  of  Indians. 
Though  isolated  here  in  the  lonely  wilderness,  and 
nearly  out  of  fiinds  with  which  to  purchase  pro- 
visions from  descending  boats,  yet  once  a  week 
they  met  and  drowned  care  in  a  merry  dance, 
greatly  to  the  wonderment  of  the  scout  or  lone 
Indian  who  chanced  to  witness  their  revelry. 
Though  their  vivacity  could  work  wonders,  it  would 
not  pay  for  lands  nor  buy  provisions.  Some  of  those 
at  Gallipolis  (for  such  they  called  their  settlement, 
from  Gallia,  in  France)  went  to  Detroit,  some  to 
Kaskaskia,  and'  some  bought  land  of  the  Ohio 
Company,  who  treated  them  liberally.  Congress, 
too,  in  1795,  being  informed  of  their  sufferings, 
and  how  they  had  been  deceived,  granted  them 
24,000  acres  opposite  Little  Sandy  River,  to  which 
grant,  in  1798,  12,000  acres  more  were  added. 
The  tract  has  since  been  known  as  French  Grant. 
The  settlement  is  a  curious  episode  in  early  West- 
ern history,  and  deserves  a  place  in  its  annals. 


9  "'V 


iiL 


HISTOEY   OP   OHIO. 


37 


CHAPTER    III. 

ENGLISH    EXPLORATIONS— TRADERS— FRENCH    AND    INDIAN    WAR    IN    THE    WEST— ENGLISH 

POSSESSION. 


AS  has  been  noted,  the  French  title  rested  on 
the  discoveries  of  their  missionaries  and 
traders,  upon  the  occupation  of  the  country,  and 
upon  the  construction  of  the  treaties  of  Ryswick, 
Utrecht  and  Aix  la  Chapelle-.  The  English 
claims  to  the  same  region  were  based  on  the  fact 
of  a  prior  occupation  of  the  corresponding  coast, 
on  an  opposite  construction  of  the  same  treaties, 
and  an  alleged  cession  of  the  rights  of  the 
Indians.  The  rights  acquired  by  discovery  were 
conventional,  and  in  equity  were  good  only 
between  European  powers,  and  could  not  affect  the 
rights  of  the  natives,  but  this  distinction  was  dis- 
regarded by  all  European  powers.  The  inquiry  of 
an  Indian  chief  embodies  the  whole  controversy : 
"  Where  are  the  Indian  lands,  since  the  French 
claim  all  on  the  north  side  of  the  Ohio  and  the 
English  all  on  the -south  side  of  it?" 

The  English  charters  expressly  granted  to  all 
the  original  colonies  the  country  westward  to  the 
South  Sea,  and  the  claims  thus  set  up  in  the  West, 
though  held  in  abeyance,  were  never  relinquished. 
The  primary  distinction  between  the  two  nations 
governed  their  actions  in  the  New  World,  and  led 
finally  to  the  supremacy  of  the  English.  They 
were  fixed  agricultural  communities.  The  French 
were  mere  trading-posts.  Though  the  French 
were  the  prime  movers  in  the  exploration  of  the 
West,  the  English  made  discoveries  during  their 
occupation,  however,  mainly  by  their  traders,  who 
penetrated  the  Western  wilderness  by  way  of  the 
Ohio  River,  entering  it  from  the  two  streams  which 
uniting  form  that  river.  Daniel  Coxie,  in  1722, 
published,  in  London,  "A  description  of  the 
English  province  of  Carolina,  by  the  Spaniards 
called  Florida,  and  by  the  French  called  La  Louis- 
iane,  as  also  the  great  and  famous  river  Mescha- 
cebe,  or  Mississippi,  the  five  vast  navigable  lakes 
of  fresh  water,  and  the  parts  adjacent,  together 
with  an  account  of  the  commodities  of  the  growth 
and  production  of  the  said  province."  The  title 
of  this  work  exhibits  very  clearly  the  opinions  of 
the  English  people  respecting  the  West.  As  early 
as  1630,  Charles  I  granted  to  Sir  Robert  Heath 
"All  that  part  of  America  lying  between  thirty- 


one  and  thirty-six  degrees  north  latitude,  from  sea 
to  sea,"  out  of  which  the  limits  of  Carolina  were 
afterward  taken.  This  immense  grant  was  con- 
veyed in  1638,  to  the  Earl  of  Arundel,  and  after- 
ward came  into  the  possession  of  Dr.  Daniel  Coxie. 
In  the  prosecution  of  this  claim,  it  appeared.  ,that 
Col.  Wood,  of  Virginia,  from  1654  to  1664,  ex- 
plored several  branches  of  the  Ohio  and  "  Mescha- 
cebe,"  as  they  spell  the  Mississippi.  A  Mr.  Need- 
ham,  who  was  employed  by  Col.  Wood,  kept  a 
journal  of  the  exploration.  There  is  also  the  ac- 
count of  some  one  who  had  explored  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the_  Yellow,  or  Missouri  River,  before  1676. 
These,  and  others,  are  said  to  have  been  there 
when  La  Salle  explored  the  outlet  of  the  Great 
River,  as  he  found  tools  among  the  natives  which 
were  of  lEuropean  manufacture.  They  had  been 
brought  here  by  English  adventurers.  Also,  when 
Iberville  was  colonizing  the  lower  part  of  Louis- 
iana, these  same  persons  visited  the  Chixjkasaws 
and  stirred  them  up  against  the  French.  It  is  also 
stated  that  La  Salle  found  that  some  one  had  been 
among  the  Natchez  tribes  when  he  returned  from 
the  discovery  of  the  outlet  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
excited  them  against  him.  There  is,  however,  no 
good  authority  for  these  statements,  and  they  are 
doubtless  incorrect.  There  is  also  an  account  that . 
in  1678,  several  persons  went  from  New  England 
as  far  south  as  New  Mexico,  "  one  hundred  and 
fifty  leagues  beyond  the  Meschacebe,"  the  narrative 
reads,  and  on  their  return  wrote  an  account  of  the 
expedition.  This,  also,  cannot  be  traced  to  good 
authority.  The  only  accurate  account  of  the 
English  reaching  the  West  was  when  Bienville 
met  the  British  vessel  at  the  "English  Turn," 
about  1700.  A  few  of  their  traders  may  have 
been  ip  the  valley  west  of  the-  Alleghany  Mount- 
ains before  1700,  though  no  reliable  accounts  are 
now  found  to  confirm  these  suppositions.  Still, 
from  the  earliest  occupation  of  the  Atlantic  Coast 
by  the  English,  they  claimed  the  country,  and, 
though  the  policy  of  its  occupation  rested  for  a 
time,  it  was  never  ftilly  abandoned.  Its  revival 
dates  from  1710  properly,  though  no  immediate 
endeavor  was  made  for  many  years  after.     That 


38 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


year,  Alexander  Spottswood  was  made  Governor  of 
Virginia.  No  sooner  did  lie  assume  the  functions 
of  ruler,  than,  casting  his  eye  over  his  dominion,  he 
saw  the  great  West  beyond  the  Alleghany  Mount- 
ains unoccupied  by  the  English,  and  rapidly  filling 
with  the  French,  who  he  observed  were  gradually 
confining  the  English  to  the  Atlantic  Coast.  His 
prophetic  eye  saw  at  a  glance  the  animus  of  the 
whole  scheme,  and  he  determined  to  act  promptly 
on  the  defensive.  Through  his  representation,  the 
Virginia  Assembly  was  induced  to  make  an  appro- 
priation to  defray  the  expense  of  an  exploration  of 
the  monntains,  and  see  if  a  suitable  pass  could  not 
then  be  found  where  they  could  be  crossed.  The 
Governor  led  the  expedition  in  person.  The  pass 
was  discovered,  a  route  marked  out  for  future  em- 
igrants, and  the  party  returned  to  Williamsburg. 
There  the  Governor  established  the  order  of  the 
"Knights  of  the  Golden  Horseshoe,"  presented 
his  report  to  the  Colonial  Assembly  and  one  to  his 
King.  In  each  .report,  he  exposed  with  great  bold- 
ness the  scheme  of  the  French,  and  advised  the 
building  of  a  chain  of  forts  across  to  the  Ohio,  and 
the  fcrmation  of  settlements  to  counteract  them. 
The  British  Government,  engrossed  with  other 
matters,  neglected  his  advice.  Forty  years  after, 
they  remembered  it,  only  to  regret  that  it  was  so 
thoughtlessly  disregarded. 

Individuals,  however,  profited  by  his  advice.  By 
1730,  traders  began  in  earnest  to  cross  the  mount- 
ains and  gather  from  the  Indians  the  stores  beyond. 
They  now  began  to  adopt  a  system,  and  abandoned 
the  heretofore  renegade  habits  of  those  who  had 
superseded  them,  many  of  whom  never  returned  to 
the  Atlantic  Coast.  In  1Y42,  John  Howard  de- 
scended the  Ohio  in  a  skin  canoe,  and,  on  the 
Mississippi  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  French.  His 
captivity  did  not  in  the  least  deter  others  from 
coming.  Indeed,  the  date  of  his  voyage  was  the 
commencement  of  a  vigorous  trade  with  the  In- 
dians by  the  English,  who  crossed  the  AUeghanies 
by  the  route  discovered  by  Gov.  Spottswood.  In 
1748,  Conrad  Weiser,  a  German  of  Herenberg,  who 
had  acquired  in  early  life  a  knowledge  of  the  Mo- 
hawk tongue  by  a  residence  among  them,  was  sent 
on  an  embassy  to  the  Shawanees  on  the  Ohio.  He 
went  as  far  as  Logstown,  a  SJiawanee  village  on  the 
north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  about  seventeen  miles  be- 
low the  site  of  Pittsburgh.  Hero  he- met  the  chiefs 
-in  counsel,  and  secured  their  promise  of  aid  against 
the  French. 

The   principal   ground  of   the    claims  of    the 
English  in  the  Northwest  was  the  treaty  with  the 


Five  Nations— the  Iroquois.  This  powerful  confed- 
eration claimed  the  jurisdiction  over  an  immense 
extent  of  country.  Their  pohey  differed  considera- 
bly from  other  Indian  tribes.  They  were  the  only 
confederation  which  attempted  any  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  America.  They  were  often  termed  the 
"  Six  Nations,"  as  the  entrance  of  another  tribe 
into  the  confederacy  made  that  number.  They 
were  the  conquerors  of  nearly  all  tribes  from  Lower 
Canada,  to  and  beyond  the  Mississippi.  They  only 
exacted,  however,  a  tribute  from  the  conquered 
tribes,  leaving  them  to  manage  their  own  internal 
affairs,  and  stipulating  that  to  them  alone  did  the 
right  of  cession  belong.  Their  country,  under 
these  claims,  embraced  all  of  America  north  of  the 
Cherokee  Nation,  in  Virginia;  all  Kentucky,  and 
all  the  Northwest,  save  a  district  in  Ohio  and  Indi- 
ana, and  a  small  section  in  Southwestern  Illinois, 
claimed  by  the  Miami  Confederacy.  The  Iroquois, 
or  Six  Nations,  were  the  terror  of  all  other  tribes. 
It  was  they  who  devastated  the  Illinois  country 
about  Rock  Fort  in  1680,  and  caused  wide-spread 
alarm  among  all  the  Western  Indians.  In  1684, 
Lord  Howard,  Governor  of  Virginia,  held  a  treaty 
with  the  Iroquois  at  Albany,  when,  at  the  request 
of  Col.  Duncan,  of  New  York.,  they  placed  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  the  English.  They 
made  a  deed  of  sale  then,  by  treaty,  to  the  British 
Government,  of  a  vast  tract  of  country  south  and 
east  of  the  Illinois  River,  and  extending  into  Can- 
ada. In  1726,  another  deed  was  drawn  up  and 
signed  by  the  chiefs  of  the  national  confederacy  by 
which  their  lands  were  conveyed  in  trust  to 
England,  "  to  be  protected  and  defended  by  His 
Majesty,  to  and  for  the  use  of  the  grantors  and 
their  heirs."* 

If  the  Six  Nations  had  a  good  claim  to  the  West- 
ern country,  there  is  but  little  doubt  but  England 
was  justified  in  defending  their  country  against  the 
French,  as,  by,  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  they  had 
agreed  not  to  invade  the  lands  of  Britain's  Indian 
allies.  This  claim  was  vigorously  contested  by 
France,  as  that  country  claimed  the  Iroquois  had 
no  lawful  jurisdiction  over  the  West.  In  all  the 
disputes,  the  interests  of  the  contending  nations 
was,  however,  the  paramount  consideration.  The 
rights  of  the  Indians  were  little  regarded. 

The  British  also  purchased  land  by  the  treaty 
of  Lancaster,  in  1744,  wherein  they  agreed  to  pay 
the  Six  Nations  for  land  settled  unlawfully  in 
Pennsylvania,  Virginia  and  Maryland.     The  In- 


*  Annals  of  the  West. 


HISTOKY   OF   OHIO. 


39 


dians  were  given  goods  and  gold  amounting  to 
near  a  thousand  pounds  sterling.  They  were  also 
promised  the  protection  of  the  English.  Had  this 
latter  provision  been  faithfully  carried  out,  much 
blood  would  have  been  saved  in  after  years.  The 
treaties  with  the  Six  Nations  were  the  real  basis 
of  the  claims  of  Great  Britain  to  the  West ;  claims 
that  were  only  settled  by  war.  The  Shawanee  In- 
dians; on  the  Ohio,  were  also  becoming  hostile  to 
the  English,  and  began  to  assume  a  threatening 
exterior.  Peter  Chartier,  a  half-breed,  residing  in 
Philadelphia,  escaped  from  the  authorities,  those 
by. whom  he  was  held  for  a  violation  of  the  laws, 
and  joining  the  Shawanees,  persuaded  them  to  join 
the  French.  Soon  after,  in  1743  or  1744,  he 
placed  himself  at  the  head  of  400  of  their  war- 
riors, and  lay  in  wait  on  the  Alleghany  River  for 
the  provincial  traders.  He  captured  two,  exhib- 
ited to  them  a  captain's  commission  from  the 
French,  and  seized  their  goods,  worth' £1,600. 
The  Indians,  after  this,  emboldened  by  the  aid 
given  them  by  the  French,  became  more  and  more 
hostile,  and  Weiser  was  again  sent  across  the  mount- 
ains in  1748,  with  presents  to  conciliate  them  and 
sound  them  on  their  feelings  for  the  rival  nations, 
and  also  to  see  what  they  thought  of  a  settlement 
of  the  English  to  be  made  in  the  West.  The  visit 
of  Conrad  Weiser  was  successful,  and  Thomas  Lee, 
with  twelve  other  Virginians,  among  whom  were 
Lawrence  and  Augustine  Washington,  brothers  of 
George  Washington,  formed  a  company  which 
they  styled  the  Ohio  Company,  and,  in  1748,  peti- 
tioned the  King  for  a  grant  beyond  the  mountains. 
The  monarch  approved  the  petition  and  the  gov- 
ernment of  Virginia  was  ordered  to  grant  the  Com- 
pany 500,000  acres  within  the  bounds  of  that 
colony  beyond  the  AUeghanies,  200^000  of  which 
were  to  be  located  at  once.  This  provision  was  to 
hold  good  for  ten  years,  free  of-  quit  rent,  provided 
the  Company  would  settle  ■  100  families  within 
seven  years,  and  build  a  fort  sufficient  for  their 
protection.  These  terms  the  Company  accepted, 
and  sent  at  once  to  London  for  a  cargo  suitable  for 
the  Indian  trade.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
English  Companies  in  the  West ;  this  one  forming 
.  a  prominent  part  in  the  history  of  Ohio,  as  will 
be  seen  hereafter.  Others  were  also  formed  in 
Virginia,  whose  object  was  the  colonization  of  the 
West.  One  of  these,  the  Loyal  Company,  received, 
on  the  12th  of  June,  1749,  a  grant  of  800,000 
acres,  from  the  line  of  Canada  on  the  north  and 
west,  and  on  the  29th  of  October,  1751,  the  Green- 
briar  Company  received  a  grant  of  100,000  acres. 


To  these  encroachments,  the  French  were  by  no 
means  blind.  They  saw  plainly  enough  that  if 
the  English  gaine4  a  foothold  in  the  West,  they 
would  inevitably  endeavor  to  obtain  the  country, 
and  one  day  the  issue  could  only  be  decided  by 
war.  Vaudreuil,  the  .  French  Governor,  had  long 
anxiously  watched  the  coming  struggle.  In  1774, 
he  wrote  home  representing  the  consequences  that 
would  surely  come,  should  the  English  succeed  in 
their  plans.  The  towns  of  the  French  in  Illinois 
were  producing  large  amounts  of  bread-stufis  and 
provisions  which  they  sent  to  New  Orleans.  These 
provinces  were  becoming  valuable,  and  must  not  be 
allowed  to  come  under  control  of  a  rival  power. 
In  1749,  Louis  Celeron  was  sent  by  the  Governor 
with  a  party  of  soldiers  to  plant  leaden  plates,  suit- 
ably inscribed,  along  the  Ohio  at  the  mouths  of 
the  principal  streams.  Two  of  these  plates  were 
afterward  exhumed.  One  was  sent  to  the  Mary- 
land Historical  Society,  and  the  inscription*  deci- 
phered by  De  Witt  Clinton.  On  these  plates  was 
clearly  stated  the  claims  of  France,  as  will  be  seen, 
from  the  translation  below. 

England's  claim,  briefly  and  clearly  stated,  read 
as  follows:  "That  all  lands,  or  countries  west- 
ward from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the  South  Sea, 
between  48  and  34  degrees  of  North  Latitude, 
were  expressly  included  in  the  grant  of  King 
James  the  First,  to  divers  of  his  subjects,  so  long 
time  since  as  the  year  1606,  and  afterwards  con- 
firmed in  the  year  1620;  and  under  this  grant, 
the  colony  of  Virginia  claims  extent  so  far  west 
as  the  South  Sea,  and  the  ancient  colonies  of  Mass- 
achusetts Bay  and  Connecticut,  were  by  their 
respective  charters,  made  to  extend  to  the  said 
South  Sea,  so  that  not  only  the  right  to  the  sea 
coast,  but  to  all  the  Inland  countries  from  sea  to 
sea,  has  at  all  times  been  asserted  by  the  Crown  of 
England."!      ' 

To  make  good  their  titles,  both  nations  were  now 
doing  their  utmost.     Professedly  at  peace,  it  only  ' 
needed  a  torch  applied,  as  it  were,  to  any  point,  to 
instantly  precipitate  hostilities.     The  French  were 

'*  The  following  is  the  translation  of  the  inscription  of  the  plate 
found  at  Venango :  "  In  the^year  1749,  reign  of  Louis  XV,  King  of 
France,  we,  Celeron,  commandant  of  a  detachment- by  Monsieur 
the  Marquis  of  Crailisoniere,  Commander-in-chief  of  New  France, 
to  establish  tranquillity  in  certain  Indian  villages  in  these  Cantons, 
have  buried  this  plate  at  the  confluence  of  the  Toraclakoin,  this 
twenty-ninth  of  July,  near  the  River  Ohio,  otherwise  Beautiful 
Eiver,  as  a  monument  of  renewal  of  possession  which  we  have  taken 
of  the  said  river,  and  all  its  tributaries;  and  of  all  the  land  on  both 
sides,  as  far  as  the  sources  of  said  rivers;  inasmuch  as  the  preceding 
Kings  of  France  have  enjoyed  it,  and  maintained  it  by  thpir  arms 
and  by  treaties;  especially  by  those  of  Byswick,  Utrecht,  and  Aix 
La  Chapelle." 

i  Colonial  Becords  of  Pennsylvania. 


40 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


busily  engaged  erecting  forts  from  the  southern 
shores  of  Lake  Erie  to  the  Ohio,  and  on  down  in 
the  Illinois  Valley ;  up  at  Detroit,  and  at  all  its 
posts,  preparations  were  constantly  going  on  for  the 
crisis,  now  sure  to  come.  The  issue  between  the 
two  governments  was  now  ftilly  made  up.  It  ad- 
mitted of  no  compromise  but  the  sword.  To  that, 
however,  neither  power  desired  an  immediate  ap- 
peal, and  both  sought  rather  to  establish  and  fortify 
their  interests,  and  to  conciliate  the  Indian  tribes. 
The  English,  through  the  Ohio  Company,  sent  out 
Christopher  Gist  in  the  fall  of  1750,  to  explore  the 
regions  west  of  the  mountains.  He  was  instructed 
to  examine  the  passes,  trace  the  courses  of  the 
rivers,  mark  the  falls,  seek  for  valuable  lands,  ob- 
serve the  strength,  and  to  conciliate  the  friendship 
of  the  Indian  tribes.  He  was  well  fitted  for  such 
an  enterprise.  Hardy,  sagacious,  bold,  an  adept  in 
Indian  character,  a  hunter  by  occupation,  no  man 
was  better  qualified  than  he  for  such  an  undertak- 
ing. He  visited  Logstown,  where  he  was  jealously 
received,  passed  over  to  the  Muskingum  River  and 
Valley  in  Ohio,  where  he  found  a  village  of  Wyan- 
dots,  divided  in  sentiment.  At  this  village  he  met 
Crogan,  another  equally  famous  frontiersman,  who 
had  been  sent  out  by  Pennsylvania.  Together 
they  held  a  council  with  the  chiefs,  and  received 
assurance  of  the  friendship  of  the  tribe.  This 
done,  they  passed  to  the  Shawnee  towns  on  the 
Scioto,  received  their  assurances  of  friendship,  and 
went  on  to  the  Miami  Valley,  which  they  crossed, 
remarking  in  Crogan's  journal  of  its  great  fertili- 
ty. They  made  a  raft  of  logs  on  which  they 
crossed  the  Grreat  Miami,  visited  Piqua,  the  chief 
town  of  the  Pickawillanies,  and  here  made  treaties 
with  the  Weas  and  Piankeshaws.  While  here,  a 
deputation  of  the  Ottawas  visited  the  Miami  Con- 
federacy to  induce  them  to  unite  with  the  French. 
They  were  repulsed  through  the  infiuence  of  the 
English  agents,  the  Miamis  sending  Gist  word  that 
they  would  "  stand  like  the  mountains.  "  Crogan 
now  returned  and  published  an  account  of  their 
wanderings.  Gist  followed  the  Miami  to  its 
mouth,  passed  down  the  Ohio  till  within  fifteen 
miles  of  the  falls,  then  returned  by  way  of  the 
Kentucky  River,  over  the  highlands  of  Kentucky 
to  Virginia,  arriving  in  May,  1751.  He  had 
visited  the  IMingoes,  Delawares,  Wyandots,  Shawa- 
nees  and  Miamis,  -proposed  a  union  among  these 
tribes,  and  appointed  a  grand  council  to  meet  at 
Logstown  to  form  an  alliance  among  themselves 
and  with  Virginia.  His  journey  was  marvelous 
for  the  day.     It  was'  extremely  hazardous,  as  he 


was  part  of  the  time  among  hostile  tribes,  who 
could  have  captured  him  and  been  well  rewarded 
by  the  T^rench  Government.  But  Gist  knew  how 
to  act,  and  was  successful. 

While  Gist  was  doing  this,  some  English  traders 
established  themselves  at  a  place  in  what  is  now 
known  as  Shelby  County,  Ohio,  and  opened  a 
store  for  the  purpose  of  trading  with  the  Indians. 
This  was  clearly  in  the  limits  of  the  West,  claimed 
by  the  French,  and  at  once  aroused  them  to  action. 
The  fort  orsix)ckade  stood  on  the  banks  of  Loramie's 
Creek,  about  sixteen  miles  northwest  of  the  present 
city  of  Sydney.  It  received  the  name  Loramie 
from  the  creek  by  the  French,  which  received 
its  name  in  turn'  from  the  French  trader  of 
that  name,  who  had  a  trading-post  on  this 
creek.  Lorapie  had  fled  to  the  Spanish  country 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  for  many  years 
was  a  trader  there ;  his  store  being  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  Kansas  and  Missouri,  near  the  present 
city  of  Kansas  City,  Mo.  When  the  English 
traders  came  to  Loramie's  Creek,  and  erected 
their  trading-place,  they  gave  it  the  name  of  Piek- 
awillany,  from  the  tribe  of  Indians  there.  The 
Miami  confederacy  granted  them  this  privilege 
as  the  result  of  the  presents  brought  by  Crogan  and 
Gist.  It  is  also  asserted  that  Andrew  Montour, 
a  half-breed,  son  of  a  Seneca  chief  and  the  famous 
Catharine  Montour,  who  was  an  important  fac- 
tor afterward  in  the  English  treaties  with  the 
Indians,  was  with  them,  and  by  his  influence  did 
much  to  aid  in  securing  the  privilege.  Thus  was 
established  the  first  English  trading-post  in  the 
Northwest  Territory  and  in  Ohio.  It,  however, 
enjoyed  only  a  short  duration.  The  French  could 
not  endure  so  clear  an  invasion  of  their  country, 
and  gathering  a  force  of  Ottawas  and  Chippewas, 
now  their  allies,  they  attacked  the  stockade  in 
June,  1752.  At  first  they  demanded  of  the  Miamis 
the  surrender  of  the  fort,  as  they  were  the  real 
cause  of  its  location,  having  granted  the  English 
the  privilege.  The  Miamis  not  only  refused,  but 
aided  the  British  in  the  defense.^  In  the  battle  that 
ensued,  fourteen  of  the  Miamis'were  slain,  and  all 
the  traders  captured.  One  account  says  they  were 
burned,  another,  and  probably  the  correct  one, 
states  that  they  were  taken  to  Canada  as  prisoners 
of  war.  It  is  probable  the  traders  were  from  Penn- 
sylvania, as  that  commonwealth  made  the  Miamis 
presents  as  condolence  for  their  warriors  that  were 
slain. 

Blood  had  now  been  shed.  The  opening  gun  of 
the  French  and  Indian  war  had  been  fired,  and  both 


^^ 


HISTORY  OF   OHIO. 


41 


nations  became  more  deeply  interested  in  affairs  in 
the  West.  The  English  were  determined  to  secure 
additional  title  to  the  West,  and,  in  1752,  sent 
Messrs.  Fry,  Lomax  and  Patton  as  commissioners 
to  Logstown  to  treat  with  the  Indians,  and  confirm 
the  Lancaster  treaty.  They  met  the  Indian^  on 
the  9th  of  June,  stated  their  desires,  and  on  the 
11th  received  their  answer.  At  first,  the  sav- 
ages were  not  inclined  to  recognize  the  Lancaster 
treaty,  but  agreed  to  aid  the  English,  as  the  French 
had  already  made  war  on  the  Twigtees  (at  Pickar- 
willany),  and  consented  to  the  establishment  of  a 
fort  and  trading-post  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio. 
This'  was  not  all  the  Virginians  wanted,  however, 
and  taking  aside  Andrew  Montour,  now  chief  of  the 
Six  Nations,  persuaded  him  to  use  his  influence 
with  the  red  men.  By  such  means,  they  were  in- 
duced to  treat,  and  on  the  13th  they  all  united  in 
signing  a  deed,  confirming  the  Lancaster  treaty  in 
its  full  extent,  consenting  to  a  settlement  southwest 
of  the  Ohio,  and  covenanting  that  it  should  not  be 
disturbed  by  them.  By  such  means  was  obtained 
the  treaty  with  the  Indians  in  the  Ohio  Valley. 

All  this  time,  the  home  governments  were  en- 
deavoring to  out-maneuver  each  other  with  regard 
to  the  lands  in  the  West,  though  there  the  outlook 
only  betokened  war.  The  French  understood  bet- 
ter than  the  English  how  to  manage  the  Indians, 
and  succeeded  in  attaching  them  firmly  to  their 
cause.  The  English  were  not  honest  in  their 
actions  with  them,  and  hence,  in  after  years,  the 
massacres  that  followed. 

At  the  close  of  1752,  Grist  was  at  work,  in  con- 
formity with  the  Lancaster  and  Logstown  treaties, 
laying  out  a  fort  and  town  on  Chartier's  Creek, 
about  ten  miles  below  the  fork.  Eleven  families 
had  crossed  the  mountains  to  settle  at  Grist's  resi- 
dence west  of  Laurel  Hill,  not  far  from  the  Yough- 
iogheny.  Groods  had  come  from  England  for  the 
Ohio  Company,'  which  were  carried  as  far  West  as 
Will's  Creek,  where  Cumberland  now  stands  ;  and 
where  they  were  taken  by  the  Indians  and  traders. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  French  were  gathering 
cannon  and  stores  on  Lake  Erie,  and,  without 
treaties  or  deeds  of  land,  were  gaining  the  good 
will  of  the  inimical  tribes,  and  preparing,  when  all 
was  ready,  to  strike  the  blow.  Their  fortifications 
consisted  of  a  chain  of  forts  from  Lake  Erie  to 
the  Ohio,  on  the  border.  One  was  at  Presque  Isle, 
on  the  site  of  Erie  ;  one  on  French  Creek,  on  the 
site  of  Waterford,  Penn.;  one  at  the  mouth  of 
French  Creek,  in  Venango  County,  Penn.;  while 
opposite  it  was  another,  effectually  commanding 


that  section  of  country.  These  forts,  it  will  be 
observed,  were  all  in  the  limits  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania colony.  The  Governor  informed  the  Assem- 
bly of  their  existence,  who  voted  £600  to  be  used 
in  purchasing  presents  for  the  Indians  near  the 
forts,  and  thereby  hold  their  friendship.  Virginia, 
also,  took  similar  measures.  Trent  was  sent,  with 
guns  and  ammunition  and  presents,  to  the  friendly 
tribes,  and,  while  on  his  mission,  learned  of  the 
plates  of  lead  planted  by  the  French.  In  October, 
1753,  a  treaty  was  consummated  with  representa- 
tives of  the  Iroquois,  Delawares,  Shawanees,  Twig- 
twees  and  Wyandots,  by  commissioners  from 
Pennsylvania,  one  of  whom  was  the  philosopher 
Franklin.  At  the  conferences,  held  at  this  time, 
the  Indians  complained  of  the  actions  of  the 
French  in  forcibly  taking  possession  of  the  dis- 
puted country,  and  feo  bitterly  denounced  them 
for  using  rum  to  intoxicate  the  red  men,  when 
they  desired  to  gain  any  advantage.  Not  long 
after,  they  had  similar  grounds  of  c^omplaint  against 
the  English,  whose  lawless  traders  cared  for  nothing 
but  to  gain'  the  furs  of  the  savage  at  as  little  ex- 
pense as  possible. 

The  encroachments  of  the  French  on  what  was 
regarded  as  English  territory,  created  intense  feel- 
ing in  the  colonies,  especially  in  Virginia.  The 
purpose  of  the  French  to  inclose  the  English  on 
the  Atlantic  Coast,  and  thus  prevent  their  extension 
over  the  mountains,  became  more  and  more  ap- 
parent, and  it  was  thought  that  this  was  the  open- 
ing of  a  scheme  already  planned  by  the  French 
Court  to  reduce  all  North  America  under  the  do- 
minion of  France.  Gov.  Dinwiddle  determined 
to  send  an  ambassador  to  the  French  posts,  to  as- 
certain their  real  intentions  and  to  observe  the 
amount  and  disposition  of  their  forces.  He  selected 
a  young  Virginian,  then  in  his  twenty-first  year, 
a  surveyor  by  trade  and  one  well  qualified  for  the 
duty.  That  young  man  afterward  led  the  Ameri- 
can Colonies  in  their  struggle  for  liberty.  George 
Washington  and  one  companion,  Mr.  Gist,  suc- 
cessfully made  the  trip,  in  the  solitude  of  a  severe 
winter,  received  assurance  from  the  French  com- 
mandant that  they  would  by  no  means  abandon 
their  outposts,  and  would  not  yield  unless  com- 
pelled by  force  of  arms.  The  commandant  was 
exceedingly  polite,  but  firm,  and  assured  the  young 
American  that  "we  claim  the  country  on  the  Ohio 
by  virtue  of  the  discovery  of  La  Salle  (in  1669) 
and  will  not  give  it  up  to  the  English.  Our  orders 
are  to  make  prisoners  of  every  Englishman  found 
trading  in  the  Ohio  Valley." 


■3    V 


43 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


During  Washington's  absence  steps  were  taken 
to  fortify  the  point  formed  by  the  junction  of  the 
Monongahela  and  Alleghany;  and  when,  on  his 
return,  he  met  seventeen  horses  loaded  with  mate- 
rials and  stores  for  a  fort  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio, 
and,  soon  after,  some  families  going  out  to  settle, 
he  knew  the  defense  had  begun.  As  soon  as 
Washington  made  his  repctrt,  Gov.  Dinwiddle 
wrote  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  stating  that  the 
French  were  building  a  fort  at  Venango,  and  that, 
in  March,  twelve  or  fifteen  hundred  men  would 
be  ready  to  descend  the  river  with  their  Indian 
allies,  for  which  purpose  three  hundred  canoes  had 
been  collected  ;  and  that  Logstown  was  to  be  made 
headquarters,  while,  forts  were  to  be  built  in  other 
places.  He  sent  expresses  to  the  Governors  of 
Pennsylvania  and  New  York,  apprising  them  of  the 
nature  of  aifairs,  and  calling  upon  them  for  assist- 
ance. He  also  raised  two  compaijies,  one  of  which 
was  raised  by  Washington,  the  other  by  Trent. 
The  one  tinder  ^rent  was  to  be  raised  on  the 
frontiers,  and  was,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  repair  to 
the  Fork  and  erect  there  a  fort,  begun  by  the  Ohio 
Company.  Owing  to  various  conflicting  opinions 
between  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  and  his 
Assembly,  and  the  conference  with  the  Six  Nations, 
held  by  New  York,  neither  of  those  provinces  put 
forth  any  vigorous  measures  until  stirred  to  action 
by  the  invasions  on  the  frontiers,  and  until  directed 
by  the  Earl  of  Holderness,  Secretary  of  State. 

The  fort  at  Venango  was  finished  by  the  French 
in  April,  1754.  AU  along  the  creek  resounded 
the  clang  of  arms  and  the  preparations  for  war. 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  though  inactive, 
and  debating  whether  the  French  really  had  in- 
vaded English  territory  or  not,  sent  aid  to  the 
Old  Dominion,  now  all  alive  to  the  conquest.  The 
two  companieshadbeen  increased  to  six;  Washing- 
ton was  raised  to  the  rank  of  Lieutenant  ColonM, 
and  made  second  under  command  of  Joshua 
Fry.  Ten  cannon,  lately  from  England,  were  for- 
warded from  Alexandria ;  wagons  were  got  ready 
to  carry  westward  provisions  and  stores  through 
the  heavy  spring  roads;  and  everywhere  men  were 
enlisting  under  the  King's  promise  of  two  hundred 
thousand  acres  of  land  to  those  who  would  go. 
They  were  gathering  along  Will's  Creek  and  far 
beyond,  while  Trent,  who  had  come  for  more  men 
and  supplies,  left  a  little  band  of  forty-one  men, 
working  away  in  hunger  and  want  at  the  Fork,  to 
which  both  nations  were  looking  with  anxious  eyes. 
Though  no  enemy  was  near,  and  only  a  few  Indian 
scouts  were  seen,  keen  eyes  had  observed  the  low 


fortifications  at  the  Fork.  Swift  feet  had  borne 
the  news  of  it  up  the  valley,  and  though  Ensign 
Ward,  left  in  command,  felt  himself  secure,  on  the 
17th  of  April  he  saw  a  sight  that  made  his  heart 
sick.  Sixty  batteaux  and  three  hundred  canoes 
were 'coming  down  the  Alleghany.  The  com- 
mandant sent  him  a  summons,  which  evaded  no 
words  in  its  meaning.  It  was  useless  to  contend, 
that  evening  he  supped  with  his  conqueror ;  the 
next  day  he  was  bowed  out  by  the  polite  French- 
man, and  with  his  men  and  tools  marched  up  the 
Monongahela.  The  first  birds  of  spring  were  fill- 
ing the  air  with  their  song ;  the  rivers  rolled  by, 
swollen  by  April  showers  and  melting  snows ;  all 
nature  was  putting  on  her  robes  of  green ;  and  the 
fortress,  which  the  English  had  so  earnestly  strived 
to  obtain  and  fortify,  was  now  in  the  hands  of  the 
French.  Fort  Du  Quesne  arose  on  the  incomplete 
fortifications.  The  seven  years'  war  that  followed 
not  only  affected  America,  but  spread  to  all  quar- 
ters of  the  world.  The  war  made  England  a  great 
imperial  power  ;  drove  the  French  from  Asia  and 
America;  dispelled  the  brilliant  .and  extended 
scheme  of  Louis  and  his  voluptuous  empire. 

The  active  field  of  operations  was  in  the  Canadas 
principally,  and  along  the  western  borders  of  Penn- 
sylvania. There  were  so  few  people  then  in  the 
present  confines  of  Ohio,  that  only  the  possession 
of  the  country,  in  common  with  all  the  West, 
could  be  the  animus  of  the  conflict.  It  so  much 
concerned  this  part  of  the  New  World,  that  a  brief 
resumd  of  the  war  will  be  necessary  to  fuUy  under- 
stand its  history. 

The  fall  of  the  post  at  the  fork  of  the  Ohio,  Port 
Du  Quesne,  gave  the  French  control  of  the  West. 
Washington  went  on  with  his  few  militia  to  re- 
take the  post.  Though  he  was  successful  at  first, 
he  was  in  the  end  defeated,  and  surrendered, 
being  allowed  to  return  with  all  his  munitions  of 
war.  The  two  governments,  though  trying  to 
come  to  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  question,  were 
getting  ready  for  the  conflict.  France  went  stead- 
ily on,  though  at  one  time  England  gave,  in  a 
measure,  her  consent  to  allow  the  French  to  retain 
all  the  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  south 
of  the  lakes.  Had  this  been  done,  what  a  different 
future  would  have  been  in  America !  Other  des- 
tinies were  at  work,  however,  and  the  plan  fell 
stillborn. 

England  sent  Gen.  Braddock  and  a  fine  force 
of  men,  who  marched  directly  toward  the  post  on 
the  Ohio.  His  ill-fated  expedition  resulted  only 
in  the  total  defeat  of  his  army,  and  his  own  death. 


HISTORY    or    OHIO. 


43 


Washington  saved  a  remnant  of  the  army,  and 
made  his  way  back  to  the  coloilies.  The  En- 
glish needed  a  leader.  They  next  planned  four 
campaigns;  one  against  Fort  Du  Quesne;  one 
against  Crown  Point;  one  against  Niagara,  and 
one  against  the  French  settlements  in  Nova  Scotia. 
Nearly  every  one  proved  a  failure.  The  English 
were  defeated  on  sea  and  on  land,  all  owing  to  the 
incapacity  of  Parliament,  and  the  want  of  a  sui1> 
able,  vigorous  leader.  The  settlements  on  the  front- 
iers, now  exposed  to  a  cruel  foe,  prepared  to  defend 
themselves,  and  already  the  signs  of  a  government 
of  their  own,  able  to  defend  itself,  began  to 
appear.  They  received  aid  from  the  colonies. 
Though  the  French  were  not  repulsed,  they  and 
their  red  allies  found  they  could  not  murder  with 
impunity.  Self-preservation  was  a  stronger  incen- 
tive in  conflict  than  aggrandizement,  and  the 
cruelty  of  the  Indians  found  avengers. 

The  great  Pitt  became  Prime  Minister  June  29, 
1757.  The  leader  of  the  English  now  appeared. 
The  British  began  to  regain  their  losses  on  sea  and 
land,  and  for  them  a  brighter  day  was  at  hand. 
The  key  to  the  West  raust  be  retaken,  and  to  Gen. 
Forbes  was  assigned  the  duty.  Preceding  him, 
a  trusty  man  was  sent  to  the  Western  Indians 
at  the  head-waters  of  the  Ohio,  and  along  the  Mo- 
nongahela  and  Alleghany,  to  see  if  some  compro- 
mise with  them  could  not  be  made,  and  their  aid 
secured.  The  French  had  been  busy  through  their 
traders  inciting  the  Indians  against  the  English. 
The  lawless  traders  were  another  source  of  trouble. 
Caring  nothing  for  either  nation,  they  carried  on  a 
distressing  traffic  in  direct  violation  of  the  laws, 
continually  engendering,  ill-feeling  among  the  na- 
tives. "Your  traders,"  said  one  of  them,  "bring 
scarce  anything  but  rum  and  flour.  They  bring 
little  powder  and  lead,  or  other  valuable  goods. 
The  rum  ruins  us.  We  beg  you  would  prevent 
its  coming  in  such  -quantities  by  regulating  the 
traders.  *  *  *  These  wicked  whisky  sell- 
ers, when  they  have  got  the  Indians  in  liquor,  make 
them  sell  the  very  clothes  off  their  backs.  If  this 
practice  be  continued,  we  must  be  inevitably  ruined. 
We  most  earnestly,  therefore,  beseech  you  to  remedy 
it."  They  complained  of  the  French  traders  the  same 
way.  They  were  also  beginning  to  see  the  animus 
of  the  whole  conflict.  Neither  power  cared  as 
much  for  them  as  for  their  land,  and  flattered  and 
bullied  by  turns  as  served  their  purposes  best. 

The  man  selected  to  go  upon  this  undertaking 
was  Christian  Frederic  Post,  a  Moravian,  who  had 
lived  among  the  Indians  seventeen  years,  and  mar- 


ried into  one  of  their  tribes.  He  was  amissionary, 
and  though  obliged  to  cross  a  country  whose  every 
stream  had  been  dyed  by  blood,  and  every  hillside 
rung  with  the  death-yell,  and  grown  red  with  the 
light  of  burning  huts,  he  went  willingly  on  his  way. 
Of  his  journey,  sufierings  and  doings,  his  own 
journal  tells  the  story.  He  left  Philadelphia  on  the 
15th  of  July,  1758,  and  on  the  7th  of  August 
safely  passed  the  French  post  at  Venango,  went  on 
to  Big  Beaver  Creek,  where  he  held  a  conference 
with  the  chiefs  of  the  Indians  gathered  there.  It 
was  decided  that  a  great  conference  should  be 
held  opposite  Fort  Du  Quesne,  where  there  were 
Indians  of  eight  nations.  "We  will  bear  you  in 
our  bosoms,"  said  the  natives,  when  Post  expressed 
a  fear  that  he  might  be  delivered  over  to  the 
French,  and  royally  they  fulfilled  their  promises. 
At  the  conference,  it  was  made  clear  to  Post  that 
all  the  Western  Indians  were  wavering  in  their 
allegiance  to  the  French,  owing  largely  to  the  fail- 
ure of  that  nation  to  fiilfiU  their  promises  of  aid  to 
prevent  them  from  being  deprived  of  their  land  by 
the  Six  Nations,  and  through  that  confederacy,  by  the 
English.  The  Indians  complained  bitterly,  more- 
over, of  the  disposition  of  the  whites  in  over-run- 
ning and  claiming  their  lands.  "Why  did  you  not 
fight  your  battles  at  home  or  on  the  sea,  instead  of 
coming  into  our  country  to  fight  them?"  they 
asked  again  and  again,  and  mournfully  shook  their 
heads  when  they  thought  of  the  future  before  them. 
"  Your  heart  is  good,"  said  they  to  Post.  "  You 
aleak  sincerely;  but  we  know  there  is  always  a  great 
number  who  wish  to  get  rich ;  they  have  enough ; 
look !  we  do  not  want  to  be  rich  and  take  away 
what  others  have.  The  white  people  think  we 
have  no  brains  in  our  heads  ;  that  they  are  big, 
and  we  are  a  handful ;  but  remember  when  you 
hunt  for  a  rattlesnake,  you  cannot  always  find  it, 
and  perhaps  it  will  turn  and  bite  you  before  you  see 
it."*  When  the  war  of  Pontiac  came,  and  all 
the  West  was  desolated,  this  saying  might  have 
been  justly  remembered.  After  concluding  a  peace. 
Post  set  out  for  Philadelphia,  and  after  incredi- 
ble hardships,  reached  the  settlement  uninjured 
early  in  September.  His  mission  had  more  to  do 
than  at  first  is  apparent,  in  the  success  of  the 
English.  Had  it  not  been  for  him,  a  second  Brad- 
dock's  defeat  might  have  befallen  Forbes,  now  on 
his  way  to  subjugate  Fort  Du  Quesne. 

Through  the  heats  of  August,  the  army  hewed  its 
way  toward  the  West.     Early  in   September  it 

*  Post's  Journal. 


44 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


reached  Kaystown,  whitlier  Washington  had  been 
ordered  with  his  troops.  Sickness  had  prevented 
him  from  being  here  already.  Two  officers  were 
sent  out  to  reconnoiter  the  fort,  who  returned  and 
gave  a  very  good  account  of  its  condition.  Gen. 
Forbes  desired  to  know  more  of  it,  and  sent  out 
Maj.  Grant,  with  800  men,  to  gain  more  complete 
knowledge.  Maj.  Grant,  supposing  not  more  than 
200  soldiers  to  be  in  the  fort,  marched  near  it  and ' 
made  a  feint  to  draw  them  out,  and  engage  them 
in  battle.  He  was  greatly  misinformed  as  to  the 
strength  of  the  French,  and  in  the  engagement 
that  followed  he  was  badly  beaten — 270  of  his  men 
killed,  42  wounded,  and  several;  including  himself, 
taken  prisoners.  The  French,  elated  with  their 
victory,  attacked  the  main  army,  but  were  repulsed 
and  obliged  to  retreat  to  the  fort.  The  army  con- 
tinued on  its  march.  On  the  24th  of  November 
they  reached  Turtle  Creek,  where  a  council  of  war 
was  held,  and  where  Gen.  Forbes,  who  had  been  so 
ill  as  to  be  carried  on  a  litter  from  the  start,  de- 
clared, with  a  mighty  oath,  he  would  sleep  that 
night  in  the  fort,  or  in  a  worse  place.  The  Indi- 
ans had,  however,  carried  the  news  to  the  French 
that  the  English  were  as  plenty  as  the  trees  of  the 
woods,  and  in  their  fright  they  set  fire  to  the  fort  in 
the  night  and  left  up  and  down  the  Ohio  River. 
The  next  morning  the  English,  who  had  heard  the 
explosion  of  the  magazine,  and  seen  the  light  of 
the  burning  walls,  marched  in  and  took  peaceable 
posse'ssion.  A  small  fortification  was  thrown  up 
on  the  bank,  and,  in  honor  of  the  great  English 
statesman,  it  was  called  Fort  Pitt.  Col.  Hugh  Mer- 
cer was  left  in  command,  and  the  main  body  of  the 
army  marched  back  to  the  settlements.  It  reached 
Philadelphia  January  17,  1759.  On  the  11th  of 
March,  Gen.  Forbes  died,  and  was  buried  in  the 
chancel  of  Christ's  Church,  in  that  city. 

Post  was  now  sent  on  a  mission  to  the  Six  Na- 
tions, with  a  report  of  the  treaty  of  Easton.  He 
was  again  instrumental  in  preventing  a  coalition  of 
the  Indians  and  the  French.  Indeed,  to  this  ob- 
scure Moravian  missionary  belongs,  in  a  large 
measure,  the  honor  of  the  capture  of  Fort  Du 
Quesne,  for  by  his  influence  had  the  Indians  been 
restrained  fi:om  attacking  the  army  on  its  march. 

The  garrison,  on  leaving  the  fort,  went  up  and 
down  the  Ohio,  part  to  Presque  Isle  by  land,  part  to 
Fort  Venango,  while  some  of  them  went  on  down 
the  Ohio  nearly  to  the  Mississippi,  and  there,  in 
what  is  now  Massac  County,  lU.,  erected  a  fort, 
called  by  them  Fort  Massac.  It  was  afterward 
named  by  many  Fort  Massacre,  from  the  erroneous 


supposition  that  a  garrison  had  been  massacred 
there. 

The  French,  though  deprived  of  the  key  to 
the  West,  went  on  preparing  stores  and  ammunition, 
expecting  to  retake  the  fort  in  the  spring.  Before 
they  could  do  this,  however,  other  places  demanded 
their  attention. 

The  success  of  the  campaign  of  1758  opened 
the  way  for  the  consummation  of  the  gTeat  scheme 
of  Pitt — the  complete  reduction  of  Canada.  Three 
expeditions  were  planned,  by  which  Canada, 
already  well  nigh  annihilated  and  suffering  for 
food,  was  to  be' subjugated.  On  the  west,  Prideaux 
was  to  attack  Niagara;  in  the  center,  Amherst  was 
to  advance  on  Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point ;  on 
the  east,  Wolfe  was  to  besiege  Quebec.  All  these 
points  gained,  the  three  armies  were  to  be  united 
in  the  center  of  the  province. 

Amherst  appeared  before  Ticonderoga  July  22. 
The  French  blew  up  their  works,  and  retired 
to  Crown  Point.  Driven  from  there,  they  re- 
treated to  Isle  Aux  Nois  and  entrenched  them- 
selves. The  lateness  of  the  season  prevented  fur- 
ther action,  and  Amherst  vent  into  winter  quar- 
ters at  Crown  Point.  Early  in  June,  Wolfe 
•appeared  before  Quebec  with  an  army  of  8,000 
men.  On  the  night  of  September  12,  he  silently 
ascended  the  river,  climbed  the  heights  of  Abra- 
kam,  a  spot  considered  impregnable  by  the 
French,  and  on  the  summit  formed  his  army  of 
5,000  men.  Montcalm,  the  French  commander, 
was  compelled  to  give  battle.  The  British  col- 
umns, flushed  with  success,  charged  his  half-formed 
lines,  and  dispersed  them. 

"They  fly!  they  fly!"  heard  Wolfe,  just  as  he 
expired  from  the  effect  of  a  mortal  wound,  though 
not  till  he  had  ordered  their  retreat  cut  off,  and 
exclaimed,  "  Now,  God  be  praised,  I  die  happy." 
Montcalm,  on  hearing  from  the  surgeon  that  death 
would  come  in  a  few  hours,  said,  "I  am  glad  of  it. 
I  shall  not  live  to  see  the  surrender  of  Quebec."  At 
five  the  next  morning  he  died  happy. 

Prideaux  moved  up  Lake  Ontario,  and  on  the 
6th  of  July  invested  Niagara.  Its  capture  would 
cut  off  the  French  from  the  west,  and  every  en- 
deavor was  made  to  hold  it.  Troops,  destined  to^ 
take  the  small  garrison  at  Fort  Pitt,  were  held  to 
assist  in  raising  the  siege  of  Niagara.  M.  de 
Aubry,  commandant  in  Illinois,  came  up  with  400 
men  and  200,000  pounds  of  flour.  Cut  off  by  the 
abandonment  of  Fort  Du  Quesne  from  the  Ohio 
route,  he  ascended  that  river  as  far  as  the  Wabash, 
thence  to  portage  of  Fort  Miami,  or  Fort  Wayne, 


V 


"BURT   HOMESTEAD,"   HOXE  OF   HON.  JAMES   M.   BORT,  WHERE   HE  RESIDED  FORTY    YEARS    CTWi 


^ 


R<S..  tf  LEWIS  r.  BUHT.  Res..  •/  j.ettmat-BiiKt.. 

OCCUPIED   BY    HIS   SOXS,  J.   BEADXEK   AND   LEWIS   P.    BDET,   AND   SON-IN-LAW,  JAJ.ES  L.   ROGERS. 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


47 


(k)wn  the  Maumee  to  Lake  Erie,  and  on  to  Presqu- 
YiUe,  or  Presque  Isle,  over  the  portage  to  Le  Bceuf, 
and  thence  down  French  Creek  to  Fort  Venango. 
He  was  chosen  to  lead  the  expedition  for  the  relief 
of  Niagara.  They  were  pursued  by  Sir  William 
Johnson,  successor  to  Prideaux,  who  had  lost  his 
life  by  the  bursting  of  a  cannon,  and  were  obliged  to 
flee.  The  next  day  Niagara,  cut  off  from  succor, 
surrendered. 

All  America  rang  with  exultation.  Towns  were 
bright  with  illuminations  ;  the  hillsides  shone  with 
bonfires.  From  press,  from  pulpit,  from  platform, 
and  from  speakers'  desks,  went  up  one  glad  song  of 
rejoicing.  England  was  victorious  everywhere. 
The  colonies  had  done  their  fiiU  share,  and  now 
learned  their  strength.  That  strength  was  needed 
now,  for  ere  long  a  different  conflict  raged  on  the 
soil  of  America — a  conflict  ending  in  the  birth  of 
a  new  nation. 

The  English  sent  Gen.  Stanwix  to  fortify  Fort 
Pitt,  still  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  principal  for- 
tresses in  the  West.  He  erected  a  good  fortifica^ 
tion  there,  which  remained  under  British  control 
fifteen  years.  Now  nothing  of  the  fort  is  left.  No 
memorial  of  the  British  possession  remains  in  the 
West  but  a  single  redoubt,  built  in  1764  by  Col. 
Bouquet,  outside  of  the  fort.  Even  this  can  hardly 
now  be  said  to  exist. 

The  fall  of  Quebec  did  not  immediately  produce 
the  submission  of  Canada.  M.  de  Levi,  on  whom 
the  command  devolve4,  retired  with  the  French 
Army  to  Montreal.  In  the  spring  of  1760,  he  be- 
sieged Quebec,  but  the  arrival  of  an  English  fleet 
caused  him  to  again  retreat  to  Montreal. 

Amherst  and  Johnson,  meanwhile,  effected  a 
union  of  their  forces,  the  magnitude  of  whose 
armies  convinced  the  French  that  resistance  would 
be  useless,  and  on  the  8th  of  September,  M.  de 
Vaudreuil,  the  Governor  of  Canada,  surrendered 
Montreal,  Quebec,  Detroit,  Mackinaw  and  all  other 
posts  in  Canada,  to  the  English  commander-in- 
chief,  Amherst,  on  condition  that  the  French  in- 
habitants should,' during  the  war,  be  "protected 
in  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  their  religion,  and 
the  full  enjoyment  of  their  civil  rights,  leaving 
their  future  destinies  to  be  decided  by  the  treaty 
of  peace." 

Though  peace  was  concluded  in  the  New  World, 
on  the  continent  the  Powers  experienced  some 
difliculty  in  arriving  at  a  satisfactory  settlement. 
It  was  finally  settled  by  what  is  known  in  history 
as  the  "family  compact."  France  and  Spain  saw 
in  the  conquest  the  growing  power  of  England, 


and  saw,  also,  that  its  continuance  only  extended 
that  power.  Negotiations  were  re-opened,  and  on 
the  3d  of  November,  1762,  preliminaries  were 
agreed  to  and  signed,  and  afterward  ratified  in 
Paris,  in  February,  1763.  By  the  terms  of  the 
compact,  Spain  ceded  to  Great  Britian  East  and 
West  Florida.  To  compensate  Spain,  France 
ceded  to  her  by  a  secret  article,  all  Louisiana  west 
of  the  Mississippi. 

The  French  and  Indian  war  was  now  over. 
Canada  and  all  its  dependencies  were  now  in  pos- 
session of  the  English,  who  held  undisputed  sway 
over  the  entire  West  as  far  as  Mississippi.  It  only 
remained  for  them  to  take  possession  of  the  out- 
posts. Major  Robert  Rogers  was  sent  to  take  pos- 
session of  Detroit  and  establish  a  garrison  there. 
He  was  a  partisan  ofiicer  on  the  borders  of  New 
Hampshire,  where  he  earned  a  name  for  bravery, 
but  afterward  tarnished  it  by  treasonable  acts.  On 
his  way  to  Detroit,  on  the  7th  of  November,  1760, 
he  was  met  by  the  renowned  chief,  Pontiao,  who 
authoritatively  commanded  him  to  pause  and  ex- 
plain his  acts.  Rogers  replied  by  explaining  the 
conquest  of  Canada,  and  that  he  was  acting  under 
orders  from  his  King.  Through  the  influence  of 
Pontiao,  the  army  was  saved  from  the  Indians 
sent  out  by  the  French,  and  was  allowed  to  pro- 
ceed on  its  way.  Pontiac  had  assured  his  protec- 
tion as  long  as  the  English  treated  him  with  due 
deference.  Beletre,  the  commandant  at  Detroit, 
refused  to  surrender  to  the  English  commander, 
until  he  had  received  positive  assurance  from  his 
Governor,  Vaudreuil,  that  the  country  was  indeed 
conquered.  On  the  29th  of  September,  the  colors 
of  France  gave  way  to  the  ensign  of  Great  Britain 
amid  the  shouts  of  the  soldiery  and  the  astonish- 
ment of  the  Indians,  whose  savage  natures  could 
not  understand  how  such  a  simple  act  declared  one 
nation  victors  of  another,  and  who  wondered  at 
the  forbearance  displayed.  The  lateness  of  the 
season  prevented  further  operations,  but  early  the 
next  spring,  Mackinaw,  Green  Bay,  Ste.  Marie,  St. 
Joseph  and  the  Ouitenon  surrounded,  and  nothing 
was  left  but  the  Illinois  towns.  These  were  se- 
cured as  soon  as  the  necessary  arrangements  could 
be  made. 

Though  the  English  were  now  masters  of  the 
West,  and  had,  while  many  of  these  events  na;v 
rated  were  transpiring,  extended  their  settlements 
beyond  the  Alleghanies,  they  were  by  no  means 
secure  in  their  possession.  The  woods  and  prairies 
were  full  of  Indians,  who,  finding  the  English  like 
the  French,  caring  more  for  gain  than  the  welfare 


-T ® 


±1 


It 


48 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


of  the  natives,  began  to  exhibit  impatience  and  re- 
sentment as  they  saw  their  lands  gradually  taken 
from  them.  The  English  policy  differed  very 
materially  from  the  French.  The  French  made 
the  Indian,  in  a  measure,  independent  and  taught 
him  a  desire  for  European  goods.  They  also 
affiliated  easily  with  them,  and  became  thereby 
strongly  endeared  to  the  savage.  The  French 
were  a  merry,  easy-going  race,  fond  of  gayety  and 
delighting  in  adventure.  The  English  were  harsh, 
stern,  and  made  no  advances  to  gain  the  friend- 
ship of  the  savage.  They  wanted  land  to  cultivate 
and  drove  away  the  Indian's  game,  and  forced  him 
farther  west.  "Where  shall  we  go?"  said  the 
Indian,  despondently;  "you  drive  us  farther  and 
farther  west;  by  and  by  you  will  want  all  the 
land."  And  the  Anglo-Saxon  went  sturdily  on, 
paying  no  heed  to  the  complaints.     The  French 


traders  incited  the  Indian  to  resent  the  encroath- 
ment.  "  The  English  will  annihilate  you  and  take 
all  your  land,"  said  they.  "  Their  father,  the  King 
of  France,  had  been  asleep,  now  he  had  awakened 
and  was  coming  with  a  great  army  to  reclaim  Can- 
ada, that  had  been  stolen  from  him  while  he  slept." 
Discontent  under  such  circumstances  was  but 
natural.  Soon  all  the  tribes,  from  the  mountains 
to  the  Mississippi,  were  united  in  a  plot.  It  was 
discovered  in  1761,  and  arrested.  The  next  sum- 
mer, another  was  detected  and  arrested.  The 
offifters,  and  all  the  people,  failed  to  realize  the 
danger.  The  rattlesnake,  though  not  found,  was 
ready  to  strike.  It  is  only  an  Indian  discontent, 
thought  the  people,  and  they  went  on  preparing  to 
occupy  the  country.  They  were  mistaken — ^the 
crisis  only  needed  a  leader  to  direct  it.  That 
leader  appeared. 


CHAPTER    IV. 

PONTIAC'S    CONSPIRACY— ITS    FAILTTEE— BOUQUET'S    EXPEDITION— OCCUPATION    BY    THE 

ENGLISH. 


PONTIAC,  the  great  chief  of  the  Ottawas,  was 
now  about  fifty  years  old.  He  had  watched 
the  conflict  between  the  nations  with  a  jealous  eye, 
and  as  he  saw  the  gradual  growth  of  the  English 
people,  their  encroachment  on  the  lands  of  the  In- 
dians, their  greed,  and  their  assumption  of  the  soil, 
his  soul  was  stirred  within  him  to  do  something 
for  his  people.  He  had  been  a  true  friend  of  the 
French,  and  had  led  the  Indians  at  the  defeat  of 
Braddock.  Amid  all  the  tumult,  he  alone  saw  the 
true  state  of  affairs.  The  English  would  inevit- 
ably crush  out  the  Indians.  To  save  his  race  he 
saw  another  alliance  with  the  French  was  neces- 
sary, and  a  restoration  of  their  power  and  habits 
needed.  It  was  the  plan  of  a  statesman.  It  only 
failed  because  of  the  perfidy  of  the  French.  Matur- 
ing his  plans  late  in  the  autumn  of  1762,  he  sent 
messengers  to  all  the  Western  and  Southern  tribes, 
with  the  black  wampum  and  red  tomahawk,  em- 
blems of  war,  from  the  great  Pontiac.  "  On  a  cer- 
tain day  in  the  next  year,"  said  the  messenger,  "all 
the  tribes  are  to  rise,  seize  all  the  English  posts, 
and  then  attack  the  whole  frontier." 

The  great  council  of  all  the  tribes  was  held  at 
the  river  Ecorces,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1763. 
There,  before  the  assembled  chiefs,  Pontiac  deliv- 


ered a  speech,  full  of  eloquence  and  art.  He 
recounted  the  injuries  and  encroachments  of  the 
English,  and  disclosed  their  designs.  The  French 
king  was  now  awake  and  would  aid  them.  Should 
they  resign  their  homes  and  the  graves  of  their 
fathers  without  an  effort?  Were  their  young  men 
no  longer  brave?  Were  they  squaws?  The 
Great  Master  of  Life  had  chided  them  for  their 
inactivity,  and  had  sent  his  commands  to  drive 
the  "Ked  Dogs"  from  the  earth.  The  chiefs 
eagerly  accepted  the  wampum  and  the  tomahawk, 
and  separated  to  prepare  for  the  coming  strife. 

The  post  at  Detroit  was  informed  of  the  plot 
the  evening  before  it  was  to  occur,  by  an  Ojibway 
girl  of  great  beauty,  the  mistress  of  the  com- 
mander. Major  Gladwin.  Pontiac  was  foiled  here, 
his  treachery  discovered,  and  he  was  sternly  ordered 
from  the  conference.  A  regular  seige  followed, 
but  he  could  not  prevail.  He  exhibited  a  degree 
of  sagacity  unknown  in  the  annals  of  savage  war- 
fare, but  all  to  no  purpose ;  the  English  were  too 
strong  for  him. 

At  all  the  other  posts,  save  one,  however,  the 
plans  of  Pontiac  were  carried  out,  and  atrocities, 
unheard  of  before  in  American  history,  resulted. 
The  Indians  attacked  Detroit  on  the  first  of  May, 


l^ 


1^ 


HISTORY    OF    OHIO. 


49 


and,  foiled  in  their  plans,  a  siege  immediately  fol- 
lowed. On  tlie  16th,  a  party  of  Indians  appeared 
before  the  fort  at  Sandusky.  Seven  of  them  were 
admitted.  Suddenly,  while  smoking,  the  massacre 
begins.  All  but  Ensign  PauUi,  the  comma.nder, 
fall.     He  is  carried  as  a  trophy  to  Pontiac. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph's,  the  mission- 
aries had  maintained  a  mission  station  over  sixty 
years.  They  gave  way  to  an  English  garrison  of 
fourteen  soldiers  and  a  few  traders.  On  the 
morning  of  May  25,  a  deputation  of  Pottawato- 
mies  are  allowed  to  enter.  In  less  than  two  min- 
utes, all  the  garrison  but  the  commander  are  slain. 
He  is  sent  to  Pontiac. 

Near  the  present  city  of  Fort  Wayne,  Ind., 
at  the  junction  of  the  waters,  stood  Fort  Miami, 
garrisoned  by  a  few  men.  Holmes,  the  com- 
mander, is  asked  to  visit  a  sick  woman.  He  is 
slain  on  the  way,  the  sergeant  following  is  made 
prisoner,  and  the  nine  soldiers  surrender. 

On  the  night  of  the  last  day  of  May,  the  wam- 
pum reaches  the  Indian  village  below  La  Fayette, 
Ind.,  and-  near  Fort  Ouitenon.  The  commander 
of  the  fort  is  lured  into  a  cabin,  bound,  and  his 
garrison  surrender.  Through  the  clemency  of 
French  settlers,  they  are  received  into  their  houses 
and  protected. 

At  Michilimackinac,  a  game  of  ball  is  projected. 
Suddenly  the  ball  is  thrown  through  the  gate  of  the 
stockade.  The  Indians  press  in,  and,  at  a  signal, 
almost  all  are  slain  or  made  prisoners. 

The  fort  at  Presque  Isle,  now  Erie,  was  the 
point  of  communication  between  Pittsburgh  and 
Niagara  and  Detroit.  It  was  one  of  the  most 
tenable,  and  had  a  garrison  of  four  and  twenty 
men.  On  the  22d  of  June,  the  commander,  to 
save  his  forces  from  total  annihilation,  surrenders, 
and  all  are  carried  prisoners  to  Detroit. 

The  capitulation  at  Erie  left  Le  Boeuf  with- 
out hope.  He  was  attacked  on  the  18th, 
but  kept  oflF  the  Indians  till  midnight,  when  he 
made  a  successful  retreat.  As  they  passed  Ve- 
nango, on  their  way  to  Fort  Pitt,  they  saw  only 
the  ruins  of  that  garrison.  Not  one  of  its  immates 
had  been  spared. 

Fort  Pitt  was  the  most  important  station  west 
of  the  AUeghanies.  "  Escape  I  "  said  Turtle's 
Heart,  a  Delaware  warrior ;  "  you  will  all  be 
slain.  A  great  army  is  coming."  "There  are 
three  large  English  armies  coming  to  my  aid," 
said  Ecuyer,  the  commander.  "  I  have  enough 
provisions  and  ammunition  to  stand  a  siege  of  three 
years'  time."     A  second  and  third  attempt  was 


made  by  the  savages  to  capture  the  post,  but  all  to 
no  avaO.  Baffled  on  all '  sides  here,  they  destroy 
Ligonier,  a  few  miles  below,  and  massacre  men, 
women  and  children.  Fort  Pitt  was  besieged  till 
the  last  day  of  July,  but  withstood  all  attacks. 
Of  all  the  outposts,  only  it  and  Detroit  were  left. 
All  had  been  captured,  and  the  majority  of  the 
garrison  slain.  Along  the  frontier,  the  war  was 
waged'  with  ftiry.  The  Indians  were  fighting  for 
their  homes  and  their  hunting-grounds;  and  for 
these  they  fought  with  the  fury  and  zeal  of 
fanatics. 

Detachments  sent  to  aid  Detroit  are  cut  off. 
The  prisoners  .are  burnt,  and  Pontiac,  infusing  his 
zealous  and  demoniacal  spirit  into  all  his  savage 
allies,  pressed  the  siege  with  vigor.  The  French 
remained  neutral,  yet  Pontiac  made  requisitions 
on  them  and  on  their  neighbors  in  Illinois,  issuing 
bills  of  credit  on  birch-bark,  all  of  which  were 
faithftilly  redeemed.  Though  tljese  two  posts 
could  not  be  captured,  the  frontier  could  be 
annihilated,  and  vigorously  the  Indians  pursued 
their  policy.  Along  the  borders  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia  a  relentless  warfare  was  waged, 
sparing  no  one  in  its  way.  Old  age,  feeble  infancy, 
strong  man  and  gentle  woman,  fair  girl  and  hope- 
ful boy; — all  fell  before  the  scalping-knife  of  the 
merciless  savage.  The  frontiers  were  devastated. 
Thousands  were  obliged  to  flee,  leaving  their 
possessions  to  the  torch  of  the  Indian. 

The  colonial  government,  under  British  direc- 
tion, was  inimical  to  the  borders,  and  the  colonists 
saw  they  must  depend  only  upon  their  own  arms 
for  protection.  Already  the  struggle  for  freedom 
was  upon  them.  They  could  defend  only  them- 
selves. They  must  do  it,  too ;  for  that  defense  is 
now  needed  in  a  different  cause  than  settling  dis- 
putes between  rival  powers.  "  We  have  millions 
for  defense,  but  not  a  cent  for  tribute,"  s3id  they, 
and  time  verified  the  remark. 

Gren.  Amherst  bestirred  himself  to  aid  the 
frontiers.  He  sent  Col.  Henry  Bouquet,  a  native 
of  Switzerland,  and  now  an  officer  in  the  English 
Army,  to  relieve  the  garrison  at  Fort  Pitt.  They 
followed  the  route  made  by  Gen.  Forbes,  and  on 
the  way  relieved  Forts  Bedford  and  Ligonier,  both 
beleaguered  by  the  Indians.  About  a  day's  jour- 
ney beyond  Ligonier,  he  was  attacked  by  a  body 
of  Indians  at  a  place  called  Bushy  Bun.  For 
awhile,  it  seemed  that  he  and  all  his  army  would 
be  destroyed;  but  Bouquet  was  bold  and  brave 
and,  under  a  feint  of  retreat,  routed  the  savages. 
He  passed  on,  and  relieved  the  garrison  at  Fort 


^1 


50 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


Pitt,  and  thus  secured  it  against  the  assauUs  of 
the  Indians. 

The  campaign  had  been  disastrous  to  the  En- 
glish, but  fatal  to  the  plans  of  Pontiac.  He  could 
not  cajjture  Detroit,  and  he  knew  the  gTeat  scheme 
must  fail.  The  battle  of  Bushy  Kun  and  the 
relief  of  Port  Pitt  closed  the  campaign,  and  all 
hope  of  co-operation  was  at  an  end.  Circum- 
stances were  combined  against  the  confederacy, 
and  it  was  fast  falling  to  pieces.  A  proclamation 
was  issued  to  the  Indians,  explaining  to  them  the 
existing  state  of  affairs,  and  showing  to  them  the 
futility  of  their  plans.  Pontiac,  however,  would 
not  give  up.  Again  he  renewed  the  siege  of  De- 
troit, and  Gen.  Grage,  now  in  command  of  the 
army  in  the  colonies,  resolved  to  carry  the  war 
into  their  own  country.  Col.  Bradstreet  was  or- 
dered to  lead  one  army  by  way  of  the  lakes, 
against  the  Northern  Indians,  while  Col.  Bouquet 
was  sent  against  the  Indians  of  the  Ohio.  Col. 
Bradstreet  went  on  his  way  at  the  head  of  1,200 
men,  but  trusting  too  much  to  the  natives  and 
their  promises,  his  expedition  proved  largely  a  fail- 
ure. He  relieved  Detroit  in  August,  1764,  which 
had  been  confined  in  the  garrison  over  fifteen 
months,  and  dispersed  the  Indians  that  yet  lay 
around  the  fort.  But  on  his  way  back,  he  saw  how 
the  Indians  had  duped  him,  and  that  they  were 
still  plundering  the  settlements.  His  treaties  were 
annulled  by  Gage,  who  ordered  him  to  destroy 
their  towns.  The  season  was  far  advanced,  his 
provisions  were  getting  low,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
return  to  Niagara  chagrined  and  disappointed. 

Col.  Bouquet  knew  well  the  character  of  the 
Indians,  and  shaped  his  plans  accordingly.  He 
had  an  army  of  1,500  men,  500  regulars  and  1,000 
volunteers.  They  had  had  experience  in  fighting 
the  savages,  and  could  be  depended  on.  At  Fort 
Loudon,  he  heard  of  Bradstreet's  ill  luck,  and  saw 
through  the  deception  practiced  by  the  Indians. 
He  arrived  at  Fort  Pitt  the  lYth  of  September, 
where  he  arrested  a  deputation  of  chiefs,  who  met 
him  with  the  same  promises  that  had  deceived 
Bradstreet.  He  sent  one  of  their  number  back, 
threatening  to  put  to  death  the  chiefs  unless  they 
allowed  his  messengers  to  safely  pass  through  their 
country  to  Detroit.  The  decisive  tone  of  his 
words  convinced  them  of  the  fate  that  awaited 
them  unless  they  complied.  On  the  3d  of  Octo- 
ber the  army  left  Fort  Pitt,  marched  down  the 
river  to  and  across  the  Tuscarawas,  arriving  in  the 
vicinity  of  Fredrick  Post's  late  mission  on  the  17th. 
There  a  conference  was  held  with  the  assembled 


tribes.  Bouquet  sternly  rebuked  them  for  then- 
faithlessness,  and  when  told  by  the  chiefs  they  could 
not  restrain  their  young  men,  he  as  sternly  told 
them  they  were  responsible  for  their  acts.  He 
told  them  he  would  trust  them  no  longer.  If  they 
delivered  up  all  their  prisoners  within  twelve  days 
they  might  hope  for  peace,  otherwise  there  would 
be  no  mercy  shown  them.  They  were  completely 
humbled,  and,  separating  hastily,  gathered  their 
captives.  On  the  25th,  the  army  proceeded  down 
to  the  Tuscarawas,  to  the  junction  with  "White 
Woman  River,  near  the  town  of  Coshocton,  in 
Coshocton  County,  Ohio,  and  there  made  prepa- 
rations for  the  reception  of  the  captives.  There 
they  remained  until  the  18th  of  November;  from 
day  to  day  prisoners  were  brought  in — men,  women 
and  children — and  delivered  to  their  friends.  Many 
were  the  touching  scenes  enacted  during  this  time. 
The  separated  husband  and  wife  met,  the  latter 
often  carrying  a  child  born  in  captivity.  Brothers 
and  sisters,  separated  in  youth,  met ;  lovers  rushed 
into  each  other's  arms ;  children  found  their 
parents,  mothers  their  sons,  fathers  their  daughters, 
and  neighbors  those  from  whom  they  had  been 
separated  many  years.  Yet,  there  were  many  dis- 
tressing scenes.  Some  looked  in  vain  for  long-lost 
relatives  and  friends,  that  never  should  return. 
Others,  that  had  been  captured  in  their  infancy, 
would  not  leave  their  savage  friends,  and  when 
force  was  used  some  fled  away.  One  mother 
looked  in  vain  for  a  child  she  had  lost  years  be- 
fore. Day  by  day,  she  anxiously  watched,  but  no 
daughter's  voice  reached  her  ears.  One,  clad  in 
savage  attire,  was  brought  before  her.  It  could 
not  be  her  daughter,  she  was  grown.  So  was  the 
maiden  before  her.  "  Can  not  you  remember  some 
mark?"  asked  Bouquet,  whose  sympathies  were, 
aroused  in  this  case.  "There  is  none,"  said  the 
anxious  and  sorrowful  mother.  "  Sing  a  song  you 
sang  over  her  cradle,  she  may  remember,"  suggested 
the  commander.  One  is  sung  by  her  mother.  As 
the  song  of  childhood  floats  out  among  the  trees 
the  maiden  stops  and  listens,  then  approaches. 
Yes,  she  remembers.  Mother  and  daughter  are 
held  in  a  close  embrace,  and  the  stern  Bouquet 
wipes  away  a  tear  at  the  scene. 

On  the  18th,  the  army  broke  up  its  encamp- 
ment and  started  on  its  homeward  march.  Bouquet 
kept  six  principal  Indians  as  hostages,  and  re- 
turned to  the  homes  of  the  captives.  The  Indians 
kept  their  promises  faithfully,  and  the  next  year 
representatives  of  all  the  Western  tribes  met  Sir 
William  Johnson,  at  the  German  Flats,  and  made 


■^ 


HISTOEY   or    OHIO. 


51 


a  treaty  of  peace.  A  tract  of  land  in  the  Indian 
country  was  ceded  to  the  whites  for  the  benefit  of 
those  who  had  suffered  in  the  late  war.  The  In- 
dians desired  to  make  a .  treaty  with  Johnson, 
whereby  the  Alleghany  River  should  be  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  the  English,  but  he  excused  him- 
self on  the  ground  of  proper  power. 

Not  long  after  this  the  Illinois  settlements,  too 
remote  to  know  much  of  the  struggle  or  of  any  of 
the  great  events  that  had  convulsed  an  empire,  and 
changed  the  destiny  of  a  nation,  were  brought 
under  the  English  rule.  There  were  five  villages 
at  this  date:  Kaskaskia,  Cahokia,  St.  Philip,  Vin- 
cennes  and  Prairie  du  Roeher,  near  Fort  Chartres, 
the  military  headquarters  of  these  French  posses- 
sions. They  were  under  the  control  or  command 
of  M.  de  Abadie,  at  New  Orleans.  They  had  also 
extended  explorations  west  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
made  a  few  settlements  in  what  was  Spanish  terri- 
tory. The  country  had  been,  however,  ceded  to 
France,  and  in  February,  1764,  the  country  was 
formally  taken  possession  of  and  the  present  city 
of  St.  Louis  laid  out. 

As  soon  as  the  French  knew  of  the  change  of 
government,  many  of  them  went  to  the  west  side  of 
the  river,  and  took  up  their  residence  there.  They 
were  protected  in  their  religion  and  civil  rights  by 
the  terms  of  the  treaty,  but  preferred  the  rule  of 
their  own  King. 

The  British  took  possession  of  this  country  early 
in  1765.  Gren.  Gage  sent  Capt.  Stirling,  of  the 
English  Army,  who  arrived  before  summer,  and  to 
whom  St.  Ange,  the  nominal  commandant,  surren- 
dered the  authority.  The  British,  through  a  suc- 
cession of  commanders,  retained  control  of  the  coun- 
try until  defeated  by  George  Rogers  Clarke,  and 
his  "ragged  Virginia  militia." 

After  a  short  time,  the  French  again  ceded  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi  to  Spain,  and  re- 
linquished forever  their  control  of  all  the  West  in 
■  the  New  World. 

The  population  of  Western  Louisiana,  when  the 
exchange  of  governments  occurred,  was  estimated 
to  be  1.3,538,  of  which  891  were  in  the  Illinois 
country — as  it  was  called — ^west  of  the  Mississippi. 
East  of  the  river,  and  before  the  French  crossed 
into  Spanish  country,  the  population  was  estimated 
to  be  about  3,000.  All  these  had  grown  into 
communities  of  a  peculiar  character.  Indeed,  that 
peculiarity,  as  has  been  observed,  never  changed 
until  a  gradual  amalgamation  with  the  American 
people  effected  it,  and  that  took  more  than  a  cen- 
tury of  time  to  accomplish. 


The  English  now  owned  the  Northwest. 


True, 


they  did  not  yet  occupy  but  a  small  part  of  it,  but 
traders  were  again  crossing  the  mountains,  ex- 
plorers for  lands  were  on  the  Ohio,  and  families 
for  settlement  were  beginning  to  look  upon  the 
West  as  their  future  home.  Companies  were  again 
forming  to  purchase  large  tracts  in  the  Ohio  coun- 
try, and  open  them  for  emigration.  One  thing  yet 
stood  in  the  way — a  definite  boundary  line.  That 
Hne,  however,  was  between  the  English  and  the 
Indians,  and  not,  as  had  heretofore  been  the  case, 
between  rival  European  Powers.  It  was  necessary 
to  arrange  some  definite  boundary  before  land  com- 
panies, who  were  now  actively  pushing  their  claims, 
could  safely  survey  and  locate  their  lands. 

Sir  William  Johnson,  who  had  at  previous  times 
been  instrumental  in  securing  treaties,  wrote  re- 
peatedly to  the  Board  of  Trade,  who  controlled  the 
greater  part  of  the  commercial  transactions  in  the 
colonies — and  who  were  the  first  to  exclaim  against 
extending  English  settlements  beyond  a  limit 
whereby  they  would  need  manufactures,  and  there- 
by become  independent  of  the  Mother  Country — 
urging  upon  them,  and  through  them  the  Crown,  the 
necessity  of  a  fixed  boundary,  else  another  Indian 
war  was  probable.  The  Indians  found  themselves 
gradually  hemmed  in  by  the  growing  power  of  the 
whites,  and  began  to  exhibit  hostile  feelings.  The 
irritation  became  so  great  that  in  the  summer  of 
1767,  Gage  wrote  to  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania 
concerning  it.  The  Governor  communicated  his 
letter  to  the  General  Assembly,  who  sent  repre- 
sentatives to  England,  to  urge  the  immediate  set- 
tlement of  the  question.  In  compliance  with  these 
requests,  and  the  letters  of  prominent  citizens, 
Franklin  among  the  number,  instructions  were  sent 
to  Johnson,  ordering  him  to  complete  the  purchase 
from  the  Six  Nations,  and  settle  all  differences. 
He  sent  word  to  all  the  Western  tribes  to  meet 
him  at  Fort  Stanwix,  in  October,  1768.  The  con- 
ference was  held  on  the  24th  of  that  month,  and 
was  attended  by  colonial  representatives,  and  by 
Indians  from  all  parts  of  the  Northwest.  It  was 
determined  that  the  line  should  begin  on  the  Ohio, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Cherokee  (Tennessee),  thence 
up  the  river  to  the  Alleghany  and  on  to  Kittan- 
ning,  and  thence  across  to  the  Susquehanna.  By 
this  line,  the  whole  country  south  of  the  Ohio  and 
Alleghany,  to  which  the  Six  Nations  had  any 
claim,  was  transferred.  Part  of  this  land  was 
made  to  compensate  twenty-two  traders,  whose  goods 
had  been  stolen  in  1763.  The  deeds  made,  were 
upon  the  express  agreement  that  no  claims  should 


il 


53 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


ever  be  based  on  the  treaties  of  Lancaster,  Logs- 
town,  etc.,  and  were  signed  by  the  chiefs  of  the  Six 
jN^ations  for  themselves,  their  allies  and  dependents, 
and  the  Shawanees,  Delawares,  Mingoes  of  Ohio, 
and  others ;  though  thfe  Shawanees  and  Delaware 
deputies  did  not  sign  them.  On  this  treaty,  in  a 
great  measure,  rests  the  title  by  purchase  to  Ken- 
tucky, Western  Virginia  and  Western  Pennsylva- 
nia. The  rights  of  the  Cherokees  were  purchased 
by  Col.  Donaldson,  either  for  the  King,  Virginia, 
or  for  himself,  it  is  impossible  to  say  which. 

The  grant  of  the  northern  confederacy  was  now 
made.  The  white  man  could  go  in  and  possess 
these  lands,  and  know  that  an  army  would  protect 
him  if  necessary.  Under  such  a  guarantee,  West^ 
ern  lands  came  rapidly  into  market.  In  addition 
to  companies  already  in  existence  for  the  purchase 
of  land,  others,  the  most  notable  of  these  being  the 
"Walpole"  and  the  "Mississippi"  Land  Companies, 
were  formed.  This  latter  had  among  its  organizers 
such  men  as  Francis  Lightfoot  Lee,  Eichard 
Henry  Lee,  George  Washington  and  Arthur  Lee. 
Before  any  of  these  companies,  some  of  whom  ab- 
sorbed the  Ohio  Company,  could  do  anything,  the 
Revolution  came  on,  and  all  land  transactions  were 
at  an  "end.  After  its  close.  Congress  would  not 
sanction  their  claims,  and  they  fell  through.  This 
did  not  deter  settlers,  however,  from  crossing  the 
mountains,  and  settling  in  the  Ohio  country.     In 


spite  of  troubles  with  the  Indians — some  of  whom 
regarded  the  treaties  with  the  Six  Nations  as  un- 
lawful, and  were  disposed  to  complain  at  the  rapid 
influx  of  whites — and  the  failure  of  the  land  com- 
panies, settlers  came  steadily  during  the  decade 
from  1768  to  1778,  so  that  by  the  close  of  that 
time,  there  was  a  large  population  south  of  the 
Ohio  River;  while  scattered  along  the  northern 
banks,  extending  many  miles  into  the  wilderness, 
were  hardy  adventurers,  who  were  carving  out 
homes  in  the  magnificent  forests  everywhere  cov- 
ering the  country. 

Among  the  foremost  speculators  in  Western 
lands,  was  George  Washington.  As  early  as  1763, 
he  employed  Col.  Crawford,  afterward  the  leader  in 
"  Crawford's  campaign,"  to  purchase  lands  for  him. 
In  1770,  he  crossed  the  mountains  in  'company 
with  several  gentlemen,  and  examined  the  country 
along  the  Ohio,  down  which  stream  he  passed  to 
the  mouth  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  where  he  shot 
some  buffalo,  then  plenty,  camped  out  a  few  nights, 
and  returned,  fully  convinced,  it  seems,  that  one 
day  the  West  would  be  the  best  part  of  the  New- 
World.  He  owned,  altogether,  nearly  fifty  thou- 
sand acres  in  the  West,  which  he  valued  at  $3.33 
per  acre.  Had  not  the  war  of  the  Revolution  just 
then  broken  out,  he  might  have  been  a  resident  of 
the  West,  and  would  have  been,  of  course,  one  of 
its  most  prominent  citizens. 


CHAPTER    V. 

AMERICAN   EXPLORATIONS— DUNMORE'S  ■  WAR— CAMPAIGN    OP    GEORGE    ROGERS    CLARKE— 

LAND    TROUBLES— SPAIN    IN    THE    REVOLUTION— MURDER    OF 

THE    MORAVIAN    INDIANS. 


MEANWHILE,  Kentucky  was  filling  wi^h 
citizens,  and  though  considerable  trouble 
was  experienced  with  the  Indians,  and  the  operations 
of  Col.  Richal-d  Henderson  and  others,  who  made 
unlawful  treaties  with  the  Indians,  yet  Daniel 
Boone  and  his  associates  had  established  a 
commonwealth,  and,  in  1777,  a  county  was 
formed,  which,  erelong,  was  divided  into  three. 
Louisville  was  laid  out  on  land  belonging  to 
Tories,  and  an  important  start  made  in  this  part 
of  the  West.  Emigrants  came  down  the  Ohio 
River,  saw  the  northern  shores  were  inviting,  and 
sent  back  such  accounts  that  the  land  north  of  the 
river  rapidly  grew  in  favor  with  Eastern  people. 


One  of  the  most  important  Western  characters, 
Col.  (afterward  Gen.)  George  Rogers  Clarke,  had 
had  much  to  do  in  forming  its  character.  He 
was  born  November  19,  1752,  in  Albemarle 
County,  Va.,  and  early  came  West.  He  had  an 
unusually  sagacious  spirit,  was  an  excellent  sur- 
veyor and  general,  and  took  an  active  interest  in 
all  State  and  national  aff'airs.  He  understood  the 
animus  of  the  Revolution,  and  was  prepared  to 
do  his  part.  Col.  Clarke  was  now  meditating  a 
move  unequaled  in  its  boldness,  and  one  that  had 
more  to  do  with  the  success  of  America  in  the 
struggle  for  independence  than  at  first  appears. 
He  saw  through  the  whole  plan  of  the  British, 


;f 


,^ 


iL 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


53 


who '  held  all  the  outposts,  Kaskaskia,  Detroit, 
Vineennes  and  Niagara,  and  determined  to  circum- 
vent them  and  wrest  the  West  from  their  power. 
The  British  hoped  to  encircle  the  Americans  by 
th«se  outposts,  and  also  unite  the  Indians  in  a 
common  war  against  them.  That  had  been 
attempted  by  the  French  when  the  Enghsh  con- 
quered them.  Then  the  French  had  a  powerful 
ally  in  the  person  of  Pontiac,  yet  the  brave  front- 
iersmen held  their  homes  in  many  places,  though 
the  Indians  "  drank  the  blood  of  many  a  Briton, 
scooping  it  up  in  the  hollow  of  joined  hands." 
Now  the  Briton  had  no  Pontiac  to  lead  the  scat- 
tered tribes — ^tribes  who  now  feared  the  unerring 
aim  of  a  settler,  and  would  not  attack  him  openly — 
Clarke  knew  that  the  Delawares  were  divided  in 
feeling  and  that  the  Shawanees  were  but  imperfectly 
united  in  favor  of  England  since  the  murder  of 
their  noted  chiefs.  He  was  convinced  that,  if  the 
British  could  be  driven  from  the  Western  posts, 
the  natives  could  easily  be  awed  into  submission, 
or  bribed  into  neutrality  or  friendship.  They 
admired,  from  their  savage  views  of  valor,  the 
side  that  became  victorious.  They  cared  little  for 
the  cause  for  which  either  side  was  fighting. 
Clarke  sent  out  spies  among  them  to  ascertain  the 
feasibility  of  his  plans.  The  spies  were  gone 
from  April  20  to  June  22,  and  fully  corroborated 
his  views  concerning  the  English  policy  and  the 
feahngs  of  the  Indians  and  French. 

Before  proceeding  in  the  narrative  of  this  expe- 
dition, however,  it  will  be  well  to  notice  a  few  acts 
transpiring  north  of  the  Ohio  River,  especially  re- 
laSng  to  the  land  treaties,  as  they  were  not  without 
effect  on  the  British  policy.  Many  of  the  Indians 
north  and  south  of  the  Ohio  would  not  recognize 
the  validity  of  the  Port  Stanwix  treaty,  claiming 
the  Iroquois  had  no  right  to  the  lands,  despite 
their  conquest.  These  discontented  natives  har- 
assed the  emigrants  in  such  a  manner  that  many 
Indians  were  slain  in  retaliation.  This,,  and  the 
working  of  the  French  traders,  who  at  all  times 
were  bitterly  opposed  to  the  English  rule,  filled  the 
breasts  of  the  natives  with  a  malignant  hate,  which 
years  of  bloodshed  could  not  wash  out.  The 
murder  of  several  Indians  by  lawless  whites  fanned 
the  coal  into  a  blaze,  and,  by  1774,  several  retalia^ 
tory  murders  occurred,  committed  by  the  natives 
in  revenge  for  their  fallen  friends.  The  Indian 
slew  any  white  man  he  found,  as  a  revenge  on  some 
friend  of  his  slain ;  the  frontiersman,  acting  on  the 
same  principle,  made  the  borders  extremely  dan- 
gerous to  invaders  and  invaded.     Another  cause 


of  fear  occurred  about  this  time,  which  threatened 
seriously  to  retard  emigration. 

Pittsburgh  had  been  claimed  by  both  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Virginia,  and,  in  endeavoring  to  settle 
the  dispute,  Lord  Dunmore's  war  followed.  Dr. 
John  Connelly,  an  ambitious,  intriguing  person,- 
induced  Lord  Dunmore  to  assert  the  claims  of  Vir- 
ginia, in  the  name  of  the  'King.  In  attempting  to 
carry  out  his  intentions,  he  was  arrested  by  Arthur 
St.  Clair,  representing  the  proprietors  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, who  was  at  Pittsburgh  at  the  time.  Con- 
nelly was  released  on  bail,  but  went  at  once  to 
Staunton,  where  he  was  sworn  in  as  a  Justice  of 
Peace.  Returning,  he  gathered  a  force  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  suddenly  took  possession  of 
Pittsburgh,  refused,  to  allow  the  magistrates  to 
enter  the  Court  House,  or  to  exercise  the  functions 
of  their  oifices,  unless  in  conformity  to  his  will. 
Connelly  refused  any  terms  offered  by  the  Penn- 
sylvania deputies,  kept  possession  of  the  place, 
acted  very  harshly  toward  the  inhabitants,  stirred 
up  the  neutral  Indians,  and,  for  a  time,  threatened 
to  make  the  boundary  line  between  the  two  colonies 
a  very  serious  question.  His  actions  led  to  hostile 
deeds  by  some  Indians,  when  the  whites,  no  doubt 
urged  by  him,  murdered  seven  Indians  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Captina  River,  and  at  the  house  of 
a  settler  named  Baker,  where  the  Indians  were 
decoyed  under  promises  of  friendship  and  offers  of 
rum.  Among  those  murdered  at  the  latter  place, 
was  the  entire  family  of  the  famous  Mingoe  chief, 
Logan.  This  has  been  charged  to  Michael  Cresap ; 
but  is  untrue.  Daniel  Greathouse  had  command 
of  the  party,  and  though  Cresap  may  have  been 
among  them,  it  is  unjust  to  lay  the  blame  at  his 
feet.  Both  murders,  at  Captina  and  Yellow  Creek, 
were  cruel  and  unwarranted,  and  were,  without 
doubt,  the  cause  of  the  war  that  followed,  though 
the  root  of  the  matter  lay  in  Connelly's  arbitrary 
actions,  and  in  his  needlessly  alarming  the  Indians. 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  facts  in  relation  to 
the  murder  of  Logan's  family,  they  were  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  make  all  feel  sure  of  an  Indian  war, 
and  preparations  were  made  for  the  confiict.    ^ 

An  army  was  gathered  at  Wheeling,  which, 
some  time  in  July,  under  command  of  Col.  Mc- 
Donald, descended  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  Cap- 
tina Creek.  They  proposed  to  march  against  an 
Indian  town  on  the  Muskingum.  The  Indians 
sued  for  peace,  but  their  pretensions  being  found 
spurious,  their  towns  and  crops  were  destroyed. 
The  army  then  retreated  to  WilHamsburg,  having 
accomplished  but  little.* 


■^ 


54 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


The  Delawares  were  anxious  for  peace ;  even  the 
Mingoes,  whose  relatives  had  been  slain-at  Yellow 
Creek,  and  Captina,  were  restrained;  but  Logan, 
who  had  been  turned  to  an  inveterate  foe  to  the 
Americans,  came  suddenly  upon  the  Monongahela 
settlements,  took  thirteen  scalps  in  revenge  for  the 
loss  of  his  family,  returned  home  and  expressed 
himself  ready  to  treat  with  the  Long  Knives,  the 
Virginians.  Had  Connelly  acted  properly  at  this 
.juncture,  the  war  might  have  been  ended;  but 
his  actions  only  incensed  both  borderers  and  In- 
dians. So  obnoxious  did  he  become  that  Lord 
Dunmore  lost  faith  in  him,  and  severely  repri- 
manded him. 

To  put  a  stop  to  the  depredations  of  the  Indians, 
two  large  bodies  of  troops  were  gathered  in  Vir- 
ginia, one  under  Gen.  Andrew  Lewis,  and  one 
under  command  of  Dunmore  himself.  Before 
the  armies  could  meet  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Kanawha,  their  objective  point,  Lewis'  army,  which 
arrived  first,  was  attacked  by  a  furious  band  of  Dela- 
wares, Shawanees,  Iroquois  and  Wyandots.  The 
conflict  was  bitterly  prolonged  by  the  Indians,  who, 
under*  the  leadership  of  Cornstalk,  were  deter- 
mined to  make  a  decisive  effort,  and  fought  till 
late  at  night  (October  10,  1774),  and  then  only  by 
a  strategic  move  of  Lewis'  command — which  re- 
sulted in  the  defeat  of  the  Indians,  compelling  them 
to  cross  the  Ohio — ^was  the  conflict  ended.  Mean- 
while, Dunmore's  army  came  into  the  enemy's 
country,  and,  being  joined  by  the  remainder  of 
Lewis'  command,  pressed  forward  intending  to  an- 
nihilate the  Indian  towns.  Cornstalk  and  his 
chiefs,  however,  sued  for  peace,  and  the  conflict 
closed.  Dunmore  established  a  camp  on  Sippo 
Creek,  where  he  held  conferences  with  the  natives 
and  concluded  the  war.  When  he  left  the  country, 
he  stationed  100  men  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great 
Kanawha,  a  few  more  at  Pittsburgh,  and  another 
corps  at  Wheeling,  then  called  Fort  Fincastle. 
Dunmore  intended  to  return  to  Pittsburgh  the 
next  spring,  meet  the  Indians  and  form  a  definite 
peace ;  but  the  revolt  of  the  colonies  prevented. 
However,  he  opened  several  ofiices  for  the  sale  of 
lands  in  the  West,  some  of  which  were  in  the  limits 
of  the  P^nsylvania  colony.  This  led  to  the  old 
boundary  dispute  again;  but  before  it  could  be 
settled,  the  Revolution  began,  and  Lord  Dunmore's, 
as  well  aa  almost  all  other  land  speculations  in  the 
West,  were  at  an  end. 

In  1775  and  1776,  the  chief  events  transpiring 
in  the  West  relate  to  the  treaties  with  the  Indians, 
and  the  endeavor  on  the  part  of  the  Americans  to 


have  them  remain  neutral  in  the  family  quarrel  now 
coming  on,  which  they  could  not  understand.  The 
British,  like  the  French,  however,  could  not  let 
them  alone,  and  finally,  as  a  retaliatory  measure. 
Congress,  under  advice  of  Washington,  won  some  of 
them  over  to  the  side  of  the  colonies,  getting  their 
aid  and  holding  them  neutral.  The  colonies  only 
offered  them  rewards  for  prisoners  ;  never,  like  the 
British,  offering  rewards  for  scalps.  Under  such 
rewards,  the  atrocities  of  the  Indians  in  some  quar- 
ters were  simply  horrible.  The  scalp  was  enough 
to  get  a  reward,  that  was  a  mark  of  Indian  valor, 
too,  and  hence,  helpless  innocence  and  decrepit  old 
age  were  not  spared.  They  stirred  the  minds  of 
the  pioneers,  who  saw  the  protection  of  their  fire- 
sides a  vital  point,  and  led  the  way  to  the  scheme 
of  Col.  Clarke,  who  was  now,  as  has  been  noted,  the 
leading  spirit  in  Kentucky.  He  saw  through  the 
scheme  of  the  British,  and  determined,  by  a  quick, 
decisive  blow,  to  put  an  end  to  it,  and  to  cripple 
their  power  in  the  West. 

Among  the  acts  stimulating  Clarke,  was  the  attack 
on  Fort  Henry,  a  garrison  about  one-half  mile 
above  Wheeling  Creek,  on  the  Ohio,  by  a  renegade 
white  man,  Simon  Girty,  an  agent  in  the  employ  of 
the  British,  it  is  thought,  and  one  of  the  worst 
wretches  ever  known  on  the  frontier.  When  Girty 
attacked  Fort  Henry,  he  led  his  red  allies  in  regu- 
lar military  fashion,  and  attacked  it  without  mercy. 
The  defenders  were  brave,  and  knew  with  whom 
they  were  contending.  Great  bravery  was  displayed 
by  the  women  in  the  fort,  one  of  whom,  a  Miss 
Zane,  carried  a  keg  of  gunpowder  from  a  cajwa 
to  the  fort.  Though  repeatedly  fired  at  by  the  sav- 
ages, she  reached  the  fort  in  safety.  After  awhile, 
however,  the  effect  of  the  frontiersmen's  shots  began 
to  be  felt,  and  the  Indians  sullenly  withdrew. 
Re-enforcements  coming,  the  fort  was  held,  and 
Girty  and  his  band  were  obliged  to  flee. 

Clarke  saw  that  if  the  British  once  got  con- 
trol over  the  Western  Indians  the  scene  at  Fort 
Henry  would  be  repeated,  and  would  not  likely, 
in  all  cases,  end  in  favor  of  the  Americans.  With- 
out communicating  any  of  his  designs,  he  left  Har- 
rodsburg  about  the  1st  of  October,  1777,  and 
reached  the  capital  of  Virginia  by  November  5. 
Still  keeping  his  mind,  he  awaited  a  favorable  op- 
portunity to  broach  his  plans  to  those  in  power, 
and,  in  the  meanwhile,  carefully  watched  the  exis1> 
ing  state  of  feeling.  When  the  opportunity  came, 
Clarke  broached  his  plans  to  Patrick  Henry,  Gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  who  at  once  entered  warmly 
into   them,  recognizing   their    great  importance. 


:^ 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


55 


Through  his  aid,  Clarke  procured  the  necessary  au- 
thority to  prosecute  his  plans,  and  returned  at  once 
to  Pittsburgh.  He  intended  raising  men  about 
this  post,  but  found  them  fearful  of  leaving  their 
homes  unprotected.  However,  he  secured  three 
companies,  and,  with  these  and  a  number  of  volun- 
teers, picked  up  on  the  way  down  the  Ohio  River, 
he  fortified  Corn  Island,  near  the  falls,  and  made 
ready  for  his  expedition.  He  had  some  trouble  in 
keeping  his  men,  some  of  those  from  Kentucky 
refusing  to  aid  in  subduing  stations  out  of  their 
own  country.  He  did  not  announce  his  real  inten- 
tions till  he  had  reached  this  point.  Here  Col. 
Bowman  joined  him  with  his  Kentucky  militia, 
and,  on  the  24th  of  June,  17Y8,  during  a  total 
eclipse  of  the  sun,  the  party  left  the  fort.  Before 
his  start,  he  learned  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne, 
and,  when  nearly  down  to  Fort  Massac,  he  met 
some  of  his  spies,  who  informed  him  of  the  exag- 
gerated accounts  of  the  ferocity  of  the  Long 
Knives  that  the  French  had  received  from  the 
Britisb.  By  proper  action  on  his  part,  Clarke  saw 
both  these  items  of  information  could  be  made 
very  beneficial  to  him.  Leaving  the  river  near 
Fort  Massac,  he  set  out  on  the  march  to  Kaskas- 
kia,  through  a  hot  summer's  sun,  over  a  country 
frill  of  savage  foes.  They  reached  the  town  un- 
noticed, on  the  evening  of  July  4,  and,  before 
the  astonished  British  and  French  knew  it,  they 
were  all  prisoners.  M.  Rooheblave,  the  English 
commander,  was  secured,  but  his  wife  adroitly  con- 
cealed the  papers  belonging  to  the  garrison.  In 
the  person  of  M.  Gribault,  the  French  priest,  Clarke 
found  a  true  friend.  When  the  true  character  of 
the  Virginians  became  apparent,  the  French  were 
easily  drawn  to  the  American  side,  and  the  priest 
secured  the  surrender  and  allegiance  of  Cahokia 
through  his  personal  influence.  M.  Gribault  told 
him  he  would  also  secure  the  post  at  St.  Vincent's, 
which  he  did,  returning  from  the  mission  about 
the  1st  of  August.  During  the  interval,  Clarke  re- 
enlisted  his  men,  formed  his  plans,  sent  his  pris- 
oners to  Kentucky,  and  was  ready  for  future  action 
when  M.  Gibault  arrived.  He  sent  Capt.  Helm 
and  a  single  soldier  to  Vincennes  to  hold  that  fort 
until  lie  could  put  a  garrison  there.  It  is  but 
proper  to  state  that  the  English  commander.  Col. 
Hamilton,  and  his  band  of  soldiers,  were  absent  at 
Detroit  when  the  priest  secured  the  village  on  the 
"Ouabache."  When  Hamilton  returned,  in  the 
autumn,  he  was  greatly  surprised  to  see  the  Amer- 
ican flag  floating  from  the  ramparts  of  the  fort, 
and  when  approaching  the  gate  he  was  abruptly 


halted  by  Capt.  Helm,  who  stood  with  a  lighted  fuse 
in  his  hand  by  a  cannon,  answering  Hamilton's 
demand  to  surrender  with  the  imperative  inquiry, 
"Upon  what  terms,  sir?"  "Upon  the  honors  of 
war,"  answered  Hamilton,  and  he  marched  in 
greatly  chagrined  to  see  he  had  been  halted  by 
two  men.  The  British  commander  sat  quietly 
down,  intending  to  go  on  down  the  river  and  sub- 
due Kentucky  in  the  spring,  in  the  mean  time 
offering  rewards  for  American  scalps,  and  thereby 
gaining  the  epithet "  Hair-buyer  General."  Clarke 
heard  of  his  actions  late  in  January,  1779,  and,  as 
he  says,  "  I  knew  if  I  did  not  take  him  l<e  would 
take  me,"  set  out  early  in  February  with  his  troops 
and  marched  across  the  marshy  plains  of  Lower 
Illinois,  reaching  the  Wabash  post  by  the  22d  of 
that  month.  The  unerring  aim  of  the  Westerner 
was  effectual.  "  They  will  shoot '  your  eyes  out," 
said  Helm  to  the  British  troops.  "  There,  I  told 
you  so,"  he  further  exclaimed,  as  a  soldier  vent- 
ured near  a  port-hole  and  received  a  shot  directly 
in  his  eye.  On  the  24th  the  fort  surrendered. 
The  American  flag  waved  again  over  its  ramparts. 
The  "  Hair-buyer  General "  was  sent  a  prisoner  to 
Virginia,  where  he  was  kept  in  close  confinement 
for  his  cruel  acts.  Clarke  returned  to  Kaskaskia, 
perfected  his  plans  to  hold  the  Illinois  settlements, 
went  on  to  Kentucky,  from  where  he  sent  word  to 
the  colonial  authorities  of  the  success  of  his  expe- 
dition. Had  he  received  the  aid  promised  him, 
Detroit,  in  easy  reach,  would  have  fallen  too,  but 
Gen.  Green,  failing  to  send  it  as  promised,  the  capt- 
ure of  that  important  post  was  delayed. 

Had  Clarke  failed,  and  Hamilton  succeeded,  the 
whole  West  would  have  been  swept,  from  the  Alle- 
ghanies  to  the  Mississippi.  But  for  this  small 
army  of  fearless  Virginians,  the  union  of  all  the 
tribes  from  Georgia  to  Maine  against  the  colonies 
might  have  been  efi"ected,  and  the  whole  current 
of  American  history  changed.  America  owes 
Clarke  and  his  band  more  than  it  can  ever  pay. 
Clarke  reported  the  capture  of  Kaskaskia  and  the 
Illinois  country  early  after  its  surrender,  and  in 
October  the  county  of  Illinois  was  estabUshed, 
extending  over  an  unlimited  expanse  of  country, 
by  the  Virginia  Legislature.  John  Todd  was 
appointed  Lieutenant  Colonel  and  Civil  Governor. 
In  November,  Clarke  and  his  men  received  the 
thanks  of  the  same  body,  who,  in  after  years, 
secured  them  a  grant  of  land,  which  they  selected 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  Ohio  River,  opposite 
Louisville.  They  expected  here  a  city  would  rise 
one  day,  to  be  the  peer  of  Louisville,  then  coming 


r^ 


56 


HISTOET   OF    OHIO. 


into  prominence  as  an  important  place.  By  some 
means,  their  expectations  failed,  and  only  the 
dilapidated  village  of  Clarkesburg  perpetuates 
their  hopes. 

The  conquest  of  Clarke  changed  the  face  of 
affairs  in  relation  to  the  whole  country  north  of 
the  Ohio  River,  which  would,  in  all  probability, 
have  been  made  the  boundary  between  Canada  and 
the  United  States.  When  this  was  proposed,  the 
strenuous  arguments  based  on  this  conquest,  by 
the  American  Commissioners,  secured  the  present 
boundary  line  in  negotiating  the  treaty  of  1793. 

Though  Clarke  had  failed  to  capture  Detroit, 
Congress  saw  the  importance  of  the  post,  and 
resolved  on  securing  it.  Gen.  McCosh,  commander 
at  Fort  Pitt,  was  put  in  command,  and  $1,000,- 
000  and  3,000  men  placed  at  his  disposal.  By 
some  dilatory  means,  he  got  no  further  than  the 
Tuscarawas  River,  in  Ohio,  where  a  half-way 
house,  called  Fort  Laurens,  for  the  President  of 
Congress,  was  built.  It  was  too  far  out  to  be  of 
practicable  value,  and  was  soon  after  abandoned. 

Indian  troubles  and  incursions  by  the  British 
were  the  most  absorbing  themes  in  the  West. 
The  British  went  so  far  as  Kentucky  at  a  later 
date,  while  they  intended  reducing  Fort  Pitt,  only 
abandoning  it  when  learning  of  its  strength. 
Expeditions  against  the  Western  Indians  were  led 
by  Gen.  Sullivan,  Col.  Daniel  Broadhead,  Col. 
Bowman  and  others,  which,  for  awhile,  silenced 
the  natives  and  taught  them  the  power  of  the 
Americans.  They  could  not  organize  so  readily 
as  before,  and  began  to  attach  themselves  more 
closely  to  the  British,  or  commit  their  depredations 
in  bands,  fleeing  into  the  wilderness  as  soon  as 
■they  struck  a  blow.  In  this  way,  several  localities 
suffered,  until  the  settlers  became  again  exasper- 
ated ;  other  expeditions  were  formed,  and  a  second 
chastisement  given.  In  1781,  Col.  Broadhead 
led  an  expedition  against  the  Central  Ohio  Indians. 
It  did  not  prove  so  successful,  as  the  Indians  were 
led  by  the  noted  chief  Brant,  who,  though  not 
cruel,  was  a  foe  to  the  Americans,  and  assisted  the 
British  greatly  in  their  endeavors  to  secure  the  West. 

Another  class  of  events  occurred  now  in  the 
West,  civil  in  their  relations,  yet  destined  to  form 
an  important  part  of  its  history — ^its  land  laws. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Virginia  claimed 
the  greater  portion  of  the  country  north  of  the 
Ohio  River,  as  well  as  a  large  part  south.  The 
other  colonies  claimed  land  also  in  the  West  under 
the  old  Crown  grants,  which  extended  to  the 
South  or  Western  Sea.     To  more  complicate  mat- 


ters, several  land  companies  held  proprietary  rights 
to  portions  of  these  lands  gained  by  grants  from 
the  Crown,  or  from  the  Colonial  Assemblies. 
Others  were  based  on  land  warrants  issued 
in  1763;  others  on  selection  and  survey  and 
still  others  on  settlement.  In  this  state  of 
mixed  affairs,  it  was  difficult  to  say  who  held  a 
secure  claim.  It  was  a  question  whether  the  old 
French  grants  were  good  or  not,  especially  since 
the  change  in  government,  and  the  eminent  pros- 
pect of  still  another  change.  To,  in  some  way, 
aid  in  setthng  these  claims,  Virginia  sent  a  com- 
mission to  the  West  to  sit  as  a  court  and  determine 
the  proprietorship  of  these  claims.  This  court, 
though  of  as  doubtful  authority  as  the  claims 
themselves,  went  to  work  in  Kentucky  and  along 
the  Ohio  River  in  1779,  and,  in  the  course  of  one 
year,  granted  over  three  thousand  certificates. 
These  were  considered  as  good  authority  for  a 
definite  title,  and  were  so  regarded  in  after  pur- 
chases. Under  them,  many  pioneers,  like  Daniel 
Boone,  lost  their  lands,  as  all  were  required  to 
hold  some  kind  of  a  patent,  while  others,  who 
possessed  no  more  principle  than  "land-sharks", 
of  to-day,  acquired  large  tracts  of  land  by  holding 
a  patent  the  court  was  bound  to  accept.  Of  all 
the  colonies,  Virginia  seemed  to  have  the  best 
title  to  the  Northwest,  save  a  few  parcels,  such  as 
the  Connecticut  or  Western  Reserve  and  some 
similar  tracts  held  by  New  York,  Massachusetts 
and  New  Jersey.  When  the  territory  of  the 
Northwest  was  ceded  to  the  General  Government, 
this  was  recognized,  and  that  country  was  counted 
as  a  Virginia  county. 

The  Spanish  Government,  holding  the  region 
west  of  the  Mississippi,  and  a  portion  east  toward 
its  outlet,  became  an  important  but  secret  ally  of 
the  Americans.  When  the  French  revolt  was 
suppressed  by  O'ReUly,  and  the  Spanish  assumed 
the  government  of  Louisiana,  both  Upper  and 
Lower,  there  was  a  large  tract  of  country,  known 
as  Florida  (East  and  West),  claimed  by  England, 
and  duly  regarded  as  a  part  of  her  dominion. 
The  boundaries  had  been  settled  when  the  French 
first  occupied  Lower  Louisiana.  The  Spaniards 
adopted  the  patriarchal  form  of  rule,  as  much  as 
was  consistent  with  their  interests,  and  allowed  the 
French  full  religious  and  .civil  liberty,  save  that  all 
tribunals  were  after  the  Spanish  fashion,  and 
governed  by  Spanish  rules.  The  Spaniards,  long 
jealous  of  England's  growing  power,  secretly  sent 
the  Governors  of  Louisiana  word  to  aid  the 
Americans  in  their  struggle  for  freedom.     Though 


HISTORY   or   OHIO. 


57 


they  controlled  the  Mississippi  River,  they  allowed 
an  American  ciEoer  (Capt.  Willing)  to  descend  the 
river  in  January,  1778,  with  a  party  of  iifly  men, 
and  ravage  the  British  shore  from  Manchez  Bayou 
to  Natchez. 

On  the  8th  of  May,  1779,  Spain  declared  war 
against  Great  Britain;  and,  on  the  8th  of  July, 
the  people  of  Louisiana  were  allowed  to  take  a 
part  in  the  war.  Accordingly,  Galvez  collected  a 
force  of  1,400  men,  and,  on  the  7th  of  September, 
took  Fort  Manchac.  By  the  21st  of  September, 
he  had  taken  Baton  Rouge  and  Natchez.'  Eight 
vessels  were  captured  by  the  Spaniards  on  the 
Mississippi  and  on  the  lakes.  In  1780  Mobile 
fell ;  in  March,  1781,  Pensacola,  the  chief  British 
post  in  West  Florida,  succumbed  after  a  long 
siege,  and,  on  the  9th  of  May,  all  West  Florida 
was  surrendered  to  Spain. 

This  war,  or  the  war  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  did 
not  immediately  affect  Upper  Louisiana.  Great 
Britain,  however,  attempted  to  capture  St.  Louis. 
Though  the  commander  was  strongly  suspected  of 
being  bribed  by  the  English,  yet  the  place  stood 
the  siege  from  the  combined  force  of  Indians  and 
Canadians,  and  the  assailants  were  dispersed.  This 
was  done  during  the  summer  of  1680,  and  in  the 
autumn,  a  company  of  Spanish  and  French  resi- 
dents, under  La  Balme,  went  on  an  expedition 
against  Detroit.  They  marched  as  far  north  as 
the  British  trading-post  Ke-ki-ong-a,  at  the  head 
of  the  Maumee  River,  but  being  surprised  in  the 
night,  and  the  commander  slain,  the  expedition 
was  defeated,  having  done  but  little. 

Spain  may  have  had  personal  interests  in  aiding 
the  Americans.  She  was  now  in  control  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  the  natural  outlet  of  the  Northwest, 
and,  in  1780,  began  the  troubles  relative  to  the 
navigation  of  that  stream.  The  claims  of  Spain 
were  considered  very  unjust  by  the  Continental 
Congress,  and,  while  deliberating  over  the  question, 
Virginia,  who  was  jealously  alive  to  her  Western 
interests,  and  who  yet  held  jurisdiction  over  Ken- 
tucky, sent  through  Jefferson,  the  Governor,  Gen. 
George  Rogers  Clarke,  to  erect  a  fort  below  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  This  proceeding  was  rather 
unwarrantable,  especially  as  the  fort  was  built  in 
the  country  of  the  Chickasaws,  who  had  thus  far 
been  true  friends  to  the  Americans,  and  who  looked 
upon  the  fort  as  an  innovation  on  their  territory. 
It  was  completed  and  occupied  but  a  short  time, 
Clarke  being  recalled. 

Virginia,  in  1780,  did  a  very  important  thing; 
namely,  establishing  an  institution  for  higher  edu- 


cation. The  Old  Dominion  confiscated  the  lands 
of  "  Robert  McKenzie,  Henry  Collins  and  Alex- 
ander McKee,  Britons,  eight  thousand  acres,"  and 
invested  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  in  a  public  semi- 
nary. Transylvania  University  now  lives,  a  monu- 
ment to  that  spirit. 

WhUe  Clarke  was  building  Fort  Jefferson,  a  force 
of  British  and  Indians,  under  command  of  Capt. 
Bryd,  came  down  from  Canada  and  attacked  the 
Kentucky  settlements,  getting  into  the  country  be- 
fore any  one  was  aware.  The  winter  before  had 
been  one  of  unusual  severity,  and  game  was  ex- 
ceedingly scarce,  hence  the  army  was  not  prepared 
to  conduct  a  campaign.  After  the  capture  of  Rud- 
dle's Station,  at  the  south  fork  of  the  Licking,  Bryd 
abandoned  any  further  attempts  to  reduce  the  set- 
tlements, except  capturing  Martin's  Station,  and 
returned  to  Detroit. 

This  expedition  gave  an  additional  motive  for 
the  chastisement  of  the  Indians,  and  Clarke,  on  his 
return  from  Fort  Jefferson,  went  on  an  expedition 
against  the  Miami  Indians.  He  destroyed  their 
towns  at  Loramie's  store,  near  the  present  city  of 
Sydney,  Ohio,  and  at  Piqua,  humbling  the  natives. 
While  on  the  way,  a  part  of  the  army  remained 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  and  erected  two 
block-houses  on  the  present  site  of  Cincinnati. 

The  exploits  of  Clarke  and  his  men  so  effectually 
chastised  the  Indians,  that,  for  a  time,  the  West 
was  safe.  During  this  period  of  quiet,  the  meas- 
ures which  led  to  the  cession  of  Western  lands  to 
the  General  Government,  began  to  assume  a  defi- 
nite form.  All  the  colonies  claiming  Western 
lands  were  willing  to  cede  them  to  the  Government, 
save  Virginia,  which  colony  wanted'  a  large  scope 
of  Southern  country  southeast  of  the  Ohio,  as  far 
as  South  Carolina.  All  recognized  the  justice  of 
all  Western  lands  becoming  public  property,  and 
thereby  aiding  in  extinguishing  the  debts  caused  by 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  now  about  to  close. 
As  Virginia  held  a  somewhat  different  view,  the 
cession  was  not  made  until  1783. 

The  subject,  however,  could  not  be  allowed  to 
rest.  The  war  of  the  Revolution  was  now  drawing 
to  a  close ;  victory  on  the  part  of  the  colonies  was 
apparent,  and  the  Western  lands  must  be  a  part  of 
the  public  domain.  Subsequent  events  brought 
about  the  desired  cession,  though  several  events 
transpired  before  the  plan  of  cession  was  consum- 
mated. 

Before  the  close  of  1780,  the  Legislature  of 
Virginia  passed  an  act,  establishing  the  "  town  of 
Louisville,"  and  confiscated  the   lands   of   John 


58 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


Connelly,  wlio  was  one  of  its  original  proprietors, 
and  who  distinguished  himself  in  the  commence- 
ment of  Lord  Dunmore's  war,  and  who  was  now  a 
Tory,  and  doing  all  he  could  against  the  patriot 
cause.  The  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  his  lands  were 
divided  between  Virginia  and  the  county  of  Jefferson. 
Kentucky,  the  next  year,  was  divided  into  three 
counties,  Jefferson,  Lincoln  and  Fayette.  Courts 
were  appointed  in  each,  and  the  entry  and  location 
of  lands  given  into  their  hands.  Settlers,  in  "spite 
of  Indian  troubles  and  British  intrigue,  were 
pouring  over  the  mountains,  particularly  so  during 
the  years  1780  and  1781.  The  expeditions  of 
Clarke  against  the  Miami  Indians ;  Boone's  cap- 
tivity, and  escape  from  them ;  their  defeat  when 
attacking  Boonesboro,  and  other  places — all 
combined  to  weaken  their  power,  and  teach  them 
to  respect  a  nation  whose  progress  they  could  not 
stay. 

The  pioneers  of  the  "West,  obliged  to  depend  on 
themselves,  owing  to  the  struggle  of  the  colonies 
for  freedom,  grew  up  a  hardy,  self-reliant  race, 
with  all  the  vices  and  virtues  of  a  border  life,  and 
with  habits,  manners  and  customs  necessary  to 
their  peculiar  situation,  and  suited  to  their  peculiar 
taste.  A  resume  of  their  experiences  and  daily 
lives  would  be  quite  interesting,  did  the  limits  of 
this  history  admit  it  here.  In  the  part  relating 
directly  to  this  county,  the  reader  will  find  such 
lives  given ;  here,  only  the  important  events  can 
be  noticed. 

The  last  event  of  consequence  occurring  in  the 
West  before  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  is  one 
that  might  well  have  been  omitted.  Had  such 
been  the  case,  a  great  stain  would  have  been  spared 
the  character  of  Western  pioneers.  Reference  is 
made  to  the  massacre  of  the  Moravian  Christian 
Indians. 

These  Indians  were  of  the  Delaware  nation 
chiefly,  though  other  Western  tribes  were  visited 
and  many  converts  made.  The  first  converts  were 
made  in  New  York  and  Connecticut,  where,  after 
a  good  start  had  been  made,  and  a  prospect  of 
many  souls  being  saved,  they  incurred  the  enmity 
of  the  whites,  who,  becoming  alarmed  at  their  suc- 
cess, persecuted  them  to  such  an  extent  that  they 
were  driven  out  of  New  York  into  Pennsylvania, 
where,  in  1744,  four  years  after  their  anival  in 
the  New  World,  they  began  new  missions.'  In 
1748,  the  New  York  and  Connecticut  Indians  fol- 
lowed their  teachers,  and  were  among  the  founders 
of  Friedenshutten,  "Tents  of  Peace,"  a  hamlet 
near   Bethlehem,  where  their  teachers  were   sta- 


tioned. ■  Other  hamlets  grew  around  them,  until 
in  the  interior  of  the  colony,  existed  an  Indian 
community,  free  from  all  savage  vices,  and  grow- 
ing up  in  Christian  virtues.  As  their  strength 
grew,  lawless  whites  again  began  to  oppress  them. 
They  could  not  understand  the  war  of  1754,  and 
were,  indeed,  in  a  truly  embarrassing  position. 
The  savages  could  form  no  conception  of  any  cause 
for  neutrality,  save  a  secret  sympathy  with  the 
English ;  and  if  they  could  not  take  up  the  hatchet, 
they  were  in  the  way,  and  must  be  removed.  Fail- 
ing to  do  this,  their  red  brothers  became  hostile. 
The  whites  were  but  little  better.  The  old  suspi- 
cions which  drove  them  from  New  York  were 
aroused.  They  were  secret  Papists,  in  league  with 
the  French,  and  furnished  them  with  arms  and  in- 
telligence; they  were  interfering  with  the  liquor 
traffic;  they  were  enemies  to  the  Government, 
and  the  Indian  and  the  white  man  combined  against 
them.  They  were  obliged  to  move  from  place  to 
place;  were  at  one  time  protected  nearly  a  year, 
near  Philadelphia,  from  lawless  whites,  and  finally 
were  compelled  to  go  far  enough  West  to  be  out 
of  the  way  of  French  and  English  arms,  or  the 
Iroquois  and  Cherokee  hatchets.  They  came 
finally  to  the  Muskingum,  where  they  made  a  set- 
tlement called  Schonbrun,  "beautiful  clear  spring," 
in  what  is  now  Tuscarawas  County.  Other  settle- 
ments gathered,  from  time  to  time,  as  the  years 
went  on,  till  in  1772  large  numbers  of  them  were 
within  the  borders  of  the  State. 

Until  the  war  of  independence' broke  out,  they 
were  allowed  to  peacefully  pursue  their  way.  When 
that  came,  they  were  between  Fort  Pitt  and  De- 
troit, one  of  which  contained  British,  the  other 
Americans.  Again  they  could  not  understand  the 
struggle,  and  could  not  take  up  the  hatchet.  This 
brought  on  them  the  enmity  of  both  belligerent 
parties,  and  that  of  their  own  forest  companions, 
who  could  not  see  wherein  their  natures  could 
change.  Among  the  most  hostile  persons,  were 
the  white  renegades  McKee,  Girty  and  ElHott. 
On  their  instigation,  several  of  them  were  slain, 
and  by  their  advice  they  were  obliged  to  leave  their 
fields  and  homes,  where  they  had  many  comforts, 
and  where  they  had  erected  good  chapels  in  which 
to  worship.  It  was  just  before  one  of  these  forced 
removals  that  Mary,  daughter  of  the  missionary 
Heck ew elder,  was  born.  She  is  supposed  to  be 
the  first  white  female  child  born  north  of  the  Ohio 
River.  Her  birth  occurred  April  16,  1781.  It 
is  but  proper  to  say  here,  that  it  is  an  open  ques- 
tion, and  one  that  will  probably  never  be  decided. 


i.  e.  Who  was  tte  first  white  child  born  in  Ohio  ? 
In  all  probability,  the  child  was  born  during  the 
captivity  of  its  mother,  as  history  plainly  shows 
that  when  white  women  were  released  from  the 
Indians,  some  of  them  carried  children  born  while 
among  the  natives. 

When  the  Moravians  were  forced  to  leave  their 
settlements  on  the  Muskingum,  and  taken  to  San- 
dusky, they  left  growing  fields  of  corn,  to  which 
they  were  obliged  to  return,  to  gather  food.  This 
aroused  the  whites,  only  wanting  some  pretext 
whereby  they  might  attack  them,  and  a  party, 
headed  by  Col.  David  Williamson,  determined  to 
exterminate  them.  The  Moravians,  hearing  of  their 
approach,  fled,  but  too  late  to  warn  other  settle- 
ments, and  Gnadenhutten,  Salem  and  one  or  two 
smaller  settlements,  were  surprised  and  taken. 
Under  deceitftd  promises,  the  Indians  gave  up  all 
their  arms,  showed  the  whites  their  treasures,  and 
went  unknowingly  to  a  terrible  death.  When  ap- 
prised of  their  fate,  determined  on  by  a  majority 
of  the  rangers,  they  begged  only  time  to  prepare. 
They  were  led  two  by  two,  the  men  into  one,  the 
women  and  children  into  another  "slaughter- 
house," as  it  was  termed,  and  all  but  two  lads  were 
wantonly  slain.  An  infamous  and  more  bloody 
deed  never  darkened  the  pages  of  feudal  times ; 
a  deed  that,  in  after  years,  called  aloud  for  venge- 
ance, and  in  some  measure  received  it.  Some  of 
Williamson's  men  wrung  their  hands  at  the  cruel 
fate,  and  endeavored,  by  all  the  means  in  their 
power,  to  prevent  it;  but  all  to  no  purpose.  The 
blood  of  the  rangers  was  up,  and  they  would  not  spare 
"man,  woman  or  child,  of  all  that  peaceful  band." 

Having  completed  their  horrible  work,  (March 
8,  1Y82),  Williamson  and  his  men  returned  to 
Pittsburgh.  Everywhere,  the  Indians  lamented 
the  untimely  death  of  their  kindred,*  their  savage 
relatives  determining  on  their  xevenge;  the  Chris- 
tian ones  could  only  be  resigned  and  weep. 

Williamson's  success,  for  such  it  was  viewed  by 
many,  excited  the  borderers  to  another  invasion, 
and  a  second  army  was  raised,  this  time  to 
go  to  the  Sandusky  town,  and  annihilate  the 
Wyandots.  Col.  William  Crawford  was  elected 
leader ;  he  accepted  reluctantly ;  on  the  way, 
the  army  was  met  by  hordes  of  savages  on  the  5th  of 


June,  and  totally  routed.  They  were  away  north, 
in  what  is  now  Wyandot  County,  and  were  obliged 
to  flee  for  their  lives.  The  blood  of  the  murdered 
Moravians  called  for  revenge.  The  Indians  de- 
sired it ;  were  they  not  relatives  of  |the  fallen 
Christians  ?  Crawford  and  many  of  his  men  fell 
into  their  hands ;  all  sufi'ered  unheard-of  tortures, 
that  of  Crawford  being  as  cruel  as  Indian  cruelty 
could  devise.  He  was  pounded,  pierced,  cut  with 
knives  and  burned,  all  of  which  occupied  nearly 
three  hours,  and  finally  lay  down  insensible  on  a  bed 
of  coals,  and  died.  The  savage  captors,  in  demoni- 
acal glee,  danced  around  him,  and  upbraided  him 
for  the  cruel  murder  of  their  relatives,  giving  him 
this  only  consolation,  that  had  they  captured  Will- 
iamson, he  might  go  free,  but  he  must  answer  for 
Williamson's  brutality. 

The  war  did  not  cease  here.  The  Indians,  now 
aroused,  carried  their  attack  as  far  south  as  into 
Kentucky,  killing  Capt.  Estill,  a  brave  man,  and 
some  of  his  companions.  The  British,  too,  were 
active  in  aiding  them,  and  the  14th  of  August  a 
large  force  of  them,  under  Girty,  gathered  silently 
about  Bryant's  Station.  They  were  obliged  to  re- 
treat. The  Kentuckians  pursued  them,  but  were 
repulsed  with  considerable  loss. 

The  attack  on  Bryant's  Station  aroused  the  peo- 
ple of  Kentucky  to  strike  a  blow  that  would  be 
felt.  Gen.  Clarke  was  put  at  the  head  of  an  army 
of  one  thousand  and  fifty  men,  and  the  Miami 
country  was  a  second  time  destroyed.  Clarke  even 
went  as  far  north  as  the  British  trading-post  at  the 
head  of  the  Miami,  where  he  captured  a  great 
amount  of  property,  and  destroyed  the  post.  Other 
outposts  also  fell,  the  invading  army  suffering  but 
little,  and,  by  its  decisive  action,  practically  closing 
the  Indian  wars  in  the  West.  Pennsylvania  suf- 
fered some,  losing  Hannahstown  and  one  or  two 
small  settlemente.  Williamson's  and  Crawford's 
campaigns  aroused  the  fury  of  the  Indians  that 
took  time  and  much  blood  and  war  to  subdue.  The 
Kevolution  was,  however,  drawing  to  a  close.  Amer- 
ican arms  were  victorious,  and  a  new  nation  was 
now  coming  into  existence,  who  would  change  the 
whole  current  of  Western  matters,  and  make  of  the 
Northwest  a  land  of  liberty,  equality  and  union. 
That  nation  was  now  on  the  stage. 


-"^ ® 


<2 »^ 


60 


HISTOEY    OF    OHIO. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

AMERICAN    OCCUPATION— INDIAN    CLAIMS— SURVEYS— EARLY    LAND    COMPANIES— COMPACT 
OP    1787— ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    TERRITORY— EARLY    AMERICAN   SETTLE- 
MENTS    IN     THE     OHIO    VALLEY  — FIRST     TERRITORIAL 
OFFICERS— ORGANIZATION    OF    COUNTIES. 


THE  occupation  of  the  West  by  the  American, 
really  dates  from  the  campaign  of  Gen.  Clarke  in 
1778,  when  he  captured  the  British  posts  in  the 
Illinois  country,  and  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash. 
Had  he  been  properly  supported,  he  would  have 
reduced  Detroit,  then  in  easy  reach,  and  poorly  de- 
fended. As  it  was,  however,  that  post  remained  in 
charge  of  the  British  till  after  the  close  of  the  war 
of  the  Revolution.  They  also  held  other  lake 
posts;  but  these  were  included  in  the  terms  of 
peace,  and  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Ameri- 
cans. They  were  abandoned  by  the  British  as 
soon  as  the  different  commanders  received  notice 
from  their  chiefs,  and  British  rule  and  English 
occupation  ceased  iiji  that  part  of  the  New  World. 

The  war  virtually  closed  by  the  surrender  of 
Lord  CornwaUis  at  Yorktown,  Va.,  October  19, 
1781.  The  struggle  was  prolonged,  however,  by 
the  British,  in  the  vain  hope  that  they  could  re- 
trieve the  disaster,  but  it  was  only  a  useless  waste 
of  men  and  money.  America  would  not  be  sub- 
dued. "If  we  are  to  be  taxed,  we  will  be  repre- 
sented," said  they,  "else  we  will  be  a  free  govern- 
ment, and  regulate  our  own  taxes."  In  the  end, 
they  were  free. 

Provisional  articles  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  were  signed  in  Paris  on 
the  30th  of  November,  1782.  This  was  followed 
by  an  armistice  negotiated  at  Versailles  on  the  20th 
of  January,  1783 ;  and  finally,  a  definite  treaty  of 
peace  was  concluded  at  Paris  on  the  3d  of  the  next 
September,  and  ratified  by  Congress  on  the  4th  of 
January,  1784.  By  the  second  article  of  the  defi- 
nite treaty  of  1783,  the  boundaries  of  the  United 
States  were  fixed.'  A  glance  at  the  map  of  that 
day  shows  the  boundary  to  have  been  as  follows: 
Beginning  at  Passamaquoddy  Bay,  on  the  coast  of 
Maine,  the  line  ran  north  a  little  above  the  forty- 
fifth  parallel  of  latitude,  when  it  diverged  southwest- 
erly, irregularly,  until  it  reached  that  parallel,  when 
it  followed  it  until  it  reached  the  St.  Lawrence  River. 
It  followed  that  river  to  Lake  Ontario,  down  its 
center ;  up  the  Niagara  River  ;  through  Lake  Erie, 


up  the  Detroit  River  and  through  Lakes  Huron  and 
Superior,  to  the  northwest  extremity  of  the  latter. 
Then  it  pursued  another  irregular  western  course 
to  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  when  it  turned  south- 
ward to  the  Mississippi  River.  The  commissioners 
insisted  that  should  be  the  western  boundary,  as 
the  lakes  were  the  northern.  It  followed  the  Mis- 
sissippi south  until  the  mouth  of  Red  River  was 
reached,  when,  turning  east,  it  followed  almost  a 
direct  line  to  the  Atlantic  Coast,  touching  the 
coast  a  little  north  of  the  outlet  of  St.  John's 
River.  " 

From  this  outline,  it  will  be  i;eadily  seen  what 
boundary  the  United  States  possessed.  Not  one- 
half  of  its  present  domain. 

At  this  date,  there  existed  the  original  thirteen 
colonies :  Virginia  occupying  all  Kentucky  and 
all  the  Northwest,  save  about  half  of  Michigan  and 
Wisconsin,  claimed  by  Massachusetts ;  and  the  upper 
part  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  the  lower 
part  (a  narrow  strip)  of  Michigan,  claimed  by  Con- 
necticut. Georgia  included  all  of  Alabama  and 
Mississippi.  The  Spaniards  claimed  all  Florida 
and  a  narrow  part  of  lower  Georgia.  All  the  coun- 
try west  of  the  Father  of  Waters  belonged  to  Spain, 
to  whom  it  had  been  secretly  ceded  when  the  fam- 
ily compact  was  made.  That  nation  controlled  the 
Mississippi,  and  gave  no  small  uneasiness  to  the 
young  government.  It  was,  however,  happily  set- 
tled finally,  by  the  sale  of  Louisana  to  the  United 
States. 

Pending  the  settlement  of  these  questions  and 
the  formation  of  the  Federal  Union,  the  cession  of 
the  Northwest  by  Virginia  again  came  before 
Congress.  That  body  found  itself  unable  to  fulfill 
its  promises  to  its  soldiers  regarding  land,  and 
again  urged  the  Old  Dominion  to  cede  the  Terri- 
tory to  the  General  Government,  for  the  good  of 
all.  Congress  forbade  settlers  from  occupying  the 
Western  lands  till  a  definite  cession  had  been 
made,  and  the  title  to  the  lands  in  question  made 
good.  But  speculation  was  stronger  than  law, 
and  without  waiting  for  the  slow  processes  of  courts, 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


61 


the  adventurous  settlers  were  pouring  into  the 
country  at  a  rapid  rate,  only  retarded  by  the  rifle 
and  scaJping-knife  of  the  savage — a  temporary 
check.  The  policy  of  allowing  any  parties  to  obtain 
land  jfrom  the  Indians  was  strongly  discouraged 
by  Washington.  He  advocated  the  idea  that  only 
the  G-eneral  Government  could  do  that,  and,  in  a 
letter  to  James  Duane,  in  Congress,  he  strongly 
urged  such  a  course,  and  pointed  out  the  danger 
of  a  border  war,  unless  some  such  measure  was 
stringently  followed. 

Under  the  circumstances,  Congress  pressed  the 
claims  of  cession  upon  Virginia,  and  finally  in- 
duced the  Dominion  to  modify  the  terms  proposed 
two  years  before.  On  the  20th  of  December, 
1783,  Virginia  accepted  the  proposal  of  Congress, 
and  authorized  her  delegates  to  make  a  deed  to 
the  United  States  of  all  her  right  in  the  territory 
northwest  of  the  Ohio. 

The  Old  Dominion  stipulated  in  her  deed  of 
cession,  that  the  territory  should  be  divided  into 
States,  to  be  admitted  into  the  Union  as  any  other 
State,  and  to  bear  a  proportionate  share  in  the 
maintenance  of  that  Union;  that  Virginia  should 
be  re-imbursed  for  the  expense  incurred  in  subduing 
the  British  posts  in  the  territory;  that  the  French 
and  Canadian  inhabitants  should  be  protected  in  their 
rights ;  that  the  grant  to  Gen.  George  Kogers  Clarke 
and  his  men,  as  well  as  all  other  similar  grants, 
should  be  confirmed,  and  that  the  lands  should  be 
considered  as  the  common  property  of  the  United 
States,  the  proceeds  to  be  applied  to  the  use  of  the 
whole  country.  Congress  accepted  these  condi- 
tions, and  the  deed  was  made  March  1,  1784. 
Thus  the  country  came  from  under  the  dominion 
of  Virginia,  and  became  common  property. 

A  serious  difficulty  arose,  about  this  time,  that 
threatened  for  awhile  to  involve  England  and 
America  anew  in  war.  Virginia  and  several 
other  States  refused  to  abide  by  that  part  of  the 
treaty  relating  to  the  payment  of  debts,  especially 
so,  when  the  British  carried  away  quite  a  number 
of  negroes  claimed  by  the  Americans.  This  re- 
fusal on  the  part  of  the  Old  Dominion  and  her 
abettors,  caused  the  English  to  retain  her  North- 
western outposts,  Detroit,  Mackinaw,  etc.  She 
held  these  till  1786,  when  the  questions  were 
finally  settled,  and  then  readily  abandoned  them. 

The  return  of  peace  greatly  augmented  emigra- 
tion to  the  West,  especially  to  Kentucky.  When 
the  war  closed,  the  population  of  that  county  (the 
three  counties  having  been  made  one  judicial  dis- 
trict, and  Danville  designated  as  the  seat  of  gov- 


ernment) was  estimated  to  be  about  twelve  thousand. 
In  one  year,  after  the  close  of  the  War,  it  increased 
to  30,000,  and  steps  for  a  State  government  were 
taken.  Owing  to  the  divided  sentiment  among  its 
citizens,  its  perplexing  questions  of  land  titles 
and  proprietary  rights,  nine  conventions  were  held 
before  a  definite  course  of  action  could  be  reached. 
This  prolonged  the  time  till  1792,  when,  in  De- 
cember of  that  year,  the  election  for  persons  to 
form  a  State  constitution  was  held,  and  the  vexed 
and  complicated  questions  settled.  In  1783,  the 
first  wagons  bearing  merchandise  came  across  the 
mountains.  Their  contents  were  received  on  flat- 
boats  at  Pittsburgh,  and  taken  down  the  Ohio  to 
Louisville,  which  that  spring  boasted  of  a  store, 
opened  by  Daniel  Broadhead.  The  next  year, 
James  Wilkinson  opened  one  at  Lexington. 

Pittsburgh  was  now  the  principal  town  in  the 
West.  It  occupied  the  same  position  regarding 
the  outposts  that  Omaha  has  done  for  several  years 
to  Nebraska.  The  town  of  Pittsburgh  was  laid 
out  immediately  after  the  war  of  1764,  by  Col. 
Campbell.  It  then  consisted  of  four  squares  about 
the  fort,  and  received  its  name  from  that  citadel. 
The  treaty  with  the  Six  Nations  in  1768,  con- 
veyed to  the  proprietaries  of  Pennsylvania  all  the 
lands  of  the  AUeghany  below  Kittanning,  and  all 
the  country  south  of  the  Ohio,  within  the  limits  of 
Penn's  charter.  This  deed  of  cession  was  recog- 
nized when  the  line  between  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia  was  fixed,  and  gave  the  post  to  the  Key- 
stone State.  In  accordance  with  this  deed,  the 
manor  of  Pittsburgh  was  withdrawn  from  market 
in  1769,  and  was  held  as  the  property  of  the  Penn 
family.  When  Washington  visited  it  in  1770,  it 
seems  to  have  declined  in  consequence  of  the 
afore-mentioned  act.  He  mentions  it  as  a  "  town  of 
about  twenty  log  houses,  on  the  Monongahela, 
about  three  hundred  yards  from  the  fort."  The 
Penn's  remained  true  to  the  King,  and  hence  all 
their  land  that  had  not  been  surveyed  and  returned 
to  the  land  office,  was  confiscated  by  the  common- 
wealth. Pittsburgh,  having  been  surveyed,  was 
still  left  to  them.  In  the  spring  of  1784,  Tench 
Francis,  the  agent  of  the  Penns,  was  induced  to 
lay  out  the  manor  into  lots  and  offer  them  for  sale. 
Though,  for  many  years,  the  place  was  rather  un- 
promising, it  eventually  became  the  chief  town  in 
that  part  of  the  West,  a  position  it  yet  holds.  In 
1786,  John  Scull  and  Joseph  Hall  started  the 
Pittsburgh  Gazette^  the  first  paper  published  west 
of  the  mountains.  In  the  initial  number,  appeared  a 
lengthy  article  from  the  pen  of  H.  H.  Brackenridge, 


63 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


afterward  one  of  the  most  prominent  members 
of  the  Pennsylvania  bar.  He  had  located  in 
Pittsburgh  in  1781.  His  letter  gives  a  most  hope- 
ful prospect  in  store  for  the  future  city,  and  is  a 
highly  descriptive  article  of  the  Western  country. 
It  is  yet  preserved  in  the  "Western  Annals,"  and 
is  vt^ell  worth  a  perusal. 

Under  the  act  of  peace  in  1783,  no  provision  was 
made  by  the  British  for  their  allies,  especially  the 
Six  Nations.  The  question  was  ignored  by  the 
English,  and  was  made  a  handle  by  the  Americans 
in  gaining  them  to  their  cause  before  the  war  had 
fiiUy  closed.  The  treaties  made  were  regarded  by 
the  Indians  as  alliances  only,  and  when  the  En- 
glish left  the  country  the  Indians  began  to  assume 
rather  a  hostile'bearing.  This  excited  the  whites, 
and  for  a  while  a  war  with  that  formidable  con- 
federacy was  imminent.  Better  councils  prevailed, 
and  Congress  wisely  adopted  the  policy  of  acquiring 
their  lands  by  purchase.  In  accordance  with  this 
policy,  a  treaty  was  made  at  Fort  Stanwix  with 
the  Six  Nations,  in  October,  1784.  By  this  treaty, 
all  lands  west  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of 
Oswego  Creek,  about  four  miles  east  of  Niagara, 
to  the  mouth  of  Buffalo  Creek,  and  on  to  the 
northern  boundary  of  Pennsylvania,  thence  west 
along  that  boundary  to  its  western  extremity, 
thence  south  to  the  Ohio  River,  should  be  ceded 
to  the  United  States.  (They  claimed  west  of  this  line 
by  conquest.)  The  Six  Nations  were  to  be  secured 
in  the  lands  they  inhabited,  reserving  only  six  miles 
square  around  Oswego  fort  for  the  support  of  the 
same.  By  this  treaty,  the  indefinite  claim  of  the 
Six  Nations  to  the  West  was  extinguished,  and  the 
question  of  its  ownership  settled. 

It  was  now  occupied  by  other  Western  tribes, 
who  did  not  recognize  the  Iroquois  claim,  and  who 
would  not  yield  without  a  'purchase.  Especially 
was  this  the  case  with  those  Indians  living  in  the 
northern  part.  To  get  possession  of  that  country 
by  the  same  process,  the  United  States,  through 
its  commissioners,  held  a  treaty  at  Port  Mcintosh 
on  the  21st  of  January,  1785.  The  Wyandot, 
Delaware,  Chippewa  and  Ottawa  tribes  were  pres- 
ent, and,  through  their  chiefs,  sold  their  lands  to 
the  Government.  The  Wyandot  and  Delaware 
nations  were  given  a  reservation  in  the  north  part 
of  Ohio,  where  they  were  to  be  protected.  The 
others  were  allotted  reservations  in  Michigan.  To 
all  was  given  complete  control  of  their  lands,  allow- 
ing them  to  punish  any  white  man  attempting  to 
settle  thereon,  and  guaranteeing  them  in  their 
rights. 


By  such  means  Congress  gained  Indian  titles  to 
the  vast  realms  north  of  the  Ohio,  and,  a  few 
months  later,  that  legislation  was  commenced  that 
should  determine  the  mode  of  its  disposal  and  the 
plan  of  its  settlements. 

To  facilitate  the  settlement  of  lands  thus  acquired. 
Congress,  on  May  20, 1785,  passed  an  act  for  dispos- 
ing of  lands  in  the  Northwest  Territory.  Its  main 
provisions  were :  A  surveyor  or  surveyors  should  be 
appointed  from  the  States ;  and  a  geographer,  and 
his  assistants  to  act  with  them.  The  surveyors 
were  to  divide  the  territory  into  townships  of  six 
miles  square,  by  lines  running  due  north  and 
south,  and  east  and  west.  The  starting-place 
was  to  be  on  the  Ohio  River,  at  a  point  where  the 
western  boundary  of  Pennsylvania  crossed  it. 
This  would  give  the  first  range,  and  the  first 
tbwnship.  As  soon  as  seven  townships  were 
surveyed,  the  maps  and  plats  of  the  same  were  to 
be  sent  to  the  Board  of  the  Treasury,  who  would 
record  them  and  proceed  to  place  the  land  in  the 
market,  and  so  on  with  all  the  townships  as  fast  as 
they  could  be  prepared  ready  for  sale.  Each  town- 
ship was  to  be  divided  into  thirty-six  sections,  or 
lots.  Out  of  these  sections,  numbers  8, 11,  26  and 
29  were  reserved  for  the  use  of  _the  Government, 
and  lot  No.  16,  for  the  establishment  of  a  common- 
school  fund.  One-third  of  all  mines  and  minerals  was 
also  reserved  for  the  United  States.  Three  townships 
on  Lake  Erie  were  reserved  for  the  use  of  officers, 
men  and  others,  refugees  from  Canada  and  from 
Nova  Scotia,  who  were  entitled  to  grants  of  land. 
The  Moravian  Indians  were  also  exempt  from 
molestation,  and  guaranteed  in  their  homes.  Sol- 
diers' claims,  and  all  others  of  a  like  nature,  were 
also  recognized,  and  land  reserved  for  them. 

Without  waiting  for  the  act  of  Congress,  settlers 
had  been  pouring  into  the  country,  and,  when  or- 
dered by  Congress  to  leave  undisturbed  Indian 
lands,  refused  to  do  so.  They  went  into  the  In- 
dian country  at  their  peril,  however,  and  when 
driven  out  by  the  Indians  could  get  no  redress 
from  the  Government,  even  when  life  was  lost. 

The  Indians  on  the  Wabash  made  a  treaty  at 
Fort  Finney,  on  the  Miami,  January  31,  1786, 
promising  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  were 
allowed  a  reservation.  This  treaty  did  not  include 
the  Piankeshaws,  as  was  at  first  intended.  These, 
refusing  to  live  peaceably,  stirred  up  the  Shawa- 
nees,  who  began  a  series  of  predatory  excursions 
against  the  settlements.  This  led  to  an  expedition 
against  them  and  other  restless  tribes.  Gen.  Clarke 
commanded  part  of  the  army  on  that  expedition. 


'^f^\<^wp^H'-' 


HISTORY   OP   OHIO. 


65 


but  got  no  farther  than  Vincennes,  when,  owing  to 
the  discontent  of  his  Kentucky  troops,  he  was 
obHged  to  return.  Col.  Benjamin  Logan,  how- 
ever, marched,  at  the  head  of  four  or  five  hundred 
mounted  riflemen,  into  the  Indian  country,  pene- 
trating as  far  as  the  head-waters  of  Mad  River. 
He  destroyed  several  towns,  much  corn,  and  took 
about  eighty  prisoners.  Among  these,  was  the 
chief  of  the  nation,  who  was  wantonly  slain, 
greatly  to  Logan's  regret,  who  could  not  restrain 
his  men.  His  expedition  taught  the  Indians  sub- 
mission, and  that  they  must  adhere  to  their  con- 
tracts. 

Meanwhile,  the  difficulties  of  the  navigation  of 
the  Mississippi  arose.  Spain  would  not  relinquish 
the  right  to  control  the  entire  southern  part  of  the 
river,  allowing  no  free  navigation.  She  was  secretly 
hoping  to  cause  a  revolt  of  the  Western  provinces, 
especially  Kentucky,  and  openly  favored  such  a 
move.  She  also  claimed,  by  conquest,  much  of  the 
land  on  the  east  side  of  the  river.  The  slow  move- 
ments of  Congress;  the  failure  of  Virginia  to 
properly  protect  Kentucky,  and  the  inherent  rest- 
lessness in  some  of  the  Western  men,  well-nigh 
precipitated  matters,  and,  for  a  while,  serious  jresults 
were  imminent.  The  Kentuckians,  and,  indeed, 
all  the  people  of  the  West,  were  determined  the 
river  should  be  free,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to 
raise  a  regiment,  and  forcibly  seize  Spanish  prop- 
erty in  the  West.  Great  Britain  stood  ready,  too, 
to  aid  the  West  should  it  succeed,  providing  it 
would  make  an  alliance  with  her.  But  while  the 
excitement  was  at  its  height,  Washington  coun- 
seled better  ways  and  patience.  The  decisive  tone 
of  the  new  repubUc,  though  almost  overwhelmed 
with  a  burden  of  debt,  and  with  no  credit,  debarred 
the  Spanish  from  too  forcible  measures  to  assert 
their  claims,  and  held  back  the  disloyal  ones  from 
attempting  a  revolt. 

New  York,  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  ceded 
their  lands,  and  now  the  United  States  were  ready 
to  ftdfill  their  promises  of  land  grants,  to  the  sol- 
diers who  had  preserved  the  nation.  This  did 
much  to  heal  the  breach  in  the  West,  and  restore 
confidence  there;  so  that  the  Mississippi  question 
was  overlooked  for  a  time,  and  Kentucky  forgot  her 
animosities. 

The  cession  of  their  claims  was  the  signal  for 
the  formation  of  land  companies  in  the  East ;  com- 
panies whose  object  was  to  settle  the  Western  coun- 
try, and,  at  the  same  time,  enrich  the  founders  of 
the  companies.  Some  of  these  companies  had  been 
formed  in  the  old  colonial  days,  but  the  recent  war 


had  put  a  stop  to  all  their  proceedings.  Congress 
would  not  recognize  their  claims,  and  new  com- 
panies, under  old  names,  were  the  result.  By  such 
means,  the  Ohio  Company  emerged  from  the  past, 
and,  in  1Y86,  took  an  active  existence. 

Benjamin  Tupper,  a  Revolutionary  soldier,  and 
since  then  a  government  surveyor,  who  had  been 
west  as  far  as  Pittsburgh,  revived  the  question. 
He  was  prevented  from  prosecuting  his  surveys  by 
hostile  Indians,  and  returned  to  Massachusetts. 
He  broached  a  plan  to  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam,  as  to 
the  renewal  of  their  memorial  of  1783,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  publication  of  a  plan,  and  inviting  all 
those  interested,  to  meet  in  February  in  their  re- 
spective counties,  and  choose  delegates  to  a  con- 
vention to  be  held  at  the  "  Bunch-of-grapes  Tav- 
ern." in  Boston"  on  the  first  of  March,  1786.  On 
the  day  appointed,  eleven  persons  appeared,  and 
by  the  3d  of  March  an  outline  was  drawn  up,  and 
subscriptions  under  it  began  at  once.  The  leading 
features  of  the  plan  were :  "  A  fund  of  $1 ,000,000, 
mainly  in  Continental  certificates,  was  to  be  raised 
for  the  purpose  of  purchasing  lands  in  the  Western 
country;  there  were  to  be  1,000  shares  of  $1,000 
each,  and  upon  each  share  $10  in  specie  were  to 
be  paid  for  contingent  expenses.  One  year's  inter- 
est was  to  be  appropriated  to  the  charges  of  making 
a  settlement,  and  assisting  those  unable  to  move 
without  aid.  The  owners  of  every  twenty  shares 
were  to  choose  an  agent  to  represent  them  and 
attend  to  their  interests,  and  the  agents  were  to 
choose  the  directors.  The  plan  was  approved,  and 
in  a  year's  time  from  that  date,  the  Company  was 
organized."* 

By  the  time  this  Company  was  organized,  all 
claims  of  the  colonies  in  the  coveted  territory  were 
done  away  with  by  their  deeds  of  cession,  Connect- 
icut being  the  last. 

While  troubles  were  still  existing  south  of  the 
Ohio  River,  regarding  the  navigation  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi, and  many  urged  the  formation  of  a  sepa- 
rate, independent  State,  and  while  Congress  and 
Washington  were  doing  what  they  could  to  allay 
the  feeling  north  of  the  Ohio,  the  New  England 
associates  were  busily  engaged,  now  that  a  Com- 
pany was  fotmed,  to  obtain  the  land  they  wished 
to  purchase.  On  the  8th  of  March,  1787,  a  meet- 
ing of  the  agents  chose  Gen.  Parsons,  Gen.  Put- 
nam and  the  Rev.  Mannasseh  Cutler,  Directors  for 
the  Company.  The  last  selection  was  quite  a 
fitting  one  for  such  an  enterprise.     Dr.  Cutler  was 

*  Historical  Collections. 


— s>  y 


66 


HISTOKY   OF    OHIO. 


an  accomplished  scholar,  an  excellent  gentleman, 
and  a  firm  believer  in  ireedom.  In  the  choice  of 
him  as  the  agent  of  the  Company,  lies  the  fact, 
though  unforeseen,  of  the  beginning  of  anti-slavery 
in  America.  Through  him  the  famous  "  compact 
of  1787,"  the  true  corner-stone  of  the  Northwest, 
originated,  and  by  him  was  safely  passed.  He 
was  a  good  "wire-puller,"  too,  and  in  this  had  an 
advantage.  Mr.  Hutchins  was  at  this  time  the 
geographer  for  the  United  States,  and  was,  prob- 
ably, the  best-posted  man  in  America  regarding 
the  "West.  Dr.  Cutler  learned  from  him  that  the 
most  desirable  portions  were  on  the  Muskingum 
River,  north  of  the  Ohio,  and  was  advised  by  him 
to  buy  there  if  he  could. 

Congress  wanted  money  badly,  and  many  of  the 
members  favored  the  plan.  The  Southern  mem- 
bers, generally,  were  hostile  to  it,  as  the  Doctor 
would  listen  to  no  grant  which  did  not  embody 
the  New  England  ideas  in  the  charter.  These 
members  were  finally  won  over,  some  bribery  be- 
ing used,  and  some  of  their  favorites  made  officers 
of  the  Territory,  whose  formation  was  now  going 
on.  This  took  time,  however,  and  Dr.  Cutler,  be- 
coming impatient,  declared  they  would  purchase 
from  some  of  the  States,  who  held  small  tracts  in 
various  parts  of  the  West.  This  intimation  brought 
the  tardy  ones  to  time,  and,  on  the  23d  of  July, 
Congress  authorized  the  Treasury  Board  to  make 
the  contract.  On  the  26th,  Messrs.  Cutler  and 
Sargent,  on  behalf  of  the  Company,  stated  in 
writing  their  conditions;  and  on  the  27th,  Con- 
gress referred  their  letter  to  the  Board,  and  an 
order  of  the  same  date  was  obtained.  Of  this  Dr. 
Cutler's  journal  says: 

"  By  this  grant  we  obtained  near  five  millions 
of  acres  of  land,  amounting  to  $3,500,000 ;  1,500,- 
000  acres  for  the  Ohio  Company,  and  the  remainder 
for  a  private  speculation,  in  which  many  of  the 
principal  characters  of  America  are  concerned. 
Without  connecting  this  peculation,  similar  terms 
and  advantages  for  the  Ohio  Company  could  not 
have  been  obtained." 

Messrs.  Cutler  and  Sargent  at  once  closed  a  ver- 
bal contract  with  the  Treasury  Board,  which  was 
executed  in  form  on  the  27th  of  the  next  Octo- 
ber.* 

By  this  contract,  the  vast  region  bounded  on  the 
south  by  the  Ohio,  west  by  the  Scioto,  east  by  the 
seventh  range  of  townships  then  surveying,  and 
north  by  a  due  west  line,  drawn  from  the  north 

*  Land  Laws. 


boundary  of  the  tenth  township  from  the  Ohio, 
direct  to  the  Scioto,  was  sold  to  the  Ohio  associ- 
ates and  their  secret  copartners,  for  $1  per  acre, 
subject  to  a  deduction  of  one-third  for  bad  lands 
and  other  contingencies. 

The  whole  tract  was  not,  however,  paid  for  nor 
taken  by  the  Company — even  their  own  portion  of 
a  million  and  a  half  acres,  and  extending  west  to  the 
eighteenth  range  of  townships,  was  not  taken ;  and 
in  1792,  the  boundaries  of  the  purchase  proper 
were  fixed  as  follows :  the  Ohio  on  the  south,  the 
seventh  range  of  townships  on  the  east,  the  six- 
teenth range  on  the  west,  and  a  line  on  the  north 
so  drawn  as  to  make  the  grant  750,000  acres,  be- 
sides reservations ;  this  grant  being  the  portion 
which  it  was  originally  agreed  the  Company  might 
enter  into  at  once.  In  addition  to  this,  214,285 
acres  were  granted  as  army  bounties,  under  the 
resolutions  of  1779  and  1780,  and  100,000  acres 
as  bounties  to  actual  settlers;  both  of  the  latter 
tracts  being  within  the  original  grant  of  1787,  and 
adjoining  the  purchase  as  before  mentioned. 

While  these  things  were  progressing.  Congress 
was  bringing  into  form  an  ordinance  for  the  gov- 
ernment and  social  organization  of  the  North- 
west Territory.  Virginia  made  her  cession  in 
March,  1784,  and  during  the  month  following  the 
plan  for  the  temporary  government  of  the  newly 
acquired  territory  came  under  discussion.  On  the 
19th  of  April,  Mr.  Spaight,  of  North  Carolina, 
moved  to  strike  from  the  plan  reported  by  Mr. 
Jefferson,  the  emancipationist  of  his  day,  a  provis- 
ion for  the  prohibition  of  slavery  north  of  the  Ohio 
after  the  year  1800.  The  motion  prevailed.  From 
that  day  till  the  23d,  the  plan  was  discussed  and 
altered,  and  finally  passed  unanimously  with  the  ex- 
ception of  South  CaroUna.  The  South  would  have 
slavery,  or  defeat  every  measure.  Thus  this  hide- 
ous monster  early  began  to  assert  himself.  By  the 
proposed  plan,  the  Territory  was  to  have  been 
divided  into  States  by  parallels  of  latitude  and  merid- 
ian lines.  This  division,  it  was  thought,  would  make 
ten  States,  whose  names  were  as  follows,  beginning 
at  the  northwest  corner,  and  going  southwardly : 
Sylvania,  Michigania,  Cheresonisus,  Assenispia, 
Metropotamia,  lUinoia,  Saratoga,  Washington, 
Polypotamia  and  Pehsipia.* 

A  more  serious  difficulty  existed,  however,  to 
this  plan,  than  its  catalogue  of  names — ^the  number 
of  States  and  their  boundaries.  The  root  of  the  evil 
was  in  the  resolution  passed  by  Congress  in  October, 

*  Spark^s  Washington. 


'^ 


HISTORY  OF    OHIO. 


67 


1 Y80,  wMoh  fixed  the  size  of  the  States  to  be  formed 
from  the  ceded  lands,  at  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  square.  The  terms  of  that  resolu- 
tion being  called  up  both  by  Virginia  and  Massa^ 
chusetts,  further  legislation  was  deemed  necessary 
to  change  them.  July  1,  1786,  this  subject  came 
up  in  Congress,  and  a  resolution  passed  in  favor  of 
a  division  into  not  less  than  three  nor  more  than 
five  States.  Virginia,  at  the  close  of  1788,  assented 
to  this  proposition,  which  became  the  basis  upon 
which  the  division  should  be  made.  On  the  29th 
of  September,  Congress  having  thus  changed  the 
plan  for.  dividing  the  Northwestern  Territory  into 
ten  States,  proceeded  again  to  consider  the  terms  of 
an  ordinance  for  the  government  of  that  region.  At 
this  juncture,  the  genius  of  Dr.  Cutler  displayed 
itself.  A  graduate  in  medicine,  law  and  divinity  ; 
an  ardent  lover  of  liberty ;  a  celebrated  scientist, 
and  an  accomplished,  portly  gentleman,  of  whom 
the  Southern  senators  said  they  had  never  before 
seen  so  fine  a  specimen  from  the  New  England  colo- 
nies, no  man  was  better  prepared  to  form  a  govern- 
ment for  the  new  Territory,  than  he.  The  Ohio 
Company  was  his  real  object.  He  was  backed  by 
them,  and  enough  Continental  money  to  purchase 
more  than  a  million  acres  of  land.  This  was  aug- 
mented by  other  parties  until,  as  has  been  noticed, 
he  represented  over  five  million  acres.  This  would 
largely  reduce  the  public  debt.  Jefierson  and  Vir- 
ginia were  regarded  as  authority  concerning  the 
land  Virginia  had  just  ceded  to  the  General  Gov- 
ernment. Jefierson's  policy  was  to  provide  for  the 
national  credit,  and  still  check  the  growth  of  slavery. 
Here  was  a  good  opportunity.  Massachusetts 
owned  the  Territory  of  Maine,  which  she  was  crowd- 
ing into  .market.  She  opposed  the  opening  of 
the  Northwest.  This  stirred  Virginia.  The  South 
caught  the  inspiration  and  rallied  around  the  Old 
Dominion  and  Dr.  Cutler.  Thereby  he  gained  the 
credit  and  good  will  of  the  South,  an  auxiliary  he 
used  to  good  purpose.  Massachusetts  could  not 
vote  against  £im,  because  many  of  the  constituents 
of  her  members  were  interested  in  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany. Thus  the  Doctor,  using  all  the  arts  of  the 
lobbyist,  was  enabled  to  hold  the  situation.  True  to 
deeper  convictions,  he  dictated  one  of  the  most  com- 
pact and  finished  documents  of  wise  statesmanship 
that  has  ever  adorned  any  statute-book.  Jefierson 
gave  it  the  term,  "Articles  of  Compact,"  and 
rendered  him  valuable  aid  in  its  construction.  This 
"  Compact"  preceded  the  Federal  Constitution,  in 
both  of  which  are  seen  Jefierson's  master-mind. 
Dr.  Cutler  followed  closely  the  constitution  of  Mas- 


sachusetts, adopted  three  years  before.  The  prom- 
inent features  were  :  The  exclusion  of  slavery  from 
the  Territory  forever.  Provision  for  public  schools, 
giving  one  township  for  a  seminary,  and  every  six- 
teenth section.  (That  gave  one  thirty-sixth  of  all 
the  land  for  public  education.)  A  provision  pro- 
hibiting the  adoption  of  any  constitution  or  the 
enactment  of  any  law  that  would  nullify  pre-exist- 
ing contracts. 

The  compact  further  declared  that  "  Religion, 
morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good 
government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools 
and  the  means  of  education  shall  always  be  en- 
couraged." 

The  Doctor  planted  himself  firmly  on  this  plat- 
form, and  would  not  yield.  It  was  that  or  nothing. 
Unless  they  could  make  the  land  desirable ,  it  was 
not  wanted,  and,  taking  his  horse  and  buggy,  he 
started  for  the  Constitutional  Convention  in  Phil- 
adelphia. His  infiuence  succeeded.  On  the  13th 
of  July,  1787,  the  bill  was  put  upon  its  passage 
and  was  unanimously  adopted.  Every  member 
from  the  South  voted  for  it ;  only  one  man,  Mr. 
Yates,  of  New  York,  voted  against  the  measure  ; 
but  as  the  vote  was  made  by  States,  his  vote  was 
lost,  and  the  "  Compact  of  1787  "  was  beyond  re- 
peal. Thus  the  great  States  of  the  Northwest 
Territory  were  consecrated  to  freedom,  intelligence 
and  morality.  This  act  was  the  opening  step  for 
freedom  in  America.  Soon  the  South  saw  their 
blunder,  and  endeavored,  by  all  their  power,  to  re- 
peal the  compact.  In  1803,  Congress  referred  it 
to  a  committee,  of  which  John  Eandolph  was 
chairman.  He  reported  the  ordinance  was  a  com- 
pact and  could  not  be  repealed.  Thus  it  stood, 
like  a  rook,  in  the  way  of  slavery,  which  still,  in 
spite  of  these  provisions,  endeavored  to  plant  that 
infernal  institution  in  the  West.  Witness  the 
early  days  of  Ohio,  Indiana  and  Illinois.  But  the 
compact  could  not  be  violated ;  New  England  ideas 
could  not  be  put  down,  and  her  sons  stood  ready 
to  defend  the  soil  of  the  West  from  that  curse. 

The  passage  of  the  ordinance  and  the  grant  of 
land  to  Dr.  Cutler'and  his  associates,  were  soon  fol- 
lowed by  a  request  from  John  Cleve  Symmes,  of 
New  Jersey,  for  the  country  between  the  Miamis. 
Symmes  had  visited  that  part  of  the  West  in  178G, 
and,  being  pleased  with  the  valleys  of  the  Miamis, 
had  applied  to  the  Board  of  the  Treasury  for 
their  purchase,  as  soon  as  they  were  open  to  set- 
tlement. The  Board  was  empowered  to  act  by 
Congress,  and,  in  1788,  a  contract  was  signed,  giv- 
ing him  the  country  he  desired.     The  terms  of  his 


^  a 


Aj 


HISTOKY   OF   OHIO. 


purctase  were  similar  to  those  of  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany. His  application  was  followed  by  others, 
whose  success  or  failure  will  appear  in  the  narrative. 

The  New  England  or  Ohio  Company  was  all 
this  time  busily  engaged  perfecting  its  arrange- 
ments to  occupy  its  lands.  The  Directors  agreed 
to  reserve  5,760  acres  near  the  confluence  of  the 
Ohio  and  Muskingum  for  a  city  and  commons,  for 
the  old  ideas  of  the  English  plan  of  settling  a 
country  yet  prevailed.  A  meeting  of  the  Direct- 
ors was  held  at  Bracket's  tavern,  in  Boston,  No- 
vember 23,  1Y8Y,  when  four  surveyors,  and  twen- 
ty-two attendants,  boat-builders,  carpenters,  black- 
smiths and  common  workmen,  numbering  in  all 
forty  persons,  were  engaged.  Their  tools  were 
purchased,  and  wagons  were  obtained  to  transport 
them  across  the  mountains.  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam 
was  made  superintendent  of  the  company,  and 
Ebenezer  Sproat,  of  Ehode  Island,  Anselm  Tup- 
per  and  John  Matthews,  from  Massachusetts,  and 
R.  J.  Meigs,  from  Connecticut,  as  surveyors.  At 
the  same  meeting,  a  suitable  person  to  instruct  them 
in  religion,  and  prepare  the  way  to  open  a  school 
when  needed,  was  selected.  This  was  Rev.  Daniel 
Storey,  who  became  the  first  New  England  minis- 
ter in  the  Northwest. 

The  Indians  were  watching  this  outgrowth  of 
afiairs,  and  felt,  from  what  they  could  learn  in  Ken- 
tucky, that  they  would  be  gradually  surrounded  by 
the  whites.  This  they  did  not  relish,  by  any 
means,  and  gave  the  settlements  south  of  the  Ohio 
no  little  uneasiness.  It  was  thought  best  to  hold 
another  treaty  with  them.  In  the  mean  time,  to 
insure  peace,  the-  Governor  of  Virginia,  and  Con- 
gress, placed  troops  at  Venango,  Forts  Pitt  and 
Mcintosh,  and  at  Miami,  Vincennes,  Louisville, 
and  Muskingum,  and  the  militia  of  Kentucky 
were  held  in  readiness  should  a  sudden  outbreak 
occur.  These  measures  produced  no  results,  save 
insuring  the  safety  of  the  whites,  and  not  until 
January,  1789,  was  Clarke  able  to  carry  out  his 
plans.  During  that  month,  he  held  a  meeting  at  Fort 
Harmar,*  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  where 
the  New  England  Colony  expected  to  locate. 

The  hostile  character  of  the  Indians  did  not 
deter  the  Ohio  Company  from  carrying  out  its 
plans.     In  the  winter  of  1787,  Gen.  Ruftis  Put- 


*  Fort  Harmar  -was  built  in  1785,  by  a  detachment  of  United  States 
Boldiera,  under  command  of  Maj.  John  Doughty.  It  was  named  in 
honor  of  Col.  Josiah  Harmar,  to  whose  regiment  Maj.  Doughty  was 
attached.  It  was  the  first  military  post  erected  by  the  Americans 
within  the  limits  of  Ohio,  except  Fort  Laurens,  a  temporary  struct- 
ure built  in  1778.  When  Marietta  was  founded  it  -was  the  military 
post  of  that  part  of  the  country,  and  was  for  many  years  an  impor- 
tant station. 


nam  and  forty-seven  pioneers  advanced  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Youghiogheny  River,  and  began 
building  a  boat  for  transportation  down  the  Ohio 
in  the  spring.  The  boat  was  the  largest  craft  that 
had  ever  descended  the  river,  and,  in  allusion  to 
their  Pilgrim  Fathers,  it  was  called  the  Mayflower. 
Jt  was  45  feet  long  and  12  feet  wide,  and  esti- 
mated at  50  tons  burden.  Truly  a  formidable  affair 
for  the  time.  The  bows  were  raking  and  curved 
like  a  galley,  and  were  strongly  timbered.  The 
sides  were  made  bullet-proof,  and  it  was  covered 
with  a  deck  roof  Capt.  Devol,  the  first  ship- 
builder in  the  West,  was  placed  in  command.  On 
the  2d  of  April,  the  Mayflower  was  launched, 
and  for  five  days  the  little  band  of  pioneers  sailed 
down  the  Monongahela  and  the  Ohio,  and,  on  the 
7th,  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum. 
There,  opposite  Fort  Harmar,  they  chose  a  locar 
tion,  moored  their  boat  for  a  temporary  shelter, 
and  began  to  erect  houses  for  their  occupation. 

Thus  was  begun  the  first  English  settlement  in 
the  Ohio  Valley.  About  the  1st  of  July,  they 
were  re-enforced  by  the  arrival  of  a  colony  from 
Massachusetts.  It  had  been  nine  weeks  on  the 
way.  It  had  hauled  its  wagons  and  driven  its 
stock  to  Wheeling,  where,  constructing  flat-boats, 
it  had  floated  down  the  river  to  the  settlement. 

In  October  preceding  this  occurrence,  Arthur 
St.  Clair  had  been  appointed  Governor  of  the  Ter- 
ritory by  Congress,  which  body  also  appointed 
Winthrop  Sargent,  Secretary,  and  Samuel  H. 
Parsons,  James  M.  Varnjim  and  John  Armstrong 
Judges.  Subsequently  Mr.  Armstrong  declined 
the  appointment,  and  Mr.  Symmes  was  given  the 
vacancy.  None  of  these  were  on  the  ground 
when  the  first  settlement  was  made,  though  the 
Judges  came  soon  after.  One  of  the  first  things  the 
colony  found  necessary  to  do  was  to  organize 
some  form  of  government,  whereby  difficidties 
might  be  settled,  though  to  the  credit  of  the  colony 
it  may  be  said,  that  during  the  first  three  montl^ 
of  its  existence  but  one  difierence  arose,  and  that 
was  settled  by  a  compromise.*  Indeed,  hardly  a 
better  set  of  men  for  the  purpose  could  have  been 
selected.  Washington  wrote  concerning  this 
colony : 

"No  colony  in  America  was  ever  settled  under 
such  favorable  auspices  as  that  which  has  com- 
menced at  the  Muskingum.  Information,  prop- 
erty and  strength  will  be  its  characteristics.  I 
know  many  of  the  settlers  personally,  and  there 

*"  Western  Monthly  Magazine." 


HISTOEY   OP    OHIO. 


69 


never  were  men  better  calculated  to  promote  the 
welfare  of  such  a  community." 
'  On  the  2d  of  July,  a  meeting  of  the  Directors 
and  agents  was  held  on  the  banks  of  the  Mus- 
kingum for  the  purpose  of  naming  the  newborn 
city  and  its  squares.  As  yet,  the  settlement  had 
been  merely  "The  Muskingum;"  but  the  name 
Marietta  was  now  formally  given  it,  in  honor  of 
Marie  Antoinette.  The  square  upon  which  the 
blockhouses  stood  was  called  Campus  Martins; 
Square  No.  19,  Gwpiiolium ;  Square  No.  61,  (7e- 
ci7m,  and  the  great  road  running  through  the 
cover(>way,  Sacra  Via.*  Surely,  classical  scholars 
were  not  scarce  in  the  colony. 

On  the  Fourth,  an  oration  was  delivered  by 
James  M.  Varnum,  one  of  the  Judges,  and  a 
pubho  demonstration  held.  Five  days  after,  the 
Governor  arrived,  and  the  colony  began  to  assume 
form.  The  ordinance  of  1787  provided  two  dis- 
tinct grades  of  government,  under  the  first  of 
which  the  whole  power  was  under  the  Governor 
and  the  three  Judges.  This  form  was  at  once 
recognized  on  the  arrival  of  St.  Clair.  The  first 
law  established  by  this  court  was  passed  on  the 
25th  of  July.  It  established  and  regulated  the 
militia  of  the  Territory.  The  next  day  aft«r  its 
publication,  appeared  the  Governor's  proclamation 
erecting  all  the  country  that  had  been  ceded  by 
the  Indians  east  of .  .the  Scioto  River,  into  the 
county  of  Washington.  Marietta  was,  of  course, 
the  county  seat,  and,  from  that  day,  went  on 
prosperously.  On  September  2,  the  first  court 
was  held  with  becoming  ceremonies.  It  is  thus 
related  in  the  American  Pioneer : 

"The  procession  was  formed  at  the  Point 
(where  the  most  of  the  settlers  resided),  in  the 
following  order:  The  High  Sheriff,  with  his 
drawn  sword;  the  citizens;  the  officers  of  the 
garrison  at  Fort  Harmar;  the  members  of  the 
bar;  the  Supreme  Judges;  the  Governor  and 
clergyman ;  the  newly  appointed  Judges  of  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  Gens.  Eufos  Putnam 
and  Benjamin  Tupper. 

"They  marched  up  the  path  that  had  been 
cleared  through  the  forest  to  Campus  Martius 
Hall  (stockade),  where  the  whole  countermarched, 
and  the  Judges  (Putnam  and  Tupper)  took  their 
seats.  The  clergyman.  Rev.  Dr.  Cutler,  then 
invoked  the  divine  blessing.  The  Sheriff,  Col. 
Bbenezer  Sproat,  proclaimed  with  his  solemn  '  Oh 
yes ! '  that  a  court  is  open  for  the  administration  of 

*  "  Carey's  Museum,"  Vol.  4. 


even-handed  justice,  to  the  poor  and  to  the  rich, 
to  the  guilty  and  to  the  innocent,  without  respect 
of  persons;  none  to  be  punished  without  a  trial  of 
their  peers,  and  then  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  and 
evidence  in  the  case. 

"  Although  this  scene  was  exhibited  thus  early 
in  the  settlement  of  the  West,  few  ever  equaled  it 
in  the  dignity  and  exalted  character  of  its  princi- 
pal participators.  Many  of  them  belonged  to  the 
history  of  our  country  in  the  darkest,  as  well  as 
the  most  splendid,  period  of  the  Revolutionary 
war." 

Many  Indians  were  gathered  at  the  same  time 
to  witness  the  (to  them)  strange  spectacle,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  forming  a  treaty,  though  how 
far  they  carried  this  out,  the  Pioneer  does  not 
relate.  ■ 

The  progress  of  the  settlement  was  quite  satis- 
factory during  the  year.  Some  one  writing  a 
letter  from  the  town  says: 

"  The  progress  of  the  settlement  is  sufficiently 
rapid  for  the  first  year.  We  are  continually  erect- 
ing houses,  but  arrivals  are  constantly  coming 
faster  than  we  can  possibly  provide  convenient 
covering.  Our  first  ball  was  opened  about  the 
middle  of  December,  at  which  were  fifteen  ladies, 
as  well  accomplished  in  the  manner  of  polite 
circles  as  any  I  have  ever  seen  in  the  older  States. 
I  mention  this  to  show  the  progress  of  society  in 
this  new  world,  where,  I  believe,  we  shall  vie  with, 
if  not  excel,  the  old  States  in  every  accom- 
plishment necessary  to  render  life  agreeable  and 
happy." 

The  emigration  westward  at  this  time  was, 
indeed,  exceedingly  large.  The  commander  at 
Fort  Harmar  reported  4,500  persons  as  having 
passed  that  post  between  February  and  June, 
1788,  many  of  whom  would  have  stopped  there, 
had  the  associates  been  prepared  to  receive  them. 
The  settlement  was  free  from  Indian  depredations 
until  January,  1791,  during  which  interval  it 
daily  increased  in  numbers  and  strength. 

Symmes  and  his  friends  were  not  idle  during  this 
time.  He  had  secured  his  contract  in  October, 
1787,  and,  soon  after,  issued  a  pamphlet  stating 
the  terms  of  his  purchase  and  the  mode  he  intended 
to  follow  in  the  disposal  of  the  lands.  His  plan 
was,  to  issue  warrants  for  not  less  than  one-quarter 
section,  which  might  be  located  anywhere,  save  on 
reservations,  or  on  land  previously  entered.  The 
locator  could  enter  an  entire  section  should  he  de- 
sire to  do  so.  The  price  was  to  be  60f  cents  per 
acre  till  May,  1788  ;  then,  till  November,  $1 ;  and 


70 


HISTOKY   OF   OHIO. 


after  that  time  to  be  regulated  by  the  demand  for 
land.  Each  purchaser  was  bound  to  begin  im- 
provements within  two  years,  or  forfeit  one-sixth 
of  the  land  to  whoever  would  settle  thereon  and 
remain  seven  years.  Military  bounties  might  be 
taken  in  this,  as  in  the  purchase  of  the  associates. 
For  himself,  Symmes  reserved  one  township  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Miami.  On  this  he  intended  to 
build  a  great  city,  rivaling  any  Eastern  port.  He 
offered  any  one  a  lot  on  which  to  build  a  house, 
providing  he  would  remain  three  years.  Conti- 
nental certificates  were  rising,  owing  to  the  demand 
for  land  created  by  these  two  purchases,  and  Con- 
gress found  the  burden  of  debt  correspondingly 
lessened.  Symmes  soon  began  to  experience  diffi- 
culty in  procuring  enough  to  meet  his  payments. 
He  had  also  some  trouble  in  arranging  his  boundary 
with  the  Board  of  the  Treasury.  These,  and  other 
causes,  laid  the  foundation  for  another  city,  which  is 
now  what  Symmes  hoped  his  city  would  one  day  be. 

In  January,  1788,  Mathias  Denman,  of  New 
Jersey,  took  an  interest  in  Symmes'  purchase, 
and  located,  among  other  tracts,  the  sections  upon 
which  Cincinnati  has  since  been  built.  Retaining 
one-third  of  this  purchase,  he  sold  the  balance  to 
Robert  Patterson  and  John  Filson,  each  getting 
the  same  share.  These  three,  about  August,  agreed 
to  lay  out  a  town  on  their  land.  It  was  designated 
as  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Licking  River,  to 
which  place  it  was  intended  to  open  a  road  from 
Lexington,  Ky.  These  men  little  thought  of  the 
great  emporium  that  now  covers  the  modest  site  of 
this  town  they  laid  out  that  summer.  Mr.  Filson, 
who  had  been  a  schoolmaster,  and  was  of  a  some- 
what poetic  nature,  was  appointed  to  name  the 
town.  In  respect  to  its  situation,  and  as  if  with 
a  prophetic  perception  of  the  mixed  races  that 
were  in  after  years  to  dwell  there,  he  named  it  Los- 
antiville,*  "which,  being  interpreted,"  says  the 
"  Western  Annals,"  "means  m7?e,  the  town;  anti, 
opposite  to ;  os,  the  mouth ;  L,  of  Licking.  This 
may  well  put  to  the  blush  the  Campus  Martins 
of  the  Marietta  scholars,  and  the  Fort  Solon  of 
the  Spaniards." 

Meanwhile,  Symmes  was  busy  in  the  East,  and, 
by  July,  got  thirty  people  and  eight  four-horse 
wagons  under  way  for  the  West.  These  reached 
Limestone  by  September,  where  they  met  Mr. 
Stites,  with  several  persons  from  Redstone.     All 


*  Judge  Burnett,  Id  his  notes,  disputes  the  ahove  account  of  the 
origin  of  the  city  of  Cincinnati.  He  says  the  name  "Loaantiviile" 
was  determined  on,  but  not  adopted,  when  the  town  was  laid  out. 
This  version  is  probably  the  correct  one,  and  will  be  found  fully 
given  in  the  detailed  history  of  the  settlements. 


came  to  Symmes'  purchase,  and  began  to  look  for 
homes, 

Symmes'  mind  was,  however,  ill  at  rest.  He 
could  not  meet  his  first  payment  on  so  vast  a  realm, 
and  there  also  arose  a  difference  of  opinion  be- 
tween him  and  the  Treasury  Board  regarding  the 
Ohio  boundary.  Symmes  wanted  all  the  land  be- 
tween the  two  Miamis,  bordering  on  the  Ohio, 
while  the  Board  wished  him  confined  to  no  more 
than  twenty  miles  of  the  river.  To  this  proposal 
he  would  not  agree,  as  he  had  made  sales  all  along 
the  river.  Leaving  the  bargain  in  an  unsettled 
state.  Congress  considered  itself  released  from  aU 
its  obligations,  and,  but  for  the  representations  of 
many  of  Symmes'  friends,  he  would  have  lost  all 
his  money  and  labor.  His  appointment  as  Judge 
was  not  favorably  received  by  many,  as  they 
thought  that  by  it  he  would  acquire  unlimited 
power.  Some  of  his  associates  also  complained  of 
him,  and,  for  awhile,  it  surely  seemed  that  ruin 
only  awaited  him.  But  he  was  brave  and  hope- 
fill,  and  determined  to  succeed.  On  his  return 
from  a  visit  to  his  purchase  in  September,  1788, 
he  wrote  Jonathan  Dayton,  of  New  Jersey,  one  of 
his  best  friends  and  associates,  that  he  thought 
some  of  the  land  near  the  Great  Miami  "  positively 
worth  a  silver  dollar  the  acre  in  its  present  state." 

A  good  many  changes  were  made  in  his  original 
contract,  growing  out  of  his  inability  to  meet  his 
payments.  At  first,  he  was  to  have  not  less  than 
a  million  acres,  under  an  act  of  Congress  passed  in 
October,  1787,  authorizing  the  Treasury  Board  to 
contract  with  any  one  who  could  pay  for  such 
tracts,  on  the  Ohio  and  Wabaish  Rivers,  whose 
fronts  should  not  exceed  one-third  of  their  depth. 

Dayton  and  Marsh,  Symmes'  agents,  contracted 
with  the  Board  for  one  tract  on  the  Ohio,  begin- 
ning twenty  miles  up  the  Ohio  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Great  Miami,  and  to  run  back  for  quantity  be- 
tween the  Miami  and  a  line  drawn  from  the  Ohio, 
parallel  to  the  general  course  of  that  river.  In 
1791,  three  years  after  Dayton  and  Marsh  made 
the  contract,  Symmes  found  this  would  throw  the 
purchase  too  far  back  from  the  Ohio,  and  applied 
to  Congress  to  let  him  have  all  between  the  Mi- 
amies,  running  back  so  as  to  include  1,000,000 
acres,  which  that  body,  on  April  12,  1792,  agreed 
to  do.  When  the  lands  were  surveyed,  however,  it 
was  found  that  a  line  drawn  from  the  head  of  the 
Little  Miami  due  west  to  the  Great  Miami,  would 
include  south  of  it  less  than  six  hundred  thousand 
acres.  Even  this  Symmes  could  not  pay  for,  and 
when  his  patent  was  issued  in  September,  1794,  it 


HISTORY   OP    OHIO. 


71 


gave  him  and  his  associates  248,540  acres,  exclu- 
sive of  reservations  which  amounted  to  63,142 
acres.  This  tract  was  bounded  by  the  Ohio,  the 
two  Miamis  and  a  due  east  and  west  Hue  run  so 
as  to  include  the  desired  quantity.  -  Symmes,  how- 
ever, made  no  further  payments,  and  the  rest  of 
his  purchase  reverted  to  the  United  States,  who 
gave  those  who  had  bought  under  him  ample  pre- 
emption rights. 

The  Grovernment  was  able,  also,  to  give  him  and 
his  colonists  but  little  aid,  and  as  danger  from  hos- 
tile Indians  was  in  a  measure  imminent  (though  all 
the  natives  were  friendly  to  Symmes),  settlers  were 
slow  to  come.  However,  the  band  led  by  Mr. 
Stites  arrived  before  the  1st  of  January,  1Y89, 
and  locating  themselves  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Little  Miami,  on  a  tract  of  10,000  acres  which 
Mr.  Stites  had  purchased  from  Symmes,  formed 
the  second  settlement  in  Ohio.  They  were  soon 
afterward  joined  by  a  colony  of  twenty-six  persons, 
who  assisted  them  to  erect  a  block-house,  and 
gather  their  corn.  The  town  was  named  Columbia. 
While  here,  the  great  flood  of  January,  1789,  oc- 
curred, which  did  much  to  ensure  the  future 
growth  of  Losantiville,  or  more  properly,  Cincin- 
nati; Symmes  City,  which  was  laid  out  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Great  Miami,  and  which  he  vainly 
strove  to  make  the  city  of  the  future.  Marietta 
and  Columbia,  all  suffered  severely  by  this  flood, 
the  gTeatest,  the  Indians  said,  ever  known.  The 
site  of  Cincinnati  was  not  overflowed,  and  hence 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  settlers.  Denman's 
warrants  had  designated  his  purchase  as  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Licking;  and  that  point  escap- 
ing the  overflow,  late  in  December  the  place  was 
visited  by  Israel  Ludlow,  Symmes'  surveyor,  Mr. 
Patterson  and  Mr.  Denman,  and  about  fourteen  oth- 
ers, who  left  Maysville  to  "form  a  station  and  lay 
oif  a  town  opposite  the  Licking."  The  river  was 
filled  with  ice  "from  shore  to  shore;"  but,  says 
Symmes  in  May,  1789,  "Perseverance  triumphing 
over  difiiculty,  and  they  landed  safe  on  a  most  de- 
lightful bank  of  the  Ohio,  where  they  founded 
the  town  of  Losantiville,  which  populates  consid- 
erably." The  settlers  of  Losantiville  built  a  few 
log  huts  and  block-houses,  and  proceeded  to  im- 
prove the  town.  Symmes,  noticing  the  location, 
says:  "Though  they  placed  their  dwellings  in  the 
most  marked  position,  yet  they  suffered  nothing 
from  the  freshet."  This  would  seem  to  give  cre- 
dence to  Judge  Burnett's  notes  regarding  the  origin 
of  Cincinnati,  who  states  the  settlement  was  made 
at  this  time,  and  not  at  the  time  mentioned  when 


Jlr.  Filson  named  the  town.  It  is  further  to  be 
noticed,  that,  before  the  town  was  located  by  Mr. 
Ludlow  and  Mr.  Patterson,  Mr.  Filson  had  been 
killed  by  the  Mianii  Indians,  and,  as  he  had  not  paid 
for  his  one-third  of  the  site,  the  claim  was  sold  to 
Mr.  Ludlow,  who  thereby  became  one  of  the  origi- 
nal owners  of  the  place.  Just  what  day  the  town 
was  laid  out  is  not  recorded.  All  the  evidence 
tends  to  show  it  must  have  been  late  in  1788,  or 
early  in  1789. 

While  the  settlements  on  the  north  side  of  the 
Ohio  were  thus  progressing,  south  of  it  fears  of  the 
Indians  prevailed,  and  the  separation  sore  was 
kept  open.  The  country  was,  however,  so  torn  by 
internal  factions  that  no  plan  was  likely  to  suc- 
ceed, and  to  this  fact,  in  a  large  measure,  may  be 
credited  the  reason  it  did  not  secede,  or  join  the 
Spanish  or  French  faction,  both  of  which  were 
intriguing  to  get  the  commonwealth.  During 
this  year  the  treasonable  acts  of  James  Wilkinson 
came  into  view.  For  a  while  he  thought  success 
was  in  his  grasp,  but  the  two  governments  were  at 
peace  with  America,  and  discountenanced  any  such 
efforts.  Wilkinson,  like  all  traitors,  relapsed  into 
nonentity,  and  became  mistrusted  by  the  govern- 
ments he  attempted  to  befriend.  Treason  is  al- 
ways odious. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind,  that  in  1778  prepa- 
rations had  been  made  for  a  treaty  with  the  Indi- 
ans, to  secure  peaceful  possession  of  the  lands 
owned  in  the  West.  Though  the  whites  held 
these  by  purchase  and  treaty,  yet  many  Indians, 
especially  the  Wabash  and  some  of  the  Miami  In- 
dians, objected  to  their  occupation,  claiming  the 
Ohio  boundary  as  the  original  division  line.  Clarke 
endeavored  to  obtain,  by  treaty  at  Fort  Harmar, 
in  1778,  a  confirmation  of  these  grants,  but  was 
not  able  to  do  so  till  January,  9,  1789.  Kep- 
resentatives  of  the  Six  Nations,  and  of  the  Wyan- 
dots,  Delawares,  Ottawas,  Chippewas,  Pottawato- 
mies  and  Sacs,  met  him  at  this  date,  and  confirmed 
and  extended  the  treaties  of  Fort  Stanwix  and 
Fort  Mcintosh,  the  one  in  1784,  the  other  in 
1785.  This  secured  peace  with  the  most  of  them, 
save  a  few  of  the  Wabash  Indians,  whom  they 
were  compelled  to  conquer  by  arms.  When  this 
was  accomplished,  the  borders  were  thought  safe, 
and  Virginia  proposed  to  withdraw  her  aid  in  sup- 
port of  Kentucky.  This  opened  old  troubles,  and 
the  separation  dogma  came  out  afresh.  Virginia 
ofiered  to  allow  the  erection  of  a  separate  State, 
providing  Kentucky  would  assume  part  of  the  old 
debts.     This  the  young  commonwealth  would  not 


73 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


do,  and  sent  a  remonstrance.  Virginia  withdrew 
the  proposal,  and  ordered  a  ninth  convention, 
which  succeeded  in  evolving  a  plan  whereby  Ken- 
tucky took  her  place  among  the  free  States  of  the 
Union. 

North  of  the  Ohio,  the  prosperity  continued. 
In  1789,  Rev.  Daniel  Story,  who  had  been  ap- 
pointed missionary  to  the  West,  came  out  as  a 
teacher  of  the  youth  and  a  preacher  of  the  Gospel. 
Dr.  Cutler  had  preceded  him,  not  in  the  capacity 
of  a  minister,  though  he  had  preached ;  hence  Mr. 
Story  is  truly  the  first  missionary  from  the  Prot- 
estant Church  who  came  to  the  Ohio  Valley  in 
that  capacity.  When  he  came,  in  1789,  he  found 
nine  associations  on  the  Ohio  Company's  purchase, 
comprising  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons  in  all ; 
and,  by  the  close  of  1790,  eight  settlements  had 
been  made:  two  at  Belpre  (belle  prairie),  one  at 
Newbury,  one  at  Wolf  Creek,  one  at  Duck  Creek, 
one  at  the  mouth  of  Meigs'  Creek,  one  at  Ander- 
son's Bottom,  and  one  at  Big  Bottom.  '  An  ex- 
tended sketch  of  all  these  settlements  will  be  found 
farther  on  in  this  volume. 

Symmes  had,  all  this  time,  strenuously  endeav- 
ored to  get  his  city — called  Cleves  City — ^favorably 
noticed,  and  filled  with  people.  He  saw  a  rival  in 
Cincinnati.  That  place,  if  made  military  head- 
quarters to  protect  the  Miami  Valley,  would  out- 
rival his  town,  situated  near  the  bend  of  the 
Miami,  near  its  mouth.  On  the  15th  of  June, 
Judge  Symmes  received  news  that  the  Wabash 
Indians  threatened  the  Miami  settlements,  and  as 
he  had  received  only  nineteen  men  for  defense,  he 
applied  for  more.  Before  July,  Maj.  Doughty 
arrived  at  the  "Slaughter  House" — as  the  Miami 
was  sometimes  called,  owing  to  previous  murders 
that  had,  at  former  times,  occurred  therein. 
Through  the  influence  of  Symmes,  the  detach- 
ment landed  at  the  North  Bend,  and,  for  awhile, 
it  was  thought  the  fort  would  be  erected  there. 
This  was  what  Symmes  wanted,  as  it  would 
secure  him  the  headquarters  of  the  military,  and 
aid  in  getting  the  headquarters  of  the  civil  gov- 
ernment. The  truth  was,  however,  that  neither 
the  proposed  city  on  the  Miami — North  Bend,  as 
it  afterward  became  known,  from  its  location — or 
South  Bend,  could  compete,  in  point  of  natural 
advantages,  with  the  plain  on  which  Cincinnati  is 
built.  Had  Fort  Washington  been  built  elsewhere, 
after  the  close  of  the  Indian  war,  nature  would 
have  asserted  her  advantages,  and  insured  the 
growth  of  a  city,  where  even  the  ancient  and  mys- 
terious dwellers  of  the  Ohio  had  reared  the  earthen 


walls  of  one  of  their  vast  temples.  Another  fact 
is  given  in  relation  to  the  erection  of  Fort  Wash- 
ington at  Losantiville,  which  partakes  somewhat  of 
romance.  The  Major,  while  waiting  to  decide  at 
which  place  the  fort  should  be  built,  happened  to 
make  the  acquaintance  of  a  black-eyed  beauty,  the 
wife  of  one  of  the  residents.  Her  husband,  notic- 
ing the  afiair,  removed  her  to  Losantiville.  The 
Major  followed;  he  told  Symmes  he  wished  to  see 
how  a  fort  would  do  there,  but  proinised  to  give  his 
city  the  preference.  He  found  the  beauty  there,  and 
on  his  return  Symmes  could  not  prevafl  on  him  to 
remain.  If  the  story  be  true,  then  the  importance 
of  Cincinnati  owes  its  existence  to  a  trivial  circum- 
stance, and  the  old  story  of  the  ten  years'  war 
which  terminated  in  the  downfall  of  Troy,  which 
is  said  to  have  originated  owing  to  the  beauty  of 
a  Spartan  dame,  was  re-enacted  here.  Troy  and 
North  Bend  fell  because  of  the  beauty  of  a  wo- 
man ;  Cincinnati  was  the  result  of  the  downfall  of 
the  latter  place. 

About  the  first  of  January,  1790,  Governor  St. 
Clair,  with  his  ofiicers,  descended  the  Ohio  River 
from  Marietta  to  Fort  Washington.  There  he  es- 
tablished the  county  of  Hamilton,  comprising  the 
immense  region  of  country  contiguous  to  the 
Ohio,  from  the  Hocking  River  to  the  Great 
Miami;  appointed  a  corps  of  civil  and  mihtary 
officers,  and  established  a  Court  of  Quarter  Ses- 
sions. Some  state  that  at  this  time,  he  changed 
the  name  of  the  village  of  Losantiville  to  Cin- 
cinnati, in  allusion  to  a  society  of  that  name 
which  had  recently  been  formed  among  the  officers 
of  the  Revolutionary  army,  and  established  it  as 
the  seat  of  justice  for  Hamilton.  This  latter  fact 
is  certain ;  but  as  regards  changing  the  name  of 
the  village,  there  is  no  good  authority  for  it.  With 
this  importance  attached  to  it,  Cincinnati  began  at 
once  an  active  growth,  and  from  that  day  Cleves' 
city  declined.  The  next  summer,  frame  houses 
began  to  appear  in  Cincinnati,  while  at  the  same 
time  forty  new  log  cabins  appeared  about  the 
fori;. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  the  Governor  arrived  at 
the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  on  his  way  to  establish  a 
government  at  Vincennes  and  Kaskaskia.  From 
Clarkesville,  he  dispatched  a  messene»r  to  Major 
Hamtramck,  commander  at  Vincennes,  with 
speeches  to  the  various  Indian  tribes  in  this  part 
of  the  Northwest,  who  had  not  ftiUy  agreed  to  the 
treaties.  St.  Clair  and  Sargent  foUowed  in  a  few 
days,  along  an  Indian  trail  to  Vincennes,  where  he 
organized  the  county  of  Knox,  comprising  all  the 


:^ 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


73 


country  along  the  Ohio,  from  the  Miami  to  the 
Wabash,  and  made  Vincennes  the  county  seat. 
Then  they  proceeded  across  the  lower  part  of  Illi- 
nois to  Kaskaskia,  where  he  established  the  county 
of  St.  Clair  (so  named  by  Sargent),  comprising  all 
the  country  from  the  Wabash  to  the  Mississippi. 
Thus  the  Northwest  was  divided  into  three  coun- 
ties, and  courts  established  therein.  St.  Clair 
called  upon  the  French  inhabitants  at  Vincennes 
and  in  the  Illinois  country,  to  show  the  titles  to 
their  lands,  and  also  to  defray  the  expense  of  a 
survey.  To  this  latter  demand  they  replied  through 
their  priest,  Pierre  Gibault,  showing  their  poverty, 
and  inability  to  comply.  They  were  confirmed  in 
their  grants,  and,  as  they  had  been  good  friends  to 
the  patriot  cause,  were  reUeved  from  the  expense 
of  the  survey.  ^ 

While  the  Governor,  was  managing  these  affairs, 
Major  Hamtramck  was  engaged  in  an  effort  to  con- 
ciliate the  Wabash  Indians.  For  this  purpose,  he 
sent  Antoine  Gramelin,  an  intelligent  French  mer- 
chant, and  a  true  friend  of  America,  among  them  to 
carry  messages  sent  by  St.  Clair  and  the  Govern- 
ment, and  to  learn  their  sentiments  and  dispositions. 
GameUn  performed  this  important  mission  in  the 
spring  of  1790  with  much  sagacity,  and,  as  the 


French  were  good  friends  of  the  natives,  he  did 
much  to  conciliate  these  half-hostile  tribes.  He 
visited  the  towns  of  these  tribes  along  the  Wabash 
and  as  far  north  and  east  as  the  Miami  village, 
Ke-ki-ong-ga — St.  Mary's — at  the  junction  of  the 
St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's  Rivers  (Fort  Wayne). 

Gamelin's  report,  and  the  intelligence  brought  by 
some  traders  from  the  Upper  Wabash,  were  con- 
veyed to  the  Governor  at  Kaskaskia.  The  reports 
convinced  him  that  the  Indians  of  that  part  of  the 
Northwest  were  preparing  for  a  war  on  the  settle- 
ments north  of  the  Ohio,  intending,  if  possible,  to 
drive  them  south  of  it;  that  river  being  still  consid- 
ered by  them  as  the  true  boundary.  St.  Clair  left 
the  administration  of  affairs  in  the  Western  counties 
to  Sargent,  and  returned  at  once  to  Fort  Washing- 
ton to  provide  for  the  defense  of  the  frontier. 

The  Indians  had  begun  their  predatory  incur- 
sions into  the  country  settled  by  the  whites,  and 
had  committed  some  depredations.  The  Kentuck- 
ians  were  enlisted  in  an  attack  against  the  Scioto 
Indians.  April  18,  Gen.  Harmar,  with  100 
regulars,  and  Gen.  Scott,  with  230  volunteers, 
marched  from  Limestone,  by  a  circuitous  route,  to 
the  Scioto,  accomplishing  but  little.  The  savages 
had  fled. 


CHAPTER    VII. 


THE    INDIAN    WAR    OF    1795— HARMAR'S    CAMPAIGN— ST.  CLAIR'S    CAMPAIGN— WAYNE'S 

CAMPAIGN— CLOSE    OP    THE    WAR. 

Cornplanter,  Brant,  Little  Turtle  and  other  noted 
chiefs,  and  had  not  the  British,  as  Brant  said, 
"  encouraged  us  to  the  war,  and  promised  us  aid, 
and  then,  when  we  were  driven  away  by  the  Amer- 
icans, shut  the  doors  of  their  fortresses  against  us 
and  reftised  us  food,  when  they  saw  us  nearly  con- 
quered, we  would  have  effected  our  object." 

McKee,  Elliott  and  Girty  were  also  actively  en- 
gaged in  aiding  the  natives.  All  of  them  were  in 
the  interest  of  the  British,  a  fact  clearly  proven 
by  the  Indians  themselves,  and  by  other  traders. 

St.  Clair  and  Gen.  Harmar  determined  to  send 
an  expedition  against  the  Maumee  towns,  and  se- 
cure that  part  of  the  country.  Letters  were  sent 
to  the  militia  officers  of  Western  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia  and  Kentucky,  calling  on  them  for  militia 
to  co-operate  with  the  regular  troops  in  the  cam- 
paign.    According  to  the  plan  of  the  campaign, 


A  GREAT  deal  of  the  hostility  at  this  period 
was  directly  traceable  to  the  British.  They 
yet  held  Detroit  and  several  posts  on  the  lakes,  in 
violation  of  the  treaty  of  1783.  They  alleged  as 
a  reason  for  not  abandoning  them,  that  the  Ameri- 
cans had  not  ftilfilled  the  conditions  of  the  treaty 
regarding  the  collection  of  debts.  Moreover,  they 
did  all  they  could  to  remain  at  the  frontier  and  en- 
joy the  emoluments  derived  from  the  ftir  trade. 
That  they  aided  the  Indians  in  the  conflict  at  this 
time,  is  undeniable.  Just  how,  it  is  difiicult  to 
say.  But  it  is  well  known  the  savages  had  all  the 
ammunition  and  fire-arms  they  wanted,  more  than 
they  could  have  obtained  from  American  and 
French  renegade  traders.  They  were  also  well 
supplied  with  clothing,  and  were  able  to  prolong 
the  war  some  time.  A  great  confederation  was  on 
the  eve  of  formation.     The  leading  spirits  were 


■^ 


\  ©_ 


74 


HISTOKY    or    OHIO. 


300  militia  were  to  rendezvous  at  Port  Steuben 
(Jeifersonville),  march  thence  to  Port  Knox,  at 
Vincennes,  and  join  Maj.  Hamtramck  in  an  expe- 
dition up  the  Wabash ;  700  were  to  rendezvous  at 
Port  Washington  to  join  the  regular  army  against 
the  jMaumee  towns. 

While  St.  Clair  was  forming  his  army  and  ar- 
ranging for  the  campaign,  three  expeditions  were 
sent  out  against  the  Miami  towns.  One  against 
the  Miami  villages,  not  far  from  the  Wabash,  was 
led  by  Gen.  Harmar.  He  had  in  his  army  about 
fourteen  hundred  men,  regulars  and  militia.  These 
two  parts  of  the  army  could  not  be  made  to  affili- 
ate, and,  as  a  consequence,  the  expedition  did  little 
beyond  burning  the  villages  and  destroying  corn. 
The  militia  would  not  submit  to  discipline,  and  would 
not  serve  under  regular  officers.  It  will  be  seen 
what  this  spirit  led  to  when  St.  Clair  went  on  his 
march  soon  after. 

The  Indians,  emboldened  by  the  meager  success 
of  Harmar's  command,  continued  their  dcpreda- 
dations  against  the  Ohio  settlements,  destroying 
the  community  at  Big  Bottom.  To  hold  them  in 
check,  and  also  punish  them,  an  army  under  Charles 
Scott  went  against  the  Wabash  Indians.  Little 
was  done  here  but  destroy  towns  and  the  standing 
corn.  In  July,  another  army,  under  Col.  Wilkin- 
son, was  sent  against  the  Eel  River  Indians.  Be- 
coming entangled  in  extensive  morasses  on  the 
river,  the  army  became  endangered,  but  was  finally 
extricated,  and  accomplished  no  more  than  either 
the  other  armies  before  it.  As  it  was,  however,  the 
three  expeditions  directed  against  the  Miamis  abd 
Shawanees,  served  only  to  exasperate  them.  The 
burning  of  their  towns,  the  destruction  of  their 
corn,  and  the  captivity  of  their  women  and  chil- 
dren, only  aroused  them  to  more  desperate  efforts 
to  defend  their  country  and  to  harass  their  in- 
vaders. To  accomplish  this,  the  chiefs  of' the 
Miamis,  Shawanees  and  the  Delawares,  Little 
Turtle,  Blue  Jacket  and  Buckongahelas,  were  en- 
gaged in  forming  a  confederacy  of  all  the  tribes  of 
the  Northwest,  strong  enough  to  drive  the  whites 
beyond  the  Ohio.  Pontiac  had  tried  that  before, 
even  when  he  had  open  allies  among  the  Prench. 
The  Indians  now  had  secret  allies  among  the  Brit- 
ish, yet,  in  the  end,  they  did  not  succeed.  While 
they  were  preparing  for  the  contest,  St.  Clair  was 
gathering  his  forces,  intending  to  erect  a  chain  of 
forts  from  the  Ohio,  by  way  of  the  Miami  and 
Maumee  valleys,  to  the  lakes,  and  thereby  effect- 
ually hold  the  savages  in  check.  Washington 
warmly  seconded  this  plan,  and   designated  the 


junction  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph's  Rivers  as 
an  important  post.  This  had  been  a  fortification 
almost  from  the  time  the  English  held  the  valley, 
and  only  needed  little  work  to  make  it  a  formid- 
able fortress.  Gen.  Knox,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
also  favored  the  plan,  and  gave  instructions  con- 
cerning it.  Under  these  instructions,  St.  Clair 
organized  his  forces  as  rapidly  as  he  could,  although 
the  numerous  drawbacks  almost,  at  times,  threat- 
ened the  defeat  of  the  capipaign.  Through  the 
summer  the  arms  and  accouterments  of  the  army 
were  put  in  readiness  at  Port  W^ashington.  Many 
were  found  to  be  of  the  poorest  quality,  and  to  be 
badly  out  of  repair.  The  militia  came  poorly 
armed,  under  the  impression  they  were  to  be  pro- 
vided with  arms.  While  waiting  in  camp,  habits 
of  idleness  engendered  themselves,  and  drunken- 
ness followed.  They  continued  their  accustomed 
freedom,  disdaining  to  drill,  and  reftised  to  submit 
to  the  regular  officers.  A  bitter  spirit  broke  out 
between  the  regular  troops  and  the  mOitia,  which 
none  could  heal.  The  insubordination  of  the  mi- 
litia and  their  officers,  caused  them  a  defeat  after- 
ward, which  they  in  vain  attempted  to  fasten  on 
the  busy  General,  and  the  regular  troops. 

The  army  was  not  ready  to  move  till  September 
17.  It  was  then  2,300  strong.  It  then  moved 
to  a  point  upon  the  Great  Miami,  where  they 
erected  Port  Hamilton,  the  first  in  the  proposed 
chain  of  fortresses.  After  its  completion,  they 
moved  on  forty-four  miles  farther,  and,  on  the  12th 
of  October,  began  the  erection  of  Port  Jefferson, 
about  six  miles  south  of  the  present  town  of  Green- 
ville, Darke  County.  On  the  24th,  the  army  again 
took  up  its  Hue  of  march,  through  a  wilderness, 
marshy  and  boggy,  and  full  of  savage  foes.  The 
army  rapidly  declined  under  the  hot  sun;  even  the 
commander  was  suffering  from  an  indisposition. 
The  miUtia  deserted,  in  companies  at  a  time,  leav- 
ing the  bulk  f  f  the  work  to  the  regular  troops. 
By  the  3d  of  November,  the  army  reached  a 
stream  twelve  yards  wide,  which  St.  Clair  sup- 
posed to  be  a  branch  of  the  St.  Mary  of  the  Mau- 
mee, but  which  in  reality  was  a  tributary  of  the 
Wabash.  Upon  the  banks  of  that  stream,  the 
army,  now  about  fourteen  hundred  strong,  en- 
camped in  two  lines.  A  slight  protection  was 
thrown  up  as  a  safeguard  against  the  Indians,  who 
were  known  to  be  in  the  neighborhood.  The  Gen- 
eral intended  to  attack  them  next  day,  but,  about 
half  an  hour  before  sunrise,  just  after  the  militia 
had  been  dismissed  from  parade,  a  sudden  attack 
was  made  upon  them.     The  militia  were  thrown 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


75 


into  canfiision,  and  disregarded  tte  command  of 
the  officers.  They  had  not  been  sufficiently  drilled, 
and  now  was  seen,  too  late  and  too  plainly,  the  evil 
effects  of  their  insubordination.  Through  the 
morning  the  battle  waged  furiously,  the  men  falling 
by  scores.  About  nine  o'clock  the  retreat  began, 
covered  by  Maj.  Cook  and  his  troops.  The  re- 
treat was  a  disgraceful,  precipitate  flight,  though, 
'  after  four  miles  had  been  passed,  the  enemy  re- 
turned to  the  work  of  scalping  the  dead  and 
wounded,  and  of  pillaging  the  camp.  Through 
the  day  and  the  night  their  dreadful  work  con- 
tinued, one  squaw  afterward  declaring  "  her  arm 
was  weary  scalping  the  white  men."  The  Eirmy 
reached  Fort  Jeffisrson  a  little  after  sunset,  having 
thrown  away  much  of  its  arms  and  baggage,  though 
tl)e  act  was  entirely  unneccsbary.  After  remain- 
ing here  a  short  time,  it  was  decided  by  the  officers 
to  move  on  toward  Fort  Hamilton,  and  thence  to 
Fort  Washington. 

The  defeat  of  St.  Clair  was  the  most  terrible  re- 
verse the  Americans  ever  suffiared  from  the  Indi- 
ans. It  was  greater  than  even  Braddoek's  defeat. 
His  army  consisted  of  1,200  men  and  86  officers, 
of  whom  714  men  and  63  officers  were  killed  or 
wounded.  St.  Clair's  army  consisted  of  1,400 
men  and  86  officers,  of  whom  890  men  and  16 
officers  were  killed  or  wounded.  The  comparative 
effects  of  the  two  engagements  very  inadequately 
represent  the  crushing  effect  of  St.  Clair's  defeat. 
An  unprotected  frontier  of  more  than  a  thousand 
miles  in  extent  was  now  thrown  open  to  a  foe  made 
merciless,  and  anxious  to  drive  the  whites  from  the 
north  side  of  the  Ohio.  Now,  settlers  were  scat- 
tered along  all  the  streams,  and  in  all  the  forests,  ex- 
posed to  the  cruel  enemy,  who  stealthily  approached 
the  homes  of  the  pioneer,  to  murder  him  and  his 
family.  Loud  calls  arose  from  the  people  to  defend 
and  protect  them.  St.  Clair  was  covered  with  abuse 
for  his  defeat,  when  he  really  was  not  alone  to  blame 
for  it.  The  militia  would  not  be  controlled.  Had 
Clarke  been  at  their  head,  or  Wayne,  who  succeeded 
St.  Clair,  the  result  might  have  been  different.  As 
it  was,  St.  Clair  resigned ;  though  ever  after  he  en- 
joyed the  confidence  of  Washington  and  Congress. 

Four  days,  after  the  defeat  of  St.  Clair,  the  army, 
in  its  straggling  condition,  reached  Fort  Washing- 
ton, and  paused  to  rest.  On  the  9th,  St.  Clair 
wrote  fully  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  On  the  12th, 
Gren.  Knox  communicated  the  information  to  Con- 
gress, and  on  the  26th,  he  laid  before  the  Presi- 
dent two  reports,  the  second  containing  sugges- 
tions regarding  future   operations.     His  sugges- 


tions urged  the  establishment  of  a  strong  United 
States  Army,  as  it  was  plain  the  States  could  not 
control, the  matter.  He  also  urged  a  thorough 
drill  of  the  soldiers.  No  more  insubordination 
could  be  tolerated.  General  Wayne  was  selected 
by  Washington  as  the  commander,  and  at  once  pro- 
ceeded to  the  task  assigned  to  him.  In  June,  1792, 
he  went  to  Pittsburgh  to  organize  the  army  now 
gathering,  which  was  to  be  the  ultimate  argu- 
ment with  the  Indian  confederation.  Thrftugh  the 
summer  he  was  steadily  at  work.  "Train  and  dis- 
cipline them  for  the  work  they  are  meant  for," 
wrote  Wasljington,  "and  do  not  spare  powder  and 
lead,  so  the  men  be  made  good  marksmen."  In 
December,  the  forces,  now  recruited  and  trained, 
gathered  at  a  point  twenty-two  miles  below  Pitts- 
burgh, on  the  Ohio,  called  Legionville,  the  army 
itself  being  denominated  the  Legion  of  the  United 
States,  divided  into  four  sub-legions,  and  provided 
with  the  proper  officers.  Meantime,  Col.  Wilkinson 
succeeded  St.  Clair  as  commander  at  Fort  Wash- 
ington, and  sent  out  a  force  to  examine  the  field  of 
defeat,  and  bury  the  dead.  A  shocking  sight  met 
their  view,  revealing  the  deeds  of  cruelty  enacted 
upon  their  comrades  by  the  savage  enemy. 

While  Wayne's  army  was  drilling,  peace  meas- 
ures were  pressed  forward  by  the  United  States 
with  equal  perseverance.  The  Iroquois  were  in- 
duced to  visit  Philadelphia,  and  partially  secured 
from  the  general  confederacy.  They  were  wary, 
however,  and,  expecting  aid  from  the  British,  held 
aloof.  Brant  did  not  come,  as  was  hoped,  and  it 
was  plain  there  was  intrigue  somewhere.  Five 
independent  embassies  were  sent  among  the  West- 
ern tribes,  to  endeavor  to  prevent  a  war,  and  win 
over  the  inimical  tribes.  But  the  victories  they 
had  won,  and  the  favorable  whispers  of  the  British 
agents,  closed  the  ears  of  the  red  men,  and  all 
propositions  were  rejected  in  some  form  or  other. 
All  the  embassadors,  save  Putnam,  suffered  death. 
He  alone  was  able  to  reach  his  goal — the  Wabash 
Indians — and  effect  any  treaty.  On  the  27th  of 
December,  in  company  with  Heckewelder,  the  Mo- 
ravian missionary,  he  reached  Vincennes,  and  met 
thirty-one  chiefs,  representing  the  Weas,  Pianke- 
shaws,  Kaskaskias,  Peorias,  Illinois,  Pottawatomies, 
Mascoutins,  Kickapoos  and  Eel  River  Indians,  and 
concluded  a  treaty  of-peace  with  them. 

The  fourth  article  of  this  treaty,  however,  con- 
tained a  provision  guaranteeing  to  the  Indians 
their  lands,  and  when  the  treaty  was  laid  before 
Congress,  February  13,  1793,  that  body,  after 
much  discussion,  refused  on  that  account  to  ratify  it. 


76 


HISTOKT   OF    OHIO. 


A  great  council  of  the  Indians  was  to  be  held 
at  Auglaize  during  the  autumn  of  1792,  when 
the  assembled  nations  were  to  discuss  ftilly  their 
means  of  defense,  and  determine  their  future  line 
of  action.  The  council  met  in  October,  and  was 
the  largest  Indian  gathering  of  the  time.  The 
chiefs  of  all  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest  were  there. 
The  representatives  of  the  seven  nations  of  Canada, 
were  in  attendance.  Cornplanter  and  forty-eight 
chiefs  of"  the  New  York  (Sis  Nations)  Indians  re- 
paired thither.  "  Besides  these,"  said  Cornplanter, 
"  there  were  so  many  nations  we  cannot  tell  the 
names  of  them.  There  were  three  men  from  the 
Gora  nation ;  it  took  them  a  whole  season  to  come ; 
and,"  continued  he,  "twenty-seven  nations  from 
beyond  Canada  were  there."  The  question  of 
peace  or  war  was  long  and  earnestly  debated.  Their 
future  was  solemnly  discussed,  and  around  the 
council  fire  native  eloquence  and  native  zeal 
shone  in  all  their  simple  strength.  One  nation 
after  another,  through  their  chiefs,  presented  their 
views.  The  deputies  of  the  Six  Nations,  who  had 
been  at  Philadelphia  to  consult  the  "Thirteen 
Fires,"  made  their  report.  The  Western  bound- 
ary was  the  principal  question.  The  natives,  with 
one  accord,  declared  it  must  be  the  Ohio  River. 
An  address  was  prepared,  and  sent  to  the  President, 
wherein  their  views  were  stated,  and  agreeing  to 
abstain  from  all  hostilities,  until  they  could  meet 
again  in  the  spring  at  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee, 
and  there  consult  with  their  white  brothers.  They 
desired  the  President  to  send  agents,  "who  are 
men  of  honesty,  not  proud  land-jobbers,  but  men 
who  love  and  desire  peace."  The  good  work  of 
Penn  was  evidenced  here,  as  they  desired  that  the 
embassadors  "  be  accompanied  by  some  Friend  or 
Quaker." 

The  armistice  they  had  promised  was  not,  how- 
ever, faithfully  kept.  On  the  6th  of  November, 
a  detachment  of  Kentucky  cavalry  at  Fort  St. 
Clair,  about  twenty-five  miles  above  Fort  Hamil- 
ton, was  attacked.  The  commander,  Maj.  Adair, 
was  an  excellent  officer,  well  versed  in  Indian  tac- 
tics, and  defeated  the  savages. 

This  infraction  of  their  promises  did  not  deter 
the  United  States  from  taking  measures  to  meet 
the  Indians  at  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee  "  when 
the  leaves  were  fully  out."  For  that  purpose,  the 
President  selected  as  commissioners,  Charles  Car- 
roll and  Charles  Thompson,  but,  as  they  declined 
the  nomination,  he  appointed  Benjamin  Lincoln, 
Beverly  Randolph  and  Timothy  Pickering,  the  1st 
of  March,  1793,  to  attend  the  convention,  which 


it  was  thotight  best,  should  be  held  at  the  San- 
dusky outpost.  About  the  last  of  April,  these 
commissioners  left  Philadelphia,  and,  late  in  May, 
reached  Niagara,  where  they  remained  guests  of 
Lieut.  Gov.  Simcoe,  of  the  British  Government. 
This  officer  gave  them  all  the  aid  he  could,  yet  it 
was  soon  made  plain  to  them  that  he  would  not 
object  to  the  confederation,  nay,  even  rather  fav-, 
ored  it.  They  speak  of  his  kindness  to  them,  in 
grateful  terms.  Gov.  Simcoe  advised  the  Indians 
to  make  peace,  but  not  to  give  up  any  of  their 
lands.  That  was  the  pith  of  the  whole  matter. 
The  British  rather  claimed  land  in  New  York, 
under  the  treaty  of  1783,  alleging  the  Americans 
had  not  ftiUy  complied  with  the  terms  of  that 
treaty,  hence  they  were  not  as  anxious  for  peace 
and  a  peaceful  settlement  of  the  difficult  boundary 
question  as  they  sometimes  represented. 

By  July,  "the  leaves  were  fully  out,"  the  con- 
ferences among  the  tribes  were  over,  and,  on  the 
15th  of  that  month,  the  commissioners  met  Brant 
and  some  fifty  natives.  In  a  strong  speech.  Brant 
set  forth  their  wishes,  and  invited  them  to  accom- 
pany him  to  the  place  of  holding  the  council.  The 
Indians  were  rather  jealous  of  Wayne's  continued 
preparations  for  war,  hence,  just  before  setting  out 
for  the  Maumee,  the  commissioners  sent  a  letter  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  asking  that  all  warlike 
demonstrations  cease  until  the  result  of  their  mis- 
sion be  known. 

On  21st  of  July,  the  embassy  reached  the  head 
of  the  Detroit  Eiver,  where  their  advance  was 
checked  by  the  British  authorities  at  Detroit,  com- 
pelling them  to  take  up  their  abode  at  the  house 
of  Andrew  Elliott,  the  famous  renegade,  then  a 
British  agent  under  Alexander  McKee.  McKee 
was  attending  the  council,  and  the  commissioners 
addressed  him  a  note,  borne  by  Elliott,  to  inform 
him  of  their  arrival,  and  asking  when  they  could 
be  received.  Elliott  returned  on  the  29th,  bring- 
ing with  him  a  deputation  of  twenty  chiefs  from 
the  council.  The  next  day,  a  conference  was  held, 
and  the  chief  of  the  Wyandots,  Sa-wagh-da-wunk, 
presented  to  the  commissioners,  in  writing,  their 
explicit  demand  in  regard  to  the  boundary,  and 
their  purposes  and  powers.  "  The  Ohio  must  be 
the  boundary,"  said  he,  "  or  blood  will  flow." 

The  commissioners  returned  an  answer  to  the 
proposition  brought  by  the  chiefs,  recapitulating 
the  treaties  already  made,  and  denying  the  Ohio 
as  the  boundary  line.  On  the  16th  of  August, 
the  council  sent  them,  by  two  Wyandot  runners, 
a  final  answer,  in  which  they  recapitulated  their 


liL^ 


HISTORY   or   OHIO. 


77 


former  assertions,  and  exhibited  great  powers  of 
reasoning  and  clear  logic  in  defense  of  their  po- 
sition. The  commissioners  reply  that  it  is  impos- 
ble  to  accept  the  Ohio  as  the  boundary,  and  declare 
the  negotiation  at  an  end. 

This  closed  the  efforts  of  the  Grovernment  to  ne- 
gotiate with  the  Indians,  and  there  remained  of 
necessity  no  other  mode  of  settling  the  dispute 
but  ■war.  Liberal  terms  had  been  offered  them, 
but  nothing  but  the  boundary  of  the  Ohio  Riyer 
would  suffice.  It  was  the  only  condition  upon 
which  the  confederation  would  lay  down  its  arms. 
"  Among  the  rude  statesmen  of  the  wilderness, 
there  was  exhibited  as  pure  patriotism  and  as  lofty 
devotion  to  the  good  of  their  race,  as  ever  won  ap- 
plause among  civilized  men.  The  white  man  had, 
ever  since  he  came  into  the  country,  been  encroach- 
ing on  their  lands.  He  had  long  occupied  the 
regions  beyond  the  mountains.  He  had  crushed 
the  conspiracy  formed  by  Pontiac,  thirty  years  be- 
fore. He  had  taken  possession  of  the  common 
hunting-ground  of  all  the  tribes,  on  the  faith  of 
treaties  they  did  not  acknowledge.  He  was 
now  laying  out  settlements  and  building  forts  in 
the  heart  of  the  country  to  which  all  the  tribes 
had  been  driven,  and  which  now  was  all  they  could 
call  their  own.  And  now  they  asked  that  it  should 
be  guaranteed  to  them,  that  the  boundary  which 
they  had  so  long  asked  for  should  be  drawn,  and 
a  final  end  be  made  to  the  continual  aggressions  of 
the  whites ;  or,  if  not,  they  solemnly  determined  to 
stake  their  all,  against  fearful  odds,  in  defense  of 
their-  homes,  their  country  and  the  inheritance  of 
their  children.  Nothing  could  be  more  patriotic 
than  the  position  they  occupied,  and  nothing  could 
be  more  noble  than  the  declarations  of  their 
council."* 

They  did  not  know  the  strength  of  the  whites, 
and  based  their  success  on  the  victories  already 
gained.  They  hoped,  nay,  were  promised,  aid  from 
the  British,  and  even  the  Spanish  had  held  out  to 
them  assurances  of  help  when  the  hour  of  conflict 
came. 

The  Americans  were  not  disposed  to  yield  even 
to  the  confederacy  of  the  tribes  backed  by  the  two 
rival  nations,  forming,  as  Wayne  characterized  it,  a 
"  hydra  of  British,  Spanish  and  Indian  hostility." 
On  the  16th  of  August,  the  commissioners  re- 
ceived the  final  answer  of  the  council.  The  17th, 
they  left  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit  River,  and  the 
23d,  arrived  at  Fort  Erie,  where  they  immediately 

*  Annals  of  tho  West. 


dispatched  messengers  to  Gen.  Wayne  to  inform 
him  of  the  issue  of  the  negotiation.  Wayne  had 
spent  the  winter  of  1792-93,  at  Legionville,  in  col- 
lecting and  organizing  his  army.  April  30,  1793, 
the  army  moved  down  the  river  and  encamped  at 
a  point,  called  by  the  soldiers  ".Hobson's  choice," 
because  from  the  extreme  height  of  the  river  they 
were  prevented  from  landing  elsewhere.  Here 
Wayne  was  engaged,  during  the  negotiations  for 
peace,  in  drilling  his  soldiers,  in  cutting  roads,  and 
collecting  supplies  for  the  army.  He  was  ready 
for  an  immediate  campaign  in  case  the  council 
failed  in  its  object. 

While  here,  he  sent  a  letter  to  the  Secretary  of 
War,  detailing  the  circumstances,  and  suggesting 
the  probable  course  he  should  follow.  He  re- 
mained here  during  the  summer,  and,  when  apprised 
of  the  issue,  saw  it  was  too  late  to  attempt  the 
campaign  then.  He  sent  the  Kentucky  militia 
home,  and,  with  his  regular  soldiers,  went  into 
winter  quarters  at  a  fort  he  built  on  a  tributary 
of  the  Great  Miami.  He  called  the  fort  Green- 
ville. The  present  town  of  Greenville  is  near  the 
sits  of  the  fort.  During  the  winter,  he  sent  a  de- 
tachment to  visit  the  scene  of  St.  Clair's  defeat. 
They  found  more  than  six  hundred  skulls,  and 
were  obhged  to  "scrape  the  bones  together  and 
carry  them  out  to  get  a  place  to  make  their  beds." 
They  buried  all  they  could  find.  Wayne  was 
steadily  preparing  his  forces,  so  as  to  have  every- 
thing ready  for  a  sure  blow  when  tiie  time  came. 
All  his  information  showed  the  faith  in  the  British 
which  still  animated  the  doomed  red  men,  and 
gave  them  a  hope  that  could  end  only  in  defeat. 

The  conduct  of  the  Indians  fully  corroborated 
the  statements  received  by  Gen.  Wayne.  On  the 
30th  of  June,  an  escort  of  ninety  riflemen  and 
fifty  dragoons,  under  command  of  Maj.  McMahon, 
was  attacked  under  the  walls  of  Fort  Recovery  by 
a  force  of  more  than  one  thousand  Indians  under 
charge  of  Little  Turtle.  They  were  repulsed  and 
badly  defeated,  and,  the  next  day,  driven  away. 
Their  mode  of  action,  their  arms  and  ammunition, 
all  told  plainly  of  British  aid.  They  also  ex- 
pected,  to  find  the  cannon  lost  by  St.  Clair  Novem- 
ber 4, 1791,  but  which  the  Americans  had  secured. 
The  26th  of  July,  Gen.  Scott,  with  1,600 
mounted  men  from  Kentucky,  joined  Gen.  Wayne 
at  Fort  Greenville,  and,  two  days  after,  the  legion 
moved  forward.  The  8th  of  August,  the  army 
reached  the  junction  of  the  Auglaize  and  Mau- 
mee,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  erect  Fort  Defiance, 
where  the  waters  meet.  The  Indians  had  abandoned 


5    ry 


78 


HISTORY    OP    OHIO. 


their   towns  on  the  approach   of  the  army,  and 
were  congregating  further  northward. 

While  engaged  on  Fort  Defiance,  Wayne 
received  continual  and  full  reports  of  the  Indians — 
of  their  aid  from  Detroit  and  elsewhere ;  of  the 
nature  of  the  ground,  and  the  circumstances, 
favorable  or  unfavorable.  From  all  he  could 
learn,  and  considering  the  spirits  of  his  army, 
now  thoroughly  disciplined,  he  determined  to 
march  forward  and  settle  matters  at  once.  Yet, 
true  to  his  own  instincts,  and  to  the  measures  of 
peace  so  forcibly  taught  by  Washington,  he  sent 
Christopher  Miller,  who  had  been  naturalized 
among  the  Shawanees,  and  taken  prisoner  by 
Wayne's  spies,  as  a  messenger  of  peace,  oflfering 
terms  of  friendship. 

Unwilling  to  waste  time,  the  troops  began  to 
move  forward  the  15th  of  August,  and  the  next 
day  met  Miller  with  the  message  that  if  the  Amer- 
icans would  wait  ten  days  at  Auglaize  the  Indians 
would  decide  for  peace  or  war.  Wayne  knew  too 
well  the  Indian  character,  and  answered  the  mes- 
sage by  simply  marching  on.  The  18th,  the  legion 
had  advanced  forty-one  miles  from  Auglaize,  and, 
being  near  the  long-looked-for  foe,  began  to  take 
some  measures  for  protection,  should  they  be  at^ 
tacked.  A  sUght  breastwork,  called  Fort  Deposit, 
was  erected,  wherein  most  of  theu-  heavy  baggage 
was  placed.  They  remained  here,  building  their 
works,  until  the  20th,  when,  storing  their  baggage, 
the  army  began  again  its  march.  After  advancing 
about  five  miles,  they  met  a  large  force  of  the  ene- 
my, two  thousand  strong,  who  fiercely  attacked 
them.  Wayne  was,  however,  prepared,  and  in  the 
short  battle  that  ensued  they  were  routed,  and 
large  numbers  slain:  The  American  loss  was  very 
slight.  The  horde  of  savages  were  put  to  flight, 
leaving  the  Americans  victorious  almost  under 
the  walls  of  the  British  garrison,  under  Maj. 
Campbell.  This  officer  sent  a  letter  to  Gen. 
Wayne,  asking  an  explanation  of  his  conduct  in 
fighting  so  near,  and  in  such  evident  hostility  to 
the  British.  Wayne  replied,  telling  him  he  was 
in  a  country  that  did  not  belong  to  him,  and  one 
he  was  not  authorized  to  hold,  and  also  charging 
him  with  aiding  the  Indians.  A  spirited  corre- 
spondence followed,  which  ended  in  the  American 
commander  marching  on,  and  devastating  the  In- 
dian country,  even  burning  McKee's  house  and 
stores  under  the  muzzles  of  the  English  guns. 

The  14th  of  September,  the  army  marched  from 
Fort  Defiance  for  the  Miami  village  at  the  junc- 
tion of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph  Rivers.     It 


reached  there  on  the  17th,  and  the  next  day  Gen. 
AVayne  selected  a  site  for  a  fort.  The  22d  of  Oc- 
tober, the  fort  was  completed,  and  garrisoned  by  a 
detachment  under  Maj.  Hamtramok,  who  gave  to  it 
the  name  of  Fort  Wayne.  The  14th  of  October, 
the  mounted  Kentucky  volunteers,  who  had  be- 
come dissatisfied  and  mutinous,  were  started  to 
Fort  Washington,  where  they  were  immediately 
mustered  out  of  service  and  discharged.  The  28th 
of  October,  the  legion  marched  from  Fort  Wayne 
to  Fort  Greenville,  where  Gen.  Wayne  at  once 
established  his  headquarters. 

The  campaign  had  been  decisive  and  short,  and 
had  taught  the  Indians  a  severe  lessen.  The  Brit- 
ish, too,  had  failed  them  in  their  hour  of  need,  and 
now  they  began  to  see  they  had  a  foe  to  contend 
whose  resources  were  exhaustless.  Under  these 
circumstances,  losing  faith  in  the  English,  and  at 
last  impressed  with  a  respect  for  American  power, 
after  the  defeat  experienced  at  the  hands  of  the 
"Black  Snake,"  the  various  tribes  made  up  their 
minds,  by  degrees,  to  ask  for  peace.  During  the 
winter  and  spring,  they  exchanged  prisoners,  and 
made  ready  to  meet  Gen.  Wayne  at  Greenville,  in 
June,  for  the  purpose  of  forming  a  definite  treaty, 
as  it  had  been  agreed  should  be  done  by  the  pre- 
liminaries of  January  24. 

During  the  month  of  June,  1795,  representa- 
tives of  the  Northwestern  tribes  began  to  gather  at 
Greenville,  and,  the  16th  of  the  month.  Gen.  Wayne 
met  in  coiincil  the  Delawares,  Ottawas,  Pottawato- 
mies  and  Eel  River  Indians,  and  the  conferences, 
which  lasted  till  August  10,  began.  The- 21st 
of  June,  Buckongahelas  arrived ;  the  23d,  Little 
Turtle  and  other  Miamis ;  the  13th  of  July, 
Tarhe  and  other  Wyandot  chiefs  ;  and  the  18th, 
Blue  Jacket,  and  thirteen  Shawanees  and  Massas 
with  twenty  Chippewas. 

Most  of  these,  as  it  appeared  by  their  statements, 
had  been  tampered  with  by  the  English,  especially 
by  McKee,  Girty  and  Brant,  even  after  the  pre- 
Hminaries  of  January  24,  and  while  Mr.  Jay  was 
perfecting  his  treaty.  They  had,  however^  all  de- 
termined to  make  peace  with  the  "Thirteen  Fires," 
and  although  some  difficulty  as  to  the  ownership  of 
the  lands  to  be  ceded,  at  one  time  seemed  likely  to 
arise,  the  good  sense  of  Wayne  and  the  leading 
chiefs  prevented  it,  and,  the  30th  of  July,  the  treaty 
was  agreed  to  which  should  bury  the  hatchet  for- 
ever. Between  that  day  and  the  3d  of  August, 
it  was  engrossed,  and,  having  been  signed  by  the 
various  nations  upon  the  day  last  named,  it  was 
finally  acted  upon  the  7th,  and  the  presents  fi-om 


'A 


HISTOKY   OF    OHIO. 


79 


the  United  States  distributed.  The  basis  of  this 
treaty  was  the  previous  one  made  at  Fort  Harmar. 
The  boundaries  made  at  that  time  were  re-affirmed  ; 
the  whites  were  secured  on  the  lands  now  occu- 
pied by  them  or  secured  by  former  treaties  ;  and 
among  all  the  assembled  nations,  presents,  in  value 
not  less  than  one  thousand  pounds,  were  distributed 
to  each  through  its  representatives,  many  thousands 
in  all.     The  Indians  were  allowed  to  remove  and 


punish  intruders  on  their  lands,  and  were  permitted 
to  hunt  on  the  ceded  lands. 

"This  great  and  abiding  peace  document  was 
signed  by  the  various  tribes,  and  dated  August  3, 
1795.  It  was  laid  before  the  Senate  December  9, 
and  ratified  the  22d.  So  closed  the  old  Indian 
wars  in  the  "West."  * 

*  Annals  of  the  West." 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

JAY'S  TREATY— THE   QUESTION  OF  STATE    RIOHTS    AND   NATIONAL  SUPREMACY— EXTENSION 
OF  OHIO  SETTLEMENTS— LAND   CLAIMS— SPANISH   BOUNDARY   QUESTION. 


\  1 7"HILB  these  six  years  of  Indian  wars  were 
VV  in  progress,  Kentucky  was  admitted  as  a 
State,  and  Pinckney's  treaty  with  Spain  was  com- 
pleted. This  last  occurrence  was  of  vital  impor- 
tance to  the  West,  as  it  secured  the  free  navigation 
of  the  Mississippi,  charging  only  a  fair  price  for 
the  storage  of  goods  at  Spanish  ports.  This, 
though  not  all  that  the  Americans  wished,  was  a 
great  gain  in  their  favor,  and  did  much  to  stop 
those  agitations  regarding  a  separation  on  the  part 
of  Kentucky.  It  also  quieted  affairs  further 
south  than  Kentucky,  in  the  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina  Territory,  and  put  an  end  to  French 
and  Spanish  intrigue  for  the  Western  Territory. 
The  treaty  was  signed  November  24,  1794. 
Another  treaty  "was  concluded  by  Mr.  John  Jay 
between  the  two  governments.  Lord  Grreenville 
representing  the  English,  and  Mr.  Jay,  the  Ameri- 
cans. The  negotiations  lasted  from  April  to 
November  19,  1795,  when,  on  that  day,  the  treaty 
was  signed  and  duly  recognized.  It  decided 
eiFectually  all  the  questions  at  issue,  and  was  the 
signal  for  the  removal  of  the  British  troops  from 
the  Northwestern  outposts.  This  was  effected  as 
soon  as  the  proper  transfers  could  be  made.  The 
second  article  of  the  treaty  provided  that,  "  His 
Majesty  will  withdraw  all  his  troops  and  garrisons 
from  all  posts  and  places  within  the  boundary 
lines  assigned  by  the  treaty  of  peace  to  the  United 
States.  This  evacuation  shall  take  place  on  or 
before  the  1st  day  of  June,  1796,  and  all  the 
proper  measures  shall  be  taken,  in  the  interval,  by 
concert,  between  the  Crovernment  of  the  United 
States  and  His  Majesty's  Go.vernor  General  in 
America,  for  settling  the  previous  arrangements 


which  may  be  necessary  respecting  the  delivery 
of  the  said  posts ;  the  United  States,  in  the  mean 
time,  at  their  discretion,  extending  their  settle- 
ments to  any  part  within  the  said  boundary  line, 
except  within  the  precincts  or  jurisdiction  of  any 
of  the  said  posts. 

"  All  settlers  and  all  traders  within  the  precincts 
or  jurisdiction  of  the  said  posts  shall  continue  to 
enjoy,  unmolested,  all  their  property  of  every 
kind,  and  shall  be  protected  therein.  They  shall 
be  at  full  liberty  to  remain  there  or  to  remove 
with  all;  or  any  part,  of  their  effects,  or  retain  the 
property  thereof  at  their  discretion ;  such  of  them 
as  shall  continue  to  reside  within  the  said  boundary 
lines,  shall  not  be  compelled  to  become  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  or  take  any  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  Government  thereof;  but  they  shall  be  at 
full  liberty  so  to  do,  if  they  think  proper ;  they 
shall  make  or  declare  their  election  one  year  after 
the  evacuation  aforesaid.  And  all  persons  who 
shall  continue  therein  after  the  expiration  of  the 
said  year,  without  having  declared  their  intention 
of  remaining  subjects  to  His  Britannic  Majesty, 
shall  be  considered  as  having  elected  to  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States." 

The  Indian  war  had  settled  all  fears  from  that 
source ;  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain  had  estab- 
lished the  boundaries  between  the  two  countries 
and  secured  peace,  and  the  treaty  with  Spain  had 
secured  the  privilege  of  navigating  the  Mississippi, 
by  paying  only  a  nominal  sum.  It  had  also  bound 
the  people  of  the  West  together,  and  ended  the 
old  separation  question.  There  was  no  danger 
from  that  now.  Another  difficulty  arose,  however, 
relating  to  the  home  rule,  and  the  organization  of 


80 


HISTOKT   OP   OHIO. 


tlie  home  government.  There  were  two  parties  in 
the  country,  known  as  Federalist  and  Anti-Federal- 
ist. One  favored  a  central  government,  whose  au- 
thority should  be  supreme ;  the  other,  only  a 
compact,  leaving  the  States  supreme.  The  worth- 
lessness  of  the  old  colonial  system  became,  daily, 
more  apparent.  While  it  existed  no  one  felt  safe. 
There  was  no  prospect  of  paying  the  debt,  and, 
hence,  no  credit.  When  Mr.  Hamilton,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  offered  his  financial  plan  to  the 
country,  favoring  centralization,  it  met,  in  many 
places,  violent  opposition.  Washington  was  strong 
enough  to  carry  it  out,  and  gave  evidence  that  he 
would  do  so.  When,  therefore,  the  excise  law 
passed,  and  taxes  on  whisky  were  collected,  an 
open  revolt  occurred  in  Pennsylvania,  known  as 
the  "  Whisky  Insurrection."  It  was  put  down, 
finally,  by  military  power,  and  the  malcontents 
made  to  know  that  the  United  States  was  a  gov- 
ernment, not  a  compact  liable  to  rupture  at  any 
time,  and  by  any  of  its  members.  It  taught  the 
entire  nation  a  lesson.  Centralization  meant  pres- 
ervation. Should  a  "  compact"  form  of  government 
prevail,  then  anarchy  and  ruin,  and  ultimate  sub- 
jection to  some  foreign  power,  met  their  view. 
That  they  had  just  fought  to  dispel,  and  must  it 
all  go  for  naught  ?  The  people  saw  the  rulers 
were  right,  and  gradually,  over  the  West,  spread  a 
spirit  antagonistic  to  State  supremacy.  It  did  not 
revive  till  Jackson's  time,  when  he,  with  an  iron 
hand  and  iron  will,  crushed  out  the  evil  doctrine 
of  State  supremacy.  It  revived  again  in  the  late 
war,  again  to  be  crushed.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that 
ever  thus  will  be  its  fate.  "  The  Union  is  insepa- 
rable," said  the  Government,  and  the  people  echoed 
the  words. 

During  the  war,  and  while  all  these  events  had 
been  transpiring,  settlements  had  been  taking  place 
upon  the  Ohio,  which,  in  their  influence  upon  the 
Northwest,  and  especially  upon  the  State,  as  soon 
as  it  was  created,  were  deeply  felt.  The  Virginia 
and  the  Connecticut  Reserves  were  at  this  time 
peopled,  and,  also,  that  part  of  the  Miami  Valley, 
about  Dayton,  which  city  dates  its  origin  from  that^ 
period. 

As  early  as  1787,  the  reserved  lands  of  the  Old 
Dominion  north  of  the  Ohio  were  examined,  and, 
in  August  of  that  year,  entries  were  made.  As 
no  good  title  could  be  obtained  from  Congress  at 
this  time,  the  settlement  practically  ceased  until 
1790,  when  the  prohibition  to  enter  them  was 
withdrawn.  As  soon  as  that  was  done,  surveying 
began  again.     Nathaniel  Massie  was  among  the 


foremost  men  in  the  survey  of  this  tract,  and  lo- 
cating the  lands,  laid  oiF  atown  about  twelve  miles 
above  Maysville.  The  place  was  called  Manchester, 
and  yet  exists.  From  this  point,  Massie  continued 
through  all  the  Indian  war,  despite  the  danger,  to 
survey  the  surrounding  country,  and  prepare  it  for 
settlers. 

Connecticut  had,  as  has  been  stated,  ceded  her 
lands,  save  a  tract  extending  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  beyond  the  western  boundary  of 
Pennsylvania.  Of  this  Connecticut  Eeserve,  so 
far  as  the  Indian  title  was  extinguished,  a  survey 
was  ortiered  in  October,  1786,  and  an  office  opened 
for  its  disposal.  Part  was  soon  sold,  and,  in  1792, 
half  a  million  of  acres  were  given  to  those  citizens 
of  Connecticut  who  had  lost  property  by  the  acts 
of  the  British  troops  during  the  Revolutionary 
war  at  New  London,  New  Haven  and  elsewhere. 
These  lands  thereby  became  known  as  "  Fire  lands  " 
and  the  "Sufierer's  lands,"  and  were  located  in  the 
western  part  of  the  Reserve.  In  May,  1795,  the 
Connecticut  Legislature  authorized  a  committee  to 
dispose  of  the  remainder  of  the  Reserve.  Before 
autumn  the  committee  sold  it  to  a  company  known 
as  the  Connecticut  Land  Company  for  $1,200,000, 
and  about  the  5th  of  September  quit-claimed  the 
land  to  the  Company.  The  same  day  the  Company 
received  it,  it  sold  3,000,000  acres  to  John  Mor- 
gan, John  Caldwell  and  Jonathan  Brace,  in  trust. 
Upon  these  quit-claim  titles  of  the  land  all  deeds 
in  the  Reserve  are  based.  Surveys  were  com- 
menced in  1796,  and,  by  the  close  of  the  next 
year,  all  the  land  east  of  the  Cuyahoga  was  divided 
into  townships  five  miles  sijuare.  The  agent  of  the 
Connecticut  Land  Company  was  Gen.  Moses  Cleve- 
land, and  in  his  honor  the  leading  city  of  the  Re- 
serve was  named.  That  township  and  five  others 
were  reserved  for  private  sale;  the  balance  were 
disposed  of  by  lottery,  the  first  drawing  occurring 
in  February,  1798. 

Dayton  resulted  from  the  treaty  made  by  Wayne. 
It  came  out  of  the  boundary  ascribed  to  Symmes, 
and  for  a  while  all  such  lands  were  not  recognized 
as  sold  by  Congress,  owing  to  the  failure  of 
Symmes  and  his  associates  in  paying  for  them. 
Thereby  there  existed,  for  a  time,  considerable  un- 
easiness regarding  the  title  to  these  lands.  In 
1799,  Congress  was  induced  to  issue  patents  to  the 
actual  settlers,  and  thus  secure  them  in  their  pre- 
emption. 

Seventeen  days  after  Wayne's  treaty,  St.  Clairs 
Wilkinson,  Jonathan  Dayton  and  Israel  Ludlow 
contracted  with  Symmes  for  the  seventh  and  eighth 


>■ 
W 

M 


HISTORY  OF   OHIO. 


83 


ranges,  between  Mad  E,iver  and  the  Little  Miami. 
Three  settlements  were  to  be  made:  one  at  the 
mouth  of  Mad  Eiver,  one  on  the  Little  Miami,  in 
the  seventh  range,  and  another  on  Mad  River.  On 
the  21st  of  September,  1795,  Daniel  C.  Cooper 
started  to  survey  and  mark  out  a  road  in  the  pur- 
chase, and  John  Dunlap  to  run  its  boundaries, 
which  was  completed  before  October  4.  On  No- 
vember 4,  Mr.  Ludlow  laid  off  the  town  of  Day- 
ton, which,  like  land  in  the  Connecticut  Reserve, 
was  sold  by  lottery. 

A  gigantic  scheme  to  ,  purchase  eighteen  or 
twenty  million  acres  in  Michigan,  and  then  pro- 
cure a  good  title  from  the  Government — who  alone 
had  s)ich  a  right  to  procure  land — ^by  giving  mem- 
bers of  Congress  an  interest  in  the  investment, 
appeared  shortly  afber  Wayne's  treaty.  When 
some  of  the  members  were  approached,  however, 
the  real  spirit  of  the  scheme  appeared,  and,  instead 
of  gaining  ground,  led  to  the  exposure,  resulting 
in  the  reprimanding  severely  of  Robert  Randall, 
the  principal  mover  in  the  whole  plan,  and  in  its 
speedy  disappearance. 

Another  enterprise,  equally  gigantic,  also  ap- 
peared. It  was,  however,  legitimate, ,  and  hence 
successful.  On  the  20th  of  February,  1795,  the 
North  American  Land  Company  was  formed  in 
Philadelphia,  under  the  management  of  such  pat- 
riots as  Robert  Morris,  John  Nicholson  and  James 
Greenleaf.  This  Company  purchased  large  tracts 
in  the  West,  which  it  disposed  of  to  actual  settlers, 
and  thereby  aided  greatly  in  populating  that  part 
of  the  country. 

Before  the  close  of  1795,  the  Governor  of  the 
Territory,  and  his  Judges,  published  sixty-four 
statutes.  Thirty-four  of  these  were  adopted  at 
Cincinnati  during  June,  July  and  August  of  that 
year.  They  were  known  as  the  Maxwell  code, 
from  the  name  of  the  publisher,  but  were  passed 
by  Governor  St.  Clair  and  Judges  Symmes  and 
Turner.  Among  them  was  that  which  provided 
that  the  common  law  of  England,  and  all  its  stat- 
utes, made  previous  to  the  fourth  year  of  James 
the  First,  shovdd  be  in  filU  force  within  the  Terri- 
tory,, "  Of  the  system  as  a  whole,"  says  Mr.  Case, 
"  with  its  many  imperfections,  it  may  be  doubted 
that  any  colony,  at  so  early  a  period  after  its  first 
establishment,  ever  had  one  so  good  and  applicable 
to  all." 

The  Union  had  now  safely  passed  through  its 
most  critical  period  after  the  close  of  the  war  of 
independence.  The  danger  from  an  irruption  of 
its  own  members ;  of  a  war  or  alliance  of  its  West- 


ern portion  with  France  and  Spain,  and  many 
other  perplexing  questions,  were  now  effectually 
settled,  and  the  population  of  the  Territory  began 
rapidly  to  increase.  Before  the  close  of  the  year 
1796,  the  Northwest  contained  over  five  thousand 
inhabitants,  the  requisite  number  to  entitle  it  to 
one  representative  in  the  national  Congress. 

Western  Pennsylvania  also,  despite  the  various 
conflicting  claims  regarding  the  land  titles  in  that 
part  of  the  State,  began  rapidly  to  fill  with  emigrants. 
The  "Triangle"  and  the '.' Struck  District  "  were 
surveyed  and  put  upon  the  market  under  the  act 
of  1792.  Treaties  and  purchases  from  the  various 
Indian  tribes,  obtained  control  of  the  remainder  of 
the  lands  in  that  part  of  the  State,  and,  by  1796, 
the  State  owned  all  the  land  within  its  boundaries. 
Towns  were  laid  off,  land  put  upon  the  market,  so 
that  by  the  year  1800,  the  western  part  of  the 
Keystone  State  was  divided  into  eight  counties,  viz., 
Beaver,  Butler,  Mercer,  Crawford,  Erie,  Warren, 
Venango  and  Armstrong. 

The  ordinance  relative  to  the  survey  and  dis- 
posal of  lands  in  the  Northwest  Territory  has 
already  been  given.  It  was  adhered  to,  save  in 
minor  cases,  where  necessity  required  a  slight 
change.  The  reservations  were  recognized  by 
Congress,  and  the  titles  to  them  all  confirmed  to 
the  grantees.  Thus,  Clarke  and  his  men,  the 
Connecticut  Reserve,  the  Refuge'e  lands,  the 
FrencTi  inhabitants,  and  all  others  holding  patents 
to  land  from  colonial  or  foreign  governments,  were 
all  confirmed  in  their  rights  and  protected  in  their 
titles. 

Before  the  close  of  1796,  the  upper  North- 
western posts  were  all  vacated  by  the  British, 
under  the  terms  of  Mr.  Jay's  treaty.  Wayne  at 
once  transferred  his  headquarters  to  Detroit,  where 
a  county  was  named  for  him,  including  the  north- 
western part  of  Ohio,  the  northeast  of  Indiana, 
and  the  whole  of  Michigan. 

The  occupation  of  the  Territory  by  thp  Ameri- 
cans gave  additional  impulse  to  emigration,  and  a 
better  feeling  of  security  to  emigrants,  who  fol- 
lowed closely  upon  the  path  of  the  army.  Na- 
thaniel Massie,  who  has  already  been  noticed  as 
the  founder  of  Manchester,  laid  out  the  town  of 
Chillicothe,  on  the  Scioto,  in  1796.  Before  the 
close  of  the  year,  it  contained  several  stores, 
shops,  a  tavern,  and  was  well  populated.  With 
the  increase  of  settlement  and  the  security  guar- 
anteed by  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  the  arts  of 
civilized  life  began  to  appear,  and  their  influence 
upon  pioneers,  especially  those  born  on  the  frontier, 


84 


HISTOET   OF    OHIO. 


began  to  manifest  itself.  Better  dwellings,  schools, 
churches,  dress  and  manners  prevailed.  Life 
began  to  assume  a  reality,  and  lost  much  of 
that  recklessness  engendered  by  the  habits  of  a 
frontier  life. 

Cleveland,  Cincinnati,  the  Miami,  the  Mus- 
kingum and  the  Scioto  Valleys  were  filling  with 
people.  Cincinnati  had  more  than  one  hundred 
log  cabins,  twelve  or  fifteen  frame  houses  and  a 
population  of  more  than  six  hundred  persons.  In 
1796,  the  first  house  of  worship  for  the  Presby- 
terians in  that  city  was  built. 

Before  the  close  of  the  same  year,  Manchester 
contained  over  thirty  families ;  emigrants  from 
Virginia  were  going  up  all  the  valleys  from  the 
Ohio;  and  Ebenezer  Zane  had  opened  a  bridle- 
path from  the  Ohio  River,  at  Wheeling,  across  the 
country,  by  ChUlicothe,  to  Limestone,  Ky.  The 
next  year,  the  United  States  mail,  for  the  first 
time,  traversed  this  route  to  the  .West.  Zane  was 
given  a  section  of  land  for  his  path.  The  popu- 
lation of  the  Territory,  estimated  at  from  five  to 
eight  thousand,  was  chiefly  distributed  in  lower 
vaUeys,  bordering  on  the  Ohio  River.  The  French 
still  occupied  the  Illinois  country,  and  were  the 
principal  inhabitants  about  Detroit. 

South  of  the  Ohio  River,  Kentucky  was  pro- 
gressing favorably,  while  the  "  Southwestern  Ter- 
ritory," ceded  to  the  United  States  by  North 
Carolina  in  1Y90,  had  so  rapidly  populated  that, 
in  1793,  a  Territorial  form  of  government  was 
allowed.  The  ordinance  of  1787,  save  the  clause 
prohibiting  slavery,  was  adopted,  and  the  Territory 
named  Tennessee.  On  June  6,  1796,  the  Terri- 
tory contained  more  than  seventy-five  thousand 
inhabitant?,  and  was  admitted  into  the  Union  as  a 
State.  Four  years  after,  the  census  showed  a 
population  of  105,602  souls,  including  13,584 
slaves  and  persons  of  color.  The  same  year 
Tennessee  became  a  State,  Samuel  Jackson  and 
Jonathan  Sharpless  erected  the  Redstone  Paper 
Mill,  four  miles  east  of  Brownsville,  it  being  the 
first  manufactory  of  the  kind  west  of  the  AUe- 
ghanies. 

In  the  month  of  December,  1796,  Gen.  Wayne, 
who  had  done  so  much  for  the  development  of  the 
West,  while  on  his  way  from  Detroit  to  Philadel- 
phia, was  attacked  with  sickness  and  died  in  a 
cabin  near  Erie,  in  the  north  part  of  Pennsylvania. 
He  was  nearly  fifty-one  years  old,  and  was  one  of 


the  bravest  officers  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and 
one  of  America's  truest  patriots.  In  1809,  his 
remains  were  removed  from  Erie,  by  his  son.  Col. 
Isaac  Wayne,  to  the  Radnor  churchyard,  near  the 
place  of  his  birth,  and  an  elegant  monument  erected 
on  his  tomb  by  the  Pennsylvania  Cincinnati  So- 
ciety. 

After  the  death  of  Wayne,  Gen.  Wilkinson  was 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  Western  army. 
While  he  was  in  command,  Carondelet,  the  Spanish 
governor  of  West  Florida  and  Louisiana,  made  one. 
more  eiFort  to  separate  the  Union,  and  set  up  either 
an  independent  government  in  the  West,  or,  what 
was  more  in  accord  with  his  wishes,  efiect  a 
union  with  the  Spanish  nation.  In  June,  1797, 
he  sent  Power  again  into  the  Northwest  and  into 
Kentucky  to  sound  the  existing  feeling.  Now, 
however,  they  were  not  easily  won  over.  The 
home  government  was  a  certainty,  the  breaches  had 
been  healed,  and  Power  was  compelled  to  abandon 
the  mission ,  not,  however,  until  he  had  received  a 
severe  reprimand  from  many  who  saw  through  his 
plan,  and  openly  exposed  it.  His  mission  closed 
the  efibrts  of  the  Spanish  authorities  to  attempt 
the  dismemberment  of  the  Union,  and  showed 
them  the  coming  downfall  of  their  power  in  Amer- 
ica. They  were  obhged  to  surrender  the  posts 
claimed  by  the  United  States  under  the  treaty  of 
1795,  and  not  many  years  afl^r,  sold  their  Amer- 
ican possessions  to  the  United  States,  rather  than 
see  a  rival  European  power  attain  control  over  them. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1798,  Congress  passed  an 
act,  appointing  Winthrop  Sargent,  Secretary  of  the 
Northwest  Territory,  Governor  of  the  Territory  of 
the  Mississippi,  formed  the  same  day.  In  1801, 
the  boundary  between  America  and  the  Spanish  pos- 
sessions was  definitely  fixed.  The  Spanish  retired 
from  the  disputed  territory,  and  henceforward  their 
attempts  to  dissolve  the  American  Union  ceased. 
The  seat  of  the  Mississippi  Territory  was  fixed  at 
Loftus  Heights,  six  miles  north  of  the  thirty-first 
degree  of  latitude. 

The  appointment  of  Sargent  to  the  charge  of  the 
Southwest  Territory,  led  to  the  choice  of  William 
Henry  Harrison,  who  had  been  aid-de-catop  to 
Gen.  Wayne  in  1794,  and  whose  character  stood 
very  high  among  the  people  of  the  West,  to  the 
Secretaryship  of  the  Northwest,  which  place  he  held 
until  appointed  to  represent  that  Territory  in  Con- 


j:^! 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


85  I 


CHAPTER    IX. 

FIRST  TERRITORIAL  REPRESENTATIVES  IN  CONGRESS— DIVISION   OF  THE  TliRRITORY— FORMA- 
TION OP  STATES— MARIETTA  SETTLEMENT— OTHER  SETTLEMENTS— SETTLEMENTS  IN 
THE  WESTERN    RESERVE  —  SETTLEMENT    OF    THE   CENTRAL  VALLEYS- 
FURTHER  fcETTLEMENTS  IN  THE  RESERVE  AND  ELSEWHERE.  ' 


THE  ordinance  of  1787  provided  that  as  soon 
as  there  were  5,000  persons  in  the  Territory, 
it  was  entitled  to  a  representative  assembly.  On 
October  29,  1798,  Governor  St.  Clair  gave  notice 
by  proclamation,  that  the  required  population  ex- 
isted, and  directed  that  an  election  be  held  on  the 
third  Monday  in  December,  to  choose  representa- 
tives. These  representatives  were  required,  when 
assembled,  to  nominate  ten  persons,  whose  names 
were  sent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
who  selected  five,  and  with  the  advice  and  consent 
of  the  Senate,  appointed  them  for  the  legislative 
council.  In  this  mode  the  Northwest  passed  into 
the  second  grade  of  a  Territorial  government. 

The  representatives,  elected  under  the  proclama- 
tion of  St.  Clair,  met  in  Cincinnati,  January  22, 
1799,  and  under  the  provisions  of  the  ordinance 
of  1787,  nominated  ten  persons,  whose  names  were 
sent  to  the  President.  On  the  2d  of  March,  he 
selected  from  the  list  of  candidates,  the  names  of 
Jacob  Burnet,  James  Findlay,  Henry  Vander- 
burgh, Robert  Oliver  and  David  Vance.  The 
next  day  the  Senate  confirmed  their  nomination, 
and  the  first  legislative  council  of  the  Northwest 
Territory  was  a  reality. 

The  Territorial  Legislature  met  again  at  Cincin- 
nati, September  16,  but,  for  want  of  a  quorum, 
was  not  organized  until  the  24th  of  that  month. 
The  House  of  Representatives  consisted  of  nine- 
teen members,  of  whom  seven  were  from  Hamilton 
County,  fottr  from  Ross — erected  by  St.  Clair  in 
1798  ;  three  from  Wayne — erected  in  1796 ;  two 
from  Adams — erected  in  1797 ;  one  from  Jeffer- 
son— erected  in  1797 ;  one  from  Washington — 
erected  in  1788 ;  and  one  from  Knox — Indiana 
Territory.  None  seem  to  have  been  present  from 
St.  Clair  County  (Illinois  Territory). 

After  the  organization  of  the  Legislature,  Gov- 
ernor St.  Clair  addressed  the  two  houses  in  the  Rep- 
resentatives* Chamber,  recommending  such  meas- 
ures as,  in  his  judgment,  were  suited  to  the  con- 
dition of  the  country  and  would  advance  the  safety 
and  prosperity  of  the  people. 


The  Legislature  continued  in  session  till  the  19th 
of  December,  when,  having  finished  their  business, 
they  were  prorogued  by  the  Governor,  by  their 
own  request,  till  the  first  Monday  in  November, 
1800.  This  being  the  first  session,  there  was,  of 
necessity,  a  great  deal  of  business  to  do.  The 
transition  from  a  colonial  to  a  semi-independent 
form  .of  government,  called  for  a  general  revision 
as  well  as  a  considerable  enlargement  of  the  stat- 
ute-book. Some  of  the  adopted  laws  were  re- 
pealed', many  others  altered  and  amended,  and  a 
long  list  of  new  ones  added  to  the  code.  New 
oflBices  were  to  be  created  and  filled,  the  duties  at- 
tached to  them  prescribed,  and  a  plan  of  ways  and 
means  devised  to  meet  the  increased  expenditures, 
occasioned  by  the  change  which  had  now  occurred. 

As  Mr.  Burnet  was  the  principal  lawyer  in  the 
Council,  much  of  the  revision,  and  putting  the  laws 
into  proper  legal  form,  devolved  upon  him.  He 
seems  to  have  been  well  fitted  for  the  place,  and 
to  have  performed  the  laborious  task  in  an  excel- 
lent manner. 

The  whole  njimber  of  acts  passed  and  approved 
by  the  Governor,  was  thirty-seven.  The  most  im- 
portant related  to  the  militia,  the  administration  of 
justice,  and  to  taxation.  During  the  session,  a  bill 
authorizing  a  lottery  was  passed  by  the  council, 
but  rejected  by  the  Legislature,  thus  interdicting 
this  demoralizing  feature  of  the  disposal  of  lands 
or  for  other  purposes.  The  example  has  always  been 
followed  by  subsequent  legislatures,  thus  honorably 
characterizing  the  Assembly  of  Ohio,  in  this  re- 
spect, an  example  Kentucky  and  several  other 
States  might  well  emulate. 

Before  the  Assembly  adjourned,  they  issued  a 
congratulatory  address  to  the  people,  enjoining 
them  to  "  Inculcate  the  principles  of  humanity, 
benevolence,  honesty  and  punctuality  in  dealing, 
sincerity  and  charity,  and  all  the  social  affections." 
At  the  same  time,  they  issued  an  address  to  the 
President,  expressing  entire  confidence  in  the  wis- 
dom and  purity  of  his  government,  and  their 
warm   attachment  to  the  American  Constitution. 


—  r— I 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


The  vote  on  this  address  proved,  however,  that  the 
differences  of  opinion  agitating  the  Eastern  States 
had  penetrated  the  West.  Eleven  Representatives 
voted  for  it,  and  five  against  it. 

One  of  the  important  duties  that  devolved  on 
this  Legislature,  was  the  election  of  a  delegate  to 
Congress.  As  soon  as  the  Governor's  proclama- 
tion made  its  appearance,  the  election  of  a  person 
to  fill  that  position  excited  general  attention.  Be- 
fore the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  public  opinion 
had  settled  down  on  William  Henry  Harrison,  and 
Arthur  St.  Clair,  Jr.,  who  eventually  were  the  only 
candidates.  On  ithe  3d  of  October,  the  two  houses 
met  and  proceeded  to  a  choice.  Eleven  votes  were 
cast  for  Harrison,  and  ten  for  St.  Clair.  The  Leg- 
islature prescribed  the  form  of  a  certificate  of  the 
Nj  election,  which  was  given  to  Harrison,  who  at  once 
resigned  his  office  as  Secretary  of  the  Territory, 
proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  and  took  his  seat.  Con- 
gress being  then  in  session. 

"Though  he  represented  the  Territory  but  one 
year,  "  says  Judge  Burnett,  in  his  notes,  "  he  ob- 
tained some  important  advantages  for  his  constitu- 
ents. He  introduced  a  resolution  to  sub-divide 
the  surveys  of  the  public  lands,  and  to  offer  them 
for  sale  in  smaller  tracts ;  he  succeeded  in  getting 
that  measure  through  both  houses,  in  opposition  to 
the  interest  of.  speculators,  who  were,  and  who 
wished  to  be,  the  retailers  of  the  land  to  the  poorer 
classes  of  the  community.  His  proposition  be- 
came a  law,  and  was  hailed  as  the  most  beneficent 
act  that  Congress  had  ever  done  for  the  Territory. 
It  put  in  the  power  of  every  industrious  man,  how- 
ever poor,  to  become  a  freeholder,  and  to  lay  a 
foundation  for  the  future  support  and  comfort  of 
his  family.  At  the  same  session,  he  obtained  a 
liberal  extension  of  time  for  the  pre-emptioners  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  Miami  purchase,  which 
enabled  them  to  secure  their  farms,  and  eventually 
to  become  independent,  and  even  wealthy." 

The  first  session,  as  has  been. noticed,  closed 
December  19.  Gov.  St.  Clair  took  occasion  to 
enumerate  in  his  speech  at  the  close  of  the  session, 
eleven  acts,  to  which  he  saw  fit  to  apply  his  veto. 
These  he  had  not,  however,  returned  to  the  Assem- 
bly, and  thereby  saved  a  long  struggle' between  the 
executive  and  legislative  branches  of  the  Territory. 
Of  the  eleven  acts  enumerated,  six  related  to  the 
formation  of  new  counties.  These  were  mainly 
disproved  by  St  Clair,  as  he  always  sturdily  main- 
tained that  the  power  to  erect  new  counties  was 
vested  alone  in  the  Executive.  This  free  exercise 
of  the  veto  power,  especially  in  relation  to  new 


counties,  and  his  controversy  with  the  Legislature, 
tended  only  to  strengthen  the  popular  discontent 
regarding  the  Governor,  who  was  never  fully  able 
to  regain  the  standing  he  held  before  his  in- 
glorious defeat  in  his  campaign  against  the  Indians. 

While  this  was  being  agitated,  another  question 
came  into  prominence.  Ultimately,  it  settled  the 
powers  of  the  two  branches  of  the  government, 
and  caused  the  removal  of  St.  Clair,  then  very 
distasteftd  to  the  people.  The  opening  of  the 
present  century  brought  it  fully  before  the 
people,  who  began  to  agitate  it  in  all  their 
assemblies. 

The  great  extent  of  the  Territory  made  the 
operations  of  government  extremely  uncertain, 
and  the  power  of  the  courts  practically  worthless. 
Its  division  was,  therefore,  deemed  best,  and  a 
committee  was  appointed  by  Congress  to  inquire 
into  the  matter.  This  committee,  the  3d  of 
March,  1800,  reported  upon  the  subject  that,  "In 
the  three  western  counties,  there  has  been  but 
one  court  having  cognizance  of  crimes  in  five 
years.  The  immunity  which  offenders  experience, 
attracts,  as  to  an  asylum,  the  most  vile  and  aban- 
doned criminals,  and,  at  the  same  time,  deters 
useful  and  virtuous  citizens  from  making  settle- 
ments in  such  society.  The  extreme  necessity  of 
judiciary  attention  and  assistance  is  experienced 
in  civil  as  well  as  criminal  cases.  The  supplying 
to  vacant  places  such  necessary  officers  as  may  be 
wanted,  such  as  clerks,  recorders  and  others  of 
like  kind,  is,  from  the  impossibility  of  correct 
notice  and  information,  utterly  neglected.  This 
Territory  is  exposed  as  a  frontier  to  foreign  nations, 
whose  agents  can  find  sufficient  interest  in  exciting 
or  fomenting  insurrection  and  discontent,  as 
thereby  they  can  more  easily  divert  a  valuable 
trade  in  fiirs  from  the  United  States,  and  also  have 
a  part  thereof  on  which  they  border,  which  feels 
so  little  the  cherishing  hand  of  their  proper  gov- 
ernment, or  so  little  dreads  its  energy,  as  to  render' 
their  attachment  perfectly  uncertain  and  am- 
biguous. 

"  The  committee  would  further  suggest,  that 
the  law  of  the  3d  of  March,  1791,  granting  land 
to  certain  persons  in  the  western  part  of  said  Ter- 
ritory, and  directing  the  laying-out  of  the  same, 
remains  unexecuted;  that  great  ■  discontent,  in 
consequence  of  such  neglect,  is  excited  in  thote 
who  are  interested  in  the  provisions  of  said  laws, 
which  require  the  immediate  attention  of  this 
Legislature.  To  minister  a  remedy  to  these  evils, 
it  occurs  to  this  committee,  that  it  is  expedient 


'-^ 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


8T 


that  a  division  of  said  Territory  into  two  distinct 
and  separate  governments  should  be  made ;  and 
that  such  division  be  made  by  a  hne  beginning  at 
the  mouth  of  the  great  Miami  River,  running 
directly  north  until  it  intersects  the  boundary 
between  the  United  States  and  Canada."  * 

The  recommendations  of  the  committee  were 
favorably  received  by  Congress,  and,  the  Vth 
of  May,  an  act  was  passed  dividing  the  Ter- 
ritory. The  main  provisions  of  the  act  are  as 
follows:, 

"  That,  from  and  after  the  4th  of  July  next, 
all  that  part  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States 
northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,  which  lies  to  the 
westward  of  a  line  beginning  at  the  Ohio,  opposite 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River,  .and  running 
thence  to  Port  Recovery,  and  thence  north  until 
it  intersects  the  territorial  line  between  the  United 
States  and  Canada,  shall,  for  the  purpose  of  tem- 
porary government,  constitute  a  separate  Territory, 
and  be  called  the  Indiana  Territory. 

''  There  shall  be  established  within  the  said  Ter- 
ritory a  government,  in  all  respects  similar  to  that 
provided  by  the  ordinance  of  Congress  passed  July 

13,  1797."  t 

The  act  further  provided  for  i;epresentatives,  and 
for  the  establishment  of  an  assembly,  on  the  same 
plan  as  that  in  force  in  the  Northwest,  stipulating 
that  until  the  number  of  inhabitants  reached  five 
thousand,  the  whole  number  of  representatives  to 
the  General  Assembly  should  not  be  less  than  seven, 
nor  more  than  nine ;  apportioned  by  the  Grovernor 
among  the  several  counties  in  the  new  Terri- 
tory. 

The  act  further  provided  that  "  nothing  in  the 
act  should  be  so  construed,  so  as  in  any  manner 
to  affect  the  government  now  in  force  in  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
River,  further  than  to  prohibit  the  exercise  thereof 
within  the  Indiana  Territory,  from  and  after  the 
aforesaid  4th  of  July  next. 

"  Whenever  that'  part  of  the  territory  of  the 
United  States,  which  lies  to  the  eastward  of  a  line 
beginning  at  the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  River, 
and  running  thence  due  north  to  the  territorial 
line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  shall 
be  erected  into  an  independent  State,  and  admitted 
into  the  Union  on  an  equal  footing  with  the  orig- 
inal States ;  thenceforth  said  line  shall  become  and 
remain  permanently,  the  boundary  line  between 
such  State  and  the  .Indiana  Territory." 

*Amorinan  State  Papera. 
f  Land  Laws. 


It  was  further  enacted,  "  that,  until  it  shall  be 
otherwise  enacted  by  the  legislatures  of  the  said 
territories,  respectively,  Chillicothe,  on  the  Scioto 
River,  shall  be  the  seat  of  government  of  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
River;  and  that  St.  Vincent's,  on  the  Wabash 
River,  shall  be  the  seat  of  government  for  the 
Indiana  Territory."  * 

St.  Clair  was  continued  as  Governor  of  the  old 
Territory,  and  William  Henry  Harrison  appointed 
Governor  of  the  new. 

Connecticut,  in  ceding  her  territory  in  the  West 
to  the  General  Government,  reserved  a  portion, 
known  as  the  Connecticut  Reserve.  When  she 
afterward  disposed  of  her  claim  in  the  manner 
narrated,  the  citizens  found  themselves  without  any 
government  on  which  to  lean  for  support.  At  that 
time,  settlements  had  begun  in  thirty-five  of  the 
townships  into  which  the  Reserve  had  been  divided ; 
one  thousand  persons  had  established  homes  there ; 
mills  had  been  built,  and  over  seven  hundred  miles 
of  roads  opened.  In  1800,  the  settlers  petitioned 
for  acceptance  into  the  Union,  as  a  part  of  the 
Northwest ;  and,themother  State  releasing  her  judi- 
ciary claims.  Congress  accepted  the  trust,  and 
granted  the  request.  In  December,  of  that  year, 
the  population  had  so  increased  that  the  county  of 
Trumbull  was  erected,  including  the  Reserve. 
Soon  after,  a  large  number  of  settlers  came  from 
Pennsylvania,  from  which  State  they  had  been 
driven  by  the  dispute  concerning  land  titles  in  its 
western  part.  Unwilling  to  cultivate  land  to 
which  they  could  only  get  a  doubtful  deed,  they 
abandoned  it,  and  came  where  the  titles  were 
sure. 

Congress  having  made  Chillicothe  the  capital  of 
the  Northwest  Territory,  as  it  now  existed,  on  the 
3d  of  November  the  General  Assembly  met  at  that 
place.  Gov:  St.  Clair  had  been  made  to  feel  the 
odium  cast  upon  his  previous  acts,  and,  at  the  open- 
ing of  this  session,  expressed,  in  strong  terms,  his 
disapprobation  of  the  censure  cast  upon  him.  He 
had  endeavored  to  do  "his  duty  in  all  cases,  he  said, 
and  yet  held  the  confidence  of  the  President  and 
Congress.  He  still  held  the  office,  notwithstanding 
the  strong  dislike  against  him. 

At  the  second  session  of  the  Assembly,  at  Chil- 
licothe, held  in  the  autumn  of  1801,  so  much  out- 
spoken enmity  was  expressed,  and  so  much  abuse 
heaped  upon  the  Governor  and  the  Assembly,  that 
a  law  was  passed,  removing  the  capital  to  Cincinnati 

*  Land  Lawa. 


88 


HISTOKY   OF   OHIO. 


again.  It  was  not  destined,  however,  ttat  the 
Territorial  Assembly  should  meet  again  anywhere. 
The  unpopularity  of  the  Governor  caused  many  to 
long  for  a  State  government,  where  they  could 
choose  their  own  rulers.  The  unpopularity  of  St. 
Clair  arose  partly  from  the  feeling  connected  with 
his  defeat ;  in  part  from  his  being  connected  with 
the  Federal  party,  fast  falling  into  disrepute ;  and, 
in  part,  from  his  assuming  powers  which  most 
thought  he  had  no  right  to  exercise,  especially  the 
power  of  subdividing  the  counties  of  the  Terri- 
tory. 

The  opposition,  though  powerful  out  of  the 
Assembly,  was  in  the  minority  there.  During  the 
month  of  December,  1801,  it  was  forced  to  protest 
against  a  measure  brought  forward  in  the  Council, 
for  changing  the  ordinance  of  1787  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  make  the  Scioto,  and  a  line  drawn  from 
the  intersection  of  that  river  and  the  Indian 
boundary  to  the  western  extremity  of  the  Reserve, 
the  limits  of  the  most  eastern  State,  to  be  formed 
from  the  Territory.  Had  this  change  been  made, 
the  formation  of  a  State  government  beyond  the 
Ohio  would  have  been  long  delayed.  Against  it, 
Representatives  Worthington,Langham,  Darlington, 
Massie,  Dunlavy  and  Morrow,  recorded  their  pro- 
test. Not  content  with  this,  they  sent  Thomas 
Worthington,  who  obtained  a  leave  of  absence,  to 
the  seat  of  government,  on  behalf  of  the  objectors, 
there  to  protest,  before  Congress,  against  the  pro- 
posed boundary.  While  Worthington  was  on  his 
way,  Massie  presented,  the  4th  of  January,  1802, 
a  resolution  for  chobsing  a  committee  to  address 
Congress  in  respect  to  the  proposed  State  govern- 
ment. This,  the  next  day,  the  House  refused  to 
do,  by  a  vote  of  twelve  to  five.  An  attempt 
was  next  made  to  procure  a  census  of  the  Ter- 
ritory, and  an  act  for  that  purpose  passed  the 
House,  but  the  Council  postponed  the  considera- 
tion of  it  until  the  next  session,  which  would  com- 
mence at  Cincinnati,  the  fourth  Monday  of  No- 
vember. 

Meanwhile,  Worthington  pursued  the  ends  of 
his  mission,  using  his  influence  to  effect  that  organ- 
ization, "which,  terminating  the  influence  of  tyr- 
anny," was  to  "meliorate  the  circumstances  of  thou- 
sands, by  freeing  them  from  the  domination  of  a 
despotic  chief"  His  efforts  were  successful,  and, 
the  4th  of  March,  a  report  was  made  to  the 
House  in  favor  of  authorizing  a  State  convention. 
This  report  was  based  on  the  assumption  that  there 
were  now  over  sixty  thousand  inhabitants  in  the 
proposed  boundaries,  estimating  that  emigration  had 


increased  the  census  of  1800,  which  gave  the  Ter- 
ritory forty-five  thousand  inhabitants,  to  that  num- 
ber. The  convention  was  to  ascertain  whether  it 
were  expedient  to  form  such  a  government,  and  to 
prepare  a  constitution  if  such  organization  were 
deemed  best.  In  the  formation  of  the  State,  a 
change  in  the  boundaries  was  proposed,  by  which 
all  the  territory  north  of  a  line  drawn  due  east 
from  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Lake  Erie  was 
to  be  excluded  from  the  new  government  about  to 
be  called  into  existence. 

The  cornmittee  appointed  by  Congress  to  report 
upon  the  feasibility  of  forming  the  State,  suggested 
that  Congress  reserve  out  of  every  township  sections 
numbered  8,  11,  26  and  29,  for  their  own  use,  and 
that  Section  16  be  reserved  for  the  maintenance 
of  schools.  The  committee  also  suggested,  that, 
"  religion,  education  and  morality  bfeing  necessary 
to  the  good  government  and  happiness  of  mankind, 
schools  and  the  means  of  education  shall  be  forever 
encouraged." 

Various  other  recommendations  were  given  by 
the  committee,  in  accordance  with  which.  Congress, 
April  30,  passed  the  resolution  authorizing  the 
calling  of  a  convention.  As  this  accorded  with 
the  feelings  of  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Northwest,  no  opposition  was  experienced ;  even 
the  Legislature  giving  way  to  .this  embryo'  gov- 
ernment, and  failing  to  assemble  according  to  ad- 
journment. 

The  convention  met  the  1st  of  November.  Its 
members  were  generally  Jeffersonian  in  their  na- 
tional politics,  and  had  been  opposed  to  the  change 
of  boundaries  proposed  the  year  before.  Before 
proceeding  to  business,  Gov.  St.  Clair  proposed  to 
address  them  in  his  official  character.  This  propo- 
sition was  resisted  by  several  of  the  members ;  but, 
after  a  motion,  it  was  agreed  to  allow  him  to  speak 
to  them  as  a  citizen.  St.  Clair  ^id  so,  advising 
the  postponement  of  a  State  government  until  the 
people  of  the  original  eastern  division  were  plainly 
entitled  to  demand  it,  and  were  not  subject  to  be 
bound  by  conditions.  This  advice,  given  as  it  was, 
caused  Jefferson  instantly  to  remove  St.  Clair,  at 
which  time  his  office  ceased.*  "When  the  vote 
was  taken,"  says  Judge  Burnet,  "upon  doing  what 

*  After  thia,  St.  Clair  returned  to  hie  old  home  in  the  Ligonier 
Valley,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  lived  with  hia  children  in  almost 
abject  poverty.  Ho  had  loat  money  in  his  public  life,  as  he  gave 
close  attention  to  public  afTairs,  to  the  detriment  of  his  own  buainesa. 
He  presented  a  claim  to  Congress,  afterward,  for  supplies  furnished 
to  the  army,  but  the  claim  was  outlawed.  After  trying  in  vain  to 
get  the  claim  allowed,  he  returned  to  his  home.  Pennsylvania, 
learning  of  hia  distress,  granted  him  an  annuity  of  8350,  afterward 
raised  to  $610.  He  lived  to  enjoy  this  but  a  short  time,  his  death 
occurring  August  31, 1818.    He  "was  eighty-four  years  of  age. 


HISTORY    or    OHIO. 


he  advised  them  not  to  do,  but  one  of  thirty-three 
(Ephraim  Cutler,  of  Washington  County)  voted 
with  the  Grovernor." 

On  one  point  only  were  the  proposed  boundaries 
of  the  new  State  altered. 

"  To  every  person  who  has  attended  to  this  sub- 
ject, and  who  has  consulted  the  maps  of  the  West- 
ern country  extant  at  the  time  the  ordinance  of 
1787  was  passed.  Lake  Michigan  was  believed  to 
be,  and  was  represented  by  all  the  maps  of  that 
day  as  being,  very  far  north  of  the  position  which 
it  has  since  been  ascertained  to  occupy.  I  have 
seen  the  map  in  the  Department  of  State  which 
was  before  the  committee  of  Congress  who  framed 
and  reported  the  ordinance  for  the  government  of 
the  Territory.  On  that  map,  the  southern  bound- 
ary of  Michigan  was  represented  as  being  above 
the  forty-second  degree  of  north  latitude.  And 
there  was  a  pencil  line,  said  to  have  been  made  by 
the  committee,  passing  through  the  southern  bend 
of  the  lake  to  the  Canada  line,  which  struck  the 
strait  not  far  below  the  town  of  Detroit.  The 
line  was  manifestly  intended  by  the  committee 
and  by  Congress  to  be  the  northern  boundary  of 
our  State ;  and,  on  the  principles  by  which  courts 
of  chancery  construe  contracts,  accompanied  by 
plats,  it  would  seem  that  the  map,  and  the  line 
referred  to,  should  be  conclusive  evidence  of  our 
boundary,  without  reference  to  the  real  position  of 
the  lakes. 

"When  the  convention  sat,  in  1802,  the  under- 
derstanding  was,  that  the  old  maps  were  nearly 
correct,  and  that  the  line,  as  defined  in  the  ordi- 
nance, would  terminate  at  some  point  on  the  strait 
above  the  Maumee  Bay.  While  the  convention 
was  in  session,  a  man  who  had  hunted  many  years 
on  Lake  Michigan,  and  was  well  acquainted  with 
its  position,  happened  to  be  in  Chillicothe,  and,  in 
conversation  with  one  of  the  members,  told  him 
that  the  lake  extended  much  farther  south  than 
was  generally  supposed,  and  that  a  map  of  the 
country  which  he  had  seen,  placed  its  southern 
bend  many  miles  north  of  its  true  position.  This 
information  excited  some  uneasiness,  and  induced 
the  convention  to  modify  the  clause  describing  the 
north  boundary  of  the  new  State,  so  as  to  guard 
against  its  being  depressed  below  the  most  north- 
ern cape  of  the  Maumee  Bay."* 

With  this  change  and  some  extension  of  the 
school  and  road  donations,  the  convention  agreed 
to  the  proposal  of  Congress,  and,  November  29, 


*  Historical  Transactions  of  Ohio. — Judqe  Buenett. 


their  agreement  was  ratified  and  signed,  as  was 
also  the  constitution  of  the  State  of  Ohio — so 
named  from  its  river,  called  by  the  Shawanees  Ohio, 
meaning  beautiful — forming  its  southern  bound- 
ary. Of  this  nothing  need  be  said,  save  that  it 
bore  the  marks  of  true  democratic  feeling — of  full 
faith  in  the  people.  By  them,  however,  it  was 
never  voted  for.  It  stood  firm  until  1852,  when 
it  was  superseded  by  the  present  one,  made  neces- 
sary by  the  advance  of  time. 

The  General  Assembly  was  required  to  meet  at 
Chillicothe,  the  first  Tuesday  of  March,  1803. 
This  change  left  the  territory  northwest  of  the 
Ohio  Eiver,  not  included  in  the  new  State,  in  the  ■ 
Territories  of  Indiana  and  Michigan.  Subse- 
quently, in  1816,  Indiana  was  made  a  State,  and 
confined  to  her  present  limits.  Illinois  was  made 
a  Territory  then,  including  Wisconsin.  In  1818, 
it  became  a  State,  and  Wisconsin  a  Territory  at- 
tached to  Michigan.  This  latter  was  made  a  State 
in  1837,  and  Wisconsin  a  separate  Territory,  which, 
in  1847,  was  made  a  State.  Minnesota  was  made 
a  Territory  the  same  year,  and  a  State  in  1857, 
and  the  five  contemplated  States  of  the  territory 
were  complete. 

Preceding  pages  have  shown  how  the  territory 
north  of  the  Ohio  River  was  peopled  by  the 
French  and  English,  and  how  it  came  under  the 
rule  of  the  American  people.  THe  war  of  the 
Revolution  closed  in  1783,  and  left  aU  America  in 
the  hands  of  a  new  nation.  That  nation  brought 
a  change.  Before  the  war,  various  attempts  had 
been  made  by  residents  in  New  England  to  people 
the  country  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  Land  com- 
panies were  formed,  principal  among  which  were 
the  Ohio  Company,  and  the  company  of  which 
John  Cleves  Symmes  was  the  agent  and  ,  chief 
owner.  Large  tracts  of  land  on  the  Scioto  and 
on  the  Ohio  were  entered.  The  Ohio  Company 
were  the  first  to  make  a  settlement.  It  was  or- 
ganized in  the  autumn  of  1787,  November  27. 
They  made  arrangements  for  a  party  of  forty-seven 
men  to  set  out  for  the  West  under  the  supervision  of 
Gren.  Rufus  Putnam,  Superintendent  of  the  Com- 
pany. Early  in  the  winter  they  advanced  to  the 
Youghiogheny  Eiver,  and  there  built  a  strong  boat, 
which  they  named  "Mayflower."  It  was  built  by 
Capt.  Jonathan  Devol,  the  first  ship-builder  in  the 
West,  and,  when  completed,  was  placed  under  his 
command.  The  boat  was  launched  April  2, 1788, 
and  the  band  of  pioneers,  like  the  Pilgrim  Fathers, 
began  their  voyage.  The  7th  of  the  month, 
they  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum, 


90 


HISTOKY   OF   OHIO. 


their  destination,  opposite  Fort  Harmar,*  erected 
in  the  autumn  of  1785,  by  a  detachment  of 
United  States  troops,  under  command  of  Maj. 
John  Doughty,  and,  at  the  date  of  the  Mayflower's 
arrival  in  possession  of  a  company  of  soldiers. 
Under  the  protection  of  these  troops,  the  little  band 
of  men  began  their  labor  of  laying  out  a  town, 
and  commenced  to  erect  houses  for  their  own  and 
subsequent  emigrants'  occupation.  The  names  of 
these  pioneers  of  Ohio,  as  far  as  can  now  be 
learned,  are  as  follows: 

Gen.  Putnam,  Return  Jonathan  Meigs,  Win- 
throp  Sargeant  (Secretary  of  the  Territory),  Judges 
Parsons  and  Varnum,  Capt.  Dana,  Capt.  Jonathan 
Devol,  Joseph  Barker,  Col.  Battelle,  Maj.  Tyler, 
Dr.  True,  Capt.  Wm.  G-ray,  Capt.  Lunt,  the 
Bridges,  Ebenezer  and  Thomas  Cory,  Andrew  Mc- 
Clure,  Wm.  Mason,  Thomas  Lord,  Wm.  Gridley, 
Gilbert  Devol,  Moody  Russels,  Deavens,  Oakes, 
Wright,  Clough,  Green,  Shipman,  Dorance,  the 
Masons,  and  others,  whose  names  are  now  be- 
yond recall. 

On  the  19th  of  July,  the  first  boat  of  families 
arrived,  after  a  nine- weeks  journey  on  the  way. 
They  had  traveled  in  their  wagons  as  far  as  Wheel- 
ing, where  they  built  large  flat-boats,  into  which 
they  loaded  their  efibcts,  including  their  cattle,  and 
thence  passed  down  the  Ohio  to  their  destination. 
The  families  were  those  of  Gen.  Tupper,  Col. 
Iphabod  Nye,  Col.  Gushing,  Maj.  Coburn,  and 
Maj.  Goodale.  In  these  titles  the  reader  will  ob- 
serve the  preponderance  of  military  distinction. 
Many  of  the  founders  of  the  colony  had  served 
with  much  valor  in  the  war  for  freedom,  and  were 
well  prepared  for  a  life  in  the  wilderness. 

They  began  at  once  the  construction  of  houses 
from  the  forests  about  the  confluence  of  the  rivers, 
guarding  their  stock  by  day  and  penning  it  by 
night.  Wolves,  bears  and  Indians  were  all  about 
them,  and,  here  in  the  remote  wilderness,  they 
were  obliged  to  always  be  on  their  guard.  From 
the  ground  where  they  obtained  the  timber  to  erect 
their  houses,  they  soon  produced  a  few  vegetables, 
and  when  the  families  arrived  in  August,  they 
were  able  to  set  before  them  food  raised  for  the 


*The  outlines  of  Fort  Harmar  formed  a  regular  pentagon, 
embracing  within  the  area  about  three-fourths  of  an  acre.  Its 
walls  were  formed  of  large  horizontal  timbers,  and  the  bastions 
of  large  uprighttimbera  about  fourteen  feet  in  height,  fastened  to  each 
other  by  strips  of  timber,  tree-nailed  into  each  picket.  In  the  rear 
of  the  fort  Maj.  Doughty  laid  out  fine  gardens.  It  continued  to  be 
occupied  by  United  States  troops  until  September  1790,  when 
they  were  ordered  to  Cincinnati.  A  company,  under  Capt.  Haskell, 
continued  to  make  the  fort  their  headquarters  during  the  Indian 
war,  occasionally  assisting  the  colonists  at  Marietta,  Belpre  and 
Waterford  against  the  Indians.  When  not  needed  by  the  troops, 
the  fort  was  used  by  the  people  of  Marietta, 


first  time  by  the  hand  of  American  citizens  in  the 
Ohio  Valley.  One  of  those  who  came  in  August,- 
was  Mr.  Thomas  Guthrie,  a  settler  in  one  of  the 
western  counties  of  Pennsylvania,  who  brought  a 
bushel  of  wheat,  which  he  sowed  on  a  plat  of 
ground  cleared  by  himself,  and  from  which  that 
fall  he  procured  a  small  crop  of  wheat,  the  first 
grown  in  the  State  of  Ohio. 

The  Marietta  settlement  was  the  only  one  made 
that  summer  in  the  Territory.  From  their  arrival 
until  October,  when  Governor  St.  Clair  came,  they 
were  busily  employed  making  houses,  and  prepar- 
ing for  the  winter.  The  little  colony,  of  which 
Washington  wrote  so  favorably,  met  on  the  2d  day 
of  July,  to  name  their  newborn  city  and  its  pub- 
lic sqares.  Until  now  it  had  been  known  as  "  The 
Muskingum"  simply,  but  on  that  day  the  name 
Marietta  was  formally  given  to  it,  in  honor  of  Ma- 
rie Antoinette.  The  4th  of  July,  an  ovation  was 
held,  and  an  oration  dehvered  by  James  M.  Var- 
num, who,  with  S.  H.  Parsons  and  John  Arm- 
strong, had  been  appointed  Judges  of  the  Terri- 
tory. Thus,  in  the  heart  of  the  wilderness, 
miles  away  from  any  kindred  post,  in  the  forests 
of  the  Great  West,  was  the  Tree  of  Liberty  watered 
and  given  a  hearty  growth. 

On  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  Jidy,  Governor 
St.  Clair  arrived,  and  the  colony  began  to  assume 
form.  The  ordinance  of  1787  had  provided  for 
a  form  of  government  under  the  Governor  and 
the  three  Judges,  and  this  form  was  at  once  put 
into  force.  The  25th,  the  first  law  relating  to  the 
militia  was  published,  and  the  next  day  the  Gov- 
ernor's proclamation  appeared,  creating  all  the 
country  that  had  been  ceded  by  the  Indians,  east 
of  the  Scioto  River,  into  the  county  of  Washing- 
ton, and  the  civil  machinery  was  in  motion.  From 
that  time  forward,  this,  the  pioneer  settlement  in 
Ohio,  went  on  prosperously.  The  2d  of  Septem- 
ber, the  first  court  in  the  Territory  was  held,  but 
as  it  related  to  the  Territory,  a  narrative  of  its  pro- 
ceedings will  be  found  in  the  history  of  that  part 
of  the  country,  and  need  not  be  repeated  here. 

The  15th  of  July,  Gov.  St.  Clair  had  published 
the  ordinance  of  1787,  and  the  commissions  of 
himself  and  the  three  Judges.  He  also  assembled 
the  people  of  the  settlement,  and  explained  to 
them  the  ordinance  in  a  speech  of  considerable 
length.  Three  days  after,  he  sent  a  notice  to  the 
Judges,  calling  their  attention  to  the  subject  of 
organizing  the  militia.  Instead  of  attending  to 
this  important  matter,  and  thus  providing  for  their 
safety  should  trouble  with  the  Indians  arise,  the 


HISTOBY   OF    OHIO. 


91 


Judges  did  not  even  reply  to  the  Governor's  letter, 
but  sent  him  what  they  called  a  "project"  of  a 
law  for  dividing  real  estate.  The  bill  was  so 
loosely  drawn  that  St.  Clair  immediately  rejected 
it,  and  set  about  organizing  the  militia'  himself. 
He  divided  the  militia  into  two  classes,  "  Senior" 
and  "  Junior,"  and  organized  them  by  appointing 
their  officers. 

In  the  Senior  Class,  Nathan  Cushing  was  ap- 
pointed Captain;  George  Ingersol,  Lieutenant, 
and  James  Backus,  Ensign. 

In  the  Junior  Class,  Nathan  Goodale  and  Charles 
Knowls  were  made  Captains ;  Watson  Casey  and 
Samuel  Stebbins,  Lieutenants,  and  Joseph  Lincoln 
and  Arnold  Colt,  Ensigns. 

The  Governor  next  erected  the  Courts  of  Pro- 
bate and  Quarter  Sessions,  and  proceeded  to  ap- 
point civil  officers.  Rufus  Putnam,  Benjamin 
Tupper  and  Winthrop  Sargeant  were  made  Jus- 
tices of  the  Peace.  The  30th  of  August,  the  day 
the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions  was  appointed, 
Archibald  Cary,  Isaac  Pierce  and  Thomas  Lord 
were  also  appointed  Justices,  and  given  power  to 
hold  this  court.  They  were,  in  fact,  Judges  of  a 
Court  of  Common  Pleas.  Return  Jonathan  Meigs 
was  appointed  Clerk  of  this  Court  of  Quarter 
Sessions.  Ebenezer  Sproat  was  appointed  Sheriff  of 
Washington  County,  and  also  Colonel  of  the  militia; 
William  Callis,  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court; 
Rufiis  Putnam,  Judge  of  the  Probate  Court,  and 
R.  J.  Meigs,  Jr.,  Clerk.  Following  th^se  appoint- 
ments, setting  the  machinery  of  government  in 
motion,  St.  Clair  ordered  that  the  25th  of  Decem- 
ber be  kept  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving  by  the  infant 
colony  for  its  safe  and  propitious  beginning.  ^ 

During  the  fall  and  winter,  the  settlement  was 
daily  increased  by  emigrants,  so  much  so,  that  the 
greatest  difficulty  was  experienced  in  finding  them 
lodging.  During  the  coldest  part  of  the  winter, 
when  ice  covered  the  river,  and  prevented  navi- 
gation, a  delay  in  arrivals  was  experienced,  only  to 
be  broken  as  soon  as  the  river  opened  to  the  beams 
of  a  spring  sun.  While  locked  in  the  winter's 
embrace,  the  colonists  amused  themselves  in  vari- 
ous ways,  dancing  being  one  of  the  most  promi- 
nent. At  Christmas,  a  grand  ball  was  held,  at 
which  there  were  fifteen  ladies,  "whose  grace," 
says  a  narrator,  "equaled  any  in  the  East." 
Though  isolated  in  the  wilderness,  they  knew  a 
brilliant  prospect  lay  before  them,  and  lived  on  in 
a  joyous  hope  for  the  future. 

Soon  after  their  arrival,  the  settlers  began  the 
erection  of  a  stockade  fort  (Campus   Martins),, 


which  occupied  their  time  until  the  winter  of 
1791.  During  the  interval,  fortunately,  no  hos- 
tilities from  the  Indians  were  experienced,  though 
they  were  abundant,  and  were  frequent  visitors  to 
the  settlement. 

From  a  communication  in  the  American  Pioneer, 
by  Dr.  S.  P.  Hildreth,  the  following  description  of 
Campus  Martins  is  derived.  As  it  will  apply,  in 
a  measure,  to  many  early  structures  for  defense  in 
the  West,  it  is  given  entire ; 

"  The  fort  was  made  in  the  form  of  a  regular 
parallelogram,  the  sides  of  each  being  180  feet. 
At  each  corner  was  erected  a  strong  block-house, 
surmounted  by  a  tower,  and  a  sentry  box.  These 
houses  were  twenty  feet  square  below  and  twenty- 
four  feet  square  above,  and  projected  six  feet  be- 
yond the  walls  of  the  fort.  The  intermediate  walls 
were  made  up  with  dwelling-houses,  made  of  wood, 
whose  ends  were  whip-sawed  into  timbers  four 
inches  thick,  and  of  the  requisite  width  and  length. 
These  were  laid  up  similar  to  the  structure  of  log 
houses,  with  the  ends  nicely  dove-tailed  together. 
The  whole  were  two  stories  high,  and  covered  with 
shingle  roofs.  Convenient  chimneys  were  erected 
of  bricks,  for  cooking,  and  warming  the  rooms.  A 
number  of  the  dwellings  were  built  and  owned  by 
individuals  who  had  families.  In  the  west  and 
south  fronts  were  strong  gateways ;  and  over  the 
one  in  the  center  of  the  front  looking  to  the  Mus- 
kingum River,  was  a  belfry.  The  chamber  beneath 
was  occupied  by  Winthrop  Sargeant,  as  an  office, 
he  being  Secretary  to  the  Governor,  and  perform- 
ing the  duties  of  the  office  during  St.  Clair's  ab- 
sence. This  room  projected  over  the  gateway, like 
a  block-house,  and  was  intended  for  the  protection 
of  the  gate  beneath,  in  time  of  an  assault.  At 
the  outer  corner  of  each  block-house  was  erected  a 
bastion,  standing  on  four  stout  timbers.  The  floor 
of  the  bastion  was  a  little  above  the  lower  story  of 
the  block-house.  They  were  square,  and  built  up 
to  the  height  of  a  man's  head,  so  that,  when  he 
looked  over,  he  stepped  on  a  narrow  platform  or 
"  banquet ' '  running  around  the  sides  of  the  bulwark. 
Port-holes  were  made,  for  musketry  as  well  as  for 
artillery,  a  single  piece  of  which  was  mounted  in 
the  southwest  and  northeast  bastions.  In  these, 
the  sentries  were  regularly  posted  every  night,  as 
more  convenient  than  the  towers  ;  a  door  leading 
into  them  from  the  upper  story  of  the  block-houses. 
The  lower  room  of  the  soTlthwest  block-house  was 
occupied  as  a  guard-house. 

"  Running  from  corner  to  corner  of  the  block- 
houses was  a  row  of  palisades,  sloping  outward, 


93 


HISTORY   OF   OPIIO. 


and  resting  on  stout  rails.  Twenty  feet  in  advance 
of  these,  was  a  row  of  very  strong  and  large  pick- 
ets, set  upright  in  the  earth.  Gateways  through 
these,  admitted  the  inmates  of  the  garrison.  A 
few  feet  beyond  the  row  of  outer  palisades  was 
placed  a  row  of  abattis,  made  from  the  tops  and 
branches  of  trees,  sharpened  and  pointing  outward, 
so  that  it  would  have  been  very  difficult  for  an 
enemy  to  have  penetrated  within  their  outworks. 
The  dwelling-houses  occupied  a  space  from  fifteen 
to  thirty  feet  each,  and  were  sufficient  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  forty  or  fifty  families,  and  did 
actually  contain  from  two  hundred  to  three  hun- 
dred persons  during  the  Indian  war. 

"  Before  the  Indians  commenced  hostilities,  the 
block-houses  were  occupied  as  follows :  The  south- 
west one,  by  the  family  of  Gov.  St.  Clair;  the 
northeast  one  as  an  office  for  the  Directors  of  the 
Company.  The  area  within  the  walls  was  one 
hundred  and  forty-four  feet  square,  and  afibrded  a 
fine  parade  ground.  In  the  center,  was  a  well 
eighty  feet  in  depth,  for  the  supply  of  water  to  the 
inhabitants,  in  case  of  a  siege.  A  large  sun-dial 
stood  for  many  years  in  the  square,  placed  on  a 
handsome  post,  and  gave  note  'of  the  march  of 
time. 

"  After  the  war  commenced,  a  regular  military 
corps  was  organized,  and  a  guard  constantly  kept 
night  and  day.  The  whole  establishment  formed 
a  very  strong  work,  and  reflected  great  credit  on 
the  head  that  planned  it.  It  was  in  a  manner  im- 
pregrfable  to  the  attacks  of  Indians,  and  none 
but  a  regular  army  with  cannon  could  have  reduced 
it.     The  Indians  possessed  no  such  an  armament. 

"  The  garrison  stood  on  the  verge  of  that  beauti- 
ful plain  overlooking  the  Muskingum,  on  which 
are  seated  those  celebrated  remains  of  antiquity, 
erected  probably  for  a  similar  purpose — ^the  defense 
of  the  inhabitants.  The  ground  descends  into  shal- 
low ravines  on  the  north  and  south  sides ;  on  the 
west  is  an  abrupt  descent  to  the  river  bottoms  or 
alluvium,  and  the  east  passed  out  to  a  level  plain. 
On  this,  the  ground  was  cleared  of  trees  beyond 
the  reach  of  rifle  shots,  so  as  to  affijrd  no  shelter 
to  a  hidden  foe.  Extensive  fields  of  corn  were 
grown  in  the  midst  of  the  standing  girdled  trees  be- 
yond, in  after  years.  The  front  wall  of  palisades 
was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  fi-om  the 
Muskingum  River.  The  appearance  of  the  fort 
from  without  was  imposing,  at  a  little  distance  re- 
sembling the  military  castles  of  the  feudal  ages. 
Between  the  outer  palisades  and  the  river  were 
laid  out  neat  gardens  for  the  use  of  Gov.  St.  Clair 


and  his  Secretary,  with  the  officers  of  the  Com- 
pany. 

"  Opposite  the  fort,  on  the  shore  of  the  river, 
was  built  a  substantial  timber  wharf,  at  which  was' 
moored  a  fine  cedar  barge  for  twelve  rowers,  built 
by  Capt.  Jonathan  Devol,  for  Gen.  Putnam;  a 
number  of  pirogues,  and  the  light  canoes  of  the 
country^  and  last,  not  least,  the  Mayflower,  or 
'  Adventure  Galley,'  in  which  the  first  detach- 
ments of  colonists  were  transported  from  the  shores 
of  the  '  Yohiogany '  to  the  banks  of  the  Muskingum. 
In  these,  especidly  the  canoes,  during  the  war, 
mostof  the  communications  were  carried  on  between 
the  settlements  of  the  Company  and  the  more  re- 
mote towns  above  on  the  Ohio  River.  Traveling 
by  land  was  very  hazardous  to  any  but  the  rangers 
or  spies.  There  were  no  roads,  nor  bridges  across 
the  creeks,  and,  for  many  years  after  the  war  had 
ceased,  the  traveling  was  nearly  all  done  by  canoes 
on  the  river." 

Thus  the  first  settlement  of  Ohio  provided  for 
its  safety  and  comfort,  and  provided  also  for  that 
of  emigrants  who  came  to  share  the  toils  of  the 
wilderness. 

The  next  spring,  the  influx  of  emigration  was 
so  great  that  other  settlements  were  determined, 
and  hence  arose  the  colonies  of  Belpre,  Waterford 
and  Duck  Creek,  where  they  began  to  clear  land,  sow 
and  plant  crops,  and  build  houses  and  stockades. 
At  Belpre  (French  for  "beautiful  meadow"),  were 
built  'three  stockades,  the  upper,  lower  and  middle, 
the  last  of  which  was  called  "  Farmers'  Castle," 
and  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  nearly  oppo- 
site an  island,  afterward  famous  in  Western  history 
as  Blennerhasset's  Island,  the  scene  of  Burr's  con- 
spiracy. Among  the  persons  settling  at  the  upper 
stockade,  were  Capts.  Dana  and  Stone,  Col.  Bent, 
WilUam  Browning,.  Judge  Foster,  John  Rowse, 
Israel  Stone  and  a  Mr.  Keppel.  At  the  Farmers' 
Castle,  were  Cols.  Gushing  and  Fisher,  Maj.  Has- 
kell, Aaron  Waldo  Putnam,  Mr.  Sparhawk,  and, 
it  is  believed,  George  and  Israel  Putnam,  Jr.  At 
the  lower,  were  Maj.  Goodale,  Col.  Rice,  Esquire 
Pierce,  Judge  Israel  Loring,  Deacon^ Miles,  Maj. 
Bradford  and  Mr.  Goodenow.  In  the  summer  of 
1789,  Col.  Ichabod  Nye  and  some  others,  built  a 
block-house  at  Newberry,  below  Belpre.  Col.  Nye 
sold  his  lot  there  to  Aaron  W.  Clough,  who,  with 
Stephen  Guthrie,  Joseph  Leavins,  Joel  Oakes, 
Eleazer  Curtis,  Mr.  Denham  J.  Littleton  and  Mr. 
Brown,  was  located  at  that  place.     . 

"Every  exertion  possible,"  says  Dr.  Hildreth, 
who  has  preserved  the  above  names  and  incidents. 


'A 


HISTOKY   OF    OHIO. 


93 


"  for  men  in  these  circumstances,  was  made  to  se- 
cure food  for  future  difficulties.  Col.  Oliver,  IMaj. 
Hatfield  White  and  John  Dodge,  of  the  Water- 
ford  settlement,  began  mills  on  Wolf  Creek,  about 
three  miles  from  the  fort,  and  got  them  running; 
and  these,  the  first  mills  in  Ohio,  were  never  de- 
stroyed during  the  subsequent  Indian  war,  though 
the  proprietors  removed  their  familes  to  Jthe  fort 
at  Marietta.  Col.  E.  Sproat  and  Enoch  Shep- 
herd began  mills  on  Duck  Creek,  three  miles  from 
Marietta,  from  the  completion  of  which  they  were 
driven  by  the  Indian  war.  Thomas  Stanley  be- 
gan mills  farther  up,  near  the  Duck  Creek  settle- 
ment. These  were  likewise  unfinished.  The  Ohio 
Company  built  a  large  horse  mill  near  Campus 
Martius,  and  soon  after  a  floating  mill." 

The  autumn  before  the  settlements  at  Belpre, 
Duck  Creek  and  Waterford,  were  made,  a  colony 
was  planted  near  the  mouth  of  the  Little  Miami 
River,  on  a  tract  of  ten  thousand  acres,  purchased 
from  Symmes  by  M  aj .  Benj  amin  Stites.  In  the  pre- 
ceding pages  may  be  found  a  history  of  Symmes' 
purchase.  This  colony  may  be  counted  the  second 
settlement  in  the  State.  Soon  after  the  colony  at 
Marietta  was  founded,  steps  were  taken  to  occupy 
separate  portions  of  Judge  Symmes'  purchase,  be- 
tween the  Miami  Rivers.  Three  parties  were 
formed  for  this  purpose,  but,  owing  to  various 
delays,  chiefly  in  getting  the  present  colony  stead- 
fast and  safe  from  future  encroachments  by  the 
savages,  they  did  not  get  started  till  late  in  the  fall. 
The  first  of  these  parties,  consisting  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  men,  led  by  Maj.  Stites,  landed  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Little  Miami  in  Nqyember,  1788, 
and,  constructing  a  log  fort,  began  to  lay  out  a 
village,  called  by  them  Columbia.  It  soon  grew 
into  prominence,  and,  before  winter  had  thoroughly 
set  in,  they  were  well  prepared  for  a  frontier  life. 
In  the  party  were  Cols.  Spencer  and  Brown,  Majs. 
Gano  and  Kibbey,  Judges  Goforth  and  Foster, 
Rev.  John  Smith,  Francis  Dunlavy,  Capt,  Flinn, 
Jacob  White,  John  Riley,  and  Mr.  Hubbell. 

All  these  were  men  of  energy  and  enterprise, 
and,  with  their  comrades,  were  more  numerous 
than  either  of  the  other  parties,  who  commenced 
their  settlements  below  them  on  the  Ohio.  This 
village  was  also,  at  first,  more  flourishing;  and,  for 
two  or  three  years,  contained  more  inhabitants 
than  any  other  in  the  Miami  purchase. 

The  second  Miami  party  was  formed  at  Lime- 
stone, under  Matthias  Denham  and  Robert  Pat- 
terson, and  consisted  of  twelve  or  fifteen  persons. 
They  landed  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Ohio,  oppo- 


site the  mouth  of  the  Licking  River,  the  24th  of 
December,  1788.  They  intended  to  establish  a 
station  and  lay  out  a  town  on  a  plan  prepared  at 
Limestone.  Some  statements  affirm  that  the  town 
was  to  be  called  "  L-os-a.nti-ville,"  by  a  romantic 
school-teacher  named  Filson.  However,  be  this  as 
it  may,  Mr.  Filson  was,  unfortunately  for  himself, 
not  long  after,  slain  by  the  Indians,  and,  with  him 
probably,  the  name  disappeared.  He  was  to  have 
one-third  interest  in  the  proposed  city,  which, 
when  his  death  occurred,  was  transferred  to  Israel 
Ludlow,  and  a  new  plan  of  a  city  adopted.  Israel 
Ludlow  surveyed  the  proposed  town,  whose  lots  were 
principally  donated  to  settlers  upon  certain  condi- 
tions as  to  settlement  and  improvement,  and  the 
embryo  city  named  Cincinnati.  Gov.  St.  Clair 
very  likely  had  something  to  do  with  the  naming 
of  the  village,  and,  by  some,  it  is  asserted  that  he 
changed  the  name  from  Losantiville  to  Cincinnati, 
when  he  created  the  county  of  Hamilton  the  en- 
suing winter.  The  original  purchase  of  the  city's 
site  was  made  by  Mr.  Denham.  It  included  about 
eight  hundred  acres,  for  which  he  paid  5  shillings 
per  acre  in  Continental  certificates,  then  worth,  in 
specie,  about  5  shillings  per  pound,  gross  weight. 
Evidently,  the  original  site  was  a  good  investment, 
could  Mr.  Denham  have  lived  long  enough  to  see 
its  present  condition. 

'The  third  party  of  settlers  for  the  Miami  pur- 
ichase,  were  under  the  care  of  Judge  Symmes, 
himself.  They  left  Limestone,  January  29,  1789, 
and  were  much  delayed  on  their  downward  jour- 
ney by  the  ice  in  the  river.  They  reached  the 
"  Bend,"  as  it  was  then  known,  early  in  February. 
The  Judge  had  intended  to  found  a  city  here, 
which,  in  time,  would  be  the  rival  of  the  Atlantic 
cities.  As  each  of  the  three  settlements  aspired 
to  the  same  position,  no  little  rivalry  soon  mani- 
fested itself  The  Judge  named  his  proposed  city 
North  Bend,  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the  most 
northern  bend  in  the  Ohio  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Great  Kanawha.  These  three  settlements  ante- 
dated, a  few  months,  those  made  near  Marietta, 
already  described.  They  arose  so  soon  after,  partly 
from  the  extreme  desire  of  Judge  Symmes  to  settle 
his  purchase,  and  induce  emigration  here  instead 
of  on  the  Ohio  Company's  purchase.  The  Judge 
labored  earnestly  for  this  purpose  and  to  further 
secure  him  in  his  title  to  the  land  he  had  acquired, 
all  of  which  he  had  so  far  been  unable  to  retain, 
owing  to  his  inability  to  meet  his  payments. 

All  these  emigrants  came  down  the  river  in  the 
flat-boats  of  the  day,  rude  afiairs,  sometimes  called 


94 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


"  Arks,"  and  then  thfe  only  safe  mode  of  travel  in 
the  West. 

Judge  Symmes  found  he  must  provide  for  the 
safety  of  the  settlers  on  his  purchase,  and,  after 
earnestly  soliciting  Gen.  Harmar,  commander  of 
the  Western  posts,  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  de- 
tachment of  forty-eight  men,  under  Capt.  Kearsey, 
to  protect  the  improvements  just  commencing  on 
the  Miami.  This  detachment  reached  Limestone 
in  December,  1788.  Part  was  at  once  sent  for- 
ward to  guard  Maj.  Stites  and  his  pioneers.  Judge 
Symmes  and  his  party  started  in  January,  and, 
about  February  2,  reached  Columbia,  where  the 
Captain  expected  to  find  a  fort  erected  for  his  use 
and  shelter.  The  flood  on  the  river,  however,  de- 
feated his  purpose,  and,  as  he  was  unprepared  to 
erect  another,  he  determined  to  go  on  down  to  the 
garrison  at  the  falls  at  Louisville.  Judge  Symmes 
was  strenuously  opposed  to  his  conduct,  as  it  left 
the  colonies  unguarded,  but,  all  to  no  purpose;  the 
Captain  and  his  command,  went  to  Louisville  early 
in  March,  and  left  the  Judge  and  his  settlement 
to  protect  themselves.  Judge  Symmes  immedi- 
ately sent  a  strong  letter  to  Maj.  Willis,  command- 
ing at  the  Falls,  complaining  of  the  conduct 
of  Capt.  Kearsey,  representing  the  exposed  situ- 
ation of  the  Miami  settlements,  stating  the  indi- 
cations of  hostility  manifested  by  the  Indians, 
and  requesting  a  guard  to  be  sent  to  the  Bend. 
This  request  was  at  once  granted,  and  Ensign 
Luce,  with  seventeen  or  eighteen  soldiers,  sent. 
They  were  at  the  settlement  but  a  short  time, 
when  they  were  attacked  by  Indians,  and  one  of 
their  number  killed,  and  four  or  five  wounded. 
They  repulsed  the  savages  and  saved  the  set- 
tlers. 

The  site  of  Symmes  City,  for  such  he  designed  it 
should  ultimately  be  called,  was  above  the  reach  of 
water,  and  sufficiently  level  to  admit  of  a  conven- 
ient settlement.  The  city  laid  out  by  Symmes 
■was  truly  magnificent  on  paper,  and  promised  in 
the  future  to  fulfill  his  most  ardent  hopes.  The 
plat  included  the  village,  and  extended  across  the 
peninsula  between  the  Ohio  and  Miami  Rivers. 
Each  settler  on  this  plat  was  promised  a  lot  if  he 
would  improve  it,  and  in  conformity  to  the  stipu- 
lation. Judge  Symmes  soon  found  a  large  number 
of  persons  applying  for  residence.  As  the  number 
of  these  adventurers  increased,  in  consequence  of 
this  provision  and  the  protection  of  the  military, 
the  Judge  was  induced  to  lay  out  another  village 
six  or  seven  miles  up  the  river,  which  he  called 
South  Bend,  where  he  disposed  of  some  donation 


lots,  but  the  project  failing,  the  village  site  was  de- 
serted, and  converted  into  a  farm. 

During  all  the  time  these  various  events  were 
transpiring,  but  little  trouble  was  experienced  with 
the  Indians.  They  were  not  yet  disposed  to  evince 
hostile  feelings.  This  would  have  been  their  time, 
but,  not  realizing  the  true  intent  of  the  whites  until 
it  was  too  late  to  conquer  them,  they  allowed  them 
to  become  prepared  to  withstand  a  warfare,  and  in 
the  end  were  obliged  to  sufier  their  hunting-grounds 
to  be  taken  from  them,  and  made  the  homes  of  a 
race  destined  to  entirely  supersede  them  in  the 
New  World. 

By  the  means  sketched  in  the  foregoing  pages, 
were  the  three  settlements  on  the  Miami  made.  By 
the  time  those  adjacent  to  Marietta  were  well  estab- 
lished, these  were  firmly  fixed,  each  one  striving  to 
become  the  rival  city  all  felt  sure  was  to  arise.  JFor 
a  time  it  was  a  matter  of  doubt  which  of  the  rivals, 
Columbia,  North  Bend  or  Cincinnati,  would  event- 
ually become  the  chief  seat  of  business. 

In  the  beginning,  Columbia,  the  eldest  of  the 
three,  took  the  lead,  both  in  number  of  its  in- 
habitants and  the  convenience  and  appearance  of 
its  dwellings.  For  a  time  it  was  a  flourishing  place, 
and  many  believed  it  would  become  the  great  busi- 
ness town  of  the  Miami  country.  That  apparent 
fact,  however,  lasted  but  a  short  time.  The  garri- 
son was  moved  to  Cincinnati,  Fort  Washington 
built  there,  and  in  spite  of  all  that  Maj.  Stites,  or 
Judge  Symmes  could  do,  that  place  became  the 
metropolis.  Fort  Washington,  the  most  extensive 
garrison  in  the  West,  was  built  by  Maj.  Doughty, 
in  the  summer  of  1789,  and  from  that  time  the 
growth  and  future  greatness  of  Cincinnati  were 
assured. 

The  flrst  house  in  the  city  was  built  on  Front 
street,  east  of  and  near  Main  street.  It  was 
simply  a  strong  log  cabin,  and  was  erected  of  the 
forest  trees  cleared  away  from  the  ground  on  which 
it  stood.  •  The  lower  part  of  the  town  was  covered 
with  sycamore  and  maple  trees,  and  the  upper  with 
beech  and  oak.  Through  this  dense  forest  the 
streets  were  laid  out,  and  their  corners  marked  on 
the  trees. 

The  settlements  on  the  Miami  had  become 
sufficiently  numerous  to  warrant  a  separate  county, 
and,  in  January,  1790,  Gov.  St.  Clair  and  his 
Secretary  arrived  in  Cincinnati,  and  organized  the 
county  of  Hamilton,  so  named  in  honor  of  the 
illustrious  statesman  by  that  name.  It  included 
all  the  country  north  of  the  Ohio,  between  the 
Miamis,  as  far  as  a  line  running  "  due  east  from  the 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO, 


95 


Standing  Stone  forks  "  of  Big  Miami  to  its  inter- 
section with  the  Little  Miami.  The  erection  of 
the  new  county,  and  the  appointment  of  Cincin- 
nati to  be  the  seat  of  justice,  gave  the  town  a  fresh 
impulse,  and  aided  greatly  in  its  growth. 

Through  the  summer,  but  little  interruption  in 
the  growth  of  the  settlements  occurred.  The 
Indians  had  permitted  the  erection  of  defensive 
works  in  their  midst,  and  could  not  now  destroy 
them.  They  were  also  engaged  in  traffic  with  the 
whites,  and,  though  they  evinced  signs  of  discon- 
tent at  their  settlement  and  occupation  of  the 
country,  yet  did  not  openly  attack  them.  The 
truth  was,  they  saw  plainly  the  whites  were  always 
prepared,  and  no  opportunity  was  given  them  to 
plunder  and  destroy.  The  Indian  would  not 
attack  unless  success  was  almost  sure.  An  oppor- 
tunity, unfortunately,  came,  and  with  it  the  hor- 
rors of  an  Indian  war. 

In  the  autumn  of  1790,  a  company  of  thirty- 
six  men  went  from  Marietta  to  a  place  on  the 
Muskingum  known  as  the  Big  Bottom.  Here 
they  built  a  block-house,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
river,  four  miles  above  the  mouth  of  Meigs  Creek. 
They  were  chiefly  young,  single  men,  but  little 
acquainted  with  Indian  warfare  or  military  rules. 
The  savages  had  given  signs  that  an  attack  on  the 
settlement  was  meditated,  and  several  of  the  know- 
ing ones  at  the  strongholds  strenuously  opposed 
any  new  settlements  that  fall,  advising  their  post- 
ponement until  the  next  spring,  when  the  question 
of  peace  or  war  would  probably  be  settled.  Even 
Gen.  Putnam  and  the  Directors  of  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany advised  the  postponement  of  the  settlement 
until  the  next  spring. 

The  young  men  were  impatient  and  restless,  and 
declared  themselves  able  to  protect  their  fort 
against  any  number  of  assailants.  They  might 
have  easily  done  so,  had  they  taken  the  necessary 
precautions;  but,  after  they  had  erected  a  rude 
block-house  of  unchinked  logs,  they  began  to  pass 
the  time  in  various  pursuits ;  setting  no  guard,  and 
taking  no  precautionary  measures,  they  left  them- 
selves an  easy  prey  to  any  hostile  savages  that 
might  choose  to  come  and  attack  them. 

About  twenty  rods  from  the  block-house,  and  a 
little  back  from  the  bank  of  the  river,  two  men, 
Francis  and  Isaac  Choate,  members  of  the  com- 
pany, had  erected  a  cabin,  and  commenced  clearing 
lots.  Thomas  Shaw,  a  hired  laborer,  and  James 
Patten,  another  of  the  associates,  lived  with  them. 
About  the  same  distance  below  the  block-house 
was   an  old  "Tomahawk   Improvement"  and   a 


small  cabin,  which  two  men,  Asa  and  Eleazur 
Bullard,  had  fitted  up  and  occupied.  The  Indian 
war-path,  from  Sandusky  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Muskingum,  parsed'  along  the  opposite  shore  of 
the  river. 

"  The  Indians,  who,  during  the  summer,"  says 
Dr.  Hildreth,  "  had  been  hunting  and  loitering 
about  the  Wolf  Creek  and  Plainfield  settlements, 
holding  frequent  and  friendly  intercourse  with  the 
settlers,  selling  them  venison  and  bear's  meat  in  ex- 
change for  green  corn  and  vegetables,  had  with- 
drawn and  gone  up  the  river,  early  in  the  au- 
tumn, to  their  towns,  preparatory  to  going  into 
winter  quarters.  They  very  seldom  entered  on 
any  warlike  expeditions  during  the  cold  weather. 
But  they  had  watched  the  gradual  encroach- 
ment of  the  whites  and  planned  an  expedition 
against  them.  They  saw  them  in  fancied  security 
in  their  cabins,  and  thought  their  capture  an  easy 
task.  It  is  said  they  were  not  aware  of  the  Big 
Bottom  settlement  until  they  came  in  sight  of  it, 
on  the  opposite  shore  of  the  river,  in  the  afternoon. 
From  a  high  hill  opposite  the  garrison,  they  had  a 
view  of  all  that  part  of  the  bottoni,  and  could  see 
how  the  men  were  occupied  and  what  was  doing 
about  the  block-house.  It  was  not  protected  with 
palisades  or  pickets,  and  noue  of  the  men  were 
aware  or  prepared  for  an  attack.  Having  laid 
their  plans,  about  twilight  they  crossed  the  river 
above  the  garrison,  on  the  ice,  and  divided  their 
men  into  two  parties— the  larger  one  to  attack  the 
block-house,  the  smaller  one  to  capture  the  cabins. 
As  the  Indians  cautiously  approached  the  cabin 
they  found  the  inmates  at  supper.  Part  entered, 
addressed  the  whites  in  a  friendly  manner,  but 
soon  manifesting  their  designs,  made  them  all  pris- 
oners, tieing  them  with  leather  thongs  they  found 
in  the  cabin." 

At  the  block-house  the  attack  was  far  different. 
A  stout  Mohawk  suddenly  burst  open  the  door, 
the  first  intimation  the  inmates  had  of  the  pres-^ 
ence  of  the  foe,  and  while  he  held  it  open  his 
comrades  shot  down  those  that  were  within.  Rush- 
ing in,  the  deadly  tomahawk  completed  the  on- 
slaught. In  the  assault,  one  of  the  savages  was 
struck  by  the  wife  of  Isaac  Woods,  with  an  ax, 
but  only  slightly  injured.  The  heroic  woman  was 
immediately  slain.  All  the  men  but  two  were 
slain  before  they  had  time  to  secure  their  arms, 
thereby  paying  for  their  failure  to  properly  secure 
themselves,  witB  their  lives.  The  two  excepted 
were  John  Stacy  and  his  brother  Philip,  a  lad  six- 
teen years   of  age.     John   escaped   to   the   roof. 


96 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


where  lie  was  shot  by  the  Indians,  while  begging 
for  his  life.  The  firing  at  the  block-house  alarmed 
the  Bullards  in  their  cabin,  and  hastily  barring  the 
door,  and  securing  their  arms  and  ammunition,  they 
fled  to  the  woods,  and  escaped.  After  the  slaughter 
was  over,  the  Indians  began  to  collect  the  plunder, 
and  in  doing  so  discovered  the  lad  Philip  Stacy. 
They  were  about  to  dispatch  him,  but  his  entrea- 
ties softened  the  heart  of  one  of  the  chiefs,  who 
took  him  as  a  captive  with  the  intention  of  adopt- 
ing him  into  his  family.  The  savages  then  piled 
the  dead  bodies  on  the  floor,  covered  them  with 
other  portions  of  it  not  needed  for  that  purpose, 
and  set  fire  to  the  whole.  The  building,  being 
made  of  green  logs,  did  not  burn,  the  fiames  con- 
suming only  the  floors  and  roof,  leaving  the  walls 
standing. 

There  were  twelve  persons  killed  in  this  attack, 
all  of  whom  were  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  valuable 
aid  to  the  settlements.  They  were  well  provided 
with  arms,  and  had  they  taken  the  necessary  pre- 
cautions, always  pressed  upon  them  when  visited 
by  the  older  ones  from  Marietta,  they  need  not 
have  sufiered  so  terrible  a  fate. 

The  Indians,  exultant  over  their  horrible  victory, 
went  on  to  Wolf's  mills,  but  here  they  found  the 
people  prepared,  an'B,  after  reconnoitering  the  place, 
made  their  retreat,  at  early  dawn,  to  the  great  re- 
lief of  the  inhabitants.  Their  number  was  never 
definitely  known. 

The  news  reached  Marietta  and  its  adjacent 
settlements  soon  after  the  massacre  occurred,  and 
struck  terror  and  dismay  into  the  hearts  of  all. 
Many  had  brothers  and  sons  in  the  ill-fated  party, 
and  mourned  their  loss.  Neither  did  they  know 
what  place  would  fall  next.  The  Indian  hostilities 
had  begun,  and  they  could  only  hope  for  peace 
when  the  savages  were  effectually  conquered. 

The  next  day,  Capt.  Rogers  led  a  party  of  men 
over  to  the  Big  Bottom.  It  was,  indeed,  a  melan- 
choly sight  to  the  poor  borderers,  as  they  knew  not 
now  how  soon  the  same  fate  might  befall  them- 
selves. The  fire  had  so  disfigured  their  comrades 
that  but  two,  Ezra  Putnam  and  William  Jones, 
were  recognized.  As  the  ground  was  frozen  out- 
side, a  hole  was  dug  in  the  earth  underneath  the 
block-house  floor,  and  the  bodies  consigned  to  one 
grave.  No  farther  attempt  was  made  to  settle 
here  till  after  the  peace  of  1Y95. 

The  outbreak  of  Indian  hostilities  put  a  check 
on  ftirther  settlements.  Those  that  were  estab- 
lished were  put  in  a  more  active  state  of  defense, 
and  every  preparation  made  that  could  be  made 


for  the  impending  crisis  all  felt  sure  must  come. 
Either  the  Indians  must  go,  or  the  whites  must 
retreat.  A  few  hardy  and  adventurous  persons 
ventured  out  into  the  woods  and  made  settle- 
ments, but  even  these  were  at  the  imminent  risk 
of  their  lives,  many  of  them  perishing  in  the 
attempt. 

The  Indian  war  that  followed  is  given  fiiUy  in 
preceding  pages.  It  may  be  briefly  sketched  by 
stating  that  the  flrst  campaign,  under  Gen  Har- 
mar,  ended  in  the  defeat  of  his  army  at  the  Indian 
villages  on  the  Miami  of  the  lake,  and  the  rapid 
retreat  to  Fort  Washington.  St.  Clair  was  next 
commissioned  to  lead  an  army  of  nearly  three  thou- 
sand men,  but  these  were  furiously  attacked  at" 
break  of  day,  on  the  morning  of  November  4, 
1791,  and  utterly  defeated.  Indian  outrages 
sprung  out  anew  after  each  defeat,  and  the  borders 
were  in  a  continual  state  of  alarm.  The  most  ter- 
rible sufferings  were  endured  by'  prisoners  in  the 
hands  of  the  savage  foe,  who  thought  to  annihilate 
the  whites. 

The  army  was  at  once  re-organized,  Gen.  An- 
thony Wayne  put  in  command  by  Washington, 
and  a  vigorous  campaign  inaugurated.  Though 
the  savages  had  been  given  great  aid  by  the  Brit- 
ish, in  direct  violation  of  the  treaty  of  1783,  Gen. 
Wayne  pursued  them  so  vigorously  that  they  could 
not  withstand  his  army,  and,  the  20th  of  August, 
1794,  defeated  them,  and  utterly  annihilated  their 
forces,  breaking  up  their  camps,  and  laying  waste 
their  country,  in  some  places  under  the  guns  of 
the  British  forts.  The  victory  showed  them  the 
hopelessness  of  contending  against  the  whites,  and 
led  their  chiefs  to  sue  for  peace.  The  British,  as 
at  former  times,  deserted  them,  and  they  were  again 
alone,  contending  against  an  invincible  foe.  A 
grand  council  was  held  at  Greenville  the  3d  day 
of  August,  1795,  where  eleven  of  the, most  power- 
fill  chiefs  made  peace  with  Gen.  Wayne  on  terms 
of  his  own  dictation.  The  boundary  established 
by  the  old  treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh  was  confirmed, 
and  extended  westward  from  Loramie's  to  Fort 
Recovery,  and  thence  southwest  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Kentucky  River.  He  also  purchased  all  the 
territory  not  before  ceded,  within  certain  limits, 
comprehending,  in  all,  about  four-fifths  of  the  State 
of  Ohio.  The  line  was  long  known  as  "  The  Green- 
ville Treaty  line."  Upon  these,  and  a  few  other 
minor  conditions,  the  United  States  received  the 
Indians  under  their  protection,  gave  them  a  large 
number  of  presents,  and  practically  closed  the  war 
with  the 


^^ it 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


97 


The  only  settlement  of  any  consequence  made  dur- 
ing the  Indian  war,  was  that  on  the  plat  of  Hamilton, 
laidou^by  Israel  Ludlow  in  December,  1794.  Soon 
after,  Darius  C.  Orcutt,  John  Green,  William  Mc- 
Clennan,JohnSutherland,JohnTorrence,Benjamin 
F.  Randolph,  Benjamin  Davis,  Isaac  Wiles,  Andrew 
Christy  and  William  Hubert,  located  here.  The 
town  was  laid  out  under  the  name  of  Fairfield,  but 
was  known  only  a  short  time  by  that  name.  Until 
1801,  all  the  lands  on  the  west  side  of  the  Great 
Miami  were  owned  by  the  General  Government ; 
hence,  until  after  that  date,  no  improvements  were 
made  there.  A  single  log  cabin  stood  there  until 
the  sale  of  lands  in  April,  1801,  when  a  company 
purchased  the  site  of  Rossville,  and,  in  March, 
1804,  laid  out  that  town,  and,  before  a  year  had 
passed,  the  town  and  country  about  it  was  well 
settled. 

The  close  of  the  war,  in  1795,  insured  peace, 
and,  from  that  date,  Hamilton  and  that  part  of  the 
Miami  Valley  grew  remarkably  fast.  Fn  1803, 
Butler  County  was  formed,  and  Hamilton  made 
the  county  seat. 

On  the  site  of  Hamilton,  St.  Clair  built  Fort 
Hamilton  in  1791.  For  some  time  it  was  under 
the  command  of  Maj.  Rudolph,  a  cruel,  arbitrary 
man,  who  was  displaced  by  Gen.  Wayne,  and  who, 
it  is  skid,  perished  ignobly  on  the  high  seas,  at  the 
hands  of  some  Algerine  pirates,  9.  fitting  end  to  a 
man  who  caused,  more  than  once,  the  death  of 
men  under  his  control  for  minor  offenses. 

On  the  return  of  peace,  no  part  of  Ohio  grew 
more  rapidly  than  the  Miami  Valley,  especially 
that  part  comprised  in  Butler  County. 

While  the  war  with  the  Indians  continued,  but 
little  extension  of  settlements  was  made  in  the 
State.  It  was  too  perilous,  and  the  settlers  pre- 
ferred the  security  of  the  block-house  or  to  engage 
with  the  army.  Still,  however,  a  few  bold  spirits 
ventured  away  from  the  settled  parts  of  the  Terri- 
tory, and  began  life  in  the  wilderness.  In  tracing 
the  histories  of  these  settlements,  attention  will  be 
paid  to  the  order  in  which  they  were  made.  They 
will  be  given  somewhat  in  detail  until  the  war  of 
1812,  after  which  time  they  become  too  numerous 
to  follow. 

The  settlements  made  in  Washington — Marietta 
and  adjacent  colonies — and  Hamilton  Counties 
have  already  been  given.  The  settlement  at  Gal- 
lia is  also  noted,  hence,  the  narration  can  be  re- 
sumed where  it  ends  prior  to  the  Indian  war  of 
1795.  Before  this  war  occurred,  there*  were  three 
small  settlements  made,  however,  in  addition  to 


those  in  Washington  and  Hamilton  Counties. 
They  were  in  what  are  now  Adams,  Belmont  and 
Morgan  Counties.  They  were  block-house  settle- 
ments, and  were  in  a  continual  state  of  defense. 
The  first  of  these,  Adams,  was  settled  in  the  winter 
of  1790-91  by  Gen.  Nathaniel  Massie,  near  where 
Manchester  now  is.  Gen.  Massie  determined  to 
settle  here  in  the  Virginia  Military  Tract — in  the 
winter  of  1790,  and  sent  notice  throughout  Ken- 
tucky and  other  Western  settlements  that  he  would 
give  to  each  of  the  first  twenty-five  families  who 
would  settle  in  the  town  he  proposed  laying  out, 
one  in-lot,  one  out-lot  and  one  hundred  acres  of 
land.  Such  liberal  terms  were  soon  accepted,  and 
in  a  short  time  thirty  families  were  ready  to  go 
with  him.  After'  various  consultations  with  his 
friends,  the  bottom  on  the  Ohio  River,  opposite 
the  lower  of  the  Three  Islands,  was  selected  as 
the  most  eligible  spot.  Here  Massie  fixed  his  sta- 
tion, and  laid  off  into  lots  a  town,  now  called 
Manchester.  The  little  confederacy,  with  Massie 
at  the  helm,  went  to  work  with  spirit.  Cabins 
were  raised,  and  by  the  middle  of  March, 
1791,  the  whole  town  was  inclosed  with  strong 
pickets,  with  block-houses  at  each  angle  for  de-  ' 
fense. 

This  was  the  first  settlement  in  the  bounds  of 
the  Virginia  District,  aqd  the  fourth  one  in  the 
State.  Although  in  the  midst  of  a  savage  foe, 
now  inflamed  with  war,  and  in  the  midst  of  a 
cruel  conflict,  the  settlenlent  at  Manchester  suf- 
fered less  than  any  of  its  cotemporaries.  This 
was,  no  doubt,  due  to  the  watchful  care  of  its  in- 
habitants, who  were  inured  to  the  rigors  of  a  front- 
ier life,  and  who  well  knew  the  danger  about  them. 
"  These  were  the  Beasleys,  Stouts,  Washburns, 
Ledoms,  Edgingtons,  Denings,  Ellisons,  Utts, 
McKenzies,  Wades,  and  others,  who  were  fully  , 
equal  to  the  Indians  in  all  the  savage  arts  and 
stratagems  of  border  war." 

As  soon  as  they  had  completed  preparations  for  - 
defense,  the  whole  population  went  to  work  and 
cleared  the  lowest  of  the  Three  Islands,  and  planted 
it  in  corn.  The  soil  of  the  island  was  very  rich, 
and  produced  abundantly.  The  woods  supplied  an 
abundance  of  game,  while  the  river  ftirnished  a 
variety  of  excellent  fish.  The  inhabitants  thus 
found  their  simple  wants  frilly  supplied.  Their 
nearest  neighbors  in  the  new  Territory  were  at 
Columbia,  and  at  the  French  settlement  at  Gallip- 
olis ;  but  with  these,  owing  to  the  state  of  the 
country  and  the  Indian  war,  they  could  hold  little, 
if  any,  intercourse. 


The  station  being  established,  Massie  continued 
to  make  locations  and  surveys.  Great  precautions 
were  necessary  to  avoid  the  Indians,  and  even  the 
closest  vigilance  did  not  always  avail,  as  the  ever- 
watchftd  foe  was  always  ready  to  spring  upon  the 
settlement,  could  an  unguarded  moment  be  ob- 
served. During  one  of  the  spring  months.  Gen. 
Massie,  Israel  Donalson,  William  Lytle  and  James 
Little,  while  out  on  a  survey,  were  surprised,  and 
Mr.  Donalson  captured,  the  others  escaping  at 
great  peril.  Mr.  Donalson  escaped  during  the 
march  to  the  Indian  town,  and  made  his  way  to 
the  town  of  Cincinnati,  after  suffering  great  hard- 
ships, and  almost  perishing  ftom  hunger.  In  the 
spring  of  1793,  the  settlers  at  Manchester  com- 
menced clearing  the  out-lots  of  the  town.  While 
doing  so,  an  incident  occurred,  which  shows  the 
danger  to  which  they  were  daily  exposed.  It  is 
thus  related  in  Howe's  Collections  : 

"  Mr.  Andrew  Ellison,  one  of  the  settlers, 
cleared  an  out-lot  immediately  adjoining  the  fort. 
He  had  completed  the  cutting  of  the  timber,  rolled 
the  logs  together,  and  set  them  on  fire.  The  next 
morning,  before  daybreak,  Mr.  Ellison  opened  one 
of  the  gates  of  the  fort,  and  went  out  to  throw  his 
logs  together.  By  the  time  he  had  finished  the 
job,  a  number  of  the  heaps  blazed  up  brightly,  and, 
as  he  was  passing  from  one  to  the  other,  he  ob- 
served, by  the  light  of  tie  fires,  three  men  walking 
briskly  toward  him.  This  did  not  alarm  him  in 
the  least,  although,  he  said,  they  were  dark-skinned 
fellows;  yet  he  concluded  they  were  the  Wades, 
whose  complexions  were  very  dark,  going  early  to 
hunt.  He  continued  to  right  his  log-heaps,  until 
one  of  the  fellows  seized  him  by  the  arms,  calling 
out,  in  broken  English,  '  How  do  ?  how  do  ?  '  He 
instantly  looked  in  their  faces,  and,  to  his  surprise 
and  horror, 'found  himself  in  the  clutches  of  three 
Indians.     To  resist  was  useless. 

"  The  Indians  quickly  moved  off  with  him  in 
the  direction  of  Paint  Creek.  When  breakfast 
was  ready,  Mrs.  Ellison  sent  one  of  her  children 
to  ask  its  fatjier  home ;  but  he  could  not  be  found 
at  the  log-heaps.  His  absence  created  no  immedi- 
ate alarm,  as  it  was  thought  he  might  have  started 
to  hunt,  after  completing  his  work.  Dinner-time 
arrived,  and,  Ellison  not  returning,  the  family 
became  uneasy,  and  began  to  suspect  some  acci- 
dent had  happened  to  him.  His  gun-rack  was 
examined,  and  there  hung  his  rifles  and  his  pouch. 
Gen.  Massie  raised  a  party,  made  a  circuit  around 
the  place,  finding,  after  some  search,  the  trails  of 
four  men,  one  of  whom  had  on  shoes;  and  the 


fact  that  Mr.  Ellison  was  a  prisoner  now  became 
apparent.  As  it  was  almost  night  at  the  time  the 
trail  was  discovered,  the  party  returned  to  the 
station.  Early  the  next  morning,  preparations 
were  made  by  Gen.  Massie  and  his  friends  to  con- 
tinue the  search.  In  doing  this,  they  found  great 
difficulty,  as  it  was  so  early  in  the  spring  that  the 
vegetation  was  not  gro\ra  sufficiently  to  show 
plainly  the  trail  made  by  the  savages,  who  took 
the  precaution  to  keep  on  high  and  dry  ground, 
where  their  feet  would  make  little  or  no  impres- 
sion. The  party  were,  however,  as  unerring  as  a 
pack  of  hounds,  and  followed  the  trail  to  Paint 
Creek,  when  they  found  the  Indians  gained  so 
fast  on  them  that  pursuit  was  useless. 

"The  Indians  took  their  prisoner  to  Upper 
Sandusky,  where  he  was  compelled  to  run  the 
gantlet.  As  he  was  a  large,  and  not  very  active, 
man,  he  received  a  severe  flogging.  He  was  then 
taken  to  Lower  Sandusky,  and  again  compelled  to 
run  th«  gantlet.  He  was  then  taken  to  Detroit, 
where  he  was  ransomed  by  a  British  officer  for 
$100.  The  officer  proved  a  good  friend  to  him. 
He  sent  him  to  Montreal,  whence  he  returned 
home  before  the  close  of  the  summer,  much  to  the 
joy  of  his  family  and  friends,  whose  feelings  can 
only  be  imagined." 

"Another  incident  occurred  about  this  time," 
says  the  same  volume,  "which  so  aptly  illustrates 
the  danger  of  frontier  life,  that  it  well  deserves  a 
place  in  the  history  of  the  settlements  in  Ohio. 
John  and  Asahel  Edgingtoji,  with  a  comrade, 
started  out  on  a  hunting  expedition  toward  Brush 
Creek.  They  camped  out  six  miles  in  a  northeast 
direction  from  where  West  Union  now  stands,  and 
near  the  site  of  Treber's  tavern,  on  the  road  from 
Chillicothe  to  Maysville.  They  had  good  success 
in  hunting,  killing  a  number  of  deer  and  bears. 
Of  the  deer  killed,  they  saved  the  skins  and  hams 
alone.  They  fleeced  the  bears ;  that  is,  they  cut 
off  all  the  meat  which  adhered  to  the  hide,  with- 
out skinning,  and  left  the  bones  as  a  skeleton. 
They  hung  up  the  proceeds  of  their  hunt,  on  a  scaf- 
fold out  of  the  reach  of  wolves  and  other  wild  ani- 
mals, and  returned  to  Manchester  for  pack-horses. 
No  one  returned  to  the  camp  with  the  Edgingtons. 
As  it  was  late  in  December,  few  apprehended  dan- 
ger, as  the  winter  season  was  usually  a  time  of  re- 
pose from  Indian  incursions.  When  the  Edgingtons 
arrived  at  their  camp,  they  alighted  from  their 
horses  and  were  preparing  to  start  a  fire,  when  a 
platoon  of  Indians  fired  upon  them  at  a  distance 
of   not    more  than  twenty    paces.      They    had 


^JvCU^ 


>  ^-by  ITBHaa  .i  Ss!is  13  Sarclty  .ft  JTT. 


ELI  NICHOLS. 

ELI  NICHOLS,  late  of  New  Castle  township,  was  bom  in  Louden  county,  Virginia,  in  1799, 

and  died  on  his  farm  at  Walhonding  in  1871.      He  married  Miss  Rachel ■■ ,  born  in 

1801,  at  Cattawissa,  Pennsylvania,  and  she  died  in  1869.  They  became  the  parents  of  fifteen  chil- 
dren: Eebecca  N.,  Jessa,  Charles,  Jane,  Mary,  Loyd,  Paxton,  Eliza,  Eugene,  Susan,  Hortense, 
Lucy,  Ellen,  Lundy,  and  Collins.  Loyd  now  owns  all  of  the  large  knded  property  formerly 
owned  by  his  father.  Eli  Nichols  resided  fourteen  years  on  his  floral  and  nursery  farm  at  Loyd, 
near  St.  Clairsville,  Ohio. '  He  practiced  at  the  St.  Clairsville  bar,  and  represented  Belmont  county 
in  the  Legislature  while  there.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1844,  and  moved  on  his  large  landed 
estate,  the  largest  in  the  county,  at  Walhonding. 

Eli  Nichols  was  a  lawyer  by  profession,  and  a  man  not  only  of  eminent  learning  and  ability 
in  his  profession,  but  one  who  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  the  government  and  its 
institutions,  and  who  possessed  broad  and  comprehensive  views  of  the  State  and  National  ques- 
tions which  entered  into  the  politics  of  his  time.  He  was  always  a  strong  and  fearless  advocate 
of  universal  liberty,  and  of  the  doctrine  of  equality  before  the  law.  He  hated  oppression  of  every 
kind;  he  early  entertained  an  instinctive  and  uncompromising  hostility  to  American  slavery, 
and  for  many  years,  when  it  cost  a  man  political  odium  and  ostracism  to  acknowledge  himself  an 
abolitionist,  he  gloried  in  the  name,  and  was  one  of  the  few  who  had  the  courage  and  the  patriot- 
ism, in  those  benighted  days  of  the  Republic,  to  stand  up  and  denounce  the  institution  of  slavery 
as  a  national  evil,  and  a  crime.  When  he  lived  at  Xoyd,  his  home  was  a  depot  on  the  under- 
ground railroad.  Once  when  a  negro  family,  ticketed  for  freedom,  was  concealed  at  his  house,  a 
slave  owner  on  the  track  of  some  runaway  slaves,  supposed  that  this  family  was  the  one  he  was 
after,  and  he,  with  about  fifty  sympathizers,  prepared  to  attack  the  depot.  One  hundred  abolition- 
ists rallied  to  Mr.  Nichols'  support.  In  the  meantime  the  attacking  party  learned  that  they  were 
on  the  wrong  scent,  and  abandoned  the  field,  and  the  frightened  colored  travelers  passed  on  un^ 
molested.  Mr.  Nichols  was  egged  several  times  while  making  abolition  speeches.  He  made  his 
voice  heard  and  his  influence  felt  through  the  press  and  from  the  rostrum  against  this  national 
curse,  and  perhaps  did  as  much  as  any  other  man  in  Ohio  to  educate  public  sentiment  in  the 
right  direction  on  this  subject.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he  retired  from  his  profession  and 
moved  with  his  family  on  a  large  landed  estate  at  Walhonding,  where  he  resided  until  his  death. 

Eli  Nichols  had  great  decision  of  character,  and  independence  of  thought  and  action ;  his  con- 
victions were  strong,  and  he  was  always  ready  to  maintain  them,  regardless  of 'popular  opinion; 
dissimulation  and  sycophancy  found  no  place  in  his  composition,  but  he  was  always  bold  to  assert 
what  he  believed  to  be  right,  and  was  frank,  open,  undisguised  in  his  intercourse  with  others. 
He  was  possessed  of  a  high  order  of  mental  faculties ;  a  clear,  comprehensive  mind,  with  quick 
perception.  He  was  energetic,  self-reliant,  generally  a  leader,  influential,  and  a  fluent  and  forpi- 
ble  public  speaker. 

Mr.  Nichols  was  brought  up  a  Quaker,  afterward  became  liberal  in  his  religious  views,  and  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  life  espoused  Spiritualism. 

Mrs.  Nichols  was  a  highly  estimable  and  intelligent  lady,  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  effort  for 
human  liberty,  and  wrote  many  meritorious  productions  for  the  press.    The  following  poem, 


HISTORY  OF  OHIO. 


written  by  her  in  1835,  upon  the  mobbing  and  killing  of  Lovejoy,  at  Alton,  Illinois,  because  of  his 
abolitionism,  is  inserted  by  request : 


'  Fair  Alton  once,  but  fair  no  more,  i 

Thy  brow  witli  blood-stained  wreaths  is  bound ; 
Thy  days  of  honor  are  passed  o'er — 
Thy  virtues  now  a  grave  have  found. 

'  Late,  as  a  prosp'rous  growing  tree, 

With  goodly  branches  spreading  wide, 
Exultingly  we  looked  on  thee,— 
Thy  country's  promise  and  her  pride." 

'  Or  as  a  brightly  dazzling  star 

The  darksome  path  of  evening  cheers. 
We  hailed  thee  in  thy  land  afar ; 
Its  light  and  hope  of  after  years. 

'  But  on  thy  morning's  opening  bloom 
Vice  has  eclipsed  thy  opening  day ; 
Thy  sun  has  set  in  sable  gloom ; 
Oh !  thou  hast  cast  thyself  away. 

'  Not  thy  vride  prairies'  fertile  soil. 

Where  Nature's  hand  profusely  showers 
Luxuriantly,  without  thy  toil, 
Her  richest  growth  of  grass  and 'flowers. 

'  Not  all  thy  splendor— it  is  vain— 

Of  wealth,  of  power,  thou  need  not  tell ; 
Not  all'thy  charms,  if  demons  reign ;      , 
With  thee.  Oh !  may  we  never  dwell.  . 


'  Thy  name  is  numbered  with  the  vile ; 
The  clays  of  earth  to  thee  will  cling ; 
No  one  with  them  in  deeds  of  guile— 
Thou  art  a  base,  polluted  thing. 

"  The  Mississippi  rolling  by 

In  surging  majesty  with  might, 
Can  not,  with  all  the  floods,  supply 
Half  that  will  wash  and  make  thee  white. 

'  North,  by  unholy  feet  are  trod 

The  dearest  rights  allotted  man — 
Rights  guaranteed  him  by  his  God^ 
Bights  dear  to  all  since  time  began. 

'  For  pleading  on  behalf  of  these, 

Thy  impious  hands  have  dared  to  shed 
Blood,  which,  by  heaven's  just  decrees, 
Will  be  avenged  upon  thy  head. 

'  Our  Lovejoy 's  slain,  but  yet  above, 

More  perfect  still  each  accent  flows 
Around  the  mercy-seat  of  Love, 
Where  thou  canst  never  interpose. 

'  Yes,  angel-like,  behold  him  there. 

Imploring  heaven  the  work  to  bless ; 
And  hear  him  from  yon  sky  declare 
That  God  will  crown  it  with  success." 


Xmj  "<  hylBMLl  tt ,.,..  .tJJ  Umlay  SctV 


-  ^—1 


HISTOBY   OF   OHIO. 


101 


evidently  found  the  results  of  the  white  men's  labor, 
and  expected  they  would  return  for  it,  and  pre- 
pared to  waylay  them.  Asahel  Edgington  fell 
dead.  John  was  more  fortunate.  The  sharp 
crack  of  the  rifles,  and  the  horrible  yells  of  the 
savages  as  they  leaped  from  their  place  of  ambush, 
frightened  the  horses,  who  took  the  track  for 
home  at  full  speed.  John  was  very  active  on  foot, 
and  now  an  opportunity  offered  which  required  his 
Utmost  speed.  The  moment  the  Indians  leaped 
from  their  hiding-place,  they  threw  down  their 
guns  and  took  after  him,  yelling  with  aU  their 
power.  Edgington  did  not  run  a  booty  race.  For 
about  a  mile,  the  savages  stepped  in  his  tracks  al- 
most before  the  bending  grass  could  rise.  The 
uplifted  tomahawk  was  frequently  so  near  his  head 
that  he  thought  he  felt  its  edge.  He  exerted 
himself  to  his  utmost,  while  the  Indians  strove 
with  all  their  might  to  catch  him.  Finally,  he  be- 
gan to  gain  on  his  pursuers,  and,  after  a  long  race, 
distanced  them  and  made  his  escape,  safely  reach- 
ing home.  This,  truly,  was  a  most  fearftil  and 
well-contested  race.  The  big  Shawanee  chief,  Capt. 
John,  who  headed  the  Indians  on  this  occasion, 
after  peace  was  made,  in  narrating  the  particulars, 
said,  "  The  white  man  who  ran  away  was  a  smart 
fellow.  The  white  man  run;  and  I  run.  He  run 
and  run ;  at  last,  the  white  man  run  clear  off  from 
me." 

The  settlement,  despite  its  dangers,  prospered, 
and  after  the  close  of  the  war  continued  to  grow 
rapidly.  In  two  years  after  peace  was  declared, 
Adams  County  was  erected  by  proclamation  of 
Gov.  St.  Clair,  the  next  year  court  was  held,  and 
in  1804,  West  Union  was  made  the  county  seat. 

During  the.  war,  a  settlement  was  commenced 
near  the  present  town  of  Bridgeport,  in  Belmont 
County,  by  Capt.  Joseph  Belmont,  a  noted  Dela- 
ware Revolutionary  officer,  who,  because  his  State 
could  furnish  only  one  company,  could  rise  no 
higher  than  Captain  of  that  company,  and  hence 
always  maintained  that  grade.  He  settled  on  a 
beautiful  knoll  near  the  present  county  seat,  but 
erelong  suffered  from  a  night  attack  by  the  In- 
dians, who,  though  unable  to  drive  him  and  his 
companions  from  the  cabin  or  conquer  them, 
wounded  some  of  them  badly,  one  or  two  mortally, 
and  caused  the  Captain  to  leave  the  frontier  and 
return  to  Newark,  Del.  The  attack  was  made 
in  the  spring  of  1791,  and  a  short  time  after, 
the  Captain,  having  provided  for  the  safety  of  his 
family,  accepted  a  commission  in  St.  Clair's  army, 
and  lost  his  life  at  the  defeat  of  the  General  in 


November.  Shortly  after  the  Captain  settled,  a 
fort,  called  Dillie's  Fort,  was  built  on  the  Ohio, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  Grave  Creek.  About  two 
hundred  and  fifty  yards  below  this  fort,  an  old 
man,  named  Tato,  was  shot  down  at  his  cabin  door 
by  the  Indians,  just  as  he  was  in  the  act  of  entering 
the  house.  His  body  was  pulled  in  by  his  daugh- 
ter-in-law and  grandson,  who  made  an  heroic  de- 
fense. They  were  overpowered,  the  woman  slain, 
and  the  boy  badly  wounded.  He,  however,  man- 
aged to  secrete  himself  and  afterward  escaped  to 
the  fort.  The  Indians,  twelve  or  thirteen  in  num- 
ber, went  off  unmolested,  though  the  men  in  the 
fort  saw  the  whole  transaction  and  could  have 
punished  them.  Why  they  did  not  was  never 
known. 

On  Captina  Creek  in  this  same  county,  occurred, 
in  May,  1794,  the  "battle  of  Captina,"  a  fa- 
mous local  skirmish  between  some  Virginians  from 
Fort  Baker,  and  a  party  of  Indians.  Though  the 
Indians  largely  outnumbered  the  whites,  they  were 
severely  punished,  and  compelled  to  abandon  the 
contest,  losing  several  of  their  bravest  warriors. 

These  were  the  only  settlements  made  until 
1795,  the  close  of  the  war.  Even  these,  as  it  will 
be  observed  from  the  foregoing  pages,  were  tem- 
porary in  all  cases  save  one,  and  were  maintained 
at  a  great  risk,  and  the  loss  of  many  valuable  lives. 
They  were  made  in  the  beginning  of  the  war,and  such 
were  their  experiences  that  further  attempts  were 
abandoned  until  the  treaty  of  Greenville  was  made, 
or  until  the  prospects  for  peace  and  safety  were 
assured. 

No  sooner,  however,  had  the  prospect  of  quiet 
been  established,  than  a  revival  of  emigration  be- 
gan. '  Before  the  war  it  had  been  large,  now  it 
was  largely  increased. 

Wayne's  treaty  of  peace  with  the  Indians  was 
made  at  Greenville,  in  what  is  now  Darke  County, 
the  3d  of  August,  1795.  The  number  of  Indians 
present  was  estimated  at  1,300,  divided  among  the 
principal  nations  as  follows :  180  Wyandots,  381 
Delawares,  143  Shawanees,  45  Ottawas,  46  Chip- 
pewas,  240  Pottawatomies,  73  Miamis  and  Eel 
RiVer,  12  Weas  and  Piankeshaws,  and  10  Kicka- 
poos  and  Kaskaskias.  The  principal  chiefs  were 
Tarhe,  Buckongahelas,  Black  Hoof,  Blue  Jacket 
and  Little  Turtle.  Most  of  them  had  been  tam- 
pered with  by  the  British  agents  and  traders,  but 
all  had  been  so  thoroughly  chastised  by  Wayne,  and 
found  that  the  British  only  used  them  as  tools, 
that  they  were  quite  anxious  to  make  peace  with 
the  "  Thirteen  Fires."    By  the  treaty,  former  ones 


^4* 


103 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


were  established,  the  boundary  lines  confirmed  and 
enlarged,  an  exchange  and  delivery  of  prisoners 
effected,  and  permanent  peace  assured. 

In  the  latter  part  of  September,  after  the  treaty 
of  Greenville,  Mr.  Bedell,  from  New  Jersey, 
selected  a  site  for  a  home  in  what  is  now  Warren 
County,  at  a  place  since  known  as  "  Bedell's  Sta- 
tion," about  a  mile  south  of  Union  Village.  Here 
he  erected  a  block-house,  as  a  defense  against  the 
Indians,  among  whom  were  many  renegades  as 
among  the  whites,  who  would  not  respect  the 
terms  of  the  treaty.  Whether  Mr.  Bedell  was 
alone  that  fall,  or  whether  he  was  joined  by  others, 
is  not  now  accurately  known.  However  that  may 
be,  he  was  not  long  left  to  himself;  for,  ere  a  year 
had  elapsed,  quite  a  number  of  settlements  were 
made  in  this  part  of  the  Territory.  Soon  afler 
his  settlement  vas  made.  Gen.  David  Sutton,  Capt. 
Nathan  Kelley  and  others  began  pioneer  life  at 
Deerfield,  in  the  same  locality,  and,  before  three 
years  had  gone  by,  a  large  number  of  New  Jersey 
people  were  established  in  their  homes;  and,  in 
1803,  the  county  was  formed  from  Hamilton. 
Among  the  early  settlers  at  Deerfield,  was  Capt. 
Robert  Benham,  who,  with  a  companion,  in  1779, 
sustained  themselves  many  days  when  the  Captain 
had  lost  the  use  of  his  legs,  and  his  companion 
his  arms,  from  musket-balls  fired  by  the  hands  of 
the  Indians.  They  were  with  a  large  party  com- 
manded by  Maj.  Rodgers,  and  were  furiously 
attacked  by  an  immense  number  of  savages,  and 
all  but  a  few  slain.  The  event  happened  during 
the  war  of  the  Revolution,  before  any  attempt 
was  made  to  settk  the  Northwest  Territory.  The 
party  were  going  down  the  Ohio,  probably  to  the 
falls,  and  were  attacked  when  near  the  site  of 
Cincinnati.  As  mentioned,  these  two  men  sus- 
tained each  other  many  days,  the  one  having  per- 
fect legs  doing  the  necessary  walking,  carrying  his 
comrade  to  water,  driving  up  game  for  him  to 
shoot,  and  any  other  duties  necessary;  while  the 
one  who  had  the  use  of  his  arms  could  dress  his 
companion's  and  his  own  wounds,  kill  and  cook 
the  game,  and  perform  his  share.  They  were 
rescued,  finally,  by  a  flat-boat,  whose  occupants, 
for  awhile,  passed  them,  feai-ing  a  decoy,  but, 
becoming  convinced  that  such  was  not  the  case, 
took  them  on  down  to  Louisville,  where  they  were 
nursed  into  perfect  health. 

A  settlement  was  made  near  the  present  town  of 
Lebanon,  the  county  seat  of  Warren  County,  in 
the  spring  of  1796,  by  Henry  Taylor,  who  built  a 
mill  one  mile  west  of  the  town  site,  on  Turtle 


Creek.  .Soon  after,  he  was  joined  by  Ichabod 
Corwin,  John  Osbourn,  Jacob  Vorhees,  Samuel 
Shaw,  Daniel  Bonte  and  a  Mr.  Manning.  When 
Lebanon  was  laid  out,  in  1803,  the  two-story  log 
house  built  in  1797  by  Ichabod  Corwin  was  the 
only  building  on  the  plat.  It  was  occupied  by 
Ephraim  Hathaway  as  a  tavern.  He  had  a  black 
horse  painted  on  an  immense  board  for  a  sign,  and 
continued  in  business  here  till  1810.  The  same 
year  the  town  was  laid  out,  a  store  was  opened  by 
John  Huston,  and,  from  that  date,  the  growth  of 
the  county  was  very  prosperous.  Three  years 
after,  the  Western  Star  was  established  by 
Judge  John  McLain,  and  the  current  news  of 
the  day  given  in  weekly  editions.  It  was  one  of 
the  first  newspapers  established  in  the  Territoiy, 
outside  of  Cincinnati. 

As  has  been  mentioned,  the  opening  of  naviga- 
tion in  the  spring  of  1796  brought  a  great  flood 
of  emigration  to  the  Territory.  The  little  settle- 
ment made  by  Mr.  Bedell,  in  the  autumn  of  1795, 
was  about  the  only  one  made  that  fall ;  others  made 
preparations,  and  many  selected  sites,  but  did  not 
settle  till  the  following  spring.  That  spring,  colo- 
nies were  planted  in  what  are  now  Montgomery, 
Koss,  Madison,  Mahoning,  Trumbull,  Ashtabula 
and  Cuyahoga  Counties,  while  preparations  were 
in  turn  made  to  occupy  additional  territory  that 
will  hereafter  be  noticed. 

The  settlement  made  in  Montgomery .  County 
was  begun  early  in  the  spring  of  1796.  As  early 
as  1788,  the  land  on  which  Dayton  now  stands  was 
selected  by  some  gentlemen,  who  designed  laying 
out  a  town  to  be  named  Venice.  They  agreed 
with  Judge  Symmes,  whose  contract  covered  the 
place,  for  the  purchase  of  the  lands.  The  Indian 
war  which  broke  out  at  this  time  prevented  an 
extension  of  settlements  from  the  immediate 
neighborhood  of  the  parent  colonies,  and  the  proj- 
ect was  abandoned  by  the  purchasers.  Soon  after 
the  treaty  of  1795,  a  new  company,  composed  of 
Gens.  Jonathan  Dayton,  Arthur  St.  Clair,  James 
Wilkinson,  and  Col.  Israel  Ludlow,  purchased  the 
land  between  the  Miamis,  around  the  mouth  of 
Mad  River,  of  Judge  Symmes,  and,  the  4th  of 
November,  laid  out  the  town.  Arrangements  were 
made  for  its  settlement  the  ensuing  spring,  and 
donations  of  lots,  with  other  privileges,  were  ofiered  - 
to  actual  settlers.  Forty-six  persons  entered  into 
engagements  to  remove  from  Cincinnati  to  Day- 
ton, but  during  the  winter  most  of  them  scat- 
tered in  different  directions,  and  only  nineteen  fiil- 
fllled    their    contracts.     The    first  families  who 


liL 


HISTOEY  OF   OHIO. 


103 


made  a  permanent  residence  here,  arrived  on  the 
first  day  of  April,  1796,  and  at  once  set  about 
establishing  homes.  Judge  Symmes,  however, 
becoming  unable  soon  after  to  pay  for  his  purchase, 
the  land  reverted  to  the  United  States,  and  the  set- 
tlers in  and  about  Dayton  found  themselves  with- 
out titles  to  their  lands.  Congress,  however,  came 
to  the  aid  of  aU  such  persons,  wherever  they  had 
purchased  land  of  Symmes,  and  passed  a  pre-emp- 
tion law,  under  which  they  could  enter  their  lands 
at  the  regular  government  price.  Some  of  the  set- 
tlers entered  their  lands,  and  obtained  titles  directly 
from  the  United  States ;  others  made  arrangements 
with  Daniel  C.  Cooper  to  receive  their  deeds  from 
him,  and  he  entered  the  residue  of  the  town  lands. 
He  had  been  the  surveyor  and  agent  of  the  first 
company  of  proprietors,  and  they  assigned  to  him 
certain  of  their  rights  of  pre-emption,  by  which  he 
became  the  titular  owner  of  the  land. 

When  the  State  government  was  organized  in 
1803,  Dayton  was  made  the  seat  of  justice  for 
Montgomery  County,  erected  the  same  year.  At 
that  time,  owing  to  the  title  question,  only  five 
families  resided  in  the  place,  the  other  settlers  hav- 
ing gone  to  farms  in  the  vicinity,  or  to  other 
parts  of  the  country.  The  increase  of  the  town 
was  gradual  until  the  war  of  1812,  when  its 
growth  was  more  rapid  until  1820,  when  it  was 
again  checked  by  the  general  depression  of  busi- 
ness. It  revived  in  1827,  at  the  commencement 
of  tlie  Miami  Canal,  and  since  then  its  growth  has 
always  been  prosperous.  It  is  now  one  of  the 
best  cities  in  Ohio.  The  first  canal  boats  from 
Cincinnati  arrived  at  Dayton  January  25,  1829, 
and  the  first  one  from  Lake  Erie  the  24th  of 
June,  1845.  In  1825,  a  weekly  line  of  stages 
was  established  between  Columbus  and  Cincinnati, 
via  Dayton.  One  day  was  occupied  in  coming 
from  Cincinnati  to  Dayton. 

On  the  18th  of  September,  1808,  the  Dayton 
Repertory/  was  established  by  William  McClureand 
George  Smith.  It  was  printed  on  a  foolscap  sheet. 
Soon  after,  it  was  enlarged  and  changed  from  a 
weekly  to  a  daily,  and,  ere  long,  found  a  number 
of  competitors  in  the  field. 

In  the  lower  part  of  Miamisburg,  in  this  county, 
are  the  remains  of  ancient  works,  scattered  about 
over  the  bottom.  About  a  mile  and  a  quarter 
southeast  of  the  village,  on  an  elevation  more  than 
one  hundred  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Miami, 
is  the  largest  mound  in  the  Northern  States,  ex- 
cepting the  mammoth  mound  at  Grave  Creek,  on 
the  Ohio,  below  Wheeling,  which  it  nearly  equals 


in  dimensions.  It  is  about  eight  hundred  feet 
around  the  base,  and  rises  to  a  height  of  nearly 
seventy  feet.  When  first  known  it  was  covered 
with  forest  trees,  whose  size  evidenced  great  age. 
The  Indians  could  give  no  account  of  the  mound. 
Excavations  revealed  bones  and  charred  earth, 
but  what  was  its  use,  will  always  remain  a  con- 
jecture. 

One  of  the  most  important  early  settlements 
was  made  cotemporary  with  that  of  Dayton,  in 
what  is  now  Ross  County.  The  same  spring, 
1796,  quite  a  colony  came  to  the  banks  of  the 
Scioto  River,  and,  near  the  mouth  of  Paint  Creek, 
began  to  plant  a  crop  of  corn  on  the  bottom.  The 
site  had  been  selected  as  early  as  1792,  by  Col. 
Nathaniel  Massie*  and  others,  who  were  so  de- 
lighted with  the  country,  and  gave  such  glowing 
descriptions  of  it  on  their  return — which  accounts 
soon  circulated  through  Kentucky — that  portions 
of  the  Presbyterian  congregations  of  Caneridge  and 
Concord,  in  Bourbon  County,  under  Rev.  Robert 
W.  Finley,  determined  to  emigrate  thither  in  a 
body.  They  were,  in  a  measure,  induced  to  take 
this  step  by  their  dislike  to  slavery,  and  a  desire 
for  freedom  from  its  baleful  influences  and  the  un- 
certainty that  existed  regarding  the  validity  of  the 
land  titles  in  that  State.  The  Rev.  Finley,  as  a 
preliminary  step,  liberated  his  slaves,  and  addressed 
to  Col.  Massie  a  letter  of  inquiry,  in  December, 
1794,  regarding  the  land  on  the  Scioto,  of  which 
he  and  his  people  had  heard  such  glowing  ac- 
counts. 

"The  letter  induced  Col.  Massie  to  visit  Mr. 
Finley  in  the  ensuing  March.  A  large  concourse 
of  people,  who  wished  to  engage  in  the  enterprise, 
assembled  on  the  occasion,  and  fixed  on  a  day  to 
meet  at  the  Three  Islands,  in  Manchester,  and 
proceed  on  an  exploring  expedition.  Mr.  Finley 
also  wrote  to  his  friends  in  Western  Pennsylvania 

*  Nathaniel  Maasie  was  bom  in  Goochland  County,  Va,,  Decem- 
ber 28, 1763.  In  1780,  he  engaged,  for  a  short  time,  in  the  Revolu- 
tionary war.  In  1783,  he  left  for  Kentucky,  where  he  acted  as  a 
surveyor.  He  was  afterward  made  a  Government  surveyor,  and 
labored  much  in  that  capacity  for  early  Ohio  proprietors,  being  paid 
in  lands,  the  amounts  graded  by  the  danger  attached  to  the  survey. 
In  1791,  he  established  the  settlement  at  Manchester,  and  a  year  or 
two  after,  continued  his  surveys  up  the  Scioto.  Here  he  was  con- 
tinually in  great  danger  from  the  Indians,  but  knew  well  how  to 
guard  against  them,  and  thus  preserved  himself.  In  1796,  he  estab- 
lished the  Chillicothe  settlement,  and  made  his  home  in  the  Scioto 
Valley,  being  now  an  extensive  land  owner  by  reason  of  his  long 
surveying  service.  In  1807,  he  and  Ketum  J.  Meigs  were  compet- 
itors for  the  olBce  of  Governor  of  Ohio.  Meigs  was  elected,  but 
Massie  contested  his  eligibility  to  the  office,  on  ithe  grounds  of  his 
absence  from  the  State  and  insufficiency  of  time  as  a  resident,  as 
required  by  the  Oonstitation.  Meigs  was  declared  ineligible  by  the 
General  Assembly,  and  Massie  declared  Governor.  He,  however, 
resigned  the  office  at  once,  not  desiring  it.  He  was  often  Kepre- 
sentative  afterward.    He  died  November  13, 1813. 


B  "V  " 


^1 


104 


HISTORY   OP    OHIO. 


informing  them  of  tlie  time  and  place  of  rendez- 
vous. 

"  About  sixty  men  met,  according  to  appoint- 
ment, who  were  divided  into  three  companies, 
lender  Massie,  Finley  and  Palenash.  They  pro- 
ceeded on  their  route,  without  interruption,  until 
they  struck  the  falls  of  Paint  Creek.  Proceeding 
a  short  distance  down  that  stream,  they  suddenly 
found  themselves  in  the  vicinity  of  some  Indians 
who  had  encamped  at  a  place,  since  called  Reeve's 
Crossing,  near  the  present  town  of  Bainbridge. 
The  Indians  were  of  those  who  had  refused  to 
attend  Wayne's  treaty,  and  it  was  determined  to 
give  them  battle,  it  being  too  late  to  retreat  with 
safety.  The  Indians,  on  being  attacked,  soon  fled 
with  the  loss  of  two  killed  and  several  wounded. 
One  of  the  whites  only,  Joshua  Robinson,  was 
mortally  wounded,  and,  during  the  action,  a  Mr. 
Armstrong,  a  prisoner  among  the  savages,  escaped 
to  his  own  people.  The  whites  gathered  all  their 
plunder  and  retreated  as  far  as  Scioto  Brush 
Creek,  where  they  were,  according  to  expectation, 
attacked  early  the  next  morning.  Again  the  In- 
dians were  defeated.  Only  one  man  among  the 
whites,  Allen  Grilfillan,  was  wounded.  The  party 
of  whites  continued  their  retreat,  the  next  day 
reached  Manchester,  and  separated  for  their  homes. 

"After  Wayne's  treaty,  Col.  Massie  and  several 
of  the  old  explorers  again  met  at  the  house  of 
Rev.  Finley,  formed  a  company,  and  agreed  to 
make  a  settlement  in  the  ensuing  spring  (1796), 
and  raise  a  crop  of  corn  at  the  mouth  of  Paint 
Creek.  According  to  agreement,  they  met  at  Man- 
chester about  the  first  of  April,  to  the  number  of 
forty  and  upward,  from  Mason  and  Bourbon 
Counties.  Among  them  were  Joseph  McCoy, 
Benjamin  and  William  Rodgers,  David  Shelby, 
James  Harrod,  Henry,  Bazil  and  Reuben  Abrams, 
William  Jamison,  James  Crawford,  Samuel,  An- 
thony and  Robert  Smith,  Thomas  Dick,  William 
and  James  Kerr,  George  and  James  Kilgi'ove, 
John  Brown,  Samuel  and  Robert  Templeton,  Fer- 
guson Moore,  WilUam  Nicholson  and  James  B. 
Finley,  later  a  prominent  local  Methodist  minister. 
On  starting,  they  divided  into  two  companies,  one 
of  which  struck  across  the  country,  while  the 
other  came  on  in  pirogues.  The  first  arrived 
earliest  on  the  spot  of  their  intended  settlement, 
and  had  commenced  erecting  log  huts  above  the 
mouth  of  Paint  Creek,  at  the  'Prairio  Station,' 
before  the  others  had  come  on  by  water.  About 
three  hundred  acres  of  the  prairie  were  cultivated 
in  corn  that  season. 


"  In  August,  of  this  year — 1796 — ChUlicothe* 
was  laid  out  by  Col.  Massie  in  a  dense  forest.  He 
gave  a  lot  to  each  of  the  first  settlers,  and,  by  the 
beginning  of  winter,  about  twenty  cabins  were 
erected.  Not  long  after,  a  ferry  was  established 
across  the  Scioto,  at  the  north  end  of  Walnut 
street.  The  opening  of  Zane's  trace  produced  a 
great  change  in  travel  westward,  it  having  pre- 
viously been  along  the  Ohio  in  keel-boats  or  canoes, 
or  by  land,  over  the  Cumberland  Mountains, 
through  Crab  Orchard,  in  Kentucky. 

"  The  emigrants  brought  corn-meal  in  their  pi- 
rogues, and  after  that  was  gone,  their  principal 
meal,  until  the  next  summer,  was  that  pounded  in 
hominy  mortars,  which  meal,  when  made  into 
bread,  and  anointed  with  bear's-oil,  was  quite  pal- 
atable. 

"When  the  settlers  first  came,  whisky  was  $4.50 
per  gallon;  but,  in  the  spring  of  1797,  when  the 
keel-boats  began  to  run,  the  Monongahela  whisky- 
makers,  having  found  a  good  market  for  their  fire- 
water, rushed  it  in,  in  such  quantities,  that  the 
cabins  were  crowded  with  it,  and  it  soon  fell  to  50 
cents.  Men,  women  and  children,  with  some  excep- 
tions, drank  it  freely,  and  many  who  had  been 
respectable  and  temperate  became  inebriates. 
Many  of  Wayne's  soldiers  and  camp-women  settled 
in  the  town,  so  that,  for  a  time,  it  became  a  town 
of  drunkards  and  a  sink  of  corruption.  There 
was,  however,  a  htde  leaven,  which,  in  a  few 
months,  began  to  develop  itself. 

"In  the  spring  of  1797,  one  Brannon  stole  a 
great  coat,  handkerchief  and  shirt.  He  and  his 
wife  absconded,  were  pursued,  caught  and  brought 
back.  Samuel  Smith  was  appointed  Judge,  a 
jury  impanneled,  one  attorney  appointed  by  the 
Judge  to  manage  the  prosecution,  and  another  the 
defense ;  witnesses  were  examined,  the  case  argued, 
and  the  evidence  summed  up  by  the  Judge.  The 
jury,  having  retired  a  few  moments,  returned  with 
a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  that  the  culprit  be  sen- 
tenced according  to  the  discretion  of  the  Judge. 
The  Judge  soon  announced  that  the  criminal 
should  have  ten  lashes  on  his  naked  back,  or  that 
he  should  sit  on  a  bare  pack-saddle  on  his  pony, 
and  that  his  wife,  who  was  supposed  to  have  had 
some  agency  in  the  theft,  should  lead  the  pony  to 
every  house  in  the  village,  and  proclaim,  '  This  is 

*Chillicothe  appears  to  have  been  a  favorite  name  among  the 
Indians,  as  many  localities  were  known  by  that  name.  Col.  John 
Johnston  says  ;  "Chillicothe  is  the  name  of  one  of  the  principal 
tribes  of  the  Shawanees.  They  would  say,  Ckil-i^cothe-otany,  i.  6,, 
Chillicothe  town.  The  Wyandots  would  say.  for  Chillicothe  town, 
Tai-a-ra-ra^  Do-tia,  or  town  at  the  leaning  of  the  banlc." 


l^ 


HISTORY   OP    OHIO. 


105 


Brannon,  who  stole  the  great  coat,  handkerchief 
and  shirt ;.'  and  that  James  B.  Pinley,  afterward 
Chaplain  in  the  State  Penitentiary,  should  see  the 
sentence  faithfully  carried  out.  Brannon  chose 
the  latter  sentence,  and  the  ceremony  was  faith- 
fully performed  by  his  wife  in  the  presence  of 
every  cabin,  under  Mr.  Finley's  care,  after  which 
the  couple  made  oiF.  This  was  rather  rude,  but 
effective  jurisprudence. 

"  Dr.  Edward  Tiffin  and  Mr.  Thomas  Worth- 
ington,  of  Berkley  County,  Va.,  were  brothers-in-law, 
and  being  moved  by  abolition  principles,  liberated 
their  slaves,  intending  to  remove  into  the  Ter- 
ritory. For  this  purpose,  Mr.  Wo'rthington  visited 
ChUlicothe  in  the  autumn  of  1797,  and  purchased 
several  in  and  out  lots  of  the  town.  On  one  of  the 
former,  he  erected  a  two-story  frame  house,  the 
first  of  the  kind  in  the  village.  On  his  return, 
having  purchased  a  part  of  a  farm,  on  which  his 
family  long  afterward  resided,  and  another  at  the 
north  fork  of  Paint  Creek,  he  contracted  with  Mr. 
Joseph  Yates,  a  millwright,  and  Mr.  George  Haines, 
a  blacksmith,  to  come  out  with  him  the  following 
winter  or  spring,  and  erect  for  him  a  grist  and  saw 
mill  on  his  north-fork  tract.  The  summer,  fall 
and  following  winter  of  that  year  were  marked  by 
a  rush  of  emigration,  which  spead  over  the  high 
bank  prairie,  Pea-pea,  Westfall  and  a  few  mUes 
up  Paint  and  Deer  Creeks. 

"  Nearly  all  the  first  settlers  were  either  regular 
members,  or  had  been  raised  in  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  Toward  the  fall  of  1797,  the  leaven  of 
piety  retained  by  a  portion  of  the  first  settlers  be- 
gan to  diffuse  itself  through  the  mass,  and  a  large 
log  meeting-house  was  erected  near  the  old  grave- 
yard, and  Rev.  William  Speer,  from  Pennsylvania, 
took  charge.  The  sleepers  at  first  served  as  seats  for 
hearers,  and  a  split-log  table  was  used  as  a  pulpit. 
Mr.  Speer  was  a  gentlemanly,  moral  man,  tall  and 
cadaverous  in  person,  and  wore  the  cocked  hat  of 
the  Revolutionary  era. 

"  Thomas  Jones  arrived  in  February,  1798, 
bringing  with  him  the  first  load  of  bar-iron  in  the 
Scioto  Valley,  and  about  the  same  time  Maj .  Elias 
Langham,  an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  arrived.  Dr. 
Tiffin,  and  his  brother,  Joseph,  arrived  the  same 
month  from  Virginia  and  opened  a  store  not  far 
from  the  log  meeting-house.  A  store  had  been 
opened  previously  by  John  McDougal.  The  17th 
of  April,  the  families  of  Col.  Worthington  and 
Dr.  Tiffin  arrived,  at  which  time  the  first  marriage 
in  the  Scioto  Valley  was  celebrated.  The  parties 
were  George  Kilgore  and  Elizabeth  Cochran.    The 


ponies  of  the  attendants  were  hitched  to  the  trees 
along  the  streets,  which  were  not  then  cleared  out, 
nearly  the  whole  town  being  a  wilderness.  Joseph 
Yates,  George  Haines,  and  two  or  three  others, 
arrived  with  the  families  of  Tiffin  and  Worthing- 
ton. On  theii-  arrival  there  were  but  four  shingled 
roofs  in  town,  on  one  of  which  the  shingles 
were  fastened  with  pegs.  Col.  Worthington's 
house  was  the  only  one  having  glass  windows.  The 
sash  of  the  hotel  windows  was  filled  with  greased 
paper. 

"Col.  Worthington  was  appointed  by  Gen.  Ru- 
fiis  Putnam,  Surveyor  General  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  surveyor  of  a  large  district  of  Congress 
lands,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Scioto,  and  Maj. 
Langham  and  a  Mr.  Matthews,  were  appointed  to 
survey  the  residue  of  the  lands  which  afterward 
composed  the  Chillicothe  land  district. 

"  The  same  season,  settlements  were  made  about 
the  Walnut  Plains  by  Samuel  McCulloh  and 
others;  Springer,  Osbourn,  Dyer,  and  Thomas  and 
Elijah  Chenowith,  on  Darly  Creek;  Lamberts  and 
others  on  Sippo ;  on  Foster's  Bottom,  the  Fosters, 
Samuel  Davis  and  others,  while  the  following  fam- 
ilies settled  in  and  about  Chillicothe :  John  Crouse, 
William  Keys,  William  Lamb,  John  Carlisle,  John 
McLanberg,  William  Chandless,  'the  Stoctons, 
Gr^gs,  Bates  and  some  others. 

"  Dr.  Tiffin  and  his  wife  were  the  first  Metho- 
dists in  the  Scioto  Valley.  He  was  a  local  preacher. 
In  the  fall,  Worthington's  grist  and  saw  mills  on 
the  north  fork  of  Paint  CrSek  were  finished,  the 
first  mills  worthy  the  name  in  the  valley. 

"  Chillicothe  was  the  point  from  which  the  set- 
tlements diverged.  In  May,  1799,  a  post  office 
was  established  here,  and  Joseph  Tifiin  made  Post- 
master. Mr.  Tiffin  and  Thomas  Gregg  opened 
taverns;  the  first,  under  the  sign  of  Gen.  Anthony 
Wayne,  was  at  the  corner  of  Water  and  Walnut 
streets ;  andlfce  last,  under  the  sign  of  the  '  Green 
Tree,'  was  on  the  corner  of  Paint  and  Water 
streets.  In  1801,  Nathaniel  Willis  moved  in  and 
established  the  Scioto  Gazette,  probably,  the  sec- 
ond paper  in  the  Territory."* 

In  1800,.  the  seat  of  government  of  the  North- 
west Territory  was  removed,  by  law  of  Congress, 
from  Cincinnati  to  Chillicothe.  The  sessions  of 
the  Territorial  Assembly  for  that  and  the  next 
year  were  held  in  a  small  two-story,  hewed-log 
house,  erected  in  1798,  by  Bazil  Abrams.  A  wing 
was  added  to  the  main   part,  of   two  stories   in 

*  Recollections  of  Hon.  Thomas  Scott,  of  Chillicothe— Howe's 
Annals  of  Ohio. 


106 


mSTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


height.  In  the  lower  room  of  this  wing,  Col. 
Thomas  Gibson,  Auditor  of  the  Territory,  kept 
his  oifiee,  and  in  the  upper  room  a  small  family 
lived.  In  the  upper  room  of  the  main  building 
a  billiard  table  was  kept.  It  was  also  made  a  re- 
sort of  gamblers  ai)d  disreputable  characters.  The 
lower  room  was  used  by  the  Legislature,  and  as  a 
court  room,  a  church  or  a  school.  In  the 
war  of  1812,  the  building  was  a  rendezvous  and 
barracks  for  soldiers,  and,  in  1840,  was  pulled 
down. 

The  old  State  House  was  commenced  in  1800, 
and  finished  the  next  year  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  Legislature  and  the  courts.  It  is  said  to 
be  the  first  public  stone  edifice  erected  in  the  Ter- 
ritory. Maj.  William  Rutledge,  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  did  the  mason  work,  and  William  Guthrie, 
the  carpenter.  In  1801,  the  Territorial  Legislature 
held  their  first  session  in  it.  In  it  was  also  held 
the  Constitutional  Convention  of  Ohio,  which  be- 
gan its  sessions  the  first  Monday  in  November, 
1802.  In  March,  1803,  the  first  State  Legislature 
met  in  the  house,  and  continued  their  sessions  here 
until  1810.  The  sessions  of  1810-11,  and  1811- 
12,  were  held  in  ZanesvUle,  and  from  there  re- 
moved back  to  Chillicothe  and  held  in  the  old 
State  House  till  1816,  when  Columbus  became  the 
permanent  capital  of  the  State. 

Making  Chillicothe  the  State  capital  did  much 
to  enhance  its  growth.  It  was  incorporated  in 
1802,  and  a  town  council  elected.  In  1807,  the 
town  had  fourteen  stores,  six  hotels,  two  newspa- 
pers, two  churches — ^both  brick  buildings — and 
over  two,  hundred  dwellings.  The  removal  of  the 
capital  to  Columbus  checked  its  growth  a  little,  still, 
being  in  an  excellent  country,  rapidly  filling  with 
settlers,  the  town  has  always  remained  a  prominent 
trading  center. 

During  the  war  of  1812,  Chillicothe  was  made 
a  rendezvous  for  United  States  aflldiers,  and  a 
prison  established,  in  which  many  British  prison- 
ers were  confined.  At  one  time,  a  conspiracy  for 
escape  was  discovered  just  in  time  to  prevent  it. 
The  plan  was  for  the  prisoners  to  disarm  the 
guard,  proceed  to  jail,  release  the  officers,  burn  the 
town,  and  escape  to  Canada.  The  plot  was  fortu- 
nately disclosed  by  two  senior  British  officers,  upon 
which,  as  a  measure  of  secmity,  the  officers  and 
chief  conspirators  were  sent  to  the  penitentiary 
at  Frankfort,  Kentucky. 

Two  or  three  miles  northwest  of  Chillicothe,  on 
a  beautiful  elevation,  commanding  an  extensive 
view  of  the  valley  of  the  Scioto,  Thomas  Worth- 


ington,*  one  of  the  most  prominent  and  influential 
men  of  his  day,  afterward  Governor  of  the  State, 
in  1806,  erected  a  large  stone  mansion,~the  wonder 
of  the  valley  in  its  time.  It  was  the  most  elegant 
mansion  in  the  West,  crowds  coming  to  see  it 
when  it  was  completed.  Gov.  Worthington  named 
the  place  Adena,  "Paradise" — a  name  not  then 
considered  hyperbolical.  The  large  panes  of  glass, 
and  the  novelty  of  papered  walls  especially  attracted 
attention.  Its  architect  was  the  elder  Latrobe,  of 
Washington  City,  from  which  place  most  of  the 
workmen  came.  The  glass  was  made  in  Pitts- 
burgh, and  the  fireplace  fronts  in  Philadelphia,  the 
latter  costing  seven  dollars  per  hundred  pounds  for 
transportation.  The  mansion,  built  as  it  was,  cost 
nearly  double  the  expense  of  such  structures  now. 
Adena  was  the  home  of  the  Governor  till  his  death, 
in  1827. 

Near  Adena,  in  a  beautiful  situation,  is  Fruit 
Hill,  the  seat  of  Gen.  Duncan  McArthur,f  and 
later  of  ex-Gov.  William  Allen.  Like  Adena,  Fruit 
Hill  is  one  of  the  noted  places  in  the  Scioto  Val- 
ley. Many  of  Ohio's  best  men  dwelt  in  the  valley ; 
men  who  have  been  an  honor  and  ornament  to  the 
State  and  nation. 

Another  settlement,  begun  soon  after  the  treaty 
of  peace  in  1795,  was  that  made  on  the  Licking 
River,  about  four  miles  below  the  present  city  of 
Newark,  in  Licking  County.  In  the  fall  of  1798, 
John  Ratliff  and  Elias  Hughes,  while  prospecting 
on  this  stream,  found  some  old  Indian'  cornfields, 
and  determined  to  locate.  They  were  from  West- 
ern Virginia,  and  were  true  pioneers,  hving  mainly 
by  hunting,  leaving  the  cultivation  of  their  small 
cornfields  to  their  wives,  much  after  the  style  of 

*  Got.  Worthington  was  bom  in  Jeffeison  County,  Va.,  about  the 
year  1769,  He  settled  in  Ohio  in  1798.  He  was  a  firm  believer  in 
liberty  and  came  to  the  Territory  after  liberating  his  slaves.  He  was 
one  of  the  most  efGcient  men  of  his  day ;  was  a  member  of  the 
Constitutional  Convention,  and  was  sent  on  an  important  mission 
to  Congress  relative  to  the  admission  of  Ohio  to  the  Union.  He 
was  afterward  a  Senator  to  Congress,  and  then  Governor.  On 
the  expiration  of  his  gubernatorial  term,  he  was  appointed  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  in  which  capacity  he  did  much 
to  advance  the  canals  and  railroads,  and  other  public  improve- 
ments.   He  remained  in  this  ofGce  till  bis  death. 

f  Gen.  Mc.\rlhur  was  born  in  DutcheEs  County,  N.  T.,  in  1772. 
When  eight  years  of  age,  his  father  removed  to  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania. When  eighteen  years  of  age,  lie  served  in  Harmar'a 
campaign.  In  1792,  he  was  a  very  efHcient  soldier  among  the  front- 
iersmen, and  gained  their  approbation  by  his  bravery.  In  1793,  he 
was  connected  with  Gen.  Massie,  and  afterward  was  engaged  in 
land  speculations  and  became  very  wealthy.  He  was  made  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Legislature,  in  1806  ;  in  1806,  a  Colonel  and  in  1808,  a 
Major  General  of  the  militia.  In  this  capacity  he  was  in  Hull's 
surrender  at  Detroit.  On  his  return  he  was  elected  to  Congress, 
and  in  1813  commissioned  Brigadier  General.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  efficient  officers  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  held  many  important 
posts.  After  the  war,  he  was  again  sent  to  the  Legislature ;  in  1822 
to  Congress,  and  in  1830  elected  Governor  of  the  State.  By  an  un- 
fortunate accident  in  1836,  he  was  maimed  for  life,  and  gradually 
declined  till  death  came  a  few  years  after. 


^ 


HISTORY   or   OHIO. 


107 


their  dusky  neighbors.  They  were  both  inveterate 
Indian-haters,  and  never  allowed  an  opportunity  to 
pass  without  carrying  out  their  hatred.  For  this, 
they  were  apprehended  after  the  treaty;  but, 
though  it  was  clearly  proven  they  had  murdered 
some  inoffensive  Indians,  the  state  of  feeling  was 
such  that  they  were  allowed  to  go  unpunished. 

A  short  time  after  their  settlement,  others  joined 
them,  and,  in  a  few  years,  quite  a  colony  had 
gathered  on  the  banks  of  the  Licking.  In  1802, 
Newark  .was  laid  out,  and,  in  three  or  four  years, 
there  were  twenty  or  thirty  families,  several  stores 
and  one  or  two  hotels. 

The  settlement  of  Granville  Township,  in  this 
county,  is  rather  an  important  epoch  in  the  history 
of  this  part  of  the  State.  Fjom  a  sketch  pub- 
lished by  Rev.  Jacob  Little  in  1848,  in  Howe's, 
Collections,  the  subjoined  statements  are  taken: 

"In  1804,  a  company  was  formed  at  Granville, 
Mass.,  with  the  intention  of  making  a  settlement 
in  Ohio.  This,  called  the  Scioto  Company,  was 
the  third  of  that  name  which  effected  settlements 
in  Ohio.  The  project  met  with  great  favor,  and 
much  enthusiasm  was  elicited,  in  illustration  of 
which  a  song  was  composed  and  sung  to  the 
tune  of  '  Pleasant  Ohio '  by  the  young  people  in 
the  house  and  at  labor  in  the  field.  We  annex 
two  stanzas,  which  are  more  curious  than  poetical : 

"'When  rambling  o'er  these  mountains 

And  rocks  where  ivies  grow 
Thick  as  the  hairs  upon  your  head, 

"Mongst  which  you  cannot  go — 
Great  storms  of  snow,   cold  winds  that  blow, 

We  scarce  can  undergo — 
Says  I,  my  boys,  we'll  leave  this  place 

For  the  pleasant  Ohio. 

"  'Our  precious  friends  that  stay  behind. 

We're  sorry  now  to  leave; 
But  if  they'll  stay  and  break  their  shins, 

For  them  we'll  never  grieve. 
Adieu,  my  friends! — Come  on,  my  dears, 

This  journey  we'll  forego. 
And  settle  Licking  Creek, 

In  yonder  Ohio.' " 

"  The  Scioto  Company  consisted  of  one  hundred 
and  fourteen  proprietors,  who  made  a  purchase  of 
twenty-eight  thousand  acres.  In  the  autumn  of 
1805,  two  hundred  and  thirty-four  persons,  mostly 
from  East  Granville,  Mass.,  came  on  to  the  pur- 
chase. Although  they  had  been  forty-two  days  on 
the  road,  their  first  business,  on  their  arrival,  hav- 
ing organized  a  church  before  they  left  the  East, 
was  to  hear  a  sermon.     The  first  tree  cut  was  that 


by  which  public  worship  was  held,  which  stood 
just  in  front  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

On  the  first  Sabbath,  November  16,  although 
only  about  a  dozen  trees  had  been  felled,  they  held 
divine  service,  both  forenoon  and  afternoon,  on 
that  spot.  The  novelty  of  worshiping  in  the 
woods,  the  forest  extending  hundreds  of  miles  each 
way ;  the  hardships  of  the  journey,  the  winter  set- 
ting in,  the  thoughts  of  home,  with  all  the  friends 
and  privileges  left  behind,  and  the  impression  that 
such  must  be  the  accommodations  of  anew  country, 
all  rushed  on  their  minds,  and  made  this  a  day  of 
varied  interest.  When  they  began  to  sing,  the 
echo  of  their  voices  among  the  trees  was  so  differ- 
ent from  what  it  was  in  the  beautiftil  meeting- 
house they  had  left,  that  they  could  no  longer 
restrain  their  tears.  They  wept  when  they  remem- 
hered  Zion.  The  voices  of  part  of  the  choir  were, 
for  a  season,  suppressed  with  emotion. 

"An  incident  occurred,  which  many  said  Mrs. 
Sigourney  should  have  put  into  verse.  Deacon 
Theophilus  Reese,  a  Welsh  Baptist,  had,  two  or 
three  years  before,  built  a  cabin,  a  mile  and' a  half 
north,  and  lived  all  this  time  without  public  wor- 
ship. He  had  lost  his  cattle,  and,  hearing  a  low- 
ing of  the  oxen  belonging  to  the  Company,  set  out 
toward  them.  As  he  ascended'  the  hills  overlook- 
ing the  town  plot,  he  heard  the  singing  of  the 
choir.  The  reverberation  of  the  sound  from  hill- 
tops and  trees,  threw  the  good  man  into  a  serious 
dilemma.  The  music  at  first  seemed  to  be  behind, 
then  in  the  tree-tops,  or  in  the  clouds.  He  stopped, 
till,  by  accurate  listening,  he  caught  the  direction 
of  the  sound ;  went  on  and  passing  the  brow  of 
the  hill,  he  saw  the  audience  sitting  on  the 
level  below.  He  went  home  and  told  his  wife  that 
'  the  promise  of  God  is  a  bond ' ;  a  Welsh  proverb, 
signifying  that  we  have  security,  equal  to  a  bond, 
that  religion  will  prevail  everywhere.  He  said : 
'  These  must  be  good  people.  I  am  not  afraid  to 
go  among  them.'  Though  he  could  not  under- 
stand JEnglish,  he  constantly  attended  the  reading 
meeting.  Hearing  the  music  on  that  occasion 
made  such  an  impression  on  his  mind  that,  when 
he  became  old  and  met  the  first  settlers,  he  would 
always  tell  over  this  story.  The  first  cabin  built 
was  that  in  which  they  worshiped  succeeding 
Sabbaths,  and,  before  the  close  of  the  winter,  they 
had  a  schoolhouse  and  a  school.  That  church,  in 
forty  years,  received  more  than  one  thousand  per- 
sons into  its  membership. 

"Elder  Jones,  in  1806,  preached  the  first  ser- 
mon  in   the   log   church.     The    Welsh    Baptist 


-_e 


L 


108 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


Church  was  organized  in  the  cabin  of  David 
Thomas,  September  4,  1808.  April  21,  1827, 
the  Grranville  members  were  organized  into  the 
Granville  Church,  and  the  corner-stone  of  their 
house  of  worship  laid  September  21,  1829.  In 
the  fall  of  1810,  the  first  Methodist  sermon  was 
preached  here,  and,  soon  after,  a  class  organized. 
In  1824,  a  church  was  built.  An  Episcopal 
church  was  organized  in  May,  1827,  and  a 
church  consecrated  in  1838.  In  1849,  there 
were  in  this  township  405  families,  of  whom  214 
sustain  family  worship ;  1431  persons  over  four- 
teen years  of  age,  of  whom  over  800  belong  to 
church.  The  town  had  150  families,  of  whom  80 
have  family  worship.  In  1846,  the  township 
fiirnished  70  school  teachers,  of  whom  62  prayed 
in  school.  In  1846,  the  township  took  621  peri- 
odical papers,  besides  three  small  monthlies.  The 
first  temperance  society  west  of  the  mountains  was 
organized  July  15,  1828,  in  this  township;  and, 
in  1831,  the  Congregational  Church  passed  a  by- 
law to  accept  no  member  who  trafficked  in  or  used 
ardent  spirits." 

It  is  said,  not  a  settlement  in  the  entire  West 
could  present  so  moral  and  upright  a  view  as  that 
of  Granville  Township;  and  nowhere  could  so 
perfect  and  orderly  a  set  of  people  be  found. 
Surely,  the  fact  is  argument  enough  in  favor  of 
the  religion  of  Jesus. 

The  narrative  of  Mr.  Little  also  states  that, 
when  Granville  was  first  settled,  it  was  supposed 
that  Worthington  would  be  the  capital  of  Ohio, 
between  which  and  Zanesville,  Granville  would 
make  a  great  half-way  town.  At  this  time,  wild 
animals,  snakes  and  Indians  abounded,  and  many 
are  the  marvelous  stories  preserved  regarding  the 
destruction  of  the  animals  and  reptiles  — •  the 
Indians  being  bound  by  their  treaty  to  remain 
peaceful.  Space  forbids  their  repetition  here. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that,  as  the  whites  increased,  the 
Indians,  animals  and  snakes  disappeared,  until 
now  one  is  as  much  a  curiosity  as  the  other, 

The  remaining  settlement  in  the  southwest- 
ern parts  of  Ohio,  made  immediately  after  the 
treaty — fall  of  1795  or  year  of  1796 — ^was  in 
what  is  now  Madison  County,  about  a  mile  north 
of  where  the  village  of  Amity  now  stands,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Big  Darby.  This  stream  received  its 
name  from  the  Indians,  from  a  Wyandot  chief, 
named  Darby,  who  for  a  long  time  resided  upon  it, 
near  the  Union  County  line.  In  the  fall  of  1795, 
Benj  amin  Springer  came  from  Kentucky  and  selected 
some  land  on  the  banks  of  the  Big  Darby,  cleared 


the  ground,  built  a  cabin,  and  returned  for  his 
family.  The  next  spring,  he  brought  them  out, 
and  began  his  life  here.  The  same  summer  he  was 
joined  by  William  Lapin,  Joshua  and  James  Ew- 
ing  and  one  or  two  others. 

When  Springer  came,  he  found  a  white  man 
named  Jonathan  Alder,  who  for  fifteen  years  had 
been  a  captive  among  the  Indians,  and  who  could 
not  speak  a  word  of  English,  living  with  an  Indian 
woman  on  the  banks  of  Big  Darby.  He  had  been 
exchanged  at  Wayne's  treaty,  and,  ne^ecting  to 
profit  by  the  treaty,  was  still  living  in  the  Indian 
style.  When  the  whites  became  numerous  about 
him  his  desire  to  find  his  relatives,  and  adopt  the 
ways  of  the  whites,  led  him  to  discard  his  squaw — 
giving  her  an  unusual  allowance — learn  the  English 
language,  engage  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  be- 
come again  civilized.  Fortunately,  he  could  remem- 
ber enough  of  the  names  of  some  of  his  parents' 
neighbors,  so  that  the  identity  of  his  relatives  and 
friends  was  easily  established,  and  Alder  became  a 
most  usefiil  citizen.  He  was  very  influential  with 
the  Indians,  and  induced  many  of  them  to  remain 
neutral  during  the  war  of  1812.  It  is  stated  that 
in  1800,  Mr.  Ewing  brought  four  sheep  into  the  com- 
munity. They  were  strange  animals  to  the  Indians. 
One  day  when  an  Indian  hunter  and  his  dog  were 
passing,  the  latter  caught  a  sheep,  and  was  shot  by 
Mr.  Ewing.  The  Indian  would  have  shot  Ewing  in 
retaliation,  had  not  Alder,  who  was  fortunately 
present,  with  much  difficulty  prevailed  upon  him 
to  refrain. 

While  the  southern  and  southwestern  parts  of 
the  State  were  filling  with  settlers,  assured  of  safety 
by  Wayne's  victories,  the  northern  and  eastern 
parts  became  likewise  the  theater  of  activities. 
Ever  since  the  French  had  explored  the  southern 
shores  of  the  lake,  and  English  traders  had  car- 
ried goods  thither,  it  was  expected  one  day  to  be 
a  valuable  part  of  the  West.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  Connecticut  had  ceded  a  large  tract  of 
land  to  the  General  Government,  and  as  soon  as 
the  cession  was  confirmed,  and  land  titles  became 
assured,  settlers  fiocked  thither.  Even  before  that 
time,  hardy  adventurers  had  explored  some  of  the 
country,  and  pronounced  it  a  "goo'flly  land," 
ready  for  the  hand  of  enterprise. 

The  first  settlement  in  the  Western  Reserve, 
and,  indeed,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State,  was 
made  at  the  mouth  of  Conneaut*  Creek,  in  Ash- 
tabula County,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1796.     That 


*  Conneaut,  in  the  Seneca  langaage,  signifies  "  many  fish." 


IH^ 


HISTOEY   or   OHIO. 


109 


day,  the  first  surveying  party  landed  at  the  mouth 
of  this  creek,  and,  on  its  eastern  hank,  near  the 
lake  shore,  in  tin  cups,  pledged — as  they  drank  the 
limpid  waters  of  the  lake — their  country's  welfare, 
with  the  ordnance  accompaniment  of  two  or  three 
fowling-pieces,  discharging  the  required  national 
salute. 

The  whole  party,  on  this  occasion,  numbered 
fifty-two  persons,  of  whom  two  were  females  (Mrs. 
Stiles  and  Mrs.  Gunn)  and  a  child,  and  all  deserve 
a  lasting  place  in  the  history  of  the  State. 

The  next  day,  they  began  the  erection  of  a  large 
log  building  on  the  sandy  beach  on  the  east  side 
of  the  stream.  When  done,  it  was  named  "  Stow 
Castle,"  after  one  of  the  party.  It  was  the  dwell- 
ing, storehouse  and  general  habitation  of  all  the 
pioneers.  The  party  made  this  their  headquar- 
ters part  of  the  summer,  and  continued  busily 
engaged  in  the  survey  of  the  Reserve.  James 
Kingsbury,  afterward  Judge,  arrived  soon  after 
the  party  began  work,  and,  with  his  family,  was 
the  first  to  remain  here  during  the  winter  follow- 
ing, the  rest  returning  to  the  East,  or  going  south- 
ward. Through  the  winter,  Mr.  Kingsbury's 
family  sufiered  greatly  for  provisions,  so  much  so, 
that,  during  the  absence  of  the  head  of  the  family 
in  New  York  for  provisions,  one  child,  born  in  his 
absence,  died,  and  the  mother,  reduced  by  her  suf- 
ferings and  solitude,  was  only  saved  by  the  timely 
arrival  of  the  husband  and  father  with  a  sack  of 
flour  he  had  carried,  many  weary  miles,  on  his 
back.  He  remained  here  but  a  short  time,  re- 
moving to  Cleveland,  which  was  laid  out  that  same 
fall.  In  the  spring  of  1798,  Alexander  Harper, 
WilUam  McFarland  and  Ezra  Gregory,  with  their 
families,  started  from  Harpersfield,  Delaware  Co., 
N.  Y.,  and  arrived  the  last  of  June,  at  their  new 
homes  in  the  Far  West.  The  whole  population  on 
the  Reserve  then  amounted  to  less  than  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  persons.  These  were  at  Cleveland, 
Youngstown  and  at  Mentor.  During  the  summer, 
three  faiJilies  came  to  Burton,  and  Judge  Hudson 
settled  at  Hudson.  All  these  pioneers  sufiered 
severely  for  food,  and  from  the  fever  induced  by 
chills.  It  took  several  years  to  become  accli- 
mated. SoWetimes  the  entire  neighborhood 
would  be  down,  and  only  one  or  two,  who  could 
wait  on  the  rest  "between  chills,"  were  able  to  do 
anything.     Time  and  courage  overcame,  finally. 

It  was  not  until  1798,  that  a  permanent  settle- 
inent  was  made  at  the  mouth  of  Conneaut  Creek. 
Those  who  came  there  in  1796  went  on  with  their 
surveys,  part  remaining  in  Cleveland,  laid  out  that 


summer.  Judge  Kingsbury  could  not  remain  at 
Conneaut,  and  went  nearer  the  settlements  made 
about  the  Cuyahoga.  Inthespring  of  1798,  Thomas 
Montgomery  and  Aaron  Wright  settled  here  and 
remained.  Up  the  stream  they  found  some  thirty 
Indian  cabins,  or  huts,  in  a  good  state  of  preserva- 
tion, which  they  occupied  until  they  could  erect 
their  own.  Soon  after,  they  were  joined  by  others, 
and,  in  a  year  or  two,  the  settlement  was  permanent 
and  prosperous. 

The  site  of  the  present  town  of  Austinburg  in 
Ashtabula  County  was  settled  in  the  year  1799, 
by  two  families  from  Connecticut,  who  were  in- 
duced to  come  thither,  by  Judge  Austin.  The 
Judge  preceded  them  a  short  time,  driving,  in 
company  with  a  hired  man,  some  cattle  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  through  the  woods,  follow- 
ing an  old  Indian  trail,  while  the  rest  of  the  party 
came  in  a  boat  across  the  lake.  When  they  ar- 
rived, there  were  a  few  families  at  Harpersburg ; 
one  or  two  families  at  Windsor,  twenty  miles 
southwest;  also  a  few  families  at  Elk  Creek,  forty 
miles  northeast,  and  at  Vernon,  the  same  distance 
southeast.  All  these  were  in  a  destitute  condition 
for  provisions.  In  1800,  another  family  moved 
from  Norfolk,  Conn.  In  the  spring  of  1801,  sev- 
eral families  came  from  the  same  place.  Part  came 
by  land,  and  part  by  water.  During  that  season, 
wheat  was  carried  to  an  old  mill  on  Elk  Creek, 
forty  miles  away,  and  in  some  instances,  half  was 
given  for  carrying  it  to  mill  and  returning  it  in 
flour. 

Wednesday,  October  21,  1801,  a  church  of  six- 
teen members  was  constituted  in  Austinburg. 
This  was  the  first  church  on  the  Reserve,  and  was 
founded  by  Rev.  Joseph  Badger,  the  first  mission- 
ary there.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  note,  that  in 
1802,  Mr.  Badger  moved  his  family  from  BuiFalo 
to  this  town,  in  the  first  wagon  that  ever  came 
from  that  place  to  the  Reserve.  In  1803,  noted 
revivals  occurred  in  this  part  of  the  West,  attended 
by  the  peculiar  bodily  phenomenon  known  as  the 
"  shakes  "  or  "jerks." 

The  surveying  party  which  landed  at  the  mouth 
of  Conneaut  Creek,  July  4,  1796,  soon  completed 
their  labors  in  this  part  of  the  Reserve,  and  ex- 
tended them  westward.  By  the  first  of  September, 
they  had  explored  the  lake  coast  as  far  west  as  the 
outlet  of  the  Cuyahoga*  River,  then   considered 

*  Cuyahoga,  in  the  Indian  language,  signifies  "crooked." — 
Hbujfi's  Collectiona. 

"  The  Indians  called  the  river  'Ouyahoghan-uk,'  'Lake  Elver.' 
It  is,  emphatically,  a  Lake  river.  It  riseB  in  lakes  and  empties  into 
a  lake." — Alwater^a  HUtory  of  Ohio. 


^ 


110 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


by  all  an  important  Western  place,  and  one  des- 
tined to  be  a  great  commercial  mart.  Time  has 
verified  the  prophecies,  as  now  the  city  of  Cleve- 
land covers  the  site. 

As  early  as  1Y55,  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga 
Kiver  was  laid  down  on  the  maps,  and  the  French 
had  a  station  here.  It  was  also  considered  an  im- 
portant post  during  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
and  later,  of  1812.  The  British,  who,  after  the 
Revolution,  refused  to  abandon  the  lake  country 
west  of  the  Cuyahoga,  occupied  its  shores  until 
1790.  Their  traders  had  a  house  in  Ohio  City, 
north  of  the  Detroit  road,  on  the  point  of  the  hill 
near  the  river,  when  the  surveyors  arrived  in 
1Y96.  Washington,  Jefferson,  and  all  statesmen 
of  that  day,  regarded  the  outlet  of  the  Cuyahoga 
as  an  important  place,  and  hence  the  early  at- 
tempt of  the  surveyors  to  reach  and  lay  out  a  town 
here. 

The  corps  of  surveyors  arrived  early  in  Septem- 
ber, 1796,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  lay  out  a  town. 
It  was  named  Cleveland,  in  honor  of  Gen.  Moses 
Cleveland,  the  Land  Company's  agent,  and  for 
years  a  very  prominent  man  in  Connecticut,  where 
he  lived  and  died.  By  the  18th  of  October,  the 
surveyors  had  completed  the  survey  and  left  the 
place,  leaving  only  Job  V.  StOes  and  family,  and 
Edward  Paine,  who  were  the  only  persons  that 
passed  the  succeeding  winter  in  this  place.  Their 
residence  was  a  log  cabin  that  stood  on  a  spot  of 
ground  long  afterward  occupied  by  the  Commercial 
Bank.  Their  nearest  neighbors  were  at  Conne- 
aut,  where  Judge  Kingsbury  lived;  at  Fort 
Mcintosh,  on  the  south  or  east,  at  the  mouth  of 
Big  Beaver,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Raisin, 
on  the  west. 

The  next  season,  the  surveying  party  came  again 
to  Cleveland,  which  they  made  their  headquarters. 
Early  in  the  spring,  Judge  Kingsbury  came  over 
from  Conneaut,  bringing  with  him  Elijah  Gunn, 
who  had  a  short  time  before  joined  him.  Soon 
after,  Maj.  Lorenzo  Carter  and  Ezekiel  Hawley 
came  with  their  families.  These  were  about  all 
who  are  known  to  have  settled  in  this  place  that 
summer.  The  next  year,  1798,  Rodolphus  Ed- 
wards and  Nathaniel  Doane  and  their  families  set- 
tled in  Cleveland.  Mr.  Doane  had  been  ninety- 
two  days  on  his  journey  from  Chatham,  Conn.  In 
the  latter. part  of  the  summer  and  fall,  nearly  every 
person  in  the  settlement  was  down  with  the  bil- 
ious fever  or  with  the  ague.  Mr.  Doane's  family 
consisted  of  nine  persons,  of  whom  Seth,  a  lad  six- 
teen years  of  age,  was  the  only  one  able  to  care  for 


them.  Such  was  the  severity  of  the  fever,  that 
any  one  having  only  the  ague  was  deemed  quite 
fortunate.  Much  suffering  for  proper  food  and 
medicines  followed.  The  only  way  the  Doane 
family  was  supplied  for  two  months  or  more,  was 
through  the  exertions  of  this  boy,  who  went  daily, 
after  having  had  one  attack  of  the  chills,  to  Judge 
Kingsbury's  in  Newburg — ^five  miles  away,  where 
the  Judge  now  lived — got  a  peck  of  corn,  mashed  it 
in  a  hand-mill,  waited  until  a  second  attack  of  the 
chills  passed  over,  and  then  returned.  At  oae  time, 
for  several  days,  he  was  too  ill  to  make  the  trip, 
during  which  turnips  comprised  the  chief  article 
of  diet.  Fortunately,  Maj.  Carter,  having  only 
the  ague,  was  enabled  with  his  trusty  rifle  and  dogs 
to  procure  an  abundance  of  venison  and  other  wild 
game.  His  family,  being  somewhat  acchmated, 
suffered  less  than  many  others.  Their  situation  can 
hardly  now  be  realized.  "  Destitute  of  a  physician, 
and  with  few  medicines,  necessity  taught  them  to 
use  such  means  as  nature  had  placed  within  their 
reach.  They  substituted  pills  from  the  extract  of 
the  bitternut  bark  for  calomel,  and  dogwood  and 
cherry  bark  for  quinine." 

In  November,  four  men,  who  had  so  far  recov- 
ered as  to  have  ague  attacks  no  oftener  than  once 
in  two  or  three  days,  started  in  the  only  boat  for 
Walnut  Creek,  Penn.,  to  obtain  a  winter's  supply 
of  flour.  When  below  Euclid  Creek,  a  storm 
drove  them  ashore,  broke  their  boat,  and  compelled 
their  return.  During  the  winter  and  summer  fol- 
lowing, the  settlers  had  no  flour,  except  that 
ground  in  hand  and  coffee  mills,  which  was,  how- 
ever, considered  very  good.  Not  all  had  even  that. 
During  the  summer,  the  Connecticut  Land  Com- 
pany opened  the  first  road  on  the  Reserve,  which 
commenced  about  ten  miles  south  of  the  lake 
shore,  on  the  Pennsylvania  State  line,  and  extended 
to  Cleveland.  In  January,  1799,  Mr.  Doane 
moved  to  Doane's  Corners,  leaving  only  Maj.  Car- 
ter's family  in  Cleveland,  all  the  rest  leaving  as 
soon  as  they  were  well  enough.  For  fifteen  months, 
the  Major  and  his  family  were  the  only  white  per- 
sons left  on  the  town  site.  During  the  spring, 
Wheeler  W.  Wilhams  and  Maj.  Wyatt  built  the 
first  grist-mill  on  the  Reserve,  on  thj^ite  of  New- 
burg. It  was  looked  upon  as  a  very  valuable  acces- 
sion to  the  neighborhood.  Prior  to  this,  each  fam- 
ily had  its  own  hand-mill  in  one  of  the  corners  of 
the  cabin.  The  old  mill  is  thus  described  by  a 
pioneer : 

"  The  stones  were  of  the  common  grindstone 
grit,  about  four  inches  thick,  and  twenty  in  diame- 


^ 


:iL 


HISTOEY  OP   OHIO. 


Ill 


ter.  The  runner,  or  upper,  was  turned  by  hand, 
by  a  pole  set  in  the  top  of  it,  near  the  outer  edge. 
The  upper  end  of  the  pole  was  inserted  into  a  hole 
in  a  board  fastened  above  to  the  joists,  immedi- 
ately over  the  hole  in  the  verge  of  the  runner. 
One  person  fed  the  corn  into  the  eye — a  hole  in 
the  center  of  the  runner — while  another  turned. 
It  was  very  hard  work  to  grind,  and  the  operators 
alternately  exchanged  places." 

In  1800,  several  settlers  came  to  the  town  and 
a  more  active  life  was  the  result.  Prom  this  time, 
Cleveland  began  to  progress.  The  4th  of  July, 
1801,  the  first  ball  in  town  was  held  at  Major 
Carter's  log  cabin,  on  the  hill-side.  John  and 
Benjamin  Wood,  and  R.  H.  Blinn  were  managers ; 
and  Maj.  Samuel  Jones,  musician  and  master  of 
ceremonies.  The  company  numbered  aboutthirty, 
very  evenly  divided-,  for  the  times,  between  the 
sexes.  "  Notwithstanding  the  dancers  had  a  rough 
puncheon  floor,  and  no  better  beverage  to  enliven 
their  spirits  than  sweetened  whisky,  yet  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  anniversary  of  American  independence 
was  ever  celebrated  in  Cleveland  by  a  more  joyful 
and  harmonious  company  than  those  who  danced 
the  scamper-down,,  double-shuffle,  western-swing 
and  half-moon,  that  day,  in  Maj.  Carter's  cabin." 
The  growth  of  the  town,  from  this  period  on,  re- 
mained prosperous.  The  usual  visits  of  the  Indi- 
ans were  made,  ending  in  their  drunken  carousals 
and  fights.  Deer  and  other  wild  animals  furnished 
abundant  meat.  The  settlement  was  constantly 
augmented  by  new  arrivals,  so  that,  by  1814,  Cleve- 
land was  incorporated  as  a  town,  and,  in  1836,  as 
a  city.  Its  harbor  is  one  of  the  best  on  the  lakes, 
and  hence  the  merchandise  of  the  lakes  has  always 
been  attracted  thither.  Like  Cincinnati  and  Chil- 
licothe,  it  became  the  nucleus  of  settlements  in  this 
part  of  the  State,  and  now  is  the  largest  city  in 
Northern  Ohio. 

One  of  the  earliest  settlements  made  in  the 
Western  Reserve,  and  by  some  claimed  as  the  first 
therein,  was  made  on  the  site  of  Youngstown,  Ma- 
honing County,  by  a  Mr.  Young,  afterward  a  Judge, 
in  the  summer  of  1Y96.  During  this  summer, 
before  the  settlements  at  Cuyahoga  and  Conneaut 
were  made,  Mr.  Young  and  Mr.  Wilcott,  proprie- 
tors of  a  township  of  land  in  Northeastern  Ohio, 
came  to  their  possessions  and  began  the  survey  of 
their  land.  Just  when  they  came  is  not  known. 
They  were  found  here  by  Col.  James  Hillman, 
then  a  trader  in  the  employ  of  Duncan  &  Wilson, 
of  Pittsburgh,  "  who  had  been  forwarding  goods 
across    the  country  by  pack-saddle  horses  since 


1786,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  thence  to  be 
shipped  on  the  schooner  Mackinaw  to  Detroit. 
Col.  Hillman  generally  had  charge  of  all  these 
caravans,  consisting  sometimes  of  ninety  horses 
and  ten  men.  They  commonly  crossed  the  Big 
Beaver  four  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  She- 
nango,  thence  up  the  left  bank  of  the  Mahoning — 
called  by  the  Indians  "  Mahoni"  or  "  Mahonick," 
signifying  the  "  lick"  or  "  at  the  lick  " — crossing 
it  about  three  miles  below  the  site  of  Youngstown, 
thence  by  way  of  the  Salt  Springs,  over  the  sites 
of  Milton  and  Ravenna,  crossing  the  Cuyahoga  at 
the  mouth  of  Breakneck  and  again  at  the  mouth 
of  Tinker's  Creek,  thence  down  the  river  to  its 
mouth,  where  they  had  i  log  hut  in  which  to 
store  their  goods.  This  hut  was  there  when  the 
surveyors  came,  but  at  the  time  unoccupied.  At 
the  mouth  of  Tinker's  Creek  were  a  few  log  huts 
built  by  Moravian  Missionaries.  These  were  used 
only  one  year,  as  the  Indians  had  gone  to  the  Tus- 
carawas River.  These  and  three  or  four  cabins  at 
the  Salt  Springs  were  the  only  buildings  erected 
by  the  whites  prior  to  1796,  in  Northeastern  Ohio. 
Those  at  the  Salt  Springs  were  built  at  an  early 
day  for  the  accommodation  of  whites  who  came 
from  Western  Pennsylvania  to  make  salt.  The 
tenants  were  dispossessed  in  1785  by  Gen.  Harmar. 
A  short  time  after,  one  or  two  white  men  were 
killed  by  the  Indians  here.  In  1788,  Col.  Hill- 
man settled  at  Beavertown,  where  Duncan  & 
Wilson  had  a  store  for  the  purpose  of  trading 
with  the  Indians.  He  went  back  to  Pittsburgh 
soon  after,  however,  owing  to  the  Indian  war,  and 
remained  there  till  its  close,  continuing  in  his  busi- 
ness whenever  opportunity  offered.  In  1796, 
when  returning  from  one  of  his  trading  expeditions 
alone  in  his  canoe  down  the  Mahoning  River,  he 
discovered  a  smoke  on  the  bank  near  the  present 
town  of  Youngstown,  and  on  going  to  the  spot 
found  Mr.  Young  and  Mr.  Wolcdtt,  as  before  men- 
tioned. A  part  of  Col.  Hillman's  cargo  consisted 
of  whisky,  a  gallon  or  so  of  which  he  still  had. 
The  price  of  "  fire-water  "  then  was  $1  per  quart 
in  the  currency  of  the  country,  a  deerskin  being 
legal  tender  for  $1,  and  a  doeskin  for  50  cents. 
Mr.  Young  proposed  purchasing  a  quart,  and 
having  a  frolic  on  its  contents  during  the  even- 
ing, and  insisted  on  paying  Hillman  his  cus- 
tomary price.  Hillman  urged  that  inasmuch  as 
they  were  strangers  in  the  country,  civility  re- 
quired him  to  furnish  the  means  for  the  entertain- 
ment. Young,  however,  insisted,  and  taking  the 
deerskin   used  for  his  bed — the  only  one  he  had — 


^  a r^ 


112 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


paid  for  his  quart  of  whisky,  and  an  evening's 
froKc  was  the  result. 

"  Hillman  remained  a  few  days,  when  they  ac- 
companied him  to  Beaver  Town  to  celebrate  the 
4th,  and  then  all  returned,  and  Hillman  erected  a 
cabin  on  the  site  of  Youngstown.  It  is  not  cer- 
tain that  they  remained  here  at  this  time,  and 
hence  the  priority  of  actual  settlement  is  generally 
conceded  to  Conneaut  and  Cleveland.  The  next 
year,  in  the  fall,  a  Mr.  Brown  and  one  other  per- 
son came  to  the  banks  of  the  Mahoning  and  made 
a  permanent  settlement.  The  same  season  Uriah 
Holmes  and  Titus  Hayes  came  to  the  same  locahty, 
and  before  winter  quite  a  settlement  was  to  be  seen 
here.  It  proceeded  quite  prosperously  until  the 
wanton  murder  of  two  Indians  occurred,  which, 
for  a  time,  greatly  excited  the  whites,  lest  the  In- 
dians should  retaliate.  Through  the  efforts  of 
Col.  Hillman,  who  had  great  influence  with  the 
natives,  they  agreed  to  let  the  murderers  stand  a 
trial.  They  were  acquitted  upon  some  technicality. 
The  trial,  however,  pacified  the  Indians,  and  no 
trouble  came  from  the  unwarranted  and  unfortu- 
nate circumstance,  and  no  check  in  the  emigration 
or  prosperity  of  the  colony  occurred."* 

As  soon  as  an  effective  settlement  had  been  es- 
tablished at  Youngstown,  others  were  made  in  the 
surrounding  country.  One  of  these  was  begun  by 
William  Fenton  in  1798,  on  the  site  of  the  pres- 
ent town  of  Warren,  in  Trumbull  County.  He 
remained  here  alone  one  year,  when  he  was  joined 
by  Capt.  Ephraim  Quimby.  By  the  last  of  Sep- 
tember, the  next  year,  the  colony  had  increased  to- 
sixteen,  and  from  that  date  on  continued  prosper- 
ously. Once  or  twice  they  stood  in  fear  of  the 
Indians,  as  the  result  of  quarrels  induced  by 
whisky.  Sagacious  persons  generally  saved  any 
serious  outbreak  and  pacified  the  natives.  Mr. 
Badger,  the  first  missionary  on  the  Reserve,  came 
to  the  settlement  here  and  on  the  Mahoning,  as 
soon  as-  each  was  made,  and,  by  his  earnest  labors, 
succeeded  in  forming  churches  and  schools  at  an 
early  day.  He  was  one  of  the  most  efficient  men 
on  the  Reserve,  and  throughout  his  long  and  busy 
life,  was  well  known  and  greatly  respected.  He 
died  in  1846,  aged  eighty-nine  years. 

The  settlements  given  are  about  all  that  were 
made  before  the  close  of  1797.  In  following  the 
narrative  of  these  settlements,  attention  is  paid  to 
the  chronological  order,  as  far  as  this  can  be  done. 
Like  those  settlements  already  made,  many  which 

*  BecoUectioDS  of  Ool.  Hillman, — Howe's  Annah, 


are  given  as  occurring  in  the  next  year,  1798, 
were  actually  begun  earlier,  but  were  only  tem- 
porary preparations,  and  were  not  considered  as 
made  until  the  next  year. 

Turning  again  to  the  southern  portion  of  Ohio, 
the  Scioto,  Muskingum  and  Miami  Valleys  come 
prominently  into  notice.  Throughout  the  entire 
Eastern  States  they  were  still  attracting  attention, 
and  an  increased  emigration,  busily  occupying  their 
verdant  fields,  was  the  result.  All  about  Chilli- 
cothe  was  now  well  settled,  and,  up  the  banks  of 
that  stream,  prospectors  were  selecting  sites  for 
their  future  homes. 

In  1797,  Robert  Armstrong,  George  Skidmore, 
Lucas  Sullivant,  William  Domigan,  James  Mar- 
shall, John  Dill,  Jacob  Grubb,  Jacob  Overdier, 
Arthur  O'Hara,  John  Briekell,  Col.  Culbertson, 
the  Deardorfs,  McElvains,  Selles  and  others,  came 
to  what  is  now  Franklin  County,  and,  in  August, 
Mr.  Sullivant  and  some  others  laid  out  the  town  of 
Franklinton,  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Scioto,  oppo- 
site the  site  of  Columbus.  The  country  about  this 
locality  had  long  been  the  residence  of  the  Wyan- 
dots,  who  had  a  large  town  oh  the  city's  site,  and 
cultivated  extensive  fields  of  corn  on  the  river  bot- 
toms. The  locality  had  been  visited  by  the  whites  ■ 
as  early  as  1780,  in  some  of  their  expeditions,  and 
the  fertility  of  the  land  noticed.  As  soon  as  peace 
was  assured,  the  whites  came  and  began  a  settle- 
ment, as  has  been  noted.  Soon  after  Franklinton 
was  established,  a  Mr.  Springer  and  his  son-in-law, 
Osborn,  settled  on  the  Big  Darby,  and,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1798,  a  scattering  settlement  was  made  on 
Alum  Creek.  About  the  same  time  settlers  came 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Gahannah,  and  along  other 
water-courses.  Franklinton  was  the  point  to  which 
emigrants  came,  and  from  which  they  always  made 
their  permanent  location.  For  several  years  there 
was  no  mill,  nor  any  such  commodity,  nearer  than 
Chillicothe.  A  hand-mill  was  constructed  in 
Franklinton,  which  was  commonly  used,  unless  the 
settlers  made  a  trip  to  Chillicothe  in  a  canoe. 
Next,  a  horse-mill  was  tried;  but  not  till  1805, 
when  Col.  Kilbourne  built  a  mill  at  Worthington, 
settled  in  1803,  could  any  efficient  grinding  be 
done.  In  1789,  a  small  store  was  opened  in  Frank- 
linton, by  James  Scott,  but,  for  seven  or  eight 
years,  Chillicothe  was  the  nearest  post  office. 
Often,  when  the  neighbors  wanted  mail,  one  of 
their  number  was  furnished  money  to  pay  the 
postage  on  any  letters  that  might  be  waiting,  and 
sent  for  the  mail.  At  first,  as  in  all  new  localities, 
a  great  deal  of  sickness,  fever  and  ague,  prevailed. 


HISTOBY   or    OHIO. 


113 


As  the  people  became  acclimated,  this,  however, 
disappeared. 

.The  township  of  Sharon  in  this  county  has  a 
history  similar  to  that  of  Granville  Township  in 
Licking  County.  It  was  settled  by  a  "  Scioto 
Company,"  formed  in  Granby,  Conn.,  in  the  winter 
of  1801-02,  consisting  at  first  of  eight  associates. 
They  drew  up  articles  of  association,  among  which 
was  one  limiting  their  number  to  forty,  each  of 
whom  must  be  unanimously  chosen  by  ballot,  a 
single  negative  beingsufficienttopreventan election. 
Col.  James  KUbourne  was  sent  out  the  succeeding 
spring  to  explore  the  country  and  select  and  pur- 
chase a  township  for  settlement.  He  returned  in 
the  fall  without  making  any  purchase,  through 
fear  that  the  State  Constitution,  then  about  to  be 
formed,  would  tolerate  slavery,  in  which  case  the 
project  would  have  been  abandoned.  While  on 
this  visit.  Col.  Kilbourne  compiled  from  a  variety 
of  sources  the  first  map  made  of  Ohio.  Although 
much  of  it  was  conjectured,  and  hence  inaccurate, 
it  was  very  valuable,  being  correct  as  far  as  the 
State  was  then  known. 

"As  soon  as  information  was  received  that  the 
constitution  of  Ohio  prohibited  slavery.  Col.  Kil- 
bourne purchased  the  township  he  had  previously 
selected,  within  the  United  States  military  land 
district,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1803,  returned  to 
Ohio,  and  began  improvements.  By  the  succeed- 
ing December,  one  hundred  settlers,  mainly  from 
Hartford  County,  Conn.,  and  Hampshire  County, 
Mass.,  arrived  at  their  new  home.  Obeying  to  the 
letter  the  agreement  made  in  the  East,  the  first 
cabin  erected  was  used  for  a  schoolhouse  and  a 
church  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  denomination ; 
the  first  Sabbath  after  the  arrival  of  the  colony, 
divine  service  was  held  therein,  and  on  the  arrival 
of  the  eleventh  family  a  school  was  opened.  This 
early  attention  to  education  and  religion  has  left 
its  favorable  impress  upon  the  people  until  this  day. 
The  first  4th  of  July  was  uniquely  and  appropri- 
ately celebrated.  Seventeen  gigantic  trees,  em- 
blematical of  the  seventeen  States  forming  the 
Union,  were  cut,  so  that  a  few  blows  of  the  ax,  at 
sunrise  on  the  4th,  prostrated  each  successively 
with  a  tremendous  crash,  forming  a. national  salute 
novel  in  the  world's  history."* 

The  growth  of  this  part  of  Ohio  continued 
without  interruption  until  the  establishment  of  the 
State  capital  at  Columbus,  in  1816.  The  town  was 
laid  out  in  1812,  but,  as  that  date  is  considered  re- 

*Howe'8  Collections. 


mote  in  the  early  American  settlements,  its  history 
wUl  be  left  to  succeeding  pages,  and  there  traced 
when  the  history  of  the  State  capital  and  State 
government  is  given. 

The  site  of  Zanesville,  in  Muskingum  County, 
was  early  looked  upon  as  an  excellent  place  to  form 
a  settlement,  and,  had  not  hostilities  opened  in 
1791,  with  the  Indians,  the  place  would  have  been 
one  of  the  earliest  settled  in  Ohio.  As  it  was,  the 
war  so  disarranged  matters,  that  it  was  not  till 
1797  that  a  permanent  settlement  was  eifected. 

The  Muskingum  country  was  principally  occu- 
pied, in  aboriginal  times,  by  the  Wyandots,  Dela- 
wares,  and  a  few  Senecas  and  Shawanees.  An  In- 
dian town  once  stood,  years  before  the  settlement 
of  the  country,  in  the  vicinity  of  Duncan's  Falls, 
in  Muskingum  County,  from  which  circumstance 
the  place  is  often  called  "  Old  Town."  Near  Dres- 
den, was  a  large  Shawanee  town,  called  Wakato- 
maoa.  The  graveyard  was  quite  large,  and,  when 
the  whites  first  settled  here,  remains  of  the  town 
were  abundant.  It  was  in  this  vicinity  that  the 
venerable  Maj.  Cass,  father  of  Lewis  Cass,  lived 
and  died.  He  owned  4,000  acres,  given  him  for 
his  militd,ry  services. 

The  first  settlers  on  the  site  of  Zanesville  were 
William  McCulloh  and  Henry  Crooks.  The  lo- 
cality was  given  to  Ebenezer  Zane,  who  had  been 
allowed  three  sections  of  land  on  the  Scioto,  Mus- 
kingum and  Hockhocking,  wherever  the  road 
crossed  these  rivers,  provided  other  prior  claims 
did  not  interfere,  for  opening  "  Zane's  trace." 
When  he  located  the  road  across  the  Muskingum, 
he  selected  the  place  where  Zanesville  now  stands, 
being  attracted  there  by  the  excellent  water  privi- 
leges. He  gave  the  section  of  land  here  to  his 
brother  Jonathan  Zane,  and  J.  Mclntire,  who 
leased  the  ferry,  established  on  the  road  over  the 
Muskingum,  to  William  McCulloh  and  Henry 
Crooks,  who  became  thereby  the  first  settlers.  The 
ferry  was  kept  about  where  the  old  upper  bridge 
was  afterward  placed.  The  ferry-boat  was  made 
by  fastening  two  canoes  together  with  a  stick. 
Soon  after  a  fiat-boat  was  used.  It  was  brought 
from  WheeUng,  by  Mr.  Mclntire,  in  1797,  the 
year  after  the  ferry  was  established.  The  road  cut 
out  through  Ohio,  ran  from  Wheeling,  Va.,  to 
Maysville,  Ky.  Over  this  road  the  mail  was  car- 
ried, and,  in  1798,  the  first  mail  ever  carried 
wholly  in  Ohio  was  brought  up  from  Marietta  to 
McCulloh's  cabin  by  Daniel  Convers,  where,  by 
arrangement  of  the  Postmaster  General,  it  met 
a  mail  from  Wheeling  and  one  from  Maysville. 


D  \' 


114 


HISTORY    or    OHIO. 


McCulloli,  who  could  hardly  read,  was  authorized 
to  assort  the  mails  and  send  each  package  in  its 
proper  direction.  For  this  service  he  received 
$30  per  annum ;  but  owing  to  his  inability  to  read 
well,  Mr.  Convers  generally  performed  the  duty. 
At  that  time,  the  mails  met  here  once  a  week. 
Four  years  after,  the  settlement  had  so  increased 
that  a  regular  post  office  was  opened,  and  Thomas 
Dowden  appointed  Postmaster.  He  kept  his  office 
in  a  wooden  building  near  the  river  bank. 

Messrs.  Zane  and  Mclntire  laid  out  a  town  in 
1799,  which  they  called  Westbourn.  When  the 
post  office  was  established,  it  was  named  Zanesville, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  village  took  the  same  name. 
A  few  families 'settled  on  the  west  side  of  the  river, 
soon  after  McCuUoh  arrived,  and  as  this  locality 
grew  well,  not  long  after  a  store  and  tavern  was 
opened  here.  Mr.  Mclntire  built  a  double  log 
cabin,  which  was  used  as  a  hotel,  and  in  which 
Louis  Philippe,  King  of  France,  was  once  enter- 
tained. Although  the  fare  and  accommodations 
were  of  the  pioneer  period,  the  honorable  guestseems 
to  have  enjoyed  his  visit,  if  the  statements  of  Lewis 
Cass  in  his  "  Camp  and  Court  of  Louis  Philippe" 
may  be  believed. 

In  1804,  Muskingum  County  was  formed  by  the 
Legislature,  and,  for  a  while,  strenuous  efforts  made 
to  secure  the  State  capital  by  the  citizens  of  Zanes- 
ville. They  even  erected  buildings  for  the  use  of 
the  Legislature  and  Governor,  and  during  the  ses- 
sion of  1810-11,  the  temporary  seat  of  govern- 
ment was  fixed  here.  When  the  permanent  State 
capital  was  chosen  in  1816,  Zanesville  was  passed 
by,  and  gave  up  the  hope.  It  is  now  one  of  the 
most  enterprising  towns  in  the  Muskingum  Valley. 

During  the  summer  of  179Y,  John  Knoop,  then 
living  four  miles  above  Cincinnati,  made  several 
expeditions  up  the  Miami  Valley  and  selected  the 
land  on  which  he  afterward  located.  The  next 
spring  Mr.  Knoop,  his  brother  Benjamin,  Henry 
Garard,  Benjamin  Hamlet  and  JohnTildus  estab- 
lished a  station  in  what  is  now  Miami  County,  near 
the  present  town  of  Staunton  Village.  That  sum- 
mer, Mrs.  Knoop  planted  the  first  apple-tree  in 
the  Miami  *  country.  They  all  lived  together  for 
greater  safety  for  two  years,  during  which  time 
they  were  occupied  clearing  their  farms  and  erect- 
ing dwellings.  During  the  summer,  the  site  of 
Piqua  was  settled,  and  three  young  men  located  at  a 
place  known  as  "  Freeman's  Prairie."     Those  who 

*  The  word  Miami  in  the  lodian  tongue  signified  mother.  The 
Miamis  were  the  original  owners  of  the  valley  by  that  name,  and 
affirmed  they  were  created  there. 


settled  at  Piqua  were  Samuel  HUliard,  Job  Garard, 
Shadrac  Hudson,  Jonah  Rollins,  Daniel  Cox, 
Thomas  Rich,  and  a  Mr.  Hunter.  The  last  named 
came  to  the  site  of  Piqua  first  in  179Y,  and 
selected  his  home.  Until  1799,  these  named  were 
the  only  ones  in  this  locality  ;  but  that  year  emi- 
gration set  in,  and  very  shortly  occupied  almost  all 
the  bottom  land  in  Miami  County.  With  the 
increase  of  emigration,  came  the  comforts  of  life, 
and  mills,  stores  and  other  necessary  aids  to  civil- 
ization, were  ere  long  to  be  seen. 

The  site  of  Piqua  is  quite  historic,  being  the 
theater  of  many  important  Indian  occurrences, 
and  the  old  home  of  the  Shawanees,  of  which 
tribe  Tecumseh  was  a  chief.  During  the .  Indian 
war,  a  fort  called  Fort  Piqua  was  buUt,  near  the 
residence  of  Col.  John  Johnston,  so  long  the  faith- 
ful Indian  Agent.  The  fort  was  abandoned  at  the 
close  of  hostilities. 

When  the  Miami  Canal  was  opened  through  this 
part  of  the  State,  the  country  began  -rapidly  to 
improve,  and  is  now  probably  one  of  the  best  por- 
tions of  Ohio. 

About  the  same  time  the  Miami  was  settled,  a 
company  of  people  from  Pennsylvania  and  Vir- 
ginia, who  were  principally  of  German  and  Irish 
descent,  located  in  Lawrence  County,  near  the  iron 
region.  As  soon  as  that  ore  was  made  available, 
that  part  of  the  State  rapidly  filled  with  settlers, 
most  of  whom  engaged  in  the  mining  and  working 
of  iron  ore.     Now  it  is  very  prosperous. 

Another  settlement  was  made  the  same  season, 
1797,  on  the  Ohio  side  of  the  river,  in  Columbiana 
County.  The  settlement  progressed  slowly  for  a 
while,  owing  to  a  few  difficulties  with  the  Indians. 
The  celebrated  Adam  Poe  had  been  here  as  early 
as  1782,  and  several  localities  are  made  locally 
famous  by  hi^  and  his  brother's  adventures. 

In  this  county,  on  Little  Beaver  Creek,  near  its 
mouth,  the  second  paper-mill  west  of  the  AUe- 
ghanies  was  erected  in  1805-6.  It  was  the  pioneer 
enterprise  of  the  kind  in  Ohio,  and  was  named  the 
Ohio  Paper-Mill.  Its  proprietors  were  John 
Bever  and  John  Coulter. 

One  of  the  most  noted  localities  in  the  State  is 
comprised  in  Greene  County.  The  Shawanee 
town,  "  Old  Chillicothe,"  was  on  the  Little  Miami, 
in  this  county,  about  three  miles  north  of  the  site 
of  Xenia.  This  old  Indian  town  was,  in  the  an- 
nals of  the  West,  a  noted  place,  and  is  frequently 
noticed.  It  is  first  mentioned  in  1773,  by  Capt. 
Thomas  Bullitt,  of  Virginia,  who  boldly  advanced 
alone  into  the  town  and  obtained  the  consent  of 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


113 


the  Indians  to  go  on  to  Kentucky  and  make  his 
settlement  at  the  falls  of  the  Ohio.  His  audacious 
bravery  gained  his  request.  Daniel  Boone  was 
taken  prisoner  early  in  1778,  with  twenty-seven 
others,,  and  kept  for  a  time  at  Old  Chillioothe. 
Through  the  influence  of  the  British  Governor, 
Hamilton,  who  had  taken  a  great  fancy  to  Boone, 
he  and  ten  others  were  sent  to  Detroit.  The  In- 
dians, however,  had  an  equal  fancy  for  the  brave 
frontiersman,  and  took  him  back  to  Chillicothe, 
and  adopted  him  into  their  tribe.  About  the  1st 
of  June  he  escaped  from  them,  and  made  his  way 
back  to  Kentucky,  in  time  to  prevent  a  universal 
massacre  of  the  whites.  In  July,  1779,  the  town 
was  destroyed  by  Col.  John  Bowman  and  one 
hundred  and  sixty  Kentuckians,  and  the  Indians 
dispersed. 

The  Americans  made  a  permanent  settlement  in 
this  county  in  1797  or  1798.  This  latter  year,  a 
mill  was  erected  in  the  confines  of  the  county, 
which  implies  the  settlement  was  made  a  short 
time  previously.  A  short  distance  east  of  the 
mill  two  block-houses  were  erected,  and  it  was  in- 
tended, should  it  become  necessary,  to  surround 
them  and  the  mill  with  pickets.  The  mill  was 
used  by  the  settlers  at  "  Dutch  Station,"  in  Miami 
County,  fully  thirty  miles  distant.  The  richness 
of  the  country  in  this  part  of  the  State  attracted  a 
great  number  of  settlers,  so  that  by  1803  the 
county  was  established,  and  Xenia  laid  out,  and  des- 
ignated as  the  county  seat.  Its  first  court  house, 
a  primitive  log  structure,  was  long  preserved  as  a 
curiosity.     It  would  indeed  be  a  curiosity  now. 

Zane's  trace,  passing  from  Wheeling  to  Mays- 
ville,  crossed  the  Hockhocking*  Eiver,  in  Fairfield 
County,  where  Lancaster  is  now  built.  Mr.  Zane 
located  one  of  his  three  sections  on  this  river, 
covering  the  site  of  Lancaster.  Following  this 
trace  in  1797,  many  individuals  noted  the  desira- 
bleness of  the  locality,  some  of  whom  determined 
to  return  and  settle.  "  The  site  of  the  city  had 
in  former  times  been  the  liome  of  the  Wyandots, 
who  had  a  town  here,  that,  in  1790,  contained 
over  500  wigwams  and  more  than  1,000  souls. 
Their  town  was  called  Tarhee,  or,  in  English,  the 
Orane-town,  and  derived  its  name  from  the  princi- 

*  The  word  Hock -hock -ing  in  the  Delaware  language  signifies 
aboMe:  the  Shawanees  have  it  Wea-lha-kagh-qiut  sepe,  ie;  bottle 
river.  John  White  in  the  American  Pioneer  says:  "About  seven 
miles  northwest  of  Lancaster,  there  is  a  fall  in  the  Hockhocking  of 
about  twenty  feet.  Above  the  fall  for  a  short  distance,  the  creek 
is  very  narrow  and  straight  forming  a  neck,  while  at  the  falls  it 
suddenly  widens  on  each  side  and  swells  into  the  appearance  of  the 
body  of  a  bottle.  The  whole,  when  seen  from  above,  appears  exactly 
in  the  shape  of  a  bottle,  and  from  this  fact  the  Indians  called  the 
river  Hock-bock-ing.*' — Sowers  Collections, 


pal  chief  of  that  tribe.  Another  portion  of  the 
tribe  then  lived  at  Toby-town,  nine  miles  west  of 
Tarhe-town  (now  Royaltown),  and  was  governed 
by  an  inferior  chief  called  Toby.  The  chief's  wig- 
wam in  Tarhe  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  prairie, 
near  a  beautiful  and  abundant  spring  of  water, , 
whose  outlet  was  the  river.  The  wigwams  of  the 
Indians  were  built  of  the  bark  of  trees,  set  on 
poles,  in  the  form  of  a  sugar-camp,  with  one  square 
open,  fronting  a  fire,  and  about  the  height  of  a 
man.  The  Wyandot  tribe  that  day  numbered 
about  500  warriors.  By  the  treaty  of  Greenville, 
they  ceded  all  their  territory,  and  the  majority,  un- 
der their  chief,  removed  to  Upper  Sandusky.  The 
remainder  lingered  awhile,  loath  to  leave  the  home 
of  their  ancestors,  but  as  game  became  scarce,  they, 
too,  left  for  better  hunting-grounds."* 

In  AprU,  1798,  Capt.  Joseph  Hunter,  a  bold, 
enterprising  man,  settled  on  Zane's  trace,  on  the 
bank  of  the  prairie,  west  of  the  crossings,  at  a 
place  since  known  as  "Hunter's  settlement."  For 
a  time,  he  had  no  neighbors  nearer  than  the  set- 
tlers on  the  Muskingum  and  Scioto  Rivers.  He 
lived  to  see  the  country  he  had  found  a  wilderness, 
full  of  the  homes  of  industry.  His  wife  was  the 
first  white  woman  that  settled  in  the  valley,  and 
shared  with  him  all  the  privations  of  a  pioneer 
life. 

Mr.  Hunter  had  not  been  long  in  the  valley  till 
he  was  joined  by  Nathaniel  Wilson,  John  and  Al- 
len Green,  John  and  Joseph  McMullen,  Robert 
Cooper,  Isaac  Shaefer,  and  a  few  others,  who 
erected  cabins  and  planted  com.  The  next  year, 
the  tide  of  emigration  came  in  with  great  force. 
In  the  spring,  two  settlements  were  made  in  Green- 
field Township,  each  settlement  containing  twenty 
or  more  families.  One  was  called  the  Forks  of 
the  Hockhocking,  the  other,  Yankeetown.  Set- 
tlements were  also  made  along  the  river  below 
Hunter's,  on  Rush  Creek,  Raccoon  and  Indian 
Creeks,  Pleasant  Run,  Felter's  Run,  at  Tobeytown, 
Muddy  Prairie,  and  on  Clear  Creek.  In  the  fall, 
■ — 1799 — Joseph  Loveland  and  Hezekiah  Smith 
built  a  log  grist-mill  at  the  Upper  Falls  of  the 
Hockhocking,  afterward  known  as  Rook  Mill. 
This  was  the  first  mill  on  this  river.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  year,  a  mail  route  was  established  over 
the  trace.  The  mail  was  carried  through  on  horse- 
back, and,  in  the  settlements  in  this  locality,  was 
left  at  the  cabin  of  Samuel  Coates,-  who  lived  on 
the  prairie  at  the  crossings  of  the  river. 

*  Lecture  of  George  Sanderson. — Rowers  Colleetions. 


±1 


~t 


116 


HISTORY    or    OHIO. 


In  the  fall  of  tte  next  year,  Ebenezer  Zane  laid 
out  Lancaster,  whicli,  until  1805,  was  known  as 
New  Lancaster.  The  lots  sold  very  rapidly,  at 
$50  each,  and,  in  less  than  "one  year,  quite  a  vil- 
lage appeared.  December  9,  the  Governor  and 
Judges  of  the  Northwest  Territory  organized 
Fairfield  County,  and  made  Lancaster  the  county 
seat.  The  year  following,  the  Rev.  John  Wright, 
a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  came,  and 
from  that  time  on  schools  and  churches  were  estab- 
lished and  thereafter  regTilarly  maintained  at  this 
place. 

Not  far  from  Lancaster  are  immense  m,ural  es- 
carpments of  sandstone  formation.  They  were 
noted  among  the  aborigines,  and  were,  probably, 
used  by  them  as  places  of  outlook  and  defense. 

The  same  summer  Fairfield  County  was  settled, 
the  towns  of  Bethel  and  Williamsburg,  in  Cler- 
mont County,  were  settled  and  laid  out,  and  in 
1800,  the  county  was  erected. 

A  settlement  was  also  made  immediately  south 
of  Fairfield  County,  in  Hocking  County,  by  Chris- 
tian Westenhaver,  a  German,  from  near  Hagers- 
town,  Md.  He  came  in  the  spring  of  1798,  and 
was  soon  joined  by  several  families,  who  formed 
quite  a  settlement.  The  territory  included  in  the 
county  remained  a  part  of  Ross,  Athens  and 
Fairfield,  until  1818,  when  Hocking  County  was 
erected,  and  Logan,  which  had  been  laid  out  in 
1816,  was  made  the  county  seat. 

The  country  comprised  in  the  county  is  rather 
broken,  especially  along  the  Hockhocking  River. 
This  broken  country  was  a  favorite  resort  of  the 
Wyandot  Indians,  who  could  easily  hide  in  the 
numerous  grottoes  and  ravines  made  by  the  river 
and  its  afliuents  as  the  water  cut  its  way  through 
the  sandstone  rocks. 

In  1798,  soon  after  Zane's  trace  was  cut  through 
the  country,  a  Mr.  Graham  located  on  the  site  of 
Cambridge,  in  Guernsey  County.  His  was  then 
the  only  dwelling  between  Wheehng  and  Zanes- 
ville,  on  the  trace.  He  remained  here  alone  about 
two  years,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  George  Bey- 
mer,  from  Somerset,  Penn.  Both  these  persons 
kept  a  tavern  and  ferry  over  Will's  Creek.  In 
April,  1803,  Mr.  Beymer  was  succeeded  by  John 
Beatty,  who  came  from  Loudon,  Va.  His  family 
consisted'of  eleven  persons.  The  Indians  hunted 
in  this  vicinity,  and  were  frequent  visitors  at  the 
tavern.  In  June,  1806,  Cambridge  was  laid  out, 
and  on  the  day  the  lots  were  ofiered  for  sale,  sev- 
eral families  from  the  British  Isle  of  Guernsey, 
near  the  coast  of  Prance,  stopped  here  on  their 


way  to  the  West.  They  were  satisfied  with  the 
location  and  purchased  many  of  the  lots,  and  some 
land  in  the  vicinity.  They  were  soon  followed  by 
other  families  fi-om  the  same  place,  all  of  whom.' 
settling  in  this  locaKty  gave  the  name  to  the  county 
when  it  was  erected  in  1810. 

A  settlement  was  made  in  the  central  part  of  the 
State,  on  Darby  Creek,  in  Union  County,  in  the 
summer  of  1798,  by  James  and  Joshua  Ewing.fi 
The  next  year,  they  were  joined  by  Samuel  and? 
David  Mitchell,  Samuel  Mitchell,  Jr.,  Samuel 
Kirkpatrick  and  Samuel  MeCullough,and,  in  1800, 
by  George  and  Samuel  Reed,  Robert  Snodgriiss 
and  Paul  Hodgson. 

"James  Ewing's  farm  was  the  site  of  an  an- 
cient and  noted  Mingo  town,  which  was  deserted, 
at  the  time  the  Mingo  towns,  in  what  is  now  Logan* 
County,  were  destroyed  by  Gen.  Logan,  of  Ken- 
tucky, in  1786.  When  Mr.  Ewing  took  posses- 
sion of  his  farm,  the  cabins  were  still  standing, 
and,  among  others,  the  remains  of  a  blacksmith's 
shop,  with  coal,  cinders,  iron-dross,  etc.  Jonathan 
Alder,  formerly  a  prisoner  among  the  Indians; 
says  the  shop  was  carried  on  by  a  renegade  white 
man,  named  Butler,  who  lived  among  the  Mingoes.' 
Extensive  fields  had  formerly  been  cultivated  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  town."* 

Soon  after  the  settlement  was  established.  Col. 
James  Curry  located  here.  He  was  quite  an  influ- 
ential man,  and,  in  1820,  succeeded  in  getting  the 
county  formed  from  portions  of  Delaware,  Frank4g 
lin,  Madison  and  Logan,  and  a  part  of  the  old  In- 
dian Territory.  Marysville  was  made  the  county 
seat. 

During  the  year  1789,  a  fort,  called  Fort  Steu- 
ben, was  built  on  the  site  of  Steubenville,  but 
was  dismantled  at  the  conclusion  of  hostilities  in 
1795.  Three  years  after,  Bezaleel  Wells  and  Hon. 
James  Ross,  for  whom  Ross  County  was  named, 
located  the  town  of  Steubenville  about  the  old 
fort,  and,  by  liberal  ofiers  of  lots,  soon  attracted 
quite  a  number  of  settlers.  In  1805,  the  town 
was  incorporated,  and  then  had  a  population  of 
several  hundred  persons.  Jefierson  County  was 
created  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  July  29,  1797,  the  year 
before  Steubenville  was  laid  out.  It  then  included 
the  large  scope  of  country  west  of  Pennsylvania*; 
east  and  north  of  a  line  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Cuyahoga ;  southwardly  to  the  Muskingum,  and 
east  to  the  Ohio ;  including,  in  its- territories,  the 
cities  of  Cleveland,  Canton,  Steubenville  and  War- 


^  Howe'a  Collections. 


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*    «, 


HISTOKY   OF   OHIO. 


119 


ren.  Only  a  short  time,  however,  was  it  allowed 
to  retain  this  size,  as  the  increase  in  emigration 
rendered  it  necessary  to  erect  new  counties,  which 
was  rapidly  done,  especially  on  the  adoption  c" the 
State  government. 

The  county  is  rich  in  early  history,  prior  to  its 
settlement  by  the  Americans.  It  was  the  home  of 
the  celebrated  Mingo  chief,  Logan,  who  resid  jd 
awhile  at  an  old  Mingo  town,  a  few  miles  below  t  le 
site  of  Steubenville,  the  place  where  the  troo  )s 
under  Col.  WiUiamson  rendezvoused  on  their  i  i- 
famous  raid  against  the  Moravian  Indians ;  ai  d 
also  where  Col.  Crawford  and  his  men  met,  whf  a 
starting  on  their  unfortunate  expedition. 

In  the  Reserve,  settlements  were  often  made 
remote  from  populous  localities,  in  accordance  with 
the  wish  of  a  proprietor,  who  might  own  a  tract  of 
country  twenty  or  thirty  miles  in  the  interior.  In 
the  present  county  of  Geauga,  three  families  located 
at  Burton  in  1798.  They  lived  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  any  other  settlement  for  some  time, 
and  were  greatly  inconvenienced  for  the  want  of 
mills  or^  shops.  As  time  progressed,  however, 
these  were  brought  nearer,  or  built  in  their  midst, 
and,  ere  long,  almost  all  parts  of  the  Reserve  could 
show  some  settlement,  even  if  isolated. 

The  next  year,  1799,  settlements  were  made  at 
Ravenna,  Deerfield  and  Palmyra,  in  Portage 
County.  Hon.  Benjamin  Tappan  came  to  the  site 
of  Ravenna  in  June,  at  which  time  he  found  one 
white  man,  a  Mr.  Honey,  living  there.  At  this  date, 
a  solitary  log  cabin  occupied  the  sites  of  Buffalo  and 
Cleveland.  On  his  journey  from  New  England, 
Mr.  Tappan  fell  in  with  David  Hudson,  the  founder 
of  the  Hudson  settlement  in  Summit  County. 
After  many  days  of  travel,  they  landed  at  a  prairie  in 
Summit  County.  Mr.  Tappan  left  his  goods  in  a 
cabin,  built  for  the  purpose,  under  the  care  of  a  hired 
man,  and  went  on  his  way,  cutting  a  road  to  the 
site  0^  Ravenna,  where  his  land  lay.  On  his  return 
for  a  second  load  of  goods,  they  found  the  cabin 
deserted,  and  evidences  of  its  plunder  by  the  In- 
dians. Not  long  after,  it  was  learned  that  the  man 
left  in  charge  had  gone  to  Mr.  Hudson's  settle- 
ment, he  having  set  out  immediately  on  his  arrival, 
for  his  own  land.  Mr.  Tappan  gathered  the  re- 
mainder of  his  goods,  and  started  back  for  Ravenna. 
On  his  way  one  of  his  oxen  died,  and  he .  found 
himself  in  a  vast  forest,  away  from  any  habitation, 
and  with  one  dollar  in  money.  He  did  not  faker 
a  moment;  but  sent  his  hired  man,  a  faithful  fellow, 
to  Erie,  Penn.,  a  distance  of  one  hundred  miles 
through  the  wilderness,  with  the  compass  for.  his 


guide,  requesting  from  Capt.  Lyman,  the  com- 
mander at  the  fort  there,  a  loan  of  money.  At 
the  same  time,  he  followed  the  township  lines  to 
Youngstown,  where  he  became  acquainted  with 
Col.  James  Hillman,  who  did  not  hesitate  to  sell 
him  an  ox  on  credit,  at  a  fair  price.  He  returned 
to  his  load  in  a  few  days,  found  his  ox  all  right, 
hitched  the  two  together  and  went  on.  He  was 
soon  joined  by  his  hired  man,  with  the  money,  and 
together  they  spent  the  winter  in  a  log  cabin.  He 
gave  his  man  one  hundred  acres  of  land  as  a  reward, 
and  paid  Col.  Hillman  for  the  ox.  In  a  year  or 
two  he  had  a  prosperous  settlement,  and  when  the 
county  was  erected  in  1807,  Ravenna  was  made 
the  seat  of  justice. 

About  the  same  time  Mr.  Tappan  began  his 
settlement,  others  were  commenced  in  other  locali- 
ties in  this  county.  Early  in  May,  1799,  Lewis 
Day  and  his  son  Horatio,  of  Granby,  Conn.,  and 
Moses  Tibbals  and  Green  Frost,  of  Granville, 
Mass.,  left  their  homes  in  a  one-horse  wagon,  and, 
the  29th  of  May,  arrived  in  what  is  now  Deerfield 
Township.  Theirs  was  the  first  wagon  that  had 
ever  penetrated  farther  westward  in  this  region 
than  Canfield.  The  country  west  of  that  place 
had  been  an  unbroken  wilderness  until  within  a 
few  days.  Capt.  Caleb  Atwater,  of  Wallingford, 
Conn.,  had  hired  some  men  to  open  a  road  to 
Township  No.  1,  in  the  Seventh  Range,  of  which 
he  was  the  owner.  This  road  passed  through 
Deerfield,  and  was  completed  to  that  place  when 
the  party  arrived  at  the  point  of  their  destination. 
These  emigrants  selected  sites,  and  commenced 
clearing  the  land.  In  July,  Lewis  Ely  arrived 
from  Granville,  and  wintered  here,  while  those 
who  came  first,  and  had  made  their  improvements, 
returned  East.  The  4th  of  March,  1800,  Alva 
Day  (son  of  Lewis  Day),  John  Campbell  and 
Joel  Thrall  arrived.  In  April,  George  and  Rob- 
ert Taylor  and  James  Laughlin,  from  Pennsylvania, 
with  their  families,  came.  Mr.  Laughlin  built  a 
grist-mill,  which  was  of  great  convenience  to  the 
settlers.  July  29,  Lewis  Day  returned  with 
his  family  and  his  brother-in-law,  Maj.  Rogers, 
who,  the  next  year,  also  brought  his  family. 

"Much  suffering  was  experienced  at  first  on 
account  of  the  scarcity  of  provisions.  They  were 
chiefly  supplied  from  the  settlements  east  of  the 
Ohio  River,  the  nearest  of  which  was  Georgetown, 
forty  miles  away.  The  provisions  were  brought 
on  pack-horses  through  the  wilderness.  August 
22,  Mrs.  Alva  Day  gave  birth  to  a  child" — a  fe- 
male— the    first    child    born    in    the    township. 


120 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


November  7,  the  first  wedding  took  place.  Jolm 
Campbell  and  Sarab  Ely  were  joined  in  wedlock 
by  Calvin  Austin,  Esq.,  of  Warren.  He  was 
accompanied  from  Warren,  a  distance  of  twenty- 
seven  miles,  by  Mr.  Pease,  then  a  lawyer,  after- 
ward a  well-known  Judge.  They  came  on  foot, 
there  being  no  road;  and,  as  they  threaded  their 
way  through  the  woods,  young  Pease  taught  the 
Justice  the  marriage  ceremony  by  oft  repetition. 

"  In  1802,  Franklin  Township  was  organized,  em- 
bracing all  of  Portage  and  parte  of  Trumbull  and 
Summit  Counties.  About  this  time  the  settlement 
received  accessions  from  all  parts  of  the  East.  In 
February,  1801,  Rev.  Badger  came  and  began  his 
labors,  and  two  years  later  Dr.  Shadrac  Bostwick 
organized  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church.*  The 
remaining  settlement  in  this  county.  Palmyra,  was 
begun  about  the  same  time  as  the  others,  by  David 
Daniels,  from  Salisbury,  Conn.  The  next  year  he 
brought  out  his  family.  Soon  after  he  was  joined 
by  E.  N.  and  W.  Bacon,  E.  Cutler,  A.  Thurber, 
A.  Preston,  N.  Bois,  J.  T.  Baldwin,  T.  and  C. 
Gilbert,  D.  A.  and  S.  Waller,  N.  Smith,  Joseph 
Fisher,  J.  Tuttle  and  others. 

"  When  this  region  was  first  settled,  there  was 
an  Indian  trail  commencing  at  Port  Mcintosh 
(Beaver,  Penn.),  and  extending  westward  to  San- 
dusky and  Detroit.  The  trail  followed  the  highest 
ground.  Along  the  trail,  parties  of  Indians  were 
frequently  seen  passing,  for  several  years  after  the 
whites  came.  It  seemed  to  be  the  great  aboriginal 
thoroughfare  from  Sandusky  to  the  Ohio  River. 
There  were  several  large  piles  of  stones  on  the 
trail  in  this  locality,  under  which  human  skeletons 
have  been  discovered.  These  are  supposed  to  be 
the  remains  of  Indians  slain  in  war,  or  murdered 
by  their  enemies,  as  tradition  says  it  is  an  Indian 
custom  for  each  one  to  cast  a  stone  on  the  grave 
of  an  enemy,  whenever  he  passes  by.  These  stones 
appear  to  have  been  picked  up  along  the  trail,  and 
cast  upon  the  heaps  at  different  times. 

"At  the  point  where  this  trail  crosses  Silver 
Creek,  Fredrick  Daniels  and  others,  in  1814,  dis- 
covered, painted  on  several  trees,  various  devices, 
evidently  the  work  of  Indians.  The  bark  was 
carefully  shaved  off  two-thirds  of  the  way  around, 
and  figures  cut  upon  the  wood.  On  one  of  these 
was  delineated  seven  Indians,  equipped  in  a  par- 
ticular manner,  one  of  whom  was  without  a  head. 
This  was  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  a  party 
on  their  return  westward,  to  give  intelligence  to 

*  Howe's  Collections. 


their  friends  Ijehind,  of  the  loss  of  one  of  their 
party  at  this  place  ;  and,  on  making  search,  a  hu- 
man skeleton  was  discovered  near  by."  * 

The  celebrated  Indian  hunter,  Brady,  made  his 
remarkable  leap  across  the  Cuyahoga,  in  this 
county.  The  county  also  contains  Brady's  Pond, 
a  large  sheet  of  water,  in  which  he  once  made  his 
escape  from  the  Indians,  from  which  circumstance 
it  received  its  name. 

The  locality  comprised  in  Clark  County  was 
settled  the  same  summer  as  those  in  Summit  County. 
John  Humphries  came  to  this  part  of  the  State 
with  Gen.  Simon  Kenton,  in  1799.  With  them 
came  six  families  from  Kentucky,  who  settled 
north  of  the  site  of  Springfield.  A  fort  was 
erected  on  Mad  River,  for  security  against  the  In- 
dians. Fourteen  cabins  were  soon  built  [near  it, 
all  being  surrounded  by  a  strong  picket  fence. 
David  Lowery,  one  of  the  pioneers  here,  built  the 
first  flat-boat,  to  operate  on  the  Great  Miami,  and, 
in  1800,  made  the  first  trip  on  that  river,  coming 
down  from  Dayton.  He  took  his  boat  and  cargo 
on  down  to  New  Orleans,  where  he  disposed  of  his 
load  of  "  five  hundred  venison  hams  and  bacon." 

Springfield  was  laid  out  in  March,  1801.  Griffith 
Foos,  who  came  that  spring,  built  a  tavern,  which 
he  completed  and  opened  in  June,  remaining  in 
this  place  till  1814.  He  often  stated  that  when 
emigrating  West,  his  party  were  four  days  and  a 
half  getting  from  Franklinton,  on  the  Scioto,  to 
Springfield,  a  distance  of  forty-two  miles.  When 
crossing  the  Big  Darby,  they  were  obliged  to  carry 
all  their  goods  over  on  horseback,  and  then  drag 
their  wagons  across  with  ropes,  while  some  of  the 
party  swam  by  the  side  of  the  wagon,  to  prevent 
its  upsetting.  The  site  of  the  town  was  of  such 
practical  beauty  and  utility,  that  it  soon  attracted 
a  large  number  of  settlers,  and,  in  a  few  years, 
Springfield  was  incorporated.  In  1811,  a  church 
was  built  by  the  residents  for  the  use  of  all  denom- 
inations. 

Clark  County  is  made  famous  in  aboriginal 
history,  as  the  birthplace  and  childhood  home  of 
the  noted  Indian,  Tecumseh.f     He   was  born,  in 


*  Howe's  Collections. 

tTecumseh,  or  Tecumahe,  was  a  son  of  Puckeshinwa,  a  member 
of  the  Kiscopoke  tribe,  and  Hethoataske,  of  the  Turtle  tribe  of  the 
Shawanee  nation.  They  removed  from  Florida  to  Ohio  soon  after 
their  marriage.  The  father,  Puckeshinwa,  rose  to  the  rank  of  a  chief, 
and  fell  at  the  battle  of  Point  Pleasant,  in  1774,  After  bis  death,  . 
the  mother,  Methoataske,  returned  to  the  south,  where  she  died  at 
an  advanced  age.  Tecumseh  was  born  about  the  year  1768.  He 
early  showed  a  passion  for  war,  and,  when  only  27  years  of  age,  was 
made  a  chief.  The  next  year  he  removed  to  Deer  Creek,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Urbana,  and  from  there  to  the  site  of  Fiqua,  on  the 
Great  Miami.  In  1798  he  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  Delawares 
in  the  vicinity  of  White  River,  Indiana,  and  from  that  time  made 


-X 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


121 


the  old  Indian  town  of  Piqua,  the  ancient  Piqua 
of  the  Shawanees,  on  the  north  side  of  Mad  River, 
about  five  miles  west  of  Springfield.  The  town 
was  destroyed  by  the  Kentucky  Hangers  under 
Gen.  George  Rogers  Clarke  in  1780,  at  the  same 
time  he  destroyed  "  Old  Chillicothe."  Immense 
fields  of  standing  corn  about  both  towns  were  cut 
down,  compelling  the  Indians  to  resort  to  the  hunt 
with  mor^  than  ordinary  vigor,  to  sustain  them- 
selves and  their  wives  and  children.  This  search 
insured  safety  for  some  time  on  the  borders.  The 
site  of  Cadiz,  in  Harrison  County,  was  settled  in 
April,  1799,  by  Alexander  Henderson  and  his 
family,  from  Washins^on  County,  Penn.  When 
they  arrived,  they  found  neighbors  in  the  persons 
of  Daniel  Peterson  and  his  fiimily,  who  lived  near 
the  forks  of  Short  Creek,  and  who  had  preceded 
them  but  a  very  short  time.  The  next  year,  emi- 
grants began  to  cross  the  Ohio  in  great  numbers, 
and  in  five  or  six  years  large  settlements  could  be 
seen  in  this  part  of  the  State.  The  county  was 
erected  in  1814,  and  Cadiz,  laid  out  in  1803,  made 
the  county  seat. 

While  the  settlers  were  locating  in  and  about 
Cadiz,  a  few  families  came  to  what  is  now  Monroe 
County,  and  settled  near  the  present  town  of 
BeaUsville.  Shortly  after,  a  few  persons  settled  on 
the  Clear  Fork  of  the  Little  Muskingum,  and  a 
few  others  on  the  east  fork  of  Duck  Creek.     The 


next  season  all  these  settlements  received  addi- 
tions and  a  few  other  localities  were  also  occupied. 
Before  long  the  town  of  Beallsville  was  laid 
out,  and  in  time  became  quite  populous.  The 
county  was  not  erected  until  1813,  and  in  1815 
Woodsfield  was  laid  out  and  made  the  seat  of 
justice. 

The  opening  of  the  season  of  1800— the  dawn 
of  a  new  century — saw  a  vast  emigration  west- 
ward. Old  settlements  in  Ohio  received  immense 
increase  of  emigrants,  while,  branching  out  in  all 
directions  like  the  radii  of  a  circle,  other  settle- 
ments were  constantly  formed  until,  in  a  few  years, 
all  parts  of  the  State'  knew  the  presence  of  the 
white  man.  ■ 

Towns  sprang  into  existence  here  and  there ; 
mills  and  factories  were  erected;  post  oflSces  and 
post-routes  were  established,  and  the  comforts  and 
conveniences  of  life  began  to  appear. 

With  this  came  the  desire,  so  potent  to  the  mind 
of  all  American  citizens,  to  rule  themselves  through 
representatives  chosen  by  their  own  votes.  Hith- 
erto, they  had  been  ruled  by  a  Governor  and  Judges 
appointed  by  the  President,  who,  in  turn,  appointed 
county  and  judicial  officers.  The  arbitrary  rulings 
of  the  Governor,  St.  Clair,  had  arrayed  the  mass 
of  the  people  against  him,  and  made  the  desire  for 
the  second  grade  of  government  stronger,  and 
finally  led  to  its  creation. 


CHAPTER    X. 

FORMATION    OF   THE    STATE    GOVERNMENT— OHIO    A    STATE— THE   STATE   CAPITALS— LEQIS- 
LATION— THE  "SWEEPING  RESOLUTIONS  "—TERRITORIAL  AND  STATE  GOVERNORS. 

to  be  held  on  the  third  Monday  in  December,  and 
directed  the  representatives  to  meet  in  Cincinnati 
January  22,  1799. 

On  the  day  designated,  the  representatives  * 
assembled  at  Cincinnati,  ntiminated  ten  persons, 
whose  names  were  sent  to  the  President,  who 
selected  five  to  constitute  the  Legislative  Council, 


SETTLEMENTS  increased  so  rapidly  in  that 
part  of  the  Northwest  Territory  included  in 
Ohio,  during  the  decade  from  1788  to  1798, 
despite  the  Indian  war,  that  the  demand  for  an 
election  of  a  Territorial  Assembly  could  not  be 
ignored  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  who,  having  ascertained 
that  5,000  free  males  resided  within  the  limits  of 
the  Territory,  issued  his  proclamation  October  29, 
1798,  directing  the  electors  to  elect  representatives 
to  .a  General  Assembly.     He  ordered  the  election 

his  home  with  them.  He  was  most  active  in  the  war  of  1812 
against  the  Americans,  and  from  the  time  he  hegan  his  work  to 
unite  the  tribes,  his  history  is  so  closely  identified  therewith  that 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  history  of  that  war.in  succeeding  pages. 
It  may  not  he  amiss  to  say  that  all  stories  regarding  the  manner 
of  his  death  are  considered  erroneous.  He  was  undoubtedly  killed 
in  the  outset  of  the  battle  of  the  Thames  in  Canada  in  1814,  and  his 
body  secretly  hurled  by  the  Indians. 


♦Those  elected  were:  from  Washington  County, Return  Jona- 
than Meigs  and  Paul  Fearing;  from  Hamilton  County,  William 
Goforth,  William  McMillan,  John  Smith,  John  Ludlow,  Robert 
Benham,  Aaron  Caldwell  and  Isaac  Martin;  from  St.  Clair  County 
(Illinois),  Shadrach  Bond;  from  Knox  County  (Indiana),  John 
Small;  from  Randolph  County  (Illinois),  John  Edgar;  from  Wayne 
County,  Solomon  Sibley,  Jacob  Visgar  and  Charles  F.  Chabert  de 
Joncaire;  from  Adams  County,  Joseph  Darlington  and  Nathaniel 
Massie;  fromJefferson  County,  James  Pritchard;  fromlloas  County, 
Thomas  Worthington,  Elias  Langham,  Samuel  Findley  and  Edward 
Tiffin.  The  five  gentlemen,  except  Vanderburgh,  chosen  as  the 
Upper  House  were  all  from  counties  afterward  included  in  Ohio. 


■^ 


123 


HISTORY   or   OHIO. 


or  Upper  House.  These  five  were  Jacob  Burnet, 
James  Findley,  Henry  Vanderburgh,  Robert 
OUver  and  David  Vance.  On  the  3d  of  Blarch, 
the  Senate  confirmed  their  nomination,  and  the 
Territorial  Government  of  Ohio* — or,  more  prop- 
erly, the  Northwest— was  complete.  As  this 
comprised  the  essential  business  of  this  body,  it 
was  prorogued  by  the  Governor,  and  the  Assembly 
directed  to  meet  at  the  same  place  September  16, 
1799,  and  proceed  to  the  enactment  of  laws  for 
the  Territory. 

That  day,  the  Territorial  Legislature  met  again 
at  Cincinnati,  but,  for  want  of  a  quorum,  did  not 
organize  until  the  24th.  The  House  consisted  of 
nineteen  members,  seven  of  whom  were  from  Ham- 
ilton County,  four  from  Ross,  three  from  Wayne, 
two  from  Adams,  one  from  Jefferson,  one  from 
Washington  and  one  from  Knox.  Assembling 
both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  Gov.  St.  Clair 
addressed  them,  recommending  such  measures  to 
their  consideration  as,  in  his  judgment,  were  suited 
to  the  condition  of  the  country.  The  Council 
then  organized,  electing  Henry  Vanderburgh,  Presi- 
dent; William  C.  Schenck,  Secretary;  George 
Howard,  Doorkeeper,  and  Abraham  Carey,  Ser- 
geant-a1>arms. 

The  House  also  organized,  electing  Edward  Tif- 
fin, Speaker ;  John  Reilly,  Clerk ;  Joshua  Row- 
land, Doorkeeper,  and  Abraham  Carey,  Sergeant- 
alarms. 

This  was  the  first  legislature  elected  in  the  old 
Northwestern  Territory.  During  its  first  session, 
it  passed  thirty  bills,  of  which  the  Governor  vetoed 
eleven.  They  also  elected  William  Henry  Harri- 
son, then  Secretary  of  the  Territory,  delegate  to 
Congress.  The  Legislature  continued  in  session 
till  December  19,  having  much  to  do  in  forming 
new  laws,  when  they  were  prorogued  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, until  the  first  Monday  in  November,  1800. 
The  second  session  was  held  in  Chillicothe,  which 
had  been  designated  as  the  seat  of  government  by 
Congress,  until  a  permanent  capital  should  be 
selected. 

May  7,  1800,  Congress  passed  an  act  establish- 
ing Indiana  Territory,  including  all  the  country 
west  of  the  Great  Miami  River  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  appointed  WiUiam  Henry  Harrison  its  Gov- 
ernor.    At  the  autumn  session  of  the  Legislature 

*  Ohio  never  existed  as  a  Territory  proper.  It  was  known,  both 
before  and  after  the  division  of  the  Northwest  Territory,-  as  the 
"Territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River."  Still,  as  the  country 
comprised  in  its  limits  was  the  principal  theater  of  action,  the  short 
resume  given  here  is  made  neceswry  in  the  logical  course  of  events. 
Ohio,  as  Ohio,  never  existed  until  the  creation  of  the  State  in 
March,  1803. 


of  the  eastern,  or  old  part  of  the  Territory,  Will- 
iam McMillan  was  elected  to  the  vacancy  caused 
by  this  act.  By  the  organization  of  this  Territory, 
the  counties  of  Knox,  St.  Clair  and  Randolph, 
were  taken  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  old  Ter- 
ritory, and  with  them  the  representatives,  Henry 
Vandenburgh,  Shadrach  Bond,  John  Small  and 
John  Edgar. 

Before  the  time  for  the  next  Assembly  came,  a 
new  election  had  occurred,  and  a  few  chad^es  were 
the  result.  Robert  Oliver,  of  Marietta,  was  cho- 
sen Speaker  in  the  place  of  Henry  Vanderburgh. 
There  was  considerable  business  at  this  session ; 
several  new  counties  were  to  be  erected  ;  the  coun- 
try was  rapidly  filling  with  people,  and  where  the 
scruples  of  the  Governor  could  be  overcome,  some 
organization  was  made.  He  was  very  tenacious  of 
his  power,  and  arbitrary  in  his  rulings,  affirming 
that  he,  alone,  had  the  power  to  create  new  coun- 
ties. This  dogmatic  exercise  of  his  veto  power, 
his  rights  as  ruler,  and  his  defeat  by  the  Indians, 
all  tended  against  him,  resulting  in  his  displace- 
ment by  the  President.  This  was  done,  however, 
just  at  the  time  the  Territory  came  from  the  second 
grade  of  government,  and  the  State  was  created. 

The  third  session  of  the  Territorial  Legislature 
continued  from  November  24,  1801,  to  January 
23,  1802,  when  it  adjourned  to  meet  in  Cincin- 
nati, the  fourth  Monday  in  November,  but 
owing  to  reasons  made  obvious  by  subsequent 
events,  was  never  held,  and  the  third  session 
marks  the  decline  of  the  Territorial  government. 

April  30,  1802,  Congress  passed  an  act  "to 
enable  the  people  of  the  eastern  division  of  the 
territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,  to  form  a 
constitution  and  State  government,  and  for  the 
admission  of  such  States  into  the  Union  on 
an  equal  footing  with  the  original  States,  and  for 
other  purposes."  In  pursuance  of  this  act,  an 
election  had  been  held  in  this  part  of  the  Territory, 
and  members  of  a  constitutional  convention  cho- 
sen, who  were  to  meet  at  Chillicothe,  November 
1,  to  perform  the  duty  assigned  them. 

The  people  throughout  the  country  contemplat- 
ed in  the  new  State  were  anxious  for  the  adoption 
of  a  State  government.  The  arbitrary  acts  of  the 
Territorial  Governor  had  heightened  this  feehng ; 
the  census  of  the  Territory  gave  it  the  lawfiil 
number  of  inhabitants,  and  nothing  stood  in  its 
way. 

The  convention  met  the  day  designated  and 
proceeded  at  once  to  its  duties.  When  the  time 
arrived  for  the  opening  of  the  Fourth  Territorial 


;f 


'A 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


123 


Legislature,  the  convention  was  in  session  and  had 
evidently  about  completed  its  labors.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  Legislature  (eight  of  whom  were  mem- 
bers of  the  convention)  seeing  that  a  speedy 
termination  of  the  Territorial  government  was  inev- 
itable, wisely  concluded  it  was  inexpedient  and 
unnecessary  to  hold  the  proposed  session. 

The  convention  concluded  its  labors  the  29th  of 
November.  The  Constitution  adopted  at  that  time, 
though  rather  crude  in  some  of  its  details,  was  an 
excellent  organic  instrument,  and  remained  almost 
entire  until  1851,  when  the  present  one  was 
adopted.  Either  is  too  long  for  insertion  here, 
but  either  will  well  pay  a  perusal.  The  one  adopted 
by  the  convention  in  1802  was  never  submitted 
to  the  people,  owing  to  the  circumstances  of  the 
times ;  but  it  was  submitted  to  Congress  February 
19,  1803,  and  by  that  body  accepted,  and  an  act 
passed  admitting  Ohio  to  the  Union. 

The  Territorial  government  ended  March  3, 
1803,  by  the  organization,  that  day,  of  the  State 
government,  which  organization  defined  the  pres- 
ent limits  of  the  State. 

"  We,  the  people  of  the  Eastern  Division  of  the  Ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States,  Northwest  of  the  River 
Ohio,  having  the  right  of  admission  into  the  General 
Government  as  a  member  of  the  Union,  consistent  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the  Ordinance 
of  Congress  of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven,  and  of  the  law  of  Congress,  entitled  '  An  act  to 
enable  the, people  of  the  Eastern  Division  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  Northwest  of  the  River  Ohio, 
to  form  a  Constitution  and  a  State  Government,  and  for 
the  admission  of  such  State  into  the  Union  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  oriapnal  States,  and  for  other  purpo- 
ses ;'  in  order  to  establish  justice,  promote  the  well- 
fare  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves 
and  our  posterity,  do  ordain  and  establish  the  follow- 
ing Constitution  or  form  of  government;  and  do  mu- 
tually agree  with  each  other  to  form  ourselves  into  a 
free  and  independent  State,  by  the  name  of  the  State 
of  Ohio."* — Preamble,  Comtitution  of  180S. 

When  the  convention  forming  the  Constitution, 
completed  its  labors  and  presented  the  results  to 
Congress,  and  that  body  passed  the  act  forming 


*  The  name  of  the  State  is  derived  from  the  river  forming  its 
southern  boundai*y.  Its  origin  is  somewhat  obscure,  but  is  com- 
monly ascribed  to  the  Indians.  On  this  poiut.  Col.  Johnston  says : 
"The  Shawanoeae  called  the  Ohio  River  *Ki8-ke-pi-Ui,  Bepe^  L  e.,  ^Eagle 
River.*  The  Wyandots  were  in  the  country  generations  before  tbe 
Shawanoese,  and,  consequently,  their  name  of  the  river  is  the  prim- 
itive one  and  should  stand  in  preference  to  all  others.  Ohio  may 
be  called  an  improvement  on  the  expression,  'O-fee-ZMft,'  and  was,  no 
doubt,  adopted  by  the  early  French  voyagers  in  their  boat-songs, 
and  is  substantially  the  same  worfl  as  used  by  the  Wyandots:  the 
meading  applied  by  the  French,  fair  and  beautiful  '  la  belle  river^'' 
being  the  same  precisely  as  that  meant  by  the  Indians — '  great, 
grand  and  fair  to  look  upon.'  " — flbwe'a  CoUeclione. 

Webster's  Dictionary  gives  the  word  as  of  Indian  origin,  and  its 
meaning  to  be,  "  Beautiful." 


the  State,  the  territory  included  therein  was  di- 
vided into  nine  counties,  whose  names  and  dates  of 
erection  were  as  follows : 

"Washington,  July  27,  1*788 ;  Hamilton,  Janu- 
ary 2,  1790;  (owing  to  the  Indian  war  no  other 
counties  were  erected  till  peace  was  restored);  Ad- 
ams, July  10,  1797;  Jefferson,  July  29,  1797; 
Ross,  August  20,  1798 ;  Clermont,  Fairfield  and 
Trumbull,  December  9,  1800;  Belmont,  Septem- 
ber 7,  1801.  These  counties  were  the  thickest- 
settled  part  of  the  State,  yet  many  other  localities 
needed  organization  and  were  clamoring  for  it,  but 
ovring  to  St.  Clair's  views,  he  refused  to  grant 
their  requests.  One  of  the  first  acts  on  the  as- 
sembling of  the  State  Legislature,  March  1,  1803, 
was  the  creation  of  seven  new  counties,  viz.,  Gal- 
ha,  Scioto,  Greauga,  Butler,  Warren,  Greene  and 
Montgomery. 

Section  Sixth  of  the  "Schedule"  of  the  Consti- . 
tution  required  an  election  for  the  various  officers 
and  Eepresentatives  necessary  under  the  new  gov- 
ernment, to  be  held  the  second  Tuesday  of  Janu- 
ary, 1803,  these  officers  to  take  their  seats  and  as- 
sume their  duties  March  3.  The  Second  Article 
provided  for  the  regular  elections,  to  be  held  on 
the  second  Tuesday  of  October,  in  each  year.  The 
Governor  elected  at  first  was  to  hold  his  office 
until  the  first  regular  election  could  be  held,  and 
thereafter  to  continue  in  office  two  years. 

The  January  elections  placed  Edward  Tiffin  in 
the  Governor's  office,  sent  Jeremiah  Morrow  to 
Congress,  and  chose  an  Assembly,  who  met  on  the 
day  designated,  at  Chillicothe.  Michael  Baldwin 
was  chosen  Speaker  of  the  House,  and  Nathaniel 
Massie,  of  the  Senate.  The  Assembly  appointed 
William  Creighton,  Jr.,  Secretary  of  State  ;  Col. 
Thomas  Gibson,  Auditor ;  William  McFarland, 
Treasurer;  Eeturn  J.  Meigs,  Jr.,  Samuel  Hun- 
tington and  William  Sprigg,  Judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court;  Francis  Dunlevy,  Wyllys  Silliman 
and  Calvin  Pease,  President  Judges  of  the  First, 
Second  and  Third  Districts,  and  Thomas  Worth- 
ington  and  John  Smith,  United  States  Senators. 
Charles  Willing  Byrd  was  made  the  United  States 
District  Judge. 

The  act  of  Congress  forming  the  State,  con- 
tained certain  requisitions  regarding  public  schools, 
the  "  salt  springs,"  public  lands,  taxation  of  Gov- 
ernment lands,  Symmes'  purchase,  etc.,  which  the 
constitutional  convention  agreed  to  with  a  few 
minor  considerations.  These  Congress  accepted, 
and  passed  the  act  in  accordance  thereto.  The 
First  General  Assembly  found  abundance  of  work 


"e>  \i 


134 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


to  do  regarding  these  various  items,  and,  at  once, 
set  themselves  to  the  task.  Laws  were  passed  re- 
garding all  these  ;  new  counties  created ;  officers 
appointed  for  the  same,  until  they  could  be  elected, 
and  courts  and  machinery  of  government  put  ip 
motion.  President  Judges  and  lawyers  traveled 
thfeir  circuits  holding  courts,  often  in  the  open  air 
or  in  a  log  shanty;  a  constable  doing  duty  as 
guard  over  a  jury,  probably  seated  on  a  log  under 
a  tree,  or  in  the  bushes.  The  President  Judge  in- 
structed the  officers  of  new  counties  in  their  duties, 
and  though  the  whole  keeping  of  matters  accorded 
with  the  times,  an  honest  feeling  generally  pre- 
vailed, inducing  each  one  to  perform  his  part  as 
effectually  as  his  knowledge  permitted. 

The  State  continually  filled  with  people.  New 
towns  arose  all  over  the  country.  Excepting  the 
occasional  sicknesses  caused  by  the  new  climate  and 
fresh  soil,  the  general  health  of  the  people  im- 
proved as  time  went  on.  They  were  fiiUy  in  ac- 
cord with  the  President,  Jefferson,  and  carefiilly 
nurtured  those  principles  of  personal  liberty  en- 
grafted in  the  ftindamental  law  of  1787,  and  later, 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  State. 

Little  if  any  change  occurred  in  the  natural 
course  of  events,  following  the  change  of  govern- 
ment until  Burr's  expedition  and  plan  of  secession 
in  1805  and  1806  appeared.  What  his  plans 
were,  have  never  been  definitely  ascertained.  His 
action  related  more  to  the  General  Grovernment, 
yet  Ohio  was  called  upon  to  aid  in  putting  down 
his  insurrection — for  such  it  was  thought  to  be — 
and  defeated  his  purposes,  whatever  they  were. 
His  plans  ended  only  in  ignominious  defeat ;  the 
breaking-up  of  one  of  the  finest  homes  in  the 
Western  country,  and  the  expulsion  of  himself  and 
all  those  who  were  actively  engaged  in  his  scheme, 
whatever  its  imports  were. 

Again,  for  a  period  of  four  or  five  years,  no 
exciting  events  occurred.  Settlements  continued ; 
mills  and  factories  increased ;  towns  and  cities 
grew  ;  counties  were  created ;  trade  enlarged,  and 
naught  save  the  common  course  of  events  trans- 
pired to  mark  the  course  of  time.  Other  States 
were  made  from  the  old  Northwest  Territory,  all 
parts  of  which  were  rapidly  being  occupied  by 
settlers.  The  danger  from  Indian  hostilities  was 
little,  and  the  adventurous  whites  were  rapidly 
occupying  their  country.  One  thing,  however, 
was  yet  a  ^continual  source  of  annoyance  to  the 
Americans,  viz.,  the  British  interference  with  the 
Indians.  Their  traders  did  not  scruple,  nor  fail 
on  every  opportunity,  to  aid  these  sons  of  the 


forest  with  arms  and  ammunition  as  occasion 
offered,  endeavoring  to  stir  them  up  against  the 
America'ns,  until  events  here  and  on  the  high  seas 
culminated  in  a  declaration  of  hostilities,  and  thg 
■War  of  1812  was  the  result.  The  deluded  red 
men  found  then,  as  they  found  in  1795,  that  they 
were  made  tools  by  a  stronger  power,  and  dropped 
when  the  time  came  that  they  were  no  longer 
needed. 

Before  the  opening  of  hostilities  occurred,  how- 
ever, a  series  of  acts  passed  the  G-eneral  Assembly, 
causing  considerable  excitement.  These  vpere  the 
famous  "  Sweeping  Eesolutions,''  passed  in  1810. 
For  a  few  jyears  prior  to  their  passage,  considerar 
ble  discontent  prevailed  among  many  of  the  legis- 
lators regarding  the  rulings  of  the  courts,  and  by 
many  of  these  embryo  law-makers,  the  legislative 
power  was  considered  omnipotent.  They  could 
change  existing  laws  and  contracts  did  they  desire 
to,  thought  many  of  them,  even  if  such  acts  con- 
flicted with  the  State  and  National  Constitutions. 
The  "  Sweeping  Resolutions  "  were  brought  about 
mainly  by  the  .action  of  the  judges  in  declaring 
that  justices  of  the  peace  could,  in  the  collection 
of  debts,  hold  jurisdiction  ih  amounts  not  exceed- 
ing fifty  dollars  without  the  aid  of  a  jury.  The 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  gave  the  jury 
control  in  all  such  cases  where  the  amount  did  not 
exceed  twenty  dollars.  There  was  a  direct  con- 
tradiction against  the  organic  law  of  the  land — to 
which  every  other  law  and  act  is  subversive,  and 
when  the  judges  declared  the  legislative  act  uncon- 
stitutional and  hence  null  and  void,  the  Legislar 
ture  became  suddenly  inflamed  at  then*  independ- 
ence, and  proceeded  at  once  to  punish  the  admin- 
istrators of  justice.  The  legislature  was  one  of 
the  worst  that  ever  controlled  the  State,  and  was 
composed  of  many  men  who  were  not  only  igno- 
rant of  common  law,  the  necessities  of  a  State,  and 
the  dignity  and  true  import  of  their  office,  but 
were  demagogues  in  every  respect.  Having  the 
power  to  impeach  officers,  that  body  at  once  did 
so,  having  enough  to  carry  a  two-thirds  majority, 
and  removed  several  judges.  Further  maturing 
their  plans,  the  "  Sweepers,"  as  they  were  known,  ^ 
construed  the  law  appointing  certain  judges  and 
civil  officers  for  seven  years,  to  mean  seven  years 
from  the  organization  of  the  State,  whether  they 
had  been  officers  that  length  of  time  or  not.  All 
officers,  whether  of  new  or  old  counties,  were  con- 
strued as  included  in  the  act,  and,  utterly  ignoring 
the  Constitution,  an  act  was  passed  in  January, 
1810,  removing  every  civil  officer  in  the  State. 


=^V 


liL 


HISTORY    OF    OHIO. 


125 


February  10,  they  proceeded  to  fill  all  these  va- 
cant offices,  from  State  officers  down  to  the  lowest 
county  office,  either  by  appointment  or  by  ordering 
an  election  in  the  manner  prescribed  by  law. 

The  Constitution  provided  that  the  office  of 
judge*  should  continue  for  seven  years,  evidently 
seven  years  from  the  time  they  were  elected,  and 
not  from  the  date  of  the  admission  of  the  State, 
which  latter  construction  this  headlong  Legisla- 
ture had  construed  as  the  meaning.  Many  of  the 
counties  had  been  organized  but  a  year  or  two, 
others  three  or  four  years ;  hence  an  indescribable 
confusion  arose  as  soon  as  the  new  set  of  officers 
were  appointed  or  elected.  The  new  order  of 
things  could  not  be  made  to  work,  and  finally,  so 
utterly  impossible  did  the  injustice  of  the  proceed- 
ings become,  that  it  was  dropped.  The  decisions 
of  the  courts  were  upheld,  and  the  invidious  doc- 
trine of  supremacy  in  State  legislation  received 
such  a  check  that  it  is  not  likely  ever  to  be  repeated. 

Another  act  of  the  Assembly,  during  this  pe- 
riod, shows  its  construction.  Congress  had  granted 
a  township  of  land  for  the  use  of  a  university,  and 
located  the  township  in  Symmes'  purchase.  This 
Assembly  located  the  university  on  land  outside 
of  this  purchase,  ignoring  the  act  of  Congress,  as 
they  had  done  before,  showing  not  only  ignorance 
of  the  true  scope  of  law,  but  a  lack  of  respect  un- 
becoming such  bodies. 

The  seat  of  government  was  also  moved  from 
Chillicothe  to  Zanesvillej  which  vainly  hoped  to  be 
made  the  permanent  State  capital,  but  the  next 
session  it  was  again  taken  to  Chillicothe,  and  com- 
missioners appointed  to  locate  a  permanent  capital 
site. 

These  commissioners  were  James  Findley,  Jo- 
seph Darlington,  Wyllys  Silliman,  Reason  Beall, 
and  William  McFarland.  It  is  stated  that  they 
reported  at  first  in  favor  of  Dublin,  a  small  town 
on  the  Scioto  about  fourteen  miles  above  Colum- 
bus. At  the  session  of  1812-13,  the  Assembly 
accepted  the  proposals  of  Col.  James  Johnston, 
Alexander  McLaughlin,  John  Kerr,  and  Lyne 
Starling,  who  owned  the  site  of  Columbus.  The 
Assembly  also  decreed  that  the  temporary  seat  of 
government  should  remain  at  Chillicothe  until  the 
buildings  necessary  for  the  State  officers  should  be 


erected,  when  it  would  be  taken  there,  forever  to 
remain.  This  was  done  in  1816,  in  December  of 
that  year  the  first  meeting  of  the  Assembly  being 
held  there. 

The  site  selected  for  the  capital  was  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Scioto,  about  a  mile  below  its  junction 
with  the  Olentangy.  Wide  streets  were  laid  out, 
and  preparations  for  a  city  made.  The  expecta- 
tions of  the  founders  have  been,  in  this  respect,  re- 
alized. The  town  was  laid  out  in  the  springof  1812, 
under  the  direction  of  Moses  Wright.  A  short 
time  after,  the  contract  for  making  it  the  capital  was 
signed.  June  18,  the  same  day  war  was  declared 
against  Great  Britain,  the  sale  of  lots  took  place. 
Among  the  early  settlers  were  George  McCor- 
mick,  George  B.  Harvey,  John  Shields,  Michael 
Patton,  Alexander  Patton,  William  Altman,  John 
Collett,  William  McElvain,  Daniel  Kooser,  Peter 
Putnam,  Jacob  Hare,  Christian  Heyl,  Jarvis,  George 
and  Benjamin  Pike,  William  Long,  and  Dr.  John 
M.  Edminson.  In  1814,  a  house  of  worship  was 
built,  a  school  opened,  a  newspaper —  The  Western 
Intelligencer  and  Columbus  Gazette,  now  the 
Ohio  State  Journal — was  started,  and  the  old 
State  House  erected.  In  1816,  the  "Borough  of 
Columbus"  was  incorporated,  and  a  mail  route  once 
a  week  between  Chillicothe  and  Columbus  started. 
In  1819,  the  old  United  States  Court  House  was 
erected,  and  the  seat  of  justice  removed  from 
Franklinton  to  Columbus.  Until  1826,  times  were 
exceedingly  "  slow  "  in  the  new  capital,  and  but  lit- 
tle growth  experienced.  The  improvement  period 
revived  the  capital,  and  enlivened  its  trade  and 
growth  so  that  in  1834,  a  city  charter  was  granted. 
The  city  is  now  about  third  in  size  in  the  State, 
and  contains  many  of  the  most  prominent  public 
institutions.  The  present  capitol  building,  one  of 
the  best  in  the  West,  is  patterned  somewhat  after 
the  national  Capitol  at  Washington  City. 

From  the  close  of  the  agitation  of  the  "  Sweeping 
Resolutions,"  until  the  opening  of  the  war  of  1812, . 
but  a  short  time  elapsed.  In  fact,  scarcely  had 
one  subsided,  ere  the  other  was  upon  the  country. 
Though  the  war  was  national,  its  theater  of  opera- 
tions was  partly  in  Ohio,  that  State  taking  an  act- 
ive part  in  its  operations.  Indeed,  its  Uberty 
depended  on  the  war. 


"< s 


V^ 


-^ 


126 


HISTOKT   or   OHIO. 


LIST  OF  TERRITORIAL  AND  STATE  GOVERNORS, 

From  the  organization  of  (he  first  civil  governmentinthe  Northwest  Territory  (1788  to  \%02),  of  which  the  State  of 

Ohio  was  apart,  until  the  year  1880.  ^ 


(a)  Arthur  St.  Gair 

*Charles  Willing  Byrd 

(b)  Edward  Tiffin 

(c)  fThomas  Kirker 

Samuel  Huntington 

(d)  Return  Jonathan  Meigs.. 

jOthniel  Looker 

Thomas  Worthington 

(e)  Ethan  Allen  Brown 

f  Allen  Trimble 

Jeremiah  Morrow 

Allen  Trimble 

Duncan  McArthur 

Robert  Lucas 

Joseph  Vance 

Wilson  Shannon 

Thomas  Corwin 

(/)  Wilson  Shannon 

JThomas  W.  Bartley 

Mordecai  Bartley 

William  Bebb 

(g)  Seabury  Ford 

(A)  Reuben  Wood 

h')^  William  Medill 

Salmon  P.  Chase 

William  Dennison 

David  Tod 

(k)  John  Brough 

gCharles  Anderson 

Jacob  D.  Cox 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes 

Edward  F.  Noyes 

William  Allen 

(1)  Rutherford  B.  Hayes 

(m)  Thomas  L.  Young 

Richard  M.  Bishop 

Charles  Foster 


Hamilton 

Ross 

Adams 

Trumbull 

Washington . 

Hamilton 

Ross 

Hamilton 

Highland 

Warren 

Highland 


COUNTY. 


Pike 

Champaign ... 

Belmont 

Warren 

Belmont 

Richland 

Richland 

Butler 

Geauga 

Cuyahoga...... 

Fairfield 

Hamilton 

Franklin 

Mahoning 

Cuyahoga 

Montgomery.. 

Trumbull 

Hamilton 

Hamilton 

Ross 

Sandusky 

Hamilton 

Hamilton 

Sandusky 


Teim 
Commenced. 


July  13, 
Not. 

March  3 
March  4, 
Dec.  12 
Dee. 

April  14, 
Dec. 


Deo. 
Jan. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Deo. 
Deo. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Deo. 
Dec, 


14, 

7, 
28, 
19 
18 

i. 

13 
16 
14 


April  13 
Dec.   3, 


Dec. 
Jan. 
Dec. 


12 
22, 
12 


July  15 
Jan.   14 


Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Aug. 
Jan. 
Jan., 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 


9 
13 
12, 
30, 

9 
13 

8 
12 
14 


March  2 
Jan.  14 
Jan.   14 


1788 
1802 
,  1803 
,  1807 
,  1808 
,  1810 
,  1814 
,  1814 
,  1818 
,  1822 
.,  1822 
',  1826 
',  1830 
,  1832 
,  1836 
:,  1838 
,  1840 
,  1842 
,  1844 
,  1844 
,  1846 
,  1849 
,1850 
,  1853 
,  1856 
,  1860 
,  1862 
:,  1864 
,  1865 
,1866 
,  1868 
,  1872 
,  1874 
,  1876 
,  1877 
,  1878 
,  1880 


Tenn  Ended. 


Nov. 

March  3 
March  4 
Dec.  12! 
Dec. 

March  25 
Dec.   8 


Dec. 
Jan. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Dec. 
Deo. 
Dec. 


April  13, 

Dec.  3, 

Dec.  12, 

Jan.  22, 

Deo.  12, 

July  15, 

Jan.  14, 


Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan, 
Aug. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 
Jan. 


March  2, 
Jan.  14, 
Jan.   14, 


1802 
,  1803 
:,  1807 
1,  1808 
';  1810 
,  1814 
,1814 
,1818 
,  1822 
,  1822 
,  1826 
,  1830 
,  1832 
,  1836 
i,  1888 
,  1840 
,  1842 
,  1844 
,  1844 
!,  1846 
!,  1849 
:,  1850 
,  1853 
,  1856 
',  1860 
,  1862 
:,  1864 
,  1865 
,1866 
,  1868 
,  1872 
:,  1874 
,  1876 
:,  1877 
,  1878 
,  1880 


(a)  ArthurSt.  Clair,of  Pennaylvania,  was  Governor  of  the  Nortll- 
west  Territory,  of  which  Ohio  was  a  part,from  July  13, 1788,  when  the 
first  civil  government  was  established  in  the  Territory,  until  about 
the  close  of  the  year  1802,  when  he  was  removed  by  the  President. 

♦Secretary  of  the  Territory,  and  was  acting  Governor  of  the 
Territory  after  The  removal  of  Gov.  St.  Clair. 

lb)  Resigned  March  3, 180V,  to  accept  the  office  of  U.  S.  Senator. 

(c)  Return  Jonathan  Meigs  was  elected  Governor  on  the  second 
Tuesday  of  October,  1807,  over  Nathaniel  Massie,  who  contested  the 
election  of  Meigs,  on  the  ground  that  "he  had  not  been  a  resident  of 
this  State  for  four  years  next  preceding  the  election,  as  required  by 
the  Constitution,''  and  the  General  Assembly,  in  joint  convention, 
'declared  that  he  was  not  eligible.  The  office  was  not  given  to 
Massie,  nor  does  it  appear,  from  the  records  that  he  claimed  it,  but 
Thomas  Kirker,  acting  Governor,  continued  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  office  until  December  12, 1808,  when  Samuel  Huntington  was 
inaugurated,  he  having  been  elected  on  the  second  Tuesday  of 
October  in  that  year. 

(d)  Resigned  March  25, 1814,  to  accept  the  office  of  Postmaster- 
General  of  the  United  States. 


(e)  Resigned  January  4,1822.  to  accept  the  office  of  United 
States  Senator. 

(/)  Resigned  April  13, 1844,  to  accept  the  office  of  Minister  to 
Mexico. 

(g)  The  result  of  tho  election  iu  1848  was  not  finftlly  determined  in 
joint  convention  of  the  two  houses  of  the  General  Assembly  until 
January  19,1849,  and  the  inauguration  did  not  take  place  until  tho 
22d  of  that  month. 

(1)  Resigned  July  16, 1853  to  accept  the  office  of  Consul  to  Val- 
paraiso. 

0)  Elected  in  October,  1863,  for  the  regular  term,  to  commence 
on  the  second  Monday  of  January,  1854. 

ik)  Died  August  29, 18G5. 
■Acting  Governor. 
;  Acting  Governor,  vice  Wilson  Shannon,  resigned. 
li  Acting  Governor,  vice  Reuben  Wood,  resigned, 
6  Acting  Governor,  vice  John  Brough,  deceased. 
(0  Resigned  March  2, 1877,  to  accept  the  office  of  President  of 
the  United  States. 

(m)  Yice  Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  resigned. 


IV 


@ w 


THE  WAR  OF  1812- 


CHAPTER    XL 

-GROWTH  OF  THE  STATE— CANAL,  RAILROADS  AND  OTHER  IMPROVEMENTS 
—DEVELOPMENT   OF  STATE   RESOURCES. 


IN  June,  1812,  war  was  declared  against  Great 
Britain.    Before  this,  an  act  was  passed  by  Con- 
gress, authorizing  the  increase  of  the  regular  army 
to  thirty-five  thousand  troops,  and  a  large  force  of 
volunteers,  to  serve  twelve  months.     Under  this 
act,  Eeturn  J.  Meigs,  then  Grovernor  of  Ohio,  in 
April  and  May,  1812,  raised  three  regiments  of 
troops  to  serve    twelve    months.      They  rendez- 
voused at  Dayton,  elected  their  officers,  and  pre- 
pared for  the  campaign.     These  regiments  were 
numbered  First,  Second  and  Third.     Duncan  Mc- 
Arthur  was  Colonel  of  the  First ;  James  Findlay, 
of  the  Second,  and  Lewis  Cass,  of  the  Third. 
Early  in  June  these  troops  marched  to  Urbana, 
where  they  were  joined  by  Boyd's  Fourth  Regiment 
of  regular  troops,  under  command  of  Col.  Miller, 
who  had  been  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.     Near 
the  middle   of  June,  this  little  army  of   about 
twenty-five  hundred  men,  under  command  of  Gov. 
William  Hull,  of  Michigan,  who  had  been  author- 
ized by  Congress  to  raise  the  troops,  started  on 
its  northern  march.     By  the  end  of  June,  the 
army  had  reached  the-Maumee,  after  a  very  severe 
march,  erecting,  on  the  way.  Forts  McArthur,  Ne- 
cessity and  Findlay.     By  some  carelessness  on  the 
part  of  the  American  Government, 'no  official  word 
had  been  sent  to  the  frontiers  regarding  the  war, 
while  the  British  had  taken  an  early  precaution  to 
prepare  for  the  crisis.     Gov.  Hull  was  very  care- 
ful in  military  etiquette,  and  refused  to  march,  or 
do  any  offensive  acts,  unless  commanded  by  his 
superior  officers  at  Washington.     While   at  the 
Maumee,   by   a  careless  move,   all   his  personal 
effects,  including  all  his  plans,  number  and  strength 
of  his  army,  etc.,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy. 
His  campaign  ended  only  in  ignominious  defeat, 
and  well-nigh  paralyzed  future  effijrts.     All  Mich- 
igan fell  into  the  hands  of  the  British.     The  com- 
mander, though  a  good  man,  lacked  bravery  and 
promptness.     Had  Gen.  Harrison  been  in  com- 
mand no  such  results  would  have  been  the  case, 
and  the  war  would  have  probably  ended  at  the 
outset. 

Before   Hull   had  surrendered,  Charles  Scott, 
Governor  of   Kentucky,  invited   Gen.  Harrison, 


Governor  of  Indiana  Territory,  to  visit  Frankfort, 
to  consult  on  the  subject  of  defending  the  North- 
west. Gov.  Harrison  had  visited  Gov.  Scott,  and 
in  August,  1812,  accepted  the  appointment  of 
Major  General  in  the  Kentucky  militia,  and,  by 
hasty  traveling,  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the 
surrender  of  Detroit,  reached  Cincinnati  on  the 
morning  of  the  27th  of  that  month.  On  the  30th 
he  left  Cincinnati,  and  the  next  day  overtook  the 
army  he  was  to  command,  on  its  way  to  Dayton. 
After  leaving  Dayton,  he  was  overtaken  by  an  ex- 
press, informing  him  of  his  appointment  by  the 
Government  as  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  armies 
of  the  Indiana  and  Illinois  Territories.  The  army 
reached  Piqua,  September  3.  From  this  place 
Harrison  sent  a  body  of  troops  to  aid  in  the  de- 
fense of  Fort  Wayne,  threatened  by  the  enemy. 
On  the  6th  he  ordered  all  the  troops  forward,  and 
while  on  the  march,  on  September  17,  he  was 
informed  of  his  appointment  as  commander  of  the 
entire  Northwestern  troops.  He  found  the  army 
poorly  clothed  for  a  winter  campaign,  now  ap- 
proaching, and  at  once  issued  a  stirring  address  to 
the  people,  asking  for  food  and  comfortable  cloth- 
ing. The  address  was  not  in  vain.  After  his 
appointment.  Gen.  Harrison  pushed  on  to  Au- 
glaize, where,  leaving  the  army  Under  command  of 
Gen.  Winchester,  he  returned  to  the  interiorof  the 
State,  and  establishing  his  headquarters  at  Frank- 
linton,  began  active  measures  for  the  campaign. 

Early  in  March,  1812,  Col.  John  Miller  raised, 
under  orders,  a  regiment  of  infantry  in  Ohio,  and 
in  July  assembled  his  enlisted  men  at  Chillicothe, 
where,  placing  them — only  one  hundred  and  forty 
in  number — under  command  of  Captain  Angus. 
Lewis,  he  sent  them  on  to  the  frontier.  They  erects 
ed  a  block-house  at  Piqua  and  then  went  on  to 
Defiance,  to  the  main  body  of  the  armv. 

In  July,  1812,  Gen.  Edward  W.'Tupper,  of 
Gallia  County,  raised  one  thousand  men  for  six 
months'  duty.  Under  orders  from  Gen.  Winches- 
ter, they  marched  through  Chillicothe  and  Urbana, 
on  to  the  Maumee,  where,  near  the  lower  end  of 
the  rapids,  thSy  made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to 
drive  off  the  enemy.     Failing  in  this,  the  enemy 


138 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


attacked  Tupper  and  his  troops,  who,  though  worn 
down  with  the  march  and  not  a  httle  disorganized 
through  the  jealousies  of  the  officers,  withstood 
the  attack,  and  repulsed  the  British  and  their  red 
allies,  who  returned  to  Detroit,  and  the  Americans 
to  Fort  McArthur. 

In  the  fall  of  1812,  Gen.  Harrison  ordered  a 
detachment  of  six  hundred  men,  mostly  mounted, 
to  destroy  the  Indian  towns  on  the  Missisineway 
River,  one  of  the  head-waters  of  the  Wabash. 
The  winter  set  in  early  and  with  unusual  severity. 
At  the  same  time  this  expedition  was  carried  on, 
Bonaparte  was  retreating  from  Moscow.  The  expe- 
dition accomplished  its  design,  though  the  troops 
suffered  greatly  from  the  cold,  no  less  than  two 
hundred  men  being  more  or  less  frost  bitten. 

Gen.  Harrison  determined  at  once  to  retake 
Michigan  and  establish  a  line  of  defense  along  the 
southern  shores  of  the  lakes.  Winchester  was 
sent  to  occupy  Forts  Wayne  and  Defiance ;  Perkins' 
brigade  to  Lower  Sandusky,  to  fortify  an  old 
stockade,  and  some  Pennsylvania  troops  and  artil- 
lery sent  there  at  the  same  time.  As  soon  as 
Gen.  Harrison  heard  the  results  of  the  Missis- 
ineway expedition,  he  went  to  Chillicothe  to  con- 
sult with  Gov.  Meigs  about  farther  movements, 
and  the  best  methods  to  keep  the  way  between  the 
Upper  Miami  and  the  Maumee  continually  open. 
He  also  sent  Gen.  Winchester  word  to  move  for- 
ward to  the  rapids  of  the  Maumee  and  prepare  for 
winter  quarters.  This  Winchester  did  by  the 
middle  of  January,  1813,  establishing  himself  on 
the  northern  bank  of  the  river,  just  above  Wayne's 
old  battle-ground.  He  was  well  fixed  here,  and 
was  enabled  to  give  his  troops  good  bread,  made  from 
corn  gathered  in  Indian  corn-fields  in  this  vicinity. 

While  here,  the  inhabitants  of  Frenchtown,  on 
the  Raisin  River,  about  twenty  miles  from  Detroit, 
sent  Winchester  word  claiming  protection  from  the 
threatened  British  and  Indian  invasion,  avowing 
themselves  in  sympathy  with  the  Americans.  A 
council  of  war  decided  in  favor  of  their  request, 
.and  Col.  Lewis,  with  550  men,  sent  to  their  relief. 
Soon  after.  Col.  Allen  was  sent  with  more  troops, 
and  the  enemy  easily  driven  away  from  about 
Frenchtown.  Word  was  sent  to  Gen.  Winchester, 
who  determined  to  march  with  all  the  men  he 
could  spare  to  aid  in  holding  the  post  gained.  He 
left,  the  19th  of  January,  with  250  men,  and  ar- 
rived on  the  evening  of  the  20th.  Failing  to 
take  the  necessary  precaution,  from  some  unex- 
plained reason,  the  enemy  came  ujr  in  the  night, 
established  his  batteries,  and,  the  next  day,  sur- 


prised and  defeated  the  American  Army  with  a 
terrible  loss.  Gen.  Winchester  was  made  a  pris- 
oner, and,  finally,  those  who  were  intrenched  in 
the  town  surrendered,  under  promise  of  Proctor, 
the'  British  commander,  of  protection  from  the 
Indians.  This  promise  was  grossly  violated  the 
next  day.  The  savages  were  allowed  to  enter  the 
town  and  enact  a  massacre  as  cruel  and  bloody  as 
any  in  the  annals  of  the  war,  to  the  everlasting 
ignominy  of  the  British  General  and  his  troops. 

Those  of  the  American  Army  that  escaped,  ar- 
rived at  the  rapids  on  the  evening  of  the  22d  of 
January,  and  soon  the  sorrowful  news  spread 
throughout  the  army  and  nation.,  Gen.  Harrison 
set  about  retrieving  the  disaster  at  once.  Delay 
could  do  no  good.  A  fort  was  built  at  the  rapids, 
named  Fort  Meigs,  and  troops  from  the  south  and 
west  hurriedly  advanced  to  the  scene  of  action. 
The  investment  and  capture  of  Detroit  was  aban- 
doned, that  winter,  owing  to  the  defeat  at  French- 
town,  and  expiration  of  the  terms  of  service  of 
many  of  the  troops.  Others  took  their  places, 
all  parts  of  Ohio  and  bordering  States  sending 
men. 

The  erection  of  Fort  Meigs  was  an  obstacle  in 
the  path  of  the  British  they  determined  to  remove, 
and,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1813,  a  large  band 
of  British  and  Indians,  under  command  of  Proc- 
tor, Tecumseh,  Walk-in-the-water,  and  other  In- 
dian chiefs,  appeared  in  the  Maumee  in  boats,  and 
prepared  for  the  attack.  Without  entering  into 
details  regarding  the  investment  of  the  fort,  it  is 
only  necessary  to  add,  that  after  a  prolonged  siege, 
lasting  to  the  early  part  of  May,  the  British  were 
obliged  to  abandon  the  fort,  having  been  severely 
defeated,  and  sailed  for  the  Canadian  shores. 

Next  followed  the  attacks  on  Fort  Stephenson, 
at  Lower  Sandusky,  and  other  predatory  excur- 
sions, by  the  British.  All  of  these  failed  of  their 
design;  the  defense  of  Maj.  Croghan  and  his  men 
constituting  one  of  the  most  brilliant  actions  of  the 
war.  For  the  gallant  defense  of  Port  Stephenson  by 
Maj.  Croghan,  then  a  young  man,  the  army  merited 
the  highest  honors.  The  ladies  of  Chillicothe  voted 
the  heroic  Major  a  fine  sword,  while  the  whole 
land  rejoiced  at  the  exploits  of  him  and  his  band. 

The  decisive  efforts  of  the  army,  the  great  num- 
bers of  men  offered — ^many  of  whom  Gen.  Harrison 
was  obliged  to  send  home,  much  to  their  disgust — 
Perry's  victory  on  Lake  Erie,  September  10, 
1813 — all  presaged  the  triumph  of  the  American 
arms,  soon  to  ensue.  As  soon  as  the  battle  on 
the  lake  was  over,  the  British  at  Maiden  burned 


f 


l^ 


HISTORY   or   OHIO. 


129 


their  stores,  and  fled,  'while  the  Americans,  under 
their  gallant  commander,  followed  them  in  Perry's 
vessel  to  the  Canada  shore,  overtaking  them  on 
the  River  Thames,  October  5.  In  the  battle  that 
ensued,  Tecumseh  was  slain,  and  the  British  Army 
routed. 

The  war  was  now  practically  closed  in  the  West. 
.Ohio  troops  had  done  nobly  in  defending  their 
northern  frontier,  and  in  regaining  the  Northwest- 
ern country.  Gren.  Harrison  was  soon  after  elected 
to  Congress  by  the  Cincinnati  district,  and  Gen. 
Duncan  McArthur  was  appointed  a  Brigadier 
General  in  the  regular  army,  and  assigned  to  the 
command  in  his  place.  Gen.  McArthiir  made  an 
expedition  into  Upper  Canada  in  the  spring  of 
1814,  destroying  considerable  property,  and  driv- 
ing the  British  farther  into  their  own  dominions. 
Peace  was  declared  early  in  1815,  and  that  spring, 
the  troops  \^ere  mustered  out  of  service  at  GhUli- 
cothe,  and  peace  with  England  reigned  supreme. 

The  results  of  the  war  in  Ohio  were,  for  awhile, 
similar  to  the  Indian  war  of  1795.  It  brought 
many  people  into  the  State,  and  opened  new  por- 
tions, before  unknown.  Many  of  the  soldiers  im- 
mediately invested  their  money  in  lands,  and  became 
citizens.  The  war  drove  many  people  from  the 
Atlantic  Coast  west,  and  as  a  result  much  money, 
for  awhile,  circulated.  Labor  and  provisions  rose, 
which  enabled  both  workmen  and  tradesmen  to 
enter  tracts  of  land,  and  aided  emigTation.  At  the 
conclusion  of  Wayne's  war  in  1795,  probably 
not  more  than  five  thousand  people  dwelt  in  the 
limits  of  the  State  ;  at  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812, 
that  number  was  largely  increased,  even  with  the 
odds  of  war  against  them.  After  the  last  war,  the 
emigration  was  constant  and  gradual,  building  up 
the  State  in  a  manner  that  betokened  a  healthful 
life. 

As  soon  as  the  effects  of  the  war  had  worn  off, 
a  period  of  depression  set  in,  as  a  result  of  too 
free  speculation  indulged  in  at  its  close.  Gradu- 
ally a  stagnation  of  business  ensuejl,  and  many 
who  found  themselves  unable  to  meet  contracts 
made  in  "flush"  times,  found  no  alternative  but 
to  fail.  To  relieve  the  pressure  in  all  parts  of 
the  West,  Congress,  about  1815,  reduced  the 
price  of  public  lands  from  $2  to  $1.25 
per  acre.  This  measure  worked  no  little 
hardship  on  those  who  owned  large  tracts  of 
lands,  for  portions  of  which  they  i-had  not  fully 
paid,  and  as  a  consequence,  these  lands,  as  well 
as  all  others  of  this  class,  reverted  to  the 
Government.     The  general   market   was   in  New 


Orleans,  whither  goods  were  transported  in  flat- 
boats  built  especially  for  this  pupose.  This  com- 
merce, though  small  and  poorly  repaid,  was  the 
main  avenue  of  trade,  and  did  much  for  the  slow 
prosperity  prevalent.  The  few  banks  in  the  State 
found  their  bUls  at  a  discount  abroad,  and  gradu- 
ally becoming  drained  of  their  specie,  either  closed 
business  or  failed,  the  major  part  of  them  adopt- 
ing the  latter  course. 

The  steamboat  began  to  be  an  important  factor 
in  the  river  navigation  of  the  West  about  this 
period.  The  flrst  boat  to  descend  the  Ohio  was 
the  Orleans,  built  at  Pittsburg  in  1812,  and  in 
December  of  that  year,  while  the  fortunes  of  war 
hung  over  the  land,  she  made  her  first  trip  from  the 
Iron  City  to  New  Orleans,  being  just  twelve  days 
on  the  way.  The  second,  built  by  Samuel  Smith, 
was  called  the  Comet,  and  made  a  trip  as  far 
south  as  Loui^vUle,  in  the  summer  of  1813.  The 
third,  the  Vesuvius,  was  buUt  by  Fulton,  and  went 
to  New  Orleans  in  1814.  The  fourth,  built  by 
Daniel  French  at  Brownsville,  Penn.,  made  two 
trips  to  Louisville  in  the  summer  of  1814.  The 
next  vessel,  the  ^tna,  was  built  by  Fulton  & 
Company  in  1815.  So  fast  did  the  business 
increase,  that,  four  years  after,  more  than 
forty  steamers  floated  on  the  Western  waters. 
Improvements  in  machinery  kept  pace  with  the 
building,  until,  in  1838,  a  competent  writer  stated 
there  were  no  less  than  four  hundred  steamers  in 
the  West.  Since  then,  the  erection  of  railways 
has  greatly  retarded  ship-building,  and  it  is  alto- 
gether probable  the  number  has  increased  but 
little. 

The  question  of  canals  began  to  agitate  the 
Western  country  during  the  decade  succeeding  the 
war.  They  had  been  and  were  being  constructed 
in  older  countries,  and  presaged  good  and  prosper- 
ous times.  If  only  the  waters  of  the  lakes  and 
the  Ohio  River  could  be' united  by  a  canal  run- 
ning through  the  midst  of  the  State,  thought  the 
people,  prosperous  cities  and  towns  would  arise  on 
its  banks,  and  commerce  flow  through  the  land. 
One  of  the  firmest  friends  of  such  improvements 
was  De  Witt  Clinton,  who  had  been  the  chief  man 
in  forwarding  the  "  Clinton  Canal,"  in  New  York. 
He  was  among  the  first  to  advocate  the  feasibility 
of  a  canal  connecting  Lake  Erie  and  the  Ohio 
River,  and,  by  the  success  of  the  New  York  canals, 
did  much  to  bring  it  about.  Popular  writers  of  the 
day  all  urged  the  scheme,  so  that  when  the  Assem- 
bly met,  early  in  December,  1821,  the  resolution, 
offered  by    Micajah  T.  Williams,  of  Cincinnati, 


I 


130 


HISTOKY   OF    OHIO. 


for  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  five  mem- 
bers to  take  into  consideration  so  much  of  the 
Governor's  message  as  related  to  canals,  and  see  if 
some  feasible  plan  could  not  be  adopted  whereby  a 
beginning  could  be  made,  was  quickly  adopted. 

The  report  of  the  committee,  advising  a  survey 
and  examination  of  routes,  met  with  the  approval 
of  the  Assembly,  and  commissioners  were  ap- 
pointed who  were  to  employ  an  engineer,  examine 
the  country  and  report  on  the  practicability  of  a 
canal  between  the  lakes  and  the  river.  The  com- 
missioners employed  James  Greddes,  of  Onondaga 
County,  N.  Y.,  as  an  engineer.  He  arrived  in 
Columbus  in  June,  1822,  and,  before  eight  months, 
the  corps  of  engineers,  under  his  direction,  had 
examined  one  route.  During  the  next  two  sum- 
mers, the  examinations  continued.  A  number  of 
routes  were  examined  and  surveyed,  and  one,  from 
Cleveland  on  the  lake,  to  Portsmouth  on  the  Ohio, 
was  recommended.  Another  canal,  from  Cincin- 
nati to  Dayton,  on  the  Miami,  was  determined  on, 
and  preparations  to  commence  work  made.  A 
Board  of  Canal  Fund  Commissioners  was  created, 
money  was  borrowed,  and  the  morning  of  July 
4,  1825,  the  first  shovelful  of  earth  was  dug  near 
Newark,  with  imposing  ceremonies,  in  the  presence 
of  De  Witt  Clinton,  Governor  of  New  York,  and 
a  mighty  concourse  of  people  assembled  to  witness 
the  auspicious  event. 

Gov.  Clinton  was  escorted  all  over  the  State  to 
aid  in  developing  the  energy  everywhere  apparent. 
The  events  were  important  ones  in  the  history  of 
the  State,  and,  though  they  led  to  the  creation  of 
a  vast  debt,  yet,  in  the  end,  the  canals  were  a 
benefit. 

The  main  canal — the  Ohio  and  Erie  Canal — 
was  not  completed  till  1832.  The  Maumee  Canal, 
from  Dayton  to  Cincinnati,  was  finished  in  1834. 
They  cost  the  State  about  $6,000,000.  Each  of 
the  main  canals  had  branches  leading  to  important 
towns,  where  their  construction  could  be  made 
without  too  much  expense.  The  Miami  and  Mau- 
mee Canal,  from  Cincinnati  northward  along  the 
Miami  Kiver  to  Piqua,  thence  to  the  Maumee 
and  on  to  the  lake,  was  the  largest  canal  made, 
and,  for  many  years,  was  one  of  the  most  important 
in  the  State.  It  joined  the  Wabash  Canal  on  the 
eastern  boundary  of  Indiana,  and  thereby  saved 
the  construction  of  many  miles  by  joining  this 
great  canal  from  Toledo  to  Evansville. 

The  largest  artificial  lake  in  the  world,  it  is  said, 
was  built  to  supply  water  to  the  Miami  Canal.  It 
exists  yet,  though  the  canal  is  not  much  used.     It 


is  in  the  eastern  part  of  Mercer  County,  and  is 
about  nine  miles  long  by  from  two  to  four  wide. 
It  was  formed  by  raising  two  walls  of  earth  from 
ten  to  thirty  feet  high,  called  respectively  the  east 
and  west  embankments  ;  the  first  of  which  is  about 
two  miles  in  length  ;  the  second,  about  four.  These 
walls,  with  the  elevation  of  the  ground  to  the 
north  and  south,  formed  a  huge  basin,  to  retain 
the  water.  The  reservoir  was  commenced  in  183Y, 
and  finished  in  1845,  at  an  expense  of  several 
hundred  thousand  dollars.  When  first  buUt,  dur- 
ing the  accumulation  of  water,  much  malarial 
disease  prevailed  in  the  surrounding  country,  owing 
to  the  stagnant  condition  of  the  water.  The  citi- 
zens, enraged  at  what  they  considered  an  innova- 
tion of  thair  rights,  met,  and,  during  a  dark  night, 
tore  out  a  portion  of  the  lower  wall,  letting  the 
water  flow  out.  The  damage  cost  thousands  of 
dollars  to  repair.  All  who  participated  in  the 
proceedings  were  liable  to  a  severe  imprisonment, 
but  the  state  of  feeling  was  such,  in  Mercer  County, 
where  the  offense  was  committed,  that  no  jury 
could  be  found  that  would  try  them,  and  the  affair 
gradually  died  out. 

The  canals,  so  efficacious  in  their  day,  were, 
however,  superseded  by  the  railroads  rapidly  find- 
ing their  way  into  the  West.  From  England, 
where  they  were  early  used/  in  the  collieries,  the 
transition  to  America  was  easy. 

The  first  railroad  in  the  United  States  was  built 
in  the  summer  of  1826,  from  the  granite  quarry 
belonging  to  the  Bunker  HiU  Monument  Associa- 
tion to  the  wharf  landing,  three  miles  distant.  The 
road  was  a  sHght  decline  from  the  quarry  to 
the  wharf,  hence  the  loaded  cars  were  pro- 
pelled by  their  own  gravity.  On  their  return, 
when  empty,  they  were  drawn  up  by  a  single 
horse.  Other  roads,  or  tramways,  quickly  followed 
this.  They  were  built  at  the  Pennsylvania  coal 
mines,  in  South  Carolina,  at  New  Orleans,  and  at 
Baltimore.  Steam  motive  power  was  used  in  1831 
or  1832,  first  in  America  on  the  Baltimore  &  Ohio 
Railroad,  and  in  Charlestown,  on  a  railroad  there. 

To  transfer  these  highways  to  the  West  was  the 
question  of  but  a  few  years'  time.  The  prairies  of 
Illinois  and  Indiana  offered  superior  inducements 
to  such  enterprises,  and,  early  in  1835,  they  began 
to  be  agitated  there.  In  1838,  the  first  rail  was 
laid  in  Illinois,  at  Meredosia,  a  little  town  on  the 
Illinois  River,  on  what  is  now  the  Wabash  Railway. 

"The  first  railroad  made  in  Ohio,"  writes  Caleb 
Atwater,  in  his  "History  of  Ohio,"  in  1838,  "was 
finished  in  1836  by  the  people  of  Toledo,  a  town 


1^ 


HISTORY   OP    OHIO. 


131 


some  two  years  old  then,  situated  near  tlie  mouth 
of  Maumee  River.  The  road  extends  westward  in- 
to Michigan  and  is  some  thirty  mUes  in  length. 
There  is  a  road  about  to  be  made  from  Cincinnati 
to  Springfield.  This  road  follows  the  Ohio  River 
up  to  the  Little  Miami  River,  and  there  turns 
northwardly  up  its  valley  to  Xenia,  and,  passing 
the  Yellow  Springs,  reaches  Springfield.  Its  length 
must  be  about  ninety  miles.  The  State  will  own 
one-half  of  the  road,  individuals  and  the  city  of 
Cincinnati  the  other  half.  This  road  will,  no 
doubt,  be  extended  to  Lake  Erie,  at  Sandusky 
City,  within  a  few  short  years." 

"There  is  a  railroad,"  continues  Mr.  Atwater, 
"  about  to  be  made  from  Painesville  to  the  Ohio 
River.  There  are  many  charters  for  other  roads, 
which  will  never  be  made." 

Mr.  Atwater  notes  also,  the  various  turnpikes  as 
well  as  the  famous  National  road  from  Baltimore 
■vjestward,  then  completed  only  to  the  mountains. 
This  latter  did  as  much  as  any  enterprise  ever  en- 
acted in  building  up  and  populating  the  West. 
It  gave  a  national  thoroughfare,  which,  for  many 
years,  was  the  principal  wagon-way  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

The  railroad  to  which  Mr.  Atwater  refers  as 
about  to  be  built  from  Cincinnati  to  Springfield, 
was  what  was  known  as  the  Mad  River  Railroad. 
It  is  commonly  conceded  to  be  the  first  one  built 
in  Ohio.*  Its  history  shows  that  it  was  chartered 
March  11,  1836,  that  work  began  in  1837;  that 
it  was  completed  and  opened  for  business  from 
Cincinnati  to  Milford,  in  December,  1842;  to  Xe- 
nia, in  August,  1845,  and  to  Springfield,  in  Au- 
gust, 1846.  It  was  laid  with  strap  rails  until 
about  1848,  when  the  present  form  of  rail  was 
adopted. 

One  of  the  earliest  roads  in  Ohio  was  what  was 
known  as  the  Sandusky,  Mansfield  &  Newark  Rail- 
road. It  was  chartered  at  first  as  the  Monroeville 
&  Sandusky  City  Railroad,  March  9, 1835.  March 
12,  1836,  the  Mansfield  &  New  Haven  road  was 
chartered;  the  Columbus  &  Lake  Erie,  March  12, 

1845,  and  the  Huron  &  Oxford,  February  27, 

1846.  At  first  it  ran  only  from  Sandusky  to 
MonroeviUe,  then  from  Mansfield  to  Huron.  These 


*  Hon.  E.D.  ManBfield  Btates,  in  1873,  that  the  "  first  actual  piece 
of  railroad  laifl  in  Ohio,  was  made  on  the  Cincinnati  &  Sandusky 
Bailroad;  but,  about  the  same  time  wo  have  the  Little  Miami  Bail- 
road,  which  was  surveyed  in  1836  and  1837.  If  this,  the  generally 
accepted  opinion,  is  correct,  then  Mr.  Atwater's  statement  as  given, 
is  wrong.  His  history  is,  however,  generally  conceded  to  be  correct. 
Written  in  1838,  he  surely  ought  to  linow  whereof  he  was  writing, 
aa  the  railroads  were  then  only  in  construction  ;  but  few,  if  any, 
in  operation. 


two  were  connected  and  consolidated,  and  then  ex- 
tended to  Newark,  and  finally,  by  connections,  to 
Columbus. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  follow  closely  the  history  of 
these  improvements  through  the  years  succeeding 
their  introduction.  At  first  the  State  owned  a 
share  in  nearly  all  railroads  and  canals,  but  finally 
finding  itself  in  debt  about  $15,000,000  for  such 
improvements,  and  learning  by  its  own  and  neigh- 
bors' experiences,  that  such  policy  was  detrimental 
to  the  best  interests  of  the  people,  abandoned  the 
plan,  and  allowed  private  parties  entire  control  of 
all  such  works.  After  the  close  of  the  Mexican 
war,  and  the  return  to  solid  values  in  1 854  or  there- 
abouts, the  increase  of -railroads  in  all  parts  of  Ohio, 
as  well  as  aU  parts  of  the  ^est,  was  simply  marvel- 
ous. At  this  date  there  are  more  than  ten  thou- 
sand miles  of  railroads  in  Ohio,  alongside  of  which 
stretch  innumerable  lines  of  telegraph,  a  system  of 
swift  messages  invented  by  Prof.  Morse,  and  adopted 
in  the  United  States  about  1851. 

About  the  time  railroad  building  began  to  as- 
sume a  tangible  shape,  in  1840,  occurred  the  cele- 
brated political  campaign  known  in  history  as  the 
"  Hard  Cider  Campaign."  The  gradual  encroach- 
ments of  the  slave  power  in  the  West,  its  arrogant 
attitude  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and 
in  several  State  legislatures  :  its  forcible  seizure  of 
slaves  in  the  free  States,  and  the  enactment  and 
attempted  enforcement  of  the  "  fugitive  slave  "  law 
all  tended  to  awaken  in  the  minds  of  the  Northern 
people  an  antagonism,  terminating  only  in  the  late 
war  and  the  abolishment  of  that  hideous  system  in 
the  United  States. 

The  "  Whig  Party"  strenuously  urged  the 
abridgment  or  confinement  of  slavery  in  the 
Southern  States,  and  in  the  contest  the  party  took 
a  most  active  part,  and  elected  WiUiam  Henry 
Harrison  President  of  the  United  States.  As  he 
had  been  one  of  the  foremost  leaders  in  the  war  of 
1812,  a  resident  of  Ohio,  and  one  of  its  most  pop- 
ular citizens,  a  log  cabin  and  a  barrel  of  cider  were 
adopted  as  his  exponents  of  popular  opinion,  as 
expressive  of  the  rule  of  the  common  people  repre- 
sented in  the  cabin  and  cider,  in  turn  representing 
their  primitive  and  simple  habits  of  life.  He 
lived  but  thirty  days  after  his  inauguration,  dying 
on  the  9th  of  Apnl,  1841,when  John  Tyler,  the 
Vice  President,  succeeded  him  as  Chief  Executive 
of  the  nation. 

The  building  of  railroads ;  the  extension  of  com- 
merce ;  the  settlement  of  all  parts  of  the  State ; 
its  growth  in  commerce,  education,  religion  and 


•^ 


(a_. 


133 


HISTOKY   OF    OHIO. 


population,  are  the  chief  events  from  1841  to  the 
Mexican  war.  Hard  times  occurred  about  as  often 
as  they  do  now,  preceded  by  "  flush"  times,  when 
speculation  ran  rife,  the  people  all  infatuated  with 


an  insane  idea  that  something  could  be  had  for 
nothing.  The  bubble  burst  as  often  as  inflated, 
ruining  many  people,  but  seemingly  teaching  few 
lessons. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


MEXICAN    WAR— CONTINUED    GROWTH    OF    THE    STATE— WAR    OF    THE    BEBELLION— OHIO'S 

PART    IN   THE    CONFLICT. 


THE  Mexican  War  grew  out  of  the  question  of 
the  annexation  of  Texas,  then  a  province  of 
Mexico,  whose  territory  extended  to  the  Indian 
Territory  on  the  north,  and  on  up  to  the  Oregon 
Territory  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  Texas  had  been 
settled  largely  by  Americans,  who  saw  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs  that  would  inevitably  ensue  did  the 
country  remain  under  Mexican  rule.  They  first 
took  steps  to  secede  from  Mexico,'  and  then  asked 
the  aid  of  America  to  sustain  them,  and  annex  the 
country  to  itself. 

The  Whig  party  and  many  others  opposed  this, 
chiefly  on  the  grounds  of  the  extension  of  slave 
territory.  But  to  no  avail.  The  war  came  on, 
Mexico  was  conquered,  the  war  lasting  from  April 
eO,  1846,  to  May  30,  1848.  Fifty  thousand  vol- 
unteers were  called  for  the  war  by  the  Congress, 
and  $10,000,000  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the 
President,  James  K.  Polk,  to  sustain  the  army  and 
prosecute  the  war. 

The  part  that  Ohio  took  in  the  war  may  be 
briefly  summed  up  as  follows :  She  had  five  vol- 
unteer regiments,  five  companies  in  the  Fifteenth 
Infantry,  and  several  independent  companies,  with 
her  ftiU  proportion  among  the  regulars.  When 
war  was  declared,  it  was  something  of  a  crusade  to 
many;  full  of  romance  to  others;  hence,  many 
more  were  offered  than  could  be  received.  It  was 
a  campaign  of  romance  to  some,  yet  one  of  reality, 
ending  in  death,  to  many. 

When  the  first  call  for  troops  came,  the  First, 
Second  and  Third  Regiments  of  infantry  responded 
at  once.  Alexander  Mitchell  was  made  Colonel  of 
the  First;  John  B.  Wellerits  Lieutenant  Colonel ; 
and  Major  L.  Giddings,  of  Dayton,  its  Major, 
Thos.  L.  Hamer,  one  of  the  ablest  lawyers  in  Ohio, 
started  with  the  First  as  its  Major,  but,  before  the 
regiment  left  the  State,  he  was  made  a  Brigadier 
General  of  Volunteers,  and,  at  the  battle  of  Mon- 
terey, distinguished  himself ;  and  there  contracted 


disease  and  laid  down  his  life.  The  regiment's 
Colonel,  who  had  been  wounded  at  Monterey,  came 
home,  removed  to  Minnesota,  and  there  died. 
Lieut.  Col.  Weller  went  to  California  after  the 
close  of  the  war.  He  was  United  States  Senator 
from  that  State  in  the  halls  of  Congress,  and,  at 
last,  died  at  New  Orleans. 

The  Second  Regiment  was  commanded  by  Col. 
George  W.  Morgan,  now  of  Mount  Vernon  ;  Lieut. 
Col.  William  Irwin,  of  Lancaster,  and  Maj.  Will- 
iam Wall.  After  the  war  closed,  Irwin  settled  in 
Texas,  and  remained  there  till  he  died.  Wall  lived 
out  his  days  in  Ohio.  The  regiment  was  never  in 
active  field  service,  but  was  a  credit  to  the  State; 

The  officers  of  the  Third  Re^ment  were.  Col. 
Samuel  R.  Curtis;  Lieut.  Col.  G.  W.'McCookand 
Maj.  John  Love.  The  first  two  are  now  dead; 
the  Major  lives  in  McConnellsville. 

At  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  the  war,  these 
regiments  (First,  Second  and  Third)  were  mustered 
out  of  service,  as  their  term  of  enlistment  had 
expired. 

When  the  second  year  of  the  war  began,  the 
call  for  more  troops  on  the  part  of  the  Government 
induced  the  Second  Ohio  Infantry  to  re-organize, 
and  again  enter  the  service.  William  Irwin,  of  the 
former  organization,  was  chosen  Colonel;  WilUam 
Latham,  of  Columbus,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and 
William  H.  Link,  of  Circleville,  Major.  Nearly 
all  of  them  are  now  dead. 

The  regular  army  was  increased  by  eight  Ohio 
companies  of  infantry,  the  Third  Dragoons,  and 
the  Voltigeurs — light-armed  soldiers.  In  the  Fif- 
teenth Regiment  of  the  United  States  Army,  there 
were  five  Ohio  companies.  The  others  were  three 
from  Michigan,  and  two  from  Wisconsin.  Col. 
Morgan,  of  the  old  Second,  was  made  Colonel  of 
the  Fifteenth,  and  John  Howard,  of  Detroit,  an 
old  artillery  officer  in  the  regular  army,  Lieutenant 
Colonel.     Samuel  Wood,  a  captain   in  the  Sixth 


J 


s  ^ 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


133 


United  States  Infantry,  was  made  Major;  but  was 

afterward  succeeded  by  Mill,  of  Vermont. 

The  Fifteenth  was  in  a  number  of  skirmishes  at  first, 
and  later  in  the  battles  of  Contreras,  Oherubusco 
and  Chapultepec.  At  the  battle  of  Cherubusco, 
the  Colonel  was  severely  wounded,  and  Maj.  Mill, 
with  several  officers,  and  a  large  number  of  men, 
killed.  For  gallant  service  at  Contreras,  Col.  Mor- 
gan, though  only  twenty-seven  years  old,  was  made 
a  Brevet  Brigadier  G-eneral  in  the  United  States 
Army.  Since  the  war  he  has  delivered  a  number 
of  addresses  in  Ohio,  on  the  campaigns  in  Mex- 
ico. 

The  survivors  of  the  war  are  now  few.  Though 
seventy-five  thousand  men  from  the  United  States 
went  into  that  conflict,  less  than  ten  thousand  now 
survive.  They  are  now  veterans,  and  as  such  de- 
light to  recount  their  reminiscences  on  the  fields  of 
Mexico.  They  are  all  in  the  decline  of  life,  and 
ere  a  generation  passes  away,  few,  if  any,  will  be 
left. 

After  the  war,  the  continual  growth  of  Ohio, 
the  change  in  all  its  relations,  necessitated  a  new 
organic  law.  The  Constitution  of  1852  was  the 
result.  It  re-affirmed  the  political  principles  of 
the  "ordinance  of  1787  "  and  the  Constitution  of 
1802,  and  made  a  few  changes  necessitated  by  the 
advance  made  in  the  interim.  It  created  the 
office  of  Lieutenant  Governor,  fixing  the  term  of 
service  at  two  years.  This  Constitution  yet  stands 
notwithstanding  the  prolonged  attempt  in  1873-74 
to  create  a  new  one.  It  is  now  the  organic  law  of 
Ohio. 

■  From  this  time  on  to  the  opening  of  the  late  war, 
the  prosperity  of  the  State  received  no  check. 
Towns  and  cities  grew ;  railroads  multiplied ;  com- 
merce was  extended;  the  vacant  lands  were  rapidly 
filled  by  settlers,  and  everything  tending  to  the 
advancement  of  the  people  was  well  prosecuted. 
Banks,  after  much  tribulation,  had  become  in  a 
measure  somewhat  secure,  their  only  and  serious 
drawback  being  their  isolation  or  the  confinement 
of  their  circulation  to  their  immediate  localities. 
But  signs  of  a  mighty  contest  were  apparent.  A 
contest  almost  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of 
history ;  a  contest  between  freedom  and  slavery ; 
between  wrong  and  right ;  a  contest  that  could 
only  end  in  defeat  to  the  wrong.  The  Republican 
party  came  into  existence  at  the  close  of  President 
Pierce's  term,  in  1855.  Its  object  then  was,  prin- 
cipally, the  restriction  of  the  slave  power ;  ultimately 
its  extinction.  One  of  the  chief  exponents  and  sup- 
porters of  this  growing  party  in  Ohio,  was  Salmon  P. 


Chase ;  one  who  never  faltered  nor  lost  faith ;  and 
who  was  at  the  helm  of  State ;  in  the  halls  of  Con- 
gress; chief  of  one  the  most  important  bureaus  of 
the  Government,  and,  finally,  Chief  Justice  of  the 
United  States.  When  war  came,  after  the  election 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  by  the  Republican  party,  Ohio 
was  one  of  the  first  to  answer  to  the  call  for  troops. 
Mr.  Chase,  while  Governor,  had  re-organized  the 
militia  on  a  sensible  basis,  and  rescued  it  from  the 
ignominy  into  which  it  had  fallen.  When  Mr. 
Lincoln  asked  for  seventy-five  thousand  men, 
Ohio's  quota  was  thirteen  regiments.  The  various 
chaotic  regiments  and  militia  troops  in  the  State 
did  not  exceed  1,500  men.  The  call  was  issued 
April  15,  1861 ;  by  the  18th,  two  regiments  were 
organized  in  Columbus,  whither  these  companies 
had  gathered;  before  sunrise  of  the  19th  the  first 
and  second  regiments  were  on  their  way  to  Wash- 
ington City.  The  President  had  only  asked  for 
thirteen  regiments;  thirty  were  gathering;  the 
Government,  not  yet  fully  comprehending  the 
nature  of  the  rebellion,  refused  the  surplus  troops, 
but  Gov.  Dennison  was  authorized  to  put  ten 
additional  regiments  in  the  field,  as  a  defensive 
measure,  and  was  also  authorized  to  act  on  the 
defensive  as  well  as  on  the  ofiensive.  The  immense 
extent  of  southern  border  made  this  necessary, 
as  all  the  loyal  people  in  West  Virginia  and  Ken- 
tucky asked  for  help. 

In  the  limits  of  this  history,  it  is  impossible  to 
trace  all  the  steps  Ohio  took  in  the  war.  One  of 
her  most  talented  sons,  now  at  the  head  of  one  of 
the  greatest  newspapers  of  the  world,  says,  regard- 
ing the  action  of  the  people  and  their  Legislature: 

"In  one  part  of  the  nation  there  existed  a  grad- 
ual growth  of  sentiment  against  the  Union,  ending 
in  open  hostility  against  its  integrity  and  its  Con- 
stitutional law;  on  the  other  side  stood  a  resolute, 
and  determined  people,  though  divided  in  mindr 
matters,  firmly  united  on  the  question  of  national 
supremacy.  The  people  of  Ohio  stood  squarely 
on  this  side.  Before  this  her  people  had  been  di- 
vided up  to  the  hour  when — 

" '  That  fierce  and  sudden  flash  across  the  rugged  black- 
ness broke, 
And,  with  a  voice  that  shook  the  land,  the  guns  of  Sum- 

.  ter  spoke ; 
********* 

And  whereso'er  the  summons  came,  there  rose  the 

angry  din. 
As  when,  upon  a  rocky  coast,  a  stormy  tide  sets  in.' 

"  All  waverings  then  ceased  aipong  the  people 
and  in  the  Ohio  Legislature.     The  Union  must  be 


^1 


134 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


preserved.  The  white  heat  of  patriotism  and  fe- 
alty to  the  flag  that  had  been  victorious  in  three 
wars,  and  had  never  met  but  temporary  defeat 
then  melted  all  parties,  and  dissolved  all  hesitation, 
and,  April  18,  1861,  by  a  unanimous  vote  of 
ninety-nine  Representatives  in  its  favor,  there  was 
passed  a  bill  appropriating  $500,000  to  carry  into 
effect  the  requisition  of  the  President,  to  protect 
the  National  Government,  of  which  sum  $450,000 
were  to  purchase  arms  and  equipments  for  the 
troops  required  by  that  requisition  as  the  quota  of 
Ohio,  and  $50,000  as  an  extraordinary  contingent 
fund  for  the  Governor.  The  commissioners  of  the 
State  Sinking  Fund  were  authorized,  by  the  same 
bill,  to  borrow  this  money,  on  the  6  per  cent  bonds 
of  the  State,  and  to  issue  for  the  same  certificates, 
freeing  such  bonds  from  taxation.  Then  followed 
other  such  legislation  that  declared  the  property  of 
volunteers  free  from  execution  for  debt  during 
their  term  of  service;  that  declared  any  resident 
of  the  State,  who  gave  aid  and  comfort  to  the 
enemies  of  the  Union,  guilty  of  treason  against 
the  State,  to  be  punished  by  imprisonment  at  hard 
labor  for  life;  and,  as  it  had  become  already  evi- 
dent that  thousands  of  militia,  beyond  Ohio's 
quota  of  the  President's  call,  would  volunteer,  the 
Legislature,  adopting  the  sagacious  suggestion  of 
Gov.  Dennison,  resolved  that  all  excess  of  volunteers 
should  be  retained  and  paid  for  service,  under 
direction  of  the  Governor.  Thereupon  a  bill 
was  passed,  authorizing  the  acceptance  of  volunteers 
to  form  ten  regiments,  and  providing  $500,000 
for  their  arms  and  equipments,  and  $1,500,000 
more  to  be  disbursed  for  troops  in  case  of  an  in- 
vasion of  the  State.  Then  other  legislation  was 
enacted,  looking  to  and  providing  against  the  ship- 
ment from  or  through  the  State  of  arms  or  mu- 
nitions of  war,  to  States  either  assuming  to  be 
neutral  or  in  open  rebellion ;  organizing  the  whole 
body  of  the  State  militia;  providing  suitable  offi- 
cers for  duty  on  the  staff  of  the  Governor ;  re- 
quiring contracts  for  subsistence  of  volunteers  to 
be  let  to  the  lowest  bidder,  and  authorizing  the 
appointment  of  additional  general  officers. 

"  Before  the  adjournment  of  that  Legislature, 
the  Speaker  of  the  House  had  resigned  to  take 
command  of  one  of  the  regiments  then  about  to 
start  for  Washington  City ;  two  leading  Senators 
had  been  appointed  Brigadier  Generals,  and  many, 
in  fact  nearly  all,  of  the  other  members .  of  both 
houses  had,  in  one  capacity  or  another,  entered  the 
military  service.  It  was  the  first  war  legislature 
ever  elected  in  Ohio,  and,  under  sudden  pressure. 


nobly  met  the  first  shock,  and  enacted  the  first 
measures  of  law  for  war.  Laboring  under  difficul- 
ties inseparable  from  a  condition  so  unexpected, 
and  in  the  performance  of  duties  so  novel,  it  may 
be  historically  stated  that  for  patriotism,  zeal  and 
ability,  the  Ohio  Legislature  of  1861  was  the 
equal  of  any  of  its- successors;  while  in  that  exu- 
berance of  patriotism  which  obliterated  party  lines 
and  united  all  in  a  common  effort  to  meet  the 
threatened  integrity  of  the  United  States  as  a 
nation,  it  surpassed  them  both. 

"  The  war  was  fought,  the  slave  power  forever 
destroyed,  and  under  additional  amendments  to  her 
organic  law,  the  United  States  wiped  the  stain  of 
human  slavery  from  her  escutcheon,  liberating  over 
four  million  human  beings,  nineteen-twentieths  of 
whom  were  native-born  residents. 

"When  Lee  surrendered  at  Appomattox  Court 
House,  Ohio  had  two  hundred  regiments  of  all 
arms  in  the  National  service.  In  the  coui'se  of 
the  war,  she  had  furnished  two  hundred  and  thirty 
regiments,  besides  twenty-six  independent  batteries 
of  artillery,  five  independent  companies  of  cavalry, 
several  companies  of  sharpshooters,  large  parts  of 
five  regiments  credited  to  the  West  Virginia  con- 
tingent, two  regiments  credited  to  the  Kentucky 
contingent,  two  transferred  to  the  United  States 
colored  troops,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  Fifty-fourth  and  Sixty-fifth  Massar 
chusetts  Regiments,  also  colored  men.  Of  these  or- 
ganizations, twenty-three  were  infantry  regiments 
fiirnished  on  the  first  call  of  the  President,  an  ex- 
cess of  nearly  one-half  over  the  State's  quota ;  one 
hundred  and  ninety-one  were  infantry  regiments, 
furnished  on  subsequent  calls  of  the  President — 
one  hundred  and  seventeen  for  three  years,  twenty- 
seven  for  one  year,  two  for  six  months,  two  for 
three  months,  and  forty-two  for  one  hundred  days. 
Thirteen  were  cavalry,  and  three  artillery  for  three 
years.  Of  thfese  three-years  troops,  over  twenty 
thousand  re-enlisted,  as  veterans,  at  the  end  of 
their  long  term  of  service,  to  fight  till  the  war 
would  end." 

As  original  members  of  these  organizations,  Ohio 
ftirnished  to  the  National  service  the  magnificent 
army  of  310,654  actual  soldiers,  omitting  from 
the  above  number  all  those  who  paid  commuta- 
tion money,  veteran  enlistments,  and  citizens  who 
enlisted  as  soldiers  or  sailors  in  other  States.  The 
count  is  made  from  the  reports  of  the  Provost 
Marshal  General  to  the  War  Department.  Penn- 
sylvania gave  not  quite  28,000  more,  while  Illinois 
feU    48,000    behind;     Indiana,    116,000    less; 


p.' 


yjrA/lot:<^^'yy^-     /j^^iyp^y'r^  ^ 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


137 


Kentucky,  235,000,  and  Massachusetts,  164,000. 
Thus  Ohio  more  than  maintained,  in  the  National 
army,  the  rank  among  her  sisters  which  her  popu- 
lation supported.  Ohio  furnished  more  troopg  than 
the  President  ever  required  of  her  ;  and  at  the 
end  of  the  war,  with  more  than  a  thousand  men  in 
the  camp  of  the  State  who  were  never  mustered 
into  the  service,  she  still  had  a  credit  on  the  rolls 
of  the  War  Department  for  4,332  soldiers,  beyond 
the  aggregate  of  all  quotas  ever  assigned  to  her; 
and,  besides  all  these,  6,479  citizens  had,  in  lieu  of 
personal  service,  paid  the  commutation ;  while  In- 
diana, Kentucky,  Pennsylvania  and  New  York 
were  all  from  five  to  one  hundred  thousand  behind 
their  quotas.  So  ably,  through  all  those  years  of 
trial  and  death,  did  she  keep  the  promise  of  the 
memorable  dispatch  from  her  first  war  Grovernor  : 
"  If  Kentucky  refuses  to  fill  her  quota,  Ohio  wUl 
fill  it  for  her." 

"Of  these  troops  11,237  were  killed  or  mor- 
tally wounded  in  action,  and  of  these  6,563  were 
left  dead  on  the  field  of  battle.  They  fought  on 
well-nigh  every  battle-field  of  the  war.  Within 
forty-eight  hours  after  the  first  call  was  made  for 
troops,  two  regiments  were  on  the  way  to  Wash- 
ington. An  Ohio  brigade  covered  the  retreat  from 
the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run.  Ohio  troops  formed 
the  bulk  of  army  that  saved  to  the  Union  the 
territory  afterward  erected  into  West  Virginia ; 
the  bulk  of  the  army  that  kept  Kentucky  from 
seceding ;  a,  large  part  of  the  army  that  captured 
Fort  Donelson  and  Island  No.  10  ;  a  great  part  of 
the  army  that  from  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga, 
and  Mission  Ridge  and  Atlanta,  swept  to  the  sea 
and  captured  Port  McAllister,  and  north  through 
the  Carolinas  to  Virginia." 

When  Sherman  started  on  his  famous  march  to 
the  sea,  some  one  said  to  President  Lincoln,  "T  hey 
will  never  get  through;  they  will  all  be  captured, 
and  the  Union  will  be  lost."  "  It  is  impossible," 
replied  the  President ;  "it  cannot  be  done<  There 
is  a  mighty  sight  of  fight  in  one  hundred  thou- 
sand  Western  men.^^ 

Ohio  troops  fought  at  Pea  Ridge.  They  charged 
at  Wagner.  They  helped  redeem  North  Carolina. 
They  were  in  the  sieges  of  Vicksburg,  Charleston, 
Mobile  and  Richmond.  At  Pittsburg  Landing, 
at  Antietam,  G-ettysburg  and  Corinth,  in  the 
Wilderness,  at  Five  Forks,  before  Nashville  and 
Appomattox  Court  House;  "their bones,  reposing 
on  the  fields  they  won  and  in  the  graves  they  fill,  are 
a  perpetual  pledge  th^t  no  flag  shall  «ver  wave  over 
their  graves  but  that  flag  they  died  to  maintain." 


Ohio's  soil  gave  birth  to,  or  furnished,  a  Grant, 
a  Sherman,  a  Sheridan,  a  McPherson,  a  Rosecrans, 
a  MoClellan,  a  McDowell,  a  Mitchell,  a  Gilmore,  a 
Hazen,  a  Sill,  a  Stanley,  a  Steadman,  and  others — all 
but  one,  children  of  the  country,  reared  at  West  Point 
for  such  emergencies.  Ohio's  war  record  shows 
one  G-eneral,  one  Lieutenant  General,  twenty  Major 
Generals,  twenty-seven  Brevet  Major  Generals,  and 
thirty  Brigadier  Generals,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  Brevet  Brigadier  Generals.  Her  three  war 
Governors  were  William  Dennison,  David  Todd,  and 
John  Brough.  She  furnished,  at  the  same  time, 
one  Secretary  of  War,  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  and 
one  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Salmon  P.  Chase. 
Her  Senators  were  Benjamin  F.  Wade  and  John 
Sherman.  At  least  three  out  of  five  of  Ohio's 
able-bodied  men  stood  in  the  line  of  battle.  On 
the  head  stone  of  one  of  these  soldiers,  who  gave 
his  life  for  the  country,  and  who  now  lies  in  a 
National  Cemetery,  is  inscribed  these  words :. 

"  We  charge  the  living  to  preserve  that  Constitution  we 
have  died  to  defend." 

The  close  of  the  war  and  return  of  peace  brought 
a  period  of  fictitious  values  on^the  country,  occa- 
sioned by  the  immense  amount  of  currency  afloat. 
Property  rose  to  unheard-of  values,  and  everything 
with  it.  Ere  long,  however,  the  decline  came,  and 
with  it  "  hard  times."  The  climax  broke  over  the 
country  in  1873,  and  for  awhile  it  seemed  as  if 
the  country  was  on  the  verge  of  ruin.  People 
found  again,  as  preceding  generations  had  found, 
that  real  value  was  the  only  basis  of  true  prosper- 
ity, and  gradually  began  to  work  to  the  fact.  The 
Government  established  the  specie  basis  by 
gradual  means,  and  on  the  1st  day  of  January, 
1879,  began  to  redeem  its  outstanding  obligations 
in  coin.  The  effect  was  felt  everywhere.  Busi- 
ness of  all  kinds  sprang  anew  into  life,  A  feeling 
of  confidence  grew  as  the  times  went  on,  and  now, 
on  the  threshold  of  the  year  1880,  the  State  is  en- 
tering on  an  era  of  steadfast  prosperity ;  one  which 
has  a  sure  and  certain  foundation. 

Nearly  four  years  have  elaped  since  the  great 
Centennial  Exhibition  was  held  in  Philadelphia ; 
an  exhibition  that  brought  from  every  State  in  the 
Union  the  best  products  of  her  soil,  factories,  and 
all  industries.  In  that-exhibit  Ohio  made  an  ex- 
cellent display.  Her  stone,  iron,  coal,  cereals, 
woods  and  everything  pertaining  to  her  welfare  were 
all  represented.  Ohio,  occupying  the  middle  ground 
of  the  Union,  was  expected  to  show  to  foreign  na- 
tions what  the  valleys  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio 


—^ 


138 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


could  produce.  The  State  nobly  stood  the  test 
and  ranked  foremost  among  all  others.  Her  cen- 
tennial building  was  among  the  first  completed 
and  among  the  neatest  and  best  on  the  grounds. 
During  the  summer,  the  Centennial  Commission 
extended  invitations  to  the  Governors  of  the  several 
States  to  appoint  an  orator  and  name  a  day  for  his 


delivery  of  an  address  on  the  history,  progress  and 
resources  of  his  State.  Gov.  Hayes  named  the 
Hon.  Edward  D.  Mansfield  for  this  purpose,  and 
August  9th,  that  gentleman  delivered  an  address 
so  valuable  for  the  matter  which  it  contains,  that 
we  here  give  a  synopsis  of  it. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 


OHIO    IN   THE    CENTENNIAL— ADDRESS    OF   EDWARD    D.    MANSHELD,  LL.   D.,  PHILADELPHIA, 

,  AUGUST    9,    1876. 


ONE  hundred  years  ago,  the  whole  territory, 
from  the  Alleghany  to  the  Kocky  Mountains 
was  a  wilderness,  inhabited  only  by  wild  beasts  and 
Indians.  The  Jesuit  and  Moravian  missionaries 
were  the  only  white  men  who  had  penetrated  the 
wilderness  or  beheld  its  mighty  lakes  and  rivers. 
While  the  thirteen  old  colonies  were  declaring 
their  independence,  the  thirteen  new  States,  which 
now  lie  in  the  western  interior,  had  no  existence, 
and  gave  no  sign  of  the  future.  The  solitude  of 
nature  was  unbroken  by  the  steps  of  civOization. 
The  wisest  statesman  had  not  contemplated  the 
probability  of  the  coming  States,  and  the  boldest 
patriot  did  not  dream  that  this  interior  wilderness 
should  soon  contain  a  greater  population  than  the 
thirteen  old  States,  with  all  the  added  growth  of 
one  hundred  years.  • 

Ten  years  after  that,  the  old  States  had  ceded 
their  Western  lands  to  the  General  Government, 
and  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  had  passed 
the  ordinance  of  1785,  for  the  survey  of  the  pub- 
lic territory,  and,  in  1787,the  celebrated  ordinance 
which  organized  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and 
dedicated  it  to  freedom  and  intelligence. 

Fifteen  years  after  that,  and  more  than  a  quarter 
of  a  century  after  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, the  State  of  Ohio  was  admitted  into  the 
Union,  being  the  seventeenth  which  accepted  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  It  has  since 
grown  up  to  be  great,  populous  and  prosperous 
under  the  influence  of  those  ordinances.  At  her 
admittance,  in  1803,  the  tide  of  emigration  had 
begun  to  flow  over  the  Alleghanies  into  the  Valley 
of  the  Mississippi,  and,  although  no  steamboat,  no 
railroad  then  existed,  nor  even  a  stage  coach  helped 
the  immigrant,  yet  the  wooden  "  ark  "  oh  the 
Ohio,  and  the  heavy  w:agon,  slowly  winding  over 


the  mountains,  bore  these  tens  of  thousands  to  the 
wilds  of  Kentucky  and  the  plains  of  Ohio.  In 
the  spring  of  1788 — the  first  year  of  settlement — 
four  thousand  five  hundred  persons  passed  the 
mouth  of  the  Muskingum  in  three  months,  and 
the  tide  continued  to  pour  on  for  half  a  century  in 
a  widening  stream,  mingled  with  all  the  races  of 
Europe  and  America,  until  now,  in  the  hundredth 
year  of  America's  independence,  the  five  States  of  the 
Northwestern  Territory,  in  the  wilderness  of  1776, 
contain  ten  millions  of  people,  enjoying  all  the 
blessings  which  peace  and  prosperity,  freedom  and 
Christianity,  can  confer  upon  any  people.  Of  these 
five  States,  born  under  the  ordinance  of  1787,  Ohio 
is  the  first,  oldest,  and,  in  many  things,  the  greatest. 
In  some  things  it  is  the  greatest  State  in  the  Union. 
Let  us,  then,  attempt,  in  the  briefest  terms,  to 
draw  an  outline  portrait  of  this  great  and  remark- 
able commonwealth. 

Let  us  observe  its  physical  aspects.  Ohio  is 
just- one-sixth  part  of  the  Northwestern  Territory 
— 10,000  square  miles.  It  lies  between  Lake  Erie 
and  the  Ohio  River,  having  200  miles  of  navigable 
waters,  on  one  side  flowing  into  the  Atlantic  Ocean, 
and  on  the  other  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Through 
the  lakes,  its  vessels  touch  on  6,000  mUes  of 
interior  coast,  and,  through  the  Mississippi,  on 
36,000  miles  of  river  coast;  so  that  a  citizen  of 
Ohio  may  pursue  his  navigation  through  42,000 
miles,  all  in  his  own  country,  and  all  within  naviga- 
ble reach  of  his  own  State.  He  who  has  circumnavi- 
gated the  globe,  has  gone  but  little  more  than 
half  the  distance  which  the  citizen  of  Ohio'finds 
within  his  natural  reach  in  this  vast  interior. 

Looking  upon  the  surface  of  this  State,  we  find 
no  mountains,  no  barren  sands,  no  marshy  wastes, 
no  lava-covered   plains,  but  one  broad,   compact 


;^ 


i^ 


HISTQBY   or   OHIO. 


139 


body  of  arable  land,  intersected  with  rivers  and 
streams  and  running  waters,  while  the  beautiful 
Ohio  flows  tranquilly  by  its  side.  More  than  three 
times  the  surface  of  Belgium,  and  ohe-third  of  the 
whole  of  Italy,  it  has  more  natural  resources  in 
proportion  than  either,  and  is  capable  of  ultimately 
supporting  a  larger  population  than  any  equal  sur- 
face in  Europe.  Looking  from  this  great  arable 
surface,  where  upon  the  very  hills  the  grass  and 
the  forest  trees  now  grow  exuberant  and  abundant, 
we  find  that  underneath  this  surface,  and  easily 
accessible,  lie  10,000  square  miles  of  coal,  and 
4,000  square  miles  of  iron — coal  and  iron  enough 
to  supply  the  basis  of  manufacture  for  a  world ! 
AH  this  vast  deposit  of  metal  and  fuel  does  not  in- 
terrupt or  take  from  that  arable  surface  at  all. 
There  you  may  find  in  one  place  the  same  machine 
bringing  up  coal  and  salt  water  from  below,  while 
the  wheat  and  the  corn  grow  upon-  the  surface 
above.  The  immense  masses  of  coal,  iron,  salt  and 
freestone  deposited  below  have  not  in  any  way 
diminished  the  fertility  and  production  of  the  soU. 

It  has  been  said  by  some  writer  that  the  char- 
acter of  a  people  is  shaped  or  modified  by  the 
character  of  the  country  in  which  they  live.  If 
the  people  of  Switzerland  have  acquired  a  certain 
air  of  hberty  and  independence  from  the  rugged 
mountains  around  which  they  live;  if  the  people 
of  Southern  Italy,  or  beautiftil  France,  have  ac- 
quired a  tone  of  ease  and  politeness  from  their 
mild  and  genial  clime,  so  the  people  of  Ohio, 
placed  amidst  such  a  wealth  of  nature,  in  the  tem- 
perate zone,  should  show  the  best  fruits  of  peace- 
fiil  industry  and  the  best  culture  of  Christian 
civilization.  Have  they  done  so?  Have  their 
own  labor  and  arts  and  culture  come  up  to  the  ad- 
vantages of  their  natural  situation?  Let  us  exam- 
ine this  growth  and  their  product. 

The  first  settlement  of  Ohio  was  made  by  a 
colony  from  New  England,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Muskingum.  It  was  literally  a  remnant  of  the 
officers  of  the  Eevolution.  Of  this  colony  no 
praise  of  the  historian  can  be  as  competent,  or  as 
strong;  as  the  language  of  Washington.  He  says, 
in  answer  to  inquiries  addressed  to  him :  "  No  col- 
ony in  America  was  ever  settled  under  such  favor- 
able auspices  as  that  which  has  just  commenced  at 
the  Muskingum.  Information,  prosperity  and 
strength  will  be  its  characteristics.  I  know  many 
of  the  settlers  personally,  and  there  never  were 
men  better  calculated  to  promote  the  welfare  of 
such  a  community;"  and  he  adds  that  if  he  were 
a  young  man,  he  knows  no  country  in  which  he 


would  sooner  settle  than  in  this  Western  region.'' 
This  colony,  left  alone  for  a  time,  made  its  own 
government  and  nailed  its  laws  to  a  tree  in  the  vil- 
lage, an  early  indication  of  that  law-abiding  and 
peaceful  spirit  which  has  since  made  Ohio  a  just 
and  well-ordered  community.  The  subsequent 
settlements  on  the  Miami  and  Scioto  were  made  by 
citizens  of  New  Jersey  and  Virginia,  and  it  is  cer- 
tainly remarkable  that  among  all  the  early  immi- 
gration, there  were  no  ignorant  people.  In  the 
language  of  Washington,  they  came  with  "  infor- 
mation," qualified  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
cotamunity. 

Soon  after  the  settlement  on  the  Muskingum 
and  the  Miami,  the  great  wave  of  migration 
fiowed  on  to  the  plains  and  valleys  of  Ohio  and  Ken- 
tucky. Kentucky  had  been  settled  earlier,  but  the 
main  body  of  emigrants  in  subsequent  years 
went  into  Ohio,  influenced  partly  by  the  great 
ordinance  of  1Y87,  securing  freedom  and  schools 
forever,  and  partly  by  the  greater  security  of 
titles  under  the  survey  and  guarantee  of  the 
United  States  Government.  Soon  the  new  State 
grew  up,  with  a  rapidity  which,  until  then,  was 
unknown  in  the  history  of  civilization.  On  the 
Muskingum,  where  the  buifalo  had  roamed;  on 
the  Scioto,  where  the  Shawanees  had  built  their 
towns ;  on  the  Miami,  where  the  great  chiefs  of 
the  Miamis  had  reigned  ;  on  the  plains  of  San- 
dusky, yet  red  with  the  blood  of  the  white  man  ; 
on  the  Maumee,  where  Wayne,  by  the  victory  of 
the  "  Fallen  Timbers,"  had  broken  the  power  of 
the  Indian  confederacy — ^the  emigrants  from  the 
old  States  and  from  Europe  came  in  to  cultivate 
the  fields,  to  build  up  towns,  and  to  rear  the  insti- 
tutions df  Christian  civilization,  until  the  single 
State  of  Ohio  is  greater  in  numbers,  wealth,  and 
education,  than  was  the  whole  American  Union 
when  the  Declaration  of  Independence  was  made. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  statistics  of  this  growth 
and  magnitude,  as  they  are  exhibited  in  the  cen- 
sus of  the  United  States.  Taking  intervals  of 
twenty  years,  Ohio  had:  In  1810,  230,760;  in 
1830,  937,903  ;  in  1850,  1,980,329  ;  in  1870, 
2,665,260.  Add  to  this  the  increase  of  population 
in  the  last  six  years,  and  Ohio  now  has,  in  round 
numbers,  3,000,000  of  people — half  a  million 
more  than  the  thirteen  States  in  1776 ;  and 
her  cities  and  towns  have  to-day  six  times  the 
population  of  all  the  cities  of  America  one  hund- 
red years  ago.  This  State  is  now  the  third  in 
numbers  and  wealth,  and  the  first  in  some  of 
those    institutions    which    mark  the  progress  of 


-4 


140 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


mankind.  That  a  small  part  of  tte  wilderness  of 
1776  should  be  more  populous  than  the  whole 
Union  was  then,  and  that  "it  should  have  made  a 
social  and  moral  advance  greater  than  that  of  any 
nation  in  the  same  time,  must  be  regarded  as  one 
of  the  most  startling  and  instructive  facts  which 
attend  this  year  of  commemoration.  If  such  has 
been  the  social  growth  of  Ohio,  let  us ,  look  at  its 
physical  development ;  this  is  best  expressed  by  the 
aggregate  productions  of  the  labor  and  arts  of  a 
people  applied  to  the  earth.  In  the  census  statistics 
of  the  United  States  these  are  expressed  in  the 
aggregate  results  of  agriculture,  mining,  manufaet^ 
ures,  and  commerce.  Let  us  simplify  these  statis- 
tics, by  comparing  the  aggregate  and  ratios  as 
between  several  States,  and  between  Ohio  and  some 
countries  of  Europe. 

The  aggregate  amount  of  grain  and  potatoes — 
farinaceous  food,  produced  in  Ohio  in  1870  was 
134,938,413  bushels,  and  in  1874,  there  were  157,- 
328,597  bushels,  being  the  largest  aggregate 
amount  raised  in  any  State  but  one,  lUipois,  and 
larger  per  square  mile  than  Illinois  or  any  other 
State  in  the  country.  The  promises  of  nature 
were  thus  vindicated  by  the  labor  of  man ;  and 
the  industry  of  Ohio  has  fulfilled  its  whole  duty 
to  the  sustenance  of  the  country  and  the  world. 
She  has  raised  more  grain  than  ten  of  the  old 
States  together,  and  more  than  half  raised  by 
Great  Britain  or  by  France.  I  have  not  the 
recent  statistics  of  Europe,  but  McGregor,  in  his 
statistics  of  nations  for  1832 — a  period  of  pro- 
found peace — gives  the  following  ratios  for  the 
leading  countries  of  Europe :  Great  Britain,  area 
120,324  miles;  amount  of  grain,  262,500,000 
bushels;  rate  per  square  mile,  2,190  to  1; 
Austria — area  258,603  mUes  ;  aniount  of  grain, 
366,800,000  bushels;  rate  per  square  mile,  l,422to 
1;  France — area  215,858  miles;  amount  of  grain, 
233,847,300  bushels  ;  rate  per  square  mile,  1,080 
to  1.  The  State  of  Ohio — area  per  square  miles, 
40,000  ;  amount  of  grain,  150,000,000  bushels  ; 
rate  per  square  mile,  3,750.  Combining  the  great 
countries  of  Great  Britain,  Austria,  and  France, 
we  find  that  they  had  594,785  square  miles  and 
produced  863,147 ,300  bushels  of  grain,  which  was,  at 
the  time  these  statistics  were  taken,  1 ,450  bushels  per 
square  mile,  and  ten  bushels  to  each  one  of  the 
population.  Ohio,  on  the  other  hand,  had  3,750 
bushels  per  square  mile,  and  fifty  bushels  to  each 
one  of  the  population ;  that  is,  there  was  five 
times  as  much  grain  raised  in  Ohio,  in  proportion 
to  the  people,  as  in  these  great  countries  of  Europe. 


As  letters  make  words,  and  words  express  ideas,  so 
these  dry  figures  of  statistics  express  facts,  and 
these  facts  make  the  whole  history  of  civilization. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  statistics  of  domestic 
animals.  These  are  always  indicative  of  the  state 
of  society  in  regard  to  the  physical  comforts.  The 
horse  must  furnish  domestic  conveyances;  the 
cattle  must  furnish  the  products  of  the  dairy,  as 
well  as  meat,  and  the  sheep  must  furnish  wool. 

Let  us  see  how  Ohio  compares  with  other  States 
and  with  Europe :  In  1870,  Ohio  had  8,818,000 
domestic  animals ;  Illinois,  6,925,000  ;  New  York, 
5,283,000;  Pennsylvania,  4,493,000;  and  other 
States  less.  The  proportion  to  population  in  these 
States  was,  in  Ohio,  to  each  person,  3.3 ;  Illinois, 
2.7;  New  York,  1.2;  Pennsylvania,  1.2. 

Let  us  now  see  the  proportion  of  domestic  ani- 
mals in  Europe.  The  results  given  by  McGregor's 
statistics  are :  In  Great  Britain,  to  each  person, 
2.44;  Russia,  2.00;  France,  1.50  ;  Prussia,  1.02; 
Austria,  1.00.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  proportion 
in  Great  Britain  is  only  two-thirds  that  of  Ohio; 
in  France,  only  one-half;  and  in  Austria  and 
Prussia  only  one-third.  It  may  be  said  that,  in 
the  course  of  civilization,  the  number  of  animals 
diminishes  as  the  density  of  population  increases  ; 
and,  therefore,  this  result  might  have  been  ex- 
pected in  the  old  countries  of  Europe.  But  this 
does  not  apply  to  Russia  or  Germany,  still  less  to 
other  States  in  this  country.  Russia  in  Europe 
has  not  more  than  half  the  density  of  population 
now  in  Ohio.  Austria  and  Prussia  have  less  than 
150  to  the  square  mile.  The  whole  of  the  north 
of  Europe  has  not  so  dense  a  population  as  the 
State  of  Ohio,  still  less  have  the  States  of  Illinois 
and  Missouri,  west  of  Ohio.  Then,  therefore, 
Ohio  showing  a  larger  proportion  of  domestic  ani- 
mals than  the  north  of  Europe,  or  States  west  of 
her,  with  a  population  not  so  dense,  we  see  at  once 
there  must  be  other  causes  to  produce  such  a 
phenomenon. 

Looking  to  some  of  the  incidental  results  of  this 
vast  agricultural  production,  we  see  that  the  United 
States  exports  to  Europe  immense  amounts  of 
grain  and  provisions ;  and  that  there  is  manufact- 
ured in  this  country  an  immense  amount  of  woolen 
goods.  Then,  taking  these  statistics  of  the  raw 
material,  we  find  that  Ohio  produces  one-fifth  of 
all  the  wool ;  one-seventh  of  all  the  cheese ;  one- 
eighth  of  all  the  corn,  and  one-tentk  of  all  the 
wheat ;  and  yet  Ohio  has  but  a  fourteenth  part  of 
the  population,  and  one-eightieth  part  of  the  sur- 
face of  this  country. 


-4^ 


HISTORY   OP   OHIO. 


141 


Let  us  take  another — a  commercial  view  of  this 
matter.  We  have  seen  that  Ohio  raises  five  times 
as  much  grain  per  square  mile  as  is  raised  per 
square  mile  in  the  empires  of  Great  Britain,  France 
and  Austria,  taken  together.  After  making  allow- 
ance for  the  diflFerences  of  living,  in  the  working 
classes  of  this  country,  at  least  two-thirds  of  the 
food  and  grain  of  Ohio  are  a  surplus  beyond  the 
necessities  of  life,  and,  therefore,  so  much  in  the 
commercial  balance  of  exports.  This  corresponds 
with  the  fact,  that,  in  the  shape  of  grain,  meat, 
liquors  and  dairy  products,  this  vast  surplus  is  con- 
stantly moved  to  the  Atlantic  States  and  to  Europe. 
The  money  value  of  this  exported  product  is  equal 
to  $100,000,000  per  annum,  and  to  a  solid  capital 
of  $1,500,000,000,  after  all  the  sustenance  of  the 
people  has  been  taken  out  of  the  annual  crop. 

We  are  speaking  of  agriculture  alone.  We  are 
speaking  of  a  State  which  began  its  career  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century  after  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  was  made.  And  now,  it  may  be 
asked,  what  is  the  real  cause  of  this  extraordinary 
result^  which,  without  saying  anything  invidious  of 
other  States,  we  may  safely  say  has  never  been 
surpassed  in  any  country?  We  have  already 
stated  two  of  the  advantages  possessed  by  Ohio. 
The  first  is  that  it  is  a  compact,  unbroken  body  of 
arable  land,  surrounded  and  intersected  by  water- 
courses, equal  to  all  the  demands  of  commerce  and 
navigation.  Next,  that  it  was  secured  forever  to 
freedom  and  intelligence  by  the  ordinance  of  1Y87. 
The  intelligence  of  its  future  people  was  secured 
I  by  immense  grants  of  public  lands  foi'the  purpose 
of  education ;  but  neither  the  blessings  of  nature, 
nor  the  wisdom  of  laws,  could  obtain  such  results 
without  the  continuous  labor  of  an  intelligent 
people.  Such  it  had,  and  we  have  only  to  take 
the  testimony  of  Washington,  already  quoted,  and 
the  statistical  resultis  I  have  given,  to  prove  that 
no  people  has  exhibited  more  steady  industry,  nor 
has  any  people  directed  their  labor  with  more  in- 
telligence. 

Afl«r  the  agricultural  capacity  and  production 
of  a  country,  its  most  important  physical  feature 
is  its  miiieral  products;  its  capacity  for  coal  and 
iron,  the  two  great  elements  of  material  civiliza- 
tion. If  we  were  to  take  away  from  Great  Britain 
her  capacity  to  produce  coal  in  such  vast  quanti- 
ties, we  should  reduce  her  to  a  third-rate  position, 
no  longer  numbered  among  the  great  nations  of  the 
earth.  Coal  has  smelted  her  iron,  run  her  steam 
engines,  and  is  the  basis  of  her  manufactures. 
But  when   we   compare  the  coal  fields  of  Great 


Britain  with  those  of  this  country,  they  are.  insig- 
nificant. The  coal  fields  of  all  Europe  are  small 
compared  with  those  of  the  central  United  States. 
The  coal  district  of  Durham  and  Northumberland, 
in  England,  is  only  880  square  miles.  There  are 
other  districts  of  smaller  extent,  making  in  the 
whole  probably  one-half  the  extent  of  that  in 
Ohio.  The  EngUsh  coal-beds  are  represented  as 
more  important,  in  reference  to  extent,  on  account 
of  their  thickness.  There  is  a  small  coal  district 
in  Lancashire,  where  the  workable  coal-beds  are  in 
all  150  feet  in  thicknfts.  But  this  involves,  as  is 
well  known,  the  necessity  of  going  to  immense 
depths  and  incurring  immense  expense.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  workable  coal-beds  of  Ohio  are 
near  the  surface,  and  some  of  them  require  no  ex- 
cavating, except  that  of  the  horizontal,  lead  from 
the  mine  to  the  river  or  the  railroad.  In  one 
county  of  Ohio  there  are  three  beds  of  twelve,  six 
and  four  feet  each,  within  fifty  feet  of  the  surface. 
At  some  of  the  mines  having  the  best  coal,  the 
lead  from  the  mines  is  nearly  horizontal,  and  just 
high  enough  to  dump  the  coal  into  the  railroad 
cars.  These  coals  are  of  all  qualities,  from  that 
adapted  to  the  domestic  fire  to  the  very  best  qual- 
ity for  smelting  or  manufacturing  iron.  Recollect- 
ing these  facts,  let  us  try  to  get  an  idea  of  the  coal 
district  of  Ohio.  The  bituminous  coal  region  de- 
eseending  the  western  slopes  of  the  AUeghanies, 
occupies  large  portions  of  Western"  Pennsylvania, 
West  Virginia,  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  I 
suppose  that  this  coal  field  is  not  less  than  fifty 
thousand  square  miles,  exclusive  of  Western  Mary- 
land and  the  southern  terminations  of  that  field  in 
Georgia  and  Alabama.  Of  this  vast  field  of  coal, 
exceeding  anything  found  in  Europe,  about  one- 
fifth  part  lies  in  Ohio.  Prof  Mather,  in  his 
report  on  the  geology  of  the  State  (first  Geologi- 
cal Report  of  the  State)  says : 

"  The  coal-measures  within  Ohio  occupy  a  space 
of  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  in  length  by 
eighty  in  breadth  at  the  widest;  part,  with  an  area 
of  about  ten  thousand  square  miles,  extending 
along  the  Ohio  from  Trumbull  County  in  the  north 
to  near  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  in  the  south. 
The  regularity  in  the  dip,  and  the  moderate  incli- 
nation of  the  strata,  afibrd  facilities  to  the  mines 
not  known  to  those  of  most  other  countries,  espe- 
cially Great  Britain,  where  the  strata  in  which  the 
coal  is  imbedded  have  been  broken  and  thrown  out 
of  place  since  its  deposit,  occasioning  many  slips 
and  faults,  and  causing  much  labor  and  expense  in 
again  recovering  the  bed.     In  Ohio  there  is  very 


D  ""V 


.1 


142 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


little  difficulty  of  this  kind,  the  faults  being  small 
and  seldom  found." 

Now,  taking  into  consideration  these  geological 
facts,  let  us  look  at  the  extent  of  the  Ohio  coal 
field.  It  occupies,  wholly  or  in  part,  thirty-six 
counties,  including,  geographically,  14,000  square 
miles  ;  but-  leaving  out  fractions,  and  reducing  the 
Ohio  coal  field  within  its  narrowest  limits,  it  is 
10,000  square  miles  in  extent,  lies  near  the  surface, 
and  has  on  an  average  twenty  feet  thickness  of  work- 
able coal-beds.  Let  us  compare  this  with  the  coal 
mines  of  Durham  and  NortAimberland  (England), 
the  largest  and  best  coal  mines  there.  That  coal 
district  is  estimated  at  850  square  miles,  twelve 
feet  thick,  and  is  calculated  to  contain  9,000,000,- 
000  tons  of  coal.  The  coal  field  of  Ohio  is  twelve 
times  larger  and  one-third  thicker.  Estimated  by 
that  standard-,  the  coal  field  of  Ohio  contains  180,- 
000,000,000  tons  of  coal.  Marketed  at  only  $2 
per  ton,  this  coal  is  worth  $360,000,000,000,  or, 
in  other  words,  ten  times  as  much  as  the  whole 
valuation  of  the  United  States  at  the  present  time- 
But  we  need  not  undertake  to  estimate  either  its 
quantity  or  value.  It  is  enough  to  say  that  it  is  a 
quantity  which  we  can  scarcely  imagine,  which  is 
tenfold  that  of  England,  and  which  is  enough  to 
supply  the  entire  continent  for  ages  to  come. 

After  coal,  iron  is  beyond  doubt  the  most  val- 
uable mineral  product  of  a  State.  As  the  mate- 
rial of  manufacture,  it  is  the  most  important. 
What  are  called  the  "  precious  metals  "  are  not  to 
be  compared  with  it  as  an  element  of  industry  or 
profit.  But  since  no  manufactures  can  be  success- 
fully carried  on  without  fuel,  coal  becomes  the  first 
material  element  of  the  arts.  Iron  is  unquestion- 
ably the  next.  Ohio  has  an  iron  district  extending 
from  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto  River  to  some  point 
north  of  the  Mahoning  River,  in  Trumbull  County. 
The  whole  length  is  nearly  two  hundred  miles,  and 
the  breadth  twenty  miles,  making,  as  near  as  we  can 
ascertain,-  4,000  square  miles.  The  iron  in  this  dis- 
trict is  of  various  qualities,  and  is  manufactured 
largely  into  bars  and  castings.  In  this  iron  dis- 
trict are  one  hundred  furnaces,  forty-four  rolling- 
mills,  and  fifteen  rail-mills,  being  the  largest  num- 
ber of  either  in  any  State  in  the  Union,  except 
only  Pennsylvania. 

Although  only  the  sevent  eenth  State  in  its  admis- 
sion, I  find  that,  by  the  census  statistics  of  1870, 
it  is  the  third  State  in  the  production  of  iron  and  iron 
manufactures.  Already,  and  within  the  life  of 
one  man,  this  State  begins  to  show  what  must  in 
future  time  be  the  vast  results  of  coal  and  iron, 


applied  to  the  arts  and  manufactures.  In  the 
year  18Y4,  there  were  420,000  tons  of  pig  iron 
produced  in  Ohio,  which  is  larger  than  the  prod- 
uct of  any  State,  except  Pennsylvania.  The 
product  and  the  manufacture  of  iron  in  Ohio 
have  increased  so  rapidly,  and  the  basis  for 
increase  is  so  great,  that  we  may  not  doubt  that 
Ohio  will  continue  to  be  the  greatest  producer  of 
iron  and  iron  fabrics,  except  only  Pennsylvania. 
At  Cincinnati,  the  iron  manufacture  of  the  Ohio 
Valley  is  concentrating,  and  at  Cleveland  the  ores 
of  Lake  Superior  are  being  smelted. 

After  coal  and  iron,  we  may  place  salt  among 
the  necessaries  of  life.  In  connection  with  the 
coal  region  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  there  has  in 
Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia,  and  Ohio,  a  large 
space  of  country  underlaid  by  the  salt  rock,  which 
already  produces  immense  amounts  of  salt.  Of 
this,  Ohio  has  its  full  proportion.  In  a  large 
section  of  the  southeastern  portion  of  the  State, 
salt  is  produced  without  any  known  limitation. 
At  Pomeroy  and  other  points,  the  salt  rock  Ues 
about  one  thousand  feet  below  the  surface,  but 
salt  water  is  brought  easily  to  the  surface  by  the 
steam  engine.  There,  the  salt  rock,  the  coal 
seam,  and  the  noble  sandstone  lie  in  successive 
strata,  while  the  green  corn  and  the  yellow  wheat 
bloom  on  the  surface  above.  The  State  of  Ohio 
produced,  in  1874,  3,500,000  bushels  of  salt, 
being  one-fifth  of  all  produced  in  the  United 
States.  The  salt  section  of  Ohio  is  exceeded  only 
by  that  of  Syracuse,  New  York,  and  of  Saginaw, 
Michigan.  'There  is  no  definite  limit  to  the 
underljdng  salt  rock  of  Ohio,  and,  therefore,  the 
production  will  be  proportioned  only  to  the  extent , 
of  the  demand. 

Having  now  considered  the  resources  and  the 
products  of  the  soil  and  the  mines  of  Ohio,  we 
may  properly  ask  how  far  the  people  have  employed 
their  resources  in  the  increase  of  art  and  manu- 
facture. We  have  two  modes  of  comparison,  the 
rate  of  increase  within  the  State,  and  the  ratio 
they  bear  to  other  States.  The  aggregate  value 
of  the  products  of  manufacture,  exclusive  of 
mining,  in  the  last  three  censuses  were  :  in  1850, 
$02,692,000;  in  1860,  $121,691,000  ; 'in  1870, 
$269,713,000. 

The  ratio  of  increase  was  over  100  per  c^nt  in 
each  ten  years,  a  rate  fai-  beyond  that  of  the  in- 
crease of  population,  and  much  beyond  the  ratio  of 
increase  in  the  whole  country.  In  1850,  the  man- 
ufactures of  Ohio  were  one-sixteenth  part  of  the 
aggregate  in  the  country ;  in  1860,  one-fifteenth 


5^ 


HISTOEY   or    OHIO. 


143 


part;  in  18Y0,  one-twelfth  part.  In  addition  to 
this,  we  find,  from  the  returns  of  Cincinnati  and 
Cleveland,  that  the  value  of  the  manufactured  prod- 
ucts of  Ohio  in  1875,  must  have  reached  $400,- 
000,000,  and,  by  reference  to  the  census  tables,  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  ratio  of  increase  exceeded  that 
of  the  great  manufacturing  States  of  New  York, 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut.  Of  all  the  States 
admitted  into  the  Union  prior  to  Ohio,  Pennsylvania 
alone  has  kept  pace  in  the  progress  of  manufacture. 
Some  little  reference  to  the  manufacture  of  leading 
articles  may  throw  some  light  on  the  cause  of  this. 
In  the  production  of  agricultural  machinery  and 
implements,  Ohio  is  the  first  State  ;  in  animal  and 
vegetable  oils  and  in  pig  iron,  the  second;  in  cast 
iron  and  in  tobacco,  the  third ;  in  salt,  in  machinery 
and  in  leather,  the  fourth.  These  facts  show  how 
largely  the  resources  of  coal,  iron  and  agriculture 
have  entered  into  the  manufactures  of  the  State. 
.This  great  advance  in  the  manufactures  of  Ohio, 
when  we  consider  that  this  State  is,  relatively  to 
its  surface,  the  first  agricultural  State,  in  the 
country,  leads  to  the  inevitable  inference  that  its 
people  are  remarkably,  industrious.  When,  on 
,  forty  thousand  square  miles  of  surface,  three  mill- 
ions of  people  raise  one  hundred  and  fifty  million 
bushels  of  grain,  and  produce  manufactures  to  the 
amount  of  $269,000,000  (which  is  fifty  bushels 
of  breadstuff  to  each  man,  woman  and  chUd,  and 
$133  of  manufacture),  it  wiU  be  difficult  to  find 
any  community  surpassing  such  results.  It  is  a 
testimony,  not  only  to  the  State  of  Ohio,  but  to 
the  industry,  sagacity  and  energy  of  the  American 
people. 

Looking  now  to  the  commerce  of  the  State,  we 
have  said  there  are  six  hundred  miles  of  coast  line, 
which  embraces  some  of  the  principal  internal  ports 
of  the  Ohio  and  the  lakes,  such  as  Cincinnati,  Cleve- 
land, Toledo  and  Portsmouth,  but  whose  commerce 
is  most  wholly  inland.  Of  course,  no  comparison 
can  be  made  with  the  foreign  commerce  of  the 
ocean  perts.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  well  known 
that  the  inland  trade  of  the  country  far  exceeds 
that  of  all  its  foreign  commerce,  and  that  the  larg- 
est part  of  this  interior  trade  is  carried  on  its 
rivers  and  lakes.  The  materials  for  the  vast  con- 
sumption of  the  interior  must  be  conveyed  in  its 
vessels,  whether  of  sail  or  steam,  adapted  to  these 
waters.  Let  us  take,  then,  the  ship-building,  the 
navigation,  and  the  exchange  trades  of  Ohio,  as 
elements  in  determining  the  position  of  this  State 
in  reference  to  the  commerce  of  the  country.  At 
the  ports  of  Cleveland,  Toledo,  Sandusky  and  Cin- 


cinnati, there  have  been  built  one  thousand  sail  and 
steam  vessels  in  the  last  twenty  years,  making  an 
average  of  fifty  each  year.  The  number  of  sail, 
steam  and  all  kinds  of  vessels  in  Ohio  is  eleven 
hundred  and  ninety,  which  is  equal  to  the  number 
in  all  the  other  States  in  the  Ohio  Valley  and  the 
Upper  Mississippi. 

When  we  look  to  the  navigable  points  to  which 
these  vessels  are  destined,  we  find  them  on  all  this 
vast  coast  line,  which  extends  fi-om  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  to  the  Yellowstone,  and  from  Duluth  to 
the  St.  Lawrence. 

Looking  again  to  see  the  extent  of  this  vast  in- 
terior trade  which  is  handled  by  Ohio  alone,  we 
find  that  the  imports  and  exports  of  the  principal 
articles  of  Cincinnati,  amount  in  value  to  $500,- 
000,000;  and  when  we  look  at  the  great  trade  of 
Cleveland  and  Toledo,  we  fehall  find  that  the  an- 
nual trade  of  Ohio  exceeds  $700,000,000.  The 
lines  of  railroad  which  connect  with  its  ports,  are 
more  than  four  thousand  miles  in  length,  or  rather 
more  than  one  mile  in  length  to  each  ten  square 
miles  of  surface.  This  great  amount  of  railroads  is 
engaged  not  merely  in  transporting  to  the  Atlantic 
and  thence  to  Europe,  the  immense  surpliis  grain 
and  meat  in  Ohio,  but  in  carrying  the  largest  part 
of  that  greater  surplus,  which'  exists  in  the  States 
west  of  Ohio,  the  granary  of  the  West.  Ohio 
holds  the  gateway  of  every  railroad  north  of  the 
Ohio,  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
hence  it  is  that  the  great  transit  lines  of  the  coun- 
try pass  through  Ohio. 

Let  us  now  turn  from  the  progress  of  the  arts 
to  the  progress  of  ideas ;  from  material  to  intellects 
ual  development.  It  is  said  that  a  State  consists 
of  men,  and  history  shows  that  no  art  or  science, 
wealth  or  power,  will  compensate  for  the  want  of 
moral  or  intellectual  stability  in  the  minds  of  a 
nation.  Hence,  it  is  admitted  that  the  strength 
and  perpetuity  of  our  republic  must  consist  in  the 
intelligence  and  morality  of  the  people.  A  re- 
public can  last  only  when  the  people  are  enlight- 
ened. This  was  an  axiom  with  the  early  legislators 
of  this  country.  Hence  it  was  that  when  Vir- 
ginia, Connecticut  and  the  original  colonies  ceded 
to  the  General  Government  that  vast  and  then  un- 
known wilderness  which  lay  west  of  the  Allegha- 
nies,  in  the  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  they 
took  care  that  its  future  inhabitants  should  be  an 
educated  people.  The  Constitution  was  not  formed 
when  the  celebrated  ordinance  of  1787  was  passed. 

That  ordinance  provided  that,  "  Keligion,  mor- 
ality,' and    knowledge   being    necessary   to   good 


144 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools 
and  the  means  of  education  shall  be  forever  en- 
couraged;" and  by  the  ordinance  of  1785  for  the 
survey  of  public  lands  in  the  Northwestern  Terri- 
tory, Section  16  in  each  township,  that  is,  one 
thirty-sixth  part,  was  reserved  for  the  maintenance 
of  public  schools  in  said  townships.  As  the  State 
of  Ohio  contained  a  little  more  than  twenty-five 
millions  of  acres,  this,  together  with  two  special 
grants  of  three  townships  to  universities,  amounted 
to  the  dedication  of  740,000  acres  of  land  to  the 
maintenance  of  schools  and  colleges.  It  was  a 
splendid  endowment,  but  it  was  many  years  before 
it  became  available.  It  was  sixteen  years  after  the 
passage  of  this  ordinance  (in  180S),  when  Ohio 
entered  the  Union,  and  legislation  upon  this  grant 
■  became  possible.  The  Constitution  of  the  State 
pursued  the  language  of  the  ordinance,  and  de- 
clared that  "schools  and  the  means  of  education 
shall  forever  be  encouraged  by  legislative  provision." 
The  Governors  of  Ohio,  in  successive  messages, 
urged  attention  to  this  subject  upon  the  people; 
but  the  thinness  of  settlement,  making  it  impossi- 
ble, except  in  few  districts,  to  collect  youth  in  suf- 
ficient numbers,  and  impossible  to  sell  or  lease' 
lands  to  advantage,  caused  the  delay  of  efficient 
school  system  for  many  years.  In  1825,  however, 
a  general  law  establishing  a  school  system,  and  levy- 
ing a  tax  for  its  support,  was  passed. 

This  was  again  enlarged  and  increased  by  new 
legislation  in  1836  and  1846.  From  that  time  to 
this,  Ohio  has  had  a  broad,  liberal  and  efficient  sys- 
tem of  pubUc  instruction.  The  taxation  for  schools, 
and  the  number  enrolled  in  them  at  different  pe- 
riods, will  best  show  what  has  been  done.  In 
1855  the  total  taxation  for  school  purposes  was 
$2,672,827.  The  proportion  of  youth  of  school- 
able age  enrolled  was  67  per  cent.  In  1874  the 
amount  raised  by  taxation  was  $7,425,135.  The 
number  enrolled  of  schoolable  age  was  70  per 
cent,  or  707,943. 

As  the  schoolable  age  extends  to  twenty-one 
years,  and  as  there  are  very  few  youth  in  school 
after  fifteen  years  of  age,  it  follows  that  the  70 
per  cent  of  schoolable  youths  enrolled  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  must  comprehend  nearly  the  whole 
number  between  four  and  fifteen  years.  It  is  im- 
portant to  observe  this  fact,  because  it  has  been 
inferred  that,  as  the  whole  number  of  youth  be- 
tween five  and  twenty-one  have  not  been  enrolled, 
therefore  they  are  not  educated.  This  is  a 
mistake;  nearly  all  over  fifteen  years  of  age  have 
been  in    the   public  schools,  and   all   the  native 


youth  of  the  State,  and  all  foreign  born,  young 
enough,  have  had  the  benefit  of  the  public  schools. 
But  in  consequence  of  the  large  number  who 
have  come  from  other  States  and  from  foreign 
countries,  there  are  still  a  few  who  are  classed  by 
the  census  statistics  among  the  "illiterate;"  the 
proportion  of  this  class,  however,  is  less  in  propor- 
tion than  in  twenty-eight  other  States,  and  less  in 
proportion  than  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts, 
two  of  the  oldest  States  most  noted  for  popular 
education.  In  fact,  every  youth  in  Ohio,  under 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  may  have  the  benefit  of  a 
public  education ;  and,  since  the  system  of  graded 
and  high  schools  has  been  adopted,  may  obtain  a 
common  knowledge  from  the  alphabet  to  the  classics. 
The  enumerated  branches  of  study  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  Ohio  are  thirty-four,  including 
mathematics  and  astronomy,  French,  German  and 
the  classics.  Thus  the  State  which  was  in  the 
heart  of  the  wilderness  in  1776,  and  was  not  a. 
State  until  the  nineteenth  century  had  begun,  now 
presents  to  the  world,  not  merely  an  unrivaled  de- 
velopment of  material  prosperity,  but  an  unsur- 
passed system  of  popular  education. 

In  what  is  called  the  higher  education,  in  the 
colleges  and  universities,  embracing  the  classics 
and  sciences  taught  in  regular  classes,  it  is  the  pop- 
ular idea,  and  one  which  few  dare  to  question,  that 
we  must  look  to  the  Eastern  States  for  superiority 
and  excellence ;  but  that  also  is  becoming  an  as- 
sumption without  proof;  a  proposition  difficult  to 
sustain.  The  facts  in  regard  to  the  education  of 
universities  and  colleges,  their  faculties,  students 
and  course  of  instruction,  are  all  set  forth  in  the 
complete  statistics  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  for 
1874.  They  show  that  the  State  of  Ohio  had,  the 
largest  number  of  such  institutions;  the  largest 
number  of  instructors  in  their  faculties,  except  one 
State,  New  York ;  and  the  largest  number  of  stu- 
dents in  regular  college  classes,  in  proportion  to 
their  population,  except  the  two  States  of  Connect- 
icut and  Massachusetts.  Perhaps,  if  we  look  at 
the  statistics  of  classical  students  in  the  colleges, 
disregarding  preparatory  and  irregular  courses,  we 
shall  get  a  more  accurate  idea  of  the  progress  of 
the  higher  education  in  those  States  which  claim 
the  best.  In  Ohio,  36  colleges,  258  teachers, 
2,139  students,  proportion,  1  in  124;  in  Penn- 
sylvania, 27  colleges,  239  teachers,  2,359  students, 
proportion,  1  in  150;  in  New  York,  26  colleges, 
343  teachers,  2,764  students,  proportion,  1  in  176 ; 
in  the  six  NewEngland  States,  17  colleges,  252  teach- 
ers, 3,341  students,  proportion,  1  in  105;  in  Illi- 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


145 


nois,  24  colleges,  219  teachers,  1,701  students, 
proportion,  1  in  140. 

This  shows  there  are  more  collegiate  institutiohs 
in  Ohio  than  in  all  New  England  ;  a  greater  num- 
ber of  college  teachers,  and  only  a  little  smaller  ratio 
of  students  to  the  population  ;  'a  greater  number  of 
such  students  than  either  in  New  York  or  Pennsyl- 
vania, and,  as  a  broad,  general  fact,  Ohio  has  made 
more  progress  in  education  than  either  of  the  old 
States  which  formed  the  American  Union.  Such 
a  fact  is  a  higher  testimony  to  the  strength  and  the 
beneficent  influence  of  the  American  Government 
than  any  which  the  statistician  or  the  historian 
can  advance. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  the  moral  aspects  of  the 
people  of  Ohio.  No  human  society  is  found  with- 
out its  poor  and  dependent  classes,  whether  made 
so  ^y  the  defects  of  nature,  by  acts  of  Providence, 
or  by  the  accidents  of  fortune.  Since  no  society 
is  exempt  from  these  classes,  it  must  be  judged 
not  so  much  by  the  fact  of  their  existence,  as  by 
the  manner  in  which  it  treats  them.  In  the  civil- 
ized nations  of  antiquity,  such  as  Greece  and 
Kome,  hospitals,  infirmaries,  orphan  homes,  and 
asylums  for  the  infirm,  were  unknown.  These 
are  the  tjreations  of  Christianity,  and  that  must  be 
esteemed  practically  the  most  Christian  State  which 
most  practices  this  Christian  beneficence.  In  Ohio, 
as  in  all  the  States  of  this  country,  and  of  all 
Christian  countries,  there  is  a  large  number  of  the 
infirm  and  dependent  classes;  but,  although  Ohio 
is  the  thiM  State  in  population,  she  is  only  the 
fourteenth  in  the  proportion  of  dependent  classes. 
The  more  important  point,  however,  was,  how  does 
she  treat  them?  Is  there  wanting  any  of  all 
the  varied  institutions  of  benevolence?  How  does 
she  compare  with  other  States  and  countries  in 
this  tespect?  It  is  believed  that  no  State  or  coun- 
try can  present  a  larger  proportion  of  all  these 
institutions  which  the  benevolence  of  the  wise  and 
good  have  suggested  for  the  alleviation  of  suffer- 
ing and  misfortune,  than  the  State  of  Ohio.  With 
3,500  of  the  insane  within  her  borders,  she  has 
five  great  lunatic  asylums,  capable  of  accommodat- 
ing them  all.  She  has  asylums  for  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  the  idiotic,  and  the  Wind.  She  has  the 
best  hospitals  in  the  country.  She  has  schools 
of  reform  and  houses  of  refiige.  She  has  "  homes  " 
for  the  boys  and  girls,  to  the  number  of  800,  who 
are  children  of  soldiers.  She  has  penitentiaries 
and  jails,  orphan  asylums  and  infirmaries.  In 
every  county  there  is  an  infirmary,  and  in  every 
public  institution,  except  the  penitentiary,  there  is  a 


school.  So  that  the  State  has  used  every  human 
means  to  relieve  the  suffering,  to  instruct  the  igno- 
rant, and  to  reform  the  criminal.  There  are  in 
the  State  80,000  who  come  under  all  the  various 
forms  of  the  infirm,  the  poor,  the  sick  and  the 
criminal,  who,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  make 
the  dependent  class.  For  these  the  State  has 
made  every  provision  which  humanity  or  justice 
or  intelligence  can  require.  A  young  State,  de- 
veloped in  the  wilderness,  she  challenges,  without 
any  invidious  comparison,  both  Europe  and  Amer- 
ica, to  show  her  superior  in  the  development  of 
humanity  manifested  in  the  benefaction  of  public 
institutions. 

Intimately  connected  with  public  morals  and 
with  charitable  institutions,  is  the  religion  of  a 
people.  The  people  of  the  United  States  are  a 
Christian  people.'  The  people  of  Ohio  have  man- 
ifested their  zeal  by  the  erection  of  churches,  of 
Sunday  schools,  and  of  religious  institutions.  So 
far  as  these  are  outwardly  manifested,  they  are 
made  known  by  the  social  statistics  of  the  census. 
The  number  of  church  organizations  in  the  leading 
States  were:  In 'the  State  of  Ohio,  6,488;  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  5,627  :  in  the  State  of 
Pennsylvania,  5,984  ;  in  the  State  of  Illinois,  4,298. 
It  thus  appears  that  Ohio  had  a  larger  number 
of  churches  than  any  State  of  the  Union.  The 
number  of  sittings,  however,  was  not  quite  as 
large  as  those  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania. 
The  denominations  are  of  all  the  sects  known  in 
this  country,  about  thirty  in  number,  the  majority 
of  the  whole  being  Methodists,  Presbyterians  and 
Baptists.  Long  before  the  American  Independ- 
ence, the  Moravians  had  settled  on  the  Mahoning 
and  Tuscarawas  Rivers,  but  only  to  be  destroyed ; 
and  when  the  peace  with  Great  Britain  was  made, 
not  a  vestige  of  Christianity  remained  on  the 
soil  of  Ohio  ;  yet  we  see  that  within  ninety  years 
from  that  time  the  State  of  Ohio  was,  in  the  num- 
ber of  its  churches,  the  first  of  this  great  Union. 

In  the  beginning  of  this  address,  I  said  that 
Ohio  was  the  oldest  and  first  of  these  great  States, 
carved  out  of  the  Northwestern  Territory,  and  that 
it  was  in  some  things  the  greatest  State  of  the 
American  Union.  I  have  now  traced  the  physi- 
cal, commercial,  intellectual  and  moral  features  of 
the  State  during  the  seventy-five  years  of  its 
constitutional  history.  The  result  is  to  establish 
fully  the  propositions  with  which  I  began.  These 
facts  have  brought  out : 

1.  That  Ohio  is,  in  reference  to  the  square 
miles  of  its  surface,  the  first  State  in  agriculture 


IL 


146 


HISTOKT   or    OHIO. 


of  the  American  Union;  this,  too,  notwithstand- 
ing it  has  800,000  in  cities  and  towns,  and  a  large 
development  of  capital  and  products  in  manu- 
factures. 

2.  That  Ohio  has  raised  more  grain  per  square 
mUe  than  either  France,  Austria,  or  Great  Britain. 
They  raised  1,450  bushels  per  square  mile,  and 
10  bushels  to  each  person.  Ohio  raised  3,750 
bushels  per  square  mUe,  and  50  bushels  to  each 
one  of  the  population  ;  or,  in  other  words,  five 
times  the  proportion  of  grain  raised  in  Europe. 

3.  Ohio  was  the  first  State  of  the  Union  in 
the  production  of  domestic  animals,  being  far  in 
advance  of  either  New  York,  Pennsylvania  or  Illi- 
nois. The  proportion  of  domestic  animals  to  each 
person  in  Ohio  was  three  and  one-third,  and  in 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania  less  than  half  that. 
The  largest  proportion  of  domestic  animals  pro- 
duced in  Europe  was  in  Great  Britain  and  Russia, 
neither  of  which  come  near  that  of  Ohio. 

4.  The  coal-field  of  Ohio  is  vastly  greater  than 
that  of  Great  Britain,  and  we  need  make  no  com- 
parison with  other  States  in  regard  to  coal  or  iron ; 
for  the  10,000  square  miles  of  coal,  and  4,000 
square  mUes  of  iron  in  Ohio,  are  enough  to  supply 
the  whole  American  continent  for  ages  to  come. 

5.  Neither  need  we  compare  the  results  of 
commerce  and  navigation,  since,  from  the  ports  of 
Cleveland  and  Cincinnati,  the  vessels  of  Ohio 
touch  on  42,000  miles  of  coast,  and  her  5,000 
miles  of  railroad  carry  her  products  to  every  part 
of  the  American  continent. 

6.  Notwithstanding  the  immense  proportion 
and  products  of  agriculture  in  Ohio,  yet  she  has 
more  than  kept  pace  with  New  York  and  New 
England  in  the  progress  of  manufactures  during 
the  last  twenty  yeai-s.  Her  coal  and  iron  are  pro- 
ducing their  legitimate  results  in  making  her  a 
great  manufacturing  State. 

7.  Ohio  is  the  first  State  in  the  Union  as  to 
the  proportion  of  youth  attending  school ;  and  the 
States  west  of  the  AUeghanies  and  north  of  the 
Ohio  have  more  youth  in  school,  proportionably, 
than  New  England  and  New  York.  The  facts  on 
this  subject  are  so  extraordinary  that  I  may  be 
excused  for  giving  them  a  little  in  detail. 

The  proportion  of  youth  in  Ohio  attending 
school  to  the  population,  is  1  in  4.2;  in  Illinois,  1 
in  4.3 ;  in  Pennsylvania,  1  in  4.8 ;  in  New  York, 
1  in  5.2 ;  in  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts,  1  in 
8.7. 

These  proportions  show  that  it  is  in  the  West, 
and  not  in  the  East,  that  education  is  now  advanc- 


ing ;  and  it  is  here  that  we  see  the  stimulus  given 
by  the  ordinance  of  1787,  is  working  out  its  great 
and  beneficent  results.  The  land  grant  for  educa- 
tion was  a  great  one,  but,  at  last,  its  chief  effort 
was'  in  stimulating  popular  education ;  for  the  State 
of  Ohio  has  taxed  itself  tens  of  millions  of  dollars 
beyond  the  utmost  value  of  the  land  grant,  to 
found  and  maintain  a  system  of  public  education 
which  the  world  has  not  surpassed. 

We  have'  seen  that  above  and  beyond  all  this 
material  and  intellectual  development,  Ohio  has 
provided  a  vast  benefaction  of  asylums,  hospitals, 
and  infirmaries,  and  special  schools  for  the  support 
and  instruction  of  the  dependent  classes.  There  is 
not  within  all  her  borders  a  single  one  of  the  deaf, 
dumb,  and  blind,  of  the  poor,  sick,  and  insane,  not 
an  orphan  or  a  vagrant,  who  is  not  provided  for 
by  the  broad  and  generous  liberality  of  the  State 
and  her  people.  A  charity  which  the  classic  ages 
knew  nothing  of,  a  beneficence  which  the  splendid  ' 
hierarchies  and  aristocracies  of  Europe  cannot 
equal,  has  been  exhibited  in  this  young  State, 
whose  name  was  unknown  one  hundred  years  ago, 
whose  people,  from  Europe  to  the  Atlantic,  and 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Ohio,  were,  like  Adam 
and  Eve,  cast  out — "  the  world  before  them  where 
to  choose." 

Lastly,  we  see  that,  although  the  third  in  pop- 
ulation, and  the  seventeenth  in  admission  to  the 
Union,  Ohio  had,  in  1870,  6,400  churches,  the 
largest  number  in  any  one  State,  and  numbering 
among  them  every  form  of  Christian  worship. 
The  people,  whose  fields  were  rich  with  grain, 
whose  mines  were  boundless  in  wealth,  and  whose 
commerce  extended  through  thousands  of  miles 
of  lakes  and  rivers,  came  here,  as  they  came  to 
New  England's  rock-bound  coast — 


"  With  freedom  to  worship  God." 

The  church  and  the  schoolhouse  rose  beside  the 
green  fields,  and  the  morning  bells  rang  forth  to 
cheerful  children  going  to  school,  and  to  a  Chris- 
tian people  going  to  the  church  of  God. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  possibilities  of  Ohio  in 
the  future  development  of  the  American  Eepub- 
lican  Republic.  The  two  most  populous  parts  of 
Europe,  because  the  most  food-producing,  are  the 
Netherlands  aild  Italy,  or,  more  precisely,  Belgium 
and  ancient  Lombardy  ;  to  the  present  time,  their 
population  is,  in  round  numbers,  three  hundred  to 
the  square  mile.  The  density  of  population  in 
England  proper  is  about  the  same.  We  may 
assume,  therejpore,  that  three  hundred  to  the  square 


HISTOEY   or   OHIO. 


147 


mile  is,  in  round  numbers,  the  limit  of  comfortable 
subsistence  under  modern  civilization.  It  is  true 
that  modern  improvements  in  agricultural  machin- 
ery and  fertilization  have  greatly  increased  the 
capacity  of  production,  on  a  given  amount  of 
land,  with  a  given  amount  of  labor.  It  is  true, 
also,  that  the  old  countries  of  Europe  do  not 
possess  an  equal  amount  of  arable  land  with  Ohio 
in  proportion  to  the  same  surface.  It  would  seem, 
therefore,  that  the  density  of  population  in  Ohio 
might  exceed  that  of  any  part  of  Europe.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said  with  truth  that  the 
American  people  will  not  become  so  dense  as  in 
Europe  while  they  have  new  lands  in  the  West 
to  occupy.  This  is  true ;  but  lands  such  as  those 
in  the  valley  of  the  Ohio  are  now  becoming 
scarce  in  the  West,  and  we  think  that,  with  her 
great  capacity  for  the  production  of  grain  on  one 
hand,  and  of  illimitable  quantities  of  coal  and 
iron  to  manufacture  with  on  the  other,  that  Ohio 
wUl,  at  no  remote  period,  reach  nearly  the  density 
of  Belgium,  which  will  give  her  10,000,000  of 
people.  This  seems  extravagant,  but  the  tide  of 
migration,  which  flowed  so  fast  to  the  West,  is 
beginning  to  ebb,  while  the  manufactures  of  the 
interior  offer  greater  inducements. 

With  population  comes  wealth,  the  material  for 
education,  the  development  of  the  arts,  advance 
in  all  the  material  elements  of  civilization,  and  the 
still  grander  advancements  in  the  strength  and 
elevation  of  the  human  mind,  conquering  to  itself 
new  realms  of  material  and  intellectual  power, 
acquiring  in  the  future  what  we  have  seen  in  the 
past,  a  wealth  of  resources  unknown  and  undreamed 
of  when,  a  hundred  years  ago,  the  fathers  of  the 
republic  declared  their  independence.  I  know 
how  easy  it  is  to  treat  this  statement  with  easy 
incredulity,  but  statistics  is  a  certain  science ;  the 
elements  of  civilization  are  now  measured,  and  we 
know  the  progress  of  the  human  race  as  we  know 


that  of  a  cultivated  plant.  We  know  the  resources 
of  the  country,  its  food-producing  capacity,  its 
art  processes,  its  power  of  eddcation,  and  the  unde- 
fined and  illimitable  power  of  the  human  mind 
for  new  inventions  and  unimagined  progress.  With 
this  knowledge,  it  is  not  difficult  nor  unsafe  to  say 
that  the  future  will  produce  more,  and  in  a  far 
greater  ratio,  than  the  past.  The  pictured  scenes 
of  the  prophets  have  already  been  more  than  ful- 
filled, and  the  visions  of  beauty  and  glory,  which 
their  imagination  failed  fully  to  describe,  will  be 
more  than  realized  in  the  bloom  of  that  garden 
which  republican  America  will  present  to  the 
eyes  of  astonished  mankind.  Long  before  another 
century  shall  have  passed  by,  the  single  State  of 
Ohio  will  present  fourfold  the  population  with  which 
the  thirteen  States  began  their  independence,  more 
wealth  than  the  entire  Union  now  has ;  greater 
universities  than  any  now  in  the  country,  and  a 
development  of  arts  and  manufacture  which  the 
world  now  knows  nothing  of.  You  have  seen 
more  than  that  since  the  Constitution  was  adopted, 
and  what  right  have  you  to  say  the  future  shall 
not  equal  the  past  ? 

I  have  aimed,  in  this  address,  to  give  an  exact 
picture  of  what  Ohio  is,  not  more  for  the  sake  of 
Ohio  than  as  a  representation  of  the  products 
which  the  American  Republic  has  given  to  the 
world.  A  Sta,te  which  began  long  after  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  in  the  then  unknown 
wilderness  of  North  America,  presents  to-day 
the  fairest  example  of  what  a  republican  govern- 
ment with  Christian  civilization  can  do.  Look 
upon  this  picture  and  upon  those  of  Assyria, 
of  Greece  or  Rome,  or  of  Europe  in  her  best 
estate,  and  say  where  is  the  civilization  of  the 
earth  which  can  equal  this.  If  a  Roman  citizen  could 
say  with  pride,  "  Oivis  Romanus  sum"  with  far 
greater  pride  can  you  say  this  day,  "I  am  an 
American  citizen." 


•^  <r" 


'\  0 


IL 


148 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


EDUCATION*  — EARLY    SCHOOL    LAWS  —  NOTES  —  INSTITUTES    AND    EDUCATIONAL   JOURNALS- 
SCHOOL    SYSTEM  — SCHOOL    FUNDS— COLLEGiES    A.ND    UNIVERSITIES'. 


WHEN  the  survey  of  the  Northwest  Terri- 
tory was  ordered  by  Congress,  March  20, 
1785,  it  was  decreed  that  every  sixteenth  section 
of  land  should  be  reserved  for  the  "maintenance 
of  public  schools  within  each  township."  The 
ordinance  of  1787 — ^thanks  to  the  New  England 
Associates — ^proclaimed  that,  "religion,  morality 
and  knowledge  being  essential  to  good  government, 
schools  and  the  means  of  education  should  forever 
be  encouraged."  The  State  Constitution  of  1802 
declared  that  "  schools  and  the  means  of  instruc- 
tion should  be  encouraged  by  legislative  provision, 
not  inconsistent  with  the  rights  of  conscience." 
In  1825,  through  the  persevering  efforts  of  Nathan 
G-uilford,  Senator  from  Hamilton  County,  Ephraim 
Cutler,  Representative  from  Washington  County, 
and  other  friends  of  education,  a  bill  was  passed, 
"  laying  the  foundation  for  a  general  system  of 
common  schools."  This  bill  provided  a  tax  of  one- 
half  mill,  to  be  levied  by  the  County  Commis- 
sioners for  school  purposes ;  provided  for  school 
examiners,  and  made  Township  Clerks  and  County 
Auditors  school  officers.  In  1829,  this  county 
tax  was  raised  to  three-fourths  of  a  mill ;  in  1834 
to  one  mill,  and,  in  1836,  to  one  and  a  half  mills. 
In  March,  1837,  Samuel  Lewis,  of  Hamilton 
County, was  appointed  State  Superintendent  of  Com- 
mon Schools.  He  was  a  very  energetic  worker,  trav- 
eling on  horseback  all  over  the  State,  delivering  ad- 
dresses and  encouraging  school  officers  and  teachers. 
Through   his   efforts  much  good  was  done,  and 

*  From  the  School  Commissioners'  Beports,  principally  those  of 
Thomas  W.  Hurvey,  A.  M. 

Note  1. — The  first  school  taught  in  Ohio,  or  in  the  Northwestern 
Territory,  was  in  1T91.  The  first  teacher  was  Maj.  Austin  Tupper, 
eldestson  of  Gen.  Benjamin  Tupper,  both  Revolutionary  officers. 
The  room  occupied  was  the  same  as  that  in  which  the  first  Court  was 
held,  and  was  situated  in  the  northwest  block-houseof  thegarrison, 
called  the  stockade,  at  Marietta.  During  the  Indian  war  school 
was  also  taught  at  Fort  Harmar,  Point  Marietta,  and  at  other  set- 
tlements. A  meeting  was  held  in  Marietta,  April  29, 1797,  to  con- 
sider the  erection  of  a  school  building  suitable  for  the  instruction 
of  the  youth,  and  for  conducting  religious  sei-vices.  Resolutions 
wore  adopted  which  led  to  the  erection  of  a  building  called  the 
Muskingum  Academy.  The  building  was  of  frame,  forty  feet  long 
and  twenty-four  feet  wide,  and  is  yet(1878)standing.  Thebuilding 
was  twelve  f'-et  high,  with  an  arched  ceiling.  It  stoodupon  astone 
foundation,  three  steps  from  the  ground.  There  were  two  chimneys 
and  a  lobby  projection.  There  was  a  cellar  under  the  whole  build- 
ing. It  stood  upon  a  beautiful  lot,  fronting  the  Muskingum  River, 
and  about  sixty  feet  back  from  the  street.    Some  largo  trees  were 


many  important  features  engrafted  on  the  school 
system.  He  resigned  in  1839,  when  the  officewas 
abolished,  and  its  duties  imposed  on  the  Secretary 
of  State. 

The  most  important  adjunct  in  early  education 
in  the  State  was  the  college  of  teachers  organized 
in  Cincinnati  in  1831.  Albert  Pickett,  Dr.  Joseph 
Ray,  William  H.  McGruffey — so  largely  known  by 
his  Readers — and  MUo  G.  Williams,  were  at  its 
head.  Leading  men  in  all  parts  of  the  West  at- 
tended its  meetings.  Their  published  deliberations 
did  much  for  the  advancement  of  education  among 
the  people.  Through  the  efforts  of  the  college, 
the  first  convention  held  in  Ohio  for  educational 
purposes  was  called  at  Columbus,  January  13, 
1836.  Two  years  afber,  in  December,  the  first 
convention  in  which  the  different  sections  of  the 
State  were  represented,  was  held.  At  both  these 
conventions,  all  the  needs  of  the  schools,  both  com- 
mon and  higher,  were  ably  and  fully  discussed, 
and  appeals  made  to  the  people  for  a  more  cordial 
support  of  the  law.  No  successftil  attempts  were 
made  to  organize  a  permanent  educational  society 
until  December,  1847,  when  the  Ohio  State  Teach- 
ers' Association  was  formed  at  Akron,  Summit 
County,  with  Samuel  Galloway  as  President;  T. 
W.  Harvey,  Recording  Secretary;  M.  D.  Leggett, 
Corresponding  Secretary ;  William  Bowen,  Treas- 
urer, and  M.  F.  Cowdrey,  Chairman  of  the  Executive 
Committee.  This  Association  entered  upon  its 
work  with  commendable  earnestness,  and  has  since 

upon  the  lot  and  on  the  street  in  front.  Across  the  street  was  an 
open  common,  and  beyond  that  the  river.  Immediately  opposite 
the  door,  on  entering,  was  a  broad  aisle,  and,  at  the  end  of  the 
aisle,  against  the  wall,  was  a  desk  or  pulpit.  On  the  right  and  left 
of  the  pulpit,  against  the  wall,  and  fronting  the  pulpit,  was  a  row 
of  slips.  On  each  side  of  the  door,  facing  the  pulpit,  were  two  slips, 
and,  at  each  end  of  the  room,  one  slip.  These  slips  were  stationary, 
and  were  fitted  with  desks  that  could  be  let  down,  and  there  were 
boxes  in  the  desks  for  holding  books  and  papers.  In  the  center  of 
the  room  was  an  open  space,  which  could  be  filled  with  movable 
Beats.  The  first  school  was  opened  here  in  1800." — Letter  of  A.  T. 
Nye. 

Note  2. — Another  evidence  of  the  character  of  thn  New  England 
Associates  is  the  founding  of  a  public  library  as  early  as  1796,  or 
before.  Another  was  also  established  at  Belpre  about  the  same  time. 
Abundant  evidence  proves  the  existence  of  these  libraries,  all  tend- 
ing to  the  fact  that  the  early  settlers,  though  conquering  a  wilder- 
ness and  a  savage  foe,  would  not  allow  their  mental  faculties  to 
lack  for  food.  The  character  of  the  books  shows  that  "solid" 
reading  predominated. 


Al: 


HISTORY   OP   OHIO. 


149 


never  abated  its  zeal.  Semi-annual  meetings  were 
at  first  held,  but,  since  1858,  only  annual  meetings 
occur.  They  are  always  largely  attended,  and  al- 
ways by  the  best  and  most  energetic  teachers. 
The  Association  has  given  tone  to  the  educational 
interests  of  the  State,  and  has  done  a  vast  amount 
of  good  in  popularizing  education.  In  the  spring 
of  1851,  Lorin  Andrews,  then  Superintendent  of 
the  Massillon  school,  resigned  his  place,  and  be- 
came a  common-school  missionaiy.  In  July,  the 
Association,  at  Cleveland,  made  him  its  agent,  and 
instituted  measures  to  sustain  him.  He  remained 
zealously  at  work  in  this  relation  until  1853,  when 
he  resigned  to  accept  the  presidency  of  Kenyon 
College,  at  Glambier.  Dr.  A.  Lord  was  then  chosen 
general  agent  and  resident  editor  of  the  Journal 
of  Education,  which  positions  he  filled  two  years, 
with  eminent  ability. 

The  year  that  Dr.  Lord  resigned,  the  ex  officio 
relation  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  common 
schools  was  abolished,  and  the  office  of  school  com- 
missioner again  created.  H.  H.  Barney  was 
elected  to  the  place  in  October,  1853.  The  office 
has  since  been  held  by  Kev.  Anson  Smyth,  elected 
in  1856,  and  re-elected  in  1859 ;  E.  E.  White, 
appointed  by  the  Governor,  November  11,  1863, 
to  fill  the  vacancy  caused  by  the  resignation  of  C. 
W.  H.  Cathcart,  who  was  elected  in  1862 ;  John 
A.  Norris,  in  1865;  W.  D.  Henkle,  in  1868; 
Thomas  W.  Harvey,  in  1871;  C.  S.  Smart,  in 
1875,  and  the  present  incumbent,  J.  J.  Burns, 
elected  in  1878,  his  term  expiring  in  1881. 

The  first  teachers'  institute  in  Northern  Ohio 
was  held  at  Sandusky,  in  September,  1845,  con- 
ducted by  Salem  Town,  of  New  York,  A.  D.  Lord 
and  M.  P.  Cowdrey.  The  second  was  held  at  Char- 
don,  Geauga  Co.,  in  November  of  the  same  year. 
The  first  institute  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
State  was  held  at  Cincinnati,  in  February,  1837; 
the  first  in  the  central  part  at  Newark,  in  March, 
1848.  Since  then  these  meetings  of  teachers  have 
occurred  annually,  and  have  been  the  means  of 
great  good  in  elevating  the  teacher  and  the  pubKc 
in  educational  interests.  In  1848,  on  petition  of 
forty  teachers,  county  commissioners  were  author- 
ized to  pay  lecturers  from  surplus  revenue,  and  the 
next  year,  to  appropriate  $100  for  institute  pur- 
poses, upon  pledge  of  teachers  to  raise  half  that 
amount.  By  the  statutes  of  1864,  applicants  for 
teachers  were  required  to  pay  50  cents  each  as  an 
examination  fee.  One-third  of  the  amount  thus 
raised  was  allowed  the  use  of  examiners  as  trav- 
eling expenses,  the  remainder  to  be  applied  to  in- 


stitute instruction.  For  the  year  1871,  sixty-eight 
teachers'  institutes  were  held  in  the  State,  at  which 
308  instructors  and  lecturers  were  employed,  and 
7,1 58  teachers  in  attendance.  The  expense  incurred 
was  $16,361.99,  of  which  $10,127.13  was  taken 
from  th^  institute  fund;  $2,730.34,  was  contrib- 
uted by  members;  $680,  by  county  commis- 
sioners, and  the  balance,  $1,371.50,  was  ob- 
tained from  other  sources.  The  last  report  of  the 
State  Commissioners — 1878 — shows  that  eighty- 
five  county  institutes  were  held  in  the  State,  con- 
tinuing in  session  748  days;  416  instructors  were 
employed;  11,466  teachers  attended;  $22,531.47 
were  received  from  all  sources,  and  that  the  ex- 
penses were  $19,587.51,  or  $1.71  per  member. 
There  was  a  balance  on  hand  of  $9,460.74  to  com- 
mence the  next  year,  just  now  closed,  whose  work 
has  been  as  progressive  and  thorough  as  any  former 
year.  The  State  Association  now  comprises  three 
sections;  the  general  association,  the  superintend- 
ents' section  and  the  ungraded  school  section.  All 
have  done  a  good  work,  and  all  report  progress. 

The  old  State  Constitution,  adopted  by  a  con- 
vention in  1802,  was  supplemented  in  1851  by 
the  present  one,  under  which  the  General. Assem- 
bly, elected  under  it,  met  in  1852.  Harvey  Rice, 
a  Senator  from  Cuyahoga  County,  Chairman  of 
Senate  Committee  on  "Common  Schools  and 
School  Lands,"  reported  a  bill  the  29th  of  March, 
to  provide  "for  the  re-organization,  supervision 
and  maintenance  of  common  schools."  This  bill, 
amended  in  a  few  particulars,  became  a  law 
March  14,  1853.  The  prominent  features  of  the 
new  law  were :  The  substitution  of  a  State  school 
tax  for  the  county  tax ;  creatioft  of  the  office  of 
the  State  School  Commissioner;  the  creation  of  a 
Township  Board  of  Education,  consisting  of  repre- 
sentatives from  the  subdistricts ;  the  abolition  of 
rate-bills,  making  education  free  to  all  the  youth  of 
the  State ;  the  raising  of  a  fund,'  by  a  t^ix  of  one- 
tenth  of  a  mill  yearly,  "  for  the  purpose  of  fur- 
nishing school  libraries  and  apparatus  to  all  the 
common  schools."  This  "library  tax"  was  abol- 
ished in  1860,  otherwise  the  law  has  remained 
practically  unchanged. 

School  journals,  like  the  popular  press,  have 
been  a  potent  agency  in  the  educational  history  of 
the  State.  As  early  as  1838,. the  Ohio  School 
Director  was  issued  by  Samuel  Lewis,  by  legisla- 
tive authority,  though  after  six  months'  continu- 
ance, it  ceased  for  want  of  support.  The  same 
year  the  Pestalozzian,  by  E.  L.  Sawtell  and  H. 
K.  Smith,  of  Akron,   and  the    Common   School 


m> 


150 


HISTOET   OF   OHIO. 


Advocate,  of  Cincimiati,  were  issued.  In  1846, 
the  School  Journal  began  to  be  published  by  A. 

D.  Lord,  of  Kirtland.  The  same  year  saw  the 
Free  School  Clarion,  by  W.  Bowen,  of  MassUlon, 
and  the  School  Friend,  by  W.  B.  Smith  &  Co., 
of  Cincinnati.  The  next  year,  W.  H.  Moore  & 
Co.,  of  Cincinnati,  started  the  Western  School 
Journal.  In  1851,  the  Ohio  Teacher,  by 
Thomas  Kainey,  appeared ;  the  News  and  Edu- 
cator, in  1863,  and  the  Educational  Times,  in 
1866.  In  1850,  Dr.  Lord's  Journal  of  Educa- 
tion was  united  with  the  School  Friend,  and 
became  the  recognized  organ  of  the  teachers  in 
Ohio.  The  Doctor  remained  its  principal  editor 
until  1856,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Anson 
Smyth,  who  edited  the  journal  one  year.  In  185Y, 
it  was  edited  by  John  D.  Caldwell ;  in  1858  and 
and  1859,  by  W.  T.  Coggeshall;  in  1860,  by  Anson 
Smyth  again,  when  it  passed  into  the  hands  of 

E.  E.  White,  who  yet  controls  it.  It  has  an 
iminense  circjilation  among  Ohio  teachers,  and, 
though  competed  by  other  journals,  since  started, 
it  maintains  its  place. 

The  school  system  of  the  State  may  be  briefly 
explained  as  follows:  Cities  and  incorporated  vil- 
lages are  independent  of  township  and  county  con- 
trol, in  the  management  of  schools,  having  boards 
of  education  and  examiners  of  their  own.  Some 
of  them  are  organized  for  school  purposes,  under 
special  acts.  Each  township  has  a  board  of  edu- 
cation, composed  of  one  member  from  each  sub- 
district.  The  township  clerk  is  clerk  of  this  board', 
but  has  no  vote.  Each  subdistrict  has  a  local 
'board  of  trustees,  which  manages  its  school  afiairs, 
subject  to  the  ad^ce  and  control  of  the  township 
board.  These  officers  are  elected  on  the  first 
Monday  in  April,  and  hold  their  offices  three 
years.  An  enumeration  of  all  the  youth  between 
the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  is  made  yearly. 
All  public  schools  are  required  to  be  in  session  at 
least  twenty-four  weeks  each  year.  The  township 
clerk  reports  annually  such  facts  concerning  school 
affairs  as  the  law  requires,  to  the  county  auditor, 
who  in  turn  reports  to  the  State  Commissioner, 
who  collects  these  reports  in  a  general  report  to 
the  Legislature  each  year. 

A  board  of  examiners  is  appointed  in  each 
county  by  the  Probate  Judge.  This  board  has 
power  to  grant  certificates  for  a  term  not  exceed- 
ing two  years,  and  good  only  in  the  county  in 
which  they  are-  executed ;  they  may  be  revoked  on 
sufficient  cause.  In  1864,  a  State  Board  of 
Examiners  was  created,  with  power  to  issue  life  cer- 


tificates, valid  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  Since 
then,  up  to  January  1,  18Y9,  there  have  been  188 
of  these  issued.  They  are  considered  an  excellent 
test  of  scholarship  and  ability,  and  are  very  credit- 
able to  the  holder. 

The  school  funds,  in  1865,  amounted  to  $3,271,- 
275.66.  They  were  the  proceeds  of  appropriations 
of  land  by  Congress  for  school  purposes,  upon 
which  the  State  pays  an  annual  interest  of  6  per 
cent.  The  fiinds  are  known  as  the  Virginia  Mili- 
tary School  Fund,  the  proceeds  of  eighteen  quar- 
ter-townships and  three  sections  of  land,  selected 
by  lot  from  lands  lying  in  the  United  States 
Military  Reserve,  appropriated  for  the  use  of 
schools  in  the  Virginia  Military  Reservation;  the 
United  States  Military  School  Fund,  the  proceeds 
of  one  thirty-sixth  part  of  the  land  in  the  United 
States  Military  District,  appropriated  "for  the  use 
of  schools  within  the  same;"  the  Western  Reserve 
School  Fund,  the  proceeds  from  fourteen  quarter- 
townships,  situated  in  the  United  States  Military 
District,  and  37,758  acres,  most  of  which  was  lo- 
cated in  Defiance,  Williams,  Paulding,  Van  Wert 
and  Putnam  Counties,  appropriated  for  the  use  of 
the  schools  in  the  Western  Reserve;  Section 
16,  the  proceeds  from  the  sixteenth  section  of 
each  township  in  that  part  of  the  State  in  which 
the  Indian  title  was  not  extinguished  in  1803;  the 
Moravian  School  Fund,  the  proceeds  from  one 
thirty-sixth  part  of  each  of  three  tracts  of 
4,000  acres  situated  in  Tuscarawas  County,  orig- 
inally granted  by  Congress  to  the  Society  of  United 
Brethren,  and  reconveyed  by  this  Society  to  the 
United  States  in  1824.  The  income  of  these  funds 
is  not  distributed  by  any  uniform  rule,  owing  to 
defects  in  the  granting  of  the  funds.  The  territo- 
rial divisions  designated  receive  the  income  in 
proportion  to  the  whole  number  of  youth  therein, 
while  in  the  remainder  of  the  State,  the  rent  of 
Section  16,  or  the  interest  on  the  proceeds 
arising  from  its  sale,  is  paid  to  the  inhabitants  of 
the  originally  surveyed  townships.  In  these  terri- 
torial divisions,  an  increase  or  decrease  of  popula- 
tion must  necessarily  increase  or  diminish  the 
amount  each  youth  is  entitled  to  receive ;  and  the 
fortunate  location  or  judicious  sale  of  the  sixteenth 
section  may  entitle  one  township  to  receive  a  large 
sum,  while  an  adjacent  township  receives  a  mere 
pittance.  This  inequality  of  benefit  may  be  good 
for  localities,  but  it  is  certainly  a  detriment  to  the 
State  at  large.  There  seems  to  be  no  legal  remedy 
for  it.  In  addition  to  the  income  from  the  before- 
mentioned    funds,  a  variable  revenue  is  received 


(»■  ■    r- 


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HISTORY    OF    OHIO. 


151 


from  certain  fines  and  licenses  paid  to  either  county 
or  township  treasurers  for  the  use  of  schools; 
from  the  sale  of  swamp  lands  ($25,720.07  allotted 
to  the  State  in  1850),  and  from  personal  property 
escheated  to  the  State. 

A.side  from  the  ftinds,  a  State  school  tax  is  fixed 
by  statute.  Local  taxes  vary  with  the  needs  of 
localities,  are  limited  by  law,  and  are  contingent 
on  the  liberality  and  public  spirit  of  difierent  com- 
munities. 

The  State  contains  more  than  twenty  colleges 
and  universities,  more  than  the  same  number  of 
female  seminaries,  and  about  thirty  normal  schools 
and  academies.  The  amount  of  property  invested 
in  these  is  more  than  86,000,000.  The  Ohio 
University  is  the  oldest  college  in  the  State. 

In  addition  to  the  regular  colleges,  the  State 
controls  the  Ohio  State  University,  formerly  the 
Agricultural  and  Mechanical  College,  established 
from  the  proceeds  of  the  land  scrip  voted  by  Con- 
gress to  Ohio  for  such  purposes.  The  amount 
realized  from  the  sale  was  nearly  $500,000.  This 
is  to  constitute  a  permanent  ftind,  the  interest  only 
to  be  used.  In  addition,  the  sum  of  $300,000 
was  voted  by  the  citizens  of  Franklin  County,  in 
consideration  of  the  location  of  the  college  in  that 
county.  Of  this  sum  $111,000  was  paid  for  three 
hundred  and  fifteen  acres  of  land  near  th6  city  of 
Columbus,  and  $112,000  for  a  college  building. 


the  balance  being  expended  as  circumstances  re- 
quired, for  additional  buildings,  laboratory,  appa- 
ratus, etc.  Thorough  instruction  is,  given  in  all 
branches  relating  to  agriculture  and  the  mech^inical 
arts.     Already  excellent  results  are  attained. 

By  the  provisions  of  the  act  of  March  14, 1853, 
township  boards  are  made  bodies  politic  and  cor- 
porate in  law,  and  are  invested  with  the  title,  care 
and  custody  of  all  school  property  belonging  to 
the  school  district  or  township.  They  have  control 
of  the  central  or  high  schools  of  their  townships ; 
prescribe  rules  for  the  district  schools ;  may  appoint 
one  of  their  number  manager  of  the  schools  of  the 
township,  and  allow  him  reasonable  pay  for  his 
services ;  determine  the  text-books  to  be  used ;  fix 
the  boundaries  of  districts  and  locate  schoolhouse 
sites ;  make  estimates  of  the  amount  of  money  re- 
quired ;  apportion  the  money  among  the  districts, 
and  are  required  to  make  an  annual  report  to  the 
County  Auditor,  who  incorporates  the  same  in  his 
report  to  the  State  Commissioner,  by  whom  it 
reaches  the  Legislature. 

Local  directors  control  the  subdistricts.  They 
enumerate  the  children  of  school  age,  employ  and 
dismiss  teachers,  .  make  contracts  for  building  and 
furnishing  schoolhouses,  and  make  all  necessary 
provision  for  the  convenience  of  the  district  schools. 
Practically,  the  entire  management  rests  with 
them. 


CHAPTER    XV. 

AGRICULTUEB— AREA   OF   THE    STATE— EARLY   AGRICULTURE    IN    THE   WEST— MARKETS— LIVE 

STOCK  — NURSERIES,     FRUITS,     ETC.  —  CEREALS  —  ROOT     AND     CUCURBITACEOUS 

CROPS— AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS— AGRICULTURAL  SOCIETIES— 

POMOLOGICAL    AND    HORTICULTURAL  SOCIETIES. 


"  Oft  did  the  harvest  to  their  sickles  yield, 

Their  furrow  oft  the  stubborn  glebe  has  broke ; 
How  jocund  did  they  drive  their  teams  afield  ! 
•  How  bowed  the  woods  beneath  their  sturdy  stroke." 

THE  majority  of  the  readers  of  these  pages  are 
farmers,  hence  a  resume  of  agriculture  in  the 
State,  would  not  only  be  appropriate,  but  valuable 
as  a  matter  of  history.  It  is  the  true  basis  of 
national  prosperity,  and,  therefore,  justly  occupies 
a  foremost  place. 

In  the  year  1800,  the  Territory  of  Ohio  con- 
tained a  population  of  45,365  inhabitants,  or  a 
little  more  than  one  person  to  the  square  mile.    At 


this  date,  the  admission  of  the  Territory  into  the 
Union  as  a  State  began  to  be  agitated.  When  the 
census  was  made  to  ascertain  the  legality  of  the 
act,  in  conformity  to  the  "  Compact  of  1787,"  no 
endeavor  was  made  to  ascertain  additional  statis- 
tics, as  now ;  hence,  the  cultivated  land  was  not 
returned,  and  no  account  remains  to  tell  how 
much  existed.  In  1805,  three  years  after  the  ad- 
mission of  the  State  into  the  Union,  7,252,856 
acres  had  been  purchased  from  the  General  Gov- 
ernment. Still  no  returns  of  the  cultivated  lands 
were  made.  In  1810,  the  population  of  Ohio  was 
230,760,  and  the  land  purchased  from  the  Gov- 


y 


152 


HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


eminent  amounted  to  9,933,150  acres,  of  which 
amount,  however,  3,569,314  acres,  or  more  than 
one^third,  was  held  by  non-residents.  Of  the  lands 
occupied  by  resident  land-owners,  there  appear  to 
have  been  100,968  acres  of  first-rate,  1,929,600 
of  second,  and  1,538,745  acres  of  third  rate  lands. 
At  this  period  there  were  very  few  exports  from 
the  farm,  loom  or  shop.  The  people  still  needed 
all  they  produced  to  sustain  themselves,  and  were 
yet  in  that  pioneer  period  where  they  were  obliged 
to  produce  all  they  wanted,  and  yet  were  opening 
new  farms,  and  bringing  the  old  ones  to  a  productive 
state. 

Kentucky,  and  the  country  on  the  Monongahela, 
lying  along  the  western  slopes  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  having  been  much  longer  settled,  had 
begun,  as  early  as  1795,  to  send  considerable  quan- 
tities of  flour,  whisky,  bacon  and  tobacco  to  the. 
lower  towns  on  the  Mississippi,  at  that  time  in  the 
possession  of  the  Spaniards.  At  the  French  set- 
tlements on  the  Illinois,  and  at  Detroit,  were 
being  raised  much  more  than  could  be  used,  and 
these  were  exporting  also  large  quantities  of  these 
materials,  as  well  as  peltries  and  such  commodities 
as  their  nomadic  lives  furnished.  As  the  Missis- 
sippi was  the  natural  outlet  of  the  West,  any  at- 
tempt to  impede  its  free  navigation  by  the  various 
powers  at  times  controlling  its  outlet,  would  lead 
at  onCe  to  violent  outbreaks  among,  the  Western 
settlers,  some  of  whom  were  aided  by  unscrupulous 
persons,  who  thought  to  form  an  independent 
Western  country.  Providence  seems  to  have  had 
a  watchful  eye  over  all  these  events,  and  to  have 
so  guided  them  that  the  attempts  with  such  objects 
in  view,  invariably  ended  in  disgrace  to  their  per- 
petrators. This  outlet  to  the  West  was  thought 
to  be  the  only  one  that  could  carry  their  produce  to 
market,  for  none  of  the  Westerners  then  dreamed 
of  the  immense  system  of  railways  now  covering 
that  part  of  the  Union.  As  soon  as  ship-building 
commenced  at  Marietta,  in  the  year  1800,  the 
farmers  along  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  and  Musk- 
ingum Eivers  turned  their  attention  to  the  culti- 
vation of  hemp,  in  addition  to  their  other  crops.  In  a 
few  years  sufficient  was  raised,  not  only  to  furnish 
cordage  to  the  ships  in  the  West,  but  large  quan- 
tities were  worked  up  in  the  various  rope-walks 
and  sent  to  the  Atlantic  cities.  Iron  had  been 
discovered,  and  forges  on  the  Juniata  were  busy 
converting  that  necessary  and  valued  material  into 
implements  of  industry. 

By  the  year  1805,  two  ships,  seven  brigs  and 
three  schooners  had  been  built  and  rigged  by  the 


citizens  of  Marietta.  Their  construction  gave  a 
fresh  impetus  to  agriculture,  as  by  means  of  them 
the  surplus  products  could  be  carried  away  to  a 
foreign  market,  where,  if  it  did  not  bring  money, 
it  could  be  exchanged  for  merchandise  equally 
valuable.  Captain  David  Devoll  was  one  of  the 
earliest  of  Ohio's  shipwrights.  He  settled  on  the 
fertile  Muskingum  bottom,  about  five  miles  above 
Marietta,  soon  after  the  Indian  war.  Here  he 
built  a  "  floating  mill,"  for  making  flour,  and,  in 
1801,  a  ship  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  tons,  called 
the  Muskingum,  and  the  brig  Eliza  Greene,  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  tons.  In  1804,  he  built  a 
schooner  on  his  own  account,  and  in  the  spring 
of  the  next  year,  it  was  finished  and  loaded  for  a 
voyage  down  the  Mississippi.  It  was  small,  only  of 
seventy  tons  burden,  of  a  light  draft,  and  intended 
to  run  on  the  lakes  east  of  New  Orleans.  In 
shape  and  model,  it  ftilly  sustained  its  name.  Nonpa- 
reil. Its  complement  of  sails,  small  at  first,  was 
completed  when  it  arrived  in  New  Orleans..  It 
had  a  large  cabin  to  accommodate  passengers,  was 
well  and  finely  painted,  and  sat  gracefully  on  the 
water.  Its  load  was  of  assorted  articles,  and  shows 
very  well  the  nature  of  exports  of  the  day.  It  con- 
sisted of  two  hundred  barrels  of  flour,  fifty  barrels  of 
kiln-dried  corn  meal,  four  thousand  pounds  of 
cheese,  six  thousand  of  bacon,  one  hundred  sets 
of  rum  puncheon  shocks,  and  a  few  grindstones. 
The  flour  and  meal  were  made  at  Captain  DevoU's 
floating  mill,  and  the  cheese  made  in  Belpre,  at  that 
date  one  of  Ohio's  most  flourishing  agricultural  dis- 
tricts. The  Captain  and  others  carried  on  boating  as 
well  as  the  circumstances  of  the  days  permitted,  fear- 
ing only  the  hostility  of  the  Indians,  and  the  duty 
the  Spaniards  were  liable  to  levy  on  boats  going 
down  to  New  Orleans,  even  if  they  did  not  take 
it  into  their  erratic  heads  to  stop  the  entire  navi- 
gation of  the  great  river  by  vessels  other  than 
their  own.  By  such  means,  merchandise  was  car-  . 
riedvOn  almost  entirely  until  the  construction  of 
canals,  and  even  then,  until  modern  times,  the 
flat-boat  was  the  main-stay  of  the  shipper  inhabit- 
ing the  country  adjoining  the  upper  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Rivers. 

Commonly,  very  little  stock  was  kept  beyond 
what  was  necessary  for  the  use  of  the  family  and 
to  perform  the  labor  on  the  farm.  The  Scioto 
Valley  was  perhaps  the  only  exception  in  Ohio  to 
thisgeneral  condition.  Horses  were  brought  by  the 
emigrants  from  the  East  and  were  characteristic 
of  that  region.  In  the  French  settlements  in  Illi- 
nois and  about  Detroit,  French  ponies,  marvels  of 


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HISTORY   OF   OHIO. 


155 


endurance,  were  chiefly  used.  They  were  impractic- 
able in  hauling  the  immense  emigrant  wagons  over 
the  mountains,  and  hence  were  comparatively 
unknown  in  Ohio.  Until  1828,  draft  horses 
were  chiefly  used  here,  the  best  strains  being 
brought  by  the  "Tunkers,"  "  Mennonites,"  and 
"  Ormish," — ^three  religious  sects,  whose  members 
were  invariably  agriculturists.  In  Stark,  Wayne, 
Holmes,  and  Richland  Counties,  as  a  general  thing, 
they  congregated  ia  communities,  where  the  neat- 
ness of  their  farms,  the  excellent  condition  of 
their  stock,  and  the  primitive  simplicity  of  their 
manners,  made  them  conspicuous. 

In  1828,  the  French  began  to  settle  in  Stark 
County,  where  they  introduced  the  stock  of  horses 
known  as  "  Sehm,"  " Ilorizel,"  "Post  Boy"  and 
"  Timolen."  These,  crossed  upon  the  descents  of 
the  Norman  and  Conestoga,  produced  an  excellent 
stock  of  farm  horses,  now  largely  used. 

In  the  Western  Reserve,  blooded  horses  were  in- 
troduced as  early  as  1825.  John  I.  Van  Meter 
brought  fine  horses  into  the  Scioto  Valley  in  1815, 
or  thereabouts.  Soon  after,  fine  horses  were 
brought  to  Steubenville  from  Virginia  and  Penn- 
sylvania. In  Northern  Ohio  the  stock  was  more 
miscellaneous,  untU  the  introduction  of  improved 
breeds  from  1815  to  1835.  By  the  latter  date 
the  strains  of  horses  had  greatly  improved.  The 
same  could  be  said  of  other  parts  of  the  State. 
Until  after  1825,  only  farm  and  road  horses  were 
required.  That  year  a  race-course — the  first  in 
the  State — ^was  established  in  Cincinnati,  shortly 
followed  by  others  at  Chillicothe,  Dayton  and  Ham- 
ilton. From  that  date  the  race-horse  steadily  im- 
proved. UntU  1838,  however,  all  race-courses 
were  rather  irregular,  and,  of  those  named,  it  is 
difficult  to  determine  which  one  has  priority  of 
date'  over  the  others.  To  Cincinnati,  the  prece- 
dence is,  however,  generally  given.  In  1838,  the 
Buckeye  Course  was  established  in  Cincinnati,  and 
before  a  year  had  elapsed,  it  is  stated,  there  were 
fifteen  regular  race-courses  in  Ohio.  The  efiect 
of  these  courses  was  to  greatly  stimulate  the  stock 
of  racers,  and  rather  detract  from  draft  and  road 
horses.  The  organization  of  companies  to  import 
blooded  horses  has  again  revived  the  interest  in 
this  class,  and  now,  at  annual  stock  sales,  these 
strains  of  horses  are  eagerly  sought  after  by  those 
having  occasion  to  use  them. 

Cattle  were  brought  over  the  mountains,  and, 
for  several  years,  were  kept  entirely  for  domestic 
uses.  By  1805,  the  country  had  so  far  settled 
that  the  surplus  stock  was  fattened  on  corn  and 


fodder,, and  a  drove  was  driven  to  Baltimore.  The 
drove  was  owned  by  Greorge  Renick,  of  Chillicothe, 
and  the  feat  was  looked  upon  as  one  of  great  im- 
portance. The  drove  arrived  in  Baltimore  in  ex- 
cellent condition.  The  impetus  given  by  this 
movement  of  Mr.  Renick  stimulated  greatly  the 
feeding  of  cattle,  and  led  to  the  improvement  of 
the  breed,  heretofore  only  of  an  ordinary  kind. 

Until  the  advent  of  railroads  and  the  shipment 
of  cattle  thereon,  the  number  of  cattle  driven  to 
eastern  markets  from  Ohio  alone,  was  estimated  at 
over  fifteen  thousand  annually,  whose  value  was 
placed  at  $600,000.  Besides  this,  large  numbers 
were  driven  from  Indiana  and  Illinois,  whose 
boundless  prairies  gave  free  scope  to  the  herding  of 
cattle.  Improved  breeds,  "Short  Horns,"  "Long 
Horns"  and  others,  were  introduced  into  Ohio  as 
early  as  1810  and  1815.  Since  then  the  stock 
has  been  gradually  improved  and  acclimated,  untU 
now  Ohio  produces  as  fine  cattle  as  any  State  in 
the  Union.  In  some  localities,  especially  in  the 
Western  Reserve,  cheesemaking  and  dairy  interests 
are  the  chief  occupations  of  whole  neighborhoods, 
where  may  be  found  men  who  have  grown  wealthy 
in  this  business. 

Sheep  were  kept  by  almost  every  faniUy,  in  pio- 
neer times,  in  order  to  be  supplied  with  wool  for 
clothing.  The  wool  was  carded  by  hand,  spun  in 
the  cabin,  and  frequently  dyed  and  woven  as  well 
as  shaped  into  garments  there,  too.  All  emigrants 
brought  the  best  household  and  farming  imple- 
ments their  limited  means  would  aUow,  so  also  did 
they  bring  the  best  strains  of  horses,  cattle  and 
sheep  they  could  obtain.  About  the  year  1809, 
Mr.  Thomas  Rotch,  a  Quaker,  emigrated  to  Stark 
County,  and  brought  with  him  a  small  flock  of 
Merino  sheep.  They  were  good,  and  a  part  of 
them  were  from  the  original  flock  brought  over 
from  Spain,  in  1801,  by  Col.  Humphrey,  United 
States  Minister  to  that  country.  He  had  brought 
200  of  these  sheep,  and  hoped,  in  time,  to  see 
every  part  of  the  United  States  stocked  with  Me- 
rinos. In  this  he  partially  succeeded  only,  owing 
to  the  prejudice  against  them.  In  1816,  Messrs. 
Wells  &  Dickenson,  who  were,  for  the  day,  exten- 
sive woolen  manufacturers  in  SteubenvUle,  drove 
their  fine  flocks  out  on  the  Stark  County  Plains ' 
for  the  summer,  and  brought  them  back  for  the 
winter.  This  course  was  pursued  for  several  years, 
until  farms  were  prepared,  when  they  were  per- 
manently, kept  in  Stark  County.  This  flock  was 
originally  derived  from  the  Humphrey  importation. 
The  failure  of  Wells  &  Dickenson,  in  1824,  placed 


156 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


a  good  portion  of  this  flock  in  the  hands  of  Adam 
HUdebrand,  and  became  the  basis  of  his  celebrated 
flock.  Mr.  T.  S.  Humrickhouse,  of  Coshocton, 
in  a  communication  regarding  sheep,  writes  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  The  first  merinos  brought  to  Ohio  were  doubt- 
less by  Seth  Adams,  of  ZanesvUle.  They  were 
Humphrey's  Merinos — ^undoubtedly  the  best  ever 
imported  into  the  United  States,  by  whatever 
name  called.  He  kept  them  part  of  the  time  in 
Washington,  and  afterward  in  Muskingum  County. 
He  had  a  sort  of  partnership  agency  from  Gen. 
Humphrey  for  keeping  and  selling  them.  They 
were  scattered,  and,  had  they  been  taken  care  of 
and  appreciated,  would  have  laid  a  better  found- 
ation of  flocks  in  Ohio  than  any  sheep  brought 
into  it  from  that  time  till  1852.  The  precise  date 
at  which  Adams  brought  them  cannot  now  be  as- 
certained ;  but  it  was  prior  to  1813,  perhaps  as 
early  as  1804." 

"The  first  Southdowns,"  continues  Mr.  Hum- 
rickhouse," "  New  Leicester,  Lincolnshire  and  Cots- 
wold  sheep  I  ever  saw,  were  brought  into  Coshocton 
County  from  England  by  Isaac  Maynard,  nephew 
of  the  famous  Sir  John,  in  1834.  There  were 
about  ten  Southdowns  and  a  trio  of  each  of  the 
other  kinds.  He  was  offered  $500  for  his  Lin- 
colnshire ram,  in  Bufialo,  as  he  passed  through, 
but  refused.  He  was  selfish,  and  unwilling  to  put 
them  into  other  hands  when  he  went  on  a  farm, 
all  in  the  woods,  and,  in  about  three  years,  most  of 
them  had  perished." 

The  raising  and  improvement  of  sheep  has  kept 
steady  tread  with  the  growth  of  the  State,  and 
now  Ohio  wool  is  known  the  world  over.  In  quan- 
tity it  is  equal  to  any  State  in  America,  while  its 
quality  is  unequaled. 

The  first  stock  of  hogs  brought  to  Ohio  were 
rather  poor,  scrawny  creatures,  and,  in  a  short 
time,  when  left  to  themselves  to  pick  a  livelihood 
from  the  beech  mast  and  other  nuts  in  the  woods, 
degenerated  into  a  wild  condition,  almost  akin  to 
their  originators.  As  the  country  settled,  however, 
they  were  gathered  from  their  lairs,  and,  by  feed- 
ing them  corn,  the  farmers  soon  brought  them  out 
of  their  semi-barbarous  state.  Improved  breeds 
were  introduced.  The  laws  for  their  protection 
and  guarding  were  made,  and  now  the  hog  of  to- 
day shows  what  improvement  and  civilization  can 
do  for  any' wild  animal.  The  chief  city  of  the 
State  has  become  famous  as  a  slaughtering  place ; 
her  bacon  and  sides  being  known  in  all  the  civil- 
ized world. 


Other  domestic  animals,  mules,  asses,  etc.,  have 
been  brought  to  the  State  as  occasion  required. 
Wherever  their  use  has  been  demanded,  they  have 
been  obtained,  until  the  State  has  her  complement 
of  all  animals  her  citizens  can  use  in  their  daily 
labors. 

Most  of  the  early  emigrants  brought  with  them 
young  firdt  trees  or  grafts  of  some  favorite  variety 
from  the  "  old  homestead."  Hence,  on  the  West- 
ern Reserve  are  to  be  found  chiefly — especiaUy  in 
old  orchards — New  England  varieties,  while,  in  the 
localities  immediately  south  of  the  Reserve,  Penn- 
sylvania and  Maryland  varieties  predominate ;  but 
at  Marietta,  New  England  finits  are  again  found, 
as  well  as  throughout  Southeastern  Ohio.  One  of 
the  oldest  of  these  orchards  was  on  a  Mr.  Dana's 
farm,  near  Cincinnati,  on  the  Ohio  River  bank..  It 
consisted  of  flve  acres,  in  which  apple  seeds  and 
seedlings  were  planted  as  early  as  1790.  Part  of 
the  old  orchard  is  yet  to  be  seen,  though  the  trees 
are  almost  past  their  usefiilness.  Peaches,  pears, 
cherries  and  apples  were  planted  by  all  the  pioneers 
in  their  gardens.  As  soon  as  the  seed  produced 
seedlings,  these  were  transplanted  to  some  hillside, 
and  the  orchard,  in  a  few  years,  was  a  productive 
unit  in  the  life  of  the  settler.  The  first  fruit 
brought,  was,  like  everything  else  of  the  pioneers, 
rather  inferior,  and  admitted  of  much  cultivation. 
Soon  steps  were  taken  by  the  more  enterprising 
settlers  to  obtain  better  varieties.  Israel  Putnam, 
as  early  as  1796,  returned  to  the  East,  partly  to 
get  scions  of  the  choicest  apples,  and,  partly,  on 
other  business.  He  obtained  quite  a  quantity  of 
choice  apples,  of  some  forty  or  fifty  varieties,  and 
set  them  out.  A  portion  of  them  were  distrib- 
uted to  the  settlers  who  had  trees,  to  ingraft. 
From  these  old  grafts  are  yet  to  be  traced  some  of 
the  best  orchards  in  Ohio.  Israel  Putnam  waS  one 
of  the  most  prominent  men  in  early  Ohio  days. 
He  was  always  active  in  promoting  tjie  interests  of 
the  settlers.  Among  his  eai-liest  efforts,  that  of 
improving  the  fruit  may  well  be  mentioned.  He 
and  his  brother,  Aaron  W.  Putnam,  living  at  Bel- 
pre,  opposite  Blennerhasset's  Island,  began  the 
nursery  business  soon  after  their  ai-rival  in  the 
West.  The  apples  brought  by  them  from  their 
Connecticut  home  were  used  to  commence  the  busi- 
ness. These,  and  the  apples  obtained  from  trees 
planted  in  their  gardens,  gave  them  a  beginning. 
They  were  the  only  two  men  in  Ohio  engaged  in 
the  business  till  1817. 

In  early  times,  in  the  central  part  of  Ohio, 
there  existed  a  curious  character  known  as  "Johnny 


r 


.^ 


HISTOEY   or    OHIO. 


157 


Appleseed."  His  real  name  was  Jolin  Chapman. 
He  received  Ms  name  from  Hs  habit  of  planting, 
along  all  the  streams  in  that  part  of  the  State, 
apple-seeds  from  which  sprang  many  of  the  old 
orchards.  He  did  this  as  a  religious  duty,  think- 
ing it  to  be  his  especial  mission.  He  had,  it  is 
said,  been  disappointed  in  his  youth  in  a  love 
affair,  and  came  West  about  1800,  and  ever  after 
followed  his  singular  life.  He  was  extensively 
known,  was  quite  harmless,  very  patient,  and  did, 
without  doubt,  much  good.  He  died  in  1847,  at 
the  house  of  a  Mr.  Worth,  near  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  who  had  long  known  him,  and  often 
befriended  him.  He  was  a  minister  in  the  Swed- 
enborgian  Church,  and,  in  his  own  way,  a  zealous 
worker. 

The  settlers  of  the  Western  Reserve,  coming 
from  New  England,  chiefly  from  Connecticut, 
brought  all  varieties  of  fruit  known  in  their  old 
homes.  These,  whether  seeds  or  grafts,  were 
planted  in  gardens,  and  as  soon  as  an  orchard 
could  be  cleared  on  some  favorable  hillside,  the 
young  trees  were  transplanted  there,  and  in  time 
an  orchard  was  the  result.  Much  conftision 
regarding  the  kinds  of  fruits  thus  produced  arose, 
partly  from  the  fact  that  the  trees  grown  from 
seeds  did  not  always  prove  to  be  of  the  same  qual- 
ity as  the  seeds.  Climate,  soil  and  surroundings 
often  change  the  character  of  such  fruits. 
Many  new  varieties,  unknown  to  the  growers, 
were  the  result.  The  fruit  thus  produced  was 
often  of  an  inferior  growth,  and  when  grafts  were 
brought  from  the  old  New  England  home  and 
grafted  into  the  Ohio  trees,  an  improvement  as 
well  as  the  old  home  fruit  was  the  result.  After 
the  orchards  in  the  Reserve  began  to  bear,  the 
fruit  was  very  often  taken  to  the  Ohio  River  for 
shipment,  and  thence  found  its  way  to  the  South- 
ern and  Eastern  seaboard  cities. 

Among  the  individuals  prominent  in  introducing 
fruits  into  the  State,  were  Mr.  Dille,  of  Euclid,  Judge 
Fuller,  Judge  Whittlesey,  and  Mr.  Lindley. 
George  Hoadly  was  also  very  prominent  and  ener- 
getic in  the  matter,  and  was,  perhaps,  the  first  to 
introduce  the  pear  to  any  extent.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  persistent  and  enthusiastic  amateurs  in 
horticulture  and  pomology  in  the  West.  About 
the  year  1810,  Dr.  Jared  Kirtland,  father  of 
Prof  J.  P.  Kirtland,  so  favorably  known 
among  horticulturists  and  pomologists,  came  from 
Connecticut  and  settled  in  Poland,  Mahoning 
County,  with  his  family.  This  family  has  done 
more  than  any  other  in  the  State,  perhaps,  to 


advance  fruit  culture.  About  the  year  1824, 
Prof.  J.  P.  Kirtland,  in  connection  with  his  brother, 
established  a  nursery  at  Poland,  then  in  Trumbull 
County,  and  brought  on  from  New  England  above 
a  hundred  of  their  best  varieties  of  apples,  cherries, 
peaches,  pears,  and  smaller  fruits,  and  a  year  or 
two  afl«r  brought  from  New  Jersey  a  hundred  of 
the  best  varieties  of  that  State ;  others  were  ob- 
tained in  New  York,  so  that  they  possessed  the  larg- 
est and  most  varied  stock  in  the  Western  country. 
These  two  men  gave  a  great  impetus  to  fruit  cult- 
ure in  the  West,  and  did  more  than  any  others 
of  that  day  to  introduce  improved  kinds  of  all 
fruits  in  that  part  of  the  United  States. 

Another  prominent  man  in  this  branch  of  indus- 
try was  Mr.  Andrew  H.  Ernst,  of  Cincinnati. 
Although  not  so  early  a  settler  as  the  Kirtlands, 
he  was,  like  them,  an  ardent  student  and  propa- 
gator of  fine  fruits.  He  introduced  more  than 
six  hundred  varieties  of  apples  and  seven  hun- 
dred of  pears,  both  native  and  foreign.  His 
object  was  to  test  by  actual  experience  the  most 
valuable  sorts  for  the  diversified  soil  and  climate 
of  the  Western  country. 

The  name  of  Nicholas  Longworth,  also  of  Cin- 
cinnati, is  one  of  the  niost  extensively  known  of  any 
in  the  science  of  horticulture  and  pomology.  For 
more  than  fifty  years  he  made  these  his  especial 
delight.  Having  a  large  tract  of  land  in  the 
lower  part  of  Cincinnati,  he  established  nurseries, 
and  planted  and  disseminated  every  variety  of 
fruits  that  could  be  found  in  the  United  States — 
East  or  West — making  occasional  importations 
from  European  countries  of  such  varieties  as 
were  thought  to  be  adapted  to  the  Western  climate. 
His  success  has  been  variable,  governed  by  the 
season,  and  in  a  measure  by  his  numerous  experi- 
ments. His  vineyards,  cultivated  by  tenants,  gen- 
erally Grermans,  on  the  European  plan,  during  the 
latter  years  of  his  experience  paid  him  a  hand- 
some revenue.  He  introduced  the  famous  Catawba 
grape,  the  standard  grape  of  the  West.  It  is 
stated  that  Mr.  Longworth  bears  the  same  relation 
to  vineyard  culture  that  Fulton  did  to  steam  navi- 
gation. Others  made  earlier  effort,  but  he  was  the 
first  to  establish  it  on  a  permanent  basis.  He  has 
also  been  eminently  successful  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  strawberry,  and  was  the  first  to  firmly  establish 
it  on  Western  soil.  He  also  brought  the  Ohio  Ever- 
bearing Raspberry  into  notice  in  the  State,  and 
widely  disseminated  it  throughout  the  country. 

Other  smaller  fruits  were  brought  out  to  the 
West  like  those  mentioned,    In  some  cases  fruits 


158 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


indigenous  to  the  soil  were  cultivated  and  improved, 
and  as  unproved  fruits,  are  known  favorably  where- 
ever  used. 

In  chronology  and  importance,  of  all  the  cereals, 
corn  stands  foremost.  During  the  early  pioneer 
period,  it  was  the  staple  article  of  food  for  both 
man  and  beast.  It  could  be  made  into  a  variety 
of  forms  of  food,  and  as  such  was  not  only  palata- 
ble but  highly  nutritious  and  strengthening. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  determine  whether  corn 
originated  in  America  or  in  the  Old  World.  Many 
prominent  botanists  assert  it  is  a  native  of  Turkey, 
and  originally  was  known  as  ' '  Turkey  wheat. "  Still 
others  claimed  to  have  found  mention  of  maize  in 
Chinese  writings  antedating  the-  Turkish  discovery. 
Glrains  of  maize  were  found  in  an  Egyptian  mum- 
my, which  goes  to  prove  to  many  the  cereal  was 
known  in  Africa  since  the  earliest  times.  Maize 
was  found  in  America  when  first  visited  by  white 
men,  but  of  its  origin  Indians  could  give  no  ac- 
count. It  had  always  been  known  among  them, 
and  constituted  their  chief  article  of  vegetable  diet. 
It  was  cultivated  exclusively  by  their  squaws,  the 
mea  considering  it  beneath  their  dignity  to  engage 
in  any  manual  labor.  It  is  altogether  probable  corn 
was  known  in  the  Old  World  long  before  the  New 
was  discovered.  The  Arabs  or  Crusaders  probably 
introduced  it  into  Europe.  How  it  was  introduced 
into  America  will,  in  all  probability,  remain  un- 
known. It  may  have  heen  an  indigenous  plant, 
like  many  others.  Its  introduction  into  Ohio  dates 
with  the  settlement  of  the  whites,  especially  its 
cultivation  and  use  as  an  article  of  trade.  True, 
the  Indians  had  cultivated  it  in^small  quantities  ; 
each  lodge  a  little  for  itself,  but  no  effort  to  make 
of  it  a  national  support  began  until  the  civilization 
of  the  white  race  became  established.  From  that 
time  on,  the  increase  in  crops  has  grown  with  the 
State,  and,  excepting  the  great  corn  States  of  the 
West,  Ohio  produces  an  amount  equal  to  any  State 
in  the  Union.  The  statistical  tables  printed  in 
agricultural  reports  show  the  acres  planted,  and 
bushels  grown.  Figures  speak  an  unanswerable 
logic. 

Wheat  is  probably  the  next  in  importance  of  the 
cereals  in  the  State.  Its  origin,  like  corn,  is  lost 
in  the  mists  of  antiquity.  Its  berry  was  no  doubt 
used  as  food  by  the  ancients  for  ages  anterior  to 
any  historical  records.  It  is  often  called  corn  in 
old  writings,  and  under  that  name  is  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  Bible. 

"As  far  back  in  the  vistas  of  ages  as  human 
records  go,  we  find  that  wheat  has  been  cultivated. 


and,  with  corn,  aside  from  animal  food,  has  formed 
one  of  the  chief  alimentary  articles  of  all  nations ; 
but  as  the  wheat  plant  has  nowhere  been  found  wild, 
or  in  a  state  of  nature,  the  inference  has  been 
drawn  by  men  of  unquestioned  scientific  ability, 
that  the  original  plant  from  which  wheat  has  been 
derived  was  either  totally  annihilated,  or  else  cul- 
tivation has  wrought  so  great  a  change,  that  the 
original  is  by  no  means  obvious,  or  manifest  to  bot- 
anists." 

It  is  supposed  by  many,  wheat  originated  in 
Persia.  Others  affirm  it  was  known  and  cultivated 
in  Egypt  long  ere  it  found  its  way  into  Persia.  It 
was  certainly  grown  on  the  NUe  ages  ago,  and 
among  the  tombs  are  found  grains  of  wheat  in  a 
perfectly  sound  condition,  that  unquestionably 
have  been  buried  thousands  of  years.  It  may  be, 
however,  that  wheat  was  grown  in  Persia  first,  and 
thence  found  its  way  into  Egypt  and  Africa,  or, 
vice  versa.  It  grew  first  in  Egypt  and  Africa  and 
thence  crossed  into  Persia,  and  from  there  found 
its  way  into  India  and  all  parts  of  Asia. 

It  is  also  claimed  that  wheat  is  indigenous  to 
the  island  of  Sicily,  and  that  from  there  it  spread 
along  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  into  Asia 
Minor  and  Egypt,  and,  as  communities  advanced, 
it  was  cultivated,  not  only  to  a  greater  extent,  but 
with  greater  success. 

The  goddess  of  agriculture,  more  especially  of 
grains,  who,  by  the  Greeks,  was  called  Demeter, 
and,  by  the  Romans,  Ceres — Whence  the  name  ce- 
reals— ^was  said  to  have  her  home  at  Enna,  a  fertile 
region  of  that  island,  thus  indicating  the  source 
from  which  the  Greeks  and  Romans  derived  their 
Ceralia.  Homer  mentions  wheat  and  spelt  as 
bread;  also  corn  and  barley,  and  describes  his 
heroes  as  using  them  as  fodder  for  their  horses,  as 
the  people  in  the  South  of  Europe  do  at  present. 
Rye  was  introduced  into  Greece  from  Thrace,  or 
by  way  of  Thrace,  in  the  time  of  Galen.  In 
Caesar's  time  the  Romans  grew  a  species  of  wheat 
enveloped  in  a  husk,  like  barley,  and  by  them 
called ''Far." 

During  the  excavations  of  Herculaneum  and 
Pompeii,  wheat,  in  an  excellent  state  of  preserva- 
tion, was  frequently  found.  • 

Dr.  Anson  Hart,  Superintendent,  at  one  time,  of 
Indian  Affairs  in  Oregon,  states  that  he  found 
numerous  patches  of  wheat  and  flax  growing  wild 
in  the  Yackemas  country,  in  Upper  Oregon.  There 
is  but  little  doubt  that  both  cereals  were  intro- 
duced into  Oregon  at  an  early  period  by  the  Hud- 
son Bay,  or  other  fur  companies.     Wheat  was  also 


f 


^: 


£>L 


HISTOEY   OF    OHIO. 


159 


found  by  Dr.  Boyle,  of  Columbus,  Ohio,  growing 
in  a  similar  state  in  the  Carson  Valley.  It  was, 
doubtless,  brouglit  there  by  the  early  Spaniards. 
In  1530,  one  of  Cortez's  slaves  found  several  grains 
of  wheat  accidentally  mixed  with  the  rice.  The 
careful  negro  planted  the  handful  of  grains,  and 
succeeding  years  saw  a  wheat  crop  in  Mexico, 
which  found  its  way  northward,  probably  into 
California. 

Turn  where  we  may,  wherever  the  foot  of  civil- 
ization has  trod,  there  will  we  find  this  wheat 
plant,,which,  like  a  monument,  has  perpetuated 
the  memory  of  the  event;  but  nowhere  do  we  find 
the  plant  wild.  It  is  the  result  of  cultivation  in 
bygone  ages,  and  has  been  produced  by  "progress- 
ive development." 

It  is  beyond  the  limit  and  province  of  these 
pages  to  discuss  the  composition  of  this  important 
cereal ;  only  its  historic  properties  can  be  noticed. 
With  the  advent  of  the  white  men  in  America, 
wheat,  like  corn,  came  to  be  one  of  the  staple  prod- 
ucts of  life.  It  followed  the  pioneer  over  the 
mountains  westward,  where,  in  the  rich  Missis- 
sippi and  Illinois  bottoms,  it  has  been  cultivated 
by  the  French  since  1690.  When  the  hardy  New 
Englanders  came  to  the  alluvial  lands  adjoining 
the  Ohio,  Muskingum  or  Miami  Rivers,  they 
brought  with  them  this  "staff  of  life,"  and  forth- 
with began  its  cultivation.  Who  sowed  the  first 
wheat  in  Ohio,  is  a  question  Mr.  A.  S.  Guthrie 
answers,  in  a  letter  published  in  the  Agricultural 
Report  of  185Y,  as  follows: 

"  My  father,  Thomas  Gruthrie,  emigrated  to  the 
Northwest  Territory  in  the  year  1788,  and  arrived 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  in  July,  about 
three  months  after  Gen.  Putnam  had  arrived  with 
the  first  pioneers  of  Ohio.  My  father  brought  a 
bushel  of  wheat  with  him  from  one  of  the  frontier 
counties  of  Pennsylvania,  which  he  sowed  on  a 
lot  of  land  in  Marietta,  which  he  cleared  for  that 
purpose,  pn  the  second  bottom  or  plain,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  where  the  Court  House  now 
stands." 

Mr.  Guthrie's  opinion  is  corroborated  'by  Dr. 
Samuel  P.  Hildreth,  in  his  "Pioneer  Settlers  of 
Ohio,"  and  is,  no  doubt,  correct. 

From  that  date  on  down  through  the  years  of 
Ohio's  growth,  the  crops  of  wheat  Jiave  kept  pace 
with  the  advance  and  growth  of  civilization.  The 
soil  is  admirably  adapted  to  the  growth  of  this  ce- 
real, a  large  number  of  varieties  being  grown,  and 
an  excellent  quality  produced.  It  is  firm  in  body, 
and,  in  many  cases,  is  a  successful  rival  of  wheat 


produced  in  the  great  wheat-producing  regions  of 
the  United  States — Minnesota,  and  the  farther 
Northwest. 

Oats,  rye,  barley,  and  other  grains  were  also 
brought  to  Ohio  from  the  Atlantic  Coast,  though 
some  of  them  had  been  cultivated  by  the  French 
in  Illinois  and  about  Detroit.  They  were  at  first 
used  only  as  food  for  home  consumption,  and,  until 
the  successful  attempts  at  river  and  canal  naviga^ 
tion  were  brought  about,  but  little  was  ever  sent 
to  market. 

Of  all  the  root  crops  known  to  man,  the  potato 
is  probably  the  most  valuable.  Next  to  wheat, 
it  is  claimed  by  many  as  the  staff  of  life.  In 
some  localities,  this  assumption  is  undoubtedly 
true.  What  would  Ireland,  have  done  in  her  fam- 
ines but  for  this  simple  vegetable?  The  potato  is 
a  native  of  the  mountainous  districts  of  tropical 
and  subtropical  America,  probably  from  Chili  to 
Mexico ;  but  there  is  considerable  difficulty  in 
deciding  where  it  is  really  indigenous,  and  where 
it  has  spread  afler  being  introduced  by  man. 
Humboldt,  the  learned  savant,  doubted  if  it  had 
ever  been  found  wild,  but  scholars  no  less  famous, 
and  of  late  date,  have  expressed  an  opposite 
opinion.  In  the  wild  plant,  as  in  all  others,  the 
tubers  are  smaller  than  in  the  cultivated.  The 
potato  had  been  cultivated  in  America,  and  its 
tubers  used  for  food,  long  before  the  advent  of  the 
Europeans.  It  seems  to  have  been  first  brought 
to  Europe  by  the  Spaniards,  from  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Quito,  in  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  spread  through  Spain,  the  Netherlands, 
Burgundy  and  Italy,  cultivated  in  gardens  as  an 
ornament  only  and  not  for  an  article  of  food. 
It  long  received  through  European  countries  the 
same  name  with  the  batatas — sweet  potato,  which 
is  the  plant  meant  by  all  English  writers  down  to 
the  seventeenth  century. 

It  appears  that  the  potato  was  brought  from 
Virginia  to  Ireland  by  Hawkins,  a  slave-trader, 
in  1565,  and  to  England  by  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
twenty  years  later.  It  did  not  at  first  attract  much 
notice,  and  not  until  it  was  a  third  time  imported 
from  America,  in  1623,  by  Sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
did  the  Europeans  make  a  practical  use  of  it. 
Even  then  it  was  a  long  time  before  it  was  exten- 
sively cultivated.  It  is  noticed  in  agricu'tural 
journals  as  food  for  cattle  only  as  late  as  1719. 
Poor  people  began  using  it,  however,  and  finding  it 
highly  nutritious,  the  Royal  Geographical  Society, 
in  1663,  adopted  measures  for  its  propagation. 
About  this  time  it  began  to  be  used  in  Ireland  as 


160 


HISTORY   or   OHIO. 


food,  and  from  thebeginningoftheeigliteenth  cent- 
ury, its  use  has  never  declined.  It  is  now  known 
in  every  quarter  of  the  world,  and  has,  by  cultiva- 
tion, been  greatly  improved. 

The  inhabitants  of  America  learned  its  use 
from  the  Indians,  who  cultivated  it  and  other 
root  crops — rutabagas,  radishes,  etc.,  and  taught 
the  whites  their  value.  When  the  pioneers  of 
Ohio  came  to  its  fertile  valleys,  they  brought 
improved  species  with  them,  which  by  cultiva- 
tion and  soil,  are  now  greatly  increased,  and  are 
among  the  standard  crops  of  the  State. 

The  cucurbitaceous  plants,  squashes,  etc.,  were, 
like  the  potato  and  similar  root  crops,  indigenous 
to  America — others,  hke  the  melons,  to  Asia — 
and  were  among  the  staple  foods  of  the  original 
inhabitants.  The  early  French  missionaries  of 
the  West  speak  of  both  root  crops  and  cucurbi- 
taceous plants  as  in  use  among  the  aboriginal  inhab- 
itants. "They  are  very  sweet  and  wholesome," 
wrote  Marquette.  Others  speak  in  thesame terms, 
though  some  of  the  plants  in  this  order  had  found 
their  way  to  these  valleys  through  the  Spaniards 
and  others  through  early  Atlantic  Coast  and  Mex- 
ican inhabitants.  Their  use  by  the  settlers  of  the 
West,  especially  Ohio,  is  traced  to  New  England, 
as  the  first  settlers  came  from  that  portion  of  the 
Union.  They  grow  well  in  all  parts  of  the  State, 
and  by  cultivation  have  been  greatly  improved  in 
quality  and  variety.  All  cucurbitaceous  plants 
require  a  rich,  porous  soil,  and  by  proper  atten- 
tion to  their  cultivation,  excellent  results  can  be 
attained. 

Probably  the  earliest  and  most  important  imple- 
ment of  husbandry  known  is  the  plow.  Grrain, 
plants  and  roots  will  not  grow  well  unless  the  soil 
in  which  they  are  planted  be  properly  stirred, 
hence  the  first  requirement  was  an  instrument  that 
would  fulfill  such  conditions. 

The  first  implements  were  rude  indeed  ;  gener- 
ally, stout  wooden  sticks,  drawn  through  the  earth 
by  thongs  attached  to  rude  ox-yokes,  or  fastened 
to  the  animal's  horns.  Such  plows  were  in  use 
among  the  ancient  Egyptians,  and  may  yet  be 
found  among  uncivilized  nations.  The  Old  Testa^ 
ment  furnishes  numerous  instances  of  the  use  of 
the  plow,  while,  on  the  ruins  of  ancient  cities  and 
among  the  pyramids  of  Egypt,  and  on  the  buried 
walls  of  Babylon,  and  other  extinct  cities,  are  rude 
drawings  of  this  useful  implement.  As  the  use 
of  iron  became  apparent  and  general,  it  was  util- 
ized for  plow-points,  where  the  wood  alone  would 
not  penetrate  the  earth,    They  got  their  plow- 


shares sharpened  in  Old  Testament  days,  also 
coulters,  which  shows,  beyond  a  doubt,  that  iron- 
pointed  plows  were  then  in  use.  From  times 
mentioned  in  the  Bible,  on  heathen  tombs,  and 
ancient  catacombs,  the  improvement  of  the  plow, 
like  other  farming  tools,  went  on,  as  the  race  of 
man  grew  in  intelhgence.  Extensive  manors  in 
the  old  country  required  increased  means  of  turning 
the  ground,  and,  to  meet  these  demands,  ingenious 
mechanics,  from  time  to  time,  invented  improved 
plows.  Strange  to  say,  however,  no  improvement 
was  ever  made  by  the  iarmer  himself.  Thig,is  ac- 
counted for  in  his  habits  of  hfe,  and,  too  often, 
the  disposition  to  "take  things  as  they  are."  When 
America  was  settled,  the  plow  had  become  an  im- 
plement capable  of  turning  two  or  three  acres  per 
day.  StUl,  and  for  many  years,  and  even  until 
lately,  the  mold-board  was  entirely  wooden,  the 
point  only  iron.  Later  developments  changed  the 
wood  for  steel,  which  now  alone  is  used.  Still 
later,  especially  in  prairie  States,  riding  plows  are 
used.  Like  all  other  improvements,  they  were 
obliged  to  combat  an  obtuse  public  mind  among 
the  ruralists,  who  surely  combat  almost  every 
move  made  to  better  their  condition.  In  many 
places  in  America,  wooden  plows,  straight  ax 
handles,  and  a  stone  in  one  end  of  the  bag,  to  bal- 
ance the  grist  in  the  other,  are  the  rule,  and  for  no 
other  reason  in  the  world  are  they  maintained  than 
the  laconic  answer: 

"  My  father  did  so,  and  why  should  not  I?  Am 
I  better  than  he?" 

After  the  plow  comes  the  harrow,  but'  Uttle 
changed,  save  in  hghtness  and  beauty.  Formerly, 
a  log  of  wood,  or  a  brush  harrow,  supplied  its 
place,  but  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  the  toothed  instru- 
ment has  nearly  always  been  used. 

The  hoe  is  lighter  made  than  formerly,  and  is 
now  made  of  steel.  At  first,  the  common  iron 
hoe,  sharpened  by  the  blacksmith,  was  in  constant 
use.  Now,  it  is  rarely  seen  outside  of  the  South- 
ern States,  where  it  has  long  been  the  chief  imple- 
ment in  agriculture. 

The  various  small  plows  for  the  cultivation  of 
corn  and  such  other  crops  as  necessitated  their  use 
ai'e  all  the  result  of  modern  civilization.  Now, 
their  number  is  large,  and,  in  many  places,  there 
are  two  or  mo»e  attached  to  one  carriage,  whose 
operator  rides.  These  kinds  are  much  used  in  the 
Western  States,  whose  rootless  and  stoneless  soU  is 
admirably  adapted  to  such  machinery. 

When  the  grain  became  ripe,  implements  to  cut 
it  were  in  demand.    In  ancient  times,  the  sickle 


:^ 


HISTOET   OF   OHIO. 


161 


was  the  only  instrument  used.  It  was  a  stort, 
curved  iron,  whose  inner  edge  was  sharpened  and 
serrated.  In  its  most  ancient  form,  it  is  doubtful 
if  the  edge  was  but  little,  if  any,  serrated.  It  is 
mentioned  in  all  ancient  works,  and  in  the  Bible  is 
frequently  referred  to. 

"  Thrust  in  the  sickle,  for  the  harvest  is 
ripe,"  wrote  the  sacred  New  Testament,  while 
the  Old  chronicles  as  early  as  the  time  of  Moses : 
"As  thou  beginnest  to  put  the  sickle  to  the 
corn." 

In  more  modem  times,  the  handle  of  the  sickle 
was  lengthened,  then  the  blade,  which  in  time  led 
to  the  scythe.  Both  are  yet  in  use  in  many  parts 
of  the  world.  The  use  of  the  scythe  led  some 
thinking  person  to  add  a  "  finger  "  or  two,  and  to 
change  the  shape  of  the  handle.  The  old  cradle 
was  the  result.  At  first  it  met  considerable  oppo- 
sition from  the  laborers,  who  brought  forward  the 
old-time  argument  of  ignorance,  that  it  would 
cheapen  labor. 

Whether  the  cradle  is  a  native  of  America  or 
Europe  is  not  accurately  decided;  probably  of  the 
mother  country.  It  came  into  common  use  about 
181B,  and  in  a  few  years  had  found  its  way  into 
the  wheatr-producing  regions  of  the  West.  Where 
small  crops  are  raised,  the  cradle  is  yet  much  used. 
A  man  can  cut  from  two  to  four  acres  per  day, 
hence,  it  is  much  cheaper  than  a  reaper,  where  the 
crop  is  small. 

The  mower  and  reaper  are  comparatively  mod- 
ern inventions.  A  rude  reaping  machine  is  men- 
tioned by  Pliny  in  the  first  century.  It  was  pushed 
by  an  ox  through  the  standing  grain.  On  ite 
front  was  a  sharp  edge,  which  cut  the  grain.  It 
was,  however,  impracticable,  as  it  ^jiit  only  a  por- 
tion of  the  grain,  and  the  peasantry  preferred  the 
sickle.  Other  and  later  attempts  to  make  reapers 
do  not  seem  to  have  been  successftil,  and  not  till 
the  present  century  was  a  machine  made  that  would 
do  the  work  required.  In  1826,  Mr.  Bell,  of 
Scotland,  constructed  a  machine  which  is  yet  used 
in  many  parts  of  that  country.  In  America,  Mr. 
Hussey  and  Mr.  McCormick  took  Out  patents  for 
reaping  machines  of  superior  character  in  1833 
and  1834.  At  first  the  cutters  of  these  machines 
were  various  contrivances,  but  both  manufacturers 
soon  adopted  a  serrated  knife,  triangular  shaped,  at- 
tached to  a  bar,  and  driven  through  "finger 
guards  "  attached  to  it,  by  a  forward  and  backward 
motion.  These  are  the  common  ones  now  in  use, 
save  that  all  do  not  use  serrated  knives.  Since 
these  pioneer  machines  were  introduced  into  the 


harvest  fields  they  have  been  greatly  improved  and 
changed.  Of  late  years  they  have  been  constructed 
so  as  to  bind  the  sheaves,  and  now  a  good  stout 
boy,  and  a  team  with  a  "  harvester,"  will  do  as 
much  as  many  men  could  do  a  few  years  ago,  and 
with  much  greater  ease. 

As  was  expected  by  the  inventors  of  reapers, 
they  met  with  a  determined  resistance  from  those 
who  in  former  times  made  their  living  by  harvest- 
ing. It  was  again  absurdly  argued  that  they  would 
cheapen  labor,  and  hence  were  an  injury  to  the 
laboring  man.  Indeed,  when  the  first  machines 
were  brought  into  Ohio,  many  of  them  were  torn 
to  pieces  by  the  ignorant  hands.  Others  left  fields 
in  a  body  when  the  proprietor  brought  a  reaper  to 
his  farm.  Like  all  such  fallacies,  these,  in  time, 
passed  away,  leaving  only  their  stain.  • 

Following  the  reaper  came  the  thresher.  As 
the  country  filled  with  inhabitants,  and  men  in- 
creased their  possessions,  more  rapid  means  than 
the  old  flail  or  roller  method  were  demanded.  At 
first  the  grain  was  trodden  out  by  horses  driven  over 
the  bundles,  which  were  laid  in  a  circular  inclosure. 
The  old  flail,  the  tramping-out  by  horses,  and  the 
cleaning  by  the  sheet,  or  throwing  the  grain  up 
against  a  current  of  air,  were  too  slow,  and 
machines  were  the  result  of  the  demand.  In  Ohio 
the  manufacture  of  threshers  began  in  1846,  in 
the  southwestern  part.  Isaac  Tobias,  who  came 
to  Hamilton  from  Miamisburg  that  year,  com- 
menced building  the  threshers  then  in  use.  They 
were  without  the  cleaning  attachment,  and  simply 
hulled  the  grain.  Two  years  later,  he  began 
manufacturing  the  combined  thresher  and  cleaner, 
which  were  then  coming  into  use.  He  continued 
in  business  till  1851.  Four  years  after,  the  in- 
creased demand  for  such  machines,  consequent 
upon  the  increased  agricultural  products,  induced 
the  firm  of  Owens,  Lane  &  Dyer  to  fit  their  estab- 
lishment for  the  manufacture  of  threshers.  They 
afterward  added  the  manufacture  of  steam  engines 
to  be  used  in  the  place  of  horse  power.  Since 
then  the  manufacture  of  these  machines,  as  well  as 
that  of  all  other  agricultural  machinery,  has  greatly 
multiplied  and  improved,  until  now  it  seems_  as 
though  but  little  room  for  improvement  remains. 
One  of  the  largest  firms  engaged  in  the  manufact> 
ure  of  threshers  and  their  component  machinery  is 
located  at  Mansfield — ^the  Aultman  &  Taylor 
Co.  Others  are  at  Massillon,  and  at  other  cities 
in  the  West. 

Modern  times  and  modern  enterprise  have  devel- 
oped a  marvelous  variety  of  agricultural  implements 


V 


163 


HISTOEY   OF   OHIO. 


— too  many  to  be  mentioned  in  a  volume  like 
this.  Under  special  subjects  they  will  occasionally 
be  found.  The  farmer's  life,  so  cheerless  in  pioneer 
times,  and  so  ftill  of  weary  labor,  is  daily  becom- 
ing less  laborious,  until,  if  they  as  a  class  profit 
by  the  advances,  they  can  find  a  life  of  ease 
in  farm  pursuits,  not  attainable  in  any  other 
profession.  Now  machines  do  almost  all  the  work. 
They  sow,  cultivate,  cut,  bind,  thresh,  winnow 
and  carry  the  grain.  They,  cut,  rake,  load,  mow 
and  dry  the  hay.  They  husk,  shell  and  clean  the 
corn.  They  cut  and  split  the  wood.  They  do  al- 
most all ;  until  it  seems  as  though  the  day  may 
come  when  the  farmer  can  sit  in  his  house  arid 
simply  guide  the  affairs  of  his  farm. 
^  Any  occupation  prospers  in  proportion  to  the 
interest  taken  in  it  by  its  members.  This  interest 
is  always  heightened  by  an  exchange  of  views,  hence 
societies  and  periodicals  exercise  an  influence  at 
first  hardy  realized.  This  feeling  among  prominent 
agriculturists  led  to  the  formation  of  agricultural 
societies,  at  first  by  counties,  then  districts,  then 
by  States,  and  lastly  by  associations  of  States. 
The  day  may  come  when  a  national  agricul- 
tural fair  may  be  one  of  the  annual  attractions  of 
America. 

Without  noticing  the  early  attempts  to  found 
such  societies  in  Europe  or  America,  the  narrative 
will  begin  with  those  of  Ohio.  The  first  agricul- 
tural society  organized  in  the  Buckeye  State  was 
the  Hamilton  County  Agricultural  Society.  Its 
exact  date  of  organization  is  not  now  preserved, 
but  to  a  certainty  it  is  known  that  the  Society  held 
public  exhibitions  as  a  County  Society  prior  to 
1823.  Previous  to  that  date  there  were,  doubt- 
less, small,  private  exhibitions  held  in  older  local- 
ities, probably  at  Marietta,  but  no  regular  organi- 
zation seems  to  have  been  maintained.  The 
Hamilton  County  Society  held  its  fairs  annually, 
with  marked  success.  Its  successor,  the  present 
Society,  is  now  one  of  the  largest  county  societies 
in  the  Union. 

During  the  legislative  session  of  183^-33,  the 
subject  of  agriculture  seems  to  have  agitated  the 
minds  of  the  people  through  their  representatives, 
for  the  records  of  that  session  show  the  first  laws 
passed  for  their  benefit.  The  acts  of  that  body 
seem  to  have  been  productive  of  some  good,  for, 
though  no  records  of  the  number  of  societies  or- 
ganized at  that  date  exist,  yet  the  record  shows 
that  "  jnany  societies  have  been  organized  in  con- 
formity to  this  act,"  etc.  No  doubt  many  societies 
held  fairs  from  this  time,  for  a  greater  or  less 


number  of  years.  Agricultural  journals*  were, 
at  this  period,  rare  in  the  State,  and  the  subject  of 
agricultural  improvement  did  not  receive  that  at- 
tention from  the  press  it  does  at  this  time  ;  and, 
for  want  of  pubUc  spirit  and  attention  to  sustain 
these  fairs,  they  were  gradually  discontinued  until 
the  new  act  respecting  their  organization-  was 
passed  in  1846.  However,  records  of  several'; 
county  societies  of  the  years  between  1832  and 
1846  yet  exist,  showing  that  in  some  parts  of  the 
State,  the  interest  in  these  fairs  was  by  no  means 
diminished.  The  Delaware  County  Society  re- 
ports for  the  year  1833 — ^it  was  organized  in  June 
of  that  year — good  progress  for  a  beginnings  and 
that  much  interest  was  manifested  by  the  citizens 
of  the  county. 

Ross  County  held  its  first  exhibition  in  the 
autumn  of  that  year,  and  the  report  of  the  mana- 
gers is  quite  cheerful.  Nearly  all  of  the  exhibited 
articles  were  sold  at  auction,  at  greatly  advanced 
prices  from  the  current  ones  of  the  day.  The  en- 
try seems  to  have  been  free,  in  an  open  inclosure, 
and  but  little  revenue  was  derived.  Little  was  ex- 
pected, hence  no  one  was  disappointed. 

Washington  County  reports  an  excellent  cattle 
show  for  that  year,  and  a  number  of  premiums 
awarded  to  the  successful  exhibitors.  This  same 
year  the  Ohio  Importation  Company  was  organ- 
ized at  the  Ross  County  fair.  The  Company  began 
the  next  season  the  importation  of  fine  cattle  from 
England,  and,  in  a  few  years,  did  incalculable  good 
in  this  respect,  as  well  as  make  considerable  money 
in  the  enterprise. 

These  societies  were  re-organized  when  the  law 
of  1846  went  into  effect,  and,  with  those  that  had 
gone  down  a,Txi  the  new  ones  started,  gave  an  im- 
petus to  agriculture  that  to  this  day  is  felt.  Now 
every  county  has  a  society,  while  district,  State 
and  inter-State  societies  are  annually  held;  all 
promotive  in  their  tendency,  and  all  a  benefit  to 
every  one. 

The  Ohio  State  Board  of  Agriculture  was  organ- 
ized by  an  act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  February 
2Y,  1846.  Since  then  various  amendments  to  the 
organic  law  have  been  passed  from  time  to  time  as 

*  The  Weitem  TilUr  was  published  In  Cincinnati,  in  1 826.  It  was 
"  miecellaneouB,"  but  contained  many  excellent  articles  on  agri- 
culture. 

The  Farmers^  Record  was  published  in  Cincinnati,  in  1831,  and 
continued  for  several  years. 

The  Ohio  Farmer  was  published  at  Batavia,  Clermont  County,  in 
1833,  by  Hon.  Samuel  Medai-y. 

These  were  the  early  agricultural  journals,  some  of  which  yet 
survive,  though  in  new  names,  and  under  new  management.  Others 
have,  also,  since  been  added,  some  of  which  have  an  exceedingly  ' 
large  circulation,  and  are  an  influence  for  much  good  in  the  State. 


j^e 


HISTORY   OF    OHIO. 


163 


the  necessities  of  the  Board  and  of  agriculture  in 
the  State  demanded.  The  same  day  that  the  act 
was  passed  creating  the  State  Board,  an  act  was 
also  passed  providing  for  the  erection  of  county  and 
district  societies,  under  whi<;h  law,  with  subsequent 
amendments,  the  present  county  and  district  agri- 
cultural societies  are  managed.  During  the  years 
from  1846  down  to  the  present  time,  great  improve- 
ments have  been  made  in  the  manner  of  conduct- 
ing these  societies,  resulting  in  exhibitions  unsur- 
passed in  any  other  State. 

Pomology  and  horticulture  are  branches  of  in- 
dustry so  closely  allied  with  agriculture  that  a 
brief  resimie  of  their  operations  in  Ohio  will  be 
eminently  adapted  to  these  pages.  The  early 
planting  and  care  of  fruit  in  Ohio  has  already  been 
noticed.  Among  the  earliest  pioneers  were  men  of 
fine  tastes,  who  not  only  desired  to  benefit  them- 
selves and  their  country,  but  who  were  possessed 
with  a  laudable  ambition  to  produce  the  best  fruits 
and  vegetables  the  State  could  raise.  For  this  end 
they  studied  carefully  the  topography  of  the  coun- 
try, its  soU,  climate,  and  various  influences  upon 
such  culture,  and  by  careful  experiments  with  fruit 
and  vegetables,  produced  the  excellent  varieties  now 
in  use.  Mention  has  been  made  of  Mr.  Longworth 
and  Mr.  Ernst,  of  Cincinnati ;  and  Israel  and  Aaron 
W.  Putnam,  on  the  Muskingum  River  ;  Mr.  Dille, 


Judges  Fuller  and  Whittlesey,  Dr.  Jared  Kirtland 
and  his  sons,  and  others — all  practical  enthusiasts  in 
these  departments.  At  first,  individual  efibrts  alone, 
owing  to  the  condition  of  the  country,  could  be 
made.  As  the  State  filled  with  settlers,  and  means 
of  communication  became  better,  a  desire  for  an  in- 
terchange of  views  became  apparent,  resulting  in 
the  establishment  of  periodicals  devoted  to  these 
subjects,  and  societies  where  difierent  ones  could 
meet  and  discuss  these  things. 

A  Horticultural  and  Pomological  Society  was 
organized  in  Ohio  in  1866.  Before  the  organiza- 
tion of  State  societies,  however,  several  distinct  or 
independent  societies  existed ;  in  fact,  out  of  these 
grew  the  State  Society,  which  in  turn  produced 
good  by  stimulating  the  creation  of  county  societies. 
All  these  societies,  aids  to  agriculture,  have  pro- 
gressed as  the  State  developed,  and  have  done  much 
in  advancing  fine  fruit,  and  a  taste  for  aesthetic  cul- 
ture. In  all  parts  of  the  West,  their  influence  is 
seen  in  better  and  improved  fruit ;  its  culture  and 
its  demand. 

To-day,  Ohio  stands  in  the  van  of  the  Western 
States  in  agriculture  and  all  its  kindred  associa- 
tions. It  only  needs  the  active  energy  of  her 
citizens  to  keep  her  in  this  place,  advancing 
as  time  advances,  until  the  goal  of  her  ambition  is 
reached. 


CLIMATOLOGY— OUTLINE  - 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

-VARIATION    IN    OHIO— ESTIMATE   IN   DEGREES— RAINFALL - 
—VARIABILITY.  , 


-AMOUNT 


THE  climate  of  Ohio  varies  about  four  degrees. 
Though  originally  liable  to  malaria  in  many 
districts  when  first  settled,  in  consequence  of  a 
dense  vegetation  induced  by  summer  heats  and 
rains,  it  has  became  very  healthful,  owing  to  clear- 
ing away  this  vegetation,  and  proper  drainage. 
The  State  is  as  favorable  in  its  sanitary  char- 
acteristics as  any  other  in  its  locality.  Ohio  is  re- 
markable for  its  high  productive  capacity,  almost 
every  thing  grown  in  the  temperate  climates  being 
within  its  range.  Its  extremes  of  heat  and  cold 
are  less  than  almost  any  other  State  in  or  near  the 
same  latitude,  hence  Ohio  sufiers  less  from  the  ex- 
treme dry  or  wet  seasons  which  afiect  all  adjoining 
States.  These  modifications  are  mainly  due  to  the 
influence   of  the    Lake  Erie  waters.     These  not 


only  modify  the  heat  of  summer  and  the  cold  of 
winter,  but  apparently  reduce  the  proftision  of 
rainfall  in  summer,  and  favor  moisture  in  dry  pe- 
riods. No  finer  climate  exists,  all  conditions  consid- 
ered, for  delicate  vegetable  growths,  than  that  por- 
tion of  Ohio  bordering  on  Lake  Erie.  This  is 
abundantly  attested  by  the  recent  extensive  devel- 
opment there  of  grape  culture. 

Mr.  Lorin  Blodget,  author  of  "American  Clima- 
tology," in  the  agricultural  report  of  1853,  says ; 
"A  district  bordering  on  the  Southern  and  West- 
ern portions  of  Lake  Erie  is  more  favorable  in  this 
respect  (grape-  cultivation)  than  any  other  on  the 
Atlantic  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  it  will 
ultimately  prove  capable  of  a  very  liberal  extension 
of  vine  culture." 


^ 


•k 


164 


HISTOEY   or    OHIO. 


Experience  has  proven  Mr.  Blodget  correct  in 
his  theory.  Now  extensive  fields  of  grapes  are 
everywhere  found  on  the  Lake  Erie  Slope,  while 
other  small  fruits  find  a  sure  footing  on  its  soil. 

"  Considering  the  climate  of  Ohio  by  isother- 
mal lines  and  rain  shadings,  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,"  says  Mr.  Blodget,  in  his  description  of 
Ohio's  climate,  from  which  these  facts  are  drawn, 
"  that  local  influences  often  require  to  be  considered. 
At  the  South,  from  Cincinnati  to  Steubenville,  the 
deep  river  valleys  are  two  degrees  warmer  than  the 
hilly  districts  of  the  same  vicinity.  The  lines  are 
drawn  intermediate  between  the  two  extremes. 
Thus,  Cincinnati,  on  the  plain,  is  2°  warmer  than 
at  the  Observatory,  and  4°  warmer  for  each  year 
than  Hillsboro,  Highland  County — ^the  one  being 
500,  the  other  1,000,  feet  above  sea-level.  The 
immediate  valley  of  the  Ohio,  from  Cincinnati  to 
GrallipoUs,  is  about  75°  for  the  summer,  and  54° 
for  the  year;  while  the  adjacent  hilly  districts, 
300  to  500  feet  higher,  are  not  above  73°  and  52° 
respectively.  For  the  summer,  generally,  the 
river  valleys  are  73°  to  75°  ;  the  level  and  central 
portions  72°  to  73°,  and  the  lake  border  70°  to 
72°.  A  peculiar  mildness  of  climate  belongs  to 
the  vicinity  of  Kelley's  Island,  Sandusky  and 
Toledo.  Here,  both  winter  and  summer,  the  cli- 
mate is  2°  warmer  than  on  the  highland  ridge  ex- 
tending from  Norwalk  and  Oberlin  to  Hudson  and 
the  northeastern  border.  This  ridge  varies  from 
500  to  750  feet  above  the  lake,  or  850  to  1,200 
feet  above  sea  level.  This  high  belt  has  a  summer 
temperature  of  70°,  27°  for  the  winter,  and  49° 
for  the  year;  while  at  Sandusky  and  Kelley's 
Island  the  summer  is  72°,  the  winter  29°,  and  the 
year  50°.  In  the  central  apd  eastern  parts  of 
the  State,  the  winters  are  comparatively  cold,  the 
average  falling  to  32°  over  the  more  level  districts, 
and  to  29°  on  the  highlands.  The  Ohio  River 
valley  is  about  35°,  but  the  highlands  near  it  fall 
to  31°  and  32°  for  the  winter." 

As  early  as  1824,  several  persons  in  the  State 
began  taking  the  temperature  in  their  respective 
localities,  for  the  spring,  summer,  autumn  and  win- 
ter, averaging  them  for  the  entire  year.  From  time 
to  time,  these  were  gathered  and  published,  inducing 
others  to  take  a  step  in  the  same  direction.  Not 
long  since,  a  general  table,  from  about  forty  local- 


ities, was  gathered  and  compiled,  covering  a  period 
of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  This  table, 
when  averaged,  showed  an  average  temperature  of 
52.4°,  an  evenness  of  temperature  not  equaled 
in  many  bordering  States. 

Very  imperfect  observations  have  been  made 
of  the  amount  of  rainfall  in  the  State.  Until 
lately,  only  an  individual  here  and  there  through- 
out the  State  took  enough  interest  in  this  matter 
to  faithftilly  observe  and  record  the  averages  of 
several  years  in  succession.  In  consequence  of 
this  fact,  the  illustration  of  that  feature  of  Ohio's 
climate  is  less  satisfactory  than  that  of  the 
temperature.  "The  actual  rainfall  of  difierent 
months  and  years  varies  greatly,"  says  Mr.  Blod- 
get. "There  may  be  more  in  a  month,  and, 
again,  the  quantity  may  rise  to  12  or  15  inches 
in  a  single  month.  For  a  year,  the  variation  may 
be  from  a  minimum  of  22  or  25  inches,  to  a  maxi- 
mum of  50  or  even  60  inches  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  State,  and  45  to  48  inches  along  the  lake 
border.  The  average  is  a  fixed  quantity,  and, 
although  requiring  a  period  of  twenty  or  twenty- 
five  years  to  fix  it  absolutely,  it  is  entirely  certain 
and  unchangeable  when  known.  On  charts,  these 
average  quantities  are  represented  by  depths 
of  shading.  At  Cincinnati,  the  last  fifteen  years 
of  observation  somewhat  reduce  the  average  of 
48  inches,  of  former  years,  to  46  or  47  inches." 

Spring  and  summer  generally  give  the  most  rain, 
there  being,  in  general,  10  to  12  inches  in  the 
spring,  10  to  14  inches  in  the  summer,  and  8  to 
10  inches  in  the  autumn.  The  winter  is  the  most 
variable  of  all  the  seasons,  the  southern  part  of 
the  State  having  10  inches,  and  the  northern  part 
7  inches  or  less — an  average  of  8  or  9  inches. 

The  charts  of  rainfall,  compiled  for  the  State, 
show  a  fall  of  30  inches  on  the  lake,  and  46  inches 
at  the  Ohio  River.  Between  these  two  points,  the 
fall  is  marked,  beginning  at  the  north,  32,  34,  36 
and  38  inches,  all  near  the  lake.  Farther  down, 
in  the  latitude  of  Tuscarawas,  Monroe  and  Mercer 
Counties,  the  fall  is  40  inches,  while  the  south- 
western part  is  42  and  44  inches. 

The  clearing  away  of  forests,  the  drainage  of 
the  land,  and  other  causes,  have  lessened  the  rain- 
fall, making  considerable  difference  since  the  days 
of  the  aborigines. 


H*    <! 


-» a  ""V 


COSHOCTON.COUNTY  COURT  HOUSE,      ERECTED  1873.     J.  C.  l 


^NE,  8.  M.  DAUGHERTY,  WM.  BERRY,  COUNTY  COMMISSIONERS. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

TOPOGRAPHY  AND  GEOLOGY.* 

Topography— General  Geological  Structure  of  the  County- 
Local  Geology. 

COSHOCTON  county  lies  wholly  in  the  great 
bituminous  coal  field,  reaching  close  to  its 
western  margin.  Its  surface  is,  in  appearance, 
■very  rough  and  hilly ;  yet,  there  are  no  ridges, 
and  rarely  any  point  of  considerable  elevation 
above  the  general  summit  level.  This  level; 
which  is  that  of  the  great  plateau  of  Eastern 
Ohio,  and  the  neighboring  country  farther  east, 
varies  little  from  1,100  to  1,200  feet  above  the  sea. 
By  the  excavation  of  the  valleys  below  it,  the  sur- 
face has  been  carved  into  hills,  the  slopes  of  which 
descend  to  the  general  depth  of  350  to  400  feet. 
That  the  surface  of  the  great  plateau  once  stood 
considerably  higher,  is  rendered  probable  by  the 
occasional  occurrence  of  a  mound  of  hard  strata, 
standing  like  a  Inonument  above  the  general 
level.  A  very  conspicuous  one  of  this  .kind, 
rising  about  80  ffeet  higher  than  the  summits  of 
the  highlands  about  it,  and  composed,  apparently, 
of  beds  of  conglomerate  (loose  pieces  of  which 
cover  its  top  and  steep  sides),  is  seen  near  Co- 
shocton county,  in  Tuscarawas,  opposite  Port 
Washington.  Another,  of  similar  appearance,  is 
seen  in  the  north-east  part  of  Coshocton  county, 
just  north  of  the  road  between  Chili  and  Bakers- 
viUe. 

As  the  highlands  of  the  county  appear  to  have 
once  been  considerably  higher  than  now,  so  the 
bottoms  of  the  valleys  were  obviously  once  much 
deeper  than  at  present;  for  below  the  surface  of 

*From  the  State  Geological  Report  of  1878. 


the  valleys  are  frequently  accumulations  of  sand, 
clays  and  gravels,  reaching  to  the  depth  of  more 
than  100  and  sometimes  to  nearly  200  feet.  The 
gravel  beds  of  the  rivers,  made  up  of  pebbles  of 
sienitic,  porphyritic  basaltic  and  other  more  an- 
cient rocks  than  are  found  in  Ohio,  and  the  same 
class  of  bowlders  in  the  sand  hills  and  terraces 
bordering  the  streams,  point  to  the  currents  of 
the  Drift  period  as  the  agents  of  this  denudation; 
while  the  great  width  of  the  valleys,  which  is 
sometimes  four  to  five  miles,  bear  witness  to  the 
long  time  these  currents  must  have  been  in  ac- 
tion to  have  produced  such  astonishing  results. 
Sometimes,  indeed,  it  appears  that  a  broad  valley, 
once  formed,  has  been  blocked  up  and  deserted, 
while  another,  as  extensive,  has  been  excavated 
in  a  new  direction,  and  is  followed  by  the  river 
of  the  present  day. 

In  Coshocton  county  such  an  ancient  valley  is 
seen  to  the  south  of  West  Lafayette,  extending 
from  the  Tuscarawas  valley,  south  south-east  to  the 
valley  of  Will's  creek.  When  far  enough  from  the 
Tuscarawas  valley  not  to  be  confounded  with  this, 
itis  seen, in  places,  to  be  full  three  miles  wide,  vary- 
ing from  this  to  one  mile.  It  is  a  valley  of  dilu- 
vium, somewhat  sandy,  with  hills  of  sand  from 
thirty  to  forty  feet  high",  the  beds  of  which  are 
sometimes  seen  exposed  to  this  extent  in  the  cut- 
tings of  present  streams.  Hills  of  the  stratified 
rocks  of  the  coal  measures  project  into  it  from  its 
sides,  as  irregular-shaped  peninsulas,  or  stand  in 
its  midst  as  islands.-  A  remarkable  single  hill  of 
this  character  is  seen  directly  north  from  West 
Lafayette,  on  the  edge  of  the  Tuscarawas  river, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  White  Eyes  creek.  This 
ancient  valley  is  known  as  White  Eyes  Plains. 
It  is  nearly  all  under  cultivation ;  and  from  the 


166 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


elevated  points  that  overlook  it,  especially  where 
it  blends  with  the  broad  valley  of  the  Tusca- 
rawas, it  affords  views  singularly  beautiful  and  pic- 
turesque. Toward  the  south  the  White  Eyes 
Plains  are  lost  in  the  valley  of  Will's  creek.  By 
these  two  valleys  and  that  of  the  Tuscarawas,  the 
larger  part  of  the  townships  of  Tuscarawas,  La- 
fayette, Franklin  and  Linton  are  encircled  and 
isolated. 

Opposite  this  valley,  and  north  of  the  Tuscarawas, 
a  similar  valley,  but  of  much  smaller  dimen- 
sions, extends  north-westwardly  through  the 
south-west  part  of  Keene  township,  and  toward 
the  Killbuok,  in  the  center  of  Bethlehem  town- 
ship. Possibly  it  may  be  found  on  further  ex- 
amination, that  this  was  an  ancient  valley  of  the 
Killbuok. 

Geological  Structure. — Besides  the  diluvium  in 
the  valleys  of  the  streams,  no  other  geological 
forrctation  is  found  in  Coshocton  county,  except 
the  carboniferous ;  and  of  this  the  range  is  lim- 
ited to  the  lower  half  of  the  coal  measure  (com- 
prising a  thickness  of  some  350  feet),  and  the 
upper  portion  of  the  Waverly  group— the  lowest 
subdivision  of  the  carboniferous.  The  lower 
carboniferous  limestone,  which  belongs  above 
the  Waverly,  appears  to  be  wanting;  and  the 
conglomerate,  which,  in  places,  forms  the  floor 
of  the  coal  measures  in  massive  beds,  often 
several  hundred  feet  thick,  was  seen  in  place 
only  in  one  locality,  and  there  in  a  small  layer 
not  more  than  two  or  three  feet  thick.  The  al- 
most total  absence  of  any  fragments  of  it,  where 
one  would  look  for  them,  near  the  base  of  the 
coal  measures,  indicates  that  this  stratum  is,  also, 
generally  wanting.  The  bottom  of  the  coal 
measures  is  marked  by  its  lowest  great  bed  of 
sandstone,  commonlj'  about  a  hundred  feet  thick ; 
and  in  places  directly  under  this,  the  lowest  coal 
bed  is  seen,  sometimes  of  workable  thickness, 
and  sometimes  pinched  and  insignificant,  and 
separated  from  the  well  marked  Waverly  shales 
by  only  a  few  feet  of  clayey  strata. 

These  beds  are  all  so  nearly  horizontal,  that  the 
dip  is  imperceptible  at  any  locality.  It  is  detected 
only  by  tracing  them  for  several  miles  in  the 
direction  of  the  dip,  which  is  toward  the  south- 
east, or  in  the  opposite  direction  as  they  rise. 
Owing  to  this  general  inclination  of  the  strata, 


the  sub-carboniferous  group  is  only  seen  in  the 
northern  and  western  townships  of  the  county; 
and  in  these,  only  in  the  deep  valleys,  where  the 
Waverly  shales  form  the  lowest  portion  of  the 
marginal  hills,  and  rise  in  them  sometimes  tq,the 
height  of  over  two  hundred  feet;  as  on  the  east 
side  of  the  Mohican  rivfer,  and  on  the  upper  part 
of  the  Walhonding.  The  top  of  the  group  comes 
down  to  the  level  of  the  canal,  near  the  junction 
of  the  Killbuck  and  Walhonding,  a  little  over 
twelve  miles,  in  a  straight  line,  from  the  Mohican 
river.  The  canal,  in  this  distance,  has  descended, 
by  nine  locks,  so  that  the  total  fall  of  the  strata  is 
over  270  feet,  and  may,  perhaps,  be  320  feet  in  the 
twelve  miles;  as,  on  the  south  side  of  the  Wal- 
honding, toward  the  town  of  Newcastle,  the  top 
of  the  Waverly  is  about  250  feet  above  the  level 
of  the  canal.* 

The  brown  and  olive-colored  shales,  and  light- 
colored  sandstones  of  the  Waverly,  are  seen  in 
most  of  the  branches  of  the  Walhonding  river, 
and  in  all  the  runs  in  Tiverton  township  that 
discharge  into  the  Mohican  river.  In  the  bot- 
toms of  these,  the  group  is  exposed  within  a  mile, 
or  a  little  more,  to  the  town  of  Tiverton,  toward 
the  south.  From  Warsaw,  it  is  traced  up  Beaver 
run  into  Monroe  township ;  but  the  valley  rising 
faster  than  the  strata,  it  is  lost  to  view  above 
Princeton.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Walhonding, 
the  group  passes  under  the  valley  of  Simmon's 
creek,  within  about  a  mile  of  its  mouth;  and  the 
same  is  true  of  Mohawk  creek,  the  next  branch 
above.  It  stretches  up  the  valley  of  the  Killbuck 
into  Holmes  county ;  and  near '  the  mill  in  the 
great  bend  of  this  stream,  in  Clark  township,  it 
forms  cliflfe  of  shales  and  sandstones  forty  to  fifty 
feet  high,  in  which  the  peculiar  fossils  of  the 
group  are  found  in  great  profusion.  It  forms 
here,  altogether,  perhaps  100  feet  of  the  lower 
portion  of  the  hills.  Doughty's  Pork,  a  branch  of 
the  Killbuck,  also  runs  in  the  Waverly  shales,  as 
they  were  found  with  their  fossils  in  the  bottom, 
two  miles  south-west  from  Bloomfield.  Over  the 
line,  in  Holmes  county,  near  the  north-east  cor- 

*  Later  observations  show  that  Coshocton  is  near  the  hot- 
torn  of  a  synclinal  trough,  the  dip,  south-east  from  Tiverton 
to  Coshocton,  being  about  500  feet ;  while  at  Bridgeville,  fif- 
teen miles  farther  on  the  line  south-east,  the  strata  have 
risen  135  feet  from  the  bottom  of  the  basin. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


167 


mer  of  Tiverton  township,  the  Waverly  is  exposed 
in  the  valley  of  Wolf  run. 

This  group  of  the  carboniferous  formation 
-contains  little  of  economical  importance.  It 
-affords  no  coal  nor  iron  ore;  Some  of  its  beds  of 
.sandstone  may  prove  of  .  value,  especially  for 
flagging  stones.  The  coal  measures  are  very  de- 
ficient in  these,  and  the  want  of  such  stones  is 
already  felt  at  Coshocton  and  the  other  principal 
towns  situated  in  this  formation.  The  brown 
■«jid  olive  colored  shale  produce,  by  their  decom- 
position, soils  of  great  fertility,  as  is  seen  every- 
where through  the  bottoms  where  they  occur. 
Probably  no  more  productive  corn  fields,  for 
their  extent,  are  to  be  found'  in  the  State,  than 
those  in  the  Waverly  soils  of  the  western  town- 
ship of  Coshocton  county. 

Small  quantities  of  galena  are  not  unfrequently 
met  with  in  the  Waverly,  and  they  have  led  to 
the  conviction  that  this  metal  might  be  found  in 
abundance  in  this  and  adjoining  counties.  There 
are,  however,  no  facts  yet  known  that  justify  this 
belief.  The  lead  of  the  Waverly  forms  no  con- 
nected veins  or  beds,  but  is  found  replacing  fossil 
shell,  or,  in  isolated  crystals,  scattered  in  small 
numbers  through  the  rock.  Hence,  while  the 
reports  of  the  existence  of  lead  in  Coshocton 
county,  are  "  founded  on  fact,"  there  is  not  the 
slightest  probability  that  it  will  be  ever  discov- 
ered in  sufficient  quantity  to  pay  for  working. 

That  portion  of  the  coal  measures  found  in 
•Coshocton  county,  comprises,  altogether,  the 
seven  or  eight  coal  beds  in  the  lower  half  of  the 
.series;  but  only  a  small  number  of  these  occur 
of  workable  dimensions  in  the  same  vicinity; 
and  it  is  not  often  that  more  than  one  bed  has 
been  opened  and  mined  in  the  same  hill  or 
neighborhood.  The  relative  position  of  these 
-coal  beds  and  of  the  accompanying  strata  may  be 
seen  from  the  subjoined  general  section  of  the 
rocks  of  Coshocton  county,  which  exhibits  the 
■general  manner  of  their  arrangement : 

•Sandstone  and  shale.  Limestone  and 
mountain  ore.  Blackband.  Coal 
No.  7.  Fire-clay.  Shale  and  Sand- 
stone   Soto  100  feet. 

Iron  ore,  local.  Coal  No.  6.  Iron 
ore,  local.  Sandstone  and  shale. 
Black  limestone,  local.  Coal,  local. 
Fire-clay,  local 8  to    25  feet. 


Gray  limestone.    Coal.     Fire-clay 10  to    50  feet. 

Sandstone  and  shale 20  to    30  feet. 

Limestone,  local.     Cannel  coal,  local. 

Fire-clay,    local.       Sandstone   and 

shale 20  to    30  feet. 

Blue  limestone.     Coal  No.  3.     Shale, 

with  nodular  iron  ore 10  to    20  feet. 

Shale  or  sandstone 50  to    80  feet. 

Coal  No.  I.    Fire-clay.    Conglomerate, 

local.     Waverly 200  feet. 

Every  farm  in  the  county,  that  lies  above  the 
Waverly  strata,  contains  one  or  more  of  these 
coal  beds  beneath  its  surface ;  and  those  lo- 
calities that  contain  the  uppermost  beds,  also 
contain  all  the  lower  ones.  But  while  each  coal 
bed  can  almost  always  be  found  and  recognized 
in  its  proper  place  in  the  column,  it  does  not  fol- 
low that  it  should  always  maintain  the  same 
character,  even  approximately.  On  the  contrary, 
it  is  not  unusual  for  it  to  change  in  the  course  of 
a  few  miles — sometimes  even  in  the  same  hill— 
from  a  workable  bed  of  several  feet,  to  a  worth- 
less seam  of  a  few  inches  in  thickness.  Hence, 
there  is  no  safety  in  figuring  up  an  aggregate  of 
so  many  feet  of  workable  beds  in  any  locality, 
until  these  beds  have  there  been  actually  opened 
and  proved.  The  indications  afforded  by  bor- 
ings, are  generally  of  a  very  uncertain  character, 
as  respects  the  thickness  of  the  coal  beds  and  the 
quality  of  the  coal.  It  is,  without  doubt,  often 
the  case  that  the  beds  of  black  shale  passed 
through  are  called  coal,  and  when  one  occurs  as 
the  roof  of  a  coal  bed,  it  serves  to  add  so  much 
to  the  thickness  of  the  latter.  By  remarking,  in 
the  description  of  .the  townships,  how  rare  it  is 
for  two  workable  beds  to  be  found  in  the  same 
locality,  and  how  seldom  any  bed  at  all  is  worked 
below  the  sixth  bed  of  the  series,  it  can  hardly 
be  safe  to  estimate  the  total  average  distribution 
of  the  workable  coal  in 'the  county  at  much  more 
than  the  thickness  of  this  one  bed;  and  this, 
taking  into  consideration  the  probability  that 
some  of  the  lower  beds  will  yet  be  worked  below 
the  level  of  the  valleys,  where  their  range  is  un- 
broken. It  is  to  be  hoped,  that  the  lowest  bed  of 
all,  about  which  very  little  is  now  known,  may 
be  found  as  productive  and  valuable  as  it  is  in 
the  counties  to  the  north,  in  which  event  the 
estimate  given  above  would  prove  too  low.  The 
sixth  bed  is  a  very  remarkable  one  for  the  regu- 


168 


HISTOJRY  OF  COSHOOTON  COUNTY. 


larity  it  maintains,  not  only  through  this  county, 
but  over  several  others— even  to  the  Pennsylva- 
nia line,  and  into  that  State.  It  here  varies  but 
little  from  four  feet  in  thickness,  and  is  every- 
where depended  upon  as  the  most  valuable  bed 
of  the  lower  coal  measures.  Throughout  its 
great  extent,  even  into  Holmes  county,  and  to 
the  Ohio  river,  at  Steubenville,  it  may  be  recog- 
nized by  the  peculiar  purplish  ash.  The  heaps  of 
it  seen  by  the  farm  houses  show  to  the  passer-by, 
almost  always  without  fail,  whether  it  is  this  coal 
or  some  other  bed  that  supplies  the  neighbor- 
hood. 

Of  all  the  strata,  the  limestones  are  the  most 
persistent,  and  serve  as  the  best  guides  for  identi- 
fying the  coal  beds  that  accompany  them. 

There  are  two  bands  of  these,  in  particular, 
that  are  most  useful  in  this  respect.  Both  are 
fossiliferous,  often  abounding  in  crinoids  and 
shells.  The  upper  one,  called  the  gray  limestone, 
is  found  varying  in  thickness  from  one  foot,  or 
less,  up  to  six  feet  ten  inches.  It  lies  immedi- 
ately on  the  coal  bed  known  as  No.  4.  The  lower 
one,  called  the  blue  limestone,  has  about  the 
same  range  of  thickness  as  the  gray,  and  is  some- 
times only  twenty  feet  below  this. 

In  some  localities  in  the  county,  two  other 
beds  of  limestone  make  their  appearance:  one, 
dark  gray,  or  black,  above  the  "  gray  limestone  " 
and  coal  No.  6 ;  the  other  a  local  bed,  between 
the  "  blue  "  or  "  Zoar  "  and  "  gray  "  or  "  Putnam 
Hill "  limestone.  In  one  place  —Alexander  Han- 
Ion's  farm.  Mill  Creek  township— these  lower 
limestone  beds  seem  to  run  together,  forming  a 
nearly  continuous  mass,  twenty  feet  in  thickness. 
Usually,  the  persistent  limestone  strata — the ' 
"blue"  and  the  "gray"— are  fifty  to  eighty 'feet 
apart.  A  coal  seam  (No.  3)  generally  Ues  imme- 
diately under  this  limesttoe,  also,  but  is  rarely  of 
any  value;  and  the  same  may  be  said  of  the  bed 
above  it  (No.  3  a),  and  also  of  the  next  below  it 
(No.  2),  both  of  which  seem  to  be  wanting  in 
this  county.  The  limestones  in  the  western  and 
central  parts  of  the  county  are  frequently  accom- 
panied by  large  quantities  of  the  hard,  flinty 
rock,  known  as  chert.  There  is  often  a  great 
display  of  it,  in  loose  pieces,  in  the  roads  above 
and  below  the  outcrops  of  these  calcareous  strata; 
but  natural  exposure  of  it  in  place  are  very  rare!  i 


In  several  instances,  the  limestone  beds  are  seen 
intermixed  with  chert,  and  it  is  also  noticed  that 
chert  sometimes  takes  the  place  entirely  of  the 
limestone. 

A  few  other  limestone  beds  have  occasionally 
been  noticed  at  a  higher  position  than  the  gray 
limestone,  and  are  also  between  that  and  the 
blue,  but  they  are  of  rare  occurrence,  and  have 
only  a  local  interest,  except  in  their  relation  to 
limestone  beds  in  similar  part  of  the  series  in 
other  counties. 

The  sandstone  beds  are  sometiines  developed 
to  the  thickness  of  70  to  100  feet  of  massive  lay- 
ers. They  are  very  apt,  however,  to  pass  into 
thin  bedded  sheets,  and  again  into  shales.  Barely 
do  they  become  even  slightly  calcareous,  and  no 
instance  was  observed  of  their  passing  into  lime- 
stone. The  most  persistent  of  the  sandstone 
beds,  so  far  as  it  could  be  traced  before  it  disap- 
pears under  the  overlying  strata,  is  the  great  bed 
at  the  base  of  the  coal  measures.  The  bed  over 
coal  No.  6  is  also  very  uniform. 

No  iron  ore,  in  any  encouraging  quantity,  has 
been  met  with  in  the  county.  It  is  seen  scattered 
in  kidney-shaped  pieces  among  the  shales,  but 
never  concentrated  sufficiently  to  justify  drifting 
for  it.  There  may  be  one  exception  to  this  on 
the  farms  of  James  Boyd  and  W.  Hanlon,  in 
Keene  township,  near  Lewisville,  where  an  explo- 
ration has  developed,  just  below  coal  bed  No.  6 
(or  it  may  be  the  one  above  it)  ferruginous  lay- 
ers resembling  the  black-band  ore,  mixed  with 
kidney  ore,  from  three  to  six  feet  thick.  Kidney 
ore  of  good  quality  is  also  found  between  Lin- 
ton and  Jacobsport,  in  the  southeast  part  of  Lin- 
ton township. 

The  gravel  beds  of  the  rivers  may  be  men- 
tioned as  among  the  useful  mineral  products.  At 
Coshocton  they  furnish  an  excellent  material  for 
covering  the  streets  of  the  town,  or  the  clean  peb- 
bles might  serve  well  for  conc'rete  work. 

Local  Qedogy. — In  describing  the  localities  vis- 
ited, it  will  be  convenient  to  take  them  up  in  the 
order  of  the  townships,  beginning  at  the  north- 
west, and  attention  will  be  directed  chiefly  to  the 
coal  beds  as  of  principal  importance. 

Tiverton. — The  highest  range  of  the  coal  meas- 
ures in  this  township  is  but  little  above  the  gray 
limestone.      Its  outcrop  is  seen  on    the    high 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY, 


169 


plateau  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  town  of  Tiv- 
erton, and  that  of  the  blue  limestone  about  forty 
feet  lower  down.  The  "  blossom  "  of  a  coal  bed 
is  occasionally  seen  in  the  road  to  the  north  of  the 
town ;  in  one  instance,  about  a  mile  north  from 
Tiverton,  five  feet  below  a  bed  of  "  black  marble,"  a 
black,  compact  limestone,  which  has  been  found 
in  the  sarne  relative  position  at  a  few  other  local- 
ities in  the  county.  This  rock  appears  as  if  it 
would  take  a  good  polish,  and  be  serviceable  for 
ornamental  purposes.  There  are  coal  beds  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  township,  but  they  are  small 
and  uhimportant,  and  the  coal  is  of  little  demand. 
It  is  probable  none  of  the  beds  above  No.  1  are 
worth  working,  or  there  would  have  been  more 
development  made.  No.  1  might  be  looked  for 
to  advant^e  at  the  base  of  the  great  sandstone 
bed,  and  between  that  and  the  Waverly  shales, 
for  about  200  feet  above  the  Mohican  river.  This 
coal  bed  is  opened,  and  appears  well,  so  far  as  it 
could  be  examined  at  McFarland's,  in  Monroe 
township.  It  is  very  variable  in  thickness,  often 
being  cut  out  by  the  sandstone  that  always  over- 
lies it.  -In  Mahoning  county  it  is  known  as  the 
Brier  Hill  coal,  and  is  regarded  as  the  most  valu- 
able bed  in  the  State  for  blast  furnaces.  It  should 
be  looked  for  in  the  deep  runs  below  Tiverton 
Center,  and  on  the  slope  of  the  steep  hill  down 
to  the  Mohican. 

Monroe. — The  coal  seams  of  this  township  have 
been  developed  but  little  more  than  those  of  Tiv- 
erton. There  is  here  the  same  range,  of  the  coal 
measures,  with  the  addition  of  one  higher  coal 
bed,  the  outcrop  of  which  may  be  recognized 
close  to  the  town  of  Spring  Mountain,  which  is 
oh  as  high  land  as  any  in  the  township.  The 
■gray  limestone  is  seen  about  sixty  feet  lower 
down,  half  a  mile  to  the  south.  The  only  coal 
mines  opened  in  the  township,  of  which  we  have 
any  knowledge,  are  Cooper's  two  mines,  north- 
west from  Spring  Mountain,  and  McFarland's,  on 
the  south  line  of  the  township.  Our  examina- 
tions of  these,  as  of  most  of  the  other  coal  beda  of 
the  county,  were  made  under  very  unfavorable 
circumstances.  As  they  are  worked  only  in  the 
winter  season,  the  localities  are  commonly  found 
with  difficulty,  and  when  found  the  drifts  are  flood- 
ed with  water,  so  that  they  can  not  be  entered, 
and  no  one  is  about  to  give  any  information. 


Cooper's  bed  was  found  in  this  condition.  The 
coal  seam  appears  to  be  four  feet  thick.  It  is 
overlaid  by  a  confused  mixture  of  fire-clay,  shale 
and  limestone,  the  last  close  to  the  roof,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  the  gray  limestone.  Over  these 
strata,  which  are  sometimes  more  than  ten  feet 
thick,  are  massive  sandstone  rocks,  much  tum- 
bled, the  bed  of  which  is  not  less  than  twenty 
feet  thick.  McFarland's  coal  mine,  as  already 
mentioned,  is  in  the  lowest  bed  of  the  series  No. 
1.  It  appears  to  be  three  feet  thick,  and  is  over- 
laid by  slaty  sandstone,  of  which  eight  feet  are 
visible.  The  coal  seems  to  be  partly  cannel.  In 
the  run,  about  fifteen  feet  below  the  opening,  are 
the  Waverly  shales,  recognizable  by  their  fossils. 

Clark. — The  principal  coal  mines  of  this  town- 
ship are  in  the  southeast  part,  near  the  line  of 
Bethlehem,  on  the  farms  of  Thomas  Elliott,  John 
Moore,  and  J.  Shannon,  all  in  coal  No.  6.  Jas.  C. 
Endsley's  coal  bank  in  Bethlehem  belongs  to  the 
same  group,  and  is  the  most  important  one,  hav- 
ing been  worked  eighteen  years,  and  supplying  a 
large  part  of  the  two  townships  with  coal.  It  is 
forty  feet  above  the  gray  limestone,  under  which 
is  said  to  be  a  coal  bed  two  feet  thick ;  and  it  is 
about  ninety  feet  below  another  coal  seam  eigh- 
teen inches  thick,  struck  near  Mr.  Endsley's 
house,  over  which  the  hill  still  rises  some  sev- 
enty or  eighty  feet  The  bed  worked  is  three 
feet  nine  inches  thick,  less  a  seam  it  contains  of 
six  inches  of  pyritous  fire-clay.  The  roof  is 
black  shale,  of  which  five  feet  are  exposed.  The 
coal  is  in  good  repute  for  domestic  uses,  but  does 
not  answer  for  blacksmiths. 

Thomas  Elliott's  coal  bed,  just  over  the  line  in 
Clark  township,  is  probably  a  continuation  of 
Endsley's.  It  is  two  feet  ten  inches  thick,  under 
a  black  shale  roof,  the  shales  abounding  in  fossil 
shells,  but  too  fragile  for  preservation.  The  coal 
appears  to  be  too  pyritous  to  be  of  much  value. 
The  other  beds  we  did  not  succeed  in  finding. 
On  the  highlands  northeast  from  the  mill  at  the 
great  bend  of  the  Killbuck,  a  coal  bed  is  worked 
which,  from  its  elevation,  we  suppose  to  be  No. 
6.  These  northern  townships  seem  to  be  the 
most  hilly  and  uncultivated  in  the  county.  They 
lie  along  the  heads  of  many  of  the  branches  of 
the  Tuscarawas,  and  the  general  course  of  the 
streams  is  not  far   from  the  dip  of    the   strata. 


170 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  greater  elevation  of  the  plateau  in  this  re- 
gion accounts  for  the  occurrence  of  the  higher 
coal  beds  in  the  summits.  Though  unusually 
hilly  and  rough,  the  surface  exhibits  few  out- 
crops of  the  coals  and  limestones  for  long  dis- 
tances. From  the  bend  of  the  Killbuck,  north- 
east toward  Bloomfield,  the  road  ascends  350 
feet  to  the  first  mile.  The  first  coal  outcrop 
observed  is  about  two  miles  southwest  from 
Bloomfield,  just  after  crossing  the  small  branch 
of  the  Killbuck,  running  on  the  Waverly  shales. 
This  must  be  the  outcrop  of  coal  No.  1.  De- 
scending toward  Bloomfield,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  summit,  the  gray  limestone  is  met  with  at 
170  feet  higher  elevation  by  barometer,  with 
large  coal  outcrop  immediately  under  it.  Forty 
feet  below  this  is  another  outcrop  of  coal,  and 
about  seventy-five  feet  below  this  a  third,  and  a 
sandstone  bed  beneath  this,  with  no  appearance 
of  the  Waverly  to  the  bottom  of  the  valley  in 
which  Bloomfield  is  situated.  This  group,  how- 
ever, must  be  very  near  the  surface  at  this  place. 
None  of  the  outcrops  noticed  above  appear  to 
have  been  followed  up  to  ascertain  the  character 
and  thickness  of  the  coals.  This  neighborhood 
is  supplied  with  coal  from  beds  in  the  adjacent 
township  of  Mill  Creek. 

Recent  explorations  disclose  the  fact  that  in 
Bethlehem  and  Clark  townships,  near  the  line 
separating  them,  coal  No.  7  is  in  places  four  feet 
thick,  and  of  good  quality.  At  Mr.  Durr's  bank, 
it  has  this  thick  vein,  is  an  open,  burning,  white 
ash  coal,  containing  little  visible  sulphur,  and 
giving  better  promise  of  being  a  good  iron-mak- 
ing coal  than  any  other  examined  in  the  county. 
A  coal  was  disclosed  in  a  well  near  Mr.  Glover's 
residence,  without  cover,  showing  eighteen 
inches  of  ^  the  bottom  bench,  which  may  be  No.  7 
or  perhaps  No.  7  a.  On  the  east  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  23,  Clark  township,  an  out 
crop  of  coal  No.  6  is  thirty-seven  inches  in  thick- 
ness, with  a  heavy  body  of  shale  above  it.  Other 
outcrops  in  the  neighborhood  are  reported  to 
show  three  feet  nine  inches  of  coal.  At  the  open- 
ing examined,  the  coal  increased  in  thickness  as 
the  drift  was  carried  into  the  hill.  The  coal  is 
hard  and  black,  with  a  brilliant,  resinous  luster, 
containing  a  large  percentage  of  fixed  carbon, 
and  is  evidently  of  excellent  quality.     At  the 


Imley  bank,  on  section  25,  Bethlehem  township^ 
the  coal  at  an  outcrop  measures  forty-three 
inches,  and  is  reported  to  reach  a  thickness  of 
four  and  one-half  feet  in  some  of  the  rooms- 
worked.  It  is,  by  the  barometer,  twenty-five  feet 
below  the  coal  on  section  23,  Clark  township,  and 
about  one-half  a  mile  distant.  This  coal  in  Beth- 
lehem township  I  am  inclined  to  regard  as  below 
No.  6  and,  as  that  which  is  disclosed  a  little 
farther  north,  capped  with  the  black  limestone. 
The  coal  is  of  superior  quality,  and  there  is  quite 
a  large  territory  underlain  by  it. 

At  the  place  of  these  openings,  all  the  rocks  of 
the  coal  measures  are  in  their  positions,  and  the- 
horizons  of  seven  coals  and  two  limestones  can 
be  determined.  About  one  mile  north,  on  Mr> 
Glover's  land  in  Clark  township,  the  following 
section  was  obtained : 

Coal  No  6,  loo  feet  from  top  of  hill. 

Shaly  sandstone 30  feet. 

Black  limestone 3  feet. 

Coal >..     2  feet  6  inches.. 

Sandy  shale  with  coal  streak  at  base  20  feet. 

Unevenly  bedded,  massive,  coarse 
sandstone,  with  steak  of  coal 
near  base 280  feet. 

Conglomerate. 

This  section  shows  that  after  the  deposit  of  the 
lower  coals  there  was  an  upheaval  of  280  feet, 
and  a  channel  plowed  by  the  water  to  the  base  of 
the  coal  measures.  The  thin  conglomerate  in 
this  neighborhood  is  cherty,  and  from  one  of 
these  fragments  of  cherts  I  have  obtained  a  fair 
sized  crystal  of  galena,  the  best  specimen  of  lead 
ore  I  have  ever  seen  obtained  from  Ohio  rocks. ' 

Mill  Creelc. — Low's  coal  bank,  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  this  township,  one  mile  east  from 
Bloomfield,  lies  directly  under  the  gray  lime- 
stone, a  seam  of  fire-clay,  seven  inches  thick,  sep- 
arating the  limestone  from  the  upper  layer  of 
coal.  This  upper  layer  is  bright  coal,  five  inches 
thick,  under  it  cannel  coal  seven  inches  thickr 
and  under  this  two  feet  five  inches  of  good, 
bright  coal.  In  the  next  hill  west  is  Evan's  coal 
bank,  at  thirty  feet  higher  elevation.  This  has 
been  opened,  but  not  worked  much,  and  was  in 
no  condition  to  enter.  The  bed  is  said  to  be 
three  feet  thick,  the  coal  to  be  of  good  quality. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


171 


It  has  a  good  covering  of  sandstone,  making  the 
summit  of  the  hill. 

Through  the  western  part  of  Mill  Creek,  by 
the  "  grade  road,"  exposures  of  strata  that  can  be 
recognized  are  very  rare;  and  no  openings  of 
coal  are  met  with.  Near  the  south  line  of  the 
township  the  blue  limestone  is  seen  at- several 
places  along  the  road,  sometimes  with  the  "  blos- 
som "  of  coal  beneath  it.  Chert  in  considerable 
quantity  is  often  associated  with  it.  At  one  place 
the  blue  limestone  appears  .to  be  seven  or  eight 
feet  thick.  Immediately  over  it  is  a  large  bed  of 
chert,  and  about  forty  feet  higher  up  the  blossom 
of  coal,  but  no  appearance  of  the  gray  limestone. 

In  the  southeast  corner  of  Mill  Creek,  and  in 
the  adjoining  lands  in  the  three  townships  of 
Keene,  White  Eyes  and  Crawford,  are  several  coal 
banks,  all  in  coal  No.  6,  which  is  recognized  both 
by  its  position  (about  100  feet  above  the  gray 
Umestone)  and  by  its  peculiar  purplish  ash.  The 
outcrop  of  other  coal  beds  is  seen  at  several 
places  on  these  lands,  but  the  only  bed  worked  is 
No.  6.  The  coal  is  mined  only  in  the  winter  sea- 
son, and  chiefly  on  the  farms  of  A.  Overholts,  in 
Mill  Creek;  of  Thomas  Davis,  adjoining  this,  in 
Keene;  of  Scott,  Punk,  Boyd  and  Miller  in 
White  Eyes ;  and  of  Boyd,  Graham  and  Swigert 
in  Crawford.  The  bed  where  it  was  accessible 
was  found  varying  from  two  feet  ten  inches 
at  Davis',  and  at  Overholts'  to  four"  feet  three 
inches  thick  at  Scott's;  but  the  openings  being  all 
deserted,  nothing  could  be  determined  as  to  the 
quality  of  the  coal.  Some  pyrites  is  seen,  one 
seam'  of  it  an  inch  thick  near  the  floor,  but  the 
quantity  is  small.  As  this  group  of  mines  sup- 
plies the  demand  of  a  large  portion  oE  the  four 
townships,  the  coal  is  without  doubt,  the  best  the 
county  affords.  It  is,  moreover,  obtained  exclu- 
sively from  the  bed  well  known  to  be  the  most 
important  one  in  the  county.  The  summit  level 
in  this  vicinity  is  about  100  feet  above  the  plane 
of.  the  coal  bed ;  and  immediately  over  the  coal 
is  a  heavy  bed  of  slaty  sandstone,  apparently  not 
under  thirty-five  feet  thick.  On  Alexander 
Hanlon's  farm,  half  a  mile  northwest  from  Over- 
holts',  and  also  on  Oliver  Crawford's,  nearly  a 
mile  farther  north,  are  seen  a  number  of  expos- 
ures of  coal  and  limestone  beds,  which,  taken  to- 
gether, give  sections  not  readily  explained  in  con- 


nection with  the  barometrical  elevations  ob- 
tained, and  which  were  verified  in  part  in  going 
and  returning.  Coal  No.  6  is  opened  on  the 
south  side  of  the  hill,  on  Mr.  Hanlon's  farm 
about  120  feet  below  its  summit.  A  bed  of  lime- 
stone, about  one  foot  six  inches  thick,  shows  it- 
self sixty-five  feet  above  the  coal  bed.  To  the 
south  about  one-quarter  of  a  mile  and  200  feet 
below  the  coal  bed,  is  the  top  of  a  great  bed  of 
gray  limestone,  which,  followed  by  successive 
steps  down  the  bed  of  a  run,  presents  a  thick- 
ness of  about  twenty-five  feet,  as  leveled  with  the 
hand-level.  This  may  be  somewhat  exaggerated, 
as  there  is  a  strong  dip  to  the  south,  and  the  ex- 
posure is  down  the  run  in  this  direction  for 
nearly  250  feet.  Under  the  upper  layers  is  seen 
some  coal  smut,  and  under  the  whole  is  a  bed  of 
coal,  said  to  be  two  feet  thick.  The  strata  for 
twenty  feet  below  are  hidden,  and  then  succeeds 
a  bed  of  massive  sandstone,  from  thirty  to  forty 
feet  thick.  On  Crawford's  land,  nearly  a  mile  to 
the  north,  two ,  coal  outcrops  are  seen  in  two 
neighboring  runs.  One  is  of  a  coal  bed  about 
thirteen  inches  thick,  directly  under  gray  lime- 
stone, apparently  only  two  inches  thick,  and  110 
feet  below  the  level  of  coal  No.  6.  In  the  other 
run  at  twenty  feet  lower  level,  is  abed  of  coal 
three  feet  thick,  of  which  the  upper  portion  is 
cannel,  and  the  lower  partly  cannel  and  partly 
bright  coal.  No  limestone  is  exposed  near  the 
coal.  It  would  appear  that  these  two  coal  out- 
crops are  continuations  of  the  beds  on  the  south 
side  of  the  hill,  though  they  are  ninety  feet 
higher,  and  nothing  is  seen  of  the  great  mass  of 
limestones  that  there  lies  between  them.  The 
coals  are  probably  the  representatives  of  Nos. 
3  and  4,  and  the  limestones  that  overlie  these 
have  here  run  together.  The  unusual  high 
elevation  of  coal  No.  6,  on  the  south  side  of 
the  hill,  may  be  a  barometrical  error.  The  dip, 
which  is  certainly  very  great  here,  would  account 
for  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  discrepancy  in  the 
height  of  the  coal  above  the  two  outcrops  of 
limestone  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  hill. 

Crawford. — Beside  the  coal  banks  on  the  edge 
of  Mill  Creek  Township,  there  •  appear  to  be 
none  worked  in  Crawford.  The  outcrop  of  coal 
was  observed  on  the  north  line  of  the  township, 
near  New  Bedford,  but  over  all  the  rough  coun- 


172 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


try  from  thence  to  Chili,  through  the  center  of 
the  township,  no  one  appears  to  have  given  any 
attention  to  obtaining  coal  elsewhere  than  from 
the  locality  in  the  southwest  corner,  already 
described.  It  is  probable  that  No.  6  disappears 
to  the  north,  rising  faster  than  the  surface  of  the 
country  in  this  direction,  and  the  lower  beds 
have  not  been  found  worth  working. 

Newcastle. — The  northern  half  of  this  township 
is  in  the  Waverly,  excepting  only  the  upper  part 
of  the  hills  in  the  northeast  quarter.  The 
highest  lands,  near  the  town  of  Newcastle,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Walhonding,  are  about  420  feet 
above  the  bottoms  of  this  river,  i.  e.,  780  above 
Lake  Erie.  The  highest  and  only  coal  bed 
worked  in  the  township  is  No.  4,  under  the  gray 
limestone,  and  from  seventy  to  eighty  feet  below 
the  highest  elevations.  Coal  No.  1  is  seen  on 
descending  the  steep  hill  from  Newcastle  to  the 
"Walhonding,  in  a  bed  only  eighteen  inches  thick, 
beneath  the  great  sandstone  bed  at  the  base  of 
the  coal  measures,  which  is  here  about  thirty  feet 
thick.  Kidney  ore,  with  a  little  shale  from  six 
inches  to  a  foot  thick,  separates  the  coal  from  the 
sandstone.  For  fifty  feet  over  the  sandstone  the 
strata  are  concealed,  except  that  the  smut  of  a 
very  small  coal  seam  is  observed  below  the  dig- 
gings for  fire-clay,  at  the  top  of  this  interval. 
Over  the  fire-clay,  which  is  three  feet  to  four  feet 
thick,  is  coal  (seen  here  only  in  the  outcrop),  and 
over  the  coal  a  fossiliferous  gray  limestone,  two 
feet  thick,  overlaid  with  blue  chert.  The  fire- 
clay is  dug  for  the  supply  of  a  pottery  at  New- 
castle. Though  the  gray  limestone  is  met  with 
most  everywhere  near  the  summit  of  the  town- 
ship, the  openings  of  the  coal  beds  it  covers  are 
not  very  numerous.  One  of  these  is  James 
Smith's,  half  a  mile  northeast  from  Newcastle. 
The  limestone  is  here  several  feet  thick,  and  forms 
the  roof  of  the  coal.  This  is  two  and  a  half  feet 
thick,  and  much  mixed  with  small  seams  of  shale 
and  pyrites. 

At  Calvin  Scott's,  one  and  one-half  miles  south- 
east from  Newcastle,  the  coal  i§  found  two  and 
one-half  fpet  thick  under  six  feet  of  the  gray 
limestone.  It  is  here  of  better  quality,  compact 
and  bright,  with  not  so  m.uch.  sulphur. 

This  bed  may  be  opened  in  numerous  places, 
and  is  the  best  the  township  affords;  yet  the  next 


higher  bed  may  perhaps  be  found  near  the  line 
of  Jefferson,  on  the  road  to  Jericho. 

The  following  section,  from  summit  of  hills  at 
Newcastle  to  the  mouth  of  Owl  creek,  will  show 
the  general  geological  structure  of  this  portion  of 
the  county : 

1.  Interval  covered 45   feet. 

2.  Blue  chert i     " 

3.  Gray,  rotten  limestone 2     " 

4.  Blue  chert \y^» 

■5.  Coal  No.  3 : 2^" 

6.  Fire-clay  worked  for  pottery 4     " 

7.  Slope  covered 85     "  - 

8.  Sandstone 30     " 

9.  Iron  ore 6  to  Sin. 

10.  Coal  No.  I  I^  ft. 

11.  Waverly  shales 225     " 

The  cherty  limestone  over  the  upper  coal  is 
traceable  several  miles  along  the  banks  of  Owl 
creek  into  Knox  county.  It  abounds  in  fossilsi 
which  include  nearly  all  the  species  found  in  the 
famous  locality  on  Flint  Ridge,  near  Newark. 
The  lithological  character  of  the  rock  is  the 
same,  a  blue,  earthy,  sometimes  cherty  limestone 
weathering  light  brown.  The  horizon  of  the  two 
loaclities  is  doubtless  the  same.  The  base  of  the 
section  is  300  feet  above  Lake  Erie. 

Jefferson.— The  north  half  of  this  township  is' 
in  strata  probably  too  low  for  any  'of  the  worka- 
ble coal  beds  except  No.  1,  which  may  be  looked 
for  with  good  prospect  of  success,  as  it  is  worked 
just  over  the  line  in  Monroe,  as  already  described. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  township,  coal  No.  3  a 
has  been  opened  upon  several  farms,  and  being 
found  of  Jarge  size  and  cannel  character,  rich  in 
oil,  large  preparations  were  made  to  work  it  for 
the  supply  of  oil  distilleries,  when  the  great 
developments  of  the  petroleum  wells  put  a  stop 
to  the  business.  On  the  farm  of  John  Taylor 
(west  side  of  Simmons'  creek),  the  bed  is  opened 
about  fifty  feet  below  the  top  of  the  hill.  It  is 
about  five  feet  thick,  sound,  cannel  coal,  with  a 
little  pyrites  scattered  through  it.  The  coal 
abounds  with  impressions  of  coal  plants,  and  in 
the  shaly  blocks  from  the  roof  are  remarkably 
fine  specimens  of  stigmanm,  with  lateral  rootlets. 
On  the  other  side  of  the  same  hill  (to  the  west), 
is  Lyman's  opening  in  the  same  bed.     The  roof 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


173 


is  here  exposed,  and  consists,  next  the  coal,  of 
blue  limestone  six  inches,  over  this  chert  eighteen 
inches,  and  limestone  at  top,  making  in  all  over 
three  feet.  The  coal  bed  is  full  six  feet  thick. 
Sharpless'  mine,  across  the  valley,  in  Bedford 
township,  belongs  to  this  group.  The  gray- 
limestone  is  found  scattered  near  the  top  of  the 
hill  above  Lyman's  opening,  but  the  coal  bed 
under  it  is  not  opened.  Its  outcrop  is  observed 
in  the  road  toward  Newcastle,  overlain  by  a  thick 
bed  of  shale.  Chert  is  very  abundant,  associated 
with  both  the  limestone  beds,  and  also  at  higher 
levels  than  the  gray  limestone.  Descending  the 
hill  toward  the  Little  Mohawk,  the  gray  lime- 
stone is  seen  not  far  below  the  summit,  about 
four  feet  thick;  with  coal  smut  below,  and  shale 
beds  containing  kidney  ore,  above  it.  The  coal 
bed  is  opened  on  the  farm  of  James  Moore,  Sr., 
close  by  this  outi'rop,  and  was  worked  for  oil,  the 
coal  yielding  forty  gallons  to  the  ton.  The  bed  is 
seven  feet  thick,  the  lower  five  feet  cannel  and 
the  upper  two  feet  bright  coal,  overlaid  by  gray 
limestone  and  chert.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
road  the  same  bed  was  worked  by  Wm.  Gibbons. 
The  descent  from  this  point  to  the  bridge  over 
the  Little  Mohawk,  at  Jericho,  about  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  to  the  west,  is  180  feet  by  barometer.  This 
should  reach  into  the  Waverly  shales.  There  are 
no  exposures  of  any  strata  to  be  seen.  The  hill 
to  the  west  rises  nearly  or  quite  300  feet  above 
the  Little  Mohawk,  beyond  the  township  line,  in 
Newcastle,  and  the  next  coal  bed  above  the  gray 
limestone  is  probably  carried  in,  an  outcrop  being 
seen,  supposed  to  belong  to  this  bed. 

Section  between  Simmons'  run  and  Jericho, 
Jefferson  township : 

Gray  shale 40  feet. 

Gray  limestone  3  to  4 

Coal — 

Fire-clay  and  shale 50 

Blue  limestone 3  to  4 

Cannel  coal 5  to  7 

Fire-clay,  sandstone  and  shale 30 

Bituminous  coal 2 

Fire-clay  and  sandstone 70 

Saridstone 

Bethlehem. — This  township  is  very  largely  in 
the  Waverly  and  the  lower  undeveloped  coal 
measures.      The  coal  found  to  the  north  was 


noticed  in  the  account  of  Clark  township.  It  is 
probable  that  coal  bed  No.  4  may  be  found  of 
good  size  and  character  in  the  extreme  south- 
west corner,  as  it  is  worked  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  Jackson. 

Keene.—The  eastern  half  of  Keene  township 
has  several  openings  of  coal  No.  6,  which  appears 
to  be  the  only  bed  now  worked.  That  of  Thos. 
Davis,  in  the  northeast  corner,  has  been  referred 
to  in  the  account  of  the  coal  beds  of  Mill  Creek. 
In  the  southern  part  of  the  township,  James 
Boyd  has  worked  the  same  bed  to  considerable 
extent,  by  three  openings  on  his  farm,  about  one 
and  a  half  miles  north  from  Lewisville.  The  bed 
lies  about  150  feet  above  the  level  of  the  canal  at 
Lewisville,  and  100  feet  below  the  summit  of  the 
hill.  The  canal  is  about  on  the  same  level  as  the 
railroad  at  Coshocton.  Fifty  feet  above  this  is 
an  outcrop  of  the  gray  limestone  near  Lewisville. 
In  one  of  the  openings  the  coal  is  found  three 
feet  nine  inches  thick,  with  a  parting  seam  of 
either  fire-clay  or  pyrites,  three  inches  thick, 
nine  inches  above  the  floor.  In  another,  on  the 
west  side  of  the  same  hill,  the  bed  is  four  feet 
thick,  including  four  inches  of  fire-clay,  eight 
inches  above  the  bottom.  The  overlying  strata 
are  slaty  sandstones,  thirty  feet  thick.  The  coal 
appears  to  be  of  excellent  quality,  is  of  brilliant, 
jet-black  color,  and  is  mostly  free  from  sulphur. 
It  is  not  in  demand  by  the  blacksmiths,  probably 
from  not  melting  well  to  make  a  hollow  fire, 
but  is  sold  wholly  for  domestic  uses. 

On  the  adjoining  farm  of  W.  Hanlon  another 
coal  bed  was  opened  sometime  ago,  sixty  feet 
higher  up,  and  is  said  to  be  three  feet  thick. 
Other  coal  openings  are  reported  in  the  south- 
east corner  and  also  about  two  miles  east  from 
Keene  Center ;  they  are  supposed  to  be  in  coal 
bed  No.  6.  Keene  Center,  though;_on  very  high 
ground,  does  not,  apparently,  quite  reach  up  to 
the  plane  of  coal  No.  6;  and  no  openings  are 
made  in  the  lower  beds.  To  the  north  of  the 
town  the  strata  are  well  exposed,  by  the  side  of 
the  road,  from  the  top  of  the  hill  down  into  the 
-valley  of  Mill  creek,  presenting  the  following 
section:  near  the  top,  at  the  town,  slaty  sand- 
stone ;  shales,  mostly  olive-colored, '  forty  feet, 
limestone  (gray?),  coal-smut,  and  fire-clay, under- 
laid by  olive  shales,  sixty  feet;  several  layers  of 


174 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTOK  COUNTY. 


kidney  iron-ore,  ten  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the 
shales ;  coal  outcrop  under  the  shales ;  five  feet 
under  this,  to  top  of  great  bed  of  chert,  associa- 
ted with  blue  limestone,  and  coal  outcrop  beneath. 
A  large  bed  of  massive  sandstone,  supposed  to  be 
that  at  the  base  of  the  coal  measures,  lies  not  far 
below  the  blue  limestone,  its  upper  layers  about 
twenty  feet  below  the  top  of  the  chert  and  blue 
limestone.  This  group  of  about  150  feet  affords 
httle  promise  of  any  workable  bed  of  coal;  and 
some  portions  of  it  occupy  the  greater  part  of 
the  township. 

WTiite  Eyes. — The  only  coal  openings  visited  in 
this  township,  are  those  in  the  northwest  corner, 
noticed  with  the  coal  beds  of  Mill  Creek.  The 
developments  there  have  had  the  effect  of  dis- 
couraging other  enterprises  of  the  kind,  es- 
pecially as  the  demand  lor  coal  is  so  limited.  In 
the  northeast  part  of  the  township,  along  the  road 
from  Chili  toward  Bakersville,  the  lands  lie  near 
the  plane  of  the  two  limestone  beds,  with  no 
promise  of  workable  coal. 

Adams. — Throughout  the  north  part  of  Adams, 
the  coal  bed  most  worked  is  No.  4,  under  the 
gray  limestone.  It  is  a  bed  of  inferior  character, 
both  as  regards  the  amount  and  quality  of  the 
coal.  It  is  commonly  known  as  the  "  double 
bed,"  from  a  seam  of  fire-clay,  about  a  foot  thick, 
in  the  middle  of  the  bed.  It  has  been  worked 
half  a  mile  west  from  Bakersville,  where  the 
whole  bed  was  four  feet  thick,  the  upper  part 
mixed  with  cannel  coal.  About  twenty  feet 
aboye  the  gray  limestone,  which  covers  the  coal 
bed,  is  a  bed  of  black  limestone,  of  slaty  structure, 
perhaps  two  feet  thick.  It  contains  fossil  shells, 
but  in  poor  condition.  This  bed  corresponds,  in 
position,  with  the  "  black  marble  "  found  in  the 
western  part  of  the  county.  Near  the  western 
part  of  the  township,  the  double  bed  is  worked  on 
the  farms  of  Powell,  of  Fillibaum  and  of  others 
in  the  neighborhood ;  and  further  east  on  Zin- 
kon's.  At  this  place,  the  next  upper  bed  (No.  6) 
is  also  opened  ninety  to  one  hundred  feet  higher 
up,  and  too  close  to  the  top  of  the  hill  to  be  worked 
to  advantage.  It  is  a  little  over  three  feet  thick, 
contains  no  slate  seams  and  but  little  sulphur. 
On  Vance's  farm,  lying  next  south  from  Zinkon's, 
the  same  bed  is  again  opened  near  the  top  of  the 
hill,  and  has,  so  far,  been  worked  by  stripping.    It 


appears  to  be  about  three  feet  thick,  of  sound  cu- 
bical coal,  very  black,  the  upper  portion  sulphur- 
ous. It  is  overlaid  by  black  shale,  two  feet  nine 
inches ;  sandstone,  one  foot  three  inches ;  and 
over  this  shaly  sandstone,  a  thick  bed,  to  the  top 
of  the  hill.  The  lower  part  of  the  bed,  and  the 
strata  below,  are  hidden.  In  a  run  near  by,  at 
about  fifty  feet  lower  elevation,  is  a  bed  of  chert 
and  "  black  marble,"  some  of  the  latter  of  com- 
pact structure,  and  some  of  it  shelly;  and  thirty- 
five  to  forty  feet  below  this,  is  the  outcrop  of  the 
gray  limestone,  and  coal  No.  4  (not  opened),  the 
strata  between  being  mostly  slaty  sandstones. 
There  are  numerous  coal  openings  to  the  south- 
east of  Vance's,  all  in  No.  6  coal  bed. 

Perry. — The  strata  here,  as  in  Newcastle,  are  of 
the  lower  part  of  the  coal  measures ;  and,  fre- 
quently, over  the  surface  of  the  hills,  the  gray  and 
blue  limestone  are  recognized,  accompanied  with 
chert.  They  are  seen  in  the  neighborhood  of 
East  Union;  but  no  openings  of  the  coal  beds 
usually  associated  with  these,  are  met  with ;  and 
it  is  probable  these  beds  are  of  little  or  no  value 
in  this  township.  A  little  to  the  southeast  of  the 
'center  of  the  township,  near  the  foot  of  a  long 
hill,  and  below  a  great  bed  of  massive  sandstone, 
is  Crawford's  coal  bank  in  bed  No.  1.  The  bed  is 
from  two  and  a  half  to  three  feet  thick,  with  a 
black  shale  roof.  The  coal  is  of  excellent  quality, 
mostly  in  sound  blocks,  very  free  from  sulphur 
and  of  "  open  burning  "  character.  Some  of  it  is 
of  slaty  cannel  structure,  with  mineral  charcoal 
intermixed.  This  is  the  only  really  good  display 
of  this  lowest  coal  bed  met  with  in  the  county; 
and  it  is  an  encouragement  for  hoping  that  a  seam 
that  has  proved  so  valuable  as  this  has  in  other 
counties,  may  be  found  at  many  other  localities 
in  this,  of  good  character.  Its  low  position  gives 
it  an  extensive  range ;  but  there  is  always  uncer- 
tainty about  its  continuing  far  without  being  en- 
croached upon  and  disturbed  by  the  sandstone 
above  it.  Its  occurrence  here  indicates  that  of 
the  Waverly  group  in  the  bottoms  of  the  runs  in 
this  township. 

Bedford. — The  occurrence  of  cannel  coal  in  a 
large  bed  under  the  blue  limestone  on  Sharpless' 
farm,  on  the  north  side  of  the  township,  has  been 
noticed  in  describing  the  coal  openings  in  Jeffer- 
son.   In  the  northwest  part  of  Bedford,  at  the 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


\ 

ITS' 


coal  openings  of  John  Little  and  Jos.  Preese,  a 
greater  number  of  coal  beds  are  seen  in  one  sec- 
tion than  at  any  other  locality  in  the  county.  At 
the  base  of  the  hill,  in  the  road,  and  under  a  bed 
of  massive  sandstone  not  less  than  thirty  feet 
thick,  is  the  blossom  of  coal  supposed  to  be  No.  1. 
Fifty  feet  above  this  is  John  Little's  coal  bank 
under  a  bed  of  blue  shale,  the  lower  layers  of 
which  are  calcareous,  and  no  doubt  represent  the 
blue  limestone.  The  coal  bed  (No.  3)  is  of  work- 
able size,  but  nothing  more  could  be  ascertained 
of  its  character,  the  opening  being  flooded  with 
water.  In  the  run  close  by,  and  seventy  feet 
above  the  base  is  Jos.  Freese's  coal  opening  under 
massive  sandstone,  of  which  twelve  feet  are  ex- 
posed. 
The  following  is  a  section  near  Freese's  mine 

in  Bedford  township : 

Ft.   In. 

Soil  and  drift 

Buff  limestone 

Sandstone  and  shale  partly  covered loo     o 

Coal  outcrop 

Shale 30     o 

Gray  limestone 5     o 

Coal  No.  4 2     4 

Shaly  sandstone 30     o 

Coal,  J.  Freese's  (No.    3a?) 3   II 

Blue  calcareous  shale 20     o 

Coal  outcrop  (No.  3) 

Space  partly  covered,  mostly  sandstone 80     o 

Coal  No.  I   (?) 

Freese's  coal  is  a  compound  seam,  consisting  of 

Bituminous  coal 18  inches. 

Cannel  coal 10  inches. 

Fire-clay 3    to  4  inches. 

Bituminous  coal 15  inches. 

Black  shale 

At  100  feet  elevation  the  gray  limestone  appears 
in  the  run  overlying  a  coal  seam  twenty-eight 
inches  thick,  not  opened,  and  at  130  feet  is  the  out- 
crop of  another  coal  bed  of  cannel  character,  the 
thickness  not  known.  Over  this  coal  is  a  heavy  bed 
of  massive  sandstone,  and  above  this  to  the  top 
of  the  hill,  about  100  feet  more,  no  more  exposures 
are  seen.  But  in  the  forks  of  the  road  near  by,  and 
some  twenty  to  thirty  feet  higher  elevation  than 
the  uppermost  coal  bed  in  the  section,  is  an  out- 
crop of  hard,  compact  limestone,  abounding  in 


fossil  shells,  the  stratum  probably  not  over  two 
feet  thick.  It  is  remarkable,  at  this  place,  what  a 
change  the  coals  Nos.  8  and  4  have  undergone 
from  their  much  larger  dimensions  in  Jeiierson, 
only  about  three  miles  distant.  No.  3  a  also  here 
assumes  a  workable  character,  not  observed  any- 
where else  in  the  county. 

No  other  coal  openings  are  seen  between  this- 
place  and  the  village  of  West  Bedford.  The  vil- 
lage stands  some  fifty  feet  above  the  gray  lime- 
stone, which  is  seen  a  little  to  the  north ;  and  the- 
range  of  the  strata  is,  from  the  summit  down 
into  the  bottoms,  about  240  feet.  About  forty 
feet  lower  than  the  gray  limestone  is  a  large  out- 
crop of  coal  in  the  road,  which  is  probably  No. 
3  a,  the  blue  limestone  being  met  thirty  feet 
lower  in  a  large  exposure  of  massive  blocks.  At 
the  lowest  point  in  the  road,  about  one-half  mile 
east  from  West  Bedford,  where  the  road  forks, 
is  the  lower  great  sandstone  bed  of  the  coal 
measures,  about  190  feet  below  the  gray  lirne- 
stone.  Two  miles  east  from  West  Bedford  is 
Sproule's  coal  bank,  three  feet  thick,  the  coal  very 
sulphury,  no  cannel  in  it.  Johnson's  mine 
farther  east,  and  Marshall's  still  farther,  exhibit 
the  same  characters.  The  bed  is  evidently  the 
same  at  the  three  places,  and  is  supposed  to  be 
No.  4,  though  the  gray  limestone  is  not  seen  near 
it.  Coal  No.  6,  found  in  the  northeast  corner  of 
Washington  township,  could  no  doubt  be  found 
in  the  south  part  of  Bedford,  as  near  the  school 
house,  not  a  mile  south  from  Sproule's  mine,  the 
following  are  observed  from  the  blue  limestone  up. 
The  gray  limestone  fifty  feet  higher,  four  feet 
thick;  coal  outcrop  (No.  6),  eighty  feet  up. 
Above  the  school  house:  coal  outcrop  124  feet 
up ;  top  of  the  hill,  180  feet  above  the  blue  lime- 
stone, reddish  brown  sandstone : 

Section  on  Sproule's  farm,  Bedford  township : 

Soil  and  drift 

Gray  limestone 

Coal,  Sproule's  land 3  feet. 

Fire-clay 

Shales  and  sandstones,  mostly  covered 80  feet. 

Blue  limestone 8  feet. 

Cannel  coal 2  feet. 

Fire-clay 

Space,  mostly  covered,  sandstone  below 100  feet. 

Coal  No.  I 


f 
176 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Jackson. — In  the  northwest  corner  of  this  town- 
ship coal  No.  4  is  worked  on  the  farm  of  Abm. 
Haines,  near  the  summit  of  the  hills.  The  bed 
is  four  feet  thick,  and  the  coal  appears  to  be  of 
good  quality;  has  no  cannel  seams.  Its  roof  is 
shale,  three  inches  thick,  and  over  this  is  the 
gray  limestone,  six  feet  ten  inches  thick.  From 
the  bottom  of  this  limestone  it  is  twenty-four 
feet  to  the  blue  limestone,  exposed  in  the-  run 
below,  mixed  with  chert,  and  overlying  a  cannel 
coal  bed,  thickness  "unknown.  As  both  these 
coal  beds  attain  large  dimensions  on  the  other 
side  of  Simmons  creek,  in  Jefferson  and  Bedford 
townships,  they  may  be  expected  to  occur  in 
other  places  in  the  northwest  part  of  Jacksoni 
also,  of  workable  size;  but  the  only  locality  in 
Jackson  where  either  is  opened  is  in  the  extreme 
corner  of  the  township.  Toward  Roscoe,  over 
the  highlands  to  the  south  of  the  Walhonding 
river,  the  summits  are  far  above  the  plane  of 
these  beds,  and  between  four  and  one-half  and 
five  and  one-half  miles  from  Eoscoe,  the  outcrops 
of  two  coal  beds  are  observed,  one  of  which  is 
supposed  to  be  No.  6,  and  the  other  the  next  bed 
above. 

In  a  run  near  the.  road  in  this  vicinity  an  im- 
perfect section  was  obtained,  showing  the  blue 
limestone  at  bottom  three  feet  thick,  and  thirty 
feet  above  it  the  bottom  of  a  bed  of  massive  sand- 
stone full  fifty  feet  thick,  with  signs  of  coal  six 
feet  below  it,  with  shale  between  the  coal  and 
sandstone.  Near  the  summit,  about  seventy  feet 
above  the  top  of  the  sandstone,  is  the  outcrop  of 
the  uppermost  bed.  On  the  next  road  to  the 
south  of  this,  a  mile  and  a  half  west  from  Ros- 
coe, the  upper  part  of  the  great  sandstone  bed, 
below  coal  No.  6,  forms  the  pavement  of  the 
road,  and  beneath  is  a  cave  formed  by  the  over- 
hanging rock  and  extending  entirely  across  un- 
der the  road.  The  bottom  of  the  s«ndstone  is 
fifty-five  feet  below  the  road,  and  down  the  run 
fifteen  feet  lower  is  a  fine  exposure  of  the  gray 
limestone,  two  or  three  feet  thick,  with  an  infe- 
rior kind  of  cannel  coal  under  it.  A  blue  lime- 
stone crops  out  still  further  down  the  run,  only 
about  twenty  feet  under  the  gray  limestone- 
shales  and  slaty  sandstones  occupying  the  inter- 
mediate space.  The  hills  in  this  part  of  the  town- 
ship are  quite  high  enough  to  catch  No.  6  coal,  and 


also  the  next  bed  in  many  localities.  But  No.  6 
is  the  only  bed  known  in  the  township  as  of 
much  importance,  and  is  opened  at  a  number  of 
places  to  the  south  of  Roscoe.  The  bed  is  from 
three  to  four  feet  thick,  and  the  coal  is  in  good 
repute.  The  most  important  mines  in  the  town- 
ship are  in  the  southeast  part,  near  the  line  of 
Virginia,  especially  those  worked  on  adjoining 
tracts,  belonging  respectively  to  the  Coalport 
Coal  Company  and  the  Summit  Coal  Company., 
Th^  coal  bed  is  three  feet  ten  inches  thick,  with 
a  seam  of  shale  one  to  two  inches  thick,  fifteen 
inches  above  the  floor.  The  roof  of  the  bed  is 
blue  shale,  and  in  the  shale  beds  above  and  below 
the  beds  kidney  ore  is  found.  The  dip  is  south- 
east, sixteen  and  one-half  feet  in  a  mile. 

Prosser's  coal  mine  is  three  miles  south  from 
Coshocton,  and  half  a  mile  west  from  the  canal. 
The  bed  is  close  upon  four  feet  thick ;  contains 
no  visible  sulphur  but  what  can  be  easily  sorted 
out.  The  upper  part  is  harder  coal  than  the 
lower,  and  separated  from  it  by  a  small  seam  of 
fire-clay  eighteen  inches  above  the  floor.  The 
following  is  the  succession  of  strata  observed  in 
the  run  below  the  coal  bed:  Seventy-five  feet 
below  is  the  bottom  of  a  large  bed  of  massive 
sandstone,  not  less  than  thirty  feet  thick,  some 
layers  of  it  conglomeritic ;  under  it  shale  beds 
(bluish)  about  twenty  feet  thick,  with  balls  and 
layers  of  iron  ore ;  at  ninety-five  feet  below  the 
coal  is  fire-clay,  and,  under  this,  bhie  shale  and 
kidney  ore;  at  105  feet  black  chert,  five  feet 
thick ;  and  fifteen  feet  below  this,  black  shale  and 
cannel  coal,  not  distinctly  divided— altogether 
about  four  feet  thick.  The  lowest  of  these  strata 
represent  the  blue  limestone  and  coal  No.  3;  and 
the  black  chert  is  the  representative  of  a  lime- 
stone, which  is  locally  found  over  the  next  coal 
above. 

Tuscarawas.— 1\ie  lowest  strata  in  this  township 
are  those  near  the  blue  limestone.  It  lies  near 
the  level  of  the  railroad,  and  of  the  canal  near 
the  aqueduct  to  the  north  of  Coshocton.  Where 
the  highway  crosses  Mill  creek,  in  the  northeast 
part  of  the  township,  the  following  section  of  165 
feet  may  be  observed :  At  top  of  the  hill,  mas- 
sive sandstone,  extending  down  about  100  feet; 
125  feet  below  the  top  of  this  sandstone,  gray 
limestone,  four  feet  thick,  with  much  chert  inter- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOOTON  COUNTY. 


177 


mixed  and  overlying  a  coal  bed,  the  thickness  of 
which  is  not  known,  only  abiDut  fifteen  inches 
seen  in  the  outcrop;  thence  down  to  the  level  of 
the  bridge  over  Mill  ereek  (165  feet  below  the  top 
of  the  sandstone),  is  a  bed  of  shales,  about  thirty- 
five  feet  thick.  The  blue  limestone  was  not  seen 
in  place,  but  a  loose  piece  of  it  was  found  below 
the  level  of  the  bridge  and  of  the  road.  These 
strata  produce  no  workable  coal  beds.  The  mines 
to  the  south  and  east  of  Coshocton  are  altogether 
in  coal  No.  6.  Those  of  the  Home  Mining  Com- 
pany, a  mile  southeast  from  the  town,  are  situated 
on  the  wesC  side  of  a  high  hill,  near  together,  and 
are  worked  by  means  of  twelve  separate  en- 
trances. The  bed  is  about  150  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  railroad ;  its  thickness  three  feet  eight 
inches ;  the  coal  is  very  free  from  sulphur,  bright, 
hard  and  compact,  and  breaks  with  clear  and 
brilliant,  smooth  faces;  is  better  adapted  for 
steam  and  domestic  purposes  than  for  black- 
smith's use,  not  having  the  melting  and  coking 
qualities  to  the  extent  they  require ;  still,  it  is  in 
demand  for  this  purpose,  and  is,  in  fact,  the  best 
this  part  of  the  country  affords.  It  is  worked  by 
large  chambers,  the  roof  being  strong.  A  thin 
seam  of  shale  divides  the  bed  into  two  benches, 
and  the  upper  bench  supplies  the  best  coal.  It  is 
overlaid  by  gray  shales  and  sandstones ;  and  115 
feet  above  it  is  the  outcrop  of  another  coal  bed 
(No.  7)i  not  opened,  overlaid  with  limestone  and 
some  iron  ore — the  position  in  which  to  look  for 
the  black-band  iron  ore.  The  gray  limestone  is 
about  sixty-five  feet  below  coal  No.  6. 

In  the  hill  northeast  from  the  last  described 
locality,  toward  the  coal  mines  worked  on  that 
side;  and  discharged  on  the  railroad,  the  following 
section  is  obtained  from  coal  No.  6,  down : 

1.  Coal  No.  6 feet. 

2.  Fire-clay 

3.  Sandstone 30     " 

4.  Black  marble 6     " 

j.  Gray  shale 10     " 

6.  Gray  limestone 3     " 

7.  Coal  outcrop.. ■. 

8.  Fire-clay 

9.  Blue  shale 60     " 

10.  Blue  limestone 7     " 

11.  Cannel  coal,  thin  and  poor 

12.  Fire-clay 

13.  Shale  to  railroad,  three  miles  from  Co-    

shocton 30     " 


In  the  central  part  of  the  township,  the  sum- 
mit level  is,  for  the  most  part,  high  above  the 
plane  of  No  6  coal;  the  tops  of  the  hills  full  200 
feet  higher.  Indications  of  the  black-band  ore 
were  looked  for  in  these  higher  strata,  but  none 
were  met  with  that  can  be  considered  encour- 
aging. No.  7  coal  must  occur  considerably  below 
the  general  summit  level,  but  the  only  bed 
worked  appears  to  be  No.  6. 

Sections  southeast  of  Coshocton : 
Nodular  calcareous  iron-ore.     Gray  limestone. 
Coal  outcrop  (No.  7). 

Ft.  In. 

Gray  shale  and  sandy  shale 115     o 

Coal  No.  6  (Home  company's) 3     8 

Fire-clay 20     o 

Gray  shale 45     o 

Gray  limestone.     Coal  outcrop 3     o 

Shaly  sandstone  and   shale    (railroad  at  Co- 
shocton).,   80    o 

Blue  limestone.     Coal  outcrop 3     o 

Fire-clay  5     o 

Shale,  tolowwaterin  river 15     o 

Lafayette. — The  greats-  part  of  this  township  is 
alluvial  bottom  land.  No  coal  openings  were 
encountered  in  the  township.  The  higher  parts 
of  it;  however,  must  contain  what  appears  to  be 
the  only  important  bed  of  this  region,  viz :  No.  6. 
The  ancient  valley  or  river  bed,  extending 
through  it  from  northwest  to  southeast,  has 
already  been  noticed. 

Oxford. — A  considerable  part  of  this  township 
also  is  bottom  land  in  the  broad  valley  of  the 
Tuscarawas.  Coal  beds,  however,  are  worked  in- 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  township,  which 
were  not  visited.  They  are  probably  on  the  same 
bed  (No.  6)  as  the  workings  in  Adams,  not  far  to 
the  north,  and  those  on  the  same  side  of  the 
river,  and  as  near  to  'it  at  Newcomerstown,  in 
Tuscarawas  county.  The  valley  of  Mill's  creek, 
on  the  south  edge  of  the  township,  is  on  the  level 
of  the  blue  limestone,  and  a  small  seam  of  cannel 
coal  is  seen  directly  under  it  in  this  vicinity;  and 
under  the  gray  limestone,  twenty-five  feet  higher 
up  in  the  same  run,  is  a  coal  bed  not  well  exposed, 
the  upper  part  of  which  is  cannel.  Coal  No.  6 
must  be  in  the  hills  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
township,  but  no  openings  of  it  were  seen. 

From  Coshocton  to  the  east  line  of  the  county, 


178 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  dip  has  not  continued  in  an  easterlj' direction, 
but  appears  to  be  reversed.  At  Coshocton,  coal 
No.  6  at  the  Home  company's  mine  is  about  148 
feet  above  the  raih-oad,  which  is  there  about  133 
above  Lake  Erie;  and  at  Newcomerstown,  the 
■same  bed  is  130  feet  above  the  raih-oad,  which  is 
there  163  feet  above  the  lake,  making  the  bed 
seven  feet  higher  at  Newcomerstown.  The  direc- 
tion is  about  due  east.  The  effect  of  this  flatten- 
ing of  the  dip  is  to  keep  the  same  series  of  strata 
near  the  surface,  and  give  a  monotonous  char- 
acter to  the  geology.  There  appears  to  be  no 
southern  dip,  either,  in  the  southeast  part  of  the 
county,  judging  from  the  barometrical  elevations 
in  Tuscarawas  and  Mill's  creek  valleys. 

Pike. — This  township  is  altogether  near  the 
bottom  of  the  coal  measures.  The  gray  limestone 
is  seen  very  frequently  in  the  high  grounds,  ac- 
companied by  its  coal  bed  No.  4;  and  as  we  see  no 
evidence  of  the  coal  being  worked,  it  is  probably 
of  little  importance.  At  West  Carlisle,  the  sand- 
stone just  under  the  gray  limestone  contains 
numerous  specimens  of  what  are  probably  fu- 
•coidal  stems,  in  a  variety*of  unusual  forms,  some 
bearing  a  curious  resemblance  to  the  fossil  sau- 
rian foot-prints.  On  the  west  side  of  the  village, 
is  a  large  outcrop  of  slaty  cannel  coal,  probably 
belonging  to  the  gray  limestone,  but  of  no  value. 
No  particular  change  is  observed  in  the  strata 
from  this  point  to  the  southwest  part  of  the 
township,  where  the  land  soon  descends  down  to 
the  Waverly. 

No  considerable  deposit  of  iron  ore  was  found 
in  place  in  Pike  township,  but  a  number  of 
nodules  of  ore,  of  fine  quality,  were  noticed  in 
1;he  valleys  of  the  streams,  doubtless  washed  from 
the  hills  in  the  vicinity.  The  excellence  and 
abundance  of  this  ore  render  it  highly  probable 
that  the  important  deposits  of  Jackson  town- 
ship, Muskingum  county,  extend  northward  into 
Coshoeton. 

Washington. — The  only  coal  mine  of  import- 
ance seen  in  this  township  is  Parks,  in  the  north- 
east corner.  The  bed  is  No.  6,  three  and  a  half 
to  four  feet  thick,  the  coal  of  superior  quality, 
very  brilliant,  of  waxy  luster,  giving  a  brownish 
red  powder,  and  purplish  ash.  It  is  a  good  cok- 
ing coal,  melting  easily.  The  pyritous  seams  it 
contains  are  small  and  easily  sorted  out.    The 


coal  finds  a  ready  sale  over  a  considerable  region 
around.  The  bed  lies  high  up  near  the  top  of 
the  hill,  but  probably  may  be  found  in  many 
other  places  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township 
The  following  is  a  section  of  the  strata  asso- 
ciated with  Park's  coal : 

Ft. 

1.  Slope  covered loo 

2.  Coal  No.  6  (Park's) 3  to  4 

3.  Fire-clay 

4.  Sandstone 80 

5.  Gray  limestone 4 

6.  Coal  No.  4 I 

7.  Gray  shale 30 

8.  Blue  shale , 20 

9.  Blue  lim  stone 

10.  Coal  outcrop,   No.  3 

Virginia. — Coal  No.  6  is  pretty  generally 
worked  throughout  the  north  and  east  parts  of 
the  township — in  the  northwest  part,  by  Joshua 
Cornell,  half  a  mile  north  from  Moscow.  The 
bed  is  here  about  three  and  a  half  feet  thick,  the 
coal  in  sound  blocks,  with  very  little  waste  of  fine 
coal,  and  very  little  sulphur.  When  burned  it 
shows  the  purple-colored  ash  peculiar  to  this  bed. 
This,  as  well  as  Park's  coal,  is  in  good  demand 
through  the  neighborhood.  From  Moscow,  east 
to  Franklin,  there  are  numerous  openings  worked 
in  this  coal  bed,  and  thence  south  nearly  to  the 
canal  and  the  railroad.  At  Michael  Zimmer's,  two 
miles  northwest  from  the  canal,  the  bed  is  about 
ninety  feet  below  the  top  of  the  hill,  and  overly- 
ing a  bed  of  sandstone  ninety  feet  thick,  under 
which  is  the  gray  limestone.  The  roof  of  the 
coal  is  black  shale.  The  coal  bed  is  four  feet 
thick,  the  coal  very  hard,  black,  compact,  highly 
bituminous,  melting  easily  and  of  excellent  qual- 
ity altogether.  What  sulphur  is  found  is  in 
heavy  lumps  and  easily  separated.  A  small  seam 
of  shale  runs  through  the  bed,  a  foot  above  the 
bottom.  The  elevation  of  this  bed  above  the 
canal  is  about  170  feet. 

Two  miles  south  from  this,  and  near  the  south 
line  of  the  township,  is  the  mine  of  James  Scott, 
in  coal  bed  No.  3,  under  the  blue  limestone.  The 
locality  is  near  the  canal  and  not  far  above  its 
level.  The  coal  bed  is  four  feet  thick,  divided 
into  two  benches  by  fire-clay  parting,  the  upper 
bench  from  six  to  twelve  inches  thick.     The 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


179 


mine  was  opened  in  1833  and  has  produced  a 
large  amount  of  semi-cannel  coal  of  good  quality. 
The  roof  of  the  bed  is  a  black,  calcareous  shale, 
two  feet  thick,  abounding  in  fossil  shells.  The 
blue  limestone  resting  upon  this  is  from  four  to 
five  feet  thick.  The  gray  limestone  is  seen  about 
forty  feet  higher  up  the  hill,  and  under  it  a  bed 
of  slaty  cannel  coal,  fifteen  inches  thick. 

Section  of  hills,  near  Scott's  coal  mine,  Vir- 
ginia township : 

Slope  covered 90  feet. 

Coal  No.  6  (Zimmer's) 4  " 

Fire-clay. 

Sandstone 90  " 

Gray  limestone 4  " 

CoalNo.4 — poor I  " 

Fire- clay. 

Covered 40    " 

Blue  limestone 3  " 

Coal  No.  3  (Scott's) 4  " 

Fire-clay. 

FranUin. — The  western  half  of  this  township 
is  chiefly  bottom  land  along  the  valley  of  the 
Muskingum.  The  eastern  half  rises,  for  the 
most  part,  above  the  plane  of  coal  No.  6,  which  bed 
is  worked  near  both  the  northern  and  southern 
line  of  the  township  and  in  the  eastern  part.  On 
the  north  line,  by  the  mouth  of  Rock  run,  three 
miles  below  Coshocton,  the  coal  bed  is  four  feet 
thick;  the  coal  in  cubical  blocks,  very  black  and 
brilliant,  with  frequent  flakes  of  charcoal  scat- 
tered through  it.  The  coal  bed  is  here  110  feet 
.above  the  railroad,  and  the  railroad  125  feet  above 
Lake  Erie,  which  proves  the  coal  to  be  fifty-one 
ieet  lower  than  at  the  mines  of  the  Coshocton 
■Coal  Company,  three  miles  east  of  Coshocton. 

Section  at  Rock  run : 

1.  Black  shale 

2.  Coal  No.  6 4  to  6  feet. 

3.  Fire-clay 3  to  6    " 

4.  Massive  sandstone 75    " 

5.  Spring  and  probable  horizon  of  coal  seam   

6.  Shaly  sandstone 30    " 

'■7.  Black  shale  and  covered  space 40    " 

8.  Blue  limestone 3    " 

9.  Covered  to  river 10    " 

Near  the  southern  line  is  a  coal  bank,  one  mile 
above  the  bend  of  Will's  creek,  on  the  east  side, 


and  ninety  feet  above  its  level.  The  bed  is  four 
and  one-half  to  five  feet  thick,  and  yields  very 
sound  and  black  coal  of  apparently  excellent 
quality.  Near  the  bottom  is  a  thin  seam  of  sul- 
phury shale,  which  can  be  easily  separated.  It 
has  a  thin  roof  of  shale,  and  over  this  is  sand- 
stone. Below  the  coal  is  sandstone  thirty  feet 
thick,  and  under  this  a  large  bed  of  shale. 

Linton. — E.^cept  in  the  wide  bottoms  of  Will's 
creek,  the  greater  part  of  the  surface  of  this 
township  is  above  the  plane  of  coal  No.  6.  The 
road  from  Coshocton  comes  down  to  it  near  the 
northwest  corner  of  the  township,  where  an  old 
opening  is  seen  by  the  run,  to  the  right-hand  side 
of  the  road.  At  the  school  house  near  by,  and 
below  the  level  of  the  coal,  is  a  display  of  iron- 
ore  in  oxydized  blocks,  that  might  be  supposed 
to  indicate  a  considerable  quantity;  but  these 
outcrops  are  little  to  be  depended  upon. 

The  road  continues  to  descend  toward  the  east, 
following  the  valley  of  the  run,  and  in  the  bed  of 
this,  two  miles  before  reaching  Jacobsport,  the 
blue  limestone  is  seen,  well  exposed,  over  three 
feet  thick.  At  Jacobsport,  over  the  bridge  across 
Will's  creek,  the  same  rock  lies  ten  or  fifteen 
feet  above  the  creek,  in  a  bed  measuring  four 
feet  ten  inches  thick.  Great  blocks  of  it,  of  rect- 
angular shape  and  weighing  many  tons,  have 
fallen  down  and  lie  by  the  side  of  the  creek. 
The  rock  abounds  in  fossil  shells,  which,  how- 
ever, are  obtained  with  difficulty.  A  little'  seam 
of  slaty  cannel  coal,  four  inches  thick,  adheres 
closely  to  the  underside  of  these  blocks.  The 
underlying  strata  down  to  the  creek  are  shales, 
with  nodules  of  kidney  ore.  A  gray  lime- 
stone is  twenty-five  feet  above  the  blue,  and 
under  it  is  a  coal  outcrop.  A  mile  south  from 
the  bridge,  toward  Linton,  is  an  opening  in  No.  6 
coal ;  and  others,  also,  are  seen  along  the  road. 
At  Linton  the  same  bed  is  found  on  the  land  of 
Mr.  Heslip,  where  it  presents  its  usual  features. 
At  this  place  another  coal  bed  is  found  fifteen 
feet  below  No.  6,  and  has  been  worked  to  some 
extent,  but  it  appears  to  be  of  little  value.  The 
shales  in  this  neighborhood  contain  balls  of  iron- 
ore  of  good  quality,  sufficient  in  quantity  to  in- 
spire hopes  of  their  being  of  value,  but  li.ttle  de- 
pendence, however,  can  be  placed  upon  them. 
They  are  seen  in  the  road  a  mile  or  more  north- 


180 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


west  from  Linton.    Deposits  of  bog  iron,  also,  are 
said  to  occur  in  the  bottom  of  the  creek. 

This  locahty  is  interesting  from  the  discovery 
of  bones  of  mastodons,  found  in  the  banks  of  the 
creek  and  in  the  alhivial  bottoms.  One '  of  these 
bones  was  found  a  few  years  ago  in  excavating  the 
bank  for  the  mill  dam  at  Linton.  One  large 
joint,  supposed  to  be  a  cervical  vertebra,  with  a 
cavity  through  it,  as  large  as  a  man's  arm,  was 
taken  out,  and  more  bones  were  thought  to  be  be- 
hind it.  Search  can  be  made  for  these  whenever 
the  water  is  drawn  down  at  the  dam,  at  Jacobs- 
port.  This  backs  the  water  up  eight  feet,  which 
is  all  the  rise  for  fourteen  miles  by  the  creek. 
Another  discovery  was  made  a  mile  below  Lin- 
ton, at  the  mouth  of  White  Eyes  creek,  of  a  large 
and  sound  tooth,  which  now  belongs  to  Mr.  W.  E. 
Johnson,  of  Coshocton. 

A  third  discovery  was  made  about  fifty  years 
ago,  two  and  a  half  miles  above  Linton,  near 
•  Bridgeville,  in'Guernsey  county,  on  the  farm  now 
owned  by  George  Gay  Mitchell.  His  father,  at 
that  time,  in  digging  a  well  on  the  terrace,  fifty 
feet  above  the  creek  -bottom,  found,  at  the  depth 
of  forty-two  feet,  some  large  bones  in  a  bed  of 
blue  mud.  Only  two  of  these  were  taken  out, 
one  described  by  Mr.  Mitchell  to  be  a  hip  bone, 
and  the  other  as  a  shin  bone,  weighing  eight 
pounds.  The  well  was  then  abandoned,  and  the 
rest  of  the  skeleton  is  supposed  to  be  still  there. 


CHAPTEE  XVIIL 

ARCH.3L0L0GY. 

Mound  Builders  and  Indians — Antiquities — The  Different 
Classes  of  Mounds,  Effigies  and  Inclosures — Lessons  taught 
hy  These  Works— Implements  used  hy  the  Mound  Builders 
and  Indians. 

THE  archseologist  has  found  the  territory  em- 
braced within  the  present  limits  of  Coshoc- 
ton county  a  most  excellent  one.  It  is  probably 
one  of  the  most  interesting  fields  for  the  scientist 
and  antiquarian  in  the  State.  When  the  wave  of 
white  emigration  reached  the  Mississippi  and 
Ohio  valleys,  the  discovery  was  made  of  strange 
looking  mounds  of  earth,  here  and  there,  and,  af- 
ter a  time,  learning  that  these  and  other  similar 


works  were  of  pre-historic  origin — the  work  of  an 
unknown  race  of  people — they  were  called,  in  a 
general  way,  "  Ancient  Mounds,"  and  in  time  the 
lost  race  that  erected  them  came  to  be  appropri- 
ately named  the  "  Mound  Builders."  There  is  no 
authentic  history  regarding  this  people.  The 
known  records  of  the  world  are  silent — as  silent 
as  these  monuments  that  perpetuate  their  memo- 
ry. There  are  many  theories  regarding  them, 
but  this  is  all  that  can  be  said — nothing  of  their 
origin  or  end  is  certainly  known. 

They  probably  antedate  the  various  Indian 
tribes  who  anciently  occupied  and  claimed  title 
to  the  soil  of  Ohio.  Probably  many  centuries 
elapsed  between  the  first  occupancy  here  by  the 
Mound  Builders  and  the  advent  of  the  earliest  In- 
dian tribes  or  nations,  though  this  is  only  conjec- 
ture. 

This  county  was  once,  and,  peradventure,  con- 
tinued to  be  through  many  passing  centuries,  one 
of  their  most  favored  localities.  The  extent,  va- 
riety, elaborate,  and  labyrinthian-  intricacies  of 
their  works,  still  found  in  many  sections  of  Ohio, 
clearly  indicate  the  plausibility  of  this  view. 
Here  they  dwelt  for  ages,  erected  their  works 
and  made  a  long  chapter  of  history,  albeit  it  is 
yet  unwritten — a  history  whose  leading  features 
and  general  characteristics  can  be  gathered  only 
from  those  of  their  works  that  yet  exist  It 
must  be  collected  scrap  by  scrap,  and  item  by 
item,  after  a  thorough  examination  and  patient 
investigation  of  their  works,  and  by  careful,  la- 
borious, faithful  study  of  their  wonderful  re- 
mains. The  principal  events  and  leading  inci- 
dents in  the  strange  career  of  this  mysterious 
and  apparently  now  extinct  people,  can  be  traced 
out  and  recorded  only  so  far  as  they  are  clearly 
indicated  by  those  of  their  works  which  yet  re- 
main, but  which,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  are,  to  a 
large  extent,  in  a  state  of  mutilation  and  partial 
ruin,  and  rapidly  tending  to  utter  extinction  un- 
der iconoclastic  wantonness,  and  the  operations 
of  the  plow;  also  from  the  devastating  effects  of 
the  elements,  and  the  destructive  tendencies  of 
the  great  destroyer— Time. 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  Mound 
Builders  ever  had  a  written  language,  and,  if  they 
had  not,  it  must  be  manifest  that  very  few 
authentic  facts  pertaining  to  their  domestic  and 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


181 


local  history,  can  be  verified  by  reliable  testimony 
■other  than  that  deduced  from  their  works,  which 
are  the  sole  memorials  left  by  them  from  which 
to  work  out  the  problems  of  their  origin,  their 
.history,  habits,  manners,  cufetoms,  general  char- 
acteristics, mode  of  life,  the  extent  of  their 
knowledge  of  the  arts  of  husbandry,  their  state 
of  civilization,  their  religion  and  its  rites,  their 
ultimate  fate,  and  the  manner  and  circumstances 
of  their  final  disappearance,  whether  by  process 
of  absorption  from  intermingling  and  intermar- 
rying with  other  and  more  vigorous  races,  by 


some  data  as  to  the  probable  history  they  made 
during  the  unknown,  perchanc,e  barren,  unevent- 
ful cycles  of  their  indefinitely  long  career  as  a 
nation  or  race. 

As  the  history  the  Mound  Builders  is  yet  un- 
written, it  is  certainly  a  matter, of  gratulation 
that  so  many  way-marks,  and  traces  of  this  "peo- 
ple yet  remain  within  the  boundaries  of  the  State. 
Their  works  in  the  State,  still  existing  in  a  toler- 
ably perfect  condition,  a)?e  approximately  esti- 
mated at  ten  thousand,  but  they  doubtless  far 
exceeded  that  number  at  the  time  of  the  first 


WEDGE-SHAPED  INSTRUMENTS. 


-dispersion  or'captivity,  or  by  extinction  through 
war,  pestilence,  or  famine. 

Although  generation  after  generation  of  Mound 
Builders  have  lived  and  flourished,  and,  perad- 
venture,  reached  the  acme  of  their  glory,  then 
passed  through  age  after  age  of  decadence  and 
decrepitude  into  "the  receptacle  of  things  lost 
upon  earth,"  without  leaving  anything  that  may 
properly  be  called  history;  and  though  no  records 
of  their  exploits  have  come  down  to  this  genera- 
tion through  the  intervening  centuries,  yet  their 
•enduring  works  furnish  the  laborious  student 
some  indications,  even  though  they  be  slight,  of 
the  characteristics  of  their  builders,  and  afford 


permanent  Anglo-American  settlement  here,  in 
1788. 

Only  such  monuments,  or  remains  of  ancient 
works  can  be  properly  ascribed  to  the  Mound 
Builders  as  were  really  regarded  by  the  Indian 
tribes  at  the  period  of  the  first  settlement  at 
Marietta  as  antiquities,  or  as  the  ruins  and  relics 
of  an  extinct  race,  and  "  concerning  the  origin  of 
which  th^y  were  wholly  ignorant,  or  only  pos- 
sessed a  traditionary  knowledge." 

These  consisted  of  mounds,  effigies  and  inclos- 
ures,  which  are  known  and  designated  as  the 
three  general  classes  of  ancient  works  that  can 
be  appropriately  regarded  as  belonging  to  the 


182 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Mound  Builders.    Mounds  are  sub-divided  into 
sepulchral,  sacrificial,  temple  (or  truncated);  also 
of  observation,  and  memorial  or  monumental. 
Effigies  are  sometimes  called  animal  mounds. 


Under  the  general  title  of  inclosures,  are  also- 
walls  of  circumvallation  or  ramparts  constructed 
for  military  or  defensive  works,  while  others- 
were  doubtless  walls  surrounding  the  residence-- 


STONE  AND  CLAY  PIPES. 


sometimes  emblematic,  and  frequently  symbol- 
ical. 

Inclosures  are  of  several  kinds,  one  class  being 
known  as  military  or  defensive  works ;  another 
as  parallel  embankments  or  covered  ways;  and 
the  third  as  sacred  inclosures. 


of  the  reigning  monarch;  perchance  others  were 
erected  for  the  performance  within  them  of  their 
national  games  and  amusements,  and  perhaps- 
many  also  served  the  purpose  in  the  performance 
of  their  religious  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  facil- 
itated indulgence  in  some  superstitious  practices.- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


183 


Most  of  the  above  named  works  were  con- 
structed of  earth,  a  few  of  stone,  and  perhaps 
fewer  still  of  earth  and  stone  combined.  The 
title  each  bears  indicates,  in  a  measure,  the  uses 
they  are  supposed  to  have  served. 

Sepulchral  mounds  are  generally  oonical  in 
form,  and  are  more  numerous  than  any  other 
kinds.  They  are  of  all  sizes,  ranging  from  a  very 
small  altitude,  to  about  seventy  feet  in  height, 
and  always  contain  one  or  more  skeletons,  or 
parts  thereof,  or  present  other  plausible  indica- 
tions of  having  been  built  or  used  for  purposes 
of  sepulture,  and  were,  unmistakably,  memorials 
raised  over  the  dead. 

By  some  archaeologists  it  is  maintained  that 
the  size  of  these  mounds  bears  a  certain  relation 
to  the  importance,  when  living,  of  the  person 
over  whose  remains  they  were  erected. 


element   was  employed  in    their  burial    cere- 
monies. 

Mica  is  often  found  in  proximity  to  the  skele- 
tons, as  well  as  specimens  of  pottery,  bone  and 
copper  heads,  and  animal  bones. 

The  name  given  to  this  description  of  tumuli 
clearly  indicates  that  they  were  >, erected  chiefly 
for  .burial  purposes.  They  generally  contain  but 
a  limited  number  of  skeletons,  indeed,  often  but 
a  single  one ;  but  Professor  Marsh,  of  the  Sheffield ' 
Scientific  School,  connected"with  Yale  College,  a 
few  years  ago  opened  a  mound  in  Licking  county, 
which  contained  seventeen  skeletons  in  whole  or 
in  part. 

The  most  remarkable  of  all  mounds  in  the 
State,  was  one  in  Hardin  county,  in  which  were 
found  about  three  hundred  skeletons.  A  doubt 
has,  however,  been  expressed  that  these  were  al 


FLINT   SCRAPERS. 


In  this  class  of  mounds  are  often  found  imple- 
ments and  ornaments,  supposed  to  have  been 
buried  with  the  person  or  persons  there  interred, 
under  the  superstitious  and  delusive  notion  still 
entertained  by  some  tribes  of  American  Indians, 
who  indulge  in  similar  practices,  that  they  might 
be  useful  to  them  in  the  happy  hunting  grounds 
of  the  future  state. 
•The  practice  being  one  common  to  both  the 
Indians  and  Mound  Builders,  apparently  con- 
nects the  former  with  the  latter,  and  raises  the 
presumption  that  the  Indians  may  have  descended 
from  the  Mound  Builders. 

That  fire  was  used  in  the  burial  ceremonies  of 
the  Mound  Builders  is  manifest  from  the  fact 
that  charcoal  is  often,  if  not  always,  found  in  close 
proximity  to  the  skeleton.  The  presence  of  ashes, 
igneous  stones,  and  other  traces  of  the  action  of 
fire  in  these  tombs,  renders  it  quite  probable  this 


Mound  Builders'  skeletons — some  persons  enter- 
taining the  belief  that  they  were  Indian  remains, 
as  it  is  well  known  that  the  Indians  frequently 
buried  their  dead  on  or  near  the  mounds. 

Sacrificial  mounds  are  usually  stratified,  the 
strata  being  convex  layers  of  ^lay  and  loam,  alter- 
nating with  a  layer  of  fine  sand.  They  generally 
contain  ashes,  charcoal,  igneous  stones,  calcined 
animal  bones,  beads,  stone  implements,  pottery 
and  specimens  of  rude  sculpture.  These  mounds 
are  frequently  found  within  inclosures,  which 
were  supposed  to  have  been  in  some  way  con- 
nected with  the  performance  of  the  religious 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  the .  Mound  Builders. 
An  altar  of  stone  or  burnt  clay  is  usually  found 
in  this  class  of  mounds. 

These  altars,  which  sometimes  rest  on  the  sur- 
face of  the  original  earth,  at  the  center  of  the 
mounds,  are  symmetrically  shaped,  and  are  among 


184 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


MISCEHANEOUS  EELIC'S. 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


185 


the  chief  distinguishing  characteristics  of  sacri- 
ficial mounds.  Upon  these  altars  sacrifices  of 
animals,  and  probably  of  human  beings,  were 
offered,  the  fire  being  used  to  some  extent  in  that 
superstitious  and  cruel  performance.  Some  of 
this  class  of  mounds  seem  also  to  have  been  used 
for  purposes  of  sepulture  as  well  as  sacrifice ;  the 
presence  of  skeletons,  in  some  of  them  at  least, 
suggest  their  sepulchral  as  well  as  sacrificial 
character. 

In  common  with  sepultural  mounds  these  like- 
wise contain  implements  of  war,  also  -mica  from 


The  supposition  is  that  the  summits  of  these 
mounds  were  crowned  with  structures  of  wood 
that  served  the  purposes  of  temples,  all  traces  of 
which,  however,  owing  to  the  perishable  nature 
of  the  materials  used  in  their  construction,  have 
disappeared.  They  were  also  used  to  a  limited 
extent  for  burial  -purposes,  as  well  as  for  uses 
connected  with  their  religion. 

Mounds  of  observation  are  generally  situated 
upon  eminences,  and  were  doubtless  "observa' 
tories,"  "  alarm  posts,''  "  watch  towers,"  "  signal 
stations,"  or  "look  outs,"  serving  the  purposes 


CHISELS,  GOUGES  AND  ADZES. 


the  AUeghenies,  shells  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
obsidian,  and  in  some  instances  porphyry  from 
Mexico,  as  well  as  silver  and  copper  articles,  both 
for  use  and  ornament. 

Temple  mounds  are  less  numerous  and  gen- 
erally larger  than  the  preceding  classes,  and  in 
form  are  oftenest  circular  or  oval ;  but,  whether 
round,  square,  oblong,  oval,  octangular,  or  what- 
ever form,  are  invariably  truncated,  having  the 
appearance  of  being  in  an  unfiiiished  condition. 
They  are  frequently  surrounded  by  embank- 
ments, and  many  of  them  have  spiral  pathways, 
steps  or  inclined  planes  leading  to  their  summits. 
They  are  generally  of  large  base  and  of  com- 
paratively limited  altitude. 


indicated  by  their  title.  They  are  said  by  some 
writers  to  occur  in  chains  or  regular  systems,  and 
that  many  of  them  still  bear  traces  of  the  beacon 
fires  that  were  once  burning  on  them.  They  are 
sometimes  found  in  connection  with  embank- 
ments and  inclosures,  forming  a  portion,  though 
greatly  enlarged,  of  the  banks  of  earth  or  stones* 
that  compose  said,  embankments  and  inclosures. 

One  of  this  description  is  situated  two  miles 
west  of  Newark,  Ohio,  and  though  somewhat 
mutilated,  is  yet  about  twenty-five  feet  high. 

This  class  of  mounds  is  tolerably  numerous  in 
some  portions  of  the  State. 

Memorial  or  Monumental  mounds  belong  to 
the  class  of  tumuli  that  were  erected  to  perpetu- 


186 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ate  the  memory  of  some  important  event,  or  in 
honor  of  some  distinguished  character.  They 
are  mostly  built  of  earth,  but  some  of  the  stone 
mounds  found  in  some  portions  of  the  State 
probably  belong  to  this  not  numerous  class. 

Effigies  or  Animal  mounds  are  simply  raised 
figures  or  gigantic  basso  rdievos  of  men,  beasts, 
birds  or  reptiles,,  and  in  some  instances,  of  inani- 
mate objects.  They  are  on  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  raised  to  a  limited  height,  generally  from 
one  foot  to  six  feet  above  the  natural  surface  of 
the  ground.  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  an  authority,  calls 
this  class  of  ancient  works  Emblematic  mounds, 
and  expresses  the  belief  that  they  were  "  totems  " 
or  "  heraldic  symbols."  Professor  Daniel  Wilson, 
the  learned  author  of  "  Pre-historic  Man,"  and 


high  ground,  and  in  naturally  strong  positions,, 
frequently  on  the  summits  of  hills  and  steep 
bluffs,  and  are  often  strengthened  by  exterior 
ditches.  The  walls  generally  wind  around  the 
borders  of  the  elevations  they  occupy,  and  where 
the  nature  of  the  ground  renders  some  points 
more  accessible  than  others,  the  height  of  the 
wall  abd  the  depth  of  the  ditch  at  those  weak 
points  are  proportionally  increased.  The  gate- 
ways, are  narrow,  few  in  number,  and  well 
guarded  by  embankments  placed  a  few  yards 
inside  of  the  openings  or  gate-ways,  parallel  with 
them,  and  projecting  somewhat  beyond  them  at 
each  end,  thus  fully  covering  the  entrances, 
which,  in  some  cases,  are  still  further  protected 
by  projecting  walls  on  either  side  of  them. 


STONjE  PESTLE. 


Other  writers  of  distinction,  call  them  symbolical 
mounds,  and  hold  the  opinion  that  they  were 
erected  as  objects  of  worship,  or  for  altars  upon 
which  sacrifices  were  offered,  or  that  they  served 
some  other  purposes  connected  with  the  religious 
worship  of  their  idolatrous  and  superstitious  con- 
structors. 

Of  the  three  most  notable  examples  of  Effigies 
in  the  State,  two  are  situated  in  Licking  county. 
>One  is  the  Eagle  mound,  near  the  center  of  what 
is  known  as  the  "Old  Fort,"  near  Newark;  and 
the  other  is  called  the  "  Alligator  mound,"  and  is 
situated  on  the  summit  of  a  hill  nearly  two  hun- 
dred feet  high,  near  Granville. 

Inclosures  defensive  and  sacre'd,  have  been 
briefly  mentioned.  Most  of  them  are  earth- 
works, though  a  few  are  of  stone.  Defensive  in- 
closures are  of   irregular  form,  are  always  on 


These  works  are  somewhat  numerous,  and  in- 
dicate a  clear  appreciation  of  the  elements,  at 
least,  of  fortification,  and  unmistakably  point  out 
the  purpose  for  which  they  were  constructed. 
A  large  number  of  these  defensive  works  con- 
sist of  a  line  of  ditch  and  embankments,  or  sev- 
eral lines  carried  across  the  neck  of  peninsulas 
or  bluff  head-lands,  formed  within  the  bends  of 
streams — an  easy  and  obvious  mode  of  fortificar 
tion,  common  to  all  rude  fieoples: 

Covered  ways  are  parallel  walls  of  earth  of  lim- 
ited height,  and  are  frequently  found  contiguous 
to  inclosures,  sometimes,  indeed,  connecting 
them  by  extending  from  one  to  another  One  of 
their  purposes,  at  least,  seems  to  have  been  the 
protection  of  those  passing  to  and  fro  within 
them. 

Sacred   inclosures    are    mainly  distinguished 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


187 


Irom  those  of  a  military  character  by  the  regu- 
larity of  their  form,  their  different  construction 
and  their  more  frequent  occurrence.  They  are 
of  all  shapes  and  forms,  and  where  moats  or 
•ditches  exist  they  are  invariably  found  inside  of 
the  embankments.  They  are  generally  in  the 
form- of  geometrical  figures  of  surprising  accu- 
racy, such  as  circles,  squares,  hexagons,  octagons, 
•ellipses,  parallelograms  and  of  jarious  others. 
They  are  sometimes  found  within  military 
inclosures,  and  evidently  had  some  connection 
with  the  religious  ideas  and  ceremonies  of  their 
"builders.  Frequently  there  is  situated  in  the 
•center  of  this  class  of  works  a  mound,  or  eleva- 
tion, supposed  to  have  served  the  purpose  of  an 
altar  upon  which  sacrifices  were  offered,  or  which 


many  such)  within  which  no  central  elevation  or 
altar  occurs,  which  were  erected  for  the  purposes 
last  named,  and  not  exclusively  (if  at  all)  for  pur- 
poses connected  with  religion,  and  are  therefore 
erroneously  called  sacred  inclosures. 

Other  ancient  peoples,  if  indeed  not  all  the 
nations  of  antiquity,  had  their  national  games, 
amusements,  festivals  and  jubilees,  and  why  not 
the  Mound  Builders  ?  Without  doubt  they  had, 
and  congregated  within  their  inclosures  to  prac- 
tice, celebrate  and  enjoy  them. 

It  is  natural  to  indulge  in  speculations  regard- 
ing these  ancient  works.  Probably  none  of  them 
have  been  constructed  since  Christopher  Colum- 
bus reached  America  in  1492.  About  sixty  years 
ago  a  tree  which  stood  upon  the  bank  of  the 


CLUB-HEADED  STONES. 


was,  at  least,  in  some  way,  used  in  conducting 
their  religious  services.  Within  these  sacred 
inclosures  were  doubtless  celebrated  religious 
festivals,  and  upon  those  central  mounds  or  altar, 
were  undoubtedly  performed,  by  priestly  hands, 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  demanded  by  their  sac- 
rificial and  idolatrous  religion. 

The  very  extensive  works  near  Newark,  known 
as  the  "Old  Fort,"  and  situated  in  the  fair 
grounds,  evidently  belong  to  this  class.  Some 
archaeologists,  however,  maintain  that  many 
works  called  sacred  inclosures  were  erected  for 
and  used  as  places  of  amusement,  where  these 
ancient  people  practiced  their  national  games,  and 
celebrated  their  great  national  events,  where  they 
held  their  national  festivals  and  indulged  in  their 
national  jubilees,  as  well  as  performed  the  cere- 
monies of  their  religion. 

It  may  be  that  there  are  those  (and  there  are 


"  Old  Fort,"  at  a  point  where  the  bank  was  twenty 
feet  high,  was  cut  down,  and  its  concentric  cir- 
cles numbered  five  hi^ndred  and  fifty,  thus  prov- 
ing conclusively  that  the  said  inclosure  was  con- 
structed more  than  six  hundred  years  ago. 

Authorities  differ  regarding  many  matters  con- 
nected with  the  Mound  Builders,  but  a  few  facts 
seem  to  be  fully  established  by  their  works. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  they  were  a  numer- 
ous people.  Works  so  elaborate,  so  gigantic, 
could  not  have  been  erected  by  a  people  insignfi- 
cant  in  numbers.  This  is  the  more  apparent 
when  it  is  considered  that  they  were  probably 
without  iron  or  any  suitable  metal  instruments 
or  tools  with  which  to  perform  their  herculean 
labors. 

It  could  scarcely  have  been  otherwise  thp-n  that 
they  were  also  the  subjects  of  a  single  strong  gov- 
ernment, because,  under  any  other,  the  perform- 


188 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ance  of  such  an  immense  amount  of,  probably, 
enforced  labor  could  not  have  been  secured. 
Very  likely  some  sort  of  vassalage"  or  servitude 
prevailed.  There  is  abundant  evidence  that  they 
were  a  war-like  people,  and  probably,  like  some 
savage  nations  now  existing,  they  made  slaves  of 
their  prisoners.  The  number  and  magnitude  of 
their  works,  and  their  extensive  range  and  uni- 
formity, prove  that  they  were  essentially  homo- 
geneous in  customs,  habits,  religion  and  govern- 


The  construction  of  military  works  would  in- 
dicate that  they  were,  occasionally,  at  least,  at 
war,  either  among  themselves  or  with  some  other 
nation  or  tribe.  If  another  nation,  what  other  T 
Perhaps  with  the  North  American  Indian  to 
whom  the  country  may  have  belonged  before  the 
Mound  Builders  entered  it.  There  are  various^ 
scraps  of  history  relating  to  the  antiquity  of  the 
Indian.  For  instance,  in  the  annual  report  of  th& 
council  of  the*  American  Antiquarian  Society 


PERFORATED  PLATES,  THREAD  SIZERS  AND  SHULTLES. 


ment.  The  general  features  common  to  all  their 
remains  identify  them  as  appertaining  to  a  single 
grand  system,  owing  its  origin  to  men  moving 
in  the  same  direction,  acting  under  common  irn- 
pulses,  and  influenced  by  similiar  causes. 

That  they  possessed  military  skill,  and  were 
not  without  some  knoweldge  of  mathematics,  is 
quite  evident. 

Building  their  defensive  works  in  naturally 
strong  positions,  and  constructing  many  of  their 
other  works  in  the  form  of  various  geometrical 
figures,  show  this. 


page  40,  occurs  this  note  from  Sir  Charles  Lyell : 

"  A  human  cranium,  of  the  aboriginal  type  of 
the  red  Indian  race,  has  been  found  in  the  delta 
of  the  Mississippi,  beneath  four  buried  forests,  su- 
perimposed, one  upon  another,  implying,  as  esti- 
mated by  Dr.  Dowler,  an  antiquity  of  50,000' 
years." 

Lyell,  himself,  estimated  the  age  of  the  delta 
at  100,000  years. 

It  may  be  conjectured  from  many  historical 
facts,  that  the  Mound  Builders  were  a  foreign  peo- 
ple who  invaded  the  soil  of  America,  as  there  is 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


189 


but  little  evidence  that  they  spread  themselves 
over  the  continent,  but  much,  that  they  passed 
through  it  from  northeast  to  southwest,  covering 
a  broad  belt,  on  which  they  erected  their  mysteri- 
ous mounds.  The  time  occupied  by  them  in 
crossing  the  continent  can  only  be  conjectured. 
They -probably  came  in  great  numbers,  attempt- 
ed to  conquer  the  country,  found  the  Indians  too 


terest  of  their  religion,  shows  a  strong  tendency 
toward  a  superstitious  belief.  They  doubtless  of- 
fered up  animals  in  sacrifice,  as  a  part  of  their  re- 
ligious ceremonies,  and  it  may  be  that  human 
sacrifices  were  not  unknown  among  them.  Pris- 
oners, of  war  are  thus  disposed  of  sometimes  by 
peoples  and  nations  who  have  attained  to  as.  high 
a  grade  of  civilization  as  that  probably  reached  by 


PERFORATED  PLATES,  THREAD  SIZBRS  AND  SHUTTLES. 


strong  for  them,  but  conquered  a  certain  portion 
of  the  territory,  clung  together,  moved  gradually 
southwest,  protecting  themselves  on  the  way  by 
forts  and  other  earthworks,  finally  disappearing 
in  Mexico,  either  conquering  that  country  or  in- 
termingling with  and  becoming  absorbed  by  that 
people.    • 

The  Mound  Builders  were  doubtless  a  super- 
stitious people,  cherishing  faith  in  some  religious 
system.-  The  amount  of  labor  bestowed  upon 
those  of  their  works  that  were  erected  in  the  in- 


the  Mound  Builders.    The  sacrificial  character  of 
their  religion  is  clearly  established. 

The  late  Dr.  Foster  hesitated  not  to  say  that 
they  were  worshipers  of  the  elements;  that  they 
also  worshiped  the  sun,  moon  and  stars;  and  that 
they  offered  up  human  victims  as  an  acceptable 
sacrifice  to  the  gods  they  worshiped.  He  de- 
duced this  fact  from  the  charred  or  calcined 
bones  that  cover  their  altars.  Other  high  author- 
ities also  unhesitatingly  assert  that  there  is  con- 
vincing proof  that  they  were  fire-worshipers 


190 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


It  may  be  well  in  this  connection  to  notice, 
briefly,  the  implements  made  and  used  by  this 
people,  especially  so  far  as  investigation  has  re- 
vealed their  character  in  Coshocton  county. 

Very  few  copper  implements  have  been  found 
in  this  part  of  Ohio,  owing  partly  to  the  fact  of 
the  unexplored  condition  of  many  of  the 
mounds,  and  to  the  fact  that  little,  if  any,  copper 
exists  in  this  part  of  the  United  States.  What 
does  exist  is  in  loose  fragments  that  have  been 
washed  down  from  the  upper  lake  region. 
When  monnds  are  explored,  great  care  is  neces- 
sary lest  these  small  utensils  be  lost,  as  they  are 
commonly  "scattered  through  the  mass,  and  not 
always  in  close  proximity  to  the  skeletons^  The 
copper  deposits  about  Lake  Superior  furnished 
the  pre-htstoric  man  with  this  metal,  and,  judg- 
ing from  the  amount  of  relics  made  of  this 
metal  now  found,  it  must  have  been  quite  abun- 
dant. The  population  of  the  country,  then,  must 
have  been  quite  extensive,  as  occasional  copper 
implements,  tempered  to  an  exceeding  hardness, 
are  still  found  about  the  country.  These  imple- 
ments are  small,  generally  less  than  a  half  a 
pound  in  weight,  and  seldom  exceeding  three 
pounds.  There  were  millions  of  these  in  use 
during  the  period  of  the  ancient  dwellers,  which 
may  have  been  thousands  of  years  in  duration. 
The  copper  implements  left  on  the  surface  soon 
disappeared  by  decomposition,  to  which  copper 
is  nearly  as  liable  as  iron.  Only  a  part  of  the 
dead  Mound  Builders  were  placed  in  burial 
mounds,  and  of  these  only  a  part  were  buried 
with  their  copper  ornaments  and  implements  on 
and  about  them.  Of  those  that  were,  only  a 
small  part  have  been  discovered,  and,  in  many 
instances,  the  slight  depth  of  earth  over  them 
has  not  prevented  the  decay  and  disappearance 
of  the  coper  relics. 

Articles  of  bronze  or  brass  are  not  found  with 
the  builders  of  the  mounds.  It  is  evident  they 
knew  nothing  of  these  metals  in  the  Ohio  va\ley, 
nor  did  they  possess  any  of  the  copper  that  had 
been  melted  or  cast  in  molds. 

Stone  relics  are  very  numerous  and  well  pre- 
served. Stone  axes,  stone  mauls,  stone  hammers, 
stone  chisels,  etc.,  are  very  plentiful  yet,  and 
were  the  common  implements  of  the  pre-historic 
man  in  this  part  of  the  west.    None  were  made 


with  holes  or  eyes  for  the  insertion  of-  a  helve  or 
handle,  but  were  grooved  to  receive  a  withe 
twisted  into  the  form  of  a  handle.  Under  'the 
head  of  axes,  archseologists  include  all  wrought 
stones  with  a  groove,  a  bit  and  a  poll.  They  are 
found  unpolished,  partly  polished  and  polished. 
The  bit  was  made  sharp  by  rubbing,  and  the 
material  is  hard  and  tough,  generally  of  trachyte, 
greenstone,  granite,  quartz  or  basalt.  Most  of 
them  are  straight  on  one  edge.  In  Ohio,  it  is 
very  rare  that  stone  axes  are  found  in  the 
mounds,  indicating  that  they  are  modern,  or 
were  not  so  much  prized  by  the  Mound  Builders 
as  to  be  objects  of  burial.  Occasionally,  axes  of 
softer  material  are  found,  such  as  slate,  hematite 
and  sandstone,  but  these  are  small  in  size  and  not 
common.  They  appear  to  have  been  manufac- 
tured from  small,  oblong  bowlders,  first  brought 
into  shape  by  a  pick,  or  chipping  instrument, 
the  marks  of  which  are  visible  on  nearly  all  of 
them.  They  were  made  more  perfect  by  rub- 
bing and  polishing,  probably  done  from  time  to 
time  after  they  were  brought  into  use.  A  handle 
or  helve,  made  of  a  wythe  or  split  stick,  was  fas-  ' 
tened  in  the  groove  by  thongs  of  hide.  The  bit 
is  narrower  than  the  body  of  the  ax,  which  is 
generally  not  well  enough  balanced  to  be  of 
much  value  as  a  cutting  instrument. 

It  is  very  seldom  the  material  is  hard  enough 
to  cut  green  and  sound  timber.  The  poll  is 
usually  round,  but  sometimes  flat,  and  rarely 
pointed.  It  is  much  better  adapted  to  breaking 
than  cutting,  while  the  smaller  ones  are  better 
fitted  for  war-clubs  than  tools.  As  a  maul  to  break 
dry  Mmbs,  they  were  very  efficient,  and  this  was 
probably  the  use  made  of  them.  .In  weight  they 
range  from  half  a  pound  to  sixteen  pounds,  but  _ 
are  generally  less  than  three  pounds.  The  very 
heavy  ones  must  have  been  kept  at  the  regular 
camps  and  villages,  as  they  were  too  heavy  for 
convenient  transportation.  Such  axes  are  occa- 
sionally found  in  the  Indian  towns  on  the  frontier, 
as  they  were  found  in  Ohio  among  the  aborigines. 
The  Mound  Builders  apparently  did  not  give 
them  as  much  prominence  among  their  imple- 
ments as  their  savage  successors.  Double-headed 
hammers  have  the  groove  in  the  middle.  They 
were  made  of  the  same  material  as  the  axes,  so  bal- 
anced as  to  give  a  blow  with  equal  force  at  either 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


191 


end.  Their  mechanical  symmetry  is  often  perfect. 
As  a  weapon  in  war,  they  were,  indeed,  formid- 
able, for  which  purpose  they  are  yet  used  among 
the  Indians  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
Implements  known  as  "fieshers"  and  "skin- 


thing  without  destroying  the  perfect  edge  most 
of  them  now  exhibit.  The  grooved  axes  were 
much  better  adapted  to  this  purpose. 

Stone  pestles  are  not  plentiful  in  this  county, 
while  stone  mortars  are  rare,  indicating  that  they 


—i 


j_i  jj    ,  _i 


DBILLED  CEREMQKIAL   WEAPONS— SLATE. 


ners,"  chisel-formed,  commonly  called  "celts," 
were  probably  used  as  aids  in  peeling  the  skin'  of 
animals  from  the  mea,t  and  bones.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  cutting  tools  for  wood,  they  were  not  suf- 
ficiently hard,  and  do  not  show  such  use,  excepting 
in  a  few  flint  chisels.  They  may  have  been 
applied  as  coal  scrapers  where  wood  had  been 
burned ;  but  this  could  not  have  been  a  general 


were  made  of  wood,  which  is  lighter  and  fnore 
easily  transported.  Most  of  the  pestles  are  short, 
with  a  wide  base,  tapering  toward  the  top.  They 
were  probably  used  with  one  hand,  and  moved 
about  in  the  mortar  in  a  circle.  The  long, 
round  instrurnent,  usually  called  a  pestle,  does 
not  appear  to  be  fitted  for  crushing  seeds  and 
grain  by  pounding  or  turning  in  the  mortar.    It 


192 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


was  probably  used  as  a  rolling-pin,  perhaps  on  a 
board  or  leveled  log,  not  upon  stone.  It  is  sel- 
dom found  smooth  or  polished,  and  varies  from 
seven  to  thirteen  inches  in  length.  In  outline 
they  taper  toward  each  end,  which  is  generally 
smooth,  and  circular  in  form,  as  though  it  had 
been  twirled  in  an  upright  position. 

There  is  almost  an  endless  variety  of  perforated 
plates,  thread-sizers,  shuttles,  etc.  They  are 
usually  made  of  striped  slate,  most  of '  which 
have  tapering  holes  through  them  flat-wise,  the 
use  of  which  has  been  much  discussed.  The  ac- 
companying plate  exhibits  several  specimens  of 
these ;  but  there  are,  doubtless,  many  other  forms 
and  styles.  They  are  generally  symmetrical,  the 
material  fine-grained,  and  their  proportions 
graceful,  as  though  their  principal  use  was  that 
of  ornamentation.  Many  of  them  may  well  have 
been  worn  suspended  as  beads  or  ornaments. 
Some  partake  of  the  character  of  badges  or  en- 
signs of  authority.  Others,  if  strung  together  on 
thongs  or  belts,  would  serve  as  a  coat  of  mail, 
protecting  the  breast  or  back  against  the  arrows 
of  an  enemy.  A  number  of  them  vTould  serve 
to  size  and  twist  twine  or  coarse  thread  made  of 
bark,  rawhide  or  sinesw.  The  most  common 
theory  regarding  their  use  is,  however,  lacking 
one  important  feature.  None  of '  them  show 
signs  of  wear  by  use.  The  edges  ©f  the  holes 
through  them  are  sharp  and  perfect.  This  objec- 
tion applies  equally  well  to  their  use  as  suspended 
ornaments.  Some  of  them  are  shuttle-form, 
through  which  coarse  threads  might  have  been 
passed,  "for  weaving  rude  cloth  or  bark  of  fibrous 
plants,  such  as  milk-weed  or  thistles.  There  are 
also  double-ended  and  pointed  ones,  with  a  cross 
section  about  the  middle  of  which  is  a  circle,  and 
through  which  is  a  perforation. 

A  great  variety  of  wands  or  badges  of  distinc- 
tion are  found.  They  are  nearly  all  fabricated 
from  striped  and  variegated  slate,  highly  finished, 
very  symmetrical  and  elegant  in  proportion,  evi- 
dently designed  to  be  ornamental.  If  they  were 
stronger  and  heavier,  some  of  them  would  serve 
the  purpose  of  hatchets  or  battle-axes.  The  ma- 
terial is  compact  and  fine-grained ;  but  the  eyes, 
or  holes,  for  handles  or  staves,  are  quite  small, 
seldom  half  an  inch  in  diameter.  Their  edges 
are  not  sharp,  but  rounded,  and  the  body  is  thin. 


usually  less  than  one-fourth  of  an  inch  in  thick- 
ness. 

The  form  of  badges,  known  as  "double-cres- 
cents," are  the  most  elegant  and  expensive  of  any 
yet  brought  to  notice.  They  were  probably  used 
to  indicate  the  highest  rank  or  office.  The  single 
crescent,  perhaps,  signified  a  rank  next  below  the 
double.  In  the  collection  of  Mr.  John  B.  Matson, 
of  Richland  county,  there  is  a  rough-hewn  double 
one  in  process  of  construction,  the  horns  of  which 
turn  inward.  In  nearly  or  quite  all  the  finished 
ones  the  points  turn  outward.  The  finish  around 
the  bore  of  aU  winged  badges  and  the  crescents 
is  the  same,  and  the  size  of  the  bore  about  the 
same — from  two-fifths  to  three-fifths  of  an  inch. 
On  one  side  of  al!  is  a  narrow  ridge ;  on  the  other, 
a  flat  band,  lengthwise,  like  a  ridge  that  has  been 
ground  down  to  a  width  of  one  to  two-tenths  of 
an  inch.  Badges  and  crescents  are  invariably 
made  of  banded  slate,  generally  of  a  greenish 
shade  of  color.  The  other  forms  of  wands  or 
badges,  such  as  those  with  symmetrical  wings  or 
blades,  are  also  made  of  green  striped  slate,  highly 
polished,  with  a  bore  of  about  one-half  inch  in 
diameter,  apparently  to  insert  a  light  wooden  rod 
or  staff.  They  were  probably  emblems  of  distinc- 
tion, and  were  not  ornaments.  Nothing  like 
them  is  known  among  the  modern  tribes,  in  form 
or  use,  hence  they  are  attributed  to.  the  Mound 
Builders. 

In  addition  to  stpne  ornaments,  the  pre-historic 
man  seems  to  have  had  a  penchant,  like  his  sav- 
age successot-s,  to  bedaub  his  body  with  various 
colors,  derived  from  different  colored  minerals. 
These  compounds  were  mixed  in  hollowed  stones 
or  diminutive  mortars — "  paint  cups," — in  which 
the  mineral  mass  of  colored  clay  was  reduced  to 
poVder  and  prepared  for  application  to  the  body. 
Such  paint  cups  are  not  common ;  in  fact,  are 
quite  rare,  but  one  being  known  to  exist  in  this 
part  of  the  State,  that  in  the  collection  of  Dr. 
Craig,  of  Mansfield. 

The  comparative  rarity  of  aboriginal  smoking 
pipes  is  easily  explained  by  the  fact  that  they 
were  not  discarded,  as  were  weapons,  when  those 
by  whom  they  were  fashioned  entered  upon  the 
iron  age.  The  advances  of  the  whites  in  no  way 
lessened  the  demand  for  pipes,  nor  did  the  whites 
substitute  a  better  implement.    The  pipes  were 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


193 


retained  and  used  until  worn  out  or  broken,  save 
the  few  that  were  buried  with  their  dead  owners. 
What  was  the  ultimate  fate  of  these  can  only  be 
conjectured.  In  very  few  instances  does  an  In- 
dian grave  contain  a  pipe.  If  the  practice  of 
burying  the  pipe  with  its  owner  was  common,  it 
is  probable  that  the  graves  were  opened  and 
robbed  of  this  coveted  article  by  members  of  the 
same  or  some  other  tribes. 

It  only  remains  to  notice  the  "  flints,"  in  addi- 
tion to  which  a  few  other  archaeological  relics  of 
minor  importance  are  found  about  the  country, 
but  nonfe  of  sufficient  import  to  merit  mention, 
or  to  throw  additional  light  on  the  lost  tribes  of 
America.  Arrow  and  spear  :  heads  and  other 
similar  pieces  of  flaked  flints  are  the  most  abund- 
ant of  any  aboriginal  relics  in  the  United  States. 
They  are  chiefly  made  of  hard'  and  brittle  silice- 
ous materials;  are  easily  damaged  in  hitting  any 
object  at  which  they  are  aimed,  hence  many  of 
them  bear  marks  of  violent  use.  Perfect  speci- 
mens are,  however,  by  no  means  rare.  The  art 
of  arrow  making  survives  to  the  present  day 
among  certain  Indian  tribes,  from  whom  is 
learned  the  art  practiced  that  produces  them. 

A  classification  of  arrow  heads  is  not  within 
the  scope  of  this  work;  indeed,  it  is  rarely 
attempted  by  archaeologists.  The  styles  are 
almost  as  numerous  as  their  makers.  In  general, 
they  are  all  the  same  in  outline,  mostlj-  leaf- 
shaped,  varying  according  to  the  taste  of  their 
makers.  The  accompanying  cut  exhibits  a  few 
of  the  common  forms,  though  the  number  is 
infinite.  They  may  have  been  chipped — proba- 
bly most  were— and  some  may  have  been 
ground.  Spear  heads  exhibit  as  large  a  variety 
as  arrow  heads.  Like  arrow  heads,  spear  heads 
were  inserted  in  wooden  handles  of  various 
lengths,  though  in  many  tribes  they  were  fast- 
ened by  thongs  of  untanned  leather  or  sinews. 

Their  modes  of  manufacture  were  generally 
the  sanje.  Sometimes  tribes  contained  "arrow 
makers,"  whose  business  was  to  make  these  im- 
plements, selling  them  to,  or  exchanging  them 
with,  their  neighbors  for  wampum  or  peltry. 
When  the  Indian  desired  an  arrow  head,  he 
could  buy  one  of  the  "  arrow  maker  "  or  make 
one  himself.  The  common  method  was  to  take 
a  chipping  implement,  generally  made  of   the 


pointed  rods^of  a  deer  horn,  from  eight  to  six- 
teen inches  in  length,  or  of  slender,  short  pieces 
of  the  same  material,  bound  with  sinews  to 
wooden  sticks  resembling  arrow  shafts.  The 
"  arrow  maker  "  held  in  his  left  hand  the  flake  of 
flint  or  obsidian  on  which  he  intended  to  operate, 
and  pressing  the  point  of  the  tool  against  its 
edge,  detached  scale  after  scale,  until  the  flake 
assumed  the  desired  form. 

Note.— For  more  particular  intormatlou  regarding  the 
works  of  the  Mound  Builders,  in  different  parts  of  this  county 
the  reader  is  referred  to  the  history  of  the  different  townships 
In  which  such  works  are  located. 


CHAPTER  XIX 


INDIANS. 


Geographical  Location  of  the  Various  Trlhes— The  Dela- 
wares— Their  Towns  In  this  County— Brief  History  of  .the 
Tribes  In  Ohio— Captain  Pipe— White  Eyes— Wingenund 
and  Klllblick—Netawatwees— Manners,  Customs,  Feasts, 
etc. — Cabins,  Wigwams,  Food,  etc. — Amusements  and 
Hunting— Eemoval  Beyond  the  Mississippi. 

THE  next  inhabitants  in  the  form  of  a  human 
being  to  occupy  the  territory  now  embraced 
in  Coshocton  county,  after  the  Mound  Builders, 
were  the  American  Indians.  At  least  such  is  the 
generally  received  opinion,  though  whether  the 
Indians  and  Mound  Builders  were  not  cotem- 
poraneous  is,  perhaps,  an  open  question.  The 
Indian  history,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Mound 
Builders,  is  a  good  deal  involved  in  obscurity, 
and  much  of  it  largely  dependent  on  tradition, 
yet  much  of  it  is  authentic  and  reliable.  The 
Indians  themselves,  however,  can  be  allowed 
very  little,  if  any,  credit  for  this  preservation  of 
their  history ;  it  is  almost,  or  entirely,  owing  to 
white  occupation  that  they  have  any  history  at  all. 
The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Indian 
race,  as  a  race,  will  become  extinct.  Supposing 
this  extinction  had  occurred  before  white  occu- 
pation of  this  'country,  what  would  the  world 
know  'Of  the  Indian  race?  Where  are  their 
monuments  ?  Where  the  works  that  would 
perpetuate  their  memory  ?  In  what  particular 
spot  on  this  great  earth  have  they  left  a  single 
indellible  footprint  or  iraperishable  mark  to  tell 


194 


HISTOilY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


of  their  existence?  Not  so  with  the  Mound 
Builders.  They  left  works  of  an  imperishable 
nature,  and  from  these  something  of  their  his- 
tory may  be  learned,  even  though  personally 
they  do  not  appear  to  exist  anywhere.  They 
were  evidently  workers,  and  much  superior  to 
the  Indian,  viewed  from  a  civilized  standpoint. 

It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  define  the  bound- 
aries of  the  territory  of  the  various  tribes  occu- 
pying the  Northwest  Territory  at  the  date  of  the 
advent  of  the  whites.  Nearly  all  the  tribes  were 
more  or  less  migratorj-  in  their  disposition,  and 
doubtless  during  long  ages  in  the  dark  past  they 
all  moved  about  from  place  to  place,  continuallj' 
at  war  with  each  other;  conquering  and  possess- 
ing each  other's  territory;  driving  out  and  being 
in  turn  driven  out;  doubtless  occasionally  exter- 
minating a  weak  tribe ;  occasionally  becoming 
friendly  and  intermingling  and  intermarrying, 
thus,  perhaps,  occasionally  consolidating  and 
losing  their  tribal  individuality,  and  during  all 
changes  in  all  ages  leaving  no  written  record  of 
the  history  they  must  have  made. 

Several  tribes  were  found  occupying  the  terri- 
tory now  embraced  in  Ohio,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century ;  among  them  the  Delawares, 
Wyandots,  Shawanees,  Ottawas,  Miamis  and  some 
others.  These  tribes  were  generally  leagued  to- 
gether for  self-protection'  and  self-defense,  all  de- 
termined to  resist  the  encroahments  of  the  all- 
powerful  white  race.  They  were  generally  on 
friendly  terms  with  each  other  and,  although 
each  tribe  occupied  permanent  camps  or  homes 
in  some  particular  part  of  the  territory,  and 
hunted  in  particular  localities,  the  exact  bound- 
aries of  the  domain  of  each  was  not  probably 
known  or  defined.  Each  tribe  was  generally 
camped  upon  some  stream  and  claimed  for  a 
hunting  ground  all  the  territory  drained  by  that 
stream.  Nevertheless  they  were  a  good  deal 
mixed,  and  hunted  much  upon  each  other's 
territory,  often  establishing  temporary  and  even 
permanent  camps  upon  grounds  outside  of  the 
domain  of  their  tribe. 

The  Muskingum  valley  was  generally  claimed 
by  the  Delawares,  though  the  Shawanese  and  Wy- 
andots were  also  found  here  in  considerable 
numbers,  camping  and  roaming  over  the  Dela- 
ware grounds  with  greajt  freedom. 


During  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century  the 
Shawnees  occupied  the  Scioto  country,  and  some- 
times spread  themselves  more  or  less  over  this 
section;  but  the  Wyandots  (also  called  the 
Hurons)  and  tlie  Delawares  mainly  occupied  the 
country  between  the  Muskingum  and  Scioto 
rivers. 

In  1785,  by  the  treaty  of  Fort  Mcintosh,  it  was 
stipulated  that  the  boundary  line  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Delaware  and  Wyandot 
nations  should  "begin  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cuya- 
hoga river  and  run  thence  up  said  river  to  the 
portage  between  that  and  the  Tuscarawas  branch 
of  Muskingum,  thence  down  said  branch  to  the 
forks  (at  the  present  town  of  Bolivar),  thence 
westerly  to  the  portage  of  the  Big  IMiami,  thence 
along  said  portage  to  the  great  Miami  of  the 
lakes  (Maumee  river),  and  down  said  river  to  its 
mouth;  thence  along  the  southern  shore  of  Lake 
Erie  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cuyahoga,  the  place  of 
beginning."  By  this  treaty,  as  will  be  seen,  they 
ceded  a  large  territory-,  including  Coshocton 
county,  to  the  United  States.  It  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that^man}'  of  them  continued  to  occupy 
tljis  territory  many  years  after  the  date  of  the 
above  treaty,  wliich  they  found  little  difficulty  in 
doing,  as  there  were  then  no  white  settlers  to 
dispute  the  possession  with  them. 

To  the  Shawnees  was  assigned,  by  the  treaty  of 
Fort  t"inney,  in  1786,  the  country  between  the 
Big  Miami  and  Wabash  rivers.  They  also  relin- 
quished all  claims  to  whatever  territory  they  had 
m  Ohio,  but  some  of  them  also  lingered  here, 
even  within  the  limits  of  this  county,  until  the 
close  of  tlie  centur}-,  or  later. 

When  the  English-speaking  white  man  first 
came  into  the  territory  now  embraced  in  Co- 
shocton county,  it  was  occupied  by  the  Dela- 
wares. It  is  quite  certain  that  just  before  them 
the  Shawnee  Indians  were  in  the  land,  retiring  as 
the  Delawares  came  in,  to  the  more  westerly  and 
southerly  regions.  The  French  were  then  claim- 
ing dominion  of  all  the  Mississippi  valley,  and 
the  head  of  the  Muskingum,  as  an  interesting 
and  favored  locality,  was  not  unknown  to  their 
soldiers,  traders  and  missionaries. 

The  Delawares,  crowded  out  by  the  white  set- 
tlers about  the  Delaware  river  and  in  eastern 
Pennsylvania,  found  a  home  to  their  taste  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


195 


beautiful  and   fertile  Tuscarawas,  Walhonding, 
and  Muskingum  valleys. 

Their  language  at  least  will  abide  in  the  land 
as  long  as  the  names  just  mentioned,  and  also 
those  of  White  Eyes,  Mohican,  and  Killbuck 
continue  to  be  accepted  as  the  designations  of 
the  rivers  and  creeks  to  which  they  are  now 
attached.  Within  the  limits  of  the  county  as 
now  bounded,  there  were,  a  hundred  years  ago, 
at  least  six  considerable  Indian  towns,  the  houses 
being  built  of  bark  and  limbs  and  logs,  and 
arranged  in  lines  or  on  streets.  One  of  these 
towns  was  called  White  Eyes  (Koguethagachton), 
and  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  Lafayette.  Two 
other  towns  were  located — one  three  and  the 
other  ten  miles  up  the  Walhonding— and  were 
called  the  Monsey  towns,  the  more  distant  being 
occupied  by  a  faction  of  the  Delawares  under 
control  of  Captain  Pipe,  who  became  disgusted 
with  the  generally  peaceful  and  Christian  policy 
of  the  nation,  and  seceded  from  it,  desiring  more 
indulgence  for  his  base  and  bloody  passions. 
The  lower  town  was  Wengenunds'.  The  fourth 
town  was  Goschachgunk,  occupying  that  part  of 
the  present  town  of  Coshocton  (a  name  said  to 
be  a  modification  of  the  name  of  the  old  Indian 
town)  tetween  Third  street  and  the  river.  This 
was  much  the  largest  town,  and_  for  many  years 
was  the  capital  of  the  Delaware  nation,  where 
the  grand  councils  were  held  and  whither  the 
tribes  assembled.  It  was  the  residence  of  Neta- 
watwees,  their  great  chief,  and  was  often  visited 
by  the  famous  councilors,  White  Eyes  and  Kill- 
buck,  as  well  as  the  big  captains  and  braves  of 
numerous  tribes.  The  fifth  town  was  situated 
about  two  miles  below  Coshocton  on  the  east  side 
of  the  Muskingum  river  (on  the  farms  since  in 
the  possession  of  Samuel  Moore  and  the  Tingle 
heirs),  and  was  called  Lichtenau  ("Pasture  of 
Light ").  It  was  occupied  by  Christian  Indians 
under  the  direction  of  Rev.  David  Zeisberger 
(and  afterward  Rev.  Wm.  Ed-syards  in  conjunction 
with  him),  the  famous  Moravian  missionary.  In 
addition  to  these  there  was  also  a  small  Shawnee 
town  in  Washington  township  on  the  Waka- 
tomica,  and  perhaps,  at  various  times  many 
others,  either  temporary  or  permanent,  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  county.  One  called  Muskingum 
was  said  to  be  located  five  miles  above  Coshocton, 


on  the  Tuscarawas.  A  brief  history  of  the  prin- 
cipal tribes  occupying  the  soil  of  Ohio,  and  of 
their  habits  and  customs,  may  be  of  interest  here. 
Speaking  of  the  Shawaneese  or  Shawanoes,  Col- 
onel Johnston,  a  most  excellent  authority  on  such 
subjects,  says  : 

"  We  can  trace  their  history  to  the  time  of  their 
residence  on  the  tide- waters  of  Florida,  and,  as 
well  as  the  Delawares,  they  aver  that  they  origin- 
ally came  from  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Black- 
hoof,  whp  died  at  Wapaghkonnetta,  at  the  ad- 
vanced age  of  105  years,  and  who,  in  his  day,  was 
a  very  influential  chief  among  the  Indians,  told 
me  that  he  remembered,  when  a  boy,  bathing  in 
the  salt  waters  of  Florida;  also  that  his  people 
firmly  believed  white,  or  civilized,  people  had 
been  in  the  country  before  them,  having  found 
in  many  instances  the  marks  of  iron  tools  upon 
the  trees  and  stumps." 

Shawanoese  means  "  the  south,"  or  the  "  people 
from  the  south."  *  After  the  pea'ce  of  1763,  the 
Miamis  removed  from  the  big  Miami  river  and  a 
body  of  Shawnees  established  themselves  at  Lower 
and  Upper  Piqua,  which  became  their  principal 
headquarters  in  Ohio.  They  remained  here  un- 
til driven  ofT  by  the  Kentuckians,  when  they 
crossed  over  to  the  St.*  Mary's  and  to  Wapaghkon- 
netta. The  Upper  Piqua  is  said  to  have  con- 
tained at  one  period  over  4,000  Shawnees.  They 
were  very  warlike  and  brave,  and  often  were 
quite  formidable  enemies. 

In  the  French  war,  which  ended  in  1763,  a 
bloody  battle  was  fought  near  the  site  of  Colonel 
Johnson's  residence,  at  Upper  Piqua.  At  that 
time  the  Miamis  had  their  towns  here,  which  on 
ancient  maps  are  marked  as  "Tewightewee 
towns."  The  Miamis,  Ottawas,  Wyandots,  and  other 
northern  tribes  adhering  to  the  French,  made  a 
stand  here,  assisted  by  the  French.  The  Dela- 
wares, Shawnees,  Munseys,  parts  of  the  Senecas,  re- 
siding in  Pennsylvania ;  Cherokees,  Catawbas,  and 
other  tribes,  adhering  to  the  English,  with  English 
traders,  attacked  the  French  and  Indians.  The 
latter' had  built  a  fort  in  which  to  protect  and  de- 
fend themselves,  and  were  able  to  withstand  the 
seige,  which  lasted  more  than  a  week.  Not  long 
after  this  contest,  the  Miamis  left  the  country, 
retiring  to  the  Miamies  of  the  Lake  (Maumee 
river  and  tributaries),  at  and  near  Fort  Wayne, 

'•'Howe's  Collections. 


196 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


and  never  returned.  The  Shaw)iees  took  their 
place,  and  gave  names  to  many  towns  in  this  part 
of  Ohio. 

The  northern  part  of  Ohio  belonged  in  ancient 
times  to  the  Eries,  who  were  exterminated  by  the 
Five  Nations  in  some  of  their  wars.  The  Wyandots, 
who,  at  the  time  the  French  missionaries  came 
to  America  were  dwelling  in  the  peninsula  of 
Michigan,  were  allowed  by  the  Five  Nations  to 
occupy  the  land  of  the  Eries,  sfnd  thus  came  to 
dwell  in  Ohio.  From  Howe's  Historical  Collec- 
tions, it  is  ascertained  that  the  Wyandots  once  oc- 
cupied the  north  side  of  the  St.  Lawrence  river, 
down  to  Coon  lake,  and  from  thence  up  the  Uti- 
was.  The  Seneoas  owned  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  and  the  island  upon  which  Montreal  now 
stands.  Both  were  large  tribes,  consisting  of 
many  thousands,  and  were  blood  relations,  claim- 
ing each  other  as  cousins. 

A  war  originated  between  the  two  tribes  in  the 
following  manner :  A  Wyandot  brave  wanted  « 
certain  woman  for  his  wife;  she  objected;  said 
he  was  no  warrior,  as  he  had  never  taken  any 
scalps.  He  then  raised  a  party  of  warriors  and 
they  fell  upon  a  small  party  of  Senecas,  killing 
and  scalping  a  number  of  them.  It  is  presumed 
the  Wyandot  brave  secured  his  wife,  but  this 
created  a  war  between  the  tribes  which  lasted 
more  than  a  hundred  years,  and  until  both 
nations  were  much  weakened,  and  the  Wyandots 
nearly  exterminated.  The  latter  were  compelled 
to  leave  the  country,  and  took  up  their  residence 
on  the  peninsula  of  Michigan,  as  before  stated. 
They  were  often  compelled  to  fight  their  old  ene- 
mies even  in  this  far  oflf  region,  as  war  parties  of 
Senecas  frequently  went  there  for  that  purpose. 
A  peace  was  finally  arranged,  and  the  remnan- 
of  Wyandots  came  to  reside  in  Ohio.  The  Ottat 
was,  another  conquered  tribe,  and  one  allowed 
Bixistence  only  by  paying  a  kind  of  tribute  to 
their  conquerors,  the  Iroquis,  were  also  part 
occupants  of  this  same  part  of  Ohio.  This  nation 
produced  the  renowned  chief,  Pontiac,  who  was 
the  cause  of  such  wide-spread  desolation  in  the 
West.  The  Ottawas  were  often  known  as  "Canada 
Indians "  among  the  early  settlers.  Their  prin- 
cipal settlements  were  on  the  Maumee,  along  the 
lake  shore,  on  the  Huron  and  Black  rivers,  and 
on  the  streams  flowing  into  them.    These  Indians 


were  distinguished  for  their  cunning  and  artifice, 
and  were  devoid  of  the  attributes  of  a  true  war- 
rior. They  were  often  employed  as  emissaries,' 
their  known  diplomacy  and  artifice  being  well 
adapted  for  such  business.  The  Wyandots,  on 
the  other  hand,  were  a  bold,  warlike  people. 
General  Harrison  says  of  them :  "  They  were  true 
warriors,  and  neither  fatigue,  famine,  loss,  or  any 
of  the'  ills  of  war  could  daunt  their  courage. 
They  were  our  most  formidable  and  stubborn 
enemies  among  the  aborigines  in  the  war  of 
1812."  They,  like  all  tribes  in  the  West,  were 
often  influenced  by  British  rum  and  British  gold, 
and  found,  in  the  end,  as  their  chiefs  so  aptly 
expressed  it,  that  they  were  "  only  tools  in  the 
hands  of  a  superior  power,  who  cared  nothing 
for  them,  only  to  further  their  own  selfish  ends." 

Of  the  Delawares,  who  were  the  principal  oc- 
cupants of  the  Muskingum  valley  and  Coshocton 
county  upon  the  advent  of  the  first  white  settlers, 
Col.  John  Johnson  says :  "  The  true  name  of 
this  once  powerful  tribe  is  Wa-be-nugh-ka,  that 
is,  'the  people  from  the  east,'  or  'the  sun  rising.' 
The  tradition  among  themselves  is,  that '  they 
originally,  at  some  very  remote  period,  emigrated 
from  the  west,  crossed  the  Mississippi,  and  as- 
cending the  Ohio  river,  fought  their  wa#^  east- 
ward until  the^  reached  the  Delaware  river  (so 
named  from  Lord  Delaware),  near  where  Phila- 
delphia now  stands,  in  which  region  of  country 
they  became  fixed. 

"  About  this  time  they  were  so  numerous  that 
no  enumeration  could  be  made  of  them.  They 
welcomed  to  the  shores  of  the  new  world  that 
great  law-giver,  William  Penn,  and  his  peaceful 
followers;  and  ever  since,  this  people  have  enter- 
tained a  kind  and  grateful  recollection  of  them; 
even  to  this  day,  in  speaking  of  good  men,  they 
would  say,  ' wa-slie-a  E-le-ne'  —  such  a  man  is  a 
Quaker;  i.  e.,  all  good  men  are  Quakers."  Col. 
Johnson  says :  "  In  1823,  I  removed  to  the  west 
of  the  Mississippi  persons  of  this  tribe  who  were 
born  and  raised  within  thirty  miles  of  Philadel- 
phia. These  were  the  most  squalid,  wretched 
and  degraded  of  their  race,  and  often  furnished 
chiefs  with  a  subject  of  reproach  against  the 
whites,  pointing  to  these  of  their  people  and  say- 
ing to  us,  'see  how  you  have  spoiled  them,'— 
meaning  they  had  acquired  all  the  bad  habits  of 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


197 


the  white  people,  and  were  ignorant  of  hunting 
a,nd  incapable  of  making  a  livelihood  as  were 
other  Indians.'' 

5n  1819,  there  were  belonging  to  Col.  Johnson's 
agency  in  Ohio  eighty  Delawares,  who  were  sta- 
tioned near  the  yillage  of  Upper  Sandusljy,  in 
Wyandot  county,  and  2,300  of  the  same  tribe  in 
Indiana.  They  had  been  driven  gradually  back 
through  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. 

Bockinghelas  was,  for  many  years  after  the  ad- 
vent of  the  whites,  the  principal  chief  of  the  Del- 
awares. He  was  a  distinguished  warrior  in  his 
■day.  Killbuck,  another  Delaware  chief,  whose 
name  is  fortunately  preserved  for  all  time  in  the 
little  stream  in  this  county,  was  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal chiefs  in  this  valley.  He  was  educated  at 
Princeton  college,  and  was  prominent  among  the 
converts  of  the  Moravian  missionaries. 

Captain  Pipe  was  a  prominent  chief  ot  the 
Wolf  tribe,  the  most  warlike  of  all  the  tribes  of 
the  Delaware  nation.  He  was  a  very  artful,  de- 
signing man,  and  a  chief  of  considerable  ability 
and  influence.  Captain  Pipe  was  ambitious, 
bold,  and  noted  for  schemes  and  strategy.  He 
was  engaged  at  one  time  in  plotting  for  a  division 
of  his  nation.  His  ambitious  spirit  would  brook 
no  rival,  and  he  was  ever  intriguing  or  engaged 
in  plotting  some  nefarious  scheme.  He  was  one 
of  the  many  warriors  present  at  Fort  Pitt,  in 
July,  1759,  at  a  conference  between  George  Cro- 
ghan  (Sir  William  Johnson's  deputy  Indian  agent), 
Hugh  Mercer  (Commandant),  and  the  Indians  of 
the  Six  Nations,  Shawnese  and  Delawares.  In 
September,  1764,  he  appeared  at  Fort  Pitt,  with 
other  warriors,  manifestly  with  hostile  purposes, 
and  he  and  two  of  his  warriors  were  detained  as 
Iiostages,  and  were  not  released  until  after  the  re- 
turn of  Col.  Bouquet,  with  his  army  from  the 
Muskingum  in  the  latter  part  of  November. 

In  1765,  Captain  Pipe  was  at  Fort  Pitt,  as  one 
of  the  chief  warriors  of  the  Delawares,  attending 
the  conference  held  with  the  Senecas,  Shawnese, 
Delawares  and  other  tribes.  He  was  also  present 
at  the  great  conference  held  at  Fort  Pitt  in 
April,  1768,  under  the  direction  of  George  Crog- 
han,  with  the  chief  warriors  of  the  Six  Nations, 
Delawares.  Shawnese,  Monsies,  Mohicans  and 
Wyandots.  In  1771,  Captain  Pipe  (as  a  chief ), 
sent  "  a  speech "  to  Governor  John  Penn,  which 
3 


is  printed  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Archives. 

In  May,  1774,  Pipe,  with  other  chiefs,  went  to 
Fort  Pitt,  to  confer  with  Captain  John  Connolly 
(Governor  Dunmore's  deputy),  George  Croghan, 
and  other  inhabitants  of  Pittsburgh,  in  reference 
to  recent  aggressions— the  murder  of  Logan's 
family,  and  other  outrages;  the  object  of  the 
conference  being  to  avert  the  impending  Indian 
war,  which  soon  iollowed. 

When  the  revolutionary  war  broke  out  and 
hostilities  had  commenced,  the  Delawares  divided ; 
a  portion  of  them  under  the  lead  of  White  Eyes 
and    Killbuck  (two  influential  chiefs),  making 
common  cause  with  the  Colonies  against  the 
mother  countrjr,   and  Pipe,  who  espoused  the 
cause  of  the  British.    Netawatwes,  White  Eyes, 
Killbuck  and  Big  Cat  labored  to  preserve  peace 
and  to  avert  war,  but  in  all  their  endeavors  they 
were  always  frustrated  by  the  restless,  intriguing 
Pipe,  who  was  ever  warlike  and  vengeful,  always 
brooding  over  old  resentments.    Captain  Pipe,  at 
this  time  (1775-6),  had  his  residence  fifteen  miles 
up  the  Walhonding,  from  the  "  Forks  of  the  Mus- 
kingum (now  Coshocton),  near  or  at  the  point  of 
confluence  of  the  Mohican  and  Owl  creek  (now 
Vernon  river),  where,  in  1761,  was  situated  an 
Indian  town,  known  as  TuUihas,  and  where  was 
located  the  Indian  village  named  "  Owl  Town,"  on 
Hutohin'smap,in  Smith's  history  of  the  Bouquet 
expedition  of  1764,  issued  the  next  year.    Pipe's 
residence  could  not  have  been  remote  from  the 
point  above  designated,  now  in  Newcastle  town- 
ship, this  county,  if  it  was  not  immediately  at  the 
junction  of  those  streams.    There  was  an  Indian 
chief   who  figured  somewhat  conspicuously  as 
"The  Owl,"  in  early-time  western  history,  but  the 
impression  that  he  built  "  Owl  Town,''  or  that  it 
was  named  by  him,  or  that  he  ever  lived  there,  is 
not  well  authenticated. ,  The  Indian  name  of  Owl 
creek,  or  Vernon  river,  was,  according  to  Zeisber- 
ger,  Heekewelder,  and  Loskiel,  Ook-ho-sing,  the 
meaning  or  interpretation  being  "  habitation  of 
owls,"  and  it  is  more  likely  that  "Owl  Town" 
was  so  called  because  of   the  great   abundance 
of  owls  found  at  that  point  than  from  the  prob- 
lematical connection  of  the  Indian  chief  known 
to  history  as  "  The  Owl,"  with  thattown,  or  even 
with  that  locality. 


198 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Captain  JPipe,  in  1780,  removed  to  Crane's 
Town,  an  Indian  village,  situated  about  two  miles 
above  the  present  town  of  Upper  Sandusky.  He 
was  a  prominent  leader  at  the  defeat  of  Colonel 
Crawford  in  1782,  and  at  the  torturing  and  burn- 
ing of  that  officer  by  the  Indians,  which  was  done 
within  a  mile  of  his  house,  on  the  southeast  bank 
of  Tymocktee  creek,  in  what  is  now  Crawford 
township,  Wyandot  county.  The  town  in  which 
he  lived  was  sometimes  called  ".Pipe's  Town." 

Butterfield,  in  "  Crawford's  Expedition  against 
Sandusky,  in  1782,"  characterizes  Captain  Pipe  as 
a  famous  war-chief  of  the  Delawares,  and  as  one 
of  the  most  implacable  of  all  the  savage  enemies 
of  the  Americans  in  the  western  wilderness 
during  the  revolution.  He  was  also  a  bitter 
enemy  of  the  Moravian  missionaries  before  he 
removed  from  the  Muskingum  valley,  although 
it  is  said  that  he  defended  Zeisberger,  Heoke- 
welder  and  others  that  were  tried  at  Detroit  in 
1781,  on  the  charge  of  being  spies,  and  of  being 
inimical  to  the  interests  of  the  British.  His 
enmity  towards  the  Moravian  missionaries,  it  is 
said,  was  not  on  personal  grounds,  but  because 
"  he  was  hostile  to  all  attempts,  come  from  what 
source  they  might,  having  a  tendency  to  make  the 
Delawares  a  civilized  and  an  agricultural  people." 
That  a  large  majority  of  the  Delaware  nation,  in 
1780,  took  up  the  hatchet  against  the  Americans, 
forming  a  close  alliance  with  the  British,  says 
Butterfield,  was  almost  wholly  due  to  the  influence 
and  machinations  of  Captain  Pipe. 

Captain  Pipe  was  present  and  signed  the  treaty 
of  Fort  Mcintosh,  in  1785.  He  was  also  at  the 
treaty  of  Fort  Finney  (mouth  of  the  Great 
Miami),  with  the  Shawanese,  in  1786,  signing 
that  treaty  as  one  of  the  witnesses. 

Captain  Pipe  fought  against  Gen.  Harmar  in 
1790,  and  participated  actively  in  1791,  against 
General  St.  Clair.  In  1792,  a  grand  council  of 
nearly  all  the  Northwestern  tribes  assembled  at 
the  confluence  of  the  Auglaize  and  Maumee  riv- 
ers, (now  Defiance,)  to  take  into  consideration 
the  condition  of  affairs  with  the  United  States, 
at  which  it  was  agreed  to  hold  a  treaty  with  the 
Americans  during  the  next  summer.  Pipe  was 
there  next  summer,  an  advocate  for  peace,  but 
the  Indians  declared  for  war.  The  result  was 
that  a  large  army  was  sent  against  them,  com- 


manded by  General  Wayne,  who  met  the  confed- 
eracy of  Indians  on  the  Maumee,  in  August,., 
1794,  and  there  fought  and  won  the  battle  of  the 
"Fallen  Timbers." 

The  death  of  Captain  Pipe  occurred  a  few  days- 
before  the  battle  of  the  "Fallen  Timbers"  was 
fought.  His  record  is  most  unsavory — his  con- 
duct was  seldom  commendable — his  perfldious- 
ness  and  treachery  were  conspicuous — and  his 
barbarity  and  infamous  conduct  at  the  burning 
of  Col.  Crawford,  will  attach  infamy  to  his  fiame' 
wherever  and  whenever  it  is  uttered. 

Captain  White  Eyes  was  a  mighty  chief  of  the 
Delawares,  who  was  once  prominently  identified 
with  the  territory  that  now  constitutes  Coshocton- 
county.  He  had  his  residence  in  "  White  Eyes- 
Town,"  which  was  situated  near  White  Eyes 
Plains,  on  the  Tuscarawas  river,  in  what  is  now 
Oxford  township,  Coshocton  county.  "  White  Eyes 
Town"  was  probably  situated  at  or  near  to  the 
mouth  of  White  Eyes  creek,  a  small  stream  that 
enters  the  Tuscarawas  river  from  the  north,  about 
eight  miles  east  of  Coshocton.  Captain  White- 
Eyes  undoubtedly  gave  name  to  the  town.  He 
was  a  warm  friend  .of  the  Colonies  in  their  contest 
for  independence,  and  antagonized  Captain  Pipe^ 
on  all  occasions,  and  labored  hard  to  counteract 
his  influence.  He  also  heartily  and  zealously 
favored  the  efforts  made  by  the  Moravian  Mis- 
sionaries to  enlighten  and  christianize  the  Dela- 
ware Indians. 

Captain  White  Eyes  steadily  and  uniformly 
advocated  'peace  measures,  and  attended  a  con- 
ference held  at  Fort  Pitt,  in  1774,  with  a  view  of 
averting  the  war  4hat  was  then  threatened  be- 
tween the  whites  and  Indians,  known  in  history 
as  the  "  Dunmore  war." 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, the  next  year,  the  Delawares  of  the  Mus- 
kingum valley  divided  into  peace  and  war  parties 
—White  Eyes  and  Killbuck  heading  the  former, 
and  Captain  Pipe  the  latter,  or  British  party. 
White  Eyes  attended  a  conference  held  at  Fort 
Pitt,  in  October,  1775,  where  he  avowed  himself 
the  continued  and  unflinching  friend  of  peace. 
The  record  made  by  White  Eyes  shows  him  to 
have  been  "a  man  of  high 'character  and  clear 
mind,  of  courage  such  as  became  the  leader  of  a 
race  whose  most  common  virtues  were  those  of 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


199 


the  wild  man,  and  of  a  forbearance  and  kindness 
as  unusual  as  fearlessness  was  frequent  among 
his  people."  His  achievements  had  given  glory 
to  the  Delaware  nation,  and  wherever  the  fires 
of  their  lodges  burned,  his  fame  was  rehearsed. 
It  was  the  all-absorbing  purpose  of  his  life  to  re- 
claim the  Indian  from  barbarism  and  elevate  him 
to  an  equality  with  the  white  man.  Hence  he 
readily  and  earnestly  seconded  the  efforts  and 
labors  of  the  Moravian  missionaries  made  in  be- 
half of  the  red  man. 

Captain  White  Eyes  was  one  of  the  chiefs 'of 
the  Delawares  who,  in  1778,  advocated  the  scheme 
of  admitting  the  Delaware  nation,  or  at  least  all 
that  had  been  friendly  to  the  American  cause,  to 
a  perpetual  alliance  and  confederation  with  the 
United  States. 

Gen.  Mcintosh,  during  the  year  1778,  made  a 
requisition  upon  tht  Delaware  council  for  two 
captains  and  sixty  warriors,  and  White  Eyes 
joined  his  command.  Mcintosh,  with  a  small 
force,  encamped  at  Tuscarawas,  an  old  Indian 
town  on  the  river  of  that  name,  and  built  Fort 
Lansing,  named  in  honor  of  the  President  of 
Congress.  Tuscarawas,  the  old  Indian  village, 
was  situated  on  the  west  banS;  of  the  Tuscarawas 
river,  at  or  near  the  crossing-place  of  the  trail 
from  Port  Pitt,  and  on  the  line,  or  very  near  it, 
that  separates  Tuscarawas  and  Stark  counties, 
Ohio.  And  it  was  here,  at  Tuscarawas — that 
ancient  seat  of  the  aborigines  where  their  old 
men  had,  for  generations,  rehearsed  their  deeds 
of  glory — that  White  Eyes,  ofie  of  the  greatest 
and  best  of  the  later  Indians,  finished  his  career, 
in  the  midst  of  an  army  of  white  men  to  whom 
he  had  ever  remained  true. 

He  died  of  small-pox  on  the  tenth  of  Novem- 
ber) 1778.  Where  his  remains  are  resting  no 
man  knows ;  the  plowshare  hal^  doubtless  often 
furrowed  his  grave,  but  his  name  lives.  Few 
men  have  done  more  for  his  race,  especially  ^f or 
the  Delaware  nation,  and  few  men  labored  more 
faithfully  or  zealously  than  White  Eyes  to  bring 
•the  aboriginal  tribes  of  the  Great  West  under 
the  influence  of  civilization  and  Christianity. 

The  death  of  White  Eyes  caused  deep  sorrow 
throughout  the  Indian  country,  and  many  em- 
bassies were  sent  from  the  West  to  condole  with 
the  Delawares. 


The  Christian  Indians  of  the  Tuscarawas 
valley  and  the  Moravian  missionaries  every- 
where realized  that  in  the  death  of  White  Eyes 
they  had  lost  a  true  friend.  And  no  less  did  the 
friends  of  the  Ameripan '  cause  realize  that  in 
the  death  of  this  noble  chief  they  too  had  lost  a 
valued,  unfailing  friend !  And  lastly,  the  Dela- 
ware nation  had  good  reason  to  deplore  the 
death  of  Captain  White  Eyes,  than  whom  it 
would-be  difficult  to  find  one  who  was  more  stead- 
ily and  heartily  devoted  to  their  interests. 

A  hundred  years  ago,  there  were  six  or  more 
Indian  villages  within  the  present  limits  of 
Coshocton  county,  all  being  Delaware  towns, 
except  a  Shawanese  village  oh  the  Wakatomika,  in 
the  present  township  of  "Washington,  and  Mus- 
kingum, five  miles  up  the  Tuscarawas  from  its 
mouth,  which  Captain  Trent's  journal  calls  a 
Mingo  town.  The  Delawares  were  divided  into 
three  tribes,  kno\\rn  as  the  Wolf,  the  Turkey  and 
the  Turtle  tribes.  The  Wolf  and-  the  Turtle 
tribes  were  the  most  numerous  here,  if  indeed 
there  were  any  of  the  Turkey  tribe  here  at  all, 
before  the  arrival,  in  1776,  of  a  chief  and  ten  fam- 
ilies of  that  tribe  from  Assununk,  a  town  on  the 
Hockkocking.  The  two  villages  up  the  Wal- 
honding  (the  Monsey  towns)  were  occupied  by 
the  Delawares  of  the  Wolf  tribe.  Wingenund, 
the  chief  at  White  Womarfs  town,  like  Captain 
Pipe,  made  himself  conspicuously  infamous  at 
the  burning  of  Colonel  Crawford. 

Killbuck,  son  of  Netawatwees,  was  a  chief  who 
rendered  himself  somewhat  conspicuous  by  his 
opposition  to  the  Moravian  missionaries. 

Killbuck,  grandson  of  Netawatwees,  sometimes 
called  Geleleraend,  was  also  prominently  identi- 
fied with  the  interests  of  the  Delawares  that  for- 
merly occupied  the  territory  now  constituting 
Coshocton  county.  The  f  orrher  was  but  of  small 
importance,  but  the  last  named  was  a  man  of 
consideration  and  influence,  and  of  generally 
commendable  deportment.  He  favored  the  ef- 
forts of  the  Moravian  missionaries ;  took  a  de- 
cided stand  in  favor  of  peace,  and  of  the  Ameri- 
can cause  against  the  British.    Gelelemend  was 

wise,  sagacious,  able  chief.    He  bore  an  irre- 

roachahle  character,  and  lived  an  exemplary, 

useful  life,  adhering  to  the  last  to  the  Christian 

faith  as   taught  by  the   Moravians.      Killbuck, 


200 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


(Gelelemend,)  was  born  in  1737,  near  the  Lehigh 
Water-Gap,  now  in  Northampton  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  died  at  Goshen,  a  Moravian  town 
on  the  Tuscarawas  river,  situated  within  the 
present  Kmits  of  Goshen  township,  Tuscarawas 
county,  in  the  year  1811,  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
four  years. 

While  some  of  the  Delaware  chiefs  of  this 
locality  acquired  infamous  notoriety,  it  can  be 
truthfully  said  of  Gelelemend  that  he  attained  to 
most  honorable  distinction,  and  died  greatly 
esteemed. 

Netawatwees  was  the  head  of  the  Turtle  tribe 
of  the  Delaware  nation.  His  first  capital  was 
situated  at  the  mouth  of  Gekelemukpechunk, 
(Still  Water  creek,)  and  bore  the  unpronounce- 
able Indian  name  of  the  creek.  It  was  situated 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Tuscarawas  river,  in 
what  is  now  Oxford  township,  Tuscarawas 
county,  and  occupied  the  outlets  of  the  present 
village  of  Newcomerstown.  He  was  an  advo- 
cate for  peace,  an  ardent  friend  of  the  colonies, 
and  devotedly  attached  to  the  cause  of  Christian 
missions,  and  to  Moravian  interests.  "  His  sym- 
pathy with  the  Moravian  cause  was  manifested 
by  large  donations  of  land  for  the  promotion  of 
said  cause.  In  1775,  Netawatwees  and  a  grand 
council  of  the  Delawares  decided  to  abandon 
their  capital  and  found  a  new  one  farther  down 
the  river.  This  decree  was  carried  into  effect  by 
selecting  the  junction  of  the  Tuscarawas  and 
Walhonding  rivers  as  the  site,  and  by  founding 
the  town  of  Goschachunk,  which  was  henceforth 
to  be  the  capital  of  the  Delaware  nation. 

Lichtenau,  built  by  the  Moravians,  was  located 
near  to  the  capital  of  the  Delaware  nation,  in  def- 
erence to  the  repeatedly  expressed  wishes  of 
Netawatwees.  He  thought  that  the  evil  conse- 
quences which  had  formerly  grown  out  of  the 
proximity  of  heathen  villages  were  not  any  more 
to  be  expected,  since  so  large  a  portion  of  the 
nation  had  become  christianized;  and  moreover 
he  held  it  to  be  his  duty  to  aflford  his  people 
every  opportunity  to  hear  the  gospel  preached. 
He  often  visited  Lichtenau,  taking  great  interest 
in  its  progress,  and  hoped  for  success. 

But  he  was  not  to  live  to  see  much  more  ac' 
comphshed  for  his  people  in  the  valley  of  the 
Muskingum.    Nor  did  he  live  long  enough  to  see 


the  end  of  the  war  waged  between  the  colonies 
and  the  mother  country,  in  the  result  of  which 
he  was  so  deeply  interested.  Nor  did  he  live 
long  enough  to  witness  the  return  of  that  peace 
which  he  had  so  zealojisly  and  perseveringly  ad- 
vocated, and  so  ardently  desired. 

This  great  chief,  of  the  Delaware  nation  died 
at  Fort  Pitt  before  the  close  of  the  year  1776; 
and  in  his  death  the  cause  of  peace  —  the  cause 
of  the  colonies  —  the  cause  of  missions  —  the 
cause  of  Christianity  lost  a  true,  faithful,  devoted 
friend.  Few,  very  few,  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Dela- 
ware nation  died  more  sincerely  regretted  than 
Netawatwees. 

Many  of  the  Indians  of  all  these  tribes  were 
friendly  to  all  whites  until  the  breaking  out  of  the 
war  with  Great  Britain,  when  they  left  the 
co^ntry  to  join  the  forces  of  the  king,  and  destroy 
the  whites  who  occupied  their  country.  They 
considered  them  then  their  enemies,  and  acted 
accordingly  on  all  occasions,  save  where  personal 
friendship,  so  strong  in  the  Indian,  developed 
itself,  and  in  many  instances,  saved  the  lives  of 
those  in  danger. 

The  manners,  customs,  feasts,  war  parties  and 
daily  life  of  these  sons  of  the  forest,  form  inter- 
esting chapters  in  aboriginal  history.  The  char- 
acter of  the  Indians  was  largely  the  result  of 
their  lives.  They  judged  and  lived  by  what  the 
senses  dictated.  They  had  names  and  words  for 
what  they  could  hear,  seS,  feel,  taste  and  smell. 
They  had  no  conceptions  of  abstract  ideas  until 
they  learned  such  from  the  whites.  Hence  their 
language  was  very  symbohcal.  They  could  see 
the  sun  in  its  brightness,  they  could  feel  his  heat; 
hence  they  compared  the  actions  of  a  good  man 
to  the  glory  of  the  sun,  and  his  fervent  energy  to 
the  heat  of  that  body.  The  moon  in  her  brightr 
ness,  the  wind  in  its  fury,  the  clouds  in  their 
majesty,  or  in  their  slow,  graceful  motion  through 
a  lazy  atmosphere;  the  grace  and  flight  of  the 
deer;  the  strength  and  fury  of  the  bear;  the  rush 
or  ripple  of  water  as  it  coursed  along  the  bed  of 
a  river,  all  gave  them  words  whose  expressive-, 
ness  are  a  wonder  and  marvel  to  this  day.  They 
looked  on  the  beautiful  river  that  borders  the 
southern  shores  of  our  State,  and  exclaimed, 
"  0-he-zo ! "  beautiful ;  on  the  placid  waters  of  the 
stream  bordering  the  western  line  of   Indiana, 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


201 


and  ejaculated, "  Wa-ba,"  a  summer  cloud  moving 
swiftly;  on  the  river  flowing  into  Lake  Erie,  and 
said,  "Ouy-o-ga"  (Cuyahoga),  crooked;  and  so  on 
through  their  entire  vocabulary,  each  name 
expressive  of  a  meaning,  full  and  adtnirably 
adapted  to  the  object. 

The  Indians  in  Ohio,  the  tribes  already  men- 
tioned, had  learned  a  iew^  things  from  their  inter- 
course with  the  whites  on  the  borders  of  Western 
Pennsylvania,  when  they  were  first  seen  by  the 
pioneers  of  Coshocton  county.  Their  cabins  or 
wigwams  were  of  two  kinds — circular  and  par- 
allelogram. The  former,  the  true  wigwam,  was 
in  use  among  the  Ottawas  when  the  whites  came 
tq  their  country.  It  was  made  of  a  number  of 
straight  poles  driven  firmly  into  the  ground,  their 
upper  ends  being  drawn  closely  together ;  this 
formed  a  kind  of  skeleton  tent.  The  squaws 
plaited  mats  of  thongs,  bark  or  grass,  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  render  them  impervious  to  water. 
These  were  spread  on  the  poles,  beginning  at  the 
bottom,  and  extending  upward.  A  small  hole 
was  left  for  the  egress  of  smoke  from  the  fire 
kindled  in  the  center  of  the  wigwam.  Around 
this '  fire,  mats  or  skins  were  spread,  on  which 
the  Indians  slept  at  night,  and  on  which  they  sat 
during  the  day.  For  a  door  they  lifted  one  end 
of  the  mat,  and  crept  in,  letting  it  fall  down  be- 
hind them.  These  tents  were  warm  and  dry, 
and  generally  quite  free  from  smoke.  Their 
fuel  was  nearly  always  split  by  the  squaws  in  the 
fall  of  the  year,  and  sometimes  kept  dry  by  placing 
it  under  an  inverted  birch-bark  canoe.  These 
wigwams  were  easily  moved  about  from  place  to 
place,  the  labor  of  their  destruction  and  construc- 
tion being  always  performed  by  the  squaws — the 
beasts  of  burden  among  all  savage  nations.  The 
wigwam  was  very  light,  and  easily  carried  about. 
It  resembled  the  tents  of  to-day  in  shape,  and 
was  often  superior  in  point  of  comfort  and  pro- 
tection. 

The  cabins  were  more  substantial  affairs,  and 
were  built  of  poles,  about  the  thickness  of  a  small 
sized  telegraph  pole,  but  were  of  various  sizes, 
and  commonly,  about  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  in 
length.  These  poles  were  laid  one  on  the  other, 
similar  to  the  logs  in  a  cabin,  save  that,  until  the 
Indians  learned  that  notching  the  point  of  con- 
tact near  the  end,  from  the  whites,  they  were 


held  by  two  stakes  being  driven  in  the  angles 
formed  in  the  corners,  and  fastened  at  the  top  by 
a  hickory  or  bark  withe,  or  by  a  thong  of  buck- 
skin. The  pen  was  raised  to  the  height  of  from 
four  to  six  feet,  when  an  arched  roof  was  made 
over  it  by  driving  at  each  end  a  strong  post,  with 
a  fork  at  the  upper  end,  which  stood  a  conven- 
ient height  above  the  topmost  log  or  pole.  A 
stout  pole  was  laid  on  the  forks,  and  on  this  was 
laid  a  small  pole  reaching  down  to  the  wall.  On 
these  rafters,  small  lath  was  tied,  and  over  the 
whole  pieces  of  linn  bark  were  thrown.  These. 
were  cut  from  the  tree,  often  of  great  length,  and 
from  six  to  twelve  inches  in  width.  They  were 
then  cut  into  proper  lengths  to  cover  the  cabin. 
At  the  ends  of  the  cabin  split  timbers  were  set 
up,  so  that  the  entire  cabin  was  inclosed  except 
a  small  aperture  at  one  end,  left  for  a  door.  This 
was  covered  by  a  deer  or  bear  skin.  At  the  top 
of  the  cabin  an  opening  was  left  for  the  smoke 
to  escape,  for  all  Indians  built  their  fires  on  the 
ground'in  the  center  of  the  cabin  or  wigwam, 
around  which  they  spread  skins  and  mats  on 
which  to  recline  and  sleep.  The  cracks  between 
the  logs  were  filled  with  moss  gathered  from  old 
logs.  When  made,  the  cabin  was  quite  comforta- 
ble, and  was  often  constructed  in  the  same  man- 
ner by  the  pioneers,  while  making  improve- 
ments, and  used  until  a  permanent  structure 
could  be  erected. 

Most,  if  not  all  the  villages  in  this  county  were 
composed  of  huts  constructed  as  above  de- 
scribed, mingled  perhaps  with  some  of  better 
construction,  as  they  had  learned  of  the  whites 
how  to  build  them.  In  addition  to  these  huts  at 
their  capital  or  central  town  (Goschachgunk), 
they  had,  in  the  center  of  the  village,  as  was  their 
custom,  a  large  council  house,  used  for  all  public  y 
meetings  of  the  tribe. 

In  regard  to  food,  the  Indians  were  more  care- 
ful to  provide  for  their  future  needs  than  their 
successors  of  the  west  are  to-day.  In  the  spring 
they  made  maple  sugar  by  boiling  the  sap  in 
large  brass  or  iron  kettles  which  they  had  ob- 
tained from  the  French  and  English  traders.  To 
secure  the  water  they  used  \'«ssels  made  of  elm 
bark  in  a  very  ingenious  manner.  They  would 
strip  the  bark  in  the  winter  season  when  it  would 
strip  or  run,  by  cutting  down  the  tree,  and,  with 


202 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


a  crooked  stick,  sharp  and  broad  at  one  end,  peel 
the  bark  in  wide  -strips,  from  which  they  would 
construct  vessels  holding,  two  or  three  gallons 
each.  They  would  often  make  over  a  hundred 
of  these.  They  cut  a  sloping  notch  in  the  side  of 
a  sugar-tree,  stuck  a  tomahawk  into  the  wood  at 
the  end  of  the  notch,  and,  in  the  dent  thus  made, 
drove  a  long  chip  or  spile,  which  conveyed  the 
water  to  the  bark  vessels.  They  generally  selected 
the  larger  trfees  for  tapping,  as  they  considered 
the  sap  from  such  stronger  and  productive  of 
more  sugar.  Their  vessels  for  carrying  the  sap 
would  hold  from  three  to  five  gallons  each,  and 
sometimes,  where  a  large  camp  was  located  and 
a  number  of  squaws  at  work,  using  a  halt-dozen 
kettles,  great  quantities  of  sugar  would  be  made. 
When  the  sugar-water  would  collect  faster  than 
they  could  boil  it,  they  would  make  three  or  four 
large  troughs,  holding  more  than  a  hundred  gal- 
Ions  each,  in  which  they  kept  the  sap  until  ready 
to  boil.  When  the  sugar  was  made,  it  was  gen- 
erally mixed  with  bear's  oil  or  fat,  forming  a 
sweet  mixture  into  which  they  dipped  their 
roasted  venison.  As  cleanliness  was  not  a  reign- 
ing virtue  among  the  Indians,  the  cultivated  taste 
of  a  civilized  person  would  not  always  fancy  the 
mixture,  unless  driven  to  it  by  hunger.  The  com- 
pound, when  made,  was  generally  kept  in  large 
bags  made  of  coon  skins,  or  vessels  made  of  bark. 
The  former  were  made  by  stripping  the  skin 
over  the  body  toward  the  head,  tying  the  holes 
made  by  the  legs  with  buckskin  cords,  and  sew- 
ing securely  the  holes  of  the  eyes,  ears  and  mouth. 
The  hair  was  all  removed,  and  then  the  bag  blown 
full  of  air,  from  a  hole  in  the  upper  end,  and  al- 
lowed to  dry.  Bags  made  in  this  way  would  hold 
whiskey,  and  were  often  used  for  such  purposes. 
When  they  became  saturated  they  were  blown 
full  of  air  again,  the  hole  plugged,  and  they  were 
left  to  dry.  Sometimes  the  head  was  cut  off  with- 
out stripping  the  skin  from  it,  and  the  skin  of 
the  neck  gathered  in  folds  like  a  purse,  below 
which  a  string  was  tied  and  fastened  with  a  pin. 
Skin  vessels  are  not  indigenous  to  the  natives  of 
America.  All  oriental  countries  possess  them, 
where  the  traveler  of  to-day  finds  them  the  rule. 
They  are  as  old,  almost,  as  time. 

The  Indians  inhabiting  this  part  of  Ohio  were 
rather  domestic  in  their  tastes,  and  cultivated 


corn,  potatoes  and  melons.  Corn  was  their  prin- 
cipal crop,  and  was  raised  entirely  by  the  squaws. 
When  the  season  for  planting  drew  near,  the 
women  cleared  a  spot  of  rich  alluvial  soil,  and  dug 
over  the  ground  in  a  rude  manner  with  their  hoes. 
In  planting  the  corn  they  followed  lines,  to  a  certain 
extent,  thus  forming  rows  each  way  across  the 
field.  When  the  corn  began  to  grow,  they  culti- 
vated it  with  wonderful  industry,  until  it  had  ma- 
tured sufficiently  for  use.  The  cornfields  were 
nearly  always  in  the  vicinity  of  the  villages,  and 
sometimes  were  many  acres  in  extent,,  and  in  fa- 
vorable seasons  yielded  plentifully.  The  squaws 
had  entire  charge  of  the  work.  It  was  considered 
beneath  the  dignity  of  a  brave  to  do  any  kind  of 
manual  labor,  and,  when  any  one  of  them,  or  any 
of  the  white  men  whom  they  had  adopted,  did 
any  work,  they  were  severely  reprimanded  for 
acting  like  a  squaw.  The  Indian  women  raised 
the  coi'n,  dried  it,  pounded  it  into  meal  in  a  rude 
stone  mortar,  or  made  it  into  hominy.  Corn,  in 
one  form  and  another,  formed  the  chief  staple  of 
of  the  Indian's  food.  They  had  various  legends 
concerning  its  origin,  which,  in  common  with 
other  stories,  they  were  accustomed  to  recite  in 
their  assemblies. 

The  Indians  were  always  fond  of  amusements 
of  all  kinds.  These  consisted  of  races,  games  of 
ball,  throwing  the  tomahawk,  shooting  at  a  mark 
with  the  bow  and  arrow,  or  with  the  rifle  after  its 
distribution  among  them,  horse  races,  and  other 
sports  incidental  to  savage  life.  Their  powers  of 
endurance  were  remarkable,  and  astonishing  ac- 
counts are  often  now  told  of  feats  of  prowess  ex- 
hibited by  these  aborigines.  Of  the  animals  hunt- 
ed by  the  Indians,  none  seems  to  have  ehcited 
their  skill  more  than  the  bear.  To  slay  one  of 
these  beasts  was  proof  of  a  warrior's  prowess,  and 
dangerous  encounters  often  resulted  in  the  hun- 
ter's search  for  such  distinction.  The  vitaUty  of 
bruin  was  unequaled  among  the  animals  of  the 
forest,  and  on  this  account,  and  because  of  the 
danger  attached  to  his  capture,  made  him  an  ob- 
ject of  special  hunts  and  feats  of  courage. 

The  region  of  the  Muskingum,  and  more  es- 
pecially of  the  Wakatomaka,  further  south,  was 
somewhat  famous  for  bear  hunting.  Some  of 
the  pioneers  yet  surviving  can  relate  astounding 
stories  of  their  exploits  in  this  line.    The  habit 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


203 


of  these  animals  was  to  search  out  a  hollow  tree, 
■or  secure  a  ■warm  clump  of  bushes  late  in  the 
autumn,  where  they  could  remain  three  or  four 
months,  during  the  extreme  cold  of  the  winter, 
subsisting  entirely  on  the  fat  of  their  bodies. 
They  would  emerge  in  the  spring  very  lean,  and 
when  so  were  exceedingly  ferocious.  When 
searching  out  their  places  of  winter  solitude, 
they  often  left  the  impress  of  their  feet  on  the 
hark  of  the  tree  they  ascended,  or  on  the  grass 
in  the  lair  they  had  found.  The  signs  were 
easily  discovered  by  Indians  and  expert  bear 
hunters.  They  were  then  very  fat,  and  were 
■eagerly  sought  by  the  Indians  for  their  flesh  and 
fat.  Sometimes  they  would  ascend  trees  thirty 
or  forty  feet  high,  and  find  a  good  wintering 
place  and  take  possession.  Again  they  would  as- 
cend the  tree,  if  hollow,  from  the  inside,  and, 
finding  a  good  place,  occupy  it.  Tl;pn  the  huntr 
ers  would  divide  forces  —  one  ascend  the  tree, 
and  with  a  long  pole,  sharpened  at  one  end,'  or 
wrapped  with  a  rag.  or  dry  skin  saturated  with 
greese  and  set  on  fire,  thrust  the  same  down  on 
the  bear,  and  compel  him  to  descend  only  to 
meet  death  at  the  foot  of  the  tree  from  the  arrow 
or  bullet  of  the  hunter  below. 

The  skin  of  a  fat  bear  was  a  great  prize  to  an 
Indian.  It  made  him  an  excellent  couch  on 
which  to  sleep,  or  a  cloak  to  wear.  His  flesh 
was  supposed  to  impart  bravery  to  those  who  ate 
it,  hence  when  dipped  in  sweetened  bear's  fat,  it 
was  considered  an  excellent  dish,  and  one  often 
offered  to  friends.  Venison,  prepared  the  satae 
way,  was  also  considered  a  dish  fit  for  the  most 
royal  visitors;  a  hospitality  always  extended  to 
all  who  came  to  the  camp,  and  if  not  accepted 
the  doner  was  sure  to  be  offended. 

The  domestic  life  of  the  Indians  was  very 
much  the  same  in  all  parts  of  America.  Among 
the  Northern  Ohio  tribes,  marriage  consisted 
•simplyof  two  persons  agreeing  to  live  together, 
which  simple  agreement  among  many  tribes  was 
never  broken.  Sometimes  the  young  woman 
oourted  the  young  brave,  much  after  the  fashion 
of  the  white  people  during  leap  years.  This  cus- 
tom was  considered  quite  proper,  and  favorably 
looked  upon  by  the  braves.  In  some  localities 
■the  chief  gave  away  the  young  woman  to  some 
.brave  he  considered  competent  to  support  her  in 


the  chase,  a  part  of  the  domestic  economy  always 
devolving  on  the  man.  When  the  game  was 
killed,  the  squaw  was  expected  to  cut  up  and  pre- 
pare the  meat  for  use,  and  stretch  and  tan  the 
hide. 

The  marriage  relation  among  the  most  of  the 
tribes  was  held  strictly  by  all,  a  variation  from  it 
on  the  part  of  the  female  meriting  certain  death. 

The  Wyandots  and  Delawares  prided  them- 
selves on  their  virtue  and  hospitality,  and  no 
'authenticated  case  of  the  misuse  of  a  female 
captive,  except  to  treat  them  as  prisoners  of  war, 
can  now  be  quoted.  They  always  evinced  the 
utmost  modesty  toward  their  female  captives. 
Eespect  for  the  aged,  for  parents  and  those  in 
authority  prevailed.  When  one  among  them 
spoke,  all  listened — never,  under  any  circumstan- 
ces, interrupting  him.  When  he  was  done,  then 
was  the  time  to  reply. 

In  theology,  the  natives  were  all  believers  in 
one  Great  Spirit.  They  firmly  believed  in  his 
care  of  the  world  and  of  his  children,  though 
different  theories  prevailed  among  the  tribes  re- 
garding their  creation.  Their  ideas  of  a  divinity, 
as  expressed  by  James  Smith,  a  captive  many 
years  among  them,  are  well  given  in  the  follow- 
ing story,  preserved  in  Smith's  Memoirs  : 

He  and  his  elder  Indian  brother,  Tecaughre- 
tanego,  had  been  on  a  hunt  for  some  time,  and, 
meeting  with  poor  success,  found  themselves 
straitened  for  food.  After  they  had  smoked  at 
their  camp-fire  awhile,  Tecaughretanego  deliv- 
ered quite  a. speech,  in  which  he  recounted  how 
Owaneeyo  (God)  had  fed  them  in  times  gone  by; 
how  he  fed  the  white  people,  and  why  they 
raised  their  own  meat;  how  the  Great  Spirit 
provided  the  Indian  with  food  for  his  use ;  and 
how,  though  the  prospect  was  sometimes  gloomy, 
the  Great  Spirit  was  only  trying  them ;  and  i£ 
they  would  only  trust  him  and  use  means  dili- 
gently, they  would  be  certain  to  be  provided  for. 
The  next  morning  Smith  rose  early,  according 
to  the  Indian's  instructions,  and  ere  long  killed  a 
buffalo  cow,  whose  meat  kept  them  in  food  many 
days.  This  was  the  occasion  of  another  speech 
from  his  Indian  brother.  This  trust  often  led 
them  to  habits  of  prodigality.  They  seldom 
provided  for  the  future,  almost  literally  fulfilling 
the  adage :    "  Let  each  day  provide  for  its  own 


204 


I 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


■wants."  They  hunted,  fished  and  idled  away 
their  days.  Possessed  of  a  boundless  inheritance, 
they  allowed  the  white  race  to  come  in  and  pos- 
sess their  lands  and  eventually  drive  them  en- 
tirely away.  Their  manner  of  feasts  may  also  be 
noticed. 

The  following  description  is  from  the  pen  of 
Dr.  Hill,  of  Ashland,  Ohio.  The  Mr.  Copus 
mentioned  is  the  same  who  was  afterwards  mur- 
dered by  the  Indians. 

"  The  ceremonies  took  place  in  the  council- 
house,  a  building  made  of  clapboards  and  poles, 
about  thirty  feet  wide  and  fifty  feet  long. 
When  the  Indians  entered  the  council-house,  the 
squaws  seated  themselves  on  one  side  of  the 
room,  while  the  braves  occupied  the  opposite 
side.  There  was  a  small  mound  of  earth  in  the 
center  of  the  room,  eight  or  ten  feet  in  diameter, 
which  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  sacrificial  mound. 
The  ceremonies  began  with  a  sort  of  rude  music, 
made  by  beating  on  a  small  brass  kettle,  and  on 
dried  skins  stretched  over  the  mouths  of  pots, 
making  a  kind  of  a  rude  drum.  The  pounding 
was  accompanied  by  a  sort  of  song,  which,  as  near 
as  can  be  understood,  ran  :  '  Tiny,  tiny,  tiny,  ho, 
ha,  ho,  ha,  ho,'  accenting  the  last  syllables,  Then 
a  chief  arose  and  addressed  them ;  during  the 
delivery  of  his  "speech  a  profound  silence  pre- 
vailed. The  whole  audience  seemed  to  be  deeply 
moved  by  the  oration.  The  speaker  seemed  to 
be  about  seventy  years  of  age,  and  was  very  tall 
and  graceful.  His  eyes  had  the  fire  of  youth, 
and  shone  with  emotion  while  he  was  speaking. 
The  audience  seemed  deeply  moved,  and  fre- 
quently sobbed  while  he  spoke.  Mr.  Copus  could 
not  understand  the  language  of  the  speaker,  but 
presumed  he  was  giving  a  summary  history  of 
the  Delaware  nation,  two  tribes  of  which,  the 
Wolf  and  the  Turtle,  were  represented  at  the 
feast.  Mr.  Copus  learned  that  the  speaker  was 
the  famous  Captain  Pipe,  of  Mohican  Johnstown, 
the  executioner  of  Colonel  Crawford.  At  the 
close  of  the  address,  dancing  commenced.  The 
Indians  were  clothed  in  deer  skin  leggings  and 
English  blankets.  Deer  hoofs  and  bears'  claws 
'  were  strung  along  the  seams  of  their  leggings, 
and  when  the  dance  comnienced,  the  jingling  of 
the  hoofs  and  claws  made  a  sort  of  harmony  to 
the  rude  music  of  the  pots  and  kettles.  The  men 
danced  in  files  or  lines  by  themselves  around  the 
central  mound,  the  squaws  following  in  a  com- 
pany by  themselves.  In  the  dance  there  seemed 
to  be  a  proper  modesty  between  the  sexes.  In 
fact,  the  Greentown  Indians  were  always  noted 
for  being  extremely  scrupulous  and  modest  in 
the  presence  of  one  another.  After  the  dance, 
■the  refreshments,  made  by  boiling  venison  and 
fcear's    meat,   slightly    tainted,   together,    were 


handed  around.  The  food  was  not  very  palatable- 
to  the  white  persons  present,  and  they  were  com- 
pelled to  conceal  it  about  their  persons  until  they 
had  left  the  wigwam,  when  they  threw  the 
unsavory  morsels  away.  No  greater  insult  could 
have  been  offered  the  Indians  than  to  have  refused 
the  proffered  refrtshments,  hence  a  little  decep- 
tion was  necessary  to  evade  the  censure  of  these- 
untutored  sons  of  the  forest,  whose  stomachs 
could  entertain  almost  anything." 

Usually,  and  as  to  the  great  mass  of  them,  the 
Delaware  Indians  entertained  very  friendly  feel- 
ings for  the  whites.  In  their  old  home  in  Penn- 
sylvania, froni  the  day  of  Willian  Penn's  treaty 
down,  they  had  received  a  treatment  calculated 
to  produce  such  feelings,  and  the  influence  of 
the  Moravian  missions  among  them  tended  to- 
the  same  end.  Far  more  Indian  blood  than 
white  was  shed  about  the  kirks  of  the  Mus- 
kingum, ancj,  there  is  neither  dark  and  bloody 
battle-field  nor  site  of  sickening  family  massacre 
within  the  limits  of  the  county  of  Coshocton,  so 
far  as  known.  The  numerous  bullets  found  in 
after  times,  in  the  plowed  fields  near  Coshocton,, 
were  doubtless  from  the  volleys  fired  by  the  expe- 
ditions, or  from  the  rifles  of  the-  early  settlers,, 
with  whom  shooting  at  marks  was  a  grand 
pastime.  At  one  time  seven  hundred  Indian 
warriors  from  the  West  encamped  near  the  town, 
many  with  rifles. 

When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out,  it  was 
a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  colo- 
nists to  secure  at  least  the  neutrality  of  the  In- 
disiji  tribes,  and  eflbrts  were  accordingly  made.. 
Two  treaties  were  made  at  Pittsburgh  in  suc- 
cessive years— 1775  and  1776 — binding  to  neu- 
trality the  Delawares  and  some  of  the  imme- 
diately adjacent  nations. 

At  the  opening  of  1777,  the  hatchet  sent  from 
Detroit  (the  British  headquarters),  was  accepted 
by  the  Shawnees,  Wyandots  and  Mingoes.  Ru- 
mor had  it  that  it  was  also  to  be  sent  to  the  Dela- 
wares, and  if  they  declined  it  they  were  to  be 
treated  as  common  enemies,  and  at  once  attacked 
by  tlie  British  and  their  Indian  allies.  The 
famous  chief  Cornstalk  himself  came  to  Gos- 
chachgunk,  reporting  that  despite  his  efforts  the 
Shawnees  were  for  war,  parties  were  already 
out,  and  amunition  was  being  forwarded  for  their 
use  from  Detroit.  Even  a  portion  of  the  Delawares 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


205 


had  been  already  pledged  to  take  up  arms.  At 
this  crisis — so  threatening  to  the  colonists— a 
general  council  of  the  Delawares  met  at  the 
capital,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1777.  Some  of  the 
young  warriors  appeared  with  plumes  and  war 
paint.  After  earnest  discussion  and  eloquent 
speeches,  especially  from  White  Eyes,  it  was  re- 
solved to  decline  the  hatchet  should  it  be  offered. 
Three  times  during  that  summer  it  was  tendered 
and  as  often  declined.  Despite  the  taunts  of 
their  own  race — against  even  a  faction  of  their 
own  nation — rejecting  bribes  and  spurning 
threats,  the  people  stood,  month  after  month,  as 
a  mighty  wall  of  protection  to  the  western  colo- 
nists. Looking  to  the  plainly  discernible  natural 
consequences  of  a  different  decision  in  that 
grand  council,  it  is  not  wi_thout  reason,  that  the 
claim  may  be  made,  that  one  of  the  grandest 
victories  for  the  colonists  in  the  American  Revo- 
lutionary war  was  won  at  the  Delaware  capital, 
at  the  forks  of  the  Muskingum.  Subsequently, 
indeed,  by  the  machinations  of  renegades  like 
Simon  Girty  (who  was  several  times  at  the 
capital),  and  the  taunts  of  the  tribes,  a  part  of 
the  nation  was  led  to  join  the  British  Indians. 
In  1778,  the  rightful  authorities  of  the  nation 
made  a  complete  treaty  of  alliance  with  the 
commissioners  of  the  United  States,  therein  pro- 
viding for  carrying  out  a  cherished  project  of 
White  Eyes,  that  the  Delaware  nation  should  be 
represented  in  the  Colonial  Congress,  and  be- 
come, as  a  Christian  Indian  State,  one  of  the 
United  States.  By  the  neighboring  tribes  the 
Delawares  were  often  taunted  with  being  unduly 
gentle — "  women  " — and  w.ere  always  remarked 
upon  as  having  too  many  captives;  making  exer- 
tions to  secure  as  such  those  commonly  appointed 
by  other  Indians  to  the  tomahawk  or  stake. 

Killbuck,  aided  by  the  other  Christain  Indians, 
for  a  time  held  the  nation  very  much  in  hand; 
but  by  1780  Captain  Pipe  got  the  ascendancy  at 
Goschachgunk,  and  put  the  people  on  the  side  of 
the  British^  setting  up  a  new  town  in  the  Seneca 
country.  Killbuck  and  those  who  sided  with 
him  went  over  fully  to  the  colonists,  and  left  the 
forks,  never  to  return.  In  1795  their  country,  of 
which  Coshocton  county  forms  the  central  part, 
became  by  treaty  the  possession  of  the  United 
States.    Until  after  the  war  of  1812,  a  few  strag- 


gling members  of  the  nation,  especially  the  Gna- 
denhutten  ones,  moved  about  in  the  country, 
hunting,  disposing  of  pelts,  or  possibly  visiting 
the  graves  of  their  ancestors.  Fragments  of  the 
nation  are  yet  recognized  in  Canada  and  in  the 
Indian  Territory,  but  its  power  was  broken  and 
the  scepter  had-  departed  when  it  was  turned 
away  from  its  loved  haunts  in  the  Tuscarawas 
and  Walhonding  valleys. 

By  the  treaty  of  September  29,  1817,  the  Dela- 
wares were  deeded  a  reservation  on  the  south  of 
the  Wyandot  reservation,  both  in  Marion  and 
Wyandot  counties.  When  this  was  done,  Captain 
Pipe,  son  of  "  Old  Captain  Pipe,"  was  the  principal 
Delaware  chief.  The  Delaware  Indians  remained 
on  their  reservation  until  about  1829,  when  they 
ceded  it  to  the  United  States  for  $3,000,  and  were 
moved,  as  before  stated,  west  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  Wgandots  ceded  theirs  in  March,  1842,  and 
left  for  the  far  west  in  July  of  the  next  year.  At 
that  date  they  numbered  about  700  souls,  and 
were  the  last  Indian  tribe ,  to  relinquish  its 
claims  to  the  soil  of  Ohio. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

bouquet's  expedition. 

The  causes  which  led  to  the  Expedition— The  Pontiac  War- 
Bouquet  ordered  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Pitt— His  march  from 
Fort  Pitt^Incidents  of  the  March— Indian  Trails— March 
down  the  Tuscarawas-Council  with  the  Chiefs— Bouquet's 
Camp  at  the  Forks  of  the  Muskingum— The  Treaty  of 
Peace  — The  Recovery  ol  Prisoners  — Sketph  of  Colonel 
Bouquet's  Life. 

FOE  a  full  understanding  of  this  great  mili- 
tary campaign,  which  had  its  terminus  in 
this  county,  i-t  is  necessary  to  review,  briefly,  the 
causes  which  rendered  it  necessaxy. 

In  1763,  the  vgst  region  from  the  Alleghenies 
to  the  Rocky  mountains,  was  mostly  in  posses- 
sion of  the  French.  Their  forts,  missions,  trad- 
ing posts — the  centers,  in  some  cases,  of  little 
colonies — were  scattered  throughout  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi  and  on  the  borders  of  all  the  great 
lakes.  They  had  gained  a  controlling  influence 
over  the  Indians,  and  by  the  right  of  discovery 
and  colonization,  they  regarded  the  country  as 
their  own.  . 


206 


HISTORY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


When  Wolf  and  Amherst  conquered  Canada, 
the  vast  but  frail  fabric  of  French  empire  in  the 
west  crumbled  to  the 'dust. 

To  the  Indian  tribes  occupying  this  terri- 
tory, the  change  was  nothing  but  disaster.  They 
had  held,  in  a  certain  sense,  the  balance  of  power 
between  the  two  rival  colonies^  of  France  and 
England.  Both  had  bid  for  their  friendship,  and 
both  competed  for  trade  with  them,  but  the 
French  had  been  the  more  sxiccessful,  their  influ- 
ence among  the  Indians  was  great,  and  they  had 
generally  gained  their  good  will. 

The  English  came  among  them,  erected  forts, 
■  generally  claimed  the  country,  but  where  they 
came  in  contact  with  the  Indians  only  jealousy 
and  hatred  were  engendered.  This  feeling  con- 
tinued until  it  culminated  in  the  great  Indian 
war  known  as  "  Pontiac's  War."  The  tribes 
leagued  together  to  drive  the  English  into  the 
sea.  At  one  fell  swoop  all  the  small  posts  of  the 
interior  were  captured  from  the  English,  and  the 
frontiers  swept  by  fire.  The  two  great  forts,  De- 
troit and  Fort  Pitt,  alone  withstood  the  assailants, 
and  these  were  reduced  to  extremity. 

Pontiao,  himself,  beleaguered  Detroit,  while  the 
Dela wares,  Shawanese  and  Wyandots,  who  occu- 
pied territory  now  embraced  in  Ohio,  laid  siege, 
in  their  barbarous  way,  to  Fort  Pitt.  Other 
bands  of  the  same  tribes  meanwhile  ravaged  the 
frontiers  of  Pennsylvania,  burning  houses,  mur- 
dering settlers,  and  producing  indescribable  dis- 
tress and  consternation. 

This  is  the  point  where  the  history  of  Bouquet's 
■expeditions  properly  begins.  He  was  then  in 
command  at  Philadelphia,  and  was  ordered  to 
march  at  once  to  the  relief  of  the  garrison  at 
Fort  Pitt.  It  was  a  desperate  and  difficult  under- 
taking, but  Colonel  Bouquet  was  an,  experienced 
officer,  a  man  of  science,  courage  and  sense,  and 
proved  himself  in  every  way  equal  to  the  emer- 
gei^cy. 

Of  the  difficulties  he  encountered  in  collecting 
his  troops;  of  their  long  march  over  the  Alle- 
gheny mountains ;  of  the  fierce  and  bloody  bat- 
tle of  Bushy  Eun ;  of  Bouquet's  arrival  at  Fort 
Pitt  and  relief  of  that  sorely  beleaguered  garri- 
son, August  10, 1763,  it  is  not  within  the  province 
of  this  chapter  to  speak  in  detail. 

With  this  introduction  the  reader  will  be  able 


to  understand  more  clearly  the  details  of  the 
campaign  of  1764,  into  the  territory  embraced 
within  the  limits  of  this  county. 

The  Indians,  disheartened  by  their  overwhelm- 
ing defeat  at  Bushy  Run,  and  despairing  of  suc- 
cess against  Fort  Pitt,  now  it  was  so  heavily  rein- 
forced, retired  sullenly  to  their  homes  beyond 
the  Ohio,  leaving  the  country  between  it  and  the 
settlements  free  from  their  ravages.  Communi- 
cation now  being  rendered  safe,  the  fugitive  set- 
tlers were. able  to  return  to  their  friends,  or  take 
possession  again  of  their  abandoned  cabins.  By 
comparing  notes  they  were  soon  able  to  make  out 
an  accurate  list  of  those  who  were  missing^either 
killed  or  prisoners  among  the  various  tribes — 
when  it  was  found  to  contain  the  names  of  more 
than  200  men,  women  and  children.  Fathers 
mourned  their  daughters  slain,  or  subject  to  a 
captivity  worse  than  death ;  husbands  their  wives 
left  mangled  in  the  forest,  or  forced  into  the  em- 
braces of  their  savage  captors — some  with  babes 
at  their  breast,  and  some  whose  ofifepring  would 
first  see  the  light  in  the  red  man's  wigwam— and 
loud  were  the  cries  that  went  up  on  every  side 
for  vengeance. 

Boquet  wished  to  follow  up  his  success  and 
march  at  once  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  coun- 
try, and  wring  from  the  hostile  tribes,  by  force  of 
arms,  a  treaty  of  peace  which  should  forever  put 
an  end  to  these  scenes  of  rapine  and  murder. 
But  his  force  was  too  small  to  attempt  this,  while 
the  season  was  too  far  advanced  to  leave  time  to 
organize  another  expedition  before  winter.  He 
therefore  determined  to  remain  at  the  fort  till 
spring,  and  then  assemble  an  army  sufficiently 
large  te  crush  all  opposition,  and  finish  what  he 
had  so  successfully  begun. 

Acting  under  instructions,  he  matured  during 
the  winter  all  his  plans,  and  soon  as  spring  opened 
set  on  foot  measures  by  which  an-  army  strong 
enough  to  render  resistance  hopeless  should  be 
placed  under  his  command. 

In  the  meantime  the  Indians  had  obtained 
powder  'from  tlie  French,  and  as  soon  as  the 
snow  melted  recommenced  their  ravages  along 
the_  frontier,  killing,  scalping  and  taking  prison- 
ers men,  women  and  children. 

Bouquet  could  muster  scarcely  500  men  of  the 
regular  army  —  most  of  them  Highlanders  of  the 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


207 


4th  and  6th  regiments — but  Pennsylvania,  at  her 
own  expense,  furnished  1,000  militia,  and  Vir- 
ginia a  corps  of  volunteers.  With  this  imposing 
force  he  was  directed  to  march  against  the  Dela- 
wares,  Mohicans  and  Mingoes ;  while  Col.  Brad- 
street,  from  Detroit,  should  advance  into  the  ter- 
ritory of  the  Wyandots,  Ottawas  and  Chippewas ; 
and  thus,  by  one  great  simultaneous  movement, 
crush  those  warlike  tribes.  Bouquet's  route,  how- 
ever, was  without  any  water  communication 
whatever,  but  lay  directly  through  the  heart  of 
an  unbroken  wilderness.  The  expedition,  from 
beginning  to  end,  was  to  be  carried  on  without 
boats,  wagons,  or  artillery,  and  without  a  post  to 
fall  back  upon  in  case  of  disaster.  The  army 
was  to  be  an  isolated  thing,  a  self-supporting  ma- 
chine. 

Although  the  preparations  commenced  early 
in  the  spring,  difficulties  and  delays  occurred  in 
carrying  them  forward,  so  that  the  troops,  that 
were  ordered  to  assemble  at  Carlisle,  did  not  get 
ready  to  march  till  the  6th  of  August.  Four 
days  after,  they  were  drawn  up  ,on  parade,  and 
•addressed  in  a  patriotic  speech  by  the  Governor 
of  the  State.  This  ceremony  being  finished, 
they  turned  their  steps  toward  the  wilderness, 
followed  by  the  cheers  of  the  people.  Passing 
over  the  bloody  field  of  Bushy  Run,  which  still 
bore  marks  of  the  sharp  conflict  that  took  place 
there  the  year  before,  they  pushed  on,  unmo- 
lested by  the  Indians,  and  entered  Fort  Pitt  on 
the  13th  of  September. 

In  the  mean  time  a  company  of  Delawares 
visited  the  fort,  and  informed  Bouquet  that  Col- 
onel Bradstreet  had  formed  a  treaty  of  peace 
with  them  and  the  Shawnees. 

Bouquet  gave  no  credit  to  the  story,  and  went 
on  with  his  preparations.  To  set  the  matter  at 
rest,  .however,  he  offered  to  send  an  express  to 
Detroit,  if  they  would  furnish  guides  and  safe- 
conduct,  saying  he  would  give  it  ten  days  to  go 
and  ten  to  return.  This  they  agreed  to ;  but 
unwilling  to  trust  their  word  alone,  he  retained 
ten  of  their  number  as  hostages,  whom  he  de- 
clared he  would  shoot  if  the  express  came  to, any 
barm.  Soon  after  other  Indians  arrived,  and  en- 
deavored to  persuade  him  not  to  advance  till  the 
express  should  return.  Suspecting  that  their 
motive  was  to  delay  him  till  the  season  was  too 


far  advanced  to  move  at  all,  he  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  their  solicitations,  saying  that  the  express 
could  meet  him  on  his  march;  and  if  it  was  true, 
as  they  said,  that  peace  was  concluded,  they 
would  receive  no  harm  from  him.  So,  on  the 
3d  of  October,  under  a  bright  autumnal  sky, 
the  imposing  little  army  of  1,600  men  defiled  out 
of  the  fort,  and  taking  the  great '  Indian  trail 
westward  boldly  entered  the  wilderness.  The 
long  train  of  pack-horses,  and  immense  droves 
of  sheep  and  cattle  that  accompanied  it,  gave  to 
it  the  appearance  of  a  huge  caravan,  slowly 
threading  its  way  amidst  the  endless  colonades 
of  the  forest.  Only  one  woman  was  allowed  to 
each  corps,  and  two  for  general  hospital. 

This  expedition,  even  in  early  history,  was  a 
novel  one ;  for  following  no  water-course,  it  struck 
directly  into  the  trackless  forest,  with  no  definite 
point  in  view,  and  no  fixed  limit  to  its  advance. 
It  was  intended  to  overawe  by  its  magnitude— to 
move,  as  an  exhibition  of  awful  power,  into  the 
very  heart  of  the  red  man's  dominions.  Expect- 
ing to  be  shut  up  in  the  forest  at  least  a  month, 
and  receive  in  that  time  no  supplies  from  with- 
out, it  had  to  carry  along  an  immense  quantity 
of  provisions.  Meat,  of  course,  could  not  be  pre- 
served, and  SD  the  frontier  settlements  were 
exhausted  of  sheep  and  oxen  to  move  on  with  it 
for  its  support.  These  necessarily  caused  its 
march  to  be  slow  and  methodical.  A  corps  of 
Virginia  volunteers  went  in  advance,  preceded 
by  three  scouting  parties — one  of  which  kept  the 
path,  while  the  other  two  moved  in  a  line  abreast, 
on  either  side,  to  explore  the  woods.  Under 
cover  of  these  the  axe  companies,  guarded  by  two 
companies  of  light  infantry,  cut  two  parallel 
paths,  one  each  side  of  the  main  path,  for  the 
troops,  pack-horses,  and  cattle  that  were  to  fol- 
low. '  First  marched  the  Highlanders,  in  column 
two-deep,  in  the  center  path,  and  in  the  side  paths 
in  single  file  abreast — the  men  six  feet  apart ;  and 
behind  them  the  corps  of  reserve,  and  the  second 
battalion  of  Pennsylvania  militia.  Then  came 
the  officers  and  pack-horses,  followed  by  the  vast 
droves  of  cattle,  filling  the  forest  with  their  loud 
complainings.  A  company  of  light  horse  walked 
slowly  after  these,  and  the  rear-guard  closed  the 
long  array.  No  talking  was  allowed,  and  no  music 
cheered  the  way.,    When  the  order  to  halt  passe^ 


208 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


along  the  line,  the  whole  were  to  face  outward, 
and  the  moment  the  signal  of  attack  sounded,  to 
form  a  hollow  square,  into  the  center  of  which 
pack-horses,  ammunition,  and  cattle  were  to  be 
hurried,  followed  by  the  light  "horse. 

In  this  order  the  unwieldy  caravan  struggled 
on  through  the  forest,  neither  extremity  of  which 
could  be  seen  from  the  center,  it  being  lost  amidst 
the  thickly  clustering  trunks  and  foliage  in  the 
distance. 

The  first  day  the  expedition  made  only  three 
miles.  The  next,  after  marching  two  miles,  it 
came  to  the  Ohio,  and  moved  down,  its  gravelly 
beach  six  miles  and  a  half,  when  it  again  struck 
into  the  forest,  and  making  seven  miles,  en- 
camped. The  sheep  and  cattle,  which  kept  up  an 
incessant  bleating  and  lowing  that  could  be  heard 
more  than  a  mile,  were  placed  far  in  the  rear  at 
night  and  strongly  guarded. 

Tuesday,  October  5,  the  march  led  across  a  level 
country,  covered  with  stately  timber  and  with 
but  little  underbrush ;  so  that  paths  were  easily 
cut,  and  the  army  made  ten  miles  before  camp- 
ing. The  next  day  it  again  struck  the  Ohio,  but 
followed  it  only  half  a  mile  when  it  turned  ab- 
ruptly off,  and  crossing  a  high  ridge  over  which 
•  the  cattle  were  urged  with  great  difficulty,  found 
itself  on  the  banks  of  the  Big  Beaver  creek.  The 
stream  was  deep  for  fording,  with  a  rough  rocky 
bottom  and  high  steep  banks.  The  current  was, 
moreover,  strong  and  rapid ;  so  that,  although  the 
soldiers  waded  across  without  material  difficulty, 
they  had  great  trouble  in  getting  the  cattle  safely 
over.  The  sheep  were  compelled  to  swim,  and 
being  borne  down  by  the  rapid  current  landed, 
bleating,  in  scattered  squads,  along  the  steep 
banks,  and  were  collected  together  again  only  af- 
ter a  long  effort.  Keeping  down  the  stream  they 
at  length  reached  its  mouth,  where  they  found 
some>  deserted  Indian  huts,  which  the  Indians 
with  them  said  had  been  abandoned  the  year  be- 
fore, after  the  battle  of  Bushy  Eun.  Two  miles 
farther  on  they  came  upon  the  skull  of  a  child 
stuck  on  a  pole. 

There  was  a  large  number  of  men  in  the  army 
who  had  wives,  children  and  friends  prisoners 
among  the  Indians,  and  who  had  accompanied 
the  expedition  for  the  purpose  of  recovering 
them.      To  these  the  skull  of.  this  Httle  child 


brought  sad  reflections.  Some  one  among  them 
was  perhaps  its  father,  while  the  thought  that 
it  might  stand  as  an  index  to  tell  the  fate  of  all 
that  had  been  captured  made  each  one  shudder. 
As  they  looked  on  it,  bleached  by  the  winds  and 
rain,  the  anxious  heart  asked  questions  it  dared 
not  answer. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday,  but  the  camp  broke 
up  at  the  usual  hour  and  the  army  resumed  its 
slow  march.  Duriag  the  day  it  crossed  a  high 
ridge,  from  the  top  of  which  one  of  those  won- 
drous scenes  found  nowhere  but  in  the  American 
wilderness  burst  on  their  view.  A  limitless  ex- 
panse of  forest  stretched  away  till  it  met  the 
western  heavens,  broken  only  here  and  there  by 
a  dark  gash  or  seam,  showing  where,  deep  down 
amidst  the  trees,  a  river  was  pursuing  its  solitary . 
way  to  the  Ohio,  or  an  occasional  glimpse  of  the 
Ohio  itself,  as  in  its  winding  course  it  came  in 
the  line  of  vision.  In  one  direction  the  tree  tops 
would  extend,  miles  upon  miles,  a  vast  flooring 
of  foliage,  level  as  the  bosom  of  a  lake,  and  then 
break  into  green  billows  that  went  rolling  gently 
against  the  cloudless  horizon.  In  another,  lofty ' 
ridges  rose,  crowned  with  majestic  trees,  at  the 
base  of  which  swamps  of  dark  flr  trees,  refusing 
the  bright  beams  of  the  October  sun,  that  flooded 
the  rest  of  the  wilderness,  made  a  pleasing  con- 
trast of  light  and  shade.  The  magnificent  scene 
was  new  to  officers  and  men,  and  they  gazed  on 
it  in  rapture  and  wonder. 

Keeping  on  their  course,  they;  came,  two  daj's 
after,  to  a  point  where  the  Indian  path  they  had 
been  following  so  long  divided— the  two  branches 
leading  off  at  a  wide  angle.  The  trees  at  the 
forks  were  covered  with  hieroglyphics,  describ- 
ing the  various  battles  the  Indians  had  fought, 
and  telling  the  number  of  scalps  they  had  taken, 
etc: 

This  point  was  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
present  county  of  Columbiana.  The  trails  were 
both  plainly  marked  and  much  traveled.  The 
right  hand  trail  took  a  general  course  northwest 
toward  Sandusky,  and  led  to  that  place  and  on  to 
Detroit;  the  course  of  the  left  hand  trail  was  gen- 
erally southwest,  and  passed  through  the  counties 
of  Carroll  and  Tuscarawas,  striking  the  Tusca- 
rawas river  in  the  latter  county,  down  which  it  fol- 
lowed, on  the  south  side,  to  Coshocton,  and  cross- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


209 


ing  the  Muskingum  a  few  miles  below  the  site  of 
Coshocton,  continued  down  the  west  side  of  the 
Muskingum  to  Dresden,  where  it  crossed  the 
Wakatomika  and  entered  Licking  county,  passing 
across  that  county  to  the  present  reservoir,  con- 
tinued on  southwest  to  the  Indian  towns  on  the 
Scioto. 

Col.  Bouquet  took  the  right  hand  trail,  which  he 
followed  until  he  reached  the  Tuscarawas  river 
when  he  left  it  and  turned  southward  along  that 
stream. 

The  path  selected  by  the  army  was  so  over- 
grown with  bushes  that  every  foot  of  the  way 
had  to  be  cleared  with  the  axe.  It  led  through 
low,  soft  ground,  and  was  frequently  crossed  by 
narrow,  sluggish  rivulets,  so  deep  and  miry  that 
the  pack-horses  could  not  be  forced  across  them. 
After  several  attempts  to  do  so,  in  which  the  an- 
imals became  so  thoroughly  imbedded  in  the 
.mud  that  they  had  to  be  lifted  out  with  main 
force,  they  halted,  while  the  artificers  cut  down 
trees  and  poles  and  made  bridges.  This  was 
the  hardest  day's  toil  to  which  they  had  been 
subjected,  and  with  their  utmost  efforts  they  were 
able  to  accomplish  but  five  miles.  On  Thursday 
the  11th,  the  forest  was  open,  and  so  clear  of 
undergrowth  that  they  made  seventeen  miles. 
Friday,  the  12th,  the  path  led  along  the  banks  of 
Yellow  creek,  through  a  beautiful  country  of 
rich  bottom  land,  on  which  the  Pennsylvanians 
and  Virginians  looked  with  covetous  eyes,  and 
made  a  note  for  future  reference.  The  next  day 
they  crossed  it,  and  ascending  a  swell  of  land, 
marched  two  miles  in  view  of  one  of  the  love- 
liest prospects  the  sun  ever  shown  upon.  There 
had  been  two  or  three  frosty  nights,  which  had 
changed  the  whole  aspect  of  the  forest.  Where, 
a  few  days  before,  an  ocean  of  green  had  rolled 
away,  there  now  was  spread  a  boundless  carpet, 
decorated  with  an  endless  variety  of  the  gayest 
colors,  and  lighted  up  by  the  mellow  rays  of  an 
October  sun.  Long  strips  of  yellow,  vast  masses 
of  green,  waving  lines  of  red,  wandering  away 
and  losing  themselves  in  the  blue  of  the  distant 
sky — immense  spaces  sprinkled  with  every  im- 
aginable hue,  now  separated  clear  and  distinct  as 
if  by  a  painter's  brush,  and  now  shading  grad- 
ually into  each  other,  or  mingling  in  inextrica- 
ble, beautiful  confusion,  combined    to  form  a 


scene  that  appeared  more  like  a  wondrous  vision 
suddenly  unrolled  before  them  than  this  dull 
earth.  A  cloudless  sky  and  the  dreamy  haze  of 
Indian  summer,  overarching  and  enrobing  all 
this  beauty  and  splendor,  completed  the  picture 
and  left  nothing  for  the  imagination  to  suggest 

At  length  they  descended  to  a  small  river, 
which  they  followed  till  it  joined  the  main  branch 
of  the  Muskingum  (Tuscarawas),  where  a  scene 
of  a  very  different  character  greeted  them.  A  little 
below  and  above  the  forks  the  shores  had  been 
cultivated  and  lined  with  Indian  houses.  The 
place  was  called  "  Tuscaroras,"  and  for  beauty  of 
situation  could  nofwell  be  surpassed.  The  high, 
luxuriant  banks,  the  placid  rivers  meeting  and 
flowing  on  together,  the  green  fields  sprinkled 
with  huts  and  bordered  with  the  rich  auturtmal 
foliage,  all  basking  in  the  mellow  October  light, 
and  so  out  of  the  way  there  in  the  wilderness,  com- 
bined to  form  a  sweet  picture,  and  was  doubly 
lovely  to  them  after  having  been  so  long  shut  up 
in  the  forest. 

They  reached  this  beautiful  spot  Saturday 
afternoon,  October  13,  and  the  next  day  being 
Sunday  they  remained'  in  camp,  and  men  and 
cattle  were  allowed  a  day  of  rest.  The  latter 
revived  under  the  smell  of  green  grass  once 
more,  and  roaming  over  the.  fields,  gave  a  still 
more  civilized  aspect  to  the  quiet  scene. 

During  the  day  the  two  messengers  that  had 
been  sent  to  Detroit  came  into  camp,  accompa- 
nied by  Indian  guides.  The  report  they  brought 
showed  the  wisdom  of  Bouquet  in  refusing  to  de- 
lay his  march  till  their  return.  They  had  not 
been  allowed  to  pursue  their  joijrney,  but  were 
held  close  prisoners  by  the  Delawares  until  the 
arrival  of  the  army,  when,  alarmed  for  their  own 
safety,  they  released  them  and  made  them  bearers 
of  a  petition  for  peace. 

The  next  day,  Monday,  the  army  moved  two 
miles  farther  down  the  Tuscarawas,  and  encamped 
on  aliigh  bank,  where  the  stream  was  300  feet 
wide,  within  the  present  limits  of  Tuscarawas 
county,  where  it  remained  in  camp  about  a  week 
On  Tuesday,  six  chiefs  came  into  camp,  saying 
that  all  the  rest  were  eight  miles  off,  waiting  to 
make  peace.  Bouquet  told  them  he  would  be 
ready  to  receive  them  next  day.  In  the  mean- 
time, he  ordered  a  large  bower  to  be  built  a  short 


210 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


distance  from  camp,  while  sentinels  were  posted 
in  every  direction  to  prevent  surprise,  in  case 
treachery  was  meditated. 

The  next  day,  the  17th,  he  paraded  the  High- 
landers and  Virginia  volunteers,  and  escorted  by 
the  light  horse,  led  them  to  the  bower,  where  he 
disposed  them  in  the  miost  imposing  manner,  so 
as  to  impress  the  chiefs  in  the  approaching  inter- 
view. The  latter,  as  they  emerged  from  the  for- 
est, were  conducted  with  great  ceremony  to  the 
bower,  which  they  entered  with  their  accustomed 
gravity;  and  without  saying  a  word,  quietly 
seated  themselves  and  commenced  smoking. 
When  they  had  finished,  th'ey  laid  aside  their 
pipes,  and  drew  from  their  pouches  strings  of 
wampum.  The  council  being  thus  opened,  they 
made  a  long  address,  in  which  they  were  profuse 
in  their  professions  of  peace,  laying  the  whole 
blame  of  the  war  on  the  young  men,  whom  they 
said  they  could  not  control.  Bouquet,  not  wishing 
to  appear  eager  to  come  to  a  settlement,  replied 
that  he  would  give  his  answer  the  next  day ;  and 
the  council  broke  up.  The  next  day,  however,  a 
pouring  storm  prevented  a  meeting  of  the  coun- 
cil till  the  day  following.  Bouquet's  answer  was 
long  and  conciliatory,  but  the  gist  of  it  was  he 
would  make  peace  on  one  condition,  and  no  other 
— that  the  Indians,  should  give  up  all  the  prison- 
ers in  their  possession  within  ten  days. 

The  Indians  present  at  this  council  were  Kiy- 
ash-uta,  chief  of  the  Senecas,  with  fifteen  war- 
riors ;  Custaloga,  chief  of  the  Wolf  tribe  of  Del- 
awares,  and  Beaver,  chief  of  the  Turkey  tribe  of 
the  Delawares,  with  twenty  warriors ;  and  Keissi- 
nautchtha,  as  chief  of  the  Shawanese,  with  six 
warriors. 

Monday,  October  22,  the  army,  accompanied 
by  the  Indian  deputies,  recommenced  its  march, 
as  Bouquet  wished  to  show  that  he  was  determined 
to  enforce  his  demands.  They  marched  nine 
miles  down  the  Tuscarawas,  and  went  into  camp. 
This  was  their  fourteenth  camp  since  leaving 
Fort  Pitt,  and  was  within  a  few  miles  of  the  east 
line  of  Coshocton  county.  The  next  day  (Octo- 
ber 23)  the  army  crossed  the  present  boimdaries 
of  this  county,  marching  sixteen  miles  and 
camping  about  seven  miles  east  of  the  present 
site  of  the  town.  This  camp  must  have  been  in 
Lafayette  township,  very  near  the  line  between 


it  and  Oxford.  Here  Bouquet  remained  until  the 
25th,  when  he  continued  his  march  a  little  more 
than  six  miles,  camping  within  a  mile  of  the 
forks  of  the  Muskingum. 

Judging  this  to  be  as  central  a'  position  as  he 
could  find,  he  resolved  to  fix  himseif  here  until 
the  object  of  his  mission  was  accomplished.  He 
ordered  four  redoubts  to  be  built,  erected  several 
store-houses,  a  mess-house,  a  large  number  of 
ovens,  and  various  other  buildings  for  the  recep- 
tion of  the  captives,  which,  with  the  white  tents 
scattered  up  and  down  the  banks  of-  the  river, 
made  a  large  settlement  in  the  wilderness,  and 
filled  the  Indians  with  alarm.  A  town  with 
nearly  two  thousand  inhabitants,  well  supplied 
with  horses,  cattle,  and  sheep,  and  ample  means 
of  defense,  was  well  calculated  to  awaken  the 
gloomiest  anticipations.  The  steady  sound  of 
the  ax  day  after  day,  the  lowing  of  cattle,  and 
all  the  sounds  of  civilization  echoing  along  the 
banks  of  the  Tuscarawas  within  the  very  heart 
of  their  territory,  was  more  alarming  than  the 
resistless  march  of  a  victorious  army ;  and  anx- 
ious to  get  rid  of  such  unwelcome  companions, 
they  made  every  effort  to  collect  the  prisoners 
scattered  among  the  various  tribes. 

Bouquet  remained  here  two  weeks,  occupied  in 
sending  and  receiving  messengers  who  were 
charged  with  business  relating  to  the  restoration 
of  the  captives.  At  the  end  of  this  time  two 
hundred  and  six,  the  majority  of  them  women 
and  children,  had  been  received  in  camp.  A 
hundred  more  still  remained  in  the  hands  of  the 
Indians;  yet,  as  they  solemnly  promised  to  restore 
them  in  the  spring,  and  the  leafless  forest  and 
biting  blasts  of  November,  and  occasional  flur- 
ries of  snow,  reminded  Bouquet  of  the  coming 
on  of  winter,  he  determined  to  retrace  his  steps 
to  Fort  Pitt. 

These  two  weeks,  during  which  the  prisoners 
were  being  brought  in,  were  filled  with  scenes 
of  the  most  intense  and  often  painful  excite- 
ment. Some  of  the  captives  had  been  for  many 
years  with  the  Indians,  recipients  of  their  kind- 
ness and  love ;  others  had  passed  from  childhood, 
to  maturity  among  them,  till  they  had  forgotten 
their  native  language,  and  the  past  was  to  them, 
if  remembered  at  all,  like  a  half-forgotten  dream. 
All  of  them — men,  women  and  children — were 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


211 


dressed  in  Indian  costume,  and  their  hair  ar- 
ranged in  Indian  fashion.  Their  features  also 
were  bronzed  by  long  exposure  to  the  weather  ; 
so  that  they  appeared  to  have  passed  more  than 
half  way  to  a  pure  savage  state.  As  troop  after 
troop  came  in,  the  eager  look  and  inquiries  of 
those  who  had  accompanied  the  army  to  find 
their  long-lost  families  and  kindred  made  each 
arrival  a  most  thilling  scene.  In  some  instances, 
where  the  separation  had  been  only  for  a  short 
period,  the  recognition  was  '  instantaneous  and 
mutual,  and  the  short,  quick  cry,  and  sudden 
rush  into  each  other's  arms,  brought  tears  to  the 
eyes  of  the  hardy  soldier.  In  others,  doubt, 
agony,  fear  and  hope,  would  in  turn  take  posses- 
sion of  the  heart,  and  chase  each  other  like 
shadows  over  the  face,  as  question  after  question 
was  put,  to  recall  some  event  or  scene  familiar 
to  both,  till  at  last  a  common  chord  would  be 
touched,  when  the  dormant  memory  would 
awake  as  by  an  electric  touch,  a  flood  of  fond 
recollections  sweep  away  all  uncertainty,  and 
the  lost  one  be  hurried  away  amidst  cries  and 
sobs  of  joy.  Sometiijaes  the  disappointed  parent 
or  brother  would  turn  sorrowfully  away  and, 
with  that  hope  deferred  which  makes  the  heart 
sick,  sadly  await  the  arrival  of  another  group. 
But  the  most  painful  sight  was  when  a  mother 
recognized  her  own  child,  which,  however,  in  turn, 
persisted  in  looking  on  her  as  a  stranger  and  coldly 
turning  from  her  embrace,  clung  to  its  savage 
protector;  or  when  a  mutual  recognition  failed 
to  awaken  affection  on  one  side,  so  entirely  had 
the  heart  become  weaned  from  its  early  attach- 
ments.. 

In  these  cases  the  joy  of  the  captors  knew  no 
bounds,  and  the  most  endearing  epithets  and 
caresses  would  be  lavished  upon  the  prisoner. 
But  when  they  saw  them  taken  away,  torrents  of 
tears  attested  their  sincere  afTection  and  grief. 
The  attitude  of  intense  interest,  and  the  exhibi- 
tions of  uncontrollable  sorrow  of  these  wild 
children  of  the  ■  forest,  on  one  side,  and  the 
ecstatic  joy  of  the  white  mother  as  she  folded  her 
long-lost  child  in  her  arms,  and  the  deep  emotion 
of  the  husband  as  he  strained  his  recovered  wife 
to  his  bosom,  on  the  other,  combined  to  form  one 
of  the  most  moving,  novel  spectacles  ever  wit- 
nessed in  the  American  wilderness.    One  of  the 


captive  women  had  an  infant  three  months  old 
at  her  breast,  born  in  the  Indian's  wigwam.  A 
Virginia  volunteer  instantly  recognized  her  as 
his  wife,  stolen  from  his  log-cabin  six  months 
previous,  and  rushing  forward  he  snatched  her 
to  his  bosom  and  flew  with  her  to  his  tent,  where, 
tearing  off  the  savage  costumes  of  both,  he 
clothed  them  in  their  proper  garments.  After 
the  first  burst  of  joy  was  over  he  inquired  after 
his  little  boy,  two  years  old,  who  was  carried  off 
the  same  time  she  was  made  prisoner ;  but  she 
could  give  no  tidings  of  him.  A  few  days  after 
another  group  of  prisoners  arrived,  in  which  was 
a  child  whose  appearance  answered  to  the  de- 
scriptions of  this  little  fugitive.  The  woman  was 
sent  for  and  the  child  placed  before.  She  looked 
at  it  a  moment,  and  shook  her  head.  But  the 
next  moment  the  powerful  maternal  instinct 
triumphed,  and  recognizing  in  the  little  savage 
before  her  her  long-lost  child,  she  dropped  her 
babe,  and  snatching  him  to  her  bosom  burst  into 
a  torrent  of  tear*.  The'husband  caught  the  babe 
from  the  ground  on  which  it  had  fallen  and  both 
hurried'  away  to  his  tent.  The  poor  Indian 
mother  watched  their  retreating  forms,  and  then 
burying  her  face  in  her  blanket  sobbed  aloud. 

A  scene  equally  affecting  occurred  between  an 
aged  mother  and  her  daughter,  who  had  been 
carried  off  nine  years  before  and  adopted  in  a 
distant  tribe.  Though  the  latter  had  passed  from 
childhood  to  womanhood  in  the  forest,  and  differed 
from  other  young  squaws  only  in  the  tint  of  her 
skin,  which  her  wild  life  could  not  wholly  bronze, 
the  eyes  of  the  parent,  sharpened  by  maternal 
instinct,  instantly  recognized  the  features  of  her 
child  in  the  handsome  young  savage,  and  called 
her  by  name,  and  rushed  forward  to  embrace  her. 
But  the  latter,  having  forgotten  her  native  lan- 
guage and  name,  and  all  her  childhood's  life, 
looked  on  wondering,  and  turned,  frightened, 
from  the  proffered  embrace,  to  her  Indian  parent. 
The  true  mother  tried  in  every  way  to  recall  the 
memory  of  her  child  and  awaken  recognition, 
but  in  vain.  At  length,  despairing  of  success, 
she  .gave  way  to  the  most  passionate  grief. 
Colonel  Bouquet  had  been  a  silent  witness  of  ■  the 
painful  interview,  and,  raoved  at  the  grief  of  the 
mother,  approached  her,  and  asked  if  she  could 
not  recall  some  song  with  which  she  used  to  sing 


212 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


her  child  to  sleep.  Brightening  at  the  sugges- 
tion, she  looked  up  through  her  tears,  and  struck 
a  familiar  strain,  one  with  which  she  used  long 
ago  to  quiet  her  babe.  The  moment  the  ears  of 
the  maiden  caught  the  sound  her  countenance 
changed,  and  as  the  strain  proceeded  a  strange 
light  stole  over  her  features.  All  stood  hushed 
as  death,  as  that  simple  melody  floated  out  through 
the  forest,  and  watched  with  intense  interest  the 
countenances  of  the  two  actors  in  this  touching 
scene.  The  eager,  anxious  look  of  the  mother  as 
she  sang,  and  the  rapidly  changing  expression  of 
the  captive's  face  as  she  Hstened,  awoke  the  pro- 
foundest  sympathy  of  Bouquet's  manly,  generous 
heart,  and  he  could  hardly  restrain  his  feelings. 
Slowly,  almost  painfully,  the  dormant  memory 
awoke  from  its  long  sleep;  at  length  the  dark 
cloud  that  covered  the  past  rent  asunder,  and  the 
scenes  of  childhood  came  hack  in  all  the  fresh- 
ness of  their  early  spring  time,  and  the  half  wild 
young  creature  sunk  in  joy  on  her  mother's 
bosom. 

Some  of  the  children  had  been  so  long  with 
their  captors  that  they  looked  upon  them  as  their 
true  parents,  and  cried  bitterly  on  being  sepa- 
rated from  them.  Stranger  still,  the  young 
women  had  become  so  attached  to  their  savage 
yet  kind  husbands,  that,  when  told  they  were  to 
be  given  up  to  their  white  friends,  they  refused 
to  go ;  and  many  of  them  had  to  be  bound  and 
brought  as  prisoners  to  camp.  Repelling  all  ad- 
vances, and  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  entreaties,  they 
besought  Bouquet  to  let  them  return  to  their  for- 
est homes.  The  promise  that  they  should  take 
their  half-breed  children  with  them  could  not 
change  their  wishes.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
Indians  clung  to  them  with  a  tenacity  and  fond- 
ness that  made  the  spectators  forget  they  were 
looking  upon  savages.  It  was  pitiful  to  see  their 
habitual  stoicism  give  way  so  completely  at  the 
thought  of  separation.  They  made  no  effort  to 
conceal  their  grief;  and  the  chieftain's  eye  that 
gleamed  like  his  own  tomahawk  in  battle,  now 
wept  like  a  child's.  His  strong  nature  seemed 
wholly  subdued,  and  his  haughty  bearing  changed 
to  one  of  humility  as  he  besought  the  white  man 
to  treat  his  pale-faced  wife  tenderly.  His  wild 
life  suddenly  lost  all  its  charms,  and  he  hung 
round  the  camp  to  get  a  sight  of  her  whom. 


though  she  was  lost  to  him,  he  still  loved.  He 
watched  near  the  log  building  in  which  she  was 
kept,  leaving  it  only  to  bring  from  the  forest 
pheasants,  wild  pigeons,  or  some  delicacy,  and 
lay  it  at  her  feet.  Some  of  the  young  captive 
wives  refused  to  be  comforted,  and  using  that 
sagacity  they  had  acquired  in  their  long  sojourn 
with  the  Indians,  managed  to  escape  from  their 
friends,  and  joining  their  swarthy  lovers  fled 
with  them  to  the  forest,  where  they  remained  in 
spite  of  all  efforts  to  recover  them. 

The  American  wilderness  never  presented 
such  a  spectacle  as  was  here  exhibited  on  the 
banks  of  the  Muskingum.  It  was  no  longer  a 
hostile  camp,  but  a  stage  on  which  human  na- 
ture was  displaying  its  most  attractive  and  noble 
traits;  or  rather  a  sublime  poem,  enacted  there 
in  the  bosom  of  the  wilderness,  whose  burden 
was  human  affection,  and  whose  great  argument 
the  common  brotherhood  of  mankind. 

Bouquet  and  his  officers  were  deeply  impressed, 
and  could  hardly  believe  their  own  senses  when 
they  saw'  young  warriors,  whose  deeds  of  daring 
and  savage  ferocity  had  made  their  names  a  ter- 
ror on  the  frontier,  weeping  like  children  over 
their  bereavement. 

A  treaty  of  peace  having  been  concluded  with 
the  various  tribes.  Bouquet,  taking  hostages  to  se- 
cure their  good  behavior  and  the  return  of  the 
remaining  prisoners,  broke  up  his  camp  on  the 
18th  of  November,  and  began  to  retrace  his  steps 
toward  Fort  Pitt.  The  leafless  forest  rocked  and 
roared  above  the  little  army  as  it  once  more  en- 
tered its  gloomy  recesses;  and  that  lovely  spot 
on  the  banks  of  the  Tuscarawas,  on  which  such 
strange  scenes  had  been  witnessed,  lapsed  again 
into  solitude  and  silence.  The  Indians  gazed 
with  various  and  conflicting  emotions  on  the 
lessening  files — some  with  grief  and  desolation 
of  heart  because  they  bore  away  the  objects  of 
their  deep  affection,  others  with  savage  hate,  for 
they  went  as  conquerors. 

A  few,  impelled  by  their  affection  for  the  pris- 
oners, refused  to  stay  behind.  Though  warned 
by  the  officers  of  the  danger  they  incurred  in  re- 
turning to  the  frontiers  which  they  had  drenched 
in  blood — of  the  private  vengeance  that  would  be 
wreaked  on  them  by  those  whose  homes  they  had 
made  desolate — they  could  not  be  persuaded  to 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


213 


•turn  back.  Thus,  day  after  day,  they  moved  on 
■with  the  army,  leaving  it  only  to  hunt  for  those 
•who  had  so  long  shared  their  wigwams.  Among 
.these  was  a  young  Mingo  chief,  who  could  not  be 
iorced  to  leave  a  young  Virginian  woman  whom 
he  had  taken  for  his  wife.  Neither  persuasions 
nor  the  prospect  of  falling  a  victim  to  the  ven- 
geance of  those  whose  friends  he  had  slain  could 
make  him  remain  behind.  He  treasured  the 
joung  paje-face  in  his  fierce  heart  with  a  devotion 
that  laughed  at  danger.  His  love  was  as  un- 
tamable as  his  hate ;  and  in  his  bosom  the  fires  of 
passion  glowed  with  an  intensity  found  only  in 
those  who  have  never  submitted  to  a  restraint, 
and  whose  highest  law  is  the  gratification  of  their 
own  desires.  Silent  and  gloomy  he  accompanied 
.the  army,  drawn  irresistibly  on  by  one  sweet 
face  -that  shut  all .  other  objects  from  his  sight. 
.She  had  left  his  wigwam  forever,  and  he  could  no 
longer  soothe  her  with  caressing  words  and  be 
rewarded  by  a  gentle  look;  but  he  could  hover 
round  her  path,  and  bring  her  those  delicacies 
which  he  so  well  knew  how  to  select.  No  knight 
in  the  days  of  chivalry  ever  exhibited  a  higher 
gallantry  or  more  unselfish  devotion  than  did  this 
haughty  young  Mingo. 

In  ten  days  the  army  again  drew  up  in  the  lit- 
tle clearing  in  front  of  Fort  Pitt,  and  were  wel- 
comed with  loud  shouts.  The  war  was  over,  and 
.the  troubled  frontier  rested  once  more  in  peace. 

As  a  perusal  of  the  details  of  this  interesting 
expedition  may  have  created  a  desire  to  know 
more  of  the  man  who  conducted  it,  it  is  thought 
best  to  add  the  following  personal  sketch  of  Col. 
Henry  Bouquet : 

He  was  born  in  Eolle,  on  the.  northern  border 
of  Lake  Geneva,  in  the  canton  of  Berne,  Switzer- 
land, in  1719.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was 
received  as  a  cadeWn  the  regiment  of  Constant, 
in  the  service  of  the  States  General  of  Holland, 
and  two  years  later  obtained  the  commission  of 
ensign  in  the  same  regiment.  Subsequently  he 
entered  the  service  of  the  King  of  Sardinia,  and 
distinguished  himself  first  as  a  lieutenant  and 
afterward  as  adjutant  in  the  campaigns  conducted 
by  that  Prince  against  the  combined  forces  of 
Franch  and  Spain.  He  acquitted  himself  with 
much  credit,  and  his  ability  and  courage  coming 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  he  en- 
4 


gaged  Bouquet  in  the  service  of  the  Eepublic.  He 
held  rank  here  as  Lieutenant  Colonel  in  the 
Swiss  Guards,  formed  at  The  Hague  in  1748. 

At  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  between  France 
and  England,  in  1754,  he  accepted  a  commission 
in  the  Royal  American  or  Sixtieth  British  regi- 
ment, as  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  embarked 
for  America.  His  operations  from  this  time  to 
the  date  of  his  expedition  against  the  Indians  are 
involved  in  obscurity;  little  or  nothing  having 
been  preserved  except  th8  fact  that  he  was  a 
subordinate  in  the  Forbes  expedition  against 
Fort  Du  Quesne  (Fort  Pitt)  in  1758. 

After  his  successful  Indian  campaign  in  1764, 
he  went  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  received 
with  distinguished  kindness,  and  warmly  wel- 
comed, especially  by  thos^  whose  friends  he  had 
rescued  from  the  Indians.  The  Assembly  voted 
him  a  complimentary  address ;  while  the  Home 
Government,  as  a  reward  for  his  services,  pro- 
moted him  to  the  rank  of  Brigadier  General,  and 
placed  him  in  command  of  the  Southern  Depart- 
ment of  North  America.  He  did  not  live  long, 
however,  to  enjoy  his  honors,  for,  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  1765,  he  died  of  a  fever  in  Pensa- 
cola. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 
COL.  beodhead's  expedition.' 

Causes  of  the  Expedition— The  Ohfective  Point— March  of 
the  Army— Arrival  at  the  Forks  of  the  Muskingum— De- 
struction of  Indian  Villages— Return  of  the  Army— War  of 
Extermination  —  Col.  Brodhead's  Official  Report- Bio- 
graphical Sketches  of  Col.  David  Shepherd  and  Col.  Daniel 
Brodhead. 

DURING  the  year  1780,  frequent  predatory 
incursions  were  made  into  the  frontier  set- 
tlements east  of  the  Ohio  river,  to  the  very  seri- 
ous detriment  of  those  settlements,  whose  growth 
was  greatly  impeded  thereby.  Naturally  the 
people  living  on  the  frontiers  were  constantfly  in 
a  state  of  feverish  excitement  and  alarm,  and 
would  so  remain  as  long  as  there  was  good  reason 
to  apprehend  hostile  and  murderous  raids  into 
their  communities.  And  of  course  while  that 
condition  of  things  existed  but  small  prosperity 
to  the  exposed  settlements  could  reasonably  be 
anticipated.  t 


214 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


As  ihe  winter  of  1780-81  wore  away  the  shrewd 
and  observing  frontiersmen  saw  but  Uttle  pros- 
pect of  peace,  tranquility  and  prosperity  for  the 
frontier  settlements,  and  had  but  slight  hopes 
that  the  savages  would  be  at  peace  with  them, 
unless  a  sanguinary  policy  was  adopted  and  rig- 
orously pursued  towards  tliem,  for  self  protec- 
tion. With  the  approach  of  spring  there  were 
unmistakable  indications  of  an  early  renewal  of 
hostilities,  and  these  apprehensions  soon  turned 
out  to  be  well  founded.  During  the  early  spring 
of  1781,  as  was  anticipated,  marauding  parties  of 
hostile  Indians  crossed  the  Ohio  river  at  various 
points  for  purposes  of  plunder  and  murder,  and 
frequently  succeeded  in  executing  their  nefari- 
ous and  brutal  purposes.  ' 

Col.  Daniel  Brodhead  was  at  this  time  Com- 
mander of  the  Western  Military  Department 
with  headquarters  at  Fort  Pitt,  (now  Pittsburgh). 
Learning  of  the  growing  disaffection  of  the  un- 
civilized and  unchristianized  Dela wares  on  the 
Muskingum  toward  the  white  settlers  east  of  the 
Ohio,  and  also  toward  the  American  cause,  as 
against  Great  Britain  in  the  then  pending  revo- 
lutionary struggle;  and  knowing  the  losses  the 
frontiersmen  had  sustained ;  the  barbarities  they 
had  endured,  the  cruelties  of  which  they  had 
been  the  victims  at  the  hands  of  the  savages,  and 
also  seeing  the  then  exposed  condition  of  the 
weaker  frontier  settlements,  he  decided  that  the 
time  had  fully  come  when  measures  should  be 
taken  to  guard  against  the  future  recurrence  and 
to  avenge  the  cruelties  and  atrocious  barbarities 
of  the  savages.  Accordingly  he  organized  an  ex- 
pedition composed  of  about  300  men,  in  part  vol- 
unteers, at  Wheeling,  in  April,  1781,  to  march 
against  the  Indians  on  the  Muskingum.  Col. 
David  Shepherd  was  the  second  officer  in  rank. 
The  Indian  village  of  Goschachgunk,  the  second 
capital  of  the  Delaware  nation  in  Ohio,  built  on 
the  site  of  Coshocton,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Muskingum,  just  below  the  junction  of  the  Tus- 
carawas and  Walhonding  rivers,  also  called  the 
"Forks  of  the  Muskingum," was  the  objective 
point  of  the  expedition. 

Col.  Brodhead's  force,  of  300  efTective  men, 
composed  to  a  large  extent  of  experienced  Indian 
hunters,  rendezvoused  at  Fort  Henry,  (formerly 
called  Fort  Fincastle,  its   name  having    been 


changed  in  honor  of  Governor  Patrick  Henry,  of 
the  colony  of  Virginia,)  situated  in  the  then  small 
village  of  Wheeling.  The  command  was  well 
officered.  Col.  David  Shepherd,  County  Lieutenant 
of  Ohio  county,  Virginia,  having  command  of 
134  men  (probably  the  volunteer  portion);  the- 
whole  force  being  under  the  command  of  Col- 
onel Brodhead,  who  "was  esteemed  a  successful 
commander  in  Indian  warfare." 

This  small  army  marched  from  Fort  Henry  in 
April,  1781,  crossed  the  Ohio,  and  made  a  rapid 
march,  by  the  nearest  route,  to  the  principal 
Delaware  village  upon  the  Muskingum,  where 
the  present  town  of  Coshocton  now  stands.  The 
army,  reached  the  point  of  destination  by  a 
forced  march  on  the  evening  of  the  19th  of 
April,  1781,  (just  one  hundred  years,  ago,  at  this 
writing,)  completely  surprising  the  Indians. 
Owing  to  high  water,  however,  the  Indians  on 
the  west  side  of  the  river  escaped,  but  all  on  the 
east  side  were  captured  without  firing  a  shot 
Sixteen  Indian  warriors  captured  were  taken  be- 
low the  town  and  killed  by  direction  of  a  coun- 
cil of  war  held  in  the  camp  of  Brodhead,  being 
dispatched  says  Dr.  Doddridge  with  tomahawks- 
and  spears,  and  afterwards  scalped.  The  next 
morning  an  Indian  called  from  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river  for  the  "  big  captain,"  (as  they  called 
Brodhead,)  saying  he  wanted  peace.  Brodhead 
sent  himi  for  his  chief,  who  came  over  under  a 
promise  that  he  should  not  be  killed.  After  he 
got  over  it  is  said  that  the  notorious  Indian 
fighter,  Lewis  Wetzel,  tomahawked  him !  Some- 
authorities  represent  that  it  was  an  older  brother 
of  Lewis  Wetzel  that  committed  this  murder. 

Another  village,  two  and  a  half  miles  below, 
was  also  destroyed.  This  was  Lichtenau,  the 
Moravian  village,  abandoned  the  year  before,  at 
this  time  occupied  by  some  %raggling  bands  of 
uncivilized  Delawares,  who  had  named  it  In- 
doachaio.  A  strong  determination  was  mani- 
fested by  a  portion  of  the  soldiers  to  march  to 
the  Moravian  towns  up  the  river  (Salem,  Gna- 
denhutten  and  Schonbrunn)  and  destroy  them, 
but  Colonels  Brodhead  and  Shepherd  prevented , 
this  contemplated  outrage. 

The  army  then  began  its  return,  with  some 
twenty  prisoners,  in  charge  of  the  volunteers, 
but  it  had  gone  but  a  short  distance,  when  those 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


216 


having  the  prisoners  in  charge  killed  them  all 
except  a  few  women  and  children,  who  were 
taken  to  Fort  Pitt,  and  afterwards  exchanged  for 
an  equal  number  of  prisoners  held  by  the  Indians. 
On  his  return  march  Colonel  Brodhead  met 
some  friendly  Delawares,  who  accompanied  him 
to  Fort  Pitt  and  placed  themselves  under  the 
protection  of  the  United  States. 

Before  leaving  the  valley  of  the  Tuscarawas 
(then  called  Muskingum),  Colonel  Brodhead  had 
an  interview  with  the  Rev.  John  Heckewelder 
and  perhaps  other  Moravian  missionaries  who 
had  been  friendly  to  the  frontier  settlers  and  true 
to  the  cause  of  the  colonists  in  their  struggle 
with  the  mother  country,  and  advised  them  and 
all  of  the  Christian  Indians,  in  view  of  their 
dangerous  position,  "  between  two  fires,"  to  break 
up  their  settlements  and  accompany  him  to  Fort 
Pitt  for  protection.  This  advice  they  unfortun- 
antely  declined  to  accept,  and  before  the  expira- 
tion of  a  jeax  ninety-four  oi  them  were  massacred 
in  cold  blood,  at  Gnadenhutten,  by  infuriated 
frontiersmen,  under  command  of  Colonel  David 
Williamson,  many  of  whose  command  had  been 
of  Colonel  Brodhead's  expedition  to  the  Mus- 
kingum the  previous  year. 

The  settlements  on  the  frontiers  had  suffered 
greatly  from  the  Indians,  and  about  this  time 
the  settlers  came  to  the  determination  to  arrest 
in  future  the  marauding  and  murderous  incur- 
sions of  the  savages.  The  time  had  come  when 
they  must  make  a  vigorous  defense  of  those  set- 
tlements or  abandon  them.  They  must  fight 
efficiently  or  be  exterminated.  It  was  a  contest 
for  life,  for  home,  for  wives  and  children.  It 
was  a  battle  between  barbarism  and  civilization, 
between  Paganism  and  Christianity.  It  is  not 
surprising  therefore  that  the  border  wars  of  this 
period  were  prosecuted  on  both  sides  as  wars  of 
extermination,  and  that  the  barbarities  perpe- 
trated by  the  Indians  had  produced  such  a  malig- 
nant spirit  of  revenge  among  the  white  settlers 
as  to  make  them  little  less  brutal  and  remorse- 
less than  the  savages  themselves.  Some  of  their 
expeditions  against  the  Indians  were  mere  mur- 
dering parties  held  together  only  by  the  com- 
mon thirst  for  revenge,  and  the  malignant  spirit 
of  retaliation ;  and  it  is  not  likely  that  any  disci- 
pline calculated  to  restrain  that  pervading  feeling 


could,  in  all  cases,  have  been  enforced,  however 
anxious  the  commander  and  a  minority  of  his 
men  might  be.  It  is  certainly  unfortunate  for 
the  reputation  of  Colonel  Brodhead  that  his 
name  is  thus  associated  with  the  murder  of  pris- 
oners, but  it  is  highly  probably  that  he  never 
sanctioned  it,  and  could  not  have  prevented  it. 
It  is  clear  however  that  the  combined  influence 
of  Col.  Brodhead  and  Col.  Shepherd  saved  the 
Moravian  Indians  of  the  Tuscarawas  Valley 
from  the  massacre  that  disgraced  the  soldiers  of 
Col.  Williamson  the  next  year,  and  which  their 
commander  and  eighteen  of  his  men  desired  to 
prevent  but  could  not!  The  killing  of  prisoners 
by  the  men  of  Col.  Brodhead's  expedition,  in 
April,  1781,  and  the  cruel  murder  of  ninety-four 
Moravian  Indians  by  Col.  Williamson's  com- 
mand, in  March,  1782;  succeeded  in  June,  1782, 
by  the  terrible  torture  and  burning  of  Col.  Craw- 
ford and  others  of  his  force,  followed  in  August 
of  the  same  year  of  the  cruelties  and  barbarities 
of  the  Indians  practiced  towards  Col.  Lochry 
and  all  his  command,  ambushed,  captured  or 
killed,  and  some  of  the  prisoners  murdered  in 
cold  blood,  well  illustrate  the  spirit  of  the  times 
and  the  sanguinary  temper  that  controlled  the 
whites  and  savages  alike,  on  the  fiery  arena  of 
the  western  border,  at  this  period  of  fierce  con- 
flicts and  desperate  deeds — deeds  that  were  in 
such  terrible  harmony  with  those  wild  and 
thrilling  days— heroic  years  on  the  western,  bor- 
der they  have  been  called — years  of  barbarity, 
massacre,  murder  they  were! 

The  following  is  Col.  Brodhead's  official  re- 
port of  his  expedition  to  the  Muskingum  made 
to  President  Reed,  of  the  Executive  Council  of 
Pennsylvania : 

"  Philadelphia,  May  22, 1781. 

"  Sir  : — In  the  last  letter  I  had  the  jfionor  to  ad- 
dress to  your  Excellency,  I  mentioned  my  in- 
tention to  carry  an  expedition  against  the  re- 
volted Delaware  towns.  I  have  now  the  pleasure 
to  inform  you  that  with  about  300  men,  (nearly 
half  the  number  volunteers  from  the  county),  I 
surprised  the  towns  of  Cooshasking  and  Indao- 
chaie,  killed  fifteen  warriers,  and  took  upwards 
of  twenty  old  men,  women  and  children.  About 
four  miles  above  the  town  I  detached  a  party  to 
cross  the  river  Muskingum  and  destroy  a  party 
of  about  forty  warriors,  who  had  just  before  (as 
I  learned  by  an  Indian  whom  the  advance  guard 
took  prisoner)  crossed  over  with  some  prisoners 


216 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


and  scalps,  and  were  drunk,  but  excessive  hard 
rains  having  swelled  the  river  banlc  high,  it  was 
found  impracticable.  After  destroying  tlie  towns, 
with  great  quantities  of  poultry  and  other  stores, 
and  killing  about  forty  head  of  cattle,  I  marched 
up  the  river  about  seven  miles,  with  a  view  to 
send  for  some  craft  from  the  Moravian  towns, 
and  cross  the  river  to  pursue  the  Indians;  but 
when  I  proposed  my  plan  to  the  volunteers  I 
found  they  conceived  they  had  done  enough, 
and  were  determined  to  return,  wherefore  I 
marched  to  Newcomerstown,  where  a  few  Indi- 
ans, who  remained  in  our  interest,  had  with- 
drawn themselves,  not  exceeding  thirty  men. 
The  troops  experienced  great  kindness  from  the 
Moravian  Indians  and  those  at  Newcomerstown, 
and  obtained  a  sufficient  supply  of  meat  and  corn 
to  subsist  the  men  and  horses  to  the  Ohio  river. 
Captain  Killbuck  and  Captain  Luzerne,  upon 
hearing  of  our  troops  being  on  the  Muskingum, 
immediately  pursued  the  warriors,  killed  one  of 
their  greatest  villains  and  brought  his  scalp  to 
me.  The  plunder  brought  in  by  the  troops  sold 
for  about  eighty  pounds  at  Fort  Henry.  I  had 
upon  this  expedition  Captain  Montour  and  Wil- 
son, and  three  other  faithful  Indians  who  con- 
tributed greatly  to  success. 

"  The  troops  behaved  with  great  spirit,  and  al- 
though there  was  considerable  firing  between 
them  and  the  Indians,  I  had  not  a  man  killed  or 
wounded,  and  only  one  horse  shot. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be  with  great  respect  and 
attachment,  your  Excellency's  most  obedient, 
most  humble  servant.      Daniel  Beodhead, 

"Col.  1st  P.  E. 
Directed : 

"  His  Excellency, 

"  Joseph  Eeed,  Esq."* 

COL.   DAVID  SHEPHEED. 

Col.  David  Shepherd  came  to  Wheeling,  fr^om 
the  South  Branch  of  the  Potomac,  in  1770.  His 
energy,  enterprise,  courage  and  other  character- 
istics of  first-class  frontiersmen,  soon  made  him 
"  a  man  of  mark." 

In  1776,  ,iipon  the  organization  of  Ohio  county, 
Virginia,  Col.  Shepherd  became  the  commanding 
officer  of  the  militia  of  the  county ;  was  also  the 
presiding  justice  of  the  county  court;  and  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  year  1776,  he  became  the 
sheriff  of  the  county  of  Ohio,  that  office  at  the 
time  named  going  to  the  senior  justice  of  the 
county  court,  under  the  laws  of  the  colony,  and 
for  many  years  afterward,  in  pursuance  of  the 

*  PennsylTania  Arcliives,\Tol.  ix,  p.  161. 


laws  of  the  State.  Col.  Shepherd  also  presided  at 
a  notable  meeting  or  convocation  held  near  the 
close  of  the  year,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  into 
effect  certain  requirements  of  the  legislature. 

On  the  12th  of  March,  1777,  the  Governor  of 
Virginia  (Patrick  Henry),  authorized  the  raising 
of  a  force  of  300  men  in  certain  western  counties 
of  Virginia,  "  to  penetrate  the  country  and  inflict 
summary  punishment  upon  certain  Indians  that 
were  characterized  as  outlaws  and  banditti,"  lo- 
cated at  "  Pluggystown,"  near  the  head  waters  of 
the  Scioto,  and  the  command  of  the  expedition 
was  tendered  to  Col.  David  Shepherd,  who  had 
previously  been  appointed  ,  to  the  position  of 
lieutenant  of  the  county  of  Ohio. 

In  September,  1777,  Fort  Henry  (formerly 
called  Fort  Fincastle),  was  besieged  by  a  large 
force  of  Indian  warriors,  numbering  nearly  400, 
but  it-  was  successfully  defended  by  the  small 
force  within  it,  under  the  command  of  Col.'^David 
Shepherd.  He  continued  to  take  a  leading  part 
in  arranging  for  the  defense  of  the  frontiers  un- 
til 1781,  when  he  was  second  in  command  to  Col. 
Daniel  Brodhead  in  the  "  Coshocton  Campaign," 
as  it  was  called. 

Col.  Shepherd  was  a  prominent  man  on  the 
frontiers,  acting  in  various  ways  against  the  hos- 
tile Indians  west  of  the  Ohio  river.  As  a  civilian 
he  long  held  a  position  in  the  front  rank  of  use- 
ful, upright,  valuable  public  officers,  and  as  a  just, 
impartial  magistrate. 

COL.  DANIEL  BEODHEAD. 

Col.  Daniel  Brodhead  was  a  citizen  of  Berks 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1771,  having  removed 
there  during  that  year  from  Ulster  county,  New 
York.  He  entered  the  army  as  a  lieutenant- 
colonel,  his  commission  bearing  date  July  4, 
1776.  Until  early  in  the  year  1779  he  was  en- 
gaged in  most  of  the  battles  fought  by  Gen. 
Washington's  army,  and  had  attained  a  colonel's 
commission,  commanding  the  8th  Pennsylvania 
regiment!  On  March  5,  1779,  he  was  appointed 
to  the  command  of  the  western  military  depart- 
ment (succeeding  Gen.  Mcintosh),  with  head- 
quarters at  Fort  Pitt.  This  position  he  retained 
until  some  time  after  the  Coshocton  campaign  in 
April,  1781,  when  Col.  John  Gibson  temporarily 
occupied  the  position,  until  the  permanent  ap- 


HISXOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


217 


pointment  of  Gen.  William  Irvine,  September 
24, 1781. 

Col.  Brodhead,  in  "August  and  September, 
1779,  led  an  expedition  against  certain  Seneca 
and  Muncie  Indians,  on  the  Allegheny  river, 
his  command  consisting  of  609  men,  including 
militia  and  volunteers,  which,  however,  result- 
ed in  little  less  than  the  destruction  of  a  num- 
ber of  Indian  villages  and  some  hundreds  of 
acres  of  corn,  and  the  confiscation  of  certain 
articles,  of  the  estimated  value  of  13,000.  These 
villages  were  situated  nearly  200  miles  above  Port 
Pitt. 

Colonel  Brodhead's  administration  of  affairs 
generally  in  the  Western  Military  Department, 
during,  those  two  years,  was  in  the  main  rather 
popular  with  the  frontiersmen,  and  was  so  satis- 
factory to  Congress  in  its  results  as  to  elicit  a 
specially  complimentary  resolution  from  that 
body.  He  was  doubtless  a  meritorious  officer, 
and  w^as  one  of  four  brothers  who  all  rendered 
essential  services  to  their  country  during  the 
perilous  years  of  our  revolutionary  struggle. 
Colonel  Brodhead  ultimately  attained  to  the  rank 
and  command  of  a  brigadier-general,  and  those 
of  his  countrymen  who  have  knowledge  of  his 
history  and  services,  concede  to  him  the  reputa- 
tion of  a  commander  of  energy,  efficiency,  and 
undoubted  courage  and  patriotism. 

General'  Brodhead  remained  in  retirement 
until  November  3, 1789,  when  he  was  elected  Sur- 
veyor-General of  Pennsjdvania,  an  office  which 
he  continued  to  hold  until  1799.  One  of  his  sons, 
an  officer  in  the  revolutionary  army,  ofTered  up 
his  young  life  on  the  altar  of  his  countrj'.  The 
Brodheads  were  true  patriots,  gallant  soldiers, 
and  rendered  valuable  services  to  their  country 
in  its  time  of  peril. 

General  Brodhead  was  married  twice.  His  last 
marriage  was  with  the  widow  of  Governor 
Mifflin,  one  of  the  early  time  Governors  of  Penn- 
sylvania. His  death  occurred  at  Milford,  Penn- 
sylvania, November  15, 1809,  where  and  when  was 
brought  to  a  close  a  life  that  had  been  so  con- 
spicuously and  persistently  dedicated  to  the  pro- 
motion of  the  liberty  of  his  countrymen,  and-  to 
the  establishment  of  free  institutions,  as  to  de- 
mand the  grateful  consideration  of  posterity,  and 
an  honorable  mention  in  history. 


.      CHAPTER  XXII. 

WETZEL    AND    BRADY. 

Lewis  Wetzel  — His  Character  — The  WetEel  Family  — The 
Murder  of  Lewis'  Father— Capture  o£  Wetzel  by  the  In- 
dians—His Adventures  in  the  Muskingum  Valley— Tragedy 
at  Indian  Spring  — The  expedition  to  the  Muskingum 
under  MeMahon— Wetzel  takes  a  Scalp— The  Turkey  Call- 
Various  Adventures— Imprisoned— Wetzel's  Personal  Ap- 
pearance and  Ddath. 

Samuel  Brady— His  Expedition  to  Walhondlng— A  Brief 
Sketch  of  his  Life  and  Services. 

LEWIS  WETZEL,  who  has  been  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  chapter  as  assassinating  the 
chief  who  sought  a  conference  with  General 
Brodhead,  under  promise  of  protection,  stands 
side  by  side  with  Samuel  Brady,  Simon  Kenton, 
Daniel  Boone  and  a  few  others,  as  a  prominent 
leader  in  the  border  wars  of  the  time.  The  single 
act  mentioned  indicates  his  somewhat  savage  na- 
ture and  the  intense  feehng  of  hatred  that  then 
existed  among  the  pioneers.  Wetzel  was,  him- 
self, the  personification  of  this  feeling,  and  prob- 
ably outrivaled  his  cotemporaries,  above  men- 
tioned, in  his  intense  arid  bitter  hatred  of  the 
whole  Indian  race. 

As  Lewis  Wetzel  was  identified  with  all  the 
border  wars  of  the  time,  and  with  the  numerous 
private  expeditions  against  the  Indians  in  Ohio; 
and  as  this  was  not  his  first  or  last  visit  to  the 
Muskingum  valley,  any  history  of  Ohio,  or  es- 
pecially of  the  eastern  part  of  it,  would  seem  to 
be  incomplete  without  some  account  of  him. 

He  was  looked  upon,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Wheeling  and  along  the  upper  Ohio,  by  the  set- 
tlers as  the  right  arm  of  their  defence ;  his  pres- 
ence was  a  tower  of  strength  in  the  infant  settle- 
ments, and  his  name  a  terror  to  the  fierce  and 
restless  savages,  who,  making  the  Muskingum 
valley  their  stopping  and  starting  point,  waged 
a  relentless  war  of  extermination  against  the 
frontiersmen. 

Although  he  was  fierce  and  unrelenting  in 
his  warfare,  and  always  shot  an  Indian  on  sight, 
when  he  could,  yet  his  foe  was  equally  fierce- 
and  unrelenting,  and  the  memory  of  Wetzel 
should  be  embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  the  people 
of  Eastern  Ohio,  and  Western  Pennsylvania,  for 
his  efforts  in  defence  of  their  forefathers  are 
almost  without  g,  parallel. 


218 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Almost  always  foremost  and  most  devoted,  he 
threw  into  the  common  treasury  a  soul  as  heroic, 
as  adventurous,  as  full  of  energy  and  exhaustless 
resources  as  ever  animated  a  human  being. 

Unfortunately  for  his  memory  no  entirely  re- 
liable account  of  him  has  ever  appeared  in  print. 
The  present  generation  know  little  of  his  per- 
sonal history,  save  as  gathered  from  the  pages  of 
romance,  or  the  scarcely  less  painted  traditions 
of  the  day. 

With  many  he  is  regarded  as  having  been  little 
better  than  a  savage;  a  man  whose  disposition 
was  that  of  an  enraged  tiger,  and  whose  only 
propensity  was  for  blood.  Many  of  his  acts, 
notably  the  one  mentioned,  would  seem  to 
strengthen  this  belief,  yet  if  the  people  of  to-day 
could  but  comprehend  the  state  of  feeling  then 
existing  between  the  belligerents,  they  would 
look  upon  his  acts  in  a  somewhat  different  light. 

He  was  revengeful,  it  is  true,  because  he  had 
suffered  deep  injuries  at  the  hands  of  his  foes  ; 
yet  he  was  never  known  to  inflict  cruelty  upon 
women  and  children,  or  to  torture  or  mutilate 
his  adversary. 

He  was  literally  without  fear;  brave  as  a  lion, 
cunning  as  a  fox,  "daring  where  daring  was  the 
wiser  part;  prudent  when  discretion  was  valor's 
I'.etter  self."  He  seemed  to  possess  in  a  remark- 
able degree  that  intuitive  knowledge  which  can 
alone  constitute  a  good  and  efficient  hunter  and 
successful  scout,]added  to  which  he  was  sagacious, 
prompt  to  act,  and  possessed  an  iron  frame  and 
will  to  render  his  acts  efficient. 

John  Wetzel,  the  father  of  Lewis,  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  on  Wheeling  creek.  He  had  five 
sons  and  two  daughters,  whose  names  respect- 
i*fely  were  Martin,  Lewis,  Jacob,  John,  George, 
Susan  and  Christina. 

The  elder  Wetzel  spent  much  of  his  time 
locating  lands,  hunting  and  fishing.  His  neigh- 
bors frequently  admonished  him  against  expos- 
ing himself  to  the  enemy,  who  was  almost  con- 
tinually prowling  about,  but  disregarding  advice, 
•and  laughing  at  their  fears,  he  continued  to 
widen  the  range  of  his  excursions,  until  he 
finally  |fell  a  victim  to  the  tawny  foe.  He  was 
killed  near  Captina,  in  1787,  on  his  return  from 
Middle  Island  creek.  Himself  and  companion 
were  paddling  slowly  along  in  a  canoe,  near  the 


shore,  when  they  were  hailed  by  a  party  of  In- 
dians and  ordered  to  land.  This  they  refused, 
and  they  were  immediately  firfd  upon  and 
Wetzel  shot  through  the  body.  Feeling  himself 
mortally  wounded,  he  directed  his  companion  to 
lie  down  in  the  canoe,  while  he  (Wetzel),  so 
long  as  strength  remained,  would  paddle  the 
vessel  beyond  the  reach  of  the  savages.  In  this 
way  he  saved  the  life  of  his  friend,  while  his  own 
was  ebbing  fast.  He  died  soon  after  reaching 
the  shore,  at  Baker's  station.  Not  many  years 
ago  a  rough  stone,  on  which  was  inscribed  in 
perfectly  distinct  characters,  "  J.  W.,  1787,"  still 
marked  the  last  resting  place  of  John  Wetzel. 

At  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  Lewis  was  about 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  and  in  common  with 
his  brothers,  swore  vengeance  against  the  whole 
Indian  race,  and  terribly  was  that  resolution  car- 
ried into  effect.  From  that  time  forward  they 
were  devoted  to  the  wood ;  and  an  Indian,  whether 
in  peace  or  war,  by  night  or  by  day,  was  a 
doomed  man  in  the  presence  of  either  of  them. 

The  first  event  worthy  of  record  in  his  life  ac- 
curred  when  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old, 
when  he  was  taken  prisoner.  He  had  just  stepped 
from  his  father's  door  and  stood  looking  at  his 
brother,  Jacob,  playing  in  the  yard,  when  he  hap- 
pened to  see  a  gun  pointing  from  the  corner  of 
the  corn  crib.  He  sprang  quickly  to  one  side, 
just  in  time  to  receive  the  ball  upon  his  breast 
bone,  cutting  a  gash  and  carrying  away  a  piece  of 
the  bone.  In  an  instant  two  athletic  warriors 
came  up,  and  making  the  lads  prisoners,  hurried 
them  away  without  being  discovered.  On  the 
second  day  they  reached  the  Ohio,  and  crossilig, 
near  the  mouth  of  McMahon's  creek,  gained  the 
Big  Lick,  about  twenty  miles  from  the  river,  that 
evening.  During  the  whole  of  this  painful 
march  Lewis  suffered  severely  from  his  wound, 
but  bore  up  with  true  courage,  knowing  if  he 
complained  the  tomahawk  would  be  his  doom.^ 

That  night,  on  lying  down,  the  Indians,  con- 
trary to  their  usual  custom,  failed  to  tie  their 
prisoners,  and  Lewis  resolved  to  escape.  While 
the  Indians  were  sleeping  they  both  arose  with- 
out disturbing  their  captors  and  passed  into  the 
woods.  Finding,  however,  that  they  could  not 
travel  without  moccasins,  Lewis  returned  to  ■ 
camp  and  secured  two  pairs,  with  which  he  re- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


219 


turned  to  his  brother.  He  then  went  back  after 
his  father's  gun,  which  the  Indians  had  secured 
in  the  yard  where  the  lads  were  taken  prisoners. 
Having  secured  this  without  awakening  the  sav- 
ages, they  started  in  the  direction  of  home.  Find- 
ing the  trail,  they  traveled  on  for  some  time,  oc- 
casionally stopping  to  listen.  They  soon  ascer- 
tained the  Indians  were  in  pursuit,  but  stepping 
aside  into  the  brush  the  savages  passed  them,  and 
they  again  resumed  their  march.  They  had  not 
proceeded  far  before  they  heard  the  Indians  re- 
turning, and  again  avoided  them  by  hiding  in  the 
"brush.  Before  daylight  they  were  followed  by 
two  Indians  on  horseback,  but  again  resorting  to 
a  similar  expedient,  they  readily  escaped  detec- 
tion. The  next  day,  about  eleven  o'clock,  they 
reached  the  Ohio,  at  a  point  opposite  Zane's  Is- 
land, and  lashing  two  logs  together  they  crossed 
■over  and  were  once  more  with  their  friends. 

Space  will  not  allow  a  complete  review  of  this 
man's  adventurous  life,  as  that  would,  if  justice 
were  done,  make  a  volume ;  but  some  of  his 
more  daring  deeds  may  be  noticed,  that  the  full 
character  of  the  man  may  be  brought  out ;  and 
those  expeditions  in  which  he  was  knowii  to  have 
visited  the  Muskingum  valley,  may  be  referred  to 
more  in  detail.  There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that 
Lewis  Wetzel  frequently  visited  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  Indian  towns  about  the  junction  of 
the  Tuscarawas  and  Walhonding  rivers.  Killing 
Indians  was  his  trade,  and  these  towns  were  the 
nearest  ones  to  his  field  of  operations. 

That  he  often  came  to  the  neighborhood  of 
these  towns  alone,  and  prowled  about  in  the 
woods  until  he  saw  an  opportunity  to  take  a  scalp 
and  return  in  safety,  may  safely  be  inferred  from 
the  nature  of  the  man  and  his  known  mode  of 
warfare.  Indeed  he  did  not  always  stop  on  the- 
Muskingum,  but  passed  on  into  the  heart  of  the 
Indian  country,  about  the  head  waters  of  the 
Sandusky  river,  in  his  incessant  and  tireless 
search  for  scalps. 

He  was  a  lover  of  the  woods  and  of  solitude, 
and  after  reaching  the  years  of  manhood  spent 
most  of  his  time  alone  in  the  great  wilderness 
west  of  the  Ohio. 

He  seemed  to  worship  the  grand  old  trees  with 

^  more  than  pagan   devotion,  and   was  delighted 

with  every  fresh  grove,  hill,  valley,  and  rippling 


stream.  The  quiet  repose,  the  moving  shadow, 
the  song  of  birds,  the  whoop  of  the  savage,  the 
long,  melancholy  howl  of  the  timber  wolf,  were 
sights  and  sounds  that  most  interested  him,  and 
made  up  largely  the  pleasures  of  his  existence. 
Rising  from  his  couch  of  leaves  beside  some 
moss-covered  log,  the  lone  hunter  made  his  hur- 
ried meal,  and  pressed  on  through  the  day,  care- 
less of 'fatigue  or  danger,  until  night  again  spread 
her  mantle  over  the  woods. 

Shortly  after  Crawford's  defeat,  a  man  named 
Thomas  Mills,  escaping  from  that  unfortunate 
expedition,  reached  Indian  Spring,  about  nine 
miles  from  Wheeling,  on  the  present  National 
road,  where  he  left  his  horse  and  proceeded  on 
foot  to  Wheeling.  Thence  he  went  to  Van 
Metre's  Fort,  and  after  a  day  or  two  of  rest, 
induced  Lewis  Wetzel  to  return  with  him  to  the 
Spring  for  his  horse.  Lewis  was  then  eighteen 
years  old,  but  skilled  in  wood-craft,  and  advised 
Mills  not  to  go,  but  the  latter  determined  to  pro- 
ceed, and  the  two  started.  Approaching  the 
Spring,  they  discovered  the  horse  tied  to  a  tree, 
and  Wetzel  at  once  comprehended  their  danger. 

Mills  walked  up  to  unfasten  the  animal,  when 
instantly  a  discharge  of  rifles  followed,  and  the 
unfortunate  man  fell,  mortally  wounded.  Wetzel, 
knowing  his  only  chance  for  life  was  in  flight, 
bounded  away  at  his  utmost  speed.  Four  of  the 
Indians  followed  in  rapid  pursuit,  and  after  a 
chase  of  half  a  mile,  one  of  the  most  active  of 
their  number  approached  Wetzel  so  closely  that 
fearing  he  might  throw  his  tomahawk  with 
deadly  effect,  he  turned  suddenly  and  shot  the 
savage  dead.  Wetzel  was  very  fleet  on  foot,  and 
had  acquired  the  habit  of  loading  his  gun  while 
running,  and  it  was  now,  as  it  was  many  times 
subsequently,  of  great  advantage  to  him.  Keeping 
in  advance  another  half  mile,  his  gun  was  reloaded, 
and  the  second  savage  came  so  near  that,  upon 
turning,  the  Indian  caught  the  muzzle  of  his  gun, 
and  the  contest  became  doubtful.  At  one  moment 
the  Indian  by  his  great  strength  and  dexterity 
brought  Wetzel  to  his  knee,  and  had  nearly 
wrenched  the  rifle  from  his  hands,  when  by  a 
powerful  effort  he  drew  the  weapon  from  the 
hands  of  the  savage,  and  thrusting  the  muzzle 
against  the  side  of  his  neck,  pulled  the  trigger, 
killing  him  instantly. 


220 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


By  this  time  the  other  two  Indians  were  nearly 
upon  him,  and  he  again  bounded  away,  reloading 
his  rifle  while  running.  The  savages  fell  behind, 
but  Lewis  slackened  his  pace,  and  even  stopped 
once  or  twice  to  allow  them  to  come  up.  When- 
ever he  looked  around,  however,  they  treed,  un- 
willing to  expose  themselves  to  his  deadly  rifle. 
Running  on  some  time,  he  reached  an  open 
space  in  the  woods,  and,  turning  suddenly,  the 
•foremost  savage  sprang  behind  a  tree,  which  did 
not,  however,  screen  his  body  entirely,  and  Wet- 
zel fired,  dangerously  wounding  him.  The  re- 
maining Indian  beat  a  hasty  retreat. 

This  illustrates  Wetzel's  mode  of  warfare;  he 
could  generally  out-run  and  out-shoot  most  of 
his  enemies. 

The  following  is  related  as  one  of  his  exploits 
with  the  Indians  about  the  head  waters  of  the 
Muskingum : 

In  the  summer  of  1786  these  Indians  killed  ^ 
man  near  Mingo  bottom,  and  a  party  of  fron- 
tiersmen under  the  famous  Major  McMahon  (who 
was  afterward  killed  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Re- 
covery), followed  them  with  the  intention  of  get- 
ting revenge.  One  hundred  dollars  was  offered 
to  the  man  who  should  bring  in  the  first  scalp. 
Lewis  Wetzel  was  one  of  this  party.  They 
crossed  the  Ohio  August  5,  and  proceeded  by  a 
rapid  march  to  the  Muskingum. 

The  expedition  numbered  about  twenty  men, 
and  an  advance  of  five  was  detailed  to  recon- 
noitre. 

Approaching  the  Muskingum,  this  party  re- 
ported that  they  had  discovered  a  large  camp  of 
the  Indians — so  large  that  it  was  useless  to  think 
of  making  an  attack  upon  it. 

After  a  long  consultation  it  was  decided  to  re- 
treat. 

During  this'conference  Lewis  Wetzel  sat  apart 
upon  a  log  with  his  gun  resting  carelessly  across 
his  knees,  silent,  but  listening  to  all  that  was  said. 
When  the  decision  was  reached  and  the  party  be- 
gan to  move  away  Lewis  still  retained  his  seat 
upon  the  log,  which  McMahon  noticing  turned 
back  and  asked  if  he  was  not  going  along.  "  No !" 
was  his  sullen  reply.  "  I  came  out  to  hunt  In- 
dians, and  now  they  are  found,  I  am  not  going 
home  like  a  fool  with  my  fingers  in  my  mouth. 
I  will  take  a  scalp  or  lose  my  own." 


All  arguments  were  unavailing,  and  he  was 
left  alone  in  the  great  woods,  surrounded  by  sav- 
age foes. 

Once  alone  he  gathered  his  blanket  around  himr 
adjusted  his  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife,  and 
taking  his  rifle  moved  cautiously  away.  Keep- 
ing away  from  the  larger  streams,  he  crept  si- 
lently through  the  woods  like  a  wild  beast  of  prey- 
keeping  his  piercing  black  eyes  open  for  any 
stray  Indians  that  might  be  strolling  or  camping 
in  limited  numbers. 

He  stopped  freequently  and  was  keenly  alive 
to  every  sight  and  sound;  nothing,  however,, 
crossed  his  path  that  day. 

The  night  being  dark  and  chilly  it  was  neces- 
sary for  comfort  to  have  a  fire,  but  to  show  a  light 
in  the  midst  of  his  enemy  was  to  invite  certain 
destruction;  he  therefore  constructed  a  small; 
coal-pit  of  bark  and  dried  leaves,  and  covering 
these  with  loose  earth,  leaving  an  occassional  air-- 
hole,  he  seated  himself,  encircling  the  pit  with 
his  legs,  and  then  completed  the  whole  by  cover- 
ing his  head  with  a  blanket.  In  this  way  he  kept 
comfortable,  without  endangering  himself  by  a 
light. 

During  the  following  day  he  roamed  the  woods- 
without  discovering  any  signs  of   Indians  until 
toward  evening,  when  he  discovered  a  smoke,, 
and  approached  it  cautiously.     He  found  a  ten-- 
antless  camp.     It  contained  two  blankets  and  a 
small  kettle,  which  Wetzel  at  once  knew  belonged 
to  two  Indians,  who  were  probably  out  huntings 
Concealing  himself  in  the  matted  undergrowth, 
he    patiently  awaited    the   return   of    his  prey.- 
About  sunset  one  of  the  Indians  came  in,  made 
a  fire  and  began  cooking  supper.     Shortly  after 
the  other  appeared ;  they  then  ate  their  supper,., 
after  which  they  smoked  their  pipes  and  amused 
themseves  by  singing  and  telling  comic  stories,- 
which  at  times  caused  them  to  indulge  in  roars 
of  laughter.    They  little  dreamed  that  death  was- 
lurking   near  them,  in  the  dark  forest,  in  the 
shape  of  the  terrible  Wetzel. 

About     nine    o'clock    one    of     the     Indians 
wrapped  his  blanket  around  him,  shouldered  his- 
rifle,  took  a  fire-brand  in  his  hand  and  left  the 
camp,  doubtless  with  the  intention  of  watching  a- 
deer-lick.  | 

The' absence  of  this  savage  was  a  cause  of  vexa- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


221 


tion  and  disappointment  to  Wetzel,  who  looked 
upon  both  as  his  game.  He  indulged  the  hope 
that  ,the  Indian  would  return  to  camp  before 
day-break,  but  in  this  he  was  disappointed. 
Through  the  long,  still  hours  of  the  night  he 
waited  and  watched,  like  a  tiger  watching  his 
prey.  When  he  heard  the  birds  begin  to  chirp  and 
chatter,  and  he  knew  daylight  was  approaching, 
he  determined  to  delay  no  longer,  and  walking 
to  the  camp  with  noiseless  step,  he  found  his  vic- 
tim in  profound  slumber,  lying  upon  his  side. 
He  drew  his  butcher  knife  and  drove  the  keen 
blade  with  all  his  force  to  the  heart  of  the  savage. 
The  Indian  gave  a  quiver,  a  convulsive  motion 
and  then  lay  still  in  the  sleep  of  death.  Wetzel 
scalped  him,  and  set  out  for  home,  arriving  at 
Mingo  Bottom  but  one  day  after  his  unsuccessful 
companions. 

He  claimed  and  received  his  reward  of  one 
hundred  dollars. 

A  most  fatal  decoy  on  the  frontier  was  the 
turkey-call.  On  several  different  occasions  men 
from  the  fort  at  Wheeling  had  gone  across  the 
hill  in  quest  of  turkeys,  whose  plaintive  cries  had 
elicited  their  attention,  and  on  more  than  one 
occasion  the  men  never  returned.  Wetzel  sus- 
pected the  cause,  and  determined  to  satisfy  him- 
self. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  creek,  and  at  a  point  ele- 
vated at  least  sixty  feet  above  the  water,  there  is 
a  capacious  cavern;  the  entrance  at  that  time 
was  almost  obscured  by  a  thick  growth  of  vines 
and  foliage.  Into  this  the  alluring  savage  would 
crawl,  and  could  there  have  an  extensive  view  of 
the  hill  front  on  the  opposite  side.  From  that 
cavern  issued  the  decoy  of  death  to  more  than 
one  uncautious  soldier  and  settler.  Wetzel  knew 
of  the  existence  and  exact  locality  of  the  cave, 
and  accordingly  started  out  before  day,  and  by  a 
circuitous  route  reached  the  spot  in  the  rear. 
Posting  himself  so  as  to  command  a  view  of  the 
opening,  he  waited  patiently  for  the  expected 
cry.  Directly  the  twisted  tuft  of  an  Indian  war- 
rior slowly  rose  in  the  mouth  of  the  cave,  and 
looking  cautiously  about,  sent  forth  the  long, 
shrill,  peculiar  "cry,''  and  immediately  sank 
back  out  of  view.  Lewis  screened  himself  in 
his  position,  cocked  his  gun,  and  anxiously 
awaited  a  re-appearance  of  the  head.    In  a  few 


minutes  up  rose  the  tuft.  Lewis  drew  a  fine 
aim  at  the  polished  hea:d,  and  the  next  instant 
the  brains  of  the  savage  were  scattered  about  the 
cave.  That  turkey  troubled  the  inhabitants  no 
longer,  and  tradition  does  not  say  whether  the 
place  was  ever  aftei;  similarly  occupied. 

DeHass  states  that  this  daring  borderer  was  in 
the  habit  of  visiting  the  Muskingum  valley  every 
fall,  on  an  Indian  hunt,  and  almost  invariably 
went  alone.  The  Indian  camps  about  the  forks 
of  the  Mdskingun  were  the  most  accessible  and 
suffered  more,  perhaps,  from  the  stealthy  raids 
of  this  daring  hunter  than  any  others.  Armed' 
only  with  his  trusty  rifle  and  hunting  knife,  he 
would  enter  the  Indian  country  and  hiding  in. 
thickets  and  creeping  through  the  woods,  would 
sometimes  pass  days  patiently  awaiting  an  oppor- 
tunity to  fall  upon  an  unprotected  and  unsus- 
pecting camp  of  savages. 

On  one  of  these  visits  he  came  upon  a  camp  of 
four  Indians.  Hesitating  a  moment  whether  to 
attack  a  party  so  much  his  superior  in  numerical 
strength,  he  determined  to  ipake  the  attempL 
At  the  hour  of  mid-night,  when  naught  was- 
heard  but  the  long  dismal  howl  of  the  wolf, 

"  Cruel  as  deatli  and  hungry  as  tlie  grave, 
Burning  lor  blood,  bony,  gaunt  and  grim," 

he  moved  cautiously  from  his  covert,  and  gliding' 
through  the  darkness,  stealthily  approached  the 
camp,  supporting  his  rifle  in  one  hand  and  a 
tomahawk  in  the  other.  A  dim  flicker  from  the- 
camp  fire  faintly  revealed  the  forms  of  the 
Indians,  wrapped  in  profound  slumber,  which,  to 
part  of  them,  was  to  know  no  waking.  There 
they  lay,  with  their  dark  face's  turned  up  to  the- 
night-sky,  in  the  deep  solitude  of  their  own  wil- 
derness, little  dreaming  that  their  most  relentless 
enemy  was  hovering  over  them.  Quietly  resting 
his  gun  against  a  tree,  he  unsheathed  his  knife 
and  with  an  intrepidity  that/  could  never  be  sur- 
passed, stepped  boldly  forward,  like  the  minister 
of  death,  and  quick  as  thought  cleft  the  skull  of 
one  of  his  sleeping  victims.  In  an  instant  a  sec- 
ond one  was  similarly  served,  and  as  a  third 
attempted  to  rise,  confused  by  the  horrid  yells 
with  which  Wetzel  accompanied  his  blows,  he, 
too,  shared  the  fate  of  his  companions,  and  sunk 
dead  at  the  feet  of   this  ruthless  slayer.     The 


222 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


fourth  darted  into  the  darkness  of  the  wood  and 
escaped,  although  Wetzel  pursued  him  some  dis- 
tance. JReturning  to  camp,  he  gcalped  his  vic- 
tims, and  then  left  for  home.  When  asked,  on 
his  return,  what  luck,  "  Not  much,"  he  replied : 
"  I  treed  four  Indians,  but  one  got  away."  This 
unexampled  achievement  stamped  him..3s  one  of 
the  most  daring,  and  .at  the  same  time  successful 
hunters  of  his  day.  The  distance  to  and  from 
the  scene  of  this  adventure  could  not  have  been 
less  than  120  miles.  ' 

During  one  of  his  scouts,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Wheeling,  Wetzel  took  shelter,  on  a  stormy 
evening,  in  a  deserted  cabin  on  the  bottom,  not 
far  from  the  former  residence  of  Mr.  Hamilton 
Woods.  Gathering  a  few  broken  boards  he  pre- 
pared a  place  in  the  loft  to  sleep.  Scarcely  had 
he  got  himself  adjusted  for  a  nap,  when  six 
Indians  entered,  and  striking  a  fire,  commenced 
preparing  their  meal.  Wetzel  watched  their 
movements  closely,  with  drawn  knife,  determined 
the  moment  he  was  discovered,  to  leap  in  their 
midst,  and  in  the  confusion  endeavor  to  escape. 
Fortunately,  they  did  not  see  him,  and  soon  after 
supper  the  whole  six  fell  asleep.  Wetzel  now 
crawled  noiselessly  down, and  hid  himself  behind 
a  log,  at  a  convenient  distance  from  the  door  of 
the  cabin.  At  early  dawn,  a  tall  savage  stepped 
from  the  door,  and  in  an  instant  Wetzel  had  his 
finger  upon  the  trigger,  and  the  next  moment 
the  Indian  fell  heavily  to  the  ground,  his  life's 
blood  gushing  upon  the  young  grass  brilliant 
with  the  morning  due  drops.  The  report  of  his 
rifle  had  not  ceased  echoing  through  the  valley 
ere  the  daring  borderer  was  far  away,  secure  from 
all  pursuit. 

When  about  twenty-five  years  of Jage,  Wetzel 
was  employed  by  General  Harmar  as  a  scout. 
While  acting  in  this  capacity  he  shot  and  killed 
and  Indian  chief  known  as  George  Washington, 
a  large,  fine  looking  savage,  who  possessed  much 
influence  over  his  tribe.  It  was  a  time  of  com- 
parative peace,  and  General  Harmar  was  es- 
pecially anxious  to  preserve  the  good  feeling  then 
existing.  He  justly  regarded  the  act  as  an  out- 
rage, and  caused  Wetzel  to  be  arrested  and 
placed  in  close  confinement  in  the  fort,  heavily 
ironed.  The  confinement  was  extremely  gallijig 
to  one  accustomed  to  the  freedom  of  the  woods. 


Being  allowed  one  day  to  walk  on  the  point  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  under  a  strong 
guard,  he  suddenly  sprang  away  from  the  guards, 
being  determined  to  risk  his  life  in  an  attempt 
to  escape.  He  was  nearly  a  hundred  yards  away 
before  the  guards  could  recover  from  their 
astonishment  and  fire  upon  him.  They  missed 
their  aim;  and  being  more  fleet  on  foot  than 
they,  he  made  his  escape  to  the  woods,  secreting 
himself  in  a  dense  thicket,  two  or  three  miles 
from  the  fort.  While  here  a  party  of  soldiers 
and  Indians,  sent  out  by  General  Harmar  in 
search  of  him,  stood  for  a  time  upon  the  log 
under  which  he  lay  concealed.  They  did  not 
find  him,  however,  and  that  night,  though  still 
hand-cuffed,  he  swam  the  Ohio  river  and  took 
refuge  among  his  many  friends  on  the  Virginia 
side. 

After  a  time,  hearing  of  his  whereabouts,  Gen- 
eral Harmar  sent  a  squad  of  men  under  Captain 
Kingsbury  to  the  neighborhood  of  Wheeling 
with  orders  to  take  him  dead  or  alive.  Kings- 
bury found  Wetzel  at  Mingo  Bottom,  attending 
a  shooting  match,  but  as  he  was  surrounded  by  a 
large  number  of  his  friends,  among  whom  was 
Major  McMahon,  and  as  these,  headed  by  Wetzel, 
threatened  to  annihilate  the  little  squad  of  sol- 
diers, Kingsbury  was  pursuaded  to  return  with- 
out effecting  his  object. 

Soon  after  this,  however,  he  was  arrested  at 
Limestone  by  a  squad  of  soldiers  and  delivered 
to  General  Harmar  at  Fort  Washington. 

As  the  news  of  his  arrest  spread  through  the 
settlement  where  Wetzel  was  known  and  loved, 
the  settlers  determined  to  embody  and  release 
him  by  the  force  of  arms.  It  is  said  that  General 
Harmar  seeing  the  storm  approaching,  set  Wet- 
zel at  liberty. 

His  short  life  was  full  of  adventure  of  the 
character  already  mentioned.  He  was  univer- 
sally regarded  as  one  of  the  most  efficient  of  the 
scouts  and  woodsmen  of  his  day.  He  frequently  ac- 
companied Captain  Samuel  Brady  in  his  expedi- 
tions against  the  Indians,  and  was  often  engaged 
by  parties  who  desired  to  hunt  up  and  locate 
lands,  but  were  afraid  of  the  Indians.  Under  the 
protection  of  Lewis  Wetzel,  however,  they  felt 
safe,  and  he  was  thus  employed  for  months  at  a 
time. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


223 


Among  those  who  became  largely  interested  in 
western  lands  was  John  Madison,  brother  of 
James,  afterward  President  Madison.  He  em- 
ployed Lewis  Wetzel  to  go  with  him  through 
the  Kanawha  region.  During  the  expedition 
they  came  upon  the  deserted  camp  of  a  hunter, 
in  which  were  some  concealed  goods.  Each  of 
them  helped  himself  to  a  blanket,  and  that  day, 
in  crossing  the  Kanawha,  they  were  fired  upon 
by  a  party  of  Indians  and  Madison  killed. 

Wetzel  was  engaged  to  accompany  the  Lewis 
and  Clark  expedition  to  the  Rocky  mountains, 
but  after  traveling  with  the  party  three  months 
returned  home.  Shortly  after  this  he  went 
down  the  river  to  Mississippi,  on  a  visit  to  a  rela- 
tive named  Philip  Sikes,  who  lived  about  twenty 
miles  in  the  interior  from  Natchez.  Here  he  re- 
mained until  the  summer  of  1808,  when  he  died. 

His  personal  appearance  was  somewhat  re- 
markable. He  was  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height, 
very  erect,  broad  across  the  shoulders,  an  ex- 
pansive chest,  and  limbs  denoting  great  muscular 
strength.  His  complexion  was  very  daark  and 
eyes  of  the  most  intense  blackness,  emitting, 
when  excited,  such  fierce  and  withering  glances 
as  to  cause  the  stoutest  adversary  to  quail  be- 
neath their  power.  His  hair  corresponded  with 
his  eyes  in  color,  was  very  luxuriant  and  reached, 
when  combed  out,  below  his  knees.  The  length 
of  his  hair  was  his  greates't  peculiarity,  and  when 
seen  running  or  stealthily  passing  through  the 
woods,  gave  him  the  appearance  of  a  wild  man. 
No  wonder  he  became  a  terror  to  the  Indians; 
he  could  outrun  their  fleetest  warriors,  his  gun 
seemed  to  be  always  loaded  and  he  made  every 
shot  count,  rarely  missing  his  aim ;  they  ■v\[ere 
never  safe  from  his  vengeance,  even  in  their  own 
camp,  hundreds  of  miles  from  any  white  settle- 
ment. They  could  not  lay  down  to  sleep  about 
their  camp  fires  without  the  thought  that  Lewis 
Wetzel  might  be  among  them  before  morning, 
'with  his  terrible  tomahawk  and  scalping  knife. 

Such  was  the  man  who  probably  knew  every 
square  mile  of  Coshocton  county  before  the  first 
white  settler  made  his  appearance. 

Captain  Samuel  Brady  was  one  of  the  many 
distinguished  characters  that  figured  prominently 
in  western  history.    He  made  himself  pre-emi- 


nently conspicuous  in  the  defense  and  protection 
of  the  early-time  settlements  on  the  western 
frontiers.  The  traditionary  tales  and  legendary 
stories  current  among  the  border  settlers  con- 
nected his  name  with  numerous  daring  adven- 
tures and' gallant  exploits.  The  unwritten  history 
of  the  we^t,  with  more  truth  than  fiction,  coupled 
his  name  with  many  heroic  achievements — with 
many  a  valorous  deed.  Few  leaders,  during  the 
"  heroic  age  on  our  western  borders,"  could  in- 
spire his  brave  followers  with  more  hope,  courage 
and  enthusiasm  than  Captain  Brady.  Few  border 
chieftains  commanded  public  confidence  to  a 
larger  extent,  or  secured  a  readier,  more  cheerful 
or  more  confident  following  than  he.  His  name, 
in  his  generation,  was  the  synonym  of  courage, 
skill,  daring,  energy,  perseverance,  success.  And 
probably  few  men  that  were  prominent  actors  on 
the  fiery  theater  of  war,  on  which  was  waged  the 
bloody  contest  for  supremacy  between  barbarism 
and  civilization,  better  deserved  the  well-merited 
reputation  he  had  acquired  than  Captain  Brady. 
The  annals  of  western  border  warfare,  which  re- 
cord the  heroic  achievements  of  those  who  par, 
ticipated  therein,  present  the  names  of  very  few 
men,  indeed,  who  bore  a  more  conspicuously  gal- 
lant part  in  said  warfare ;  and  none  whose  memory 
better  deserves  to  be  cherished  by  posterity  than 
Captain  Brady's. 

In  an  address  delivered  by  the  late  Rev.  C. 
Springer,  before  the  Licking  County  Pioneer 
Society,  July  4,  1867,  he  gave  an  account  of  an  ex- 
pedition up  the  Walhonding,  or  White  Woman, 
from  its  mouth  to  Owl  creek,  or  Vernon  river, 
and  up  the  latter  stream,  and  thence  down  the 
Licking  and  Muskingum  rivers,  which  was  under 
the  command  of  Captain  Samuel  Brady.  Mr. 
Springer  was  a  venerable  pioneer  whose  removal 
to  the  Muskingum  valley  dates  back  to  the  early 
years  of  the  century,  and  he  gave  the  history  of 
this  expedition  as  obtained  from  several  reputa- 
ble gentlemen  with  whom  he  had  been  personally 
well  acquainted  for  many  years,  and  who  had 
been  themselves  members  of  said  expedition. 

Mr.  Springer  stated  that  he  took  a  special  in- 
terest in  the  campaign,  when  its  history  was  first 
given  him ;  its  incidents,  he  said,  deeply  impressed 
thejnselves  upon  his  memory.  The  narrative 
may  therefore  be  considered  altogether  reliable  ; 


224 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


certainly  the  venerable  author  of  the  address  so 
regarded  it. 

For  the  facts  presented  in  the  following  histori- 
cal sketch,  as  well  as  for  the  language  in  which 
they  are  related,  credit  is  due  and  is  hereby  given 
to  the  late  Eev.  C.  Springer,  author  of  the  address 
from  which  they  are  taken  : 

Not  long  before  the  defeat  of  the  Indians  at 
the  battle  of  the  "  Fallen  Timbers,''  on  the  banks 
of  the  Maumee,  in  August,  1794,  by  General 
Wayne,  Captain  Samuel  Bradj^'of  border  fame, 
with  a  scouting  party  principally  from  the  "  Mo- 
nongahela  country,"  crossed  the  Ohio  river  at 
Wheeling  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the 
condition  of  the  Indians,  and  giving  ar^noyance 
in  turn  to  such  small  hunting  or  marauding 
parties  as  might  fall  in  their  way.  They  directed 
their  course  to  the  "  Forks  of  the  Muskingum," 
passed  up  the  White  Woman  and  Walhonding 
creeks,  thence  up  Owl  creek  or  Vernon  river, 
from  its  mouth  up  said  stream  some  twenty  miles 
or  more;  then  passed  over  to  the  head  waters  of  the 
Licking,  and  down  it  to  the  "  Falls,"  four  miles 
west  of  its  mouth,  now  Zanesville.  As  none  of 
the  party  had  ever  been  there  before,  they  sup- 
posed they  were  at  the  "JFalls  of  Hocking,"  of 
which  they  had  often  heard. 

As  game  was  remarkably  plenty,  and  having  to 
procure  their  subsistence  from  the  forest,  the 
company  concluded  to  make  a  temporary  stay  at 
this  place,  and  having  struck  up  a  fire,  most  of 
them  turned  out  to  hunt,  and  procure  such  wild 
meats  as  were  necessary  for  their  comfort.  Near 
evening  all  had  returned  to  their  camp-fire  except 
Jonathan  Evans.  After  waiting  for  some  time 
in  great  suspense,  they  gave  their  usual  signal 
for  lost  persons — by  firing  guns — but  there  was 
no  response  from  Evans.  As  they  had  that  day 
seen  fresh  Indian  signs,  they  entertained  no 
doubt  but  that  these  had  captured  Jonathan; 
and  fearing  an  attack  themselves,  they  left  their 
fires  and  passed  back  of  the  hill,  immediately 
southeast  of  Dillon's  old  furnace,  where  they 
remained  concealed  during  the  night.  In  the 
morning  they  resumed  their  march  down  the 
Licking,  and  soon  reached  the  Falls  of  the  Mus- 
kingum, now  Zanesville.  Some  of  the  expedi- 
tion having  been  there  before,  Ihey  understood 
their  whereabouts. 


As  they  had  determined  to  visit  the  Marietta 
settlement  before  tlieir  return  home,  they  started 
down  the  river,  and  before  going  very  far  below 
the  Falls,  to  their  great  astonishment  and  greater 
pleasure,  they  met  Jonathan  Evans,  who  was 
moving  up  the  river  for  the  purpose  of  rejoining 
the  expedition.  The  joy  on  meeting  Jonathan, 
who  they  apprehended  had  been  captured  by  the 
Indians,  was  great  indeed.  Having  got  lost  the 
day  before,  he  lay  all  night  on  the  banks  of  a 
creek  the  Indians  called  Moxahala,  which  empties 
into  the  Muskingum  river  two  or  three  miles 
below  the  Falls.  The  Moxahala  has,  ever  since 
Jonathan  Evans  lodged  upon  its  banks,  as  above 
related,  been  generally  called  Jonathan's  creek, 
in  memory  of  the  lost  man  of  Brady's  expedi- 
tion. In  the  morning,  after  lodging  on  the  banks 
of  the  Moxahala,  he  followed '  the  creek  to  its 
mouth,  and  seeing  no  signs  of  the  expedition 
having  passed  down,  he  moved  up  the  river  in 
search  of  his  comrads,  when  he  met  them,  as 
above  detailed. 

In  the  summer  of  1813,  the  Eev.  Cornelius 
Springer  was  passing  the  "  Falls  of  Licking,"  in 
company  with  a  Mr.  Simms  (his  neighbor),  who 
was  a  member  of  the  expedition,  and  the  conversa- 
tion naturally  turned  upon  the  foregoing  events, 
that  being  the  point  where  the  Brady  expedi- 
tion passed  the  night,  after  Jonathan  Evans  had 
strayed  away  from  them  unintentionally,  and 
passed  the  night  on  the  Moxahala,  "  solitary  and 
alone.''  After  Mr.  Simms  had  circumstantially 
related  the  history  of  the  expedition,  particularly 
as  it  related  to  Jonathan  Evans,  his  subsequent 
history  was  inquired  into.  In  answer,  Mr. 
Simms  stated  that,  many  years  before,  Jonathan 
had  moved  down  the  Ohio  river  and  located  at 
some  point  unknown,  and  that  he  had  heard 
nothing  from  him  since  his  removal. 

Iia  1817,  the  writer  of  this  sketch  was  engaged 
as  an  itinerent  minister  on  a  circuit  which  ex- 
tended many  miles  along  the  Ohio  river,  between 
the  Scioto  and  Hockhocking.  In  the  course  of 
his  ministrations  he  found  Jonathan  Evans,  who 
was  then  a  member  of  one  of  his  congregations, 
hving  five  miles  above  "Letart  Falls,"  on  the 
Ohio  river,  and  the  head  of  a  large  family,  a 
Christian  and  a  class  leader  in  the  Methodist 
church.    It  was  by  mere  accident,  Mr.  Springer 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


225 


says,  that  he  discovered  Mr.  Evans  to  be  the  Jona- 
than Evans  of  the  Brady  expedition.  On  invi- 
tation he  spent  an  evening  with  him,  enjoying 
his  hospitahty.  He  was  rather  taciturn  and  his 
guest  was  therefore  compelled  to  lead  in  the  con- 
versation. In  answer  to  the  question  as  to 
whether  he  had  ever  been  up  the  Muskingum 
valley,  he  stated  that  he  "passed  through  it  when 
it  was  a  wilderness.  It  at  once  occurred  to  Mr. 
S.  that  he  had  probably  found  the  man  also  who 
gave  name  to  the  ci'eek  once  palled  Moxahala. 
"  Are  you  not  the  man  for  whom  '  Jonathan 
creek,'  a  tributary  of  the  Muskingum,  was 
named  ?"  was  the  next  question  put  to  him,  and 
he  smilingly  replied  in  the  affirmative,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  give  an  account  of  his  wanderings 
from  the  time  he  left  the  camp-fire  at  the  "  Falls 
•of  Licking,"  until  he  rejoined  his  companions 
next  day,  near  the  "  Falls  of  the  Muskingum." 
As  the  Eev.  Mr.  Springer  had  spent  his  boyhood 
near  "  Jonathan  creek,"  he  was  well  acquainted 
with  the  localities  that  witnessed  that  day's  wan- 
derings and  travels  of  Jonathan  Evans,  and 
knew  familiarly  the  point  or  bluff  on  which  he 
spent  the  night,  amidst  the  hideous  bowlings  of 
wolves,  as  he  said ;  he  was  therefore  able  to  trace 
him  as  he  moved  from  point  to  point  along  his 
entire  line  of  travels,  while  away  from  his  com- 
rades of  the  expedition.  These  circumstances 
and  facts  all  tended  very  much  to  give  increased 
zest  to  their  highly  interesting  interview. 

Captain  Brady  while  on  this  expedition,  it  is 
said,  gave  name  to  the  Bowling  Green,  on  the 
Licking,  four  miles  below  Newark.  He  had  seen 
a  place  of  similar  appearance,  to  this  locality, 
somewhere,  perhaps  in  Virginia,  hence  he  gave 
the  same  name  to  the  beautiful  and  extensive 
prairie  on  the  Licking,  a-nd  which  it  has  borne 
ever  since. 

The  same  expedition  gave  to  "Duncan's  Palls  " 
its  name.  After  Jonathan  Evans  had  rejoined 
the  expedition,  having  now  less  apprehension  of 
the  Indians,  the  men  took  time  to  construct  ca- 
noes in  which  to  descend  the  Muskingum  to  its 
mouth.  An  Irishman  named  Duncan,  in  passing 
over  the  rapids  or  falls  in  the  Muskingum,  ten 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Licking,  (now 
Zanesville,)  by  some  mishap  to  his  canoe,  prob- 
ably striking  a  rock,  was  plunged  into  the  river. 


and  that  circumstance  gave  name  to  "Duncan's 
Falls." 

One  more  incident  of  this. expedition:  When 
it  had  reached  a  point  about  half  way  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Licking,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  come 
to  anchor,  and  take  to  the  forest  for  game, 
their  supply  of  provisions  having  been  nearly 
exhausted.  Their  first  day's  quest  for  game,  not 
having  been  entirely  successful,  they  encamped 
at  night  on  WoU  c^eek,  where,  after  having  fallen 
asleep,  a  large  tree  fell  near  their  camp,  with  a 
tremendous  crash.  All  thought  it  was  probably 
a  sudden  and  overpowering  attack  by  Indians; 
at  any  rate  being  thus  suddenly  aroused  from 
their  slumbers,  by  such  a  sudden  and  fearful 
noise  as  the  falling  of  a  large  tree  would  pro- 
duce, it  was  a  matter  of  course  that  great  excite- 
ment and  trepidation  should  immediately  pre- 
vail in  their  camp.  The  temporary  confusion 
and  alarm  that  existed  around  that  camp-fire  on 
Wolf  creek,  among  the  hunters,  soldiers,  frontiers- 
men, and  adventurers  of  Captain  Brady's  expedi- 
tion, naturally  enough,  led  to  a  good  deal  of  mer- 
riment afterward  among  themselves,  when  de- 
tailing circumstantially,  the  effects  produced 
upon  each  and  every  one  of  the  occupants  of  the 
camp  on  Wolf  creek.  The  talents  of  the  dog- 
gerel rhymster,  even,  were  called  into  requisi- 
tion, in  order  to  give  full  effect,  to  descriptions 
of  scenes,  real  and  imaginary,  that  were  wit- 
nessed on  that  memorable  night  on  Wolf  creek. 
Captain  Brady's  men  being  not  only  the  witnesses 
but  also  the  victims. 

The  expedition  under  consideration  was  prob- 
ably disbanded  or  dispersed,  at  or  soon  after 
leaving  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  most  of 
them,  however,  likely  went  up  the  Ohio  in  their 
canoes  to  Wheeling,  and  there  dispersed. 

As  has  been  stated,  Eev.  C.  Springer,  on  ac- 
credited authority,  was  the  historian  of  the  Brady 
expedition,  as  above ,  narrated.  And  it  is  emi- 
nently proper  to  say  that  his  facts  are  given  on 
the  authority  of  four  creditable  actors  in  the  ex- 
pedition, whose  history  is  given.  These  were 
Jonathan  Evans  and  three  of  his  neighbors 
named  Simms,  Hamilton  and  Darrah,  for  whose 
veracity  he  vouches. 

The  leader  of  the  foregoing  expedition,  Capt. 


226 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Samuel  Brady,  was  born  at  Shippensburg,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1756.  His  father,  John  Brady,  was 
made  a  captain  in  the  colonial  army,  for  his 
services  in  the  old  French  and  Indian  wars. 
The  historian,  DeHass,  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  many  of  the  incidents  in  the  life  of 
Captain  Brady  here  presented,  says  that  at  an 
early  day  Capt.  John  Brady,  with  his  family, 
moved  to  the  Susquehanna, 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  Samuel 
Brady  joined  a  volunteer  company  and  marched 
to  Boston.  The  patriotic  fervor  of  the  youth 
prompted  the  commander  to  offer  young  Brady 
a  commission,  but  his  father  objected,  thinking 
he  was  too  young,  saying :  "  First  let  him  learn 
the  duties  of  a  soldier,  and  then  he  will  better 
know  how  to  act  as  an  officer." 

But  the  gallant  y Cling  soldier's  patriotism  and 
ability  were  soon  recognized.  On  the  17th  of 
July,  1776,  he  received  a  lieutenant's  commission, 
and  bore  himself  gallantly  through  most  of  the 
principal  battles  until  after  the  engagement  at 
Monmouth,  when  he  was  promoted  (in  1779)  to 
a  brevet  captaincy,  and  ordered  to  the  West  for 
duty  under  Col.  Brodhead.  His  father,  in  1776, 
had  accepted  a  captaincy  in  the  12th  Pennsylva- 
nia regiment,  had  been  badly  wounded  at  the 
battle  of  Brandywine,  and  was  then  at  home. 
Whilst  there  Captain  Brady  heard  of  his  brother's 
death,  who  had  been  murdered  by  the  Indians  on 
the  9lh  of  August,  1778.  Pie  remained  at  home 
until  1779,  and  then  rejnined  his  regiment  at 
Pittsburgh.  During  the  same  year  his  father  was 
murdered  by  the  Indians ;  and  then  it  was  that 
our  hero  swore  vengeance  against  the  whole  race. 
Terribly,  too,  did  he  keep  that  vow. 

In  1781,  Col.  Brodhead  sent  Captain  Brady  on  a 
secret  mission  (accompanied  by  John  Williamson 
and  one  of  the  Wetzels)  to  some  western  Indian 
towns  to  ascertain  their  strength  and  resources. 
On  this  expedition  they  reached  the  Indian  town 
at  Upper  Sandusky,  from  which  it  was  found  ex- 
pedient to  make  a  prompt  retreat.  The  restora- 
tion to  their  friends  of  a  woman  and  her  child, 
who  had  been  captured  by  some  Indians,  one  or 
more  of  whom  Captain  Brady  killed,  was  one  of 
the  results  of  this  movement. 

The  incursions  of  the  Indians,  says  DeHass, 
had  become  so  frequent,  and  their  outrages  so 


alarming,  that  it  was  thought  advisable  to  retaliate 
upon  them  the  injuries  of  war,  and  carry  into  the 
country  occupied  by  them,  the  same  methods 
that  they  practiced  toward  the  white  settlements. 
For  this  purpose  an  adequate  force  was  raised 
and  placed  under  the  immediate  command  of  Col. 
Brodhead,  the  command  of  the  advance  guard  of 
which  was  confided  to  Captain  Brady. 

The  force  proceeded  up  the  Allegheny  river, 
and  had  arrived  near  the  Redbank  creek,  now 
known  by  the  name  of  "  Brady's  Bend,"  without 
encountering  an  enemy.  Brady  and  his  rangers 
were  some  distance  in  front  of  the  main  body,«B 
their  duty  required,  when  they  suddenly  dis- 
covered a  war  party  of  Indians  approaching  them. 
Relying  on  the  strength  of  the  main  body,  and  if« 
ability  to  force  the  Indians  to  retreat,  and  antici- 
pating, as  Napoleon  did  in  the  battle  with  the 
Mamelukes,  that  when  driven  back  they  would 
return  by  the  same  route  they  had  advanced  on, 
Brady  permitted  them  to  proceed  without  hin- 
drance, and  hastened  to  seize  a  narrow  pasSr 
higher  up  the  river,  where  the  rocks,  nearly  per- 
pendicular, approached  the  river,  and  a  few  deter- 
mined men  might  successfully  combat  superior 
numbers.  Soon  the  Indians  encountered  the 
main  body  under  Brodhead,  and,  as  Brady  antici- 
pated, were  driven  back.  In  full  and  swift  retreat 
they  pressed  on  to  gain  the  pass  between  the  rocks 
and  the  river,  but  it  was  occupied  by  Brady  and  his 
rangers,  who  failed  not  to  pour  into  their  flying 
columns  a  most  destructive  fire.  Many  were 
killed  on  the  bank,  and  many  more  in  the  stream. 
Cornplanter,  afterward  the  distinguished  chief  of 
the  Seneoas,  but  then  a  young  man,  saved  him-, 
self  by  swimming. 

The  celebrated  war-chief  of  tliis  tribe,  Bald- 
Eagle,  was  of  the  number  slain  on  this  occasion. 
After  destroying  all  the  Indians'  corn,  the  army 
returned  to  Pittsburgh. 

Another  movement  up  the  Allegheny  river,  of 
which  Captain  Brady  was  the  master  mind,  was 
successful,  the  details  of  which  are  given  by  De 
Hass. 

Beaver  Valley  was  the  scene  of  many  of  Cap- 
tain Brady's  stirring  adventures.  Many  interesl^ 
ing  localities  are  there  pointed  out  as  Brady's 
theater  of  action,  and  which  were  witnesses- of 
many  of  his  thrilling  exploits,  and  of  his  daring 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


227 


and  success,  as  well  as  his  numerous  hair-breadth 
escapes  by  "  field  and  flood." 

The  following,  illustrative  of  Brady's  adven- 
tures in  the  region  referred  to,  we  give  from  a 
published  source :  In  one  of  his  trapping  and 
hunting  excursions,  he  was  surprised  and  taken 
prisoner  by  a  party  of  Indians  who  had  closely 
watched  his  movements.  To  have  shot  or  toma- 
hawked and  scalped  him  would  have  been  but  a 
small  gratification  to  that  of  satiating  their  re- 
venge by  burning  him  at  a  slow  fire,  in  presence 
of  all  the  Indians  of  their  village.  He  was  there- 
fore taken  alive  to  their  encampment,  on  the 
west  bank  of -the  Beaver  river,  about  a  mile  and  a 
half  above  where  it  empties  into  the  Ohio  river. 

After  the  usual  exultations  and  rejoicings  at 
the  capture  of  a  noted  enemy,  and  causing,  him 
to  run  the  gauntlet,  a  fire  was  prepared,  near 
which  Brady  was  placed,  after  being  stripped  and 
with  his  arms  unbound.  Previous  to  tying  him 
to  the  stake,  a  large  circle  was  formed  around 
him  of  Indian  men,  women  and  children,  dancing 
and  yelling,  and  uttering  all  manner  of  threats 
and  abuses  that  their  limited  k^iowledge  of  the 
English  language  afibrded.  The  prisoner  looked 
on  these  preparations  for  death,  and  on  his  savage 
foe  with  a  firm  countenance  and  a  steady  eye, 
meeting  all  their  threats  with  truly  savage  forti- 
tude. In  the  midst  of  their  dancing  and  rejoicing 
a  squaw  of  one  of  their  chiefs  came  near  him 
with  a  child  in  her  arms.  Quick  as  thought,  and 
with  intuitive  prescience,  he  snatched  it  from  het 
and  threw  it  into  the  midst  of  the  flames.  Horror- 
stricken  at  the  sudden  outrage,  the  Indians 
simultaneously  rushed  to  rescue  the  infant  from 
the  fire.  In  the  midst  of  this  confusion,  Brady 
darted  from  the  circle,  overturning  all  that  came 
in  his  way,  and  rushed  into-  the  adjacent  thicket, 
with  the  Indians  yelling  at  his  heels.  He  ascended 
the  steep  side  of  a  hill  amidst  a  shower  of  bullets, 
and,  darting  down  the  opposite  declivity,  secreted 
himself  in  the  deep  ravines  and  laurel  thickets 
that  abounded  for  several  miles  to  the  west. 

His  knowledge  of  the  country  and  wonderful 
activity  enabled  him  to  elude  his  enemiep  and 
reach  the  settlements  in  safety. 

On  one  of  Captain  Brady's  scouting  expeditions 
Into  the  Indian  country,  with  sixteen  scouts  or 
spies,  they  encamped  one  night  at  a  place  called 


"  Big  Shell  Camp."  Toward  morning  one  of  the 
guard  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  and  immedi- 
ately communicating  the  fact  to  his  commander, 
a  change  of  position  was  ordered.  Leading  his 
men  to  an  elevated  point,  the  Indian  camp  was 
discovered  almost  beneath  them.  Cautiously  ad- 
vancing toward  their  camp,  six  Indians  were  dis- 
covered standing  around  the  fire,  while  several 
others  lay  upon  the  ground,  apparently  asleep. 
Brady  ordered  his  men  to  wrap  themselves  in 
their  blankets  and  lie  down,  while  he  kept  watch. 
Two  hours  were  thus  passed  without  anything 
material  occurring.  As  day  began  to  appear 
Brady  roused  his  men  and  posted  them  side  by 
side,  himself  at  the  end  of  the  line.  When  all 
were  in  readiness  the  commander  was  to  touch, 
,with  his  elbow,  the  man  who  stood  next  to  him, 
and  the  communication  was  to  pass  successively 
to  the  farthest  end.  The  orders  then  were  that 
the  moment  the  last  man  was  touched  he  should 
fire,  which  was  to  be  the  signal  for  a  general  dis- 
charge. With  the  first  faint  ray  of  light  six  In- 
dians arose  and  stood  around  the  fire.  With 
breathless  expectation,  the  whites  waited  for  the 
remainder  to  rise,  but  failing,  and  apprehending 
a  discovery,  the  captain  moved  his  elbow,  and 
the  next  instant  the  wild  woods  rang  with  the 
shrill  report  of  the  rifles  of  the  spies.  Five  of 
the  six  Indians  fell  dead,  but  the  sixth,  screened 
by  a  tree,  escaped.  The  camp  being  large,  it  "jvas 
deemed  unsafe  to  attack  it  further,  and  a  retreat 
was  immediately  ordered. 

Soon  after  the  above  occurrence,  says  DeHass, 
in  returning  from  a  similar  expedition,  and  when 
about  two  miles  from  the  mouth  of  Yellow 
creek,  at  a  place  admirably  adapted  for  an  am- 
buscade, a  solitary  Indian  stepped  forward  and 
fired  upon  Brady's  scouts.  Instantly,  on  firing, 
he  retreated  toward  a  deep  ravine,  into  which 
the  savage  hoped  to  lead  his  pursuers.  But 
Brady  detected  the  trick,  and  in  a  voice  of  thun- 
der ordered  his  men  to  tree.  No  sooner  had  this 
been  done,  than  the  concealed  foe  rushed  forth 
in  great  numbers,  and  opened  upon  the  whites  a 
perfect  storm  of  leaden  hail.  The  brave  spies 
returned  the  fire  with  spirit  and  effect;  but  as 
they  were  likely  to  be  overpowered  by  superior 
numbers,  a  retreat  was  ordered  to  the  top  of  the 
hill,  and  thence  continued  until  out  of  danger. 


228 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  whites  lost  one  man  in  this  engagement,  and 
two  wounded.  The  Indian  loss  is  supposed  to 
have  been  about  twenty,  in  killed  and  wounded. 

In  Howe's  Historical  Collection,  Captain  Brady 
is  cha:racterized  as  the  Daniel  Boone  of  the  north- 
east part  of  the  valley  of  the  Ohio.  About  the 
year  1780,  a  party  of  warriors  from  the  Cuyahoga 
Falls  made  an  inroad  into  what  is  now  Washing, 
ton  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  murdered  several 
families  and  robbed  others,  and,  with  their 
"  plunder,"  had  recrossed  the  Ohio  river.  Brady 
promptly  raised  a  force  of  his  chosen  followers' 
and  started  in  pursuit  of  the  niurderers,  but 
were,  however,  unable  to  overtake  them  before 
reaching  their  villages,  which  were  situated  in 
the  present  county  of  Summit.  Brady  and  his 
scouts  arrived  in  the  vicinitj'  of  their  towns,  but 
were  discovered,  and  by  overwhelming  numbers 
compelled  to  retreat.  Brady  directed  bis  men  to 
separate  and  each  take  care  of  himself,  regarding 
that  the  better  way.  A  large  force  of  the  Indians, 
knowing  Captain  Brady,  pursued  him,  and  aban- 
doned the  chase  after  his  men.  The  Cuyahoga, 
says  Howe,  here  makes  a  wide  bend  to  the  south, 
including  a  large  tract  of  several  miles  of  surface, 
in  the  form  of  a  peninsula.  Within  this  tract 
the  pursuit  was  hotly  contested.  The  Indians, 
by  extending  their  line  to  the  right  and  left, 
forced  him  on  the  bank  of  the  stream.  Brady, 
knowing  the  locality,  directed  his  course  to  the 
river,  at  a  point  where  it  is  compressed  by  the 
rocky  cliffs  into  a  narrow  channel  of  only  twenty- 
two  feet  across  the  top  of  the  chasm,  but  consid- 
■erably  more  near  the  water,  the  rocks  approach- 
ing each  other  at  the  top  to  within  the  distance 
nanied,  at  a  height  of  forty  feet  or  more  above 
the  bed  of  the  river.  Being  so  hemmed  in  by 
the  Indians  that  he  saw  no  way  of  escape  else- 
where, concentrated  all  his  powers,  and  made  the 
leap  successfully,  and  escaped.  The  place  is  still 
known  as  "Brady's  Leap."  The  Indians  kept  up 
the  pursuit,  and  Captain  Brady  made  for  a  pond, 
and  plunging  in,  swam  under  water  some  dis. 
tance,  and  found  a  hiding  place  at  th^  trunk  of  a 
large  tree  which  had  fallen  into  it.  And  this  is 
•called  "  Brady's  Pond  "  to  the  present  day.  It  is 
■situated  in  Portage  county,  near  Franklin  mills. 

Brady's  escape  was  miraculous.  He  however 
reached  his  home  at  length,  (which  Howe  says, 


was  at  this  time  at  Chartier's  creek),  as  did  also 
his  men.  Some  authority  made  him  at  one  time 
a  resident  of  Wellsburg,  Brooke  county,  now 
West  Virginia,  and  represented  him  as  tall, 
rather  slender,  and  very  active,  and  of  a  dark 
complexion. 

Captain  Samuel  Brady  married  a  daughter, 
(says  DeHass),  of  Captain  Swearengen,  of  Ohio 
county,  Virginia,  who  bore  him  two  children, 
both  sons,  named  John  and  Van  S. 

Such  was  Brady,  the  bold  leader  of  the  spies, 
on  our  western  frontiers.  He  died,  sa3's  the  au- 
thor of  the  "History  of  the  Pan-Handle  Coun- 
ties," at  West  Liberty,  Ohio  county.  West  Vir- 
ginia, in  the  year  1800,  and  was  buried  in  the 
cemetery  at  that  place ;  a  smaU  stone  marks  his 
grave. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

MORAVIAN    MISSIONS. 

Establishment  of  Lichtenau— Tteligious  Services— Moravian 
Towns  on  the  Tuscarawas— Abandonment  of  Lichtenau— 
Biographical  Sketches  of  Eev.  David  Zeisberger  and  Eev. 
John  Heckewelder. 

THE  career  or  life-story  of  the  laborious  and 
self-sacrificing  Moravian  missionaries,  and 
the  establishment  of-  Moravian  mission  stations 
by  them  in  the  wilderness,  among  the  savage 
races  that,  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  occupied  the  Muskingum  valley,  together 
with  the  narratives  of  the  zealous,  faithful  labors 
bestowed  upon  them,  and  generally  upon  the  sur- 
rounding tribes  and  pagan  nations,  may  well  "be 
regarded,  without  drawing  largely  upon  the  im- 
agination, as  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
romantic  chapters  in  our  early-time  history. 

According  to  authentic  history  and  the  most 
reliable  Moravian  annals,  there  was  only  one 
Moravian  village  or  mission  station  established 
within  the  present  limits  of  Coshocton  county. 

So  great  had  been  the  success  and  prosperity 
of  the  two  Moravian  villages  of  Schonbrunn  and 
Gnadenhutten,  situated  on  the  Tuscarawas  river, 
within  the  present  boundaries  of  Tuscarawas 
county,  that  at  the  close  of  the  year  1775  it  was 
found  tlieir  combined  population  numbered 
about  five  hundred;  it  was  therefore  deemed  ad- 


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HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


229 


visable,  after  due  deliberation,  to  establish  another 
in  the  Tuscarawas  or  Musldngum  valley.  This 
decision  was  made  by  the  missionaries  in  1776 ; 
accordingly  Rev.  David  Zeisberger  and  John 
Heckewelder  with  eight  families,  numbering 
thirty-five  persons,  left  the  aforesaid  village  and 
passing  down  the  valley,  looking  out  for  an 
eligible  location,  finally  encamped  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  Muskingum  river,  at  a  point  about 
two  and  a  half  miles  below  the  "Forks  of  the 
Muskingum" — now  Coshocton — where, upon  full 
consideration,  they  decided  to  establish  the  pro- 
posed mission  station.  This  was  the  12th  of 
April,  1776.  A  mission  house  was  soon  built,  and 
the  prospective  Moravian  village  was  called  Lich- 
teuau,  that  is  a  "Pasture  of  Light" — a  green 
pasture  illuminated  by  the  light  of  the  Gospel — 
as  interpreted  or  explained  by  the  Moravians. 
It  is  stated  by  an  accredited  Moravian  authority, 
the  "  Life  and  Times  of  Rev.  David  Zeisberger  " — 
a  work  entitled  to  credit  for  many  facts  herein 
contained — that  the  location  of  Lichtenau  was 
made  somewhat  in  deference  to  the  wishes  of 
Netawatwees,  a  friendly  Delaware  chief  of  the 
Turtle  tribe,  whose  principal  village,  called  Go- 
schachgunk,  and  which  was  subsequently  de- 
stroyed by  Gen.  Brodhead's  command  in  1781, 
was  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Tuscarawas 
and  the  Walhonding  rivers — now  Coshocton — 
the  unpronounceable  Indian  capital  occupying 
the  site  of  the  lower  streets  of  the  present  town 
of  Coshocton,  stretching  along  the  river  bank 
below  the  junction. 

The  site  of  Lichtenau  is  described  by  the  biog- 
rapher of  Zeisberger  as  a  broad  level  of  many 
acres  stretched  to  the  foot  of  the  hills,  with  an 
almost  imperceptible  ascent,  the  river  bank  swell- 
ing out  gently  toward  the  stream  in  the  form  of 
an  arc,  covered  with  maples  and  stately  syca- 
mores. Material  for  building  abounded,  and  the 
rich  soil  promised  abundant  crops.  Numerous 
remains  showed  that  the  primitive  aborigines  of 
America  had  here  had  a  home. 

Rev.  Edmund  De  Schweinitz,  author  of  the 
"  Life  and  Times  of  Zeisberger,"  visited  the  site 
of  Lichtenau  in  1863,  and  found  it  then  occupied 
in  part  by  portions  of  the  farms  of  Samuel  Moore 
and  Samuel  Forker,  in  Tuscarawas  township, 
which  were  separated  by  a  long  lane  extending 


from  the  river  to  the  eastern  hills.  The  town 
began  near  the  residence  of  Mr.  Moore,  and  the 
church  probably  stood  in  his  yard,  reaching 
across  the  lane  to  the  land  of  Mr.  Forker, 
Lichtenau  covering  a  portion  of  his  farm.  He 
identified  the  village  site  by  numerous  relics, 
and  exact  correspondence  of  former  landmarks, 
as  described  by  Mr.  Moore,  with  the  topography 
set  forth  in  Rev.  David  Zeisberger's  manuscript. 
The  relative  position  of  Lichtenau  to  a  Mound 
Builder's  enclosure  of  five  acres,  and  a  mound 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  further  down  the  river, 
enabled  the  auther,  with  Zeisberger's  descrip- 
tions and  locations  before  him,  to  locate  Lich- 
tenau with-  a  good  degree  of  certainty. 

The  worship  of  the  Great  Creator,  by  this  col- 
ony of  thirty-five,  closed  the  day,  Ajjril  12,  1776. 
The  next  morning  the  sturdy  strokes  of  the  ax 
began  to  ring  through  the  bottoms,  and  were 
reverberated  from  the  hills  near  this  embryo 
village  in  the  wilderness  of  the  Muskingum,  and 
with  a  great  crash  tree  after  tree  fell  to  the  ground 
on  the  site  of  Lichtenau,  says  one  author.  "  Sun- 
day," he  continues,  "  followed  upon  the  days  of 
toil.  The  chief  and  his  villagers  came  to  Lich- 
tenau in  full  force  to  attend  religious  services. 
On  the  river's  bank,  beneath  the  gemmed  trees 
ready  to  burst  into  verdure,  gathered  the  con- 
gregation of  Christian  and  Pagan  Indians.  Zeis- 
berger preached  on  the  words, '  Thus  it  is  writ- 
ten, and  thus  it  behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to 
rise  from  the  dead  the  third  day ;  and  that  re- 
pentance and  remission  of  sins  should  be 
preached  in  His  name  among  all  nations,  begin- 
ning at  Jerusalem.'  Afterwards  fires  were 
lighted,  around  which  the  converts  continued  to 
instruct  their  countrymen  in'.^the  way  of  life, 
until  the  shades  of  evening  fell.  And  this  was 
doubtless  the  first  gospel  sermon,  either  Protest- 
ant or  Catholic,  preached  within  the  present  lim- 
its of  Coshoston  county. 

"The  town  progressed  rapidly.  Its  mission 
house  served  at  first  as  the  place  of  worship ;  the 
other  buildings  formed  one  street,  running  par- 
allel to  the  river,  and  midway  between  its  north- 
ern and  southern  extremities  a  chapel  was 
subsequently  erected. " 

Netawatwees,  his  son,  and  a  grandson  with  his 
family  of  six  children,  early  became  converts  to 


230 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Moravianism.  The  principal  chief  of  the  Turkey 
tribe  of  Delawares,  together  with  his  own  and 
ten  other  families,  became  immecliate  actual  or 
prospective  settlers  at  Lichtenau,  by  securing 
lots  and  by  other  acts  looking  to  ultimate  settle- 
ment there. 

The  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper  was  cele- 
brated at  Lichtenau  for  the  first  time  on  Satur- 
day evening.  May  18,  1776.  This  event  was  suc- 
ceeded during  the  summer  by  the  administra- 
tion of  baptism  to  the  converts  from  heathenism. 

Rev.  John  Heckewelder,  in  the  autumn  of 
1776,  retired  from  Litchenau  and  returned  to 
Schonbrunn,  a  mission  station  up  the  Tuscarawas 
river,  a  short  distance  below  the  present  town  of 
New  Philadelphia,  his  place .  being  supplied  by 
Rev.  William  Edwards,  who  became  Zeis- 
berger's  associate  at  Lichtenau,  November  4, 
1776.  He  was  an  Englishman,  born  April  24, 
1724,  in  the  parish  of  Brinkworth,  Wiltshire; 
joined  the  Moravians  in  1749,  and  soon  after 
emigrated  to  America,  where  he  became  a  dis- 
tinguished missionary  among  the  Indians. 

During  the  year  1777  schisms  and  feuds  sprang 
up  at  Schonbrunn,  and  most  of  those  who  had 
not  apostatised,  came  to  Lichtenau,  including 
Eev.  John  Heckewelder,  leaving  the  once  happy, 
Schonbrunn  in  possession  of  renegades  who  had 
returned  to  heathenism.  This  accession  to  Lich- 
tenau included  the  missionary,  Eev.  John  George 
Jungman,  who  remained  from  April  until  Au- 
gust, when  he  returned  to  Bethlehem,  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  was  born  at  Hockenhein,  in  the  Pala- 
tinate, April  19,  1720,  came  to  America  in  1731, 
settled  in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  joined  the 
Moravians,  and  became  an  eminent  missionary, 
ser\'ing  many  mission  stations  usefully,  and 
finally  died  at  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  July  17, 
1808,  in  the  eighty-ninth  j'ear  of  his  age. 

In  1778,  Lichtenau  received  another  accession 
of  Moravian  Lidians.  This  was  from  the  then 
only  other  mission  station,  Gnadenhutten,  in  the 
Tuscarawas  valley,  which,  in  consequence  of  dis- 
turbances growing  out  of  the  war,  had  to  be 
abandoned  temporarily. 

High  hopes  were  cherished  of  Lichtenau  until 
early  in  1779,  when  some  hostile  Wyandot  and 
Mingo  warriors,  having  made  it  a  rendezvous  and 
the  starting  point  of  a  new  war  path  to  the  Ohio 


river,  and  one  or  two  of  the  surrounding  tribes 
becoming  more  and  more  unfriendly,  its  aban- 
donment was  reluctantly  decided  to  be  a  neces- 
sity, and,  in  pursuance  of  said  decision,  was  grad- 
uallj-  accomplished.  Eev.  William  Edwards,  one 
of  the  missionaries,  in  April,  1779,  left  Lichtenau, 
and  moved  with  a  colony  up  the  Tuscarawas 
river,  and  re-oeeupied  the  lately  abandoned  mis- 
sion station  and  village  of  Gnadenhutten,  on  the 
west  bank  of  said  river,  within  the  present  limits 
of  Clay  township,  Tuscarawas  county.  During 
the  month  of  December,  1779,.  Eev.  David  Zeis- 
berger  left  with  another  colony,  and  passed  up 
the  Tuscarawas  river — JIuskingum,  it  was  then 
called — to  a  short  distance  above  Schonbrunn, 
and  commenced  building  a  town,  to  which  was 
given  the  name  of  New  Schonbrunn.  It  was 
situated  a  mile  or  more  below  the  present  town 
of  New  Philadelphia,  in  what  is  now  Goshen 
township,  Tuscarawas  county.  And  in  the  spring 
of  1780,  Eev.  John  Heckewelder,  with  all  the 
Christian  Indians  that  remained  at  Lichtenau, 
left  it  and  started  the  town  of  Salem,  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Tuscarawas,  about  six  miles  below 
Gnadenhutten,  its  site  being  in  the  present  town- 
ship of  Salem,  Tuscarawas  county,  about  sixteen 
miles  below  the  county  seat  of  said  county. 

And  thus  terminated  the  only  Moravian  mis- 
sion station  ever  established  within  the  present 
limits  of  Coshocton  county. 

Brief  biographical  sketches  of  the  two  most 
distinguished  missionaries  connected  with  Lich- 
tenau— Zeisberger  and  Heckewelder— may  ap- 
propriately be  given  in  conclusion.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  here  remarked,  incidentally,  that  after 
the  final  abandonment  of  Lichtenau  by  the  Mora- 
vian Indians  in  April,  1780,  it  was  occupied  by 
some  Delawares  (see  Pennsylvania  Archives,  vol. 
9,  page  161),  who  named  it  Indaochaic,  and  that 
it  was  utterly  destroyed  by  the  military  forces 
under  command  of  Colonel  Daniel  Brodhead  in 
April,  1781,  the  details  of  which  will  be  found 
elsewhere. 

EEV.  DAVID  ZEISBERGER, 

One  of  the  founders  of  Lichtenau,  was  born  in 
a  small  village  named  Zachtenthal,  Moravia  (now 
on  the  railroad  from  Cracow  to  Vienna),  on  Good 
Friday,  April  11,  1721.    His  parents  were  be- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


231 


leivers  in  and  followers  of  the  distinguished  Bo- 
hemian reformer,  John  Huss.  Thej'  removed  to 
Hernhut,  the  chief  seat  of  the  Moravians  in 
Europe,  in  1726,  and  came  to  America  in  1736, 
and  settled  in  Georgia.  They,  however,  left  their 
son  David  at  Hernhut  to  finish  his  education. 
He  was  an  apt  scholar,  "  learning  Latin  with  the 
facility  that  he  afterward  displayed  in  acquiring 
■a  knowledge  of  the  Indian  languages."  Soon 
after  he  was  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  was  taken  to 
Holland  by  Count  Zinzendorf,  where  he  soon 
learned  the  Dutch  language  spoken  by  the  Hol- 
landers. When  he  was  seventeen  he  embarked  at 
London  for  the  New  World,  and  soon  joined  his 
parents; 

David  spent  several  years  in  Georgia  and  South 
Carolina,  and,  in  1740,  went  to  Pennsylvania.  In 
1741,  the  village  of  Bethlehem,  in  said  State,  was 
commenced,  and  he  early  identified  himself  with 
it,  and  it  soon  became,  and  has  ever  since  re- 
mained, "  the  chief  seat  of  the  Moravian  church 
in  America."  There  his  father  died  in  1744  and 
his  mother  in  1746. 

David  Zeisberger  soon  developed  talents,  cour- 
age, energy,  resolution  and  self-abnegation  that 
marked  him  as  one  adapted  to  the  missionary 
service  among  the  aborigines  of  this  country.  In 
1744-45  he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  cer- 
tain Indian  languages,  first  at  Bethlehem,  then  in 
the  Mohawk  valley,  where  he  perfected  himself 
in  the  Mohawk  tongue.  Here  he  came  under  the 
suspicion  of  being  a  spy,  and  suffered  imprison- 
ment both  in  Albany  and  New  York,  but  being 
found  innocent,  was  discharged.  Not  long  after- 
ward, he  was  selected  as  the  associate  of  Bishop 
Spangenberg  to  make  negotiations  with  the 
Iroquois  Confederacy,  in  regard  to  the  transfer  of 
the  Shekomeko  mission  to  the  Wyoming.  He 
impressed  the  Onondagas  so  favorably,  that  they 
adopted  him  into  the  Turtle  tribe  of  that  nation, 
and  gave  him  an  Indian  name.  He  made  exten- 
sive explorations  of  the  Susquehanna  and  its 
l)rariches,  acting  as  an  interpreter  frequently,  and 
serving  as  assistant  missionary  at  Shamokin. 

Eev.  David  Zeisberger  was  ordained  to  the 
ministry  at  Bethlehem,  February  16,  1749,  and 
he  at  once  proceeded  to  minister  to  the  Shamo- 
kin Mission,  which  was  situated  near  the  present 
i;own  of  Sunbury,  Pennsylvania.     In  1760  he 


made  a  voyage  to  Europe  in  the  interest  of 
American  missions,  returning  in  June,  1761. 
He  made  frequent  visits  to  the  Onondagas,  to 
Wyoming,  to  New  York,  to  New  England,  and 
various  other  places,  always  to  promote  the  wel- 
fare of  existing  missions,  or  to  establish  new 
ones.  He  also  attended  the  treaty  held  with  the 
Indians  at  Philadelphia,  in  1756;  at  Fasten,  in 
July,  1757 ;  and  again  in  October,  1758.  In  1759 
he  journeyed  as  far  south  as  North  Carolina,  and 
in  1760  he  was  appointed  superintendent  of  the 
Brethren's  House  at  Litiz,  where  he  remained 
more  than  a  year.  In  August,  1761,  he  was  in- 
terpreter at  another  general  congress  held  with 
the  Indian  tribes  at  Fasten. 

Rev.  David  Zeisberger  thus  continued  to  make 
himself  useful  in  the  various  capacities  of  inter- 
preter, missionary  treaty  negotiator,  instructor 
and  superintendent,  until  the  year  1771,  when 
we  find  him  visiting  the  Tuscarawas  valley,  and 
there,  in  the  tribe  of  Netawatwees,  the  principal 
chief  of  the  Delawares,  delivering  a  sermon  at 
noon,  on  the  14th  day  of  March,  1771,  and  which 
was  probably  the  first  Protestant  sermon  preached 
within  the  present  limits  of  Ohio.  The  Indian 
capital,  in  which  this  sermon  was  preached,  occu- 
pied the  suburbs  of  the  present  village  of  New- 
comerstown,  in  Oxford  township,  Tuscarawas 
county,  Ohio.  The  proposition  to  establish  a 
mission  among  the  Delawares  in  the  Tuscarawas 
valley  met  with  such  a  degree  of  favor  as  to  in- 
duce an  effort,  at  an  early  day,  by  the  zealous 
Zeisberger,  who,  after  a  stay  of  a  few  days  de- 
voted to  missionary  labors,  returned  to  Prieden- 
stadt  (City  of  Peace),  a  Moravian  town  on  the 
Beaver  river  (now  in  Lawrence  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania), where  he  had,  during  the  previous  year, 
established  a  mission. 

In  1772,  Rev.  David  Zeisberger  arrived  at 
Big  Spring,  two  miles  south  of  the  present  town 
of  New  Philadelphia,  and  with  a  colony  of  twenty- 
eight  Moravian  Indians,  commenced,  May  3,  to 
build  the  town  of  Schonbrunn,  interpreted 
Beautiful  Spring.  The  village  of  Gnadenhutten 
(Tents  pf  Grace)  was  established  later  in  the 
same  year,  and  was  situated  eight  miles  below 
Schonbrunn,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Tuscarawas, 
within  the  limits  of  what  is  how  Clay  township, 
Tuscarawas  county.     To    these    two   Moravian 


232 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


villages  Eev.  David  Zeisberger  gave  most  of  his 
time,  from  1772  to  1776,  when,  with  the  help  of 
Rev.  John  Heckewelder,  the  village  of  Lichtenau 
was  started,  and  where  he  remained  as  already 
detailed  until  December,  1779,  when  he  moved 
up  the  Tuscarawas  and  established  New  Schon- 
brunn.  On  June  4,  1781,  he  was  married  to 
Susan  Lecron,  of  Litiz,  a  Moravian  village  in 
Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania. 

Rev.  David  Zeisberger  remained  at  New  Schon- 
brunn  until  September  11,  17S1,  when  he,  with 
Heckewelder  and  other  missionaries  with  the 
Moravians  of  Tuscarawas  valley,  were  made  cap- 
tives, by  Captain  ilatthew  Elliott,  a  British 
emissary,  who  had  under  his  command  about 
three  hundred  hostile  Indians,  and  removed  to 
the  Sandusky  river,  not  many  miles  from  Upper 
Sandusky,  where  they  remained  in  what  is 
called  "Captive's  Town"  until  the  next  spring. 
Zeisberger  and  the  other  missionaries  were  tried 
at  Detroit  on  the  charge  of  being  spies,  but  were 
acquitted. 

Eev.  David  Zeisberger,  with  a  portion  of  the 
captives,  located  on  Huron  river,  thirty  miles 
north  of  Detroit,  in  the  summer  of  1782,  and 
there  built  a  village  called  New  Gnadenhutten. 
There  he  remained  until  the  summer  of  1786, 
when  he,  Rev.  John  Heckewelder  and  others 
established  themselves  as  a  Moravian  community, 
at  Pilgerruh  Mission,  known  also  as  "  Pilgrim's 
Rest,"  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Cuyahoga 
river,  twelve  miles  above  the  mouth  of  said 
stream. 

In  the  spring  of  1787,  Rev.  David  Zeisberger, 
with  the  "Pilgrim's  Rest"  colony,  removed  to 
Huron  river,  and  there  established  the  village  of 
New  Salem,  which  they  abandoned  in  1791  and 
established  themselves  on  the  Canada  side  of  the 
Detroit  river,  calling  this  mission  the  "Watch- 
Tower." 

In  1798  the  Moravian  village  of  Goshen  was 
built  on  the  old  Schonbrunn  tract,  and  Gnaden- 
hutten was  rebuilt,  under  the  direction  of  Zeis- 
berger, Heckewelder  and  others,  the  former 
chosing  Goshen  for  his  residence  and  the  latter 
Gnadenhutten. 

Rev.  David  Zeisberger  was  a  somewhat  volum- 
inous writer,  the  following  being  only  a  partial 
list  of  his  works : 


1.  "  Essay  of  a  Delaware  Indian  and  English 
Spelling  Book,  for  the  use  of  the  Schools  of  the 
Christian  Indians  on  the  Muskingum  River." 
Published  in  Philadelphia,  1776.  A  second  edition 
appeared  in  1806. 

2.  "  A  Collection  of  Hymns  for  the  use  of  the- 
Christian  Indians  of  the  Moravian  Missions  in 
North  America."  Published  in  Philadelphia  in 
1803.  This  was  a  volume  of  358  pages.  A  second 
edition  was  issued,  in  an  abridged  form,  in  1847, 
under  the  editorship  of  Rev.  Abraham  Lucken- 
bach,  of  Bethlehem,  where  the  second  edition 
was  published. 

3.  "  Sermons  to  Children.''  This  was  a  transla- 
tion from  the  German  into  the  Delaware,  and  was 
issued  in  Philadelphia  in  1803. 

4.  "Something  of  Bodily  Care  for  Children." 
This,  also,  is  a  translation  from  the  German  of 
Bishop  Spangenberg  into  the  Delaware,  and  has 
been  bound  into  one  volume  with  the  "  Sermons- 
to  Children,"  the  two  making  a  book  of  115  pages. 

5.  "  The  History  of  Our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus 
Christ."  This  also  is  a  translation  from  the  Ger- 
man of  Rev.  Samuel  Sieberkuhn,  into  the  Dela- 
ware Indian  language,  and  makes  a  volume  of 
220  pages.  It  was  printed  in  New  York,  in  1821. 
It  is  supplemented  with  an  "Address  of  the  late 
Rev.  David  Zeisberger  to  the  Christian  Indians,"^ 
bearing  date,  Goshen,  May  23, 1806. 

6.  "A  Collection  of  Delaware  Congregations," 
published  at  Leipsic,  in  1821. 

Of  the  writings  of  Eev.  David  Zeisberger,  many 
remain  in  manuscript.  Of  those  deposited  in  the- 
library  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  at 
Philadelphia,  are  the  following : 

1.  "Lexicon  of  the  German  and  Onondaga 
Languages,"  a  very  extensive  production  of  sevea 
or  eight  Volumes.  There  is  an  abridgement  of  it 
also,  in  manuscript. 

2.  "A  Complete  Grammar  of  the  Onondaga 
Language." 

3.  "A  Grammar  of  the  Language  of  the  Lenni- 
Lenapi,  or  Delaware  Indians." 

The  following  is  a  list  of  his  manuscripts,  de- 
posited in  the  library  of  Harvard  University : 
I.    "A  Dictionary  in  German  and  Delaware." 
,     2.    "  Delaware  Glossary." 

3.  "  Delaware  Vocabulary." 

4.  "  Phrases  and  Vocabularies  in  Delaware." 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


233 


J.    "Delaware  Grammar." 

6.  "  Harmony  of  the  Gospel  in  Delaware." 

7.  "  Hymns  for  the  Christian  Indians  in  the  Del- 

aware Language." 

8.  "  Litany  and  Liturgies  in  Delaware." 

9.  "  Hymn-Book  in  the  Delaware  Language." 

10.  "Sermons  in  Delaware." 

11.  "Seventeen  Sermons  to  Children." 

12.  "  Church  Litany  in  Delaware." 

13.  "Short  Biblical  Narratives  in  Delaware." 

14.  "Vocabulary  in  Maqua  and  Delaware." 
Some  of  the  foregoing  are  duplicates.    The 

above  manuscripts  were  handsomely  bound  af- 
ter reaching  the  Ubrary  of  Harvard  University, 
and  occupy  a  conspicuous  place  there,  and  will 
be  carefully  preserved  for  posterity. 

Rev.  David  Zeisberger  died  at  Goshen,  in  the 
Tuscarawas  Valley,  November  17,  1808,  having 
attained  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-seven  years  and 
seven  months.  He  left  no  issue,  and  the  name 
has  no  living  representative  as  a  missionary,  or 
even  as  a  .Moravian  Christian.  Mrs.  Zeisberger 
remained  at  Goshen  until  August  11, 1809,  when 
she  removed  to  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  where 
she  died  September  8,  1824,  aged  eighty  years, 
six  months  and  twenty-one  days. 

A  marble  slab  in  the  Goshen  cemetery  bears 
the  following  epitaph : 

DAVID  ZEISBEEGEE, 

who  was  born  11  April,  1721, 

in  Moravia,  and  departed 

this  life  17  Nov.,  1808, 

aged  87  years,  7  mo.  and  6  days. 

This  faithful  Servant  of  the 

Lord  labored  among  the 
American  Indians  as  a  Mis- 
sionary, during  the  last 
60  years  of  his  Life. 

BEV.  JOHN  HECKEWELDER. 

Rev.  John  Heckewelder  (or,  as  it  was  origin- 
ally written,  John  Gottlieb  Erne,stus  Heckewel- 
der), was  born  at  Bedford,  in  England,  March  12, 
1743,  his  father  having  tied  thither  from  Moravia, 
a  province  of  Austria,  in  order  to  avoid  persecu- 
tion, and  where  he  might  enjoy  religious  free- 
dom. John  was  sent  to  the  parochial  or  secta- 
rian schools,  first  at  Buttermere  and  afterward  at 
Fulneck,  where  the  chief  object  was  the  inculca- 
tion of  moral  and  religious  principles  and  thor- 
ough indoctrination  into  the  truths  of  Christian- 


ity as  understood  and  taught  by  the  Moravian 
church,  which  has,  in  an  eminent  degree,  always 
held  secular  learning  subordinate  to  religious 
knowledge.  With  that  denomination  Bible  teach- 
ings and  the  study  of  the  sacred  classics  have,  in 
a  special  sense,  ever  been  esteemed  of  paramount 
importance.  To  create  in  the  pupil's  mind  an 
overpowering  interest  in  matters  pertaining  to 
the  life  to  come,  was  the  all-in-all  in  the  Mora- 
vian system  of  education,  the  chief  object  and 
purpose  of  Moravian  schools.  To  make  Chris- 
tians (in  the  highest  sense)  of  every  student — to 
establish  a  thoroughly  religious  congregation  in 
each  one  of  their  literary  institutions — to  infuse 
into  each  individual  pupil  the  missionary  spirit, 
and  dedicate  him  to  mission  labors  in  heathen 
lands,  was  the  beginning,  the  middle,  and  the  end 
of  their  purpose  —their  main  object — the  princi- 
pal aim  at  their  seats  of  learning. 

Such  being  the  ideas  always  kept  prominently^ 
before  the  pupils  in  Moravian  educational  insti- 
tutions, it  is  not  surprising  that  he  who  is  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  should  have  become,  in 
early  life,  deeplj'  imbued  with  the  genius  of 
Christianity — that  he  should  have  entered  into 
the  spirit  of  Christ's  gospel,  and  during  his  school 
years  have  yielded  readily  to  those  favorable  in- 
fluences and  instructions — and  entered  enthusi- 
astically, zealously,  during  his  young  manhood, 
into  the  mission  field,  and  remained  therein  a 
faithful  laborer  for  half  a  century,  even  to  old 
age.  And  to  the  end  of  his  life  he  cherished 
grateful  recollections  of  the  impressions  made 
upon  his  mind,  and  of  the  religious  instruction 
imparted  to  him  while  at  these  schools  by  his 
affectionate,  devoted,  Christian  teachers. 

In  1754,  when  eleven  years  of  age,  John  Hecke- 
welder, in  company  with  his  parents  and  about 
forty  other  Moravian  colonists,  sailed  for  Amer- 
ica in  the  ship  Irene,  which  arrived  at  the  port 
of  New  York,  April  2,  when  the  immigrants  dis- 
embarked and  started  for  Bethlehem,  the  Mora- 
vian village  on  the  Lehigh  river,  in  Pennsylva- 
nia, all  arriving  there  April  20, 1754.  Just  before 
the  Irene  sailed,  Count  Zinzendorf,the  then  head 
of  the  Moravian  church,  went  onboard  and  gave 
his  parting  blessing  to  those  who  had  embarked 
for  the  new  world.  In  a  paternal  manner  he 
implored  the  young  lad,  John  Heckewelder,  to 


234 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


make  it  his  principal  aim  to  prepare  himself  for 
preaching  the  gospel  among  the  heathen;  and 
then  placing  his  hands  upon  his  head,  the  pious 
and  devout  Christian  count  invoked  a  special 
blessing  upon  him. 

John  attended  school  at  Bethlehem  for  two 
■  years,  making  good  progress  in  his  studies,  and 
then  went  to  Christian  Spring,  a  small  Moravian 
settlement  nine  miles  north  of  Bethlehem,  where 
he  was  employed  somewhat  at  "  field  labor  and 
other  manual  occupations."  He,  however,  also, 
meanwhile  enjoyed  opportunities  which  were 
not  neglected,  for  improving  himself  during  his 
leisure  hours,  having  the  benefit  of  the  instruc- 
tion of  two  Moravian  teachers,  Messrs.  Zeigler 
and  Fries,  both  reputed  to  possess  good  scholar- 
ship. His  parents,  while  he  was  at  this  place, 
were  called  to  serve  a  mission  station  on  one  of 
the  Spanish  West  India  Islands,  where  they  soon 
d^ied,  and  he,  in  1768,  returned  to  Bethlehem  and 
engaged  himself  as  an  apprentice  to  learn  the  art 
of  making  cedar-wood  ware — to  be  a  cooper,  in 
short.  Here  four  years  more  of  his  life  were 
spent,  learning  a  trade  and  pursuing  his  studies 
dihgently,  when  he  was  chosen  by  the  mission- 
ary, Charles  Frederick  Post,  as  an  assistant  in 
the  mission  work  in  the  Tuscarawas  valley,  in 
1761,  as  has  been  already  related. 

After  his  return  to  Bethlehem  he  assisted  in 
establishing  the  new  mission  of  Friendenshutten, 
and  for  nine  years  made  htinself  extensively  use- 
ful there  and  at  other  mission  stations,  and  as  an 
instructor  in  schools.  In  the  spring  of  1771  he  ac- 
companied Rev.  David  Zeisberger  to  the  mission 
staton  on  Beaver  river,  in  Avestern  Pennsylvania 
(now  in  Lawrence  county),  called  Friedensstadt, 
where  he  remained  a  year,  and  then  accompanied 
Zeisberger  to  the  Tuscarawas  valley,  as  heretofore 
stated.  The  chief  incidents  of  his  career,  so  far 
as  they  were  connected  with  the  mission  stations 
from  1772  to  1798,  when  he  entered  actively  upon 
his  duties  as  the  "  agent  of  the  society  of  the 
United  Brethren  for  propagating  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen,"  have  been  presented  in  the 
sketch  of  Eev.  Zeisberger.  Between  those  years 
he  was  almost  constantly  engaged  in  the  perform- 
ance <?f  mission  work  at  various  points,  generally 
in  company  with  Eev.  David  Zeisberger  at  Lich- 
tenau,  at  points  in    the  Tuscarawas  valley,  at 


Salem,  Captives'  Town,  New  Gnadenhutten,  Pil- 
gerruh,  or  Pilgrim's  Eest,  New  Salem,  and  at  the- 
Watch  Tower,  and  in  rendering  services,  as  a 
civilian,  by  holding  councils,  forming  treaties,, 
acting  as  an  assistant  ambassador,  and  sometimes 
as  interpreter. 

The  expedition  of  General  Harmar,  in  1790,  and 
that  of  General  St.  Clair,  in  1791,  having  failed  to 
subjugate  the  unfriendly  Indian  tribes  in  the 
West,  and  the  western  settlements  still  being 
liable  to  attacks  from  marauding  parties,  it 
became  a  matter  of  the  first  importance  with  the 
Federal  Government  to  secure  peace  by  negotia- 
tion, if  possible.  With  that  object  in  view  the- 
Eev.  John  Heckewelder,  who  was  thought  to  be 
a  discreet  man,  and  enjoying  a  high  degree  of 
public  confidence,  was  appointed  by  General 
Knox,  then  Secretary  of  War,  as  an  associate  am- 
bassador with  General  Eufus  Putnam,  of  Marietta, 
with  authority  to  form  treaties  of  peace  with 
various  Indian  tribes  in  the  West.  Instructions 
were  issued  to  them  on  the  22d  of  May,  1792.  By 
aTrangement  they  met  at  Pittsburgh  near  the  last 
of  June,  and  reached  Fort  Washington  on  the  2d 
of  July,  on  their  way  to  Post  Vincennes,  on  the 
Wabash,  where  they  arrived  on  the  12th  of  Sep- 
tember. Here,  .on  the  27th  of  said  month,  a 
treaty  *of  peace  was  concluded  and  signed  by  Put- 
nam and  Heckewelder,  and.  by  thirty-one  chiefs 
of  the  tribes  from  the  upper  and  lower  Wabash, 
Eel  river,  Cahokia,  Kaskaskia,  St.  Joseph's  river, 
and  from  Lake  Michigan.  After  a  liberal  distri- 
bution of  presents  the  commissioners  started,  on 
the  6th  of  October,  with  sixteen  chiefs  for  Phila- 
delphia,.  where  they  arrived  early  in  February, 
Heckwelder  having  been  absent  nearly  nine^ 
months. 

As  the  results  of  these  labors  seemed  encourag- 
ing, and  promising  success,  a  second  embassy  was 
resolved  upon.  The  ambassadors  chosen  this- 
time  were  Gen.  Benjamin  Lincoln,  Col.  Timothy 
Pickering,  and  Governor  Beverly  Eandolph.  Mr, 
Heckewelder's  acquaintance  with  the  language 
and  character  of  the  Indians,  and  his  high  per- 
sonal reputation  among  them,  it  was  thought 
might  be  of  essential  service  to  the  embassy  in 
their  negotiations  with  the  Indians ;  he  was  there- 
fore attached  to  it  as  an  assistant  ambassador. 
They  left  Philadelphia  April  27,  1798,  for  the 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


235 


Miami  of  the  Lakes  (now  Maumee),  where  they 
were  to  meet  the  Indian  chiefs  of  the  northwest 
in  council,  to  agree  upon  terms  of  peace,  if  possi- 
ble. To  this  end  their  fruitless  labors  were  pro- 
tracted until  about  the  middle  of  August,  when 
the  ambassadors  returned  to  Philadelphia,  Mr. 
Heckewelder  reaching  his  home  at  Bethlehem  on 
the  25th  of  -September,  after  an  absence  of  five 
months. 

In  1797  Mr.  Heckwelder  twice  visited  the  Tus- 
carawas valley,  extending  his  journey  to  Marietta. 
In  1798  he  traveled  as  far  to  the  northwest  as  the 
river  Thames,  in  Upper  Canada,  in  the  interest 
of  the  Moravian  mission  station  of  Fairfield. 
About  midsummer  of  this  year  we  find  him  again 
in  the  Tuscarawas  valley  rebuilding  Gnaden- 
hutten,  as  already  stated. 

Rev.  John  Heckewelder  was  elected  an  associ- 
ate judge  of  Tuscarawas  county  upon  its  organi- 
zation in  1808,  and  served  as  such  until  1810 
when^he  resigned  his  position  of  "  superintendent 
of  the  missions  west  of  the  Ohio  river,"  and  also 
the  judgeship,  and  returned  to  Bethlehem,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  close  his  days  in  quiet  retirement, 
after  having  served  the  missionary  cause  with 
ability  and  fidelity  for  almost  half  a  century. 

Rev.  John  Heckewelder  lived  more  than' 
twelve  years  after  his  direct  and  active  connec- 
tion with  western  missions  was  dissolved  in  1810, 
his  death  occurring  January  31,  1823,  having  at- 
tained to  the  ripe  age  of  almost  80  years.  But 
those  twelve  y^ars  of  comparative  retirement, 
although  they  embraced  the  period  of  his  old  age 
and  infirmities,  were  not  by  any  means  years  of 
idleness  and  uselessness.  His  biographer,  Rev. 
Edward  Rondthaler,  says  that  "  he  still  continued 
to  serve  missions  and  the  mission  cause  in  •  an 
efiicent  way,  by  giving  to  the  public  needed  in- 
formation pertaining  to  them,  and  imparting 
much  useful  information  relative  to  the  language, 
manners  and  customs  of  the  Indians."  He  wrote 
extensively  during  his  retirment,  some  of  the 
productions  of  his  pen  being  intended  for  the 
public  generally.  Among  his  published  works 
are  his  "  History,  Manners  and  Customs  of  the 
Indian  Nations  who  once  inhabited  Pennsylvania 
and  the  Neighboring  States,"  and  his  "  Narrative 
of  the  Mission  of  the  United  Brethren  among  the 
Delaware  and  Mohegan  Indians."    The  former  of 


these  worlcs  was  written  in  1819,  at  the  repeated 
request  of  the  President  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society,  and  was  published  under  the 
auspices  of  the  historical  and  literary  committee 
of  said  society,  a  society  of  which  he  was  an  hon- 
ored member.  The  last  named  work  was  pre- 
pared by  him  in  1821,  when  he-  had  reached  the 
age  of  more  than  77  years.  In  this  paper  he  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  the  "  Crawford  expe- 
dition to  the  Sandusky,  in  1782,  was  organized  for 
the  purpose  of  destroying  the  remnant  of  the 
Moravian  Indians  on  said  river."  The  author  of 
"Crawford's  Campaign  againt  Sandusky  "  (C.  W. 
Butterfield),  clearly  refutes  that  charge  against 
Col.  Crawford,  by  testimony  that  conclusively 
shows  the  object  of  the  expedition  to  have  been 
"  the  destrudioii  of  the  Wyandot  Indian  town  and  set- 
tlement at  Sandusky." 

The  life  of  Rev.  John  Heckewelder  was  one  of 
great  activity,  industry,  and  usefulness.  It  was  a. 
life  of  vicissitudes,  of  perils,  and  of  wild,  roman- 
tic adventure.  How  it  abounded  in  hardships, 
privations,  and  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  in- 
terests of  the  barbarians  of  the  western  wilder- 
ness !  How  earnestly,  persistently,  faithfully, 
zealously,  he  labored  to  propagate  that  gospel 
which  was  the  chief  inspiration  of  the  exalted  he- 
roism that  characterized  his  eventful  life !  Un- 
selfishly he  exposed  himself  to  danger ;  disinter- 
estedly he  toiled  to  bring  wild  and  barbarous 
tribes  into  the  enjoyment  of  the  blessings  of  civ- 
ilization and  of  Christianity.  It  would  indeed  be 
difficult  to  over-estimate  the  importance  or  value 
of  the  labors  .of  Rev.  John  Heckewelder  in  the 
various  characters  of  philanthopist,  philosopher, 
pioneer,  teacher,  ambassador,  author,  and  Christ- 
ian missionary. 

Rev.  John  Heckewelder  was  a  gentleman  of 
courteous  and  easy  manners,  of  frankness,  affa- 
bility, veracity;  without  affectation  or  dissimula- 
tion ;  meek,  cheerful,  unassuming ;  humble,  un- 
pretending, unobtrusive;  retiring,  rather  taci- 
turn, albeit,  when  drawn  out,  communicative  and 
a  good  conversationalist.  He  was  in  extensive 
correspondence  with  many  "  men  of  letters,"  by 
whom  he  was  held  in  great  esteem.  Throughout 
his  long  life  he  was  the  red  man's  constant  and 
faithful  friend,  having  gone  fort^h  a  pilgrim, 
while  yet  in  his  young  manhood,  in  the  spirit  of 


286 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


enthusiastic  heroism,  unappalled  by  danger,  un- 
wearied by  fatigue  and  privation,  and  undismayed 
by  prospective  toils  and  self-denials,  to  put  forth 
his  best  efforts  to  ameliorate  their  condition  and 
bring  them  under  the  benign  influences  of  a  no- 
ble, elevating,  purifying,  Christian  civilization. 


CHAPTER  XXrV. 

FIRST  WHITE  OCCUPATION. 

Mary  Harris— Christopher  Gist— George  Croghan— William 
Trent— James  Smith— Bouquet's  Army  — Chaplain  Jones- 
David  Duncan— Murder  at  White  Eyes— William  Eobln- 
son— John  Leeth— Brodhead's  Army- John  Stilley— The 
Moravians— The  Glrtys  and  Others— Heckewelder's  Eide. 

r  I  iHE  early  white  occupation  of  Coshocton 
-L  county  comprises  an  interesting  period  in  her 
history,  and  could  it  be  fully  treated  would  make 
a  large  volume  by  itself.  The  foot  of  the  white 
race  pressed  its  soil  at  least  sixty  years  before 
any  permanent  white  settlement  was  made,  and 
white  people  in  great  numbers  passed  into  and 
across  it  long  before  they  came  to  stay.  The 
cause  of  this  was  no  doubt  the  multiplicity  of 
Indian  towns  along  the  Muskingum  and  its  tribu- 
taries. In  peace  these  towns  were  frequented 
by  white  hunters  and  traders ;  in  war  large  num- 
bers of  white  captives  were  brought  here  from 
"Western  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  and  either 
kept  here  or  taken  on  further  west  to  the  Wyan- 
,dot  and  Shawnee  towns;  and  when  the  Mora- 
vians began  their  operations  amongthe  Indians, 
white  people  were  almost  continual  residents 
among  the  Christian  Indians  in  this  county. 

It  is  the  aim  of  this  chapter  to  give  an  account 
of  the  white  occupation  of  this  county  prior  to 
the  first  permanent  settlement ;  and  in  doing  this, 
it  is  not  expected  that  all  white  persons  who  set 
foot  on  the  soil  of  the  county  will  be  mentioned, 
for  it  is  believed  that  many— perhaps  hundreds- 
white  hunters  and  captives  either  passed  through 
or  resided  temporarily  at  the  Muskingum  vil- 
lages, of  which  history  makes  no  mention. 

The  valleys  of  the  Tuscarawas  and  Muskingum 
were  famous;  stirring  and  blood-curdling  scenes 
were  enacted  "therein  during  the  half  century 
prior  to  the  first  white  settlement.      The  first 


white  occupant  of  this  territory  of  which  history 
makes  mention,  was  Mary  Harris,  the  heroine  of 
the  "  Legend  of  the  Walhonding,"  in  1740. 

Near  the  junction  of  the  Killbuck  and  Wal- 
honding rivers,  about  seven  miles  northwest  of 
the  present  town'of  Coshocton  ('Forks  of  the 
Muskingum '),  lived,  as  early  as  1750,  Mary  Har- 
ris, a  white  woman.  She  had  "been  captured  in 
one  of  the  colonies,  by  the  Indians,  between  1730 
and  1740,  being  at  the  time  of  the  capture  a  girl 
verging  into  womanhood.  Her  beauty  captivated 
a  chief,  who  made  her  his  wife,  in  the  Indian 
fashion  of  that  day. 

The  Indian  tribes  were  being  crowded  back 
from  the  eastern  colonies,  and  the  tribe  of  Custa- 
logo  had  retired  from  place  to  place  before  the 
white  frontiersmen,  until  about  1740  it  found  a 
a  new  hunting  ground  in  this  valley,  where  the 
white  woman  became  one  of  the  inhabitants 
with  her  warrior,  and  where  they  raised  a  wig- 
wam which  formed  the  nucleus  of  an  ladian 
town  near  the  confluence  of  the  streams  above 
named.  Mary  Harris  had  been  a  sufficient  time 
with  the  Indians  to  have  become  fascinated  with 
their  nomadic  life  and  to  have  entered  into  all  its 
romantic  avenues.  She  generally  accompanied 
Eagle  Feather,  her  husband,  to  all  the  buffalo,  elk 
and  bear  hunts  in  the  valley,  and  whenever  he 
went  off  with  a  war  party  to  take  a  few  scalps, 
she  mixed  his  paint  and  laid  it  on,  and  plumed 
him  for  the  wars,  always  putting  up  with  her 
own  hands  a  sufficiency  of  dried  venison  and 
parched  corn  to  serve  his  purpose.  She  was  es- 
pecially careful  to  polish  with  soap-stone  his 
"little  hatchet,"  always,  however,  admonishing 
him  not  to  return  without  some  good,  long-haired 
scalps  for  wigwam  parlor  ornaments  and  chig- 
nons, such  as  were  worn  by  the  first  class  of  In- 
dian ladies  along  the  Killbuck  and  the  Walhond- 
ing. So  prominent  had  she  become  that  the 
town  was  named  "  The  White  Woman's  Town," 
and  the  river  from  thence  to  the  "  forks  of  the 
Muskingum"  was  called  in  honor  of  her,  "The 
White  Woman's  River." 

In  1750-51,  when  Christopher  Gist  was  on  his 
travels  down  the  Ohio  valley,  on  the  look-out  for 
choice  farming  lands,  for  the  celebrated  "Vir- 
ginia Land  Company,"  in  which  the  Washing- 
ton's were    interested,    he    tarried   at  "White 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


237 


Woman's  Town  "  from  December  14,  1750,  until 
January  15, 1751,  enjoying  in  part  its  Indian  fes- 
tivities with  Mary  Harris,  who  told  him  her 
story;  how  she  liked  savage  warriors;  how  she 
preferred  Indian  to  white  life,  and  that  she 
thought  that  the  whites  were  a  wicked  race,  and 
more  cruel  than  the  red  man. 

In  her  wigwam  the  white  woman  was  the  mas- 
ter spirit,  and  Eagle  Feather  was  ignored,  escept 
when  going  to  war,  or  when  she  desired  to  ac- 
company him  on  his  hunting  expeditions,  or  was 
about  to  assist  at  the  burning  of  some  poor  cap- 
tive, on  which  occasions  she  was  a  true  squaw  to 
him,  and  loved  him  much.  All  went  along  as  mer- 
rily as  possible  until  one  day  Eagle  Feather  came 
home  from  beyond  the  Ohio  with  another  white 
woman,  whom  he  had  captured,  and  who  he  in- 
tended should  enjoy  the  felicities  of  Indian  life 
on  the  Killbuok  with  Mary  in  her  wigwam,  who, 
however,  did  not  see  happiness  from  that  stand- 
point. Forthwith  from  the  advent  of  the  new 
comer,  as  Mary  called  her,  into  that  home,  it  was 
made  somewhat  unpleasant  for  Eagle  Feather. 
Mary  Harris'  puritan  idea  of  the  marital  rela- 
tion overriding  the  Indian  idea  of  domestic  vir- 
tue. Hence,  Eagle  Feather,  when  he  tendered 
any  civilities  to  the  "  new  comer,''  encountered 
frjDm  Mary  all  the  frowns  and  hair-raising  epi- 
thets usually  applied  by  white  women  to  white 
men  under  similar  surroundings,  and  he  became 
miserable  and  unhappy.  Failing  to  appreciate 
all  this  storming  around  the  wigwam,  he  remind- 
ed Mary  that  he  could  easily  kill  her;  that  he 
had  saved  her  life  when  captured;  had  always 
provided  for  her  bear  and  deer  meat  to  eat,  and 
skins  of  the  finest  beasts  to  lie  upon,  and  in  re- 
turn she  had  borne  him  no  papooses,  and  to  pro- 
vide for  her  shortcomings  in  this  respect  he  had 
brought  the  "  new  comer  "  home  to  his  wigwam 
to  make  all  things  even  again,  as  a  chief  who 
died  without  young  braves  to  succeed  him  would 
soon  be  forgotten.  So  saying  he  took  the  new 
captive  by  the  hand,  and  they  departed  to  the 
forest  to  await  the  operation  of  his  remarks  on 
Mary's  mind.  Returning  at  night  and  finding 
her  asleep  on  her  buffalo  skins,  he  lay  down  be- 
side her  as  if  all  were  well,  at  the  same  time 
motioning  the  "new  comer"  to  take  a  skin  and 
lie  down  in  the  corner. 


He  was  soon  asleep,  having  in  his  perturbed 
state  of  mind  partaken  of  some  whisky  saved 
from  the  last  raid  into  Virginia.  On  the  following 
morning  he  was  found  with  his  head  split  open, 
and  the  tomahawk  remaining  in  the  skull-crack, 
while  the  "  new  comer "  had  fled.  Mary,  simu- 
lating, or  being  actually  in  ignorance  of  the  mur- 
der, at  once  aroused  "  The  White  Woman's  Town '' 
with  her  screams.  The  warriors  were  soon  at  her 
wigwam,  and  comprehending  the  situation,  at 
once  started  in  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  murderess, 
whom  they  tracked  to  the  Tuscarawas,  thence  to 
an  Indian  town  near  by,  where  they  found  her. 
She  was  claimed  as  a  deserter  from  "  The  White 
Woman's  Town,''  and,  under  the  Indian  code, 
liable  to  be  put  to  death,  whether  guilty  of  the 
murder  or  not.  She  was  taken  back  while  Gist 
was  at  the  town,  and  he  relates  in  his  journal  that, 
on  December  26,  1750,  a  white  woman  captive 
who  had  deserted,  was  put  to  death  in  this  man- 
ner :  She  was  set  free  and  ran  off  some  distance, 
followed  by  three  Indian  warriors,  who,  over- 
taking her,  struck  her  on  the  side  of  the  head 
with  their  tomahawks,  and  otherwise  beat  and 
mutilated  the  body  after  life  was  extinct,  then 
left  it  lying  on  the  ground  until  night,  when  one 
Barney  Ourran,  who  lived  at "  The  White  Woman's 
Town,"  obtained  and  buried  the  body,  in  which 
he  was  assisted  by  some  Indians. 

Mary  Harris  insisted  that  the  "  new  comer  " 
killed  her  husband  with  his  own  hatchet,  in  re- 
venge for  being  brought  into  captivity,  while 
she,  as  tradition  gives  it,  alleged  that  Mary  did 
the  wicked  work  out  of  jealousy,  and  intended 
dispatching  her  also,  but  was  defeated  in  her 
project  by  the  flight  of  the  "new  comer."  Be 
that  as  it  may.  Eagle  Feather  was  sent  to  the 
spiritland  for  introducing  polygamy  among 
white  ladies  in  the  valley,  and  as  to  the  "new 
comer,"  the  town  to  which  she  fled  was  thence- 
forward called  "  Newcomer's  Town "  by  the  In.- 
dians  as  early  as  1755,  and  probably  as  early  as 
1751,  when  the  "  new  comer "  sought  protection 
there.  When  Netawatwees,  chief  of  the  Delawares, 
took  up  his  abode  there,  about  1760,  he  retained 
the  name,  it  corresponding  with  his  own  in  En- 
ghsh.  When  Colonel  Bouquet,  in  1764,  marched 
down  the  valley  and  deposed  Netawatwees,  he  re- 
tained the  name  on  his  map.    When  Governor 


238 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Penn,  of  Pennsylvania,  sent  messages  to  the  In- 
dians, in  1774,  he  retained  the  name  in  his  official 
paper.  When  Brodhead,  in  17S1,  marched  to  the 
"  Forks  of  the  Muskingum,"  and  up  the  Tusca- 
rawas vallej',  he  called  it  by  the  same  name.  In 
1S27,  the  good  old  Nicholas  Neighbor,  when  he 
had  laid  it  off  in  lots,  saw  that  it  would  pay  him 
to  retain  the  old  name,  and  did  so,  and  it  is  yet 
known  by  the  name  of  Newcomerstown. 

Mary  Harris  married  again,  had  children,  and 
removed  west  about  the  time  Captain  Pipe  and 
the  Wolf  tribe  of  Delawares  removed  to  San- 
dusky, in  1778-79.  Nothing  is  known  of  Mary 
Harris'  history  after  her  removal  to  Sandusky, 
but  the  river  from  Coshocton  to  the  mouth  of 
Killbuck  is  often  called  "  Whitewoman,''  or  "  The 
White  Woman's  River." 

Following  Mary  Harris  came  Christopher  Gist, 
George  Croghan,  Andrew  Montour  and  William 
Trent. 

Captain  Christopher  Gist  was  sent  out  in  1750 
to  explore  the  country  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
river,  in  the  interest  of  the  Ohio  Land  Company, 
of  which  the  Washingtons  and  other  Virginia 
gentlemen  were  members.  In  his  journal  it  is 
recorded  that  "  he  reached  an  Indian  town,  near 
the  junction  of  the  Tuscarawa  =  and  White  Woman, 
December  14,  1760,  which  contained  about  one 
hundred  families,  a  portion  in  the  French  and  a 
portion  in  the  English  interest."  (This  Indian 
town  was  probably  situated  at  the  mouth  of 
White  Eyes  creek  or  possibly  nearer  to,  or  at  the 
"Forks  of  the  Muskingum.")  Here  Gist  met 
George  Croghan,  an  English  trader  who  had  his 
headquarters  at  this  town;  here,  also,  he  met 
Andrew  Montour,  a  halt-breed  of  the  Seneca 
nation,  who,  as  well  as  Croghan,  subsequently 
figured  somewhat  conspicuously  in  the  colonial 
history  of  our  country. 

iDaptain  Gist  remained  at  this  Indian  village 
from  December  14,  1750,  until  January  15,  1751. 
Some  white  men  lived  here,  two  of  whose  names 
he  gives,  namely,  Thonlas  Burney,  a  blacksmith, 
and  Barney  Curran.  Gist  here,  on  Christmas 
day,  1750,  conducted  appropriate  religious  ser- 
vices, according  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
prayer  book,  in  the  presence  of  some  white  men, 


and  a  few  Indians  who  attended  at  the  urgent 
solicitations  of  Thomas  Burney  and  Andrew 
Montour.  And  this  was  probably  the  first  public 
"Veligious  service  (Protestant  or  Catholic),  within 
the  present  limits  of  Coshocton  county. 

It  is  proper  to  say  here,  that  Captain  Gist's 
journal  makes  this  village  the  scene  of  the  kill- 
ing of  "  a  woman  that  had  long  been  a  prisoner 
and  had  deserted,  being  retaken  and  brought 
into  town  on  Christmas  eve ; "  also  how  "  Barney 
Curran  (an  Indian  trader,  and  who  in  1763  was 
one  of  George  Washington's  escort  on  his  mis- 
sion up  the  AUegheney  river)  and  his  men, 
assisted  by  some  Indians,  buried  her  just  at 
dark." 

There  is  given  in  the  "  Legend  of  the  White 
Woman,  and  New  Comerstown,"  an  account  of  a 
case  of  punishment  similar  to  the  foregoing,  the 
latter  being'  the  killing  of  a  white  woman  (a  cap- 
tive), charged  with  the  murder  of  a  chief  named 
"  Eagle  Feather,"  and  of  desertion.  Most  likely 
these  accounts  relate  to  different  transactions, 
the  victims  being  different  persons,  who  suffered 
death  in  different  places  for  different  offenses, 
that  sort  of  punishment  for  such  crimes  being 
usual  among  the  various  Indian  tribes. 

Captain  Gist,  according  to  his  journal,  left  this 
Indian  town,  (where  he  had  tarried  a  month), 
January  16,  1751,  accompanied  by  George 
Croghan  and  Andrew  Montour,  who  in  "  Colonel 
Smith's  Captivity  among  the  Indians,"  (see  page 
168),  are  represented  as  "  Messengers,  with  pres- 
ents from  Governor  Hamilton,  of  Pennsylvania, 
to  the  Twightwees,  (Miamis). 

"  We  left  Muskingham,''  continues  Gist's 
journal,  "  Tuesday,  January  15,  1761,  and  went 
west  to  the  White  Woman  creek,  on  which  is  a 
small  town,"  where  they  found  Mary  Harris,  who 
had  given  name  to  the  stream  from  the  mouth  of 
the  Killback  to  its  junction  with  the  Tuscarawas. 
The  journal  of  Gist  intimates  tliat  conversations 
were  had  with  her,  and  gives,  briefly,  a  few  lead- 
ing facts  in  her  history.  Gist's  party  remained 
in  "  The  White  Woman's  Town  "  over  night  only, 
and  on  Wednesday,  January  16, 1751,  (to  quote 
Gist's  journal),  they  "  set  out  southwest  twenty- 
five  miles  to  Licking  creek,"  thus  evidently  follow- 
ing a  trail  which  led  across  the  southern  portion 
of  the  present  county  of  Coshocton.    The  journal 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


239 


kept  by  Gist  describes  the  land  between  the 
White  Woman  and  the  Licking  creek,  and  men- 
tions several  salt  liclis  on  the  north  side  of  the 
latter.  They  arrived  at  the  mouth  of  the  Scioto, 
January  28, 1751.  From  this  point  Captain  Gist 
and  his  company  passed  down  the  Ohio  and  up 
the  Miami  valley  to  Piqua,  the  chief  town  of  the 
Pickawillanies,  and  there  held  consultations  with 
certain  Indian  tribes.  From  this  point  Gist  passed 
down  the  Great  Miami  river  into  the  Ohio,  and 
down  said  river  to  within  fifteen  miles  of  the 
Falls  of  the  Ohio,  (now  Louisville),  then  returned, 
says  the  author  of  the  Western  Annals,  "by  way 
of  the  Kentucky  river,  and  over  the  highlands  of 
Kentucky  to  Virginia,  arriving  there  after  an  ab- 
sence of  seven  months,  in  May,  1751,  having  vis- 
ited the  Mingoes,  Delawares,  Wyandots,  Shawa- 
nees  and  Miamis.  He  seems  also  to  have  per- 
formed the  other ,  duties  with  which  he  was 
charged  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  land 
company,  such  as  exploring  the  country,  exam- 
ining the  lands  as  to  topography  and  quality, 
keeping  a  journal  of  his  adventures,  drawing  as 
accurate  a  plan  of  the  country  as  his  observations 
would  permit,  and  made  full  report  to  the  con- 
trolling board  of  officers  of  the  aforenamed  Ohio 
Land  Company. 

In  November,  1751,  Captain  Gist  started  to  ex- 
plore the  country  on  the  southeast  side  of  the 
Ohio  river  down  as  far  as  to  the  mouth  of  Great 
Kanawha,  and  continued  in  that  service  all  win- 
ter. 

In  1752,  Captain  Gist  attended,  as  an  agent  of 
the  Ohio  Land  Company,  at  a  treaty  held  at 
Logstown,  between  some  Indian  tribes  and  com- 
missioners representing  the  colony  of  Virginia, 
which  resulted  in  the  formation  of  a  treaty, 
signed  June  13, 1752,  by  which  the  Indians  stipu- 
lated that  they  would  not  molest  any  settlements 
that  might  be  made  on  the  southeast  side  of  the 
Ohio  river.  This  provision  of  the  treaty  was 
deemed  highly  favorable  to  the  interests  of  the 
land  company  which  Gist  served  so  faithfully  and 
efficiently, 

In  1753,  Christopher  Gist  accomp.anied  George 
Washington  as  pilot  and  escort  on  his  mission  to 
the  Ohio  river,  and  up  the  Allegheny  river  to 
Venango  at  the  mouth  of  French  creek,  under 
authority  of  Governor  Dinwiddle,  of  the  colony  of 


Virginia,  he  receiving  his  appointment,  however, 
from  George  Washington. 

On  the  17th  of  February,  1754,  Captain  Christo- 
pher Gist  and  Captain  William  Trent,  and  other 
adventurous  frontiersmen,  met  by  appointment 
at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio  (now  Pittsburg),  for  the 
purpose  of  then  and  there  erecting  a  fort  for  the 
protection  of  the  settlers,  and  in  the  interest  of 
English  as  against  the  French.  Captain  Gist  was 
also  the  principal  man  in  projecting  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  town,  probably  in  the  interest  of 
the  Ohio  Land  Company,  at  the  mouth  of  Char- 
tiers,  a  few  miles  below  the  forks  of  the  Ohio. 
He  is  believed  to  have  lived  in  Virginia,  probably 
not  far  from  the  mouth  of  Wells  creek,  now 
Cumberland,  Maryland,  at  the  time  he  entered 
into  the  service  of  the  Ohio  Land  Company,  in 
1750.  He  subsequently  removed  to  the  Yough- 
iogheny  valley,  six  miles  east  of  Stuart's  crossing 
(now  Connellsville,  Fayette  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania). From  there,  he  moved  down  the  Yough- 
iogheny,  and  located  near  its  mouth.  He  after- 
wards lived  near  to  or  at  the  mouth  of  Chartier's- 
creek,  a  few  miles  below  the  forks  of  the  Ohio 
(now  Pittsburgh). 

Captain  Gist  was  a  land  surveyor,  and  lived  on 
the  frontiers  most  of.  his  life.  He  was  a  man  of 
marked  characteristics,  distinguished  for  energy,, 
enterprise,  force  of  character,  and  possessed  the 
qualities  of  adaptation  to  life  on  the  frontiers  to 
a  remarkable  degree.  He  largely  enjoyed  the 
confidence  and  friendship  of  General  Wash- 
ington. 

Colonel  George  Croghan,  who  accompanied 
Captain  Gist  from  "Muskingum,''  an  Indian 
town  situated  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  Tus- 
carawas river,  near  the  Forks  of  the  Muskingum 
(now  Coshocton),  to  the  Miami  Indians,  in  1751, 
was  a  native  of  Ireland  and  educated  in  Dublin. 
While  yet  a  young  man  he  emigrated  to  America, 
locating  at  Pennsboro',  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Susquehanna,  near  Harrisburg  In  1745-6,  he 
was  engaged  as  an  Indian  trader  along  the  shores 
of  Lake  Erie,  west  of  the  Cuyahoga  river.  While 
thus  engaged  he  learned  several  Indian  languages, 
and  acquired  much  influence  with  the  savages. 
Having  obtained  the  confidence  of  several  Indian 
tribes  to  a  great  extent,  the  government  of  the 


240 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


colony  of  Pennsylvania  employed  him  as  an 
agent,  or  messenger,  to  the  Indians  in  the  Ohio 
valley,  to  secure  and  maintain  peaceful  relations 
with  them,  and  to  operate  generally  among 
them  in  the  interest  of  Pennsylvania. 

"  Colonel  Croghan  served  as  a  Captain  in  Gen- 
eral Braddock's  expedition,  in  1755,  and  during 
the  next  year  was  engaged  in  the  defense  of  the 
Western  frontier.  Late  in  the  year  1766,  Sir 
William  Johnson  appointed  him  deputy  Indian 
agent  for  the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  Indians.  In 
1760  he  was  at  the  council  held  by  General 
Moncton,  at  Port  Pitt,  and  the  same  }'ear  accom- 
Major  Eogers  to  Detroit. 

"In  1763,  Col.  Croghan  was  sent  to  England 
to  consult  with  the  ministry  as  to  the  boundary 
line  with  the  Indians,  and  to  arrange  for  future 
trade  among  them."  In  1765,  he  negotiated  a 
treaty  of  peace  with  certain  western  tribes,  and 
and  in  the  succeeding  year  he  located  four  miles 
above  Port  Pitt.  In  176S  he  took  an  active  part 
at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Stanwix.  Until  the  begin- 
ing  of  the  Eevolutionary  war.  Col.  Croghan  con- 
tinued to  render  valuable  services  in  pacifying 
the  Indians,  and  conciliating  them  to  the  British 
interests.  In  the  boundary  controversy  between 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia,  in  1774-5,  he  favored 
the  claims  of  Virginia. 

When  the  troubles  with  Great  Britain  began 
in  1775,  Col.  Croghan  took  strong  grounds  in  favor 
of  the  colonies,  but  his  zeal  in  behalf  of  his 
adopted  country  gradually  abated,  and  in  1778,  he 
was  charged  publicly,  not  only  of  having  aban- 
doned the  American  cause  and  given  "  aid  and 
comfort"  to  the  British,  but  was  posted  in  a 
proclamation,  issued  by  the  highest  authority  of 
the  colony,  as  "an  enemy  to  the  liberties  of 
America." 

Col.  George  Croghan  was  "  a  man  of  affairs,"  and 
displayed  conspiciously  many  of  the  highest 
traits  of  a  first-class  frontiersman.  He  died  at 
Passayunk,  Pennsylvania,  in  August,  1782. 

Andrew  Montour  who,as  co-commissioner  with 
Colonel  Croghan,  in  behalf  of  the  colony  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, accompanied  Christopher  Gist  from  Mus- 
kingum to  the  Piqua  towns  on  the  Great  Miami, 
in  1751,  was  a  noted  character  in  his  day,  and 
«xerted  a  great  influence  over  the  Senecas,  Dela- 


wares  and  Shawanees.  He  acted  as  an  interpre- 
ter for  man}'  j'ears,  being  sometimes  in  the  ser- 
vice of  Pennsylvania,  and*  sometimes  serving 
Virginia  in  that  capacity.  It  is  also  said  in  Cap- 
tain Trent's  journal  (page  103),  that  he  also  offi- 
ciated as  a  spy  among  the  Indians  on  various 
occasions. 

Andrew  Montour  was  a  son  of  the  celebrated 
Canadian  half-breed,  known  as  Catharine  Mon- 
tour. Colonel  Stone,  in  his  life  of  Brant  (vol.  1, 
page  340,)  gives  her  history  as  follows : 

"  She  was  a  native  of  Canada,  a  halt  breed,  her 
father  having  been  one  of  the  early  French  Gov- 
ernors—probably Count  Frontenac,  as  he  must 
have  been  in  the  government  of  that  country 
about  the  time  of  her  birth.  During  the  wars 
between  the  Six  Nations  and  the  French  and 
Hurons,  Catharine,  when  about  ten  years  of  age, 
was  made  a  captive,  taken  into  the  Seneca  coun- 
try, adopted  and  reared  as  one  of  their  own 
children.  When  arrived  at  a  suitable  age,  she 
was  married  to  one  of  the  distinguished  chiefs  of 
her  tribe,  who  signalized  himself  in  the  wars  of 
the  Six  Nations  against  the  Catawbas,  then  a 
great  nation  living  southwestward  of  Virginia. 
She  had  several  children  by  this  chieftain,  who 
fell  in  battle  about  1750,  after  which  she  did  not 
marry  again.  She  is  said  to  have  been  a  hand- 
some woman  when  young,  genteel  and  of  polite 
address,  notwithstanding  her  Indian  associations. 
It  was  frequently  her  lot  to  accompany  the  Six 
Nations  to  Philadelphia  and  other  places, in 
Pennsylvania,  where  treaties  were  holden;  and 
from  her  character  and  manners,  she  was  greatly 
caressed  by  the  American  ladies,  particularly  in 
Philadelphia,  where  she  was  invited  by  the 
ladies  of  the  best  circles,  and  entertained  at  their 
houses." 

She  resided  at  one  time  at  the  junction  of  the 
Tiogaand  Susquehanna  rivers,  where  was  a  build- 
ing she  occupied  known  as  "Queen  Esther's 
Castle."  Her  principal  residence,  however,  was 
at  Catharine's  Town,  at  the  head  of  Seneca  Lake. 

Andrew  Montour  had  a  brother  named  Henry, 
who  was  an  intelligent  Indian,  and  frequently  in 
employ  of  the  colonial  governors.  Andrew  Mon- 
tour enjoyed,  to  a  large  extent,  the  confidence  of 
those  he  served  in  the  various  positions  of  agent, 
messenger,  guide  and  commissioner.  His  mother, 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY: 


241 


it  is  said,  exerted  a  controling  influence  among 
the  mdians  for  many  years,  as  did  also  her  son 
Andrew.  In  the  Life  and  Times  of  Rev.  David 
Zeisberger,  mention  is  made  of  a  sister  of  Andrew 
Montour,  who  was  a  convert  to  Moravianism,  at 
New  Salem  mission. 

Captain  William  Trent  was  one  of  the  early- 
time  white  men  that  followed  an  Indian  trail 
through  the  present  county  of  Coshocton,  in  1752, 
spending  one  night  at  least  in  the  Indian  village 
he  called  "  Muskingum,"  where,  his  journal  says, 
they  met  some  white  men  from"Hockhocken," 
which  he  characterizes  as  "  a  small  place  contain- 
ing a  few  Delaware  families,  where  the  French  at 
one  time  had  a  trading  post,  called  '  Margaret's 
Fort,'  probably  on  some  very  old  maps  called 
'  French  Margaret's  Town.'  " 

Captain  Trent  was  a  sort  of  messenger  appoint- 
ed by  Governor  Dinwiddle,  of  the  colony  of  Vir- 
ginia, to  bear  presents  to  the  Indians  at  Logstown 
(near  the  forks  of  the  Ohio),  and  to  the  Twigh twees 
or  Miamis.  He  left  Logstown  on  his  mission, 
June  21, 1752,  and  on  the  29th  of  the  same  month, 
his  journal  says, "  we  got  to  Muskingum,  150  miles 
from  the  Logstown."  In  a  foot  note  in  Captain 
Trent's  journal,  page  85,  "  Muskingum  "  is  repre- 
sented to  be  a  "  Mingo  town,  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Tuscarawas,  five  miles  east  of  the  mouth  of 
White  Woman's  creek,  in  what  is  now  Coshocton 
county.  In  1751,  it  contained  about  100  families." 
(This  is  probably  adopting  Captain  Gist's  estimate, 
who  was  there  in  said  year).  "The  distance 
from  Logstown  to  Muskingum  by  the  Indian 
trail  was  122  miles." 

Captain  William  Trent  was  a  native  of  Lancas- 
ter county,  Pennsylvania,  born  about  the  year 
1715.  His  father  was  distinguished  in  the  civil 
history  of  that  colony,  holding  many  positions  of 
trust  and  profit  William  Trent  entered  the  ser- 
vice of  Pennsylvania  at  an  early  day.  In  June 
1746,  Governor  Thomas  appointed  him  captain  of 
one  of  four  companies,  raised  in  Pennsylvania, 
for  an  intended  expedition  against  Canada. 
During  that  year  he  was  stationed,  under  orders 
of  Governor  Clinton,  of  New  York,  at  Saratoga, 
where  his  command  did  garrison  and  scouting 
duty  for  over  a  year.  He  rendered  efficient 
services  and  received  the  thanks  of  the  legisla- 


ture for  the  courage  and  patriotism  he  dis- 
played. 

On  the  10th  of  March,  1749,  Captain  Trent  was 
appointed  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  court  of  com- 
mon pleas  and  general  sessions  of  Cumberland 
county,  and  served  in  that  capacity  for  several 
years.  During  this  year  he  was  also  employed 
as  messenger  to  the  Ohio  Indians,  to  carry  mes- 
sages and  presents  to  the  principal  nations. 

In  1750,  Captain  Trent  formed  a  partnership 
with  the  celebrated  George  Croghan,  his  brother- 
in-law,  to  engage  in  the  Indian  trade.  This  firm 
continued  in  existence  more  than  six  years,  and 
its  members  acquired  great  influence  with  the 
savages.  In  the  extent  of  its  operations  it  was 
unequalled  in  the  West. 

In  1752,  Captain  Trent  was  employed  by  the 
Governor  of  Virginia,  as  an  agent  of  that  colony, 
to  attend  the  Commissioners  at  Logstown,  in 
their  council  with  the  Ohio  tribes.  While  the 
conference  was  in  progress  he  was  dispatched 
with  messages  and  presents  to  the  Miamis,  and 
it  was  in  the  execution  of  that  trust  that  he 
passed  through  the  territory  that  now  constitutes 
Coshocton  county,  tarrying  over  night  in  the  In- 
dian village  he  called  "  Muskingum,"  five  miles 
up  the  Tuscarawas  from  its  mouth.  He  also 
rendered  some  services  for  Governor  Dinwiddle 
in  1753,  in  the  matter  of  selecting  a  site  for  a 
fort  at  the  forks  of  the  Ohio. 

Captain  Trent  was  present  at  the  convocation 
for  treaty-making  purposes,  held  at  Winchester,, 
Virginia,  September,  1753.  In  pursuance  of  the- 
provisions  of  a  treaty  there  formed,  a  large  quan- 
tity of  amunition  and  other  goods  were  ordered 
for  the  Delaware  and  Miami  tribes.  Three  com- 
missioners were  appointed  to  convey  these  pres- 
ents to  the  Ohio,  for  distribution  there,  according 
to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  and  these  commis- 
sioners turned  out  to  be  William  Trent,  Andrew 
Montour,  and  Christopher  Gist. 

Early  in  the  year,  1754,  Governor  Dinwiddle 
commissioned  Captain  Trent  to  raise  one  hundred 
men  for  immediate  service  on  the  frontier.  Be- 
fore the  expiration  of  a  month  the  men  were 
enlisted,  and  placed  in  camp  at  the  mouth  of 
Redstone  creek.  While  here  he  was  directed  by 
the  Governor  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  forks  of 
the  Ohio,  and  build  a  fort  there.    This  h%  pro- 


242 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


•ceeded  to  do,  and  the  work  was  commenced  on 
the  17th  of  February,  1754. 

Captam  Trent  entered  the  service  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1755,  he  having  been  appointed  by  the 
Governor  a  member  of  the  proprietary  and 
Governor's  comicil. 

Early  in  the  year  1757,  Capt.  Trentagain  entered 
into  the  service  of  Virginia.  In  June  he  was  at 
Winchester  raising  men  for  the  army.  A  month 
later,  at  the  request  of  Col.  George  Croghan,  he 
acted  as  his  secretary  at  the  council  with  the 
Indians  at  Easton,  Pennsylvania. 

In  1758  Capt.  Trent  accompanied  Gen.  Forbes' 
expedition  against  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  by  his 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  country  through 
which  the  army  passed,  was  enabled  to  render 
important  services. 

During  the  year  1759,  Capt.  Trent  entered  the 
.service  of  Sir  William  Johnson,  England's  Indian 
agent  in  America  In  July,  1759,  he  also  acted 
as  assistant  to  George  Croghan,  deputy  agent,  at 
a  treaty  made  at  Port  Pitt,  with  Ohio  Indians. 
He  was  also  present,  in  the  same  capacity,  at 
Gen.  Stanwix's  conference  with  the  western  nations 
in  October.  In  1768,  Captain  Trent  attended  a 
council  of  the  English  and  the  Six  Nations, 
Shawanees  and  Delawares,  held  at  Fort  Stanwix, 
New  York. 

Captain  Trent  was  loyal  to  the  colonies  and 
warmry  advocated  the  American  cause ;  and  Con- 
gress gave  him  a  Major's  commission  to  raise  a 
force  in  Western  Pennsylvania.  He  was  pres- 
ent, bearing  the  title  of  major,  at  the  treaty  of 
Fort  Pitt,  July  6,  1776. 

Major  Trent  was  not  a  learned  man,  but  was 
esteemed  a  careful,  prudent,  and  watchful 
guardian  of  the  interests  of  his  employers.  Most 
of  his  life  was  usefully  spent  in  the  public  service. 

The  principal  facts  in  the  life  and  history  of 
William  Trent,  herewith  presented,  are,  for  the 
most  part,  contained  in  a  biographical  sketch  of 
him,  prepared  and  published  by  the  late  Alfred 
T.  Goodman,  secretary  of  the  Northern  Ohio 
Historical  Society. — See  pages  57  and  67. 

The  next  white  man  to  press  the  soil  of  Coshoc- 
ton county  after  Messrs.  Gist,  Croghan  &  Co.,  was 
probably  James  Smith. 

He  was  a  native  of  western  Pennsylvania,  and 


was  captured  near  Bedford  in  that  State  ivhen 
about  eighteen  years  of  age,  by  three  Indians  on 
a  marauding  expedition,  in  the  spring  of  1755,  a 
short  .time  before  the  defeat  of  General  Brad- 
dock.  He  was  taken  to  the  Indian  village  on  the 
Allegheny,  opposite  Fort  Du  Quesne,  and  com- 
pelled to  run  the  gauntlet,  where  he  nearly  lost 
his  life  by  a  blow  from  a  club  in  the  hands  of  a 
stalwart  savage  After  his  recovery  and  the 
defeat  of  General  Braddock,  he  was  taken  by  his 
captors  on  a  long  journey  through  the  forest  to 
the  village  of  Tullihas,  on  the  west  branch  of  the 
Muskingum  (Walhonding),  the  location  of  which 
village  was  at  or  near  the  confluence  of  the  Mo- 
hican and  Owl  creek.  In  this  journey  they 
followed  the  well  marked  and  much  traveled 
Indian  trail  from  Fort  Pitt  to  the  Tuscarawas,  . 
and  down  that  river  to  the  present  site  of  Co- 
shocton, thence  up  the  Walhonding.  Tullihas 
was  then  occupied  by  Mohicans,  Caryhnewagas 
and  Delawares,  the  latter  predominating.  Here 
he  was  adopted  by  the  Indians  into  one  of  their 
tribes.  The  ceremony  consisted  in  first  plucking 
all  the  hair  from  his  head  except  the  scalp-lock, 
which  thej'  fixed  according  to  their  fashion;  in 
boring  his  ears  and  nose,  and  placing  ornaments 
therein;  in  putting  on  a  breech-clout,  and  paint- 
ing his  body  and  face  in  fantastic  colors,  and  in 
washing  him  several  times  in  the  river,  to  wash 
out  all  the  white  blood  in  his  veins.  This  last 
ceremony  was  performed  by  three  young  squaws 
and,  as  Smith  was  unacquainted  with  their 
usages,  he  thought  they  intended  to  drown  him, 
and  resisted  at  first  with  all  his  might,  to  the 
great  amusement  of  the  multitude  on  the  river 
bank.  One  young  squaw  finally  made  out  to  say, 
"  Me  no  hurt  you,"  and  he  then  gave  them  the 
privilege  to  souse  and  rub  him  as  they  desired. 
When  brought  from  the  river  he  was  allowed 
other  clothes,  and  in  solemn  council,  in  an  im- 
pressive speech,  he  was  admitted  to  full  member- 
ship in  the  nation.  He  says  in  his  journal  he 
always  fared  the  same  as  the  Indians,  \io  excep- 
tions being  made. 

James  Smith  remained  in  Tullihas  until  the 
next  October,  when  he  accompanied  his  adopted 
brother,  Tontileaugo,  who  had  a  Wyandot  wife  on 
the  shores  of  Lake  Erie,  on  a  visit  to  that  nation. 
He    remained  among  the    Indians  about  four 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


243 


years,  traversing  all  parts  of  northern  Ohio,  at 
the  end  o£  which  time  he  escaped  and  made  his 
way  to  Pennsylvania,  where  he  published  a 
memoir,  from  which  the  above  facts  were  taken. 
About  the  time  of  James  Smith's  captivity 
hundreds  of  other  captives  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  savages,  and  without  doubt  scores  of  them 
were  either  retained  among  the  Indians  on  the 
Muskingum,  or  passed  through  this  territory  on 
their  way  into  captivity  among  the  tribes  farther 
west.  This  must  have  been  the  case,  for  in  1764 
Gen.  Bouquet,  in  accordance  with  a  treaty  of 
peace  made  with  the  tribes  at  the  Forks  of  the 
Muskingum,  received  from  the  Indians  206  of 
these  captives,  and  even  then  failed  to  get  all  that 
were  in  the  hands  of  the  savages.  Many  of  these 
captives  had  been  among  the  Indians  many  years ; 
children  had  been  captured  who  had  grown  to 
manhood  and  womanhood  among  them. 

The  next  white  men  in  this  territory  were 
probably  those  of  Gen.  Bouquet's  army  in  1764. 
The  details  of  this  expedition  appear  elscAvhere 
in  this  work.  It  was,  no  doubt,  the  first  organ- 
ized body  of  troops  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  county. 

In  1773,  Eev.  David  Jones,  an  eccentric  charac- 
ter better  known  as  "  Chaplain  Jones,"  and  an  In- 
dian trader  named  Da-^ad  Duncan  passed  through 
this  territory.  They  were  traveling  eastward 
from  the  Shawanee  towns  on  the  Scioto,  along 
the  Indian  trail  of  the  Licking  and  Muskingum 
valleys,  which  had  been  followed  by  Christopher 
Gist. 

Duncan  was  from  Shippensburg,  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  was  on  his  way  to  Fort  Pitt,  probably, 
for  goods.  Eev.  David  Jones  was  on  his  return 
journey  to  Freehold,  Monmouth  county.  New 
Jersey,  from  the  Indians  on  the  Scioto,  among 
whom  he  had  been  as  missionary,  by  authority 
of  the  Philadelphia  Baptist  association,  of  which 
he  was  a  member.  He  kept  a  diary  of  this  jour- 
ney, from  which  these  facts  are  taken. 

This  diary  shows  that  he  followed  the  trail  that 
led  from  the  Indian  towns  on  the  Scioto  to 
"  Standing  Stone  "  (Lancaster),  where,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  the  diary,  "  was  an  Indian  town  consist- 
ing chiefly  of  Ddawares,  and  which  was  situated 


on  a  creek  called  Hock-Hockin.  It  appears 
muddy,  is  not  wide,  but  soon  admits  of  large  ca- 
noes." He  did  not  arrive  at  Standing  Stone  un- 
til nine  o'clock  at  night,  and  says  that  his  "  road 
was  very  small  and  the  night  dark  in  this  wide 
wilderness,  which  made  traveling  more  disagree- 
able than  can  be  easily  expressed." 

Wednesday,  February  10,  ,1778,  "  we  set  out 
early  in  the  morning— our  course  more  north- 
erly than  northeast — the  land  chiefly  low  and 
level,  and,  where  our  horses  broke  through  the 
frost,  it  might  be  called  bad  road  and  good  land. 
No  inhabitants  by  the  way.  Before  night  came 
to  a  small  town  consisting  of  Delawares  and 
Shawanees.  About  a  mile  before  we  came  to  this 
town  we  crossed  a  clear,  large  stream  called  Salt 
Lick  creek  (doubtless  Licking  river,  four  miles 
east  of  Newark),  which  empties  into  the  Mus- 
kingum.'' 

The  town  above  mentioned  was  doubtless  the 
Indian  village  situated  on  the  Bowling  Green,  five 
miles  east  of  the  present  site  of  Newark,  Licking 
county,  known  as  "John  Elliott's  Wife's  Town." 
The  diary  continues :  "  The  country  here  appears 
calculated  for  health,  fertile  and  beautiful.  The 
next  day  after  paying  a  high  price  for  the  corn 
our  horses  consumed,  we  started  for  the  Mora- 
vian towns  on  the  Tuscarawas." 

This  "  Chaplain  Jones  "  was  born  of  Welsh  par- 
ents, on  White  Clay  Creek  Hundred,  Newcastle 
county,  Delaware,  May  12, 1736.  He  was  licensed 
to  preach  by  the  Welsh  Tract  Church  in  1761, 
and  ordained  at  Freehold,  Monmouth  county. 
New  Jersey,  December  12,  1766,  and  remained 
pastor  at  that  place  until  he  started  on  his  mis- 
sionary tour  to  the  Indians  of  the  northwest. 

In  1775,  he  became  pastor  of  the  Great  Valley 
church  in  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  but  re- 
signed the  following  year  on  being  appointed 
chaplain  of  Colonel  (afterward  General)  Arthur 
St.  Clair's  regiment,  raised  <f  or  service  in  the  Eev- 
olution.  He  was  on  duty  with  his  regiment  at 
Ticonderoga,  and  served  in  two  campaigns  under 
Major  General  Gates.  In  1777,  he  served  as  brig- 
ade chaplain  under  General  Wayne.  At  the  close 
of  the  war  he  retired  to  a  farm  in  Chester 
county. 

In  1789  he  again  visited  the  Northwest,  and 
January  30, 1790,  preached  the  first  sermon  ever 


244 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


preached  in  the  Miami  country  at  Columbia,  six 
miles  above  Cincinnati.  He  was  chaplain  in 
Wayne's  army  during  his  campaign  against  the 
Indians,  and,  in  1812,  though  seventy-six  years 
old,  he  again  entered  the  army  as  chaplain,  and 
served  under  Generals  Brown  and  Wilkinson 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  This  ended  his  public 
career.  He  was  afterward  a  large  contributor  to 
the  Philadelphia  press  on  public  affairs. 

He  officiated  in  public  for  the  last  time  Sep- 
tember 20, 1817,  when  he  delivered  an  address  at 
the  dedication  of  the  monument  erected  at  Paoli, 
Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  commemorative  of 
the  Americans  who  were  massacred  there  in 
1777.  He  died  February  20,  1820,  in  his  eighty- 
fourth  year,  and  was  buried  near  the  Great  Val- 
ley Baptist  Church. 

He  is  yet  remembered  by  a  few  of"  the  early 
pioneers  as  a  kind,  companionable  gentleman,  of 
rare  eccentricities,  who  always  wore  a  queue,  the 
breeches,  the  shoe  and  knee  buckles,  the  cockade 
and  military  toggery  of  high  rank  chaplain  in 
the  service;  and  as  a  gentleman  of  the  "Old 
School." 

In  1774,  a  white  trader  was  murdered  by  the 
Indians  at  the  Indian  village  of  White  Eyes,  in 
what  is  now  White  Eyes  township,  this  county. 
DeHass  gives  the  following  brief  account  of  it: 

"In  the  meantime  the  Indians  were  murdering 
whites  whenever  opportunity  presented.  Many 
of  the  traders  who  had  penetrated  the  Indian 
country,  could  not  retrace  their  steps  in  time, 
and  thus  fell  before  the  merciless  hand  of  the 
destroyer.  One  of  these,  near  the  town  of  White 
Eyes,  the  peace  chief  of  the  Delawares,  was  mur- 
dered, cut  to  pieces,  and  the  fragments  of  his 
body  hung  upon  the  bushes.  The  kindly  chief 
gathered  them  together  and  buried  them.  The 
hatred  of  the  murderers,  however,  led  them  to 
disinter  and  disperse  the  remains  of  their  victim 
anew;  but  the  kind  hearted  Delaware  chief  was 
as  persevering  as  the  hatred  of  his  brethren,  and 
again  he  collected  the  scattered  limbs  and  in  a 
secret'place  hid  them." 

The  name  of  this  trader  does  not  appear,  but 
he  was  no  doubt  one  of  those  wild,  reckless 
hunters  and  backwoodsmen,  so  many  of  whom 
in  those  days  took  their  lives  in  their  hands  and 
established  themselves  in  the  business  of  exchang- 
ing goods  with  the  Indians  for  the  products  of 


the  chase.  He  and  John  Leeth  might  be  called 
the  first  merchants  of  Coshocton  county,  both 
having  established  themselves  here  in  1774. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  the  white  trader 
was  murdered  at  White  Eyes,  Major  William 
Eobinson  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  celebrated 
chief,  Logan,  a  full  account  of  which  appears  in 
the  history  of  Franklin  township,  in  another  part 
of  this  work. 

John  Leeth,  before  mentioned  as  a  trader  at 
Coshocton,  and  probably  one  of  its  first  mer- 
chants, has  an  interesting  history,  which  appears 
in  the  history  of  Knox  county,  as  follows : 

John  Leeth  was  a  captive  among  the  Indians, 
and  traversed  this  region  long  before  any  white 
settlement  was  made. 

He  was  born  in  South  Carolina  in  1755;  ran 
away  from  home  when  a  boy  and  went  to  Penn- 
sylvania. At  Fort  Pitt  he  hired  out  to  an  Indian 
trader,  who  had  a  stock  of  goods  at  New  Lan- 
caster, Ohio,  then  an  Indian  town,  and  where  he 
sent  young  Leeth  to  take  charge  of  the  stock. 
Here  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Delaware 
Indians  April  10,  1772,  and  the  stock  of  goods 
divided  among  them. 

When  Dunmore  invaded  Ohio  with  his  army^ 
the  Indians  considered  the  matter  of  killing 
young  Leeth  to  get  him  out  of  the  way,  but  his 
adopted  father,  who  had  taken  a  liking  to  him, 
saved  his  life,  and  he  was  taken  along  with  the 
Indians  when  they  adandoned  their  towns  and 
retreated  before  Dunmore's  advance.  During 
tlie  journej'  he  made  several  attempts  to  escape, 
but  failed. 

After  the  war  Leeth's  Indian  father  voluntarily 
gave  him  his  freedom,  providing  him  with  a  gun, 
ammunition  and  blanket,  and  the  young  man 
spent  two  years  or  more  hunting  and  trading 
with  the  Indiaias,  during  which  time  he  accumu- 
lated furs  and  peltry  to  the  amount  of  several 
hundred  dollars.  During  these  years  his  favorite 
hunting  ground  was  in  Knox  and  Coshocton 
counties,  along  the  beautiful  Kokosing  and  Wal- 
honding  rivers,  where  he  spent  much  of  his  time 
among  the  Delawares  in  their  villages  hunting  ■ 
deer  and  bear. 

Mr.  Leeth  married  for  his  second  wife  a  widow 
lady  named  Sarah  McKee,  his  first  wife  being  a 
white  girl,  a  captive  among  the  Indians.  Mrs. 
McKee  was  living  on  Middle  Island,  near  Mari- 
etta. This  last  marriage  took  place  in  1802.  Mrs> 
McKee  was  the  maternal  grandmother  of  Lyman 
W.  Gates,  of  Miller  township,  Knox  county. 
During  the  summer  of  1825,  Mr.  Leeth  visited 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


245 


the  family  of  Mr.  Gates'  father,  and  spent  some 
time  there.  Wishing  to  visit  Mount  Vernon,  old 
Mr.  Gates  accompanied  him.  When  they  had 
reached  the  Gotshall  place,  Mr.  Leeth  got  off  his 
horse  and  pointed  out  places  where  he  had  lain 
in  wait  for  the  wild  animals  to  come  and  drink, 
and  where  he  shot  them.  He  also  pointed  out 
other  localities  along  the  road  where  he  had 
hunted  successfully.  As  late  as  thirty  years  ago, 
Gotshall's  lake  was  a  considerable  body  of  water, 
and  was  a  famous  place  for  wild  ducks.  By  suc- 
cessful drainage  the  water  has  since  been  drawn 
off  and  the  land  cultivated. 

About  two  years  after  obtaining  his  freedom, 
about  twenty  Indians  came  from  another  tribe, 
and,  while  young  Leeth  was  dealing  with  a  trader 
and  his  assistant,  took  them  all  prisoners,  with 
all  their  property.  They  took  him  some  dis- 
tance through  the  wilderness,  and,  after  several 
days,  sold  him  to  another  tribe.  His  purchaser  told 
him  he  was  not  bought  for  the  purpose  of  being 
enslaved ;  it  was  only  because  he  loved  him  and 
wished  him  to  stay  with  him,  and  gave  Leeth  his 
liberty  on  a  promise  not  to  run  awaj"-.  Again  he 
became  a  hunter  and  trapper,  and,  during  the 
following  fall  and  spring,  accumulated  furs  and 
skins  to  the  value  of  seventy-five  or  eighty  dol- 
lars. 

During  the  Revolutionary  war,  he  is  found  at 
Detroit,  where  he  engaged  with  an  Indian  trader 
to  take  some  goods  to  Sandusky.  While  at  the 
latter  place  he  witnessed  the  murder  of  a  prisoner 
brought  in  by  the  Wyandots,  the  murder  occur- 
ring in  front  of  the  door  of  his  employer.  As  the 
poor  fellow  was  passing  the  house,  they  knocked 
him  down  with  tomahawks,  cut  off  his  head, 
placed  it  on  a  pole  and  began  dancing  around  it. 

Sometime  after  this  the  Indian  who  took  him 

Erisoner  at  New  Lancaster  came  along  and  told 
leeth  he  must  accompany  him  to  the  Forks  of 
the  Muskingum,  now  Coshocton. 

He  remained  at  Coshocton  some  time.  The 
spring  following  he  married  a  young  woman,  sev- 
enteen or  eighteen  years  of  age,  who  had  been 
taken  prisoner  when  only  twenty  months  old. 
At  the  time  of  his  marriage  Leeth  was  twenty- 
four  years  of  age.  This  was  in  1779.  He  resided 
in  the  Moravian  towns  on  the  Muskingum  some 
two  years,  and  upon  the  removal  of  the  Moravians 
to  Sandusky,  in  1782,  was  taken  with  them.  In  this 
journey  they  passed  along  the  Walhonding  and 
Kokosing  rivers.  At  Sandusky  Leeth  was  en- 
gaged by  five  of  the  British  officers,  who  had 
formed  a  stock  company,  to  attend  to  their  busi- 
ness. While  in  their  employ  (1782).  Colonels 
Williamson  and  Crawford  marched  with  an  army 
against  Sandusky,  during  which  the  Indians 
closely  watched  Leeth  to  prevent  him  from  com- 
municating with  the  invading  army.  Being  told 
the  Americans  were  within  fifteen  miles  of  San- 


dusky, Leeth  gathered  together  his  employers' 
effects,  about  $1,500  in  silver,  furs,  powder,  lead, 
horses  and  cattle,  and.  started  for  Lower  San- 
dusky. After  traveling  about  three  miles,  he  met 
Capt.  Elliot,  a  British  officer,  and  about  fourteen 
miles  further  he  met  Col.  Butler's  rangers.  They 
took  from  him  his  cattle  and  let  him  pass.  That 
night  he  encamped  about  fourteen  miles  above 
Lower  Sandusky.  A  French  interpreter  for  the 
Indians  came  to  the  camp  and  was  granted  per- 
mission to  stay  all  night.  Next  morning,  aft«r 
the  horses  were  loaded  and  ready  to  start,  they 
heard  the  sound  of  cannon  at  Upper  Sandusky. 
The  Frenchman  clapped  his  hand  to  his  breast, 
and  said,  "  I  shall  be  there  before  the  battle,"  and 
started.  He  went  to  where  some  Indians  were 
painting  and  preparing  for  battle,  put  on  a  ruflJe 
shirt,  and  painted  a  red  spot  on  his  breast,  re- 
marking, "  Here's  a  mark  for  the  Virginia  rifle- 
men," and,  shortly  after,  marched  with  the  Indians 
to  battle,  where  he  soon  received  a  ball  in  the 
very  spot,  dying  instantaneously.  Leeth  reached 
Lower  Sandusky  safely.  The  unfortunate  expe- 
dition of  Col.  Crav.'ford  is  a  matter  of  history. 
After  this  battle  his  employers  moved  their 
goods  again  to  Upper  Sandusky,  where  Leeth  re- 
mained about  three  years,  when  the  partnership 
was  dissolved,  the  goods  divided,  and  each  one 
entered  into  business  for  himself.  One  of  the 
partners  informed  Leeth  that  he  was  going  to  es- 
tablish a  store  at  New  Coshocton,  on  the  head 
waters  of  the  Muskingum  river,  and  would  en- 
gage him  at  the  same  wages  to  go  with  him. 
This  proposition  was  accepted. 

Some  time  the  following  fall  Leeth  accompa- 
nied the  Indians  to  Fort  Pitt,  leaving  his  wife 
and  children  at  New  Coshocton.  After  matters 
were  settled  arid  articles  of  peace  signed,  he  en- 
tered into  partnership  with  two  others,  in  a  trad- 
ing association ;  and  in  a  short  time  he  started 
west  with  thirty-four  horses  loaded  with  several 
hundred  dollars'  worth  of  goods.-  Leeth  went  to 
the  Indian  town  (present  site  of  Coshocton)  and 
remained  about  nine  months,  in  which  time  lie 
sold  out  nearly  all  their  goods.  About  three 
months  after  his  arrival  at  'Tuscarawas  (now  Co- 
shocton), Captain  Hamilton,  an  American  officer, 
came  there  with  another  store,  and  opened  close 
by  him,  and  about  the  same  time  Leeth's  wife 
and  children  came  from  New  Coshocton.  While 
Captain  Hamilton  was  absent  at  Fort  Pitt  after 
goods  several  Wyandot  Indians  came  to  his  store ; 
two  of  them  killed  his  clerk  and  carried  away  all 
the  goods.  This  event  alarmed  Leeth  very  much, 
as  he  expected  the  same  fate,  but  a  Delaware  In- 
dian, one  of  his  old  acquaintances,  came  to  him 
at  this  time  and  said,  "  I  will  die  by  you."  Pre- 
parations for  a  hasty  departure  were  made,  and 
Leeth  and  his  family  started  with  the  Delaware 
Indian  for  Fort  Pitt.    They  were  captured,  how- 


246 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ever,  before  they  had  proceeded  far,  and  taken  to 
the  Indian  towns  on  Mad  river.  The  goods  and 
other  property  left  at  Tuscarawas  were  taken 
away  and  secreted  by  the  Indians.  After  some 
time  he  was  again  released  from  captivity,  and 
proceeding  to  Fort  Pitt,  he  purchased  horses  and 
went  in  search  of  his  hidden  goods.  He  found 
them  all  and  took  them  to  Fort  Pitt,  where  he 
left  them,  and  returned  to  his  family  on  Mad 
river.  After  remaining  with  them  some  time 
he  returned  to  Fort  Pitt  with  the  intention  of 
dissolving  partnership.  He  told  his  partners 
that  the  times  were  very  dangerous,  and  trade 
uncertain,  and  if  they  were  willing  he  would  re- 
tire from  the  concern,  and  quit  business,  at  least 
for  the  present.  His  partners  had  just  purchased 
a  large  assortment  of  goods,  and  were  not  willing 
to  dissolve.  They  told  him  "  if  he  would  venture 
his  body,  they  would  venture  the  goods."  He 
yielded,  and  on  the  fifteenth  of  January  started 
out  with  a  stock  of  goods  and  opened  another 
store  in  the  woods,  where  Coshocton  now  stands. 
In  a  short  time  he  collected  about  fourteen  horse 
loads  of  skins  and  furs,  and  the  hand  he  had  with 
him  started  with  them  for  Fort  Pitt.  After  get- 
about  two-thirds  of  the  way,  the  Mingo  and  Wy- 
andot Indians  overtook  the  caravan,  killed  the 
man,  and  took  the  horses  and  all  the  goods  off 
with  them.  Leeth  continued  at  Coshocton  with 
his  family  and  seven  horses  until  about  the 
first  of  April,  under  great  apprehensions  for  his 
life. 

He  then  moved  to  Tapacon,  twenty-five  miles 
from  Coshocton,  where  he  left  his  family  and 
went  on  horseback  to  Fort  Pitt,  to  consult  with 
his  partners  about  quitting  business,  as  they  had 
already  lost  all  'their  profits.  But  they  thought 
best  to  continue  the  business  until  all  their  goods 
were  sold.  He  then  returned  to  his  family  at 
Tapacon;  but  just  before  his  arrival  there  two 
Indians  had  visited  his  wife  and  told  her  they 
had  better  move  to  Fort  Pitt;  they  said  the  Min- 
goes  had  killed  the  two  traders  they  had  left  at 
Coshocton  and  carried  off  all  their  property. 
Leeth  left  his  goods  with  the  two  Indians,  and 
went  with  his  family  to  Fort  Pitt.  Soon  after  he 
returned  to  Tapacon  with  five  men,  and  found 
the  skins  where  the  Indians  had  hidden  them ; 
but  they  had  taken  the  horses  and  goods  with 
them.  He  returned  to  Fort  Pitt  with  theskins, 
and  soon  after  set  out  for  the  Shawanee  towns, 
where  he  found  his  horses  and  goods.  On  his 
route  back  to  Fort  Pitt  he  passed  through  Knox,' 
Licking  and  Muskingum  counties,  trading  his 
goods  for  furs  and  peltry,  disposing  of  all  of  them 
by  the  way.  He  was  accompanied  by  an  Indian 
hunting  party  of  seventeen  warriors.  Shortly 
after  his  arrival  at  Fort  Pitt  he  settled  up  with 
his  partners  and  gave  up  the  horses.  He  then 
left  Pittsburgh  with  his  family  and  settled  on  the 


Huron  river,  northern  Ohio,  in  a  Moravian  town, 
where  he  remained  some  years. 

The  Moravians,  ho^  ever,  were  continually  be- 
tween two  fires,  and  were  all  the  time  in  danger 
of  being  murdered  by  one  party  or  the  other, 
and  were  therefore  frequently  on  the  move. 
Leeth  was  compelled  to  take  his  family  and  flee 
for  safety  to  Fort  Pitt,  where  he  arrived  after 
a  hazardous "  journey  through  the  wilderness. 
From  Fort  Pitt,  he  proceeded  with  his  faraily  to 
Bird's  ferry,  where  his  wife's  relatives  resided, 
and  who  received  the  wanderers  with  great 
kindness.  Mr.  Leeth  settled  among  them  as  a 
farmer. 

Mr.  Leeth  died  about  1850,  in  the  ninety-fifth 
year  of  his  age.  His  father  was  born  in  the  city 
of  Leeth,  Scotland,  and  his  mother  in  Virginia. 

In  the  white  occupation  of  this  county,  Brod- 
head's  expedition  in  1780,  follows  in  chronolog- 
ical order.  The  details  of  this  expedition  will  be 
■found  in  another  chapter.  In  the  following  year, 
1781,  among  the  many  captives  taken  by  the  In- 
dians across  this  territory  was  John  Stilley,  an 
account  of  whose  captivity  appears  in  the  Knox 
county  history,  as  follows : 

In  the  year  1781  there  was  a  small  settlement 
on  Raccoon  creek,.some  sixty  miles  above  Wheel- 
ing, in  what  are  now  Beaver  and  Washington 
counties,  in  Pennsylvania.  Some  thirty  miles 
southeast  was  another  settlement  on  Peter's 
creek,  in  what  is  now  Allegheny  county,  same 
State.  The  latter  settlement  was  much  larger 
than  the  former,  and  possessed  a  good  stockaJde 
and  block-house,  to  which  the  pioneers  could  re- 
sort in  times  of  danger  or  invasion  by  the  savages 
of  the  territory  of  Ohio. 

In  the  year  1777,  the  settlers  on  Raccoon  creek 
were  compelled  by  Indian  invasion  to  abandon 
that  region  and  seek  refuge  in  the  block-house 
on  Peter's  creek,  where  most  of  them  remained 
several  months.  About  this  time,  John  Stilley, 
sr.,  who  had  located  in  the  settlement  in  1773,  ac- 
companied an  expedition  against  the  Indians  on 
Beaver  creek,  where  he  was  killed  by  the  acci- 
dental discharge  of  a  gun  in  the  hands  of  a  com- 
rade. Mrs.  Stilley  and  several  children  were  left 
helpless  by  the  unfortunate  circumstance. 

Among  those  who  fled  from  Raccoon  creek 
was  a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Kennedy. '' 
When  the  others  returned  to  the  settlement  he 
remained  at  the  block-house  on  Peter's  creek. 
In  the  meantime  he  had  married  Rachel  Stilley, 
the  oldest  daughter  of  Mrs.  John  Stilley.  In 
the  spring  of  1781,  Mr.  Kennedy  concluded  to 
return  to  the  Raccoon  settlement.  He  took 
along  a  good  team  of  horses,  and  his  family,  con- 
sisting of  his  wife,  a  small  child,  Sarah,  and  John 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


247 


'Stilley,  sr.,  youngest  brother  and  sister  of  Mrs. 
Kennedy.  Some  days  after  his  arrival  his  horses 
disappeared.  He  searched-  the  bottoras  in  the 
vicinity  of  his  cabin  for  them,  but  without  effect. 
As  was  the  custom  among  the  pioneers,  he  had 
placed  a  small  bell  on  one  of  the  horses. before 
turning  them  out,  that  they  might  be  traced  by 
its  sound. 

Early  one  morning  some  six  weeks  after  the 
disappearance  of  his  horses,  just  before  rising,  he 
heard  a  horse-bell  approaching  his  cabin,  and  re- 
marked to  his  wife:  "There  they  are."  He 
•dressed,  and  on  opening  his  door,  was  confronted 
by  ten  savage  warriors  of  the  Wyandot  nation, 
who  had  used  the  horse-bell  as  a  decoy  to  draw 
•him  out.  These  Indians  had  been  skulking  about 
the  neighborhood  for  some  time,  and  had  now 
stealthily  approached  the  home  of  Kennedy  to 
•secure  new  prizes  in  the  way  of  prisoners  and 
scalps.  The  horses  were  Kennedy's,  and  they 
had  now  returned  with  new  owners. 

Resistance  was  useless.  The  whole  family  sur- 
Tendered  at  once.  The  Indians  then  plundered 
the  house  of  such  articles  as  they  desired,  and  set 
it  on  fire.  They  then  started  for  the  Ohio  river 
with  their  prisoners  and  their  plunder.  Fearing 
■pursuit,  they  prepared  to  cross  without  delay. 
At  the  river  they  were  joined  by  two  other  Indi- 
ans who  had  separated  from  the  rest  to  pluiJtier  a 
-neighbor  of  Mr.  Kennedy,  by  the  name  of  Wilson. 
They  had  crept  upon  Mr.  Wilson  just  as  he  had 
"hitched  his  horses  to  the  plow.  They  fired  at 
and  wounded  him,  and  he  fled  to  his  cabin,  one 
■oi  the  Indians  following  him  with  rapidity,  as  the 
other  one  was  engaged  in  cutting  the  harness 
from  the  horses. 

On  reaching  the  door  of  the  cabin  Wilson  fell 
■from  exhaustion,  and  would  have  been  killed  by 
the  pursuing  savage  but  for  the  providential  ap- 

Eearance  of  Captain  John  Slack,  a  noted  "Indian 
ghter  and  scout,  who  rode  up  and  fired  at  the 
Indian  and  hit  him  on  the  back  of  the  head  just 
^as  he  leaped  the  fence,  making  an  ugly  gash  The 
Indians  instantly  mounted  the  horses  and  rode 
Tapidly  in  the  direction  of  the  Ohio  river  where 
they  were  joined  by  the  ten  who  had  captured 
Kennedy  and  his  family. 

Captain  Slack,  Wilson,  and  a  number  of  others 
gave  pursuit  and  arrived  at  the  Ohio  just  as  the 
Indians  and  their  prisoners,  who  were  mounted 
on  horseback,  reached  the  opposite  shore.  They 
saw  the  Indians  enter  the  forest  and  disappear 
with  their  helpless  captives.  Further  pursuit 
Tvas  abandoned.  It  was  fortunate  for  the  terrified 
prisoners  that  Captain  Slack  and  his  party  failed 
to  overtake  the  Indians  before  they  reached  the 
river;  otherwise  the  prisoners  would  have  been 
instantly  tomahawked  and  scalped.  As  it  was 
they  passed  on  without  being  maltreated  in  any 
way.    John  Stilley  was  then  about  eight  years  of  I 


age,  and  Sarah,  his  little  sister,  between  five  and 
six.  After  the  Indians  had  conducted  their  pris- 
oners some  distance  into  the  forest  they  checked 
the  rapidity  of  their  flight  and  halted  some  two 
hours.  They  killed  a  few  wild  turkeys  and 
roasted  them  after  the  Indian  manner,  sharing 
them  equally  among  their  captives.  Although 
much  depressed  in  feeling,  Mr-,  and  Mrs.  Ken- 
nedy put  on  an  air  of  cheerfulness,  and  assumed 
a  willingness  to  accompany  the  savages.  This 
seemed  to  please  them,  and  led  to  a  relaxation  of 
their  vigilance.  The  captives  were  treated  kindly 
and  suffered  but  little.  It  was  then  about  the 
first  of  June  and  the  weather  was  delightful.  The 
forests  abounded  in  a  luxuriant  growth  of  pea 
vines,  wild  flowers,  and  flowering  shrubs.  The 
party  crossed  the  river  not  a  great  ways  from  the 
mouth  of  Yellow  creek,  and  passed  through  what 
are  now  Jefferson,  Carroll,  and  Tuscarawas  coun- 
ties, north  of  the  Moravian  villages,  thence  near 
the  present  village  of  Coshocton,  and  from  thence 
up  the  Walhonding  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kokos- 
ing,  or  what  is  known  as  the  Vernon  river,  thence 
up  that  stream  to  where  Fredericktown  now 
stands,  thence  up  the  west  branch  and  across  the 
counties  of  Marion  to  the  Olentangy,  and  thence 
to  Upper  Sandusky,  the  principal  seat  of  the 
Wyandots. 

Mr.  Kennedy  and  his  little  family  were  kindly 
treated  all  the  way,  and  they  were  permitted  to 
ride  most  of  the  time.  At  night  they  slept  on  the 
leaves.  They  had  plenty  of  wild  meat,  which,  by 
the  aid  of  Mrs.  Kennedy,  was  roasted  to  suit  their 
taste.  They  were  greatly  pleased  with  the  scen- 
ery along  the  Walhonding  and  the  beautiful  Ko- 
kosing.  They  encamped  one  night  on  the  pres- 
ent site  of  Mount  Vernon.  At  that  period,  and 
for  many  subsequent  years,  the  Kokosing  was  a 
favorite  resort  for  the  Wyandot  and  Delaware 
hunters.  They  cleared  a  few  small  fields,  which 
they  cultivated  in  corn,  and  the  hills,  made  by 
hoeing,  were  to  be  seen  as  late  as  1806. 

They  traveled  up  the  banks  of  the  Walhonding, 
which  Mr.  Stilley  states  was  the  finest  region  he 
ever  saw.  It  abounded  in  wonderful  growth  of 
timber  and  exhibited  a  soil  unsurpassed  for  rich- 
ness. The  undrgrowth  was  very  rank;  wild 
game  existed  in  great  abundance.  As  the  lonely 
captives  attempted  to  slumber  on  a  cot  of  dry 
leaves  they  were  often  serenaded  by  wolves  and 
owls.    Their  mingled  voices  made  night  hideous. 

When  the  Indians  arrived  at  Upper  Sandusky 
they  divided  their  prisoners.  They  were  par- 
celed out  according  to  the  fancy  of  the  Indians 
and  separated.  Mr.  Kennedy,  wife  and  child 
were  taken  in  the  direction  of  Detroit.  Sarah 
was  adopted  by  another  family  and  removed  to 
the  same  neighborhood :  John  Stilley  was  adopted 
by  an  old  Indian  and  his  squaw,  who  treated  him 
with  much  lenity,  and  taught  him  the  Wyandot 


248 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


language,  which  he  acquired  very  rapidly.  He 
was  yery  apt  and  spry,  and  made  an  impression 
upon  his  new  parents  that  grew  into  a  very  warm 
attachment.  The  old  Indian  was  very  grave,  and 
evinced  a  disposition  to  make  his  adopted  son 
contented  and  happy.  He  reciprocated  these  at- 
tentions by  being  obedient  and  prompt.  ^  The 
first  care  of  this  mild  old  Indian  father  was  to 
teach  him  the  first  principles  of  hunting.  The 
Indian  boys  erected  a  sort  of  bower  of  fresh  cut 
brush  and  leaves  in  an  open  space  in  the  forest, 
and  procuring  a  wild  pigeon,  tied  it  to  the  top  of 
the  bower,  and  concealing  themselves  within, 
with  bow  and  arrow,  occassionally  alarming  it ; 
and  those  flying  over,  perceiving  the  fluttering, 
alighted  so  that  the  boys  could  easily  shoot  them 
with  their  arrows.  In  this  way  they  secured  a 
great  many.  The  sport  furnished  them  much 
amusement.  The  pigeons,  at  the  proper  season, 
were  fat,  and  in  such  abundance  as  to  be  easily 
taken.     The  flesh  was  very  palatable. 

One  morning  the  grave  old  father  left  the  wig- 
wam, and  after  walking  a  few  hundred  yards  re- 
turned. Before  leaving  the  wigwam  to  hunt,  he 
told  young  Stilley  there  was  a  rabbit  within  the 
circle  and  he  might  catch  it  while  he  was  absent. 
After  the  old  hunter  had  departed  young  Stilley 
proceeded  to  search  for  the  rabbit.  He  finally 
found  the  track,  and  soon  traced  it  to  a  hollow  log. 
Returning  to  the  wigwam  he  procured  a  toma- 
hawk with  which  he  soon  cut  a  hole  large  enough 
to  extricate  the  cony.  Being  certain  that  the  ani- 
mal would  not  bite,  he  thrust  his  hand  in  and 
seized  it  by  the  head  and  neck  and  dragged  it 
from  the  hole.  As  soon  as  its  hind  legs  were  re- 
leased it  commenced  a  series  of  struggles  to  ex- 
tricate its  head  from  his  grasp,  during  which  his 
hands  were  severely  torn  by  its  hind  feet.  Being 
too  plucky  to  give  up  the  contest,  he  held  on  un- 
til finally  he  succeeded  in  killing  it.  When  the 
old  hunter  came  in  young  Stilley  informed  him 
with  much  pride  that  he  had  found  and  captured 
the  rabbit.  The  old  father  asked  the  young 
hunter  to  show  him  his  hands.  Upon  doing  so 
the  old  fellow  laughed  heartily,  saying:  "Bad 
hunt;  take  him  by  hind  leg  next  time,  and  he  no 
scratch."  This  was  his  first  lesson  in  hunting 
rabbits,  and  he  remembered  it  as  long  as  he 
lived. 

His  next  lesson  was  on  trapping  raccoon. 
These  animals  in  the  wet  season  are  said  to  be 
remarkably  fond  of  live  frogs,  and  haunt  the 
ponds  where  they  are  to  be  found.  They  walk 
on  the  fallen  timber,  and  capture  the  croaking 
frogs  that  leap  upon  the  logs  to  sing  their  pecu- 
liar songs.  The  trap  was  made  by  cutting  a  small 
sapling,  eight  or  ten  leet  long,  which  was  placed 
on  the  log,  and  stakes  driven  on  each  side  to  keep 
it  from  rolling  off.  One  end  was  then  elevated 
fifteen  or  eighteen  inches,  and  held  up  by  a  short 


treadle,  to  which  a  piece  of  frog  or  dear  meat  was- 
fastened.  When  the  raccoon  approached  the 
bait  and  attempted  -to  remove  it,  the  sappling  fell 
and  killed  it.  In  this  way  large  numbers  of  rac- 
coons were  caught.  They  were  generally  quite 
fat,  and  when  roasted,  made  desirable  food. 

Young  Stilley  often  accompanied  the  Indian 
boys  on  their  fishing  excursions  along  the  San- 
dusky and  other  streams.  He  soon  learned  this- 
art ;  and  when  the  fish  came  up  from  the  bay,, 
made  himself  quite  useful  to  his  Indian  father 
and  mother,  by  aiding  them  in  supplying  food.. 
They  always  flattered  and  caressed  him  in  his 
successful  excursions;  and  soothed  and  sympa- 
thized with  him  when  he  failed.  For  these  acts 
of  kindness  he  always  felt  grateful,  and  redoubled 
his  exertions  to  win  their  esteem  and  confidence. 
In  his  lonely  hours^or  he  often  thought  of  his- 
little  sister,  and  of  Mrs.  Kennedy,  the  cheering 
words  and  counsel  of  his  Indian  parents  revived 
his  drooping  spirits. 

He  entered  freely  into  the  sports  of  the  Indian 
boys.  Their  principal  amusements  were  wrest- 
ling, foot-racing  and  playing  ball.  He  was  strong 
and  active  for  one  of  his  age,  and  was  equal  in 
strength  and  courage  to  Indian  boys  much'older^ 
than  himself.  In  a  general*  way,  he  got  on 
smoothly,  but  occasionally  was  compelled  to  use 
his*  trength  and  fists  in  self-defence.  These  little- 
quarrels  were  soon  reconciled,  and  all  went  on 
merrily  again.  The  most  exciting  amusement 
was  their  game  of  ball.  It  resembled  very  much 
the  game  known  among  boys  of  modern  times, as 
"  Shinny."  They  used  a  crooked  stick  to  strike 
the  ball,  which  was  generally  made  of  wood  two- 
or  three  inches  in  diameter.  The  stick  had  a 
head  or  curve  at  the  lower  end,  with  which  the 
ball  was  hit.  The  alley  was  generally  two  or 
three  hundred  yards  long,  and.  was  perfectly 
smoefth  and  clear  of  obstructions.  The  parties 
divided,  and  the  ball  being  cast  up  was  struck  by 
one  of  the  players  near  the  center  of  the  alley, 
and  the  trick  consisted  in  driving  it  in  the  di- 
rection of  the  oppiosite  ends  of  the  alley.  In  do- 
ing so,  the  boys  ofted  became  badly  huddled,  and 
their  shins,  and  sometimes  their  heads,  suffered 
from  the  misdirected  blows  of  the  players- 
Whenever  the  ball  was  carried  by  either  party,  to 
a  given  point,  the  game  was  won.  The  young 
men  had  a  game  of  ball  resembling  that  of  the 
smaller  boys,  with  the  exception  that  there  was 
a  sort  of  hoop  and  net  on  the  bat,  and  the  party 
getting  it  in  his  net,  attempted  to  carry  it  to  his 
end  of  the  alley,  while  the  rest  used  their  efforts 
to  prevent  him  from  accomplishing  this  difficult 
feat. 

The  wigwam  in  which  young  Stilley's  Indian 
parents  resided  the  first  and  second  winters  of  his 
captivity,  was  a  plain  affair,  and  was  constructed 
of  poles,  after  the  Wyandot  plan.    The  poles  for' 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


249 


the  sides  were  cut  ten  or  twelve  feet  long.  The 
stakes  were  driven  into  the  ground  about  four 
inches  apart  at  each  end  of  the  proposed  wall. 
They  were  about  six  feet  high,  and  tied  at  the  top 
with  elm  bark  or  thongs  of  elk  or  buffalo  hide. 
The  poles  being  straight  and  neat,  were  laid  one 
•upon  another  nntil  a  wall  of  sufficient  height  was 
raised.  About  nine  or  ten  feet  from  this  wall 
another  similar  one  was  constructed.  They  then 
dug  a  sort  of  trench  at  each  end,  and  set  poles, 
upright,  so  as  to  make  the  end  walls,  leaving  a 
space  large  enough  for  a  door.  A  ridge  pole  was 
placed  over  the  center  of  the  building,  and  elm 
bark  over  it  to  form  the  roof.  The  cracks  were 
plugged  with  dry  moss  A  small  space  was  left 
in  the  roof  for  the  smoke  to  escape.  A  fire  was 
built  near  the  center  of  the  wigwams,  and  a  bear 
skin  generally  served  for  a  door.  Their  beds 
were  made  of  deer  and  bear  skins  spread  around 
the  fire.  Upon  these  they  slept.  All  in  all,  these 
Tude  huts  were  quite  comfortable  in  the  winter 
:season. 

Their  winter  food  consisted  of  such  wild  game 
as  they  could  capture  in  the  forest.  Deer,  bear 
and  turkeys,  were  moderately  plenty  at  some 
distance  from  the  Indian  villages.  In  the  fall 
;season,  for  two  or  three  years,  the  band  to  which 
young  Stilley  belonged,  hunted  along  the  Koko- 
'sing  and  Walhonding,  and  generally  brought  in 
a  good  deal  of  game.  When  their  wild  meat  was 
scarce,  they  used  hominy,  arid  a  sort  of  soup 
made  of  beans,  corn,  and  a  little  bear  or  deer 
flesh.  Young  Stilley  accompanied  his  old  Indian 
father  on  his  hunting  excursions  down  their 
favorite  Kokosirig  two  or  three  times.  Their 
encampments  on  these  occasions  were  not  a  great 
distance  from  the  present  site  of  Mount  Vernon 
At  that  period  there  was  not  a  white  man,  except 
the  Canadian  traders  and  a  few  captives,  within 
the  present  limits  of  the  State  The  valley.of  the 
'Kokosing  existed  in  all  its  original  grandeur. 
Its  luxuriant  forests  toweled  almost  to  the 
heavens,  while  wild  game  ranged  in  native  free- 
dom among  the  undergrowth. 

Young  Stilley  occasionally  met  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kennedy,  and,  his  little  sister,  as  they  traveled 
"with  the  bands  to  which  they  belonged.  These 
tribes  hunted  mostly  within  the  present  limits  of 
the  State  of  Michigan,  and  traded  at  Detroit.  The 
furs  and  peltry  secured  by  the  Wyandots  of  Up- 
per Sandusky  were  mostly  purchased  by  French 
•and  Canadian  traders  in  exchange  for  ammuni- 
tion, blankets,  tobacco,  trinkets,  and  that  bane  of 
the  Indian  and  white  man,  "  fire-water,"  or  bad 
whiskey.  The  route  from  Sandusky  to  Detroit, 
was  difficult,  and  the  Wyandots  preferred  to  trade 
■at  home.  When  war  was  threatened,  their  chiefs 
and  leading  men  made  frequent  visits  to  Detroit 
to  talk  with  their  "English  Father."  Though 
often  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  river  Raisin, 


young  Stilley  was  not  permitted  to  see  Detroit 
until  his  release  from  Indian  captivity. 

In  the  summer  of  1782,  the  noted  Wyandot 
chief.  Big  Foot,  with  his  four  brothers,  and  four 
or  five  warriors,  left  Sandusky  for  a  raid  on  the 
settlements  opposite  the  mouth  of  Yellow  creek, 
along  Raccoon  and  Peter's  creek.  They  killed  an 
old  man  in  his  cabin,  and  perpetrated  other 
crimes  in  the  settlements,  and  with  their  plunder 
and  scalps  crossed  the  Ohio.  They  were  followed 
by  the  famous  Indian  fighters  and  spies,  Adam 
and  Andrew  Poe,  and  some  six  others,  and  over- 
taken on  Yellow  creek,  where  a  fight  ensued,  and 
the  Indians  were  all  killed  but  one.  When  the 
surviving  Indian  reached  the  village  of  Upper 
Sandusky  he  raised  a  dismal  howl.  The  solitary 
and  grief-stricken  savage  remained  in  the  forest 
one  day  and  a  night,  howling  like  a  wolf.  He  then 
approached  the  camps  and  related  the  contest  be- 
tween Big  Foot  and  the  "  Long  Knives."  The 
Wyandots  lamented  the  death  of  Big  Foot  and 
his  brothers  by  much  groaning  and  many  tears. 

Big  Foot  was  a  brave  warrior  and  a  cunning 
enemy,  and  was  regarded  by  the  Wyandots  as 
invulnerable.  Part  of  the  Indians  who  accompa- 
nied Big  Foot,  had  been  present  at  the  capture  of 
Kennedy  and  young  Stilley.  Their  raids  were 
now  closed  forever. 

Young  Stilley  knew  the  Poes  very  well,  and 
says  the  strength  and  size  of  Big  Foot  was  greatly 
exaggerated.  He  and  his  brothers  were  above  the 
ordinary  size  of  Indians — were  very  fine  looking, 
courageous  and  active.  Both  the  Poes  were  much 
larger  than  Big  Foot.  He  thinks  the  reason  why 
Big  Foot  held  his  own,  arose  from  the  fact  that 
he  was  nearly  nude,  and  Poe  could  not  grip  him, 
while  Poe's  clothing  furnished  Big  Foot  an  advan- 
tage. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  war  in  1783, 
an  arrangement  was  made  with  the  British  and 
Indians  to  bring  the  white  captives  to  Detroit,  to 
be  delivered  to  their  fr'ends.  Detroit  was  a 
small  village,  and  had  a  fort  and  stockade.  The 
Wyandots  soon  brought  in  Mr.  Kennedy,  his 
family,  and  little  Sarah;  but  retained  John  Stil- 
ley, who  was  then  regularly  adopted  in  his  tribe. 
He  had  become  so  much  attached  to  his  Indian 
parents,  and  the  wild  roving  life  of  the  Wyandots, 
that  he  had  no  desire  to  return  home.  He  was 
then  dressed  in  the  Wyandot  manner,  his  hair  all 
plucked  out  save  a  small  scalp-lock,  which  was  or- 
namented with  gay  colored  feathers.  They  had 
pierced  his  ears  and  the  cartilage  of  his  nose,  and 
inserted  rings  and  a  brooch  therein.  When 
painted  he  resembled  the  true  Indian.  He  was 
then  something  over  twelve  years  of  age,  full  of 
life  and  adventure. 

When  the  prisoners  were  all  brought  in  there 
were  over  90:  They  remained  several  months 
at    Detroit    awaitng    an  opportunity  to   return 


250 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


home.  In  the  spring  of  1784,  after  the  Indians 
had  become  pacified,  and  understood  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  Mr.  and  Mrs  Kennedy  determined  not  to 
return  home  without  John.  Mr.  Kennedy  and  a 
few  friends,  learning  that  he  and  his  tribe  were 
encamped  near  where  Maiden  now  stands,  deter- 
mined to  visit,  and  if  possible,  rescue  him  from 
his  Indian  allurements.  On  reaching  the  camp, 
they  found  him  more  an  Indian  than  a  white  boy, 
painted,  dressed  in  deer  skin,  hair  worn  in  true  In- 
dian style,  rings  in  his  ears,  with  bow  and  arrow, 
and  deeply  fascinated  with  his  present  condition. 
He  loved  his  grave  old  Indian  father  and  mother, 
and  had  nearly  forgotten  his  own  language.  It 
was  difficult  to  persuade  him  to  return.  After 
many  interviews,  he  finally  accompanied  Mr. 
Kennedy  to  Detroit. 

The  prisoners  were  shipped  to  Sandusky  bay, 
and  upon  landing  employed  two  Indian  guides  to 
conduct  them  to  the  settlement  east  of  the  Ohio. 
They  all — ninety-two  or  three — passed  up  the 
Sandusky  river,  across  the  Olentangy,  through 
what  are  now  Marion  and  Morrow  counties,  to  the 
west  branch  of  the  Kokosing,  and  thence  down 
said  •  stream  through  the  present  site  of  Mount 
Vernon;  down  the  Walhonding  near  where 
Coshocton  stands,  thence  by  Indian  paths  across 
Tuscarawas  and  Jefferson  counties,  to  the  Ohio 
river.  Before  reaching  the  Ohio  river,  by  com- 
paring destinations,  they  learned  that  nearly  all 
their  fellow  captives  belonged  to  Kentucky,  Vir- 
ginia and  Pennsylvania,  very  few  crossed  the 
river  with  Kennedy  and  young  Stilley.  Most  of 
the  captives  never  met  again.  At  this  time  they 
found  no  improvements  between  Upper  Sandusky 
and  the  Ohio. 

_  Young  Stilley  remained  on  Peter's  creek,  with 
his  mother,  some  five  years.  Learning  something 
of  the  wilds  of  the  territory  of  Kentucky,  from 
returning  adventurers,  he  determined  to  abandon 
his  home  and  visit  the  hardy  pioneers  and  hun- 
ters of  the  "  dark  and  bloody  ground."  He  and  a 
friend  built  a  large  pirogue  which  they  launched, 
and  placing  therein  such  provisions,  clothing  and 
ammunition  as  they  might  need,  and  taking  their 
rifles,  they  descended  the  Ohio,  and  landed,  in 
1789,  without  accident,  at  Limestone,  near  where 
Maysville  now  stands.  They  found  a  small  settle- 
ment at  Wheeling,  Marietta  and  Gallipolis.  The 
forests  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  were  dense  and 
in  full  leaf,  and  seemed  to  press  upon  the  shore 
like  a  mighty  wall.  Although  the  Shawnees  had 
often  crossed  the  beautiful  Ohio  to  harrass  the  set- 
tlements of  Kentcky,  they  met  no  hostile  bands  on 
their  trip  down  the  river. 

Mr.  Stilley  remained  at  Limestone  a  short  time, 
and  upon  learning  that  there  was  a  settlement  on 
the  Elkhorn,  he  determined  to  visit  it.  In  com- 
pany with  several  hunters,  he  passed  through  the 


forest  to  that  region.  He  had  been  there  but  a 
short  time,  when  he  became  acquainted  with  the 
brave  hunter  and  Indian  spy,  Simon  Kenton. 
Kenton,  at  that  time,  had  command  of  a  small  ' 
company  of  spies  and  scouts,  who  patroled  the- 
Elkhorn  for  a  distance  of  fifty  miles  to  guard  the^ 
settlements  against  surprise  by  hostile  bands  of 
Shawnees  and  Miamis,  who  refused  to  be  pacified, 
or  submit  to  a  recent  treaty.  He  joined  Kenton's- 
company,  and  became  an  active  minute  man„ 
During  his  stay  on  the  Elkhorn,  some  three  years, 
owing  to  the  vigilance  of  Kenton  and  others,  the- 
settlements  remained  nearly  undisturbed  by  the 
savages.  Elk  and  buffalo  were  yet  quite  plenty, 
and  Stilley  often  joined  parties  on  hunting  excur- 
sioris.  He  passed  down  Licking  river  on  one  of 
his  hunting  trips,  to  where  Covington  now  stands, 
and  thinks  he  shot  a  panther  within  its  present 
corporate  limits  The  animal  had  treed,  and  had 
a  peculiar  white  spot  on.  its  breast,  at  which  he 
aimed  and  struck,  killing  the  ferocious  beast  al- 
most without  a  struggle.  While  in  the  Elkhorik 
settlement,  he  also  became  acquainted  with  a 
noted  hunter  named  Neal  Washburn,  and  a  Mr.. 
Kobinet,  who  kept  a  pack  of  fine  hunting  dogs. 

After  the  repulse  of  General  Harmer  in  1790,. 
and  the  disastrous  defeat  of  General  St  Clair  in 
1791,  and  General  Wayne  was  ordered  to  the 
west,  John  Stilley  determined  to  become  a  sol-  ' 
dier.  He  volunteered  in  a  company  commanded, 
by  Captain  Rollins;  raised  near  Paris,  Kentucky, 
for  a  term  of  four  months ;  and  passed  with  the 
Kentucky  troops,  by  Fort  Washington,  (Cincin- 
nati) and  up  liie  trail  of  St.  Clair  to  Fort  Re- 
covery. At  the  expiration  of  his  service,  he  re- 
turned with  his  comrades  to  the  Elkhorn  settle- 
ment, where  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  and 
re-enlisted  for  a  tour  of  five  months.  The  Ken- 
tucky troops  were  hurried  forward,  and  partici- 
pated in  the  noted  battle  of  "Fallen  Timbers,'" 
where  the  Indian  army  was  overthrown  ani 
compelled  to  submit  to  a  humiliating  treaty, 
which  deprived  them  of  a  vast  amount  of  terri- 
tory, and  crushed  their  military  prestige.  Mr.. 
Stilley  regarded  General  Wayne  as  a  courages 
^nd  far-seeing  commander ;  and  just  the  man  tO' 
strike  terror  into  the  heart  of  the  blood-thirsty 
savages  led  by  Little  Turtle,  Captain  Pipe,  and. 
other  wily  chiefs. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  second  term  of  service,, 
he  again  returned  to  the  Elkhorn  settlement. 
He  remained  there  hunting  and  farming  until 
about  1797.  He  describes  the  hunters  and  pio- 
neers of  that  time  as  being  the  most  courteous, 
hospitable,  whole-souled  and  brave  people  he  ever 
knew.  Their  cabins,  to  use  the  old  phrase,  "  had, 
their  latch-strings  always  out."  They  traversed 
the  forest  for  miles  to  aid  each  other  in  putting 
up  cabins,  rolling  logs,  planting  corn  and  clearing 
fields.    They  divided  their  surplus  grain  for  seed. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


251 


and  thus  contributed  to  the  enlargement  of  the 
settlements,  and  the  general  prosperity  and  hap- 
piness of  all. 

In  1800  he  married  Rebecca  Thompson,  of 
Allegheny  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  remember- 
ing the  beautiful  country  along  the  Kokosing, 
determined  to  find  a  home  there.  In  1805-6  the 
lands  along  that  stream,  within  the  present  limits 
of  Knox  county,  were  being  surveyed  into  tracts 
of  eighty  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  In 
1805,  Moses  Craig,  a  relative,  settled  about  one 
mile  west  of  the  site  of  Mount  Vernon.  Mr. 
Stilley,  in  the  spring  of  1806,  visited  Mr.  Craig, 
and  located  a  military  tract  adjoining  him,  and 
clearing  a  field,  planted  it  in  corn,  and  remained 
through  the  summer  months  cultivating  it.  In 
the  meantime  he  cut  logs,  and  by  the  aid  of  the 
neighborhood  settlers,  erected  a  cabin.  In  the 
fall  he  returned  to  Peter's  creek. 

In  the  spring  of  1807,  a  company  consisting  of 
Robert  Thompson  and  wife,  John  Stilley,  three 
children  and  his  mother,  John  Stilley,  (a  nephew 
late  of  Morrow  county),  and  a  colored  boy  by  the 
name  of  Benjamin  Trusser  (who  died  in  Janes- 
ville  a  few  years  since,  well  advanced  in  years), 
with  teams  and  covered  wagons,  loaded  with  such 
household  articles  as  were  needed,  started  for  the 
wilds  of  Ohio.  Their  route  was  from  Peter's 
creek  to  Cannonsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  thence  to 
Wellsburgh,Virgiilia,  thence  to  Steuben ville  and 
Cadiz,  thence  to  Cambridge,  thence  along  Zane's 
old  trace  to  Zanesville  and  Newark,  and  thence  to 
the  present  site  of  Mount  Vernon.  They  were 
detained  several  days  at  Will's  creek  in  conse- 
quence of  high  .water,  and  had  to  camp  out  be- 
tween Zanesville  and  Newark.  The  trip  took 
thirteen  days,  and  they  were  much  wearied. 

As  soon  as  John  Stilley  had  fully  rested  from 
the  trip,  he  took  two  horses  and  returned  to 
Peter's  creek  for  his  wife  and  small  child  (now 
the  wife  of  Benjamin  P.  Smith),  who  were  unable 
to  come  with  the  former  company.  He  pro- 
ceeded down  the  Kokosing  and  Walhonding  to 
where  Coshocton  now  stands,  thence  to  New 
Philadelphia,  thence  to  Steubenville  and  thence 
to  Peter's  creek.  He  had  most  of  the  way  but 
an  Indian  trail  to  lead  him;  but  this  being  the 
route  he  had  traveled  to  and  from  his  captivity, 
it  was  somewhat  familiar.  On  arriving  at  his 
old  home,  Mrs.  Stilley  rnounted  one  of  the  horses 
and  undertook  the  journey.  They  traveled  the 
same  route  and  came  through  with  but  a  single 
accident.  When  they  were  crossing  the  Wal- 
honding,  the  horse  of  Mrs.  Stilley  being  a  poor 
swimmer,  -became  alarmed  and  turned  down 
stream,  and  was  about  to  reach  a  steep  bank, 
when  Mrs.  Stilley  would  have  been  thrown  and 
probably  drowned.  Fifteen  or  twenty  Greentown 
Indians  were  encamped  near  the  bank,  and  Billy 
Montour,  seeing  the  danger,  mounted  a  pony  and 


rushed  into  the  stream,  pursuing,  overtaking,  and 
safely  conducting  the  horse  of  Mrs.  Stilley  out. 
As  long  as  Billy  Montour,  Tom  Lyon  and  the 
Greentown  Indians  visited  the  Kokosing  to  hunt, 
they  were  kindly  regarded  for  this  generous  act. 

John  Stilley  served  creditably  in  the  war  of 
1812,  as  adjutant  of  Colonel  Kratzer's  regiment, 
and  as  a  volunteer  in  defence  of  Fort  Meigs.  He 
was  a  brave,  active,  and  able  soldier. 

After  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Stilley,  like  his 
thriving  neighbors,  entered  actively  upon  the 
task  of  clearing  up  his  farm,  which  was  hand- 
somely located,  and  is  now  one  of  the  most  de- 
sireable  homesteads  in  Knox  county;  and,  like  a 
true  pioneer,  always  had  his  latch-string  out.  As 
the  population  increased,  his  good  judgment, 
business  qualities,  and  integrity,  gave  him  weight 
with  his  fellow-citizens.  The  records  of  Knox 
county  show  that  John  Stilley  was  more  fre- 
quently, perhaps,  than  any  other  pioneer  of  the 
county,  selected  upon  the  juries  drawn  to  deal 
out  justice  between  man  and  man.  In  the  spring 
of  1824,  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  county  commissioner. 
These  trusts  were  faithfully  executed. 

In  1852,  he  was  attacked  with  paralysis,  with 
which  he  lingered  a  short  time,  and  died  March 
10.  He  sleeps  by  the  side  of  his  faithful  wife, 
(who  survived  him  a  short  time),  near  his  loved 
Kokosing,  where  he  had  so  many  adventures  in 
his  youth. 

Probably  the  next  white  men  to  pass  across 
this  territory  were  the  Moravians,  who,  as  prison- 
ers, were  taken  from  Moravian  towns  on  the 
Tuscarawas  river  to  Upper  Sandusky,  by  British 
emissaries.  These  peaceable  Christian  Indians 
were  charged  with  being  spies,  and  with  holding 
treasonable  correspondence  with  the  Americans 
at  Pittsburgh  and  perhaps  other  points,  and  of 
harboring  other  Indians  friendly  to  the  American 
cause.  Upon  these  charges  they  were  arrested 
by  Captain  Matthew  Elliott,  of  the  British  army, 
who  had  under  his  command  about  three  hun- 
dred hostile  Indians.  Making  no  resistance,  they 
were  made  captives,  September  11,  1781,  and  by 
this  overpowering  force  compelled  to  leave  their 
much-loved  homes  and  ta-ke  up  their  line  of 
march  for  the  Sandusky  river.  Upon  this  march 
they  followed  the  Indian  trail  down  the  Tuscara- 
was to  the  mouth  of  the  Walhonding,  in  Coshoc- 
ton county ;  thence  up  that  stream  to  the  mouth 
of  the  Kokosing ;  thence  up  the  Kokosing,  and 
on  to  the  Wyandot  town,  near  the  present  site  of 
Upper  Sandusky.    The  missionaries  thus  forcibly 


252 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUKTY. 


removed  were  Kevs.  Zeisberger,  Senseman,  and 
Jungman,  of  New  Sohonbrunn;  Revs.  John 
Heckewelder,  and  Jung,  of  Salem,  and  Rev.  Wil- 
liam Edwards,  of  Gnadenhutten. 

The  pomt  at  which  they  were  left  to  take  care 
of  themselves,  their  wives,  children  and  Indian 
captives,  was  on  the  banks  of  the  Sandusky  river, 
not  far  from  where  the  Broken  Sword  creek  emp- 
ties into  it,  about  ten  miles  from  Upper  Sandusky. 
Here  they  selected  a  location, and,  without  delay, 
built  a  village  of  small  huts  to  protect  themselves 
from  the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  This  village 
soon  took  the  name  of  "  Captive's  Town,"  and  was 
situated  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Sandusky  river, 
about  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  the  Broken 
Sword,  in  the  present  township  of  Antrim,  Wyan- 
dot county. 

During  the  progress  of  the  Indian  war  from 
1788  to  1795,  the  noted  scout  and  Indian  fighter, 
Captain  Samuel  Brady,  on  several  occasions  passed 
through  what  is  now  Coshocton  county.  His 
operations  are  detailed  elsewhere,  as  are  also  those 
of  Lewis  Wetzel,  another  noted  scout,  and  a 
cotemporary  of  Brady's. 

The  notorious  Girty  boys  and  their  white  as- 
sociates, Colonel  McKee  and  Matthew  Elliott  of 
the  British  army,  were  frequent  visitors  to  the 
Indian  towns  on  the  Muskingum.  The  two  lat- 
ter were  notorious  as  British  agents,  and  were 
continually  inciting  the  Indians  to  engage  in  war 
upon  Americans,  furnishing  them  with  arms 
and  ammunition  for  that  purpose.  They  were 
continually  passing  and  repassing  through  the 
Indian  country,  were  personally  acquainted  with 
nearly  all  the  chiefs  of  the  various  tribes,  and 
were  always  personally  welcome  in  the  wigwams 
of  the  ^vages,  as  they  always  came  loaded  with 
presents  for  the  red  men.  Their  operations  ex- 
tended through  the  Revolutionary  war  and  the 
Indian  war  of  1788-1795.  In  this  latter  war  they 
were  central  figures,  and  were  often  personally 
•  on  the  battle  field  encouraging  the  Indians. 
They  always  found  an  efficient  and  able  coadjutor 
in  the  Delaware  chief,  Captain  Pipe,  who  with  his 
band,  for  some  years  occupied  the  valley  of  the 
Walhonding. 

The  operations  of  the  Girty  boys  were  among 
all  the  various  tribes  occupying  what  is  now  the 


State  of  Ohio,  and  their  deeds  of  daring  and 
cruelty  will  be  found  in  all  the  annals  of  the 
northwest  territory.  Anything  in  the  way  of 
history  written  about  the  Indians  of  Ohio,  re- 
garding their  operations  between  the  years  1760 
and  1800,  would  be  incomplete  without  some 
mention  of  the  Girtys. 

This  notorious  family  was  first  heard  of  in 
Western  Pennsylvania,  living  on  what  was  known 
as  Girty's  Run.  Here  Simon,  the  most  noted  of 
the  brothers,  was  born  about  the  year  1745.  The 
father  was  an  Irishman  and  a  drunkard,  and  was 
killed  by  a  man  with  whom  the  mother  pre- 
ferred to  live.  The  family  was  morally  rotten 
from  the  beginning,  and  having  thus  a  fair  start 
in  the  world,  the  boys  maintained  their  parents' 
reputation  to  the  end.  The  sons  were  Thomas, 
Simon,  George  and  James.  The  three  latter  were 
made  prisoners  early  in  life  by  the  Indians. 
George  was  the  one  adopted  by  the  Delawares, 
and  taken  to  their  towns  on  the  Muskingum. 
He  remained  with  this  tribe  until  his  death,  and 
is  said  to  have  been  a  fearless,  cunning,  desperate 
fellow — a  perfect  savage— and  engaged  in  many 
battles  against  the  whites.  Later  in  life,  like  his 
father,  he  gave  himself  up  to  drink,  which  finally 
killed  him.  His  death  is  said  to  have  occurred 
on  the  Maumee  river,  about  1820. 

James  Girty  was  adopted  by  the  Shawanees. 
As  he  grew  to  manhood  he  became  dextrous  in 
all  the  arts  of  savage  life.  He  easily  added  to  an 
uncontrollable  disposition  all  the  vices  of  the  de- 
praved frontiersmen  and  Indians  with  whom 
he  associated.  He  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the 
soil  of  Kentucky  during  the  raids  of  the  Indians 
in  that  direction,  and  many  of  the  inhabitants 
became  victims  of  his  cruelty.  Neither  age  nor 
sex  found  mercy  at  his  hand ;  he  delighted  in 
carnage  and  bloodshed.  If  it  were  possible,  he 
was  probably  more  savage  in  his  nature  than  either 
of  the  three  brothers,  and  in  this  respect  suited 
well  the  bloodthirsty  Shawanees  from  whom  he 
took  his  lessons.  When  unable  to  stand  on  his  feet 
he  murdered  with  his  hatchet  captive  women  and 
children  who  came  within  his  reach.  He  was  a 
monster  of  cruelty,  many  of  his  most  barbarous 
acts  being  charged  upon  his  brother  Simon,  on 
account  of  the  latter's  greater  conspicuity  and  ac- 
tivity.   His  death  does  not  appear  on  record. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


253 


Without  doubt  he  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  the 
Indian  towns  on  the  Muskingum. 

Simon  was  adopted  by  the  Seneeas,  and  be- 
came a  very  expert  hunter.  ,  He  was  possibly  a 
little  higher  up  in  the  scale  of  humanity  than  his 
brothers,  though  a  perfect  savage.  He  exercised 
some  influence  over  the  Indians,  was  entrusted  by 
them  with  the  conduct  of  m.any  expeditions 
against  the  whites;  associated  much  with  McKee, 
Elliott  and  Proctor,  and  was  much  more  cele- 
brated than  George  or  James.  His  name  was 
associated  with  everything  cruel  and  fiend-like ; 
to  women  and  children  especially  nothing  was 
more  terrifying  than  the  name  of  Simon  Girty. 
He  deserted  the  Indians  at  one  time  and  re- 
turned to  his  relatives  near  Fort  Pitt.  When 
the  Indian  war  began  in  1788,  he  sought  a  com- 
mission to  fight  against  them,  but  being  refused 
this,  on  account  of  his  known  bad  character,  he 
became  exasperated  and  rejoined  the  Indians, 
ever  after  remaining  a  bitter  foe  to  the  whites. 
A  review  of  his  life  would  require  a  volume.  It 
is  intimately  connected  with  the  Indian  history 
of  that  exciting  period.  He  many  times  visited 
the  Indian  villages  on  the  Muskingum  and 
passed  through  this  region  often  on  raiding  ex- 
peditions into  Virginia  and  Western  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  physical 
strength  and  powers  of  endurance.  He  was 
about  five  feet  ten  inches  in  height ;  hair  coarse, 
black  and  generally  uncombed;  forehead  low,  eye- 
brows heavy  and  shaggy  and  meeting  across  his 
short,  flat  nose ;  eyes  gray,  sunken  and  averting, 
lips  thin  and  compressed,  and  wearing,  as  he  did 
continually,  a  dark,  forbidding,  sinister  expres- 
sion of  countenance,  he  was  the  perfect  picture 
of  a  villain. 

He  usually  wore  the  Indian  costume,  without 
ornament,  and  often,  in  later  years,  a  dirty  silk 
hankerchief,  supplying  the  place  of  a  hat,  cov- 
ered an  ugly  scar  on  his  forehead  given  him  by 
the  chief  of  the  Five  nations,  Brant,  at  one  time, 
in  a  drunken  brawl. 

After  the  war  he  lived  much  of  the  time  in  a 
cabin  located  on  the  Maumee  river,  about  five 
miles  above  Napoleon,  Ohio,  at  what  is  yet  known 
asGirty's  Point." 

Regarding  his  death,  one  account  says  he  was 
cut  down  by  Johnston's  cavalry  in  the  battle  of 


the  Thames;  another  that  he  died  in  Canada 
soon  after  the  war  of  1812;  but  the  following  ex- 
tract from  a  letter  written  by  Daniel  M.  Work- 
man, a  pioneer  of  Logan  county,  Ohio,  seems  to 
be  conclusive  on  this  point :  "  In  1813  I  went  to 
Maiden  and  put  up  at  a  hotel  kept  by  a  French- 
man. I  noticed  in  the  bar-room  a  gray-headed 
and  blind  old  man.  The  landlady,  his  daughter, 
a  woman  about  thirty,  said  to  me :  '  Do  you  know 
who  that  is  ? '  pointing  to  the  old  man.  I  replied 
in  the  negative,  .and  she  said :  '  That  is  Simon 
Girty.'    He  had  been  blind  about  four  years. 

"In  1815  I  returned  to  Maiden, and  ascertained 
that  Girty  had  died  a  short  time  previous." 

The  following  is  taken  from.  De  Schweinitz's 
"  Life  and  Times  of  Zeisberger,"  and  refers  to  the 
effort  of  Girty  and  others,  by  lying,  to  incite  the 
Delaware  nation  to  war  against  the  Americans : 

"  There  came  to  Gosphachgunk,  in  the  spring 
of  1778,  some  disaffected  persons  from  Pittsburgh, 
with  Alexander  McKee,  Matthew  Elliot,  and 
Simon  Girty — an  ignoble  trio  of  go-betweens  and 
desperadoes. 

"  Soon  after  the  arrival  of  this  party,  a  second 
appeared,  consisting  of  a  sergeant  and  twenty 
privates,  deserters  from  the  fort,  who  joined  the 
British  Indians.  These  men  all  vied  one  with 
another  in  spreading  falsehoods  among  the  Dela- 
wares.  The  Americans,  they  said,  had  been 
totally  defeated  in  the  Atlantic  States;  driven 
westward,  they  were  now  about  to  wage  an  indis- 
criminate war  against  the  Indians.  Such  reports 
produced  a  general  excitement  in  the  nation. 
Captain  Pipe,  who  had  been  eagerly  watching  for 
an  opportunity  to  supplant  White  Eyes,  and  over- 
throw the  policy  of  the  council,  hastened  to  the 
capital,  called  upon  his  countrymen  to  seize  the 
hatchet,  and  defend  their  homes.  Who  would 
venture  to  prate  of  treaties  now  ?  White  Eyes 
barely  succeeded  in  having  the  declaration  of  war 
postponed  for  ten  days,  that  time  might  be  given 
to  ascertain  whether  the  reports  were  true  or 
false.  But  this  did  not  hinder  preparations  for 
the  conflict.  Goschachgunk  rang  with  the  war- 
song  ;  rifles  were  cleaned  and  tomahawks  sharp- 
ened. In  order  to  prevent  the  rising  of  this 
nation  and  its  numerous  grandchildren,  peace- 
messager  must  at  once  b%  sent  to  Goschachgunk. 
Such  messages  were  prepared,  but  not  a  runner 
could  be  induced  to  take  them.  General  Hand's 
offers  of  the  most  liberal  rewards  were  all  in 
vain ;  the  risk  was  too  great. 

"  In  this  emergency,  Heckewelder  and  Sche- 
bosh  volunteerecf  their  services.  Riding  three 
days  and  two  nights  without  stopping,  except  to 
feed  their  horses,  in  constant  dlanger  from  the 


254 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


war-parties  that  lurked  in  the  forests,  they  reached 
Gnaddenhutten  an  hour  before  midnight  of  the 
fifth  of  April.  The  next  day  was  the  ninth  of 
the  stipulated  term.  No  contradiction  of  the 
reports  spread  by  Girty  and  his  confederates  had 
been  received.  War  was  accepted  as  a  necessity 
even  by  White  Eyes.  Of  that  crisis  John  Hecke- 
welder  was  the  illustrious  hero.  Although 
scarcely  able  any  longer  to  sit  upon  his  horse,  and 
although  it  was  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  he  pressed 
on  after  but  a  brief  rest,  accompanied  by  John 
Martin,  a  native  assistant,  and  got  to  Goschach- 
gunk  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morking.  The  whole 
population  turned  out  to  meet  him,  but  their 
faces  were  dark  and  sinister.  There  was  no 
welcome  given.  Not  a  single  Delaware  recipro- 
cated his  greetings.  He  extended  his  hand  to 
White  Eyes,  but  even  White  Eyes  stepped  back. 
"  Holding  aloft  the  written  speeches  of  which 
he  was  the  bearer,  Heckewelder  addressed  the 
Indians  from  his  horse.  He  told  them  that  they 
had  been  deceived ;  that  the  Americans,  instead 
of  being  defeated  in  the  Atlantic  States,  had 
gained  a  great  victory,  and  forced  Burgoyne  and 
his  whole  army  to  surrender;  and  that,  so  far 
from  making  war  upon  the  Delawares,  they  were 
their  friends,  and  had  sent  him  to  establish  a  new 
alliance.  Such  news  brought  about  a  sudden 
change  in  the  aspect  of  affairs  A  council  was 
called ;  the  missives  of  General  Hand  were  deliv- 
ered and  accepted  in  due  form;  the  warlike 
preparations  ceased ;  and,  while  Captain  Pipe  and 
his  adherents  left  the  town  in  great  chagrin,  the 
instigators  of  this  whole  plot  fled  to  more  conge- 
nial tribes." 

Doubtless  many  other  white  men  passed  into 
and  through  this  territory  during  the  Indian  war 
of  1788-1795;  many  are  known  to  have  done  so; 
among  them  the  scouts  Brady,  Wetzel,  McCul- 
loch  and  others  in  the  employ  of  the  govern- 
ment. 

The  treaty  of  peace  at  Greenville,  which  con- 
cluded that  great  war,  opened  Ohio  to  settlement 
by  the  whites,  and  the  great  wave  of  emigration 
began,  and  did  not  cease  mitil  the  territory  now 
embraced  in  the  State  was  overrun  and  settled  by 
the  white  race. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 

SCRAPS  OF   HISTORY. 

Name— Formation— First  Settlers  and  Settlements— Popula- 
tion—Flora  and  Fauna— Early  Koads  and  Transportation- 
A  Pioneer  School  House— Prices  for  Produce— Early  Taverns 
—Starting  a  Town— Character  of  the  Pioneers— Social  Gath- 
erings—Trapping—Wild Pigeons. 


THE  name  Coshocton  is  unquestionably  a  mod- 
ification of  the  name  of  the  old  Indian  town 
at  the  forks  of  the  Muskingum — Goschaohgunk — 
somewhat  variously  spelled  by  the  old  chroniclers 
in  different  languages.  Different  and  quite  con- 
tradictory definitions  of  the  name  have  been 
given. 

As  originally  constituted,  Coshocton  county 
embraced  a  considerable  part  of  what  is  now 
Holmes,  extending  to  the  Greenville  treaty  line, 
six  miles  north  of  Millersburg;  but  that  county 
having  been  organized  in  1824,  the  limits  of  Cos- 
hocton county  were  fixed  as  they  now  are.  Prior 
to  the  adoption  of  the  present  State  Constitution, 
in  1851,  there  was  considerable  agitation  about  a 
new  county  to  be  formed  out  of  parts  of  Guernsey, 
Tuscarawas  and  Coshocton,  with  New  Comerstown 
as  the  county  seat.  There  was  also  a  movement 
contemplating  a  county  with  Walhonding  as  the 
county  seat.  But  that  instrument  rendered  such 
movements  hopeless.  The  territory  embraced 
in  Coshocton  county  is  part  of  that  designated  as 
United  States  Military  Land  District — so  called 
from  the  fact  that  Congress,  in  1798,  appropriated 
it  to  satisfy  certain  claims  of  the  officers  and 
soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  war.  These  lands 
were  surveyed  into  townships  five  miles  square, 
and  these  again  into  quarter  townships,  contain- 
ing 4,000  acres,  and  subsequently  some  of  these 
into  forty  lots,  of  one  hundred  acres  each,  for  the 
accommodation  of  soldiers  or  others  holding  war- 
rants for  that  number  of  acres.  What  land  was 
not  required  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  military 
warrants  was  subsequently  sold  by  act  of  Con- 
gress, under  the  designation  of  Congress  land. 
Twenty-two  and  a  fraction  of  these  original  town- 
ships were  embraced  within  the  limits  of  Coshoc- 
ton countj'  as  finally  fixed  in  1824. 

The  military  expeditions  mentioned  elsewhere, 
besides  accomplishing  the  immediate  object  for 
which  they  were  undertaken,  drew  attention  to 
the  exelencies  of  the  country.  Wonderful  sto- 
ries about  "  the  forks  of  the  Muskingum  "  were 
told  by  the  returning  soldiers.  The  father  of 
Geo.  Beaver,  of  Keen  township,  was  in  Bou- 
quet's expedition.  John  Williams  (brother  of 
Charles),  who  afterwards  settled  "in  Mill  Creek 
township,  was  in  the  Coshocton  campaign ;  and 
among  the  earlier  settlers  were  several  whose 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


255 


relatives  had  been  in  Brodhead's  forces.  The 
first  white  man  known  to  have  come  into  the  ter- 
ritory now  embraced  in  Coshocton  county,  with 
the  purpose  of  abiding  in  it,  was  Charles  Wil- 
liams. In  the  spring  of  the  year  1800,  having 
come  up  the  Muskingum  in  a  canoe,  he  passed 
on  up  the  Walhonding  to  what  is  now  known  as 
the  Denman  land, long  called  "the  Pararie"  (four 
miles  above  ^Coshocton),  and  there  raised  that 
season  a  patch  of  corn,  besides  fishing,  hunting 
and  prospecting.  The  next  year  he  fixed  upon 
the  site  of  Coshocton  as  his  home,  and  was  there 
joined  by  his  brothers-in-law,  the  Carpenters,  and 
William  and  Samuel  Morrison,  who,  after  stay- 
ing with  him  for  the  season,  went  up  into  what 
is  now  Holmes  county,  in  the  Killbuck  valley. 
The  same  year,  1801,  a  settlement  was  made  in 
Oxford  township  by  Isaac  Evans  and  others,  who 
are  reputed  as  having  raised  some  corn  and  se- 
lected their  land  the  preceding  year.  The  Rob- 
inson and  Miller  settlement  in  Franklin  township 
was  made  about  the  same  time.  The  Hardestys 
are  reputed  as  having  been  in  Washington  town- 
ship the  same  year.  A  little  later  the  Millers 
and  Thomas  Wiggins  located  in  Lafayette  town- 
ship. Nicholas  Miller,  James  Oglesby,  Geo.  Mc- 
CuUough,  Andrew  Craig,  Isaac  Hoagland,  Benja- 
min Fry  and  Barney  Carr,  are  reported  as  on  the 
Lower  Walhonding  in  1805.  In  1806,  Philip 
Waggoner,  Geo.  Loose,  John  Wolf  and  Geo. 
Leighninger,  settled  in  Oxford  township,  and  the 
McLains  were  in  Lafayette.  In  the  same  year 
the  Darlings,  the  Butlers,  John  Bantham,  and 
John  Elder  went  to  the  Upper  Walhonding  val- 
ley. In  1807,  Francis  McGuire,  who  had  been 
living  above  New  Comerstown,  moved  down  to 
the  locality  known  as  the  McGuire  settlement, 
above  Canal  Lewisville.  Then  came  Moore, 
Workman,  Neff,  Lybarger,  Thompson,  the  Ba- 
kers, Cantwell  and  Whitton-  to  Coshocton ;  and 
Meskimens,  Johnston  and  Harger  to  the  Wills 
Creek  region;  and  Mitchell,  Markley  and  Wil- 
liams to  the  north  of  Coshocton ;  and  Pigman, 
Chalfant,  Norris,  Slaughter,  Woolford,  Wright, 
Stafford,'  Meredith,  John  and  Severns  into  the 
western  part  of  the  county.  No  regular  census 
of  the  county  was  taken  until  1820.  In  1810, 
Muskingum  county,  embracing  the  present  Mus- 
kingum, Morgan,  Coshocton  and  part  of  Holmes, 


had  only  ten  thousand  population.  A  Scotch 
traveler,  who  spent  the  night  at  Coshocton  in 
1806,  wrote  of  it  as  having  a  population  of  one 
hundred  and  forty;  but  it  was  doubtless  not  un- 
derstated by  him.  Dr.  S.  Lee,  who  came  to  the 
place  in  1811,  found  it  a  hamlet  with  a  score  or 
so  of  rude  structures.  Fifteen  hundred  would 
probably  be  a  large  statement  as  to  population  at 
the  time  the  county  was  organized  in  April,  1811. 
Immediately  after  the  organization,  immigration 
was  large.  The  war  of  1812,  while  temporarily 
checking  the  growth  of  the  county,  and  espe- 
cially the  inflow  of  population,  was  yet  an  advan- 
tage, particularly  in  making  the  region  known  to 
the  people  to  the  east  and  south.  Just  at  the 
close  of  the  war  there  were  in  the  county  one 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  resident  landholders, 
owning  tracts  of  land  varying  in  size  from  thirty- 
five  acres  to  four 'thousand  and  five  acres.  The 
list  of  these,  and  the  townships  as  now  named  in 
which  they  resided,  is  as  follows : 

Tuscarawas— John  D.  Moore,  Nicholas  Miller, 
Henry  Miller,  John  Noble,  Isaac  Workman  and 
Charles  Williams. 

New  Castle — David  John,  Thomas  John,  Obed 
Meredith,  T.  Hankins,  John  Wolf,  Matthew  Dun- 
can, David  and  Martin  Cox,  and  Robert  Giffin. 

Washington — Payne  Clark,  Mordecai  Chalfant,. 
Isaac  Holloway,  Peter  Lash,  Geo.  Smith,  and 
Frederick  Woolford. 

FranUin — O.  Davidson,  Valentine  JohnstoUr 
Catharine  Johnston,  Michael  Miller,  sr.,  William 
Robinson,  James  Robinson,  Benjamin  Robinson, 
Joseph  Scott,  James  Tanner,  William  Taylor, 
Abraham  Thompson,  John  Walmsly  and  Jacob 
Jackson. 

Ox/ord— Jacob  Reed,  David  Douglas,  Henry 
Evans,  Isaac  Evans,  John  Junkins,  George  Looze, 
John  Mills,  William  Mulvain,  James  Mulvain, 
John  Mulvain,  Andrew  McFarlane,  Ezekiel  Mc- 
Farlane,  Samuel  McFarlane,  Benjamin  Norman, 
George  Onspaugh,  Wilham  Pierpont,  George 
Stringer,  Philip  Wolf,  Philip  Waggoner's  heirs 
and  James  Welch. 

Linton  -  Hugh  Addy,  William  Addy,  JVilliam 
Evans,  James  McCune,  John  McCune,  James 
Meskimens,  Joseph  Scott,  George  McCune  and 
Amos  Stackhouse. 

Pite— Daniel  Ashcraft. 


256 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Keene— George  Armory,  Elizabeth  Armory  and 
John  Colver. 

Tiverton — Isaac  Draper. 

Je^fireore— Joseph  Butler,  Thomas  Butler  and 
Kobert  Darling. 

Virginia — Beal  Adams,  Patrick  Miller,  Joseph 
McCoy,  Richard  Tilton  and  Joseph  Wright. 

Adams — David  Mast. 

Lafayette — Hugh  Ballantine,  Archibald  Elson, 
William  Johnston,  George  Miller,  sr.,  Francis  Mc- 
Guire,  Thomas  MoLain,  Elijah  Nelson,  Matthew 
Orr,  Lewis  Vail  and  Jane  Wiggins. 

Bedford— JsiTaes  Craig,  Ezra  Horton  and  Thomas 
Horton. 

Bethlehem— Senry  Crissman,  Benjamin  Fry, 
John  Shaffer,  John  Thompson,  George  Skinner 
and  William  Trimble. 

A  number  of  these  landholders  were  heads  of 
quite  considerable  families,  and  upon  some  of  the 
large  tracts  were  several  tenants.  It  is  known 
that,  besides  those  whose  names  appear  in  this 
list,  and  their  children,  the  following  persons 
were  resident  of  the  county  at  that  time,  several 
of  them  having  been  so  for  a  number  of  years 
preceding:  Richard  Fowler,  William  Lockard, 
James  Willis,  Joseph  Harris,  C.  P.  Van  Kirk, 
Peter  Casey,  George  Carpenter,  Joseph  Neff, 
William  and  Samuel  Morrison,  James  Jeffries, 
Dr.  Samuel  Lee,  Wright  Warner,  A.  M.  Church, 
Thomas  L.  Rue,  William  Whitten,  Thomas  Means, 
Thomas  Foster,  Barney  Carr,  James  Oglesby, 
George  Bible,  John  Bantham, William  Bird,  James 
Calder,  William  Mitchell,  Lewis  Vail,  Asher  Hart, 
John  Williams,  Adam  Johnston,  John  Dillon, 
Abel  Cain,  Joseph  Vail,  Rezin  Baker,  Israel  Ba- 
ker, John  Baker,  James  Buckalew,  Benjamin 
Burrell,  Joseph  Burrell,  James  Cantwell,  Barney 
Cantwell,  J.  G.  Pigman,  J.  W.  Pigman,  John  El- 
der, Archibald  EUson,  Samuel  Clark,  Ezekiel 
Parker,  Andrew  Lybarger,  John  Hershman, 
Peter  Moore,  the  McLains,  William  Biggs,  George 
and  Levi  Magness,  Richard  Hawk,  Isaac  Sham- 
baugh  and  Elijah  Newcum. 

At  the  October  election,  in  1814,  there  were 
one  hundred  and  three  electors  in  Tuscarawas 
township,  which,  however,  embraced  at  that  time 
not  only  the  township  proper  on  both  sides  of  the 
river,  but  also  all  the  territory  north  of  the  Tus- 
carawas, and  east  of  the  Walhonding  rivers. 


After  the  war  the  accession  to  the  population 
was  large,  running  through  several  years.  In 
those  years — 1815-1820— came  the  progenitors  of 
the  since  well-known  Burns,  Crowley,  Ricketts, 
Sells,  Mossman,  Heslip,  Renfrew,  Boyd,  Gault, 
Thompson,  Roderick,  Squires,  James,  Tipton, 
Powelson,  Luke,  Borden,  Neldon,  Ravenscraft, 
Norris,  Winklespleck,  McNabb,  Slaughter,  Mul- 
ford,  Stafford,  Cresap,  and  Lemert  families.  In 
1818  there  were  285  resident  landholders. 

The  personal  and  family  records  of  the  period 
running  from  1814  to  1820  (especially  the  earlier 
part  of  it),  are  full  of  stories  of  laborious  efforts 
and  wearying  hardships  in  clearing  and  planting 
and  building.  The  large  inflow  of  population  in- 
volved a  great  deal  of  exposure.  The  conven- 
iences of  life,  even  with  those  best  supplied,  were 
scarce.  Sickness,  incident  to  all  new  countries, 
abounded.  Especially  was  a  form  of  congestive 
chills,  known;  as  the  "  cold  plague,"  very  preva- 
lent, carrying  off  many  of  the  settlers  and  dis- 
couraging immigration.  Milling  facilities  were 
still  poor'  and  remote.  Corn  meal  and  bacon  af- 
forded, in  many  cases,  almost  the  whole  support, 
whisky,  the  panacea  of  those  days,  was  not  plenty. 
Yet,  despite  all  drawbacks,  children  were  born 
and  settlers  came  in,  and,  in  1820,  the  census- 
taker  found  7,086  inhabitants  in  Coshocton  county. 

From  1820  to  1830  there  was  apparently  an  in- 
crease of  only  a  few  over  four  thousand,  making 
the  population  in  the  latter  year  ir,162.  It  must, 
however,  be  borne  in  mind  that  in  that  period, 
by  the  formation  of  Holmes  county,  a  number  of 
people,  hitherto  counted  as  of  Coshocton  county, 
were  set  over,  and  the  limits  oE  the  county  de- 
creased. Still  the  immigration  was  not  heavy, 
especially  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  period.  Re- 
ports of  the  sickliness  of  the  river  region  and  the 
rough  ways  of  the  settlers  had  gone  abroad.  It 
maybe  stated  in  this  connection  that  the  advance- 
ment of  the  county  in  both  population  and  wealth 
has  been  regarded  by  many  as  having  been  hin- 
dered in  all  its  earlier  stages  by  .the  fact  of  there 
having  beena  large  number  (thirty- three)  oflour- 
thousand-acre  tracts  taken  up  by  military  land 
warrants,  and  held  mainly  by  non-residents,  (Tul- 
tivated  only  by  a  few  cabin  tenants,  if  at  all. 

From  1830  to  1840  the  population  of  the  county 
was  nearly  doubled,  there  being  in  the  latter 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


257 


year  21,590  inhabitants.  This  large  increase  was 
largely  owing  to  the  opening  of  the  Ohio  canal. 

The  immigration  of  that  period  was  of  a  much 
more  miscellaneous  sort,  and  having  almost  noth- 
ing of  the  old  Virginian  and  Marylander  ele- 
ment, so  prominent  in  the  first  settlement  of  the 
county.  New  York,  Western  Pennsylvania,  East- 
ern Ohio,  Germany  and  Ireland  were  largely  rep- 
resented. 

The  population  of  the  county  in  1850  was 
25,674;  in  1860,  25,032;  in  1870,  23,647,  and  in 
1880,  26,763.  It  will  be  seen  by  these  figures  that 
there  was  a  decrease  within  the  twenty  years 
from  1850  to  1870,  but  a  material  increase  since 
that  time. 

The  same  condition  of  things  has  been  noted 
in  many  other  counties  in  Ohio,  especially  such 
as  have  hitherto  been  most  largely  agricultural. 
It  is  observed  in  this  connection  that  the  cities 
and  larger  towns  of  the  State  show  the  chief  gains 
attributed  to  it.  Thus,  while  Coshocton  county 
lost  during  the  time  above  noted,  the  town  of 
Coshocton  more  than  doubled  its  population, 
which  in  1840  was  845,  and  in  1870,  1,757.  In 
1880,  its  population  was  3,044.  The  disposition 
to  forsake  the  farm  for  the  shop  and  store  and 
office,  the  "  go-west "  fever,  the  readiness  of  fore- 
handed farmers  to  purchase  at  good  prices  the 
small  tracts  adjoining  their  larger  ones,  the  en- 
largement of  the  stock  interests,  the  develop- 
ment of  manufacturing  interest,  and  even  the  cas- 
ualties of  war,  have  all  had  to  do  with  diminish- 
ing the  population,  especially  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts, and  the  filling  up  of  the  cities  and  towns. 

Appended  will  be  found  the  population,  as 
enumerated  by  the  Federal  census-takers,  of  the 
several  townships  for  the  years  indicated : 

1840.  1850.  1870.  1880. 

Adams 838  1,419  1,113  1,246 

Bedtord,    .    ,         .    .    .    ,  1,141  1,221  918  929 

Bethlehem, 827  822  850  8S6 

Qarke 703  833  867  1,041 

Crawford 1,134  1,552  1,245  1,431 

FrankUn 670  966  972      .    1,053 

Jackson 1,896  2,037  1,767  1,969 

Jefferson 771  929  1,059  1,143 

Keeue 1,043  1,078  787  839 

Lafayette 848  1,040  920  1,081 

Linton 1,196  1,592  1,600  1,918 

Mill  Creek, 907  872  586  626 

Monroe 567  760  832  1,003 

Newcastle 905  1,229  1,005  868 


1840.  1850.  1870.  1880. 

Oxford 760  1,112  1,140  1,201 

Perry 1,839  1,340  932  901 

Pike, 1,115  1,080  773  720 

Tiverton 665  842  804  940 

Tuscarawas 1,144  1,693  2,725  4,082 

Virginia, 1,006  1,226  1,014  1,180 

Washington 1,029  .998  768  729 

White  Eyes, 997  1,132  923  960 

The  territory  of  this  county,  in  its  wilderness 
state,  presented  landscapes  of  a  greatly  diversified 
character. 

When,  eighty  years  or  more  ago,  Charles  Wil- 
liams, the  earliest  settler,  occupied  the  Mus- 
kingum valley,  he  must  have  been  surprised  at 
the  variety  and  beauty  of  its  vegetable  produc- 
tions. The  silence  of  the  primeval  woods  had 
until  then  been  unbroken  by  the  axe  of  the  white 
man ;  the  forest  was  here  in  all  its  native  majesty 
and  beauty;  the  gigantic  size  and  venerable  an- 
tiquity of  the  trees,  the  rankness  of  the  weeds, 
grasses  and  trailing  vines  which  formed  a  thick 
covering  for  the  ground,  the  luxuriance  and 
variety  of  the  underbrush,  the  long  vines  that 
reached  to  the  tops  of  the  tallest  trees,  the  para- 
sites that  hung  in  clusters  from  the  loftiest  boughs, 
the  brilliancy  of  the  autumnal  foliage,  the  splendor 
and  variety  of  the  vernal  flowers,  the  snowy 
whiteness  of  the  dog- wood  blossoms  of  early  spring^ 
and  the  exhuberance  of  the  fruits  that  were  ma- 
turing during  the  summer  and  autumn,  were 
undoubted  manifestations  of  the  most  vigorous 
vegetable  life,  and  an  encouraging  proof  of  the 
quality  of  the  soil.  The  yield  of  nuts,  berries, 
grapes,  plums  and  other  wild  fruits,  was  immense, 
and  these  for  years,  perhaps  centuries,  had  been 
dropping  and  wasting,  save,  only,  the  few  gathered 
by  the  red  man. 

The  surface  of  the  country  was  beautifully  di- 
versified by  hill  and  valley,  with  here  and  there 
a  small  swamp,  pond,  prairie,  lakelet,  spring  or 
running  stream — almost  every  variety  of  natural 
scenery  appeared  to  the  eye  of  the  pioneer. 

Along  the  streams,  on  the  bottom  land,  and  also 
on  the  more  level  or  second  bottom  lands,  grew 
the  walnut,  buttercup,  sycamore,  hickory,  sugar, 
maple,  hackberry,  white,  black  and  blue  ash, 
linden,  white  and  red  elm,  and  the  beech,  box- 
elder,  red  and  yellow  plum,  black-haw,  crab- 
apple,  red-bud,  dog-wood,  iron-wood,  American 
multi-flora,  arrow-wood,  kinnakinnick,  Juneber- 


■258 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ry,  and  a  few  others.    These  were  found  in  vari- 
■ous  places  on  the  above  described  lands. 

The  gum,  cucumber  and  sassafras  trees  were 
found  on  the  clay  formation,  while  in  the  hills, 
the  different  varieties  of  oak  abounded,  with  a 
.small  sprinkling  of  the  tulip  or  yellow  poplar, 
and,  in  limited  numbers,  most  of  the  above  are 
Taeiitioned  as  abounding  in.  the  level  lands. 

Many  of  the  grape-vines  on  the  bottom  lands 
were  of  enormeus  size,  approximating  in  thick- 
ness a  man's  body.  These  sometimes  spread 
themselves  through  the  branches  of  half  a  score 
or  more-  of  the  largest  trees,  completely  shutting 
•out  the  sun-light,  and  bearing  immense  quanti- 
"ties  of  fruit.  The  huckleberry,  confined  princi- 
-pally  to  the  hills,  yielded  fruit  bountifully.  Some 
other  berries  grew  spontaneously,  as  the  straw- 
berry, raspberry,  blackberry,  dewberry,  and,  in 
■a  few  localities,  the  cranberry.  The  latter  were, 
in  an  early  day,  an  article  of  traffic,  for  the 
Indians  as  well  as  the  pioneers.  The  early  set- 
tlers laid  up  for  use  during  the  winter  months, 
■large  quantities  of  these  wild  fruits,  and  also 
■chestnuts,  hazlenuts,  walnuts,  butternuts  and 
hickorynuts.  Paw-paws  and  Mayapples  were 
plenty,  and  were  used  to  a  considerable  extent. 

The  ginseng  plant  abounded  in  most  localities, 
in  early  times,  and  was  an  article  of  extensive 
traffic,  both  by  whites  and  Indians,  for  many 
years  after  the  first  settement  of  the  county. 
Every  merchant  bought  it.  Beeswax,  tallow, 
iurs,  hides,  feathers,  coon-skins  and  whisky  were 
■not  more  general  articles  of  trade  and  barter 
than  ginseng.  It  disappeared  as  an  article  of 
■commerce  in  the  county  about  1835,  and  has  not 
since  been  known.  The  plant  is  exhausted.  It 
was  wholly  of  spontaneous  growth  and  never  an 
article  of  culture.  It  was  a  jointed  taper  root,  as 
'large  as  as  man's  finger,  and  when  dry  was  of  a 
yellowish  white  color,  with  a  mucilaginous  sweet- 
ness of  taste,  somewhat  resembling  licorice,  ac- 
companied with  a  very  slight  bitterness.  It  was 
■exported  to  china,  where  it  was  in  demand  for 
its  real  or  supposed  medicinal  -virtues. 

Occasionally  a  beautiful  grove  of  wild  cherry 
■trees  were  found.  They  were  thick,  tall,  of  wide- 
•spreading  branches,  tolerably  clear  of  knots,  and 
generally  sound,  except  those  that  gave  indica- 
tions of  great  age.    The  woodman's  ax  had  been 


laid  upon  but  few  of  these,  even  as  late  as  1825  ; 
but  not  long  after,  their  commercial  value  be- 
came known,  and  when  the  Ohio  canal  opened, 
in  1833,  they  gradually  disappeared,  being 
shipped  to  Cincinnati  and  converted  into  lumber 
for  furniture.  The  concentric  circles  of  many 
of  them  indicated  that  they  were  centuries  old, 
fixing  the  date  of  their  origin  in  the  pre-historio 
age  of  the  country. 

When  the  wave  of  white  settlers  first  touched 
the  borders  of  this  county,  a  great  variety  of  wild 
animals  contended  with  the  Indian  for  suprem- 
acy. Some  of  the  native  animals  of  this  primeval 
forest  had  gradually  given  way  to  the  general 
Westward  movement  of  the  white  race.  The  buf- 
falo was  gone,  probably  never  to  return,  at  least 
in  any  number.  A  few  years  after  the  first  set- 
tlement, probably  about  1803,  a  small  herd,  six  or 
eight  in  number,  strayed  from  their  usual  haunts 
further  west,  and  reached  a  point  a  short  distance 
east  of  where  Wills  creek  empties  into  the  Mus- 
kingum. Here  for  a  day  or  two  they  were  pur- 
sued by  the  late  John  Channel,  of  Licking  county, 
a  famous  hunter  and  pioneer,  and  perhaps  by 
others,  but  without  success  so  far  as  Mr.  Channel 
was  concerned.  This  information  is  given  on  the 
authority  of  Adam  Seymour,  who  was  here  at 
that  time,  and  Mr.  E.  S.  Woods,  who  obtained  the 
information  from  Mr.  Channel  himself.  This 
was  probably  the  last  sight  of  wild  buffaloes  east 
of  the  Scioto. 

The  elk,  too,  was  gone  when  the  pioneers  came, 
but  the  numerous  wide-spreading  antlers  he  once 
carried,  were  found  profusely  scattered  in  the 
forest,  showing  conclusively  that  he  had  once  been 
here  in  considerable  numbers,  and  at  no  remote 
period ;  but  probably  no  living  wild  elk  was  ever 
discovered  here  by  the  pioneers. 

Panthers  were  not  numerous,  but  occasionally 
one  was  seen  or  heard,  and  a  few  were  killed 
during  the  first  ten  or  fifteen  years  after  the  first 
settlement.  They  disappeared  from  this  section 
about  1812. 

Bears  were  more  numerous  and  remained 
longer;  an  occasional  straggler  being  seen  at 
intervals  of  many  years,  until  1846,  or  later. 
Bruin  was  hard  on  young  domestic  animals,  pigs 
particularly,  he  had  a  good  appetite  for,  and  it 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


259 


was  with  great  difficulty  that  the  pioneers  were 
able  to  raise  their  own  pork 

Wolves  were  found  in  great  abundance,  and 
long  continued  to  be  a  great  annoyance  to  the 
settlers.  The  legislature  encouraged  their  exter- 
mination by  laws  which  authorized  the  payment 
of  liberal  sums  for  wolf  scalps,  both  old  and 
young.  The  records  of  the  county  commissioners 
■show  that  large  sums  were  paid  thp  pioneers  of 
the  county  for  wolf  scalps;  four  dollars  being  the 
price  for  full  grown  and  two  dollars  for  those 
less  than  full  size.  They  have  long  since  disap- 
peared. 

Deer  were  very  abundant,  and  for  many  years 
after  the  first  settlement,  supplied  the  pioneers 
with  most  of  their  animal  food.  The  pioneers 
were  mostly  hunters,  and  the  chase  yielded  them 
muclT  profit  as  well  as  amusement.  So  numerous 
-were  the  deer  in  early  times  that  an  hour's  hunt 
was  generally  sufficient  for  securing  a  fine  buck 
or  the  more  palitable  doe  or  fawn.  So  plenty 
and  tame  were  they  that  they  were  killed  fre- 
quently with  a  shot  gun  charged  only  with  squir- 
rel shot. 

Gray  foxes,  raccoons  and  gronnd-hogs  were 
plenty,  and  hunting  them  afiorded  fine  sport. 
The  two  latter  of  these  are  yet  found  in  limited 
numbers,  but  the  first  has,  probably,  entirely  dis- 
appeared. 

Eed  foxes,  catamounts,  wild-cats  and  porcu- 
pines, were  found  in  large  numbers,  but  they 
-early  disappeared,  except  the  first  named,  which 
-may,  perhaps,  even  yet  be  occasionally  found. 

Rabbits  and  squirrels,  if  not  here  before  the 
settlement  of  the  county,  came  soon  after  in  great 
numbers,  and  still  remain.  They  seem  to  follow 
rather  than  precede  the  settlements. 

The  beaver  and  otter  were  here  in  considerable 
numbers,  and  were  much  sought  after  by  the 
-trapper  for  their  valuable  furs.  The  former  has 
long  since  disappeared,  and  the  latter  is  exceed- 
ingly scarce,  if  indeed,  any  remain. 

Muskrafs  are  very  numerous  and  have  con- 
tinued so,  afibrding  much  profit  to  the  hunter 
and  trapper. 

Wild  turkeys  were  also  very  abundant  in  pio- 
neer days,  and  so  continued  for  many  years,  af- 
fording no  inconsiderable  portion  of  the  food  of 
the  early  settlers.    They  were  so  numerous  and 


tame  that  they  could  be  procured  by  the  hunter 
on  very  short  notice.  They  are  yet  occasionally 
found  in  the  woods. 

Pheasants  were  not  so  numerous  as  the  turkey, 
and  have  almost  wholly  disappeared. 

Wild  geese  and  ducks  were  plenty  around  the 
little  lakes  and  swamps,  and  along  the  streams. 
These  are  rarely  seen  at  present. 

Quails  are  not  natives  of  the  wilderness ;  nei- 
ther are  crows,  blackbirds,  bluebirds  nor  turtle 
doves,  but  they  all  became  plenty  after  the  settle- 
ment of  the  county,  and  still  remain  in  moderate 
quantities. 

Bees  were  plenty,  and  the  tables  of  the  pioneers 
were  generally  supplied  with  honey. 

Cranes,  woodcocks,  woodpeckers  and  pigeons 
were  plenty,  and  yet  remain,  with  the  exception 
of  the  first  named. 

Birds  of  prey,  such  as  turkey  buzzards  or  vul- 
tures, hawks,  ravens,  owls  and  eagles,  were  very 
numerous,  but  have  been  slowly  disappearing, 
particularly  the  eagle,  which  is  now  seldom  seen. 

Singing  birds  of  various  kinds  became  plenty 
soon  after  the  settlement  of  the  county,  and  yet 
remain. 

The  "streams  abounded  in  fish  of  large  size. 
The  pike  were  from  two  to  five  feet  in  length. 
It  has  almost,  if  not  entirely,  disappeared  from 
the  waters  of  the  county. 

The  catfish  were  plenty  and  of  large  size,  but 
there  were  no  eels.  The  white  perch  and  sucker 
were  numerous  and  of  large  size ;  the  black  jack 
and  clear  jack  were  here  and  grew  large,  but  have 
long  since  disappeared.  The  streams,  no  less 
than  the  forests,  contributed  to  the  support  of  the 
early  settlers.  Indeed,  so  plenty  were  game,  fish, 
fur  animals  and  the  fruits  and  other  spontaneous 
productions,  that  it  was  hardly  necessary  to  till 
the  ground  to  procure  subsistence. 

Serpents  were  of  many  varieties  and  in  great 
abundance.  Especially  numerous  were  the  rat- 
tlesnake, the  copperhead,  the  viper,  blacksnake, 
the  garter  and  watersnake.  They  were  often 
found  in  the  cabins  of  the  settlers,  and  even  in 
their  beds.  It  was  not  unusual  for  the  settlers  to 
be  bitten  by  them,  but  few,  if  any  deaths  oc- 
curred from  this  cause,  as  the  settlers  understood 
the  treatment  of  snake  bites. 

For  many  years  the  people  were  troubled  with 


260 


HISTOflY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


snakes,  but  the  venomous  ones  have  long  since 
disappeared. 

Scorpions  and  lizards  abounded,  and  were  not 
in  high  favor  with  the  pioneers. 

Insects  of  various  kinds  were  numerous  and 
troublesome.  Spiders,  particularly,  were  plenty 
and  of  large  size.  Gnats,  hornets,  yellow  jackets, 
musquitoes  and  horseflies  were  in  great  abund- 
ance and  exceedingly  annoying  to  man  and  beast. 

The  wolf  arid  the  more  venomous  serpents 
were  the  most  formidable  and  annoying  enemies 
of  the  early  settlers.  Panthers  were  much 
dreaded,  but  fortunately  were  not  numerous. 
The  fox,  mink  and  polecat  frequently  made  raids 
on  the  hen  roost. 

Most  of  these  animals,  especially  the  more 
troublesome  ones,  have  long  since  disappeared. 

The  distinct  classes  known  in  pioneer  times  as 
hunters  and  fishermen,  have  almost  disappeared. 
People  change  and  conform  their  lives  to  the 
times  in  which  they  live. 

Some  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Coshocton  county 
came  into  it  by  the  route  taken  by  Brodhead's 
military  expedition,  and  others  by  that  taken  by 
Bouquet's  expedition — the  former  from  Wheeling, 
and  the  latter  from  Pittsburg  to  the  Tuscarawas 
valley.  The  roads  were  of  course  Indian  trails 
and  bridle  paths.  Others  of  the  pioneers  used 
canoes  or  other  water  conveyances,  floating  or 
poling  up  or  down,  as  the  case  might  be,  the  riv- 
ers and  creeks. 

While  yet  a  part  of  Muskingum  county,  the 
road  through  Coshocton  from  Marietta  to  Cleve- 
land had  been  made. 

In  1812,  the  legislature  provided  for  roads  from 
Cambridge  to  Coshocton ;  from  the  head  of  White 
Eyes  plains  to  Cadiz,  and  from  Coshocton  west- 
wardly.  Congress  g,ppropriated  three  per  cent 
of  moneys  derived  from  the  sale  of  land  to  the 
making  of  roads.  For  the  making  of  State  roads, 
or  the  principal  ones,  commissioners  were  desig- 
nated by  the  legislature.  Many  roads  laid  out  in 
early  times  have  in  more  recent  years  been  some- 
what altered,  but  the  chief  ones  are  in  alignment 
wonderfully  near  the  old  Indian  trails.  An  im- 
mense proportion  of  the  time  occupied  in  the 
sessions  of  the  commissioners  has  been  from  the 


beginning,  even  to  this  writing,  taken  up  with 
road  matters. 

The  first  settlers  were  largely  engaged  in  hunt- 
ing, trapping  and  fishing  in  the  Muskingum  and 
its  beautiful  tributaries. 

As  soon  as  half  a  dozen  or  more  pioneers  had 
settled  in  close  proximity  to  each  other,  a  hut 
was  erected  and  used  for  all  public  meetings,  and 
for  school  and  religious  purposes.  They  were  a 
rough,  hardy  people,  but  believed  in  giving  every 
body  "  fair-play,"  and  whenever  a  preacher  ap- 
peared among  them  he  was  invited  to  preach, 
and  all  the  settlers,  big,  little,  old  and  young 
came  to  hear  him,  paying  little  regard  to  relig- 
ious creed. 

The  following  description  of  one  of  the  school 
houses,  or  places  for  public  meetings,  was  clip- 
ped from  the  Coshocton  Age,  of  February,  1881, 
and  as  it  is  a  faithful  picture,  is  worthy  of  pres- 
ervation : 

The  one  I  can  more  particularly  describe  was 
situated  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  White  Eyes 
township.  The  house  was  built  of  round  logs, 
not  hewed  on  either  side.  The  openings  be- 
tween the  logs  were  filled  with  chunks  and 
daubed  with  mud.  The  floor  was  made  of  punch- 
eons, split  out  of  a  tree  and  partially  hewed.  The 
roof  was  made  of  clapboards,  laid  on  poles,  and 
poles  laid  on  the  boards  to  keep  them  on.  The 
loft  was  made  of  the  same  kind  of  material  as 
the  floor,  and  daubed  along  the  joints  with  mud 
to  keep  the  cold  out.  The  door  was  made  of 
rough  boards,  with  a  wooden  latch  for  a  fastening, 
with  a  buck-skin  latch  string;  the  end  of  which 
hung  through  a  hole  in  the  door,  to  raise  the 
latch.  There  was  no  stove  in  it,  but  it  had  a  fire- 
place in  one  end  of  the  building;  a  back-wall 
was  built  from  the  ground  to  tide  loft,  about 
eight  feet  long,  without  jambs;  the  flue  was 
started  at  the  loft,  built  of  mud  and  sticks,  and 
run  up  through  the  roof,  to  let  the  smoke  escape. 
In  this  fire-place  the  teacher  would  build  a  large 
wood  fire  around  which  the  boys  and  girls  would 
stand  to  warm  themselves  before  the  school  hours 
in  the  morning.  A  substitute  for  windows  was 
made  by  cutting  out  a  log  on  each  side,  with 
paper  pasted  over  the  openings,  and  greased  with 
lard  or  tallow,  to  admit  the  light.  The  paper 
used  was  the  Coshocton  S'py  (now  the  Age). 
Around  the  walls  were  rough  boards  fixed  on 
pins  in  the  walls  for  desks;  along  these  desks 
were  long  benches  with  four  or  five  legs  in  each 
one,  made  by  boring  holes  in  a  slab  and  insert- 
ing the  legs  in  these  holes.  The  desks  and 
benches  were  occupied   by    those    learning  to 


o 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


261 


write,  and  those  studying  arithmetic.  There 
were  three  other  benches,  shorter  in  the  legs, 
placed  in  front  of  the  fire,  for  smaller  children 
to  occupy.  The  benches  were  all  without  backs. 
The  teacher  made  all  the  pens  for  his  scholars  of 
goose  quills,  with  a  small  knife.  The  paper  used 
to  write  on  then  was  not  ruled  like  the  paper 
now;  the  scholars  had  rulers,  to  rule  their  paper 
with,  and  pencils  made  of  lead,  hammered  out 
in  the  shape  of  a  horse-shoe  nail,  and  would  rule 
their  paper  with  this.  The  text  books  used  at 
that  time,  were  the  United  States  Spelling-book, 
English  Reader,  New  Testament  and  Western 
Calculator.  .  No  English  Grammar  or  Geography 
were  taught.  Those  reading  in  the  English 
Reader  would  all  stand  up  in  a  class,  in  some 
unoccupied  space  in  the  house ;  the  whole  class 
would  bow  to  the  teacher.  The  one  standing  at 
the  head  of  the  class  would  then  read  a  para- 
graph, the  one  next  to  him  the  same,  and  so  on 
till  all  had  read.  Those  reading  in  the  Testament 
the  same.  All  the  teacher  done  during  the 
reading  was,  when  the  scholars  came  to  a  word 
they  could  not  pronounce,  the  teacher  would 
pronounce  it  for  him  or  her.  After  the  class 
had  read  two  paragraphs  each,  they  would  return 
to  their  seats,  without  any  further  instructions 
on  the  subject  of  reading.  Then  the  teacher 
would  call  up  the  smaller  scholars,  one  or  two 
at  a  time,  and  point  to  the  letter  or  word  to 
be  spelled,  with  his  penknife ;  in  a  general  way 
the  scholar  repeating  the  lesson  after  the  teacher. 
Those  who  had  studied  arithmetic  solved  the  ex- 
amples at  their  seats,  except  when  they  come  to 
one  they  could  not  in  any  way  solve;  they 
would  then  go  to  the  teacher,  he  would  solve  it 
on  the  slate  and  pass  it  back  to  the  scholar.  There 
was  no  blackboard,  consequently  there  was  very 
little  instruction  in  the  matter.  These  were  the 
days  of  corporal  punishment,  and  in  a  conven- 
inent  place  to  the  teacher  stood  one  or  two 
hickory  gads,  large  enough  to  drive  a  yoke  of 
oxen.  School  continued  from  between  eight 
and  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  to  four  o'clock 
P.  M.,  except  one  hour  at  noon ;  no  recess.  Young 
folks,  compare  your  advantages  and  comforts 
with  those  of  forty-five  years  ago. 

Closely  following  the  pioneer  hunter  and  trap- 
per came  the  pioneer  merchant  and  trader.  To 
get  goods  into  and  produce  out  of  this  county 
was  easy  as  compared  with  counties  further  west 
and  those  away  from  the  larger  streams.  The 
Muskingum  river  formed  a  very  good  outlet,  and 
was  for  many  years  the  highway  for  the  tran- 
portation  of  goods  both  out  of  and  into  Coshocton 
county,  and  other  counties  north  and  west.  The 
pioneers  of  Knox,  Richland  and  Ashland  counties 


did  a  great  deal  of  boating  on  the  Muskingum. 
After  a  few  years,  when  roads  were  constructed, 
came  the  great  freight  wagons.  The  National 
road  especially  became  a  great  outlet  for  the  pro- 
duce of  this  and  other  counties  of  the  State. 
Great  covered  freight  wagons,  with  tires  seven  or 
eight  inches  broad  and  an  inch  thick,  drawn  by 
six  horses  or  mules,  made  regular  trips  from 
Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  over  the  National 
road  to  Zanesville,  to  which  place  much  of  the 
produce  of  this  county  was  taken  to  be  shipped 
by  these  wagons,  and  from  which  place  goods 
were  received  by  the  merchants  of  Coshocton. 
The  wagons  left  the  National  road  at  various, 
points  and  traveled  over  the  "  mud  "  road  to  dis- 
tant settlements  and  villages  for  the  convenience 
of  the  settlers.  They  not  only  carried  goods  and 
produce,  but  carried  the  mail  also,  and  did  the 
express  business  in  parts  of  the,  country  not 
touched  by  the  stages.  Many  of  the  teamsters 
were  men  of  high  character,  standing  and  credit, 
and,  in  transacting  their  business,  would  require 
persons  who  shipped  goods  by  their  wagons  to 
make  oiat  three  bills  of  lading,  all  properly  signed 
with  as  much  regularity  as  a  ship  at  sea  or  the 
freight  trains  of  to-day;  one  bill  to  accompany 
the  goods,  one  to  be  retained  by  the  shipper,  and 
one  to  go  by  mail  to  the  consignee.  One  of  those 
teams  and  wagons  would  to-day  be  a  greater 
curiosity  than  a  steamer  or  a  train  of  cars.  They 
are  yet  to  be  found  on  the  great  prairies  of  the 
west,  transporting  freight  to  points  not  yet  reached 
by  the  iron-horse.  These  wagons  did  the  larger 
part  oi  the  carrying  trade  of  the  country  for 
many  years.  The  merchant  who  wished  to  pur- 
chase goods  in  the  eastern  cities  sent  his  order 
and  received  his  goods  by  these  wagons,  and,  in 
order  to  pay  for  the  goods,  often  intrusted  large 
sums  of  money  to  the  teamsters. 

The  products  of  the  country  recived  by  the 
merchants  in  exchange  for  goods,  consisting 
mostly  of  wheat,  whisky,  furs,  etc.,  were  also 
shipped  by  these  wagons,  being  taken  by  boat  to 
Zanesville,  then  loaded  into  the  wagons  and 
either  taken  east  or  north  to  the  lakes ;  often,  how- 
ever, it  was  taken  on  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississ- 
ippi rivers  to  New  Orleans.  Often  months  would 
elapse  before  the  merchant  could  receive  his  re- 
turns for  produce  thus  disposed  of. 


262 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  water  courses  were,  in  very  early  days, 
untramraeled  by  mills  or  bridges,  and  by  reason 
of  the  swampy  condition  of  the  country,  and  the 
abundance  of  water,  a  number  of  the  smaller 
streams  were  navigable  for  small  boats  to  points 
which  would  seem  incredible  at  this  time.  Flat- 
boats  were  built  carrying  from  twenty  to  fifty 
tons,  these  were  loaded  with  pork,  flour,  whisky, 
and  the  products  of  the  chase,  and  taken  to  New 
Orleans,  where  the  boat  and  cargo  were  disposed 
of  for  Spanish  gold,  and  the  pioneer  with  his 
money  in  his  pocket  would  often  set  out  for  home 
on  foot,  walking,  perhaps,  the  entire  distance,  or 
may  be  purchasing  a  mule  or  horse  by  the  way  or 
taking  the  stage  occasionally  for  short  distances. 

In  these  primitive  ways  the  pioneers  of  Coshoc- 
ton county  communicated  with  the  outside  world. 
About  half  a  century  elapsed  from  the  time  of 
the  first  settlement  of  the  county,  before  these 
were  superceded  by  the  railroad. 

The  products  of  the  county,  for  want  of  trans- 
portation and  a  market,  brought  very  low  prices 
at  home;  the  price  of  wheat  being  generally 
from  twenty-five  to  fifty  cents  per  bushel;  oats, 
twelve  cents  per  bushel;  corn,  twenty  cents  per 
bushel;  whisky,  fifteen  cents  per  gallon;  pork, 
one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  hundred  weight; 
cows,  eight  to  ten  dollars  each,  and  horses  from 
thirty  to  forty  dollars  each.  Coffee  brought  from 
seventy-five  cents  to  one  dollar  per  pound;  salt, 
from  four  to  six  dollars  per  barrel;  calicoes  from 
fifty  cents  to  one  dollar  per  yard.  Money  was 
the  exception,  traffic  and  trade  the  rule. 

In  trading  with  the  Indians  it  was  customary 
for  the  pioneer  merchant  to  place  a  bottle  of 
whisky  on  each  end  of  the  counter  that  the  pur- 
chasers might  help  themselves  gratuitously,  and 
thus  facilitate  business.  These  cabins  for  the 
purposes  of  trade  and  traffic  sprang  up  all  along 
the  new  roads,  and  were  occupied  by  some  hardy 
pioneer  family,  who  procured  a  living  partly  by 
hunting,  partly  by  trading  whisky,  tobacco,  blank- 
ets, knives,  tomahawks  and  trinkets  with  the  In- 
dians and  settlers ;  and,  as  travel  on  the  roads  in- 
creased, by  keeping  travelers  over  night,  finally 
converting  his  cabin  into  a  "  tavern,"  by  swinging 
on  creaking  iron  hinges  the  great  painted  sign — 
the  most  conspicuous  and  important  thing  about 
the  premises.   Frequently  these  taverns  were  the 


means  of  starting  a  town,  which  grew  and  pros- 
pered, or  became  extinct,  according  to  circum- 
stances. Establishing  a  town  was  like  investing 
in  a  lottery  ticket,  which  might  draw  a  prize  or  a 
blank.  Nothing  now  remains  to  mark  the  site 
of  many  early  towns  platted  on  the  soil  of  Coshoc- 
ton county ;  others  are  marked  by  small  clusters 
of  partially  deserted  houses. 

The  early  settlers  were  generally  a  rough,  hardy 
set,  and  their  social  gatherings  were  often  marred 
by  ring-fights,  much  whisky  drinking  and  ca- 
rousal. They  seldom  or  never  visited  each  other 
simply  for  the  purpose  of  a  social  call  as  is  the 
practice  of  to-day,  but  the  women  took  with  them 
their  knitting  and  sewing,  or  went  with  the  ex- 
pectation of  quilting  or  cutting  apples,  or  in  some 
way  helping  a  neighbor  through  the  great  mass 
of  work,  and  at  the  same  time  cultivate  social  and 
friendly  relations;  and  the  social  parties  on  the 
masculine  side  of  the  house,  were  cabin-raisings,, 
corn-huskings,  log-rollings,  various  gymnastic 
exercises,  such  as  jumping,  wrestling,  shooting  at. 
a  mark,  etc.  Thus  but  little  time  was  lost  in  so- 
ciability. 

If  they  were  always  ready  for  a  fight,  they 
were  also  always  ready  to  help  each  other  or  a 
stranger  on  any  and  all  occasions,  and  for  this- 
purpose  would  put  themselves  to  great  inconven- 
ience and  travel  great  distances.  Did  one  of  them, 
want  a  cabin  raised  he  had  only  to  let  his  neigh- 
bors know  (and  all  were  considered  neighbors 
within  a  circle  of  five  or  ten  miles)  and  they 
would  be  there  promptly,  the  only  compensation 
expected  being  a  generous  supply  of  whisky. 

Log-rollings  were  a  weekly  occurrence ;  every 
settler  would  have  one  or  more  of  these  gather- 
ings every  year  until  his  lands  were  well  cleared. 
Settlers  for  miles  around  would  come  with  their 
axes,  oxen  and  hand  spikes ;  the  logs  were  cut,, 
hauled  together  and  piled  in  great  heaps  to  be 
set  on  fire  after  drying.  The  younger  members 
of  the  community,  girls  and  boys,  piled  the  brush 
and  smaller  sticks  in  immense  heaps ;  and  boys 
not  yet  old  can  remember  when  these  heaps  were 
set  on  fire  at  night,  and  how  all  the  young  peo- 
ple for  miles  around  gathered  and  played  "  goal " 
and  "  round-town "  by  the  light  of  the  crackling 
brush. 

Corn-huskings  are  even  yet  occasionally  in- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


263 


dulged  in  by  the  farming  community,  though 
rarely,  and  will  soon  be  entirely  unknown.  A 
night  was  selected  for  the  corn-husking  when  the 
moon  was  full.  Sometimes  the  corn  was  husked 
as  it  stood  in  the  field,  and  large  fields  were  thus 
cleared  of  corn  in  a  single  evening.  At  other 
times  the  owner  of  a  corn-field  would  go  throiigh 
it  a  day  or  two  before  the  husking  was  to  take 
place,  jerk  the  ears  from  the  stalk  -and  haul  them 
to  some  dry  spot  in  the  meadow,  where  they  were 
piled  in  a  huge  circle.  About  this  circle,  on  the 
outside,  the  men  would  gather  in  the  evening, 
and  amid  the  rattle  of  husks  and  the  general  hi- 
larity the  yellow  ears  would  flow  toward  the  cen- 
ter of  the  circle  in  a  continual  stream,  while  the 
huskers  buried  themselves  deeper  and  deeper  in 
the  husks,  until  they  emerged  and  stood  upon 
'the  inner  line  of  the  circle,  with  a  great  pile  of 
corn  in  front  and  a  pile  of  husks  in  the  rear. 

Occasionally  the  corn  was  as  nearly  as  possible 
divided  into  two  heaps;  captains  or  leaders  were 
chosen  by  the  men,  who  in  turn  choosing  their 
men  arranged  themselves  in  opposition.  Each 
of  the  opposing  parties  endeavored  to  get 
through  first,  the  bottle  being  passed  frequently, 
each  one  helping  himself  to  as  much  of  the  con- 
tents as  he  desired.  The  successful  captain  was 
elevated  upon  the  shoulders  of  his  men  and  car- 
ried around  the  pile  amid  prolonged  cheers. 
Sometimes  -the  beaten  party  was  aggravated  un- 
til knock-downs  ensued,  after  which  all  would 
repair  to  the  house  of  the  host  and  partake  of 
the  good  things  prepared  for  the  occasion. 

The  settlers  exercised  a  good  deal  of  ingenuity 
in  making  traps  to  secure  the  wild  animals  of  the 
forest.  This  was  one  of  the  principal  occupations 
and  sources  of  pleasure  for  the  boys.  In  certain 
localities  it  seemed  almost  impossible  for  the 
pioneers  to  raise  sheep  or  hogs  on  account  of  the 
depredations  of  wolves  and  bears ;  the  latter  inva- 
riably preferred  pork  to  mutton,  but  the  wolves 
always  attacked  the  sheep  in  preference.  The 
State  offered  six  dollars  each  for  wolf  scalps ;  this 
and  other  considerations  stimulatid  the  efforts  of 
the  settlers  to  destroy  them.  Many  of  the  young 
men  devoted  their  time  almost  exclusively  to  this 
business.  For  the  purpose  of  catching  them,  a 
wolf  pen  was  constructed  of  small  logs,  six  feet 
long,  four  feet  wide  and  three  feet  high.    It  was 


formed  like  a  large  box,  with  puncheon  floor,  the 
lid  was  made  of  heavy  puncheons,  and  was  re- 
moved by  an  axle  at  one  end  made  of  a  small 
round  stick.  The  trap  was  set  by  the  ordinary 
figure  4  combination,  and  baited  with  any  kind  of 
meat  except  wolf  meat,  the  animal  preferring  any 
other  to  his  own.  Upon  gnawing  the  meat  the 
lid  fell,  enclosing  the  unwary  native  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  trapper. 

Steel  traps  were  generally  used  for  the  mink 
and  muskrat,  but  for  the  coon  the  figure  4  ar- 
rangement was  often  used.  The  habits  of  this 
animal  (as  well  as  of  all  others)  were  taken  into 
consideration.  It  is  well  known  that  the  coon 
frequents  swails,  swamps  and  stagnant  pools  in 
search  of  frogs,  of  which  he  is  very  fond,  and 
upon  which  he  subsists  largely  when  roasting- 
ears  are  not  at  hand.  In  his  search  for  frogs  he 
will  traverse  the  logs  that  are  always  to  be  found 
in  the  swamp.  The  trapper  understands  this, 
and  places  his  trap  upon  the  log  upon  which  the 
unwary  animal  must  enter  the  swamp  or  make 
his  exit  therefrom.  The  trap  is  simply  a  small 
log,  placed  lengthwise  of  the  log  which  the  coon 
must  walk,  and  held  up  by  the  figure  4,  to  the 
treadle  of  which  three  or  more  strings  are  at- 
tached and  stretched  along  between  the  two  logs 
in  such  a  way  that  the  coon  must  come  in  con- 
tact with  them  in  his  passage,  and  thus  spring  the 
trap,  letting  the  small  log  fall  upon  him.  This 
small  log  must  be  made  sufficiently  heavy  by 
weights  to  crush  him. 

Wild  pigeons  were  once  very  numerous,  and 
were  caught  in  large  numbers  in  traps.  During 
the  season  when  the  mast  was  ripe  and  plenty, 
millions  of  these  birds  frequented  the  countrj'. 
The  flocks  were  so  great  that  they  would  some- 
times be  hours  in  passing  over  a  given  spot,  and 
it  is  said  that  they  would  occasionally  obscure  the 
sunlight,  and  bring  on  twilight  in  midday  by 
their  immense  numbers.  For  the  last  twenty 
years  these  birds  have  been  gradually  disappear- 
ing until  at  present  only  small  flocks  are  occa- 
sionally seen.  Probably  the  clearing  up  of  the 
country  and  the  gradual  disappearance  of  the 
mast-bearing  trees  has  caused  them  to  seek  other 
feeding  grounds.  They  were  here  slaughtered 
in  great  numbers,  both  by  gun  and  trap,  and 
were  considered  a  great  table  delicacy. 


264 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

JOHN   CHAPMAN. 

Give  fools  their  gold,  and  knaves  their  power ; 

Let  fortune's  bubbles  rise  and  fall ; 
Who  sows  a  field,  or  trains  a  flower, 

Or  plants  a  tree,  is  mor«  than  all. 

— Whittiee. 

A  HISTORY  of  Ohio,  and  especially  of  Coshoc- 
ton county,  would  be  incomplete  without 
some  account  of  this  very  eccentric  individual, 
well  known  among  the  pioneers  of  Ohio  as 
Johnny  Appleseed,  from  the  fact  that  he  was  the 
pioneer  nurseryman. 

He  seems  to  deserve  a  place  in  history  among 
the  heroes  and  martyrs,  for  he  was  both  in  his 
peculiar  calling.  His  whole  life  was  devoted  to 
what  he  believed  the  public  good,  without  regard 
to  personal  feeling  or  hope  of  pecuniary  reward. 
Not  once  in  a  century  is  such  a  life  of  self-sacri- 
fice for  the  good  of  others  known.  There  has 
been  but  one  Johnny  Appleseed,  and  he  lived  a 
life  so  peculiar,  so  isolated,  and  withal  so  worthy, 
that  his  name  should  be  perpetuated. 

He  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  His  father, 
Nathaniel  Chapman,  emigrated  from  the  vicinity 
of  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  to  Marietta,  Ohio, 
in  very  early  times,  probably  about  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century.  He  had  a  large  family, 
and  they  all  came  with  him  except  John.  His 
children  were  John,  Nathaniel,  Perley,  Abner, 
Jonathan,  Davis,  Lucy,  Patty,  Persis,  Mary  and 
Sally.  The  family  once  published  a  book,  con- 
taining their  genealogy,  which,  although  rare, 
may  yet  be  found  among  the  descendants  of  the 
family,  who  are  scattered  over  Ohio  and  Indiana. 

The  date  of  John  Chapman's  birth  is  not  cer- 
tainly known  at  present.  Mr.  C.  S.  Coffinberry, 
of  Constantine,  Michigan,  who  was  well  acquainted 
with  him,  writes  that  "  as  early  as  1780,  he  was 
seen  in  the  autumn,  for  two  or  three  successive 
years,  along  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  in  eastern 
Virginia."  He  must  have  been  quite  a  young 
man  at  that  time,  and  was  no  doubt  following  the 
same  calling  that  so  distinguished  him  in  after 
life.  He  did  not  accompany  his  father  when  he 
came  West,  but  had,  without  doubt,  preceded 
him,  and  was  then  planting  apple  seeds  in  western 
Pennsylvania  and  eastern  Ohio. 


Why  he  left  his  native  State,  and  devoted  his 
life  to  the  planting  of  apple  seeds  in  the  West,  is 
known  only  to  himself.  People  have  been 
inclined  to  consider  him  insane,  and  he  may 
have  been  so  to  a  certain  degree.  He  was  cer- 
tainly eccentric,  as  many  people  are  who  are  not 
considered  insane;  it  is  hard  to  trace  eccentricity 
to  the  point  where  insanity  begins.  He  was  cer- 
tainly smart  etiough  to  keep  his  own  counsel. 
Without  doubt  his  was  a  very'affectionate  nature ; 
every  act  of  his  life  reveals  this  prominent  char- 
acteristic. From  this  fact  alone  writers  have 
reasoned,  and  with  good  ground,  that  he  was 
crossed  in  love  in  his  native  State,  and  thus  they 
account  for  his  eccentricity.  This  is  only  sup- 
position, however,  as  he  was  very  reticent  on  the 
subject  of  his  early  life. 

He  was  conscientious  in  every  act  and  thought, 
and  a  man  of  deep  religious  convictions-;  being  a 
rigid  Swedenborgian,  and  maintaining  the  doc- 
trine that  spiritual  intercourse  could  be  held 
with  departed  spirits;  indeed,  was  in  frequent 
intercourse  himself  with  two  of  these  spirits  of 
the  female  gender,  who  consoled  him  with  the 
news  that  they  were  to  be  his  wives  in  the  future 
state,  should  he  keep  himself  from  all  entangling 
alliances  in  this. 

So  kind  and  simple  was  his  heart  that  he  was 
equally  welcome  with  the  Indians  or  pioneers, 
and  even  the  wild  animals  of  the  woods  seemed 
to  have  an  understanding  with  Johnny,  and  never 
molested  him.  He  has  been  variously  described, 
but  all  agree  that  he  was  rather  below  the  medium 
height,  wiry,  quick  in  action  and  conversation, 
nervous  and  restless  in  his  motions;  eyes  dark 
and  sparkling;  hair  and  beard  generally  long, 
but  occasionally  cut  short;  dress  scanty,  and  gen- 
erally ragged  and  patched ;  generally  barefooted 
and  bareheaded,  occasionally,  however,  wearing 
some  old  shoes,  sandals,  or  moccasins  in  very 
cold  weather,  and  an  old  hat  some  one  had  cast 
off.  It  is  said  he  was  occasionally  seen  with  a  tin 
pan  or  pot  on  his  head,  that  served  the  double 
purposeUof  hat  and  mush-pot;  at  other  times 
with  a  cap,  made  by  himself,  of  pasteboard,  with 
a  very  broad  visor  to  protect  his  eyes  from  the 
sun. 

His  diet  was  very  simple,  consisting  of  milk 
when  he  could  get  it,  of  which  he  was  very  fond; 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


265 


potatoes  and  other  vegetables,  fruits  and  meats ; 
but  no  veal,  as  he  said  this  should  be  a  land  flow- 
ing with  milk  and  honey,  and  the  calves  should 


He  thought  himself  a  messenger  sent  into  the 
wilderness  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  people,  as 
John  the  Baptist  was  sent  to  prepare  the  way  for 


JOHNNY     APPLESEED. 


be  spared.  He  would  not  touch  tea,  coffee,  or 
tobacco,  as  he  felt  that  these  were  luxuries  in 
which  it  was  wicked  and  injurious  to  indulge. 
He  was  averse  to  taking  the  life  of  any  aiiimal 
or  insect,  and  never  indulged  in  hunting  with 
a  gun. 


the  coming  of  the  Savior,  hence  he  made  it  a  part 
of  his  duty  to  keep  in  advance  of  civilization. 
He  gathered  his  apple  seeds  little  by  little  from 
the  cider-presses  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  and 
putting  them  carefully  in  leathern  bags,  he  trans- 
ported them,  sometimes  on  his  back,  and  some- 


266 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


times  on  the  back  of  a  broken-down  horse  or 
mule,  to  the^Ohio  river,  where  he  usually  secured 
a  boat,  and  brought  them  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Muskingum,  and  up  that  river,  planting  them  in 
wild,  secluded  spots  alFalong  its  numerous  tribu- 
taries. Later  in  life  he  continued  his  operations 
further  west.  When  his  trees  were  ready  for 
sale  he  usually  left  them  in  charge  of  some 
pioneer  to  sell  for  him.  The  price  was  low — a 
"  fippeny-bit "  apiece,  rarely  paid  in  money,  and 
if  people  were  too  poor  to  purchase,  the  trees 
were  given  them. 

One  or  two  of  his  nurseries  were  located  in  the' 
Walhonding  valley,  and  many  of  his  orchards 
were  scattered  over  Coshocton,  Kn(J5j,  Richland, 
Ashland,  and  other  counties  further  east.  One 
of  his  nurseries  was  located  in  what  was  known 
as  "Indian  Field,"  on  the  north  bank  of  OwJ 
creek,  in  Knox  county.  Some  of  his  trees  are 
yet  standing  and  bearing  fruit.  His  residence  in 
this  vicinity  covered  the  period  of  the  war  of 
1812,  and  several  years  prior  to  it.  He  would 
occasionally  make  trips  further  west,  and  return 
after  an  absence  of  two  or  three  months.  On 
these  occasions  he  probably  visited  his  sister 
Persis,  who  married  a  man  named  Broom,  or 
Brown,  and  lived  in  Indiana.  Persis  lived  in 
Eichland  county  before  she  moved  to  Indiana, 
and  Johnny  must  have  made  his  home  with  her, 
as  he  was  considered  a  resident  of  that  county  by 
the  pioneers,  so  far  as  they  looked  upon  him  as  a 
resident  of  any  particular  spot. 

His  operations  in  the  Muskingum  valley  were 
quite  extensive,  and  continued  a  number  of  years 
even  after  he  had  penetrated  further  west.  It 
was  his  highway  of  travel  to  and  from  the  Penn- 
sylvania cider-presses,  and  while  he  continually 
extended  his  nurseries  further  westward,  he  yet 
kept  up  those  he  had  established  in  this  valley, 
and  visited  them  frequently  on  his  journeys  back 
and  forth.  '  The  spot  occupied  by  one  of  his  nur- 
series is  pointed  out  in  New  Castle  township,  and 
an  immense  apple  tree  of  his  planting  is  referred 
to  in  the  history  of  that  township. 

During  the  war  of  1812,  Johnny  was  very  active 
in  warning  the  settlers  of  danger,  and  considered 
himself  a  kind  of  scout  and  general  guardian  of 
the  frontier.  He  never  shrank  from  danger  or 
hardship  when  he  thought  the  lives  of  the  settlers 


were  in  danger.  He  happened  to  be  in  Mansfield, 
Richland  county,  when  Jones  was  killed,  and 
immediately  volunteered  to  go  to  Fredericktown 
and  Mount  Vernon  for  help,  as  it  was  supposed  a 
large  body  of  Indians  were  lurking  around  the 
block-house,  and  about  to  make  an  attack  upon 
it ;  and  that  they  had  probably  committed  other 
murders  in  the  neighborhood.  An  early  settler 
says,  regarding  this  trip  of  John  Chapman's, 
which  was  made  in  the  night: 

Although  I  was  but  a  child,  I  can  remember  as 
if  it  were  but  yesterday,  the  warning  cry  of 
Johnny  Appleseed,  as  he  stood  before  my  father's 
log  cabin  door  on  that  night.  I  remember  the 
precise  language,  the  clear,  loud  voice,  the  delib- 
erate exclamations,  and  the  fearful  thrill  it  awoke 
in  my  bosom.  "Fly!  fly!  for  your  lives!  the 
Indians  are  murdering  and  scalping  at  Mansfield!" 
These  were  his  words.  My  father  sprang  to  the 
door,  but  the  messenger  was  gone,  and  midnight 
silence  reigned  without. 

Johnny  Appleseed  created  some  consternation 
among  the  settlers  on  this  trip,  by  his  peculiar 
manner  of  announcing  his  business.  He  was 
barefooted  and  bareheaded,  and  ran  all  the  way, 
stopping  at  every  cabin  as  he  passed,  giving  a 
warning  cry  similar  to  the  above.  It  must  be 
remembered  that  after.  Hull's  surrender  the  pio- 
neers were  fearful  of  an  Indian  raid,  and  went  to 
bed  every  night  with  the  thought  that  they  might 
lose  their  scalps  before  morning;  thus  their 
imaginations  were  already  highly  excited,  and 
Johnny's  hurried  rap  at  the  cabin  door  and  his 
fearful  midnight  cry  merely  confirmed  their  ex- 
pectations and  created  a  panic.  Many  ludicrous 
things  happened  in  consequence.  Families  left 
their  cabins  and  flew  to  the  block-houses  for 
safety. 

Mr.  Coffinberry  says : 

John  Chapman  was  a  regularly  constituted 
minister  of  the  Church  of  the  New  Jerusalem, 
according  to  the  revelations  of  Emanuel  Sweden- 
borg.  He  \vas  also  constituted  a  missionary  of 
that  faith  under  the  authority  of  the  regular  asso- 
ciation in  the  city  of  Boston.  The  writer  has 
seen  and  examined  his  credentials  as  to  the  latter 
of  these. 

He  always  carried  in  his  pocket,  books  and 
tracts  relating  to  his  religion,  and  took  great  de- 
light in  reading  them  to  others  and  scattering 
them  about.    When  he  did  not  have  enough  with 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


267 


him  to  go  around,  he  would  take  the  books  apart 
and  distribute  them  in  pieces. 

Johnny  was  very  closely  identified  with  the 
•early  history  of  Mount  Vernon,  as  the  following 
document,  which  appears  on  the  records  in  the 
Recorder's  office  of  that  county,  will  show  : 

John  Chapman,  ]      Know  all    men    by  these 
to  s  presents,  that  I,  John  Chap- 

Jesse  B.  Thomas.  )  man  (by  occupation  a  gath- 
erer and  planter  of  apple  seeds),  residing  in  Rich- 
land county,  for  the  sum  of  thirty  dollars,  honest 
money,  do  hereby  grant  to  said  Jesse  B.  Thomas, 
late  Senator  from  Illinois,  his  heirs  and  assigns 
forever,  lot  No.  145,  in  the  corporation  limits  of 
the  village  of  Mount  Vernon,  State  of  Ohio. 

The  deed  was  given  in  1828.  The  lot  is  proba- 
bly the  one  upon  which  now  stands  the  Philo 
house,  on  Main  street,  and  is  a  valuable  one.  It 
is  pleasant  to  know  that  Johnny  once  had  a  spot 
of  ground  he  could  call  his  own. 

This  was  not,  however,  the  extent  of  his  posses- 
sions in  Mount  Vernon.  The  last  time  he  is  re- 
membered to  have  been  in  this  neighborhood,  he 
pointed  out  to  Joseph  Mahaffey  two  lots  of  land 
at  the  lower  end  of  Main  street,  west  side,  about 
where  Moray's  soap  factory  once  stood,  saying 
that  he  owned  them  and  would  some  day  come 
back  to  them.  Steven's  warehouse,  formerly  the 
Mount  Vernon  woollen  mills,  erected  by  N.  N. 
Hill,  now  stands  upon  a  portion  of  the  ground. 

Besides  the  cultivation  of  apple  trees  John 
Chapman  was  extensively  engaged  in  scattering 
the  seeds  of  many  wild  vegetables,  which  he  sup- 
posed possessed  medicinal  qualities,  such  as  dog- 
fennel,  pennyroyal,  may-apple,  hoarhound,  cat- 
nip, wintergreen,  etc.  His  object  was  to  equalize 
the  distribution  so  that  every  locality  would  have 
a  variety.  His  operations  in  Indiana  began  in 
1836,  and  was  continued  for  ten  years  or  more. 
In  the  spring  of  1847,  being  within  fifteen  miles 
of  one  of  his  nurseries  on  the  St.  Joseph  river, 
word  was  brought  to  him  that  cattle  had  broken 
into  his  nursery  and  were  destroying  his  trees, 
and  he  started  immediately  for  the  place.  When 
he  arrived  he  was  very  much  fatigued;  being 
quite  advanced  in  years,  the  journey  performed 
without  intermission,  exhausted  his  strength. 
He  lay  down  that  night  never  to  rise  again.  A 
fever  settled  upon  him  and  in  a  day  or  two  after 


taking  sick  he  passed  away.  "  We  buried  him," 
says  Mr.  Worth,  "  in  David  Archer's  graveyard, 
two  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Fort  Wayne." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

PIONEEE  TIMES. 

Where  the  Pioneers  Came  From— Their  Condition  and  Char- 
acter—What They  Lived  On— The ' '  Truck  Patch'  '—Hominy 
Blocks— Mills— Cooking— Cultivation  of  Domestic  Animals 
—Wild  Turkeys— Whisky— Superstitions— Dress  of  the  Men — 
The  Flax  Wheel  and  Loom— More  About  Clothing—"  Kick- 
ing Frolics  "—Dress  of  the  Women— White  Kid  Slippers— 
Dyeing— Fourth  of  July  and  Militia  Musters— Cabins  and 
Their  Construction— Furniture  of  the  Cabins  — Hoosier 
.Poem— Early  Land  Laws— Tomahawk  Rights— Hunting- 
Early  Weddings — Dancing  and  "  House  Warming, ' '  School- 
ing, School  Teachers,  etc.— Spelling  Schools— Conclusion. 

PIONEER  days  for  Coshocton  county  and  the 
State  of  Ohio  are  gone  forever ;  the  wolf, 
bear,  deer,  Indian,  and  all  associations  and  rem- 
iniscences of  those  "good  old  days"  have  long 
since  faded  from  sigh*-,  if  not  from  memory,  and 
the  pioneers,  most  of  them,  are  gone,  too — 

"  How  few,  all  weak  and  withered  of  their  force, 
Wait  on  the  verge  of  d^rk  eternity. " 

It  remains  to  write  their  history,  and  the  history 
of  the  times  in  which  they  lived,  as  of  another 
race  of  beings;  and,  if  possible,  to  impress  the 
best  of  it  upon  the  character  of  the  present  and 
future  generations ;  for  it  is  a  history  worthy  of 
imitation  and  preservation.  A  study  of  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  pioneer  fathers  and  mothers  is 
calculated  to  ennoble  the  mind  and  strengthen 
the  hand  for  the  battle  of  life. 

It  would  require  a  volume  to  tell  of  their  habits 
and  customs ;  of  their  trapping  and  hunting ;  of 
their  solitary  lives  in  the  great  woods,  surrounded 
by  wild  animals  and  wilder  men;  of  their  dress, 
manners,  and  peculiar  ways ;  of  their  cabins  and 
furniture ;  of  the  long  winter  evenings  by  the  log- 
heap  fire  upon  which — 

"  We  piled,  with  care,  our  nightly  stack 
Of  wood  against  the  chimney-back — 
The  oaken  log,  green,  huge,  and  thick, 

^And  on  its  top  the  stout  back-stick ; 
The  knotty  fore-stick  laid  apart. 
And  filled  between  with  curious  art 
The  ragged  brush ;  then  hovering  near 
We  watch  the  first  red  blaze  appear. 
Heard  the  sharp  crackle,  cangnt  the  gleam 
On  Whitewashed  wall  and  sagging  beam, 
Until  the  old  rude-furnished  room 
Burst  flower-like  into  rosy  bloom." 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


It  was  a  free,  happy,  independent  life ;  full  of 
hardships,  indeed,  but  sweetened  with  innocence 
and  peace;  with  alternations  of  labor,  pleasure 
and  rest. 

The  pioneers  of  Coshocton  were  largely  from 
New  England,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania  and  Mary- 
land, who  sought  to  better  their  condition  by 
making  permanent  homes  in  the  wilderness  west 
of  the  Ohio  river.  They  carne  largely  on  foot 
over  the  Allegheny  mountains,  many  of  them 
having'  a  single  horse  and  wagon,  or  a  two-horse 
wagon,  in  which  their  worldly  possessions  were 
carried,  and  in  which  the  very  old  or  very  young, 
only,  were  allowed  to  ride.  Many  of  them  were 
poor,  and,  like  Jack  in  the  story,  "  came  to  seek 
their  fortunes."  A  few  came  with  ox  teams; 
some  with  horses,  two,  three  or  four  of  them ; 
some  in  two-wheeled  carts,  whileothers  packed 
all  their  worldly  possessions  on  a  couple  of  old 
"  critters."  Instances  are  related  of  a  bag  on  top, 
or  snugged  down  in  among  the  bundles,  made 
somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  a  double  knapsack, 
and  a  couple  of  babies  poked  their  little  bronzed 
faces  out  of  the  slits  in  this  novel  conveyance,  and 
rode  along  like  little  "  possums." 

From  fifteen  to  flfty-five  days  were  required  in 
making  the  toilsome  journey  to  the  far  West,  by 
the  first  pioneers.  Streams  had  to  be  forded  fre- 
quently. It  was  not  unusual  for  a  team  to  give 
out  on  the  way  and  cause  a  delay  of  a  fortnight 
or  a  month  to  one  of  the  families.  The  joy  was 
very  great  when  the  team  hove  in  sight  and  the 
family  rejoined  the  party  who  had  found  "the  end 
of  the  road,"  or  stopped  until  the  men  looked  for 
a  suitable  Ideation. 

When  once  settled  and  the  cabin  erected,  it 
was  not  only  a  home  and  shelter  for  the  pioneer 
and  his  family,  but  for  every  stranger  who  passed 
that  way,  "  without  money  and  without  price." 
The  latch  string  was  always  out,  for  these  pio- 
neers were  great  hearted  people,  and  no  man,  be 
he  white,  black  or  red,  was  turned  away  empty. 
Their  cabins,  ofteii  not  more  than  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet  square,  made  of  rough  beech  logs, 
with  the  bark  still  adhering  to  them,  were  fre- 
quently occupied  by  a  dozen,  or  even  a  score,  of 
people  for  the  night,  and  no  complaints  made  for 
want  of  room;  genuine  hospitality  always  finds 
room  enough,  and  never  apologizes  for  lack  of 


more;   and  when    breakfast   time    came,  there 
was    no  apology  for    the    scarcity    of    knives,, 
forks  and  spoons,  for  "fingers  were  made  before 
any  of  these."    The  fare  was  homely,  but  gener-' 
ally  abundant.    What  to  eat,  drink  and  wear,, 
were  questions  not,  perhaps,  difficult  of  solution, 
in  those  days.    The  first  was  the  easiest  to  solve. 
The  deer,  the  bear,  the  wild  turkey,  the  rabbity 
the  squirrel,  all  started  up  and  said,  or  seemed  to 
say,  "  eat  me."    These  had  been  prepared  for  the- 
red  men  of  the  forest,  and  were  equally  abundant 
for  the  pioneer.    The  forest  was  full  of  game, 
the  streams  full  of   fish,  and  wild  fruits  were 
abundant.    To  get  bread  required  both  patience 
and  labor ;  the  staff  of  life  was  one  of  the  articles 
that  must  be  earned  "  by  the  sweat  of  the  brow;" 
it  could  not  be  gathered  from  the  bushes,  fished 
from   the   streams,  or   brought  down   with  the 
rifle.    Every  backwoodsman  once  a  year  added 
to  his  clearing,  at  least,  a  ••  truck  patch."    This, 
was  the  hope  and  stay  of  the  family;  the  recep- 
tacle of  corn,  beans,  melons,  potatoes,  squasheSr 
pumpkins,  turnips,  etc.,  each  variety  more  per- 
fectly developed  and  delicious,  because  it  grew 
in.  virgin  soil.    The  corn  and  beans  planted  in 
May  brought   roasting    ears    and   succotash  in 
August.     Potatoes  came  with  corn,  and  the  cellar, 
built  in  the  side  of  a  convenient  hill,  and  filled 
with  the  contents  of  the  truck  patch,  secured 
the  family  against  -want.    When  the  corn  grew 
too  hard  for  roasting  ears,  and  was  yet  too  soft 
to  grind  in  the  mill,  it  was  reduced  to  meal  by  a. 
grater,  and  whether  stirred  into  mush  or  baked 
into  johnnycake,  it  made,  for  people  with  keen 
appetites  and  good  stomachs,  excellent  food.  Place 
before  one  of  those  brawny  backwoodsmen  a 
square  foot  of  johnnycake  and  a  venison  steak 
broiled  on  hickory  coals,  and  no  art  of  civiliza- 
tion could  produce  a  more  saisfactory  meal. 

Next  to  the  grater  comes  the  hominy  block,  an 
article  in  common  use  among  the  pioneers.  It 
consisted  simply  of  a  block  of  wood — a  section  of 
a  tree,  perhaps — with  a  hole  burned,  or  dug,  into 
it  a  foot  deep,  in  which  corn  was  pulverized  with 
a  pestle.  'Sometimes  this  block  was  inside  the 
cabin,  where  it  served  as  a  seat  for  the  bashful 
young  buckskinned  backwoodsman  while  "  spark- 
ing" his  girl;  sometimes  a  convenient  stump  in 
front  of  the  cabin  door  was  prepared  for,  and 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


269- 


made  one  of  the  best  of  hominy  blocks.  When 
pigs  began  to  be  raised,  the  natural  relation  be- 
tween pork  and  beaten  corn  suggested  the  grand 
old  idea  of  "hog  and  hominy." 

Hominy  blocks  did  not  last  long,  for  mills  came 
quite  early  and  superseded  them,  yet  these  mills 
were  often  so  far  apart  that  in  stormy  weather,  or 
for  want  of  transportation,  the  pioneer  was  com- 
pelled to  resort  to  his  hominy  block,  or  go  without 
bread.  In  winter,  the  mills  were  frozen  up  near- 
ly all  the  time,  and  when  a  thaw  came  and  the  ice 
broke,  if  the  mill  was  not  swept  away  entirely  by 
the  floods,  it  was  so  thronged  with  pioneers,  each 
with  his  sack  of  corn,  that  some  of  them  were 
often  compelled  to  camp  out  near  the  mill  and 
wait  several  days  for  their  turn.  When  the  grist 
was  ground,  if  they  were  so  fortunate  as  to  possess 
an  ox,  a  horse,  or  mule,  for  the  purpose  of  trans- 
portation, they  were  happy.  It  was  not  unusual 
to  go  from  ten  to  twenty  miles  to  mill,  through 
the  pathless,  unbroken  forest,  and  to  be  benighted 
on  the  journey,  and  chased,  or  treed  by  wolves. 
A  majority  of  the  pioneers,  however,  settled  in  the 
vicinity  of  a  stream,  upon  which  mills  were  rap- 
idly erected.  These  mills  were  very  primitive 
afiairs — mere  "  corn  crackers  " — but  they  were  an 
improvement  on  the  hominy  block.  They  mere- 
ly ground  the  corn,  the  pioneer  must  do  his  own 
bolting.  A  wire  sieve  was  then  one  of  the  most 
important  articles  of  household  furniture.  It 
always  hung  in  its  place,  on  a  wooden  peg,  just 
under  the  ladder  that,  reached  to  the  loft.  The 
meal  was  sifted  and  the  finest  used  for  bread. 
How  delicious  was  that  "  Indian  pone,"  baked  in 
a  large  deep  skiUet,  which  was  placed  upon  coals 
raked  from  the  fire-place  to  the  hearth.  Fresh 
coals  were  continually  placed  under- it  and  upon 
the  iron  lid  until  the  loaf,  five  or  six  incnes  thick, 
was  done  through.  This  was  a  different  thing 
from  johnnyoake ;  it  was  better,  and  could  not 
always  be  had,  for  to  make  it  good,  a  little  wheat 
flour  was  needed,  and  wheat  flour  was  a  precious 
thing  in  those  very  early  days. 

A  road  cut  through  the  forest  to  the  mill,  and 
a  wagon  for  hauling  the  grist,  were  great  advan- 
tages, the  latter  especially  was  often  a  seven  days' 
wonder  to  the  children  of  a  neighborhood,  and 
the  happy  owner  of  one  often  did,  for  years,  the 
milling  for  a  whole  neighborhood.    About  once 


a  month  this  good  neighbor,  who  was  in  excep- 
tionally good  circumstances,  because  able  to  own 
a  wagon,  would  go  about  through  the  neighbor- 
hood, gather  up  the  grists  and  take  them  to  mill, 
often  spending  several  days  in  the  operation,  and 
never  thinking  of  charging  for  his  time  and 
trouble. 

Cooking,  in  pioneer  times,  was  an  interesting 
operation. 

The  trammel  and  hooks  were  found  among  the 
well-to-do  families,  as  time  progressed.  Previous 
to  this,  the  lug-pole,  across  the  inside  of  the  chim- 
ney,abouteven  with  the  chamber  floor,  answered 
for  a  trammel.  A  chain  was  suspended  from  it, 
and  hooks  were  attached,  and  from  this  hung  the 
mush-pot  or  tea-kettle.  If  a  chain  was  not  availa- 
ble, a  wooden  hook  was  in  reach  of  the  humblest 
and  poorest.  When  a  meal  was  not  in  preparation, 
and  the  hook  was  endangered  by  fire,  it  was 
shoved  aside  to  one  end  of  the  lug-pole  for  safety. 
Iron  ware  was  very  scarce  in  those  days.  In- 
stances are  related  where  the  one  pot  served  at  a 
meal  to  boil  water  for  mint  tea  or  crust  coffee,  to 
bake  the  bread,  boil  the  potatoes,  and  fry  the 
meat.  By  fine  management  this  was  accom- 
plished. Frequently  the  kettle  had  no  lid,  and  a 
flat  stone,  heated,  and  handled  with  the  tongs, 
was  used  instead  of  one,  when  a  loaf  or  pone  or 
pumpkin  pie  was  baked.  A  shortcake  could  be 
baked  by  heating  the  kettle  moderately,  putting 
in  the  cake,  and  tipping  it  up  sidewise  before  the 
glowing  fire.  Bannock,  or  boardcake,  was  made 
by  mixing  the  corn-meal  up  with  warm  water,  a 
pinch  of  salt  and  a  trifle  of  lard,  into  a  thick 
dough,  spreading  it  on  a  clean,  sweet-smelling 
clapboard,  patting  it  with  the  cleanest  of  hands, 
and  standing  it  slanting  before  the  fire,  propped 
into^the  right  position  by  a  flat-iron  behind  it. 
Baked  hastily,  this  made  a  delicious  cake,  sweet 
and  nutty  and  fresh,  and  the  pretty  stamp  of  the 
mother's  dear,  unselfish, loving  fingers  was  plainly 
detected  in  the  crisp  crust. 

The  cultivation  of  domestic  animals,  both 
beasts  and  fowls,  for  the  purpose  of  food,  began 
early.  Cows  for  milk,  butter,  beef,  and  leather, 
and  swine  for  pork,  were  bred,  ear  marked  and 
turned  into  the  woods  to  browse.  "  Root  hog  or 
die,"  was  the  law  for  man  and  beast,  but  the 
woods  were  prolific  and  the  hogs  grew  fat.    The 


270 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


young  pigs  were  exceptionally  a  sweet  morsel  for 
the  bear.  Bruin  always  singled  out  these  young 
animals  in  preference  to  any  other  meat;  but  the 
pigs  were  often  successfully  defended  by  the  older 
hogs,  who,  upon  the  least  signs  of  distress  from 
one  of  their  number,  would  go  boldly  to  the  res- 
cue, and  fiercely  attack  the  foe,  however  formida- 
ble ;  often  the  pig  was  released  and  bruin,  or  the 
panther,  compelled  to  ascend  a  tree  for  safety. 

The  boys  often  found  wild  turkeys'  nests  in  the 
woods,  and  would  bring  home  the  eggs,  and  place 
them,  to  be  hatched,  under  a  trusty  old  hen,  in  an 
outside  chimney  corner,  where  they  could  assist 
the  hen  in  defending  the  eggs  and  brood  from 
the  opossum  or  hawk.  A  flock  of  turkeys  some- 
times originated  in  this  way,  but  more  often,  as 
they  grew  to  maturity,  they  would  fly  away  into 
the  woods  and  never  reappear.  This  grandest  of 
birds  is  identical  in  civilized  and  savage  life,  and 
is  the  peculiar  production  of  America.  The  wild 
ones  were  always  a  dark  brown,  like  the  leaves  of 
their  native  woods,  -but  when  tamed,  or  "civil- 
ized," the  diversity  of  color  becomes  endless. 

When  cornbread  and  milk  were  eaten  for  break- 
fast, hog  and  hominy  for  dinner  and  mush  and 
milk  for  supper,  there  was  little  room  for  tea  and 
coffee ;  and  at  a  time  when  one  bushel  of  wheat 
for  a  pound  of  coffee  and  four  bushels  for  a  pound 
of  tea,  where  considered  a  fair  exchange,  but  lit- 
tle of  these  very  expensive  articles  was  used. 

Next  to  water,  the  drink  of  the  pioneers  was 
whisky — copper-still  rye  whisky.  Everybody 
drank  it.  It  was  supposed  to  be  indispensable  to 
health,  to  strength  and  endurance  during  the  la- 
bors of  the  day,  and  to  sleep  at  iiight.  It  was  sup- 
posed to  be  absolutely  indispensable  to  warmth 
and  animation  in  cold,  chilly  winter  weather.  It 
was  the  sacrament  of  friendship  and  hospitality; 
it  was  in  universal  use;  yet  there  was  probably 
less  drunkenness  in  those  days  than  at  present. 
The  whisky  was  absolutely  pure;  it  was  not 
drugged,  doctored  and  poisoned  as  it  is  to-day, 
and,  although  enough  of  it  would  bring  drunken- 
ness, it  did  not  bring  delirium  tremens,  or  leave 
the  system  prostrated,  and  the  victim  with  a  head- 
ache upon  "  sobering  up  "  It  was  the  first  thing 
in  demand  as  an  article  of  commerce.  Stills  for 
its  manufacture  sprang  up  everywhere,  all  along 
the  streams.    Pioneers  soon  found  a  market  at 


these  stills  for  their  corn,  hence  corn  became  the 
great  crop,  and  whisk}'  the  great  article  of  com- 
merce. It  was  the  only  thing  that  would  bring 
money,  and  money  they  must  have  to  pay  taxes. 
Whisky  could  be  purchased  for  twelve  or  fifteen 
cents  per  gallon  and  paid  for  in  corn,  and  the 
barrel  of  whisky  in  the  cellar,  was  as  com- 
mon as  the  barrel  of  cider  was  later.  The 
whisky  that  was  not  consumed  at  home  was 
shipped  on  flat-boats  or  pirogues  on  the  Musk- 
ingum, Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers  to  New  Or- 
leans and  sold  for  Spanish  gold.  One  of  the  first 
rebellions  against  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  commonly  called  the  whisky  insurrection, 
had  its  growth  out  of  the  hardships  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  of  Western  Pennsylvania,  who  in  the  mother 
country  had  learned  to  love  whisky  and  hate 
gangers;  and  this  population  gave  tone  and  char- 
acter to  the  first  settlers  of  Eastern  Ohio,  There 
was  this  apology  for  the  production  of  whisky 
that  it  was  the  only  means  of  disposing  of  surplus 
crops,  or  bringing  money  into  the  country. 

The  hardy  pioneers,  after  disposing  of  their 
cargo  of  whisky  in  New  Orleans,  would  often  set 
out  on  foot  for  home,  a  distance  of  say  fifteen 
hundred  miles.  Think  of  it,  ye  who  ride  in  pal- 
ace coaches  at  the  rate  of  forty  miles  an  hour 
while  reclining  in  cushioned  seats,  smoking  your 
cigar,  and  reading  in  your  morning  paper  of  the 
happenings  of  yesterday  in  Europe  and  America. 
While  apologizing  somewhat  for  those  whisky 
days,  it  may  be  well  to  say  that  whisky  was  not 
probably  of  any  special  benefit,  was  not  to  be 
compared  to  the  pure  water  of  their  springs,  and 
that  too  many  of  the  pioneers  drank  too  much  of ' 
it,  and  that  too  often  it  made  their  eyes  and  noses 
red,  their  children  ragged  and  their  wives 
wretched,  as  it  does  to-day. 

In  every  neighborhood  there  were  a  few  fami- 
lies who  had  brought  with  them  the  superstitious 
of  their  forefathers,  and  the  result  was  that  some 
poor  man  or  woman  was  reputed  to  be  a  witch. 
Not  much  proof  was  required.  If  a  woman  had 
very  black  eyes,  or  stepped  stealthily,  or  spoke  in 
a  low  tone  of  voice,  and  the  gossips  s.aid  she  was 
in  league  with  the  prince  of  the  black  art,  it  did 
not  take  long  to  fasten  the  reputation  upon  her, 
and  the  ignorant  looked  with  awe  and  fear  upon 
the  poor  hunted,  watched  creature.   And  so  they 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


271 


greased  their  broom  handles,  and  laid  dead  snakes 
head  foremost  in  the  paths,  and  hung  horseshoes 
ever  the  cabin  doors,  and  were  careful  to  spit  in 
the  fire,  and  not  to  look  over  their  left  shoulders 
when  they  passed  the  abode  of  the  doomed  one. 
But  sometimes  her  wrath  fell  upon  them,  and  the 
oxen  would  lie  down  in  the  furrow,  and  no  power 
could  move  them,  not  even  hot  coals,  nor  boiling 
soapsuds  when  poured  upon  them.  One  time, 
when  the  family  of  a  poor  man  rose  early  in  the 
morning,  one  of  the  oxen  lay  still  and  slept  heav- 
ily and  breathed  noisily.  On  examination  it  was 
discovered  that  he  had  been  witch-ridden;  his 
sides  were  black  and  blue  from  the  kicking  heels 
that  had  urged  him  on  to  his  best  paces,  and  the 
corners  of  his  mouth  were  torn  from  cruel  bits 
guided  by  jerking  hands.  People  who  were  ob- 
jects of  the  witch's  spite  found  a  brood  of  downy 
young  chicks  in  their  chests,  and  piles  of  sprawl- 
ing kittens  under  the  half  bushel ;  and  they  over- 
heard deep,  cavernous  voices,  and  fine  piping 
ones,  in  conclave  at  midnight  up  in  the  air  and 
the  tree-tops,  and  under  the  dead  leaves  and  be- 
side the  chimney ;  and  tracks,  with  a  cloven  foot 
among  them,  were  discernible.  Think  of  the 
misery  of  a  poor  creature  reputed  to  be  a  witch, 
met  in  her  own  lowly  cabin  by  a  weeping  mother 
beseeching  her  to  remove  the  spell  of  incantation 
that  her  sick  child  might  recover !  No  denial  of 
the  absurd  charge  could  avail  her ;  no  sympathy 
offered  was  accepted;  and  the  foolish  mother 
could  do  no  more  than  return  home,  burn  some 
woolen  rags  to  impregnate  the  out-door  air,  stand 
the  child  on  its  head  while  she  could  count  fifty 
backwards,  grease  its  spine  with  the  oil  of  some 
wild  animal,  cut  the  tip  hairs  off  the  tail  of  a  black 
cat  and  bind  them  on  the  forehead  of  the  perse- 
cuted one,  while  she  repeated  a  certain  sentence 
in  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Then,  in  her  own  lan- 
guage, "  If  the  child  died,  why,  it  jes'  died ;  and  if 
it  lived,  it  lived." 

A  superstitious  old  man  was  often  found  who 
could  divine  secrets,  tell  fortunes,  fortell  events, 
find  the  places  where  money  was  buried,  cure 
wens  by  words,  blow  the  fire  out  of  burns,  mum- 
ble over  felons  and  catarrhs,  romove  warts,  and, 
with  his  mineral  ball  search  out  where  stolen 
goods  were  hidden.  The  "  mineral  ball "  to  which 
the  superstitious  ascribed  such  marvelous  power. 


was  no  less  than  one  of  those  hairy  calculi  found 
in  the  stomachs  of  cattle,  a  ball  formed  com- 
pactly of  the  hair  which  collects  on  the  tongue 
of  the  animal  while  licking  itself.  This  man, 
one  of  the  class  whose  taint  infects  every  neigh- 
borhood, could  not  from  any  consideration  be 
prevailed  upon  to  leave  a  graveyard  first  of  all, 
"  Why,  drat  it !  "  he  would  say, "  it's  sure  and  sar- 
tin  death;  never  knowed  a  fellow  to  leave  the 
graveyard .  fust,  but  what  he'd  be  the  next  'un 
planted  there ! "  When  an  old  neighbor  of  his 
died  suddenly,  this  man  said,  with  his  thumbs 
hooked  in  his  trousers'  pockets  restfully :  "  Why, 
drat  him,  he  might  a  know'd  more'n  to  leave  the 
graveyard  fust  man !  As  soon  as  I  seed  him  do 
it,  I  says  to  myself,  says  I, '  Dan  you're  a  goner ; 
you're  done  for ;  they'll  tuck  you  unter  next 
time,  an'  nobody  but  your  booby  of  a  self  to 
blame  for  it!'" 

On  the  frontier,  and  particularly  among  those 
who  were  much  in  the  habit  of  hunting  and  go- 
ing on  scouts  and  campaigns,  the  dress  of  the 
men  was  partly  Indian  and  partly  that  of  civil- 
ized nations.  The  hunting  shirt  was  universally 
worn.  This  was  a  kind  of  a  loose  frock  reaching 
half  way  down  the  thighs,  with  large  sleeves, 
open  at  the  front,  and  so  large  as  to  lap  over  a 
foot  or  more  when  belted.  The  cape  waslarge  and 
sometimes  fringed  with  a  raveled  piece  of  cloth  of 
a  different  color  from  that  of  the  hunting  shirt 
itself.  The  bosom  of  the  hunting  shirt  served  as 
a  pocket  to  hold  bread,  cakes,  jerk,  tow  for  wip- 
ing the  gun-barrel,  or  any  other  necessary  article 
for  the  hunter  or  warrior.  The  belt,  which  was 
always  tied  behind,  answered  several  purposes 
besides  that  of  holding  the  dress  together.  In 
cold  weather  the  mittens  and  sometimes  the  bul- 
let-bag occupied  the  front  part  of  it.  To  the 
right  side  was  suspended  the  tomahawk,  and  to 
the  left  the  scalping-knife  in  its  leathern  sheath. 

The  hunting  shirt  was  generally  made  of  lin- 
sey,  sometimes  of  coarse  linen  or  deer  skins. 
These  last  were  very  cold  and  uncomfortable  in 
wet  weather.  A  pair  of  drawers,  or  breeches, 
and  leggins  were  the  dress  for  the  thighs,  a  pair 
of  moccasins  answered  for  the  feet.  These  were 
made  of  dressed  deer  skin,  and  were  mostly  of  a 
single  piece,  with  a  gathering  seam  on  the  top  of 
the  foot  and  another  from  the  bottom  of  the  heel, 


272 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


without  gathers,  as  high  or  a  httle  higher  than 
the  ankle  joint.  Flaps  were  left  on  each  side  to 
reach  some  distance  up  the  legs.  These  were 
nicely  adapted  to  the  ankles  and  lower  part  of  the 
leg  by  thongs  of  deer  skin,  so  that  no  dust,  gravel 
or  snow  could  get  within  the  moccasins.  In  cold 
weather  the  moccasins  were  stuffed  with  deer's 
hair  or  dry  leaves  to  keep  the  feet  warm,  bvit  in 
wet  weather  it  was  usually  said  that  wearing 
them  was  "  a  decent  way  of  going  barefooted ; " 
and  such  was  the  fact,  owing  to  the  spongy  text- 
ure of  the  leather  of  which  they  were  made. 
Owing  to  this  defective  covering  for  the  feet 
•  more  than  to  any  other  circumstance,  the  greater 
number  of  the  hunters  and  warriors  were  often 
afflicted  with  rheumatism  in  their,  limbs.  Of 
this  disease  they  were  all  apprehensive  in  cold 
and  wet  weather,  and  therefore  always  slept  with 
their  feet  to  the  fire  to  prevent  or  cure  it  as  well 
as  they  could.  This  practice,  unquestionably, 
had  a  very  salutary  effect,  and  prevented  many 
of  them  from  becoming  confirmed  cripples  in 
early  life. 

In  the  latter  years  of  the  Indian  war  the  young 
men  became  more  enamored  of  the  Indian  dress. 
The'  drawers  were  laid  aside  and  the  leggins  made 
longer,  so  as  to  reach  the  upper  part  of  the  thigh. 
The  Indian  breech-cloth  was  adopted.  This  was 
a  piece  of  linen  or  cloth  nearly  a  yard  long  and 
eight  or  nine  inches  broad ;  it  passed  under  the 
belt  before  and  behind,  leaving  the  end  for  flaps 
hanging  before  and  behind  over  the  belt.  The 
flaps  were  sometimes  ornamented  with  some 
coarse  kind  of  embroidery  work.  To  the  belt 
were  also  secured  the  strings  to  which  the  leggins 
were  attached  when  this  belt,  as  was  often  the 
case,  passed  over  the  hunting  shirt,  the  upper 
part  of  the  thighs  and  part  of  the  hips  were 
naked. 

Sometimes,  in  winter,  a  waistcoat  of  the  skin  of 
a  panther,  wildcat  or  spotted  fawn  was  worn.  In 
summer,  when  it  could  be  had,  linen  was  made 
up  into  wearing  apparel.  The  flax  was  grown  in 
the  summer,  scutched  in  the  fall;  and  during  the 
long  winter  evenings  was  heard  the  buzz  of  the 
little  flax- wheel,  which  had  a  place  in  every  cabin. 
Even  those  who  are  not  pioneers  can  remember 
this  flax-wheel,  for  it  was  in  use  as  late  as  1850,  or 
later.    It  stood  in  a  corner,  generally  ready  for 


use  by  having  a  large  bundle  of  flax  wrapped 
around  its  forked  stick,  a  thread  reaching  to  the 
spindle,  and  a  little  gourd  filled  with  water  hang- 
ing conveniently  at  the  bottom  ot  the  flax-stick, 
and  whenever  the  good  pioneer  mother  had  a  lit- 
tle spare  time  from  cooking  for  a  dozen  work 
hands,  caring  for  a  dozen  children,  milking  a 
dozen  cows,  and  taking  care  of  the  milk  and  but- 
ter, besides  doing  all  the  housework  and  keeping 
everything  clean  and  neat  as  a  pin,  she  would  sit 
down  to  this  wheel  and  with  foot  on  the  treadle, 
and  nimble  fingers,  pile  thread  upon  thread  on 
the  spindle,  to  be  reeled  off  on  a  wooden  reel  that 
counted  every  yard  with  a  snap,  and  then  it  was 
ready  for  the  great  loom  that  occupied  the  loft. 
This  loom  was  a  wonder— it  would  be  a  wonder 
to-day,  with  its  great  beams,  larger  than  any 
beams  they  put  in  the  houses  of  to-day — ^its 
treadles,  its  shuttles,  etc.  Day  after  day  could  be 
heard  the  pounding  of  that  loom,  the  treadles 
went  up  and  down,  the  shuttles  flew  swiftly  from 
one  hand  to  another  through  the  labyrinth  of 
warp,  and  yard  after  yard  of  cloth  rolled  upon  the 
great  roller.  And  then  this  cloth  was  to  be  cut 
into  little  and  big  clothes  and  made  up  with  the 
needle;  and,  remember,  this  and  a  great  deal 
more  than  any  one  can  think  of  was  to  be  gone 
through  with  every  year.  Wool  went  through 
about  the  same  operation,  only  it  was  spun  on  the 
large  wheel,  colored  with  butternut  bark  and 
other  things,  but  woven  on  the  loom  and  made  up 
for  winter  clothing. 

Judge  William  Johnson,  in  an  address  at  a 
pioneer  meeting,  says  regarding  this  matter  of 
clothing : 

But  innovations  were  soon  made.  My  father 
had  brought  out  a  huge  trunk  full  of  coarse 
broadcloth,  and  this  tempted  the  young  men  to 
have  coats  to  be  married  in.  They  would  bargain 
with  my  father  for  the  cloth  and  trimmings,  and 
with  my  mother  for  making  the  coat,  and  pay 
both  bills  by  grubbing,  making  rails  or  clearmg 
land.  It  may  seem  odd  at  this  day  that  a  woman 
of  small  stature,  besides  doing  her  own  house- 
work, should  make  200  rails  a  day  with  her 
needle  and  shears,  and  find  time  for  reading  and 
mental  culture  every  day.  I  never  think  of  my 
mother's  tailoring  skill,  without  being  reminded 
of  one  instance.  A  young  mai*  had  purchased 
the  cloth  for  his  wedding  coat,  and,  as  a  measure 
of  economy,  employed  one  Nancy  Clark  to  make 
it  up.    Nancy  was  an  expert  on  hunting-shiris. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


273 


buckskin  breeches  and  "  sich,"  but  had  never  cut 
a  coat,  so  my  mother  exit  out  the  coat.  Nancy 
made  it  up,  but  on  the  eve  of  the  wedding,  when 
tried  on,  instead  of  allowing  his  arms  to  hang 
gracefylly  by  his  side,  as  became  a  bride-groom, 
it  turned  him  int(5  a  spread  eagle  with  arms  ex- 
tended upward.  The  wedding  day  was  at  hand, 
and,  in  his  perplexity,  he  brought  the  coat  to  my 
mother  to  diagnose  its  disorder,  and,  if  possible, 
administer  the  proper  remedies.  She  found  there 
was  nothing  more  serious  than  that  Nancy  had 
sewed  the  right  sleeve  in  the  left  side,  and  the 
left  sleeve  in  the  right,  and  put  them  upside  down. 
As  luxury  and  extravagance  in  dress  increased, 
an  old  tailor,  with  shears,  goose  and  sleeve-board, 
began  to  "whip  the  cat"  around  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  my  mother's  occupation  except  in  her 
own  family,  "was  gone.  The  custom  of  whipping 
the  cat,  both  for  tailors  and  shoemakers,  was  in 
vogue  many  years  after,  and,  like  the  school- 
master bparding  around,  had  this  advantage,  that 
if  they  received  poor  pay  for  their  work,  they 
were  fed  and  lodged  while  they  were  about  it. 

But  the  material  for  winter  clothing  was  hard 
to  get  As  the  woolen  goods  wore  out,  my  father 
bought  six  sheep  to  commence  with,  and  within 
the  first  week  the  wolves  chased  the  old  dog  under 
the  cabin  ftoor,  and  killed  two  of  them  w'ithin  a 
few  yards  of  the  cabin  door.  On  account  of  the 
scarcity  of  wool,  many  a  night  I  sat  up  until 
midnight,  with  a  pair  of  hand-cards,  mixing  wool 
with  rabbit's  fur,  and  carding  them  together, 
while  my  mother  spun  and  knit  thend  into  mittens 
and  stockings  for  her  children  to  wear  to  school. 

"  Kicking  frolics  "  were  in  vogue  in  those  early 
times.  This  was  after  wool  was  more  plenty,  and 
it  was  carded,  spun  and  wove  into  cloth.  Half  a 
dozen  young  men,  and  an  equal  number  of  young 
women  (for  the  "  fun  of  the  thing  "  it  was  always 
necessary  to  preserve  a  balance  of  this  kind),  were 
invited  to  the  kicking  frolic.  The  cabin  floor 
was  cleared  for  action  and  half  a  dozen  chairs,  or 
stools,  placed  in  a  circle  in  the  centre  and  con- 
nected by  a  cord  to  prevent  recoil.  On  these  the 
six  young  men  seated  themselves  with  boots  and 
stocking  off,  and  pants  rolled  up  above  the  knee. 
Just  think  of  making  love  in  that  shape !  The 
cloth  was  placed  in  the  center,  wet  with  soap  suds, 
and  then  the  kicking  commenced  by  measured 
,  «teps,  driving  the  bundle  of  cloth  round  and 
round,  the  elderly  lady  with  gourd  in  hand  pour- 
ing on  more  soap  suds,  and  every  now  and  then, 
with  spectacles  on  nose  and  yard-stick  in  hand, 
measuring  the  goods  until  they  were  shrunk  to 
the  desired  width,  and  then  calling  the  lads  to  a 


dead  halt.  Then,  while  the  lads  put  on  hose  and 
boots,  the  lasses,  with  sleeves  rolled  up  above  the 
elbow,  rung  out  the  cloth  and  put  it  on  the  garden 
fence  to  dry.  When  this  was  done,  the  cabin 
floor  was  again  cleared  and  the  supper  spread, 
after  which,  with  their  numbers  increased  some- 
what, perhaps,  they  danced  the  happy  hours  of 
the  night  away  until  midnight,  to  the  music  of  a 
violin  and  the  commands  of  some  amateur  cotil- 
lion caller,  and  were  ready  to  attend  another  such 
frolic  the  following  night. 

The  costume  of  the  woman  deserves  a  passing 
notice.  The  pioneers  proper,  of  course,  brought 
with  them  something  to  wear  like  that  in  use 
where  they  came  from;  but  this  could  not  last 
always,  and  new  apparal,  such  as  the  new  coun- 
try afforded,  had  to  be  provided.  Besides,  the 
little  girls  sprang  up  into  womanhood  with  the 
rapidity  of  the  native  butter  weed,  and  they  must 
be  made  both  decent  and  attractive,  and  what  is 
more,  they  were  willing  to  aid  in  making  them- 
selves so.  The  flax  patch,  therefore,  became 
a  thing  of  as  prime  necessity  as  the  truck  patch. 
On  the  side  next  to  the  woods  the  flax  grew  tall, 
slender  and  delicate,  and  was  carefully  pulled  by 
the  girls,  and  kept  by  itself,  to  make  finery  of. 
The  stronger  growth  did  well  enough  for  cloth- 
ing for  the  men,  and  warp  for  the  linsey-wolsey, 
and  everyday  dresses  for  the  women,  but  for 
Sundays,  when  everbody  went  to  "  meeting,"  the 
girls,  especially,  wanted  something  nice,  just  as 
they  do  to-day.  This  fine  flax,  therefore,  was 
carefully  pulled,'carefully  rotted,  carefully  broken, 
carefully  scutched,  carefully  hackled,  carefully 
spun,  carefully  dyed  in  divers  colors,  and  care- 
fully woven  in  cross-barred  figures,, tastefully  di- 
versified, straining  a  point  to  get  turkey-red 
enough  to  put  a  single  thread  between  the  duller 
colors,  to  mark  their  outline  like  the  circle 
around  a  dove's  eye.  Of  such  goods  the  rustic 
beauty  made  her  Sunday  gown,' and  then  with 
her  Vandyke  of  snow-white  homespun  linen,  her 
snow-white  home-knit  stockings,  and  possibly 
white  kid^slippers,  she  was  a  sight  for  sore  eyes 
and  often  for  sore  hearts.  No  paint  or  arsenic 
was  needed,  for  active  exercise  in  the  open  air, 
under  a  sun-bonnet,  or  a  broad-brimmed  hat, 
made  by  her  mother  out  of  rye  straw,  gave  her 
cheek  an  honest,'healthful  glow,  and  to  her  eyes 


274 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  brightness  and  the  beauty  of  the  fawn's. 
Possibly  those  white  kid  sHppers  have  caused  a 
nod  of  skepticism.  This  is  the  way  it  was  done : 
Her  brother,  or  lover,  shot  six  fine  squirrels ;  she 
tanned  the  skins  herself  in  a  sugar-trough,  and 
had  them  done  up,  at  a  considerable  expense  and 
trouble,  to  wear  on  Sundays  and  state  occasions. 
Possibly  it  may  be  wondered  how  the  shppers 
would  look  after  walking  five  or  ten  miles  through 
the  mud  to  church,  as  was  frequently  done.  There 
were  ways  of  doing  these  things  that  were  only 
whispered  among  the  girls,  but  have  leaked  out — 
and  the  same  process  was  indulged  in  more  or  less 
by  young  men,  who  were  fortunate  enough  to  own 
a  pair  of  fine  boots — and  that  was  to  wear  the  every- 
day shoes  or  boots,  or  go  barefoot  to  wfthin  a 
few  rods  of  the  "  meeting-house,"  and  then  step 
into  the  woods  and  take  the  wraps  from  the 
precious  shoes  and  put  them  on. 

Linen  for  Sunday  clothes  was  made  of  copper- 
as and  was  white,  checked  or  striped,  and  when 
bleached  was  very  pretty  and  soft.  For  very 
choice  wear  it  was  all  flax ;  for  every  day  or  second 
best,  the  warp  was  flax  and  the  filling  tow.  Lin- 
sey-woolsey, or  linsey,  was  wool  and  cotton,  very 
much  the  same  as  water-proof  or  repellant  is  now, 
only  that  it  was  harsh  and  not  finished.  Dye- 
sfuffs  in  early  times  were  in  reach  of  all — butter- 
nut or  walnut  hulls  colored  brown;  oak  bark 
with  copperas  dyed  black;  hickory  bark  or  the 
blossoms  of  the  goldenrod  made  yellow ;  madder, 
red ;  and  indigo,  blue ;  green  was  obtained  by  first 
coloring  yellow,  and  then  dipping  into  blue  dye. 
Stocking  yarn  was  dyed  black,  brown  or  blue ; 
and,  for  very  choice  stockings,  strips  of  corn 
husks  were  lapped  tightly  in  two  or  three  places 
around  a  skein  of  yarn,  and  dyed  blue.  When 
the  husks  were  removed,  whitish  spots  were 
found,  and  the  rare  "  clouded  "  yarn  was  the  re- 
sult. The  little  tub  of  blue  dye,  with  its  close- 
fitting  cover,  stood  in  the  warm  corner  in  every 
well  regulated  household,  and  it  made  a  very  con- 
venient seat,  and  the  cover  was  always  worn 
smooth.  Many  a  lad  inclined  to  matrimony  has 
sneaked  slyly  along  and  seated  himself  on  the 
dye-tub  as  soon  as  the  old  folks  retired.  When 
carding  machines  came  and  lessened  the  labor  of 
the  toiling  women,  one  of  the  first  indications  of 
anything  as  fine  as  "  store  clothes "  was  the  soft, 


pressed  flannel,  grand  enough  for  any  uncommon 
occasion,  called  "  London  brown.''  The  folds  lay 
in  it,  and  it  shone  to  eyes  accustomed  to  look 
upon  nothing  finer  than  home-made  barred  flan- 
nel, like  lustrous  satin.  It  smelt  of  th^  shop, 
however ;  the  odor  of  dye-stuflf  and  grease  and 
gummy  machinery  clung  to  it  for  a  long  while 
About  this  time  a  better  quality  of  men's  wear- 
ing apparel  appeared  in <  the  same  wonderful 
color  of  London  brown ;  and,  to  young  men  com- 
ing of  age,  who  had  been  indentured  boys,  the 
beautiful  "  freedom  suit "  was  valued  higher  than 
the  horse,  saddle  and  bridle. 

It  is  just  barely  possible  .there  is  a  lady  in  to- 
day's society,  who,  with  five  pound  of  colored 
hemp  on  the  back  of  her  head  and  thirty-five 
yards  of  silk  velvet  in  her  train,  would  be  unchar- 
itable enough  to  laugh  at  these  pioneer  mothers 
and  daughters;  if  so,  those  whose  opinions  are 
worth  anything  fully  understand  that  there  was 
more  work  an,d  worth,  more  value  to  the  world 
and  the  community  in  which  she  lived,  in  the 
little  finger  of  one  of  these  pioneers  than  in  the 
whole  body,  train,  hair  and  all,  of  the  aforesaid 
"  lady.''  By  the  testimony  of  all  history,  luxury 
tends  to  degeneracy.  If  the  clothes  of  the  pion- 
eers were  poor,  they  made  up  in  brain  and  heart. 
The  tables  are  turned — the  vacuum  of  brain  and 
heart  is  filled  with  fine  clothes.  Let  it  be  remem- 
bered that  the  solidity  and  value  of  this  beautiful 
structure  called  society,  lies  in  the  foundation— 
in  the  pioneer  fathers  and  mothers,  and  it  is  only 
because  of  this  solid  foundation  that  the  structure 
is  able  to  stand  at  all. 

The  great  days  among  the  pioneers  were  the 
Fourth  of  July  and  those  upon  which  the  militia 
assembled  for  muster.  These  were  the  holidays, 
when  the  people  ceased,  from  labor  and  turned 
out  en  masse,  and  when  plenty  of  fun  and  whisky 
were  expected.  The  place  of  assembling  was 
generally  in  some  clearing  near  some  "  tavern," 
the  landlady  of  which  had  the  reputation  of  be- 
ing a  good  cook.  There  was  plenty  of  drum- 
ming, fifing  and  noise,  and  somebody  was  always 
found  who  could  readily  perform  the  duties  of 
president  of  the  meeting;  somebody  who  could 
read  the  toasts,  and  somebody  who  had  been  un- 
der Harrison  or  Van  Rensselaer  as  orderly  ser- 
geant, to  act  as  marshal.    Plenty  of  men  were 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


275 


ready  to  read  that  wonderful  document,  the 
"  Declaration,"  for  among  the  settlers  were  not 
only  many  excellent  scholars  and  gentlemen,  but 
here  and  there  could  be  found  a  veritable  graduate 
o£  Yale  college.  When  no  minister  was  prese'nt 
to  act  as  chaplain,  a  good  pious  man  was  called  to 
'  that  post.  If  the  meeting  did  not  end  with  a 
grand  ring  fight,  the  people  went  home  disap- 
pointed. 

The  houses  or  huts,  in  which  these  pioneers 
lived  have  been  often  described;  their  form  and 
proportion's,  and  general  appearance  have  been 
repeatedly  impressed  upon  the  mind  of  the  stu- 
dent of  history.  They  were  built  of  round  logs 
with  the  bark  on,  and  side  chimneys  of  mud  and 
sticks,  puncheon  floors,  clapboard  roof,  with  and 
without  a  loft  or  second  floor,  and  all  put  together 
without  a  nail  or  particle  of  iron  from  top  to  bot- 
tom. These  buildings  stood  many  a  year  after 
the  original  inhabitants  moved  into  better  quar- 
ters. They  served  for  stables,  sheep-pens,  hay- 
houses,  pig-pens,  smith-shops,  hen-houses,  loom- 
shops,  school-houses,  efce.  Some  of  them  are  yet 
standing  in  this  county,  and  occuped,  to  some 
extent,  in  some  portions  of  the  county  as  dwell- 
ings. A  specimen  of  one  of  these  appears  in  the 
upper  right  hand  comer  of  the  accompanying 
cut. 

A  second  grade  of  log  cabin,  built. later,  was 
quite  an  improvement  on  the  first,  being  made 
of  hewn  logs,  with  sawed  lumber  for  door  and 
window  frames  and  floors.  Glass  also  took  the 
place  of  paper  windows  of  the  old  cabin;  nails 
were  also  sparingly  used  in  these  better  cabins. 
It  was  sometimes  built  near  the  old  one  and  con- 
nected with  it  by  a  covered  porch,  as  shown  in 
the  cut.  When  nails  were  first  used,  for  a  few 
years  a  pound  of  them  was  exchanged  for  a  bushel 
of  wheat.  They  were  a  precious  article,  and  were 
made  by  hand  on  a  blacksmith's  anvil,  out  of  odds 
and  ends  of  old  worn-out  sickles,  scythes,  broken 
clevis-pins,  links  of  chains,  broken  horseshoes, 
etc.,  all  welded  together  to  eke  out  the  nail-rods 
from  which  they  we;re  forged.  The  first  cabins 
were  often  erected,  ready  for  occupation,  in  a 
single  day.  In  an  emergency,  the  pioneers  col- 
lected together,  often  going  eight  or  ten  miles  to 
a  cabin-raising,  and,  in  the  great  woods  where 
not  a  tree  had  been  felled  or  a  stpne  turned,  begin 


with  dawn  the  erection  of  a  cabin.  Three  or  four 
wise  builders  would  set  the  corner-stones,  lay 
with  the  square  and  level  the  first  round  of  logs ; 
two  men  with  axes  would  cut  the  trees  and  logs ; 
one  with  his  team  of  oxen,  a  "  lizzard  "  and  a  log- 
chain  would  "  snake  "  thefti  in ;  two  more,  with 
axes,  cross-cut  saw  and  frow,  would  make  the 
clapboards ;  two  more,  with  axes,  cross-cut  saw 
and  broad-axe  would  hew  out  the  puncheons  and 
flatten  the  upper  side  of  the  sleepers  and  joists. 
Four  skillful  axemen  would  carry  up  the  cor- 
ners, and  the  remainder,  with  skids  and  forks 
or  handspikes,  would  roll  up  the  logs.  As  soon 
as  the  joists  were  laid  on,  the  cross-cut  saw  was 
brought  from  the  woods,  and  the  two  men  went 
to  work  cutting  out  the  door  and  chimney  place '. 
and  while  the  corner  men  were  building  up  the 
attic  and  putting  on  the  roof,  the  carpenters  and 
masons  of  the  day  were  putting  down  the  punch- 
eons, laying  the  hearth  and  building  the  chim- 
ney high  enough  to  keep  out  the  beasts,  wild  or 
tame.  In  one  corner,  at  a  distance  of  six  feet 
from  one  wall  and  four  from  the  other,  the  bed- 
post was  placed — only  one  being  needed.  A  hole 
was  bored  in  the  puncheon  floor  for  the  purpose 
of  setting  this  post  in,  which  was  usually  a  stick 
with  a  crotch  or  fork  in  the  upper  end ;  or,  if  an 
augur  is  not  at  hand,  a  hole  is  cut  in  the  punch- 
eon floor,  and  the  fork  sharpened  and  driven  into 
the  ground  beneath ;  rails  were  laid  from  this 
fork  to  the  wall,  and,  usually,  nice,  straight,  hick- 
ory poles  formed  the  bottom,  upon  which '  straw 
or  leaves  were  placed  and  the  blanket  put  on. 
This  made  a  comfortable  spring  bed,  and  was 
easily  changed  and  kept  clean.  Often  the  chink- 
ing and  daubing  of  the  walls,  putting  in  windows 
and  hanging  the  door  were  left  until  fall  or  some 
leisure  time  after  the  corn  crop  and  the  contents 
of  the  truck  patch  were  secured.  Often  th6  pio- 
neers did  not  erect  a  cabin  at  all  until  a  crop  was 
secured — living,  "meanwhile,  in  their  covered 
wagons,  and  cooking  beside  a  log  in  the  open  air, 
or  erecting  a  "  pole  cabin,"  or  "  brush  cabin," 
mere  temporary  affairs,  to  shelter  the  family  un- 
til time  could  be^  had  for  erecting  a  permanent 
one.  The  saving  of  the  crop  Avas  of  more  import- 
ance during  the  summer  season  than  shelter; 
but  when  the  first  frost  came,  a  sure  indication 
of  approaching  winter,  active  preparations  were 


^6 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


made  for  the  permanent  cabin,  and  the  work  was 
pushed  forward  until  a  snug  cabin  stood  in  the 
midst  of  the  forest,  with  a  clearing  around  it, 
made  principally  by  cutting  down  the  trees  for 
the  building.  Every  crack  was  chinked  and 
daubed  with  ordinary  clay  mixed  with  water, 
.and  when  completed,  and  a  fire  of  hickory  logs 
in  the  great  fire-place,  no  amount  of  cold  could 
seriously  disturb  the  inmates.  The  heavy  door 
was  hung  on  wooden  hinges,  and  all  that  was 
necessary  to  lock  it  at  night  was  to  pull  the  latch- 
.string  inside,  and  the  strong  wooden  latch  held  it 
fast  against  wild  animals  and  storms.  Thieves 
there  were  none,  and  even  had  there  been,  there 
was  nothing  in  the  hut  of  a  settler  to  tempt  their 
cupidity.  Many  of  these  cabins  had  no  loft  or 
second  floor,  but  when  this  was  added  it  was  used 
as  a  sleeping  room  for  the  younger  members  of 
the  family,  and  a  general  store-room  for  the 
household  goods,  and  often  for  the  corn  crop  and 
contents  of  the  truck  patch. 

Regarding  the  future  of  these  cabins.  Judge 
Johnson  says : 

The  furniture  of  the  backwoods  matched  the 
architecture  well.  There  were  a  few  quaint 
specimens  of  cabinet  work  dragged  into  the  wil 
derness,  but  these  were  sporadic  and  not  com- 
mon. I  can  best  describe  it  by  what  I  saw  in  my 
father's  house.  First  of  all  a  table  had  to  be  im- 
provised, and  there  was  no  cabinet-maker  to 
make  it,  and  no  lumber  to  make  it  of.  Our  floor 
was  laid  with  broad  chestnut  puncheons,  well  and 
smoothly  hewn,  for  the  obsolete  art  of  hewing 
timber  was  then  in  its  prime.  Father  took  one 
of  these  puncheons,  two  feet  and  a  half  broad, 
putting  two  narrow  ones  in  its  place,  bored  four 
large  augur  holes  and  put  in  four  legs,  or  round 
poles  with  the  bark  on.  On  this  hospitable  board 
many  a  wholesome  meal  was  spread,  and  many 
an  honest  man,  and  many  a  wayworn  stranger, 
ate  his  fill  and  was  grateful. 

On  great  occasions,  when  an  extension  table 
was  needed,  the  door  was  lifted  off  its  hinges  and 
added  to  the  puncheon.  What  we  sat  upon  first 
I  cannot  conjecture ;  but  I  remember  well  when 
my  father  loaded  his  horses  down  with  wheat 
and  corn,  and  crossed  the  country  a  distance  of 
eight  or  ten  miles,  and  brought  home,  in  ex- 
change, a  set  of  oak  splint-bottomed  chairs,  some 
of  which  are  intact  to  this  d^y.  Huge  band- 
boxes, made  of  blue  ash  bark,  supplied  the  place 
of  bureaus  and  wardrobes ;  and  a  large  tea  chest 
cut  in  two,  and  hung  by  strings  in  the  corners, 
with  the  hollow  sides  outward,  constituted  the 
book-cases.  A  respectable  old  bedstead,  still  in  the 


family,  was  lugged  across  from  Red  Stone.  An 
old  turner  and  wheelwright  added  a  trundle-bed, 
and  the  rest  were  hewn  and  whittled  out  accord- 
ing to  the  fashion  of  the  times,  to  serve  their  day 
and  be  supplanted  by  others  as  the  civilization  of 
the  country  advanced. 

But  the  grand  flourish  of  furniture  was  the 
dresser.  Here  were  spread  out  in  grand  display 
pewter  dishes,  pewter  plates,  pewter  basins  and 
pewter  spoons,  scoured  as  bright  as  silver. 

Money  was  scarce,  but  our  fathers  learned  to 
live  without  it.  All  was  barter.  The  preacher's 
stipend,  the  lawyer's  fee,  the  schoolmaster's  sal- 
ary, the  workman's  wages,  the  shoemakers  ac- 
count, the  tailor's  bill,  were  all  paid  in  barter. 

I  have  seen  my  father,  when  he  had  a  surplus 
of  grain  and  a  deficit  of  pigs,  fill  two  sacks  of 
corn,  and  on  the  backs  of  two  horses  carry  it  to  a 
distant  part  of  the  neighborhood  gnd  exchange  it 
for  four  shoats,  and  in  each  sack  thrust  one  shoat 
tail  foremost  and  another  head  foremost,  tie  up 
the  mouths  of  the  sack,  mount  them  on  horse- 
back, rip  a  hole  in  the  seam  of  the  sack  for  each 
snout  to  stick  out,  and  bring  them  home  to  be 
fattened  for  next  year's  pork.  Here  was  a  cur- 
rency—  a  denomination  of  greenbacks  which 
neither  required  the  pen  of  the  chancelor  of  the 
exchequer  to  make  it  legal  tender,  nor  the  judg- 
ment of  the  chief  justice  to  declare  it  constitu- 
tional. The  law  of  necessity  governs  in  every 
case,  and  wise  men  may  fret  every  hair  ofi'  their 
heads  without  changing  the  results.  . 

The  following  poem,  originally  published  in 
the  Cincinnati  Chronicle  in  1883,  portrays  so 
graphically  life  in  a  log  cabin  that  it  is  eminently 
worthy  of  preservation.  Although  written  by  a 
"  Hoosier,"  and  intended  to  portray  Hoosier  life, 
it  applies  equally  well  to  log  cabin  life  every- 
where : 

Suppose,  in  riding  through  tlie  West, 
A  stranger  found  a  "  Hoosier's  nest," 
In  otiier  words  a  buckeye  cabin 
Just  big  enough  to  hold  Queen  Mab  in ; 
Its  situation  low  but  airy, 
Was  on  the  borders  of  a  prairie. 
And  (earing  he  might  be  benighted, 
He  hailed  the  house  and  then  alighted. 
The  "  Hoosier  "  met  him  at  the  door, 
Their  salutations  soon  were  o'er ; 
He  took  the  stranger's  horse  aside 
And  to  a  sturdy  sapling  tied, 
Then  having  stripped  the  saddle  off, 
He  fed  him  in  a  sugar-trough. 
The  stranger  stooped  to  enter  in, 
The  entrance  closing  with  a  pin, 
And  manifests  a  strong  desire 
To  seat  himself  by  the  log-heap  fire, 
Where  half  a  dozen  Hoosieroons, 


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HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


279 


With  mush  and  milk,  tin-cups  and  spoons, 

White  heads,  hare  feet,  and  dirty  faces. 

Seemed  much  inclined  to  keep  their  places, 

But  madam  anxious  to  display 

Her  rough  and  xindisfiuted  sway, 

Her  offspring  to  the  ladder  led 

And  cufffed  the  youngsters  up  to  hed, 

Invited  shortly,  to  partake 

Of  venison,  milk  and  johnnycake, 

The  stranger  made  a  hearty  meal. 

And  glances  round  the  room  would  steal. 

One  side  was  lined  with  divers  garments. 

The  other  spread  with  skins  of  '  varments ;' 

Dried  pumpkins  overhead  were  strung, 


dred  acres  of  land,  and  no  more,  as  a  "  settlement 
right;"  and  as  the  first  settlers  of  this  and  ad- 
joining counties  were  largely  from  those  States, 
they  were,  of  course,  governed  largely  by  the 
habits,  customs  and  laws  of  those  States  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  of  these  on  this  side  of  the  river  ; 
therefore  many  of  the  first  settlers  seemed  to  re- 
gard this  amount  of  the  surface  of  the  earth  as  al- 
lotted by  Divine  Providence  for  one  family,  and 
believed  that  any  attempt  to  get  more  would  be 
sinful.    Most  of  them,  therefore,  contented  them- 


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A    PIONEER     HOME. 


Where  venison  hams  in  plenty  hung ; 
Two  rifles  were  placed  above  the  door. 
Three  dogs  lay  stretched  upon  the  floor — 
In  short,  the  domicil  was  rife 
With  specimens  of  Hoosier  life. 
The  host,  who  centered  his  aifections 
On  game,  and  range  and  quarter  sections. 
Discoursed  his  weary  guest  for  hours, 
Till  Somnus'  ever  potent  powers 
Of  sublunary  cares  bereft  'em. 

No  matter  how  the  story  ended — 
The  application  I  intended 
Is  from  the  famous  Scottish  poet, 
Who  seemed  to  feel  as  well  as  know  it. 
That  "  huirdly  chiels  and  clever  hizzies 
Are  bred  in  sic  a  way  as  this  is." 

The  early  land  laws  of  Western  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia  allowed  to  each  settler  four  hun- 

8 


selves  with  that  amount — although  they  might 
have  evaded  the  law,  which  allowed  but  one  set- 
tlement right  to  any  one  individual,  by  taking 
out  title  papers  in  other  than  their  own  names, 
to  be  afterward  transferred  to  them  as  if  by  pur- 
chase. Some  few  indeed,  pursued  this  course, 
but  it  was  generally  held  in  detestation. 

Owing  to  the  equal  distribution  of  real  prop- 
erty divided  by  the  land  laws,  and  the  sterling 
integrity  of  the  forefathers  in  the  observance  of 
them,  there  were  few,  if  any,  districts  of ."  sold 
land,"  as  it  was  called,  that  is  large  tracts  of  land 
in  the  hands  of  individuals  or  companies,  who 
neither  sold  nor  improved  them,  as  was  the  case 
in  Lower  Canada  and  some  parts  of  Pennsyl- 


280 


HISTOJJY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


vania.  True,  large  tracts  of  land  were  purchased 
by  companies,  but  this  was  done  almost  always 
for  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  settlement. 

The  earliest  settlers  had  become  so  accustomed 
to  "  getting  land  for  taking  it  up,"  that  for  a  long 
time  it  was  believed  that  the  lands  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Ohio  would  ultimately  be  disposed  of 
in  this  way;  hence  almost  the  whole  tract  of 
country  between  the  Ohio  and  Muskingum  rivers 
was  parcelled  out  in  what  was  familiarly  known 
as  "  tomahawk  rights ; "  that  is,  the  pioneer,  upon 
finding  a  suitable  location,  would  cut  his  name 
with  his  hatchet  or  knife  upon  the  trunk  of  a 
large  tree,  and  thus  lay  claim  to  four  hundred 
acres  of  land  about  that  spot.  Some  of  them 
were  not  satisfied  with  a  single  four  hundred- 
acre  tract,  but  laid  claim  in  this  way  to  a  number 
of  tracts  of  the  best  land,  and  thus,  in  imagina- 
tion, were  as  "wealthy  as  a  South  Sea  dr,eam." 
Some  of  these  land  jobbers  did  not  content  them- 
selves with  marking  trees  at  the  usual  height,  but 
climbed  the  large  beech  trees  and  cut  their  names 
in  the  bark  from  twenty  to  forty  feet  from  the 
ground.  To  enable  them  to  identify  those  trees 
at  a  future  period,  they  made  marks  on  other 
trees  around  for  references. 

Nor  was  it  an  easy  matter  to  dispossess  these 
squatters ;  their  claim  was  generally  respected  by 
the  settlers,  and  these  rights  were  often  bought 
and  sold,  those  who  subsequently  desired  these 
lands  for  permanent  settlement  preferred  to  pur- 
chase the  "  tomahawk  right ''  rather  than  enter 
into  quarrels  with  those  who  made  them. 

Hunting  occupied  a  large  portion  of  the  time 
of  the  pioneers.  Nearly  all  were  good  hunters, 
and  not  a  few  lived  almost  entirely  for  many 
years  on  the  results  of  the  chase.  -The  woods 
supplied  them  with  the  greater  amount  of  their 
subsistence,  and  often  the  whole  of  it ;  it  was  no 
uncommon  thing  for  families  to  live  several 
months  without  a  mouthful  of  bread  of  any  kind. 
It  frequently  happened  that  the  family  went  with- 
out breakfast  until  it  could  be  obtained  from  the 
woods. 

The  fall  and  early  part  of  winter  was  the  sea- 
son for  hunting  deer,  and  the  whole  of  the  winter, 
including  part  of  the  spring,  for  bears  and  fur- 
bearing  animals.    It  was  a  customary  saying  that 


fur  was  good  during  every  month  in  the  name  of 
which  tlie  letter  r  occurred. 

As  soon  as  the  leaves  were  pretty  well  down, 
and  the  weather  became  rainy,  accompanied  with 
light  snow,  the  pioneer  hunter,  who  had  probably 
worked  pretty  faithfully  on  his  clearing  during 
the  summer,  began  to  feel  uneasy  about  his  cabin 
home ;  he  longed  to  be  off  hunting  in  the  great 
woods.  His  cabin  was  too  warm ;  his  feather-led  t 
too  soft ;  his  mind  was  wholly  occupied  with  the 
camp  and  the  chase.  Hunting  was  not  a  mere 
ramble  in  pursuit  of  game,  in  which  there  was 
nothing  of  skill  and  calculation ;  on  the  contrary, 
the  hunter,  before  setting  out  in  the  morning, 
was  informed  by  the  state  of  the  weather  in  what 
situation  he  might  reasonably  expect  to  find  his 
game;  whether  on  the  bottoms,  on  the  hillsides 
or  hilltops.  In  stormy  weather  the  deer  always 
seek  the  most  sheltered  places,  and  the  leeward 
sides  of  the  hills ;  in  rainy  weather,  when  there 
was  not  much  wind,  they  kept  in  the  open  woods, 
on  high  ground.  In  the  early  morning,  if  pleas- 
ant, they  were  abroad,  feeding  in  edges  of  the 
prairie  or  swamp ;  at  noon  they  were  hiding  in 
the  thickets.  In  every  situation,  it  was  requisite 
for  the  hunter  to  ascertain  the  course  of  the  wind, 
so  as  to  get  to  leeward  of  the  game ;  this  he  often 
ascertained  by  placing  his  finger  in  his  mouth, 
holding  it  there  until  it  became  warm,  then  hold- 
ing it  above  his  head,  and  the  side  that  first 
cooled  indicated  the  direction  of  the  wind. 

These  hunters  needed  no  compass ;  the  trees, 
the  sun  and  stars  took  its  place.  The  bark  of  an 
aged  tree  is  much  thicker  and  rougher  on  the 
north  side  than  on  the  south;  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  the  moss;  it  is  much  thicker  and 
stronger  on  the  north  than  the  south  "side  of  the 
tree ;  hence  he  could  walk  freely  and  carelessly 
through  the  woods  and  always  strike  the  exact 
point  intended,  while  any  but  a  woodsman  would 
become  bewildered  and  lost. 

The  whole  business  of  the  hunter  consisted  of 
a  succession  of  intrigues.  From  morning  till 
night  he  was  on  the  alert  to  gain  the  wind  of  his 
game  and  make  his  approach  without  being  dis- 
covered. If  he  succeeded  in  killing  a  deer,  he 
skinned  it,  hung  it  up  out  of  reach  of  wolves,  and 
immediately  resumed  the  chase  until  evening, 
when  he  bent  his  course  toward  the  camp,  where 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


281 


Jie  cooked  and  ate  his  supper  with  a  keen  relish 
with  his  fellow-hunters,  after  which  came  the 
■pipe  and  the  rehearsal  of  the  adventures  of  the 
day.  The  spike  buck,  the  two  and  three  pronged 
buck,  the  doe  and  barren  doe,  figured  through 
their  anecdotes  with  great  advantage. 

A  wedding  among  the  pioneers  was  a  most 
-wonderful  event,  not  only  to  the  parties  immedi- 
ately interested,  but  to  the  whole  neighborhood. 
Teople  generally  married  young  in  those  days. 
There  was  no  distinction  of  rank  and  very  little 
of  fortune.  A  family  establishment  cost  little 
labor  and  nothing  else.  A  wedding  was  about 
the  only  gathering  at  which  the  guest  was  not 
required  to  assist  in  reaping,  log-rolling,  building 
■a  cabin  or  some  other  manual  labor. 

On  the  morning  of  the  wedding  day  the  groom 
and  his  attendants  assembled  at  the  house  of  his 
father,  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  the  house  of 
Tiis  bride  by  noon,  the  usual  time  for  celebrating 
the  nuptuals,and  which,  for  certain  reasons,  must 
take  place  before  dinner.  The  people  assembled 
from  great  distances,  on  foot  and  on  horseback, 
and  all  dressed  in  the  somewhat  fantastic  toggery 
of  the  backwoods.  The  dinner  was  generally  a 
substantial  one  of  beef,  pork,  fowl,  venison  and 
hear  meat,  roasted  and  boiled,  with  plenty  of 
potatoes,  cabbage  and  other  vegetables. 

After  dinner  the  dancing  commenced  and  gen- 
erally lasted  until  the  next  morning.  The  figures 
■of  the  dances  were  three  or  four-handed  reels,  or 
square  sets  and  jigs.  The  commencement  was 
always  a  square  four,  followed  by  what  was  called 
'"  jigging  it  off; "  that  is,  two  of  the  four  would 
begin  a  jig,  followed  by  the  other  couple.  The 
jig  was  often  accompanied  by  what  was  called 
■"cutting  out;"  that  is,  when  either  of  the  par- 
ties became  tired  of  thedance,  on  intimation  the 
place  was  supplied  by  some  one  of  the  company 
without  any  interruption  to  the  dance ;  in  this 
way  the  dance  was  often  continued  until  the  mu- 
sician was  heartily  tired  of  the  situation.  Toward 
the  latter  part  of  the  night,  if  any  of  the  com- 
pany, through  weariness,  attempted  to  conceal 
themselves  for  the  purpose  of  sleeping,  they  were 
brought  out,  paraded  on  the  floor,  and  the  fiddler 
ordered  to  play, "  We'll  all  hang  out  till  morning." 

About  nine  o'clock  a  deputation  of  young 
ladies  stole  off  the  bride,  and  put  her  to  bed,  after 


which  a  deputation  of  young  men,  in  like  man- 
ner, stole  off  the  groom  and  placed  him  snugly 
beside  his  bride.  If  the  couple  were  not  subse- 
quently disturbed  during  the  night  it  was  a  mira- 
cle. Generally,  in  the  small  hours  of  the  night, 
"  Black  Betty"  (the  bottle)  was  sent  up  to  them, 
or  carried  up  by  an  interested  delegation,  to- 
gether with  as  much  bread,  beef,  pork,  cabbage, 
etc.,  as  would  suffice  a  dozen  hungry  men,  and 
they  were  compelled  to  eat  and  drink  until  they 
would  hold  no  more. 

In  later  years,  if  there  was  an  older  unmarried 
brother  of  the  bride  present,  he  was  certain  to 
be  compelled  "  to  dance  in  the  hog-trough."  This 
somewhat  humiliating  operation  was  inflicted 
upon  him  as  a  lesson  to  bachelors.  Sometimes 
he  would  submit  quietly,  cheerfully,  and  grace- 
fully, marching  to  the  pig-pen  and  dancing  his 
jig  in  the  trough  from  which  the  swine  devoured 
the  off-fallings  of  the  cabin  table ;  at  other  times 
he  would  escape  from  his  assailants  and  seek 
safety  in  flight,  and  if  fleet  on  foot,  sometimes 
escaped ;  but  if  overtaken,  he  would  not  unf re- 
quently  fight  with  great  desperation,  and  it  often 
required  considerable  force  to  accomplish  the 
desired  object. 

The  feasting  and  dancing  often  lasted  several 
days,  during  which  there  was  much  drinking,  car 
rousing,  and  not  unfrequently,  fighting. 

After  the  wedding  the  next  duty  of  the  neigh- 
bors was  to  erect  a  cabin  for  the  young  conple, 
and  dedicate  it  by  a  "  house  warming "  before 
they  were  allowed  to ,  move  into  it.  This  house 
warming  consisted  of  a  twenty-four  hours'  dance 
and  carousal  in  the  new  cabin.  This  ended  the 
ceremony,  except  that  not  half  of  it  has  been 
told,  and  thereafter  the  couple  were  considered 
married,  according  to  the  laws  and  usages  of 
society. 

At  a  little  later  time,  say  from  1820  to  1840,  the 
the  pioneers  were  living  a  little  easier.  Their 
farms  were  partially  cleared,  many  of  them 
were  living  in  hewed  log  houses  and  many  in 
frame,  and  even  brick  houses.  Most  of  them 
had  barns  and  innumerable  out-houses.  They 
generally  had  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  hogs  and 
poultry,  and  were  living  in  comparative  comfort. 
Their  neighbors  were  near,  and  always  dear. 
Their  schools  and  churches  had  improved  some- 


282 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


what,  yet  even  at  this  late  day  there  were  hun- 
dreds of  log  school-houses  and  churches.  About 
three  months  in  a  year  was  all  the  schooling  a 
farmer's  boy  could  get.  He  was  sadly  needed  at 
home  from  the  age  of  five  years,  to  do  all  sorts  of 
chores  and  work  on  the  farm.  He  was  wanted 
to  drive  the  cows  to  water  and  to  pasture ;  to  feed 
the  pigs  and  chickens  and  gather  the  eggs.  His 
duties  in  the  summer  were  multifarious ;  the 
men  were  at  work  in  the  field  harvesting,  and 
generally  worked  from  early  morning  until  late 
at  night,  and  the  boys  were  depended  on  to  "  do 
the  chores ; "  hence  it  was  impossible  to  spare 
them  to  attend  school  in  summer.  There  was 
no  school  in  spring  and  fall.  In  winter  they 
were  given  three  months'  schooling — a  very  poor 
article  of  schooling,  too,  generally.  Their  books 
were  generally  anything  they  hapened  to  have 
about  the  house,  and  even  as  late  as  1850,  there 
was  no  system  in  the  purchase  of  school  books. 
Mr.  Smucker,  of  Newark,  Ohio,  says  his  first  read- 
ing books  at  school  were  Patrick  Gass'  Journal  of 
the  Lewis  and  plark  expedition  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  river  in  1804-  5-6 )  and  Weem's  Life  of 
Washington.  Parents  purchased  for  their  chil- 
dren whatever  book  pleased  their  fancy,  or  what- 
ever the  children  desired  them  to  purchase.  A 
geography  was  a  geography,  and  a  grammar  a 
grammar,  regardless  of  who  was  the  author. 
This  great  confusion  in  school  books  made  trouble 
for  the  teacher,  but  that  was  of  small  moment. 
He  was  hired  and  paid  to  teach  whatever 
branches,  out  of  whatever  books  the  parents 
thought  were  best.  The  branches  generally 
taught  in  the  early  schools,  however,  were  read- 
ing, writing,  spelling  and  arithmetic,  and,  later, 
geography  and  grammar.  Boys  attending  school 
but  three  months  in  a  year  made  but  little  pro- 
gress. They  began  at  the  beginning  of  their 
books  every  winter,  and  went  as  far  as  they  could 
in  three  months;  then  forgot  it  all  during  the 
nine  months  out  of  school,  commencing  again 
the  next  winter  just  where  they  commenced  the 
previous  one.  In  this  way  they  went  over  and 
over  the  same  lessons  every  year  under  differ- 
ent teachers  (for  many  of  the  teachers  only  taught 
one  term  in  a  place),  often  getting  no  further 
in  arithmetic  than  "  vulgar  fractions  "  or  the  "  rule 
of  three,"  and  in  their  old  Webster's  spelling 


books  the  first  class  probably  got  as  far  as  "  anti- 
scorbutic" and  maybe  through;  while  the  sec- 
ond class  would  get  as  far  as  "  cessation,"  and  the> 
the  third  class  probably  not  through  "baker," 
certainly  not  beyond  "amity."  There  were  al- 
ways three  or  four  classes  in  spelling,  and  this  ex- 
ercise was  the  last  before  school  was  dismissed  in 
the  evening.  Their  old  books  were  conned  over- 
year after  year,  until  they  were  worn  out  and  the 
children  grew  up  to  manhood  and  womanhood,, 
and  never  knew,  and  perhaps  do  not  know  to  this 
day,  what  was  in  the  back  part  of  them.  This 
was  the  kind  of  a  start  many  a  great  man  had.. 
These  scdools  can  not  be  despi.«ed  when  it  is  re- 
membered that  the  greatest  and  best  of  the  nation, . 
including  such  men  as  Abraham  Lincoln,  Edwin 
M.  Stanton  and  Stephen  A.  Douglass,  were  among 
the  boys  who  attended  them. 

There  was  always  much  competition  in  the 
spelling  classes  as  to  who  should  get  the  "head 
mark."  In  the  later  schools  it  was  the  custom 
that  the  best  speller  might  stand  at  the  head  until. 
he  missed,  when  the  one  who  spelled  the  word 
correctly  should  take  his  place,  and  he  then  stood 
next  to  the  head ;  but  they  did  things  differently 
in  the  earlier  schools ;  the  head  of  the  class  once 
gained  and  held  until  the  last  spelling  at  night,, 
the  head  mark  was  received  and  the  lucky  scholar 
then  took  his  place  at  the  foot  of  the  class,  to- 
again  work  his  way  gradually  to  the  head.  These- 
.classes  sometimes  contained  thirty  or  forty 
scholars,  and  it  was  somethingjof  an  undertaking 
to  get  from  the  foot  to  the  head.  Spelling-Schools 
were  the  beauty  and  glory  of  school-days.  The 
scholars  were  always  coaxing  the  teacher  to  ap- 
point a  night  for  a  spelling-school,  and  were 
usually  gratified  one  or  two  nights  in  a  month  or  ■ 
oftener.  A  night  was  chosen  when  the  moon 
shone,  and  the  sleighing  was  good,  and  then  the 
entire  neighborhood  and  perhaps  the  adjoining 
neighborhood  would  turn  out  to  the  spelling- 
school  ;  whole  families  came  on  the  great  two- 
horse  sled,  including  the  old  lady  and  gentleman, 
all  the  children,  little  and  big ;  even  the  baby  and 
the  dogs  Qame.  Schools  in  adjoining  districts  sent 
their  best  spellers  to  try  and  carry  off  the  honors.. 
The  old  log  school  house  was  crowded,  and  the 
great  box  stove,  cast  at  the  Mary  Ann  furnace,, 
in    Mary  Ann  township,  Licking  county,  and. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


28S 


which  stood  in  the  center  of  the  room  on  a  box 
of  bricks,  was  red  hot,  and  kept  so  during  the  en- 
tire evening.  Two  good  spellers  were  designated 
by  the  teacher  to  choose  sides,  and  everybody 
was  chosen  in  one  class  or  the  other ;  then  the 
spelling  began,  the  words  being  given  out  by  the 
teacher,' first  to  one  class  and  then  to  the  other, 
beginning  at  the  head.  A  tally  sheet  was  care- 
fully kept  to  see  who  missed  the  most  words. 
After  recess  the  "spelling  down"  was  indulged 
in ;  the  two  classes  stood  up,  and  whenever  a  word 
was  missed  the  speller  sat  down,  and  the  one  who 
.stood  up  after  all  had  been  spelled  down,  was  the 
hero  or  heroine  of  the  hour,  and  always  chosen 
first  in  future  contests. 

A  year  means  a  hundred-fold  more  now  than 
formerly.  History  is  made  rapidly  in  these  days. 
The  red  men's  trail  across  the  valley,  and  over 
the  hills,  and  along  the  river's  bank,  could  be 
traced  by  the  fewest  number  in  this  day ;  their 
favorite  haunts  and  play  grounds  are  shorn  of 
their  primal  charms  in  the  sweeping  aside  of  the 
grand  old  woodland.  The  cattle  upon  a  thou- 
sand hills  roam  over  the  land  that  they  loved,  and 
quench  their  thirst  in  the  brooks  and  pools,  that 
long  time  ago  mirrored  their  dusky  features. 
The  plowman  with  stolid  face  upturns  in  the 
brown  furrow  the  relic  that  their  fingers  deftly 
fashioned,  and  the  mattock  and  scraper  bring 
forth  to  the  glare  of  day  and  the  gaze  of  the  cu- 
rious, the  crumbling  brown  bones  of  the  chief- 
tain and  his  squaw;  and  the  contents  of  the  In- 
dian's grave,  the  moldering  clay,  will  live  anew 
in  a  pavement  to  be  trodden  under  the  foot  of 
men. 

"  Trough  the  land  where  we  for  ages 

Laid  our  bravest,  dearest  dead, 
Grinds  the  savage  wliite  man's  plowshare, 

Grinding  sire's  bones  for  bread." 

Ah,  these  old  Indian  graves  on  breezy  knolls 
and  reedy  river  banks — who  knows  but  the  site 
was  selected  by  the  sleepers  therein ;  who  knows 
but  they  dreamed  in  their  moody  moments  that 
the  tide  of  civilization  was  slowly  coming  nearer 
and  nearer,  to  crowd  aside  their  people  and  in- 
trude upon,  and  finally  possess  their  vast'  and 
beautiful  hunting  grounds  ? 

It  is  hard  to  be  reconciled  to  this  natural  order 
of  things ;  to  see  the  pioneers  passing  away ;  to 


see  them  stand  leaning  on  their  staves,  dim-eyed, 
and  with  white  locks  tossed  in  the  winds,  dazed 
at  the  change  that  has  stamped  its  seal  upon  the 
wilderness  whose  winding  paths  they  once  knew 
so  well.  They  beheld  it  slowly  laying  off  its 
primeval  wildness  and  beauty,  and  grandeur  of 
woods  and  waters,  until  now  it  blooms  like  unto 
the  garden  of  the  gods.  How  beautiful  the  labors 
of  their  hands !  How  much  we  owe  them !  But 
the  olden  time  is  passing  away  and  bearing  on  its 
bosom  the  dear  old  men  and  women  whose  "  like 
we  ne'er  shall  see  again."  The  glory  of  one  age 
is  not  dimmed  in  the  golden  glory  of  the  age  suc- 
ceeding it;  and  none  more  than  the  pioneers  of 
Coshoction  county  can  comprehend  its  growth 
and  its  change,  or  more  fully  appreciate  the  sad 
words  of  the  poet  when  he  sang  in  mournful 
strain — 

And  city  lots  are  staked  for  sale, 
AbQve  old  Indian  graves. 


CHAPTEE  XXVIII. 

THE   CANALS. 

A  Great  Work — Celebration  of  the  Opening  of  the  Ohio  Canal 
at  Licking  Summit — Work  on  the  Canal — First  Boat — Wal- 
bonding  Canal — Length,  Capacity  and  Business  of  the  Ca- 
nals. 

"We  make  of  Nature's  giant  powers 
The  slaves  of  human  art." 

— Whittiee. 

A  LARGE  majority  of  the  people  of  Ohio 
know  bul  littie  at  present  about  the  great 
Ohio  canal,  and  the  interest  taken  in  it  at  the 
commencement  of  the  work.  It  was  considered 
one  of  the  greatest  undertakings  of  the  age,  and, 
indeed,  was  the  beginning  of  that  grand  series  of 
internal  improvements  which  has  greatly  as- 
sisted in  placing  Ohio  amolfg  the  foremost  States 
of  the  Union.  The  following  history  of  this  great 
work  is  taken  mostly  from  the  writings  of  Col, 
John  Noble,  one  of  the  contractors  in  the  work, 
and  from  those  of  William  Wing,  Esq.,  deceased. 
Mr.  Wing  was  also  a  contractor  on  the  canal,  and 
-died  in  Columbus,  Ohio,  February  13,  1878,  in 
in  his  seventy-ninth  year.  He  was  well  versed 
in  the  pioneer  history  of  Central  Ohio,  and  has 
left  behind  him  writings  of  much  historical  value. 
Before  the  building  of  the  canal  this  county 
had  no  outlet  for  produce,  except  by  wagons  to 


284 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  lake,  or  by  boat  down  the  Muskingum  river, 
and  thence  to  New  Orleans.  The  country  was 
full  of  produce  for  which  there  was  no  market. 
Ham  was  worth  three  cents  per  pound;  eggs, 
four  cents  per  dozen ;  flour,  one  dollar  per  hun- 
dred ;  whisky,  twelve  and  a  half  cents  per  gal- 
lon, and  other  things  proportionately  cheap. 

The  commissioners  appointed  by  the  legisla- 
ture to  carry  on  the  work  appointed  Judge  D.  S. 
Bates,  an  experienced  engineer  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  in  their  wisdom,  made  "Licking 
Summit,"  in  Licking  county,  the  place  of  begin- 
ning. They  then  gave  notice  to  all  concerned 
throughout  Ohio  and  the  adjoining  States,  that  a 
commencement  of  the  excavation  would  be  made 
on  the  fourth  of  July,  1825. 

Samuel  Forrer,  of  Dayton,  was  appointed  prin- 
cipal acting  engineer ;  John  Forrer,  local  engi- 
neer on  the  Summit,  and  the  latter  immediately 
prepared  a  few  rods  of  ground,  where  the  line  of 
the  canal  would  pass  through  a  field,  for  the 
public  demonstration. 

The  invited  guests  included  many  of  the  nota- 
bles of  the  State  and  nation,  among  whom  were 
Governor  De  Witt  Clinton,  of  New  York ;  Messrs. 
Eathburn  and  Lord;  General  Edward  King,  of 
Chillicothe;  General  Sanderson,- of  Lancaster; 
Governor  Morrow,  of  this  State;  Ex-Governor 
Worthington ;  Hon.  Thomas  Ewing,  who  was  the 
orator  of  the  day,  and  many  others.  Governor 
Clinton  was  expected  to  throw  out  the  first  spade- 
ful of  earth;  This  gentlemar^had  proven  himself 
the  great  friend  of  internal  improvements,  having 
been  the  principal  promoter  in  the  building  of 
the  Erie  canal  in  his  own  State. 

A  correspondence  between  the  leading  friends 
of  the  enterprise  resulted  in  the  appointment  of 
a  committee  to  carry  out  the  wishes  of  the  com- 
missioners. This  committee  consisted  of  Judge 
Wilson  and  Alexander  Holmes,  of  Licking,  and 
Judge  Elanthan  Schofield,  one  of  the  earliest  sur- 
veyors in  this  section,  and  John  Noble,  of  Fair- 
field county.  This  committee,  at  their  first  meet- 
ing, engaged  Gottleib  Steinman,a  hotel  keeper  of. 
Lancaster,  to  furnish  a  dinner,  upon  the  ground, 
for  the  invited  guests ;  and  as  many  more  as  would 
pay  for  a  dinner  ticket,  at  one  dollar  and  fifty 
cents  a  ticket.  This  proved  to  be  a  losing  busi- 
ness for  Steinman.    It  happened  to  be  wet  two  or 


three  days  before  the  fourth,  and  as  there  were 
no  houses  near  the  site  of  the  entertainment, 
rough  Booths  were  constructed  in  the  woods; 
tables  and  seats  were  made  of  plank,  hauled  from 
saw-mills  at  a  considerable  distance  from  the 
place.  All  the  fancy  part  of  the  dinner,  including 
pastry,  etc.,  was  prepared  at  Lancaster,  eighteen 
miles  south.  The  entire  preparation  was  made 
under  ±he  most  unfavorable  circumstances.  The 
roasts  and  broils  were  prepared  on  the  ground. 
The  fourth  opened  fine  and  clear;  the  din- 
ner was  good,  and  enjoyed  by  all  that  partook; 
but  of  the  thousands  who  attended,  many  pre- 
pared for  the  emergency  by  bringing  a  hamper 
of  provisions  with  them. 

The  ceremonies  began  according  to  pro- 
gramme. Governor  Clinton  received  the  spade, 
thrust  it  into  the  soil,  and  raised  the  first  spade- 
ful of  earth,  amid  the  most  enthusiastic  cheers  of 
the  assembled  thousands. 

This  earth  was  placed  in  what  they  called  a. 
canal  wheelbarrow,  and  the  spade  was  passed  to 
Governor  Morrow,  a  statesman  and  a  farmer.  He 
sank  it  to  its  full  depth,  and  raised  the  second 
spadeful.  Then  commenced  a  strife  as  to  who 
should  raise  the  next.  Captain  Ned  King,  com- 
manding the  infantry  company  present  from 
Chillicothe,  raised  the  third ;  then  some  of  the 
guests  of  Governor  Clinton's  company  threw  in 
some  dirt,  and  the  wheelbarrow  being  full.  Cap- 
tain King  wheeled  it  to  the  bank.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  describe  the  scene  of  excitement  and  con- 
fusion that  accompanied  this  ceremony.  The 
people  shouted  themselves  hoarse.  The  feeling, 
was  so  great  that  tears  fell  from  many  eyes. 

The  stand  for  the  speaking  was  in  the  woods.. 
The  crowd  was  so  great  that  one  company  of 
cavalry  was  formed  in  a  hollow  square  around 
the  back  and  sides  of  the  stand.  The  flies,  after- 
three  days'  rain,  were  so  troublesome  that  the 
horses  kept  up  a  constant  stamping,  much  to  the 
annoyance  of  the  crowd.  Caleb  Atwater,  the 
noted  geologist,  was  present,  and  made  the  fol- 
lowing remark  afterward  at  Lancaster:  "I  sup- 
pose it  was  all  right  to  have  the  horses  in  front  o£ 
the  speaker's  stand,  for  they  can  not  read,  and  we 
can." 

Governor  Clinton  and  friends.  Governor  Mor- 
row, Messrs.  Eathburn  and  Lord,  with  many 


HISTORY  *0P  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


285 


others,  were  invited  to  Lancaster,  where  they 
were  handsomely  entertained  by  the  citizens. 
Eathburn  and  Lord  were  the  men  who  negoti- 
ated the  loan  of  four  hundred  thousand  doUal-s 
for  Ohio ;  and  the  Lancaster  bank  was  the  first  tt> 
make  terms- with  the  fund  commissioners  to  re- 
ceive and  disburse  the  money. 

The  wages  for  work  on  the  canal  were  eight 
dollars  for  twenty-six  working  days,  or  thirty  and 
three-fourth  cents  per  day,  from  sunrise  to  sun- 
set. The  hands  were  fed  well,  lodged  in  shanties, 
and  received  their  regular  "  jiggers  "  of  whisky  the 
first  four  months. 

Micajah  T.  Williams  and  Alfred  Kelley  were 
the  acting  commissioners,  and  proved  themselves 
faithful  public  servants.  They  were  often  pass- 
ing up  and  down  the  line,  and  saw  the  evil  effects 
of  the  "jigger"  of  whisky.  They  left  notice  at 
each  contract  station  that  they  would  not  pay 
estimates  monthly  if  the  contractors  furnished 
whisky  on  the  work— an  order  that  caused  much 
grumbling  among  a  certain  class  of  the  men,  but 
it  was  promptly  obeyed  by  the  contractors.  A 
jigger  was  small,  not  a  jill  in  measure,  but  fifty  or 
sixty  men  taking  four  of  these  per  day^at  sun- 
rise, at  ten  o'clock,  at  noon,  at  four  o'clock,  and  be- 
fore supper — would  exhaust  a  barrel  of  whisky 
in  four  or  five  days.  Men  from  Fairfield,  Hock- 
ing, Gallia  and  Meigs  counties,  and  all  the  coun- 
try around,  came  to  work  on  the  canal.  Farmers 
and  their  sons  wanted  to  earn  this 'amount  of 
wages,  as  it  was  cash — a  very  scarce  article  —and 
they  must  have  it'to  pay  taxes  and  other  cash  ex- 
penses, f 

Before  the  canal  was  finished  south  of  the  Sum- 
mit, the  north  end  from  Dresden  to  Cleveland 
was  in  operation ;  and  wheat  sold  on  the  canal  at 
seventy-five  cents  per  bushel.  Corn  rose  in  pro- 
portion, and  the  enemies  of  the  canal,  all  of  whom 
were  large  landholders,  or  large  taxpayers,  began 
to  open  their  eyes.  One  of  these,  a  Mr.  Shoe- 
maker, of  Pickaway  county,  below  Farlton,  was  a 
rich  land  owner,  and  had  opposed  the  building  of 
the  canal,  as  it  would  increase  his  tax  and  then 
be  a  failure.  This  gentleman,  for  such  he  was, 
said  that  his  boys,  with  one  yoke  of  oxen  and  a 
farm  cart,  hauled  potatoes  to  Circleville  and  sold 
them  for  forty  cents  per  bushel  until  they  had 
more  money  than  sufficed  to  pay  all  his  taxes  for 


a  year.  This  was  an  article  for  which,  before  this, 
there  was  no  market,  and  he  was  now  a  convert 
to  improvement.  Wheat  raised  from  twenty-five 
cents  to  one  dollar  per  bushel  before  the  canal 
was  finished. 

The  contracts  for  building  the  canal  were  made 
soon  after  breaking  the  ground  at  Licking  Sum- 
mit. The  first  embraced  all  the  section  from  the 
point  of  breaking  ground,  south,  including  the 
embankment  of  the  Licking  Summit  reservoii-  to 
the  deep  cut,  so  called,  and  there  was  one  section 
at  the  south  end  of  the  cut  let  about  this  time  to 
Colonel  Noble.  At  these  lettings,  statements 
were  posted  up  for  the  information  of  bidders,  of 
the  quantity  and  different  kinds  of  work  in  each 
section,  and  also  their  estimates  of  the  value  of 
doing  the  same.  Bidders  from  New  York  were 
present,  and  obtained  some  of  the  heaviest  jobs — 
as  the  reservoir  job,  and  some  others.  The  price 
of  excavation  and  embankment  was  from  nine  to 
thirteen  cents  per  cubic  yard;  grubbing  and 
clearing,  per  chain,  two  to  ten  dollars,  according 
to  circumstances.  But  little  masonry  was  let  in 
this  division;  and  the  work  here  was  let  about 
ten  per  cent  below  the  engineer's  estimates. 
Colonel  Noble  probably  took  his  contract  on  the 
engineer's  estimates,  as  it  was  deemed  necessary 
that  that  section  should  be  finished,  in  order  to 
afford  drainage  when  the  deep  cut  should  be  put 
under  contract.  It  is  said  that  the  colonel  was  at 
considerable  'expense  in  procuring  machinery  to 
pull  down  the  large- elm  trees,  of  which  there 
were  many  on  the  section,  and  that  the  attempt 
to  get  them  out  that  way  was  not  a  success.  His 
contract,  therefore,  did  not  prove  a  profitable  one. 

The  next  letting  at  Newark  included  the  deep 
cut,  so  called,  and  the  South  Fork  feeder.  The 
length  of  this  cut  was  about  three  miles.  At  the 
deepest  place  it  was  about  thirty-four  feet,  de- 
scending gradually  in  either  direction  to  about 
eight  feet  at  either  end,  so  that  it  would  average 
about  twenty-four  feet  the  whole  length.  It  was 
divided  into  two  sections,  and  the  whole  was  let 
at  fifteen  cents  per  cubic  yard ;  the  north  half  to 
Scoville,  Hathaway  &  Co  ,  of  New  York,  and  the 
south  half  to  Osborn,  Rathburn  &  Co.,  of  Colum- 
bus The  first  named  party  sub-let  their  job  to 
Hampson  &  Parkinson,  of  Muskingum  county, 
who  carried  it  on  for  a  time  and  abandoned  it  at 


286 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  "COUNTY. 


very  considerable  loss,  it  is  said.  The  other  party, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Osborn,  Williams  &  Co., 
prosecuted  their  work  to  final  completion,  and 
undertook  the  unfinished  part  of  the  north  sec- 
tion ;  but  they  obtained,  at  different  times,  of  the 
commissioners,  an  advance  on  the  price  originally 
agreed  upon,  so  that  at  the  close  they  were  paid 
about  thirty  cents  a  yard  for  the  work.  Probably 
the  average  was  twenty-five  cents  per  yard  cost 
to  the  State. 

It  is  somewhat  singular,  that  on  the  highest 
part  of  the  cut  there  was  a  swamp  of  a  few  acres, 
where  the  water  stood  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
and  as  it  was  raised  by  heavy  rains,  the  waters 
flowed  from  the  swamp  north  to  the  waters  of 
the  Licking,  and  south  to  the  tributaries  of  the 
Scioto. 

The  next  work  was  also  let  at  Newark.  It  com- 
menced at  the  north  end  of  Licking  Summit, 
thence  northward  to  Nashport,  including  all  the 
heavy  work,  and  the  dam  at  the  lower  end  of  tlie 
Licking  Narrows.  The  letting  embraced  some 
twelve  to  fifteen  locks,  two  aqueducts  and  cul- 
verts, with  the  usual  excavation  and  embank- 
ment. The  masonry  of  the  locks  was  bid  in  at 
from  two  dollars  to  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents 
per  perch  of  sixteen  and  one-half  cubic  feet, 
which  included  a  lock  finished,  except  the  exca- 
vation of  the  pit  and  embankment  around  the 
lock.  The  other  niasonry  was  let  at  proportion- 
ate rates,  and  the  other  work  went  very  low. 
There  was  great  competition. 

The  next  letting  was  at  Irville,  in  Muskingum 
county ;  commencing  at  the  north  end  of  the 
above  described  work,  extending  north  to  Eoscoe, 
upon  which  there  was  considerable  heavy  work 
let  at  about  the  same  rates  as  above,  competition 
being  no  less. 

The  next  work  was  let  at  Lancaster,  commenc- 
ing at  the  south  end  of  Colonel  Noble's  job,  thence 
southward  to  Circleville.  This  included  some 
heavy  work,  also.  There  were  some  twenty  or 
twenty-five  locks,  a  few  culverts  and  aqueducts,  a 
dam  at  Bloomfield,  and  about  the  usual  amount 
of  earth  work.  All  were  let  at  low  prices;  the 
first  six  locks  south  of  Licking  Summit  at  three 
dollars  and  fifteen  cents  per  perch ;  the  face  stone 
was  hauled  from  the  neighborhood  of  Lancaster, 
an  average  distance  of  eight  miles.    Lower  down. 


about  Carrol,  Lockport  and  Wtnchester,  the  locks 
were  about  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  a  perch. 
The  light  locks,  just  above  the  junction  of  the 
main  canal  with  the  Columbus  feeder,  were  let  at 
thfee  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  a  perch. 

At  these  prices  it  required  the  closest  economy 
to  do  the  work  without  loss.  Some  of  the  jobs 
awarded  were  abandoned  and  afterwards  re-let  at 
better  prices.  The  price  of  labor  was  very  low. 
Wages  did  not  rise  above  ten  dollars  per  month, 
for  four  or  five  years.  There  was  no  "  eight  hour 
system ;  "  the  men  worked  all  day.  Very  few  Irish 
or  other  foreigners  had  arrived  at  that  time,  and 
the  work  was  mostly  done  by  native  Americans. 

It  was  a  great  undertaking  for  the  State  to 
build  the  canal ,  and  although  its  working  lias 
never  paid  the  interest  on  its  cost,  yet,  it  has, 
without  doubt,  paid  for  itself  many  times  over  by 
the  increased  wealth  it  brought  to  the  State,  and 
the  great  increase  in  values  of  every  marketable 
thing,  covering  a  large  extent  of  country. 

That  part  of  the  canal  lying  in  Coshocton  county 
was  built  in  1827-30.  Among  the  chief  contractors 
were  the  following  citizens  of  the  county,  viz : 
Thomas  Johnson,  William  Renfrew,  Matthew 
Stewart,  Solomon  Vail,  A.  Ferguson,  Ephraim 
Thayer  and  A.  G.  Wood. 

A  sad  incident  in  the  construction  of  the  canal 
was  the  death  of  Judge  Brown,  a  citizen  of  Co- 
shocton, who  had  a  contract,  and  was  killed  while 
superintending  his  work  by  a  falling  rock.  An 
amusing  incident  was  the  exploit  of  one  of  the 
M — e  girls,  who  was  employed  as  cook  for  a  gang 
of  hands.  Picking  up  the  rifle  of  one  of  the  boys 
who  was  preparing  for  a  Sunday  hunt,  she  de- 
clared she  would  shoot  a  man  on  the  other  side 
of  the  river,  who  was  only  an  old  bachelor,  and, 
therefore,  as  she  alleged,  of  very  little  use,  and  so 
saying  she  fired,  and  actually  hit  the  crown  of 
the  man's  hat. 

The  first  boat— the  "  Monticello  "—arrived  from 
Cleveland  August  21,  1830.  She  remained  several 
days  at  the  point  of  the  hill  above  the  aqueduct, 
attracting  wonder-stricken  visitors  in  multitudes 
from  this  and  even  adjoining  counties. 

The  Walhonding  canal  was  commenced  in  1836, 
and  finished  in  1842.  In  the  engineering  corps 
were  William  H.  Price,  Charles  J.  Ward,  John 
Waddle,  Jacob  Blickensderfer,  Henry  Fields  and 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTOIJ  COUNTY. 


287 


Sylvester  Medbery.  Several  of  the  gentlemen 
named  above  as  contractors  on  the  Ohio  Canal 
were  also  connected  with  this.  In  addition  to 
these*  were  John  Frew^  S.  Moffit,  Isaac  Means, 
John  Crowley,  W.  K.  Johnson  and  others.  This 
canal  lies  wholly  within  the  county,  extending 
from  Eoscoe  to  Eochester,  twenty-five  miles.  It 
cost  JG07,268.99,  or  an  average  of  $24,290.76  per 
mile. 

The  first  superintendent  of  the~Ohio'|canal,  re- 
siding at  Eoscoe,  was  S.  E.  Hosmer,  now  of  Zanes- 
ville.  Alonzo  Eansom,  James  Hay,  John  Mirise, 
James  Carnes  and  William  E.  Mead  also  held 
this  office.  The  first  collector  was  Jacob  Welsh, 
from  Boston,  Massachusetts,  who  (and  also  John 
M.  Sweeny)  had  been  in  the  engineering  corps 
under  Leander  Eansom.  At  his  death,  E.  Bennett 
was  appointed.  The  following  persons  have  held 
that  position,  viz  :  John  D.  Patton  (now  of  Wash- 
ington City),  Houston  Hay  (of  Coshocton),  Chaun- 
cey  Bassett  (now  in  Illinois),  William  M.  Green 
(ex-postmaster  of  Dayton),  C  .H.  Johnson  (of  Cos- 
hocton), James  Gamble  (deceased,  of  Walhond- 
ing),  and  Foght  Burt  (now  in  Illinois).   ' 

The  Superintendents  of  the  Walhonding  canal 
were  Langdon  Hogle,  John  Perry,  William  E. 
Mead  and  Charles  H.  Johnson. 

The  first  canal-boat  launched  in  the  county 
was  called  the  "Eenfrew,''  in  honor  of  James 
Eenfrew,  a  merchant  of  Coshocton.  It  was  built 
by  Thomas  Butler  Lewis,  an  old  Ohio  keel-boat- 
man. 

It  was  intended  to  have  the  Walhonding  canal 
extended  to  the  northwestern  part  of  the  State, 
but  there  was  already  (1842)  much  talk  of  a 
speedier  mode  of  conveyance.  The  work  had 
been  very  expansive,  and  the  members  of  the 
legislature  from  districts  where  canals  were  not 
regarded  as  practicable,  were  indisposed  to  con- 
tinue the  appropriations.  •     ' 

The  "  Grand  Canal,"  as  it  was  first  called,  passes 
entirely  across  the  State,  connecting  the  waters  of 
Lake  Erie  with  those  of  the  Ohio  river.  It  is 
three  hundred  and  six  miles  long,  exclusive  of 
the  lateral  canal  to  Columbus,  eleven  miles,  and 
the  Dresden  side  cut,  together  with  slack-water 
navigation  to  Zanesville,  seventeen  miles  more, 
making  in  all  three  hundred  and  thirty-four 
miles,  including  its  various  windings.     It  com- 


mences at  Cleveland  and  passes  up  the  Cuyahoga 
river  to  the  Old  Portage,  between  it  and  the  Tus- 
carawas river ;  by  the  city  of  Akron,  and  over  to 
the  Tuscarawas,  down  whose  valley  it  follows  to 
Massillon,  Dover,  New  Philadelphia,  Newcomers- 
town,  Caldersburgh,  Coshocton  and  Dresden, 
where  it  leaves  the  Tuscarawas,  or  rather  the 
Muskingum,  as  the  river  is  called  below  Coshoc- 
ton, and  takes  a  southwesterly  direction,  passing 
Nashport,  and  striking  the  Licking  river  just  be- 
yond the  eastern  line  of  Licking  county,  passing 
up  that  river  to  Newark;  thence  up  the  south 
fork  to  Hebron,  Deep  Cut,  Baltimore,  apd  Carrol, 
reaching  the  Scioto  river  just  within  the  limits  of 
Pickaway  county,  eleven  miles  south  of  Colum- 
bus. From  this  point  it  follows  the  Scioto  valley 
to  the  Ohio  river,  passing  the  towns  of  Bloom- 
field,  Circleville,Westf  all,  Chillicothe  and  Piketon 
to  Portsmouth.  It  is  owned  and  controlled  by 
the  State,  and  is  under  the  immediate  supervision 
of  the  board  of  public  works,  who  appoint  all  its 
officers,  and  have  entire  charge  of  all  its  affairs. 
It  is  divided  into  three  divisions,  each  of  which 
is  in  charge  of  a  chief  engineer,  who  looks  after 
repairs  and  other  matters,  and  makes  a  yearly 
report  to  the  board.  Collectors  are  stationed  at 
various  places  along  the  canal,  whose  business  is 
to  collect  tolls  and  water  rent.  A  specified 
amount  of  toll  is  paid  by  those  who  run  the 
boats,  both  upon  the  boat  and  cargo,  the  rate  de- 
pending upon  the  value  or  qualityof  the  cargo. 
It  varies  from  two  or  three  mills  to  two  or  three 
cents  per  mile.  The  boats  are  owned  by  private 
individuals,  who  have  the  use  of  the  canal  by 
paying  the  tolls.  Before  the  days  of  railroads, 
these  boats  did  a  through  business,  and  some  of 
them  were  "  passenger  packets,"  which  were 
lightly  and  neatly  built,  and  arranged  for  carrying 
passengers,  and  made  much  quicker  time  than 
the  freight  boats.  Since  the  advent  of  railroads, 
however,  this  class  of  boats  has,  of  course,  disap- 
peared, and  those  carrying  freight  now.  do  only  a 
local  business,  the  railroads  doing  all  through 
business.  The  boats  will  carry  from  fifty  to 
eighty  tons,  and  draw  from  two  to  three  feet  of 
water.  Their  principal  business  now  is  to  trans- 
port coal,  wheat,  building  stone,  and  any  freight 
that  does  not  require  quick  transportation. 
In  1861  the  canal  was  leased  to  a  cpmpany  for 


288 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ten  years,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  lease 
was  renewed  for  ten  years,  but  the  company 
abandoned  the  lease  in  1878,  the  State  taking  pos- 
session again  in  May,  1879.  For  several  years 
prior  to  leasing  it,  the  canal  had  been  a  heavy 
yearly  expense  to  the  State,  the  receipts  falling 
much  below  the  expenditures ;  since  taking  pos- 
session again  in  1879,  however,  t]ie  receipts  have 
largely  exceeded  the  expenditures,  and  the  State, 
probably  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  this 
enterprise,  is  now  making  money  out  of  it. 


They  have  not,  however,  on  that  part  within 
Coshocton  county,  been  much  disturbed  by 
"  prows  "  for  many  years. 

In  1875,  a  little  steamboat  was  built  at  Jacobs- 
port  by  Mr.  Parker,  proprietor  of  the  i^ill,  and 
was  running  as  a  pleasure  and  burden  boat  for 
short  distances  on  Wills  creek. 

The  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  rail- 
road is  the  only  railroad  now  in  complete  run- 
ning order  through  the  county.  It  is  familiarly 
known  as  the  "  Pan  Handle  route  "  —  so  called 


THE    NEW    PASSENGER    DEPOT,  NEWARK,  OHIO. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 


RAILROADS. 


River   Transportation  —  The  Pan  Handle  —  Extracts  (rom 
Hunt's  History  and  the  Zanesville  Courier. 

FOLLOWING  the  canal  came  that  great  civ- 
ilizer,  the  ra!ilroad,  as  a  means  of  transpor- 
tation. Prior  to  either  canal  or  railroad,  steam- 
boats and  small  boats  and  scows  were  used  in 
business  operations  on  the  river.  Steamboats 
occasionally  came  up  to  Coshocton.  The  orig- 
inal proprietors  of  the  town  'designated  certain 
lots  on  the  river  bank  as  "  warehouse  lots,"  look- 
ing to  shipments  by  river.  By  act  of  the  legisla- 
ture, the  Muskingum,  Walhonding,  and  Tuscara- 
was rivers,  and  Killbuck,  Mohican,  and  Wills 
creeks,  within  Coshocton  county,  have  been  de- 
clared "  navigable  streams." 


from  the  narrow  neck,  or  section,  of  West  Vir- 
ginia extending  up  and  along  the  Ohio  river, 
across  which  the  Pittsburgh  and  Stubenville  road 
(being  a  part  of  this  line)  passes.  The  road  runs 
in  an  eastwar'dly  direction  from  Columbus  to 
Pittsburgh,  one  hundred  and  ninety-three  miles, 
and  is  the  shortest  and  most  direct  line  between 
these  two  cities.  That  part  of  the  road  lying  in 
Ohio  is  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long,  from 
Stubenvillet 

The  Steubenville  and  Indiana  Railroad  Com- 
pany was  chartered  February  24, 1848;  and  under 
its  charter  and  amendments  thereto,  commenced 
work  in  November,  1851,  on  the  eastern  division, 
opening  the  road  for  traffic  from  Steubenville  to 
Newark,  via  Coshocton,  in  April,  1855.  This 
line,  with  a  branch  frpm  the  main  line  to  Cadiz, 
eight  miles  in  length,  constituted  the  road  of  the 
Steubenville  and    Indiana    Railroad    Company. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


289 


The  delay  in  building  the  road  from  Steubenville 
to  Pittsburgh,  the  want  of  proper  connections 
east  or  west,  and  the  unfinished  and  poorly- 
equipped  condition  of  the  road,  gave  insufficient 
earnings  to  pay  interest  and  current  expenses; 
the  company  became  greatly  embarrassed  and 
fell  in  arrears  to  laborers,  and  for  supplies,  and 
was  annoyed  and  perplexed  with  suits  and  judg- 
ments which  it  was  unable  to  fund  or  pay,  and 
finally  proceedings  were  commenced  in  the 
Court  of  Common  Pleas,  of  Harrison  county, 
Ohio,  for  the  foreclosure  of  mortgages  and 
sale  of  the  road,  and  Thomas  L.  Jewett  was  ap- 
pointed receiver,  on  the  second  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1859.  On  the  first  day  of  October,  1864,  the 
receiver,  on  behalf  of  the  company,  purchased 
an  undivided  half  of  that  part  of  the  Central 
Ohio  between  Newark  and  Columbus,  for  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand  dollars,  thus 
giving  the  company  an  independent  outlet  and 
direct  communication  with  railroads  running 
west  from  Columbus. 

Meantime  the  work  on  the  Steubenville  and 
Pittsburgh  road  was  rapidly  pushed  forward  to 
completion,  and  on  the  first  of  October,  1865, 
the  receiver  concluded  an  arrangement  with 
the  lessees  of  that  road  for  opening  the  whole 
line  from  Columbus  to  Pittsburgh.  The  road 
received  the  name  of  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and 
St.  Louis,  and  December  28,  1867,  it  was  reorgan- 
ized under  the  name  of  Pan  Handle.  Upon 
completion,  it  was  leased  to  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Company,  by  which  it  is  now  operated. 
The  construction  and  equipment  of  this  road 
cost,  in  round  numbers,  twenty  million  dollars. 

The  following  regarding  this  road  is  frorh  Mr. 
Hunt's  history  of  this  county  r 

"  The  road  was  originally  planned  to  go  from 
Coshocton  up  the  Walhonding  valley,  taking 
much  the  same  direction  as  was  once  proposed 
for  the  Walhonding  canal,  and  striking  for  North- 
ern Indiana  and  Chicago;  but  the  movement  of 
another  company  anticipated  part  of  this  plan, 
and  the  road  was  built  to  Newark.  A  few  indi- 
vidual subscriptions  of  stock  were  made,  but 
most  of  the  stock,  afterward  in  the  possession  of 
individuals,  came  through  the  contractors  to 
whom  it  had  been  given  for  work,  or  was  given 
to  the  holders  of  it  for  the  right  of  way,  etc. 
.  "The  county,  in  1850,  took  $100,000  of  the 
stock  of  the  company,  and  the  townships  along 


the  line  of  the  road  (except  Oxford),  $80,000 
more,  viz:  Lafayette,  $20,000;  Tuscarawas,  $30,- 
000;  Franklin,  $15,000,  and  Virginia,  $15,000,  for 
all  of  which  bonds  were  issued.  Subsequently, 
in  the  processes  of  consolidation  and  extension, 
nearly  one-half  of  this  stock  was  relinquished, 
leaving  the  remainder  in  possession  of  the  county 
and  townships.  No  dividend  has  ever  been  paid 
on  it,  and  it  is  all  regarded  as  practically  lost. 
The  road  paid  into  the  county  treasury,  as  taxes 
for  1875,  the  sum  of  $5,578.68. 

The  citizens  now  readily  recalled  as  having 
contracts  for  building  the  road  are  Samuel  Brown 
(since  removed  to  Illinois),  John  Few,  J.  W.  Rue, 
John  Ninian  and  George  Ross.  Neither  these  nor 
any  other  citizens  specially  connected  with  the 
building  of  the  road,  reaped  much  benefit  from 
it,  but  many  have  gained  imnrensely,  and  the 
general  adva,ncement  of  the  county  through  it, 
has  in  amount  exceeded  many  times  over  all  that 
was  ever  invested  in  it.  Until  comparatively  re- 
cent years,  one  of  the  board  of  directors  was  taken 
from  Coshocton  county.  Wm.  K.  Johnson  served 
in  that  capacity  from  the  inception  of  the  road 
until  his  death,  and  was  succeeded  by  his  brother, 
Joseph  K.  Johnson,  now  of  New  York  city. 

In  1872,  a  railroad  was  located  (as  a  branch  of 
the  Cleveland,  Mt.  Vernon  and  Columbus  Rail- 
road) through  Clark,  Bethlehem,  Jefferson,  Bed- 
ford and  Washington  townships,  and  some  work 
was  done  on  it.  But  "the  panic  "of  1873  pre- 
vented any  further  progress  for  some  three  years. 
At  this  writing  fresh  efforts  are  being  made  to 
complete  the  work 

The  Massillon  and  Coshocton  Railroad,  branch- 
ing from  the  Cleveland,  Tuscarawas  Valley  and 
Wheeling  Railroad  near  Massillon  (Beach  city), 
and  running  to  Coshocton,  was  located  in  1875, 
and  by  the  hearty  assistenee  of  parties  along  the 
line,  under  the  direction  of  R.  B.  Dennis,  W.  L. 
Holden,  and  others  interested  in  the  C  ,  T.  V.  & 
W.  R.  R.,  and  also  in  coal-fields  near  Coshocton, 
is  at  this  writing  being  rapidly  constructed.  A. 
H.  Slay  ton,  J.  C.  Fisher,^  E.  T.  Spangler.and  J.  C. 
Pomrene,  of  Coshocton*  have  been  actively  and 
officially  connected  with  this  enterprise.  Several 
other  railroads  have  been  projected,  notably  one 
from  Liberty,  in  Guernsey  county  to  Coshocton, 
and  thence  up  the  Walhonding  valley  (a  part 
substantially  of  T.  S.  Humriokhouse's  projected 
"Lake  Michigan  and  Tidewater"  Railroad);  but  • 
up  to  this  writing  no  effective  measures  have  been 
taken  in  relation  to  them. 

The  first  agent  of  the  S.  &  I.  Railroad  at  Cosh- 
octon was  John  Frew." 

None  of  the  above  mentioned  roads  have  been 
finished. 

The  branch  of  the  Cleveland,  Mount  Vernon 
and  Columbus  road  was  graded  as  far  as  Tunnel 


290 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Hill,  where  it  ended  and  remains  unfinished.  The 
immense  coal  fields  of  the  county  require,  and 
-will  ultimately  have,  additional  transportation. 

The  following  regarding  prospective  railroads 
in  this  county  is  clipped  from  the  Zancsville 
Courier  of  a  recent  date : 

Messrs.  E.  B.  DeSinis  and  W.  L.  Holden,  of  the 
€leveland,  Canton,  Coshocton  and  Straitsville  Rail- 
wav  (Connotton  Valley),  and  Messrs.  D.  B.  Linn 
and  J.  P.  Egan,  returned  to  the  city  Thursday 
from  a  tour  of  observation  to  Otsego  and  Coshoc- 
ton, in  the  interests  of  the  above  named  rail- 
w^ay  company.  The  party  passed  over  the  en- 
tire route  and  minutely  examined  the  country, 
with  a  view  to  determining  the  feasibility  of  ex- 
tending the  railroad  from  Otsego  to  Zanesville. 

It  should  be  observed  that  Mr.  Dennis  came 
here  by  direction  of  the  directors  of  the  Cleve- 
land, Canton,  Coshocton  and  Straitsville  Knilway 
Company,  to  examine  the  rou.te  personally,  and 
to  report  his  observation  to  the  board  at  their 
next  meeting,  to  be  held  in  Canton  next  week. 
Both  of  the  visiting  gentlemen  are  now  satisfied, 
as  we  are  informed,  that  the^route  is  not  only 
feasible,  but  that  the  territory  lying  between  the 
Pan  Handle  on  the  north,  'and  the  B.  &  O.  Bail- 
way  on  the  south,  can  be  divided  about  the  center 
by  the  proposed  new  narrow  gauge,  and  that  the 
country  through  which  the  road  would  pass  will 
furnish  a  large  amount  of  local  traffic. 

The  gap  between  the  head  waters  of  Salt  creek 
and  the  White  Eyes  branch  of  Wills  creek  is  not 
a  formidable  obstacle,  and  can  easily  be  traversed. 
It  is  fair  to  infer  from  all  the  circumstances  con- 
nected with  the  inspection,  that  the  report  of 
Messrs.  Dennis  and  Holden  will  be  favorable  to 
the  construction  of  the  road. 

The  line  is  already  under  contract  as  far  south 
as  Coshocton,  and  gentlemen  who  have  oppor- 
tunities of  knowing  whereof  they  affirm,  seem 
to  be  confident  that  the  extension  to  Zanesville 
will  be  made  this  summer. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

AGEICULTURK* 

■Agricultural  Features  of  the  County— Present  Condition- 
Crops— Corn,  Wlieat,  etc.— Fruit  Culture— Stock  Raising— 
Sliccp— Cattle— Hogs  — Horses  — County  Agricultural  So- 
ciety. 

THE  topographical  features  of  Coshocton  coun- 
ty are  so  diversified  by  hill  and  valley  as  to  af- 
ford a  pleasing  variance  in  agricultural  pursuits 

*Compiled  chiefly  from  Hunt's  Historical  Collections  and 
tlie  Agricultural  Report. 


throughout  the  county.  By  the  junction  of  the 
Walhonding  and  Tuscarawas  rivers,  forming  the 
Muskingum,  three  broad  and  beautiful  valleys 
are  formed,  radiating  in  different  directions 
from  the  county,  seat.  The  valleys'  of  Wills 
creek  and  the  Killbuck  are  scarcely  less  marked, 
and  these  five,  together  with  many  others,  of 
greater  or  less  scope,  threading  the  county  in  all 
directions,  present  an  abundance  of  rich,  sandy, 
fertile  bottom  lands,  well  adapted  to  the  growing 
of  corn,  wheat;  potatoes  and  kindred  crops.  The 
rolling  or  hill  lands  are  more  adapted  to  growing 
wheat  and  grass.  The  western  part  of  the  coun- 
ty is  composed  chiefly  of  limestone  lands ;  the 
eastern  part  is  more  of  a  sandy  nature.  The 
northern  part  of  the  county,  between  the  Tusca- 
rawas and  Walhonding  rivers,  is  rolling  and  well 
adapted  for  grass  and  growing  of  sheep.  Water 
is  abundant  throughout  the  entire  county.  It  is 
often  asserted  that  the  soils  are  becoming  ex- 
hausted, but  this  is  only  partially  true.  The  bot- 
tom lands,  owing  to  the  false  notion  that  they 
need  no  return  for  the  generous  crops  annually 
removed,  are,  as  a  general  thing,  less  productive 
than  when  first  brought  under  cultivation,  but 
the  rich  clay  lands  are  constantly  improving.  For 
this  there  are  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place,  all 
good  farmers  understand  that  these  lands  will  not 
produce  grain  from  year  to  year  without  some 
return  being  made  for  the  crops  removed.  The 
general  practice  here  is  a  rotation  of  products, 
such  as  corn,  oats,  wheat  and  clover,  followed 
sometimes  with  meadow  or  pasture.  Besides  the 
direct  benefit  from  the  clover  and  grass  as  fertili- 
zers, the  condition  of  these  clay  soils  is  greatly 
ameliorated  by  this  thorough  cultivation.  Deep 
plowing  and  exposure  of  the  subsoil  to  the  frosts 
of  winter,  the  cultivation  of  corn  in  the  summer 
and  the  thorough  preparation  of  the  soil  by  the 
network  of  clover  roots  will  accomplish  a  great 
work  in  the  improvement  of  these  stiff  clays.  The 
"plain"  lands,  which  were  regarded  as  valueless  by 
the  early  settlers,  under  careful  cultivation  have 
been  made  to  yield  constant  and  abundant  har- 
vests. 

The  material  prosperity  of  the  farmers  is  am- 
ply attested  by  the  erfection  of  handsome  brick 
and  frame  dwellings  and  lar^e  and  commodious 
barns  throughout  the  county.     Particularly  has 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


291 


this  been  noticeable  witliin  the  last  few  years. 
The  log  cabin  in  many  localities  is  rapidly  be- 
coming a  thing  of  the  past.  The  maximum  num- 
ber of  cultivators  of  the  soil  was  probably  reached 
in  18-50.  From  that  year  to  1S70  there  was  a  de-' 
crease  in  the  population  of  the  county,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  many  of  the  well-to-do  farmers  of 
small  tracts  sold  their  possessions  to  more 
wealthy  neighbors  and  moved  away.  These 
wealthy  farmers,  in  a  nvimber  of  cases,  own  from 
five  hundred  to  a  thousand  or  more  acres,  and  by 
their  successive  purchases  have  partially  depopu- 
lated some  districts.  The  most  extensive  land- 
holder at  present  is  Lloyd  Nichols,  of  Newcastle 
township,  who  has  in  his  possession  3,212  acres  in 
that  township.  It  is  a  gratifying  fact  that,  from 
1870  to  1880,  there  was  an  increase  of  population 
in  eighteen  of  the  twenty-two  townships  in  this 
county.  This  increase  is  due  chiefly  to  the 
growth  of  the  agricultural  regions,  as  only  in  one 
or  two  instances  can  it  be  ascribed  to  villages. 

The  land  appraisers  for  1880  returned  a  total 
acreage  in  the  county  of  352,249,  valued  at  $7,670,- 
694,  an  acreage  value  of  $21.77  per  acre.  The 
buildings  were  rated  at  $709,981.  Of  the  land, 
166,229  acres  are  reported  arable,  89,438  in 
meadow  or  pasture,  and  96,682  as  uncultivated  or 
wild  land.  .  The  principal  timber  of  practical  use 
is  white  oak — the  most  useful  for  all  purposes 
where  large  lumber  is  needed.  Besides,  there 
are  black  and  red  oak,  poplar,  walnut,  hickory, 
ash  and  chestnut — all  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  people.  The  timber  in 
this  county  is  being  rapidly  exhausted,  there  be- 
ing portable  saw-mills  used  in  localities  where 
timber  is  abundant,  manufacturing  our  best  tim- 
ber into  lumber,  which  is  used  in  building  post 
and  rail  fences  in  place  of.  decaying  rail  fences. 
The  effects  of  the  rapid  exhaustion  of  timber  is 
shown  by  a  wise  action  of  the  farmers  in  planting 
hedge  fences.  There  is  a  large  growth  of  young 
chestnut  trees  on  the  hill-sides  and  on  the  uncul- 
tivated portions  of  the  farms,  which  are  very 
thrifty  and  produce  fine  crops  of  chestnuts.  It 
is  estimated  that  this  county  produced,  in  1879, 
twenty  thousand  bushels  of  chestnuts,  which 
were  sold  as  low  as  one  dollar  per  bushel.  The 
farms  are  as  yet  generally  enclosed  by  rail  fences. 
Many  of  the  farmers,  however,  are  renewing  their 


fences  with  posts  and  boards.  The  osage  hedge 
fence  and  the  barbed  wire  fence  have  both  been 
introduced  and  are  meeting  with  some  favor. 

Corn  has  always  been  regarded  as  the  principal 
crop.  More  acres  of  it  have  been  planted  and 
more  bushels  gathered  than  of  any  other.  In 
1857  when  the  cultivation  of  this  crop  reached  its 
maximum,  when  there  was  much  discourage- 
ment in  relation  to  the  growing  of  wheat  in  con- 
sequence of  the  pests  to  which  it  had  been  for  a 
succession  of  years  subjected,  and  when  the  sheep 
interest  had  not  yet  become  so  great,  there  were 
more  than  a  million  and  a  half  bushels  of  corn 
raised.  The  principal  kind  is  the  yellow  gord 
seed.  In  1878  there  were  35,655  acres  planted, 
and  1,242,284  bushels  produced;  in  1879,  33,373- 
acres  planted,  and  937,546  bushels  raised.  White 
corn  is  grown  in  small  quantities.  Scarcely 
enough  pop  or  sweet  corn  is  raised  to  supply 
home  demand. 

The  wheat  crop  in  Coshocton  county  has  al- 
ways ranked  next  to  corn  in  amou-nt  and  value.. 
The  period  of  its  most  successful  cultivation  may 
be  set  down  at  from  1835  to  1850.  The  largest 
crop  ever  secured  was  in  1846.  The  roads  to  the 
canal  wareho'uses  and  mills  were  often  studded 
thickly  for  many  rods  with  wagons  waiting  their 
turn  to  unload.  In  1850  there  was  a  larger  acreage 
than  in  1846,  but  the  yield  was  not  so  great.  In 
1862  a  half  million  bushels  was  reported  as  the 
yield.  About  1850  the  Hessian  fly  made  its  ap- 
pearance ;  it  was  succeeded  by  the  weevil ;  then 
there  was  serious  trouble  about  winter  freezing,, 
and  for  twenty  years  this  interest  was  much  de- 
pressed. About  1870  farmers  began  to  take  good 
heart  again^  and,  in  1874,  there  was  a  magnificant 
crop.  •  The  crop  of  1875  was  very  seriously  ef- 
fected by  an  unusually  rainy  season  just  at  the 
harvest  time.  The  last  three  harvests  have  been 
unusually  large,  that  of  1879  surpassing  corn  in 
acreage  and  value.  In  1878  there  were  28,533 
acres  sown,  and  440,376  bushels  produced ;  in 
1879,  41,395  acres  sown,  and  517,937  bushels  pro- 
duced. There  is  a  diversity  of  opinion  as  to  the 
variety  best  adapted  to  this  soil.  The  principal 
varieties  grown  are  the  Mediterranean,'  Fultz, 
Clawson  and  White  Wheat.  The  Clawson  wheat 
is  sown  by  many  of  the  farmers  and  gives  a  good 
yield,  and  seems  to  be  a  hardy  winter  wheat. 


292 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


In  earlier  days  the  average  yield  was  quite  up  to 
•eighteen  or  twenty  bushels  per  acre,  but  of  late 
years  thirteen  to  fifteen  is  regarded  as  good.  At 
the  county  fair  for  1878,  there  was  one  entry  of 
field  crop  of  wheat — eighteen  and  one  half  acres — 
which  produced  forty-five  and  one-third  bushel 
per  acre,  by  weight.  In  the  days  of  high  prices 
during  the  war,  three  dollars  and  twenty-five 
cents  per  bushel  was  paid  for  good  wheat;  the 
lowest  price  within  the  memory  of  early  settlers 
was  twenty-five  cents. 

Rye  has  never  been  cultivated  to  any  great  ex- 
tent, but  much  more  was  raised  in  earlier  days 
than  now.  In  1867  the  largest  acreage  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  was  put  in — 4,700  acres.  It  is  now 
almost  wholly  abandoned,  being  neither  very  pro- 
ductive or  very  profitable.  In  1878,  604  acres 
were  sown  and  6,634  bushels  gathered ;  the  next 
year  there  were  169  acres  sown  and  1,816  bushels 
produced. 

In  1862  the  barley  crop  was  reported  at  3,000, 
and  has  never  been  much  above  that.  It  has  now 
practically  ceased,  there  being,  in  1879,  only  four 
acres  returned  with  a  yield  of  fifty  bushels. 

Oats  is  produced  in  considerable  quantities. 
The  principal  variety  grown  is  known  as  side 
oats.  It  is  of  good  quality  and  yields  an  average 
crop.  In  1878,  11,009  acres  were  sown,  yielding 
383,480  bushels ;  in  1879  the  acreage  fell  to  8,770 
acres  with  a  yield  of  236,696  bushels. 

Three  hundred  and  thirty-nine  acres  of  buck- 
wheat were  raised  in  1878,  yielding  2,377  bushels ; 
in  1879,  460  acres  produced  4,855  bushels. 

The  principal  varieties  of  potatoes  grown  are 
the  White  and  Red  Peachblow  and  Early  and 
La,te  Rose.  The  best  for  early  use  in  quality  and 
quantity  is  the  Early  Rose.  For  late  use  the 
White  Peachblow  seems  to  lead.  The  Colorado 
beetle  has  been  its  principal  enemy  for  a  few 
years,  but,  in  spite  of  its  ravages,  good  crops  are 
produced.  In  1878,  806  acres  yielded  67,116 
bushels,  and  in  1879,  920  acres  produced  73,160 
bushels. 

Flax,  in  early  days,  received  considerable  at- 
tention. During  the  war,  when  cotton  goods  rose 
so  in  value,  renewed  interest  was  manifested  in 
this  crop.  In  1862,  sixty  acres  were  planted.  It 
may  be  said  that  none  is  now  grown.  For  1879 
a  solitary  one-half  acre  was  returned  as  the  ex- 


tent of  its  production  in  this  county.  The  opinion 
prevails  among  the  farmers  that  it  impoverishes 
the  land  and  renders  it  worthless  for  growino- 
otlier  crops. 

Broom  corn  has  never  been  much  cultivated 
in  the  county.  Sorghum  was  a  considerable  item 
in  war  times.  Three  hundred  and  eighty-five 
acres  of  it  were  grown  in  1862,  and  more  still 
later.  It  is  confined  to  small  lots,  chiefly  for  home 
use.  In  1878, 186  acres  were  planted,  which  pro- 
duced 1,397  pounds  of  sugar  and  11,282  gallons 
of  syrup.  In  1879,  the  acreage  fell  to  99  acres, 
producing  62  pounds  of  sugar  and  6,481  gallons  of 
syrup. 

In  early  times  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  sugar  con- 
sumed in  the  county  was  of  home  manufacture 
—maple  sugar.  For  many  years  it  continued  to 
be  a  leading  product.  As  late  as  1865  there  were 
reported  as  produced  in  the  county  4,000  pounds 
of  sugar  and  3,000  gallons  of  syrup.  In  1879, 
1,637  pounds  of  sugar  and  926  gallons  of  syrup 
were  reported.  This  amount  was  greatly  dimin- 
ished in  1880,  then  reaching  only  408  pounds  of 
sugar  and  322  gallons  of  syrup. 

A  considerable  amount  of  tobacco  has  been 
raised  in  Coshocton  countj'.  More  than  forty 
years  ago  there  was  the  "tobacco  fever."  The 
farmers  all  went  to  raising  it;  the  supply  ex- 
ceeded the  demand,  and  there  was  considerable 
disgust.  In  1868  tliere  were  only  two  and  one- 
half  acres  raised.  During  the  war  there  was  a 
temporary  extension  of  this  interest,  but  not  a 
very  wide  one.  It  is  now  grown  only  in  small 
lots  for  home  use.    In  1879,  6f  acres  were  raised. 

There  have  been  several  efforts  in  the  manu- 
facture of  cheese,  but  they  have  not  been  long 
persisted  in,  nor  very  satisfactory.  The  most 
notable  cheese  factory  was  one  set  up  about  1866, 
in  Clark  township.  The  farmers  became  tired  of 
the  constant  and  regular  effort  in  the  matter  of 
furnishing  milk,  competition  was  heavy,  and  the 
factory,  after  running  seven  or  eight  years,  was 
closed.  There  were,  in  1878,  1,325  pounds  of 
cheese  produced  in  this  county  and  in  1879,  790 
pounds.  The  aggregate  amount  (jf  butter  annually 
made,  for  the  last  twenty-five  years,  has  some- 
what exceeded  half  a  million  pounds.  In  1879, 
665,990  pounds  were  produced. 
Coshocton  is  among  the  best  bee  counties  in  the 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


293 


State.  In  1878  it  contained  4,114  hives,  which 
produced  49,791  pounds  of  honey. 

In  1868,  an  average  year,  30,000  tons  of  hay  were 
produced.  During  the  last  several  years,  owing 
to  dry  weather,  etc.,  this  crop  has  been  short.  In 
1879, 20,950  acres  of  meadow  produced  but  22,684 
tons  of  hay.  The  average  and  yield  was  about 
the  same  for  1878.  In  this  latter  year,  3,469  acres 
of  clover  were  sown;  from  it  3,129  tons  of  hay 
were  produced,  2,621  bushels  of  seed,  and  144 
acres  were  plowed  under  for  manure.  The  acre- 
age was  somewhat  larger,  but  the  yield  consider- 
ably smaller  in  1879. 

The  first  nurseryman  in  Coshocton  county  was 
doubtless  the  excentric,  self-denying  "Johnny 
Appleseed,"  an  account  of  whom  is  given  in  an- 
other chapter  of  this  work.  The  first  orchards 
were  for  the  most  part,  if  not  entirely,  from  seed- 
ling trees.  Top  grafting  upon  these  was  after- 
ward resorted  to  in  a  small  degree,  but  without 
materially  changing  the  general  character  of  the 
fruit,  except  in  a  few  instances.  Some  of  the 
early  settlers,  coming  in  from  Maryland  and  Vir- 
ginia, brought  with  them  sprouts  from  the  orch- 
ards of  their  home  regions,  and  these,  of  course, 
contained  those  varieties.  Some  of  these  still 
have  a  place  in  the  orchards  of  the  descendants  of 
those  who  brought  them. 

In  1832,  Joshua  B.  Hart,  of  Tiverton  township, 
had  a  bearing  orchard  of  grafted  fruit,  consist- 
ing of  the  kinds  brought  out  by  the  Ohio  Com- 
pany when  they  settled  at  Marietta.  Mr.  Hart 
propogated  some  by  grafting,  but  could  not  sell 
his  trees  and  quit  in  a  short  time. 

Joseph  F.  Munro  had  a  large  orchard  planted 
for  him  by  old  John  Mathews,  also  of  the  Mari- 
etta sorts.  The  Eobinsons  had  a  few  trees  of  the 
same. 

William  Miskimen,  on  Wills  creek,  practiced 
grafting  in  a  small  way,  and  had  bearing  apple 
trees  of  the  kinds  common  in  western  Pennsyl- 
vania. 

George  Henderson  had  a  bearing  orchard  of 
apples  and  practiced  grafting  in  a  small  way. 
His  orchard  was  on  White  Eyes,  and  consisted  of 
Western  Pennsylvania  fruit. 

Old  Mr.  McFertridge  had  planted  an  orchard, 
not  yet  then  in  bearing.    He  brought  his  trees 


from  Steubenville,  and  they  were  of  the  kind 
grown  in  the  Kneisley  nurseries. 

A  nurseryman  of  Fairfield  county,  about  1830- 
31,  brought  by  canal  a  large  lot  of  grafted  apple 
trees,  but  found  no  sale  for  them  for  orchard 
planting,  and  traded  or  in  some  way  disposed  of 
them  to  Nathan  Spencer  of  Bethlehem  township, 
who  planted  them  in  a  kind  of  nursery,  and  sold 
them  to  John  Frew.  Eighty  of  them  were 
planted  by  T.  S.  Humrickhouse  in  an  orchard  on 
Mill  creek  in  the  fall  of  1833. 

John  Elliott  planted  an  orchard  of  the  same 
kind  on  his  farm  in  Bethlehem  township.  Ev- 
ery tree  of  this  lot  was  true  to  name  and  the 
whole  selection  proved  most  admirable. 

Richard  Wood,  of  Bedford  towship,' practiced 
grafting  to  a  small  extent  and  had  an  orchard. 

Wishing  to  plant  two  or  three  apple  orchards, 
and  not  being  able  to  find  all  the  kinds  he  wanted 
in  any  one  nursery,  T.  S.  Humrickhouse,  about 
1835,  commenced  making  a  collection  and  graft- 
ing in  nursery.  He  took  from  all  the  orchards 
above  mentioned  all  the  varieties  they  contained, 
and  added  from  a  distance  all  the  kinds  he  could 
hear  of  that  gave  ipromise  of  being  valuable,  and 
has  continued  that  sort  of  work  to  this  day.  His 
nursery,  the  only  one  in  this  county,  is  situated 
on  the  south  outlots  of  Coshocton.  When  James 
Matthews  was  in  congress  he  procured  most  of 
the  native  and  many  foreign  varieties,  and  they 
were  thoroughly  tried.  Most  of  the  foreign  and 
many  of  the  native  were  discarded.  Both  Mr. 
Matthews  and  Mr.  Humrickhouse  about  1840 
gave  considerable  attention  to  pears,  peaches, 
plums  and  grapes,  introducing  many  fine  varie- 
ties. 

About  1838,  Robert  Seevers  started  a  nursery 
at  West  Carlisle,  and  many  of  the  orchards  in  the 
western  townships  were  stocked  by  him. 

Kellis  Hord  started  one"  near  Bakersville.  Oth- 
ers in  difierent  parts  of  the  county  tried  the  busi- 
ness, but  few  of  them  continued  long  in  it. 

Traveling  grafters,  between  1840  and  1860, 
abbunded  in  the  county,  but  have  not  left  very 
distinct  traces' 

For  the  last  twenty-five  years  very  heavy  im- 
portations of  fruit  trees  have  been  made.  In  one 
year  the  sales  of  tree  peddlers  reached  nearly 
$8,000.    A  large  proportion  of  the  trees  died,  and 


294 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


many  of  the  varieties  which  were  most  highly 
commended,  proved  really  very  inferior.  Not- 
withstanding, however,  large  and  prolific  or- 
chards may  now  be  found  in  all  parts  of  the 
county.  The  total  acreage  of  orchards  in  1878 
was  6,3M,  yielding  that  year  446,918  bushels  of 
apples. 

Probably  the  largest  peach  orchard  ever  set  out 
in  the  county  was  planted  by  Joseph  K.  Johnson, 
on  his  place  about  a  mile  east  of  Coshocton.  It 
consisted  of  eighty  some  acres.  The  growing  of 
peaches  is  extensively  cultivated,  which  is  most 
marked,  perhaps,  in  Washington  township,  where 
large,  fine  orchards  of  this  fruit  may  be  seen  on 
almost  every  farm.  In  1878  there  were  produced 
in  this  county  69,860  bushels  of  peaches.  This 
yield  was  excelled  by  only  two  counties  in  the 
State,  Muskingum  and  Columbiana.  In  the  same 
year  373  bushels  of  pears  were  produced. 

Grape  culture  has  never  been  very  considerable 
in  this  county.  In  1855  J.  K.  Johnson  planted 
quite  a  large  vineyard  on  his  place,  one  mile  east 
of  Coshocton,  and  for  a  few  years  thereafter  a 
considerable  quantity  of  wine  was  made  under 
his  direction.  The  most  of  this  was  used  by  sick 
friends,  of  whom  there  proved  to  be  a  good 
many,  and  for  church  purposes.  Some  years  sub- 
sequently, J.  B.  Elliott  and  F.  Seward  established 
a  vineyard  in  Keene  township,  but  the  operation 
was  not  accounted  a  large  success.  In  1878  there 
were  twenty-five  acres  in  vineyard  reported,  pro- 
ducing 9,148  pounds  of  grapes  and  177  gallons  of 
wine.  Several  years  ago  the  manufacture  of  wine 
for  home  consumption  was  begun  by  a  few  of  the 
German  farmers  in  Franklin,  Linton,  Crawford 
and  other  townships.  It  has  since  been  steadily 
increasing  among  them,  and  bids  fair  to  develop 
into  a  quite  noticeable  production. 

There  is  a  gratifying  increase  in  the  interest 
taken  in  the  raising  •  of  live  stock  of  all  kinds. 
The  choicest  blood  and  most  carefully  bred 
horses  and  cattle  are  to  be  found,  while  hogs  and 
sheep  of  the  finest  stock  are  in  abundance. 

The  first  Merino  sheep  of  thorough  blood 
brought  into  this  county  were  bought  by  Major 
Robinson  and  Major  Simmons  from  old  Seth 
Adams,  who,  as  partner  or  agent  of  General 
Humphries,  brought  to  the  Muskingum  valley 
some  of  General  Humphries'  importation  from 


Spain,  and  had  them  in  Muskingum  county,  near 
Dresden,  as  early  as  1812.  They  were  not  cared 
for,  and  no  trace  of  them  is  left.  Fine-wooled 
sheep  of  uncertain  and  mixed  blood  were  gradu- 
ally introduced  by  farmers  from  eastern  counties- 
and  Western  Pennsylvania,  between  1880  and 
1836  or  1837,  when  Beaver  and  Bowman  brought 
out  from  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania^ 
about  2,000,  and  placed  them  on  Bowman's  sec- 
tion, adjoining  Coshocton.  This  movement 
proved  a  failure,  most  of  the  sheep  dying  the 
next  spring,  and  the  remainder  being  disposed  of 
and  scattered  so  as  to  leave  no  trace. 

About  1842,  S.  T.  Thompson  and  one  or  two  of 
his  neighbors  brought  from  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  a  few  sheep  and  founded  flocks.. 
These  were  the  first  really  good  Merinos  that  have 
left  their  mark  and  still  exist. 

William  Renfrew,  sr.,  soon  after  brought  out 
from  the  same  county  a  few  good  black-tops  and 
a  few  lighter  colored,  which  he  bred  separatelyr 
and  the  descendants  of  which  still  remain.  In  1846, 
or  thereabouts,  William  Batchelor  and  George 
Wolf  brought  out  a  few  sheep  obtained  from  Gen. 
Harmon  in  the  State  of  New  York;  they  were 
selected  by  Mr.  Batchelor,  and,  compared  with 
wTiat  were  here  before,  were  heavier-wooled  and 
stronger  sheep.    They  did  well. 

In  1850,  Howe  and  Batchelor  brought  out  from' 
Vermont  a  French  ram,  of  thorough  Merino  blood, 
which  had  been  imported  from  France  by  S.  W. 
Jewett,  from  the  government  flock  at  Rambouillet.. 
After  trial,  they  rejected  him  and  disposed  of  his. 
increase.  They  then,  in  connection  with  T.  S. 
Humrickhouse,  brought  out  some  thirty  head  of 
Humphries'  Atwood  sheep,  obtained  from  Edwin  » 
Hammond,  of  Addison  county,  Vermont.  These' 
are  the  kind  now  recognized  on  all  hands  as  the 
best,  and  an  improvement  over  other  fine-wooled 
sheep.  They  have  been  added  to  from  time  to- 
time  by  Mr.  Batchelor  and  others. 

In  1834,  Isaac  Maynard  emigrated  from  Eng- 
land and  settled  in  this  county.  He  brought 
with  him  a  small  flock  of  Southdowns  and  a  few 
Lincolnshires.  The  Lincolnshires  were  entirely 
lost,  and  most  of  the  Southdowns.  In  1842,  or 
thereabouts,  William  Henderson,  Dr.  Edmund 
Cone  and  James  Miskimen  furnished  old  Mr. 
Bache  with  money  to  go  to  England  and  bring 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


295 


tack  with  him  some  sheep.  He  brought  back 
.quite  a  number  of  Ellman  Southdowns  and  a  few 
Leicestershires,  or,  as  sometimes  called,  Dishleys 
or  Bakewells,  which  were  divided  among  the 
owners.  The  Leicestershires  soon  disappeared, 
but  the  Southdowns  are  the  source  of  most  of  the 
^Southdowns  now  in  the  county.  They  have  been 
added  to  by  Bluck  and  others,  who  purchased 
rams  at  different  times  from  various  sources. 
The  Cots  wolds  have  been  of  late  tried  by  various 
parties— those  of  Judge  Thornhill,  William  Han- 
Ion,  Robert  Moore  and  J.  W.  Dwyer  having  at- 
tracted much  attention  and  commendation. 

In  the  times  of  high  prices  during  the  war,  one 
•dollar  and  five  cents  per  pound  was  paid  for  a  few 
•choice  fleeces.  Many  were  sold  at  one  dollar  per 
-pound— one  fleece  bringing  twenty-two  dollars 
;and  fifty  cents.  When  prices  fell  after  the  war, 
and  the  condition  of  things  was  unsatisfactory 
•otherwise  as  to  the  profitableness  of  sheep  rais- 
ing, thousands  of  the  poorest  sheep 'were  killed 
and  fed  to  hogs,  the  pelts  selling  for  about  as 
much  as  the  live  sheep. 

A  Coshocton  County  Wool-growers'  Associa- 
tion was  organized  about  1864.  In  February, 
1876,  the  National  Merino  Sheep  Breeders'  Asso- 
ciation was  organized  at  Coshocton,  in  a  meeting 
attended  by  delegates  from  Pennsylvania,  West 
Virginia,  Missouri  and  other  States. 

Coshocton  is  one  of  the  foremost  sheep  coun- 
ties in  the  State.  In  the  value  of  its  sheep,  in 
1879,  it  stood  sixth  on  the  list,  and  in  point  of 
number,  126,000,  was  tenth.  In  1878,  490,076 
pounds  of  wool  were  shorn. 

In  comparatively  early  times,  John  Miskimen, 
•Judge  Robinson  and  Daniel  Miller  brought  some 
fine  cattle  into  the  county.  More  than  thirty 
years  ago,  Frank  McGuire  and  George  Wolf 
bought  some  superior  stock  in  this  line  from  E. 
P.  Prentice,  of  Albany,  New  York,  and  afterward 
some  from  D.  D.  Campbell,  of  Schenectady,  New 
York.  About  1851,  Arnold  Medberry  and  Sam- 
uel Rrown  made  purchase  of  some  very  fine  cat- 
tle from  Dr.  Watts,  of  Chillicothe.  In  1855, 
Thomas  Darling  imported  a  lot  from  Kentucky, 
and'  not  long  thereafter  Samuel  Moore,  Frank 
McGuire  and  T.  S.  Humrickhouse  became  prom- 
inently connected  with  the  same  line  of  work. 
John  G.  Stewart,  a  few  years  ago,  exhibited  a  very 


superior  herd.  J.  W.  Dwyer  has,  of  late,  also  in- 
terested himself  greatly,  especially  in  the  Jerseys 
and  Alderneys.  The  number  of  cattle  in  the 
county  in  1879  was  21,737,  valued  at  $299,141. 

The  hogs  of  the  earlier  day  in  Coshocton 
county  were  all  that  could  be  made  by  an 
abundance  of  corn  and  little  care;  but  the  orig- 
inal stock  not  being  very  good,  and  little  effort 
being  made  to  improve  it,  long  snouts  and  blue 
skins  Vere  the  rule.  The  McGuires  and  the 
Wolfs  were  about  the  first  to  give  attention  to 
improved  breeds.  Afterward  the  Lennons,  the 
Burrells,  and  Matthew  Johnson  interested  them- 
selves in  the  same  line.  G.  W.  Silliman,  after  his 
visit  to  Europe,  took  an  interest  in  the  Berk- 
shires,  and  brought  into  the  county  some  of  that 
breed.  The  Chester  Whites  beame  and  contin- 
ued great  favorites.  The  Leicestershires  have 
found  many  approvers,  and  are  favorites  with 
many.  The  Poland  Chinas,  too,  of  late  have  been 
introduced,  and  are  being  well  received. 

There  were  in  the  county  in  1879,  23,265  hogs, 
having  a  valuation  of  $48,612. 

"Blooded"  horses  have,  from  the  first, received 
a  good  deal  of  attention  in  Coshocton  county. 
Old  Colonel  Williams  and  his  compeers  had  the 
Virginia  notions  about  these  things.  The  jace 
course  was  not  then,  as  now,  circular  and  level 
and  rolled,  but  they  had  one,  from  the  earliest 
days  down.  There  was  one  on  the  Butler  place, 
up  the  Walhonding.  The  road  to  Lewisvillehad 
been  used.  But  the  favorite  track  for  years  was 
on  what  is  now  Fifth  street,  in  Coshocton,  along 
which  two  parallel,  narrow  tracks  were  cleared. 
Tests  of  speed  were  there  made,  not  witnessed 
by  elegantly-dressed  ladies  and  gentlemen,  such 
as  now-a-days  throng  the  county  fair  grounds, 
but  the  "  homespun  "  crowd.  It  is  claimed  that 
if  the  associations  of  the  place  were  less  refined, 
the  honesty  was  not  less  than  now.  They  meant 
square  business  or  simple  fun  in  those  days,  and 
were  severe  on  "jockeying.''  Neither  did  they 
then  sell  pools. 

Among  those  actively  interested  in  this  line, 
the  following  may  be  named :  One  of  the  But- 
lers in  New  Castle  township  had  charge  of  two 
horses,  brought  in  before  1812,  belonging  to  Peter 
Casey,  one  of  the  first  associate  judges  of  the 
county.    They  were  called  "  Whistle  Jacket"  and 


296 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


"High-flyer."  Colonel  Williams  of  Coshocton, 
brought  in  from  Virginia  a  horse,  long  famed  in 
this  region,  called  "Medley."  Robert  Farwell 
brought  from  New  England  to  Keens  township, 
"  Sir  Archie."  Joseph  W.  Rue,  about  1830,  intro- 
duced "John  of  Jersey  "  and  "  Patrick  Richards," 
colts  by  a  horse  entered  for  a  race  against 
"Eclipse,"  the  famous  trotter  on  Long  Island 
course,  but  withdrawn  on  account  of  lameness. 
Matthew  Stewart  is  remembered  in  connection 
with  "  Hickory."  Lewis  Rice  and  John  Johnson 
had  a  horse  called  "  Premium,"  and  A.  G.  Wood, 
one  called  "  Sir  Charles."  Samuel  Baker's  horse 
was  "Snow  Ball."  In  1866,  D.  L.  Triplett  and 
William  Bachelor  brought  from  Kentucky  "Ab- 
dallah,"  who  met  the  sad  fate  of  being  burned  to 
death  in  a  stable,  consumed  m  the  fall  of  1869. 
The  County  Horse  Fair  Association  was  organ- 
ized in  1866.  In  1879,  there  were  7,609  horses  re- 
ported in  this  county,  valued  at  $382,836. 

As  early  as  1835,  the  County  Commissioners, 
under  provisions  of  law,  directed  a  call  to  be 
issued  for  a  meeting,  looking  to  the  formation  of 
a  County  Agricultural  Society.  But  nothing  ef- 
fective was  done  under  that  call,  or  in  any  other 
way,  for  many  years.  About  1850  the  matter 
was  taken  up  by  some  of  the  progressive  farmers, 
chiefly  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  among 
whom  were  Colonel  C.  F.  Sangster,  Dr.  Heslip 
Wilhams,  Dr.  E.  Cone,  Judge  James  M.  Burt, 
.  John  Davis  and  others,  and  determined  efforts 
accomplished  the  organization. 

The  first  fair  under  tlie  auspices  of  the  society 
was  held  at  Jacobsport,  in  1850.  Then,  for  sev- 
eral years  thereafter,  they  were  held  in  the  public 
square  at  Coshocton.  Temporary  stalls  and 
sheds  were  enclosed  each  year,  for  the  stock  on 
exhibition,  and  the  race  course  was  just  east 
of  Fifth  street  and  south  of  Main.  From  the 
first,  there  was  a  choice  selection  of  stock  and  a 
gradual  increase  iif  other  lines.  The  Elliotts 
and  John  Davis  soon  had  good  displays  of  agri- 
cultural implements.  The  farmers'  wives  and 
daughters  also  interested  themselves  in  the  fair 
and  materially  assisted  in  its  success. 

The  fair  of  1856  was  nol?  remarkable  for  dis- 
play, but  the  talk  among  farmers  and  stock- 
breeders had  its  effect  in  awakening  interest,  and 
then  settled   the    matter  of   continuing    these 


annual  gatherings.  That  year  an  arrangement 
was  made  with  John  Burt  for  leasing,  for  a  term 
of  years,  his  land  (since  laid  off  in  lots)  extending 
east  from  Seventh  street  to  the  foot  of  the  bluff, 
and  from  Main  street  to  the  south  side  of  Hiram 
Beall's  property.  This  tract  contained  about  ninfr 
acres.  It  was  properly  fenced,  buildings  and 
stalls  were  erected'  on  it,  and  th6  fair  of  1857 
held  there.  By  1865  these  grounds  became  in- 
sufficient, and  in  that  year  the  society  purchased 
from  Mr.  S.  H.  Lee  twenty  acres,  about  four  hun- 
dred yards  east  of  the  Burt  tract  and  north  of 
Main  street,  and  proceeded  to  fit  up  more  exten- 
sive and,  as  was  supposed,  more  permanent  build- 
ings. The  amount  paid  for  the  grounds  was 
13,200.  To  assist  the  society  in  purchasing, 
these  grounds,  the  county  commissioner  agreed 
to  donate  $500,  and  to  loan  the  society  $500  more, 
to  be  repaid  out  of  the  receipts,  whenever  the 
commissioners  should  require.  It  is  understood 
that  this  was  repaid  when  the  grounds  were  sold 
by  the  society.  In  November,  1872,  the  present 
grounds,  lying  a  quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the 
Burt  fair  grounds,  were  purchased  from  J.  W. 
Dwyer.  The  old  fair  grounds,  in  December,  1872, 
were  subdivided  into  lots  and  most  of  them 
sold,  but  a  number  of  them,  steadily  increasing 
in  value,  remain  in  the  possession  of  the  society.. 
The  new  grounds  contain  thirty-four  and  fifty- 
eight  one'-hundredths  acres,  and  the  cost  of  them 
was  $10,488.  For  improvements  on  the  new 
grounds,  about  $6,000  have  been  expended.  A 
large  grove  was  a  chief  attraction  in  the  pui^ 
chase,  and  access  to  water  was  made  more  con- 
venient, the  grounds  lying  on  a  lower  level  than 
the  old  ones.  About  $4,000  of  the  cost  of  the 
grounds  had  been  paid  by  1876,  and  the  debt  has 
since  been  considerably  reduced.  In  1879,  the' 
cash  value  of  the  real  estate  of  the  society,  and, 
improvements,  was  $22,000.  The  amount  re' 
ceived  that  year,  for  gate  and  entrance  fees,  was 
13,448.70;  from  other  sources,  $300.  The  amount 
paid  in  premiums  was  $1,675;  for  real  estate,, 
buildings  and  permanent  improvements,  $431.65;. 
for  current  expenses,  other  than  improvments,. 
$1,167.18.  The  amount  in  the  treasury,  at'  the 
preceding  report,  was  $2,147.31;  at  this  report, 
$2,732.18.  As  this  showing  indicates,  the  finan- 
cial condition  of  the  society  is  excellent. 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


297 


For  a  number  of  years  the  expenses  of  the  so- 
ciety, including  the  premiums,  were  defrayed  by 
annual  fees  paid  by  the  members.  Under  the 
present  constitution  any  one  may  become  a  mem- 
ber by  the  payment  of  an  annual  fee  of  one  dol- 
lar. About  300  members  are  now  enrolled.  The 
ofScers  consist  of  a  president,  vice  president,  and 
board  of  twelve  directors,  elected  by  the  mem- 
bers, and  a  secretary  and  treasurer,  elected  by  the 
directors.  The  society  has  of  late  years  experi- 
mented in  the  cultivation  of  wheat  on  the 
grounds,  which  has  created  quite  an  interest 
among  the  farmers. 

There  has  been  a  diversity  of  opinion  among 
the  people,  as  well  as  members  of  the  society  and 
directors,  as  to  the  propriety  of  continuing  pre- 
miums for  speed  horses,  but  the  prevailing  senti- 
ment appears  to  be  in  favor  of  their  continuance. 

The  presidents  of  the  society  have  been,  C.  F. 
Sangster,  E.  Cone,  William  P.  Wheeler,  Thomas 
S.  Humrickhouse,  James  M.  Burt,  Heslip  Wil- 
liams, John  Miskimen,  William  Hanlon,  J.  S.  El- 
liott, J.  0.  Campbell  and  Lewis  Demoss. 

The  present  vice  president  is  J.  P.  Bu'rt,  suc- 
ceeding H.  McFadden. 

The  secretaries  have  been,  James  M.  Burt, 
Samuel  Ketchum,  John  Humrickhouse,  Thomas 
Campbell,  C.  H.  Johnson,  W.  E.  Forker,  L.  L. 
Cantwell,  David  Lanning,  George  Miller  and 
Lloyd  Pocock. 

Treasurers,  William  K.  Johnson,  Matthew  John- 
ston, John  A.  Hanlon  and  Joseph  L.  Rue. 

In  the  board  of  managers,  or  directors,  as  it 
now  is,  besides  the  above,  the  following  have 
served :  A.  D.  Denman,  Thomas  Darling,  Fran- 
cis McGuire,  William  Renfrew,  Samuel  Moore, 
James  E.  Robinson,  D.  L.  Triplett,  Frank  Staf- 
ford, J.  M.  Smith,  E  L.  Robinson,  Joseph  Dick- 
enson, Francis  Wolf,  Adam  Piflfer,  John  Mulli- 
gan, George  Factor,  Peter  Stevenson,  J.  M.  Den- 
man, William  McCoy, 'B.  C.  Blackburn,  Seth 
Christy,  William  Hesket,  Hugh  McFadden, 
Saul  Miller,  S.  C.  Burrell,  John  Hogle,  Philip 
Moore,  G.  W.  Wolf,  Marion  Darling,  Alexander 
Dinsmore,  Thomas  McConnell,  Wellington  Dar- 
ling, E.  J.  Pocock,  T.  H.  Burrell,  John  M.  Adams, 
John  Waggoner,  Samuel  Gardiner,  J.  H.  Carr, 
Joseph  W.  Dwyer,  Calvin  Boyd,  Joseph  Love,  M. 
L.  Norris,  Henry  King,  William  Porteus,  G.  G.- 


Andrews, William  H.  McGiflfen,  Wilham  Morri- 
son, W.  W.  Bostwick,  John  Richeson,  Thomas  M. 
Wiggins,  Thomas  Marshall,  B.  F.  Ricketts,  John 
A.  McClure,  John  Lennon,  Joseph  H.  Hay,  R.  A. 
Given,  A.  J.  Randies,  Joseph  Burrell  and  C.  C. 
Eckert.     > 

The  last  named  twelve  constitute  the  present 
board. 


CHAPTER  XXXL 

COUNTY   BUILDINGS  AND   OFFICERS. 

First  Jail— First  Court  House— The  Present  Court  House — 
Other  Public  Buildings— List  ol  County  Officers— Commis- 
sioners—Auditors— Clerks—  Treasurers  —  Recorders — Sher- 
iffs—Prosecuting  Attorneys— Surveyors— Coroners— Infirm- 
ary Directors — Representatives — Congressmen,  etc. 

THE  first  measure  taken  by  the  county  com- 
missioners, looking  toward  the  erection  of 
county  buildings  was  to  procure  the  construction 
of  a  suitable  place  of  confinement  for  criminals. 
County  offices  might  be  kept  at  the  residences  or 
business  places  of  the  office  holders,  and  courts 
could  be  temporarily  held  in  any  manner  of 
structure,  but  strong  bars  and  massive  doors  were 
absolutely  necessary  to  retain  the  unwilling  pres- 
ence of  the  border  law-breakers  of  1811,  and  these 
did  not  exist  in  the  little  hamlet,  which  then  con- 
stituted Coshocton.  The  contract  for  building  a 
county  jail  was  sold  to  Adam  Johnson,  as  the  low- 
est bidder,  June  4, 1811,  for  $1,397,  and  the  build- 
ing was  by  him  speedily  erected.  It  was  thirty- 
six  feet  long  by  sixteen  feet  wide  and  built  of 
sound,, oak  logs,  well  hewn.  The  commissioners 
had  been  authorized  by  the  legislature  to  sell  the 
public  square,  lying  just  south  of  the  present 
square,  and  the  proceeds  arising  from  the  sale 
amounting  to  $957.15,  were  used  in  paying  for 
the  jail.  It  stood  on  the  site^of  the  present  court 
house. 

The  first  courts  of  Coshocton  county  were  held 
in  the  second  story  of  Colonel  Charles  Williams' 
old  tavern  stand,  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Chest- 
nut and  Water  streets.  It  is  said  that  Colonel 
Williams  received  thirty  dollars  a  year  rent  for 
the  court-room  and  two  dollars  per  term  for  the 
room  occupied  by  the  jury.  Ashur  Hart  also 
furnished  a  jury  room  occasionally  on  Second 


298 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON'  COUNTY. 


street.  When  Alexander  McGowan  became  clerk 
to  the  commissioners  in  1821,  they  entered  into 
a  contract  with  Wilson  McGowan  for  a  court- 
room in  the  building  occupied  by  William  Whit- 
ten,  standing  near  the  corner  of  Second  and  Main 
streets,  the  site  of  part  of  th,e  present  Central 
house,  and  the  cqjjrts  were  held  there  for  some 
four  years. 

In  July,  1819,  the  contract  for  clearing  the  pub- 
lic square  was  sold  to  Charles  Williams  for  nine- 
teen dollars  and  fifty  cents,  and  at  the  same  time 
Adam  Johnson  received  the  contract  for  building 
a  "  post  and  rail "  fence  around  the  square. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Commissioners,  June  6, 

1821,  it  was  determined  to  take  measures  for 
building  a  court  house.  It  was  agreed  to  send 
letters,  under  the  hands  of  the  Commissioners,  to 
the  different  townships,  as  an  address  to  the  feel- 
ings of  the  people.  The  Auditor  was  instructed 
to  draw  up  a  subscription  paper  for  the  purpose 
of  receiving  donations.  According  to  the  terms, 
the  donations  were  payable  in  lumber,  labor,  pork, 
wheat,  rye,  corn  or  oats,  at  the  marketable  price. 
The  County  Auditor  was  further  ordered  to 
"  cause  to  be  published  in  twenty-eight  hand-bills, 
and  then  distributed  proportionately  through  the 
county  an  address,"  in  which  was  set  forth  the 
need  of  a  court  house,  and  the  lack  of  county 
funds,  and  appealing  to  public  patriotism  for 
liberal  donations.  Several  months  later  it  was 
deemed  proper  to  receive  money  only  in  sub- 
scriptions. At  a  meeting  in  June,  1822,  a  plan 
for  the  building  was  settled  upon.  It  was  to  be 
thirty-two  by  forty  feet  in  size,  built  of  brick,  one 
story  in  height,  and  to  contain  a  court  room  and 
two  small  jury  rooms.  Notices  of  the  sale  of 
contract  were  ordered  to  be  inserted  in  the  Mus- 
kingum Messenger  and  the  Tuscarawas  Chronicle 
for  three  weeks,  July  9  being  fixed  upon  as  the 
day  of  sale.  During  the  same  month,  however, 
it  was  resolved  to  defer  the  sale  until  after  the 
December  meeting.  Subscriptions  must  have 
been  made  very  slowly,  if  at  all,  for  in  August, 

1822,  the  Commissioners  resolved  that  without 
the  aid  of  the  citizens  in  donating  towards  its 
erection,  the  same  could  not  be  effected,  and  sub- 
scriptions were  again  made  payable  in  materials 
and  produce,  as  well  as  cash.  March  5,  1823,  the 
Auditor  was  ordered  to  procure  the  appraisement 


of  all  improvements  on  town-lots  and  houses  for 
the  purpose  of  collecting  a  tax  therefrom  to  assist 
in  the  erection  of  the  court  house.  April  18, 
1823,  was  the  day  appointed  for  the  sale,  and 
shortly  before  it  was  effected  the  plan  of  the 
building  was  changed  to  one  forty  feet  square, 
two  stories  high,  with  square  roof.  On  the  day  of 
sale  Peter  Darnes  was  the  lowest  bidder,  at 
$2,185.  The  Commissioners  were  unwilling  to 
award  at  this  bid,  and  adjourned  to  the  next  day, 
April  19,  when  the  contract  was  given  to  Charles 
Williams,  for  $1,984 ;  the  Commissioners  agreeing 
that  he  associate  with  him,  as  joint-contractors, 
Peter  H.  Darnes,  Abraham  Richards  and  Andrew 
Daugherty.  An  allowance  of  several  hundred 
dollars  was  afterwards  made  for  extra  work. 
The  building  was  finished  in  the  spring  of  1824. 
The  belfry  was  completed  in  1830,  under  the 
supervision  of  John  Elliott.  The  bell,  still  in  use 
in  the  new  court  house,  was  purchased,  at  the 
request  of  the  Commissioners,  by  William  K 
Johnson,  in  1834. 

This  court  house  remained  the  seat  of  justice 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  and,  during  a  great 
part  of  this  time,  particularly  in  its  earlier  years, 
was  used  for  many  purposes  other  than  those  of 
justice.  Before  it  was  finished  a  grand  ball  was 
given  in  it.  The  pedagogue  taught  the  future 
sovereigns  here  for  a  number  of  years.  On  the 
Sabbath  the  expounders  of  the  various  Christian 
creeds  preached  their  doctrinal  tenets  to  the  as- 
sembled audiences,  and  several  revivals  were  con- 
ducted here.  Political  orators  harangued  their 
partisan  friends  in  heated  campaigns,  and,  in  fact, 
meetings  of  all  kinds  touching  the  public  interest 
were  held  within  its  walls.  The  court  house 
stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  square,  facing  Third 
street. 

In  1834  two  one-story  brick  buildings,  about 
thirty  by  forty  in  size,  were  erected  as  county  of- 
fices, one  on  either  side  of  the  court  house,  and 
in  a  line  with  it,  fronting  on  Third  street. ,  The 
offer  of  William  C.  Blodget  was  accepted  for  their 
building,  the  bid  being  11,360.75.  In  1849  an  ad- 
ditional story  was  built  on  the  north  building  by 
William  MoFarland  for  $1,334.  In  1854  the  south 
building  also  received  an  additional  story,  W.  H. 
Robinson  and  William  Welch  being  the  contrac- 
tors. 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTOl^  COUNTY. 


303 


The  old  log  jail  was  replaced  by  another  upon 
the  same  site  in  1836.  It  was  of  brick,  and  with 
the  sheriff's  house  adjoining  was  built  by  El- 
dridge  &  McGowan,  for  $2,300.  The  present  sub- 
stantial stone  jail,  located  on  Third  street,  and  the 
sheriff's  house  of  biick,  were  built  in  1873.  The 
entire  cost  of  these  buildings  was  about  $30,000. 
The  plan  was  furnished  by  Carpenter  &  Williams, 
of  Meadville,  Pennsylvania,  who  were  consulting 
superintendents,  John  Dodd,  of  Eoscoe,  being  act- 
ing superintendent.  The  contractors  were  M. 
Johnson  and  A.  Wimmer. 

In  the  fall  of  1872,  the  question  of  building  a 
new  court  house  was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
people  of  the  county,  and  decided  in  the  negative 
by  a  large  majority,  but  during  the  ensuing  win- 
ter the  State  Legislature  passed  a  special  enabling 
act^.and  measures  were  taken  for  the  erection  of 
.the  building.  Plans  were  prepared  and  the  work 
superintended  by  Carpenter  &  Williams,  of  Mead- 
ville, Pennsylvania.  The  contract  for  the  new 
building  was  let  to  S.  Harold  &  Co.,  of  Beaver 
Falls,  Pennsylvania.  The  structure  was  turned 
over  to  the  commissioners  in  July,  1875,  the 
county  officers  moving  in  the  latter  part  of  that 
month,  and  the  District  Court  sitting  therein  the 
following  month.  Additions,  extra  work,  furni- 
ture and  appliances  added  greatly  to  the  cost  of 
the  building,  making  the  sum  total  almost  $100,000. 

A  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  situated  two 
miles  east  of  Coshocton,  was  purchased  by  the 
county  commissioners  in  1846  from  W.  K.  John- 
son &  Co.,  at  fifteen  dollars  per  acre,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  thereon  a  county  infirmary.  Two 
years  later,  the  proposal  of  Davis,  Richardson, 
Chamberlain  &  Richardson  to  build  the  infirmary 
was  accepted  at  $3,885,  a  previous  proposal  by  E. 
Davis  having  failed  from  non-compliance  of  con- 
ditions. The  building  is  a  two-story  brick,  and 
has  recently  received  extensive  additions.  An 
adjoining  tract  of  land  was  purchased  from 
Henry  Wheeler,  for  $2,500,  and  the  whole  farm 
now  amounts  to  nearly  four  hundred  acres. 
•  A  complete  list  of  the  county  commissioners 
from  the  organization  of  the  county  to  the  pres- 
ent year,  together  with  their  several  terms  of 
service,  is  as  follows : 

Charles  Williams,  1811-13;  Mordecai  Chalfant, 
1811-18;  James  Miskimen,  1811-21;  James  Cal- 


der,  1813-17;  Squire  Humphrey,  1817-lft;  Sam- 
uel Clark,  1818-29;  Robert  Darling,  1819-25; 
Robert  Boyd,  1821-24;  John  G.  Pigman,  1824-26; 
Benjamin  Ricketts,  1826-28;  Gabriel  Evans,  1826- 
38:  Richard  Moore,  1828-31;  John  Mitchell, 
1829-32;  Samuel  Clark,  1831-33;  John  Quigley, 
1832-34;  Andrew  Ferguson,  1883-38;  Joseph 
Neff,  1833-36;  Daniel  Forker,  1834-48;  Eli  Fox, 
1836-39;  Arnold  Medberry,  1838-44;  Samuel 
Winklepleck,  1839^2;  J.  D.  Workman,  1842-45; 
Isaac  Darling,  1843-49;  James  Ravenscraft,  1844- 
47;  Samuel  Lamberson,  1845-48; .  Alexander 
Matthews,  1847-50;  George  Wolf,  1848-51 ;  Fran- 
cis Buxton,  1849-52;  Henry  Schmueser,  1850-56; 
Thomas  Darling,  1851-54 ;  Lewis  Swigert,  1852- 
55;  Owen  Evans,  1854-57;  Abraham  Shaffer, 
1855-58;  James  E.  Robinson,  1856-59;  William 
Doak,  1857-63;  William  Hanlon,  1858-64 ;  James 
M.  Smith,  1859-65;  Thomas  Darling,  1863-69 
Joseph  Keim,  1864-70;  Thomas  McKee,  1865-71 
Joseph  S.  MoVey,  1869-75;  John  Taylor,  1870-76 
Samuel  Moore,  1871-77;  William  Forney,  1875- 
78;   John  C.  McBane,  1876-82;   William  Berry, 

1877-83;  S.  M.  Dougherty,  1878-81. 

• 

County  Auditors. — The  first  auditor  (or  clerk  of 
the  commissioners,  as  the  office  was  then  called), 
was  Thomas  L.  Rue,  who  after  a  few  meetings 
ceased  to  attend,  and  in  consequence  the  appoint- 
ment was  transferred  to  Adam  Johnson,  who  re- 
tained the  office  until  1821.  The  salary  at  that 
time  was  forty  dollars  per  annum.  Subsequently 
the  auditors  have  been:  Alexander  McGowan, 
1821-25;  Joseph  Burns,  1825-38  (resigned);  J. 
W.  Rue,  1838^8;  (in  1843  Wilson  McGowan  and 
J.  W.  Rue  each  temporarily  served  in  this  capac- 
ity); H.  Cantwell,  1848-50;  B.  F.  Sells,  1850-52; 
WiUiam  Himebaugh,  1854-58;  Samuel  Forker, 
1858-62;  C.  H.  Johnson,  1862-66;  W.  R.  Forker, 
1866-71;  William  Walker,  1871-75;  William 
Wolf,  1875-80;  John  W.  Cassingham,  present 
incumbent. 

Co^mty  Clerks — At  the  first  session  of  the  court 
of  common  pleas,  in  April,  1811,  Adam  Johnson 
was  appointed  clerk,  pro  tern.  At  the  second 
term  in  September,  Thomas  L.  Rue  was  ap- 
pointed temporarily  to  this  office,  but  in  Decem- 
ber, 1811,  Adam  Johnson  received  the  appoint- 
ment for  seven  years.    He  was  re-appointed  and 


304 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


served  till  his  death  in  1829.  His  suceessors  have 
been  John  Frew,  1829-33 ;  Alexander  McGowan, 
1837-43;  Joseph  Burns,  1843-51;  B.  E.  Shaw, 
1851-54;  A.  M.  Williams,  1854-67;  Lemuel  Kin- 
sey,  1857-63;  Charles  K.  Remick,  1863-69;  G.  H. 
Barger,  1869-75;  Israel  Dillon,  1875-81. 

County  Treasurers — William  Whitten  was  treas- 
urer from  1811  to  1817 ;  Dr.  Samuel  Lee,  from 
1817  to  1825.  The  emoluments  of  the  office  were 
at  first  five  per  cent  of  the  moneys  received, 
afterward  reduced  to  three  per  cent,  and 
amounted  to  from  forty  to  sixty  dollars  per  year 
prior  to  1818.  Dr.  Lee  \vas  succeeded  by  James 
Renfrew,  who  agreed  to  serve  for  three  per  cent, 
and  obligated  himself "  not  to  speculate  on  the 
county's  money."  For  many  years  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  the  county  to  loan  money  to  respon- 
sible citizens.  John  B.  Turner  served  for  1827 
and  1828,  Alexander  McGowan  for  1829  and  1830. 
Samuel  Rea  became  treasurer  in  1831.  He  was 
removed  in  December,  1832  and  Robert  Hay  ap- 
pointed in  his  stead,  holding  the  office  until  1834. 
WiUiam  G.  Williams  served  from  1834  to  1846, 
and  was  suoceeded  by  Benjamin  Bonnett,  who 
resigned  in  1849.  J.  W.  Rue  was  appointed  for 
the  unexpired  term  ending  1850.  William  P. 
Wheeler  held  the  office,  1850-52,  and  Lewis  De- 
moss,  1852-56.  Samuel  Ketchum,  elected  in 
1856,  resigned  in  1859,  and  Samuel  Lamberson 
finished  his  term  and  served  until  1864.  Then 
followed  Samuel  Burrell,  1864-68 ;  Thomas  Jones, 
1863-72;  Richard  W.  McLain,  1872-76;  John 
Waggoner,  1876-80;  John  Beaver  1880—. 

County  Recorders  —  Adam  Johnson,  1811-29; 
Joseph  Burns,  1829-36;  George  W.  Price,  1836-40; 
Russell  C.  Bryan,  1840-46;  G.  F.  Cassingham,  1846- 
55;  John  F.  Williams,  1855-57  (resigned);  R.  M. 
Hackenson,  1857-58;  A.  McNeal,  1858-61;  C.  W. 
Stanford,  1861-64;  L.  L.  Root,  1864-70;  M.  W. 
Wimmer,  1870-76;  John  M.  Crawford,  1876-82. 

Probate  Judges — The  probate  court,  instituted 
by  the  present  constitution,  has  had  the  following 
judges:  Thomas  Campbell,  1852-55;  C.  S.  Barnes, 
1855-58;  John  T.  Simmons,  1853-64;  M.  C.  Mc- 
Farland,  1864-70;  Joseph  Burns,  1870-75  (died 
in  office);  W.  F.  Thornhill,  1875-76  (unexpired 
term);  Alexander  Hanlon,  1876-82. 


County  Slieriffs—C.  Van  Kirk,  1811-15;  Charles 
Williams,  1815-19  (compensation,  fifty  dollars  a 
year);  Charles  Miller,  1819-21;  John  Smeltzer, 
1821-23;  John  Crowley,  1823-27;  T.  Butler  Lewis, 
1827-29;  John  Crowley,  1829-33;  J.  H.  Hutchinson, 
1833-37;  Samuel  Morrison,  1837-41;  Joseph  C. 
Maginity,  1841-45;  Samuel  Morrison,  1845-49; 
Samuel  B.  Crowley,  1849-53;  Richard  Lanning, 
1853-55;  \^^  H.  H.  Price,  1855-57;  David  Roda- 
haver,  1857-61;  John  Hesket,  1861-65;  James 
Sells,  1865-68;  Thomas  Piatt,  1868-69;  Joshua 
H.  Carr,  1869-73;  John  Lennon,  1873-77;  Jacob 
Severns,  1877-81. 

Prosecuting  Attorneys — Wright  Warner  was  ap- 
pointed prosecuting  attorney  in  September,  1811, 
for  seven  years.  The  court  allowed  him  at  first 
twenty-five  dollars  per  term  of  court  for  his  ser- 
vices. He  resigned  before  the  expiration  of  his 
term,  and  was  succeeded  by  Alexander  Harper, 
who  served  until  1823,  when  he  resigned,  having 
been  elected  judge.  Charles  B.  Goddard  then 
served  till  1827.  W.  Silliman,  David  Spangler 
and  Richard  Stilwell  each  served  during  terms 
of  court  until  March,  1830,  when  Noah  H.  Swayne 
was  appointed  for  a  full  term.  But  in  1833, 
Josephus  Ricketts,  having  been  elected,  came 
into  office.  He  resigned  in  1834  and  G.  W.  Silli- 
man was  appointed  and  afterward  elected  in  1835, 
but,  his  health  failing  in  1841,  the  latter  part  of 
his  term  was  filled  by  T.  S.  Humrickhouse,  by 
appointment.  Thomas  Campbell  was  elected  in 
1843  and  in  1845.  Then  succeeded  William  Sam- 
ple, 1849-51;  John  T.  Simmons,  1821-55;  John 
D.  Nicholas,  1855-57;  Charles  Hoy,  1857-60  (re- 
signed); Thomas  Campbell,  1860  In  1860,  Richard 
Lanning  was  elected,  but  in  the  second  year  of 
his  tcm,  he  resigned  the  office,  having  been  com- 
missioned major  of  the  Eightieth  Regiment  of 
the  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  and  Thomas  Camp- 
bell finished  his  term.  Asa  G.  Dimmock  served 
from  1862  to  1868.  He  resigned- shortly  before 
the  expiration  of  his  third  term,  owing  to  ill  health, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  term,  by  appointment,, 
was  filled  by  R.  M.  Voorhees,  who  continued  in 
the  office  by  election  and  re-election  until  1872. 
Then  followed  William  S.-  Crowell,  1872-76;  A.  H. 
Stilwell,  1876-78 ;  T.  H.  Ricketts,  1878-80;  Albinus 
H.  Stilwell,  1880-. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


305 


Cknmty  Surveyors — William  Lockard,  1812-17; 
^  James  Eavenscraft,  1817-19;  "William  Coulter, 
1819-24;  William  G.  Williams,  1824-30s  James 
Bavenscraf t,  1830-86.  Then  came  John  M.  Sweney 
and  John  M.  Fulks.  The  latter  was  succeeded 
by  Henry  Seevers,  who  served  until  1852.  Lemuel 
Kinsey  served  1862-55;  C.  W.  McMorris,  1855- 
58;  B.  L.  Baker,  1858-61;  T.  P.  Latham,  1861-64; 
Levi  Gamble,  1864-71;  John  A.  Hanlon,  1871-74; 
George  Moore,  1874-80  (a  vacancy  existing  part 
of  this  time);  Samuel  M.  Moore,  present  surveyor, 
1880-. 

Coroners. — The  following  list  of  coroners  is  in- 
complete as  to  the  earlier  ones :  David  Bookless, 
George  Leighninger,  James  Eavenscraft,  Abra- 
ham Sells,  Benjamin  Coe,  Thomas  McAnally,  Ad- 
dison Syphert,  James  T.  McCleary,  Joseph  Hitch- 
ens,  WiUiam  Jeffries,  Thomas  Piatt,  Nicholas 
Schott,  John  Eicheson,  Joseph  Burns. 

Infirmary  Directors. — The  following  have  served 
the  county  as  infirmary  directors :  Lewis  Eow, 
James  Jones,  Henry  Wheeler,  Isaac  W.  Miller, 
John  M.  Johnson,  Stephen  D.  Sayer,  Thomas 
Dwyer,  D.  E.  Laughlin,  George  McCune,  J.  C. 
Frederick,  William  Simons,  James  MoBriar,  John 
Chambers,  Nathan  Buckalew,  John  Hawley,  Wil- 
liam McCoy,  C.  F.  Sangster,  Samuel  Gardiner, 
Thomas  Wiggins,  E.  C.  Warren  and  Daniel  Frey. 

From  1811  to  1820  Coshocton  and  Tuscarawas 
counties  were  represented  in  the  State  house  of 
representatives  by  a  single  member.  Until  the 
adoption  of  the  present  constitution  in  1851,  the 
Tepresentatives  were  elected  annually,  and  where 
two  counties  were  combined  into  one  district, 
they  would  usually  alternate  in  presenting  the 
member.  Probably  the  first  representative  from 
Coshocton  county  was  Eobert  Giffen,  who  served 
a  single  term  about  1812,  when  the  legislature 
met  at  Chillicothe.  In  1814  Charles  Williams 
was  elected.  .This  election  was  contested,  and  a 
new  election  ordered  by  the  legislature.  It  was 
held  in  January,  1815,  and  the  people  ratified 
their  first  choice.  In  1816,  1818-20,  and  1828 
Joseph  W.  Pigman  was  chosen,  and  in  1817  'Squire 
Humphrey.  In  1820  Coshocton  county  itself  be- 
came a  representative  district,  and  James  Eobin- 
son  was  the  representative  for  1820-21,  also  for 


1824;  Charles  Williams,  1825;  John  Smeltzer, 
1827-28;  N.  H.  Swayne,  1829;  James  Eobinson, 
1830;  Charles  W.  Simmons,  1831;  James  Mat- 
thews, 1832;  John  Crowley,  1833-34r-5;  Samuel 
Whitmore,  1836;  James  Matthews  and  F.  W. 
Thornhill,  1837;  Joseph  Burns,  1838-40;  Jesse 
Meredith,  1841-42;  George  A.  McCleary,  1843; 
Jesse  Meredith,  1844;  Heslip  Williams,  1845; 
Joseph.  Williams,  1846-47;  James  M.  Burt,  1848- 
50;  Timothy  C.  Condi t,  1851;  George  McKee, 
1852-54;  John  Pierson,  1854-56;,  Patrick  Thomp- 
son, 1856-58 ;  C.  F.  Sangster,  1858-60;  James  Gam- 
ble and  J.  N.  Fellows,  1860-62 ;  Andrew  J.  Wilkin, 
1862-64;  W.  F.  Thornhill,  1864-70  (Speaker  of 
the  House,  session  of  1868-69) ;  John  Baker,  1870- 
72;  B.  C.  Blackburn,  1872^74;  John  Baker,  1874- 
76;  E.  L.  Lybarger,  1876-78;  John  Hardy,  1878-82. 

For  some  years  after  its  organization,  Coshoc- 
ton county  was  combined  with  Guernsey  and 
Tuscarawas  in  a  State  senatorial  district.  From 
1820  to  1830  the  district  was  made  up  of  Coshoc- 
ton and  Tuscarawas ;  and  after  1824,  Holmes, 
which  was  in  that  year  organized.  Still  later, 
Coshocton  and  Knox  made  the  district.  Since 
1850,  Coshocton  and  Tuscarawas  have  formed  the 
district.  The  first  citizen  of  Coshocton  elected 
State  senator  was  Wilson  McGowan,  serving 
1821-22.  Samnel  Lee  was  senator,  1826-27; 
Charles  Miller,  1828-29;  James  Eavenscraft,  1834^- 
36;  James  Matthews,  1838-39;  John  Johnson, 
1842-43;  W.  F.  Thornhill,  1845-46 ;  Andrew  Fer- 
guson, 1850-51;  Heslip  Williams,  1854-55;  A.  L- 
Cass,  1853-59;  William  Stanton,  1864-65;  James 
M.  Burt,  1866-7,  also,  1870-71;  John  C.  Fisher, 
1873-74,  and  in  1878-79. 

Coshocton  county  has  furnished  four  Congress- 
men. The  first  of  these  was  David  Spangler, 
who  served  two  successive  terms,  from  1833  to 
1837.  The  congressional  district,  which  he  rep- 
resented, comprised  Coshocton,  Holmes,  Knox 
and  Tuscarawas  counties.  James  Matthews  also 
served  two  terms,  from  1841  to  1845.  John  John- 
son in  1851-53,  apd  Joseph  Burns  in  1857-59, 
were  the  other  two  national  representatives. 

In  the  State  constitutional  convention  of  1851, 
this  county  was  represented  by  John  Johnson, 
and  in  that  of  1874  by  William  Sample.  James 
M.  Burt  represented  the  Coshocton  and  Tusca- 


306 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


rawas  distrfct  in.  the  State  Board  of  Equalization 
in  1860.  James  Gamble  was  chosen  a  member 
of  the  board  of  public  works  in  October,  1862 — 
entering  upon  his  duties  in  February,  1863.  He 
died  in  March,  1864,  and  James  Moore  was  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor  to  fill  the  vacancy  in 
April,  1864.  He  was  elected  in  October,  1866, 
and  held  the  office  for  a  term  of  three  years. 
John  C.  Fisher  was  appointed  a  member  of  the 
Ksh  Commission  in  1875,  by  Governor  Allen. 
J.  W.  Dwyer  ivas,  for  some  time — in  Delano's  ad- 
ministration of  internal  revenue  affairs- super- 
visor of  internal  revenue  for  the  northern  dis- 
trict of  Ohio,  with  office  at  Coshocton.  He  was, 
at  a  later  date,  pension  agent,  with  office  at  Co- 
lumbus. W.  A.  Johnson  served  for  several  years 
as  deputy  United  States  internal  revenue  asses- 
sor; and  John  Flew,  James  Dryden  and  Dr.  J. 
H.  Lee  as  deputy  collectors. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

BENCH  AND  BAE. 

Pirst  Courts— Early  Judges — Associate  Judges— Judge  Sample 
—Early  Bar  —  First  Lawyers  —  David  Spangler — Present 
Members. 

THE  building  in  wfiich  the  first  court  of  com- 
mon pleas  for  Coshocton  county  was  held  is 
still  standing.  It  is  the  desolate  and  dilapidated 
two-story  frame  structure  near  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Water  and  Chestnut  streets.  Joining  this 
building  on  the  south  was  the  log  cabin,  where 
Adam  Johnson  tended  the  store  started  by  Hedge 
&  Hammord.  Another  log  cabin  touched  it  on 
the  north,  and  in  it  was  Colonel  Williams'  tavern 
•within  easy  access  of  the  court.  The  family  of 
Mr.  Williams  occupied  the  lower  floor  of  the 
frame  building,  and  an  apartment  on  the  upper 
floor,  reached  by  an  outdoor  stairway,  was  the 
scene  of  the  first  forensic  display  in  the  county. 
This  cluster  of  buildings  was  for  years  the  most 
important  place  in  the  county,  forming  as  it  did 
a  private  dwelling,  public  house,  store  room, 
court  house,  meeting  house,  jail,  fort,  school 
house  and  ball  room. 

By  the  legislature  the  county  was  placed  in  the 
judicial  district  over  which  Hon.  William  Wil- 


son of  Licking  county  was  president  judge.  Wil- 
Uam  Mitchell,  Peter  Casey  and  Isaac  Evans,  three- 
substantial  citizens  of  the  county,  had  been  ap- 
pointed associate  judges.  The  first  term  of  court- 
convened  April  1, 1811.  "  Some  choice  hickory 
wood  had  been  cut  for  the  occasion,  and  'mine 
host'  was  doubtless  in  his  best  humor,  feeling  the 
importance  of  the  occasion  and  his  own  import- 
ance as  one  of  the  head  men  in  the  new  county 
and  the  host  of  the  court.  It  is  said  new  hunt- 
ing-shirts were  plenty  in  town  that  day.  It  must^ 
however,  have  somewhat  diminished  the  glory  of 
the  occasion  that  the  president  judge  did  not  put 
in  an  appearance.  The  three  associate  judges 
were  on  hand  and  the  court '  sat '  with  becoming 
dignity."  The  term  was  of  the  briefest  possible 
duration,  as  there  was  little  or  no  court  business 
to  transact.  The  associate  judges  produced  their 
commissions  and  legal  qualifications  and  took 
their  seats.  Adam  Johnson  was  appointed  clerk 
pro  tern,  and  recorder  for  a  term  of  seven  years, 
the  election  of  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  each  of  the- 
townships  of  Tuscarawas,  Washington  and  New 
Castle  and  of  two  in  Franklin  township  was  or- 
dered, and  the  court  adjourned  sine  die. 

The  second  term  was  opened  September  2, 
1811,  with  a  full  court  present.  Thomas  L.  Hue 
was  appointed  clerk  pro  tern.  The  first  grand 
jury  was  impaneled  at  this  term  of  court,  and 
consisted  of  the  following  members:  James 
Tanner,  foreman,  James  Craig,  Benjamin  Fry, 
Samuel  Clark,  Sainuel  Hardesty,  John  Hanson, 
Isaac  Workman,  Charles  Miller,  Michael  Miller, 
Philip  Wagoner,  Windle  Miller,  Francis  McGuire, 
Henry  Miller,  and  John  Mills.  The  jury  reported 
"  no  business."  The  docket  shows  three  cases. 
Two  of  these  were. dismissed  and  the  third  con- 
tinued. William  Lockard  was  appointed  county 
surveyor,  and  the  court  adjourned. 

At  the  third  term,  in  December,  the  judges 
were  again  all  present,  and  business  began  to 
increase.  One  jury  case  was  tried  at  this  term. 
The  jury,  the  first  petit  jury  in  the  county  con- 
sisted of  John  D.  Moore,  Frederiek  Woolford^ 
William  Beard,  John  Planson,  John  G.  Pigman^ 
Huch  Ballentine,  Philip  Wolfe,  George  Smith, 
John  Bantham,  Windle  Miller,  John  McKearn 
and  Elijah  Moore.  The  case  was  that  of  Charles 
Williams  against  Adam  Markley,  an  appeal  from 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


SOT 


thejudgment  of  William  Whitten,  justice  of  the 
peace.  The  suit  was  to  recover  nine  dollars  and 
fifty-six  cents,  alleged  to  be  due  plaintiff.  The 
verdict  was  for  the  plaintfif.  Lewis  Cass  was  his 
attorney.  Wright  Warner  was  appointed  prose- 
cuting attorney,  and  his  compensation  fixed  at 
twenty-five  dollars  per  term  of  court.  Letters  of 
administration  were  granted  to  Jesse  and  John 
Fulton  on  the  estate  of  William  Fulton,  deceased. 
The  grand  jury  returned  one  bill  at  this  term, 
against  George  Arnold,  for  assault  and  battery 
committed  upon  the  body  of  one  •  Thomas  Beck- 
worth.  The  defendant  pleaded  guilty  to  the  charge 
and  was  fined  by  the  court  four  dollars  and  costs. 
Arnold  terminated  his  career  in  this  county  five 
years  later,  by  fatally  stabbing  John  Markley,  on 
election  day,  and  escaping  to  parts  unknown. 

The  legislature  had  provided  that  no  term  of 
the  court  should  extend  beyond  five  "  working 
days."  For  the  first  few  years  only  from  one  to 
five  days  were  required  to  complete  the  business. 
The  cases  were  largely  criminal,  and  the  charges 
most  prevalent  on  the  docket  were  for  assault  and 
battery,  slander  and  "fighting  at  fisticuffs,''  or 
"by  agreement."  A  mode  of  punishment  not 
very  common,  even  in  those  days,  was  that  to 
which  one  Zeba  French  was  subjected.  He  had 
been  convicted  at  the  December  term  of  1814  of 
"uttering  and  putting  off"  counterfeit  money, 
and  the  sentence  passed  upon  him  was  that  he 
should  be  taken  to  the  public  whipping-post  of 
the  county  and  receive  upon  his  naked  back  thir- 
ty-nine lashes.  He  was  also  fined  twenty  dollars 
and  costs — a  heavy  fine  at  that  time— and  impris- 
oned in  the  county  jail  thirty  days.  The  sentence 
was  duly  executed.  Several  other  countefeiters, 
equally  guilty,  had  been  arrested  and  incarcerated 
with  Fl-ench,  but  had  made  good  their  escape 
from  the  county  before  they  were  called  upon  to 
expiate  their  much  detested  crime.  Counterfeit- 
ing and  horse  stealing,  in  the  minds  of  the  early 
settlers,  were  two  most  abominable  crimes  and 
were  rarely  allowed  to  go  unpunished  to  the  full 
extent  of  the  law. 

Judge  Wilson  continued  to  jse  president  judge 
until  1822,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Alexander 
Harper  of  Zanesville.  Judge  Harper  had  fre- 
quently visited  Coshocton  as  a  lawyer,  and  for 
several  years  had  acted  as  prosecuting  attorney 


for  Coshocton  county,  though  a  non  resident.  He 
was  exceedingly  popular  with  the  bar  and  also- 
with  the  citizens.  He  served  two  terms  and  was 
succeeded  in  April,  1836,  by  Corrington  W.. 
Searle,  also  of  Zanesville.  He  served  one  term 
only  and  in  1843,  Richard  Stilwell,  also  of  Zanes- 
ville, came  into  the  ofHce.  About  the  close  of  his 
official  term  Coshocton  county  was  placed  in  an- 
other district  and  James  Stewart,  of  Mansfield, 
became  president  judge.  He  presided  at  only  a 
few  terms  of  court  before  the  change  in  the  State- 
judiciary,  wrought  by  the  new  constitution,  came 
into  effect. 

Under  the  old  constitution,  three  citizens  of 
the  county  were  commissioned  by  the  governor 
of  the  State  to  occupy  the  bench  as  associate- 
judges.  The  names  of  the  first  judges  have  been, 
mentioned.  Of  these,  Peter  Casey  lived  beyond 
Millersburg,  in  what  is  now  Holmes  county ; 
Isaac  Evaiis  lived  at  Evansburg,  Oxford  town- 
ship, and  William  Mitchell,  close  to  Coshocton. 
The  term  of  office  was  seven  years  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  a  complete  list  of  those  who  filled  this 
position,  together  with  their  several  terms  of 
service:  William  Mitchell,  1811-13;  Isaac  Evans, 
1811-16;  Peter  Casey,  1811-24;  Lewis  Vail, 
1813-15;  Benjamin  Robinson,  1815-21;  David  T. 
Finney,  1816-17;  Joseph  W.  Pigman,  1817-19; 
Mordecai  Chalfant,  1819-33;  Thomas  Johnson, 
1821-41;  Henry  Grim,  1824-31;  James  Robinson, 
1831-35;  John  Crawford,  1833-47;  James  Le 
Retilley,  1835-42;  Robert  Crawford,  1841-46; 
Benjamin  R.  Shaw,  1842-51;  Saniuel  Elliott, 
1846-52;  James  LeRetilley,lS47-50;  Josiah  Harris, 
1850-62;  James  M.  Burt,  1851-52.  As  will  be 
seen,  these  are  the  names  of  citizens  who,  in 
their  day,  were  well  known  for  their  enterprise 
and  public  spirit.  "  There  was  little  claim  by  or 
for  these  associate  judges  of  any  special  knowl- 
edge of  the  law,  and  the  system  under  which 
they  served  came  in  time  to  be  regarded  much 
the  same  as  would  be  a  wagon  with  five  wheels ; 
a  third  esfate  between  the  judge  proper  and  the 
jury,  and  not  demanded  in  settling  either  the 
law  or  the  facts.  One  of  the  commonest 
jokes  of  their  day  was  the  declaration  of  a  cul- 
prit, who  thought  it  hard  to  be  brought  before  a 
court  of  a  thousand  men— the  president  judge 
being  one  (1)  and  the  three  associates,  the  three 


303 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ciphers  (000)."  However,  "it  has  been  insisted 
by  some  of  the  ablest  lawyers  that  the  associate 
judge  courts  oftentimes  correctly  accomplished 
an  amount  of  business  not  always  attained  under 
the  present  sytem." 

The  first  judge  to  sit  at  Coshocton  under  the 
present  constitution,  was  Martin  Welker,  then  of 
"Wayne  county,  now  Judge  of  the  United  States 
District  Court  for  the  northern  district  of  Ohio. 
He  was  succeeded  at  the  expiration  of  one  term 
in  1857,  by  William  Sample  of  Coshocton.  He 
served  two  terms  and  was  succeeded  in  1867  by 
William  Reed  of  Holmes  county,  who  also  re- 
mained on  the  bench  for  two  terms.  Charles  C. 
Parsons  of  Wooster  was  elected  his  successor, 
entering  upon  his  judicial  duties  in  1877.  Owing 
to  an  accumulation  of  business,  the  election  of 
an  additional  judge  was  ordered  by  the  legisla- 
ture, and  C.  F.  Vorhees  was  elected  in  1877,  en- 
tering upon  his  duties  the  following  year,  Co- 
shocton county  is  a  part  of  the  third  subdivision 
of  the  sixth  judicial  district  of  Ohio,  comprising 
Coshocton,  Holmes  and  Wayne  counties. 

As  will  be  seen,  William  Sample  has  been  the 
only  common  pleas  judge  from  this  county. 
He  was  born  in  Crawford  county,  Pennsylvania, 
February  24, 1811.  When  he  was  but  two  years 
old  his  father  died,  and  soon  after  the  family 
removed  to  a  farm  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio. 
While  still  a  lad,  the  charge  of  the  farm  and  the 
care  of  the  family  devolved  entirely  upon  him. 
During  the  winters  he  taught  school,  and  worked 
on  the  farm  in  summer.  His  educational  advan- 
tages were  only  such  as  rural  districts,  remote 
from  towns,  afforded  in  that  early  day,  and  the 
the  mastery  of  the  education  he  acquired  was 
the  result  of  his  own  persevering  efforts.  He 
studied  law  at  Steubenville  with  Oliver  C.  Gray, 
•  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1843.  In  Novem- 
ber, 1845,  he  came  to  Coshocton  and  engaged 
actively  in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He 
served  one  term  as  prosecuting  attorney.  His 
labors  upon  the  bench  were  performed  to  the 
entire  satisfaction  of  the  people  and  won  golden 
opinions  from  the  members  of  the  bar.  At  the 
expiration  of  his  career  as  judge,  he  removed  to 
Wooster  and  resumed  practice  in  partnership 
with  J.  P.  Jeffries.  In  1868  he  changed  his  resi- 
dence to  Newark,  and  was  engaged  in  practice 


four  and  one-half  years  with  Hon.  Gibson  Ather- 
ton.  Then  in  1873  he  returned  to  Coshooton 
and  continued  his  professional  labors  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  July  22,  1877.  His  last 
public  service  was  a  delegate  to  the  State  consti-, 
tutional  convention  in  1873.  In  personal  appear- 
ance he  was  tall,  towering  head  and  shoulders 
above  his  fellow  men.  In  character  he  was  posi- 
tive and  determined.  His  faculties  remained 
active  and  vigorous  to  the  end.  He  possessed  a 
logical,  judicial  mind,  and  was  known  as  an  hon- 
est, virtuous  and  religious  man. 

The  early  history  of  the  bar  in  Coshocton  may 
be  summed  up  in  a  few  sentences.  Times  then 
in  court  matters,  as  in  all  other  affairs  and  rela- 
tions, were  essentially  different  from  what  they 
are  now.  The  courts  then  were  "  on  -v^heels,"  the 
judges  traveling  from  county  to  county,  remain- 
ing only  a  few  days  in  a  place  and  passing  on  to 
the  next  seat  of  justice  in  his  large  district.  The 
lawyers  would  accompany  the  judge  in  his  route 
and  attend  to  the  business  that  was  found  neces- 
sary to  transact.  The  "  foreign  "  lawyers,  who  at- 
tended to  the  Coshocton  county  legal  affairs,  were 
principally  from  Zanesville,  and  among  those 
whose  names  recur  with  frequency  upon  the  ear- 
ly court  dockets  as  attorneys,  may  be  noted  Lewis 
Cass,  Alexander  Harper,  Wyllys  Silliman,  E.  B. 
Monroe,  Ebenezer  Granger,  Charles  B.  Goddard 
and  S.  W.  Culbertson. 

Wright  Warner  was  the  first  resident  lawyer 
in  Coshocton,  comhig  in  the  spring  of  1811. 
At  the  September  term-  of  the  court  in  that 
year  he  was  was  appointed  prosecuting  attorney 
for  the  county  but  retained  it  only  a  few  years. 
He  became  involved  in  a  quarrel  with  Colonel 
Williams,  which  resulted  in  several  lawsuits  for 
assault  and  battery,  slander,  etc.  He  did  not  fol- 
low the  practice  at  the  bar  exclusively,  but  was 
one  of  the  early  tavern  keepers  of  Coshocton  and 
continued  in  this  occupation  after  he  removed  to 
Steubenville,  in  1814  or  1815. 

Aaron  M.  Church  located  at  Coshocton  in  the 
fall  of  1811.  He  has  been  mentioned  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Coshocton.  His  education,  both 
legal  and  general,  had  been  carefully  attended  to 
and  his  talents  fitted  him  for  a  high  rank  in  the 
legal  profession.  He  opened  his  office  here  under 
the  most  favorable  circumstances,  but  dissipation 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


309 


and  neglect  or  business  reduced  him  to  a  needy 
condition,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1816  he  died  of 
cold  plague. 

The  office  of  prosecuting  attorney  was  then 
obliged  to  go  begging  and  for  a  number  of  years 
was  filled  by  non-resident  lawyers,  there  being 
none  at  all  in  Coshocton.  One  lawyer,  whose 
name  is  unknown,  is  said  to  have  "hung  out  a 
shingle  "  in  1819,  but,  not  meeting  with  any  great 
success,  soon  removed  to  other  parts.  The  next 
resident  lawyer  seems  to  have  been  William  G. 
Carhart,  who  began  to  practice  about  1821.  He 
did  not  devote  his  entire  time  to  the  profession, 
and  soon  relinquished  it  for  other  and  more  con- 
genial employment.  About  1825  Samuel  Bea  be- 
gan practice.  His  business  was  chiefly  office 
work,  having  few  if  any  cases  in  court. 

Probably  the  first  lawyer  of  well-marked  ability, 
that  won  and  kept  a  practice  here,  was  Noah 
Swayne,  who  has  recently  resigned  a  seat  in  the 
highest  tribunal  of  this  nation.  He  came  to  Cosh- 
octon in  1827  from  Belmont  county,  was  prose- 
cuting attorney  for  several  years  and  in  1832  re- 
moved to  Columbus  in  consequence  of  having 
been  appointed  United  States  district  attorney  for 
Ohio. 

James  Matthews,  who  was  born  in  Columbiana 
county  and  read  law  with  Hon.  H.  H.  Leavitt,  of 
Steubenville,  came  to  Coshocton  in  1829.  He 
was  twice  a  member  of  the.  State  legislature  from 
this  county  and  served  two  terms  in  congress. 
In  1855  he  removed  to  Knoxville,  Iowa.  He  iivas 
a  good  lawyer,  and  possessed  considerable  force 
of  character.  In  stature  he  was  quite  tall,  thin- 
visaged  and  eagle-nosed,  and  popular  with  the 
masses.  Deeply  interested  in  politics  he  never 
failed  to  be  elected  to  a  position  for  which  he  was 
a  candidate. 

George  Wyllys  Silliman  came  to  Coshocton 
about  1830.  He  was  a  native  of  Muskingum 
county,  the  son  of  Wyllys  Silliman,  a  lawyer  of. 
Zanesville,  and  nephew  of  Lewis  Cass.  His  edu- 
cation was  received  at  Ohio  University  and  after- 
wards at  the  military  academy  at  West  Point. 
He  read  law  with  his  father  in  Zanesville,  and 
soon  after  he  settled  in  Coshocton  was  sent  as 
bearer  of  dispatches  to  C.  P.  Van  Ness,  United 
States  Minister  to  Spain.  He  returned  to  Co- 
shocton in  1833,  and  was  soon  after  elected  pros- 


ecuting attorney,  and  by  re-election  continued 
the  office  ten  years.  In  1843  he  went  on  a  voyage 
to  Europe  for  his  health,  but  was  not  greatly 
benefited,  and  on  his  return  voyage  grew  rapidly 
worse,  and  died  at  sea.  His  remains  were  brought 
to  New  York  and  interred  in  Greenwood  Ceme- 
tery. In  1834  he  married  Miss  Ann  Johnson, 
who  survived  him  many  years,  dying  in  1862. 
There  was  one  child,  Wyllys  Cass  Silliman,  who 
survived  his  father  only  about  two  years.  Mr. 
Silliman's  reputation  is  that  of  a  genial,  scholarly 
gentleman. 

In  1832,  David  Spangler  became  a  resident  law- 
yer at  Coshocton.  He  was  born  at  Sharpsburg, 
Maryland,  December  24,  1796,  the  eldest  son  of 
Christian  and  Ann  Spangler.  In  1802,  the  fam- 
ily moved  to  Zanesville,  where  the  father  estab- 
lished himself  in  trade  as  a  blacksm.ith.  The 
youth  of  David  was  spent  in  his  father's  shop  at 
the  forge  and  anvil.  Subsequently  the  father  en- 
gaged in  mercantile  business,  and  here,  too,  David 
proved  his  chief  assistant.  Study,  however,  was 
not  neglected,  and  David  profited  by  the  limited 
educational  opportunities  open  to  him.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-five  he  commenced  the  study  of 
law  with  Alexander  Harper,  and  in  1825  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  in  the  supreme  court  of  Ohio, 
in  Cleveland.  He  commenced  practice  in  Zanes- 
ville. In  1830,  he  was  nominated  by  the  Whig 
party  as  State  representative  for  Muskingum 
county,  and  polled  far  more  than  his  party  vote, 
though  not  enough  to  elect  hirh.  He  was  in- 
duced to  remove  to  Coshocton  in  1832,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  removal  of  Noah  H.  Swayne  from 
Coshocton  to  Columbus.  This  change  of  resi- 
dence was  well-timed  and  never  regretted.  Pro- 
fessional business  poured  in  from  the  start,  and 
he  was  called  upon  to  take  a  leading  position  in 
the  political  arena.  In  the  fall  of  1832  he  was 
placed  in  nomination  as  the  Whig  candidate  for 
national  representative  in  the  Thirteenth  Con- 
gressional District,  then  comprising  Coshocton, 
Holmes,  Knox  and  Tuscarawas  counties,  and, 
owing  to  the  fact  that  there  were  two  candidates 
of  the  opposite  party  in  the  field,  although  the 
Whigs  were  in  the  minority,  their  candidate  was 
elected  by  a  good  majority.  He  was  re-elected 
in  1834  by  a  still  more  decisive  vote.  Mr.  Spang- 
ler was  satisfied  with  the  political  experience 


310 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


thus-  obtained,  and  proclaimed  his  determination 
to  give  his  undivided  attention  thereafter  to  pro- 
fessional practice.  In  1844  he  was  nominated  for 
Governor  by  this  party,  then  in  the  ascendancy 
in  the  State,  but  he  firmly  declined  the  nomina- 
tion, insisting  upon  his  tastes  for  private  life,  the 
pressure  of  professional  business  and  the  claims 
of  his  family,  especially  those  of  his  two  sons, 
then  in  course  of  education.  While  at  Washing- 
ton, in  January,  1834,  he  was  admitted  to  prac- 
tice in  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  and 
orally  and  successfully  argued  a  case,  carried  up 
from  Ohio,  before  that  court,  over  which  the  ven- 
erable Chief  Justice  Marshall  yet  presided.  Mr. 
Spangler  died  October  18, 1856.  His  parents  were 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  he  was  carefully  nurtured  in  its  teachings, 
and  ever  cherished  an  ardent  attachment  for  it, 
though  never  identified  with  it  as  a  member. 
He  always  gave  active  aid  in  the  Sabbath-school, 
and  in  the  musical  department  of  the  church. 
He  became  a  member  of  the  Masonic  fraternity 
when  a  young  man,  and  held  the  position  of 
Worshipful  Master  and  representative  to  the 
Grand  Lodge,  of  which  he  was  S.  G.  Deacon. 
Grand  Orator  and  Deputy  Grand  Master. 

He  received  no  college  education,  but^  by  his 
own  self-directed  effort  became  a  good  belles- 
lettres  scholar,  a  profound  lawyer  and  an  eloquent 
advocate.  By  nature  he  possessed  both  talent  and 
genius,  a  vigorous  mind,  and  a  physical  constitu- 
tion capable  of  sustaining  him  throughout  the 
most  arduous  preparation  of  a  cause,  and  the 
most  exhausting  forensic  effort  in  the  trial  of  it 
Unbending  from  these  in  his  hours  of  social 
converse,  his  friends  were  enlivened  by  his  humor 
and  delighted  by  his  wit.  His  sympathy  and 
readiness  to  associate  freely  with  the  masses,  his 
great  industry  and  energy,  and  his  keen  insight 
of  human  nature  and  ready  wit,  were  qualities 
giving  him  his  place  and  power  in  pubhc  life. 
He  used  to  joke  with  his  friends  about  his  growth 
in  popularity  when  a  candidate,  stating  that  in 
one  township  he  doubled  his  vote ;  the  fact  sub- 
sequently coming  from  him  that  the  first  time  he 
ran  he  got  in  that  township — a  Democratic 
stronghold — one  vote,  and  the  second  time  two. 

From  about  1835,  the  number  of  attorneys  in 
Coshocton  has  steadily  increased.  For  many 
years  after  that  date  lawyers  from  Zanesville  con- 
tinued to  transact  much  of  the  legal  business  in 
this  county,  but  the  amount  gradually  dimin- 


ished with  the  growth  of  the  Coshocton  bar,  and 
has  long  since  become  unnoticable.  At  this 
writing,  April,  1881,  the  following  attorneys  are 
actively  engaged  in  practice  in  Coshocton: 
Thomas  Campbell,  E.  T.  Spangler,  J.  C.  Poine- 
rene,  R.  M.  Voorhees,  James  Irvine,  J.  T.  Sim- 
mons, John  D.  Nicholas,  E.  W.  James,  G.  H.  Bar- 
ger,  J.  M.  Compton,  A.  H.  Stilwell,  W.  E.  Gault, 
J.  P.  Forbes,  E.  J.  Stickle,  and  J.  M.  WiUiams. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

WAR  OF   1812. 

Companies  Raised  in  Cosliocton  county — Hull's  Surrender- 
Muster  Roll  of  Johnston's  Riflemen— Marcli  of  Colonel  Wil- 
liams' Command— Their  Services  on  the  Frontier— Defense  • 
of  Fort  Meigs — Rev.  H.  Calhoun's  Communication. 

AFTER  the  declaration  of  war  against  Great 
Britain,  in  June,  1812,  Return  J.  Meigs,  at 
that  time  Governor  of  Ohio,  raised  several  regi- 
ments, among  the  commanders  of  which  was 
Colonel  Lewis  Cass  of  Muskingum  county.  Col. 
Cass  in  raising  his  regiment,  enlisted  an  entire 
company  from  Coshocton  county,  chiefly  from 
the  south  and  west  parts.  Early  in  June,  this 
company,  with  its  regiment,  marched  to  Urbana, 
where  they  were  joined  by  the  full  force  under 
the  command  of  General  William  Hull,  about  the 
middle  of  June.  The  entire  army  numbered 
twenty-five  hundred  men,  and  began  its  north- 
ern march  from  this  point ;  and  by  the  end  of 
June  had  reached  the  Maumee.  General  Hull's 
campaign  ended  in  disaster;  the  surrender  of  all 
his  forces  and  effects  to  the  British ;  and  the  Co- 
shocton company  returned  home  on  parole. 

The  surrender  of  Hull's  forces,  August  16, 1812,  ■ 
was  a  great  shock  to  the  people,  who  had  up  "to 
that  time  complete  confidence  in  the  army  tor 
their  defense.  They  had  not  built  block-houses 
or  engaged  the  militia  to  any  great  extent.  Gov- 
ernor Meigs,  on  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  Hull's 
surrender,  made  a  requisition  for  volunteers; 
and  in  response  thereto,  Judge  Isaac  Evans  raised 
a  company  in  Coshocton  county,  immediately 
marched  to  Franklinton  (across  Scio|;o  from 
Columbus) ;  was  mustered  into  service  and  furn- 
ished with  uniforms  and  United  States  muskets. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


311 


General,  Harrison  was  appointed  and  took  com- 
mand of  the  army,  about  the  time  of  Hull's  sur- 
render and  upon  receipt  of  that  news,  came  im- 
mediately to  Ohio ;  reaching  Cincinnati  on  the 
27th  of  August,  and  the  army  at  Dayton,  or 
thereabouts,  on  the  31st  of  the  month.  The 
company  of  Captain  Evans  joined  General  Har- 
rison's forces  at  Piqua  about  September  3.  A 
regular  campaign;  was  laid  out  for  the  recapture 
of  Jiichigan,  but  for  the  time  being  the  troops 
were  employed  in  keeping  open  the  communica- 
tions between  the  upper  Miami  and  the  Maumee. 
General  Winchester  was  given  command  of  the 
troops  at  the  Michigan  frontier,  and  established 
himself  in  winter  quarters  by  January,  1813, 
on  the  northern  hanks  of  the  Maumee  river. 
While  here  an  arrangement  was  made  to  defend 
the  inhabitants  of  Frenchtown  from  threatened 
British  and  Indian  invasion,  but  for  want  of  due 
precaution,  the  defense  was  a  lamentable  failure, 
resulting  in  the  defeat  and  surrender  of  the  en- 
tire force,  including  General  Winchester.  The 
result  of  this  defeat,  added  to  that  of  Hull's  sur- 
render, was  a  general  alarm  of  the  country ;  block- 
houses were  built  all  along,  from  the  front  to  the 
interior  of  Ohio.  Demands  were  made  for  all 
able-bodied  men,  and  several  companies  were 
raised  in  Coshocton  county,  that  were  engaged  at 
the  Mansfield  frdntier  outside  of  General  Harri- 
son's regular  army. 

One  of  these  companies  was  raised  by  Captain 
Isaac  Meredith,  in  the  northwestern  section  of 
the  county,  of  which  company  one  James  Oglevie 
of  Keene  township  is  still  living.  Captain  Tanner 
is  also  reported  to  have  raised  a  company  m  the 
southern  part  of  the  county;  and  mention  is 
made  of  one  Captain  Beard  having  raised  a  part 
of  a  company.  These  companies,  with  a  rifle 
company  commanded  by  Captain  Adam  John- 
ston, and  one  or  two  other  companies,  all  being 
armed  and  equipped  by  themselves,  were  placed 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Charles  Williams, 
and  ordered  by  Governor  Meigs  to  the  frontier. 

The  muster  roll  of  "  Johnston's  Eiflemen,"  as 
they  were  termed,  is  the  only  complete  roll  ex- 
tant, and  is  as  follows : 

Captain,  Adam  Johnson ;  Lieutenant,  William 
Morrison;  Ensign,  Abraham  Miller;  First  Ser- 
geant, Thomas  Foster;    Second  Sergeant,  John 


M.  Miller;  Third  Sergeant,  Frederick  Morkley; 
Fourth  Sergeant,  Robert  Culbertson ;  First  Cor- 
poral, John  H.  Miller ;  Second  Corporal,  Zebedee 
Baker;  Third  Corporal,  John  M.Bartman;  Fourth 
Corporal,  John  D.  Moore;  Privates:  Samuel  Mor- 
rison, Edward  Miller,  Isaac  M.  Miller,  Michael 
Miller,  Isaac  Hoagland,  George  Arnold,  James 
Buckalew,  John  Baker,  Majithew  Bonar,  Joseph 
Neft,  Allen  Moore,  Benjamin  Workman,  James 
Winders,  John  McKean,  Windle  Miller,  John  G. 
Miller,  Isaac  G.  Miller,  George  McCullough,  Dan- 
iel Miller,  Joseph  McFarland,  Andrew  Lyberger, 
Henry  Carr,  Nathan  Williams  and  John  Steir- 
man.  To  these  names  may  be  added  the  follow- 
ing names  of  citizens  of  Coshocton  county,  who 
were  engaged  in  the  war  of  1812,  but  with  what 
companies  is  not  on  record,  viz.:  Joseph  Severns 
(who  is  still  living  in  New  Castle  township),  Peter 
Moore,  Charles  Miller,  John  G.  Pigman,  Thomas 
Johnson,  Richard  Johnson,  Andrew  McLain, 
Samuel  Elson,  Francis  Smith,  W.  R.  Cloud, 
James  Williams,  Levi  Magness,  George  Magness, 
Richard  Fowler,  Rezin  Baker,  Richard  Hawk, 
Isaac  Shambaugh,  James  Oglesby,  James  Wiley, 
Elijah  Newcum,  James  Butler,  Robert  Corbet  and 
Thomas  Butler.  The  various  companies  under 
Colonel  Charles  Williams  reached  Mansfield  the 
latter  part  of  August,  and  erected  a  block-house 
on  the  public  square.  Here  they  were  at  the 
time  of  the  massacre  of  the  Zimmers,  Martin 
Ruffner  and  James  Copus.  The  particulars  of 
the  Zimmer  and  Copus  massacre  develop  the 
fact  that  the  massacre,  in  both  instances,  was  the 
result  of  the  removal  of  the  Greentown  Indians, 
who  were  part  Delawares  and  part  Mohawks,  and 
were  so  called  because  of  their  camp  having  been 
located  at  Greentown,  on  Black  Fork. 

The  Indians  were  thrown  into  a  violent  state 
of  excitement  upon  the  apperance  of  the  soldiers 
for  their  removal.  Mr.  James  Copus  was  con- 
sulted in  regard  to  allaying  this  excitement.  He 
was  a  man  much  respected  by  the  Greentown  In- 
dians, who  had  learned  to  believe  in  his  honesty 
and  fidelity  and  to  trust  him.  Mr.  Copus  was 
opposed  to  the  removal  of  the  Indians,  believing 
it  to  be  unjust,  but  finding  orders  for  removal  to  be 
peremptory,  finally  made  the  effort  to  persuade 
the  Indians  to  consent.  Upon  representations 
that  their  property  should  be  safe  and  their  lives 


312 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


respected,  they  departed  with  the  soldiers,  who, 
in  violation  of  their  pledges,  immediately  burnt 
the  cabins  and  property  of  the  Indians.  The 
smoke  and  flames  of  their  burning  homes  were 
seen  by  the  departing  savages,  and  they  vowed  a 
fearful  vengeance.  Two  weeks  after  the  removal 
of  the  Greentown  Ind,ians  Martin  RufFner  and 
the  Zimmer  family, were  murdered;  they  were 
living  about  five  miles  north  of  the  burned  vil- 
lage. After  this  massacre  of  the  Zimmer  family, 
Mr.  James  Copus  and  family  went  to  the  block 
house  at  Beam's  mill,  and  remained  there  five 
days;  after  which  they  returned  home, believing 
the  Indians  would  not  molest  them  because  of 
■^the  friendly  relations  that  hitherto  existed  be- 
tween them.  Nine  soldiers,  from  Adam  John- 
son's rifle  company,  of  Coshocton  county,  were 
detailed  to  accompany  Mr.  Copus  to  his  home. 
They  took  quarters  in  the  barn  while  the  family 
remained  in  the  house.  In  the  morning  the  sol- 
diers went  a  short  distance  to  a  spring,  leaving 
their  guns  behind.  They  were  immediately  at- 
tacked by  the  Indians,  and  five  of  the  soldiers  and 
Mr.  Copus  were  killed  in  a  short  time.  The  re- 
mainder of  the  soldiers  kept  up  the  fight  from 
daylight  until  ten  o'clock,  and  finally  repulsed 
the  savages.  This  engagement  was  the  only  one 
in  which  Coshocton  men  are  known  to  have  lost 
their  lives  in  the  struggle  of  1812.  Some  of  the 
powder  used  in  this  war  was  made  from  saltpeter 
collected  a  few  miles  south  of  Roscoe. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  at  the 
Mansfield  frontier,  the  company  of  Captain  Evans 
was  engaged  with  the  forces  of  General  Harrison, 
who  were  constructing  Port  Meigs.  On  the  28th 
of  February,  1813,  a  large  force  of  British  and 
Indians  under  command  of  Proctor,  Tecumseh, 
Walk-in-the-water,  and  other  Indian  chiefs,  ap- 
peared on  the  Maumee  in  boats,  and  prepared 
for  the  attack.  The  effort  to  capture  the  fort, 
from  the  determined  character  of  the  defense, 
developed  into  a  seige;  which  was  prolonged  ten 
weeks,  and  resulted  in  the  final  defeat  of  the 
British.  The  continued  campaign  in  this  section 
consisted  in  like  attacks  upon  the  various  forts 
that  had  been  erected  along  the  frontier,  with  a 
result  in  all  cases  of  victory  for  the  forces  of  Gen- 
eral Harrison.  The  naval  victories  for  Ameri- 
cans on  the  lakes  and  one  or  two  victories  on 


land,  finally  terminated  the  struggle,  and  the- 
Ohio  troops  returned  to  their  homes;  in  which 
triumphant  return  Coshocton  county  had  her- 
sljare  of  rejoicings. 

During  the  war,  when  our  forces  were  defeated- 
at  the  Michigan  frontier,  it  was  rumored  that  the- 
Indians  were  coming  to  this  section  of  country 
to  massacre  and  burn.  Word  was  sent  all  along- 
the  line  of  the  Walhonding  and  Muskingum 
rivers  to  the  homes  of  the  scattered  settlers  ,- 
most  of  whom  were  left  unprotected,  the  hus- 
bands and  sons  being  at  the  frontier. 

The  alarm  thus  sounded  caused  great  conster- 
nation and  there  was  a  hasty  gathering  of  friends 
and  families  into  the  various  block-houses  that 
were  scattered  through  the  country,  awaiting  the- 
approach  of  the  enemy.  The  feeling  that  pre- 
vailed at  that  time,  and  the  sensations  of  terror 
experienced,  are  better  portrayed  in  the  language- 
of  one  of  the  ministers  of  that  day,  whose  mission 
it  was  to  comfort  and  console  the  terror-stricken 
in  the  day  of  trouble,  than  by  the  pen  of  the  his- 
torian of  to-day.  Rev.  H.  Calhoun  writes  of  that 
period  in  a  short  historical  sketch  as  follows: 

The  war  of  1812  was  severely  felt  upon  our  bor- 
der settlements  in  the  west.  Small  and  feeble  vil- 
lages were  deprived  of  nearly  all  their  male- 
inhabitants,  and  thus  a  few  trembling  wives  and 
daughters  and  helpless  boys,  with  here  and  there- 
some  decrepid  and  infirm  old  man,  incapable  of 
enduring  the  hardshipa  of  the  camp,  were  exposed 
to  all  the  cruelties  of  the  merciless  savages,  mad- 
dened by  British  bounties  and  presents.  In  this. 
situation,  with  many  others,  was  Coshocton.  At 
the  cry  of  danger  nearly  every  man,  capable  of 
bearing  arms,  volunteered  for  the  army,  bade- 
farewell  to  home  and  hurried  away  to  the  north- 
west, the  scene  of  the  greatest  danger  and  expos- 
ure. There  was,  however,  no  general  engage- 
ment m  which  the  soldiers'  valor  could  be  tested.. 

As  they  lay  encamped  and  inactive,  perhaps 
dreaming  of  the  dear  ones  left  at  home,  and  little 
knowing  what  might  betide  them,  a  scene  occur- 
red of  no  little  interest  at  this  place,  which  we- 
shall  try  to  describe : 

People  left  in  such  a  defenseless  state  in  a  time- 
of  general  danger,  are  alive  to  every  alarm  and 
susceptible  of  a  thousand  fears.  Mothers  start 
at  every  strange  sound  which  disturbs  their 
slumbers  and  hug  their  children  closely  in  their 
embraces,  and  many  a  familiar  object,  at  twilight,- 
by  an  excited  imagination,  is  transformed  into- 
the  dark  outline  of  a  murderous  savage,  waiting 
to  spring  upon  his  unsuspecting  victim.    In  the- 


HISTOKY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


313 


midst  of  this  prevalent  state  of  suspense,  the  vil- 
lage was  one  day  thrown  into  consternation  by 
the  arrival  of  a  messenger,  with  terror  marked 
in  his  countenance,  and  impatient  to  communi- 
cate the  intelligence  that  the  wilderness  to  the 
northwest,  between  the  Tuscarawas  and  Wal- 
honding,  was  infested  with  Indians,  whose  mur- 
derous design  could  be  nothing  better  than  to 
pillage  and  burn.  In  turning  attention  to  another 
part- of  this  scene,  enter  a  cabin  and  observe  what 
is  passing  there.  It  stands  far  back  from  the 
river,  among  the  thick  hazel  bushes  which  cov- 
ered the  most  of  what  is  now  the  town.  There 
might  be  seen  the  young  mother,  with  her  babe, 
born  and  bred  amid  the  comforts  of  an  Eastern 
,  home,  now  the  lonely  occupant  of  a  rude  cabin, 
her  husband  in  a  distant  town,  and  no  one  to 
cheer  her  lonely  hours  but  a  poor  invalid,  the 
son  of  a  clergyman  in  an  eastern  city,  with  a 
broken-down  constitution,  and  he  himself  now 
suffering  with  the  prevailing  sickness  of  the 
country.  Amid  the  general  confusion  and  con- 
sternation they  were  forgotten,  and  neither  heard 
the  alarm,  nor  assembled  with  the  rest  at  Colonel 
Charles  Williams'  at  night,  but  slept  as  sweetly 
and  safely  as  though  nothing  had  occurred.  The 
next  day  they  heard  what  had  been  done,  but 
thinking  their  own  cabin  as  safe  as  any  other, 
spent  the  second  night  as  they  had  the  first. 

The  day  following  the  first  alarm  which  we 
have  endeavored  to  describe,  in  the  afternoon,  a 
traveler,  on  horseback,  faint  and  weary,  might 
have  been  seen,  a  little  to  the  east  of  where 
Newark  now  stands,  making  his  way,  in  a  road 
little  better  than  an  Indian  trail,  to  Coshocton. 
He  looked  now  at  the  declining  sun,  and  now 
into  the  thick  gloom  of  the  forest  before  him, 
and  seemed  anxious  to  reach  some  fixed  point 
ere  nightfall.  The  time  flew  by,  the  way  seemed 
long  and  the  companion  of  his  journey  weary. 
It  was  late  when  he  passed  the  place  where 
Irville  now  stands,  but  he  still  pressed  on,  as 
though  his  point  of  destination  was  yet  before 
him.  Night  came  on  and  he  felt  he  could  go  no 
farther,  and  alighted  at  a  solitary  cabin,  in  the 
midst  of  the  wilderness.  As  he  went  in,  a 
stranger,  there  for  the  night,  recognized  hini  and 
asked  if  he  was  not  from  Coshocton  ?  He  re- 
plied that  he  was;  upon  which  he  told  him  the 
startling  news;  the  alarms  of  Indians;  the  mo- 
mentary expectation  of  an  attack,  and  that 
troops  had  been  sent  for,  to  Zanesville.  The 
emotions  of  our  traveler  are  better  imagined 
than  told.  He  thought  no  more  of  his  own 
fatigue,  or  that  of  his  horse;  ordered  him  fed 
and,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  was  again  on 
his  way.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  a  father 
and  a  husband  would  sleep  there,  while  his 
family  were  in  such  peril.  No  ordinary  feelings 
agitated  his  heart,  as  he  rode  on  through  the 
dark,  dense  forest,  and  thought  of  his  wife  i(nd 


child  as  captives  in  the  hands  of  the  Indians,  or 
the  victims  of  the  tomakawk. 

A  bright  moon  rode  the  heavens  above  him 
and  enabled  him  to  discern  his  way.  Suddenly 
he  emerged  from  the  wood  into  a  small  clearing, 
which  had  been  deserted  by  some  unfortunate 
settler,  and  to  his  utter  consternation,  as  he  sup- 
posed, found  himself  in-  the  midst  of  Indians 
encamped  for  the  night.  By  the  uncertain  light 
of  the  moon,  he  could  see  one  and  another  scat- 
tered thick  over  the  clearing,  startled  from  slum- 
ber by  his  unexpected  appearance  among  them. 
In  a  moment,  for  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  he 
resolved  not  to  return,  but  press  his  way  through 
them  and  trust  to  the  fleetness  of  his  horse  to 
make  good  his  escape.  To  go  back  or  forward 
seemed  alike  dangerous.  Judge  now  of  his  sur- 
prise and  joy,  as  he  dashed  into  their  midst,  to 
find  what  his  excited  imagination  had  worked  up 
into  an  encampment  and  the  figures  of  dark  and 
murderous  savages,  was  only  a  herd  of  peaceful 
cattle  that  had  been  grazing  in  the  woods,  and 
had  come  out  into  the  opening,  as  is  their  custom, 
to  sleep  at  night.  Recovering  gradually  from  his 
fright,  he  now  rode  along,  only  taking  the  pre- 
caution to  provide  himself  with  a  good  hickory 
club,  his  only  means  of  defense  in  case  of  emerg- 
ency. As  he  thought  over  his  own  alarm  and  the 
ease  with  which  in  the  excited  state  of  the  public 
mind  false  alarms  might  be  raised,  he  could  not 
but  hope  that  the  Indians  who  had  been  reported 
as  threatening  ruin  to  his  own  home,  might  prove 
as  harmless  as  those  he  had  just  encountered. 

By  noon  of  night,  he  arrived  at  a  well-known 
place  of  entertainment,  on  the  banks  of  the  Mus- 
kingum some  five  miles  above  where  Dresden  now 
stands.  Here  he  found  his  hopes  more  than  re- 
alized. The  kind  host  informed  him  that  the 
alarm  had  all  proved  false;  the  troops  had  re- 
turned to  Zanesville  after  committing  various 
depredations  upon  the  poultry  and  cattle  by  the 
way,  and  the  inhabitants  had  returned  to  their 
homes.  He  accordingly,  having  fought  his  own 
battle  with  his  imaginary  foes,  and  feeling  dis- 
posed to  let  the  women  and  children  defend  them- 
selves from  theirs,  for  the  rest  of  the  night  at 
least,  retired  for  the  night. 

The  settlers  of  Coshocton  county  mainly  con- 
gregated, during  this  scare,  in  the  house  of  Charles 
Williams,  except  those  in  the  far  northwestern 
section  of  the  county,  who  generally  flocked  to  a 
large  block  house  that  had  been  built  during  the 
war  at  what  is  now  the  village  of  New  Castle  in 
New  Castle  township. 

A  small  portion  of  the  citizens  of  Coshocton 
county,  among  others,  Levi  and  George  Magness, 
were  with  the  American  army,  on  the  Canadian 
aide  of  the  line,  under  Generals  Scott  and  Brown. 


a  14 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 


WAE  WITH  MEXICO. 


»Causes  of  the  War— Muster  Roll  of  Captain  Meredith's  Com- 
pany—The Third  Ohio  Regiment- Its  Operations  in  the 
Field— The  Fourth  Ohio  Regiment  and  its  Services— Close 
of  the  War. 

TEXAS,  when  a  province  of  Mexico,  comprised 
all  that  section  of  country  extending  to  the 

Indian  Territory  on  the  north,  and  from  this  line 

'northwest  to  the  line  of  Oregon  Territory,  on  the 
Pacific  coast,  including  what  is  now  the  States  of 

■California  and  Nevada,  with  the  adjacent  country, 

■embraced  in.  the  territorial  limits  of  Arizona, 
Utah,  New  Mexico,  and  part  of  Montana ;  also  a 

portion  of  what  is  now  the  State  of  Colorado. 
Texas  had  been  largely  populated  by  Americans 

•even  as  a  Mexican  province,  and  the  question  of 
what  was  the  western  boundary  of  Texas,  was  a 

.subject  upon  which  this  country  became  agitated 
early  in  its  history. 
The  martial  element  that  was  developed  by  the 

;  successful  issue  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  to 
which  was  given  a  fresh  impetus  by  the  magnifi- 
cent victories  of  the  War  of  1812,  bred  a  host  of 
adventurous  spirits,  who  in  times  of  peace  rushed 
to  the-  frontier  borders  of  the  country  with  such 

isensitive  conceptions  of  what  was  due  to  the 
national  honor,'  that  the  conflict  hung  like  an 
impending  cloud  o'er  the  border  land  long  be- 
fore the  agitation  culminated  in  what  is  known 
as  the  Mexican  War.  Texas  had  made  herself  an 
independent    State    by   a   successful    rebellion 

ragainst  Mexico,  as  the  United  States  had  done 

:  against  England.  As  a  part  of  Mexico,  those 
best  versed  in  the  merits  of  the  case  gave  assur- 
ances that  the  Rio  Grande  was  the  original  west- 
ern boundary  of  Texas ;  annexed  to  the  United 
States  in  the  year  1845  by  virtue  of  her  own  pe- 
tition, the  attempts  of  the  Mexican  government 
to  ignore  this  legitimate  western  boundary,  led 
to  the  conflict,  declaration  of  war,  and  a  call  for 
50,000  volunteers.  An  appropriation  by  Con- 
gress of  $10,000,000  was  placed  at  the  disposal  of 
President  James  K.  Polk  to  sustain  the  army  and 
prosecute  the  war. 
Ohio  furnished  5,536  volunteers,  and  2,321  reg- 

mlars.    In  Coshocton  county,  as  elsewhere  in  the 


State,  the  call  aroused  that  dormant  warlike 
spirit  of  a  generation  that  had  been  reared  upon 
a  fireside  love  for  the  tales  of  battles  their  sires 
had  fought,  and,  consequently,  the  numbers  of 
volunteers  were  far  in  excess  of  the  requirements 
of  the  call. 

The  successful  company  from  Coshocton  county, 
over  110  strong,  was  officered  as  follows : 

Jesse  Meredith,  Captain. 

J.  M.  Love,  First  Lieutenant  (afterwards  Cap- 
tain. 

S.  B.  Crowley,  Second  Lieutenant. 

J.  B.  Crowley,  First  Sergeant. 

Corbin  Darne,  Second  Sergeant. 

Rolla  Banks,  Third  Sergeant. 

B.  F.  Sells,  First  Corporal, 

Patterson,  Second  Coi-poral. 

It  left  the  Roscoe  side  of  the  river  aboard  of  two 
canal  boats  on  the  5th  day  of  June,  1846. 

Two  days  later  it  arrived  at  Zanesville  and  en- 
camped on  Putnam  Hill,  and,  on  the  7th  day  of 
June,  took  steamboat  via  the  Muskingum  and 
Ohio  rivers  to  Cincinnati,  and  encamped  at  Camp 
Washington,  five  miles  west  of  Cincinnati  on  the 
10th  of  June.  Here  it  remained  until  July  1 
when  it  was  mustered  into  service  and  became  a 
part  of  the  Third  Regiment  Ohio  Volunteer  In- 
fantry, and  was  known  as  company  "  B." 

At  the  close  of  the  first  year  of  the  war  this  reg- 
iment, with  the  First  and  Second  Ohio,  were 
mustered  out  of  the  service,  as  their  term  of  en- 
listment had  expired.  On  their  return  trip  they 
met  the  second  Coshocton  company,  which  was 
then  on  its  way  to  the  seat  of  war.  This  company 
was  recruited  and  organized  by  James  Irvine,  of 
Coshocton,  who  is  now  residing  in  Coshocton 
county,  and  an  active  member  of  its  bar.  He  was 
promoted  to  a  colonelcy  during  the  late  war  of 
the  rebellion.  Captain  James  Irvine  enlisted 
a  portion  only  of  his  company  in  Coshocton 
county.  He  secured,  by  May,  1847,  an  organiza- 
tion, and  marched  his  company  to  Zanesville, 
taking  steamboat  from  thence  to  Cincinnati, 
where  they  were  mustered  into  service,  becom- 
ing part  of  the  Fourth  Ohio,  commanded  by 
Colonel  Charles  H.  Brugh,  and  known  as  Com- 
pany "G." 

In  "Camp  Washington,"  at  the  first  call  for 
volunteers,  were  large  numbers  of  men,  froi 


0'/L^i!>--(fa2>^^ 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


817 


'Cincinnati,  determined  to  enlist,  who,  from  the 
proximity  of  that  city  to  this  general  rendez- 
vous tor  Ohio  volunteers,  were  in  camp  and  un- 
der drill  a  much  longer  period  than  many  others ; 
■when  the  discovery  was  made  that  the  number  of 
volunteers  far  exceeded  the  requirements,  these 
men  mutinied,  and  for  a  time  the  unusual  occur- 
rence was  presented  of  men  ready  to  fight  for  the 
privilege  of  being  enrolled  for  the  fatigues  and 
dangers  of  war. 

The  Third  Ohio,  in  whose  record  Coshocton 
county  was  a  sharer,  was  placed  aboard  a  steam- 
boat bound  for  New  Orleans,  July  3,  1846.  Com- 
pany B  suffered  the  first  loss,  by  the  death  of  one 
of  their  number,  in  the  person  of  George  Hitch- 
ens,  who  fell  overboard  and  was  drowned.  On 
the  8th  day  of  July  a  stop  was  made  at  Baton 
Eouge,  where  the  regiment  was  equipped  with 
arms  and  ammunition.  Arriving  at  Camp  Jack- 
eon  on  the  ,10th,  the  troops  encamped  on  the 
memorable  battle-field  of  "Old  Hickory,"  six 
miles  below  New  Orleans. 

The  regiment  was  finally  shipped  on  two  old 
merchant  vessels  for  Brazos  Santiago,  being  eight 
days  making  the  voyage,  encountering  very 
stormy  weather,  arriving  safely,  however,  and 
going  into  camp  with  3,000  regular  and  volun- 
teer troops.  At  this  camp  Company  B  lost  an- 
other member,  John  Dame,  who  died  on  the  29th 
day  of  July.  On  the  30th,  the  Third  Ohio  took 
■up  the  line  of  march  for  the  Rio  Grande,  and  on 
the  2d  day  of  August  arrived  at  Camp  Bareto. 
At  this  point  Company  B  was  again  unfortunate 
in  the  death  of  Samuel  Miller,  he  being  the  third 
•citizen  of  Coshocton  county  who  had  fallen  ere 
the  breath  of  battle  had  crowned  the  corripany. 
On  the  4th  of  August  the  regiment  embarked 
for  Matamoras,  and  on  the  5th  entered  and  took 
possession  of  Camp  "  Paredes,"  on  Mexican  soil. 
On  the  12th  march  was  made  to  Camj)  McCook, 
from  which  point  the  regiment  garrisoned  the 
city  of  Matamoras  until  September  3.  During 
the  interval  from  the  6th  of  August  to  February 
2, 1847,  Company  B  lost,  by  sickness  and  death, 
A.  J.  Darling,  William  Gardner,  Henry  Brown, 
Charles  Wright  and  Joseph  Parker.  October  27, 
1846,  Captain  Jesse  Meredith  resigned  and  left 
for  home,  and  Lieutenant  J.  M.  Love  was  pro- 
moted to  the  captaincy. 

10 


February  2, 1847,  the  regiment  was  ordered  for- 
ward, and  on  the  13th  arrived  at  Camargo,  situated 
on  the  bank  of  the  San  Joan  river.  At  Fort  Ca- 
margo the  government  kept  and  furnished  sup- 
plies to  General  Taylor's  army,  having  steamboat 
navigation  from  that  point  to  the  gulf.  The  regi- ' 
ment  remained  as  garrison  troops  at  this  point 
until  March  7,  when  they  -w  ere  relieved  and  or- 
dered to  the  front  in  the  vicinity  of  Monterey. 
While  on  this  march  to" Monterey,  the  Third  Ohio 
had  its  first  conflict  with  the  enemy.  The  Mexi- 
cans, under  General  Urea,  were  skirmishing 
around  them  but  not  coming  into  close  conflict 
until  the  16th,  when  the  regiment  defeated  and 
pursued  them  to  Caderasda ;  and  on  the  18th,  after 
a  forced  march  of  forty  miles,  reached  the  camp 
at  Walnut  Springs,  just  outside  the  city  hmits  of 
Monterey.  The  regiment  here  spent  three  days 
gazing  upon  the  heights  over  which  General 
Worth's  gallant  troops  had  swept,  and  upon  Bish- 
op's Palace,  which  had  been  so  heroically  stormed 
when  Monterey  had  been  compelled  to  surrender 
to  the  valor  of  American  soldiers.  They  were 
then  ordered  forward  on  the  21st  to  Saltillo,  to 
join  the  forces  of  General  Taylor.  On  the  24th 
the  regiment  joined  General  Taylor's  forces  and 
went  into  camp  on  the  battle  field  of  Buena  Vis- 
ta. Here  the  regiment  remained  until  May  18, 
when  it  was  ordered  to  the  gulf;  while  en  route, 
Robert  Harbison  died  and  lies  buried  at  a  little 
town  called  Mear.  On  the  9th  of  June,  it  em- 
barked for  New  Orleans,  arriving  there  on  the 
13th,  and  on  the  20th  was  mustered  out  of  service 
and  arrived  at  home  July  5, 1847. 

While  this  regiment,  with  its  Coshocton  com- 
pany, was  returning  from  the  field  of  action,  the 
Fourth  Ohio,  with  another  Coshocton  company, 
left  Cincinnati  on  steamboat  for  New  Orleans, 
and  at  that  point  shipped  on  sailing  vessels  over 
the  Gulf  to  Point  Isabel.  Point  Isabel  was  the 
base  of  supplies  first  established  by.  General  Tay- 
lor in  March,  1846,  and  was  strengthened  again 
in  April  and  made  a  permanent  point  of  opera- 
tions during  the  entire  war.  It  was  situated  on 
Brazos  Island,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
The  regiment  after  debarkation  marched  imme- 
diately to  the  Rio  Grande  and  re-embarked  on 
steamboats  for  Matamoras,  twenty-five  miles  by 
land  from  Point  Isabel,  but  following  the  winding 


318 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


course  of  the  Rio  Grande  was  ninety  miles.  The 
regiment  was  retained  at  Matamoras,  doing  gar- 
rison duty,  until  September  7.  During  this  en- 
tire time  they  were  clamorous  for  removal  and 
orders  to  the  front,  but  the  citizens  of  Matamo- 
ras were  equally  clamorous  for  the  retention  of 
the  Ohio  men,  as  they  were  fearful  of  being  gar- 
risoned by  Texan  forces,  who,  influenced  by  the 
hatred  developed  by  the  border  struggles,  were 
less  careful  of  the  interests  of  the  Mexican  citi- 
zens than  their  more  distant  and  Northern  com- 
rades. September  7,  orders  were  received  to  re- 
embark  for  Point  Isabel,  and  on  reaching  there, 
to  ship  via  the  Gulf  to  Vera  Cruz.  Vera  Cruz 
had  been  invested  on  the  9th  of  March,  1847,  by 
the  army  of  General  Scott.  It  was  defended  on 
the  water  side  by  the  castle  of  San  Juan  d'  UUoa, 
but  after  four  days  bombardment  capitulated, 
and  on  the  27th  surrendered,  and  from  that  time 
became  the  seaport  avenue  to  the  capital  city  of 
Mexico.  The  Fourth  Ohio,  at  this  point,  was  as- 
signed to  General  Joe  Lane's  brigade  in  the  di- 
vision under  command  of  General  Robert  Pat- 
terson, of  Philadelphia.  General  Pg,tterson  is 
still  living  in  the  Quaker  city;  and  General  Lane, 
commander  of  the  brigade,  was  afterwards  Sena- 
tor Joseph  Lane,  of  Oregon. 

The  brigade  immediately  took  up  the  line  of 
March  for  the  City  of  Mexico.  While  en  route, 
they  came  upon  a  small  force  of  four  hundred 
regulars,  commanded  by  Major  Lally,  who  were 
holding  the  National  Bridge  against  a  force  of 
several  thousand  Mexicans.  The  Fourth  Ohio 
received  orders,  as  advance  guard,  to  assist  Major 
Lally  and,  attacking  the  Mexicans  in  the  rear,  de- 
feated them,  after  a  severe  skirmish.  This  engage- 
ment was  the  "  baptism  of  fire "  for  the  Coshoc- 
ton boys  of  this  regiment,  and  quite  a  number 
were  severely  wounded. 

The  march  was  resumed,  and  the  next  engage- 
ment was  at  Huamantla.  In  this  conflict  the 
Fourth  Ohio  was  assigned  the  duty  of  rear 
guard,  with  control  of  prisoners.  While  in  this 
position.  Major  Iturbide,  the  son  of  the  old  Em- 
peror of  the  Mexicans,  with  a  large  number  of 
prisoners,  was  brouglit  to  the  rear,  and  imme- 
diately inquired  of  Captain  James  Irvine,  in 
whose  hands  they  were  placed,  what  forces  had 
charge  of  the  prisoners?    When  he  answered, 


the  Fourth  Ohio,  he  remarked  they  were  safe, 
and  gave  further  explanation  in  the  statement 
that  Captain  Walker,  the  celebrated  Texan 
ranger,  had  been  killed  in  the  engagement,  and 
the  Texan  soldiers  were  so  beside  themselves 
with  rage,  that  they  gave  no  quarter,  and  even 
the  prisoners  would  not  be  safe  in  their  hands. 
Colonel  Samuel  H.  Walker  was  a  representative 
of  an  element  that  was  not  so  much  American 
as  Texan;  the  commander  of  Texan  rangers,  he 
was  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  men  who  were 
noted  for  their  absolute  disregard  of  danger,  and 
fully  deserved  his  position  as  conimandant,  by 
virtue  of  deeds  of  daring  and  nerve  that  made 
even  his  brave  comrades  willing  to  follow  him. 
It  is  written  of  him,  by  Lieutenant  W.G.  Moseley, 
Company  G,  Third  United  States  Dragoons,  that 
he  performed  the  feat  of  climbing  to  the  top  of 
an  almost  inaccessable  peak,  and  planted  thereon 
the  American  flag,  as  follows : 

On  the  right,  in  its  silent  and  imposing  gran- 
deur of  repose,  ever  inaccessible  by  the  frightful 
chasms  and  tottering  glaciers  which  surround  its 
summit,  stands  the  eternal  snow  capped  peak  of 
Orizola,  in  its  bleak  and  solitary  pride,  towering 
17,500  feet  in  the  blue  vault  of  heaven ;  its  snowy 
head  is  the  first  object  the  mariner  sees  on  ap- 
proaching; grateful,  cool  and  refreshing  it  ever 
seems  whether  at  sea  or  on  land.  And-  still  to  the 
right  where  the  Cyclopean  demon  of  Mexican 
mythology  writhes  in  his  agony  and  wrath,  belch- 
ing forth  huge  volumes  of  fire,  stone  and  lava, 
stands  the  "Coffre  de  Perote."  Though  much 
more  insignificant  than  his  more  august  neigh- 
bor, yet  the  peak  of  Perote  is  more  remarkable 
and  interesting  in  history  and  romance.  It  v/as- 
there  the  gallant  and  lamented  Captain  Samuel 
H.  Walker,  the  famous  quondam  Texan  scout,  in 
a  spirit  of  chivalry  equal  to  the  adventurous 
Balboa,  clambered  to  its  highest  accessible  point, 
even  to  the  "  hole  in  the  rock,"  and  there  planted 
the  starry  banner  of  his  country. 

After  the  engagement  at  Huamantla,  the 
brigade  again  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  the 
capital  city.  Arriving  at  Jalapa,  the  brigade 
halted  long  enough  to  make  a  huge  bonfire  of 
all  baggage  that  was  not  indispensable  on  the 
march  from  Jalapa  to  the  capital  city.  A  forced 
march  was  then  made  from  this  city  to  Pueblo, 
where  Colonel  Childs,  with  the  small  force  of  reg- 
ulars constituting  the  garrison,  was  defending 
the  city  and  its  hospitals,  in  which  were  1,800 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


819 


sick  and  disabled  soldiers,  from  a  large  besieging 
force  of  Mexicans,  under  General  Santa  Anna. 

In  order  to  fully  comprehend  the  condition  of 
affairs  at  this  point,  and  to  obtain  the  full  meed  of 
honor  that  crowned  the  Fourth  Ohio  and  its  Co- 
shocton county  boys,  it  will  be  well  to  review  the 
stirring  events  that  had  been  transpiring  during 
the  march  of  General  Lane's  brigade  from  the 
Gulf  to  Pueblo,  just  in  time  to  strike  the  closing 
blow  of  this  briUiant  struggle.  To  reach  the 
capital  of  the  Mexican  Empire,  a  military  force 
could  approach  only  by  causeways  which  led  over 
swampy  marshes  and  across  the  beds  of  by-gone 
lakes.  Each  termination  of  a  causeway  was  sur- 
mounted by  a  massive  gateway  strongly  en- 
trenched and  defended ;  of  this  nature  were  the 
positions  of  Contreras,  San  Antonio  and  Molino 
del  Rey  on  one  side  of  the  city,  while  in  front  of 
the  city  were  the  powerful  defenses  of  Churubusco 
and  Ghapultepec.  These  various  positions,  the 
pride  of  the  Mexican  Empire,  were  not  only  thus 
strongly  entrenched,  but  were  held  by  a  dis- 
tributed force  of  30,000  Mexicans,  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Santa  Anna.  On  the  20th  of 
August  the  forces  under  General  Scott  com- 
menced the  attack  upon  these  various  positions, 
and  one  after  another  fell ;  first,  Contreras,  from 
which,  in  seventeen  minutes,  6,000  Mexicans  were 
routed;  in  a  few  hours  later  San  Antonio  fell,  and 
then  the  heights  of  Churubusco,  while  finally 
the  United  States  forces,  under  Generals  Shields 
and  Pierce,  defeated  Santa  Anna's  reserves.  These 
victories  were  followed  on  the  8th  of  September 
by  the  storming  and  capture  of  Molino  del  Rey, 
Casa  de  Mata  and  the  western  defenses  of  Ghapul- 
tepec, and  on  the  13th  the  citadel  itself  was  carried 
by  storm,  and  the  conquering  forces  swept  into 
the  city.  General  Santa  Anna  fled  by  night  from 
the  city,  with  defeat  and  disaster  enfolding  him 
as  the  clouds  of  night.  The  character  of  these 
victories  may  be  illustrated  by  a  brief  summary 
of  one  assault,  that  of  Ghapultepec,  as  set  forth 
from  portions  of  the  official  report  of  General 
John  A.  Quitman. 

At  dawn  on  the  morning  of  the  13th,  the  bat- 
teries opened  an  active  and  effective  fire  upon 
the  castle.  During  this  cannonade  active  prepa- 
rations were  made  for  the  assault  upon  the  cas- 
tle.   Ladders,  pickaxes  and  crows  were  put  in 


the  hands  of  a  pioneer  storming  party  qf  select 
men,  from  the  volunteer  division,  under  com- 
mand of  Captain  Reynolds,  of  the  Marine  Corps, 
to  accompany  the  storming  party  of  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  men,  which  had  been  selected 
from  all  corps  of  the  same  division,  under  com- 
mand of  Major  Twiggs,  of  the  Marines.  These 
storming  parties,  led  by  the  gallant  officers  who 
had  volunteered  for  this  desperate  service,  rushed 
forward  like  a  resistless  tide. 

The  Mexicans,  behind  their  batteries  and 
breastworks,  stood  with  more  than  usual  firm- 
ness. For  a  short  time  the  contest  was  hand  to 
hand;  swords  and  bayonets  were  crossed,  and 
rifles  clubbed.  Resistance,  however,  was  vain 
against  the  desperate  valor  of  our  brave  troops. 
The  batteries  and  strong  works  were  carried, 
and  the  ascent  of  Ghapultepec  on  that  side  laid 
open  to  an  easy  conquest.  In  these  works  were 
taken  seven  pieces  of  artillery,  one  thousand 
muskets,  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  prisoners,  of 
whom  one  hundred  were  officers — among  them 
one  general  and  ten  colonels. 

It  was  after  a  succession  of  defeats  like  this, 
where  fortification,  artillery  and  number  of 
forces  were  all  on  the  side  of  the  Mexicans,  be- 
sides the  fight  with  them  being  for  their  capital 
city  and  its  treasures  of  wealth  and  beauty,  that 
Santa  Anna  and  many  of  his  officers  stole  away 
in  the  middle  of  the  night,  gathered  escaping 
forces  that  were  scattered,  and  by  a  forced  march 
besieged  Colonel  Childs  and  his  garrison  at 
Puebla,  doubtless  intending  to  wreak  their  ven- 
geance upon  the  1,800  sick  and  wounded  soldiers 
of  the  hospital. 

For  several  days  a  gallant  resistance  was  made 
by  the  garrison,  and  it  was  at  this  time  and 
against  this  remnant  of  the  Mexican  army  led  in 
person  by  Santa  Anna  that  General  Lane's  brig- 
ade hurled  its  forces  after  their  hurVied  march 
from  Jalapa.  General  Lane's  brigade  was  di- 
vided into  three  attacking  columns,  one  of  which 
was  headed  by  the  Fourth  Ohio  and  commanded 
by  Colonel  Charles  H.  Brugh.  It  furiously  at- 
tacked the  besieging  forces  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
fought  its  way  up  the  streets  of  Puebla  to  the 
Quartet,  and  from  thence  to  the  grand  Piazza  in 
the  center  of  the  city.  The  street  fight  was  se- 
vere, and  left  quite  a  number  of  Coshocton 
county's  citizens  in  the  hospital  wards  of  Puebla. 
This  was  the  final  blow  to  the  struggling  forces 
of  the  Mexicans.  The  Fourth  Ohio  was  detailed 
to  remain  as  garrison  at  Puebla,  and  had  no  other 


320 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


engagement  except  to  accompany  two  artillery 
expeditions,  one  at  Atlixco  and  the  other  at  Plas- 
cala.  These  engagements  did  not  even  involve  a 
skirmish,  consisting  simply  of  a  cannonade  of 
guerilla  forces  of  Mexicans  at  those  two  men- 
tioned points.  The  Fourth  Ohio  remained  at 
Puebla  during  the  balance  of  the  time  the  United 
States  forces  occupied  the  Mexican  territory,  and 
shared  in  all  the  closing  scenes  of  this  brilliant 
campaign  on  the  domain  of  the  enemy.-  It  would 
xiot  be  amiss  to  close  this  recitaj  with  a  brief  re- 
view of  the  closing  incidents,  as  history  and  per- 
sonal reminiscences  have  recorded  them. 

In  the  winter  of  1847-48  American  ambassa- 
dors met  the  Mexican  congress  at  Guadaloupe- 
Hidalgo,  and  on  the  second  of  February  a  treaty 
was  concluded.  By  the  terms  of  this  treaty  the 
vexed  question  of  boundary  between  Mexico  and 
the  United  States  was  established  as  running 
along  the  Rio  Grande  from  its  mouth  to  the 
southern  hmit  of  New  Mexico;  thence  westward 
along  the  southern,  and  northward  along  the 
western  boundary  of  that  territory  to  the  Gila; 
thence  down  that  river  to  the  Colorado  and 
thence  westward  to  the  Pacific. 

Guadaloupe-Hidalgo,  the  village  in  which  the 
above  mentioned  treaty  was  signed  is  worthy  of 
the  passing  notice  given  by  an  actor  in  the  scenes 
to  the  noted  church  within  whose  walls  much  of 
this  business  was  transacted.    Says  the  writer : 

The  church  of  Nuestra  Senora  de  Guadaloupe, 
is  one  amongst  the  most  noted  and  memorable 
objects  in  this  valley.  A  solidly  paved  road  leads 
from  the  church  into  the  village  (at  the  foot  of 
El  Cerro  de  Tepayac).  The  building  is  vast, 
heavy  and  not  at  all  beautiful,  something  of  the 
mediseval  style  of  the  lower  empire,  but  still  it  is 
the  most  holy  spot  par  excellence,  in  the  whole 
calendar  of  Mexican  saints.  It  was  here  that  the 
blessed  virgin  thrice  appeared  to  the  simple  shep- 
herd in  that  fniraculous  vision  which  is  now  her 
stereotyped  national  picture,  and  to  be  found  in 
every  abode  in  the  land.  But  the  interior  of  the 
church  surpasses  all  expression.  It  is  fairly  ablaze 
with  barbaric  splendor  in  precious  metals,  gold 
and  silver  balusters,  railing,  altar  pieces,  cloths  of 
gold  for  the  images,  and  all  manner  of  glittering 
ornamentation.  It  was  wonderful  and  strange  to 
see  the  bullion  lying  around  loose  in  this  land 
of  robbers  pronunciamentos  and  prestimos.  The 
most  singular  feature  of  all  is  the  stone  ship,  visi- 
ble a  long  distance,  towering  high  above  all  build- 


ings, trees  and  other  objects,  cut  in  alto-relievo  in 
the  steep  scarp  of  the  rocky  ridge  is  the  exact  re- 
semblance of  a  ship  in  full  sail.  The  white,  cal- 
careous nature  of  the  stone  is  admirably  suited 
to  this  nautical  wonder  on  the  slope  of  a  rgcky 
mountain,  far  away  from  old  ocean's  main.  The 
legend  has  it,  a  ship  in  crossing  the  ocean  vtas 
caught  in  a  fierce  tempest  and  threatened  with 
total  destruction  to  all  on  board.  A  Mexican  pas- 
senger, in  the  extremity  of  his  terror  vowed  to 
the  blessed  virgin,  a  temple  to  her  honor  and 
glory,  if  he  ever  set  foot  on  solid  groupd  again. 
The  vessel  weathered  the  storm  and  arrived  safely 
in  port,  but  in  the  place  of  a  church  for  divine 
worship  and  saintly  praise,  the  cunning  fellow 
had  this  stone  ship  carved  upon  the  face  of  the 
hill  and  never  trusted  himself  to  the  treacherous 
deep  again. 

It  was  amidst  such  romantic  surroundings  and 
associations  that  the  final  treaty  to  a  romantic  and 
brilliant  campaign  was  concluded,  which  was  fol- 
lowed imjnediately  by  the  evacuation  of  the  capi- 
tal and  all  points  on  Mexican  soil  held  and  occu- 
pied by  American  troops. 

In  the  concluding  sketch  of  this  remarkable 
campaign,  in  which  Coshocton  county  shared  an 
honorable  part,  it  will  be  interesting  and  appro- 
priate to  view  the  closing  act  in  the  drama,  the 
evacuation  of  the  city  of  Mexico,  as  the  com- 
mencement of  the  final  march  to  the  gulf.  Em- 
ploying the  language  of  the  eloquent  writer  al- 
ready quoted : 

'Tis  a  festive,  star-lit  night,  on  the  grand  Piaz- 
za ;  the  multitude  is  swayed  to  and  fro  in  happy, 
eager  expectancy  of  a  grand  demonstration.  It  is 
a  pyrotechnic  display  prepared  by  the  ordnance 
department  in  commemoration  of  the  long-sought 
event.  Congratulations  and  compliments  are 
wafted  about  between  the  late  belligerents. 

"  A  thousand  hearts  heat  happily  ;  and  when 
Music  arose  with  its  voluptuous  swell, 

Soft  eyes  looked  love  to  eyes  which  spake  again, 
And  all  went  merry  as  a  marriage  bell." 

A  signal  rocket  shoots  up  athwart  the  luminous 
sky  and  instantly  the  whole  heavens  are  ablaze 
with  flashing,  darting,  fizzing  objects  of  firey 
light,  flaming  corruscations,  blue  and  green  me- 
teors darting  hither  and  across,  Roman  candles, 
flying  serpents  and  whirling  wheels.  Darkness 
then  settles  over  the  spell-bound  throng.  PreS' 
ently  the  facade  of  the  national  palace  is  seen  to 
glow  with  returning  light,  and  one  by  one,  in 
sparkling  brilliancy,  the  letters  of  the  word 
"Peace "  flashes  out  the  glad  tidings  to  the  pro- 
longed acclamation  of  the  dwellers  on  earth.  The 
12th  of  June,  1848,  is  a  rosy  morn  on  the  grand 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


321 


Piazza.  Expectancy  is  again  on  tip-toe.  The  last 
scene  in  the  drama  is  to  be  enacted.  The  drums 
roll  a  salute  along  the  line,  the  guards  present 
arms,  the  cannons  flash  a  salvo,  down  flutters  the 
star  spangled  banner  from  the  flagstaff"  on  the  na- 
tional palace,  up  waves  the  red,  white  and  green 
tri-color  of  Mexico,  the  transfer  of  sovereignty  is 
made,  and  the  Mexican  was  given  back  his  play- 
thing, with  something  of  a  stern  lesson  for  future 
guidance. 

Just  nine  months  before,  we  had  entered  this 
city  bristling  with  hostility,  and  when  resistance 
was  at  last  subdued,  scowling  looks  and  defiant 
glances  met  us  from  both  sexes.  The  senoritas 
were  especially  shy  and  unapproachable.  For 
a  while  it  seemed  that  we  were  to  be  condemned 
to  monastic  isolation  from  the  gentle  beings  that 
flower  the  pathway  of  life  in  whatever  clime  or 
country. 

On  the  march  across  the  table-lands  between 
Puebla  and  Perote,  a  thunder  storm  passed  over 
the  column  of  troops.  The  electric  currents  were 
strong;  the  muskets  were  first  rate  conductors; 
the  consequence  was  a  stunning  report,  and  a 
whole  company  of  infantry  was  stricken  to  the 
ground,  stunned,  paralyzed  and  blinded ;  some 
with  lacerated  wounds,  others  burnt  and  scorched ; 
happily,  none  killed.  Jalapa,  the  enchanting,  is 
reached  and  passed.  With  reluctance  we  left  thy 
beautiful  vales  and  perfumed  groves ;  thy  silvery 
cascades,  where  flowers  and  fruits  of  almost  every 
clime  bloom  and  ripen  the  livelong  year. 

Vera  Cruz  was  reached  by  the  Fourth  Ohio,  in 
company  with  the  returning  victorious  forces 
from  the  capital,  where  they  took  sailing  vessels 
for  New  Orleans,  and  then  steamboat  via  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  Cincinnati,  and  at  this  point  were 
mustered  out  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  1848. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION. 

Preparations  in  Coshocton  — Three  Months'  Men  — Muster 
Rolls— Operations  of  the  Sixteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  In- 
fantry. 

THE  first  gun  fired  upon  Sumter,  sent  its  re- 
verberations around  the  world.  Hardly  an 
inland  hamlet  in  the  United  States  existed  free 
from  its  influence  a  few  hours  after  it  occurred. 
Telegraph  wires  flashed  the  news  to  all  railroad 
towns ;  expresses  were  sent  on  foot  and  on  horse- 
back to  all  interior  towns;  neighbor  hastened  to 
tell  it  to  neighbor;  and  thus  almost  before  even- 


ing of  the  same  day,  the  people  of  the  Union 
were  aroused  and  prepared  to  act.  April  14, 
1861,  President  Lincoln  issued  his  proclamation 
for  75,000  troops  to  serve  three  months.  The 
magnitude  of  the  rebellion  was  not  then  Compre- 
hended, else  the  call  might  have  been  very  much 
larger,  and  for  a  longer  term  of  service.  Hunt's 
history  says  of  that  time :  "  The  news  of  the 
fall  of  Sumter  caused  in  Coshocton  county,  as 
elsewhere,  a  thrill  that  passed  and  repassed  along 
the  nerves  of  the  people.  Many  of  the  settlers 
were  from  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and 
had  tender-  recollections  of  their  old  homes  and 
the  people  therein.  But  the  war  spirit  was  not 
wanting  among  even  these,  and  as  promptly  as 
in  any  county  the  people'  were  up  in  arms." 

April  16,  1861,  a  meeting  was  held  at  the  law 
office  of  Nicholas  &  Williams,  prior  to  which 
A.  M.  Williams  had  been  to  Columbvis  and  se- 
cured a  commission  to  raise  a  company;  thus 
receiving  the  honor  of  being  the  first  citizen  of 
Coshocton  county  to  contribute  to  the  support  of 
war  measures.  The  Age,  in  the  issue  of  April 
18,  says : 

At  a  meeting  held  in  the  law  office  of  Nicholas 
&  Williams  this  evening,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  a  call  for  a  war  meeting,  R.  M.  Vorhees 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and  A.  L.  Harris  was  ap- 
pointed secretary.  On  motion  of  Mr.  S.  Har- 
baugh,  a  committee  consisting  of  R.  M.  Vorhees, 
R.  A.  Baker,  A.  M.  Williams,  Captain  James  Ir- 
vine and  A.  L.  Harris,  was  appointed  to  issue  a 
call  for.  a  meeting ;  they  to  determine  the  time  of 
meeting,  etc. 

The  meeting  then  adjourned,  when  the  above 
named  committee  decided  upon  the  following; 
which'was  placarded  all  over  the  town  the  next 
day: 

CALL   FOR   A   UNION   MEETING. 

Deeming  it  the  duty  of  every  patriotic  Union 
loving  citizen  to  gladly  and  speedily  respond-  to 
the  demands  of  the  country  as  expressed  in  the 
proclamation  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  either  personally  volunteering  for  ser- 
vice in  the  army,  or  aiding  by  counsel  or  encour- 
agement those  who  do  volunteer  to  fight  for  the 
honor  of  the  Union  and  maintenance  of  the  con- 
stitution in  the  coming  struggle  with  traitors  and 
rebels,  we,  as  a  committee,  appointed  by  our  fel- 
low-citizens, do  call  a  Union  meeting  of  the  citi- 
zens of  Coshocton  county  to  be  held  at  the  court 
house  in  Coshocton  on  Friday  at  two  o'clock. 


322 


HISTOflY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  meeting  is  called  without  respect  to  party, 
this  being  the  time  when  every  person  should 
show  his  loyalty  to  his  country.  Volunteers  will 
be  enrolled  at  the  meeting. 

E.   M.  VORHEES, 

R  F.  Baker, 
A.  M.  Williams, 
J.  Irvine, 
A.  L.  Harris. 

Mr.  Nicholas  R.  Tidball  returned  on  Wednes- 
day, April  17,  fron^  Columbus,  with  a  commission 
in  his  pocket  to  raise  a  company,  and  all  arrange- 
ments were  being  made  to  enroll  volunteers  at 
the  meeting  to  be  held  Friday  afternoon.  But 
the  excitement  was  so  intense  that  the  Union  lov- 
ing citizens  could  not.  wait  until  Friday  after- 
noon to  enroll  their  names,  volunteering  began 
immediately.  The  Age,  in  the  same  issue  in 
which  it  published  the  above  notice,  says  in  a 
paragraph:  "Enlisting  for  the  war  is  briskly 
going  on.  The  proper  papers  can  be  found  at 
Baker's  shop,  opposite  the  Tidball  House.'' 

The  meeting  was  held  at  the  court  house,  and 
it  was  filled  to  overflowing.  Immense  delegations 
came  in  from  every  part  of  the  county,  and  it 
became  dangerous  in  a  very  short  time  to  be 
known  as  a  sympathizer  with  the  rebels.  One 
business  establishment  was  surrounded  by  the 
excited  and  liberty  loving  Unionists,  and  because 
it  had  given  utterance  to  sentiments  of  sympathy 
with  secession  and  seceders,  was  compelled  to 
hoist  the  stars  and  strips  upon  pain  of  being 
thrown,  stock  and  all,  into  the  river.  The  Age 
says  of  this  meeting : 

The  war  meeting  at  the  court  house  was  a 
boomer,  and  the  patriotic  speeches  of  Messrs. 
Nicholas,  Given  and  Lanning  elicited  great  en- 
thusiasm. A  band  of  martial  music  took  up  its 
position  in  the  room  and  enlivened  the  scene 
with  patriotic  airs.  John  D.  Nicholas  was  first 
called  upon  and  made  a  soul-stirring  speech, 
followed  by  Joseph  Given  and  Richard  Lanning, 
in  capital  addresses  to  the  patriotism  and  national 
feeling  of  the  vast  crowd  assembled.  The  vol- 
unteer roll  wasoiDened  and  a  company  formed  in 
a  short  time.  A  resolution  was  adopted  that 
funds  be  raised  to  keep  the  volunteers  without 
expense  to  themselves  while  waiting  for  orders. 
A.  M.  Williams  headed  a  paper  with  $100,  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  families  of  volunteers. 
$2,000  was  raised  in  a  short  time.  The  ladies  of 
the  two  towns  (Coshocton  and  Roscoe),  God  bless 
them!  are  busy  as  bees  preparing  clothing  for 


the  volunteers.  The  Roscoe  ladies  gave  each 
volunteer  from  that  place  a  fine  woolen  blanket 
worth  $5,  and  every  provision  is  being  made 
for  the  comfort  of  the  brave  volunteers.  Six 
printe-rs  volunteered  with  the  company  from  this 
town,  leaving  the  office  so  short  for  help  that  we 
have  turned  our  devil  into  foreman,  and  are  run- 
ning the  office  on  primitive  principles. 

The  excitement  kept  at  fever  heat;  everything 
was  war,  war,  war!  Men  met  to  talk  over  who 
was  going,  and  when  and  what  the  results  would 
be ;  martial  music  sounded  everywhere  upon  the 
ear.  The  first  company  was  enlisted  and  took 
the  train  for  Columbus  on  Wednesday  morning 
at  8:30  A.  m.,  April  24,  1861.  Of  this  departure 
the  Age,  in  its  issue  of  April  25,  says :  "  The  Union 
Guards,  first  company,  left  Coshocton  for  Colum- 
bus Wednesday  morning.  The  roll  was  called 
on  the  public  square  at  8  o'clock,  and  every  man 
was  on  hand.  They  marched  to  the  depot,  when 
John  Nicholas,  on  behalf  of  the  young  ladies,  pre- 
sented the  company  with  a  splendid  silk  flag.  It 
was  received  by  First  Lieutenant  Marshall,  who, 
in  the  absence  of  Captain  James  Irvine,  who  was 
at  the  death-bed  of  his  father  in  Wayne  county, 
had  command  of  the  company.  While  the  flag 
presentation  was  going  on,  the  train  that  was  to 
bear  the  volunteers  arrived,  and,  amidst  the  cheers 
of  the  immense  crowd,  the  boys  embarked  for 
the  big  wars.  There  was  a  scene  for  old  Coshoc- 
ton, the  details  of  which  are  sacred  from  the  re- 
porter's pencil.  Tears  coursed  down  manly  cheeks, 
all  unused  to  the  melting  mood,  and  among  the 
ladies  there  was  scarcely  a  dry  eye.  Although 
the  flower  of  the  youth  of  our  county  eagerly 
go  to  defend  the  flag  of  our  country,  still  when 
we  look  upon  their  departure,  almost  certainly 
knowing  that  we  will  behold  many  of  their  faces 
no  more,  we  feel  a  sadness  even  in  sending  them 
to  glory." 

The  following  are  the  volunteers  of  this  first 
company : 

James  Irvine,  Captain. 

David  W.  Marshall,  First  Lieutenant. 

J.  M.  McClintock,  Second  Lieutenant. 

N.  R.  Tidball,  First  Sergeant. 

Charles  Donley,  Second  Sergeant. 

L.  L.  Cantwell,  Third  Sergeant. 

William  Torry,  Fourth  Sergeant. 

R.  M.  Vorhees,  First  Corporal. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


323 


J.  Carhart,  jr.,  Second  Corporal. 
N.  P.  Emmerson,  Third  Corporal. 
"William  H.  Coe,  Fourth  Corporal. 

Privates— S.  B.  Madden,  W.  H.  H.  Richards,  H. 
Decker,  Jonah  Gadden,  William  Doyle,  William 
Dames,  J.  L.  Longshore,  Asa  Comstock,  Charles 
Tike.  J.  H.  Hay,  Le\d  McMichael,  J.  B.  Akeroyd, 
James  Esten,  James  McClure,  W.  H.  Robinson, 
William  Davis,  William  Hay,  J.  N.  Winn,  George 
'Shaflfer,  William  Nicholas,  T.  J.  Carnes,  James 
Banford,  T.  C.  Mosler,  Charles  McMichael,  T.  C. 
Hutchinson,  Albert  Lawbaugh,  Samuel  Compton, 
Harmon  Morris,  D.  W.  Stallard,  P.  T.  Dougherty, 
E.  B.  Beardsly,  James  Stonehocken,  B.  A.  Steven- 
son, Adonis  McMath,  Peter  Miller,  S.  A.  Davis 
James  Cooper,  Richard  Cray,  M.  E.  Cowee,  D.  W. 
Catherwood,  Thomas  Newell,  John  Porter,  George 
E.  Jack,  James  McMunn,  Frederick  Cullison,  T. 
J.  Edwards,  James  C.  Carnahan,  John  Whalen, 
K.  S.  Richardson,  Joseph  Cooper,  Alexander 
Richards,  George  Sykes,  Henry  Hogleberger,  W. 
Bassett,  William  Patton,  Joseph  Tompkins, 
Arthur  Sherrer,  John  North,  G.  W.  Smailes,  H. 
T.  Dimmock,  A.  L.  Barton,  R.  Hackinson,  Ham. 
Roneg,  A.  Evans,  J.  N.  Balch,  John  Mills,  J.  Mc- 
Thearson,  Isaac  Wiggins,  George  Moffatt,  S.  A. 
Ellis,  T.  J.  Roneg,  J.  N.  Smith,  George  W.  Cox, 
John  Patton,  S.  McNabb,  George  Vanhorn,  J.  W- 
Loder,  John  Simmons,  J.  D.  Ross,-C.  Humphrey, 
H.  Brelsford. 

These  names  are  given  as  published  at  the  time, 
some  few  were  not  accepted  or  withdrew,  but 
this  list  comprises  the  first  company  that  left  Co- 
fihocton  for  Columbus. 

While  this  was  making  its  record  as  the  first 
■company,  another  had  already  organized  with  a 
full  quota,  having  elected  Richard  McLain  cap- 
lain,  and  was  waiting  for  orders  from  Columbus 
at  the  time  the  first  left. 

Muster  roll  of  Company  D,  Sixteenth  Regi- 
ment, mustered  into  service  April  27, 1861 : 

OFFICERS. 

Richard  W.  McClain,  Captain. 
Willis  C.  Workman,  First  Lieutenant. 
Albert  Shaw,  'Second  Lieutenant. 
William  Moore,  First  Sergeant. 
John  Humphry,  Second  Sergeant. 


Sampson  McNeal,  Third  Sergeant. 
James  R.  Johnson,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Thomas  B.  Ferren,  First  Corporal. 
William  Ringwalt,  Second  Corporal. 
Thomas  J.  Cook,  Third  Corjporal. 
Henry  Forest,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Benjamin  F.  Ingraham,  Drummer. 

Pnvaies— John  Bonts,  Frederick  C.  Barth,  Wil- 
liam H.  Bryan,  Robert  Brown,  Frederick  Blas- 
ser,  Nicholas  H.  Bassett,  Jesse  Bassett,  Harrison 
Bible,  Henry  Bird,  Thomas  B,  Bird,  George  W. 
Baird,  Edward  Campbell,  Nathan  Carnaham, 
Joseph  A.  Cochran,  Matthew  D.  Cochran,  Wash- 
ington L.  Cochran;  Charles  Clark,  Louis  Crooks, 
Franklin  Caterall,  William  H.  Coy,  Richard  Cox, 
John  Copeland,  James  M.  Crooks,  John  Crooks, 
James  M.  Cockram,  Thomas  Dobson,  James 
Davis,  John  Davis,  William  Derr,  Jacob  H.  Evans, 
Abram  Ely,  Isaac  Ely,  Leroy  Ellis,  Simeon  H. 
Ellis,  John  Foster,  Thomas  Goflf,  Francis  D. 
Haines,  J.  Nelson  Henderson,  William  R.  House, 
George  K.  Johnson,  Benjamin  Jones,  Andrew  J. 
Lamma,  Jacob  Lahr,  John  C.  Milligan,  James 
McCune,  William  T.  Miller,  Henry  Matheny, 
Jolui  "Myers,  John  H.  Martin,  Marcellus  Morgan, 
John  Miller,  Reuben  A.  Mack,  John  McConnell, 
Joseph  S.  Miller,  Simpson  McFadden,  Zachariah 
McElfresh,  Franklin  Newell,  John  Ogle,  Allen  M. 
Piatt,  Joseph  Phillips,  Ezekiel  Poland,  Levi  Por- 
ter, John  Parish,  John  W.  Plummer,  Robert 
Pierce,  Thomas  Rogers,  Thomas  Richardson, 
Osborn  Richardson,  Jacob  Sternberg,  Dennison 
Sturts,  James  Sears,  Anthony  W.  Shearer,  Jacob 
Strieker,  William  Schuck,  Basil  Steele,  Alfred 
Snyder,  James  W.  Sipes,  Samuel  Stephens,  Mor- 
gan Snyder,  Michael  Snell,  Eli  W.  Thomas,  Pal- 
estine Thacker, 'Charles  W.  Tumblin,  John  W. 
Wilson,  James  B.  Wilson,  Edward  Wiggins,  Al- 
exander Williams,  James  A.  Zook,  Harvey  Zim- 
merman. 

The  Coshocton  boys  went  to  Camp  Jackson,  at 
Columbus,  where,  in  common  with  all  other  com- 
panies, they  were  put  upon  drill  of  eight  hours  a 
day.  At  this  camp  the  two  companies  were  as- 
signed to  the  Sixteenth  Ohio  Infantry,  and,  with 
other  companies,  constituted  the  primary  organi- 
zation of  the  regiment.  As  was  customary  at 
that  time,  the  boys  proceeded  to  elect  their  offi- 


324 


HISTOEY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


cers,  and  Coshocton  was  favored  in  having  elected 
to  the  colonelcy  the  captain  of  her  first  company, 
James  Irvine,  who  received  his  commission  as 
colonel  of  the  Sixteenth  O.  V.  I.,  May  8,  1861. 
John  D  Nicholas  was  elected  captain  of  Company 
A,  in  his  place.  Richard  McClain's  company  was 
known  as  Company  D.  The  regiment  remained 
at  Camp  Jackson  a  week  or  ten  days,  and  then 
went  hy  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  to  Bel- 
laire,  where  it  crossed  the  river  to  Benwood,  in 
West  Virginia,  having  been  ordered  to  that  de- 
partment. Colonel  James  Irvine  received  a  tel- 
egraphic dispatch  from  GeneralMcClellan  to  go  to 
Bellaire  and  camp. 

At  Bellaire  the  citizens  turned  out  ere  masse, 
headed  by  Seth  Gardiner  and  wife,  and  gave  the 
entire  regiment  a  dinner  as  a  compliment  to  the 
Coshocton  element  therein.  Colonel  James  Ir- 
vine and  some  other  officers  were  domiciled  at 
the  residence  of  Mr.  Gardiner.  The  regiment  was 
quartered  in  a  large  iron  foundry  at  Bellaire,  and 
remained  there  several  days  General  McClellan 
telegraphed  Colonel  Irvine  to  make  a  topograph- 
ical survey  of  Wheeling,  Bellaire  and  vicinity. 
While  arrangements  were  going  on  for  this  pur- 
pose, a  very  amusing  yet  natural  incident^  oc- 
curred. Colonel  Irvine  had  thrown  out  sconts  to 
keep  an  eye  on  all  that  was  going  on  down  the 
river  from  Bellaire.  A  party  of  the  scouts  came 
in  early  in  the  morning  with  the  report  that 
there  was  a  large  force  of  men  with  artillery  and 
boats  about  to  cross  the  Ohio.  All  was  astir  in  a 
few  moments.  The  colonel  ordered  two  steam 
tugs,  with  a  company  on  board  of  each,  to  steam 
down  the  river  and  reconnoiter.  The  boats  soon 
returned  and  reported  that  Dan  Rice's  circus, 
which  was  coming  into  town  the  next  day,  was 
■watering  its  elephants  and  cattle. 

Late  one  night  toward  the  last  of  May,  Colonel 
Irvine  received  a  telegram  to  report  to  Colonel 
Kelley,  at  Wheeling,  and  co-operate  with  him  ac- 
cording to  orders.  Colonel  Kelley  had  raised  a 
regiment  of  Virginians  for  home  service.  Colonel 
Irvine  immediately  departed  to  Wheeling  and 
found  Colonel  Kelley  going  over  a  Confederate 
mail  that  had  been  forwarded  to  him,  having 
been  captured  on  a  part  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  railroad.  The  developments  implicated  a 
number  of  citizens  in  Wheeling  and  thereabouts. 


thoroughly  exposing  the  -condition  of  affairs  in 
that  section. 

The  two  regiments  of  Colonels  Kelley  and  Ir- 
vine, havir^  received  orders  to  advance,  followed 
the  railroad  till  they  came  to  the  vicinity  oi 
Glover's  Gap,  where  they  found  the  rebels  had 
burned  the  bridges. 

Here  the  regiments  were  delayed  until  the 
bridges  were  rebuilt.  While  waiting  at  this- 
point,  the  two  Coshocton  companies  of  the  Six- 
teenth Ohio  were  detailed  to  drive  off  a  rebel 
outpost  that  had  headquarters  at  a  small  town 
about  eleven  miles  from  the  Gap.  They  had  a 
sharp  skirmish,  and  returned  with  three  men 
wounded.  The  regiments  reached  Grafton  on 
the  30th  of  May,  finding  on  their  arrival,  the 
rebel  forces  had  departed  to  Philippi,  where  they 
had  made  a  stand,  being  2,000  strong.  The  stars 
and  stripes  were  flung  out  from  almost  every 
house  in  town,  and  ladies  marched  tlie  streets 
dressed  in  red,  white  and  blue,  hurrahing  for  the 
Union. 

While  the  Sixteenth  Ohio.and  Colonel  Kelley's. 
regiment  were  on  the  march  to  Grafton,  Colonel 
Wallace,  commanding  an  Indiana  regiment,  had 
marched  from  Cumberland  and  attacked  the 
rebels  at  Romney,  surprising  and  completely 
routing  them,  capturing  their  camp  equipage, 
provisions  and,  arms,  and  marching  on  to  Graf- 
ton, united  his  forces  with  those  already  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Kelley.  These  three 
regiments  marched  upon  the  rebels  at  Philippi, 
on  a  very  dark  night,  in  the  midst  of  a  rag- 
ing storm,  and  took  them  by  surprise,  at  four 
A.  M.  The  enemy,  alarmed  by  the  fire  of  their 
pickets,  had  just  time  to  form  in  line  of  battle, 
when  the  Union  forces  came  rushing  upon  them, 
firing  but  one  volley,  and  charging  bayonets. 
The  rebels  discharged  their  pieces  so  wildly  that 
but  two  of  the  Union  troops  were  killed  and 
twenty  wounded,  and  breaking,  from  the  bayonet 
charge  of  the  Unipn  forces,  they  fled  in  confusion 
to  Leedsville,  about  ten  miles  further  south,  losing 
all  their  camp  equipage  and  about  800  stand  of 
arms.  Colonel  Kelley  was  severely  wounded. 
After  the  engagement  at  Philippi,  the  Coshocton 
boys  lay  encamped  at  Rowelsburg  for  some  days, 
when  they  received  orders  to  march  to  Camp 
Donley,  about  four  miles  distant,  and  on  Friday, 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


325- 


29th  of  June,  were  sent  upon  a  scouting  expedi- 
tion. They  sti'uck  tents,  took  twenty-four  hours' 
rations,  and  inarched  twelve  miles,  to  a  small 
stream  flowing  into  the  Buflfalo  river,  and  re- 
mained at  that  point  until  an  alarm  gun  sounded, 
when  they  were  started  on  a  double-quick  down 
a  hill  to  the  place  where  the  firing  was  heard. 
One  of  the  Coshocton  boys,  writing  of  this 
skirmish,  says : 

We  passed  Adjutant  Marshall  on  the  way,  and 
he,  seeing  his  horse  could  not  keep  up  and  we 
would  be  in  before  him,  exclaimed, "  Go  it,  you 
Ohio  thieves !  "  Let  me  say  here  that  the  ladies 
of  Coshocton  made  a  good  choice  in  the  color 
bearer  of  our  company.  Bob  bore  our  colors, 
and  frequently  dashed  ahead  amidst  the  shouts  of 
the  Ohio  boys.  Seeing  Colonel  Irvine  at  the  head 
of  a  company,  we  marched  on  quicker  time  until 
we  reached  them.  The  enemy  were  called  caval- 
ry, although  they  were  mostly  riding  broken 
down  mules.  The  boys  had  a  short  skirmish, 
killing  and  wounding  several  of  the  rebels  and 
securing  the  balance  as  prisoners.  It  appears 
this  body  of  rebel  guerillas  had  been  camping 
there  for  some  days,  and  had  been  hanging  and 
shooting  Union  men  in  the  vicinity.  Corporal 
Youst,  of  Captain  McClain's  Coshocton  company, 
distinguished  himself  in  this  skirmish. 

The  Sixteenth  Ohio  was  finally  quartered  in 
and  about  West  Union,  in  what  was  termed 
"Camp  Kelley,"  awaiting  the  consummation  of 
Greneral  McClellan's  plan  of  attack  against  the 
rebels  who  were  stationed  at  Beverly.  While  at 
this  point.  Colonel  Irvine  sent  the  following  let^ 
ter  to  the  ladies  of  Springfield,  Ohio,  who  had 
presented  the  Sixteenth  Ohio  with  a  stand  of 
colors  for  their  gallantry  at  the  Philippi  engage- 
ment: 

Head  Quaetees  of  Sixteenth  Regiment,  O.  V.  M. 
Cheat  Beidge,  July  3, 1861. 

At  the  time  of  the  receipt  of  the  splendid  stand 
of  colors  which  the  ladies  of  Springfield  presented 
our  regiment,  I  was  on  the  sick  list.  I  beg  leave 
to  assure  the  patriotic  ladies  whose  kind  regards 
were  so,  well  expressed  in  what  is  now  the  regi- 
mental banner  of  the  Sixteenth,  that  the  mem- 
bers of  my  regiment  with  one  heart,  and  as  with 
one  voice,  took  an  oath  that  the  honor  of  that 
flag  should  never  be  sullied  while  a  single  arm  re- 
mained to  raise  in  its  defense.  I  beg  to  assure 
you  that  the  ladies  of  Springfield  will  be  grate- 
fully remembered  by  many  brave  men  while 
memory  lasts,  and  by  none  more  gratefully  than 
by  Your  obedient  servant,  J.  Irvine, 

Colonel  commanding  Sixteenth  Regiment. 


The  Romney  skirmish,  Philippi  engagement,, 
and  the  defeat  and  capture  of  Colonel  Pegram's 
forces  had  the  effect  of  consolidating  the  rebels 
under  General  Garnett,  north  of  Laurel  Hill  near 
Philippi.  Upon  learning  of  Pegram's  defeat  and 
surrender.  General  Garnett  endeavored  to  escape 
to  Richmond  by  plunging  into  the  wild  roads  of 
the  AUeghenies,  and  was  rapidly  descending  the- 
Cheat  river  when  he  was  overtaken  by  the  Union- 
forces.  Finding  escape  in  vain  without  a  battle,. 
General  Garnett  looked  anxiously  for  a  com- 
manding position.  He  came  to  a  ford  in  the 
river  which  was  approachable  over  an  extended 
meadow,  smooth  as  a  floor,  and  waving  with 
young  corn.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river, 
and  commanding  the  ford,  there  was  an  almost 
perpendicular  bluflf  eighty  feet  high,  fringed  with 
laurel,  presenting  a  perfect  screen  for  his  batte- 
ries and  his  men  to  lie  in  ambush.  Here  he 
stationed  his  army.  The  Sixteenth  Ohio,  en- 
camped at  West  Union,  was  sitting  down  to  itS' 
breakfast  when  the  call  to  arms  came,  and  the 
boys  were  forced  to  leave  without  a  mouthful 
and  make  a  hurried  march  to  a  point  known  as 
Red-house  (so  called  from  the  position  of  a  red 
house  situated  at  a  defile  in  the  m  ountain ),  at  which 
_  they  were  placed  as  a  guard  in  the  event  the 
enemy  made  an  attempt  to  escape  by  this  route. 
Colonel  Steadman,  with  the  Fourteenth  Ohio, 
first  charged  upon  General  Garnett's  position, 
followed  immediately  by  the  entire  body  of  the 
Union  troops.  For  some  time  the  battle  raged 
with  no  decisive  results,  until  Coloael  Dumont, 
with  the  Seventh  Indiana,  crept  under  the  right 
flank  of  the  foe,  when  they  turned  and  fled  only 
to  meet  the  outlying  Union  posts  at  every  defile 
of  the  mountains.  General  Garnett  was  killed 
and  left  unattended  by  his  troops. 

On  the  call  to  march  coming  so  unexpectedly 
to  the  Coshocton  boys  at  West  Union,  they  left  so 
siufdenly  that  a  tall  Irishman  was  continued  on 
picket  guard  alone,  with  no  troops  in  the  vicinity 
except  the  corporal  in  charge  of  camp  equipage. 
Upon  being  questioned  afterward  as  to  his  cour- 
age, he  remarked,  "  I  felt  as  safe  as  if  I  was  in 
God's  vest  pocket  as  long  as  the  corperler  was 
with  me.''  The  corporal  in  charge  was  a  mere 
boy. 

After  this  engagement  the  Sixteenth  Ohio  was 


326 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ordered  back  to  Oakland  and  was  assigned  the 
duty  of  guarding  the  Hne  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  railroad,  until  the  time  of  its  enlistment 
had  expired  when  it  was  ordered  to  Columbus 
about  the  middle  of  August  and  returned  home. 
Coshocton  was  changed  from  the  time  "the 
boys  "  had  enlisted ;  then  they  were  the  only  sol- 
diers in  the  town,  while  at  the  time  they  returned 
soldiers  and  war  matters  absorbed  every  thought 
of  the  people.  The  Coshocton  Age  says  of  that 
time: 

Our  quiet  town  has  been  in  a  continual  round 
of  excitement  on  account  of  the  movement  of 
troops.  First,  last  week,  came  the  Sixteenth  In- 
diana Regiment  on  their  way  to  Washington.  Its 
cry  was  "  Ho  for  !Manassas! "  Two  days  thereaf- 
ter came  the  Twelfth  Indiana  for  the  same  city. 
Sunday,  Lew  Wallace's  Indiana  Zouaves  return- 
ing from  Harper's  Ferry,  Monday  the  First  and 
Second  Ohio  passed  through.  Captain  Given's 
company  has  recently  left;  other  companies  are 
forming,  and  now  the  Coshoction  companies  of 
the  Sixteenth  Ohio  have  arrived-  at  home.  There 
was  a  big  crowd  at  the  depot  and  the  welcome 
was  warm  and  earnest  as  the  gallant  boys  sprang 
from  the  cars.  Bob  Richardson  gave  the  com- 
pany colors  to  the  breeze  to  let  it  be  known  they 
had  come  back  unsullied  by  any  dishonorable 
act. 

As  the  war  progressed,  and  its  necessities  be- 
came more  apparent,  Coshocton  county  did  not 
fail  to  respond.  A  military  committee  was  formed 
and  issued  the  following  circular : 

AIS"  APPEAL  TO  PATRIOTIC   CITIZENS   FOE  AID  FOB, 
OUR    SOLDIERS. 

In  accordance  with  the  proclamation  of  the 
Governor  of  Ohio,  the  undersigned  military  com- 
mittee of  Coshocton-  county  would  respectfully 
but  earnestly  call  upon  her  citizens  to  come  to 
the  relief  of  our  suffering  soldiers.  This  is  no 
idle  call.  It  you  have  but  one  blanket  to  spare, 
bring  it  along.  The  articles  will  be  received  and 
receipted  for  at  the  store  of  Rand  H.  Hay,  in 
Coshocton,  or  Hiram  Beall's  store,  in  Keene'.    « 

Henstox  Hay, 
Seth  McClain, 
A.  L.  Cass, 
R.  Lan.xing, 
Geo.  W.  Pepper. 
Military  Committee  fur  Coshocton  Caunti/. 

The  issue  of  this  circular  called  forth  from  the 
liberal  citizens  ot  Coshocton  such  large  quantities 
of  all  articles  needed,  that  sub-committees  were 


appointed  in  every  township  in  the  county.  The 
ladies  all  over  the  county  were  enthusiastic  in 
their  support  ot  war  measures  The  young  ladies 
ot  the  county  organized  a  society  for  the  purpose 
of  inspiring  the  enlistment  of  all  able-bodied 
young  men,  and  published  the  following  resolu- 
tions in  all  the  papers  in  the  county : 

At  a  meeting  of  the  young  ladies  of  Coshocton 
county,  held  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  war 
measures,  in  was  unanimously  resolved. 

That  it  is  the  duty  ot  every  young  unmarried 
man  to  go  to  war ; 

That  all  who  are  physically  unable  to  go  are 
physically  unable  to  support  a  family; 

That  we  have  no  further  need  of  home  guards; 

That  young  men  have  but  one  reason  for  stay- 
ing at  home — they  fear  battle  more  than  they 
love  liberty ; 

That  the  young  man  who  fails  to  do  his  duty 
in  this  hour  ot  our  utmost  need  is  not  worthy  the 
smiles  of  the  ladies  of  this  vicinity; 

That  we  will  marry  no  home  guard ; 

That  he  who  is  not  true  to  his  country  is  not 
true  to  his  God,  nor  would  he  be  true  to  his  wife. 

It  is  supposed  that  these  patriotic  resolutions 
had  the  desired  effect,  as  the  young  men  of  Co- 
shocton went  promptly  and  rapidly  to  the  front 
during  all  those  dark  years. 


CPIAPTER  XXXVI. 

WAR  OP  THE  REBELLION — CONTINUED. 

Organization  of  "Given's  Rangers" — Their  Assignment  to 
tlie  Twenty-fourth  Ohio, and  Departure  to  the  Pi  eld— Sketch 
of  Josiah  Given— Organization— Captain  W.  M.  Stanley's 
Assignment  to  the  Thirty-second  Ohio,  and  Departure  for 
the  Field— Twenty-fourth  and  Thirty-second  at  Cheat 
Mountain— Twenty-fourth  in  the  Field  and  Mustered  Out— 
Thirty-second  in  the  Field  and  Mustered  Out. 

"TTTHILE  the  two  three-month  companies  of 
V  V  Coshocton  boys  were  making  their  rec- 
ord, the  martial  element  at  home  was  growing 
more  and  more  formidable.  The  first  three 
years'  company  was  recruited  by  Josiah  Given. 
The  Age,  of  date  June  6,  1S61,  says :  "  Josiah 
Given  established  a  camp  at  this  place,  and  raised 
a  company  ot  volunteers  for  three  years  service. 
The  camp  is  in  the  county  fair  grounds,  named 
Camp  Burt,  and  the  company  is  a  very  fine  one. 
The  boys  -  expect  marching  orders  this  week. 
This  makes  three  full  companies  from  Coshocton 
countv-     Two  of  them  are  now  in  the  heart  of 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


327 


Virginia,  on  the  enemy's  soil,  and.  this  one  will 
give  a  good  account  of  itself." 

The  following  is  the  muster-roll  of  the  com- 
pany: 

OEFICEES. 

Josiah  Given,  Captain. 
James  L.  Inskeep,  First  Lieutenant. 
Gabriel  B.  Stitt,  Second  Lieutenant. 
A.  J.  Garrison,  First  Sergeant. 
George  McConnel,  Second  Sergeant. 
AVilliam  Knowlden,  Third  Sergeant. 
George  Johnston,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Andrew  Davis,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
J.  G.  Butler,  First  Corporal. 
Edward  Sterman,  Second  Corporal. 
A.  D.  Green,  Third  Corporal. 
E.  U.  Chapman,  Fourth  Corporal. 
A.  Pocock,  Fifth  Corporal. 
E.  A.  Campbell,  Sixth  Corporal. 
David  Horton,  Seventh  Corporal. 
J.  C.  Almack,  Eighth  Corporal. 
T.  J.  Cunning,  First  Musician. 
D.  E.  Norris,  Second  Musician. 
George  Mahew,  Wagoner. 

Privates — Michael  Adams,  J.  P.  Almack,  Charles 
Baker,  Daniel  B.  Barnes,  John  Babcock,  Francis 
Bigelow,  S.  J.  Boggs,  Edward  E.  Bryan,  George 
Carpenter,  Joseph  Carpenter,  Matthew  Camp- 
bell, Albert  B.  Campbell,  John  Corbit,  Jacob 
Cockran,  P.  L.  Cociper,  John  Cox,  Archibald 
Curtis,  Wifliam  M.  Clute,  George  G.  Clark,  Wil- 
liam Darnes,  William  Douglass,  Samuel  Decamp, 
Jacob  Evans,  John  Endermshley,  Linneus  Fes- 
senden,  R.fE  Fox,  Samuel  Farquhar,  Eobert  J. 
Gardner,  Conrad  Ginther,  Phillip  Ginther,  Sam- 
uel House,  David  Hagans,  Joseph  H.  Hagans, 
John  H.  Hooker,  L.  Johnston,  William  A.  John- 
ston, E.  L.  Johnston,  Charles  Johnston,  John 
Johnston,  John  Jennings,  Armstead  Kitchen, 
John  King,  Francis  Kiggins,  Lewis  Lent,  Eezin 
Lovitt,  Gideon  Lovitt,  Eobinson  Mardis,  Amos 
Mardis,  Francis  Martin,  Michael  Mang,  John 
Miller,  Adolphus  Musgrove,  Martin  Neighbor, 
Joseph  F.  Powell,  Griffith  Plummer,  Thomas 
B.  Eose,  William  E.  Eichards,  Hamilton  Smith, 
Isaac  Schoonover,  William  F  Schoonover,  Bain- 
hart  Sohort,  J.  L.  Strieker,  William  H.  Sills, 
J.  H.  Shaw,  Samuel  M.  Salyards,  John  N.  Thomp- 


son, Eeuben  G.  Tumblin,  James  Trott,  John 
Allen  Trott,  Daniel  Trainer,  Chauncy  Trimble, 
Eolla  Timmons,  John  E.  Wiggins,  Andrew  Van- 
sickle,  John  Vankirk,  William  A.  White,  Wil- 
liam Watson,  Joseph  Wackerby,  Edward  E. 
Wells,  Joseph  Wirr,  John  Wirr,  John  Zook. 

A  short  sketch  of  Josiah  Given,  the  captain, 
will  be  appropriate  in  this  place,  in  view  of  active 
service  and  rapid  promotion.  He  was  commis- 
sioned June  12,  1861,  as  captain  of  Company  K 
Twenty-fourth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry ;  August 
17, 1861,  ranked  as  lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Eigh- 
teenth Ohio,  commissioned  November  2,  1861. 
Appointed  colonel  of  the  Seventy-fourth  Ohio 
May  16,  1863;  commission  issued  June  2, -1863, 
Colonel  Given  commanded  the  Seventy-fourth 
Ohio  from  the  time  of  its  movement  towards 
Chattanooga,  June  23,  1863,  participating  in  the 
battle  of  Hoover's  Gap,  June  24 ;  Dug  Gap,  Georgia 
September  11,  and  Chickamauga,  Sept.  19  and  20. 
arriving  at  Chattanooga,  Sept.  22,  1863.  He  also 
commanded  the  Seventy-fourth  in  the  battles  of 
Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Eidge,  Nov. 
23,  24  and  25,  1863.  On  the  7th  of  May,  1864, 
Colonel  Given  commanded  his  regiment  as  it 
started  with  the  army  on  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
For  one  hundred  days  and  over  the  regiment 
was  under  fire  almost  daily.  At  Buzzard's  Eoost 
and  at  Eesaoa  the  regiment,  under  Colonel  Given, 
stormed  those  strongholds  with  heavy  loss,  and 
on  the  27th  of  May  received  the  following  com- 
mendatory notice  from  the  division  commander  : 

Headqdaetees  First  Division  Fourteenth  Army  Corps, 
Near  Dallas,  Georgia,  May  28, 1864. 

Colonel  Josiah  Given  : — General  Johnson  de- 
sires to  express  to  you  his  high  appreciation  of 
the  gallantry  exhibited  by  the  noble  troops  of 
your  regiment  in  the  night  engagement  of  the 
27th  inst.  The  admirable  spirit  displayed  by  the 
regiment  on  that  occasion  is,  above  all  things, 
desirable  and  commendable.  Soldiers  animated 
by  such  courage  and  fortitude  are  c^jable  of  the 
very  highest  achievements. 

[Signed,]  E.  T.  Wells,  A.  A. 

The  regiment,  still  under  Colonel  Given's  com- 
mand, was  engaged  in  the  performance'  of  the 
most  perilous  and  arduous  duties  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Chattahoochie  Eiver,  Peach  Tree 
Creek,  and  in  front  of  Atlanta.     At  the  battle  of 


328 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Jonesboro,  Colonel  Given  led  the  regiment  in 
three  distinct  charges,  on  the  afternoon  of  Sep- 
tember 1,  and  shared  in  the  general  compUment- 
ary  notice  to  all  those  engaged  in  that  part  of  the 
fight,  as  follows : 

Headquaetees  First  Division  Fourteenth  Army  CorpSj_ 
Jonesboro,  September,  1864. 

Circular — "  The  general  commanding  the  di- 
vision congratulates  officers  and  enlisted  men  of 
the  Second  and  Third  brigades  on  the  success  of 
their  splendid  assault  on  the  enemy,  September 
1,  1864.  They  charged  a  strongly  intrenched 
double  line,  passing  over  swamps  and  through 
thickets  under  a  murderous  fire  of  musketry, 
dragged  the  enemy  out  of  his  works  at  some 
points,  and  drove  him  out  at  others.  The  troops 
oppospd  to  them  were  the  most  celebrated  for 
obstinate  fighting  of  any  division  of  the  rebel 
army.  The  conduct  of  all  was  gratifying  to  our 
commanding  general,  and  the  day  should  be  re- 
membered and  celebrated  by  every  soldier  en- 
gaged in  battle. 

"  By  order  of  Brigadier  General  W.  P.  Carlin. 
"(Signed)    G.  W.  Smith,  A.  A.  G." 

The  Atlanta  compaign  ending  here,  Colonel 
Given  resigned,  and  returning  to  Coshocton,  as- 
sisted this  county  so  well  in  its  management  of 
its  draft  quotas  that'it  had  them  filled  with  little 
or  no  trouble.  Colonel  Given  is  now  a  citizen  of 
Iowa,  and  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  the  law. 

June  13,  1864,  Captain  Given's  company  left 
Camp  Burt  for  Camp  Jackson  at  Columbus.  The 
Age  of  that  date  says:  "Given's  Rangers  are 
gone.  He  has  a  spendid  company  and  the  boys 
will  give  a  good  account  of  themselves.  Last 
week  the  Coshocton  ladies  presented  each  soldier 
with  a  neat  needle  book,  fully  equipped.  Satur- 
day the  Roscoe  ladies  and  gentlemen,  preceded 
by  a  band,  invaded  the  camp  with  five  wagons 
loaded  with  provi-ions.  On  Saturday  Parson 
Hickmans  held  divine  service  in  the  camp." 
The  company,  after  reaching  Columbus,  was  as- 
signed to  the  Twenty-fourth  Regiment,  Ohio 
Volunteers  Infantry;  was  know  as  Company  K, 
and  was  quartered  at  Camp  Chase.  As  illustra- 
tive of  the  character  of  the  Coshocton  citizens 
whose  fortunes. were  cast  with  the  Twenty-fourth 
Ohio,  the  following  extract  from  the  Age,  dated 
June  27,  will  speak  for  itself:  "  The  members  of 
Company  K,  Twenty-fourth  Regiment,  Captain 
Given  of  Coshocton,  have  started  a  Sabbath-school 


in  Camp  Chase,  and  not  satisfied  with  the  good 
start  have  organized  a  social  circle,  and  are  deter- 
mined to  live  temperate  lives  while  battling  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  stars  and  stripes." 

The  Twenty-Fourth  left  Camp  Chase  on  the 
26th  day  of  July,  1861.  They  went  first  to  Bel- 
laire,  and  then  started  to  Washington,  but,  after 
getting  sixty-five  miles  east  of  Pittsburgh,  received 
orders  to  return,  came  back  and  proceeded  to 
Clarksburgh,  and  were  compelfed  to  shovel  dirt 
for  two  days  and  a  night,  on  account  of  a  land 
slide  about  forty  miles  from  Clarksburgh,  finally 
reaching  Cheat  Mountain  Summit  August  14, 
1861.  Here  they  joined  the  Fourteenth  Indiana, 
which  had  been  on  duty  at  this  mountain  pass 
for  some  weeks. 

The  Twenty-Fourth  Ohio  was  thus  finally  in 
the  field.  Another  company  occupied  Camp 
Burt  as  soon  as  Captain  Given's  company  left. 
Wilson  M.  Stanley  of  Newcastle  township,  im- 
mediately commenced  recruiting  a  company, 
and,  at  the  date  of  the  arrival  of  the  Twenty- 
Fourth  at  Cheat  Mountain  Summit,  the  Age 
speaks  of  Captain  Stanley's  company  as  follows : 
"  Captain  Wilson  M.  Stanley's  company  is  in  camp 
at  the  fair  grounds  or  at  Camp  Burt.  He  has  or- 
ders from  the  government  to  subsist  his  men  her 
until  the  company  marches  to  Colonel  Ford's 
camp  at  Mansfield."  The  company,  by  this 
order,  was  assigned  to  the  Thirty-Second  Regi- 
ment Ohio  Volunteer  Infaniry,  and  was  known 
as  company  I. 

The  muster  roll  of  the  company  which  was 
mustered  into  the  service  August  31, 1861,  is  as 
follows : 

OFFICERS. 

Wilson  M.  Stanley,  Captain. 
C.  C.  Nicholas,  First  Lieutenant. 
George  T.  Jack,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Adam  Carnes,  First  Sergeant. 
John  McDonald,  Second  Sergeant. 
Elias  W.  James,  Third  Sergeant. 
Henry  Matheny,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Adam  Morgan,  First  Corporal. 
George  W.  Seward,  Second  Corporal. 
William  Coggins,  Third  Corporal. 
Charles  Slurray,  Fourth  Corporal. 
John  Lynch,  Drummer. 
Wm.  McNabb,  Fifer. 


HISTORY  or  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


829 


Privates.— John  Arney,  Cornelius  Austin,  Wil- 
liam W.  Bassett,  Joseph  E.  Berry,  John  Beall, 
Henry  G.  Bassett,  Alfred  Baeby,  E.  L.  Barcroft, 
Edward  Barrett,  Samuel  Clark,  Nelson  C.  Carr, 
Jefferson  Carnes,  John  D.  Cooper,  Thomas  G. 
Cochran,  William  Crago,  M.  D.  Cochran,  E. 
Campbell,  R.  Courtright,  William  Cox,  Hiram 
Croft,  E.  U.  Campbell,  John  W.  Conley,  J.  V. 
Crago,  Samuel  Crawford,  C.  P.  Crawford,  S. 
Campbell,  James  Davis,  William  Dusenberry, 
W.  C.  Daringer,  Alexander  C.  Ellis,  Henry 
Fisher,  Morgan  Eelver,  D.  A.  Gonder,  John  C. 
Gender,  E.  Hays,  John  T.  Hays,  Thomas  K. 
Hess,  Webster  Hogle,  Andrew  Jack,  W;  H. 
Jennings,  Benjamin  James,  Joseph  Kitchen, 
Robert  Levitt,  J.  B.  Lindsey,  J.  W.  McChris- 
tian,  Jacob  Matock,  J.  McComber,.  Joshua  Mus- 
ser,  William  Mathias,  L.  McElfresh,  S.  H.  Mc- 
Lain,  Francis  Norris,  E.  Marchman,  Patrick 
O'Brien,  James  Porter,  J.  H.  Pigman,  John  Por- 
ter, G  W.  Pierce,  Levi  Porter,  John  Baire,  James 
Robison,  Martin  Shulty,  T.  C.  Seward,  Daniel 
Sohoonover,  John  Sondells,  A.  B.  Stricher,  W. 
Smith,  H.  Smith,  J.  H.  Sobringer,' J.  W.  Sipes,  J. 
W.  Stanton,  Warren  Shaw,  J.  Tompkins,  John 
Thompson,  George  Tuttle,  James  Tubbs,  David 
Tracy,  William  Ruter,  C.  P.^  Vankish,  Wilson 
Wells,  Edward  Woods,  William  Wise,  S.  Wel- 
ling, P.  Williamson,  D.  Welling. 

This  company  remained  in  Coshocton  until 
the  Thirty-second  Ohio  left  their  camp  at  Mans- 
field and  went  into  Camp  Dennison,  where  the 
regiment  was  completed  and  Company  I  with  the 
others  was  equipped  and  sent  to  the  field  under 
the  command  of  Colonel  Thomas  H.  Ford,  for- 
merly Lieutenant  Governor  of  Ohio.  On  the  15th 
of  September,  1861,  the  regiment  left  Camp  Den- 
nison tor  West  Virginia.  As  was  the  c&se  with 
most,  if  not  all,  of  the  first  regiments  from  Ohio, 
the  men  were  poorly  equipped,  and  were  armed 
with  the  almost  useless  old  smooth  bore  muskets 
of  a  by-gone  age.  The  regiment  was  moved  by 
railroad,  arrived  at  Grafton  September  18,  and 
marched  the  next  day  for  Beverly,  West  Vir- 
ginia, where  it  arrived  on  the  22d. 

At  this  point  Colonel  Ford  reported  for  orders 
to  Brigadier-General  Reynolds  then  commanding 
the  District  of  Cheat  Mountain,  with  headquar- 
ters at  Huttonsville,  and  was  assigned  the  com- 


mand at  Cheat  Mountain  Summit,  with  Colonel 
Nathan  Kimball  of  the  Fourteenth  Indiana  com- 
manding the  post.    Having  followed  the  Thirty- 
second  from  its  organization,  so  far  as  the  Co- 
shocton part  of  the  regiment  is  concerned,  until 
it  reached  the  same  field  in  common  with  the 
Twenty-fourth  Ohio,   it  would  not  be  amiss  to 
inquire  into  the  whereabouts  and  doings  of  that 
regiment  in  the  interval.     When  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Ohio  arrived  at  Cheat  Mountain  Summit 
on  the  14th  of  August  the  rebels  with  a  superior 
force    lay  in    front    about    fifteen    miles,     and 
almost  every  day  attacked  the  pickets,  giving  fre- 
quent opportunities  for  skirmishing,  requiring 
the  regiment  to  be  ready  for  battle  day  and  night 
and  making  it  necessary  to  strengthen  the  posi- 
tion by  felling  trees,  preparing  abattis  and  throw- 
ing out  heavy  pickets  to  prevent  surprise  and  to 
be  prepared  for  any  emergency.    The  position 
being  considered  important  and  the  enemy  in 
front  enterprising,  the  camp  was  reinforced  by 
the  Twenty-fifth  Ohio.    The  night  of  September 
11  was  stormy,  with  heavy  rain.    The  raw  pick- 
ets, not  yet  taught  the  importance  of  special  vigi- 
lance at  such  timesi  were  careless ;  and  at  break 
of  day  on  the  12th  the  camp  was  surrounded  by 
a  largely  superior  force  of  rebels..  Fortunately 
the  abattis  on  the  left  of  the  camp  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Ohio  proved  efficient,  caused  delay  in  the 
movements  of  the  enemy  and  gave  time  to  form 
the  troops  for  battle,  which  was  done  promptly. 
In  this,  their    first    engagement,  the    Twenty- 
fourth    Ohio  gave   indications  of    that  coolness 
and  discipline  for  which  the  regiment  at  a  later 
period  was  distinguished.  After  a  combat  of  three 
hours  the  rebels  abandoned  the  attack  and  fled, 
leaving  on  the  field   many  blankets,  arms,  etc., 
losing  some  prisoners  and  some  killed.    The  loss 
of  the  Twenty-fourth  was  only  two  wounded. 
In  the  next  battle  the  Twenty-fourth  and  Thir- 
ty-second, with  some  other  of  the  forces  at  Cheat 
Mountain  Summit,  were  engaged.    The  Thirty- 
second  had  been  hurried  to  the  field  without  dis- 
ciphne;  in  fact  it  was  hardly  organized.    Here, 
upon  the  rugged  heights  of    Cheat  Mountain, 
amid  the  wild  scenery  of  the  Alleghenies,  the  regi- 
ment received  its  first  lesson  in  the  art  of  war. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1861,  the  Thirty-second, 
under  orders,  made  a  forward  movement  and  led 


330 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  advance  of  the  army  against  the  enemy  at 
Greenbrier,  through  the  mountains  and  pines  of 
that  region,  by  midnight,  while  the  Twenty-fourth 
was  exposed  to  a  heavy  fire  of  shell,  grape  and 
canister,  but  stood  firm.  The  Age,  of  date  October 
10,  publishes  a  letter  from  one  of  the  Coshocton 
participants,  as  follows : 

Cheat  Mountain  Summit,  October  3. 

This  morning,  at  1  A.  m.,  a  portion  of  the  brigade 
of  Brigadier-General  J.  J.  Eeynolds,  consisting  of 
three  Ohio  regiments,  the  Twenty-fourth,  Twenty- 
fifth  and  Thirty-second  and  portions  of  six  Indiana 
regiments — Seventh,    Ninth,   Thirteenth,   Four- 
teenth, Fifteenth  and  Seventeenth,  together  with 
detachments   of  Bracken's   Indiana,   Robinson's 
Ohio  and  Greenfield's  Pennsylvg,nia  Cavalry,  and 
detachments  of  Howe's  United  States,  Loomis' 
Michigan  and  Daum's  Virginia  Artillery,  num- 
bering in  all  about  5,000  men,  left  Cheat  Mountain 
Summit  to  make  a  reconnoissance  in  force  in 
front  of  the  enemy's  position  on  Greenbrier  river, 
twelve  miles  distant.  Colonel  Ford's  Thirty-second 
Ohio  was  sent  forward  to  hold  an  important  road, 
the  possession  of  which  prevented  the  enemy 
from  flanking  our  main  column.  The  expedition 
arrived  in   front  of  the  enemy's  fortification  at 
8  A.  M.,  their  pickets  retreating  after  firing  an  in- 
effectual volley.    Kimball's  Fourteenth  Indiana 
was  immediately  sent  forward  to  secure  a  position 
for  Loomis'  battery.    Colonel  Ammen's  'Twenty- 
fourth  Ohio  deployed  as  skirmishers  on  the  south 
slope  of  the  mountain.   Loomis'  battery,  getting 
position,  supported  by  the  Seventeenth  Indiana, 
Li'eutenant-Colonel  Wilder  commanding,  opened 
the  battle.    The  shot  was  immediately  responded 
to  by  a  volley  from  the  enemy,  concealed  in 
bushes,  who  were  soon  routed  by  the  Fourteenth 
Indiana,  with  a  loss  of  seven  killed  and  a  large 
number  wounded  and  prisoners.  Howe's  battery, 
supported  by  the  Thirteenth  Indiana,  then  moved 
forward,  taking  a  position  300  yards  nearer  the 
enemy's  fortifications  and   opened  a  brisk  fire. 
The  firing  on  both  sides  was  almost  incessant 
for  one  hour,  our  artillery  doing  execution,  judg- 
ing from  the  shrieks  of  the  enemy's  wounded. 
Their  batteries  did  but  comparatively  little  injury, 
being  too  much  elevated.    Our  guns  effectually 
silenced  three  of  theirs.  While  observations  were 
being  made  of  the  enemy's  fortifications,  occupy- 
ing three  more  hours,  an  irregular  artillery  fire 
was  kept  up,  occupying  the  enemy's  attention. 
During  this  interval  the  Twenty-fourth  Ohio  and 
Fifteenth  Indiana  rendered  very  effectual  service 
scouting  the  mountains.     The    reconnoissance 
proved  entirely  successful,  affording  information 
relative  to  the  enemy's  strength. 

The  loss  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Ohio  was  two 


killed  and  three  wounded.  The  Thirty-second 
Ohio  remained  at  Greenbrier  during  the  fall  of 
1861,  engaged  in  watching  the  movements  of  the 
enemy,  then  commanded  by  the  afterwards  re- 
nowned rebel,  General  Robert  E.  Lee. 

The   Twenty-fourth  Ohio,  on  November  18, 
1861,  marched  from  Cheat  Mountain,  under  or- 
ders for  Louisville,  Kentucky;  reported  at  that 
place  on  the  28th  of  the  same  month,  and  was 
assigned  to  duty  in  the  Tenth  Brigade,  Fourth 
Division,  Army  of  the  Ohio.    February  25, 1862, 
it  reached  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  remained 
there,  in  camp,  until  Jlarch  17,  when  the  Fourth 
Division  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  Savannah 
and  Pittsburgh  Landing.    The  bridge  over  Duck 
river,   at    Columbia,    Tennessee,    having  been 
burned  by  rebels,  and  the  stream  being  very  high, 
the  army  was  detained  some  days,  repairing  the 
bridge.    Before  this  was  done  (the  river  having 
fallen)  the  Fourth  Division  was  ordered  to  ad- 
vance.   It  waded  the  river  March  29,  and  hurried 
on  to  Savannah,  on  the  Tennessee  river,  which 
place  it  reached  on  Saturday,  April  5,  and  went 
into  camp.    As  the  swamp  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Tennessee  was  deemed    impassable,   boats 
were  to  be  sent  to  transport  the  troops  to  Pitts- 
burgh Landing,  twelve  miles  up  the  river.    On 
Sunday  morning,  April  6,  the  roar  of  the  artillery 
at  Pittsburgh  Landing  was  heard  at  Savannah. 
The  troops  were  immediately  put  in  readiness- 
to  move.     No  boats  arriving,  to  transport  them, 
at  one  p.  m.  the  brigade  to  which  the  Twenty- 
fourth  belonged  started  through  a  swamp  on 
the   march   to   the   battlefield,  the  other  brig- 
ades of  the  division  following,  and  after  a  hard 
march,  through  mud  and  water,  it  reached  the 
opposite  bank  o#  the  river.      The  Federal  army 
had  gradually  retired  to  the  river.     The  last 
horrible   tragedy  of  this  day  seemed  about  to 
be  consummated.    The  rebels  occupied  all  the 
camps  of  tlie  Federal  army.    The  latter  were 
crowded  in  wild    confusion  around  Pittsburgh 
Landing.    The  arrival  of  the  gunboatsand  Buell's 
forces  changed  the  face  of  affairs.    It  was  at  this 
time,  on  Sunday  evening,  the  brigade  containing 
the  Twenty-fourth  Ohio  came  upon  the  scene 
and  took  part  in  the  battle,  on  the  extreme  left. 
During  the  hours    of   that   memorable   night, 
while  a  furious  tempest  raged  and  a  deluge  of 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


331 


rain  descended,  the  Federal  commanders  were 
1  busy  in  making  preparations  for  resuming  the 
contest.  Colonel  Ammen,  of  the  Twenty-fourth, 
commanding  a  brigade,  was  placed  on  the  ex- 
treme left. 

A  communication,  regarding  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Ohio  at  this  time,  says  : 

On  April  7,  the  Twenty-fourth  Ohio  was  en- 
gaged all  day  in  battle,  and  not  only  sustained  its 
former  reputation,  but  added  "new  laurels."  A 
Coshocton  boy,  writing  from  the  battlefield,  re- 
ports: 

"It  was  terrible.  On  Sunday  our  army  was 
pushed  from  disaster  to  disaster,  till  we  lost  every 
division  camp  we  had,  and  were  driven  within  a 
half  mile  of  tlie  landing,  when  the  approach  of 
night,  the  timely  aid  of  the  gunboats,  and  the 
tremendous  efforts  of  our  artillery,  with  the 
timely  arrival  of  Buell's  forces,  saved  us.  On 
Monday,  after  nine  hours  of  hard  fighting,  we  re- 
gained the  gromid  we  had  lost  on  Sunday.  Not 
a  division  advanced  a  half  mile  beyond  our  old 
old  camp  except  Lew  Wallace's.  An  officer  of  the 
New  Orleans  Creole  Battalion,  taken  prisoner, 
says :  '  Beauregard  made  a  speech  on  Saturday, 
before  the  battle,  in  which  he  told  them  the  re- 
sult was  sure;  they  could  not  fail;  they  would 
capture  Grant's  army  and  whip  Buell  and  then 
hold  their  railroads.  If  they  lost  the  day  they 
might  lay  down  their  arms  and  go  home.'  Our 
forces  were  thirty-five  thousand  strong.  A  rebel 
quartermaster,  who  was  taken  prisoner,  says  that 
rations  for  ninety  thousand  men  were  issued  be- 
fore they  left  Corinth." 

The  casualties  to  Company  K,  Twenty-fourth 
Ohio,  as  furnished  from  the  report  of  Sergeant 
W.  H.  Knowlden,  are  as  follows:  Slightly 
wounded.  Captain  T.  McChire,  William  Douglass, 
Samuel  Decamp,  Corporal  A.  D.  Garven,  Jacob 
Strieker,  Matthew  Campbell,  David  L.  Norris, 
Chauncey  Trimble ;  missing,  John  E.  Waggoner 
and  Joseph  Wackerly.  It  is  believed  that  none 
of  the  wounds  are  mortal,  and  the  boys  have 
ever.y  attention  and  comfort  it  is  possible  to  be- 
stow. 

The  results  were  so  dependent  upon  the  per- 
formance of  the  Ohio  troops  in  the  field  that  Gov- 
ernor Tod  sent  a  congratulatory  address  to  them, 
and,  as  the  Twenty-fourth  Ohio  was  entitled  to 
her  share,  it  is  hereby  appended,  as  follows : 

To  the  Ohio  Troops  engaged  in  the  recent  Battle  of 
Pittsburgh  Landing,  Tennessee  : 

In  behalf  of  the  loyal  citizens  of  the  State  you 
love  so  much,  I  tender  their  profound  thanks  for 


the  gallantry,  courage  and  endurance  you  have 
displayed.  Thank  God,  from  the  best  informa- 
tion in  our  possession,  we  are  able  to  claim  that 
Ohio  soldiers  all  did  their  duty.  Those  yet  in 
the  field,  we  are  sanguine,  will  avenge  the  deaths 
of  their  brave  comrades  who  fell  on  the  6th 
and  7th.  On,  then,  gallant  volunteers  of  Ohio, 
and  win  new  laurels  for  our  State.  With  one 
heart  the  friends  you  left  at  home  are  caring, 
as  Ohio  mothers,  wives,  sisters,  brothers  and 
fathers,  know  how  to  care,  for  their  sick  and 
wounded  husbands,  sons  and  brothers. 

The  Twenty-fourth  Ohio  took  part  in  most  of 
the  skirmishes  between  Pittsburgh  Landing  and 
Corinth,  and  was  one  of  the  first  regiments  that 
entered  the  latter  place.  It  was  with  the  army 
in  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  in  North  Missis- 
sippi and  North  Alabama,  and  in  July  was  en- 
camped at  McMinnville,  Tennessee.  It  left  that 
place  September  3, 1862,  and  returned  to  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky,  with  the  army,  during  General 
Bragg's  invasion,  having  a  long,  dusty,  and  greatly 
dispiriting  march.  In  October,  1862,  it  was 
assigned  to  the  Fourth  Division,  Twenty-first 
Army  Corps.  It  was  at  the  battle  of  Perryville, 
but,  being  on  the  extreme  right,  did  not  take  part 
in  the  general  engagement.  It  then  moved  in 
pursuit  of  the  retreating  rebels,  and  on  the 
abandonment  of  the  chase  in  the  mountains  of 
Southeastern  Kentucky,  it  marched  to  Nashville. 
When,  in  December,  1862,  General  Kosecrans  ad- 
vanced from  Nashville,  the  Twenty-fourth  Ohio 
was  reduced  by  sickness  and  desertion  to  thirteen 
officers  and  three  hundred  and  forty  men.  Com- 
pany A,  however,  was  on  detached  duty.  With 
this  strength  it  went  into  the  battle  of  Stone 
River.  Its  loss  was  heavy,  the  regiment  having 
been  assigned  an  important  position,  and  having 
held  it  faithfully.  Tuesday,  December  30,  the 
corps  commanders  met  at  the  headquarters  of 
General  Rosecrans,  who  explained  to  them  his 
plan  of  battle.  General  McCook  (commanding 
the  right,  with  the  divisions  of  Johnson,  Davis, 
and  Sheridan.)  was  to  hold  his  position  firmly,  if 
attacked ;  if  not,  he  was  to  threaten  the  rebel  left 
sufficiently  to  hold  all  the  rebel  forces  in  his 
front.  General  Thomas  (commanding  the  center, 
with  Rousseau's  and  Negley's  divisions,)  wa^  to 
open  the  battle  with  skirmishing,  pushing  for- 
ward his  forces  toward  the  river.     General  Crit- 


«32 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


tenden  (commanding  the  left,  with  Van  Cleve's, 
Woods'  and  Pahner's  divisions,)  was  to  cross  at 
the  ford,  gain  possession  of  the  hill,  and,  followed 
up  by  General  Thomas,  with  the  center,  push 
■back  the  rebel  right,  gain  their  flank,  and  then 
advance  on  Murfreesboro.  The  Twfenty-fourth 
Ohio  was  in  Palmer's  division. 

General  McCook's  brigades  failed  to  hold  their 
position,  and  the  brunt  of  the  fight  came  upon 
the  center  and  left,  until  General  Rosecrans  had 
formed  a  new  line  of  battle.  The  Twenty-fourth 
-Ohio  lead  the  advance  of  Palmer's  division,  which 
•fought  with  truly  chivalrous  courage.  Palmer's 
■j)Osition  was  on  the  Cedar  Grove  road.  In  front 
of  him  was  an  open  field,  in  the  center  of  which 
.■stood  the  remains  of  a  brick  house.  This  house 
■formed  the  center  of  one  of  the  most  sanguinary 
-conflicts  of  the  field.  General  Palmer  ordered  an 
advance  on  the  burnt  house  to  be  lead  by  Briga- 
dier General  Cruft.  Issuing  from  the  woods,  he 
drove  the  rebel  skirmishers  before  him,  and 
•gained  possession  of  a  fence,  which  served  as 
some  protection  to  his  line.  The  enemy  imme- 
■diately  charged  upon  him  with  desperate,  hut, 
unavailing  effort.  Again  and  again  they  re- 
-newed  the  charge.  For  half  an  hour  these  waves 
of  battle  swept  the  plain,  each  time  checked  by  a. 
volley  which  no  flesh  and  blood  could  withstand. 
"The  rebels  were  finally  repulsed.  General  Cruft 
followed  up  his  success  by  charging  in  his  turn 
•and  gaining  possession  of  the  brick  house.  This 
final  charge  has  been  pronoimced  the  most  dar- 
ing exploit  of  the  day.  The  Twenty-fourth  Ohio 
was  in  this  entire  struggle,  losing  one-fourth  of 
the  force  of  officers  and  men  with  which  it  went 
into  battle. 

Numerous  promotions  now  occurred  to  fill  the 
:sa<i  vacancies  thus  caused.  The  Twenty-fourth 
was  next  in  the  afTair  at  Woodbury,  Tennessee, 
January  24,  1863,  but  its  loss  here  was  small. 
After  a  long  rest  through  the  spring  and  sum- 
mer, it  advanced  with  the  army  on  Tullahoma, 
and  was  on  duty  at  Manchester,  Tennessee,  until 
the  advance  on  Chattanooga.  It  was  in  the  en- 
gagement at  Lookout  Mountain  ;  also,  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Chickamauga,  with  a  loss  of  Captains  AVads- 
worth  and  Dry  den  killed,  together  wi-th  a  large 
number  of  men.  The  regiment  was  next  in  the 
battle  of  Mission  Eidge,  and  in  the  pursuit  of  the 


enemy  in  the  affair  at  Taylor's  Ridge,  near  Ring- 
gold. 

It  was  then  assigned  to  the  Second  -Division, 
Fourth  Army  Corps,  and  was  in  an  engagement 
near  Dalton,  with  a  loss  of  two  killed  and  eight 
wounded.  In  April,  18G4,  the  Twenty-fourth  was 
sent'  to  Chattanooga  to  await  orders  for  muster- 
ing out.  June  16,  it  received  orders  to  proceed 
to  Columbus  for  that  purpose ;  and  June  24  it 
was  mustered  out  and  discharged. 

Company  D,  of  the  Twenty-fourth,  re^enlisted 
as  veteran  volunteers,  to  serve  during  the  war. 

The  colors  of  the  regiment  were  presented  to 
the  State,  to  be  placed  in  the  archives  for  preser- 
vation. Colonel  A.  T.  M.  Cockerill  turning  them 
over  with  a  few  pertinent  remarks.  In  response. 
Governor  Brough  said : 

Colonel,  officers  and  soldiers  of  Twenty-fourth, 
I  thank  you  in  behalf  of  the  peojile  of  the  State  of 
Ohio,  not  only  for  the  colors,  but  for  having  borne 
them  so  nobly  and  gallantly  as  you  have  through- 
out the  three  years'  service.  They  come  worn 
and  tattered ;  but  there  is  not  a  rent  in  them  that 
is  not  honorable,  and  an  emblem  of  your  bravery 
and  gallantry.  No  regiment  that  has  gone  from' 
Ohio  has  endured  hardships  with  greater  cheer- 
fulness or  more  nobly  discharged  its  duties.  I 
shall  place  these  banners  in  the  archives  of  the 
State  as  historic  mementoes  wortliy  of  any  peo- 
ple.   Again,  soldiers,  I  thank  you. 

These  flags  had  been  presented  to  the  regiment 
— the  regimental  flag  by  General  Jacob  Ammen, 
then  its  colonel,  and  the  national  colors  by  the 
Sixth  Ohio,  better  known  as  the  "  Guthrie  Grays," 
of  Cincinnati.  The  flag  from  the  Sixth  Ohio 
bears  this  inscription :  "  The  Sixth  Ohio  to  the 
Twenty-fourth  Ohio;  Shiloh,  April  7, 1862,"  and 
was  presented  to  the  regiment  during  the  siege 
of  Corinth  by  the  late  lamented  General  William 
Nelson,  then  commmander  of  the  Fourth  Divi- 
sion Army  of  the  Ohio  (to  which  both  regiments 
at  that  time  belonged),  in''- behalf  of  the  oflScers 
and  men  of  the  Sixth. 

These  flags  have  passed  through  the  bloody 
fields  of  Pittsburgh  Landing  and  Stone  River, 
Avhere  Colonel  Fred  Jones,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Terry,  Major  Weller  and  Captain  Harmon  sealed 
their  devotion  to  their  country  with  their  hearts' 
blood.  They  were  in  the  brilliant  dash  at  Wood- 
bury ;  in  theterrible  strife  at  Chickamauga,  where 


w 

M 

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o 

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O 


a 
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a 

o 
o 

1-3 
O 
Si 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


335 


Wadsworth  and  Dryden  fell  in  the  nation's 
■cause.  They  waved  through  the  fierce  struggle 
for  the  possession  of  Lookout  Mountain,  and  the 
gallant  charge  on  Mission  Eidge.  They  were 
borne  in  the  murderous  assault  on  Taylor's  Ridge 
,at  Ringgold ;  and  last,  but  not  least,  in  the  bold 
reconnoissance  of  the  gallant  Palmer,  so  stub- 
bornly resisted  by  the  enemy,  at  Buzzard's  Roost 
.Gap  and  Rocky  Face  Ridge.  At  Stone  River,  the 
battle-ax  was  shot  from  the  staff,  and  two  balls 
passed  through  the  staff.  The  holes  made  by 
twenty-three  distinct  bulletsat  Stone  River  may 
be  seen  in  the  flag  itself.  Three  color  sergeants 
of  the  regiment  were  killed  and  seven  severely 
wounded  while  bravely  carrying  their  standards 
in  the  front  line  of  battle.  Two  of  them  were 
■.killed  at  Stone  River  within  five  minutes  of  each 
■other,  .and  one  at  Chickamauga. 

December  13,  1861,  the  Thirty-second,  unde;- 
command  of  Captain  Hamilton,  accompanied 
General  Milroy  in  his  advance  on  Camp  Alle- 
gheny. In  his  report,  General  Milroy  compli- 
mented the  regiment  very  highly  on  its  gallantry 
.and  good  conduct  in  its  charge  into  the  camp  of 
the  enemy.  They  captured  the  provision  depot 
of  the  rebel  camp  at  Huntersville,  which  con- 
tained a  large  amount  of  provisions,  and  disposed 
of  it  in  as  speedy  a  manner  as  possible  by  burn- 
ing both  provisions  and  town.  The  loss  of  the 
regiment  in  this  affair  was  four  killed  and  four- 
teen wounded,  some  severely.  On  the  return 
from  this  expedition  it  was  ordered  to  Beverly, 
where  it  remained  the-  rest  of  that  severe  winter. 
The  time  was  profitably  spent  in  still  further  dis- 
ciplining and  organizing  the  regiment.  Some 
■changes  took  place  in  the  official  roster  of  the 
Tegiment,  and  also  ip.  the  Coshocton  company,  K, 
from  which  Captain  Stanley  resigned,  and  First 
Lieutenant  C.  C.  Nichols  was  promoted  to  the 
captaincy,  while  Adjutant  Jack  was  made  First 
Lieutenant.  Still  retained  in  General  Milroy's 
command,  the  regiment  took  the  advance  of  the 
expedition  made  about  the  Ist  of  May,  1862,  to 
Jiear  Buffalo  Gap,  seven  miles  from  Staunton, 
Virginia.  The  enemy  was  met  at  this  point,  and, 
after  some  severe  fighting,  the  national  forces 
fell  back  on  the  main  army,  camped  at  McDow- 
ell, in  the  Bull  Pasture  valley,  where  Generals 
Schenck  and  Milroy  had  united   their  forces, 

11 


numbering  about  7,000  men.  The  rebel  general, 
Stonewall  Jackson,  advanced  against  the  national 
forces  on  the  8th  day  of  May,  and  was  met  on  the 
side  of  the  Bull  Pasture  mountain.  A  severe 
battle  ensued,  which  lasted  from  2  p.  M.  until 
dark,  with  varied  success  on  either  side.  The 
national  forces  fell  back  on  Franklin,  West  Vir- 
ginia, closely  followed  by  the  rebel  army.  In  this 
battle  the  Thirty-second  Ohio  lost  six  killed  and 
fifty-three  wounded,  some  mortally.  It  was  the 
last  regiment  to  leave  the  field.  Lieutenant  C. 
Fugate,  of  Company  E,  a  young  officer  of  fine 
promise,  was  among  the  mortally  wounded.  He 
died  at  Franklin  five  days  after  the  battle. 

On  the  12th  of  May  Major  General  Fremont, 
commanding  the  mountain  department,  effected 
a  junction  with  Generals  Schenck  and  Milroy, 
bringing  with  him  about  twelve  thousand  men. 
Before  this  junction,  however,  the  rebel  General 
Jackson  had  retired  from  the  national  front.   The 
combined  national  forces  lay  at  Franklin  inact- 
ive until  the  25th  of  May  when  they  were  ordered 
to  the  support  of  General  Banks,  then  operating 
in  the  Shenandoah  valley  against  the  rebel  army 
under  Jackson.    While  the  army  was  in  camp  at 
Franklin  the  Thirty-secpnd  was  transferred  from 
Milroy's  to  Schenck's  brigade,  composed  of  the 
Thirty-second,  Fifty-fifth,  Seventy-third,  Seventy- 
fifth  and  Eighty-second  Ohio  volunteer  infantry. 
In  Fremont's  pursuit  of  Jackson  up  the  Shenan- 
doah valley  the  Thirty-second  bore  its  part,  and 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Cross  Keys  and  Port 
Republic,  on  the  8th  and  9th  days  of  June,  1862. 
The  regiment  returned  to  Strausburg  about  the 
last  of  June,  was  transferred  to  Piatt's  brigade 
and  moved  to  Winchester,  Virginia,  July  5, 1862. 
It  remained  at  Winchester  doing  garrison  duty 
until  the  1st  of  September,  the  day  the  place  was 
evacuated  by  General  White,  when  the  regiment 
moved  with  the  brigade  to  Harper's  Ferry  and 
assisted  in  the  defense  of  that  place.    After  mak- 
ing a  hard  fight  and  losing  one  hundred  and  fifty 
of  its  number,  the  regiment,  with  the  whole  com- 
mand was  surrendered  by  the  commanding  offi- 
cer of  the  post  to  the  enemy  as  prisoners  of  war. 
The  history  of  this  unaccountable  affair  is  yet  to 
be  written.    The  Thirty-second  was  paroled  and 
sent  to  Annapolis,  Maryland,  from  whence  it  was 
transferred  to  Chicago,  Illinois.  In  the  defense  of 


336 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Harper's  Ferry  the  regiment  lost  some  gallant 
officers  and  brave  rrien.  At  Chicago  the  regiment 
became  almost  completely  demoralized. 

It  had  not  been  paid  for  eight  months,  and 
many  of  the  men  took  "  French  leave,"  and  went 
home  to  look  after  their  families.  Captain  B.  F- 
Potts  was  sent  to  Columbus  to  ask  Governor 
Tod  to  procure  an  order  from  the  War  Depart- 
ment transferring  the  regiment  to  Camp  Taylor, 
near  Cleveland.  This  application  was  successful, 
and  the'  Thirty-second,  or  what  was  left  of  it, 
thirty-five  men,  arrived  at  Camp  Taylor  Decem- 
ber 1,  1862.  December  2,  Captain  B.  F.  Potts 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Tod,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  of  the  regiment,  and  that  energetic  offi- 
cer went  immediately  to  work  "  reconstructing  " 
the  command.  Within  ten  days,  order  pre- 
vailed, and  eight  hundred  men  had  reported  for 
duty,  and  Third  Sergeant  E.  W.  James  was  made 
captain  of  Company  K.  This  happy  result  was 
not  attained,  however,  without  decisive  action  in 
the  case  of  several  officers  who  were  charged 
with  inciting  dissafFection  and  revolt  among  the 
men.  Secretary  Stanton  of  the  War  Office,  or- 
dered their  instant  dismissal,  which  wa§  consu- 
mated  on  the  23d  of  December,  ,1862.  .  The  men 
■were  paid  in  full,  and  on  the  12th  of  January, 
1863,  declared  to  be  exchanged. 

January  18,  orders  were  received  to  proceed  to 
Memphis  and  report  to  Major  General  U.  S. 
Grant,  then  commanding  the  Department  of  the 
Tennessee.  January  25  the  regiment  reached 
Memphis,  and  was  assiged  to  Logan's  Division, 
Seventh  Army  Corps,  commanded  by  Major 
General  J.  B.  McPherson. 

February  20,  the  Thirty-second  moved  with 
the  army  to  Lake  Providence,  Louisiana,  and 
during  the  campaign  against  Vicksburg,  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  gallant  achievments  of  the 
Third  Division,  Seventeenth  Army  Corps.  At 
the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  the  Thirty-second 
made  a  bayonet  charge  and  captured  the  First 
Mississippi  rebel  battery — men,  guns  and  horses 
^with  a  loss  of  twenty-four  men.  For  this  gal- 
lant achievement,  the  captured  battery  was 
turned  over  to  the  regiment  and  manned  by 
Company  F,  during  the  entire  siege  of  Vicskburg. 
The  total  loss  of  the  regiment,  during  the  cam- 
paign around  Vicksburg,  was  two  hundred  and 


twenty-five,  rank  and  file.  It  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson.  Cham- 
pion Hills;  was  in  the  extreme  fsont  of  Logan's, 
division,  when  Vicksburg  surrendered,  and  was 
assigned  to  post  duty  under  General  Logan. 

In  August,  1863,  the  regiment  accompanied! 
Stevenson's  expedition  to  Monroe,  Louisiana,and 
McPherson's  expedition  to  Brownsville,  Missis- 
sippi, in  October  of  the  same  year.  It  was  also 
with  Sherman,  in  February,  1864,  at  Meridian, 
and  lost  twenty-two  men  at  Boher's  creek,  Mis- 
sissippi, February  -5, 1864,  in  which  last  affair 
Captain  W.  A.  McCallister  was  severely  wounded, 
while  gallantly  leading  the  advance. 

Colonel  Potts  had  been  assigned  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  Second  Brigade,  Third  Division, 
Seventeenth  Arm.y  Corps,  in  the  autumn  of  1863, 
and  was  therefore  but  seldom  in  command  of  the 
reginient.  In  December  and  January,  1863-4, 
more  than  three-fourths  of  the  regiment  re- 
enlisted  as  veterans,  and  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1864,  it  was  furloughed  home.  It  rejoined  the 
army  at  Cairo,  Illinois,  on'  the  21st  of  April,  with 
its  ranks  largely  augmented  by  recruits.  April 
27  the  regiment  embarked  at  Cairo,  with  its  di- 
vision and  corps,  on  transports,  landing  at  Clifton.. 
From  thence  it  marched  to  Acworth,  Georgia, 
where  it  joined  General  Sherman,  June  10,  !I864. 
The  Thirty-second  was  identified  with  the  move- 
ments of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps  in  Sher- 
man's advance  against  Atlanta;  participated  in 
the  assault  on  Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  27, 1864, 
and  Nicojack  Creek,  near  Howell's  Ferry,  on  th& 
Chattahoochee  •  river,  July  10, 1864. 

In  The  Age,  of  July  23,  the  following  letter 
fromone  of  the  Coshocton  boys  engaged  in  the 
above  mentioned  battles,  is  published : 

Camp  Near  Chattahoochee  Eiver,  Georgia, 
July  13,  1864. 

Editor  Age  :— I  herewith  transmit  to  you,  for 
publication,  the  following  copy  of  a  highly  com- 
plimentary order  published  to  Third  Division, 
Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  on  the  occasion  of  the 
transfer  of  the  Thirty-second  Regiment  0.  V.  I., 
to  the  Fourth  Division  of  the  same  corps : 
Headquaetebs  Third  Division  Seventeenth  Army  Corps, 
In  the  Field,  Georgia,  July  10, 1864. 

Special  Field  Order  No.  44.  — IV.  The 
Thirty-second  Veteran  Volunteer  Infantry,  hav- 
ing been  transferred  from  this  command,  the 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


337 


general  commanding  takes  pleasure  in  express- 
ing to  them  and  the  command,  his  high  apprecia- 
tion of  their  gallant  conduct  on  many  a  hard- 
fought  field,  and  soldierly  conduct  on  the  march. 
With  such  courageous  men  and  brave  officers  it 
is  only  necessary  to  meet  the  enemy  in  order  to 
add  another  to  the  long  list  of  glorious  victories 
for  the  Union.  Obeying  the  order  as  a  good  sol- 
dier, the  general  commanding  parts  with  the 
fighting  Thirrty-second  with  regret. 
By  order  of  Brigadier-General  Leggett. 

J.  C.  Douglas,  A.  A.  G. 

The  health  of  the  regiment  is  good.    Company 
K  has  not  suffered  very  severely  during   this 
campaign,  having  lost  but  three  men  up  to  date. 
Yours,  etc.,  J.  H.  P., 

Company  K,  Thirty-second  0.  V.  I. 

July  20,  21,  22  and  28,  the  Thirty-second  was 
engaged  before  Atlanta,  and  lost  more  than  half 
its  number  in  killed  and  wounded. 

After  the  fall  of  Atlanta,  the  Thirty-second 
moved  with  the  army  in  pursuit  of  Hood,  after 
which  it  rejoined  General  Sherman,  and  accom- 
panied him  on  his  "  March  to  the  Sea." 

December  10,  1864,  the  Thirty-second  was  in 
advance  of  the  army,  and  contributed  its  share 
toward  driving  the  enemy  into  his  works  at 
Savannaih.  In  this  expedition  the  Savannah  and 
Charleston  railroad  was  cut,  thus  destroying  the 
enemy's  communication  with  Charleston.  Decem- 
ber 21,  the  regiment  entered  Savannah  with  the 
army,  and  went  intq  camp  near  Fort  Thunder- 
bolt. After  the  review,  by  General  Sherman,  of 
the  whole  army,  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps 
went  by  transport  to  Beaufort,  South  Carolina; 
thence  to  Pocotaligo  Station,  on  the  Savannah 
and  Charleston  railroad.  February  1, 1865,  the 
regiment  movedwith  the  army  through  the  Caro- 
linas,  and,  with  the  Thirteenth  Iowa,  was  the  first 
regiment  to  enter  Columbia.  Colonel  Hibbetts, 
with  a  mounted  detachment  of  the  regiment, 
entered  and  captured  Faj'etteville,  North  Caro- 
lina, March  10,  1865,  after  a  severe  fight  with 
Wade  Hampton's  Cavalry. 

March  20  and  21,  it  was  engaged  with  the 
enemy  at  Bentonville,  North  Carolina.  The  regi- 
ment came  out  of  the  woods  to  see  their  friends 
at  Goldsboro,  moved  with  the  army  to  Ealeigh, 
North  Carolina,  and  was  present  at  the  surrender 
of  Johnson's  army,  May  1,  1866.    It  marched 


with  the  army  through  Richmond,  Virginia,  to 
Washington  City,  where  it  participated  in  the 
grand  review  before  President  Johnson  and  Cabi- 
net. 

The  regiment  remained  in  camp,  near  Wash- 
ington, until  June  8,  1865,  when  it  took  the  cars 
for  Louisville.  It  lay  there  until  July  20,  when 
it  was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  and  proceeded 
to  Columbus,  Ohio,  at  which  place  the  men  re- 
ceived their  final  discharge,  July  26, 1865. 

The  Thirty-second  entered  the  field  September 
15,  1861,  950  strong,  and,  during  the  war,  received 
1,60,0  recruits.  Only  five  hundred  and  sixty-five 
remained  at  its  muster  out. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

WAR  OP  THE  HEBELLION" — CONTIKDED. 

Fifty-first  Regiment— Muster  Rolls— Its  Operations  In  the 
Field. 

THE  return  of  the  three  months'  men  was  the 
signal  for  an  earnest  canvass  for  three  years 
troops,  and  many  of  the  boys  obtained  commis- 
sions to  raise  companies. 

The  Age  says : 

Captain  John  D.  Nicholas  is  now  engaged  in 
re-organizing  Company  A,  Sixteenth  regiment, 
for  three  years  service.  D.  W.  Marshall,  Adju- 
tant Sixteenth  regiment,  0.  V.  I.,  has  been  ap- 
pointed a  captain,  with  power  to  raise  a  company 
for  three  years'  service.  He  is  now  recruiting 
and  can  be  found  at  the'Tidball  House,  where  his 
headquarters  are  located. 

Public  meetings  were  held  all  over  the  county, 
to  assist  and  encourage  enlistment. 

The  Age,  August  22, 1861,  says : 

A  rousing  Union  meeting  was  held  at  Chili 
on  the  13th.  There  were  nearly  a  thousand  per- 
sons present.  A  large  delegation  of  ladies,  with 
their  escorts,  from  Keene,  was  escorted  into 
the  village  by  Captain  Joseph  Shook's  company. 
The  ladies  wore  aprons  representing  our  national 
colors,  azure  field  and  white  stars  covering  the 
breast,  and  the  graceful  folds  of  the  apron  show- 
ing the  stripes  of  white  and  red.  The  crowd  re- 
paired to  a  beautiful  grove  near  the  village,  where 
a  tabte  and  seats  had  been  prepared.  Scott  R. 
Crawford  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  meet- 


338 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ing,  who  introduced  E.  Lanning  and  A.  J.  Wil- 
kin, who  made  strong  Union  speeclies  and  urged 
the  boys  to  enlist. 

In  the  same  edition,  the  Age  says : 

At  Bedford,  at  the  same  time,  an  immense 
meeting  was  held.  The  ladies  had  prepared  a 
free  dinner  for  the  volunteers  and  all  present; 
over  a  thousand  people  ate  dinner  upon  the 
ground.  Short  speeches  were  made  by  Sandford 
McNeal  (a  volunteer),  Jolm  D.  Nicholas  and  M. 
B.  Wood.  They  all  breathed  words  of  earnest 
patriotism,  and  urged  the  support  of  war  meas- 
ures by  enlistment. 

The  five  companies  that  were  raised  in  Coshoc- 
ton county  by  this  general  enthusiasm  were  all 
assigned  to  the  Fifty-first  Ohio.  Their  muster 
rolls  are  as  follows : 

Muster  roll   of  Company  C,  Fifty-first  Ohio. 

OPFIOEES. 

B.  F.  Heskett,  Captain. 
Allen  Gaskill,  First  Lieutenant. 
James  Stonehocker,  Second  Lieutenant. 
John  Q.  Winklepleck,  First  Sergeant. 
Lester  P.  Emmerson,  Second  Sergeant. 
William  H.  Lyons,  Third  Sergeant. 
Thomas  Eodgers,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Philip  Everhart,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Eobert  B.  Ford,  First  Corporal. 
William  Hawk,  Second  Corporal. 
Milton  H.  Holliday,  Third  Corporal. 
William  Stonebrook,  Fourth  Corporal. 
William  J.  Norris,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Lewis  M.  Higbee,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Wesley  Barge,  Seventh  Corporah 
Albert  Dent,  Eighth  Corporal. 
James  M.  Emerson  and  Chapman  Burr,  INIu- 
sicians. 
Isaac  Norris,  Wagoner. 

Privates — T.  Burkshire,  J.  W.  Bremer,  C.  W. 
Bureh,  A.  Babcock,  M.  Burr,  J.  P.  Carr,  J.  A. 
Carr,  S.  M.  Childs,  D.  Carnahan,  J.  Carruthers,  E. 
Cutchall,  W.  Crogan,  A.  H.  Cosgrave,  T.  Cosgrave, 
W.  Davis,  E.  Dewalt,  P.  Dickey,  W.  Engle,  J.  Fer- 
rell,  H.  Ford,  J.  Ginther,  A.  Graham,  J.  Gray,  J. 
Goodhue,  E.  Grewell,  D.  Grewell,  J.  J.  Honn,  J. 
H.  Honn,  J.  A.  Honald,  W.  H.  Hardy,  J.  Har- 
bold,  B.  Hevalow,  G.  Hursley,  G.  Huston,  G.  W. 


Long,  N.  Landers,  J.  Long,  L.  Mowder,  W.  Mc- 
Fee,  S.  -Miller,  J.  Miller,  M.  Norris,  M.  V.  Narg- 
rey,  J.  W.  Neighbor,  J.  B.  Norris,  W.  Norris,  J. 
Norris,  D.  dinger,  H.  Powers,  J.  G.  Eounbaugh, 
J.  H.  Eipley,  A.  M.  Eobinson,  T.  Shanon,  A. 
Scott,  T.  Spalding,  D.  Souals,  J.  D.  Stonehocker,  F. 
Spalding,  S.  H.  Spears,  E.  Stonehocker,  M.  Smith, 
W.  Stonehocker,  J.  W.  Sayers,  G.  W.  Sells,  J,  T. 
Simmers,  L,  J.  Simmers, L.  Steffy,  C.  Lonbry,  0. 
Stewart,  E.  Scott,  G.  Snyder,  W.  H.  Wolfe,  F, 
AV^olfe,  D.  L.  C.  Wood,  M.  Whellemore,  G.  Wise, 
E.  Williamson  and  J.  Wolfe. 

Muster  roll  company  D,  Fifty-first  Ohio. 

OFFICERS. 

William  Patton,  Captain. 
John  North,  First  Lieutenant. 
Samuel  Stephens,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Alonzo  Barton,  First  Sergeant. 
E.  C.  Conn,  Second  Sergeant. 
Samuel  Payen,  Third  Sergeant. 
Thomas  A.  Eeed,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Peter  L.  Phillips,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Thomas  Dickerson,  First  Corporal. 
John  Q.  Ogan,  Second  Corporal. 
John  E.  Smith,  Third  Corporal. 
Clark  M.  Bell,  Fourth  Corporal. 
John  W.  Graves,  Fifth  Corporal. 
John  Parrish,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Jonathan  Phillips,  Seventh  Corporal. 
John  Patton,  Eighth  Corporal. 

Privates. — J.  W.  Barkhurst,  George  W.  Bell, 
William  Briant,  John  T.  Bonre,  Sidney  Bonre, 
Samuel  Bagnoll,  James  Blackford,  W.  Blackford, 
Joseph  Corder,  Joseph  N.  Corder,  J.  T.  Daugherty, 
J.  Dusenberry,  J.  C.  Dickerson,  W.  H.  Dickerson, 
L.  Dusenberry,  John  Demoss,  David  Evans,  N. 
Everson,  Jacob  Fulks,  Van  Buren  Fulks,  Laban 
Guillians,  Asa  H.  Giffin,  Eobert  Gibson,  William 
Grifiee,  W.  H.  Howell,  William  Irwin,  William 
Jones,  B.  F.  Jones,  William  Kimble,  Gabriel  Kin- 
caid,  David  L.  Lash,  Martin  Latier,  Stanton  Mains, 
John  McCoy,  Samuel  McCoy,  Isaac  Middleton, 
Daniel  F,  Mack,  Jacob  Mansfield,  Arthur  Mc- 
Civer,  Phillip  McGuinn,  John  C.  Norris,  John  W. 
Norris,  John  Nixon,  Laban  Ogle,  Evans  Greens, 
William  Ogle,  Christopher  Oft,  James  M.  Peoples, 
William  Phillips,  A.  Passmore,  Josiah  Passmore, 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


339 


Madison  Pomeroy,  James  Pierce,  Martin  Eoberts, 
E.  Randies,  J6hn  Richcreek,  Eli  Richards,  Benja- 
min Rasan,  Isaac  Randies,  John  Reed,  Gaton  A. 
Settles,  James  Stephens,  Joseph  Stanford,  Thomas 
Smailes,  W.  R.  Smith,  William  Smith,  W.  C. 
Thomas,  Thomas  Titus,  Martin  Thacker,  L. 
Thacker,  Levi  Williams,  David  Weaver,  Thomas 
Wright,  J.  W.  Chalfant,  Sanford  Carter,  John  A. 
Young. 

Muster  roll  Company  P,  Fifty-first  Ohio : 

OFFICERS.  • 

D.  W.  Marshall,  Captain. 
J.  M.  McClintock,  First  Lieutenant. 
J.  M.  Frew,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Carl  F.  Mosher,  First  Sergeant. 
Charles  McMichael,  Second  Sergeant. 
Robert  Hackinson,  Third  Sergeant. 
James  H.  Hay,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Robert  B.  Beardsley,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Sidney  Harper,  First  Corporal. 
William  Retilley,  Second  Corporal. 
Allan  Piatt,  Third  Corporal. 
David  StoUard,  Fourth  Corporal. 
John  W.  Wilson,  Fifth  Corporal. 
George  V.  Ferguson,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Nicholas  H.  Bassett,  Seventh  Corporal. 
William  H.  King,  Eighth  Corporal. 
Ralph  McClintock,  Musician. 
Levi  McMichael,  Wagoner. 

Privates— James  M.  Agher,  Jesse  P.  Arnold, 
James  Banford,  Samuel  Barclay,  Frederick  Barth, 
William  F.  Batty,  Edwin  W.  B.ell,  Charles  M. 
Belknap,  Frederick  Blaser,  Franklin  Blaser, 
John  Brown,  OUver  Browning,  William  B.  Bry- 
ant, William. Carr,  L.  Cartright,  Mathias  Crater, 
James  H.  Davis,  Presley  Davis,  Walter  Davis, 
David  Douling,  Joab  Douling,  Sylvester  A.  Ellis, 
Charles  Eckhart,  John  Foster,  John  G  Fox, 
Isaac  B.  Finney,  John  Flynn,  Samuel  Gertch. 
Martin  Hart,  Lucien  Harbaugh,  Thomas  Heslip, 
John  Hilliker,  Charles  Hopp,  David  Husson, 
Peter  Johnson,  Albert  Layton,  Jacob  Lahr,  Jacob 
Lenhart,  George  W.  Long,  E.  Loringe,  George  M. 
Matson,  Charles  F.  Meek,  David  Minnick,  Ezra 
Minnick,  George  W.  Miller,  J.  Montgomery, 
Isaac  Morrison,  John  W.  Mowry,  George  Murphy, 
James  H.  McMichael,  Lloyd  Rhineman,  Martin 


Rositer,  T.  A.  Southwell,  WilHam  H.  Starkey, 
George  W.  Sipes,  William  Smith,  N.  H.  Smith, 
Asa  Sellers,  John  Smailes,  J.  D.  Stonehocker, 
Samuel  Stacker,  Ryan  Sibley,  Eli  W.  Thomas, 
James  Ury,  Hiram  J.  Vance,  George  Vanhorn, 
William  A.  Wales,  William  Welch,  A.  M.  Wil- 
liams, D.  W.  Wilson,  Charles  W.  Wilson,  John 
Wier,  Robert  Wier,  Reuben  D.  Wright. 

Muster  Roll  of  Company  H,  Fifty-first  Ohio|: 


John  D.'  Nicholas,  Captain. 
Charles  Donley,  First  Lieutenant. 
William  Nicholas,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Robert  Cunning,  First  Sergeant. 
Edgar  J.  Pocock,  Second  Sergeant. 
Benjamin  D.  Day,  Third  Sergeant. 
Henry  F.  Buck,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
David  L.  Barton,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Samuel  Holtishaum,  First  CorporaL 
Charles  M.  Pike,  Second  Corporal. 
Joseph  H.  Shuck,  Third  Corporal. 
Charles  Craige,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Washington  Cain,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Simpson  McFadden,  Sixth  CorporaL 
Solomon  Duncan,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Henry  Bird,  Eighth  Corporal. 

Privates. — Aaron  Albert,  John  Armstrong,  Wil- 
liam Adams,  Philip  Bash,  William  C.  Barnes,  J. 
P.  Cooper,  A.  C.  Brink,  Wilson  Buck,  Franklin 
Back,  Charles  Pelser,  C.  Batenhead,  James  Bris- 
ter,  Jack  Cain,  E.  B.  Crawford,  George  Carnehan, 
James  Crelly,  Samuel  Collins,  N.  C.  Davis,  J.  G. 
Dougherty,P.  Dougherty,  J.  B.Dewalt,M.  Davidson, 
W.  Davidson,  John  Darnes,  John  Davidson,  George 
Edwards,  T.  J.  Edwards,  J.  Flemming,  David 
Gibson,  Thomas  Hogle,T.  C.  Hutchinson,  S.  Wot- 
terboum,  Samuel  Hoobler,  W.  B.  Jennings,  Jacob 
Jones,  David  Jones,  N.  Jones,  E.  E.  Carr,  L.  Lock- 
lin,  L.  Larengood,  John  Larengood,  J.  D.  Luke, 
John  Lennon,  Joseph  Linn,  M.  Kugler,  Levi  Joce, 
Samuel  Luke,  J.  Martin,  G.  Morrow,  J.  Murphy, 
L.  Miller,  W.  Miller,  J.  Moore,  J.  Nelson,  D.  Nach- 
douns,  T.  Phillips,  R.  Phillips,  J.  Perry,  T.  Keth- 
erford,  C.  Richardsen,  L.  Row,  S.  K.  Barger,  N. 
Smith,  K.  M.  Smith,  E.  Stippy,  G.  Shelhnery,  N. 
Shannon,  W.  B.  Shannon,  A.  Sertt,  R.  V.  Thomp- 
son, Henry  Undine,  Jacob  Wolf,  John  G.  Wolf, 


340 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


M.  Wilson,  John  Wier,  W.  C.  Workman,  L.  Wise, 
John  Walker,  R.  B.  Whitaker. 

Muster  Roll  of  Companj'  I,  Fifty-first  Ohio. 


OFFICERS. 

James  M.  Crooks,  Captain. 
William  Moore,  First  Lieutenant. 
Louis  Crooks,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Ulysses  B.  Kinsey,  First  Sergeant. 
William  McCoy,  Second  Sergeant. 
Henry  Hazlebarger,  Third  Sergeant. 
James  McFarland,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
John  A.  Weatherwax,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
John  Crooks,  First  Corporal. 
Andrew  J.  Stover,  Second  Corporal. 
Hysam  Sapp,  Third  Corporal. 
Isaac  McNeal,  Fourth  Corporal. 
John  Willis,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Jackson  Williams,  Sixth  Corporal. 
*     Andrew  J.  Holmes,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Lyman  B.  Church,  Eighth  Corporal. 
William    Calkglesser,  John  M.  White,  Musi- 
cians. 
John  Cochran,  Wagoner. 

Privates. — A.  Ammons,  John  Ammons,  S.  An- 
derson, James  G.  Arnold,  Charles  W.  Barr,  John 
Barnes,  William  Barnes,  Orin  M.  Baker,  Harri- 
son Bible,  Lewis  Bible,  W.  Buckalew,  L.  D. 
Bricker,  N.  D.  Carpenter,  Henry  Crooks,  John 
Dewitte,  Jacob  Dahler,  Lyman  Dial,  Lorenzo  D. 
Dial,  C.  Comstock,  William  Evans,  Thomas  El- 
liott, David  Firecoat,  John  Fox,  Francis  D.  Hains, 
John  Hunter,  G.  Hoglebarger,  J.  Hofstuttler, 
Isaac  Hardsook,  George  W.  Hess,  Josiah  Hoag- 
land,  A.  Hoagland,  George  Kline,  John  Kelsey, 
Leander  Kinsey,  John  Livingstone,  I.  Livings- 
tone, F.  M.  Landers,  R.  McFarlin,  S.  McNeal, 
Samuel  McCoy,  William  Mobler,  L.  Matticks, 
Jonathan  Mullet,  Samuel  Mullet,  William  Miller, 
Peter  M.  Miller,  Jacob  Miller,  John  McConnell, 
Francis  Oglevie,  Joseph  N.  Rollins,  0.  Rich^son, 
John  Smith,  William  Sapp,  James  L.  Stone,  Cal- 
vin A,  Stone,  J.  O.  Sitteran,  W.  C.  Sullivan,  Joseph 
Sigman,  Isaac  Sickles,  W.  Teters,  C.  C.  Thomp- 
son, Thomas  Beefe,  Daniel  Trump,  Albert  Ulman, 
I.  Vanscootor,  Harrison  Walton,  John  Wilson. 

Mathias  Denman,  of  this  county,  was  a  private 


in  Company  A,  Fifty-second  Ohio,  enlisted  May 
31,1862. 

The  Fifty-fiVst  Ohio  went  into  camp  near  Canal 
Dover,  in  Tuscarawas  county,  at  Camp  Meigs. 
Coltoel  Fitzgerald,  of  the  regular  army,  was  at 
first  appointed  in  command,  but  he  resigned. 
October,  1861,  and  his  place  was  filled  by  Stanley 
Mathews,  October  23,  1861.  Major  R.  W.  Mo- 
Clain,  of  Coshocton,  was  promoted  to  the  Lieu- 
tenant-Colonelcy. 

The  Age,  October  3,  1861,  says : 

Camp  Meigs  is  a  most  beautiful  camp ;  hard, 
dry  sod,  just  the  thing  for  drilling  purposes. 
Many  of  the  companies  have  become  very  pro- 
ficient in  their  drill,  and  all  are  in  good  health 
and  the  best  of  spirits.  Companies,  under  the 
followining  captains,  all  from  Coshocton  and  Tus- 
carawas counties,  are  now  in  camp:  Captains 
J.  D.  Nicholas,  D.  W.  Marshall,  J.  M.  Crooks,  Wil- 
ham  Pattbn,  M.  H.  Bortleson,  C.  H.  Wood,  David 
Chalfant,  B.  F.  Heskitt,  and  J.  T.  Shanton.  All 
these  companies  are  formed  of  fine,  able  men  in 
muscle  and  intellect.  Success  to  Camp  Meigs 
and  all  in  it! 

In  the  issue  of  September,  1861,  it  says : 
The  Roscoe  and  Coshocton  band  has  been  en- 
gaged as  the  regimental  band  for  the  Fifty-first 
Ohio,  now  forming  at  Camp  Meigs.    Good  for  the 
boys,  and  good  for  the  Fifty-first! 

The  Coshocton  complement  was  half  the  en- 
tire regiment,  and  great  interest  was  manifested 
in  its  success.  Large  crowds  were  going  from 
Coshocton  to  Camp  Meigs  daily,  for  this  regiment 
contained  in  her  rank  and  file  large  nhmbers  of 
Coshocton's  best  citizens  and  most  successful 
business  men.    , 

Whitelaw  Reid,  in  his  "  Ohio  in  the  War,"  says : 

The  Fifty-first  Ohio  was  organized  October  3, 
1S61,  at  Camp  Meigs,  near  Canal  Dover,  Tusca- 
rawas county.  On  November  3,  it  left  Cainp 
Meigs  and  went  by  rail  to  Wellsville,  on  the  Ohio 
river.  It  was  there  placed  on  transports  and 
taken  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  remaining  by  the 
way  at  Cincinnati  and  Camp  Dennison,  some  ten 
miles  from  the  city.  It  remained  in  this  camp 
up  to  the  10th  of  December,  and  then,  under  or- 
ders, reported  to  General  Nelson,  at  Camp  Wiok- 
liffe,  near  New  Haven. 

While  the  regiment  lay  at  Camps  Jenkins  and 
WickliiTe,  quite  a  number  of  letters  from  the 
"Coshocton  boys"  were  sent  home,  portions  of 
which  we  give  below  from  the  "Age :" 


HI8T0EY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


341 


Casip  Jenkins,  Louisville,  Ky.,  December  3,  1861. 

Editoe  Age  :  We  are  at  Camp  Jenkins,  three 
and  a  half  miles  from  Louisville,  Ky.  A  brigade 
is  forming  here  under  the  control  of  Brigadier 
-General  O.  M.  Mitchell.  About  15,000  men  are 
camped,  here,  with  several  batteries  of  artillery 
patiently  waiting  the  command  to  march  south- 
Tvard.  There  has  nothing  unusual  happened  to 
-the  Fifty ^first  since  our  arrival  here;  quite  a  num- 
"ber  of  the  men  have  had  the  measels,  but  are  re- 
covering. John  T.  Beowx, 

Company  D,  Fifty-first  Ohio. 

Camp  Wickliffe.  Kentucky.  December- 25,  1861.' 

Editoe  Age:  We  left  Camp  Jenkins  on  the 
10th  inst.  for  parts  unknown  to  us.  I  have  often 
heard  of  the  scene  as  presented  by  soldiers  on  a 
march,  but  the  half  had  not  been  told.  Blankets, 
pants,  drawers,  shirts,  boots,  shoes,  stockings,  etc., 
were  scattered  by  the  wayside.  I  never  saw  so 
many  limping  men  before.  The  fifth  day  out  we 
reached  this  camp,  having  traveled  about  seventy 
miles.  This  beautiful  Christmas  morning  finds 
us  in  a  strange  land,  surrounded  by  scenes  widely 
differing  from  those  of  a  year  ago.  The  health 
of  the  regiment  has  not  been  better  at  any  time 
than  it  is  at  present,  since  we  left  Camp  Meigs. 
We  are  in  the  Fourth  Division,  under  General 
Nelson,  and  the  Tenth  Brigade,  under  General 
Ammen.  We  are  about  8,000  strong  in  this 
camp.  Yours  truly, 

B.  F.  Heskitt, 
Captain  Company  C,  Fifty-first  Ohio. 

Camp  Wicliffe,  Kentucky,  December  29, 1861. 

Editor  Age  :  I  desire,  through  your  paper,  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  large  box,  filled  with 
a  variety  of  the  creature  comforts  for  our  boys 
here,  the  gift  of  some  of  the  patriotic  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  Roscoe.  They  were  contributed  by 
the  following  parties:  Mrs.  J.  D.  Nicholas,  Mrs. 
S  Fallas,  Mrs.  Lewis  Carhart,  Mrs.  H.  Carhart, 
Mrs.  John  Mirise,  Miss  P.  Barton,  Miss  Mary 
Carhart,  Messrs.  R  W.  Thompson,  T.  Wilson, 
James  Carnes,  L.  R.  Miller,  John  Whirl,  J.  C. 
Harrison,  R.  A.  Wilman  and  Henry  Carhart.  I 
may  have  omitted  to  mention  some  names,  but 
it  was  not  intentional.  The  Fifty-first  regiment 
is  in  fine  health  and  spirits,  and  anxious  for  a 
forward  movement.  Yours  truly, 

John  M'ieise, 
Brigade  Wagon  Master,  Tenth  Brigade. 

And  from  the  same  camp  and  party  the  follow- 
ing: 

January  24, 1862. 

I  desire  to  again  acknowledge  the  receipt  of 
four  large  boxes,  the  gift  of  the  following  patri- 
otic ladies  and  gentlemen  of  Keene  and  Bethle- 


hem townships,  to  the  gallant  soldiers  composing 
Captains  Crooks'  and  Nicholas'  companies  in  the 
Fifty-first:  Robert  T>.  Miller  and  wife,  George 
W.  Miller  and  wife,  William  Brillhart  and  wife, 
George  Bible  and  wife,  Mathew  McConnell  and 
wife,  Thomas  Ogilvie,  James  Ogilvie  and  wife, 
Adam  Dunken  and  wife,  Paul  Dunken  and  wife 
Mr.  Rutherford  and  wife,  Tobias  Dunken  and 
wife,  and  Miss  Louisa  Miller.        John  Mirise. 

Taking  up  the  history  of  the  Fifty-first:  It  re- 
mained in  Camp  Wickliff  until  February  6, 1862, 
when  the  regiment  moved  with  its  brigade  to 
West  Point,  at  the  mouth  of  Salt  river,  where 
transports  were  provided,  on  which  the  national 
army  was  conveyed  to  Nashville,  Tennessee.  It 
remained  at  Nashville  on  provost-guard  duty 
until  the  9th  of  July,  when  it  marched,  under 
orders,  to  Tullahoma,  and  there  joined  General 
Nelson's  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  then, 
on  its  march  from  Pittsburgh  Landing.  With 
this  division  the  regiment  returned  to  Nashville, 
and  there  joined  the  combined  movement  toward 
Louisville,  to  checkmate  General  Bragg  in  his 
advance  on  that  place. 

While  -at  Nashville,  the  following  letter  was 
received  from  Captain  B.  F.  Heskitt,  Company  C: 

Nashville,  March  10, 1862. 

Editor  Age:  Tuesday  morning  we  reached 
Nashville.  Many  citizens  cheered  us  as  we  passed 
to  the  landing.  Not  a  Union  flag  could  be  seen 
in  the  city.  Our  brigade  was  the  first  landed 
here,  and  "the  Fifty-first  was  about  the  first  in  line 
on  the  streets  of  Nashville.  The  people  were 
astonished  at  the  good  conduct  of  the  soldiers.  I 
was  informed  that  ladies  had  not  been  on  the 
streets  for  three  weeks,  but  we  had  been  here  but 
a  short  time  when  the  streets  were  full  of  women 
and  children.  After  being  in  camp  two  or  three 
davs,  about  a  mile  or  two  from  town,  we  were 
ordered  into  Nashville,  General  Nelson  declaring 
that  the  Fifty-first  was  the  regiment  he  could 
most  rely  upon.  Our  colonel,  Stanley  Mathews, 
is  provost-marshal,  and  the  rfegiment  is  guarding 
the  city.  The  Fifty-first  occupies  a  very  honor- 
able and  trustworthy  position,  and  we  think  the 
so-called  band-box  regiment  will  give  a  good 
account  of  itself.  Of  my  company,  two  have 
died,  Everhart  Caton  and  David  Carnahan ;  two 
of  my  best  soldiers;  beloved  and  esteemed  by  all. 
Jesse  Arnold,  of  Company  F,  was  fired  at  last 
night,  while  on  patrol  duty,  the  ball  passing 
through  his  cap.  Yours  truly, 

B.  F.  Heskitt, 
Captain  Co.  C,  Fifty-first. 


342 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


While  the  Fifty-first  lay  at  Nashville  it  lost, 
besides  the  above  mentioned  soldiers,  William 
Miller,  Company  H,  and  William  Miles,  Com- 
pany I.  The  Fifty-first  was  in  all  the  marches, 
and  most  of  the  skirmishes,  from  Nashville  to 
Louisville  and  return,  but  engaged  in  no  battles, 
although  it  was  held  in  reserve  at  Perryville  ;  it 
remained  at  Nashville  inactive  until  late  in  the 
fall.  Says  the  historian ;  November  9, 1862,  the 
regiment  and  brigade,  under  Colonel  Stanley 
Mathews,  were  sent  out  on  a  foraging  expedi- 
tion, and  at  Dobson's  Ferry,  Stone  River,  met  and 
defeated  Wheeler's  rebel  cavalry,  which  had  by 
som.e  means  got  in  their  rear.  The  fight  was 
'  made  by  five  companies  of  the  Fifty-first  Ohio  and 
five  companies  of  the  Thirty-fifth  Indiana.  Of  the 
five  companies  from  the  Fifty-first,  three  were  the 
Coshocton  companies,  D,  F  and  I.  The  Fifty- 
first  lost  thirteen  men  wounded,  three  of  whom 
subsequently  died ;  and  the  Thirty-fifth  Indiana 
lost  its  lieutenant  colonel,  severely  woundfed,  its 
adjutant,  killed,  and  a  number  of  men.  Colonel 
Mathews,  while  in  the  thickest  of  the  fight,  was 
thrown  from  his  horse  and  severely  injured,  but 
,  kept  the  field  and  command  until  the  troops  ar- 
rived safely  in  camp. 

December  26,  the  regiment  moved  out  on  the 
Murfreesboro  turnpike  with  Brigadier  General 
VanCleve's  division  of  the  Twenty-first  Army 
Corps.  Marching  toward  Stone  river  on  a  recon- 
noissance,  it  found  the  enemy  in  force,  and  re- 
turned to  its  camp.  January  ],  1863,  it  a^ain 
crossed  the  river  and  took  position,  four  compa- 
nies being  thrown  out  as  skirmishers,  including 
companies  C  and  H,  of  Coshocton.  Captain  B.  F. 
Heskitt,  of  Company  C,  was  in  command,  and  was 
mortally  wounded.  Adva,ncing  half  a  mile,  they 
met  the  enemy  and  skirmished  with  him  all  that 
day  and  night,  and  part  of  the  next  day.  The  after- 
noon of  January  2,  Breckinridge's  rebel  division 
made  a  charge,  and  flanking  the  right  swept  it  to 
the  west  side  of  Stone  river.  The  Fifty-first  left 
thirty-two  of  their  number  dead  on  the  field,  one 
hundred  and  five  wounded,  and  forty-six  cap- 
tured. It  was  at  this  juncture  that  General  Rose- 
crans  massed  his  artillery  and  settled  the  for- 
tunes of  the  day  by  almost  literally  blowing  the 
rebel  column  of  attack  into  and  across  Stone 
river.    The  enemy  retreated  during  the  night  of 


the  2d,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  opened  a 
furious  cannonade;  but  reconnoissances  being 
made,  it  was  discovered  that  he  was  drawing  his 
forces  off  toward  Shelbyville.  January  4,  the  en- 
emy having  disappeared,  the  army  marched  into 
and  took  possession  of  Murfreesboro.  The  army 
lay  at  Murfreesboro  until  the  24th  of  June,  when 
it  moved  on  the  Tullahoma  campaign.  The  route 
of  the  Fifty-first  and  its  division  was  by  way  of 
McMinnville,  crossing  the  Cumberland  Moun- 
tains into^the  Sequatchie  valley;  thence  to  Point 
Lookout,  near  Chattanooga,  and  from  thence  to 
Ringgold.  At  the  latter  place,  on  September  11,.. 
Wheeler's  rebel  cavalry  was  met, .  defeated  and 
driven  to  Tunnel  Hill. 

September  12,  the  regiment  marched  to  Lee 
and  Gordon's  Mills;  on  the  13th,  it  made  a  recon- 
noissance  to  Shield's  Gap,  and  on  the  14th  went 
into  position  at  Crawfish  Springs.  From  that 
time  until  the  opening  of  the  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga  the  members  of  the  regiment  feasted  on 
roasting-ears  and  sweet  potatoes. 

On  the  evening  of  the  18th  of  September,  the- 
Fifty-first  being  relieved  by  the  Sixth  Ohio^ 
marched  back  to  Lee  and  Gordon's  mills,  where 
it  went  into  position  and  lay  upon  its  arms  all 
night.  On  the  morning  of  the  19th  it  met  the 
enemy  and  drove  him  back  a  quarter  of  a  mile ; 
but  in  doing  so,  lost  eight  men  killed,  twenty-five 
wounded  and  as  many  captured.  The  enemy  re- 
ceiving re-enforcements,  in  turn  drove  the  regi- 
ment back  to  its  former  position,  where  it  lay  on 
its  arms  for  the  night.  September  20,.  the  regi- 
ment was  marched  to  the  left  to  re-enforce  Gen- 
eral Thomas'  column,  and  on  arriving  at  its  posi- 
tion it  took  part  in  the  effort  to  stay  the  enemy 
in  his  attempt  to  get  into  the  rear  of  the  national 
forces,  through  a  gap  left  in  the  lines.  The  regi- 
ment struck  the  rebel  General  Adams'  division, 
wounded  and  captured  its  commander,  and  then 
drove  it  pell  mell.  It  was  then  brought  back 
and  again  formed  pn  the  extreme  left  of  General 
Thomas'  command.  In  this  battle  the  Fifty-first 
lost  twelve  men  and  one  officer  wounded,  and 
thirty  captured,  including  Colonel  R.  W.  McClain 
and  Lieutenant  Retilley  of  Coshocton,  and  Lieu- 
tenants McNeill,  James  Weatherbee  and  Assist- 
ant Surgeon  Wing. 

A  very  interesting  narrative  is  given  by  Colonel 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


343- 


Edgar  J.  Pocock  (who  participated  in  the  strug- 
gle), as  follows: 

In  the  second  day's  battle  at  Chickamauga,  the 
brigade  to  which  the  Fifty-first  belonged  was  or- 
dered to  report  for  duty  to  Major  General  G.  H. 
Thomas.  It  was  ordered,  to  take  position  on  the 
left  of  General  King's  regulars.  The  enemy  had 
broken  the  line,  and  was  driving  it"  back.  The 
Fifty-first  Ohio  and  Eighth  Kentucky  formed  the 
front  line.  Colonel  R.  W.  McClain  commanding ; 
the  advance  was  made  steadily,  holding  fire  until 
the  broken  ranks  in  front  had  passed  to  the  rear 
and  the  enemy  were  close  upon  the  lines;  Colo- 
nel McClain  gave  the  command,  "  Steady  boys, 
ready,  fire."  Which  (after  the  volley),  was  fol- 
lowed impiediately  by,  "  charge,"  when,  as  never 
in  the  history  of  the  Fifty-first,  the  boys  with 
fixed  bayonets,  sprang  forward  and  drove  the 
enemy  back,  completely  routing  them. 

Colonel  E.  J.  Pocock  enlistecl  in  Company  H, 
Fifty-first,  and  was  appointed  second  sei'geant, 
and  carried  his  musket  twenty-two  months ;  was 
then  appointed  second  lieutenant,  assigned  to 
Company  F,  and  commanded  from  the  battle  of 
Chickamauga  though  the  battles  of  Lookout  Moun- 
tain and  Mission  Ridge  and  until  the  regiment 
returned  to  camp.  At  Resaca,  Colonel  Pocock 
was  wounded,  and  was  appointed  aid-de-camp  on 
General  Whitakers  staff  during  the  retrograde 
march  from  Atlanta,  Georgia,  to  Nashville ;  com- 
manded Company  F  during  the  battle  of  Nash- 
ville and  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  Huntsville,  Ala- 
bama; was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  and  ap- 
pointed brigade  quartermaster  January,  1865. 
Colonel  Pocock  is  still  a  resident  of  Coshocton 
and  in  times  of  peace  is  not  without  a  military 
record.  He  was  elected  captain  of  the  Coshocton 
Light  Guards  when  they  were  organized,  Septem- 
ber, 1876;  and  lieutenant  colonel  of  the  Seven- 
teenth Regiment  Ohio  National  Guards,  October 
1877,  and  was  elected  colonel  of  the  same  regi- 
ment, January,  1881. 

The  burial  of  one  of  the  heroes  of  Chickamauga 
is  in  fitting  place  at  this  point.  The  Age  of  No- 
vember 19  says : 

George  Wilson's  remains  were  brought  home 
and  buried  with  military  honors  last  Sunday. 
Rev.  M.  MoflBt  of  Roscoe  M.  E.  Church  preached 
the  funeral  sermon  in  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Coshocton,  and  the  dead  patriot  was 
buried  in  the  Coshocton  cemetery,  escorted  by 


Coshocton  and  Roscoe  military  companies  under 
command  of  Colonel  Irvine.  The  coffin  was  en- 
folded m  the  American  flag.  George  Wilson  was 
twenty-two  years  old,  son  of  Thomas  Wilson,  Esq.,. 
of  Roscoe.  He  was  a  noble  boy  and  a  true  soldier. 

The  Ac/e  of  December  31,  1863,  also  says  in  a. 
published  letter  of  another  hero  and  martyr  : 

Shell  Mound,  Tennessee,  Headquarters  Fifty-first 
O.  V.  I.,, December  5,  1863. 

Editor  Age:  A  word  about  the  patriot  Jas, 
P.  Cooper,  or  Captain  Cooper  as  he  was  always 
called  in  the  regimenjt. 

We  have  been  officially  notified  of  his  death,, 
such  a  death — starved  by  his  enemies. 

At  Stone  River  he  stood  at  his  post  until  sur- 
rounded, and,  not  seeing  any  otljer  way  "out,  he' 
dropped  as  if  shot,  and  lay  there  while  our  own 
and  the  rebel  shell  screamed  and  plowed  the 
ground  up  all  around  him,  until  we  drove  the 
enemy  back  and  found  Captain  Cooper  sound  and 
ready  for  fight.  At  Chickamauga,  he  could  not 
wear  a  shoe  or  march,  but  while  forming  in  line 
of  battle  old  Company  H  was  joined  by  the  cap- 
tain. We  ordered  him  back,  but  he  was  deter- 
mined and  remained  with  us;  he  fought  most  of 
the  time  on  his  knees,  as  he  could  not  stand  up. 
No  words  can  express  our  appreciation  of  him  as- 
a  man  and  as  a  soldier. 

Willis  C.  Workman. 

September  21,  1863,  the  army  retired  be- 
hind entrenchments  to  .Chattanooga,  and  was 
there  besieged  by  the  rebel  forces  until  the  latter 
part  of  the  following  November,  when  the  siege 
was  raised. 

November  24,  the  regiment  participated  in  the 
storming  of  Lookout  Mountain,  and,  on  the  25th, 
took  part  in  the  taking  of  Rossville  Gap,  through 
Mission  Ridge.  Its  loss  in  these  two  affairs  was 
one  killed  and  seven  wounded. 

January  1,  1864,  the  Fifty-first  re-enlisted,  and, 
on  February  10,  arrived  at  Columbus  on  veteran 
furlough  of  thirty  days. 

While  on  this  furlough  trip  home  a  very 
amusing  incident  occurred  at  Louisville,  Ken- 
,tucky,  as  follows : '  The  boys  of  the  Fifty-first  had 
with  them  a  game  cock  they  had  picked  up  at 
the  South.  As  they  were  coming  home,  some  of 
them  went  into  a  saloon  in  Louisville,  and  were 
followed  by  the  rooster,  who  jumped  upon  the 
counter  and  crowed  defiance.  The  saloon  keeper 
said  he  had  a  bird  that  could  whip  him  for  sev- 
enty-five dollars,    fhe  boys  put  up  the  green- 


344 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


backs,  and  they  were  covered,  and  the  birds 
fought  on  the  counter.  At  the  third  chp  the 
Fifty-first  rooster  drove  his  gaff  through  the  brain 
of  the  other,  and  the  boys  took  their  victorious 
"  pet "  and  came  home. 

The  regiment  returned  to  the  front  at  Blue 
Springs,  near  Cleveland,  Tennessee.  It  remained 
at  this  place  in  camp-  until  May  4,  when  it 
marched  to  Catoosa  Springs,  and  entered  on  the 
Atlanta  campaign.  May  14  it  was  engaged  at 
Kesaca,  and  on  the  20th  of  June  at  Kenesaw.  At 
the  first  named  place  it  lost  one  officer  and  ten 
men  wounded,  and  one  man  killed.  At  Kenesaw 
it  lost  two  officers  (Captain  Samuel  Stephens  and 
Lieutenant  Workman)  killed,  and  ten  men 
killed  and  thirty  wounded.  From  this  time 
until  Atlanta  was  taken  the  regiment  was  almost 
hourly  engaged  with  the  enemy. 

Of  the  part  the  Fifty-first  took  in  the  Kenesaw 
engagement,  the  Age,  in  its  issue  of  Juljr  2,  says : 

Stanley  ordered  Whitaker  to  charge  a  knob  in 
Ws  front,  the  possession  of  which,  by  our  forces, 
was  of  the  utmost  importance,  inasrnuch  as  frpm 
its  summit  an  enfilading  fire  could  be  got  upon 
Kenesaw  and  Bald  Top.  Whitaker  promptly  re- 
sponded, and,  with  his  skirmishers,  the_  Twenty- 
first  Kentucky  and  Fifty-first  Ohio,  charged  up 
the  steep  slope,  on  the  crest  of  which  the  enemy 
had  a  strong  line  of  breastw'orks.  The  Twenty- 
first  was  the  first  regiment  to  charge  the  hill 
and  were  promptly  supported  by  the  Fifty-first, 
which  arrived  in  time  to  make  a  desperate  charge 
upon  the  works,  which  they  did  with  a  cheer 
and  a  determination  to  succeed  at  whatever  cost. 
But  five  minutes  passed  e'er  the  brave  fellows  of 
these  two  regirnents  were  seen  mounting  the 
works  and  disappearing  on  the  other  side.  For 
a  few  moments  the  suspense  was  painful,  for  the 
capture  of  the  whole  party  by  the  ^nemy  was  not 
improbable.  A  number  of  rebels  ?oon  emerged 
from  the  works,  closely  followed  by  a  guard  of 
the  captors  of  the  ridge.  The  rebels  made  a 
number  of  furious  charges  in  the  attempt  to  re- 
gain possession,  but  were  defeated  with  terrible 
slaughter. 

September  1, 1864,  the  Fifty-first  was  at  Jones- 
boro,  and  took  .part  in  that  engagement,  and  on 


the  2d  pursued  the  enemy  to  Lovejoy's  Station. 
Here  it  lost  ten  men  wounded.  It  then  fell  back 
to  Atlanta,  and,  on  the  8th  of  September,  entered 
that  city.  It  lay  there  quietly  in  camp  until  the 
3d  of  October,  when  it  marched  toward  Chatta- 
nooga, passing  through  Cassville,  Kingston,  Rome, 
Resaca  and  Snake  Creek  Gap. 

This  march  was  made  in  consequence  of  the 
rebel  General  Hood's  movement  to  the  rear  of 
Atlanta,  and  the  consequent  return  of  General 
Hood's  army.  At  this  time  a  series  of  arduous 
marches  were  made  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy 
through  Tennessee  and  Alabama,  ending  at  Pu- 
laski, Tennessee,  where  it  went  into  camp  until 
November  22, 1864.  It  then  fell  back  with  Gen-, 
eral  Thomas'  command  to  Columbia,  Spring  Hill, 
Franklin  and  Nashville.  It  was  engaged  at 
Spring  Hill,  but  in  the  battle  of  Franklin  it  oc- 
cupied a  position  not  involved  in  the  fight.  A 
number  of  its  men  were,  however,  engaged  as 
skirmishers.  December  14  and  15,  the  regiment 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Nashville,  with  a  loss  of 
one  man  killed  and  a  number  wounded.  It  joined 
in  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  to  Lexington,  Ala- 
bama. This  march  was  arduous  in  the  ext^'eme, 
the  roads  being  almost  knee  deep  in  mud  and 
water.  The  regiment  then  proceeded  to  Hunts- 
ville,  where  it  went  into  camp,  January  5, 1865. 

March  20  it  went  by  rail  to  Strawberry  Plains, 
and  from  thence  to  Bull's  Gap,  Tennessee.  April 
5  it  went  by  rail  to  Nashville,  where  it -remained 
until  June  16.  It  was  then  taken  to  Texas,  via 
New  Orleans,  and  landed  at  Indianola,  Texas, 
July  25, 1865.  Thence  it  marched  to  Blue  Lake, 
and  again  to  Victoria. 

October  3,  1866,  the  regiment  was, mustered 
out  at  Victoria,  by  Captain  William  Nicholas, 
Commissary  of  Musters  of  the  Central  District 
of  Texas,  and  on  the  4th  was  on  its  way  to  Ohio, 
where  it  arrived -November  1, 1865.  It  was  dis- 
charged at  Camp  Chase,  near  Columbus,  Ohio, 
after  a  long  and  faithful  term  of  arduous  service, 
honorably  performed. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


345 


w 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

WAR  OF  THE  BEBELLION — CONTINUED. 

Eightieth  Ohio— Time  of  Enlistment— Muster  Eolls  of  Co- 
shocton Companies— Paducah  and  Corinth— On  to  Vicks- 
«  burgh— Eesignation  of  Captain  Mathews— Battles  of  Jack- 
son and  Mission  Eidge— Defense  of  Eesaca— Sherman's 
March  to  the  Sea— Closing  Scenes  of  the  Eightieth's  His- 
tory. 

HILE  the  slain  of  the  Thirty-second  and 
Twenty-fourth  were  being  silently  sent 
home  from  the  battlefield;  with  the  dead  from 
the  fever-stricken  camps  of  the  Fifty-first,  at 
Wickliife;  while  these  martyrs  were  being  laid 
away  in  their  graves  by  the  loved  ones  who  could 
not  see  them  die;  amidst  the  enactment  of  these 
scenes,  that  wrung  from  the  agony  of  broken 
hearts  a  solemn  dirge  which  told  of  the  tortures 
of  cruel  war;  brave  hearts  and  patriotic  hands 
were  steadily  filling  the  rosters  of  new  compa- 
nies for  a  regiment  that  was  to  be  known  as  the 
Eightieth  Ohio.  Three  companies  in  the  Eighti- 
eth, namely,  F,  G,  and  H,  were  recruited  solidly 
in  Coshocton  county,  and  a  large  portion  of  Com- 
pany B  also  came  from  this  county.  These 
companies  repaired  to  Camp  Meigs,  near  Canal 
Dover. 
Muster  roll  of  Company  H : 

OFFICERS. 

George  W.  Pepper,  Captain. 

John  Kinney,  First  Lieutenant. 

Jacob  W.  Doyle,  Second  Lieutenant. 

Nicholas  R.  Tidball,  First  Sergeant. 

S.  M.  Baldwin,  Second  Sergeant. 

H.  W.  Brelsford,  Third  Sergeant. 

Robert  Dickey,  Fourth  Sergeant. 

F.  A'.  Norman,  Fifth  Sergeant. 

A.  Teas,  First  Corporal. 

J.  H.  P.  Dimmock,  Second  Corporal. 

E.  D.  Swan,  Third  Corporal. 

W.  H.  Anderson,  Fourth  Corporal. 

J.  T.  Crawford,  Fifth  Corporal. 

J.  B.  Wilson,  Sixth  Corporal. 

P.  Moore,  Seventh  Corporal. 

A.  Spellman,  Eighth  Corporal. 

P.  S.  Campbell  and  J.  H.  McClure,  Musicians. 

Privates.— J.  Baily,  H.  Bell,  J.  Bechtol,  G.  B. 
Boyd,  R.  E.  Brown,  Perry  Baker,  J.  D.  Clark,  T. 


J.  Cook,  J.  B.  Cross,  Eli  Cross,  H.  P.  Cross,  Johii 
Chub,  J.  Carnahan,  F.  Cullison,  J.  P.  Davis,  J. 
Dayton,  James  Donley,  H.  H.  Decker,  J.  Derr, 
Thomas  Dobspn,  James  Duffee,  W.  Derr,  S.  H. 
Ellis,  J.  F.  EUis,  M.  Faihng,  J.  J.  Finlay,  P.  S. 
Geren,  G.  W.  Goodhue,  J.  E.  House,  R.  E.  Hull, 
G.  W.  Huff,  W.  H.  H.  Hout,  J.  Hoyle,  Perry  In- 
field, Phineas  Infield,  Charles  Infield,  W.  A.  John- 
son, L.  Kinney,  C.  Lint,  F.  Lockhart,  M.  Lang- 
head,  W.  Lawrence,  W.  McKee,  J.  Mills,  J.  Mas- 
ten,  J.  Marks,  S.  B.  Madden,  W.  Madden,  E.  W. 
Morrow,  S.  Mulford,D.  Mulford,  J.  F.  Murrill,  H. 
Magness,  G.  W,  Miller,  John  Ogle,  Jacob  Ogle,  J. 
Oakleaf,  P.  Poland,  W.  H.  Robinson,  W.  H.  H. 
Richards,  J.  Ross,  A.  C.  Ricketts,  A.  Retherford, 
D.  Ridenbach,  H.  Sharen,  W.  A.  Syphert,  W.  A. 
Stewart,  J.  Stew^art,  D.  P.  Sickels,  A.  Steele,'  J. 
Vankirk,  T.  Wilson,  W.  Warner,  R.  W.  Willis,  J. 
B.  Williams,  J.  Watson,  J.  B.  Zook. 

Muster  roll  of  Company  G : 

,  OFFICERS. 

William  F.  Marshall,  Captain. 
Peter  Hack,  First  Lieutenant. 
John  D.  Ross,  Second  Lieutenant. 
John  W.  Simmons,  First  Sergeant. 
Milton  B.  Coulter,  Second  Sergeant. 
Benjamin  A.  Stevenson,  Third  Sergeant. 
John  Ewing,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
William  Hay,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Christopher  Humphreys,  First  Corporal. 
Robert  S.  McCormick,  Second  Corporal. 
Augustus  Erman,  Third  Corporal. 
John  J.  Sonogle,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Joshua  Dawson,  Fifth  Corporal. 
John  C.  Miller,  Sixth  Corporal. 
John  Ross,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Joseph  Wood,  Eighth  Corporal. 
James  W.  Langhead  and  Josiah  Gadden,  Mu- 
sicians. 
Robert  Lockhard,  Teamster. 

Privates — Abram  R.  Akroyd,  David  Ashbraker, 
James  Bailey,  Hugh  Barler,  John  Berton,  Patrick 
Bird,  R.  M.  C.  Broas,  George  Brodenkircher,  John 
Bayer,  John  Carnahan,  Patrick  Creeley,  William 
Carr,  James  Cain,  William  Clendennin,  John  H. 
Davis,  John  Davis,  James  Eastman,  Simon  Fisher, 
George  W.  Ford,  William  M.  Forrest,  Edward  S. 


846 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Freely,  Viditius  Fuller,  Michael  Gosser,  David 
Gray,  Patrick  Hartigan,  Jacob  Henderson,  Mil- 
ton Himebaugh,  Noah  Hustin,  Lewis  Huff,  Wil- 
son Hutchinson,  William  Jones,  A.  Kooble, 
Eobert  Lemon,  Moses  Lillybridge,  Jonathan 
Longshore,  David  Loyd,  Samuel  Mason,  Gotleib 
Merely,  John  E.  Miser,  George  H.  Nash,  William 
Nash,  William  Nihurst,  John  Eeed,  Thomas 
Reed,  John  Robinson,  Nelson  Raney,  George 
Roe,  John  W.  Roderick,  Henry  Ross,  John 
Ryan,  Henry  Samuel,  John  Samuel,  Michael 
Snell,  Theodore  Snell,  Alexander  Shiiltz,  Wil- 
liam Smith,  George  Summers,  David  Switzer, 
George  W.  Traxler,  Peter  Tye,  Sylvester  Van- 
dusen,  Lewis  Vancisell,  David  Williams,  John 
Wise,  Samuel  Wise,  Nicholas  Wise,  John  Wood 
and  Theodore  Miller. 

Muster  roll  of  Company  F : 

OFFICERS. 

Pren  Metham,  Captain. 
James  Carnes,  First  Lieutenant. 
Francis  Farmer,  Second  Lieutenant. 
,  T.  Wilhs  Collier,  First  Sergeant. 
John  Humphrey,  Second  Sergeant 
James  Cochran,  Third  Sergeant. 
Solomon  McNabb,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
John  N.  Henderson,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
George  B.  Wilson,  First  Corporal. 
Samuel  Clark,  Second  Corporal. 
George  W.  Cox,  Third  Corporal. 
Thomas  Kanard,  Fourth  Corporal. 
N.  E.  Clendennin,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Fernando  C.  Wright,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Samuel  Compton,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Wesley  Welling,  Eighth  Coriioral. 
Coan  Culter  and  James  S.  Gordon,  Musicians. 
Jesse  A.  Bassett,  Wagoner. 

Privates. — Andrew  Alt,  Samuel  Arm,  Bernhard 
Bonham,  William  Bills,  James  Bair,  Dennis  Bar- 
anan,  Mathew  Baranagen,  W.  L.  Cochran,  Lo- 
renzo Carr,  John  Coplen,  Joshua  Cochran,  Rich- 
ard Cox,  John  Clark,  Mathew  Campbell,  Lemote 
Clark,  Daniel  Cunningham,  Robert  Cross,  Rich- 
ard Croy,  William  Darons,  Tuner  Drummond, 
Nathan  Daniels,  Levi  Daliere,  David  becoursey, 
Isaac  Daniels,  James  Ecely,  Isaac  Fortune, 
Thomas  Fortune,  Bartholomew  Frickley,  August 


Frickor,  Peter  Good,  Jacob  Gaunder,  Michael 
R.  Gaunder,  John  Gault,  Stewart  Gault,  William 
A.  Giffin,  John  S.  Graybill,  Jacob  Harmon,  John 
Hyde,  Henry  Hines,  Thomas  Hinds,  Alfred  Har- 
denbrood,  John  G.  Johnson,  George  B.  James, 
George  W.  Kanard,  Edward  Kitchen,  Phillip  G.  * 
Kiser,  Charles  P.  Keyes,  Daniel  Levengood,  An- 
drew J.  Lama,  Daniel  McCullick,  Alex.  McCul- 
lough,  Pren  Metham,  William  McCumber,  Am- 
brose B.  Meredith,  Isaac  Meredith,  James  Nash, 
Burris  Noland,  Ephraim  Orlison,  John  Parker, 
Samuel  Phillips,  Jonas  Richcreek,  James  Robi- 
son,  Ashburn  Richardson,  Thomas  Richardson, 
James  Richmond,  John  Schock,  Jones  Thatcher, 
Thomas  Turner,  John  B.  Taylor,  Caleb  Tharp, 
James  B.  Thompson,  Benjamin  Viol,  Wilson 
Willis,  Silas  Yanker,  Harvy  H.  Zimmerman. 

The  regiment  left  Camp  Meigs  on  the  17th  of 
February,  1862,  and  marched  ten  miles  toUhrichs- 
ville,  Ohio,  at  which  point  it  left  by  rail  for  Co- 
lumbus, where  it  made  a  brief  halt  at  Camp 
Chase,  during  a  heavy  storm,  from  which  consid- 
erable sickness  resulted,  thence  via  rail  to  Cin- 
cinnati, from  which  point  the  journey  was  con- 
tinued by  river  to  Cairo,  Illinois.  The  regiment 
was  divided  into  two  boat  loads,  and  that  portion 
on  board  the  transport  Leonora,  was  delayed  by 
the  breaking  of  her  shaft,  and  being  compelled  to 
float  down  to  Aurora,  Indiana,  where  it  changed 
boats  and  caught  up  with  the  first  section  at  Pa- 
ducah,  Kentucky.  A  stay  of  one  week  was  made 
by  the  regiment  at  Fort  Holt,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  from  Cairo,  Illinois,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Paducah,  Kentucky,  at  which  point  it 
arrived  on  the  8th  of  March,  1862.  It  was  not 
till  the  regiment  reached  this  point  that  it  was 
armed,  and  then  not  until  the  19th  of  April. 
The  regiment  also  received  its  first  pay  at  this 
point,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1862.  During  the  in- 
terval of  its  arrival  and  its  being  armed,  the  regi- 
ment was  engaged  in  the  heaviest  fatigue  duty, 
consisting  in  the  loading  and  unloading  of  steam- 
boats, and  daily  drills  in  the  tough  Kentucky 
mpd.  As  a  result,  from  heavy  labor  and  expos- 
ure in  this  service,  there  was  much  sickness  and 
the  following  deaths ;  Geo.  Traxler  of  Company 
G,  aged  twenty-five  years ;  R.  Petty  of  Company 
I,  aged  twenty-four  years ;  Corporal  Samuel 
Compton,  Company  F,  aged  twenty-five  years, 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


347 


and  Corporal  Culter  of  Company  I,  aged  twenty- 
four  years. 

On  the  of  24th  April  the  regiment  left  Paducah 
and  went  to  Hamburg,  Tennessee.  Here,  three 
'  companies,  C,  E  and  I  were  detailed  as  a  guard,  to 
unload  supplies  at  that  point.  These  companies 
afterwards  rejoined  the  regiment  previous  to  its 
leaving  Camp  Clearcreek,  in  August. 

They  were  under  the  command  of  Major  Eioh- 
ard  Lanning,  of  Coshocton.  Here  the  regiment 
was  assigned  to  General  Pope's  .command,  and 
was  consolidated  into  a  brigade  composed  of  the 
Eightieth  Ohio,  Tenth  and  Seventeenth  Iowa 
and  Fifty-sixth  Illinois,  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Purzoell,  and  were  accompanied  by  the 
Sixth  Wisconsin  Battery.  The  regiment  was 
now  upon  the  ground  made  historic  by  the 
bloody  battle  of  Pittsburgh  Landing.  On  the  28th 
of  April  the  regiment,  with  the  brigade,  com- 
menced  a  series  of  marches  over  muddy  roads 
where,  in  many  instances,  it  assisted  to  build 
heavy  corduroy  roads,  after  which  the  regiment 
was  assigned  to  the  Second  Brigade,  Third  Divi- 
sion, Seventeenth  Corps,  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 
By  the  8th  of  May  the  regiment  had  been  in 
front  of  the  enemy  several  days,  and,  on  the  9th, 
was  ordered  to  the  support  of  a  Missouri  battery 
in  front  of  Farmington,  where  it  was,  for  the  first 
time,  under  fire ;  but  from  this  time  on,  during 
the  entire  siege  of  Corinth,  it  was  frequently 
under  fire  in  skirmishes  and  reconnoissances. 
On  the  12th  of  May  another  forward  movement 
was  made,  cannonading  was  brisk,  and  a  second 
halt  was  made  in  front  of  Farmington,  Mississippi. 
May  17  orders  were  received  to  have  two  days' 
rations  ready  cooked,  and  to  be  prepared  for  a 
forward  movement  at  any  moment.  Rifle  pits 
were  dug,  fortifications  were  built,  and  occa- 
sional skirmishing  indulged  in  until  the  30th, 
when  word  came  about  7  a.  m.  th6,t  Corinth  was 
evacuated.  The  Eightieth  received  orders,  with 
other  regiments,  to  pursue  the  retreating  enemy, 
and,  at  6  p.  m.,  moved  out  on  the  Booneville  road, 
and  marched  until  12  that  night,  when  they 
stopped  in  one  of  the  enemy's  camps  so  recently 
deserted,  where  they  found  meat  cut  up  and  in 
pans  to  fry,  and  biscuit  mixed  and  in  the  oven. 

Sunday  June  8,  the  regiment  bivouacked  in 
the  woods  and,  rested,  but  soon  after  getting  to 


bed  that  night  was  called  up,  ordered  two  days' ' 
cooked  rations,  and  marched  at  6  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  passing  through  the  small  town  of  Dan- 
ville and  Eienzi,  Mississippi,  and  finding  them  al- 
most depopulated.  The  advance  frequently  came 
up  with  the  rear  guard  of  the  rebels,  always  giv- 
ing them  battle  taking  many  thousand  prisoners 
and  many  stand  of  arms.  It  got  to  Boonville 
on  the  9th,  remained  until  the  11th,  then  started 
back  to  Corinth  arriving  on  the  12th  and  going 
into  camp  on  Clear  creek.  June  22  the  regiment 
made  a  forced  march  to  Ripley,  Mississippi,  a  dis- 
tance of  forty-six  miles,  during  which  it  suffered 
intensely  from  dust  and  heat,  and  a  number  of , 
the  men  died  from  the  effects  of  sunstroke.  July 
17  the  regiment  was  paid  off  for  the  months  of 
March,  April,  May  and  June.  August  14  the  regi- 
ment left  its  comfortable  quarters  on  Clear  creek 
and  marched  fifteen  miles  to  near  Jacinto,  on 
one  of  the  hottest  days  of  the  season,  and  camped; 
It  was  here  that  Second  Lieutenant  Jacob  W. 
Doyle  of  company  H  died  very  suddenly.  Lieu- 
tenant Doyle  gave  out  on  the  road  and  was  left  at 
a  house  on  the  roadside  and  brought  on  after  the 
regiment  got  to  camp  by  a  detail  under  Sergeant 
N.  R.  Tidball,. dying  a  half  hour  after  reaching 
the  camp.  August  24,  George  Early,  of  company 
B,  aged  thirty  years  died  in  the  brigade  hospital; 
and  on  the  28th,  Jeremiah  Burress,  of  the  same 
company,  worn  down  by  hardship  and  exposure, 
died  very  suddenly.  The  regiment  remained  in 
camp  Sullivan  near  Jacinto,  doing  guard  and  pick- 
et duty,  until  the  8th  of  September.  On  September 
19  the  regiment  marched  twenty  miles  in  the  di- 
rection of  luka,  to  meet  and  give  battle  to  the 
rebel  forces  under  General  Sterling  Price.  For 
the  last  eight  miles  of  the  march  the  rebel  out- 
posts were  being  driven  in  continually. 

The  battle  began  about  4  p.  m.,  and  the  Eighti- 
eth was  marched  into  the  action  on  double- 
quick;  under  a  heavy  fire,  early  in  the  engage- 
ment; took  an  active  part  therein,  tind  did  not 
leave  the  field  until  ordered  at  2  a.  m.,  in  pursuit 
of  General  Price.  In  this  engagement  Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Bartleson  had  his  horse  killed  under 
him,  and  was  himself  severely  wounded  in  the 
thigh  while  gallantly  leading  the  regiment.  Ad- 
jutant Philpott  was  wounded  in  the  arm,  and  also 
the  following  named  parties  from  different  com- 


348 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


panics  were  wounded :  H.  H.  Whitcraft,  J.  F. 
Huddleson;  Corporals  Jesse  Gtiumer,  A.  Hodge 
and  N.  E.  Clendenning ;  James  Andrews,  J.  De- 
lanomer,  Simon  Darst,  Thomas  Elder,  R.  G.  Hill, 
Allen  TalbottjT.Drummond  (mortally),  and  Ben- 
jamin Viall.-  The  regiment  lost  forty-five  killed 
and  wounded. 

The  Eightieth  was  now  ordered  to  Jacinto  for 
the  purpose  of  watching  the  movements  of  the 
rebels  under  General  Price.  It  remained  there 
until  October  3,  scouting  and  drilling,  when  it 
was  ordered  to  Corinth,  and  again  went  into  line 
of  battle.  The  regiment  maneuvered  and  skirm- 
ished all  day,  and  toward  evening  made  a  dash 
on  the  rebel  lines  just  across  the  Mobile  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  capturing  two  lieutenants,  one  captain 
and  fifty  privates.  During  that  night  the  regi- 
ment laid  on  its  arms,  and  at  daylight,  October  4, 
was  in  line  of  battle,  and  on  that  memorable  day 
the  decisive  battle  of  Corinth  was  fought,  result- 
ing in  a  glorious  victory  for  the  Federal  arms. 
The  following  is  the  list  of  killed,  wounded  and 
missing  in  the  Eightieth  at  this  battle  : 

Major  Richard  Lanning,  in  command  of  the 
regiment,  killed  on  the  field. 

Company  A — Joseph  E.  Hutton  and  Milton 
Stemple,  missing. 

Lieutenant  O.  C.  Powelson,  of  Company  B, 
wounded  in  left  side ;  Private  Abel  Fuller,  killed 
on  the  field,  and  Christ.  Lerch,  wounded  in  the 
head. 

Company  C — Lieutenant  John  J.  Robinson, 
killed  on  the  field  while  bravely  leading  his  com- 
pany on  to  retake  a  battery  which  we  had  lost ; 
Private  John  Wade,  wounded  in  the  foot;  Joseph 
Stinchoomb,  missing. 

Company  D — Private  Conrad  Perch,  mortally 
wounded;  Sergeant  W.  C.  Wiard;  Corporal  John 
Richards;  Privates  T.  J.  Elder,  John  McBain, 
Alfred  Johnson,  James  Beaty  and  Lewis  W. 
Wiard,  wounded. 

Company  E — Private  Isaac  Cottrap,  killed  on 
the  field ;  private  John  Messer,  shot  through  the 
lungs,  died  after  six  weeks  of  great  suffering; 
Privates  David  Charnock,  Adolphus  Reynolds, 
Lewis  Furbay  and  Reuben  Tedrow,  wounded. 

Company  F — Private  Joshua  Cochrane,  killed ; 
Sergeant  T.  W.  Collier  and  Corporals  N.  E.  Clen- 
denning, wounded;   Privates  Wilser  Williams, 


Bartholomew  Flick  (mortally),  Arthur  Woods 
Isaac  Fortune  and  B.  M.  Noland,  wounded. 

Company  G— Lieutenant  George  F.  Robinson 
and  Corporal  John  Dawson;  Privates  Michael 
Snell,  wounded,  and  Patrick  Crilley,  missing. 

Company  H— Privates  John  Ogle,  Daniel  Mul- 
ford,  James  M.  Falkenson,  wounded,  and  Abra- 
ham Steel,  missing. 

Company  I — Corporal  Thomas  H.  Johnsonr 
killed  on  the  field;  Privates  John  M.  Purney, 
Joseph  B.  Westfall  and  Reuben  White,  wounded ; 
privates  Oliver  Atherton,  John  Anderson,  Enos 
Cahill  and  Lapold  Goldsmith,  missing. 

Company  K — Privates  Emanuel  Miller  and 
Daniel  McAfee,  wounded,  and  George  Sohweig- 
heimer,  Samuel  Burns  and  Frank  Speaker,  miss- 
ing- , 

Major  Richard  Lanning,  who  fell  on  this  battle 
field,  was  one  of  Coshocton's  most  honored  citi- 
zens. He  was  connected  with  one  of  the  oldest 
families  in  the  county,  was  a  farmer  in  earlier- 
years,  and  was  prosecuting  attorney  of  the  county 
when  commissioned.  He  was  about  fifty  years 
of  age.  After  he  was  shot,  while  lying  in  the 
arms  of  a  friend,  he  said :  "  I  am  willing  to  die- 
for  my  country,  my  wife  and  my  children."  His 
last  words,  uttered  midst  the  din  of  battle,  were  ;■ 
"I  am  killed;  give  it  to  them."  His  body  was 
sent  home  and  now  lies  in  Coshocton  cemetery. 

The  total  loss  of  the  regiment  in  this  [^ battle- 
was  eighty  oflficers  and  men  killed  and  wounded. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Bartleson,  although  still  suf- 
fering severely  from  his  wound,  hearing  of  Major- 
Lanning's  death,  mounted  his  horse  and  com- 
manded" the  regiment  through  the  remainder  of 
the  battle.  The  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit 
of  the  rebels  and  made  some  very  severe  marcheS' 
in  the  direction  of  Holly  Springs, and  on  return- 
ing went  into  ramp  at  Corinth;  at  which  place,. 
October  30, 1862,  Captain  Morris,  with  about  one 
hundred  new  recruits  reached  the  regiment. 

November  21,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bartleson,. 
suffering  from  his  wound  at  luka,  was  sent  to 
Columbus  on  Government  orders.  The  regiment 
marched  with  Grant's  army  through  Central 
Mississippi.  On  this  march  the  Eightieth,  in  , 
company  with  General  Sullivan's  brigade,  took 
part  in  a  reconnoissance  from  Davis'  Mills  to 
Cold  Water.    General  Sullivan  in  pressing  for- 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


349 


ward  on  November  28,  went  into  Holly  Springs, 
Mississippi,  surprised  the  rebels,  and  took  a  num- 
ber of  prisoners.  Holly  Springs  was  beyond  the 
Doint  to  which  General  Sullivan  was_  ordered, 
and  he  was  immediately  ordered  back  to  Davis' 
Mills.  In  executing  that  order  a  forced  march  of 
twenty-two  miles  was  made.  For  several  miles 
on  this  march,  the  rebels  in  heavy  force  were  in 
plain  view,  but  for  some  cause  they  failed  to  at- 
tack.. Colonel  Eckley,  commanding  the  Second 
Brigade,  was  ordered  on  the  6th  of  December, 
with  the  Eightieth  Ohio,  Seventeenth  Iowa,  and 
Tenth  Missouri,  on  a  reconnoissance  to  the  front. 
The  rebels  were  in  force  on  the.  Tallahatchie 
^  river,  about  four  miles  in  advance.  A  brisk  can- 
nonading was  kept  up  for  some  time,  the  rebels 
being  driven  back  to  their  intrenchments.  .  The 
reconnoissance  proved  a  success,  the  Union  troops 
suffering  no  loss  and  capturing  500  rebel  prison- 
ers, and  on6  rebel  sutler's  store ;  the  march  was 
continued '  across  the  Tallahatchie  in  a  snow 
storm,  with  almost  impassable  roads,  and  on  the 
6th  and  7th  of  December,  the  brigade  went  into 
carnp  at  O-xford. 

December  9,  the  regiment  was  reviewed  by 
General  Grant  and  staff;  remained  in  this  camp 
until  the  12th,  then  marched  back  five  miles. 
December  17,  Lieutenant  Wagstaff' brought  twen- 
ty-two drafted  men  to  the  regiment.  On  the  18th, 
Lieutenants  Powelson  and  Hay  arrived  with 
twelve  recruits.  Sunday,  December  21,  the  regi- 
ment marched  from  Yockona  creek  back  to  Oxford, 
six  miles ;  at  9  p.  m.  were  in  line  of  battle,  and  laid 
on  its  arms  during  the  night  in  expectation  of  an 
attack.  On  the  22d,  moved  to  Abbeyville,  across 
the  Tallahatchie,  fifteen  miles.  On  the  23d,  at  7 
A.  M.,  marched  to  Holly  Springs,  and  bivouacked 
for  the  night;  rations  short  on  account  of  sup- 
phes  having  been  captured  by,the  rebel  General 
Van  Dorn.  On  the  24th,  marched  to  Lumpkin's 
Mills,  pitched  tents  and  remained  over  Christmas. 

Dfecembcr  26,  at  8  A.  m.,  the  regiment  was  again 
on  the  march,  but  on  account  of  heavy  rains 
made  but  thirteen  miles  and  were  theia  placed, 
under  orders,  in  General  Quinjay's  division  with 
the  purpose  of  guarding  a  provision  train  to  Mem- 
phis, Tennessee.  December  27,  made  fifteen  miles 
to  Byhaha,  and  on  the  29th  marched  into  Memphis. 
On  this  march  the  rear  of  the  train  was  fired  into 


by  guerillas,  killing  one  mah  and  wounding  two 
others.  December  31,  regiment  marched  fifteen 
miles  out  on  the  Memphis  and  Charleston  road 
and  halted  at  Germantown.  January  1,  1863, 
marched  tw'elve  miles  to  CoUiersville.  At  this 
point  Surgeon  E.  P.  Buell,  Adjutant  James  E. 
Philpot,  Lieutenant  Thomas  Patton  and  Lieuten- 
ant Robert  Hill  were  taken  prisoners,  while  try- 
ing to  procure  .some  forage  for  their  horses  and 
refreshments,  but  were  eventually  paroled  and  ' 
returned  to  the  regiment,  with  the  exception  of 
Surgeon  Buell,  who  declined  to  sign  a  parole,  and 
was  unconditionally  released  and  resumed  his 
duties  as  surgeon  of  the  regiment. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1863,  the  Eightieth  went 
into  camp  at  Forest  Hill,  eighteen  miles  out  of 
Memphis,  and  remained,  doing  guard  duty  until 
February  8,  1863.  January  16,  it  was  again  paid 
off  to  August.  31,  1862.  January  18,  Captain 
Mathews  resigned  his  commission,  on  which  the 
following  resolutions  ^ere  adopted: 

Headquaeteks  Eightieth  Eegiment  O.  V.  I., 
January  23, 1863. 

At  a  supper  given  by  the  officers  in  honor  of 
Captain  C.  H.  Mathews,  late  of  this  regiment,  the 
following  resolutions  were  adopted  unanimously ; 

1.  BBsolved,  That  by  the  resignation  of  Captain 
C.  H.  Mathews,  we  regret  having  to  part  with  a 
gentleman  whose  social  powers,  urbanity  of  man- 
ners, and  gentlemanly  deportment,  have  deserv- 
edly won  for  him  the  high  esteem  and  lasting 
respect  of  every  officer  of  this  command. 

2.  Resolved,  That  in  the  resignation  of  Captain 
C.  H.  Mathews  the  regiment  loses  a  faithful 
officer,  and  the  country  a  brave  and  dauntless 
defender,  as  the  bloody  fields  of  luka  and  Corinth 
have  well  attested. 

Colonel  E.  R.  Eckley,  Pres. 
Adjutant  J.  E.  Philpot,  Sec'y. 

January  23,  Private  James  E.  Graham,  who  was 
promoted  from  the  ranks,  received  his  commis- 
sion as  second  lieutenant.  February  8,  the  regi- 
ment went  into  camp  in  the  suburbs  of  Memphis, 
preparatory  to  a  Vicksburg  expedition.  While 
at  Memphis,  Colonel  Eckley,  having  been  elected 
to  Congress,  resigned  his  commission,  in  March, 
1863,  and  returned  to  Ohio. 

March  1, 1863,  the  regiment  embarked  on  the 
steamer  "  Ed  "Walsh,"  and  was  taken  to  Wood- 
ruff 's  Landing.    It  arrived  at  Grand  Lake,  March 


«50 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


4,  where  it  disembarked ;  but  on  the  7tb  was  or- 
dered to  proceed  below  Helena,  Arkansas,  where 
it  was  to  await  transportation  to  convey  it  to  the 
Yazoo  Pass,  on  which  expedition  it  was  ordered 
with  Quinby's  division.  It  arrived -opposite  the 
Pass  on  the  9th,  camping  on  a  sand  bar. 

March  21,  the  regiment  embarked  for  the  Pass. 
By  the  26th,  it  had  Succeeded  in  making  four 
miles,  the  currents  being  so  .swift  that  they 
smashed  the  wheel-house  and  damaged  things 
'generally.  Disembarkation  occured  on  the  3d  of 
April,  the  boats  being  divested  of  smoke-stacks, 
-guards  and  wheel-houses;  return  was  ordered 
almost  immediately,  and  the  regiment  got  back 
into  the  Mississippi  on  the  10th  of  April,  when 
three  rousing  cheers  went  up  from  all  the  boats, 
-and  cannon  were  fired.  Thus  ended  the  Yazoo 
Pass  expedition  which,  it  is  said,  was  one  of  the 
wildest  the  Eightieth  participated  in  during  its 
■whole  service. 

April  16th,  the  regiment  having  returned  to 
Helena,  took  boat,  and  disembarked  at  Milliken's 
Bend.  Here  it  was  paid  for  the  months  of  No- 
vember and  December,  1862,  January  and  Feb- 
ruary, 1863.  April  20,  it  started  for  Carthage, 
Louisiana,  where  it  was  contemplated  to  cross 
the  Mississippi  with  General  Grant's  forces,  under 
•cover  of  the  gunboats  at  Grand  Gulf.  Carthage 
was  reached  on  the  26th,  where  the  regiment 
was  ordered  down  to  Bruinsburgh,  where  it 
-crossed  over  into  Mississippi  on  the  first  of  May, 
1868,  The  battle  of  Port  Gibson  was  fought  on 
that  day,  but  the  regiment  did  not  get  up  in  time 
to  participate.  It  marched  however,  in  line  of 
battle,  and  skirmished  with  the  enemy  almost 
the  whole  way  to  Little  Black  river.  May  12,  the 
regiment  participated  in  the  battle  of  Kaymond, 
but  did  not  lose  any  men. 

May  14,  Quinby's  division,  in  which  was  the 
■Eightieth  Ohio,  took  the  advance  in  the  battle 
of  Jackson.  About  four  miles  from  Jackson  the 
enemy  came  out  to  meet  the  United  States  forces. 
While  the  troops  were  forming,  a  heavy  shower 
■of  rain  came  up,  and  the  shells  of  the  rebel  can- 
non were  flying  thick  and  fast.  The  First  Mis- 
souri battery  returned  the  fire.  The  brigade 
-charged  half  a  mile  through  an  open  field,  and 
broke  down  a  picket  fence  before  it  reached  the 
-enemy.    The  line  consisted  of  the  Eightieth  Ohio 


in  the  center,^ Tenth  Missouri  on  the  right,  and 
the  Seventeenth  Iowa  on  the  left;  a  portion  of 
the  Eleventh  Ohio  battery  came  into  service  im- 
mediately after  the  charge  and  poured  a  few 
shots  into  the  retreating  foe.  Just  after  the 
charge  was  ended.  General  McPherson,  in  com- 
mand of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  rode  up 
to  the  regiment  and,  raising  his  hat,  exclaimed, 
"  God  Almighty  bless  the  Eightieth  Ohio."  This 
has  passed  into  history  as  one  of  the  most  gallant 
charges  of  the  Union  forces  during  the  entire 
war.  The  brigade  lost  about  one-third  of  its 
number  killed  and  wounded;  the  loss  of  the 
Eightieth  Ohio  was  ninety  killed  and  wounded. 
The  field  officers  in  this  battle  were  Colonel  M. 
PI.  Bartleson,  with  Lieutenant  Colonel. William. 
Marshall  and  Major  Pren  Metham,  both  of  Co- 
shocton county.  Among  the  wounded  was  Lieu- 
tenant Tidball,  also  of  Coshocton,  and  John 
Mills,  of  Company  H,  was  instantly  killed.  At 
Champion  Hills,  May  16,  the  Eightieth  occupied 
the  rear,  as  train  guard,  and  did  not  actively  par- 
ticipate in  the  battle.  The  next  morning  it  was 
detailed  as  a  guard  to  1,500  rebel  prisoners,  and 
ordered  to  take  them  to  Memphis. 

This  duty  being  performed  it  returned,  and 
th^n  marched  to  Vicksburg,  where,  for  forty- 
seven  days  and  nights,  it  was  under  the  incessant 
fire  of  the  enemy.  It  had  the  proud  satisfaction  ' 
of  aiding  in  the  memorable  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
and  on  the  5th  of  July  marched  into  the  town 
and  went  into  camp.  After  the  evacuation  of 
Vicksburg  about  two  months,  the  regiment  re- 
ceived orders  to  go  to  the  reenforcement  of  Gen- 
eral Steele,  at  Helena,  Arkansas,  who  was  mov- 
ing on  Little  Rock.  But  before  it  reached  Gen- 
eral Steele,  information  was  received  of  tlie  re- 
pulse at  Chickamauga,  and  it  was  immediately  or- 
dered to  Memphis,  there  to  join  General  Sher-  ' 
man's  forces  in  their  march  to  Chattanooga,  a  dis- 
tance of  nearly  four  hundred  miles. 

It  reached  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee  river, 
opposite  the  mouth  of  Chickamauga  creek,  and 
the  regiment,  with,  other  troops,  crossed  in  pon- 
toon boats,  soon  after  midnight,  on  the  22d  of 
November.  By  daylight  strong  earthworks  were 
thrown  up  to  cover  the  men  until  the  pontoon 
bridge  was  laid  over  the  river. 

On  the  evening  of  the  23d  the  regiment,  with 


^-HA-- 


-eir-er  HAY. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ms 


its  division,  marched  out  and  took  the  east  end 
of  Mission  Ridge.  That  night  the  regiment  was 
on  the  skirmish  line  for  some  hours  witliout  re- 
lief. Next  day,  entering  the  battle,  it  was  com- 
pelled to  pass  around  a  point  of  rocks  covered  by 
three  rebel  batteries,  and  was  exposed  to  a  most 
terrific  artillery  fire.  Singular  to  relate,  says  one 
account,  not  a  man  was  hit.  The  Eightieth  Ohio 
entered  the  fight  just  east  of  the  tunnel,  was  hotly 
engaged  until  near  nightfall,  and  lost  several 
commissioned  officers  and  nearly  one  hundred 
men.  Chaplain  G.  W.  Pepper  says,  in  his  history 
of  Sherman's  campaign :  "  When  a  number  of 
other  regiments  had  lost  their  colors.  Sergeant 
Finley,  of  the  Eightieth,  with  a  manly  courage, 
bore  the  regimental  standard  through  the  iron 
storm  in  triumph.  For  personal  gallantry  this 
young  man  was  unanimously  recommended  for 
promotion." 

In  this  battle,  Captain  John  Kinney,  a  brave 
soldier,  was  shot  through  the  heart  and  instantly 
killed.  Lieutenant  F.  M.  Ross  was  also  instantly 
killed.  Lieutenant  George  F.  Robinson  was 
wounded  and  captured.  Private  Kinney  was  also 
killed. 

After  the  battle  the  regiment  pursued  the  reb- 
els to  Graysville,  Georgia,  and  then  returned  to 
its  old  camp  near  Chattanooga.  From  thence  it 
went  to  Bridgeport,  and  while  there  was,  with  its 
division,  permanently  transferred  from  the  Seven- 
teenth to  the  Fifteenth  army  cot'ps,  under  com- 
mand of  General  John  A.  Logan. 

January  6, 1864,  found  the  regiment  at  Hunts- 
ville,  Alabama.  Shortly  after  this  it  re-enlisted 
for  another  term. 

After  wintering  in  Huntsville  the  regiment 
started  on  the  1st  of  April  to  enjoy  its  veteran 
furlough  of  thirty  days.  And  while  it  is  thus  en- 
gaged, it  would  be  well  to  review  briefly  some  of 
its  official  records  and  also  some  letters  sent  home 
at  various  times  during  the  campaign. 

Colonel  Pren  Metham  went  out  in  1862  as  cap- 
tain of  Company  F ;  was  promoted  to  major  Jan- 
uary 15,  1863,  commission  issued  February  20, 
1863;  was  promoted  to  the  lieutenant-colonelcy 
July  23, 1863,  commissioned  August  21, 1863,  pro- 
moted to  colonelcy  January  4, 1864,  and  commis- 
sioned at  the  same  time.  Colonel  Metham  had 
command  of  the  Eightieth  from  the  siege  of 

12 


Vicksburg  and  practically,  on  account  of  the 
wounded  and  weakened  condition  of  Colonel  M-. 
H.  Bartleson,  during  the  siege.  In  the  bloody 
fields  of  Mission  Ridge,  at  Resaca,  at  Cox's  Bridge 
and  in  all  the  marches  and  skirmishes.  Colonel 
Metham  displayed  all  the  qualities  of  a  courageous 
and  able  commander ;  Colonel  Pren  Metham  still 
resides  in  Coshocton  county,  his  sword  turned  to 
a  plowshear,  and  pursues  the  peaceful  avocation 
of  a  farmer.  ^ 

Captain  F.  W.  Collier  entered  the  service  as  a 
private,  and,  owing  to  his  efficient  services  in 
securing  the  comfort  of  the  recruits  when  at 
Camp  Meigs,  was,  upon  organization,  appointed 
first  sergeant;  ranked  as  second  lieutenant  Octo- 
ber 4, 1862,  commissioned  December  31;  ranked 
as  first  lieutenant  July  12,  1863,  commissioned 
August  21,  promoted  and  commissioned  captain 
October  12, 1864,  at  which  point  of  his  promotion 
Captain  F.  W.  Collier  was-  detached  on  special 
service  at  his  own  request.  Captain  Collier  is 
still  a  citizen  of  Coshocton  county,  having  held 
the  responsible  position  of  postmaster  for  twelve 
years,  previou's  to  which  and  during  part  of  his 
term  as  postmaster  he  has  owned  and  edited  the 
Coshocton  Age.  As  a  sample  of  the  official  rela- 
tion of  both  Colonel  Metham  and  Captain  Col- 
lier, the  following,  mess  rules  will  testify,  as  pub- 
lished in  the  Coshocton  Age  of  May  1, 1862 : 

Mess  No.  1,  Pben  Metham's  Company. 

The  boys  of  mess  No.  1,  Captain  Metham's 
company,  send  a  list  of  their  mess  officers,  and 
their  regulations,  which  are  as  follows :  Captain, 
T.  W.  Colher;  First  Lieutenant,  F.  C.Wright; 
Second  Lieutenant,  T.  Drummond ;  Orderly  Ser- 
geant, S.  Arm ;  Second  Sergeant,  J.  N.  Hender- 
son; Third  Sergeant,  L.  W.  Cochran;  Fourth 
Sergeant,  J.  Taylor;  Fifth  Sergeant,  B.  Noland; 
First  Corporal,  A.  Frickey;  Second  Corporal,  J. 
Blair;  Third  Corporal,  L.  Claj-k;  Secretary,  J. 
Wilson;  First  Cook,  Pren  Metham  (Eng.) 

Rule  No.  1.  Every  member  of  this  mess  shall 
take  his  turn  carrying  water,  subject  to  the  order 
of  the  cook.  \ 

Rule  No.  2.  If  any  fritend  of  a  member  of  this 
mess  visits  us,  he  shall  be  treated  with  respect  by 
the  members  of  the  mess. 

Rule  No.  3.  Members  of  this  mess  shall  not 
use  any  profane  language  in  our  tent. 

Rule  No.  4.  Any  member  of  this  mess  violat- 


354 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ing  one  or  more  of  these  rules  is  liable  to  be  ex- 
pelled from  the  mess  at  any  time. 

T.  W.  Collier,  Captain. 

John  Wilson,  Secretary. 

While  the  Eightieth  Jay  at  Vicksburg,  the  fol- 
lowing was  published : 

Headqtiaktees  or  the  Eightieth  Ohio, 

VicKSBUEG,  Mississippi,  August  20,  1863. 

Whereas,  Our  Assistant  Surgeon,  Dr.  G.  Bam- 
beck,  being  compelled,  by  affairs  of  a  domestic 
nature,  to  resign  his  position  and  return  home, 
therefore, 

Besolved,  That,  while  with  us  in  the  field  and 
camp,  his  noble  conduct,  untiring  energy  and 
impartial  attention  to  his  duties,  has  won  for 
him  the  respect  of  every  officer  and  the  undying 
affection  of  every  man  in  the  regiment: 

Resolved,  That  by  his  sepq.ration  from  us,  we 
have  each  lost  an  individual  friend,  the  afflicted  a 
protector,  the  regiment  a  surgeon  in  whom  it 
placed  unbounded  confidence  and  one  of  its  rnost 
able  and  efficient  officers. 

James  E.  Graham,  Chairman. 

H.  W.  KiRBY,  Secretary. 

From  Chattanooga  comes  the  following  list  of 
the  wounded  and  killed,  in  addition  to  those 
already  noted: 

Headqtjakters  of  the  Eightieth  Ohio, 
Neae  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  November  30, 1863. 

Editor  Age  :  The  casualties  of  the  Eightieth 
among  the  Coshocton  boys,  at  Chattanooga,  are 
as  follows: 

Company  F — Killed,  Levi  Dallier;  wounded, 
Benjamin  Viall;  missing,  Silas  Yonker. 

Company  G — Killed,  Corporals  Jonathan  Long- 
shore and  Henry  Ross;  wounded,  6.  Messerly, 
Robert  Lemon,  Nelson  Ron^y ;  missing,  Corporal 
J.  N.  Wood,  Privates  B.  S.  McGormick  and  Henry 
Sampsel. 

Company  H— Killed,  Captain  John  Kinney  and 
Private  Leander  Kinney;  wounded,' Sergeant  P. 
H.  Moore,  Isaac  Ross,  William  Madden ;  missing, 
A.  Steele. 

(Signed^  E.  D.  SwAN, 

First  Sergeant  Company  H,  Eightieth  Ohio. 

The  Age,  of  March  19, 1864,  publishes  a  series 
of  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Eightieth  Ohio, 
upon  the  death  of  Captain  John  Kinney,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  portion : 

Headquaetees  of  the  Eightieth  0.  V.  I., 
Beidgepoet,  Alabama,  December  20, 1864. 

Whereas,  We  are  called  upon  to  mourn  with 
deep  sorrow,  the  death  of  our  late  comrade  in 


arms.  Captain  John  Kinney,  who  fell  on  Mission 
Ridge,  near  Chattanooga,  while  gallantly  charg- 
ing at  the  head  of  his  company. 

And,  Whereas,  We  desire  to  express  our  pro- 
found regret  at  the  loss  of  so  tried'a  comrade,  and 
to  extend  that  expression  of  our  feelings  to  hia 
bereaved  family;  therefore,  we,  his  late  comrades, 
the  officers  of  the  Eightieth  O.  V.  I,  have  unani- 
mously 

Resolved,  That  in  the  death  of  Captain  John 
Kinney,  we  have  been  deprived  of  a  valued  friend, 
and  the  country  of  chivalrous  officer. 

Resolved,  That  as  a  soldier  he  was  the  bravest 
of  the  brave,  always  baring  his  breast  to  the 
brunt  of  battle. 

Resolved,  That  we  tender  our  sympathies  to 
his  bereaved  wife  and  family  in  their  afHiction.,. 

James  Caenes,  Captain. 

William  Wagstaff,  Captain. 

Robert  Hill,  First  Lieut. 

At  the  same  time,  by  the  saipe  committee,  were 
passed  similar  resolutions  and  published  in  the 
same  issue  of  The  Age,  on  the  death  of  Lieuten- 
ant Marion  Ross,  who  also  fell  in  the  battle  of 
Mission  Ridge. 

In  the  issue  of  The  Age,  May  4,  is  the  following 
notice : 

The  thirty-days'  furlough  of  the  Eightieth  hav- 
ing expired,  they  have  again  departed  for  the 
front.  On  the  Wednesday  evening  before  their 
departure  they  were  treated  to  a  splendid  supper 
prepared  for  them  in  Harbaugh's  Hall,  by  the 
ladies  of  Coshocton  and  Roscoe.  The  Eightieth 
has  received  many  new  recruits  during  its  visit; 
on  its  departure  it  had  over  nine  hundred  in  its 
ranks,  and  when  it  returned  as  veteran  it  had 
but  three  hundred ;  and  under  the  lead  of  their 
present  commander.  Colonel  Pren  Metham,  the 
boys  will,  as  in  times  past,  be  found  where  the 
fight  is  the  fiercest. 

The  Louisville,  Kentucky,  Journal,  of  date 
May  27,  1864,  says : 

The  Eightieth  Ohio  Veteran  Volunteers,  Col- 
onel Pren  Metham,  commanding,  arrived  in  the 
city  yesterday,  fresh  from  furlough  and  home, 
en  route  to  the  front.  We  took  occasion  to  com- 
pliment the  Eightieth  when  it  passed  through 
the  city  over  a  month  ago,  homeward  bound. 
Whether  in  the  camp,  on  the  weary  march,  or 
gallantly  charging  amid  the  thundering  echoes  of 
the  battle  field,  we  feel  confident  that  the  veteran 
Eightieth  will  exhibit  discipline,  and  prove  its 
effectiveness  as  an  organization. 

^  At  the  expiration  of  its  furlough,  the  Eightieth 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


355 


ireturned  to  Larkinsville,  Alabama,  where  it  per- 
formed guard  duty  on  the  line  of  the  Meinphis 
and  Charleston  railroad.  In  June,  1864,  the  regi- 
ment went  from  Huntsville  to  Charleston,  Geor- 
gia, a  long  and  tedious  march.  From  there  it 
'went  to  Kingston.  Then  it  went  to  Altoona, 
.and  remained  two  weeks,  and  was  then  ordered 
to  Eesaca,  to  relieve  the  Tenth  Missouri.  While 
:at  Eesaca,  the  rebel  general,  Hood,  made  his  dash 
■to  the  rear  of  Sherman's  army.  October  12, 1864, 
:28,000  rebels  appeared  before  Eesaca,  invested  the 
■place,  and  demanded  its  surrender,  in  the  fol- 
lowing terms : 

^Commanding  Officer  United  States  Forces  at  Eesaca, 


I  demand  the  immediate  and  unconditional 
:surrender  of  the  post  and  garrison  under  your 
command.  If  these  terms  are  acceded  to,  all 
white  officers  and  soldiers  will  be  paroled  in  a 
few  days.  If  the  place  is  carried  by  assault,  no 
■prisoners  will  be  taken. 

Most  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
J.  B.  Hood,  General. 

Colonel  Weaver,  of  the  Seventeenth  Iowa,  in 
•command  of  Eesaca,  replied : 

(General  J.  B.  Hood: 

I  ha^vS  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
'Of  your  communication  of  to-day,  and  must  say 
I  was  somewhat  surprised  at  the  concluding  par- 
agraph, to  the  effect  thalt  if  the  place  is  carried  by 
assault  no,  prisoners  will  be  taken.  In  my  opin- 
ion, I  am  able  to  hold  this  post.  If  you  want  it, 
■come  and  take  it. 

I  am  very  respectftilly, 

Clahk  E.  Weaver, 

Commanding  Officer. 

They  immediately  opened  on  the  garrison  with 
artillery  and  musketry  from  the  entire  line.  The 
national  force  barely  numbered  613  officers  and 
men;  but  by  a  ruse  in  displaying  numerous 
flags,  and  placing  the  entire  force  on  the  picket 
Jine,  the  rebels  were  made  to  believe  it  consisted 
■of  at  least  10,000  men,  and  that  it  would  cost 
too  much  loss  of  life  to  risk  an  assault.  From 
Eesaca,  the  Eightieth  marched  back  to  Atlanta, 
and  joined  in  General  Sherman's  memorable 
"  March  to  the  Sea."  It  went  through  to  Savan- 
nah without  meeting  or  performing  anything  of 
special  interest.  After  the  capture  of  Savan- 
nah, the  regiment  was  quartered  near  the  city 


and  remained  in  camp  until  the  19th  of  January, 
1865. 

It  was  then,  with  its  division,  ordered  to  Poco- 
taligo,  and  from  that  point  made  its  way  through 
toGoldsboro',  participating  on  the  way  in  a  brisk 
skirmish  with  the  enemy  at  Salkahatchie  river. 
In  this  fight,  it  is  said  "  the  Eightieth  dashed  like 
a  storm  from  the  clouds  upon  Wheeler's  cavalry, 
chasing  and  dispersing  them.''  March  19,  at 
Cox's  Bridge,  over  the  Neuse  river,  the  regiment 
performed  an  important  flank  movement  under 
Colonel  Pren  Metham,  for  the  purpose  of  pre- 
venting the  rebels  from  burning  the  bridge.  The 
movement  was  successful,  the  rebels  being  com- 
pelled to  withdraw  and  leave  the  way  open  to 
Goldsboro'.  For  distinguished  gallantry  at  Cox's 
Bridge  the  regiment  was  complimented  by  Gen- 
eral Logan. 

The  Eightieth  then  marched  to  Bentonville, 
and  reached  that  place  in  time  to  participate  in 
the  closing  scenes  of  that  battle,  which  was  the 
last  of  the  war.  It  then  marched  to  Goldsboro', 
where,  after  being  refitted,  it  went  to  Ealeigh, 
Nopth  Carolina.  On  this  march  the  Eightieth 
held  the  advance  of  the  whole  army  the  day  it 
crossed  the  Neuse  river.  It  was  ordered  to  make 
"a  forced  march  to  an  important  bridge  over  that 
river,  and,  if  possible,  prevent  the  rebels  from  de- 
stroying it.  As  it  came  in  sight  of  the  bridge 
several  rebel  wagons  were  in  the  act  of  crossing 
it,  the  Eightieth  having  made  seventeen  miles  in 
four  hours'  time  and  accomplished  its  order  to 
the  letter. 

The  Eightieth  reached  Ealeigh,  North  Caroli- 
na, on  the  day  it  was  first  occupied  by  Fedei-al 
troops.  After  the  surrender  of  Johnson's  army 
to  General  Sherman,  the  Eightieth  marchedwith 
the. national  forces  through  Eichmond  to  Wash- 
ington City,  and  there  participated' in  the  grand 
review.  A  few  days  thereafter  it  was  taken  by 
rail  and  river  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  from 
thence  to  Little  Eock,  Arkansas,  where  for  some 
months  it  performed  guard  and  garrison  duty. 
This  closed  its  military  career.  It  was  mustered 
out  of  the  .service  at  Little  Eock,  15th  of  August, 
1865,  arrived  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  a  few  days  there- 
after and  was  finally  discharged,  August  25, 1865, 
with  as  much  honor  as  any  regiment  from  the 
State  of  Ohio. 


S56 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


CilAPTER  XXXIX. 

WAR  OF  THE  EEBELLION— CONTINUED. 

Sixly-ninth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry— Muster  Roll— Services 
in  the  Field— Seventy-sixth  Ohio— Muster  Roll  andRecord. 

LARGE  numbers  of  men  enlisted  in  the  vari- 
ous counties  immediately  adjoining  Coshoc- 
ton, who,  though  residents  of  Coshocton  county, 
were  credited  to  regiments  whose  names  have 
gone  down  in  history  as  having  been  recruited 
exclusively  in  those  counties.  Fortunately,'  in 
the  case  of  the  Sixty-ninth  and  Seventy-sixth  reg- 
iments, this  difficulty  has  been  partly  remedied 
by  virtue  of  such  facts  as  are  furnished  by  the 
following  items  from  the  Age  setting  forth  the 
times  and  manner  of  recruiting  these  regiments 
in  the  counties  to  which  they  are  credited.  The 
Age  of  January  12, 1862,  publishes  the  following : 
Camp  Sherman,  Newark,  Ohio,  January  12, 1862. 

The  company  to  which  the  men  I  recruited  in 
Coshocton  county  were  united,  is  the  seventh 
company  now  organized,  and  is  known  as  Com- 
pany G.  The  three  other  companies  in  Whose 
recruits  you  are  interested,  are  not  yet  full.  * 
R.  W.  Bdet,  Second  Lieutenant. 

As  to  the  company  assigned  to  the  Sixty-ninth 
Ohio,  the  Age  has  the  following  item,  under  date 
of  February  27 : 

J.  V.  HesUp,  of  Linton  township,  is  recruiting 
another  company. 

And,  in  an  issue  of  later  date,  the  following: 

Captain  John  V.  Heslip  has  succeded  in  re- 
cruiting a  very  fine  company,  and  is  justly  en- 
titled to  its  command.  His  company  has  been 
assigned  to  the  Sixty-ninth,  and  is.  now  at  Camp 
Chase. 

And  in  the  same  issue  is  the  following  from 
the  Seventy-sixth : 

The  Coshocton  boys  of  the  Seventy-sixth  are 
getting  along  very  comfortaby  here;  we  have 
Sibley  tents  with  stoves  in  them^  About  sixteen  or 
seventeen  men  lodge  in  each  tent,  lying  with 
their  feet  towards  the  stove.    Rations  first-class. 

R.  W.  Burt, 
Company  G,  Seventy-sixth  Ohio. 

The  Sixty-ninth  was  raised  from  various  coun- 
ties, among  which  was  Coshocton,  from  which 
came  the  company  of  John  V.  Heslip,  who  is 


still  a  resident  of  the  county,  in  the  hamlet  o£ 
Plainfield,  commonly  called  Jacobsport.  Besides, 
this  company,  there  was  quite  a  number  of  indi- 
vidual members  of  other  companies  in  the  regi- 
nient,  hailing  from  Coshoctop. 

SIXTY-NINTH  REGIMENT. 

Muster  roll  of  Company  G,  Sixty-ninth  OhiOp 
mustered  into  service  March  21, 1862: 

OFFICERS. 

John  V.  Heslip,  Captain. 

James  G.  Elrick,  First  Lieutenant. 

Thomas  B.  Hoffman,  Second  Lieutenant, 

John  H.  Johnson,  First  Sergeant. 

Francis  A.  Stone,  Second  Sergeant. 

James  A.  Clark,  Third  Sergeant. 

Adam  Sturts,  Fourth  Sergeant. 

George  F.  McClary,  Fifth  Sergeant. 

John  M.  WiUiams,  First  Corporal. 

Rufus  R.  Wells,  Second  Corporal. 

John  McAllister,  Third  Corporal. 

Thomas  B.  Hill,  Fourth  Corporal.  .     ,  i 

Thomas  Piatt,  Fifth  Corporal. 

John  R.  Neal,  Sixth  Corporal. 

Thomas  F.  Hall,  Seventh  Corporal. 

Thomas  J.  McCartny,  Eighth  Corpdml. 

FHvates. — William  Armstrong,  John  W.BrookSr 
Samuel  C.  Blackford,  George  G.  Braxton,  Robert 
Bromfield,  John  Buch,  Thomas  C.  Brumellr 
Thomas  F.  Beckett,  James  B.  Cane,  JaHies  Dean, 
James  W.  Dean,  Joseph  Daty,  George  B.  Dickey,. 
Barney  Donely,  Freeman  Dulin,  John  K.  Eddy, 
Tunis  Elson,  William  M.  Elson,  John  Fultry, 
Richard  F.  Fisher,  James  F.  Fisher,  Aaron  Far- 
man,  Joshua  M.  Gardner,  Lebanon  Ganner,  Wil- 
liam George,  Thomas  H.  Hahey,  Mathew  Henryr 
William  A.  Hill,  Samuel  Holmes,  John  J.  Johi^- 
son,  James  D.  Johnson,  Henry  C.  Johnson,  James. 
Johnson,  Thomas  M.  Kildon,  John  B.  Kildon, 
James  Marshall,  David  Maple,  John  Maple,  John 
Monson,  Alexander  Mattem,  Robert  McKelvey^ 
Henry  F.  McKendree,  Jacob  B.  Miller,  Daniel 
Martin,  Lonous  McKeever,  Joseph  Penn,  Robert. 
Piatt,  John  Bobbins,  John  N.  Smith,  James  P. 
Stone,  David  A.  Say  re,  Henry  Stribbling,  William 
Sayre,  Calvin  Sturty,  James  R.  Stone,  Daniel  H, 
Spear,  George  Stidd,  Jacob  Stortry,  John  W. 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


357 


Thompson,' Henderson  Vance,  Thomas  Vance, 
Henry  Vensel,  Stephen  Wisenburger,  Ohver 
Wilkinson,  Daniel  Williams,  Riley  Wiggins, 
John  D.  Elson,  Anderson  Maple. 

Oji  April  19,  1862,  the  Sixty-ninth  received  or- 
ders to  report  for  duty  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  at 
which  place  it  arived  on  the  22d.  Went  into 
■camp  on  Major  Lewis'  grounds,  near  the  city, 
and  was  reviewed  by  Andrew  Johnson,  then  Mili- 
tary Governor  of  Tennessee.  Remaining  here 
until  the  1st  of  May,  it  then  went  west  to  Frank- 
lin, Tennessee,  and  was  therfe  detailed  to  guard 
forty  miles  of  the  Tennessee  and  Alabama  rail- 
road. Aside  from  frequent  alarms,  nothing  of 
moment  occurred  while  the  regiment  was  per- 
forming this  duty.  The  rebel  women  of  Frank- 
lin were  especially  bitter,  and  on  one  occasion 
evinced  their  venom  against  the  national  dead 
buried  in  the  cemetery,  by  dancing  on  their 
graves.  Colonel  Campbell,  of  the  Sixty-ninth, 
issued  an  order  commenting  in  severe  terms  on 
this  indignity,  and  warning  the  people  of  Frank- 
lin against  a  repetition  of  such  dastardly  insults. 

On  June  8,  the  regiment  left  Franklin  and  re- 
turned to  Nashville.  From  thence  it  went  by 
rail  to  Murfreesboro,  where  it  joined  an  expe- 
dition under  General  Dumont,  of  Indiana,  to 
McMinnville,  and  thence  marched  across  the 
Cumberland  Mountains  to  Pikeville.  Its  object 
having  been  eflfected  the  expedition  returned  to 
Murfreesboro.  This  march  and  counter-march 
was  very  severe,  and  the  suffering  was  much  ag- 
gravated by  the  fact  that  the  rations  were  almost 
corhpletely  exhausted. 

June  20  found  the  Sixty-ninth  at  Nashville 
again,  where  it  remained  performing  provost  and 
guard  duty,  until  the  last  of  July.  Its  Colonel, 
Hon.  Lewis  D.  Campbell  (since  Minister  to 
Mexico),  was  appointed  Provost  Marshal  of  Nash- 
ville, which  position  he  held  until  his  resigna- 
tion, in  the  following  August.  During  the  stay 
of  the  regiment  here,  the  rebel.  General  Morgan, 
made  a  raid  on  the  town  of  Gallatin.  The  Sixty- 
ninth  Ohio  and  Eleventh  Michigan,  were  ordered 
there,  and  drove  the  enemy  from  the  place,  the 
Sixty-ninth  losing  one  man  killed,  Isaac  Repp,  of 
Dayton.  This  was  the,first  loss  of  the  regiment 
dn  battle. 

When  Bragg's  army  attempted  a  flank  move- 


ment toward  Louisville,  the  Sixty-ninth  and 
other  regiments  were  left  at  Nashville  as  garri- 
son for  the  city.  From  the  scarcity  of  troops, 
this  duty  was  rendered  quite  severe.  Hardly  a. 
day  passed  without  some  ♦fight  or  skirmish  with 
the  enemy,  who  were  continually  making  demon- 
strations on  the  Nashville  and  other  turnpikes. 
This  duty  was  performed  until  the  20th  of  De- 
cember, when  the  regiment  went  into  camp 
about  five  miles  from  the  city. 

On  December  26,  1862,  the  Sixty-ninth  moved, 
with  the  army  under  General  Rosecrans,  toward 
Murfreesboro.  It  was  brigaded  in  the  Four- 
teenth Corps,  which  marched  on  the  Franklin 
turnpike.  On  the  31st,  the  first  day  of  the  battle 
of  Stone  River,  the  regiment,  with  its  brigade, 
was  engaged  with  the  enemy,  taking  position  in 
the  advance  line  of  General  George  H.  Thomas' 
Fourteenth  Corps.  It  became  involved  in  the 
disaster  on  the  right,  and  was  compelled  to  fight 
its  way  back  to  the  Nashville  turnpike.  On  this 
day  the  regiment  suffered  severely  both  in  killed 
and  wounded.  It  was  not  engaged  in  the  move- 
ments on  the  1st  of  January,  1863. 

On  Friday,  January  2,  the  Sixty-ninth  took 
part  in  the  brilliant  and  desperate  charge  across 
Stone  River  against  Breckinridge's  rebel  corps,  in 
which  the  rebels  were  driven  back  with  heavy 
loss.  In  this  charge  it  captured  a  section  of  the 
famous  Washington  Battery,  from  New  Orleans. 
Sergeant  Frederick  Wilson,  of  Company  E,  cap- 
tured the  flag  of  the  battery.  This  fight  lasted 
until  after  dark,  and  proved  the  termination  of 
the  battle,  as  on  the  next  day  the  rebel  army  was 
not  to  be  seen.  Captain  L.  C.  Consellor,  of  Com- 
pany H;  Sergeant  McGillam,  pf  Company  B; 
Corporal  D.  P.  Albright  and  Private  Stopher,  of 
Company  E,  were  killed  in  the  charge.  Many- 
others  were  wounded. 

On  June  24, 1868,  the  Tullahoma  campaign  was 
commenced.  The  regiment  rnoved  with  the 
Fourteenth  Corps,  under  General  George  H. 
Thomas,  on  the  Manchester  r09.d.  No  opposition 
was  met  with  until  in  the  passage  through  Hoo- 
ver's Gap,  the  enemy's  rear-guard  was  engaged  in 
a  brisk  fight.  At  Elk  river,  also,  the  enemy  made 
a  stand,  but  was  quickly  driven.  Reaching  Cow- 
an's Station,  on  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga 
railroad,  the  army  went  into  camp,  it  being  im- 


358 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


possible  to  make  further  progress  through  the 
deep  mud  and  terrible  roads  of  that  region. 

When  the  army  moved  again,  the  Sixty-ninth 
was  left  at  Cowan's  Station,  as  guard  to  the  gen- 
oral  hospital,  and  it  reihained  at  that  point  until 
the  8th  of  September.  It  was  then  detailed  as 
guard  to  an  ammunition  train  of  450  wagons, 
going  to  Bridgeport,  on  the  Tennessee  river.  It 
then  marched  to  Chattanooga. 

Preparatory  to  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  the 
Sixty-ninth  Ohio,  with  the  reserve  Corps,  under 
General  Gorden  Granger,  marched  from  Ross- 
ville  to  Chickamauga  creek.  At  this  point,  in  obe- 
dience to  an  order  from  Colonel  Dan  McCook, 
commanding  the  brigade,,  the  regiment  ad- 
vanced, under  Colonel  Brigham,  and  burned 
Read's  Bridge,  thus  preventing  the  enemy  from 
coming  in  on  the  rear  of  the  national  army. 
The  regiment  then  fell  back  to  Rossville,  and  im- 
mediately thereafter  took  charge  of  the  division 
trains.  For  this  reason  it  did  not  participate  in 
the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  On  September  20,  in 
the  afternoon,  the  Sixty-ninth  was  ordered  to  re- 
port at  the  front,  near  Rossville,  where  it  per- 
formed picket  duty  and  aided  in  covering  the  re- 
treat of  the  Fourteenth  Corps  toward  Chatta- 
nooga. 

The  regirrient  participated  in  the  battle  of 
Mission  Ridge,  and  was  among  the  first  to  reach 
the  top  of  the  mountain.  In  this  charge  it  was 
commanded  by  Major  J.  J.  Hanna,  who  was 
highly  complimeat^d  for  his  bravery  and  effi- 
ciency. In  ascending  the  Ridge,  Lieutenant  J. 
S.  Scott,  Color  Sergeant  Jacob  Wetzell,  Color  Cor- 
porals D.  W.  Leach  and  John  Meredith,  Corporal 
E.  J.  Mauche,  Privates  Kluger,  Elsom,  Sewers 
and  Hefling  were  killed,  and  a  large  number 
wounded,  many  of  whom  subsequently  died. 

On  March  16,  1864,  the  regiment,  after  having 
reenlisted  as  veterans,  started  for  Ohio,  on  a  fur- 
lough of  thirty  days.  At  the  end  of  their  fur- 
lough the  men  reported  promptly  at  Camp  Den- 
nison,  and  on  the  22d  of  April  again  started  for 
the  field.  Arriving  at  Nashville  the  regiment 
was  compelled)  for  lack  of  transportation,  to 
march  to  Cowan's  Station.  It  joined  Sherman's 
forces  at  Buzzard's  Roost  on  the  11th  of  May. 

On  May  14,  the  regiment,  with  the  army,  moVed 
through  Snake  Creek  Gap  to  a  point  near  Resaca, 


where  the  enemy  was  met  and  engaged,  At  this- 
place  Color  Sergeant  John  A.  Compton  and  four 
others  were  killed  and  twenty-six  men  wounded.. 

At  Pumpkin- Vine  Creek,  and  at  Dallas,  -the 
enemy  was  again  engaged.  In  these  af&irs  ,the  ' 
regiment  lost  five  killed  and  nineteen  wounded.. 
Kenesaw  Mountain  was  reached  in  the  evening- 
of  June  14.  During  this  siege  two  men  were- 
killed.  At  Marietta,  July  4,  another  engagement- 
was  had  with  the  enemy,  in  which  the  regiment 
lost  one  man  killed  and  seven  wounded.  The 
next  stand  -was  at*  the  crossing  of  the  Chatta- 
hoochie  river.  In  this  affair  the  regiment  es- 
caped without  loss.  On  the  21st  the  regiment  lost 
one  man  killed  and  ten  wounded.  July  22  brought. 
the  regiment  and  the  army  before  Atlanta.  Dur- 
ing the  siege  nine  men  were  wounded,  two  of 
whom  subsequently  died. 

On  September  1  the  Sixty-ninth  took 'part  in 
the  fight  at  Jonesboro,  and  lost  Lieutenant  Jacob 
S.  Pierson,  Martin  V.  Baily,'  Color  Sergeant  Allen 
L.  Jobes,  of  Company  D,  and  five  men  killed  and 
thirty-six  wounded,  some  of  whom  died  in  a  few 
hours  after  the  fight.  This  battle  caused  the 
evacuation  of  Atlanta,  and  the  national  forces 
occupied  that  city. 

The  regiment  participated  in  the  subsequent 
chase  after  Hood,  through  the  upper  part  of 
Georgia  and  into  Alabama.  It  then  returned  to 
Atlanta  and  joined  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea. 
On  that  march  it  lost  one  man  by  disease  and 
four  captured.  Arriving  in  front  of  Savannah, 
it  took  position  in  the  front  line.  In  the  cam- 
paign through  the  Carolinas,  the  regiment  'w&s 
engaged  with  the  enemy  near  Goldsboro',  North 
Carolina,  March  19,  1865,  and  lost  two  killed  and 
eight  wounded.  This  was  the  last  afTair  in  which 
it  participated.  - 

Then  came  the  march  through  Richmond,  the 
review  at  Washington,  the  transfer  to  Louisville, 
and  lastly  the  final  muster  out  of  the  service,  on 
the  17th  of  July,  1865. 

SEVENTY-SIXTH  EEGIMENT. 

Muster  roll  of  Company,  G,  Seventy-sixth  Ohio. 

OPFICEES. 

James  Stewart,  Captain. 

John  Winstrode,  First  Lieutenant. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


359 


Richard  W.  Burt,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Jacob  A.  Jury,  First  Sergeant. 
James  Q.  Evans,  Second  Sergeant. 
Rufus  W.  Hentrom,  Third  Sergeant. 
Hiram  Vandyburg,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Denton  Whips,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Martin  Armstrong,  First  Corporal. 

Harry  W ,  Second  Corporal. 

Jacob  Rumer,  Third  Corporal. 
Horace  Reynolds,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Thomas  J.  Davis,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Lewis  Williams,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Daniel  Heckard,  Seventh  Corporal. 
George  Kinupf,  Eighth  Corporal. 
David  Jones,  Musician. 
Charles  H.  Paramore,  Musician. 
Joseph  Martin,  Wagoner. 

Privates — Reuben  Abbott,  William  E.  Boylan, 
Edward  Beverly,  John  Binkley,  Isaac  Bounds, 
Henry  R.  Burner,  Thomas  Coffman,  William  H. 
Coflman,  James  Carnahan,  Henry  Davis,  jr., 
Henry  Davis,  sr.,  James  H.  Dame,  Cornelius  Dis- 
pennet,  Samuel  Dispennet,  Asias  Deacon,  Thomas 
Dutroe,  Philip  W.  Evans,  Aaron  Evans,  Thomas 
Evans,  Thomas  Egans,  Perry  Flowers,  Jacob  Fet- 
zel,  Henry  H.  German,  John  Gillespie,'  Solomon 
Holtsbury,  Isaac  Holtsbury,  Philip  Harter,  Cal- 
vin Hart,  William  Hall,  Thomas  Hancock,  Crosby 
Johnson,  Israel  Jones,  John  R.  Jones,  Leander 
Jennings,  Frederick  Krauss,  Adam  Lawyer, 
William  Lyle,  Peter  McKeiver,  John  Mitchell, 
James  Madix,  Paul  Murphy,  Henry  H.  Marvin, 
William  Oard,  William  Oliver,  James  M.  Par- 
mer, Jeread  Price,  Thomas  Pool,  David  Patter- 
son, Reason  Roby,  John  Rickets,  Barney  Rogers, 
David  Sams,  Pairick  Sullivan,  Isaac  Switzer, 
Haus  P.  C  Smith,  Hugh  Tagart,  Lemuel  Thomp- 
son, Abram  Walker,  John  Walker,  George 
Whips,  Silas  Ward,  John  Webber,  James  Wiley, 
John  Wilson,  Emanuel  Yiesley,  George  White- 
head. 

Captain  Charles  R.  Woods,  of  the  Ninth 
United  States  Infantry,  having  been  authorized 
to  raise  a  regiment  for  the  three  years'  service, 
recruited  and  organized  the  Seventy-sixth  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry,  at  Newark,  Ohio,  on  the  9th 
of  February,  1862.  The  regiment  left  Newark, 
and,  proceeding  via  Paducah,  Kentucky,  to  Fort 


Donelson,  took  an  active  part  in  the  engagement 
at  that  place.  On  the  6th  of  March  it  moved  to 
the  Tennessee  river,  and  then  up  the  river  to 
Crump's  Landing,  where  it  remained  until  the 
31st,  when  it  marched  to  Adamsville,  and  took 
position  in  General  Lew  Wallace's  division,  in  the 
right  wing  of  General  Grant's  army.  The  divis- 
ion made  a  forced  march  to  Pittsburgh  Landing 
on  the  6th  of  April,  and  was  in  line  of  battle  by 
dark,  and  during  the  entire  engagement  was  con- 
stantly exposed  to  the  enemy's  fire.  In  the  latter 
part  of  April  the  regiment  formed  a  part  of  a 
reconnoitering  party  toward  Corinth,  charging  the 
rebels,  driving  them  from  their  position  and  de- 
stroying their  camp  equipage.  It  formed  a  part 
of  the  grand  reserve  during  the  advance  on 
Corinth,  and,  after  the  evacuation,  moved  to 
Memphis,  arriving  on  the  11th  of  June,  having 
marched  130  miles  with  wagon  supplies.  The 
Seventy-sixth  moved  down  the  river  on  the  24th 
of  July,  and  encamped  near  Helena,  Arkansas. 

In  the  reorganization  of  the  Army  of  the  South- 
west the  Seventy-sixth  was  placed  in  the  second 
brigade,  commanded  by  General  P.  J.  Osterhaus. 
On  the  16th  of  August  the  regiment,  forming  a 
part  of  an  expedition  of  observation,  moved  down 
the  Mississippi,  landed  at  Milhken's  Bend  on  the 
18th,  surprised  the  Thirty-first  Louisiana  Regi- 
ment, and  captured  all  its  camp  and  garrison 
equipage.  The  enemy  was  followed  nine  njiles, 
and  forty  prisoners  were  captured.  The  fleet 
moved  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  and  a 
detachment,  comprising  a  portion  of  the  Seventy- 
sixth,  proceeded  up  the  Yazoo,  surprised  Haines' 
Bluff,  and  captured  four  siege  guns,  two  field 
pieces  and  a  large  quantity  of  fixed  ammunition. 
The  expedition  returned  to  Helena  on  the  27th. 
The  regiment  embarked  for  St.  Genevieve,  Mis- 
souri, early  in  October,  and,  remaining  a  week, 
moved  with  the  division  to  Pilot  Knob,  where 
it  encamped  for  rest  and  reorganization.  It  be- 
came very  healthy  and  efficient  during  its  stay 
here,  and  on  the  12th  of  November  returned  to 
St.  Genevieve  and  embarked  for  Camp  Steele, 
Mississippi. 

On  the  31st  of  December  it  formed  a  part  of 
General  Sherman's  expedition  for  Vicksburgh. 
The  fleet  arrived  at  Johnson's  Landing,  on  the 
Yazoo,  on  the  26th,  and  the  division,  then  com- 


360 


HISTOBY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


manded  by  General  Steele,  disembarked;  and 
Hovey's  brigade,  of  which  the  Seventy-sixth  was 
a  part,  made  a  feint  on  Haines'  Bluff,  and  then 
took  position  on  the  extreme  left  of  the  army. 
On  the  29th  the  division  moved  to  the  main  army 
at  Chickasaw  Bayou ;  and,  during  the  battle,  the 
regiment  was  held  in  reserve. 

General  Sherman  having  abandoned  the  assault 
on  Vicksburg,  the  troops  re-embarked  and  pro- 
ceeded up  the  Mississippi,  landing  at  Arkansas 
Post  on  the  evening  of  the  10th  of  January,  1803. 
That  night  the  regiment  marched  six  miles 
through  mud  and  water,  and  by  two  next  morn- 
ing the  troops  occupied  the  cantonments  of  the 
enemy.  Shortly  after  daylight  they  moved  upon 
tlie  enemy's  works,  and  about  one  o'clock  the 
Seventy-sixth  charged  within  100  yards  of  the 
rifle  pits,  halted,  opened  fire,  and  held  the  posi- 
tion for  three  hours,  when  the  enemy  surren- 
dered. On  the  14th,  after  burning  the  canton- 
ments of  the  enemy,  it  returned  to  the  river, 
and,  embarking  on  the  23d,  the  troops  landed  at 
Young's  Point,  Louisiana.  On  the  night  of  the 
14th  of  February,  two  non-commissioned  officers 
of  Company  B  were  killed  and  four  disabled  by 
lightning.  During  the  entire  month  heavy  de- 
tails were  made  from  the  regiment  to  work  upon 
the  canal  then  in  progress  across  the  neck  of 
land  opposite  Vicksburg.  On  the  2d  of  April, 
the  regiment,  with  Steele's  division,  proceeded  on 
transports  up  the  river,  to  Greenville,  Mississippi. 
The  command  marched  down  Deer  creek  after 
the  rebel  force  under  Colonel  Ferguson,  and  on 
the  7th  made  an  attack  and  routed  them.'  The 
command  returned  to  Greenville,  after  destroy- 
ing $1,000,000  worth  of  cotton  and  corn,  and 
bringing  off  a  large  number  of  cattle,  horses  and 
mules.  About  300  negroes  followed  the  troops, 
and  were  enlisted  in  colored  regiments. 

On  the  24th  the  Seventy-sixth  returned  to 
Young's  Point,  and  on  the  26th  moved  to  Milli- 
ken's  Bend,  and  prepared  to  march  with  the 
grand  army  southward.  On  the  2d  of  May  the 
Fifteenth  Corps  started  for  Hard  Times  Land- 
ing, where  it  arrived  on  the  6th  and  crossed  to 
the  Grand  Gulf.  The  Seventy-sixth  moved  east- 
ward, and,  at  Fourteen  Mile  creek,  the  division 
was  attacked  by  a  mounted  force  of  the  enemy. 
Colonel  Wood's  brigade  pushed  across  the  creek 


in  the  face  of  a  sharp  fire,  and  drove  the  enemy 
back.  At  Jackson  the  regiment  charged  the 
works  on  the  enemj'-'s  left.  The  works  were 
evacuated,  and  the  city  surrendered.  On  the  16th 
the  corps  marched  for  Vicksburg,  and  on  the  18th 
took  position  in  the  line  of  investment.  The 
next  day  the  regiment  pushed  along  the  foot  of 
the  blu£F  near  the  river,  and  established  itself  in 
position  six  hundred  yards  from  the  main  lines 
of  the  enemy.  The  batteries  of  the  enemy  in 
front  of  the  Seventy-sixth  were  silenced,  and 
none  of  his  guns  could  be  manned  except  those 
of  the  water  batteries.  Heavy  details  were  con- 
stantly made  for  strengthening  the  works.  In 
the  course  of  several  nights  eight  guns  were 
taken  off  the  sunken  gunboat  Cincinnati  and 
placed  in  position,  with  telling  effect.  After  the 
surrender  of  Vicksburg  the  regiment  marched  in 
pursuit  of  Johnston,  and  arrived  at  Jackson  on 
the  10th  of  July.  While  here  it  was  chiefly  em- 
ployed in  foraging  and  making  reconnoissances. 
On  the  23d  the  regiment  marched  for  Big  Black 
Bridge,  where  the  corps  went  into  camp  for  rest 
and  reorganization. 

On  the  23d  of  September  the  division  (General 
Osterhaus  in  command)  embarked  at  Vicksburg 
for  Memphis,  and  on  the  30th  moved  from  the 
latter  place,  by  railroad,  to  Corinth.  During  the 
months  of  October  and  November  the  regitaent 
marched  and  skirmished  in  Northern  Alabama 
and  Tennessee,  arriving  at  Chattanooga  in  time 
to  join  General  Hooker  in  the  assault  on  Look- 
out Mountain;  was  engaged  at  Mission  Kidge, 
and  on  the  27th  of  November  charged  up  Tay- 
lor's Ridge  under  a  heavy  fire,  suffering  a  fearful 
loss.  In  one  company  of  twenty  men  eight  were 
killed^  and  eight  wounded,  and  seven  men  were 
shot  down  while  carrying  the  regimental  colore. 

After  marching  and  bivouacking  in  various 
places,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1864,  the  regiment 
went  into  camp  for  the  winter  at  Paint  Kock, 
Alabama. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1864,  about  two-thirds 
of  the  regiment  re-enlisted  as  veterans,  and  leave 
was  granted  to  proceed  to  Ohio.  On  the  30th  it 
moved  via  Nashville,  Louisville  and  Cincinnati 
to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  on  the  8th  of  February 
took  the  train  for  Newark.  The  regiment  dis- 
embarked one  mile  from  the  city  and  moved  into 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


361 


town  in  a  column  by  company.  It  was  enthusi- 
astically welcomed  by  a  large  concourse  of  citi- 
zens; speeches  were  made,  and  a  sumptuous  re- 
past was  partaken  of  at  City  Hall.  The  mem- 
bers were  furloughed  to  their  homes.  The 
Seventy-sixth  went  away  962  strong,  and  returned 
in  two  years  with  less  than  300.  It  returned  to 
Cincinnati  on  the  15th  of  March,  and  proceeded 
■via  Louisville,  Nashville  and  Huntsville  to  the 
old  camp  at  Paint  Rock.  On  the  1st  of  May  it 
broke  camp  and  moved  with  the  division  fpr 
Chattanooga.  At  Bridgeport  it  was  presente4 
with  a  new  stand  of  colors,  from  the  citizens  of 
Newark.  The  troops  arrived  at  Chattanooga  on 
the  6th,  and  pushed  forward  twelve  miles.  On' 
the  9th  the  regiment  moved  through  Snake 
Creek  Gap,  and  continued  moving  forward, 
skirmishing  and  fortifying,  until  the  14th  at  6 
/o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the  regiment,  with 
the  brigade,  charged  across  the  fields  under  a  hot 
fire,  and  gained  a  footing  on  the  first  line  of  hills 
west  of  Resaca.  On  the  16th,  the  enemy  having 
evacuated,  the  Seventy-sixth  moved  through 
Resaca  and  Adairsville  to  Dallas.  Hardie's  corpS' 
assaulted. the  lines  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  on  the 
28th,  and  was  repulsed,  leaving  many  dead  on 
tbe  field,  some  of  them  within  50  yards  of  the 
works  in  front  of  the  Seventy-sixth  Ohio. 

On  the  1st  of  June  the  corps  moved  to  the  left, 
near  New  Hope  church,  then  to  Acworth,  then 
south,  and  so  on,  each  day  advancing  and  fortify- 
ing, until,  on  the  22d,  it  occupied  a  position  near 
the  railroad  at  the  foot  of  Kenesaw  Mountain. 
The  Seventy-sixth  remained  in  the  rifle-pits  until 
after  the  rebels  evacuated  it,  then  moved  to  Ross- 
ville;  thence  across  the  Chattahootchie,  through 
Decatur,  to  within  four  miles  of  Atlanta,  on  the 
20th  of  July.  On  the  22d,  the  rebels  captured 
four  twenty-pound  Parrott  guns,  and  the  Set  en-' 
ty-sixth  Ohio  and  the  Thirtieth  Iowa,  of  the  first 
brigade,  were  the  first  to  drive  the  enemy  from 
the  works  and  to  recapture  the  guns.  About 
noon  oh  the  28th,  the  enemy  attacked  the  whole 
line  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps,  and  three  successive 
charges  were  made,  each  one  proving  unavailing. 
1,000  of  the  rebel  dead  were  found  in  front  of  the 
Fifteenth  Corps.  On  the  30th  of  August,  the 
skirmish  line  in  front  of  the  division  was  advanced 
and  the    Seventy-sixth  captured  fifty  prisoners. 


On  the  26th,  the  regiment  moved  out  of  the  works, 
with  the  division,  to  the  West  Point  and  Mont- 
gomery railroad,  which  they  destroyed,  marched 
southward  toward  Jonesboro,  and  on  the  night  of 
the  30th  formed  in  line  across  Flint  river.  Tlie 
next  day  the  rebels  charged  the  line  and  were 
repulsed,  the  Seventy-sixth  taking  an  active  share 
in  the  engagement,  without  the  protection  of 
rifle-pits. 

On  the  8th  of  September,  the  division  moved 
to  East  Point  and  encamped  for  rest  and  re- 
organization. On  the  4th  of  October,  the  regi- 
ment crossed  the  Chattahoochie,  marched  through 
Marietta,  north  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  near 
Adairsville,  through  Resaca,  through  Snake  Creek 
Gap,  and  on  the  16th  skirmished  with  the  enemy 
at  Ship's  Gap.  On  the  next  day  the  regiment 
marched  through  Lafayette,  and  on  the  18th 
moved  south  through  Sjmmerville  and  bivou- 
acked. Here  the  non- veterans  were  mustered 
out.  The  regiment  moved  with  the  army  to 
Little  River,  Cave  Springs,  near  to  Atlanta.  On 
the  15th  of  November,  the  Fifteenth  Corps  cut 
loose  from  Atlanta  and  moved  southward  with 
the  right  wing  of  the  army,  averaging  fifteen 
miles  per  day  and  foraging  off  the  country. 

The  route  of  the  Fifteenth  Corps  was  via  Mc- 
Donough,  Indian  Springs,  Clinton  and  Irwin- 
town,  crossing  the  Macon  and  Augusta  railroad 
twenty  miles  east  of  Macon;  thence  eastward 
across  the  Oconee  river  to  Ogeechee,  and  down 
the  west  bank  of  that  stream  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Cannonchee;  .thence  across  the  Ogeechee  east- 
ward to  Savannah,  where  it  arrived  on  the  18th 
of  December,  being  twenty-six  days  out  from 
Atlanta. 

After  the  evacuation,  the  regiment  performed 
provost  guard  duty  in  the  eity  until  the  9th  of 
January,  1865,  when  it  embarked  on  the  gunboat 
Winona  for  Beaufort,  South  Carolina.  From 
Beaufort  it  marched  to  Gardner's  Corners,  where 
preparations  were  made  for  the  march  northward, 
and  on  the  31st  the  command  broke  camp  on  the 
"  Campaign  of  the  Carolinas." 

On  the  16th  of  February  the  troops  formed  on 
the  outskirts  of  Columbia,  and  the  Seventy-sixth 
was  engaged  in  skirmishing  until  the  evacuation 
of  the  city,  when  it  again  performed  provost 
guard  duty  for  four  days.    The  troops  arrived  at 


362 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Fayette ville  on  the  12th  of  March;  crossed  Cape 
Fear  and  Black  rivers;  moved  to  Bentonville, 
where  they  engaged  the  enemy,  and  thence  via 
Goldsboro'  to  Ealeigh,  where  the  Seventy-sixth 
remained  until  Johnston's  surrender. 

On  the  30th  of  April  the  army  broke  camp  and 
marched  via  Richmond  and  Hanover  C.  H.,  to 
Washington,  reaching  the  Capitol  on  the  23d  of 
May,  1865.  The  Seventy-sixth  shared  in  the  grand 
review,  and  shortly  after  moved  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  where  it  was  mustered  out.  It  then 
proceeded  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  where,  on  the  24th 
of  July,  1865,  it  was  discharged.  This  regiment 
participated  in  fifty-four  battles;  moved  9,625 
miles  on  foot,  by  rail  and  by  water;  passed 
through  the  rebellious  States  of  Kentucky,  Mis- 
souri, Arkansas,  Tennessee,  Louisiana,  Missis- 
sippi, Alabama,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia.  Two  hundred  and  forty- 
one  men  were  wounded  in  battle;  351  died  on 
the  field  or  in  hospitals;  222  carry  scars  as  evi- 
dence of  their  struggle  with  the  enemy,  and  282 
contracted  the  seeds  of  disease. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION — CONTINUED. 

The  Ninety-Seventli — Rosters  of  Companies  H  and  I— Re- 
view by  John  M.  Compton — Historical  Record  of  the  Regi- 
ment— Correspondence  and  Reminiscences. 

THE  Ninety-seventh  was  recruited  in  the  coun- 
ties of  Muskingum,  Morgan,  Guernsey  and 
Coshocton.  Coshocton  claims  Companies  H  and 
I,  whose  muster  rolls  at  enlistment  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Muster  roll  of  Company  H: 

OFFICERS. 

C.  C.  Nichols,  Captain. 
Noah  McClain,  First  Lieutenant. 
C.  M.  Mathews,  Second  Lieutenant 
.Milton  H.  Lakin,  First  Sergeant. 
Baxter  Ricketts,  Second  Sergeant. 
Nathaniel  B.  Mills,  Third  Sergeant. 
George  Coggins,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Jesse  S.  Lake,  First  Corporal. 
William  F.  Bunton,  Second  Corporal. 


Jeremiah  Peart,  Third  Corporal. 
Elijah'  C.  Richards,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Stephen  Zuck,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Jesse  J.  Deviney,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Daniel  Elliott,  Seventh  Corporal. 
George  Smith,  Eighth  Corporal. 
Spencer  Fry,  Franklin  Newell,  Musicians. 
Richard  Roll,  Teamster. 

Privates. — David  E.  Almack,  Aeo.  W.  Bricker, 
George  W.  Boring,  John  Barrett,  David  Balo, 
William  Blenning,  John  Blackburn,  Benjamin 
Bush,  John  Bush,  Stephen  Balo,  Abram  Balo, 
Frank  Cattrell,  John  M.  Compton,  William  Col- 
lins, William  Clough,  John  Chicken,  Joseph 
Clark,  Newton  G.  Dunn,  Jared  Doolittle,  Charles' 
Emmerson,  David  Evans,  Henry  Foster,  John 
B.  Frey,  Abram  Farquar,  Lewis  Williams,  Robert 
Gould,  Samuel  Harris,  William  Hook,  William 
Haines,  Adam  Hogle,  David  Houser,  John  F. 
Hummer,  Christopher  Hall,  George  Hagans, 
Joseph  House,  Alfred  Shultz,  Levi  Harmon,George 
Hinkin,  George  Holsworth,  William  Ishmall, 
William  James,  George  W.  Johnson,  James  Jar- 
vis,  Benjamin  F.  Jones,  David  Jenkins,  Christian 
Krouss,  Joseph  Layton,  Samuel  H.  Lynch,  John 
Maston,  Isaac  McNabb,  John  Moore;-  Oliver 
McQuine,  John  G.  Mackey,  Joseph  H.  Moore, 
Thomas  Morgan,  Sylvester  Norman,  George 
Nixon,  George  R.  Nichols,  William  Owens,  David 
Owens,  Elias  Oden,  George  Page,  Robert  Price, 
Nathan  Price,  William  A.'  Rannels,  William 
Rodgers,  John  W.  Richards,  William  Skillman, 
James  Sears,  Albert  Smith,  Mark  Trumbull, 
Joseph  Trumbull,  Alfred  B.  Walford,  Morgan 
Williams,  Daniel  Williams,  J.  C.  Walford,  Jacob 
Wiker,  Hiram  Wilson,  Thomas  Westmoreland, 
Isaac  Wiggins,  John  Wiggins,  Thomas  Youngs. 

Muster  roll  of  Company  I: 

OFFICERS. 

Emmanuel  Shaffer,  Captain. 
Martin  Weiser,  First  Lieutenant. 
G.  W.  Smailes,  Second  Lieutenant. 
A.  B.  Barton,  First  Sergeant. 
James  McClure,  Second  Sergeant. 
George  Jack,  Third  Sergeant. 
William  Davis,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
William  C.  Harrison,  Fifth  Sergeant. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Jules  Suitt,  First  Corporal. 
Joseph  Cooper,  Second  Corporal. 
Albert  Graves,  Third  Corporal. 
Peter  Miller,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Dan-iel  W.  Simmons,  Fifth  Corporal. 
T.  J.  McBride,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Albert  Taylor,  Seventh  Corporal. 
J.  J.  Emmerson,  Eighth  Corporal. 

Privates. — Samuel  Browing,  John  E.  Baker,  Ed- 
win Birchfield,  W.  J.  Boyd,  Henry  Babcock,  Tu- 
nis S.  Brown,  Richard  Cassner,  William  Coy, 
Warren  Clemens,  J.  W.  Coulter,  Charles  Clark, 
John  Day,  Samuel  Dickison,  Eli  Dickson,  James 
.  Dwyer,  James  Dillon,  Isaac  Dusenberry,  Charles 
P.  Ellis,  Albert  Emmerson,  Crispin  Foster,  Charles 
Punk,  Daniel  Fortune,  Daniel  Felton,  James 
Felton,  Jbhn  W.  Flag,  James  W.  Grover,  Clint  J. 
Goodner,  Benjamin  Howell,  Martin  Howell,  Wil- 
liam Hughes,  Christopher  Huttinger,  Charles 
Hawk,  Thomas  Hamilton,  A.  J.  Hughes,  Freder- 
ick Harbaugh,  Henry  Infield,  David  King,  Ira 
Riser,  W.  W.  Kennedy,  John  Kepler,  J.  T.  Lacey, 
Jacob  Lerch,  Alexander  McClure,  William  Mc- 
Eveny,  F.  A.  Mobley,  William  S.  Marshall,  James 
Murphy-,  George  McCreary,  Jabez  Norman, 
George  W.  Newell,  Charles  Norman,  William 
Porter,  James  Riser,  John  Robson,  Peter  Reny, 
William  Roderick,  Henry  Pick,  Harrison  Stock- 
man, Coan  Seward,  Martin  Sowers,  George 
Starkey,  Hamilton  Saxton,  Samuel  Smailes,  Sam- 
uel Sharron,  George  Shaffer,  Robert  Thornsley, 
James  Treanor,  Mathas  Tapzin,  Joseph  Thorns- 
ley,  George  Toland,  William  Toland,  James 
Thomas,  Adam  Tincel,  Salathial  Wright,  Henry 
Williams,  John  Wright,  W.  R.  Wilson,  John 
West,  James  Wolfe,  John  Worthington,  George 
Wicken,  Joseph  A.  Wilson,  William  Weiser, 
Adam  Weiser,  John  Watson,  George  Westlick, 
B.  W.  Williams,  W.  M.  Musgrove. 

■  ^ohn  M.  Compton,  Esq.,  a  resident  citizen  and 
practicing  attorney  of  Coshocton,  was  a  member 
of  Company  H  of  the  Ninety-seventh  Ohio,  and 
was  chosen  color  bearer  of  the  brigade  to  which 
the  Ninety-seventh  belonged  for  the  last  eighteen 
months  of  the  war.  Mr.  Compton  gives  a  very 
interesting  sketch  of  the  incidents  more  directly 
aflfecting  the  Coshocton  companies  as  follows : 


There  was  in  the  Ninety-seventh  from  Coshoc- 
ton county  besides  Companies  H  and  I  a  large 
part  of  Company  F. 

The  companies  suflered  from  sickness,  super- 
induced by  the  march  of  the  regiment  after- 
Bragg's  retreating  army  in  1862.  There  being  a 
drouth  in  Kentucky  that  year,  and  no  water  on. 
the  line  of  march  but  the  poorest  kind,  Coshocton's 
two  companies  though  full  when  mustered  in  at 
Zanesville,  Ohio,  when  they  arrived  in  Nash- 
ville with  Buell's  army  were  reduced  about  6ne- 
third.  Clinton  Gardner,  of  Company  I,  was  one 
of  the  first  ten  men  who  crossed  the  Tennessee 
river  at  Chattanooga  on  an  old  scow  under  com- 
mand of  the  now  Secretary  of  State  of  Ohio,  Col- 
onel Milton  Barnes,  then  lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
Ninety-seventh.  The  Companies  H  and  I  had 
been  engaged  in  a  skirmish  for  some  hours  before 
the  ten  men  crossed  on  the  scow.  At  Mission 
Ridge  Companies  H  and  I  were  in  the  hottest  of 
the  fight,  losing  six  killed  and  a  large  number 
wounded.  In  East  Tennessee,  these  companies 
lived  for  sonae  time  on  foraged  cornbread  and  hog 
meat  captured  in  expeditions  made  by  Ihem  to 
the  mountains  of  East  Tennessee.  June  22, 186^^ 
Companies  H  and  I  were  with  the  regiment  in 
the  charge  on  Kenesaw  Mountain ;  they  charged 
almost  up  to  the  works  of  the  enemy,  but  were- 
compelled  to  lie  down,  the  fire  from  the  rebel 
works  being  very  heavy;  while  thus  prostrate,  a.- 
great  number  were  killed  or  wounded  by  the- 
rebel  sharpshooters;  of  one  hundred  and  fifty 
three  men  who  went  out  on  this  charge,  one- 
hundred  and  twelve  were  either  killed  or 
wounded. 

Instances  of  personal  bravery  in  these  two  com- 
panies are  numerous.  Nate  Price,  of  Company 
H,  was  severely  stunned  by  a  spent  cannon  ball,- 
which  struck  the  breeching  of  the  gun  and  de- 
moralized it.  On  Recovering  from  the  shock  Price- 
picked  up  a  dead  man's  musket,  went  up  to  the- 
top  of  the  Ridge  and  fought  it  out.  This  inci- 
dent occurred  at  Mission  Ridge.  In  the  same- 
battle  Daniel  Fortune,  of  Company  I,  was  severely 
stunned  by  a  solid  shot  passing  close  to  his  head. 
After  recovering  he  followed  the  example, of  Nate 
Price,  of  Company  H.  Kit  Hall,  also  'of  Com- 
pany H,  succeeded  in  bringing  down  the  rebel 
color  bearer,  who  was  on  the  top  of  the  Ridge 
and  seemed  to  defy  the  Union  marksmen. 

The  Ninety-seventh  was  recruited  in  the  coun- 
ties of  Muskingum,  Morgan,  Guernsey  and  Co- 
shocton, durin^he  months  of  July  and  August, 
1862.  It  was  mustered  into  the  service  at  Camp 
Zanesville  on  the  1st  and  2d  of  September;, 
moved  from  Zanesville  by  cars  on  the  7th  for 
Covington  Heights,  opposite  Cincinnati;  and  on 
the  morning  of  the  8th,  took  position  near  Fort 


S64 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Mitchel,  three  miles  from  the  Ohio  river,  during 
the  Kirby  Smith  raid. 

September  20,  the  regiment  embarked  on  the 
steamer  Emma  Duncan,  arrived  at  Louisville  on 
the  evening  of  the  22d,  and  was  immediately 
hrigaded  with  General  Buell's  army,  then  in  pur- 
suit of   Bragg's  rebel  forces.     It  moved  out  of 

Louisville  on  the  Bardstown  road,  with  Buell's 

t 

army,  on  the  2d  of  October.  On  the  4th  the  rear- 
guard of  the  enemy  was  met  at  Bardstown,  and 
XI  brisk  skirmish-  ensued,  in  which  the  enemy 
was  driven  in  the  direction  of  Perryville,  Ken- 
tucky. On  the  morning  of  the  8th,  the  day  on 
which  the  battle  of  Perryville  was  fought,  the 
Ninety-seventh  was  with  the  main  part  of  Buell's 
army,  within  ten  miles  of  that  place.  At  the 
■commencement  of  the  battle,  the  regiment,  with 
its  brigade  and  division,  was  ordered  up  to  the 
ibattle  field,  where  it  held  in  check  and  drove 
back  the  rebel  forces  in  an  attempt  to  turn  our 
right.  On  the  9th,  the  rebels  having  evacuated 
Terryville,  the  regiment  joined  in  the  pursuit, 
and  continued  it  up  to  Wild  Cat,  Kentucky.  On 
the  22d,  the  pursuit  was  abandoned,  and  the 
national  army  commenced  its  movement  toward 
Nashville,  arriving  on  the  21st  of  November,  and 
going  into  camp  three  miles  from  the  city,  on  the 
Murfreesboro  railroad. 

On  the  reorganization  of  the  army  by  its  new 
■commander.  General  William  S.  Eosecrans,  the 
Ninety-seventh  Ohio  was  retained  in  General 
Crittenden's  corps,  which  formed  the  left  wing  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland. '  While  lying  near 
Nashville,  perfecting  its  drill  and  preparing  to 
move  on  the  rebel  forces  under  Bragg,  the  regi- 
ment was  frequently  engaged  in  skirmishes  with 
the  enemy. 

December  26,  Rosecrans'  forces  commenced  the 
movement  on  Murfresboro;  and  on  the  27th 
the  Ninety-seventh  met  and  engaged  the  enemy's 
outposts  at  Lavergne,  fifteen  miles  from  Nash- 
ville. Moving  ort  with  the  army,  the  regiment 
was  not  engaged  until  the  morning  of  the  31st. 
General  McCook's  right  wing  having  been  badly 
placed,  and  thus  driven  back  on  the  Nashville 
turnpike,  the  left,  under  General  Crittenden, 
withstood  the  shock  and  repulsed  every  assault 
of  the  exultant  enemy,  and  at  9  o'clock  at  night 
occupied  itsoriginal  line.    At  3  o'clock  on  the 


morning  of  January  1,  the  national  lines  were  re- 
formed, the  Ninety-seventh  Ohio  taking  a  position 
on  the  left  of  General  T.  J.  Wood's  division,  the 
left  wing  of  the  regiment  resting  on  Stone  river. 
It  remained  in  this  position  without  engagement 
during  the  whole  of  the  next  day.  On  the  after- 
noon of  the  3d  of  January  Breckinri^dge's  rebel 
corps  made  an  attack  on  Van  Cleve's  division 
(which  had  crossed  the  river),  and  drove  it  back. 
At  this  point  the  Ninety-seventh  Ohio  became 
engaged,  and  aided  in  repulsing  the  enemy's  de- 
termined assault,  crossing  Stone  river  and  follow- 
ing him  up  closely  to  his  original  line. 

In  this  battle  the  Ninety-seventh  lost  twenty- 
five  men  killed  and  wounded.  It  went  into  camp 
on  the  Las  Casas  turnpike,  and  remained  there 
(excepting  when  on  occasional  skirmish  duty), 
until  the  25th  of  June,  when  the  movement  on 
Tullahoma  commenced.  Marching  with  Critten- 
den's corps,  the  Ninety-seventh  was  not  engaged. 
On  the  20th  of  August,  the  regiment  took  posi- 
tion on  Waldron's  ridge,  within  five  miles  and  in 
sight,  of  Chattanooga. 

On  the  9th  of  September  at  9  A.  m.,  the  Ninety- 
seventh  crossed  the  Tennessee  river,  drove  the 
enemy's  sharpshooters  from  Chattanooga,  and  en- 
tered the  place  three  hours  before  the  main  army. 
For  this  gallant  act  General  Rosecrans  assigned 
the  regiment  and  brigade  to  garrison  the.  post. 
For  this  reason  the  Ninety-seventh  was  not  en- 
gaged in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga, 

In  the  reorganization  of  the  Army  of  the  Cum- 
berland, under  Major-General  George  H.  Thomas 
the  Ninety-seventh  Ohio  was  assigned  to  Sheri- 
dan's (second)  Division  of  the  Fourth  Army  Corps. 

In  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge  the  Ninety-sev- 
enth lost  one  hundred  and  fifty-six  officers  and 
men  killed  and  wounded.  Following  the  retreat- 
ing enemy  to  Pigeon  Mountain,  the  Ninety-sev- 
enth, in  company  with  the  Fortieth  Indiana,  en- 
countered his  rear  guard  in  position,  and  drove 
him  in  the  direction  of  Campbell's  Station,  and 
across  Chickamauga  creek. 

During  the  night  of  the  25th  of  November  the 
command  was  moved  up  to  Chickamauga  creek 
but  did  not  again  encounter  the  enemy.  On  the 
26th  the  regiment  with  its  division  moved  back 
to  Chattanooga. 

On  the  28th  of  November  it  accompanied  Gen- 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


865 


eral  Granger's  command  to  the  relief  of  General 
Burnside,  then  besieged  in  Knoxville  by  General 
Longstreet's  rebel  corps.  On  this  march  the  men 
suffered  intensely,  being  thinly  clothed,  and  with- 
out tents  or  transportation.  On  the  arrival  of  the 
regiment  at  Knoxville  seventy  of  the  men  were 
reported  as  without  shoes  or  stockings. 

While  in  Knoxville,  the  Ninety-seventh  occu- 
pied the  East  Tennessee  University  as  quarters- 
About  the  15th  of  December  the  enemy  was  again 
reported  as  moving  on  Knoxville.  The  Ninety- 
seventh,  with  the  Fourth  Army  Corps,  was  or- 
dered to  proceed  to  Strawberry  Plains  and  Blain's 
Cross  Roads,  where  it  assisted  in  driving  back  the 
rebels  under  Longstreet.  It  remained  at  Blain's 
Cross  Roads,  on  the  Holston  river,  from  the  15th 
of  December  until  the  16th  of  January,  1864, 
subsisting  off  the  already  impoverished  country, 
without  tents,  in  midwinter,  and  suffering  from 
intense  cold  and  lack  of  rations. 

On  the  16th  of  January  the  regiment  (with  the 
army)  crossed  the  Holston  river,  and  on  the  17th 
arrived  at  Dandridge,  on  the  French  Broad  river, 
•  where  a  brisk  skirmish  was  had  with  the  enemy. 
On  the  18th  the  fight  was  renewed,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  same  day  General  Sheridan,  then  in 
command  at  Dandridge,  ordered  the  national 
forces  to  fall  back  to  Strawberry  Plains. 

On  the  19th  of  January,  1864,  the  Ninety- 
seventh  moved  (with  Sheridan's  division)  by 
easy  marches  to  London,  Tennessee,  arriving  at 
that  place  on  the  Ist  of  February.  It  remained 
at  London  until  the  4th  of  March,  and  then  (un- 
der orders)  moved  to  Charleston,  on  the  Hia- 
wassee  river,  where  it  guarded  the  railroad  bridge 
across  that  river  until  the  25th  of  April.  On  that 
day  it  joined  the  main  army  at  Cleveland,  Ten- 
nessee, and  on  the  3d  of  May  entered  (with  Sher- 
man's army)  on  the  Atlanta  campaign. 

On  the  7th  of  May  the  enemy's  outposts  were 
,met  near  Red  Clay,  and  on  the  8th  the  regiment 
Went  into  position  on  Rocky  Face  Ridge.  On  the 
11th- of  May  the  Ninety-seventh  participated  (with 
Barker's  brigade)  in  an  unsuccessful  charge  on 
4he  ridge,  with  slight  loss.  At  Resaca  the  regi- 
ment was  under  constant  fire  for  tw^o  days,  (the 
14th  and  15th  of  May) ;  and  at  Adairsville,  on  the 
17th,  it  had  a  sharp  fight,  losing  twenty  men  in 
the  space  of  less  than  fifteen  minutes. 


At  Dallas  the  regiment  was  under  constant  fire 
from  the  25th  of  May  up  to  the  6th  of  June. 
The  enemy  then  fell  back  to  Kenesaw  Mountain. 
On  the  17th  of  June  the  regiment  made  a  charge 
on  the  enemy's  position,  and,  with  the  assistance 
of  the  Twenty-eighth  Kentucky,  drove  his  out- 
posts into  his  second  line  of  works. 

On  the  22d  of  June,  the  Ninety-seventh  was 
ordered  to  drive  in  the  rebel  outposts.  Of  153 
men  sent  forward  to  perform  this  duty,  112  were 
either  killed  or  wounded  in  the  space  of  thirty 
minutes.  Major  J.  W.  Moore,  Captain  W.  S. 
Rosemond  and  Lieutenant  J.  T.  Gossage,  in  com- 
mand on  the  skirmish  line,  were  seriously 
wounded,  two  of  them  so  severely  as  to  be  dis- 
abled from  further  military  service. 

Another  historian,  writing  of  this  attack,  in 
which  the  Nintey-seventh  took  such  a  prominent 
part,  says : 

Suddenly,  on  the  22d,  the  enemy,  who  were 
restive  under  the  unremitting  pressure  of  the 
Union  forces,  rallied  and  attacked  General  Hooker. 
The  ground  was  quite  open,  and  the  enemy 
easily  drove  in  the  skirmish  lines.  An  advanced 
regiment,  the  Ninety-seventh,  was  then  purposely 
thrown  forward  as  a  temporary  check  to  the 
assailants.  The  point  of  attack  was  a  wooded 
ridge,  occupied  by  WiUiams'  division  and  Whit- 
taker's  division  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio.  The 
rebels  made  repeated  attempts  to  drive  these 
divisions,  but  were  met  with  such  rapid  and 
deadly  volleys,  accompanied  by  an  enfilading  fire 
from  the  batteries,  that  they  finally  retired,  leav- 
ing the  dead  and  wounded  in  the  hands  of  the 
Union  troops.  This  action  is  known  as  the  bat- 
tle of  Kulp's  House. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  the  second  division,  in- 
cluding the  Ninety-seventh,  made  another  charge 
on  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  were  badly  repulsed. 
In  this  disastrous  affair  the  regiment  lost  thirty- 
five  men  killed  and  wounded.  On  the  4th  of 
July  the  enemy  evacuated  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
and  fell  back  toward  the  Chattahoochie  river. 
At  Smyrna  Church,  on  the  evening  of  the  same 
day,  the  eflemy  was  found  strongly  posted  behind 
works,  and  attacked  so  vigorously  by  the  national 
forces  that  he  was  compelled  to  fall  back  the  same 
night  to  the  Chattahoochie  river.  On  the  6th  of 
July,  the  regiment.arrived  at  the  Chattahoochie 
river,  and  went  into  camp  on  its  banks ;  and  on 
the  9th,  marched  up  to  Rossville  and  destroyed 


.-566 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  factories  at  that  place.  On  the  13th,  it  crossed 
the  Chattahoochie  river,  being  the  first  national 
troops  to  appear  on  the  south  side  of  that  stream. 

On  the  niorning  of  the  20th  it  crossed  Peach- 
tree  creek  and  drove  in  the  outposts  of  the  enemy. 
A  line  of  battle  was  immediately  formed,  the 
;]Srinety-seventh  occupying  the  extreme  left.  At 
this  point  the  rebel  Geiieral  Hood  made  his  first 
dash  against  the  national  forces.  The  Ninety- 
.-seventh,  occupying  as  it  did  the  extreme  left,  re- 
ceived the' first  onset  of  the  enemy.  The  shock 
was  terrible;  but  during  seven  determined 
■  charges  made  against  it,  this  little  band  of  less 
than  three  hundred  men  stood  firm.  So  pleased 
■were  General  Howard  (commanding  the  corps) 
and  General  Newton  (commanding  the  division 
to  which  the  Ninety-seventh  belonged)  that  they 
isought  out  that  regiment,  and  personally  thanked 
the  men  for  their  bravery  in  standing  up  against 
the  dreadful  shock  of  the  rebel  charges  on. the 
left.  In  addition.  General  Newton  issued  an  or- 
der exempting  the  regiment  from  all  further 
picket  and  fatigue  duty  during  the  campaign. 
'The  Ninety-seventh  Ohio  participated  in  the  ac- 
tion at  Jonesboro,  and  assisted  in  driving  the 
enemy  back  to  Lovejoy's  Station.  On  the  2d  of 
^Septernber  the  national  army  entered  Atlanta, 
and  the  troops  went  into  camp  around  that  city, 
with  the  promise  from  General  Sherman  of  a 
month's  rest.  On  the  25th  of  _  September  the 
Ninety-seventh  (with  the  second  division  of  the 
Fourth  Army  Corps)  was  sent  by  rail  to  Chatta- 
nooga, and  on  the  30th  relieved  the  pioneer  brig- 
ade on  Lookout  Mountain,  in  order  that  the 
"brigade  might  go  to  the  assistance  of  the  national 
forces  at  Tullahoma,  then  menanced  by  Forrest's 
rebel  cavalry. 

In  the  flurry  of  Hood's  dash  on  Sherman's  rear, 
the  Ninety-seventh  was  kept  for  some  time  al- 
most continually  on  the  move  up  and  down  the 
railroads.  On  the  19th  of  October  the  regiment 
again  joined  Sherman's  army  at  Alpine,  Georgia, 
.and,  after  moving  to  Will's  Valley  and  Stevenson, 
it  took  cars  for  Athens,  Alabama.  It  arrived  at 
"Pulaski,  Tennessee,  on  the  6th  of  November,  and 
■remained  there  until  the  17th.  At  this  time 
Hood's  rebel  army  was  advancing  on  Columbia, 
"ihoping  to  beat  the  national  forces  into  Nashville. 

The  Ninety-seventh  Ohio  (with  its  corps)  moved 


up  in  advance  of  the  enemy  to  Columbia,  and 
his  advance  was  driven  from  the  vicinity  of  the 
place.  On  the  29th  of  November,  Columbia  was 
evacuated  by  the  national  forces,  and,  after  blow- 
ing up  the  fort  at  that  place,  they  marched  in  the 
direction  of  Franklin,  Tennessee.  The  sebond 
.  division  of  the  Fourth  Army  Corps  encountered 
the  enemy  at  Spring  Hill  at  3  o'clock  p.  m.,  on  the 
29th  day  of  November,  and  fought  him  until 
dark.  In  the  night  the  remainder  of  the  nar 
tional  force-  came  up  from  the  vicinity  of  Colum- 
bia, and  the  march  was  resumed  and  continued 
to  the  town  of  Franklin.  The  second  division  of 
the  Fourth  Army  Corps  covered  the  rear  in  this 
march,  and  was  almost  continually  skirmishing 
with  the  enemy.  This  march  was  made  arduous 
in  the  extreme,  the  enemy  giving  no  chance  for 
rest. 

In  the  battle  of  Nashville,  the  Ninety-seventh 
was  with  the  second  division  of  the  Fourth 
Army  Corps  on  the  left  center,  and  took  part  in 
the  first  assault  on  the  rebel  lines,  driving  the 
enemy  in  great  confusion. 

On  the  16th  of  December  the  enemy  was  found' 
strongly  posted  on  the  Bedford  hills.  He  was 
again  attacked  and  driven,  the  Ninety-seventh 
participating  in  the  charge.  The  pursuit  was 
continVied,  with  some  fighting,  and  the  Ninety- 
seventh  (with  the  Fourth  Army  Corps),  reached 
Huntsville,  Alabama,  on  the  3d  of  January,  1865. 

It  remained  at  Huntsville  in  quarters,  until 
the  28th  day  of  March,  when  the  entire  corps 
moved  to  Bull's  Gap,  in  East  Tennessee,  and  com- 
menced rebuilding  the  East  Tennessee  and  Vir- 
ginia railroad,  with  a  view  of  advancing  on  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  by  the  way  of  Lynchburgh. 

Receiving  information  of  the  fall  of  Richmond 
and  the  surrender  of  the  rebel  armies.  General 
Thomas  moved  his  forces  back  to  Nashville,  ar- 
ring  in  that  city  on  the  2d  of  May. 

On  the  12th  of  June,  1865,  the  Ninety-seventlj 
was  mustered  out  of  service  at  Nashville,  and  was 
immediately  sent  home  to  Columbus,  where  it 
was  paid  off  and  discharged,,  on  the  15th  day  of 
June,  1865. 

During  the  campaign  of  the  Ninety-seventh, 
it  was  under  fire  over  two  hundred  days,  and 
took  an  active  part  in  the  battles  of  Perryville, 
Lavergne,    Stone   River,  Chattanooga,    Mission 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


367 


Eidge,  Charleston  (Tennessee),  Eocky  Face, 
Eesaca,  Dallas,  Adairsville,  Kenesaw  MounUin, 
Peachtree  Creek,  Atlanta,  Jonesboro',  Lovejoy's 
Station,  Spring  Hill,  Franklin  and  Nashville.  It 
lost  in  these  battles  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
officers  and  men  killed  and  five  hundred  and  sixty 
wounded. 

The  following  correspondence  was  sent  from 
the  front,  when  the  Ninety-seventh  was  at  the 
different  places  from  which  the  letters  were  dated. 
They  were  published  in.the  Age  as  follows : 

Camp  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee, 
August  28,  1863. 

On  Sunday  morning,  August  16,  1863,  the 
Ninety-seventh,  then  in  the  second  brigade, 
fell  in  at  the  sound  of  the  bugle,  and  soon  found 
itself  chmbing  the  rugged  heights  of  the  moun- 
tain. Ere  it  gained  the  summit,  the  rain  began 
to  descend  in  torrents,  which  continued  until 
«very  thread  of  clothing  was  saturated.  As  the 
sun  reached  the  meridian  however  the  storm 
ceased,  the  regiment  halted  and  the  men  dined. 
The  afternoon  and  night  was  consumed  in  push- 
ing the  wagons  and  artillery  up  the  mountain. 
Imagine,  if  you  can,  everything  as  dark  as 
Egyptian  night;  a  road  ascending  at  about  forty- 
five  degrees;  mud  many  inches  deep;  six  jaded 
mules  hitched  to  a  heavy  government  wagon, 
and  a  squad  of  tired,  muddy  men  at  the  wheels, 
at  midnight,  and  you  have  a  poor  pen-picture  of 
what  the  Coshocton  men  of  the  Ninety-seventh 
are  doing  in  front  of  Chattanooga. 

Respectfully,  H.  M., 

Company  F,  Ninety-seventh  Ohio. 

The  following  communications,  published  in 
the  Age  of  date  September  24,  1868,  speak  for 
themselves : 

FLAG-  PRESENTATION. 

Tothe  Officers  and  Enlisted  Men  of  the  Nindy-s&oerdh 

Ohio: 

Soldiers  of  the  Ninety-seventh,  we  are  com- 
missioned by  the  ladies  of  Coshocton  to  present 
you  the  accompanying  flag.  It  is  the  old  flag 
/  which  for  many  a  weary  month  you  have  fol- 
lowed so  faithfully  and  defended  so  well.  We 
present  it,  that  when  you  look  upon  it  you  may 
think  of  the  hands  from  which  it  came,  and  know 
"that  you  are  not  forgotten  at  home. 

Be  assured  that  from  the  trenches  of  Covington 
Heights  to  the  mountain  passes  of  the  Cumber- 
land, our  hearts  have  followed  you.  We  have 
not  forgotten  how,  when  you  had  been  barely 
Thustered  into  the  service,  you  hurried  to  bear 
your  part  with  the  defenders  of  Cincinnati;  how 


you  suffered  and  endured  in  the  terrible  march 
to  Perry ville;  how,  unprovided  with  tents  or 
knapsacks,  you  exposed  yourselves,  without  a 
murmur,  to  the  storms  of  approaching  winter; 
how,  at  Stone  Eiver,  you  helped  to  win  the  day 
that  has  given  immortal  glory  to  the  army  of  the 
Cumberland. 

May  kind  heaven  spare  you  to  a  grateful  coun- 
try, made  by  the  valor  of  yourselves  and  your 
companions  in  arms,  united,  happy  and  free. 

Lizzie  Tayloe,         ]  r*         -n 
Maria  Hatte^sly,  ^  Committee. 

Coshocton,  August  6, 1863. 


Cumberland  Mountains,  Tennessee, 
Within  Sight  of  Chattanooga, 
August  27, 1863. 

Being  requested,  on  behalf  of  Company  I,  Nine- 
ty-seventh Eegiment,  O  V.  I.,  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  a  beautiful  flag,  which  has  been  pre- 
sented to  the  regiment  by  the  patriotic  ladies  of 
Coshocton,  on  behalf  of  the  members  of  Company 
I,  I  will  say,  we  will  stand  by  this  flag.  We 
marched  the  day  the  flag  was  received,  and 
already  it  has  taken  part  in  leading  our  boys 
where  victory  should  perch  o'er  its  folds.  Our 
flag  now  floats  within  sight  of  the  fortifications  of 
the  rebels  at  Chattanooga. 

Lieutenant  George  Smailes, 

Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  Ohio. 

The  following  news  from  Missionary  Eidge, 
giving  the  names  of  a  number  of  Coshocton  boys 
that  were  killed  or  wounded  in  front  of  Chatta- 
nooga, was  published  in  the  Age,  of  date  Decem- 
ber 10, 1863 : 

Lieutenant  James  McClure,  Company  I,  Nine- 
ty-seventh O.  V.  I.,  has  rerurned  home  from  Chat- 
tanooga on  a  short  leave  of  absence.  Lieutenant 
McClure  is  severely  wounded  in  the  left  hand^  He 
reports  the  following  casualties  in  Companjf  I. 

Killed,  Joseph  Lacey,  shot  through  the  heart; 
Peter  Eeay,  in  the  right  eye;  Jacob  Leech, 
through  the  head.  Wounded,  Captain  Martin 
Weiser,  Lieutenant  James  McClure,  Sergeant 
George  Jack,  Sergeant  Joseph  Cooper,  Sergeant 
William  Harrison,  Corporal  George  Starkey, 
Joseph  Thornsley,  Jack  Watson,  William  Coy, 
J.  W.  Wright,  Chris.  Hootinger,  Benjamin  Howell, 
Thomas  McClain,  William  McElveney,  William 
Musgrove,  Wilham  J.  Boyd  and  Thomas  Hamil- 
ton. 

Company  H— Killed,  David  Owens  and  John 
Masters.  Wounded,  L.  Harmon,  Sergeant  Mills, 
William  Eodgers  and  D.  Jenkins. 

Our  boys  have  fought  like  veterans,  and  we 
sincerely  mourn  for  the  fallen  ones  and  hope  for 
the  speedy  recovery  of  the  wounded. 


368 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


In  addition  to  the  above,  the  following  list  of 
killed  and  wounded,  from  Coshocton  county,  be- 
longing to  the  Ninety-seventh,  was  pubhshed  in 
the  Age,  of  date  July  9, 1864 : 

By  letters  from  Captain  C.  C.  Nichols,  Captain 
Weisser  and  others,  we  have  received  the  follow- 
ing list  of  killed  and  wounded  in  Companies  H 
and  I,  of  the  Ninety-seventh  O.  V.  I,  from  May  9 
to  July  1 : 

Company  H— Wounded,  Abraham  Balo,  mor- 
tally (died  M^  10);  John  Chickenleg,  Benjamin 
Bush,  WiUiam  Haines,Corporal  D.  E.  Almack,  Levi 
Hamon,  Samuel  Haines,  Sergeant  Jesse  S.  Lake, 
Corporal  John  F.  Hummer,  'Elias  Ogden,  Charles 
H.  Emmerson,  Corporal  William  Collins,  mor- 
tally (since  died),  and  Stephen  Balo.  Killed, 
Corporal  Joseph  Tumbull,  E.  C.  Richards  and 
Jacob  Wiker. 

Company  I— Wounded,  Albert  P.  Taylor  (since 
died);  Warren  Clemens,  Albert  B.  Emmerson, 
Crispin  Foster,  mortally;  Daniel  Fortune,  Chris. 
Hootingen,  John  H.  Robson,  Harrison  Stock- 
man, Henry  Williams,  John  Worthington,  John 
A.  Wilson.  Killed,  James  T.  Dillon  and  WiUiam 
D.  Thomas. 

The  Age,  of  July  16, 1864,  publishes  the  follow- ' 
ing  interesting  letter  from  a  member  of  Com- 
pany F,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V.  I. : 

Camp  in  Fkont  of  Mabietta,  Georgia, 
July  1,  1864. 

Editor  Age:— Notwithstanding  you  have  of- 
ficial reports  of  all  engagements,  I  can  not  re- 
frain from  giving  you  a  short  sketch  of  a  skir- 
mish on  the  picket  in  which  our  Coshocton  boys 
took  a  prominent  part,  and  lost  heavily. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  June,  the  Ninety- 
seventh  was^ent  out  to  the  picket  reserve,  and 
four  companies  (two  of  them  H  and  I),  were  im- 
mediately sent  out  to  the  picket  line,  under  com- 
mand of  Major  J.  Wat.  Moore.  Nothing  of 
special  interest  occurred  until  4  P.  m.,  when  Ma- 
jor Moore  received  orders  to  advance  his  line, 
which  being  done,  the  enemy  soon  opened  fire 
upon  us.  A  most  desperate  and  determined 
struggle  ensued,  when  finding  our  brave  fellows 
were  encountering  far  superior  numbers,  rein- 
forcements were  called  for  and  sent,  until  200 
were  engaged  on  the  picket  line,  out  of  which  101 
were  killed  or  wounded.  Major  Moore  being 
wounded,  the  command  devolved  upon  Captain 
C.  C.  Nichols,  of  Coshocton,  who  demeaned  him- 
self with  credit  and  gallantry.  When  darkness 
came  with  its  friendly  curtain,  pioneers  imme- 
diately proceeded  to  intrench  and  dig  rifle  pits, 
to  screen  the  pickets  from  the  cross  fire  to  wjiich 
they  had  been  subjected.    At  2  A.  m.,  the  follow- 


ing morning,  we  were  relieved,  leaving  the  lines 
to  be  held  without  very  great  danger. 

A  Member  of  CosiPANY  F, 

Ninety-seventh  0.  V.- 1. 

The  part  that  the  Ninety-seventh  took  in  the 
engagements  from  Jonesboro  to  Atlanta  is  set 
forth  in  a  letter  to  the  Age,  bearing  date  Sep- 
tember 5,  1864,  portions  of  which  we  give  as 
follows:  "On  the  30th  ultimo  the  Fourth  (to 
which  the  Ninety-seventh  belonged)  and  Twenty- 
third  Corps  struck  the  Macon  line  some  five  miles 
beyond  Eastport  Junction,  and  commenced  skir- 
mishing briskly  with  the  enemy  on  the  right, 
driving  them  across  Flint  river  towards  Jones- 
boro. While  the  other  corps  were  thus  en- 
gaged, the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  and  the 
Fourth  Corps  were  vigorously  pressing  the  enemy 
on  the  right  and  left.  At  the  break  of  day  when 
Sherman  found  the  enemy  had  retreated,  he  put 
his  whole  army  in  motion  and  followed  in  hot 
pursuit."  During  all  tliis  march  the  Ninety-sev- 
enth was  at  the  front  until  the  army  went  into 
Atlanta  and  camp. 

The  following  letter,  in  the  Age  of  date  Febru- 
ary 25, 1865  explains  itself : — 

Camp  of  the  Ninety-seventh  O.  V.  I.  \ 
HuNTSViLLE,  Alabama,  February  8, 1865.    J 

.  Allow  us  through  the  Age  to  say :  the  members 
of  Company  I,  being  highly  impressed  with  the 
gallant,  brave  and  noble  manner  in  wliich  Cap- 
tain M.  Weiser  has  commanded  his  company  (I) 
through  the  several  engagements  in  which  it  has 
participated,  as  well  as  the  gentlemanly  and  gen- 
erous course  he  has  at  all  times  pursued,  have 
presented  him  with  a  sword  and  belts  with  sash 
a,t  a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  as  a 
token  of  our  appreciation  of  his  meritorious  con- 
duct. Respectfully, 

Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V.  I. 


CHAPTER  XLL 

WAR  OF   THE  REBELLION— CONTINUED. 

One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second— Muster  Eolls— Record  of 
its  Services— Seventy-eighth  Regiment— Its  Services  In  tlie 
Field. 

THE  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  Ohio 
was  recruited  in  the  counties  of  Muskingum, 
Morgan,  Coshocton  and  Guernsey.  The  Coshoc- 
ton complement  consisted  of  two  companies,  viz : 


Ill 


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HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


371 


D  and  G,  and  were  recruited  mainly  under  the 
supervision  of  Captains  Benjamin  F.  Sells  of 
Company  D,  and  O.  C.  Farquhar  of  Company  G. 
The  muster  rolls  of  these  companies  at  enlist- 
ment were  as  follows : 

Company  G. 

Officers. 

0.  C.  Farquhar,  Captain. 

G.  H.  Barger,  First  Lieutenant. 

John  Anderson,  Second  Lieutenant. 

Josiah  Norman,  First  Sergeant. 

William  Gorsline,  Second  Sergeant. 

Calvin  Meizer,  Third  Sergeant. 

Daniel  Shuck,  Fourth  Sergeant. 

Samuel  Dougherty,  Fifth  Sergeant. 

Thomas  P.  Chance,  First  Corporal. 

Thomas  G.  Arnold,  Second  Corporal. 

George  Graham,  Third  Corporal. 

Edwjn  Powers,  Fourth  Corporal. 

James  S.  Anderson,  Fifth  Corporal. 

John  Minor,  Sixth  Corporal. 

Christopher  Philabaum,  Seventh  Corporal. 

George  N.  Putt,  Eighth  Corporal. 

J.  H.  Loveless  and  James  W.  Law,  Musicians. 

Emzy  Maxfield,  Teamster. 

Privaies — Robert  Axline,  Levi  Bailey,  Lewis  D. 
Barge,  Levi  Brown,  Daniel  Barr,  Caleb  Berry, 
George  Boyd,  William  Brilhart,  Amos  Buckmas- 
ter,  William  Cassiday,  Wash.  Collins,  Richard 
Dyer,  Nathan  Daugherty,  William  Donovan,  Ben- 
jamin B.  Emmerson,  Alexander  Finton,  McCon- 
nel  Fortune,  J.  A.  Fleckenger,  John  H.  Fretney, 
Gottleib  Peas,  William  Gribben,  David  Garber, 
Peter  Gephart,  Zeth  Goodhue,  John  Hawk,  John 
Hawkins,  David  M.  Harmon,  George  W.  Har- 
mon, Lewis  Hines,  James  Hamby,  Samuel 
Hamby,  Henry  Hoogland,  Zeb.  Hufif,  Archie 
Heuston,  ^George  Jones,  Porter  Kinney,  David 
Kost,  Samuel  Lewis,  Enos  J.  "Lower,  Moses  Lower, 
Luther  Bl  Martin,  Arch  Martin,  John  A.  Milli- 
gan,  David  C.  Misef,  John  T.  Miller,  Thomas  J. 
Murphy,  Benjamin  MiUigan,  James  Maxfield, 
Thomas  McPherson,  N.  C.  McClain,  Charles 
Moore,  Andy  Norman,  Ezekiel  Poland,  James  H. 
Poland,  William  Pyles,  Nat  Reed,  Thomas  Rig- 
gle,  J.  W.  Einehart,  David  Reed,  Edwin  Riggle, 

13 


Isaac  Stafford,  Lyman  Spaulding,  Andy  P.  Stultz, 
David  N.  Thomas,  Palentine  Thatcher,  Amos 
Winklepleck,  William  Ward,  Peter  Worley,  Sam- 
uel Worth,  George  Younker. 

Company  D. 

Officers.  > 

B.  F.  Sells,  Captain. 
James  Work,  First  Lieutenant. 
James  Sells,  Second  Lieutenant. 
William  A.  McGruder,  First  Sergeant. 
Henry  Forrest,  Second  Sergeant. 
Jacob  Rogers,  Third  Sergeant. 
David  Cooper,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
James  Bradfield,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
John  G.  Powelson,  First  Corporal. 
John  W.  Watson,  Second  Corporal. 
Jacob  Gribeler,  Third  Corporal. 
Caleb  C.  Wheeler,  Fourth  Corporal. 
James  H.  Goodman,  Fifth  Corporal. 
James  0.  Stringfellow,  Sixth  Corporal. 
John  W.  Phillips,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Andrew  D.  Keefer,  Eighth  Corporal. 

Privates. — George  W.  Adams,  Lewis  Bickelor, 
Charles  Bertho,  Samuel  Binger,  Ambrose  Bryan, 
Ira  C.  Billman,  Robert  Brink,  Adam  Bodine, 
Noah  Blackford,  James  Buckmaster,  Joseph 
Cross,  Elisha  Cross,  John  P.  Cly,  James  0.  Coch- 
ran, John  Cochran,  William  H.  Callentine,  James 
B.  Cooper,  John  Casebier,  James  Carter,  William 
Camp,  Vincent  Clark,  Augustus  Cox,  John  Darr, 
William  H.  Divan,  Joseph  0.  Donnely,  John  M. 
P.  Davis,  Samuel  H.  Elliott,  Gotleib  Feas,  Henry 
Freteg,  Eli  Portner,  Peter  Portner,  Williain 
King,  George  King,  William  W.  Kincaid,  George 
Kiser,  Zach  M.  Jewell,  James  Layland,  George 
Ladees,  John  Lafland,  Hugh  Lynch,  James  Mil- 
ler, Robert  Marshman,  Thomas  Mullen,  John  W. 
Magruder,  Adam  Murry,  Patrick  Murphy,  Alex- 
ander Martin,  John  Meyers,  John  Moore,  Frank 
Morton,  William  McFee,  Aaron  Norris,  Samuel 
Neptune,  John  T.  Nelson,  Samuel  Phillips,  John 
H.  Ravir,  William  Eoney,  John  W.  Ridenbaugh, 
Levi  Ross,  William  Roderick,  William  Reay. 

Companies  A,  B,  D,  E  and  H,  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-second,  were  mustered  into  the 
United  States  service  on  the  30th  day  of  October, 


372 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


1862,  at  Zanesville;  Companj-  C,  October  3;  G, 
October  5 ;  F,  October  6 ;  and  Companies  I  and 
K,  and  the  field  and  staff  officers,  October  8. 
On  the  23d  of  October,  the  regiment  left  Camp 
Zanesville,  with  an  aggregate  of  927  men ;  em- 
barked at  Zanesville,  on  the  steamers  Powell 
and  Patton,  descended  the  Muskingum,  and  en- 
camped at  Parkersburg,  Virginia.  It  moved  by 
railroad  to  Clarksburg,  and  became  a  part  of 
the  second  brigade  of  Milroy's  division;  the 
brigade  being  composed  of  the  One  Hundred 
and  Tenth,  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth,  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-second,  and  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-third  Ohio  regiments,  Carlin's  Vir- 
ginia battery,  and  one  or  two  Virginia  compa- 
nies of  cavalry,  and  being  commanded  by  Colonel 
Washburne,  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth 
Ohio.  On  the  15th  of  November,  the  regiment 
moved  by  railroad  to  New  Creek,  and  on  the  5th 
of  December  was  temporarily  assigned  to  the 
first  brigade  of  Milroy's  division,  Brigadier- 
General  Cluseret,  commanding. 

The  brigade  was  ordered  on  an  expedition  up 
the  valley  of  the  South  Branch  of  the  Potomac, 
and,  in  a  blinding  snow  storm,  the  regiment  be- 
gan its  first  march.  The  column  advanced  by 
way  of  Petersburg,  in  Hardy  county,  and  Ward- 
ensville,  and  struck 'the  valley  pike  at  Strasburg. 
The  train  accompanying  the  expedition  was 
guarded  by  a  detachment  from  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-second,  and  was  attacked  by 
McNeil's  guerillas  at  Wardensville,  but  they  were 
repulsed  with  some  loss.  The  regiment  was  or- 
dered to  Wardensville  to  keep  open  communica- 
tions, but  lest  it  might  be  overpowered  by  the 
combined  forces  of  Jones,  Imboden  and  McNeil, 
it  was  ordered  to  Moorefield,  and  moved  from 
there,  with  Milroy's  command,  toward  Eomney. 
McNeil  attacked  the  train  just  north  of  the  ford 
of  the  South  Branch,  and  captured  the  teams  and 
teamsters  of  eleven  wagons  and  four  men  of 
Company  A,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second, 
who  were  guarding  that  portion  of  the  train. 
Passing  through  Romney,  the  regiment  entered 
Winchester  on  the  1st  of  January,  1863,  and,  with 
the  One  Hundred  and  Tenth  Qhio,  constituted 
the  garrison  of  thg  place. 

On  March  14,  Milroy's  division  became  the  Sec- 
ond Division,  Eighth  Army  Corps,  and  the  four 


Ohio  regiments  which  had  composed  the  second 
brigade  of  the  old  division,  were  organized  into 
the  first  brigade  of  the  new  division,  in  connec- 
tion with  Carlin's  battery  and  some  cavalry,  un- 
der the  command  of  Brigadier  General  Elliott. 
The  regiment  was  on  scouts  and  expeditions, 
either  as  a  whole  or  in  detachments,  to  Newton, 
Front  Royal,  Summit  Point,  White  Post,  Cedar 
Creek,  Millwood,  and  the  Blue  Ridge.  During 
General  Hooker's  Chancellorsville  campaign  the 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second,  with  other  ' 
regiments,  was  sent  up  the  Shenandoah  valley  to 
capture  the  town  of  Staunton.  The  expedition 
moved  on  the  4th  of  May,  and  advanced  to  New 
Market,  when  it  was  ordered  back  to  Winchester 
by  General  Schenck. 

On  June  13,  Companies  A  and  F,  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-second,  met  the  advance 
of  J.  E.  B.  Stewart's  raid  on  the  Strasburg  road, 
and  after  a  brisk  skirmish  retired  to  Winchester. 
The  next  day  the  entire  regiment  was  engaged, 
and  at  night,  it,  with  other  troops,  forced  a 
way  through  the  rebel  lines  and  marched  to 
Harper's  Ferry.  The  regiment  lost  several  of- 
ficers and  men  captured,  some  of  whom  were 
not  exchanged  until  April,  1865. 

The  regiment  spent  one  night  on  Bolivar 
Heights,  and  then  crossed  the  Potomac  and  be- 
came a  part  of  the  garrison  of  Maryland  Heights. , 
Upon  the  evacuation  of  Maryland  Heights,  it  ac- 
companied the  heavy  gun's  and  public  stores  to 
Georgetown, District  of  Columbia;  moved  through 
Washington  City,  and  thence  by  rail  to  Freds'- 
rick,  where  it  was  assigned  to  the  Second  Brig- 
ade, Third  Division,  Third  Army  Corps.  The 
brigade  at  once  marched  against  Lee,  crossed  the 
Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry,  passed  Loudon 
Heights  by  the  road  around  their  northern  base; 
marched  southward  along  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  Blue  Ridge,  passed  through  Manassas  Gap, 
and  on  the  afternoon  of  July  23,  marched  in  line 
of  battle,  as  Ewell  fell  back  from  Wapping 
Heights.  The  next  day  it  returnetl,  passing 
through  the  Gap  and  through  Warrenton,  en- 
camped about  the  1st  of  August  near  the  Kappar 
hannock. 

On  account  of  the  New  York  riots,  the  regi- 
ment was  -ordered  to  that  city,  and  was  distri- 
buted   by  detachments  through  the  disturbed 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


373 


quarters.  In  Septembei;  it  rejoined  the  brigade, 
in  camp  on  the  Eappahannook,  and  marched  to 
Culpepper  Court  House.  During  the  fight  at 
Winchester,  about  100  officers  and  men  of  the 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  became  sepa- 
rated from  the  regiment,  and  moved  with  the 
One  Hundred  and  Sixteenth  Ohio  to  Cumberland, 
imd  thence  to  Bloody  Run.  They  were  attached 
to  the  command  of  Major-General  Couch,  and 
following  his  movements  through  the  Cumber- 
land valley,  formed  a  part  of  the  garrison  at  Mar- 
tinsburg.  This  detachment  joined  the  regiment 
.at  Culpepper,  in  the  latter  part  of  September. 
The  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  moved 
from  Culpepper  to  Centerville  in  October,  and 
held  its  election  for  Governor  and  State  officers 
while  in  line  of  battle,  on  the  afternoon  that 
Warren  so  roughly  handled  A.  P.  Hill,  at  Bristow 
Station.  Returning  toward  the  Rappahannock, 
it  crossed  the  river  November  8,  and  took  part 
in  the  skirmish  at  Brandy  Station.  On  the  26th, 
the  regiment  was  again  on  the  march,  crossed 
the  Rapidan,  and  fought  at  Locust  Grove.  It  re- 
turned to  Brandy  Station,  December  3,  occupied 
•ground  on  the  farm  of  J.  Minor  Botts,  and  con- 
structed winter-quarters.  In  March,  1864,  the 
the  third  division  of  the  Third  Corps,  became 
the  third  division  of  the  Sixth  Corps. 

On  May  4,  winter  quarters  were  abandoned. 
The  next  day  the  brigade  guarded  the  road  lead- 
ing up  the  south  bank  of  the  Rapidan  until  noon, 
when  it  marched  to  the  front,  in  the  battle  of  the 
Wilderness.  The  regiment  maintained  itself  well 
through  the  fight,  losing  on  the  first  day  over  one 
hundred  and  twenty  men.  During  the  subse- 
quent movements  to  Spottsylvania,  to  Guinea 
Depot,  to  the  North  Anna,  and  across  the  Pa- 
munkey,  the  regiment  performed  its  full  share 
of  picket  and  skirmish-duty,  being  under,,  fire 
almost  every  day;  Arriving  at  Tolopotomy 
Creek,  May  30,  it  was  placed  on  the  skirmish- 
line,  and  on  the  31st  aided  in  capturing  a  rifle-pit 
from  the  enemy.  The  regiment  moved  to  Coal 
Harbor,  and  was  engaged  in  a  general  assault  on 
the  rebel  works,  taking  and  holding  those  in  its 
front.  On  the  3d  of  June  it  again  advanced,  and 
occupied  a  new  position.  The  regiment  moved 
foirward  by  regular  approaches,  being  continu- 
ally under  fire  and  sustaining  considerable  loss, 


until  June  12,  when  it  marched  to  Jones'  Bridge, 
on  the  Chicahominy,  and  thence,  via  Charles 
City,  C.  H.,  to  Wilcox  Landing,  on  the  James; 
ascended  the  river  and  reported  to  General  But- 
ler, at  Bermuda  Hundred. 

Here  a  detachment  of  eighty  conscripts  and 
substitutes  joined  the  regiment,  and,  on  the  10th, 
it  crossed  the  Appomattox  and  marched  to  the 
lines  in  front  of  Petersburg.  After  a  few  days' 
rest  it  went  into  position  on  the  extreme  left, 
and,  after  heavy  skirmishing  on  the  22d  and  23d, 
obtained  possession  of  the  Weldon  railroad.  It 
was  held  until  a  portion  of  it  was  destroyed,  when 
the  rebels,  having  received  re-enforcements,  re- 
gained it.  On  the  29th  the  regiment  marched  to 
Ream's  Station,  fortified,  destroyed  a  mile  or 
two  of  railroad,  and  returned  to  Petersburg 
July  1.  On  the  same  day  between  fifty  and  sixty 
conscripts  and  substitutes  joined  the  regiment, 
and,  on  the  6th,  it  moved,  with  the  division,  on 
steamers  via  Portress  Monroe  and  the  Chesa- 
peake to  Baltimore.  The  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-second  was  divided,  and,  owing  to  an  ac- 
cident, one  half  of  it  did  not  arrive  in  the 
Patapsco  imtil  July  9,  when  it,  with  the  Sixth 
Maryland  and  Sixty-seventh  Pennsylvania,  started 
by  rail  for  Frederick.  On  that  day  the  other  half 
of  the  regiment,  with  remainder  of  the  division, 
fought  the  battle  of  Monocacy  Junction.  The 
troops  on  the  cars  arrived  in  time  to  cover  the- 
retreat,  and  the  third  division  marched  to  EUi- 
cott's  Mills,  and  moved  thence  by  cars  to  Balti- 
more. The  third  division  proceeded  to  Wash- 
ington, and  from  there  through  Tenallytown 
across  the,  Potomac,  below  the  mouth  of  Goose 
creek,  and  joined  the  corps  near  Leesburg. 

The  regiment  followed  Early  through  Snick- 
er's Gap  to  near  Berryville,  and  then  returned  to 
Tenallytown.  It  soon  after  advanced  via  Rock- 
ville  and  Monocacy  Junction  to  Harper's  Ferry. 
On  the  30th  of  July  the  army  recrossed  the  Po- 
tomac, and  concentrated  near  the  junction,  where 
the  regiment  enjoyed  a  few  days'  rest,  for  the  first 
time  since  the  opening  of  the  campaign.  On  the 
7th  of  August  the  army  moved  to  Halltown,  and 
on  the  10th  marched  via  Clifton,  Berryville  and 
Newton,  to  "the  front  of  Early's  works  at  Fisher's 
Hill.  After  various  marches  and  skirmishes,  on 
the  19th  of  September  Sheridan  moved  down  to 


374 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  crossing  of  the  Opequan,  between  Berryville 
^nd  Winchester,  drove  in  the  rebel  pickets,  and 
by  10  o'clock  a.  m.  the  Sixth  Corps  was  formed 
in  order  of  battle,  two  and  a  half  miles  east  of 
Winchester.  In  the  battle  which  ensued  the  regi- 
ment bore  an  important  part,  and  in  entering  the 
town  it  came  upon  the  old  camp  ground  which  it 
occupied  in  1863  under  Milroy.  Before  daybreak 
the  next  day  the  troops  were  again  on  the  march, 
and  soon  after  midday  came  up  with  Early  at 
Fisher's  Hill.  On  the  22d  five  companies  of  the 
regiment,  with  other  troops  on  the  skirmish  line, 
-drove  the  rebel  skirmishers  into  their  main  works, 
and  occupied  the  hills  close  to  Early's  intrench- 
ments. 

As  soon  as  Crook  was  known  to  have  gained  the 
enemy's  flank,  the  second  brigade  pushed  over 
the  breastworks,  captured  three  guns,  and  assisted 
in  driving  the  rebels  from  their  position.  The 
regiment  pursued  Early  as  far  as  Mount  Craw- 
ford, and  returning  to  Strasburg,  rested  a  short 
time,  and  then  moved  via  Front  Eoyal  toward 
Alexandria.  When  the  head  of  the  column  was 
•  approaching  the  Shenandoah,  opposite  Ashley's 
Oap,  it  was  overtaken  by  an  order  to  return  to 
Cedar  creek,  as  Early  was  coming  down  again ; 
and  on  the  14th  of  October  the  Sixth  Corps  was 
in  position  along  the  hills  bordering  Cedar  creek. 
On  the  19th  the  regiment  was  actively  engaged, 
and  assisted  in  driving  Early  across  Cedar  creek. 

Sheridan's  army  went  into  cantonments  south 
of  Kernstown,  November  10,  and  on  the  3d  of  De- 
cember the  Sixth  Corps  moved  by  cars  to  Wash- 
ington, and  thence  by  boat  to  City  Point.  A  few 
days  later  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second 
was  in  the  lines  before  Petersburg,  holding  the 
"  curtain  "  between  Forts  Keen  and  Wadsworth, 
just  west  of  the  Weldon  railroad. 

In  January,  1865,  it  moved  with  the  corps  to 
the  left,  when  Grant  extended  his  lines  beyond 
Hatcher's  Run,  and  was  placed  in  position  near 
Fort  Fisher.  On  the  25th  of  March,  with  the 
brigade,  it  captured  and  held  the  rebel  picket- 
trenches. 

At  four  o'clock  a.  m.,  April  2,  the  Sixth  Corps 
advanced  against  the  enemy  and  drove  them  from 
their  fortifications.  Marching  in  pursuit,  the  corps 
struck  Lee's  flyitfg  army,  with  the  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-second  on  the  skirmish  line,  ajid 


broke  the  rebel  columns.  It  was  present  at  Lee's, 
surrender,  and  afterward  marched  to  Danville, 
Virginia.  It  returned  to  Washington  City  in 
June,  and  was  reviewed  by  the  President  and 
members  of  the  Cabinet. 

It  was  mustered  out  on  the  26th  of  July,  with 
an  aggregate  of  585  men,  and  was  paid  and  dis- 
charged at  Columbus  on  the  30th  of  July,  1865. 

The  following  letters  from  different  members 
of  the  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second,  who^ 
were  enlisted  in  Coshocton  county,  give,  besides- 
personal  reminiscences,  more  directly  the  part 
taken  in  the  various  battles  of  the  regiment  by 
the  Coshocton  companies. 

Wheeling,  Va.,  June  19, 1863. 

In  regard  to  the  Winchester  battle,  having 
been  for  four  months  previous  thereto  detailed 
from  my  regiment  as  judge  advocate  of  our  gen- 
eral court  martial  in  the  Second  Division  of  the 
Eighth  Army  Corps,  I  was  ordered  to  report  for 
field  duty  on  General  Milroy's  staff,  in  which 
position  I  acted  during  the  engagement,  on 
Saturday  at  10  o'clock  A.  m.  The  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-second  was  not  engaged  outside  the 
forts  until  MondS,y,  and  up  to  that  time  had  lost 
but  few  men  and  had  only  twelve  wounded ;  but 
on  Monday  its  loss  was  heavy,  as  the  regiment 
was  ordered  to  assault  a  rebel  battery  in  the 
woods,  having  a  severe  fight  and  making  a  gal- 
lant charge.  The  sensation  produced  on  one 
after  being  under  fire  for  awhile  is  very  different 
from  what  I  expected.  I  felt,  after  the  first  hour 
or  so,  all  right.  Monday  morning  I  was  sent  to 
some  place  on  the  field  with  an  order,  and  get- 
ting cut  off  from  the  main  body,  had  a  hard  ride 
to  keep  from  going  to  Richmond.  The  force  at- 
tacking us  was  Jackson's  old  corps,  under  Bwell, 
about  30,000  strong;  our  force  was  about  8,000 
effective  men.  At  2  o'clock  on  Monday,  we 
spiked  all  our  guns,  leaving  wagons,  baggage,  etc, 
I  lost  everything  I  had  except  what  I  had  on. 

G.  H.  Bargee. 

Captain  Barger  is  still  a  resident  of  Coshocton 
county  and  a  prominent  member  of  the  bar.  At 
the  time  when  the  above  letter  was  written  Cap- 
tain Barger  was  First  Lieutenant  of  Company 
G,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  Ohio.  He 
was  promated  to  the  captaincy,  and  commis- 
sioned, March  26,  1864,  and  resigned  from  the 
service  October,  lB64. 

The  following  is  from  the  Age,  of  date  Decem- 
ber 31, 1863: 


HISTOBY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


375 


The  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  Ohio 
was  near  the  front  during  the  advance  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac.  Colonel  Ball  telegraphed 
-from  Brandy  Station  that  all  the  officers  were 
safe,  but  that  the  regiment  had  lost  six  killed  and 
thirty-two  wounded,  of  whom  twenty-two  are 
seriously  hurt.  The  killed  are :  Edward  Green, 
JohnMorling  and  William  A.  PhilUps,  of  Com- 
pany C;  Solomon  Thompson,  Company  E;  Wil- 
liam K.  Tudor,  Company  I;  John  Hawkins, 
Company  G. 

And  in  the  Age,  of  date  January  23,  1864,  the 
following  from  Captain  B.  F.  Sells,  of  Company  D : 
Camp  Near  Bealton  Station,  Vieginia,  Dec.  25, 1863. 

I  have  just  received  official  information  of  the 
death  of  another  member  of  my  company. 
Private  Robert  Marshman  died  at  Second  Division 
Hospital,  at  Alexandria,  December  21,  from  a 
gunshot  wound  received  in  the  fight  at  Mine 
Eun,  the  27th  day  of  November,  1863.  Private 
Marshman  was  a  prompt  and  efficient  soldier, 
always  ready  and  willing  for  duty — ^he  had  no 
superior  and  few  equals.  B.  P.  Sells. 

In  the  Age,  of  date  June  18, 1864,  these  deaths 
are  recorded : 

The  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-Second  O. 
V.  I.— This  gallant  regiment  has  suffered  severely 
in  the  Virginia  battles.  From  a  long  list  of  cas- 
ualties we  copy  the  following  of  Coshocton  com- 
panies : 

Company  D — Killed,  Martin  Vance.  Wounded, 
John  P.  Cly,  Joseph  O'Donnel,  James  Cooper  and 
Thomas  Nelson. 

Company  G  —  Killed,  Corporal  E.  Polan. 
Wounded,  First  Sergeant  William  Gorsline,  Ser- 
geant C.  C.  Meyer,  E.  H.  Axline,  D.  B.  Myser,  E. 
Eiggler,  William  Ward,  J.  W.  Einehart,  Lewis 
Smith,  W.  King,  Es.  Polen  and  H.  Moore.  We 
have  noticed  Captain  Work's  death  in  a  previous 
issue. 

seventy-eighth  eegiment. 

Quite  a  number  of  the  citizens  of  Coshocton 
county  enlisted  in  the  Seventy-eighth  Ohio,  who 
were  not  credited  to  Coshocton.  While  not 
enumerating  any,  except'  such  as  have  contrib- 
uted personal  reminiscences,  it  would  not  be  just 
to  omit  a  consideration  of  the  regimental  history 
of  the  Seventy-eighth.  It  was  raised  under  spe- 
cial authority  from  Governor  Dennison,  issued  to 
M.  D.  Leggett,  Esq.,  of  Zanesville,  Muskingum 
county,  Ohio.  M.  D.  Leggett,  afterward  appointed 
brigadier  general,  was  well  and  favorably  known 
in  Coshocton    county,  and    his    popularity  ac- 


counted for  the  enrollment  of  a  large  number  of 
those  citizens  whose  homes  were  in  the  adjacent 
townships  of  Coshocton  county,  making  Zanes- 
ville as  near  a  point  of  rendezvous  as  Coshocton, 

The  first  man  of  the  regiment  was  enlisted  on 
the  30th  day  of  October,  1861.  The  organization 
was  completed  on  the  11th  day  of  January,  1862f 
and  the  regiment  left  by  cars  for  Cincinnati  on 
the  11th  day  of  February,  where  steamers  were 
found,  on  which  it  embarked  for  Fort  Donelson, 
on  the  Tennessee  river.  This  point  was  reached 
on  the  16th  of  February  and  the  regiment  went 
into  position  on  the  battle-field,  but  too  late  to 
take  part  in  the  action.  Immediately  aftei:  this 
battle  the  regiment  saw  its  first  field  duty,  that  of 
taking  care  of  the  rebel  prisoners  and  stores. 

On  the  1st  of  March  the  regiment  marched 
across  the  country  to  Metal  Landing  on  the  Ten- 
nessee river,  where  it  went  into  camp  awaiting 
transportation.  About  the  10th  of  March  it 
moved  with  the  national  forces  to  Crump's  Land- 
ing, and  thence  to  Adamsville,  on  the  road  to 
Pardy,  to  guard  an  exposed  flank  of  the  army  at 
Pittsburgh  Landing.  Nothing  of  interest  trans- 
pired .here  except  a  few  slight  skirmishes  with 
the  enemy. 

Early  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  April  picket 
firing  was  heard  by  the  troops  stationed  at 
Adamsville.  The  whole  command  was  immedi- 
ately drawn  up  in  line  awaiting  orders.  Eeceiv- 
ing  orders  at  twelve  o'clock  m.,  -the  Seventy- 
eighth,  with  its  brigade,  marched  to  the  battle- 
field, a  distance  of  fourteen  miles,  and  reached 
Pittsburg  Landing  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
in  company  with  General  Lew  Wallace's  division. 
The  fight  being  over  for  the  day  the  regiment 
went  into  camp  for  the  night  on  the  extreme 
right  of  the  national  army.  At  daylight  on  the 
morning  of  the  7th  the  regiment  went  into  bat- 
tle on  the  right  and  was  under  fire  throughout 
the  day,  with,  however,  but  slight  loss,  only  one 
man  was  killed  and  nine  wounded.  Eetaining 
its  position  on  the  right,  the  Seventy-eighth 
shared  the  movement  on  Corinth.  In  guarding 
the  right  flank  of  the  army  the  regiment  was 
frequently  engaged  in  reconnoissances  and  skir- 
mishes with  the  enemy. 

On  the  evacuation  of  Corinth,  the  regiment 
marched  with  Lew  Wallace's  Division  to  Betliel 


376 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY.. 


where  it  was  detached  and  sent  with  the  Thir- 
tieth Elinois,  under  command  of  Colonel  Leggett, 
to  Jackson,  Tennessee.  The  town  was  found  in 
possession  of  a  small  rebel  force,  which  was 
driven  ofi,  and  the  place  occupied.  At  this  place 
the  regiment  had  the  honor  to  raise  a  national 
flag  on  the  pole  where  the  first  rebel  flag  was 
raised  in  Tennessee. 

At  Jackson,  the  Seventy-eighth  was  transferred 
from  Lew  Wallace's  division  to  General  Logan's 
division.  From  Jackson,  the  Seventy-eighth, 
with  the  Thirtieth  Illinois,  were  again  sent,  un- 
der Colonel  Leggett,  to  Grand  Junction.  It  re- 
inained  at  this  point  one  month,  and  then  re- 
turned to  Bolivar.  While  there  the  regiment 
made  several  important  and  arduous  reconnols- 
sances,  in  which  a  number  of  skirmishes  were 
had  with  the  enemy.  On  the  30th  of  August,  the 
Seventy-eighth  and  Twentieth  Ohio,  one  company 
of  the  Eleventh  Illinois  Cavalry,  and  a  section  of- 
the  Ninth  Indiana  Artillery,  had  a  brisk  engage- 
ment at  Spring  Creek,  sixteen  miles  from  Bolivar. 
While  the  engagement  was  in  progress,  four 
companies  of  the  Second  Illinois  Cavalry,  under 
Colonel  Hogg,  reported  and  took  part  in  the 
fight.  Colonel  Hogg  was  killed.  On  the  day  be- 
fore the  fight,  a  force  of  mounted  infantry  was 
improvised  from  the  Seventy-eighth  and  Twen- 
tieth Ohio,  by  selecting  three  tried  men  from 
each  company.  This  force  under  command  of 
Lieutenants  G.  D.  Munson,  of  the  Seventy-eighth, 
and  Ayers,  of  the  Twentieth  Ohio,  was  sent  on  a 
reconnoissance  the  night  previous,  and  discovered 
the  enemy  in  force.  After  capturing  the  rebel 
outposts  it  fell  back  to  its  main  body.  On  the 
the  next  day  this  "  mule  cavalry  "  performed  ex- 
cellent service,  and  to  them  was  attributed  largely 
the  successful  result  of  the  fight.  In  this  afTair 
the  loss  of  the  regiment  was  slight. 

When  the  rebel  army,  under  Price  and  Van 
Dorn,  moved  on  luka,  the  Seventy-eighth 
marched,  with  Logan's  division,  to  that  point, 
but  did  not  participate  in  the  battle.  Returning 
to  Bolivar  it  joined  Grant's  forces  in  the  move- 
ment toward  Grenada,  Mississippi,  and  was  near 
Grenada  in  advance  of  the  whole  army,  when,  in 
consequence  of  the  destruction  by  the  enemy  of 
Holly  Springs,  it  fell  back  with  the  national  army 
on  that  place.    Immediately  thereafter  it  accom- 


panied Grant's  forces  to  Memphis,  Tennessee,, 
and  thence  by  steamer  to  Lake  Providence, 
where  it  was  employed  in  cutting  the  bank  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  opening  Bayou  Jackson  for 
the  purpose  of  overflowing  the  country  below. 
While  lying  at  this  point  the  regiment,  with  its 
brigade,  went  to  Eagle  Point  and  up  Mud  Bayou 
to  aid  in  saving  some  gunboats  surrounded  by 
the  enemy.  Milliken's  Bend  was  the  next  point 
to  which  the  Seventy-eighth  was  sent,  where  it 
joined  the  national  army,  under  General  Grants 
then  concentrating  for  the  march  on  Vicksburg. 
On  the  occasion  of  running  the  blockade  of 
Vicksburg  with  transports,  twelve  members  of 
the  Seventy-eighth  Ohio  Were  selected  as  part  of 
the  crew  of  one  of  the  boats  of  this  detail.  Ser- 
geant James  McLaughlin  and  private  Huffman 
occupied  themselves  during  the  trip  in  ■  playing 
cards  by  the  light  of  the  enemies  guns.  Cross- 
ing the  Mississippi  river  at  Bruinsburg,  the  regi- 
ment marched  with  the  army  to  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg.  On  this  march  it  participated  in  the 
battle  of  Raymond,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1863,  and 
lost  in  killed  and  wounded  about  eighty  men. 

On  the  16th  of  May  it  was  engaged  in  the 
battle  of  Champion  Hills,  where  it  lost  116  men 
killed  and  wounded.  During  these  battles  Gen- 
eral Leggett  was  commanding  the  brigade 
having  received  his  commission  as  Brigadier 
General  on  the  29th  of  November,  1862.  On  the 
17th,  18th,  and  19th  of  May,  the  investment  of 
Vicksburg  was  completed.  On  the  22d  of  May, 
the  Seventy-eighth  participated  in  the  general 
charge  of  that  day  on  the  enemy's  works,  with 
slight  loss.  About  the  25th  of  May  the  regiment 
was  joined  to  a  force  sent  up  the  Yazoo  river, 
under  General  Frank  P.  Blair,  to  look  after  a 
rebel  force  reported  to  be  moving  to  the  relief  of 
Vicksburg,  under  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 
Johnston  having  changed  his  line  of  march  to  a 
point  further  south — toward  Jackson — the  com- 
mand returned  to  Vicksburg,  and  the  Seventy- 
eighth  Ohio  resumed  its  position  before  the,  city. 
At  this  point  General  Leggett  was  transferred  to 
the  command  of  the  first  brigade  of  General 
Logan's  division.  On  the  22d  of  June  the  Sev- 
enty-eighth was  again  sent  with  a  force  to  pre- 
vent the  rebels  under  Johnston  from  crossing  the 
Black  river  at  Bovina.    The  regiment  remained 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


377 


at  Bovina  until  after  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg. 
On  the  4th  of  July  the  Seventy-eighth  joined 
Sherman  in  his  march  on  Jackson,  Mississippi. 
It  was  left  at  Clinton,  whereT  on  the  7th  of  July, 
it  was  attacked  by  rebel  cavalry,  which  attack  it 
handsomely  repulsed.  On  the  return  of  the  na- 
tional forces  to  Vicksburg,  the  regiment  accom- 
panied them  and  remained  there  vmtil  the  latter 
part  of  August.  It  then  marched  with  McPher- 
son's  expedition,  to  destroy  the  rebel  mills,  near 
Canton.  Coming  back  to  Vicksburg,  it  went 
with  General  Logan's  division  to  Monroeyille, 
Louisiana,  on  the  Washita  river,  to  look  after  a 
force  of  rebels  reported  to  be  in  that  vicinity. 

On  the  5th  of  January,  1864,  the  Seventy-eighth 
re-enlisted  for  the  war.  Immediately  thereafter 
the  regiment  marched  with  General  Sherman  on 
the  Meridian  expedition,  and  on  its  return  was 
sent  home  on  veteran  furlough.  The  regiment 
returned  on  the  1st  of  May,  and  rendezvoused  at 
Cairo,  lUionis.  The  division  was  re-organized  at 
this  point,  and  moved  by  steamers  up  the  Ten- 
nessee river  to  Clifton.  From  Clifton  it  marched 
over  the  Blue  Mountain  Ridge  and  joined  Gen- 
eral Sherman's  army  at  Acworth,  Georgia.  It 
was  immediately  placed  in  position  on  the  left, 
and  commenced  its  part  of  the  campaign  at  At- 
lanta. , 

On  the  17th  of  June,  the  regiment  took  part  in 
the  attack  on  and  capture  of  Bushy  Mountain. 
About  the  time  the  order  was  given  to  move  on 
the  mountain  a  heavy  rain  storm  commenced. 
General  M.  D.  Leggett,  commanding  the  third 
division  of  Logan's  corps,  dashed  up  the  slope 
and  captured"  the  rebel  works,  turning  its  guns 
on  the  rebels  as  they  fled.  By  reason  of  the  driv- 
ing rain,  the  other  division*  that  were  to  co-oper- 
ate in  the  affair,  did  not  perceive  General  Leg- 
gett's  movement,  and  supposed  the  rebels  still 
held  the  mountain  and  were  firing  on  the  na- 
tional cavalry,  directed  their  batteries  on  Leggett's 
division,  and  shelled  the  mountain  until  a  staft 
officer  was  sent  to  undeceive  them. 

On  the  27th  of  June  the  regiment  participated 
in  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain.  The  regi- 
ment, with  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  then 
swung  around  the  mountain  to  the  extreme  right 
of  Sherman's  line,  extending  to  the  Chattahoochie, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Nicojack  creek,  thus  flanking 


the  rebel  forces  Vnd  causing  them  to  evacuate  the 
mountain.  From  the  5th  to  the  6th  of  July  the 
regiment  was  engaged  in  an  almost  continuous 
skirmishing  and  artillery  duel.  During  this  time,' 
at  intervals,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  prevent 
the  privates  of  the  two  armies  from  affiliating. 
On  one  occasion  a  large  boat  was  procured  and 
placed  in  the  middle  of  the  Chattahoochie  river, 
in  each  end  of  which  a  hostage  was  seated,  and  a 
squad  of  either  party  placed  on  the  banks  to  shoot 
the  hostage'  if  treachery  was  practiced.  Brisk 
trade  and  card  playing  then  commenced  and 
continued  until  discovered  and  stopped  by  some 
of  the  officers. 

On  the  night  of  the  15th  of  July  the  rebels 
evacuated  the  nortlt  side  of  the'  Chattahoochie 
river,  and,  on  the  16th,  the  regiment,  Avith  its 
brigade  and  division  marched  to  Rosswell  Fac- 
tories and  crossed  the  Chattahoochie  at  that  place. 
While  the  Seventy-eighth  was  on  its  march  to  this 
point,  an  affecting  incident  occurred.  Major 
James  Reeves,  the  surgeon  of  the  regiment,  while 
walking,  through  a  clump  of  bushes,  was  accosted 
by  a  citizen  of  the  country  with  a  request  for  a 
national  surgeon  to  administer  medical  aid  to 
his  sick  daughter.  The  doctor  at  first  demurred, 
but  on  reflection  concluded  to  go  with  the  man, 
who  took  him  down  in  a  valley  and  into  a  cave. 
In  this  secluded  spot  were  congregated  about  200 
Union  refugees,'  hiding  from  the  persecution  of 
the  rebel  authorities. 

From  Rossville  the  regiment  moved  directly 
on  Atlanta.  On  the  21st  of  July,  the  regiment 
participated  in  the  attack  on  and  capture  of  Bald 
Knob,  a  position  commanding  the  city  of  Atlanta. 
The  rebels  occupied  it  in  force,  behind  strong 
works.  In  carrying  it  the  divjsion  suffered  se- 
verely. This  position  being  carried,  shells  were 
at  once  thrown  into  Atlanta  by  the  national  artil- 
lery. This  position  was  considered  so  important 
by  the  rebel  commander  that  in  his  anxiety  to  re- 
take it  he,  on  the  next  day,  threw  his  wBole  army 
on  the  left  flank  of  the  national  lines  and  a  terri- 
ble battle  was  the  result,  costing  the  life  of  the 
brave  McPherson.  The  Seventy-eighth  Ohio  suf- 
fered severely.  It  lost  203  officers  and  men  killed 
and  wounded.  At  a  critical  moment  the  Seventy- 
eighth  and  Sixty-eighth  Ohio  held  a  line  near 
Bald  Knob,  on  which  the  rebels  made  a  deter- 


378 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTOIS'  COUNTY. 


mined  attack.  A  hand-to-hand  fight  occurred  in 
which  desperate  valor  was  displayed  on  both 
sides.  Of  thirteen  flag  and  color  bearers  of  the 
Seventj'-eighth  Ohio,  all  were  either  killed  or 
wounded.  On  one  occasion  a  rebel  was  about  to 
capture  the  flag,  when  Captain  John  Orr,  o±  Com- 
pany H,  seized  a  short  sword  from  the  ground 
and  almost  decapitated  him.  For  this  the  Cap- 
tain received  a  gold  medal  from  the  board  of 
honor  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee. 

The  Seventy-eighth  participated  in  the  subse- 
quent movements  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
till  the  fall  of  Atlanta.  It  then  went  into  camp 
near  Atlanta,  and  remained  there  until  about 
■  the  middle  of  October,  when  it  was  sent  up  the 
Atlanta  railroad  to  the  vicii^Hy  of  Chattanooga, 
to  guard  that  line  of  supply.  When  Hood  left 
the  railroad  and  marched  toward  Decatur,  the 
Seventy-eighth  returned  to  Atlanta,  by  the  way 
of  Lost  Mountain,  reaching  that  place  on  the 
13th  of  November.  On  the  15th,  it  started  with 
General  Sherman's  forces  on  the  March  to  the 
Sea. 

After  the  taking  of  Savannah,  and  the  march 
through  the  Carolinas,  up  to  the  surrender  of 
Johnston's  army,  the  regiment  accompanied  the 
national  forces  through  Richmond,  Virginia,  to 
Washington  City,  and  there  participated  in  the 
grand  review. 

From  Washington  it  was  sent  by  rail  and  river 
to  Louisville,  Kentucky.  On  the  ■9th  day  of  July 
it  started  for  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  on  the  11th 
was  paid  off  and  mustered  out  o!  service. 

The  Seventy-eighth  passed  through  a  series  of 
battles  and  skirmishes  that  involved  an  immense 
amount  of  fatiguing  duty  and  severe  exposure. 
One  of  the  saddest  results  that  followed  this  tax- 
ing service,  finds  an  illustration  in  the  person  of 
Hamilton  Caton,  from  one  of  the  best  families  in 
Coshocton  county,  and  who  is  still  living  under 
the  care  of  relatives  in  the  county,  incurably  in- 
sane. WiMiam  Caton  was  a  faithful  soldier,  a 
private  in  the  ranks  of  the  Seventy-eighth;  he  did 
not  shrink  from  any  task,  and  met  any  amount 
of  exposure  with  a  truly  Spartan  fortitude;  the 
result  of  this  physical  drain,  combined  with  the 
impressions  produced  by  the  horrors  of  war,  was 
to  becloud  the  mind  of  this  patriot-  and  soldier 
with  the  dark  shadows  of  the  insane,  and  though 


long  years  have  elapsed  since  the  war,  and  he  has 
been  through  them  all,  the  recipient  of  a  grateful 
country's  bounty,  he  still  tramps  over  swamp 
and  through  thicket,  and  digs  trench,  and  stands 
picket,  ever  hearing,'  day  and  night,  the  shrieks 
of  shells  and  the  dying. 

Coshocton  still  retains  as  a  citizen,  another 
prominent  member  of  the  Seventy-eighth,  in  the 
person  of  A.  W.  Search,  who,  entering  the  ser- 
vice as  a  private,  at  the  organization  of  the  regi- 
ment, was  promoted  to  the  first  lieutenancy 
July  1, 1863,  and  to  the  captaincy  January  11, 
1865.  While  holding  the  position  of  lieutenant. 
Captain  Search  was  assigned  to  fluty  as  adjutant 
of  the  regiment,  and  -^as  also  appointed  judge 
advocate  for  the  Third  Division,  Seventeenth 
Army  Corps.  Captain  Search  has  for  quite  a 
number  of  years  edited  the  Coshocton  Age,  and 
has  been  a  prominent  citizen  in  his  influence  in' 
the  county.  Within  the  first  three  months 
the  year  1881,  he  has  retired  from  the  more  pub- 
lic life  of  a  newspaper  man,  to  that  of  mercantile 
pursuits.  ^ 

The  following  interesting  sketch  of  personal 
reminiscence  is  furnished  by  Captain  Search ; 

The  Seventy-eighth  had  a  few  of  tliat  class  in 
her  private  ranks,  who  were  mighty  men  and 
brave — in  words— and  who  continually  boasted— 
in  camp — of  the  prowess  tbey  would  manifest 
upon  the  field.  A  shrewd  colonel,  having  over- 
heard their  warlike  speech  while  the  division 
was  on  the  march  from  Crump's  Landing  to 
Purdy,  concluded  it  was  bad  to  keep  them  wait- 
ing, and  detailed  a  small  scouting  squad,  taking 
in  every  man  "  of  words  "  from  the  various  i  com- 
panies, at  midnight,  to  go  ahead  on  a  corduroy 
road  and  be  vigilant  and  brave,  and  ndtify  the 
main  body  if  the  enenxy  was  found.  A  staff  offi- 
cer was  sent  after  them  to  sound  the  recall  in  a 
short  time,  who  in  leading  his  horse  over  the  cor- 
duroy road  and  trailing  his  sword  thereon  so 
frightened  the  scouting  squad  of  braves  that  they 
fled  incontinently,  minus  guns,  hats,  and  some- 
times coats.  In  going  to  La  Grange,  Tennessee, 
the  regiment  made  a  forced  march  which  told  so 
heavily  on  the  boys  that  only  a  few  men  out  of 
each  company  showed  up  when  the  regiment 
first  arrived,  the  balance  coming  on  behind  ex- 
hausted and  spent.  At  La  Grange  there  was  a 
seminary  .located,  the  president  of  which,  like 
Horace  Greeley,  prided  himself  upon  "what  he 
knew  about  farming  "  and  gave  good  evidence  of 
it,  in  a  large  field  one  side  of  his  residence  which 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


879 


was  crowded  with  finely  growing  sweet  potatoes; 
the  boj's  of  the  Seventy-eighth  immediately  took 
possession  and  commenced  digging  them  out 
with  their  bayonets. 

The  professor  came  out  and  ordered  them  off, 
and,  not  a  man  giving  the  slightest  heed,  he  then 
pompously  asked:  "Is  this  the  manner  in  which 
you  come  to  defend  a  down-trodden  country  ? " 
and  was  answered  by  a  shock-headed  Coshocton 
county  farmer  in  this  wise :  "  Not  much,  boss  ; 
this  is  the  way  we  dig  taters."  The  professor 
surrendered  and  retired.  On  the  Water  Valley 
campaign  an  interesting  incident  occurred,  show- 
ing the  advantage  of  being  the  possessor  of  inge- 
nuity. General  Logan's  division  came  to  the 
banks  of  a  stream  too  deep  to  ford,  the  bridge 
over  which  had  been  burnt  by  the  rebels.  Gen- 
eral Logan  rode  to  the  front  with  his  engineer, 
and  inquired  how  long  it  would  take  to  put  a 
bridge  over.  The  engineer  said,  "  Three  days." 
Captain  Wiles,  of  Company  C,  Seventy-eighth, 
spoke  up  and  told  General  Logan  if  he  would 
furnish  three  reliefs,  of  a  hundred  men  each,  he 
would  have  it  ready  the  next  morning.  The  men 
were  furnished,  the  bridge  was  built,  and  the  di- 
vision was  over  according  to  agreement,  although 
the  engineer  swore  it  could  not  be  dorie.  It  was 
managed  by  tearing  down  a  cotton  gin  on  the 
banks,  and  by  cutting  and  floating  limbs  of  trees 
into  place. 

At  Atlanta,  during  the  severest  part  of  the 
fight,  while  the  Seventy-eighth  was  behind  some 
earthworks,  two  brothers  belonging  to  one  of  the 
companies  of  the  Seventy-eighth,  of  the  name 
Cocoohnower,  were  so  intense  in  their  fighting 
hatred  that  they  jumped  upon  the  top  of  the 
works  and  loaded  and  fired  until  they  were  both 
killed. 

Company  C,  under  command  of  Captain  Wiles, 
was  the  pioneer  company  of  the  corps,  and  had 
charge  of  the  piining  and  sapping,  in  orde'r  to  ac- 
complish which  they  were  compelled  to  load  up 
a  long  wagon  with  bales  of  cotton,  and  push  it  on 
ahead  to  cover  them  from  the  fire  of  sharpshoot- 
ers. Many  efibrts  were  made  by  the  rebels  to 
burn  it,  and  they  finally  shelled  it  and  set  it  on 
fire. 

While  pushing  the  mining  and  sapping  the 
men  who  were  so  detailed  were  continually  at- 
tacked; among  other  methods  that  of  the  hand 
grenade  being  employed,  and,  in  numerous  in- 
stances, our  boys  would  coolly  pick  them  up, 
burning  fuse  aad  all,  and  throw  them  back  into 
the  rebel  works,  not  without  some  fatal  results 
however.       • 

Captain  Search,  it  may  be  added,  was,  at  one 
time,  captured  bj'  a  small  body  of  rebels  who 
were  hidden  in  the  bush  along  side  of  the  road 


leading  to  Resaca,  and  upon  which  road  the 
Union  forces  were  moving  to  meet  Hood. 

Captain  Search  was  then  a  staff  ofiBcer,  and 
was  coming  back  on  the  road  with  orders  to  close 
up  the  sections  of  artillery  on  the  road.  As  he 
was  riding  back  he  met  a  slouchy  appearing  man 
coming  toward  him,  who,  in  the  dusk  of  the 
evening,  he  supposed  was  one  of  the  gunners  or 
teamsters,  when  directly  opposite  Captain  Search 
he  seized  the  lines,  thrust  a  pistol  in  his  face,  and, 
taking  him  off  the  road  about  three  hundred 
yards,  placed  him  in  charge  of  'a  company  of 
about  one  hundred. 

Considerable  badgering  was  indulged  in  about 
appropriating  the  captain's  property,  but,  finally, 
vyhen  they  were  ready  to  depart,  he  was  allowed 
to  mount  his  own  horse,  which,  being  a  good  one, 
as  they  struck  the  road  in  crossing  he  put  spurs 
to  and  dashed  off,  succeeding  in  getting  away 
from  his  captors,  it  being  too  risky  for  them  to 
pursue  him  on  the  open  highway.    / 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

WAR  OF  THE  REBELLION— CONTINUED. 

FUteenth  Ohio  VolUBteer  Infantry— Its  Operations  in  the 
Field— Thirty-seventh  Ohio — A  Record  of  its  Services. 

THE  Fifteenth  and  Thirty-seventh  regiments, , 
in  so  far  as  they  find  a  representation  in 
Coshocton  county,  obtained  the  Coshocton  men 
somewhat  similarly.  The  men  who  enlisted  pro- 
posed going  into  other  regiments,  but  were  too 
late,  and  consequently  became  absorbed  in  the 
Fifteenth  and  Thirty-seventh.  The  following 
history  of  the  Fifteenth  is  from  "Ohio  in  the 
War": 

The  Fifteenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry  was 
one  of  the  first  to  respond  to  the  President's  call 
for  seventy-five  thousand  men  for  three  months' 
service,  and,  on  the  4th  of  May,  1861,  the  regi- 
ment was  organized  at  Camp  Jackson,  Columbus, 
Ohio,  and  four  days  after  moved  to  Camp  God- 
dard,  near  Zanesville,  Ohio.  Here  it  spent  about 
ten  days,  engaged  in  drilling,  disciplining  and 
active  preparations  for  the  field.  It  was  then 
ordered- into  West  Virginia,  and,  crossing  the 
Ohio  river  at  Bellaire,  it  was  employed  for  some 


380 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON   COUNTY. 


time  in  guard  duty  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
railroad,  advancing  as  far  as  Grafton.  It  was  en- 
gaged in  the  rout  of  the  rebels  under  General 
Porterfield  at  Phillippi,  on  the  13th  of  June,  and 
afterward  took  part  in  the  affairs  of  Laurel  Hill 
and  Garrick's  Ford.  The  regiment  performed  a 
large  amount  of  marching  and  guard  duty,  and 
rendered  valuable  services  to  the  .Government  in 
assisting  to  stay  the  progress  of  the  rebels,  who 
were  endeavoring  to  carry  the  war  into  the  north. 
Having  served  its  term  of  enlistment,  it  returned 
to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  was  discharged  about  the 
1st  of  August,  having  lost  but  two  men,  one  killed 
and  one  dying  of  disease. 

The  President  having  issued  his  call  for  three 
hundred  thousand  men  for  three  years,  the  sol- 
'  diers  of  the  Fifteenth  felt  the  importance  of  a 
hearty  response,  and  with  their  patriotism  and 
ardoi  not  lessened,  but  rather  increased,  by  the 
trials  and  exposure  incident  to  their  three  months' 
campaign,  they  almost  immediately  and  almost 
unanimously  resolved  to  reenlist;  and  the  regi- 
ment was  reorganized  at  Camp  Mordecai  Bartley, 
near  Mansiield,  Ohio,  and  left  Camp  Bartley  for 
Camp  Dennison  on  the  26th  of  September,  1861. 
At  this  place  they  received  their  arms  and  the 
remainder  of  their  clothing,  camp  and  garrison 
equipage.  The  regiment  was  armed  with  old 
Springfield  and  Harper's  Ferry  muskets  altered, 
except  Companies  A  and  B,  which  received  En- 
field rifles.  The  outfit  being  completed  on  the 
4th  of  October  the  regiment  left  for  the  field,  its 
destination  being  Lexington,  Kentucky.  It  re- 
mained in  camp  at  Lexington  until  the  12th, 
when  it  was  transported  by  rail  to  Louisville,  and 
from  there  to  Camp  Nevin,  near  Notin's  Station, 
Kentucky.  At  this  place  it  was  assigned  to  the 
sixth  brigade,  (General  E.  W.  Johnson  command- 
ing) Second  Division,  (General  A.  McD.  McCook, 
commanding)  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  then 
commanded  by  General  W.  T.  Sherman,  subse- 
quently by  General  Buell.  The  regiment  re- 
mained at  Camp  Nevin  until  the  9th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1861,  when  the  division  marched  to  Bacon 
creek,  and  on  the  following  day  the  sixth  brigade 
occupied  Mumfordsville.  On  the  morning  of  the 
14th  the  second  division  broke  camp,  moving  in 
the  direction  of  West  Point  to  embark  for  Fort 
Donelson ;  but  upon  receiving  intelligence  of  its 


capture  the  division  was  marched  to  Bowling 
Green.  Crossing  Barren  river  on  the  27th,  the 
command  marched  for  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
which  place  was  reached  on  the  2d  of  March. 
Camping  grounds  were  selected  about  three  miles 
from  the  city,  and  the.  army  rested  until  the  16th, 
when  the  march  to  Savannah  began ;  which  point 
was  reached  on  the  night  of  April  6,  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  7th  the  regiment  embarked  for 
the  battle-field  and  was  engaged  from  about  twelve 
M,  till  four  p.  M.,  when  the  enemy  retreated.  In 
this  engagement  the  regiment  lost  six  men  killed 
and  sixty-two  wounded. 

In  the  subsequent  operations  against  Corinth, 
the  second  division  formed  the  reserve  of  the 
army,  and  did  not  take  the  front  until  the  27th  of 
May. 

It  was  continually  skirmishing  with  the  enemy 
until  the  30th,  when  the  town  was  occupied  by 
our  forces.  On  the  10th  of  June  the  division 
marched' to  Battle  Creek,  Tennessee,  crossing  the 
Tennessee  river  at  Florence,  and,  resting  there 
several  days,  arrived  at  Battle  Creek  on  the  18th 
of  July.  The  regiment  was  engaged  in  building 
a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  Battle  Creek  and  in  the  or- 
dinary duties  of  camp  until  the  20th  of  August, 
when  General  McCook's  command  moved  to  Al- 
temonte,  on  the  Cumberland  mountains,  in  which 
direction  the  invading  army  under  Bragg  was 
marching.  FromAlteraonte  the  division  marched, 
via  Manchester  and  Murfreesboro,  to  Nashville, 
arriving  there  on  the  8th  of  September.  After 
halting  two  or  three  days  the  army  marched  to 
Bowling  Green,  and  thence,  by  way  of  West 
Point,  to 'Louisville,  arriving  on  the'25th  of  Sep- 
tember. On  the  1st  of  October  the  second  divi- 
sion marched  on  the  Shelbyville  pike  in  pursuit 
of  the  enemy,  reaching  Shelbyville  the  second 
day.  Eemaining  in  camp  a  few  days,  the  march 
was  resumed  to  Lawrenceburg,  where  a  skir- 
mish was  had  with  the  enemy  in  which  the  regi- 
ment was  engaged.  The  division  then  marched  to 
Perryville,  which  was  reached  a  few  days  after  the 
battle  of  Chaplin  Hills,  and  there  joined  the  main 
army  and  marched  in  pursuit  of  Bi^gg  as  far  aa 
Crab  Orcjiard,  where  it  remained  several  days, 
and  then  marched  to  Nashville,  where  it  arrived 
on  the  7th  of  November,  1862. 

The  army  was  reorganized   and  thoroughly 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


381 


drilled  here,  and,  6n  the  26th  of  December,  ad- 
vanced on  the  enemy's  position  at  Murfreesboro. 
In  the  battle  of  Stone  Eiver  the  regiment  was 
heavily  engaged,  losing  eighteen  killed,  and 
eighty-nine  wounded.  After  the  occupation  of 
Murfreesboro  by  the  army,  under  General  Rose- 
crans,  the  Fifteenth  was  engaged  in  drilling, 
foraging,  fortifying-and  picket  duty  until  the  24th 
of  July,  when  an  advance  was  ordered  on  TuUa- 
homa  and  ■  Shelby ville,  which  places  were  occu- 
pied by  our  army  after  the  enemy  was  dislodged 

'  from  his  strong  position  at  Golner's  and  Liberty 
Gaps,  the  latter  being  carried  by  the  second  di- 
vision, and  the  Fifteenth  taking  a  very  promi- 
nent part  therein.' 

In  this  engagement,  one  officer  and  seven  men 
were  killed,  and  twenty-three  wounded.  The 
second  division  was  stationed  at  Tullahoma  till 
the  16th  of  August,  when  it  was  ordered  to  Belle- 
fonte,  Alabama,  marching  via  Winchester  and 
Salem,  and  arriving  at  its  destination  on  the  22d. 
Remaining  there  about  a  week,  the  division 
marched  to  near  Stevenson,  Alabama.  On  the 
2d  of  September  the  march  was  resumed  in  the 
direction  of  Rome,  Georgia,  crossing  Lookout 
Mountain  and  camping  at  the  eastern  foot,  near 
Alpine,  on  the  10th.  After  reniaining  in  posi- 
tion for  ten  days,  the  command  recrossed  Look- 
out Mountain  to  Winson's  valley,  and,  on  the 
11th,  marched  to  .a  position  in  connection  with 
main  Urmy  in  Lookout  valley. 

The  regiment  remained  in  position  on  the  ex- 
treme right  flank  of  the  army  until  the  morning  of 
the  19th,when  it  marched  for  the  battlefield  of 
Chickamauga,  a  distance  of  thirteen  miles,  and  was 
engaged  soon  after  its  arrival.  At  Chickamauga 
the  regiment  lost  one  officer  and  nine  men  killed, 
two  officers  and  sixty-nine  men  wounded,  and 
forty  men  missing.  The  regiment  bore  its  share 
in  the  arduous  'labors  and  privations  of  the 
seige  of  Chattanooga,  and  on  the  2oth  of  Novem- 

'  ber  participated  in  the  brilliant  assault  of  Mission 
Ridge,  capturing  a  number  of  prisoners  and 
some  artillery. 

On  the  28th  of  November  the  regiment,  then 
belonging  to  the  First  Brigade,  Thir,d  Division, 
Fourth  Army  iCorps,  marched  with  the  corps  to 
the  relief  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee,  arriving  on  the 
8th  of  December;  on  the  20th  the  command 


moved  to  Strawberry  Plains  by  way  of  Flat  creeks 
On  the  14th  of  January,  1864,  the  greater  por- 
tion of  the  regiment  having  re-enlisted  as  veter- 
ans, it  started  for  Columbus,  Ohio,  via  Chatta- 
nooga, preparatory  to  ieing  furloughed.  The 
regiment  arrived  in  Columbus,  with  850  veterans,, 
on  the  10th  of  February,  and  the.  men  were  fur- 
loughed on  the  12th. 

On  the  14th  of  March  the  regirvient  assembled 
at  Camp  Chase  to  return  to  the  field,  having  re- 
cruited to  upward  of  900  men.  Upon  arriving" 
at  Nashville,  on  the  22d,  the  regiment  was  ordered 
to  march  to  Chattanooga,  arriving  on  the  6th  of" 
April.  On  the  8tli  the  regiment  moved  to  Cleve- 
land, Tennessee,  meetiijg  with  a  serious  accident 
near  Charleston,  Tennessee,  by  a  railroad  train 
being  thrown  from  the  track,  by  which  twenty 
men  were  more  or  less  injured. 

The  regiment  moved  to  McDonald's  Station  on 
the  20th,  and  remained  there  till  the  opening  cf 
the  spring  campaign.  At  noon,  on  the^  3d  of 
May,  the  regiment  broke  camp  and  marched  to 
Tunnel  Hill,  where  Genaral  Sherman's  army 
took  position,  and  was  constantly  skirmishing 
with  the  enemy,  this  regiment  being  frequently 
engaged  until  the  13th,  when '  the  enemy  evacu- 
ated Rocky  Face  Ridge  and  our  army  took  pos- 
session of  Dalton. 

The  Fifteenth  participated  in  the  subsequent 
pursuit  of  the  rebels,  in  the  battle  of  Resaca  and 
again  in  the  pursuit  and  engagement  near  Dallas, 
where  the  regiment  suffered  severeh',  losing  nine- 
teen men  killed,  three  officers  and  sixty-one  men 
wounded  and  nineteen  men  missing,  who  were 
supposed  to  be  either  killed  or  severely  wounded. 
The  color  guard,  with  the  exception  of  one  corpo- 
ral, were  all  either  killed  or  wounded,  but  the 
colors  were  safely  brought  ofT  by  the  surviving 
member  of  the  guard,  Corporal  David  Hart,  of 
Company  I.  The  rebels  having  evacuated  their 
works  on  the  5th  of  June,  the  army  moved  to  the 
vicinity  of  Acworth,  and  on  the  10th  advanced  to 
near  Kenesaw  Mountain.  While  skirmishing 
sharply,  on  the  14th  of  June,  the  regiment  lost 
one  officer  and  one  man  killed,  and  five  men 
wounded,  all  belonging  to  Company  A.  On  the 
morning  of  June  18,  the  rebels  having  withdrawn, 
a  party  of  three  or  four  men  advanced  to  recon- 
noitre, and  picking  up  a  couple  of  stragglers,  they 


382 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


■were  sent  back  in  charge  of  Peter  Cupp,  a  private 
of  Company  H,  who,  in  returning  to  the  regiment, 
suddenly  came  upon  a  rebel  outpost,  which  had 
been  left  by  accident.  Cupp  announced  the  with- 
drawal to  them  and  ordered  them  to  stack  their 
arms  and  surrender,  which  they  did,  and  one  cap- 
tain, one  lieutenant  and  sixteen  men  of  ithe  First 
Georgia  volunteers  were  marched  into  our  lines 
■by  Private  Cupp.  While  in  the  vicinity  the  reg- 
iment was  engaged  in  scouting  and  skirmishing, 
frequently  capturing  prisoners. 

After  crossing  the  Chattahoochie  the  regiment 
moved  down  the  river  on  the  11th  of  July,  and  in 
connection  with  the  division,  drove  back  the  en- 
emy's cavalry  and  covered  the  crossing  of  the 
Fourteenth  Corps.  The  line  was  advanced  each 
day  until  it  closed  in  around  the  rebel  works  be- 
fore Atlanta.  On  the  night  of  August  25,  the 
•command  to  which  the  regiment  belonged  with- 
drew ■from  the  works  in  front  and  commenced 
the  movement  upon  the  communications  in  the 
rear  of  Atlanta,  skirmishing  with  the  enemy  at 
Lovejoy's  Station  on  the  night  of  September  5, 
and,  reaching  Atlanta  the  8th,  the  Fourth  Corps 
encamped  near  Decatur. 

When  the  army  of  Hood  began  its  raid  upon 
our  communications  the  regiment  marched  via 
Marietta  and  Rome,  to  the  relief  of  Resaca,  Octo- 
ber 3, 'and  from  Resaca  it  marched  through  Snake 
Creek  Gap,  by  way  of  Salesville,  Chattanooga  and 
Pulaski  to  Columbia,  where  it  was  engaged  in  a 
slight  skirmish.  From  Columbia  the  army  moved 
toward  Franklin,  passing  in  view  of  the  camp-fires 
of  a  corps  of  the  enemy  near  Spring  Hill,  Ten- 
nessee. The  regiment  did  not  participate  in  the 
battle  of  Franklin,  but  was  assigned  the  duty  of 
■covering  the  withdrawal  of  the  forces  and  the  re- 
treat to  Nash^ville.  At  Nashville  the  regiment 
formed  the  extreme  left  of  the  army,  and  when 
the  order  came  for  the  left  to  move  forward  the 
regiment  advanced  rapidly,  capturing  a  fine  bat- 
tery of  four  brass  guns  and  some  thirty  prisoners 

On  the  16th  of  December,  the  enemy  was 
found  entrenched  in  a  strong  position  on  Frank- 
lin pike,  about  five  miles  from  the  city.  The  regi- 
ment participated  in  a  movement  upon  these 
works,  capturing  prisoners  to  the  number  of  two 
commissioned  officers  and  one  hundred  men. 
The  entire  loss  sustained  by  the  regiment  in  the 


two  days  of  the  fight  was  two  officers  and  one 
man  killed  and  two  .officers  and  twenty-four  men 
wounded.  The  most  vigorous  pursuit  was  made 
by  our  army,  but  the  infantry  was  Unable  to  over- 
take the  flying  e'nemy,  and'  after  following  the 
rebels  to  Lexington,  Alabama,  the  corps  moved 
in  the  direction  of  Huntsville,  and  the  regiment 
vv'ent  into  camp  at  Bird  Springs  about  the  4th  or 
5th  of  January,  1865,  and  remained  until  the  15th 
of  March  when  it  was  ordered  to  move 'into  East 
Tennessee.  It  moved  by  rail  to  New  Market, 
Tennessee,  and  then  took  up  the  line  of  march  to 
Greenville,  to  assist  in  preventing  the  escape  of 
Lee  and  Johnson,  while  Grant  and  Sherman 
pressed  them  to  a  surrender.  The  Fifteenth  ar- 
rived at  Greenville  on  the  6th  of  April,  and  on 
the  22d  was  ordered  back  to  Nashville.  On  this 
march  the  regiment  acted  as  train  guard  and 
reached  Nashville  about  the  1st  of  May,  1865. 
From  this  time  tillHhe  16th  of  June,  the  regi- . 
ment  was  in  camp  near  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
when  orders  were  received  to  move  to  Texas. 
With  a  good  degree  of  cheerfulness  the  men 
turned  their  backs  once  more  upon  their  homes, 
went  to  Johnston ville  and  thence  by  hokt  to  New 
Orleans.  Moving  down  a  short  distance  below 
the  city  they  bivouacked  in  the  old  Jackson  bat- 
tle ground  till  July  5,  >vhen  they  shipped  for 
Texas. 

The  regiment  arrive^  at  Indianola,  Texas, 
July  9,  disembarked,  and  in  order  to,  obtain  a 
sufficient  supply  of  water,  marched  that  same 
night  to  Green  Lake,  a  distance  of  about  twenty 
miles.  Remaining  here  just  one  month,  on  the 
10th  of  August  it  marched  for  San  Antonio,  a  dis- 
tance of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  The  scarcity 
of  water,  the  extreme  heat,  the  want  of  suitable 
rations,  together  with  inadequate  transportation, 
all  combined,  made  this  one  of  the  most  severe 
marches  the  regiment  ever  endured.  It  reached 
the  Salado,  a  small  stream  near  the  San  Antonio, 
on  the  21st  of  August,  and  remained  there  until 
October  20,  when  it  was  designated  to  perform 
post  duty  in  the  city,  and  it  continued  to  act  in 
this  capacity  till  November  21,  when  it  was  mus- 
tered out  and  ordered  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  for 
final  discharge. 

The  regiment  left  San  Antonio  on  the  24th  of 
November  and  marched  to  Indianola,  proceeding 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


383 


thence,  by  way  of  New  Orleans  and  Cairo,  to 
Columbus,  Ohio,  where  it  arrived  December  25, 
and  was  finally  discharged  from  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  on  the  27th  of  December,  1865. 

The  Fifteenth  was  among  the  first  regiments 
to  be  mustered  in,  and  among  the  last  to  be 
mustered  out,  having  been  in  the  service  as  an 
organization  about  four  years  and  eight  months. 

Few  regiments  present  a  better  record  upon 
battle  fields  and  marches  than  the  Fifteenth,  while 
in  respect  to  the  intelligence  aiid  moral  charac- 
ter of  its  officers  and  soldiers,  it  holds  an  enviable 
position. 

It  is- worthy  of  note,  that  the  Coshocton  sol- 
diers in  the  Fifteenth,  though  not  numerous,  in 
following  the  varied  vicissitudes  of  the  regiment, 
as  they  did,  from  its  muster  in  till  its  muster  out, 
escaped  without  a  death  or  a  wound. 

THIRTY-SEVENTH. 

In  viewing  the  record  of  the  Thirty-seventh 
Ohio,  it  would  be  well  to  note  the  fact  that  it  was 
recruited  as  a  German  regiment,  and  as  siich  was 
the  third  of  its  kind  raised  in  Ohio.  A  large 
portion  of  'the  regiment  was  taken  from  Tuscar- 
awas county,  and  the  German  settlements  of  Co- 
shocton county  bordering  on  Tuscarawas  con- 
tributed liberally  in  enlistments  that  were  cred- 
ited to  Tuscarawas.  The  record  of  the  regiment 
is  as  follows : 

The  Thirty-seventh  was  principally  recruited 
among  the  patriotic  Germans  of  Cleveland,  To- 
ledo and  Chillicothe.  The  counties  of  Auglaize^ 
Franklin,  Mahoning  and  Tuscarawas  (Coshocton 
men)  furnished  a  number  of  the  men;  Erie, 
Wyandot  and  Mercer  also  contributed  liberally. 
Its  organization  was  commenced  under  the  call 
of  President  Lincoln  for  300,000  men,  in  August, 
1861.  By  the  latter  part  of  September,  seven 
full  companies  had  reported,  and  on  the  1st  of 
October  800  men  were  enrolled.  With  this  num- 
ber the  regiment  was  placed  in  Camp  Dennison, 
and  on  the  2d  of  October  it  was  mustered  into 
the  service  armed  and  equipped.  Colonel  E. 
Siber,  an  accomplished  German  officer,  who  had 
seen  active  servece  in  Prussia  and  Brazil,  was  se- 
lected as  the  commander  of  the  regiment;  L. 
Von  Blessingh,  of  Toledo,  Lieutenant-Colonel,  and 
Charles  Ankele,  of  Cleveland,  Major.     Its  line 


officers  were  selected  from  those  who  had  seen 
service  in  the  preceding  three  months'  cam- 
paign. 

The  regiment  moved  via  Cincinnati  to  a  point 
on  the  Kanawha  river,  in  West  Virginia,  where 
it  reported  to  General  Rosecrans,  then  command- 
ing that  department.  Shortly  after  its  arrival, 
the  regiment  was  sent  up  the  Kanawha,  in  com- 
pany with  other  forces,  to  the  oil  works  at  Can- 
nelton,  with  the  view  of  driving  the  rebel  Gen- 
eral Floyd  out  of  that  valley.  The  national 
forces  rnoved  up  the  valley,  marching  along  Loup 
creek,  flanked,  and  forced  the  rebels  to  evacuate 
Cotton  Hill,  and  pursued  them  to  within  seven 
miles  of  Raleigh  Court  House.  On  its  return 
frOm  this  expedition,  the  regiment  went  into 
winter-quarters,  at  Clifton,  where  it  occupied 
itself  in  drilling  and  perfecting  its  organization, 
guarding  all  the  principal  points  in  the  vicinity, 
and  occasionally  sending  out  scouting  parties  in 
all  sections  of  that  part  of  West  Virginia.  In 
January,  1862,  it  went  out  on  an  expedition  to 
Logan  Court  House,  east  of  Guyandotte  river, 
and  eighty  miles  distant  from  Clifton.  After 
marching  and  brisk  skirmishing  with  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  the  place  was  captured .  and  all  the  war 
material  destroyed.  This  accomplished,  the  reg- 
iment returned  to  Clifton,  having  sufiered  a  loss 
of  one  officer  and  one  man  killed.  In  March, 
1862,  the  Thirty-seventh  Ohio  was  added  to  the 
third  provisional  brigade  of  the  Kanaviha  divis- 
ion, and  ordered  to  accompany  that  division  on  a 
raid  to  the  southern  part  of  West  Virginia,  with 
the  view  of  reaching  and  destroying,  if  possible, 
the  Virginia  and  East  Tennessee  railroad,  near 
Wytheville,  Virginia.  But,  after  severe  and  un- 
successful fighting  At  and  near  Princeton,  on  East 
river,  in  which  the  regiment  lost  one  officer  and 
thirteen  men  killed,  two  officers  and.  forty-six 
men  wounded,  and  fourteen  men  missing,  the 
national  forces  were  compelled  to  retreat  to  Flat- 
top Mountain,  where  they  remained  in  bivouac 
until  the  1st  of  August,  1862.  On  that  day  the 
regiment  marched  to  Raleigh,  garrisoned  the 
place,  and  scoured  the  country  for  a  circuit  of 
twenty-five  miles. 

In  an  expedition  to  Wyoming  Court  House,  a 
detachment  of  the  regiment  fell  into  an  ambus- 
cade, and  were  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  but  cut 


;384 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


their  way  out  of  the  difficulty  with  the  loss  of  two 
killed,  and  one  officer  and  seven  men  taken  pris- 
oners. In  the  latter  part  of  August  the  regiment 
marched  in  detachments  to  Fayetteville,  Vir- 
ginia, which  place  was  garrisoned  by  the  Thirty- 
seventh  and  Thirty-fourth  Ohio,  and  a  temporary 
'battery,  composed  of  men  from  the  Thirty-sev- 
enth Ohio  on  temporary  duty. 

On  the  10th  of  September  two  companies  of  the 
-regiment  were  sent  Out  on  the  Princeton  road, 
and,  after  reaching  a  spot  one  and  a  half  miles 
from  their  starting  point,  they  encountered  the 

■  enemy  in  heavy  force,  making  it  necessary  to  fall 
"back.    Shortly  after,  the  whole  force  was  engaged 

with  the  enemy,  led  by  General  Loring.  The 
fight  lasted  from  12  m.  until  dark,  when  Colonel 
■Siber,  the  commanding  officer  of  the  Thirty- 
seventh  Ohio,  being  informed  that  another  force 
of  the  enemy  was  threatening  the  national  rfear 
and  line  of  retreat,  the  retreat  was  sounded,  and, 
.  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  regiment  moved 
back  on  the  Gauley  road,  taking  a  position  on 
■Cotton  Hill,  and  engaging  the  enemy  an  hour 
with  effective  results.  The  retreat  was  then  re- 
.  sumed,  and,  on  the  12th  of  September,  the  national 
troops  crossed  the  Kanawha  river  at  Camp  Piatt, 
and  arrived  at  Charleston  on  the  next  day.  The 
enemy,  who  had  followed  at  a  respectful  distance, 
was  here  engaged  and  kept  at  bay  until  dark. 
This  stand  was  necessary  in  order  to  cover  the 
retreat  of  a  valuable  train  of  seven  hundred  wag- 
ons loaded  with  the  entire  supplies  of  all  the 
troops  in  the  Kanawha  valley. 

After  a  very  exhausting  march  of  three  days 
and  nights,  the  Ohio  river  was  reached  on  the 
15th,  at  a  point  nearly  opposite  Kipley,  Ohio,  and 
the  troops  crossed  over,  but  almost  immediately 
thereafter  re-crossed  the  river,  and  went  into 

■  camp  at.  Point  Pleasant.  In  this  unfortunate  re- 
treat the  Thirty-seventh  Ohio  lost  two  men  killed, 
three  wounded  and  sixty-three  missing,  of  which 
latter  a  large  portion  were  teamsters  and  train 
guards.  All  the  company  wagons,  camp  equip- 
age and  officers'  baggage  were  lost  near  Fayette- 
ville by  a  rear  attack  of  the  enemy. 

On  the  15th  of  October  the  company  entered 
Kanawha  valley,  under  command  of  Lieutenant 
L.  Von  Blessingh.  Gauley  Bridge  was  reached 
November  19th,  where  a  camp  was  formed  and 


occupied  up  to  December,  1862,  on  which  day 
the  regiment  marched  to  Camp  Piatt,  and  from 
thence  embarked  on  steamers  for  Cincinnati. 
While  lying  at  the  wharf  there  Colonel  Siber  as- 
sumed command  of  the  regiment,  and  was  for- 
tunate enough  to  procure  new  Enfield  rifles  in 
exchange  for  the  arms  then  in  use.  Proceeding 
down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  the  regi- 
ment was  landed  at  Napoleon,  Arkansas,  on  the 
16th  of  January,  1862.  Here  it  was,  with  other 
regiments,  formed  into  the  Third  Brigade,  Second 
Division  of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps.  On  the 
21st  of  January  the  troops  moved  over  to  Mili- 
ken's  bend,  nearly  opposite  ^'icksburg,  Missis- 
sippi, where  they  were  engaged  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  canal  which  was  to  isolate  Vicksburg 
from  the  river,  and  make  it  an  inland  town.  A 
freshet  in  the  Mississii^pi  river  compelled  the 
regiment,  with  the  other  troops,  to  seek  higher 
ground  for  encampment.  Young's  Point  was 
selected.  From  Young's  Point  a  nvimber  of  ex- 
peditions were  sent  to  the  east  side  of  tlie  Missis- 
sippi dnd  up  the  Yazoo  river,  in  all  of  which  the 
Thirty-seventh  participated. 

On  the  29th  of  April,  1862,  the  regiment,  un- 
der the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel,  L.  Von 
Blessingh,  with  eight  other  regiments  of  the  di- 
vision embarked  on  steamers  and  were  taken  up 
the  Yazoo  river  to  Haines'  Bluff.  This  move- 
ment was  made  as  a  feint  to  cover  the  movements 
of  General  Grant,  to  the  southeast  of  Vicksburg. 
The  regiment  returned  to  the  west  side  of  the 
Mississippi  and  again  went  into  camp  at  Young's 
Point,  performing  guard  and  fatigue  duty  until 
the  13th  of  May,  when  it  was  sent  down  to  Grand 
Gulf.  .From  that  place  it  marched  with  the  force 
under  General  Grant  to  the  rear  of  Vicksburg, 
where  it  was  assigned  as  a  portion  of  the  front 
line  of  the  army  investing  that  place.  In  the 
bloody  but  unsuccessful  assaults  on  the  enemy's 
works.  May  19  and  22,  and  the  subsequent  siege  > 
of  Vicksburg,  the  regiment  lost  nineteen  killed 
and  seventy-five  wounded — including  among  tlie 
wounded  Lieutenant  Colonel  L.  Von  Blessingh. 
This  casualty  devolved  the  command  of  the  regi- 
ment upon  Major  C.  Hipp  imtil  the  l8th  of  June, 
when  Colonel  Siber  reported  from  his  leave  of 
absence,  and  resumed  command. 

After  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  the  Thirty- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


885 


seventh  participated  in  the  expedition  against 
Jackson,  Mississippi,  and  on  its  capture,  July  17, 
it  performed  provost-guard  duty  for  some  days. 
On  the  23d  of  July  it  marched  to  a  camp  of  rest 
and  reorganization,  called  Camp  Sherman,  near 
Big  Black  river.  It  remained  in  this  camp  up 
to  the  26th  of  September,  1863,  on  which  day  it 
marched  into  Vicksburg  and  embarked  on  the 
steamet  Nashville  for  Memphis,  Tennessee.  Prom 
Meniphis  the  regiment  marched  into  Corinth, 
Mississippi;  thence  to  Cherokee  Station,  Ala- 
bama, reaching  the  latter  place  on  the  20th  of 
^October,  and  remaining  in  bivouac  until  the  26th 
of  the  same  month. 

The  rebel  General  Forrest  becoming  trouble- 
some, the  Thirty-seventh  Ohio  marched,  "vvith  its 
division,  to  drive  off  his  cavalry,  who  were  oper- 
ating with  the  view  of  impeding  the  march  of  the 
national  forces  toward  and  for  the  relief  of  Chat- 
tanooga. On  the  21st  of  November  Chattanooga 
was  reached,  and  on  the  nights  of  the  23d  and 
24th  the  regiment  crossed  the  Tennessee  river, 
opposite  Mission  Eidge,  and  held  a  hill  in  front 
of  the  enemy  during  the  night  of  the  24th,  in 
order  to  maintain  commvmication  with  the  first 
brigade  of  the  division.  On  the  morning  of  No- 
vember 2.5  the  regiment  participated  in  an  as- 
sault on  the  enemy's  fortified  position,  in  which 
it  lost  five  men  killed  and  thirty-six  wounded, 
five  of  the  latter  being  ofiicers.  Although  not 
successful  in  the  charge,  other  points  of  the  rebel 
line  were  broken  and  the  enemy  retreated  dur- 
ing the  following  night,  and  was  pursued  as  far 
.as  Ringgold.  ' 

At  Gravesville,  on  the  29th  of  November,  the 
regiment  received  orders  to  march  with  the  di- 
vision to  East  Tennessee  to  drive  the  rebels  un- 
der Longstreet  from  that  part  of  the  State.  This 
campaign  lasted  for  three  weeks,  and  is  memora- 
ble from  the  intense  suffering  endured  by  the 
troops.  The  weather  was  intensely  cold,  the  men 
half  clad,  and  numbers  of  thern  shoeless,  and  were 
■compelled  to  subsist  on  half  rations ;  and  yet  these 
brave  men  endured  all  these  privations  without  a 
murmur.  On  the  contrary,  unreasonable  as  it 
may  seem,  the  men  generally  were  in  exuberant 
spirits,  and  it  was  noticed  that  more  humorous 
jokes  were  current  on  that  campaign  than  any 
that  preceded  it.    On  the  march  back,  the  regi- 


ment remained  at  Bridgeport,  Alabama,  until  the 
26th  of  Deceniber,  when  it  went  into  camp  at 
Larkinsville,  Alabama. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  February, 
1864,  the  Thirty-seventh  formed  part  of  an  expe- 
dition sent  toward  Lebanon,  Alabama,  and  on 
the  15th  of  the  same  month  it  marched  to  Cleve- 
land, Tennessee,  with  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps, 
on  a  reconnoissance  to  the  vicinity  of  Dalton, 
Georgia,  returning  to  Larkinsville,  Alabama, 
March  2. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  three-fourths  of  the  men 
having  re-enlisted  for  another  term  of  three 
years,  they  were  again  mustered  into  the  service, 
and  placed  in  the  Second  Brigade,  Second  Di- 
vision of  the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps.  The  usual 
thirty  days'  leav^was  accorded,  which  the  regi- 
ment enjoyed  at  their  homes  in  Ohio. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  furlough  the  men 
promptly  rendezvoused  at  Camp  Taylor,  near 
Cleveland,  and  by  the  28th  of  April,  1864,  were 
again  at  the  front,  ready  for  duty.  On  their  way 
to  duty  a  disastrous  railroad  accident  occurred 
near  Mumfordsville,  Kentucky,  by  which  thirty 
men  were  wounded  and  one  killed. 

On  the  arrival  of  l^he  regiment  at  Chattanooga 
it  was  newly  armed  and  equipped,  and  was  im- 
mediately ordered  to  join  its  division  (May  10), 
then  operating  in  Sugar  creek  valley,  Georgia. 
On  the  13th  of  May  it  participated  in  the  advance 
on  Eesaca,  in  which  it  lost  three  killed,  two  of 
whom  were  officers,  and  ten  men  wounded. 

The  enemy  having  been  driven  out  of  his 
strongholds,  the  division  and  regiment  crossed 
the  Oostenaula  river  at  Lay's  Ferry,  and  marched 
towards  Kingston,  Georgia,  reaching  there  on  the 
19th  of  May.  At  this  time  the  Thirty-seventh 
Ohio  was  under  the  command  of  Major  C.  Hipp, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  L.  Von  Blessingh  being  in 
Ohio  on  sick  leave. 

In  the  march  on  Atlanta,  Dallas  was-  the  next 
point  reached.  On  the  28d  of  May,  the  enemy 
was  encountered  in  strong  force  at  that  place, 
sheltered  by  a  stronglj'  fortified  position.  In  this 
engagement  and  at  New  Hope  Church  (May  28, 
29  and  June  1),  the  regiment  only  lost  four  men 
wounded.  On  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  the 
Thirty-seventh  pursued  toward  Aoworth,  and 
went  into  line  of  battle  in  front  of  Kenesaw 


386 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Mountain,  and  participated  in  the  memorable 
and  disastrous  assault  made  by  the  national 
forces  against  that  stronghold,  in  which  the 
enemy  was  compelled  to  fall  back  and  abandon 
the  position.  Up  to  this  point  (from  June  11  to 
July  2),  the  regiment  lost  four  men  killed  and 
nineteen  wounded. 

Again  on  the  march,  the  regiment  was  next 
foimd,  with  its  division,  to  the  extreme  right  of 
the  army,  supporting  the  Twenty-third  Army 
Corps  in  the  engagements  near  the  Chattahoochiei 
river  and  Nicojack  creek.  Immediately  after,  it 
was  ordered  to  the  left  (July  12),  and  marched 
through  Marietta,  Eosswell  Factories  and  across 
the  Chattahoochie  river.  Strong  breast  works 
were  built  on  the  south  side  of  ^the  river,  and  the 
regiment  moved  by  a  rapid  march  to  the  Atlanta 
and  Augusta  railroad,  which  was  distroyed  for  a 
considerable  distance.  It  then  moved  through 
Decatur  on  Atlanta,  and  on  the  20th  of  July,  1864, 
encamped  within  two  miles  of  that  city. 

On  the  22d  of  July  the  Thirty-seventh  Ohio 
held  a  position  on  the  right  of  its  division,  in  the 
breastworks  abandoned  by  the  enemy  on  the  pre- 
vious night.  The  enemy,  receiving  heavy  rein- 
forcements, succeeded  in  breaking  the  national 
lines  on  the  left,  whereby  the  Thirty-seventh  was 
flanked  and  compelled  to  "  get  out  of  that."  In 
this  reversed  movement  it  lost  four  men  killed, 
ten  wounded,  and  thirty-eight  taken  prisoners. 
The  national  forces,  stung  to  the  quick  by  tlie  suc- 
cess of  the  enemy,  turned  fiercely  upon  them,  and 
with  the  help  of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  re- 
took the  position  and  held  it.  On  the  27th  of  July 
the  Fifteenth  Army  Corps  was  moved  to  the  right 
of  the  besieging  army,  thereby  threatening  the 
enemy's  communication  with  Macon  and  the 
South  generally.  Perceiving  too  late  the  advan- 
tage that  had  been  gained  by  the  national  move- 
ment, the  enemy  made  an  effort  to  drive  them 
from  their  position,  and  for  that  purpose  the  hair 
tie  of  Ezra  Chapel  was  fought  (a  fierce  encounter) 
in  which  the  rebels  were  severely  punished. 
The  Thirty-seventh  Ohio  held  the  extreme  right 
in  this  engagement,  was  deployed  as  skirmishers 
and  completely  frustrated  an  attempt  of  the  enemy 
to  turn  the  national  right.  Major  C.  Hipp  com- 
manded the  regiment  in  this  afiair,  and  lost  his 
left  arm  at  the  commencement  of  the  battle.  This 


devolved  the  command  on  Captain  Morritz,  who 
took  the  regiment  through  the  remainder  of  the 
battle.  The  regiment  lost  one  man  killed  and  five 
wounded. 

Very  nearly  a  month  (from  July  28  to  August 
26)  was  consumed  in  advancing  the  national  lines 
toward  the  fortifications  in  front  of  the  railroad 
leading  from  Atlanta  to  East  Point,  during  which 
period  the  regiment  lost  five  men  killed  and  eight 
wounded.  It  then  moved  with  its  division,  over 
the  Atlanta  and  Montgomery  railroad,  toward 
Jonesboro  on  the  Atlantic  and  Macon  railroad. 

The  30th  of  August  found  the  Thirty-seventh 
in  line  of  battle,  moving  on  Jonesboro  in  advance 
of  the  brigade.  Driving  the  enemy's  skirmishers 
before  it,  at  sundown  it  had  gained  a  position  one- 
half  mile  west  of  the  railroad,  where,  during  the 
night,  it  threw  up  intrenchments,  and  participa- 
ted in  the  bloody  repulse  of  the  enemy's  repeated 
charges  on  the  national  position.  The  loss  of  the 
regiment  during  these  two  days  (August  30th  and 
31st),  was  two  killed  and  seven  wounded. 

Jonesboro  was  entered  by  the  national  troops 
on  the  1st  of  September  at  noon.  By  night,  At- 
lanta was  occupied,  and  the  national  forces  in  ftUl 
pursuit  of  the  rebel  army.  The  pursuit  was 
abandoned  at  Lovejoy's  Station,  and  the  regiment 
returned  to  East  Point  (September  7),  where  it 
went  into  camp  and  rested  until  tlie  4th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1864.  The  Thirty-seventh  Ohio  left  its  camp, 
in  pursuit  of  tlie  rebel  forces  under  Hood,  on  the 
4th  of  October.  Forced  marches  were  made  over 
Northern  Grfiorgia  and  Alabama,  and  the  enemy's 
cavalry  rear  guard  encountered  near  Gadsden, 
Alabama,  on  the  Coosa  river.  On  the  advance  of 
the  brigade  in  line  of  battle,  the  enemy  retreated 
in  such  haste  that  it  was  useless  for  infantry  to  at- 
tempt the  pursuit.  The  regiment  then  returned 
to  Ruffin's  StatioHj  near  the  Chattahoochie  river, 
where  it  remained  up  to  the  13tli  of  November. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  L.  Von  Blessingh,  having  re- 
covered from  his  illness,  joined  and  resumed  com- 
mand of  the  regiment,  relieving  Captain  G. 
Boehm,  who  had  taken  the  place  of  Captain  Mor- 
ritz, absent  on  leave. 

The  great  March  to  the  Sea  was  forming,  and 
its  energetic  commander,  Major  General  AV.  T. 
Sherman,  had  ordered  up  to  Atlanta  all  the  regi- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


389 


ments  and  divisions  that  could  be  spared  from 
Oeneral  Thomas  and  the  other  army  corps. 

On  the  13th  of  November,  1864,  the  Thirty- 
seventh  Ohio  marched  into  Atlanta  to  draw  the 
necessary  outfit  for  the  long  march  about  to  be 
made.    On  the  15th  it  took  up  the  line  of  march. 
The  route  of   the  regiment   passed    over  Mc- 
Donough's  Indian  Springs,  near  which  place  it 
crossed  the  Ocmulgee  river ;  thence  through  the 
towns  of  Hillsboro  and  Clinton.     At  the  latter 
place  it  performed,  in  company- with  the  Fifteenth 
Michigan  Infantry,  valuable  guard  duty,  in  pre- 
venting the  enemy's  cavalry  from  crossing  the 
read  leading  to  Marion,  with  the  view  of  cap- 
turing  and    destroying  a  division  train,  then 
parked  in  the  town  of  Clinton.    Covering  the 
rear  of  the  division,  the  regiment  marched  the 
mext  day  to  Griswold,  where  it  joined  its  division, 
and  having  crossed  the  Georgia  Central  Railroad, 
marched  through  Ironton.  It  crossed  the  Oconee 
■on  the  26th  of  November  and,  after  marching 
•through    extensive    swamps,   arrived    at    Sum- 
mertown,  November  13.    Continuing  its  march 
through  the  low  and  swampy  lands  of  Georgia, 
along  the  southern  side  of  the  Ogeechee  river,  it 
■crossed  the  Connonchee  river  on  the  9th  of  De- 
•cember ;  thence  to  the  line  of  the  Savannah  and 
Oulf  Railroad,  miles  of  which,  with  the  assistance 
of  other  regiments,  it  destroyed.    Recrossing  the 
■Cannonchee,  it  passed  the  Ogeechee  river  and 
advanced  to  within  nine    miles  of    Savannah. 
On  the  13th,  it  again  crossed  the  Ogeechee,  at 
King's   bridge,  advanced  on    Fort   McAllister, 
■which  was  invested  by  the  national  forces  and 
carried  by  assault  the  same  day. 

After  some  days  rest  the  division  again  marched 
to  the  Savannah  and  Gulf  Railroad  and  completed 
its  destruction  for  a  distance  of  thirty  miles.  On 
the  return  of  the  brigade  to  Savannah  it  received 
orders  to  report  to  the  headquarters  of  the  Fif- 
teenth Army  Corps  to  take  part  in  the  contem- 
plated general  attack  on  Savannah. "  In  the  mean- 
time, however,  the  enemy  evacuated  the  city,  and 
the  Thirty-seventh  Ohio  went  into  bivouac  in  a 
camp  eleven  miles  west  of  the  place. 

It  afterward  moved  into  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  the  city  and  occupied  itself  in  drilling,  perfect- 
ing its  equipment  and  in  fortifying  against  the 
enemy,  who,  it  was  thought,  might  possibly  make 

14 


an  effort  to  regain  possession  of  Savannah.  On 
the  19th  of  January,  1865,  the  regiment,  under 
orders,  marched  to  Fort  Thunderbolt,  on  the 
Savannah  river,  where  it  embarked  for  Beaufort, 
South  Carolina,  which  was  reached  on  the  22d  of 
January.  At  this  point  the  regiment  went  into 
camp  until  the  27th  of  January,  when  it  returned 
to  Beaufort  and  took  the  division  train  out  of  the 
transports  then  lying  in  port  at  that  place.  On 
the  30th  it  escorted  this  train  to  Pocotoligo,  and 
from  thence  marched  to  McPhersonville,  where 
it  joined  the  division,  and  went  with  it  through 
South  Carolina  and  the  southern  part  of  North 
Carolina. 

On  this  march  it  crossed  Coosawattee,  the  Big 
and  Little  Combahee,  the  South  and  North  Edisto, 
often  wading  through  water  up  to  the  arm  pits 
of  the  men,  and  attacking  the  enemy  in  fortified 
positions.  After  crossing  the  Congaree,  the  regi- 
ment bivouacked  on  its  banks,  five  miles  south  of 
Columbia.  On  the  16th  of  February  it  crossed 
the  Saluda  river,  four  miles  above  Columbia,  and 
guarded  the  division  train  into  Columbia.  It 
crossed  Broad  river  February  18,  and  was  en- 
gaged for  two  days  in  destroying  the  track  of  the 
Columbia  and  Charleston  railroad.  On  the  20th 
of  February  the  regiment  continued  its  march, 
crossing  the  Wateree  and  wading  Lynch  creek 
(which  had  assumed  the  dimensions  of  a  river), 
on  the  26th.  At  this  point  the  regiment  was 
compelled  to  halt  until  the  2d  of  March,  to  allow 
the  balance  of  the  division  to  come  up,  freshets 
and  the  carrying  away  of  a  bridge  having  retard- 
ed the  march. 

On  the  7th  of  March,  Cheraw,  South  Carolina, 
was  entered,  and  the  Great  Pedee  crossed. 

The  next  day  (March  8),  the  State  line  of  North 
Carolina  was  crossed.  After  having  crossed  the 
headwaters  of  the  Little  Pedee,  Lumber  river, 
and  Little  river,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to 
escort  General  Howard's  headquarters  and  pon- 
toon trains  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  (right 
wing).  It  brought  the  trains  safely  into  Fayette- 
ville.  North  Carolina,  on  the  11th  of  March. 

On  the  14th  of  March,  Cape  Fear  river  was 
crossed,  the  regiment  marching  on  the  road  lead- 
ing to  Clinton,  which  was  guarded  from  the 
enemy's  cavalry,  then  demonstrating  in  the 
national  front.    On  the  17th,  Beaman's  Cross- 


S90 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


roads  was  reached,  and  the  national  army  drew 
near  Goldsboro',  North  CaroUna. 

On  the  22d  of  March,  the  regiment  marched 
towards  Goldsboro',  crossed  the  Neuse  river  on 
the  24th  and  went  into  camp  two  miles  east  of 
the  town.  The  regiment  remained  in  this  camp 
until  the  capitulation  of  Lee  and  Johnson,  when, 
with  the  rest  of  the  national  army,  it  marched, 
■via  Richmond,  Virginia,  to  Washington  City, 
there  passed  in  review  before  President  Johnson 
and  his  Cabinet.  Thence  it  was  transported  by 
rail  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  it  lay  until 
the  latter' part  of  June,  when  the  regiment  was 
sent  with  the  Second  Division  of  the  Fifteenth 
Army  Corps  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  arriving 
on  the  4th  of  July.  The  regiment  remained  in 
camp  there  until  the  12th  of  August,  when  it  was 
mustered  out  and  transported  to  Cleveland,  Ohio, 
and  there  disch'erged,  and  the  men  returned  to 
their  resnective  homes. 


CHAPTER  XLIII. 

WAR  OF  THE  KEBELLION— COKTINUED. 

Sixty-Ninth  Battalion,  or  One  Hundred  and  Forty-Second 
Ohio  N.  G.  and  One  Hundred  and  Forty-Third  Ohio  N.  G' 
— Review  of  the  Sixty-Ninth  Battalion — Eosters  of  Five 
Companies— Record  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-Second 

•  and  One  Hundred  and  Forty-Third— Correspondence  from 
the  Front. 

THE  Sixty-ninth  Battalion  was  originally  com- 
posed of  six  companies,  but  at  the  time  Gov- 
ernor Brough  made  a  call  upon  the  National  Guard 
of  Ohio  there  were  but  five  companies.  Two  of 
these  companie's  went  into  the  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-second  Ohio,  and  three  into  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-third  Ohio. 

The  Sixty-ninth  Battalion  absorbed  nearly  all 
of  the  fighting  element  that  was  left  in  Coshocton 
county,  and  the  interest  that  was  felt  in  the  or- 
ganization is  manifest  in  the  following,  published 
in  the  Age  of  date  May  14, 1864: 

The  Coshocton  county  National  Guards,  that 
had  been  temporarily  dismissed  to  their  homes, 
on  Wednesday,  the  4th  inst.,  reported  promptly 
for  duty  again  on  Monday  last,  and  rendezvoused 
in  the  fair  ground  at  4  p.  m.  Tuesday,  when  they 
went  aboard  a  special  train,  provided  to  convey 
them  to  Camp  Chase.     The  weather,  Tuesday, 


was  very  unpropitious,  a  cold  rain  falling  all  day, 
and  our  streets  were  very  muddy,  but  notwith- 
standing, a  large  concourse  of  people  assembled 
at  the  depot  to  see  the  Sixty-ninth  Battalion,  0.  N. 
G.,  depart,  and  many  a  friend  wished  them  God 
spee«i  and  a  safe  return.  They  are  as  fine  a  look- 
ing body  of  men  as  have  yet  left  the  county,  and 
are  commanded  by  officers  of  known  ability.  Al- 
though calling  them  into  service  at  the  present 
time  is-  very  hard  on  many  of  them — in  many 
cases  no  one  being  left  to  cultivate  their  farms- 
yet  they  went  off  cheerfully  and  in  good  spirits, 
determined  to  do  their  duty  wherever  they  may 
be  sent. 

The  Sixty-ninth  Battalion  was  known  in  the 
military  records  solely  as  part  of  the  two  regi- 
ments to  which  it  was  assigned  as  mentioned 
above.  The  muster  rolls  of  the  five  companies' 
are  given  as  they  were  assigned. 

Muster  rolls  of  Companies  E,  G  and  H,  of  the 
One, Hundred  and  Forty-third  Ohio: 

Company  E. 

Officers: 

N.  R.  Tidball,  Captain. 
D.  F.  Denman,  First  Lieutenant. 
J.  Wilhs,  Second  Lieutenant. 
M.  L.  Norris,  First  Sergeant. 

C.  C.  Thompson,  Second  Sergeant. 
J.  D.  Evans,  Third  Sergeant. 

J.  E.  Milner  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Reuben  Jennings,  Fifth  Sergeant. 

D.  LafTer,  First  Corporal. 
John  Day,  Second  Corporal. 

F.  Suttlemeyer,  Third  Corporal. 
D.  S.  Waggoner,  Fourth  Corporal. 
William  Watson,  Fifth  Corporal. 
George  Moffit,  Sixth  Corporal. 
William  H.  Mayberry,  Seventh  Corporal, 
D.  W.  Horton,  Eighth  Corporal. 
Alonzo  McClure,  Drummer. 
M.  S.  Beebe,  Fifer. 

Privates^ — S.'  Anderson,  A.  J.  Bricker,  W.  E. 
Butler,  Howard  Cass,  H.  Curch,  James  Donehew, 
John  Dennis,  J.  B.  Elliott,  Jackson  Engle,  D.  H. 
Ewing,  WilKatn  Frew,  H.  Fortune,  J.  Fortune, 
Joseph  Guinther,  Joel  Glover,  G.  W.  Gilbert, 
James  Hay,  A.  C.  Hay,  J.  P.  Hay,  P.  Hammtree.. 
E.  Hastings,  Harrison  Hart,  Alexander  Jennings,, 
E.  Kingler,  0.  Laclore,  William  Lanzer,  Robert 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


391 


Love,  M.  L.  Linsey,,  W.  S.  Lutz,  E.  Michael, 
Wesley  Marlatt,  Edwin  Murphy,  Lennel  Marlatt, 
William  F.  Mobley,  D.  F.  Meyers,  E.  A.  Mohler,  J. 
W.  Norman,  J.  E.  Oxley,  Thomas  Parson,  A.  P.  Per- 
kins, S.  L.  Eicketts,  Alexander  Richards,  Joseph 
Eichards,  Eobert  Sands,  William  Scott,  Thomas 
Scott,  John  Sherrod,  A.  Steward,  L.  S.  Smith,  James 
Stone,  Nick  Swartz,  M.  Steenhine,  Samuel  Tay- 
lor, W.  S.  Tidball,  John  Fish,  Joseph  Vincel,  Ja- 
cob Vincel,  George  W.  Vincel,  William  Webb, 
H.  Waggoner,  A.  D.  Wells,  I.  F.  Wait,  Thomas 
L  Wells,  EUaa  West,  W.  H.  Williamson,  L.  H. 
Whinery,  I.  A.  Williamson. 

Company  G- 

Officers: 

John  L.  Daugherty,  Captain. 
Andrew  J.  Stover,  First  Lieutenant. 
Daniel  Eose,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Lewis  Carhart,  First  Sergeant. 
Leander  Bryant,  Second  Sergeant. 
Barzilla  Shaw,  Third  Sergeant. 
John  W.  Graves,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
James  Eeed,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Alexander  McCuUough,  First  Corporal. 
■  Thomas  Le  Eetilley,  Second  Corporal. 
Hiram  Hall,  Third  Corporal. 
William  Austin,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Albert  Wright,  Fifth^Corporal. 
Joseph  Graves,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Phillip  Bible,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Samuel  S.  Waddle,  Eighth  Corporal. 
Lewis  Eeed,  Fifer. 
Martin  Hack,  Drummer, 
Samuel  Squires,  Wagonmaster. 

Privates — John  Allen,  Henry  Akeroyd,  Joseph 
Blackburn,  Henry  Bradfield,  James  Brennernan, 
William  Bradfield,  Jeremiah  Barcroft,  Moses  Cha- 
ney,  Thomas  Cook,  W.  H.  Cox,  Lewis  Cain,  Wil- 
liam CuUison,  Franklin  Catrel,  William  Dodd, 
William  Dawson,  J.  Dawson,  William  Dunfee, 
Jared  DooUttle,  Jesse  Fortune,  T.  J.  Edwards,  R. 
Finnel,  T.  A  Finnel,  N.  Graves,  James  Graham, 
S.  Gooden,  Wesley  Graves,  George  Hill,  J.  Huflf- 
man,  J.  Husten,  Wilham  Huffman,  S.  Hues,  S. 
Keyes,  D.  Kern,  D.  E.  Larr,  T.  Lowery,  J.  Lowery, 
J.  McCuUough,  F.  D.  Miller,  William  McCullough, 


H.  Mulford,  J,  North,  A.  Ogle,  L.  Owen,  J.  Peart, 
Wilham  Peoples,  William  PhiUip,  E.  Piatt,  A.  J. 
Randies,  W.  G.  Ross,  Josephus  Reed,  J.  H.  Eeed, 
G.  Eoney,  G.  C.  Eobinson,  J.  Sprigley,  G.'  Sheron, 
Stewell  Squire,  J.  Stevens,  T.  Smith,  J.  Stone,  J.. 
W.  Taylor,  J.  W.  Turner,  M.  D.  Vaneman,  J.  W. 
Vansickel,  H.  Vansickel,  H.  Wright,  G.  W.  Wright. 

Company  H. 

Officers  : 

James  Earie,  Captain. 
John  T.  Crawford,  First  Lieutenant. 
Nathan  Elliott,  Second  Lieutenant. 
W.  H.  Park,  First  Sergeant. 
Elias  Steward,  Second  Sergeant. 
Nathan  Glover,  Third  Sergeant. 
Thomas  Love,  Fourth  Sergeant.' 
Andrew  Jack,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
John  Waters,  First  Corporal. 
John  Weir,  Second  Corporal.    ' 
John  E.  Baker,  Third  Corporal. 
Harvey  Ford,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Eobert  McGee,  Fifth  Corporal. 
John  A.  Duncan,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Robert  McKarr,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Daniel  Overholt,  Eighth  Corporal. 
James  P.  Lanning,  Musician. 

Privates — John  M.  Adams,  John  Andrews,  Ga- 
briel Andrews,  Robert  D.  Boyd,  Samuel  E.  Bech- 
tol,  Ramsey  W.  Boyd,  James  H.  Boyd,  Henjy  B. 
Bpyd,  Samuel  G.  Bechtol,  John  C.  Boyd,  Francis 
M.  Buckalew,  Aaron  Fitzwater,  Hammon  Carna- 
han,  William  A.  Carnahan,  Leander  Catterell, 
John  Derr,  Joseph  Davis,  Jonas  H.  Duncan,  Jo- 
seph E.  Duncan,  George  Derr,  William  Derr, 
Thomas  G.  Ensley,  Simeon  H.  Ellis,  James  El- 
hott,  George  W.  Elliott,  William  A.  Ensley,  Eob- 
ert B.  Finley,  William  G.  Jack,  Thomas  L.  Karr, 
John  W.  Karr,  Andrew  Karr,  George  Kuhn, 
Benjamin  J.  Lower,  Harrison  Ling,  Miland  A. 
Larance,  Sylvester  Leant,  John  B.  Linn,  Joseph 
Ling,  James  L.  Moorhead,  Alex.  McConnell, 
James  Overholt,  John  J.  Eobertson,  Cyrus  Eey, 
James  E.  Eeed,  Harvey  E.  Shannon,  William 
Shannon,  Samuel  Stonehocker,  William  Stewart, 
William  F.  Sands,  Thomas  Shannon,  Isaac  Staf- 
ford, Thomas  C.  Sayer,  Joseph  Stonehocker, 
Emanuel  Spangler,  Isaac  M.*  Smith,  Abraham 


392 


HISTOBY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Shafifer,  David  Stewart,  Robert  G.  Terbit,  Robert 
W.  Thompson,  Richard  Waiters,  J.  A.  William- 
son, Ebenezer  Williamson,  John  T.  Whitemore, 
Emanuel  Winklepleck. 

Muster  Rolls  of  Companies  E  and  G  of  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-second  Ohio: 

Company  E. 
Officers  : 

Lambert  B.  Wolf,  Captain. 
John  Weatherwax,  First  Lieutenant. 
B.  F.  Leighninger,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Joseph  Fletcher,  First  Sergeant. 
Ralph  Barcroft,  Second  Sergeant. 
Anderson  Hedge,  Third  Sergeant. 
William  McLaughlin,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Charles  Conley,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Hiram  Phillips,  First  Corporal. 
Asa  H.  Lose,  Second  Corporal. 
Aaron  G.  Hedge,  Third  Corporal. 
George  Leighninger,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Orin  Jennings,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Milton  Brelsford,  Sixth  Corporal. 
B.  F.  Chamberlain,  Seventh  Corporal. 
F.  W.  Culbertson,  Eighth  Corporal. 
Musicians— Joseph  Love,  Fifer;  Alonzo  Sibley, 
Drummer. 

Privates. — L.  F.  Annsbaugh,  Adam  Aaronhalt, 
E.  D.  Baker,  Jacob  Brewer,  Josiah  Bible,  Trusdal 
Babcock,  David  Barcroft,  Christ.  Bowers,  Samuel 
Brillhart  jr.,  L.  G.  Cheverant,  Isaac  Casbear,  H 
W.  Duling,  Martin  Duling,  James  Frazee,  W.  H. 
Fowler,  Benjamin  Fuller,  Eli  Fox,  Josiah  Green, 
Porter  Hedge,  Peter  Holser,  O.  P.  Jones,  Joseph 
Jones,  Samuel  Jones,  H.  W.  Jennings,  James  H. 
Johnson,  D.  W.  Kelley,  A.  H.  Lewis,  A.  J.  Loos, 
Levi  Lehninger,  Levi  Levengood,  J.  M.  JVIathena, 
C.  H.  Mathena,  Francis  McGuire,  C.  Meek,  D.  B. 
'Mulvaine,  Samuel  McKee,  A. W.  Moffet,  John  Mor- 
rison, W.  S.  Magness,  A.  J.  McCoy,  J.  A.  McClain, 
David  Norman,  Richard  Owens,  J.  Poland,  Phile- 
mon Phillips,  David  Phillips,  John  Phillips,  Adam 
Potter,W.  J.  Price,  Joel  Reherd,  Lemuel  Reherd, 
James  Richmond,  Henry  Vanolinder,  James  Van- 
olinder,  Levi  Vansickle,  William  Venrick,  Harri- 
son West,  William  Williamson,  E.  D.  Wells,  Wil- 
liam Wolf,  Milton- N.  Wolf,  S.  P.  Woodward,  Wil- 


liam Williams,  J.  L.  Watson,  J.  Williamson,  E. 
Weathwax. 

Company  G. 

Officers: 

Caleb  Wheeler,  Captain. 
David  Lawson,  First  Lieutenant. 
Solomon  McNabb,  Second  Lieutenant. 
Joseph  J.  Barrett,  First  Sergeant. 
'  Joseph  J.  Maggs,  Second  Sergeant. 
John  Johnson,  Third  Sergeant. 
L.  H.  Hogle,  Fourth  Sergeant. 
John  J.  Given,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Aaron  Clark,  First  Corporal. 
John  W.  Edwards,  Second  Corporal. 
J.  W.  Moore,  Third  Corporal. 
William  H.  Cullison,  Fourth  Corporal. 
J.  W.  Thoinpson,  Fifth  Corporal. 
Cyrus  Elder,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Adam  Trimble,  Seventh  Corporal. 
G.  W.  Cullison;  Eighth  Corporal. 

Privates.  —  Joshua  Ammond,  John  Barrett, 
James  Barrett,  John  Bennett,  M.  Batemen,  Alex- 
ander Barrett,  J.  S.  Barcroft,  Henry  Brilhart,  G. 
W.  Crooks,  John  Cullison,  Daniel  Cammel,  New- 
ton Calhoon,  D.  CuUison,  M.  Cullison,  Ben  Culli- 
son, J.  W.  Clark,  J.  S.  Churchill,  Alonzo  Clark, 
Thomas  Carter,  Charlps  Dehuflf,  Jesse  Downes, 
John  Darr,  Samuel  Deviney,  D.  Dorsey,  David 
Daniels,  Stanton  Fry,  N.  C.  Guinn,  S,  Gilbert, 
Henry  Hayns,  William  Hubenthal,  Thomas  , 
Jones,  Samuel  Knoff,  Robert  Kyle,  Joseph  Lan- 
ders, John  Little,  Robert  Long,  Thomas  Little, 
W.  N.  Lamey,  S.  Lanning,  Daniel  Miller,  A.  J. 
Mackey,  W.  S.  Mastersori,  Corwin  McCoy,  Joseph 
McCoy,  L.  Ogean,  R.  PhilUps,  W.  R.  Polo,  M. 
Pomeroy,  H.  Plummer,  David  Richcreek,  T.  0. 
Schooley,  Joseph  Speaks,  J.  W.  Stanton,  G.  W. 
Smith,  William  Stewart,  Joseph  Smith,  R.  Smith, 
G.  W.  Stover,  Joseph  Treadway,  H.  Terry,  John 
Taylor,  G.  S.  Tredway,  N.  Thompson,  Franklin 
Ulman,  R.  Willis,  C.  W.  Wilson,  H.  Wolford, 
John  Yunker. 

The  One.  Hundred  and  Forty-second  was  or- 
ganized at  Camp  Chase,  Ohio,  and  mustered  into 
the  service  of  the  United  States  for  100  days. 
May  12, 1864. 

On  the  14th  it  was  marched  through  the  streets 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


393 


of  Columbus  to  the  State  arsenal,  where  it  was 
supplied  with  Enfield  muskets.  Thence  it  took 
cars  for  Martinsburg,  Virginia,  where  it  remain- 
ed drilling  until  the  19th  of  May,  and  then  left 
for  Washington,  D.  C,  but  meeting  with  deten- 
tion at  Harper's  Ferry,  on  account  of  the  bridge 
being  destroyed  at  that  point,  it  did  not  reach  the 
capitol  until  the  21st. 

From  Washington  it  marched  out  to  Fort  Lyon, 
nine  miles  distant.  The  regiment  did  not  reach 
the  fort  until  late  at  night,  and  finding  no  bar- 
racks, the  men  tasted  their  first  experience  of 
.soldier  life  by  lying  prone  upon  the  naked 
ground.  That  night's  experience  will  be  long  re- 
membered; and  many  a  good  jolly  laugh  has 
been  expended  at  the  recollections  of  the  learned 
and  serious  conversations  of  the  night  about 
"suffering  for  the  country,"  "  the  Valley  Forge 
days  repeated,"  etc.  Their  subsequent  experi- 
ence of  the  hardships  and  privations  of  the  sol- 
dier's Ufe  threw  that  night's  "frolic  "  far  into  the 
shade. 

The  regiment  remained  at  Fort  Lyon,  busily 
engaged  in  strengthening  the  fortifications  and 
perfecting  its  drill,  until  the  5th  of  June,  when 
orders  were  received  to  report  to  General  Aber- 
crombie  at  White  House'  Landing,  on  the  Pa- 
munkey  river.  Among  the  men  some  astonish- 
ment was  expressed  that  they  should  be  selected 
for  duty  at  the  extreme  front ;  but  as  good  loyal 
soldiers,  they  felt  gratified  at  the  confidence  re- 
posed in  them. 

The  regiment  took  steamer  at  Alexandria  on 
the  7th  of  June,  ajid  arrived  at  the  White  House 
Landing,  Pamunkey  river,  on  the  9th  of  June 
about  midnight,  and  went  into  camp  in  the  open 
field.  The  wounded  from  the  battle  of  Coal  Har- 
bor, then  in  progress,  were  being  brought  in — a 
gloomy  reception  to  inexperienced  soldiers. 

Without  rest,  the  regiment,  carrying  six  days' 
rations,  left  all  its  baggage  and  marched,  at  4 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  guard  a  supply  train 
through  the  Wilderness  to  General  Grant's  front, 
near  Coal  Harbor,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles. 
Arriving  there  in  the  evening,  Colonel  Cooper 
reported  to  General  Meade,  who  ordered  him  to 
report  his  regiment  to  General  Butler,  at  Bermu- 
da Hundred.  This  point  was  reached,  by  water, 
on  the  13th  of  June,  where,  without  being  per- 


mitted to  land,  it  was  conveyed  on  transports  to 
Point  of  Eocks,  about  five  miles  below  Peters- 
burg. Here  it  was  landed,  and  marched  about 
about  six  miles  to  the  extreme  right  of  the  na- 
tional line.  Thinking  to  get  a  night's  rest,  the 
,tired  soldiers  lay  down  on  their  blankets,  but 
just  as  they  had  lapsed  into  dreamy  forgetf ulness, 
the  long .  roll  was  sounded.  Leaving  its  tents 
standing,  the  regiment  was  marched  three  miles 
on  the  double-quick,  through  a  dense  pine  forest, 
dark,  and  filled  with  stumps  and  underbrush, 
over  which  the  men  often  stumbled  and  fell. 
The  point  to  be  defended  was  reached,  and  the 
men  were  immediately  placed  in  rifle-pits,  in 
which  exposed  position  they  passed  about  a  week. 
They  were  then  detailed  to  destroy  a  line  of 
earthworks  from  which  the  enemy  had  been 
driven.  While  engaged  in  this  duty,  they  were 
resisted  by  the  rebels,  but  the  regiment,  with  the 
aid  of  other  troops  on  the  line,  not  only  effectu- 
ally completed  the  destruction,  but  drove  the 
rebels  from  the  field. 

Hardly  a  day  passed  without  the  regiment  or 
detachments  from  it  being  detailed  to  perform 
picket  and  fatigue  duty.  At  one  time  the  whole 
regiment  was  detailed  to  build  a  fort  at  Turkey 
Bend,  on  James  river,  which  duty  it  performed 
with  credit  and  dispatch,  although  incessantly 
annoyed  by  shells  from  a  hostile  battery. 

On  the  19th  of  August  it  received  orders  to  re- 
pair to  Washington  City,  as  its  term  of  service 
had  about  expired.  It  accordingly  embarked  on 
transports  at  Bermuda  Hundred  and  reached 
Washington  City  on  the  21st.  It  then  went  by 
rail  to  Camp  Chase,  Ohio,  and  was  there  mustered 
out  of  the  service  of  the  United  States  on  the,  2d 
of  September,  1864. 

The  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  Ohio  Na- 
tional Guard  was  principally  raised  in  the  county 
of  Knox,  and  was  composed  of  men  from  all  the 
various  departments  of  life.  The  farmer,  the  me- 
chanic, the  lawyer— aye,  and  the  minister— all 
ceased  their  vocations  for  a  time,  and  offered  their 
services- and  their  lives,  if  need  be — to  insure 
the  perpetuity  of  the  Union  and  its  institutions. 

Out  of  an  aggregate  strength  of  eight  hundi-ed 
and  forty-five  men  the  regiment  lost  fifty,  mostly 
from  disease  incident  to  camp  Ufe,  excessive  fa- 
tigue and  exposure. 


394 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  regiment 
was  formed  by  consolidating  the  Eighteenth  Bat- 
talion, Ohio  National  Guard,  of  Colnmbiana 
county,  with  the  Sixty-ninth  Battalion,  Ohio  Na- 
tional Guard,  of  Coshocton  county.  It  was  or- 
ganized at  Camp  Chase,  Ohio,  on  the  13th  of  May, 
and  on  the  15th  left  for  Washington  City. 

On  its  arrival  it  was  assigned  to  Haskins'  di- 
vision, Second  Army  Corps,  and  was  placed  on 
garrison  duty  in  Forts  Slemmer,  Slocum  and 
Stevens,  north  of  the  Potomac.  On  the  8th  of 
June  the  regiment  embarked  for  White  House, 
but  without  debarking,  it  was  ordered  to  Ber- 
muda Hundred.  It  was  assigned  to  the  Tenth 
Army  Corps,  and  was  placed  in  the  intrench- 
ments  at  City  Point,  where  it  remained  until 
■ordered  to  Fort  Pocahontas.  It  was  relieved 
from  duty  at  Fort  Pocahontas,  August  29,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Camp  Chase,  where  it  arrived  on  the 
5th  of  September,  and  was  mustered  out  of  ser- 
vice on  the  12th.  ^ 

The  two  companies  of  the  Sixty-ninth  Battalion 
0.  N.  G.,  which  were  assigned  to  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-second  Ohio,  had  much  severer 
tasks  assigned  them  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  the 
three  companies  forming  part  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-third.  The  causes  are  worthy  of 
notice.  The  two  regiments  pursued  the  same 
Toute  and  were  passing  through  similar  expe- 
Tiences  until  the  5th  of  June,  when  both  regi- 
ments were  ordered  to  White  House  Landing, 
on  the  Pamunkey  river,  to  re-enforce  General 
•Abercrombie.  On  this  passage,  while  the  boat, 
named  "  lolas," — which  contained  the  three  com- 
panies of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third, 
among  others — was  on  its  route,  at  ten  p.  m.,  it 
was  run  into  by  a  large  schooner,  and  part  of  the 
deck  swept  overboard.  Fortunately  no  one  was 
up,  except  Captain  N.  R.  Tidball  and  Private 
Lewis  Smith,  and  there  was  in  consequence  no 
personal  injury,  although  the  boat  was  so  much 
damaged,  she  was  lashed  to  the  schooner,  and  in 
the  morning,  was  ordered  back  to  Washington. 
The  incident  separated  the  two  regimepts,  and 
orders  did  not  call  them  together  again  during 
their  hundred  days  service. 

While  Company  E,  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third,  was  acting  as  garrison  for  Fort  Ste- 
vens, about  four  miles  north  of  Washington  city. 


an  incident  occurred  that  excited  some  consterna- 
tion among  the  men.  Quite  a  number'  of  the 
men,  upon  eating  rice,  were  attacked  with  sick- 
ness and  vomiting.  Fifteen  or  twenty  gasping, 
choking  victims  created  quite  an  excitement  in 
the  mess,  and  it  was  thought  that  an  effort  had 
been  made  to  poison  the  men,  but  no  serious  re- 
sults following,  and  the  attempt  not  being  repeat- 
ed, the  matter  was  passed  by  without  investiga- 
tion. 

During  the  month  of  June  the  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  built  a  pontoon  bridge  across  the 
Appomattox ;  the  regiment  was  then  encamped 
at  City  Point.  It  was  arduously  engaged  in  this 
labor,  and  also  in  the  building  of  heavy  fortifica- 
tions at  Fort  Pocahontas,  at  which  point  earth- 
works of  the  most  extensive  character  were  being 
constructed^  These  were  mainly  built  by  the 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-third. 

The  mortality  among  the  men  was  very  heavy, 
owing  partly  to  the  sudden  change  of  climate  and 
water  in  the  hot  months  of  the  year,  and  partly  to 
the  heavy  exertions  required  in  the  building  of 
fortifications  and  the  exposure  requisite  to  their 
completion. 

Company  E  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
third  lost  eight  men,  all  of  whom  died  from  ex- 
posure and  heavy  work,  even  though  cared  for  in 
the  best  wards  of  the  hospitals.  ' 

The  first  member  of  the  old  Sixty-ninth  Bat- 
talion who  lost  his  life  in  the  one  hundred  days' 
service  was  Elias  West,  who  had  been  assigned  to 
Company  E  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third. 
His  dealii  was  followed  by  those  of  W.  E.  Butler 
and  A.  C.  Hay,  at  Fortress  Monroe ;  John  Den- 
nis, Reuben  Jennings  and  Thomas  C.  Scott,  at 
Wilson's  Landing. 

The  following  item,  published  in  the  Age  of  date 
July  23, 1864,  will  serve  to  show  how  heavy  was  the 
tax  of  climate  and  labor  on  the  boys  during  their 
brief,  but  memorable,  one  hiindred  days'  service : 

F.  C.  Ricketts,  of  this  place,  returned  a  few  days 
ago  from  a  visit  to  Washington,  and  reports  the 
following  boys  on  the  sick  list.  His  report  may 
be  relied  upon : 

Company  H — W.  A.  Carnahan,  in  general  hos- 
pital, Alexandria,  Virginia;  Andrew  Karr  and 
T.  J.  Karr,  in  Howard  hospital,  Washington,  D. 
C;  Samuel  Stonehocker,  James  Overholt,  W.  G. 
Jack,  E.  Spangler,  Joseph  Ling,  S.  Leavitt  and  J. 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


895 


E.  Eeedjin  Hampton  hospital,  Fortress  Monroe, 
and  N.  S.  Glover,  at  Wilson's  Landing,  Virginia. 
All  the  above  are  convalescent.  S.  E.  Bechtol  and 
J.  A.  Wiliramson,  at  the  same  hospital,  are  very 
«ick,  oases  doubtful.  T.  C.  Sayer  died  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  and  Eli  Seward  at  Wilson's  Landing. 

Company  G— Sick  in  Hampton  hospital,  Fort- 
ress Monroe:  A.  Wright,  S.  S.  Waddle,  J.  North, 
.J.  Dawson,  J.  Barcroft,  H.  Wright  and  J.  Fortune ; 
«ick  in  camp :  L.  Cain,  W.  Austin,  W.  H.  Cox,  A. 
Ogle,  W.  H.  Bradfleld,  A.  McCullough  and  Wil- 
liam Peoples. 

Company  E— Sick  in  hospital  at  Fortress  Mon- 
roe :  Lieutenant  D.  F.  Denman,  J.  P.  Randies,  J. 
JR.  Stone,  A.  Donohew,  L.  Marlatt,  T.  J.  Wells,  O. 
Leeclair,  E.  Hastings  and  W.  H.  Williamson. 
Captain  N.  K.  Tidball  and  W.  S.  Tidball  are  at 
Washington,  and  are  convalescent.  J.  Vinsel  and 
<3eorge  Gilbert  are  in  the  hospital  at  Alexandria, 
Virginia.  In  camp  hospital  at  Wilson's  Landing : 
Robert  Sands,  E.  McMichael,  W.  Marlatt,  A.  P. 
Perkins,  D.  F.  Meyers,  J.  C.  Glover  and  W.  S. 
Lutes. 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  from  the 
boys  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  and 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-third,  will  show  how 
they  demeaned  themselves  and  how  proud  they 
felt  of  the  old  Sixty-ninth  batallion. 

Camp  Chase,  Columbus,  Ohio, 
May  12,  1864. 

Owing  to  detentions  along  the  road  we  did  not 
Teach  Columbus  until  about  twelve  o'clock  at 
night.  After  floundering  around  the  freight  de- 
pot until  nearly  two  o'clock,  A.  M.,  we  were  or- 
dered to  repair  to  Tod  barracks  where  we  ob- 
tained quarters  till  morning. 

As  the  night  was  cold,  and  the  rhen  pretty  well 
«oaked  with  the  rain,  our  slumbers  were  not  as 
pleasant  as  we  liked,  but  a  good  breakfast  in  the 
morning  fixed  matters  all  right,  and  at  11,  A.  M., 
we  marched  for  Camp  Chase,  four  miles  from 
Columbus,  and  by  dark  we  were  arranged  com- 
fortably. 

In  organizing  one  of  the  companies  of  the  old 
Sixty-ninth,  Compstny  B,  of  Spring  Mountain, 
suddenly  vanished  and  ceased  to  exist.  Owing 
to  some  of  the  companies  being  below  the  mini- 
mum strength,  it  became  necessary  to  consoli- 
date, and  Company  B,  being  the  smallest  it  was 
divided  among  the  others  as  follows :  one  man  to 
Company  A,  one  man  to  Company  C,  nineteen 
men  to  Company  D,  fourteen  men  to  Company 
E,  eleven  men  to  Company  F. 

Captain  Wetherwax,  of  Company  B,  was  of- 
fered, and  accepted,  the  position  of  First  Lieu- 
tenant in  Company  E,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused 
"by  the  withdrawal  of  Lieutenant  Reherd,  who 
goes  home. 


A  consolidation  has  been  efiected  by  which 
companies  A,  C  and  D,  are  attached  to  Columbi- 
ana county  battalion,  forming  a  regiment.  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Nicholas  retains  his  position,  as 
does  also  Surgeon  S.  H.  Lee.  We  regret  the  loss 
of  Major  George  Marshall,  Lieutenant  S.  L.  Ed- 
wards and  Quartermaster  George  Ridgely,  who 
are  thrown  out  by  the  consolidation  and  are 
obliged  to  go  home  much  against  their  will. 
They  had  the  honor  of  going  with  us  as  far  as 
they  were  able.  The  old  Sixty-ninth  is  no  more 
for  100  days  these  arrangements  lasting  only 
during  the  time  we  are  mustered  into  the  United 
States  service,  after  which  the  Sixty-ninth  will 
be  herself  again. 

The  following  is  from  the  Age  of  May  28,  1864 : 
Hakpek's  Feeky,  Va. 

We  left  Columbus  Saturday  evening,  and  after 
a  long  and  tedious  ride  reached  Martinsburg, 
about  twenty  miles  from  Harper's  Ferry.  We 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  WiUiam  A.  McKee, 
formerly  superintendent  of  the  Coshocton  Union 
School.  He  is  stationed  at  Martinsburg  with  two 
companies  of  his  regiment  as  gui,rds. 

Other  regiments  of  Ohio  National  Guards  are 
constantly  arriving  and  are  being  transported 
over  the  river  in  a  common  open  flat  boat  or  a 
rope  ferry. 

Our  two  Coshocton  companies  of  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-second  are  considered  by  Colonel 
Cooper  as  the  best  in  the  regiment.  The  Colonel 
is  from  Mount  Vernon  and  is  an  older  brother  of 
Dr.  P.  L  Cooper,  formerly  of  Coshocton,  Much 
surprise  is  shown  among  the  people  here  along 
the  line  of  the  railroad,  at  Ohio  being  able  to  send 
so  many  new  troops  into  the  field.  One,  on  being 
informed  that  the  national  guard  numbered  40,- 
000  men,  all  under  marching  orders,  replied,  "dey 
must  be  lots  of  you-uns  up  in  'Hio  dar." 

Again  in  the  Age,  bearing  date  July  2, 1864,  ap- 
pears the  following : 

Wilson's  LA>rDiNG,  Vieginia,  June  22, 1864. 

Editok  Age:  Having  a  little  leisure  time,  I 
will  give  you  all  the  news  we  have.  We  hear 
General  Grant  giving  his  batteries  a  little  exercise 
at  the  rate  of  about  one  hundred  shots  a  minute. 
We  hope  to  hear  of  the  fall  of  the  rebel  capitol 
pretty  soon.  We  are  at  present  stationed  at  a 
very  nice,  healthy  place,  situated  about  twenty- 
five  miles  below  Richmond,  on  a  high  blufi  over- 
looking the  James  river.  "  Uncle  Abe  "  has  been 
up  to  the  front  and  is  now  passing  this  place  on 
his  way  back.  We  have  been  to  the  front,  but 
were  sent  here  to  guard  the  "Cracker  Line." 
Our  regiment  is  all  on  fatigue  duty,  and,  if  we 
stay  here  long,  we  will  have  this  place  well  forti- 


396 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


fied;  in  fact  it  is  very  strong  now,  and  if  the 
"  Johnnies  "  wish  to  give  us  a  trial,  they  will  re- 
ceive a  hot  reception. 

We  were  with  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
second,  the  other  day,  at  Point  of  Eocks.  Several 
of  our  boys  are  under  the  weather;  our  long  trip 
on  the  water  helped  make  the  most  of  them  sick. 
Lieutenant  Denman  has  been  unfit  for  duty  for 
several  days.  The  most  of  the  one  hundred  days' 
men  take  to  soldiering  like  ducks  to  water,  and 
it  would  be  hard  to  tell  them  from  veterans. 

The  Age,  of  date  July  23,  1864,  publishes  as 

follows: 

Wilson's  Landing,  July  14, 1864. 

Ed.  Age  :  By  request  of  the  members  of  Com- 
pany E,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  Eegi- 
ment  O.  N.  G.,  I  write  to  you,  to  let  our  friends 
in  Coshocton  county  know  how  we  are  getting 
along.  Our  regiment  is  doing  guard  duty  at 
this  place,  along  with  the  One  Hundred  and 
Sixty-third  O.  N.  G.,  and  two  batteries  of  artillery 
from  New  York  State. 

When  we  came  here,  the  fortifications  were 
only  about  half  completed,  and  we  were  called 
on  to  do  a  considerable  amount  of  fatigue  duty, 
to  put  the  place  in  a  more  perfect  state  of  defense. 
Our  defenses  are  now  about  perfect,  and  it  will 
require  a  considerable  amount  of  courage  on  the 
part  of  the  rebels  to  make  a  successful  assault  on 
us.  Our  sick  list  has  been  very  large,  but  it  is 
now  getting  down  to  a  very  few  names;  it  has 
been  up  to  forty-three. 

Also,  in  same  issue : 

In  a  letter  just  received,  from  A.  P.  Pritchey, 
Quartermaster  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
second  0.  N.  G.,  he  writes  as  follows  of  that  regi- 
ment: 

Our  boys,  as  a  general  thing,  are  contented, 
and  take  pleasure  in  doing  their  duty,  and 
although  we  have  seen  a  little  rougher  times 
than  we  did  at  home,  yet  we  have  been  favored 
in  every  way,  when  we  compare  our  situation 
with  the  veterans  who  have  been  here  with  us. 
Our  food  is  good  and  plenty — all  receive  the 
regular  rations  of  pork,  fresh  beef,  soft  and  hard 
bread,  beans,  hominy,  etc.,  etc.,  and  the  Sanitary 
Commission,  God  bless  it,  has  not  overlooked  us. 
A  number  of  our  boys  have  been  sent  to  the 
hospital,  sick,  but  we  find  the  health  of  our  regi- 
ment is  remarkably  good,  especially  Company 
G,  from  Warsaw,  Coshocton  county. 

And  again,  in  the  issue  of  August  13,  is  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Beemuda  Hundred,  August  8, 1864. 

Ed.  Age  :  As  we  are  here  at  Bermuda  Hun- 
dred, in  front  of  the  enemy,  in  connection  with  a 
iew  other  regiments,  holding  our  works  from  the 


James  river  in  sight  of  Port  Darling  across  to. 
the  Appomattax,  the  old  troops  relieved  by  us- 
having  gone  forward  with  General  Grant's  main 
army,  I  am  glad,  and  I  think  that  every  hundred 
days'  man  that  ever  called  himself  a  "  Union 
man"  will  be  proud  that  the  government  has 
called  upon  us  to  perform  some  actual  service.. 
The  government  has  called  upon  us  to  go  out  in 
front  of  our  last  breastwork,  in  front  of  the  en- 
emy, to  perform  picket  duty.  The  boys  do  this 
part  of  their  work  the  most  cheerfully  and  will- 
ingly of  any,  and  the  more  so  because  it  is  not 
generally  connected  with  garrison  duty,  which 
was  understood  to  be  the  extent  of  the  duty  re- 
quired of  us  when  called  out  from  Ohio.  As  we 
become  more  accustomed  to  a  soldier's  life  we 
feel  its  roughness  less.  We  have  frequently  been 
called  out  in  line  of  battle,  and  the  call  has  always: 
been  obeyed  with  as  much  alacrity  apparently  as 
a  call  to  dinner.  We  may  be  attacked  any  day; 
if  so,  I  believe  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-sec- 
ond will  acquit  herself  honorably. 

If  our  soldierly  qualities  are  not  put  to  such  a 
test  before  we  come  home,  we  want  no  reception 
but  a  friendly  shake  of  the  hand — your  honors 
should  be  re'served  for  the  veterans. 


CHAPTER  XLIV. 

WAE  OP  THE  REBELLION— CONCLUDED. 

Cavalry  and  Artillery— History  of  the  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry- 
Roster  of  Company  M— Correspondence  from  the  Front— 
Hi.story  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Battery — Its  Organization  from, 
the  Thirty-second  Infantry— Petition  of  Veterans,  and  En- 
dorsement of  Coshocton  County— Military  Committee  for 
New  Organization. 

IN  the  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry,  Coshocton  found  a 
representation  in  Company  M,  which  was  re- 
cruited by  Colonel  James  Irvine,  formerly  colonel 
of  the  first  organization  of  the  Sixteenth  0.  V.  I. 
Its  muster  roll  at  enlistment  was  as  follows : 

OFFICERS. 

James  Irvine,  Captain. 
Joseph  McCulloch,  First  Lieutenant. 
James  Stonehocker,  Second  Lieutenant. 
John  Carhart,  Jr.,  First  Sergeant. 
Sjdvester  A.  Ellis,  Quarter-master. 
Thomas  Carnahan,  Commissary. 
James  M.  Humphry,  First  Sergeant. 
William  Wicken,  Second  Sergeant. 
Charles  M.  Pike,  Third  Sergeant. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


397 


John  E.  Snyder,"  Fourth  Sergeant. 
Samuel  P.  Mingus,  Fifth  Sergeant. 
Stephen  Nowls,  First  Corporal. 
Martin  W.  Griffin,  Second  Corporal. 
Caleb  S.  Ely,  Third  Corporal. 
Kobert  E.  Tavener,  Fourth  Corporal. 
Alexander  Carnahan,  Fifth  Corporal. 
J.  A.  Williamson,  Sixth  Corporal. 
Thomas  Richards,  Seventh  Corporal. 
Frank  H.  Pen,  Eighth  Corporal. 
John  Glass,  Saddler. 

Privates. — J.  Allen,  William  Allen,  L.  W.  Bar- 
ton, J.  Bible,  S.  H.  Black,  S.  Borden,  T.  Buttler, 
N.  S.  Carnahan,  S.  Collier,  M.  Comstock,  C.  H. 
Critchfield,  J.  W.  Davis,  B.  H.  Deems,  T.  Dicker- 
son,  G.  Dusenberry,  P.  Donoho,  T.  J.  Edwards, 
W.  Enwright,  A.  Evans,  G.  Fisher,  H.  Fiveooats, 
F.  D.  Forker,  J.  T.  Frazee,  A.  Green,  G  Green,  J. 
Greer,  P.  Hazle,  T.  J.  Hardesty,  M.  Harrington, 

C.  W.  Harrington,  G.  Hibbetts,  S.  Hoglan,  J.  Hog- 
Ian,  S.  Hook,  M.  Infelt,  J.  Jennings,  A.  S.  Joy,  L. 
Keever,  M.  Lear,  A.  Leclair,  D.  Leech,  —  Long- 
baugh,  J.  H.  Luse,  J.  S.  Mankin,  F.  McCoy,  Wil- 
liam McLaughlin,  S.  Michael,IsraelPerry,  J.  Por- 
ter, J.  Rider,  C.  F.  Schneid,  G.  W.  Slusser,  C. 
Smith,  W.  Smith,  J.  Smith,  J.  Smith  2d,  W.  C. 
Starkey,  J.  T.  Stonehocher,  L.  Stokes,  A.  Taylor, 

D.  H.  Thocker,  J.  Thomas,  William  Thomas,  J. 
Tinsman,  A.  Wells,  J.  Wicken,  J.  Wines,  B.  F. 

'  Wright. 

On  the  3d  of  October,  1862,  Governor  Tod  re- 
ceived instructions  from  the  President  to  raise 
three  regiments  of  cavalry,  to  be  known  as  the 
Eigth,  Ninth  and  Tenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry. 
A  short  time  previous  to  this  Captain  W.  D. 
Hamilton, -of  the  Thirty-second  Ohio  Infantry, 
then  stationed  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  .had  been 
ordered  from  the  field  to  recruit  another  com- 
pany for  that  regiment.  He  had  enlisted  fifty 
men  for  that  purpose,  when  the  regiment  with  a 
number  of  others  was  captured  by  Stonewall 
Jackson.  September  15, 1862,  Captain  Hamilton 
reported  for  instructions  to  the  Governor,  who 
assigned  the  duty  of  organizing  a  c§,valry  com- 
mand, to  be  known  as  the  Ninth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Cavalry.  The  men  recruited  for  the  captured 
regiment  formed  the  nucleus,  and  the  remainder 
was  raised  in  the  eastern  portion  of  Ohio.    They 


rendezvoused  at  Zanesville.  On  the  1st  Decem- 
ber seven  companies  were  ready  for  muster,  but 
three  of  these  companies  were  transferred  to 
complete  the  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry,  then  organ- 
izing at  Cleveland.  The  four  remaining  compa- 
nies were  designated  the  First  Battalion  of  the- 
Ninth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry,  and  were  ordered 
to  Camp  Dennison. 

Here  the  battalion  was  equipped  and  re- 
mained under  drill  until  April  23,  when  it  was- 
ordered  to  report  for  field  duty  at  Lexington, 
Kentucky.  It  was  then  ordered  to  Clay  county, 
to  drive  out  a  rebel  force  and  protect  the  coun- 
try. 

The  battalion,  consisting  of  300  efTective  men 
moved  forward,  driving  the  enemy  from  the 
mountain  regions,  and  established  its  camp  at. 
Manchester. 

The  command  remained  in  this  region,  having 
frequent  skirmishes  with  the  enemy,  until  the 
16th  of  June,  when  an  expedition  was  planned  to- 
penetrate  into  East  Tennessee,  to  ascertain  the 
condition  of  the  inhabitants,  and  to  destroy  some 
extensive  factories  below  Knoxville. 

The  whole  force  consisted  of  about  2,000 
mounted  men,  in  which  were  200  of  the  battalion. 
On  the  night  of  the  16th  of  June,  this  force 
crossed  the  Cumberland  river  at  Williamsburg, 
and  moved  toward  Big  Creek  Gap,  a  rebel  strong- 
hold commanding  one  of  the  entrances  into  East 
Tennessee,  between  Cumberland  Gap  and  Knox- 
ville. The  main  road  to  this  point  crossed  a  spur 
of  the  Cumberland  mountains  at  Pine  Mountain. 
Gap,  a  strong  pass  which  was  held  by  the  enemy. 
By  a  strategic  movement,  the  rebels  were  sur- 
prised and  nearly  all  captured,  without  firing  a 
gun.  Next  morning  the  command  moved  to- 
ward Big  Creek  Gap,  and  when  within  about 
twelve  miles — the  first  battalion  of  the  Ninth 
Ohio,  being  in  the  advance — the  enemy  was  en- 
countered, and  skirmishing  was  kept  up  until  he 
was  driven  within  his  works  at  the  Gap.  The 
enemy  evacuated,  and  without  opposition,  the 
command  accomplished  its  designs. 

The  battalion  returned  to  London,  Kentucky, 
where,  on  the  evening  of  July  5,  an  order  was 
received  to  report  to  Stanford,  Kentucky.  It 
traveled  all  night  and  arrived  at  Stanford,  a  dis- 
tance of  fifty  miles,  at  three  o'clock  next  day.    It 


S98 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


"was  then  ordered  to  Danville  to  check  the  progress 
■of  General  Morgan.  He  having  avoided  Danville, 
-the  battalion  was  ordered  back  to  Wild  Cat,  near 
Xiondon,  to  watch  and  embarrass  the  progress  of 
the  rebel  General  Scott,  who,  it  was  reported,  had 
entered  with  a  cavalry  force,  by  way  of  Cumber- 
land Gap,  to  support  General  Morgan.  General 
Scott  took  a  circuitous  route  to  the  right  and  a 
iorce  hastily  organized  at  Camp  Dick  Kobinson 
was  sent  in  pursuit.  In  the  running  fight  of  ten 
days  the  battalion,  part  of  the  time,  marched  at 
the  rate  of  fifty-seven  miles  in  twenty-four  hours 
— the  men  living  chiefly  on  blackberries,  which 
they  gathered  by  the  roadside  while  the  horses 
were  resting. 

On  the  1st  of  August  the  battalion  proceeded 
irom  Stanford  to  Glasgow,  Kentucky,  a  distance 
of  one  hundred  miles,  where  a  cavalry  brigade 
was  organizing  under  orders  of  General  Burn- 
side,  which  was  destined  to  take  the  advance  of 
liis  expedition  into  East  Tennessee.  On  the  17th 
of  August  this  brigade  moved  forward  and  crossed 
the  Cumberland  river  near  Burkesville,  where  it 
was  met  by  General  Burnside  in  command  of  the 
infantry.  The  cavalry  took  the  advance  across 
that  portion  of  the  Cumberland  mountains  sup- 
posed to  present  the  fewest  obstacles  to  the  pas- 
sage of  an  army.  During  this  march  both  men 
and  horses  were,  sometimes,  two  days  without 
food.  Knoxville  was  taken  with  but  little  opposi- 
tion. Major  Hamilton  was  appointed  provost- 
marshal  of  the  city,  and  the  battalion  was  as- 
signed to  patrol  and  guard  duty  around  the 
suburbs. 

During  this  time  very  strong  efforts  were  made 
in  the  North  to'  obtain  recruits  for  the  army.  An 
order  had  been  issued  to  raise  two  more  battalions 
to  complete  the  Ninth,  and  Major  T.  P.  Cook, 
formerly  of  the  Fiftieth  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
was  assigned  by  Governor  Tod  to  take  charge 
of  the  recruits  at  Camp  Dennison.  On  the  6th 
of  November,  the  second  battalion  for  the  regi- 
ment was  organized.  On  the  16th  of  December 
the  regiment  was  completed  by  the  organization 
of  the  third  battalion.  The  two  battalions,  raised 
to  their  maximum  number,  together  with  one 
hundred  recruits  for  the  old  battalion,  were  at 
once  furnished  with  horses,  were  armed  and 
equipped  with  sabers  and  Smith  carbines,  and 


were  carefully  drilled  in  camp  until  February  6, 
1864,  when  they  were  ordered  to  proceed  by 
water  to  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

They  embarked  at  Cincinnatti,  upon  seven 
steamboats,  and  proceeded  as  far  as  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  where,  by  reason  of  the  reported  pres- 
ence of  some  guerrillas  in  that  State,  they  disem- 
barked and  marched  through  the  country  to 
Nashville.  The  march  was  made  without  oppo- 
sition. The  regiment  was  then  attached  to  the  ' 
left  wing  of  the  Sixteenth  Army  Corps  and 
ordered  to  report  for  field  duty  at  Athens,  Ala- 
bama. Here  the  two  battalions  were  assigned 
the  duty  of  watching  the  movements  of  the  enemy 
along  the  Tennessee  river. 

At  this  time  Colonel  Hamilton  proceeded  to 
Knoxville  with  orders  for  the  first  battalion  to 
join  the  regiment.  The  severe  campaign,  through 
which  this  part  of  the  regiment  had  passed,  ren- 
dered an  entire  equipment  necessary.  For  this 
purpose  the  men  were  sent  by  rail  to  Nashville, 
where,  after  much  trouble  and  delay  on  account 
of  the  difficulty  of  procuring  horses  this  battalion 
took  the  field  and  joined  the  others  at  Athens, 
Alabama.  Four  companies  were  ordered  to  the 
shoals  of  the  Tennessee  river,  twenty-five  miles 
from  Athens,  to  examine  the  islands  in  that  por- 
tion of  the  river  reported  to  have  stock  and  pro- 
visions secreted  there.  This  occupied-  nearly  a 
week.  During  this  time  Company  G  was  sent  to 
the  vicinity  of  Florence,  Alabama,  twenty-five 
miles  further  down  the  river,  to  examine  the 
country  and  collect  stock. 

On  the  night  of  the  13th  of  April  an  Alabama 
regiment  surrounded  a  barn,  in  which  the  men 
were  sleeping,  shot  two  of  the  sentinels,  and,  af- 
ter a  short  struggle,  succeeded  in  capturing  Cap- 
tain Hetzler,  Second  Lieutenant  Knapp,  and 
thirty-nine  men.  The  remainder  of  the  company 
escaped  and  reported  at  headquarters  near  the 
shoals,  where  they  arrived  the  next  evening.  The 
remaining  three  companies  were  pushed  forward 
with  all  speed  but  they  failed  to  rescue  the  pris- 
oners. The  non-commissioned  officers  and  men 
were  sent  ta  Andersonville  prison. 

Eight  months  after  the  capture,  Orderly  Ser-  ■ 
geant  Kennedy  reported  that  twenty-five  of  the 
number  had  died.    Captain  Hetzler  and  Lieuten- 
ant Knapp  were  sent  to  Columbia,  Soutli  Caro- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


399 


lina.  Lieutenant  Knapp,  after  two.  unsuccessful 
efforts  to  escape,  in  which  he  was  retaken  by  the 
aid  of  bloodhounds,  finally  succeeded  in  reaching 
Knoxville,  Tennessee,  after  traveling  three 
weeks,  principally  at  night,  securing  food  and 
assistance  from  the  negroes.  At  one  time  he 
heard  the 'hounds  on  his  trail,  and  again  would 
have  been  captured-but  for  the  generous  assist- 
ance of  a  negro,  who,  after  giving  him  something 
to  eat,  said :  "  Now,  bress  de  Lord,  Massa  Yank, 
you  jist  trust  to  me,  and  we'll  fool  dem  dogs. 
You  trot  along  fust,  den  I'll  come,  too,  steppin' 
in  your  tracks.  Go  'bout  halt  mile,  den  you  come 
to  some  watah ;  you  take  to  de  right,  fro  dat,  den 
I'll  keep  on  t'other  way.  See,  dem  dogs  is  used 
to  huntin'  niggers ;  dey  knows  de  smell,  and  likes 
to  follow  de  black  man's  foot."  "  But,"  said  the 
lieutenant,  surprised  at  this  singular  but  devoted 
ofifer,  "  but  the  dogs  will  catch  you,  and  probably 
tear  you  to  pieces.''  "Oh,  massa,"  said  he,  "let 
this  nigger  alone  for  dat;  I'se  fooled  dem  dogs 
afo'  for  de  Yanks ;  and,  bress  de  Lord,  I'll  try  it 
again.  Now  trot  along,  massa,  for  I  hear  dem 
dogs  a  comin'."  Shortly  after  crossing  the  pond 
the  lieutenant  heard  the  hounds  howling  in  the 
directibn  taken  by  the  negro,  and  he  was  no 
longer  disturbed.  He  afterward  joined  the  regi- 
ment at  Savannah,  Georgia,  in  January,  1865. 
Captain  Hertzler  remained  a  prisoner  until  near 
the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  was  exchanged. 
.  Another  battalion  of  the  Ninth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Cavalry  was  sent  out  in  the  vicinity  of  Florence 
to  patrol  the  river  and  keep  watch  of  the  move- 
ments of  the  enemy.  In  this  work  the  regiment 
was  engaged  for  about  three  weeks,  living  upon 
the  country.  The  river  was  guarded  for  a  dis- 
tance of  fifty  miles,  and  frequent  skirmishes  with 
the  enemy  took  place.  The  regiment  was  or- 
dered to  report  at  Decatur,  Alabama,  where  it 
arrived  on  the  5th  of  May. 

On  the  morning  of  the  8th,  t"h.e  enemy  made 
an  attack  upon  the  place.  The  Ninth  moved  out 
to  ascertain  the  strength  of  the  enemy,  upon  the 
skirmish  line,  a  half  a  mile  from  the  works.  The 
country  was  about  equally  divided  between  tim- 
ber and  level,  open  land.  The  rebels  formed  on 
the  open  ground,  and,  as  the  regiment  swung 
around  the  timber,  a  battle  took  place,  in  which 
the  rebels  were  driven  back  in  confusion.    The 


Ninth  had  one  man  killed  and  three  severely 
wounded.  For  weeks  the  enemy's  pickets  were 
posted  within  two  miles  of  the  town,  and  cavalry 
skirmishes  were  of  daily  ocqurrence. 

About  the  1st  of  June  the  regiment  was  sent 
to  Pulaski,  to  re-enforce  the  Seventh  Illinois  In- 
fantry, which  had  been  driven  from  Florence. 
After  driving  the  enemy  back  beyond  Florence 
and  remaining  a  few  days,  it  returned  to  Decatur. 
When  it  became  known  that  the  rebels  received 
large  supplies  over  the  Atlanta  and  West  Point 
railroad,  it  became  necessary  to  destroy  it.  Of 
the  2,500  men  chosen  to  efTect  this,  700  were  from 
the  Ninth  Cavalry.  The  command  started  as 
secretly  as  possible,  desiring  to  strike  the  road 
anywhere  between  the  extreme  point  guarded 
by  General  Johnston's  troops,  and  Montgomery, 
Alabama.  It  left  Decatur  on  the  10th  of  July. 
For  three  days  the  command  was  unmolested, 
except  by  bushwhackers.  In  the  evening  of  the 
third  day  the  command  reached  the  Coosa  river, 
and  found  a  force  of  the  enemy  preparing  to  dis- 
pute its  passage.  A  contest  ensued  in  which  the 
enemy  suffered  severely. 

On  the  evening  of  July  17,  the  command 
reached  the  village  of  Sochopolka,  upon  the  rail- 
road, thirty  miles  east  of  Montgomery,  and  about 
200  miles  south  of  Decatur.  It  was  almost  ex- 
hausted, yet  it  went  immediately  to  work  to  de- 
stroy the  road.  For  a  few  days  the  conimand 
was  engaged  in  this  work,  and  was  attacked  sev- 
eral times,  in  rear  and  front,  by  the  enemy. 

This  expedition  traveled,  on  an  average,  twenty 
hours  per  day,  effectually  destroyed  twenty-five 
miles  of  an  important  railroad,  100  miles  beyond 
the  rebel  lines,  and  sustained,  comparatively,  a 
small  loss.  Tflat  of  the  Ninth  cavalry  amounted 
to  twenty-six  men,  mostly  captured  while  forag- 
ing. Having  accomplished  its  purpose  it  started 
in  a  northeasterly  direction,  and  reached  General 
Sherman's  lines,  near  Marietta,  on  the  22d  of  July. 

Two  days  after  arriving  at  Marietta,  the  regi- 
ment was  ordered  to  report  to  Brigadier  General 
McCook,  who  was  starting  upon  a  raid  around  the 
right  and  rear  of  Atlanta.  Upon  arriving  at  the 
Chattahoochie  river,  thirty  miles  below  the  city, 
the  horses  of  the  regiment  were  found  to  be  too 
much  jaded  to  attempt  to  make  the  raid.  It  re- 
mained, therefore,  at  the  river,  guarding  the  pon- 


400 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


toon  bridge  which  had  been  brought  to  effect  a 
crossing.  Tlie  enemy  sent  a  force  to  destroy  the 
bridge,  but  did  not  succeed.  After  defending  it 
until  the  evening  of  the  next  day,  the  regiment 
hfted  the  bridge  and  returned  to  the  national 
lines. 

After  a  week's  rest  at  Viningo  Station,  it  was 
ordered  to  report  to  Colonel  Garrard,  command- 
ing a  cavalry  division  upon  the  extreme  right  of 
General  Sherman's  army  in  front  of  Atlanta. 
Here  it  remained  on  duty  until  the  fall  of  that 
city,  one  battalion  doing  service  at  the  battle  of 
Jonesboro'.  Four  hundred  and  fifty  men  of  the 
regiment,  who  had  been  dismounted  while  with 
Garrard,  were  ordered  to  Nashville  to  procure 
horses. 

On  the  night  of  the  2d  of  September,  while  the 
train  containing  men  was  passing  Big  Shanty, 
Georgia,  it  was  thrown  from  the  track,  and  six 
cars  were  demolished.  The  enemy,  concealed 
beside  the  track,  opened  fire  on  the  wreck.  The 
fire  was  returned  and  the  cowards  fled.  One 
man  was  killed  and  three  were  wounded,  by  the 
accident,  and  two  killed  and  five  wounded,  by 
the  enemy's  fire.  Failing  to  procure  horses  in 
Nashville,  the  regiment  proceeded  to  Louisville, 
where  it  obtained  them,  and  returned  to  Nash- 
ville, en  route  to  the  front.  About  ten  hours  after 
arriving  at  Nashville  this  portion  of  the  regi- 
ment formed  a  part  of  the  force  sent  out  to 
check  General  Forrest,  who  was  reported  about 
twenty  miles  from  the  city.  After  various  en- 
counters, during  a  period  of  ten  days,  the  enemy 
was  compelled  to  retire  beyond  the  Tennessee 
river,  below  Florence,  Alabama.  This  portion 
of  the  regiment  then  proceeded  to  Chattanooga, 
en  route  for  Atlanta.  Here  a  dispatch  was  re- 
ceived, that  the  Ninth  had  been  designated  as 
one  the  regiments  comprising  a  new  cavalry 
division,  in  the  reorganization  of  the  army  under 
General  Sherman,  and  that  this  portion  of  the 
regiment  should  march  to  Marietta,  as  rapidly  as 
possible.  On  arriving  at  Marietta,  the  regiment 
found  the  city  vacated  and  partly  burned.  Push- 
ing on,  it  arrived  at  AtlairCa  on  the  morning  of 
November  17,  having  passed  over  a  distance  of 
eighty  miles  in  thirty-six  hours.  The  city  being 
evacuated,  the  regiment  proceeded  to  McDowell, 
seventeen  miles  southward,  where  it  joined  the 


other  portion  of  the  Ninth.  Although  the  regi- 
ment had  suffered  some  severe  losses,  in  killed 
and  wounded,  captured  and  sickness,  yet  its 
strength  was  sustained  by  recruits,  and  it  was- 
able  to  number  seven  hundred  men  present  for 
duty. 

From  this  time  the  Ninth  was  identified  with 
the  cavalry  division  of  General  Sherman's  army 
to  the  coast.  It  had  almost  daily  encqunters- 
with  the  enemy.  Its  duty  was  to  cover  the  march 
of  the  infantry,  make  false  marches  to  deceive  the 
enemy,  and  at  all  times  prevent  him  from  har- 
rassing  the  columns.  On  the  20th  of  November, 
the  third  day  of  the  march,  skirmishing  com- 
menced and  continued,  more  or  less,  until  De- 
cember 4,  when  a  general  engagement  took  place 
at  Waynesboro,  in  which  the  regiment  made  the 
second  charge  and  broke  the  rebel  lines.  After 
driving  the  rebels  within  their  works  around  Sar 
vannah,  and  while  the  siege  was  progressing,  the 
regiment,  with  part  of  the  cavalry  command, 
moved  in  a  southeasterly  direction  on  the  Savan- 
nah and  Gulf  railroad,  destroyed  parts  of  it  as  far 
as  the  Alatama  river,  and  succeeded  in  burning  a 
portion  of  the  extensive  trestle-work  and  bridge 
across  the  swamp  and  river.  The  expedition  re- 
turned to  Savannah,  where  the  army  remained 
until  the  latter  part  of  January,  1865.  At  this 
time,  150  men  of  the  Ninth,  who  had  been  at- 
tached to  General  Thomas'  army  at  the  battles  of 
Franklin  and  Nashville,  joined  their  regiment. 
On  the  night  of  the  3d  of  February,  the  cavalry 
division  crossed  the  Savannah  river  at  Sister's 
Ferry,  forty  miles  above  the  city,  and  com- 
menced the  decisive  campaign  of  the  Carolinas. 
Most  of  the  night  was  oocupied  in  crossing  a 
swamp  seven  miles  wide.  On  the  6th  the  regi- 
ment, having  the  advance,  encountered  the  rebels 
at  a  swamp  near  Barnwell.  The  men  dismounted, 
waded  the  swamp,  under  cover  of  the  timber,  and 
drove  them  from  their  position.  From  this  point, 
during  the  march,  the  enemy  made  several  at- 
tempts to  check  the  cavalry  under  General  Kil- 
patrick,  and  harrassed  the  infantry. 

The  cavalry  was  ordered  to  cover  the  move- 
ments of  the  army,  by  making  a  feint  upon  Au- 
gusta, Georgia. 

Striking  the  Augusta  and  Charleston  railroad 
at  Blackwell,  February  9,  it  tore  up  the  track 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


401 


•within  five  miles  of  Aiken,  and  twenty-five  miles 
from  Augusta.  At  Aiken  the  regiment  was  en- 
gaged and  assisted  in  driving  the  rebels  beyond 
their  lines.  Orders  came  to  fall  back,  and  the 
DS'inth  guarded  the  rear  and  protected  the  ambu- 
lances and  artillery.  During  the  march  through 
the  Carolinas,  the  frequent  scarcity  of  grain,  as 
well  as  the  number  and  charafcter  of  swamps  en- 
countered, rendered  g.  large  number  of  the  horses 
unfit  for  service,  and  as  the  enemy  prevented  the 
^capture  of  others,  many  of  the  men  were  dis- 
mounted. These  were  organized  into  a  "dis- 
mounted command." 

On  the  night  of  the  9th  of  March,  General  Kil- 
patrick  went  into  camp  with  the  third  brigade 
and  the  dismounted  men,  about  three  miles  in 
advance  of  the  remainder  of  his  command.  The 
Fourteenth  Army  Corps  was  about  two  miles 
on  the  right,  and  the  rebel  cavalry,  under  Gen- 
eral Hampton,  about  the  same  distance  on  the 
left.  On  the  10th,  the  rebels  dashed  in  upon  the 
•camp  and  captured  the  wagons,  artillery  and 
many  of  the  officers  and  men,  before  they  had 
time  to  dress  Ihemselves.  The  dismounted  men 
rallied,  returned,  and  opened  a  close  and  heavy 
fire  upon  the  rebels,  who  were  pillaging  the 
camp.  A  rapid  and  irregular  fight  ensued,  dur- 
ing which  the  artillerists  recovered  their  cannon 
.and  opened  on  the  enemy.  After  a  short  contest, 
in  which  twenty-five  national  and  seventy-five 
rebelsoldiers  were  killed,  all  the  stores  were  taken 
by  the  national  forces,  and  the  rebels  held  at  bay 
until  the  arrival  of  the  second  brigade.  After  this 
brigade  arrived  the  rebels  were  driven  from  the 
ground. 

In  the  battle  of  Averysboro  on  the  15th  of 
March,  which  was  fought  by  infantry  and  cavalry 
on  both  sides,  the  Ninth  supported  the  right  flank 
of  the  Twentieth  Corps,  and  was  hotly  engaged. 

At  Bentonville,  North  Carolina,  where  the  final 
■battle  was  fought.  General  Kilpatrick's  entire  di- 
vision occupied  the  left  flank.  After  the  victory 
the  army  moved  forward  to  Goldsboro,  North 
Carolina,  where  it  remained  until  the  10th  of 
Apnil,  General  Kilpatrick  led  the  advance  upon 
-Raleigh,  skirmished  a  little  and  on  the  14th  of 
April,  altered  the  capitol  with  but  little  oppo- 
sition. On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  a  portion  of 
the  left  wing  of  General  Johnston's  army  occu- 


pied the  village  of  Chapel  Hill.  It  was  protected 
by  a  brigade  of  General  Wheeler's  cavalry,  sta- 
tioned at  a  swamp,  through  which  the  road  passed. 
At  daylight  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  advance 
and,  if  possible,  effect  a  crossing. 

Upon  arriving  at  the  swamp  the  second  battal- 
ion was  dismounted  and  moved  forward  through 
the  water,  under  cover  of  the  cypress  timber,  un- 
til the  enemy  was  brought  within  range  of  the 
Spencer  carbines.  A  spirited  conflict  then  en- 
sued which  resulted  in  the  enemy's  being  driven 
from  his  position,  leaving  a  captain  and  staff  offi- 
cer of  General  Wheeler  and  three  men  dead  on 
the  ground.  Orders  in  the  meantime  had  ar- 
rived from  General  Sherman  suspending  hostili- 
ties. 

After  the  final  surrender  of  the  rebels,  the  com- 
mand was  ordered  to  Concord,  North  Carolina, 
where  it  remained  on  duty  until  the  last  of  July. 

The  services  of  the  cavalry  being  no  longer 
necessary,  the  Ninth  was  ordered  home.  On  the 
2d  of  August,  1865,  the  regimental  colors  and  prop- 
erty were  turned  over  at  Columbus,  and  the  regi- 
ment was  mustered  out  of  service. 

The  following  correspondence  from  the  -Ninth 
cavalry,  or  concerning  it,  is  of  interest,  and  sheds 
some  light  upon  its  record.  It  was  published  at 
various  dates  in  the  columns  of  the  Age : 

Camp  Dennison,  January  25. 

I  suppose  it  will  be  of  interest  to  some  of  your 
readers  to  know  how  the  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry,  or, 
at  least,  how  Company  M,  of  Coshocton  county,  is 
getting  on.  The  boys  are  in  fine  spirits  and  good 
health  generally.  Somp  of  them  have  the  murnps 
and  bad  colds,  but  none  are  in  the  hospitals.  We 
have  had  our  horses  only  a  month,  but  have 
neither  saddles  nor  bridles,  as  is  the  case  with  the 
entire  Third  Battalion.  This  is  admitted  to  be 
the  star  company  of  the  regiment.  It  has  never 
yet  been  censured  by  the  commanding  officer  for 
negligence  in  any  way,  and  on  inspection  has  al- 
ways been  complimented  for  its  neat  and  soldier- 
like appearance.  J.  Stonehockee, 

Second  Lieutenant,  Company  M,  Ninth  O.  C. 

The  following  is  published  in  the  Age,  as  copied 
from  the  Nashville  Times : 

The  most  imposing  military  pageanf  we  have 
witnessed  since  the  early  days  of  the  civil  war 
appeared  in  the  streets  of  Nashville  on  Saturday 
afternoon.  It  was  the  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry,  on  its 
way  to  the  front;  it  was  a  war-like  troop,  com- 


402 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


posed  of  grim,  stalwart  soldiers,  whose  bronzed 
complexion  had  evidently  caught  its  hue  from 
the  pencil  of  many  a  sun.  The  musicians  were 
mounted  on  cream-colored  horses,  the  first  com- 
pany on  black  horses,  the  second  on  white  horses, 
and  the  third  on  bay  horses.  The  martial  aspect 
of  this  troop  excited  general  admiration. 

Decatur  Junction,  Alabama,  June  25, 1864. 

Ed.  Age  :  As  none  of  our  boys  have  written 
you  for  a  long  time,  I  thought  I  would  post  you 
and  our  friends  through  your  columns.  We  are 
patroling  the  Tennessee  Eiver  as  far  down  as 
Brown's  Ferry,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles  below 
Decatur.  Occasionally  a  rebel  patr61  tries  to 
cross  the  river,  but  our  patrol  puts  in  an  appear- 
ance, and  back  goes  Mr.  Eeb.  A  few  nights  ago 
a  party  of  us,  under  the  command  of  our  kind 
old  captain  (James  Irvine),  took  a  rebel  picket- 
post  about  eight  miles  in  front  of  Decatur,  and 
returned  to  Decatur  next  morning  about  four 
o'clock. 

I  think  our  company  is  composed  of  some  of 
the  best  men  that  ever  left  Coshocton  county — 
men  who,  when  called  upon  to  perform  any  duty, 
it  makes  no  difference  what  kind,  are  always 
ready  and  willing  to  do  it  -without  a  grumble. 

As  a  company,  we  are  proud  of  the  officers  ap- 
pointed over  us.  They  are  men  that  you  are  ac- 
quainted with,  and  in  whom  we  can  place  confi- 
dence. 

We  are  sorry  to  record  so  many  deaths  in  our 
company  since  we  left  Ohio.  The  following  is 
the  complete  list :  Corporal  Eobert  E.  Tavener, 
died  March  26,  at  Athens,  Alabama ;  Samuel  Bor- 
den, March  27,  at  Athens,  Alabama;  Patrick 
Vickers,  March  23,  at  Nashville,  Tennessee; 
Thomas  Eichards,  April  19,  at  Athens,  Alabama ; 
Abraham  Spur,  April  — ,  at  Nashvillp,  Tennes- 
see ;  John  Glass,  saddler,  April  10,  at  Athens, 
Alabama;  Lewis  W.  Barton,  May  27,  at  Athens, 
Alabama :  Daniel  Senter,  at  Mooreville,  Alabama. 
The  rest  of  the  boys  are  in  good  health,  and  are 
ready  at  any  time  for  a  shot  at  the  rebs. 

Yours,  truly,  O.  S., 

Company  M,  Ninth  Ohio  V.  C. 

TWENTY-SIXTH  OHIO  INDEPENDENT  BATTERY. 

The  artillery  record  of  Coshocton  county  is  in- 
cluded in  the  record  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Ohio 
Independent  Battery  and  in  an  effort  that  was 
made  (in  combination  with  a  petition  from  the 
veterans)  on  the  part  of  the  military  committee  of 
the  county.  The  v  record  of  the  Twenty-sixth 
Ohio  Independent  Battery  is  compiled  from  the 
official  records. 

The  nucleus  of  this  organization  was  a  detach- 


ment from  the  Thirty-second  Ohio  Infantry  (in 
which  Coshocton  county  had  two  solid  companies). 
Its  complement  of  men  was  completed  by  Captain 
B.  F.  Potts  (afterward  Colonel 'of  the  Thirty- 
second  Infantry  and  Brigadier-Genewal  United 
States  Volunteers)  at  Augusta,  Carroll  county,  in 
the  month  of  August,  1861.  After  completion,  it 
was  attached  to  the  Thirty-second  as  Company 
F,  and  served  with  that  regiment  until  July  20, 
1862.  At  that  time  it  was  detached  for  artillery 
duty  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  fully  armed  and 
equipped  as  a  battery  of  light  artillery,  and  called 
"Potts' Ohio  Battery." 

On  General  Pope's  retreat,  in  1862,  Winchester 
was  evacuated  and  its  garrison,  including  the 
Twerity-sixth  Ohio  Battery,  retired  to  Harper's 
Ferry  on  the  night  of  the  11th  of  September.  On 
its  arrival  there  one  section  was  immediately 
ordered  to  Sandy  Hook,  an  important  point  on 
the  road  leading  to  Harper's  Ferry,  and  about 
five  miles  below  that  place,  where  for  two  days 
it  skirmished  with  the  enemy.  On  the  l3th  of 
September  the  enemy  brought  to  bear  upon  this 
section  six  pieces  of  artillery,  which  it  withstood 
for  a  time,  and  until  an  order  was  received  to  fall 
back  toward  the  Ferry.  This  order  was  very 
difficult  of  execution,  as  the  national  forces  had 
evacuated  Maryland  Heights,  and  the  enemy  Had 
gained  a  position  on  the  flank  of  the  section  in 
order  to  prevent  it  from  joining  the  main  force ; 
but,  with  the  aid  and  support  of  a  Maryland  regi- 
ment, the  section  fought  its  way  to  the  garrison. 

On  the  14th  a  fierce  artillery  duel  was  kept  up, 
in  which  the  entire  battery  was  engaged  con- 
stantly from  10  A.  M.  until  dark.  It  was  exposed 
to  a  fierce  fire  from  Loudon  Heights,  and  an  en- 
filading fire  from  Maryland  Heights.  During  the 
same  evening  the  position  of  the  battery  was 
changed  to  the  extreme  left  of  the  national  line, 
where  the  enemy  was  massing  a  force  with  the 
intention  of  making  a  vigorous  attack. 

At  sunrise  on  the  15th  the  rebels  opened  upon 
the  battery,  front,  right  and  left,  with  twenty-four 
guns,  and  for  upward  of  an  hour  this  unequal 
contest  was  continued,  and  for  some  time  after 
the  white  flag  had  been  raised  by  the  national 
forces. 

In  this  engagement  the  battery  occupied  an  ex- 
posed position  in  an  open  field,  and  it  was  within 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


40S 


ten  yards  of  its  position  that  Colonel  Mile^  re- 
ceived the  wound  from  the  eifects  of  which  he 
died. 

After  the  surrender,  the  battery,  with  other 
troops  composing  the  garrison,  were  paroled,  and 
sent  to  Chicago,  where  the  company  was  rejoined 
to  the  Thirty-second  Ohio  Infantry,  which  had 
also  been  surrendered  at  Harper's  Ferry. 

On  the  21st  of  January,  1863,  being  exchanged, 
the  battery  company  again  left  for  the  field,  in 
company  with  the  Thirty-second,  and  served 
with  it  through  General  Grant's  Mississippi  cam- 
paign, until  May  16, 1864. 

At  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  the  brigade 
to  which  the  Thirty-second  was  attached  charged 
and  turned  the  enemy's  left,  capturing  a  battery 
of  six  guns.  General  John  A.  Logan,  having  been 
informed  of  the  proficiency  of  Company  F  in 
artillery  practice,  issued  an  order  that  these  guns 
should  be  placed  in  their  charge,  and  to  hav6 
them  in  readiness  for  action  next  morning,  Not- 
withstanding, more  than  one-half  the  horses  had 
been  killed,* the  harness  cut  and  torn  throughout, 
and  numerous  damages  to  repair,  yet,  by  the  in- 
dustry and  perseverence  of  the  officers  arid  men, 
the  battery  entered  the  column  next  morning  at 
.daylight,  ready  for  action.  The  company  was  now 
called  "Yost's  Captured  Battery,"  and  during  the 
entire  siege  of  Vickburg  was  actively  engaged. 

Its  position  was  on  the  left  of  Logan's  division, 
but  it  was  afterwards  transferred  to  the  right  of 
the  same  division,  and  in  front  of  rebel  Fort  Hill, 
an  extremely  exposed  position,  within  three 
hundred  yards. of  the  enemy's  works. 

Although  destitute  of  the  facilities  of  a  regu- 
larly organized  battery,  this  company  endured 
the  dangers  and  hardships  of  the  entire  siege, 
and  received  high  compliments  from  Generals 
McPherson  and  Logan. 

On  the  3d  of  August,  1863,  the  company  was 
again  remanded  to  the  Thirty-second  Infantry, 
but  was  soon  after  again  temporarily  detached — 
one  half  with  Battery  D,  First  Regiment  Illinois 
Light  Artillery,  and  the  other  half  with  the 
Third  Ohio  Battery,  and  was  associated  with 
them  in  the  expedition  from  Vioksburg  to 
Canton,  in  October,  1863,  the  first  named  battery, 
commanded  by  S.  D.  Yost  and  Lieutenat  O.  S. 
Lee,  of  the  Third  Ohio  Battery.    In  the  expedi- 


tion both   batteries  were    engaged   in    several 
skirmishes. 

On  the  recommendation  of  General  James  B.. 
McPherson,  the  War  Department  gave  authority 
to  Governor  'Tod  to  transfer  the  company  from 
the  Thirty-second  Ohio,  and  on  the  22d  of  De- 
cember, 1863,  it  -was  made  into  a  distinct  organi- 
zation, and  designated  as  the  Twenty-sixth  Ohio 
Battery. 

The  Tweniy-sixth  Ohio  Battery,  becoming  en- 
titled to  veteran  furlough,  it  was,  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1864,  ordered  home  to  Ohio,  where  it. 
remained  the  customary  thirty  days. 

On  the  3d  day  of  February,  1864,  it  returned! 
to  the  field  at  Vicksburg,  with  recruits  sufiicient 
to  bring  it  up  to  the  maximum  strength. 

The  battery  was  a  participant  in  a  number  of 
expeditions  from  Vicksburg  and  Natchez,  re- 
sulting in  skirmishes.  The  first  raid  (in  July,. 
1864,)  made  by  the  battery  and  other  troops,  was 
led  by  General  Slocum.  The  second  was  a  cavalry 
raid  from  Vicksburg  to  Natchez,  in  October,. 
1864,  commanded  by  Colonel  Osband.  It  was  a 
very  rapid  and  fatiguing  march,  accompanied 
by  daily  skiirmishing. 

On  the  8th  of  November,  1864,  the  battery  was 
ordered  to  report  at  Natchez,  Mississippi,  for  gar- 
rison duty.  This  was  the  last  of  its  active  ser- 
vice, excepting  an  occasional  brush  with  guerril- 
las in  the  vicinity  of  Natchez,  and  across  the 
Mississippi  river.  After  the  close  of  the  war  it 
was  attached  to  the  Texas  expedition,  and  served 
on  the  Rio  Grande  until  August,  1865,  when  it 
was  ordered  to  Ohio,  and  on  the  2d  day  of  Sep- 
tember, 1865,  it  was  mustered  out  of  the  service 
at  Tod  barricks,  Ohio. 

Following  is  a  list  of  Coshocton  county  soldiers- 
who  sleep  upon  Southern  soil: 

James  Cooper,  Company  H,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I., 
died  at  Annapolis,  Maryland,  1864,  from  effects  of 
starvation  at  Belle  Isle. 

WiUiam  Wales,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,. 
killed  at  Stone  River,  December  29, 1862. 

George  Murphy,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  O.  V. 
I.,  killed  at  Stone  River,  December  31, 1862. 

Christian  Meet,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  ' 
I.,  killed  at  Stone  River,  December  31, 1862. 

John  Mills,  Company  H,  Eighthieth.  O.  V.  I., 


404 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


killed,  at  Jackson,  Mississippi,  May  — ,  1S63. 
Served  in  the  Mexican  war  and  in  three  months' 
service  in  the  civil  war. 

Elias  West,  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and 
Porty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  at  City  Point,  Virginia, 
June,  1864 

John  N.  Henderson,  Company  F,  Eightieth  0. 
V.  I.,  died  at  Corinth,  1862. 

John  Jennings,  Company  K,  Twenty-fourth  O. 
V.  I.,  died  at  Andersonville,  1863. 

George  Traxler,  Company  G,  Eightieth  0.  V. 
I.,  died  at  Paducah,  April,  1862. 

James  Laughead,  Company  G,  Eightieth  O.  V. 
I.,  died  at  Vicksburg,  July,  1863. 

Peter  Ray,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  O.  V.  I., 
died  at  Murfreesboro,  May,  1863. 

William  T.  Ray,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
V.  L,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  November  26, 1863. 

Joseph  Lacy,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
V.  I.,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  November  25, 1863. 

Jacob  Leech,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V. 
L,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  November  25, 1863. 

Alonzo  Barton,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
T.  L,  died  at  Danville,  Kentucky,  October  17, 1862 

Charles  Funk,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
V.  I.,  died  at  Pulaski,  Tennessee,  November,  1864. 

William  Rogers,  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh 
O.  V.  I.,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  November  26, 
1863. 

William  Doyle,  Lieutenant  Company  H,  Eighti- 
•eth  0.  V.  I.,  died  at  Rienza,  Mississippi,  April,  1862. 

Jonathan  Longshore,  Company  G,  Eightieth 
■0.  V.  I.,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  November  26, 
1863. 

Eli  Cross,  Company  H,  Eightieth  0.  V.  L,  died 
at  Rook  Island,  1863. 

Adam  Weisser,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
V.  I.,  died  at  Nashville,  February,  1863. 

Joel  C.  Glover,  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing, 
Virginia,  September  6, 1864 

Benjamin  D.  Day,  Company  H,  Fifty-first  0.  V. 
I.,  died  at  Murfreesboro,  September,  1862. 

John  Blackburn,  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh 
•O.  V.  I.,  killed  at  Franklin,  Tennessee,  November 
30, 1864. 

John  Flagg,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V. 
X,  died  at  Bowling  Green,  Kentucky,  November 
1862.     . 


Reuben  Jennings,  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  at  Wilson's  Land- 
ing, Virginia,  July,  1864. 

William  Welch,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  0.  V. 
L,  killed  at  Stone  River,  December  29, 1862. 

David  Owens,  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
V.  I.,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  November  25, 1863. 

Joseph  Thornsley,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh 
0.  V.  I.,  died  at  Chattanooga,  December,  1863. 

Julian  Suitt,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V. 
I.,  died  at  Silver  Springs,  Tenn.,  November,  1862. 

Ezekial  Norman,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh 
0.  V.  I.,  died  at  Nashville,  February,  1863. 

Addison  Hay,  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third  0.  N.  G ,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing, 
July,  1864 

The  following  is  a  list  of  Coshocton  soldiSra 
buried  in  the  Coshocton  Cemetery : 

John  Watson,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
V.  L,  died  Depember  28, 1863. 

John  Gosser,  Company  I,  Eightieth  0.  V.  I, 
died  March,  1872. 

James  E.  Beebe,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  0.  V. 
I.,  aied  May  26, 1878. 

John  Lynch,  Company  A,  Sixteenth  0.  V.  L, 
died  February  13, 1862. 

Samuel  Lynch,  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh 
0.  V.  I.,  died  April  6, 1863. 

John  B.  Crowley,  Mexican  soldier,  died  OctOr 
ber  24,  1857. 

William  Crowley,  died  March  8, 1874. 

Albert  A.  Donahue,  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  May  20,  1870. 

Thomas  Parsons,  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  July  28, 1877. 

John  Wilcox,  Company  M,  Ninth  0.  V.  C,  died 
May  6, 1874. 

John  Taylor,  Mexican  soldier,  died  May  15,1848. 

Frederick  Schweiker,  Mexican  soldier,  died 
September  8,  ^1862. 

Joseph  Richards,  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  August  4, 1869. 

John  Moore,  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh  0. 
V.  I.,  died  November  SO,  1869. 

Thomas  Hartley,  Michigan  Volunteer  Battery, 
died  July,  1869. 

William  Webb,  Sixty-first  Tennessee,  Confed- 
erate soldier,  died  June  12, 1863. 


"UNION  COAL  FAEW,"  HOME  OF  SAl 


SE  (Coshocton),  coshocton  county. 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


409 


Greorge  Mahew,  Company  K,  Twentlftourth 
0.  V.  I.,  died  April  4,  1866. 

Fernando  Wrigiit,  Company  F,  Eightieth  O. 
V.  I.,  died  February  20,  187^. 

John  Allen,  Company  G,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  August  13, 1875. 

A.  H.  Sells,  Mexican  soldier,  died  January  12, 
1854. 

Kichard  Lanning,  Major  Eightieth  0.  V.  I., 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Corinth,  Mississippi,  Octo- 
ber 4, 1862. 

Thomas  Scott,  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third  0.  N.  G.,  died  July  1, 1862. 

Oscar  Bunn,  Company  L,  First  Iowa  Cavalry, 
died  March  6, 1864. 

James  M.  MoMichael,  Company  F,  Fifty-first 
0.  V.  I.,  died  February  13, 1862. 

Edward  Mc|tlichael,  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  O.  N.  G.,  died  August  19, 1864. 

WilUam  Weisser,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh 
0.  V.  I.,  died  January  19,  1863. 

Patrick  S.  Campbell,  Company  H,  Eightieth 
0.  V.  I.,  died  September  28, 1862. 

Methias  Denman,  Fifty-second  O.  V.  I ,  died 
March  16, 1863. 

Thomas  Southwell,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  O. 
V.  I.,  died  Se]^tember  22,  1874. 

George  Wilson,  First  Ohio  Artillery,  died  No- 
vember 6, 1863. 

James  P.  Davis,  died  February  3, 1880. 

Martin  D.  VanEman,  Company  H,  Eightieth, 
die'd  — . 

Joseph,  O'Donnell,  Company  D,  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-second  0.  V.  I.,  died  July  8, 1877. 

Wils  W.  Batch,  Lieutenant  Company  P,  One 
Hundred  and  Ninety-first  O.  V.  I.,  died  January 
24, 1881. 

David  H.  Bunn,  Company  G,  Fifteenth  Iowa 
Volunteers,  died  August  25, 1880. 

Bradley  Burt,  Company  I,  Twenty-sixth  Illinois 
Volunteers,  died  April  22,  1881. 

D.  C.  Johns,  First  Ohio  Sharp-shooters,  Com- 
pany B,  died  — . 

John  Barney. 

Messrs.  S.  A.  Boid  and  Isaac  Ferrel  furnish  the 
following  list : 

Captain  B.  F.  Hesket,  Company  C,  Fifty-first 
0.  V.  I.,  died  January  2, 1863,  from  the  effects  of 

15 


wounds  received  at  the  battle  of  Stone  River, 
January  2,  1863. 

John  Q.  Winklepleck,  Orderly  Sergeant,  Com- 
pany C,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  died  at  Nashville  from 
the  eftects  of  wounds  received  at  Stone  River, 
January,  1863.  Both  of  Chili,  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio. 

Robert  Dewalt,  Company  C,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I^ 
died  in  1862,  in  hospital  ai  Nashville, of  diarrhoea; 
buried  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Everhart  Caton,  same  company  and  regiment, 
died  in  hospital  at  Camp  Wickliffe,  Kentucky, 
1862 ;  buried  at  Camp  Wickliffe,  Kentucky. 

Henry  Crossgraves,  same  regiment  and  com- 
pany, killed  at  battle  of  Stone  River,  January'2, 
1863. 

George  Matson,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I, 
killed  at  battle  of  Mission  Ridge,  1863. 

David  Carnahan,  Company  C,  Fifty-first  0.  V. 
I.,,  died  in  camp  hospital  at  Wickliffe,  Kentucky, 
February,  1862.    Buried  at  Camp  Wickliffe. 

David  Gibson,  Company  H,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I., 
died  in  hospital  at  Washington,  in  1862. 

James  Brister,  Company  H,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I., 
died  in  hospital  at  Nashville,  1862. 

Lester  P.  Emerson,  buried  at  Chili,  Ohio,  Ser- 
geant Company  C,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  died'  in 
hospital  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

W.  R.  Wilson,  Company  C,  Sixty-seventh  0.  V. 
I.,  furnishes  this  list: 

David  Carnahan,  White  Eyes  township.  Com- 
pany C,  Fifty-first,  died  in  Camp  Wickliffe,  Ken- 
tucky, 1862. 

Lanceon  Kimball,  Company  C,  Sixty-seventh, 
was  accidentally  shot  and  killed  by  a  comrade 
while  in  line  of  battle  in  1864. 

Jacob  Clarman,  Company  C,  Sixty-seventh,  died 
in  Indiana  since  close  of  war. 

Eli  Seward,  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing,  Va.,  1864. 

Thomas  C.  Seward,  Company  — ,  Thirty-second, 
was  drowned  while  trying  to  run  a  boat  through 
the  blockade  at  Vicksburg. 

Samuel  Bechtel,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third, 
0.  N.  G.,  Company  H.,  buried  at  Hampton  Roads, 
1864. 

George  McCrary,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh, 
buried  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 


410 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


George  Adams,  Company  H,  Eightieth,  buried 
at  Eesaca,  Georgia,  1864. 

Daniel  Overholt,  Company  H,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third,  buried  at  Portsmouth,  Virginia. 

John  Beall,  Company  K,  Thirty-second,  was 
killed  at  Atlanta,  Georgia. 

John  Bechtol,  Company  H,  Eightieth,  died  at 
Memphis,  Tennessee. 

John  Walters,  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third,  buried  at  Portsmouth,  1864. 

John  Clark,  Company  — ,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third,  buried  at  Hampton  Eoads,  1864. 

John  Dennis,  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third,  buried  at  Hampton  Roads.  n 

Charles  Infield,  Company  H,  Eightieth,  buried 
at  Clear  Creek,  Mississippi. 

James  S.  Wilson,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh, 
buried  at  Jeffersonville,  Indiana. 

William  Shannon,  Company  H,  Fifty-first,  killed 
at  Mission  Ridge. 

Sylvester  Levitt,  Company  H,  Eightieth,  buried 
at  Manchester,  Nev^  York,  1864. 

William  Steward,  Company  H,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third,  buried  at  Wilson's  Landing. 

John  P.  Davis,  Company  G,  Eightieth,  buried 
at  Brandy  Station,  Virginia. 

William  Nash,  Company  G,  Eightieth,  shot  and 
killed  himself  accidentally  at  Corinth,  Mississippi. 

John  Wise,  Company  G,  Eightieth,  killed  at 
Vicksburg. 

Henry  Ross,  Company  G,  Eightieth,  killed  at 
Mission  Ridge. 

Jabez  Norman,  Company  — ,  Ninety-seventh, 
buried  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Cassaday,  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh, 

killed  by  rebels,  while  in  line  of  battle.  • 

Charles  Norman,  Company  — ,  Ninety-seventh, 
died  at  home,  while  absent  on  sick  furlough, 
in  1863. 

John  Hout,  Company  G,  Eightieth,  died  at 
Cairo. 

John  Armstrong,  Company  H,  Fifty-first,  died 
South. 

B.  CuUison,  Fifty-first,  died  in  Texas,  in  1865. 

James  Atkins,  Fifty-first,  buried  in  the  South. 


Fr^k  Landers,  Company  H,  Fifty-first,  died 
in  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

John  Fox,  Comijany  H,  Fifty-first,  died  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  1863. 

John  McCluggage,  Company  H,  Fifty-first, 
died  in  the  South. 

Abram  Balo,  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh, 
killed  at  Mission  Ridge. 

Jackson  Hughes,  Company  D,  Seventy-sixth, 
died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

George  Ferguson,  Company  F,  Fifty-first  0.  V. 
I.,  died  in  1865  at  Macon,  Georgia. 

Mr.  John  M.  Carhartt  furnished  the  following 
additional  matter: 

We,  in  Roscoe,  have  erected  in  our  cemetery  a 
beautiful  wooden  monument,  painted  white,  in 
honor  of  our  fallen  comrades  that  are  buried  in 
the  South,  and  a  beautiful  wreath  adorns  that 
monument  every  Decoration  Day  in  honor  of 
those  dear  comrades  of  ours  who  fell  defending 
the  glorious  old  flag  and  our  country's  honor. 

I  will  now  give  the  names  of  those  heroes  from 
this  county  that  belonged  to  Company  M,  Ninth 
0.  V.  C,  whose  bodies  lie  buried  in  the  South: 

John  Glass,  died  at  Athens,  Ala.,  April  10,1864. 

Lewis  W.  Barton,  died  at  Athens,  Alabama, 
May  27, 1864. 

Daniel  Senter,  died  at  Moresque,  Alabama, 
June  8,  1864. 

B.  F.  Wright,  drowned  on  the  Sultana,  1865. 

Albert  Wells,  killed  by  guerillas,  1865. 

Robert  Deems,  killed  by  guerillas,  1865. 

Lewis  Longbaugh,  killed  by  guerillas,  1865. 

One  other  boy,  whose  false  friends  at  home  were 
the  true  cause  of  his  death.  He  went  home  on 
leave  of  absence  from  Camp  Dennison,  0.,  and 
through  the  influence  of  enemies  of  our  noble 
cause,  did  not  return  on  the  expiration  of  leave 
of  absence.  He  was,  after  several  attempts,  ar- 
rested by  the  proper  authorities,  and  taken  from 
one  camp  to  another  until  he  finally  reached  the 
company  at  Vining  Station,  Georgia,  sick,  down- 
hearted and  discouraged,  and  was  taken  to  the 
hospital,  where  he  died  September  23, 1864.  He 
told  me  that  he  was  sorry  that  he  did  not  report 
to  the  company  at  the  proper  time,  and  de- 
nounced those  who  caused  him  to  remain  away. 
That  soldier's  name  was  Franklin  Felton. 

The  above  list  is  evidently  incomplete,  and  the 
reader  is  referred  to  the  general  history  for  addi- 
tional names. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


411 


CHAPTER  XLV.  '^ 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF   COSHOCTON. 

.Its  Site  an  Indian  Village— Early  Settlement— Colonel  Charles 
Williams — Ebenezer  Buckingham — Dr.  Samuel  Lee — Tradi- 
tion o£  Louis  Phillippe— The  Cold  Plague— A  Lost  Child— 
The  Whoo-whoo  Society— Journal  ol  Colonel  Williams. 

COSHOCTON  is  built  upon  the  site  of  an 
old  Indian  village,  which  was  centrally 
located  in  the  region  occupied  by  the  Delaware 
nation,  and  was  for  a  time  its  capital.  Up  the 
valleys  of  the  Walhonding  and  Tuscarawas  and 
down  the  Muskingum  valley,  at  short  intervals, 
were  other  villages,  so  that  the  selection  of  this 
place,  situated  in  the  heart  of  the  nation,  as  his 
residence  by  the  great  chief,  Netawatwees,  was  a 
happy  one.  It  was  often  visited  by  the  famous 
-councilors,  White  Eyes  and  Killbuck,  as  well  as 
'by  the  leaders  of  surrounding  tribes,  making  it, 
without  doubt,  the  seat  of  many  councils  where 
questions  of  state  policy,  involving  war  or  peace, 
life  or  death,  were  debated  or  determined.  In 
Thomas  Hutchins'  map  of  General  Bouquet's  ex- 
pedition it  is  designated  simply  as  "  A  Delaware 
Town."  According  to  DeSchweinetz,  its  name 
was  Goshackgunk ;  according  to  Heokewelder, 
Goshochking.  The  dwellings  were  built  in  the 
cabin  and  not  in  the  usual  wigwam  style.  The 
village  extended  from  the  river  to  Third  street, 
and- the  principal  street  corresponded  with  the 
present  Second  street  of  Coshocton,  the  cabins 
standing  close  together,  in  two  long  rows  on  each 
side  of  it.  The  remains  of  their  fire-places, 
which  are  said  to  have  been  at  the  north  end  of 
«ach  of  the  cabins,  could  be  easily  discerned  by 
the  first  white  settlers  of  the  place.  The  village 
was  burned  by  General  Brodhead  in  1780. 

The  town  of  Coshocton  was  laid  out  in  April, 
1802,  by  John  Matthews  and  Ebenezer  Bucking- 
liam,  Jr.  In  their  survey  they  were  assisted  by 
•Gibson  Rook,  and  two  town  lots  were  given  him 
for  his  services.  The  town  was  christened  Tus- 
-carawa,  but  the  name  was  changed  to  Coshocton 
by  act  of  the  legislature  in  1811. 

Charles  Williams  is  generally  regarded  as  the 
first  settler  of  Coshocton.  In  March,  1801,  he  and 
Isaac  Hoagland  moved  with  their  families  from 
Denman's  prairie,  situated  several  miles  up  the 


Walhonding  river,  to  the  site  of  the  future  town. 
They  erected  a  temporary  abode  on  the  now  va- 
cant lot  on  the  river  bank,  below  the  Tuscarawas 
bridge,  where  there  was  a  fine  sugar  camp.  This 
house  was  the  first  erected  in  Coshocton.  It  was 
built  of  buckeye  logs;  was  twelve  feet  square, 
and  for  a  few  weeks  occupied  by  Charles  Wil- 
liams and  Isaac  Hoagland,  with  their  wives  and 
several  children.  During  this  year  Mr.  Williams 
built  a  log  house  near  the  northeast  corner  of 
Water  and  Chestnut  streets,  and  removed  his 
family  to  it.  On  the  11th  day  of  February,  1809, 
the  house  was  consumed  by  fire,  and  two  chil- 
dren, one  of  Mr.  Williams'  and  one  of  his  brother 
James,  perished  in  the  flames.  All  the  household 
goods  were  also  destroyed.       ' 

In  1800,  John  Matthews  and  Ebenezer  Bucking- 
ham, who  were  the  principal  surveyors  of  much 
of  the  land  in  this  part  of  Ohio,  located  the  Bow- 
man section  of  land  upon  which  Coshocton  now 
stands.  During  the  same  year  that  the  Williams 
house  was  built,  Matthews  and  Buckingham,  in- 
tending to  make  a  permanent  location,  erected 
a  log  house  somewhere  between  the  river  bank 
and  the'  Central  House— corner  Second  and 
Main  streets.  It  was  also  about  this  time  that 
Dr.  Increase  Matthews,  one  of  the  proprietors  of 
Putnam,  Muskingum  county,  visited  Coshocton, 
being  invited  bj'  his  brother  to  engage  in  build- 
ing a  mill  on  Mill  creek.  He  found  in  Coshoc- 
ton the  two  houses  already  mentioned;  but 
speaks  of  having  seen  here  on  that  occasion  his 
own  brother,  John  Matthews,  Stephen  Bucking- 
ham, Ebenezer  Buckingham,  jr.,,  and  a  sister, 
afterwards  Mrs.  Pairland,  keeping  house  for  them. 
This  intended  settlement  by  the  Buckingham's, 
was  in  the  fall  of  1802  abondoned,  and  they  re- 
moved from  the  county.  The  reason  of  this  re- 
moval was  principally  the  prevalence  of  malarial 
diseases.  For  many  years  the  place  bore  the 
name  of  being  very  unhealthy,  and  many  who 
came  here  with  a  design  to  settle,  left  on  that 
account. 

Both  the  proprietors  of  the  town  soon  aban- 
doned it,  and  in  some  way  disposed  of  their  in- 
terest in  it.  John  Matthews  went  to  Zanesville, 
was  for  a  time  interested  in  a  store  there,  but 
finally  built  Moxahala  mills,  on  Jonathan's  creek, 
where  he  died  sometime  after. 


412 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


After  Matthews  and  Buckingham  left  the  place, 
William  Scritchfield  purchased  and  occupied  the 
Buckingham  house,  as  it  was  called.  About  the 
j'ear  1804,  William  Whitten,  a  blacksmith,  and 
afterwards  the  first  justice  of  the  peace,  settled 
here,  and  lived  in  a  cabin  a  little  back  of  the  pres- 
ent residence  of  WilUam  Burns,  on  Second  street. 
About  this  time  Calvin  Bobbett  also  built  a  cabin 
just  north  of  this,  on  lot  219.  Not  far  from  this 
date  George  McCuUough  and  Thomas  Evans  re- 
moved to  the  place.  The  former  married  a 
daughter  of  William  Scritchfield  and  lived  in 
the  Buckingham  house.  "  This  was  perhaps  the 
first  wedding  in  the  county.  What  would  we 
not  give  to  be  able  to  describe  it.  But  the  mem- 
ory thereof  has  faded  away,  and  there  is  no  one 
to  tell  the  story.  Imagination  must  be  left  to 
picture  it  to  the  reader,  for  there  has  been  no 
chronicler  of  the  events  of  that  memorable  day." 
Thomas  Evans  was  a  shoe  maker  and  carried  on 
his  craft  in  a  cabin  which  stood  on  Second  street, 
excepting  such  times  as  he  went  from  house  to 
house  with  his  kit, "  cat- whipping,"  as  it  was  then 
called. 

About  the  year  1808,  Andrew  Lybarger,  a  tan- 
ner, moved  into  the  place.  He  lived  for  a  time 
on  the  northeast  corner  of  Second  and  Walnut 
streets,  carrying  on  the  tannery  just  across  Sec- 
ond street.  ' 

In  1808,  Zebedee  Baker,  a  saddler,  settled  in  the 
town.  Several  years  later  he  moved  to  Mills 
Creek,  and  years  afterwards  returned  to  Coshoc- 
ton. 

In  1809  or  1810,  Abraham  Wisecaver  and  James 
Colder  settled  here.  Wisecaver  was  a  hatter,  and 
lived  on  or  near  lot  170,  Second  street.  James  Col- 
der was  a  merchant,  and  exhibited  his  goods  on  lot 
214,  Second  street.  This  was  no  doubt  the  first 
attempt  at  merchandizing  in  the  place.  Colonel 
Williams,  however,  had  previously  kept  on  hand 
a  stock  of  goods,  which  he  traded  with  the  In- 
dians for  peltry.  Adam  Johnson  also  brought 
here  in  1811  and  exposed  for  sale  a  stock  of 
goods,  in  the  log  house  which  stood  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  Water  and  Chestnut  streets. 

In  March,  1810,  Captain  Joseph  Nefi'  came  to 
this  place.  He  was  by  trade  a  tailor  and  for  many 
years  followed  the  business.  Owing  to  removals 
because  of  the  unhealthy  climate  and  other  causes, 


at  the  time  Mr.  Neff  came,  there  were  but  four 
fanjilies  of  those  already  mentioned  still  living 
here.  Much  of  Main  street  was  at  that  time  cov- 
ered with  hazel  bushes.  In  June,  1811,  Dr.  Sam- 
uel Lee,  the  first  resident  physician,  settled  in 
Coshocton.  In  the  spring  of  1811  Wright  War- 
ner, and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year  Aaron 
Church,  the  first  two  resident  lawyers  of  the  vil- 
lage, took  up  their  abode  here.  The  career  of 
Church  was  of  short  duration  and  unfortunate  in 
its  termination.  He  was  the  son  of  a  New  Eng- 
land clergyman,  and  received  an  education  at  an 
eastern  college.  Upon  its  completion  he  read 
law,  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  and  opened  an  of- 
fice at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  soon  acquiring  a 
good  reputation  as  a  lawyer.  He  married  weU 
and  settled  into  a  remunerative  practice.  Drink 
was  his  enemy  and  proved  his  downfall.  He  neg- 
lected his  business,  quarreled  with  and  separated 
from  his  wife  and  came  West  to  begin  life  anew. 
The  opening  in  Coshocton  was  promising  and  he 
settled  here,  soon  gaining  a  practice  which  ex- 
tended into  the  surrounding  counties,  but  his  ap- 
petite again  gained  ascendency  over  him  and  soon 
made  him  mentally  and  physically  a  wreck.  He 
died  of  "  cold  plague  "  in  the  spring  of  1815. 

Adam  Johnson  came  1811,  married  a  daughter 
of  Colonel  Williams  and  was  associated  with  him 
in  business  for  many  years.  He  was  the  first 
clerk  of  the  court  and  recorder,  captain  of  a  com- 
pany in  the  war  of  1812  and  a  prominent  and  in- 
fluential citizen  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1829. 

About  1815,  the  town  began  to  settle  up  more 
rapidly.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  John  Crowely 
came  from  Maryland;  he  was  a  carpenter  by 
trade,  was  for  a  time  ferryman  for  Charles  Wil- 
liams, and  was  afterwards  sheriff  of  the  county. 
About  the  same  time  John  Darnes,  also  a  carpen- 
ter, emigrated  from  Virginia,  near  Washington 
City.  Richard  Stafford  was  here  at  this  time, 
coming  from  the  South  Branch  of  the  Potomac,, 
Virginia.  He  was  a  wagonmaker,  and  served 
as  an  early  justice  of  the  peace.  Albert  Torry,. 
a  blacksmith,  frond  the  State  of  Maine,  was  also 
living  in  town  at  this  time.  He  afterwards  set- 
tled on  Killbuck  creek.  James  Renfrew,  Sr.,  an 
early  merchant,  came  about  1815.  William  and 
Alexander  McGowan  came  in  1815,  with  their 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


413 


mother,  from  New  Jersey.  Their  father,  a  Bap- 
tist minister,  was  killed,  near  Mount  Pleasant, 
while  they  were  on  their  journey  hither,  by  the 
accidental  upsetting  of  the  wagon.  Mrs.  Mc- 
Oowan  died  in  1816.  The  boys  were  long  known 
as  the  proprietors  of  the  hotel,  corner  Second 
and  Main  streets.  Abram  Sells,  a  cabinetmaker, 
came  from  Marietta,  in  1814.  He  was  for  some 
time  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  also  coroner  of 
the  county.  He  died  in  1869.  Samuel  Burns 
moved  here  from  Philadelphia,  in  1816.  He  was 
born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  a  hatter  by  trade.  He  purchased  the 
tools  of  Abraham  Wisecaver,  who  had  previously 
removed  to  Muskingum  county,  and  followed  his 
calling  for  a  number  of  years.  For  sixteen  or 
eighteen  years  he  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  in 
this  township.  He  died  in  1852.  A  few  more 
years  brought  in  Benjamin  Eicketts,  Otho  and 
Daniel  Cresap,  John  Forrest,  Hezekiah  Robinson, 
John  McCullough,  William  Carhart,  Garrett  and 
Joseph  Buckingham,  John  Smeltzer,  Sanford 
Madden'  and  others,  and  by  1820,  the  population 
had  probably  reached  one  hundred  and  fifty.  No 
statistics  are  at  hand,  but  this  is  the  estimate  of 
several  old  settlers  who  were  living  here  at  the 
time. 

The  earliest  pioneers  of  Coshocton  deserve  a 
more  extended  account,  and  of  a  few,  concerning 
whom  information  is  had,  short  sketches  are 
herewith  given. 

Charles  Williams,  the  first  resident  of  the 
county  seat,  was  among  the  first  emigrants  to 
cross  the  Ohio,  and  the  principal  personage  in. 
the  first  company  that  made  a  permanent  settle- 
ment within  the  present  limits  of  Coshocton 
county.  He  was  born  near  Hagerstown,  Wash- 
ington county,  Maryland,  in  1764.  His  pay ents 
were  of  Irish  and  Scotch  descent,  and  during 
Ihe  Revolutionary  war  removed  to  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania;  at  its  close  they  moved  a 
little  farther  west,  in  the  vicinity  of  Wellsburgh, 
Virginia.  This  was  then  the  frontier,  and  Wil- 
liams grew  to  manhood  here  amidst  the  perils  of 
border  warfare.  At  twenty  or  twenty-one  he  left 
his  father's  house,  crossed  the  Ohio  into  what  is 
now  Jefferson  county,  and  soon  after  became  en- 
gaged to  Susannah  Carpenter,  one  of  seventeen 


children  connected  with  the  principal  family  of 
the  settlement  in  wealth  and  influence,  her  father 
having  given  his  name  to  the  settlement,  "  Car- 
penter's Fort,"  or  Carpenter's  Station,  as  it  was 
sometimes  called.  The  attachment  of  the  parties 
was  mutual,  but  the  stern  old  gentleman  refused 
his  consent,  and  was -inexorable.  Consequently 
an  elopement  was  determined  upon.  The  good  old 
man  was  decoyed  from  home  one  day,  upon  one 
pretense  or  another,  by  Samuel  Morrison,  who 
was  among  the  first  settler^  of  this  county,  and 
afterward  brother-in-law  to  Williams,  and  the 
young  couple  made  good  their  escape,  crossed 
the  Ohio  and  were  married  in  the  usual  every- 
day dress  of  early  settlers.  After  changing  his 
place  of  abode  several  times  in  different  parts  of 
Ohio,  he  came  to  Muskingum  county  and  en- 
gaged for  a  while  in  the  manufacture  of  salt. 
Not  succeeding  here  as  he  desired,  in  the  spring 
of  1800  he  removed  to  Coshocton  county. 

There  came  with  him  his  wife  and  two  child- 
ren, his  brother-in-law,  William  Morrison,  and 
Isaac  and  Henry  Hoagland,  with  their  wives  and 
one  or  two  children  each.  Their  place  of  settle- 
ment was  on  Denman's  prairie,  several  miles  up 
the  Wolhonding  from  Coshocton.  This  spot  of 
open  prairie  land  seems  to  have  beeh  especially 
inviting  in  the  midst  of  the.  dense  forest  which 
surrounded  it.  It  began  near  the  mouth  of  what 
has  since  been  called  Stone  creek,  and  extended 
several  miles  up  the  river,  varying  in  width  ac- 
cording to  the  course  of  the  stream.  The  margin 
of  the  river  was  skirted  with  timber.  The  set- 
tlers ran  a  fence  between  the  prairie  land  and 
this  strip  of  timber.  They  were  unable,  from 
the  fewness  of  their  number,  to  erect  cabins  im- 
mediately, and  dwelt  for  some  time  in  a  kind  of 
tent.  The  cabins,  when  built,  stood  away  from 
the  river  at  the  foot  of  the  hills,  which  bounded 
the  prairie  at  the  north.  The  following  year,  as 
already  mentioned,  Mr.  Williams  removed  to 
Coshocton,  where  he  remained  until  his  death, 
August  2,  1840. 

The  life  of  Colonel  Williams  is  intimately  as- 
sociated with  the  early  history  of  Coshocton.  He 
was  a  successful  trapper,  hunter,  Indian  scout 
and  trader,  and  held  every  office,  being  almost 
all  the  time  in  some  position  in  the  county,  from 
road  supervisor  and  tax  collector  to  member  of 


414 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  State  legislature.  He  was  famous  as  a  tavern 
keeper,  and  in  that  and  other  capacities  became 
very  popular.  Clever,  genial,  naturally  shrewd, 
indomitable  in  purpose,  not  averse  to  the  popu- 
lar vices  of  his  day,  and  even  making  a  virtue  of 
profanity,  he  was  for  forty  years  a  controlling 
spirit  of  the  county,  and  for  twenty-five  years  the 
controlling  spirit.  He  was  a  man  of  great  nat- 
ural ability,  though  he  never  learned  to  read  or 
write  till  he  came  to  Coshocton.  'Squire  Whitten 
gave  him  what  little  assistance  he  needed  in 
learning  to  read  and  write.  He  was  a  man,  too, 
of  many  good  qualities,  generous,  enterprising 
and  possessed  of  a  commanding  influence  over 
others,  so  much  so  that  he  was  familiarly  known 
as  "King  Charlie."  He  obtained  his  military 
title  from  a  promotion  to  the  office  of  colonel  in 
the  militia  of  the  State. 

Ebenezer  Buckingham,  Sr.,  was  born  at  Green- 
field, Connecticut,  November  1, 1748.  His  father 
having  been  lost  at  sea  while  Ebenezer  was  yet  a 
youth,  he  lived  with  his  brother-in-law,  Albert 
Sherwood,  until  he  became  of  age.  He  was  mar- 
ried at  his  native  place  in  1771,  to  Esther  Brad- 
ley, daughter  of  Rev.  Elanthan  Bradley.  After  liv- 
ing at  several  places  in  New  York,  he  determined 
in  1799,  to  move  West.  Two  sons,  Ebenezer,  Jr., 
and  Stephen, — the  former  of  whom  had  gone  to 
the  settlements  at  Marietta,  Ohio,  as  early  as  1796, 
followed  not  long  after  by  Stephen — returned 
home  to  Cooperstown,  New  York,  with  such 
glowing  accounts  of  the  beautiful  and  fertile 
country  on  the  Muskingum  river,  that  they  all 
concluded  to  emigrate  to  that  land  flowing  with 
milk  and  honey.  They  left  Cooperstown,  De- 
cember 25, 1799,  on  two  sleds  drawn  by  one  yoke 
of  oxen  each,  leaving  the  two  oldest  daughters 
who  were  married,  and  taking  ten  children  with 
them.  A  Mr.  Spencer  and  wife,  accompanied 
them  with  another  sled  across  the 'mountains  to 
Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  by  the  way  of  Cove 
Gap,  where  they  waited  six  weeks  for  the  ice  on 
the  Ohio  river  to  break  up,  when  the  cattle  were 
sent  by  land  through  what  was  then  a  wilderness, 
under  the  care  of  his  son  Stephen,  to  Middle  Is- 
land, on  the  Muskingum  above  Marietta,  while 
the  balance  of  the  family  with  their  goods  and 
«ffects,  descended  the  Ohio  on  a  flat  boat,  reaching 


Marietta  in  March,  1800.  They  poled  the  boat 
up  the  Muskingum,  passing  Zanesville,  with  its 
two  or  three  cabins  (the  cattle  going  up  by  land),, 
and  finally  settled  at  the  mouth  of  Killbuck 
creek.  It  is  said  they  were  accompanied  by  one 
or  two  other  families  from  Marietta,  whose  names- 
are  unknown.  They  immediately  put  up  their 
cabins,  made  of  logs  with  clapboard  roofs  and 
dirt  floors.  The  doors  were  hung  with  wooden 
hinges  and  not  a  nail  or  piece  of  iron  was  used 
in  the  construction  of  the  cabins.  Here  they 
traded  with  the  Delaware  Indians,  the  older  ones 
of  whom  were  very  expert  in  the  use  of  the  bow 
and  arrow.  They  raised  fine  crops  of  corn  and 
potatoes  the  first  spring,  and  also  in  1801  and 
1802.  He  probably  occupied  for  a  while  the 
house  at  Coshocton,  built  by  his  son,  Ebenezer,. 
Jr  ,  and  suffering  much  from  sickness  here  in  the 
fall  of  1802  he  removed  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Hockhocking  on  the  Ohio.  Here  he  raised  a 
crop  of  corn,  then  settled  in  Carthage  where  he 
resided  until  his  death,  October  24,  1824.  His- 
widow  removed  to  Putnam,  Muskingum  county^ 
where  she  remained  with  her  son,  Ebenezer,  till 
her  death,  several  years  later. 

Dr.  Samuel  Lee  settled  in  Coshocton  as  a  regu- 
lar practicing  physician  in  June,  1811.  He  waa 
born  and  spent  his  boyhood  on  a  farm  near  Pult- 
ney,  Vermont,  studied  medicine  at  Castleton, 
Vermont,  and,  in  1809,  came  to  Ohio  In  company 
with  Rev.  Timothy  Harris,  of  Granville,  Ohio. 
The  journey  was  performed  on  horseback  through 
the  wilderness.  On  the  route  they  encountered 
Indians  and  swollen  streams,  and  camped  out  at 
night  by  watch-fires.  The  doctor  stopped  first, 
at  Granville  nearly  two  years,  where  he  married 
Miss  Sabra  Case ;  then  resided  a  few  months  in 
Mount  Vernon.  He  came  to  Coshocton  in  search 
of  an^estrayed  or  stolen  horse.  The  town  was 
then  a  mere  hamlet  and  wanted  a  physician,  and 
he  removed  at  once  with  his  wife  and  one  child. 
He  lived  during  a  part  of  the  first  year  in  a  small 
cabin  on  Second  street,  built  by  Mr.  Neff'  for  a 
tailor  shop,  but  about  Christmas  of  the  same  year 
he  removed  to  a  small  cabin  on  the  southeast  cor- 
ner of  Main  and  Fourth  streets,  then  surrounded 
by  a  thick  growth  of  hazel  bwshes.  Surgery  was- 
a  more  prominent  element  of  practice  then  thaa 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


415 


at  present.  Fighting  was  common — almost  uni- 
versal—and  bruised  or  broken  limbs  m.ust  often 
be  mended.  Among  the  doctor's  first  patients 
were  two  men  who  had  been  fighting,  one  having 
his  ear  bitten  ofi'  and  the  other  his  eye  gouged. 
Nor  were  his  services  always  called  into  requisi- 
tion in  those  self-reliant  days.  Witness  the  fol- 
lowing :  An  individual  was  thrown  into  spasms 
one  day  at  Charlie  Williams'  tavern,  and  fell 
writhing  to  the  floor.  The  doctor's  residence 
was  some  distance  away,  and  the  case  seemed  to 
demand  immediate  action.  The  inquiry,  "  What 
is  good  for  fits?  ".passed  through  the  crowd  as- 
sembled there,  and  the  prevailing  opinion  seemed 
to  be  that  bleeding  was  the  proper  remedy.  Ac- 
cordingly, an  energetic,  muscular  man  seized  the 
prostrate  patient  by  the  hair  with  his  left  hand, 
raised  his  head  from  the  floor,  and,  with  his 
clenched  fist,  dealt  him  a  powerful  blow  upon  the 
nose  as  the  most  available  point  and  nearest  the 
supposed  seat  of  disease.  This  heroic  treatment 
was  successful,  and  the  man  speedily  recovered 
his  senses. 

At  the  time  the  doctor  came  here  there  was  no 
other  physician  within  the  radius  of  thirty  miles 
and  a  ride  of  this  distance  and  even  farther  was 
of  common  occurrence,  often  necessitating  an  ab- 
sence from  home  of  several  days.  He  remained 
a  life-long  citizen  of  Coshocton  and  died  March 
19, 1874,  having  completed  within  four  months  his 
eighty-ninth  year. 

Dr.  Lee  had  undoubted  adaptations  for  his 
time  and  place.  The  roughness  and  freedom  and 
economy  of  pioneer  life  did  not  misfit  him.  He 
was  very  genial;  could  tell  a  good  story  and  crack 
a  joke  with  the  jolliest  of  the  men  and  women  of 
that  day.  Although  holding  public  office  but 
twice — that  of  county  treasurer  in  very  early 
days,  and  that  of  State  senator  in  1826-27 — he  was 
always  interested  in  public  affairs.  There  are 
abundant  evidences  of  his  friendly  disposition  in 
his  readiness  to  go  on  their  official  bonds,  and 
otherwise  stand  for  his  neighbors.  His  conscien- 
tiousness and  diligence  in  his  profession  none 
have  questioned.  He  had  a  quick-wittedness  and 
strong  common  sense  that  often  stood  in  lieu  of 
profundity  of  attainment.  He  was  not  what 
might  be  called  a  scholarly  man  but  always  the 
friend  of  intelligence.    His  shrewdness  and  strict 


honesty  in  business  transactions  were  prominent 
features  of  his  character.  His  creditors  were 
generally  few  and  debtors  many.  The  doctor  at 
an  early  day  owned  almost  the  entire  square 
bounded  by  Fourth,  Fifth,  Main  and  Walnut 
streets.  He  had  a  farm  just  east  of  town ;  but  his 
residence  was  for  the  most  of  his  life  in  the  brick 
house  at  the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Main  streets. 

One-  of  the  cherished  traditions  of  Coshocton  is 
that  Colonel  Williams  once  kicked  out  of  his  tav- 
ern Louis  Phillippe,  afterward  king  of  France. 
The  story  runs  somewhat  as  follows :  Louis  was 
putting  up  at  the  tavern  and  was  not  satisfied 
with  the  accommodations.  An  altercation  en- 
t-ued  between  him  and  the  tavern-keeper,  ending 
in  his  telling  Williams  that  he  was  heir  to  the 
French  throne,  and  would  not,  as  the  coming 
sovereign,  condescend  to  bandy  words  with  a 
backwoods  plebian.  Williams  replied  -that  in  this 
backwoods  of  America  there  were  no  plebians. 
"  We  are  all  sovereigns  here,"  said  he,  "  and  I'll 
show  you  our  power,"  and  suiting  the  action  to 
the  word,  he  kicked  Louis  Phillippe  out  of  the 
house,  at  which  the  "  sovereigns  "  loitering  around 
the  tavern  gave  three  cheers.  The  statement 
that  he  was  once  in  Coshocton  rests  upon  the  fact 
that  when  George  W.  Silliman,  attorney  at  law  in 
Coshocton,  visited  Paris,  in  a  reported  interview 
with  Louis  Phillippe,  then  on  the  throne,  the 
king  told  him  that  he  once  went  to  a  point  in  the 
Northwest  Territory,  where  two  rivers  came  to- 
gether, and  gave  such  a  description  of  the  place 
and  the  landlord  of  the  tavern,  who,  he  said, 
treated  him  very  shabbily,  as  to  satisfy  Silliman 
that  Coshocton  was  the  place  and  Williams  the 
tavern-keeper.  Colonel  Williams,  on  being  spo- 
ken to  about  it  afterward,  stated  that  he  recol- 
lected the  occurrence.  It  is  a  historical  fact  that 
Louis  Phillippe  came  to  America  in  1796,  and  it 
seems  to  be  well  established  that  he  visited  the 
Muskingum  valley,  but  it  is  equally  true  that  he 
sailed  from  New  York  to  England,  reaching  it  in 
January,  1800,  before  Colonel  Williams  kept  tav- 
ern in  Coshocton. 

Coshocton  in  its  infancy  was  frequently  visited 
by  the  Indians,  upon  trading  or  other  excursions, 
and  sometimes  difficulties  arose,  but  nothing 
more  serious  than  an  occasional  fight.    Just  as 


416 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  war  of  1812  was  breaking  out,  they  came 
several  times,  in  war  paint,  to  Col.  Williams' 
tavern,  where  they  were  accustomed  to  trade, 
and  boasted  of  the  depredations  they  were  about 
to  commit  upon  the  whites.  After  the  war 
opened,  most  of  the  able-bodied  citizens  of  Co- 
shocton and  vicinity  were  drawn  off  in  mili- 
tary companies  and  stationed  at  different  points 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  State.  A  rumor  was 
spread  abroad  one  day  that  the  town  was  to  be 
attacked  that  night  by  a  force  of  savages,  and  the 
people  congregated  at  Colonel  Williams' cabin  for 
safety,  but  it  proved  a  false  alarm. 

During  the  winter  of  1814-15,  the  town  was 
visited  by  what  was  called  "the  cold  plague."  It 
was  a  most  fatal  disease,  of  which  many  died, 
sometimes  whole  families.  On  Cantwell's  run, 
in  Eoscoe,  Andrew  Craig's  whole  family  per- 
ished, and  some  forty  or  fifty  persons  are  said  to 
have  died  in  Coshocton  and  the  country  around. 
The  consternation  which  its  ravages  produced  was 
great.  The  same  disease  reappeared  in  1823,  or 
about  that  time,  but  was  less  fatal  in  its  attacks,  i 

The  following  narrative  of  a  lost  child,  in  Co- 
schocton,  in  pioneer  times,  is  from  the  pen  of 
Rev.  H.  Calhoun.  It  well  represents  the  "  condi- 
tion of  things,"  as  they  existed  here  years  ago : 

It  was  a  cloudy,  September  day  in  1812,  in  the 
early  history  of  Coshocton,  when  Malona  Lee,  an 
only  child,  eighteen  months  old,  was  lost.  The 
country  was  then  all  very  new;  Indians  were 
often  seen,  and  at  night  hungry  wolves  were 
heard  howling  near  the  settlement.  There  were 
but  few  people  then  in  the  place,  perhaps  not 
over  fifty  all  told,  and  these  were  scattered  in 
some  ten  or  twelve  families  over  nearly  all  the 
present  limits  of  the  town  (in  1850).  Between 
many  of  the  cabins  and  log  houses,  for  there 
were  only  one  or  two  frame  houses,  there  were 
acres  of  ground  covered  with  hazel  thickets,  and 
a  narrow  foot  path  might  here  and  there  be  seen 
running  from  one  cabin  to  another.  There  was 
a  road  which  ran  along  the  river  bank,  and  an- 
other which  ran  out  into  the  hills  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Cadiz.  Besides  these  two  roads  and  the 
foot  paths  we  have  mentioned  communicating 
between  the  dwellings  in  different  parts  of  the 
settlement,  there  was  another,  which  had  been 
cut  out  for  the  purpose  of  getting  wood  by  the 


inhabitants,  and  which  extended  out  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  river  east,  and  was  lost  in  the 
dense  forest  beyond.  The  residence  of  Dr.  S. 
Lee  was  situated  about  midway  between  this 
wood  path  and  the  Cadiz  road,  some  distance 
from  any  neighbor. 

The  doctor  had  been  engaged  during  the  day 
in  his  professional  business,  and,  having  returned 
home  late  in  the  afternoon,  went  into  the  garden 
to  secure  some  vegetables  which  were  growing 
there.  He  had  not  been  there  long  when  Mrs. 
Lee  called  to  him  to  know  if  he  had  sepn  Malona. 
The  reply  was  that  he  had  not,  when  she  re- 
turned and  made  further  search  for  her.  Not 
being  alarmed,  the  doctor  continued  his  work, 
thinking  nothing  more  of  it,  for  he  had  seen  the 
child  in  the  house  as  he  passed  through  on  his 
way  to  the  garden. 

After  some  time  Mrs.  Lee  again  returned  to 
the  garden,  saying  that  she  had  searched  the 
house  and  been  to  the  neighbors',  but  could  hear 
nothing  of  the  child.  By  this  time  both  were 
much  concerned  about  her  safety,  knowing  that 
if  she  were  lost  in  the  hazel  thickets,  in  the 
'midst  of  which  they  lived,  it  would  be  impossi- 
ble for  one  so  young  to  find  her  way  home,  and 
next  to  impossible  for  them  to  find  her. 

Both  now  set  out  in  a  new,  thorough  and  anx- 
ious search  for  the  lost  child ;  for  lost  in  earnest, 
she  seemed  to  be.  Again  they  made  seareh  all 
over  their  premises,  and  all  the  child's  resorts  for 
play,  and  again  they  went  through  the  town,  call- 
upon  every  one  to  know  if  they  had  seen  the 
child.  But  it  was  all  in  vain.  It  was  no*  grow- 
ing dark,  and  no  trace  of  the  lost  one  was  yet 
found,  and  the  dreadful  thoughts  of  their  only 
child  lost  in  the  wilderness  around  them,  with 
all  its  dangers,  filled  the  hearts  of  the  anxious 
pa.rents  with  an  almost  breathless  solicitude,  and 
with  distressing  forbodings  for  her  safety. 

Nearly  the  whole  settlement  were  soon  alarmed, 
and  without  respect  to  age  or  sex,  gathered  at 
the  house,  every  heart  beating  with  sympathy  for, 
the  afflicted  parents.  It  was  resolved  at  once  to 
commence  the  search  of  the  thickets  north  of 
the  house.  It  was  a  very  still  and  cold,  though 
cloudy  and  dark  night.  Candles  and  torches 
were  soon  lighted  up,  and  every  individual  tak- 
ing one  in  hand,  they  formed  a  line  a  few  feet 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


417 


apart  from  each  other,  and  commenced  their 
march  north  through  the  thickets,  every  one 
carefully  searching  on  every  side  until  they  came 
out  to  the  Cadiz  road.  Several  times  they  passed 
through  and  through,  until  they  became  satisfied 
that  the  child  must  have  wandered  away  in  a  dif- 
ferent direction. 

And  now  the  search  began  south  of  the  house, 
down  the  river  road  running  out  into  the  hills 
and  forests  before  referred  to.  All  the  hazel 
thickets  were  examined  carefully  in  that  direc- 
tion. At  length  the  impression  of  her  little  foot 
was  found  in  the  sand,  in  the  road  nearly  south 
of  the  house  from  which  she  had  innocently 
strayed  away.  A  few  impressions  only  were 
found  and  all  further  traces  of  her  were  lost,  and 
again  all  was  bewilderment  and  anxiety  as  be- 
fore; for  a  child  so  young  was  as  likely  to  forsake 
as  to  follow  the  beaten  path.  By  this  time  it  was 
far  on  in  the  night.  Nothing  had  as  yet  been 
found  to  allay  in  the  last  the  solicitude  for  the 
child's  safety.  It  was  a  grand  spectacle  which 
those  fathers  of  the  present  generation  and  hardy 
pioneers  there  formed.  The  deeply  solicitous 
father,  the  distressed  mother,  with  lights  in  hand, 
hurrying  to  and  fro,  and  many  anxious  parents 
around!  them  feeling  ahnost  as  though  it  were 
their  own  child.  Scattering  out  on  each  side  of 
the  way  they  now  conclude  to  search  and  follow 
the  road  out  into  the  deep  forest;  for  the  traces 
found  indicated  she  had  gone  in  that  direction. 
A  few  rods  further  on  brought  them  again  upon 
the  tracks  which  the  child  had  made ;  and  not  far 
from  that  she  had  lost  a  little  shoe  which  lay  in 
the  road.  It  was  a  cloth  shoe  of  her  own  moth- 
er's contrivance,  just  such  a  shoe  as  the  ingenuity 
of  a  kind  mother  had  readily  contrived  amid  the 
stern  necessities  of  a  pioneer  life. 

Thus  they  follow  on,  finding  no  more  traces  of 
the  child  until  the  road  is  lost  in  the  hills  and 
deep  forest.  Then  the  search  was  suspended; 
while  some  busied  themselves  in  kindling  large 
fires  to  give  light  and  warmth,  and  as  defense 
from  wild  animals,  and  others  continued  their 
examinations,  believing  the  child  to  be  some- 
where in  the  vicinity. 

It  was  now  the  dead  of  night.  The  fires  were 
blazing  high  among  the  trunks  and  branches  of 
the  heavy  forest  trees,  and  the  scene  was  distress- 


ing, gloomy  and  grand  enough.  But  none  slept 
— the  woods  were  all  alive  with  fires  and  the 
torches  of  those  hurrying  here  and  there,  still 
continuing  the  search.  In  vain  was  the  anxious 
mother  entreated  to  return  home  to  rest.  Though 
worn  down  with  fatigue,  none  moved  swifter  to 
and  fro  and  continued  the  fruitless  search  with 
seemingly  so  little  sense  of  fatigue  as  she  did,  so 
absorbed  were  her  thoughts  in  her  care  and  so- 
licitude for  the  child — her  only  child. 

Many  were  coming  and  going  on  all  sides  with 
lights  and  torches,  and  many  anxious  inquiries 
were  made  as  they  passed,  if  any  trace  of  the 
child  had  been  found.  Old  Squire  Whitten,  a 
hardy  blacksmith  and  the  first  justice  of  the 
peace  of  Coshocton  county,  having  carelessly  ex- 
amined a  cluster  of  underbrush,  and  being  dis- 
satisfied with  his  search  went  back  to  look  again, 
and  lo!  there  was  the  dear  object  of  all  their 
search,  folded  in  the  arms  of  sleep  lying  upon  the 
leaves,  unconscious  of  her  danger  or  of  the  many 
friends  so  near.  Awakened  by  the  noise  she 
looked  up,  and  discovering  the  Squire,  she  ex- 
claimed in  her  joy, "  Pretty  Papa!"  "  Pretty  Papa!" 

A  shout  was  raised  by  the  overjoyed  man,  a 
genuine  Indian  war-whoop,  to  which  the  ears  of 
many  of  the  early  settlers  were  familiar.  When 
the  friends  and  father  and  mother  gathered 
around,  the  lost  one  was  enjoying  the  caresses  of 
the  good  man,  sitting  upon  his  knee,  stroking  his 
hardy  features,  and  saying  "Pretty  Papa!" 
"Pretty  Papa!"  There  was  no  indication  that  she 
had  so  much  as  shed  a  tear — probably  falling 
asleep  from  over-fatigue. 

A  famous  organization  in  the  early  annals  of 
Coshocton  was  the  "  Whoo-whoo  Society,"  which 
was  organized  in  1828,  on  the  8th  day  of  January. 
For  many  days  a  heavy  storm  of  mingled  wind, 
rain,  sleet  and  snow  had  poured  down,  and  its 
effects  were  soon  visible  in  the  melting  of  the  pre- 
vious snow  and  the  rapidly  rising  streams.  The 
waters  of  the  Walhonding  and  Tuscarawas  were 
swollen  beyond  all  precedent.  They  soon  left 
their  accustomed  banks  and  completely  flooded 
the  low  lands  in.  the  forks.  Residents  on  the  low 
lands  by  the  river  began  to  look  about  for  a  place 
of  refuge.  Some  sought  a  home  among  hospita- 
ble friends,  while  others  packed  themselves  away 
in  their  cabin  lofts  and  the  second  stories  of  their 


418 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


dwellings,  fastening  a  canoe  to  the  tipper  window 
as  a  last  resort.  Timber,  drift-wood,  hay  and 
grain,  farming  implements,  hogs  and  cattle  in 
one  confused  medley,  went  hurrying  by.  Appre- 
hensions being  entertained  that  there  might  be 
distress  in  some  of  the  cabins,  a  skiff  was  manned 
and  started  up  the  river  for  the  cabin  of  John 
Elder,  two  miles  from  the  forks,  partly  from  sym- 
pathy and  partly  for  the  sake  of  adventure.  Ar- 
riving at  their  destination,  the  crew  found  that 
the  family  had  deserted  the  cabin  and  found 
safety  on  high  land.  On  the  return,  as  the  expe- 
dition promised  nothing  more  romantic,  the  ad- 
venturers made  an  inroad  upon  the  turkeys  and 
chickens,  which,  chilled  with  the  cold,  sat  on  the 
limbs  of  the  trees  down  almost  to  the  water's 
edge;  and  arriving  safely  among  their  friends 
with  the  trophies,  gave  out  that  they  had  fallen 
in  with  a  flock  of  "  owls." 

The  nation's  memorable  day  and  its  honored 
hero  must  not  be  forgotten.  The  materials  for  a 
sumptuous  feast  were  at  hand.  Night  came  on, 
the  tables  were  covered  with  the  smoking  viands, 
alias  "  owls,"  and  the  word  was  out  for  all,  far  and 
near,  to  come  and  partake.  A  night  of  revelry 
succeeded ;  merrily  the  bowl  went  round,  the 
swaggering  song  was  encored,  the  welkin  rang 
with  huzzahs  for  the  chieftain  of  the  day — Gen- 
eral Jackson  forever — and  all  were  too  much 
"  half  seas  over  "  to  tell  when  the  carnival  ended. 
So  auspicious  a  beginning  was  not  suffered  to  end 
thus.  There  was  organized,  forthwith,  what  was 
called  the  "Whoo-whoo  Society  of  Coshocton," 
which  was  to  meet  annually  on  the  8th  of  January, 
in  honor  of  the  day  and  its  hero.  It  is  impossi- 
ble to  give  a  full  account  of  what  was  done  by  this 
strange  and  novel  organization,  nor  would  it  be 
desirable  if  possible.  The  genius  of  the  institu- 
tion was  a  bacchanalian,  reckless  and  extravagant- 
ly boyish  hilarity.  The  presiding  officer  was 
known  as  the  great "  Whoo-whoo  Owl,"  and  a 
monstrous  bird  of  this  species  always  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  table  by  his  side.  The  second  officer 
was  called  the  "Little  Screech  Owl,"  and  a,  bird  of 
this  kind  stood  by  him.  No  citizen  of  the  place, 
and  no  stranger  who  might  chance  to  be  in  town, 
was  permitted  to  be  absent,  and  was  as  surely  in- 
toxicated as  present.  Those  who  declined  to  at- 
tend were  often  forced  along  against  their  will. 


Once  assembled,  at  the  direction  of  the  master  of 
ceremonies,  folly  and  madness  reigned  supreme, 
and  strange  modes  of  amusement  were  contrived 
by  minds  half  frenzied  with  the  fumes  of  intoxi- 
cation. The  members  arrayed  themselves  in  gro- 
tesque costumes,  representing  celebrated  charac- 
ters or  various  animals,  and  the  initiate  was  intro- 
duced to  these  severally.  At  one  time  the  story 
of  "the  babes  in  the  woods"  was  enacted  in  a 
most  ludicrous  manner.  Great  and  over-grown 
men  lay  down  in  an  arbor  as  babes  in  the  woods, 
while  another  with  huge  wings,  representing  an 
angel,  was  let  down  from  above  them  by  ropes,  to 
cover  them  with  leaves. 

The  chapter  is  closed  with  a  journal  written  by 
Colonel  Charles  Williams  of  his  life  and  travels. 
It  perhaps  affords  a  better  insight  into  the  char- 
acter of  Coshocton's  first  settler  than  could  he 
conveyed  by  another.  A  small  portion  is  omitted 
and  in  some  instances  the  phraseology  has  been 
modified,  but  the  writing  in  the  main  is  as  it 
originally  stood. 

CAPTAIN  WILLIAMS'  JOURNAL. 

Started  from  Fifteen  Mile  Creek,  Maryland, 
October,  1779,  crossed  the.  mountains  barefooted 
and  came  to  a  place  called  Brush  Eun,  seven 
miles  west  of  what  is  now  Washington  Town; 
there  I  stayed  under  my  father's  control.  In  the 
spring  of  1781,  the  Indians  captured  a  family  and 
killed  some  of  them  about  one  mile  off  from  our 
place.  In  the  same  spring  my  father  moved  to 
Cox's  Fort.  There  we  lived  upon  boiled  wheat 
and  hominy;  in  the  fall  we  lived  very  well  on' 
cashaws,  pumpkins  and  milk;  we  had  nothing 
but  gourd  cups  and  horn  or  wooden  spoons.  The ' 
Indians  were  killing  or  taking  somebody  almost 
every  week.  Here  I  soon  bacame  able  to  carry 
a  gun. 

In  1783, 1  moved  with  my  father  into  the  coun- 
try on  Cross  creek,  three  miles  from  the  fort.  In 
a  short  time  I  became  a  hunter  and  killed  bears 
and  deer,  and  other  animals.  After  some  time, 
I  began  life  for  myself.  The  Indians  killed  one 
Yankee  in  my  hearing;  then  we  raised  about 
twenty  men  and  followed  them,  and  overtook  the 
Indians  in  Sugar  creek  plain  at  the  mouth.  There 
I  killed  one,  I  think,  and  we  got  the  white  man's 
bible  and  a  deed  for  some  land,  and  returned 
home  safe.  Then,  I  think  in  thn  year  1784,  I 
crossed  the  river  when,  I  understand,  there  were 
but  eight  men  in  the  State  of  Ohio.  After  some 
time  I  engaged  in  the  ranging  business.  Those 
were  very  troublesome  times.    I  lived  hard  but 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


419 


free.  Then  I  married  a  girl  named  Susanna 
Carpenter.  I  had  to  steal  her  away,  and,  as  we 
were  poor,  I  was  unable  to  get  a  marriage  license 
for  want  of  money;  but  all  came  right.  There 
was  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  Virginia,  and  he 
agreed  to  marry  me  for  a  buckskin,  and  we  went 
over  the  river  in  Ohio  and  got  married  on  a  big 
rock  in  the  woods ;  some  who  were  present  were 
barefooted ;  then  we  went  home  and  had  a  fine 
dance. 

In  the  next  winter  I  lost  my  mare,  by  carrying 
a  heavy  load  of  meat,  and  then  had  nothing  but 
my  gun  and  dog  I  moved  over  the  river  into 
Ohio,  I  think,  in  the  year  1787;  there  engaged  in 
the  ranging  business;  followed  the  Indians  and 
hunted  for  a  living,  for  several  years,  living 
happily,  though  the  Indians  were  very  trouble- 
some. I  lived  at  a  place  called  Carpenter's  Sta- 
tion, one  mile  up  Short  creek.  We  had  fine 
times;  nothing  to  do  but  dance,  and  eat  hominy, 
and  guard  ourselves.  Then,  after  some  years,  I 
thought  I  would  quit  this  kind  of  life,  and  go  to 
work.  I  went  down  the  river  to  Manchester,  in 
this  State  (Adams  county),  and  thought  I  would 
work  for  my  living.  I  began  to  raise  a  crop,  but 
had  not  been  there  long  until  a  party  of  men 
came  along  who  were  going  after  some  prisoners 
who  had  been  taken  on  Flat  river,  Kentucky, 
about  thirty  women  and  children.  Nothing 
would  do,  but  I  must  go  with  them,  and  I  at  last 
agreed  to  do  so.  On  the  second,  day  we  fell  in 
with  a  party  of  Indians,  and  attacked  them,  and 
killed  perhaps  three.  I  shot  one,  who  happened 
to  be  a  white  man,  raised  with  the  savages  from  a 
child,  and  was  going  to  war  then,  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Scioto,  to  hack  boats,  steal  property  and  kill 
people,  as  they  had  taken  many  boats  there.  In 
the  above  attack,  I  lost  one  man ;  he  fell  against 
me.  His  name  was  Joseph  Jones,  a  fine  soldier. 
Four  of  our  party  thought  it  best  to  run  in  the 
camp,  with  our  knives  and  tomahawks,  and  did 
so,  and  lost  Jones.  It  was  in  the  night.  Jones 
had  not  yet  expired  when  I  left  him,  but  we  had 
to  run  for  our  own  safety,  as  we  supposed  there 
were  more  Indians  near  by.  Sure  enough,  it 
was  so,  and  we  returned  home.  I  thought  I 
would  quit  fighting  the  Indians,  but  in  a  short 
time  they  took  three  horses  from  me.  Then  my 
ambition  was  raised  against  them,  and  I  started 
out  with  a  party  of  surveyors,  who  were  going  to 
survey  the  Virginia  Military  Land,  beyond  the 
Scioto,  and  lay  out,  without  fire,  sixty  odd  nights, 
with  one  blanket.  The  greater  part  of  the  time, 
there  was  snow.  We  would  cook  before  night; 
then  I'would  gather  brush,  scrape  away  the  snow 
and  lay  my  brush  or  b^rk  on  the  ground;  spread 
my  blankets  upon  this,  and  put  on  dry  socks  and 
moccasins.  There  I  slept  very  well,  about  half 
awake,  not  knowing  what  might  happen  to  us 
that  night. 


After  being  out  for  some  time,  we  met  an  In- 
dian in  the  woods,  as  the  surveyor  was  running 
a  line,  and  the  Indian  ran  off,  and  we  gathered 
together  all  our  force,  which  was,  I  think,  twenty- 
one,  most  of  them  young  lads ;  perhaps  ten  or 
eleven  with  guns.  In  the  morning,  after  break- 
fast, we  started  with  intent  to  strike  the  camp, 
but  missed  it  a  little,  but  fell  on  their  trail  and 
found  they  were  too  many  for  us.  Our  company 
was  very  much  alarmed  on  account  of  the  young 
lads.  Colonel  Nathaniel  Massie,  who  was  with 
us,  would  not  permit  us  to  attack  them.  I  was 
put  before.  We  went  about  two  miles,  when  we 
found  the  trail  of  about  eight  Indians.  I  told 
Massie  that  we  would  follow  them,  as  they  went 
our  course ;  then  he  took  the  precaution  to  push 
up  for  fear  of  what  might  be  behind.  At  sun- 
down we  came  to  the  place  where  the  Indians 
were  encamped  for  the  night.  We  soon  caught 
their  horses,  and  waited  patiently  until  dark; 
then  myself  and  four  others,  who  were  to  attack 
the  camp,  creeped  up  to  within  a  few  feet  and 
fired  upon  them.  Two  were  killed ;  the  rest  es- 
caped. We  went  fast  for  home  through  fear  of 
those  we  had  passed  that  day.  We  went  about 
four  miles ;  there  we  stayed  all  night,  cooked  and 
ate  our  breakfast ;  then  started  for  home,  killed 
two  buffaloes,  and  reached  home  in  safety  the 
next  day. 

Then  I  determined  to  go  with  Anthony  Wayne, 
and  started;  reached  him  at  Cincinnati,  where  I 
was  given  $2  a  day  to  go  about  twelve  miles  to 
take  care  of  cattle  for  the  use  of  the  army.  It 
was  very  dangerous,  for  the  Indians  were  plenty, 
watching  the  army.  After  some  time  I  got  word 
that  my  wife  was  very  sick  and  I  returned  home. 
I  found  my  wife  very  low.  In  the  spring  we 
moved  to  a.  piece  of  land  in  Ohio  which  I  had 
bought,  on  Brush  creek,*  with  a  family  with  me 
by  the  name  of  Hoglin.  He  died  a  short  time 
after,  and  I  moved  back  to  the  station.  When 
we  were  at  the  land  it  was  very  dangerous. 
After  some  time  I  moved  up  the  river  where  I 
came  from.  Carpenter's  Station,  on  Short  creek. 
I  then  had  some  money  and  two  horses.  There 
was  peace  with  the  Indians  by  this  time,  and  I 
thought  I  would  repay  them  for  the  damage  they 
had  done  me.  Following  them  many  miles,  I 
reached  New  Comerstown;  there,  I  and  three 
others,  fell  in  with  thirty  or  forty  Indians;  we 
gave  them  a  small  keg  of  whisky  and  kept  one  to 
trade  on.  They  got  pretty  high,  and'  soon  came 
to  take  my  bread.  One  got  hold  of  the  bag  and 
ran,  but  I  soon  overhauled  him  and  took  it  from 
him.  Soon  after  they  came  to  get  more  whisky, 
and  I  sold  it  to  them  for  $1  a  quart,  one-third 
water ;  thus  I  was  paying  them  up.  In  two  or 
three  days  I  got  done  trading  and  went  home  in 


<'Adams  county,  Ohio. 


-420 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


fine  heart,  thinking  what  I  would  do  next  trip. 
I  soon  started  out  again  with  several  horses 
loaded  with  articles  for  trade  and  one  loaded 
with  whisky,  as  it  would  make  nearly  two  horse 
loads.  I  came  to  the  camp  and  found  many  In- 
dians there  eager  to  trade,  and  made  good  bar- 
gains for  myself. 

I  found  a  white  man  there  named  Kobert  Hig- 
•gins,  and  the  Indians  and  I  got  an  old  woman 
willing  to  marry  him;  then  the  buck's  foot  and 
■corn  were  handed  about,  and  the  marriage  was 
•over.  We  put  them  to  bed  on  a  bear-skin.  Then 
I  started  home;  had  made  a  good  trade  and 
brought  some  Indians  home  with  me.  My  fath- 
■er-in-law  had  been  wounded  and  taken  prisoner 
by  the  Indians,  and  was  very  angry  at  them.  It 
was  hard  work  to  save  them  from  him,  but  I  did 
it.  I  sold  off  my  trade  and  lived  high,  played 
<!ards  and  ran  horses.  I  spent  my  money  as  fast 
as  I  made  it,  but  took  good  care  of  my  family. 

In  the  spring  I  took  my  brother-in-law  with 
me ;  took  plenty  of  trade,  especially  whisky,  as  it 
was  good  trade  that  would  sell  when  cash  and  all 
fikins  were  gone,  for  the  best  of  clothing.  This 
was  full  of  lice,  but  we  would  wash  it  and  sell  it 
again  to  others  who  had  skins.  Then  the  Indi- 
ans got  very  troublesome.  They  wanted  to  take 
my  whisky,  and  I  fought  for  it,  and  Carpenter 
left  me  alone.  I  had  to  work  to  save  my  prop- 
erty, but  none  was  taken.  In  a  few  days  I  sold 
all  out  and  started  for  home.  About  fifteen  or 
twenty  went  with  me.  Then  I  began  to  under- 
stand them  a  little,  which  made  trading  easier 
for  me.  I  traded  eight  years  with  them,  and  my 
wife,  too,  understood  them  before  I  was  done 
trading. 

Then,  after  some  time  in  the  next  fall,  I  deter- 
mined to  move  to  the  Muskingum  Salt  Springs, 
where  Chandlers  made  salt.  I  started  down  the 
Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum,  then  up  it 
to  the  salt  works.  On  the  way  I  got  the  ague, 
and  had  it  two  months,  or  thereabouts;  landed  at 
Duncan's  Falls,  where  there  were  thirty  or  more 
Indians  waiting  for  me.  I  had  a  barrel  of  whisky 
— great  joy  for  them.  Soon  they  got  drunk.  There 
were  no  persons  with  me  but  my  wife  and  three 
■children.  My  hands  had  gone  up  to  the  salt 
■works.  We  had  to  move  our  bed  and  barrel  of 
whisky  seven  times  that  night  to  keep  from  being 
robbed,  as  they  always  found  us. 

Daylight  came  at  last.  I  had  hard  work  to  save 
all  but  did  so.  After  some,  time  in  the  day  my 
hands  came  for  me.  They  stole  off  the  barrel  of 
whisky  and  left  it  out  in  the  woods,  then  came 
back  for  the  .family.  When  we  had  gone  about 
two  miles  I  took  sick  and  they  left  me  under  a 
tree  with  a  blanket  over  me.  Up  came  a  very 
hard  rain  but  I  was  not  able  to  get  up.  In  the 
evening  they  came  for  me  with  a  horse;  we  went 
about  four  miles,  there  came  to  my  wife  and  chil- 


dren, with  no  shelter  except  a  small  tent.  Those 
were  hard  times.  There  was  no  person  to  work 
for  me  and  I  laid  sick  for  about  two  months  with- 
out bread  or  any  other  food  except  meat.  It  was 
a  very  hard  winter.  After  some  time  I  got  able 
to  go  for  some  provisions,  and  brought  several 
horse  loads.  I  had  to  fetch  it  about  eighty  miles 
through  deep  snow.  There  was  no  road,  but  at 
last  I  got  home,  and  we  had  bread. 

There  were  some  young  men  who  had  been 
trading  with  the  Indians.  They  came  to  see  us 
and  the  Indians  were  all  very  dry.  They  sought 
to  have  a  frolic  and  had  one.  I  had  to  keep  very 
steady.  All  got  pretty  high.  Solomon  McCul- 
loch  and  William  Morrison  cut  a  hole  in  the  ice, 
or  it  was  cut,  and  poked  one  Indian  in  it.  I  ran 
and  took  him  out.  By  that  time  they  had  stripped 
one  more  all  but  one  leggin  aaid  breech  clout. 
He  broke  away  and  ran  to  the  woods  where  he 
stayed  all  night.  The  snow  was  deep  and  it  was 
very  cold.  My  wife  and  I  followed  but  could  not 
overtake  him.  In  the  morning  he  came  back  and 
wasnot  frozen  as  we  expected  he  would  be.  He  had 
lain  under  a  bank  where  there  was  a  spring.  The 
next  night  the  Yankees  played  a  trick  on  one  of 
our  hands ;  they  got  a  rope  around  his  neck  and 
swore  they  would  draw  him  up  the  chimney,  I 
abed  heard  them,  spoke  to  them  and  they  let  him 
go. 

My  neighbors  were  Indians,  but  in  a  short 
time  I  had  two  neighbors  who  were  white  men, 
William  McCulloch  and  Henry  Crooks.  Then  I 
made  money  making  salt  and  keeping  provisions 
for  travelers.  I  spent  it  all  in  cutting  a  road  so 
as  to  keep  the  road  by  my  house.  I  then  sold 
out  and  moved  to  the  Whitewoman.  The  In- 
dians came  there  and  robbed  me  of  my  best 
clothes  from  under  my  head.  They  stole  my 
horse,  and  several  others.  I  went  with  the  own- 
ers of  the  horses  and  got  two  back  again.  Then 
they  stole  more  horses.  '  I  felt  very  willing  to 
follow  them,  took  two  Indians  with  me  and  start- 
ed. I  overhauled  the  one  that  had  stolen  my 
clothes,  but  he  had  lost  them  at  gambling.  The 
chief  told  me  to  take  him  but  I  thought  it  best  to 
leave  him.  The  Indians  had  sent  the  horses  he 
had  stolen  to  where  I  lived.  Then  the  next 
morning  I  started  and  came  to  a  place  called 
Helltown,*  a  small  Indian  town.  I  was  treated 
very  well  but  there  were  no  news  of  stolen  pro- 
perty. The  next  morning  I  went  on  to  Lower 
Sandusky.  There  I  found  them  very  much 
alarmed  on  account  of  two  Indians  that  had 
stolen  two  horses,  and  three  _  men  had  followed 
and  killed, them.  The  white  men's  names  were 
Elias  Hughes,  John  Eatliff  and  John  Bland.f  At 


'^In  Richland  county. 

tTWs  -was  in  April,  1800.  See  Ho-ffe's  Hietorical  CoUec- . 
tions  of  Ohio,  page  292,  or  Graham's  History  of  Licking 
county. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


421 


Sandusky  the  Indians  had  a  feast,  about  300  were 
there.  I  thought  my  chances  were  bad,  but  good 
or  bad  I  bolted  up  in  the  midst  of  them,  told  the 
chief  what  my  errand  was — to  have  the  horses 
returned  and  the  stealing  stopped,  and  that  then 
there  would  be  no  more  killed.  They  agreed  to 
give  up  all  the  horses,  and  I  got  eight  or  nine 
home  for  their  owners.  That  put  a  stop  to  horse 
stealing  by  the  Indians  to  this  day,  1831. 

I  then  had  the  ague  for  nine  months  almost 
every  day.  Then  I  moved  to  Coshocton,  here 
I  have  lived  thirty-two  years.  I  thought  when  I 
came  that  I  would  try  to  make  something  to  live 
on  in  my  old  days.  I  kept  a  tavern  for  about 
twenty-eight  years,  and  drove  hogs  and  cattle,  and 
made  money  on  all  sides.  Before  I  left  the  salt 
works  the  Indians  robbed  my  wife  of  one  keg  of 
whisky  and  stole  two  horses  when  I  was  away 
from  home.  When  I  returned  I  followed  them 
with  two  other  men,  and  we  overhauled  them  on 
White  Woman  river.  That  was  in  time  of  peace. 
I  think  I  was  gone  five  days. 

About  twenty-one  years  ago  I  had  my  house 
burned  and  two  children,  one  of  my  own  and  one 
of  my  brother  James',  burned  and  everything  but 
a  mere  trifle  lost.  In  about  one  month  I  was 
doing  business  as  good  as  ever,  keeping  tavern 
and  droving.  After  a  time  the  last  war  came  on. 
I  thought  I  must  see  what  was  going  on.  At 
Hull's  surrender  I  was  ordered  out  with  100  men 
or  thereabouts,  went  on  to  Mansfield.  Before  I 
got  there  I  had  some  trouble  with  the  Indians,  to 
get  them  to  tell  what  they  would  do,  go  to  the 
British  or  go  to  our  army,  and  my  men  killed  one. 
They  came  to  us  after  a  day  or  two ;  we  stayed  at 
Mansfield.  In  a  few  days,  the  Indians  came 
within  a  few  miles  and  killed  two  old  persons, 
man  and  wife,  I  think  they  were  seventy  or  up- 
wards, and  their  daughter  and  one  other  man.  I 
and  four  or  five  more  went  where  they  were 
killed,  found  them  dead  and  scalped.  In  the 
course  of  the  day  they  were  buried  without  cof- 
fins. In  a  few  days,  about  fifteen  or  twenty 
Indians  came  where  there  was  a  family  and  some 
mihtary  men,  about  one  mile  distant  from  where 
they  had  killed  the  others,  and  killed,  I  think, 
four  persons.  I  was  sick  at  the  time.  Sent 
twenty  men  after  them  but  could  not  'overhaul 
them.  After  a  month,  I  was  ordered  home  with 
my  men. 


CHAPTER  XL VI. 

GROWTH  OF  COSHOCTJON  —  PRESS  —  FRATERNITIES. 

Location  of  Tuscarawa— Description  of  Original  Plat— Ad- 
ditions to  Coshocton— Increase  of  Population— Incorpora- 
tion—List  of  Mayors— Postmasters— City  Hall— The  Press— 
The  Coshocton  Republican— Spy— Democratic  Whig— Pro- 


gresslTe  Age— Coshocton  Age— Castle  of  Liberty— Western 
Horizon— Democrat—  Practical  Preacher— Young  America 
-Saturday  Visitor  —  People  —  Commonwealth  —  Farmers' 
Home  Journal— ^Vochenblatt— Secret  Orders— Masons— Odd 
Fellows— Red  Men— Knights  of  Honor— Patrons  of  Hus- 
bandry. 

THE  original  proprietors  of  the  town  of  Tus- 
carawa must  have  had  high  anticipations  of 
the  future  importance  of  the  place,  if  the  extent 
of  its  boimdaries  be  any  indication;  and,  indeed, 
the  location  was  amply  sufficient  to  warrant 
glowing  expectations  of  eminence.  It  was  situ- 
ated at  the  headwaters  of  one  of  the  most  beau- 
ful  and  noted  rivers  of  the  West,  in  the  midst  of 
a  luxuriant  and  classic  valley,  readily  accessible 
by  water  crafts,  then  the  only  means  of  extensive 
transportation. 

The  town  plat  embraced  a  territory  perhaps- 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  square,  extending  south- 
ward three  squares  beyond  Mulberry  street,  and 
eastward  as  far  as  Fifth  street,  including  308  lots. 
Besides  these,  there  were  forty-seven  large  out- 
lots.  No.  1  to  23,  inclusive,  east  of  the  town  plat 
proper,  between  what  are  now  Fifth  and  Seventh 
streets ;  34  to  35,  west  of  Muskingum  river,  and 
36  to  47,  north  of  Tuscarawas  river.  Three 
squares,  of  just  four  acres  each,  were  donated  ta 
the  public ;  one,  occupied  by  the  north  building;^ 
for  school  purposes,  and  two  for  the  public  use. 
One  of  these  is  now  occupied  by  the  court  house ; 
the  other  lay  directly  south  of  it. 

The  land  between  the  town  and  river,  several 
hundred  feet  in  width,  was  to  be  used  as  a  com- 
mon, reserving  to  holders  of  lots  fronting  on  the 
common  the  right  of  building  warehouses  and 
wharves  in  front  of  their  lots,  between  lots  229 
and  240,  provided  a  street  four  rods  wide  be  left 
between  the  lots  and  wharves,  and  provided  such 
wharves  and  warehouses  interfere  not  with  any 
usual  ford  or  any  ferry  that  the  proprietors  may 
establish ;  the  proprietors  reserving  all  rights  tO' 
ferries  within  the  bounds  of  the  town. 

The  State  legislature,  January  13,  1811,  passed 
an  act  authorizing  that  the  name  of  Tuscarawa 
be  changed  to  Coshocton;  that  the  portion  of 
town  south  of  Mulberry  street  (including  132 
lots)  be  vacated,  and  that  the  county  commissioners 
subdivide  into  lots  and  sell  the  public  square 
lying  between  Main  and  Walnut  streets.    Thi& 


422 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


latter  was  divided  into  fourteen  lots  (309-322) 
and  sold  soon  after.  At  the  same  time  the  pro- 
prietor re-subdivided  a  portion  of  the  plat  as 
vacated  by  the  act  into  what  is  known  as  the 
south  out-lots,  and  also  revised  the  plan  of  the 
east  out-lots,  lying  between  Fifth  and  Seventh 
streets. 

The  various  additions  made  to  the  town  of  Co- 
shocton are  as  follows:  E.  M.  Lamb,  in  May 
1837,  made  a  subdivision  of  land  lying  east  of 
"  east  out-lots  "  into  what  was  called  Location  lots. 
It  is  now  known  as  Lamb's  Addition,  and  was 
surveyed  by  John  Fulks,  deputy  county  surveyor. 
William  F.  De  La  Mater  laid  out  an  addition  in 
March,  1854,  comprising  east  out-lots  13  and  14; 
surveyed  by  John  C.  Tidball.  James  M.  Burt's 
addition  was  laid  out  in  March,  1862,  from  parts 
of  out-lots  13  and  14;  surveyed  by  John  C.  Tid- 
ball. Samuel  H.  Lee's  addition  was  made  in 
May,  1866,  from  a  portion  of  lot  12,  section  1. 
September,  1867,  Japaes  R.,  David  M.  and  Thomas 
H.  Johnson  made  an  addition  including  parts  of 
east  out-lots  9, 10, 11,  12  and  13  It  was  surveyed 
by  Thomas  H.  Johnson.  John  Burt,  Sr.,  made  an 
addition  from  a  portion  of  lot  12,  section  1,  in  No- 
vember, 1866;  surveyed  by  Hunt  and  Johnson. 
Spangler's  addition  was  made  in  April,  1868,  by 
E.  T.  and  A.  H.  Spangler  and  Joseph  Burns,  from 
parts  of  east  outlots  16,  17,  18,  19  and  20;  sur- 
veyed by  R.  A.  Cunningham.  Daniel  Triplett's 
addition,  comprising  parts  of  out-lots  9,  10,  11,  12 
and  13,  was  made  in  August,  1868 ;  surveyed  by 
William  Humrickhouse.  John  B.  Elliott's  ad- 
dition was  made  in  March,  1872,  from  a  part  of 
section  1.  It  was  surveyed  by  John  A.  Hanlon. 
The  Coshocton  Iron  and  Steel  Company's  .  ad- 
dition was  made  in  April,  1872,  from  portions  of 
«ast  out-lots  6,  7  and  8;  surveyed  by  John  A. 
Hanlon. 

In  August,  1872,  Thomas  Willard  subdivided 
lot  9,  and  A.  M.  Williams  and  Martin  Weisser, 
lot  8  of  Triplett's  addition.  The  Coshocton 
County  Agricultural  Society,  in  December,  1872, 
subdivided  the  fair  grounds— a  part  of  lot  12,  sec- 
tion 1 — J.  A.  Hanlon,  surveyor.  W.  E.  Hunt, 
Daniel  Triplett  and  Anthony  Wimmer,  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1873,  subdivided  in-lots  37,  38,  39  and  40. 

Ricketts'  additions  were  made  in  April  and  in 
December,  1873,  by  T.  C.  Ricketts,  Houston  Hay 


and  F.  Barney  from  portions  of  east  out-lots  1,  2, 
3, 4  and  5;  John  A.  Hanlon,  surveyor.  In  March, 
1873,  WiUis  Wright  subdivided  lot  13,  of  Lamb's 
Location  lots. 

The  growth  of  the  village  was  at  first  extremely 
slow.  At  the  end  of  ten  years  there  were  scarcely 
a  dozen  families-  living  here.  Directly  after  the 
close  of  the  war  1812  settlers  began  to  arrive 
more  rapidly,  and  the  estimate  of  several  pioneers 
is,  that  in  1820  Coshocton  contained  probably  one 
hundred  and  fifty  people.  The  census  for  1830 
gives  it  three  hundred  and  thirty-three  inhabit- 
ants. The  Ohio  canal  had  just  been  building, 
and  it  served  to  increase  the  population  of  Co- 
shocton, though  to  a  less  extent  than  Roscoe.  In 
1833  there  were  in  Coshocton  a  brick  court  house, 
a  jail,  two  printing  offices,  five  mercantile  stores, 
four  taverns,  four  lawyers,  three  regular  and  two 
Thompsonian  practitioners  of  medicine,  a  num- 
ber of  mechanics,  a  large  steam  mill  with  four 
run  of  buhrs,  and  two  saw  mills,  owned  by  Een. 
frew  &  Company.  The  population  was  computed 
at  four  hundred.  In  1840  it  had  increased  to  six 
hundred  and  twenty-five,  and  1850  to  eight  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  From  that  date  it  began  to  in- 
crease more  rapidly,  and  1860  it  had  reached 
eleven  hundred  and  fifty-one.  Ten  years  later  it 
was  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty-four.  The  cen- 
sus returns  for  1880,  however,  indicates  the 
most  marked  advance  in  population,  for  in 
that  year  it  was  three  thousand  and  forty-eight. 

Coshocton  was  incorporated  by  act  of  legisla- 
ture, January  21, 1833.  The  early  records  are  lost 
or  destroyed,  rendering  it  impossible  to  give  aoom- 
plete  list  of  the  mayors  of  the  village.  Since  1847,i 
they  have  been  as  follows;  Thomas  Campbell 
1847-51;  John  C.  Tidball,  1851-52;  J.  Irvin,  1852- 
54;  John  C.  Tidball,  1854-56;  Welcome  Wells, 
1856-58;  A.  J.  Wilkin,  1858-59;  John  C.  Winn, 
1859-60;  C.  H.  Johnson,  1860-63;  G.  F.  Wilcoxon, 
1863-64;  J.  C.  Pomerene,  1864-66;  W.  E.  Forker, 
1865-66;  William  Ward,  1866-67;  J.  S.  Elliott, 
1867-68;  L.  L.  Cantwell,  1868-69;  J.  S.  Elliott, 
1869-70;  Hiram Beall,  1870-72;  John M.  Compton, 
1872-76;  L.  L.  Cantwell,  1876-78;  Thomas  C. 
Ricketts,  1878-80;  George  A.  Hay,  1880. 

The  following  list  of  postmasters  at  Coshocton 
since  the  formation  of  the  county  is  believed  to 
be  correct  and  complete.    If  there  was  an  office 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


423 


at  this  point  prior  to  1811,  diligent  inquiry  has 
failed  to  reveal  it:  Adam  Johnson,  from  1811  to 
to  about  1826;  Wilson  McGowan,  from  about 
1826  to  1830;  William  K.  Johnson,  1830-45;  C. 
H.  Johnson,  1845-49 ;  E.  F.  Baker,  1849-53 ;  Sam- 
uel Eich,  1853-54 ;  H.  N.  Shaw,  1854-61 ;  Asa  L. 
Harris,  1861-64;  A.  H.  Fritchey,  part  of  1864; 
W.  A.  Johnson,  1864-5;  E.  M.  Voorliees,  1865-69; 
T.  W.  Collier,  1869-81;  J.  G.  McGaw,  present 
postmaster.  In  1828  the  office  yielded  an  income 
of  about  $62  per  annum.  It  was  held  by  Adam 
Johnson  in  his  store  room  on  Water  street. 
After  his  term  of  service,  it  was  usually  located 
at  some  point  on  Second  street,  until  within  a 
few  years,  since  when  it  has  been  kept  in  various 
rooms  on  Main  street.  Its  present  commodious 
quarters  are  in  one  of  the  rooms  of  the  Opera 
House. 

The  city  hall,  standing  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  lot  140,  Main  street,  is  a  handsome  and  credit- 
able public  structure.  It  is  built  of  brick,  with 
stone  facings,  and  is  two  stories  in  height.  The 
upper  floor  contains  a  large  audience  hall  and 
two  front  of&ces,  one  of.  which  is  occupied  by  the 
mayor.  Below  are  two  large  store-rooms,  and  in 
the  rear  is  the  dismal  apartment  which  is  best 
known  to  offenders  against  the  peace  and  dignity 
of  the  village.  The  erection  of  the  building  was 
begun  in  1877  and  completed  in  1878,  the  con- 
tract for  which  was  awarded  to  H.  Waggoner  for 
$9,793. 

The  first  printing  press  and  newspaper  in  the 
county  of  Coshocton  was  established  at  Coshocton 
in  1827.  It  was  a  small  sheet  about  twelve  by 
eighteen  inches,  styled  the  Coshocton  Republican, 
and  issued  with  considerable  irregularity.  Dr. 
WiUiam  Maxwell  was  editor  and  proprietor. 
After  a  brief. career  of  little  more  than  a  year 
the  proprietor  became  so  much  involved  that  he 
was  obliged  to  dispose  of  the  establishment.  It 
passed  into  the  hands  of  John  Frew,  who  had 
furnished  supplies  from  his  store  for  some  time 
He  continued  its  publication  under  the  ifame  of 
the  Coshocton  Spy.  Washington  O'Hara  was 
placed  in  charge  of  the  paper  as  foreman,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  Mr  Frew,  it  failed 
to  be  8elf-svipporting,and  he  was  obliged  to  stead- 
ily pay  a  little  for  the  honor  of  its  publication.  It 


was  Whig  in  its  politics,  and  remained  in  Frew's 
possession  until  1844.  Burket  E.  Drone  then 
purchased  the  press  and  issued  the  paper  for  a 
few  years,  calling  it  the  Democratic  Whiff.  At 
length  he  also  became  involved  and  the  press 
was  sold  for  debt.  The  paper  was  then  suspended 
for  a  year  or  more,  until  1850,  when  it  was  again 
revived  under  the  name  of  the  Coshocton  Repub- 
lican, by  Joseph  Medill,  afterward  famed  in  Cleve- 
land, and  still  later  and  more  greatly  in  Chicago, 
as  editor  of  the  Tribune  and  mayor  of  the  city. 
Medill  soon  after  removed  from  the  county,  and 
the  paper  became  the  property  of  H.  Guild,  who 
at  length  suspended  publication  as  most  of  his 
predecessors  had  done.  After  some  time  the  office 
became  the  property  of  E.  W.  Burt,  now  in  the 
Internal  Eevenue  service  at  Peoria,  Illinois.  The 
progress  of  the  paper  under  his  control,  as  set 
forth  in  a  letter  from  him,  published  in  Hunt's 
Historical  Collections,  is  as  follows : 

In  August,  1853,  Mr.  H.  Guild,  the  editor  and 
proprietor  of  the  old  Whig  newspaper  at  Coschoc- 
ton,  called  on  me,  and  desired  to  sell  me  his  in- 
terest in  it.  He  had  ceased  the  publication,  two 
or  three  months  previously,  having  lost  hope  of 
its  success.  I  told  him  I  was  not  a  Whig;  had 
been  a  Democrat,  but  was  now  a  Fj-ee  Soiler; 
that  my  party  in  Coshocton  only  included  about 
fifty  people,  and  that  I  saw  little  or  no  prospect 
of  establishing  a  paper  in  advocacy  of  my  own 
principles.  I  also  distrusted  my  ability  to  do 
justice  to  my  own  cause,  never  having  had  any 
experience  as  an  editor,  nor  even  as  printer.  I 
gave  him  no  encouragement  and  he  went  away. 
But,  in  truth,  he  had  awakened  a  desire  in  my 
mind  to  engage  in  the  work  of  publicly  advo- 
cating my  principles,  which  I  believed  would 
finally  triumph.  I  thought  over  the  matter, 
talked  with  my  father  and  some  leading  Whigs 
and  independent  Democrats,  and  finally  em- 
barked in  the  enterprise.  I  was  assisted  greatly 
by  Hon.  James  Matthews,  and  his  brother-in-law, 
Thomas  W.  Flagg,  was  taken  in  as  associate 
editor.  I  called  the  paper  the .  Prcgressive  Age. 
The  first  number  was  published  in  September, 
1853,  and  was  outspoken  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
extension  and  the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  strongly 
advocated  temperance.  William  A.  Johnson 
was  foreman  in  the  printing  office.  I  sent  the 
paper  to  all  the  subscribers  of  the  old  Whig 
paper  and  also  to  all  the  Democrats  whose  names 
I  could  get.  I  soon  found  plenty  of  papers  re- 
turned, "  not  taken  out  of  the  postoffice."  In  two 
months,  however,  after  my  first  issue,  I  had  only 
about  250  subscribers;  but  I. did  not  get  discour- 


424 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


aged.  In  a  few  months,  by  most  persistent  efforts, 
my  subscription  list  was  greatly  enlarged,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  year  it  had  reached  700.  The 
following  year,  the  Age  took  part  in  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Republican  party,  and  the  new  party 
having  succeeded  in  electing  nearly  all  their 
candidates  for  county  offices,  the  Age  came  in  for 
a  share  of  the  public  printing,  which  gave  it  a 
firmer  footing.  I  continued  the  publication 
about  three  years,  and  the  Republican  party  was 
in  power  in  the  county,  when  I  sold  the  paper  to 
A.  R.  Hillyer,  who  published  it  about  a  year, 
and  then  sold  it  to  J.  W.  Dwyer.  I  assisted 
Dwyer  about  a  year  and  then  left  the  county. 

J.  W.  ,Dwyer,  made  very  little  pecuniary  gain 
out  of  the  paper,  and  left  it  to  take  office  in  the 
Treasury  Department  under  S.  P.  Chase.  Asa  L. 
Harris  become  the  proprietor  of  the  paper  in 
1861.  He  changed  the  name  from  Progressive 
Age  to  Coshocton  Age,  which  title  it  has  retained 
ever  since.  About  the  time  of  the  close  of  the 
war,  Harris  received  the  appointment  of  postm^- 
ter  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  and  went  South.  The 
paper  after  being  for  a  short  time  under  the 
management  of  J.  W.  Dwyer  and  W.  A.  Johnson, 
became  in  1866,  the  property  of  Captain  T.  W. 
Collier.  He  retained  possession  of  it  until  April 
1, 1878,  when  it  was  purchased  and  edited  by  A. 
W.  Search  and  J.  F.  Meek.  This  firm  was  dis- 
solved in  February,  1881,  Mr.  Search  disposing  of 
his  interest  to  Mr.  Meek,  who  is  now  sole  pro- 
prietor. The  circulation  of  the  Age  is  considera- 
bly in  advance  of  any  other  paper  published  in 
the  county.    It  is  reported  at  2,000  copies. 

In  1831,  John  Meredith  began  the  publication 
of  a  paper  at  East  Union,  which  gloried  in  the 
warlike  cognomen  of  the  Castle  of  Liberty  and  the 
Battle  Axe  of  Freedom.  It  was  removed  the  fol- 
lowing year  to  Coshocton,  and  was  published  unr 
til  after  the  presidential  election  in  that  year, 
when  it  was  discontinued.  It  advocated  demo- 
cratic principles  and  the  re-election  of  General 
Jackson  to  the  presidency.  James  Matthews  as- 
sisted in  the  editorial  department  for  a  time. 

In  1835  the  publication  of  a  democratic  paper 
called  the  Western  Sorizon  was  begun  at  Coshoc- 
ton by  William  G.  Williams.  Mr.  Williams  was 
at  this  time  county  treasurer  and  he  was  assisted 
in  the  editing  of  this  paper  by  Russell  C.  Bryan. 
He  was  succeeded  in  the  editorial  chair  by  Joseph 
F.  Oliver.    In  no  great  length  of  time  he  in  turn 


was  succeeded  by  T.  W.  Flagg  and  Chauncey  Bas- 
sett.    They  were  the  publishers  in  1840  when  the 
paper  was  about  one-half  the  size  of  the  present 
Democrat,  and  by  them  the  name  of  the  paper  was 
changed  to  the  Coshocton  Democrat.    They  were 
succeeded  by  Messrs.  Avery  and  Johnson,  who  af- 
ter a  year  or  two  disposed  of  it  to  James  F. 
Weeks.    From  his  hands  it  went  back  again  into 
the  possession  of  Chauncey  Bassett,  one  of  its 
former  editors.    After  him  it  was  edited  and 
pubUshed  by  Dr.  A.  T.  WaUing,  since  congress- 
man from  the  Columbus  district.    In  1863  Rich 
and  Wheaton  were  publishing  it.    In  the  spring 
of  1856,  Asa  G.  Dimmock,  who  had  edited  the 
Cadiz  Sentinel  and  the  Cosmopolite  at  Millersburg 
and  had  just  finished  his  service  as  warden  of  the 
Ohio  penitentiary,  became  editor  and  publisher. 
When  nominated  for  prosecuting  attorney  in 
1862,  he  disposed  of  the  paper  to  A.  McNeaJ,  a 
young  man  from  Bethlehem  township,  who  had 
just  served  as  county  recorder.  He  was  drowned 
while  fishing  in  the  Tuscarawas  river,  a  few  miles 
above  Coshocton    in  August    1862.     Wash.  C. 
Wolfe  ran  the  paper  froTjpi  McNeal's  death  until 
after  the  election,  when  Dimmock  resumed,  and 
soon  thereafter  (November,  1861),  J.  McGonagle, 
formerly  of  the  Cadiz  Sentinel,  becanle  a  partner 
with  Dimmock,  arid  continued   for  some  twO' 
years.    He  removed  to  Shelby,  Ohio.     In  the 
spring  of  1866  the   present  pubhsher,  John  0. 
Fisher,  of  Licking  county,  became  a  partner  with 
Dimmock.    The  health  of  the  latter  was  at  that 
time  seriously  broken.    He  spent  the.  most  of  the 
summer  in  visiting  among  friends,-  and  died  that 
fall  at  the  home  of  his  brother  in  Montrose,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Mr.  Fisher  became  the  proprietor 
and  editor  of  the  paper,  continuing  as  such  unto 
this  writing,  except  that  during  Mr.  Fisher's  ab- 
sence in  the  State  senate  it  was  edited  by  W.  E. 
Gault  and  other  temporary  editors  and  that  dur- 
ing the  summer  of  1875  foV  a  few  months  W.  C. 
Brownlee  was  associated  with  him.    It  is  under- 
stood that  in  its  earlier  history  the  paper  fre- 
quentlj'  required  the  help  of  its  party  friends,  and 
none  of  its  numerous  publishers  have  be6n  able 
to  retire  with  a  large  fortune.    Its  appliances  are 
better  now  than  in  any  past  period  of  its  history. 
Its  circulation  is  reported  at  1,175  copies. 
The  Practical  Preacher  was  the  name  of  a  three- 


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HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


427 


column,  sixteen  page,  semi-monthly  paper,  the 
publication  of  which  was  begun  at  Coshocton  in 
the  fall  of  1849.  Each  number  contained  "an 
original  sermon  by  a  living  minister,"  in  addition 
to  other  religious  reading.  It  also  contained 
much  miscellaneous  matter,  including  some  local 
news.  A  series  of  historical  sketches  of  Coshoc- 
ton and  vicinity,  written  by  Rev.  H.  Calhoun,  ran 
through  the  first  volume  and  a  few  numbers  of 
the  second,  forming  one  of  its  leading  features. 
It  was  edited  by  Rev.  C.  E.  Weirich,  a  Methodist 
minister,  stationed  at  Plainfield,  and  Rev.  H.  Cal- 
houn, the  pastor  of  the  Second  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Coshocton.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year, 
Mr.  Weirich  removed  to  Washington,  Guernsey 
county,  and  the  paper  was  published  at  Coshoc- 
ton and  Washington  co-jointly.  With  the  close 
of  the  second  volume,  Mr.  Calhoun  withdrew 
from  the  paper  and  its  publication  was  conducted 
for  several  years  at  Washington  only,  all  connec- 
tion with  Coshocton  county  being  severed  by  the 
withdrawal  of  Mr.  Calhoun. 

In  the  spring  of  1853,  S.  M.  Rich  and  J.  V. 
Wheaton  began  the  publication  of  Young  America, 
Mr.  Rich  as  editor,  Mr.  Wljeaton  as  printer.  It 
was  a  large  five-column  paper,  neutral  in  politics, 
unsectarian,  and  devoted  to  the  beautiful  in  litera- 
ture, the  elegant  in  art  and  the  useful  in  science. 
No  advertisements  were  inserted,  the  space  being 
wholly  filled  with  choice  selections.  Like  many 
another  worthy  enterprise,  its  career  was  brief. 
Lack  of  support  caused  it  to  suspend  publication 
indefinitely  within  a  year  of  its  first  issue. 

In  the  fall  of  1869,  the  Saturday  Vis'itor  was  ush- 
ered into  being  by  H.  D.  Beach,  w^ho  soon  after 
associated  with  him  in  its  publication  L.  L.  Cant- 
weU.  It  was  purely  a  literary  and  local  paper, 
letting  politics  severely  alone.  In  1871,  the  pub- 
lishers sold  the  paper  to  W.  A.  Johns,  who  re- 
moved to  Newcomerstown  and  continued  its  pub- 
lication under  the  name  of  the  Newcomerstown 
Argus. 

In  1874  H.  D.  Beach  began  the  publication  of 
an  independent  newspaper  at  Coshocton  called 
the  Coshocton  People.  After  a  brief  and  fitful  ca- 
reer of  between  one  and  two  years  it  expired. 

The  first  number  of  the  Coshocton  County  Com- 
monwealth was  issued  January  1, 1880.  Its  pub- 
lishers are  the  Ferguson  Brothers ;  its  editor,  W. 

16 


M.  Ferguson.  The  paper  is  a  weekly  publication, 
independent  in  politics,  and  devoted  to  the  news 
and  interests  of  the  county.  Though  at  this 
wrtting  it  has  barely  begun  its  second  year,  it  has 
already  secured  a  paying  subscription  hst  of 
seven  hundred,  and  bids  fair  to  obtain  a  perma- 
nent position  of  rank  in  the  press  of  Coshocton 
county  and  vicinity. 

The  Farmers'  Home  Journal,  a  monthly  publica- 
tion of  sixteen  pages,  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
the  agricultural  population,  was  started  in  Octo- 
ber, 1880,  by  L.  L.  Cantwell. 

The  Coshocton  Wochenblatt  is  a  weekly  newspa- 
per published  in  the  German  language,  by  L.  L. 
Cantwell  and  Henry  Mining.  Its  first  number 
was  issued  October  2,  1880.  It  is  still  in  its  in- 
fancy, but  the  publishers  report  a  constantly  in- 
creasing circulation. 

Coshocton  Lodge,  No.  96,  of  the  Masonic  Fra- 
ternity, was  instituted  in  1846.  There  had  pre- 
viously been  a  lodge  of  this  Order  at  Coshocton, 
Clinton  Lodge,  No.  42,  which  Ijad  suspended  in 
1886.  The  Coshocton  Lodge  was  organized  at 
Ricketts'  Hall,  northeast  corner  of  Chestnut  and 
Second  streets,  and  was  composed  of  the  follow- 
ing charter  members:  David  Spangler,  Master; 
Joseph  W.  Rue,  Senior  Warden ;  William  Mc- 
Farlin,  Junior  Warden;  Josiah  Harris,  E.  M. 
Lamb,  William  B.  Decker,  Thomas  0.  Ricketts, 
Samuel  Lee,  B.  C.  Bryan,  M.  Ferguson,  T.  P. 
Jones  and  William  Carhart.  At  this  writing,  the 
lodge  is  officered  as  follows :  George  Shrigley, 
Master ;  William  H.  Robinson,  Senior  Warden ; 
Fulton  Sears,  Junior  Warden;  Henry  Davis, 
Treasurer;  Calvin  Skinner,  Secretary;  Willard 
Sears,  Senior  Deacon;  H.  Cramlet,  Junior  Dea- 
con, and  R.  B.  Black,  Tyler;  The  lodge  hall  is  lo- 
cated in  the  McLain  building,  on  Chestnut  street, 
and  the  membership  considerably  exceeds  one 
hundred. 

Samaritan  Chapter,  No.  50,  of  Royal  Arch  Ma- 
sons, was  chartered  October  22,  1852,  with  the 
following  membership:  Josiah  Harris,  High 
Priest;  Samuel  Hutchinson,  King ;  Smiley  Har- 
baugh,  Scribe ;  Jacob  Nichols,  Thomas  P.  Jones, 
John  Taylor,  David  Spangler,  Thomas  Harrison, 
and  Benjamin  Bonnett.  There  are  now  about 
fifty  members.     For  the  term  beginning  with 


428 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


1881,  the  officers  are:  W.  "W.  Bostwick,  H.  P., 
Lewis  Demoss,  King';  Dr.  Josiah  Harris,  Scribe ; 
William  Hughes,  C.  of  H.;  Theodore  Agnew,  P. 
S.;  C.  P.  Burns,  E.  A.  C;  George  Agnew,  First 
v.;  Thomas  McConnell,  Second  V.;  M.  G.  Hack, 
Third  V.;  J.  G.  Magaw,  Secretary ;  E.  McDonnald; 
Treasurer ;  Samuel  Taylor,  Guard. 

Of  the  Independent  Order  of  Odd  Fellows' 
there  are  two  lodges  and  one  encampment  in 
Coshocton  —  Coshocton  Lodge,  No.  44;  Sarah 
Lodge  (Daughters  of  Rebekeh),  No.  25,  and  Co- 
shocton Encampment  No.  191.  The  first  was  in-' 
stituted  by  Thomas  Spooner,  Special  Deputy, 
August  2, 1846,  with  the  following  charter  mem- 
bers: John  Lamb,  Francis  Fritchey,  E.  L. 
Stevens,  James  Eelf,  John  Arentrue,  James  S. 
Clark,  James  K.  Walker  and  F.  JHrk.  The  first 
meetings,  were  held  in  the  Ricketts  Hall,  corner 
Chestnut  and  Second  streets,  then  in  the  McClain 
block,  a  little  farther  east.  Their  hall  is  now  in 
the  Sheik  building,  on  Main  street.  The  mem- 
bership is  135,  and  the  ofiicers  at  this  writing  are : 
Conrad  Mayer,  Noble  Grand;  John  Tish,  Vice 
Grand;  Joseph  Wilson,  Recording  Secretary; 
Josiah  Harris,  Permanent  Secretary;  E.  McDon- 
nald, Treasurer;  Thomas  Campbell,  John  Cas- 
singham,  Lewis  Demoss,  John  Carhart  and  Joseph 
Stanford,  Trustees.  Frank  Kane  is  Deputy 
Grand  Master. 

The  dispensation  of  Sarah  Lodge  was  granted 
January  10,  1870,  to  E.  H.  Lyhde,  Mrs:  E.  Lynde, 
E.  McDonnald,  Mrs.  E.  McDonnald,  Mrs.  P.  Hack, 
John  H.  Lowrie,  Seth  McClain,  Mrs  Seth  Mc- 
Clain, Mrs.  D.  Harris,  Mrs.  Thomas  Love,  Thomas 
Campbell,  Frederick  Schnide,  E.  Collrado,  Mrs. 
L.  Demoss,  and  one  other  Its  membership  is 
now  about  fifty,  and  its  officers,  Mrs,  Mary  Fritz, 
Noble  Grand ;  Mrs.  John  Carhart,  Vice  Grand ; 
Mrs.  Joseph  Wilson,  Recording  Secretary; 
Charles  Kane,  Permanent  Secretary. 

The  Encampment  of  Patriarchs  was  instituted 
July  7,  1875,  with  the  following  membership: 
Peter  Hack,  Lewis  DeMoss,  Joseph  Hosleton, 
James  C.  Harrison,  L.  E.  Karnes,  John  Burt  and 
Herman  Mueller.  Conrad  Myer  is  Chief  Patri- 
arch; David  Jones,  Senior  Warden;-  Benjamin 
Richards*Junior  Warden;  George  Lorenz,  High 
Priest;  W.  H.  Coe,  Scribe;  John  Burt,  Treasurer. 


Thomas.  Campbell  is  Deputy  Grand  Chief  Patri,- 
arch.    The  membership  is  twenty-eight. 

Ouargo  Tribe  No.  87,  of  the  Improved  Or- 
der of  Red  Men,  was  chartered  October  29, 
1874.  The  original  members  c6mprised  W.  W. 
Bostwick,  Herman  Mueller,  James  B.  Manner, 
W.  H.  McCabe,  Theodore  Agnew,  Luther  L. 
Cantwell,  C.  F.  Burns,  John  E.  Tingle,  T.  H.  Bur- 
rell,  W.  S.  Wood,  P.  S.  Faulkner,  D.  Laffer,  P.  H. 
Moore  and  George  Palm.  The  officers  at  this 
writing  are:  W.  S.  Wood,  Sachem;  David  Lafier, 
Senior  Sagamore;  W.  H.  McCabe,  Junior  Sagar 
more;  R.  D.  Waite,  Chief  of  Records;  H.  S. 
Faulkner,  Keeper  of  Wampum.  The  chief  ex- 
ecutive office  has  been  filled  from  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  tribe  to  the  present  by  the  following 
members  successively:  W.  W.  Bostwick,  W.  H. 
McCabe,  Judson  Bunn,  G.  B.  Manner,  George  C. 
McNeil,  Wilham  McNaughton,  J.  N.  Collier,  D.  S. 
Wagner,  Joseph  Wilson,  Henry  Max,  Irwin  Mil- 
ler and  W.  S.  Wood.  W.  W.  Bostwick  is  Deputy 
Sachem  of  the  State.  The  membership  is  thirty- 
twO.  The  hall  on  the  second  floor  of  the  Rick- 
etts building,  Main  street,  was  first  used  as  the 
place  of  meeting,  but  the  hall  in  the  Morris 
block  is  now  occupied  by  the  tribe. 

Guiding  Star  Lodge,  No.  1742,  of  the  Knights 
of  Honor,  was  organized  August  27,  18^9,  with 
the  following  charter  members:  W.  W.  Bostwick, 
W.  H.  McCabe,  F.  A.  Wernett,  A.  W.  Search,  G. 
M.  Mortley,  G.  C.  McNeal,  G.  W.  Seward,  W.  H. 
Robinson,  J.  H.  Hay,  John  B.  Crowley,  William 
Ward,  W.  H.  Barcroft,  G,  J.  Bock,  A  L.  Ayres, 
G.  H.  Howe,  J.  W.  Cullison,  A.  D.  Howe,  Harri- 
son Hawn,  L  W.  Robinson  and  Joseph  Burrell. 
It  is  now  officered  by  the  following :  A.  D.  Howe, 
Past  Dictator;  W.  H.  Robinson,  Dictator;  Rich- 
ard Walker,  Vice  Dictator;  G.  G.  Ridgely,  Re- 
porter; W.  H.  Coe,  Finance  Reporter;  Thomas 
Page,  Treasurer ;  William  Ward, Chaplain;  John 
M.  Corniel,  Guardian;  Albert  Ayres,  Guide; 
Tames  Moore,  Sentinel.  The  lodge  was  organ- 
ized in  the,  Morris  block,  but  now  meets  in  the 
Ricketts  building. 

Besides  these  a  number  of  orders  have  been 
represented  by  lodges  in  Coshocton,  which  are 
now  dead.  Among  them  was  Coshocton  Lodge 
of  the  Knights  of  Pythias.    Orescent  Camp  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


429 


Independent  Order  of  Knighthood  was  otganized 
a  few  years  ago,  but  survived  a  few  years  only.  .It 
was  originally  Council  7,  but  afterward  became 
Coiincil  5.  The  order  is  now  extinct  in  this  State, 
and  the  Coshocton  lodge  was  the  last  to  expire. 
Equitable  Council,  No.  310,  of  the  the  Royal  Ar- 
canum, was  chartered  April  17, 1879.  It  met  in 
■fce  Norris  block,  and  after  a  brief  career  of  a  year 
or  two  gave  up  the  ghost. 

Coshocton  Grange,  No.  1813,  of  the  Patrons  of 
Husbandry,  was  organized  May  31,  1879,  by 
Joseph  Love,  County  Deputy,  with  a  member- 
ship of  thirty.  The  number  has  now  reached 
fifty.    D.  F.  Denman  is  the  present  Master. 


CHAPTER  XLVII. 

MERCANTILE  AND  OTHER  INDUSTRIAL  INTERESTS. 

EarlyTaverns — ^Present  Hotels — First  Store — Early  Merchants 
—James  Calder— Hedge  and  Hammond— James  Renfrew- 
Benjamin  Ricketts — Robert  Hay — Present  Business  Direc- 
tory—Banking—The Johnson  Brothers— Ricketts  Bank-^ 
First  National  Bank— Commercial  Bank— Savings  and  Build- 
ing and  Loan  Association — ^Ferries — Coshocton  Iron  and 
Steel  Works— Paper  Mill— Various  Other  Industries— Past 
and  Present. 

TAVVEEN-KEEPING  is  one  of  the  first  occu- 
pations in  a  new  country.  Houses  of  public 
entertainment  were  plentifully  scattered  through- 
out this  county  while  it  was  yet  very  thinly  settled. 
They  were  often  the  precursors  of  hamlets  and 
villages,  and  always  among  the  earliest  features  of  a 
locality  that  aspired  to  something  more  than  rural 
environments.  Charles  Williams,  the  earliest 
Battler  of  Coshocton,  engaged  at  once  in  this  pur- 
suit, and  for  a  number  of  years  was  without  a 
rival  in  providing  for  the  public  wants.  His 
tavern  stood  near  the  northeast  corner  of  Water 
and  Chestnut  streets.  An  invariable  attendant 
of  the  early  tavern  was  the  bar,  which  doubtless 
was  a  source  of  greater  income  than  the  tavern 
proper.  The  journal  of  Colonel  Williams  was 
written  upon  a  few  leaves  of  an  old  ledger,  and 
from  them,  are  obtained  the  names  of  several  of 
his  early  customers  between  1810  and  1820.  The 
principal  charges  are  for  whiskey  or  ferriages, 
and,  if  the  accounts  speak  truly,  many  of  them 
have  never  been  paid.    One  of  the  earliest  ac- 


counts is  that  of  James  L.  Priest,  who  is  credited 
with  twenty-eight  days'  work,  per  son  William, 
at  nine  dollars  per  month,  nine  dollars  and  sixty- 
nine  cents.  In  1811,  Joseph  Mulvain,  Israel  H. 
Puker,  Benjamin  Burrell,  Solomon  Vail,  Chrisley 
Wise,  Allen  Moore  and  Jarret  Moore  each  have 
a  running  a!ccount.  The  other  charges  were  made 
from  1816  to  1820.  The  names  are  John  Maholm, 
Samuel  Clark,  Jesse  Cunningham,  Peter  Darne, 
John  Barto,  Elisha  Elliott,  Levi  Eodruck,  James 
Davis,  William  Carr,  Thomas  Harkum,  John 
Michaels,  William  King,  Ephraim  Thayer  and 
Strong  Thomas. 

In  1816,  Wright  Warner  was  keeping  tavern  at 
the  northwest  corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets, 
now  the  Central  House.  Some  time  before  this, 
Asa  Hart  was  running  a  tavern  on  the  east  side 
of  Second  street,  ?.  few  rods  north  of  Chestnut. 
He  died  here  in  1815,  of  cold  plague.  Warner 
was  a  lawyer  and  had  been  the  first  prosecuting 
attorney  of  the  county.  He  had  come  here 
from  one  of  the  New  England  States,  and  in  a 
few  years  removed  to  Steubenville.  Thence  he 
went  to  New  Philadelphia,  where  he  was  inn- 
keeper for  some  time.  He  was  succeeded  by 
William  Whitten,  a  blacksmith,  and  first  county 
treasurer,  who  is  described  as  a  short,  stoutly 
built  m^n,  of  excellent  judgment  and  great  nat- 
ural abilities,  though  somwhat  addicted,  as  was 
nearly  every  one  at  that  time,  to  the  flowing 
bowl.  Wilson  McGowan  followed  Whitten,  as 
proprietor  of  this  hotel.  He  was  a  zealous  Bap- 
tist and  often  had  preaching  at  the  tavern  while 
it  was  in  his  charge.  He  was  a  quiet  gentle- 
man, with  winning,  persuasive  manners,and  pos- 
sessed the  elements  of  leadership.  He  was  af- 
terwards clerk  of  the  court,  for  a  few  years; 
then  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  at  Coshoc- 
ton, with  his  son-in-law,  Rufus  Eldridge. 

During  these  early  years  there  was  quite  a 
strife  between  the  denizens  of  Water  street  and 
those  of  Second  street.  Water  street  was  first 
settled,  and  for  a  long  time  embraced  the  main 
portion  of  the  town.  Colonel  Williams,  who  re- 
sided here,  was  at  first  a  Federalist  in  politics, 
but  afterward  became  a  Democrat,  and  was  the 
acknowledged  local  leader  and  champion  of  that 
party.  His  tavern  became  the  rendezvous  for 
those  of  like  political  faith,  while  the  tavern  on 


430 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Second  street  developed  strong  Whig  tendencies, 
and  in  its  proprietor  was  recognized  the  leader- 
ship of  that  party.  The  poUtical  warfare  which 
was  engendered  did  not  flow  and  ebb  with  the 
coming  and  departure  of  elections  as  at  present,^ 
but  was  maintained  with  rancor  throughout  the 
entire  year.  To  such  an  extent  was  this  carried 
that  separate  Fourth  of  July  celebrations  would 
be  held  by  the  two  factions.  Each  would  pre- 
pare a  big  dinner,  and  the  respective  adherents 
of  the  two  parties  were  accustomed  to  arrive 
early  in  the  morning,  and  spend  the  day  in  rough 
out-door  sports  and  games.  An  oration  would 
sometimes  be  prepared  and  delivered— oftener  in 
the  Whig  assembly  than  the  Democratic.  Colonel 
Williams  usually  held  his  meetings  in  a  sugar 
grove  on  the  river  bank,  just  below  the  bridge, 
and  would  terminate  the  festivities  of  the  day 
with  a  grand  dance.  Abundant  and  excellent 
music  was  always  provided,  and  under  its  en- 
trancing strains  and  the  mirthful  sport  which  ac- 
companied it,  the  night  would  glide  swiftjy  away, 
and  the  peep  of  another  day  ushered  in  much 
too  soon  for  the  wakeful  scions  of  liberty.  The 
youthful  Whigs,  who  had  spent  the  day  in  the 
opposite  camp,  and  come  at  night  to  enjoy  the 
dance,  were  invariably  hooted  and  driven  away. 
Colonel  Williams'  house  was  afterwards  kept 
for  a  while  by  his  son-in-law,  Adam  Johnson  and 
then  by  Thomas  H.  Miller,  another  son-in-law. 
A  Mr.  Johnson  also  was  proprietor  here  for  a 
while.  A  number  of  buidings  on  Second  street 
have  been  used  for  this  purpose.  A  brick  house, 
built  in  1816,  occupying  the  northeast  corner  of 
Chestnut  and  Second  streets,  was  for  a  long  time 
one  of  the  principal  taverns.  Ellis  D.  Jones  was 
among  the  earliest  proprietors.  He  subsequently 
removed  to  Eoscoe,  where  he  remained  but  a 
short  time,  then  returned  and  took  charge  of  the 
Central  House.  After  Mr.  Jones'  removal  to 
Kosooe,  Oliver  Barrett  took  possession  of  the 
house  he  had  vacated  and  remained  there  several 
years,  then  returned  to  Zanesville,  whence  he 
had  come.  Judge  B.  R.  Shaw  was  proprietor 
here  for  about  five  years,  beginning  about  1838. 
Alexander  McGowan,  Alexander  Hay  and  Mr. 
Pees,  from  Tuscarawas  county,  at  different  times 
kept  tavern  here.  On  the  southwest  corner  of 
the  same  streets,  now  occupied  by  Buchanan's 


grocery,  stood  a  frame  building  in  which  Samuel 
Morrison,  Mr.  Bowers  and  others  kept  .public- 
house.  Thomas  B.  Lewis  for  a  few  years  pro- 
vided entertainment  in  a  rough  log  building-, 
which  stood  on  a  lot  on  Chestnut  street,  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  Spangler  residence.  A  number  of 
fugitive  slaves  were  passing  northward  through' 
this  county  at  one  time,  under  the  guidance  of  a 
Quaker,  and  were  concealed  in  a  cornfield  in 
Bethlehem  township.  Their  hiding  place  was 
discovered  by  several  rowdies  in  that  vicinity,, 
and,  hoping  to  receive  a  reward  for  their  capture, 
the  ruffians  pounced  upon  the  negroes  and  beat, 
them  severely,  then  brought  them  mangled  and 
bleeding  'to  Lewis'  tavern.  Public  indignatioa. 
was  aroused  at  the  shameful  treatment  the  slaves- 
had  received,  and  the  rowdies  were  obliged  to 
flee  the  town  without  their  prey.  The  slaves 
made  good  their  escape,  but  were  subsequently 
recaptured  in  Knox  county. 

The  Central  House,  at  the  corner  of  Main  and 
Second  streets,  is  the  oldest  tavern  in  Coshocton.  . 
Except  during  a  few  years,  when  it  was  rented  as 
a  tenement  house,  it  has  been  used  as  a  tavern 
for'  nearly  seventy  years.  Seward  &  McCabe 
have  been  its  proprietors  for  several  years,  and  it- 
has  recently  passed  into  the  hands  of  William 
Shaw.  , 

The  large  brick  standing  on  lot  215,  Second 
street,  was  occupied  as  a  hotel  for  about  twenty 
years.  It  was  built  by  John,  Joseph  K,  and 
William  K.  Johnson,  in  1840,  but  not  used  for 
hotel  purposes  until  1856,  at  which  time  William 
Tidball  took  possession  of  it.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Thomas  McBride,  and  Mr.  McBride,  in  1865, 
by  W.  H.  H,  Price,  who  remained  its  proprietor 
until  1876,  when  he  left  it  to  take  charge  of  the 
new  Price  House.  It  has  since  been  used  for 
other  purposes. 

The  hotel  *it  the  northeast  corner  of  Main  and 
Fifth  streets  was  built  in  1854.  The  addition 
fronting  the  railroad  was  erected  two  years  later. 

Until  1867,  it  was  the  railroad  eating  house., 
Its  first  owner  and  proprietor  was  "Aunt  Letty 
Thomas,''  a  colored  woman,  who  was  brought  to- 
this  county  when  sixteen  years  old,  from  Wash- 
ington City,  by  Colonel  William  Simmons.  In 
1860  or  1861,  the  property  was  sold  to  Mr.  Sauer- 
beck, of  Alliance ;  and  his  son-in-law,  Robinson,. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


431 


'became  its  proprietor.  Since  his  connection  with 
-the  house  was  dissolved,  the  proprietors  have 
been  as  follows :  Allison  Williamson,  Seth  Gard- 
ner, Mr.  Hoover,  John  Christy,  Mrs.  Hackenson, 
and  G.  A.  McDonald.  Seward  &  McCabe,  the 
present  proprietors,  took  charge  in  April,  1881. 

The  spacious  three-story  brick  hotel  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Sixth  and  Walnut  streets, 
was  erected  in  1875,  by  A.  M.  Williamc  and  M. 
Weisner.  S.  L.  Gardner  was  its  proprietor  for 
six  months,  and  was  succeeded  by  W.  H.  H. 
Price,  who  continued  at  its  head  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  April  1, 1880.  Then,  after  a  few 
months,  S  M  Price,  his  son,  took  charge  of  the 
house,  and  is  its  present  proprietot. 

James  Calder  came  to  Coshocton  in  1809  or 
1810  and  opened  a  regular  country  store  on  the 
west  side  of  Second  street,  a  few  doors  north  of 
the  Central  House,  on  the  site  now  occupied  by 
Shaw's  queensware  store.  He  remained  a  few 
years,  became  involved  in  business  and  was 
<jbliged  to  suspend  mercantile  operations.  Re- 
moving across  the  river  he  founded  Caldersburg, 
now  Roscoe,  and  soon  after  moved  to  a  farm 
about  two  miles  west  Of  that  place.  There  and 
in, Caldersburg  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  Mr.  Calder  was  (he  first  merchant  of  Cosh- 
octon. Charles  WilUams  had  for  a  few  years  pre- 
vious kept  a  very  limited  stock  of  dry  goods  at 
Tiis  tavern  but  the.  amount  scarcely  warrants  him 
.at  that  time  the  title  of  merchant.  His  grand- 
daughter, Mrs.  Oliver,  residing  on  Water  street, 
'has  the  old  day-book  kept  by  him  in  1807.  The 
usual  charges  are  for  lodging  or  liquor  but  scat- 
.tered  through  it  are  a  few  for  calico  and  other 
•staple  dry  goods. 

Hedge  &  Hammond  was  the  next  mercantile 
firm  at  Coshocton.  Josiah  Hedge  and  Charles 
Hammond  were  citizens  of  St.  Clairsville,  Ohio, 
:and  in  October,  1810,  they  entered  into  a  contract 
with  Adam  Johnson,  also  of  that  place,  to  open  a 
store  for  them  at  Coshocton,  commencing  Octo- 
ber 29^  1810,  he  to  receive  $230  for  his  services  as 
•clerk  during  the  first  year.  The  store  was  erected 
•on  the  northeast  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Water 
streets,  the  first  goods  being  sold  about  the  1st  of 
TTovember.  The  first  books  of  this  firm  are  also 
in  Mrs.  Oliver's  possession,  in  a  good  state  of  pres- 
ervation.   In  1815,  the  goods  were  sold  to  Wil- 


liams &  Johnson,  who  remained  in  business  for 
some  years  and  then  disposed  of  the  store.  Adam 
Johnson  was  a  leading  character  at  Coshocton  at 
the  time  the  county  was  organized,  and  for  years 
thereafter.  He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
prior  to  his  removal  to  Coshocton,  had  spent  some 
time  in  St.  Clairsville  as  a  clerk.  He  married  a 
daughter  of  Colonel  Williams,  and  became  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  business.  He  was  the  first 
clerk  of  the  court,  auditor  and  recorder,  and  was 
at  the  same  time  postmaster.  He  was  distinct- 
ively a  self-made  man,  and  won  his  way  to  a  posi- 
tion of  influence  in  county  affairs,  which  he  kept 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1829.  John  Frew 
was  afterward  merchant  at  this  corner;  and  con- 
tinued in  business  here  many  years,  afterward 
removing  his  store  to  the  opposite  side  of  Chest- 
nut street.  He  came  to  Coshocton  about  1818, 
and,  was  well  and  widely  known  as  a  prominent 
business  man. 

James  Renfrew  was  the  next  merchant.  It  was 
about  1815  that  he  opened  a  store,  in  a,  frame 
building,  on  lot  216  Second  street,  later  occupied 
by  the  old  Price  House.  He  was  born  at  Lis- 
burn.  County  Antrim,  Ireland,  in  1767.  In  1820, 
while  in  Pittsburgh,  where  he  was  accustomed 
to  purchase  goods,  he  married  Mrs.  Johnson, 
a  widowed  sister  of  Dr.  Kerr,  of  the  A.  R.  Pres- 
byterian church,  in  that  city,  and  mother  of 
John,  Joseph  K.  and  William  ,K.  Johnson,  well- 
known  citizens  of  Coshocton,  at  a  somewhat 
later  date.  'William  Renfrew,  quite  prominent 
as  a  merchant,  and  James  Renfrew,  Jr.,  were 
children  of  Mr.  Renfrew  by  a  prior  marriage. 
Mr.  Renfrew  died  in  1882,  in  the  sixty-fifth  year 
of  his  age. 

In  1817,  Benjamin  Ricketts  began  mercantile 
life  at  Coshocton,  in  the  building  previously  oc- 
cupied by  James  Calder,  for  the  same  purpose. 
He  was  born  near  Cumberland,  Maryland,  July  • 
30,  1786.  During  Benjamin's  boyhood,  his  father 
died,  and  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  hatter  in  that 
place,  with  Colonel  Blair;  married  Nancy  Taylor, 
and  with  their  little  earthly  effects,  they  crossed 
the  mountains,  and  Mr.  Ricketts  opened  a  shop 
at  Zanesville,  soon  after  removing  to  Putnam. 
Too  close  confinement  to  his  occupation  made 
serious  inroads  upon  his  health  and,  under  the 
advice  of  his  physicians,  he  abandoned  the  trade 


432 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  CDUNTY. 


and  opened  a  store  in  West  Zanesville.  He  did 
not  remove  to  Coshocton  until  the^  spring  of 
1820,  for  a  tew  years  prior  to  that  date  operating 
a  store  both  at  West  Zanesville  and  at  Coshocton, 
the  latter  under  the  management  of  his  son,  T. 
C.  Eioketts,  and  John  Smeltzer.  Mr.  Eicketts' 
success  in  business  was  attested  by  the  accumu- 
lations attending  it.  In  1827,  he  disposed  of  his 
store  to  his  son,  Thomas  C.  Rioketts,  who  con- 
tinued in  business  uninterruptedly  until  1856,  and 
has  since  resumed  it.  Subsequent  to  1827,  Benja- 
min Ricketts  turned  his  attention  to  stock  and 
land  dealing,  and  acquired  a  large  estate,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Coshocton.  He  was  always  averse  to 
a  political  life.  He  was  elected  and  acted  as 
justice  of  the  peace,  during  his  residence  in 
Zanesville;  in  1825,  was  placed  in  nomination  as 
county  commissioner.  He  and  the  opposing 
candidate  received  a  tie  vote  and,  by  lot,  the  office 
devolved  upon  Mr.  Ricketts.  He  died  July  1, 
1857.  His  wife  survived  him  twenty-three  years, 
dying  in  her  ninetieth  year. 

John  Smelzer  was  a  Pennsylvanian  by  birth 
and  of  German  descent.  He  moved  to  Zanesville 
when  quite  small,  with  his  parents,  and  there 
served  an  apprenticeship  in  the  hatter  shop  of 
Mr.  Ricketts ;  but  steady  application  to  this  busi- 
ness proved  injurious  to  his  health,  and  he  was 
induced  to  quit  it  and  accept  a  clerkship  in  Mr. 
Ricketts'  store.  He  came  to  Coshocton  in  that 
capacity  in  the  fall  of  1818,  and  was  afterward  a 
partner  for  a  short  time,  but  about  1826  he  re- 
moved to  Roscoe,  where  he  was  engaged  in  mer- 
cantile pursuits  for  many  years.  Alexander 
Renfrew  was  associated  with  him  in  business  for 
a  while,  and  afterward  Ransom  and  Medberry. 
He  finally  removed  to  Piqua,  Ohio,  where  he 
died.  He  was  a  man  of  prepossessing  appear- 
ance, a  fluent  speaker  of  both  English  and  Ger- 
man tongues,  and  very  popular.  He  served  one 
term  as  sheriff. 

Mr.  Thomas  C.  Ricketts  has  in  his  possession 
the  set  of  books  kept  in  his  father's  store  from 
1818  to  1823.  In  them  are  found  the  accounts  of 
early  settlers  from  all  parts  of  the  county. 
Whisky  was  one  of  the  chief  commodities,  retail- 
ing at  twenty-cents  per  quart,  or  seventy-five 
cents  per  gallon.  Powder  and  lead  were  staples 
in  trade.    The  latter  was  sold  in  bars  at  nineteen 


cents  per  pound;  powder  for  one  dollar  a  pound- 
Coffee  was  worth  forty-five  cents  a  pound;  tea, 
two  dollars.  Calico  was  sold  at  fifty  cents  per 
yard ;  muslin  at  thirty-seven  and  one-half  to  sev- 
enty-five cents.  Tobacco  was  thirty-seven  and. 
one-half  cents  per  pound ;  sugar,  twelve  and  one- 
half;  iron,  twelve  and  one-half;  steel,  forty-four 
cents  ;  nails,  nineteen  cents ;  salt,  two  dollars  per 
byshel;  dried  apples,  two  dollars  per  bushel- 
German  almanacs  are  quoted  at  twelve  and  one>- 
half  cents;  English  almanacs  at  six  and  one- 
fourth  cents;  spelling  books  at  twenty-five  cents;: 
flints  at  two  cents.  Coal  was  indirectly  dealt  in 
to  a  limited  extent,  and  brought  eight  cents  per- 
bushel.  From  the  credits  it  is  learned  that  woodi 
was  worth  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-seven'  and  a 
half  cents  a  load;  wheat,  thirty  to  seventy-five- 
cents  per  bushel ,  corn,  twenty  cents ;  oats,  fifteen, 
cents ;  hogs,  two  cents  per  pound. 

Robert  Hay  was  probably  the  next  merchant 
in  Coshocton.  He  was  born  in  County  Derry, 
Ireland,  in  February,  1801.  He  came  to  America 
in  1817  and  was  employed  in  stores  in  Pittsburg 
for  two  years,  and  then  came  to  Coshocton  in  the 
employ  of  James  Renfrew.  After  a  clerkship  of 
several  yfears  he  became  a  partner  with  Mr.  Een- 
fre-w.  He  soon  after  opened  a  store  on  the  east 
side  of  Second  street,  lot  170  or.  171,  on  the  site 
now  occupied  by  Dr.  S.  H.  Lee's  drug  store  and 
subsequently  formed  a  partnership  with  William 
Renfrew. 

For  fifty  years  he  was  in  business.  He  was  in 
his  store  when  taken  with  his  last  illness  No 
man  ever  stood  higher  in  the  community  for 
truthfulness,  honesty,  promptitude,  and  careful, 
application  to  business.  Trained  in  the  old  school 
of  merchants,  he  was  a  strict  disciplinarian,  and 
despised  all  trifling  and  trickery.  He  always  was 
himself  to  be  found  at  his  business  in  busmess 
hours  and  expected  a  conscientious  devotion  to 
his  interest,  on  the  part  of  his  employes,  whom 
he  always  regarded  with  kindly  interest.  For 
the  worthy  poor  he  had  always  much  sympathy, 
and  was  especially  ready  to  help  them  to  help, 
themselves.  He  served  the  county  for  several 
years  as  county  treasurer  but  was  never  inchnea 
to  public  station.  In  the  regular  prosecution  of 
his  business  as  a  merchant  and  distiller  he  stead-- 
ily  increased  his  worldly  estate,  and  by  the  vast, 
accretions  in  connection  with  the  excise  ^ }^ 
the  earlier  part  of  the  war,  left  at  his  death  the 
largest  estate  ever  administered  upon  in  Coshoo- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


433 


ton  county.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Corbin,  of 
Granville,  Ohio,  in  1858.  She  and  one  child  pre- 
ceded him  to  the  grave  and  two  children  survived 
hira.  He  died,  after  a  few  days' illness.  May  3, 
1869,  at  the  home  of  his  brother  James,  which  for 
some  time  he  made  his  home. — Hunt's  Collections. 

It  would  be  impossible  and  undesirable  to  give' 
a  complete  list  of  the  merchants  of  Coshocton, 
but  among  the  more  prominent  of  a  later  date 
may  be  mentioned  W.  K.  Johnson  &  Co.,  Bache- 
lor &  Lamb,  Humrickhouse  &  Co.,  Jarret  Haw- 
thorn, John  G.  Stewart,  Abraham  McGowan  and 
Jackson  Hay. 

Mr.  Hunt  mentions  the  following  as  the  mer- 
chants in  Coshocton  in  1856,  all  the  stores  being 
on  Second  and  Chestnut  streets : 

T.  C.  Kicketts,  dry  goods;  R.  &  H.  Hay,  dry 
goods;  H.  Meek,  dry  goods;  A.  N.  Milner,  dry 
goods;  J.  W.  Dwyer,  drj'  goods;  Dryden  &  Co., 
drugs  and  books;  William  McKee,  drugs  and 
books;  S.  Harbaugh,  hardware ;  F.  X.  Fritchey, 
grocery;  Mrs.  E.  Hawley,  grocery;  H.  N.  Shaw, 
boots  and  shoes ;  Cassingham  &  Shaw,  leather  and 
findings;  G.  F.  Wilcoxen,  boots  and  shoes;  J. 
Waggoner,  furniture,  and  R.  M.  Hackenson, 
drugs. 

Since  then  the  increase  in  the  number  of  mer- 
cantile houses  has  been  large,  and  the  business  of 
Coshocton,  as  it  existed  in  the  spring  of  1881,  is 
hereunto  subjoined : 

Dry  Goods— Hay  &  Mortley,  J.  Pocock  &  Sons, 
Mrs.  W.  W.  Walker,  Sturgeon  &  Selby,  Wright, 
Biggs  &  McCabp,  J.  Klein. 

Groceries— C.  C.  Eckert,  Kue  &  Son,  George 
Lorenz,  Ed.  Mortley,  George  Ayres,  Alfred  Bunn, 
W.  S.  Hutchinson,  Charles  Eckert,  Samuel  Gam- 
ble, F.  LaSere,  Boyd  &  Wier,  Marc  Smith,  B. 
Bachman,  Mrs.  C.  Schweiker,  C.  Zugschwert,  B. 
A.  Stevenson,  John  Heinzle.  < 

Drugs-Dr.  S.  H.  Lee,  W.  A.  Johns,  Dr.  J.  An- 
derson &  Son,  J.  F.  Compton,  M.  W.  McNaughton, 
L.  K.  Anderson. 

Clothing— T.  B.  Hack,  D.  M.  Moore,  A.  Berko- 
witz,  I.  Wertheimer  &  Co. 

Boots  and  Shoes— J.  G.  McGaw,  Joseph  R.  Hay, 
Thomas  Lear,  E.  Martter,  William  Watson. 

Hardware — Ricketts  &  Jacobs,  E.  McDonnald, 
Bonnet  Brothers. 

Jewelry— W.  W.  Bostwick,  W.  W.  Burns,  John 
A.  Bostwick. 


Furniture— J.  Waggoner,  D.  Rose  &  Son. 

Stoves  and  Tinware— Benjamin  Coe,  A.  Weis- 
ner,  E.  H.  Lynde. 

Millinery— Mrs.  George  Lorenz,  Mrs.  H.  Mur- 
phy,  J.  Duncan,  Miss  SaUie  Clark. 

Chinaware — B.  R.  Shaw. 

Music  and  Books— J.  Glover. 

Agricultural  Implements— McDonald  &  Han- 
Ion,  Elliott  &  Marx,  S.  H.  Moore,  Bonnet  Brothers. 

Saddlery— A.  N.  Compton,  S.  J.  Stevenson. 

Grain  and  Lime— A.  H.  Thompson,  J.  Mulli- 
gan. 

Wholesale  Liquors — M.  McManus,  A.  Hertz- 
berg. 

Pumps  and  Gas  Fixtures— C.  A.  McNary. 

Marble — Thompson  Brothers. 

Pianos,  Organs  and  Sewing  Machines — J.  A. 
Compton,  R.  T.  Compton,  J.  W.  Shaw. 

Sewing  Machines — J.  A.  Jones,  John  Barkhurst. 

Meat  Markets — Haller  Brothers,  Charles  Hozle- 
ton,  Shaw  &  Tidball,  C.  W.  Handel,  Hughes  & 
Mirise. 

No  regular  banking  was  done  at  Coshocton 
prior  to  1852.  Many  years  before  this  date,  how- 
ever, owing  to  a  great  scarcity  of  change,  it  was 
customary  for  merchants  to  issue  their  scrip,  or 
"promise  to  pay,"  in  very  small  amounts,  ranging 
perhaps  from  five  to  seventy-five  cents.  They 
were  made  payable  when  presented  in  sums  of 
five  dollars  or  more.  They  proved  a  great  con- 
venience to  the  merchants  and  to.  the  public  as 
well,  and  had  an  extended  circulation.  The  prin- 
cipal merchants,  too,  were  accustomed  to  receive 
deposits  from  their  customers  and  buy  and  sell 
eastern  exchange.  The  ,  business  continued  to 
grow  on  their  hands  until  it  culminated  in  the 
establishment  of  a  regular  banking  business  by 
W.  K.  Johnson  &  Co.,  about  1852,  and  by  T.  C. 
Ricketts  in  1853. 

The  Johnsons,  consisting  of  three  brothers, 
William  K.,  John  and  James  K.,  were  representa- 
tive business  men  in  Coshocton  county  during 
the  period  of  its  rapid  development.  They  were 
from  Tyrone  county,  Ireland,  emigrating  to 
America  in  1818.  After  a  brief  stay  in  Balti- 
more,' the  family  came  to  Pittsburgh,  where  a 
brother  of  Mrs.  Johnson— Rev.  Dr.  Kerj-- was 
living.    In  1819  or  1820,  Mrs.  Johnson  was  mar- 


434 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ried  to  James  Renfrew,  and  the  family  removed 
to  Coshocton,  where  the  boys  received  a  business 
training  under  the  guiding  hand  of  their  step- 
father. Of  William  K.  Johnson,  Mr.  Hunt  says 
in  his  Historical  Collections:  _ 

He  had  the  confidence  of  the  whole  commu- 
nity, and  his  name  was  a  synonym  for  integrity, 
sobriety,  diligent  application  to  business,  and 
great  prudence.  By  all  the  sons  of  the  Emerald 
Isle,  especially,  he  was  looked  to  as  a  wise  coun- 
selor. His  approbation  of  any  matter  of  town 
and  county  interest  was  regarded  as  quite  im- 
portant to  its  accomplishment.  His  views  ,and 
actions  have  very  largely  shaped  the  social  and 
business  aflfairs  of  the  region  where  for  nearly 
forty  years  he  lived  and  labored.  He  was  for 
many  years  a  member  of  the  board  of  education, 
and  of  the  town  council  of  Coshocton.  He  was 
postmaster  for  some  fifteen  years.  He  was  con- 
nected with  the  Steubenville  and  Indiana  rail- 
road, as  a  director,  from  its  organization  until  his 
death.  While  not  uninterested  in  political  affairs, 
he  had  little  ambition  in  that  line.  He  married, 
in  1836,  Miss  Elizabeth  Humrickhouse,  who,  with 
six  children,  survived  him. 

He  died  Monday— having  been  in  his  place  of 
business  the  Saturday  previous — December  10, 
1860,  aged  fifty-one  years. 

John  Johnson  learned  the  tanners'  trade  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Renfrew,  and  also  worked 
at  saddle  and  harness  making.  He  represented 
the  district  of  which  Coshocton  county  was  a 
part  in  1842  and  1843  as  State  senator,  and  was 
also  a  member  of  congress  in  1851-'53.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  convention  which  framed  the 
present  State  constitution.  His  health  was  not 
firm  for  some  years  before  he  died,  and  on  this 
and  other  accounts  he  was  not  so  much  engaged 
with  public  afiairs  in  his  later  years  as  in  earlier 
ones.  With  limited  education,  his  industry  and 
native  shrewdness  and  caution  enabled  him  to 
achieve  a  considerable  degree  of  business  and 
political  success.    He  died  February  5, 1867. 

After  the  death  of  William  K.  Johnson,  the 
banking  firm  became  J.  K.  Johnson  &  Co., 
John  Johnson  being  junior  partner.  After  the 
latter's  death,  David  and  John  H.  were  received 
into  the  firm,  and  the  business  was  thus  conducted 
until  their  removal  to  New  York  City,  abotit  the 
1st  of  January,  1872.  Since  then  the  bank  has 
been  operated  by  John  G.  Stewart,  on  the  south- 


east corner  of  Main  and  Fourth  streets.  The 
banking  house  of  the  Johnsons  was  at  this  place. 

T.  0.  Ricketts  started  his  banking  house  in  the 
Hawthorne  building,  on  Chestnut  street,  and  at 
first  in  the  room  occupied  by  his  store,  but  in  a 
short  time  it  was  removed  a  few  doors  west,  to 
the  corner  of  Chestnut  and  Second  streets.  He 
afterwards  removed  it  to  Main  street,  near  Fifth, 
continuing  in  the  banking  business  individually 
until  January,  1872,  when  the  First  National 
Bank  was  organized,  with  T.  C.  Ricketts,  presi- 
dent, and  Baxter  Ricketts,  cashier.  It  com- 
menced business  in  March,  1872. 

Two  years  later  the  First  National  Bank  was 
organized,  Jackson  Hay  becoming  president,  and 
H.  C.  Herbig,  cashier.  These  ofl&cers  continue 
to  the  present.  The  orignal  capital  was  $50,000; 
this  was  afterwards  increased  to  $110,000  in  order 
to  meet  the  demands  of  business,  but  it  has  since 
been  returned  to  its  original  amount.  In  March, 
1881,  the  bank  withdrew  its  circulation  and  has 
since  become  a  private  banking  house,  doing 
business  under  name  of  Commercial  Bank. 

In  August,  1868,  the  Coshocton's  Savings,  Build- 
ing and  Loan  Association  was  incorporated. 
Its  directors  have  been  F.  E.  Barney,  James  M. 
Burt,  William  E.  Hunt,  Hiram  Beall,  Thomas 
Campbell,  T.  C.  Ricketts,  E.  T.  Spangler,  J.B.  In- 
graham,  J.  G.  Stewart,  D.  L.  Triplett,  H.  Hay,  J. 
C.  Pomerene,  and  J.  S.  Wilson.  J.  W.  Cassing- 
ham  was  secretary  through  all  its  history.  J.  M. 
Burt,  J.  G.  Stewart  and  D.  L.  Triplett,  have  served 
as  president,  and  T.  C.  Ricketts  and  J.  G.  Stewart, 
as  treasurer.  It  practically  discontinued  busi- 
ness in  1875,  having  at  that  time,  by  installments 
of  stock  and  profits,  nearly  $100,000  of  assets, 
which  were  paid  out  to  the  stockholders. 

The  present  bridges  over  the  Tuscarawas  and 
Walhonding  rivers  were  finished  in  the  years 
]837  and  1838,  respectively.  A  bridge  across  the 
Tuscarawas  had  been  built  in  1832,  through  the 
efforts  of  a  number  of  the  citizens  and  petitions 
to  the  county  commissioners,  but  it  survived  the 
floods  only  one  year  and  was  then  swept  away. 
Before  that  the  main  reliance  for  crossing  the 
river  was  by  ferry.  The  streams  were  then  higher 
and  deeper  than  now,  and  high  waters  prevailed 
during  a  much  greater  portion  of  the  year.    The 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


435 


river  was  scarcely  ever  fordable  in  winter,  and 
for  only  a  part  of .  the  summer.  It  has  been 
mentioned  that  the  proprietors  of  the  town  re- 
served to  themselves  the  right  of  all  ferries  within 
the  bounds  of  the  town  plat.  John  Matthews, 
one  of  the  original  proprietors,  transferred  this 
right  to  Colonel  Williams  during  Matthews'  life- 
time only,  it  seems.  Colonel  Williams  did  not 
attend  to  the  ferry  personally,  but  employed  men 
to  run  it  for  him.  One  of  the  earliest  of  these 
was  Abraham  Miller,  son  of  George  Miller  of  La- 
fayette township.  Somewhat  later,  John  Crowley 
performed  these  duties,  and  after  him  Samuel 
Morrison,  a  nephew  of  Williams.  The  ferry 
under  Williams  was  at  the  foot  of  Chestnut  street; 
and  was  one  of  the  most  remunerative  occupa- 
tions then  attainable  by  the  residents  of  Coshoc- 
ton. The  authorized  charges  were,  for  footman, 
six  and  one-quarter  cents ;  horse  and  rider,  twelve 
and  one-half  cents;  loaded  two-horse  wagon, 
seventy-five  cents.  At  Matthews'  death  the  ferry 
was  sold  to  a  company  consisting  of  Robert  Hay, 
William  K.  Johnson,  Samuel  Burns  and  Joseph 
Burns.  By  them  the  ferry  was  moved  farther  up 
the  stream  and  a  rope  ferry  established.  These 
men  were  heartily  in  favor  of  a  free  bridge,  and 
lent  their  aid  to  its  erection.  " 

The  Coshocton  Iron  and  Steel  Works,  located 
on  South  Fifth  street,  is  the  largest  and  most 
extensive  manufacturing  establishment  in  the 
county;  it  has  been  in  operation  about  ten  years. 
A  stock  company  was  formed  in  May,  1861,  for 
the  manufacture  of  springs,  axles  and  iron 
bridges,  and  duly  incorporated.  The  principal 
holders  of  the  company  were  Houston  Hay,  T. 
C.  Kicketts,  F.  E.  Barney,  Lewis  Demoss,  J.  W. 
Shipman,  E.  T.  Spangler,  John  Davis,  J.  A.  Bar- 
ney, Coshocton  Planing  Mill  Company,  Rue  & 
Son,  T.  H.  Burrell,  J.  B.  Ingram,  Willis  Wright, 
N.  Renfrew,  W.  J.  Moflfat,  J.  D.  Nichols,  Samuel 
Moore,  J.  C.  Pomerene,  William  Stanton  and 
Cassingham  and  Crowley.  The  officers  elected 
were— Houston  Hay,  president;  F.  E.  Barney, 
vice-president ;  T.  C.  Rickets,  treasurer,  and  they, 
with  Lewis  Demoss,  John  Davis,  E.  T.  Spangler 
and  James  W.  Shipman,  constituted  the  board  of 
directors.  John  A.  Barney  was  made  secretary. 
The  extensive  buildings  as  they  now  stand  were 
at  once  erected,  and  James  W.  Shipman,  who  had 


previously  operated  an  establishment  of  this  kind 
in  the  State  of  New  York,  was  placed  in  the  general 
management  of  the  works.  After  a  brief  career 
of  between  two  and  three  years,  the  affairs  of  the 
company  became  greatly  involved,  and  in  Jan- 
uary, 1874,  an  assignment  was  made.  The  causes 
which  led  to  this  were  various.  The  machinery  of 
Mr.  Shipman's  former  establishment  had  been  pur- 
chased at  a  high  price,  and,  proving  wholly  insuf- 
ficient, a  considerable  outlay  for  new  machinery 
became  necessary.  The  company  was  organized 
with  a  capital  of  $100,000,  but  not  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  this  amount  was  ever  paid  in.  This  was 
mostly  expended  in  buildings,  machinery,  etc., 
and  the  working  capital  had  to  be  borrowed,  at 
high  rates  of  interest.  High  wages  were  paid, 
and  large  salaries  for  which,  in  some  cases,  little 
service  was  rendered.  High  prices,  too,  were 
paid  for  material.  A  boiler  explosion  in  June, 
1872,  entailed  a  loss  of  about  $10,000.  The  of- 
ficers remained  about  the  same  up  to  the  time 
of  the  assignment,  except  that  William  Ward 
was  elected  director,  vice  Shipman,  and  also  sec- 
retary in  place  of  John  A.  Barney.  Mr.  Ward 
was  appointed  assignee,  and  under  him  the  work 
in  progress  was  finished,  requiring  about  six 
weeks.  The  works  then  remained  idle  until 
they  were  sold  in  August,  1874,  at  the  third 
offer,  to  Houston  Hay  for  $33,334.  Mr.  Hay  im- 
mediately resumed  the  manufacture  of  axles, 
and  about  six  months  later  work  was  commenced 
in  the  spring  department. 

In  April,  1876,  J.  W.  Dwyer  associated  with 
Mr.  Hay  as  partner  in  this  latter  department  but 
about  two  years  later  this  partnership  was  dis- 
solved and  Mr.  Hay  has  since  been  sole  proprie- 
tor of  the  works.  The  manufacture  of  iron 
bridges  has  not  been  resumed  since  the  failure  of 
the  company.  The  work  in  the  spring  depart- 
ment is  done  under  contract.  Since  Mr.  Hay's 
connection  with  the  works  the  quality  of  the 
manufactures  has  established  a  reputation  for 
them  which  insures  an  easy  and  continued  sale 
wherever  they  are  known.  Columbus,  Toledo, 
Cincinnati,  Louisville,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis,  are 
the  principal  shipping  points,  but  the  manufac- 
tures find  their  way  westward  as  far  as  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific.  About  ninety  workmen  are  now 
employed  in  the  works.    William  Ward  has  su- 


436 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


pervision  over  the  works,  Farley  Connerty  is 
foreman  in  the  foundry,  A.  D.  Howe  in  the  axle 
department  and  Horn  and  Kronenbitter  are  the 
contractors  in  the  spring  department. 

The  Coshocton  paper  mill,  situated  between 
Fifth  street  and  the  Tuscarawas  river,  was  built 
in  1863  by  Thompson  Hanna.  He  soon  after 
turned  over  the  business  to  his  son  and  son-in- 
law,  Daniel  W.  Hanna  and  Bobert  Sinclair,  who 
operated  it  until  1866  when  they  failed.  This  was 
caused  by  a  lack  of  working  capital  and  a  boiler 
explosion  in  1866.  (By  this  explosion  John  Free- 
man was  killed  and  John  Sherrod  seriously  hurt). 
After  remaining  idle  about  two  years  the  mill 
was  sold  to  Peter  Hough,  who  ran  it  for  a  year 
or  more,  becafne  involved  and  retired  from  the 
business.  It  was  then  leased  temporarily  to  sev- 
eral parties,  and  in  May,  1871,  was  purchased  by 
John  W.  Cassingham  and  A.  D.  Harvey  of  Cosh- 
octon, and  Hugh  McElroy  of  Pittsburgh,  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  1875  Cassingham  and  McElroy  bought 
Mr.  Harvey's  interest  and  ,are  still  its  successful 
proprietors.  Wrapping  paper  is  the  kind  manu- 
factured and  it  finds  a  market  chiefly  in  Pitts- 
burghi^  J.  S.  Smart,  a  man  well  known  in  paper 
circles,  is  the  present  surperintendent  of  the  mill. 
Thomas  Arthur,  the  foreman,  has  been  connected 
with  the  establishment  from  the  start. 

The  Coshocton  Planing  Mill  Company  com- 
menced operations  in  1869.  As  originally  com- 
posed the  company  consisted  of  Addison  M.  Wil- 
liams, Martin  Weisner  and  W.  H.  Robinson,  Jr. 
Mr.  Robinson  soon  after  withdrew,  and  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Stanton  was  for  a  while  a  partner.  For 
some  time  the  firm  has  been  Williams  &  Weis- 
ner. The  building  first  used  was  Jackson  Hays' 
old  warehouse,  from  Canal  Lewisville,  which  the 
company  took  down,  hauled  to  Coshocton  on 
wagons,  and  re-erected.  Very  considerable  ad- 
ditions have  been  made  to  this  original  structure. 
The  mill  stands  on  the  southeast  corner  of  Wal- 
nut and  Cherry  streets,  east  of  the  freight  depot. 

Across  Walnut  street  from  the  planing  mill 
stands  the  Coshocton  city  mills,  erected  in  1875, 
by  Charles  and  George  Bolch.  The  latter  with- 
drew in  September,  1875,  and  for  a  year  Charles 
Bolch  was  sole  owner  and  proprietor  of  the  mill. 
C.  F.  Burns  was  then  received  as  a  partner  in  the 
mill,  and  in  November,  1878,  Garret  Treadway 


also.  In  August,  1880,  R.  F.  Sayer,  Daniel  Sny- 
der, George  Bolch  and  Charles  Craig  became  the 
proprietors  of  the  mill  and  owners  of  the  prop- 
erty. The  mill  contains  a  run  of  five  buljrs,  and 
does  an  extensive  business,  both  in  custom  and 
merchant  work,  large  quantities  of  flour  being 
shipped  to  Baltimore  and  elsewhere. 

The  gas  works  were  built  in  the  winter  of 
1873-^  by  a  stock  company,  representing  a  capi- 
tal of  $25,000.  The  contractor  was  B.  Van  Steen- 
berg,  now  of  Logan,  New  Jersey,  and  was  also  at 
the  outset  the  heaviest  stockholder.  He,  soon 
after  disposed  of  his  interest  to  Houston  Hay. 
The  company  was  organized  in  1872,  with  P,  E. 
Barney,  L.  Demoss,  John  G.  Stewart,  H.  N.  Shaw 
and  W.  E.  Hunt  as  directors.  At  this  time  the 
directors  are  Houston  Hay,  James  Wilson,  Jo- 
seph Rue,  L.  Demoss  and  James  R.  Johnson.  J. 
G.  Stewart  is  president,  and  Henry  Herbig  sec- 
retary and  treasurer.  Isaac  McNary  has  been 
superintendent  of  the  works  from  the  start.  The 
amount  of  gas  furnished  by  these  works  has  been 
steadily  increased  since  the  works  were  estab- . 
lished. 

Carriage  and  wagon  manufactories  are  now 
carried  on  by  E.  McDonnald,  V.  0.  Jeffries  and 
James  Stewart.  In  1857  Mr.  McDonnald  and  Al- 
exander Manner  erected  a  carriage  manufactory 
on  lot  209  West  Walnut  street.  Two  years  later 
McDonnald  purchased  his  partner's  interest  in 
the  works,  at  the  same  time  selling  to  Mr.  Man- 
ner his  interest  in  a  hotel,  which  had  become 
their  property.  He  remained  in  possession  of 
the  factory,  except  during  a  few  months,  when 
Judson.  Hughes,  of  Zanesville,  controlled  it,  until 
1869,  when  he  erected  the  extensive  shops  now 
standing  on  lot  140,  Third  street,  near  Main.  He 
has  since  continued  the  manufacture  of  carriages 
at  these  shops.  During  the  last  ten  or  eleven 
years  he  has  built,  on  an  average,  about  sixty  ve- 
hicles a  year. 

The  works  of  V.  0.  Jeffries  are  located  on  Sec- 
ond street,  between  Chestnut  and  Locust.  He 
has  had  possession  of  the  shops  for  several  years, 
succeeding  Jeffries  &  VanAllen. 

James  '  Stewart  built  his  wagon  shops  a  few 
years  ago  near  the  south  end  of  Water  street,  and 
is  still  operating  them  there. 

A  carriage  shop  was  built  on  Sixth  street,  be- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


437 


tween  Main  and  Walnut,  by  G.  A.  Pieflfer  &  Sons, 
of  Dresden.  In  1873  Alexander  Manner  bought 
these  premises  at  assignee's  sale,  and  operated 
here  for  a  while,  but  has  since  ceased  manufac- 
turing. George  Schley,  at  one  time,  was  an  ex- 
tensive wagon  maker,  and  subsequently  J.  Glover, 
C.  W.  Frew,  A.  Fritz  and  others  have  also  at  one 
time  or  another  been  engaged  in  this  business. 

The  Coshocton  Foundry,  located  on  North  Fifth 
street,  was  built  about  1871  by  Edward  Kirk.  It 
afterwards  passed  into  the  hands  of  T.  C.  Ricketts 
and  was  operated  by  Kirk  and  Robert  Hay,  then 
by  Eicketts  &  Evans,  and  still  later  by  Hirt,  Palm 
&  Evans.  After  standing  idle  for  two  years  it 
was  purchased  in  January,  1881,  by  W.  PI.  King, 
who  is  now  carrying  on  a  general  and  extended 
line  of  business  here. 

Probably  the  first  foundry  in  Coshocton  was 
the  one  started  by  George  E.  Con  well  and  Morris 
Burt.  The  building  used  was  the  one  now  occu- 
pied by  Mr.  Jeffries  as  a  carriage  shop,  on  Second 
street.  It  afterward  came  into  the  possession  of 
.  J.  C.  Maginity,  who  afterwards  entered  into  a 
partnership  with  the  Roses,  owners  of  the  Roscoe 
foundry.  The  Roscoe  foundry  soon  became  the 
principal,  and  after  a  time,  the  only  one  operated 
by  the  firm.  Another  foundry  was  started  about 
1868,  by  Hiram  Taylor  and  W.  H.  King,  near  the 
Tuscarawas  river  bridge.  After  a  time  they  re- 
moved to  Roscoe  and  it  was  abandoned. 

The  first  tannery  was  started  about  1808,  by 
Andrew  Lybarger,  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
Second  and  Walnut  streets.  .  This  yard  after- 
wards passed  into  the  hands  of  John  and  Joseph 
K.Johnson,  who  operated  it  for  a  series  of  years. 
At  a  still  later  date  it  was  owned  by  Andrew  J. 
Wilkin  and  James  Dryden.  It  was  abandoned 
quite  a  number  of  years  ago. 

There  is  now  a  tannery,  located  on  Water 
street  between  Main  and  Walnut,  operated  by 
McClain  &  Koontz.  John  Taylor  erected  a  ma- 
chine shop  at  this  place  about  1845,  and  carried 
it  on  for  many  years.  The  shop  then  stood  idle 
for  some  time  and  was  purchased  by  Cassingham 
&  Shaw,  who  converted  it  into  a  tannery.  It  was 
sold  to  Mr.  Loose,  and  from  him  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  present  owners. 

A  small  soap  factory  was  built  aboutl850,  near 
the  Tuscarawas  bridge  by  J.  Mayer.    In  1871  the 


establishment  was  bought  by  W.  H.  Robinson, 
Jr.,  ar^d  C.  Skinner,  torn  down  and  replaced  by  a 
larger  building  known  as  the  Coshocton  Soap 
Works.  For  a  short  time  it  was  owned  and  ope- 
rated by  D.  Adams,  but  was  repurchased,  and 
is  now  conducted  by  C.  Skinner  &  Co. 

T.  Hager  manufactures  cigars,  on  Main  street. 
G.  F.  Palm  began  the  manufacture  at  this  place 
in  1878,  and  a  j'ear  or  two  later,  sold  out  to  Mr. 
Hager.  Gaumer  is  also  engaged  in  this  busi- 
ness, on  Second  street.  J.  K.  March  was  the  first 
to  manufacture  cigars  to  any  considerable  ex- 
tent, beginning  in  1870. 

The  first  brewery  in  Coshocton  was  started  in 
a  building  on  the  west  side  of  Second  street,  be- 
tween Locust  and  Sycamore,  about'  1852,  by  L. 
Mayer.  In  1866,  Lewis  Beiber  built  the  brewery 
on  North  Fourth  street,  near  the  river.  Itwaa 
afterward  operated  by  Charles  Boes,  but  has 
since  been  discontinued. 

Among  the  manufacturing  establishments  that 
have  formerly  had  a  place  in  Coshocton  may  be 
mentioned  the  fanning  mill  factory  which. was 
operated  about  1848,  for  awhile,  by  William  M. 
Green,  on  lot  172  Main  street,  where  W.  W.  Bost- 
wick's  jewelry  store  now  stands.  Josiah  Dewey, 
for  some  time,  was  extensively  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  chairs,  on  the  northeast  corner 
of  Second  and  Locust  streets.  Prior  to  1850,  he 
sold  the  establishment  to  A.  Ordway,  who  con- 
tinued it  sometime  longer.  James  Taylor,  about. 
1840,  started  a  woolen  mill,  on  Walnut  street,  be- 
tween Water  and  Second.  He  finally  went  to- 
California,  and  the  mill  went  down. 

Dr.  Samuel  Lee,  about  1826,  started  a  carding, 
mill  on  the  lot  which  is  situated  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Main  and  Fourth  streets.  It  continued 
in  operation  for  eight  or  ten  years.  A  grist  mill 
was  for  a  time  attached  to  it.  The  motive  power' 
was  furnished  by  an  ox,  the  machinery  consisting, 
of  a  tread-mill.  Many  years  before  this,  Charles- 
Williams  built  a  little  tread-mill  on  the  lower 
part  of  lot  216,  Chestnut  street,  wher»the  grists 
of  many  early  settlers  were  ground.  The  ma- 
chinery was  removed  to  a  small  mill  on  Cant- 
well's  run,  across  the  river.  In  1882,  a  large  steam 
flouring  mill  was  built  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Main  and  Second,  streets,  by  James  and  William 
Renfrew  and  Robert  Hay.     It  contained  four 


438 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


run  of  buhrs.  In  1839,  the  mill  was  consumed 
\>y  fire,  but  the  following  year  it  was  rebuilt  and 
operated  by  different  parties,  usually  with  indif- 
ferent or  ill  success  until  1850,  when  the  building 
"was  leased  to  Robert  Hay,  Thomas  Love  and  John 
Hay,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  a  distilling 
business.  Love  &  Hay^ — Samuel  Love  and  Robert 
Hay  at  first,  but  afterward  Thomas  Love  and 
Robert  Hay — had  commenced  operations  in  this 
line  at  Rosooe  in  1837.  The  loss  of  their  mill 
there  by  fire  caused  its  removal  to  Coshocton, 
where  the  business  was  conducted  on  a  much 
larger  scale  than  formerly.  In  1865,  Robert  and 
James  Hay  retired  from  the  firm,  and  after  a 
little  while  the  manufacture  ceased  entirely.  In 
its  d>y  this  distillery  was  the  most  active  and  ex- 
tensive industry  in  the  village.  Its  capacity  was 
300  bushels  per  day,  which  would  produce,  on  an 
average,  1,050  gallons  of  whisky. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

SCHOOLS  AND  CHUECHES  OF  COSHOCTON. 

Early  Schools— First  School  Houses  and  Teachers— Erection 
of  Buildings — Progress  and  Statistics. 

Churches— Early  Preaching— Preshyterian— Methodist  Prot- 
estant— Methodist  Episcopal — Catholic — German  Lutheran 
—Baptist— Episcopal. 

SCHOOL  facilities  in  Coshocton  were  meager 
indeed  during  the  formative  stages  of  its 
growth,  and  even  for  many  years  after.  The 
ihen  great  West  attracted  many  settlers  who 
cared  little  or  nothing  for  the  benefits  of  educa- 
tion, and  made  no  eflbrts  to  provide  their  chil- 
dren with  even  the  rudiments  of  learning,  and 
even  had  they  been  so  disposed,  the  demands  of 
pioneer  life  in  other  directions  were  so  pressing 
as  to  forbid  much  time  or  attention  being  paid 
to  it.  There  were  some,  it  is  true,  who  brought 
with  them  from  the  East  a  deep  conviction  of  the 
necessity  tf  education,  and  who  did  what  they 
could  to  implant  it  in  this  community ;  but  their 
resources  were  limited,  and  they  made  but  tardy 
advancement. 

Rev.  Calhoun  says:  "It  is  worthy  of  being 
noted  that,  according  to  the  best  information  we 
can  obtain,  five  or   six  years  after  the  settle- 


ment of  Coshocton,  it  was  destitute  of  a  school 
of  any  kind."  According  to  his  statement,  the 
first  school  in  Coshocton  was  established  in  the 
year  1807,  by  Joseph  Harris,  who  had  the  year 
before  taught  a  school  at  the  Evans  settlement,  in 
Oxford  township.  It  was  held  in  the  house  of 
Calvin  Bobbet,  which  seems  to  have  been  vacated 
by  him  shortly  after  he  built  it,  situated  on  lot 
219  Second  street,  just  north  of  William  Burns' 
residence.  In  January,  1808,  some  difficulty 
arose  between  the  school  master  and  his  pupils, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  seek  employment,  in  his 
vocation,  elsewhere.  The  nature  of  the  difficulty 
is  unknown,  but  considering  the  season  of  the 
year,  it  is  probable  that  the  teacher  was  "  barred 
out "  for  refusing  to  treat,  as  was  the  custom  in 
those  times,  on  New  Years  Day.  However  that 
may  be,  Coshocton  lost  its  first  pedagogue. 

In  1809,  Charles  Roberts  taught  a  school  in  this 
settlement  a  part  of  the  time,  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Fulton's  or  Cartmell's,  and  another  por- 
tion of  his  time  in  a  house  standing  on  Second 
street. 

Israel  H.  Buker  is  also  recollected  as  one  of  the 
early  school-teachers.  He  was  a  Revolutionary 
soldier,  was  quite  acceptable  as  a  teacher  and 
taught  several  quarters  in  a  house  standing  on 
the  river  bank  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
town,  on  or  near  the  south  line  of  south  ouMot 
number  1. 

It  would  not  be  desirable,  even  if  it  were  possible, 
to  follow  up  each  school  that  has  been  taught 
here.  Prior  to  1828  there  was  no  school-house  of 
any  kind,  though  quite  a  number  had  already 
been  built  in  the  neighboring  settlements;  and 
the  desultory  schools  that  were  taught  were  held 
wherever  the  use  of  a  vacant  cabin  could  be  ob- 
tained, scarcely  ever  twice  in  the  same  place. 
About  1818,  William  B.  Hubbard,  who  came  here 
from  St.  Clairsville,  ta,ught  a  quarter  on  lot  167 
Second  street,  where  James  Johnson  now  resides, 
in  a  building  which  had  previously  been  used  by 
Captain  Abram  Sells  as  a  furniture  shop.  Mr. 
Hubbard,  from  all  accounts,  was  an  excelleiit 
teacher;  he  soon  after  returned  to  St.  Clairsville, 
and  subsequently  .went  to  Columbus,  where  he 
attained  celebrity  as  a  banker,  lawyer  and  rail- 
road magnate.  James  Madden,  from  Virginia, 
taught  in  a  building  near  the  northeast  corner  of 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


439 


Secoad  and  Chestnut  streets.  He  was  crippled 
in  one  arm,  but  excelled  as  a  penman,  and  taught 
several  quarters.  He  afterwards  moved  to  White 
Eyes  township  where  he  continued  his  chosen 
occupation.  A  Mr.  Jackson  also  taught  here. 
He  is  described  as- a  very  irascible  and  stern  in- 
dividual, who  wanted  but  the  slightest  provocation 
to  exercise  his  pedagogical  right  to  flog.  He 
taught  in  the  fall  of  1828,  when  the  hero  of  New 
Orleans  was  a  candidate  for  President.  An  en- 
thusiastic young  Democrat  innocently  hurrahed 
for  Jackson  one  day  in  the  school  yard,  and  the 
dignified  professor,  deeming  this  a  reflection 
upon  his  name,  administered  to  the  offending 
youth  an  unusually  severe  dose  of  discipline) 
which  rendered  him  very  unpopular  to  the  pre- 
dominating derhocratic  element  of  the  village. 

Moses  L.  Neel  taught  for  a  number  of  years, 
probably  beginning  in  1819  or  1820  in  a  rough 
cabin,  standing  just  south  of  the  mill  on  the  south- 
west corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets.  He  was 
impetuous  and  brilliant,  and  gave  satisfaction  as 
a  teacher.    He  was  a  remarkably  fine  penman. 

The  court  house,  too,  was  utilized  for  school 
purposes  for  a  few  years.  James  Matthews  taught 
a  term  hffife  in  1831.  He  afterwards  represented 
the  county  in  the  State  legislature  and  served 
two  terms  in  congress,  1841-5.  Moses  Neel  also 
taught  in  the  court  house.  All  these  were  sub- 
scription schools.  The  terms,  as  gathered  from 
several  of  Mr.  Neel's  school  contracts  for  the  years 
1824-6  and  6,  were  two  dollars  per  quarter  for 
each  scholar.  Money  must  have  been  a  rare  ar- 
ticle for  the  subscriptions  were  made  payable  in 
"common  country  produce"  at  the  cash  price 
when  delivered.  The  subscribers  also  agreed  to 
"furnish  a  comfortable  school  house,  benches, 
seats,  tables,  fuel  cut  and  split  in  good  order  and 
proper  size  for  the  chimney,  and  delivered  at  the 
door  "  of  the  school  house.  The  teachers  rarely 
ventured  beyond  instruction  in  "  reading,  'riting 
and  'rithmetic,"  and  usually  taught  only  the  first 
principles  of  these. 

In  1825,  the  legislature  passed  a  general  bill 
authorizing,  on  certain  conditions,  the  levying  of 
a  tax,  not  exceeding  in  amount  $300,  for  building 
a  school-house.  Bate  (or  tuition)  bills  could  be 
arranged  for  and  relied  on  where  the  tax  was  in- 
sufficient.    The  minutes  of   the  commissioners 


show  that  in  June,  1828,  "  Upon  application  it  is 
ordered  by  the  commissioners  of  said  county 
that  Samuel  Lee  and  his  associates  have  a  privi- 
lege of  building  a  school-house  on  the  southwest 
corner  of  the  public  square,  in  the  town  of  Co- 
shockton  (as  it  was  then  spelled),  0.,"  the  build- 
ing to  be  "  a  good,  decent  brick  or  frame  house 
not  to  be  less  than  twenty  feet  square,  or  larger 
if  they  think  it  necessary."  Accordingly  a  little- 
brick  school-house  twenty  by  thirty  feet,  con- 
taining one  room,  was  erected  and  served  as  the 
village  school  for  about  twenty  years.  Among 
the  earliest  teachers  in  the  building  were  Mr. 
Barnes  and  Mr.  O'Neal,  a  law  student  in  the  office 
of  James  Matthews;  among  its  latest  teachers 
were  Messrs.  Alexander,  James  Irvine  and  James 
Dryden  and  Eev.  H.  K.  Hennigh. 

"  In  the  latter  part  of  this  period,  say  from  1840 
to  1850,  there  was  a  growing  conviction  that 
thorough  and  extended  scholarship  had  not  beenv 
attained  under  the  public  school  system  as  then 
ordered  by  law,  and  this  fact  and  a  higher  sense 
of  the  importance  of  the  religious  element  in 
education  gave  rise  to  a  number  of  private- 
schools  and  academies.  In  this  work  at  Coshoc- 
ton were  engaged  Rev.  E.  Buckingham,  and  es- 
pecially Rev.  Addison  Cofiey,  both  of  the  Presby- 
terian church.  The  latter  built  quite  a  good 
brick  house  with  the  view  of  making  room  for 
boarders,  and  had  for  his  school-house  the  build- 
ing now  occupied  by  W.  R.  Porker,  both  build- 
ings being  on  south  Fourth  street."  The  re- 
moval from  the  county  of  Messrs.  Buckingham 
and  Coffey,  involved  the  discontinuance  of  these 
institutions. 

The  present  graded  schools  were  established 
under  the  "  Akron  law,"  passed  in  1849.  William 
K.  Johnson,  Joseph  C.  Maginity,  John  G.  Smith, 
Joseph  Guinther,  John  Tidball  and  Jacob  Wag- 
goner were  chosen  by  the  citizens  as  the  first 
board  of  education.  As  first  established,  there 
were  three  departments  in  the  schools,  two  pri- 
mary and  a  higher  one.  William  R.  Powers,  for- 
merly of  New  York,  then  of  Utica,  Ohio,  was 
employed  as  superintendent,  assisted  in  the 
higher  department  by  Miss  Sallie  Elder  (Mrs. 
George  Dewey).  Miss  Araminta  Bodelle  (Mrs.  - 
H.  N.  Shaw)  and  Miss  Caroline  Stewart  (Mrs. 
Samuel  Denman)  presided  over  the  two  primary 


440 


HISTORY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


schools.  Soon  after  a  secondary  school  was  started 
-and  taught  by  Miss  Elder,  her  place  in  the  higher 
-school  being  supplied  by  Miss  Delia  Eoberts  (Mrs. 
Houston  Hay).  The  schools  at  that  time  held 
their  sessions  in  a  little  frame  school-house  in  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  north  school  lot,  where 
the  little  white  school-house  now  stands,  and  in 
the  basements  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  and  the 
Second  Presbyterian  churches.  The  little  brick 
school-house  on  the  public  square  had  become 
dilapidated,  and  owing  to  the  location,  objection 
Tvas  made  to  repairing  it. 

The  following  petition  is  here  given,  as  much 
for  the  preservation  of  names  of  old  citizens  at- 
tached to  it,  as  for  the  interest  shown  in  the  cause 
of  education.  The  petition  was  presented  to  the 
legislature  by  Timothy  A.  Condit,  then  a  mem- 
ber of  that  body  from  Coshocton : 

To  the  Honorable,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State 
of  Ohio,  now  in  session  : 

The  undersigned  citizens  of  the  school  district 
composed  of  the  town  of  Coshocton  and  vicinity, 
respectfully  represent:  That  with  a  desire  of  im- 
proving the  public  school  in  said  district,  and  of 
establishing  a  central  county  school  in  which  stu- 
dents from  all  parts  of  the  county  might,  on, lib- 
eral .terms,  enjoy  educational  advantages  superior 
to  those  afforded  in  the  ordinary  district  school, 
with  a  view  to  their  employment  in  the  business 
cif  teaching,  they  have  established  and  have  now 
in  successful  operation  in  said  town  a  Union 
School,  under  the  provisions  of  the  "act  for  the 
better  regulation  of  public  schools,"  etc.,  passed 
February  21,  1849,  and  that  the  expenses  neces- 
sarily incurred  in  the  organization  and  support 
of  said  school  are  so  great  as  to  amount  to  a  heavy 
burden  on  the  taxable  property  of  said  district; 

The  undersigned  therefore  pray  that  by  an  en- 
actment of  your  honorable  body,  all  fines  here- 
after collected  for  violations  of  the  criminal  law, 
occurring  within  the  bounds  of  said  district,  may 
be  appropriated  to  the  support  of  said  school,  to 
be  expended  in  the  same  manner  as  the  school 
Jund  now  provided  by  law,  etc. 

Coshocton,  Ohio,  February  11, 1851. 


Wm.  Sample, 
W.  K.  Johnson, 
David  Spangler, 
Josiah  Harris, 
Thos.  Campbell, 
G.  F.  Cassingham, 
H.  Cantwell, 
Jacob  Waggoner, 
John  F.  Traxler, 


Benj.  R.  Shaw,         , 
T.  S  Humrickhouse, 
Benjamin  Ricketts, 
Henrv  N.  Shaw, 
A.  RHillyer, 
H.  J.  Rahanser, 
J.  Irvine, 
John  Waggoner, 
John  Darnes, 


Henry  Laffer, 

F.  Factor, 
A.  L.  Cass, 

J.  H.  Hutchinson, 

G.  E.  Conwell, 
James  T.  Morris, 
Robert  Southwell, 
John  C.  Tidball, 
Jas.  Hazlett, 
Robert  Hay, 
Samuel  Love, 
Edward  Maher, 
F.  X.  Fritchey, 
John  Burt, 

D.  Trueman, 
R.  M.  Hackinson, 
Joseph  Evans, 
J.  Medill, 
J.  C.  Medill, 
R.  F.  Baker, 

John 


Jos.  M.  Traxler, 
W.  P.  Wheeler, 
A.  N.  Milner, 
Josiah  Dewey, 
W.  T.  Decker, 
James  M.  Brown, 
Jno.  G.  Stewart, 
H.  Meek, 
Samuel  Moore, 
Alex.  D.  McGowan, 
Thos.  Dwyer, 
Joseph  Burns, 
J.  H.  Workman, 
Wm.  H.  Robinson, 
S.  B.  Crowley, 
Thos.  C.  Ricketts, 
Mahlon  Richcreek, 
W.  C.  Wolfe, 
Thos.  Love, 
J.  W.  Rue, 
Frew. 


In  1853,  it  was  determined  to  erect  a  suitable 
school-house.  A  considerable  amount  of  feeling 
was  manifested  in  regard  to  the  location  of  it. 
Some  were  anxious  to  have  it  erected  on  the 
quarter  block  (two  original  town  lots),  at  the 
northeast  corner  of  Fourth  and  Main  streets, 
fronting  the  public  square.  Others  insisted  upon 
placing  it  upon  the  square  at  the  norti  end  of 
the  town,  given  by  the  original  proprietors  of  the 
town  for  that  purpose.  The  latter  carried  the 
day.  The  building  (a  two-story  brick,  thif  ty  by 
eighty  feet,  with  belfry,)  was  finished  in  1855. 
A.  N.  Milner,  a  merchant  and  general  operator, 
took  the  contract  at  about  $4,500.  A  small  allow- 
ance was  subsequently  made,  but  it  was  claimed 
that  he  was  out  of  pocket  very  largely,  whether 
by  proper  cost  or  through  want,  of  management, 
is  disputed.  The  brick  work  was  done  by  Henry*- 
Davis;  the  carpenter  work,  et^.,  by  George  Hay. 
The  bell  was  added  six  or  eight  years  afterward- 
purchased  by  the  fines  paid  in  that  year  by  the 
violators  of  the  liquor  law.  The  shade  trees 
which  adorn  the  large  school  yard,  were  planted 
by  superintendent  W.  A.  McKee.  When  this 
school-house  was  built,  the  board  of  education 
was  composed  of  B.  R.  Shaw,  J.  C.  Tidball,  Jacob 
Waggoner,  A.  L.  Cass,  H.  Cantwell  and  William 
Sample. 

There  are  no  accessible  records,  from  which  to 
obtain  the  complete  list  of  names  and  periods  of 
feervice  of  the  subsequent  members  of  the  board, 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


441 


but  the  following  persons  have  served  in  this  ca- 
pacity since :  John  Frew,  Thomas  Campbell,  H. 
N.  Shaw,  James  Dryden,  J.  G.  Stewart,  Henry 
Davis,  W.  H.  Robinson,  A.  J.  Wilkin,  J.  C.  Pom- 
erine,  A.  H.  Spangler,  D.  F.  Denman,  J.  M. 
Oompton,  J.  S.  Wilson,  C.  H  Johnson,  T.  J.  Mad- 
den and  W.  W.  Walker.  The  board  at  this  time 
embraces  G.  H.  Barger,  Henry  Davis,  Williand 
.Crowell,  E.  J.  Pocock,  William  Carnahan  and 
W.  H.  Robinson. 

Following  Mr.  Powers,  the  superintendents  of 
the  Coshocton  union  schools  have  been  as  fol- 
lows: W.  A.  McKee,  1854-7;  T.  V.  Milligan, 
1857-9;  John  Giles,  1859-64;  C.  Forney,  1864-8; 
Gteorge  Conant,  1868-78;  E.  E.  Henry,  1878-81. 

To  meet  the  demands  of  a  rapidly  increasing 
enrollment  the  board  in  1870  erected  a  two-story 
brick  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Walnut  and 
Seventh  streets.  In  1874  a  small  frame  was 
erected  on  the  southeast  corner  of  the  north 
school  lot,  and  the  accomodations  being  still  in- 
sufficient, two  primary  schools  were  set  up  in  a 
private  house  on  Chestnut  street,  just  east  of  the 
railroad. 

In  1876  an  imposing  three-story  front  addition 
was  built  to  the  school-house  on  Walnut  and  Sev- 
enth streets.  The  plans  were  furnished  by  John- 
son &  Kremler,  of  Columbus,  ,and  the  work 
done  by  the  Coshocton  planing  mill  company. 
Its  cost  was  $15,000, 

The  growth  of  the  schools  during  the  decade 
which  has  just  ended  has  been  rapid.    For  the 
year  1879-80  there  were  681  pupils  enrolled  and 
the  average  daily  attendance  was  565.    Thirteen 
teachers  are  employed.    The  course  es^tends  over 
a  period  of  twelve  years,  four  in  each  of   the 
three  departments,  primary,  grammar  and  high. 
The  first  graduating  class  was  that  of  1879,  con- 
taining six  members;  the  class  of  '80  consisted  of 
seven  members.     Several  futile  attempts  have 
Iseen  made  to  establish  advanced  educational  in- 
■stitutions  in  this  place.    "  In  1870  the  Presbyter- 
ian Church  of  Coshocton  made  a  proposition  to 
give  the  frame  church  building  for  a  school-house, 
and  a  strip  of  ground— now  occupied  by  the  par- 
sonage—whereon to  erect  a  boarding  house,  to  a 
"board  of  trustees  appointed  by  the  session,  but 
including  representative  members  of  other  de- 
nominations, to  the  nvimber  of  two-thirds  of  the 


board,  if  the  community  would  assist  in  securing 
not  less  than  15,000,  wherewith  to  erect  the  board- 
ing house.  Over  $4,000  were  subscribed— all  but 
$800  by  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but 
the  community  manifested  so  little  interest  in 
this  movement  to  secure  the  '  Coshocton  Female  • 
College,'  that  the  church,  after  waiting  a  year, 
withdrew  the  proposition  and  proceeded  to  erect 
a  parsonage  with  the  fund  so  far  as  it  had  been 
contributed  within  the  church. 

"  A  few  years  later  Rev.  Mr.  Lee,  of  the  Method- 
ist Episcopal  Church,  the  president  of  an  institu- 
tion called  the  One^Study  University,  undertook 
to  start  a  branch  of  that  university  under  the 
name  of  '  Coshocton  College '  but  the  effort  also 
was  quite  abortive — the  concern  leading  a  feeble 
life  for  a  year  or  so,  and  then  passing  away." 

In  early  days  preaching  could  only  be  had  occa- 
sionally, and  this  was  usually  by  ministers  either 
engaged  in  western  missionary  work,  or  passing 
fortuitously  through  the  county.  Prior  to  1811, 
there  was  probably  no  preaching  in  Coshocton. 
Rev.  Calhoun  is  authority  for  the  statement  that, 
in  1810,  "  from  all  we  can  learn,  there  was  not  a 
praj'ing  family  in  the  town,  and  probably  a 
Christian  prayer  had  never  been  offered  on  the 
town  plat." 

After  Dr.  Samuel  Lee  became  a  resident  of  the 
place  in  1811,  Rev.  Timothy  Harris,  a  Congrega- 
tional minister,  of  Granville,  who  had  accompa- 
nied him  from  Vermont,  used  to  preach  here 
occasionally.  Others,  doubtless,  whose  names 
are  now  lost  beyond  recall,  conducted  meetings 
in  private  houses,  from  time  to  time,  during  the 
decade  that  followed  the  organization  of  the 
county.  The  first  denomination  to  effect  an  or- 
ganization in  Coshocton  was  the  Presbyterian. 
Its  history  has  been  kindly  furnished  by  James  R. 
Johnson,  as  follows: 

The  churches  of  Keene  and  Coshocton  were 
originally  one  organization.  The  date  of  organi- 
zation, as  gathered  a  few  years  later;  from  the 
earliest  members,  is  shown  by  the  following  entry 
in  the  record  book,  in  1827 : 

As  nearly  as  can  now  be  ascertained  this 
chur'ch  was  formed  in  the  fall  of  1818,  by  Rev. 
J.  Cunningham,  of  Richland  Presbytery.  It  was 
called  "The  Church  of  the  Congregations  of 
Coshocton  and  Millcreek ; "  and  at  that  time  was 
composed  of  the  following  members : 


442 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


James  Eenfrew,  Timothy  Emerson,  Dr.  Samuel 
Lee,  Jacob  Emerson,  Andrew  Henderson,  Enos 
Emerson,  William  Ford,  John  Elder,  Henry 
Jewit,  Mrs.  Jewit,  Mrs.  Elder,  Polly  Emerson, 
Katy  Henderson,  Catherine  Emerson  and  Mrs. 
Thayer. 

Mr.  James  Renfrew  and  Mr.  Timothy  Emerson 
were  chosen  elders,  and  ordained. 

Church  services  were  held  in  private  houses 
until  after  the  erection  of  the  court-house,  in 
1824,  and  the  brick  school-house,  in  1828 ;  both 
on  the  public  square. 

A  record  was  begun  July  14, 1827,  at  which 
time  Rev.  Thomas  Barr  preached,  and  eighteen 
additional  members  were  received.  From  this 
time  the  church  had  preachiftg  more  regularly, 
the  services  being  mostly  held  at  Keene,  as  the 
membership  there  was  much  greater  than  at 
Coshocton. 

In  3824,  with  the  assistance  of  Rev.  James 
Cunningham,  the  first  Sunday-school  in  the 
county  was  started,  in  Coshocton,  under  the 
superintendence  of  James  Renfrew.  It  met  for 
a  time  in  the  currying  shop  of  his  tan-yard,  on 
Second  street;  then  in  the  tavern,  corner  Second 
and  Walnut  streets;  then  in  the  court-house, 
and  later  in  the  school-house.  In  January,  1829, 
we  find  fourteen  teachers  and  seventy-six  pupils 
enrolled.  This  school  has  been  kept  up  regularly 
till  the  present  day. 

Rev.  Samuel  Rose,  a  Congregational  minister, 
preached  to  the  church  for  a  few  months,  about 
the  year  1827.  Rev.  George  W.  Warner  (now 
living  in  Columbia  county,  N.  Y.,)  preached  here 
from  November  24,  1828,  to  April  10,  1831.  It 
was  during  his  ministry  that  the  first  Presby- 
terian communion  service  in  Coshocton  was 
held,  January  15, 1831,  in  the  court-house,  Rev. 
John  Pitkins  officiating.  The  church  was  sup- 
plied by  Rev.  Henry  Hervey,  of  Martinsburg, 
and  others,  until  the  spring  of  1834,  when  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Conkling  began  his  labors  here. 

In  April,  1834,  a  lease,  from  the  county  com- 
missioners to  Samuel  Lee,  William  K.  Johnson 
and  John  Porter,  as  trustees,  granted  permission 
to  erect  a  church  building  on  the  public  square. 
By  a  great  effort  a  substantial  frame  building, 
thirty  by  forty-two  feet,  was  erected  the  same  year. 
It  faced  Main  street,  standing  back  about  ten  feet 
from  the  line  of  the  street,  and  opposite  lot  316. 
This  was  the  first  church  building  in  Coshocton. 
It  had  one  wide  aisle;  in  which  stood  two  stoves, 
the  pipes  ascending  straight  to  the  ceiling ;  in  the 
north  end  a  high  box-pulpit;  in  the  opposite  end 
a  choir  gallery;  four  very  large  windows  on  each 
side  and  two  next  the  street,  with  glass  eight  by 
ten  inches.  The  wood-work  inside  and  out  was 
painted  white.  In  later  years  the  ladies'  sewing 
society  had  the  walls  papered  and  green  Venetian 
shutters  put  to  the  windows,  and  the  pulpit  and 


double  front  door  grained  in  oak,  and  a  rag 
carpet  placed  in  the  aisle.  It  had  no  belfry  or 
bell",  the  court-house  bell  being  used  for  court, 
fires,  funerals,  school,"  church  and  political  meet- 
ings. 

During  the  two  years'  ministry  of  Mr.  Conk- 
ling, the  churches  of  Keene  and  Coshocton  be- 
came separate  organizations;  a  good  church  build- 
ing was  erected  at  each  of  these  places,  fourteen 
members  were  added  at  Coshocton  and  thirty- 
eight  at  K^ene.  The  first  year,  Mr.  Conkling 
lived  at  Coshocton,  the  second  year,  at  Keene. 
He  had  five  children;  one  of  them,  now  Rev. 
Nathaniel  Conkling,  D.  D.,  of  New  York  City, 
was  born  at  Keene.  Mrs.  Conkling  is  buried  at 
Keene. 

Mr.  Conkling  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Joseph  S. 
WyUe,  the  first  minister  who  was  installed  as 
pastor  of  the  church.  During  the  five  years  of 
his  ministry  (1836-1841)  some  forty-eight  mem- 
bers were  added  at  Coshocton,  and  the  church 
was  incorporated  by  act  of  the  legislature  as 
"  The  First  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  town  of 
Coshocton,  in  Coshocton  county." 

In  1838,  some  difficulties  arose  which  led  to  the 
withdrawal  of  fourteen  members,  who  were 
formed  (January  12,  1839)  into  a  new  school 
Presbyterian  Church,  known  as  the  Second 
church.  Mr.  Wylie  preached  at  Keene  part  of 
his  time. 

Rev.  E.  Buckingham  preached  to  the  second 
church  from  1839  till  1846,  in  which  time  eighty- 
seven  members  were  added  and  a  frame  church 
building,  thirty-eight  by  fifty-five  feet,  with  stone 
basement,  was  erected  on  lot  50,  Fourth  street, 
in  1840.  The  basement  was  used  for  service  un- 
til the  audience  room  was  completed,  October  14,, 
1849.  Rev.  Henry  Calhoun  (now  of  Ironton)  be- 
gan preaching  in  the  Second  church  in  the  spring 
of  1846,  and  remained  eleven  j-ears.  During  his 
ministiy  sixty-two  were  added.  He  also  taught 
school,  and  preached  in  Roscoe  part  of  his  time. 
April  25, 1857,  fifteen  members  were  dismissed  to 
form  a  separate  church  in  Roscoe.  A  very  flour- 
ishing Sunday-school  was  another  feature  of  Mr. 
Calhoun's  ministry.  This  for  some  years  was  the 
largest  Sunday-school  in  town. 

Rev.  Addison  Cdffey,  from  Lebanon,  Ohio, 
began  preaching  in  the  FiTst  church,  as  stated 
supply,  August  8,  1841,  and  was  installed  pastor 
August  4,  1843.  The  pastoral  relation  was  dis- 
solved September  2, 1847.  Sixty-six  were  added 
during  his  ministry. 

He  built  a  school-house  on  lot  87,  and  a  brick 
dwelling  on  lot  85,  with  a  view  to  keeping  school 
boarders.  He  went  to  Peoria,  Illinois,  where  he 
has  since  died.  The  shorter  ministries  of  Mr. 
Hennigh,  Mr.  Jacob,  and  others  in  the  First 
church,  and  of  Mr.  Wallace  and  others  in  the 


HISTORY  01'  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


443 


Second  church,  are  mentioned  in  a  table  at  the 
.  close  of  this  sketch. 

During  Mr.  Jacob's  ministry,  a  ladies'  sewing 
society  was  formed  in>  the  First  church;  Mrs. 
Joseph  K.  Johnson,  president;  Miss  Isabel  Sam- 
ple, treasurer.  A  society  of  the  same  sort  was 
maintained  in  the  Second  church.  Mrs.  Buct- 
ingham,  president.  Plain  sewing  and  fancy 
needle  work,  an  annual  fair  and  festival  and 
evening  mite  meetings  have  been  their  sources 
of  revenue.  To  this  time  they  have  contributed 
for  repairs,  and  toward  the  erection  of  a  new 
church  and  parsonage,  some  |6,500. 

Rev.  William  E.  Hunt,  the  present  pastor,  be- 
gan preaching  in  Coshocton  in  July,  1856,  and 
was  ordained  and  installed  April  15,  1857.  The 
following  events  of  his  twenty-five  years'  minis- 
try are  worthy  of  special  mention : 

1.  The  church  became  self-sustaining — all  the 
ministers  who  preceded  him  being  partly  sup- 
ported by  the  mission  boards. 

2.  'The  acquisition,  in  1857,  of  the  parsonage  on 
lot  314.  The  lot  was  the  gift  of  W.  K.  Johnson 
&  Co.,  a  frame  building  being  erected  by  the  rest 
of  the  congregation.    This  was  sold  in  1871,  to 

,T.  C.  Ricketts,  for  $2,400.    The  house  on  this  lot 
was  burned  in  the  fall  of  1877. 

3.  The  purchase,  in  1863,  of  lot  49,  corner  of 
Fourth  and  Chestnut  streets,  by  the  ladies'  sew- 
ing society  of  the  First  church,  for  $1,000. 

4.  The  erection  thereon,  in  1866-68,  of  a  new 
church  building  forty-three  by  sixty-nine  feet,  at 
a  cost  of  $15,500. 

5.  The  reunion,  after  a  separation  of  thirty 
years,  of  the  First  and  Second  churches,  which 
was  consummated  September  11, 1870,  after  wor- 
shiping together  for  a  period  of  three  years  un- 
der a  temporary  arrangement;  the  member- 
ship of  the  First  church  being,  at  the  time  of  the 
reunion,  112 ;  that  of  the  Second  church,  seventy- 
five  ;  the  session  of  the  united  church  being  made 
up  of  the  elders  of  both  churches,  Rev.  William 
E.  Hunt,  pastor;  corporate  name.  The  Presbyte- 
terian  Church  of  Coshocton. 

6.  The  erection,  in  1871,  of  a  new  parsonage, 
adjoining  the  church,  at  a  cost  of  $6,000.  TTwo 
thousand  six  hundred  dollars  of  this  was  raised 
as  a  special  memorial  fund  to  commemorate  the 
reunion. 

7.  The  accession  of  280  members. 

8.  The  sale  of  the  old  First  church,  in  1868,  to 
J.  M.  Brown,  for  $400,  now  used  for  stores,  corner 
Fourth  and  Main  streets ;  and  the  sale  of  the  old 
Second  church,  in  1873,  to  J.  C.  Fisher  and  oth- 
ers, for  $3,000,  now  remodeled  and  used  for  print- 
ing and  lawyers'  offices. 

Besides  the  regular  weekly  services  of  the 
church,  Mr.  Hunt  has,  up  to  this  time,  conducted 
265  funeral  services,  and  performed  390  marriage 
ceremonies. 

17 


The  church  now  has  209  members,  with  200 
pupils  in  Sunday-school ;  and  besides  the  ladies' 
sewing  society,  already  mentioned,  has  two  mis- 
sionary societies  and  a  young  people's  associa- 
tion ;  is  out  of  debt,  and  annually  raises  $1,800 
for  current  expenses,  and  $300  for  missionary 
and  other  berievolent  enterprises. 

The  list  of  ministers  of  the  First  church. is  as 

follows : 

I 

Rev.  James  Cunningham,  1818;  missionary 
work  at  intervals. 

Rev.  Samuel  Rose,  about  1827 ;  a  few  months. 

Rev.  George  W.  Warner,  1828-1831;  two  and 
one-third  years. 

Rev.  Henry  Hervey,  about  1832 ;  a  few  months. 

Rev.  N.  Conkling,  1834^1836;  two  years. 

Rev.  Joseph  S.  Wyhe,  1836-1841;  five  years. 

Rev.  Addison  Coffey,  1841-1847 ;  six  years. 

Rev.  H.  K.  Hennigh,  1847-1849 :  one  and  one- 
half  years. 

Rev.  Robert  Robe,  1849-1850;  one-half  year. 

Rev.  P.  H.  Jacob,  1851-1855 ;  three  and  three- 
fourth  years. 

Rev.  T.  J.  Taylor,  1855-1866;  a  few  months. 

Rev.  William  E.  Hunt,  1856 ;  present  pastor. 

Following  is  a  list  of  ministers  of  the  Second 
church : 

Rev.  E.  Buckingham,  1839-1846 ;  seven  years. 

Rev.  Henry  Calhoun,  1846-1867;  eleven  years. 

Rev. Mussey,  about  1868 ;  a  few  months. 

Rev.  John  Henderson,  1859-1860 ;  a  few  months. 

Rev.  William  Bridgman,  fall  of  1860;  three 
months. 

Rev.  Charles  W.  Wallace,  1861-1S66;  four  and 
one-fourth  years. 

Rev.  Wilham  M.  Kain,  1866-1867;  one  year. 

The  list  of  ruling  elders  of  the  First  church, 
is  as  follows,  with  date  of  election  and  years  of 
service : 

James  Renfrew,  1818 ;  fourteen  years. 

John  Elliott,  1832 ;  twenty-three  years. 

Jacob  Eliot,  nineteen  and  one-half  years. 

Jonathan  Fisk,  eleven  and  one-half  years. 

Samuel  Wheeler,  1844 ;  twelve  years. 

William  Loder,  1844 ;  nineteen  years. 

RoUa  Banks,  1844;  five  years. 

John  F.  Traxler,  1844;  four  years. 

David  Noble,  1844;  fourteen  years. 

Joseph  K.  Johnson,  '  849 ;  twenty-three  years. 

William  Sample,  1865 ;  seventeen  years. 

William  Laughead,  1856;  ten  years. 

T.  S.  Humrickhouse,  1867. 

T.  C.  Ricketts,  1867. 

James  R.  Johnson,  1867. 


444 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Following  is  a  list  of  ruling  elders  of  the  Second 
church : 

Samuel  Lee,  1839 ,  thirty  years. 

A.  E.  Hillyer,  1839 ;  twenty-one  years. 

Phineas  Tuttle,  1843;  nineteen  years. 

James  Hill,  1843 ;  fifteen  years. 

A.  D.  Denman,  1860. 

Josiah  Glover,  1860. 

Chester  Wells,  1862;  six  years. 

William  H-  Robinson,  1863. 

Samuel  Hiram  Lee,  1863. 

The  Methodist  Protestant  church  at  Coshocton 
was  organized  soon  after  the  disruption  in  the 
Methodist  church,  in  consequence  of 'which  the 
Methodist  Protestant  denomination  sprang  into 
being.  It  was  probably  in  the  year  1830  that  Rev. 
Rufus  Richason  formed  a  little  class  consisting  of 
Zebedee  Baker  and  Susanna  his  wife,  David  Wag- 
goner and  wife,  Mary  Darnes,  and  one  or  two 
others.  The  early  preaching  was  held  in  the 
court-house.  About  1840  the  erection  of  a  sub- 
stantial brick  church  was  begun,  and  completed  a 
year  or  two  later.  It  stands  on  Locust  street  be- 
tween Second  and  Third,  and  of  late  years  has 
been  occupied  by  the  German  Lutherans.  Dur- 
ing the  winter  preceding  its  erection,  a  noted  se- 
ries of  revival  meetings  were  held  at  the  court 
house  by  Rev.  William  Munhall.  As  a  result  of 
these  meetings  one  hundred  and  thirty  accessions 
were  made  to  the  three  churches  then  organized, 
a  large  proportion  of  the  converts  joining  the 
Methodist  Protestant  society.  Not  long  after  the 
church  began  to  decline ;  the  membership  stead- 
ily decreased  until  within  a  few  years  when  serv- 
ices were  wholly  discontinued.  The  last  minister 
was  Joseph  Thrapp.  Of  the  early  preachers  may 
be  mentioned  Joel  Dolby,  Israel  Thrapp,  Zacha- 
riah  Ragan,  John  Burns,  N.  Sneethen  and  Rev. 
Reeves,  whose  wife  also  could  preach  a  sermon 
when  it  became  necessary.  Among  the  more 
prominent  ministerial  laborers  of  a  somewhat 
later  day  were  Thomas  Stevens,  Phineas  Inskeep 
and  Joseph  Hamilton. 

The  membership  at  one  time  amounted  to 
about  one  hundred,  and  fo'r  three  years  the 
church  formed  a  separate  station.  A  Sunday- 
school  was  organized  soon  after  the  church  was 
built,  and  for  a  while  was  considered  the  best  in 
Coshocton. 

The  history  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church 


dates  back  to  the  year  1840.  Prior  to  that  year 
different  ministers  had  preached  in  the  town,, 
from  time  to  time,  as  occasion  offered,  for  a 
number  of  years — such  as  Thomas  A.  Morris 
(afterward  bishop),  David  Young,  Jacob  Young, 
Robert  0.  Spencer,  William  B.  Christie,  John 
Dillon  and  others.  A  few  years  ago  Rev.  B.  P. 
Beazell  prepared  a  historical  record  of  the  cir- 
cuit to  which  Coshocton  belonged,  from  which 
most  of  the  following  has  been  taken.  Rev.  J. 
N.  Baird  says: 

I  was  sent  to  Coshocton  in  the  summer  of  1840. 
Found  the  territory  I  was  to  organize  into  a  cir- 
cuit to  be  bounded  by  the  Muskingum  river, 
from  Coshocton  down  to  the  mouth  of  Will's 
creek;  up  the  same  to  the  neighborhood  of  Lin- 
ton; thence  north,  to  the  plains  near  Evansburg; 
thence  down  to  the  place  of  beginning.  There 
were  societies  at  East  Plainfield,  Marquand's  and 
Robinson's.  There  was  no  society  in  Coshocton— 
indeed,  but  one  member  was  found  there.  Sister 
Spangler.  'Thomas  C.  Ricketts  had,  a  little  before 
that,  united  with  the  church  in  Roscoe;  was  yet 
on  probation,  and  afterwards  came  to  us,  when 
we  organized.  There  was  a  Brother  Conwell, 
also,  who  had  been  a  member  of  the  church 
somewhere,  and  joined  us,  when  we  organized. 
But  Mrs.  David  Spangler  was  the  only  member  of 
the  church  at  the  time  of  my  arrival,  and  to  her, 
as  much  as  to  any  preacher,  perhaps,  our  strug- 
gling enterprise  there,  is  indebted  for  success. 
Her  noble  husband,  though  not  a  member,  was 
always  helpful  in  every  way.  I  preached  in  the 
court-house,  and  organized  the  first  class  of 
twelve  members  in  the  old  jury  box.  I  left  a 
considerable  society — near  seventy  members,  I 
think — and  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  John  J.  Swayze, 
at  that  time  the  most  popular  m-an  in  the  pulpit, 
in  the  conference. 

The  twelve  members  of  that  first  class  were : 
Elizabeth  Spangler,  Thomas  C.  Ricketts,  George 
E.  Conwell,  Felix  Landers,  David  Frew,  Benja- 
min R.  Shaw,  Henrietta  Shaw,  Nancy  Decker, 
Martha  Wallace,  Mary  Wallace,  Abraham  Sells 
and  Lucy  Thomas.  It  was  organized  within  a 
few  months  after  Dr.  Baird's  arrival.  Dr.  Baird 
was  a  faithful  and  efficient  worker,  and  at  the 
expiration  of  his  two  years'  term  of  service,  left 
the  society  in  a  prosperous  condition.  Preach- 
ing was  continued  at  the  court-house  until  the 
church  was  built.  This  was  begun  during  Dr. 
Baird's  pastorate.  The  original  record  book 
bears  this  inscription :  "At  a  meeting  held  in  the 
town  of  Coshocton,  May  9,  1842,  by  the  friends 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


445 


and  members  of  the  M.  E.  church,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  consultation  as  to  the  propriety  of  erect- 
ing a  house  for  pubUc  worship — WilUam  McFar- 
land  having  been  called  to  the  chair,  and  E.  B. 
■Shaw  made  secretary  —  on  motion  of  David 
'Spangler,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  that  we 
take  immediate  measures  to  secure  a  site  and 
■erect  a  suitable  building."  Accordingly  a  com- 
mittee of  five  persons  was  appointed  to  secure  a 
location  and  solicit  subscriptions.  Thomas  C. 
Eicketts,  James  Eobinson,  David  Frew  and  Wil- 
liam McFarland,  composed  the  committee.  An 
Mditional  committee,  consisting  of  James-  Le- 
Eetilley,  Theophilus  Phillips  and  Samuel  Hutch- 
inson, was  appointed  to  secure  subscriptions  in 
Eoscoe.  At  a  subsequent  meeting,  David  Frew, 
B.  E.  Shaw  and  George  E.  Con  well,  were  elected  a 
building  committee. 

A  vote  of  thanks  for  the  liberal  subscriptions  of 
ihe  community  is  recorded,  and  then,  among 
'Other  things,  the  following :  "  Resolved,  That  we 
accept  the  proposal  of  Mr.  John  Elliott  to  erect 
said  building  for  the  sum  of  $2,500,  as  per  con- 
-tract;"  at  the  same  time  paying  him  $1,099,  the 
amount  of  subscriptions  then  obtained.  Four 
years  later,  when  the  building  was  finally  ready 
for  use,  little  or  nothing  remained  to  be  paid. 
The  church  was  dedicated  in  the  early  summer 
of  1846,  during,  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  E.  P.  Jacob, 
by  Eev.  Wesley  Eenny,  D.  D.,  then  of  Wheeling' 
Since  that  time  it  has  been  repaired  and  im- 
proved at  different  times  at  an  aggregate  expense 
of  not -less  than  double  its  original  cost. 

Until  1859  the  circuit  retained,  substantially, 
its  original  shape,  but  in  that  year  a  division  was 
made.  Coshocton,  Robinson's  and  Lafayette 
formed  one  pastoral  charge,  retaining  the  old 
name.  Lafayette,  by  request,  was  next  year 
placed  in  the  Plainfield  circuit.  For  nine  years 
Robinson's  and  Coshocton  constituted  one  pasto- 
ral charge ;  but,  in  1868,  the  former  was  included 
in  the  Plainfield  circuit,  since  when  the  latter  has 
been  a  station. 

In  view  of  the  dilapidated  condition  of  the 
ohurch,  Mrs.  David  Spangler,  who  was  one  of  the 
original  members  of  the  church,  and  has  always 
"taken  a  deep  interest  in  its  prosperity,  made  the 
following  proposition  to  the  members  and  friends 
of  the  M.  E.  church,  of  Coshocton,  June  12, 1879: 


"  On  condition  that  the  sum  of  $5,000  be  raised  to 
erect  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  in  the  vil- 
lage of  Coshocton,  I  promise  to  give  the  south 
half  of  lot  No.  56,  in  said  village,  being  situated  on 
the  corner  of  Fourth  and  Walnut  streets,  for  the 
purpose  of  erecting  said  church  edifice."  The 
offer  was  unanimously  accepted  by  the  trustees  a 
few  days  later,  a  subscription  paper  put  in  circu- 
lation, and  the  amount  speedily  raised.  The  old 
church  building,  which  stands  on  Third  street 
(lot  147),  between  Chestnut  and  Locust  streets, 
and  the  adjoining  parsonage,  which  was  secured 
in  1862,  built  by  Charles  McCloskey,  were  sold  to 
D.  R.  Culbertson  for  $1,250.  It  was  abandoned  by 
the  congregation  in  the  fall  of  1880,  services  and 
Sunday-school  being  held  in  the  city  hall  during 
the  winter  of  1880-81,  until  the  new  church  was 
ready  for  occupation. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  trustees,  December  8, 1879, 
the  contract  for  building  the  church  was  let  to 
S.  C.  Dillon,  of  Dresden,  for  $8,603;  for  which 
amount  he  was  to  finish  the  building  entire  ex- 
cept glass  for  windows,  frescoing,  heaters  and 
seats  in  Sunday-school  room.  The  aggregate 
cost  was  in  round  numbers  $10,000.  The  ladies 
aid  society,  organized  February  17, 1873,  a  very 
efficient  auxilliary  to  the  church  organization, 
has  been  active  and  earnest  in  its  support  of  the 
new  enterprise,  and  has  contributed  largely  to  its 
success.  The  church  is.  one  of  the  finest  struc- 
tures in  Coshocton.  It  was  dedicated,  free  of 
debt,  April  24, 1881,  by  Bishop  Warren,  of  At- 
lanta, Ga.     The  membership  of  the  church  is  235. 

The  Sflnday-school  was  organized  August  8, 
1845j  with  George  E.  Conwell,  superintendent, 
Russell  C.  Bryant,  secretary,  and  W.  Wells,  libra- 
rian. One  of  the  early  entries  in  the  "  minute 
book"  is  this:  "It  would  be  much  better  to  have 
the  male  and  female  scholars  kept  in  separate 
rooms,  and  we  hope  the  congregation  will  build 
a  school-house."  The  earliest  record  of  attend- 
ance is  five  teachers  and  thirty-five  scholars. 
From  that  day  of  small  things  the  school  has 
gone  steadily  on,  with  increasing  advantages  and 
numbers,  doing  incalculable  good.  There  are 
now  eighteen  classes  and  over  300  members 
enrolled.  E.  J,  Pocock  is  serving  his  fifth  term 
as  superintendent  of  the  school;  I.  B.  Dillon  is 
secretary  and  Miss  Ida  Anderson,  treasurer. 


446 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


A  catalogue  bf  the  pastors  of  the  church  is  as 
follows:  1840-2,  Isaac  N.  Baird;  1842-3,  John  J. 
Swayze;  1843-4,  John  D.  Rich;  1844-5,  Thomas 
McLeary;  1845-6,  E.P.Jacob;  1846-7,  James  Hen- 
derson; 1847-9,  D.  P.  Mitchell;  1849-50,  C.  Wyrick; 
1850-1,  D.  Truman;  1851-2,  C.  A.  Holmes;  1852-4, 
j!  E.  McGaw ;  1854-5,  H.  Sinsabaugh  and  R.  S. 
Hogue ;  1858-9,  T.  Davidson  and  H.  M.Close ;  1859- 
60,  T.  Davidson  and  J.  J.  Neigh ;  1860-2,  S.  M.  Hick- 
man; 1862-3,  W.  R.  Pouts;  1863-5,  W.  D.Ste- 
vens ;  1865-7,  E.  W.  Brady,  who,  retiring  before 
the  expiration  of  his  term  was  succeeded  by  J.. 
W.  Bushong;  1867-8,  E.  Birket;  1868-71,  S. 
Grouse;  1871-3,  J.  D.  Vail;  1873-6,  B.  F.Beazell; 

1876-8,  W.  L.  Dixon;   1878 ,  J.  Brown,  the 

present  pastor. 

The  .  German  Lutheran  congregation,  which 
now  worships  in  the  old  Methodist  Protestant 
church,  was  organized  about  forty  years  ago  in 
Roscoe.  It  appears  that  no  record  has  been  kept 
and  little  is  known  of  its  early  history.  The 
meetings  were  at  first  held  in  the  old  brick  school- 
house  on  the  hill,  but  when  the  Presbyterian 
church  was  erected  at  Roscoe,  in  1849,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  German  Lutheran  church  contributed 
$300  to  the  building  fund,  and  in  return  had  the 
use  of  the  building  each  alternate  Sunday.  The 
majority  of  the  membership  becoming  residents 
of  Coshocton,  services  were  transferred  to  this 
place.  They  were  held  for  a  number  of  years  in 
the  old  Second  Presbyterian  church  on  Fourth 
street,  now  "Equity  Building;"  then  the  present 
house  of  worship  was  engaged  and  sincewDccupied, 
and  kept  in  repair  by  the  society.  The  member- 
ship, through  dissatisfaction,  has  been  consi'dera- 
bly  reduced  during  the  last  few  years,  and  is  now 
quite  limited.  Rev.  Grumer,  of  Newark,  supplies 
the  congregation  at  present. 

St.  George  Catholic  church  was  built  in  1859. 
Rev.  Serge  De  Stchaulepinkoff—  a  Russian  priest 
who,  on  becoming  Catholic,  had  been  compelled 
to  leave  his  country — was  sent  to  Coshocton  the 
year  before,  as  pastor  of  the  several  country 
churches  previously  established.  Soon  after  he 
arrived,  he  organized  the  church  at  Coshocton, 
and  the  following  year,  under  his  direction,  this 
church  was  erected.  It  is  located  on  lot  102,  Third 


street,  between  Chestnut  and  Locust.  Among 
the  earliest  adherents  to  this  faith  who  settled  in 
and  about  Coshocton,  and  became  identified  with 
the  church  at  its  organization,  were  Thomas 
Collopy,  Mr.  Trainer,  James  Hallesey,  George 
Factor,  Joseph  Guinther  and  Joseph  O'DonnelL 
The  first  pastor  continued  in  charge  for  some 
three  years  and  was  succeeded  at  short  intervals 
by  Fathers  Andres,  Rauch  and  Nordmeyer— all 
sent  by  Rev.  J.  B.  Purcell,  Archbishop  of  Cincin- 
nati. In  January,  1869,  Rev.  John  M.  Jacquet 
was  appointed  pastor  by  the  Right  Rev.  J.  H.. 
Rosecrans,  who,  the  year  before,  had  been  made 
First  Bishop  of  Columbus.  Through  his  ii^stru- 
mentality  both  the  church  building  and  the  pas- 
toral residence  have  been  much  improved,  and 
all  debts  against  the  charge  paid  off.  The  mem- 
bership is  somewhat  limited  in  number,  and  for 
some  years  has  remained  about  the  same. 

A  Regular  Baptist  church  was  constituted  at 
Coshocton,  August  23,  1834,  the  services  being 
held  at  the  house  of  Wilson  McGowan  (who  was 
a  leading  member  and  for  many  years  clerk  of 
the  congregation),  and  conducted  by  Elders  John 
Pritchard,  George  C.  Sedgewick,  William  Spen- 
cer and  William  Purdy.  Elder  Sedgwick  Rice 
was  the  minister  until  May  5, 1838,  when  hfi  was 
at  his  own  request  released.  He  died  some 
time  thereafter,  leaving  a  pleasant  recollection  of 
him  in  the  community  as  a  godly  man  and  an 
able  and  earnest  advocate  of  his  church.  After 
his  services  ceased,  the  church  was  supplied  by 
several  brethren  for  several  years,  until  it  seems 
to  have  beep  practically  dissolved  about  1848, 
The  McGowan,  Bryant,  Welch,  Burt,  Coe,  Carhart, 
Farwell,  Loder,  Miller,  Estinghausen,  Whitte- 
more, ,  Babcock,  Sprague,  Elliott,  Wright  and 
Odor  families  seem  to  have  been  connected  with 
this  movement.  At  one  time  there  were  some' 
thirty-seven  members.  The  services  were  held 
in  the  court-house.  Benjamin  Coe  was  the  last 
clerk  of  the  congregation. 

A  recent  effort  to  establish  another  society  of 
this  faith  in  Coshocton  has  met  with  success. 
Rev.  H.  L.  Gear,  financial  secretary  of  the  OhiO' 
State  Baptist  convention,  held  a  series  of  meet- 
ings in  the  Protestant  Methodist  church  during 
January,  1878,  and  on  the  3l8t  day  of  the  same^ 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


447 


month  a  church  was  here  constituted,  to  be  known 
as  the  First  Baptist  Church  of  Coshocton,  with 
the  following  membership:  Elizabeth  Bonnett, 
Flora  Love,  Mary  E.  Gardner,  Delilah  Henry, 
Anna  Breightman,  Sarah  Pelton,  Elizabeth  Burt 
and  Almedia  Coe.  The  articles  of  faith  and 
-church  covenant,  as  found  in  J., Newton  Brown's 
Encyclopedia  of  Religious  Knowledge,  were 
adopted.  On  the  same  day  a  council,  composed 
■of  members  of  Dresden,  Pleasant  Hill,  Tomaka 
and  Chestnut  Hill  Baptist  churches,  met  at  ^he 
same  place.  After  an  examination  of  the  articles 
of  faith,  church  covenant,  and  reasons  for  organ- 
izing a  Baptist  church  in  Coshocton,  the  council 
recognized  the  organization  with  the  following 
services :  Sermon,  by  Rev.  J.  P.  Hunter ;  charge 
to  the  church,  by  Rev.  J.  Wright;  and  hand  of 
fellowship,  by  Rev.  H.  L.  Gear.  February  2, 
Rev.  J.  P.  Hunter  was  called  as  first  pastor  of  the 
church.  He  entered  upon  his  pastoral  duties 
April  1,  1878,  and  at  the  expiration  of  eighteen 
months  resigned.  The  church  was  then  without 
a  pastor  for  a  few  months,  but  Rev.  D.  Trichler 
was  soon  called  to  the  charge,  and  entered  upon 
his  wor^  in  February,  1880.  Tfie  church  began 
bolding  services  in  Central  Hall,  in  March,  1878, 
and  in  the  following  month  it  was  resolved  to 
•erect  a  house  of  worship.  Within  a  year  a  neat 
and  comfortable  edifice,  substantially  built  of 
brick,  was  completed,  at  a  cost  of  $3,457.  It  was 
•dedicated  March  16, 1879.  The  present  officers 
are :    Rev.  D.  Trichler,  pastor ;  E.  W.  Williams, 


deacon ;  John  Robinson,  E.  A.  Breightman,  and 
E.  Williams,  trustees;  L.  P.  Hay,  clerk.  The 
church  numbers  forty  members.  A  mite  society 
is  an  active  auxiliary  in  benevolent  enterprises. 
A  Sunday-school  was  organized  at  Central  Hall 
in  the  spring  of  1878,  and  is  now  in  good  work- 
ing order,  superintended  by  E.  Williams.  It 
contains  about  fifty  scholars. 

Trinity  Church,  a  congregation  belonging  to 
the  Episcopal  Church,  was  organized  at  the  law 
office  of  W.  S.  Crowell,  in  October,  1878,  by  the 
adoption  of  articles  of  association^  November  2, 
following,  S.  D.  Brewster  was  elected  the  first 
rector.  The  first  services  were  held  December  8, 
1878,  in  McClain's  Hall,  which  is  still  the  place  of 
meeting.  The  financial  affairs  of  the  body  were 
managed  by  a  committee  appointed  for  the  pur- 
pose until  January,  1879,  when  the  first  officers 
were  elected.  James  S.  Wilson  was  chosen  Sen- 
ior Warden;  W.  S.  Crowell,  Junior  Warden;  and 
W.  W.  Bostwick,  L.  T.  Judd  and  Thomas  Wilson, 
Vestrymen.  Rev.  S.  D.  Brewster  continued  at 
the  head  of  the  society  until  February,  1880, 
when  Rev.  J.  M.  Hillyar  was  elected  rector.  The 
original  members  numbered  twenty-seven;  there 
has  since  been  a  material  increase  in  member- 
ship. 

A  successful  Sabbath-school  was  established 
July,  1879,  which  has  been  under  the  manage- 
ment of  W.  S.  Crowell  since  its  organization.  Its 
membership  is  about  fifty. 


COSHOCTON  COUNTY  INFIRMARY  AND  FARM.     JOHN  RICHARDSON, 


»  1   ■«* 


fct^^fe^ 


NTENDENT.     DAVID  FRY,  E.  C.  WAKREN,  THOS.  WIGGINS,  DIRECTORS. 


TOWNSHIP   HISTORY. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 


ADAMS     TOWNSHIP. 


Location— Physical  Features— Its  Militaiy  Sections— Organi- 
zation—First  OfiBcers— Early  Justices— Indian  Encamp- 
ments—Early White  Occupation— Settlers  — Mills  — Oil- 
Physicians— Schools— Churches— Bakersville. 

ADAMS  township  is  situated  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  county.  'On  the  north  and  east 
it  touches  Tuscarawas  county,  Oxford  .township 
on  the  south  and  "White  Eyes  on  the  west.  The 
surface  is  hilly  throughout  though  not  to  a  degree 
depriving  the  land  of  value  for  agricultural  pur- 
poses. The  soil  is,  for  the  most  part,  argillaceous 
or  clayey.  Some  of  the  hills,  however,  are  cov- 
ered with  a  sandy  loam.  It  is  productive,  yield- 
ing abundant  harvests  of  corn  and  wheat,  the 
principal  crops  grown.  The  highest  land  lies  in 
the  northern  part.  Here  are  the  head  waters  of 
two  streams  which  flow  in  a  southerly  direction 
draining  the  entire  surface  of  the  township.  The 
moi'e  easterly  of  the  two,  Evans  creek,  passes 
through  Oxford  township  on  the  south  and  soon 
after  mingles  its  waters  with  those  of  the  winding 
Tuscarawas.  The  other,  called  the  East  Fork  of 
White  Eyes  creek,  bends  to  the  northwest  when 
near  the  southern  limit  of  the  township  and  en- 
ters White  Eyes  township.  The  numerous  little 
brooks  that  feed  these  streams,  trickling  through 
nearly  every  dale,  attest  the  existence  of  many 
fine  springs. 

The  township  is  five  miles  square  in  area,  con- 
sisting of  the  sixth  township  in  the  fourth  range 
of  the  United  States  military  district.  The  east- 
ern half  was  congress  land,  which  was  surveyed 


into  sections  of  one  mile  square  by  Alexander 
Holmes,  in  the  year  1803.  The  western  half  was 
composed  of  two  military  sections  of  4,000  acres 
each.  In  1800  military  land  could  be  entered 
only  in  tracts  of  4,000  acres,  and  it  sometimes 
occurred  that  a  number  of  persons,  each  holding 
an  insufficient  number  of  warrants  to  enter  a 
whole  section,  would  unite  their  several  claims 
for  this  purpose,  afterward  dividing  the  section 
among  themselves,  in  proportion  to  the  amount 
of  each  one's  warrants.  Thus  it  was  with  both  of 
these  sections.  The  northern  one,  constituting 
the  northwest  quarter  of  the  township,  was  en- 
tered by  a  company  of  ten  individuals  as  follows: 
Jesse  and  Abijali  Hunt,  of  Hamilton  county, 
holding  warrants  for  1,500  acres ;  Ephraim  True, 
with  warrants  for  600  hundred  acres ;  James  Per- 
cival,  of  Connecticut,  for  500;  Lewis  Morris,  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  for  400 ;  Joseph  Love- 
land,  of  Fairfield  county,  for  300;  Joseph  Lock- 
land,  for  300,  and  four  others,  Henry  Ross,  of 
Washington  county;  -John  Buel,  major  in  the 
army;  Stephen  Smith  and  Christopher  Hamel,  for 
100  acres  each.  The  section  was  located  and  sur- 
veyed for  the  company  by  John  Matthews,  he  re- 
ceiving in  compensation  for  his  services  the  one- 
tenth  part,  or  400  acres.  The  other  section,  form- 
ing the  southwest  quarter  of  the  township,  was 
located  for  a  company  of  Marylanders,  of  whom 
Rezin  Davis  and  0.  H.  Williams  were  the  most 
extensive  shareholders,  the  two  owning  more 
than  the  one-half  of  the  section.  S.  Herbert, 
Jacob  S.  Towson,  Richard  Pindall,  W.  VanLear 
and  P.  Thomas  had  lesser  amounts.  TJie  land  in 
these  two  sections  was  not  placed  in  the  market 
for  many  years,  and,  as  the  owners  were  non-res- 


454 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


idents,  the  settlement  of  this  portion  of  the 
township  was  somewhat  retarded.  The  few  pio- 
neers who  settled  here,  did  so  without  title  to  the 
soil,  and  were  obliged  to  abandon  their  cabins 
when  the  legal  holders  put  in  their  appearance, 
if  they  "had  not  already  done  so. 

Upon  the  formation  of  Oxford  township,  in  the 
fall  of  1811,  that  territory  was  embraced  in  its 
limits  which  now  constitutes  Adams  township. 
In  1823,  when  White  Eyes  township  was  organ- 
ized, the  northwestern  quarter  of  what  is  now 
Adams  township  was  taken  from  Oxford,  and 
made  a  part  of  the  new  township.  In  1832,  the 
county  commissioners  ordered  the  establishment 
of  Adams  township,  as  it  now  exists.  The  com- 
pletion of  the  organization,  by  the  election  of 
local  officers,  is  thus  recorded  in  the  township 
book: 

Agreebly  to  previous  notice,  by  the  commis- 
sioners of  Coshocton  county,  the  citizens  of  Adams 
township  assembled  at  the  house  of  Benjamin 
Headley,  in  said  township,  June  23, 1832,  for  the 
purpose  of  electing  the  necessary  officers  for 
said  township,  and,  after  being  assembled,  did 
proceed  to  elect,  viva  voce,  three  judges  and  two 
clerks,  to  hold  said  election,  viz. :  Thomas  Powell. 
Joshua  Wood  and  Benjamin  Headley  were  ap- 

gointed  judges,  and  Henry  Delong  and  P.  8, 
ampbell, ,  clerks,  who,  after  being  duly  sworn, 
did  proceed  to  open  and  hold  said  election, 
agreeably  to  law;  and,  after  carefully  examining 
the  poll  books  of  said  election,  found  that  thirty 
votes  had  been  given,  and  that  the  following  per- 
sons were  elected  to  the  respective  offices  named, 
with  their  names,  and  did  likewise  proclaim 
them  duly  elected,  in  the  presence  of  all  the 
voters  that  were  present  at  the  close  of  said 
election : 

The  persons  elected  trustees  were  Thomas 
Powell,  Joshua  Wood  and  Archibald  Leach; 
township  clerk,  P.  S.  Campbell ;  constable,  James 
C.  Colson;  treasurer,  Richard  Taylor;  super- 
visors, William  Curry,  William  Norris,  Jr.,  and 
Thomas  Powell,  Jr. ;  overseer  of  the  poor,  Benja- 
min Headley,  and  Vincent  Dewitt;  fence  viewers, 
Robert  Corbit  and  Leonard  Hawk. 

J.  P.  James  was  justice  of  the  peace  at  the  time 
the  township  was  organized,  having  been  elected 
previously  from  Oxford  township.  Patrick  S. 
Campbell  was  the  first  justice  elected  in  the  new 
township,  his  commission  dating  May  23,  1833. 
He  was  successively  elected  seven  times,  holding 
the  office  until  his  death,  December    4,  1852. 


Lewis  Corbit  also  has  served  the  township  in  this 
capacity  for  a  like  number  of  terms.  He  was 
first  elected  in  1857,  and  served  continuously  un- 
til 1878.  Other  early  justices  were  Thomas  Pow- 
ell, John  Baker  and  James  Jones. 

The  Indian  villages  that  were  situated  in  Co- 
shocton county  were  invariably  found  in  the  val- 
leys of  the  larger  streams.  Hence  there  were 
none  in  Adams  township.  Several  small  encamp- 
ments, however,  had  a  place  within  its  limits. 
One  which,  according  to  the  tradition  of  the  ear- 
liest settlers,  contained  three  wigwams,  stood  in 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  9,  close  to  the 
present  residence  of  Lewis  Corbit.  It  was  located 
on  the  sandy  knoll  of  ground  across  the  road,  a 
few  rods  southeast  from  the  house.  An  open 
space  of  about  an  acre  extended  from  the  knoll 
to  the  spring,  which  gushes  forth  from  the  hill- 
side close  to  the  house.  Quite  a  number  of  In- 
dian relics  have  been  found  here,  such  as  arrow- 
heads, stone  axes,  etc.  Mr.  Corbit  plowed  up  in 
this  vicinity,  over  thirty  years  ago,  an  old  gun 
barrel  so  rust-eaten  as»  to  be  scarcely  recogniza- 
ble. Another  encampment  of  five  wigwams 
stood  southeast  from  this  one,  near  the  mouth  of 
Indian  Camp  Run.  Here  the  first  white  arrivals 
found  a  cleared  space  of  several  acres,  with  only 
one  or  two  wild  cherry  trees  growing  upon  it. 

Deer  licks  were  numerous  throughout  this  re- 
gion, and  were  places  of  frequent  resort  for  the 
deer  at  morning  and  evening.  This  fact  was  well 
known  to  the  hunters  of  that  day,  and  turned  to 
advantage  by  them.  Instead  of  roaming  the  for- 
est in  search  of  game  they  would  lie  in  wait  for 
it  here,  A  blind  would  be  formed  of  bushes,  be- 
hind which  they  would  screen  themselves  from 
view,  and  as  the  deer  unsuspiciously  approached 
it  could  easily  be  covered  and  brought  low  by  the 
unerring  aim  of  the  rifleman. 

The  earliest  white  occupants  of  the  territory 
now  embraced  within  the  bounds  of  Adams 
township  were  mainly  members  of  that  migra- 
tory class  which  continually  hover  on  the  ex- 
treme frontier  of  an  advancing  civilization,  white 
men  who  could  not  relinquish  all  intercourse 
with  their  race,  yet  wishing  to  rid  themselves  of 
the  cares  and  duties  of  a  settled  country,  pre- 
ferred the  free  and  easy  life  of  a  hunter,  cultivat- 
ing perhaps  a  little  patch  of  corn,  but  subsisting 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


455 


chiefly  upon  the  game  which  could  always  be  had 
for  the  shooting.  As  this  became  scarce,  through 
the  influx  of  settlers,  they  would  gather  up  their 
tents  and  silently  steal  away  to  the  west  beyond. 

Prior  to  the  war  of  1812,  there  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  any  permanent  settlement  made  here, 
though  it  was  the  transient  home  of  several  white 
men.  A  family  named  Mulford  was  the  first  known 
to  occupy  this  territory.  Mulford  built  a  little 
cabin  on  what  was  afterward  Robert  Corbit's 
place,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  18,  but  re- 
mained only  a  few  years,  removing  to  Oxford 
township.  William  Sparks  afterward  occupied 
the  same  cabin,  and  was  living  in  it  in  1816.  An- 
other squatter  named  Murphy,  much  given  to 
hunting,  settled  in  the  same  locality  very  early; 
also.  Remembrance  and  Elijah  Williams.  "  Mem  " 
was  a  notable  hunter.  They  came  several  years 
before  the  war,  and  both  moved  west  at  a  later 
day.  Remembrance  to  Indiana  and  Elijah  to  Mis- 
souri. Aaron  Shipley  was  another  early  occupant. 

James  Baker  came  with  his  family  from 
Adams  county,  Pennsylvania,  during  the  war  of 
1812.  He  did  not  become  a  property  owner 
here,  and  subsequently  emigrated  to  Arkansas. 
His  son,  John  Baker,  is  still  living,  and  is  one  of 
the  oldest  persons  in  the  township.  He  was 
born  January  25, 1796,  came  west  with  his  father 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  has  always  considered 
Adams  township  his  home,  though  he  has  been  a 
great  traveler.  In  his  younger  days  he  was  ex- 
tremely fond  of  the  chase,  and  spent  much  of  his 
time  with  the  Indians,  whom  he  thinks  were 
among  his  best  friends.  Mr.  Baker  was  the 
founder  of  Bakersville,  and  has  been  one  of  the 
largest  land  owners  in  the  township.  His  wife 
Ellen,  a  daughter  of  Robert  Addy,  also  still  sur- 
vives.   She  was  born  May  20, 1800. 

Robert  Addy,  a  wild  and  daring  spirit,  came 
from  the  Virginia  banks  of  the  Potomac  in  1804, 
and  soon  after  settled  on  Will's  creek,  in  Linton 
township.  In  1815  or  1816,  he  moved  to  this 
township,  settling  in  the  southwest  portion  of 
section  12.  He  had  been  drafted  in  the  war 
of  1812,  a  short  time  before  its  termination,  and 
was  on  his  way  to  the  seat  of  war  when  news  of 
peace  was  received. 

Robert  Corbit,  one  of  the  earliest  permanent 
settlers,  came  from  Hancock  county,  Maryland, 


to  the  Tuscarawas  river  in  Oxford  township,  with 
Isaac  Evans,  in  1804.  Not  liking  the  country,  he 
returned  to  Maryland,  but  soon  after  came  west 
again  with  James  Meskimen,  of  Linton  township, 
and  entered  his  employ,  remaining  sev^n,  years 
and  working  for  seven  dollars  a  month  during 
the  summer,  and  often  for  his  board  in  the 
winter.  He  then  worked  for  Isaa,c  Evans  till  the 
war  of  1812  broke  out.  In  one  of  the  earliest 
drafts  John  Junkin,  a  brawny  Irish  settler  on  the 
river,  and  a  man  of  considerable  wealth  for  those 
days,  drew  the  fatal  ballot  which  consigned  him 
to  a  place  among  the  conscripts.  Mr.  Corbit 
went  as  his  substitute  and  remained  in  the  army 
two  years,  doing  service  at  Fort  Meigs.  After 
his  return,  he  remained  with  Isaac  Evans  till 
1818,  when  he  married  Susan  Fuller  and  settled 
on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  18.  He  pos- 
sessed a  keen  relish  for  hunting  which  never 
cloyed.  His  dog  and  rifle  were  his  inseparable 
companions,  and  it  was  not  an  uncommon  occur- 
rence for  him  to  spend  the  entire  night  in  the 
woods.  He  remained  a  life-long  resident  of  this 
township,  and  died  July  3,  1878,  at  the  age  of 
eighty-eight  years. 

Robert  McFarland  came  about  the  same  time. 
He  was  a  Vfrginian  and  entered  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  19.  In  his  earlier  days  he  was 
addicted  to  the  then  prevalent  vice  of  intemper- 
ance, but  he  joined  the  Methodist  church  and 
entirely  abandoned  the  use  of  ardent  spirits.  It 
is  said  that  he  placed  a  tempting  flask  of  whisky 
upon  the  mantel-piece  of  his  cabin,  in  plain  view, 
where  it  remained  untouched  to  the  day  of  his 
death,  which  occurred  years  afterwards. 

William  Norris  and  James  Jones  settled  here 
among  the  earliest.  Both  were  Virginians ;  the 
former  entered  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
23,  the  latter  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  same 
section.  Mr.  Norris  enjoyed  the  distinction 
of  being  the  father  of  twenty-one  children. 
He  died  in  the  township  at  a  good  old  age  in 
1841.  Some  of  his  descendents  still  live  in  this 
township.  Mr.  Jones  was  one  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  his  time.  He  was  a  strictly  temper- 
rate,  church-going  man  and  was  one  of  the  ear- 
liest justices.  He  removed  to  Benton  county, 
Iowa,  where  he  lived  up  to  the  time  of  his  de- 
cease.    Joshua  and  Benjamin    Chance    settled 


466 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


about  1818'  or  1820.    They  were  not  holders  of 
real  estate. 

Enos  and  Samuel  Dean  and  John  Norman 
were  the  earliest  settlers  in  the  western  part  of 
the  township.  They  had  been  here  sometime 
before  the  year  1816.  Mr.  Norman's  father  had 
located  on  the  Tuscarawas  river,  and  John  moved 
up  to  the  head  of  White  Eyes  creek  very  early. 
Enos  Dean  first  pitched  his  cabin  down  by  the 
creeli:,  but  not  succeeding  as  he  thought  he  should 
he  built  another  cabin  on  a  hill  situated  on  F.  W. 
Powell's  upper  farm  west  of  the  creek,  with  the 
expectation  of  doing  better.  This  place,  from 
this  circumstance,  was  dubbed  "  Mount  Hope,"  a 
name  which  clung  to  it  for  many  years. 

Jonathan  Tipton  soon  after  came  from  Harri- 
son county,  with  a  Mr.  Kimble ;  the  latter  settled 
in  White  Eyes  township,  and  Tipton  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  Adams.  The  names  of  other  settlers 
were  James  and  William  Poland,  John  Lemons 
and  John  Mizer. 

Thomas  Powell  entered  the  township  about 
1819.  He  was  an  Englishman  by  birth,  a  mer- 
chant by  occupation,  and  emigrated  from  his 
native  land  to  Richmond,  Virginia,  and  after- 
wards to  Steubenville.  He  there  leased  the 
Campbell  place,  situated  near  the  center  of  this 
township,  in  the  northwestern  quarter,  and  soon 
after  moved  upon  it.  He  remained  there  about 
ten  years;  then  purchased  and  settled  upon  a 
large  tract  of  over  a  thousand  acres  in  the  south- 
western portion  of  the  township.  His  sons, 
Thomas  and  F.  W.,  still  reside  upon  it. 

James  Campbell  moved  to  his  property,  va- 
cated by  the  Powells,  in  1831.  He  was  originally 
from  Pennsylvania  but  since  1802  had  carried  on 
a  large  tailoring  establishment  in  Steubenville. 
He  died  September  23, 1845.  Patrick  S.  Camp- 
bell, long  a  justice  of  the  peace  for  this  township, 
was  a  son.  Hon.  Thomas  Campbell,  of  Coshoc- 
ton, is  another  son. 

Thomas  Pinkerton  emigrated  from  Pennsyl- 
vania about  1821  and  settled  upon  lot  12,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  southwestern  section,  later 
known  as  the  Jennings  lot.  He  removed  to  Mis- 
souri. Somewhat  later,  John  Rodney  and  George 
and  John  Walters  arrived  from  Guernsey  county. 
George  subsequently  returned  there,  and  John 
continued  on  westward,  to  Knox  county. 


Edward  McGarvey  and  Vincent  Dewitt  were 
two  other  early  settlers  in  the  western  part  of 
the  township.  The  former  was  an  Irishman,  and 
by  trade  a  weaver.  He  settled  here  about  1816. 
Dewitt  came  about  1825,  from  Muskingum 
county. 

S.  H.  Loveless  and  Archibald  Leach,  both  from 
Jefferson  county,  came  together,  in  May,  1827, 
and  entered  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  10; 
Loveless  the  western  half,  and  Leach  the  eastern. 
Both  families  are  still  represented  in  the  town- 
ship. About  the  time  the  Ohio  canal  was  built, 
settlers  began  to  arrive  rapidly,  and  in  a  few  years 
thereafter  the  land  was  all  taken  up. 

Adams  township  contains  the  oldest  person  in 
the  county.  Mrs.  Catherine  Albert,  residing  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  township  has  been 
a  centenarian  for  several  years.  She  is  now  sup- 
posed to  be  in  her  one  hundred  and  fifth  year. 
Originally  from  Pennsylvania  she  spent  a  good 
portion  of  her  long  life  in  eastern  Ohio.  She 
then  came  with  her  husband,  John  Albert,  to 
Crawford  township.  They  were  among  the  ear- 
liest settlers  there.  About  forty-five  years  ago 
she  removed  to  this  township  and  has  resided 
here  since.  For  one  of  her  age  she  is  a  lady  of 
remarkable  activity. 

Milling  operations  have  nOt  been'  very  exten- 
sive. A  saw  mill  was  erected  by  John  Baker  on 
Evans  creek  a  mile  or  more  south  of  Bakersville 
in  1834.  It  has  since  been  in  the  ownership  of 
Samuel  Gorslin,  Andrew  Hock,  Joseph  Stone- 
hocker  and  Samuel  Werts.  Sawing  ceased  there 
six  or  eight  years  ago  and  the  mill  has  been  torn 
down  recently. 

George  Werts  in  1837  or  1838  built  a  grist  mill 
in  what  is  now  Bakersville.  Several  years  before 
he  had  erected  a  saw  mill  at  the  same  place.  Mr. 
Werts  sold  the  mill  to  Jacob  Mizer.  They  were 
removed  many  years  ago  and  the  bridge  now  oc- 
cupies the  spot  where  they  stood. 

The  whisky  consumed  in  Adams  township  was 
chiefly  of  "  foreign"  manufacture.  The  only  dis- 
tillery known  to  have  been  operated  here  was 
owned  by  Joseph  Duffee.  It  stood  in  the  north- 
ern part  of  the  township,  and  was  operated  for  a 
few  years  only  beginning  about  1840. 

Oil  is  found  oozing  from  the  surface  of  the  hill- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


45r 


side,  near  a  spring  on  Robert  Corbit's  place. 
.Wells  have  been  twice  sunk  here  in  search  of 
the  oil  in  paying  quantities,  but  each  time  with 
ill  success.  It  is  often  skimmed  from  the  surface 
of  the  spring  by  the  neighboring  farmers  and 
used  by  them  for  lubricating  machinery.  It  is 
found  to  be  a  superior  article  for  this  purpose. 

The  earliest  physician  who  settled  in  this  town- 
ship, of  whom  any  account  is  had»  was  an  eccen- 
tric, though  talented,  individual  named  Kellis 
Herd.  He  moved  here  about  1836,  from  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  had  been  engaged  in  practice. 
While  still  in  that  State  he  lost  three  children  by 
scarlet  fever,  and  through  his  grief  and  disgust  at 
his  inability  to  save  them  he  threw  his  medical 
works  into  the  fire  and  determined  to  relinquish 
his  profession  forever,  and  it  was  rarely  that  his 
services  could  be  brought  into  requisition.  Only 
in  a  great  emergency,  as  in  the  case  of  a  broken 
limb,  and  under  urgent  solicitation,  would  he 
apply  the  medical  knowledge  of  which  he  was 
master.  He  possessed  great  mechanical  powers, 
which  he  was  fond  of  exercising,  and  many  were 
the  devices  which  he  invented.  He  owned  a 
small  tract  of  land  in  the  northern  part  of  sec- 
tion 12.  Here,  at  Raccoon  Spring,  he  constructed 
a  diminutive  over-shot  water-wheel,  which  fur- 
nished the  motive  power  for  a  turning  lathe.  He 
was  fond  of  grafting  fruit  trees,  and  afterward 
started  a  nursery  above  Bakersville.  He  moved 
to  Columbus,  and  later  died  at  Cleveland  while  at 
work  on  one  of  his  inventions. 

The  next  resident  practitioner  was  Dr.  William 
Miller,  who  came  from  Pennsylvania.  He  re- 
mained here  for  five  or  six  years,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Illinois.  He  is  described  as  a  clever 
little  gentleman,  always  ready  and  attentive  to 
his  profession 

Since  Bakersville  has  been  laid  out,  quite  a 
number  of  physicians  have,  taken  up  their  abode 
there.  Dr.  John  Conoway  was  the  first.  He 
came  from  Harrison  county,  about  1850,  and  after 
a  practice  of  six  years  sought  a  western  field  of 
labor  in  Iowa.  He  was  succeeded  in  1866  by  Dr. 
R.  C.  Chapman,  who  was  born  in  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  had  read  and  prac- 
ticed medicine  in  Tuscarawas  county  previous  to 
his  coming  here.    He  remained  a  half  score  of 


years  and  returned  to  Tuscarawas  county.  Dr.. 
B.  W.  Chapman,  his  brother,  came  in  1866,  and 
has  since  been  in  continual  practice  here.  Two 
other  physicians  now  reside  in  the  village,  Drs. 
E.  P.  Steward  and  G.  W.  Rice ;  the  former  came 
about  1870,  from  Harrison  county,  the  latter  from 
Tuscarawas  county,  in  1880.  The  following  phy- 
sicians also  have  had  a  residence  here :  Drs. 
Maxwell,  Michael  Tolen,  Michael  Conoway,  Sam- 
uel Gorsline,  Isaac  Busby  and  William  Craven. 

The    first  school-house  in  the  township  was- 
built  about  1825,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 18,  Robert  Corbit's  homestead.    It  was  the- 
usual  log  cabin,  its  dimensions  about  twenty- 
two  feet  square,  built  in  the  rough,  rude  style 
prevalent  in  pioneer  times ;  a  puncheon   floor,, 
paper  window-panes,  a  huge  fire-place  occupying 
one  entire  end   of  the  building,   were   some   of 
the  features  of   this,  as  of   nearly   every   other 
school-house  of  that  age.    No  portion  of  the  lum- 
ber composing  it  was  sawed.     Perhaps  the  most 
finished  piece   of  workmanship    was  the   door. 
The  split  ash  boards,  from  which  it  was  made, 
had  been  shaved  with  a  drawing  knife  to  a  toler- 
able degree  of  smoothness.    The  merest  rudi- 
ments of  an  education  could  be  obtained  here  at 
first.    Reading  and  spelling  often  constituted  the 
entire  curriculum  of  study.    Few  of  the  earliest 
school-masters  possessed  a  knowledge   of  arith- 
metic.   School-books  were  rarities,  and  the  few 
that  could  be  coUecled  were  of  a  motley  descrip- 
tion.    A  single  leaf  sufficed  Lewis  Corbit  during 
his  first  term  at  school.     His  father  had  but  the 
one  reader  in  his  possession,  and  this  an  older 
sister  of  Lewis  must  have;   she  had  attended 
school  before,  however,  and  had  made  some  ad- 
vancement, consequently  the  first  leaf,  containing 
the  alphabet,  could  be  spared.    This  was  torn 
out  and  carfuUy  pasted  on  a  paddle  for  Lewis' 
use. 

This  was  the  only  school  held  in  the  township 
for  many  years,  and  the  attendance  was  accord- 
ingly very  large  at  times.  Among  the  families 
represented  in  the  school  may  be  mentioned  the 
McFarlands,  Evans,  Richmonds,  Norrises,  Jones, 
Cor  bits,  Pinkertons,  Powells,  Delongs,  Shays  and 
Lemons,  It  was  noted  for  the  number  of  grown- 
up young  men  who  attended — great,  strapping 


458 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


fellows,  who  weighed  two  hundred  or  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  pounds. 

John  Berwick  was  the  first  teacher.  He  was 
succeeded  by  Thomas  Pinkerton,  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  the  township.  Henry  Belong  was 
probably  the  next  teacher.  He  was  of  Welsh 
birth,  and  had  been  a  glass-blower  at  Wellsburg, 
Virginia,  for  a  number  of  years  before  coming 
here.  He  po^essed  a  fair  education,  and  taught 
several  terms.  James  Jones,  another  settler  fol- 
lowed Belong.  Though  a  strictly  temperate  man 
himself,  one  of  the  few  who  abstained  entirely 
from  the  use  of  the  popular  beverage  of  the  day, 
he  could  not  avoid  treating  his  scholars  to  the 
customary  holiday  allowance  of  two  gallons  of 
whisky.  George  Lemons  and  Thomas  Campbell 
also  taught  here  later.  Until  1832,  when  the 
township  was  organized,  there  was  probably  but 
this  one  school  within  its  limits.  In  that  year, 
however,  the  trustees  divided  the  township  into 
three  school  districts ;  the  first  beginning  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  the  township  and  ending  at 
Robert  Taylor's  north  line;  the  second  begin- 
ning at  Robert  Taylor's  north  line  and  extending 
to  the  north  line  of  the  township ;  the  third  com- 
prising the  western  half  of  the  township,  the  mil- 
itary line  being  the  division  between  the  east  and 
west.  This  division  would  indicate  that  the  east- 
ern half  of  the  township  was  more  thickly  set- 
tled at  this  time  than  the  western  half.  Another 
district  was  soon  after  formed,  and  others  as  they 
became  needed,  until  there  were  eight,  the  present 
number. 

The  religious  advantages  of  the  earliest  settlers 
were  as  scanty  as  the  educational.  Religious 
services  were  first  held  at  irregular  periods  by 
itinerant  preachers,  who  visited  this  region  for 
this  purpose,  or  happened  along  by  chance,  as  the 
case  might  be.  The  Methodists  and  Baptists  were 
earliest  in  the  field.  Of  the  former  denomina- 
tion, Jabob  Meek  was  among  the  foremost  to  con- 
duct meetings,  probably  the  first  in  the  township. 
He  was  a  farmer,  living  in  Guernsey  county, 
about  six  miles  below  Newcomerstown.  He 
preached  regularly  once  a  month,  either  in  the 
sch'bol-house  or  at  Robert  McFarland's  house, 
beginning  about  1826.  These  meetings  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Taylor  Methodist  church  a  few 


years  later.  Jacob  Mills  was  another  early  itin- 
erant exhorter  of  this  persuasion.  He  was  a. 
homeless  bachelor  from  Virginia,  who  had  no 
disposition  for  manual  labor,  but  traveled  from 
place  to  place,  and  gladly  exchanged  his  religious 
services  for  board  and  lodgment. 

"William  Spencer,  a  worthy  farmer,  residing 
somewhere  in  the  western  part  of  the  county,  is 
said  to  have  been  the  pioneer  propagator  of  gos- 
pel truth  in  behalf  of  the  Baptist  church.  He 
was  holding  meetings  at  the  school-house  as  early 
as  1828,  and  succeeded  in  gathering  about  him  a 
cluster  of  Baptists  which  formed  the  nucleus  of  the 
Baptist  congregation  organized  some  years  later. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  has  always 
been  the  most  vigorous  denomination  in  this 
township.  Of  the  four  congregations  now  exist- 
ing, three  belong  to  this  church.  The  oldest  of 
these  is  the  Taylor  church,  located  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  township.  It  was  organized 
about  1832.  Meetings  were  held  for  several  years 
at  the  houses  of  its  members  and  at  the  school- 
house;  then  a  hewed  log  church  was  built  on  the 
old  Richard  Taylor  farm.  Its  early  active  mem- 
bers included  the  names  of  Richard  Taylor,  Wil- 
liam Currie,  S.  H.  Loveless,  Thomas  Hayes  and 
Robert  McFarland.  In  time  the  building  became 
very  much  dilapidated,  many  members  were 
removed  by  death,  and  others  withdrew  their 
membership  and  united  with  other  Methodist  so- 
cieties which  had  in  the  meantime  been  estab- 
lished in  various  localities.  These  circumstances 
left  the  church  in  a  very  weak  condition,  and 
services  were  suspended  for  several  years,  then 
about  ten  years  ago  an  effort  was  made  to  resus- 
citate the  languishing  organization.  The  present 
frame  house  of  worship  was  erected  on  the  site 
of  the  old  church  at  an  outlay  of  about  $1,600, 
through  the  exertions  of  Ezekiel  McFarland,  S. 
M.  Baugherty,  Elias  ^inds,  Alexander  Loveless 
and  others.  The  reorganization  was  effected  un- 
der the  ministry  of  Rev.  S.  A.  Thompson.  Bur- 
ing  the  first  year  it  was  connected  with  the  Port 
Washington  circuit;  it  was  then  attached  to  the 
Bakersville  circuit,  to  which  it  still  belongs.  Bur- 
ing  the  winter  of  1877-78,  under  the  pastorate  of 
Rev.  Philip  Kelser,  a  revival  was  held  which  re- 
sulted in  over  forty  accessions  to  the  church- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


459 


Previously  the  membership  had  been  very  small, 
numbering  not  more  than  ten  or  twelve.  It  now 
amounts  to  about  forty.  A  Sunday-school,  at 
present  superintended  by  Isacc  Dewitt,  is  held 
during  the  summer,  with  a  membership  of  fifty 
or  sixty.  The  cemetery  adjoining  this  church  is 
the  resting  place  of  many  of  the  earliest  settlers 
of  the  township. 

Wesley  Chapel,  another  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  is  situated  at  Powell's  Cross  Roads,  in 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  township.  The 
building  was  erected  in  1860,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000. 
It  is  a  neat  frame,  thirty-two  by  forty-two  feet 
in  size.  At  the  time  of  its  construction.  Rev. 
Benjamin  Heskett  was  the  pastor  in  charge.  He 
conducted  a  revival  about  this  time,  which  re- 
sulted in  good  to  the  congregation.  He  soon 
after  enlisted  in  the  service  as  captain  of  Com- 
pany C  of  the  Fifty-first  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry, 
and  fell  at  the  battle  of  Stone  River.  The  society 
was  formed  about  1843.  The  greater  part  of  its 
members  had  been  connected  with  a  congrega- 
tion at  Evansburg  and,  when  they  deemed  them- 
selves of  sufficient  strength,  separated  from  it 
and  organized  Wesley  Chapel.  Among  the  lead- 
ing members,  at  the  time,  were  James  and  John 
Powell,  Thomas  H.  and  Washington  Powell, 
George,  Isaac  and  Andrew  Norman,  John  Son- 
dels  and  J.  R.  Davis.  John  Powell  was  the  first 
class-leader.  The  meetings  were  held  in  the 
Powell  school-house  until  the  church  was  built. 
The  church  was  included  in  the  Newcomerstown 
circuit,  at  first,  but  has  since  been  joined  to  that 
of  Bakersville.  The  present  class-leaders  are 
Washington  Powell  and  Thomas  Hamilton.  The 
Sunday-school  is  a  department  of  Christian  work 
which  has  been  conducted  since  the  organization 
of  the  church. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  at  Bakersville 
was  organized  about  1845.  The  earliest  meet- 
ings were  held  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Hayes. 
After  Bakersville  was  laid  out,  the  place  of  wor- 
ship was  transferred  to  the  meeting-house  in  the 
village,  which  had  been  built  by  Leonard  Hawk. 
Services  were  held  here  for  five  or  six  years, 
when  the  first  church  was  built  The  present 
church  was  built  in  1874,  dedicated  February  7, 
1875.  Stephen  Loveless  and  Thomas  Hayes  were 
among  the  early  members.    The  membership  is 


now  about  sixty.  Rev.  T.  J.  Roberts  is  the  pastor, 
A  Sabbath-school  was  organized  cotemporane- 
ously  with  the  church.  It  is  now  under  the  su- 
pervision of  C.  C.  Hamilton,  and  is  in  a  prosper- 
ous, healthy  condition. 

The  Presbyterian  church  at  Bakersville  was 
organized  April  23,  1833,  by  Rev.  James  Morrow, 
of  New  Philadelphia.  Its  first  house  of  worship, 
a  log  church,  stood  on  an  elevated  piece  of 
ground  one  mile  south  of  the  village.  The  pres- 
ent neat,  frame  structure  in  Bakersville,  was  built 
in  1861.  The'old  church  cemetery,  near  the  first 
church,  is  still  used  as  the  church  burial  ground. 
During  almost  its  entire  history,  this  church  has 
been  associated  with  the  Linton  township  church, 
having  the  same  pastors,  except  in  the  case  of 
Rev.  John  Moore,  D.  D.  The  early  members  were 
George  Walters^  John  Walters,  James  Jones,  Mrs. 
Catharine  Rodney,  Robert  Lyons,  William  Shan- 
non, John  Buck  and  Albert  Pillows.  The  elders 
have  been  James  Jones,  George  Walters,  William 
Shannon,  Robert  Lyons,  John  Buck,  David  G. 
Miller,  John  Miller,  William  Hawk  and  Alexan- 
der Fenton.  The  last  two  constitute  the  present 
session.  The  number  of  communicants  at  this 
time  is  about  fifty.  The  Sunday-school  has  been 
a  living,  active  institution  for  many  years.  John 
Leach  is  its  present  superintendent. 

Several  church  organizations  have  formerly 
had  an  existence  in  the  township,  that  are  now 
numbered  with  the  dead.  Among  them  was 
Evans'  Creek  Regular  Baptist  church,  which  was 
organized  in  1845,  with  about  twenty  members. 
Joseph  Whitaker,  Josiah  Tipton,  Robert  Corbit, 
John  Lewis,  John  Camp,  James  Randies,  Mr. 
Bechtal,  Simon  Porter  and  Samuel  Camp,  were 
the  prominent  members.  In  ten  years  the  mem- 
bership was  about  fifty.  From  that  time  the 
number  begun  to  decrease,  and  in  1865  they 
ceased  to  be  a  church.  They  once  had  a  house 
of  worship,  which  was  situated  on  Robert  Corbit's 
place,  but  it,  too,  is  gone.  The  ministers  that 
furnished  pastoral  service  to  this  church  are  as 
follows:  R.  R.  Whitaker,  J.  G.  Whitaker,  A.  W. 
Odor  and  J.  W.  Moreland. 

The  Pinkerton  Methodist  Episcopal  chui>ch 
stood  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  township.  It 
was  a  log  building  erected  about  1836.    The  so- 


460 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


-ciety  lasted  only  about  ten  years.  Its  principal 
members  were  the  Pinkertons — William,  John, 
James,  Thomas  and  Matthew — Jacob  Norman  and 
Jacob  Powell. 

A  German  Reform  Church  was  organized  at 
Bakersville  very  soon  after  the  village  was  laid 
out.  Its  original  membership  was  quite  small, 
consisting  of  Philip  Myser,  Leonard  Hawk, 
Teter  Hawk,  John  Myser,  Jacob  Myser  and  per- 
haps a  few  others.  For  several  years  the  society 
met  in  the  building  erected  by  Leonard  Hawk 
for  church  purposes.  It  was  then  moved  a  mile 
or  two  north  of  the  -village  into  Tuscarawas 
■county  where  it  still  exists.  A  Disciple  congrega- 
tion also  worshipped  in  Leonard  Hawk's  church 
•during  the  same  time  the  German  Reform 
■Church  occupied  it.  They  afterward  held  ser- 
vices tor  ten  or  twelve  years  in  private  residences, 
iDut  finally  becoming  too  weak  numerically  to 
mLaintain  an  organization  they  disbanded.  Rev. 
Armstrong  was  one  of  its  earliest  preachers. 
Thomas  "Wert,  the  Dewitts,  R.  C.  Chaplin,  Mr. 
■Shores  and  Mr.  Carnahan  were  early  members. 

A'  Weinbrenner  organization,  too,  is  numbered 
among  the  defunct  religious  societies  of  this 
township.  It  never  attained  to  any  considerable 
strength  and  lived  but  ten  or  twelve  years,  hav- 
ing been  organized  about  1836.  Its  principal 
members  were  Samuel  Camp,  Thomas  Cordry, 
Vincent  Dewitt  and  James  Johnson.  During 
3)leasant  weather  services  were  often  held  in  the 
forest  groves,  where  the  shouting  proclivities  of 
some  of  the  members  succeeded  in  attracting 
large  audiences  to  their  meetings.  At  other 
times  the  meeting  were  held  at  private  houses, 
no  church  building  ever  having  been  erected. 
Revs.  Beidler,  Keller  and  Logue  ministered  to 
this  congregation. 

Bakersville,  the  sole  village  of  the  township, 
containing  several  hundred  inhabitants,  has  a 
very  pretty  location  in  the  little  valley  of  Evans 
creek,  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  township. 
It  V,  as  laid  out  in  the  spring  of  1848,  by  John 
Baker;  Lane  Baker- surveying  the  plat.  A  vilr 
lage  was  apparently  wanted  in  this  neighborhood, 
iot  it  grew  rapidly  at  first.  A  solitary  log  cabin 
had  previously  occupied  the  village  site,  standing 
•close  to  the  place  now  occupied  by  Joseph  Mi- 


zer's  stable.  The  first  building  was  erected  by 
Leonard  Hawk.  It  is  still  standing,  occupied  at 
present  as  a  dwelling  house  by  C.  Smith.  It  was 
built  for  a  church  and  was  used  in  part  for  this 
purpose  for  several  years.  One  end  of  the  build- 
ing, however,  was  occupied  by  Leonard  Hawk 
and  Samuel  Ferdic  as  a  store-room,  the  first  in 
the  place. 

A  select  school  was  begun  soon  after  the  vil- 
lage was  laid  out,  and  continued  two  winters. 
It  was  held  in  a  room  rented  for  the  purpose. 
Lewis  Travus  and  James  Dunlap  were  the  teach-- 
ers.  A  stone  school-house  was  then  erected,  and 
the  youth  of  the  village  instructed  therein  for 
seven  or  eight  years,  when  the  foundation  sank 
a  little  and  the  building  was  adjudged  unsafe. 
It  was  removed  and  the  frame  which  now  sub- 
serves the  purposes  of  education  placed  in  its 
stead.  It  contains  two  rooms,  both  of  which  are 
occupied. 

The 'first  and  only  postoffice  in  the  township 
was  established  at  Bakers^ville,  by  the  appointment 
of  Stephen  H.  Loveless,  postmaster,  soon  after 
the  village  was  laid  out.  The  appointinent  is 
now  held  by  Dr.  E.  P.  Steward. 

A  summary  of  the  present  business  is  as  fol- 
lows: Dry  goods — John  H.  Loveless,  C.  C.  Ham- 
ilton and  Mizer  Brothers.  Joseph  Ripple  has  a 
grocery.  There  are  three  blacksmith  shops,  two 
wagon  shops,  two  cabinet  and  three  shoe  shops. 
A  woolen  factory  has  been  in  operation  about  six 
years.  It  was  built  by  the  Bakersville  Woolen 
Mill  Company,  consisting  of  H.  J.  Stonebrook, 
John  W.  Peairs,  James  A.  Mizer  and  Jacob  Mil- 
ler. Mr.  Stonebrook  now  has  entire  possession 
of  it.  It  is  worked  during  the  summer  only,  and 
produces  a  large  quantity  of  woolen  goods.  A 
steam  grist  and  saw  mill  is  located  here.  It  was 
erected  six  or  eight  years  ago,  and  is  o-vmed  by 
Levi  Millfer.  The  grist  mill  has  three  run  of 
buhrs,  is  run  steadily  and  does  a  good  business 

Bakersville  Lodge  of  the  Knights  of  Pythias, 
No.  79,  is  the  only  lodge  of  this  order  now  exist- 
ing in  the  county.  It  was  organized  December 
7, 1874,  with  twenty-two  charter  members.  Its 
first  officers  were:  Martin  Kugler,  Chancellor 
Commander;  B.  W.  Chapman,  Vice  Chancellor 
Commander;  A.  A.  Peairs,  Prelate;  A.  B.  Martin, 
Past  Chancellor;  Joseph  Mizer,  Master  at  Arms; 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


461 


J.  H.  Loveless,  Master  of  Exchequer ;  Levi  Mil- 
ler, Master  of  Finance;  J.  H.  Stonebrook,  Keeper 
of  Records  and  Seals.  The  present  membership 
is  twenty-four.  At  one  time  there  were  forty- 
members,  but  removals  have  reduced  the  num- 
ber. Only  one  death  has  occurred  in  the  lodge 
since  its  organization,  that  of  Martin  Kugler. 

Bakersville  Lodge  of  the  Independent  Order 
of  Good  Templars,  No.  564,  was  organized  Sep- 
tember 4, 1877,  with  twenty-seven  charter  mem- 
bers. Within  one  week  of  the  date  of  organiza- 
tion 104  names  were  enrolled  as  members.  Its 
first  elected  officers  were  as  follows:  A.  A.  Peairs, 


Worthy  Chief;     Mrs.   Kate   Chapman,  Worthy  .j^tees,  and  Nathan  Wright  the  first  justice  of  the 


Vice  Chief;  Levi  Miller,  Worthy  Chaplain ;  Ed- 
ward Corbit,  Past  Worthy  Chief;  Isaac  Carnahan, 
Secretary;  E.  P.  Steward,  Treasurer;  J.  Stone- 
brook,  Financial  Secretary;  D.  L.  C.  Wood,  Mar- 
shal; Alhe  Peairs,  Deputy  Marshal.  The  active 
membership  now  amounts  to  about  fifty. 

Each  of  the  above  lodges  has  a  hall  on  the  sec- 
ond floor  of  the  Stephen  Hawk  block. 


neighbors  who  had  secured  "fat"  quarters.  The 
purpose  of  the  suit  was  to  compel  a  division  of 
the  surplus  land. 

The  land  which  forms  this  township  was  a  por- 
tion of  Newcastle  township  until  1825,  at  which 
time  it  was  organized  by  act  of  commissioners 
into  a  separate  township.  The  organization  was 
completed  by  the  election  of  township  officers  at 
the  house  of  Henry  Haines.  It  is  not  known  to 
a  certainty  who  these  officers  were,  as  the  records 
of  the  election  are  not  known  to  exist,  but  Wil- 
liam McCoy,  Herman  Anderson  and  John  Mc- 
Nabb  are  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  trus- 


CHAPTER  L. 

BEDFORD  TOWNSHIP. 

location— Organization— Name— Topography— Early  Settlers 
—Indians— First  Road— Schools— Mills— Distilleries  —  Cau- 
nel  Coal  Oil  Operations— Churches— West  Bedford. 

BEDFORD  township  hes  in  the  western  part 
of  the  county.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north 
by  Jefferson  township,  on  the  east  by  Jackson,  on 
the  south  by  Washington,  and  on  the  west  by 
Perry,  and  consists  of  township  5  in  the  8th  range 
of  the  original  survey.  The  northeastern  quarter 
is  a  military  section,  which  was  surveyed  into 
one  hundred-acre  lots,  in  1808,  by  Wilham  Cut- 
bush;  the  remainder  of  the  township  is  congress 
land,  opened  up  for  settlement  by  its  survey  into 
sections,  in  1803,  by  Silas  Bent,  Jr.  The  township 
exceeds  somewhat  the  requisite  width  of  five 
miles,  making  the  western  tier  of  sections  con- 
siderably larger  than  they  should  be.  Some  of 
the  quarter  sections  here  contain  nearly  260  acres, 
instead  of  160,  and  the  fact  led  to  some  unsuccess- 
ful local  litigation,  in  early  days,  by  one  or  two 
settlers,  against  their  adjacent,  more  fortunate 


peace.  Richard  Wood  afterwards  served  the 
township  in  this  latter  capacity  for  an  extended 
period  of  years.  Jehu  Wright,  Michael  Heaton 
and  John  Quigley,  were  other  early  "squires." 
The  township  election  continued  to  be  held  at 
Mr.  Haines'  residence  for  four  or  five  years,  and 
were  subsequently  transferred  to  West  Bedford. 
The  township  received  its  name  from  a  county 
in  Pennsylvania,  from  which  came  quite  a  num- 
ber of  the  pioneer  families.  Bedford  county  fur- 
nished at  least  fifteen  or  eighteen  early  families 
ih  this  township,  perhaps  many  more,  besides 
many  others  to  surrounding  townships.  The 
first  settler  from  there  doubtless  sent  back  to  the 
friends  he  had  left  in  the  East,  a  glowing  account 
of  his  western  home  and  thereby  induced  others 
to  emigrate,  the  favorable  reports  of  these  in 
turn  bringing  others.  A  similar  emigration  was 
instituted  years  afterwards  from  this  township 
into  Hardin  county,  many  of  the  early  settlers 
moving  there  in  their  old  age.  The  population 
of  the  township  according  to  the  late  census  is 
920. 

The  character  of  the  surface  is  rolling  through- 
out, generally  roughly  rolling.  The  headwaters 
of  Mohawk  and  Simmons'  runs  are  near  the 
middle  of  the  township,  east  and  west.  South  of 
this  the  water  flows  in  a  southerly  direction  in 
several  small  streams,  the  most  noticeable  of 
which  is  Wakatomica  run.  Poplar,  chestnut, 
black  walnut,  hickory  and  red  oak,  besides  other 
varieties,  were  the  trees  composing  the  dense  for- 
ests that  held  continuous  possession  of  the  soil 
seventy-five  years  ago.  Coal  in  the  eastern  half 
of  the  township  is  abundant;    scarcely  any  is 


462 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


found  in  the  western  part.  In  the  east  the  soil  is 
sandy  and  black  loam  in  places;  in  the  west, 
where  much  limestone  is  found,  it  is  a  loam  with 
clay  subsoil.  There  is  very  little  surface  rock  to 
be  seen.  On  John  Noland's  place  is  a  single  ex- 
ception. Standing  Eock,  as  it  is  called,  about 
fifteen  or  eighteen  feet  high  and  twenty  feet  in 
length  by  ten  in  width,  is  rendered  doubly  con- 
spicuous by  the  absence  of  other  exposures  in  the 
vicinity. 


Richard  Shelton  is  regarded  _as  the  primitive 
white  settler  of  the  township.  He  came  about 
1808,  and  settled  on  lot  25  of  the  military  section 
He  was  of  a  roving  nature,  possessing  in  a  greater' 
degree  the  characteristics  of  a  hunter  than  of  a 
farmer. 

Next  in  the  long  Une  of  pioneea?s  was  Ezra 
Horton.  He  was  from  the  Cumberland  valley  in 
Maryland,  and  settled  in  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  6  about  1809  or  1810,  where  he  remained 
till  his  death.  His  wife,  Jemima,  was  noted  in 
pioneer  circles  for  her .  skill  in  performing  the 
duties  of  a  physician.  Two  of  his  sons,  Thomas 
and  Datid,  were  engaged  in  the  second  American 
struggle  for  liberty  in  1812.  Thomas,  at  the  firit 
call  to  arms,  enlisted  in  Captain  Meredith's  com- 
pany, and  served  in  the  vicinity  of  Mansfield. 
David  participated  in  a  more  active  campaign  at 
Fort  Meigs,  on  the  Maumee  river. 

Henry  Haines  was  the  next  settler.  He  left 
his  eastern  home  in  Bedford  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1810,  for  the  West,  reaching  Licking 
county  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  expecting  to  con- 
tinue on  to  Franklin  county,  but  discouraging 
reports  induced  him  to  stop.  He  was  informed 
that  Zanesville,  some  sixty  miles  distant  from  his 
prospective  home,  would  be  the  nearest  point  at 
which  to  obtain  salt  and  get  his  grinding  done ; 
also  that  the  proposed  location  was  unhealthy. 
This  piece  of  news  prevailed  with  him,  and  he 
resolved  to  settle  closer  to  Zanesville.  He  was 
directed  by  a  Mr.  Wolford  to  this  township.  In 
the  spring  of  1811  he  moved  here,  entering  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  18.  For  six  months 
he  lived  in  a  three-sided  cabin,  the  one  end  being 
entirely  open,  but  by  fall  he  had  a  substantial 
log  cabin  ready  for  occupation.  He  brought 
with  him  six  cows,  and  made  a  large  amount  of 


butter.  Few  of  the  settlers  who  soon  after 
located  here  were  fortunate  enough  to  own  a 
cow,  and  butter,  with  them,  was  quite  a  luxury. 
Mr.  Haines  availed  himself  of  every  opportunity 
to  exchange  this  product  of  the  dairy  for  a  pig. 
In  the  course  of  several  years  he  had  a  large 
drove  of  hogs  and  a  fine  herd  of  cattle,  which 
had  been  raised  with  trifling  cost.  These  he 
drove  to  Zanesville  in  several  lots,  and  sold  them 
at  a  fair  figure.  With  the  proceeds  of .  these 
sales  he  paid  for  his  quarter  section.  He  reared 
a  family  of  eight  children,  and  died  in  1863,  at 
the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  His  brother  John 
'^>  came  with  him,  and  settled  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  14. 

In  the  fall  of  1811  John  Wolford  appeared, 
settling  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  14. 
He  had  entered  it  some  time  prior  to  his  imi- 
gration;  was  originally  from  Bedford  county, 
Pennsylvania,  but  had  been  living  a  while  in 
Belmont  county.  He  afterwards  moved  to  Han- 
cock county,  and  there  engaged  in  milling  till 
he  died. 

About  the  same  time  Elias  James  from  Bed- 
ford county,  Pennsylvania,  settled  on  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  16.  This  quarter  had 
been  entered  by  a  German  named  Grimm, 
who,  at  the  first  indication  of  approaching  In- 
dian warfare,  sold  it  for  a  trifle  to  Mr.  James  and 
vamosed  to  a  more  congenial  clime  in  the  East. 
Information  is  had  that  Mr.  Grimm  afterward 
settled  in  Keene  township  and  rose  to  the  dignity 
of  an  associate  judge. 

John  McKearns  from  Bedford  county,  about 
1812,  settled  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 24.  He  died  in  the  spring  of  1815  of 
"  cold  plague ''  as  did  also  his  wife  and  a  sister. 
Aaron  now  lives  just  across  the  line  in  Washing- 
ton township. 

Solomon  Tipton,  formerly  from  Wellsburg, 
Virginia,  but  directly  from  Belmont  county,  set- 
tled on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  15  prob- 
ably in  1812.  He  came  in  the  spring  and  in 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  was  drafted  into  the 
army  and  entered  service.  While  in  the  army  a 
sad  calamity  befell  his  family  at  home.  The  back 
wall  of  his  chimney  which  had  been  built  that  sum- 
mer fell  over  upon  two  of  his  children,  killing  one 
of  them  and  seriously  injuring  the  other. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


463 


Nathan  Wright  came  with  his  family  from 
Bedford  county  to  Perry  township  in  June,  1814, 
and  a  few  months  later  to  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  25.  His  oldest  son,  John,  who  was 
married,  accompanied  him.  Another  son,  Na- 
than, is  still  living  in  the  township  and  is  the  old- 
est resident  here.  He  was  born  February  9, 1798, 
being  now  in  his  eighty-fourth  year.  His  mental 
vigor  is  unimpaired,  and  he  is  widely  known  and 
highly  esteemed  by  all  who  enjoy  his  acquaint- 
ance. In  his  youth  he  was  a  deer  slayer  of  note, 
and  in  his  prime  an  active,  intelligent  and  ener- 
getic citizen.  Charles  Cessna  came  with  the 
Wrights  from  the  same  county.  He  settled  in  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  17,  and  after  a  resi- 
dence of  perhaps  fifteen  years  moved  to  Hardin 
county. 

About  1814,  Samuel  Dillam  settled  on  the  mili- 
tary section.  He  was  a  roving  character,  did  not 
become  a  property  owner  here,  and  changed  his 
place  of  habitation  repeatedly. 

John  Anderson  had  entered  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  24,  and  built  a  little  cabin  upon 
it,  in  1814,' which  he  expected  to  occupy.  He 
'returned  to  Guernsey  county,  whence  he  came, 
for  his  family,  and  died  there,  early  in  1816,  of 
cold  plague. 

About  1815,  a  tide  of  emigration  set  in,  which 
■continued  unabated  for  ten  years,  and  before  the 
■expiration  of  that  time,  the  land  in  the  township 
had  all  been  entered.  Thomas  Smith  and  his 
son  Edward  settled,  about  1818,  in  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  11.  Their  nationality  was 
Irish.  Edward  had  been  drafted  into  the  British 
service,  while  still  living  on  the  Emerald  Isle, 
and  was  sent,  ■with  the  English  forces,  to  Canada, 
near  Sackett's  Harbor.  While  he  and  a  fellow- 
soldier  were  out  on  the  river,  in  a  little  boat, 
fishing,  they  made  a  successful  effort  to  desert 
the  English  lines.  They  drifted  down  the  river  as 
far  as  they  could,  without  exciting  suspicion,  and 
when  ordered  to  return,  pulled  lustily  in  the  op- 
posite direction.  The  pickets  opened  fire  upon 
them,  and  Smith's  companion  dropped  flat  in  the 
bottom  of  the  boat,  to  screen  himself  from  the 
flying  bullets,  leaving  his  fellow  deserter  to  row 
him  out  of  danger.  Smith  brought  the  boat 
safely  to  the  American  lines,  amid  the  huzzas  of 
tthe   soldiers    who    witnessed    the    escape.     A 

18 


brother,  who  subsequently  became  a  blacksmith, 
in  Coshocton,  and  his  father,  Thomas,  had  in  the 
meantime  emigrated  from  Ireland  to  America. 
Edward  joined  them  in  the  East  and  came,  with 
his  father  to  this  place,  where  he  remained  all 
his  life.  Daniel,  William  and  James  McCurdy, 
three  brothers,  remotely  from  the  "holy  sod,"  and 
immediately  from  Jefferson  county,  came  in 
about  1816  or  1818,  and  settled  in  sections  19 
and  20. 

Edward  McCoy,  a  little  earlier,  came  from  Bed- 
ford cctanty,  Pennsylvania,  and  settled  in  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  17.  He  died  re- 
cently in  Monroe  township.  His  brother,  Wil- 
liam McCoy,  accompanied  him  here.  Other  early 
settlers,  from  the  same  county,  were  Moses  Wol- 
ford,  occupying  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
24;  William  Eichards,  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  17 ;  Jacob  Eine,  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  14;  Henry  Bine,  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  25 ;  Enoch  Pry,  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  25;  Jacob  Adams,  Eobert  Elder,  Samuel 
Eose,  a  famous  bee-hunter,  and  Micajah  Heaton, 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  16. 

To  vary  the  Bedford  township  monotony,  John 
Hutchinson,  originally  an  Irishman,  about  1816, 
came  from  Wilmington,  Delaware,  and  settled  on 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  11.  John  Mc- 
Nabb,  a  little  earlier,  emigrated  from  Belmont 
county  to  lot  6,  military  section;  likewise  George 
McNabb  to  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  15; 
Martin  Markle  to  lot  13,  from  Virginia.  He  re- 
moved to  Illinois  twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago. 
Nathan  Evans,  from  near  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
about  1818,  located  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 3;  Samuel  Duncan,  a  brother  to  Matthew 
Duncan,  of  New  Castle  township,  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  6.  He  here  ran  a  little  fulling 
machine.  His  death  resulted  from  the  kick  of  a 
horse.  Bennett  Browner  moved  to  lot  21,  mili- 
tary section,  about  1816.  He  hailed  from  Vir- 
ginia, was  a  noted  character,  and  years  after 
moved  to  New  Castle  township,  where  he  died. 
Joseph  Parish  came,  in  1817,  from  Belmont 
county  and  entered  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 8.  Hugh  Barrett  and  his  sons,  John  (mar- 
ried), Joseph  and  Eichard,  came  about  1818  or 
1820,  emigrants  from  Ireland,  settling  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  township.    John  Eichardson, 


464 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


one  of  the  floating  population,  lived  a  while,  at 
an  early  day,  on  the  military  section,  and  after- 
wards went  to  Jefferson  township.  He  was  from 
Virginia.  A  son,  Joseph,  attained  to  considerable 
prominence  subsequently  in  Roscoe.  Thomas 
Tipton,  a  brother  to  Solomon,  in  1817,  settled  on 
the  southeast  quarter  of  section  5. 

Thomas  Norris  came  to  Ohio  in  1813,  with  the 
expectation  of  settling  in  Coshocton  county,  hav- 
ing relatives  on  the  Tuscarawas  river,  but  his 
children  were  taken  sick  with  the  measles  in 
Belmont  county,  and,  once  stopped,  he  remained 
there  seven  years.  He  rented  a  farm  of  about 
fifty  acres,  which  was  cleared  and  leased  twenty 
acres  of  timber  for  six  years,  having  the  use  of 
it,  during  this  period  in  return  for  the  labor  of 
clearing  it.  During  his  stay  here,  he  accumulated 
means  sufficient  to  enter  the  south  half  of  section 
7,  on  which  he  settled  in  1820.  He  died  twenty- 
one  years  later,,  at  the  age  of  sixty  six  years. 
Stephen  Donley  came  with  him,  entering  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  5.  Joseph  Hughes 
came  in  the  spring  of  1821,  from  Belmont  county, 
to  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  6.  David 
Lammey,  his  brother-in-law,  owned  seventy  acres 
of  tKis  section,  and  came  out  a  year  or  so  earlier, 
building  at  first  a  little  cabin  of  saplings,  without 
doors  or  windows,  the  only  entrance  being  from 
the  roof. 

No  Indian  village  existed  within  the  bounds  of 
this  township,  though  the  savages  frequently  en- 
camped along  the  little  streams  here.  Few  set- 
,tlers  had  arrived  when  the  Indians  deserted  this 
part  of  the  country,  consequently  there  was  little 
local  communication  here  between  the  two  races- 
One  Indian,  known  as  J.  Cook,  encamped  for 
some  time  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  22, 
now  owned  by  Mrs.  T.  English,  on  the  little 
branch  of  Wakatomica  run,  which  flows  through 
the  place.  He  had  a  hopeful  scion  about  fifteen 
years  of  age,  whom  he  was  endeavoring  to  train 
up  in  the  way  he  should  go,  by  sending  him  out 
in  the  woods  every  morning  to  shoot  game.  The 
lad  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Henry  Haines' 
sons,  shortly  after  their  arrival,  and  instead  of 
scouring  the  wild  forest  paths  in  quest  of  noble 
game,  as  he  should  have  done,  he  whiled  away 
the  laay  hours  of  the  day  at  the  cabin  of  his  white 


neighbors,  -roasting  potatoes,  scraping  turnips- 
and  getting  a  civilized  meal  occasionally..  On  his 
return  home  in  the  evening  he  would  report 
"no  game  "  to  his  waiting  sire.  J.  Cook  at  length 
suspecting  that  his  son  was  not  as  zealous  in  the 
pursuit  of  deer,  as  he  should  be,  followed  hira 
one  day,  and  found  him  as  usual,  playing  with 
his  white  companions.  He  took  him  home  with 
him  and  very  successfully  applied  corrective 
principles  of  some  kind  to  the  boy's  wayward 
course,  eflTeotively  curing  his  hankering  after  civ- 
ilized companionship,  for  he  never  returned. 

When  Mr.  Haines  was  about  to  put  up  his 
cabin  in  1811,  there  were  no  settlers  in  the  vicin- 
ity from  whom  to  receive  assistance.  He  went 
down  to  the  neighborhood  of  Dresden  to  procure 
the  services  of  several  workmen,  if  possible,  and 
found  two  men  who  willingly  agreed  to  come,  but 
complained  a  little  of  the  distance  they  would 
have  to  walk.  Mr.  Haines  jokingly  advised  them 
to  ride  two  of  the  ponies  belonging  to  the  occu- 
pants of  an  Indian  village  close  by.  Sure  enough, 
the  men  appeared  at  Haines'  door  the  next  morn- 
ing mounted  on  two  horses.  They  had  not  been 
here  long,  however,  when  two  new  arrivals  put  in 
their  appearance — an  Indian  and  his  half-grown 
son— who  had  tracked  their  stolen  horses  hith- 
er. A  jug  of  whisky  mollified  their  wrath  and 
induced  them  to  stay  all  day.  The  Indian  lad 
rendered  some  little  assistance,  but  the  noble  red 
man  devoted  his  attention  exclusively  to  a  full  in- 
vestigation of  the  whisky  jug.  As  evening  ap- 
proached they  bestrode  their  recovered  steeds  aojd 
silently  wended  their  way  homeward,  leaving  the 
men  to  follow  the  path  afoot. 

Wolves  were  quite  an  annoyance  to  the  set- 
tlers, particularly  to  those  who  owned  sheep. 
These  had  to  be  kept  in  tight  pens  close  to  the 
cabin  during  the  night,  and  even  then  were  not 
always  safe  from  the  fangs  of  their  old-time  ene- 
mies. Squirrels,  too,  were  quite  a  pest  in  de- 
strojdng  the  corn  and  other  products  of  the 
farm.  A  famous  squirrel  raid  was  organized  in 
New  Castle  township,  at  a  time  when  it  comprised 
what  are  now  Bedford,  Pike,  Perry  and  New  Cas- 
tle townships.  The  township  was  divided  equally 
into  two  parts,  the  settlers  of  each  division  vieing 
with  each  other  in  their  efforts  to  exterminate 
the  mischievous  little  animal.    The  hunt  lasted 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


46£f 


three  weeks,  and  during  the  time  it  is  said  more 
than  twenty  thousand  squirrels  were  killed. 

Two  salt  licks  existed  near  the  township  cen- 
ter, one  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  18, 
Levi  Haines'  place ;  the  other  on  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  13,  about  a  mile  to  the  north. 
These  were  the  favorite  haunts  of  deer,  generally 
at  night.  The  venison-loving  settler  might  se- 
crete himself  in  the  neighboring  thicket  any 
evening  and  be  tolerably  sure  of  killing  a  deer  if 
he  possessed  a  little  patience.  Deer  have  often 
been  killed  here  at  night  when  darkness  shrouded 
them  completely  from  view,  the  hunter  being 
made  aware  of  the  game's  presence  by  its  tread, 
and  knowing  by  experience  the  direction  in 
which  to  shoot. 

The  first  road  in  the  township  was  the  one 
leading  from  Coshocton  to  Mt.  Vernon.  It  was 
built  in  1810  or  earlier,  and  just  grazed  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  township.  The  next  was  the 
one  built  from  Dresden  to  the  mouth  of  Owl 
creek,  in  New  Castle  township.  It  was  made  as 
far  as  the  center  of  Washington  township  in 
1811,  and  in  1812  or  1813  completed.  It  was  the 
road  which  passes  through  West  Bedford  north 
and  south. 

About  1818  a  school  was  taught  in  a  deserted 
cabin  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  6. 
Another,  about  the  same  time,  was  held  in  an 
old  cabin  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  18. 
It  was  taught  by  Thomas  McBride,  later  of  New- 
ark, and  Wilham  McCoy.  In  1824  one  was 
taught  in  the  cabin  which  Henry  Haines  had 
occupied,  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
18.  Mr.  Haines  had  moved  into  a  new  brick  the 
year  before.  William  McCoy,  one  of  this  town- 
ship's pioneer  settlers,  taught  the  first  term  of 
three  months.  The  three  "  rs,"  reading,  'riting 
and  'rithmetic,  were  the  only  branches  taught. 
The  families  that  sent  their  children  here  in- 
cluded the  Harrisons,  Wolfords,  Richards,  Mc- 
Curdys,  McCoys,  and  Cessnas.  The  next  year 
another  term  of  three  months  was  taught  by 
John  Oxley,an  individual  who  was  crusty  in  man- 
ner and  harsh  in  his  treatment  toward  the 
scholars.  The  school  was  then  abandoned. 
About  1820  a  clumsy  little  log  school-house  was 
built  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  25. 
Nathan  Wright,  Sr.,  was  installed  the  first  teacher. 


Richard  Wood  succeeded  him  the  next  year. 
About  1825  or  1826  a  term  was  taught  by  John 
Oxley  in  a  deserted  loom-house  belonging  to 
Thomas  Norris.  The  settlers  then  were  obliged 
to  manufacture  their  own  clothing,  or  wear 
buckskin,  and  many  of  them  chose  the  latter. 
Oxley  afterwards  moved  to  Perry,  then  Monroe, 
township,  where  he  died. 

Milling  facilities  were  important  considera- 
tions with  the  pioneer  settlers  in  selecting  the 
spots  for  their  future  homes.  In  this  township 
where  the  water  power  could  not  always  be  re- 
lied upon,  the  settlers  made  provision  for  gettiiig 
along  without  it  when  it  became  necessary. 
Many  of  the  settlers  constructed  rude,  little  hand 
mills,  which  they  could  resort  to  in  an  extremity 
to  grind  their  corn.  Draft  horse  mills  also  were 
not  rare.  One  of  these  was  built  by  Jared  Par- 
ish and  Ben.  Nulen  about  1825  in  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  23,  which  was  operated  ten  or 
twelve  years.  Ben.  Nulen  afterward  built  another 
in  West  Bedford  but  when  he  moved  to  Hardin 
county  some  years  later  it  was  abandoned. 

In  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  18  a  grist 
mill  was  built  about  1814  by  John  Wolford.  An 
overshot  water-wheel  was  used,  and  one  set  of 
buhrs  was  run.  Mr.  Wolford  sold  to  Patrick  Eng- 
lish who  added  a  saw  mill  and  afterward  sold  out 
to  Isaac  Dickerson  The  mill  was  operated  till 
about  1865. 

About  1830  Henry  Haines  erected  a  saw  mill 
on  the  quarter  section  adjoining  this  one  on  the 
north,  on  the  same  stream.  Several  years  later 
he  built  a  grist  mill  at  the  same  site.  Two  races 
were  constructed  from  the  two  forks  of  the  run, 
one  a  hundred  and  twenty-five,  the  other  seven- 
ty-five rods  long.  A  large  undershot  wheel  was 
employed  in  driving  the  machinery.  One  set  of 
buhrs  was  connected  with  the  mill,  and  about 
1850  it  was  abandoned;  the  saw  mill  had  been 
taken  away  some  years  before. 

In  the  eastern  part  of  lot  11,  of  the  military 
section,  three  acres  were  sold  for  a  mill  site,  and 
a  saw  mill  erected  upon  it  about  1835,  by  Aaron 
Kane.  He  removed  to  Adams  county,  Illinois, 
and  Harvey  Doney  came  into  possession  of  the 
mill,  who  subsequently  moved  to  Greene  county, 
Indiana.  The  water-wheel  was  of  Parker's  pat- 
tern, and  the  saw  was  a  sash-saw,  as  were  also 


466 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


those  in  all  other  mills  in  this  township,  circular 
saws  not  yet  having  come  into  vogue. 

It  is  said  that  Joseph  Parish  erected  a  little  dis- 
tillery, about  1818,  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  township,  which  remained  in  operation  five 
or  six  years.  His  boys  were  obliged  to  pack  the 
rye  on  horses  to  a  little  mill  on  Mohawk  run,  in 
Jefferson  township,  there  being  no  mill  closer. 

About  1828,  Edward  McCoy  started  a  distillery 
on  his  place,  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
17.  He  had  first  built  a  carding  mill;  but  after  a 
few  years  abandoned  this,  attached  a  little  pair  of 
btthrs  for  grinding,  and  erected  the  distillery. 
His  motive  power  was  of  a  kind  not  usually  found 
here.  It  consisted  of  a  tramp-wheel,  a  large  wheel 
perhaps  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  set  in  an  inclined 
position.  Cattle  were  placed  upon  one  side  of  the 
wheel,  and  their  weight  set  it  in  motion.  They 
were  fastened  so  that  they  were  unable  to  move 
along  with  the  wheel,  but  had  to  tramp,  tramp, 
up  the  side  of  the  revolving  wheel  until  the  mash 
was  ground  in  the  mill,  which  was  connected  by 
machinery  with  the  wheel.  This  distillery  was 
operated  about  ten  years. 

The  next  distillery  was  owned  by  William 
Richards,  and  erected  several  years  later.  He 
had  no  mill  connected  with  the  distillery,  but  had 
his  grain  ground  at  difierent  little  mills  around. 
After  some  ten  years'  operation,  it,  too,  was  aban- 
doned. 

About  1835,  Moses  Wolford  became  another 
manufacturer  of  distilled  spirits  and,  not  only 
was  whisky  made  at  these  little  distilleries,  but 
also  peach  brandy,  apple  brandy,  etc.,  Wolford's 
still  was  located  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 24  and,  after  a  period  of  four  or  five  years, 
it  suspended  operations.  Probably  the  last  still 
was  smallest  of  all,  quite  an  insignificant  affair, 
run  for  a  few  years,  and  owned  by  John  Metz, 
about  thirty-five  years  ago,  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  township. 

From  1858  to  1860,  and  to  some  extent  for  a 
few  years  later,  a  large  amount  of  capital  was  in- 
vested in  coal  oil  manufactories  in  this  and  in 
Jefferson  township.  Beds  of  cannel  coal,  of  the 
richest  description,  from  which  the  oil  was  ex- 
tracted, lie  in  the  hills  in  the  northeastern  part 
of  this  and  the  southern  part  of  Jefferson  town- 
ship.   The  vein  is  largest    on  Simmons'    run. 


where  it  attains  a  thickness  of  six  feet  three 
inches,  cannel  coal,  and  three  feet  bituminous. 
The  average  thickness  of  the  cannel  is  between 
three  and  four  feet,  with  the  bituminous  in  pro- 
portion. It  is  sporadic,  however,  liable  to  swell 
into  a  deep  rich  vein,  or  dwindle  away  into 
a  worthless  seam,  in  a  very  short  distance.  The 
biturninous  lies  over  the  cannel  coal,  and  was 
little  mined,  having  no  market. 

Previous  to  1858,  coal  oil  had  been  manufac- 
tured to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  east,  and 
about  that  time  extensive  works  were  springing 
up  in  Newark,  the  manufacturers  designing  to 
ship  the  coal  from  the  various  mines  to  that  place, 
and  there  extract  the  oil.  Colonel  Metham,  of 
Jefferson  township,  was  probably  the  first  person 
in  this  vicinity  to  enter  the  promising  field  of 
future  wealth.  He  purchased  a  piece  of  land 
containing  coal,  in  this  township,  with  William 
Stanton,  of  Coshocton,  as  partner,  and  went  to 
Newark  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  minutise  of 
the  distilling  process.  He  there  met  J.  E.  Holmes 
and  found  high  excitement  prevailing.  The  coal 
he  was  able  to  supply  could  be  easily  disposed  of 
to  the  various  speculators  at  a  fair  figure.  He 
was  the  first  to  suggest  transferring  the  works  to 
the  coal  fields,  and  thus  save  the  freightage  on 
the  coal,  which  was  a  considerable  item  of  expense. 
The  suggestion  was  acted  upon,  and  a  number  of 
firms  came  with  their  works  to  the  coal  beds  in 
this  township.  The  coal  beds  were,  as  a  rule, 
leased  by  the  operators  from  the  land  owners. 
Three  companies  were  located  on  the  Metham 
and  Stanton  tract — Captain  Stuart,  of  Steuben- 
ville,  with  two  sets  of  works,  one  consisting  of 
fourteen,  the  other  of  ten  retorts;  Forsythe  & 
Brothers,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  having 
thirty-two  retorts,  and  a  Mr.  Edwards,  of  Mus- 
kingum county,  with  six  retorts.  Wilcox  &  Osborn 
made  heavy  investments  in  the  coal  regions  here, 
still  owning  about  650  acres  of  land.  Judge  Wil- 
cox, the  senior  member  of  the  firm,  is  a  banker 
in  Painesville,  Mr.  Osborn  a  banker  of  Chicago. 
On  their  property  Dr.  Semple,  of  Steubenville, 
had  a  set  of  works,  Mr.  Carnahew,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, another,  and  Ezra  Cornell,  of  New  York, 
a  third.  Mr.  Cornell  superintended  his  works 
here  in  person.  Some  of  the  companies  not  only 
distilled  the  crude  oil  here,  but  also,  at  least,  par- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


467 


tially  refined  it.  Others  sent  the  oil  to  Newark, 
or  elsewhere,  to  be  refined. 

The  retorts  by  which  the  oil  was  distilled  were 
of  various  kinds,  the  most  common  pattern  be- 
ing an  upright,  cast-iron  retort,  about  nine  feet 
high  and  four  feet  thick.  It  was  filled  with  coal, 
made  air-tight,  and  heat  was  then  applied  on  the 
outside.  The  vapors  thus  set  free  were  conveyed 
through  a  worm  and  condensed.  At  first,  two 
charges  were  run  a  day,  but  this  was  found  to  be 
too  many,  and  the  number  was  reduced  to  one. 
A  ton  of  coal  usually  produced  about  forty  gal- 
lons of  crude  oil,  worth  at  first  fifty  cents  per  gal- 
lon, but  toward  the  end  sold  at  a  narrow  margin 
at  ten  cents  a  gallon.  Mixed  with  the  crude 
lamp  oil  were  lubricating  oil,  asphaltum  and  par- 
affine.  These,  in  the  early  stages  of  the  manufac- 
ture, were  regarded  and  treated  as  waste  pro- 
ducts; afterward  they  were  utilized,  the  lubri- 
cating oil  first,  then  the  asphaltum  and  paraffine. 
For  a  year  or  two  after  the  war  some  of  the 
works  were  operated  solely  for  these  latter  com- 
pounds, the  ^crude  oil  being  relied  upon,  how- 
ever, to  pay  expenses. 

The  works  had  scarcely  become  thorougly  es- 
tablished when  the  petroleum  oil  wells  in  West- 
em  Pennsylvania,  which  developed  rapidly  and 
produced  oil  in  immense  quantities,  furnished 
the  burning  fluid  at  a  figure  which  made  it 
utterly  impossible  for  the  manufacturers  here  to 
compete  with  them,  and  the  business  received  its 
death  blow.  All  the  costly  preparation  for  a  per- 
manent business,  by  way  of  machinery,  etc.,  be- 
came at  once  so  much  dead  capital,  completely 
valueless.  It  is  estimated  that  1300,000  were  lost 
through  these  enterprises  in  the  two  townships. 
This  was  not  felt  to  any  great  extent  by  the 
county,  however,  for  the  most  of  it  was  foreign 
capital.  A  few  of  the  retorts  were  removed  only 
a  short  time  ago,  but  most  of  them  were  taken 
away  during  the  war,  and,  it  is  «aid,  cast  into 
shells  and  used  on  various  battlefields  in  the  late 
conflict. 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  most  of  these  rich 
beds  of  coal  are  now  owned  by  non  residents  of 
the  county,  and  await  only  the  construction  of  a" 
railroad  in  the  vicinity  to  be  developed  to  the  full- 
est extent.  The  tract  of  about  650  acres  of  land,  sit- 
uated in  the  heart  of  this  valuable  field,  owned  by 


Wilcox  &  Osborn,  has  already  been  mentioned. 
Much  of  the  coal  has  been  purchased  by  foreign 
capitalists  from  parties  who  still  own  the  land. 
One  company  of  seven,  consisting  of  Mr.  Thomp- 
son (now  deceased),  formerly  president  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Central  railroad,  Thomas  Scott,  ex- 
president  of  the  same  road,  Mr.  Shaw,  a  vice 
president  of  this  road.  Judge  E.  C.  Hurd,  of 
Mount  Vernon  (now  deceased).  General  Q.  A. 
Jones,  of  Mount  Vernon,  now  receiver  of  the 
Cleveland,  Mount  Vernon  and  Delaware  railroad, 
Samuel  Israel,  vice  president  of  the  same,  and 
Colonel  P.  Metham,  now  own  about  800  acres  of 
the  coal  in  this  and  Jefferson  townships. 

The  Dresden  branch  of  the  Cleveland,  Mount 
Vernon  and  Columbus  railroad,  which  was  par- 
tially constructed  in  1873,  but  then  suspended 
operations  by  reason  of  the  panic,  passed  through- 
this  region  and  would  have  ofi'ered  the  desired 
outlet  to  a  market  had  it  been  completed.  The 
road  entered  the  northeastern  part  of  the  town- 
ship from  Jefferson,  and  passed  up  the  narrow 
valley  of  Simmons'  run,  in  a  southwesterly  direc- 
tion, for  about  three  miles  to  "  Tunnel  Hill,"  on 
William  Noland's  farm,  lot  32  of  the  military  sec- 
tion. The  company  was  at  work  in  this  tunnel 
when  it  ceased  operations,  had  it  been  com- 
pleted, the  construction  of  the  balance  of  the 
road  to  Dresden  would  have  been  comparatively 
easy,  as  the  little  valley  of  Wakatomica  run  could 
be  followed  the  entire  distance. 

Limestone  abounds  in  the  vicinity  of  the  coal 
beds,  and  kidney  iron  ore  has  also  been  dis- 
covered. What  extent  of  this  iron .  ore  a  thor- 
ough investigation  might  reveal,  awaits  the  future 
to  determine. 

A  Christian  church,  vulgarly  known  as  the 
"  New  Light,"  was  organized  in  1823.  The  pioneer 
settlers,  who  attached  themselves  to  the  organi- 
zation at  or  closely  following  its  inception,  and 
grew  to  be  leading  lights  in  the  body,  included 
the  names  of  Joseph  Hartman  and  wife,  Charles 
Cessna  and  family,  Eichard  Mood  and  wife,  Wil- 
ham  Eichards'  family,  Ira  Marshall  and  John 
Haines.  Services  were  held  at  private  houses 
during  the  infancy  of  the  church,  generally  at 
Eichard  Mood's  or  Joseph  Hartman's.  It  was 
customary  also  to  hold  protracted  meetings  in 


468 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  forest— "God's  first  temples."  In  1840,  a 
house  of  worship  was  erected  a  short  distance 
north  of  the  village  of  West  Bedford,  at  an  out- 
lay of  the  modest  sum  of  $300.  It  was  a  small 
frame,,  which  still  stands  the  ravages  of  time. 
Eevs.  James  Mervin  and  Ashley  were  the  first 
ministers.  At  a  later  date,  came  Revs.  Andrew 
Hunger,  Adolphus  Bradfield,  Jacob  Hunger, 
William  Webb  and  H.  Harrah.  In,  1864,  by 
reason  of  removals  and  deaths,  the  church  was 
too  feeble  to  support  itself  and  became  extinct. 
During  its  existence,  a  Sunday-school  had  been 
carried  on  with  success  and  several  refreshing 
seasons  of  great  spiritual  revival  marked  the  his- 
tory of  the  church.  Its  membership  at  one  time 
exceeded  fifty. 

The  Union  Methodist  Episcopal  church  is  lo- 
cated in  the  southern  part  of  the  township.  It 
was  long  known  as  Smith's  church,  so  called  from 
one  of  its  principal  early  members  who  lived  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  building,  but  since  his  decease 
it  has  given  way  to  the  name  mentioned  above. 
The  first  church  building,  a  hewed  log  affair,  was 
erected  about  1832.  Preaching  had  been  held 
for  many  years  prior  in  cabins,  but,  it  is  under- 
stood, the  class  was  formed  not  long  before  the 
erection  of  the  building.  Harvey  Willson  was 
probably  the  first  minister.  The  early  members 
were  George  and  James  Smith,  William  McCoy, 
John  Dickerson,  Moses  Wolford,  Jonathan  Phil- 
lips, Isaac  Dikus,  Martin  Markle  and  the  families 
of  many  of  these.  One  of  this  number,  William 
McCoy,  built  the  first  church.  The  present  house 
of  worship,  -a  frame  structure,  was  built  about 
twenty-five  years  ago.  The  membership  is  now 
fifty  or  more,  the  minister  in  charge,  A.  McCul- 
lough.  A  Sunday-school  is  carried  on  during  the 
summer. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  West  Bed- 
ford was  organized  in  1838  or  1840.  It  might 
properly  be  called  a  branch  of  the  Union  Meth- 
odist church,  just  described,  as  a  number  of  the 
early  members  of  that  society  severed  their  mem- 
bership with  it  in  order  to  organize  this  one. 
Colonel  Roe  was  mainly  instrumental  in  effect- 
ing its  organization.  He  was  an  ardent  Method- 
ist and  resided  at  West  Bedford  but  was  unable 
to  walk  to  the  Union  church  and,  having  no  con- 


veyance of  his  own,  could  not  be  regular  in  his 
attendance  upon  services. 

The  society  was  organized  in  his  log  cabin, 
which  stood  on  the  lot  now  occupied  by  the  par- 
sonage. Revs.  Kellogg  and  Joseph  Brown  were 
on  the  circuit  at  that  time.  The  circuit  was 
larger  than  at  present,  embracing  New  Castle, 
East  Union,  Mohawk  Village,  West  Carlisle,  Ros- 
coe,  Dresden,  and  perhaps  other  appointments. 
Other  early  preachers  were  Revs.  Barker,  Blan- 
field,  Henry,  Whiteman,  John  McNabb  and  Wil- 
liam Boggs.  William  Jones  and  William  Smith 
were  the  two  first  class-leaders.  Besides  these, 
other  original  members  were  Mr.  Smith's  wife, 
Nancy  (the  only  original  member  now  connected 
with  the  church),  and  his  daughter,  Mary  Ann; 
Mr.  Jones'  wife  Rachel  and  daughter  Susan; 
James  Jones,  his  wife  Susan  and  children  Mary 
Jane  and  Barrack ;  Coe  Roe  and  his  wife  Julia, 
and  Mrs  Ellen  Renfrew.  James  Jones  had  four 
sons  who  subsequently  became  ministers  of  the 
gospel  in  this  denomination,  Thomas,  Barrack, 
William  and  Samuel.  The  second,  one  oi  the 
original  members,  was  at  the  time  of  the  church's 
organization  a  lad  of  but  ten  years  of  age.  Meet- 
ings for  a  year  or  two  were  held  in  private  houses 
on  week  days,  then  in  1841,  the  church  was  built 
and  services  held  in  it  on  Sundays.  The  church 
lot  was  donated  by  Mrs.  Ellen  Renfrew.-  The 
building  is  a  large  frame,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  about  500,  built  by  George  Conn.  It  was  re- 
paired and  refurnished  several  years  ago,  and, 
notwithstanding  its  age,  still  presents  a  good  ap- 
pearance, though  the  members  are  at  present  dis- 
cussing the  propriety  of  erecting  a  new  structure. 
The  year  the  church  was  built  was  a  noted  one 
in  the  history  of  the  church.  A  revival  that  year 
resulted  in  500  accessions  to  the  different  churches 
in  this  circuit.  During  another  revival  in  the 
West  Bedford  church,  several  years  ago,  about 
140  conversions  were  made.  The  present  mem- 
bership ranges  about  ninety  or  100.  Rev.  A.  Mo- 
Cullough  is  the  pastor. 

West  Bedford  was  laid  out  September  13, 1817, 
by  Micajah  Heaton.  For  a  long  time  it  was 
known  only  as  Heaton's  Town,  then  its  proper 
name  came  into  use.  It  lies  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  township,  on  the  northeast  quarter  of 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


469 


.•section  16.  Mr.  Heaton  was  from  Bedford  coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  and  settled  on  this  quarter-sec- 
tion about  a  year  previous  to  the  laying  out  of  the 
village.  His  cabin  was  situated  upon  the  corner 
•where  James  James'  residence  now  is.  He  kept 
&  tavern  here  for  a  few  years.  The  travel 
through  the  town  was  scanty,  and  the  proprietor 
relied  mainly  upon  the  gale  of  whisky  for  the  in- 
come of  the  house.  He  also  received  the  appoint- 
ment as  postmaster,  and  thereby  drew  considera- 
ble custom  to  his  bar.  Thomas  McBride  after- 
"ward  became  postmaster  and  retained  the  office 
•for  an  extended  term  of  years.  In  order  to  pro- 
mote the  growth  of  the  village,  the  proprietor 
offered  a  town  lot  to  the  person  who  would  erect 
the  first  house  in  the  village.  Enoch  Pry  and 
Samuel  Waters  competed  for  the  prize,  but  it  is 
unknown  which  of  the  two  was  successful.  Lem- 
uel Holmes  was  the  first  store  keeper.  He  had 
been  a  merchant  in  Baltimore,  but  had  met  with 
business  reverses  and  came  West  about  1818  or 
1819,  with  his  aged  father,  to  retrieve,  if  possible, 
liis  broken  fortunes.    He  had  but  a  small  stock 

'  of  goods  and  did  not  remain  here  long.  He  pur- 
chased a  farm  near  Mount  Vernon  and  removed 
to  it.  William  Renfrew  and  Robert  Hay  suo- 
•ceeded  Mr.  Holmes  in  the  mercantile  business  of 
the  place.  Their  store  occupied  the  site  of  Mr. 
Heaton's  cabin.  Mr.  Renfrew  remained  in  busi- 
ness here  quite  a  number  of  years,  and  became  a 
^jrominent  and  influential  man  in  the  extended 
-circle  in  which  he  moved.  When  he  retired 
from  business,  he  removed  to  a  farm  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  township,  and  there,  undisturbed 
by  business  cares,  spent  his  remaining  years 
amidst  the  quiet  and  repose  of  rural  life. 

While  he  was  still  in  business,  James  McPar- 
land,  an  Irishman,  opened  a  second  store.  He 
■came  here  with  only  $400,  rented  a  little  log 
house,  stocked  it  with  goods,  and  also  lived  in  it. 
He  remained  identified  with  the  village  many 
years,  and  acquired  a  large  fortune  through  his 
business  relations.     He  removed  to  Vermillion 

■county,  Illinois.  An  important  character  in  the 
village's  early  days,  was  William  Lynch,  the  ha(> 
ter,  who  fashioned  and  furnished  all  kinds  of 
head-ware  for  his  pioneer  customers  hereabouts. 

Jabez  Heaton,  a  brother  to  Mioajah,  was  the  first 

Jblacksmith,  opening  his  shop  about  1820.    He 


was  followed  by  James  Roney,  an  attentive  and 
industrious  mechanic,  who  worked  at  the  trade 
here  for  many  years.  In  1820,  Isaac  Heaton, 
another  brother  to  Mioajah,  was  running  a  little 
tannery.  It  afterwards  passed  into  the  hands  of 
John  Quigley,  who  sold  it  to  Thomas  McBride 
and  William  Renfrew.  It  ceased  to  exist  some 
twenty-five  years  ago.  Another  tannery  was 
started  about  1842,  by  Philip  Kennedy.  Patrick 
Thompson  operated  it  awhile,  and  Thomas  Jones 
then  purchased  it.  Several  years  later  he  allowed 
it  to  go  down. 

In  the  past,  considerable  manufacturing  was 
carried  on  in  the  village.  About  1840,  a  thresh- 
ing machine  manufactory  was  started  by  Isaac 
and  Thomas  Lewis  and  William  Lukens.  Pour 
years  later.  Dr.  E.  M.  Lewis,  who  had  had  charge 
of  the  shops  for  the  firm,  bought  it  and  in  turn 
sold  it  to  John  Shields,  who  gradually  discontin- 
ued the  business.  Patrick  Thompson  and  James 
Roney,  about  1861,  started  a  shop  of  a  similar 
kind,  but  after  three  years  experience  quit  the 
business.  Thompson  and  Shields  have  built  a 
limited  number  of  windmills  here,  in  years  gone 
by.  About  1862,  John  Shields  began  making  re- 
volving hay  rakes,  and  is  still  engaged  in  the 
manufacture;  about  fifty  were  made  the  first 
season,  but  the  number  has  since  been  reduced. 

In  1858  George  Moore  erected  a  large  stearti 
saw  and  grist  mill  just  west  of  the  village.  The 
saw  mill  was  first  set  and  the  material  for  the 
structure  sawed.  After  the  building  was  finished 
he  removed  the  saw  and  used  the  building  as  a 
grist  mill  only.  In  1863  Patrick  Thompson  pur- 
chased the  property,  replaced  the  sawing  appara- 
tus and  has  carried  on  both  ever  since.  In  former 
times  the  mill  was  kept  constantly  running  but 
not  so  much  business  is  done  now. 

The  first  school  in  the  village  was  held  about 
1822  in  a  little  log  cabin  which  stood  near  the 
present  residence  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Movel.  Edward 
McCoy,  an  easy,  good-natured  man,  was  the  first 
teacher.  His  pupils  were  John,  Daniel  and 
Henry  Haines,  Owen  Marshall,  Elijah,  Elisha 
and  Joseph  Musgrove,  Absolom  Wolf,  Conner 
Crawford,  Arthur  and  Robert  McBride  and  Elias 
Norris.  Schools  continued  to  be  held  in  the  vil- 
lage with  tolerable  regularity  from  that  day  to 


470 


•  HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  present,  at  first  not  longer  than  three  months 
in  a  year.  About  1846  the  West  Bedford  acad- 
emy was  organized,  and  for  many  years  was  one 
of  the  leading  institutions  of  the  place.  The 
building  was  erected  by  a  stock  company  con- 
sisting of  James  Jones,  James  and  Matthew  Mc- 
Farland,  William  Smith,  Charles  Barnes,  Patrick 
Thompson  and  others.  William  Renfrew  do- 
nated the  land.  After  a  flattering  career  of  four 
or  five  years  the  academy  was  destroyed  by  fire, 
but  the  school  was  transferred  temporarily  to  the 
Methodist  church  and  the  energetic  citizens  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  erect  another.  Its  cost  was 
about  $1,200,  a  fund  raised  by  stock  subscription 
as  before.  Eev.  William  Grissell  the  Methodist 
minister  at  the  time  was  the  founder  of  the  in- 
stitution. He  was  assisted  in  the  instruction  by 
two  lady  teachers  from  Oberlin  The  school  in 
its  day  ranked  high  as  a  college  preparatory  de- 
partment. The  catalogue  showed  one  hundred 
and  ten  students  in  attendance  at  one  session,  a 
number  of  them  from  Coshocton  and  Eoscoe.  A 
bell  capped  the  building  and  a  fine  library  circu- 
lated among  the  students.  In  the  course  of  time 
the  property  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  school 
district,  the  directors  buying  the  stock  at  a  dis- 
count. The  village  school  is  still  held  in  the 
building.  It  is  a  two-story  frame,  twenty-four 
feet  by  forty-eight,  and  contains  three  rooms 
only  two  of  which  are  now  used.  About  eighty- 
eight  scholars  are  now  enrolled.  They  are  taught 
by  Samuel  Moore  and  W.  R.  Spencer. 

Wakatomica  Lodge,  No.  108,  of  the  Masonic 
Order,  is  located  here.  It  was  organized  at  West 
Carlisle,  February  10,  1840,  under  name  of  Wash- 
ington Lodge.  Afterward,  it  was  removed  to 
West  Bedford.  The  lodge  formerly  owned  a 
one-story  frame  hall,  situated  across  the  street 
from  Jones'  store,  but,  in  1875,  it  erected  a  third 
story  to  a  building  belonging  to  Patrick  Thomp- 
son, and  have  since  occupied  it  as  a  lodge  room. 
The  present  officers  are :  Joseph  Dickerson,  Mas- 
ter; T.  W.  Thomson,  Senior  Warden;  James 
White,  Junior  Warden ;  John  McKee,  Secretary ; 
Frank  Jones,  Treasurer ;  T.  W.  Helrigle,  Senior 
Deacon;  Martin  Wolford,  Junior  Deacon;  Frank 
Tredaway,  Tyler.  The  membership  is  now  forty- 
£ve. 


A  lodge  of  Good  Templars  was  located  here 
once,  but  it  has  perished. 

The  population  of  the  village  is  one  hundred 
and  thirty-four.  Although  there  have  been  three 
or  four  stores  here  formerly  at  one  time,  at  pres- 
ent Thomas  Jones  monopolizes  the  mercantile- 
business.  Several  blacksniith  shops,  a  shoe  shop, 
and  a  cabinet  shop  complete  the  business.  C.  F> 
Moore  is  proprietor  of  the  hotel.  Two  physicians 
are  now  in  practice  here,  Drs.  J.  W.  Heskett  and 
William  Litten.  Former  practitioners  were  Drs. 
Nelson,  William  Stanton,  Roof,  Wattel,  Simmons, 
Smith  and  Stockdale. 

Zeno  was  the  quaint  appellation  which  Abra- 
ham Cheney  bestowed  upon  a  little  town  of  his 
own  creation,  in  1833,  situated  on  lot  11  of  the 
military  section.  Its  life  was  ephemeral.  Few 
houses  were  built,  these  few  soon  removed,  and 
the  village  plot  vacated  not  many  years  after  its 
formation,  the  reason  whereof  is  veiled  in  obliv- 
ion as  deep  as  the  town  itself. 

Tunnel  Hill  Postdffice  is  situated  about  two 
miles  east  of  West  Bedford,  on  the  Coshocton 
road.  It  was  formed  in  1873  by  the  appointment 
of  T.  W.  Thompson  postmaster.  He  still  holds 
the  position.  The  postoflfice  was  secured  through 
the  influence  of  the  railroad  officials  then  en- 
gaged upon  the  construction  of  the  tunnel  a  mile 
or  so  to  the  northeast.  T.  W.  Thompson  owns  a 
store  here,  Leonard  Haines  a  harness  shop,  and 
Samuel  Dickerson  a  blacksmith  shop. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

BETHLEHEM  TOWNSHIP. 

Name  —  Boundaries — Streams  —  Surface—  Soil — "  Denman's- 
Prairie  "—Name  of  tlie  Killbuck— Legend  o£  the  Wliite 
Woman— Hunting  Grounds— Mounds— The  Morrisons-Mrsv 
Kimberly  and  tlie  Deer— Otjier  Early  Settlers— Squatters- 
Saw  Mill— Bridges  and  Canal— Sohools—Cliurches. 

BETHLEHEM  township  was  organized  in 
1826.  The  honor  of  naming  it  was  given 
to  William  Speaks,  a  revolutionary  soldier,  who 
■w&a  the  oldest  resident  of  the  township  at  that 
time.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Clark  town- 
ship, on  the  east  by  Keene,  on  the  south  by  Jack- 
son and  on  the  west  by  Jefferson. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


471 


It  is  watered  by  the  Walhonding  river  and 
Killbuck  creek.  The  Walhonding  enters  the 
southern  portion  of  the  township  from  the  west, 
and,  pursuing  a  nearly  easterly  course,  crosses 
the  line  into  the  southwestern  corner  of  Keene 
township.  The  Killbuck  enters  at  the  northwest 
from  Clark  township,  and,  just  after  crossing  the 
line,  bears  to  the  west  about  a  mile  and  touches 
Jeffersop  township  in  one  or  two  places;  it  then 
seeks  the  Walhonding  by  a  southeasterly  course, 
reaching  it  almost  a  mile  southeast  of  the  town- 
ship center.  The  northeastern  portion  of  the 
township  is  drained  by  a  little  stream  called 
Buckalew  run,  which  enters  Killbuck  creek  near 
its  mouth. 

The  valleys  of  the  Walhonding  and  the  Kill- 
buck  give  to  the  township  more  bottom  lands 
than  are  ■found  in  any  one  of  the  surrounding 
townships.  That  of  the  Walhonding,  having  an 
average  width  of  more  than  a  mile,  possesses  a 
soil  of  unusual  fertility.  The  valley  of  the  Kill- 
buck,  not  quite  so  wide,  contains  a  soil  which  is 
often  a  clay  and  very  productive,  though  not 
equaling  in  this  respect  that  of  the  Walhonding. 
The  ridge  land  is  mostly  of  a  clayey  and  lime- 
stone nature,  and  is,  consequently,  of  good  qual- 
ity. Beyond  the  valleys  the  surface  is  rough  ;  the 
roughest,  as  well  as  largest,  section  of  it  being 
found  in  the  northeastern  part,  where  there  is  no 
stream  of  any  consequence. 

Timber  of  a  heavy  growth  covered  the  town- 
ship at  the  coming  of  the  first  settlers,  except  in 
two  localities.  In  the  southeastern  corner  of  the 
township,  south  of  the  river,  and  extending  across 
the  line  a  short  distance  into  Keene  and  Jackson 
townships,  was  an  open  space  of  several  hundred 
acres,  known  as  Denman's  prairie.  The  soil  was 
rich  and  productive,  bearing  a  luxuriant  growth 
of  tall,  waving  grass.  The  other  exception  was 
between  the  Killbuck  and  Walhonding,  near 
their  junction,  where  there  was  a  scope  of  several 
hundred  acres,  covered  only  with  saplings  and 
low  underbrush.  The  place  is  still  .called  the 
plains.  The  principal  growths  here  were  the 
scrub-oak,  jack-oak,  white-oak,  hickory,  cherry, 
walnut  and  wil4  plum.  It  has  mostly  been 
cleared  since.  About  all  that  is  left  of  this 
young  growth  is  the  little  grove  standing  in 
front  of  the  residence  of  Mr.  John  Hogle.    The 


trees  here  have  now  attained  a  goodly  size,  being 
a  foot  in  diameter,  some  of  them. 

Killbuck  creek  received  its  name  from  that  of 
a  noted  chief  of  the  Delawares,  whose  town  was 
located  on  this  stream  between  Millersburg  and 
Wooster.  Concerning  the  origin  of  the  name 
Walhonding,  which  in  the  Indian  tongue  signi- 
fies "  the  White  Woman,"  there  appear  to  be  two 
accounts.  Along  the  western  banks  of  the  river,, 
in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  township,  on  the 
Denman  farm,  is  a  broken  ledge  of  rocks  invested 
with  a  romantic  legend.  The  river  here  winds 
close  to  the  base  of  a  steep  acclivity  of  ground 
from  which,  here  and  there,  jut  out  clifTs  of  sand- 
stone rock  lending  an  air  of  picturesque  beauty 
to  the  scene.  The  tradition,  current  among  the 
people  in  this  vicinity,  tells  that  a  beautiful, 
young,  virgin  captive,  loath  to  endure  the  indig- 
nities and  barbarities  of  an  Indian  life,  preferred 
stern  death  instead,  and,  breaking  away  from  the 
hated  camp  adjacent,  rushed  madly  towards  the 
storm-swollen  stream — the  Indian  braves  in  hot 
pursuit— and  plunged  from  this  overhanging 
rock  into  its  seething  waters  beneath.  Accord- 
ing to  one  account  the  cold  waters  closed  over 
her  forever,  the  Indians,  on  reaching  the  brink, 
beholding  the  bubbles  of  her  expiring  breath  rise 
to  the  surface;  but  from  another  version,  she 
concealed  herself  beneath  a  projecting  rock  until 
the  Indians  abandoned  the  chase  and  returned  to 
their  camp,  then  cautiously  stole  away  and  es- 
caped. The  poetic  legend  is  traced  back  to  the 
Carpenters,  who  came  to  Coshocton  county  in 
1801,  and  many  people  of  the  present  generation, 
who  live  within  knowing  distance  of  the  rock^ 
give  full  credence  to  it  and  fondly  tell  to  the 
passing  stranger  the  story  of  the  White  Woman, 
TJie  chronicles  of  the  earliest  white  men,  who 
saw  the  beauty  of  this  valley,  however,  give  a 
different  account  of  the  origin  of  the  river's 
name.  Christopher  Gist,  a  surveyor,  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  Ohio  Land  Company  visited  "  White 
Woman's  creek  "  in  1751.  In  his  journal  of  that 
date  he  says  the  white  woman  who  gave  the 
river  her  name  was  Mary  Harris,  the  wife  of  an 
Indian  chief  who  dwelt  upon  its  banks.  The  le- 
gend of  this  woman  is  narrated  in  another  chap- 
ter of  this  volume. 

The  valley  of  the  Wolhonding,  as  also  that  of 


472 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  Killbuck,  before  the  advent  of  the  pale  face, 
was  doubtless  one  of  the  happiest  of  the  terres- 
trial happy  hunting  grounds  of  the  untamed, 
forest-roving  savage.  A  hundred  years  ago  two 
villages  of  fhe  Delawares  were  located  in  the 
valley;  one  three  miles,  the  other  ten  miles, 
above  Coshocton. 

In  the  forks  of  the  Wolhonding  and  Killbuck 
Avas  Custaloga's  Town.  Here  was  the  residence 
■doubtless  of  Mary  Harris,  after  whom  the  river 
was  probably  named.  Custaloga  was  a  Delaware 
chief,  and  the  orator  of  his  tribe.  He,  with 
twenty  warriors  representing  his  nation,  was  the 
iirst  to  surrender  their  prisoners  to  Colonel 
Bouquet.  His  speech  at  the  treaty  of  Fort  Pitt 
is  full  of  noble  sentiment  and  Indian  eloquence. 

From  the  name  of  this  town,  it  is  probable 
-that  it  was  the  residence  of  this  distinguished 
fipeaker  and  chief. 

For  years  after  the  Indians  left  Coshocton 
county,  wandering  red  men  returned  to  visit  the 
•loved  haunts  of  old.  In  1822,  and  perhaps  many 
years  later,  Indians  from  the  Tuscarawas  river 
came  to  the  Killbuck  during  the  summer  season 
to  trap  and  to  hunt.  Game  of  every  description 
was  abundant.  The  air  at  times  was  black  with 
wild  turkeys.  Deer  were  often  seen  in  herds  of 
forty  or  fifty.  Bears  and  wolves  were  numerous. 
No  place  was  more  eagerly  sought  by  the  lover 
of  the  chase  than  the  valleys  of  Bethlehem  town- 
ship, and  for  many  years  the  sport  was  enjoyed 
alike  by  the  cabin-dwelling  huntsman  and  his 
dusky  neighbor  of  the  forest  wigwam. 

Upon  John  Hogle's  farm,  or,  as  it  is  better 
known,  the  east  reserve  of  the  Rathbone  section, 
not  far  from  the  Wolhonding,  is  a  large  mound, 
having  a  height  of  perhaps  fifteen  feet  and  a  very 
gradual  slope.  Another  mound  of  a  lesser  size 
stands  on  the  Moffat  farm,  a  short  distance  north- 
west of  the  center  of  the  township  in  the  Kill- 
buck  valley.  These  are  the  only  ones  known  to 
exist  in  the  township. 

Bethlehem  township  is  made  up  entirely  of 
military  land,  consisting  of  four  military  sections, 
of  4,000  acres  each.  The  first  or  northeast  sec- 
tion was  surveyed  into  forty  one-hundred-acre 
lots,  by  the  government,  for  the  accommodation 
of  revolutionary  soldiers,  or  other  individuals, 
who  held  warrants  for  this  number  of  acres. 


George  Skinner,  of  Franklin  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  the  original  individual  owner  of  the 
second  or  northwest  section.  The  third  or  south- 
west section  is  known  as  the  John  Eathbone 
section.  He  obtained  it  in  1825,  from  Alexan- 
der 0.  and  Mary  E.  Spencer,  and  James  C.  and 
Sarah  Norton,  who,  it  seems,  were  the  heirs  of 
William  Steele,  the  original  grantee  of  the  sec- 
tion, under  patent  dated  March  20, 1800,  Mat- 
thew Denman  and  William  Wells  were  the  pro- 
prietors of  the  southeast  section.  All  these  pro- 
prietors were  non-residents. 

The  first  settlement  in  the  county  was  made 
on  Denman's  prairie,  in  the  eastern  part  of  this 
township,  in  the  spring  of  1800,  by  Charles 
Williams,  William  Morrison  and  Isaac  and 
Henry  Hoagland.  These  little  open  spaces  of 
rich,  productive  soil,  scattered  sparingly,  like 
oases,  in  the  unlimited  expanse  of  timber  growth, 
were  eagerly  seized  upon  by  the  earliest  pioneers, 
and  afforded  an  excellent  opportunity  of  raising 
the  indispensable  crop  of  corn  until  tillable  fields 
could  be  wrought  out  of  the  native  forests.  Ebe- 
nezer  Buckingham  soon  after,  in  1800,settled  at  the 
mouth  of  Killbuck,  remaining  two  years  only. 
On  Denman's  prairie,  as  early  as  1801,  were 
also  Samuel  Morrison,  Ira  Kimberly,  George  Car- 
penter and  James  Craig.  The  wives  of  Wil- 
liams, the  two  Morrisons  and  of  Kimberly  were 
sisters  of  George  Carpenter,  and  were  noted  for 
their  physical  strength  and  activity. 

For  years  previous  to  their  emigration  to  Co- 
shocton county,  they  had  lived  with  their  father 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  in  the  midst  of  the  fierce 
and  prolonged  Indian  warfare  which  then  was, 
waged  unremittingly  along  the  border.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Carpenter,  while  out  in  the  fields  at  work 
once,  in  the  Ohio  valley,  were  suddenly  surprised 
by  a  band  of  Indians.  He  was  shot,  and  fell  mo- 
tionless to  the  ground.  Supposing  him  to  be 
dead,  the  Indians  left  him  and  pursued  Mrs. 
Carpenter,  who  sped  fleetly  in  the  direction  'of 
the  fort  which  had  been  erected,  and  succeeded 
in  reaching  it  in  safety.  Mr.  Carpenter,  who  waS 
not  fatally  wounded,  recovered  sufficiently  to 
crawl  away  and  conceal  himself  before  the  In- 
dians returned.  He  thus  escaped  the  tomahawk 
and  the  scalping  knife.  Inured  to  emergencies 
demanding  great  endurance  and  physical  action. 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


473 


his  children  were  raised  to  bear  the  brunts  of  a 
rugged  and  shifting  pioneer  life  with  ease.  A 
little  incident  which  occurred  on  the  Denman 
prairie,  while  these  early  settlers  were  encamped 
here,  will  illustrate  the  muscular  power  and  hardi- 
hood of  these  pioneer  women.  Mrs.  Sallie  Kim- 
berly  was  visiting  at  the  cabin  of  her  brother-in- 
law,  William  Morrison,  who  at  the  time  was  suf- 
fering from  some  bodily  ailment,  and  in  conse- 
quence was  unable  to  move  about  much.  He 
saw  a  deer  across  the  Walhonding,  and,  taking 
down  his  rifle,  he  shot  it.  Not  being  well  enough 
to  go  across  for  the  game  himself,  he  asked  one 
of  the  women  to  do  so.  Mrs.  Kimberly  consented 
to  bring  over  the  deer.  The  river  was  deep  in 
this  place,  and  not  f ordable  anywhere  in  the  vi- 
ciijity,  but  nothing  daunted  her.  She  sprang  into 
the  stream  and  swam  easily  across ;  then  securely 
tied  her  large  neckerchief  around  the  deer's  neck 
and  drew  it  to  the  water,  and,  holding  one  end  of 
the  cloth  by  her  teeth,  she  swam  over  with  the 
deer  to  the  opposite  shore. 

The  Morrisons  and  the  Carpenters  afterward 
passed  on  up  the  Killbuck,  becoming  the  earliest 
settlers  of  what  is  now  Holmes  county.  Kim- 
berly moved  two  miles  further  up  the  valley,  to 
the  place  where  the  bridge  now  crosses  the  river. 
It  was  long  known  as  Kimberly's  ford,  a;fterward 
as  Fry's  ford..  James  Craig  kept  a  little  grocery 
close  by,  for  a  num.ber  of  years,  whisky  being  the 
chief  article  of  trade ;  then  removed  to  Coshocton, 
where  he  and  his  family  died  about  1814,  of  "  cold 
plague." 

Isaac  Hoagland  came^  from  Virginia  to  the 
Denman  section,  about  the  same  time  the  Morri- 
sons did.  He  afterward  moved  up  to  Clark 
township,  becoming  one  of  the  pioneer  settlers. 

About  1806,  Henry  Carr,  from  Hardy  county, 
Virginia,  settled  on  lot  11  of  the  southwest  sec- 
tion, now  owned  by  James  Richardson.  He  here 
operated  a  little  still  for  a  few  years,  beginning 
about  1810.  The  distilled  spirits  he  disposed  of 
mostly  tp  his  scattering  neighbors,  often  exchang- 
ing it  for  the  raw  material — corn.  One  bushel  of 
shelled  corn  was  worth  a  gallon  of  whisky,  and 
many  of  the  settlers  would  send  a  bag  of  corn  to 
Carr  as  regularly  as  they  did  to  mill. 

John  Bantum  came  in  1806,  from  near  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  and  settled  on  that  part  of  the 


Rathbone  section,  afterwards  known  as  the  east 
reserve.  He  had  served  through  the  revolution. 
Joseph  Burrell,  a  son  of  Benjamin  Burrell,  who 
was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Keene  town- 
ship, settled  here  early.  He  was  from  Frederick 
county,  Maryland;  died  in  August,  1874,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-four  years. 

About  1808,  Adam  Markley  came  in  from 
Maryland  with  a  large  family — eight  sons  and 
four  daughters.  John  Markley,  who  was  killed 
at  an  election  at  Coshocton  in  1816,  by  George 
Arnold,  a  noted  rough  from  what  is  now  Bethle- 
hem township — then  forming  a  portion  of  Tusca- 
rawas township — was  a  member  of  this  family. 
This  murder  was  the  first  one  committed  in 
Coshocton  county.  John  Biler  accompanied  the 
Markleys  here.  He  died  soon  after  his  arrival. 
The  names  of  other  early  settlers  concerning 
whom  little  is  now  known  are,  Joseph  Bradford, 
Joshua  and  Peter  Woods,  James  Rich,  Stephen 
Willis  and  Thomas  Pool. 

Benjamin  Fry  was  an  early  settler  from  Vir- 
ginia. His  was  a  restless  spirit,  which  led  him  to 
make  frequent  migrations.  He  run  a  little  dis- 
tillery awhile,  in  the  western  part  of  the  town- 
ship, then  moved  to  Tuscarawas  township  in  1808, 
and  two  years  later,  to  a  place  in  Jackson  town- 
ship, two  miles  below  Coshocton,  where  he  dis- 
tilled a  short  time.  He  next  went  to  Jefferson 
township,  then  back  again  to  Bethlehem,  settling 
at  the  site  of  the  bridge.  His  habitation  here 
gave  the  place  the  name  of  "Fry's  Ford."  Mr. 
Fry  raised  a  large  family  and  lived  to  an  extreme 
old  age.  He  was  active  and  energetic  in  life,  and 
apt  to  be  strong  in  expression.  When  ninety-five 
years  old,  he  declared  with  an  oath  that  unless  he 
got  away  from  the  Walhonding  river,  he  couldn't 
live  five  years  longer.  He  accordingly  "  pulled  up 
stakes  "  and  moved  his  entire  family  to  Illinois, 
where  he  died  the  next  year. 

Michael  Hogle  settled  in  the  township  in  April, 
1814.  He  was  born  near  Plattsburg,  New  York, 
but  emigrated  here  from  Vermont.  He  settled 
first  on  the  Denman  section,  south  of  the  river ; 
raised  a  family  of  nineteen  children,  removed  to 
Illinois  in  1845,  and  died  there  the  following  year. 
His  son,  John  Hogle,  still  lives  in  this  township ; 
has  long  been  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  is  well 
known  as  one  of  its  best  citizens. 


474 


HISTOEY  OF  OOSHOOTON  COUNTY. 


John  Merrihew  and  David  Ash  came  at  the 
same  time  with  Mr.  Hogle.  A  little  later  Niles 
and  Ebenezer  Coleman  came  from  New  York. 
About  1830,  these  four  settlers  moved  westward 
to  Knox  county. 

Albert  Torrey,  a  New  Englander,  settled  in  the 
northern  part  of  the  township  about  1814.  He 
was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  pursued  this  vo- 
cation here  in  connection  with  farming;  said  to 
be  the  first  mechanic  in  Bethlehem  township. 
George  Shearer,  Elijah  Newoome  and  Matthew 
Boner,  were  also  early  settlers.  Newcome  settled 
near  the  center  of  the  township,  on  the  D.  War- 
ing farm.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Iroquois 
county,  Illinois. 

William  Speaks,  a  revolutionary  soldier,  settled 
about  a  half  a  mile  north  of  Newcome,  oh  the 
place  which  in  later  years  belonged  to  A.  Fred- 
erick. Mr.  Speaks  was  a  Virginian,  drank  noth- 
ing stronger  than  wine,  was  well  respected,  quiet 
in  his  habits,  a  member  of  the  Methodist  church 
and  died  in  the  township  at  a  good  old  age. 

James  Willis,  from  Virginia,  settled  on  the 
farm  now  occupied  by  John  G.  Frederick.  He 
was  a  famous  hunter  and  engaged  more  in  hunt- 
ing than  in  tilling  the  soil.  He  killed  five  bears 
in  one  day.  Samuel  Kay  and  Andrew  Wilson, 
two  soldiers  of  the  war  of  1812,  were  early  set- 
tlers. The  former  owned  500  acres  south  of  the 
Killbuck,  adjoining  Jefferson  township;  the  lat- 
ter, lot  39  of  the  northeast  section. 

Samuel  Clark,  born  in  Ireland,  emigrated  to 
Virginia  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  there  rpar- 
ried  Eachel  Clark,  and  came  west  to  Coshocton 
county  at  an  early  day.  He  spent  a  number  of 
years  on  the  Miller  section,  in  Franklin  town- 
ship, and  about  1820  moved  to  the  Denman  tract, 
in  this  township.  He  here  became  one  of  the 
township's  most  prominent  citizens.  He  was  a 
justice  of  the  peace  nearly  all  his  active  life,  and 
was  several  times  county  commissioner.  Two  of 
his  brothers,  Archibald  and  Gabriel,  and  his 
father,  Archibald,  settled  ■  in  the  township  about 
the  same  time. 

Somewhat  later  came  Nathan  Spencer,  from 
Hardy  county,  Virginia.  To  "draw  it  mildly," 
he  was  a  rough,  rollicking,  boisterous  kind  of  a 
man,  fond  of  cards,  whisky,  company  and  sport 
He  had  a  frolic  of  some  kind  about  once  a  week 


at  his  place,  which  was  situated  near  the  toT^Ti- 
ship  center — the  Samuel  Moffet  farm.  He  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  William  Speaks,  and  termin- 
ated his  career  here  by  moving  to  Missouri. 

Many  of  the  settlers  who  cleared  the  first  fields 
in  Bethlehem  township,  as  on  military  lands  else- 
where, were  only  squatters,  possessing  no  right 
whatever  to  the  soil  they  cultivated.  When  the 
land  would  belong  to  a  capitalist  he  would  often 
wish  to  retain  it  for  years  until  it  could  be  sold 
at  a  greatly  enhanced  price.  There  was  little  orna 
opportunity  to  lease  it,  and  occupancy  by  squat- 
ters was  encouraged  rather  than  forbidden,  as  the 
improvements  that  would  be  made  on  the  place 
were  advantageous  to  the  proprietor.  An  instance 
of  this  kind  of  settlement  was  on  the  Rathbone 
section.  Men  began  to  settle  here  as  early  .as 
1806,  and  a  constant  stream  of  emigration  was 
flowing  in  from  that  time  on,  while  very  little  if 
any  of  the  land  was  sold  before  1835. 

The  survey  of  this  section  was  made  about 
1834.  It  was  surveyed  into  thirty  lots,  varying 
in  size  from  100  to  150  acres.  These  lots  in- 
cluded all  of  the  section  except  two  tracts  on  the 
river,  one  of  192,  the  other  of  sixty-nine  acres, 
reserved  as  mill  sites.  The  western  reserve  in- 
cludes ah  island,  in  the  Wolhonding,  of  nineteen 
acres  in  extent.  These  reserves  were  well  se- 
lected for  the  construction  of  dams,  but  the 
building  of  the  Wolhonding  canal  destroyed 
their  value  for  this  purpose,  as  excellent  water 
power  might  be  obtained  at  the  locks  of  the  canal 
at  a  comparatively  trifling  expense. 

Bethlehem  township  is  distinctively  a  rural 
district.  No  village  or  hamlet  exists  on  its  soil, 
nor  has  the  establishment  of  one  ever  been 
attempted.  The  various  industries  common  in 
early  days  also  have  had  a  very  meager  representr 
ation  here.  Shortly  after  the  arrival  of  the 
earhest  settlers,  one  or  two  little  still-houses 
found  lodgment  in  the  township  for  a  very  hm- 
ited  period.  One  saw  mill  embraced  the  extent 
of  the  milling  interests.  It  was  erected  by 
Thomas  H.  Miller,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Kill- 
buck,  about  1830,  and  worked  a  very  few  years. 
Perhaps  the  chief  industry  was  the  rafting  of 
logs  down  the  Killbuck.  A  great  amount  of  this 
was  done.  The  logs  were  usually  poplar,  oak, 
walnut  or  sycamore,  and  were  rafted  at  first  to 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOOTOK  COUNTY. 


475 


JZanesville,  afterwards  to  Eoscoe  and  Coshocton. 

One  bridge,  located  near  the  northwestern 
corner  of  the  township,  crosses  the  Killbuck. 
The  only  bridge  across  the  Walhonding  in  Beth- 
lehem township  is  at  "Fry's  Ford."  It  was 
erected  in  1868-9.  John  Sharke,  of  Newark,  was 
the  contractor  for  the  masonry,  which  cost  |6,- 
709.  The  superstructure,  of  wood,  contracted  for 
by  John  Hesket,  cost  164-00.  In  early  times  a 
ferry  was  kept  here  by  William  Kimberly,  John 
Kimberly  and  Thomas  Clark  successively.  A 
large  flat  boat,  of '  suflBcient  size  to  hold  four 
horses  and  a  loaded  wagon,  was  used. 

The  Walhonding  canal  passes  through  the 
township  along  the  river  valley.  It  enters  from 
Jackson  township  on  the  south,  crosses  the  river 
by  a  dam  in  the  western  part  of  the  township, 
and  continues  up  the  northern  side  of  the  river 
into  Jefferson  township.  It  contains  two  locks 
in  this  township,  one  about  a  half  mile  above  the 
dam,  the  other  about  the  same  distance  below  it. 

It  is  affirmed  that  a  school  was  taught  on  the 
prairie  up  the  Walhonding  in  1802  or  1803, 
but  who  the  teacher  was,  and  who  there  learned 
±0  read  their  A,  B,  C,  it  is  impossible  now  to  tell. 
What  would  we  not  give  to  be  able  to  call  back 
to  memory  the  picture  of  'that  school.  Yes,  we 
should  like  to  hand  down  to  future  ages,  and  im- 
mortalize the  name  of  the  first  pedagogue  of 
Coshocton  county.  What  a  tale  might  be  told  of 
school-boy  feats,  could  we  only  bring  the  past  in 
solemn  review  before  us  again.  We  have  met 
with  but  a  single  individual,  Mr.  Alvah  Bucking- 
ham, of  Putnam,  who  recollects  having  attended 
'  this  school.  All  recollection,  except  this  simple 
fact,  has  faded  from  his  mind. 

An  early  school  was  taught  by  Charles  Elliott, 
who  afterward  became  a  famous  Methodist  min- 
ister, editor  and  president  of  the  Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity of  Iowa.  The  school  was  situated  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  township,  Mr.  Elliott  re- 
siding at  this  time  in  Keene  township. 

A  school-house  was  built  about  1821,  near  the 
township  center,  close  to  the  banks  of  Killbuck. 
Matthew  Boner  was  the  first  teacher.  With  all 
his  pedagogic  arts,  however,  he  could  not  pre- 
vent the  most  of  his  pupils  giving  greatest  atten- 
tion to  a  pet  deer,  belonging  to  Martin  Spencer, 
that  would  frequent  the  school  yard. 

About  the  same  time  a  cabin  for  school  pur- 
poses was  erected  in  the  northern  part  of  the 


township,  about  a  half  mile  east  of  Archibald 
Clark's  residence,  near  where  the  school-house 
now  stands.  It  was  built  in  regular  primitive 
fashion,  rude,  but  substantial.  "King"  Cole  and 
Walter  Truat  were  among  the  first  to  rule  over 
the  "  future  presidents"  who  attended  school 
here. 

A  few  years  later  Michael  Hoyle  built  a  school- 
house,  at  his  own  expense,  where  school  was  kept 
for  a  number  of  years.  Leander  Hoyle  and  James 
Madden  were  among  its  first  teachers. 

To  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  is  due  the 
earliest  propagation  of  religious  sentiment  in  this, 
as  in  nearly  every  other  township  in  the  county. 
In  days  when  the  country  was  sparsely  settled, 
the  merest  nucleus  for  a  religious  organization 
could  be  found  only  here  and  there  in  the  broad 
range  of  developing  lands,  yet  they  were  fostered 
and  nurtured  with  a  self-sacrificing  zeal  that  in- 
sured success  from  its  very  intensity.  The  local 
preachers  knew  no  rest,  but  were  constantly  in 
the  saddle  or  the  place  of  worship.  Services  were 
held  on  every  day  in  the  week,  so  numerous 
were  the  appointments  that  must  be  filled  by  one 
preacher.  It  was  about  1820,  that  a  class  was 
formed  in  Bethlehem  township.  Its  early  mem- 
bers were  Samuel  Clark,  Rachel  his  wife,  and  his 
daughter  Nancy;  Archibald  Clark,  his  wife  Susan 
and  daughters  Catherine  and  Jane;  Mrs.  Chris- 
tina Lowman  and  her  daughters  Mary  and  Han- 
nah; Elizabeth  Clark,  Joseph  Meigs  and  Eleanor, 
his  wife ;  Mrs.  Willis  and  William  Speaks.  The 
circuit  of  which  this  congregation  formed  a  part 
extended  from  Millersburg  to  Dresden,  and  as 
far  east  as  Evans'  creek,  near  Newcomerstown. 
For  a  long  time  preaching  was  held  on  week 
days  only.  The  society  never  became  sufficiently 
strong  to  erect  a  house  of  worship,  and  services 
were  held  in  dwellings  and  school-houses  until 
about  1870,  when  the  society  united  with  the 
Warsaw  congregation. 

The  Mount  Zion  Methodist  Protestant  church 
is  located  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  town- 
ship, on  land  donated  to  the  society  by  John  C. 
Frederick.  The  building,  a  hewed  log  weather- 
boarded  structure,  was  erected  about  1860.  At 
that  time  John  C.  Frederick,  George  Parks,  Abra- 


476 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ham  Mowrey  and  William  Clark,  were  the  prin- 
cipal members.  The  church  was  organized  about 
three  years  before,  just  over  the  line  in  Jefferson 
township,  and  the  early  meetings  were  held  in 
the  Tabor  Evangelical  church  of  that  township. 
Kevs.  A.  Robinson,  William  Holland,  John  Han- 

by,  Wilham    Chandler, Lawson,  William 

Baldwin,  Wilham  Woodward,  William  Nicker- 
son,  J.  P.  King,  William  Bradford  and  John  Mur- 
phy have  been  pastors  of  the  church.  The  pres- 
ent pastor  is  Rev.  John  Baker,  who  has  charge 
also  of  the  congregation  at  Big  run,  Monroe 
township,  the  Pleasant  Valley  church  of  Holmes 
county,  and  Prairie  chapel  of  this  township.  The 
membership  of  Mount  Zion  is  now  quite  small. 

The  Bethlehem  Evangelical  or  Albright  church, 
is  a  religious  organization  composed  of  a  few 
German  settlers,  most  of  whom  live  in  Clark 
township.  The' building  is  situated  within  a  few 
rods  of  the  northern  line,  and  within  a  few  feet 
of  the  central  line  of  the  township  running  north 
and  south.  The  society  was  formed  about  1854, 
under  the  ministerial  charge  of  Rev.  Jacob  Resch- 
ler ;  the  church,  erected  some  four  years  later, 
has  been  undergoing  repairs  during  the  last  win- 
ter. Revs.  Henry  Futheroe  and  John  Smith,  are 
the  present  pastors.  The  membership,  through 
removals  and  deaths,  has  been  reduced  to  four- 
teen. A  Sabbath-school,  organized  in  1854  by 
John  Gamersfelter,  still  the  leading  member  of 
the  church,  is  now  in  as  feeble  condition  as  the 
cliurch. 

Prairie  chapel  is  a  Methodist  Protestant  church, 
situated  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town- 
ship. The  class  was  organized  in  1861,  with 
Zachariah  Clark  as  leader.  It  owes  its  formation 
to  Rev  Samuel  Frederick,  who  was  at  that  time 
a  mere  lad  and  a  member  of  the  Mount  Zion 
Methodist  Protestant  church,  of  this  township. 
He  conducted  a  series  of  revival  meetings  at  the 
old  school-house  which  stood  on  the  site  of 
Prairie  chapel,  and  notwithstanding  his  extreme 
youth,  the  meetings  were  attended  with  great 
success.  From  the  conversions  which  followed, 
the  society  was  organized.  Among  the  members 
who  united  with  the  church  in  its  infancy,  were 
Mrs.  EUzabeth  Baird,  Zachariah  and  Susan  Clark, 


Louisa  Baird,  George  Baird,  Mrs.  Mina  Boring, 
Wilham  and  Dian  Maxwell,  Isaac  and  Susan 
ipivecoats,  George  and  Mary  Thompson,  and 
Daniel  and  Mary  Benning.  Rev.  Frederick  con- 
tinued to  labor  here  four  years,  and  since  his  pas- 
torate the  ministers  have  been  as  follow:  John 
Baker  and  William  Robinson,  one  year ;  William 
Wilkerson,  one  year;  W.  L.  Baldwin,  six  years; 
J.  D.  Murphy,  one  year;  William  Bradford,  one 
year;  William  Woodford,  two  years;  Thomas- 
Scott,  one  year;  J.  P.  King,  one  year;  John 
Baker,  present  incumbent.  The  membership  is 
fifty-four.  The  church,  a  commodious  frame,, 
was  dedicated  August,  1877.  It  was  erected  at  a 
cost  of  $1,272.  A  Sabbath-school,  under  the  man- 
agement of  James  Slaughter,  is  in  very  flourish- 
ing condition. 


CHAPTER  LII. 


CLAEK  TOWNSHIP. 


Location—  Topographical  Features—  Organization  —Name — 
Early  Settlements— Indians— First  Schools— Mills— Hel- 
mick—Bloomiield— Churches — Population. 

CLARK  township  is  the  middle  one  of  the  five 
northern  townships,  touching  Holmes  coun- 
ty on  the  north.  Mill  Creek  township  on  the  east, 
Bethlehem  on  the  south,  and  Monroe  on  the  west. 
Its  surface  is  broken  and  hilly,  except  along  the 
streams,  where  the  alluvial  deposits  broaden  into- 
fertile  valleys.  The  soil  in  the  bottoms  is  usually 
a  heavy  clay,  and  sometimes  of  a  gravelly  con- 
stituency ;  on  the  hills,  it  is  in  places  clayey,  but 
generally  sandy.  The  whole  township  was  heavily 
timbered  when  first  the  settlers  began  to  occupy 
its  territory,  and  among  the  varieties  of  wood 
most  abundant  were  red,  white  and  black  oak, 
beech,  sugar,  chestnut,  hickory  and  poplar.  A 
vigorous  growth  of  the  last  mentioned  variety 
flourished  on  the  hills,  and  large  quantities  of  it 
were  rafted  down  the  Killbuck  in  early  days,  to 
Roscoe  and  Zanesville.  Wheat  and  corn  are 
largely  grown,  and  much  of  the  hillside  lands  is- 
devoted  to  pasturage.  Killbuck  creek,  which  per- 
petuates the  name  of  a  famous  Indian  chief,  is  the 
main  stream  that  courses  through  the  township. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


477 


It  enters  from  the  north,  flows  circuitously  about 
and  crosses  into  Bethlehem  township  at  a  point 
almost  directly  south  of  its  point  of  entrance. 
Three  wooden  bridges  span  its  waters  within  the 
limits  of  the  township. 

Its  principal  tributary  is  Doughty's  fork,  com-  _ 
memorative  of  the  name  of  another  Indian 
brave  well  known  to  the  first  pioneers.  He 
doubtless  pitched  his  wigwam  upon  the  banks  of 
this  stream;  but  not  here  only,  for  Captain 
Doughty  was  familiarly  known  to  the  early  set- 
tlers on  Will's  creek  in  Linton  township,  and 
also  in  Virginia  township  and  elsewhere.  The 
stream  that  bears  his  name  enters  the  northeast- 
ern part  of  Clark  township  from  Holmes  county 
and  unites  with  .Killbuck  a  short  distance  west  of 
the  township  center.  Smaller  streams  than  these 
are  Big  run  and  Hoagland's  run,  both  western 
tributaries  of  Killbuck,  and  Buckalew  run  which 
enters  Bethlehem  township  and  flows  into  Kill- 
buck  near  its  mouth. 

The  northern  half  of  the  township  consists  of 
military  land;  the  southern  half  is  congress 
land,  which  was  surveyed  into  sections  for  settle- 
ment in  1803  by  Silas  Bent,  Jr.  Of  the  military 
portion,  the  western  half  or  second  section  was 
surveyed  into  forty  100-acre  lots  by  William  Cut- 
bush  in  1808,  and  located  by  different  settlers  in 
tracts  of  100  acres  or  more.  The  northeast 
quarter  of  the  township,  or  the  first  military 
section,  a  body  of  4,000  acres,  was  granted  by 
President  John  Adams  to  Jonathan  Burrell,  of 
New  York  City,  by  patent,  dated  March  29, 1800. 
It  was  located  for  him  by  John  Matthews,  who 
received  in  compensation  284  acres  from  the 
northeast  corner  of  the  quarter.  In  1807  Mr. 
Burrell  disposed  of  the  remainder  of  the  section 
to  Philip  Itskin,  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  who 
sold  it  in  parcels  to  various  persons. 

The  township  was  organized  with  its  present 
limits  in  1829.  At  the  coming  of  the  first  settlers 
it  was  a  part  of  Mechanic  township.  The  adjoin- 
ing township  in  Holmes  county  still  bears  this 
name.  When  Monroe  township  was  formed,  in 
1824,  it  became  a  portion  of  it,  and  when  Bethle- 
hem was  organized,  in  1826,  the  southern  part  of 
what  is  now  Clark  was  united  to  it.  When  this 
territory  yet  belonged  to  Mechanic  township,  the 
elections  were  held  for  a  few  years  at  the  cabin 


of  John  Craig,  near  Bloomfield.  The  new  town- 
ship of  Clark,  in  1829,  was  organized  at  the  house 
of  Peter  Buckmaster.  Only  fifteen  or  twenty 
votes  were  cast.  Benjamin  Patterson  was  elected 
clerk,  and  William  Craig  justice  of  the  peace. 
John  Duncan  was  the  second  justice,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Joel  Glover,  who  served  his  township 
as  "  'squire ''  for  twenty-one  years.  He  was 
elected  to  his  first  term  by  a  majority  of  one  vote 
only.  The  township  elections  continued  to  be 
held  at  dwelling  houses  until  the  erection  of  the 
present  township  house,  on  the  farm  of  Nicholas 
Mullet,  some  twenty  years  ago. 

The  township  was  named  in  honor  of  Samuel 
Clark,  then  a  county  commissioner,  who  was 
among  the  earliest  and  most  highly  esteemed  cit- 
izens of  the  Killbuck  valley,  a  resident,  however,, 
of  Bethlehem  township 

The  first  settlement  in  the  township  was  made,, 
probably,  about  1815,  though  it  is  impossible  to 
be  exact,  as  the  recollection  of  no  one  now  in  the 
township  extends-  back  beyond  1817  or  1818.^ 
Isaac  Hoagland  was  among  the  first  arrivals,  and 
probably  was  the  first  to  settle  permanently  in 
what  is  now  Clark.  Has  was  also  among  the 
foremost  pioneers  of  this  county,  coming  in  1800^ 
with  Charles  Williams,  to  "  the  prairies,"  in  Beth- 
lehem township,  and  the  next  year  occupying, 
with  him,  the  first  house  built  in  Coshocton.  He 
was  a  soldier  in  Captain  Adam  Johnson's  com- 
pany, which  did  service  on  the  frontier,  in  1812, 
It  is  not  known  when  he  moved  to  this  township. 
His  farm  near  the  Killbuck  comprised  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  16.  Both  he  and 
his  wife,  a  Carpenter,  sister  of  Charles  Williams' 
wife,  died  and  were  buried  upon  this  place.  They 
had  a  large  family  of  children,  some  of  whom 
died  here,  the  others  removing  to  the  West, 
chiefly  to  Illinois.  Mr.  Hoagland  is  remembered 
as  a  genuine  frontiersman,  and  wore  the  hunter's 
garb  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Dressed  in  an 
old  linsey  hunting-shirt,  belted  around  the  waist, 
and  fringed  below,  he  spent  much  time  in  roam- 
ing the  wilderness,  in  quest  of  game.  In  stature 
he  was  tall  and,  like  most  other  settlers  of  that 
day,  was  unlearned  in  things  pertaining  to  books. 

A  settlement  was  formed  very  early  in  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  township.  Arthur  Cun- 
ningham, of  Virginia,  settled  a  short  distance 


478 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


from  Bloomfield,  on  a  300-aore  tract,  and.  in  1818, 
about  twenty-five  acres  of  it  was  cleared.  He 
sold  it,  however,  about  1817,  to  William  Austin, 
and  removed  elsewhere.  Mr.  Austin  came  from 
Chautauqua  county,  New  York,  with  his  only 
daughter,  Lucy,  a  servant,  Shurey  Odle,  and  a 
negress.  Two  sons  remained  in  New  York.  Mr. 
Austin's  sojourn  here  was  brief,  for  he  died  in 
1819.  In  this  year  William  McBride  came  from 
Virginia  to  the  Austin  farm,  and  remained  there 
until  1824.  He  then  removed  to  Warsaw,  but  the 
year  following  he  was  drowned  in  the  Walhond- 
ing,  at  Fry's  ford,  while  attempting  to  cross  the 
river  on  a  horse  His  widow  survived  him  many 
years,  terminating  her  earthly  career  at  the  house 
of  her  daughter,  Mrs.  Martha  Buckalew,  in  Mon- 
roe township. 

John  Craig  settled  on- the  location  lot  of  the 
first  section  in  1818.  He  was  born  in  Ireland, 
and  emigrated  to  Washington  county,  Pennsyl- 
'vania,  from  his  native  land  when  a  youth  of  six- 
teen years.  Thence  he  moved  to  Jefferson  county, 
Ohio,  and  from  that  county  here.  A  daughter, 
Mrs.  Mary  Dougal,  had  removed  with  her  hus- 
'band  to  Richland  county.  His  son,  William 
'Craig,  accompanied  him  to  this  township.  They 
iirst  built  a  house  near  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  township,  but  the  next  year,  1819,  William 
-erected  a  cabin  for  himself  on  the  spot  now  occu- 
pied by  the  dwelling  of  Washington  Lawrence, 
in  Bloomfield.  Both  were  engaged  in  agricul- 
tural pursuits.  John  Craig  died  in  1824;  aged 
sixty-two  yet  s.  William  died  August  17, 1853, 
having  almost  completed  his  seventieth  year. 
vTohn  Craig  served  as  justice  of  the  peace  from 
1819  to  1822,  when  this  territory  belonged  to  Me- 
■chanic  township.  William,  as  stated  above,  was 
the  first  justice  of  Clark  township.  His  son 
Charles,  also,  has  now  for  many  years  served  the 
township  in  this  capacity. 

Abraham  Miller  settled  upon  the  southeast 
■quarter  of  section  16  in  1818  or  1820.  He  was 
the  son  of  George  Miller,  a  pioneer  of  Lafayette 
township  was  originally  from  Virginia  and  had 
been  a  member  of  Captain  Adam  Johnson's  com- 
pany in  1812.  He  was  yet  a  young  man  when 
he  came  to  this  township  and  remained  in  it  till 
his  death.  He  had  married  a  Miss  McNeal,  and 
his  brother-in-law,  Archibald  McNeal,  an  Irish- 


man, moved  to  his  farm  and  lived  there  with  him 
the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Parker  Buckalew  came  in  about  1817  from 
Virginia,  settling  on  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  25,  where  he  remained  the  rest  of  his  life, 
tilling  the  soil  as  an  avocation,  though  spending 
much  time  in  hunting,  of  which  he  was  very  fond. 
He  was  well  respected  by  the  community  in 
which  he  lived,  and  upon  his  death  was  buried  on 
the  home  farm.  His  children  are  still  living  in 
this  vicinity.  His  brothers  Samuel,  James  and 
John,  afterward  took  up  a  residence  in  this  town- 
ship. 

Eli  Fox  entered  the  township  in  1820,  locating 
in  the  eastern  part  of  section  18.  He  was  origi- 
nally from  Hartford  county,  Connecticut,  and 
came  to  Zanesville  at  an  early  day.  By  trade  he 
was  a  ship-carpenter,  and  after  his  emigration  to 
Ohio  devoted  much  attention  to  milling.  He 
rented  the  mills  of  Mr.  Dillon,  at  East  Zanesville, 
and  operated  them  for  some  years,  then  pur- 
chased property  and  lived  a  short  time  in  Gran- 
ville township.  Licking  county.  Not  liking  this 
country  he  returned  to  Zanesville  and  leased  a 
piece  of  land  near  by.  Soon  after,  he  obtained 
the  contract  for  building  the  first  bridge  across 
the  Scioto,  at»  Chillicothe.  A  little  later  he  re- 
solved to  seek  a  more  unsettled  neighborhood 
and  erect  a  mill.  With  this  purpose  in  view  he 
came  to  this  township  in  1820.  He  brought  with 
him  Piatt  Williamson,  William  Barl  and  a  Mr. 
Brooks,  to  assist  in  its  erection.  The  mill  was 
built  about  one-fourth  mile  above  Helmick.  In  a 
few  years  it  was  burned,  but  was  replaced  by  an- 
other on  the"  site  of  the  present  mill  at  Helmick. 
Mr.  Fox  boarded  with  Piatt  Williamson  the  first 
year,  and  in  1821  removed  his  family  from  Zanes- 
ville to  his  new  home.  He  spent  the  remainder 
of  his  hfe  here,  and  his  descendents  still  cultivate 
the  soil  of  the  old  home  place. 

Piatt  Williamson  was  a  native  of  New  Jersey. 
In  December,  1819,  he  emigrated  to  Zanesville,- 
where  he  remained  a  year.  He  was  a  blacksmith, 
and  followed  this  occupation  in  Zanesville.  For 
one  year  after  his  arrival  at  Clark  township,  he 
remained  in  Mr.  Fox's  employ,  performing  the 
wprk  connected  with  his  trade  necessary  to  the 
construction  of  the  mill.  He  then  bought  80 
acres  of  land  from  Mr.  Kinney,  and  the  next 


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HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


481 


year  entered  80  more.  From  this  time  until  his 
death  he  carried  on  his  trade  and  farming  to- 
gether. When  a  lad  of  seventeen,  an  apprentice 
in  a  blackspiith  shop  under  an  older  brother, 
near  Jersey  City,  he  enlisted  in  the  army  during 
the  war  of  1812.  His  children  are  still  residents 
of  the  township. 

William  Barl  was  also  a  New  Jersey  man  by 
birth  and  a  resident  of  Zanesville  prior  to  his  re- 
moval hither.  He  lived  on  section  18  and  hunted 
and  trapped  a  great  deal.  After  a  few  years'  stay 
in  this  township  he  removed  to  the  vicinity  of 
Marietta.  Brooks  remained  here  but  a  short 
time  and  returned  to  Zanesville. 

Andrew  Weather>vax,  a  glass  blower  by  trade, 
removed  from  Albany  county,  New  York,  to  this 
township  in  1821  and  settled  upon  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  25,  purchasing  the  land  from 
James  B'uckalew.  After  his  arrival  he  followed 
his  trade  a  while  in  Zanesville,  but  devoted  most 
of  his  time  to  farming.  He  died  while  visiting 
his  sister  in  Bedford  township  in  June,  1872, 
aged  eighty-four  years.  His  brothers  Leonard 
and  Adam  settled  here  some  ten  or  twelve  years 
after  his  arrival. 

William  Estap  was  another  early  settler.  He 
came  into  this  township  from  Holmes  county, 
purchased  and  occupied  ninety  acres  about  a  mile 
west  of  Bloomfield,  then  a  tract  of  two  himdred 
acres  two  miles  south  of  this  village.  He  after- 
ward removed  to  Monroe  township. 

Isaac  Purdy,  from  Pennsylvania,  settled  upon 
lot  11,  section  2,  prior  to  1822.  He  tilled  the  soil 
here  the  remainder  of  his  life.  Jacob  Frazier 
was  another  settler,  who  was  a  tax  payer  on  real 
estate  in  section  25  as  early  as  1822.  He  was  a 
shoemaker  and  followed  this  calling  in  this  vicin- 
ity for  a  few  years  in  connection  with  farming. 
He  removed  subsequently  to  Muskingum  county 
and  there  died. 

William  Shepherd  settled  in  section  24  proba- 
bly as  early  as  1820.  He  was  from  Virginia,  and, 
unlike  the  other  settlers  who  made  this  town- 
ship their  home,  came  provided  with  bountiful 
means,  driving  a  six-horse  team  and  possessing  a 
comfortable  cash-box.  But  this  proved  a  hin- 
derance  rather  than  help  to  him  in  developing  his 
backwobds  home.  He  was  not  spurred  by  neces- 
sity to  exertion,  and  having  no  settled  taste  for 
19 


hard  work,  he  lived  at  ease  until  his  available  re- 
sources were  exhausted,  and  then  found  that  the 
sturdy  blows  of  his  neighbors  had  wrought  a 
transformation  in  the  value  of  their  farms  not 
discernable  in  his.  A  brother,  Samuel,  and  a 
sister,  Nancy,  lived  with  him.  He  died  in  this 
township. 

Isaac  Johnson  settled  on  eighty  acres  in  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  23  about  1827.  His 
mother  was  a  sister  of  Isaac  Hoagland,  and  he 
was  the  brother  of  John  and  Henry  Johnson, 
the  two  lads  who  daringly  killed  their  Indian 
feaptors  in  Jefferson  county  and  escaped  unhurt. 
Mr.  Johnson  subsequently  dwelt  for  a  time  in 
Bethlehem  township,  then  emigrated  to  Indiana. 

George  Lowman  came  to  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  24  about  1826,  from  Maryland.  A  few 
years  later  he  removed  to  Wabash,  Indiana. 

Jonathan  Maxon,  Thomas  Endsley,  Benjamin 
White,  Daniel  Fulton  and  John  Bise  were  other 
early  settlers.  Mr.  Bise  came  in  1825  or  1826, 
settling  upon  the  west  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  23.  In  1829  he  sold  this  place 
to  Joel  Glover  and  removed  to  Muskingum 
county. 

Mr.  Glover  is  one  of  the  few  pioneers  who  still 
survive.  He  was  born  in  Jefferson  county  in 
1808 ;  removed  to  Crawford  county  in  1826,  and 
three  years  later  to  the  place  he  now  occupies. 
When  he  entered  the  township  he  ftioved  into  a 
deserted  school-house,  located  on  the  place  he  had 
purchased.  It  was  about  fourteen  by  sixteen  feet 
in  size,  built  of  split  poplar  logs,  with  a  rude  fire- 
place extending  across  one  end  of  the  room.  In 
lieu  of  windows,  a  log  had  been  removed  from 
each  side,  to  admit  the  light,  and  over  this  open 
space  strips  of  oiled  paper  had  been  pasted. 

The  usual  wild  animals  prevailing  in  this  State 
in  pre-colonization  times,  were  numerous  in 
Clark  township,  and  the  earliest  white  arrivals 
had  abundant  opportunities  to  gratify  that  love 
of  hunting  which  is  common  to  backwoodsmen. 
Deer,  bears  and  wolves,  and  occasionally  a  "  pain- 
ter," were  the  types  of  game  the  country  afforded. 
Bill  and  Tom  McNeal,  sons  of  Archibald  McNeal, 
on  one  occasion  tracked  a  bear  to  a  tall,  hollow 
oak  stub,  in  which  it  had  taken  refuge.  The 
most  feasible  plan  of  obtaining  the  game  was 


482 


HISTORY  0^  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


adopted ;  accordingly  Bill  climed  a  hickory  tree 
close  by,  and,  having  reached  the  proper  height, 
crossed  over  and  sat  astride  the  hollow  stub ;  his 
musket  was  handed  him  by  Tom,  who,  at  the 
foot  of  the  tree,  watched  and  waited,  while  Bill 
thrust  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  into  the  hollow 
tree  and  fired.    The  shot  took  effect,  but  only 
irritated  the  bear,  and  before  Bill  could  realize 
his  situation,  the  wounded  bear  was  at  the  top  of 
the  tree.    He  had  just  time  to  drop  his  gun,  seize 
a  branch  of  the  hickory  tree  and  swing  himself 
away  from  the  bear's  clutches.    The  bear  hastily 
descended  the  tree  and  ran  away.    Tom  shot  and 
wounded  bruin  as  he  ran.    The  two  young  hunt- 
ers followed  up  their  game  for  about  a  mile, 
and  discovered  the  bear  behind  a  log,  plugging 
its  wounds  with  hair.     This  time  both  discharged 
their  guns  simultaneously  and  the  bear  fell  dead. 
No  Indian  village  is  known  to  have  been  lo- 
cated in  the  township,  but  hunting  parties  of  the 
red-skins  frequently  encamped  on  the  Killbuck 
and  Doughty  fork.     An    Indian  camp,  built  of 
split  logs,  and  having  only  three  sides,  stood  in  a 
bend,  on  the  north  side  of  Killbuck,  in  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  17.    The  fourth  side  was 
wholly  open,  and  when  the  camp  was  occupied 
at  night,  a  log  fire  must  be  built  across  the  open 
side,  to  protect  the  sleeping  inmates  from  prowl- 
ing animals.    Tom  Lyon  was  an  Indian  brave, 
who  was  wont  to  encamp  on  the  banks  of  the 
Killbuck,  with  several  other  Indians.     He  was  a 
tall,  slim  savage,  and  when  irritated  or   intoxi- 
cated, taunted  the  white  settlers  who  chanced  to 
be  within  his  hearing,  by  telling  of  the  many 
pale-faces  he  had  slain.    He  had  taken  ninety- 
nine  scalps,  he  said,  and  wanted  one  more  to 
make  it  an  even  hundred.    Becoming  enraged 
at  Abram  Miller,  one  day,  he  boasted  that  he 
had  shot  Miller's  grand  father,  in  Virginia.   John 
Hoagland,  a  lad  of  fifteen  years,  the  son  of  Isaac 
Hoagland,  was  so  incensed  at  the  idle  boasts  of 
the  Indian,  that  it  was  with  difficulty  he  was  re- 
strained from  shooting  him.    Lyon  frequented 
his  old  haunts  on  the  Killbuck,  until  about  1825, 
when  he  bade  them  a  final  adieu,  and  started 
westward,  in  search  of  happier  hunting  grounds. 

Little  can  be  said  of  the  early  schools  in  this 
region.    The  schools  were  few  in  number,  held 


for  terms  of  two  or  three  months  only  in  deserted 
cabins,  or  whatever  buildings  could  be  obtained 
for  the  purpose.    The  son  of  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  relates  that  the  "schooling"  of  his  boy- 
hood was  as  follows :    The  first  school  he  attended 
was  taught  in  an  old  cabin  on  Abe  Miller's  farm 
by   Alexander   Young.     It  was  two  months  in 
duration.  •   The  next  was  one  held  on  what  is  now 
J.  J.  Gamersfelter's  land,  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  township.    Adam  Clark  was  the  teacher  of 
this  school.    The  third  was  taught  at  the  same 
place  as  the  first,  by  Leonard  Hogle;  then  one 
just  south  of  this  on  the  Opdyke  place,  taught  by 
Mary  Bassett.    The  fifth  and  last  was  on  Piatt 
Williamson's  place,  and  was  presided  over  by 
Durius  Show,  a  venerable,  itinerant  preacher  of 
Monroe  township.    These  five  terms  of  two  or 
three  months  each  scarcely  amounting  to  one 
year  in  all,  constituted  the  extent  of  his  school 
privileges  between  the  ages  of  eight  and  twenty- 
one  years.    The  greater  number  of  the  neighbor- 
ing children  were  equally  limited  in  educational 
advantages.    Other  schools  had  been  held  not  so 
remote  as  to  render  attendance  impossible,  but 
the  tuition  of  the  subscriptionschools,  small  as  it 
now  appears,  was  an  item  of  expense  that  could 
not  well  be  allowed  every  year  by  the  majority 
of  the  settlers.    The  teixt  books  usually  employed 
were  the  spelling-book  and  the  new  testament. 
When  the  first  was  completed,  the  pupil  must 
continue  his  spelling  lessons  in  the  testament, 
and  half  the  book  would  be  spelled  sometimes 
before  the  pupil  was  able  to  read  a  verse  correctly. 
One  of  the  earliest  schools  in  the  township  was 
taught  just  west  of  Bloomfield,  about  1828,  by 
George  Elliott. 

The  first,  and  for  a  long  time  the  only,  mill  in 
the  township  was  the  one  erected  by  Eli  Fox.  A 
saw-mill  was  first  erected,  and  a  little  later  a  large 
grist-mill,  containing  one  run  of  buhrs,  afterward 
two.  The  buhrs  were  rude,  rough  stones,  inca- 
pable otreducing  the  grist  to  impalpable  fineness^ 
but  they  answered  their  purpose  very  well  in 
those  days.  In  1829  the  mill  was  burned.  In  a 
few  years  Mr  Fox  built  a  saw-mill  about  one- 
fourth  of  a  mile  farther  down  the  stream,  at  Hel- 
mick,  and  some  time  after  the  grist-mill  was  re- 
built at  the  same  place.    The  mill  was  afterward 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


483 


operated  by  James  Clark,  Albert  and  G.  W.  Sew- 
ard, Absalom  Petit  and  Benjamin  Beck.  Mr. 
Beck  is  the  present  owner,  and  has  owned  it  for 
about  ten  years.  He  has  rebuilt  the  saw-mill, 
constructed  a  new  race,  refitted  the  grist-mill, 
and  is  doing  a  good  custom  trade  at  present.  Mr. 
Beck  is  also  proprietor  of  a  store  located  here. 
He  is  a  resident  of  Holmes  county,  and  the  store 
is  managed  by  Eugene  Henderson.  It  was  opened 
by  Mr.  Nelson,  and  by  him  transferred  to  Mr. 
Ferrell.  J.  P.  Henderson  and  William  Jack  were 
the  next  owners,  and  sold  the  property  after  a 
fime  to  Mr.  Robinson,  who  disposed  of  it  to  Oli- 
-ver  and  Saul  Miller.  Saul'  retired,  and  after  a 
while  it  was  purchased  from  Oliver  Miller  by  the 
present  owner. 

A  postofifice  designated  Helmick  is  located  at 
the  store.  It  was  named  in  honor  of  William 
Helmick,  of  Tuscarawas  county,  formerly  the 
congressional  representative  of  this  district.  It 
was  through  his  influence  that  the  office  was  ob- 
tained. Absalom  Petit  was  the  first  postmaster. 
Since  the  store  was  started  the  appointment  has 
"been  held  by  the  merchants  successively  operat- 
ing here.  A  large  amount  of  business  is  trans- 
;acted  at  Helmick,  much  greater  than  the  exter- 
nal appearance  of  things  would  indicate.  No 
•village  is  situated  near  this  point,  it  is  readily  ac- 
cessible from  all  directions,  and  the  postoffice, 
mills  and  store  supply  the  wants  of  most  of  the 
■farmers  within  a  radius  of  several  miles. 

Two  mills  are  at  present  located  on  Doughty's 
fork.  One  of  these  a  combined  saw  and  grist 
mill  is  situated  a  short  distance  below  Bloom- 
field  and  is  now  ownesd  by  Michael  Kaiser.  A 
saw  mill  and  a  small  "  corn-cracker  "  were  built 
on  this  site  many  years  ago  by  Jacob  Haviland. 
The  property  after  a  time  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  John  Duncan,  who  refitted  the  saw  mill 
:and  built  a  large  carding  mill.  The  woolen  fac- 
tory remained  in  operation  a  number  of  years 
and  was  finally  torn  away  to  be  replaced  by  a  grist 
mill.  Years  later  Benjamin  Beck  purchased  it, 
and  several  years  ago  he  sold  it  to  the  present 
owner. 

About  one  and  a  half  miles  below  this  John 
'Crosley  built  a  saw  mill  and  soon  after  a  grist 
mill,  containing  one  run  of  buhrs.  A  second  pair 
was  afterward  added.  The  building  was  a  rugged 


and  rough  frame  structure  and  the  floor  was 
bolted  by  hand.  A  large  undershot  water-wheel 
furnished  the  power.  Crosley  sold  to  George 
Croy,  who  erected  a  new  building.  John  Powers 
was  the  next  owner  and  he  made  extensive  im- 
provements in  the  machinery,  purchising  and  in- 
serting new  buhrs  and  new  bolts.  Mr.  Kaiser,  the 
next  possessor,  carried  on  a  little  distillery  in 
connection  with  it  for  a  while,  but  this  was  soon 
abandoned  and  the  mill  also  gradually  suspended 
operations.  It  has  been  purchased  by  Ed.  Buck- 
alew  and  only  the  saw  mill  is  now  running. 

On  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  14  on 
Hoagland's  run  a  little  saw  mill  was  built  years 
ago  by  Leonard  Weatherwax.  His  son  John  next 
operated  it  and  after  him  Williamson  McLaugh- 
lin, the  present  owner,  obtained  it.  It  still  does 
a  limited  amount  of  sawing  but  not  so  much  as 
formerly,  for  steam  portable  mills  have  super- 
seded water  mills  here  as  elsewhere. 

Bloomfield  is  the  only  village  in  the  township. 
It  lies  in  the  extreme  northeastern  corner.  No 
village  plat  was  laid  out  here,  but  the  town  has 
had  a  natural  growth,  beginning  about  forty 
years  ago.  The  main  street  forms  the  line  be- 
tween this  and  Holmes  county,  and  some  of  the 
buildings  are  across  the  line  in  the  other  county. 
There  are  twenty-eight  dwelling  houses,  mostly 
in  this  county.  Some  of  them  are  handsome 
structures,  and  almost  all  are  neat  and  tasty,  indi- 
cating thrift  and  enterprise  on  the  part  of  the  in- 
habitants. Few,  or  none  of  the  dilapidated  struc- 
tures, usually  met  with  in  a  country  town,  are  to 
be  seen  here.  Bloomfield  is  so  situated  as  to  be 
unaffected  by  railroads,  there  being  none  nearer 
than  Millersburg,  and  is  in  possession  of  a  whole- 
some country  trade.  The  village  contains  two 
general  stores,  owned  by  A.  J.  Doak  and  J.  J. 
Myser,  the  latter  in  Holmes  county.  A  hardware 
and  tin  store  was  opened  about  a  year  ago,  and 
now  owned  by  Leslie  Chase.  Two  steam  saw  and 
planing  mills  do  an  extensive  business.  The  one 
in  Coshocton  county,  owned  by  Henry  Reynolds, 
has  been  in  operation  about  four  years.  That  of 
John  Conkle  &  Co.,  located  on  the  Holmes  county 
side,  was  started  since.  The  three  blacksmith 
shops  of  J.  Luke  &  Brothers,  W.  D  Doty  and 
Isaac  R.  Thompson,  are  in  this  county.    The 


484 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


first  two  manufacture  carriages  and  wagons  also. 
Two  shoe  shops  and  one  harness  shop  are  in 
Holmes  county. 

The  first  buildings  in  this  vicinity  were  the 
cabins  of  the  Craigs,  built  over  sixty  years  ago ; 
then  one  was  built  in  Holmes  county  by  Aaron 
Purdy.  James  Kerr,  about  1835,  erected  a  cabin 
on  the  spot  now  occupied  by  Doak's  new  store- 
house. The  first  store  was  opened  across  the 
line  about  1842,  by  Aaron  Purdy,  and  afterwards 
kept  by  James  Kerr.  But  it  did  not  remain  in 
operation  long.  Teachout  &  Towsley  started  the 
first  store  on  this  side  about  1845,  in  James  Kerr's 
house.  Charles  Poe,  about  1846,  built  a  house 
where  Doak's  old  building  stands,  and  commenced 
mercantile  business  there.  He  died  soon  after, 
and  Patrick  Foley,  Robert  Graham  and  the  pres- 
ent merchant,  have  successively  operated  here  in 
this  line  since. 

After  Purdy  and  Kerr  ceased  merchandising 
on  the  Holmes  county  side,  John  Fisher  kept 
a  tavern  in  the  building,  for  awhile.  The  first 
tavern  had  been  opened  years  before,  by  Wil- 
liam Edgar.  O.  "Williams  is  the  present  hotel 
proprietor  of  the  village,  the  hotel  being  in 
Holmes  county 

The  first  postoflSce  in  this  neigborhood  was 
Clark's,  and  William  Craig  was  the  first  post- 
master, William  Tidball  then  kept  it,  about  a 
mile  south  of  the  village.  Subsequent  postmas- 
ters have  been  William  Craig,  Samuel  Tidball 
and  A.  J.  Doak.  The  original  name,  Clark's,  is 
still  retained.  A  daily  mail  is  received,  the 
office  being  on  the  Millersburg  and  Coshocton 
route. 

The  two  physician  of  the  village  have  had  an 
almost  life-long  residence  here.  Dr.  J.  Beach 
has  been  in  continuous  practice  since  1849,  and 
Dr.  J.  G.  Carr  since  1854.  They  were  classmates 
while  attending  medical  lectures  at  Cleveland, 
and  Dr.  Beach  settled  here  at  once,  upon  com- 
pleting his  course.  Dr.  Carr  practiced  five  years 
at  East  Union,  prior  to  locating  at  Bloomfield. 
Other  former  practitioners  here  were  Drs.  Smith, 
Caskey,  Cowan  and  Barton. 

A  cheese  factory  was  started  at  Bloomfield,  in 
1866,  by  George  Craig,  William  Renfrew,  Solo- 
mon Snyder  and  Robert  Graham.  For  three 
years  it  was  carried  on  extensively;  then  Mr. 


Craig  disposed  of  his  interest,  and  the  fac- 
tory was  removed  about  a  mile  west  of  town, 
where  the  manufacture  was  continued  a  while 
longer. 

The  village  does  not  contain  a  school.  The 
adjoining  district  schools  in  the  two  counties  are 
each  about  a  mile  from  town.  During  Rev. 
Duncan's  pastorate  of  the  Clark  Presbyterian 
church,  he  held  a  "select  school"  in  the  village,, 
the  only  school  ever  kept  there. 

The  Bloomfield  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
was  built  during  the  summer  of  1871,  and  dedica- 
ted January  14, 1872.  Its  cost  was  about  $2,500. 
The  congregation  was  not  organized  until  after 
the  erection  of  the  building.  Its  members  had 
previously  been  connected  with  Elliott's  church,, 
situated  four  miles  north  of  Bloomfield.  The 
original  class  was  composed  of  twenty  members,, 
including  Enos  Casey  and  family,  John  Casey,  Dr.. 
J.  G.  Carr  and  wife,  William  Duncan  and  family, 
J.  A.  Evans  and  wife,  and  W.  D.  Doty  and  wife.- 
Three  other  congregations  are  connected  with, 
this  charge — Elliott's,  Wolf  Creek  and  Killbuck, 
all  in  Holmes  county.  Rev.  A.  E.  Thomas  was 
pastor  1870-72,  and  under  his  labors  thirty-three 
were  added  to  the  Bloomfield  church.  Following 
him,  the  ministers  in  charge  have  been,  Edward 
Bache  (supply),  one  year ;  Stephen  R.  Clark,  one 
year ;  W.  W.  Smith,  one  year ;  George  E.  Scott,, 
one  year ;  C.  Craven,  two  years ;  M.  L.  Wilson, 
one  year,  and  J.  Sanford,  present  incumbent,  two- 
years.  The  present  church  membership  is  about 
seventy.  It  was  organized  in  March,  1872,  with 
E.  J.  Pocock  as  superintendent.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  W.  D.  Doty,  who  resigned,  and  his  un- 
expired term  was  filled  by  J.  A.  Evans,  assistant 
superintendent.  J.  A.  Doak  was  next  electedr 
and  is  now  serving  his  third  year  in  this  capacity. 
Since  its  organization,  the  school  has  not  missed 
holding  meeting  a  single  Sunday.  The  enroll- 
ment Qf  its  membership  is  about  100. 

Near  Bloomfield  is  the  Clark  Presbyterian 
church.  It  was  organized  March  22,  1834,  by 
Rev.  N.  Conkling,  with  a  membership  of  twelve, 
including  George  Watherwax  and  wife,  Thomas 
Guthrie  and  wife,  Nelly  Kerr,  John  P.  Kerr,  Wil- 
liam Craig  and  wife  and  Robert  Guthrie  and 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


485 


•wife.  These  had  mostly  emigrated  from  "Western 
Pennsylvania.  Before  the  congregation  was  or- 
ganized, occasional  services  had  been  held  here 
by  Bev.  Conkling  and  others.  For  three  years 
the  services  were  held  in  the  house  or  barn  of 
William  Craig.  The  first  church  building  was 
erected  in  1837  by  George  Weatherwax.  Its  cost 
was  about  $200.  The  site  of  the  building,  origin- 
ally donated,  was  deeded  to  trustees  May  19, 1846, 
by  William  Craig  and  wife,  in  consideration  of 
one  dollar.  In  1867  a  new  edifice  was  erected  on 
the  same  site.  It  is  a  good  sized  and  neatly 
built  frame  structure,  erected  by  Jacob  Miller, 
and  costing  $2,250.  The  ministers  of  the  church 
have  been:  Nathaniel  Conkling,  1834-38;  Revs. 
Washburn,  Turbit  and  George  Gordon  were  sup- 
phes  from  1838  to  1845;  S.  M.  Templeton,  1845- 
47;  Samuel  Hanna,  1847-51;  John  M.  Boggs, 
1851-56;  R.  W.  Marquis,  1857-72;  A.  S.  Milhol- 
land,  1873-75;  T.  D.  Duncan,  1875-79;  J.  A.  E. 
Simpson,  April,  1880,  present  pastor.  Before  Rev. 
Marquis'  pastorate,  this  congregation  was  con- 
nected with  the  Keene  church ;  since  then  it  has 
formed  a  separate  charge.  The  elders  of  the 
church  have  been  John  P.  Kerr,  Thomas  Guthrie, 
Robert  Huston,  George  Weatherwax,  Thomas 
Shannon,  Wilham  Weatherwax,  George  R.  Alt- 
man,  James  Endsley,  Jr.,  and  John  T.  Crawford. 
The  last  five  compose  the  present  session.  The 
present  membership  of  the  church  is  about  150. 
A  Sunday-school  has  been  in  successful  opera- 
tion for  more  than  forty  years.  It  was  formerly 
conducted  only  during  the  summer,  but  at  pres- 
ent the  whole  year.  The  average  attendance 
through  the  entire  year  is  about  forty.  Albert 
Altman  has  recently  been  elected  superintendent 
succeeding  John  T.  Crawford,  resigned,  who  had 
had  charge  of  the  school  for  about  four  years. 

Clark  Township  Regular  Baptist  Church,  situ- 
ated near  Helmick,  was  organized  June  19, 1833, 
by  T.  G  Jones  and  E.  Otis,  with  eleven  members. 
Shortly  after  the  organization,  the  church^icensed 
one  of  her  members,  Benjamin  White,  to  preach, 
and  in  June,  1834,  he  was  ordained  as  an  elder, 
and  called  regularly  to  the  pastorate,  in  which 
relation  he  continued  about  nine  years.  Of  the 
early  members  may  be  mentioned  Edward  Mat- 
tox  and  wife,  Benjamin  White,  Piatt  William- 


son and  wife,  Jacob  Mattox  and  wife,  Sylvanus 
Haviland  and  wife,  William  Baldwin  and  wife, 
Collin  Smith  and  wife,  Mr.  Moody,  William  Pugh 
and  wife  and  William  and  Isaac  Cross.  The  ear- 
liest services  were  conducted  at  the  house  of  Ed- 
ward Mattox,  until  the  church  was  erected,  in 
about  the  year  1840.  It  stood  about  two  miles 
northeast  from  Helmick,  in  section  12.  It  was  a 
rough  frame  building,  of  medium  size,  erected 
with  a  small  outlay  of  money.  Immediately  after 
this  meeting  house  was  built  a  series  of  revival 
services  were  held  with  great  success  by  the  pas- 
tor and  Rev.  Elijah  Freeman.  They  resulted  in 
twenty-five  or  more  accessions  to  the  church. 
After  Elder  White  closed  his  labors  as  pastor  of 
the  church,  a  division  arose  in  the  councils  of  the 
congregation,  owing  to  the  desire  of  some  for  a 
removal  of  the  church  location,  and  in  a  short 
time  two  branches  separated  from  the  church 
and  held  services  elsewhere,  one  at  Baldwin's 
school-house,  some  distance  southeast  from  the 
church,  and  one  at  Piatt  Williamson's.  By  re- 
movals these  branches  became  too  weak  to  main- 
tain separate  organizations,  and  they  were  united 
as  before,  Elder  White  again  becoming  pastor  of 
the  church.  The  present  house  of  worship  was 
erected  in  1868,  on  land  donated  for  this  purpose 
by  Amos  Fox.  It  was  constructed  by  Isaac  Wil- 
liamson, is  thirty-four  by  forty-four  feet  in  size, 
with  a  seating  capacity  of  three  or  four  hundred 
persons,  and  represents  a  cash  outlay  of  about 
$1,300.  The  pastors  in  order  have  been  B.  .White, 
Elder  Ammerman,  H. '  Sampson,  J.  W.  Dunn,  S. 
W.  Frederick  and  Howard  Clark.  The  last  men- 
tioned has  been  ministering  to  this  people  for  the 
space  of  about  three  years.  The  estimated  mem- 
bership of  the  church  is  thirty. 

The  Sunday-school,  held  only  during  the  sum- 
mers, has  been  an  efficient  aid  in  the  church 
work  almost  from  the  organization  of  the  society. 
It  now  has  a  membership  of  fifty,  and  is  under 
the  supervision  of  William  Williamson. 

Two  organizations  of  the  Evangelical  associa- 
tion belong  to  this  township— Hopewell  church 
and  Salem  church.  The  former  is  situated  near 
the  southeast  corner  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  17.  The  society  was  organized  about 
1863  in  the  school-house  adjoining.    A  Methodist 


■n-f 


486 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


class,  including  some  of  its  members,  had  been 
formed  a  few  years  before  by  Rev.  Henry  Law- 
son,  and  the  failure  to  fill  appointments  for  ser- 
vices produced  its  decline.  The  first  meetings 
were  held  in  the  school-house.  During  an  early 
revival,  this  becoming  too  limited  to  contain  the 
the  congregation,  the  services  were  transferred 
to  the  lower  rooms  in  Johnson  Williamson's 
house.  Amongst  the  earliest  members,  were 
Jackson  Miller  and  wife,  Johnson  Williamson 
and  wife,  William  McLaughlin  and  wife,  Lizzie 
and  Rose  Orney,  Susan  Mullet,  Josiah  Green, 
Peter  Buckmaster  and  wife,  and  Nelson  Bartlett 
and  wife.  In  1869  the  congregation  erected  a 
substantial  and  commodious  frame  house  of  wor- 
ship, at  a  cost  of  about  $1,100.  Jacob  Rasselar 
and  George  Hossenflaug  were  the  first  ministers. 
Revs.  H.  T,  Strouch,  Shultz,  Strome,  William 
King,  J.  S.  Hawks,  W.  H.  Engle,  C.  Haldeman, 
John  Duly,  Elisha  Pier,  J.  J.  Conaghy,  F.  R. 
Tuthero,  Otto  Spreng,  J.  W.  Smith  and  J.  R.  Rein- 
hart,  have  since  served  in  this  capacaty.  The 
present  membership  is>  ninety-four. 

A  Sundy-school  is  in  constant  and  successful 
operation,  under  the  present  superintendency  of 
Elisha  Pier.  It  has  a  membership  of  about  forty. 
Its  organization  dates  contemporaneously  with 
that  of  the  church  and  soon  after  its  formation ; 
under  the  management  of  John  Smaile  it  at- 
tained an  unrivaled  degree  of  prosperity,  its  mem- 
bership at  one  time  very  closely  approximating  100. 

Salem  church  is  located  on  lot  8,  of  the  second 
quarter,  close  to  the  northern  line  of  the  township, 
and  its  membership  probably  is  as  strong  in  the 
adjacent  county  as  in  this.  It  was  organized  as  a 
German  class,  in  1862,,  with  a  membership  of 
twenty-six,  including  John  Dobbert  and  wife,  H. 
Scheibe  and  wife,  Gottfreid  Soheibe  and  wife, 
Valentine  Soheibe,  Jacob  Mullet  and  wife,  Her- 
man Rodhe  and  wife,  Fritz  Grafe,  Joseph  Lint 
and  wife,  and  Francis  Schueberger  and  wife. 
Rev.  William  Pfeiffer  was  the  first  minister.  The 
church  belongs  to  the  same  circuit  that  includes 
Hopewell  Church.  The  early  meetings  were  held 
in  an  old  log  church,  near  the  present  church, 
formerly  occupied  by  a  United  Brethren  congre- 
gation, which  for  a  few  years  maintained  an  or- 
ganization here.     In  1871,  the  church  building 


now  in  service  was  erected,  at  a  cost  of  $1,000.  It 
is  a  frame  building,  the  dimensions  of  which  are 
twenty-five  by  thirty-five  feet.  In  1876,  an  Eng- 
lish class  was  organized,  and  the  two  have  since- 
been  carried  on  separately.  The  German  class- 
contains  sixteen  members  at  present;  the  Eng- 
lish class,  fifty-five.  The  services  are  now  usually 
conducted  in  English. 

A  Sunday-school  was  started  soon  after  the 
church  was  built,  and  has  maintained  a  success- 
ful existence  since,  during  the  summer  months^ 
Michael  Kaiser  is  its  present  superintendent.  In 
membership  it  numbers  seventy-three. 

A  Disciple  church  stands  close  to  the  western 
line  on  lot  37  of  the  second  section.  It  is  a  mod- 
est frame  structure  erected  in  the  summer  of 
1874  at  a  cost  of  $450  and  dedicated  December 
27  of  the  same  year.  Prior  to  this,  services  had 
been  held  for  some  time  in  the  adjoining  school- 
house.  Its  early  membership  included  the  names 
of  John  Foster  and  wife,  Jackson  Stover  and  wife, 
Sarah  McNeal,  Catherine  Foster,  Nancy  Smithy 
Ingabew  Hughes,  Mrs.  Martha  Buckalew  and 
Mary  Woolum.  Rev.  Urias  Huffman  was  the 
founder  of  the  church.  He  was  succeeded  in  a 
ministerial  capacity  by  Thomas  Stewart,  who  had; 
charge  of  the  church  for  about  two  years,  and 
was  succeeded  'by  his  predecessor.  During  the 
last  few  months  services  have  not  been  regularly 
conducted.  The  membership  is  quite  small  at 
this  time.  A  Sunday-school  was  organized  in  the 
spring  of  1875  and  has  been  held  every  summeu 
lip  to  this  date. 

The  population  of  Clark  township  in  1830  wa» 
246;  in  1840  it  had  reached  703;  in  1850,  833;  in 
1860  it  had  fallen  to  796,  but  in  1870  it  had  in- 
creased to  867,  and  in  1880  still  farther  to  1042. 


CHAPTER  LIIL 

i 

CKAWFORD  TOWNSHIP. 

Location— Survey-v-Soil— Settlers— Population— First  School- 
Industries— Churches— Ne-w  Bedford— Chili. 

CRAWFORDtownship  is  situated  in  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  county.    It  is  bounded 
on  the    north    by   German    township.  Holmes 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


487 


county,  on  the  east  by  Buck's  township,  Tuscara- 
was county,  on  the  south  by  White  Eyes,  and  on 
the  west  by  Mill  Creek  township.  The  first,  or 
northeast  quarter,  is  a  military  section,  which 
was  surveyed  in  forty  100-acre  lots  by  A-.  Holmes, 
in  1818.  The  remainder  of  the  township  consists 
of  congress  land,  surveyed  in  1803,  by  Ebenezer 
Buckingham.  It  was  organized  as  a  township  in 
1828.  The  name  is  said  to  have  been  given  in 
honor  of  Associate  Judge  Crawford,  who  held  a 
considerable  tract  of  land  in  it. 

The  soil  in  the  southern  part  is  clayey,  with 
Umestone  as  the  usual  surface  rock;  towards  the 
north  it  partakes  more  of  a  sandy  nature.  Like 
the  surrounding  townships,  the  surface  is  one  in- 
terminable range  of  hills  except  where  the  small 
streams  course  through  its  length.  White  Eyes 
creek,  which  rises  near  the  northern  line  and 
flows  southward,  and  its  many  little  branches, 
carry  off  the  waters  of  its  abundant,  gushing 
springs. 

No  one  is  known  to  have  preceded  Jacob  Miser 
in  the  permanent  occupancy  of  this  territory. 
He  was  the  first  of  a  group  of  Pennsylvania  Ger- 
mans who  came  into  the  dreary  wilderness  that 
shrouded  the  hills,  and  by  unflagging  industry, 
converted  it  into  pleasant  hillside  farms.  Mr. 
Miser  came  about  1815,  and  settled  upon  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  22,  where  his  son, 
Samuel,  still  lives,  and  remained  there  till  he  died. 
He  at  first  could  provide  his  family  only  with  a 
rudely  constructed  camp,  and  afterward  went 
eight  miles  for  assistance  in  raising  his  first  cabin. 
Philip  Eensler,  his  father-in-law,  had  entered 
some  land  in  the  township  previously,  but  did 
not  remove  to  it  till  about  a  year  after  Miser 
came.  He  had  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  and 
owned  a  little  property  in  Virginia.  He  disposed 
of  this  to  advantage,  and  with  the  proceeds 
and, his  army  wages,  entered  several  quarters  of 
land,  among  them  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 23,  upon  which  Chih  is  built.  Mr.  Fensler 
remained  in  the  township  till  his  decease.  His 
son  John  continued  on  the  place  for  some  time, 
then  went  West.  The  Fenslers  were  accompa- 
nied or  speedily  followed  by  several  other  fami- 
lies, all  of  whom  located  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  township.    William  Stall  settled  on  the  south- 


west quarter  of  section  23 ;  William  Gotshall,  who 
was  directly  from  Harrison  county,  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  22,  where  he  spent  the  remain- 
der of  his  life;  his  brother,  George  Gotshall,  who 
afterward  removed  to  Indiana,  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  21 ;  John  Albert,  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  22.  He  was  from  Pennsylva- 
nia, and  subsequently  removed  to  Adams  town- 
ship, where  his  widow,  now  said  to  be  a  centena- 
rian, still  survives.  Daniel  S.  Salsberry,  originally 
from  Pennsylvania,  but  immediately  hailing  from 
Jefferson  county,  came  about  1817,  to  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  18.  William  Farver 
at  this  time  owned  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
21,  and  not  many  years  later,  his  son  John  occu- 
pied it.  The  veritable  John  Smith,  too,  ranked 
among  the  foremost  settlers.  His  freehold  con-  • 
sisted  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  23. 

From  this  time  on  the  settlement  of  the  town- 
ship was  slow.  As  late  as  1835  there  was  still  un- 
entered land.  The  rough  character  of  the  sur- 
face held  out  no  enticing  allurements  of  a  life  of 
ease,  and  those  who  located  here  did  so  expecting 
to  endure  innumerable  discomforts  and  to  reap 
no  bounteous  rewards  for  their  toil.  Other  early 
settlers  were  Jacob  Rinehart,  John  Gonser,  Adam 
Miller,  George  Lower,  Benjamin  and  Daniel  \ 
Lower,  Mr.  Stomm,  Mr.  Shauwecker,  and  others. 
In  1828  David  Everhart  settled  in  the  wilderness, 
on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  20.  He  was 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  about  1820  or  1821  had 
come  to  White  Eyes  township,  where  he  lived 
till  he  came  here.  His  farm  in  this  township  he 
had  received  from  Philip  Fensler,  as  a  compensa- 
tion for  clearing  forty  acres  of  land  in  White 
Eyes  township. 

Beginning  about  1832,  quite  a  number  of  set- 
tlers from  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania, 
poured  into  this  and  the  adjoining  township  in 
Tuscarawas  county.  Among  them  was  William 
Doak.  Very  few  of  them  are  now  living  here. 
The  Lorentzs,  Himebaughs,  Crawfords  and  Win- 
kleplecks  were  also  old  and  well  known  families 
of  this  township.  A  little  later  a  German  popu- 
lation began  to  take  possession  of  the  soil, 
usually  hi  small  tracts,  of  forty  or  eighty  acres 
each.  The  hills  are  now  densely  settled  with 
this  thrifty  people,  other  nationalities  having 
scarcely  a  representation  in  the  township. 


488 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


In  1830  the  population  was  442.  Trom  this 
date  it  increased  rapidly,  reaching  1,134  in  1840; 
ten  years  later  the  maximum  point  of  popula- 
tion was  reached,  1,552 ;  an  almost  imperceptible 
decline  reduced  it  to  1,516  in  1860;  in  1870  it  had 
fallen  to  1,245 ;  during  the  last  decade,  however, 
this  loss  was  partially  recovered,  and  in  1880  the 
population  was  1,431. 

Gartie  was  abundant  among  the  hills  for  many 
years  after  the  first  settlers  arrived.  Wolves  in 
large  packs  prowled  through  the  forests  and 
made  the  raising  of  sheep  an  impossibility  for  a 
long  time.  The  bears  acquired  a  keen  relish  for 
pork,  and  frequently  dined  upon  their  favorite 
dish.  In  unison  with  their  wild  surroundings  it 
was  not  uncommon  for  the  pioneers  to  make  pets 
of  bear  cubs,  and  they  would  even  attempt  some- 
times to  domesticate  the  young  of  the  panther, 
which  was  occasionally  seen.  In  several  instances 
did  children  narrowly  escape  death  from  attacks 
of  these  half-grown  savage  pets. 

A  school  was  a  novelty  for  a  long  time  after  the 
whites  settled  this  township.  The  first  one  was 
taught  about  1820,  by  Jacob  Seidler,  in  a  little 
cabin  which  stood  in  the  woods  where  Chili  now 
stands,  just  north  of  the  bridge.  It  was  the  usual 
subscription  school,  and  was  only  three  months 
in  duration.  The  Smiths,  Misers,  Sondals,  Ra- 
venscrofts  and  others  from  this  and  White  Eyes 
township  attended  here.  This  one  short  term 
was  all  the  school  instruction  that  some  of  the 
aged  fathers  and  mothers  of  to-day  received,  all 
they  had  an  opportunity  of  receiving.  For  a 
number  of  years  after,  school  was  not  again 
taught  in  this  neighborhood,  and  then  only  at  ir- 
regular periods.  The  teachers  were  usually  little 
in  advance  of  their  pupils  in  point  of  knowledge, 
and  consequently  the  progress  of  the  latter  was 
very  slow.  It  is  said  that  Joseph  Townley  was 
the  first  early  efficient  teacher  in  the  township. 
He  taught,  about  1835,  near  the  Lutheran  church, 
just  above  Chili. 

John  Smith  built  the  first  and  only  mill,  on  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  23.  It' was  a  little 
log  structure  at  first,  with  one,  afterward  with 
two,  run  of  buhrs,  set  in  operation  very  early  and 
continued  many  years.    Mr.  Gonser  began  the 


construction  of  a  saw-mill  near  New  Bedford, 
but  the  dam  was  swept  away  before  it  was  fin- 
ished, and  never  was  replaced. 

Distilleries  were  operated  for  a  short  time  by 
Frank  Lambrecht,  John  Biokle,  Yost  Miller, 
John  Smith,  John  Gardner  and  Andrew  Eich- 


The  religious  sentiment  of  the  people  is  em- 
bodied in  five  societies,  four  of  which  conduct 
services  in  the  German  language.  Beside  these, 
two  others,  one  just  across  the  line  in  Holmes 
county,  the  other,  just  over  the  line  in  White 
Eyes  township,  both  German,  possess  considera- 
ble memberships  from  this  township.  Geograph- 
ically, two  are  in  New  Bedford,  two  in  or  near 
Chili,  and  one  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township. 
One  is  an  English  Lutheran,  one  a  German 
Lutheran,  one  a  United  Brethren,  one  a  German 
Reformed,  and  one  an  Evangelical  Protestant 
church.  Beside  these,  a  United  Brethren  church 
(German),  now  defunct,  formerly  existed  on  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  12.  The  house  of 
worship  was  erected  about  1852.  The  society 
was  formed  by  the  separation  of  its  original 
members  from  the  adjoining  German  Reformed 
church  and  subsequent  organization  of  a  new 
body.  Rev.  Miller  was  the  first  minister.  The 
membership  was  at  no  time  very  large.  Among 
the  early  prominent  members  were  Peter  Len- 
hart,  Peter  Lower  and  John  Miller.  The  earliest 
meetings  were  held  in  Mr.  Lenhart's  and  Mr. 
Miller's  barns,  and,  in  fact,  wherever  room  could 
be  obtained.  Regular  services  were  suspended 
six  or  eight  years  ago,  owing  to  the  reduced 
membership. 

A  short  distance  east  of  this,  near  the  north- 
west corner  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section 
11,  stands  the  German  Reform  church  which  was 
built  in  1845  or  1846.  It  is  a  log  building  and  is 
about  to  be  replaced  by  a  substantial  frame  struc- 
ture. Rev.  Jacob  Seidle  was  one  of  the  earliest 
ministers,  holding  services  in  the  school-house 
before  the  church  was  built.  Rev.  Zohner  was 
the  first  preacher  in  the  church  building.  The 
present  pastor  is  Rev.  Schodd.  Jonathan  Price, 
John  Eichmeirer  and  Mr.  Buser,  were  prominent 
members  during  its  early  days.  At  present  the 
membership  is  small. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


489 


St.  John's  Evangelical  Lutheran  (German) 
church,  located  in  New  Bedford  was  organized  in 
1854  by  Rev.  G.  Doepken.  He  remained  in  charge 
of  the  congregation  nineteen  years,  at  the  end  of 
that  time  removing  to  Marietta.  Rev.  C-  Lembke 
succeeded  him  and  ministered  unto  this  people 
two  and  a  half  years.  Then,  in  1876,  Rev.  O.  Pri- 
wer  obtained  the  pastorate  and  still  has  charge  of 
the  congregation,  which  now  includes  more  than 
sixty  families.  A  German  Sunday-school  is  held 
during  the  summer.  The  meeting  house  is  a 
commodious  frame,  which  was  built  in  1855.  The 
church  owes  its  existence  to  a  dissension  in  the 
German  Reform  church,  a  short  distance  north- 
west of  this  in  Holmes  county,  in  consequence  of 
which  many  members  withdrew  and  became  the 
founders  of  this  society.  The  prominent  early 
members  were  Frederick  Schmalz,  George  Lebe- 
gut.  Christian  P.  Baad,  Adam  Baad,  Gottlieb  Rott- 
man,  David  Schlegle,  ,  Conrad  Scheetz,  George 
Gonser,  Gottfried  Baad,  George  J.  Kleinknecht, 
Jacob  Semmlar,  Frederick  and  Jacob  Lauten- 
schlager,  Sebastian  Trautwein,  Jacob  Brandle 
Gottlieb  Ruesz  and  Joseph  Rumbolt.  The  church 
is  in  connection  with  the  Joint  Synod  of  Ohio. 

From  another  distraction  in  the  aforemen- 
tioned Holmes  county  German  Reformed  church 
sprang  the  United  Brethren  church  of  New 
Bedford.  It  was  organized  about  1848,  by  Rev. 
March,  with  a  large  membershp.  George  Smith, 
George  Schultz  and  John  P.  Lower  were  included 
in  the  number.  Revs.  John  Dilly  and  John 
Crone  have  been  prominent  pastors  of  this  so- 
ciety. Rev.  Schluser  is  the  present  pastor.  The 
membership  is  small.  The  church  building  is 
a  large,  substantial  frame,  which  was  erected 
about  1848.  A  Sunday-school  is  held  during  the 
summer. 

The  Evangelical  Protestant  (German)  church, 
near  Chili,  was  organized  in  January,  1880,  with 
about  fifteen  families,  among  which  were  those 
of  Henry  Ehrich,  Martin  Sunkle,  John  and  Ga- 
briel Lorenz,  John  Shoemaker  and  Valentine 
Huprich.  .  The  membership  has  slighty  increased 
since.  Rev.  Haffele  was  the  first  and  present 
pastor.  .  The  church,  a  large  frame  building,  was 
erected  in  the  fall  of  1879,  at  a  cost  of  over 


$1,200.  The  original  members  had  formerly 
held  allegiance  to  the  German  Reformed  church, 
several  miles  east  of  Chili.  A  Sunday-school 
was  organized  several  years  ago  in  the  Chili 
school-house.  From  the  start  it  has  been  under 
the  management  of  Henry  Ehrich,  and  now 
contains  about  fifty  members. 

The  remaining  church  at  Chili  is  the  Evangeli- 
cal English  Lutheran  church.  It  was  organized 
in  1832  by  Rev.  E.  Greenwald,  who  was  settled 
at  New  Philadelphia.  He  preached  the  first  ser- 
mon November  12,  1832.  Rev.  J.  B.  Reck  suc- 
ceeded him  in  1835,  but,  after  a  few  years,  the 
care  of  the  church  again  devolved  (in  1838)  on 
Mr.  Greenwald,  In  1840  Rev.  E.  C.  Young  took 
charge  of  the  church,  and  in  1846  Rev.  E.  Mels- 
heimer,  who  died  in  1849.  In  1850  Rev.  A.  N. 
Bartholomew  became  pastor,  and,  in  1859,  Rev. 
M.  M.  Bartholomew.  Rev.  S.  S.  Lawson  took 
charge  in  1862,  and  Rev.  David  Sparks  in  1864. 
He  remained  several  years  and  was  succeeded 
by  Rev.  J.  M.  Myers,  who  severed  his  connection 
with  the  church  in  1878.  After  a  vacancy  of 
about  a  year.  Rev.  John  Y.  Marks,  in  May,  1879, 
was  elected  to  the  pastorate  and  is  still  the  minis- 
ter. The  elders  have  been  Andrew  Eichmier, 
Jacob  Miser,  Henry  Grimm,  John  Smith,  A, 
Winklepleck,  William  Stall,  Frederick  Everhart, 
Michael  Grile,  John  Gardner,  William  Doak, 
Anthony  Stall  and  Samuel  Miser;  the  deacons, 
Joseph  Miser,  George  Winklepleck,  Charles  Gil- 
lespie, Frederick  Everhart,  George  Ringer,  Henry 
Everhart,  Jesse  Eichmier,  Frederick  Barrick, 
Thomas  Christy,  Peter  Helmreich,  Robert  Doak, 
John  Bowman,  Israel  Barrack  and  Henry  Ren- 
ner.  The  number  of  communicants,  in  1838,  was 
sixteen;  it  is  now  about  one  hundred.  Not  long 
after  the  society  was  organized,  a  log  church  was 
erected  on  land  donated  by  Philip  Fensler.  Then, 
in  1855  or  1856,  the  present  frame  structure  was 
erected.  It  was  repaired  and  enlarged  in  1874, 
at  a  cost  of  over  $600. 

New  Bedford  is  situated  in  the  northwestern 
part  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  3,  one 
corner  of  the  town  plat  touching  the  Holmes 
county  line.  It  consists  of  fifty-five  lots,  and  was 
laid  out  in  March,  1825,  by  John  Gonser,  while 


490 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  country  around  it  was  scarcely  at  all  settled. 
Just  over  the  line,  in  Holmes  county,  a  little  vil- 
lage had  heen  laid  out  and  named  Wardsville, 
and  New  Bedford  was  launched  into  existence  as 
its  rival.  In  his  laudable  endeavors  to  found  a 
village,  Mr.  Gonser  was  ably  seconded  by  his 
three  sons,  Henry,  David  and  Adam,  each  of 
whom  erected  a  house  for  himself  in  the  town 
plat.  The  Gonsers  were  from  Bedford  county, 
Pennsylvania,  hence  the  name  of  the  village.  It 
now  contains  a  population  of  134.  Many  of  its 
'buildings  are  newly  erected,  of  ^mple  propor- 
tions, and  fine  appearance. 

The  first  merchandising  was  done  by  David 
Burget,  who,  about  1828,  opened  his  little  stock 
of  goods  in  a  building  on  lot  22,  which  is  still 
standing,  occupied  by  John  Luke.  He  remained 
in  business  in  this  village  until  1864,  during 
which  time  he  accumulated  considerable  proper- 
ty. He  then  removed  to  Cleveland,  where  he  has 
since  been  leading  a  retired  life.  John  Winkle- 
pleck  was  the  second  store-keeper,  coming  about 
ten  years  after  Burget.  He  remained  but  a  short 
time,  removing  to  Chili.  George  Bell  and  David 
Gonser  trafficked  in  succession  for  a  short  time 
each,  and  in  1846  Lewis  Helman,  a  Jew,  from 
Europe,  brought  a  large  stock  of  goods  into  town, 
and  conducted  an  extensive  and  very  profitable 
business  fpr  five  or  six  yers.  He  then  sold  out 
to  Levi  Deetz,  and  is  said  to  have  returned  to 
Europe.  There  have  been  two  stores  here  ever 
since.  George  A.  Einner  and  Adam  Long  are 
the  present  proprietors  of  one,  and  George  Bow- 
man and  G.  F.  Shauweker  the  proprietors  of  the 
other. 

The  remaining  business  of  the  town  is  as  fol- 
lows :  One  hardware  store,  Brown  &  Croft ;  three 
groceries,  C.  C.  Hinkle,  Jacob  Both  and  Jacob 
Welling;  one  jeweler  shop,  Noah  Snyder;  two 
wagon  shops,  Jacob  &  John  Engle,  and  Gottlieb 
Swigert;  one  marble  shop,  Jacob  Goetz;  one 
dress  maker.  Miss  Maggie  Senft;  one  milliner. 
Miss  Samantha  Luke ;  one  saddler  shop,  Samuel 
Snyder;  two  shoe  shops,  Adam  Diefenbaugh  and 
H.  H.  Geiger;  two  blacksmith  shops,  George 
Eosencopp,  and  Jacob  Dresher  and  George  Price. 

The  first  public  tavern  was  kept  by  Mr.  Parnell, 
about  1823.  Others,  who  have  since  acquired  a 
name  in  this  capacity,  have  been  John  Luke, 


John  Bowman,  Robert  Nickerson,  Mrs.  Bowman, 
and  J.  E.  Fleming.  There  are  now  two  hotels: 
Commercial  House,  C.  C.  Hinkle,  and  Mansion 
House,  S.  S.  Snyder. 

David  Burget  was  the  first  postmaster.  He 
filled  the  position  tor  a  long  continued  term,  and 
was  succeeded  by  J.  E.  Fleming.  A.  Doak  and 
Jackson  Bowman  successively  followed,  and  the 
mall  matter  then  passed  into  the  hands  of  Henry 
H.  Geiger,  the  present  postmaster.  A  tri-weekly 
mail  between  West  Lafayette  and  Millersburg, 
and  another  between  Millersburgh  and  Philips- 
burgh,  pass  through  this  place. 

I.  D.  Luke  is  a  practitioner  of  law,  and  Drs.  F. 
G.  Guittard  and  S.  P.  Snyder  the  physicians. 
The  former  has  had  an  uninterrupted  residence 
here  of  about  twenty-eight  years ;  the  latter  is  a 
late  accession.  Dr.  John  Busby  was  an  old  and 
prominent  physician  of  the  place,  having  C. 
Steward  associated  with  him  in  business  for  a 
whie.  Other  practitioners  have  remained  in  the 
village  but  a  short  time. 

The  present  school-house  was  erected  in  1877, 
as  a  one-story  building,  containing  only  one  room. 
Miss  Samantha  Luke  was  the  first  teacher  therein. 
In  the  fall  of  1880,  a  second  story  was  added.  The 
building  now  presents  a  very  neat  appearance, 
and  is  nicely  fitted  up  with  modern  school  furni- 
ture of  the  most  approved  pattern.  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Boyd  and  Miss  Caroline  Shauwecker  were 
the  teachers  during  the  winter  of  1880-81. 

New  Bedford  Lodge,  No.  446,  of  the  I.  0.  0.  F., 
was  instituted  June  29, 1870.  George  C.  Einner, 
D.  D.  Funk,  Peter  Lenhart,  Jacob  Lenhart,  C.  G. 
Baa,d,  Ferdinand  Sedlemyer  and  Gottlieb  Stein 
were  the  charter  members.  The  officers  at  pres- 
ent are  as  follows:  Jacob  Engle,  Noble  Grand; 
Christian  G.  Baad,  Vice  Grand;  F.  J.  Guittard, 
Treasurer;  Noah  Snyder,  Eecording  Secretary; 
Benjamin,  M.  Snyder,  Permanent  Secretary. 
In  1874,  the  lodge  leased  for  fifty  years  the  upper 
story  of  the  building  on  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  square,  and  have  there  a  nicely  furnished 
hall.    The  present  membership  is  twenty-seven. 

The  village  of  Chili,  located  upon  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  23,  approaches  within  a 
few  feet  of  the  White  Eyes  township  line.     The 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


491 


"  inner  history  "  o,f  its  foundation  is  said  to  be  as 
follows :  James  Evans  had  shortly  before  erected 
a  saw  mill  in  White  Eyes  township  a  short  dis- 
tance below  where  Chili  stands.  Being  an  enter- 
prising kind  of  a  man,  he  desired  a  market  for 
the  lumber  which  he  was  preparing,  and  urged 
upon  Mr.  Fensler,  the  owner  of  the  adjoining 
quarter-section,  the  feasibility  of  laying  out  a 
town.  Repeated  argumentation  at  length  pro- 
duced oonvictira  in  Mr.  Fensler's  mind  that  it 
was  the  proper  thing  to  do,  and  he  forthwith  set 
about  to  lay  out  the  town,  much  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  Mr  Evans,  delighting  in  the  prospective 
sale  of  his  lumber.  The  plat  was  surveyed  March 
7, 1834,  by  James  Ravenscraft,  and  consisted  of 
twenty-nine  lots.  To  the  surveyor  was  given  the 
honor  of  naming  the  town.  He  called  it  Chili 
(universally  called  Chi-li  hereabouts).  David 
Zellers,  a  blacksmith,  built  the  first  house,  •and 
directly  afterward  his  blacksmith  shop.  Willis 
Butler,  from  Tuscarawas  county,  was  proprietor 
of  the  first  store.  His  stay  was  short,  and  he  re- 
turned to  his  former  residence.  Robert  Porter 
succeeded  him,  and  he  in  turn  was  soon  super- 
seded by  John  Winklepleck,  who  was  engaged 
in  business  here  for  many  years,  up  to  the  time 
of  his  death.  In  the  line  of  dry  goods,  two 
firms  are  now  engaged  in  business,  John  Lorenz, 
and  Lenhart  &  Stein.  Gottlieb  Feller  conducts 
an  excellent  tannery,  established  many  yearg  ago 
by  Henry  Warnes,  and  with  it  a  harness  and  sad- 
dlery shop.  Allen  Turner  has  a  cabinet  shop, 
Philip  Gebhard  a  wagon  shop,  Philip  Neiss  and 
John  Hawk  each  a  blacksmith  shop,  and  Henry 
Ehrich  and  Charles  Klein  each  a  shoe  shop. 
Solomon  DeWitt  provides  hospitable  entertain- 
ment for  the  wayfarer.  Ernest  C.  Volz  and 
Aaron  Busby  are  the  two  doctors.  Dr.  Thomas 
Pinkerton  was  the  first  resident  physician.  Quite 
a  number  have  intervened  between  him  and  the 
present  practitioners;  among  them  Drs.  Chap- 
man, B.  Blackburn,  John  Beaver,  Knight,  Busby 
and  Fell.  During  its  existence  of  nearly  half  a 
century.  Chili  has  lost  only  one  builc(ing  by  fire, 
.  and  it  was  a  small  cabin  of  little  value.  The 
population  at  present  lacks  only  a  few  names  of 
amounting  to  100. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

FRANKLIN   TOWNSHIP. 

Boundaries— Physical  Features— Canal  and  Kailroad— Early 
Settlers  and  Settlements-rMajor  Robinson's  Captivity — 
Indians— Schools  and  Churches— Taverns— Distilleries  and 
Mills— PoBtofflces— Coal— Oil. 

THE  early  records  of  this  township,  yet  pre- 
served, contain  an  account  of  its  organiza- 
tion. The  first  entry  consists  of  the  following 
notice  : 

Whereas,  The  commissioners  of  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  hath  this  day  erected  a  new  town- 
ship off  the  south  end  of  Tuscarawas  township  in 
said  county,  to  be  known  by  the  name  of  Frank- 
lin, and  consisting  of  the  fourth  township  in  the 
sixth  range  and  the  east  half  of  the  fourth  town- 
ship in  the  seventh  range;  therefore,  the  quali- 
fied electors  of  said  township  of  Franklin  are 
hereby  notified  to  meet  at  the  house  of  John 
Wamsley,  in  said  township,  on  Saturday,  the  17th 
day  of  September,  and  elect  necessary  township 
ofiicers,  according  to  law. 

MORDECAI  ChALFANT, 

James  Meskimen, 

Commissioners. 
Coshocton,  September  6, 1814. 
At  the  appointed  time  and  place  John  Wams- 
ley and  Jesse  Campbell  were  elected  judges,  and 
Israel  H.  Buker,  clerk  of  the  election,  and  were 
4uly  sworn  into  office.  The  report  of  the  first 
election,  as  made  by  them,  is  as  follows : 

We  do  certify  that  the  number  of  electors 
amounted  to  twenty-two,  and  that  Israel  H. 
Buker  had  twenty-two  votes  for  township  clerk. 
Michael  Miller,  John  Wamsley  and  Benjamin 
Robinson  had  each  twenty-two  votes  for  trustees. 
Valentine  Johnson  and  Joseph  Scott  had  each 
twenty-two  votes  for  overseers  of  the  poor.  James 
Robinson  and  Jacob  Jackson  had  each  twenty- 
two  votes  for  fence  viewer  .  Michael  Miller  Val- 
entine Johnson  and  Benjamin  Robinson  had  each 
twenty-two  votes  for  supervisors.  Lewis  Bodrick 
had  twenty-two  votes  for  constable,  and  James 
Robinson  had  twenty-one  votes  and  Benjamin 
Robinson  one  vote  for  township  treasurer. 

At  the  next  election,  October  11, 1814,  thirty-six 
votes  were  cast.  Thomas  Worthington  received 
the  entire  number  for  governor;  James  Caldwell 
had  thirty  votes  for  representative  in  congress; 
B.  Wells  had  six  votes  for  the  same;  Charles 
Williams  received  thirty  votes  and  Wright  War- 


492 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ner  two  votes  for  State'  representative ;  James 
Miskimen  received  thirty-two,  and  Isaac  Draper 
two,  votes  for  county  commissioner.  A  re-elec- 
tion of  State  representative  being  ordered  for 
January  4,  1815,  thirty-nine  votes  were  cast  in 
this  township.  Of  these  Charles  Williams  re- 
ceived twenty-seven  and  Lewis  Vail  twelve. 

The  east  half  of  township  4,  range  7,  was  with- 
drawn at  the  formation  of  Virginia  township,  and 
the  township  now  consists  of  township  4,  range 
6.  It  is  in  the  southern  tier  of  townships,  and 
touches  Jackson,  Tuscarawas  and  Lafayette  town- 
ships on  the  north ;  Linton  on  the  east,  and  Vir- 
ginia on  the  west;  Muskingum  county  bounds  it 
on  the  south. 

The  surface  is  diversified  by  hill  and  vale.  The 
Muskingum  river,  by  a  gently  winding  course, 
traverses  the  western  part  from  north  to  south 
through  a  rich  and  fertile  valley.  Level  bottom 
lands,  for  the  most  part,  stretch  away  for  a  dis- 
tance on  either  side,  with  low  hills  rising  beyond; 
but,  at  times,  the  hills  rise  al^iost  precipitously 
from  the  river's  bank,  on  one  side  or  the  other. 
Farther  east  the  land  becomes  rougher,  and, 
along  the  eastern  line,  breaks  into  rugged!  hills. 
Will's  creek,  a  stream  of  considerable  size  and  of 
very  irregular  course,  is  the  principal  tributary 
of  the  river  in  this  township.  Entering  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  township  from  Linton,  it  dips 
down  into  Muskingum  county ;  appearing  again 
near  the  middle  of  the  southern  line,  it  crops 
northward  about  one  and  a  half  miles  to  Frew's 
mill,  there  bends  sharply  to  the  south  and,  by  a 
circuitous  route,  reaches  the  river  in  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  township.  The  other  streams 
are  inconsiderable  and  thread  the  township  in 
various  directions.  The  soil  in  the  river  bottoms 
is  a  rich  loam,  and  seems  incapable  of  wearing 
out.  Year  after  year,  almost  beyond  the  recollec- 
tion of  men,  corn  crops  have  been  successively 
raised  with  no  apparent  decrease  in  the  yield. 
Upon  the  hills  the  soil  is  generally  sandy.  The 
timber  is  of  the  varieties  usually  found  in  this 
region.  Upon  a  knoll  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
township  (section  20)  are  found  a  few  scrubby 
pines. 

The  Ohio  canal  passes  through  the  western 
part  of  the  township;  entering  from  the  north, 
west  of  the  river,  it  follows  the  valley  and  crosses 


into  Virginia  township,  about  a  mile  north  of 
the  southern  hne.  The  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati 
and  St.  Louis  railroad  enters  the  township  east 
of  the  river,  from  the  north,  crosses  the  river  at 
Franklin  station,  and  continues  in  a  course 
nearly  parallel  with  the  canal.  The  road  has 
three  flag-stations  in  the  township :  Rock  Run, 
Franklin  and  Conesville.  A  single  wagon  bridge 
spans  the  Muskingum,  near  Conesville.  The 
river  is  fordable,  however,  in  one  or  two  places. 

Franklin  was  among  the  first  settled  town- 
ships in  the  county,  and  here,  as  elsewhere,  the 
earliest  settlements  were  made  along  the  river. 
The  eastern  half  of  the  township  is  congress 
land;  the  western  half  belongs  to  the  military 
lands,  and  consists  of  two  sections,  of  4,000 
acres  each.  Many  military  sections  were  pur- 
chased by  non-residents  of  the  county,  with  a 
view  to  speculation,  holding  them  until  a  rise  in 
value  permitted  them  to  dispose  of  their  prop- 
erty in  small  tracts  at  a  large  profit.  These  two 
sections,  however,  were  purchased  by  two  Vir- 
ginians, who  emigrated  to  the  wilderness  and 
made  it  their  homes.  The  northwest  or  second 
section  was  owned  and  settled  by  Michael  Miller, 
the  southwest  or  third,  by  William  Robinson. 

Major  William  Robinson  was  born  in  1743. 
During  Dunmore's  war,  he  was  captured  by  the 
Indians  and  became  the  object  of  the  magnanim- 
ity of  Logan,  the  celebrated  chief  of  the  Mingoes, 
at  a  time  when  he  was  smarting  under  the  cow- 
ardly wrongs  inflicted  upon  his  family  by  the 
white  men.  Howe's  Historical  Collections  of 
Ohio  gives  the  following  account  of  his  capture: 

On  the  12th  of  July,  1774,  Major  Robinson,  then 
a  resident  on  the  west  fork  of  Monongahela  river, 
was  in  the  field  with  Mr.  Colburn  Brown  and 
Mr.  Helen,  pulling  flax,  when  they  were  sur- 
prised and  fired  upon  by  a  party  of  eight  Indians, 
led  by  Logan.  Mr.  Brown  was  killed  and  the 
other  two  made  prisoners.  On  the  first  alarm, 
Mr.  Robinson  started  to  run.  When  he  had  got 
about  fifty  yards,  Logan  called  out  in  English, 
"  Stop,  I  won't  hurt  you!"  "  Yes,  you  will,"  re- 
plied Robinson  in  tones  of  fear  "  No,  I  won't," 
rejoined  Logan,  "  but  if  you  don't  stop,  by  — - 
I'll  shoot  you."  Robinson  still  contmued  his 
race,  but  stumbling  over  a  log,  fell  and  was  made 
captive  by  a  fleet  savage  in  pursuit.  Logan  im- 
mediately made  himself  known  to  Mr.  Robinson 
and  manifested  a  friendly  disposition  to  him,  told 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


493 


him  that  he  must  be  of  good  heart,  and  go  with 
him  to  his  town,  where  he  would  probably  be 
adopted  in  some  of  their  failiilies.  When  near 
the  Indian  village,  on  the  sit^  of  Dresden,  Mus- 
kingum river,  Logan  informed  him  that  he  must 
run  the  gauntlet,  and  gave  him  such  directions, 
that  he  reached  the  council-house  without  the 
slightest  harm.  He  was  then  tied  to  a  stake  for 
the  purpose  of  being  burnt,  when  Logan  arose 
and  addressed  the  assembled  council  of  chiefs,  in 
his  behalf.  He  spoke  long  and  with  great  energy, 
until  the  saliva  foamed  from  .the  sides  of  his 
mouth.  This  was  followed  by  other  chiefs  in  op- 
position, and  rejoinders  from  Logan.  Three  sep- 
arate times  was  he  tied  to  the  stake  to  be  burnt, 
the  councils  of  the  hostile  chiefs  prevailing,  and 
as  often  untied  by  Logan  and  a  belt  of  wampum 
placed  around  him  as  a  mark  of  adoption.  His 
fife  appeared  to  hang  on  a  balance ;  but  the  elo- 
quence of  Logan  prevailed,  and  when  the  belt_  of 
wampum  was  at  last  put  on  him  by  Logan,  he  in- 
troduced a  young  Iildian  to  him,  saying,  "  This  is 
your  cousin,  you  are  to  go  home  with  him  and  he 
will  take  care  of  you." 

From  this  place,  Mr.  Robinson  accompanied 
the  Indians  up  the  Muskingum,  through  two  or 
three  Indian  villages,  until  they  arrived  at  one  of 
their  towns  on  the  site  of  Newcomerstown,  in 
Tuscarawas  county.  About  the  21st  of  July,  Lo- 
gan came  to  Robinson  and  brought  a  piece  of 
paper,  saying  that  he  must  write  a  letter  for  him, 
which  he  meant  to  carry  and  leave  in  some  house, 
which  he  should  attack.  Mr.  Robinson  wrote  a 
note  with  ink,  which  he  manufactured  from  gun- 
powder. He  made  three  separate  attempts  be- 
fore he  could  get  the  language,  which  Logan  dic- 
tated, sufficiently  strong  to  satisfy  that  chief. 
This  note  was  addressed  to  Colonel  Cresap,_whom 
Logan  supposed  was  the  murderer  of  his  family. 
It  was  afterward  found,  tied  to  a  war  club,  in  the 
cabin  of  a  settler  who  lived  on  or  near  the  north 
fork  of  Holston  river.  It  was  doubtless  left  by 
Logan  after  murdering  the  family.  A  copy  of  it 
is  given  below,  which,  on  comparison  with  his 
celebrated  speech,  shows  a  striking  similarity  of 
style : 

"Captain  Ceesap: — What  did  you  kill  my 
people  on  Yellow  creek  for  ?  The  white  people 
killed  my  kin,  at  Conestoga,  a  great  while  ago, 
and  I  thought  nothing  of  that.  But  you  killed 
my  kin  again  on  Yellow  creek,  and  took  my 
cousin  prisoner.  Then  I  thought  I  must  kill  too ; 
and  I  have  been  three  times  to  war  since ;  but 
the  Indians  are  not  angry ;  only  myself. 

"July  21, 1774.  Captain  John  Logan." 

Major  Robinson,  after  remaining  with  the  In- 
dians about  four  months,  returned  to  his  home  in 
Clarksburg,  Virginia,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the 
proprietors  and  the  first  merchant.    He  soon 


after  married  Margaret  Sea,  and  engaged  in  agri- 
cultural and'mercantile  pursuits.  In  1801  he  emi- 
grated to  Franklin  township.  The  Robinson 
section  was  granted  to  William  Edgar,  Jr.,  by 
John  Adams,  President,  under  deed,  dated  April 
2,  1800,  and  by  Edgar  transferred  to  Robinson, 
October  27,  1800.  Mr.  Robinson  had,  doubtless, 
passed  through  this  tract  in  1774,  while  on  his 
way  from  Dresden  to  Newcomerstown.  In  the 
spring  of  1801  he  and  his  son  Benjamin  came  out, 
cleared  off  a  patch  of  ground,  planted  the  first 
crop  of  corn,  then  returned  and  brought  out  his 
family.  He  had  ten  children — four  sons — John, 
Benjamin,  William  and  James — and  six  daugh- 
ters— Sarah,  Mary,  Elizabeth,  Rebecca,  Margaret 
and  Catherine.  They  all  settled  in  this  township 
except  the  oldest  son,  William,  who  remained  in 
Virginia.  Sarah  was  married  to  Mr.  Bar- 
clay; Mary  to  John  Wamsley,  Elizabeth  to 
Obadiah  Davidson,  Rebecca  to  Valentine  John- 
son, Margaret  to  James  Tanner,  and  Cath- 
erine ft)  Joseph  Scott.  All  these  settled  on 
the  Robinson  section  in  1801,  or  soon  after.  Tan- 
ner emigrated  in  1803.  His  wife's  health  being 
delicate,  she  was  unable  to  endure  the  hardships 
of  pioneer  life,  and  died  about  two  years  after  her 
arrival  here,  this  being  probably  the  first  death  in 
the  township.  Mr.  Tanner  subsequently  mar- 
ried Nancy  Taylor,  daughter  of  William  Taylor, 
Other  famihes  from  Clarksburg,  Virginia,  fol- 
lowgd  the  Robinsons  here  and  settled  in  their 
midst,  thus  forming  quite  a  little  colony  from 
their  old  home.  Among  these  were  the  John- 
sons, William  Taylor  and  Jacob  Jackson.  The 
Johnsons  were  a  brother  and  three  sisters  of  Val- 
entine Johnson— James,  Nancy  (Robinson),  Cath- 
erine (Powelson),  and  Amelia  (Shoemaker), 
They  all  settled  on  the  Robinson  section.  Colonel 
Robinson  died  in  the  fall  of  1815,  surviving  his 
wife  about  six  months. 

Jafnes  Robinson,  the  youngest  child,  was  born 
in  Clarksburg,  Virginia,  1787,  inherited  the  home- 
stead, where  he  remained  until  his  death,  in 
1856.  During  this  time  he  was  one  of  the  active 
and  public  spirited  men  of  the  county.  He 
served  one  term  as  associate  judge  and  two  terms 
as  State  representative ;  but  his  time  and  enthu- 
siasm was  absorbed  principally  in  agricultural 
and  kindred  pursuits.    He  engaged  in  stock  deal- 


494 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ing,  and  several  times  crossed  the  mountains 
with  droves  of  cattle.  He  was  actively  interested 
in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  of  which  he 
was  a  staunch  and  steadfast  adherent.  His  house 
was  the  principal  place  of  meetings  in  this  neigh- 
borhood in  anti-church  days,  and  many  times  150 
or  more  people  would  here  assemble,  coming 
from  a  distance  on  horseback,  and  themselves 
and  horses  would  be  provided  for  through  his  old 
time  hospitality.  He  was  twice  married,  in  1811 
and  in  1815.  By  his  first  wife  he  had  two  sons; 
by  the  second  seven  daughters  and  five  sons.  Of 
these,  two  sons  and  one  daughter  are  all  that  now 
remain. 

James  Wilcox  was  among  the  earliest  occu- 
pants of  the  township.  He  came  from  New  Eng- 
land about  1801,  and  for  a  number  of  years  was 
the  only  Yankee  hereabouts.  He  was  a  stone 
mason,  and  was  employed  in  digging  wells,  etc., 
for  the  early  settlers ;  he  cleared  off  a  considera- 
ble tract  of  land  for  the  Robinsons,  and  after- 
ward moved  to  Adams  township,  Muslfingum 
county,  where  he  was  known  as  one  of  its  earli- 
■est  settlers. '  Several  grandsons  now  live  in  Frank- 
lin township. 

Michael  Miller  came  from  Hampshire  county, 
Virginia.  All  the  authorities  seem  to  fix  the  year 
1801,  as  the  date  of  his  arrival.  His  family  con- 
.sisted  of  seven  children,  Barbara,  Charles,  Patrick, 
Edward,  John,  Isaac  and  McCarty.  In  the  course 
of  a  few  years  a  number  of  families  from  Hamp- 
shire county  found  their  way  to  Miller  section. 
Among  the  earliest  and  most  prominent  of  these 
was  Philip  Hershman.  Jasper  Hill  and  Arnold 
Kane  came  about  1808,  from  the  same  place,  and 
both  were  renters  on  Miller's  land.  Daniel  Haw- 
kins came  about  the  same  time  from  New  Jer- 
sey. Matthew  Pigman  emigrated,  from  Virginia, 
perhaps  as  early  as  1803.  After  remaining  on  the 
Miller  section  a  number  of  years  as  a  renter,  he 
entered  a  farm  in  section  1.  Abraham  Thomp- 
son, from  Virginia,  settled  on  the  place  Michael 
Lopp  now  owns. 

Lewis  Rod  ruck 'entered  the  township  in  the 
■spring  of  1809.  He  was  born  in  Maryland,  Sep- 
tember 28, 1772,  and  moved  here  from  Virginia. 
He  leased  a  place  from  William  Robinson,  raised 
B.  crop  or  two  with  his  sons,  Levi  and  Yale,  and 
in  1811  brought  out  from  Virginia  the  rest  of  his 


family.  After  staying  a  few  years  on  the  Robin- 
son place,  he  purchased  and  moved  to  a.  farm  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  township.  He  was  the 
first  class  leader  of  the  Methodist  church, and  after- 
ward became  a  minister  in  the  Dunkard  church, 
preaching  about  forty  years.  His  death  occurred 
in  1866,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-four  years. 

George  Littick  came  about  1811,  and  entered 
land  in  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  12.  He 
was  born  in  Germany,  in  1759;  left  an  orphan  in 
early  youth,  he  was  bound  as  an  apprentice  to  a 
baker,  but  cruel  treatment  crused  him  to  run 
away  and  cross  the  ocean  at  eighteen  years  of 
age ;  arriving  in  this  country,  he  was  obliged  to 
work  three  years  to  pay  his  passage  way.  He 
died  in  Franklin  township,  December  25, 1847. 

The  township  gradually  settled  up  toward  the 
east,  but  the  uninviting  hills  made  the  settlement 
necessarily  slow,  so  long  as  there  were  better 
lands  to  occupy.  It  was  not  until  1886  that  all 
the  land  in  the  township  was  entered.  Several 
years  before  this  there  was  an  influx  of  Germans 
from  Muskingum  county,  and  a  few  years  later 
the  French  began  to  arrive  and  people  the  hills. 
Philip  Kromnaker  was  the  first  Frenchman  to 
locate  here,  in  1835.  During  the  next  fifteen 
years  a  constant  stream  of  emigrants  from  France 
flowed  in,  and  in  1850  the  French  element  pre- 
dominated in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township. 
They  emigrated  principally  from  the  province  of 
Alsace,  ceded  a  few  years  ago  to  Germany,  coming 
mostly  by  water  to  Zanesville, ,  by  way  of  New 
Orleans.  They  are  a  frugal  and  industrious  class 
of  people,  and  have  transformed  some  of  the 
wildest, and  roughest  lands  of  the  county  into 
prosperous  and  happy  homes.  Many  have  since 
removed  to  other  parts. 

The  early  records  of  the  township  have  been 
lost  or  destroyed.  A  partial  list  of  the  first  offi- 
cers is  as  follows :  John  Wamsley, clerk;  James 
Robinson,  treasurer;  Lewis  Rodruck,  constable. 
William  Taylor  and  Abraham  Thompson  also 
held  first  ofl&ces,  probably  as  trustees. 

It  was  not  uncommon,  prior  to  1812,  for  stroll- 
ing Indians  to  appear  at  the  cabins  of  the  early 
settlers.  Mrs.  James  Rice,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Scott,  recollects  that  a  young  Indian  brave,  while 
visiting  at  her  father's  cabin,  became  angry  at  his 


HISTORTd   01"  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


495 


squaw  for  some  cause  and  beat  her  severely  in 
the  face  with  an  ear  of  corn  till  she  bled  pro- 
fusely. This  mark  of  affection  the  squaw  re- 
ceived without  flinching  and  with  the  fortitude 
characteristic  of  the  Indian  race.  Still  more  en- 
raged, the  Indian  seized  a  cooper's  wooden  horse 
standing  by,  and  hurled  it  forcibly  at  his  wife. 
This  time  she  dodged,  and  the  missile  barely 
missed  Mrs.  Bice,  then  a  little  girl  three  or  four 
years  old.  At  another  time  an  Indian  lad  ap- 
peared, begging  meat.  Her  father,  at  heart  a 
hater  of  the  whole  Indian  race,  on  account  of  in- 
juries received  by  relatives  at  the  hands  of  the 
savages,  with  grim  humor  presented  the  boy  a 
very  large  piece  of  raw  meat,  and  then  com- 
pelled him  to  eat  it;  a  feat  which  the  lad  accom- 
plished'only  after  manifest  suffering.  Mr.  Scott 
then  gave  him  some  meat  to  take  home  with 
him.  The  young  Indian  complained  of  the 
treatment  he  had  received  to  his  friends,  but 
they  regarded  it  as  an  excellent  joke,  and  ridi- 
culed him,  and  often  afterward  used  to  laugh 
with  Mr.  Scott  about  it. 

IsraelH.  Baker  was  in  all  probability  the  pion- 
eer school-teacher  of  this  township.  He  was  a 
native  of  Massachusetts,  began  teaching  here 
about  1806,  and  continued  it  for  many  years  in 
different  parts  of  the  township,  wherever  he  could 
get  pupils.  A  Mr.  Patterson  and  Mr.  Boberts, 
also,  figured  among  the  earliest  teachers,  A  lit- 
tle later  came  Abram  T.  Jones  and  William  J. 
Eobinson. 

There  are  now  six  school  districts  within  the 
township,  four  east,  and  two  west,  of  the  river. 
District  No.  6  was  formed  in  1876,  a  short  dis- 
tance northeast  of  Coalport. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was  the  first 
to  form  a  religious  society  within  the  township. 
In  1812,  Rev.  John  Mitchell  organized  a  class  in 
the  Eobinson  neighborhood,  now  called  the 
Bethany  church.  The  details  of  its  early  history 
are  meagre.  For  a  long  time  services  were  held 
at  the  houses  of  the  members,  and  afterward  in 
the  school-house  which  stood  north  of  the  site  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  church.  Eev.  Buark 
and  Joseph  Pigman  were  among  the  earliest 
preachers.    Among  the  original  menlbers  may 


be  mentioned  James  Eobinson,  Lewis  Eodruck 
and  wife,  John  Wamsley  and  William  Davidson. 
Their  present  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1870, 
about  a  mile  northwest  of  Will's  creek,  where  the 
old  building  stood.  It  is  a  nicely  finished  frame, 
costing  about  $3,000,  and  has  served  as  a  model  in 
constructing  several  churches  since.  The  pres- 
ent membership  is  about  fifty.  A  successful 
Sunday-school  is  in  operation  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Ira  Wilcox  and  Dr.  Henderson. 

The  Bethel  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  situ- 
ated west  of  the  river,  was  organized  in  1864,  at 
the  Conesville  school-house,  by  Bevs.  A.  S.  Mof- 
fatt  and  John  Blanpied,  the  two  ministers  of  the 
Dresden  and  Eoscoe  circuits,  then  united.  The 
need  of  religious  services  in  this  vicinity  had 
long  been  felt.  Occasional  preaching  had  been 
held  in  the  school-house  previous  to  the  organi- 
zation of  the  church,  but  there  was  a  demand  for 
a  permanent  church,  and  this  demand  gave  rise 
to  the  Bethel  church.  Francis  Wolfe,  Ben.  Wol- 
ford,  James  Davis,  Henry  Harris,  C.  W.  Uffner, 
C.  W.  Darnes  and  others  were  instrumental  in 
effecting  its  organization.  The  pastors  have 
been  as  follows:  Eevs.  Moffatt  and  Blanpied, 
one  year;  B.  F.  Bell,  one  year;  J.  H.  John- 
son, two  years;  S.  E.  Squire,  two  years;  J.  E. 
Eeasoner,  two  years;  W.  Ben.  Taggert,  three 
years;  John  Phifer,  three  years;  S.  Barcus,  two 
years.  Eev.  Williams  is  the  present  pastor. 
Services  were  held  in  the  school-house  until  1874, 
when  the  present  house  of  worship,  a  neat,  sub- 
stantial brick  of  goodly  dimensions,  was  erected 
at  a  cost  of  $2,500.  The  present  membership  in- 
cludes about  sixty  souls.  Contemporaneous  with 
the  organization  of  the  church  was  that  of  the 
Sunday-school.  For  four  years  previous,  how- 
ever, a  union  Sunday-school  had  been  successfully 
conducted.  During  the  twenty  years  just  past, 
the  average  enrollment  has  exceeded  100.  Lon 
Myrice  has  charge  of  the  school. 

The  Methodist  Protestant  church  was  organized 
in  1831  in  the  school-house  which  stood  on  the 
lot  adjoining  the  present  church  building,  by 
Eev.  Israel  Thrapp.  The  organizing  members 
were  six  in  number— George  Littiok,  Abram 
Jones,  Charles  Borough,  Isa*c  Shambaugh,  Wil- 
liam Davidson,  and  one  other.  Several  years 
later  the  school-house  was  burned,  and  a  church 


496 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


building  was  erected.  This,  too,  was  consumed 
about  1860,  after  which  preaching  was  transferred 
to  a  frame  school-house  close  by,  and  held  there 
until  the  completion  of  the  present  building,  in 
1857.  Among  the  pastors  who  have  supplied  this 
charge  were  G.  W.  Hissey,  Joseph  Hamilton  and 
John  Woodward.  W.  S.  Wells  fills  the  pulpit  at 
present.  The  church  membership  is  eighty-two. 
A  Sunday-school  has  long  been  successfully  car- 
ried on,  superintended  at  present  by  Seth  M. 
CuUison. 

The  German  population  is  principally  Lutheran 
in  religious  sentiment.  In  or  about  the  year  1839 
a  German  Lutheran  church  was  built  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  township,  on  section  21. 
Here  the  Germans  were  accustomed  to  meet 
once  a  month  for  religious  services.  But  the 
church  never  flourished.  Schisms  arose  and  di- 
vided the  members.  The  meetings  were  grad- 
ually discontinued,  and  finally  ceased.  The 
stout  structure  of  the  old  log  building  is  still 
standing,  doorless  and  windowless. 

Many  of  the  German  settlers  emigrated  from 
Muskingum  county  and  had  there  belonged  to 
the  Lutheran  church  near  Adamsville.  After 
their  settlement  in  this  township  they  were  oc- 
casionally served  as  members  of  the  old  church. 
When  they  had  become  sufficiently  strong  in 
number,  a  church  organization  was  effected  June 
18, 1853,  at  George  Struts'  house,  under  the  name 
of  St.  Paul's  Evangelical  Lutheran  church.  George 
Shurtz  was  elected  elder;  John  J.  Werts  and 
Daniel  Ganmer,  wardens.  Early  in  1855  Har- 
rison Wagner,  Solomen  Werts  and  Elijah  Wag- 
ner, were  elected  trustees.  Other  original  mem- 
bers were  George  Vinsel,  Jesse  Ganmer,  John 
Miller,  William  W.  and  Charles  Adams.  Rev. 
Samuel  Kummerer  was  chosen  first  pastor.  The 
early  meetings  were  held  in  Ganmer's  school- 
house.  The  church  was  erected  in  1858,  and 
dedicated  December  5,  the  same  year,  by  Rev.  A. 
N.  Bartholomew,  the  second  pastor.  It  is  a 
frame  building  thirty  by  forty  feet,  costing  about 
$1,200.  The  regular  ministers  since,  have  been 
J.  P.  Hentz,  and  J.  Weber  the  present  incum- 
bent. The  member&ip  is  now  about  100.  A 
Sunday-school  has  been  held  regularly  during  the 
summer  season  since  the  formation  of  the  church. 


With  the  advent  of  the  French,  came  the  ma- 
terial for  the  St.  Nicholas  Catholic  church.  Its 
organization  was  efi'ected  in  1856,  by  Father 
Bainter.  The  principal  original  members  were 
Anthony  Wimmer,  Sr.,  Nicholas  Roger,  Wendal 
Strasser,  Matthias  Factor,  Nicholas  Erman,  Jo- 
seph Salriii  and  John  David.  The  first  meetings 
were  held  in  Mrs.  Margaret  Factor's  house,  and 
in  1857,  the  present  house  of  worship,  a  log, 
weather-boarded  building,  was  erected.  The  la- 
bor was  performed  and  the  material  furnished 
by  the  members,  each  contributing  three  logs  for 
the  structure.  Rev.  Bainter  remained  in  charge 
but  a  short  time  after  the  completion  of  the 
church,  and  was  succeeded  successively  by  Revs. 
Serge  de  Stchonlepnikoff,  Andrews,  Northmeyer 
and  John  M.  Jacquet.  The  membership  in- 
cludes about  twenty-five  families.  A  Sunday- 
school  has  recently  been  started,  and  is  now  in 
successful  operation. 

About  1824,  a  Dunkard  minister,  Schofield  by 
name,  began  preaching  on  Will's  creek,  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  township.  No  church 
building  was  ever  erected  in  this  township, 
but  services  were  conducted  many  years,  by 
Lewis  Rodruck,  at  Philip  Hershman's  house. 
The  society  now  has  a  church  in  Keene  township. 

The  only  tavern  ever  kept  in  the  township 
was  one  kept  by  John  Wamsley,  west  of  the 
river,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Charles  Mar- 
quand.  It  was  about  the'  year  1810,  that  he  hung 
out  this  sign  of  the  Black  Horse,  offering  enter- 
tainment to  the  wayfaring  stranger.  It  was  the 
only  thoroughfare  between  Zanesville  and  Co- 
shocton at  that  time,  no  road  east  of  the  river 
having  been  yet  opened ;  and,  in  those  days  of 
slow  travel,  it  was  doubtless  a  welcome  sight  to 
the  weary  traveler.  But  it  has  long  since  filled 
the  measure  of  its  usefulness.  It  continued  per- 
haps thirty  years,  then,  like  most  other  early 
country  taverns,  passed  away. 

Distilleries  here,  as  elsewhere,  prevailed  in 
early  days.  Several  little  mills  were  built  along 
the  brooklets  in  the  township,  where  a  little  corn 
was  ground  and  whisky  distilled.  One  of  these 
was  on  Robinson's  run,  close  by  the  school-house, 
where  the  run  crosses  the  road.    In  1847,  a  large 


'^"^  yyj'f 


\. 


.^    y 


''.\ 


^  ^ 

-?•/. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


499 


distillery  was  erected  by  Beebe  S.  Cone,  H. 
Schmueser,  and  two  others,  west  of  the  river,  on 
what  is  now  James  Johnson's  farm.  It  was  a 
large  building,  about  forty  by  fifty  feet,  with 
a  capacity  of  400  to  500  bushels  per  day,  and 
was  run  by  steam  power.  It  was  destroyed 
by  fire,  in  1857,  and  several  years  later  partially 
rebuilt,  by  James  Beebe,  and  conducted  on  a 
somewhat  smaller  scale ;  but  a  few  years  later, 
the  fiery  element  again  reduced  it  to  ashes,  this 
time  efiectually. 

Frew's  mill,  the  first  and  only  one  of  any  con- 

•  sequence  in  the  township,  ■  was  built  on  Will's 

creek  about  1814  or  1816,  by  the  Parker  brothers, 

Zebulon,  George  and  John.  The  land  upon  which 

it  was  built  belonged,  at  that  time,  to  James  Mon- 

■    roe,  of  Muskingum  county,  and  at  the  expiration 

of  the  Parker  lease  it  fell  into  his  possession.   He 

y  shortly  afterward  transferred  it  to  John  Frew, 

whence  its  name.    The  Frews  retained  it  thirty 

or  forty  years.     It  is  now  operated  by  D.  G. 

Cooper.    At  this  mill  Zebulon  Parker  made  all 

his  experiments   in    perfecting  the  celebrated 

Parker  water-wheel,  now  in  extensive  use  in 

this  county. 

Franklin  township  has  three  postofBces,  Wills 
Creek,  Franklin  Station  and  Conesville.  Wills 
Creek  is  a  little  village  of  about  fifteen  houses, 
scattered  irregularly  about  the  bend  of  the  stream, 
the  name  of  which  it  bears.  It  was  never  laid  out, 
and  owes  its  existence  to  Frew's  mill,  located  there. 
Its  business  consists  of  a  store,  two  blacksmith 
shops,  two  wagon  shops,  one  shoe  shop,  and  the 
mill.  A  saw-mill  was  formerly  operated  in  con- 
junction with  the  grist-mill.  A  steam  saw-mill, 
built  in  1851,  was  also  carried  on  about  ten  years. 
Wills  Creek  receives  a  tri-weekly  mail  from  Co- 
shocton. A.  M.  Henderson,  the  only  practicing 
physician  in  the  township,  resides  here. 

The  other  two  postofiSces  are  situated  on  the 
Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  railroad. 
Close  by  Franklin  Station  is  a  small  mining 
town,  Coalport,  containing  about  twenty  houses, 
a  store  and  a  blacksmith  shop.  The  name  indi- 
cates its  origin.  Most  of  the  families  living  here 
are  those  of  miners  employed  by  the  Coalport 
Coal  Co.,  whose  mines  are  in  Jackson  township. 
A  horse  railroad  connects  the  mines  with  the 
canal  at  Coalport. 

20 


Conesville  of  to-day  is  merely  a  railroad  sta- 
tion, with  a  country  store  attached.  The  name 
was  formerly  applied  to  a  collection  of  some  six- 
teen or  eighteen  houses  which  sprang  into  ex- 
istence about  Cones'  distillery  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  families  of  the  men  employed 
there.  While  the  distillery  was  in  operation, 
James  Johnson  built  a  cooper  shop  there,  em- 
ploying about  eight  workmen.  This  also  helped 
give  the  little  town  a  boom.  A  store  was  estab- 
lished and  everything  for  a  while  looked  lively  ; 
but  its  existence  was  ephemeral ;  it  rose  and  fell 
with  the  distillery.  All  the  houses  have  been 
removed  and  nothing  remains  to  mark  their  for- 
mer existence  here.  Before  this  time,  about 
1840,  a  Mr.  Delaney  laid  out  in  the  same  locality 
the  plat  of  a  village  to  be  called  Delaneysville 
but  nothing  ever  came  of  it. 

The  coal  beds  of  this  township  are  little  devel- 
oped. They  may  be  found  on  nearly  every  farm 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township,  but  only  a 
few  are  worked,  and  these  few  for  home  con- 
sumption only.  A  single  mine,  that  of  Mr.  James 
Fitch,  is  worked  regularly.  It  is  situated  on  the 
line  between  Franklin  and  Tuscarawas  town- 
ships, but  the  greater  part  of  it  lies  in  the  latter 
township.  The  mine  was  opened  about  twenty- 
five  years  ago,  and  the  supply  is  now  almost  ex- 
hausted. About  4,000  tons  are  mined  annually. 
It  finds  a  ready  sale,  and  is  shipped  mostly  to 
Newark. 

Iron  ore  is  found  in  some  parts  of  the  town- 
ship. Josesh  R.  Tingle  has  discovered  on  his 
farm  several  veins  of  a  brown  hematite  ore  which 
assays  45  per  cent  of  metallic  iron. 

Petroleum  oil  of  superior  quality,  is  found  in 
small  quantities  along  a  little  run  in  section  11,  on 
the  place  now  owned  by  Prosper  Royer.  It  oozes 
from  the  surface  of  the  ground  freely,  in  early 
spring.  Philip  Hershman  first  noticed  it,  when 
the  land  where  it  is  found  was  still  unentered.  He 
would  collect  and  use  it  for  medicinal  and  other 
purposes.  Wells  have  been  sunk  several  times, 
at  great  expense,  in  search  of  the  oil  in  paying 
quantities,  but  they  have  heretofore  proved  un- 
successful. The  land  has  recently  been  leased  to 
an  experienced  oil  merchant,  and  search  for  hid- 
den oil,  will  again  soon  be  instituted,  with  what 
success  the  future  only  can  determine. 


500 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  oldest  person  now  living  in  the  township, 
is  Mrs.  Catherine  Miller,  now  in  her  ninety- 
third  year.  She  is  the  widow  of  Patrick  Miller, 
and  the  daughter  of  Arnold  Kane.  George  A. 
McCleary  is  another  pioneer  who  still  survives. 
He  was  Ijorn  February  4, 1798,  and  emigrated  to 
this  county  in  1814;  he  has  lived  in  Franklin 
township  fifty-seven  years,  and  has  been  one  of 
its  leading,  active  citizens,  representing  the 
county  in  the  Ohio  legislature. 

About  1835,  when  the  road  between  the  Robin- 
son and  Miller  sections  was  opened  east  of  the 
river,  a  mound,  perhaps  twenty-five  feet  in  diam- 
eter and  five  in  height,  was  in  the  road  and  was 
leveled  to  the  ground  in  consequence.  In  it 
were  found  the  remains  of  five  or  six  skeletons. 
They  were  arranged  like  the  radii  of  a  circle, 
having  the  head  nearest  the  center.  A  small 
mound  was  still  to  be  seen  west  of  the  river  and 
near  the  line  between  the  lands  of  George  Wolfe 
and  Charles  Miller. 


CHAPTER  LV. 


JACKSON  TOWNSHIP. 


Size— Location— Organization— Streams— Canals— Settlement 
—Mills— Eoscoe— Its  Growth-Business-Scliools— Physicians 
—Fire  Losses,  etc.— Fourth  of  July  Celebration— Churches. 

OF  the  townships  of  Coshocton  county  Jack- 
son is  second  in  size,  Linton  slightly  ex. 
ceeding  it  in  area.  It  includes  the  fifth  township 
of  range  7,  according  to  the  original  survey,  and 
that- portion  of  township  5  of  range  6  which  lies 
west  of  the  Walhonding  and  Muskingum  rivers, 
embracing  a  little  more  than  the  one-fourth  part 
of  it.  The  former  is  composed  wholly  of  congress 
land,  which  was  surveyed  into  the,  usual  half 
sections,  of  820  acres  each,  by  Silas  Bent,  Jr.,  in 
1803,  many  years  before  it  was  required  for 
actual  settlement.  The  land  east  of  this,  the 
eastern  part  of  the  township,  consists  of  the  frac- 
tions of  the  two  western  military  sections  of  Tus- 
carawas township  proper  which  lie  west  of  the 
Muskingum  and  Walhonding  rivers,  the  upper 
one  of  which  is  the  Bowman  section,  the  lower 
one  the section.    An  account  of  them  is 


given  in  the  history  of  Tuscarawas  township,  and 
need,  not  be  repeated  here. 

Jackson  township  was  organized  in  1828.  The 
eastern  portion  of  it  was  taken  from  Tuscarawas 
township ;  the  full  original  township  west  of  this 
had  previously  been  within  the  civil  jurisdiction 
of  Washington  township.  It  was  named  in  honor 
of  the  nation's  military  hero,  who  was  just  then 
passing  through  his  first  presidential  campaign. 
A  temporary  separation  took  place  between  the 
two  portions  of  the  township  shortly  after  its  or- 
ganization, owing  to  the  dissatisfaction  of  settlers 
in  the  western  part.  It  seems  that  at  that  time 
each  township  was  obliged  to  support  its  own 
paupers,  the  custom  being  to  auction  them  off  for 
support  to  the  lowest  bidder.  As  it  happened, 
quite  a  number  of  poor  lived  along  the  river  bot- 
toms, and  the  maintenance  of  them  bore  heavily 
and  mainly  upon  the  pioneers  in  the  west,  who  > 
were  as  yet  barely  able  to  provide  for  themselves; 
hence  their  petition  for  divorce,  which  was  grant- 
ed by  the  county  commissioners,  and  the  eastern 
part  re-united  to  Tuscarawas  township.  This 
condition  of  things  did  not  last  long,  however. 
After  two  or  three  years  of  civil  isolation  from 
Roscoe,  the  advantages  of  union  and  the  incon- 
veniences of  separation  became  manifest.  The 
township,  as  it  now  existed,  was  wholly  rural  in 
its  character,  and  the  elections  must  be  conducted 
at  some  lonely  country  cabin,  where  there  was  no 
whisky,  no  jolly  crowd,  no  bustle  or  activity. 
Roscoe  was  rising  in  power  and  beginning  to  re- 
gard itself  a  rival  of  Coshocton  rather  than  a  mere 
appendage,  and  was  anxious  to  become  an  inde- 
pendent local  center.  ■  The  desires  of  the  two 
parts  became  harmonized,  and  at  their  mutual 
request  they  were  re-united.  Since  then  the 
bounds  have  been  as  they  now  exist.  On  the 
north  are  Bethlehem  and  Keene  townships,  on 
the  east  Tuscarawas,  Franklin  and  Virginia  on 
the  south  and  Bedford  on  the  west. 

No  streams  of  much  importance  belong  to  Jack- 
son township  except  the  Muskingum  and  Wal- 
honding rivers  which  form  its  eastern  boundary. 
Into  these  flow  several  small  runs  which  drain 
the  ^rface  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township. 
A  branch  of  Simmon's  run,  flowing  northwest,  is 
found  near  the  western  line  and  toward  the  south 
several  trickling  ■  streams  carry  the  outgushings 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


501 


of  numerous  springs  through  their  channels  into 
Virginia  township.  The  surface  is  rough  and 
hilly  except  in  the  eastern  part  along  the  river 
and  on  this  account  the  township  was  settled  very 
slowly.  The  soil  of  the  greater  part  is  of  good 
quality,  usually  sandy  in  character,  and  may  .be 
made  to  yield  excellent  crops.  In  population 
Jackson  ranks  next  to  the  township  containing 
the  county  seat  It  contains  1,968  inhabitants. 
Linton  township  follows  closely  upon  its  heels 
with  1,918. 

Jackson  has  perhaps  been  more  closely  identi- 
fied with  the  canals  of  the  county  than  any  other 
township.  The  Ohio  canal  enters  it  from  the 
south,  and  passes  uf>  the  valley  to  upper  Eoscoe 
where  it  forms  a  junction  with  the  Walhonding 
canal  and  crosses  the  Walhonding  river  into  Tus- 
carawas township.  The  Walhonding  canal  pur- 
sues a,  northwesterly  course  up  the  valley  of  the 
river  the  name  of  which  it  has  assumed,  and 
passes  into  Bethlehem  township. 

The  earliest  settlements  in  the  township  were 
made  along  the  river  bottom,  in  the  eastern  part 
of  the  township.    Here  several  settlements  were 
made  which  rank  among  the  earliest  in  the  coun- 
ty, although  the  land  beyond  in  the  west  was  not 
generally  settled  for  twenty  years  thereafter.    It 
has  been  found  impossible  to  fix  exactly  the  date 
■of  the  arrival  of  the  foremost  settlers,  or  perhaps 
even  to  mention  the  names  of  them  all.    Eev. 
Calhoun,  writing  thirty  years  ago,  states  that 
WiUiam  Hoghn,  about   1806,   -was  hving  for  a 
whUe  in  what  is  now  Eoscoe.    This  was  proba- 
bly the  year  in  which  Thomas  Cantwell  settled 
here.    He  was  Irish  by  birth,  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  and  came  from  near  Charleston,  Virginia. 
He  cleared  a  little  patch  of  ground  just  south  of 
what  is  now  Eoscoe.     The  little  stream  upon 
which  he  settled  is  still  known  as  Cantwell's  run. 
Henry  Miller  was  probably  here  as  early  as 
Cantwell,  perhaps  sooner.'    He  had  been  a  revo- 
lutionary soldier;  emigrated  here  from  Virginia, 
and  was  a  brother  to  Michael  Miller,  one  of  the 
earliest  settlers  of  Franklin  township.    He  had 
«ix  sons,  Nicholas,  John,  Michael,  Thomas,  Obed 
and  Alfred.    The  eldest  became  one  of  the  first 
■settlers  of  Keene  township.    The  other  boys  re- 
mained with  their  father  for  many  years  in  the 


northeastern  part  of  this  township,  on  what  is 
now  the  Haight  farm.  Thomas  subsequently 
moved  up  on  the  Killbuck,  where  he  died.  John, 
Obed  and  Alfred  moved  to  Indiana.  Michael 
died  in  this  county.  One  of  the  earliest  orchards 
in  the  county  was  planted  by  the  Millers,  oq  this 
farm.  Asa  Hart,  from  New  Jersey,  had  emigrated 
to  the  township  prior  to  the  war  of  1812.  It  was 
not,  however,  much  before  1816  that  the  township 
began  to  be  permanently  settled.  Beginning  with 
that  date  and  extending  over  a  period  of  twenty 
years  cabin  after  cabin  slowly  rose  in  the  midst  of 
the  vast  wilderness  which  then  covered  the  town- 
ship, and  which'  in  time  melted  away  beneath  the 
sturdy  strokes  of  the  hardy  backwoodsmen  and 
left  behind  pleasant  hill-side  farms,  many  of 
which  are  now  furnished  with  all  the  conveni- 
ences and  improvements  of  modern  farming. 

Samuel  Brown  was  from  Salem,  Massachusetts. 
He  first  located,  in  1814,  at  Eock  run,  three  miles 
south  of  Coshocton.    In  1816  he  settled  on  a  tract 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  west  of  Eoscoe,  and,  after 
clearing  a  few  acres  and  building  a  cabin,  sold  his 
claim  to  John  Demoss.     He  then  built  a  saw  mill 
on    Cantwell's   run,   which  had   head   of   water 
enough  to  run  the  mill  on  an  average  three  days 
in  the  week.    For  a  numbgr  of  years  (until  he 
united  with  the  church)  he  depended  on  Sunday 
visitors  to  give  him  a  lift  in  getting  enough  logs 
on  the  skids' to  keep  the  mill  at  work.    The 
neighborly  feeling,  mellowed  with  a  good  supply 
of  neighbor  Sible's  corn  juice,  sweetened  with 
neighbor  Craig's  maple  sugar,  was  always  equal 
to 'the  demands  thus  made.     Later  in  life  Mr. 
Brown  engaged  in  the  making  of  brick.    He  re- 
mained in  the  vicinity  until  he  died,  in  February, 
1871,  aged  eighty-four  years.    He  was  for  many 
years  a  useful  and  highly  esteemed  citizen. 

About  1815  a  man  by  the  name  of  Craig  bought 
forty  acres  of  land  and  built  a  cabin  a  Httle  south 
of  Eobert  Crawford's  residence,  on  the  tract  now 
owned  by  Burns  &  Johnson.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  successful  makers  of  maple  sugar,  an 
article  largely  made  and  in  universal  use  in  early 
days  in  Coshocton  county  for  sweetening  cofiee, 
tea,  whisky,  etc.  Mr.  Craig  died  about  1826,  and 
his  family  removed  from  the  county. 

About  1814,  a  man  named  Sible  built  a  small 
distillery  on  the  farm  just  south  of  Eoscoe,  now 


502 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


owned  by  John  G.  Stewart.  A  little  later  he  put 
up  a  little  mill  on  Cantwell's  run,  about  a  third  of 
a  mile  up.  It  was  called  a  thundergust-mill,  as 
it  only  run  with  full  force  after  a  heavy  shower. 
"Sible's  corn-juice"  was  very  popular  in  that  day, 
and  the  business  done  by  him  and  his  neighbor, 
Samuel  Brown,  was  enough  to  warrant  the  idea 
of  a  town,  and  doubtless  led  James  Calder  to  lay 
out,  in  that  vicinity,  Caldersburg. 
'  Theophilus  Phillips  was  from  the  state  of  New 
Jersey.  He  lived  in  Zanesville  several  years,  and 
in  1816  entered  and  settled  upon  the  farm  now 
best  known  as  the  Dr.  Kobert's  farm,  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  township.  In  1816  he  sold  this, 
and  built  a  cabin  in  what  is  now  Eoscoe,  and 
having  lived  in  that  a  few  years,  he  built,  in  1821, 
the  first  brick  house  in  the  vicinity,  u.'iing  it  for 
a  tavern  for  a  number  of  years.  He  moved  to 
Indiana  about  1845,  and  there  died  in  1868,  being 
seventy-four  years  old. 

Abel  Cain  was  another  early  settler,  coming 
from  the  State  of  Pennsylvania  about  1816.  Af- 
ter the  township  was  organized,  he,  and  a  Mr. 
Payne  were  elected  fence  viewers  for  a  long  se- 
ries of  years.  Mr.  Cain  was  a  very  tall,  power- 
fully built  man — a  splendid  specimen  of  the 
pioneer  type  of  mankind,  while  Mr.  Payne  was 
exceedingly  diminutive  in  size.  It  was  the  stand- 
ing joke  that  Mr.  Cain  was  to  inspect  the  top  of 
the  fences  and  see  that  they  were  properly  kept 
up,  while  Payne  was  to  look  after  the  "hog  holes  " 
underneath.  Mr.  Cain  died  here,  and  his  child- 
ren removed  to  Illinois. 

Jonathan  Butler  entered  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  1.  The  most  of  this  farm  lies  in  the 
Walhonding  valley,  and  it  was  among  the  first  to 
be  entered.  Mr.  Butler  came  to  the  township  at 
a  very  early  day,  just  how  early  it  is  impossible 
to  say.  He  afterwards  moved  to  Schuyler  county, 
Illinois. 

James  Huffman,  in  1817,  settled  in  the  western 
part  of  section  24.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade,  and,  after  the  country  became  somewhat 
settled,  he  pursued  this  calling,  in  his  backwoods 
home,  in  connection  with  farming.  Mr.  Huff- 
man remained  in  the  township  all  his  life;  after 
his  death,  his  two  children  moved  away.  A 
brother,  Joseph,  accompanied  James  here.  He 
was  at  the  time  unmarried,  and  lived  with  his 


brother  James  for  a  number  of  years,  then  set- 
tled in  section  17. 

The  Posters  were  among  the  first  settlers  in 
the  western  part  of  the  township.  There  were 
six  brothers:  Samuel,  Moses,  William,  David, 
Benjamin  and  Andrew.  Their  father,  John 
Foster,  entered  eighty  acres  apiece  for  them, 
most  of  it  in  section  6.  The  family  was  origin- 
ally from  Virginia,  but  had  lived  a  number  of 
years  in  Harrison  county,  prior  to  their  emi- 
gration here.  Samuel  and  Moses  came  out  first, 
in  1816,  tlie  others  following  soon  after.  Andrew 
moved  West,  stopping  for  a  time  in  Indiana,, 
then  continuing  onward  in  the  same  direction. 
The  others  remained  citizens  of  the  township' 
till  they  died.  William  was  the  last  survivor. 
He  died  about  two  years  ago. 

Abraham  Handles,  from  Loudon  county,  Vir- 
ginia, had  settled  in  Harrison  county,  prior  to 
the  war  of  1812,  where  he  remained  till  he  re- 
moved to  Jackson  township,  in  1817.  Three 
younger  brothers,  Enoch,  Isaac  and  John,  and 
their  father,  James,  came  with  him.  Abrahami 
and  his  father,  together,  entered  the  northeast, 
quarter  of  section  5.  Abraham  afterwards  re- 
moved to  the  Killbuck,  in  the  northern  part  of 
the  county,  where  he  died.  His  son,  John  Han- 
dles, now  lives  in  Eoscoe,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest 
men  in  the  township. 

John  Demoss,  his  wife  and  son  Lewis,  Thomas. 
Ramphey  and  family,  and  Crispin  Tredaway,  his 
wife  and  son  Thomas,  crossed  the  Allegheny 
Mountains  in  wagons  from  Harford  county, 
Maryland,  in  the  fall  of  1817,  and  settled  in  this, 
township.  Tredaway  remained  a  few  years,  then 
moved  across  into  Jefferson  township,  where  the 
son  Thomas  still  lives.  Mr.  Demoss  first  settled 
in  the  western  part  of  the  township,  on  Simmons' 
run.  There  he  remained  five  years,  then  moved 
to  a  tract  of  land  about  a  half  mile  west  of  Eos- 
coe. He  had  been  a  sergeant  in  the  war  of  1812, 
participating  in  the  engagement  at  Baltimore. 
He  died  in  this  township,  March  4, 1840.  His 
son  Lewis  is  still  engaged  in  active  business  in 
the  township,  at  the  Empire  mills. 

Thomas  Smith,  an  Irishman,  came  about  1816, 
and  located  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  17. 
He  died  about  1825,  and  his  family  sold  out  and 
moved  away.    Matthew  Stephens  came  a  little 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


503 


later.    He    owned    a  portion  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  16. 

Philo  Potter  was  among  the  earhest  to  locate 
here,  but  did  not  become  a  property  owner.  He 
was  quite  an  old  man  when  he  arrived  here  from 
the  East.  Was  a  hearty,  good-natured,  slow-going 
creature,  and  spent  the  balance  of  his  declining 
years  in  the  township. 

John  Loder  came  April,  1820,  from  Allegheny 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  entered  the  northeast 
■quarter  of  section  14.  His  son,  Aaron  Loder,  is 
one  of  the  oldest  citizens  now  in  Jackson  town- 
ship. William  Dunshee  came  from  the  same 
•county,  but  remained  here  only  a  few  years. 
Benedict  Dunfee,  an  Indian ,  ranger,  who  had 
been  in  the  United  States  service  at  Wheeling, 
Virginia,  came  a  little  later.  James  Hardin, 
from  New  Jersey,  came  out  with  John  KnofT, 
about  1820,  lived  in  Caldersburg  a  while,  then 
moved  to  the  Solomon  farm. 

Abraham  and  Jacob  Courtright,  two  brothers 
from  New  Jersey,  were  here  as  , early  as  1815. 
Joshua  Boring  was  another  early  settler.  At  a 
later  day  he  moved  to  Keene  township. 

One  of  the  early  institutions  of  Jackson  town- 
ship was  a  brush  dam  built  across  the  Walhond- 
ing  by  the  Millers,  at  the  site  occupied  later  by 
the  dam  of  the  Ohio  canal,  which  was  swept 
away  in  a  freshet  several  years  ago.  It  was  a 
very  crude  af&ir,  being  built  of  logs,  brush  and 
istraw,  and  had  to  be  repaired  incessantly. 

About  1829  Joseph  Huffman  constructed  a  lit- 
tle horse  mill  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
township,  which  served  the  pioneers  in  the  vicin- 
ity for  five  or  six  years.  The  buhrs  used  at  first 
were  very  small,  perhaps  a  foot  in  diameter. 
They  were  set  on  edge,  one  being  stationery,  the 
other  set  in  motion  by  means  of  a  spindle.  The 
■capacity  of  the  mill  was  but  about  ten  bushels  of 
meal  per  day.  After  some  little  time,  Mr.  Hoff- 
man bought  a  larger  pair  of  buhrs,  which  had 
been  used  in  grinding  the  plaster  for  the  cement 
used  in  building  the  canal  locks. 

Charles  Williams  erected  a  little  mill  on  the 
run  just  below  Eoscoe,  at  a  very  early  day. 

John  Carhart,  as  early  as  1824,  was  running  a 
tannery  on  the  Haight  farm,  north  of  Eoscoe. 
About  1840  he  removed  it  to  Eoscoe.  John  A. 
L.  Houston  had  owned  it  before  Carhart.    Wil- 


liam Starkey,  who  came  from  Virginia  in  the 
spring  of  1815,  worked  for  a  time  in  Carhart's 
tannery. 

The  village  of  Eoscoe  lies  just  across  the  Mus- 
king  river  from  Coshocton,  partly  in  the  narrow 
valley  that  here  skirts  the  river  and  partly  on  the 
steep  bluflf  that  rises  just  beyond.  From  this 
bluff  a  commanding  prospect  of  the  surrounding 
country  is  presented.  A  fine  bird's-eye  view  of 
Coshocton  is  obtained  and  the  Muskingum,  Tus- 
carawas and  Walhonding  rivers  which  meet  al- 
most at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  may  be  traced  for 
miles  through  broad  and  level  valleys  fringed 
with  wooded  hillsides.  In  point  of  poulation,  Eos- 
coe ranks  second  in  the  county.  The  school  dis- 
trict to  which  it  belongs  contains  six  hundred 
and  eighty  souls,  but  the  village  proper  perhaps 
not  more  than  six  hundred.  Previous  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  Ohio  canal  it  was  an  ordinary 
little  village  with  a  tavern  or  two,  a  dry  goods 
store  and  the  few  little  industrial  shops  common 
to  every  collection  of  houses;  but  with  the  open- 
ing of  this  highway  of  commerce  and  the  water 
power  facilities  it  afforded,  an  impulse  was  given 
to  oomm.erce,  merchandizing  and  manufacturing 
which  placed  the  village  as  a  business  center  in 
the  front  rank  in  Coshocton  county.  .When  the 
railroad  was  built  through  Coshocton  it  drew  to 
a  great  extent  the  business  to  that  place,  and  the 
luster  of  Eoscoe's  name  suffered  in  consequence. 
Though  it  is  still  a  live  business  place,  and  con- 
tains several  of  the  largest  industrial  establish- 
ments in  the  county,  its  business  transactions  are 
unequal  to  those  of  thirty  or  forty  years  ago. 

Caldersburg,  the  former  name  of  this  village, 
was  laid  out  in  Janua,ry,  1816,  by  James  Calder. 
The  original  plat  consists  of  sixty-seven  lots, 
lying  in  what  is  now  the  lower  part  of  town.  In 
1831,  a  large  addition  was  made  by  Eansom  & 
Swayne ;  in  1844,  another  by  Eansom,  Swayne  & 
Medberry.  In  1849,  Samuel  Hutchinson  and 
John  Frew  each  made  an  addition ;  the  former 
is  known  as  Hutchinson's,  the  latter  as  the  cen- 
tral addition.  Mr.  Colder,  the  founder  of  the 
village,  was  a  Yankee,  who  had  come  to  Coshoc- 
ton about  1811,  and  there  engaged  in  business 
and  failed.  A  tract  of  land  lying  west  of  the 
Muskingum  river  was  saved  from  the  wreck  of 


504 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


his  fortunes,  and  he  moved  across  and  laid  out 
the  town.  It  is  said  that  he  brought  with  him  a 
remnant  of  goods,  which  he  closed  out  at  his  npw 
home.  The  cabin  he  occupied,  probably  the  first 
in  the  village,  was  built  on  lot  8,  Main  street,  was 
owned  by  Philip  Hoop.  No  vestage  of  it  now 
remains.  Calder  afterward  moved  to  the  Rick- 
ett's  farm,  two  miles  west  of  Roscoe,  on  the  New- 
ark road,  where  his  Yankee  ingenuity  was  dis- 
played in  the  making  of  shingles,  etc. 

The  second  building  was  a  large  log  tavern, 
perhaps  twenty-four  by  fifty  feet  in  size,  one  and 
a  half  stories  high,  erected  on  lot  20,  at  the 
northwest  corner  of  Main  and  White  Woman 
streets.  William  Barcus  was  the  proprietor  of 
this  primal  Jackson  township  hotel.  He  came 
here  from  near  Cadiz,  and  remained  in  possession 
of  the  tavern  up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1829  or  1830.  The  travel  through 
Caldersburg  must  have  been  considerable,  for 
Mr.  Barcus  soon  had  opposition.  In  1821  a  brick 
tavern  was  built  by  Theophilus  Phillips,  who  had 
previously  settled  in  the  township,  just  across 
Main  street  from  its  rival.  This  was  the  first 
brick  structure  in  the  township. 

In  1825  the  first  regular  store  was  opened  by 
James  Le  Retilley  and  William  Wood.  The 
former  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Guernsey,  in  1788. 
He  came  -to  this  country  in  '1806,  settling  in 
Guernsey  county,  where  there  was  a  settlement 
of  people  from  his  native  island.  Removing  to 
Muskingum  county,  at  a  point  about  ten  miles 
below  Coshocton,  he  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
of  salt,  along  with  George  Bagnall,  who  was  from 
Nova  Scotia.  They  made  about  six  bushels  a 
day,  selling  it  for  three  dollars  a  bushels,  or  ex- 
changing a  bushel  for  twelve  bushels  of  wheat. 
Their  salt  was  carried  to  remote  points,  some  of 
it  by  canoes  and  pirogues  up  the  Killbuck  almost 
to  Wooster.  In  1825,  the  Kanawha  and  lower 
Muskingum  salt  coming  into  market,  rendered 
the  business  of  Retilley  &  Bagnall  unprofitable, 
and  it  w.as  abandoned.  The  same  year  Mr.  Retil- 
ley moved  to  Caldersburg,  his  partner  following 
him  a  year  or  two  afterwards.  Mr.  Retilley  was 
one  of  the  associate  judges  of  the  county  and  an 
active  adherent  of  the  Methodist  church  in  Roscoe. 
He  died  in  December,  1850,  aged  sixty-two  years. 
His  descendants  are  still  well  known  in  this 


vicinity.  Mr.  Woods  had  also  lived  in  Muskingum 
near  Mr.  Retilley's  residence.  He  was  a  single 
man  when  he  came  to  Caldersburg,  but  shortly 
after  married  and  went  west.  George  Bagnall 
purchased  his  interest  in  the  store,  and  the  firm 
did  a  flourishing  business  here  for  an  extended 
period  of  yearg.  The  store  was  located  for  several 
years  in  a  little  log  cabin  which  stood  just  west 
of  the  brick  tavern ;  it  was  then  removed  to  the 
old  Barcus  tavern  stand.  The  goods  were  brought 
by  team  from  Pittsburgh.  The  team  sters,  in  going 
for  the  goods,  conveyed  large  quantities  of  veni- 
son to  the  east,  which  had  been  received  at  the 
store  by  way  of  trade.  Deer  were  then  quite- 
numerous  in  the  forests,  and  the  farmer,  in  wend- 
ing his  way  to  town  through  the  bridle  path,  was 
reasonably  sure  of  shooting  a  deer  upon  the  way. 
This  he  would  cut  up,  hang  the  forequarters 
upon  some  overhanging  bough  beyond  the  reach 
of  wild  animals,  to  take  home  on  his  return,  and 
bring  the  remaining  "saddle"  of  venison  with 
him  to  town,  receiving  for  it,  at  the  store,  fifty 
cents.  After  the  canal  was  built,  this  firm  erected 
a  warehouse  and  became  the  first  dealers  in  grain, 
shipping  heavily  to  Cleveland. 

Prosperity  for  Caldersburg,  as  it  was  still  called, 
began  to  dawn  with  the  construction  of  the  Ohio 
canal.  A  canal  at  that  time  brought  the  same  ad- 
vantages to  a  town  situated  on  its  route  that  a 
railroad  does  now,  and  a  place  fortunate  enough 
to  secure  a  canal  through  its  borders  was  univer- 
sally conceded  to  be  on  the  highway  to  commer- 
cial success.  Coshocton  expected  the  canal,  but 
it  seems  that  less  expense  attended  its  building 
west  of  the  Muskingum,  and  it  accordingly  passed 
through  Caldersburg.  Leander  Ransom,  an  en- 
gineer in  the  construction  of  the  canal,  recog- 
nized the  advantageous  site  for  a  thriving  town, 
and  with  Noah  H.  Swayne,  the  late  United  States- 
Justice,  then  a  lawyer  in  Coshocton,  purchased  a 
tract  north  of  the  village  and  laid  out,  in  1831,  an 
extensive  addition  to  the  old  town,  changing  the 
name  to  Roscoe,  in  honor  of  a  then  famous  Eng- 
lish author,  William  Roscoe.  When  the  Wal- 
honding  canal  was  projected  a  few  years  later, 
the  outlook  for  the  town  was  still  brighter. 
Added  to  this,  its  water  power  was  unsurpassed. 
Steam  had  not  yet  come  into  general  use  as  a 
motor  of  machinery,  and  those  towns  that  af- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


505 


forded  an  excellent  water  power  had  hitherto 
been  the  ones  to  achieve  eminence  as  manufac- 
turing points.  The  canals  bring  together,  in  Eos- 
coe  the  whole  water  power  of  the  Tuscarawas  and 
Walhonding.  The  water  of  the  latter,  standing 
in  the  canal  at  this  place  thirty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  Muskingum,  furnishes  a  power  capa- 
ble of  performing  almost  anything  desired.  No 
less  sagacious  personage  than  Charles  M.  Gid- 
dings,  at  that  time  one  of  the  most  prominent 
business  men  of  Cleveland,  predicted  that  in  a 
few  years  the  place  would  contain  10,000  or  15,000 
inhabitants.  He  and  one  or  two  others  pur- 
chased more  than  100  acres  of  land  in  the  vicin- 
ity, with  the  expectation  of  speedily  disposing  of 
it  in  town  lots  at  a  handsome  profit.  That  this 
glowing  outlook  was  never  realized  was  due  to 
the  decline  of  canal  transportation.  They  were 
unable  to  compete  with  their  newly-arisen  com- 
petitor, the  iron  horse.  A  revolution  in  the  trans- 
portation of  freight  was  inaugurated  just  as  the 
village  was  blooming  intova  rich  promise  under 
the  old  regime. 

For  a  time  it  grew  rapidly.  In  commercial 
operations  and  business  importance  it  was  un- 
doubtedly first  in  the  county.  It  became  a  great 
wheat  depot,  and  in  point  of  -shipment  and  trans- 
shipment ranked  fourth  or  fifth  among  the  towns 
along  the  entire  route  of  the  Ohio  canal,  from 
Portsmouth  to  Cleveland.  Its  population  in 
1840  was  468,  while  that  of  Coshocton  was  625 
During  that  year,  as  perhaps  a  little  later,  there 
were  in  Roscoe  five  dry  goods  stores,  two  grocer- 
ies, two  forwarding  houses,  one  fulling,  two  saw, 
and  two  ilouring  mills ;  while  Coshocton  at  the 
same  time  contained  six  mercantile  stores,  one 
woolen  factory  and  one  flouring  mill. 

An  industrial  enterprise  closely  allied  to  the 
canal,  was  a  boat  yard,  owned  and  run  for  a  few 
years  by  J.  Blaisdall,  a  ship  carpenter,  now  living 
east  of  Cleveland.  A  number  of  substantial 
canal  boats  were  built  here.  The  "  Renfrew," 
one  of  the  earliest  water-crafts  on  the  canal,  was 
built  in  Roscoe  by  Thomas  B.  Lewis. 
-  An  extensive  distillery- business  was  begun  in 
1831-2  by  "William  Renfrew  and  Robert  Hay. 
The  firm  soon  after  became  Love  &  Hay.  A 
large  structure  was  reared  upon  a  heavy,  stone 
foundation,  situated  on  the  canal  a  short  distance 


below  Adams  &  Gleason's  saw  mill.  After  it  had 
bean  in  operation  about  ten  years,  the  building 
with  its  contents  was  destroyed  by  fire,  the  loss 
amounting  to  $30,000  or  $40,000.  It  was  then  re- 
moved to  Coshocton  and  for  years  was  one  of  the 
leading  industries  of  the  county  seat. 

In  1836  a  large  flouring  mill  was  built  by  Ar- 
nold Medberry,  Leander  Ransom  and  John 
Smeltzer.  In  1858,  being  then  under  the  con- 
trol of  Mr.  Medberry,  it  was  burned.  In  1840 
the  Union  mill  was  built  in  lower  Roscoe  by  the 
Union  Mill  company,  consisting  of  R.  M.  Lamb, 
Dr.  S.  Lee  and  John  Frew,  of  Coshocton ;  "Wil- 
liam and  John  Carhart,  James  LeRetilley  and 
James  Bagnall,  of  Roscoe,  and  Peter  Marquand, 
ol  Wills  creek.  Becoming  embarrassed,  the 
company  sold  this  mill  to  D.  N.  Barney  &  Com- 
pany, of  Cleveland,  and  it  was  by  them  sold  to 
Arnold  Medberry.  It  was  burned  in  the  spring 
of  1853.  These  two  mills  had  two  run  of  buhrs 
each,  and  were  considered  in  their  day  among 
the  first  mills  in  Ohio.  Their  capacity  together 
was  five  hundred  barrels  per  day. 

The  Empire  mill,  now  doing  business  here,  is 
one  of  the  largest  and  finest  in  the  State.  It  was 
built  in  1858,  by  Arnold  Medberry,  who  died  in 
the  summer  of  1861.  The  mill  was  then  pur- 
chased by  Samuel  Lamberson  and  Lewis  Demoss, 
who  subsequently  sold  a  one-fourth  interest  to  F. 
E.  Barney,  and  a  like  share  to  D.  L.  Triplett, 
since  which  time  business  has  been  transacted 
under  the  firm  name  of  Barney,  Demoss  &  Co. 
The  mill  stands  at  the  junction  of  the  Walhond- 
ing with  the  Ohio  canal,  and  its  water  power  can 
not  be  excelled.  The  building  is  a  six-story 
frame  of  imposing  dimensions,  contains  seven  run 
of  buhrs,  and  has  a  capacity  of  eighty  thousand 
barrels  per  year.  It  is  fitted  up  with  the  most 
recent  improvements  in  milling  machinery  and 
fixtures — $12,000  having  been  expended  for  this 
purpose  alone  during  the  last  year — and  produces 
flour  equal  to  any  made  in  the  State.  This  may 
be  believed  when  it  is  known  that  the  flour  is 
sent  to  all  parts  of  the  world.  Just  preceding 
this  writing,  an  extensive  shipment  was  made  to 
Glasgow  and  London.  No  custom  work  is  How 
done.    Employment  is  given  to  thirty  persons. 

The  Star  mills,  built  in  1880  by  James  F.  Wil- 
liams, is  situated  on  the  Ohio  canal.    The  main 


506 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


building  is  thirty  by  forty  feet,  contains  three 
run  of  buhrs  and  is  doing  a  fine  business  both  by 
way  of  custom  work  and  exportation  of  flour. 

A  carding  mill  was  started  in  1833  in  upper 
Eoscoe  by  Samuel  Mofiat.  After  a  few  years  it 
was  burned  down  and  another  built  by  C.  S.  Mil- 
ler and  S.  Moffat.  Miller  died  in  1848  and  in  1855 
the  property  passed  from  the  hands  of  his  wid- 
ow to  Thomas  Wilson.  With  this  enterprise 
Wilson  McClintick,  afterward  removing  to  But- 
ler, Missouri,  was  for  some  years  identified.  The 
building  was  a  frame  one,  stood  a  little  above  the 
planing  mill  and  was  burned  down  in  1867.  Wil- 
son proceeded  promptly  after  the  fire  to  build  the 
large  brick  mill,  thirty  by  forty  feet  in,  size,  now 
operated  by  him  upon  a  site  a  little  west  of  the 
old  one,  drawing  water  from  the  Walhonding  ca- 
nal instead  of  the  Ohio  canal. 

The  saw  mill,  now  run  by  Adams  and  Gleason, 
was  erected  in  1832.  It  was  probably  built  by 
Arnold  Medberry  or  if  not  came  into  his  posses- 
sion very  shortly  after.  A  planing  mill  was  at- 
tached by  James  W.  Beebe  about  1871,  since 
when  both  saw  and  planing  mills  have  been  op- 
erated conjointly.  An  immense  business  is  done 
here,  covering  all' kinds  of  lumber,  by  far  the 
greatest  in  the  country. 

Madberry,  Eansom  &  Co  ,  about  1831,  built  a 
large  hotel  in  which  J.  H.  Board  was  installed 
first  proprietor.  He  was  succeeded  by  H.  V. 
Horton  and  by  Mrs.  Eebecca  Johnson  and  others. 
The  building  was  remodeled,  almost  entirely  re- 
built, by  Matthew  Stewart  about  1840,  and  several 
years  later  it  burned  to  the  ground.  Mr.  Med- 
berry replaced  it  with  a  new  brick,  still  in  use, 
with  which  Charles  Simmons  and  others  have 
since  been  connected.  Mrs.  Hutchins  is  the  pres- 
ens  hostess.  Several  other  hotels  have  flourished 
here  but  they  have  now  passed  away. 

Eoscoe  has  been  peculiarly  unfortunate  in  her 
fire  losses.  The  little  town  seems  to  have  been  a 
special  object  for  the  fury  of  the  fire  fiend,  for 
nearly  every  building  of  any  note  that  has  had 
an  existence  here,  has  been  long  reduced  to 
ashes.  The  long  list  includes  two  large  flouring 
mills,  two  carding  mills,  one  large  distillery,  one 
church,  two  hotels,  one  school-house  and  one  dry- 
goods  store,  besides  many  other  smaller  buildings. 

The  number  of  merchants,  who  have  been  act- 


ively identified  with  the  interests  of  Eoscoe,  ha 
been  a  large  one,  including  the  names  of  John 
Smeltzer,  Eobert  L.  Lamb,  Joseph  Johnson, 
Hickox  &  Wallace,  John  Frew,  Burns  &  Mofiat, 
Seth  McClain,  McClain  &  Brown,  A.  Medberry 
&  Co.,  Samuel  Burrell  and  others.  None  were 
more  prominent  than  Mr.  Medberry.  The  fol- 
lowing sketch  of  him  is  taken  from  Hunt's  His- 
torical Collections : 

Arnold  Medberry  was  born  in  New  Berlin, 
Chenango  county.  New  York,  March  24,  1806. 
He  came  to  Eoscoe  in  the  fall  of  1832,  and  re- 
mained a  citizen  of  that  place  until  his  death, 
August  12,  1861.  During  this  time  he  was  one 
of  the  most  prominent  business  men  of  the  region. 
His  farming,  milling,  merchandising  and  connec- 
tion with  the  public  works,  were  features  of  the 
locality  where  carried  on.  Indomitable  energy 
and  ceaseless  activity  were  his  characteristics. 
He  was  undaunted  before  that  which  would  have 
made  many  quail.  He  thought  nothing  of  taking 
his  buggy,  riding  thirty  miles  to  Mount  Vernon, 
and  there  taking  the  cars,  thus  reaching  Cleveland 
in  a  few  hours.  Losing  two  flour-mills  by  fire, 
he,  within  a  few  hours,  had  matters  all  arranged 
for  building  yet  a  third.  A  zealous  politician,  he 
yet  had  little  desire  for  office.  He  was,  however, 
postmaster  of  Eoscoe  for  many  years,  and  was 
also  county  commissioner.  When  the  public 
works  of  the  State,  with  which  from  the  first  he 
had  been  thoroughly  acquainted,  were  offered  for 
lease,  he  was -one  of  the  principal  lessees,  and 
continued  in  that  relation  until  his  death.  A 
single  anecdote  illustrates  his  keen  discernment 
and  disposition  to  have  the  best  in  every  line  at- 
tainable. A  wagonmaker,  having  built  him  a 
wagon,  called  for  his  inspection  and  acceptance 
of  it.  He  discovered,  by  close  examintion,  a  few 
places  stopped  up  and  made  to  appear  smooth 
and  good  by  putty.  The  wagonmaker  protested 
that  there  was  no  real  defect,  that  in  fact  the 
parts  where  the  putty  was  were  as  strong  as  any, 
and  would  do  just  as  good  work.  "  Very  good, 
then,"  said  Medberry,  with  his  accustomed 
twinkle  of  the  eye, "  just  you  keep  this  wagon, 
and  make  me  another  all  out  of  putty,  and  we 
will  then  see  whether  putty  is  as  strong  as  oak." 
Severe  requirement  was  the  rule  with  him  in  his 
relations  to  his  employes,  and  what  he  thus  de- 
manded he  was  ready  to  yield  to  those  having 
rightful  claims.  His  personal  appearance  was 
fine,  his  manner  calm  and  stately,  but,  withal, 
kind.  His  wife,  who  had  been  Miss  Phoebe  Den- 
man,  survived  him  several  years,  dying  at  the 
home  of  her  daughter,  in  ICansas.  His  two  sons 
died  in  each  case  as  they  were  approaching  man- 
hood. Two  of  his  daughters  are  living  in  Kansas, 
the  other  in  Columbus. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


507 


The  mercantile  business  is  at  this  time  repre- 
sented as  follows:  Moore  &  Caton,  dry  goods; 
"Wright,  Biggs  &  McCabe,  dry  goods;  Martin 
Hack  &  Co.,  dry  goods;  Leander  Miller,  gro- 
ceries; J.  R.  Stanford,  groceries;  Abram  Rose, 
groceries;  Le  Retilley  &  Ferguson,  drugs;  Mrs.  R. 
■Hooker,  drugs;  Harrison  &  Johnson,  hardware 
and  tinware;  Relda  Lockhart,  millnery. 

The  earhest  school  in  Roscoe  of  which  any- 
thing is  known,  probably  the  first,  was  held  in 
the  upper  story  of  the  Calder  building,  where 
John  Smelzer  afterwards  kept  store.  It  was 
started  about  1826,  and  held  in  this  room  only 
two  winters.  During  the  first  winter  it  was 
taught  by  John  B.  Turner.  He  was  a  plasterer, 
by  trade;  moved  here  from  Zanesville;  soon 
after  became  county  treasurer,  and  subsequently 
moved  to  Indiana,  where  he  took  a  prominent  po- 
sition in  the  administration  of  public  affairs. 
Henry  Colclazer  taught  the  second  winter.  He 
was  from  Georgetown,  D.  C,  and  was  a  very  well 
informed  man  for  those  times.  He  subsequently 
became  a  Methodist  Episcopal  minister  and, 
when  last  heard  from,  was  living  in  Detroit, 
Michigan.  A  little  cabin,  standing  on  the  hill, 
became  the  next  fount  of  learning  for  Roscoe's 
youth.  It  had  previously  been  used  as  a  dwell- 
ing house  and,  after  it  had  subserved  its  pur- 
poses as  a  school  building,  was  converted  into  a 
tannery  and  used  as  such  until  very  recently. 
Basheba  Lightener  was  the  school  mistress  in 
this  building  for  two  winters.  William  Mc- 
Gowen  next  taught,  in  a  little  brick,  which  stood 
near  Dr.  Johnson's  present  residence.  Next, 
Mr.  Brown's  house,  then  the  Methodist  church, 
were  each  temporarily  utilized  for  school  pur- 
poses. A  brick  school-house  was  ei:fected  about 
1835,  and  school  held  in  it  till  transferred  to  the 
present  brick  structure,  erected  abotit;  1850.  The 
school  at  present  contains  three  (departments. 
During  the  past  year,  the  teachers  in  charge  have 
been,  Messrs.  L.  W.  Martin  and  George  Hill  and 
Miss  Anna  Waddle.  The  school  enrollment,  at 
the  opening  of  the  year,  was  132. 

Dr.  M.  Johnson,  the  only  resident  practitioner 
now  in  the  village,  has  perhaps  been  longer  in  a 
continuous  practice  than  any  other  physician 
now  in  the  county.  He  settled  here  in  1833,  and 
has  been  in  constant  practice  ever  since.     He 


came  as  the  successor  of  Dr.  William  Emerson, 
who  died  of  pneumonia,  June,  1833.  He  was  the 
son  of  Timothy  Emerson,  of  Keene  township; 
had  read  medicine  with  Dr.  Samuel  Lee,  of  Co- 
shocton, and,  after  attending  lectures  in  Cincin- 
nati, opened  an  office  in  Roscoe  about  1828.  He 
was  probably  the  first  physician  in  the  place. 
From  that  time  to  the  present  quite  a  number  of 
physicians  have  had  a  residence  here ;  generally 
a  brief  one.  Among  them  was  Dr.  Edward 
Cone,  now  residing  in  Washington  township, 
who  has  changed  his  occupation  several  times 
since.  He  has  been  a  Methodist  preacher,  far- 
mer, and  recently  reports  himself  a  "  grower  of 
peaches  and  apples  on  sheep  lands."  Josiah  Har- 
ris, still  practicing  in  Coshocton,  was  here  from 
1837-40.  Dr.  Barger,  the  father  of  G.  H.  Barger, 
Esq.,  of  Coshocton,  from  1835-37.  Drs.  J.  W. 
Brady,  McBride,  0.  Farquhar,  an  Uriscopian; 
Peck,  and  others,  have  also  resided  here. 

The  first  postmaster  was  James  Le  Retilley. 
He  received  the  appointment  about  the  time 
Jackson  township  was  organized.  Mr.  Retilley 
was  succeeded  by  Arnold  Medderry,  and  since 
then  quite  a  number  of  changes  have  been  made 
in  this  office.  The  present  incumbent  is  Mrs.  R. 
Hooker. 

Lodges  of  the  Masonic  order  and  of  the  Sons 
of  Temperance  have  been  established  here,  but 
both  have  been  defunct  for  these  many  years. 
The  former  was  organized  about  1848,  and  dis- 
banded in  1865,  uniting  at  that  time  with  the 
Coshocton  lodge.  The  latter  was  organized 
about  1846,  and  survived  for  the  brief  space  of 
three  years. 

A  very  neat  little  township  hall,  twenty-six .  by 
forty-five  feet  in  size,  was  built  in  the  fall  of  1880, 
at  a  cost  of  $1,550. 

Besides  the  buildings  already  mentioned,  there 
are  here  at  present  a  foundry,  a  tannery,  a  brew- 
ery, a  leather  shop,  and  various  other  small  in- 
dustrial establishments. 

There  is  one  other  postoffice  in  Jackson  town- 
ship. It  is  called  Tyrone,  and  belongs  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  township.  Joseph  D. 
Smith  has  been  postmaster  for  about  twelve 
years.  The  office  was  established  about  1850,  and 
the  former  postmasters  have  been  James  Waddle, 
Aaron  Reed,  Catherine  McCoy,  Hiram  Riden- 


508 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


baugh  and  John  H.  Forrester.    It  has  been  re- 
cently' discontinued. 

Pleasantville  was  laid  out  at  an  early  day  by 
Elijah  Graves,  in  the  southeast  quarter  oi  section 
M,  but  it  never  came  to  anything. 

About  1825,  a  noted  Fourth  of  July  dinner  was 
served  at  what  is  known  as  Falling  Off  Eock,  one 
and  a  half  miles  west  of  Eoscoe.  The  rock  rises 
perpendicularly  about  thirty  feet,  and  down  this 
declivity  a  little  rivulet  dashes  only  after  a  storm. 
Beneath  is  a  cave  extending  back  about  forty 
feet,  and  from  it  a  fine  spring  of  water  issues. 
James  Oalder  and  several  others,  deeming  it  a 
pleasant  spot  for  celebrating  in  a  quiet  way  the' 
national  birth  day,  issued  a  general  invitation 
and  prepared  the  cave  for  the  reception  of  the 
public.  A  large  crowd,  for  those- times,  gathered' 
at  the  place,  from  Coshocton,  Caldersburg  and 
elewhere  at  the  appointed  time  and  partook  of 
the  bounteous  provision  there  spread  before 
them.  Lewis  Demoss  was  ,the  only  participator 
in  this  affair  who  is  now  known  to  survive. 

The  Eoscoe  Methodist  Episcopal  church  is  the 
only  religious  society  now  in  active  operation  in 
this  village.  From  1820  to  1826,  there  had  oc- 
casionally been  a  sermon  preached  in  Eoscoe 
(then  Caldersburg)  in  the  dining-room  of  the 
tavern  kept  by  William  Barous ;  but  in  1826  two 
Methodist  ministers  were  appointed  by  the  annual 
conference  to  the  circuit  in  which  Eoscoe  was 
embraced,  and  in  the  spring  of  that  year  the  first 
class  was  formed  by  those  ministers  (their  names 
were  Abner  Gough  and  H.  O.  Sheldon).  The 
persons  forming  the  class  were  Theophilus  Phil- 
lips, Mrs.  Samuel  Brown,  James  Le  Eetilley  and 
wife,  Mrs.  William  Barcus,  Eachel  Le  Eetilley 
and  Joseph  Shoemaker  and  wife.  Meetings  con- 
tinued to  be  held  in  the  same  tavern  until  about 
■  1828,  about  which  time  Samuel  Brown  jo'ined,  and 
the  meetings  after  that  were  held  at  his  house 
until  1831,  in  which  year  they  built  a  neat  little 
brick  church,  twenty-four  by  forty  feet,  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  village  on  the  brow  of  the  hill. 
A  little  incident  in  regard  to  Samuel  Brown : 
He  was,  by  his  own  account,  a  very  wicked  man 
then.  There  was  to  be  a  love  feast  held  on  Sun- 
day morning,  and  he  went  along  with  his  wife  to 
carry  the  child,  not  intending  to  stay  in;  but 


when  they  got  there  it  was  about  time  to  close 
the  door,  as  it  was  the  custom  in  those  days.  So, 
when  he  stepped  in  to  hand  the  child  to  his  wife, 
they  closed  the  door  and  drew  a  bench  against 
it,  so  that  he  could  not  get  out,  and  was  compelled 
very  reluctantly  to  remain,  and  during  the  exer- 
cises he  became  powerfully  convicted,  and  then 
and  there  joined  the  church. 

In  1853,  the  old  church  being  too  small,  they 
concluded  to  build  a  larger  one.  The  old  one  was 
torn  down,  and  one  erected  forty  by  sixty  feet  on 
the  site  of  the  present  church;  amd  in  March, 
1874,  it  was  burned  and  rebuilt  the  same  year  at 
a  cost  of  $8,000,  exclusive  of  materials  out  of  the 
old  building.  It  is  a  handsome  brick  of  the  same 
size  as  the  old  one,  with  brick  tower  and  a  fine 
bell.  The  windows  are  of  stained  glass,  and  the 
pulpit  and  pews  are  very  neat.  It  was  dedicated 
December  27, 1875.  The  present  membership  is 
one  hundred  and  twenty. 

The  Sunday-school  is  an  attractive  and  import- 
ant auxiliary  of  the  church.  It  was  organized  in 
1830  in  the  village  school-house  by  the  election  o^ 
the  following  officers:  James  Le  Eetilley,  Sr., 
superintendent;  Thomas  Colclazer,  secretary; 
John  Brown,  librarian.  A  library  was  formed 
directly  after  the  organization  but  comprised  a 
class  of  books  much  better  adapted  for  mature 
minds  than  juvenile  readers,  consisting  almost 
exclusively  of  weighty  doctrinal  works,  books  of 
sermons,  etc.  The  school  has  enjoyed  a  prosper- 
ous existence  of  more  than  fifty  years  and  now 
has  an  average  attendance  of  about  olie  hundred 
and  twenty.  During  the  winter  the  meetings  are 
held  in  the  afternoon  at  two  and  a  half  o'clock; 
in  summer  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning.  John 
W.  Barkhurst  now  has  charge  of  the  school. 

A  Presbyterian  church,  formerly  located  here, 
has  become  extinct.  It  was  organized  April  25, 
1847.  Eev.  H.  Calhoun  supplied  it  -for  eleven 
years,  and  it  received  a^  part  of  the  time  of  Revs. 
Henderson,  Wallace,  and  other  pastors  of  the 
Second  church  of  Coshocton.  At  its  organization 
there  were  fifteen  members,  among  whom  were 
George  Bagnall,  James  Hill,  Wilson  McClintiok, 
Mrs.  Phoebe  Medberry,  Mrs.  Charlotte  Eansom 
and  Peter  Thurgood.  Under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Calhoun  and  also,  at  a  later  day,  under  the  labors 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


50» 


of  Kev.  C.  W.  Wallace,  Ecv.  S.  P.  Hildreth  and 
Kev.  H.  0.  McBride,  considerable  accessions  were 
received  to  the  churph.  A  good  frame  building 
was  erected  in  1853,  chiefly  through  the  spirited 
exertions  of  Mrs.  P.  W.  Medberry.  The  elders 
have  been  James  Hill,  George  Bagnall,  T.  Carna- 
han,  S.  Sayre.  The  church  membership  became 
greatly  reduced  through  removals  and  deaths, 
and,  about  1873,  services  were  discontinued.  A 
flourishing  Sunday-school  was  long  kept  up  un- 
der the  superintendency  of  John  Oarhart,  Sr. 

The  Warner  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  lo- 
cated near  the  center  of  section  21,  about  three 
miles  northwest  from  Roscoe,  was  so  named  in 
honor  of  the  late  Dr.  Warner,  of  the  North  Ohio 
conference.  It  was  organized  in  the  year  1870  by 
Eev.  S.  E.  Surie.  Du.ring  the  same  year  a  neat 
frame  building  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $2,000. 
The  principal  members  were  William  Biggs, 
John  B.  Markley,  John  Peoples,  Eichard  Eckels, 
Joseph  Stubbs,  William  Austin,  James  Davis, 
William  Shearn,  Christopher  Hall  and  E.  D. 
Wolford.  The  present  membership  is  sixty-six. 
A  Sabbath-school  was  organized  in  1870,  and  has 
now  a.  membership  of  fifty-six. 

The  Branch  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was 
formed  at  the  residence  of  Eli  Smith,  January  3, 
1839,  by  Eevs.  Martin  P.  Kellogg  and  Joseph  S. 
Brown,  then  the  preachers  on  the  Eoscoe  circuit 
of  the  Ohio  conference.  The  class,  as  organized, 
consisted  of  the  following  members:  Ebenezer 
Taylor  and  Margaret,  his  wife,  Benjamin  Taylor, 
Nancy  Taylor,  Joseph  Smith  and  Elizabeth,  his 
wife,  Julia  Ann  Ogle,  Eli  Smith  and  Katherine, 
his  wife,  Mindwell  Eoberts,  Jonathan  Thomas 
and  Mary,  his  wife,  and  Maria  Holbrook.  Di- 
rectly afterwards  steps  were  taken  to  erect  a 
house  of  worship.  Joseph  Smith,  David  Middle- 
ton,  Eobert  Eansom,  Ebenezer  Taylor  and  Thom- 
as McLain  were  appointed  trustees,  and  a  frame 
building,  twenty-eight  by  thirty-two  feet  was 
erected.  The  present  church  edifice  was  built  in 
1872.  It  is  located  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
the  township,  within  a  mile  of  the  township  cor- 
ner. It  is  a  large  frame  structure,  forty  by  fifty 
feet,  which  will  comfortably  seat  a  congregation 
of  500.  The  cost  of  this  building  was  $2,300;  it 
was  dedicated  February  10, 1873.    The  present 


membership  is  forty-two.  Eev.  J.  Williams  ia 
pastor.  The  church  has  always  been  connected 
with  the  Eoscoe  circuit.  The  Sunday-school, 
held  only  during  the  summer,  last  year  had  an 
average  attendance  of  sixty-eight. 

Pleasant  Hill  Eegular  Baptist  church,  located 
on  William  McCoy's  land,  about  five  miles  west 
of  Eoscoe  on  the  gravel  road,  was  organized  as  a 
branch  of  Mill  Creek  church,  about  1845,  with  a 
membership  of  perhaps  forty,  and  called  Crooked 
Eun  church.  Among  its  principal  early  mem- 
bers were  David  Tracy,  Samuel  C.  Heney,  Abra- 
ham Eandles,  John  Tracy  and  Aaron  Loder.  The 
earliest  meetings  were  held  in  private  houses,  and 
in  a  vacated  cabin  which  was  rudely  and  tempora- 
rily furnished  for  this  purpose.  Services  were 
continued  here  but  a  short  time,  however,  for  a 
meeting-house  was  built  on  Aaron  Loder's  farm 
soon  after  the  society  was  organized.  The  society 
advanced  steadily  for  a  few  years,  then  declined, 
and  in  about  fifteen  years  became  virtually  ex- 
tinct. In  1862,  they  were  organized,and  the  church 
re-named  Eock  Hill.  Some  progress  was  made, 
and  in  1868  a  comfortable  frame  house  of  wor- 
ship was  built — the  one  now  in  use — and  named 
Pleasant  Hill.  The  first  pastor  was  probably 
William  Mears.  Other  ministers  who  have  since 
served  the  congregation  are  Eevs.  L.  L.  Eoot,  H. 
Sampson,  J.  G.  Whitaker,  E.  E.  Whitaker,  W.  S. 
Barnes,  A.  W.  Odor,  S.  W.  Frederick,  E.  B.  Senter 
and  J.  C.  Skinner.  Eev.  A.  W.  Odor  was  recalled, 
succeeding  Eev.  Skinner,  and  filled  the  pulpit 
during  the  last  year.  At  present  there  is  no  reg- 
ular pastor,  but  the  congregation  is  still  served 
occasionally  by  Eev.  Odor.  The  present  mem- 
bership is  ninety-four.  Allen  Marshall,  Joseph 
Askren  and  Aaron  Loder  are  the  deacons.  A 
Sunday-school  is  conducted  during  the  summer. 
Its  membership  last  year  was  seventy-three. 

The  Valley  Presbyterian  church  was  organized 
on  the  road  from  Coshocton  to  Newark,  six  miles 
west  of  Coshocton,  in  1847,'  and  a  squared-log 
church  built.  Eev.  P.  H.  Jacobs,  of  Coshocton, 
and  Eev.  C.  C.  Bamberger  supplied  it  from  1847 
to  1860.  The  neighborhood  had  at  first  a  few 
Presbyterian  families,  including  those  of  John 
Smith,  John  McCullough,  John  Graham,  Thomas 


510 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Smith  and  William  Crooks,  but  death  and  re- 
moval to  the  west  soon  effaced  these,  and,  as  the 
territory  was  occupied  from  the  start  by  other 
denominations,  this  retired  from  the  field.  In 
1863,  the  old  organization  having  become  extinct, 
a  second  effort  was  made,  kut  with  no  better  suc- 
cess than  before.  To  this  second  congregation 
Kev.  John  Moore,  D.  D.,  while  settled  in  Jefferson 
church,  ministered.  The  church  never  numbered 
a  score  of  members,  and  soon  perished  a  second 
time.  Rev.  Akey  was  the  last  minister  in  charge. 
The  Disciples,  for  a  number  of  years,  had  a 
society  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the  township. 
A  frame  church,  about  thirty  feet  square,  was 
built  in  1845,  or  shortly  before,  in  which  services 
were  held  for  perhaps  fifteen  years.  Then  the 
society  became  too  weak  to  maintain  its  organi- 
zation and  perished.  Werley  Graves,  Zachariah 
Ogle,  Williajn  Richards,  Samuel,  Wellman,  Joseph 
and  Uriah  Hufiinan  were  the  principal  members. 
The  last  named  subsequently  became  a  minister 
of  this  denomination. 

Blooming  Grove  Methodist  Episcopal  church 
is  located  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the 
township.  In  1849  Rev.  W.  C.  Huestis,  of  Roscoe 
circuit,  preached  occasionally  in  this  neighbor- 
hood. He  was  followed  by  Rev.  T.  H.  Wilson, 
who  succeeded  in  organizing  a  society  February, 
1860.  It  first  met  in  Antioch  church,  a  house 
close  by,  belonging  to  a  sister  denomination,  but 
in  the  year  1851,  under  the  pastoral  administra- 
tion of  T.  H.  Wilson,  the  church  was  erected  and 
dedicated  by  him  in  August  of  the  same  year. 
Moses  Finley  was  the  architect  and  builder.  At 
the  close  of  Rev.  Wilson's  two  years  labors,  the 
membership  amounted  to  ninety-nine.  Of  the 
first  members  may  be  mentioned  Simon  Murray, 
Ruth  Murray,  Thomas  James,  Sarah  A.  James, 
Nathan  Price,  Nancy  Price,  Jbshua  Fry,  Mary 
Fry,  Samuel  Neldon,  Jane  Neldon,  James  Shaw, 
Sr.,  Sarah  Shaw,  Ephraim  Deviney  and  Dorintha 
Deviney.  S.  Murry  was  the  first  steward  and 
Nathan  Price  and  Samuel  Neldon  the  first  class- 
leaders.  Of  the  first  mentioned  ninety-nine 
members  there  are  but  about  seven  in  fellowship 
with  the  church  at  the  present  time.  The  mem- 
bership now  numbers  102 ;  the  present  pastor  is 
Rev.  J.  Williams.    A  Sunday  school  was  organ- 


ized by  Rev.  T.  H.  Wilson,  in  May,  1850.  This 
branch  of  christian  work  has  been  continued  to 
the  present  time.  The  last  -reports  show  a  mem- 
bership of  seventy,  with  John  Demoss  as  super- 
intendent. 

An  old  church  building,  known  as  the  Antioch 
church  formerly,  stood  on  the  north  line  of  the 
township,  very  near  to  the  extreme  northwest 
corner.  It  was  built  many  years  ago  by  a  feeble 
and  short-lived  christian  society,  and  was  after- 
ward occupied  for  a  brief  period  by  the  AU- 
brights  and  the  Methodist  Protestants. 


CHAPTER    LVI. 

JEFFERSON  TOWNSHIP. 

Primatlve  Race— Flint  Mining— Other  Remains— Topograpliy 
—Organization— Early  Settlers  —Whisky-Mills  —  Schools — 
Coal  Oil  Speculations- Warsaw— Mohawk  Village— Postof- 
fices— Churches. 

WITHIN  the  limits  of  Jefferson  town- 
ship are  evidences  that  clearly  point 
to  the  existence  here,  in  ages  past,  ■  of  a 
race  of  people  concerning  which  little  is 
now  definately  known;  evidence  not  only 
of  their  mere  inhabitancy  here,  but  of  extensive 
mining  operations,  as  well,  for  the  material  from' 
which  their  rough  weapons  were  fashioned;  evi- 
dences that  the  vein  of  flint-rock  which  lies  em- 
bedded in  the  geological  strata  underlying  the 
township  was  mined  by  these  pre-historic  ]*eople 
from  most  of  the  many  hills  that  cover  the  farms 
of  Cononel  Pren  Metham,  R.  B.  Whitaker  and 
Mrs.  Criss,  located  in  the  southern  central  part  of 
the  township.  The  veins  of  fiint  are  in  width 
from  four  to  six  feet;  sometimes  located  close  to 
the  top  of  the  hill ;  at  other  times  near  the  base. 
Opposite  the  seam  where  the  flint  has  been  mined 
the  ground  is  thrown  back  forming  a  kind  of 
ridge  or  embankment,  which  has  lead  some,  who 
have  noticed  them,  to  beheve  them  to  have  been 
fortifications;  but  a  careful  examination  by  Col- 
onel Metham  and  others  produced  convincing 
testimony  that  the  mining  of  the  flint,  concealed 
in  the  heart  of  the  hills,  was  the  cause  of  the  dis- 
turbed condition  in  the  natural  slope  of  the  hill- 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


611 


side,  for  wherever  these  apparent  embankments 
or  ridges  have  been  examined,  as  most  of  them 
have,  the  flint  bed  is  invariably  present;  more 
than  that,  in  the  cave-like  openings  from  which 
the  flint  has  been  taken,  ashes  and  charcoal  are 
always  found ;  also  large,  hard  river  rocks,  greatly 
scarred  and  dinged.  The  flint  vein  is  a  consid- 
erable distance  above  the  drift  formation  and  the 
presence  of  these  bowlder  rocks  here  can  be  ac- 
counted for  only  by  supposing  them  to, have  been 
brought  here  by  human  agency.  Moreover  their 
much  battered  up  appearance  indicates  usage  for 
some  purpose. 

The  process  of  obtaining  the  flint  that  seems 
most  probable  from  these  facts,  is  the  one  sug- 
gested by  Colonel  Metham.  Large  fires  were 
built  in  these  underground  excavations,  close  to 
the  solid  wall  of  flint,  until  the  latter  became 
thoroughly  heated,  when  the  expansion  would 
produce  fissures  or  cracks  in  the  wall;  or  perhaps 
these  were  produced  by  sudden  contraction 
caused  by  casting  water  against  the  heated  sur- 
face. The  large,  scratched  bowlders  were  then 
used  by  the  pre-historic  miners  in  lieu  of  ham- 
mers, to  break  off  fragments  from  the  cracked 
wall,  by  hurling  them  against  it.  The  pieces 
thus  obtained,  were  then  carried  elsewhere  to 
be  worked  into  arrow  points,  spear-heads,  etc. 
At  the  summits  of  many  of  the  hills  are  found 
large  beds  of  these  flint  fragments,  where  per- 
haps they  were  broken  into  smaller  pieces  from 
which  the  darts  were  fashioned  at  the  "arrow- 
makers."  That  these  shops  were  abundant  in 
this  vicinity  is  made  manifest  by  the  numerous 
piles  of  spawls  or  flint  chips,  togother  with  large 
quantities  of  the  arrow-heads,  some  in  a  finished, 
others  in  an  unfinished  state,  which  are  found 
very  plentiful,  usually  near  a  rock-bed.  Small, 
hard  stones,  generally  granitic,  much  worn  and 
nicked,  are  found  also  among  the  chips.  They 
were  probably  used  in  chipping  off  the  flints.  In 
quarrying  a  bed  of  sandstone  rock  near  his  house. 
Colonel  Methan  discovered  in  a  crevice  a  large 
"nest"  of  these  flints,' a  portion  of  them  beauti- 
fully finished,  others  rude  and  incomplete. 

The  extent  of  this  mining  was  prodigious. 
Colonel  Castell,  who  was  engineer  of  the  Dresden 
branch  of  the  Cleveland,  Mt.  Vernon  &  Dela- 
ware railroad,  examined  the  remains  and  esti- 


mated that  the  amount  of  work  indicated  by  these, 
if  performed  at  present,  would  require  an  expen- 
diture of  not  less  than  $1,000,000. 

"Here  the  ancient  arrow -maker 
Made  his  arrow-heads  oJ  quarts  rock- 
Arrow-heads  ol  chalcedony- 
Arrow-heads  of  chert  and  jasper- 
Smoothed  and  sharpened  at  the  edges, 
Hard  and  polished,  keen  and  costly." 

About  six  years  ago,  a  considerable  amount  of 
capital  was  expended  by  Mr.  Swaim,  of  Tusca- 
rawas county,  and  others,  in  prospecting  for 
mineral  wealth  among  these  hills.  None  was 
found.  Close  to  the  spring,  situated  about  forty 
rods  south  of  Colonel  Metham's  residence,  is 
found  a  bed  of  broken-up  river  and  sand-stone, 
none  of  the  pieces  larger  than  a  man's  fist. 
Traces  of  several  fluke-like  channels  through  the 
bed  were  discernable,  in  which  were  streaks  Of 
ashes,  charcoal  and  soot.  A  careful  analysis  of 
the  soot  was  made,  with  the  hope  of  finding 
mineral  depsoits  of  some  kind,  but  none  were  re- 
vealed. About  the  only  "find"  in  the  vicinity 
was  a  small  fragment  of  ancient  pottery.  The 
conjecture  that  this  may  have  been  a  pottery 
furnace  is  scarcely  warrantable;  for,  if  so,  re- 
mains of  pottery  should  exist  in  greater  abund? 
ance.  Similar  beds  are  found  in  several  other 
localities,  one  on  the  same  farm,  one  on  Wash- 
ington Darling's  farm,  north  of  the  river,  and 
another  on  Joshua  Clark's  place,  in  New  Castle 
township,  all  adjacent  to  a  spring  of  water. 

On  the  peak  of  the  hill  which  rises  east  of 
Colonel  Metham's  residence  is  a  stone  mound, 
about  eighteen  feet  in  diameter  and  five  in  depth. 
Several  ineffectual  attempts  were  made  to  ex- 
plore it,  before  1855,  at  which  time  Rev.  Boggs 
and  Colonel  Metham  made  a  thorough  investi- 
gation of  it.  It  was  found  be  a  sepulchral  mound, 
containing  the  mortal  remains  of  one  of  the  de- 
parted great..  The  mound  was  a  solid  piece  of 
masonry,  composed  of  horizontal  layers  of  sand- 
stone, the  crevices  in  which  were  filled  with 
pounded-up  sandstone.  Near  the  base  of  the 
mound,  a  stone  sepulchre  was  found.  The  bot- 
tom of  it  consisted  of  a  large,  flat  sandstone ;  slabs 
of  the  same  material,  placed  upright  upon  their 
edges,  constituted  the  sides  and  ends.  Across 
the  top  were  other  flat  stones.    Encased  in  this 


"612 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


enclosure,  was  found  a  portion  of  a  human 
skeleton,  consisting  of  pieces  of  the  skull,  the 
thigh  bone,  teeth,  and  a  few  other  fragmentary- 
bones.  From  a  careful  examination  of  the 
*  thigh  bone,  the  length  of  the  skeleton  was  esti- 
mated to  be  over  seven  feet.  The  entire  set  of 
teeth  were  molars,  there  being  no  incisors  among 
them — a  characteristic,  it  is  said,  of  the  Aztec 
race.  Another  particularity  was,  that  the  length 
of  the  upper  and  lower  jaw  was  the  same.  A 
few  flint  darts  and  stone  "shuttles"  were  also 
found  in  the  coffin. 

Across  the  river  from  these  remains,  on  Robert 
Darling's  farm,  are  other  traces  of  this  unknown 
-people.  Along  the  crest  of  the  ridge  that  over- 
looks the  river  are  piled  large,  irregular  masses 
of  sandstones.  Upon  the  highest  of  these,  which 
rises  perpendicularly  twenty  feet  from  the  side 
that  faces  the  river,  but  which  from  the  other  side 
can  be  reached  by  a  less  abrupt  ascent  by  clam- 
"bering  up  over  rough  masses  of  sandstone,  are 
the  remains  of  a  semi-circular  wall.  It  is  three 
or  four  feet  in  width,  about  the  same  in  height, 
and  consists  of  large,  irregularly-shaped,  flat 
stones.  The  diameter  of  the  circle  is  perhaps 
thirty  feet.  The  wall  faces  the  side  from  which 
the  summit  may  be  reached.  Whether  this  was 
a  stronghold  of  the  Mound  Builders,  where  they 
made  a  last  but  unavailing  stand  against  hordes 
of  barbarous  northern  invaders,  or  whether  it 
was  a  place  for  offering  up  human  sacrifices  or 
performing  religious  rites,  will  probably  never 
be  known. 

The  view  from  this  point  is  wild  and  imposing. 
^  The  ridge  is  still  covered  with  the  forest,  and  be- 
tween the  trees  along  the  summit  of  the  ridge, 
and  in  many  places  upon  the  hill-side,  nature  has 
lavishly  scattered  large  masses  of  time-worn  sand- 
:  stone  rocks,  some  in  places  jutting  out  badly  from 
the  crest  or  side  of  the  ridge,  others  again  in  a 
■slanting  position,  seemingly  about  to  fall  with 
terrific  crash  to  the  base  below.  The  peaceful 
bosom  of  the  romantic  Walhonding  lies  several 
hundred  feet  beneath  and  beyond  it.  A  level 
stretch  of  valley  recedes  till  it  reaches  the  bluffs 
that  rise  on  the  opposite  side. 

The  Walhonding  river,  flowing  eastward  from 
New  Castle  township,  cutting  its  channel  through 
the  Waverly  sandstone,  divides  the  township  into 


two  nearly  equal  parts.  Two  runs.  Darling  and 
Beaver,  are  its  tributaries  from  the  north;  it  has 
also  two  from  the  south,  Mohawk  and  Simmons'. 
Another  small  stream,  called  Flint  run,  enters 
Simmons'  run  about  a  mile  from  its  mouth. 

The  roughest  land  in  the  township  is  that 
which  skirts  the  river  valley.  On  either  side  it 
rises  abruptly,  forming  steep,  high  ridges.  These 
continue  northward  undiminished  in  size,  mak- 
ing the  land  in  this  part  of  the  township  very 
hilly.  To  the  south,  however,  the  roughness  wears 
away  as  the  land  recedes  from  the  river,  and  the 
surface  becams  rolling  in  character. 

The  valley  of  the  Walhonding,  from  a  half  mile 
to  a  mile  in  width,  is  one  of  the  richest  in  the 
State.  By  those  who  are  acquainted  with  both  it 
is  said  to  fully  equal  in  productiveness  the  noted 
valley  of  the  Miami.  The  soil  in  the  main  is  a 
black,  sandy  loam,  with  gravelly  sand  in  spots, 
here  and  there.  Along  the  base  of  the  bluflfs  is  a 
narrow  strip,  subsoiled  with  blue  clay.  The  soil 
on  the  south  of  the  river,  between  Mohawk  run 
and  Simmons'  run,  is  as  rich  as  can  be  found 
anywhere  on  steep  lands.  The  outcroppings  are 
fossiliferous  limestone,  flint  and  cannel  coal,  the 
best  possible  combination  to  enrich  a  soil  Sand- 
stone is  the  principal  outcroping  north  of  the 
valley,  and  the  soil  there  is  not  so  good. 

Most  of  the  hill  tops  north  of  the  river  wej'e 
devoid  of  timber  when  the  first  settlers  arrived, 
being  covered  only  with  small  bushes,  in  some 
places  not  even  these.  Beds  of  wild  strawberries 
grew  in  rich  profusion  and  huckle  berries  also 
were  abundant  in  places.  South  of  the  river  the 
surface  was  timbered,  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact 
that  in  early  days  there  was  no  underbrush  worth 
speaking  of  here.  The  forests  seemed  like  im- 
mense groves,  so  that  game  could  be  seen  at  a 
great  distance.  Since  then,  however,  an  almost 
impenetrable  thicket  has  sprung  up  on  the  land 
that  has  not  yet  been  cleared. 

A  greater  diversity  of  timber  than  usually  pre- 
vails on  steep  lands  in  one  locality  was  found  on 
these  southern  hills,  embracing  nearly  every  va- 
riety that  flourishes  in  this  region  except  cotton- 
wood  and  sycamour.  Along  the  edge  of  the  val- 
ley is  found  the  black  oak,  swamp  oak  and  swamp 
ash  and  closer  to  the  river  burr  oak,  black  walnut, 
sycamore,  cottonwood,  hickory  and  other  varieties. 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


513 


Jefferson  township  was  organized  in  1826.  The 
northern  half  consists  of  congress  land  which 
was  surveyed  in  1803  by  Silas  Bent,  Jr.  The 
southern  half  comprises  two  military  sections. 
Of  these,  the  eastern  was  located  by  Colonel  Wil- 
liam Simmons  in  1800,  and  settled  by  him  years 
after. 

The  western  is  known  as  the  Bell  section.  The 
patent  for  it  was  granted  April  2, 1800,  to  Cairnon 
Wedwell,  of  Philadelphia,  who  conveyed  it  the 
same  year  to  John  Duncan,  a  broker  of  Philadel- 
phia. The  following  year  he  sold  to  John  Bell,  a 
resident  of  the  same  city,  all  of  the  section  except 
the  one-twelfth  part  off  the  western  side,  Tvhich 
had  been  deeded  to  Martin  Baum.  It  remained 
in  Bell's  possession  about  thirty-five  years,  during 
which  time,  however,  he  sold  a  considerable  part 
of  it  to  different  parties,  through  his  agent,  Pren 
Metham,  who  moved  to  the  township  in  1823. 
In  1837,  the  residue,  consisting  of  over  2,200  acres, 
came  into  the  possession  of  a  Scotch-Irish  colony 
of  settlers,  consisting  of  James  and  John  Moore, 
James  and  William  Given,  James  and  William 
Thompson,  and  Mrs.  Anderson,  all  related  to 
each  other,  who  emigrated  from  Tyrone  county, 
Ireland,  to  Marshall  county,  Virginia,  in  1836, 
and  soon  after  to  this  township.  They  were  an 
intelligent,  energetic  and  industrious  people,  who 
■cleared  off  this  large  tract  and  paid  for  it  since 
their  arrival  here.  It  is  still  owned  by  their  de- 
scendants. 

The  Darlings  were  among  the  foremost  settlers 
to  locate  in  the  Walhondihg  valley.  The  family 
consisted  of  Robert  Darling,  his  wife  and  twelve 
children,  William,  Abram,  Jonathan,  Jacob,  James, 
Isaac,  Thomas,  Robert,  Mary,  who  married  Nich- 
olas Miller,  of  Keene  township,  Sophia,  the  wife 
John  Hork,  an  early  settler  of  this  township,  Mrs. 
Samuel  Severns,  who  also  lived  in  this  township, 
and  Mrs.  Aaron  Loder.  The  last  mentioned 
daughter  is  the  only  survivor  of  this  large  fam- 
ily. She  is  quite  an  old,  though  active  lady,  and 
resides  in  Jackson  township.  They  moved  from 
Virginia  in  1806,  and  settled  in  the  bend  north 
of  the  river,  on  the  Bell  section.  The  place  is 
still  held  in  the  Darling  name. 

Two  of  the  boys,  Jonathan  and  Willjam,  first 
came  out  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  and  raised 
the  crop  of  corn;  then,  in  the  fall,  the  rest  of 


the  family  crossed  the  mountains,  by  team,  or  on 
horseback.  Mary,  then  a  miss  of  eighteen  sum- 
mers, drove  a  fonr-horse  team,  loaded  with 
family  goods.  The  mother,  it  is  said,  made  the 
journey  on  horseback,  having  an  infant  on  the 
horse,  before  her,  and  a  little  boy,  Thomas,  hold- 
ing on  to  her,  as  he  rode  behind.  Of  the  boys,' 
William  and  Jonathan  bore  arms  for  their  coun- 
try, in  1812.  While  they  were  encamped  at 
Sandusky,  their  younger  brother,  Abram,  rode 
out  to  them  on  horseback,  for  the  purpose  of 
taking  them  some  stockings.  These  three  sons 
soon  after  moved  farther  west,  the  others  re- 
maining in  Coshocton  county,  where  many  of 
their  descendants  still  live,  entering  largely  into 
the  social  fabric  of  the  Walhonding  valley,  as 
well  as  other  localities.  They  were  all  farmers, 
and  men  of  sterling  worth,  noted,  far  and  wide, 
for  their  strict  integrity.  Thomas,  for  a  number 
pf  years,  served  the  county  as  a  commissioner. 
He  was  also  much  interested  in  blooded  cattle, 
and  introduced  some  valuable  stock  into  the 
valley  in  which  he  lived. 

John  Elder  emigrated  from  Ireland  to  Vir- 
ginia in  1804,  and  thence  came,  with  the  Dar- 
lings, to  the  Walhonding  valley,  iDj  1806.  After 
making  several  other  locations,  he  settled  in  Jef- 
ferson township.  He  ■  died  in  1851,  on  his  farm, 
now  occupied  by  his  son,  Cyrus  Elder,  a  little 
west  of  Warsaw.  He  was  a  full-blooded,  county 
Antrim,  Presbyterian.  He  was  twice  married 
and  reared  a  large  family,  still  prominent  in  the 
township.  During  the  war  of  1812,  he  spent 
some  months  in  hauling  supplies  to  the  soldiers. 

The  Merediths,  six  or  seven  in  number,  came 
to  the  Walhonding  valley  about  1807  or  1808. 
Thr.ee  of  them,  David,  Stephen  and  Abner,  set- 
tled in  Jefferson  township,  the  others  in  New 
Castle.  David  afterward  moved  to  Indiana. 
Stephen  and  Abner  settled  close  to  the  site  of 
Mohawk  village  and  died  there.  Abner  was  a 
hunter  of  note,  on  friendliest  terms  with  the  In- 
dians, and  often  pursued  the  wild  game  in  their 
company.  He  once  went  with  a  band  of  Indians, 
up  Killbuck  creek,  on  a  hunting  expedition, 
which  resulted  Very  successfully,  a  large  number 
of  deer  having  been  killed.  As  the  evening  drew 
near,  he  was  invited  to  remain  till  morning  with 
his  companions.    The    Indians  determined  on 


514 


HISTORY  OF-  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


having  a  jollification  over  the  day's  sport,  and  dis- 
patched several  of  their  number  to  Charlie  Wil- 
liams', at  Coshocton,  for  the  means  of  celebrating 
^a  good  supply  of  whisky.  Meredith,  who  was 
an  athlete,  in  the  meantime  had  engaged  in  the 
manly  sport  of  wrestling  with  those  who  re- 
mained ;  had  displayed  a  strength  and  skill  in  the 
art  which  none  of  them  could  equal,  and  his  suc- 
cess in  throwing  them  humiliated  and  angered 
them  somewhat.  Repeated  potations  of  the  fiery 
liquid  intensified  rather  than  assuaged  their 
anger,  and  the  squaws  frequently  obtained  the 
knives  of  their  boisterous  consorts  and  secreted 
them.  A  half-breed,  who  was  present,  fearing  for 
Meredith's  safety  among  the  now  intoxicated, 
quarreling  savages,  invited  hirn  to  stay  at  his 
cabin,  about  a  mile  distant,  that  night.  Mr.  Mer- 
edith discreetly  concluded  that  this  was  not  a 
proper  place  for  him  to  remain,  so  he  quietly 
slipped  away,  late  as  it  was,  and  did  not  stop  until 
he  reached  his  brother's  cabin,  near  Mohawk. 

Joseph  Butler,  from  Virginia,  emigrated  as 
early  as  1806,  and  settled  on  section  15,  congress 
land,  just  below  Washington  Darling's  residence. 
His  father,  Joseph,  and  his  brother,  Isaac,  soon 
after  came  to  this  latter  place.  Isaac  Butler,  met 
with  a  sad  fate  in  1809.  While  crossing  the  ford 
near  his  residence,  he  was  thrown  from  his  horse 
into  the  stream  and  drowned.  This  was  proba- 
bly the  first  death  that  occurred  in  the  township. 
He  left  a.  wife  and  three  children. 

Colonel  William  Simmons,  a  Virginian,  who 
had  served  in  the  Revolutionary  war  as  a  colonel, 
received  for  his  services  "  Simmon's  section,"  the 
southeastern  quarter  of  the  township,  and  settled 
thereon  about  1819.  His  was  one  of  the  few 
families  who  brought  a  carriage  with  them  to 
the  county ;  he  also  brought  several  slaves.  He 
is  described  as  quiet  and  gentlemanly  in  his 
deportment,  inclined  to  be  hasty  at  times,  some- 
what aristocratic,  and  an  ardent  Whig  in  poli- 
tics. The  home  farm  was  situated  north  of  the 
river,  the  place  now  owned  by  James  Frew.  He 
died  at  a  good  old  age  and  was  buried  on  his 
farm.  Charles  W.  Simmons,  a  son,  was  a  West 
Point  graduate,  and  subsequently  became  the 
proprietor  of  a  hotel  at  Roscoe ;  represented  the 
county  in  the  legislature  in  1831,  and  afterward 
removed  to  Indiana,  where  he  attained  promi- 


nence as  a  politician.  The  only  other  son  was 
William.  A  daughter  was  married  to  General 
William  Carhart,  the  proprietor  of  Warsaw. 

Thomas  Treadway,  came  at  an  early  day  from 
Maryland;  began  life  with  a  small  start  in  the 
way  of  worldly  goods,  but  by  his  industry  and 
good  business  qualities,  afterward  acquired  a 
goodly  share  of  the  Simmons'  section.  James 
Whitaker  settled  early,  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  Bell  section.  Anthony  Ryne  occupied  that 
part  of  section  15  which  lies  south  of  the  river. 

The  river  lands  were,  in  general,  settled  earliest 
on  account  of  their  great  fertility  and  level  sur- 
face; yet  there  were  exceptions  to  this.  Some 
of  the  se'ttlers  regarding  the  low  bottoms  as  ma- 
larial and  unhealthy,  preferred  to  perch  their 
cabins  among  the  hills,  several  miles  back  from 
the  stream.  One  of  these  was  John  Severns,  who 
settled  very  early  in  the  northern  part  of  section 
3.  The  bulk  of  the  rough  congress  land,  how- 
ever, occupying  the  northern  part  of  the  town- 
ship, remained  unsettled  until  the  time  of  the 
building  of  the  Walhonding  canal.  It  was  then 
taken  up  in  small  tracts,  and  oco  ipied  mostly  by 
German  emigrants,  many  of  whom  were  em- 
ployed in  constructing  the  canal.  These  small 
property  owners  were  usually  without  any  means 
when  they  arrived;  and  during  .the  first  four 
years,  before  crops  could  be  planted  and  raised, 
or  by  reason  of  their  failure,  were  often  in  great 
want.  It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  them 
to  approach  their  more  fortunate  neighbors  in 
the  river-bottoms  in  mid-winter,  and  ask  for  corn 
or  wheat,  agreeing  to  pay  for  it  in  work  the  next 
summer.  The  Darlings  and  other  families,  by 
their  generosity  in  furnishing  these  and  other 
necessities  to  their  indigent  neighbors,  obtained 
their  lasting  gratitude.  This  was  displayed  to  an 
undue  extent  sometimes,  as  in  the  following  in- 
stance: One  of  the  Germans,  on  being  asked 
just  before  an  election  how  he  intended  to  vote, 
replied,  "  I  votes  for  Shake  Darling,"  meaning  for 
Darling's  choice.  One  poor  unfortunate,  who 
lived  within  reach  of  the  malarious  river,  had 
stranded  his  resources  in  mid-winter,  and  in 
making  his  wants  known,  dolefully  remarked 
that  if  he,could  get  enough  corn  to  keep  him  till 
"chills  set  in,"  he  would  be  all  right,  as  he  could 
not  then  eat  anything. 


^ 


^lOo 


7- 


^  cJf^  SuJ4^ 


--^^-^^^^^^W^,  y^/^^.^£i.c.tytJ2.     ^yi^^      ^       /f  ^  jSjuhi) 


FEANCIS  McGUIEE,  SR.,  FARMER. 

POSTOPFICE,   CANAL   LEWISVILLB. 

He  was  born  in  Lafayette  township,  this  county,  in  1811,  and  was  married  in  1833,  to 
Fanny  G.  Thompson,  who  was  born  in  Ohio,  in  1811.  They  have  three  children— Mary, 
Francis,  Jr.,  and  Samuel  T.  Mr.  McGuire  was  not  favored  with  an  opportunity  to  receive  a 
liberal  education,  but  is  a  progressive  farmer  in  every  department.  He  has  given  close  atten- 
tion to  raising  and  improving  stock  of  all  kinds;  his  experience,  close  attention  and  application 
in  this  branch  have  been  crowned  with  success.  He  is  the  half  owner  of  the  noted  Clydesdale 
horse.  His  pedigree  reads  as  follows:  "Emperor  was  foaled  in  1877,  sired  by  imported  Clydes- 
dale Stallion,  Napoleon.  Emperor's  dam  sired  by  imported  Clydesdale  stallion  Netherly;  2d 
dam,  sired  by  imported  Clydesdale  stallion  Conqueror ;  3d  dam,  sired  by  imported  Clydesdale 
Btallion  Sir  William  Wallace ;  4th  dam,  sired  by  imported  Clydesdale  stallion,  Robin  BJood ; 
5tli  dam,  sired  by  imported  Clydesdale  stallion  Old  Clyde."  He  has  devoted  a  great  deal  of 
attention  to  raising  and  improving  his  stock  of  sheep  and  cattle.  He  has  on  his  farm  as  good 
stock  as  the  State  can  produce.  Mr.  McGuire  .owns  a  large  farm  under  a  good  state  of  cul- 
tivation and  with  good  buildings,  and  is  one  of  the  leading,  active  and  prominent  farmers  of 
this  county. 

His  father,  Francis  McGuire  (deceased),  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  emigrated  to  Ohio 
in  1804,  and  settled  in  this  township  and  remained  here  until  his  death,  in  1853.  He  pur- 
chased eleven  hundred  acres  of  land  which  his  children  still  own. 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


517 


A  needy  creature  named  Carter,  without  a 
-cent  in  the  world,  had  obtained  wheat  several 
times  from  John  Elder,  and  once  more  came  to 
!him  with  two.others,  equally  needy.  Mr.  Elder 
replied  to  their  request  for  food  that  he  was  un- 
acquainted with  them.  "  Never  mind,"  said  Car- 
ter, "  I'll  stand  good  for  them."  The  wheat  was 
furnished  and  paid  for  too. 

A  Mr.  Eichardson,  who  was  an  early  settler, 
had  two  hoys,  Joe  and  Lige,  whom  he  sent  one 
morning  into  the  woods  to  find  the  horses,  turned 
•out  the  evening  before  with  bells  around  their 
necks.  A  gun  was  given  Joe,  the  older,  more 
through  habit  than  because  it  was  thought  he 
might  have  occasion  to  use  it.  The  boys,  when 
they  were  some  distance  in  the  woods,  saw  a  bear, 
^amusing  itself  by  scraping  up  the  ground  and 
JoUing  on  it.  They  had  never  before  seen  a  speci- 
men of  this  family  of  the  brute  creation,  and  did 
not  know  what  it  was,  but,  with  a  courage  that 
•did  honor  to  them,  they  slowly  and  quietly  ap- 
proached within  easy  shooting  distance,  when 
•Joe  laid  the  rifle  across  a  log,  took  deliberate  aim 
and  fired.  The  bear  rose  up  and  with  a  loud 
snort  started  off.  The  courage  of  the  boys  now 
■•deserted  them,  and  thoroughly  frightened,  they 
•dropped  the  gun  and  started  for  home  at  the  top 
■of  their  speed.  Lige,  the  swifter  of  the  two, 
reached  the  house  first,  and  seeing  his  father, 
yelled  out  excitedly  that  Joe  had  shot  the  devil. 
"Mr.  Eichardson,  after  quieting  the  boys,  accom- 
panied them  back  to  the  scene  of  the  exploit. 
Oun,  hats,  etc.,  were  found  scattered  about,  and 
^oing  a  little  farther  the  bear  was  seen  lying  dead. 
'The  youthful  hunters,  when  informed  of  the 
1    I      -character  of  their  game,  were  highly  elated. 

A  history  of  the  Walhonding  valley  would  be 
incomplete  if  mention  were  not  made  of  the 
prominent  part  played  by  "  the  cup  that  cheers  " 
•and  does  inebriate.  Whisky  was  an  "  institution," 
'heartily  endorsed  and  sustained  in  practice  by  the 
-early  settlers  of  the  valley,  almost  without  excep- 
tion. Every  well-to-do  farmer  kept  it,  by  the 
barrel,  in  his  cellar,  and  drank  it  as  freely  as 
water.  It  was  pardonable  in  those  times  to  neg- 
lect to  invite  a  visiting  neighbor  to  dine,  but  an 
unpardonable  breach  of  backwoods  etiquette  was 
•committed  if  he  was  not  offered  to  partake  of  the 
-contents  of  the  flowing  bowl.    The  places  were 

21 


numerous  where  it  could  be  purchased ;  not  only 
public  taverns,  but  many  private  dwellings,  where 
nothing  else  was  sold,  kept  a  supply  to  satisfy  the 
great  demand.  The  road  up  the  Walhonding  river 
was  greatly  traveled  in  early  times  by  emigrants 
moving  farther  west,  and  taverns  were  located  all 
along  the  road.  One  of  the  most  noted  of  these 
was  Eckman's  tavern,  situated  north  of  the  river, 
about  two  miles  west  of  Warsaw.  It  was  a  pop- 
ular place  of  public  resort,  and  in  the  early  days 
of  Jefferson  township,  was  the  place  for.  holding 
elections.  The  tavern  remained  until  the  build- 
ing of  the  Walhonding  canal,  the  route  of  which 
passed  through  the  site  of  the  building,  which 
consequently  had  to  be  torn  down.  Eckman 
owned  about  three  acres  here,  which  was  con- 
demned by  the  State,  and  paid  for  in  full. 

A  tavern  was  opened  at  Warsaw  by  Eufus 
Eldridge  during  the  construction  of  the  canal. 
The  first  day,  as  is  customary  at  such  times,  there 
was  an  "  open  bar,"  and  everybody  was  invited 
to  drink  freely  and  without  price ;  consequently, 
most  people  in  the  vicinity  indulged  that  day  in 
a  general — good  time.  A  constant  use  of  the 
beverage,  it  is  said,  makes  the  stomach  less  sensi- 
tive to  its  effects  and  the  brain  less  giddy  than 
the  first  dram.  Betsy  Smith  illustrates  this  fact. 
She  was  the  wife  of  James  Smith,  was  a  washer- 
woman, and  lived  near  Eckman's  tavern.  A  pint 
of  good  whisky  was  always  the  one  thing  need- 
ful when  there  was  a  washing  to  do.  She  once 
attended  a  wool-picking  at  Thomas  Darling's, 
where  she  was  invited  to  sip  her  favorite  bever- 
age. Betsy  tasted  it  repeatedly,  then  exclaimed 
petulently  that  the  whisky  was  not  worth  any- 
thing, for  she  had  taken  eight  or  ten  big  swallows, 
and  for  the  life  of  her  she  couldn't  get  the  taste 
of  it. 

One  of  the  township's  prominent  citizens, 
when  a  boy,  rode  several  weeks  with  a  teamster 
who  was  engaged  in  hauling  wheat  to  Coshocton. 
The  invariable  custom  was  to  stop  at  Eckman's 
for  a  drink ;  then  at  Warsaw,  two  miles  below ; 
then  at  Nathan  Spencer's,  in  Bethlehem  town- 
ship, where  John  Bantum  now  lives ;  next,  where 
Samuel  Burrell  lives.  Finally,  a  good,  strong 
pull  a  short  distance  across  the  river,  must  con- 
tent him  till  he  reached  Coshocton.  The  same 
formula  was  strictly  observed,  inversely,  on  the 


518 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


return ;  and  over  and  over  again,  day  after  day. 
The  boy  was  generally  pressed  to  drink  too,  and 
now  considers  it  marvelous  that  the  habit  did  not 
ruin  him,  as  it  did  too  many  of  his  early  asso- 
ciates. Jefferson  was  no  worse  in  this  respect 
than  other  townships ;  and  a  great  revolution  has 
been  wrought  in  public  sentiment  since  then. 
It  would  perhaps  be  impossible  to  find  two  gal- 
lons of  whisky  now  in  the  whole  valley,  outside 
of  the  several  saloons  that  still  infest  the  country. 
David  Meredith  at  an  early  day  erected  a  small 
grist-mill  on  Mohawk  run,  near  the  present  vil- 
lage of  Mohawk.  Some  years  later,  Hon.  James 
Moore  built  a  small  saw  mill  on  the  same  run, 
about  a  mile  below.  Another  little  grinder  was 
operated  by  Robert  Darling,  on  Darling  run.  It 
was  of  sufficient  size,  however,  to  grind  wheat. 
The  mills  located  at  Warsaw  are  noticed  farther 
on  in  this  chapter.  The  only  mill  known  to  have 
been  located  on  Simmons'  run  was  a  saw-mill 
owned  by  the  Brickers.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

One  of  the  earliest  schools  in  the  township,  in 
all  probability  the  first,  was  held  in  the  cabin  that 
had  been  occupied  by  Isaac  Butler,  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  the  township.  The  children  of  the 
Butlers,  Darlings  and  others  attended  here.  In 
1814,  or  1815,  it  was  taught  by  Oliver  Remington, 
from  Rhode  Island,  a  well  educated,  intelligent 
man.  He  was  a  brother-in-law  to  'Squire  Hum- 
phrey, of  New  Castle  township,  and  remained 
here  only  two  or  three  years,  removing  to  Holmes 
county. 

Another  school,  situated  north  of  the  river,  not 
far  from  its  banks,  was  taught  by  Ben  Vial,  a  tip- 
pling character,  who  often  came  to  his  daily  task 
under  the  influence  of  his  arch  enemy.  Not- 
withstanding his  pedagogic  profession,  it  is  said 
he  reared  a  family  of  children  who  could  neither 
read  nor  write.  James  McCoy,  afterward  pro- 
prietor of  the  Warsaw  hotel,  was  also  an  early 
teacher  of  this  school.  The  ordinary  complaint 
against  some  of  the  teachers  in  those  times  was 
that  they  used  the  rod  too  sparingly.  Mr.  McCoy 
furnished  no  grounds  for  complaint  of  this  kind. 
He  was  a  severe  disciplinarian,  and  applied  the 
whip  freely  when  occasion  demanded  or  oppor- 
tunity offered,  and  thus  won  the  confidence  and 
esteem  of  the  community  in  which  he  lived;  but 


Henry  Yonkers  was  the  "star"  teacher,  for  he 
possessed  the  requisite  qualifications  in  a  pre- 
eminent degree,  being  six  feet  three  inches  in 
height,  and  built  in  proportion.  His  .towering 
strength,  frequently  displayed,  succeeded  in  keep- 
ing his  unruly  pupils  within  the  bounds  of  toler- 
able behavior.  Outside  of  the  school-room  hs' 
was  quiet  in  his  demeanor.  He  engaged  in 
farming  upon  the  cessation  of  his  school-room 
duties,  and  about  1850  removed  from  the  county. 
Upon  the  premises  of  Pren  Metham  were  sev- 
eral tenement  houses  which  were  subsequently 
C3n verted  into  school  buildings  and  used  as  suob 
for  many  years.  The  furniture  was  of  the  sim- 
plest description.  Rough  boards,  fastened  witb 
wooden  pins  to  the  rude  walls,  served  as  writing 
desks.  The  seats  were  of  a  decided  rustic  cast, 
consisting  of  narrow  slabs,  supported  by  legs  so 
long  that  the  average  sized  pupil  could  not  touch 
the  floor  by  six  inches.  Here  the  children  of  the 
last  generation  uncomplainingly  sat,  without 
rest  for  back  or  feet,  day  after  day.  What  a  con- 
trast with  the  pleasantly  and  comfortably  fur- 
nished school-rooms  of  to-day. 

The  cannel  coalj  which  lies  in  rich,  abundant 
fields  among  the  hills  of  Jefferson  township,  was 
discovered  in  the  following  manner:  In  1832, 
Payne  Clark,  who  had  just  come  into  the  town- 
ship, and  was  engaged  in  erecting  his  little  cabin, 
on  the  Simmons  section,  was  searching  in  the 
ravines  for  a  hearth-stone,  and  saw  an  out-crop- 
ping of  the  coal,  Not  knowing  what  it  was,  and 
perceiving  that  in  size  and  shape  it  was  admira- 
bly adapted  for  the  purpose  in  view,  he  pro- 
cured a  fine,  large  slab,  and  fitted  it  in  the  fire- 
place. A  large  fire  was  then  built  upon  it,  and 
the  result  may  easily  be  imagined.  The  house, 
fortunately,  was  not  burned,  but  Mr.  Clark  was 
obliged  to  hunt  another  hearth-stone.  Twenty- 
five  years  later,  fortunes  were  spent  in  cannel 
coal  oil  speculations  in  this  vicinity. 

A  history  of  these  unfortunate  coal  oil  enter- 
prises has  already  been  given  in  the  history  of 
Bedford  township,  and  it  would  be  superfluous 
to  repeat  it  here.  Jefferson  and  Bedford  were 
the  only  two  townships  in  which  the  oil  was  man- 
ufactured. The  extent  of  the  business  in  Jeffer- 
son was  considerably  greater  than  in  Bedford 


HISTORY  01'  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


519 


township,  and,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained, 
was  as  foflows :  on  Lyman's  place,  in  the  south- 
ern part  of  the  Simmon's  section,  six  companies 
were  at  work,  viz :  Lunburg  &  Co.,  of  New  York, 
whose  works  consisted  of  about  twenty  retorts ; 
Porter,  Fields  &  Co.,  an  eastern  firm,  also  about 
twenty  retorts;  John  Dickey,  of  Pennsylvania; 
J.  E.  Holmes  &  Co.,  of  Newark,  Ohio ;  Holmes 
was  a  contractor,  and  also  had  an  interest  in  a 
number  of  other  works.  Mr.  Baker,  an  Eastern 
man,  and  the  American  Company,  of  Newark, 
running  about  thirty  retorts.  On  John  Wood's 
farm  was  a  jcompany,  composed  of  Coshocton 
county  men,  called  the  Home  Company,  running 
about  ten  retorts.  On  James  Moore's  farm  were 
two  companies :  Rambo,  Stilwell  &  Co.,  of  Dres- 
♦  den,  and  one  from  Knox  county.  On  Given's 
place,  was  one  set  of  works  owned  by  J.  E.  Pal- 
mer &  Co.,  consisting  of  about  twenty  retorts. 
Palmer  was  a  well-known  Methodist  preacher, 
and  had  as  a  partner  a  young  New  York  capitalist. 

The  village  of  Warsaw,  containing  a  population 
of  275,  is  situated  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  town- 
ship in  the  Walhonding  valley,  porth  of  the  river. 
It  was  laid  out  November  13, 1834,  by  William 
Carhart,  the  son-in-law  of  Colonel  Simmons. 
The  original  plat  embraced  thirty-two  lots  lying 
on  both  sides  of  Main  street.  March  4,  1840, 
Rufus  Eldredge  platted  an  addition  consisting  of 
forty-one  lots,  facing  Church  street.  This  was 
during  the  time  the  Walhonding  canal  was  build- 
ing. The  canal  improved  the  little  village  con- 
siderably. A  second  addition,  consisting  princi- 
pally of  the  lots  on  Cherry  street,  was  subse- 
quently made  by  N.  Buckalew.  The  town  was 
named  in  honor  of  the  capital  of  Poland,  through 
sympathy  with  her  earnest  though  ineffectual 
struggle  for  liberty. 

The  first  building  on  the  site  of  the  -Nillage  was 
the  residence  of  William  Carhart,  the  proprietor. 
It  was  built  several  years  before  the  town  was 
laid  out,  and  stood  where  the  town  now  is.  The 
first  ^tore  was  kept  by  John  Collins,  at  a  place 
where  Foster's  store  now  stands.  Soon  after 
Collins  started.  Major  William  Long  opened  a 
store  room.  After  the  canal  was  built,  he  also 
dealt  largely  in  grain,  continuing  that  business 
up  to  the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  about 


1850.  After  his  death,  grain  was  handled  for  a 
short  time  by  Joseph  Crowley  and  John  Wil- 
liams; the  business  was  then  discontinued  for 
many  years.  In  1879,  Nichols  &  Gamble  com- 
menced buying  grain  and  are  still  so  engaged. 
In  years  gone  by,  a  foundry  was  successfully  car- 
ried on,  first  by  Ephraim  De  Vinney,  afterwards 
by  Thomas  Randies,  in  the  building  now  used  by 
George  Thompson  as  a  blacksmith  shop. 

The  most  extensive  industrial  pursuit  is  car-  ' 
ried  on  at  the  grist-mill  owned  by  Beck  &  Well- 
ing. It  is  a  large  building,  the  main  part  being 
thirty-six  by  forty-eight  feet,  and  the  warehouse 
attached  to  it  twenty-four  by  thirty-six  feet.  It 
is  five  stories  high,  including  basement  and  loft, 
and  does  a  flourishing  business,  having  three  run 
of  buhrs.  The  mill  was  erected  in  1849.  Its 
water  power  is  applied  by  the  canal.  A  thirty- 
year  lease  for  the  water  power  expired  in  1879, 
and  a  lease  for  twenty  years  reissued.  The 
building  of  the  mill  was  begun  by  William  Long, 
but  before  its  completion  he  died,  and  the  mill 
fell  into  the  hands  of  Nicholas  and  Porter  Rec- 
tor, who  finished  it,  and  added  the  warehouse. 
They  operated  it  for  a  number  of  years,  then  sold 
it  to  Donnelly,  Darling  &  Co.  Robert  Darling 
purchased  the  interest  of  his  partners,  and,  with 
his  son,  operated  it  fourteen  years  under  the 
firm  name  of  R.  Darling  &  Son.  In  1879,  it  was 
purchased  by  the  present  owners. 

Just  to  the  right  of  the  road  entering  Warsaw 
from  Coshocton  on  Beaver  run,  stands  a  saw-mill 
owned  by  C.  Strome.  It  was  purchased  by  him 
in  1841,  having  been  erected  many  years  prior  to 
this  date  by  Colonel  Simmons.  Previous  to  1841, 
it  was  a  grist  and  saw-mill  combined.  There 
was  only  one  run  of  stonp,  however,  grinding 
nothing  but  corn  and  buckwheat.  Mr.  Strome 
erected  a  new  building,  and  put  in  another  set  of 
buhrs,  with  which  to  grind  wheat.  About  1860 
he  suspended  operations  in  the  grinding  depart- 
ment, using  the  building  only  as  a  saw-mill 
since.  A  carding-mill  was  also  connected  with  it 
in  its  earliest  days. 

Farther  up  the  street,  to  the  right  of  the  Wal- 
honding bridge,  is  a  large  three-story  frame  build- 
ing, containing  several  shops.  It  was  erected 
about  1873,  by  Wright  &  Baliff,  as  a  general  repair 
shop.    Darius    Wright,  in  1875,  purchased  his 


520 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


partner's  share,  and  now  has  sole  possession.  He 
■occupies  the  second  floor,  using  it  as  a  black- 
smith and  machine  repair  shop,  It  contains  a 
turning  lathe  and  the  machinery  necessary  to  do 
all  kinds  of  repair  work.  Four  workmen  are 
usually  employed  in  the  shop.  The  upper  floor 
contains  the  wagon  manufactory  and  paint  shop 
of  Casimer  Fortenbacher.  The  lower  or  base- 
ment story  contains  the  foundry  of  Simon  Elliott, 
which  he  has  been  running  about  two  years. 
There  are  in  the  village  two  other  blacksmith 
shops,  owned  by  George  Thompson  and  Philip 
Rudolph;  two  wagon  shops,  Jacob  Cline's  and 
John  Kepler's ;  two  shoe  shops,  John  Speckman's 
and  F.  Seal's,  and  Adam  Coffman's  harness  shop. 
Mrs.  Plowman  is  hostess  at  the  Sherman  house. 

The  mercantile  business  is  represented  as  fol- 
lows :  Dry  goods,  Nichols  &  Gamble,  C.  Stone 
and  James  Foster ;  hardware,  Caser  &  Co. ;  drugs, 
Lawson  &  Son;  groceries,  Charles  Markloy,  Jacob 
Darling,  William  Markley  and  Senft  Brothers. 

Two  practicing  physicians  now  reside  in  War- 
saw, Drs.  Pren  Moore  and  H.  Blackman.  David 
Lawson,  who  studied  with  Dr.  Russell,  of  Mount 
Vernon,  commenced  practice  in  1849,  but  has 
since  retired,  and  is  now  in  the  drug  business 
here.  Among  the  physicians  of  a  former  date 
were  Henry  Miller,  afterward  so  distinguished 
in  business  circles  in  Columbus,  his  brother 
Jonathan,  afterward  of  Franklin  county,  and 
William  Stanton. 

Warsaw  Lodge,  No.  255  of  the  Masonic  frater- 
nity, was  located  here  for  many  years,  but  has  re- 
cently been  removed  to  Spring  Mountain. 

The  village  school-house  is  a  large,  two-story 
frame  building,  erected  in  1871,  and  consisting  of 
three  departments,  the  high-school,  secondary 
and  primary.  The  teachers  are  J.  W.  Murphy, 
'0.  Shaw,  and  A.  D.  Clark. 

The  old  school  building  contained  but  one 
room.  It  is  still  standing,  and  is  used  occasion- 
ally for  religious  services.  The  Disciples  have 
been  holding  meetings  here  for  several  years. 
Their  congregation  is  as  yet  small  and  feeble, 
recently  formed,  and  consisting  mainly  of 
Matthew  Stover  and  wife,  Henry  Still  and  wife, 
William  Wilson  and  wife,  and  James  Wilson  and 
wife.  Rev.  Hoffman  has  been  filling  the  pulpit. 
The  Baptists  occasionally  hold  services  here  also. 


But  one  church  edifice  now  graces  the  village, 
that  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  society,  which 
was  organized  in  1843,  by  Rev.  Mr.  Thatcher; 
the  presiding  elder  at  the  time  being  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Yocum.  For  five  or  six  years  meetings 
were  held  in  the  old  school-house,  still  standing 
on  the  hill.  The  first  members  were  Langdon 
Hogle,  Andrew  Weatherwax  and  wife,  Joseph 
Meggs  and  wife,  John  Hook  and  wife,  William 
Pancake  and  wife.  The  church  was  built  about 
five  years  after  the  society  was  organized;  a 
frame  building  worth  something  over  $1,000. 
Rev.  Mr.  Thatcher  was  followed  by  Rev.  Finley 
Leonard,  during  whose  ministry  a  great  revival 
occurred,  the  result  being  an  addition  of  some 
forty  to  the  church.  The  number  of  communi- 
cants at  this  time  is  about  fifty,  and  the  church 
is  in  a  prosperous  condition. 

Mohawk  village,  lying  in  the  little  valley  of  Mo- 
hawk run,  frorn  which  it  received  its  name,  in 
the  southwestern  part  of  the  township,  was  laid 
out  in  1859,  by  William  and  James  Thompson. 
Its  existence  is  due  to  the  coal  oil  excitement 
which  led  to  the  occupancy  of  this  part  of  the 
township.  The  cannel  coal  fields  surrounded  it 
on  three  sides  and  the  demand  for  dwelling 
hoiises  for  the  laborers  employed  in  the  works 
and  for  a  trading  center  resulted  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  little  village.  For  about  eighteen 
months,  until  the  coal  oil  bubble  burst,  it  enjoyed 
a  mushroom  kind  of  growth ;  since  then  if  has 
barely  held  its  own.  No  houses  were  erected 
since  1860,  until  within  a  year  or  two.  It  now 
contains  about  seventy-five  souls. 

The  first  house  was  built  by  William  McPar- 
land  as  a  dwelling  house  and  store-room  com- 
bined. The  store-room  is  still  occupied  as  such 
by  D.  E.  Almack.  Mr.  McFarland  was  a  cousin 
to  the  Moores,  came  from  Virginia  and  after- 
ward returned  there.  A.  Mr.  Hodkins  inaugu- 
rated mercantile  business  here.  He  kept  a  very 
limited  stock  of  groceries  and  coal  oil  for  a  very 
limited  space  of  time,  and  was  followed  by  Zack 
Bush  whose  stock  in  trade  consisted  of  groceries 
and  liquors.  Subsequently  Newton  Stilwell 
opened  a  "  regular  "  store,  keeping  a  full  line  of 
dry  goods,  clothing,  boots,  groceries,  etc.  He 
was  from  Dresden  and  removed  from  Mohawk 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


521 


village  to  Missouri.  The  present  business  of  the 
village  is  as  follows:  D.  E.  Almack,  dry  goods;  K. 
H.  McFadden,  dry  goods;  Will  Wheeler,  har- 
ness shop;  Mahlon  Scliooley,  shoe  shop;  J.  H. 
Johnson,  blacksmith  and  carriage  shop. 

The  school-house  is  a  creditable  t'vyo-story  build- 
ing, in  which  two  schools  are  usually  kept.  Only 
one  has  been  in  progress  during  the  last  year, 
however,  owing  to  an  unusually  small  enumera- 
tion. 

Mary  McClure  has  charge  of  the  mail.  Pre- 
vious to  the  platting  of  the  village,  James  Moore 
kept  a  postoffice  a  number  of  years,  about  a 
mile  north  of  it. 

Mohawk  Lodge  of  the  Independent  Order  of 
Good  Templars,  located  here,  was  organized  in 
February,  1869,  for  the  purpose  of  counteracting 
the  influence  of,  and  suppressing,  if  possible,  a 
saloon  which  had  recently  flung  its  sign  to  the 
breeze.  The  mission  of  the  lodge  was  speedily 
crowned  with  success.  William  Barnes,  of  New 
Bedford  Lodge,  and  Deputy  of  the  Grand  Lodge, 
organized  it.  Among  its  twelve  charter  mem- 
bers were  Henry  Metham,  Robert  Moore,  Thomas 
Sohooley,  W  illiam  Dearness,  R.  H.  McFadden, 
James  Moore,  Sr.,  James  Moore,  Jr.,  D.  E.  Almack 
and  Robert  Given.  During  its  brief  career,  it 
has  initiated  about  300  members,  a  large  number 
of  whom  have  removed  to  other  places.  The 
society  is  in  a  healthy  condition  at  present, 
contains  100  members,  and  is  officered  as  follows : 
J.  Q.  Moore,  worthy  chief  templar;  Charlotte 
Metham,  worthy  vice  templar;  Grant  Wheeler, 
secretary,  and  Mary  Graham,  treasurer.  The 
village  is  noted  for  its  sobriety  and  morality. 
Several  times  have  salopns  been  opened  here, 
but  they  have  been  as  often  closed,  in  a  very 
short  time.  Not  only  is  the  popular  sentiment 
opposed  to  the  sale  of  liquor,  but  legal  recourse 
may  be  had  at  any  time.  Within  each  orginal 
deed  for  the  town  lots  was  inserted  a  clause  pro- 
hibitory of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drinks,  under 
the  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  property.  The  va- 
lidity of  that  clause  has  been  tested  in  the  courts 
and  sustained. 

Mohawk  village  is  scarcely  known  by  that 
name.  It  is  universally  called  Jericho.  The 
story  goes  that  a  noted  Irish  character  living  in 
this  vicinity  became  greatly  displeased  at  the 


manner  in  which  the  school  was  conducted,  and, 
meeting  one  of  the  Scotch  school  directors  one 
day,  berated  him  soundly  about  it.  The  wrath 
of  the  Scotchman,  under  the  personal  abuse 
heaped  upon  him,  gradually  rose  to  the  point  of 
ebullition,  when  it  could  contain  itself  no  longer, 
and  was  vented  upon  the  wordy  offender,  whO' 
presented  a  sorry  spectacle  for  day^  afterward. 
The  Irishman  wrote  an  account  of  his  wrongs, 
and  had  it  read  in  a  paper  before  the  local  lite- 
rary society.  In  it  he  described  how,  in  going 
down  from  Jerusalem  into  Jericho,  he  fell  among 
thieves  and  robbers.  So  pleased  were  the  audit- 
ors with  the  production  that  this  village  was 
forthwith  dubbed  Jericho,  and  the  name  has 
clung  to  it  ever  since. 

From  1845  to  1850,  or  thereabouts,  a  country 
postoffice  existed  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
township,  under  the  name  of  Rural  Vale.  The 
postmasters  were  John  Elder,  John  Taylor,  Mr. 
Lindersmith  and  John  Williams,  successively. 

The  Mohawk  village  church,  located  about  a 
mile  east  of  the  village,  was  organized  in  the  fall 
of  1840,  at  the  Whittaker  school-house,  by  Rev. 
Harvey  D.  Camp.  In  the  preceding  year  a  com- 
pany from  Ireland  had  settled  in  the  Mohawk 
valley,  until  that  time  a  comparative  wilderness. 
They  were  followed  the  next  year  by  other  fami- 
lies of  the  same  connection.  The  first  company 
embraced  James  Moore,  deceased  (father  of  Rob- 
ert Moore),  James  Moore,  Jr.,  John  Moore  and 
William  Moore.  Those  coming  the  next  year, 
were  William  and  James  Given,  William  and 
James  Thompson,  and  William  Moore.  And 
these  families,  with  Thomas  Tredaway  and  wife, 
composed  the  society  at  its  organization.  In 
1841,  there  was  an  addition  to  the  settlement,  in- 
cluding, besides  others,  John  Moore  and  family, 
and  the  well-known  James  and  Robert  of  the 
day.  For  about  a  year  from  the  organization, 
the  meetings  were  held  in  the  Whittaker  school- 
house  ;  then  a  school-house  was  built  in  the  set- 
tlement and  meetings  held  in  that.  In  1849,  the 
church  was  built— worth  some  $1,500.  Within  a 
few  years  it  has  been  repaired,  and  very  much 
improved  as  to  its  interior.  It  stands  near  a  re- 
freshing spring  of  water,  and  is  convenient  and 
attractive  in  all  its  appointments  and  arrange- 
ments.    The  minister  first  in  charge  was  Rev. 


522 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Mr.  Camp.  Eev.  Leonard  Parker  succeeded  him, 
and  Eev.  Henry  Whittemore  succeeded  Parker. 
Under  his  ministry,  quite  a  noticeable  number 
were  added  to  the  society.  Eev.  Homer  J.  Clark 
followed  Whittemore.  Then  came  Austin  Cole- 
man, during  whose  ministry  the  church  building 
was  erected.  Just  prior  to  building  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  church,  he  held  a  protracted  meet- 
'ing  in  the  Baptist  church,  which  had  been  built 
the  year  before.  During  this  revival  there  was  a 
great  many  valuable  accessions.  The  history  of 
the  society  has  been  marked  by  great  prosperity. 
The  number  of  members  at  this  time  is  about 
120.     Eev.  Philip  Kelser  is  the  pastor  in  charge. 

A  Sunday-school  with  a  membership  of  125, 
superintended  by  the  pastor,  assisted  by  Miss 
Effie  Moore,  and  supplied  with  a  fine  library,  has 
been  successfully  maintained  for  several  years, 
summer  and  winter,  having  previously  been  held 
only  during  the  summer. 
t 

Jefferson  Presbyterian  church  is  situated  about 
a  mile  south  of  the  village  of  Warsaw.  Among 
those  chiefly  interested  in  the  organization  of  the 
church  were  the  Elder  family,  and  the  building 
was  located  on  a  site  given  for  the  purpose  on  the 
farm  of  John  Elder.  The  church  was  organized 
August  19, 1837,  by  Eev.  Nathaniel  Conklin.  A 
colony  was  sent  out  for  the  purpose  from  the 
West  Carlisle  church,  with  which  it  has  nearly 
always  been  associated  in  making  a  pastoral 
charge.  The  early  meetings  were  held  in  a 
school-house  for  a  few  years,  then  the  congrega- 
tion erected  the  commodious  frame  now  in  serv- 
ice. The  principal  ministerial  labor  has  been 
rendered  by  Eevs.  Matthews,  Bomberger,  John 
Moore  and  Fox.  Eev.  W.  D.  Wallace  is  the  pres- 
ent pastor.  The  church,  which  had,  at  the  outset, 
twenty-four  members,  has  now  about  seventy-five. 

Darling's  run  Eegular  Baptist  church  was  or- 
ganized in  1866,  with  ten  members.  They  ad- 
vanced for  some  years,  but  have  now  come  to  a 
stand-still  condition,  with  a  membership  of  a  little 
over  twenty.  They  have  no  house  of  worship, 
using  a  school-house  for  that  purpose.  They 
have  had  as  pastors.  Elder  W.  S.  Barnes  and  Eev. 
H.  Clark.    They  have  no  pastor  at  present. 

Jefferson  Eegular  Baptist  church  was  organ- 


ized May,  1840,  by  Elder  B.  White,  with  six  mem- 
bers. It  grew  rapidly,  and,  in  1846,  its  member- 
ship was  nearly  100,  and  in  1850,  ^130.  Subse- 
quently it  began  to  decrease  in  numbers,  caused 
mostly  by  removals  west  and  elsewhere.  Not 
more  than  ten  years  elapsed  until  it  was  but  a 
weak  church.  Since  1860,  it  has  not  been  able  to 
sustain  preaching,  and,  in  fact,  is  no  longer  to  be 
properly  called  a  church.  The  ministers  that 
have  labored  for  this  church  are  as  follows:  B. 
White,  William  Mears,  L.  Gilbert,  J.M.  Winn,E. 
E.  Whitaker,  S.  W.  Frederick,  A.  W.  Odor,  under 
missionary  employ,  and  A.  W.  Arnold.  The  old 
frame  house  of  worship  is  almost  a  wreck. 

The  Zion  Evangelical  Lutheran  and  Eeform 
church  (German)  is  situated  in  the  northeastern 
portion  of  Jefferson  township.  It  was  organized 
in  1844,  by  Eev.  Frederick  Minner.  Preaching 
had  previously  been  held  at  the  house  of  Christ- 
ian Gamersfelter,  of  Clark  township,  and  later  in 
Peter  Strome's  house,  in  this  township,  as  the 
greater  number  of  the  attendants  settled  in  this 
vicinity.  Other  Germans  came  in,  and  in  the 
above  mentioned  year  a  society  was  formed  and 
a  weather-boarded  log  meeting-house,  which  is 
still  used,  was  built,  by  the  personal  labor  of  the. 
members.  Christian  Shoemaker,  Jacob  Freder- 
ick, Abram  Van  Kennel  and  Christian  Gamers- 
felter were  the  most  active  members  at  the  time 
of  the  erection.  The  pastors  in  charge  of  this 
fiock  since  Eev.  Minner,  have  been  Eevs.  Lewis 
Dhume,  Holm  Gosche  Holm,  Frederick  Hunche, 
John  Bery  and  John  Horn.  At  the  termination 
of  the  pastorate  of  the  last  named  minister  ser- 
vices were  discontinued  for  a  while,  but  Eev. 
Bery  has  since  been  recalled,  and  is  now  serving 
this  and  two  other  congregations.  The.member- 
ship  is  very  small. 

The  Tabor  Evangelical  church — better  known 
as  the  Albright — was  organized  about  1850.  Its 
organization  was  due  chiefly  to  a  dissention  in 
the  Lutheran  church,  which  caused  a  number  of 
its  members  to  withdraw,  and  subsequently  to 
organize  this  body.  Chief  among  the  little  band 
of  organizers  were  John  Frederick,  Earnest 
Myer,  Joseph  Speak,  Casper  Mingel,  Henry  Cor- 
rel  and  Jacob  Heckelberger,    Its  first  minister 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


623 


-was  Rev.  Monk.  A  log  rneeting-house,  in  the  ex- 
treme northeastern  part  of  the  township,  was 
«oon  built,  and  was  used  until  the  society  disband- 
ed, in  1868.  This  dissolution  was  due  to  the 
building  of  the  Hopewell  Evangelical  church,  in 
Clark  township,  as  a  considerable  number  of  the 
Tabor  congregation,  who  resided  in  Clark  town- 
.ship,  severed  their  connection  with  Tabor  church 
and  united  with  the  Hopewell  church,  on  account 
of  its  proximity  to  their  homes. 

The  Bethel  Evangelical  church  grew  out  of  the 
Tabor  church,  might,  in  fact,  be  regarded  as  a 
•continuation  of  it.  About  a  year  after  services 
were  suspended  in  the  old  Tabor  church,  those  of 
the  members  who  resided  in  this  township  erect- 
ed another  building,  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
southwest  from  the  old  structure.  Jacob  Gam- 
■ersfelter,  Christian  Kaser,  Joseph  Speck,  William 
King,  Christian  Strome,  Peter  Haas  and  John 
Frederick  were  its  main  members  at  this  time. 
Now  the  membership  is  nearly  fifty.  The  pas- 
tors in  charge  of  the  circuit  to  which  this  con- 
gregation belongs,  are  Revs.  John  Smith  and 
Frank  Tohero.  A  flourishing  Sabbath-school 
exists,  with  about  seventy  members.  Jacob  Gam- 
■erafelter  has  been  superintendent  for  many 
years 


CHAPTER   LVn. 


KEENE    TOWNSHIP. 


Boundary— Streams— Springs— Soil— Military  Land  —  Archse- 
ology— Settlements  — First  Physicians  — Mills  and  Distil- 
leries—Early Schools—"  Loud  School  "—Early  Preaching— 
Keene— Newport— Churches. 

KEENE  township  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Mill  Creek  township,  on  the  east  by  White 
lEyes,  on  the  south  by  Tuscarawas  and  Jackson, 
and  on  the,  west  by  Bethlehem  township.  It  was 
•organized  as  a  separate  township  in  1824,  pre- 
vious to  that  time  having  been  a  part  of  Mill 
•Creek.  The  Walhonding  river  passes  through 
the  southwestern  corner,  cutting  off  about  a  hun- 
dred acres  from  the  main  portion  of  the  town- 
ship. Mill  creek  is  the  principal  stream.  It 
passes  through  the  township  from  north  to  south, 
•entering  the  Walhonding  river  a  short  distance 
Ibelow,  in  Tuscarawas  township.    Several  stream- 


lets run  through  the  township,  one  of  them  being 
designated  Little  Mill  creek.  Springs  of  a  strong- 
flow  and  an  excellent  quality  of  water  are  abund- 
antly scattered  throughout  the  township,  furnish- 
ing water  at  nearly  every  farm  house.  The  sur- 
face may  be  described  as  rough  and  rolling,  be- 
coming in  some  places  hilly.  In  the  southwestern 
corner,  along  the  Walhonding,  are  a  few  hundred 
acres  of  rich,  loamy  bottom  land.  Except  this 
the  soil  is  generally  a  yellow  clay,  with  a  little 
sand,  and  produces  good  crops.  It  seems  specially 
adapted  to  pasturage,  as  it  produces  blue  grass 
in  rich  abundance.  Oak,  chestnut,  walnut,  beech, 
sugar,  hickory  and  white  ash  are  the  principal 
varieties  of  timber;  they  covered  the  entire  sur- 
face of  the  township  before  it  was  cleared  by  the 
woodman's  ax. 

Three-fourths  of  the  township  is  military  land, 
the  first  section,  or  the  northeastern  quarter  of 
the  township,  being  congress  land.  The  second 
section,  or  northwestern  quarter,  was  surveyed 
by  the  government  into  lots  of  one  hundred 
acres  each,  which  were  entered  severally  from 
time  to  time,  as  they  were  demanded.  The  third 
section  of  the  township,  its  southwestern  quarter, 
belonged  originally  to  Robert  Underwood,  his 
patent  for  the  land  being  from  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  beine  dated  March  29,  1800. 
Mr.  Underwood  was  a  government  official  in  the 
treasury  department  at  Washington,  and  never 
resided  in  Coshocton  county.  His  section  was 
located  for  him  by  J.  Matthews.  For  his  services 
in  locating  this  section  and  several  other  sec- 
tions, Matthews  received  from  Mr.  Underwood  a 
five  hundred  acre  tract  of  land  in  the  southeast- 
ern part  of  this  section.  This  tract  was  shortly 
after  conveyed  by  Matthews  to  Ebenezer  Buck- 
ingham, and  by  Buckingham  to  Benjamin  Bur- 
rell,  who  settled  upon  it.  Underwood  had  his 
section  surveyed  into  lots  of  about  one  hundred 
acres  each,  which  he  sold  gradually  to  settlers 
coming  in,  until  all  were  disposed  of.  The 
fourth  section,  or  the  southeastern  quarter  of  the 
township,  was  granted  May  16, 1800,  by  President 
Adams  to  James  Hamilton,  of  Carlisle,  Pennsyl- 
vania. He,  too,  was  a  non-resident  of  the  county, 
and  sold  the  land  by  parcejs  to  settlers. 

Archseological  remains  are  not  numerous  in 
this  township.  In  this  county  they  are  found  usu- 


524 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ally  in  the  broad  valleys  of  the  larger  streams, 
and  in  Keene  township  the  only  valley  of  this 
kind  is  that  of  the  Walhonding  which  merely 
touches  the  southwestern  corner.  Here,  however, 
is  found  a'  stone  mound  situated  on  the  f^rm  of 
K.  D.  Miller  several  hundred  yards  from  his 
house  on  the  point  of  a  hill  that  overlooks  the 
valley.  A  large  portion  of  the  stone  forming  it 
has  been  hauled  away.  Before  it  was  disturbed, 
it  was  about  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  three  in 
hight,  and  regular  in  slope.  The  stones  were  of 
various  sizes,  nicely  fitted  together  like  mason 
work.  It  has  never  been  explored.  About  a 
mile  southeast  of  this,  just  west  of  the  residence 
of  Saul  Miller,  on  a  nearly  level  ridge  of  land  is  a 
flat  circular  elevation,  several  feet  high,  covering 
about  an  acre.  Mr.  Miller,  plowing  at  one  side 
of  this  elevation  several  years  ago,  struck  the 
plow  against  a  layer  of  stone,  some  little  distance 
below  the  surface,  which  seemed  to  be  a  pave- 
ment leading  to  a  spring  situated  just  below. 
Across  the  road  from  his  house  upon  the  top  of 
a  fiat  sand  hill  are  a  number  of  excavations  in 
the  sandy  soil  perhaps  ten  feet  deep.  When  or 
why  they  were  made  it  is  difficult  even  to  con- 
jecture. 

The  Underwood  section  was  the  first  part  of 
the  township  to  be  settled.  One  of  the  first  at- 
tempts at  mill  building  in  Coshocton  county  was 
made  in  this  section,  on  Mill  creek.  It  was 
about  the  year  1801  that  Ebenezer  Buchingham, 
of  Zanesville,  had  a  dam  for  a  saw-mill  con- 
structed on  his  land  in  this  section,  within  200 
yards  of  where  M.  McCarty  now  lives ;  but  it 
was  swept  away  the  same  fall  during  high  waters, 
and  the  project  in  consequence  abandoned.  Ac- 
cording to  another  account,  the  work  of  building 
the  dam  was  done  by  George  Colver  and  another 
man,  and  before  it  was  completed  one  of  the  men 
died  from  the  effects  of  a  rattlesnake  bitfe.  This 
caused  the  other  to  relinquish  work  and  return 
to  Zanesville.  Benjamin  Burrell,  a  few  years 
later,  about  1807,  settled  here.  He  was  from 
Frederick  county,  Maryland,  and-  died  soon  after 
the  war  of  1812. 

One  of  the  first  men  to  settle  on  this  sec- 
tion was  Nicholas  Miller,  who,  in  1804,  came 
with  his  father,  Henry  Miller,  from  Hampshire 


county,  Virginia,  to  this  county.  His  father  had 
served  seven  years  in  the  revolutionary  war  as  a< 
sharp-shooter,  under  General  Morgan.  Nicholas, 
lived  two  years  with  his  uncle,  Michael  Miller,  in 
Franklin  township ;  then,  in  1806,  took  up  a  resi- 
dence in  Keene  township,  which  was  continued 
till  his  death.  When  he  came  into  the  township> 
his  entire  fortune  consisted  of  $36  in  money  and 
two  axes.  He  first  bought  seventy-two  acres 
from  Mr.  Underwood,  paying  for  it  in  part  by 
assisting  in  the  survey  of  the  section.  Large  ad- 
ditions of  real  estate  were  subsequently  made  W 
this.  Several  years  after  he  settled  here  he  mar- 
ried Mary  Darling,  who,  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
in  1806,  drove  a  four-horse  team  through  from 
Virginia.  Her  brothers,  William  and  Jonathan, 
were  among  the  first  settlers  of  Jefferson  town- 
ship. 

During  the  winter  preceding  Mr.  Miller's  ar- 
rival in  Keene  township,  he  was  engaged  iiu 
deadening  the  trees  on  the  little  tract  he  had 
bought,  and  instead  of  returning  to  his  home  in 
Franklin  township,  every  evening,  he  made  a  ^ 
cave-like  excavation  under  a  jutting  rock,  which 
served  frequently  as  a  sleeping  place.  He  had 
retired  here,  one  stormy  evening,  when  he  ob- 
served a  bear  approaching  him.  The  sight,  at 
first,  frightened  him,  for  he  had  no  weapon  at 
hand ;  but  he  raised  a  hideous  yell,  and  the  bear 
scampered  away,  Once,  when  bear  hunting,  he 
had  shot  and  wounded  his  game,  but  not  mor- 
tally, and  he  was  in  great  personal  danger.  His 
trusty  dog  advanced  upon  the  bear  and  attacked 
it.  Bruin  turned  his  attention  from  Miller  to 
the  dog,  embracing  the  latler  in  a  death-hke  hug> 
Miller,  in  the  meantime,  quickly  loaded  his  gun, 
with  powder  and  ball  thrown  in  loosely,  ran  up 
to  the  bear  and  shot  it  dead  in  its  tracks.  The 
dog  arose,  walked  a  few  steps,  then  fell  dead. 

Musters,  were  held  in  Coshocton  as  soon  as 
men  enough  to  form  a  company  could  be  col- 
lected. While  Miller  was  attending  one  there^ 
an  Indian  attempted  to  steal  his  horse.  Miller 
detected  him  in  the  act,  and  attacking  him  in 
true  pioneer  style,  gave  him  a  drubbing.  The 
Indian  threatened  revenge  after  he  recovered, 
but  Miller  was  never  disturbed  by  hiip. 

In  1806,  Garrett  Moore,  a  Virginian,  also  set- 
tled on  the  Underwood  section,  on  lot  13.    Henry 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


625- 


Murray,  Van  Emery,  Jackson  Baker,  William 
Win  ton,  Samuel  Thompson  and  James  McCul- 
look  came  about  the  same  time.  They  were 
either  renters  or  squatters,  and  were  only  tran- 
sient in  their  stay  here.  Several  years  later, 
Elizabeth  and  George  Emery,  mother  and  son, 
settled  in  the  extreme  southwestern  corner  of  the 
township. 

James  Oglesby,  now  the  oldest  resident  of 
Keene  township,  became  a  settler  in  1810.  He 
was  from  Virginia,  and  came  through  to  Coshoc- 
ton by  team.  He  first  leased  a  place  from  Isaac 
Evans,  adjoining  his  present  home,  and  afterward 
acquired  considerable  property  in  his  own  name. 
He  served  twice  in  the  war  of  1812,  first  about 
forty  days  in  the-  vicinity  of  Mansfield,  afterward 
a  term  of  six  months  at  upper  Sandusky. 

Pour  or  five  years  later,  George  Titus  emi- 
grated from  Virginia,  and  located  on  lot  22.  He 
was  a  blacksmith,  the  first  to  pursue  that  trade  in 
Keene  township.  Cuthbert  Milligan  and  his 
wife  about  1815,  crossed  the  mountains  from 
Hardy  county,  Virginia,  with  a  single  horse; 
each  of  them  would  alternately  ride  and  walk. 
Mr.  Milligan  leased  the  Worman  farm  for  a  num- 
ber of  years,  then  purchased  a  portion  of  lot  22. 
James  Mulford  came  about  the  same  time. 

In  1816,  George  Bible,  another  Virginian,  en- 
tered the  township  and  settled  on  the  Underwood 
section.  He  was  a  famous  hunter  and  devoted 
most  of  his  time  to  this  his  favorite  occupation. 
For  a  number  of  years,  from  100  to  150  deer,  be- 
sides other  game,  were  annually  brought  down  by 
his  rifle. 

The  year  1817  brought  Charles  Dusthimer  to  this 
section  from  the  vicinity  of  Newcomerstown,  to 
which  place  he  had  emigrated  eight  years  before 
from  Virginia.  James  O'Donnell  came  with  him. 
Henry  Preston  purchased  and"  settled  upon  lots 
6  and  7;  he  subsequently  sold  them  to  John  Kay, 
who  came  in  1817.  Isaac  Siphers  came  the  same 
year.  Shortly  after  the  war  of  1812,  James  Pew, 
who  had  been  a  soldier  under  General  Harrison, 
settled  on  lot  11,  where  his  widow  still  lives. 

John  Williams  and  William  Livingston  were 
among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  Hamilton  sec- 
tion. Livingston  served  for  a  number  of  years 
as  justice  of  the  peace. 

The  northeast  quarter  of  the  township  began 


to  be  settled  about  1816.  James  Carson  waa- 
among  the  earliest  persons  here.  He  located  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  2.  William  Elliott 
and  Andrew  Neal  followed  soon  after,  the  latter 
settling  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  8. 
Henry  Barnes,  about  this  time,  owned  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  9.  John  Daugherty  and 
John  Crowle.y  were  also  early  settlers.  George- 
Shoemaker  came  from  Rockingham  county,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1821.  Jacob  Bible,  a  brother  to  George- 
Bible,  accompanied  him.  He  is  still  living  just, 
across  the  line  in  Bethlehem  township.  From 
1817  to  about  1822,  settlers  rapidly  filled  up  un- 
occupied sections,  and  at  this  latter  date  this, 
quarter  of  the  township  was  probably  entirely 
settled. 

The  northwestern  portion  of  Keene  township 
was  settled  principally  by  New  Englanders,. 
most  of  whom  were  from  Cheshire  county.  New 
Hampshire.  Among  the  earliest  and  best  known 
were  Timothy  Emerson,  -  Jacob  Emerson,  his- 
cousin,  Jesse  Beals,  Adam  Johnson,  Kobert  Far- 
well,  Zopher  Farwell,  Dr.  Benjamin  Hills,  Calvin 
Adams,  John  Burton,  Henry  Jewett,  Samuel 
Stone,  Jonas  Child  and  Chauncy  Litchfield. 

Timothy  Emerson  came  in  1818,  from  Ashley^ 
Massachusetts,  and  settled  on  lot  12.  The  first 
Sunday-school  in  Keene  township  owed  its  ex- 
istence to  his  efforts.  He  died  in  Keene  town- 
ship in  1878  at  the  ripe  age  of  ninety-six,  just  as- 
he  was  about  to  remove  to  Granville,  where  two- 
children  resided.  The  Farwells  came  in  1825,. 
from  Cheshire  county.  New  Hampshire.  Robert 
Farwell  was  instrumental  in  introducing  the  first, 
fine  sheep  into  Keene  township.  Adam  Johnson 
came  in  1819,  also  from  Cheshire  county,  New 
Hampshire.  He  was  a  well  educated  man,  for 
several  years  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  this  town- 
ship, and  withal  a  very  active  and  prominent 
citizen.  Dr.  Benjaman  Hills  settled  in  practice 
here  at  the  instance  of  his  friend  Adam  Johnson, 
about  1820  or  1821,  emigrating  from  the  same 
place.  He  was  the  first  physician  in  Keen© 
township  and  one  of  the  first  in  Coshocton 
county.  For  a  while  it  is  said  he  and  Dr.  Lee  of 
Coshocton  were  the  only  two  practitioners  in  the 
county.  Although  very  young  at  the  time,  he 
had  been  in  the  revolutionary  war  in  its  last  year 
as  an  assistant  to  an  army  surgeon.  He  was  quite 


S26 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


eccentric,  it  appears;  rough  in  speech  but  kind 
of  heart  and  especiallj'-  tender  toward  the  brute 
creation,  horses,  dogs,  cats,  etc.  It  is  said  that  for 
a  long  time  he  fed  daily  a  rattlesnake  that  had 
taken  up  its  abode  under  his  barn.  In  medicine 
he  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  works  of  Dr.  Rush 
■of  Philadelphia.  His  medical  hobby  was  that  all 
•diseases  were  produced  by  miasmatic  influence- 
His  wife  died  in  1834,  he  returned  to  New  Eng- 
land and  died  shortly  after.  Dr.  Lewis  Colby 
irom  Vermont,  a  well  educated  physician,  located 
.at  Keene  about  1828.  His  stay  here  was  brief.  A 
few  years  later  he  removed  to  Louisiana  and 
■died  there  soon  after. 

Bartholomew  Thayer,  a  revolutionary  soldier, 
settled  on  lot  2  of  .the  southwestern  section.  He 
■died  in  1826,  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  and  was 
Tauried  on  his  farm.  Courage  and  credulity  were 
two  elements  of  his  character,  as  the  following 
incident  will  testify:  While  Adam  Johnson  was 
surveying  the  tovsTi  of  Keene,  a  rattlesnake  was 
seen  by  one  of  the  men  and  killed.  Thayer,  who 
was  present,  was  afflicted  with  an  ailment  of  some 
kind,  and  had  heard  that  the  heart  of  a  rattle- 
snake was  a  sure  cure.  Eager  to  test  the  efficacy 
■oi  the  remedy,  he  at  once  cut  out  the  heart  of 
the  viper,  and  at  a  single  gulp  swallowed  it. 

The  earliest  township  records  preserved  are 
for  the  year  1828.  They  show  that  during  that 
year  the  officers  were  as  follows:  Timothy 
Emerson,  John  Rader  and  George  Ford,  trustees ; 
John  Daugherty  and  James  Pew,  fence  viewers ; 
Henry  Barnes,  clerk;  E.  Thayer,  justice  of  the 
peace ;  Jacob  Emerson,  constable. 

The  first  mill  permanently  erected  was  built 
"by  Nicholas  Miller,  in  1816,  on  what  is  now  the 
farm  of  his  son,  Saul  Miller.  About  ten  years 
later  a  grist  mill  was  added.  The  two  were  sold 
to  John  Burton  soon  after,  and  while  in  his  pos- 
rsession  were  destroyed  by  fire,  in  1836.  About 
1818  Jacob  Emerson  built  a  mill  on  lot  14  of  the 
northwest  quarter.  He  subsequently  sold  it  to 
the  Farwells.  It  suspended  operations  perma- 
nently in  1859.  On  lot  3  of  the  southwest 
■quarter  Ephraim  Thayer,  about  1825,  built  a  saw- 
mill and  grist-mill  combined.  Several  years 
later  a  carding  and  fulling  machine  was  attached 
to  the  mill.    This  was  the  first  carding-mill  in 


this  section  of  country,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  it  did  an  extensive  business.  It  went  down 
about  1840.  Rev.  Adams,  of  later  years,  had  a 
little,  open,  frame  saw-mill,  on  lot  19  of  the 
northwest  quarter,  where  he  also  ground  a  little 
corn  and  buckwheat.  John  Andrews  also  ran  a 
little  corn-cracker  several  years  on  a  little  creek 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  township. 

The  only  distillery  operated  in  Keene  town- 
ship was  a  little  copper  affair-  owned  by  Isaac 
Siphers,  situated  on  lot  7.,  in  the  southwest 
quarter  of  the  township,  built  about  1820,  and 
kept  up  about  fifteen  years. 

Long  before  the  schools  were  maintained  by 
public  taxation,  the  demand  for  education  among 
the  pioneers  of  this  township,  as  well  as  else- 
where, was  sufficiently  strong  to  keep  schools  in 
operation  regularly  for  a  few  months  every  year. 
The  earliest  schools  were  taught  in  school-cabins 
built  by  the  settlers,  or  in  deserted  huts,  here 
and  there,  wherever  they  could  be  found.  One 
of  the  earliest  school-houses  erected,  stood  on  lot 
18  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  township.  It 
was  built  about  1818  or  1820,  by  the  people  of  this 
vicinity,  who  "  turned  out "  with  their  teams  and 
their  axes  and  soon  constructed  it  and  its  rude 
furniture.  It  was  a  little  log  cabin,  just  high 
enough  to  permit  a  man  to  stand  upright  in  it, 
with  a  fire-place,  ten  feet  wide,  occupying  one 
end;  for  windows  it  had  sheets  of  oiled  paper 
placed  over  holes  cut  in  the  wall  for  this  purpose. 
The  seats  were  simply  flat  rails  put  on  legs,  the 
floor  was  puncheon  and  the  roof  made  of  clap 
boards.  The  first  school  in  this  building  was 
taught  by  James  Wilson,  a  gray  haired  man  of 
about  sixty  winters.  He  was  a  Virginian,  and 
came  to  Ohio,  he  said,  to  visit  friends  in  Knox 
county,  but,  depleted  in  purse,  he  chanced  to  pass 
through  this  neighborhood  just  as  the  people 
were  looking  for  a  teacher.  He  was  hired  forth- 
with to  teach  tlie  winter  school  of  two  months.  The 
branches  taught  were  reading,  writing  and  spell- 
ing. Of  the  mysteries  of  arithmetic  the  old  man 
was  as  ignorant  as  his  pupils.  He  kept  what  was 
termed  a  "loud  school,"  conducted  on  the  funda- 
mental principal  that  the  greater  the  noise,  the 
greater  the  amount  of  "  larnin."  An  imperative 
rule  was  that  all  the  scholars  should  study  aloud, 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


527 


the  louder  the  better.  Among  his  pupils  were  a 
number  of  strapping  young  backwoodsmen,  and 
it  is  needless  to  say  that  until  the  novelty  of  the 
thing  wore  off  their  vocal  powers  were  exercised 
to  their  utmost  capacity.  To  say  that  the  din 
produced  was  deafening,  would  be  to  say  that 
the  falls  of  Niagara  were  "pretty  good."  Some 
of  the  young  people  who  attended  this  school, 
were  Ben.  Norman,  Isaac  Oglesby,  John  Minton, 
Isaac  Good,  John  Mulford,  George  Mulford,  Diana 
Mulford,  Robert  Miller,  George  Moore  and  Gar- 
rett Moore.  The  location  of  the  school  proved 
to  be  too  far  north  to  be  central  for  those  who 
supported  it,  and  consequently  it  was  not  kept 
up  very  long.  Schools  were  afterward  taught  in 
abandoned  cabins  farther  to  the  south.  One  of 
these  was  on  lot  17  of  the  southwest  quarter, 
taught  by  Amos  Bonum,  a  cripple.  The  Millers, 
Oglesbys,  Bakers,  Emerys  and  others,  attended 
school  here.  Afterward  a  school  house  was  built 
in  the  northeastern  corner  of  lot  14,  same  section, 
where  V.  Schwartz  now  lives. 

Another  early  subscription  school  was  situated 
on  lot  7  of  the  same  quarter.  John  Kay,  Charlie 
McKee,  Henry  Barnes,  William  Kay,  William 
Norman,  Tipton  Thompson  and  John  Fulks 
were  among  the  teachers  here.  The  school  in 
Keene  village  was  established  in  1820.  Farther 
east,  before  the  year  1820,  Robert  Boyd  taught 
schools  in  old  cabins  a  number  of  years. 

In  primitive  pioneer  times  the  market  price  of 
wheat  was  twenty-five  cents  a  bushel ;  coffee  cost 
fifty  cents  a  pound,  and  calico  forty  to  fifty  cents 
a  yard.  The  "  corn  crackers ''  in  use  would  not 
grind  wheat  to  a  desirable  degree  of  fineness, 
and,  to  separate  the  coarser  grits,  perforated 
deer-skin  often  answered  the  purpose  of  sieves. 
Buckskin  pants  were  the  prevailing  fashion  with 
the  men,  and  coats  were  seldom  if  ever  worn, 
even  to  church.  Miss  Shoemaker,  an  old  maiden 
lady,  residing  a  mile  or  so  northeast  of  the  village 
of  Keene,  remembers  vividly  the  "  open  air " 
meeting  held  by  the  Presbyterians  in  early  days, 
the  preacher,  standing  beneath  the  umbrageous 
oak,  vigorously  expounding  his  fourthlies  and 
fifthlies  to  his  hearers,  while  children  of  all  sizes 
and  ages  were  creeping  over  the  ground  and 
dividing  with  the  preacher  the  attention  of  their 


parents.  Once  an  irreverent  wag,  during  the 
night  before  communion  services  were  to  be  held 
in  this  grove,  peeled  the  bark  from  one  of  the 
trees,  which  would  be  conspicuous  the  next  day, 
and  painted  in  large  letters  on  the  white  surface 
thus  exposed  the  words,  "beer  and  cakes,"  or 
some  similar  motto.  The  indignation  of  the 
members  was  stronglj'  aroused  against  the  per- 
petrator of  this  reflection  upon  their  religious 
services,  and  he  would  have  suffered  had  his 
identity  been  discovered. 

Methodist  itinerant  preachers  came  to  Keene 
frequently,  before  a  class  was  organized  there, 
and  discoursed  in  divers  places,  just  as  circum- 
stances would  permit.  One  place  for  holding 
meetings  was  a  little  deserted  cabin,  floorless  and 
dreary,  situated  about  a  mile  south  of  the  village. 
It  was  an  invariable  habit  among  the  back-woods- 
men to  bring  their  dogs  with  them  in  attending 
church  here.  The  snarling  and  fighting  of  the 
dogs  in  church  was  a  cause  of  great  annoyance 
to  the  preacher.  The  manifestation  of  an  un- 
usual amount  of  canine  depravity  one  day  was 
too  much  for  the  patience  of  Rev.  Graham,  who 
was  then  filling  the  pulpit,  and  he  proceeded  to 
administer  a  rebuke.  After  admonishing  his 
hearers  to  remember  where  he  had  stopped 
preaching,  that  they  might  not  lose  the  thread  of 
his  discourse,  he  demanded  of  his  congregation 
reasons  why  they  persisted  in  permitting  their 
dogs  to  accompany  them  to  service.  He  inquired 
whether  it  was  through  fear  of  wild  animals;  if 
so,  they  should  bring  their  guns  with  them.  Was 
it  through  fear  of  the  devil  ?  Then  let  them  get 
down  on  their  knees  in  their  cabins  and  pray  to 
their  God  to  drive  him  away.  The  rebuke,  it  is 
understood,  produced  the  desired  effect. 

The  village  of  Keene  is  very  pleasantly  located 
a  little  northwest  of  the  center  of  the  township. 
It  stands  on  the  crest  of  a  range  of  low  hills  and 
commands  a  view  for  miles  around  of  a  beauti- 
fully rolling  country.  It  was  laid  out  in  1820,  by 
Jesse  Reals,  the  original  plat  containing  sixteen 
lots.  An  addition  was  made  in  1839,  by  Charles 
and  Robert  Farwell.  As  originally  platted,  the 
village  was  wholly  within  lot  1  of  the  northwest 
section.    This  part  is  now  the  southeastern  por- 


528 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


tion  of  town.  Elisha  Elliott  was  the  first  resident 
owner  of  lot  1,  but,  previous  to  the  survey  of  the 
town,  lie  had  sold  it  to  John  Burton  and  Jesse 
Beals,  the  eastern  half  to  the  former  and  the 
western  part,  which  is  the  site  of  the  village,  to 
the  latter.  Beals  emigrated  from  near  Keene, 
Cheshire  county,  New  Hampshire,  as  did  a  num- 
ber of  the  other  settlers  in  this  vicinity,  and 
named  the  village  in  honor  of  his  old  home. 
The  township  name  has,  of  course,  the  same 
origin. 

At  the  time  the  village  was  platted,  no  build- 
ing stood  within  its  limits,  the  entire  groimd , 
still  covered  with  its  primal  dress  of  forest  trees 
and  thickets.  There  was,  however,  at  this  time, 
on  lot  number  2,  on  land  which  afterwards 
became  a  part  of  Keene,  a  hewed-log  cabin, 
erected,  a  year  or  two  before,  by  Alexander 
Barnes.  The  first  building  within  Keene  proper 
was  a  school-house,  described  as  "a  little  leaky 
log  cabin."  Adam  Johnson  probably  taught  the 
first  school  here,  during  the  winter  of  1821.  He 
was  succeeded  by  James  McMath,  of  Harrison 
county.  A  little  later  Daphne  Johnson,  daughter 
of  Adam  Johnson,  was  the  village  school  mis- 
tress. She  died  a  few  years  after,  of  consump- 
tion. Dr.  Benjamin  Hills  erected  the  first  dwell- 
ing-house. The  next  building  was  a  shop  for 
the  manufacture  of  windmills,  built  by  Chauncey 
Litchfield. 

Henry  Ramsey  was  the  first  individual  to  sell 
goods  at  Keene.  He  -offered  his  little  stock  of 
merchandise  to  the  public  about  1827.  Previous 
to  that  date,  for  some  years,  he  had  followed  the 
occupation  of  peddling  goods,  from  door  to  door, 
in  this  vicinity.  He  was  an  Irishman,  by  birth, 
and  emigrated  from  Liverpool;  a  cabinetmaker, 
by  trade,  and  was  considered  a  queer,  half-witted 
character.  Alexander  Renfrew  for  many  years, 
in  early  times,  kept  a  flourishing  store  here. 
Charles  Farwell  kept  the  first  tavern. 

Keene  once  aspired  to  become  the  county  seat. 
While  Coshocton  county  still  included  a  large 
portion  of  what  is  now  Holmes  county,  the  vil- 
lage of  Coshocton  was  inconsiderable  in  size, 
and  far  from  the  center  of  the  county.  Keene 
claimed  the  advantage  of  a  more  central  locality, 
and  was  urging  its  claims  pretty  strongly,  when 
the  formation  of  Holmes  county,  in  1824,  put  an 


end  to  the  hopes  of  Keene  in  this  direction. 
Prominent  men  at  Coshocton,  it  is  said,  through 
fear  of  losing  the  county  seat,  were  influential 
in  having  the  new  county  struck  off. 

The  only  postoffice  in  the  township  is  at 
Keene.  It  was  first  kept  by  Chauncey  Litchfield 
about  a  mile  south  of  the  village,  but,  after  this 
grew  into  a  little  trading  town,  it  was  removed' 
to  this  place,  and  Robert  Farwell  appointed' 
postmaster.  D.  G.  Whittemore  fills  this  position ' 
at  present. 

The  village  was  settled  to  a  great  extent  by  New 
Englanders,  and,  in  keeping  with  their  advanced 
views  of  education,  an  academy  was  established 
here  about  1845.  A  stock  company,  consisting  of 
ten  or  twelve  of  its  substantial  citizens,  was  or- 
ganized, a  lot  purchased,  and  a  comfortable  build- 
ing erected.  The  school  was  conducted  first  by 
Rev.  George  B.  Sturges,  an  Episcopalian  minister, 
afterward  by  Francis  Benton  and  one  or  t*o 
others.  For  several  years  it  enjoyed  a  vigorous 
growth  and  exerted  a  wide-spread  influence,  hav- 
ing in  attendance  at  one  time  more  than  100 
students  from  a  distance.  Then  it  began  gradually 
to  decline,  and  in  a  few  years  more  was  merged 
into  the  public  schools. 

A  Baptist  church  was  located  here  years  ago, 
but  is  no  longer  in  existence.  It  was  organized 
about  1842,  at  the  residence  of  Absolom  Farwell, 
by  Rev.  Gorham  as  officiating  clergyman,  and  D. 
B.  Whittemore,  F.  S.  Bryant,  Absolom  Farwell, 
Zopher  Farwell  and  Charles  Farwell  as  members. 
A  large  frame  meeting-house,  with  steeple  attach- 
ment, was  built  shortly  after  its  organization.  It 
became  defunct  about  1862,  from  internal  dissen- 
sions and  loss  in  membership.  The  building 
stood  until  1871,  when  an  incendiary  reduced  it 
to  ashes.  The  ministers  who  labored  with  this 
church  were  J.  M.  Winn,  B.  White,  M.  J.  Barnes 
and  T.  Evans. 

Keene  has  now  a  population  of  about  275.  Its 
present  business  may  be  summarized  as  follows: 
Two  stores,  owned  by  Smith  &  Parkhill  and  Dan- 
iel Whittemore,  two,  hotels,  two  wagon  shops, 
three  blacksmith  shops,  two  shoe  shops  and  one 
harness  shop.  Two  physicians  reside  and  prac- 
tice here,  Drs.  William  Shank  and  Joseph  F.  Sni- 
der. Two  fine  church  buildings  adorn  the  place, 
the  Presbyterian  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


529 


Newport,  a  dead  citj-  of  the  past,  came  into  ex- 
istence in  1830,  in  which  year  it  was  laid  out  by 
Solomon  Vail,  close  to  the  southern  line  of  th§ 
township,  on  a  little  tract  of  land  now  owned 
by  Saiah  Wolfe.  The  Ohio  canal  had  just  been 
built,  and  the  design  was  to  found  an  emporium 
of  trade  on  this  commercial  highway.  Its  begin- 
ning was  auspicious.  Two  warehouses,  opened 
by  Robert  Mitchell  and  Butler  Luce,  speedily 
built  up  a  large  trade.  Two  stores  and  a  tavern 
were  started,  and  the  ring  of  the  anvil  was  heard 
in  the  land ;  but  the  hopes  of  the  village  were 
destined  to  be  disappointed.  A  formidable  rival. 
Canal  Lewisville,  came  into  existence  about  a 
half  mile  to  the  east,  and  soon  overtopped,  then 
swallowed  up,  its  little  neighbor.  Part  of  the  plat 
of  Canal  Lewisville  lies  in  Keene  township,  but 
.all  its  buildidgs  are  in  Tuscarawas  township. 

There  are  now  four  churches  in  active  opera- 
tion in  Keene  township,  two  of  which  are  in 
Keene  village — the  United  Presbyterian  and  the 
'German  Baptist.  Of  these  the  United  Presbyte- 
rian— Amity  church — is  the  oldest.  It  is  located 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  the  township,  and  is 
■composed  of  the  Associate  Reform  congregation 
•of  Mill  creek,  and  the  Associate  congregation  of 
Keene,  which,  before  the  consolidation  occupied 
substantially  the  same  territory.  Robert  Boyd 
was  the  first  member  of  the  Associate  Reform 
■church  who  settled  in  Keene  township.  He 
came  May  4, 1817,  and  was  soon  followed  by  oth- 
•ers.  Mr.  Boyd  was  an  educated  man,  and  came 
when  a  young  man  from  Ireland.  The  first 
preaching  was  in  the  summer  of  1818,  by  Rev. 
'  -George  Buchanan,  of  Steuben ville ;  he  preached 
occasionally  afterward.  Robert  Boyd  and  George 
Ford,  formerly  elders  in  his  congregation  at 
"Steubenville,  acted  as  a  session  here.  After  1822, 
Revs.  David  Proudfit,  David  Norwood  and  Moses 
Kerr  supplied  the  pulpit  occasionally. 

The  first  communion  was  held  in  the  fall  of 
1828,  by  Rev.  Samuel  Pindley,  D.  D.  The  mem- 
bers at  that  time  were  Robert  Boyd  and  wife, 
■George  Ford  and  wife,  John  Williams  and  wife, 
Thomas  Hamilton  and  wife,  Joseph  Marshall  and 
wife,  Robert  Boyd,  Jr.,  and  wife,  Mrs.  Nancy  Fos- 
ter, Mrs.  Sarah  Ford,  and  others.  Rev.  D.  F.  Reid 
settled  as  first  pastor  in  1841,  in  connection  with 


Millersburg  and  White  Eyes,  and  labored  with  a 
good  degree  of  success  about  sixteen  years.  A 
brick  church  was  erected  in  1834;  the  present 
frame  church  in  1856. 

The  Associate  congregation  of  Keene  was  or- 
ganized August  26, 1838.  Robert  Boyd  and  Rob- 
ert Karr  were  ordained  elders.  Rev.  Samuel  Ir- 
vine officiating.  Members:  Robert  Boyd  and 
Elizabeth,  his  wife ;  Robert  Karr  and  wife,  Wil- 
ham  Boyd,  John  Karr  and  wife,  Sarah  Boyd, 
John  Boyd,  John  ElUott  and  Martha,  his  wife; 
Robert  Tidrick  and  wife,  John  Wilhamson  and 
wife,  James  Johnson,  Samuel  Boyd  and  Nancy, 
his  wife ;  and  John  Loder.  Revs.  S.  Irvine,  Jo- 
seph MoKee,  Samuel  H.  McCleans,  and  others, 
supplied  occasionally.  In  April,  1845,  Rev. 
James  M.  Henderson  was  settled  as  pastor  one- 
fourth  of  his  time,  in  connection  with  Northfield 
and  Claysville.  He  labored  thus  one  year  and 
nine  months,  with  a  good  degree  of  success, 
when  he  was  released  from  this  part  of  his 
.charge.  He  was  a  strong  advocate  of  temper- 
ance and  an  opponent  of  slavery.  In  November, 
1854,  Rev.  John  P.  Scott  was  settled  one-third  of 
his  time,  in  connection  with  Millersburg,  and 
labored  here  one  year  and  nine  months. 

These  two  churches  formerly  went  into  the 
United  Presbyterian  church,  September  4,  1858. 
Rev.  William  A.  McConnell  was  settled  as  pastor 
of  the  congregations  of  Mill  Creek,  White  Eyes, 
and  Keene,  July  1,  1859.  Pursuant  to  a  notice 
given  on  the  last'  Sabbath  in  April,  the  congrega- 
tions of  Mill  Creek  and  Keene  voted  unani- 
mously to  consolidate  into  one  congregation  and 
session,  under  the  name  of  Amity.  This  action 
was  ratified  by  the  Presbytery,  October  15,  1861. 
Mr.  McConnell  labored  with  ability  and  success 
until  some  difficulties  arose.  He  resigned  his 
charge  at  the  meeting  of  Presbytery,  June,  1864, 
on  the  ground  that  he  had  not  got  the  encourage- 
ment and  support  to  harmonize  the  charge  he 
was  led  to  expect.  He  left  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1864.  At  that  time  Amity  had  130  mem- 
bers. The  present  pastor  is  William  Wishart ; 
_the  membership,  forty. 

The  German  Baptist  church,  known  more  gen- 
erally as  the  Dunkard  church,  has  a  nicely  finished 
frame  building  on  lot  No.  25,  in  the  southwestern 


530 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


part  of  the  township.  It  was  built  in  1878,  and 
dedicated  on  the  7th  of  July,  of  the  same  year. 
Its  cost  was  about  $1,000.  This  is  the  first  church 
edifice  of  this  denomination  erected  in  the  coun- 
-  ty,  although  the  society  is  one  of  the  oldest.  This 
is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  members  have  been 
few  in  number  and  widely  scattered.  Preaching 
has  been  held  in  various  parts  of  the  county,  for 
a  long  time  in  Franklin  township,  at  the  resi- 
dence of  Philip  Hershman.  The  church  was  or- 
ganized there  about  1880,  by  Eev.  Schofield.  The 
principal  early  members  were  Philip  Hershman, 
John  Hershman,  Nicholas  Miller,  Samuel  Bel- 
hart  and  George  Wilcox.  Lewis  Eodruck  was 
pastor  many  years.  He  was  succeeded  by  Kevs. 
Eli  Stell,  Philip  Axline,  John  Nicholson  and 
Samuel  Mantis.  The  present  membership  is 
about  forty. 

The  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Keene  was 
incorporated  February  25, 1835,  with  the  follow- 
ing membership :  Timothy  Emerson,  John  Elliott, 
Robert  Farwell,  Calvin  Adams,  John  Shannon 
and  Jacob  Emerson.    Previously,  these  members 
belonged  to  the  "  congregation  of  Coshocton  and 
Mill  creek,"  which  had  been  organized  many 
years  before.    Services  were   once  held   alter- 
nately at  Coshocton  and  Keene ;  when  at  Keene, 
during  pleasant  weather,  under  the  trees  of  the 
forest,  on  the  site  of  the  present  church;  at  other 
times,  in  cabins  or   the    school-house.     About 
1833,  when  the  Keene  members  were  strong 
enough  to  form  a  separate  church,  they  left  the 
old  organization  and  founded  the  Keene  church. 
Their  first  building,  a  large  frame  structure,  was 
erected  in  1834,  by  Charles  Farwell.    The  pres- 
ent church  was  built  in  1878-79,  and  dedicated 
May,  1879.    It  is  pleasantly  located  on  a  knoll  of 
gently  rising  ground,  is  a  substantial,  commodi- 
ous, frame  edifice,  with  slate  roof  and  a  spire, 
and  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $2,600.    Rev.  George 
Warner  was  the  minister  in  charge  when  the 
division  ocurred  in  1833.    Eev.  N.  Conklin  was 
stated  supply  for  two  years  ending  June,  1836. 
Eev.  J.  S.  Wyhe  followed  Mr.  Conklin  and  served 
three  years.    Both  Mr.  Conklin  and  Mr.  Wylie 
also  served,  at  the  same  time,  the  Coshocton 
church,  and  these  churches  have  frequently  been 
associated  in  ministerial  charge.    Eev.  B.  J.  Lowe 


followed  Mr.  Wylie,  remaining  as  stated  supply 
two  years.  From  1841  until  1843,  the  church 
was  supplied  by  the  presbytery.  Eev.  John  D 
Whitham  was  installed  pastor  July  7,  1843.  In 
1844  a  division  ocurred  and  a  new  school  church 
was  organized.  After  a  little  time,  this  was  re- 
organized as  a  "True  Presbyterian"  church, 
which,  after  a  feeble  life,  protracted  through  a- 
dozen  years,  became  extinct.  Of  the  old  church 
Eev.  J.  W.  Knott  became  pastor  June  28, 1845, 
remaining  in  charge  until  October,  1847.  Rev. 
Samuel  Hanna  became  pastor  November  11, 1848, 
and  continued  his  labors  here  until  his  death,  in 
1850.  Eevs.  John  Trubit,  Wilham  Edgar  and  0. 
C.  Bomberger  supplied  the  church  from  1850 
until  July,  1856.  At  that  time  Eev.  William  E. 
Hunt  took  charge,  remaining  about  one  year. 
Eev.  E.  W.  Marquis  was  installed  November  14, 
1857,  and  continued  as  pastor  until  his  death,  in 
May,  1875.  Eev.  Augustus  Cone,  who  succeeded 
him,  remained  two  years.  The  present  pastor  is 
Eev.  W.  D.  Wallace,  who  also  has  charge  of  the 
Sabbath-school  connected  with  the  church.  The 
number  of  communicants  is  about  120. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  church  of  Keene  was 
organized,  as  nearly  as  can  be  ascertained,  about 
1830.  Of  the  original  members  were  Robert 
Boyd,  Daniel  Boyd,  John  Boyd,  Samuel  Elliott, 
George  Elliott  and  Thomas  Elliott.  Prior  to  the 
organization  of  the  church  preaching  was  fre- 
quently held  in  cabins  and  school-houses  in  and 
about  Keene.  A  frame  house  of  worship  was 
erected  soon  after  the  church  was  organized.  It 
stood  just  south  of  the  present  church,  a  large 
frame  building,  erected  in  1860,  at  a  cost  of  about 
$2,000.  Both  churches  were  built  by  John  Elliott 
of  Coshocton.  The  membership  at  present  num- 
bers about  sixty.  Rev.  E.  H.  Dissette  has  charge 
of  the  circuit  to  which  this  church  belongs.  It 
includes  the  churches  at  Louisville,  Warsaw, 
Spring  Mountain  and  Elliott's  chapel,  besides  the 
Keene  church.  The  Sunday-school  connected 
with  the  church  is  superintended  by  William 
Bechtel  and  has  a  membership  of  about  sixty. 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  township  a  so- 
ciety of  the  United  Brethren  denomination  was 
formed  about  1850.    Among  those  who  partici- 


HISTOEY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


531 


pated  in  its  organization  were  George  Beaver, 
Henry  Eeamer,  Solomon  Best,  Christopher  Keesy , 
James  Murphy,  William  P.  Murphy  and  Thomas 
Smith.  A  frame  building  was  erected  soon  after. 
During  the  late  rebellion,  the  discussion  of  war 
issues  in  the  pulpit  produced  disruption  and  ul- 
timately the  extinction  of  the  society.  Later  a 
Christian  Union  church  was  organized  at  the 
same  place  by  Kevs.  Pigman  and  George  Steven- 
son. The  organizing  members  of  this  church 
were  principally  those  who  had  belonged  to  the 
United  Brethren  church.  Its  career  was  also 
breit,  perishing  four  or  five  years  after  its  organi- 
zation. George  Stevenson  and  William  P.  Mur- 
phy were  the  principal  ministers  who  had  charge 
of  this  church. 


CHAPTER  LVni. 

LAFAYETTE    TOWNSHIP. 

Organization  —Name— First  Officers— Location— Topography 
—Early  Settlers— School  Section— Prominent  Men— Taverns 
—Mills— Schools— West  Lafayette— Churches— Birmingham 
—Bridges— Mounds— War  Matter. 

LAFAYETTE  township  was  the  last  organ- 
ized in  Coshocton  county.  It  was  formed 
in  1835.  The  western  half  of  its  territory  had 
previously  been  a  part  of  Tuscarawas  town-  hip ; 
the  northeastern  quarter  had  belonged  to  Oxford, 
and  the  southeastern  quarter  to  Linton  township. 
It  was  named  in  honor  of  General  Lafayette,  the 
news  of  whose  death,  it  is  said,  reached  Coshoc- 
ton during  the  session  of  the  county  commis- 
sioners at  which  the  township  was  ordered  to  be 
oraganized.  The  first  township  officers  were 
Wendel  Miller,  Laken  Wells  and  Simon  Moses, 
trustees;  John  Dean,  clerk;  John  Wagoner,  treas- 
urer; David  Pitch  and  James  Kinner,  constables ; 
and  John  Dean  and  Ralph  Phillips,  justices  of  the 
peace.' 

Its  position  in  the  county  is  just  east  of  Tus- 
carawas township;  on  the  north,  east  and  south 
it  is  bounded  by  White  Eyes,  Oxford  and  Linton 
townships  respectively.  The  Tuscarawas  river 
flows  in  a  westerly  direction  through  the  north- 
em  part  of  it.  White  Eyes  creek  enters  the  river 


from  the  north,  and  from  the  south  several  small 
streams  which  drain  the  greater  portion  of  the 
township.  In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  town- 
ship, however,  the  streams  flow .  southward  and 
enter  Wills  creek  in  Linton  township.  The 
Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  railroad 
crosses  the  township  a  short  distance  south  of 
the  river  by  a  direct  course  nearly  east  and  west, 
while  the  Ohio  canal,  north  of  the  river,  observes 
more  closely  the  windings  of  the  stream. 

The  topographical  features  of  the  township  dif- 
fer somewhat  from  those  of  most  other  townships, 
A  broad  expanse  of  level  country,  known  as 
White  Eyes  plains,  begins  in  the  western  part  of 
the  township  and  continues  eastward  eight  or  ten 
miles,  through  Oxford  township  into  Tuscarawas 
county.  It  has  an  average  width  of  about  two 
miles  and  follows  the  bottom  lands  on  the  south 
of  the  river.  It  is  separated  from  these  bottom 
lands  generally  by  a  bluff  rising  thirty  or  forty- 
feet.  About  a  half  mile  north  of  the  village  of 
West  Lafayette  is  a  remarkable  hill,  isolated 
from  all  others.  The  plains  stretch  away  to  the 
south  and  a  narrow  valley  separates  it  from  the 
river  on  the  north.  Towards  the  east  it  rises  ab- 
ruptly to  a  considerable  height,  but  on  the  oppo- 
site side  it  slopes  very  gradually  and  does  not 
reach  the  level  of  the  surrounding  country  for  a 
half  mile  or  more.  The  soil  of  the  plains  is  a 
gravelly  sand.  It  was  considered  worthless  by 
the  first  settlers,  as  crops  could  be  raised  upon  it 
with  indifferent  success,  but  later  it  was  found  to 
be  quite  fertile  under  proper  cultivation.  The 
plains  were  very  sparsely  timbered  at  the  advent 
of.  the  earliest  pioneers.  Clumps  of  bushes,  or 
stunted  trees,  were  scattered  here  and  there,  but 
generally  tall,  waving  grass,  called  wild  grass,  was 
the  only  existing  vegetation.  The  rich  river  val- 
ley was  heavily  timbered  with  the  sycamore, 
sugar  and  other  species  of  woodland  growth. 
South  of  the  plains  the  surface  is  broken  up  into 
hills,  which  had  a  scanty  covering  of  trees,  such 
as  the  oak,  chestnut,  hickory,  poplar,  walnut  and 
other  varieties. 

The  entire  township  consists  of  military  land. 
The  first  section,  or  northeast  quarter  of  the 
township,  is  known  as  the  Joseph  Higbee  section. 
It  was  not  occupied  to  any  great  extent  until 
after  1820.    The  second  or  Swan  section,   the 


.532 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


northwest  quarter  of  the  township,  was  settled 
early  by  several  families  who  owned  extensive 
portions  of  it.  The  third  section,  or  southwest 
quarter,  is  a  school  section  and  remained  unoccu- 
pied, except  by  a  few  squatters,  until  about  1825. 
'The  fourth  section,  or  southeast  quarter,  called 
the  Cummins  section,  was  at  an  early  day  sur- 
veyed into  ten  lots  of  400  acres  each,  which  were 
.sold  by  lots  or  fractions  of  lots,  to  men  who  are 
numbered  among  the  earliest  permanent  settlers 
■  of  the  township. 

It  was  probably  about  the  year  1804  that  the 
first  permanent  settlers  began  to  occupy  the  ter- 
ritory of  this  township.  Prior  to  this  date,  por- 
tions of  the  land  had  doubtless  been  cultivated  to 
isome  extent  by  squatters  with  no  title  to  the  soil. 

Seth  McClain,  a  Virginian,  about  1804,  settled' 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township,  putting  up  a 
cabin  near  the  fine  spring  which  now  supplies 
Vincent  Ferguson's  house.  After  residing  some 
ten  years,  he  discovered  that  he  was  on  the  Hig- 
bee  section  of  military  land,  and  moved  over  into 
Linton  township,  where  he  became  one  of  its  most 
ractive,  energetic  pioneers.  He  had  married  one 
•of  the  Sells,  whose  connection  had  settled  further 
up  the  river.  His  son  James,  father  of  Seth  Mc- 
Clain of  Coshocton,  and  Colonel  E.  W.  McClain, 
died  a  few  years  ago,  aged  about  seventy-five 
years. 

Thomas  McClain  came  into  the  township  about 
1805  and  settled  upon  lot  2  of  the  Cummin's  sec- 
tion, where  he  remained  until  his  death.  His  son 
Isaac  still  resides  in  the  township  and  is  one  of 
its  oldest  citizens. 

Thomas  Wiggins,  from  Virginia,  was  probably 
here  as  early  as  1804.  He  settled  upon  lot  10  of 
the  Cummins  section,  in  the  northwest  corner  of 
the  section,  and  died  in  June,  1811.  A  number 
of  his  descendants  still  live  in  the  township. 

George  Miller,  a  brother  to  Michael  Miller, 
-formerly  of  Franklin  township,  and  to  Henry 
Miller  of  Jackson  township,  both  among  the  ear- 
liest settlers  of  the  county,  hailing  from  Hamp- 
shire county,  Virginia,  purchased  a  tract  of  about 
:a  1,000  acres  off  the  east  side  of  the  northwest 
.section,  and  settled  upon  it  about  1806.  He  had' 
previously  lived  for  a  few  years  in  the  vicinity  of 
Tort    Washington,    Tuscarawas     county.     He 


reared  a  large  family  of  children,  consisting  of 
Windel,  Isaac,  Daniel,  Abraham,  Francis,  Thomas, 
George,  John  and  several  daughters.  George  and 
Isaac,  two  of  the  sons,  caipe  out  first  and  raised  a 
little^cabin,  the  others  following  soon  after.  Abrar 
ham  afterward  settled  in  Clark  to'^nship.  Win- 
del,  John  and  Daniel  were  soldiers  in  the  war  of 
1812;  the  latter  died  February  1, 1881,  in  Plain- 
field,,  a  very  aged  man. 

In  1804,  Francis  MoGuire,  who  also  was  a  Vir- 
ginian, moved  to  the  Tuscarawas  valley,  near 
Port  Washington,  and  two  years  later,  came  to 
the  northwestern  corner  of  this  township.  The 
family  was  carried  in  a  wagon,  which  was  driven 
along  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  sometimes  in  it, 
and  they  afterwards  used  the  wagon-bed  as  their 
shelter  and  sleeping  place,  until  a  cabin  could  be 
built,  which,  in  the  want  of  help  to  any  consid- 
erable extent  from  neighbors,  took  more  time 
than  in  after  years.  Mr.  McGuire  purchased  a, 
tract  of  more  than  1,000  acres  off  the  west  side 
of  the  Swan,  or  northwest,  section,  and  resided 
at  the  old  homestead,  north  of  the  river,  until  he 
died.  May  9,  1858,  aged  seventy-six  years.  His 
property  is  still  held  by  his  descendants.  His 
two  wives  were  daughters  of  George  Miller. 

Archibald  Elson,  from  Brook  county,  Virginia, 
in  1805  or  1806,  purchased  and  settled  upon  lot 
4  of  the  Cummins  section.  He  died  at  an  early 
day  and  most  of  his  descendants  moved  West.  A 
daughter  was  married  to  Richard  Fowler,  and 
their  posterity  is  still  well  represented  in  Linton 
township. 

Hugh  Ballentine  was  another  early  settler. 
He  erected  and  opened  the  first  tavern,  and  soon 
after  sold  it  to  Striker  Morgan. 

Matthew  Orr,  a  German,  who  had  been  living 
in  New  Jersey,  came  out  about  1808,  and  settled 
upon  a  portion  of  lot  9  in  the  southeast  section. 
.  William  Johnson,  father  of  Judge  Thomas 
Johnson,  of  Linton  township,  was  the  owner  of 
seventy-five  acres  in  the  same  lot  and  occupied 
*it  for  a  few  years,  then  removing  to  Linton  town- 
ship. It  is  said  that  he  received  this  small  piece 
of  land  as  a  remuneration  for  his  services  in 
bringing  out  the  Orr  family  from  New  Jersey. 

Elijah  Nelson,  who  was  here  before  1811,  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  George  Miller,  and  afterwards 
moved  farther  west.     Lewis  Vail  was  another 


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'H'GTIffiE,  SE.,  P.  0.,  CANAL  LEWISVILLE. 


HISTOitYOP  GOSHOCTON   COUNTY. 


535 


resident  holder  of  a  400-aorelot  on  the  fourth  or 
Cummins  section.  He  was  here  before  1811,  and 
moved  away  before  1821.  Nothing  is  known  of 
his  history. 

Thomas  Foster  was  in  the  township  prior  to 
the  war  of  1812.  He  was  from  Sussex  county, 
New  Jersey,  and  served  as  sergeant  in  Captain 
Adam  Johnson's  company  at  Mansfield.  He  first 
lived  on  the  Swan  section,  but  afterward  pur- 
chased a  piece  of  land  in  the  southeastern  part  of 
the  township.  He  died  childless;  was  an  unof- 
fending, kind-hearted  citizen,  and  one  of  the.  or- 
ganizers of  the  Methodist  Protestant  church. 

In  1821  the  following  additional  property 
owners  resided  in  the  township,  all  on  the  4th  or 
Cummins'  section :  Frederick  Dum,  John  Dean, 
James  Kinner,  John  MulhoUand,  Jacob  Maple, 
Jr.,  John  Merrit,  John  Norris,  and  Samuel  and 
Jacob  Switzer. 

Just  about  this  time,  or  maybe  a  year  sooner, 
Joseph  C.  Higbee,  from  Trenton,  New  Jersey, 
settled  upon  the  military  section  that  bears  his 
name,  and  remained  upon  it  until  his  death, 
which  occurred  about  1873,  in  the  seventy-fourth 
year  of  his  age.  He  was  not  the  original  pro- 
prietor of  the  section,  but  seems  to  have  obtained 
it  by  inheritance.  Mr.  Higbee  was  a  very  eccen- 
tric personage.  As  illustrating  the  style  of  the 
man,  the  story  was  long  current  in  the  neighbor- 
hood that,  wheri  he  first  came  to  the  country, 
then  in  comparatively  a  wilderness  condition,  he 
brought  with  him  six  dozen  ruffled  shirts.  One 
of  his  daughters  was  married  to  Rev.  Mr.  South- 
ard, who  was  for  a  time  a  minister  of  Trinity 
church.  New  York.  Another  is  said  to  have 
married  Mr.  Hay,  a  lawyer  in  Pittsburgh.  John 
Richmond,  of  Orange,  married  a  daughter  by  the 
second  wife. 

Mr.  Higbee  sold  a  small  portion  of  his  section, 
shortly  after  his  arrival  here,  but  the  demand  for 
land  was  not  great  until  the  building  of  the  Ohio 
canal,  when  a  throng  of  emigrants  moved  in 
and  purchased  all  available  territory.  William 
Wheeler,  Allen  Davis,  Simon  Moses,  Henry  Shaw, 
Robert  Shaw,  Ralph  Simeon,  Enoch  Philips,  John 
B.  Stout,  James  Ransopher,  David  Fitch,  Adam 
Merrit  and  Andrew  Ferguson  were  the  first  pur- 
chasers from  Mr.  Higbee. 

That  portion  of  the  Swan  section  remaining 

22 


after  the  Miller  and  McGuire  tracts  were  sold, 
was  mainly  disposed  of  in  parcels  after  the  open- 
ing of  the  canal,  through  the  agency  of  William 
K.  Johnson. 

In  1832,  an  English  colony,  consisting  of  Isaac 
Maynard,  Abram  and  Lewis  Daniels,  George 
Cox,  George  Whooky,  James  Board,  James  Jen- 
nings, John  Cole  and  Jaroes  George,  bought  ad- 
joining lands  in  the  school  section.  They  named 
their  settlement  Summerset  valley,  in  honor  of 
their  native  county  in  England.  Not  being  prac- 
tical backwoodsmen,  their  stay  was  not  protracted ; 
their  lands  are  now  owned  by  Colman  Beall  and 
sons,  and  Judge  Burt  and  sons.  Not  one  of  the 
descendants  of  the  colony  remain  In  the  valley. 

When  Ohio  was  admitted  into  the  Union,  it 
was  agreed  by  the  United  States  that  the  one 
thirty-sixth  part  of  the  territory,  included  within 
the  limits  of  the  State,  should  be  set  apart  for  the 
support  of  the  conjmon  schools  within  the  State. 
In  the  United  States  Military  district,  the  school 
lands  were  selected  by  lot  by  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  in  sections  of  4,000  acres  each.  Only 
one  of  these  school  sections  fell  within  the  limits 
of  Coshocton  county — the  third  or  southwest  sec- > 
tion  of  Lafayette  township. 

This  section  was  surveyed  into  twenty-five 
square  lots  of  160  acres  each.  No  disposition  of 
the  land  appears  to  have  been  made  prior  to  1825. 
About  that  time,  or  a  little  later,  several  of  the 
lots  were  leased  upon  the  following  conditions: 
The  lessee  was  to  clear  a  certain  portion  of  the 
land  taken,  erect  a  cabin  and  plant  out  an  or- 
chard, and  in  return  for  these  services  was  to 
have  free  use  of  the  land  for  a  fixed  term  of 
years.  Among  the  lessees  were  Peter  Metzler  (a 
Virginian  by  birth  and  a  Baptist  by  faith),  lot  9; 
Levi  Shaw,  who  emigrated  from  New  Jersey 
about  1820,  lot  2 ;  Levi  and  Absolom  Roderick, 
Virginians,  lots  5,  6  and  16.  There  may  have 
been  several  others  whose  names  can  not  now  be 
recalled.  This  system  of  leasing  the  land  did  not 
afford  any  immediate  income,  and,  although  it 
enhanced  the'  value  of  the  property,  seems  to 
have  been  unsatisfactory.  Consequently,  about 
1828,  the  land  was  sold  at  public  auction  at  Co- 
shocton. It  was  sold  remarkably  cheap,  $19.25 
only  being  paid  for  eighty  acres  in  one  instance, 
and,  as  ten  years'  time  was  allowed  in  which  to 


536 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


complete  payment  for  it,  a  number  of  men  in  in- 
digent circumstances  availed  themselves  of  this 
opportunity  to  procure  homes.  Among  the  pur- 
chasers were  Daniel  Craig,  Adam  Aronhalt,  Oli- 
ver B.  Bundle,  Jacob  Ostler  and  Peter  Moore. 
The  latter  had  emigrated  to  Coshocton  county 
prior  to  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  a  soldier  un- 
der Hull  at  his  disastrous  surrender.  Ostler,  too, 
had  been  in  service.  He  enlisted  from  Harrison 
county,  was  in  General  Harrison's  army,  and 
came  to  this  county  just  after  the  war. 

The  first  settlers  were  nearly  all  from  Virgi- 
nia ;  those  who  came  in  a  little  later  were  prin- 
cipally from  New  Jersey.  The  township  has 
steadly  grown  in  population  and  now  contains 
1018  inhabitants.  Of  its  citizens  of  a  later  date, 
several  deserve  a  passing  notice.  Colonel  R.  W. 
McClain,  a  descendant  of  one  of  its  earliest  set- 
tlers, died  a  few  years  ago.  He  was  an  extensive 
and  successful  farmer  and  stock  raiser,  one  of  the 
township's  most  substantial  and  influential  citi- 
zens. He  enlisted  and  served  during  the  Mexi- 
can war,  and  commanded  one  of  the  first  compa- 
nies raised  in  this  county  in  1861,  aftervvards  ris- 
ing to  the  rank  of  Colonel 

Andrew  Perguson  was  another  prominent  citi- 
zen who  passed  away  from  this  earth  in  the  spring 
of  1879. 

James  M.  Burt  came  into  the  township  in  1837, 
having  previously  spent  several  years  in  this 
county.  He  was  an  extensive  farmer,  wool  pro- 
ducer and  stock  raiser,  and  one  of  the  early  jus- 
tices of  the  peace.  He  served  two  terms  in  the 
State  legislature  and  two  in  the  senate;  was  ap- 
pointed associate  judge  in  1849,  and  filled  the 
position  till  the  new  constitution,  abolishing  the 
office,  went  into  effect.  Since  that  time  he  has 
served  on  the  State  board  of  equalization.  He 
is  now  living  just  over  the  county  line,  near 
New-comerstown. 

Stryker  Morgan  kept  tavern  in  the  western 
part  of  the  township,  where  Prancis  McGuire 
now  lives,  in  early  times.  He  came  from  Sussex 
county.  New  Jersey,  about  1820,  and  provided 
entertainment  for  the  traveler  until  he  died,  a 
few  years  before  the  late  war.  "  Morgan's  tavern," 
at  the  time  of  its  erection,  was  the  only  weather- 
boarded  building  in  the  township 

About  1839,  Henry  Johnson  opened  a  public 


house  near  West  Lafayette.  Samuel  C.  McMunn, 
several  years  later,  owned  one  about  a  half  mile 
east  of  town.  The  building  of  the  railroad  with- 
drew the  custom  from  these  country  taverns, 
and   theydied  a  natural  death  soon  after. 

Mills  did  not  play  a  very  active  part  in  the  de- 
velopment of  this  township.  The  first  and  only 
grist-mill  of  any  note  was  erected  in  1875,  at  a 
cost  of  $20,000,  by  Robert  D.  Boyd,  at  Wild  Tur- 
key Lock,  on  the  canal,  in  the  northwestern  cor- 
ner of  the  township.  It  is  a  large  building,  con- 
tains two  run  of  buhrs,  and  is  now  owned  by  the 
heirs  of  Alexander  Renfrew.  A  little  corn-mill 
and  a  saw-mill  had  previously  occupied  the  site 
of  this  mill.  John  Barto  had,  many  years  before, 
built  a  little  turning-lathe  here,  where  he  manu- 
factured broom  handles.  Mr.  Willard  put  in  a 
pair  of  buhrs  and  sold  to  John  Balch,  who  added 
the  saw-mill. 

John  Morgan  had  a  saw-mill  on  Morgan's  run, 
upon  which  the  lumber  for  the  first  weather- 
boarded  and  frame  buildings  in  the  township  was 
sawed.  It  was  entirely  destroyed  by  a  flood  in 
1852. 

Judge  James  M.  Burt,  about  1854,  built  a  steam 
saw-mill  on  lot  9  of  the  third  section.  This  was 
the  only  stationary  saw-mill  in  the  township 
south  of  the  river.  It  was  operated  twenty-one 
years. 

James  Hunter  owned  and  ran  a  little  distillery 
on  the  Prancis  MaGuire  tract,  close  to  the  Tusca- 
rawas township  line,  in  early  days.  Somewhat 
later,  Joseph  Higbee  operated  one  on  the  Pergu- 
son place. 

One  of  the  earliest  school-houses  stood  on  the 
line  between  lots  number  1  and  2  of  the  school 
section.  The  building  had  been  a  cabin  used  by 
Irvin  Coulter;  School  was  taught  here  prior  to 
1828  by  Thomas  Fitch,  who  came  from  New  Jer- 
sey about  1808,  and  was  considered  the  best  edu- 
cated man  in  the  community.  He  died  here  and 
was  buried  at  Jacobsport.  About  1815  a  little, 
school-house  was  built  on  the  J.  W.  Miller  place 
a  little  northwest  of  the  center  of  the  township. 
Mr.  Dunlap  was  the  pedagogue  in  this  domain 
and  used  the  ferule  freely  upon  the  slightest  prov- 
ocation. 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


537 


When  Lafayette  township  was  organized  the 
four  military  sections  were  organized  as  school 
districts,  and  log  cabin  school-houses  built  in  each 
.■section. 

On  the  Swan  section  the  school-house  stood  on 
the  State  road  near  the  east  line  of  lot  No.  5,  now 
owned  by  Judge  J.  M.  Burt.  Here  Thomas 
-O'Neal,  a  well  qualified  teacher,  taught  several 
years  and  followed  that  profession  until  his  use- 
ful life  closed  in  White  Eyes  township  at  an  ad- 
vanced age. 

The  Higbee  section  house  stood  on  the  south 
side  of  the  State  road  a  little  west  from  and  op- 
posite the  present  brick  .school-house.  Here 
.James  Curran  taught  for  a  time  and  left  for  parts 
unknown  to  the  present  inhabitants.  He  was  suc- 
-ceeded  by  W.  M.  Cammart  who  remained  until 
the  erection  of  the  brick  school-house  near  the 
Baptist  church. 

The  Cummins  section  cabin  stood  near  where 
the  frame  school-house  of  district  No.  1  now 
stands.  John  Buker  was  the  teacher.  He  went 
West  many  years  ago.  The  school  section  cabin 
•stood  near  the  center  of  lot  No.  8,  about  eighty 
•rods  southwest  from  the  present  frame  house 
known  as  the  Burt  school-house.  Craven  A.  Mc- 
Bane  taught  the  first  school  here.  His  father, 
Jesse  McBane,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
the  school  section,  and  a  useful  and  highly  res- 
pectable citizen  of  the  town.  Both  father  and 
son  have  been  numbered  with  the  dead  many 
years.  The  only  surviving  member  of  the  family 
in  this  county  is  the  youngest  son  of  Jesse,  John 
C.  McBane,  now  county  commissioner. 

West  Lafayette  postoffice  was  established  about 
1839.  It  was  obtained  through  the  efforts  of 
•  Judge  Burt  and  others.  Henry  Johnson  was  the 
first  postmaster,  and  retained  the  office  for  many 
years.  It  was  abolished  for  a  brief  season  dur- 
ing Harrison's  administration,  but  soon  after  re- 
established. Following  Mr.  Johnson  in  this  offi- 
cial capacity,  have  come  Samuel  C.  McMunn, 
James  MoMath,  and  Robert  Beall. 

The  village  of  West  Lafayette  was  laid  out  in 
1850,  by  Robert  Shaw  and  William  Wheeler. 
The  original  plat  consisted  of  only  thirteen  lots, 
■«ight  of  which  were  north  and  five  south  of  the 
^tate  road,  now  Main  street.      Additions  have 


since  been  made  by  Rue  &  Ketchum,  James  M. 
Burt  and  J.  H.  Russell.  The  village  is  built 
upon  a  level  plain,  and  contains  an  even  250  in- 
habitants. It  is  by  no  means  compactly  built, 
but  is  strung  along  the  one  street  for  a  distance 
of  half  a  mile.  An  unusual  number  of  its  dwell- 
ings are  fine,  spacious  residences,  and  every  thing 
betokens  an  active,  thriving,  little  business  place. 
It  is  the  only  village  in  this  county,  beyond  the 
county  seat,  that  can  boast  of  a  railroad.  The 
"  Pan  Handle  "  road  passes  through  it,  and  doubt- 
less gives  it  much  of  its  business  stir. 

John  Coles,  an  Englishman,  opened  the  first 
store  in  the  township,  in  1838,  on  lot  No.  9,  of  the 
school  section  (then  called  Summerset  valley), 
which  lot  he  then  owned.  In  1836,  he  sold  his 
lands  and  removed  his  store  to  the  Ketchum 
farm,  and  from  there  to  Wild  Turkey  Lock,  and 
in  1850,  to  the  town  of  West  Lafayette,  where  he 
died  and  was  succeeded  by  Abbot  &  Andreg. 
Thornton  Fleming  erected  a  dwelling  and  store- 
room in  1853,  and  remained  in  business  there 
until  his  death.  Samuel  Adair  sold  goods  there 
for  a  short  time  ;  also  Thomas  and  Robert  Scott. 
Stephen  RoUey  opened  a  store  in  a  room  erected 
by  William  Paddock,  which  was  soon  after  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  together  with  Paddock's  dwelling. 
James  McMath,  in  1858,  built  a  store-house  and 
dwelling,  and  remained  in  business  there  until 
his  death,  in  February,  1868.  His  wife  died  some 
months  before  him.  His  son,  J.  G.  McMath,  con- 
tinued the  store  a  few  months,  when  the  remain- 
ing stock  was  sold  at  public  sale,  and  there  was 
no  store  here  until  the  spring  of  1869,  when  T. 
H.  Familton  bought  tha  McMath  real  estate  and 
began  business  with  an  extensive  stock  of  goods. 
Mr.  Familton  has  been  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness here  ever  since.  Besides  his  store,  there  is 
now  that  of  Smith  &  Scott.  Bell  &  Leggett  are 
grain  dealers. 

Dr.  George  E.  Prior  was  the  first  resident  phy- 
sician. He  beganboardingatJohnston's  tavern  in 
1842,  but  soon  purchased  five  acres  of  land  and 
erected  thereon  a  pleasant  residence,  now  stand- 
ing due  south  of  the  Lafayette  depot.  He  died  • 
after  a  residence  of  sixteen  years,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  Whittaker,  who  subsequently  re- 
moved to  Oxford  township,  where  he  died.  Dr. 
Joseph  S.  Barr  purchased  property,  practiced 


538 


HISTOB.Y  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


here  several  years,  and  sold  out  to  Dr.  J.  C. 
Hughes,  who  secured  an  extensive  practice  and 
sold  out  in  1880,  to  Doctors  Richards  &  Yarnell, 
■who,  with  Dr.  Morris  and  Dr.  W.  W.  Williams, 
now  dispense  medicine  to  the  afflicted. 

Samuel  Gorsline  and  John  Weir  feed  the  hun- 
gry public,  for  a  just  and  equitable  recompense. 
Two  grocery  saloons  find  a  local  habitation  here, 
and  the  artisan's  crafts  are  represented  by  two 
blacksmith  shops,  one  wagon,  one  harness  and  one 
shoe  shop. 

The  school-house  is  a  commodius,  two-story 
brick,  standing  a  short  distance  east  of  the  vil- 
lage. It  was  erected  during  the  year  1871,  at  a 
cost  of  $3,000.  The  first  term  began  January  2, 
1872,  with  William  Gorsline  and  Miss  Kate  Boyd 
as  teachers.  The  old  school-building  was  a  little 
brick,  which  stood  opposite  the  Baptist  church, 
and  in  which  William  McCammant  was  the  first 
teacher. 

Grange  No.  1,310,  located  at  West  Lafayette, 
was  organized  in  February,  1878,  by  Mr.  John 
McDonald,  of  Coshocton  county.  The  first  offi- 
cers were  James  M.  Burt,  master ;  C.  F.  Sangster, 
overseer ;  Joseph  Love,  lecturer ;  J.  B.  Burt,  sec- 
retary, and  Francis  McGuire,  Jr.,  treasurer.  C. 
F.  Sangster  succeeded  Judge  Burt  to  the  office  of 
master,  and  he  in  turn  was  succeeded  by  James 
L.  Eogers,  the  present  incumbent.  The  mem- 
bership of  the  grange  has  increased  to  about  fifty 
and  comprises  in  its  list  the  intelligent,  wide- 
awake, successful  farmers  in  this  vicinity. 

The  West  Lafayette  Baptist  church  was  formed 
in  1870,  by  dividing  tlje  congregation  of  White 
Eyes  Baptist  church  into  two  parts  and  organ- 
izing the  western  division  into  a  separate  congre- 
gation. The  White  Eyes  Plains  church  was  the 
first  Baptist  society  formed  in  Coshocton  county. 
It  was  organized  at  the  house  of  Isaac  Evans,  in 
Oxford  township,  November  5, 1825,  by  Elders  S. 
Norris  and  William  Spencer,  with  the  following 
members :  James  Brooks,  Windel  and  Jane  Mil- 
ler, Levi  and  Rachel  Rodruck,  Ezekiel  and  Sarah 
McFarland,  Elizabeth  Worth,  Rachel  Calhoun, 
Hannah  Barto  and  Catherine,  Hannah  and  Lydia 
Rose.  James  Brooks  was  the  first  deacon  and 
Benjamin  Headly,  who  became  a  member  soon 
after,  the  first  clerk.    Elder  Norris  was  the  first 


pastor,  and  labored  with  them  three  years,  when 
he  was  succeded  by  Elder  William  Spencer,  who- 
continued  with  them  until  about  the  year  1831, 
at  which  time  the  church  numbered  about 
twenty-four  members.  The  earliest  places  of 
worship  were  dwellings  and  school-houses  in  this 
and  Oxford  township.  The  first  recorded  meetr 
ing  in  this  township  was  held  at  the  house  of 
Windel  Miller,  May  21,  1825.  In  the  year  1847 
the  present  house  of  worship  in  West  Lafayette- 
was  erected.  Three  years  later  another  church 
was  built,  near  the  center  of  Oxford  township,  to 
accommodate  the  eastern  portion  of  the  church, 
making  it  a  regular  place  of  worship.  In  1870, 
the  church  having  largely  increased  in  members, 
efficiency  and  territory,  divided  into  two  sepa- 
rate and  independent  bodies,  as  mentioned  above. 
The  pastors,  up  to  the  date  of  separation  have 
been,  after  William  Spencer,  Elders  Pritchard, 
Sedgwick  Rice,  L.  Gilbert,  H.  Sayer,  L.  L.  Root, 
H.  Broom,  A.  W.  Odor,  J.  G.  Whitaker,  L.  Rhine- 
heart  and  E.  B.  Senter.  SinCe  then  the  follow- 
ing pastors  have  had  charge  of  the  West  Ijafay- 
ette  church:  E.  B.  Senter,  G.  W.  Churchill,  J.  P. 
Churchill,  Thomas  Jones,  J.  P.  Hunter  and  D, 
Trichler.  The  present  membership  is  about 
seventy.  Prior  to  1870  there  had  been  a  union 
Sunday-school  conducted  at  West  Lafayette  in 
the  Baptist  and  Methodist  churches,  alternatelyr 
but  in  that  year  a  Baptist  Sunday-school  was  or- 
ganized which  has  been  successfully  carried  on 
to  this  day.  Its  membership  ia  forty-three,  and 
its  superintendent,  J.  B.  Burt. 

The  other  church  edifice  in  West  Lafayette  be- 
longs to  a  Methodist  Episcopal  society.  It  was- 
erected  in  the  summer  of  1856  and  dedicated  in 
the  following  January,  by  Bishop  Simpson  and 
Rev.  James  Bray.  Rev.  Charles  Holmes  had  been 
preaching  in  the  school-house  for  a  while,  but  no 
class  was  organized  until  about  the  time  the 
church  was  built.  The  church  lot  was  donated 
by  Jacob  K.  Shurtz,  and  the  building  cost  about 
$700.  The  original  class,  as  nearly  as  can  be  de- 
termined, consisted  of  the  following  members: 
Wilson  Carp  and  wife,  Mrs.  Julia  Miller,  Thorn- 
ton and  Eliza  Ann  Fleming,  B.  F.  and  Elizabeth 
Fleming,  Mrs.  Eleanor  L.  Ketchum,  Mrs.  Collins, 
Mrs.  Helms,  Thomas  Scott  and  wife,  Mrs.  Mary 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


539 


Terguson  and  Dr.  George  E.  Prior.  B.  F.  Flem- 
ing was  the  first  leader.  During  the  winter  of 
1867-8,  a  series  of  revival  meetings  were  con- 
ducted by  Rev.  J.  E.  Starkey,  which  resulted  in 
about  seventy  accessions  to  this  church,  besides 
many  additions  to  neighboring  churches.  The 
membership  now  numbers  about  100.  In  1880,  a 
spacious,  fasty  parscaiage  was  erected,  which  is 
now  occupied  by  Rev.  John  I.  Wilson.  A  healthy 
and  flourishing  Sabbath-school  has  been  in  opera- 
tion since  1870,  over  which  James  L.  Rogers  now 
presides.    Its  membership  is  about  seventy. 

The  Zion  Methodist  Episcopal  church  is  located 
in  the  extreme  southwestern  part  of  the  town-. 
ship.  During  the  winter  of  1848-9,  Rev.  D.  P. 
Mitchell  conducted  a  series  of  meetings,  at  which 
many  conversions  were  made.  One  of  the  bene- 
ficial results  attending  the  meetings  was  the  im- 
mediate erection  of  a  church  building.  The  so- 
ciety had  been  organized  some  time  before,  and 
services  had  been  held  at  the  adjoining  school- 
house.  Among  the  first  members  were  Abso- 
lom  Rodruck,  Joseph  B.  Johnson,  John  Smith, 
Frank,  Joseph  and  Edward  Wells  and  Hiram 
Jennings.  The  present  house  of  worship  was 
built  about  ten  years  ago,  and  the  society  is  in 
good  condition. 

Plains  Chapel,  a  Methodist  Protestant  house 
of  worship,  is  situated  on  the  State  road  about 
one  and  a  half  miles  east  of  West  Lafayette,  on 
a  lot  donated  to  the  church  by  Andrew  Ferguson. 
Its  erection  was  begun  in  1841,  and  finished  Au- 
gust, 1842.  Though  an  old,  it  is  still  a  substan- 
tial and  serviceable  brick  building  about  forty  by 
fifty  feet  in  size,  and  has  been  extensively  repaired 
of  late  at  a  cost  of  1900.  The  society  was  organ- 
ized in  Oxford  township,  at  Loos'  school-house, 
about  1836,  and  meetings  held  there  until  the 
■church  was  built.  The  earliest  pastors  were 
Revs.  Israel  Thrapp,  Richardson,  Ross,  Cass 
Reeves,  Joel  Dolby,  William  Baldwin  and  James 
Nugen.  The  principal  early  members  were  An- 
drew Ferguson,  George  Leighninger,  Leonard 
Eichart,  Thomas  Foster,  Simon  Moss,  James 
Ransopher,  John  Paddock,  John  Switzer,  George 
Waggoner,  Christine  Loos,  John  Klinger  and 
Levi  Penn.  The  present  number  of  communi- 
cants is  seventy-five.  Rev.  William  Wells  is  the 
ipastor  in  charge.    The  Sunday-school  is  an  insti- 


tution whose  organization  ante-dates  the  erection 
of  the  church. 

A  United  Brethern  society  formerly  existed  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  township,  and  possessed 
a  small  frame  church,  known  as  Clay  Point  church. 
It  was  built  about  1843,  when  the  society  was  in 
its  infancy.  Its  early  members  were  Samuel 
Wolfe,  David  Wolfe,  David  Jones,  Isaac  Doty  and 
John  Sicker,  with  perhaps  some  others.  It  never 
acquired  any  considerable  strength,  and  perished 
during  the  early  part  of  the  late  war. 

Except  West  Lafayette,  there  is  no  village  in 
the  township.  One  (^lled  Birmingham  was  laid 
out  in  1830  by  Joseph  C.  Higbee,  on  the  canal,  in 
the  extreme  eastern  part  of  the  township.  Mr. 
Higbee's  residence  and  a  warehouse  were  all  the 
buildings  it  ever  contained.  Evansburg,  which 
was  laid  out  a  few  months  later,  in  Oxford  town- 
ship, grew  rapidly  at  first  and  practically  killed  it. 

One  bridge  spans  the  Tuscarawas  river  in  this 
township  about  a  mile  north  of  West  Lafayette. 
It  is  an  iron  structure,  built  in  1878.  The  stone 
work  was  furnished  by  N.  W.  Buxton  at  a  cost  of 
16,290;  the  superstructure  costing  $8,746  was  furn- 
ished by  the  Cincinnati  Bridge  Company,  J.  W. 
Shepman  &  Co.,  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  Coshocton 
Iron  and  Steel  Works. 

No  important  earth  works  have  been  left  in 
Lafayette  township  to  mark  the  dwelling  here  of 
prehistoric  races.  A  circular  fortification,  en- 
closing about  three  acres,  has  been  observed  on 
Plain  Hill  north  of  West  Lafayette,  and  several 
Small  mounds  stood  between  it  and  the  village, 
but  they  have  now  been  obliterated  by  the  plow. 
The  railroad  in  its  construction  passed  through 
a  small  mound  on  the  Ferguson  farm  but  noth- 
ing is  known  to  have  been  discovered  in  it.  A 
small  one  may  be  seen  on  Velser  Shaw's  farm  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  township ;  "another  stood 
on  the  old  Higbee  place  but  is  now  leveled  to  the 
ground.  It  was  composed  of  sand,  differing  from 
the  surrounding  soil.  The  sand  had  probably 
been  obtained  in  the  river  bed  not  far  distant. 

No  Indian  village  is  known  to  have  been  situ- 
ated here,  though  the  plains  were  favorite  hunt- 
ing grounds  with  the  savages.  An  Indian  trail 
extending  from  the  river  to  the  Indian  town 
Lichtenau  passed  up  Burt's  run  then  down  Rock 
run  to  the  Muskingum, 


540 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


True  patriotism  seems  to  have  actuated  the  in- 
habitants of  this  township  from  its  earliest  set- 
tlement to  the  present  time.  During  the  war  of 
1812  and  the  Mexican  war,  a  goodly  number  of 
its  best  citizens  voluntarily  took  the  field  and 
faithfully  served  their  country. 

When  the  Northern  frontier  was  considered  in 
danger,  in  consequence  of  the  Canadian  rebel- 
lion, in  1839,  a  company  of  infantry  promptly 
volunteered,  and  were  armed  and  equiped  by 
the  State. 

During  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  the  full  quota 
required  by  the  governmenrt  was  promptly  fur- 
nished at  each  and  every  call  by  voluntary  en- 
listment and  substitutes.  Every  person  of  suita- 
ble age  and  ability  that  did  not  volunteer,  fur- 
nished a  substitute  or  paid  his  proper  proportion 
to  procure  the  number  required  to  fill  the  town- 
ship quota. 

John  Elson,  Daniel  Simons,  Henry  Babcock, 
Joseph  Lacy,  Thomas  Foster,  Jabez  Norman, 
Francis  McGuire,  son  of  William,  Thomas 
Owens,  Eichard  Phillips,  Daniel  Easton,  Thomas 
Wymer,  Henry  Hoagland,  Thomas  West,  John 
Chamberlain,  J.  Snell,  Cone  Coulter,  David  Horn, 
David  and  James  Robinson,  and  William  Fowler 
were  killed  in  battle  or  died  of  wounds  and  sick- 
ness in  the  service.  All  except  Cone  Coulter 
and  John  Chamberlain  are  buried  on  Southern 
battlefields  and  soldiers'  cemeteries.  John  Elson 
found  a  grave  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  having  died 
on  the  passage  of  the  Fifty-first  regiment  from 
Texas.  Peter  Chamberlain,  Jerome  Shaw,  George 
Miller,  Henry  Garret  and  James  Easton  died 
soon  after  their  return  of  wounds  received  and 
disease  contracted  In  the  service. 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

LINTON    TOWNSHIP. 

Location— Name— Topography— Primitive  Eaces— Indians- 
Douglity— Early  Settlers  and  Settlements  — Soldiers— Wills 
Creek — Early  Navigation — Eerries  and  Bridges — Mills— Dis- 
tilleries—Salt—Tanneries—Schools— Churches  —  Villages  — 
Population. 

LINTON  township  lies  in  the  southeastern 
corner  of  Coshocton  county.    It  is  indebted 
for  its  name  to  James  Miskimen,  one  of  the  fore- 


most settlers  of  the  township,  and,  at  the  time  of 
its  organization,  in  1812,  a  county  commissioner^ 
He  named  it,  it  is  said,  in  honor  of  the  township 
in  Virginia  from  which  he  emigrated.  It  is  the 
largest  township  in  the  county,  being  five  miles- 
wide,  north  and  soutli,  and  seven  and  one-half 
long,  east  and  west,  including  township  4  of  range- 
5,  and  the  western  half  of  township  4  of  range  4 — 
the  eastern  half  of  this  latter  township  forming  a 
part  of  Wheeling  township,  Guernsey  county. 

The  surface,  away  from  the  valleys  that  skirt 
the  streams,  is  hilly.  The  opinion  was  rife  among 
the  pioneers  in  the  bottom  lands  that  the  hills 
would  never  be  settled,  so  ill  adapted  did  they 
seem  for  purposes  of  cultivation ;  and  it  was  not 
until  about  1840  that  the  land  was  all  entered. 
The  summits  of  many  of  the  hills  had  been  made- 
bare  by  Indian  fires,  but  the  sides  were  covered 
with  a  thick  growth  of  'timber.  Beneath  this  the- 
pea  vine  grew  in  rich  profusion,  and  it  aflforded. 
an  excellent  pasture  for  the  cattle  turned  loose 
upon  the  hills  to  browse  upon  it. 

Wills  creek  is  the  principal  stream.  It  enters 
the  township  near  the  center  of  its  eastern  line,, 
from  Guernsey  county,  and  passes  out  in  the  ex- 
treme southwestern  corner.  The  distance  by  a 
direct  course  from  its  point  of  entrance  into  the 
township  to  its  exit  from  the  same  is  less  than 
eight  miles,  but  its  tortuous  meanderings  make 
the  actual  length  of  the  stream  between  these 
two  points  about  twenty  miles.  By  reason  of 
these  numerous  windings  the  bottom  lands  in 
the  township  are  rendered  much  more  extensive 
than  they  would  be  were  the  creek  more  direct 
in  its  course.  The  valley  varies  in  width  from  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  to  a  mile.  Two  well-marked' 
terraces  are  observable  in  most  places  along  the 
valley,  the  lower  one  generally  narrow,  the  upper 
rising  abruptly  thirty  or  forty  feet,  then  stretch- 
ing away  to  a  considerable  distance.  White  Eyes- 
creek  enters  the  township  from  Muskingum  coun- 
.  ty,  flows  in  a  northwesterly  direction  about  twO' 
miles,  and  empties  into  Wills  creek.  It  should 
not  be  confounded  with  another  White  Eyes- 
creek,  which  is  a  northern  tributary  of  the  Tus- 
carawas river. 

The  soil  is  generally  good.  In  the  village  it  is- 
a  rich,  sandy  loam,  becoming  in  some  places  al- 
most a  pure  sand.    Among  the  hills,  in  places 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


541 


where  the  limestone  formation  outcrops,  it  is 
quite  fertile.  There  was  one  locality  that  was 
not  timbered  when  the  first  settlers  appeared  in 
the  township.  This  was  the  level  stretch  of  coun- 
try lying  west  of  the  village  of  Plainfield,  being 
about  a  mile  square  in  area.  It  was  covered  only 
with  tall  prairie  grass,  but  shortly  after  a  thick 
growth  of  scrub  oak,  or  black  jack,  as  it  was  com- 
monly called,  sprang  up  and  kept  possession  of 
the  soil  till  uprooted  by  the  mattock  and  plow. 

The  remains  of  the  prehistoric  dwellers  in 
Linton  township  are  not  very  numerous.  There 
are,  however,  several  low  fortifications  and  a  few 
small  mounds  along  the  valley  of  Wills  creek. 
One  of  these  fortifications  is  situated  on  the 
plains,  about  half  a  mile  southwest  from  Plain- 
field,  at  the  cross  roads.  It  consists  of  four  em- 
bankments, enclosing  a  square  figure  containing 
several  acres.  At  each  corner  of  the  square  is 
an  entrance.  The  embanktnent  originally  was 
perhaps  six  feet  above  the  surrounding  level,  but 
it  has  since  been  almost  obliterated  by  the  plow. 
Another  circular  embankment,  enclosing  about 
an  acre,  was  found  on  the  farm  belonging  to  V. 
J.  Powelson,  in  section  22,  several  miles  farther 
down  the  creek.  The  outlines  are  now  so  slight 
as  to  be  scarcely  discernable. 

Near  Plainfield,  about  1840,  Mr.  J.  D.  Work- 
man opened  a  small  earthen  mound  on  his  place. 
He  found  nothing  except  several  storie  relics. 
Another,  about  two  miles  below,  was  excavated 
some  ten  years  later  by  Wesley  Patrick.  It  con- 
tained a  few  bones  belonging  to  the  human  skele- 
ton, including  the  skull,  jaw  bone  "and  thigh. 
These  were  of  an  unusually  large  size  and  indi- 
cated the  skeleton  to  be  fully  seven  feet  in  length. 

No  Indian  village  is  ku  own  to  have  been  located 
in  the  township,  but  encampments  for  hunting 
purposes  were  frequently  made  along  the  banks 
of  Wills  creek  and  its  numerous  small  tribu- 
taries by  these  denizens  of  the  forests.  Game 
abounded,  and,  for  a  half  dozen  years  after  the 
arrival  of  the  advance  guard  of  civilization,  it 
was  hunted  and  killed  in  this  vicinity  by  both 
pioneers  and  Indians.  The  relations  between 
them  were  generally  of  a  peaceful  nature.  Sev- 
eral times  ripples  arose  on  the  placid  sea  of 
friendship  and  betokened  a  storm,  but  they  were 


happily  averted.  The  Indians  were  a  shiftless 
class.  They  would  beg  or  thieve,  or  resort  to 
any  device  to  obtain  what  they  wanted  from  the 
whites.  They  would  often  bring  wild  game  to 
the  cabins  of  the  settlers  and  wish  to  exchange 
it  for  corn  or  something  else.  Requests  of  this 
kind  were  usually  complied  with,  but  the  cleanly 
housewife  would  throw  the  game  to  the  dogs. 

Thomas  Phillips  relates  that  it  was  the  custom 
of  his  father,  George  Phillips,  to  turn  his  horses 
out  in  the  open  woods  in  the  evening  to  pasture, 
and  that  the  Indians  would  drive  them  away  to  a 
considerable  distance  during  the  night  and  hide 
them;  then  the  next  morning  they  would  appear 
at  Phillips'  cabin  and,  learning  of  the  lost  horses, 
oiTer  to  find  them  for  a  dollar.  The  little  game 
was  successfully  played  several  times  until  Phil- 
lips suspected  and  accused  them  of  it.  He  was 
hunting  one  day  and  had  brought  down  a  fine 
deer;  this  he  hung  on  a  sapling  and  started  in 
pursuit  of  another  deer,  in  his  haste  leaving  his 
hat  behind.  When  he  returned  both  deer  and 
hat  were  gone.  Some  time  afterward  he  recog- 
nized a  silver  buckle  belonging  to  the  lost  hat  in 
the'  possession  of  the  innkeeper  at  Cambridge. 
Questioning  him  about  it,  Phillips  learned  that 
it  had  been  obtained  from  an  Indian  called 
Doughty,  who  had  sold  the  buckle  and  kept  the 
hat,  but  not  daring  or  caring  to  wear  it  abroad 
had  used  it  to  sleep  In. 

James  Miskimen  once  had  a  little  difficulty 
with  this  sairie  Doughty,  who  was  a  noted  Indian 
character,  shortly  after  he  (Miskimen)  settled  in 
this  township.  Miskimen  was  a  great  trader,  and 
would  often  barter  trinkets,  whisky,  etc.,  with  the 
Indians  for  hides  and  furs,  disposing  of  these  at 
Zanesville.  He  and  Tom  Addy  were  conveying 
a  load  in  a  canoe  down  Wills  creek,  on  their  way 
to  Zanesville.  Doughty  espied  them  and  wanted 
to  ride  down  the  creek  a  distance  with  them. 
They  stopped  and  took  him  in  the  boat.  Having 
some  whisky  aboard.  Doughty  soon  discovered  it, 
and  wanted  some.  He  soon  drank  enough  to 
make  him  ugly  and  boisterous.  His  conduct  be- 
came disagreeable  and  they  landed  him.  En- 
raged at  this,  he  threatened  to  shoot  them,  as  they 
shoved  off  the  boat,  but  fortunately  his  gun  was 
empty,  it  having  been  discharged  a  short  time 
before    by    Miskimen,  in    shooting   a   turkey. 


542 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Doughty  began  to  load  his  gun,  and  the  men, 
now  some  distance  away,  seeing  that  he  was  in 
earnest,  pulled  for  the  shore  again  with  the  inten- 
tion of  depriving  him  of  the  weapon.  Miskimen 
rowed  while  Addy  covered  the  savage  with  his 
rifle,  determined  to  shoot  first,  if  shooting  became 
necessary.  They  reached  the  bank  in  the  nick  of 
time.  Miskimen,  who  was  a  powerfully-built 
man,  sprang  ashore  and  knocked  the  inebriated 
Doughty  to  the  ground  just  as  he  was  in  the  act 
of  shooting.  In  his  anger  he  seized  Doughty's 
gun  and  threw  it  out  into  the  stream,  where  it 
probably /Still  lies,  several  miles  below  Plainfield. 
Leaving  the  Indian  senseless  on  the  ground,  the 
two  men  proceeded  on  their  way.  About  ten 
days  after,  Miskimen  was  waited  upon  at  his 
cabin  by  twelve  Indians,  who  demanded  that  he 
replace  Doughty's  gun,  and  threatened  to  kill 
him  if  he  refused.  Miskimen  at  first  rejected 
the  demand,  but  at  the  solicitation  of  his  wife 
finally  agreed  to  settle  the  matter.  He  procured 
an  old  gun  that  had  been  offered  for  sale  at  the 
Fuller  settlement,  and  delivered  it  to  the  Indian 
council,  thus  closing  the  "  deadly  breach  of  war." 
Doughty  did  not  accompany  his  red  brethf  en 
when  they  gathered  up  their  tents  in  1812,  and 
stole  away  to  the  broad  West,  but  frequented  the 
old  haunts  and  hunting  grounds  for  several  years 
after.  It  was  his  deligh*-,  when  a  little  intoxicated, 
to  visit  the  cabins  of  the  settlers  and  seek  to 
frighten  the  women  and  children  by  recounting 
blood  curdling  tales  of  savage  cruelty.  He  at- 
tended log-rollings,  cabin-raisings  and  various 
gatherings  of  this  kind,  but  would  never  work, 
preferring  the  more  congenial  employment  of 
drinking  whisky  and  vagabondizing.  He  was 
finally  murdered  by  a  white  man  in  Muskingum 
county,  near  Zanesville. 

The  northeastern  part  of  Linton  township, 
what  is  known  as  the  north  bend  of  Wills  creek, 
was  the  first  portion  occupied  by  settlers.  Here, 
as  early  as  1806,  settled  the  Miskimens,  McCunes, 
Addys  and  Joneses.  In  1800,  James  Miskimen, 
then  a  young  man,  journeyed  to  Ohio  for  the 
purpose  of  selecting  a  site  in  the  vast  wilderness 
for  a  future  home.  He  first  visited  a  relative, 
named  Young,  who  held  a  position  in  the  land 
ofiice  at  Chillicothe.    While  there,  an  old  hunter 


who  was  well  acquainted  with  the  wilds  of  Ohio, 
recommended  to  him  the  north  bend  of  Wills 
creek.  Miskimen  traveled  afoot  up  the  Mus- 
kingum and  Wills  creek  valleys,  saw  the  location 
and  was  pleased  with  it.  Not  having  the  means 
with  which  to  enter  land,  he  returned  to  his 
father's  plantations  in  Virginia,  on  the  banks  of 
the  Potomafc,  and  there,  in  conjunction  with  his 
brother,  worked  his  father's  distillery  for  five 
years.  By  this  means  he  accumulated  the  sum  of 
$700,  and  in  the  spring  of  1805,  again  set  out  for 
Ohio.  He  spent  his  first  summer  here  in  raising 
a  crop  of  corn  on  Evans'  prairie,  in  Oxford  town- 
ship; returning  to  Virginia  that  same  fall,  he 
was  married  to  Catherine  Portmess,  and  returned 
at  once  to  their  future  home.  He  first  entered 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  7 ;  subsequently, 
the  southeast  quarter  of  the  same  section,  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  8,  the  east  half  of 
section  19  and  other  lands,  becoming  an  exten- 
sive land  owner  in  this  township.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  force,  possessed  shrewd  business  quali- 
ties, and  was  strongly  identified  with  the  agricul- 
tural development  of  his  township  and  county. 
His  brothers,  John  and  William,  followed  him  to 
this  township  several  years  later. 

John  McGune  was  born  in  South  Carolina. 
He  served,  during  the  war  of  the  revolution,  as 
captain  in  General  Sumter's  army.  His  property 
was  destroyed  hy  the  tories  during  the  war,  and 
at  its  close  he  moved  to  Zanes  Island,  Penn- 
sylvania. Prom  that  place,  in  1801,  he  emigrated 
to  Oxford  township,  and  there  purchased  a  large 
tract  of  land;  but  meeting  with  reverses  he  was 
obliged  to  dispose  of  his  property.  In  1806,  he 
moved  to  Linton  township,  entering  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  4,  and  the  southwest  half 
of  section  3,  both  of  range  4.  He  was  twice  mar- 
ried and  raised  a  family  of  nine  children.  His 
death  ocurred  in  1811. 

William  Addy,  on  Christmas  day  of  the  year 
1806,  entered  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  4, 
range  4;  He  was  from  near  Harper's  Perry, 
Virginia,  and  brought  with  him  five  sons  and 
four  daughters.  Malechi  and  Enoch  Jones,  two 
brothers,  came  about  the  same  time  from  Vir- 
ginia. They  married  two  of  the  Addy  girls  and 
lived  on  their  father-in-law's  place. 

In  1806,  Wilham  Evans  entered  the  first  land 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


643 


on  Bacon  run,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  2. 
Edward  Wiggins,  hailing  from  Brook  county, 
Virginia,  in  1807,  entered  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  11.  The  same  year  Esaias  and  Charles 
Baker,  brothers,  came  into  the  township,  the 
former  entering  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
10,  the  latter  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  1. 
They  had  emigrated,  from  Virginia,  with  Isaac 
and  Henry  Evans,  to  the  plains  in  Oxford  town- 
ship, as  early  as  1801.  Bezin  Baker,  a  nephew  to 
Charles  and  Esaias,  entered  the^southeast  quarter 
of  section  6,  range  4,  about  1808.  He  was  born 
near  Little  York,  Pennsylvania.  He  came  into 
the  county  as  early  as  1802,  and  remained  until 
his  death,  in  1842.  His  father's  family  had  re- 
moved from  Pennsylvania  to  Harrison  county, 
and  Bezin,  just  as  he  had  fairly  attained  his  ma- 
jority, passed  on  out  west  and  hired  out  with 
John  Fulton,  living  near  Coshocton,  until  he  had 
earned  enough  to  buy  his  farm  in  Linton  town- 
ship. His  wife  was  in  Harrison  county,  and  she 
and  two  children  were  removed  by  death,  he 
afterwards  marrying  Mary  Addy,  daughter  of 
WiUiam  Addy.  Other  early  settlers  in  this  vicin- 
ity were  Basil  Baker,  a  cousin  to  Esaias,  who 
entered  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  10; 
Andrew  Eerier,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
5,  range  4;  Martin  Higer,  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  5,  range  4,  and  John  Loos,  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  1. 

.  Farther  down  the  creek  William  Jeffries,  from 
the  Keystone  State,  was  among  the  first  to  locate. 
He  entered  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  23, 
about  1806.  John  and  David  Arbuckle  were  also 
extensive  land  owners  in  this  region  nearly  as 
early.  They  remained  only  a  few  years,  remov- 
ing to  Knox  county.  Bichard  Williams  became 
a  citizen  of  the  township  in  1808.  He  was  from 
Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  had 
traveled  through  the  Scioto  and  Miami  valleys 
in  search  of  a  suitable  place  to  'locate,  but  the 
settlers  of  those  valleys  appeared  sickly  to  him  ; 
coming  up  the  Muskingum  valley  he  noted  the 
healthy  appearance  of  the  settlers  and  decided  to 
"pitch  his  tent"  here.  He  stopped  on  the  Wal- 
honding  river  a  few  months  and,  while  there, 
learned  that  William  Jeffers,  an  old  acquaintance 
of  his,  had  settled  on  Wills  creek.  That  brought 
him  to  Linton  township.    His  first  entry  was  the 


southwest  quarter  of  section  18,  adjoining  Jeff- 
ers' place.  Conrad  Powelson,  a  Virginian,  came 
into  the  county  in  1808.  He  lived  in  Franklin 
township  three  years,  then  moved  to  this  town- 
ship, entering  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  18 
and  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19.  He 
died  May  31,  1841.  Two  years  later  William  Mc- 
Cleary,  from  Fredericktown,  Maryland,  became 
a  resident  in  this  neighborhood.  He  located 
eighty  acres  in  section  23.  William  B.  Clark 
came  from  Washington  county,  Maryland,  during" 
the  war  of  1812,  to  Franklin  township.  A  re- 
cruitihg  officer  coming  along,  he  enlisted  in  the 
army.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to 
Linton  township,  entering  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  19. 

Bichard  Fowler  became  identified  with  Co- 
shocton county  about  the  year  1805.  His  former 
residence  was  in  Brook  county,  Virginia.  He 
moved  from  Virginia  because  of  what  he  deemed 
its  tyrannous  laws,  oppressive  to  poor  men.  He 
was  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and  stopped  a  short 
time  at  Zanesville ;  but  finding  no  employment 
there,  he  came  on  to  Coshocton.  Here  he  was 
engaged  by  Charles  Williams  to  roof  a  house. 
After  the  job  was  completed,  he  moved  to  the 
country  and  leased  a  piece  of  land  in  what  is 
now  Lafayette  township,  from  Alexander  Elson, 
also  from  Brook  county,  Virginia.  He  married 
Elson's  daughter,  Jane,  February  5,  1807.  He^ 
served  during  the  war  of  1812,  as  first  lieuten- 
ant of  a  company  raised  in  this  county.  At  its 
close,  he  removed  to  Linton  township,  and  settled 
on  Bacon  run,  becoming  an  influential  citizen. 
He  introduced  the  first  sheep  into  this  township. 
Wolves  were  still  numerous  at  the  time,  and  the 
greatest  watchfulness  was  necessary  in  order  to 
keep  the  sheep  from  the  fangs  of  these  old-time 
enemies.  His  house  was  a  place  of  public  enter- 
tainment from  1830  to  1850.  "Fowler's  Stand" 
was  widely  and  popularly  known. 

Mr.  Fowler  was  an  eye-witness  to  a  township 
election  in  Coshocton,  about  1805.  Its  modus 
operandi,  as  narrated  by  him,  was  as, follows:  The 
voters,  perhaps  fifteen  in  number,  congregated, 
by  special  invitation,  at  the  tavern  of  Charles 
Williams,  who  was  the  magnate  of  the  village. 
The  free  drinks  were  then  generously  passed 
around,  and  liberal  potations  were  indulged  in 


544 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON   COUNTY. 


by  all.  When  the  proper  degree  of  hilarity  was 
reached,  Williams  made  nominations  for  the 
various  offices,  and  the  assembled  sons  of  liberty, 
with  loud  acclaim,  expressed  assent  to  those 
nominations.  Fowler,  on  expressing  to  Wil- 
liams his  surprise  at  this  kind  of  election,  re- 
ceived the  reply  that  it  was  goood  enough  for 
them. 

Francis  and  John  Smith,  from  Pennsylvania, 
were  early  settlers  on  Bacon  run ;  likewise  John 
Wells  and  Daniel  Dean,  both  of  Virginia.  On 
what  was  called  Irish  run,  just  below  Bacon  run, 
William  and  Alexander  Love,  great-uncles  to 
Joseph  Love,  settled  in  1810  and  1812,  respect- 
ively. They  were  from  Ireland  William  and 
Benjamin  Williams  also  lived  here  in  early  times. 
Robert  Piatt  entered  the  township  in  1816,  and 
settled  in  this  vicinity.  He  had  emigrated  from 
Ireland  to  Newark,  New  Jersey,  in  1809.  Ed- 
mund Duling  emigrated  from  Hampshire  county, 
Virginia,  in  1815,  and  entered  the  southeast  quar- 
ter of  section  3,  range  6.  The  McClains  are  no- 
ticed in  Lafayette  township.  ^ 

The  only  military  land  in  the  township  is  the 
4,000-acre  section,  forming  the  southeast  corner  of 
the  township.  It  was  surveyed  into  forty  lots  of 
100  acres  each,  and  many  of  these  were  bought 
up  by  non-residents  of  the  county,  with  an  eye 
to  speculation.  Amos  Stackhouse  was  the  only 
revolutionary  soldier  known  to  have  entered  a 
lot  in  this  section.  He  settled  upon  lot  14.  John 
Lawrence  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  on  this 
section.  John  Phillips  entered  lot  18  as  early  as 
1810;  his  brother  George  followed  him  soon  after 
and  settled  on  lot  15.  They  were  originally  from 
Virginia,  but  had  lived  a  while  in  Kentuclqy  be- 
fore they  came  here.  George  had  been  employed 
by  Gumber  &  Beatty,  of  Cambridge,  in  building 
the  first  mill  in  that  place.  He  was  a  skilled 
hunter  and  an  unerring  marksman,  and  spent 
much  time  in  the  forests.  The  products  of  the 
chase,  such  as  hides  and  venison,  he  would  take 
to  Zanesville.  Amos  Devoir  and  a  Mr.  Hyatt 
were  also  occupants  in  this  vicinity  at  an  early 
day. 

Joseph  Heslip,  one  of  the  few  pioneers  that 
still  survive  the  ravages  of  time,  was  the  most  ex- 
tensive resident  land  owner  in  this  section  and 
one  of  its  widest  known  and  most  respected  set- 


tlers.   His  life,  both  preceding  and  following  his 
connection  with  Linton  township,  had  been  un- 
eventful.   He  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland, 
in  March,  1793.    His  father,  John  Heslip,  was  the 
proprietor  of  an  extensive  shoe  establishment  in 
that    city.     A  life  on  the  ocean  wave  was  the 
dream  of  Joseph's  early  boyhood,  realized  when 
he  was  ten  years  old,  for  at  that  age  he  became  a 
sailor  boy  aboard  a  merchantman.    He  remained 
on  the  sea  till  he  was  eighteen,  in  spite  of  his 
■father's  opposition.    In  1803,  while  at  Liverpool, 
he  was  impressed  into  the  English  service,  hurried 
to  Plymouth  and  shipped  aboard  a  man-of-war, 
bound  for  Spain.     As  an  English  sailor  he  par- 
ticipated in  the  siege  of  Cadiz,  Spain.    While 
there,  he  contrived  to  get  his  case  before  the 
American  consul,  and  was  soon  after  released. 
In  1811,  he  abandoned  the  sea  and  made  a  trip 
with  his  father  to  Linton  township,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  examining  1,300  acres  of  land  here,  which 
his  father  had  purchased  two  years  previously 
with  the  hope  that  Joseph  would  settle  here. 
They  returned  to  Baltimore  the  same  fall,  and 
Joseph  served  as  a  militia  man  in  the  war  that 
ensued.    In  the  fall  of  1814,  he  again  came  to  Lin- 
ton township,  this  time  permanently.     Early  in 
1815,  he  married  Eleanor  Walgamot,  of  Holmes 
county,  and  in  midwinter,  moved  into  a  dreary 
doorless  and  windowless  cabin,  in  the  midst  of 
the  solitudes  of  the  forest.    He  had  not  been 
here  a  great  while  when  his  father,  wishing  to 
mitigate  the  hardships  of  his  pioneer  career,  sent 
him    a  carriage.    The  vehicle  arrived  safely  at 
Cambridge,  but  stopped  there,  as  no  road  had  yet 
been  made  from  that  place  westward.    In  those 
days  of  stern  trial,  difficulties  were  met  only  to  be 
overcome.    A  road  was  cut  from  Cambridge  to 
Heslip's  place  for  the  express  purpose  of  bring- 
ing the  carriage  through     Once  atits  destination, 
Mr.  Heslip  had  the  exquisite  pleasure  of  taking 
his  wife  out  in  the  carriage  for  a  drive— through 
the  cornfields,  as  there  were  yet  no  roads. 

About  1815,  Mr.  Heslip  indulged  in  a  little 
speculation.  He  bought  about  6,000  pounds  of 
pork  at  two  cents  per  pound;  dressed  it  and 
boated  it  to  Cambridge  in  a  large  canoe.  He 
employed  teamsters  going  east  for  goods  to  carry 
it  to  Baltimore,  paying  them  $2  per  hundred. 
Their  rates  for  bringing  goods  from  Baltimore 


HISTOKY  OP   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


545 


was  110  per  hundred.  The  pork  was  sold  at  Bal- 
timore for  six  cents.  This  occurred  before  pork 
was  packed  at  Cincinnati. 

He  was  one  of  the  earliest  justices  of  his  town- 
ship. While  serving  in  this  capacity  he  tried  a 
case  once  with  rather  unusual  surroundings. 
Wills  creek  was  not  yet  bridged,  and  the  only 
means  of  crossing  was  by  canoe.  On  the  day  set 
for  the  trial  the  stream  was  greatly  swollen,  and 
the  witnesses  were  on  the  other  side  and  could 
not  be  prevailed  on  to  cross.  The  'squire  deter- 
mined the  case  should  go  on,  and  proceeded  with 
it  then  and  there ;  he  on  one  side  of  the  stream, 
the  witnesses  on  the  other,  a  roaring  flood  be- 
tween. 

Thomas  Johnson,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
the  township,  was  among  the  most  prominent 
men  of  the  county  in  his  day.  He  was  born  in 
the  parish  of  Glentubert,  Monaghan  county,  Ire- 
land, on  the  16th  of  March,  1783.  Early  in  youth 
he  manifested  a  great  desire  to  go  to  America, 
and  urged  his  father  to  emigrate.  He,  being  a 
very  quiet,  unobtrusive  man,  with  quite  a  family 
of  young  children,  could  not  think  of  bringing 
them  to  the  wilds  of  America.  Thomas  remained 
with  his  father  till  he  was  twenty-four  years  of 
age  and  had  brothers  grown  up.  He  then  told 
his  father  he  was  determined  to  go  to  the  new 
world,  and  urged  his  suit  with  so  much  ardor 
that  his  parents  could  no  longer  withhold  their 
consent.  He  left  Ireland  in  1806,  and  landed  in 
New  York  with  but  one  sovereign  in  his  pocket. 
He  there  met  with  Joseph  T.  Baldwin,  of  New- 
ark, New  Jersey,  who  ofTered  to  employ  him. 
He  remained  with  Mr.  Baldwin  for  three  years. 
In  1808  he  married  Sarah  Parker.  About  this 
time  his  parents,  his  three  brothers,  Kichard, 
William  and  Robert,  and  his  only  sister, 
Margaret,  joined  him  in  Newark.  Thomas  then 
determined  that  Newark  was  not  the  place  for 
his  father's  family  to  settle,  and  in  1809  they 
came  to  Coshocton  county,  and  located  in  Linton 
township.  Thomas  bought  from  Esaias  Baker 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  10,  where  now 
stands  the  village  of  Plainfield.  Richard  settled 
on  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  same  section. 
Robert  entered  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
17,  and  William  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
15,  adjoining. 


Thomas  and  Richard  both  served  in  the  war  of 
1812,  the  latter  dying  a  year  or  two  after  his  re- 
turn. Thomas  was  perhaps  the  first  justice  of 
the  peace  in  the  townshp.  His  first  docket,  still 
preserved,  in  the  possession  of  his  son,  J.  R. 
Johnson,  bears  date  April  7, 1814.  The  first  entry,, 
of  that  date,  records  a  suit  brought  by  John 
Lawrence  against  Jacob  Mapal,  to  recover  ten 
dollars.  The  entry  shows  that  bail  was  given  by 
the  defendant  for  the  full  amount  and  the  costs. 
In  1818,  he  was  commissioned  associate  judge  of 
Coshocton  county,  a  postion  which  he  held  till 
the  tim.e  of  his  death.  He  was  probably  the  first 
foreigner  naturalized  in  Coschocton  county,  his 
certificate  being  dated  December  16, 1814.  Mr, 
Johnson  possessed  business  qualifications  of  a 
high  order.  His  name  is  connected  with  many 
enterprises  of  his  township  and  county,  both 
public  and  private.  He  died  August  20,  1840,. 
after  a  protracted  sickness.  His  widow  survived 
him  almost  twenty-two  years,  dying  at  the  old 
homestead,  March  29,. 1862.  His  father  also  sur- 
vived him  eighteen  days,  dying  September  7,1840,. 
in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age. 

Five  residents  of  the  township  had  served  in 
the  revolutionary  war,  namely,  John  McCune,. 
William  Williams,  Fought  Shafler,  Amos  Stack- 
house  and  Israel  Buker.  The  following  carried 
arms  in  the  war  of  1812:  Richard  Fowler,  Wil- 
liam R.  Clark,  Laken  Wells,  'Francis  Smith,. 
Richard  Johnson,  Thomas  Johnson,  John  Glenn,. 
James  Laurie,  James  R.  Williams,  William  Hud- 
son, Robert  Piatt,  John  Portmess,  George  Mag- 
ness,  Duga  Patterson,  Robert  Harbison,  Sr., 
Rezin  Baker,  James  McCune,  Basil  Baker,  Sam- 
uel Banks,  Eli  O.  H.  Shyhock,  Peter  Rambo, 
Abraham  Marlatt.  There  may  have  been  others 
whose  names  can  not  now  be  ascertained.  R.  W, 
McClain  and  Robert  Harbison  were  soldiers  in 
the  Mexican  war. 

Dr.  Thomas  Heslip  was  among  the  first  phy- 
sicians. Drs.  Collins,  Hawkins  and  Heslip  Wil- 
liams also  practiced  the  healing  art  here  quite 
early. 

The  first  windmill  in  use  was  made  by  John 
Vernon  and  owned  first  by  Basil  Baker,  after- 
ward by  Edward  Wiggins.  It  was  a  rude  aflfair, 
having  w6oden  cogs.    Before  the  introduction  of 


546 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


■windmills  the  process  of  cleaning  wheat  was  very 
laborious  and  was  often  performed  in  Linton 
township  after  this  fashion,  the  necessary  instru- 
ments being  a  sheet  and  a  half-bushel  measure. 
The  sheet  would  be  tied  to  a  stake  at  one  end, 
and  held  at  the  other  by  a  person  whose  office  it 
was  to  maneuver  the  sheet  in  such  a  way  as  to 
produce  an  artificial  wind  storm  strong  enough 
to  blow  away  the  chaff  while  the  wheat  was  being 
slowly  poured  from  the  measure  upon  the  floor. 
This  operation  performed  several  times  would 
usually  make  the  wheat  sufficiently  clean. 

A  few  rods  below  the  entrance  of  Wills  creek 
into  Linton  township,  is  a  place  called  Limestone 
Falls.  Before  the  Linton  dam  was  built,  there 
was  a  miniature  cascade  here,  the  water  falling 
two  or  three  feet,  but  since  the  building  of  the 
mill  at  Linton,  two  miles  below,  the  falls  are  con- 
cealed from  sight.  These  are  the  only  falls  in  the 
course  of  the  creek  in  the  township.  It  is  ex- 
tremely sluggish  in  its  movements  and,  as  a  nav- 
igable stream,  played  an  important  part  in  the 
history  of  Linton  township  at  a  time  when  all  its 
inhabitants  were  back-woodsmen.  The  limited 
commercial  relations  of  the  pioneers  with  the  out- 
side world  were  maintained  mainly  through  its 
instrumentality.  Whatever  products  could  be 
spared  by  the  settlers  were  borne  to  other  locali- 
ties upon  its  bosom.  In  early  times  trading  keel 
boats,  thirty  or  forty  feet  in  length,  would  ascend 
the  creek  from  Zanesville  loaded  with  crockery 
and,  in  fact,  all  kinds  of  wares.  These  the  traders 
would  dispose  of  to  the  settlers  along  the  creek, 
stopping  at  the  different  farm  houses  along  the 
route  and  announcing  their  arrival  by  a  blast 
from  a  tin  trumpet.  Taking  in  exchange  for 
their  goods  chickens,  eggs,  or  almost  any  com- 
modity, they  were  able  to  compete  successfully 
with  the  few  little  country  stores  then  in  opera- 
tion, for  these  would  generally  demand  the  ready 
cash  for  their  staples,  and  money  was  a  rare  ar- 
ticle in  those  days. 

A  great  amount  of  lumber  used  to  be  rafted 
from  the  banks  of  Wills  creek.  It  found  a  ready 
market  in  Zanesville  and  could  be  taken  there 
during  high  waters,  at  comparatively  trifling  ex- 
pense. The  lumber  was  lashed  together  into  rafts 
of  about  twenty-five  logs  each.  Two  days  were 
usually  required  to  reach  Zanesville.    White  oak 


and  poplar  were  the  varieties  generally  shipped ; 
occasionally  walnut  or  cherry.  Seventy-five  rafts 
a  year  would  be  a  moderate  estimate  of  the  ex- 
tent of  this  industry. 

When  the  mills  along  the  creek  were  put  into 
operation,  much  of  the  flour  made  was  exported 
by  flat-boats  to  various  points  below.  Thomas 
Johnson  was  extensively  engaged  in  boating  flour 
and  whisky  to  a  southern  market.  His  flat-boats 
touched  nearly  every  point  of  importance  in  the 
Mississippi  valley,  a  ten  ton  boat  of  whisky  being 
poled  up  the  Tennessee  river  once  as  far  as 
Florence,  Alabama.  Perhaps  the  largest  boat 
constructed  for  the  purpose,  was  one  100  feet 
long  and  eighteen  feet  wide.  It  was  built  by  J. 
V.  Heslip,  and  partially  loaded  with  500  barrels 
of  flour  at  Linton  mills.  At  Zanesville  its  cargo 
was  completed,  and  from  thence  conveyed  safely 
to  New  Orleans. 

Wills  creek  is  fordable  in  several  places  ordina- 
rily, but  it  is  impassible  during  high  waters.  Be- 
fore the  county  was  sufficiently  developed  to  build 
bridges,  some  means  of  transportation  for  tavel- 
ers  afoot,  and  for  teams  as  well,  sometimes,  be- 
came necessary.  This  led  to  the  establishment 
of  ferries.  Benjamin  Wiggins  kept  the  first 
ferry-boat  in  the  township.  It  was  near  old  Plain- 
field,  about  1812.  Peter  Rambo  was  ferryman 
there  at  a  later  period.  Joseph  Heslip  performed 
this  office  for  a  while  on  the  site  of  Linton  mills. 

The  first  attempt  at  bridge  building  in  Linton 
township  terminated  disastrously.  The  project 
was  to  spann  Wills  creek,  at  old  Plainfield,  with 
a  wooden  bridge.  It  was  begun  auspiciously, 
and  partially  erected  with  great  labor  on  the  part 
of  the  settlers  in  the  vicinity,  when  it  was  swept 
away  during  a  freshet.  The  next  attempt  was 
more  successful,  resulting  in  the  construction  of 
a  bridge  at  Jacobsport  in  1834,  mainly  through 
the  efforts  of  Thomas  Johnson.  Owing  to  the 
high  banks  and  mud  bottoms  there  was  a  difii- 
culty  in  crossing  Wills  creek  at  his  mills,  and  the 
commissioners  being  tmwilling  or  unable  to  as- 
sist in  bridging  the  stream,  he  petitioned  the  legis- 
lature, in  1834,  to  authorize  him  to  build  a  bridge 
and  collect  toll.  He  was  assisted  to  some  extent 
by  the  subscriptions  of  his  neighbors.  By  the 
contribution  of  a  certain  amount  he  would  grant 
a  right  to  the  free  use  of  the  bridge.   Some  twenty 


HISTORY   0¥  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


547 


years  later  the  bridge  was  given  by  Johnson's 
son  to  the  county  commissioners,  they  agreeing 
to  keep  it  in  repair.  The  second  bridge  was  built 
at  Linton,  in  1847,  by  Joseph  and  John  V.  Heslip, 
the  county  commissioners  contributing  seventy- 
five  dollars  for  the  purpose.  The  bridge  about  a 
mile  farther  up  the  creek  was  built  in  1870,  and 
the  one  on  the  Otsego  road,  several  years  ago. 

When  the  first  settlers  came  into  the  township, 
the  nearest  mill  was  at  ^anesville,  twenty  miles 
or  more  away,  and  accessible  only  by  a  winding 
trail.  In  1809,  Andrew  Ferier  built, a  little  mill 
on  the  present  site  of  Plainfield,  about  fifty  rods 
above  where  Parker's  mill  now  stands,  but  it  was 
soon  after  swept  away  by  a  freshet  and  never  re- 
built. Milling  was  again  thrown  twenty  miles 
away  and  the  inconvenience  seriously  felt ;  con- 
sequently, when  John  Loos,  in  1816,  proposed 
erecting  a  mill  on  Bacon  run,  the  neighbors 
turned  out  en  masse,  and,  by  their  voluntary  labor, 
made  a  race  for  the  mill  some  eighty  rods  long, 
and  for  many  years  kept  the  same  in  repair.  A 
saw-mill  was  operated  in  conjunction  with  the 
grist-mill.  Years  afterward  it  was  converted 
into  a  carding  mill,  which  was  conducted  first  by 
Samuel  Shaffer,  afterwards  by  Stephen  Ives;  it 
has  long  since  been  abandoned. 

Thomas  Johnson  and  Jacob  Waggoner,  about 
1824,  built  a  large  mill,  of  four  run  of  buhrs, 
where  Parker's  mill  now  stands.  It  was  the  first 
mill  of  any  note  and  did  a  flourishing  business. 
In  1829  Johnson  assumed  sole  control  and  owned 
it  till  his  death.  Since  then  it  has  been  owned 
successively  by  John  M.  Johnson,  Joseph  John- 
son, Isaiah  Rinaman,  Samuel  Sibley,  Alonzo 
Sibley,  William  Heskett  and  Parker  Brothers. 
The  present  owners,  the  Parkers,  run  a  saw-mill 
and  a  planing-mill  in  connection  with  it.  The 
Linton  mills  were  built,  in  1847,  by  J.  V.  Heslip. 
In  1870,  a  steam  saw  and  planing-mill  was  built 
in  Plainfield  by  Wolfe  &  Williams.  In  1878,  a 
gristrmill  was  added.  It  is  now  operated  by  Wil- 
liam Wolfe. 

The  manufacture  of  whisky  was  one  of  the 
main  industries  of  pioneer  times.  Alexander 
and  William  Love  inaugurated  its  manufacture 
in  Linton  township.  Their  still-hoiise,  of  modest 
size,  was  located  on  Irish  run,  near  the  western 
line  of  section  9.    The  process  of  distillation  was 


begun  here  about  1812.  The  Loves  subsequently 
sold  out  to  Andrew  Ferguson,  who  removed  the 
still  to  Bacon  run,  where  Mrs.  J.  B.  Fowler  now 
lives.  Thomas  Johnson  erected  a  large  distillery, 
subsequently,  on  his  homestead,  and  for  many 
years  manufactured  spirits  on  a  large  scale.  In 
1816,  at  the  laying  out  of  Plainfield,  he  removed 
it  there,  and  about  1825  back  to  its  original  place. 
Besides  these,  John  Heslip's  was  the  only  distil- 
lery in  the  township.  It  was  erected  shortly  after 
Linton  was  laid  out  and  run  for  a  few  years  only. 

The  manufacture  of  salt  was  another  industry 
in  the  early  times  that  must  not  be  overlooked. 
In  the  southwestern  part  of  the  township,*Wil- 
liam  McCleeary  and  Jud^e  Fulton  were  engaged 
in  it  for  many  years.  The  wells  had  to  be  sunk 
several  hundred  feet  before  the  water  impreg- 
nated with  salt  was  reached.  In  spring  time  it 
would  rise  to  the  top  of  the  well,  but  at  other 
seasons  pumping  was  necessary.  About  sixty 
gallons  of  water  must  usually  be  evaporated  to 
produce  a  bushel  of  salt.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
bushels  were  made  per  week  at  the  two  wells. 
Some  was  brought  to  Coshocton,  but  it  was  used 
largely  by  the  farming  community  in  this  part  of 
the  county.  Jacob  Waggoner  also  manufactured 
a  little  at  Plainfield.  The  boring  of  his  well  here, 
discovered  a  vein  of  coal,  seven  feet  in  thickness, 
forty-seven  feet  below  the  surface. 

Linton  township's  first  tannery  was  started  in 
1818,  in  the  village  of  Plainfield,  by  Benjamin 
Chambers,  from  New  York.  The  bark  for  this 
tannery  was  prepared  by  crushing  it  beneath  a 
ponderous  stone  wheel  seven  or  eight  feet  in 
diameter,  an  axle  passing  through  the  center 
of  the  wheel  acting  as  a  pivot,  and  was  turned 
around  one  extremity  by  a  horse  hitched  to  the 
other.  The  bark  was  constantly  stirred  in  the 
track  of  the  wheel  as  it  made  its  little  circuit. 

Thomas  Johnson  built  the  next  tannery  in 
East  Plainfield,  about  1838;  after  his  death  it  was 
run  by  his  son  Joseph  awhile,  and  then  discon- 
tinued. George  Latham  started  one  about  twenty 
years  ago,  in  the  same  village.  Lewis  Carhartt 
afterwards  owned  it,  and  in  October,  1879,  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Sibley  purchased  it ;  her  son  William 
Sibley,  now  has  charge  of  it.  Henry  Franks 
owns  and  runs  a  little  tannery  situated  about  two 
miles  west  of  Plainfield. 


548 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  first  building  erected  for  educational  pur- 
poses was  a  rude  log-cabin.  It  was  built,  prob- 
-ably,  in  the  year  1809,  by  the  united  labor  of  the 
surrounding  settlers,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of 
.section  1,  near  its  southern  line,  on  property 
then  owned  by  a  teuton,  named  Dumm.  After 
several  terms  had  been  taught,  Dumm  resolved 
to  appropriate  the  building  to  his  own  use.  The 
citizens  thereabouts  became  indignant  at  this, 
and  remonstrated,  but  in  vain.  Seeking  legal 
.advice  they  learned  that  Dumm  possessed  the 
right  of  property.  The  lawyer,  unprofessionally 
of  course,  advised  them  to  steal  the  building. 
Acting  on  this  suggestion,  one  night  a  willing 
band  of  workers  silently  conveyed  it,  log  by  log, 
across  the  road  to  Thomas  Johnson's  land,  where 
it  stood  for  years,  the  only  school-house  in  the 
township.  Children  were  sent  to  school  here 
from  as  far  up  Bacon's  run  as  Eichard  Fowler's, 
and  equally  as  far  from  other  directions.  They 
had  to  walk  through  narrow  bridle  paths  to  reach 
it,  many  of  them  in  constant  fear  of  wild  ani- 
mals, that  still  lodged  in  the  woods.  Walter 
'Truat  is  said  to  be  the  first  teacher.  He  could 
spell  a  little,  but  his  literary  attainments  were 
not  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  read,  and  he  was 
not  retained  long.  Israel  H.  Baker,  Alpha  Ba- 
ker, Thomas  Fitch,  Benjamin  Norman,  Francis 
Carroll  and  a  -Mr.  Thompson,  were  among  the 
-earliest  teachers  of  this  school.  The  building 
was  used  as  a  church  and  voting  place.  Militia 
musters  were  also  held  here. 

A  school  was  taught  in  a  log  cabin  on  McCune's 
place,  about  1821,  by  a  Mr.  McConnell,  a  well  edu- 
cated young  man  of  dyspeptic  tendencies,  from 
the  East,  who  came  West  to  recuperate.  He  as- 
sumed the  pedagogue's  role  to  replenish  his 
slender  purse.  He  was  succeeded  by  a  Mr.  Wil- 
liams, a  crusty,  crabbed  fellow,  who  taught  three 
months  only.  Eli  Shrihock  also  taught  here. 
He  was  an  easy-going,  good-natured  kind  of  a 
man,  brother-in-law  to  James  Miskimen.  When 
liis  children  had  become  old  enough  to  need  in- 
struction, Mr.  Miskimen  built  a  school-house  on 
his  place.  In  the  military  section,  about  1825, 
.Joseph  Heslip,  John  Lawrence  and  George  Phil- 
lips built  a  school-cabin.  It  stood  about  a  halt 
mile  east  of  the  present  village  of  Linton.  Messrs. 
31air  and  Hunt  were  among  the  first  teachers. 


Hunt  did  not  believe  in  intellectual  straining,  for 
every  little  while  he  would  tell  the  pupils  to 
"rest  their  eyes."  Another  early  school-house 
stood  close  to  the  road  in  the  western  part  of  sec- 
tion 20,  near  Mrs.  Heslip  Williams'  residence. 
Mr.  Hunt  and  Caleb  Baker  swayed  the  ferule 
here  primarily. 

Linton  township  contains  five  churches;  the 
Methodist  Episcopal,  two  Methodist  Protestants, 
the  Presbyterian  and  the  Catholic.  The  Method- 
ist Episcopal  is  the  oldest.  In  1812,  Eev.  John 
Mitchell  organized  a  class  near  where  Plainfield 
now  is.  The  first  members  included  Thomas  ■ 
Johnson,  Robert  Johnson,  William  Johnson,  Hes- 
ter McClaJn,  her  son  James;  Eichard  Williams 
and  wife,  Esaias  Baker,  Charles  Baker,  Sr.,  Wil- 
liam Jeffers,  Conrad  Powelson  and  Frank  Smith. 
The  school-house  on  Johnson's  farm  served  as  the 
meeting-house  for  many  years.  About  1830,  the 
"  radical  split,"  as  it  was  commonly  called,  occur- 
red. This  rupture  was  produced  originally  by 
the  question  of  lay  delegation,  and  led  to  the 
formation  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  church. 
Nearly  the  entire  congregation  of  Plainfield 
"  seceded,"  leaving  only  seven  or  eight  members 
in  the  old  organization.  These  were  Thomas 
Johnson  and  wife,  Robert  Johnson  and  wife,. Wil- 
liam Johnson  and  wife  and  Susan  Baker  (her 
husband,  Charles  Baker,  Sr.,  being  among  the 
seceders).  This  feeble '  remnant,  however,  was 
determined  and  active,  as  the  erection  of  a  house 
of  worship  a  few  years  later  will  testify.  It  was 
a  large  log  building  and  stood  across  the  creek 
from  Jacobsport,  on  land  donated  by  Thomas 
Johnson,  who  was  the  prime  and  niain  mover. 
The  present  church  building,  located  in  Plain- 
field,  was  erected  about  1860.  In  1876,  it  was 
somewhat  enlarged  and  greatly  improved.  The 
present  membership  includes  about  160  names. 
A  flourishing  Sunday-school  has  been  connected 
with  the  church  for  fifty  years.  It  is  superin- 
tended by  C.  F.  Sangster. 

At  the  time  of  the  separation  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
there  was  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 
proper  place  for  holding  meetings,  but  Bacon  run 
was  finally  agreed  upon.  The  first  meetings  were 
held  in  a  school-house  at  that  time  on  Mrs.  Brels- 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


549 


ford's  place.  Several  years  later  a  log  meeting- 
house, called  Pleasant  Bethel  church,  was  erected 
in  the  same  locality.  Rev.  Cornelius  Springer 
was  the  minister  who  introduced  Protestant 
Methodism  in  this  community.  Among  the  se- 
ceders  were  Edmund  Duling,  Gabriel  Evans,  John 
and  Francis  Smith,  Esaias  Baker,  William  G.  Dean, 
Jarris  Gardner,  John  Dean,  Jacob  Waggoner,  John 
K.Williams,  Richard  Williams,  Rebecca  Piatt  and 
William  R.  Clark.  In  the  list  is  included  the 
names  of  several  of  the  original  members  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

A  few  years  later  a  society  of  the  same  denom- 
ination was  formed  in  Jacobsport.  Eezin  Baker, 
Jacob  Waggoner,  John  Loos,  Sr.,  and  Harry  Lin- 
der  were  among  its  first  members.  Services  were 
first  held  in  Robert  Piatt's  cabinet  shop,  afterward 
in  the  school-house.  About  1842,  the  Jacobsport 
and  Pleasant  Bethel  churches  consolidated,  and 
in  1847  the  present  church  edifice  in  East  Plain- 
field  was  erected. 

Another  society  had  been  formed  about  1831, 
in  the  Powelson  school-house,  t^hrough  the  instru- 
mentality of  Conrad  Powelson.  Soon  after  a 
building  was  raised  on  John  R.  Williams'  place. 
It  was  known  as  the  Covenant  church.  It  finally 
fused  with  the  Plainfield  church.  The  present 
pastor  is  John  Murphy,  who  serves  a  congrega- 
tion in  Plainfield  of  nearly  200  members. 

The  Methodist  Protestant  church  at  Linton 
was  organized  about  1857,  in  the  brick  school- 
house,  which  now  forms  a  part  of  John  Heslip's 
hotel,  by  Revs.  Robinson  and  Samuel  Lancaster. 
Isaac  Thompson,  George  Welker,  C.  T.  Gaumer, 
John  Miskimen,  Aaron  Ransopher,  James  Dean 
and  William  Lawrence  were  among  the  men 
"who  gave  it  being.  Services  were  held  in  the 
hrick  school-house,  and  the  school-house  which 
succeeded  it,  until  1870.  Then  the  present  com- 
modious frame,  with  its  sky-pointing  steeple,  was 
•erected.  About  a  hundred  members  worship 
here.  This  and  the  Plainfield  church  belong  to 
the  same  circuit.  The  children  in  this  vicinity 
have  congregated  every  summer  Sabbath  for 
many  years  in  the  church  to  receive  religious 
instruction. 

The  Presbyterian  church  is  located  near  the 
northern  line  of  the  township,  on  the  Lafayette 


road.  The  first  sermon  was  preached  August  15, 
1833,  by  Rev.  James  B.  Morrow,  of  the  Richland 
Presbytery.  The  next  day  the  church  was  or- 
ganized with  a  membership  of  fifteen,  and  Alex- 
ander Matthews,  Sr.,  and  Alexander  Matthews, 
Jr.,  were  ordained  elders.  The  original  members 
were  as  follows:  Alexander  Matthews,  Sr.,  and 
Hannah,  his  wife;  Alexander  Matthews,  Jr.,  Pru- 
dence, his  wife,  and  daughters,  Sarah,  Maria  and 
Amy;  Margaret  Potter,  Maria  Roberts,  Lydia 
Ann  Butler,  Thomas  B.  and  Mary  Barton,  John 
and  Jane  Glenn,  and  Martha  McCune.  The  first 
ten  were  received  on  certificate,  the  last  five  on 
examination.  The  earliest  meetings  were  held 
in  the  school-house  at  Plainfield.  The  first  com- 
munion was  celebrated  June  8,  1834. 

In  1847,  an  old  wagonmaker's  shop,  on  the  site 
of  the  present  church,  was  purchased  and  con- 
verted into  a  house  of  worship.  Services  were 
held  in  it  till  the  present  church  was  built,  in 
1867.  It  was  dedicated,  free  of  debt,  in  June  of 
that  year.  Its  cost  was  $1,800.  The  church  was 
supplied  for  nearly  nineteen  years  by  Revs.  N. 
Conkhn,  N.  Cobb,  J.  Matthews,  D.  Washburn,  S. 
Hanna,  William  Lumsden  and  Robert  Robe. 
Rev.  R.  W.  Marquis  was  the  first  settled  pastor, 
from  1852  to  1859.  Then  followed  Rev.  J.  B. 
Akey  (supply);  Rev.  John  Moore,  D.  D.,  two 
years;  George  W.  Fisher,  seven  years;  James  B. 
Stevenson,  one  year;  J.  J.  Gridley  (supply);  W. 
B.  Scarborough,  eight  years,  and  A.  B.  Wilson,  the 
present  pastor.  The  present  session  consists  of  A. 
Shaffer,  John  L.  Glenn,  Jr.,  Robert  Dougherty  and 
Joseph  Love.  The  membership  is  seventy-two 
Rev.  Marquis,  its  first  pastor,  is  buried  in  the 
church  cemetery.  Mr.  John  Gundy,  residing  at 
Snow  Hill,  Maryland,  but  owning  land  in  the 
vicinity  of  this  church,  left  it  a  legacy  of  $1,000, 
in  1874. 

The  Saint  Mary's  Catholic  church,  located  in 
the  western  part  of  the  township.  Was  organized 
during  or  near  the  year  1840,  by  Father  Gallaher, 
Quite  a  number  of  persons  holding  allegiance  to 
this  church  had  moved  into  this  neighborhood 
previously.  Among  them  were  the  following, 
who  assisted  in  estabhshing  the  church  here: 
Michael  Hiser,  Adam  Mortine,  David  and  John 
Wendel,  Martin  Henricks,  Jacob  Cline,  Jacob 


550 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Shearer,  John  H.  Baker,  and  David  Borden- 
kircher.  The  organization  was  effected  and  first 
services  held  at  the  residence  of  David  Borden- 
kircher.  A  log  church  was  erected  very  soon 
afterwards,  which  continued  to  be  the  house  of 
worship,  till  .1867,  when  the  neat  little  frame 
where  they  now  hold  service  was  built.  The 
earliest  ministers  came  principally  from  Zanes- 
ville,  to  administer  to  their  spiritual  welfare. 
They  were  Fathers  Gallaher,  William  Burgess 
and  William  Diters.  Father  Bender,  who  suc- 
ceeded, was  from  Newark.  Since  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  Catholic  church  at  Coshocton,  the 
pastors  of  it  have  supplied  this  charge.  The 
membership  amounts  to  about  sixty. 

About  the  year  1858,  a  society  of  the  United 
Brethren  persuasion  was  organized  about  a  half 
mile  northeast  from  the  Catholic  church.  John 
Michael,  William  Suites  and  John  Stough  were 
its  main  supporters.  It  was  feeble  in  point  of 
numbers  from  the  start,  and  became  still  more 
so  by  the  subsequent  removal  of  some  of  its  mem- 
bers from  this  vicinity.  It  ceased  to  exist  in 
1867.  The  frame  meeting-house,  erected  in  1859, 
still  stands  in  moumental  memory  of  its  prior 
existence. 

The  first  village  laid  out  in  the  township  was 
called  Plainfield.  It  was  located  about  a  mile 
south  of  the  present  village  of  Plainfield,  on  the 
west  bank  of  Wills  creek,  and  platted  October  10, 
1816.  Thomas  Johnson,  as  executor  of  the  estate 
of  Richard  Johnson,  and  Edward  Wiggins  were 
the  joint  proprietors,  part  of  the  village  platted 
lying  on  Wiggin's  land,  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  17,  and  part  on  Richard  Johnson's,  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  10.  The  road  divid- 
ing the  two  sections  was  dubbed  Coshocton  street, 
and  twelve  lots  were  laid  off  from  each  section 
facing  this  street.  The  road  running  north  from, 
this  along  the  creek  was  called  Water  street,  and 
nine  lots  belonging  to  Johnson's  land  fronted  on 
it.  The  first  house  was  built  by  Thomas  Johnson 
for  a  tavern,  in  1816.  It  was  a  two-story,  log- 
hewed  building,  and  is  still  standing.  Plainfield 
was  then  on  the  road  between  Zanesville  and 
Philadelphia ;  the  road  was  traveled  a  great  deal. 
Mr.  Johnson  kept  a  small  stock  of  goods  at  his 


tavern  stand,  and  the  following  year  (1817)  a 
store,  owned  by  Dwight  Hutchinson,  of  Cam- 
bridge, was  opened  and  managed  by  Joseph 
White,  also  of  Cambridge.  It  was  removed  the 
next  year  and  Mr.  Luccock  became  the  village 
storekeeper.  The  same  year  Benjamin  Chambers 
started  his  tannery,  as  mentioned  elsewhere  in 
this  chapter,  and  Mr.  Johnson  brought  his  distil- 
lery here.  In  1817,  John  Vernon  built  a  frame 
house  in  the  village,  the  first  of  the  kind  built  in 
the  township.  He  was  a  carpenter  and  cabinet- 
maker by  trade,  and  emigrated  from  New  York. 
He  died  of  consumption  a  few  years  later.  Thomas 
Johnson  became  the  first  postmaster  in  the  town- 
ship here,  his  appointment  dating  November  27, 
1819.  The  postoffice  was  afterward  removed  to 
East  Plainfield.  The  little  village,  for  some  rea- 
son, was  not  a  success.  At  no  time  did  it  contain 
many  more  than  half  a  dozen  houses.  It  was 
named,  doubtless,  from  the  plains  surrounding  it. 
Jacobsport  was  laid  out  in  August,  1836,  by  Ja- 
cob Waggoner  and  named  after  him.  He  was 
the  owner  at  that  time  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  6,  range  4.  All  the  land  lay  east  of 
Wills  creek  except  a  small  piece  in  a  bend  of 
that  stream.  Deeming  it  a  fine  location  for  a  vil- 
lage he  laid  it  out  into  lots.  At  the  time,  there 
was  a  single  log  hut  on  this  ground,  one  which 
had  been  occupied  by  Andrew  Ferier  when  his 
mill  was  in  operation.  Thomas  Piatt  erected  the 
first  dwelling  house,  a  comfortable  frame  build- 
ing. Butler  &  Shook  owned  the  first  store,  opened 
about  1839.  Several  years  previous  to  this 
Thomas  Johnson  had  opened  a  store  on  his  land 
adjoining  Jacobsport,  and  in  1840  had  a  number 
of  lots  laid  off  contiguous  to  Jacobsport.  Several 
years  later  his  son  John  M.  Johnson'increased  the 
number  of  lots  and  recorded  the  plat,  calling  the 
village  East  Plainfield.  Though  forming  but  one 
village,  in  reality  each  part  retained  its  original 
name.  Jacobsport  was  entirely  hemmed  in  by 
the  creek  and  East  Plainfield  and  consequently 
had  little  chance  to  extend  its  limits.  East  Plain- 
field  on  the  contrary  had  a  whole  quarter  section 
before  it  and  grew  slowly  but  surely.  In  March, 
1878,  the  whole  was  incorporated  as  one  village 
under  the  name  of  Plainfield.  Its  first  officers, 
elected  April,  1878,  were  as  follows:  'J.  A.  May- 
hugh,  mayor;  David  Duling,  clerk;  John  Famil- 


FRANCIS  M'GUIEE,  JR. 


MRS.   FRAXCIS  M'GUIRE,  JE. 


CORA  E.   M'GUIEE. 


FANNIE  G.   MGUIRE. 


FRANCIS  McGUIRE,  Jk. 

FRANCIS  McGUIRE,  Je.,  Lafayette  township,  farmer;  postoffice,  Coshocton;  was  born 
April  2, 1842, in  this  township;  son  of  Francis  McGuire,  a  native  of  this  township.  He  was  raised 
on  the  farm  adjoining  the  home  where  he  now  lives.  Mr.  McGuire  has  always  taken  great  pride 
in  dealing  in  the  finest  blooded  stock  possible  to  be  obtained,  and  without  doubt  has  the  finest 
flock  of  sheep  in  this  part  of  the  State,  having  selected  strains  of  blood  from  the  finest  of  Lee 
Archer's  noted  sheep  of  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  has  always  taken  an  active  inter- 
est in  the  agricultural  development  of  the  county,  and  at  the  present  time  is  one  of  the  Directors 
of  the  Agricultural  Society  of  this  county.  He  was  married,  March  29,  1871,  to  Miss  Susan  J. 
Russell,  daughter  of  John  N.  Russell,  of  this  township.  They  have  two  children,  Cora  E.  and 
Fannie  G. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


555 


ton,  treasurer;  V. 'E.  Vickers,  marshal;  R.  Mc- 
Glintick,  Alonzo  Sibley,  S.  P.  Woodward,  Thomas 
Piatt,  Lewis  Carhartt  and  C.  W.  Wilkin,  council- 
men. 

The  village  is  compactly  built  and  lies  in  the 
lower  bottom  land,  close  to  the  creek.  It  is  con- 
cealed from  view  in  almost  every  direction  by  the 
terrace  which  rises  abruptly  behind  it.  Its  pres- 
ent population  is  three  hundred.  As  a  business 
center  it  is  not  excelled  in  the  county  away  from 
Coshocton.  If  contains  three  stores,  two  mills, 
one  drug  store,  two  hotels,  one  saloon,  one  jeweler 
shop,  two  shoe  shops,  three  blacksmith  shops, 
two  harness  shops,  one  tin  store,  one  wagon  shop, 
one  tannery,  one  tailor  shop,  two  churches,  and 
three  physicians. 

Plainfield  Masonic  Lodge,  No.  224,  was  char- 
tered in  1852.  The  charter  was  destroyed  bj'  fire 
the  same  year  and  re-issued  October  20,  1853. 
The  charter  members  were  Jacob  Nichols,  master ; 
J.  B.  Ligraham,  senior  warden ;  P.  Inskeep,  ju- 
nior warden;  J.  R.  Inskeep,  John  Baker,  L.  I. 
Bonnell,  William  White  and  A.  J.  Davis.  The 
present  membership  is  twenty-eight.  The  lodge 
is  now  officered  as  follows:  S.  P.  Woodward, 
master;  J.  G.  Powelson,  senior  warden;  R.  J. 
Sprague,  junior  warden;  David  Duling,  clerk;  T. 
J.  Cook,  treasurer. 

During  the  summer  of  1879.  the  township  built 
a  fine  two-story  hall,  about  thirty-six  by  fifty  feet 
in  size.  Several  township  offices  and  a  festival 
room  occupy  the  lower  floor ;  the  upper  story  is 
used  as  an  audience  hall. 

The  township  cemetery  adjoins  Plainfield.  It 
is  beautifully  located  on  a  knoll  of  rising  ground, 
the  gift  of  Thomas  Johnson. 

The  village  of  Linton,  comprising  115  inhabit- 
ants, is  situated  in  the  southeastern  part  of  the 
township  on  Wills  creek,  at  the  base  of  a  steep 
range  of  hills.  It  was  laid  out  in  1849,  by  J.  V. 
Heslip,  the  land  which  formed  it  being  mostly  in 
timber  at  that  time.  The  first  building  was 
erected  by  Mr.  Heslip,  in  1847,  and  was  used  as 
a  boarding  house  for  the  workmen  employed  by 
him  in  constructing  a  mill-dam.  A  saw-mill, 
grist-mill,  distillery  and  tavern  were  built  within 
a  few  years,  all  by  Mr.  Heslip.  A  great  amount 
of  business  was  "done  in  the  mills  formerly,  but 

23 


they  have  lost  much  of  their  activity.  The  vil- 
lage contains'  two  stores  and  the  usual  comple- 
ment of  shops.  Joseph  Heslip  was  the  first  post- 
master, in  1847. 

Bacon  postoffice,  situated  on  Bacon  run,  was 
estabhshed  about  1858,  with  John  H,  Sicher  as 
postmaster.  A  country  store  was  started  here 
several  years  after  by  William  Fowler,  and  has 
been  in  operation  most  of  the  time  since. 

Maysville,  situated  in  the  southwestern  corner 
of  the  township,  was  laid  out  in  1837,  by  Alexan- 
der Ballentine.  It  never  prospered,  and  for  years 
has  flickered  between  Hfe  and  death.  It  possibly 
numbers  a  half  dozen  houses,  one  of  which  is  used 
as  a  blacksmith  shop. 

The  population  of  the  toWnship  in  1880  was 
1,918,  an  increase  of  318  in  ten  years.  .The  early 
settlers  were  principally  from  the  States  of  Vir- 
ginia, Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  with  a  fair 
sprinkling  from  the  Emerald  Isle.  The  hills  in  ' 
the  western  part  of  the  township  were  settled  al- 
most exclusively  by  German  and  French  emi- 
grants. Descendants  of  most  of  the  pioneer  fam- 
ilies still  reside  on  the  farms  which  their  grand- 
fathers wrestled  from  primitive  wilderness,  a  fact 
which  speaks  well  of  the  agricultural  and  social 
qualities  of  the  township. 


CHAPTER  LX. 


MILL  OEEEK  TOWNSHIP. 


Boundary  —  Streams  —  Survey — Organization—  Settlement- 
Population— Postoffices— Mills— Schools— Churches. 

MILL  CREEK  TOWNSHIP  lies  in  the 
northern  tier  of  townships  and  is  bounded 
as  follows  r  On  the  north  by  Mechanic  township. 
Holmes  county ;  on  the  east  by  Crawford  town- 
ship. On  the  south  by  Keene,  and  on  the  west  by 
Clark.  Its  name  is  derived  from  the  principal 
stream  within  its  limits,  which  enters  near  the 
northeastern  corner,  amd,  pursuing  an  almost 
direct  course,  passes  into  Keene  township,  near 
the  middle  of  the  southern  line.  Several  small 
branches  unite  with  it  in  this  township,  and  two 
or  three  others,  flowing  in  a  nearly  parallel  course 
with  it,  meet  it  in  Keene.     Walnut  run,  in  the 


556 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOGXOlSr  COUNTY. 


northern  part  of  the  township,  flows  northwest- 
erly and  reaches  Doughty's  fork  in  Holmes 
county.  Narrow  valleys  border  the  streams,  but 
beyond  these  the  land  is  hilly  throughout. 

It  was  organized  in  July,  1817,  and  the  first 
election  of  officers  was  held  at  the  house  of  John 
P.  Wilson,  on  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  21, 
near  the  southeastern  corner  of  the  township. 
This  was  then  a  central  location,  for  in  Mill 
Creek  was  originally  embraced  Crawford,  White 
Eyes,  and  Keene  townships.  As  it  exists  to-day, 
it  is  the  seventh  township  in  the  sixth  range  of 
the  United  States  military  district,  and  should  be 
five  miles  square  in  area,  but,  owing  to  an  imper- 
fection in  the  original  survey,  it  lacks  nearly  a 
half  mile  of  the  requisite  width.  The  first,  sec- 
ond and  fourth  quarters  consist  of  congress  land, 
and  were  surveyed  in  1803  by  Ebenezer  Buck- 
ingham. The  third  or  southwest  quarter  is  a 
military  section,  and  was  surveyed  into  thirty- 
four  100-acre  lots,  by  William  Cutbush,  in  1808. 
Had  the  quarter  been  of  full  size,  there  would 
have  been  forty  instead  of  thirty-four  lots. 

As  the  early  records  v  are  lost,  the  first  officers- 
can  not  be  given.  Henry  Grim,  however,  was 
the  first  justice  of  the  peace,  and  Moses  Thomp- 
son the  first  clerk.  Philip  Fernsler,  who  lived  in 
what  is  now  Crawford  township,  was  at  the  same 
time  elected  to  some  minor  ofiice,  but  when  called 
upon  to  appear  before  the  justice  and  be  sworn 
in,  refused  to  do  so  on  conscientious  principles. 
Eat&er  than  violate  his  conscience  he  paid  the 
fine  of  two  dollars  which  the  law  imposed  upon 
a  citizen  for  refusing  to  perform  the  duties  of  an 
office  to  which  he  was  elected. 

Richard  Babcock,  in  1812,  settled  with  his  fam- 
ily upon  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  18,  and 
by  so  doing  became  the  earliest  settler  in  the 
township.  For  three  years  he  was  the  only  set- 
tler. He  was  originally  from,  Vermont,  but  had 
come  to  this  place  directly  from  Harrison  county. 
He  was  a  successful  hunter,  and  made  a  good  se- 
lection of  land  for  his  future  home,  for  the  quar- 
ter is  not  excelled  in  the  entire  township.  A  trail 
leading  up  Mill  creek,  past  his  cabin,  to  the  Car- 
penter settlement  on  Doughty's  fork,  in  Holmes 
county,  was  for  some  time  the  only  public  way  in 
the  township.  It  ^was  afterward  replaced  by  a 
wagon  road. 


In  the  fall  of  1816,  while  M*r.  Babcock  was  yet 
the  sole  white  occupant  of  the  township,  a  band 
of  wandering  Indians  encamped  a  short  distance 
southeast  of  his  land  and  made  serious  inroads 
upon  his  field  of  ripening  corn,  notwithstanding 
his  remonstrances.  Mr.  Babcock,  single-handed, 
was  no  match  for  the  aggressors,  and  conveyed 
intelligence  to  the  scattering  settlers  about  Co- 
shocton, requesting  assistance  to  drive  the  base 
intruders  from  the  neighborhood.  Accordingly, 
twelve  men  started  from  the  river  for  Babcock's 
place,  with  this  express  purpose,  but  when  they 
reached  it,  the  Indians  had  flown,  never  to  re- 
turn. They  had  probably  been  apprised  through 
some  source  of  the  intended  attack  and,  seizing 
time  by  the  forelock,  departed  for  regions  un- 
known. Mr.  Babcock  was  killed  by  a  runaway 
team,  about  1823.  His  widow  died  a  few  years 
later.  His  youngest  son  remained  upon  the 
home  farm  until  his  death,  in  1874.  His  grand- 
son, Daniel  Babcock,  now  lives  upon  the  place. 

The  second  settler  was  Solomon  Vail,  who  in 
1815  entered  and  removed  to  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  23,  from  what  is  now  the  John 
Lemmon  place,  in  the  northeast  corner  of  Tus- 
carawas township,  where  he  had  been  living  for 
some  time  with  his  father,  John  Vail.  The 
family  had  come  to  this  county  from  Youngs- 
town,  Mahoning  county.  Mr.  Vail,  in  after  years, 
removed  with  a  large  family  to  the  western  part 
of  Illinois,  where  he  died. 

Moses  Thompson  was  the  third  settler,  coming 
into  the  township  with  his  family  March  27, 1816. 
He  was  of  Irish  birth  and  had  been  living  in  Jef- 
ferson dounty.  In  the  fall  of  1815  he  removed  to 
this  county.  He  found  a  temporary  habitation 
near  the  Tuscarawas  river  in  the  cabin  of  Robert 
Culbertson,  who  had  died  in  1815.  During  the 
winter  he  prepared  the  timber  and  with  the  as- 
sistance of  the  settlers  gathered  far  and  near 
reared  his  backwoods  cabin  on  the  northwest 
quarter  of  section  22.  Here  he  remained 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1862. 
His  wife  had  died  in  1822.  His  son  S.  T. 
Thompson  resided  on  the  home  farm  for  many 
years,  but  within  a  few  years  removed  to  Keene 
township,  where  he  now  resides. 

In  1817  the  pioneers  began  to  enter  this  town- 
ship more  rapidly.    In  that  year  Thomas  Moore 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


557 


settled  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  22. 
He  was  born  in  New  Jersey  and  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen ran  away  from  home.  He  eventually  made 
his  way  to  Harrison  county  and  from  there  here. 
He  was  a  man  of  little  education  but  was  well 
liked  by  his  neighbors.  His  father,  years  after- 
ward, came  out  and  lived  with  him.  Both  died 
on  the  home  place.  Joseph  Beach,  a  son-in-law 
•of  Thomas  Moore  came  to  the  township  with  him 
and  lived  upon  the  same  quarter.  Henry  Grim 
in  1817  settled  upon  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 21.  He  was  of  German  extraction  and  a  few 
years  before  had  been  living  in  Perry  township. 
He  afterwards  became  an  associate  judge  of  this 
■county.  Prom  this  place  he  removed  to  Owen 
-county,  Indiana.  John  P.  Wilson  in  the  same 
year  settled  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  section 
■21.  He  had  married  a  sister  of  Solomon  Vail  and 
like  him  had  come  from  Mahoning  county.  He 
first  took  a  lease  upon  the  McGuire  tract  in  La- 
fayette township,  where  he  accumulated  a  little 
money  with  which  to  enter  his  quarter.  He  af- 
terward moved  to  Wells  county,  Indiana.  About 
this  time  James  Osborn,  a  New  Englander,  made 
'his  appearance  in  the  township.  He  had  been 
living  on  the  Tuscarawas  river  and'  had  there 
married  a  Miss  Cantwell.  He  bought  ten  acres 
ftom  Solomon  Vail  and  remained  here  but  a  short 
time,  removing  to  Keene  township.  He  was  a 
ready  workman  and  could  make  himself  useful 
in  almost  any  kind  of  employment.  Prom 
Keene  township  he  emigrated  to  Texas.  Wil- 
liam Willis  in  1817  settled  upon  the  southwest 
•quarter  of  section  12. 

A  little  later,  Luke  Tipton  and  his  two  sons, 
Luke  and  Thomas,  settled  upon  the  southeast 
-quarter  of  section  8.  They  were  originally  from 
Maryland,  but  had  come  to  this  place  from  Jefi'er- 
-son  county.  Mr.  Tipton  had  been  a  soldier  of 
the  revolutionary  war,  and  was  an  excentric 
character,  very  credulous  in  his  disposition.  He 
went  to  Holmes  county  and  afterward  to  Ten- 
nessee, where  he  died. 

John  Williams,  Sr.,  a  brother  of  Charles  Wil- 
liams of  Qoshocton,  settled  upon  the  northwest 
-quarter  of  section  19,  in  1817  or  1818.  He  was  in 
the  revolutionary  war,  and  at  its  close  settled 
near  Wheeling.  He  was  also  in  the  Moravian 
•and  the  Coshocton  campaigns.    He  removed  to 


Coshocton  about  1812.  Prom  Mill  creek,  he  re- 
moved to  Keene  township  where  he  died  in  1833, 
when  about  eighty  years  of  age.  He  was  a  good 
man  and  highly  esteemed  by  his  acquaintances.  ' 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  on  the  military  sec- 
tion were  William  Baldwin,  Samuel  Bice,  Pred- 
erick  Bentley,  Charles  Elliott,  Amos  Smith  and 
Benjamin  Workman.  Mr.  Baldwin  was  from 
New  England  and  c^me  about  1820  or  earlier, 
settling  on  lot  9.  He  was  an  enterprising  man 
and  accumulated  considerable  property.  Mrs. 
Baldwin  was  a  cultivated  lady  and  instituted  the 
first  singing  school  hereabouts.  Samuel  Bice, 
occupying  lot  20,  was  here  perhaps  a  little  earlier, 
He  died  early  in  life,  and  the  family  soon  disap-  ' 
peared  from  the  township.  Predereck  Bentley 
owned  lot  13.  Two  brothers  also  lived  here  for 
a  while,  but  all  moved  West,  Frederick  going  to 
Illinois.  Charles  Elliott  lived  upon  lot  2,  which 
was  owned  by  his  brother  Aaron.  He  afterward 
moved  to  Clark  township.  Amos  Smith  settled 
upon  lot  5  about  1818  and  died  not  many  years 
thereafter.  Benjamin  Workman  was  from  Vir- 
ginia, and  owned  lots  26  and  27. 

Other  settlers  who  were  in  the  township  about 
or  before  1820,  were  Daniel  Weaver,  who  settled 
upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  3;  John 
Stonehocker,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  19 
(he  died  on  the  place  several  years  later);  Amos 
Purdy,  a  New  Englander,  who  afterward  moved, 
farther  west,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  13; 
Henry  and  Adam  Lowe,  the  former  owning  the 
west  half,  the  latter  the  east  half,  of  section  4;  and 
Peter  HarbAugh,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
2.  John  Mitchell,  about  the  same  time,  settled 
upon  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  21.  He 
was  from  Jefferson  county,  and  became  a  re- 
spected and  prominent  citizen  of  the  township, 
serving  as  county  commissioner  from  1829  to 
1832.  He  lived  on  the  place  he  first  occupied  till 
his  decease.  Peter  Sheplar,  from  Harrison  coun- 
ty, about  1821,  settled  in  the  eastern  part  of  sec- 
tion 8.  He  removed  to  Missouri,  but  returned  to 
this  township  and  died  here.  William  Baird,  from 
Jefferson  county,  and  John  Dickey,  a  brother-in- 
law  to  Mr.  Stonehocker,  came  in  about  the  same 
time. 

Frederick  Miser,  about  1820,  settled  in  the  south 
half  of  section  1.    He  was  a  person  of  towering 


558 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


stature  and  strength, 'and  extremely  fond  of  hunt- 
ing. He  ^ore  the  usual  hunter's  garb,  the  skins 
of  wild  animals,  and  with  his  large  fox-skin  cap 
presented  quite-  a  formidable  appearance.  He 
was,  however,  kind-hearted  as  a  child,  and  would 
never  knowingly  injure  any  one.  When  his  rifle 
would  bring  down  a  deer  it  is  related  that  he  was 
accustomed  to  swing  the  game  across  his  shoul- 
ders and  continue  the  hunt  till  he  had  shot  an- 
other. He  would  then  fasten  one  to  each  end  of 
a  short  pole,  and  with  ease  bear  it  home  on  his 
shoulder. 

The  earliest  settlers  were  chiefly  from  New 
England,  many  of  them  having  sojourned  for  a 
while  in  the  eastern  counties  of  the  State.  Later, 
a  German  emigration  to  the  township  set  in,  and 
this  pfeople  now  forms  the  predominating  ele- 
ment. In  1830  the  population  was  587 ;  ten  years 
later  it  was  larger- than  it  has  been  at  any  time 
since,  907;  in  1850  it  was  872;  in  1860,  688;  in 
1870,  still  further  reduced,  to  586.  The  present 
tendency  is  again  upward,  the  recent  census  ac- 
crediting the  township  with  626  inhabitants. 

It  is  distinctly  a  rural  district,  as  a  town  lot 
has  never  been  surveyed  within  its  limits.  The 
nearest  approach  to  a  village  is  a  solitary  country 
store  and  postoflfice,  called  Mound,  in  the  south- 
eastern part  of  the  township.  The  store  was 
started  by  Daniel  Babcock,  in  the  spring  of  1880, 
and  the  office  established  a  little  later.  '  It  is  only 
an  accommodation  or  branch  office,  however, 
the  postmaster,  Mr.  Babcock,  bringing  the  mail 
from  Keene  once  a  week,  on  Saturdays.  Many 
years  ago  a  postoffice  known  as  Mill  Creek,  was 
kept  for  a  while  in  the  western  part  of  the  town- 
ship, by  Jesse  Patterson.  It  was  then  removed 
to  Bloomfield.  A  Mr.  Bennett  provided  "  private 
entertainment,"  as  the  sign  read,  for  the  public, 
on  lot  7,  a  long  time  ago,  and  was  succeeded  in 
this  capacity  for  a  few  years  by  Mr.  Patterson. 

The  first  corn-grinding  done  in  the  township 
was  done  in  a  little  hand-mill  which  Solomon 
Vail  was  fortunate  enough  to  possess.  Not  satis- 
fied with  this,  he  determined  to  build  a  power- 
mill,  and  with  the  assistance  of  his  brother-in- 
law,  Benjamin  Firbee,  accomplished  the  under- 
taking. It  was  a  rude  affair,  capable  of  grinding 
nothing  but  corn.  Thomas  Elliott  kindly  con- 
sented to  bring  the  stones  for  the  mill  from  Mans- 


field, and  for  his  services  was  rewarded  with  a 
pair  of  "wedding  shoes"  which  Mr.  Vail,  who 
was  a  "jack  of  all  trades,"  fashioned  for  him. 
The  water  soon  washed  around  the  dam,  arid  Mr.. 
Vail  afterwards  built  a  larger  mill  a  little  farther 
down  the  stream — Mill  creek.  This  latter  one 
could  grind  wheat,  but  the  flour  must  be  bolted 
by  hand  at  a  separate  mill.  After  this  mill  had 
subserved  its  intended  use,  it  was  replaced  by  a 
saw-mill  which  did  not  remain  long  in  operation.. 
Eli  Steele  erected  a  mill  more  than  thirty  years- 
ago,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  9.  He- 
sold  it  to  A.  Crawford,  arid  it  has  long  since- 
ceased  to  exist. 

Concerning  the  distillation  of  spirits,  it  may 
be  said  that  Foster  &  Young,  and  afterward  Mo- 
ses Thompson,  were  engaged  in  the  business  for 
a  short  time.  Mr.  Hartman  ran  a  tannery  for  su 
while  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  13. 

The  first  school  in  the  township  was  taught  by 
David  Grim,  the  son  of  Henry  Grim,  in  1816  or 
1817,  on  the  John  Williams  place.  Mr.  Williams 
had  built  his  cabin  in  the  fall,  but  did  not  intend 
to  occupy  it  till  the  following  spring,  and  allowed 
the  school  to  be  held  in  it  during  the  winter. 
By  the  next  fall  he  had  a  double  cabin  erected 
and  the  school  was  continued  another  term  in 
one  of  these.  Mr.  Grim  taught  both  terms.  He- 
was  a  paralytic  cripple,  unable  to  perform  the- 
sturdy  labor  of  pioneer  life,  and  had  attempted 
to  gain  a  livelihood  by  teaching.  He  died  soon 
after.  Then  there  was  no  school  in  the  township 
for  years,  till  the  country  became  more  thickly 
settled.  John  Mitchell  was  among  the  next 
teachers. 

At  present  there  are  regular  services  in  only 
one  church  in  the  township — Elliott's  chapel,  a 
Methodist  Episcopal  church,  located  near  the- 
northwest  corner  of  lot  28,  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  township.  This  meeting-house  was- 
erected  in  1861,  and  dedicated  in  April,  1862,  by 
G.  W.  Breckenridge,  then  the  presiding  elder  of 
the  circuit.  It  was  built  by  John  Elliott',  is  a 
frame  about  twenty-four  by  thirty-eight  in  size, 
and  cost  about  |500.  George  EUiott,  Samuel  Elli- 
ott and  Albert  Seward  were  the  most  influential 
members.    Rev.  E.  H.  Dissette  is  the  pastor  at. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


559 


present.  The  membership,  owing  to  removals, 
.and  the  organization  of  the  church  at  Bloomfield, 
lias  been  greatly  reduced  and  is  now  very  weak 
numerically. 

Preaching  had  been  held  in  this  neighborhood 
from  a  very  early  date,  more  recently  at  George 
Elliott's  house,  earlier  in  the  school-house  or 
wherever  a  suitable  place  could  be  obtained.  An 
.appointment  was  made  for  services  one  Sunday 
•evening  in  the  school-house..  The  time  arrived 
:and  with  it  the  preacher  and  his  congregation, 
but  the  man  in  charge  of  the  building  came  late 
"with  fuel  and  candles,  but  by  a  strange  oversight, 
I  without  fire.  There  were  no  matches,  it  was  get- 
ting late,  the  night  was  very  dark  and  the  nearest 
Jiouse  was  a  considerable  distance  away.  Un- 
daunted, the  good  brother  decided  to  proceed 
with  the  services.  Bidding  the  people  iii  attend- 
ance be  seated,  he  found  his  way  to  thff  pulpit, 
ascended  it  and  delivered  a  sermon  with  great 
power  and  unction  to  his  invisible  hearers. 

St.  Mark's  Parish  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
■church  was  organized  at  the  dwelhng  of  Moses 
Thompson  in  1823,  Bishop  Chase  officiating.  The 
principal  original  members  were  John  Mitchell, 
Moses  Thompson,  James  Foster,  Alexander  Scott, 
■George  McCaskey  and  William  Elliott.  Services 
had  been  occasionally,  held  previously  in  the 
house  and  barn  of  William  Elliott,  of  Keene 
township.  The  first  church  building  was  erected 
in  the  year  1824.  It  was  built  of  hewed  logs  and 
without  the  aid  of  money,  the  members  and 
neighbors  giving  labor  instead.  In  1859  the 
present  church  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $800.  It  is 
located  in  the  northwestern  part  of  section  22,  on 
land  donated  by  Moses  Thompson.  There  have 
been  no  settled  pastors,  the  church  having  been 
commonly  supplied  by  professors  and  theological 
students  from  Kenyon  College,  Gambler.  There 
are  now  no  regular  services.  In  1825  or  1826,  a 
Sunday-school  was  organized  with  Samuel  Elliott 
as  superintendent,  and  William  Grim,  assistant. 
It  has  been  irregularly  kept  up  since,  though 
there  is  no  school  at  present. 

Elders  Norris  and  Snow,  pastors  of  the  Disciple 
«hurch,  began  to  preach  in  this  vicinity  nearly 
iifty  years  ago,  in  houses,  barns,  the  woods  or 


whatever  accommodations  for  an  audience  might 
be  obtained.  Converts  to  the  new  faith  began  to 
increase,  and,  in  1848  or  1849,  a  house  of  worship 
was  built  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Babcock 
farm.  Frederick  Bentley,  Luke  Tipton,  Sylvester 
Tipton,  William  Willis,  Samuel  Morrison,  from 
Holmes  county,  and  others  early  identified  them- 
selves with  this  church,  and  it  at  one  time  pos- 
sessed considerable  strength. '  Not  long  after  the 
erection  of  the  church,  however,  it  began  to  de- 
cline, owing  to  the  emigration  of  its  members 
from  the  county,  and  in  a  few  years  the  organi- 
zation expired.  The  building  is  still  standing 
and  is  occupied  as  a  dwelling  house. 


CHAPTER   LXI. 

MONEOE    TOWNSHIP. 

Boundary— Topography— Population— Settlers--  Mills  —  New 
Princeton— Spring  Mountain— Churches. 

% 

MONEOE  belongs  to  the  northern  tier  of  the 
townships  of  Coshocton  county.  On  the 
north  it  touches  Richland  and  Killbuck  town- 
ships of  Holmes  county,  on  the  east  Clark  town- 
ship, on  the  south  Jeflerson  and  on  the  west  Tiv- 
erton. Owing  to  its  location  and  topographical 
features  it  was  probably  the  last  township  of  the 
county  to  yield  its  pristine  wildernesses  to  the  ■ 
subduing  hand  of  civilization.  Hemmed  in  on 
all  sides  by  bold  and  rugged  hills,  the  topography 
of  its  own  territory  from  a  picturesque  point  of 
view  in  places  approaches  the  attractive  elements 
of  grandeur  and  sublimity,  but  seen  from  an  ag- 
ricultural standpoint  the  view  was  not  so  entranc- 
ing, and  doubtless  deterred  many  settlers  from 
taking  possession  of  the  soil.  Very  little  lime- 
stone is  seen  in  the  township  but  sandstone  rock, 
both  massive  and  fragmentary,  is  scattered  in 
rich  profusion  over  many  a  hillside  and  crops 
out  with  uniform  regularity  in  all  parts  of  the 
township.  The  valleys  were  in  early  times  decked 
with  a  thrifty  forest  growth,  but  the  hill  tops 
were  usually  bleak  and  bald  or  covered  only  with 
scantiest  vegetation  of  shrubs  and  bushes. 

Settlements  in  a  new  country  almost  invaria- 
bly follow  the  streams,  and  progress  in  settle- 


660 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ment  is  proportionate  to  the  size  and  advantages 
of  the  streams  and  their  valleys.  In  Monroe 
township  the  streams  are  inconsiderable  in  size, 
and  did  not  ofler  to  settlers  the  same  induce- 
ments possessed  by  largbr  streams.  Beaver  run 
rises  in  the  southern '  part  and  flows  southeast- 
erly draining  the  southwestern  corner  of  the 
township.  It  received  its  name  from  the  fact  that 
John  Severns  of  Jefferson  township  was  one  of 
earliest  settlers  on  its  banks.  He  had  emigrated 
from  Beaver  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  on  this 
account,  to  distinguish  him  from  another  John 
Severns,  he  was  familiarly  known  as  Beaver  John. 
Big  run  has  its  source  in  the  western  part  of  the 
township  and  flows  eastward,  entering  Killbuck 
creek  in  Clark  township.  With  its  little  branches 
it  drains  most  of  the  northern  half  of  the  town- 
ship. The  ridge  lands  in  the  southern  central 
portion  of  the  township  are  undulating  and  af- 
ford locations  for  fine  farms. 

The  third  section,  or  southwest  quarter  of  the 
township,  is  military  land.  It  was  surveyed  into 
forty  100-acre  lots,  in  1818,  by  Alexander  Holmes. 
The  remainder  of  the  township  is  congress  land, 
surveyed  in  1803,'by  Silas  Bent,  Jr.  The  town- 
ship was  organized  in  1824,  and  in  its  original 
extent  embraced  what  is  now  Clark  township, 
and  probably  other  territory.  The  first  justice  of 
the  peace  was  James  Parker,  who  served  fifteen 
years.  Jeremiah  Williams,  William  Estap  and 
James  Curtis  followed  him.  William  Hughes 
has  now  filled  this  office  for  about  thirty  years. 

The  population  of  the  township,  in  1830,  was 
120.  ,  The  adjoining  townships  at  this  time  con- 
tained about  250  each,  and  the  remaining  town- 
ships in  the  county  ranged  from  400  to  800.  '  In 
1840,  Monroe  contained  557  inhabitants;  in  1850, 
760;  in  1860,  868;  in  1870,  832,  and  in  1880, 1,005. 

The  earliest  settlers  were  principally  Penn- 
sylvanians,  with  a  strong  admixture,  however, 
of  Virginians.  During  the  last  twenty  years, 
there  has  been  a  steady  inflow  of  Germans,  and 
this  element  is  now  of  considerable  strength. 
The  early  settlers,  generally,  were  without  much 
means,  and  many  of  them  moved  about,  from 
place  to  place,  a  great,  deal.  In  1827,  the  only  resi- 
dent tax-payers  in  this  township  were  Jeremiah 
Fetrow,  lot  8,  of  section  8;  Daniel  Fetrow,  lot  2, 
section  3;  William  Griffith,  lots  4  and  6,  same 


section,  and  James  Parker,  the  west  half  of  the- 
southeast  quarter  of  section  25.  It  must  be  re- 
membered, however,  that  real  estate  was  not 
taxable  until  five  years  after  it  had  been  entered, 
arid  most  of  these  were  probably  in  the  town- 
ship in  1822.  Mr.  Parker  was  from  Beaver 
county,  Pennsylvania;  was  the  first  justice  of 
the  peace  for  this  township,  and  finally  moved 
further  west. 

William  Griffith  was  born  near  Wheeling,  Vir- 
ginia, and  came  to  this  township, as  early  as  1824.. 
At  one  time  he  owned  500  acres  of  the  military 
section.  He  was  the  only  child  of  wealthy  pa- 
rents, a  practical  farmer  and  thorough  business- 
man, accommodating  to  his  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, and  widely  respected  for  his  strict  integrity. 
He  unfortunately  became  addicted  to  the  popular 
vice  of  the  day,  and,  from  consequent  neglect  of 
business,  his  property  became  reduced,  and  hd  at 
last  removed  to  Illinois. 

Andrew  Fetrow  and  his  two  sons,  Jeremiah 
and  Daniel,  a  German  family,  moved  to  this  town- 
ship from  the  vicinity  of  Sugar  creek,  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  the  State.  After  living  here  for  a 
while  they  became  scattered,  and  are  no  longer 
in  this  neighborhood. 

Absolom  and  Joseph  Severns,  two  brothers 
from  Beaver  county,  Pennsylvania,  were  among 
the  earliest  settlers.  The  former  was  not  a  prop- 
erty owner  here,  and  removed  to  a  place  near 
Canal  Lewisville.  Joseph  owned  a  small  trapt  of 
land,  but  in  1829,  while  yet  a  young  man,  sold  it 
and  emigrated  to  Illinois. 

Peter  Eutledge,  a  Marylander  by  birth,  owned 
a  farm  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  23,  set- 
tling upon  it  in  about  the  year  1823.  He  was.  re-, 
garded  by  his  acquaintances  as  a  man  of  more- 
than  ordinary  intelligence,  but  was  of  a  quiet  dis- 
position and  not  desirous  of  political  preferment. 
He  removed  to  Illinois  thirty  or  more  years  ago. 

Daniel  Butler,  the  son  of  Joseph  Butler,  who 
was  an  early  settler  in  the  Walhonding  valley, 
cleared  and  occupied  a  place  in  the  southern  part, 
of  the  township,  and  his  son-in-law,  William' 
Griffith,  afterward  entered  it.  Mr.  Butler  con- 
tinued to  farm  it  for  a  number  of  years,  then  re- 
moved to  Putnam  county. 

Michael  Stover,  from  Rockingham  county,  Vir- 
ginia, settled  upon  the  west  half  of  the  northeast 


HISTORY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


561 


quarter  of  section  22,  about  1823.  He  remained 
a  resident  of  this  place  up  to  his  death.  His 
brother  Matthias  was  also  a  settler  of  this  town- 
ship. 

David  Groves  came  from  Green  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1825,  and  settled  upon  eighty  acres 
in  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  13.  He  sold 
the  place  about  1831  and  removed  to  Simmons' 
run,  where  he  died. 

Samuel  Brillhart  came  from  Rockingham 
county,  Virginia,  in  1827,  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing for  a  year  for  John  Stevens,  in  Jefferson 
township ;  then  in  the  fall  of  1828,  he  removed 
to  lot  8  of  section  3,  and  soon  after  entered  it. 
He  was  a  mechanic,  arid  in  connection  with  farm- 
ing carried  on  a  blacksmith  and  wagon  shop,  and 
for  a  time,  a  cooper  shop  also,  shipping  a  great 
many  barrels  to  Renfrew's  steam  grist-mill  at 
Coshocton.  He  died  in  this  township,  and  his 
descendants  are  still  residents  in  this  vicinity. 

Darius  Snow  was  a  peculiar  but  very  valuable 
character  in  the  early  stages  of  the  township's 
growth.  He  was  probably  the  only  Yankee  in  it 
hailing  from  Connecticut.  When  he  first  entered 
the  township,  in  return  for  some  services  ren- 
dered, he  procured  a  life-lease  for  a  small  tract 
of  seven  acres  in  section  23.  On  this  he  planted 
an  orchard  and  erected  a  blacksmith  shop. 
During  the  summers  he  would  engage  in  farming 
and  blacksmithing,  and  in  winter  furnish  the 
little  educational  instruction  the  settlers  of  those 
early  days  could  afford  for  their  children.  About 
1830  he  moved  to  the  Mohican  river,  in  Holmes 
county,  but  afterwards  returned.  Ha  was  raised 
a  strict  Presbyterian,  but  afterwards  joined  the 
Baptists  and  became  one  of  their  itinerant  pio- 
neer ministers.  From  this  faith  he  turned  to  the 
teachings  of  Alexander  Campbell,  and  became 
one  of  the  propagators  of  the  Disciple  church  in 
this  county.  In  later  life  he  procured  a  land- 
warrant  for  services  rendered  by  his  son  in  the 
Mexican  war,  in  which  his  son  was  killed,  and 
with  it  entered  a  lot  in  this  township.  Mr.  Snow 
died  in  this  township. 

Jacob  Lutz,  in  1828,  came  from  Green  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  among  the  first  settlers  on 
Big  run.  He  settled  on  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  9,  possessing  only  a  squatter's  right,  and 
the  next  year  moved  a  short  distance  across  the 


Holmes  county  line.  After  living  there  and  in 
Clark  township  a  short  time,  he  returned  to 
Monroe,  at  first  entering  forty  acres  in  section  10, 
"and  afterwards  adding  more  to  it.  He  spent  his 
time  in  farming  and  hunting.  Of  this  latter  pur- 
suit he'  was  very  fond.  In  1850  his  wife  died, 
and  several  years  later  he  removed  to  Paulding 
county,  where  he  died.  He  had  two  children,  a 
son  now  living  in  Iowa,  and  Mrs.  Jacob  Sondals, 
of  this  township. 

James  Conner,  of  Beaver  county,  Pennsylvania, 
located  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  township 
prior  to  1828.  Thomas  McConnel,  in  1828,  moved 
from  Green  county,  Pennsylvania,  to  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  8.  After  a  stay  of  about 
ten  years  in  this  county,  he  removed  to  Indiana. 
Larry  Croy,  in  1829,  was  living  on  Big  run ;  he 
afterward  moved  to  Holmes  county.  John 
Windsor  came  about  1830,  but  remained  in  the 
township  only  a  few .  years.  John  Reed,  a  little 
later,  came  from  Gallipolis  and  settled  on  the 
ridge  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township.  He 
remained  here  until  his  death,  and  his  children 
have  removed  to  other  parts.  Ezekiel,  James  and 
Joseph  Severns,  brothers  to  John  Severns,  came 
from  Beaver  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  settled  on 
the  ridge.  William  Hughes,  still  living,  came  in 
1832  or  1833.  The  country  settled  up  gradually, 
but  as  late  as  1850  there  was  still  some  unentered 
land  in  the  township.  The  portions  first  settled, 
along  the  streams  and  on  the  ridge,  in  the  south 
central  portion  of  the  township,  will  compare  in 
value  with  most  uplands  north  of  the  river,  but 
the  parts  later  settled  were  not  so  desirable  for 
agricultural  purposes. 

The  water  power  afforded  in  the  township  is 
slight.  On  Big  run  a  small  mill  was  built,  forty 
or  more  years  ago,  in  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  8,  by  John  Oxley.  By  him  it  was  sold  to 
Charles  Purdy,  of  Holmes  county,  and  his  two 
sons,  Gord  and  Polk,  successively  operated  it  for 
a  few  years.  George  and  Charles  Caser  next  ob- 
tained it  and  the  latter,  now  owns  it.  The  grist- 
mill contains  but  one  run  of  buhrs,  and  is 
adapted  only  to  the  grinding  of  corn  and  buck- 
wheat. The  saw-mill  has  prepared  a  large 
amount  of  lumber  in  this  part  of  the  township. 

The  mills  at  New  Princeton  were  built  about 


562 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


1846,  by  Benjamin  ^illiams.  They  were  at  first 
unpretentious  in  size,  but  afterwards  somewhat 
enlarged.  Mr.  WilMams  sold  to  John  Power,  in 
1856  or  1857,  and  he,  some  fiye  years  later,  to  Jo- ' 
seph  McCoy.  Subsequent  owners  have  been 
John  Burrows,  Abraham  Landis,  William  Hughes 
and  Samuel  Beck.  Mr.  Beck_^is  the  present 
owner.  The  grist-mill  contains  two  run  of  buhrs. 
The  water  power  is  a  large  overshot  wheel,  fed 
from  a  race  which  is  about  a  half  mile  in  length. 
Mr.  Beck  has  added  steam  power  to  the  mill,  and 
it  now  operates  at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  doing  a 
custom  work  principally.  A  stationary  saw-mill 
was  attached  when  the  mill  was  first  built,  but 
after  a  few  years  it  was  allowed  to  run  down.  A 
portable  mill  has  supplied  its  place  and  is  now  in 
operation. 

New  Princeton  was  laid  out  in  this  vicinity  by 
William  Whinnery  years  ago;  the  exact  date  is 
not  known,  for  the' plat  is  not  on  record.  It  con- 
sisted of  but  sixteen  lots,  of  irregular  size,  and 
its  two  thoroughfares  rejoiced  in  the  names  of 
Telegraph  and  Mill  streets.  A  postofiice  was 
kept  here  at  one  time,  a  number  of  stores  have 
been  in  operation,  but  all  that  marks  the  place 
now  is  the  mill  and  a  few  houses. .  A  tannery 
was  also  operated  here,  but  for  several  years  it 
too  has  beep.  idle.  Mr.  Whinnery  wa^  running  it 
in  1868;  his  son,  Columbus,  then  controlled  it  tor 
some  time,  and  was  succeeded  by  William  Wolfe. 
Mr.  Wolfe  disposed  of  it  in  1876,  and  after  being 
operated  by  Charles  McLain  for  probably  a  year, 
it  suspended  business,  but  will  soon  be  reopened. 
Dr.  J.  W.  Robinson  has  been  practicing  medicine 
here  for  seven  or  eight  years. 

The  village  of  Spring  Mountain,  located  on  lot 
10  of  the  3d  section,  was  founded  in  August, 
1836,  by  Thomas  Gillam,  proprietor,  under  the 
name  of  Van  Buren.  The  original  plat  com- 
prised that  part  of  the  village  lying  south  of  the 
street  running  east  and  west,  lots  1  to  22  inclu- 
sive. Four  of  these  are  said  to  have  been  deeded 
to  the  surveyor  for  his  services  in  platting  the 
village.  In  December,  1839,  Mr.  Gillam  made  a 
small  addition  on  the  north  of  the  village.  A 
change  in  the  name  having  been  determined 
upon  some  twenty  years  subsequent  to  its  foun- 
dation, the  honor  of  selecting  the  new  name  was 


conferred  upon  Mrs.  George  Conant,  whose  hus- 
band was  the  principal  of  the  academy,  and  she, 
with  an  eye  to  natural  fitness,  called  it  Spring 
Mountain. 

The  first  house  was  built  on  the  corner  by  Sam- 
uel Gillam,  brother  to  Thomas  Gillam,  and.  was 
used  as  a  tavern  for  several  years.  The  second 
house  was  designed  for  a  store.  It  was  a  very 
small  building,  and  a  very  small  stock  of  goods 
was  kept  in  it  by  William  Estap.  In  about  three 
years  he  disposed  of  the  establishment  to  William 
Drake,  who  very  materially  increased  the  amount 
of  goods.  He  in  turn  was  soon  succeeded  by 
Levi  Drake,  who  so  enlarged  the  stock  of  goods 
as  to  make  a  very  presentable  appearance  for 
a  country  store.  His  successors  were  William 
Sturgeon,  Richards  &  Brothers,  Richards  &  Mc- 
Coy. Day  &  Simmons,  in  1859-60,  and  afterward 
Joseph  McCoy,  operated  in  this  line  briefly,  but 
soon  closed  out.  About  1865,  John  Emerson 
started  a  small  grocery.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Baker  &  Lybarger,  who  soon  purchased  the  stock 
of  Richards  &  McCoy.  Since  1866,  they  have  un- 
interruptedly engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at 
this  place. 

The  population  of  Spring  Mountain  is  scarcely 
seventy-five.  It  contains  two  blacksmith  shops 
and  one  shoe  shop.  Isaac  Baker  is  postmaster. 
The  mail  is  tri-weekly,  received  from  Bloomfield. 
Prior  to  Buchanan's  administration,  the  postoffice 
here  was  called  Ridge.  Since  then  it  has  been 
Spring  Mountain. 

Dr.  Briggs  was  practicing  medicine  here  as 
early  as  1860.  He  remained  only  a  short  time, 
and,  after  a  little  while,  was  followed  by  Dr. 
Thomas  Finney,  who  practiced  several  years.  In 
1858,  Dr.  W.  R.  Wing  located  here  and  continued 
in  practice  until  1866.  Dr.  J.  W.  Winslow  began 
a  practice  in  1863,  which  is  still  maintained. 
Recently  he  has  associated  with  him  Dr.  T.  W. 
Workman. 

Warsaw  Lodge  No.  265,  of  the  Masonic  fra- 
ternity was  removed  from  Warsaw  to  this  village 
in  1877.  It  was  chartered  October  17, 1854.  The 
first  officers  were:  William  Stanton,  master; 
David  Lawson,  senior  warden ;  Levi  Drake,  junior 
warden ;  John  Hays,  senior  deacon ;  P.  Metham, 
junior  deacon;  John  Williams,  secretary;  Wil- 
liam Thompson,  treasurer;  Samuel  Darling,  tyler. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


563 


The  lodge  is  at  present  officered  as  follows :  John 
Wilson,  master ;  E.  L.  Lybarger,  senior  warden ; 
Corwin  McCoy,  junior  warden;  George  Wilson,"* 
senior  deacon;  James  Wilson,  junior  deacon; 
Isaac  Baker,  treasurer;  William  D.  Hastings, 
secretary;  Abram  Bartlett,  tyler.  The  member- 
ship is  at  present  about  thirty. 

One  of  the  past  institutions  of  Spring  Moun- 
tain which  has  reflected  honor  upon  the  village, 
was  the  academy.  It  was  built  by  individual 
subscriptions,  and  among  the  stockholders  were 
Silas  Moore,  J.  S.  McCoy,  William  D.  Hastings, 
Samuel  Anderson,  Mr.  Thompson  and  Levi 
Drake.  The  academy  building,  a  large  two-story 
frame,  was  erected  in  1855,  on  lot  10,  and  the  year 
following  a  spacious  boarding  hall,  now  the 
Mountain  House,  was  erected  on  lot  17.  George 
Conant  (afterward  superintendent,  Coshocton 
schools),  was  the  first  principal,  remaining  two 
years.  J.  S.  Haldeman  succeeded  him,  serving 
from  1857  to.  1859.  J.  B.  Selby  followed  him  and 
remained  several  years.  His  assistant.  Miss  Ada 
Baker,  then  conducted  the  school  for  a  year 
or  two,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Taylor.  Prof. 
Conant  returned  about  1867,  but  taught  only  a 
few  months  when  the  school  was  abandoned. 
The  attendance  previous  to  1861  had  averaged 
about  sixty,  but  about  that  time  a  large  number 
of  students  enlisted  into  the  service,  and  during 
the  war  the  attendance  was  greatly  reduced,  and 
did  not  recover  its  former  numbers.  Soon  after 
the  school  was  opened,  its  management  came  into 
the  hands  of  a  conference  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal church.  In  1870,  the  lower  room  of  the 
academy  was  sold  to  the  directors  of  the  school 
district,  and  the  district  school  has  since  been 
held  there.  Since  1877,  the  upper  roorn  has  been 
occupied  as  a  hall  by  the  Masonic  Lodge. 

The  only  church  in  Spring  Mountain  is  the 
Methodist  Episcopal.  As  early  as  1842  preaching 
was  held  at  the  house  of  John  McCoy,  Sr.,  once 
in  two  weeks.  The  appointment  was  then  within 
the  bounds  of  Eoscoe  circuit.  The  original 
membership  of  the  class  comprised  the  following 
persons:  Timothy  E.  Johnson  and  wife,  John 
McCoy  and  wife,  Silas  Moore  and  wife;  Sarah 
McCoy,  wife  of  J.  S.  McCoy;  Jacob  L.  Weather- 
wax  and  wife,  Jonas  Gilbert  and  wife;  and  Wil- 


liam R.  Drake.  The  services  were  soon  trans- 
ferred to  the  house  of  Silas  Moore,  residing  in 
the  "  suburbs "  of  Van  Buren,  and  in  a  year  or 
two  to  a  small  log  cabin  in  the  village.  The 
height  of  the  room  to  the  loft  was  so  slight  that 
a  man  of  ordinary  stature  could  scarcely  stand 
erect ;  yet  there  ^ere  a  number  of  successful  re- 
vival meetings  held  in  it.  About  this  time  Keene 
circuit,  comprising  this  congregation,  was-  formed 
as  it  now  stands.  A  few  years  later  a  new  school- 
house  was  built  near  by,  and  the  preaching  was 
held  there.  Quarterly  meetings  were  held  at 
the  barns  of  Silas  Moore  and  Samuel  Brillhart. 
In  1851  the  present  frame  church  was  built  and 
dedicated  by  Rev.  Harvy  Wilson.  At  the  first 
quarterly  meeting  held  in  the  church.  Rev. 
George  Conant,  the  pastor  in  charge,  protracted 
the  services,  and  his  efforts  resulted  in  the  con- 
version of  from  fifty  to  sixty  souls.  Other 
marked  revivals  were  held  during  the  winters  of 
1855-'56, 1859-'60  and  1865-'66;  since  which  time 
the  'church  has  been  prospering.  The  present 
membership  numbers  about  sixty.  Rev.  E.  H. 
Dissette  is  pastor  in  charge. 

A  Sunday-school  was  organized  about  1845, 
which  has  a  present  membership  of  seventy-five. 
Its  superintendent  is  Dr.  J.  W.  Winslow. 

The  oldest  religious  organization  in  the  town- 
ship is  the  Methodist  Protestant  church,  located  in 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  10.  The  earli- 
est preaching  in  this  vicinity  was  by  Ruf  us  Rich- 
eson,  under  whom  a  class  of  thirteen  members 
was  formed,  about  1836.  Among  these  were 
Charles  Holmes,  the  first  leader,  Sarah  Holmes, 
his  wife,  and  his  daughter  Susanna,  Edmund  Mc- 
Coy, his  wife,  Mary,  and  daughter  Susanna;  Mar- 
tha Oxley,  and  John  and  Mary  Lutz.  Mr.  Riche- 
son  was  engaged  to  preach  once  in  five  weeks,  on 
a  week  day,  and  filled  the  engagement  only  a  few 
times;  he  was  succeeded  by  another  minister, 
whose  name  is  not  recollected,  and  whose  contin- 
uance was  equally  brief.  After  an  interim  of 
about  one  year,  Rev.  John  Baker  was  called  to  this 
charge;  he  had  four  other  appointments,  and 
from  the  five  is  said  to  have  received  sixteen  dol- 
lars for  his  services  the  first  year.  Money  in  those 
days  was  a  rare  article,  and  the  pioneer  members 
possessed  few  of  this  world's  goods.    The  first 


564 


HI8T0KY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


meetings  were  held  at  the  cabins  of  Charles 
Holmes  and  Edmund  McCoy  for  some  time,  and 
were  then  transferred  to  the  school-honse. 
There  was  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  use  of  this 
building  during  term  of  school,  and  it  was  deter- 
mined to  build  a  church.  This  was  done  about 
1848.  The  building  cost  little  or  no  money.  It 
was  a  log  structure  and  the  material  and  labor  of 
construction  was  furnished  by  the  members  and 
friends  of  the  church.  The  little  ready  money 
necessary  to  procure  glass,  nails,  etc.,  was  obtained 
by  the  contribution,  on  the  part  of  some  mem- 
bers, of  wheat  and  other  farm  products,  which 
were  readily  converted  into  cash.  This  house  of 
worship  served  until  about,  ten  years  ago,  when 
the  present  frame  church  was  erected  on  the 
same  site,  originally  donated  to  the  church  by 
Edmund  McCoy.  The  new  church  was  built 
during  the  pastorate  of  John  D.  Murphy,  by 
Elijah  Fortune.  The  early  pastors  of  the  church, 
succeeding  Mr.  Baker,  were  Revs.  Hamby,  Sam- 
uel A.  Robinson,  Ja;mes  Sneed,  William  Tipton, 
"William  Holland,  Henry  D.  Lawson,  Lysander 
May  and  William  Hastings.  The  church  was 
named  Mount  Pisgah,  but  it  is  now  generally 
known  as  the  Big  Run  church.  Its  membership 
is  small — about  thirty ;  its  pastor  is  John  Baker, 
the  first  minister  that  served  the  congregation 
for  any  length  of  time.  A  Sabbath-school  was 
organized  about  1855,  under  the  charge  of  John 
Pixler,  and  has  been  continued  every  summer 
since. 

Pleasant  Hill  church,  of  the  Evangelical  asso- 
ciation, located  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 10,  was  organized  as  a  German  congregation 
nearly  thirty  years  ago.  Of  its  earliest  members 
may  be  mentioned  Michael  Duppart  and  wife, 
Gideon  Shelhorn,  John  Loudener  and  wife,  Mat- 
thias Kasner  and  wife  and  Mary  Ann  Host€)tter. 
The  early  meetings  were  held  at  tl;e  house  of 
Michael  Duppart,  but  during  the  ministry  of 
George  Hossenfluch,  about  1863,  the  house  of 
worship  still  in  use  was  built.  Since  then  a  Sun- 
day-school has  been  regularly  held  during  each 
summer.  The  services  are.  now  conducted  in 
English,  and  the  membership  of  the  church  is 
about  forty. 

Another  congregation  of  the  satne  denomina- 


tion— Beaver  run  church — ^is  situated  near  New 
Princeton.  Aaron 'Heaton  and  wife,  Peter  Hol- 
ser  and  wife  and  Christian  Bowers  and  wife,  are 
said  to  have  been  the  first  members.  A.  J.  Mo- 
Coy,  Mrs.  Rosanna  Snyder  and  Adam  Miller  and 
wife,  were  also  early  members.  The  society  was 
organized  about  1855,  and  the  early  meetings 
were  held  ih  the  school-house.  Jacob  Rasseler 
and  John  Kinsley  were  amongst  the  first  minis- 
ters. During  the  winter  of  1866-67,  the  present 
frame  meeting-house  was  built,  and  in  th^  follow- 
ing spring  it  was  dedicated  by  C.  M.  Reinhold. 
This  was  while  Henry  Seachrist  was  pastor  in 
charge.  The  church  membership  at  this  time 
numbers  about  sixty.  Revs.  Frank  Tuthero  and 
J.  R.  Reinhart,are  pastors  of  the  circuit  to  which 
this  church  belongs.  An  efficient  Sunday-school 
has  for  many  years  been  an  interesting  depart- 
ment of  the  church.  It  is  superintended  by 
William  Heaton. 

Saint  Elizabeth  Catholic  church,  situated  in 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  21,  is  the  only 
organization  of  this  church  in  the  northern  part 
of  the  county.  The  church  edifice,  a  weather- 
boarded  log  structure,  was  built  about  the  year 
1857,  under  Father  Frederick  Bender,  now  of 
Denver,  Colorado,  on  the  land  of  Conrad  Heck, 
one  of  the  original  members,  still  living.  Jacob 
Hemnier  and  William  Kronapple  were  other 
early  members.  Services  had  been  held  for  a 
few  years  prior  to  the  building  of  the  church. 
In  1858,  Rev.  Serge  De  Stchaulepinkoff  became  a 
resident  pastor  at  Coshocton,  ani  since  then,  the 
pastors  of  Saint  George's  church,  at  Coshocton, 
have  supplied  this  church.  The  membership  of 
the  church  is  about  100,  sixty  of  whom  are  com- 
municants. 

Monroe  Regular  Baptist  church  was  organized 
in  1847,  under  the  name  of  the  Wolf  Creek 
church,  subsequently  changed  to  Monroe.  When 
first  organized,  it  went  forward  with  seeming 
zeal  for  success,  and  in  a  few  years  had  a  mem- 
bership of  over  sixty.  In  1867,  it  changed  its 
location,  at  that  time  having  a  membership  of 
twenty-seven  only.  The  ministers  that  have 
served  as  pastors  to  this  church  have  been  J.  M. 
Winn  and  L.  L.  Root.    In  1880,  a  church  was 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


565 


built  in  Holmes  county,  school-houses  in  this 
township  having  previously  served  as  houses  of 
worship. 

Harmony  Regular  Baptist  church  was  organ- 
ized in  1866,  with  about  twenty-seven  members. 
Since  then  it  has  steadily  increased,  and  is  now 
about  sixty.  The  pastors  have  been  A.  W.  Ar- 
nold and  J.  K.  Linebaugh.  The  congregation 
contemplates  building  a  church  in  the  north- 
western part  of  the  township  soon. 


CHAPTER  LXH. 

NEW  CASTLE  TOWNSHIP. 

Location— Physical  Features— Scenery— Indian  Mound— In- 
dian Villages— Reminiscences— Block  House— Early  Nurs- 
ery—Thomas Butler— A  Panther  Hunt— Robert  Giffen— 
Other  Early  Settlers— Mills— Distilleries— Other  Industries 
—Bridges— Schools— Churches— New  Castle— Walhonding— 
Mount  Airy. 

ATEW  CASTLE  was  one  of  the  townships  or- 
-LM  ganized  before  the  county  was  organized.  It 
is  understood  to  have  been  named  after  New 
Castle  in  Delaware.  It  lies  in  the  extreme  west- 
ern part  of  the  county,  touching  Knox  county. 
Tiverton  township,  which  forms  the  northwest- 
ern corner  of  the  county  lies  just  north  of  it.  Jef- 
ferson township  bounds  it  on  the  east  and  Perry 
on  the  south. 

The  Walhonding  or  White  Woman  river  is 
formed  in  the  northwesterii  part  of  the  township 
by  the  junction  of  the  Mohican  river  and  Owl 
creek,  the  former  flowing  south  from  Tiverton 
township,  the  latter  in  a  southeasterly  direction 
from  Knox  county;  thence  the  river  flows  east- 
wardly  by  a  winding  course  and  enters  Jeflerson 
township.  The  valley  of  Owl  creek  is  wide  and 
fertile;  that  of  the  Mohican,  though  this  is  a 
larger  stream,  is  considerably  narrower,  contain- 
ing little  bottom  lands.  The  other  streams  are 
unimportant.  One  called  Laurel  run  enters  the 
river  from  the  south  close  to  the  junction  of  its 
two  branches.  Another  named  Dutch  run  enters 
it  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township  from  the 
north.  The  surface  from  the  river  rises  for  a 
mile  or  two  to  the  south  and  there  forms  a  water 
shed,  the  land  further  south  being  drained  by 


streamlets  flowing  in  an  opposite  direction, 
Tomica  creek  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
township  is  the  njost  noticeable  of  these.  It  flows 
in  a  southwesterly  direction  into  Knox  county. 
The  land  in  the  southern  half  of  the  township  is 
generally  rolling,  in  some  places  gently  undulat- 
ing, and  furnishes  an  excellent  location  for  farm- 
ing purposes,  the  soil  being  rich  and  productive. 
North  of  the  river  the  surface  is  broken  and 
hilly  and  the  soil  of  a  fair  quality. 

A  tradition  exists  that  a  large  elm  tree,  stand- 
ing about  a  mile  up  Owl  creek,  or  Kokosing 
river,  commemorates  a  tragedy  which  occurred, 
here  towards  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Some 
half  a  dozen  Indians  had  stolen  horses  near  the 
Ohio  river,  and  had  fled  with  them  in  this  direc- 
tion. A  squad  of  white  men  pursued  them,  and,, 
when  near  the  forks  of  the  Walhonding,  the  bells 
fastened  to  the  horses  were  heard  tinkling  in  the 
valley.  The  horges  had  been  turned  out  to  graze 
for  the  first  time,  while  the  red-skinned  marauders- 
were  on  the  bottoms  shooting  squirrels  for  sup- 
per. It  was  growing  late  and  the  whites  decided 
to  defer  the  attack  until  daybreak  that  none  of 
the  thieves  might  escape  them  through  th'e  dark- 
ness. They  accordingly  fell  back  and  at  nightfall 
surrounded  the  Indians  encamped  under  the  elm. 
At  first  dawn  the  Indians  commenced  prepara- 
tions for  continuing  the  journey.  One  big  Indian 
came  and  stood  immediately  over  the  captain, 
crouched  under  the  bank.  Another  Indian  started 
toward  a  tree  behind  which  a  white  man  was 
concealed.  He  saw  him  and  started  back'  in 
affright.  The  next  instant  a  bullet  ,went  crashing 
through  his  brain.  This  was  the  signal  for  a, 
general  volley  from  the  whites,  and  all  tht  savages 
fell  except  two,  who  dashed  into  the  stream  arid, 
when  they  had  reached  the  opposite  side  in 
safety,  hurled  back  a  token  of  defiance.  Guided 
by  the  sound,  several  parting  shots  were  fired  after 
them  and  one  of  the  two  was  killed.  The  sole 
survivor  concealed  his  body  in  a  hollow  tree, 
where  he  was  afterward  found  and  hastened  on 
to  Upper  Sandusky. 

New  Castle  township  afiords  some  of  the  finest 
scenery  in  the  county.  The  valley  of  the  Wal- 
honding is  here  narrowest  and  most  picturesque. 
Tall  bluffs  descend  almost  precipitously  in  some 
places  to  the  water's  edge  on  either  side.    The 


56.6 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


eteep  accli-vities  are  covered,  for  the  most  part, 
with  trees  of  a  forest  growth,  interspersed  here 
and  there  with  clusters  of  pine  and  spruce ;  or 
these  are  scattered  along  singly  in  places,  and 
again  in  waving  rows  among  the  hillside  oaks, 
while  further  below  are  seen  the  rugged  and 
bleached  skeletons  of  the  sycamore.  South  of 
the  village  of  New  Castle  a  short  distance,  is  a 
beautiful  cascade  in  little  Laurel  run,  which  falls 
headlong  over  the  rocks  a  distance  of  forty  feet. 
On  the  ridge  road  leading  from  New  Castle  to  Co- 
shocton, a  mile  or  so  from  the  village,  a  view  is 
obtained  which  commands  a  sweep  of  the  coun- 
try for  miles  around.  Away  in  the  distance  the 
White  Woman  is  seen  bending  in  graceful  curves 
and  fringed  with  wooded  hillsides.  The  scene  is 
exhilirating,  and  a  sniff  of  the  almost  mountain 
breeze  here  is  likewise  truly  bracing. 

A  noteworthy  ancient  mound  stands  near  the 
forks  of  (the  Walhonding,  just  above  the  village 
of  Walhonding.  It  is  a  conspicuous  conical  ele- 
vation in  the  meadow  near  the  road,  having  a 
height  of  perhaps  fifteen  feet  and  a  diameter  100 
feet.  Large  trees  growing  upon  it  attest  its  an- 
tiquity. Mr.  Peter  Neff  made  a  partial  examina- 
tion of  it  several  years  ago,  by  digging  a  trans- 
verse trench  into  it  some  distance.  He  discov- 
ered the  remains  of  several  skeletons. 

In  the  map  of  Bouquet's  expedition  to  Coshoc- , 
ton,  in  1764,  against  the  Indians,  drawn  by  Mr. 
Hutching,  who  accompanied  General  Bouquet, 
and  published  in  Dr.  Hildreth's  Early  History  of 
Ohio,  an  Indian  village  marked  Owl's  Town,  is  lo- 
cated in  the  forks  of  the  Walhonding,  close  to 
their  junction.  It  was  doubtless  named  from 
Owl,  an  Indian  chief,  whose  name  is  also  perpet- 
uated by  one  of  the  branches  of  the  Walhonding. 

Nine  years  before  this,  or  in  1755,  Colonel 
James  Smith,  a  citizen  of  Pennsylvania,  was  sur- 
prised near  Bedford,  in  that  State,  and  taken 
prisoner,  by  two  Delaware  Indians.  "He  was 
lodged  at  Fort  DuQuesne  at  the  time  of  Brad- 
dock's  defeat,  and  witnessed  barbarities  practiced 
upon  prisoners  taken  in  that  battle,  having  him- 
self to  run  the  gauntlet,  and  submit  to  tortures 
more  cruel  than  death  itself.  He  was  then  taken 
to  an  Indian  town  called  Tullihas,  on  the  White 
Woman,  about  twenty  miles  above  the  forks,  in- 
habited by  Delawares  and  Mohicans,  where  he 


remained  several  months,  and  underwent  the 
ceremony  of  being  made  an  Indian."  His  ac- 
count of  it  and  other  ceremonies  are  graphically 
written  and  illustrate  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  inhabitants  of  this  territory  125  years  ago. 
If  the  distance  be  accurately  stated,  this  village 
must  have  been  located  in  New  Castle  township. 
The  details  of  his  captivity  appear  in  another 
chapter. 

Indians  frequently  encamped  in  the  township 
subsequent  to  the  coming  of  the  first  settlersi 
and  previous  to  the  war  of  1812,  the  most 
friendly  relations  existed  between  them.  The 
children  of  the  pioneers  frequently  visited  the 
Indians  in  their  wigwams,  were  kindly  received, 
and  given  pieces  of  "jerked"  meat  and  other 
little  presents.  But  when  the  tocsin  of  war 
sounded  and 'rumors  came  to  the  ears  of  the  set- 
tlers that  the  savages  had  taken  up  the  tomahawk 
and  the  war-knife,  all  this  was  changed;  and 
deadly  fear  took  the  place  of  the  previous  confi- 
dence and  repose.  The  Indians  no  longer 
smoked  the  pipe  of  peace,  but  either  deserted 
the  neighborhood  entirely  or  skulked  suspiciously 
from  place  to  place  through  the  country,  holding 
no  communication  whatever  with  their  white 
neighbors. 

Mrs.  Matthew  Stuart,  an  aged  lady  of  seventy- 
six  years,  the  daughter  of  Robert  Giffen,  now  liv- 
ing in  Bethlehem  township  with  her  daughter, 
Mrs.  Denmari,  recalls  the  incident  of  her  meeting 
two  of  the  savages  once  after  the  war  had  been 
opened.  She  was  sent  for  the  cows  one  morning 
some  distance  from  her  father's  cabin,  and  upon 
reaching  a  ravine,  was  met  by  two  Indians  whose 
appearance  was  made  hideous  by  a  liberal  appli- 
cation of  war-paint.  The  one  cheek  of  each  brave 
was  striped  with  broad  streaks  of  deep  red,  which 
so  changed  their  features  for  the  worse  that  she' 
was  unable  to  recognize  them.  The  sight  of  them 
frightened  her  greatly,  for  she  had  just  been  lis- 
tening to  stories  of  their  atrocities,  but  putting  on 
a  look  of  indifference,  she  walked  by  them  as 
unconcernedly  as  possible,  and,  happily,  was  not 
molested. 

While  Mr.  Giffen  was  serving  in  the  army  at 
Mansfield,  one  of  his  children,  Robert,  fell  sick 
and  continued  to  grow  worse  till  there  was  no 
longer  any  hope  of  his  recovery.     Mrs.  Giffen 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


567 


wished  her  husband  to  see  his  son  before  he  died, 
and  resolved  to  go  for  him.  Starting  early  one 
morning  af3  o'clock,  armed  only  with  a  butcher 
knife,  she  performed  the  perilous  journey  to 
3Iansfield  in  safety,  and  prevailed  on  Captain 
Williams  to  grant  her  husband  a  leave  of  absence. 

So  hear  was  this  township  to  the  seat  of  war 
that  it  was  deemed  prudent  by  the  early  settlers 
to  provide  some  means  of  protection  against  at- 
tacks of  savages,  and  a  block-house  was  accord- 
ingly built  during  the  tirst  stages  of  the  conflict. 
It  stood  in  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  GiflFen 
section,  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Daniel  Mc- 
Kee,  about  two  rods  west  of  his  present  residence 
and  within  two  rods  of  the  adjacent  spring,  on  a 
spot  of  ground  which  had  been  a  camping  place 
for  the  Indians.  The  fortification  was  stoutly 
built  of  logs,  and  in  size  was  about  twenty-four 
feet  square.  About  six  feet  from  the  ground,  the 
walls  were  projected  outward  several  feet,  to  pre- 
vent scaling  by  an  attacking  enemy.  Portholes 
about  four  or  six  inches  square,  were  maiie  on 
every  side,  and  withal  the  building  was  capable 
of  withstanding  a  vigorous  siege,  but  fortunately 
the  protection  it  guaranteed  never  became  neces- 
sary. It  was  afterwards  converted  into  a  cabin 
and  occupied  as  such  many  years. 

Close  to  the  site  of  this  block-house,  and  cover- 
ing a  patch  of  ground  perhaps  seventy-five  feet 
square,  was  an  apple  nursery  of  Johnny  Apple- 
seed's  own  raising,  planted  at  a  very  early  day. 
A  number  of  the  early  settlers  in  this  vicinity 
provided  themselves  with  fruit  trees  from  this 
nursery.  One  of  them,  David  John,  about  1808, 
transplanted  a  number  of  the  young  trees  to  his 
farm,  now  owned  by  Joshua  Clark.  The  orchard 
stood  along  the  road  just  south  of  Mr.  Clark's 
stone  residence.  A  single  survivor  of  this  early 
orchard  remains,  and  it  is  in  the  last  Stages  of 
decay.  Two  large  branches  were  taken  down  by 
storm  last  summer,  leaving  but  one  limb  now  on 
the  tree.  Apart  from  the  interest  which  attaches 
to  it  from  its  association  with  Johnny  Appleseed, 
the  tree  is  a  remarkable  one,  measuring,  as  it 
does,  ten  feet  two  inches  in  circumference,  a  foot 
or  two  from  the  ground.  It  has  been  a  prolific 
bearer  of  as  fine  natural  fruit  as  can  well  be 
found,  and  grafts  have  been  taken  from  it  several 
times.    One  year  Mr.  Clark  picked  from  a  por- 


tion of  the  tree  eighty-four  bushels  of  apples,  and 
from  a  careful  estimation  he  believes  that  it  bore 
that  year  at  least  140  bushels.    The  foliage  of  the 
tree  in  its  prime,  shaded  a  spot  of  ground  forty-  ' 
four  feet  in  diameter. 

Thomas  Butler  was  probably  the  pioneer  set- 
tler in  this  township.  He  was  a  Virginian;, 
moved  with  his  family  to  Muskingum  county, 
settling  in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  village  of 
Dresden,  one  spring,  when  there  were  but  two 
cabins  in  Zanesville.  He  set  about  preparing 
himself  a  house  in  the  wilderness ;  but  the  cli- 
mate did  not  agree  with  him.  He  was  seized 
with  ague,  and  returned  to  Virginia,  in  the 
autumn  Of  the  same  year.  The  next  spring,  his 
restless,  adventurous  spirit  led  him  to  again 
tempt  the  wilds  of  the  then  far  west,  and  he 
crossed  the  mountains  again,  this  time  taking  up 
his  abode  within  the  present  limits  of  Coshocton 
county,  about  two  miles  north  of  the  forks  of 
the  Muskingum,  half  a  mile  west  of  Canal  Lewis- 
ville.  He  had  cleared  a  cornfield,  of  eight  or  ten 
acres — the  first  improvement  in  the  vicinity — 
and  remained  three  years ;  then  removed  to  the 
hoilse  he  occupied  during  the  remaining  years 
of  his  life,  in  the  upper  Walhonding  valley. 
The  farm  is  situated  in  the  extreme  easterp  part 
of  New  Castle  township,  just  south  of  the  river. 
The  exact  date  of  his  arrival  here  is  uncertain, 
but  it  was  at  least  four  or  five  years  prior  to  the 
emigration  of  Robert  Gitfin. 

The  military  section  upon  which  he  located — 
the  northeastern  quarter  of  the  township — be- 
belonged  to  George  Suckleyi  an  eastern  man, 
who  sold  it  to  settlers,  in  tracts  to  suit  the  pur- 
chaser, through  his  agent,  James  Dunlap,  living 
near  Utica. 

A  few  reminiscences  of  this,  the  earliest  set- 
tler in  this-  township,  would  not  be  inappropri- 
ate. His  grandfather  had  been  shot  and  killed 
by  Indians  close  to  his  cabin,  in  Virginia,  while 
he  was  making  a  garden  fence,  and  his  grand- 
mother, with  her  youngest  child,  James,  then 
seven  years  old,  captured.  Another  son,  Joseph, 
Thomas  Butler's  father,  who  had  been  recently 
married,  was  out  in  the  fields  at  work,  at  the  time 
of  his  father's  untimely  death,  and  his  newly- 
made  wife,  who  was  at  the  house  at  the  time, 


568 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


avoided  captivity,  or  perhaps  death,  by  fleeing  to 
her  husband,  narrowly  escaping  from  a  pursuing 
Indian.  Mrs.  Butler  effected  her  escape  the 
second  night  after  she  was  taken  prisoner.  The 
little  boy,  James,  remained  in  captivity  with  the 
Indians  eighteen  months,  and  was  exchanged, 
at  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  his  brother  Joseph, 
Thomas'  father,  going  for  him  there. 

While  Mr.  Butler  was  living  at  the  forks  of  the 
Muskingum,  one  winter  morning  he  took  down 
his  rifle,  whistled  his  dog,  and  went  out  to  look 
for  a  deer.  A  thin  bed  of  snow  covered  the 
ground,  and  the  trail  of  several  deer  was  soon 
discovered,  leading  down  the  river.  Following 
it  up  as  rapidly  as  possible,  he  came  to  a  dense 
thicket  of  considerable  extent,  through,  which  the 
deer  tracks  led.  Letting  the  dog  follow  the  track, 
lie  passed  around,  and  on  reaching  the  othei:  side 
beheld  evidences  of  larger  game,  the  tracks  of  a 
-panther  following  the  path  of  the  deer.  Sending 
the  dog  on  ahead,  he  himself  followed  as  fast  as 
Tie  could,  and  upon  going  some  distance  came 
upon  the  dog, lying  upon  its  back  with  feet  point- 
ing skyward,  and  apparently  lifeless.  Mr.  Butler 
•continued  cautiously  in  pursuit  along  the  upper 
bank  of  the  river,  and  after  walking  about  one- 
fourth  of  a  mile  he  saw  the  panther  in  the  lower 
"bottom  lands,  about  fifty  yards  away.  Raising 
his  rifle,  he  fired  and  wounded  the  animal,  but 
not  mortally.  It  ran  off'  and  concealed  itself 
among  the  top  branches  of  a  tree  that  had  blown 
down  the  summer  before,  the  dead  leaves  com- 
pletely hiding  it  from  sight  on  every  side.  The 
Iiunter  dared  not  approach  within  reach  of  its 
deadly  spring,  and  after  waiting  in  vain  for  the 
animal  to  appear,  seeing  that  he  could  do  noth- 
ing, Mr.  Butler  concluded  to  abandon  the  game 
and  return  home.  Taking  a  shorter  route  than 
that  by  which  he  came,  he  was  surprised  to  meet 
Iiis  dog  staggering  feebly  in  the  same  direction. 
Upon  his  arrival  he  found  his  brother  Benjamin 
at  the  house,  and  they  decided  to  return  and  ter- 
minate the  career  of  the  panther  if  possible. 
Mounting  their  horses,  they  called  the  dogs,  two 
belonging  to  his  brother  and  another  one  to 
Thomas,  and  soon  reached  the  fallen  tree.  The 
panther  was  no  longer  here,  but  had  taken  refuge 
in  a  thicket  not  far  away.  The  dogs  soon  drove 
it  from  this,  and  it  ran  up  a  large  tree,  from  which 


it  was  easily  shot,  and  fell  dead  to  the  ground.  It 
proved  to  be  a  panther  of  unusual  size. 

Mr.  Butler  was  not  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812, 
but  sent  as  a  substitute  James  Biggs,  who  was 
killed  at  Upper  Sandusky,  while  in  service,  by  a 
large  limb  falling  upon  him  from  a  tree  which 
several  soldiers  were  engaged  in  felling.  His 
son,  James  Butler,  was  in  the  service.  His  father, 
Joseph,  and  two  brothers,  Isaac  and  Joseph,  settled 
in  Jefferson  township  a  few  years  after  he  came 
to  this  township.  Another  brother,  Benjamin, 
after  living  a  short  time  in  Coshocton  county, 
moved  to  Knox  county,  where  he  assisted,  in 
1805,  in  the  laying  out  of.  Mount  Vernon.  Few, 
if  any,  families  have  given  character  to  the  upper 
Walhonding  valley  to  so  great  a  degree  as  the 
Butlers.  Felix  Butler,  a  son  of  Thomas,  still 
lives,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one  years,  just  across 
the  line  in  Knox  county. 

Another  prominent  pioneer  settler  was  Robert 
Giffen,  who  owned  the  southwestern  quarter  of 
the  township,  a  4,000  acre  military  tract.  The 
first  owner  of  this  section  was  Cairnon  Medwell; 
after  several  transfers,  it  came  into  Giffen's  pos- 
session. He  emigrated  to  it,  about  1808,  from  St, 
Clairsville.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Stuart,  recollects 
well  the  journey  here.  The  household  goods 
were  sent  from  St.  Clairsville  in  a  pirogue  down 
the  Ohio  river  to  Marietta,  thence  up  the  Mus- 
kingum river  to  the  forks  of  the  Walhonding, 
while  the  family,  consisting  of  father,  mother  and 
four  children,  came  overland.  They  had  but 
three  horses  among  them,  and  would  alternately 
ride  and  walk.  Mr.  Giffen  was  originally  from 
Virginia,  but,  prior  to  1802,  he  had  moved  to  Bel- 
mont county  and  erected  a  set  of  mills  on  Short 
creek,  near  St.  Clairsville.  Mrs.  Stuart  does  not 
recollect  that  any  settlers  were  living  on  her 
father's  section  at  the  time  of  his  arrival,  but  very 
soon  after  they  began  to  come  in.  Mr.  Giffen 
disposed  of  a  considerable  amount  of  land  to  dif- 
ferent settlers,  taking  in  full  or  partial  payment 
any  kind  of  work  which  they  could  do  for  him. 
Among  these  early  purchasers  were  Martin  Cox, 
John  Ely,  David  and  Thomas  John,  Timothy 
Hawkins,  Matthew  Duncan,  John-  Wolfe  and 
JamQS  Pigman.  About  1812,  Mr.  Giffen  repre- 
sented the  district,  to  which  his  county  belonged, 
in  the  State  legislature.    The  State  capital,  where 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


569 


the  legislature  convened  at  that  time,  was  Chilli- 
cothe,  and  Mr.  Griffen  made  the  journey  there 
on  horseback.  The  session  lasted  about  three 
months,  during  which  time  there  was  no  vacation. 
He  also  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  in  Captain 
Williams'  company.  The  first  cabin  he  built 
stood  about  a  mile  northwest  from  the  present 
.village  of  New  Castle ;  about  three  years  later  he 
erected  another  on  the  site  of  the  village  and 
moved  into  it.  He  was  a  millwright  by  trade 
and  desirous  of  obtaining  a  good  mill  site,  some- 
thing not  to  be  found  on  his  own  section.  This 
fact  led  him  to  remove  to  Knox  county,  in  1814, 
where  he  engaged  in  milling  many  years. 

David  and  Thomas  John,  two  brothers,  were 
■from  New  Jersey.  When  they  emigrated  to  Ohio, 
they  stopped  a  year  or  two  in  Belmont  county, 
then  about  1807  or  1808,  moved  out  to  Giflfen  sec- 
tion. They  purchased  land  in  the  southwestern 
part  of  the  section,  now  owned  and  occupied  by 
Joshua  Clark,  and  paid  for  it  in  part  by  clearing 
other  land  tor  Mr.  Giffen.  David  John  was  the 
only  man  in  the  township,  it  is  said,  except 
Philip  Morgan,  of  a  considerable  later  date,  who 
abstained  entirely  from  the  use  of  whisky. 
Thomas  John  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812. 
Each  built  a  large,  comfortable  stone  house  for 
himself  in  the  early  part  of  their  career  here. 
Timothy  Hawkins,  the  brother-in-law  of  David, 
came  here  from  New  Jersey  about  the  time  the 
Johns  did. 

Martin  and  David  Cox  came  several  years  later. 
Martin  lived  on  the  Hammel  place,  about  a  mile 
southeast  from  New  Castle.  He  ke^t  a  postoffice 
for  a  number  of  years  at  Cox  Cross  Roads,  a  little 
farther  north.  He  afterward  moved  to  Sandusky, 
where  he  died.  David  moved  to  Knox  county 
several  years  after  he  came  here.  Another 
brother,  Michael,  resided  in  Perry  township. ' 

Matthew  Duncan,  from  Westmoreland  county, 
Pennsylvania,  emigrated  about  1808,  to  the  south- 
western part  of  the  Giffen  section,  on  the  place  now 
owned  by  Mr.  L.  Lawrence.  He  distinguished 
himself  in  early  times  by  building  a  large  store 
house,  the  first  of  the  kind  erected  in  the  township. 

John  Ely' purchased  from  Mr.  Giffen  the  land 
which  the  village  of  New  Castle  now  occupies. 
He  raised  a  numerous  family,  and  afterward  re- 
moved to  Richland  county. 


David  Melick,  who  hailed  from  a  region  called, 
Turkey  Foot,  in  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania, 
was  another  early  settler  of  this  section.  Having 
a  great  aversion  to  the  river  he  settled  in  the  ex- 
treme southwestern  corner  of  the  township. 
John  Wolfe,  also  from  Pennsylvania,  settled  in 
the  same  neighborhood,  on  the  farm  now  occu- 
pied by  George  Knight. 

The  congress  land,  which  constit^ites  the  south- 
eastern quarter  of  the  township,  was  surveyed 
into  half  sections,  of  320  acres  each,  by  Silas  Bent, 
Jr.,,  in  1803.  Unlike  congress  land  in  many  other 
townships  this  was  settled  in  an  early  day.  In 
1810,  Joseph  Severns,  emigrating  from  Bucks 
county,  Pennsylvania,  entered  land  in  sections  11 
and  20.  Hisfirst  cabin  was  built  on  the  ridge  in  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  20.  He  died  in  1857, 
being  above  eighty  years  of  age.  His  oldest  son, 
Samuel,  is  still  living  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
township.  He  served  in  the  war  of  1812  and  is 
probably  the  oldest  person  in  the  township,  hav- 
ing reached  his  eighty-sixth  birthday  on  the  17th 
day  of  October,  1880. 

The  Merediths  also  lived  in  this  part  of  the 
township.  They  were  Virginians  and  came  here 
as  early  as  the  Severns,  perhaps  several  years 
earlier.  Those  of  the  family  who  lived  in  New 
Castle  township  were' Isaac,  Job  and  Obed.  Isaac 
and  Obed  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  Isaac  as  cap- 
tain of  a  company  which  he  raised  in  this  part  of 
the  county.  He  entered  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  22,  and  served  the  township  many 
years  as  justice  of  the  peace.  Obed  occupied  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  21,  the  extreme  south- 
eastern corner  of  the  township.  Job  lived  on  the 
Staats  place  on  Giffen's  section.  He  afterward 
moved  to  Indiana  and  died  there.  The  Mere- 
diths were  one  of  the  best  known  and  esteemed 
families  in  the  township. 

William  Hull  settled  on  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  18 ;  also  entered  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  13.  He  died  about  1814.  Thomas 
Horton,  a  son-in-law  to  Thomas  Butler,  settled  in 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  12. 

The  northwestern  quarter  of  the  township 
forms  a  military  section,  which  was  granted 
April  3, 1800,  to  James  Taylor,  George  Gillespy, 
•"  practitioner  of  physic,"  and  Joseph  Strong,  also 
a  physician,  all  of  Philadelphia.    Some  tw:o  years 


670 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


later  Taylor  purchased  the  interests  of  his  two 
partners  for  11,200,  Pennsylvania  "currency.  In 
1805  he  sold  the  greater  part  of  the  section,  8,272 
acres,  to  Eli  Nichols. 

'Squire  Humphrey,  who  came  into  possession 
of  the  remaining  728  acres  of  the  section,  the 
part  lying  east  of  the  Mohican,  was  one  of  the 
earliest  and  best  known  of  the  township  pioneers. 
He  was  a  Rhode  Islander  and  emigrated  prior  to 
the  war  of  1812.  A  man  of  considerable  lea,rning 
and  intelligence,  he  wielded  a  large  influence  for 
good ;  was  a  representative  to  the  State  legisla- 
ture in  1814,  and  for  many  years  a  justice  of  the 
peace.  Other  early  settlers  on  this  section  were 
John  Woods,  an  individual  who  had  a  great  de- 
sire to  preach  the  gospel,  and  sometimes  attempted 
it,  though  from  all  accounts,  with  ill  success ;  a 
German  called  Conkle,  whose  petulent  temper 
made  him  the  object  of  sundry  pranks  of  the 
mischievous  backwoods  urchins;  Joe  Beckwith 
and  John  Titus,  Conkle's  sons-in-law;  Jacob  Coke- 
nour,  Moses  Byrum  and  George  Spurgeon. .  By- 
rum's  father  (also  several  other  persons)  was 
buried  on  the  big  mound  near  the  forks  of  the 
Walhonding.  Most  of  these  settlers  were  Vir- 
ginians, and  all  were  either  leasers  or  squatters. 

Eli  Nichols,  who  owned  the  greater  part  of  this 
section,  was  for  many  years,  ending  with  his 
death,  the  largest  land  owner  in  the  county.  He 
settled  upon  his  section  about  1836,  coming  from 
St.  Clairsville,  Ohio,  and  was  for  forty  years,  up  to 
the  event  of  his  death,  well-known  throughout 
the  coifnty.  "  His  death  occurred  at  his  home, 
after  an  illness  of  only  two  days. '  His  age  was 
seventy-two  years.  His  wife  preceded  him  to  the 
grave  but  a  few  months.  His  interest  in  educa- 
tion, and  especially  his  attachment  to  the  public 
school  system,  was  often  avowed.  He  was  born 
and  reared  in  the  Qua;ker  church,  but  in  after 
years  disavowed  the  religious  principles  of  that 
body,  and  repudiated  the  Bible  as  an  infallible 
book.  In  early  manhood,  he  took  an  active  part 
in  the  operations  of  the  colonization  society,  but 
soon  abandoned  it,  and  henceforward  gloried  in 
being  an  '  abolitionist.'  His  gentleness  of  nature 
made  him  patient  amid  whatever  reproach  he 
encountered  in  this,  as  in  other  lines  of  thought 
and  action ;  and  it  is  claimed  for  him  that,  what-, 
ever  his  antipathy  to  the  system  of  slavery,  and 


his  sympathy  with  the  oppressed,  he  was  always 
wonderfully  lenient  toward  the  slave  holder.  In 
his  later  years  he  became  much  interested  in 
'  spiritualism,'  and  much  of  his  time  in  his  declin- 
ing years  was  given  to  the  study  of  this,  and  he  be- 
came a  full  believer  in  it,  continuing  in  this  faith 
unto  the  last  of  earth." 

His  son  Lloyd  now  has  possession  of  this  large 
tract  of  land,  and  continues  to  be,  as  his  father 
was  before  him,  the  most  extensive  land  holder  in 
the  county. 

The  streams  of  New  Castle  township,  except 
the  Walhonding  and  its  two  branches.  Owl  creek 
and  Mohican  river,  are  small  and  afford  but  a 
limited  supply  of  water  power.  No  mill  is  known 
to  have  been  built  across  the  river  on  either  of  its 
two  tributaries,  consequently  the  early  milling 
operations  in  the  township,  prior  to  the  building 
of  the  canal,  must  have  been  limited  in  point  of 
power  if  not  in  number. 

About  1815,  Samuel  Parquhar  built  a  saw-mill 
on  Tomica  run,  close  to  the  Knox  county  line. 
After  it  had  been  running  six  or  seven  years,  the 
dam  was  swept 'away  during  a  freshet.  In  1834, 
Joshua  Clark  built  another  saw-mill  in  the  same 
place.  Some  twenty  years  later,  he  moved  it  far- 
ther up  the  creek,  close  to  his  residence,  and,  run 
it  here  some  six  or  seven  years.  During  all  this 
time  the  mill  was  run  steadily  and  a  good  busi- 
ness done,  as  much  as  sixteen  hundred  feet  of 
lumber  being  sawed  a  day.  Then  as  the  volume 
of  water  was  insufficient  to  keep  it  going,  he  re- 
moved it. 

Three-quarters  of  a  mile  farther  up  the  creek, 
Joseph  Mills  erected  a  saw-mill  about  1830.  After 
several  years  it  came  into  the  hands  of  his  son, 
Samuel,  who  has  been  operating  it  ever  since. 

A  little  grist  and  saw-mill  stands  on  C.  H.  Mere- 
dith's place  in  the  southeastern  corner  of  the 
township.  It  has  been  running  about  twenty-five 
years. 

One  attempt  was  made  to  construct  a  dam 
across  the  river  close  to  the  village  of  Walhond- 
ing, by  Walter  Parmer,  but  it  was  unsuccessful. 
The  dam  was  partly  built,  heavy  timbers  being 
sunk  to  the  rock-bed,  which  were  to  be  firmly 
bolted  together  with  immense  rods  of  iron,  when 
financial  embarrassments  and  the  projection  of 


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HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


673 


the  Wolhonding  canal,  discouraged  the  enter- 
prise and  led  to  its  relinquishment. 

This  same  individual  acquired  quite  a  notori- 
■ety  by  attempting  to  utilize  the  same  water  re- 
3)eatedly  in  running  a  mill.  He  erected  a  saw- 
mill at  the  mouth  of  Dutch  run,  about  two  miles 
below  Walhonding,  and  to  the  machinery,  set  in 
motion  by  the  water  power,  he  attached  a  pump, 
the  purpose  of  which  was  to  pump  the  water  back 
into  the  race.  Notwithstanding  this  "  freak,"  Mr. 
T^urner  was  an  intelligent  Englishman.  He  pos- 
sessed considerable  means,  and  figured  quite 
prominently  in  the  affairs  of  the  township  forty 
years  ago.  He  was  an  extensive  land  owner,  dealt 
largely  in  stock,  expended  his  money  lavishly, 
made  extensive  improvements  which  the  condi- 
tion of  his  property  at  that  time  did  not  warrant, 

-and,  as  a  natural  consequence,  lost  heavily. 

The  township  has  not  been  without  its  distiller- 
ies, though  their  tenure  upon  life  has  been  some- 
what precarious.     One  was  located    on  the  C. 

■Staats'  place.  It  was  a  little  copper  affair,  set  up 
'by  Joe  Meredith,  and  operated  a  few  years  only. 
The  grain  for  this  still  was  mashed  at  a  mill  over 
the  line  in  Knox  county.  The  "California"  dis- 
tillery was  an  institution  located  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  east  of  New  Castle,  operated  by  Daniel 
Berry  and  John  Lewis.   It  was  started  about  1840, 

;and  kept  up  five  or  six  years.  During  this  time 
it  did  an  extensive  business  in  the  manufacture 
of  whisky.  A  steam  saw-mill  was  also  located 
here. 

John  R.  Gamble  owned  a  still  house  in  the 
northwestern  part  of  the  township  which,  during 
a  brief  career,  produced  large  quantities  of  the 
popular  beverage. 

About  twenty  years  ago  a  great  many  oil  leases 
were  taken  on  ground  in  New  Castle  township  in 
the  vicinity  of  Walhonding,  the  "  signs  "  indicat- 
ing its  existence  here.    A  number  of  wells  were 

:  sunk  but  no  oil  of  consequence  was  found.  Two 
wells,  sunk  by  Peter  Neff  of  Cincinnati,  about  a 
mile  above  the  village,  however,  produced  an  im- 
mense outflow  of  gas,  which  at  the  time  was  re- 

-garded  as  valueless.    About  six  years  ago  Mr.  NefT 

-conceived  the  idea  of  utilizing  this  gas  in  the 
manufacture  of  lampblack,  and  erected  works  for 
this  purpose.  The  experiment  was  successful  and 
the  works  have  been  in  operation  ever  since. 

24 


Several  thousand  gas  jets  are  kept  burning  con- 
stantly, night  and  day,  and  a  very  superior  arti- 
cle is  produced  in  considerable  quantities.  Mr. 
Neff,  it  is  understood,  contemplates  making  ex- 
tensions to  the  works  soon. 

A  tannery,  situated  on  George  Knight's  farm, 
in  the  southern  part  of  the  township,  has  been 
running  for  about  twenty  years. 

A  wooden  bridge  was  built  across  the  river  at 
Walhonding  about  1854.  It  got  out  of  shape, 
was  regarded  by  many  as  insecure,  and  was  re- 
built in  1860.  Again  giving  way,  it  was  super- 
ceded by  an  iron  bridge  in  1872.  Some  of  the 
material  of  the  old  bridge  was  used  in  the  ma- 
sonry of  the  new.  A  mistake  in  dimensions  was 
made,  increasing  the  expense  of  the  masonry, 
which  (almost  wholly  for  labor)  cost  some  $1,200. 
The  masons  were  Buchanan  Brothers  and  N.'  W. 
Buxton.  The  superstructure  was  furnished  by 
the  Coshocton  Iron  and  Steel  Works,  and  cost 
$7,844.  The  ice,  in  the  winter  of  1874,  carried 
away  a  pier  and  two  spans  of  this  bridge.  The 
latter  were  replaced  by  the  Cincinnati  Bridge 
Co.  (of  which  for  a  time  the  Coshocton  Iron  and 
Steel  Works  was  a  partner),  in  1875. 

An  iron  bridge  was  built  over  the  Mohican,  a 
little  above  Walhonding,  in  1871.  N.  W.  Buxton 
constructed  the  piers  and  abutments  for  $4,465, 
and  the  Massillon  Iron  Bridge  Co.  furnished  the 
superstructure  for  $5,070. 

The  Walhonding  canal  enters  the  township 
from  Jefferson,  and  closely  follows  the  northern 
bank  of  the  river  in  all  its  meanderings  to  the 
forks,  then  up  the  eastern  side  of  the  Mohican 
valley  into  Tiverton  township. 

A  school-house  was  built  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  township,  south  of  the  river,  about  1812,  but 
before  it  had  been  used  for  school  purposes,  it 
was  accidentally  burned  by  a  company  of  sol- 
diers, who,  returning  to  Cadiz  from  the  Western 
frontier,  encamped  in  it  one  night.  It  was  not 
rebuilt.  About  ten  years  later,  however,  another 
one  was  built  in  the  same  vicinity,  on  J.  M.  Rod- 
ger's farm,  near  where  the  present  school-building 
stands.  Isaac  Richardson  was  the  first  teacher* 
He  had  a  rough  set  of  pupils  to  manage,  who 
required  and  received  frequent  and  vigorous  ap- 
plications of  the  rod. 


574 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


A  school-house  was  built  about  a  half  mile  west 
of  New  Castle,  as  early  as  1812,  perhaps  earlier, 
by  Robert  GifFen  and  his  neighbors.  It  was  a 
large  log  house,  and  seems  to  have  been  well  at- 
tended. Mrs.  Stuart  states  that  as  many  as  forty 
pupils  attended  school  here  at  one  time,  before 
her  father  moved  to  Knox  county,  1814.  Rev. 
James  Pigman,  a  noted  Methodist  preacher, 
taught  the  first  school. 

Only  one  church  exists  in  an  active  working 
state  in  the  township  at  the  present  time.  This 
is  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  located  in  the 
village  of  New  Castle.  It  was  organized  prior  to 
.  the  year  1840 ;  how  long  before  is  unknown,  as 
none  of  the  first  members  are  now  connected 
with  the  church,  and  no  records,  if  in  existence 
at  all,  are  accessible.  •  Among  the  early  leading 
members,  were  Lyman  Shaffer,  Azuriah  Fobes 
and  Philip  Morgan.  The  early  meetings  were 
held  in  barns,  school-houses  or  wherever  a  place 
of  suitable  size  could  be  procured.  About  1840,  a 
frame  church  was  built,  which  stood  about  twenty 
years,  then  in  1859  or  1860,  the  congregation 
erected  its  present  church  edifice,  a  large  and 
substantial  frame,  comfortably  furnished  within 
and  surmounted  by  a  bell.  The  nnembership  ag- 
gregates about  sixty-five.  The  church  is  served 
during  the  present  year  by  Rev.  Philip  Kelser, 
who  also  has  charge  of  congregations  at  East 
Union,  Mohawk  Village  and  Cullison's  Ridge.  A 
Sunday-school  in  a  good,  healthy  condition,  is 
superintended  by  F.  M.  Buxton. 

An  Episcopal  congregation  formerly  existed  in 
New  Castle.  It  was  organized  about  1851,  by 
Prof.  George  Dennison  of  Gambler  College.  The 
active  co-operators  in  maintaining  its  existence, 
were  B.  S.  Lee,  John  Green  and  George  Mc- 
Daniel.  A  building  was  erected  soon  after  the 
organization  of  the  church.  The  pulpit  was  sup- 
plied wholly  by  ministers  from  Gambler  college, 
Prof.  Blake  having  charge  after  Prof.  Dennison. 
It's  small  membership  became  reduced  by  re- 
movals without  compensating  accessions,  and 
about  1860,  it  disappeared,  as  an  organization. 
The  building  remains,  and  is  used  as  a  warehouse. 

A  Christian  church  formerly  stood  in  the 
southeastern  part  of  the  township,  on  Severn's 


ridge.  The  society  was  formed,  and  the  church 
building  erected,  about  the  year  1840.  John 
Grove,  whp  came  from  near  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
vania,  about  1814,  and  settled  on  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  19,  near  where  the  church  was- 
afterward  built;  James  Cox,  David  Morrison,. 
Thomas  Kincaid  and  Robert  Copeland,  were 
chief  among  its  supporters.  Rev.  David  Rice 
was  the  officiating  minister  at  the  organization. 
About  1865,  the  light  of  the  church  was  extii;- 
guished,  caused  by  the  death  and  removal  of 
members,  leaving  an  inadequate  number  to- 
maintain  the  church. 

New  Castle  was  probably  the  second  town  laid" 
out  in  Coshocton  county,  Coshocton  being  the 
first.  It  was  laid  out  in  1808,  by  Robert  Giffen^ 
but  did  not  thrive,  for  some  reasons,  remaining 
almost  a  nonentity  for  more  than  a  score  of  years. 
The  residence  of  Mr.  Gifien,  a  comfortable  log 
cabin,  was  located  here,  in  1811,  and  soon  after, 
the  land  upon  which  the  village  was  platted  was 
sold  to  John  Ely,  who  kept  a  tavern  here  for 
several  years.  In  1830,  John  Clark  laid  out  a 
village  adjacent  to  the  old  plat,  and  called  it  West 
Liberty.  Determined  to  make  the  village  a  suc- 
cess, he  himself  erected  four  or  five  dwelling, 
houses,  one  of  them  a  brick.  Several  years  later,, 
he  sold  the  town  to  George  McDaniel,  who  made 
an  addition,  and  changed  the  name  again  to 
New  Castle. 

The  village  is  pleasantly  situated  on  high,  roll- 
ing ground,  and  contains  about  250  inhabitants- 
George  Lawrence  sold  the  first  goods  here,  about 
1832.  Three  years  later,  Shaflfer  &  Ringwald 
owned  a  store,  and  before  1835  Calvin  Hill  was 
running  a  good  hotel.  Years  before  this,  about 
1820,  Joseph  Butler  was  the  proprietor  of  a  pub- 
lic-house. A  pottery  was  formerly  very  success- 
fully and  extensively  carried  on  here  by  the  • 
Riches  and  their  successors,  Collins,  Butler  and- 
others,  ejfcellent  materials  being  found  in  the 
vicinity.  It  ceased  manufacturing  several  years 
ago.  Another  pottery  on  a  somewhat  smaller 
scale,  was  started  about  ten  years  ago,  by  Henry 
Lewis.  It  is  still  in  operation.  The  wares  are 
disposed  of  principally  at  Mount  Vernon,  Coshoc- 
ton and  intermediate  points. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


675 


Abram  Dennis  ran  a  tannery  here  many  years ; 
it  closed  up  business  about  ten  years  ago. 

There  are  in  the  village  at  present,  three  stores 
where  a  general  supply  of  goods  are  kept,  owned 
by  Cochran  &  McKee,  E.  H.  Cochi;an,  and  Wil- 
liam Butler.  Thomas  Hull  sells  hardware  and 
groceries ;  two  blacksmith,  one  wagon,  and  one 
harness  shop  are  also  found,  and  the  traveler  has 
his  choice  of  two  hotels. 

Dr.  Samuel  McElwee,  a  native  of  New  Jersey, 
has  practiced  medicine  in  the  village  and  vicinity 
since  1849.  He  has  recently  associated  with  him 
Dr.  John  Snider,  a  young  physician.  Other  phy- 
sicians, who  by  a  long  residence  were  identified 
with  New  Castle,  were  Drs.  Willetts  and  Barger ; 
the  latter  was  killed  by  the  explosion  of  a  boiler 
of  a  steamboat  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  while  on 
a  trip  to  the  West,  in  1843. 

The  schobl  building  is  a  large,  neat-appearing, 
two-story  brick,  which  has  been  in  service  for 
more  than  twenty  years.  Messrs.  W.  T.  Knight 
and  A.  L.  Smith  are  the  present  teachers. 

The  village  is  the  home  of  one  of  the  profes- 
sors of  the  occult  sciences,  William  Gorham, 
who  claims  to  be  able  to  discover  hidden  things, 
whether  of  the  past  or  the  future,  and  has  some- 
times created  a  sensation  in  the  classic  Owl  creek 
valley. 

Walhonding  was  platted  in  the  summer  of  1841, 
its  proprietors  being  William  K.  Johnson,  G.  W. 
Sullivan  and  T.  S.  Humrickhouse.  It  is  situated 
on  the  north  side  of  the  Walhonding  river,  and 
doubtless  owes  its  existence  to  the  building  of  the 
Walhonding  canal,  which  passes  through  it.  The 
land  upon  which  it  is  situated  is  rough,  a  fact 
which  may  have  had  an  influence  in  keeping  the 
population  down  to  about  eighty  souls.  The  vil- 
lage had  in  its  youth  visions  of  a  glorious  future, 
and  came  very  near  realizing  them,  that  is  to  say, 
a  bill  before  the  State  legislature  about  1847,  for 
the  creation  of  a  new  county,  to  comprise  parts 
of  Coshocton,  Knox,  Holmes,  Muskingum  and 
Licking  counties,  in  which  proposed  new  county 
Walhonding  would  have  been  centrally  located, 
failed  in  passing  by  a  single  vote. 

The  village  contains  two  stores,  owned  by  Wil- 
liam C.  Frick  and  George  H.  Eodehaver,  two 


blacksmith  shops  and  one  small  foundry,  which 
is  owned  by  Edward  Dorsey.  George  Humrick- 
house was  the  first  store-keeper,  James  Gamble 
the  first  postmaster. 

The  main  business  of  the  village  is  done  at 
Joseph  S.  McVey's  flouring-mill,  the  water  power 
for  which  is  supplied  by  the  canal.  The  mill  was 
built  shortly  after  the  canal  was  constructed,  by 
Albert  and  John  Collins  and  James  Gamble.  In 
1844,  it  was  sold  to  J.  S.  McVey  and  Edwin  Lewis. 
The  distillery  which  was  formerly  connected 
with  the  mill  was  abandoned  in  1845,  and  the 
grist-mill  which  had  hitherto  done  only  custom 
work  was  enlarged,  and  the  proprietors  now  be- 
gan to  manufacture  and  ship  flour  extensively. 
In  1850,  Mr.  Lewis  died  of  cholera  at  New  Castle, 
and  since  then  Mr.  McVey  has  had  sole  owner- 
ship of  the  mill.  He  has  since  considerably  en- 
larged the  building,  so  that  now  a  large  amount 
of  wheat  can  be  stored  in  the  building.  It  is 
forty  feet  long  by  thirty-six  wide,  five  stories 
high,  and  with  its  four  run  of  buhrs  has  a  capac- 
ity of  seventy-five  or  eighty  barrels  of  flour  per 
day. 

A  small  Methodist  Episcopal  society  existed 
here  several  years  ago,  and  steps  were  taken  to 
erect  a  building.  When  it  was  partially  built  the 
society  perished,  and  it  is  unlikely  the  building 
will  be  finished. 

Mount  Airy  was  the  title  very  appropriately 
bestowed  upon  a  little  village  that  stood  on  an 
elevated  ridge  of  ground  in  the  extreme  south- 
western corner  of  the  township.  It  was  laid  out 
in  1816,  by  Elijah  Dillon.  David.  Melick  resided 
on  the  site  of  the  village  before  this  date.  He 
subsequently  sold  out  to  a  Mr.  Tilton.  A  school- 
house  was  built  here  as  early  as  1820.  Mrs.  Kezia 
Alsach,  the  wife  of  a  Methodist  local  preacher, 
was  probably  the  first  teacher.  She  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Arthur  Scott,  from  Washington  coun- 
.  ty,  Pennsylvania,  a  better  educated  man  than 
most  people  at  that  time.  The  village  may  have 
contained  as  many  as  twenty,  houses,  including 
one  blacksmith  and  one  shoe  shop.  It  is  uncer- 
tain whether  a  store  was  kept  here.  It  has  long 
since  come  to  naught,  having  been  vacated,  ex- 
cept several  lots,  twenty  years  ago. 


576 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

OXFORD    TOWNSHIP. 

Location— Physical  Featares  —  Organization  —  Settlement  — 
Mills— Distilleries— Ta¥erns— Bridges— Schools  —  Millsville 
—Evensburg— Orange— PostofRces— Churches. 

OXFORD  township  is  situated  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  county  and  bounded  as  follows : 
On  the  north  by  Adams  township,  on  the  east  by 
Tuscarawas  county,  on  the  south  by  Guernsey 
county  and  Linton  township  and  on  the  west  by 
Lafayette  township.  The  Tuscarawas  river  flows 
through  the  northern  part  of  it  from  east  to  west. 
Several  small  streams  enter  it  from  the  north, 
the  most  noticeable  being  Evans  creek.  There 
are  no  tributaries  from  the  south.  The  level 
White  Eyes  plains  having  a  width  of  from  one  to 
two  miles  stretch  across  the  township  just  south 
of  the  river.  South  of  this  the  surface  is  rouglj 
and  the  streams  flow  in  an  opposite  direction 
from  the  river,  to  Wills  creek.  This  latter  stream 
in  one  of  its  tortuous  meanderings  enters  Oxford 
township  from  Linton  and  cuts  off  fifteen  or 
twenty  acres  from  the  body  of  the  township. 
The  soil  on  the  plains  is  usually  gravelly  with  a 
sandy  loam  in  patches.  A  clay  soil  covers  the 
southern  hills  while  that  of  the  river  bottoms  is 
the  usual  rich  loam.  The  timber  which  greAV 
upon  the  hills  was  vigorous  and  of  varied  lands 
including  sugar,  oak,  walnut,  hickory,  poplar  and 
other  less  important  varieties.  Sycamore  was 
the  prevailing  type  in  the  lowest  river  bottoms 
while  just  above  this  was  found  the  heaviest  and 
best  timber  in  the  township.  The  plains  as  a  rule 
were  scantily  timbered,  if  at  all,  and  were  doubt- 
less the  haunts  of  the  game-seeking  red  man. 
That  they  frequented  the  plains  and  the  valley 
which  skirts  the  river  is  made  manifest  by  the 
numerous  relics  which  have  been  found  here. 
Tomahawks,  bullets,  stone  mortars  and  pestles, 
various  silver  ornaments  and  pieces  of  pottery 
were  often  picked  up  by  the  early  settlers.  Small 
mounds,  too,  were  scattered  here  and  there  along 
the  valley,  indicating  that  the  pre-historic  race 
also  had  dwelt  here  ages  ago.  One  of  these 
mounds,  standing  on  Willis  Richard's  farm  on 
the  western  side  of  the  township,  was  about  thirty 


feet  in  diameter  originally  and  eight  or  ten  feet 
in  height  but  modern  cultivation  has  removed 
nearly  every  trace  of  it. 

Oxford  township  was  organized  in  the  fall  of 
1811,  very  soon  after  the  county  was  formed.  Its 
original  boundaries  included  a  large  portion  of 
the  eastern  part  of  the  county,  but  it  was  gradu- 
ally reduced  in  size  by  the  organization  of  other 
townships  until  it  reached  its  present  limits  in 
1835.  The  first,  second  and  third  sections  are 
military  sections;  the  fourth  or  northeastern  sec- 
tion consists  of  congress  land,  and  was  surveyed 
in  1803,  by  Alexander  Holmes.  The  first  or 
northeastsection  was  probably  located  by  Matthew 
Denman,  as  he  had  possession  of  it  very  early 
and  sold  portions  of.  it  to  incoming  settlers.  The 
original  proprietor  of  the  second  or  northwest 
section  was  William  Steel,  of  Essex  county,  New 
Jersey,  whose  patent  dates  February  11,  1800. 
James  Williams,  of  Annapolis,  Maryland,  was 
the  original  proprietor  of  section  3.  His  patent 
is  dated  March  21,  1800.  None  of  these  land 
owners  became  residents  in  the  township,  but 
sooner  or  later  sold  it  to  those  who  settled'  here. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  one  of  the  first  settle- 
ments in  Coshocton  county  was  made  iri  Oxford 
township,  yet  it  seems  impossible  at  this  time  to 
determine  definitely  the  date  at  which  it  was 
made.  Hunt's  Historical  Collections  says:  "It 
is  believed  by  some  that  the  first  settlement  made 
in  the  county  was  made  in  this  township.  It 
would  seem  that,  at  all  events,  the  same  season 
Charles  Williams  was  raising  his  corn  on  the 
prairie,  Isaac  and  Henry  Evans  and  Charles  and 
Esaias  Baker,  all  from  Virginia,  were  raising  a 
crop  on  the  Tuscarawas,  near  Evansburg.  Wil- 
liams had  come  up  the  Muskingum,  and  the  four 
above  named  had  come  down  the  Tuscarawas." 
It  is  known  that  Williams  was  living  on  the 
prairie  as  early  as  1801,  and  probably  a  year  or 
two  before.  Charles  Baker,  a  son  of  Esaias 
Baker,  now  living  in  Linton  to\s  nship,  states  that 
his  father,  his  father's  brother  Charles,  and  Isaac 
and  Henry  Evans,  came  out  together  from  Vir- 
ginia at  a  time  when  there  was  not  a  white  man 
on  the  Tuscarawas  river,  but  he  is  unable  to  give 
the  year.  Lewis  Corbit,  of  Adams  township, 
tells  that  his  father,  Robert  Corbit,  emigrated 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


577 


with  Isaac  Evans  from  Virginia  in  the  year  1804. 
Calhoun's  Historical  Sketches,  written  thirty 
years  ago,  states,  that  "  In  1803  Judge  Evans  set- 
tled where  Evansburg  now  stands.  There  were 
also  others  who  settled  around  him  soon  after- 
ward, forming  what  was  known  at  the  time  as 
White  Eyes  Plains  settlement."  These  dates  are 
irreconcilable,  but  it  would  seem  that  the  Charles 
Williams  settlement,  on  the  Walhonding,  was 
made  first.  The  Evansburg  settlement  was  prob- 
ably the  second  one  made  in  the  county.  The 
two  Bakers  came  out  in  the  spring,  planted  and 
tended  a  crop  of  corn  on  the  plains  just  south  of 
Orange,  then  returned  to  Virginia,  harvested  a 
crop  there,  and  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year 
moved  out  permanently  with  their  families,  cut 
their  new  crop  here  and  erected  cabins.  Esaias 
Baker  leased  twenty  acres  from  a  Mr.  Newell,  in 
the  western  part  of  the  township,  on  the  farm 
which  George  Loos  afterward  purchased.  Both 
Esaias  and  Charles,  a  few  years  later,  moved  to 
Linton  township,  becoming  two  of  the  earliest 
settlers  there. 

Isaac  Evans  was  the  central  figure  of  this  set- 
tlement, and  was  a  man  whose  influence  was  felt 
in  all  parts  of  the  county.  Soon  after  he  moved 
out  he  purchased  a  tract  of  land  and  built  his 
cabin  south  of  the  river,  close  to  the  bank,  just 
across  from  Evansburg.  The  high  waters  which 
rose  and  surrounded  his  cabin  soon  after,  obliged 
him  to  move  farther  back  from  the  river.  He 
raised  and  commanded  a  company  during  the 
war  of  1812,  serving  under  General  Harrison. 
He  was  also  one  of  the  early  associate  justices  in 
the  county.  His  brother  Henry,  who  accompa- 
nied him  here,  purchased  a  farm  adjoining  his  on 
the  east,  and  being  a  bachelor,  spent  his  days  in 
solitude  there,  engaged  in  farming  and  stock 
raising. 

Quite  a  colony  of  early  settlers  were  from  near 
Carlisle,  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania.  Per- 
haps the  earliest  of  them  was  Philip  Waggoner, 
who  came  to  Oxford  township  in  1806.  He  died 
a  few  years  later.  Philip  Wolfe  came  soon  after, 
and  settled  at  Wolfe's  Corners,  a  little  north  of  the 
center  of  the  township,  where  Henry  Wolfe  now 
lives.  He  died  in  September,  1825.  Still  later, 
George  Leighninger  emigrated  from  the  same 
place.    He  was  a  young  man  when  he  came,  and 


afterward  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Wolfe,  who 
is  still  living  with  her  son  in  Lafayette  township, 
in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  her  age.  George  Loos 
came  in  1811.  Like  the  others,  he  came  over- 
land, moving  in  a  five-horse  team,  and  settling  at 
Loos'  Corners,  in  the  western  part  of  the  town- 
ship. He  purchased  his  farm  from  Kobert 
Newell,  who  had  been  living  on  it  and  moved 
farther  west  after  he  had  disposed  of  it. 

John  Junkins,  an  Irishman,  emigrated  to  the 
township,  perhaps  as  early  as  1806  or  1808. 
He  lived  on  the  Cadiz  road,  at  the  farm  now 
owned  by  F.  Sergeant,  about  a  mile  west  of 
Wolfe's  Corners.  He  was  the  biggest  man  on 
the  plains,  and  a  genuine  Irishman.  Two  sons, 
John  and  David,  lived  with  him,  also  a  son-in-law, 
Matthew  Gray,  who  was  of  the  same  nationality. 
George  Anspaugh,  from  near  Carlisle,  Pennsyl- 
vania, came  about  1811,  and  settled  on  the  place 
now  occupied  by  Jacob  Wolfe,  a  short  distance 
west  of  Wolfe's  Corners.  Moses  Morgan,  another 
early  settler,  was  a  New  Jerseyman,  and  settled 
about  a  mile  east  of  Anspaugh,  on  the  Cadiz 
road.  He  afterwards  sold  out  and  went  into 
business  at  Evansburg. 

John  Mills,  a  cabinetmaker,  lived  where  Jacob 
Starker  now  does,  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 12.  He  once  met  with  a  mishap  that  might 
haye  terminated  fatally.  He  was  watching  for 
game,  at  a  deer-lick,  one  sultry  day,  concealed 
behind  some  bushes,  and  to  drive  away  the  pes- 
tiferous mosqviitos  that  bothered  him,  was  wav- 
ing a  brush  about  his  face  and  head.  Another 
hunter,  approachins,  perceived  the  stir,  and  mis- 
taking Mills  for  a  deer,  banged  away  at  him  with 
his  rifle,  and  shot  off  his  nose. 

The  Mulvains,  Joseph,  John  and  William,  were 
hero  in  1810,  and  perhaps  earlier.  They  settled  in 
the  eastern  part  of  the  township,  north  of  the 
river.  Joseph  was  the  owner  of  a  keel-boat  which 
plied  between  New  Philadelphia  and  Zanesville, 
carrying  all  kinds  of  freight.  The  mode  of  loco- 
motion was  by  poling  it.  "Running  boards" 
were  attached  to  the  outside,  upon  which  about  a 
dozen  men  would  stand,  with  long  poles,  by  the 
use  of  which  they  would  make  the  boat  fairly  fly 
through  the  water. 

Andrew,  Ezekiel  and  Samuel  McFarland,  came 
about   1812.     William  Welsh,    joining  George 


578 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Loos  on  the  east,  was  here  in  1811.  James  Lisk 
came  about  the  time  the  Junkins  did.  He  mar- 
ried a  daughter  of  John  Junkins  and  afterward 
a  Miss  Price,  who  is  still  living  in  this  township. 
Mr.  Lisk  was  an  early  school  teacher. 

Milling  facilities  were  no  better  here  in  pioneer 
days  than  elsewhere  on  the  frontier.  In  fact,  this 
being  one  of  the  earliest  settled  districts,  the  first 
white  mein  were  obliged  to  travel  further  to  get 
a  little  grinding  done  than  the  first  settlers  of 
most  other  townships.  As  late  as  1812,  Zanes- 
ville  and  New  Philadelphia  were  the  usual  mill- 
ing points.  Years  before  this,  Esaias  Baker  and 
Isaac  Evans,  having  heard  that  there  was  a  power 
mill  near  Zaiiesville,  loaded  a  canoe  with  corn  and 
started  for  it.  When  they  reached  the  mill  they 
found  it  to  be  quite  a  patent  affair.  "  Two  canoes 
had  been  fastened  just  at  a  ripple  in  the  river 
and  a  small  paddle-wheel  set  between  the  two 
boats,  and  this,  turned  by  the  rippling  waters, 
furnished  the  power  to  turn  a  large-sized  hand- 
mill." 

Isaac  Evans  erected  the  first  mill  in  the  town- 
ship. It  was  built  about  1818,  on  Evans  creek. 
It  was  a  little  affair,  with  one  run  of  buhrs,  but 
answered  very  well  the  purpose  for  which  it  was 
intended.  A  saw-mill  stood  at  the  same  place. 
They  changed  possession  repeatedly,  and  were 
abandoned  about  twenty-five  years  ago. 

About  twenty  years  ago  a  large  grist-mill  was 
built  on  the  canal,  about  a  mile  west  of  Orange,  by 
John  Wolfe  and  Timothy  Emerson.  John  Wolfe 
is  the  present  owner. 

George  Loos  erected  a  little  distillery  on  his 
place  soon  after  he  moved  into  the  township. 
He  died  in  1821,  and  his  son,  Christopher,  ran  it 
for  many  years.  A  number  of  years  later  Mr. 
Shank  operated  one  for  ten  or  twelve  years,  on  the 
Susanna  Appis  place,  in  the  western  part  of  sec- 
tion 19.  Another  was  built  on  the  canal  about 
1848,  by  Patrick  Tregent,  an  Englishman. 

The  Cadiz  road  was  the  first  one  constructed 
through  the  township,  and,  in  early  days,  was  a 
principal  highway  of  travel  and  emigration,  so 
much  so  that  several  taverns  flourished  here  for 
awhile  in  close  proximity  to  each  other.  The 
first   one  was  Philip  Wolfe's    at    the    corners. 


Daniel  Loos  relates  that  when  his  father  moved 
out  from  Pennsylvania,  in  1811,  Mr.  Wolfe  came 
out  a  distance  with  a  team  to  help  him  over  some 
of  the  big  hills  in  Tuscarawas  county.  He  was 
keeping  tavern  at  that  time.  His  tavern  sign 
was  a  picture  of  General  Washington  mounted 
upon  a  white  horse,  an  emblem  which  then, 
doubtless,  appealed  loudly  to  American  patriot- 
ism. George  Leighninger  tended  bar  here  for  a 
while,  but  afterward  bought  a  farm  close  by  and 
moved  upon  it. 

John  Jenkins  soon  after  hung  out  a  large 
wooden  "  blue  ball  "  to  the  gaze  of  the  passer-by, 
inviting  him  to  partake  of  the  entertainment 
provided  within,  about  a  mile  west  of  Wolfe. 
This  was  an  important  place  in  those  days.  Jen- 
kins was  postmaster  for  a  great  many  years  and 
also  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  the  township 
elections  were  held  here  at  his  tavern. 

MoSes  Morgan,  about  1820,  opened  a  third 
tavern  about  a  half  mile  east  of  Wolfe's  tavern. 
When  he  sold  the  place  some  ten  years  later,  to 
Mr.  Stewart,  the  tavern  was  abandoned. 

A  ferry  was  established  very  early  at  John 
Miskimen's  place,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the 
township.  It  was  kept  for  a  number  of  years  by 
Adam  Fletcher,  and  afterwards  by  the  father  of 
Judge  Burt.  After  Evansburg  was  laid  out  and 
became  a  little  business  center,  a  ferry  was  kept 
here  for  a  number  of  years.  Moses  Morgan  and 
John  B.  Stout  were  the  chief  manipulators  of  the 
ferry-boat  at  this  point. 

The  first  bridge  built  in  the  township  was  at 
Miskimen's.  It  was  built  about  1854,  and  cost 
$10,000.  This  was  afterward  disturbed  and  some- 
what rebuilt.  The  river  having,  in  1861,  cut  a 
new  channel  about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  to 
the  east,  a  new  bridge  became  necessary,  the 
cost  of  which  was  about  $9,000.  The  bridge  at 
Orange  was  built  in  1870.  The  masonry,  of  which 
N.  W.  Buxton  was  contractor,  cost  $8,311;  the 
superstructure  (iron)  was  contracted  for  by  J.  H. 
Davenport.    It  cost  $7,258. 

The  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Loius  rail- 
road passes  through  the  township,  east  and  west, 
crossing  the  Tuscarawas  river  near  the  eastern 
line.  It  has  one  station  in  the  township— Oxford, 
near  the  center  of  the  township.  The  Ohio  ca- 
nal crosses  the  township  north  of  the  river.    In 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


579 


its  course  it  usually  closely  follows   the '  river 
hed. 

The  second  school  in  the  county  was  probably 
taught  here.  Mr.  Calhoun  says:  "In  1806,  or 
ihereabouts,  Mr.  Joseph  Harris  taught  a  school 
in  the  settlement,  at  Evansburg.  This  is  the 
second  intimation  of  the  existence  of  a  school 
which  we  have  received.  Here  the  widow  John- 
son, wife  of  Adam  Johnson,  deceased,  remembers 
being  sent  to  attend  the  school."  The  first  school 
which  Mr.Calhoun  speaks  of  was  held  three  or  four 
years  earlier  up  the  Walhonding.  An  early  school- 
house  was  built  about  1812,  at  John  Junkins' 
place,  in  which  >]rames  Lisk  was  one  of  the  first 
teachers.  George  Leighninger  afterward  taught 
iere. 

The  earliest  attempt  at  town  making  was  made 
by  John  Mills,  who,  in  1815,  laid  out  a  little  vil- 
lage on  the  great  bend  of  the  Tuscarawas  river, 
south  of  it.  He  called  it  Millsville.  Several  cab- 
ins were  reared  on  the  spot,  but  for  some  inscru- 
table reason  the  village  failed  to  thrive,  and  soon 
passed  from  the  knowledge  of  men. 

Evansburg  was  surveyed  September  4,  1830- 
Isaac  Evans  was  the  proprietor,  and  gave  it  its 
name.  The  original  plat  lay  wholly  north  olSthe 
canal,  but  two  years  later  an  addition  of  five  Jots 
was  made  south  of  if.  Pt)r  a  few  years  it  grew 
vigorously.  Moses  Morgan  owned  the  first  dry 
goods  store.  He  died  a  few  years  after  it  was 
opened,  and  John  Stout  became  the  possessor  of 
it.  Joseph  Watkins  kept  another  store,  and  built 
■a  large  warehouse,  dealing  extensively  in  grain. 
Philip  Wolfe,  J'r.,  ran  a  tannery  here  for  a  while. 
'His  father,  Phihp  Wolfe,  Sr.,  had  built  one  about 
two  miles  south  of  this  at  a  very  early  day,  and 
PhiUp,  Jr.,  operated  it  here  for  a  time,  then  re- 
moved it  to  Evansburg.  Isaac  Evans,  Jr.,  was  the 
■village  inn  keeper.  The  building  of  Orange  about 
&  half  mile  to  the  west  gave  Evansburg  its  death- 
blow. The  river  at  Evansburg  could  be  forded  only 
■with  great  difficulty,  if  at  all,  and  a  ferry  must  be 
■kept  here  constantly,  while  the  stream  at  Orange 
was  easily  forded.  Mr.  Watkins  removed  his 
warehouse,  and  the  village  speedily  fell  to  pieces. 
■Several  dilapidated  structures  mark  the  site  of 
ihe  once  flpurishing  canal  port. 


Orange,  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
river,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  township, 
was  laid  out  in  1839.  William  K.  Johnson  and 
G.  A.  Humerickhouse  were  the  proprietors  of 
that  part  of  it  which  lies  north  of  the  canal,  and- 
Samuel  Wolfe  proprietor  of  that  part  south  of  it. 
Hugh  Maxwell  erected  the  first  house.  It  was,  a 
frame,  still  standing,  on  lot  8,  corner  of  Oxford 
and  -Water  streets,  now  occupied  by  A.  Peck. 
The  next  building  was  a  warehouse,  erected  by 
Harrison  Butler,  on  lot  49.  These  two  buildings 
were  erected  at  about  the  same  time.  Mr.  But- 
ler soon  after  sold  the  warehouse  to  Roe  &  Arm- 
strong, and  it  has  since  been  controlled  by  various 
persons.  John  Kichmond  is  the  present  owner. 
A  second  warehouse  was  built  about  1850  by  P. 
C.  Wolfe  &  Co.  Five  or  six  years  later  it  was 
converted  by  them  into  a  steam  flouring  mill, 
which  was  operated  five  or  six  years  with 
unsatisfactory  results,  and  the  mill  works  were 
then  removed  about  a  mile  down  the  canal  to 
Wolfe  &  Emerson's  mill,  and  the  building  res- 
tored to  its  original  use.  It  is  now  owned  by  J. 
P.  Peck  &  Co.  From  40,000  to  50,000  bushels  of 
wheat,  are  annually  bought  at  these  two  houses. 

About  1842  George  Augustine  built  a  saw-mill 
on  the  canal.  P.  C.  Wolfe  &  Co.  purchased  it 
and  attached  a  carding  machine,  which  was  run 
for  some  years.  The  building  was  taken  away 
several  years  ago. 

There  are  two  dry  goods  stores  in  the  village 
at  this  time,  owned  by  Richmond  &  Son,  and  J. 
P.  Peck  &  Co. 

One  of  the  earliest  postoffices  in  the  county  is 
White  Eyes  Plains. '  John  Junkins  was  probably 
the  first  postmaster.  He  was  succeded  by  James 
Lisk.  The  office  is  still  kept  at  Oxford  Station, 
by  the  agent,  William  Coles.  When  Evansburg 
was  laid  out,  a  postoffice,  which  is  a  requisite  of, 
every  well-appointed  village,  was  obtained  and 
Joseph  H.  Watkins  and  Moses  Morgan  were  suc- 
cessively postmasters.  About  1853  it  was  re- 
moved to  Orange,  where  it  still  exists,  though  re- 
taining the  old  name.  James  R.  Johnson  was 
postmaster  here. 

Orange  chapel,  a  Methodist  Episcopal  church, 
the  only  edifice  of  the  kind  which  graces  Orange, 
is  a  handsome  little  frame,  thirty  by  forty,  which. 


580 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


was  erected  in  1875,  at  a  cost  of  $2,200.  It  was 
erected  mainly  by  the  efforts  of  John  Richmond 
and  J.  B.  Peck.  The  society  was  formed  of  mem- 
bers from  other  congregations  in  the  neighbor- 
hood.    The  membership  at  present  is  small. 

The  Union  Methodist  Protestant  church  is 
located  near  the  center  of  the  township,  on  the 
Cadiz  road.  The  house  of  worship  was  erected 
twenty  or  more  years  ago,  upon  a  lot  donated  for 
the  purpose  by  Henry  and  William  Wolfe.  Be- 
fore it  was  built  services  had  been  conducted  in 
the  Union  school-house  close  by.  The  first  meet- 
ings were  held  in  Moses  Morgan's  barn,  where 
about  1840,  shortly  after  the  class  was  formed,  a 
great  revival  was  held.  Among  the  earliest 
members  were  Moses  Morgan,  Joseph  Mulvain, 
John  Stout,  Joseph  Evans,  and  Jenkin  Whiteside. 
The  membership  is  now  about  fifty.  Rev.  Wells 
is  the  pastor. 

White  Eyes  Baptist  church  is  situated  about  a 
fourth  of  a  mile  east  of  the  Union  Methodist 
church.  It  was  organized  in  1825  and  until  1870 
was  connected  with  the  West  Lafayette  Baptist 
church.  An  account  of  this  church  up  to  the  date 
of  separation  has  been  included  in  the  history  of 
the  West  Lafayette  church  and  need  not  be  re- 
peated. The  congregation  still  worships  in  the 
brick  church  erected  in  1850  which  is  in  good 
condition.  The  membership  is  about  forty. 
Since  1870  there  have  been  but  two  pastors  in 
charge,  Elders  E.  B.  Senter  and  P.  Hodder.  The 
latter  ministers  to  the  church  at  this  time.  The 
Sabbath-school  is  well  kept  up  but  like  most 
other  organizations  of  the  kind  in  the  country 
is  held  only  during  the  summer.  Joseph  Keims 
is  its  superintendent. 

A  German  Lutheran  church  stands  just  this 
side  of  the  county  line  in  the  southeastern  part 
of  the  township.  It  is  a  small  frame  building 
built  about  ten  years  ago.  The  congregation  is 
very  limited  in  point  of  number  and  belongs 
principally  to  Tuscarawas  county.  Mr.  Hocken- 
braugh  is  a  leading  member  from  this  township. 

Near  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  township 
stands  a  United  Brethren  church  known  as  Ever- 
.all's  church  which  was  built  many  years  ago. 


The  principal  early  members  were  John  EveralE 
and  wife,  John  Mackey  and  wife,  James  King  and 
wife,  and  Thomas  Smith  and.  wife.  Its  condition 
is  prosperous. 

A  small  congregation  of  Disciples  have  for  sev- 
eral years  been  holding  services  at  McCune's 
school-house  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township.. 

A  United  Brethren  society  existed  years  ago  in 
Orange.  Preaching  commene^ed  there  about  1853- 
in  the  school-house  and  was  continued  about 
twelve  years.  The  society  then  disbanded ;  cause, 
loss  of  membership  and  a  minister  who  proved  to- 
be  a  wolf  in  sheep's  clothing.  The  principal  mem- 
bers were  John  Richmond,  William  Maxwell  and 
John  Norman.  , 

A  Methodist  Protestant  church  at  one  time' 
flourished  in  Evansburg.  A  brick  church  was- 
erected  but  never  finished.  The  village  declined 
and  the  members  removed  to  other  places.  Ser- 
vices were  then  held  for  a  few  years  in  Orange- 
hut  they  ceased  many  years  ago. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 


PERKY  TOWNSHIP. 


Name— Organization— Physical  Features— Early  Settlements- 
— East  Union— Churches— Schools— Mills. 

THIS  is  one  of  more  than  a  score  of  townships- 
in  Ohio  that  Commemorate  the  name  and 
achievements  of  Commodore  Perry  on  lake  Erie.. 
It  was  organized  in  1817,  at  a  time  when  his 
naval  glory  was  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  the- 
people.  The  township,  as  then  erected,  was  ten 
miles  long  and  five  wide,  including  what  are  now 
Perry  and  Bedford  townships.  This  territory 
had  previously  been  a  part  of  New  Castle  town- 
ship, which  was  organized  at  the  formation  of 
the  county.  The  elections  in  Perry  township 
were  held  at  the  house  of  Elias  James,  almost 
centrally  located  as  the  township  then  existed, 
until  1825,  when  Bedford  township  was  formed 
and  Perry  was  reduced  to  its  present  limits,  five- 
miles  square,  being  township  5  of  range  9,  ac- 
cording to  the  original  survey  of  the  military 
lands.  It  is  located  in  the  western  part,  of  the- 
county  and  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  Pike  and 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


681 


a  corner  of  Licking  county,  and  by  Knox  county 
on  the  west. 

The  surface  is  undulating  and  in  some  places 
might  be  called  hilly,  though  it  is  not  so  broken 
as  in  many  townships.  Timber  of  a  thrifty 
growth  covered  the  entire  surface  at  the  coming 
of  the  pioneers.  The  soil  in  the  main  is  a  lime- 
stone clay,  becoming  sandy  in  places.  Excellent 
springs  are  found  in  all  parts  of  the  township  and 
give  rise  to  quite  a  number  of  little  streams. 
The  general  direction  of  these  is  southeast.  Mo- 
hawk run  has  its  source  in  the  northwestern  part 
and  flows  eastwardly  into  Bedford  township. 
Winding  Fork  also  rises  in  the  northwestern 
corner  of  the  township  and  pursues  a  south- 
easterly course,  crossing  into  Pike  township. 

The  entire  township  is  composed  of  congress 
land.  It  was  surveyed  in  1803,  by  John  Mat- 
thews, and  began  to  be  settled  seven  or  eight 
years  later.  It  is  not  known  who  the  first  settler 
was.  Elias  James  came  to  the  township  from 
Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1812.  His 
daughter,  Mrs.  Noah  Buxton  still  occupying  the 
old  home  farm,  the  northeast  qviarter  of  section 
20,  at  the  time  of  her  father's  emigration  was 
four  years  old  and  recollects  that  there  were  then 
but  three  settlers  in  the  township,  Henry  Hull, 
John  Neldon  and  Henry  Grim.  They  had  been 
here  at  least  a  year  or  two  before  Mr.  James 
came,  perhaps  a  little  longer.  John  Neldon  was 
also  from  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  Mr. 
James  stopped  at  his  cabin,  on  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  9,  until  he  could  provide  himself  and 
family  with  a  place  of  shelter;  he  first  settled  in 
section  11,  but  very  soon  Henry  Grim  wanted  to 
leave  this  part  of  the  country  and  sold  his  claim 
upon  the  realty  he  occupied  to  Mr.  James,  who 
forthwith  took  possession.  Grim  had  had  a  little 
difficulty  with  the  Indians,  and  had  grave  appre- 
hensions that  they  wanted  his  scalp.  The  trouble 
was  of  this  wise :  Grim,  with  a  Teutonic  earnest- 
ness and  application,  was  endeavoring  to  raise  a 
crop  of  corn  upon  a  little  patch  of  ground  he 
had  cleared,  and  as  fences  were  as  yet  unknown, 
his  success  was  seriously  compromised  by  incur- 
sions of  deer  at  night.  This  naturally  irritated 
the  German,  and  many  a  deer  paid  the  penalty  of 
death  for  its  rash  intrusion  upon  the  premises. 
The  Wyandot  Indians  lived  somewhere  in  the 


vicinity  and  allowed  their  horses  to  roam  at  will! 
during  the  night.  One  of  these,  which  they  had 
stolen  from  the  whites  somewhere,  had  not  for- 
gotten its  provender  of  old,  and  possessed  a  pen- 
chard  for  the  succulent  green  corn  of  Grim's 
planting,  which  was  decidedly  detrimental  to  its- 
growth.  Grim  repeatedly  warned  the  Indians  to- 
keep  the  horse  away  or  he  would  shoot  it ;  but 
his  words  fell  unheeded  upon  the  ears  of  the  red 
men.  Forbearance  at  length  ceased  to  be  a  vir- 
tue in  Grim's  estimation,  and  the  noble  brute  fell 
a  victim  to  his  laden  messenger  of  death.  He 
thus  incurred  the  animosity  of  the  savages,  and 
as  the  clouds  of  war  lowered  in  the  West,  he- 
deemed  it  the  part  of  prudence  to  remove  be- 
yond the  reach  of  the  tomahawk,  and  accordingly 
went  East. 

Henry  Hull  was  a  Pennsylvanian,  and  entered 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  19.  He  subse- 
quently removed  to  Knox  county,  where  he  spent- 
his  declining  days.  John  Neldon  and  Elias 
James  both  lived  in  Perry  township  the  remain- 
der of  their  lives,  the  latter  dying  at  the  age  of 
seventy-seven  years. 

Mr.  Hull  lived  on  friendliest  terms  with  the 
Indians,  before  they  abandoned  this  country, 
and  was  often  in  their  company  on  hunting  expe- 
ditions. A  camp  was  located  near  the  center  of 
section  20,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township. 
Mr.  Hull  was  accustomed  to  relate  that  he  visited 
this  camp  one  day,  and  was  invited  by  the  In- 
dians to  take  supper  with  them.  The  prospec- 
tive meal  was  to  consist  of  mush,  which  was 
then  boiling  in  a  large  copper  kettle.  This  had 
been  used  just  before  for  tanning  deer  skins,  and 
Mr.  Hull  observed  numerous  patches  of  hair,  etc., 
in  the  boiling  cauldron.  Having  already  accepted 
the  invitation  to  stay,  he  could  not  leave,  but, 
the  meal  not  being  to  his  liking,  he  made  his  au 
revoirs  to  his  dusky  acquaintances,  ■  as  best  he- 
could,  and  much  to  their  disappointment  and  dis- 
gust, took  his  departure. 

Until  1814  there  was  little  progress  in  the  set- 
tlement of  this  township,  but  about  that  time 
settlers  began  to  arrive  in  quick  succession  and, 
in  a  few  more  years,  the  entire  township  was 
dotted  with  cabins  and  cornfields.  This  being 
wholly  congress  land,  there  was  nothing  to  check 
emigration,  and  as  it  is  nearly  all  susceptible  of 


582 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


cultivation,  it  was  rapidly  entered,  mostly  by  resi- 
dent settlers. 

George  and  John  Mowry  came  about  1818. 
They  were  from  Pennsylvania.  John  entered  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  12.  George  served 
three  months  in  the  army  in  1814,  and  afterward 
moved  west. 

In  1814  "William  Coulter  settled  upon  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  12.  Early  in  life  he 
had  spent  two  years  under  Nathaniel  Massie  and 
Sullivan  in  surveying  the  western  part  of  the 
State,  and  on  his  way  home  passed  through  what 
was  afterward  Coshocton.  The  section  he  en- 
tered in  1812,  coming  out  from  Pennsylvania  to 
select  it.  He  was  a  practical  surveyor,  and  sur- 
veyed much  of  the  western  part  of  the  county, 
it  is  said,  with  "a  grape-vine  chain." 

In  1816  Akey  Lee  came  out  from  Turkey  Foot, 
Pennsylvania,  located  the  southeast  quarter  of 
section  8,  and  erected  thereon  a  cabin ;  he  then 
returned  home,  expecting  to  emigrate  with  his 
family  the  next  spring,  but  during  that  winter 
he  died  of  "  cold  plague."  His  widow,  Mary, 
however,  determined  to  brave  the  hardships  of 
pioneer  life  alone;  and  with  a  family  of  small 
children,  the  oldest  of  whom  was  but  fourteen 
years,  sought  the  western  home,  and  by  their  as- 
sistance successfully  weathered  the  rough  storms 
incident  to  the  frontier.  Her  descendants  are 
still  represented  in  the  township. 

The  Pigmans  were  prominent  in  early  times. 
Joseph  W.  Pigman  came  from  Allegheny  county 
to  Muskingum  county,  near  Dresden,  in  1810,  and 
two  years  later  moved  to  New  Castle  township 
and  built  a  cabin.  Some  time  after,  discovering 
that  he  was  on  military  land,  he  came  to  this 
township.  He  became  a  noted  Methodist 
preacher,  and  took  some  part  in  politics,  repre- 
senting the  county  in  the  legislature  several 
times,  and  being  one  of  the  associate  judges  of 
the  county.  He  had  four  sons,  Nathaniel,  Daa- 
iel,  John  and  James.  The  first  entered  part  of 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  7.  The  last  was 
a  minister  of  some  note ;  he  was  connected  with 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  as  local  preacher 
from  1837  to  1866,  when  he  became  a  minister  of 
the  Christian  Union  church,  and  so  continued 
until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  this  township, 
October  26, 1869. 


A  settlement  of  Germans  came  in  early,  per- 
haps in  1815,  most  of  them  from  Beaver  county, 
Pennsylvania.  Among  them  were  Peter  Ault, 
who  entered  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  23; 
Leonard  Divan,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
18  and  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  23 ;  his 
two  sons,  John  and  Henry,  the  latter  owning  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  22;  Henry  Billman, 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  21 ;  George'  Sos- 
saman,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  15;  Fred- 
erick Shrake,  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  23, 
and  Jacob  Shrake,  the  north  half  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  19.  The  last  mentioned  moved 
to  Wisconsin,  and  from  last  accounts  was  stiU  liv- 
ing. 

The  Irish  nationality  was  represented  by  Adam 
Murray,  who,  about  1816,  entered  the  west  part 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  6,  and  his 
brother-in-law,  John  Trimble,  who  preceded  him 
a  year  or  two  and  entered  the  northeast  quarter 
of  the  same  section. 

Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  furnished  a 
goodly  number  of  the  foremost  settlers.  Besides 
those  mentioned  there  were,  from  this  county, 
John  Fry,  who  entered  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  20  (he  emigrated  about  1815,  with 
his  brother,  Enoch  Fry,  who  settled  in  Bedford 
township) ;  Isaac  Dickens,  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  21;  Robert  Elders,  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  23;  Daniel  Fitzgerald,  who  owned 
a  part  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  10; 
Henry  Nelddn,  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
20;  Nathaniel  Rush,  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  2;  and  Edward  D.  Long,  part  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  19. 

Henry  McVey  and  Joseph  Jones  came  as  early 
as  1815.  The  former  owned  the  southwest  quar- 
ter of  section  19;  the  latter,  part  of  the  northeast 
quarter  of  the  same  section.  John  Berry,  a  Mary- 
lander,  entered  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  8. 
Joshua,  William,  Benjamin,  Joseph  and  Caleb 
Cochran,  five  brothers  directly  from  Maryland, 
but  originally  from  Dublin,  Ireland,  emigrated 
about  1814.  Joshua  settled  on  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  4,  William  on  part  of  the  south- 
west quarter  of  section  7;  the  other  three  did  not 
acquire  property  in  this  township.  Absalom 
Tipton,  a  Pennsylvanian,  located,  about  1816,  on 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  1;  John  Scott, 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


583 


about  the  same  time,  entered  the  southwest  quar- 
ter of  section  5. 

William  Dillon,  father  of  Israel  Dillon,  the 
present  clerk  of  the  court,  came  from  Green 
county,  Pennsylvania  to  the  township  about  1815, 
entered  and  cleared  a  quarter  section,  which  he 
continued  to  occupy  until  his  death,  in  1862,  he 
being  then  sixty-eight  years  of  age. 

East  Union  is  the  one  village  of  the  township. 
It  is  situated  in  the  southwest  part  of  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  7.  Two  rival  Villages  once 
flourished  in  this  vicinity.  The  first  of  these, 
New  Guilford,  was  laid  out  by  Dr.  Elisha  Guil- 
ford Lee,  March  30, 1825.  He  was  the  first  phy- 
sician of  the  township,  coming  here  from  Mount 
Vernon.  The  village  plat  was  located  a  short 
distance  west  of  what  is  now  East  Union,  and 
consisted  of  fifty  lots.  A  quarrel  arose  between 
the  doctor  and  John  Conaway,  who  owned  the 
quarter-section  just  east  of  New  Guilford,  and 
the  latter  thought  that  if  Dr.  Lee  could  found  a 
town,  he  could  do  the  same.  Accordingly,  in 
April,  1826,  he  laid  out  a  town  plat  on  the  ridge 
facing  New  Guilford,  a  little  valley  intervening. 
It  consisted  of  thirty-six  lots,  and  was  dedicated 
Claysville  by  the  proprietor.  Then,  the  antagon- 
ism waxed  hot,  and  each  village  sought  to  im- 
prove itself  at  the  expense  of  the  other.  Cona- 
way possessed  some  advantage.  He  was  a  car- 
penter, and  agreed  to  assist  in  erecting  the  cabins 
of  settlers  in  his  town,  a  consideration  which 
prevailed  with  a  number.  After  some  years  the 
two  proprietors  clasped  hands  across  the  inter- 
vening chasm  and  consolidated.  By  act  of  leg- 
islature, the  name  of  the  town  then  became  East 
Union.  In  1831  an  addition  of  fifty  lots,  con- 
necting the  two  villages,  was  made  by  Dr.  Lee ;  a 
small  addition  had  previously  been  made  to 
Claysville  by  Conaway.  East  Union  now  in- 
cludes only  what  was  formerly  Claysville,  New 
Guilford  having  been  practically  vacated,  and 
now  used  for  farming  purposes.  The  Ohio 
Gazeteer,  published  in  1833,  says,  that  in  that 
year  Claysville,  or  East  Union,  contained  forty- 
one  dwelling  houses,  two  physicians,  five  stores, 
'  one  oil-mill,  four  cabinet  makers,  one  tailor,  two 
shoemakers,  two  blacksmiths,  one  hatter,  and  sev- 
eral carpenters.    The  population  was  estimated 


to  be  nearly  300;  in  1830  there  were  seventy- 
eight  inhabitants ;  at  present  there  are  less  than 
100.  Dr.  Lee  secured  the  postofiice,  and  for  a 
while  was  postmaster ;  then  by  some  means  Mr. 
Conaway  received  the  appointment.  It  still  re- 
tains its  original  name,  New  Guilford.  The  first 
store  was  opened  at  Claysville,  by  John  Pigman. 
It  was  owned  by  John  Jacobston,  of  Dresden,  and 
kept  up  for  a  few  years  only.  At  present  there 
are  two  dry  goods  establishments  here,  owned  by 
J.  W.  Allen  and  Elijah  Kichards ;  one  miscella- 
neous store,  John  Martin ;  and  two  groceries, 
Adam  McCain  and  Mr.  Allen.  Dr.  David  Mc- 
Elwee  is  the  physician.  The  school-house  is  a 
two-story  building,  erected  about  1870,  and  be- 
longing to  the  adjacent  districts.  William  S.  Kil- 
patrick  and  Miss  Nancy  Marshall  were  the  first 
teachers  in  this  building. 

The  township  is  well  supplied  with  churches. 
There  are  now  in  active  operation  three  Method- 
ist Episcopal,  two  Baptist,  one  Christian  Union 
and  one  Lutheran  church;  besides,  there  have 
been  several  organizations,  now  defunct.  The 
Goshen  Methodist  Episcopal  church  is  the  pio- 
neer religious  society  in  the  township.  'The  church 
is  located  on  the  Coulter  farm  in  the  eastern  part 
of  section  12.  About  1820  there  was  built  here 
a  hewed  log  structure  which  served  as  a  house  of 
worship  till  1859  when  it  burned.  The  earliest 
meetings  were  held  in  the  school-house  where 
Eev.  Thomas  Carr  preached.  Other  early  minis- 
terial laborers  in  this  field  were  David  Limerick, 

Pardew  and  James  Taylor.     Kev.  Joseph 

Pigman,  Eev.  John  CuUison,  Mrs.  Nancy  Wright, 
Henry  McVey,  William  Lee  and  William  Coul- 
ter were  strong  pillars  in  the  organization  in  its 
early  life.  In  1860  the  present  comfortable  frame 
edifice  was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  old  church. 
The  membership  at  present  scarcely  exceeds' 
twenty-five.  Eev.  A.  A.  McCullough  is  pastor. 
A  Sunday-school,  superintended  by  Joseph  Coul- 
ter, is  a  successful  branch  of  the  church  work. 

Wilson's  Chapel,  or  the  Methodist  church  on 
Cullison's  ridge,  lies  within  a  half  mile  of  the 
northern  line  of  the  township.  The  first  class 
was  organized  at  the  house  of  Shadrack  CuUison 
fully  sixty  years  ago.  Here  and  in  other  cabins 
in  the  neighborhood  John  Almack   and  wife, 


584 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Shadrack  CuUison  and  wife,  James  Crouther  and 
■wife,  Jesse  Cullison  and  wife,  Thomas  Almack 
and  wife,  and  others  were  accustomed  to  worship 
for  a  number  of  years.  About  1832  they  built  a 
log  church  and  several  years  later  ceiled  and 
weather-boarded  it.  The  present  structure  was 
reared  about  1857.  It  is  an  unpretending  frame, 
about  thirty  by  forty  feet  in  size  and  cost  $1,100. 
It  was  dedicated  by  Kev. '  Harvey  Wilson.  The 
membership  is  about  fifty;  the  present  pastor. 
Rev.  Phihp  Kelser.  The  Sunday-school  has  been 
conducted  for  many  years  during  pleasant 
weather  and  numbers  about  forty  members. 

The  third  Methodist  church  is  at  East  Union. 
As  nearly  as  can  now  be  determined  it  was  organ- 
ized in  1832.  For  a  year  or  two  services  were 
held  in  the  village  school-house;  then,  about 
1834,  a  meeting-house  was  built  on  a  lot  donated 
lor  the  purpose,  by  Dr.  E.  G.  Lee.  Among  the 
pioneer  members  were  J.  N.  Edwards  and  wife, 
Joseph  McDonald  and  wife,  John  Davis  and  wife, 
Charles  Conoway  and  wife,  and  John  Conaway 
and  wife.  Kevs.  Carper,  Thos.  Carr  and  John 
Walker  were  among  the  first  ministers.  In  1878, 
a  new  church  was  built,  mainly  through  the 
efforts  of  H.  W.  Lee,  J.  W.  Lee,  Enoch  Berry, 
Abrarn  Taylor,  D.  McElwee,  T.  W.  Cullison  and 
N.  W.  Cullison.  It  is  a  neat  frame  structure, 
thirty-two  by  forty-five  feet,  capped  with  a  bell, 
and  costing  $1,525.  The  building  was  dedicated 
January,  1879,  by  Rev.  James  Kellem,  Rev. 
Philip  Kelser  being  pastor  at  the  time.  The 
membership  is  fifty-six.  N.  W.  Cullison  is  su- 
perintendent of  the  Sunday-school,  which  has 
an  average  attendance  during  the  entire  year  of 
seventy-five. 

Mohawk  Regular  Baptist  church,  located  in 
the  northeast  part  of  the  township,  was  organ- 
•  ized  about  the  year  1841  or  1842.  Bosley  Par- 
rish,  John  Berry  and  wife,  John  Neldon,  Alex- 
ander Dunlap  and  wife,  Samuel  Pritchard  and 
wife  and  William  Buxton  and  wife  were  early, 
prominent  communicants.  In  1.846,  the  mem- 
bership was  forty-nine,  and  a  few  years  later  had 
increased  to  about  100,  but  since  then  it  has 
gradually  decreased,  and  is  at  present  about 
forty.  Soon  after  the  organization,  a  small  frame 
church  was  built  which  still  serves  as  the  house 


of  worship.  The  ministers  who  have  labored  as- 
pastors  of  this  church  are  as  follows :  S.  Wick- 
ham,  J.  Frey,  Jr.,  R.  R.  Whittaker,  A.  W.  Ar- 
nold, E.  B.  Senter,  S.  W.  Frederick,  H.  Clark  and 
James  K.  Linebaugh,  the  present  pastor. 

Perry  Regular  Baptist  church,  located  near  the 
southwest  corner  of  the  township,  was  formerly 
a  branch  of  the  Tomica  church  of  Washington 
township,  and  was  organized  in  1860,  as  an  in- 
dependent body,  with  twenty-seven  members. 
Hezekiah  Howell  and  wife,  Isaac  Winkle  and 
wife,  Ohio  Oxley  and  wife,  and  Stephen  Under- 
wood and  wife,  were  among  its  first  members. 
Their  neat  little  church  was  built  soon  after  they 
became  a  separate  organization,  under  the  minis- 
try of  H.  West.  The  membership  has  slowly 
but  steadily  advanced,  and  now  numbers  about 
forty.  The  ministers  of  this  church  have  been 
H.  West,  R.  R.  Whitaker,  E.  B.  Senter,  A.  W, 
Odor,  E.  Frey,  A.  W.  Arnold  and  H.  Clark. 

The  Christian  Union  church,  at  East  Union, 
was  organized  in  1866,  with  sixteen  or  eighteen 
members,  by  Rev.  Givens,  of  Columbus.  A  se- 
ries of  meetings  were  held  soon  after  by  Rev. 
Benjamin  Green,  which  resulted  in  a  number  of 
accessions.  Among  the  earliest  members  were 
Israel  Dillon,  James  Pigman,  William  Pigman, 
James  Barkelew,  Jackson  and  Joseph  Mills,  Wil- 
liam Perry,  Jacob  Baughman  and  Wheeler  Cul- 
lison. George  W.  Stevenson  was  the  first  minis- 
ter; he  was  succeeded  by  James  Pigman.  The 
membership  increased  steadily  for  a  while,  and 
at  one  time  was  perhaps  the  largest  in  the  town- 
ship, but  owing  to  many  removals  and  deaths,  it 
has  been  reduced  to  about  forty.  Services  were 
held  in  the  old  Presbyterian  church  until  1879- 
In  that  year  a  substantial  frame,  thirty-one  by 
forty-one  feet,  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $1,000. 
The  church  was  dedicated  December,  1879,  by 
Revs.  H.  J.  Duckworth  and  James  Lamp. 

The  Winding  Fork  Evangelical  Lutheran 
church  stands  in  the  southern  part  of  the  town- 
ship, in  the  eastern  part  of  section  17.  The  pres- 
ent small  frame  building  was  erected  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1880.  The  old  meeting-house  occupied 
the-  same  site  and  was  built  about  1848.  Before 
it  was  built,  preaching  had  been  held  for  some 


HISTORY   OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


585 


years  in  the  school-house  and  in  Absolom  Wolf's 
barn.  The  early  members  were  George  Sossa- 
man,  Absolom  Wolf,  Henry  Kiefer,  John  Sossa- 
man,  Jacob  Huffman,  their  families,  George  Beck- 
ley,  and  some  others.  Kev.  John  Booker  is  the 
minister  now  in  charge.  The  membership  is 
about  forty. 

An  Episcopal  church,  known  as  St.  Matthew's, 
formerly  flourished  in  the  western  part  of  the 
township.  As  early  as  1828,  a  log  church  was 
•erected,  which  gave  way  some  years  later  to  a 
substantial  brick,  still  standing,  in  the  northwest 
■corner  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  6. 
John  Trimble,  Adam  Murray,  John  Scott,  Wil- 
son and  William  Rodden,  and  George  Melick 
were  members  with  its  early  membership.  The 
■congregation  at  one  time  was  of  considerable 
size.  It  was  supplied  by  ministers  from  Gambler. 
Regular  services  were  suspended  some  ten  years 
ago. 

A  Presbyterian  church  once  existed  in  New 
■Guilford.  A  house  of  worship  was  built  in  1837 
or  1838,  and  occupied  some  twenty  years,  when 
the  organization  dissolved.  Connected  with  it 
were  Andrew  and  Samuel  McCammant,  Harvey 
Hoss,  Ezekiel  Boggs,  George  Knight,  Nathaniel 
Herron  and  others.  The  building  was  removed 
only  two  or  three  years  ago. 

An  old  school  Baptist  congregation  had  a  meet- 
ing-house in  the  dim  past,  along  the  eastern  line 
•of  the  township,  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 10.  Revs.  McGuire  and  Crabtree  once 
preached  here  to  a  flourishing  society,  which  in- 
•cluded  the  names  of  '  John  Pritchard,  Solomon 
Tipton,  Joseph  Barret,  Willian  Dillon  and  others, 
but  it  has  long  since  been  numbered  with  the  dead. 

Of  the  early  schools  in  this  township,  as  else- 
where, much  may  be  learned  from  the  fol- 
lowing agreement  between  a  teacher  and  his  sub- 
scribers, made  nearly  sixty  years  ago.  It  is  said 
that  for  some  unknown  reason  this  school  was 
never  held,  but  be  this  as  it  may,  the  contract  is 
worthy  of  preservation  as  exhibiting  the  means 
ty  which  schools  could  then  be  procured.  The 
•original  document  is  in  the  possession  of  T.  B. 
Tidball,  of  New  Bedford,  and  reads  as  follows : 


JOHN  L.  MEREDITH 

proposes  opening  school  in  the  Methodist  meet- 
ing-house, near  William  Coulter's,  in  Perry  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  on  Monday,  the 
first  day  of  October,  1823,  for  the  term  of  three 
months,  or  thirteen  weeks,  reserving  to  himself 
every-othar  Saturday,  and  agrees  to  keep  said 
school  under  good,  wholesome  regulations  and 
strict  order.  To  open  the  same  at  9  o'clock  A.  m., 
and  continue  till  12  at  noon ;  commencing  again 
at  1  P.  M.,  and  close  at  half-past  4  p.  m.,  each  day, 
as  near  as  possible,  and  agrees  to  teach  and  in- 
struct all  those  placed  under  tuition,  in  spelling, 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  to  the  best  of  his 
ability  and  understanding.  In  consideration 
whereof,  we  whose  names  are  hereto  subscribed, 
do  agree  to  pay  him,  J.  Meredith,  the  sum  of  one 
dollar  and  seventy-five  cents  for  each  scholar  an- 
nexed to  our  respective  names,  in  the  following 
articles,  at  these  respective  rates,  viz :  Wheat  at 
fifty  cents  per  bushel,  rye  at  forty  cents  per 
bushel,  corn  at  twenty-five  cents  per  bushel,  de- 
livered in  Woolford's,  Meredith's,  Ault's  or  Giv- 
en's  mills,  as  he  may  direct.  Flour  at  two  dollars 
per  hundred  pounds,  pork  at  two  and  a  quar- 
ter cents  per  pound,  beef  at  two  and  a  half  and 
three  .cents  per  pound,  butter  at  eight  cents  per 
pound,  tallow  at  ten  cents  per  pound,  beeswax  at 
twenty-five  cents  per  pound,  flax  at  ten  cents  per 
pound,  wool  at  forty  cents  per  pound,  flax  linen 
at  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents  per  yard,  tow  at 
twenty  cents,  flax  and  tow  at  thirty  cents  per 
yard,  linsey,  colored,  fifty-six  and  a  quarter 
cents  per  yard,  eggs  at  six  and  a  quarter 
cents  per  dozen,  and  towels  at  six  and  a  quarter 
cents,  to  be  delivered  within  said  term  at  said 
Meredith's  dwelling  at  such  times  as  he  may  oc- 
casionally direct.  It  being  agreed  that  should  it 
be  proven  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  majority  of  the 
subscribers  that  said  Meredith  neglects  his  busi- 
ness as  a, teacher,  they  are  to  pay  for  the  time  he 
may  have  been  employed  and  dismiss  him. 
School  to  consist  of  not  less  than  twenty-five  nor 
more  than  thirty  regular  subscribed  scholars;  the 
said  Meredith  making  good  all  lost  time  at  the 
end  of  the  term.  In  testimony  whereof  we  have 
hereto  set  our  hands  this  tenth  day  of  Septem- 
ber, 1823.  John  L.  Meredith. 

SUBSCEIBERS'   NAMES.  SCHOLAES. 

William  Coulter 2 

J.  W.  Pigman 2 

James  Curty ...  2 

James  Cullison 2J 

Cornelius  Lynch 1 

Barney  Lynch 1 

Henry  Richard... 2 

Aquila  Stradler 2 

Richard  Copeland 1 

Elias  James IJ 


586 


HISTOflY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


SUBSCEIEERS'   NAMES.  SCHOLAES, 

John  Fry li 

Henry  Fry 2 

Aaron  Wright 1 

William  Hortenbrook 1 

George  Parets 1 

John  CuUison IJ 

Jacob  Phillips 2 

Mary  Dillon 1 

Henry  MoVey 1 

Joseph  Jones IJ 

John  N.  Edwards i 

The  first  school-house  in  the  township  was 
built  about  1817,  on  the  Hull  farm  or  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  19.  The  first  teacher  was 
James  Cane,  a  good  scholar  but  too  severe  in  his 
discipline  to  please  the  people.  He  taught  only 
one  term,  and  was  succeeded  by  John  Winte'rin- 
ger,  a  good  natural  preacher,  who  permitted  the 
children  under  his  charge  to  do  just  about  as  they 
wished.  Joseph  Pigman  was  next  installed 
teacher  and  remained  in  the  school  for  a  number 
of  years,  so  long  that  it  was  generally  known  as 
the  Pigman  school.  The  building  was  finally  de- 
stroyed by  fire,  and  a  school-house  was  then  built 
on  the  Coulter  place,  near  the  Goshen  Methodist 
church.  It  was  not  long  till  a  number  of  others 
were  started  in  different  parts  of  the  township. 

Peter  Ault  in  early  times  had  a  little  hand-mill 
which,  unlike  the  little  water-mills  along  the 
streams,  did  not  fail  in  dry  weather,  and  hence 
became  quite  popular  among  his  neighbors  when 
the  water  was  low.  It  was  used  so  much  and 
ground  corn  so  amazingly  slow  that  he  construct- 
ed a  much  larger  pair  of  stones,  which  were  set 
up  on  end.  To  one  of  them  he  attached  a  pole 
ten  feet  long,  which  turned  like  the  handle  of  a 
grindstone.  When  the  creeks  would  fail  the 
neighbors  would  congregate  here  after  their  day's 
work  was  done,  each  bringing  his  sack  of  corn  to 
grind.  Half  a  dozen  or  more  young  people  would 
seize  the  handle,  "  long  drawn  out,"  and  make  the 
buhrs  fairly  spin  around.  The  merry  frolic  would 
continue  sometimes  half  through  the  night,  until 
each  had  at  least  corn-meal  enough  to  last  his  fam- 
ily the  next  day.  Mr.  Ault  also  had  a  little  water- 
mill  on  Winding  Fork,  with  one  run  of  buhrs, 
which  he  operated  until  his  dam  was  swept  away 
in  a  freshet.  It  was  not  rebuilt.  Frederick  Shrake 
at  the  same  time,  about  1822,  started  a  mill  a  little 


further  up  the  stream.  It  had  two  run  of  stone, 
and  between  it  and  Ault's  mill  there  was  a  lively 
competition.  Robert  Elder,  as  early  as  1820,  had 
a  little  corn;cracker  in  operation,  which  lasted, 
however,  onlj'  a  short  time.  A  little  sawing  and 
wool  carding  was  carried  on  at  the  same  time. 
John  Pritchard,  about  1830,  put  up  a  saw-mill  on 
Mohawk  run,  which  was  run  for  a  number  of 
years.  The  present  Gault  mill  was  built  by  Sam- 
uel Whitmore,  in  1836  or  earlier. 


CHAPTER  LXV. 


PIKE  TOWNSHIP. 


Boundaries— Topography— Settlers— Slab  Camp— Bear  Story 
—Distilleries— Mills— Schools— Churches-West  Carlisle. 

PIKE  township  occupies  the  southwest  corner 
of  the  county.  It  is  bounded  on  the  west 
by  Licking  county  and  on  the  south  by  Mus- 
kingum. Washington  township  touches  it  oil  the 
east  and  Perry  township  on  the  north.  The 
township  was  organized  in  August,  1818,  the  elec- 
tion for  the  first  officers  being  held  in  the  house 
of  James  Bryan.  This  and  Perry  are  the  only 
two  townships  in  the  county  that  consist  wholly 
of  congress  land.  It  was  surveyed  in  the  year 
1803,  by  John  Matthews.' 

The  surface  is  rolling  and  hilly  throughout.  It 
is  nearly  all  tillable,  the  prevailing  soil  being  a 
limestone  clay._  Some  sandy  grounds  are  found, 
however,  principally  in  the  western  part  of  the 
township.  The  streams  are  small  and  unimpor- 
tant. The  largest  is  Tomica  creek,  which  enters 
from  Licking  county,  flows  southeasterly  about 
a  mile  and  then  returns  to  Licking  county. 
Winding  Fork  enters  the  stream,  flowing  from 
the  northeast.  Brushy  run  rises  near  the  north- 
ern line  of  the  township,  close  to  West  Carlisle 
and  flows  almost  directly  south  through  the  entire 
township.  West  of  this,  is  Five  Mile  run,  so, 
named  from  its  length ;  it  rises  near  the  center 
of  the  township  and  pursues  a  southwesterly 
course.  Little  tributaries  to  these  streams 
make  up  the  remaining  streams  of  the  town- 
ship. A  heavy  timber  growth  was  universal, 
except  in  one  locality.  Along  the  narrow  valley 
of  Brushy  run,  in  sections  12  and  19,  was  a  strip 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


587 


of  land  covered  oitly  with  saplings  when  the  fli-st 
settlers  entered  the  township.  The  opinion 
among  the  early  settlers  regarding  it,  was  that  a 
violent  hurricane  had  spent  its  force  here  and 
uprooted  all  the  large  timber  growing  upon  the 
tract.  The  little  elevations  and  dejoressions 
which  such  a  catastrophe  would  produce,  were 
numerously  scattered  through  this  region. 

Daniel  Ashcraft  was  the  first  settler  in  the 
township,  settling  upon  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  22  in  1808.  fie  was  from  the  vicinity  of 
Cheat  river,  Pennsylvania,  and  moved  West  with 
his  son-in-law,  Thomas  McKee.  The  journey 
was  made  as  far  as  Zanesville  by  water.  Mr. 
Ascraft  and  McKee  constructed  a  large  boat  about 
twenty  by  forty  feet  in  size,  freighted  it  with 
their  families,  furniture,  teams,  iron,  etc.,  and 
launched  it  on  Cheat  river,  whence  it  proceeded 
safely  down  the  Ohio  to  Marietta.  It  was  too  un- 
wieldy an  affair  to  get  up  to  Zanesville,  and  Mr. 
Ashcraft  came  to  that  place  and  engaged  three 
keel-boats  to  bring  up  his  goods.  The  teams 
were  brought  up  by  land.  From  Zanesville  he 
proceeded  on  the  road  leading  west  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Frazersburg,  and  leaving  his  heaviest 
goods  there,  packed  the  most  necessary  articles 
on  his  horses  through  the  wilderness,  to  his  fu- 
ture home.  A  bark  camp  was  hastily  constructed 
and  served  as  a  temporary  place  of  shelter.  Mr. 
Ashcraft  was  an  excellent  mechanic,  and  could 
turn  his  hand  to  almost  anything.  He  had  a 
large  family,  and  his  boys,  Jonathan,  Jacob,  Jesse, 
Ehjah  and  Daniel,  were  of  great  service  in  clear- 
ing up  the  land.  He  brought  over  his  blacksmith 
tools  as  soon  as  he  arrived,  and  soon  had  a  little, 
log-cabin  built  which  he  occupied  several  years, 
then  built  a  larger  hewed-log  house,  a  very  palace 
in  those  days.  A  whip-saw  was  brought  from 
Zanesville  to  prepare  the  necessary  lumber  for 
this  building.  In  connection  with  his  black- 
smithing,  he  carried  on  a  cooper-shop,  and  soon 
had  a  tannery  also  started  on  his  place.  When 
the  Newark  road  was  opened,  and  the  country 
round  about  began  to  be  peopled  with  emigrants, 
.  he  provided  entertainment  at  his  house  for  those 
who  required  it,  a  meal  thus  costing  the  stranger 
twelve  and  a  half  cents,  and  lodging  six  and  a 
quarter  cents.    While  the  country  upon  all  sides 


was  still  one  vast  wilderness,  this  farm  had  al- 
ready become  greatly  improved.  ' 

Jonathan  Ashcraft,  still  surviving  at  this  writ- 
ing, in  his  ninetieth  year,  turned  the  first  furrow 
of  ground  in  the  township  with  his  rude  plow. 
Seeds  for  an  apple  and  peach  orchard  were 
planted  at  once,  and  in  a  few  years  fruit  wag  had 
in  abundance.  Mr.  Ashcraft  served  on  the  fron- 
tier for  a  few  months  in  the  war  of  1812,  in  a  com- 
pany commanded  by  Captain  Wilson,  of  Licking 
county.  He  continued  to  reside  in  this  town- 
ship, engaged  in  the  quiet  pursuits  of  farm  life, 
till  he  died  at  a  good  old  age.  Thomas  McKee, 
his  son-in-law,  settled  in  the  vicinity  of  Mt.  Ver- 
non, but  years  afterward  moved  to  this  county. 

Very  soon  after  the  arrival  of  Ashcraft,  Payne 
Clark  entered  the  township.  He  came  from 
Fauquier  county,  Virginia,  and  settled  upon  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  12.  He  was  a  verit- 
able Nimrod  at  the  chase,  and,  gun  in  hand, 
spent  much  time  in  the  game-abounding  forest. 
He  was  also  a  practical  surveyor,  and  in  this  ca- 
pacity was  of  great  service  to  his  neighbors. 
About  1832  he  removed  to  Greene  county,  In- 
diana. 

Thomas  Hardesty  came  about  1812,  and  en- 
tered the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19.  He 
was  from  Maryland,  and  spent  his  youth  upon 
the  sea,  where  he  acquired  the  hardiness  and 
recklessness  of  a  sailor.  In  1811  he  emigrated 
with  his  brother,  Edmund  Hardesty,  to  Wash- 
ington township.  He  remained  there  only  a 
year  or  two,  and  came  to  this  township.  He  re- 
mained a  resident  of  the  township  for  a  number 
of  years,  but  never  became  skilled  in  the  use  of 
his  gun.  A  favorite  occupation  was  the  making 
of  maple  sugar.  He  eventually  removed  to 
Greene  county,  Indiana. 

It  was  not  until  1814  that  settlers  began  to  ar- 
rive in  any  number.  In  that  year  Pierce  No- 
land  came  to  the  township,  and  entered  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  11.  He  was  origin- 
ally from  the  Virginia  banks  of  the  Potomac, 
and  came  to  Coshocton  county  in  1811,  living  for 
three  years  nine  miles  up  the  Tuscarawas  river 
from  Coshocton,  at  the  mouth  of  White  Eyes 
creek.  In  his  early  days  he  was  a  traveling 
merchant,  in  Virginia,  but  since  he  became  a 
resident  of  this  county  he  followed  farming  ex- 


:588 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


-clusively.  He  died  in  1834,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven  years. 

It  was  about  this  year  that  James  and  John 
Bryan,  two  brothers,  settled  here.  As  the  name 
indicates,  they  were  Irish.  John  was  born  in  Ire- 
land and  James  on  the  briny  ocean,  as  his  parents 
were  on  their  way  to  the  new  country.  The  two 
boys  entered  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  12. 
James  was  a  noted  character  in  his  day,  was  per- 
haps best  known  as  the  local  poet  of  this  com- 
munity. He  possessed  an  abundance  of  native 
Irish  wit  and  was  an  inveterate  rhymer.  His 
caustic  verses  were  an  ever-availing  weapon 
against  those  who  incurred  his  enmity,  and  were 
always  highly  appreciated  by  those  at  whom  they 
were  not  aimed.  He  was  reared  a  Catholic,  but 
did  not  hold  firm  allegiance  to  any  church.  He 
was  as  fond  of  whisky  as  he  was  of  versifying. 
He  was  by  trade  a  molder,  and  during  winter 
was  often  employed  at  Moore's  furnace,  a  few 
miles  east  of  Newark.  He  finally  removed  to 
Indianola,  Iowa,  where  he  died. 

David  Moore,  a  cooper  by  trade,  from  near 
Hagerstown,  Maryland,  and  James  Thompson, 
from  near  Cumberland,  Maryland,  came  out  in 
1814,  and  entered  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 12.  Mr.  Thompson  spent  the  remainder  of 
his  life  in  the  township,  but  Mr.  Moore  sold  his 
property  and  removed  to  Vinton  county. 

David  Knowles,  about  1813,  settled  in  the  east- 
•ern  part  of  section  19.  William  Clark,  a  Virgin- 
ian, about  1816,  entered  and  settled  upon  the 
.southwest  quarter  of  section  10.  About  the  same 
time,  Joseph  Cheney,  from  Maryland,  settled  upon 
the  southeast  quarter  of  section  22.  About  1814, 
.  Joshua  Lemart,  from  Fauquier  county,  Virginia, 
.settled  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  12. 
He  had  lived  for  a  short  time  previous  in  Wash- 
ington township.  He  died  in  Muskingum  county. 
Adam  Gault,  from  Pennsylvania,  came  in  about 
1816,  settling  upon  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 2.    He  died  in  1846. 

Eli  Seward  moved  with  his  family  in  the  fall 
of  1815  from  Luzerne  county,  Pennsylvania,  to 
the  Cass  section,  in  the  northern  part  of  Mus- 
kingum county,  remained  there  a  year,  and  in 
February,  1817,  settled  upon  a  quarter  section  in 
the  western  part  of  this  township.  In  the  spring 
•of  1816  his  brother,  Ebenezer  Seward,  James 


Chapin  and  John  Taylor,  emigrated  from  the 
same  county  in  Pennsylvania. 

George  Lynch,  a  Pennsylvanian,  moved  about 

1816  to  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  19.  He 
erected  a  blacksmith  shop  here  and  divided  his 
attention  between  the  shop  and  field.  Years  af- 
ter he  removed  to  Hardin  county.  Spencer  Lake 
emigrated  about  the  same  time  from  Fauquier 
county,  Virginia,  and  remained  a  farmer  of  this 
township  the  rest  of  his  life.  William  Henderson, 
a  blacksmith  and  afterward  a  dealer  in  stock, 
came  about  1816  from  Belmont  county.    About 

1817  Samuel  Perkins,  from  Pennsylvania,  entered 
the  tract  upon  which  West  Carlisle  is  now  situ- 
ated. Augustine  White  came  in  1818  from  Vir- 
ginia. Alexander  Graham,  also  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, came  to  the  township  in  1819;  he  died  in 
July,  1844.  About  this  time  John  Eine,  a  Mary- 
lander,  whp  had  served  'in  the  war  of  1812,_moved 
in. 

The  tax  duplicate  for  1821  shqws  the  following 
additional  names  as  resident  property-holders. 
As  land  did  not  become  taxable  till  after  it  had 
been  entered  five  years,  some,  if  not  all,  of  these 
settlers  were  probably  here  as  early  as  1816: 
George  Crawford,  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 23,  and  east  half  of  section  21;  Francis 
Crawford,  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  24; 
Richard  Goodwin,  the  north  part  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  6;  John  McNabb,  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  2;  John  Perdew, 
the  northeastquarter  of  section  1;  Kimble  Rake- 
straw,  a  Virginian,  the  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 17;  John  Robinson,  also  a  Virginian,  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  15;  Jesse  Rine, 
brother  to  John  Rine,  from  Frederick  county, 
Maryland,  the  south  part  of  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  5;  Asa  B.  Snyder,  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  9;  William  Wright,  from  Virginia, 
a  local  surveyor,  and  by  trade  a  wheel-wright,  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  22. 

The  only  vestige  of  Indian  habitation  which 
existed  when  the  early  settlers  came  to  the  town- 
ship, was  a  rickety  shanty,  which  stood  near  the 
mouth  of  Winding  Fork,  and  was  known  as  Slab 
Camp.  It  was,  a  three-sided  little  hut,  one  end 
being  entirely  open,  and  about  ten  by  twelve 
feet  in  size.    It  was  frequently  occupied  by  hun- 


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§ 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


591 


ters,  after  the  Indians  had  abandoned  it,  as  a 
.sleeping  place,  and  whenever  so  used,  a  fire  must 
be  built  across  the  open  end,  to  prevent  the  en- 
trance of  wild  animals. 

Wild  game  was  abundant  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  many  are  the  bear  stories  which  the 
few  remaining  pioneers  tell  of  the  times  which 
are  now  gone  forever.  There  is  room  for  only 
one.  Eichard  Meek,  who  settled  early  on  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  22,  went  visiting 
one  day  with  his  wife,  leaving  Samuel,  scarce- 
ly fifteen  years  old,  and  his  younger  sisters  at 
home.  They  amused  themselves  during  their 
parents'  absence  by  springing  saplings  in  the 
woods.  After  a  while  Sam  thought  he  espied  a 
bear  behind  a  fallen  log.  He  told  the  little  girls 
to  watch  the  place  while  he  ran  to  the  house  for 
his  father's  gun.  He  soon  returned  with  the 
weapon,  which  was  so  heavy  he  could  scarcely 
■carry  itj  and  lying  down  on  the  ground,  he  laid 
the  cumbersome  weapon  across  a  log,  took  delib- 
•erate  aim,  and  fired.  The  ball  sped  true  to  the 
mark,  and  the  bear  fell  dead.  Eunning  up  to  it, 
he  drew  out  a  butcher  knife  and  stabbed  it  in  old 
hunter  fashion;  then  went  to  the  stable  for  horses 
and  sled,  and  by  dint  of  perseverance  managed 
to  get  the  bear  on  the  sled  and  home  just  as  his 
parents  returned.  It  was  an  unusually  large  ani- 
mal, weighing  more  than  600  pounds. 

Several  small  distilleries  were  operated  in  this 
•township  in  early  times  to  supply  the  local  de- 
mand for  whisky.  James  and  George  Crawford, 
■about  1818,  started  one  and  run  it  for  a  number 
of  years.  Another  one  was  owned  by  Thomas 
and  John  Crawford,  of  another  family.  Payne 
Clark,  Samuel  Hardesty  and  Newman  Smith 
were  also  manufacturers  of  the  article  on  a  small 
scale.  Joshua  Lemart  began  the  business  at  an 
«arly  day  and  continued  it  for  many  years.  He 
built  a  little  horse-mill  for  the  purpose  of  grinding 
his  mashes,  but  it  was  soon  brought  into  requi- 
sition by  his  neighbors  for  grinding  their  corn. 
Particularly  was  this  so  during  a  dry  season, 
when  the  mills  on  the  small  streams  must  sus- 
pend operations  for  lack  of  power,  and  the  settlers 
were  obliged  to  take  their  grists  up  to  Owl  creek 
in  Knox  county,  or  down  to  Zanesville,  where, 
from  the  throng  of  customers,  they  often  had  to 

25  ' 


wait  several  days  before  their  wants  could  be  at- 
tended to.  Lemart's  horse-mill  was  then  kept 
going  night  and  day,  turning  out  a  course  grade 
of  corn-meal  which  the  settlers  labored  hard  to 
obtain. 

John  Taylor  built  a  saw-mill  on  Winding  Fork 
about  1818.  In  1823,  he  sold  it  to  Albert  Seward 
— still  living  in  Bethlehem  township — who  had 
just  attained  his  majority.  In  1830,  Mr.  Seward 
disposed  of  it  to  James  Van  Winkle,  and,  a  short 
time  afterward,  Ebenezer  Seward  obtained  pos- 
session of  it.  He  sold  it  to  Mr.  Pease,  of  Dresden, 
who  proposed  removing  it  further  down  the 
stream  and  adding  a  grist-mill;  but  he  failed  in 
business  before  carrying  out  the  project,  and  the 
property  reverted  to  Mr.  Seward.  He  resold  it 
to  Jesse  Eyan,  and  the  mill  soon  after  went  down. 

A  saw-mill  was  built  on  Tomica  creek,  by 
Frederick  Zellers,  in  1833,  and  the  next  year  a 
flour-mill  was  added.  It  is  still  in  operation, 
known  as  the  Gault  mill.  It  has  two  run  of 
buhrs,  a  good  stone  dam,  and  produces  an  excel- 
lent grade  of  flour. 

Little  is  known  of  the  early  schools  of  the 
township.  Like  in  all  other  pioneer  settlements, 
they  were  irregularly  held,  meagerly  attended, 
and  very  inefficient,  as  compared  with  the  schools 
of  the  present  day.  A  school-cabin  was  built 
about  1824  on  the  hill  south  of  Hiram  Noland's 
house,  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  12. 
William  Wright  was  the  first  teacher  in  this 
building.  He  was  a  learned  teacher,  proficient 
in  Latin,  it  is  said,  and  a  thorough  mathemati- 
cian. He  remained  in  charge  of  the  school  for 
a  number  of  years.  Later,  a  school-house  was 
built  just  south  of  West  Carlisle,  where  Mr.  Tim- 
berlick,  afterward  cashier  of  the  Owl  Creek  bank 
of  Mt.  Vernon,  taught  the  first  elements. 

There  are  four  churches  in  the  township; 
three,  a  Methodist,  a  Presbyterian  and  a  Luther- 
an, in  West  Carlisle,  and  one  about  two  miles 
south  of  this  village,  near  the  center  of  section 
12.  The  latter  is  a  "  People's  "  church,  or  more 
commonly  called  the  "  Broomstick  church."  It 
is  the  property  of  no  denomination,  built  nearly 
forty  years  ago  by  the  people  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, regardless  of  their  church  affinities,  upon 


592 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


land  donated  by  Hiram  Noland.  All  denomina- 
tions are  permitted  to  worship  here  at  any  time 
which  does  not  interfere  with  previous  appoint- 
ments, and  several  societies  of  different  sects 
have  used  the  building  as  their  meeting  house. 
Among  them  was  a  congregation  of  Christians, 
which  at  one  time  possessed  considerable 
strength.  Nathaniel  Emery,  Lewis  Cheney  and 
many  persons  from  a  distance  were  members. 
At  first  preaching  was  conducted  at  Mr.  Emery's 
barn,  then  -transferred  to  the  church.  There 
have  been  no  services  now  for  ten  years  or  more. 
The  Disciples  held  services  here  for  a  while. 
Samuel  Cheney  was  a  leading  member.  The 
congregation  included  a  large  number  living  in 
Muskingum  county.  Eev.  White  was  their  last 
minister.  The  Presbyterians  and  Methodist 
Episcopals  hold  occasional  services.  The  Metho- 
dist Protestants  have  regular  meetings,  conducted 
at  present  by  Eev.  "William  Sampson.  This  so- 
ciety was  organized  about  1845,  and  now  has 
about  fifty  members.  A  union  Sunday-school  is 
held  here. 

Of  the  three  churches  in  West  Carlisle,  the 
Presbyterian  is  probably  the  oldest.  It  was  in- 
corporated by  the  legislature  in  1823.  The  in- 
corporators were  James  McKee,  John  Lyons, 
James  Gault,  James  Patten  and  William  Brown. 
Eev.  James  Cunningham,  of  Utica,  Licking 
county,  had  been  preaching  occasionally  in  the 
neighborhood  for  some  time  and  continued  to 
preach  for  the  church  until  1834.  Eev.  Jacob 
Wolf  then  served  the  church  for  about  a  year, 
and  after  he  left  Mr.  Cunningham  again  supplied 
the  congregation  for  a  year  or  two.  In  1838  and 
1839  the  church  was  supplied  by  Eev.  Enoch  Bou- 
ton  and  Eev.  Nathaniel  Conkling.  Eev.  J.  Mat- 
thews seems  to  have  been  the  first  pastor,  in- 
stalled November  11, 1840.  Until  1846  he  gave  it 
half  his  time  and  then  the  whole  time  until  1853. 
During  his  time  the  church  building  still  in  use 
was  erected.  In  1853  C.  C.  Bomberger  was  or- 
dained and  installed  pastor.  During  the  war  the 
congregation  was  greatly  distracted  on  political 
issues,  and  finally  divided,  Mr.  Bomberger  and  a 
portion  of  the  congregation  withdrawing  and 
putting  themselves  under  the  Presbytery  of  Lou- 
isville and  afterwards  under  the  care  of  the  Pres- 


bytery of  Central  Ohio  in  connection  with  the 
Synod  of  Kentucky.  This  congregation  found  a^ 
.house  of  worship  in  the  "People's  church"  two- 
miles  below  the  village.  In  the  old  church  after 
several  years  of  embarrassment,  with  only  occas- 
ional supplies,  John  Foy  was  ordained  and  in- 
stalled in  1870.  During  his  pastorate  the  church 
rallied  to  a  considerable  extent  and  the  house  of 
worship  was  repaired  and  improved  at  an  ex- 
pense almost  equal  to  its  original  cost.  Mr.  Foy 
removed  in  1874  to  Martinsburg  and  tlie  church 
has  since  been  supplied  by  Eevs.  S.  Mehafiey,  W. 
D.  Wallace,  and  W.  J.  Fulton  and  J.  P.  Safford. 
In  November,  1880,  the  two  divisions  of  the 
church  were  harmonized  and  re-united  under 
Mr.  Safibrd's  pastorate.  At  its  organization  the 
number  of  members  was  twenty-four;  in  1860 
there  were  eighty-six ;  at  present  it  exceeds  one 
hundred.  The  first  elders  were  Thomas  McKee, 
James  Crawford  and  Adam  Gault.  Subsequently 
the  following  have  served :  A.  H.  Lyons,  Chris- 
topher Crothers,  John  Lyons,  James  McKee,  Rob- 
ert Crouch,  William  Harvey,  D.  D.  Johnson, 
Lewis  Bennett,  Thomas  McKee,  John  McKee, 
John  Graham  and  George  McKee.  The  last  three 
constitute  the  session  at  this  time. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  congregation  at  West 
Carlisle  erected  its  first  house  of  worship  in  1832 
or  1833.  It  was  a  frame  building,  and  occupied 
the  site  of  the  present  church,  which  was  built 
about  1859.  The  date  of  the  church  organizatioik 
is  unknown.  It  was  some  time  before  the  erec- 
tion of  the  first  church.  Among  the  earlier  mem- 
bers were  William  Moffat,  John  Fulks,  James- 
Fulks  and  William  Henderson.  Eev.  Thomas 
Dunn  was  an  early  minister.  The  membership 
is  now  about  sixty.  Eev.  A.  A.  McCuUough  is 
the  pastor.  A  Sunday-school  has  been  connected 
■\yith  the  church  for  a  great  number  of  years,  and 
is  in  excellent  working  condition.  The  school  is 
held  through  the  whole  year. 

The  Evangelical  Lutheran  church  was  organ- 
ized about  1835.  The  first  minister  was  Jacob 
Seidle.  Rev.  S.  Kammerer  had  previously  held 
services  in  the  neighborhood.  The  leading  early 
members  were  Henry  Billman,  Henry  Divan, 
George  Sossaman,  Henry  Keifer  and  Solomon 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


593 


Exline.  The  present  frame  church  was  built  a 
few  years  ago,  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,200.  The 
former  building  was  smaller,  and  built  soon  after 
the  church  was  organized.  The  church  had  a 
large  following  at  first,  but  when  the  Winding 
Fork  church  was  organized  many  members  with- 
drew to  unite  with  it,  and  );he  church  was  left 
comparatively  weak.  By  removals  the  member- 
ship has  become  still  smaller,  and  is  now  quite 
limited.    Kev.  John  Booker  is  the  pastor. 

West  Carlisle,  the  only  village  in  the  township, 
lies  a  half  mile  from  the  northern  line,  near  the 
center  of  section  2.  It  is  one  of  the  oldest  villages 
in  the  county,  having  been  laid  out  in  August, 
1817.  The  proprietors  were  John  Perkins  and 
John  McNabb.  Perkins  owned  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  2,  and  McNabb  the  northwest  ■ 
quarter  of  the  same  section.  The  town  was  laid 
out  on  the  line  between  the  two  quarter  sections. 
The  village  was  probably  named  by  Perkins,  who 
is  said  to  have  been  from  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania, 
in  honor  of  his  old  home.  The  original  plat  in- 
cluded thirty-four  lots,  but  during  the  same  year, 
1817,  each  of  the  proprietors  made  a  small  addi- 
tion to  the  town.  Further  additions  were  made 
in  1831,  by  William  Henderson,  William  Brown 
and  Harmon  Anderson. 

The  leading  character  in  the  early  history  of 
West  Carlisle  was  WilMam  Brown.  He  was  born 
in  Franklin  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  ^pent  his 
youth  in  the  service  of  a  merchant  in  St.  Clairs- 
ville.  He  came  to  West  Carlisle  about  1822,  with 
a  small  stock  of  goods,  and  soon  after  formed  a 
partnership  with  a  gentleman  in  Zanesville,  and 
greatly  increased  his  stock.  He  remained  a  res- 
ident of  the  village  until  1840,  and  during  this 
time  was  closely  identified  with  its  best  interests. 
"His  parents  were  from  Germany,  spelling  the 
name  Braun.  His  wife  was  Scotch-Irish.  By 
the  combination  of  the  virtues  of  the  two  races, 
the  Browns  won  for  themselves  great  considera- 
tion in  their  neighborhood,  and,  though  starting 
in  their  wedded  life  with  very  little,  amassed 
quite  a  respectable  fortune.  Mr.  Brown  was  for 
many  years  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  postmaster, 
under  Monroe,  J.  Q.  Adams,  Jackson  and  Van 
Buren,  although  he  was  a  very  decided  Adams 
and  Clay  man.    He  was  an  excellent  horseman, 


and  skilled  in  the  use  of  the  rifle,  and  these 
things  helped  him  greatly  in  the  state  of  society 
found  in  his  day  in  the  region  of  West  Carlisle, 
In  public  movements  and  proper  sports  he  was 
never  lacking,  and  was  often  recognized  as  a 
leader,  and  made  the  object  of  a  good  deal  of 
'backwoods  homage,'  and  yet  with  all  his  activity 
in  business  and  interest  in  the  social  life  of  the 
people,  Mr.  Brown  is  represented  as  having  been 
a  very  earnest  and  faithful  man  in  his  religious 
duties,  Family  worship  was  on  no  excuse  inter- 
mitted ;  the  Sabbath  was  sacredly  regarded ;  and 
when,  as  before  and  after  a  communion  in  the 
church,  there  was  preaching,  the  store  was  shut, 
although  he  loved  business,  and  avowed  his  inten- 
tion to  give  himself  steadily  to  it,  and  to  make 
money  for  his  family.  His  house  was  the  minis- 
ter's hold,  and  he  was  one  of  the  most  "active 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church  from  its  or- 
ganization, contributing  largely  of  his  means  to 
it.  In  1840,  he  removed  to  Logansport,  Indiana, 
and  there  died,  March  4, 1859.  One  of  the  sons, 
William  L.  Brown,  acting  brigadier  general  of 
the  Indiana  infantry,  was  killed  at  the  second 
battle  of  Bull  Hun.  Three  sons,  J.  C,  Hugh  A., 
and  Frederick  T.,  became  Presbyterian  ministers. 

Mr.  Brown's  was  the  first  store.  William  Hen- 
derson was  the  first  blacksmith.  In  1833,  there 
were  two  churches,  three  stores,  one  tavern,  one 
physician,  one  tannery,  two  blacksmith  shops, 
two  cabinet-makers,  two  hatters,  one  wagon, 
maker,  one  carpenter,  two  shoemaker  and  two 
tailor  Shops.  The  population  then  was  107.  In 
1880,  it  was  154. 

A  directory  of  the  village,  for  1881,  would  re- 
veal the  following :  Dry  goods,  L.  F.  Cheney  and 
J.  W.  Almack;  grocery,  L.  P.  White;  wagon 
shop,  M.  Baird  &  Son ;  saddlery,  A.  T.  Pine ;  two 
blacksmith  shops,two  shoe  shops  and  one  cabinet 
shop;  carriage  manufacturer,  G.  W.  Cooper. 
This  establishment  gives  employment  to  seven  or 
eight  workmen,  and  annually  builds  a  large 
number  of  carriages  and  spring  wagons.  Drs. 
William  Smith  and  James  Edward  are  the  resi- 
dent physicians. 

A  Baptist  church  was  built  in  the  village  about 
1845.  William  and  John  Dunlap,  William 
Wright  and  Robert  Cochran  were  leading  mem- 
bers.    Rev.    Waldron   was    the    first   minister. 


594 


HISTORY  OP   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  society  grew  rapidly  for  a  few  years  and  as 
rapidly  declined.  About  1850,  the  building  was 
sold  to  William  McFarland,  who,  with  others- 
converted  it  into  an  academy,  under  the  man- 
agement, at  first,  of  Mr.  Gilbert.  It  was  after- 
ward purchased  by  the  school  board  and  is  still 
used  as  a  village  school-house.  It  contains  two 
rooms,  both  of  which  are  occupied. 

West  Carlisle,  though  small,  is  a  stirring  village. 
It  is  a  live,  business  place  and  a  trading  center 
for  many  miles  around.  '' 


CHAPTER  LXVI. 

~     TIVERTON  TOWNSHIP. 

Name  —  Location  —  Streams— Physical  Features— Aboriginal 
Remains- Johnny  Appleseed— Early  Settlers— Population- 
First  School — Churches— Tiverton  Center— Rochester. 

TIVERTON  township  was  so-called  from  a 
township  in  Newport  count3',  Rhode  Island, 
■whence  a  number  of  early  settlers  had  emigrated. 
It  was  organized  December  8,  1824,  and  then 
named  Union.  Previous  to  this  time  it  had 
iormed  a  part  of  Richland  township,  which  is 
^till  the  name  of  the  adjoining  township  in 
Holmes  county.  The  name  Union  did  not  prove 
satisfactory  to  the  citizens  of  the  township,  for  in 
March,  1825,  it  was  changed  by  the  county  com- 
missioners to  Tiverton. 

Geographically,  it  lies  in  the  northwest  corner 
of  the  county,  and  is  bounded  on  the  north  by 
Holmes  county,  on  the  east  by  Monroe  township, 
■on  the  south  by  New  Castle  township  and  on  the 
west  by  Union  township,  Knox  county. 

The  Mohican  river  traverses  the  southwestern 
portion  of  the  township,  entering  from  Knox 
<5ounty  and  crossing  into  New  Castle  township. 
Its  course  is  through  a  deep  and  narrow  ravine, 
which  affords  but  little  bottom  lands.  The  small 
run  which  enters  the  river  in  lot  16  of  the  mili- 
tary section  has  been  designated  Spoon  river. 
The  small  stream,  a  little  above  this,  entering  the 
river  on  lot  28,  is  called  Polly  run.  Charles 
Ryan,  who  in  early  times  lived  near  its  mouth, 
once  prepared  the  timber  for  a  cabin  near  its 
foanks,  but  for  some  inexplicable  cause  did  not 


erect  it.  The  hewed  logs  decayed  on  the  site  of 
the  intended  cabin,  and  the  fact  gave  rise  to  this 
name.  Wolf  creek,  in  the  northeast  part  of  the 
township,  flows  northeasterly  and  enters  Killbuck 
creek  in  Holmes  county.  In  the  southern  part 
of  the  township  is  Dutch  run,  named  from  the 
preponderating  German  element  in  this  vicinity. 
The  tallest  and  most  precipitous  hills  skirt  the 
channel  of  the  Mohican.  The  land  is  also  rough 
and  hilly  in  the  northern  and  southern  parts,  but 
in  the  central  and  eastern  portions,  and  likewise 
to  some  extent  in  the  north,  the  ridge  lands  be- 
come rolling,  and  in  places  almost  level.  Sand- 
stone is  the  prevailing  surface  rock,  and  the  soil 
is  principally  clayey.  The  hills  and  valleys  along 
the  Mohican  River  were  covered  sixty  years  ago 
with  a  heavy  growth  of  timber,  comprising  black 
oak,  white  oak,  chestnut,  beach,  walnut,  ash,  elm, 
hickory,  and  indeed,  almost  without  exception 
all  kinds  of  forest  growth  indigenous  to  this 
climate.  Large  quantities  of  white  pine  timber 
were  ratted,  in  early  days,  down  the  Mohican 
from  the  steep  bluffs  along  the  river.  The  greater 
portion  of  the  township  was  wooded,  but  exten- 
sive regions  in  the  eastern  and  northern  parts 
were  covered  when  the  first  settlers  arrived,  with 
an  underbrush  of  oak,  so  slight  that  a  wagon  could 
easily  override  it.  This  has  now  grown  to  thrifty 
young  oaks,  twelve  or  fifteen  inches  in  diameter. 

The  third  section,  or  southwest  quarter  of  the 
township,  is  a  military  section,  surveyed  into 
forty  100-acre  lots  by  Alexander  Holmes,  in  1808. 
The  remainder  of  the  township  is  congress  land, 
surveyed  in  1803  by  Silas  Bent,  Jr. 

Traces  of  the  aborigines  are  still  discemable  in 
one  or  two  localities.  On  Mr.  S.  H.  Draper's 
farm  remains  of  a  stone  wall  or  embankment 
may  be  noticed  extending  across  the  top  of  the 
ridge  which  fronts  on  the  Mohican  valley.  It  is 
probably  eight  rods  in  length  and  at  one  tinie 
was  three  or  more  feet  in  height. 

A  circular  earthen  fortification,  enclosing  about 
three  acres,  stood  on  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  8,  the  old  Borden  place.  On  lot  fifteen  of 
the  military  section,  near  the  Walhonding  canal, 
was  evidently  a  resort  of  the  prehistoric  race. 
Large  quantities  of  flints,  of  all  sizes  and  forms, 
stone  axes,  pestles',  etc.,  have  been  found  here. 
Near  by  was  a  circular  depression  in  the  ground, 


HISTORY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


595 


about  two  rods  in  diameter,  which  was  filled  with 
fragmentary  bones  of  human  skeletons,  mingled 
with  coals  and  ashes,  the  whole  being  covered 
with  about  two  feet  of  earth.  The  skeletons  did 
not  seem,  to  be  arranged  in  order,  but,  from  ap- 
pearances, the  bodies  had  been  tumbled  into  the 
excavation  without  any  regard  to  order. 

One  of  the  nurseries  of  the  famed  Johnny 
Appleseed  was  located  in  Tiverton  township.  It 
stood  near  the  north  line  of  lot  86,  section  3,  a 
short  distance  from  the  Mohican  river.  Tradition 
saith  that  it  was  about  one  acre  in  extent,  and 
that  in  this  space  Johnny  had  planted  three 
bushels  of  apple  seeds.  While  tending  this  young 
nursery,  he  lodged  at  the  house  of  John  Butler, 
about  a  mile  from  the  nursery  and  in  Knox 
county.  This  was  before  1807.  The  earliest 
orchards  in  this  vicinity  were  from  this  nursery. 
Isaac  Draper  had  one  on  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  15,  and  many  pioneers  from  Knox 
county  also  had  resource  here  in  providing  them- 
selves with  early  fruit  trees.  A  single  tree,  the 
sole  survivor  of  a  once  large  orchard  from  this 
nursery,  may  still  be  seen  on  the  farm  of  K.  B. 
Cummings,  lot  15,  section  3.  It  measures  about 
twelve  feet  in  circumference  and  is  much  broken 
down.  It  blossoms  every  spring,  but  has  not 
borne  fruit  for  many  years. 

Several  settlers  had  entered  this  township  prior 
to  the  war  of  1812,  but  it  was  not  till  about  1816 
that  a  steady  tide  of  emigration  set  in,  which 
continued  until  all  available  land  had  been  occu- 
pied. The  earliest  settlers  were  Virginians  and 
New  Englanders,  the  latter  coming  chiefly  from 
the  vicinity  of  Fall  river,  near  the  line  between 
Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island,  mostly  from 
the  Rhode  Island  side. 

Isaac  Draper  was  the  first  settler  in  the  town- 
ship, and  for  several  years  the  only  one.  He  was 
a  Virginian,  and  in  1806  settled  upon  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  15,  and  soon  after  entered 
it.  Mr.  Draper  remained  a  life-long  resident  of 
this  plac6.  He  died  and  was  buried  in  the  town- 
ship. 

The  next  settler,  of  whom  anything  is  known, 
was  William  Humphrey,  who  came  to  this  town- 
ship about  1812,  from  the  vicinity  of  Fall  river, 
Massachusetts.   He  was  a  brother  to  Squire  Hum- 


phrey, a  prominent  pioneer  of  New  Castle  town- 
ship, and  owned  lots  19,  20  and  29,  of  section  3. 
He  brought  his  family  and  goods  through  the 
wilderness  on  a  litter,  made  by  strapping  poles 
to  two  horses,  placed  one  in  front  of  the  other. 
The  cabin  which  he  hastily  put  together  for  the 
shelter  of  his  family,  was  without  door,  floor  or 
chimney,  and  often  at  night  wild-cats  and  coons 
would  clamber  over  the  roof  and  make  night 
hideous  with  their  squalling  and  screeching. 

Mr.  Humphrey  emigrated  to  his  western  home 
in  time  to  be  here  drafted  for  service  in  the 
frontier  army.  His  cabin  was  some  distance 
from  other  settlements,  and  it  is  said  that  while 
out  in  the  woods  one  day,  he  was  accosted  by  an 
officer,  a  stranger  to  him,  come  to  summon  the 
drafted  men  to  service,  who  inquired  of  him  the 
course  to  William  Humphrey's  cabin.  Mr.  Hum- 
phrey informed  him  and,  suspecting  his  errand, 
passed  further  into  the  forest  in  the  opposite 
direction.  He  saw  no  more  of  the  officer  and 
was  not  disturb  any  further.  This  is  the  nearest 
approach  to  early  military  service  by  the  pio- 
neers of  this  township,  of  which  any  knowledge 
is  had.  Mr.  Humphrey  purused  a  farmer's  life 
and  died  and  was  buried  upon  the  home  place. 

William  Durban,  a  Marylander,  was  here  in 
1812.  He  was  a  farmer,  owned  lots  15  aud  16,  of 
section  3,  and  died  in  Rochester. 

Thomas  Bordon  settled  on  seventy  acres  in  the 
northwest  quarter  of  section  8,  which  he  had 
purchased  from  Isaac  Draper,  soon  after  the 
close  of  the  war  of  1812.  He  was  from  Rhode 
Island,  and  had  led  a  life  on  the  ocean  wave. 
Farming  was  his  occupation  here  until  his  death. 
For  a  time,  however,  he  kept  a  tavern  on  liis 
home  place. 

Stephen  and  Isaac  Thatcher,  two  brothers, 
came  about  the  same  time  and  from  the  same 
place  that  Bordon  did.  Stephen  had  been  the 
captain  of  a  sailing  craft,  and  entered  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  3.  Isaac  was  a  house- 
joiner  by  trade,  and  followed  this  occupation  in 
connection  with  farming.  He  owned  lot  39,  of 
section  3.  Both  died  and  were  buried  in  the 
township. 

Isaac  Hart,  another  Rhode  Islander,  moved 
about  1818  to  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  7. 
His  occupation  had  been  house  joining,  and  the 


596 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


little  leisure  he  could  spare  from  clearing  his 
land  and  raising  crops  was  devoted  to  his  trade. 
Mr.  Hart  at  an  early  day  made  an  attempt  in 
the  production  of  silk.  A  house  for  the  silk- 
worms was  built,  and  a  long  row  of  mulberry 
■  trees  plajited ;  but  the  project  failed.  The  house 
is  still  standing.  The  climate  proved  injurious 
to  the  health  of  his  wife,  and  at  her  request  he 
returned  to  Khode  Island.  The  name  of  Tiver- 
ton for  this  township  is  said  to  have  been  sug- 
gested and  urged  by  Mr.  Hart  until  it  was 
adopted. 

John  Hyatt,  in  1817,  emigrated  from  the  south 
branch  of  the  Potomac,  Virginia,  to  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  7.  He  was  a  farmer,  and 
raised  a  large  family  of  children.  The  most  of 
these  have  removed  to  other  places.  One  of  his 
sons,  Matthew  Hyatt,  is  at  this  writing  still  living 
in  this  township,  and  is  one  of  its  oldest  resi- 
dents. 

John  Holt,  from  Virginia,  about  1817,  came  to 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  13. 

John  Conner,  who  was  born  in  Beaver  county, 
Pennsylvania,  moved  from  Virginia  to  the  north- 
east quarter  of  section  6,  in  1818,  where  he  follow- 
ed farming  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  His 
brother,  James  Conner,  another  early  settler, 
moved  to  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  quarter 
of  section  13.  He  afterward  emigrated  to  Iowa, 
and  there  died. 

Abram  Simmons  and  his  son-in-law,  Lemuel 
Church,  who  was  a  shoemaker,  removed  about 
1818,  from  Rhode  Island  to  this  township. 
Neither  acquired  much  property,  but  both  con- 
tinued to  live  here  the  remainder  of  their  lives. 

Charles  Ryan  was  an  early  settler,  who  located 
lot  28  of  the  third  section.  He  was  a  singular 
character,  fond"  of  hunting,  careless  about  his  af- 
fairs, and  consequently  always  indebted  to  his 
neighbors.  He  rarely  possessed  much  ready 
money,  and  during  harvest  and  other  busy  sea- 
sons his  services  were  in  much  demand  "by  his 
creditors.  It  was  not  unusual  for  him  to  promise 
to  labor  for  five  or  six  men  on  a  day,  and  when 
the  time  arrived  to  spend  it  in  hunting  and  dis- 
appoint them  all.  When  questioned  about  this 
reprehensible  conduct,  his  reply  was  that  he  did 
not  wish  to  see  his  neighbors  leave  his  presence 
feeling  down-hearted,  and  that  in  consequence  he 


felt  constrained  to  promise  them  his  assistance. 
Mr.  Ryan  finally  moved  West. 

The  above  mentioned  settlers  include  all  the 
resident  tax-payers  of  Tiverton  township  for  1822, 
as  indicated  by  the  tax  duplicate  for  that  year. 
Four  years  later,  the  following  were  additional 
tax-paying  residents  of  the  township,  and  as  five 
years  must  intervene  between  the  time  land  is 
entered  and  the  time  it  becomes  taxable,  it  is 
probable  that  the  greater  number  of  these  had 
located  in  the  township  as  early  as  1820. 

Levi  Beaty  emigrated  from  Virginia  to  this 
countj"^,  and  at  first  leased  a  tract  of  land  from  Mrs. 
Hull,  of  New  Castle  township.  He  soon  after  en- 
tered and  removed  to  the  east  half  of  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  13. 

Daniel  Brenaman,  in  1826,  owned  lot  28,  section 
3,  the  Ryan  lot.  George  Baker,  a  Pennsylvanian, 
had  purchased  it  from  Mr.  Ryan,  and  he  and  his 
son  Peter  successively  lived  here  a  few  years,  then 
removed  to  Knox  county.  Mr.  Brenaman  pur- 
chased it  from  Baker,  but  did  not  occupy  the 
place  for  many  years.  He  sold  it  and  also  re- 
moved to  Knox  county. 

George  Cummins,  of  Fauquier  county,  Vir- 
ginia, emigrated  to  Licking  county,  Ohio,  in 
1815,  and  soon  thereafter  to  Knox  county.  Some 
time  later  he  came  to  this  township,  where  he 
continued  to  live  up  to  the  time  of  his  death.  Of 
his  three  sons,  Eli  and  Ludwell  went  west  and 
Kidder  B.,  now  in  his  seventy-ninth  year,  still 
has  possession  of  the  old  home  place,  lot  15  and  a 
fraction  of  16,  section  8. 

Henry  Miller  was  left  an  orplian  when  a  small 
child,  and  was  reared  to  manhood  in  the  State  of 
Maryland.  While  yet  a  young  man  he  came 
west,  and  worked  from  place  to  place  until  he  ac- 
cumulated means  sufficient  to  enter  the  west  half 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  13.  He  mar- 
ried, and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  on  this 
place. 

George  Metcalf,  who  had  married  a  daughter 
of  John  Hyatt,  lived  with  his  father-in-law  a 
while,  then  removed  to  Sullivan  county, -Indiana. 

John  Winslow,  in  the  spring  of  1820,  came  to 
this  township  from  near  Fall  River,  Bristol  coun- 
ty, Massachusetts.  For  a  few  years  he  engaged 
in  "cropping"  for  Stephen  Thatcher,  then  en- 
tered the  west  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


597 


section  3.  He  continued  farming,  and  died  upon 
■this  place  in  the  autumn  of  1880,  in  the  eighty- 
first  year  of  his  age. 

Joseph  Walker  entered  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  7.  He  was  from  Pennsylvania,  a  cooper 
by  trade  and  pursued  farming  and  coopering  to- 
gether. He  remained  a  life-Jong  citizen  of  the 
township. 

Abraham  Workman,  from  Maryland,  settled  in 
section  6'and  continued  there,  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, until  his  death. 

George  Titus  at  a  very  early  day  opened  a 
blacksmith  shop  on  the  Cummings  place.  He  re- 
mained only  a  few  years  and  owned  no  real  es- 
tate here. 

It  is  notable  that  almost  all  the  pioneer  names 
of  this  township  are  still  represented  here.  There 
has  been  no  noticeable  change  in  nationality 
since  the  first  settlement,  except  that  the  south- 
eastern portion  of  the  township  has  been  settled 
almost  exclusively  by  Germans  in  small  farms  of 
from  forty  to  eighty  acres  each.  Many  of  them 
were  laborers  on  the  Walhonding  canal  and  from 
their  earnings  saved  sufficient  to  enter  a  small 
homestead. 

The  population  of  Tiverton  township  in  1830 
was  237;  in  1840,  665;  in  1850,  842;  in  1860,  880; 
in  1870,  804;  and  in  1880  it  reached  940. 

The  first  school  in  the  township  was  taught 
about  1816  by  Mrs.  Stephen  Thatcher  in  a  school 
cabin  which  had  been  built  on  Mr.  Thatcher's 
place,  lot  39.  The  school  was  small  and  not  kept 
up  very  long.  A  few  years  later  another  was  started 
on  Joseph  Walker's  farm,  southeast  quarter  of 
section  7.  John  Johnson,  a  young  man  from  the 
Clear  Pork,  taught  the  school.  Orin  Lane,  from 
Knox  county,  and  Alexander  Campbell  succeeded 
him.  The  latter  was  an  Irishman,  proficient  in 
the  languages,  and  a  strict  disciplinarian.  He  re- 
ceived as  wages  twelve  dollars  per  month.  A  log 
cabin  was  built  in  section  7  by  the  settlers  in  the 
vicinity,  which  for  many  years  served  the  double 
purpose  of  school-house  and  church.  "Pap" 
William  Purdy,  who  was  a  Baptist,  preached 
here.  Many  of  the  earliest  settlers  were  Baptists 
in  religious  belief  when  they  emigrated  to  this 
township  and  services  were  held  with  greater  or 
less  regularity  from  their  date  of    settlement. 


They  were  known  as  "  old  school  Baptists,"  and 
among  their  number  were  Isaac  Hart,  James 
Conner,  John  Holt,  Levi  Beaty  and  George  Miller. 

Tiverton  Regular  Baptist  church,  as  now  con- 
stituted, was  organized  in  1841.  Of  its  early 
membership  were  James  and  Abram  Workman, 
Cyrus  and  Hannah  Hyatt,  Hannah  Workman 
and  Solomon  Conner  and  wife.  Elders  J.  M. 
Winn  and  H.  Sampson  assisted  in  its  formation. 
Until  about  1850,  the  meetings  were  held  in  the 
school-house.  A  strong  and  capacious  frame  house 
of  worship  was  then  erected  on  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  6.  It  is  capable  of  seating 
500  people,  and  is  still  in  service.  In  1854,  there 
were  about  fifty  members  and  in  1860,  over  100. 
Since  then  the  number  has  decreased  to  about 
seventy.  The  ministers  who  have  labored  with 
this  church  as  pastors  are  as  follows:  L.  Gil- 
bert, R.  R.  Whittaker,  B.  M,  Lockhart,  B.  M. 
Morrison,  A.  W.  Arnold  and  S.  W.  Frederick' 
Elder  Hall  is  the  present  pastor.  A  Sunday- 
school  of  long  continuance  is  still  in  active  ope- 
ration. 

A  Disciple  church  is  situated  almost  a  half 
mile  north  of  Tiverton  Center.  The  congrega- 
tion is  the  strongest  body  of  this  denomination  in 
the  county,  its  present  membership  amounting 
to  about  150.  Rev.  J.  W.  Finley  has  recently 
been  elected  pastor,  succeeding  John  F.  Rowe. 
The  present  church  building  is  a  handsome  edi- 
fice, erected  in  1876,  at  a  cost  of  $2,000.  It  is 
thirty-four  by  forty-six  feet  in  size,  and  is  sur- 
mounted by  tower  and  bell.  Its  windows  are  of 
stained  glass,  and  the  interior  is  wainscoted  with 
walnut  and  ash.  The  building  was  dedicated  in 
November,  1876,  by  Rev  William  Bowling,  then 
of  Kenton,  Ohio.  The  old  church  stood  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  road,  and  had  been  erected 
about  forty  years,  serving  as  the  house  of  wor- 
ship until  the  present  church  was  built.  Lem- 
uel Church  and  wife,  John  Bailey  and  wife, 
Beneely  Purdy  and  wife  and  Matthew  Hyatt  and 
wife,  were  some  of  the  earliest  members.  The 
society  was  organized  more  than  forty  years  ago, 
the  first  services  being  held  at  the  house  of  Lemuel 
Church. 

A  Sunday-school  was  organized  about  1850,.. 


598 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


with  Samuel  Stringfellow  as  iirst  superintendent 
and  a  membership  of  about  thirty-five.  School 
has  been  held  every  summer  since,  and  now  has 
an  average  attendance  of  seventy-five. 

Chestnut  Eidge  Baptist  church  was  organized 
in  the  school-house  west  of  'the  river  in  1873, 
with  about  twenty  members,  among  whom  were 
John  Spurgeon,  Abraham  Hyatt,  Jeremiah  and 
Alexander  Harding  and  Jacob  McClain.  Soon 
after  a  church  was  built  in  Knox  county  and  the 
society  now  properly  belongs  to  that  county. 

In  1874  or  1875,  a  "Union  Christian"  society 
was  organized  in  the  same  school-house  with  a 
small  membership,  and  with  Prank  Cummings 
as  pastor.  Its  endeavor  to  affiliate  under  one 
organization  the  beliefs  of  diverse  sects  proved 
unsuccessful,  and  in  a  few  years  the  bonds  of 
union  were  dissolved,  and  the  membership  re- 
solved to  its  original  component  parts. 

In  the  southeastern  part  of  the  township,  on 
the  northwest  quarter  of  section  21,  stands  a 
German  Reform  Church.  The  society  was  or- 
ganized about  forty  years  ago  by  Rev.  Baety. 
The  principal  original  members  were  John  Bauer, 
Philip  Wagner,  George  Cly,  John  Rees,  J.  Craft, 
J.  Shear  and  Frederick  Fry.  The  early  meetings 
were  held  in  private  houses.  In  1840,  a  church 
was  built  at  a  cost  of  $300.  The  present  frame 
structure  was  erected  in  1867  at  a  cost  of  $1,200. 
Of  the  pastors  of  this  church  may  be  mentioned 
F.Hunche,  who  served  nineteen  years.;  J.  Goekler. 
three  years;  H.  Wolf  man,  three  years;  J.  Lud- 
wig,  three  years,  and  J.  Biery,  the  present  pastor, 
six  years.  The  membership  is  now  about  100. 
A  Sunday-school  was  organized  about  1850.  It 
now  has  a  membership  of  about  fifty,  and  is 
superintended  by  Lewis  Fisher. 

There  is  no  village  in  this  township.  At  the 
center  of  the  township,  known  as  Tiverton  Cen- 
ter, is  a  store,  a  blacksmith  shop  and  half  a  dozen 
houses.  The  store  is  owned  by  Ed.  Day.  Benja- 
min Purdy  started  the  first  store  at  this  place, 
and  those  who  followed  him  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness were  George  and  Samuel  Stringfellow,  John 
Trimble,  Thatcher  &  Newell,  Newell  &  Brother, 


then  Mr.  Day.  The  postoffice  called  Yankee- 
Ridge  is  kept  in  the  store.  It  is  the  only  one  in 
the  township.  The  mail  is  bi-weekly,  the  office- 
being  on  the  route  between  Nashville  and  Wal- 
honding. 

In  lots  39  and  40,  east  of  the  river,  are  a  few 
dilapidated  structures,  most  of  them  uninhabited,. 
which  mark  the  site  of  a  once  flourishing  little 
village.  Rochester  was  laid  out  in  January,. 
1833,  by  Isaac  Thatcher  and  Isaac  Draper.  The 
plat  consisted  of  forty-four  lots,  and  small  addi- 
tions were  made  in  1839  and  in  1842,  by  Mr. 
Thatcher.  Messrs.  Thatcher  &  Draper  had  built 
a  saw  and  grist-mill  here  before  the  town  was 
laid  out.  A  dam  had  been  built  across  the  Mo- 
hican, and  three  run  of  buhrs  were  operated  in 
the  grist-mill.  It  remained  in  their  possession 
eight  or  ten  years,  and  the  subsequent  owners 
have  been  Thatcher  &  Lambaugh  (Henry), 
Thatcher  &  Greer  (John),  John  Greer,  Silas 
&  Mark  Greer,  William  Conner,  and  George 
Jordon,  who  resold  to  Mr.  Conner.  It  remained 
in  his  possession  until  his  death,  about  three 
years  ago,  and  soon  after  the  mill  was  burned. 
It  has  not  been  rebuilt,  but  a  little  saw-mill  has 
been  erected  on  the  site. 

William  Critchfield  built  the  first  house  in  the 
plat.  It  was  a  small,  rude,  log  affair,  but  he  soon, 
after  erected  a  frame  building  and  kept  tavern 
in  it.  S.  H.  Draper  sold  the  first  goods  here,  be- 
ginning about  1835,  and  continued  five  or  six 
years.  There  have  since  been  as  many  as  three 
stores  in  operation  at  one  time.  The  construc- 
tion of  the  Walhonding  canal  gave  an  impetus 
to  the  little  village,  which  presaged  a  prosperous 
future,  but  the  failure  to  extend  the  canal  mili- 
tated against  much  commercial. glory  and  emi- 
nence. The  terminus  of  the  canal  is  about  a  mile 
below  Rochester.  A  dam  is  here  constructed 
across  the  river,  and  the  slack-water  navagation 
as  far  as  Rochester  made  practicable. 

Soon  after  the  canal  was  finished,  a  large  ware- 
house was  built  by  Isaac  Thatcher  and  James 
Clement.  A  large  amount  of  grain  was  handled 
here  for  a  few  years,  but  from  some  unknown 
caiise  the  business  was  permitted  to  decline. 

The  first  postmaster  was  Dr.  Singer,  who  was- 
also  the  first  resident  physician  of  the  place- 
William  Oldroyd,  Samuel  Thatcher  and  Williami 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


59* 


Conner  afterward  kept  the  office  in  turn.  It  was 
then  held  by  Henry  Borden  about  two  and  one- 
half  miles  north  of  Rochester,  and  a  year  later, 
in  1861,  it  was  removed  to  the  Center. 

The  population  of  Eochester,  in  1840,  was  111. 
This  was  before  the  completion  of  the  canal.  At 
one  time  there  were  here  two  hotels,  three  stores, 
two  blacksmith  shops,  one  mill,  one  ware  house, 
one  tannery,  a  wagon  maker,  a  cabinet  maker 
and  a  tailor,  but  none  of  these  now  remain.  The 
village  has  almost  passed  the  period  of  decadence 
and  will  soon  pass  into  oblivion.  The  Cleveland 
and  Mt.  Vernon  railroad,  which  is  only  four  miles 
north,  has  attracted  to  the  villages  on  its  route 
the  trade  in  this  vicinity. 

A  small  saw  mill  was  operated  for  a  few  years, 
in  early  times  on  Polly  run  by  William  Smith. 
Bradford  Borden,  son  of  Thomas  Borden,  about 
1837  opened  a  little  distillery  on  his  father's  place, 
but  continued  its  operation  for  a  few  years  only. 


CHAPTEE  LXVII. 

TUSCARAWAS    TOWNSHIP. 

Boundaries— Soil— Railroad  and  Canal — Military  Sections- 
Early  Settlements— Fulton's  Mill— Early  Milling— Indian 
History— Bouquet's  Expedition— Indian  Towns— Burial 
Ground— Mounds— Murder  of  the  Indian,-  Phillips— Min- 
ing, its  Development  in  the  Township— Canal  Lewis- 
Tille— Churches. 

TUSCAEAWAS  township,  in  extent,  is  the 
smallest  civil  subdivision  of  Coshocton  coun- 
ty, embracing  that  portion  of  range  6,  township 
6,  which  lies  east  of  the  Muskingum  and  Wal- 
honding  rivers.  In  its  original  boundaries  at  the 
formation  of  the  county,  it  included  nearly  the 
entire  northern  portion  of  the  county.  By  the 
successive  organization  of  new  townships,  this 
large  territory  was  gradually  separated  from  it, 
and  in  1835,  by  the  formation  of  Lafayette  town- 
ship, it  reached  its  present  limits.  In  1836,  that 
part  of  range  6,  township  5,  which  lies  west  of 
the  Muskingum,  was  taken  from  Jackson,  and 
re-annexed  to  Tuscarawas  township.  This  ar- 
rangement becoming  unsatisfactory,  particularly 
to  the  people  of  Eoscoe,  the  re-annexed  portion 
was  soon  restored  to  Jackson  township,  and  its 
boundaries  have  since  remained  undisturbed. 


The  township  is  particularly  rich  in  fertile,^ 
river  bottom  lands.  The  wide  valley  of  the  Mus- 
kingum for  a  few  miles  from  its  formation,  lies- 
wholly  upon  the  eastern  side  of  the  river,  that  is, 
in  this  township,  while  the  valley  of  the  Wal- 
honding  and  Tuscarawas  embrace  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  northern  part  of  the  township.  Al- 
together, the  level  lands  amount  to  more  than 
one-half  its  territory,  and  this  makes  it  probably 
the  best  township  in  the  county  for  agricultural 
purposes. 

The  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  rail- 
road enters  from  Franklin  township  on  the 
south,  and  extends  northward  in  an  vmbending 
course  to  Coshocton,  thence  it  follows  the  mean- 
derings  of  the  Tuscarawas  eastward  into  La- 
fayette township.  The  Ohio  canal  crosses  the 
Walhonding  by  an  aqueduct  from  Jackson  town- 
ship, and  winds  through  the  northern  part  of  the 
township,  north  of  the  Tuscarawas,  dipping 
once  or  twice  into  Keene,  until  it  reaches  La- 
fayette. 

The  entire  township  consists  of  military  land. 
The  first,  second,  third  and  fourth  quarters  of 
township  5,  range  6,  respectively,  are  known  aa 
the  Price,  Backus,  Bowman  and  Denman  sec- 
tions. Immediately  after  the  military  lands,  to- 
which  Coshocton  county  belongs,  were  set  apart 
by  congress  and  surveyed,  the  rush  for  locations 
was  so  great  by  those  who  held  warrants  for 
land,  that  priority  of  selection  must  be  deter- 
mined, and  a  public  drawing  by  lot  was  held  at 
Philadelphia.  Mr.  Cass,  the  father  of  Hon.  Lewis 
Cass,  drew  the  first  choice,  and  Elijah  Backus,  a 
resident  of  Marietta,  the  second.  Ebenezer 
Buckingham  and  John  Matthews,  both  of  whom 
were  practical  surveyors,  were  employed  by  both 
Cass  and  Backus  to  make  the  locations.  The 
surveyors  inquired  of  the  proprietors  for  what 
purposes  they  wanted  the  land,  and  Cass  replying 
that  he  desired  land  for  agriculture  only,  the 
section,  at  the  mouth  of  Tomica  creek  in  the 
northern  edge  of  Muskingum  county,  was  se- 
lected as  the  most  desirable  for  this  purpose. 
Mr.  Backus  wishfed  a  site  for  a  town,  and  the 
second  section  or  northwest  quarter  of  range  6, 
township  5,  at  the  forks  of  the  Muskingum,  was 
selected  as  the  best  location  which  the  district 
afforded.     Buckingham  and  Matthews  became 


600 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


interested  in  this  section  as  tenants  in  common, 
and  afterward  laid  out  Tuscarawa,  later,  Coshoc- 
ton, on  an  extended  scale.  The  greater  part  of 
this  section  lies  west  of  the  Muskingum  and 
Walhonding  rivers. 

The  first  section,  or  northeast  quarter,  lies 
wholly  in  this  township.  The  patent  for  it  was 
granted  by  President  Adams,  to  Benjamin  Mor- 
gan and  Chandler  Price,  merchants  of  Philadel- 
phia, as  tenants  in  common,'  April  15,  1800.  Two 
days  later  Morgan  disposed  of  his  moiety  to  Price 
for  11,000.  October  25, 1800,  Mr.  Price  sold  John 
Matthews  180  acres,  and  in  March,  1812,  deeded 
Philip  Waggoner  240  acres.  The  residue  was  re- 
tained and  disposed  of  in  toto  to  William  Hul- 
ings  in  1824,  and  five  years  later  he  deeded  it  to 
E.  Butler  Price.  In  1831,  Mr.  Price  began  to  sell 
it  in  lots,  and  in  a  few  years  it  was  mostly  sold. 
The  section  was  surveyed  into  sixteen  lots  of 
nearly  equal  size. 

Matthias  Denman  was  the  original  proprietor 
of  the  4th  section  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  the 
township,  though  the  date  of  his  patent  does 
not  seem  to  be  on  record.  He  was  a  resident  of 
Springfield,  Essex  county,  New  Jersey,  owned 
the  two  other  military  sections  in  this  county, 
and  was  also  proprietor  of  a  tract  of  land  upon 
which  Cincinnati  is  now  built.  He  did  not  be- 
come a  resident  of  Coshocton  county,  but  his 
children  and  grand-children  settled  here,  and 
still  occupy  portions  of  their  ancestor's  posses- 
sions. 

The  first  conveyance  on  record  of  the  3d  sec- 
tion or  southwest  quarter  of  the  township,  most 
of  which  lies  in  Jackson  township,  is  a  deed  from 
Martin  Baum,  of  Hamilton  county,  to  Jesse  Pul- 
ton, for  455  acres,  lying  west  of  the  Muskingum. 
A  little  later,  November  6,  1802,  the  residue  of 
the  section  was  conveyed  by  Mr.  Baum  to  Jacob 
Bowman. 

The  owners  of  these  sections  of  land  were  dis- 
posed to  withhold  them  from  the  market  until, 
by  the  occupation  of  the  surrounding  country, 
their  value  would  be  considerably  enhanced,  and 
accordingly  the  settlement  of  this  township  was 
very  slow.  Mo  it  of  the  earliest  occupants  were 
either  squatters  or  lessees,  who  remained  but  a 
short  time  and  left  little  or  no  trace  of  their  set- 
tlement here.    The  few  early  permanent  settle- 


ments that  were  formed,  were  made  usually  on 
location  lots,  the  land  received  by  the  surveyors 
in  return  for  their  services  in  locating  the  sec- 
tions for  the  proprietors.  The  location  lots  were 
usually  sold  as  soon  as  a  purchaser  appeared  for 
them. 

One  of  the  first  settlements  in  the  county,  and 
probably  the  first  permanent  one  in  this  town- 
ship outside  the  limits  of  Coshocton,  was  made 
by  the  Pultons  about  one  and  one-half  miles 
south  of  Coshocton,  about  1803  or  1804.  They 
were  three  brothers,  Jesse,  John  and  Samuel. 
Matthew  Denman  sold  to  John  Pulton,  Novem- 
ber 13,  1801,  640  acres,  a  tract  one  mile  square 
off  the  western  part  of  his  section,  and  soon  after 
he  settled  upon  it.  Just  west  of  this  was  the  tract 
purchased  by  Jesse  Fulton  from  Martin  Baum. 
Part  of  it  Mr.  Fulton  sold  to  his  brother  Samuel. 
The  latter  died  in  the  township  during  or  before 
the  war  of  1812.  John  died  of  cold  plague  in  1815. 
Jesse,  who  was  known  as  Judge  Fulton,  remained 
in  the  township  for  a  while  and  then  removed  to 
Linton  township,  where  he  operated  the  salt 
works  on  his  place  in  connection  with  farming. 
He  was  an  enterprising  and  prominent  pioneer 
and  a  man  of  very  decided  character. 

The  Cantwells  about  the  same  time  settled  just 
north  of  the  Fultons  on  the  Denman  section. 
They  were  lessees  only  but  remained  several 
years.  They  were  Nathaniel,  John,  William, 
James  and  Jacob,  and  several  sisters.  William 
was  the  post  boy,  who  was  shot  from  his  horse  in 
1825  just  across  the  Tuscarawas  county  line, 
while  carrying  the  mail.  Some  of  the  family 
moved  west;  the  others  died  in  this  county. 

John  Mitchell,  a  Pennsylvanian,  who  had  mar- 
ried a  sister  of  the  Fultons,  settled  on  the  north 
part  of  lot  8,  Bowman  section,  about  the  time 
the  Fultons  came.  He  was  one  of  the  first  asso- 
ciate judges  of  the  county. 

Benjamin  Fry,  who  emigrated  from  Red  Stone, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1808,  purchased  land  just  south 
of  Mitchell.  His  house  occupied  the  site  of 
Samuel  Moore's  present  residence,  and  in  it  he 
kept  for  sale  a  small  stock  of  goods.  In  1810,  he 
removed  across  the  river  and  there  operated  a 
small  distillery  for  a  short  time,  then  moved  to 
Fry's  Ford,  in  Bethlehem  township. 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


601 


The  Fry  farm,  of  262  acres,  belonging  to  the 
location  lot  of  the  Bowman  section,  was  sold  in  1810 
to  William  Moore,  then  of  Muskingum  county. 
His  sons,  Charles  and  Elijah,  both  unmarried,  oc- 
cupied the  place  until  1814,  when  they  returned 
to  Muskingum  county  and  a  third  son,  John  D. 
Moore,  took  possession  of  it.  He  was  originally 
from  near  Pennington,  New  Jersey,  and  was 
a  tailor  by  trade.  In  1802  he  went  to  Cincinnati, 
and  for  a  few  years  worked  at  his  trade  succes- 
sively in  the  then  small  villages  of  Cincinnati, 
Marietta,  Chillicothe,  Circleville  and  Zanesville, 
carrying  his  goose  and  bodkin  with  him  from 
place  to  place.  He  then  came  to  Coshocton,  and, 
in  1810,  married  Mary  M.  Miller,  daughter  of 
George  Miller,  of  Lafayette  township.  In  1812, 
he  was  working  at  his  trade  in  Coshocton  with 
Mr.  Neff,  and  liying  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Main  and  Fourth  streets.  He  was  deputy  sheriff 
for  C.  Van  Kirk,  his  brother-in-law,  the  first 
sheriff  of  Coshocton  county.  He  was  also  a  cor- 
poral in  Captain  Johnson's  company,  and  served 
a  few  months  in  the  war.  After  his  removal  to 
the  country  in  1814,  he  engaged  in  farming  and 
tailoring. 

When  the  cold  plague  broke  out  with  severity 
in  1815,  he  was  one  of  the  very  few  who  had  the 
courage  to  visit  and  minister  to  the  wants  of  his 
sick  and  dying  neighbors.  Mr.  Moore  died  in 
December,  1824.  Of  his  five  children,  four  died 
in  infancy  or  youth.  The  remaining  son,  Samuel 
Moore,  still  has  possession  and  resides  at  the  old 
homestead. 

John  Noble,  from  Brownsville,  Fayette  county, 
Pennsylvania,  about  1814,  settled  upon  the  north 
part  of  lot  9,  Bowman  section.  He  died  a  few 
years  later.  About  the  same  time  John  Ostler, 
also  from  Pennsylvania,  leased  sin  this  vicinity. 
He  lost  several  children  by  the  ravages  of  cold 
plague,  and  soon  after  purchased  and  removed  to 
lot  19,  of  the  Denman  section. 

Isaac  Masters  was  an  early  tenant  on  lot  7,  Bow- 
man section.  He  was  from  Brownsville,  Penn- 
sylvania; honest  and  straightforward  in  conduct, 
but  could  work  better  for  the  material  interests 
of  others  than  his  own.  He  died  in  1822.  Wil- 
liam Booklass  and  a  Mr.  Baird  were  other  early 
tenants  near  by. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  township  Isaac 


Workman  and  David  Waggoner  were  among 
the  early  settlers.  The  latter,  in  1822,  moved 
from  Oxford  township  to  the  tract  which  his 
father,  Philip  Waggoner,  purchased  ten  years  be- 
fore from  Mr.  Price.  He  was  born  in  1796,  and 
is  at  this  writing  one  of  the  few  remaining  pio- 
neers. In  ,1822,  the  land  he  moved  upon  was 
still  a  dense,  unbroken  wilderness,  as  was  almost 
the  entire  northern  part  of  the  township.  |A  few 
squatters  had  come,  built  rude,  small  cabins,  and 
departed,  but  no  permanent  settlement  had  been 
made  in  this  portion  of  the  township. 

A  ferry  was  kept  about  two  miles  below  town 
in  an  early  day  by  John  Noble,  and  afterward  by 
Benjamin  Fry.  The  road  to  Coshocton,  east  of 
the  river,  was  much  better  than  the  one  on  the 
other  side,  and  the  ferry  was  consequently  ad- 
vantageous to  the  southern  settlers.  It  was 
maintained  only  a  few  years. 

For  some  time  after  the  first  settlement  was  • 
made,  there  was  no  wheat  flour  to  be  had  unless 
it  came  from  a  distance,  and  no  corn  meal  except 
such  as  could  be  made  in  a  hominy  mortar.  It  was 
quite  an  event  when  the  Fultons  arrived,  for  they 
brought  with  them  a  small  hand-mill,  such  as 
was  common  in  the  pioneer  settlements  of  the 
West.  Grinding  frolics,  after  night,  were  common 
among  the  young  folks,  each  one  carrying  home 
a  few  quarts  of  meal  as  the  fruits  of  their  labor. 
The  first  mill  in  the  county  was  made  with  these 
millstones.  The  date  of  its  erection  is  not  known, 
but  it  was  previous  to  1811.  The  mill  was  situ- 
ated on  that  part  of  the  old  Rickett's  farm,  now 
owned  by  Seth  McClain.  It  stood  in  the  hollow, 
just  below,  and  close  to,  the  road  south  of  the 
fair  grounds,  and  about  thirty  rods  south  of  Mr. 
McClain's  stable.  It  was  fed  by  Flint  run  and 
the  water  of  a  fine  spring.  The  power  con- 
sisted of  a  huge  overshot  wheel,  exceeding 
twenty  feet  in  diameter,  which,  however,  turned 
exceedingly  slow.  Nothing  but  corn  was  ground 
in  the  mill,  and  very  little  of  it.  The  mill  was 
designed  only  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood  in  which  it  was  located,  and 
was  operated  only  a  few  years.  The  supply  of 
water  power  was  insuflBcient  to  render  it  availa- 
ble to  any  extent,  and  it  never  repaid  the  cost  of 
its  erection. 


602 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


The  early  settlers  often  went  to  Zanesville  to 
mill  in  canoes.  The  only  mill  there  for  some 
time  is  said  to  have  been  a  kind  of  floating  mill, 
tied  by  a  grape-vine  to  the  river  bank,  and  turned 
by  the  current  of  the  stream.  Such  mills  were 
common  in  early  days,  and  did  good  service  in 
those  necessitous  times.  After  a  while  Colonel 
Williams  erected  a  horse  mill  in  Coshocton,  as 
mentioned  elsewhere,  the  machinery  of  which, 
after  doing  good  service  here  for  a  time,  was  re- 
moved to  a  new  mill  on  Cantwell's  run,  across 
the  river.  These  were  the  only  two  mills  in 
Tuscarawas  township,  except  those  afterward 
built  in  Coshocton.  It  is  said  that  the  first  wheat 
ground  in  the  county  was  ground  on  a  cofifee- 
mill  belonging  to  Mrs.  Williams,  and  sifted 
through  a  piece  of  linen.  The  salt  used  by  the 
early  settlers  was  brought  from  Taylorsville  on 
horseback,  and  was  often  $8  per  bushel,  a  cow 
being  sometimes  exchanged  for  a  single  bushel 
■  of  salt.  The  dresses  of  the  women  were  for  the 
most  part  made  of  home-manufactured  linsey, 
and  the  wearing  apparel  of  the  nven  was  of  the 
same,  or  of  buckskin. 

It  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  find  another 
tract  of  equal  extent  with  Tuscarawas  township, 
in  this  portion  of  the  State,  that  marks  the  site  of 
so  many  and  so  varied  scenes  of  Indian  history. 
Many  of  these,  unfortunately,  have  faded  from 
the  knowledge  of  men  beyond  recall.  The  ear- 
liest visitation  of  its  territory  by  white  men,  of 
whom  a  record  is  preserved,  was  in  the  winter  of 
1751,  when  Christopher  Gist,  an  agent  of  the 
Ohio  company,  remained  a  month  in  a  village 
of  the  Wyandot's  called  in  Hutchin's  map,  "Old 
Wyandot  Town."  It  was  situated  on  the  Tuscara- 
was, several  miles  from  the  forks  of  that  and  the 
Walhonding  rivers,  in  all  probability  at  or  near 
the  site  of  Canal  Lewisville.  On  Christmas  day, 
1751,  Mr.  Gist  read  the  English  service  here,  and 
delivered  a  discourse  to  the  Indians,  which  was 
well  received.  The  next  day  a  woman,  who  had 
attempted  to  escape  from  captivity,  and  had  been 
retaken,  was  put  to  death  in  a  very  cruel  man- 
ner. Mr.  Gist  found  here  one  Thomas  Burney, 
a  blacksmith,  who  had  settled  here.  George 
Croghan,  an  English  trader,  afterward  deputy  In- 
dian agent  to  Sir  William  Johnson,  Andrew 
Montour,  a  half-breed,  and  other  white  men. 


The  place  of  General  Bouquet's  encampment 
was  on  the  highland,  about  a  mile  north  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Walhonding.  Its  location  is  gen- 
erally supposed  to  have  been  at  the  foot  of  John- 
son's, formerly  Salliard's,  hill.  What  were  prob- 
ably remains  of  the  encampment,  existed  here  as 
late  as  1850.  Four  redoubts  were  built  here  op- 
posite to  the  four  angles  of  the  camp.  The 
ground  in  front  of  the  camp,  to  the  north,  was 
cleared,  a  store-house  for  tlie  provisions  erected, 
and  also  one  in  which  to  receive  the  Indians. 
Three  houses,  with  separate  apartments  for  the 
captives,  were  built,  and  with  the  officers'  mess- 
houses,  ovens,  etc.,  this  camp  had  the  appearance 
of  a  little  town. 

Here  1,500  men  were  encamped  from  October 
25,  to  November  18,  1764,  and  during  the  time 
206  Indian  captives  were  delivered  to  them.  The 
ancestors  of  some  of  the  present  citizens  of  the 
county  were  among  the  prisoners  restored. 
Among  the  rest,  were  six  children,  four  brothers 
and  two  sisters,  belonging  to  one  family.  They 
had  been  taken  captive  in  Somerset  county, 
Pennsylvania,  together  with  a  brother  who  was 
never  restored,  and  a  mother  and  an  infant  child 
who  were  killed.  On  their  return  to  Fort  Pitt, 
they  were  recognized  by  the  bereaved  father,  who 
for  seven  years  knew  nothing  of  their  fate. 
Among  them  was  Ehoda  Boyd,  the  youngest  of 
the  sisters, and  fourteen  years  old  at  the  time  she 
was  restored,  the  grand-mother  of  Smiley  Har- 
baugh,  who  was  a  life-long  resident  of  Coshoc- 
ton. Some  of  the  soldiers,  too,  who  served  in 
this  campaign  were  delighted  with  the  country, 
and  afterward  returned.and  settled  here.  Among 
them  was  the  father  of  George  Beaver,  of  Keene 
township. 

Connected  with  General  Bouquet's  expedition 
was  an  assistant  engineer,  'Phomas  Hutchins,  who 
projected  a  map  of  the  country  passed  over,  and 
laid  down  upon  it  the  most  important  Indian 
towns  in  this  vicinity.  Besides  "  Old  Wyandot 
Town,"  there  were  in  this  township  two  others, 
"A  Delaware  Town,''  occupying  the  site  of  Co- 
shocton, and  "  Bullets  Town,"  situated  some  dis- 
tance below  'Coshocton,  and  represented  on  the 
map  as  lying  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  Its  ex- 
act locality  is  not  known,  but  it  was  probably  in 
the  vicinity  of   Lichtenau,  two  miles  south  of 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


603 


Coshocton.  This  latter  was  a  Moravian  village. 
The  town  was  laid  off  in  the  form  of  a  cross, 
one  street  stretching  along  the  bank  of  the 
river.  It  was  in  the  vicinity  of  the  larger 
mound,  standing  near  the  road,  several  miles 
south  of  Coshocton,  and  other  remains  of  the 
Mound  Builders.  C.  H.  Mitchener,  in  his  "  Ohio 
Annals,"  gives  the  following  account  of  an  ex- 
extensive  burial  ground  at  this  place  : 

"  Zeisberger  settled  Lichtenau,  in  1776,  and  he 
was  attracted  to  the  spot  from  the  numerous 
evidences  as  an  ancient  race  having  been  buried 
there,  more  civilized  than  the  Indians  of  this  day. 
The  missionaries  have  left  but  meager  details  of 
what  they  there  found,  but  enough  to  clearly 
prove  that  the  inhabitants  understood  the  use  of 
the  ax,  the  making  of  pottery  and  division  of 
areas  of  land  into  squares,  etc.  In  a  large  grave- 
yard, which  covered  many  acres,  human  bones 
or  skeletons  were  found,  less  in  stature  than  the 
average  Indian  by  a  foot  and  a  half.  They  were 
regularly  buried  in  rows,  heads  west  and  feet 
east,  as  indicated  by  the  enameled  teeth  in  pres- 
ervation, so  that  the  disembodied  spirits,  on  com- 
ing out  of  the  graves,  would  first  see  the  rising 
sun  and  make  their  proper  devotional  gestures 
to  their  great  Spirit  or  God.  From  approximate 
measurement  this  graveyard  is  said  to  have  con- 
tained ten  acres,  and  has  long  since  been  plowed 
up  and  turned  into  cornfields  The  race  of  beings 
buried  there  averaged  four  feet  in  height,  judging 
irom  the  size  of  the  graves  and  layers  of  ashes. 
Estimating  that  twenty  bodies  could  be  buried  in 
a  square  rod,  this  human  sepulcher,  if  full,  would 
"have  contained  over  30,000  bodies,  and  the  ordi- 
nary time  required  to  fill  such  a  graveyard  would 
not  be  less  than  500  years,  in  a  city^  the  size  of 
•Coshocton  of  the  present  day,  assuming  that  the 
generations  average  thirty-three  years  of  life. 
•One  skeleton  dug  up  from  this  graveyard  is  said 
to  have  measured  five  and  one-half  feet,  and  the 
flkuU  to  have  been  perforated  by  a  bullet.  The 
body  had  been  dismembered,  and  iron  nails  and 
a,  decayed  piece  of  oak  were  found  in  the  grave. 

On  the  farm  of  a  Mr.  Long,  about  fifteen  miles 
■southwest  of  St.  Louis,  was  found,  many  years 
ago,  an  ancient  burying  ground,  containing  a 
vast  number  of  small  graves,  indicating  that  the 
■country  around  had  once  been  the  seat  of  a  great 
population  of  human  beings,  of  less  than  ordin- 
ary size,  similar  in  every  respect  to  those  found 
near  Coshocton.  But  on  opening  the  graves  they 
found  the  skeletons  deposited  in  stone  coffins, 
•while  those  at  Coshocton  bore  evidence  of  having 
been'  buried  in  wooden  coffins.  After  opening 
many  of  the  graves,  all  having  in  them  skeletons 
.of  a  pigmy  race,  they  at  length  found  one,  as  at 
Coshocton,  denoting  a  fully  developed,  large  sized 


man,  except  in  length,  the  legs  having  been  cut 
off  at  the  knees,  and  placed  along  side  the  thigh 
bones.  From  this  fact  many  scientific  men  con- 
jectured that  there  must  have  been  a  custom 
among  the  inhabitants  of  separating  the  bones  of 
the  body  before  burial,  and  that  accounted  for 
the  small  size  of  the  graves.  The  skeletons,  how- 
ever, were  reduced  to  white  chalky  ashes,  and 
therefore  it  was  impossible  to  determine  whether 
such  a  custom  existed  or  not. 

A  custom  is  said  to  have  existed  among  cer- 
tain tribes  of  the  Western  Indians  to  keep  their 
dead  unburied  until  the  flesh  separated  from  the 
bones,  and  when  the  bones  became  clean  and 
white,  they  were  buried  in  small  coffins.  The 
Nanticoke  Indians  of  Maryland,  had  a  custom  of 
exhuming  their  dead,  after  somp  months  of  bu- 
rial, cutting  off  from  the  bones  all  the  flesh  and 
burning  it,  then  drying  and  wrapping  the  bones 
in  clean  cloths,  and  reburying  them,  and  when- 
ever the  tribe  removed  to  new  hunting  grounds, 
the  bones  of  their  dead  were  taken  along.  It  is 
known  that  this  tribe  removed  to  Western  Penn- 
sylvania, and  portions  of  them  came  to  the  Mus- 
kingum valley  with  the  Shawanese.  Zeisberger 
had  two  Nanticoke  converts  at  Schoenbrunn,and 
one  of  whom  (named  Samuel  Nanticoke)  af- 
firmed— as  tradition  goes — that  this  pigmy  grave- 
yard at  Lichtenau,  was  their  burying  ground, 
and  contained  the  bones  of  their  ancestors,  car- 
ried from  one  place  to  another  for  many  genera- 
tions, and  found  a  final  resting  place  in  these 
valleys,  when  their  posterity  became  too  weak, 
from  wastage  of  war  to  remove  them  elsewhere. 

Howe's  Historical  Collections  of  Ohio,  contains 
the  following  account  of  this  burying  ground  : 

A  short  distance  below  Coshocton,  says  Dr. 
Hildreth  in  Silliman's  journal,  on  one  of  those 
elevated,  gravelly  alluvians,  so  common  on  the 
rivers  of  the  west,  has  been  recently  discovered 
a  very  singular  ancient  burying  ground.  From 
what  remains  of  wood  still  (1835)  apparent  in  the 
earth  around  the  bones,  the  bodies  seem  all  to 
have  been  deposited  in  coffins;  and  what  is  still 
more  curious,  is  the  fact  that  the  bodies  buried 
here  were  generally  not  more  than  from  three  to 
four  and  a  half  feet  in  length.  They  are  very 
numerous  and  must  have  been  tenants  of  a  con- 
siderable city,  or  their  numbers  could  not  have 
been  so  great.  A  large  number  of  graves  have 
been  opened,  the  inmates  of  which  are  all  of  this 
pigmy  race.  No  metallic  articles  or  utensils  have 
yet  been  found  to  throw  any  light  on  the  period 
or  nation  to  which  they  belonged.  Similar  bury- 
ing grounds  have  been  found  in  Tennessee  and 
near  St.  Louis. 

We  learn  orally  from  another  source  that  this 
burying  ground  covered  in  1830  about  ten  acres. 
The  graves  were  arranged  in  regular  rows,  with 


604 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


avenues  between,  and  the  heads  of  all  were  placed 
to  the  west  and  the  feet  to  the  east. 

In  one  of  them  was  a  skeleton  with  pieces  of 
oak  boards  and  iron  wrought  nails.  The  corpse 
had  evidently  been  dismembered  before  burial 
as  the  skull  was  found  among  the  bones  of  the 
pelvis,  and  other  bones  were  displaced.  The 
skull  itself  was  triangular  in  shape,  much  flat- 
tened at  the  sides  and  back,  and  in  the  posterior 
part  having  an  orifice,  evidently  made  by  some 
weapon  of  war,  or  bullet.  In  1830  dwarf  oaks  of 
many  years  growth  were  over  several  of  these 
graves.  The  graveyard  ha?  since  been  plowed 
over.  Nothing  was  known  of  its  origin  by  the 
early  settlers.  Below  the  graveyard  is  a  beautiful 
mound. 

That  this  burial  grouijid  belonged,  in  part,  at 
least,  to  the  Moravian  mission  at  Lichtenau,  is 
highly  probable.  It  was  so  identified  by  a  Mora- 
vian minister  from  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  who 
visited  Coshocton.  His  judgment  in  regard  to 
the  matter  is  entitled  to  some  weight,  as  he  is 
wholly  familiar  with  the  customs  of  the  Mora- 
vians, and  had  in  his  possession  some  of  the 
manuscript  notes  of  this  mission. 

The  Moravians  do  not  bury  in  family  grotips, 
but  according  to  age  and  sex.  The  old  men  are 
buried  by  themselves,  the  old  women,  young  men, 
and  young  women,  all  in  regular  rows  by  them- 
selves. The  part  of  the  graveyard  exposed  may 
have  been  the  part  where  the  children  were 
buried,  a  fact  which  would  explain  the  uniform 
shortness  of  the  graves.  The  Moravians  in  Beth- 
lehem, Pennsylvania,  still  bury  in  this  way. 

The  graveyard  was  just  west  of  the  railroad  and 
south  of  the  lane  leading  east  from  Samuel 
Moore's  residence.  The  mound,  previously  al- 
luded to,  is  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  south  of 
this,  and  is  the  largest  found  in  Coshocton 
county.  It  is  of  conical  form,  twenty-five  or 
thirty  feet  in  height,  and  about  eighty  feet  in 
diameter  at  the  base.  It  is  covered  by  a  few 
trees,  and  has  never  been  excavated.  By  a  recent 
change  in  the  river  road  a  portion  of  one  side  has 
been  cut  down.  Close  to  this  mound,  in  early 
days  were  two  others  of  lesser  dimensions,  one 
probably  ten  feet  high,  the  other  still  smaller  ; 
both,  however,  have  now  disappeared  from  view 
under  the  oft  repeated  cultivation  of  their  soil. 

Another  mound  of  considerable  size,  formerly 
stood  in  Coshocton,  near  the  residence  of  Mrs. 
Hutchinson,  corner  of  Fourth  and  Locust  streets. 


The  Indians  frequented  the  hunting  grounds 
of  the  township  in  numbers  up  to  the  time  of  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  of  1812,  and  visited 
Coshocton  as  a  trading  post  from  miles  around. 
Difficulties  sometimes  arose,  but  led  to  nothing 
more  serious  than  an  occasional  fight.  An  Indian 
murder,  however,  occurred  several  miles  from 
Coshocton,  of  which  Mr.  Calhoun  gives  the  fol- 
lowing occount: 

At  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  Coshocton 
occurred  the  aggravated  murder  of  the  Indian, 
Philhps,  by  another  Indian,  called  Johnson.  The 
locality  of  this  bloody  deed  was  a  few  miles  east 
of  Coshocton,  on  the  old  Massillon  road,  on  what 
has  since  been  called  Philhps'  Hill.    Such  con- 
tradictory statements  are    given  of  the  whole 
affair,  that  we  dare  not  follow  any  of  them,  and 
shall  content  ourselves  with  enumerating  some  of 
the  contradictions  which  are  current.  According 
to  some,  the  murder  originated  in  an  old  grudge  of 
Johnson's  against  Phillips;  according  to  others, 
they  were  out  hunting  bear,  on  Rocky  run,  and, 
having  killed  one,  quarreled  about  dividing  it. 
Phillips  ran,  pursued  by  Johnson,  until  he  came 
to  the  hill,  where  he  was  overtaken  and  killed. 
According  to  another  account,  they  were  out 
cutting  a  bee  tree,  and,  getting  into  a  quarrel, 
Johnson  killed  Phillips.    According  to  others, 
Johnson  spent  the  night  previous  to  this  murder 
at  Philhps'  camp,  to  the  east  of  the  hill  which 
now  bears  his  name.  In  the  morning  they  started 
to  come  to  town  together,  and  the  deed  was 
done  on  the  way.    By  some  it  is  said  to  have 
happened  in  the  fall,  by  others  in  the  dead  of 
winter;   by  some  in   1807,  by  others  in  1803. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Phillips  was  mur- 
dered, and  was  buried  somewhere  in  Coshocton ; 
but  no  two  persons  agree  in  the  place.    There  is 
much  difference  of  opinion,  also  as  to  the  man- 
Aer  of  his  burial,  some  affirming  that  he  was 
buried  after  the  Indian  mode,  with  tomahawk 
and  scalping  knife,  and  tobacco,  others  denying 
it  altogether.    It  is  also  affirmed  and  denied  that 
his  wife  walked  three  times  round  his  grave,  but 
the  fourth  time  round,  she  stumbled  and  fell, 
and  that  she  only  lived  three  years  after.    The 
murderer  is  also  said  to  have  wiped  his  bloody 
hands  on  a  tree  which  stood  near  the  place  where 
Philhps  fell,  and  though  the  deed  was  done  on 
the  21st  of  December,  and  it  was  exceedingly 
cold,  yet  the  blood  was  not  frozen  on  Christmas 
morning. 

Tuscarawas  is  a  mining  as  well  as  an  agricul- 
tural township,  there  being  at  present  several 
large  exporting  companies  operating  here,  be- 
sides a  large  number  of  mines,  which  are  worked 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


605 


chiefly  for  home  consumption.  A  vein  of  coal 
very  regular  in  thickness,  from  three  feet  eight 
inches  to  three  teet  ten  inches,  underlies  nearly 
the  whole  township,  and  has  proved  to  be  of  ex- 
cellent quality.  In  early  pioneer  times  the 
method  of  procuring  the  coal  was  by  stripping ; 
that  is,  removing  all  overlying  strata  first.  This 
was  of  course  very  laborious,  and  could  be  re- 
sorted to  only  when  the  coal  was  near  the  sur- 
face. As  early  as  1820,  John  Knoff  was  engaged 
in  extracting  the  coal  in  this  way  near  Coshoc- 
ton, and  supplying  the  then  exceedingly  limited 
demand  for  this  article. 

The  earliest  mine  of  which  any  knowledge  is 
had  was  in  operation  at  "  Hardscrabble  "  in  1833, 
on  the  land  then  belonging  to  Johnson,  now  to 
John  G.  Stewart.  Amos  Wilson  was  manager  of 
it,  but  the  amount  of  coal  mined  was  not  very 
considerable.  Morris  Burt,  about  1835,  opened 
a  bank  on  the  other  side  of  the  same  hill,  and 
worked  it  for  a  number  of  years.  He  con- 
structed a  wooden  tram-way  part  way  to  Coshoc- 
ton, and  the  coal  was  hauled  the  remaining  dis- 
tance by  wagons.  There  were  few  of  the  families 
in  Coshocton  at  that  time  who  did  not  burn 
wood  as  fuel  entirely,  so  that  it  required  but 
little  coal  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  village. 
After  the  distillery  was  started  in  Coshocton,  it 
consumed  coal  as  fuel,  and  in  supplying  it  the 
amount  of  coal  mined  began  to  increase. 

In  1856  Foght  Burt  opened  a  mine  on  his  farm 
about  a  mile  southeast  from  Coshocton,  and  made 
a  four  feet  ten  inch  railroad  to  connect  with  the 
Steubenville  and  Indiana  railroad,  making  the 
junction  a  little  south  of  the  freight  depot.  The 
rails  were  of  wood,  topped  with  plate  iron.  At 
first  horses  were  used  to  haul  the  cars;  afterward 
a  small  locomotive — "  Little  Giant " — J.  H.  Burt 
being  the  engineer.  A  considerable  amount  of 
money  was  put  into  the  enterprise,  and  much 
effort  made  by  Mr.  Burt  and  his  sons,  R.  W.  and 
T.  H.,  but  the  project  was  a  costly  failure,  owing, 
it  is  said,  to  the  failure  of  the  railroad  company 
to  meet  expectations  of  assistance  in  building  the 
coal  road  and  afterward  in  furnishing  cars. 

Mr.  Shoemaker  opened  a  mine  on  the  Ricketts' 
farm,  about  one  and  a  half  miles  northeast  of 
-Coshocton,  and  from  it  supplied  the  engines  of 
the  railroad  with  coal.    About  1868,  or  later,  the 


Miami  Coal  and  Mining  Company  began  opera- 
tions on  the  same  land,  purchasing  the  lease  from 
the  Coshocton  Coal  Company.  The  company  was  a 
foreign  one,  and  J.  H.  Carman  was  the  manager. 
After  several  years  the  leaee  was  forfeited  and 
the  mine  was  re-leased  in  1873,  by  E.  Prosser  and 
J.  W.  Cassingham,  who  formed  the  Pen  Twyn 
Company.  They  operated  the  mine  until  the 
spring  of  1879,  when  the  supply  of  coal  was  ex- 
hausted and  the  mines  abandoned. 

Beech  Hollow  mine,  now  opperated  by  Prosser 
&  Cassingham,  was  opened  about  1862,  by  E, 
Prosser,  one  of  the  present  owners,  and  worked 
by  him  for  several  years.  About  1868,  through 
the  efforts  of  Colonel  J.  C.  Campbell  and  Albert 
Christy,  the  Coshocton  Coal  Company  was  organ- 
ized, with  a  capital  of  $125,000,  mostly  foreign. 
The  interest  and  influence  of  A.  H.  Spangler  was 
enlisted,  and  he  became  a  holder  of  considerable 
stock.  The  company  bought  up  the  leases  of  the 
Beech  Hollow  mine,  the  Shoemaker  mine,  the 
mine  afterward  operated  by  the  New  York  com- 
pany, two  miles  south  of  Coshocton,  and  other 
mines.  Colonel  J.  0.  Campbell  was  president  of 
the  company.  The  expenditures  were  heavy,  and 
financially  the  company  was  a  failure.  It  oper- 
ated the  Beech  Hollow  mine  until  the  fall  of  1876, 
when  the  lease  was  forfeited  and  the  property 
came  into  the  possession  of  its  present  owners. 
It  is  now  called  the  Coshocton  Mining  Company. 
The  mine  is  situated  about  one  and  one-half 
miles  northeast  of  Coshocton,  and  is  connected 
with  the  railroad  by  an  iron  tramway,  which 
reaches  the  railroad  near  the  water  tank  just  out- 
side the  limits  of  the  village  corporation.  From 
thirty-five  to  forty  miners  are  here  employed, 
and  during  the  last  three  years  60,000  tons  of  coal 
has  been  mined.  It  is  shipped  principally  to 
Newark,  Mt.  Vernon,  Columbus,  Piqua,  Urbana 
and  other  intermediate  points. 

In  1870,  the  Home  Coal  Company  was  organ- 
ized by  Frank  8.  and  John  A.  Barney,  D.  L. 
Triplet,  S.  H.  Lee,  Edward  Prosser,  Thomas 
Denmead,  W.  W.  Card,  and  George  W.  Ricketts, 
Mr.  Prosser  soon  disposed  of  his  interest  to  Mr. 
Ricketts,  and  in  a^  few  years  Prosser,  J.  W.  Cas- 
singham and  E.  Thomas  Dudley  purchased  the 
shares  of  the  pther  six  stockholders.  Then  after 
a  time  the  property  was  transferred  to  George 


-606 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


W.  Eicketts  and  David  Waggoner,  who  are  the 
present  owners.  This  mine  does  the  most  ex- 
tensive business  in  the  township.  About  sixty- 
miners  are  engaged.  The  mine  is  at  "  Hard- 
scrabble,"  about  one  and  one-half  miles  east  of 
Coshocton,  and  is  connected  with  the  railroad  by 
A  tramway  more  than  a  mile  in  length. 

The  New  York  Coal  and  Coke  Company  com- 
menced operations  alaout  twelve  years  ago,  by 
purchasing  from  the  Coshocton  Coal  Company 
fiome  territory  two  miles  south  of  Coshocton. 
Eobert  Youart,  of  Troy,  Ohio,  was  the  superin- 
tendent. In  a  few  years  the  property  was  trans- 
ferred to  a  company  of  Michigan  men,  and  Col- 
onel W.  S.  Wood  placed  in  charge.  The  name 
was  changed  to  the  Union  Coal  and  Mining  Com- 
pany. L.  W.  Robinson  is  the  present  superinten- 
dent. The  yield  of  this  mine  has  been  about  1,000 
tons  per  month. 

Besides  the  above,  there  are  quite  a  number 
-of  mines  worked  only  for  the  home  supply. 

Coal  mining  in  this  township  has  only  fairly 
begun.  There  are  thousands  of  acres  of  land 
underlaid  with  coal  of  richest  quality  that  has  not 
yet  been  touched.  A  considerable  portion  of  this 
has  been  purchased  by  operators,  who  will  gradu- 
^ally  develope  the  almost  inexhaustible  store,  as 
•circumstances  will  permit.  A  principal  impedi- 
ment to  the  more  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
work  heretofore  has  been  an  inability  to  procure 
adequate  means  of  transportation. 

Canal  Lewisville  lies  partly  in  Keene  and 
partly  in  Tusjjarawas  township.  The  dividing 
line  passes  diagonally  through  the  plat,  leaving 
the  larger  portion  of  it,  and  almost  entirely  the 
occupied  part,  in  Tuscarawas  township.  It  lies  in 
the  beautiful  Tuscarawas  valley,  a  short  distance 
north  of  the  river.  The  Ohio  canal  passes 
through  the  village,  and  gave  rise  to  its  location 
and  growth.  It  was  laid  out  by  the  county  sur- 
vej'or,  James  Ravenscraft,  July  2,  1832,  Solomon 
Vail  and  Thomas  B  Lewis  being  the  proprietors. 
Their  expectations  of  its  rapid  development  were 
■genuine,  if  the  size  of  the  plat  be  any  indication. 
It  contained  220  lots,  besides  a  number  of  out- 
lots.  The  village  of  Newport  had  been  founded 
about  two  years  previous,  a  half  mile  to  the  west, 
in  Keene  township.    The  road  to  Millersburg, 


then  a  principal  thoroughfare,  passed  through 
Newport  northward,  but  shortly  before  Lewis- 
ville was  laid  out,  the  road  was  altered  and  made 
to  pass  through  the  site  of  the  future  Lewisville, 
and  this  fact  more  than  anything  else,  induced 
the  proprietors  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  town. 
It  was  designed  from  the  first  to  be  a  shipping 
point  for  grain,  and  for  a  number  of  years  an  im- 
mense business  was  done  here  in  this  line.  Be- 
fore the  Cleveland  and  Mt.  "Vernon  road  was 
built  through  Holmes  county,  it  was  customary 
for  the  farmers  as  far  north- as  Millersburg  to 
haul  their  wheat  to  this  place.  The  amount  of 
grain  transported  from  the  three  warehouses 
about  1847  was  immensse. 

The  first  grain  dealer  in  the  place  was  Arnold 
Medbery,  of  Roscoe,  who  erected  a  warehouse 
very  soon  after  the  town  was  laid  out,  at  the 
southeast  corner  of  Main  and  Pleasant  streets. 
It  is  now  operated  by  Henry  W.  Henderson. 
Mr.  Medbery  remained  in  possession  of  the 
building  for  a  long  time,  but  at  length  transferred 
the  property  to  Samuel  Lamberson,  who,  after 
operating  here  for  many  years,  in  1872  disposed 
of  the  warehouse  to  Charles  Burns.  It  was  then 
operated  by  Burns  &  Hack  until  1877,  when  it  be- 
came the  property  of  William  Hanlon,  and  busi- 
ness was  conducted  by  his  sons  under  the  name 
of  Hanlon  &  Brothers.  In  1880  the  present 
owner  came  into  possession  of  it.  A  large 
amount  of  grain  is  still  bought  here,  but  much 
less  than  formerly.  From  the  first  a  general  dry 
goods  business  has  been  carried  on  in  connection 
with  the  warehouse. 

Cotemporaneously  with  Mr.  Medbery,  Alexan- 
der Renfrew  started  in  the  merchandising  and 
grain  dealing  business,  erecting  buildings  for  the 
purpose  on  the  opposite  side  of  Main  street.  The 
business  was  conducted  by  Renfrew  &  Wilson, 
and  later  by  Fiuley  Carnahan  and  John  Best.  It 
finally  ceased  to  be  profitable  and  was  suspended. 
A  few  years  ago  the  buildings  were  removed. 

Jackson  &  Henry  Hay  followed  the  other  two 
firms  in  a  few  years  with  a  third  warehouse.  It, 
too,  was  situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  canal, 
corner  of  Washington  street.  After  a  time  it  was 
sold  to  Mr.  Williamson,  but  in  a  few  years  re- 
turned to  the  possession  of  the  Hays.  Business 
was  finally  suspended,  and  about  1869  the  old 


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HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


609 


building  was  torn  down  and  removed  to  Coshoc- 
ton, where  it  now  stands  as  a  part  of  the  Coshoc- 
ton planing-mill. 

The  first  building  in  town  was  the  north  wing 
of  the  present  two-story  frame,  located  on  lot  100, 
now  owned  by  Charles  and  John  Graham,  and 
occupied  by  the  dry  goods  store  of  Charles  Gra- 
ham &  Brothers.  It  was  brought  by  T.  B.  Lewis, 
from  Newport,  re-erected  and  used  first  by  him 
as  a  hotel.  Then  George  T.  Humriokhouse  and 
William  K.  Johnson  started  a  store  in  it.  After 
the  store  had  run  its  course,  the  building  sub- 
served its  original  purpose  for  a  number  of  years. 
Addison  Syphert  and  Robert  Andrews  success- 
ively keeping  tavern  here.  After  being  used  for 
dwellings  some  time,  David  Markley  purchased 
and  repaired  it,  and  let  it  as  a  tenant  house  until, 
in  January,  1881,  it  came  into  the  possession  of 
its  present  owners. 

The  frame  building  on  lot  139,  corner  Main  and 
Canal  streets,  was  erected  by  Alexander  Ren- 
frew, as  a  hotel.  After  many  years  he  sold  it  to 
John  Richeson,  Richeson  to  Mr.  McClain,  and 
from  the  widow  McClain  it  was  purchased  by  R. 
A.  Wilman,  who  now  keeps  for  sale  in  it  a  stock 
of  family  groceries. 

The  manufacturing  interests  of  the  village  are, 
and  always  have  been,  exceedingly  small.  At 
present,  there  are  two  blacksmith  shops  and  one 
shoe  shop.  Formerly  a  rectifier  was  in  operation, 
on  lot  128,  under  the  control  of  Thomas  Love. 
Archie  Johnson  afterward  operated  it  for  a  while. 
The  population  of  Canal  Louisville,  in  1880,  was 
252. 

The  present  school  building  is  a  substantial, 
commodious,  two-story  brick,  with  two  rooms, 
erected  in  1879.  E.  J.  Stickle  taught  in  the 
upper  grade,  during  the  first  year,  and  Miss 
Wiggins  in  the  lower.  Byron  Hinebaugh  has  been 
teacher  during  the  year  recently  closed.  The 
old  school  building  was  a  brick,  containing  but 
one  apartment. 

Samuel  Lamberson  was  an  early  postmaster. 
His  successors  have  be  been  Martin  Hack,  Ed- 
ward Hanton  and  Charles  Graham,  the  present 
incumbent.  Dr.  Hall  is  remembered  as  being 
the  first  resident  practicing  physician.  Dr. 
Chapman,  and  many  others,  have  followed  him, 
usually  for  a  brief  period.    The  bodily  ills  of  the 

26 


community  are  now  attended  to  by  Dr.  T.  J. 
Smith,  who  has  had  a  residence  here  for  six  years. 

The  village  contains  two  churches,  a  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  and  a  Baptist.  A  society  of  the 
former  persuasion  was  formed  as  early  as  1835, 
with  William  Welch,  of  Keene,  as  class-leader. 
It  contained  few  members,  among  whom  were 
Gabriel  Clark  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Stone- 
hooker. 

The  meetings  were  held  in  the  school-house  and 
after  a  time  the  society  disbanded.  Then  about 
1860  the  present  society  was  organized  by  Rev. 
Gardner  with  ten  or  twelve  members,  among 
them  David  and  Selina  Markley,  Minerva  Mark- 
ley,  Mrs.  Mehitable  Collins,  Maria  Craig,  Sarah 
Day  and  Margaret  Craig.  The  early  meetings 
were  held  in  the  village  school-house  until  the 
present  house  of  worship  was  erected  about  1870. 
It  was  dedicated  May  7,  of  the  following  year,  by 
Rev.  Jesse  Warner.  The  building  is  a  neat, 
frame  structure,  surrounded  by  a  cupola  contain- 
ing the  church  bell,  and  cost  about  $2,300.  It 
was  built  chiefly  through  the  efforts  of  David 
Markley.  The  appointment  is  connected  with 
the  Keene  charge  and  Rev.  Dissette  is  the  pres- 
ent pastor.  The  membership  is  now  and  always 
,  has  been  small.  A  flourishing  Sunday-school  is 
in  operation  under  the  superintendence  of  John 
Graham. 

The  Canal  Lewisville  Regular  Baptist  church 
worships  in  a  modest  frame  meeting-house  which 
was  converted  to  this  purpose  from  a  dwelling 
house  about  1875.  Prior  to  that  date  services  had 
been  held  in  the  school-house.  The  first  meeting 
looking  to  an  organization  was  held  September 
29,  1864,  attended  by  Abraham  Randals,  Sr.,  and 
family,  Hannah  Grey  and  Barbara  Moreland,  but , 
it  was  not  until  1866  that  the  organization  was  in- 
stituted as  a  Regular  Baptist  church  with  a  mem- 
bership of  twenty.  In  that  year'^lder  W.  S. 
Barnes  was  made  pastor.  Those  who  have  since 
served  in  a  ministerial  capacity  are  L.  L.  Root, 
Samuel  W.  Frederick,  and  James  K.  Linebaugh, 
who  is  the  present  Elder.  The  membership  at 
one  time  increased  to  forty  but  has  since  been  re- 
duced and  is  reported  to  be  twenty-two  at  ^pres- 
ent.     A  Sunday-school  is  held  throughout  the 


610 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON"  COUNTY. 


whole  year,  is  superintended  by  John  Cramlet 
and  has  a  membership  of  sixty-two. 

A  Disciple  congregation,  years  ago,  conducted 
services  for  a  short  time  in  the  schcjol-house,  but 
did  not  attain  any  considerable  strength. 

A  Methodist  Protestant  society  worships  at 
Moore's  or  Pleasant  Valley  school-house,  district 
No.  1,  about  two  and  one-half  miles  south  of  Co- 
shocton. It  was  organized  at  the  old  school-house 
in  this  district  in  1845,  by  Rev.  John  Lamb,  then 
ministering  to  a  prosperous  congregation  at  Co- 
shocton. The  original  class  was  composed  of 
twenty-eight  members,  among  whom  were  Sam- 
uel Moore  and  Susanna,  his  wife,  his  mother, 
Mary  M.  Moore,  Richard  Meek,  James  T.  Morris 
and  wife,  Elijah  West,.  William  West  and  wife, 
Peter  Moore,  and  John  Peters  and  wife.  The  so- 
ciety enjoyed  a  vigorous  and  prosperous  life,  but 
its  numbers  are  now  very  few.  William  Wells  is 
the  present  pastor.  Of  its  past  ministers  may  be 
mentioned  Joel  Dolby,  Zachariah  Ragan,  Rev. 
Wilson,  Israel  Thrapp,  Joseph  Hamilton,  Jere- 
miah Biddeson,  William  Baldwin,  David  Truman, 
John  Baker,  William  Munhall,  S.  Robinson,  Wil- 
liam Ross  and  Rev.  Avery.  No  attempt  has  been 
made  to  erect  a  church  building,  owing  to  the 
proximity  of  the  society  to  Coshocton,  and  also 
to  the  chyrch  in  Franklin  township.  A  Sabbath- 
school  was  started  about  1845,  and  kept  in  con- 
tinuous operation  until  within  a  few  years. 

Chestnut  Hill  Regular  Baptist  church,  located 
one  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Coshocton,  was  or- 
ganized in  1876,  with  about  twenty  members. 
Services  were  held  regularly  in  the  district 
school-house,  but  for  .some  time  now  they  have 
been  suspended.  They  were  visited  by  different 
ministers,  and  for  a  while  regularly  supplied  with 
preaching  by  Rev.  H.  Clark.  The  establishment 
of  the  Baptist  church  at  Coshocton  has  apparent- 
ly obviated  the  necessity  of  this  organization. 


CHAPTER  LXVm. 

VIRGINIA    TOWNSHIP. 

Surveys— Organization— Description-First  Settlers-Churches 
—Schools— Industries— Moscow — Willow  Brook. 

ONE-HALF  of  this  township,  the  first  and 
third,  or  northeast  and  southwest  quarters, 
was  congress  land.  The  second  and  fourth,  or 
northwest  and  southeast  quarters,  are  two  mili- 
tary sections.  The  congress  land  was  surveyed 
in  1803,  by  John  Matthews.  The  northwest  quar- 
ter, or  second  military  section,  was  surveyed  into 
forty  100-acre  lots  by  Wilham  Harris,  in  the  year 
1811.  The  fourth  quarter,  or  southeast  section, 
was  located  by  John  A.  Hardenbrook,  a  merchant 
of  JSTew  York  City,  his  patent  for  the  land  bearing 
date  June  23,  1800.  He  sold  it  to  Edward  Mc- 
Carty,  Sr.,  of  Paddy  town,  Hampshire  county, 
Virginia,  July  16,  1812,  for  $4,045,  or  one  dollar 
per  acre.  It  has  since  been  surveyed  into  thirty- 
five  lots,  ranging  from  100  to  200  acres  each  and 
variously  disposed  of. 

This  territory  belonged'to  Jefferson  township, 
Muskingum  county,  prior  to  the  formation  of 
Coshocton  county.  It  then  became  a  part  of 
Washington  township,  and  so  continued  until 
1828,  when  it  was  organized  as  a  separate  town- 
ship with  its  present  boundaries.  It  was  named 
Virginia  after  the  State  from  which  most  of  the 
early  settlers  had  come. 

The  Ohio  canal  and  the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati 
and  St.  Louis  railroad  crossjiiagonally  through 
the  southeastern  corner  of  the  township.  The 
Muskingum  river  winds  around  this  corner,  as  if 
avoiding  the  township,  but  from  the  south  makes 
a  small  bend  into  the  township,  separating  about 
twenty-five  acres  from  the  main  part  of  it.  Mill 
fork,  with  its  numerous  tributaries,  drain  the 
greater  part  of  the  surface.  It  enters  the  north- 
eastern part  of  the  township  from  Jackson,  and 
crosses  into  Washington  township  in  the  south- 
west.   The  soil  along  this  creek  and  on  many  of 


HISTOKY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


611 


-the  hills,  is  a  limestone  clay.    Further  to  the 
«ast  it  is  sandy.~  White  oak  is  the  prevailing  tim- 
ber, interspersed  with  other  varieties,  such  as 
"hickory,  walnut,  sugar,  etc.    The  hilliest  region 
is  in  the  northern  part.    Toward  the  south  the 
Toughness  breaks  away,  giving  a  more  undulating 
.appearance  to  the  surface.    In  the  southeastern 
portion  of  the   township  along  the  valley  of  the 
Muskingum,  occurs  "  the  plains,''  as  it  is  called,  a 
level  stretch  of  country  a  mile  or  two  in  length, 
which  was  covered  only  with  red  brush  when 
first  seen  by  the  settlers.    It  was  then  thought  to 
be  worthless  for  agricultural  purposes,  and  could 
"have  been  purchased  for  fifty  cents  per  acre.    It 
is  now  very  valuable.  On  these  plains  were  found 
a  few  small  mounds,  but  they  are  no  longer  visi- 
ble.    It  was  probably  a  favorite  haunt  of  the  red 
man.    Doughty,  a  noted  Indian,  had  a  lone  camp 
on  Mill  fork,  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
16.    Here  he  lived  for  a  while  with  his  wife  and 
-daughter,  a  young  girl  of  great  beauty,  but  being 
of  a  vagrant  disposition,  he  never  remained  long 
in  one  place. 

John  Collins  was  the  first  white  settler  in  the 
township,  entering  it  about  1804  He  was  not  a 
permanent  settler,  however,  and  did  not  own  the 
land  upon  which  he  lived,  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  16.  It  was  owned  by  Lewis  Cass,  who 
afterward  sold  it  to  John  Graves.  Collins  left  the 
place  about  1808,  and  removed  several  miles  be- 
low Dresden.  He  had  been  I  revolutionary  sol- 
dier, and  was  wounded  while  in  service.  He 
came  here  from  the  south  branch  of  the  Poto- 
mac, in  Virginia. 

The  earhest  settlements  were  made  along  the 
narrow  valley  of  Mill  fork,  beginning  where  the 
^stream  leaves  the  township,  and  continuing  up 
the  valley  nearly  to  its  source.  Cabins  were  dot- 
ted all  along  this  little  stream  before  settlements 
were  made  in  other  parts  of  the  township.  Kich- 
ard  Tilton  was  the  first  settler  properly  so 
■  caUed.  He  was  born  at  Bed  Stone  Fort,  near 
Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  in  1774,  at  a  time  when 
the  region  thereabouts  was  embroiled  with  a 
fierce  Indian  war.  When  a  boy,  he  was  captured 
by  the  Indians  on  Short  creek,  Jefiferson  county, 
Ohio.  His  home  at  the  time  was  in  Pennsylvania, 
-and  he  had  crossed  the  Ohio  to  dig  ginseng  root, 
an  article  of  great  commercial  value,  which  grew 


there  in  rich  profusion.  He  was  taken  to  San- 
dusky, and  remained  a  prisoner  there  six  weeks, 
when  he  was  released.  He  came  to  this  county 
in  the  spring  of  1805;  settling  first  in  Washing- 
ton township;  but  in  the  fall  of  the  same  year 
he  moved  to  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  16, 
of  this  township.  At  this  time  he  had  four 
children,  John,  William,  Elijah  and  Joseph. 
William  and  Elijah  afterward  moved  to  Illinois ; 
John  died  in  early  life,  and  Joseph  still  lives  in 
this  township.  Mr.  Tilton  was  a  justice  of  the 
peace  for  eighteen  years.  His  wife  died  a  few 
years  after  he  settled  here,  and  he  afterwards  re- 
married and  had  a  large  family.  In  1850  he-  re- 
moved to  Ogle  county,  Illinois,  where  he  died 
fifteen  years  later,  at  the  age  of  ninety-one  years. 

Joseph  Wright  and  Joseph  McCoy  came  to- 
gether into  the  township,  December  24,  1806. 
Mr.  McCoy  settled  upon  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  twenty-five — the  southwest  corner  of  the 
township — where  he  lived  until  he  died.  Joseph 
Wright  was  his  son-in-law,  and  had  one  child, 
Willis,  when  he  came  to  the  county,  who  is  now 
a  resident  of  Coshocton.  Both  were  from  Vir- 
ginia. Mr.  Wright  lived  with  his  father-in-law' 
one  year,  then  moved  further  up  the  creek  to  lot 
3,  where  he  lived  during  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  Probably  no  one  in  the  township  was  more 
prominent  than  he.  He  died  April  1, 1867,  at  the 
age  of  eighty-seven  years. 

James  Norris,  also  from  Virginia,  came  in  1807, 
and  settled  upon  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
14.  The  next  year  his  brothers,  Joseph,  Daniel 
and  William,  and  his  father,  William  Norris 
moved  out.  The  latter  settled  upon  the  south- 
east quarter  of  section  14.  Joseph  occupied  lot 
16,  just  above.  Joseph  and  James  had  married 
sisters  of  Joseph  Wright,  in  Virginia.  Daniel 
and  William,  Jr.,  married  daughters  of  Joseph 
McCoy.  These  three  families,  the  Wrights,  Nor- 
rises  and  McCoys,  have  intermarried  in  this 
township  to  a  considerable  extent,  so  as  to  render 
it  impossible  to  determine  the  various  relation- 
ships. Each  member  of  each  of  these  families  in 
fact,  sustains  a  number  of  relationships  to  each 
and  every  other  member  of  the  three  families. 
The  families  are  still  numerously  represented  in 
the  township.  William  Norris,  Sr.,  was  a  soldier 
in  the  revolutionary  war. 


612 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Henry  Slaughter  settled  on  the  northeast  quar- 
ter of  section  8,  in  1812.  He  died  in  1858  in  his 
eighty-seventh  year.  Alexander  and  Dr.  James 
Slaughter  are  his  sons.  Patrick  Miller,  son  of 
Michael  Miller,  of  Franklin  township,  lived  a 
while  upon  the  McCarty-eection,  then  returned 
to  Franklin  township.  Mr.  McCarty  was  his  uncle. 
Joseph  "Wagner,  from  Huntington  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, settled  in  the  western  part  of  the  town- 
ship in  1810.  He  died  in  1857  at  the  age  of  sev- 
enty-five years.  Beall  Adams,  in  1812,  settled 
upon  the  east  half  of  section  25.  He  died  at  an 
advanced  age  some  years  ago.  John  and  Joseph 
Graves,  two  brothers,  emigrated  to  the  township 
from  Virginia,  in  1814. 

The  township  settled  up  very  slowly.  In  1821, 
Otho  Miller  was  living  upon  the  southwest  quar- 
ter of  section  2,  and  at  that  time  there  were  no 
settlers  between  his  cabin  and  Roscoe.  Joseph 
Ogle,  from  Maryland,  was  a  comparatively  early 
setller;  also,  Joseph  Mossman,  aa  Irishman. 
Joseph  Thompson,  who  had  been  a  drummer  in 
the  revolutionary  war,  came  to  the  township 
from  Bridgeport,  Ohio,  about  1826,  and  spent  his 
'declining  years  here.  He  was  originally  from 
New  York. 

Matthew  Scott  was  born  in  county  Donegal, 
Ireland,  in  1795.  He  came  to  America  in  1816, 
but  lived  at  Cumberland,  Maryland,  until  1833, 
when  he  came  to  Coshocton  county,  settling  in 
Virginia  township,  near  Adam's  mills.  As  the 
owner  and  cultivator  of  a  considerable  body  of 
land,  as  a  man  of  diligence  and  integrity,  of  more 
than  ordinary  intelligence,  and  of  fair  education, 
Mr.  Scott  was  long  held  in  repute  in  the  region 
where  he  dwelt.  As  an  enthusiastic  son  of  Erin, 
and  a  most  earnest  and  liberal  adherent  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  he  was  known  by  thousands. 
In  1856,  he  made  a  visit  to  the  old  land.  He  was 
for  several  years  a  director  of  the  Western  Theo- 
logical Seminary  at  Pittsburgh.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  general  assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  meeting  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  1863.  He 
was  always  a  warm  friend  of  the  colored  people, 
and  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  establishing  a 
school  for  the  education  of  colored  girls,  called 
"  Scotia  Seminary,"  in  North  Carolina.  Having 
no  children,  and  his  wife  having  died  before  him, 
he  gave  almost  his  whole  estate — of  some  $25,000 


— for  educational,  missionary,  and  other  benevo- 
lent purposes  in  connection  withttie  Presbyterian 
church,  a  large  part  going  to  the  support  of  the 
little  church  in  which  he  had  long  been  an  elder^ 
and  in  which  his  kindred  hold  yet  a  large  place. 
For  some  time  before  his  death,  Mr.  Scott  had 
been  in  x>oor  health.  Early  on  the  morning  of 
the  13th  of  September,  1872,  the  family  of  the 
brother,  with  whom  he  had  been  staying  for  some 
days,  were  alarmed  by  his  absence  from  the  house 
and  the  appearance  of  his  forsaken  bed-room, 
and,  search  having  been  made,  his  dead  body  was- 
found,  after  some  hours,  in  the  Muskingum  river,, 
which  flowed  through  his  lands. 

The  first  church  in  the  township,  and  one  of 
the  earliest  in  the  county,  was  erected  by  a  Bap- 
tist society  in  1816  or  1818,  on  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  16.  Elder  Amos  Mix,  who- 
had  been  a  revolutionary  soldier,  and  was  living 
on  the  school  lots  in  Muskingum  county,  was  the- 
first  minister.  Among  its  earliest  members  were- 
the  McCoys,  James  and  Wilhara  Norris,  Henry 
Slaughter,  and  quite  a  number  from  Muskingum 
county.  It  did  not  survive,  perhaps,  more  than 
ten  or  twelve  years,  for  about  1830  there  was  a 
society  of  Baptists,  including  most  of  the  names 
mentioned  above,  worshiping  in  the  Union  meet- 
ing-house (so  called  from  the  fact  that  it  was  built- 
by  the  people  in  common  for  the  use  of  all  con- 
gregations), located  on  lot  14.  About  1837  an- 
otlier  society  was  organized  at  Henry  Slaughter's 
house,  by  Elders  William  Mears  and  William 
Spencer.  These  two  congregations  were  united 
under  a  new  organization  May  1,  1840,  by  Elders 
William  Mears  and  L.  Gilbert,  with  fifty-two  , 
members,  and  named  Mill  Fork  Regular  Baptist 
church.  After  the  organization  the  church  grew 
rapidly,  and  in  a  few  years  had  over  100  mem- 
bers. Having  reached  a  membership  of  140,  the 
number  decreased,  and  at  present  it  has  about 
eighty-five.  Since  1850  this  church  has  sent  four 
of  its  members  into  the  ministry,  viz.-  J.  W. 
Reed,  E.  B.  Senter,  P.  C.  Wright  and  A.  W. 
Odor.  The  present  pastor  is  Elder  Lyman  R. 
Mears,  the  grand-son  of  the  first  minister.  The 
ministers  who  have  served  as  pastors  of  this 
church  from  its  organization  are  as  follows :  Wil- 
ham  Mears,  L.  Gilbert,  T.  W.  Grier,  L.  L.  Root,. 


HISTOE\   01'  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


61S 


J.  G.  Whitaker,  E.  K.  Whitaker,  T.  Evans,  E. 
Smith,  A.  W.  Odor,  J.  C.  Skinner,  S.  C.  Tussing. 
The  house  of  worship,  a  commodious  frame, 
erected  in  1870,  stands  on  lot  3,'  not  a  great  dis- 
tance from  the  center  of  the  township. 

About  two  miles  northeast  of  this  church,  on 
the  same  road,  stands  Christian  Chapel,  a  house  of 
■worship  belonging  to  a  Christian  congregation. 
It  was  organized  with  five  members,  in  1832,  by 
Elder  J.  W.  Marvin,  of  Knox  county,  Ohio. 
These  five  members  were  John  Housare,  Mar- 
garet Housare,  Mary  Housare,  Elizabeth  Wright 
.and  Miss  Adams.  They  first  met  in  Willis' 
Wright's  barn;  then  in  the  adjoining  school- 
house.  In  1844,  a  frame  meeting-house,  twenty- 
■eight  by  thirty -two  feet,  was  erected,  which,  in 
1878,  was  replaced  by  a  better  and  larger  house 
of  worship,  at  a  cost  of  f2,000.  The  pastors  of 
the  church  have  been  J.  W.  Marvin,  James 
Hays,  William  Bagley,  Jacob  Hanger,  A.  C. 
Hanger,  A.  Bradfield,  B.  Rabb,  William  Over- 
turf,  M.  M.  Lohr,  E.  Peters  and  John  W.  Wright. 
A.  C.  Hanger  is  now  in  charge.  The  present 
membership  is  145.  The  total  enrollment  of 
members  during  the  church's  history  is  300.  A 
Sunday-school  has  been  held  from  a  very  early 
date,  during  the  summer.  William  McCan  had 
charge  of  the  school,  in  1880,  when  it  had  an 
average  attendance  of  about  sixtji. 

The  Moscow  Methodist  Episcopal  church  was 
organized  about  1835,  by  Eev.  Joseph  McDowell, 
at  the  house  of  Joseph  Wagner,  on  section  16. 
Its  principal  early  members  were  Kev.  John  Cul- 
lison  and  wife,  Joseph  Wagner  and  family,  Ben- 
jamin Howall,  the  first  class-leader,  and  wife, 
Eev.  Thomas  Perkins  and  wife,  Mrs.  Gordon  and 
others,  amounting  to  about  twenty  in  all.  The 
meetings  were  held  at  different  dwelling-houses, 
and,  for  a  time,  in  a  little  log-house  in  Moscow, 
until  1851,  when  the  present  frame  church, 
thirty  by  forty,  was  erected,  at  an  expense  of 
$650,  under  the  pastorate  of  Eev.  T.  H.  Wilson. 
A  few  years  ago,  it  was  repaired,  at  about  twice 
its  original  cost.  The  membership  now  is  about 
sixty.  The  present  pastor  is  Eev.  Jones.  A 
Sunday-school  is  a  leading  feature  of  the  church 
work. 


The  Methodist  denomination  has  also  a  flour- 
ishing congregation  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
township  of  recent  organization.  •  The  church 
building,  a  substantial  frame,  was  erected  in. 
1876,  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,800.  It  was  dedicated 
December  10,  of  the  same  year,  by  Eev.  T.  H. 
Wilson.  The  society  had  been  organized  several 
years  before  the  churchi  was  built,  the  meetings 
haying  been  held  in  a  school-house.  Joseph 
Balo  and  wife,  David  Balo  and  wife,  Joseph  Til- 
ton  and  Joseph  Newcomb,  were  early  members. 
The  latter  was  the  first  class-leader.  Eev.  Basil 
Disney  was  the  first  minister,  followed  by  Henry 
Whiteman.  He  was  succeeded  by  Eev.  Ash- 
baugh,  during  whose  ministry  the  church  was 
built.  The  membership  is  between  fifty  and 
sixty. 

The  earliest  settlers  sent  their  children  to 
school  in  Muskingum  county,  which  was  settled 
and  contained  schools  before  Virginia  had  a  suf- 
ficient number  of  families  to  support  a  school. 
The  first  building  for  school  purposes  in  the 
township  was  erected  about  1818,  in  the  western 
part  of  the  township,  near  the  northeast  corner 
of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  15.  It  is  de- 
scribed by  the  oldest  resident  of  the  township  as 
having  been  a  mere  shanty,  scarcely  more  than 
fourteen  by  sixteen  feet  in  size.  A  puncheon 
floor  was  laid  in  a  part  of  this  room,  one  end 
being  left  bare  for  a  large  fireplace.  A  rough 
back-wall  of  stone  was  built  to  keep  the  flames 
from  the  end  of  the  building,  and  a  large  open- 
ing through  the  roof  was  an  ample  provision  for 
the  escape  of  smoke  and  thorough  ventilation  of 
the  room.  Eichard  Winn  was  the  first  teacher. 
He  was  from  Pennsylvania,  and  had  settled  in 
Washington  township. 

The  water  power  on  Mill  Fork  was  sufficient, 
while  the  country  was  yet  covered  with  timber, 
to  propel  the  different  mills  that  were  situated  on 
its  banks,  but  as  the  volume  of  water  decreased, 
in  course  of  time  the  mills  were  one  by  one 
abandoned  or  removed.  Joseph  Norris  erected 
one  upon  his  place  in  very  early  times.  It  had  in 
it  two  run  of  stone  and  was  counted  an  excellent 
mill.  He  afterward  erected  two  distilleries,  one 
adjacent  to  the  mill,  the  other  some   distance 


614 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


away,  though  on  the  same  farm.  In  one  of  these 
two  stills  were  operated,  the  other  contained 
only  one.  They  were  haunted  by  a  number  of 
professional  loafers,  constantly  engaged  in  "  sam- 
pling" the  juice  as  it  issued  from  the  worm  and 
pronouncing  upon  its  good  qualities.  What  re- 
mained after  this  important  function  was  per- 
formed found  a  market  in  Coshocton  and  the  sur- 
rounding country. 

Hiram  Darr  erected  a  saw-mill  a  short  distance 
above,  in  section  8  about  1840,  and  directly  after- 
ward built  a  grist-mill,  containing  one  run  of 
buhrs.  It  did  a  flourishing  business  while  it 
lasted,  which  was  no  great  length  of  time.  Mr. 
Darr  moved  to  Livingston  county,  Missouri,  and 
shipped  the  mill-stones  to  the  same  place.  Jo- 
seph Parks  ran  a  saw-mill  for  a  number  of  years 
near  the  northwest  corner  of  the  township.  An- 
other was  afterward  built  in  the  same  locality. 
Kichard  Tilton  built  one  shortly  before  he  moved 
west,  but  little  or  no  work  was  ever  done  at  it. 

Moscow,  the  one  little  village  in  the  township, 
is  situated  on  lot  20  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  township.  It  was  laid  out  in  March,  1835,  by 
Lewis  Wright,  and  consisted  of  42  lots.  Mr. 
Wright  was  both  the  surveyor  and  proprietor  of 
the  village.  John  T.  Bowen  kept  the  first  store. 
It  carried  a  very  limited  stock  of  goods,  and 
Bowen  retained  possession  of  it  as  the  only  store 
until  he  enlisted  in  the  service  during  the  late  war. 
Samuel  Smailes  started  the  next  store  soon  after 
the  war,  and  stills  owns  it.  Shortly  after  another 
was  opened  by  Henry  H.  Mills,  who  retired  from 
the  business  about  five  years  ago.  Mr.  Hook  has 
recently  started  a  small  store.  The  village  is 
quite  small.  John  Bowen  was  the  first  postmas- 
ter. The  position  is  now  held  by  his  widow,  Mrs. 
Kachel  Bowen. 

Willow  Brook  is  the  name  of  a  postoffice  in  the 
northeastern  part  of  the  township.  A  store  was 
opened  here  in  the  spring  of  1873  by  William 
Wright.  In  August,  1879,  he  sold  it  to  H.  M. 
Kendall,  who  now  owns  it.  A  blacksmith  shop, 
owned  by  Lewis  A.  Eeed,  and  a  wagon  shop, 
owned  by  Thomas  J.  daughter,  are  also  located 
here.  William  Wright  was  the  first  postmaster, 
receiving  the  appointment  about  seven  years  ago. 
He  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Kendall. 


CHAPTER   LXIX. 

WASHINGTON  TOWNSHIP. 

Early  Settlers— Location— Topography— Early  Justices— In- 
dian Camp— First  Road— Mills  and  Distilleries— Wakatom- 
ica  Postoffice— Schools— Churches. 

THE  first  settler  of  the  tract  of  country  now 
composing  this  township,  was  John  Har- 
desty.  He  was  orginally  from  Maryland,  and 
about  1804  came  from  Wheeling,  Virginia,  and 
settled  on  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  22,. 
the  quarter  through  which  Mill  fork  flows  into 
Muskingum  county.  He  was  a  powerful  man,, 
physically,  and  his  .good  dame  was  by  no  means- 
diminutive  in  stature.  Their  family  consisted  of 
sixteen  children,  ten  sons  and  six  daughters,, 
whose  aggregate  weight,  it  is  said,  exceeded  3,200- 
pounds.  Mr.  Hardesty  was  a  regular  frontiers- 
man, and  kept  moving  with  the  tide  of  emigration 
westward  while  his  years  admitted.  He  sold  his- 
farm  in  this  township  to  William  P.  Compton, 
and  died  some  years  ago  in  St.  Louis.  Most  of 
his  family  preceded  or  followed  him  to  the  West, 
Two  grand-children  still  reside  in  the  township, 
Patrick  Hunter  and  Mrs.  Paulina  McElwell. 

Mordecai  Chalfant  was  the  second  pioneer  of 
the  township.  In  1803  he  emigrated  from  Fay- 
ette county,  Pennsylvania,  to  what  is  now  Perry 
county,  Ohio.  He  remained  there  about  four 
years,  and  in  March,  1808,  he  moved  to  this  town- 
ship, settling  upon  the  southwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 20.  This  quarter  had  been  selected  by  Rev. 
Ellington,  of  Muskingum  county,  with  a  view  to 
settlement,  but  in  a  spirit  of  accommodation  was 
yielded  by  him  to  Mr.  Chalfant.  His  third  son, 
John  Chalfant,  still  occupies  a  portion  of  the  sec- 
tion, and  is  the  oldest  resident  in  the  township. 
He  was  born  October,  1807,  being  four  months 
old  at  the  time  his  father  came  here.  Mr.  Chal- 
fant was  a  prominent  citizen  of  the  county  in  its 
earliest  days.  He  was  one  of  the  first  county 
commissioners,  serving  in  this  capacity  seven 
years,  and  was  an  associate  judge  of  the  county 
for  fourteen  years.  He  died  at  Columbus  in  Jan- 
uary, 1846,  aged  sixty-five  years. 

Jacob  Croy,  from  Wheeling,  Virginia,  soon 
after — in  the -spring  of  1808 — settled  upon  the 
south-west  quarter  of  section  21.  His  descend- 
ants are  still  represented  here. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


615 


George  Smith,  a  Virginian,  about  1810,  settled 
upon  lot  4  of  the  military  section.  About  the 
same  time,  Frederick  Woolford  and  Peter  Lash 
came.  The  former  settled  upon  lot  2,  the  latter 
upon  lot  10.  Francis  Stafford,  who  had  been  liv- 
ing in  Muskingum  county,  settled  upon  the 
southwest  quarter  of  section  12  about  the  year 
1810.  Joseph  Harris,  a  little  later,  settled  on  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  13.  James  Williams, 
settling  upon  the  northwest  quarter  of  section 
10,  and  Bradley  Squires,  a  Vermonter,  were  both 
here  before  1811.  In  that  year  Edward  Hardesty 
came  from  Maryland  and  located  the  south  half 
of  section  19.  He  afterward  removed  to  Illinois, 
and  there  died.  His  son,  Thomas  Hardesty,  still 
occupies  the  southwest  quarter  of  this  section. 

On  the  tax  duplicate  for  1820,  are  the  names  of 
quite  a  number  of  resident  land  holders  in  this 
township,  showing  it  must  have  settled  up  rapid- 
ly from  1812  to  1815.  These,  with  the  lands  they 
owned,  and  date  of  arrival  as  nearly  as  it  can  be 
determined,  are  herewith  given,  excepting  the 
families  previously  noticed. 

James  Aikens,  from  Pennsylvania,  in  1815, 
settled  upon  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  22; 
Noah  Cooper,  the  northeast  quarter  of  the  same 
section.  Peter  Camp,  from  Virginia,  first  owned 
this  quarter.-  He  emigrated  about  1812,  but  af- 
terward sold  to  Cooper,  and  removed  elsewhere. 
Solomon  Exline  owned  the  northwest  quarter  of 
section  5 ;  John  Kassner,  emigrating  about  1812, 
to  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  23;  Thomas  and 
William  Hunter,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 
22;  Ulysses  Kinzey,  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 18 ;  Joseph  McMorris,  the  southeast  quarter 
of  section  21 ;  Robert  McLaughlin,  the  northeast 
quarter  of  section  10 ;  Eli  McClain,  a  Virginian, 
about  1813,  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  10; 
William  McClain,  part  of  the  northwest  quarter 
of  section  19;  John  Mossman,  who  came  from 
Pennsylvania  about  1810,  and  died  some  thirty 
years  later,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two  years,  the 
southeast  quarter  of  20,  and  northeast,  of  21 ; 
James  McConnell,  the  southeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 18 ;  James  Pierce,  Jr.,  the  northeast  quarter 
of  14 ;  Jonathan  Phillips  the  southwest  quarter  of 
3;  Henry  Eine,  the  northeast  of  5;  JosM)h 
Slaughter,  from  Virginia,  about  1812,  northwest 
quarter  of  section  19.    On  the  military  section. 


forming  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  township, 
were  the  following :  William  Q.  Conner,  from 
Virginia,  about  1813,  parts  of  lots  2, 3  and  8 ;  Wil- 
liam Downs,  lot  23,  and  part  of  37 ;  Isaac  Hollo- 
way,  about  1813,  loT;  12;  John  Holloway,  from 
North  Carolina,  lot  19 ;  Daniel  Johnson,  a  colored 
man,  who  had  been  a  slave,  and  was  brought  here 
by  his  master,  lot  28 ;  David  Meek,  about  1814, 
south  half  of  lot  2;  George  Meek,  lot  24;  Ann 
Meek,  lot  88;  William  Ogle,  lot  34;  James  and 
William  Pierce,  lot  7. 

Washington  was  one  of  the  townships  existing 
at  the  time  the  county  was  organized.  It  was 
named  by  Mordecai  Chalfant.  It  belongs  to  the 
southern  tier  of  townships  touching  Muskingum 
county  on  the  south.  Bedford  township  bounds 
it  on  the  north,  Virginia  oA  the  east  and  Pike  on 
the  west.  That  part  of  it  which  is  congress  land — 
all  but  ,the  southwest  quarter — was  surveyed 
by  John  Matthews.  The  military  section-  was 
surveyed  into  100-acre  lots  by  William  Cutbush, 
in  1808. 

The  general  trend  of  the  streams  is  southward. 
Sand  fork  and  Paddy  fork  flow  by  irregular 
courses  from  north  to  south  through  the  whole 
township.  They  meet  near  the  southern  line 
and  a  little  lower  down,  though  still  in  this  town- 
ship, they  unite  with  Mill  fork,  which  enters  from 
Virginia  township.  Lash's  run  is  a  tributary  of 
Paddy  fork  in  the  southern  part  of  the  township 
from  the  west.  The  soil  is  chiefly  of  a  clayey  na- 
ture, the  surface  rough  and  rolling.  Much  atten- 
tion is  given  to  peach  culture  by  the  farmers  of 
this  township.  The  land  seems  admirably 
adapted  for  their  growth,  and  a  large  ■  orchard 
may  be  seen  on  almost  every  farm  in  the  town- 
ship. 

The  early  township  records  have  seemingly 
perished.  A  list  of  the  justices  of  the  peace, 
however,  has  been  preserved,  the  earliest  of  whom 
were  as  follows :  Mordecai  Chalfant,  elected  April 
11,  1811,  resigned  June  16,  1813 ;  George  Smith, 
elected  June  26, 1813,  resigned  May  16i  1816;  Jo- 
seph Slaughter,  elected  May,  1816,  resigned  the 
next  year  ;  Samuel  Hardesty,  elected  June,  1816; 
Richard  Tilton,  elected  in  1817,  1820,  1823  and 
1826;  Bradley  Squires,  elected  in  1818;  James 
Pierce,  elected  in  1821  and  1824;  F.  A.  Stafford, 


616 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


elected  in  1827  and  1830;  Adam  Exline,  in  1827; 
Bradley  Squires,  in  1830  and  1833;  William 
Downs,  in  1833. 

A  little  Indian  camp,  consisting  of  a  few  wig- 
wams, stood,  when  the  first  white  men  came  to 
the  township,  in  the  northeast  quarter  of  -sec- 
tion 7,  on  the  Hawthorn  place,  on  the  flat  a  short 
distance  west  of  Mr.  Hawthorn's  house,  close  to 
Paddy  run.  Big  Horn  was  the  ruling  spirit  here, 
and  the  place  was  often  visited  by  traders. 

The  first  road  through  the  township  was  the 
Owl  creek  road,  which  entered  the  township  from 
Muskingum  county,  in  section  22,  and  running 
northwest  through  the  center  of  the  township, 
crossed  into  Bedford  township  from  section  4. 
Very  soon  after  the  Newark  road  was  opened.  It 
crossed  the  other  road  at  Wakatomica,  and  the 
two  roads  thus  cut  the  township  into  four  nearly 
equal  parts. 

The  first  mill  in  the  township,  and  one  of  the 
first  in  the  county,  was  built  by  George  Smith,  on 
Paddy  run,  in  lot  4,  in  the  year  1812.  It  was  a 
little  afifair,  and  remained  in  operation  about 
twelve  years,  during  which  time  it  was  patron- 
ized by  settlers  far  and  near.  John  Walmesley, 
from  Praiiklin  township,  and  others  equally  re- 
mote in  other  directions,  were  regular  customers. 
Mr.  Smith  also  excavated  a  race  for  a  saw-mill, 
but  before  it  reached  completion  the  high  waters 
during  a  freshet  cut  so  deeply  into  the  banks  of 
the  trench  as  to  make  it  impracticable  to  restore 
it,  and  the  project  had  to  be  abandoned. 

Jacob  Croy  built  the  first  saw-mill,  about  1814, 
on  Mill  creek,  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  section 

21.  The  location  was  a  poor  one,  for  the  water 
washed  around  the  dam  and  destroyed  its  power. 
It  lasted  but  a  year  or  two.  Many  years  later  he 
erected  another  further  down  the  stream  on  the 
same  quarter.  It  proved  a  success  and  was  oper- 
ated for  a  long  time.  James  Aikens  built  the 
second  mill  of  this  kind  about  1815.  It  was  situ- 
ated on  Paddy  run,  northwest  quarter  of  section 

22.  A  few  years  after,  he  erected  a  grist  mill  at 
the  same  place  and  ran  the  two  in  conjunction 
for  a  number  of  years,  then  sold  to  Robert  Moss- 
man,  under  whom  they  were  suspended.  As  the 
township  developed,  other  mills  were  started  in 
different  localities.    William  Bell,  about  1839, 


built  a  grist-mill  up  Sand  Fork,  on  the  southwest 
quarter  of  section  10.  It  had  but  one  run  ot  stone 
and,  soon  after  it  started,  acquired  an  excellent 
reputation  for  the  quality  of  its  flour.  Mr.  Stan- 
ford and  Mr.  Parks  each  owned  a  saw-mill  for  a 
time.  Peter  Lash  built  a  little  mill  on  lot  9,  about 
1818,  which  lasted  only  a  year  or  two. 

William  R.  Thompson,  on  the  southeast  quar- 
ter of  section  13,  built  a  combined  grist,  saw  and 
carding-mill.  He  sold  it  to  Benjamin  Slaughter, 
and  he,  in  turn,  to  Newman  Smith.  Uriah  Kinzey 
erected  the  first  carding  and  fulling-mill  in  the 
township,  about  1827.  It  did  good  work  and  was 
highly  appreciated  hy  the  people,  who  came  a 
great  distance  to  get  their  wool  carded  here.  It 
remained  running  about  fifteen  years. 

Probably  the  first  still-house  was  set  in  opera- 
tion by  William  Hunter,  about  1815,  on  the  south- 
west quarter  of  section  22.  It  was  kept  up  about 
thirty  years.  Somewhat  later,  William  Thomp- 
son erected  one  on  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  eight.  He  paid  a  great  deal  of  attention 
to  the  distillation  of  peach  brandy,  having  a  large 
peach  orchard  on  his  place,  and  converting  most 
of  the  fruit  into  this  beverage.  Bradley  Squires, 
about  1824,  buili  himself  a  little  distillery,  and, 
during  the  ten  or  twelve  ensuing  years,  manu- 
factured a  considerable  quantity  of  rye  whisky. 

The  towhship  contains  no  village  and  but  a 
single  postofiice.  This  is  Wakatomica,  situated 
exactly  in  the  center  of  the  township.  Although 
no  village  plat  was  ever  made  of  the  land,  there 
is  quite  a  little  Chester  of  houses  here,  and  it,  per- 
haps, deserves  the  name  of  a  village.  A  store 
has  been  kept  at  the  place  for  about  thirty  years. 
It  was  started  by  Charles  Houser,  who  retained 
it  perhaps  five  or  six  years,  since  then  it  has  been 
owned  by  a  number  of  men  successively.  Isaac 
Piersel  purchased  it  about  two  years  ago  and 
still  has  possession.  The  various  industrial  shops 
common  to  a  small  place  like  this  may  be  found 
here.  A  large  building  was  erected  by  Darius 
Wright  about  1857,  and  occupied  by  him  for  a 
blacksmith  and  wagon  shop.  The  manufacture 
of  wagons  was  carried  on  quite  extensivelj^  for  a 
while,  but  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  Mr.  Wright  re- 
nacved  to  Warsaw  and  the  shop  was  closed. 
Stewart  McGinnis  is  the  postmaster, 

The  first  school-house  stood   on  the  present 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


617 


Lemuel  Kinzey  place,  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 18.  It  was  a  little  cabin  of  the  usual  primi- 
tive style,  built  without  nails  or  iron  of  any 
shape.  John  Hilliard,  a  Yankee,  was  the  first 
teacher.  Plis  first  term  was  held  in  1811.  He  is 
described  as  an  excellent  teacher,  one  who  took 
great  pains  to  instruct  his  pupils  in  the  rudi- 
ments of  learning,  and  they  advanced  rapidly  un- 
der his  care.  He  was  succeeded  by  Joseph  Har- 
ris, another  Yankee,  whose  instruction  fell  far 
short  of  the  standard  maintained  by  his  prede- 
cessor. Schools  at  this  time  were  held  very  ir- 
regularly. The  next  one  of  which  there  is  any 
knowledge  was  held  by  Abraham  McClain  in  a 
dwelling  house  about  1816.  He  was  deficient  in 
point  of  education  and  little  progress  was  made 
by  the  children  under  him.  Then  a  school  house 
was  built  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  19 
east  of  the  road  and  within  a  few  rods  of  Thomas 
Hardesty's  house.  Bradley  Squires,  one  of  the 
first  settlers,  taught  the  first  two  quarters  here 
between  the  years  1815  and  1820.  He  was  well 
qualified  for  the  position,  possessing  a  good  edu- 
cation and  the  art  of  communicating  knowledge 
to  his  scholars.  Peter  Kemington  followed  him. 
He  was  from  Rhode  Island;  taught  one  term 
only,  was  a  fair  instructor,  and  prided  himself  on 
his  mathematical  abilities.  Robert  Reed,  a  Penn- 
sylvanian,  came  next.  He  was  something  of  a 
fop  and  succeeded  tolerably  well  in  his  pedagogi- 
cal capacity.  Soon  schqol-houses  began  to  multi- 
ply and  the  schools  were  held  with  more  regu- 
larity thereafter. 

Chalfant  Methodist  Episcopal  church  is  the  old- 
est religious  society  in  the  county,  and  it  erected 
the  first  church  building  within  the  limits  of  the 
county.  It  was  organized  on  the  Cass  section,  in 
Muskingum  county,  about  1808,  by  Rev.  William 
Ellington,  who  became  the  first  pastor.  About 
1811,  it  was  determined  to  erect  a  house  of  wor- 
ship, and  the  site  of  the  present  church,  in  the 
northwest  corner  of  Mordecai  Chalfant's  section, 
was  selected  as  the  spot  whereon  to  build  it. 
The  contract  for  building  it  was  let  to  William 
Barcus,  who  afterward  removed  to  Roscoe,  then 
living  in  this  vicinity,  and,  in  1811,  it  was  begun. 
Before  it  was  finished,  Mr.  Barcus  was  called  to 
serve  his  coUntry,  in  the  frontier  army,  and  the 


building  remained  unfinished,  in  consequence, 
until  1815.  Mr.  Ellington  was  succeeded  as  pas- 
tor by  Revs.  James  Patterson,  James  B.  Finley, 
Elisha  Bowman  and  Samuel  Parker,  success- 
ively. Among  the  earliest  members  were  Mr. 
Young,  Peter  Eeasoner  and  wife,  Daniel  John- 
son (colored),  Francis  Stafford,  Peter  Camp,  Eli 
McClain  and  Mordecai  Chalfant.  Nearly  all  the 
original  members  were  from  Muskingum  «ounty. 
The  old  meeting-house,  a  hewed-log  structure, 
stood  until  1849,  when  it  was  replaced  by  the 
building  now  in  use,  which  is  a  frame,  thirty  by 
forty  feet  in  size.  It  was  built  by  Jacob  Croy, 
who  took  the  contract  for  $500,  and,  it  is  said, 
lost  money  by  the  operation.  The  church  was 
repaired  about  ten  years  ago.  This  society  has 
sent  out  into  the  ministry  sixteen  preachers.  The 
membership  is  about  12.5.  The  present  pastor  is 
A.  P.  Jones. 

A  Sunday-school  was  started  about  1822  and 
has  been  in  operation  with  a  fair  degree  of  reg- 
ularity ever  since.  During  the  early  period  of 
the  church's  history  preaching  was  held  entirely 
on  "week  days  "  and  Sunday  was  given  wholly  to 
the  Sunday-school.  The  members  would  start  to 
the  school  early  in  the  morning,  taking  their 
dinners  with  them,  and  remain  in  session  all  day. 
The  present  superintendent  of  the  school  is 
Mathias  Slaughter.  Unlike  most  country  Sun- 
day-schools it  is  conducted  throughout  the  entire 
year.  The  average  attendance  isaboutseventy-five. 

Tomika  Regular  Baptist  church,  situated  one- 
fourth  mile  north  of  the  township  center,  was 
organized  January  5, 1828,  by  Elder  Amos  Mix, 
at  the  house  of  William  R.  Thompson  with  but 
three  members — James  Brooks,  Elizabeth  Brooks 
and  John  Howell.  At  this  meeting,  however, 
William  R.  Thompson  and  Sarah  and  Mary 
Thompson  were  received  into  the  newly-made 
organization.  Several  years  later  a  log  church 
was  built  and  in  1845  the  present  frame  building 
capable  of  seating  from  three  to  four  hundred 
persons,  was  erected.  The  membership  at  that 
time  was  seventy-five.  At  present  it  is  sixty. 
The  pastors  who  have  performed  ministerial  ser- 
vice for  the  congregation  from  its  organization 
to  the  present  are  as  follows :  A.  Mix,  J.  Frey, 
Sr.,  William  Mears,  L.  L.  Root,  L.  Gilbert,  H. 


618 


HISTOiiY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Sampson,  J.  Frey,  Jr.,  S.  West,  R.  R.  Whitaker, 
B.  Allen,  E.  B.  Smith,  J.  W.  Reed,  A.  W.  Odor, 
E.  Frey,  J.  C.  Skinner,  S.  C.  Tussing,  John  Wright 
and  L.  K.  Mears. 

The  present  Sunday-school  was  organized  in 
1872,  with  James  JS.  Smith  as  superintendent. 
The  present  superintendent  is  David  Frey.  The 
school  is  kept  open  during  the  whole  year.  The 
membership  is  small,  but  the  school  is  in  good 
working  condition. 

The  above  two  churches  are  the  only  active  so- 
cieties now  in  the  township.  Within  a  few  years 
the  Valley  Methodist  Protestant  church  has  de- 
clined. The  house  of  worship  stands  in  the  south- 
western part  of  the  township,  on  the  north  line 
of  lot  22.  The  class  was  organized  in  the  spring 
of  1859,  in  the  school-house,  by  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Biddeson.  During  the  autumn  of  the  same  year 
the  church  was  built,  and  dedicated  in  December, 
1859,  by  Rev.  Israel  Thrapp,  who  was  stationed 
on  this  circuit  with  Rev.  Biddeson.  The  build- 
ing is  a  frame,  thirty  by  forty  feet,  and  cost  $800. 
Kinzey  Fulks,  who  was  the  first  leader,  Cyrus 
McFarland,  Wesley  D.  Richcreek,  John  Tooth- 
man  and  John  Lash  were  principal  early  mem- 
bers. The  last  regular  pastor  was  Rev.  Samuel 
Scott.  The  decline  of  the  church  was  due  to  re- 
movals and  deaths.  A  prosperous  Sunday-school 
was  connected  with  the  church. 

A  congregation  of  Presbyterians  was  organized 
as  early  as  1825,  perhaps  some  years  earlier.  Rev. 
James  Cunningham,  of  Utiea,  held  the  first  serv- 
ices. A  log  church  was  built  first,  and  afterward 
a  frame,  which  is  still  standing,  nearly  two  miles 
northeast  of  Wakalomica,  on  the  Newark  road. 
Among  the  early  members  were  John  Pollock, 
Nancy  Gibson,  John  and  Joseph  Mossman,  Daniel 
McCurdy,  John  Crawford  and  John  McFarland. 
The  society  continued  until  a  short  time  after  the 
war.  Political  dissensions  was  one  of  the  main 
causes  of  its  decline. 


CHAPTER  LXX. 

WHITE  EYES    TOWNSHIP. 

Organization  and  Original  Boundaiies —  Topography— An- 
cient Fort— Settlement — Population — Postoffices — Atou- 
dale — Mills— Churches. 

IN  the  commissioners'  journal  appears  the  fol- 
lowing record  under  date  of  Monday,  De- 
cember 1, 1823 :  "  Petition  received  and  granted 
by  commissioners  to  set  off  a  new  township  to  in- 
clude parts  of  Mill  Creek  and  Oxford  townships, 
and  bounded  as  follows :  beginning  at  the  south- 
east corner  of  township  7,  range  5,  thence  north 
two  and  one-half  miles,  thence  west  two  and  one- 
half  miles  to  the  center  of  said  township,  thence 
south  two  and  one-half  miles  to  the  township  line, 
thence  west  two  and  one-half  miles  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  township  6,  range  5,  thence  south 
two  and  one-half  miles,  thence  east  two  and  one- 
half  miles  to  the  center  of  township  6,  thence 
south  two  and  one-half  miles  to  the  township 
line,  thence  east  two  and  one-half  miles  to  the 
southeast  corner  of  township  6,  range  6,  thence 
north  two  and  one-half  miles,  thence  east  two 
and  one-half  miles  to  the  center  of  township  6, 
range  4,  thence  north  two  and  one-half  miles  to 
the  township  line,  thence  west  two  and  one-halt 
miles  to  the  place  of  beginning.'' 

As  thus  instituted  the  township  consisted  of 
three-fourths  of  what  is  now  Lafayette  township, 
the  northeast,  northwest  and  southeast  quarters, 
the  northwest  quarter  of  Oxford  township  and 
only  the  southeast  quarter  of  White  Eyes  town- 
ship as  it  now  stands.  When  the  change  to  its 
present  boundaries  was  made  is  not  shown  by 
the  records,  but  it  must  have  been  prior  to  1835, 
for  in  that  year  the  last  of  the  townships  was  or- 
ganized as  they  now  appear.  It  is  now  five  miles 
square,  being  township  7  of  range  5  as  originally 
surveyed.  On  the  north  it  touches  Crawford 
township,  on  the  east  Adams,  on  the  South  Lafay- 
ette and  on  the  west  Keene. 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


619' 


The  surface  is  usually  hilly.  In  the  southwestern 
corner,  which  is  within  a  mile  of  the  Tuscarawas 
river,  is  seen  a  gently  undulating  plain,  extend- 
ing into  Keene  and  Lafayette  townships.  Like 
other  similar  tracts  in  was  scantily  timbered 
when  first  settled.  White  Eyes  creels  is  the 
principal  stream.  It  enters  from  the  north  and 
flows  in  a  southerly  direction.  Near  the  center 
of  its  course  in  this  township  it  receives  its  two 
main  branches,  known  as  the  Middle  and  East 
Forks.  The  latter  flows  almost  directly  west 
from  Adams  township;  the  former  in  a  south- 
westerly direction  from  Crawford  township. 
Along  the  valley  of  White  Eyes  creek  the  view 
is  ofttimes  quite  picturesque.  The  valley  is  often 
narrow,  and  the  bordering  hillsides  steep  and 
precipitous.  Huge  frowning  ledges  of  sandstone 
project  from  these  or  rise  again  perpendicularly 
forty  feet,  sometimes  from  the  water's  edge. 
Numerous  fissures  where  these  rocks  have  been 
rent  asunder  attest  the  operation  here  of  the 
mighty  forces  of  nature.  Sometimes  a  solitary 
mass  of  rocks  is  seen  standing  in  bold  relief  at 
the  top  of  some  towering  hill. 

In  the  northern  part  of  the  township,  about  a 
half  mile  south  of  Chili,  is  an  ancient  fortification. 
It  stands  on  an  elevated,  level  piece  of  ground ; 
is  oval  or  oblong  in  shape,  and  encloses  more 
than  an  acre  of  ground.  The  embankment  has 
been  greatly  worn  down  by  repeated  plowings, 
and  years  ago  it  was  four  or  five  feet  high.  One 
end  of  the  ''  fort "  approaches  close  to  an  abrupt 
bluflf  and  overlooks  the  White  Eyes  creek  valley 
from  a  height  of  forty  or  fifty  feet.  Many  trink- 
ets, as  stone  axes,  flints,  etc.,  have  been  found  in 
this  vicinity 

The  name  of  the  township  and  that  of  its  main 
stream  was  doubtless  given  in  honor  of  Captain 
White  Eyes,  a  noted  Delaware  chieftain,  who 
dwelt  in  the  Tuscarawas  valley. 

The  western  half  of  the  township  is  congress 
land.  It  was  surveyed  into  half  sections  of  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  each  by  Ebenezer 
Buckingham,  in  1803.  The  eastern  half  com- 
prises two  military  sections  of  four  thousand 
acres  each.  The  northern  of  these  was  owned  by 
David  Lynn,  of  Allegheny  county,  Maryland. 
He  never  settled  on  it,  but  sold  it  gradually  to 
incoming  settlers.      About  five  hundred  acres 


were  sold  off  the  northeastern  part  very  early — 
two  hundred  and  fifty  of  this  to  Martin  Baum,  of 
Cincinnati,  February  1,  1801,  for.  two  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  About  1820  the  remainder  of - 
the  section  was  surveyed  into  twenty-eight  lots- 
of  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  each, 
by  James  Ravenscraft,  he  receiving,  it  is  said,- 
one  lot  in  compensation  for  his  services. 

The  other  section,  consisting  of  the  southeast 
quarter  of  the  township,  was  owned  by  Jacob 
Bowman,  of  Brownsville,  Fayette  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. In  May,  1S12,  it  was  surveyed  into 
twenty-five  lots  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres- 
each,  by  Joseph  H.  Larwill.  In  1816,  Mr.  Bow- 
man sold  three  of  these  lots,  Nos.  17, 18  and  23^- 
to  John  Henders"bn,  for  twelve  hun'i'red  dollars, 
but  he  reserved  nearly  the  entire  section  until 
the  surrounding  country  was  well  settled  and  the 
value  of  the  land  greatly  enhanced.  The  settle-, 
ment  of  this  part  of  the  township  was  conse- 
quently much  retarded. 

It  is  not  known  who  was  the  first  settler  of 
White  Eyes  township,  but  among  the  earliest- 
was  Robert  Culbertson,  who  settled  on  the  plains- 
in  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  25,  about 
1813  or  1814.  He  died  in  the  fall  of  1815,  and- 
his  family  rented  the  place  and  removed  from, 
the  vicinity. 

It  is  said  that  a  Mr.  Bay,  before  the  war  of 
1812,  settled  upon  the  northeast  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 7,  and  thus  became  the  first  settler  in  the 
township,  and  that  he  afterward  sold  the  place  to 
Michael  Frock,  also  an  early  settler.  Why  he 
should  have  selected  this  rough  piece  of  land, 
far  removed  from  any  settlement  or  stream  of 
any  size,  is  unknown.  Jerry  Hostetler,  a  Penn- 
sylvanian,  about  1817,  settled  on  section'  28. 

Michael  Stonehocker,  about  1816,  settled  upon 
the  southwest  quarter  of  section  16.  He  came 
here  from  Jefferson  county,  not  far  from  Smith- 
field,  but  was  originally  from  Virginia.  After 
residing  here  for  a  time,  he  removed  to  Wash- 
ington county,  and  remained  there  four  years. 
He  then  went  to  Powshiek  county,  Iowa,  where 
he  died  in  1865.  His  brother,  Jacob  Stone- 
hocker, removed  from  Jefferson  county  to  Tus- 
carawas county  about  1811,  and  to  this  township 
the  year  after  Michael  came.    He  purchased  and 


620 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


settled  upon  the  north-west  quarter  of  section 
'25,  where  he  remained  till  his  death.  John 
Dicky  had  entered  this  quarter,  but  had  lived 
here  only  about  six  months  when  he  became  sick, 
and,  thinking  that  he  had  located  too  near  the 
river,  sold  his  claim  and  removed  to  Mill  Creek 
township,  where  he  died.  .  Matthias  Huller  set- 
tled in  this  same  section  about  1820.  He  was 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  years  afterward  removed 
to  the  western  part  of  this  State. 

As  previously  stated,  John  Henderson  pur- 
chased three  lots,  or  480  acress,  in  the  Bowman 
•section,  in  1816.  His  brother,  George,  was  in- 
terested with  him  in  a  portion  of  this  property, 
and  both  were  occupants.  They  were  from  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania.  George  died  on 
his  farm,  at  an  advanced  age,  in. 1868. 

The  Ravenscrafts,  James,  William  and  John, 
came  to  the  township,  from  Virginia,  as  early  as 
1820,  and  became  prominent  in  this  locality. 
James  was  the  owner  of  lots  6  and  13  of  the  Lynn 
section,  and  William  of  lot  4.  William  had  been 
a  revolutionary  soldier.  The  former  took  a  lead- 
ing part  in  county  affairs.  He  was  a  surveyor  by 
■occupation  and  filled  the  office  of  county  sur- 
veyer  for  a  number  of  years.  He  also  served  as 
oounty  commissioner  and  State  senator.  He  died 
in  this  townshsp  about  1854. 

Michael  Frock  came  to  the  northeast  quarter 
■of  section  7,  in  1818.  He  was  born  in  Chester 
county,  Pennsylvania,  May  9, 1785,  and  married 
to  EUzabeth  Seldenright  in  1807.  He  was  the 
first  justice  of  the  peace  in  this  township.  His 
wife  died  in  1856  and  he  survived  her  fifteen 
years,  reaching  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-six. 

Abner  Kimball,  in  1818,  settled  upon  a  tract  of 
600  acres,  lots  12, 14,  18  and  19,  of  the  Lynn  sec- 
tion. He  was  from  New  Hampshire,  and  died  in 
1870.  John  McPherson,  from  Virginia,  was  a 
resident  of  the  townshp,  from  1821  to  1834.  He 
had  been  a  soldier  in  Anthony  Wayne's  army. 
■George  McCaskey,  from  Donegal  county,  Ireland, 
came  in  1819,  and  remained  upon  the  same  farm 
until  his  death,  in  1871.  He  was  eighty-six  years 
of  age.  His  wife  died  in  1862,  in  her  eightieth 
/ear.  Henry  Cliplever  was  in  the  township, 
perhaps  as  early  as  1815.  He  settled  upon  lot  7, 
of  the  Lynn  section,  and  died  a  few  years  later. 
jJunkin  Mulvane  and  John  Tipton  came  about 


1816.  The  former  settled  upon  lot  11,  of  tlie 
Lynn  section,  and,  about  1842,  removed  to  Union 
county.  Tipton  was  the  possessor  of  the  west 
half  of  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  16.  He' 
afterward  moved  further  west.  James  Sondals 
was  another  early  settler,  occupying  the  north- 
west quarter  of  section  8.  He  remained  in  the 
township  only  a  few  years. 

Robert  Boyd,  from  Donegal  county,  Ireland, 
came  to  the  township  in  1824,  and  died  a  few 
years  later.  John  Carnahan  came  in  1826  and, 
in  the  following  year,  his  father  and  the  rest  of 
his  family— Adam,  James,  Eleanor,  Andrew, 
Thompson,  William,  Nancy,  Eliza  and  Hugh. 
The  family  was  originally  from  Westmoreland 
county,  Pennsylvania.  John,  the  first  named, 
died  November  21,  1869,  aged  sixty-three  years. 
John  Schuck,from  Cumberland,  Maryland,  abont 
1825,  settled  upon  200  acres,  lot  22,  and  a  portion 
of  23,  of  the  Lynn  section.  He  had  traded  a 
town  lot,  with  a  log-cabin  upon  it,  at  his  former 
residence,  for  this  farm.  John  Alexander  came 
to  the  township  in  1826,  and  settled  upon  lot  21, 
Lynn  section.  He  was  originally  from  Tyrone 
county,  Ireland,  was  one  of  the  earliest  justices 
in  White  Eyes,  and  died  in  1854.  About  1825, 
Aaron  D.  Camp  settled  a  short  distance  south  of 
Avondale.  The  Winkleplecks,  too,  John,  George 
and  Jacob,  were  early  occupants  of  this  township. 
The  State  of  Pennsylvania  was  most  numerously 
represented  in  the  early  settlement  of  the  town- 
ship, though  it  by  no  means  furnished  all  the 
pioneers. 

The  population  of  White  Eyes  township,  in 
1830,  was  445;  997  in  1840;  1,132  in  1850;  998  in 
1860;  923  in  1870,  and  960  in  1880. 
; 

George  Winklepleok  kept  the  first  postoffice, 
at  an  earlj-  day,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  town- 
ship. Some  j'ears  after  Chili  was  laid  out  it  was 
removed  to  that  place.  The  next  office  was 
Munnsville,  in  the  western  part  of  the  township, 
at  which  James  McMunn  was  first  postmaster. 
He  was  succeeded  by  John  Carnahan.  William 
Carnahan,  John  Jack  and  C.  C.  Hamilton  afterward 
held  the  appointment.  The  office  has  been  with- 
drawn since  the  establishment  of  the  office  at  Av- 
ondale. This  is  a  collection  of  twenty  or  more 
houses  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  township,  near 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


621 


the  junction  of  White  Eyes  creek  and  Middle 
Fork.  No  town  plat  was  ever  made  of  the  land 
in  this  vicinity,  and  the  houses  are  widely  scatr 
tered,  some  perched  upon  the  hills  and  others  in 
the  meadows  helow,  but  it  has  the  appearance  of 
a  thrifty  little  village.  J.  M.  Ferrell  started  a 
store  here  in  1865,  and  the  next  year  William  J. 
Maley  built  a  blacksmith  shop.  The  postoffice 
established  here  about  this  time,  was  named 
Boyd's  Mills,  and  Jacktown  was  the  sobriquet 
which  the  village  received.  This  name  did  not 
meet  with  the  approbation  of  the  villagers,  and 
in  1875,  in  convention  assembled,  through  the 
medium  of  the  ballot-box,  they  expressed  their 
choice  of  a  new  name.  Avondale  was  the  title 
selected,  the  name  of  the  postoffice,  by  petition, 
was  9hanged  to  it,  and  it  has  gradually  super- 
seded the  ancient  designation.  There  are  here 
at  present  two  dry  goods  stores,  owned  by  J.  M. 
Ferrell  and  C,  E.  Miller ;  one  grocery,  G.  0.  Fer- 
rell ;  two  blacksmith  shops,  two  shoe  shops,  and 
one  hotel,  conducted  by  J.  P.  Benjamin.  A  tri- 
weekly mail  is  received  from  West  Lafayette. 

The  oldest  and  best  known  mill  in  the  town- 
ship was  first  built  by  William  M.  Boyd,  an  early 
settler  of  Keene  township,  in  1831,  at  what  is 
now  Avondale.  He  remained  in  possession  of  it 
until  1847,  when  he  sold  it  to  Henry  Winkle- 
pleck.  Soon  after  Mr.  Winklepleck  died  and  the 
property  passed  into  the  hands  of  Adam  Gardner. 
He  operated  it  a  great  many  years,  and  then  sold 
it  to  Thomas  Elliott,  who  disposed  of  it  to  John 
P.  Benjamin.  The  dam  was  torn  away  by  a 
freshet  several  years  ago  and  has  not  been  re- 
paired. It  contained  two  run  of  stone,  and  did 
an  extensive  and  satisfactory  business  for  nearly 
fifty  years. 

Another  mill  was  located  about  a  mile  further 
up  the  stream.  It  was  operated  successively  by 
by  Mr.  Headley,  William  Frazy ,  Andrew  Croy  and 
David  Eeed.    It  suspended  about  1860. 

Jame§  Evans  built  a  saw-mill  at  an  early  date 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  township,  on  lot  24 
After  some  time  he  sold  it  to  George  and  Henry 
Winklepleck.  It  remained  in  the  Winklepleck 
family  until  about  1865,  when  it  was  sold  to  John 
Bowman.  A  short  time  before  this,  a  grist-mill 
was  added,  and  with  it,  steam  power,  which  is 


used  when  the  water  is  low.  A  fulling-mill  was 
also  operated  in  connection  with  the  saw-mill  for 
a  few  years,  while  under  the  management  of  the 
Winkleplecks.  The  grist-mill  contains  two  run, 
of  buhrs,  and  is  now  doing  a  fine  business. 

Frederick  Everhart  erected  a  saw-mill  on  Mid- 
dle Fork,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township^ 
which  ceased  to  operate  under  the  ownership  of 
Lewis  Swigert. 

Thomas  Dudgeon  for  a  short  time  ran  a  distil- 
lery on  section  4. 

There  are  at  present  seven  religious  societies  in 
the  township,  three  Methodist  Episcopal,  one 
United  Presbyterian,  one  United  Brethren  and 
two  "  Union  "  churches. 

The  White  Eyes  Methodist  church  was  organ- 
ized about  1852.  In  that  year  the  first  house  of 
worship,  a  frame  buildirig,  was  erected  on  the  lot. 
donated  by  William  E.  Boyd,  in  the  southeast, 
quarter  of  section  6.  Eev.  Boggs  was  the  first 
minister.  The  early  members  included  Robert. 
R.  Boyd  and  wife,  Robert  Adams  and  wife,  Wil- 
liam Adams  and  wife,  William  Carnahan  and 
wife,  Francis  Boyd  and  wife,  Mrs.  Isabella  Boyd^ 
Mary  Boyd  and  Mrs.  Nancy  McCuUough.  The 
present  church  was  erected  in  1876.  It  is  a  neat 
frame,  thirty  by  thirty-six  feet  in  size.  The  pas- 
tor is  Rev.  T.  G.  Roberts.  The  membership  is 
seventy-three.  A  Sunday-school  is  held  only 
during  the  summer. 

Chili  Methodist  Episcopal  (German)  church 
was  organized  in  the  spring  of  1875  by  Rev. 
Charles  Cook.  He  was  stationed  in  the  Dover 
circuit,  and  for  nearly  a  year  before  the  class- 
was  organized  had  been  holding  a  series  of  meet- 
ings in  the  school-house  and  in  private  houses  in 
this  vicinity  until  he  gathered  together  a  suflB- 
cient  number  of  members  to  start  a  society.  The 
original  members  were  Philip  Gebhard  and  wife,. 
Christian  Leindecker,  Valentine  Hothem  and 
wife,  John  Eberwine,  John  Bender  and  Charles 
Souerbrey.  The  membership  has  since  increased 
to  sixty.  During  the  summer  of  1875  the  church 
was  built  on  a  lot  donated  by  Gottlieb  Fellas, 
close  to  the  Crawford  towhship  line.  It  is  a 
frame  building,  and  in  its  erection  involved  an 
expenditure  of  $1,200.  The  dedicatory  sermon 
was  delivered  by  Rev.  George  Schwint,  in  the 


*622 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


fall  of  1875.  During  the  ensuing  winter  Rev.  0. 
C.  Klocksiem,  the  second  minister,  conducted  an 
interesting  and  successful  revival.  He  remained 
■  on  this  appointment  three  years,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  John  Haas,  who  was  pastor  two  years. 
Eev.  William  Andree,  the  present  pastor,  fol- 
lowed him. 

Jacob  Miller  was  the  first  luperintendent  of 
the  Sunday-school.  Philip  Gebhard  acts  in  that 
■capacity  at  present.  The  school  numbers  about 
.«ixty,  and  is  open  during  the  summer  season  only. 

Kimball's  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  the  old- 
est in  the  township,  was  organized  about  the  year 
1819,  by  Rev.  Thomas  Ruggles.  On  the  roll  of 
pioneer  members  were  the  names  of  Abner  Kim- 
ball, John  Schuck,  Nathan  Spellman,  Edward  Mc- 
<]iarvey  and  wife,  Gabriel  Hedley,  Ehzabeth  Hed- 
ley,  John  Little,  and  others.  Meetings  were  held 
for  a  few  years  at  Abner  Kimball's  house,  and 
also  in  a  school-house  that  stood  on  Junkin  Mul- 
vanfe's  farm.  A  log  church  was  built  in  1831,  on 
lot  19  of  the  Lynn  section.  One  of  the  early 
,  schools  was  taught  here  by  Joseph  Townsley.  It 
was  replaced  in  1866  by  the  frame  church  now  in 
use,  the  present  valuation  of  which  is  $700.  Eev. 
T.  G.  Roberts  is  the  present  pastor,  commencing 
his  term  of  service  in  September,  1880.  The 
present  church  membership  is  sixty.  A  Sunday- 
-school was  organized  in  1856,  which  is  now  super- 
intended by  Zachariah  Everhart,  and  has  a  mem- 
bership of  fifty. 

The  Avondale  United  Presbyterian  church  was 
organized  at  the  central  school-house,  three-fourths 
of  a  mile  from  Avondale,  in  May,  1872,  by  Rev. 
Andrew  McCartney.  It  was  formed  by  a  union 
•of  White  Eyes  congregation  and  Oak  Grove  con- 
gregation, originally  an  Associate  Reformed  and 
■an  Associate  Presbyterian  congregation.  The 
principal  original  members  were  Samuel  Boyd, 
John  Dagherty,  Thomas  Elliott,  W.  H.  Park,  John 
Boyd,  Daniel  Smith,  Madison  Warren,  Robert 
Dickey  and  Samuel  Weir ;  the  elders  were  Camp- 
ibell,  Warren  and  James  T.  Boyd.    The  church,  a 


neat  frame  building,  at  Avondale,  was  erected  in 
1873,  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,900  Since  the  organiza- 
tion there  has  been  no  settled  pastor.  Rev.  An- 
drew McCartney  was  stated  supply  for  one  and  a 
half  years,  half  time.  Rev.  T.  H.  Pollock  for  one 
year,  and  Rev.  William  Wishart  for  six  months. 
The  membership  is  now  fifty. 

White  Eyes  Regular  Baptistchurch,  located  on 
lot  il,  Lynn  section,  was  organized  in  1839,  with 
fourteen  members.  In  1854,  the  membership 
reached  sixty.  From  that  time  the  number  de- 
creased, and  a  few  years  ago  the  congregation  met 
and  disbanded,  having  at  the  time  about  fifteen 
members.  The  ministers  who  have  served  this 
church  as  pastors  are  as  follows :  H.  Sayer,  B. 
White,  R.  R.  Whitaker,  A.  W.  Odor,  J.  W.  and 
H.  Broom.  The  house  of  worship  was  a  small 
frame.  In  the  summer  of  1880  it  was  rebuilt  by 
the  people  in  this  vicinity,  irrespective  of  church 
affinities,  and  has  thus  been  divested  of  its  strictly 
denominational  character. 

A  similar  "  union  "  church  stands  on  lot  2  of 
the  same  section.  A  United  Brethren  congrega- 
tion built  a  frame  church  here  as  early  as  1845. 
Solomon  Reed,  Adam  Deeds  and  William  P. 
Murphy,  were  leading  members  of  the  society 
which  was  never  very  large.  It  disbanded  about 
1865.  In  October,  1876,  it  was  resolved  by  a  few 
of  the  farmers  of  this  neighborhood  to  rebuild 
the  church.  This  was  accomplished  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  through  the  efforts  of  Solomon 
Deeds,  Robert  Miller,  C.  C.  Geese,  John  Phila- 
bam,  James  Moore,  and  others.  Itis  now  known 
as  Union  Chapel  and  was  dedicated  June  22, 
1878,  by  Rev.  Philip  Kelser,  a  Methodist  Episcopal 
minister,  assisted  by  William  P.  Murphy,  a  Christ- 
ian Union,  and  Thomas  Pollack  a  United  Presby- 
terian minister.  Rev.  William  P.  Murphy  is  the 
present  minister  of  this  independent  congrega- 
tion. 

A  United  Brethren  church  stands  on  lot  22  of 
the  Bowman  section,  near  the  southeastern  cor- 
ner of  the  township. 


^'>f5S5??M5eSe!»;^._, , 


"SHADY   BEND,"   RESEDENCE  OF  HON.  JOE 


/%w^ 


Ts^^ff^*  *  '*"  '■'***^: 


■W,  OXFORD  TOWKSHIP,  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES, 

ALPHABETICALLY    ARRANGED. 


Note.— All  matter  contained  in  these  sketches  has  been  obtained  directly  from  families  or  individuals  cognizant  of 
the  facts  contained  in  them.  Being  thus  obtained,  those  furnishing  the  information  are  alone  responsible  for  the  facts  and 
dates  written.    The  publishers  do  not  hold  themselves  responsible  for  any  statements  found  in  them. 


ADAMS  WILLIAI^,  Bedford  township,  shoe- 
maker, postoffice  West  Bedford,  born  in  1820,  in 
Jefferson  county.  He  came  to  this  county  in 
1834  with  his  father,  John  Adams,  who  was  born 
in  1792,  in  Maryland.  He  came  to  Jefferson  county 
in  1806,  and  was  married  in  1818  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet Donley,  of  that  county,  who  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania.  He  died  in  1875,  and  she  died  in 
1872.  They  were  the  parents  of  five  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  oldest.  He 
was  married  in  1855  to  Miss  Ann  McCullough, 
•of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1827,  in  Dela- 
ware. 

ADAMS  E.  W.,  Eoscoe  postoffice,  farmer  and 
lumber  dealer,  born  January  24,  1832,  in  Keene 
township,  son  of  J  Q.  Adams,  a  New  Englander 
bv  birth  and  of  English  descent ;  married  Octo- 
ber 3, 1866,  to  Miss  OHvia  M.,  daughter  of  Alan- 
son  Gleason,  of  Ashtabula  county.  Their  family 
consists  of  five  children,  viz:  Lora  L.,  John  Q-, 
Dorothy  A.,  Edward  G.  and  Clifford  G.  In  1872 
the  firm,  Adams  &  Gleason,  lumber  dealers, 
was  established  in  North  Roscoe.  Their  stock 
consists  of  both  rough  and  dressed  lumber  and 
they  manufacture  frames  and  all  kinds  of  supplies 
used  for  building  purposes. 

ADAMS  THOMAS,  White  Eyes  township, 
farmer,  is  a  native  of  this  county,  and  was  born 
in  1839.  His  father,  John  Adams,  emigrated  to 
this  country  from  Ireland  and  settled  in  White 
Eyes  at  an  early  date.  Thomas  was  drafted  in 
1862,  and  employed  John  Bowman,  of  Columbus, 
as  his  substitute.  He  married  November  29, 
1866,  Miss  AngeUne  Wilhelm,  daughter  of  Sam- 
uel Wilhelm.  She  was  born  in  this  county  in 
1844.  They  have  two  children— Ida  R.,  born  in 
1867;  Eeo  Alva,  born  1877. 


ADAMS  G.  W.,  Virginia  township,  born  in 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  February  23, 1827;  mar- 
ried January  2. 1854.  Mr.  Adams  has  been  blessed 
with  eight  children,  two  of  whom  are  married 
and  six  are  still  living  with  their  parents.  Mr. 
Adams  is  engaged  in  farming.  Postoffice  Dres- 
den, Muskingum  county,  Ohio. 

ADAMS  C.  E.,  Virginia  township,  born  in 
this  county  March  15, 1822,  son  of  Beal  and  Bet- 
sey Adams,  grandson  of  George  and  Anna 
Adams.  He  was  married  January  12, 1843.  Mr. 
Adams  has  been  blessed  with  twelve  children, 
six  of  whom  are  living  and  six  are  dead.  Postof- 
fice Adams'  Mills.  , 

ADAMS  ALEX.,  White  Eyes  township,  far- 
mer, born  in  1847,  in  this  township,  the  son  of 
John  Adams  and  Jane  (McCuUough)  Adams, 
who  were  both  natives  of  Ireland,  and  came  to 
this  country  in  1832,  and  settled  in  Keene  town- 
ship. They  then  moved  upon  eighty  acres  he 
entered  in  White  Eyes,  and  subsequently  bought 
the  Cassady  place,  where  he  now  resides.  Aug- 
ust 9, 1877,  Alexander  Adams  married  Margaret 
Cutshall,  of  Crawford  township,  the  daughter  of 
John  Cutshall.  They  lived  on  the  McBratney 
place  one  year,  next  moved  to  George  county, 
Nebraska,  where  Mr.  Adams  entered  a  quarter- 
section.  After  living  on  that  one  year,  he  sold 
it  and  bought  eighty  acres  near  the  same  place, 
on  which  he  lived  seven  months,  and  then  re- 
turned to  White  Eyes,  where  he  now  resides. 
They  hkve  one  child,  Jennie  Rosalie,  born  July 
22, 1878. 

*ADDY  SAMUEL,  Adams  township,  farmer, 
postofiice,  Evansburgh;  born  June  20, 1843;  son  of 
Anthony  T.  and  Sarah  A.  (Norris)  Addy;  grand- 

*Since  the  above  was  written,  Mr.  Addy  has  gone  to  Iowa, 


628 


HISTORY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


son  of  Robert  Addy  and  Samuel  and  Lydia 
(Hartly)  Norris.  He  enlisted  February  22, 1864, 
in  Company  H,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  under  Cap- 
tain Samuel  Stevens.  He  took  part  in  the  en- 
gagements at  Tunnel  Hill,  Resaca,  Cassville,  Dal- 
ton,  Kennesaw  Mountain,  and  Peaohtree  Creek. 
Arriving  at  Atlanta,  they  v?ent  to  Jonesboro, 
thence  to  Atlanta  again,  thence  to  Chattanooga, 
then  to  Athens,  Alabama,  from  there  to  Pulaski, 
thence  to  Franklin  and  Nashville,  then  to  winter 
quarters,  thence  to  Nashville,  and  from  there  to 
Texas,  and  was  discharged  Nobember  4,  1865. 
He  was  married  October  5, 1866,  to  Miss  Sarah  J. 
Norris,  daughter  of  Matilda  (Maple)  and  Jacob 
Norris.  The  ancestors  were :  William  and  Anna 
Smyth  Norris,  William  and  Sarah  (Johnson) 
Maple,  great  great  grand-daughter  of  Ca-tharine 
(Bridgewater)  Johnson.  She  was  born  in  Adams 
township,  December  20,  1848.  This  union  has 
been  blessed  with  five  children,  viz :  Mary  A., 
born  October  14,  1867;  Martha  E.,  born  Septem- 
ber 26,  1869;  Amanda  E.,  born  May  16,  1872; 
Matilda,  born  November  24, 1874;  Orla,  born  Feb- 
ruary 20, 1878. 

ALMACK  D.  E.,  Jefferson  township,  was  born 
October  15, 1843,  in  Perry  township,  Coshocton 
county,  postoffioe,  Mohawk  Village ;  son  of  K.  L. 
and  Caroline  (Johns)  Almack ;  was  brought  up 
on  a  farm  and  educated  in  district  schools.  At 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  enlisted  in  Company  H, 
Ninety-seventh  0.  V.  I. ;  served  three  years  under 
Captain  C.  C.  Nichols,  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, Second  Division  Fourth  Army  Corps.  He 
was  in  the  battles  of  Stone  River,  Chattanooga, 
Chickamauga,  Resaca,  Dalton,  Adairsville,  New 
Hope  Church,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Columbia, 
Tennessee,  Springhill,  Franklin  and  Nashville. 
He  was  severely  wounded  at  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
and  was  taken  to  hospital  No.  1,  Nashville,  Tenn- 
essee, where  he  remained  three  months,  when  he 
again  joined  his  regiment  at  Chattanooga.  In 
1865,  He  was  honorably  discharged  at  Nashville, 
and  nmstered  out  at  Columbus.  He  was  married 
to  Miss  Delila  Meredith,  November  4, 1867,  who 
died  September  12, 1868.  Mr.  Almack  was  mar- 
ried to  his  second /wife,  Miss  Rebecca  Richards, 
January  4,  1870,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Rebecca 
(Meredith)  Richards.  Their  children  are  Fran- 
cis M.,  Jay  Quincy,  and  Kinsey  D.  Mr.  Almack 
has  been  engaged  in  merchandising  since  1868,  in 
Mohawk  Village,  where  be  is  doing  a  good  busi- 
ness. 

ALMACK  L.  F.,  Jefferson  township,  was  born 
January  15, 1846,  in  P^rry  township,  Coshocton 
county;  son  of  K.  L.  and  Caroline  (Johns)  Al- 
mack, and  grandson  of  Thomas  and  Dorcas  (Cul- 
lison)  Almack,  and  David  Johns.  He  -was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  educated  in  district 
schools,  and  followed  farming  till  1872,  when  he 


began  the  grocery  business  in  Mohawk  Village, 
and  continued  three  years,  since  when  he  has 
been  engaged  as  clerk  in  his  brother's  store.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Hester  Mikesell,  February  7, 
1869,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Orpha  (Gerrard) 
Mikesell.  James  R.,  born  November  6,  1869,  is 
their  only  child. 

ALMACK  J.  W.,  merchant.  Pike  township. 
He  was  born  in  1846,  in  Perry  township.  His 
father,  J.  C.  Almack,  was  born  in  1800,  in  Balti- 
more county,  Maryland,  and  came  to  this  county  in 
1827.  He  was  married  in  1826  to  Mary  Richards, 
who  was  bom  in  1806,  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Almack  died  in  1873;  Mrs.  Almack,  in  1880. 
They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch,  the  seventh,  was  married 
in  1876  to  Sarah  Preston,  who  was  born  in  this 
county  in  1856.  Mr.  Almack  was  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  in  Mohawk  Village  and  Coshocton 
prior  to  locating  in  West  Carlisle,  to  which  place 
he  came  in  1878,  and  where  he  now  has  an  ex- 
cellent stock  of  goods. 

ALPETER  J.  J.,  Crawford  township,  farmer, 
postoffice,  Buena  Vista,  Ohio;  son  of  John  Al- 
peter,  deceased,  who  was  a  farmer  and  stone  ma- 
son. He  was  born  January  12, 1814,  in  Hesse  Darm- 
stadt, Germany;  came  to  America  in  1848,  and 
located  first  near  Rogersville,  Tuscarawas  county, 
where  he  remained  nearly  two  years ;  thence  to- 
near  Carlisle,  Holmes  county,  where  he  remained 
five  years ;  after  which  he  came  to  the  homestead, 
where  he  died  April  3,  1876.  Mr.  Alpeter  was 
married  in  the  fall  of  1840  to  Miss  Catharine, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Charlotte  (Miller)  Hoop-  , 
rich.  They  became  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren, viz:  Adam,  John  (deceased),  Frederick, 
Elizabeth,  Caroline,  John  J.  and  Ilenry.  Mr. 
Alpeter  began  business  in  America  with  but 
$200,  but,  by  industry  and  good  management,  he 
left  a  good  farm  for  his  children  and  aged  widow, 
who  shared  the  toils  and  hardships  of  his  early  ^ 
life. 

ALTMAN  B.  P.,  Jefferson  township,  miller, 
postoffice,  Warsaw;  born  September  6,  1847,  in 
Holmes  county,  Ohio;  son  of  Elijah  and  Mary 
(Beck)  Altman,  and  grandson  of  Isaac  Altman 
and  Michael  Beck.  '  Until  the  age  of  twenty-three 
he  attended  school  and  assisted  his  father  on  the 
farm,  saw-mill  and_flouring-mill.  He  then  went 
to  Indiana,  then  back  to  Ohio  and  then  to  Mis-  ' 
souri,  and  remained  there  about  six  months,  after 
which  he  came  home  and  has  been  engaged  at 
milling  in  the  following  named  mills,  viz :  Becks' 
Helmeck's,  Princeton  and  Warsaw  mills,  where 
he  is  at  present  doing  a  good  business.  He  was 
married  October  17,  1875,  to  Miss  Lydia  Cross, 
daughter  of  John  and  Roda  (Swan)  Cross.  They 
have  two  children — Flora  N.,  born  June  30, 1877, 
and  Rosa  N.,  born  November  5, 1879. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


629 


AMANS  BENJAMIN,  Oxford  township,  far- 
mer, postoffice,  Evansburghj.Ohio;  son  of  Isaac 
and  Jane  (Robinson)  Amans;  was  born  in  1843, 
in  this  county.  He  was  raised  on  the  farm  and 
has  always  followi'd  that  occupation.  Mr.  Amans 
enlsited,  in  1862,  in  company  C,  Fifty-second 
regiment  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  three  years.  He 
fought  under  Sherman  and  McCook,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  the  battles  of  Chioamauga,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Stone  River  and  numerous  others  of 
less  importartce.  He  was  married  September  3, 
1868,  to  Miss  Anna  M.  Loos,  of  this  county  They 
are  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz:  Isaac  (de- 
oeased),  John  W.  (deceased),  Ananias,  Eliza  E., 
and  Rosa  A.  (deceased). 

ANDERSON  DR.  J.  &  SON,  druggists.  No.  218 
Main  street,  Coshocton.  Dr.  Anderson  is  a  native 
of  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  where  he  was  born 
September  8, 1820.  He  received  his  education 
in  the  district  and  select  schools  of  that  county, 
after  which  he  attended  the  Cincinnati  college  of 
medicine  and  surgery,  from  which  he  graduated 
in  1862.  He  entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  Port  Washington,  Tuscarawas  county, 
where  he  remained  one  year.  He  then  came  to 
Keene,  this  county,  where  he  practiced  with  suc- 
cess and  acceptance  some  years.  In  1868  he  came 
to  Coshocton  and  engaged  in  the  drug  business 
in  which  he  still  continues.  He  occupies  pleas- 
ant and  commodious  rooms  in  Central  hall  block, 
where  he  keeps  fi  very  large  and  complete  stock 
of  pure  drugs,  .chemicals,  patent  medicines, 
trusses,  toilet  articles,  fancy  goods,  paints,  oils, 
varnishes,  dye  stuffs,  miscellaneous  and  school 
books,  wall  paper,  etc.,  etc.,  etc. 

ANDERSON  GEORGE  H.,  Bedford  township, 
farmer,  postoffice,  Tunnel  Hill,  borp  in  1827,  in 
Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  and  was  married  in 
1856  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Story,  of  Zanesville,  xvho 
was  bom  in  1835  in  Perry  county,  Ohio.  They 
came  to  this  county  in  1862,  and  are  the  parents 
of  three  children,  viz:  J.  A.,  Clara  E.  and  Isaac  G. 

ANDERSON  WILLIAM,  Pike  township, 
postoffice,  Fraysburgh,  Muskingum  county, 
farmer  and  stock  raiser,  born  in  Maryland,  in 
1807,  settled  in  this  county  in  1817 ;  son  of  Joshua 
and  Sarah  (Fairall)  Anderson.  Mr.  Anderson's 
father  died  in  1809,  and  his  mother  in  1880.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  1831,  to 
Miss  Mariah  Riley,  daughter  of  William  and 
Hannah  (Long)  Riley.  They  are  the  parents  of 
the  following  children,  viz:  George  W.,  Isaac 
C,  Mary  J.,  John  H.,  who  enlisted  in  1862  in 
Company  A,  Seventy-sixth  regiment.  Captain 
Lemert;  Phoebe  A.,  Eunice  T.,  Truman  B., 
Joshua  B.  and  Sarah  M.    All  are  married. 

ANDREWS  JOHN,  Keene  township,  farmer, 
born  June  14, 1815,  in  Philadelphia;  came  to  Ohio 

27 


in  1817,  and  settled  in  Steubenville,  lived  there 
four  years,  then  came  to  Coshocton  county, 
Keene  township.  Mr.  Anderson  says  he  remem- 
bers distinctly- of  sending  about  three  miles  to 
get  William  Boyd  and  the  only  ax  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, to  cut  the  brush  from  between  the 
George  Beaver  farm  and  Mr.  Andrews'  present 
home.  He  is  a  son  of  Gabriel  and  Catharine 
(Bechtol)  Andrews,  anij  grand-son  of  John  An- 
drews. He  was  married  to  Miss  Pricilla  Snyder 
April  9,  1840,  in  Harrisburg,  Pennsylvania, 
daughter  of  George  and  Mary  (Kersy)  Snyder  ; 
grand-daughter  of  Noah  and  Hetty  (Bechtol) 
Kersy;  and  great  grand-daughter  of  John  and 
Catharine  (Ritter)  Kersy.  The  children  born  to 
them  were  Secillia,  born  January  1,  1843 ;  G.  G., 
born  March  29, 1845;  and  John  L.,  July  20, 1855. 

ANDREWS  G.  G.,  Coshocton;  liveryman,  of 
the  firm  of  Snyder  &  Andrews;  was  born  March 
27, 1845,  in  Keene  township,  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio ;  son  of  John  Andrews,  American  born,  of 
Irish  ancestry.  Young  Andrews  was  raised  on 
the  farm,  where  he  remained  until  he  was  about 
twenty-three  years  old,  when  he  took  a  contract 
from  the  government  to  caj ry  United  States  mail 
from  this  city  to  Millersburgh,  Holmes  county. 
He  held  this  route  for  eight  years.  In  July, 
1874,  he  engaged  in  his  present  business,  at  the 
corner  of  Main  and  Second  streets.  This  firm 
keep  an  average  of  ten  horses  and  suitable  rigs, 
such  as  barouches,  carriages,  buggies,  sample 
wagons,  sleighs,  etc.,  also  keeps  a  sale  and  feeding 
stable  Mr.  Andrews  was  married  January  12, 
1871,  to  Miss  Sarah  L.  Munn,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Munn,  of  Keene  township. 

ANGLE  DANIEL,  Adams  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Evansburgh ;'  born  in  Franklin  county, 
Pennsylvania,  March  18,  1811;  son  of  Jacob  and 
Rebecca  (Smith)  Angle,  and  grandson  of  John 
Angle  and  Adam  Smith.  He  went  to  Cambria 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1844,  and  in  1850  came 
to  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  and  after  remaining 
there  about  thirteen  years,  he  moved  to  Adams 
township,  Coshocton  county,  and  has  remained 
there  since.  He  was  married  March  11,  1830,  to 
Nancy  Gossaid,  daughter  of  John  and  Mariah 
(Keifer)  Gossaid,  who  died  October  15,  1853. 
They  were  the  parents  of  three  children — Daniel, 
born  January  12,  1835,  Jacob,  born  April  6, 1833, 
and  Malachi,  born  November  5, 1839.  He  was 
married  in  February,  1855,  to  Sarah  Gilly,  who 
died  December  2,  1879.  'They  had  one  child, 
William,  born  October  31,  1855.  Malachi  was 
married  April  12,  1868,  to  Alice  Crawshaw, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  (Ellis)  Crawshaw, 
born  in  Chester,  England,  July  4,  1842.  They 
have  three  children— Joseph  C,  born  December 
12, 1868,  George,  born  May  22, 1873  and  Lucy  J., 
born  January  12, 1878. 


630 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


AEMSPAUGH  GIDEON,  Monroe  township; 
was  born  May  25,  1803,  in  Franklin  county, 
Pennsylvania,  son  of  George  and  Catharine 
(Lookenbill)  Armspaugh,  and  grandson  of  George 
Armspaugh,  who  is  of.German  descent.  In  1811 
he  came,  with  his  parents,  to  Oxford  township, 
Coshocton  county,  where  he  lived  until  1863, 
when  he  removed  to  Monroe  township,  and  re- 
sides there  at  present  on  his  farm.  By  honest 
industry  and  economy  he  has  acquired  and  saved 
enough  to  keep  him  in  comfort  during  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days.  He  says  he  remembers 
distinctly  the  first  Indian  he  ever  saw,  was  Chief 
Doughty,  who  came  down  the  Walhonding  river, 
crossed  the  Muskingum  to  Colonel  Willian's  so- 
loon  and  got  a  coffee  pot  full  of  whisky  and  re- 
turned the  way  he  came.  Mr.  Armspaugh  was 
married  to  Miss  Mary  Groom,  daughter  of  George 
and  Nancy  A.  (Fletcher)  Groom,  who  were  Eng- 
lish. Lewis  T.,  born  November  21, 1837,  is  their 
only  child.  Mr.  Armspaugh  is  a  farmer  in  Mon- 
roe township.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Margret 
McPeek.  Their  children  are  Marshall  and  Ida 
Bell.  Mrs.  ArmspaUgh  died  March  30,  1864. 
After  her  death  he  married  Mrs.  Pardy,  a  widow, 
whose  maiden  name  was  Mary  Conner,  daughter 
of  James  and  Ann  (Ddhglas)  Conner,  granddaugh- 
ter of  Cornelius  and  Anna  (Powelson)  Douglas. 
The  children  by  his  first  marriage  are  Calvin  C, 
Isaiah,  Francis,  James,  Isaac  and  Martha  I. 

ARTHURS  THOMAS,  city  of  Coshocton; 
foreman  paper  mills;  born  in  1828  in  Ireland; 
son  of  Edward  Arthurs.  Young  Arthurs  was 
raised  on  the  farm  until  17  years  of  age,  when  he 
came  to  America  and  went  into  a  paper  mill  in 
Steubenville,  Ohio,  whcire  he  remained  until  1863, 
when  he  took  charge  of  the  mill  where  he  is  at 
present  engaged.  Mr.  A:  was  married  April  27, 
1852,  to  Miss  Anne  Kalley,  daughter  of  Gilbert 
Kalley,  of  County  Down,  Ireland.  They  have 
had  ten  children,  three  of  whom — John,  Eliza- 
beth and  Thomas— have  deseased.  Their  living 
children  are  William  K.,  Ellie,  Mary  Anne,  Jo- 
sephine, Annie,  James  and  Edward. 

ASCHBAKER  JOSEPH,  Linton  township; 
farmer,  postoffi.ce,Plainfield;  born  June  28, 1853, 
in  Linton  township;  son  of  John  and  Mary  Anne 
(Bordenkircher)  Aschbaker,  natives  of  Germany, 
came  to  America  about  1839  and  located  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  their  son  Joseph,  who  was 
married  September  14, 1875  to  Miss  Magdalena, 
daughter  of  George  and  Elizabeth  (Lash)  Shue, 
a  native  of  Alsace,  France.  They  became  the 
parents  of  two  children — Henry  Edward,  and 
Mary  Elizabeth.  He  also-had  two  brothers,  Dav- 
id and  Jacob,  in  the  late  war,  in  which  David 
contracted  the  disease  which  caused  his  death. 
Joseph's  father  died  September  22, 1857. 

ASHCRAFT  "JACOB,  Pike  township;  post- 


office.  West  Carlisle;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;: 
born  in  this  county  in  1832,  son  of  Jacob  and 
Martha  Ashcraft.  *He  was  married  in  1857  to 
Miss  Liddie  Russell,  daughter  of  William  and 
Harriott  Russell.  They  are  the  parents  of  twelve- 
children— Willianl  S.,  George  W.,  Thomas  (de- 
ceased), Norah,  Mary  N.,  Harriott  K.,  Russell  E.,. 
Arthur  and  Jacob  L.    Two  are  married. 

AXLINE  JOHN,  Jefferson  towhship;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Warsaw ;  was  born  in  Muskingum 
county,  Ohio,  April  6, 1846;  son  of  Ph'ilip  and  Elea- 
nor (Lyle)  Axline,  and  grandson  of  Jacob  Axline, 
and  Robert  and  Ellen  M.  Lyle,  and'  is  of  German,, 
Scotch  and  Irish  descent.  He  attended  school  and 
farmed  until  the  age  of  nineteen ;  he  then  worked 
in  Wise's  woolen  mills,  in  Holmes  county,  for  over 
two  years,  then  in  Beck's  mills  the  greater  part 
of  three  years.  After  that  he  worked  on  a  saw- 
mill and  farmed  for  about  six  years  in  Holmes 
county,  then  moved  to  Jefferson  township,  this- 
county,  where  he  has  followed  farming  for  the 
past  six  years.  He  was  married  December  12,. 
1866,  to  Miss  Parmelia  Wise,  daughter  of  Peter 
and  Esther  (Baum)  Wise,  and  granddaughter  of 
Daniel  and  Elizabeth  (Tombaugh)  Wise,  also  of 
Peter  and  Rachel  (Bryfogle)  Baum,  of  Pennsyl- 
vania (of  German  descent),  and  great  grand- 
daughter of  George  Tombaugh.  She  was  born 
May  2,  1845.  They  have  three  children,  viz:: 
Jesse  F.,  born  April  1,  1868 ;  Laura  E.,  born  Au- 
gust 10,  1871,  and  William  S.,  born  October  29, 
1877. 

AYRES  S.  H.,  born  March  18, 1841,  in  Coshoc- 
ton county,  Jefferson  township ;  spn  of  James  and 
Mary  (Killpatrick)  Ayers,  and  grandson  of  Wil- 
liam and  Susan  (Hall)  Ayres,  and  of  Hugh  and 
Sarah  (Quick)  Killpatrick.  He  was  born  on  a 
farm  and  lived  with  his  parents  till  the  death  of 
his  father;  when  at  the  age  of  eight  years  he  went, 
to  live  with  his  brother-in-law  where  he  remained 
till  the  age  of  twenty-one.  Being  .a  natural" 
genius  he  began  the  shoemaker  trade  without  an 
instructor,  at  which  he  made  rapid  progress,  and 
soon  he  engaged  as  a  journeyman  for  White,  of 
Coshocton,  where  he  worked  for  some  time.  .  He 
then  took  up  the  carpenter  trade  in  like  manner.. 
On  the  20th  of  December,  1878,  he  was  appointed 
postmaster  at  Spring  Mountain.  He  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary  E.  Conner,  December  18,  1868,. 
daughter  of  James  and  Mary  (Holt)  Conner,  and 
granddaughter  of  James  Conner. 


BAAD  CHRISTIAN  G.,  Crawford  township; 
boot  and  shoemaker;  postoffice.  New  Bedford,. 
Ohio;  was  born  December  25,  1830,  in  Wertcm- 
berg,  Germany ;  son  of  John  Godfried  and  Chris- 
tiana (Schiess)  Baad.    He  came  to  America  in. 


BIOGKAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


631 


1846,  and  located  in  Crawford  township,  and  went 
to  his  present  trade  when  about  sixteen  years  of 
age.  October  1, 1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  G, 
Thirty-eighth  C(  V.  I.,  and  served  one  year 
under  General  Sherman,  and  was  honorably  dis- 
charged at  Columbus.  Mr.  Baad  has  held  the 
office  of  notary  public  and  several  township  offi- 
ces, all  of  which  he  efficiently  filled.  Married 
January  9,  1855,  to  Miss  Doratha  Grammes,  and 
they  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  Daniel  J., 
Christian  F.,  John  G.  and  Frederick  E.  L.  Mr. 
-  Baad  was  married  the  second  time  May  17, 1866,  to 
Mary  Anne,  daughter  of  Michael  and  Mary  Anne 
(Kied)  Schweitzer.  Their  children  are  George  M., 
Mary  A.,  Lizzie  J.,  Rosalee  M.,  Charles  H.  and 
Franklin  0.  Mr.  Baad  is  an  intelligent,  first-rate 
work  man. 

BABCOCK  D.  W.,  Mill  Creek  township;  mer- 
chant; postofl&ce,  Mound;  born  in  1838,  in  this 
county.  His  father,  Eleazer  Baboock,  was  born 
in  1801,  near  Dartmouth  college.  He  came  to 
this  county  in  1812,  and  was  married  in  1831,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Elliot,  of  this  county.  She  was 
bom  in  1809,  in  New  York.  He  died  in  1873. 
She  died  in  1859.  They  were  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being 
the  fourth.  He  was  married  in  1875,  to  Miss 
Sarah  AUishouse,  of  Holmes  county,  Ohio,  who 
was  born  in  1849.  They  are  the  parents  of  two 
cljildren,  Nora  A.  and  Londa.  Mr.  Babcock  built 
the  store  room  he  is  in,  and  put  in  the  stock  of 
merchandise  in  the  spring  of  1880.  He  has  lots 
for  sale  near  his  store. 

,BACHMAN  BAETHOLOMEW,  dealer  in 
groceries,  provisions  and  liquors,  corner  of  Sec- 
ond and  Chestnut  streets,  Coshocton.  Mr.  Bach- 
man  is  a  native  of  Austria,  and  emigrated  to 
America  in  1867,  and  located  in  Coshocton,  where 
he  engaged  in  stone-cutting,  which  he  followed 
until  1875.  He  then  established  his  present  busi- 
ness. He  occupies  rooms  in  his  own  building, 
twenty  by  sixty  feet,  where  he  keeps  a  large,  first- 
class  stock  of  staple  and  fancy  groceries,  confec- 
tioneries, bread,  plain  and  fancy  cakes  and  pies 
of  all  kinds,  tobaccos  and  cigars,  fruits  and  vege- 
tables, and  dealer  in  all  kinds  oi  country  produce, 
stone  and  wooden  ware,  sugar-cured  and  pickled 
meats,  bologna  and  fish,  flour  and  salt,  and  a  full 
line  of  miners'  and  laborers'  wear  and  supplies. 
Also  a  large  stock  of  foreign  and  domestic  bran- 
dies, wines,  gins,  beer,  ales  and  blackberry  wines 
of  the  best  American  brands.  * 

BAHMEE  VALENTINE  A.,  Adams  town- 
ship; shoemaker;  postoffice,  Bakersville;  born 
in  Bucks  township,  Tuscarawas  county,  June  15, 
1841 ;  son  of  Valentine  and  Elizabeth  (Thomas) 
Bahmer,  and  grandson  of  Valentine  and  Louisa 
(Metz)  Bahmer.  He  began  his  trade  in  the  fall 
of  1856,  with  John  Eckhart,  of  Eogersville,  re- 


maining about  two  and  one-half  years.  He  then 
worked  in  Canal  Dover  about  two  years,  and  a 
short  time  at  Shanesville ;  then  returned  to  Eog- 
ersville and  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Fifty-first 
O.  V.  I.,  October  13,  18^2,  and  served  eleven 
months,  being  discharged  in  September,  1863. 
He  then  resumed  his  trade,  working  in  Mans- 
field, Ashland,  Nashville,  Tennessee;  Louisville, 
Kentucky;  Cincinnati;  Covington,  Kentucky; 
Columbus,  Ohio,  w;ith  Eeed,  Jones  &  Co.;  GalUon, 
and  Ashland,  Ohio;  then  returned  to  Bakersville, 
where  he  has  been  carrying  on  a  flourishing  busi- 
ness since  1869.  He  was  married  January  3, 
1866,  to  Elizabeth  Schweitzer,  daughter  of  Valen- 
tine and  Phebe  (Froelich)  Schweitzer,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Valentine  Schweitzer  and  Nicholas. 
Froelich.  They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
namely:  Phebe,  Charles  V.,  William  H.  (de- 
ceased), Lewis,  Edward,  Harry  and  Carrie. 

BAHMEE  A.,  Coshocton;  livery  man;  born 
November  20,  1852,  in  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio ; 
son  of  Valentine  Bahmer,  of  French  ancestry. 
Young  Bahmer  spent  his  childhood  on  the  farm. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  entered  a  store  as 
clerk,  at  Bakersville,  this  county,  and  contin- 
ued six  years,  when  he  went  to  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania,  and  clerked  in  a  provision  store 
until  1877,  when  he  came  to  this  city  and  engaged 
in  his  present  business.  Mr.  Bahmer  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Sarah  M.  Mizer,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Mizer,  of  Adams  township.  The  result  of 
this  union  was  five  children,  all  living,  viz  :  Free- 
ling  H.,  Harriett  Belle,  Catherine  E.,  Michael  V. 
and  Josephine  E.  Mr.  Bahmer  keeps  an  average 
of  about  seven  horses,  with  rigs  to  suit,  such  as 
barouches,  buggies,  wagons,  sleighs,  etc.,  and  is 
doing  a  very  fair  business  in  feeding  and  caring 
for  most  of  the  best  horses  in  town.  He  is  the 
owner  of  Jerry  Hadwig,  who  has  a  public  record 
of  2:35,  trotting,  and  can  to-day  beat  his  record 
several  seconds. 

BAILEY  STEWAET,  Tiverton  township ;  far- 
mer; postoffice,  Gann,  Knox  county;  born  Decem- 
ber 1,  1853,  in  this  county.  His  father  was  born 
in  1802,  in  Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  and  was 
married  September  11, 1826,  to  Miss  Phoebe  Kich- 
ards,  of  Holmes  county,  who  was  born  September 
7,  1810.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1836.  She 
died  November  15, 1847.  They  were  the  parents 
of  eleven  children.  He  was  married  June  20, 
1848,  to  Miss  P.  W.  Humphrey,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  April  15,  1818,  and  died  January 
8, 1877.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  fourth. 

BAIKD  GEOEGE,  Jackson  township ;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Eoscoe,  Ohio;  son  of  William  and 
Nancy  Baird;  was  born  May  1,  1808,  in  Wes1> 
moreland  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  came  to 
Ohio .  in  1828,  and  has  since  remained.     The 


632 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


country  was  then  a  wilderness  of  woods,  with 
few  settlers  and  plenty  of  wild  arjimals.  Mr.. 
Baird  was  married  in  1837  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Clark,  who  was  born  in  Virginia,  but  principally 
raised  in  this  county.  Whey  became  the  parents 
of  ten  children,  eight  of  whom  are  living,  viz: 
Keziah,  Nancy  J.,  Louisa,  Rachel,  William, 
George,  John,  James  (deceased),  and  Josiah.  Mr. 
Clark's  father  served  in  the  revolutionary  war. 
He  now  owns  a  fine  farm  in  the  Walhonding 
valley. 

BAKER  B.  LANE,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Linton  township,  November  17,  1818; 
son  of  Rezin  and  Mary  (Addy)  Baker,  daughter 
of  William  Addy,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Linton  township.  Mr.  Baker  was  married  in 
1849  to  Melinda  Loos,  daughter  of  John  Loos. 
Five  of  his  ten  children  survive,  viz :  Mary 
Ellen,  Barbara  Ada,  William  A.,  John  H.  and 
Jessie.  He  has  served  a  term  of  three  years  as 
county  surveyor,  and  has  just  been  re-elected  to 
a  second  term. 

BAKER  ISAAC,  Monroe  township ;  was  born 
February  21,  1836,  in  Knox  county,  Ohio.  He  is 
a  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Ankney)  Baker, 
grandson  of  George  and  Susan  (Brollier)  Ank- 
ney; was  born  and  brought  up  on  a  farm;  edu- 
cated partly  in  district  schools  and  partly  at  Mill- 
wood tod  Danville.  Hec  taught  school  three 
terms  then  engaged  as  clerk  with  Robert  Mo- 
Cloud  in  a  general  merchandise  store,  where  he 
continued  for  some  tirrte.  He  then  bought  Mc- 
Cloud's  goods  and  went  into  the  business  him- 
self,'in  1864,  where  he  remained  till  1866,  when 
he  sold  out  and  moved  to  Spring  Mountain,  Cosh- 
octon county,  and  engaged  in  the  same  business 
with  Ed.  Lybarger,  and  is  there  at  present  doing 
a  very  good  business  Mr.  Baker  was  married 
first  to  Miss  Adelia  Shroyer  in  1864.  The  chil- 
dren by  this  marriage  are :  Edwin  W.  and  Claude 
A.  Mrs.  Baker  died  Oqtober  11, 1878.  After  the 
death  of  Mr.  Baker's  first  wife  he  married  Hattie 
A.  Hogle,  September  1, 1880,  daughter  of  John 
Hogle. 

BALCH  GEORGE,  miller;  postoffice.  Canal 
Lewisville,  Ohio ;  was  born  May  4. 1838,  in  Clay 
township,  Knox  county;  son  of  John  W.  and  Ma- 
linda  (Hull)  Balch.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
New  York  State,  and  his  mother  of  Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  Balch's  first  occupation  was  a  sawyer,  but 
has  successfully  followed  carpentering,  mill- 
wrighting  and  farming.  He  came  to  this  county 
in  1862  and  remained  in  the  county  to  the  pres- 
ent time,  with  the  exceptions  of  the  years  1865-6- 
7  he  lived  in  Missouri.  Mr.  Balch  was  married 
September  19,  1865,  to  Miss  Nancy,  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  Boyd,  of  White  Eyes  town- 
ship. They  are  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
viz :  Charles  H.,  deceased,  Emma,  (twins),  Nan- 


nie Eda,  Laura  Malissa,  Lola  Jane  and  Lucius  J. 
The  last  three  are  triplets,  growing  well,  of  good 
health  and  ordinary  size.  At  about  eight  years 
old  they  were  all  of  exactly  the  same  weight.  At 
present  Mr.  Balch  is  principal  owner  of  the  fine 
flouring  mill  in  Lafayette  township,  where  the 
Conotten  Valley  railroad  crosses  the  canal. 

BALO  FRANCIS,  Virginia  township;  born  in 
Switzerland,  November  18,  1810;  settled  in  this 
county  in  1853;  son  of  Francis  and  Susanah  Balo. 
He  was  married  October  24,  1835,  to  Elizabeth 
Strom,  daughter  of  David  and  Anna  Strom. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  seven  children 
five  of  whom  are  living  and  two  dead.  Abram 
died  in  the  army.    Postoffice,  Adams'  Mills. 

BALO  STEPHEN,  Virginia  township;, born  in 
Switzerland,  in  1836;  son  of  Francis  and  Eliza- 
beth Balo ;  married  in  1865  to  Martha  Bird.  Their 
union  has  been  blessed  with  six  children,  all  of 
whom  are  living.  Mr.  Balo  is  a  farmer.-  Post- 
office,  Adams'  Mill. 

BALO  DAVID,  Virginia  township;  born  in 
Switzerland  in  1837 ;  settled  in  Coshocton  county 
in  1853;  a  son  of  Francis  and  Elizabeth  Balo,  and 
was  married,  in  1860,  to  Mariah  J.  Newell,  daugh- 
ter of  Alexander  and  Jane  Newell.  He  enlisted  Au- 
gust 2,  1862,  in  company  H,  Ninety-seventh  regi- 
ment Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  participateli 
in  the  battles  of  Perrysville,  Chattanooga,  Mission 
Ridge,  Tunnell  Hill,  Reseca,  Dallas,  Spermey 
Camp,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Kenesaw,  Atlanta, 
Jonesboro',  Spring  Hill,  Franklin,  Nashville  and 
Lovejoy  Station.  Mr.  Balo  was  discharged  June  15, 
1864,  at  J>rashville.  He  has  been  blessed  with  five 
children,  four  of  whom  are  living  and  one  dead. 
Postoffice,  Adams'  Mills. 

BANKS  BENJAMIN,  Linton  to  wnship ;  farmer ; 
born  in  Maryland,  in  1821;  son  of  Samuel  and 
Mary  (Piper)  Banks,  the  youngest  of  eight  chil- 
dren. When  about  fifteen  months  old,  he  came 
with  his  parents  to  Linton  township.  His  father 
died  the  same  year  in  which  he  came  to  Ohio; 
his  mother  survived  until  March,  1870.  Mr. 
Banks  was  married  in  1846,  to  Elizabeth  John- 
son, daughter  of  James  Johnson,  formerly  of 
this  township.  Children — Samuel  (deceased), 
Bagan,  Sarah  Jane,  Mary,  Martha,  Ellen,  Dwight 
(deceased)  and  Seldon.  He  was  married  in  1864 
to  Frances  C.  Glenn,  daughter  of  John  Glenn,  of 
Linton  townsHip.  By  this  marriage,  he  had  four 
children— Clara,  Maggie,  Laura  and  John  B. 
His  wife  died  March  4,  1876. 

BABCROFT  ELIAS  B.,  Franklin  township; 
born  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  August  80, 1820; 
so'i  of  Lee  J.  B;ircroft.  In  1836,  he  moved,  with 
his  father's  family,  to  Lafayette  township ;  learned 
the  wagonmaker  trade,  in  Linton  township,  and 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


633 


worked  at  it  for  a  number  of  y^ars;  moved  to 
Franklin  township,  in  1856,  and  has  lived  here 
since,  engaged  in  farming.  He  was  married 
October  19, 1843,  to  Sarah  Rodruck,  daughter  of 
Lewis  Rodruck,  a  pioneer  settler  of  Franklin 
township.  Daniel  A.,  Lewis  B.,  William  H. 
Sarali  A.  (Moore)  and  John  B.,  are  their  children. 

BARCROFT  W.  H.,  M.  D.,  Coshocton ;  born 
February  9,  1851,  in  Linton  township,  this  coun- 
ty; son  of  E.  B.  Barcroft,  of  Jefferson  county,  and  of 
English  ancestry.  Young  Barcroft  was  raised  on 
the  farm  until  he  was  about  eighteen  years  old, 
when  he  began  teaching  school  and  going  to  high 
school  in  this  city.  In  1871,  began  reading  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  Ingraham,  of  this  city.  On  finish- 
ing his  preliminary  reading  he  entered  the  med- 
ical college  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  attended  two 
years,  where  he  graduated  in  the  spring  of  1875, 
with  the  title  of  M.  D.  The  doctor  first  began 
professional  practice  at  Jacobsport,  and  con- 
tinued there  from  March,  1875,  to  November, 
1876,  when  he  came  to  this  city,  where  he  has 
continued  his  practice  to  the  present  writing. 
Dr.  Barcroft  was  married  December  27, 1877,  to 
Miss  Susie  J.  Patterson,  daughter  of  H.  E.  Patter- 
son, of  Detroit,  Michigan. 

BARGE  J.  D.,  Adams  township ;  farmer ;  post- 
-office Bakersville ;  born  March  26, 1844,  in  Tus- 
carawas county;  son  of  Robert  and  Achsah  (Fore- 
man) Barge,  and  grandson  of  Robert  and  Eliza- 
beth (Tailor)  Barge  and  Thomas  and  Elizabeth 
Foreman.  He  was  married  March  24,  1867,  to 
Miss  Susanna  Myser,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Catharine  A.  (Shanks)  Myser,  and  granddaughter 
of  Jacob  and  Catharine  (Fancier)  Myser  and 
James  and  Christina  ^Helwick)  Shanks.  She  was 
born  January  4,  1844.  They  are  the  parents  of 
two  children — Carrie,  born  April  17,  1868  and 
Byron  W.,  born  September  10,  1870.    August  13, 

1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  G,  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-second  0.  V.  I.,  went  to  Camp  Zines- 
ville  in  September  atid  was  mustered  into  service 
October  8,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  the  month 
went  to  Marietta,  thence  to  Parkersburg,  remain- 
ed there  a  few  days  then  went  to  Clarksburg,  Va., 
thence  to  Winchester,  arriving  there  January  1, 

1863,  where  on  June  15  our  forces  were  attacked 
by  Early's  command,  aided  in  repulsing  them. 
He  was  one  of  200  of  his  regiment  that  were  left 
in  the  tort  and  was  made  prisoner,  having  been 
detailed  to  the  hospital  as  nurse  for  P.  Worley. 
He  was  marched  to  Staunton,  Va.,  under  guard 
of  the  Fifty-fourth  N.  C.  Infantry,  thence  by  rail 
to  Libby  Prison,  at  Richmond,  Va.,  remained 
there  four  days,  was  fed  on  squaw-pea  soup,  con- 
sisting of  three  pints  of  water  to  two  ounces  of 
peas  boiled  a  few  minutes,  was  soon  removed  to 
Belle  Island  and  kept  there  about  thirty  days, 
and  then  paroled  and  taken  to  City  Point,  thence 


by  water  to  Annapolis,  Md.,  at  which  place  he, 
with  Daniel  Shook,  S.  Daugherty  and  Samuel 
Wortz,  received  a  verbal  permit  to  go  home  until 
he  could  be  exchanged.  '  Not  having  a  furlough, 
they  avoided  all  guards  through  the  country,  also 
kept  clear  of  all  towns  and  railroad  stations,  trav- 
eling through  fields,  over  hills  and  hollows  via 
Baltomore,  Chambersburg,  Gettysburg,  Browns- 
ville, Pittsburgh,  Florence  and  Steubenville,  a  dis- 
tance of  575  miles,  in  12  days,  and  remained  at 
home  until  notified  of  his  exchange,  then  went 
to  his  regiment  at  Brandywine  station  and  took 
part  in  the  engagements  at  Winchester,  Mine 
Rtin,  Locast  Grove,  Spottsylvania,  Cedar  Creek, 
Cold  Harbor  and  Petersburg.  He  lost  one 
■brother,  L.  T.  Barge,  belonging  to  the  Fifty- 
seventh  O.  V.  I  ;  also  had  a  brother  in  the  Fifty- 
first  O.  V.  I.    He  was  discharged  July  1, 1865. 

BARKHURST  J.  W., Coshocton,  Ohio;  manag- 
ing sewing  machine  agent,  408  Main  street.  Born 
October  8,  1843,  in  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  son  of 
James  and  Elizabeth.  C.  (Welling)  Barkhurst. 
He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  with  his  parents, 
in  the  southwest  corner  of  Jackson  township, 
where  he  remained  until  September,  1861,  when 
he  was  the  first  man  to  enlist  in  Company  D,  Fif- 
ty-first O.  V.  I.  He  re-enlisted  Jan.  1,  1864,  and 
was  discharged  on  account  of  a  wound  received 
June  22,  1864,  at  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Georgia. 
After  his  discharge  he  returned  home  to  his 
parents,  where  he  remained  about  one  year,  then 
entered  the  Ohio  Weslyan  university,  at  Dela- 
ware, Ohio.  He  then  located  in  Coshocton,  but 
only  remained  one  year,  after  which  he  located 
at  his  present  residence  in  Roscbe.  Some  two 
years  after  he  gave  up  his  purchase  of  the  home 
property,  his  parents  made  an  amicable  division 
of  their  effects,  and  have  since  made  their  home 
with  their  son,  J.  W.  He  was  married  in  the 
spring  of  1868,  to  Miss  Mary  Virginia,  daughter  of 
George  E.  and  Letitia  (Nicholas)  Edwards.  They 
became  the  parents  of  five  children,  Charles  W., 
Shelley  E.,  Ada  (deceased),  and  Minnie  Harvey. 

BARNES  RICH ARD,  Jackson  township;  born 
in  Pennsylvania  in  1813;  son  of  Mordecia  and 
Matilda  Barnes;  married  in  1846  to  Miss  Charlotte 
Kirker,  daughter  of  William  and  Ellen  Kirker. 
Mr.  Barnes  is  the  father  of  seven  children,  five 
living  and  two  dead.  Mr.  Barnes  departed  this 
life  September,  1876.  His  widow  still  survives 
him,  and  lives  upon  the  old  homestead.  Post- 
office,  Tyrone. 

BARNES  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township;  born 
in  this  county  in  1847;  son  of  Richard  and 
Charlotte  Barnes,  and  grandson  of  Mordecia  and 
Matilda  Barnes.  He  was  married  in  1871  to  Miss 
Lillie  D.  Cox,  daughter  of  C.  B.  and  Elizabeth 
Cox.  Mr.  Barnes  is  the  father  of  three  children, 
viz :    R.  B.,  0.  C,  M.  M.    Postofflce,  Roscoe. 


634 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


BARRETT  JOHN,  Perry  township;  New  Guil- 
ford postoffice  ;  farmer ;  born  in  this  county  in 
1830;  son  of  Hugh  and  Mary  (Neldon)  Barrett, 
and  grandson  of  Hugh  and  Nancy  M.  Barrett, 
and  of  John  Neldon;  married  in  1854  to  Eliza- 
beth J.  Almac,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Al- 
mac.  They  are  the  parents  of  twelve  children, 
viz :  Mary  N.,  Manda  M.,  Celestia  R.,  Sarah  B., 
John  W.,  Elizabeth  E.,  Margaret  L.,  Dora  A., 
James  E.  (dead),  Cora  E.,  Ira,  and  Oda  F.  Three 
are  married.  Mr.  Barrett  enlisted  in  the  100- 
days  service,  in  1864. 

BARRETT  ISAAC,  Bedford  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Mohawk  Village ;  born  in  1838,  in  this 
county.  His  fathar  was  born  1802,  in  Ireland, 
settled  in  Delaware  in  1808  and  in  this  county  in 
1812.  He  was  married  in  1826,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Todd,  of  Alleghany  county,  Pennsylvania,  who 
was  born  in  1808.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine 
children.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married 
in  1861,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Piersol,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1840,  in  Muskingum  county, 
Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  viz : 
Elmer  G.,  Sarah  J.,  Luella  A  ,  Melvin,  Zora  and 
William  W. 

BARRICK  DANIEL,  Crawford  township;  far- 
mer ;  was  born  July  20,  1847,  in  Crawford  town- 
ship; son  of  Simon  and  Susan  (daughter  of  Wil- 
liam Stall)  Barrick.  Mr.  Barrick  started  in  life 
for  himself  as  a  hired  farm  laborer,  but  now 
ownes  a  good  farm  of  his  own.  He  was  elected 
justice  of  the  peace,  of  Crawford  township,  when 
but  twenty-three  years  of  age  and  served  two 
terms.  During  this  time  he  married  twenty-two 
couples.  'Squire  Barrick  was  married  Septem- 
ber 14, 1871,  to  Miss  Margaret,  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Louisa  (Baad)  Stroup  They  have  one  child — 
Daniel  H. 

BARTH  ANDREW,  Crawford  township.  New 
Bedford  posto£B.ce ;  retired  farmer ;  born  Decem- 
ber 13,  1811,  in  Wurtemburg,  Germany;  son  of 
Frederick  and  Eve  (Long)  Barth.  After  com- 
pleting the  usual  school  course,  at  fourteen  he 
went  to  the  tailor's  trade,  which  he  followed  until 
he  came  to  America,  in  August,  1838.  He  land- 
ed at  Baltimore,  Maryland,  and  by  way  of  Phila- 
delphia went  to  Pittsburgh,  where  he  worked 
on  the  Beaver  and  Erie  canal  with  a  lot  of  Irish- 
men, who,  not  affiliating  with  him,  treated  him 
very  unkindly.  Being  a  stranger,  in  a  foreign 
land,  entirely  destitute  of  money  or  friends,  he 
endured  this  rather  than  beg,  and  by  persever- 
ence,  honesty  and  industry,  obtained  a  good  farm, 
the  rent  of  which  affords  him  ample  means  to 
live  free  from  labor  in  his  old  age,  at  a  good  pub- 
lic house.  He  worked  at  his  trade  (tailoring)  in 
many  towns  in  eastern  Ohio,  amon^  them  Zoar, 
where  he  was  married  in  1840,  to  Miss  Catharine, 
daughter  of  Christian  Ceogle.    The  fruit  of  this 


marriage  was  four  children,  Rachel,  Christian 
Frederick,  Andrew  and  John ;  all  dead  except 
Christian  Frederick,  who  is  the  head  of  a  large 
family  of  children.  Mr.  Barth  lost  his  help-mate 
July  20,  1880.  Being  left  alone,  he  has  now  a 
pleasant  home  at  the  Commercial  hotel,  its  genial 
host  being  Charles  C.  Hinkle. 

BEACH  D.  C,  Coshocton;  merchant  tailor, 412 
Main  street ;  born  June  12, 1819,  in  New  Bruns- 
wick, New  Jersey;  son  of  Ebenezer  Beach,  a  na- 
tive of  New  Jersey.  Young  Beach  was  raised  in 
Newark,  New  Jersey,  until  fifteen  years  of  age. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  went  to  his  trade  in 
Newark,  New  Jersey ;  at  fifteen  went  to  Brook- 
lyn, New  York,  and  continued  his  trade,  where 
he  remained  until  1844,  when  he  removed  to 
Knox  county. .  In  1862  he  established  business  in 
Mount  Vernon  as  merchant  tailor  and  clothier. 
In  1863  came  to  this  city  and  was  cutter  for  dif- 
ferent firms  until  1872,  when  he  established  his 
present  business,  which  he  has  conducted  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Beach  was  married  in  1848  to 
Miss  Lucy  Eliza  Amadon,  of  New  York  State. 
They  have  had  five  children,  Alice,  (deceased), 
Henry  D.,  Louis  Kossuth,  Lillie  Dale,  Prank  and 
James.  Mr.  Beach  is  doing  a  good  business,  hav- 
ing all  that  himself  and  several  workmen  can  do. 

BEALL  C.  N.,  Keene  township ;  farmer ;  born 
February  3,  1826,  in  Harrison  county;  son  of  John' 
and  Margaret  (Noble)  Beall,  and  grandson  of 
Colmire  Beall.  His  mother's  parents  were 
George  and  Mary  Noble.  In  1850  he  came  to 
Coshocton  county,  settling  in  Keene  township. 
He  was  married  October  6,  1848  to  Martha  Mil- 
liner, born  July  17,  1823,  daughter  of  Edward 
and  Elizabeth(Randle)  Milliner.  They  have  but 
one  child,  John  S.,  born  July  14,  1849,  who  was 
married  October  21,  1875,  to  Sarah  J.,  daughter  of 
John  and  Seneth  (Ramer)  Beaver,  and  grand- 
daughter of  George  Beaver.  They  have  one  lit- 
tle girl,  Zura  Mary,  born  March  7,  1878. 

BEALL  J.,  Keene  township;  farmer;  son  of 
John  and  Margaret  (Noble)  Beall ;  was  born  April 
2, 1828,  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio.  He  came  to 
this  county  in  1852.  Mr.  Beall  was  raised  on  the 
farm  and  has  always,  followed  that  occupation. 
He  was  married  October  8, 1847,  to  Miss  Rhoda 
Smith  of  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania.  They 
became  the  parents  of  six  children,  viz :  William 
E,  Joseph  S  ,  Mary  J.  (deceased),  Alva,  John  (de- 
ceased), and  Carrie.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Beall  are 
prominent  members  of  the  M.  E.  church  at  Keene, 
and  are  respected  by  all  who  know  them.  Mr. 
Beall  has  held  different  offices  in  his  township 
for  many  years. 

BEALL  ROBERT,  Lafayette  township';  sta- 
tion agent,  express  agent,  postmaster  and  grain 
dealer;  was  born  in  Harrison  county,  June  1 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


635 


1829;  lived  on  the  farm  until  the  fall  of  1855, 
■when  he  went  to  Doods  county,  Wisconsin,  and 
•engaged  in  the  lumber  busines,  for  three  years; 
then  went  to  Illinois,  and  spent  three  years  in 
the  wagon  and  carpenter  business;  came  back  to 
Ohio,  and  spent  nine  years  in  the  broom  busi- 
ness; then,  from  that,  came  to  West  Lafayette, 
and  is  now  station  agent,  express  agent,  post- 
master and  grain  dealer ;  was  justice  of  the  peace, 
six  years;  was  married,  in  the  fall  of  1849,  to 
Miss  Rogers,  of  Harrison  county.  They  have  had 
seven  children — ^Mary  D.,  Sarah  E.,  Frank  A. 
(deceased),  Ella,  Viola,  Rosa  (deceased)  and 
Jennie.  Mr.  Beall  is  kept  very  busy,  attending 
all  his  business,  but  always  has  time  to  treat  his 
customers,  and  others  with  whom  he  may  come 
in  contact,  in  a  gentlemanly  manner ;  is  a  cash 
dealer  throughout,  and  has  got  what  he  is  pos- 
sessed of,  by  honest  hard  work. 

BEAM  WILLIAM  T.,  Crawford  township; 
postofHce,  Chili;  farmer  and  stock  man ;  born  Sep- 
tember 28, 1835,  in  Somerset  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia; son  of  Christopher  and  Margaret  (Deters) 
Beam.  He  came  to  Carroll  county,  Ohio,  when 
about  three  years  of  age.  When  about  eighteen, 
he  began  stock  dealing  in  Holmes  county,  and 
came  to  his  present  residence  in  May,  1877.  Mr. 
Beam  was  married  May  10, 1877,  to  Miss  Lucin- 
4a,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Cathrite  (Neff)  Snyder, 
of  Crawford  township,  but  ■  a  native  of  Switzer- 
land. One  child  (Mary  Dell),  was  born  to  them. 
Mr.  Beam  has  had  a  very  extensive  experience 
in  stock  dealing,  having  been  a  successful  shipper 
for  many  years. 

BEARDSLEY  0.  M.,  Virginia  township;  post- 
■ofiice,  Dresden ;  born  in  New  York,  in  1801,  set- 
tled in  this  county  in  1837;  son  of  David  and  Han- 
na  Beardsley.  He  was  married  in  1837.  Mr. 
Beardsley  has  four  children,  viz  :  Laura,  Charles 
E.,  Louisa,  and  John. 

BEAVER  JOHN,  Coshocton  county,  treasurer; 
was  born  January  19, 1827,  in  Tuscarawas  county ; 
son  of  George  Beaver,  born  June  20, 1800,  in  Tus- 
carawas county. 

John  Beaver  was  raised  on  the  farm,  where  he 
remained  until  September  6, 1880,  when  he  took 
charge  of  the  6fflce  above  named,  to  which  he  was 
■elected  October  14, 1879. 

Mr.  Beaver  was  married  April  21, 1860,  to  Miss 
Sarah  Reamer,  daughter  of  George  Reamer,  de- 
ceased, formerly  of  Keene  township.  This  union 
was  blessed  with  eight  children,  one  deceased 
(Catharine),  and  seven  living,  viz:  Mary  M., 
Sarah  J.,  George  C,  Angeline  L.,  J.  D.  and  Charles. 
Mr.  Beaver's  grandfather,  John  Beaver,  when 
seventeen  years  old,  was  with  Bouquet's  expedi- 
tion. 

JBECK  SAMUEL,  miller,  Monroe  township; 


postofiice.  Spring  Mountain;  born  in  1847,  in 
Holmes  county.  He  come  to  Bloomfield,  this 
county,  in  1871,  and  was  married,  in  1872,  to  Miss 
Martha  Frederick,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
in  1854.  They  are  the  parents  of  one  child, 
Eugene.  Mr.  Beck  purchased  the  grist-mill,  where 
he  now  lives,  in  1874.  He  has  since  attached  a 
saw-mill  and  can  run  by  water  or  steam.  He 
does  custom  work  only  in  the  grist-mill. 

BECK  JAMES,  Warsaw,  Jefferson  township; 
miller ;  postoffice,  Warsaw ;  was  born  in  Holmes 
county,  Ohio,  March  18,  1860;  son  of  Benjamin 
and  Julia  (Butron)  Beck,  and  grandson  of 
Michael  Beck.  He  received  his  education  in  the 
district  schools  in  Holmes  county.  At  the  age 
of  sixteen  he  began  learning  the  millers'  trade, 
under  Peter  Widner,  of  Holmes  county,  and  two 
years  later  he  took  charge  of  the  Hendrick  mills, 
and  acted  as  foreman  of  that  mill  about  nine 
months,  when  he  came  to  Warsaw  and  took 
charge  of  the  Warsaw  mills  for  Beck;  &  Welling, 
and  the  business  is  progressing  finely  under  his 
management.  Mr.  Beck  is  a  very  promising 
young  man,  and  possesses  more  than  ordinary 
ability  in  his  profession 

BERRY  'L.  P.,  New  Castle  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  New  Castle ;  was  born  in  Perry  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  September  9,  1850;  son 
of  Enoch  and  Mary  E.  (Buxton)  Berry,  and 
grandson  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Berry  and  Fran- 
cis and  Sarah  E.  Buxton.  He  attended  school 
and  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm  until  he  was 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  after  which  he  attended 
college  at  Delaware,  Ohio,  a  term  of  six  months, 
since  which  time  he  has  been  farming,  excepting 
from  November,  1876,  to  November,  1877,  during 
which  time  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness with  his  brother  and  Mr.  McKee.  He  was 
married  December  11,  1873,  to  Miss  Emma  Lash, 
daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Barrow)  Lash, 
and  granddaughter  of  Peter  and  Catharine  Lash 
and  William  and  Elizabeth  Barrow.  She  was 
born  May  21, 1852.  They  are  the  parents  of  two 
children,  Ralph  S.,  born  December  22,  1876,  and 
Zella  Mabel,  born  November  6, 1879.  His  father, 
Enoch  Berry,  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio, 
May  1, 1818-  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Yost) 
Berry,  and  grandson  of  John  Berry  and  Peter 
Yost.  He  moved  to  this  county  in  1828,  with  his 
parents,  and  has  remained  a  resident  ever  since. 
He  married  Miss  Mary  Buxton,  who  died  in  Feb- 
ruary, 1877,  leaving  a  husband  and  three  children 
to  mourn  her  loss.  She  was  born  in  the  village 
of  East  Union,  June  9,  1824. 

BERRY  ENOCH,  New  Castle  township;  post- 
office.  New  Castle;  farmer;  was  born  in  Belmont 
county,  Ohio  (near  St.  Clairsville),  on  May  1, 
1818;  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Yost)  Berry, 


636 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


and  grandson  of  Peter  Yost,  o"f  German-Irish 
descent.  He  moved  with  his  parents  to  this 
county  in  the  year  1828,  has  resided  here  ever 
since,  and  is  a  highly  respected  and  energetic 
farmer.  He  was  married  July  15, 1843,  to  Miss 
Mary  A.  Buxton,  daughter  of  Francis  and  Sarah 
Buxton,  who  was  born  in  East  Union,  Perry 
township,  June  9,  1824,  and  died  February  5, 
1877.  They  had  born  to  them  four  children,  of 
whom  three  are  living,  viz :  Sarah  E.,  John  W., 
and  Leonidas  F.  He  was  a  resident  of  Perry 
township  about  nineteen  years,  and  had  received 
his  schooling  by  going  a  day  or  two  now  and 
then  when  his  services  were  not  needed  on  the 
farm. 

BEERY  JOHN  W.,  New  Castle  township ;  son 
of  Enoch  and  Mary  E.  (Buxton)  Berry;  was  born 
in  Perry  township,  September  25, 1848.  He  re- 
mained with  his  parents  until  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  attending  school  and  assisting  on  the  farm. 
At  that  age  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Copland, 
daughter  of  James  and  Margaret  (Baily)  Cop- 
land, and  granddaughter  of  James  and  Elizabeth 
(Horton)  Copland,  and  James  and  Elizabeth 
Baily.  The  date  of  this  marriage  is  October  2, 
1869.  Mrs.  Berry  was  born  May  13,  1852.  Her 
father  lost  his  life  in  attempting  to  cross  the  Wal- 
honding  river  on  horseback,  when  she  was  but 
three  years  of  age.  They  have  been  bleesed  with 
three  children,  ^dz:  George,  born  January  26, 
1871 ;  Albert,  born  August  6, 1874;  and  "Wilber, 
born  January  18, 1877. 

BEETON  EUGENE,  Franklin  township;  iron 
worker;  postoffice.  Wills  Creek;  born  April  28, 
1853,  near  Metz,  France ;  son  of  Francis  and  Anne 
(Beandonin)  Berton.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he 
went  to  his  present  trade  in  Harnes,  France,  and 
remained  five  years;  for  the  first  two  he  received 
no  wages,  he  having  to  board  and  clothe  himself. 
In  July,  1873,  he  came  to  his  present  place  in 
Franklin  township.  Mr.  Berton  was  married 
January  26, 1875,  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  John 
and  Annie  (Grant)  Davied.  They  became  the 
parents  of  two  children,  Estella  and  Francis.  Mr. 
Berton  has  been  eight  years  in  America  and  is 
doing  a  very  fair  business. 

BEST  JOHN  M.,  Keene  township;  born  March 
2S,  1845,  in  Coshocton  county.  He  is  a  son  of 
Jacob  and  Susan  (Miller)  Best,  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  grandson  of  John  and  Christina 
(Hootmah)  Best.  He  is  a  farmer  by  occupation. 
Married  to  Miss  Malinda  Wilson.  They  have  two 
children:  Wilham,  bom  December  22,  1873; 
Alpha,  August  30, 1875. 

BIBLE  JACOB,  Bethlehim  township;  farmer; 
born  in  1796,  in  Rockingham  county,  Virginia. 
He  was  married  in  1820,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Bichey, 
of  the  same  county,  who  was  born  in  1802.    They 


came  to  this  county  in  1821  and  located  in  Keene 
township,  and  remained  until  1837,  when  they 
removed  to  Bethlehem  township.  They  became 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  five  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing, viz :  Philip,  born  in  1829,  George,  born  in  1831, 
Josiah,  born  in  1834^  Hannah,  born  in  1823  and 
Mary,  born  in  1828.  PhiUp  was  married  to  Miss 
Courtright,  of  this  county,  and  now  lives  on  the  old 
homestead.  They  have  five  children,  viz :  Eliza- 
beth, Catharine,  Margaret,  Eli  za  and  Jacob.  George 
Bible  was  married  to  Miss  Randies,  of  this  county, 
and  now  lives  in  Keene  township.  Josiah  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Walton,  of  this  county,  and  is  now  liv- 
ing in  Illinois.  Hannah  was  married  to  Mr.  Henry 
Mumford,  of  this  county,  and  now  lives  in  Keene 
township.  Mary  was  maried  to  Mr.  George  Tur- 
ner, of  this  county,  and  now  lives  in  Bethlehem 
township.  Mr.  Bible,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  a  carpenter  in  his  younger  days,  but  later 
has  followed  farming.  He  was  also  an  old  hunter 
and  trapper.  He  had  four  sons  in  the  late  war 
at  one  time,  all  of  whom  enlisted  from  this 
county.  Mrs.  Bible  died  in  1869,  aged  sixty-seven 
years.  Mr.  Bible  is  now  in  his  eighty-fourth  year, 
and  is  still  active  in  both  mind  and  body. 

BIGGS  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township;  bom 
in  this  county  in  1828 ;  son  of  William  and  Hes- 
ter (Markley)  Biggs,  and  grandson  of  William 
and  Mary  Biggs  and  Andrew  and  Mary  Markley; 
married  in  1853,  to  Mary  Smith,  daughter  of 
Newman  and  Hester  Smith.  Mr.  Biggs  is  the 
father  of  twelve  children,  viz:  Palina,  James, 
John  (deceased),  Frederick,  Frank  (deceased), 
Joseph,  Evalina,  Elizabeth,  Hester,  WiUiam, 
Mary,  Samuel.  Two  are  married  and  living  in 
this  county.    James  is  a  teacher. 

BIGGS  F.  F.,  Roscoe,  Ohio,  of  the  firm  of 
Wright,  Biggs  &  McCabe,  general  merchandising, 
West  Main  street,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  Mr.  Biggs 
was  born  June  7,  1858,  in  Jackson  township;  son 
of  William  Biggs,  a  native  of  America,  but  of 
Irish  ancestry.  He  was  brought  up  on  the  farm 
until  nineteen,  when  he  began  teaching  school, 
and  taught  three  years.  Then  he  became  a 
partner  in  the  above  firm.  Mr.  Biggs  was  mar- 
ried December  31, 1876,  to  Miss  N.  E.,  daughter 
of  John  L.  Dougherty,  of  Jackson  township. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz:  Lelia 
and  Ethel. 

BIRCH  JACOB,  Pike  township;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
Virginia  in  1805,  and  settled  in  this  county  in 
1851;  son  of  William  and  Nancy  (Simmons) 
Birch.  He  was  married  in  1835,  to  Miss  Mary 
Cooksey.  Their  children  are  Ehza  A.,  Mahala, 
Evaline,  Edward  and  Anderson.  Mr.  Birch  was 
married  to  his  second  wife.  Miss  Mary  Connard, 
in  1865.    They  have  one  child,  Elvin. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


637" 


BLACKMAN  HOLDER  De.,  Jefferson  town- 
ship; postofiice,.  Warsaw;  born  April,  1822, 
near  Haverill,  Suffolk  county,  England;  son  of 
William  and  Susan  (Holder)  Blackman,  natives 
of  England.  He  came  to  America  in  1832,  and 
settled  in  Gambler,  Knox  county,  Ohio.  He  went 
to  school  until  the  age  of  twenty-one,  when  he 
began  the  house-joiner  trade  with  William  Rice, 
of  Wooster,  and  followed  that  for  about  two 
years.  He  then  took  an  irregular  course  at  Ken- 
yon  coUeige  at  Gambler  for  two  years.  He  then 
studied  medicine  with  Prof.  Homer  M.  Thrall  for 
two  yaars,  attending  a  course  of  lectures  at  the 
Cleveland  medical  college  during  the  winter  of 
1848-49,  after  which  he  began  the  practice  of 
medicene  in  the  spring  of  1849,  at  Walhonding, 
Coshocton  county,  and  remained  there  two  years. 
He  then  came  to  Warsaw,  where  he  is  at  present, 
having  a  fair  practice.  He  was  married  in  Janu- 
ary,, 1850,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Spencer,  daughter  of 
Edward  Spencer.  They  had  four  children,  viz: 
William  R.,  born  November  15, 1850;  Anna,  born 
June  14, 1853;  Frank,  born  March  25,  1855,  and 
Lillie,  bom  March  1, 1859. 

BLUCK  WILLIAM  (deceased),  Lafayette 
township;  was  born  in  England,  Shropshire 
county,  about  1796;  was  married  to  Miss  Price,  of 
England.  They  have  had  four  children,  two  of 
whom  only  are  living.  His  wife  dying,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  James,  of  England,  who  became  the 
mother  of  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  living, 
as  follows:  Thomas  P.,  Edmond,  Edwin,  Joseph, 
Lucy,  Arthur,  Lucretia,  William  and  Rose. 
Edwin  was  born  in  England,  in  1843,  and,  com- 
ing to  this  State  and  county,  with  his  parents,  in 
1853,  located  in  this  township,  where  he  now  re- 
sides. He  enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Seventy-fourth  0.  V.  I.,  at  Newark, 
Ohio,  and  returned  home,  when  ■  peace  was  de- 
clared. He  was  married,  in  1866,  to  Miss  Mary 
C.  Whiteside,  of  this  county,  to  whom  one  child, 
F.  E,  was  born  August,  1867.  Bluck's  father 
and  mother  died  in  1867,  at  the  ages  af  seventy- 
one  and  forty-seven  years. 

BOCK  GEORGE  J.,  Coshocton  city; proprietor 
barber-shop.  Main  street;  was  born  June  14, 1852, 
in  Allegheny  county,  Pennsylvania.  At  sixteen, 
he  learned  his  trade,  and  worked  in  the  city  of 
Pittsburgh,  and  in  several  towns  in  the  Pennsyl- 
vania oil  region,  and  in  Maryland.  In  1875,  he 
established  a  shop  in  this  city,  which  he  has  car- 
ried on  to  the  present  writing.  Mr.  Bock  was 
married  May  10, 1874,  to  Miss  Mary  L.  Barer,  of 
Erie,  Pennsylvania,  who  was  a  native  of  New 
Jersey. .  This  union  has  been  blessed  with  three 
children,  Mary  V.,  Catherine  B.  and  George  Je- 
rome Bock.  Mr.  Bock  is  doing  a  very  good 
business. 

BODKIN  AMMI,  Perry  township.  New  Guil- 


ford postofiice ;  born  in  West  Virginia,  in  1841 } 
settled  in  Licking  county,  Ohio,  1863;  son  of  John 
and  Rebecca  Bodkin,  and  grandson  of  Jacob  and 
Hanna  (Stewart)  Bodkin.  He  was  married  in 
1872,  to  Alice  Boyd,  daughter  of  John  and  Jemi- 
ma Boyd.  Mr.  Bodkin  is  the  father  of  four  chil- 
dren, viz :  Nellie,  John,  William  and  Maud.  Mr.- 
Bodkin  entered  the  Southern  army  in  1862,  Com- 
pany A,  Fourteenth  regiment,  and  was  engaged 
in  the  battles  of  Bull  Run,  Chancellorsville,  Stone 
Wall,  Scotts  Spring,  Fisher's  Hill,  Gettysburg  and 
others. 

BOERING  JOHN  D.,  merchant;  postofSce,, 
West  Lafayette;  was  born  in  this  county, in  1840,- 
and  educated  at  the  public  school  of  Roscoe.  He 
was  married  in  1880,  to  Miss  Hannah  Weather- 
wax,  who  was  born  in  Clark  township,  in  1847, 
Mr.  Boering  established  the  hardware  trade  in 
West  Lafayette,  in  1880,  and  keeps  in  stock  a  gen- 
eral line  of  hardware,  cutlery,  etc.,  and  is  having 
a  liberal  trade. 

BONHAM  T.  W.,  Pike  township;  postofiice. 
West  Carlisle;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
Tuscarawas  county,  in  1837,  settled  in  this  county 
in  1840;  son  of  Evan  and  Mary  A.  ( Worley)  Bon- 
ham,  and  grandson  of  David  and  Tacy  Bonham. 
He  was  married  in  1866,  to  Miss  Nervy  J.  Chaney,. 
daughter  of  Franklin  and  Margaret  (Gibbins) 
Chaney.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  children^ 
L.  M.  and  Flawra  E. 

BORING  P.  W.,  Coshocton ;  helper  to  miller 
in  Empire  Mills,  Roscoe,  Ohio;  born  January 
22,  1852 ;  son  of  Joshua  Boring,  a  native  of  Mary- 
land. P.  -W.  Boring  was  raised  on  the  farm, 
where  he  remained  until  1879,  when  he  engaged 
in  his  present  employment  where  he  has  re- 
mained to  the  present  writing. 

BOSTWICK  W.  W.,  Coshocton;  jeweler,  224 
Main  street;  was  born  January  9,  1847,  in  Knox 
county ;  son  of  Nathan  Bostwick,  American  born, 
but  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Young  Bostwick  lived  on 
the  farm  until  twelve  years  old,  when  he  went  into 
a  dry  goods  store  as  clerk,  where  he  remained 
seven  years.  He  then  attended  the  McNeely  nor- 
mal school  at  Hope  Dale,  one  year.  On  leaving 
school  he  spent  the  next  three  years  learning  his 
trade  with  Hide  &  Young,  Mount  Vernon.  Jan- 
uary 15, 1870,  he  came  to  this  city  and  established 
his  present  business  in  company  with  his  brother, 
H.  C.  In  1872  he  became  sole  proprietor.  ■  Mr. 
Bostwick  was  married  April  16, 1873,  to  Miss  Kate 
Hay,  daughter  of  H.  Hay  of  this  city,  which  union 
has  been  blessed  with  two  children,  Houston  H. 
and  Frank  B.  Mr.  Bostwick  is  doing  a  very  ex- 
tensive business  in  his  line  of  goods,  having  the 
most  extensive  stock  of  the  kind  in  the  county. 

.  BOSTWICK,  J.  A.,  jeweler.  Main  street,  near 


638 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


depot,  Coshocton.  Mr.  Bostwick  is  a  native  of 
Knox  county,  born  August  24,  1852,  and  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Mt.  Vernon. 
His  first  business  engagement  was  in  learning 
the  jewelry  businesss  with  H.  C.  Bostwick,  of 
Newark,  Ohio,  whom  he  served  four  years.  He 
then  came  to  Coshocton  and' engaged  in  business 
for  himself,  in  November,  1875,  and  in  which  he 
still  continues.  He  occupies  spacious  and  elegant 
rooms  south  side  Main  street,  where  he  keeps  a 
very  large  and  well  selected  stock  of  first-class 
foreign  and  American  watches,  solid  and  plated 
silverware,  cutlery,  clocks  of  all  styles,  and  a 
-large  and  elegant  assortment  of  ladies'  and  gents' 
Jewelry,  all  of  the  latest  patterns;  also,  all  kinds 
^of  watch,  clock  and  jewelry  repairing  a  specialty. 

BOWEN,  0.  J.,  Crawford  township ;  teacher ; 
postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio;  born  April  21, 
1853,  in  Holmes  county ;  son  of  John  and  Catha- 
rine (Limback)  Bowen.  He  commenced  teach- 
ing when  nineteen  years  of  age,  and  has  taught 
to  the  present  time,  excepting  one  year's  clerk- 
ing in  store.  Mr.  Bowen  is  one  of  the  good 
teachers  of  the  county,  having  thoroughly  pre- 
pared himself  for  his  profession  at  the  National 
Normal  School,  at  Lebanon. 

.  BOWER  LOEENZO,  Monroe  township;  was 
born  October  22, 1833,  in  Holmes  county,  Ohio; 
son  of  William  and  Corrilla  (Barnes)Bower,  and 
grandson  of  Leonard  Bower  and  of  Nancy  Price , 
.also,  great  grandson  of  Ilichard  Barnes.  He  has 
followed  farming  all  his  life.  In  1864  he  came  to 
■Coshocton  county,  where  he  yet  lives.  He  mar- 
ried Cordelia  McKee,  December,  1860,  daughter 
of  Andrew  and  Julia  A.  (Corns)  McKee,  and 
granddaughter  of  William  Corns.  She  died  De- 
cember 2, 1873.  The  children  are  Alex.  Q.,  Silas 
■C.,  Charles  E.  and  Leonard  P. 

BO  WEE  lEWIN,  Monroe  township ;  was  born 
May  9,  1831,  in  Holmes  county;  son  of  William 
.and  Corrilla  (Barnes)  Bower,  and  grandson  of 
Leonard  Bower  and  Nancy  Bower,  and  great 
grandson  of  Eichard  Barnes.  He  followed  farm- 
ing in  Holmes  county  till  1861,  when  he  came  to 
■Coshocton  county.  He  was  married  first  to  Cath- 
.arine  Brightwell  October  26,  1854.  After  the 
death  of  his  first  wife  he  married  Mary  Wilson, 
May  6,  .1878. 

BOWMAN  G.  W.,  of  the  firm  of  Bowman  & 
Shanwecker,  merchants;  postoffice.  New  Bed- 
ford ;  born  May  27, 1844,  in  New  Bedford ;  son  of 
John  and  Susanna  (Noel)  Bowman.  When  a  boy, 
he  assisted  his  mother  in  a  hotel,  his  father  hav- 
ing died  when  G.W.  was  nine  years  of  age.  In 
1865  he  enlisted  in  Company  E,  One  hundred  and 
Ninety-first  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  to  the  close  of 
the  war.  On  his  return,  he  established  business 
with  his  brother,  A.  J.,  firm  name  of  Bowman  & 


Brother,  and  continued  the  business  together  until 
1876,  when  G.  W.  sold  his  interest  to  his  brother; 
who  conducted  thQ.store  one  year,  then  the  pres- 
ent firm  took  charge,  and  are  doing  a  very  satis- 
factory business.  Mr.  Bowman  was  married 
July  4, 1867,  to  Miss  Mariah,  daughter  of  Daniel 
and  Lydia  (Newman)  Forney.  Lottie,  May, 
Charles  W.,  Ida,  Alice  and  Mary  Elizabeth  are 
the  names  of  their  children. 

BOWMAN  JOHN,  White  Eyes  Township,  is 
a  native  of  Tuscrawas  county,  and  was  born  in 
1828.  His  father,  John  Bowman,  came  to  this 
county  in  1831,  and  settled  at  Adams  Mills; 
m(jved  to  New  Bedford,  in  1840,  and  blacksmithed 
there.  He  died  in  1853,  at  the  age  of  fifty-three 
years,  and  his  wife  died  March,  1878,  aged  seventy- 
four  years.  The  junior,  John,  learned  the  black- 
smith trade  with  his  father,  and  worked' at  the 
trade  for  fourteen  years.  He  went  to  Mssouri, 
in  1852,  remained  there  one  year,  and  returned 
to  Ohio.  He  went  to  Iowa,  in  1865,  remained 
there  one  year,  and  then  went  on  to  California, 
where  he  staid  four  years,  and  returned  to  Ohio. 
In  1861,  he  married  Miss  Agnes  Erwin,  of  Tus- 
carawas county.  They  have  three  sons— Benja-/ 
min,  born  in  1863 ;  James  G.,  born  in  1866,  and 
Erwin  P.,  horn  in  1871.  Prom  1860  to  1865,  Mr. 
Bowman  lived  in  Holmes  county,  and  then  he 
located  on  a  mill  property,  south  of  Chili,  where 
he  now  resides. 

BOWN  H.  E  ,  Virginia  township ;  born  in  ^Co- 
shocton county,  in  1868;  son  of  J.  T.  and  E.  E. 
Bown,  and  married  in  June,  1880,  to  Miss  Theo- 
docia  Slaughter.    Postoffice,  Willow  Brook. 

BOYD  WILLIAM  E.,  White  Eyes  township; 
born  in  the  county  of  Donegal,  Ireland,  Octo- 
ber 1801.  He  came  to  this  county  with  his  par- 
ents about  1824,  who  settled  in  White  Eyes 
township.  He  was  married  in  1836,  to  Miss 
Isabella  Finley.  She  was  born  in  the  county  of 
Donegal,  Ireland,  February,  1816.  They  became 
the  parents  of  ten  children — John  P.,  Jane  M., 
Eamsey  W.,  Magaret  A.,  George  B.,  Alice  A., 
Eichard  W.,  Florence  E.,  Alexander  P.  and 
Eobert  E.  All  married,  except  Eobert  E.,  and 
Margaret  A.,  who  is  a  widow.  George  B.  enlisted 
in  Company  H,  Eightieth  O.  V.  I.,  at  Coshocton, 
in  1861.  He  was  killed  at  Vicksburg,  and  was 
buried  on  the  battle-field.  Eamsey  W.  enlisted  in 
the  190-day  service.  Jane  M.  married  Dr  Chap- 
man, of  this  county,  and  is  now  living  in  Woodford 
county,  Illinois,  where  the  doctor  has  a  large 
practice.  Eamsey  W.  was  married  to  Charlotte 
Hagle,  of  Bethlehem  township,  and  is  now  living 
in  Illinois.  ,  Margaret  A.  was  married  \o  John 
W.  Bell,  of  Wakatomika,  who  is  now  deceased. 
Alice  A.  married  George  W.  Kraut,  and  lives 
near  Wakatomika.  Eichard  W.  miirried  Lury 
Dunemyer,  of    Illinois,  and    is  bow  living  in 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


639 


Keene  township.  Florence  K.  married  Howard 
Lawrence,  of  Keene  township.  Alexander  P. 
married  Pauline  Compton,  of  Eoscoe.  Robert 
B.  is  single  and  lives  at  home  with  his  parents. 
Mr.  Boyd  and  family  are  members  of  the  M.  E. 
church. 

BOYD  WILLIAM  M.,  Keene  township;  born 
March  13, 1803,  in  Pennsylvania;  a  son  of  Robert 
Boyd,  who  was  born  September  6,  1769,  died 
November  28,  1826,  and  Mary  McMaster,  born 
August  27, 1779,  died  January  23, 1872,  and  grand- 
son of  William  Boyd  and  James  McMaster.  Mr. 
Boyd  caine  to  Jefferson  county  in  1803,  and  re- 
mained there  till  1814,  when  he  came  to  Coshoc- 
ton county  to  the  farm  wherejie  now  lives.  He 
has  traveled  considerably  in  the  United  States, 
and  was  married  to  Miss  Bowl,  April  1, 1824,  who 
was  born  April  12,  1804,  died  September  3, 1873, 
a  daughter  of  James  and  Nancy  (Thompson) 
Bowl.  Their  children  were:  Nancy,  born  Feb- 
ruary 11,  1825;  Gilbert,  February  11,  1826,  died 
January  21,  1849;  Mary,  born  April  12,  1831; 
Robert,  September  10,  1833;  Sarah,  June  28, 1836, 
and  John  C.,  February  25,  1841,  died  December 
25, 1852. 

BOYD  ROBERT  R.,  White  Eyes  township; 
postofiice, Canal  Lewisville ;  farmer;  was  born  in 
August,  about  1811,  in  county  Donegal,  Ireland; 
son  of  Robert  and  Jane  (Ramsey)  Boyd.  He 
came  to  America  and  located  with  his  parents  on 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married 
May  23, 1839,  to  Miss  Mary  Anne,  daughter  of 
Robert  and  Jane  (Stephenson)  Johnson.  They 
have  had  fourteen  children  :  William  J.,  married 
to  Elmira  Elliott,  now  residing  in  Caldwell  coun- 
ty, Missouri;  Jane,  married  to  Thomas  Hamilton, 
residing  in  White  Eyes  township;  Samuel  F., 
married  to  Elizabeth  Brown,  living  in  the  same 
town  hip;  Robert  A.,  married  to  Mary  Jane  Mc- 
Murray,  residing  in  Marion  county ;  Mary  Anne, 
married  to  Alexander  Adams,  residing  in  Keene 
township;  Hester  Ellen,  married  to  James  Elliott, 
residing  in  Mill  Creek  township;  Elizabeth,  mar- 
ried to  John  Clark,  residing  in  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; Daniel,  married  to  Matilda  Compton ;  Zel- 
ma,  Carbetta,  Evert  Richard  and  Caroline,  de- 
ceased. Mr.  Boyd  has  given  his  entire  attention 
to  mixed  husbandry  and  agriculture,  and  by  hon- 
est industry  has  obtained  a  competency. 

BOYD  FRANCIS,  farmer ;  White  Eyes  town- 
ship ;  ChiU  postofiice ;  born  February  10, 1828,  in 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania;  son  of  Robert 
and  Margaret  (Cassidy)  Boyd.  His  grandfather's 
name  was  Robert  Boyd,  a  native  of  Ireland,  and 
his  mother  was  also  of  Irish  descent.  She  died  in 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  is  buried 
at  Bethel  church,  in  that  county.  Young  Boyd 
lived  about  four  years  in  West  Virginia  before 
coming  to  this  county,  which  he  did  in  1834,  and 


located  in  White  Eyes  township.  He  was  married 
November  13,  1854,  to  Miss  Jane,  daughter  of 
Alexander  and  Rebecca  (Virtue)  Lockard,  of 
Irish  ancestry.  They  have  four  children — Alex- 
ander, married  to  Caroline  Carnahan,  Robert 
Dayton,  married  to  Elizabeth  Beaver,  James  D. 
and  Rebecca  Jane.  Mr.  Boyd  has  devoted  his 
attention  to  mixed  husbandry  and  agriculture, 
but  principally  to  wool  growing,  having  a  very 
fine  farm  well  adapted  to  sheep  husbandry.  It 
is  kept  in  good  condition,  making  an  elegant 
home  for  himself  and  family. 

BOYD  W.  S.,  Virginia  township;  born  in 
Coshocton  county,  October  7,  1840,  and  was  mar- 
ried April  23,  1862.  Mr.  Boyd  was  blessed  with 
five  children,  viz:  Cora  A.,  Emma  L.,  Sarah  E., 
William  W.,  and  Edward  S.  He  died  in  1875. 
His  widow  survives  him. 

BOYD  SAMUEL  A.,  of  the  firm  of  Wier  & 
Boyd,  groceries  and  provisions,  220  Main  street, 
Coshocton,  Ohio.  Mr.  Boyd  was  born  May  18, 
1850,  in  White  Eyes  township ;  is  son  of  Samuel 
and  Nancy  (Allen)  Boyd,  both  natives  of  the 
county  Tyrone,  Ireland.  William  Boyd,  grand- 
father of  Samuel  A.,  was  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  White  Eyes  township,  having  emigrated  with 
his  family  to  the  township  in  1833.  He  identified 
himself  with  the  anti-slave);y  movement  from  its 
beginning,  and  was  one  of  the  strongest  advocates 
of  human  liberty.  He  lived  a  consistent  and  pi- 
ous life,  and  died  May  17,  1879.  Young  Boyd, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  brought  up  on  the 
farm,  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
township,  and  at  West  Minster  college,  New  Wil- 
mington, Lawrence  county,  Pennsylvania.  He 
began  teaching  when  about  eighteen  and  taught 
thirteen  terms,  farming  during  the  summer.  In 
the  spring  of  1876  he  visited  Nebraska  and  taught 
two  terms  of  school  while  there.  Also  in  com- 
pany with  a  hunting  expedition  visited  southern 
Nebraska,  northwestern  Kansas  and  eastern  Colo- 
rado, killing  buffalo  on  the  plains.  He  returned 
to  his  native  home  in  1876  and  resumed  teaching 
and  farming.  Mr.  Boyd  was  married  December 
25, 1877,  to  Miss  Nannie  G.  J.,  daughter  of  Robert 
and  Angeline  (Hammond)  Dickey,  of  White  Eyes 
township.  They  are  the  parents  of  one  child, 
viz:  Charles  Hammond,  born  August  11,  1879. 
Mr.  Boyd  established  his  present  business  April 
11, 1881.  This  firm  keeps  a  first-class  assortment 
of  goods  in  their  line. 

BBECHT  VALERIAN,  Franklin  township; 
farmer;  p6stofB.ce,  Wills  Creek,  Ohio;  born  Jan- 
uary 6, 1845,  in  Baden,  Germany;. son  of  Ben- 
hart  and  Catherine  (Harwidel)  Breoht,  natives  of 
Baden,  Germany.  They  emigrated  to  America  in 
1854,  bringing  their  family  with  them,  and  located 
near  Adarasville,  Muskingum  county.  The 
father  was  born  in  1799,  and  died  in  1862.    The 


640 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON .  COUNTY. 


mother  was  born  in  1801,  and  died  in  1867.  Val- 
erian, the  subject  of  this  sketch,  began  life  for 
himself  as  a  hired  hand  on  a  farm,  but  by  econ- 
omy and  industry,  he  has  obtained  a  good  farm. 
Mr.  Brecht  was  married  first  to  Miss  Mary  A., 
daughter  of  Solomon  and  Bridget  (Rodenburger) 
Gossman.  They  became  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren, William  Solomon  and  Annie  Varonica. 
Their  mother  died  July  1,  1875.  Mr.  Brecht 
married  April  18, 1876,  Miss  Mary  A.,  daughter 
of  George  and  Elizabeth  (Lash)  Shue,  natives  of 
France. 

BRINK  JOSEPH  W.,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer ;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio ;  was  born 
October  14, 1830,  in  Knox  county,  Ohio.  He  was 
married  January  15, 1857,  to  Mrs.  Annis  N.  Mof- 
fet,  who  was  born  December  22, 1809,  in  Otsego 
county.  New  York.  She  was  married  May  14, 
1829,  to  Mr.  Samuel  Moffet,  of  Tuscarawas  county, 
Ohio.  Mr.  Moffet  built  the  brick  residence  where 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brink  now  reside,  in  1846,  It  was 
the  first  brick  residence  built  in  Bethlehem 
township.  Mrs.  Brink's  maiden  name  was  Stone 
She  has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  for 
forty-six  j'ears.  Mr.  Brink'  is  a  member  of  the 
M.  P.  church. 

BRILLHART  DAVID,  Monroe  township; 
was  born  October  6, 1816,  in  Buckingham  county, 
Virginia.  He  was  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Susanah 
(Whitezel)  Brillhart,  and  grandson  of  John 
Brillhart  and  of  Anthony  Whitezel.  At  the  age 
of  fifteen  he  came  from  Virginia  to  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  has  spent  the  most  of  his 
time  since  in  farming.  As  he  always  possessed  a 
natural  liking  for  tools,  he  learned  several  trades 
without  an  instructor,  such  as  the  cooper  trade, 
wagonmaker,  blacksmith,  and  house-joiner.  He 
is  a  careful,  well-to-do  farmer,  and  is  the  owner 
of  about  1,000  acres  of  good  land  in  Monroe 
township.  Mr.  Brillhart  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  A.  Drake,  August  5,  1841.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Swollaras) 
Drake.  Their  children  were,  Phcebe,  Samuel 
(deceased),  Isaac  (deceased),  Martha,  Tobitha, 
David  W.,  Hamilton  R.  and  William  L.  (de- 
ceased). After  the  death  of  Mrs.  Brillhart,  Octo- 
ber 25,  1857,  Mr.  Brillhart  married  Martha 
Drake,  August  7,  1858.  Their  children  by  this 
marriage  were,  Louella  (deceased),  John  C, 
Mary  F.,  Milin  E.,  Emma  R.,  Laura  L.,  Hanbie 
W.  and  Victor  D. 

BRILLHART  HARRISON  H.,  Jefferson  town- 
ship ;  postoiBce,  Warsaw ;  born  April  9,  1841,  in 
Monroe  township,  Coshocton  county;  son  of 
Samuel  and  Maiy  (Chambers)  Brillhart,  and 
grandson  of  Aden  Chambers.  His  father  was  a 
Virginian.  He  remained  with  his  fatlier  until 
the  age  of  twenty-one,  then  enlisted  in  Company 
G,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  0.  N.  G.,  and 


served  his  engagement  of  100  days;  came  home 
to  Monroe  township  and  began  farming,  and  re- 
mained until  the  fall  of  1874,  when  he  moved  to 
his  present  location  in  Jefferson  township.  He 
married  April  2,  1868,  Miss  Caroline  Heaton, 
daughter  of  Aaron  and  Dorcas  (Welling)  Heaton, 
and  granddaughter  of  Isaac  and  Elizabeth  (Bar- 
ret) Heaton  and  Thomas  Welling:  Mrs.  Brill- 
hart was  born  in  Bedford  township,  July  30, 1844. 
This  union  is  blessed  with  one  child— Charlie; 
born  in  Monroe  township,  May  9, 1869. 

BRILLHART  WILLIAM  R.,  Tiverton  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice,  Gann,  Knox  county; 
born  January  1, 1846,  in  this  county.  His  father, 
John  F.,  was  born  in  1818  in  Virginia.-  He  came 
to  this  county  while  yet  small,  and  was  married 
in  1830  to  Miss  Julia  A.  Robinson,  of  Knox 
county.  He  died  in  1860,  and  she  died  in  1870. 
They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  William 
R.,  being  the  second.  He  was  married  in  1870  to 
Miss  Milinda  Burnes,  of  Knox  county,  who  was 
born  in  1849.  They  are  the  parents  of-  four 
children— Charles  0.,  Royal  I.,  Sarah  B.  and 
Maggie. 

BRILLHART  B.  F.,  Monroe  township;  born 
April  28, 1849,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  lives; 
son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  (Chambers)  Brillhart, 
Samuel  Brillhart  was  brought  up  in  Brocking- 
ham  county,  Virginia;  born  in  1795.  Mary 
Chambers  was  born  July  30,  1806,  in  Fayette 
county,  Virginia,  He  is  a  grandson  of  William 
A.  and  Anna  (  Smock )  Chambers,  and  great- 
grandson  of  Edward  and  Mary  (Sissel)  Chambers, 
and  of  John  and  Margaret  Emock.  Mr.  Brill- 
hart was  born  and  bred  a  farmer.  He  is  a  good 
citizen  and  a  good  neighbor.  He  has  a  very 
fine  farm  near  Spring  Mountain,  Monroe  town- 
ship, to  which  he  devotes  his  entire  attention. 
Mr.  Brillhart  was  married  to  Miss  Eliza  A.  Miller, 
November  27,  1873,  daughter  of  Saul  and  Eliz- 
beth  Miller.  (For  ancestry,  see  the  biography  of 
her  father,  Samuel  Miller,  elsewhere  in  this 
book.) 

BROADY  WILLIAM  J.,  tinner;  postoffice. 
West  Lafayette;  born  in  Jefierson  county,  Ohio, 
in  1854,  and  was  married  in  1880,  to  Mary  S. 
Shafer,  who  was  born  in  this  township,  in  1858. 
Mr.  Broady  learned  the  tinner's  trade  in  Steuben- 
ville;  established  business  in  West  Lafayette,  in 
the  spring  of  1881 ;  successor  to  Frank  Famil- 
ton,  and  deals  in  heating  and  cooking  stoves; 
manufactures  all  kinds  of  tin,  copper  and  sheet- 
iron  ware.    Tin  roofing  and  spouting  a  specialy. 

BROWER  JOHN  JACKSON,  M.  D.,  Coshoc- 
ton, corner  of  Walnut  street  and  Burt  avenue ; 
born  August  17,  1887,  in  Carroll  county ;  son  of 
Joseph  Brower,  a  native  of  America,  whose  pa- 
rents were  Highlanders.    Mr.  Brower  was  raised 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


641 


on  the  farm  until  twelve  years  of  age,  when  he 
entered  New  Hagerstown  academy,  and  re- 
mained four  years.  At  sixteen  he  began  teach- 
ing public  school.  At  nineteen  he  entered  Dela- 
ware college,  at  Delaware,  and  graduated  when 
he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  He  then  entered 
Sterling  medical  college  in  1859,  and  was  gradu- 
ated by  that  institution  in  1860,  and  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession  at  Leesville,  Carroll 
county,  the  same  year.  In  1861  he  was  commis- 
sioned Second  Lieutenant  of  Company  I,  Seven- 
teenth 0.  V.  I.  (thirteen  months'  men),  and  rein- 
listed  as  surgeon  of  the  Ninety-eighth  0.  V.  I., 
and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  Dr.  Brower 
was  graduated  at  Cincinnati  eclectic  medical  in- 
stitute in  1868-69.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  es- 
tablished a  practice  at  West  Lafayette,  where  he 
remained  a  short  time,  then  came  to  Canal  Lew- 
isville,  where  he  remained  until  December,  1875, 
when  he  came  to  this  city  and  established  a  prac- 
tice and  has  remained  to  the  present  time.  Dr. 
Brower  was  married  February  10, 1859,  to  Miss 
Susan  E.  Benedum,  daughter  of  John  Benedum, 
of  Virginia.  They  had  three  children,  two  of 
whom  (Carrie  Orea  and  Burt  Sherman  Lincoln) 
have  died.    Lucy  I.  A.  is  their  only  living  child. 

BROWN  JONAS,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer ;  native  of  White  Eyes,  and  was  born  in 
1831,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  His 
father,  Jonas  Brown,  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
in  1788;  came  to  Tuscarawas  county  when  but 
thirteen  years  old,  and  remained  in  that  county 
until  the  spring  of  1828,  when  he  located  in 
White  Eyes.  He  was  the  father  of  nine  chil- 
dren, and  all  are  living.  All  have  removed  from 
the  county,  except  Jonas.  Mr.  Brown  married 
Miss  Margaret  Hamilton,  in  1857.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  John  Hamilton,  and  was  born  in 
1840.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  one 
deceased.  Those  living  are,  John  L.,  Levi  M., 
Lewellen,  Mary  D.,  Lizzie  A.  Mr.  Brown  has 
always  resided  in  the  township,  and  the  people 
have  given  him  offices  of  trust.  He  has  been 
treasurer  and  trustee  of  his  township,  having 
several  terms  of  each.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  be- 
long to  the  M.  E.  church  at  White  Eyes.  Mr. 
Brown's  mother  lives  in  Madison  county,  Iowa, 
and  is  in  her  eighty-first  year. 

BROWN  JONAS,  Crawford  township  i.  of  the 
firm  of  Brown  &  Craft,  hardware  merchants; 
fostoffice,  New  Bedford;  born  June  6,  1849,  in 
White  Eyes  township;  son  of  Henry  and  Reb- 
ecca (Snyder)  Brown.  At  twenty  years  of  age 
te  began  teaching  school  and  taught  and  attended 
school  about  four  years,  after  which  he  clerked 
in  store  in  New  Bedford  until  1876,  when  the 
above  firm  was  established.  This  firm  does  a 
good  business  in  general  hardware  and  farm  im- 
plements.   Mr.  B.  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace 


of  Crawford  township,  in  the  spring  of  1880,  and 
holds  the  office  at  the  •  present  time.  He  was 
married  May  27, 1877  to  Miss  Catharine  A.,  daugh- 
ter of  Nicholas  and  Jeremiah  Fisher.  Vernet 
Orwin,  born  May  20,  1878,  is  their  only  child. 

BROWN  G.  J.,  Bedford  township ;  real  estate 
and  insurance  agent;  postoflfice,  West  Bedford; 
born  in  1825  in  Jefierson  county,  Ohio,  came 
to  this  county  in  1851,  and  was  married  in  1863, 
to  Miss  Lorinda  Parrott  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1883,  in  New  Brunswick.  She  came  to 
this  county  with  her  parents  in  1837.  They  are 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  viz :  Oswell  C, 
Sarah  P.,  William  P.,  Elmer  E.,  Anna  B.,  Dora, 
Hortense,  Robert  G.,  and  Howard. 

BROWNING  JAMES,  Tuscarawas  township; 
postoffice,  Coshocton;  farmer;  was  born  in  Mont- 
gomery county,  Maryland,  March  12,  1813;  son 
of  James  and  ijlary  (Snjith)  Browning.  Young 
Browning  was  raised  a  mechanic,  and  worked  at 
wagon  making  until  he  was  twenty-four  years  of 
age,  when  he  engaged  in  farming  which  he  has 
followed  to  the  present  time,  with  the  exception 
of  one  year  Spent  in  Indiana,  working  at  mill 
building.  Mr.  Browning  was  first  married  July 
13, 1837,  to  Miss  Rebecca,  daughter  of  John  El- 
son,  of  this  County.  Their  children  were  Oliver, 
Mary  Jane,  Samuel,  killed  at  the  battle  of  Mur- 
freesboro,  Tennessee,  James  Edward,  and  Hamil- 
ton. Mr.  Browning  was  married  to  Mrs.  Mary 
Jane  Jennings,  daughter  of  Andrew  and  Eliza- 
beth (Brown)  Shrawyer. 

BROWNING  OLIVER,  Franklin  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Franklin  township,  March  6, 
1840;  son  of  James  Browning;  enlisted  October, 
1861,  in  Company  F,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  and  was 
in  service  four  years  and  two  months ;  captured 
at  Stone  River,  paroled  at  Murfreesboro,  and  ex- 
changed about  eight  months  afterward ;  re-joined 
regiment  November  12, 1863;  was  in  battles  of 
Lookout  Mountain,  Franklin,  Tennessee,  Nash- 
ville, and  all  through  the  Georgia  campaign; 
married  in  1866  to  Mary  E.  Gaumer,  of  Adams- 
ville,  Muskingum  county,  and  has  five  children 
living,  viz:  Rebecca  Anna,  James  L.,  Harvey  Al- 
len, Melinda  Jane  and  Eleanor  Olive. 

BROWNING  J.  E.,  Franklin  township ;  born 
in  Franklin  township,  July  23,  1847;  son  of 
James  and  Rebecca  (Elson)  Browning.  His 
father,  a  native  of  Maryland,  moved  from  Vir- 
ginia to  this  township  about  1885.  When  seven- 
teen years  old,  in  October,  1864,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  E,  Twenty-ninth  0.  V.  I.,  and  served 
nine  months ;  was  with  Sherman  in  his  march 
from  Atlanta,  Georgia,  to  the  sea.  He  was  mar- 
ried February  4,  1873,  to  Josephine  Conley,  of 
this  township,  and  has  two  children,  viz :  Charles 
H.  and  Edna. 


642 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


BKENNEMAN  JAMES,  Bedford  township; 
farmer ;  postofBce,  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1833,  in 
Allegheny  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  went  to 
Kansas,  with  a  company  of  100,  in  1856,  and 
came  to  this  county  from  there  in  1857.  He 
went  to  California  in  1849,  and  remained  there 
eighteen  months.  He  -^as  in  the  100-day  serv- 
ice. He  was  married  in  1864,  to  Miss  S.  S.  Eng- 
lish, of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1842.  They 
are  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz :  Almira,  Su- 
san J.,  Josephine  and  Thomas  S.  David  Brenne- 
man,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  in  1800,  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  was  married  to  Jane  Pinkerton,  of  the 
same  county,  who  was  born  in  1790.  They  came 
to  this  county  in  1856.  She  died  in  1868.  They 
were  the  parents  of  three  children. 

BRYAN  AMBROSE,  Pike  township ;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
this  county,  in  1827 ;  son  of  John  and  Mary  I. 
(Deyarman)  Bryan.  Mr.  Bryan's  father  came  to 
this  county  in  1816,  from  Maryland,  died  August 
19,  1850.  Mr.  Bryan  was  married  October  6, 
1856,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Hufi,  daughter  of  Eleven 
and  Louisa  Huff.  They  are  the  pSrents  of  five 
children,  viz :  Sarah  I.,  Robert  B.,  Elizabeth  E., 
Louisa,  Martha  J. 

BURCHEIELD  EDWARD,  Roscoe  village; 
blacksmith;  postoffice,  Roscoe;  born  March  21, 
1835,  in  Jefferson  county;  son  of  Andrew  Burch- 
field,  a  native  of  Ohio,  of  Scotch  ancestry.  Young 
Burohfield  was  raised  on  a  farm  until  sixteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  his  trade  and 
worked  at  it  until  August,  1861,  when  he  enlisted 
in  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V.  L,  and 
served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  a  pris- 
oner about  fifteen  minutes  at  Kenesaw,  Georgia. 
Mr.  Burchfield  came  to  this  county  in  1858  and 
worked  journeyman  work  two  years  In  1860  he 
established  a  shop  and  conducted  it  until  his  en- 
lishment  in  the  service  of  his  country.  At  the 
close  of  the  war  Mr.  Burchfield  resumed  his 
trade,  and  has  followed  it  to  the  present  writing. 
He  was  married  first  in  March,  1860,  to  Miss 
Susan  McNabb,  daughter  of  Geo.  McNabb,  of  Jef- 
ferson township.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
six  children— Mary,  Charles,  Martha,  George 
(deceased),  Ann  and  William.  Mrs.  Burchfield 
died  February  14,  1872,  and  is  buried  at  West 
Bedford.  Mr.  Burchfield  was  subsequently  mar- 
ried to  Mrs.  Maragret  J.  Noble,  daughter  of 
Major  Richard  Landing  (deceased),  of  Coshocton 
city.  This  marriage  was  blessed  with  three 
children — Ida  May,  Lottie,  Fay  and  David. 

BUCKLEW  WILLIAM,  Clark  township;  far- 
nie;  postoffice,  Helmick;  born  in  Clark  township, 
February  19,  1818;  son  of  Park  and  Elizabeth 
(Methany)  Bucklew,  and  grandson  of  Andrew 
Bucklew.    He  owns  a  farm  of  231  acres,  in  the 


southwest  corner  of  the  township,  where  he  has 
lived  all  his  life.  He  was  married,  in  April,  1848, 
to  Miss  Mary  Maggs,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Eleanor  (Stewart)  Maggs,  of  English  descent. 
She  was  born  in  Bethlehem  township,  March  15, 
1826.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
viz:  Elizabeth,  born  March  10,  1860;  Emeline, 
born  October  20, 1851 ;  Francis  M.,  born  October 
1,  1853;  Howard  M.,  born  October  21, 1855;  Lam- 
bert 0.,  born  April  19,  1858 ;  Joseph  0.,  born  Jan- 
uary 27,  1860 ;  Ida  M.,  born  December  26,  1861 
(died  May  7, 1873),  and  Lemuel  E.,  born  January 
9, 1864. 

BUCKLEW  JAMES,  ClarTs:  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Clark's ;  born  in  Clark  township,  Co- 
shocton'county,  April  7, 1844;  son  of  George  and 
Sarah  (Pardy)  Bucklew,  and  grandson  of  John 
Bucklew.  He  was  married,  December  28,  1865, 
to  Miss  Catharine  Mullet,,  daughter  of  Benjamin 
and  Barbara  (Zimmermann)  Mullett,  and  grand- 
daughter of  John  and  Catharine  Mullet.  She  was 
born  in  Clark  township,  December  6,  1843,  and 
was  the  mother  of  six  children— Melinda,  born 
January  6, 1867  (died  June  21, 1879);  Cordelia  N., 
born  May  17, 1868;  Elizabeth  M.,  born  August  12, 
1870;  George  A.,  born  December  27,  1873;  Ed- 
ward, born  September  25,  1875  (died  June  17, 
1876);  Ella  A.,  born  March  3, 1879  (died  January 
18, 1881). 

BUNN  &  SON,  grocers  and  confectioners, 
Main  and  Sixth  streets,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  Alfred 
Bunn,  senior  member  of  this  firm,  is  a  native  of 
Sussex  county,  New  Jersey,  where  he  was  bom, 
March  13, 1817,  and  emigrated  to  Ohio  in  1845, 
locating  in  this  county,  in  which  he  resided  ten 
years.  He  then  went  to  Knoxville,  Marion 
county,  Iowa,  where  he  resided  eight  years.  In 
1864,  he  returned  to  Coshocton  county,  and  in 
1877,  he,  in  company  with  his  son  David  H. 
Bunn,  engaged  in  the  grocery  business,  which 
they  conducted  until  1878,  when  they  sold  to 
Williams  &  Co.,  and  in  July,  1880,  they  bought 
back  the  stock,  since  which  they  have  been  con- 
ducting the  business.  They  occupy  pleasant  and 
commodious  rooms  in  Thompson's  block,  twenty 
by  sixty  feet,  and  have  a  first-class  stock  of  staple 
and  fancy  groceries,  confectionaries,  tobaccos, 
cigars,  stove  and  wooden  wares,  sugar-cured  and 
and  pickled  meats,  fish,  salt,  flour,  etc. 

BUBKM  ASTER  PETER,  Perry  township;  post- 
office,  New  Gilford ;  farmer ;  born  in  Mercer  county, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1807;  settled  in  this  county,  in 
1862;  son  of  John  and  Rachel  (Barns)  Burk- 
master,  and  grandson  of  Joshua  Burkmaster  and 
of  Peter  Barnes.  Mr.  Burkmaster  has  been  mar- 
ried three  times— first  in  1830,  to  Miss  Marv 
Nevill,  daughter  of  John  and  Ehzabeth  Nevill. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  seven  children,  viz: 
Rachel,  Rebecca,  Peter,  Sarah,  Mary  E.,  Elizabeth 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


64S 


(dead),  Hester  (dead).'  His  first  wife  died  in 
1844.  He  married  in  1847,  Miss  Jane  Mattock, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Jane  Mattock.  This 
union  was  blessed  with  two  children,  viz :  John 
'  K.  and  S.  J.  His  secnd  wife  died  in  1858.  He' 
was  married  in  1861,  to  Sarah  Shaw.  Mr.  Burk- 
master's  son,  S.  J.,  married  Miss  Martha  J.  Thorn. 
They  hive  one  child,  viz  :  Anna  M. 

BU:^KLEW  B.  F.,  Monroe  township;  was 
born  October  15,  1848,  in  Monroe  township.  He 
is  a  son  of  W.  H.  and  Martha  J.  (McBride) 
Burklew,  and  grandson  of  Samuel  and  Hannah 
Burklew,  and  of  William  and  Eliza  (McKee) 
McBride.  Mr.  Burklew  was  born  and  bred  a 
farmer,  and  educated  at  Spring  Mountain  acad- 
emy and  Danville  high  school,  of  Knox  county. 
At  the  age  of  sixty  he  enlisted  in  Company  I, 
Fifty-first  O.  V.  I.,  and  served  fifteen  months 
in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  under  General 
Thomas,  at  Franklin,  Spring  Hill,  Columbia  and 
Nashville,  where  he  lost  an  arm.  Since  the  war, 
lie  has  spent  his  time  in  teaching,  farming  and 
selling  patent  washers.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Sophronia  Thomas,  in  April,  1871,  daughter  of 
Uriah  and  Jane  (Crawford)  Thomas,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Eunice  and  Margaret  (Cameron) 
Thomas.  Their  children  are  Emery  T.,  born 
March  22,  1872;  Howard  L.,  May  6,1874;  Wil- 
liam H.,  June  17, 1876,  and  Clyde  McBride  Jan- 
uary 20, 1878. 

BURNS  WILLIAM,  Je.,  jeweler,  No.  402  Main 
street,  Coshocton.  Mr.  Burns  is  a  native  of  Cosh- 
octon; born  June  29, 1859,  and  received  his  edu- 
cation in  the  public  schools  of  this  city.  He  en- 
gaged in  the  jewelry  business  in  1877,  (having 
previously  served  the  required  time  to  qualify 
himself  for  this  department  of  business),  and  now 
occupies  a  place  in  Compton's  drug  store,  where 
he  has  a  well  selected  stock  of  first-class  Ameri- 
can watches,  clocks,  jewelry,  solid  and  plated  sil- 
ver ware,  gold  pens,  etc.  General  repairing  a 
specialty. 

BURNS  &  ROBINSON,  proprietors  of  Miner's 
store.  Main  street,  Coshocton.  0.  F.  Burns,  man- 
aging partner  of  this  firm,  is  a  native  of  Coshoc- 
ton, where  he  received  his  preparatory  education, 
after  which  he  attended  the  O.W.  U.,  at  Dele- 
ware,  Ohio.  His  first  business  engagement  was 
with  his  father  under  the  firm  name  of  Burns  & 
Son,  which  continued  until  his  father's  decease, 
after  which  the  business  was  conducted  in  the 
name  of  C.  F.  Burns.  In  1877  he  engaged  in  the 
milling  business,  at  the  city  mills,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Balch  &  Burns,  in  which  he  continued 
tmtil  1873,  when  he  formed  a  partnership  with 
L.  W.  Robinson,  and  engaged  in  the  grocery 
business,  at  tlieir  present  location,  where  they  oc- 
cupy commodius  rooms,  twenty-four  by  sixty-five 
feet,  and  carry  a  large  first-class  stock  of  staple 


and  fancy  groceries,  confectionaries,  wooden  and 
stone-ware,  miners'  supplies,  and  deals  in  all 
kinds  of  country  produce. 

BURRELL  THOMAS  H.,  Bethlehem  town-  • 
ship;  farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of 
S.  C.  Burrell ;  was  born  in  1845.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1870,  to  Miss  Amedia  Darling  of  this- 
county.  They  are  the  parents  of  five  children, 
viz  :  Julia,  Charles,  Ernest,  Bessie  and  Blanche 
G.  Mr.  Burrell  owns  a  fine  farm  of  150  acres,  in 
the  Walhonding  valley.  He  is  trustee  of  the 
township.  He  is  a  member  of  the  1. 0.  0.  F.  and 
F.  and  A.  M. 

BURT  JAMES  M.,  retired;  postoffice.  New 
Comerstown.  He  was  born  in  Orange  county. 
New  York,  December  11,  1810;  was  married 
April  16,  1834,  to  Mary  Ann  Bradner,  who  was 
born  December  20,  1813,  in  the  same  county,, 
and  emigrated  to  Ohio  in  1836.  They  left  their 
home  October  24,  arrived  in  Coshocton  county 
November  9;  located  first  in  Bedford  township, 
and  remained  there  till  April,  1837,  then  bought 
in  this  township,  and  was  a  citizen  here  forty-one- 
years.  He  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  in 
1844,  and  was  elected  representative  in  the  State 
legislature  in  1848,  and  re-elected,  serving  twa 
terms.  In  1850,  he  was  elected  associate  judge, 
and  continued  to  hold  this  position  till  the  con- 
stitution abolished  the  office.  He  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  board  of  equalization  from  this 
and  Tuscarawas  counties,  in  1859-60.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  senate  in  1865,  re-elected 
in  1871.  They  had  twelve  children,  viz  :  Marga- 
ret, now  Mrs.  Carhart,  of  New  Comerstown ;. 
James  B.,  of  this  township  ;  Martha  A.  (deceased), 
was  married  to  Perry  Keller,  and  died  in  Fred- 
ericktown,  Knox  county,  on  her  twenty-ninth 
birth-day;  Daniel,  (deceased);  Caroline,  (deceased);^ 
Harriet,  now  Mrs.  Rodgers,  of  this  township; 
Clara,  (deceased) ;  Louis  P.,  resident  of  this  town- 
phip ;  an  infant  son  and  daughter,  (deceased) ; 
Mary,  (deceased) ;  William,  now  resident  of  New 
Comerstown,  civil  engineer  and  operator. 

BURT  J.  B.,  Lafayette  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  West  Lafayette;  was  born  in  1837, 
on  what  is  now  the  fair  grounds;  was  married 
in  1865,  to  Miss  Margaret  Bell,  of  this  township, 
and  they  have  had  five  children :  Perry  E., 
Mary,  Jennie,  Carrie  (deceased,  in  February, 
1877,)  and  James  R.  Mr.  Burt  was  elected  jus- 
tice of  the  peace,  in  1876,  his  commission  bear- 
ing date  April  12.  He  and  his  wife  are  mem.- 
bers  of  the  Baptist  church — Mr.  Burt  since  1856, 
and  Mrs.  Burt  since  1866;  he  has  been  a  deacon 
in  said  church  since  1866.  Mr.  Burt  owns  200 
acres  of  land  in  this  toivnship,  and  is  one  of  its 
representative  men. 

BURT  L.  P.,  Lafayette  township;  farmer;  was 


•644 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


born  in  this  township,  the  3d  of  February,  1856; 
,son  of  Judge  Burt;,  was  married  the  ]6th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1870,  to  Miss  Frances  C.  Conaway,  of 
Adams  township.  They  have  had  four  children : 
■  an  infant  (deceased),  Nellie  Bell,  James  Lewis 
and  Charley  Conaway.  Mr.  Burt  lives  on  his 
farm  of  138  acres  in  this  township,  and  owns  200 
acres  in  Chase  county,  Kansas.  He  is  super- 
visor in  this  township  this  year.  Mr.  Burt  and 
'his  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist  church. 

BUSBY  AAEON,  M.  D.,  Crawford  township; 
•Chili ;  born  in  Caroll  county,  Ohio,  1844 ;  son  of 
John  W.  Busby  and  Ann  (Murryman)  Busby, 
both  natives  of  this  State.  Dr.  Busby  was  mar- 
ried in  1866  to  Rebecca  B.  Wallace.  They  have 
■a  family  of  five  children;  Earl  W.,  Carrie,  Grace, 
Clyde  and  Wade.  The  doctor  began  practicing 
at  Tippecanoe,  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  remained 
there  two  years,  and  tlien  located  near  Perrys- 
ville,  Coral  county,  Ohio,  and  came  to  Chili  in 
1878,  where  he  is  now  practicing. 

BUSH  N.  C,  Perry  township ;  postoffice,  Mo- 
hawk Village ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ;  born  in 
this  county  in  1841 ;  son  of  John  and  Anna  (Cle- 
get)  Bush;  married  in  1861  to  Miss  Susanah  E. 
Almac,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Almac.  He 
married  December  22, 1866,  Miss  Louisa  Cullison, 
daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Harriet  Cullison.  They 
have  one  child,  viz :  Alma.  He  enlisted  in  1862 
in  Conipany  A,  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry,  (Captain 
Sims),  Colonel  Hamilton  (commanding),  Army 
of  the  Cumberland.  Mr.  Bush  was  engaged  in 
the  battle  at  Cumberland  Gap,  siege  of  Knoxville, 
Jonesborough  and  Aikin.  This  gallant  regiment 
had  the  honor  of  fighting  the  last  engagement 
prior  to  Johnston's  surrender,  which  occurred 
near  Chapel  Hill,  North  Carolina.  Colonel  Ham- 
ilton was  promoted  by  General  Grant  for  gallant 
conduct  during  this  engagement. 

BUTLER  FELIX,  New  Castle  township;  was 
born  in  New  Castle  .township,  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio,  September  10,  1810;  son  of  Thomas  and 
Elizabeth  (Severns)  Butler,  who  came  to  Musk- 
ingum County  in  1795,  and  remained  there  until 
the  following  year,  when  he  came  to  Coshocton 
county  and  settled  near  the  junction  of  the  Tus- 
carawas and  Walhonding  rivers,  where  he  re- 
mained three  years,  he  then  removed  to  New 
Castle  township,  where  he  remained  until  he 
died  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-four  years. 
He  is  a  grandson  of  Joseph  Butler,  who  came  to 
Coshocton  county  in  1801,  from  Monongahela 
county,  Virginia.  The  name  of  great  grand- 
father Butler  was  either  Joseph  or  Thomas ;  was 
a  native  of  Ireland,  and  was  killed  in  1740,  in 
Virginia,  by  the  Indians,  at  which  time  his  wife 
and  son  James  were  taken  prisoners  by  the  Indi- 
ans. The  wife  escaped  the  second  night,  but 
James  was  kept  eighteen  months,  when  he  was 


released  by  treaty.  Benjamin  Butler,  an  uncle 
of  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  in  company  with 
Joseph  Walker,  laid  out  the  town  of  Mt.  Vernon, 
Knox  county,  in  1805.  He  was  married  in  1852  , 
to  Miss  Nancy  Farquahar,  daughter  of  Enoch  and  ' 
Nancy  (Moore)  Farquahar,  and  granddaughter 
of  Samuel  Farquahar,  who  came  to  Mt.  Vernon 
in  1807,  from  Frederick  county,  Maryland. 

BUXTON  LEONE,  New'Castle  township;  was 
boi'n  in  New  Castle  township,  January  1,  1859; 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Butler)  Buxton, 
granddaughter  of  Thomas  and  Frances  Buxton 
and  James  and  Elizabeth  (Rodehaver)  Butler, 
and  great-granddaughter  of  Thomas  Butler.  Her 
grandfathers  were'  both  soldiers  in  the  war  of 
1812. .  She  has  one  brother  and  two  sisters,  viz  :■ 
James,  Constance  and  Mary. 

BUXTON  N.  W.,  Perry  township ;  postoffice, 
West  Bedford;  born  in  this  county  in  1842;  son 
of  Noah  and  Katharine  Buxton,  grandson  of 
Thomas  and  Frances  Buxton.  He  was  married 
in  1862,  to  Miss  Hannah  Mikisell.  Mr.  Buxton  is 
the  father  of  six  children,  viz:  J.  W.,  G.  B.  (de- 
ceased), N.  D.,  Warner  W.,  Mary  V.,  Marion  and 
Sarah  H.  Mr.  Buxton's  father  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  this  county,  and  still  lives,  enjoy- 
ing the  fruits  of  his  early  toil. 

BUXTON  JAMES,  Jefferson  township;  post> 
office,  Warsaw  ;  was  born  in  Jefferson  township, 
Coshocton  county,  August  13,  1844;  son  of 
Thomas  and  Mary  (Butler)  Buxton,  and  grand- 
son of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Rodehaver)  Butler, 
who  settled  in  Tuscarawas  county,  in  1804.  He 
lived  on  the  farm  until  the  age  of  twenty,  then 
began  clerking  in  a  store  in  Walhonding,  for  N. 
W.  Buxton,  and  continued  two  years.  He  then 
engaged  as  clerk*  with  James  Foster,  of  Warsaw, 
and  remained  with  him  two  years ;  returning  to 
Walhonding,  he  clerked  a  year  and  a  half  for  J. 
S.  McVey,  after  which  he  engaged  in  bridge 
building  for  three  and  a  half  years,  then  returned 
to  James  Foster's  and  clerked  six  months'.  He 
then  engaged  with  Nickols  &  Gamble  in  mer- 
chandising in  Warsaw,  and  has  been  there  near 
three  years.  In  1864  he  drove  1,200  sheep  to  Val- 
paraiso, Indiana,  and  from  there  went  to  Cedar 
county,  Iowa,  remaining  one  year.  He  is  a  kind, 
genial  young  man,  highly  esteemed  and  well 
adapted  to  business. 

BUXTON  M.  W.,  Jefferson  township;  born 
April  15,  1830,  in  Coshocton  county,  at  East 
Union ;  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Todd)  Buxton 
(distant  relation  of  ex-governor  Todd).  Mr.  Bux- 
ton lived  in  East  Union  till  about  the  age  of  nine 
years,  when  his  parents  took  him,  to  the  farm, 
where  he  lived  till  the  age  of  eighteen,  when  he 
engaged  in  various  kinds  of  work,  grubbing, 
clearmg  and  farming  on  the  shares  for  three 


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BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


647 


years,  when  he  went  into  the  grocery  business 
with  his  uncle,  Thomas  Baxton,  for  two  years; 
after  that  he  followed  farming  in  Union  county 
awhile,  then  moved  to  Knox  county,  then  back 
to  Coshocton  county;  was  butchering  and  mer- 
chandising some  time;  then  began  taking  con- 
tracts for  stone  work  for  county  bridges,  etc.,  at 
which  he  was  very  successful.  Mr.  Buxton  was 
married,  in  1853,  to  Miss  Lorinda  Butler,  daughter 
of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Rodehaver)  Butler.  Their 
■ehildren  are  James  B.  and  John  M.  James  mar- 
ried Miss  Malinda  Trout  and  resides  in  Knox 
county.  John  is  reading  medicine  under  Dr. 
Eussell,  in  Mount  Vernon.  After  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Buxton,  he  married  Miss  Cadence  C.  Buxton, 
in  1862,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Butler) 
Buxton,  and  granddaughter  of  James  and  Eliza- 
beth (Rodehaver)  Butler,  and  great  granddaugh- 
ter of  Thomas  Butler.  William  T.,  Olive,  Mary 
JE.,  and  GertrTide  E.,  were  the  names  of  their 
'Children. 

.    o 

CAMPBELL  THOMAS,  (deceased),  was  born 
May  21,  1816,  in  Steuben ville,  Ohio;  attended 
school  while  a  boy  until  fifteen  years  of  age,  when, 
with  his  father,  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Adams 
township,  this  county.  In  1832Tie  entered  Frank- 
hn  college,  and  remained  two  years.  In  1835  he 
came  to  this  city,  and  spent  the  first  year  clerk- 
ing and  teaching  school.  In  1888  he  entered,  as 
a  student,  the  law  office  of  James  Matthews,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  March  4, 1841,  at  Steu- 
benville.  In  1842  he  commenced  the  practice  of 
law  in  this  city,  and  was  elected  the  following 
year  to  the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney,  and  was 
re-elected  for  the  two  succeeding  terms,  serving 
six  consecutive  years.  In  1852  he  was  elected 
probate  judge,  being  the  first  judge  under  the 
new  constitution  of  the  State,  term  of  office,  three 
years.  In  1866  he  was  associated  with  R.  M.  Voor- 
hes,  firm  name,  Campbell  &  Voorhes,  attorneys 
and  counselors  at  law.  Judge  Campbell  was  mar- 
Tied  August  5, 1841,  to  Miss  Martha  Wallace,  of 
Mifflin  county,  Pennsylvania.  This  union  was 
blessed  with  six  children,  two  of  whom,  John 
and  Patrick  Steel,  died  at  Corinth,  Mississijjpi. 
Those  living  are.  Dr.  James  Campbell,  married 
to  Miss  Maggie  Crimm,  of  Dennison,  Ohio,  and 
now  residing  in  Iowa  county,  Iowa ;  Mary  Jane, 
married  to.  Robert  A.  McKelley,  of  Upper  San- 
dusky; IsalDelle,  married  to  Dr.  Robert  H.  Brad- 
ley, now  a  resident  of  Marshal  county,  Illinois, 
and  William  F.,  residing  in  lovta.  county,  Illinois. 
Judge  Campbell  died  very  suddenly  on  Wednes- 
day morning,  July  6,  1881.  Up  to  the  time  of 
Tiis  death  he  was  in  his  usual  health.  He  had 
"been  at  work  about  his  office  table  the  same 
morning.  A  moment  before  the  final  summons 
he  walked  to  a  front  window,  looked  out  and  re- 
marked upon  the  probability  of  a  rain-fall  during 

28 


the  day,  and  then  turned  and  stretched  out  his 
hand  in  the  direction  of  a  chair,  when  he  sud- 
denly fell  to  the  floor.  Charlie  Hunt,  a  law  stu- 
dent, was  the  only  person  in  the  office.  He  hast- 
ily stepped  into  the  hall  and  called  to  Mr.  Bargar, 
who  was  in  the  next  room.  Mr.  Bargar  and  Mr. 
Triplett  in  an  instant  were  at  the  side  of  the  pros- 
trate form.  His  collar  was  loosened  and  the  body 
straightened  to  an  easy  position,  but  by  the  time 
this  momentary  work  was  done  there  was  no 
sign  of  life.  The  vital  spark  had  fled  with  his 
fall  to  the  floor,  so  quickly,  perhaps,  that  no  sensa- 
tion of  pain  came  to  the  body  before  the  spirit 
had  flown.  Life  went  out  as  suddenly  as  the  light 
of  a  candle  is  extinguished. 

CARHART  J.  M.,  tanner  and  leather  dealer, 
of  the  firm  of  J.  &  H.  Carhart,  Main  street,  Ros- 
coe;  born  May  10,  1841,  in  Roscoe;  son  of,  John 
Carhart  (deceased).  J.  M.  was  raised  in  his  na- 
tive village.  At  eighteen  he  went  into  the  dry 
goods  store  of  J.  G.  Stewart  as  clerk,  and  re- 
mained until  April,  1861,  when  he  enlisted  in 
Company  A,  Sixteenth  0.  V.  I.  (three  months' 
men),  and  served  to  the  close  of  his  enlistment. 
In  September  of  the  same  ypar  he  enlisted  as 
musician  in  Reginiental  Band  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I., 
in  which  he  served  about  ten  months.  In  July, 
1863,  he  re-enlisted  in  Company  M,  Ninth  O.  V. 
C,  and  was  appointed  first  sergeant  of  the  com- 
pany, and,  subsequently,  commissioned  second 
lieutenant,  which  office  he  resigned  in  March, 
1865,  on  account  of  the  lop  of  the  left  eye.  He 
engaged  in  the  present  firm  December  6,  1874, 
which  does  a  general  tanning  business,  and  deals 
extensively  in  leather  of  all  grades.  Lieutenant 
Carhart  was  married  February  8,  1864,  to  Miss 
Emily  C.  Taj'lor,  of  Roscoe.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  three  children — Estella,  Gertrude  and 
John  E.  Carhart. 

CARNAHAN  WILLIAM,  Coshocton;  farmer; 
was  born  February  24,  1829,  in  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Marshall)  Carna- 
han.  Sarah  Marshall's  grandparents  (Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Maxwell),  were  killed  by  the  Indians,  in 
Washington  county^  Pennsylvania.  Her  sister 
was  taken  prisoner,  by  the  savages,  and  kept  four- 
teen years,  but  escaped,  on  an  armed  vessel,  at 
Quebec,  disguised  as  a  soldier.  John  Carnahan, 
father  of  William,  came  to  White  Eyes  town- 
ship, in  1826,  being  one  of  the  eight  who  were 
the  only  inhabitants  of  the  township.  He  assisted 
to  organize  the  township  for  official  and  election 
purposes,  and  also  was  one  of  the  first  justices  of 
the  peace.  Esquire  William  Carnahan  owns  the 
old  homestead  on  which  he  lived  forty-five  years, 
but,  in  1874,  he  built  his  present  residence,  corner 
of  Orange  and  Eighth  streets,  which  he  has  oc- 
cupied to  the  present  time.  He  was  elected 
justice  of  the  peace,  in  1864,  and  served  until  his 


C48 


HISTOEY  OF   COSHOCTON    COUNTY. 


removal  from  the  township,  having  been  elected 
four  times.  He  was  married  May  22,  1850,  to 
Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Dr.  Thomas 
Miller,  of  Holmes  county.  Mary  Alma  is  their 
only  child. 

CAEE  MICHAEL  B.  (deceased),  Linton  town- 
ship; born  January  18,  1824,  in  Massachusetts; 
son  of  James  and  Hannah  Carr ;  when  about 
twenty-one  years  old,  moved  to  Linton  township ; 
here  married  Jane  Glenn,  born  January  4, 1830, 
in  Jefferson  county,  daughter  of  John  and  Jane 
(Lamb)  Glenn.  Mr.  Glenn  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania,  and  moved  from 
Jefferson  to  this  county  in  1832.  Mr.  Carr  was  a 
shoemaker  and  followed  his  trade  in  Plainlield, 
except  four  years — 1849-63 — spent  in  Ottawa,  un- 
til he  moved  to  the  farm  where  Mrs.  Carr  now 
resides,  in  1866.  He.  died  March  13, 1875.  His 
children  are  John  Calvin  (deceased),  James  C, 
Sarah  A.,  William  B.,  Hannah  J.  (Jones),  Thomas, 
Ward,  Clark  M.,  Sarah  C,  Mary  Bell,  Elizabeth 
A.,  Elias  Glenn,  George  M,  and  Bertha  Alice. 
Four  of  his  sons  are  school  teachers.  James  C, 
the  oldest  has  taught  nine  years ;  he  was  married 
April  3,  1872,  to  Eliza  J.  Tedrick,  daughter  of 
Eeed  and  Amelia  Tedrick,  and  has  three  children, 
Charlie  Eeed,  Earnest  M.  and  Mary  Belle. 

CAEE  E.  C,  M.  D.,  Coshocton,  Ohio,  Main 
street.  Dr.  Carr  was  born  April  17,  1850,  in  East 
Union,  Coshocton  county,-Ohio;  son  of  Dr.  James 
G.  and  Eliza  (Bond)  Carr,  of  English  and  Irish 
ancestors.  He  received  his  education  in  the  pub- 
lic schools  of  the  county,  Newcomerstown  high 
school  and  Mt.  Union  college.  His  first  profes- 
sion was  school  teaching,  which  he  followed  three 
years.  In  1872  he  began  reading  medicine  with 
his  father.  He  was  graduated  in  the  science  of 
medicine  in  the  spring  of  1875.  His  first  pro- 
fessional practice  was  at  Millersburg,  Holmes 
county,  with  Dr.  Pomerene ;  after  which  he  prac- 
ticed at  Holmesville  until  April,  1881,  when  he 
came  to  Coshocton,  Ohio.  I)r.  E.  C.  Carr  was 
married  July  6, 1875,  to  Miss  Anna  M.,  daughter 
of  Thomas  and  Eliza  (Holmes)  Jack,  of  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania.  They  are  the  parents'  of 
three  children,  viz :  Jas.  G.,  Eliza  H.  and  Emma  P. 

CAKE  J.  S.,  M.  D.,  Clark  township;  postoffice, 
Clark's ;  born  in  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio,  March 
19,  1825;  son  of  Thomas  and  Orpha  (Seawai-d) 
Carr,  and  grandson  of  John  and  Maragret  (Mc- 
Guire)  Carr,  and  Eli  and  Ellen  Seaward.  His 
father's  ancestors  were  from  Ireland,  and  his 
mother's  parents  were  Puritans.  His  father 
was  a  minister  of  the  M.  E.  church ;  was  admit- 
ted to  conference  in  1820,  and  remained  in  active 
service  until  1848,  then  served  as  supernumerary 
until  1856,  when  he  died.  Mr.  Carr  began  the 
study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  A.  E.  Bassett,  of  Por- 
tage county,  Ohio,  in  1846,  and,  after  .reading 


three  years,  he  attended  lectures  at  the  Western, 
Keserve  Medical  College,  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and,, 
in  the  spring  of  1849,  .began  practice  in  East 
Union,  Coshocton  county,  where  he  remained 
five  years,  then  moved  to  Bloomfield,  where  he- 
has  had  a  successful  practice  since.  He  enlsited 
during  the  war  in  Company  I,  One  Hundred  and 
Sixty-sixth  0.  N.  G.,  in  the  capacity  of  assistant 
surgeon,  and  was  also  appointed  as  assistant  sur- 
geon in  Twenty-sixth  O.  V'.  V.  I.  He  has  been 
thrice  married,  the  first  marriage  being  on  the 
12th  of  April;  1849,  to  Miss  Caroline  E.  Bond,, 
daughter  of  Jonas  and  Elizabeth  Bond,  who  was 
born  July,  21,  1826,  and  died  July  3,  1851.  She 
was  the  mother  of  one  child— Edmund  C,  born 
April  17, 1850,  who  is  now  a  practitioner  of  med- 
icine. Mr.  Carr's  second  marriage  was  on  the- 
8th  of  January,  1852,  to  Anna  McCaughan, 
daughter  of  A.  and  Ann  McCaughan,  by  whom 
he  had  one  child— James  Mc,  born  October  14, 
1852,  died  February  4, 1863.  His  last  marriage 
occurred  February  16,  1858,.  with  EUzabeth  B. 
Stover,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Elizabeth 
(Story)  Stover,  and  granddaughter  of  Ebenezer 
and  Elizabeth  Stover,  and  Ephraim  and  Jemimah 
(Clark)  Story.  She  was  born  in  November,  1824, 
in  Canterberry,  Conneticut. 

C  AEEOLL  EICH  AKD,  Linton  township;  shoe- 
maker; residence,  Plainfield ;  born  MsCrch  11, 1820, 
near  Belfast,  Ireland ;  son  of  Eichard  and  Marlha 
(Hobson)  Carroll.  His  mother's  parents  were 
Quakers,  but  she  was  converted  to  Methodism 
when  eleven  years  old.  His  father  was  weigh- 
master  of  the  grain  market  at  Belfast  and  land- 
steward  of  the  large  estates  of  Stephen  May.  Mr. 
Carroll  learned  the  shoemaker's  trade  in  Belfast 
and  conducted  a  large  trade  there.  In  1856,  he 
emigrated  with  his  family  to  Plainfield,  and  has- 
carried  on  his  trade  there  since.  He  entered  ser- 
vice, September  6, 1864,  in  company  F,  Fifteenth 
O.  V.  I.,  performing  detailed  duty  in  Sherman's 
eastern  campaign,  and  was  discharged  June  8, 
1865.  In  1842,  he  was  married  to  Jane  Eussell, 
born  at  Port  Adoun,  Ireland,  daughter  of  James 
Eussell.  Their  children  are  Margaret  Jane  (Ted- 
rick), John,  Sophia  C,  Eichard,  Sarah  Flora,  Anna 
B.  (deceased),  and  Thomas  Benjamin  (deceased). 

CAKEOLL  J.  C,  Lafayette  township;  boot 
and  shoe  manufacturer;  born  in  Belfast,  Ireland, 
in  1847,  and  came  to  this  country  in  1856;  was 
married,  in  1872,  to  Miss  Agnes  McCune.  They 
have  had  four  children:  Thomas,  Maggie,  an  in- 
fant, and  Charles.  Mr.  Carroll  took  an  active 
part  in  the  late  war,  going  out  in  company  H, 
Eightieth  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  with  that  regiment 
fifteen  months,  and  served  three  years  in  the 
regular  army  afterward;  was  census  enumerator 
of  this  township  in  1880,  and  is  an  enterprising 
and  skillful  workman. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


649 


CAKSON  JAMES,  Keene  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Steubenville,  Ohio,  December  11,  1818; 
son  of  John  and  Ann  Carson;  grandson  of 
James  and  Esther  (Reed)  Carson  and  of  James 
and  Ann  Swain.  His  father's  family  consisted 
of  four  children:  Esther,  William  (deceased), 
Sarah  and  James.  At  the  age  of  three  he  was 
brought  to  Coshocton  county,  and  remained  here 
till  1854,  and  then  went  to  California  and  spent 
five  years  in  Bute  and  one  year  in  Sierre  county. 
He  next  moved  to  Virginia  City,  Nevada,  where 
he  engaged  in  the  lumber  business  about  two 
and  a  half  years,  then  returned  to  Coshocton 
county  and  has  followed  farming  here  since. 

CASSINGHAM  J.  W.,  county  auditor;  was 
born  June  22,  1840,  in  Coshocton  city;  son  of 
George  F.  and  Elizabeth  (Wilson)  Cassingham. 
His  paternal  ancestry  is  English,  and  his  maternal 
Irish.  Mr.  C.  began  business  as  clerk  in  the 
county  treasurer's  office,  in  1857,  where  he  re- 
mained until  1868,  when  he  engaged  in  the 
grocery  business,  firm  name  of  Cassingham  & 
Crowley.  This  firm  dissolved  in  1874,  when  Mr. 
C.  engaged  in  the  coal  business,  firm  name  of 
■Prosser  &  Cassingham.  Mr.  C.  withdrew  from 
this  firm  in  the  spring  of  1881.  From  1872  to 
the  present  time  he  has  been  mrtner  in  the 
Coshocton  Paper  Company.  Mr.  Cassingham  was 
elected  to  his  present  office,  auditor  of  the 
county,  in  the  fall  of  1881.  He  vws  married 
November  5, 1863,  to  Miss  Caroline,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Julia  (Crowly)  Lamberson.  They 
are  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz  :  Charles  L., 
and  George  W. 

CASSINGHAM  GEORGE  F  ,  was  born  April 
19, 1812,  in  Kent  county,  Ireland;  son  of  Thomas 
and  Phebe  (Ford)  Cassingham ;  came  to  America 
in  the  fall  of  1818,  and  located  in  Muskingum 
county,  Ohio,  where  they  remained  until  the  old 
gentleman's  death.  He  had  eight  sons  and  four 
daughters,  viz :  Thomas,  Richard,  James,  John 
P.,  Henry,  William,  Ford  and  George  F.,  the 
subject  of  our  sketch.  The  names  of  the  four 
daughters  are  as  follows:  Phebe,  Elizabeth,  So- 
phia and  Mary  Jane.  In  1833,  George  F.  came 
to  this  city,  and  engaged  in  shoemaking.  In 
1845,  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and, 
in  1846,  recorder,  and  held  both  ofiices  nine 
years,. and,  in  1879,  was  again  elected  justice  of 
the  peace,  which  ofiice  he  now  holds.  Esquire 
Cassingham  was  married  May  23,  1835,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Robert  Wilson,  They 
became  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz :  Juha 
(deceased),  Sarah,  Mary  Jane  and  John  W. 

CASTEEL  THOMAS,  Perry  township;  post- 
office.  West  CarHsle;  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in 
1799;  son  of  Jesse  and  Sarah  Casteel.  Mr. 
Casteel  has  been  twice  married ;  first,  in  1819,  to 
Miss  Eutha  Dicken.    His  first  wife  died  in  Sep- 


tember, 1836.  They  had  ten  children,  viz :  Amos, 
Darcus  (deceased),  Jessie,  Eliza  E.,  John  W., 
Urias,  Perry,  Druzilla,  Etha  and  Ruth.  In  1836, 
he  married  Susannah  Bottomfield,  daughter  of 
Henry  and  RacSel  (Flagle)  Bottomfield.  They 
have  seven  children,  viz:  Rachel.  Jackson,  Jacob 
(deceased),  James  M.  (deceased),  Sarah,  Susan  and 
Thomas.  Mrs.  Casteel  has  lived  in  this  county 
fifty-six  years,  and  has  been  in  the  town  of 
Coshocton   only  once  in  all  that  time. 

CATON  GEORGE  R.,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  Chili,  Ohio;  born  December 
18, 1831,  in  White  Eyes  township ;  son  of  Thomas 
and  Mary  (Ringer)  Caton;  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, but  came  to  White  Eyes  township  among 
the  first  settlers  of  the  township ;  George  R.  was 
brought  up  in  the  township.  Mr.  Caton  was 
married  in  February,  1855,  to  Miss  Lucinda, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Hughes  McCol- 
lum,  formerly  of  Pennsylvania.  They  became 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  \'iz:  Franklin,  La- 
fayette, Mary  Alice,  married  to  Michael  Sherman, 
now  residing  in  White  Eyes  township,  Sarah 
Jane,  Thomas  J.,  Elsworth  C,  James  L.,  George 
W.,  Solemma  Bell  and  U.  S.  Grant.  Mr.  Caton 
has  succeeded  well  as  a  farmer,  having  a  good 
home  for  a  large  family. 

CATON  A.  S.,  Roscoe  postoffice ;  merchant,  of 
the  firm  of  Moore  &  Caton,  White  Woman  street; 
born  June  28,  1852,  in  Berrin  county,  Michigan ; 
son  of  Andrew  Caton,  American  born,  of  German 
ancestry.  When  one  year  old  he  came  to  this 
State  with  his  parents,  and  settled  on*  a  farm  in 
Marrow  county,  and  after  a  few  removes,  settled 
in  Knox  county.  At  seventeen  years  of  age,  he 
began  teaching  school  and  taught  two  years.  He 
then  entered  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  college,  at  Dela- 
ware, and  attended  three  years.  On  leaving  col- 
lege, in  company  with  his  brother-in-law,  settled 
on  a  farm  in  West  Bedford  township,  where  they 
remained  one  year,  when  they  exchanged  the 
farm  for  the  building  and  stock  of  goods  owned 
by  A.  Pettit,  and  continued  the  business  at  the 
place  named  above.  This  firm  has  been  very 
successful,  notwithstanding  their  having  had  no 
previous  mercantile  experience.  Their  business 
has  increased  largely  in  the  last  few  years.  Mr. 
Caton  was  married  September  11, 1874,  to  Miss 
Dottie  Moore,  daughter  of  William  Moore,  of 
West  Bedford  township. 

CHAD  WELL  JAMES  T.,  Linton  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Tuscarawas  county,  July  25, 
1826;  son  of  George  and  Ruth  (Taylor)  Chadwell, 
both  grandfathers  were  English  born.  His  grand- 
father, Thomas  Taylor,  was  brought  to  America 
as  an  English  soldier,  during  the  revolutionary 
war,  but  deserted  the  ship  before  he  landed  and 
swam  ashore.  He  was  the  only  one  of  three  to 
reach  the  shore.     His  grandfather,  John  Chad- 


650 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


well,  settled  in  Virginia.  His  father,  born  in 
Loudon  county,  Virginia,  came  to  Jefferson  coun- 
ty in  1814,  when  sixteen  years  old,  and  afterward 
moved  to  Tuscarawas  county,  where  James  was 
raised.  In  1850,  April  6,  Mr.  G^iadwell  married 
Miss  Sarah,  daughter  of  James  and  Magdalena 
(Minnick)  Updegroff,  born  in  Carroll  county,  and 
at  five  years  of  age  was  brought  to  Tuscarawas 
county  by  her  parents.  Their  children  are  Mary 
(Welker),  Jane  (Marlatt),  Samantha  (Marlatt), 
Phcebe  (deceased),  Maria  (deceased),  and  Ella 
May.  In  1853  Mr.  Chadwell  moved  to  Boss  coun- 
ty, and  lived  th«re  eleven  years.  He  spent  the 
summer  of  1865  in  Tuscarawas  county,  and  has 
resided  in  Linton  township  since.  He  entered 
military  service  in  May,  1864,  as  a  member  of 
Company  F,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-ninth  0.  N. 
G.,  serving  four  months. 

CHAMBERLIN  O.  P.,  Linton  township; 
born  in  Lafayette  township.  May  1,  1842.  His 
father,  John  G.,  emigrated  from  Vermont  about 
1838.  His  mother,  Gertrude  Shaffer,  daughter  of 
Peter  and  Elizabeth  Shaffer,  was  born  at  Albany, 
New  York.  He  was  married  February  7, 1861, 
to  Miss  E.  J.  Moore,  daughter  of  Rev.  John  and 
Bosanna  Moore;  born  in  Allegheny  county, 
Pennsylvania.  Her  grand  parents  were  Joseph 
and  Eliza  (Glenn)  Moore,  both  of  Irish  nativity, 
and  Henry  and  Jane  (Lyle)  Donnell,  of  Virginia 
birth.  Mr.  Chamberlin  has  two  children,  Olive 
P,  and  Gertrude  R.  He  enlisted  February,  1862, 
in  Company  K,  Eightieth  0.  V.  I.;  mustered  out 
September,  1865.  He  participated  in  the  siege 
of  Corinth's  battles  of  luka  and  Corinth,  siege  of 
Vicksburg,  battle  of  Mission  Ridge,  and  Sher- 
man's engagements  in  Georgia.  In  1873  he  moved 
to  Linton  township,  and  has  lived  here  since. 

CHALFANT  H.  M.,  farmer;  Washington 
township;  postoffice,  Dresden;  born  in  1840,  in 
this  county.  His  father  was  born  in  1807,  in 
what  is  now  Perry  county,  and  came  to  this 
county  with  his  father  in  1808.  He  was  married 
in  1830  to  Miss  Delilah  Hayes,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1813.  They  are  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  five  of  whom  are  living.  H.  M. 
Chalfant,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  married 
in  1861  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Mossman,  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1840.  They  are  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  D.  A.,  Lena  L., 
Sybil  J.,  John  C.,Mary  L.,  George  W.  and  Ina  M. 

CHANEY  JONATHAN,  Pike  township;  post- 
office,  Frazeysburgh,  Muskingum  county ;  farmer 
and  stock  raiser;  born  in  this  county  in  1850; 
son  of  Emanuel  and  Margret  (Ashcraft))  Chaney, 
and  gradson  of  Joseph  and  Elizabeth  Chaney. 
He  was  married  in  1876,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Moran, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Moran.  They 
are  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz: .  Flaura  B. 
and  Charles  E.  ' 


CHANEY  S.  F.,  Pike  township;  merchant; 
born  in  1864,  in  Muskingum  county,  Ohio;  came 
to  this  county  in  1860.  He  was  married  in  1879 
to  Nancy  E.  Forrest,  of  this  county.  She  was 
born  in  1842,  in  this  county.  They  are  the 
parents  of  one  child— Otto  Clay.  He  bought  an 
interest  in  the  store  of  L.  V.  Cox,  in  1878,  who 
died  in  March,  1879.  In  the  same  year  he  pur- 
chased his  interest  of  the  heirs,  and  now  contin- 
ues the  business  alone,  dealing  in  dry  goods, 
groceries,  hats  and  caps,  boots  and  shoes,  queens- 
ware  and  notions.  Sole  agent  for  Bambo's  woolen 
goods. 

CHAPMAN  DB.  BABZILLAI  W.,  Adams 
township,  Bakersvilie,  Ohio;  was  born  October  2, 
1835,  near  Washington,  Pennsylvania;  son  of 
Bichard  and  Catharine  (Updegraff)  Chapman, 
who  were  the  parents  of  thirteen  children,  nine 
sons  and  four  daughters.  The  father  was  of  Irish 
and  the  mother  of  German  descent.  Dr.  Chapman 
was  brought  up  in  Washington  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania. At  twenty  years  of  age,  he  began  reading 
medicine  with  Dr.  Solomon  Beers,  of  Newcomers- 
town,  Ohio.  He  began  the  practice  of  his  pro- 
fession at  New  Albany,  Ohio,  in  May,  1858.  In  • 
1862,  he  went  to  Morristown,  where  he  remained 
until  1864,  when  he  came  to  his  present  residence, 
He  was  first  married,  December  20, 1855,  to  Miss 
Mary  A.,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Isabella  (Major) 
Spencer.  By  this  union  he  became  the  father  of 
three  children,  viz:  Alexander  L.,  who  died 
March  30, 1859,  Isabel  C.  and  Lucinda  B.  Their 
mother  died  January  6,  18 — .  The  doctor  was 
married,  April  10, 1873,  to  his  present  wife.  Miss 
Catharine,  daughter  of  John  and  EHzabeth  (Win- 
ger) Zimmerman,  natives  of  Bern,  Switzerland. 
They  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  viz :  Edwin  B., 
born  August  16, 1874.  The  doctor's  grandfathers, 
to  the  fifth  generation,  have  all  borne  the  name 
of  "  Bichard."  He  has  a  relict  of  his  grandfather 
which  is  here  given,  verbatin:  "That  Richard 
Coppmann  and  his  wife,  Sarah  Coppman,  alias 
Patterson,  are  Protestants,  regular  members  of 
this  congregation;  honest  and  sober  and  free  from 
scandal  or  ground  of  church  censure  known  to 
us,  is,  by  order  of  session,  certified  at  Castleblaney, 
county  Monaghan,  Ireland,  September  12,  1783, 
by  James  M.  Attley,  District  Minister." 

CHASE  LESLIE,  Clark  township;  hardware 
merchant;  postoffice,  Clark's ;  born  in  Bloomfield, 
Coshocton  county,  June  22, 1857 ;  son  of  John  and 
Bebecca  (Lewis)  Chase.  He  learned  the  tinner's 
trade  with  Mr.  D.  St.  John,  of  Cardington,  Mon- 
roe county,  Ohio,  and  worked  in  his  employ  for 
three  years;  then  came  to  Bloomfield  and  en- 
gaged in  the  hardware  business  in  the  fall  of  1876, 
in  which  he  has  been  engaged  since.  In  connec- 
tion with  his  store  he  has  a  tin-shop,  in  which  he 
carries  on  his  trade,  paying  particular  attention 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


651 


to  roofing  and  spouting.  He  does  a  fair  business, 
both  in  hardware  and  at  his  trade,  and  is  an  ac- 
commodating, practical  business  man.  He  was 
married  October  18, 1878,  to  Miss  Emma  Duncan, 
daughter  of  William  and  Fannie  (Elliott)  Dun- 
can. They  have  one  child,  Fannie,  born  May  30, 
1880. 

CHURCH  JOHN  R.,  Monroe  township;  was 
born  November,  1850,  in  Tiverton  township; 
son  of  Benjamin  S.andMargret  E.  (Cox)  Church; 
grandson  of  Lemuel  and  Elizabeth  (Simmons) 
Church,  who  are  natives  of  Fall  River,  Massa- 
chusetts. Mr.  Church  lived  in  Tiverton  Center 
till  the  age  of  twelve  years,  when  he  went  to 
farming  and  attended  country  school.  His  edu- 
cation was  completed  in  the  Spring  Mountain 
academy.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  began 
teaching,  which  he  has  followed  in  the  winter 
seasons  ever  since.  Mr.  Church  is  a  thriving 
young  farmer  and  resides  at  present  in  Monroe 
township,  Coshocton  county.  He  was  married 
to  Miss  Rachel  A.  Bantum,  October  25, 1876,  who 
was  born  in  1851,  daughter  of  John  and  Eliza- 
beth (Easter)  Bantum,  and  granddaughter  of 
John  and  Anna  Bantum,  and  of  George  and 
Elizabeth  Easter.  She  was  educated  at  Warsaw 
and  Spring  Mountain,  is  a  member  of  the  Evan- 
gelical church.  They  have  two  children,  Robert 
v.,  born  December  10,  1877,  and  Nelly,  born 
October  6, 1880. 

CLARK  JOHN,  Tuscarawas  township ;  farmer ; 
postoflB.ce,  Coshocton ;  was  born  April  28,  1814,  in 
Fawn  towhship,  York  county,  Pennsylvania.  He 
came  to  his  present  farm  residence  about  the 
year  1863.  Mr.  Clark  was  married  January  1, 
1866,  to  Miss  Mary  Ellen,  daughter  of  John  and 
Lucy  (Swaringum)  Morgan,  of  Lafayette  town- 
ship. This  union  was  blessed  with  one  child, 
John  James,  born  October  29,  1868.  Mr.  Clark 
has  by  honest-  industry  possessed  himself  of  a 
good  farm,  from  which  he  realizes  a  comfortable 
living  for  himself  and  family. ' 

CLARK  JOHN,  Bethlehem  township ;  farmer ; 
postoflSce,  Warsaw,  Ohio ;  son  of  Samuel  Clark  : 
was  born  in  this  county,  in  1813.  His  father 
came  to  this  county  in  1810  or  1811,  and  was  of 
Irish  descent.  He  was  one  of  the  oldest  citizens 
of  Coshocton  county.  When  he  came  to  the 
county,  he  found  it  a  wilderness,  with  here  and 
there  a  cabin,  surrounded  by  a  small  lot  of  cleared 
land.  He  was  county  commissioner  two  terms, 
and  served  as  justice  of  the  peace  in  his  township 
for  a  number  of  years.  John  Clark  was  married 
February  3,  1842,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  N.  Skillman, 
who  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  in  1819.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  eleven  children,  viz  :  James 
A.,  Mary  W.,  Margaret  J.  (deceased),  Thomas, 
Isaac  M.,  John  A.,  Anna  C,  Emma,  Lizzie  and 
Edward    E.    Lizzie  'follows  the    profession   of 


teaching.  Mr.  Clark  owns  a  fine  farm  in  Bethle- 
hem township,  and  is  esteemed  by  all  his  neigh- 
bors. He  and  his  wife  are  prominent  members 
of  the  M.  E.  Church. 

CLARK  JAM:I:S  W.,  Franklin  township;  far- 
mer; born  in  Linton  township,  November  17, 
1829;  son  of  James  Clark,  born  in  1811,  and 
grandson  of  William  Clark,  a  pioneer  of  this 
county.  He  has  always  lived  in  Linton  and 
Franklin  townships,  except  a  year  spent  just 
across  the  Muskingum.  Taught  school  nine 
years,  beginning  in  1850;  then  opened  a  store  in 
Maysville,  which  he  conducted  for  six  years,  then 
engaged  in  farming;  married  in  1853,  to  Mary 
Ann,  daughter  of  Henry  Piper,  of  Muskingum 
county.  Of  his  eleven  children,  only  four  sur- 
vive, viz:  William  ifflbert,  Elizabeth  Olive, 
Richard  Oliver  and  Stella  Ann.  Walter,  in  1877, 
at  sixteen  years  of  age,  was  drowned  while  bath- 
ing in  the  Muskingum  river.  Nancy  Jane,  di^d 
in  1878,  of  consumption,  aged  eighteen  years. 
The  other  children  died  yoimg. 

CLARK  WILLIAM  W.,  Franklin  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Tuscarawas  township,  April  18, 
1813;  son  of  William  and  Nancy  (Valentine) 
Clark.  His  father,  born  in  1776,  came  to  Tus- 
carawas township  from  Virginia  before  1809, 
was  a  soldier  in  1812,  and  died  May  11, 1842.  His 
family  consisted  of  Margaret  (McCleeary),  Hugh, 
James,  Nancy  (Bainter),  John,  Ehzabeth  (Pres- 
ton)-, William  W.  (the  subject  of  this  sketch),  and 
Samuel.  Only  the  youngest  three  now  survive. 
Mr.  Clark  married  Dorotha  N.,  daughter  of 
Sylvester  and  Hannah  (Snyder)  Preston.  Her 
father  emigrated  with  his  family  from  New  York 
in  1838.  She  was  the  youngest  of  eleven  child- 
ren, viz:  Sarah  (Bouton),  Zerah,  Robert  W., 
Zachariah  S.,  Lewis  B.,  Otis  A.,  Joseph  W.,  Har- 
riet ( Wilcox),Mary  J.  (Wilcox),  Julia  A.  and  Doro- 
tha, Mr.  Clark  has  had  eight  children,  four  of  whom 
survive,  viz:  _ James  P.,  Elizabeth  P.,  Hannah, 
Jane  (McCpllough),  of  Guernsey  county,  Mary 
Catharine  (Emler). 

CLARK  WILLIAM  M.,  Franklin  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Linton  township,  June  27,  1825; 
son  of  James,  and  grandson  of  William  Clark; 
one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  county;  emi- 
grated from  Maryland,  and  moved  to  Franklin 
township  in  1864;  was  married  February  12,1850, 
to  Rebecca  A.  Bryan,  who  was  born  in  Franklin 
township,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Stephen  K.  Bry- 
an. Their  family  consists  of  six  children,  viz : 
Martha  Jane,  Mary,  James,  Stephen,  John  and 
Thomas. 

CLARK  BENTON,  Tackson  township;  farmer; 
postoflfice,  Roscoe,  Ohio;  son  of  Archibald  and 
Sarah  (Hogland)  Clark;  was  born  September  29, 
1837,  in  this  county.    His  father  was  of  Irish  de- 


662 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


scent,  but  was  born  and  raised  in  this  county. 
His  mother  was  of  Enghsh  descent,  and  was  also 
born  and  raised  in  this  county.  They  were  among 
the  oldest  pioneers  of  the  county.  Mr.  Clark 
was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed 
that  occupation.  He  was  married  in  1857,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Thompkins,  of  this  county.  They 
became  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz  :  Henry, 
Archibald,  James  and  Adam.  Mr.  Clark  owns  a 
fine  farm  in  the  Walhonding  valley. 

CLARK  S.  B  ,  Jackson  township;  born  in  this 
county,  in  1839;  son  of  William  and  Hannah 
Clark,  and  grandson  of  Samuel  and  Rachel 
Clark;  married,  in  1863,  to  Nancy  E.  Boring, 
daughter  of  Kinzy  and  Margaret  Boring.  Mr. 
Clark  is  the  father  of  five  chidren,  viz:  Wil- 
liam C,  H.  K.,  Marion,  Wealthy  and  Milton. 
Postoffice,  Rosco. 

.CLARK  JOSHUA,  New  Castle  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  New  Castle;  was  born  Febru- 
ary 10, 1808,  in  Harrison  county,  where  the  town 
of  Harrisville  now  stands,  and  which  was,  at  that 
time,  in  the  woods.  He  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Mary  (Boothe)'  Clark,  who  were  the  parents  of 
ten  children.  His  father  was  Welsh  and  his 
mother  of  English  descent.  They  were  Quakers, 
from  the  neighborhood  of  Philadelphia. 

He  came  to  New  Castle  township,  with  his 
father,  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  and  set- 
tled on  the  land  now  occupied  by  the  village  of 
New  Castle,  and,  about  three  years  later,  his 
father  laid  out  the  village  of  Liberty  (now  New 
Castle). 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  married  Miss 
Mary  Given,  daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth 
(Barr)  Given.  She  was  raised  on  Wheeling 
creek,  near  Wheeling,  West  Virginia.  They  then 
moved  to  Morrow  county,  Ohio,  and  settled  in 
the  woods ;  but  their  stay  here  was  short,  on  ac- 
count of  the  scarcity  of  food  and  labor,  being 
three  miles  from  the  nearest  settlement  where 
they  could  obtain  the  necessaries  of  life.  While 
there  they  lived  in  a  cabin  with  a  fire-place  in 
one  end,  the  backwall  and  chimney  being  but 
six  feet  high,  and  were  therefore  in  danger  of 
attacks  from  wolves.  They  lived  the  first  week 
in  this  cabin  without  its  being  daubed,  and  the 
snow  fell  about  ankle  deep. 

He  attended  eleven  raisings  and  log-rollings 
during  the  first  two  weeks  of  his  sojourn  in  that 
place.  At  the  expiration  of  about  six  months 
they  had  consumed  about  all  the  provisions  they 
had  brought  with  them,  and  then  began  to  think 
it  time  to  move,  so  they  returned  to  New  Castle 
township,  Coshocton  county,  where  he  is  still 
living. 

He  is  situated  nearly  two  miles  southwest  of 
New  Castle,  at  the  headwaters  of  the  Wakatomica 
on  a  well  improved  farm  of  about  500  acres.    He 


has  been"  twice  married.  His  first  wife  bore  him 
four  children,  viz  :  William,  Love  M.,  Allen  and 
Elizabeth.  William  resides  near  East  Union, 
Coshocton  county ;  Love  married  William  War- 
ton,  of  Butler  township,  Knox  county ;  Allen  is 
a  farmer  of  Jackson  township,  Knox  county;. 
Elizabeth  is  the  wife  of  Jesse  Mercer,  of  Jackson 
township,  Knox  county.  He  was  married  a  sec- 
ond time  to  Miss  Eleanor  Wilson,  on  the  twen- 
tieth of  June,  1841,  daughter  of  WiUiam  and 
Rebecca(Melick)  Wilson,  granddaughter  of  James 
and  Rebecca  (Jones)  Wilson ;  also  of  John  and 
Eleanor  Melick.  She  was  born  January  28, 1813, 
in  Somerset  county,  Pennsylvania. 

This  union  resulted  in  eight  children,  viz: 
Thomas  (deceased),  Rebecca,  Joshua,  Martha, 
Charles  H.,  Robert  H.,  Hannah  S.  and  Samuel  Mc. 
Mr.  Clark  relates  that  when  his  father  was  mov- 
ing to  this  county,  they  came  to  Coshocton  on 
Sunday,  and  had  to  cross  the  river  on  a  ferry 
boat,  and  that  the  whole  town  came  down  to  the 
river  to  help  them  across,  and  that  in  ferrying 
the  cattle  across  they  had  a  good  deal  of  trouble, 
some  of  them  jumping  overboard  and  swimming 
back.  Among  those  of  the  village  that  turned 
out  to  assist  them,  were  Mr.  Adam  Johnson  and 
Colonel  Williams.  He  also  relates,  that  on  ar- 
riving in  New  Castle  township,  after  two  days 
heavy  driving  from  Coshocton,  they  moved  in  a 
house  with  one  or  two  other  families,  and  lived 
two  weeks  there,  until  they  could  build  one  of 
their  own,  and  that  there  were  about  twenty  per- 
sons in  all  occupying  the  house  during  those  two 
weeks.  On  the  farm  where  he  now  lives  stands 
the  trunk  of  an  apple  tree,  that  measures  ten 
feet,  three  inches  in  circumference,  that  the  seed 
or  sproiit  had  been  planted  by  Johnny  Appleseed, 
who  then  lived  upon  the  Mohican.  .  The  trunk  is 
about  seventy  years  old,  and  in  one  specially  fa- 
vorable season,  bore  140  bushels  of  apples. 

CLARK  NATHAN,  Pike  township;  postoffice, 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ;  born  in 
this  county  in  1839;  son  of  Manley  and  Mary 
Clark.  He  was  married  in  1860,  to  Miss  Mary  E. 
Magruder,  daughter  of  Hezakiah  and  Sarah  A. 
(Lake)  Magruder.  They  are  the  parents  of  three 
children,  viz ;  RoUen,  George  V.  and  Iva  J.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  died  in  1870.  His  widow 
still  lives  on  the  home  farm,  together  with  her 
daughter  and  two  sons,  surrounded  by  all  the 
necessary  comforts  of  life.  Mrs.  Clark's  father 
died  in  1858,  her  mother  in  1850.  She  is  the 
oldest  of  a  family  of  five  children. 

CLARK  WILLIAM,  Perry  township,  New 
Guilford  postoffice;  born  in  this  county  in  1828; 
son  of  Joshua  and  Mary  Clark,  and  grandson  of 
William  and  Elizabeth  (Barn)  Giffln,  and  of 
John  Clark;  was  married  in  1861  to  Miss  H.  L. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


653 


Teatoh,  daughter  of  Ellis  and  Elizabeth  Vefftch. 
They  have  nine  children,  viz :  Elmer  V.,  Walter 
H.,  Harriet  E.,  Duette,  Mary  E.,  WiUiam  H.,  T. 
E.,  Sylvia  M.  and  Charles  H. 

CLEMMENS  W.,  Coshocton;  carriage  black- 
.smith,  West  Main  street;  was  born  July  11, 1841, 
in  Mt.  Vernon,  Knox  county.  He  is  son  of  .Wil- 
liam Clemmens,  a  native  of  Virginia.  Young 
■Clemmens  was  apprenticed  to  his  trade,  at  about 
the  age  of  fifteen,  to  William  Sanderson.  When 
about  twenty-one,  he  came  to  this  city  and  worked 
AS  a  journeyman  with  E.  McDonald.  In  1875,  he 
established  his  present  shop,  and  is  doing  a  good 
business  in  all  kinds  of  carriage-smithing.  Mr. 
Clemmens  was  married,  April  5,  1861,  to  Miss 
.Mary  Taylor,  daughter  of  John  Taylor,  of  this 
city.  They  have  had  five  children,  two  of  whom, 
John  William  and  AUie  May,  have  died,  and 
three,  Cora  Belle,  Clarance  Carl  and  Edith  Lu- 
vane,  are  living. 

COCHRAN  JAMES,  Jefferson  township;  born 
in  East  Union,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  De- 
cember 4, 1838;  son  of  Caleb  and  Anna  (Duncan) 
Cochran,  and  grandson  of  William  Cochran  and 
Matthew  Duncan.  H^  grandfather,  Duncan, 
■came  to  America,  at  twf  Ive  years  of  age,  and  set- 
tled in  Maryland.  His  father  was  born  Febru- 
ary 6,  1806;  died  September  28,  1877.  His 
mother  was  born,  February  29,  1812,  in  New 
•Castle  township. 

He  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Sixteenth  0.  V.  I., 
April  15,1861,  under  Captain  McClain,and  served 
three  months;  then  enlisted  December  1, 1861,  in 
Company  F,  Eightieth  0.  V.  I.,  under  Captain 
Metham;  went  into  camp  at  Camp  Meigs,  then 
to  Camp  Jackson,  at  Columbus,  Ohio ;  from  there 
he  went  to  Cincinnati;  thence  to  Fort  Holt,  Ky.; 
thence  to  Paduca,  thence  to  the  rear  of  Corinth, 
and  assisted  in  the  siege;  thence  to  luka,  Missis- 
sippi, and  took  part  in  the  engagement  there; 
thence  back  to  Corinth,  and  assisted  in  the  two 
■days'  fight  between  Rosecrans  and  Price;  thence 
to  Holly  Springs,  and  to  Memphis,  Tennessee, 
where  they  took  charge  of  the  division  trai?!  and 
guarded  it  to  Forest  Hill;  thence  to  Helena, 
Arkansas,  via  Memphis;  thence  four  miles  below, 
and  went  into  camp  on  a  sand  bar  to  arrange  for 
•the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition,  and  after  taking  part 
in  the  expedition  came  back  to  the  sand  bar,  and 
from  there  to  Young's  Point,  Louisiana;  thence 
to  Hardtimes  landing, on  the  Mississippi;  thence 
via  J'ort  Gibson,  Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion 
Hills,  Black  River,  to  a  position  in  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg.  He  remained  here  forty-eight  days; 
thence  via  Memphis  and  Chattanoogato  the  bat- 
tle of  Mission  Ridge ;  thence  to  camp  near  Chat- 
tanooga; thence  to  Bridgeport,  Tennessee. 

He  then  came  home  as  a  recruiting  officer,  and 
on  the  9th  of  May,  1864,  returned  to  Huntsville, 


Alabama,  thence  to  Resaoa,  and  thence  to  Atlan- 
ta, and  to  the  sea  with  Sherman ;  to  Richmond, 
Virginia,  and  from  thence  to  Washington,  and  at- 
tended the  grand  review ;  thence  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  and  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  where  he  re- 
ceived his  discharge,  August  28,  1865.  He  filled 
all  the  stations  from  private  to  captain,  was  cho- 
sen aid-de-camp  for  General  Rice,  also  acting  as- 
sistant inspector  general  for  General  James.  Ht,- 
engaged  in  farming  in  the  spring  of  1866,  and  in 
1867,  went  to  Illinois,  and  engaged  in  teaming, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1869,  came  to  Warsaw  and 
began  hotel-keeping,  where  he  remained  until 
the  spring  of  1876,  when  he  took  a  trip  to  Cali- 
fornia, and  visited  many  places  along  the  Pacific 
coast  and  the  Pacific  railroad,  being  gone  about 
fifteen  months.  On  his  return  he  again  engaged 
in  hotel-keeping,  and  remained  in  business  until 
November,  1880.  He  was  married  July  1,  1866, 
to  Miss  Ada  Hayes,  daughter  of  John  J.  and  Su- 
san (Lochary)  Hayes,  and  granddaughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Agnes  (Sheridan)  Hayes,  and  Patrick 
and  Sarah  (Martin)  Lochary,  and  great-grand- 
daughter of  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Moore)  Hay^s, 
and  John  Lochary,  and  finally,  great-great-grand- 
daughter of  Anne  (Nixon)  Hayes.  Lulu  Gracia, 
born  February  15, 1872,  is  their  only  child. 

COCHRAN  JOSEPH  A.,  farmer;  postoffice, 
West  Lafayette ;  was  born  in  this  county  in  1839, 
and  married  in  1864  to  Mary  Ann  Miller,  who 
was  born  in  this  -township  in  1843.  They  have 
seven  children  — Hattie  E.,  Jeremiah  A.,  Samuel 
M.,  Charles  E.,  Perry  O.,  William  M.  and  Jesse. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war,  a  member  of 
Company  D,  Sixteenth  regiment  0.  V.  I.,  and 
served  out  the  time  of  his  enlistment. 

COCHRAN  JOHN  M.,  Lafayette  township; 
carpenter.  West  Lafayette ;  born  August  9,  1830, 
in  Ellallsville,  Jefferson  county;  son  of  Jacob 
Cochran,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Irish  de- 
cent; lived  on  a  farm  until  about  twenty-six  years 
of  age,  when  he  commenced  his  present  trade, 
after  which  he  spent  two  years  prospecting  in  the 
west.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  Company  D,  Six- 
teenth 0.  V.  I.,  (three  months'  men)  and  re-en- 
listed in  Company  I,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  and 
served  two  years  and  nine  months,  and  re-en- 
listed as  a  veteran  in  same  company  and  regi- 
merit,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  get- 
ing  his  discharge  late  in  the  fall  of  1865,  having 
served  nearly  five  years;  was  captured  twice  but 
soon  re-captured  by  his  own  comrades.  At  the 
close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Cochran  located  in  West 
Lafayette  and  resumed  his  trade,  and  has  followed 
it  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Cochran  was  married 
in  1865  to  Miss  Eliza  Cutter,  daughter  of  Benja- 
min Cutter,  of  Lafayette  township.  They  have 
had  four  children,  Casader,  Clesson,  Loney  and 
Berdell. 


654 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


COCHEAN  ALEXANDEE,  Perry  township; 
postoffice,  New  Guilford;  farmer  and  speculator; 
born  in  this  county  in  1845;  son  of  Joseph  and 
Mary  A.  (Underwood)  Cochran,  and  grandson  of 
Wilham  and  Ehzabeth  (Huffman)  Cochran,  and 
of  Joshua  and  Sarah  Underwood;  married  in 
1868  to  Miss  Mary  S.  Board,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Elizabeth  A.  Board.  They  are  the  parents 
*)f  four  children,  viz  :  Charles  J.,  Foy,  Maud  and 
Claud  Carl. 

COE  WILLIAM  H,  painter  and  printer,  Co- 
shocton, Ohio;  was  born  December  14,  1834,  in 
Coshocton,  Ohio;  son  of  Benjamin  and  Euth  A. 
(Decker)  Coe.  Young  Coe  was  brought  up  and 
educated  in  his  native  city.  At  eighteen  he 
"went  into  the  Coshocton  Eepublican  Printing 
office,  where  he  remained  about  three  years. 
From  the  Eepublican  office  he  went  to  the  Dem- 
orat  office,  where  he  remained  until  he  enlisted 
in  Company  A,  Sixteenth  O.  V.  I.,  for  four 
months.  On  his  return  home  he  went  into  the 
Coshocton  Paper  Mills,  where  he  remained  about 
three  years;  Then  he  followed  painting  until 
the  Coshocton  steel  works  opened,  when  he  went 
into  these  works,  where  he  has  continued  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Coe  was  elected  city  clerk  in 
1862,  and  re-elected  in  1863, 4  and  5,  and  also 
elected  to  the  same  office  in  1872  and  3.  In  1879 
he  was  elected  township  clerk  and  served  two 
years.  Mr.  Coe  was  married  October  7, 1862,  to 
Miss  Susan,  daughter  of  Gabriel  Clark.  They  are 
the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz:  Emma,  Mary, 
Nora,  Glen  W.  (deceased),  infants,  twin ,  boys, 
died,  not  named,  and  Edna. 

COE  E.  v.,  Coshocton,  Ohio;  photographer, 
226  Main  street.  Mr.  Coe  was  born  December  9, 
1837,  in  Coshocton,  Ohio;  son  of  Benjamin  and 
Euthanna  (Decker)  Coe,  of  Orange  county,  New 
York.  They  came  to  Coshocton  about  1833  and 
were  married  in  the  house  now  occupied  by  John 
Burt,  Sr.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  viz:  William  H.,  Elias  V.,  Henrietta 
(deceased),  Benjamin,  Annie,  Eeuben,  (deceased), 
and  Almeda.  All  are  married  and  live  in  this 
county,  excepting  Annie,  who  resides  atDennison, 
Ohio.  Elias  V.  began  the  practice  of  his  art 
September  15,  1862,  with  G.  A.  McDonald,  with 
whom  he  was  associated  thirteen  years  and  one 
month..  Then  he  bought  out  Mr  McDonald  and 
became  sole  proprietor  of  his  present  gallery, 
which  is  supplied  with  all  the  modern  improve- 
ments and  facilities  for  doing  all  kinds  of  photo- 
graphic work  in  first  class  order.  Mr.  Coe  was 
married  June  7,  1868,  to  Miss  Eliza  E.,  daughter 
of  Gabriel  and  Catharine  E.  (Eogers)  Clark. 
They  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz  :  George 
B.,  Agnes  M.,  Stella  and  Samuel  E. 

COE  BENJAMIN,  Coshocton,  Ohi6;  dealer  in 


stoves  and  manufacturer  of  tin,  copper  and  sheet, 
iron  ware;  also  tin  roofing  and  spouting.  Mr. 
Coe  was  born  December  6,  1847,  in  Coshocton, 
Ohio,  where  he  has  spent  almost  his  entire  life. 
When  about  fifteen,  he  began  working  in  the 
Coshocton  paper  mills  and  continued  there  twO' 
years.  In  1864,  he  began  his  present  trade  and 
worked  three  years,  then  went  to  Oden,  Illinois,, 
and  remained  there  but  a  short  time,  then  re- 
turned and  engaged  with  Shaw  &  Sandswith,  of 
whom  he  learned  his  trade.  He  next  engaged 
with  Harbaugh  &  Smith,  with  whom  he  con- 
tinued until  April,  1869,  when  he  became  partner- 
in  the  firm  of  Eobertson  &  Coe.  In  1871,  this- 
partnership  was  dissolved  and  Mr.  Coe  succes- 
sively became  foreman  in  the  shops  of  Palmer  & 
Eobinson,  Slayton  &  Palmer,  Palmer  &  Kobinson 
and  G.  W.  Eickets  &  Co.  Mr.  Coe  bought  the- 
tools  of  the  last  named  firm  and  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  E.  M.  Elliott,  which  firm  continued 
until  February,  1877,  since  which  time  Mr.  Coe 
has  conducted  his  business  alone  with  marked 
success.  Mr.  Coe  was  married,  March  80,  1871, 
to  Miss  Katie  L.,  daughtei;  of  Urial  Mills,  of 
Salem,  Marion  county,  Illinois.  They  are  the 
parents  of  two  children,  viz:  Laura  A.j  and 
Harry  W.  • 

COFPMAM  ADAM,  Jefferson  township;  har- 
nessmaker;  postoffice,  Warsaw;  born  in  Tusca- 
rawas county,  Ohio,  June  2, 1850;  son  of  Freder- 
ick and  Mary  (Swift)  Coffman,  and  grandson  of 
Adam  and  Elizabeth  (Darner)  Swift.  Mr.  Coff- 
man labored  on  the  farm,  in  his  boyhood,  until 
about  the  age  of  17,  when  he  began  clerking  in- 
a  grocery  store,  for  William  Baad,  in  Warsaw;, 
and  remained  with  him  about  two  years.  He 
then  engaged  as  clerk  with  Shaffner  Brothers,, 
and  remained  one  year.  He  then  returned  to  har- 
nessmaking,  which  he  had  learned  with  his  uncle). 
Charles  Senft,  between  school  hours.  In  De- 
cember, 1872,  he  nurchased  an  interest  in  S. 
Hook's  harness  shop,  and  continued  about  two 
years  at  it;  then  became  the  sole  proprietor,  and 
is,  at  this  writing,  doing  a  very  fair  business.. 
He  was  married  October  1,  1874,  to  Miss  Siisan' 
Bumgardner,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Line- 
baiigh)  Bumgardner.  They  are  the  parents  of 
two  children :  Wilbert  O.,  born  April  10,  1876, 
and  Evert  D.,  born  October  11,  1877,  died  im 
December,  1877. 

COFFMAN  WILLIAM,  Jefferson  township,-: 
harnessmaker;  postoflBce,  Warsaw;  born  in  Jef- 
ferson township,  Coshocton  county,  October  23,. 
1864,  brother  of  Adam  Coffman;  son  of  Freder- 
ick and  Mary  (Senft)  Coffman.  He  attended 
sthool  and  worked  on  "the  farm  until  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  when  he  began  learning  the  harness- 
making  business,  with  his  brother,  in  Warsaw, 
with  whom  he  is  still  engaged.    Mr.  Coffman  is  a 


BIOGBAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


655 


fine  workman,  and  makes  light  work  a  specialty. 
He  is  a  promising  young  man,  esteemed  and  re- 
spected by  all. 

COGNION"  STEPHEN,  Linton  township ;  far- 
mer; postoffice.  Wills  Creek;  born  June  6,  1852, 
in  Franklin  township ;  son  of  Stephen  and 
Eosella  Cognion,  natives  of  France;  came  to 
America  about  the  year  1848,  and  located  in 
Franklin  township,  from  Avhich  he  came  to  his 
present  residence  in  Linton  township,  in  1868. 
They  are  the  parents  of  five  children,  three  sons 
and  two  daughters.  When  Mr.  Cognion  came  to 
America  he  was  poor,  but  by  the  united  labor  and 
economy  of  himself  and  family,  they  have  ob- 
tained a  good  home  and  farm.  Of  the  children, 
Mary  is  married  to  William  Krominaker ;  John 
is  married  to  Cathariene  Doll ;  Magdaline  is  mar- 
ried to  John  Switzer,  Stephen  and  Nicholas  are 
unmarried. 

COLLIEE  THOMAS  W.,  Coshocton;  born 
April  22, 1844,  in  CarroUton,  Ohio ;  son  of  Thomas 
W.,  a  native  of  Virginia,  of  English  ancestry. 
At  seven  years  of  age  he  began  to  set  type,  and 
remained  six  years,  then  attended  school  one 
year,  and  then  resumed  his  place  in  the  printing 
office.  In  April,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company 
F,  Sixteenth  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  three  months. 
In  November  following,  he  enlisted  as  a  private 
in  Company  F,  Eightieth  O.  V.  I.,  and  served  to 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  successively  pro- 
moted to  first  sergeant,  second  lieutenant,  first 
lieutenant,  and  appointed  adjutant  and  commis- 
sioned Captajn  of  Company  A,  in  October,  1864. 
He  was  provost  marshal  from  June  1,  1865,  until 
mustered  out.  Captain  Collier  was  married  April 
14,  1864,  to  Miss  Kate  Pinehart,  of  New  Phila- 
delphia. This  union  was  blessed  with  one  child, 
a  daughter,  Minnie  Wylly.  Captain  Collier  was 
appointed  postmaster  of  Coshocton,  in  May, 
1869,  and  held  the  office  until  1881.  He  was 
editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Coshocton  Age  from 
September  1, 1866,  to  April  1, 1878. 

CAGLE  GEORGE  T.,  Coshocton;  boot  and 
shoe  m^aker,  Clerry  street,  between  Sixth  and  Sev- 
enth streets ;  born  August  9,  1842,  in  Frederick 
county,  Maryland;  son  of  John  C,  a  native  of 
Wurt€mberg,_Germany.  He  worked  on  a  farm 
until  he  was  fifteen,  when  he  went  to  his  trade 
and  served  three  years ;  then  established  a  shop 
in  the  spring  of  1862,  in  Uniontown,  Maryland. 
In  Novenj,ber,  1865,  he  came  to  this  city  and  estab-' 
lished  a  shop,  but  soon  sold  out,  and  was  a  tran- 
sient journeyman  until  1879,  when  he  established 
his  present  shop,  in  which  he  is  doing  a  good  bus- 
iness, employing  several  workmen,  and  working 
himself,  also.  Mr.  Cagle  enlisted  in  Battery  F, 
Third  P.  V.  H.  A.,  and  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  Mr.  Cagle  was  married  February  18, 
1880,  to  Miss  Mattie  Brister,  of  this  city. 


COLLOPY  THOIVTAS,  Linton  township;  far- 
mer ;  born  in  Limerick  county,  Ireland  ;  the  son 
of  Patrick  and  Catherine  (Stanton)   Callopy.     In 

1825,  he  married  Miss  Margaret,  daughter  of 
Richard  and  Nora  (Donaly)  Bulman.  She  was 
born   in   county   Cork,  November  10,  1805.     In 

1826,  they  emigrated  to  America,  remaining  in 
Albany  county.  New  York,  till  the  fall  of  1835,. 
when  they  came  to  their  present  home  in  Linton 
township.  Their  children,  ten  in  number,  are  as 
follows :  Catherine,  Hannah,  John,  Richard,, 
Mary  J.,  Margaret,  Lizzie,  Anna,  Michael  and  . 
Thomas. 

COMPTON  ELISHA,  Jackson  township;  re^ 
tired  farmer  ;  postoffice,  Roscoe ;  born  in  Culpep- 
per county,  Virginia,  September  9,  1816;  son  of 
George  and  Sarah  (Duke)  Compton,  of  Irish  an- 
cestry. Elisha  was  raised  on  the  farm,  which- 
business  he  successfully  followed  during  his  long 
life.  Mr.  Compton  was  married  December  9^ 
1841,  to*Huda  Anne,  daughter  of  Jeremiah  Hays, 
of  Virginia  township.  This  union  was  blessed 
with  nine  children,  John,  Mary  Ann,  R.  T.,  Jere- 
miah, George,  deceased,  Harvey,  Eliza  Jane,  de- 
ceased, Alice  and  Camilla. 

COMPTON  A.  N.,  Coshocton,  saddle  and  har- 
ness manufacturer  and  dealer  in  saddlery  hard- 
ware; was  born  November  5, 1846,  in  Rappahan- 
nock county,  Virginia;  son  of  A.  P.  Y.  Compton,, 
who  was  American  born,  of  English  ancestry. 
Young  Compton  was  raised  on  a  farm  untif  four- 
teen years  old,  when  he  was  apprenticed  to  the- 
saddlery  and  harness  trade  for  three  years.  He- 
then  went  to  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  and 
served  under  instructions  three  years.  In  1868 
he  opened  a  shop  at  Flint  Hill,  in  his  native- 
county,  and  conducted  it  about  four  years.  In 
1872  he  came  to  this  county  and  settled  at  Ros- 
coe, where  he  continued  his  business  until  April, 
1880,  when  he  occupied  his  present  room,  which 
is  sixt}'--five  feet  long  by  twenty-two  and  a  half 
feet  wide,  being  the  largest  in  the  county  used  for 
like  business  This  large  room  is  well  filled  with 
goods  manufactured  in  the  establishment,  to- 
gether with  a  fine  stock  of  saddlery  hardware. 
Mr.  Compton  was  married  November  22, 1874,  to 
Miss  Mary  F.  Carroll,  daughter  of  Michael  Car- 
roll, deceased,  of  Roscoe.  This  union  was 
blessed  with  two  children,  a  daughter,  Annie 
L.,  and  a  son,  Edward  M. 

COMPTON  J.  A.,  Coshocton,  dealer  in  musi- 
cal instruments  and  sewing  machines;  was 
born  January  10, 1850,  in  Jackson  township;  son 
of  Elisha  Compton,  born  in  Virginia,  of  English 
ancestry.  Young  Compton  was  raised  on  the 
farm,  and  left  it  when  about  twenty-one  years  of 
age  and  entered  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University, 
and  remained  three  years,  with  the  exception  of 
teaching  school  one  term.    In  the  year  1873,  Mr. 


656 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Oompton  established  his  present  business,  in  which 
he  is  doing  well,  having  handled  during  the  past 
year  from  300  to  400  sewing  machines,  about 
fifty  organs  and  a  number  of  pianos. 

COMPTON  R.  T.,  Coshocton;  piano,  organ 
und  sewing  machine  dealer;  born  January  19, 
1848,  in  Jackson  township ;  son  of  Eiisha  Oomp- 
ton, a  native  of  Virginia,  of  English  extraction; 
was  raised  on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of  nineteen  he 
■entered  the  Ohio  "Wesleyan  University,  and  re- 
mained one  year,  after  which  he  taught  school 
•eight  years  in  Illinois  and  six  years  in  Ohio, 
-teaching  in  the  towns  of  Chili,  the  Valley  school, 
Adams'  Mill  school,  in  Muskingum  county,  and 
one  year  in  this  citv.  He  then  traveled  two 
years  tor  George  H  Grant  &  Co.,  of  Richmond, 
Indiana,  school  furniture  dealers.  He  then  en- 
gaged with  his  brother  in  the  present  business, 
and  established  it  for  himself  in  1880  Mr. 
■Compton  deals  in  three  popular  makes  of  organs, 
three  of  pianos,  and  the  Eldridge  sewing  rSachine. 
Mr.  Compton  was  married  March  11,  1879,  to 
Miss  Mary  Ellen  Dickey,  daughter  of  Hiram 
Dickey,  of  Mill  Creek  township.  He  was  organ- 
ist in  the  Roscoe  Methodist  church  for  about 
eight  years.  In  the  spring  of  1880,  Mr.  Compton 
bought  a  residence  on  the  east  end  of  Chestnut 
street,  which  he  now  occupies. 

COMPTON  JOHN  M.,  Coshocton;  attorney; 
born  February  3, 1848,  in  Jackson  township,  this 
county,  worked  on  the  farm  and  attended  public 
school  until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age,  when 
he  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V. 
I.,  and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  On  his  re- 
turn he  completed  his  education  by  going  to 
fichool  and  teaching.  In  1867  he  entered  as  a 
.student  in  the  law  office  of  Lee  and  Pomerene 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1869,  and  since 
that  time  he  has  given  his  entire  attention  to  his 
profession.  Attorney  Compton  was  elected  Mayor 
of  the  city  in  1872  and  re-elected  in  1874,  serving 
two  consecutive  terms.  Mayor  Compton  was 
married  June  2, 1870,  to  Miss-  Camilla  Burns,  of 
Jackson  township.  The  result  of  this  union  is 
four  children,  viz  :  Charles  B.,  William  M.,  Jessie 
iind  Edward  C.  Mr.  C.  takes  an  active  interest 
in  educational  affairs. 

COMPTON  J.  F.,  druggist,  402  Main  street, 
■Coshocton,  Ohio.  Mr.  Compton  is  a  native  of 
this  county;  was  born  in  Jackson  township, 
December  16, 1847,  and  received  his  preparatory 
■education  in  the  district  of  that  vicinity,  and  also 
took  a  course  at  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University, 
Delaware,  Ohio,  and  afterward  taught  school 
for  several  years.  In  1870  he  engaged  in  the 
drug  business  in  Roscoe  and  was  burned  out  in 
1874.  He  then  engaged  in  the  insurance  business 
and  continued  in  the  same  until  1877,  after  which 
he  engaged  with  the  firm  of   Barker,  Moore  & 


Co.,  wholesale  druggists,  Philadelphia,  Pennsyl- 
vania, as  traveling  salesman.  In  1880  he  estab- 
lished business  for  himself  at  his  present  location. 
He  occupies  a  pleasant,  commodious  room,  26x40, 
where  he  keeps  a  large  stock  of  pure  drugs, 
chemicals,  patent  medicines,  oils,  paints,  dye 
stuffs,  glass,  toilet  articles,  fancy  goods,  trusses, 
surgical  instruments,  etc. 

CONE  EDMUND,  farmer ;  Washington  county ; 
postoffice,  Wakatomaka;  born  in  South  Wilbra- 
ham,  Hamden  county,  Connecticut,  in  1810.  He 
came  to  this  county  in  1828,  and  immediately  en- 
gaged as  teacher  of  the  school  that  was  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  south  of  the  present  village  of 
Carlisle.  The  building  was  a  round-log  one,  the 
fireplace  extending  across  one  entire  end.  There 
was  a  spelling-book  for  about  every  five  or  six 
scholars,  the  cost  of  a  speller  being  a  bushel  of 
wheat  delivered  in  Zanesville.  He  had  an  attend- 
ance of  seventy  scholars.  He  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  with  his  brother,  J.  Cone,  Jr., 
who  was  practicing  at  this  time,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  by  the  board  of  censors  at 
Zanesville.  He  was  first  married  to  Miss  Seward, 
who  died,  and  he  married  Miss  Hawthorne.  Both 
were  of  this  county. 

CONNER  ISAAC,  Monroe  township ;  born  June 
29, 1837,  in  Monroe  township,  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio;  postoiBoe,  Spring  Mountain;  son  of  James 
and  Margaret  (Holt)  Conner,  and  grandson  of 
Daniel  and  Pheobe  (Penrose)  Conner,  and  of  John 
and  Ehzabeth  (Conner)  Holt;  also  great-grandson 
of  James  and  Mary  Conner,  and  of  Jesse  Penrose. 
Mr.  Conner  is  a  farmer  and  was  educated  in  the 
common  schools.  He  was  married  to  Mary  J. 
Bingler,  May  12, 1861,  who  was  born  November 
10, 1843,  daughter  of  Michael  and  Mary  J.  (Hog- 
bin)  Bingler,  and  granddaughter  of  Jessie  and 
Catharine  Bingler,  and  of  William  and  Charity 
Hogbin.  Their  children  are  Joseph  E.,  born 
January  1, 1863;  Emily  N.  and  Susie  G.,  Septem- 
ber 6. 1866 ;  James  8  ,  July  10, 1873,  and  Mary  E., 
January  28, 1879. 

CONRAD  JOHN,  Mill  Creek  township,  farmer; 
postoffice,  Clark,  Ohio;  was  born  September  25, 
1817,  in  West  Moreland  county,  Pennsylvania; 
son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Conrad;  married  Novem- 
ber 5,  1840,  to  Rebecca  King,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  M.  King,  who  was  born  Decem- 
ber 26, 1822,  in  York  county,  Pennsylvajjia.  The 
children  born  to  them  are  as  follows:  Mary 
Anne,  born  November  1,1841;  Margaret,  born 
November  9, 1842 ;  Jacob  William  Henry,  born 
December  24, 1845 ;  John  Weslev,  born  February 
10, 1858;  Rebecca  Jane,  born  July  29, 1851;  Maria 
Catharine,  born  August  22,  1854;  Henry  Wash- 
ington, born  June  22, 1856,  and  Elizabeth  Barbara, 
born  April  18, 1861. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


657 


COOK  D.  E  ,  Linton  township,  farmer;  born 
in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  March  11, 
1803;  the  son  of  George  and  Mary  (Kobb)  Cook. 
His  father  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  emigrated  to 
America  when  a  young  man.  His  mother  was  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania.  In  the  fall  of  1811  he 
came  with  his  father  to  Guernsey  county ;  there 
remained  till  1831,  when  he  moved  to  Logan, 
and  carried  on  farming  and  milling  for  sixteen 
years.  In  1847  he  took  up  his  residence  in  Lin- 
ton township,  and  has  been  here  since.  He  was 
married  April  8,  1831,  to  Catharine,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Johnson.  Ten  children  resulted  from 
thismarriag:  Thomas,  George,  "William  C,  de- 
ceased, Nancy  J.,  John,  Sarah,  Amanda,  deceased, 
Melona,  deceased,  ^ames  H.,  deceased,  and  David 
Y.  His  wife  having  died,  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Lydia,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Sarah 
Snyder,  of  Logan  county.  Their  children  are, 
Joseph  Snyder,  deceased,  Mary  Isabel,  deceased, 
Catharine  J.  and  Charles  T. 

COOK  D.  Y.,  grocer  and  confectioner,  Sixth 
street,  between  Main  and  Chestnut,  Coshocton. 
Mr.  Cook  is  a  native  of  Logan  county,  0.,  where 
he  was  born  February  8, 1847.  His  parents  came 
to  Coshocton  county  when  he  was  (Juite  young, 
and  he  has  been  a  resident  of  the  county  ever 
since.  He  received  his  education  in  the  district 
schools  of  Linton  township,  and  he  followed  join- 
ing as  a  business  until  the  fall  of  1879,  when  he 
came  to  Coshocton  and  engaged  in  the  grocery 
and  huckster  business.  He  carries  a  good  stock 
of  staple  and  fancy  groceries  and  confectioneries, 
and  deals  in  all  kinds  of  country  produce,  and 
makes  a  specialty  of  butter  and  eggs,  in  which 
department  he  runs  a  wagon  and  visits  different 
parts  of  the  surrounding  country,  in  order  to  sup- 
ply his  custom  with  fresh  supplies  in  this  line. 
He  was  married  to  M.  E.  Hawthorne,  by  whom 
he  has  four  children — three  daughters  and  one 
son. 

COOKSEY  JAMES,  Perry  township;  postoffice, 
West  Carlisle ;  born  in  Muskingum  county,  in 
1833 ;  settled  in  this  county  in  1857 ;  son  of  Will- 
iam and  Elizabeth  (Oden)  Cooksey ;  married  in 
1857  to  Sarah  Lagg,  daughter  of  Harrison  and 
Nancy  B.  Cooksey.  They  are  the  parents  of 
three  children,  viz :  Celestia  J.,  Izadora  B.,  and 
Leora  M. ;  two  are  married.  Mr.  Cooksey  was 
raised  on  a  farm,  and  has  continued  farming  ever 
since.  He  also  deals  pretty  extensively  in  thor- 
ough-bred sheep. 

COOPER  JOSEPH,  Keene  township;  son  of 
Ludlow  H.  and  Mary  E.  Cooper,  both  of  whom 
were  born  in  Orange  county,  New  York ;  grand- 
son of  Joseph  and  Susan  (Halsey)  Cooper,  and  of 
John  and  Mary  (Howell)  Seward,  who  was  the 
daughter    of    Nathaniel    and    Ruth    (Poppen) 


Howell.  His  father  enlisted  in  Captain  Free- 
gift's  company,  in  1814,  and  served  three  months. 
He  came  to  Ohio,  in  1834.  Joseph  learned  the 
blacksmith  trade,  at  eighteen,  under  C.  C.  Ramer ; 
enlisted  in  Company  A,  Sixteenth  0.  V.  I.,  April 
18,  1861;  was  discharged  in  July  following,  and 
re-enlisted.  His  war  record,  copied  from  a 
memorial,  is  given  below:  "Joseph  Cooper  was 
mustered  as  sergeant  of  Company  I,  Ninety 
seventh  0.  V.  I.,  August  5,  1862,  at  Zanesville, 
Ohio;  captain,  Martin  Wiser;  colonel,  John  Lane; 
wounded  at  Murphreesboro',  Tennessee,  January 
2,  1863;  wounded  again,  at  Mission  Ridge,  No- 
vember 24,  1863,  and  wounded,  at  Franklin,  Ten- 
nessee, December  8, 1864.  The  battles  he  was  en- 
gaged in,  were  Perryville,  Kentucky,  October  8, 
1862;  Stone  River,  Tennessee,  January  2,  1863; 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, September  8, 1863;  Chiek- 
amauga,  Tennessee,  September  20, 1863;  Lookout 
Mountain,  November  22,  1863;  Mission-  Ridge, 
November  26,1863;  Buzzard  Roost,  May  14,1864; 
Altoona,  Georgia,  May  25,  1864;  Dallas,  Georgia, 
May  25,  1864;  Marietta,  Georgia,  May  31,  1864; 
Peach  Tree  Creek,  June  22,  1864;  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  June  27, 1864;  Atlanta,  July  21, 1864; 
Spring  Hill,  Tennessee,  December  6,1864;  Frank- 
lin, Tennessee,  December  8,  1864,  and  Nashville, 
January  24, 1865.    He  was  discharged  June  10, 

1865,  at  Nashville,  Tennessee."  January  6,  1866, 
he  married  Lucy  C.  Cowee,  daughter  of  James 
and  Augusta  (Adams)  Cowee,  who  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  John  Q.  and  Dorothea  (Elliott)  Adams. 
Their  children  are  Charlie,  born  December  18, 

1866,  and  Mary  Augusta,  April  13,  1872. 

CORBIT  GEORGE,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Evansburgh,  Ohio;  son  of  Robert  and 
Susannah  (Puller)  Corbit;  was  born  December  6, 
1835,  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  and  has  re- 
maind  a  resident  of  the  county  all  his  life.  Mr. 
Corbit  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  His  father 
was  of  Irish  and  his  mother  of  German  descent, 
and  were  old  pioneers  of  this  county.  Mr.  Cor- 
bit was  married  November  29, 1857,  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet A.  Morris,  of  this  county.  They  become 
the  parents  of  twelve  children,  viz:  Amanda, 
William  R.,  Albert,  Aaron,  Melinda,  an  infant 
not  named,  Robert  H.,-  Mary,  Charles,  John  M., 
Elmer  and  an  infant  not  named. 

CORBIT  LEWIS,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Bakersville ;  born  in  Adams  township, 
June  1,  1821 ;  son  of  Robert  and  Susan  (Fuller) 
Corbit,  and  grandson  of  Jesse  Corbit  and  James 
and  Catharine  Fuller.  His  father  came  to  this 
country  about  the  year  1804,  with  James  Miskim- 
mins,  born  in  May,  1790.  He  was  married  Au- 
gust 27,  1842,  to  Miss  Eliza  Carp,  daughter  of 
Adam  and  Mary  (Cocharn)  Carp,  born  July  21, 
1822,  in  Guernsey  countyj  Ohio.     They  are  par- 


658 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ents  of  thirteen  children,  as  follows :  John,  Rob- 
ert and  William,  deceased ;  James,  Wilson;  Sarah 
A.  deceased ;  Edward,  George  W.,  Adam ;  Susan, 
Mary  E.,  Laura  A.  and  Almeda,  deceased. 

COULTER  J.  M.,  Perry  township,  postoffice, 
New  Guilford ;  born  in  Bedford  county,  Pennsyl- 
Yania;  settled  in  this  county  in  1814.  He  was 
born  in  1813,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and  Susan 
(McCoy)  Coulter.  Mr.  Coulter's  father  held  the 
office  of  county  surveyor  for  twelve  years,  sur- 
veying being  his  calling  the  greater  portion  of 
his  life.  J.  M.  Coulter  was  a  grandson  of  Thomas 
and  Lydia  (Connor)  Coulter,  and  of  William  and 
Lydia  Connor.  Mr.  Coulter  has  been  twice  mar- 
ried, first  to  Miss  Nancy  Pigmaai,  who  died  in 
1847.  In  1857,  Mr.  Coulter  married  Miss  Sarah 
A.  Robinson,  daughter  of  John  and  Bewly  Rob- 
inson. Three  children,  viz :  Mary  J.,  J.  R.  and 
Joseph,  were  born  of  the  first  marriage ;  and  four, 
viz  :  Bewly,  Susan  V.,  Benjamin  and  Wallace,  of 
the  second.  Mr.  Coulter's  son,  J.  R.,  enlisted  in 
Company  A,  Seventy-sixth  regiment  Ohio  volun- 
teers, in  1861,  Captain  Lemert,. participating  in 
the  battles  of  Fort  Donelson,  Pittsburgh  Landing, 
Corinth,  Vicksburg,  and  others. 

COX  HAMILTON,  Virginia  township;  born 
in  East  Virginia,  in  1805;  settled  in  this  county 
in  1830,  and  is  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth 
Cox.  He  was  married  in  1831,  to  Rachael  Har- 
desty,  daughther  of  Edmund  and  Ruta  Hardesty. 
Mr.  Cox  has  ten  children  living,  and  one  dead. 
They  are  all  married  and  living  in  this  county. 
Postoffice,  New  Moscow. 

COX  J.  E.,  Keene  township;  postoffice,  Keene, 
Ohio;  was  born,  in  1830,  on  Mill  creek,  Keene 
township,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio.  He  attended 
the  common  schools  of  the  township  until  twelve 
years  old,  walking  three  and  one-half  miles,  morn- 
ing and  evening.  When  twelve  years  old,  he  at- 
tended a  select  school  in  the  village  of  Keene, 
taught  by  Rev.  J.  D.  Whitham,  and  received  in- 
struction in  the  higher  English  branches.  He 
attended  this  school  three  years,  having  to  walk 
over  three  miles,  morning  and  evening.  Mr.  Cox 
began  teaching  in  1846,  and  is,  perhaps,  the  oldest 
teacher  in  the  county.  He  taught  his  first  school 
in  district  No.  4,  Clark  township,  in  an  old  log 
house,  formerly  used  as  a  dwelling.  There  was 
no  blackboard,  no  desks,  no  furniture  of  any  kind. 
The  seats  were  made  of  slabs  and  fence-rails,  with 
wooden  pins  for  legs.  The  balance  of  the  furni- 
ture consisted  of  hickory  withes,  used  to  encourage 
refractory  pupils  up  the  hill  of  science.  Wood 
was  used  then  instead  of  coal.  Many  times  the 
teacher  found  no  wood  in  the  morning,  and  was 
either  compelled  to  dismiss  for  the  day,  or  send 
and  borrow  an  ax  and,  by  the  aid  of  the  pupils, 
furnish  his  own  wood.  After  he  had  finished  his 
first  school,  Mr.  Cox  began  the  study  of  medicine 


with  Dr.  W.  F.  DeL'aMater,  working  part  of  the 
time  to  pay  his  board  and  tuition.  During  the 
winter  of  1846-7,  he  taught  school  in  White  Eyes 
township. 

He  then  continued  the  study  of  medicine 
under  Dr.  J.  Anderson,  teaching  in  the  winter 
and  studying  in  the  summer  until  he  had  com- 
pleted the  course  required.  He  then  went  West 
to  earn  money  to  attend  a  course  of  lectures. 
While  in  the  West  he  met  with  an  accident 
which  rendered  him  a  permanent  cripple,  there- 
by changing  his  intentions  in  life.  He  returned 
home  and  concluded  to  follow  the  profession  of  . 
teaching,  which  he  has  successfully  done  ever 
since.  His  first  certificate  is  dated  March  2, 
1862,  and  signed  by  Thomas  Campbell,  Esq.,  who 
was  then  acting  as  county  examiner.  The  only 
school  that  he  began  and  did  not  finish  was  in 
Bethlehem  township ;  and  the  failure  was  caused 
by  a  tree  falling  on  the  house  and  rendering  it 
unfit  for  further  use.  Mr.  Cox  has  taught  in 
many  of  the  country  and  village  schools  in  this 
county.  He  has  always  been  successful,  and  has 
never  been  compelled  to  ask  the  directors  to  aid 
bim  in  governing  a  school,  which  is  something 
remarkable  considering  the  long  time  he  has 
been  teaching.  'His  last  school  was  taught  in 
district  No.  8,  White  Eyes  township,  during  the 
winter  of  1880-'81. 

COX  W.  W.,  Virginia  township ;  born  in  this 
township  in  1833 ;  son  of  Hamilton  and  Rachel 
Cox;  married  in  1856  to  Margaret>P.  Marquand, 
daughter  of  John  and  Martha  Marquand.  They 
have  had  eleven  children,  ten  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing. Mr.  Cox  has  been  twice  elected  justice  of 
the  peace  of  Virginia  township!.  Postoffice  ad- 
dress, Dresden. 

CRAWFORD  J  M.,  Coshocton,  county  record- 
er ;  born  May  30, 1852,  in  Roscoe,  this  county ; 
was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
village,  and  at  McNeely  normal  school.  Mr.  C. 
commenced  teaching  in  1869,  and  taught  until 
he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  his  present  office, 
in  1877.  He  was  re-elected  to  the  office  of  re- 
corder in  1879.  Mr.  Crawford  was  married  Oc- 
tober 29, 1875,  to  Miss  Pauhna  Biggs,  of  Jackson 
township,  this  county.  The  result  of  this  mar- 
riage is  one  son,  Frank  L. 

CRAWFORD  J.  R.,  clerk  in  the  firm  of  Hay 
&  Morley ;  born  September  27, 1849,  in  Crawford 
township;  son  of  Scott  R.  Crawford,  a  native  of 
the  County  Tyrone,  Ireland.  He  was  raised  on 
the  farm  until  seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he 
began  clerking  for  John  J.  Stewart  and  continued 
a  clerk  to  the' present  time.  He  was  married  in 
March  1872,  to  Miss  Mary  Le  Retilley,  daughter 
of  George  Le  Retilly  of  Roscoe.  To  them  have 
been  born  two  children,  George  R.  and  another. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


659 


CEAWFOED  WILLIAM,  miller  in  Empire 
mills,  Eoscoe ;  was  born  June  18, 1857,  in  Eosooe ; 
son  of  Eobert  Crawford,  born  in  1825,  in  Steuben- 
ville,  Ohio,  of  Irish  descent.  William  entered 
the  above  mills  in  1875,  where  he  has  remained 
to  the  present  time. 

CEAWFOED  WILLIAM  H.,  Mill  Creek; 
farmer;  postoffi.ee,  New  Bedford;  born  in  1839, 
in  this  township.  His  father,  Andrew  Crawford, 
was  born  in  County  Donegal,  Ireland,  and  came 
to  this  county  in  1820.  He  was  married  in  1837, 
to  Miss  Margaret  Irwin  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1813,  in  Ireland.  She  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  1824,  and  died  in  1867.  _  Thejr  were  the 
parents  of  four  children  He 'married  in  the 
same  year  Miss  Mary  Eamsey  of  Pittsburgh. 
The  subject  of  tliis  sketch  is  the  oldest  child. 
He  was  married  in  1866,  to  Miss  Mary  CoUoredo, 
of  Holmes  county,  who  was  born  in  1844.  They 
are  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz:  Sarah, 
Angle  and  Augusta. 

CEAWFOED  JAMES,  Mill  Creek  township; 
iarmer;  postofBce,  Mound;  born  in  1836,  in  this 
•county.  Bis  father,  Oliver  Crawford,  was  born 
in  1808,  in  Ireland.  He  came  to  this  county  in 
1819,  and  was  married  in  1831,  to  Miss  Jane  Ir- 
win, of  this  county.  She  was  born  in  1813,  in  Ire- 
land, and  died  in  1855.  They  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being 
the  third.  He  was  married  in  1862,  to  Miss  Jane 
McCormick,  of  this  county,  who  died  in  1864. 
They  were  the  parents  of  two  children.  He,  in 
1874,  married  Miss  Lucinda  Babcock,  of  this 
county.    They  have  one  child. 

CEAWFOED  J.  W.,  Pike  township;  farmer  and 
stock  raiser ;  postoffioe,  Frazeysburgh,  Muskin- 
gum county ;  born  in  this  county,  in  1847 ;  son  of 
John  and  Rebecca  (McCann)  Crawford.  He  was 
married  in  1874,  to  Miss  Sarah  M.  Anderson, 
daughter  of  William  and  Mariah  Anderson. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz :  Wil- 
liam J.  and  Clide.    Youngest  is  not  named. 

CEAWFOED  O.,  Pike  township ;  farmer ;  born 
in  1841,  in  this  township.  His  father,  John,  was 
born  in  1806,  in  Ireland.  He  came  to  this  coun- 
try and  county  in  1818,  and  was  married  in  1832, 
to  Miss  Eebecca  McCann,  of  Muskingum  county. 
She  was  born  in  1807,  in  Strasburg,  Virginia  He 
died  in  1851.  They  were  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren. The  subject  of  this  sketch  Was  married  in 
1862,  to  Miss  Margaret  Moore,  *f  this  county. 
She  was  born  in  1839,  in  this  county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  four  childrn,  viz :  Edmund,  Loret- 
ta,  Mary  B.,  Eebecca  E. 

CEAWFOED  ANDEEW,  Clark  township;  far- 
mer; postoffice,  Clark's;  born  in  Crawford  town- 
.ship,  June  3, 1830;  son  of  James  and  Mary  (Eoth- 


well)  Crawford,  and  grandson  of  Thomas  Craw- 
ford, who  came  from  Ireland.  He  was  married 
February  14, 1860,  to  Miss  Marian  Shilling,  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Howenstine)  Shilling, 
and  granddaughter  of  George  Howenstine  and 
Josfeph  Shilling ;  she  was  born  in  Medina  county, 
Ohio,  July  13,  1838.  Plis  father  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Crawford  township.  Their  child- 
ren are  as  follows :  Walter  W  ,  born  December 
15,1862;  Cora,  born  September  28,1864;  Frank 
H.,  born  January  19,  1868 ;  Charles,  born  May  22, 
1870;  James  P.,  born  February  11,1872;  Jesse  L., 
born  March  10, 1874 ;  Frederick,  born  September 
4,  1876;  Stella,  born  September  5, 1878,  and  Rich- 
ard, born  March  20,  1880. 

CRIDEE  JAMES,  laborer;  Tiverton  township; 
postoffice.  Union,  Knox  county ;  born  June  15, 
1854,  in  Holmes  county.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1868,  and  was  married  May  18,  1876, 
to  Miss  Alvira  Strieker,  of  Holmes  county, 
who  was  born  in  1860,  in  this  county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  two  children,  viz :  Anna  O.,  born 
April  9, 1877,  and  Joseph  A.,  born  March  7, 1879. 

CEILE  MICHAEL,  Crawford  township;  far- 
mer; postoffice.  Chili;  born  March  21,  1883,  in 
Holmes  county;  son  of  Conrad  and  Elizabeth 
(Holderbum)  Crile.  Mr.  Crile  was  married,  Jan- 
uary 24, 1856,  to  Miss  Margaret,  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Mary  (Eider)  Deeds,  of  Pennsylvania.  They 
have  had  eight  children — Mary  E.,  married  to 
George  W.  Everhart,  Jacob  C,  Margaret  M.,  mar- 
ried to  Byron  Johnston,  Michael  A.,  George  W.,^ 
Austin  D.,  Cora  C.  and  Caroline  F.  Mr.  Crile ' 
has  a  comfortable  home  for  himself  and  family. 

CEISWELL  JOHN,  Linton  township;  wagon- 
maker  at  Plainfield ;  born  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  April  19,  1833,  son  of  James  and 
Margaret  (Miller)  Criswell.  His  mother's  parents 
emigrated  from  Ireland.  His  father  came  to 
Guernsey  county  about  1636,  and  to  Oxford  town- 
ship about  1847.  John  remained  on  his  father's 
farm  there  Jwo  years,  then  learned  his  trade -with 
his  brother  Robert,  at  Adamsville,  and,  after 
working  in  Coshocton  six  months,  he,  in  1854, 
opened  a  wagon  shop  in  Plainfield.  During  the 
greater  part  of  the  year  1864,  he  was  employed 
by  the  government,  in  the  wagon  department,  at 
Nashville  and  Chattanooga.  In  March,  1865,  he 
enlisted  in  the  service  and  was  discharged  the 
following  November.  Since  that  time  he  has 
followed  his  trade  in  Plainfield.  He  was  married, 
October  4, 1855,  to  Mary,  daughter  of  John  Bonce, 
born  in  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  and  emigrated 
with  her  mother  to  Muskingum  county  when  a 
young  girl.  His  children  are  Sarah  Jane,  de- 
ceased, James  H.,  deceased,  Mary  Alice,  Nar.  0., 
David  Martin  and  Delora  May,  twins,  and  Susan. 

CEITCHFIELD    MAEION,    Tiverton    town- 


660 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ship;  farmer;  postoffioe,  Yankee  Ridge;  born  in 
1834,  April  22,  in  Knox  county.  He  was  mar- 
ried October  7, 1868,  to  Miss  Mary  S.  Block,  of 
the  same  county,  who  was  born  October  24, 1841. 
They  came  to  this  county,  in  1867,  and  are  the 
parents  of  one  child,  Clinton  A.,  born  July  8, 
1858. 

CEOFT CONRAD, Crawford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Chili;  born  March  3,  1843,  in  Mill 
Creek  township;  son  of  John  and  Catherine 
(Conrad)  Croft;  came  to  Crawford  township  in 
the  spring  of  1868,  and  to  his  present  residence  in 
1872.  He  married  December  5, 1867,  Catherine, 
daughter  of  Christian  and  Rebecca  (Lower) 
Fisher.  Sarah  Ellen  is  their  only  child.  Mr. 
Croft  has  succeeded  well,  having  a  comfortable 
home  for  himself  and  family. 

CROFT  JOHN  J.,  Crawford  township;  post- 
office,  New  Bedford;  of  the  firm  of  Brown  & 
Croft,  hardware  dealers ;  was  born  April  20,  1841, 
dn  Mill  Creek  township;  son  of  John  and  Cath- 
erine (Conrad)  Croft.  He  followed  farming  until 
1876,  when  the  present  firm  was  formed.  Mr. 
Croft  was  married  April  16, 1872,  to  Miss  Mary 

Ann,   daughter   of  Henry  and   Rebecca  . 

They  have  three  children,  Milton  H.,  Percy  A. 
and  Claudius  0. 

CROFT  SOLOMON,  Mill  creek  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio;  born  in 
Mill  Creek  township,  October,  30,  1847;  son  of 
,  John  and  Catharine  Croft;  was  married  Novem- 
ber 11,  1875,  to  Amanda  dinger,  daughter  of 
Isaac  and  Sarah  dinger,  who  was  born  May  18, 
1867.  The  children  born  to  them  were  as  fol- 
lows :  John  F.,  born  October  28,  1876,  and  Cath- 
arine, born  March  25, 1881. 

CROFT  FREDERICK,  Mill  Creek  township ; 
farmer;  postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio;  was  born 
August  2t),  1837,  in  Mill  Creek  township ;  son  of 
John  and  Catharine  Croft;  was  married  in  1868 
to  Lucinda  Keehn,  who  was  born  jn  Holmes 
county,  February  1, 1849,  daughter  of  Frederick 
and  Mary  Keehn. 

CROFT  JOHN,  Mill  Creek  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  New  Bedford;  born  in  1809,  in  Wurt- 
emberg,  Germany.  He  came  to  this  country  in 
1817,  landing  at  Philadelphia,  and  came  to  this 
county  in  1821.  He  was  married  in  1828,  to  Miss 
Catharine  Conrad,  of  Holmes  county,  Ohio,  who 
was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia, in  1810. 

CROSKEY  JOHN,  dark  township  ;  postoffice, 
Helmick ;  farmer;  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio, 
December  8, 1831;  son  of  Michael  and  Rachel  V. 
(Lewis)  Croskey,  and  grandson  of  Joseph  Lewis. 
jlis  father  was  one  of  the  first  blacksmiths  in 
Clark  township,  and  came  from  Ireland  when  he 


was  16  years  of  age.  He  was  married  October 
4,  1854,  to  Emma  M.  Simpkinson,  daughter  of 
Charles  and  Sarah  (Keeling)  Simpkinson,  who 
was  born  in  Carroll  county  July  11, 1836.  They 
are  the  parents  of  the  following  children:  Sarah 
L.  J.,  born  July  6,  1855;  Michael  C,  June  13, 
1867 ;  Hannah,  January  9,  1859 ;  Emma  M., 
March  5, 1861 ;  Floretta  S.  P.,  December  16,  1866, 
and  Elsworth  R.,  born  March  13, 1877,  an  adopted 
son.  Mr.  Croskey  owns  a  farm  of  forty  acres  on 
the  KiUbuck. 

CROUCH  R.  B.,  Jackson  township,  postoffice, 
Tyrone ;  born  in  this  county  in  1846,  son  of  Dan- 
iel and  Elizabeth.Crouch,  and  grandson  of  Robert 
and  Mary  Crouch ;  married  in  3874  to  Rebecca 
E.  Gott,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Gott,  of  Jef- 
ferson county,  Ohio.  Their  union  has  been 
blessed  with  one  child,  viz  :  Mary  G. 

CROUCH  DANIEL,  Pike  township;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
Harrison  county,  Ohio,  in  1815;  settled  in  this 
county  in  1836 ;  son  of  Robert  and  Mary  (Merrit) 
Crouch,  and  grandson  of  Daniel  and  Nancy 
(Johnson)  Crouch.  He  was  married  in  1836  to- 
Miss  Elizabeth  Brown,  daughter  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  Brown.  Mr.  Crouch  is  the  father  of 
eleven  children,  viz :  Nancy  J.,  John  M.,  Plessey 
Elizabeth,  deceased,  Mary,  deceased,  Robert  B., 
William  S.,  James  J.,  Roda  A.,  Martha  and  Sarah 
E.    Mrs.  Couch  died  in  1879. 

CROUL  WILLIAM,  Monroe  township;  post- 
office,  Warsaw ;  was  born  in  Jefferson  township, 
Coshocton  county,  November  28,  1843;  son  of 
Lewis  and  Elizabeth  (Miller)  Crdtil,  and  grand- 
son of  William  and.  Dorotha  E.  Miller.  His- 
father  was  born  in  Darmstadt,  Germany,  in  1802; 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Jefferson  town- 
ship, and  helped  build  the  Walhonding  canal. 
Mr.  Croul  has  always  been  a  farmer,  and  is  a 
highly  respected  man.  He  was  married  April  3, 
1864,  to  Miss  Mary  Frederick,  daughter  of  John 
and  Elizabeth  (Brillhart)  Frederick,  and  grand- 
daughter of  George  and  Christina  (Leaner)  Fred- 
erick, and  of  Samuel  and  Susan  (Whitezel)  Brill- 
hart.  She  was  born  December  9,  184'3.  They 
have  two  children,  viz :  William  F.,  born  Janu- 
ary 1,  1865,  and  Elizabeth  S.,  born  May  3, 1868. 

CROWELL  W.  S.,  Coshocton;  attorney ;  born 
March  28,  1843,  in  Morgan,  Ashtabula  county, 
Ohio;  son  of  S.  B.  Crowell,.born  in  the  United 
States,  of  Engliih  ancestry.  The  son  obtained  a 
good  rudimentary  education  in  the  public  schools 
of  his  native  county,  and  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  obtained  a  certificate  for  teaching  school. 
From  the  age  of  sixteen  he  taught  during  the 
winter,  and  labored  during  the  summer,  until 
the  beginning  of  the  late  civil  war,  when  he  en- 
listed in  Company  D,    Sixteenth  0.  V.  I.,  (the 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


661 


i5rst  company  accepted  from  his  county),  and 
participated  in  the  battle  at  Bich  Mountain, 
West  Virginia,  one  of  the  first  of  the  war.  On 
his  return  home,  in  August,  1861,  he  re-enUsted, 
and  was  elected  second  lieutenant  of  Company 
A,  Twenty-ninth  O.  V.  I.  (Giddings'  regiment). 
In  February,  1862,  he  was  promoted  to  first  lieu- 
tenant, being  only  eighteen  years  old.  In  the 
spring  of  the  same  year  he  resigned  and  raised 
Company  G,  One  Hundred  and  Fifth  O.  V.  I.,  and 
was-  commissioned  its  captain.  He  remained 
with  the  company  through  the  campaigns  of 
Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and  Georgia,  until  after 
the  fall  of  Atlanta,  in  the  summer  of  1864,  when, 
for  the  first  time,  he  was  taken  sick,  and  soon 
after  discharged  as  unfit  for  mihtary  duty,  having 
served  about  forty  months.  He  received  honor- 
able mention  in  the  reports  of  the  battles  of 
Perryville,  ^entucky,  and  Milton,  Tennessee. 
On  his  return  home,  he  entered,  as  a  student,  the 
law  office  of  W.  P.  Howland,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  in  1866,  but  his  health  not  being  good, 
he  did  not  enter  upon  his  profession  until  1870,  at 
Coshocton.  He  was  married  May  4,  1869,  to 
Miss  Emily  H.  Wood,  of  Keene,  Coshocton  coun- 
ty, Ohio.  Captain  Crowell  was  elected  prosecut- 
ing attorney,  in  1872,  and  re-elected,  with  an  in- 
creased majority,  in  1874.  Since  the  expiration 
of  his  second  term,  he  has  given  his  entire  time 
to  his  profession. 

CROWTHEB  GEORGE,  Perry  township ;  far- 
mer ;  postoffice,  New  Guilford ;  born  in  Mary- 
lahd,  in  1818 ;  son  of  James  and  Delilah  Crow- 
ther,  and  grandson  of  Jesse  Cullison ;  married  in 
1839,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  CuUison,  daughter  of 
Carlton  and  Hanna  Cullison.  They  are  the  pa- 
rents of  three  children,  viz:  Caroline,  William 
and  Alonzo.  All  are  married.  One  lives  in  Knox 
county,  Ohio,  the  others  live  in  this  county.  Mr. 
Crowther  has  taken  into  his  family  a  little  girl, 
named  Nerva  Bush. 

CBOWTHEB  JESSE  E.,  Perry  township ;  far- 
mer and  stock  raiser;  postoffice,  New  Guilford; 
born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1825;  settled  in 
this  county  about  the  year  1829;  son  of  James 
and  Dehlah  (Cullison)  Crowther,  and  grandson  of 
Jesse  and  Nettie  Crowther.  He  was  married  in 
1857,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Mills.  Mr.  Crowther  is 
the  father  of  three  children,  viz :  Lina  L.,  Frank 
and  WiUiam  L. 

CBAWFOBD  THOMAS  W.,  Oxford  township; 
farmer ;  White  Eyes  Plains  postoffice ;  son  of  Al- 
exander and  EUzabeth  (Wilson)  Culbertson,  both 
of  this  county.  Mr.  Culbertson  was  raised  from 
the  age  of  ten  years  by  Mr.  Solomon  Vail,  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  this  county.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  born  in  Keene  township,  in  1886,  and 
was  married-  to  Miss  Martha  J.  Eehard,  of  this 
township.    They  have  had  seven  children,  as  fol- 


lows: Ellsworth,  two  years,  deceased;  Clara  B.,. 
Walter,  Leonie,  Charles, deceased;  Lucy  and  Ora 
0.  Mr.  Crawford  went  out  in  Company  E,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-second  O.N.G.,  for  100  days; 
then,  in  January,  1865,  he  enlisted  in  the  Eighty-^ 
eighth  regiment,  and  served  five  months  and 
twenty  days,  until  mustered  out  by  order  of  the 
secretary  of  war.  Mr.  Crawford  and  wife  are 
members  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  church,  and 
are  highly  respected  by  a  large  circle  of  friends 
and  acquaintances.  His  daughter,  Clara,  is  also- 
a  member  of  the  same  church.  He  owns  a  good 
farm  of  ninety-seven  acres  in  this  township,  and 
is  an  enterprising  citizen.  His  mother  passed 
away  in  1851,  and  his  father  afterward  married 
Miss  Jennie  Powelson,  who  died  in  April,  1858, 
and  he  died  in  May,  1859,  one  year  and  one 
month  after  his  second  wife. 

CULLISON  MARTIN,  Bedford  township;  far- 
mer ;  postoffice.  West  Bedford ;  born  in  1828,  in 
this  county.  His  father,  Carlton  Cullison,  was- 
born  in  1796,  in  Maryland,  and  was  married  in 
1818,  to  Miss  Hannah  Passingham,  of  the  same 
State,  who  was  born  in  1798.  They  came  to  this 
county  in  1825.  He  died  in  1865,  and  she  died  in 
1878.  They  were  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  fourth.  He 
was  married  in  1852,  to  Miss  Emily  Clark,  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in'  1834,  in  this  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  five  children,  four  of 
whom  are  living,  viz :  Ami,  Harvey  V.,  Mary  J., 
Martha  E. 

CULLISON  JOSEPH  A.,  Perry  township;, 
postoffice.  New  Guilford;  born  in  Harrison 
county,  Ohio,  in  1828 ;  settled  in  this  county,  in 
1833 ;  son  of  Abner  and  Lydia  Cullison,  and 
grandson  of  Joseph. and  Teritia  (Shepard)  Culli- 
son, and  of  William  and  Susannah  McCoy.  Mr, 
Cullison  has  been  twice  married,  first  to  Miss 
Katharine  Bayley.  They  had  seven  children,  viz': 
Willis,  Edgar,  William  C.  and  Lydia  E.,  de- 
ceased; Charles  W.  and  George  W.  He  was 
married  in  September,  1872,  to  Miss  Margaret 
Wolf,  daughter  of  George  and  Sarah  Wolf. 

CULLISON  N.  W.,  Perry  township;  postoffice,. 
New  Guilford;  born  in  Maryland,  in  1834;  set- 
tled in  this  county,  in  1886;  son  of  Wheeler  and 
Katharine  (Watts)  Cullison,  and  grandson  of 
Shedrick  and  Margaret  Cullison,  and  of  Nathan- 
iel and  Mary  Watts.  He  married  Evaline  Birch^ 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Birch.  They  have 
three  children,  viz:  Sylva  B,,  Laura  v.  and 
Lizzie  M. 

CULLISON  T.  W.,  Perry  township;  postoffice. 
New  Guilford ;  born  in  Baltimore  county,  Mary- 
land, in  1820;  settled  in  this  county  in  1835;  son 
of  Wheeler  and  Catherine  (Watts)  Cullison,  and 
grandson  of  Shedrick  and  Margaret  Cullison,  and 


<662 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


of  Nathaniel  and  Mary  Watts.  Mr.  CuUison  has 
■fceen  twice  married ;  first,  in  1840,  to  Miss  Nancy 
Cullison.  They  had  one  child,  J.  W.  His  second 
marriage  was  in  1849,  to  Louisa  J.  Lee.  They 
have  eleven  children,  viz :  Austin  C,  John  N , 
Sanford,  Charles  F.,  Harvey  W.,  Eolla  L.,  Ellmer 
E.,  Milton  S.,  Thos  G.,  Adda  W.  and  Etta  A. 

CULLISON  EPHRAIM,  Perry  township;  post- 
office,  Mohawk  Village;  farmer  and  stock-raiser; 
'born  in  Baltimore  county,  Maryland,  July  11, 
1822;  settled  in  this  county,  in  1824 ;  son  of  Carl- 
ton and  Hannah  Culhson,and  grandson  of  Jessie 
and  Notie  (Wheeler)  Cullison ;  maried,  in  1843, 
to  Miss  Harriet  Wantling,  who  died  May  10, 1880. 
Mr.  Cullison  is  the  father  of  six  children,  viz: 
TVIary  E.,  William,  Louisa,  Hannah,  deceased, 
Daniel  and  Caroline. 

CULLISON  JAMES  W.,  Franklin  township; 
born  in  New  Castle  township,  July  16,  1831 ;  son 
of  Moses  Cullison,  who  was  born  in  Maryland, 
and  married  there  Mary  Wantland,  of  Connecti- 
cut, both  of  English  ancestry.  His  grandfather 
Cullison  was  an  emigrant  from  Scotland.  In 
1836,  he  moved  to  Perry  township,  where  his 
mother  died  the  following  year.  In  June,  1841, 
'his  father's  household  was  scattered  by  the  mar- 
riage of  his  eldest  daughter,  and  James  found  a 
home  with  William  and  George  Given,  of  Jeflfer- 

•  son  township.  Two  years  later,  his  father  died, 
and  he  was  bound  out  to  the  Givens  till  he  was 
eighteen,  when  he  began  the  struggle  of  life  for 
himself,  working  on  the  farm  in  summers,  and 
attending  school  in  winters,  first  in  the  country, 
then  several  years  at  the  West  Bedford  academy. 
He  then  learned  the  carpenter  trade  with  his 
cousin,  Jeremiah  Cullison,  worked  at  it  during 
summer  and  taught  school  in  winter  till  his  mar- 
riaee,  December  30, 1858,  with  Sarah  A.,  daughter 
of  George  A.  McCleeary.  Since  then  he  has  been 
farming,  also  dea,ling  in  stock  and  selling  agricul- 
tural implements  extensively.  His  children  are- 
William  Bell,  deceased,  Seth  McCleeary,  George 
Harvey,  Kinsey  Sherman  and  John  Elmer. 

CUNNINGHAM  M AH LON, Washington  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in 
1836,  in  this  county.  His  father  was  born,  in 
1808,  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
married,  in  1827,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Trego,  of  the 
same  county,  who  was  born  in  1805.  ■  They  are 
the  parents  of  nine  children.  Mahlon  Cunning- 
ham was  married,  in  1861,  to  Miss  Catherine 
Masten,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1840. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz :  S.  E. 
.and  Mary  J. 

CUTSHALL  SAMUEL,  Adams  township; 
farmer;  postofiice,  Evansburgh;  born  in  Carroll 

•  county,  Ohio,  January  18, 1818;  son  of  Jacob  and 
Elizabeth  (West)  Cutshall,  grandson  of  Nicholas 


Cutshall  and  Robert  West.  ,  Grandmother  Cut- 
shall  lived  to  the  advanced  age  of  110  years.  Mr. 
Cutshall  came  to  Coshocton  county  in  January, 
1S41,  located  in  Adams  township,  and  has  resided 
here  ever  since.  He  was  married,  in  1841,  to 
Miss  Margaret  A.  Boop,  daughter  of  Michael  and 
Elizabeth  (Winnings)  Boop,  and  granddaughter 
of  Jacob  and  Margaret  (Sigman)  Boop  and  Samuel 
Winnings.  She  was  born  February  1,  1822,  in 
Jefferson  county,  Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of 
six  children,  viz:  Elizabeth  A.,  Rachel,  Mary, 
George  W.,  Harriet  A.  and  Emma. 

DAILEY  FRANK  B.,  Coshocton,  Ohio;  car- 
riage wood-worker  for  V.  0.  Jeffer's  factory.  Mr. 
Dailey  was  born  in  Lancaster  City,  Pennsylvania, 
August  21,  1847 ;  son  of  John  and  Jijlia  (Delano) 
Dailey.  His  paternal  ancestors  are  Irish,  and 
his  maternal  French.  He  enlisted  August  2, 
1862,  Company  6,  One  Hundred  and  Fifteenth 
Pennsylvania  V.  I.,  and  served  until  July  3,  1865. 
Durmg  his  service  he  participated  in  thirteen 
general  engagements ;  among  them  the  battles  of 
Malvern  Hill,  second  Bull  Run,  Fredericksburg, 
Chancellors ville,  Gettysburg,  SpjOttsylvania'  and 
before  Petersburg,  besides  many  skirmishes. 
He  came  out  of  all  these  unscathed.  When  the 
war  was  over,  he  went  to  his  present  trade,  at 
Lancaster  City,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained 
until  July,  1871,  when  he  came  to  Coshocton' 
which  has  since  been  his  home.  Mr.  Dailey  was 
married  December  26,  1872,  to  Miss  Annie  M., 
daughter  of  Andrew  Denic,  deceased,  formerly 
of  Roscoe.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren, viz :    Frank,  Edward  and  Mary  Agnes. 

DARLING  ISAAC,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Isaac 
Darling,  Sr.;  was  born  December  7, 1839,  in  Co- 
shocton county.  He  was  married  December  8, 
1865,  to  Miss  Almeda  Butler,  of  this  county,  who 
was  born  August  18, 1843.  They  are  the  parents 
of  five  children,  three  of  whom  are  dead.  Jean- 
ette  was  born  March  21, 1867;  Glendora  was  born 
October  6,  1878.  Mr.  Darling  was  raised  on  the 
farm,  and  has  always  followed  the  occupation  of 
farmer.  He  and  his  wife  are  prominent  mem- 
bers of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Mr. 
Darling  has  served  as  trustee  and  clerk  of  his 
township  for  several  years. 

DARLING  WILSON,  deceased,  Bethlehem 
township;  farmer;  son  of  James  Darling ;  was  born 
in  July,  1830.  I-Ie  was  married  in  1850,  to  Miss 
Barbara  Frederick,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
January  19,  1835.  They  became  the  parents  of 
four  children,  viz  :  Mary  P.,  born  in  December, 
1853;  Camille  L.  and  Colona,  twins,  born  July  23, 
1858;   William  F.,  born  August  10,  1860.    Mr. 


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BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


665 


Darling  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  always  fol- 
lowed that  occupation.  He  died  very  suddenly 
on  October  18,  1880,  of  apoplexy.  Mr.  Darling's 
father  was  one  of  the  old  pioneers  of  the  county. 
Mr.  Darling  was  a  prominent  member  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  church.  Mrs.  Darling  is 
still  a  member.  Mr.  Darling  was  esteemed  and 
honored  by  all  who  knew  him. 

DARLING  AARON,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  James 
Darling ;  was  born  in  1832,  in  Coshocton  county. 
His  father  came  to  this  county  in  1806  and  was 
one  of  the  old  pioneers.  Aaron  Darling  was 
married  in  1861,  to  Miss  Nancy  A.  Moore,  who 
was  born  June  18,  1839,  in  Coshocton  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz :  Flor- 
ella  B.,  Charles  and  William.  Florella  B.  is  en- 
gaged in  teaching  school.  Mr.  Darling  was 
raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed  that 
occupation.  He  owns  a  good  farm  and  is  esteemed 
by  all  his  acquaintances. 

DARLING  L.  C,  Bethlehem  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio ;  son  of  Jacob  and  Har- 
riet A.  (Spurgeon)  Darling;  was  born  January  14, 
1849,  in  this  county.  His  parents  were  of  Irish 
descent.  His  father  came  from  Virginia  and  his 
mother  from  Knox  coxmty,  Ohio.  Mr.  Darling 
was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed 
that  occupation.  He  was  married  January  8, 
1874,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Bantum,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  March  23,  1848.  They  are  the 
parents  of  one  child,  viz :  Cora,  who  was  born 
September  31, 1874. 

DAUGHERTY  SAMUEL  M.,  Adams  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice,  Evansburgh;  born  in 
Keene  township,  July  2,  1826 ;  son  of  John  aiid 
Jane  (Mitchell)  Daugherty,  and  grandson  of 
James  and  Jane  (Lawson;  Daugherty,  and  Sam- 
uel and  Nancy  (Lyons)  Mitchell.  His  grandpa- 
rents came  from  Ireland  to  America  in  1778. 
His  father  was  born  in  Chambersburg,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1788,  and  moved  to  Keene  township, 
this  county,  in  1818,  where  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  born.  He  began  the  carpenter  trade 
-  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  continued  until  the 
age  of  twenty-three ;  then  moved  to  his  present 
location,  where  he  worked  at  the  trade  and 
farmed  for  about  six  years.  He  was  then  bereft 
of  his  companion,  and  compelled  to  quit  house- 
keeping, but  worked  at  his  trade  three  years; 
then  turned  his  attention  to  farming,  and  is  still 
following  that  business.  He  lives  on  a  fa,rm  of 
two  hundred  acres,  pleasantly  located  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  township.  He  has  also  a 
farm  of  two  hundred  and  seventy-four  acres  one 
and  one-half  miles  east  of  the  home  farm.  He 
was  married  November  29,  1849,  to  Miss  Mary 
Beaver,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (Clous) 
Beaver,  of    Irish  and    English  descent.     Mrs. 

29 


Daugherty  died  February  23, 1856.  She  was  the 
mother  of  one  child,  Mary,  born  February  4, 
1856.  Mr.  Daugherty  was  married  February  3, 
1859,  to  Miss  Eliza  Watson,  daughter  of  RoBert 
and  Agnes  (Munce)  Watson,  and  granddaughter 
of  John  and  Mary  (Neely)  Watson,  and  Thomas 
and  Margaret  (McKnight)  Munce,  and  great- 
granddaughter  of  Mary  Moultrie.  Mrs.  Daugh- 
erty is  of  Irish  and  Scotch  parentage.  She  has  a 
son,  Robert  W.,  born  March  25,  1860.  Mr. 
Daugherty  is  a  gentleman  of  high  standing,  and 
is  at  present  filling  the  office  of  county  commis- 
sioner. 

DAUGHERTY  J.  L.,  Jackson  township;  Roscoe 
postoffice;  born  in  Keene  township,  in  this 
coun^ty,  in  1829;  son  of  John  and  Jaae  (Mitchell) 
Daugherty;  married  in  1861,  to  Nancy  Karr, 
daughter  of  J.  W.  and  Mariah  Karr.  Mrs. 
Daugherty  died  in  1880.  Mr.  Daugherty  is  the 
father  of  seven  children,  viz :  Priscilla  A.,  Wil- 
liam T.,  Mariah  J.,  Nancy  E.,  G.  C,  Emma  B., 
Lula  M.  Four  are  married  and  living  in  this 
county.  Mr.  Daugherty  enlisted  .in  the  army  as 
captain  of  Company  G,  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
third  Ohio  regiment,  in  1864 — Army  of  the  Po- 
toiiiac. 

DAUGHERTY  ROSS,  Oxford  township;  White 
Eyes  Plains  postoffice;  farmer;  was  born  in  this 
township  in  1831 ;  son  of  James  D.,  a  native  of 
Wilmington,  Delaware,  of  Irish  descent.  His 
mother  was  a  native  of  this  township.  Both 
parents  have  died.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  married  to  Miss  Sarah  Wurtsbaugh,  of 
Keene  township,  daughter  of  Harrison  W.  and 
Lucinda  (Spira)  Wurtsbaugh.  They  have  had 
six  children,  as  follows :  David  Peatt,  deceased, 
aged  eleven  months;  Martha  Ann,  Byron,  Mack, 
John,  Jennie  May.  Mr.  Daugherty  took  part  in 
the  war,  going  out  in  Company  A,  Eighty-eighth 
Ohio  V.  I.,  and  and  served  two  years  and  eleven 
months.  He  owns  sixty-three  acres  of  good 
land,  and  is  honest  and  well  spoken  of  by  all. 
They  are  members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

DAUGHERTY  ROBERT  M.,  Oxford  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice,  Plainfield.  Mr.  Daugh- 
erty was  born  May  19,  1830,  in  Harrison  county, 
Ohio.  He  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  had  fol- 
lowed that  occupation  all  his  life.  In  1839,  he 
went  to  Tuscarawas  county,  and  remained  two 
years.  He  then  went  to  Jefferson  county,  and 
lived  there  two  years ;  then  came  to  Coshocton 
county,  and  has  resided  here  ever  since.  Mr. 
Daugherty  was  married,  April  9,  1869,  ,to  Miss 
Mary  Jones,  of  this  county.  They  are  the  parents 
of  seven  children :  Seth,  Charity  J.,  Willis,  John, 
Frank,  Mary  and  Clara  B.,  all  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing. One,  Charity  J.,  is  married.  His  oldest 
son,  Seth,  is  engaged  in  teaching,  having  taught 
successfully  for  five  years.    Mr.  Daugherty  has 


666 


HISTOEY  OF   COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


always  been  esteemed  and  honored  by  his  own 
township.  He  has  served  as  trustee  for  twelve 
years,  and  has  held  other  oflBces. 

DAVIED  JOHN,  Franklin  township;  born 
January  22,  1814,  in  "\'ittoncourt,  Faulguemont 
Canton,  Moselle  Department,  France;  son  of 
John  Davied.  In  1847,  he  emigrated  to  America, 
landing  at  New  Orleans,  and  coming  up  to  Zanes- 
ville,  by  water.  He  had  been  a  stonemason,  in 
France,  but  engaged  in  farming  here,  the  first 
two  years  in  Muskingum  county;  then  a  year  in 
Fountain  county,  Indiana;  next  in  Franklin 
township.  Married,  in  1855,  to  Ann  Grand- 
Girard,  bora  in  Voinehaute,  France,  January  25, 
1826.  By  a  former  marriage  to  John  N.  Daniel, 
she  had  twri  children,  viz :  John  N  ,  born  Janu- 
ary 14, 185 'and  Margaret  (Burton),  born  Novem- 
ber 30,  1851.  Mr.  Davied's  children  are  Ferdi- 
nand, born  April  23,1856;  Mary  (Burton),  born 
April  3,  1858;  Anna  (Collet),  March  31,  1860, 
John,  November  20, 1861;  Leo,  March  14, 1863,  and 
Matilda,  March  14, 1866. 

DAVIS  BENTON, Lafayette  township;  farmer; 
Plainfield  postoffice ;  only  son  of  John  Davis ;  was 
born  in  this  township,  in  1846;  was  marriec^  to 
Miss  Blanche  Beelsford,  of  Linton  township,  who 
became  the  mother  of  four  children,  viz :  Beels- 
ford, Stephen-,  Mary  and  Blanche.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  was  educated  at  Vermillion  Insti- 
tute, Ashland  county,  and  is  a  progressive  young 
farmer. 

DAVIS  JOHN  N.,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Evansburgh ;  born  in  Adams  township, 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  April  26,  1850;  son  of 
James  and  Rachel  J.  (Kimball)  Davis,  and  grand- 
son of  John  and  Ann  Davis  and  Abner  and  Nancy 
(Jeffries)  Kimball.  He  remained  with  his  father 
until  twenty-three  years  of  age,  when  he  married 
and  began  farming  for  himself.  The  date  of  his 
marriage  is  September  15,  1874,  to  Miss  Hannah 
McFarland,  daughter  of  Ezekiel  and  Isabella 
(Corbit)  McFarland,  and  granddaughter  of  Rob- 
ert and  Ann  McFarland,  and  Robert  and  Susan 
(Fuller)  Corbit.  She  was  born  October  30,  1845. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children :  George 
C,  born  July  10, 1875;  Richard  G.,  born  January 
19, 1877,  and  Isabel  J.,  born  July  15, 1878. 

DAVIS  J.  T.,  Oxford  township;  physician; 
Orange,  Evansburgh  postoffice;  son  of  Thomas 
Davis;  was  born  in  1845, in  this  county, and  after 
receiving  a  good  high  school  education,  he  took 
up  the  study  of  medicine  about  the  year  1865, 
under  Dr.  Bates,  of  Wheeling,  and  finished  under 
Dr.  Chapman,  of  Bakersville,  and  commenced  the 
practice  in  1869,  in  Harrison  county.  After  prose- 
cuting his  profession  in  that  county  about  two 
years,  he  met  with  misfortune,  loosing  his  entire 
accumulations  by  fire,  and  his  next  location  was 


at  his  present  place,  where,  by  strict  attention  to 
business,  he  has  had  a  flattering  degree  of  success. 
He  has  a  good  practice,  and  is  surrounded  by  the 
comforts  of  a  good  home.  He  was  married  in 
1866,  to  Miss  R.  E.  Spurgeon,  of  Knox  county, 
and  they  have  one  child,  a  boy,  Charles  H.,  now 
in  his  twelfth  year.  The  doctor  finds  time  to 
handle  better  road  horses  than  any  body  in  this 
part  of  the  county,  and  is  a  genuine  lover  of  a 
good  horse,  of  which  he  has  handled  a  good 
many. 

DAVIS  JAIMES  R.,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Evansburgh;  born  in  Herefordshire, 
England,  November  4, 1818 ;  son  of  John  and  Ann 
(Baily)  Davis.  He  came  to  America  in  June,  1832, 
on  the  Sarah,  of  Petersburg,  Virginia,  landed  in 
New  York,  from  thence  he  came  to  Adams 
township,  Coshocton  county,  via  Hudson  river, 
Erie  canal,  Lake  Erie  and  Ohio  canal,  and  has 
been  a  resident  of  this  township  since.  He  was 
married  May  5, 1841,  to  Miss  Rachel  X  Kimball, 
daughter  of  Abner  and  Nancy  (Jeffries)  Kimball. 
They  are  parents  of  eleven  children,  viz :  Emily 
A.,  born  December  20,  1842,  died  October  19, 
1867;  MyraJ.,  born  September  29,1844;  Curtis, 
born  October  19,  1846;  Charles  W.,  born  August 
17,  1848,  died  October  17,  1875;  John  N.,  born 
April  26, 1850;  Abner  T.,  born  February  18, 1852, 
Ernest  J.  S.,  born  December  1, 1863;  Eleanor  M., 
born  March  28,  1866;  Hereford  H.  C,  born  De- 
cember 12, 1858 ;  Horace  F.  H.,  born  November 
8,  1860,  and  Laura  L.,  born  August  14,  1863. 
John  is  married  and  living  in  Adams  township; 
Abner  and  Ernest  are  farming  in  Kansas;  Curtis 
is  in  Knoxville,  Iowa.  He  formerly  lived  in  Idaho 
and  while  there  was  representative  two  years, 
Mr,  Davis'  father  died  in  September  1833,  and 
his  mother  died  September,  1840. 

DAWSON  MARCUS,  Virginia  township;  born 
in  East  Virginia,  in  1808 ;  settled  in  Coshocton 
county  in  1829;  son  of  William  and  Hanna  Daw- 
son. Mr.  Dawson  has  been  married  three  times. 
His  first  wife  was  Mary  Reed,  who  bore  him  four 
children.  His  second  wife  was  the  mother  of 
eight  children.  His  third  wife  was  Katherine 
Clark.    Postofiice,  Willow  Brook. 

DAWSON  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township; 
born  in  this  county,  in  1833 ;  son  of  Marcus  and 
Mary  Dawson;  married  November  2,  1861,  to 
Augusta  M.  Adams,  daughter  of  John  Q,  and  Lov- 
ina  Adams.  Their  union  was.  blessed  with  nine 
children,  one  of  whom  is  dead,  viz ;  J.  Q.,  Mur- 
rell  E.,  Effie  L.,  Ora  B.,  Aba  M.,  Kate  L.,  WiUiam 
M.,  Glide  W.    Postofiice,  Roscoe. 

DAY  WILLIAM  H.,  Tuscarawas  township; 
farmer;  Canal  Lewisville:  born  March  15,1833, 
in  Wayne  county,  Pennsylvania ;  son  of  Barney 
Day,  of  Irish  ancestry ;  raised  on  the  farm,  came 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


667 


to  this  county  in  the  spring  of  1847,  and  settled 
in  Jackson  township,  near  Roscoe,  and  came  to  his 
present  residence  in  1852,  and  has  followed  farm- 
ing during  his  entire  life.  He  at  present  is  liv- 
ing with  his  brother-in-law. 

DEAN  EGBERT,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Samuel  and 
Mary  (McCurdy)  Dean;  was  born  April  5,  1819, 
in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1848,  and  has  since  remained.  Mr. 
Dean  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  fol- 
lowed that  occupation.  He  was  married  April  3, 
1851,  to  Miss  Margaret  J.  Hamilton,  of  this 
county.  They  are  the  parents  of  five  children, 
viz:  dharlotte  J.,  Mary  A.,  J.ohn  H.^  William  L. 
and  Wilbur  S ,  all  of  whom  are  living.  Mr. 
Dean  owns  a  good  farm,  in  Bedford  township, 
and  is  respected  by  all  his  neighbors,  as  a  man 
of  integrity  and   business  qualities. 

DECIOUS  CORNELIUS,  Jackson  township; 
Roscoe  postoffice ;  born  in  Page  county,  Virginia, 
in  1813,  settled  in  this  county  in  1843;  son  of 
Frederick  and  Magdaline  Decious;  married,  in 
1830,  to  Katharine  Davis,  daughter  of  William 
B.  and  Jane  Davis.  They  have  six  children,  viz : 
Charles,  John,  Frank,  Lewis,  Howard,  deceased, 
and  William.  All  are  married  but  two.  Those 
married  are  all  living  in  this  comity. 

DEAN  WILLIAM,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in  1823,  in  Jefferson 
county,  Ohio,  and  was  married  in  1853,  to  Miss 
Asmath  Starr,  of  the  same  county,  who  was  born 
in  1836.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1853. 
They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  living,  viz  :  George  H.,  deceased,  Mary 
M.,  John'H.,  Eliza  J.,  William  H.,  Dennis,  Nettie, 
Henry  H.,  Lina,  deceased,  and  Ella  B.,  deceased 
Mr.  Dean  has  lived  where  he  now  is  since  1868. 
He  is  one  of  the  large  land  owners  of  the  town- 
ship, having  about  325  acres. 

DEEDS  ABRAHAM,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Plainfield,  Ohio;  son  of  John  and  Mary 
(Seabault)  Deeds ;  was  born  September  23, 1802, 
in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania.  Mr. 
Deeds  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  followed 
that  occupation  all  his  life.  In  1830,  he  removed 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  this  county,  re- 
maining nine  years.  He  then  removed  to  Athens 
county,  Ohio,  and  resided  there  six  years,  return- 
ing then  to  this  county,  where  he  has  since  re- 
sided. Mr.  Deeds  was  married  September  11, 
1828,  to  Miss  Agnes  Singson,  of  .Harrisburgh, 
Pennsylvania.  They  became  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  viz;  John,  Susannah,  Samuel,  deceased, 
Sarah,  Abraham,  deceased,  Drusyla,  Fannie,  Jose- 
phus,  deceased,  and  William  H.,  deceased. 
When  Mr.  Deeds  came  to  this  county,  it  was  gen- 
erally a  wilderness,  the  few  settlers  living  in 


cabins,  surrounded  by  a  small  lot  of  cleared  land. 
He  has  by  his  own  industry  acquired  a  good 
farm,  and  is  prosperous. 

DENMAN  A.  D,,  Tuscarawas  township;  Co- 
shocton postoffice;  of  the  firm  of  A.  D.  &  D.  F. 
Denman,  farmers  and  stock  raisers.  A.  D.  Den- 
man  was  born  in  Springfield,  Essex  CDunty,  New 
Jersey;  son  of  David  and  Mary  (Lyon)  Denman, 
of  English  ancestry,  and  came  to  his  present  res- 
idence in  October,  1834.  He  was  married  No- 
vember 16,  1828,  to  Miss  Eliza  A.,  daughter  of 
Moses  and  Lydia  (Munn)  Condit,  of  New  Jersey. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  three  children. 
George  and  Matthias  died,  and  only  one  is  living. 
D.  F.  Denman,  of  the  above  firm,  was  born  April 
15,  1830,  in  Essex  county.  New  Jersey.  He  was 
married  October  18,  1855,  to  Miss  Matilda  W., 
daughter  of  C.  L.  and  Sophronia  (Hamilton) 
Whiting.  This  union  has  been  been  blessed 
with  six  children,  three  deceased,  viz :  Alfred 
W.,  E.  Alida  and  Emma  L.  Their  three  living 
children  are  Clara  B.,  Herbert  and  Matthias. 
This  firm  is  engaged  in  stock  raising  and  agri- 
culture, suoceding  well  in  both,  having  their 
farm  and  buildings  in  first  class  repair  and  raisf- 
ing  the  breeds  of  stock.  The  farm  now  owned 
by  this  firm  was  patented  to  Matthias  Dehman, 
grandfather  of  the  senior  member  of  the  firm, 
April  24i  1816.  They  also  hold  patent  for  lands 
granted  to  said  Matthias  Denman,  March  28, 
1800,  and  signed  by  President  John  Adams. 
Matthias  Denmaii  was,  at  one  time  probably,  the 
largest  landholder  in  the  State.  He  was  also  one 
of  three  partners  who  founded  the  city  of  Cin- 
cinnati. 

DEVORE  ELI,  Tiverton  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Gann,  Knox  county;  born  in  1844,  in 
Holmes  county,  and  was  married  in  1864,  to  Miss 
EHzabeth  A.  Crider,  of  Holmes  county,  who  was 
born  in  1847,  in  Knox  county.  They  came  to  this 
county  in  1868.  They  are  the  parents  of  five 
children,  viz:  Mary  F.,  born  February  11,  1865; 
Nancy  J.,  born  March  23, 1867 ;  Lucy,  born  Au- 
gust 24, 1870;  James  R.,  born  February  12, 1875, 
and  Lyman,  born  November  16, 1877. 

DEVORE  WILLIAM,  Tiverton  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Gann,  Knox  county;  born  in 
1840,  in  Carroll  county.  He  came  to  Holmes 
county  with  his  parents  in  1843,  and  to  this  coun- 
ty in  1855.  He  is  unmarried,  and  has  lived  on 
the  same  farm  since  1855. 

DbWITT  ISAAC  C,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Bakersville ;  born  in  Adams  township, 
Coshocton  county,  October  14, 1839;  son  of  Vin- 
cent and  Eleanor  (Cordra,y)  DeWitt,  and  grand- 
son of  Thomas  Cordray.  He  attended  school 
until  the  age  of  maturity,  and  has  since  devoted 
his  time  to  farming.   He  was  married  September 


668 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


1, 1864,  to  Miss  Delila  Smith,  daughter  of  Bar- 
tholemew  and  Mary  A.  (Reed)  Smith,  and  grand- 
daughter of  George  and  Elizabeth  (Ellis)  Smith. 
She  was  born  in  Bucks  township,  Tuscarawas 
county,  July,  24,  1845.  They  are  the  parents  of 
three  children,  Asmer  A.,  born  June  20, 1865; 
Francis  M.,  born  June  20,  1868,  and  Ira  A.,  born 
June  17,  1872. 

DeWITT  W.,W.,  Lafayette  township;  wagon 
and  carriage  maker ;' West  Lafayette;  was  born 
in  Adams  township,  this  county,  December  18, 
1849;  son  of  Jonathan  and  Margaret  DeWitt. 
W.  W.  followed  carpentering  and  cabinet  mak- 
ing for  about  nine  years,  then  engaged  in  his 
present  business,  which  he  has  been  conducting 
seven  years,  and  in  that  time  has  built  up  quite 
ap  extensive  trade.  He  was  married  in  1877,  to 
Miss  Angeline  McLain,  of  this  township;  they 
have  had  one  child;  Clifford  Monroe. 

DeWITT  SOLOMON,  Crawford  township;  pro- 
prietor of  hotel,  Chili ;  born  in  Adams  township, 
August  23, 1829;  son  of  Vincent  DeWitt  and  Ele- 
nor  (Cordray)  DeWitt,  both  of  whom  were  na- 
tives of  Maryland.  Mr.  DeWitt  left  home  in  1853 
and  followed  farming  until  1870,  when  he  went 
into  the  dry  goods  business  at  Chili,  married 
Miss  Nancy  Fisher  October  13,  1853.  Her  par- 
ents, Absolem  Fisher  and  Harriet  (Johnson) 
Fisher  were  both  native  born.  Their  family  con- 
sists of  four  children;  Lenox,  Phebe,  John,  Alice 
and  Frank. 

DICKEY  WILLIAM,  Keene  township,  farmer ; 
born  July  28, 1857,  in  Mill  Creek  township ;  son 
of  Hiram  and  Jane  (Ling)  Dickey,  and  grand- 
son of  John  Dickey.  At  the  age  of  twenty  Mr. 
Dickey  left  home  and  traveled  through  Iowa, 
Illinois  aaid  Indiana;  then  came  home,  but  soon 
returned  to  Indiana,  where  he  was  married  July, 
1, 1877,  to  Jennie  J.  Belser,  born  June  23, 1860, 
in  Decatur  county,  Indiana,  daughter  of  Augus- 
tus and  Catharine  (Hazelrigg)  Belser,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Godfrey  and  Abbie  (Dupee)  Belser. 
Her  grandmother,  Abbie,  was  a  native  of  Boston, 
of  French  descent.  Her  maternal  grandparents 
were  Charles  and  Caroline  (McCoy)  Hazelrigg. 
Karl  F.,  born  December  17, 1879,  was  their  only 
child. 

DICKEY  JOHN,  Jackson  township;  born  in 
Franklin  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1810;  son  of 
William  and  Elizabeth  Dickey ;  settled  in  this 
county  in  1839;  married  in  1845,  to  Miss  Jane 
Thompson,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  Thomp- 
son. Mr.  Dickey  is  the  father  of  five  children, 
two  of  whom  are  dead,  and  two  are  married. 
The  names  of  those  living  are  as  follows :  Wil- 
liam J.,  A.  AV.,  J.  F.    Postoffice,  Tyrone. 

DICKEY  WILLIAM,  deceased,  Bedford  town- 


ship; born  in  1771,  in  county  Tyrone,  Ireland;, 
came  to  this  country  in  1785,  and  was  married  to- 
Miss  Elizabeth  Graham,  who  was  born  in  1781,. 
and  died  in  1832,  in  Steubenville,  Ohio.  Mr. 
Dickey  came  to  this  county  in  1840,  and  died  in 
1848.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven  children^ 
only  three  of  whom  are  living ;  one  in  Cincin- 
nati, one  the  wife  of  Park  Wheeler,  of  this  coun- 
ty, and  Fanny,  who  lives  on  the  old  homestead. 

DICKERSON  WILLIAM,  Bedford  township; 
farmer  and  blacksmith ;  postoffice,  Tunnel  Hill;- 
born  in  1827,  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania ;, 
came  to  this  county  in  1847  with  his  father,  who 
was  born  in  1788,  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  was  married  in  1811  to  Ehzabeth  Do- 
ney,  of  the  same  county,  who  was  born  in  1795. 
He  died  in  1874.  She  died  in  1870.  They  were- 
the  parents  of  ten  children ;  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  eighth.  He  was  married  in 
1850  to  Miss  M.  J.  Eaton,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1832  in  this  county.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  twelve  children,  all  living. 

DICKERSON  JAMES  F.,  Bedford  township; 
farmer ;  postoffice,  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1829,  in 
Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  this 
county  in  1847  with  his  fatlier,  who  was  born  in 
1788  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
married  in  1811  to  Elizabeth  Doney,  of  the  ^ame 
county,  who  was  born  in  1795.  He  died  in  1874^ 
and  she  died  in  1870.  They  were  the  parents  of 
ten  children ;  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the- 
youngest.  He  was  married  in  1856  to  Miss  Mar- 
gie Fisher,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1839, 
in  Harrison  county,  Ohio.  They  are  the  parents- 
of  one  child,  Ida  M. 

DICKERSON  JOSHUA,  Bedford  toiynship; 
farmer  ;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1845,  in 
this  county.  His  father  was  born  in  1798,  in 
in  Harrison  conunty,  Ohio,  and  was  married  in 
1820,  to  Miss  Nancy  Glasner,  of  the  same  county, 
who  was  born  in  1796.  They  came  to  tlris  county,, 
in  1820,  and  he  died  in  1879.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  nine  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
being  the  seventh  child. 

DICKERSON  JOHN,  farmer;  Washington 
township ;  postoflfloe,  Wakatomaka ;  born  in  1822, 
in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania;  came  to  this 
county  in  1831,  with  his  father,  who  was  born  in 
1783,  in  FaJ'ettte  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  was 
married  in  1811,  to  Miss  Jane  Morrison,  of  the 
same  county,  who  was  born  in  1792.  He  died  in 
1857,  she  died'  in  1878.  They  were  the  parents 
of  eight  children.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  be- 
ing the  seventh.  He  was  married  in  1844,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Crumley,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
in  1828,  in  Harrison  county.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  eleven  children,  viz ;  Susan  J.,  Mary  0.,. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


669 


William,  Melissa;  Telma,  deceased;  Sarah  E., 
^Florida;  John  E.,  Evaline,  an  infant,  deceased 
and  Minerva. 

DICKERSON  LEVI,  farmer;  Washington 
township;  Wakatomaka,  born  in  1832,  in  this 
county.  His  father  was  born  in  1788,  in  Fayette 
■county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  married  in  1811, 
to  Miss  Jane  Morrison,  of  the  same  county,  who 
was  born  in  1792.  He  died  in  1857,  she  died  in 
1878.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  youngest. 
He  was  married  in  1854,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Middle- 
ton,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1884,  in 
Pennsylvania.  They  are  the  parents  of  eleven 
•children,  viz :  Morrison,  Mary  E.,  Hartley,  Emma 
J.,  Harriet  S.,  John  C,  Charles  H.,  Carrie  B.,  Efiie 
J.,  Armor  and  Daniel. 

DICKERSON  JOSEPH,  farmer;  Washington 
township ;  postofiice.  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1820, 
in  Harrison  county.  He  came  to  this  county  in 
1834,  with  his  grandfather,  Levi  Dickerson,  his 
father  having  died  in  1821,  in  Harrison  county. 
Joseph  was  married  in  1841,  to  Miss  Mary  Jones, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  ir^  1821,  in  Harrison 
county.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
viz:  Elizabeth,  deceased;  Susan,  Lavina;  Sarah 
J.,  deceased ;  Martha,  Aaron  W.,  Mary  A.,  Emma  0. 

DICKERSON  LEVI,  farmer;  Washington 
■township:  postoffice,  Wakatomaka;  born  in  1827, 
in  this  county.  His  father  was  born  in  1798,  in 
Pennsylvania.  He  settled  in  Harrison  county, 
and  was  married  there  to  Miss  Nancy  Glasmir, 
■of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1796,  in  Penn- 
.-sylvania.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1825. 
He  died  in  1879.  They  were  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the 
fourth.  He  was  married  in  1850  to  Miss  Amy 
Howell,  of  Tuscarawas  county,  who  was  born  in 
1825,  in  Belmont  county.  They  are  the  parents 
•of  seven  children,  viz :  Joshua,  Isabelle,  Benja- 
min, David,  Nancy,  Amy  and  James. 

DIEFENBACH  A.  A.,  Crawford  township ;  boot 
And  shoe  manufacturer ;  postoffice.  New  Bedford, 
'Ohio;  was  born  December  10, 1865,  in  Tuscarawas 
•county ;  son  of  Adam  and  Louise  (Greeannabold). 
He  remained  with  his  parents  on  the  farm  until 
eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  his  trade 
and,  in  1874,  established  business  in  New  Bedford 
with  Simon  P.  Sprenke,  and  continued  the  part- 
nership until  October  1,  1879,  when  Mr.  Diefen- 
"bach  became  sole  proprietor.  He  is  doing  a 
first-class  business  for  a  country  town.  He  and 
two  other  good  workmen  being  constantly  em- 
ployed. 

DINGLEDINE  SEBASTIAN,  Adams  town- 
ship; saddler;  postoffice,  Bakersville;  born  in 
Hesse  Darmstadt,  Germany,  March  18,  18^2 ;  son 
•of  B6lthazer  and  Amca  C.  JDingledine,  and  grand- 


son of  John  Dingledine.  He  left  his  native 
country  for  America  in  1830,  landing  in  Balti- 
more after  a  voyage  of  sixty-four  days,  then  came 
to  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  about  four 
years,  and  from  there  came  to  Tuscarawas 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  resided  about  thirty- 
seven  years,  being  the  second  postmaster  of 
that  village.  He  then  moved  to  Illinois,  and 
after  remaining  there  about  three  years,  he  again 
.moved  to  Ohio,  and  settled  in  Bakersville,  where 
he  has  resided  since,  engaged  at  his  trade,  doing 
a  fair  business.  He  is  at  present  serving  his 
fourth  term  as  justice  of  the  peace  of  Adams 
township.  He  learned  his  trade  with  Sampson 
Shalter,  of  Canal  Dover,  in  1838.  Mr.  Dingledine 
was  married  May  7,  1846,  to  Miss  Julia  A.  Gard, 
daughter  of  John  and  Susannah  C.  (Oswalt)  Gard. 
She  died  in  November,  1867,  from  injuries 
received  by  being  thrown  from  a  buggy.  By 
this  marriage  he  became  the  father  of  one  child, 
James,  born  July  5,  1860.  He  was  married  Sep- 
tember 16,  1868,  to  Miss  Delila  Carnahan,  daugh- 
ter of  D.j,vid  and  Eliza  T.  (McCune)  Carnahan, 
and  granddaughter  of  James  and  Margaret  Car- 
nahan, and  James  and  Margaret  McCune.  She 
was  born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania, 
December  15,  1837.  They  have  three  children, 
viz  :  Agnes  C,  born  September  12, 1869;  Charles 
M.,  born  May  25,  1871 ;  Howard  S.,  born  Decem- 
ber 2.  1877. 

DILLON  ISRAEL,  Coshocton;  clerk*  of  the 
courts  of  common  pleas ;  born  June  17, 1819,  in 
Perry  township  and  spent  his  entire  life  on  the 
farm  until  elected  to  the  above  office  in  1875  and 
re-elected  in  1878,  his  entire  tenure  of  olfice  be- 
ing six  years.  Mr  Dillon  was  elected  a  justice  of 
the  peace  in  1853,  and  served  three  consecutive  , 
terms,  and  after  an  interval  of  two  years  again 
served  three  consecutive  terms,  making  in  all 
eighteen  years  of  service  as  justice  of  the  peace. 
Esquire  Dillon  has  taken  an  active  part  in  educa- 
tional matters,  having  served  for  a  number  of 
years!  on  the  board  of  education  of  the  county. 
Mr.  Dillon  was  married  October  18, 1840,  to  Misa 
Elizabeth  Jane  Pitch,  daughter  of  Wilham  and 
Mary  Fitch,  of  Perry  township.  This  union  has 
been  blessed  with  twelve  children,  two  deceased, 
viz :  Rebecca  Jane  and  William  Melville,  and  ten 
living,  viz :  Amos,  Mary  Catharine,  Eliza,  Leora, 
Deborah  Anne,  Josiah,  Samuel,  Israel  Buchanan, 
Elizabeth,  Emma  and  Sarah  Frances.  Mrs.  Dillon, 
consort  of  Esquire  Dillin,  died  in  March,  1870, 
and  is  buried  at  New  Guilford,  Perry  township. 
Mr.  Dillon's  second  marriage  was  to  Mrs.  Isabelle 
Batrett,  of  Mohawk  village,  September  24,  1874. 
The  result  of  this  marriage  was  one  child,  a 
daughter,  Ida  Belle.  The  grandfather  of  Esquire 
Dillon  was  a  native  of  Ireland  but  came  to  Amer- 
ica and  served  in  the  revolutionary  war  for  the 
independance  of  the  United  States. 


670 


HISTORY  or  OOSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


DILLON  AMOS,  Perry  township;  postoflfice, 
New  Guilford ;  born  in  this  county,  in  1841 ;  son 
of  Israel  and  Elizabeth  (Fitch)  Dillon,  grandson 
of  William  and  Deborah  M.  (Meredith)  Dillon, 
also  of  William  and  Mary  Meredith.  Mr.  Dillon's 
great-grandfather  was  a  revolutionary  soldier. 
Mr.  Dillon,  in  1865,  married  Susannah  Casteel, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Susannah  (Bottomfield) 
Casteel.  They  have  eight  children,  viz:  Sarah 
E.,  Israel  T.,  William  J.,  Howard  T.,  Ettie  J., 
Eachael  A.,  Bertha  L.  ajid  John  C.  Mr.  Dillon 
was  engaged  in  the  merchandise  business  some 
three  years;  followed  farming  since. 

DILLON  P.  J.,  Tuscarawas  township ;  Coshoc- 
ton postoffice ;  farmer ;  born  February  10,  1845, 
in  Knox  county ;  son  of  Thomas  and  Eliza  Jane 
(Buxton)  Dillon.  His  maternal  grandfather  was 
Francis  Buxton.  Young  Dillon  was  brought  up 
on  the  farm.  When  about  twelve  years  of  age 
he  located  in  New  Castle  township.  May  2, 1864, 
he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and 
forty-second  O.  V.  I.  (100-days  men);  re-enlisted 
in  Company  I,  O.  V.  I.  for  one  year.^  At  the 
close  of  the  war  he  visited  Missouri  and  soon 
returned;  then  went  to  Illinois  and  taught  one 
term  of  school,  and  again  visited  Missouri ;  then 
home  again,  and  back  to  Illinois,  where  he 
taught  school.  He  again  visited  Missouri  and 
returned  home,  and  for  the  third  time  went  to 
Illinois  and  taught  school,  and  from  there  he 
went  tjklowa  and  taught  school;  then  the  fourth 
time  visited  Missouri,  and  returned  to  Iowa; 
tlien  went  to  Minnesota  and  remained  during 
the  cold  winter,  and  in  the  spring  returned  to 
Iowa,  and  from  there  went  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
visiting  California  and  Oregon,  remaining  one 
year ;  then  returned,  in  1876,  to  Ohio,  where  he 
has  remained  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Dillon 
was  married  first  August  18,  1868,  to  Miss  Susan 
Clark,  daughter  of  John'  Clark.  They  had  four 
children,  three  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  Willis 
elide  is  their  only  living  child.  His  second  mar- 
riage was  on  October  22,  1879,  to  Miss  Carrie  E. 
Wood,  daughter  of  Andrew  Wood,  deceased,  for- 
merly of  Tuscarawas  township. 

DIVAN  T.  E,  Perry  township;  farmer;  post- 
office,  West  Carhsle;  horn  in  this  county  in  1850; 
son  of  Adolphus  and  Mary  (Hardenbrook)  Divan, 
and  grandson  of  Henry  and  Mary  Divan ;  married 
in  1869,  to  Miss  Harriet  Cochran,  who  died  in 
1872.  He  married,  in  the  same  year,  Anna  A. 
Board,  daughter  of  Thomas  H.  and  Elizabeth  A. 
Board.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children, 
viz :  Ola  M.,  Walter  M.,  Floyd  and  Arazota. 

DOAK  POBERT,  Crawford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  'hili,  Ohio;  born  March  9,  1826,  in 
Amwell  township,  Washington  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania; son  of  Williapi  Doak,  of  Crawford  town- 
ship.   In  1882  he  located  \yith  his  father  about 


two  miles  east  of  Chili.  He  was  married  May  20, 
1847,  to  Miss  Mary  Anne,  daughter  of  Thomas 
M.  and  Sarah  (Hughes)  McCollum.  She  was  born 
August  17,  1826,  in  Amity,  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania.  This  union  was  blessed  with  four 
children,  viz:  William  R.,  Thomas  M.,  deceased; 
Adam  J.  and  Sarah  E.  Mr.  Doak  has  slicceeded 
well,  being  blessed  with  a  good  family  and  ai 
comfortable  home. 

DOAK  WILLIAM,  Crawford  township ;  retired 
farmer;  postoffice.  Chili,  Ohio;  born  December 
5,  1804,  in  South  Strabane  township,  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania.  His  father  and  he  were 
both  born  on  the  farm,  patented  to  William's- 
father.  William  is  son  of  William  and  Nancy 
(Dill)  Doak,  of  Irish  ancestry.  Mr.  Doak  cam& 
to  his  present  residence  in  1882.  The  entire 
country  was  new  then,  his  farm  being  nearly  all 
timbered  land,  but  has  lived  to  enjoy  the  fruits 
of  his  toil.  The  cabin  has  changed'  to  a  com- 
fortable frame,  and  the  forest  to  fields  of  pasturey 
grain  and  orchards.  Mr.  Doak  was  married 
about  the  year  1824,  to  Miss  Evaline,  daughter  of 
Adam  and  Elizabeth  (Mason)  Gardner  They 
are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  Robert, 
Adam,  deceased,  Mary  Anne,  deceased,  Nancy 
Jane,  married  to  David  Ewing ;  Elizabeth,  mar- 
ried to  Thomas  Wilson;  And-rew,  married  to 
Louisa  Pocock ;  and  William,  married  to  Sallie 
E.  McNary.  Mr.  Doak  started  to  provide  for  him- 
self, without  wealth,  but  has  now  a  competency 
for  himself  and  wife,  who  still  lives  to  share  the 
comforts  of  their  united  toil  in  early  life. 

DOAK  A.  J.,  Clark  township;  dry  goods  mer- 
chant; postoffice,  Clark's;  born  in  Crawford 
township,  Coshocton  county,  December  1, 1887; 
son  of  William  and  Evaline  (Gardener)  Doak. 
He  attended  school,  and  taught  until  twenty-five' 
years  of  age,  when  he  began  the  merchantile  busi- 
ness in  New  Bedford,  in  the  spring  of  1862, 
where  he  remained  until  the  fall  of  1864,  when 
he  came  to  Bloomfield  and  engaged  in  the  same- 
business,  and  has  continued  here  ever  since.  He 
has  a  flourishing  trade,  and  carries  a  fine  assort- 
ment of  dry  goods,  groceries  and  ready  made 
clothing,  hats,  caps,  boots  and  shoes,  and  every- 
thing usually  found  in  a  general  merchandising 
establishment.  He  was  married  February  29,. 
1860,  to  Miss  Louisa  M.  Pocock,  sister  of  Colonel 
Pocock,  of  Coshocton,  and  daughter  of  Joshua, 
and  Catharine  (Wilson  Pocock).  She  was  born  in 
Keene  township  May  19, 1835.  They  are  blessed 
with  three  children — Edgar  A.,  born  April  28, 
1862;  William  C,  born  August  13, 1868;  Ella  C.,. 
born  December  23, 1870. 

DONAGHY  CHARLES  B.,  Coshocton;  rail- 
road contractor  and  plasterer ;  born  January  8, 
1849,  in  Wellsville,  Columbiana  county;  son  of 
William    Donaghy,  born  in  Lancaster  county, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


671 


Pennsylvania,  of  Irish  ancestors.  Young  Dona- 
ghy  was  raised  in  Steubenville,  Ohio,  attending 
public  school  until  seventeen,  when  he  entered 
Fairfield  academy,  and  remained  two  and  a  half 
years,  then  attended  Reynoldsville  academy, 
under  instruction  of  D.  J.  Snyder,  two  years. 
Messrs,  Donaghy,  Sr.  and  Jr.,  have  been  remark- 
able railroad  builders,  having  completed  large 
contracts  on  the  Pan  Handle,  New  Salem,  Cin- 
cinnati and  Louisville  Short  Line,  Chesapeak  and 
Ohio,  Atlantic  and  Lake  Erie ;  Springfield,  Day 
ton  and  Cincinnati  Short  Line;  Cleveland,  Mt. 
Vernon  and  Columbus ;  Pittsburgh,  Merietta 
and  Cleveland,  and  Soiota  railroads ;  also  built 
eight  miles  of  Lancaster  and  New  Salem  turn- 
pike. Charles  B.  first  came  to  this  city  in  Novem- 
ber, 1873,  and  remained  two  years,  and  after  an 
absence  of  a  few  years,  building  railroads,  re- 
turned, and  is  now  a  contractor  for  plastering, 
doing  a  first-class  business. 

DORSEY  CLEMENT,  Coshocton;  proprietor 
barber  shop,  corner  Main  and  Fourth  streets; 
born  December  25,  1839,  in  Washington  county, 
Maryland;  worked  on  a  farm  and  canal  boating 
until  24  years  of  age,  when  he  came  to  Parkers- 
burg,  West  Virginia,  with  I.  Cuthberson,  a  gov- 
ernment agent.  In  June,  1867,  he  went  to  Stuben- 
ville,  Ohio,  and  followed  steamboating;  was  on 
the  C.  E.  Hillman  when  she  collided  with  the 
Nannie  Byers,  which  sunk  at  Madison,  Indiana, 
and  forty-five  lives  lost. '  In  September,  1867,  he 
went  to  Newark  and  worked  in  a  barber  shop 
and  attended  school  until  December  1, 1868,  when 
he  came  to  this  city  and  established  a  shop,  and 
continued  his  business  to  the  present.  Mr.  Dorsey 
was  the  first  colored  juror  of  this  county,  also  the 
first  colored  citizen  to  be  nominated  for  a  county 
office.,  Mr.  Dorsey  was  married,  October  14, 1869, 
■to  Mrs.  Martha  Lucas,  of  Janesville,  Wisconsin. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  five  children,  viz: 
Mildred  Effie,  Isham  C,  Jesse  C,  Gertrude  Hays 
and  Clement  G.  Mr.  Dorsey  came  to  this  city 
with  but  $48,  but  now  owns  real  estate  and  a  good 
home. 

DORSEY  ELMOS,  Pike  township;  postofiice. 
West  Carhsle;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
Muskingum  county,  in  1842;  settled  in  this  coun- 
ty in  1880;  son  of  John  and  Prudence  Dorsey. 
His  father  settled  in  Muskingum  county  in  1812, 
and  died  in  1877.  His  mother  died  in  1878.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  youngest  of  a  family 
of  three  children,  one  living  in  Missouri  and  one 
in  Licking  county,  Ohio.  He  wa.s  married  in 
November,  1870,  to  Miss  Lizzie  Magruder,  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Maijgera  Magruder. 

DRAPER  SAMUEL  H.,  Tiverton  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Yankee  Ridge,  Ohio;  born 
September  8, 1808,  in  Knox  county.  He  came  to 
this  county  in  1830,  and  was  married  in  1837,  to 


Miss  Elizabeth  Smith,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  November,  1818,  in  Pennsylvania.  She 
died  in  1844.  They  were  the  parents  of  three 
children.  He  was  married  in  1845,  to  Miss  Cath- 
arine Horton,  of  this  county,  who  wa.s  born"  in 
1823  and  died  in  1852.  They  were  the  parents  of 
three  children.  He  was  married  in  1852,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Huey,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1828  and  died  in  1871.  He  married,  in  1871,  Miss 
Isabella  Lockard,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
in  1825. 


DRESr^R  JACOB,  Crawford  township;  post- 
offie.  New  Bedford;  blacksmith;  born  May  24, 
1842,  in  Hesse-Hombufg,  Germany;  son  of  Fred- 
erick and  Margaret  (Kline)  Dresher;  came  to 
America  in  1855  and  first  located  in  Adarns 
county,  next  in  Crawford  township,  went  to  his 
trade  in  1858,  and  has  followed  it  to  the  present 
time.  He  came  to  his  present  residence  in  1876. 
Was  married  June  22,  1866,  to  Miss  Louisa, 
daughter  of  John  and  Catharine  (Lyman)  Kesler. 
They  have  five  children:  John  Frederick,  de- 
ceased, Emily  M.,  Caroline  R.,  Karl  H.  and  Au- 
gustus Jacob. 

DUGAN  WILLIAM,  Linton  township;  far- 
mer: born  in  January,  1833,  in  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania ;  son  of  Francis  and  Ann  (Smith) 
Dugan,  who  emigrated  from  county  Down,  Ire- 
land, in  1833,  remained  in  Philadelphia  a  few 
years,  then  came  out  to  Harrison  county,  lived 
there  about  ten  years,  and  moved  to  Guernsey 
county.  There  Mr  Dugan  remained  till  he  came 
to  Linton  township,  in  1875.  He  enlisted  in  Jan- 
uary, 1862,  in  Company  I,  Eightieth  O.  V.  I.,  and 
served  three  years  in  the  army.  He  was  under 
fire  at  the  siege  of  Corinth,  battle  of  Corinth,  luka, 
siege  of  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Champion  Hill,  etc. 
He  was  married  in  1855,  to  Hannah  Walgamot, 
daughter  of  David  and  Sophia  Walgamot,  of 
Guernsey  county.  Their  children  are  Jemima 
Ellen,  Jane,  Mary,  Lincoln,  William,  David,  So- 
phia, Alva  and  Samuel. 

DULING  DAVID,  Linton  township ;  saddler ; 
postofiice,  Plainfield;  born  October  18,  1845,  in 
Lafayette  township ;  son  of  William  and  Rebecca 
P.  Duling.  His  grandfather,  Edmund  D^hng, 
came  to  this  county  in  1815.  His  maternal 
grandparents,  David  and  Lucy  Richardson  were 
early  settlers  in  the  county,  coming  from  Ver- 
mont. His  father,  a  Protestant  Methodist  minis- 
ter, died  at  Steubenville,  in  1854.  He  lived  iA 
Linton  township  from  that  time  until  October, 
1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company  F,  Fifty-first 
0.  V.  I.,  and  remained  in  the  army  four  years,  see- 
ing active  service  at  Stone  river,  Chickamauga,  the 
numerous  battles  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  Frank- 
lin, Nashville,  etc.  After  his  return  he  kept  a 
grocery  in  Plainfield  one  year,  then,  in  1867,  en- 
listed in  the  regular  army  for  three  years,  and 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


was  stationed  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  Huntsville, 
Alabama,  Jacksonville,  Alabama,  Columbia,  South 
Carolina,  Ealeigh,  North  Carolina,  and  Wilming- 
ton, North  Carolina.  After  his  discharge  he 
owned  a  saddler  shop  in  Coshocton  till  1875,  then 
moved  to  Plainfield,  and  has  been  running  a 
shop  here  since.  He  was  married  in  1872,  to 
Christina  Weisser,  daughter  of  Jacob  Weisser, 
of  Coshocton.  His  children  are  Lizzie,  deceased, 
and  Maud. 

DULIXG  HIRAM  W.,  Linton  township;  far- 
mer ;  born  April  4,  1829,  at  his  present  home  in 
■Linton  .township;  son  of  Edmund  and  Mary 
(Dean)  Duling,  and  grandson  of  William  Duling 
and  of  Thomas  and  Jane  (Gilmore)  Dean.  His 
father  emigrated  from  Hampshire  county,  Vir- 
ginia, to  Linton  township,  in  1815.  Mr.  Duling 
has  always  lived  in  this  township.  He  was  mar- 
ried February  18,  1S69,  to  Sarah  Catharine  Law- 
rey,  daughter  of  Joseph  and  Jane  (Piatt)  Lowrey. 
Their  children  are,  Uriella,  Joseph  L.,  James  Ed- 
mund, and  Lowel  Mason.  He  was  a  member  of 
Company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second 
0.  N.  G.,  and  was  in  service  about  four  months 
in  Virginia 

DUNCAN  JONAS,  Keene  township;  favmer; 
born  June  27,  1843,  in  Mill  Creek  township;  son 
of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Long)  Duncan.  He  was 
married  April  30,  1868,  to  Amanda  Shannon, 
whose  ancestry  is  as  follows :  Parents,  Nathan 
and  Mary  (Endsley)  Shannon;  grandparents, 
Isaac  and  Jane  (Porter)  Shannon,  and  John  and 
Jane  (Plane)  Endsley;  great-grandfathers,  Robert 
Shannon,  born  in  Ireland,  Thomas  Porter  and 
Thomas  Plane.  Mr.  Duncan's  family  consists 
of  five  children:  Mary  E.,  born  August  4,  1869; 
Joseph  A.,  January  9,  1871;  Sophia  L  ,  (jctober 
18,  1872;  Cynthia  Grace,  September,  1874,  and 
Martha,  January  11, 1878. 

DUNCAN  T.  D.,  ICeene  township;  born  July 
9,  1846,  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania;  son  of  Rob- 
ert C.  and  Nancy  (Patterson)  Duncan,  of  Scotch 
and  English  descent.  His  childhood  and  early 
youth  was  spent  on  a  farm  in  Reaver  county, 
Pennsylvania;  from  seventeen  to  nineteen  he  at- 
tended the  academy  at  Heaver,  then  took  a  course 
at  W"ashington  and  Jefferson  college,  AVashing- 
ton,  Pennsylvania,  graduating  in  1869.  The  fol- 
lowing two  years  he  spent  at  the  Western  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  Allegheny  City,  and  after  a 
year  spent  as  principal  of  Callensburg  academy. 
Clarion  county,  Pennsylvania,  he  returned  and 
completed  his  theological  studies,  graduating  in 
the  spring  of  1874.  The  next  year  he  was  en- 
gaged as  principal  of  the  Verona  academy,  Alle- 
gheny county,  Pennsylvania,  then  in  the  spring 
of  1875,  he  received  a  call  from  Clark  Presbyterian 
church,  Bloomfield,  which  he. accepted  and  was 
ordained  in  May.     He  remained  there  as  pastor 


until  April,  1879.  After  traveling  for  some  time 
he  accepted  a  position  in  August,  1880,  as  prin- 
cipal of  the  public  schools  and  lacademy  at  Keene. 
He  was  married  in  June,  1876,  to  Miss  Ella, 
daughter  of  George  and  Jane  (Douglas)  Craig. 
They  have  one  child — Robert  C.,  born  Julv  5, 
1877. 

DUNL AP  JOHN,  Bedford  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in  1839  in  this 
county.  His  father,  James  Dunlap,  was  born  in 
1796,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  this  county 
while  yet  unmarried,  and  was  married  to  Miss 
Hannah  Baker,  of  this  county.  He  died  in  1879. 
She  died  in  1839.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight 
children ;  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the 
youngest.  He  was  married  in  1861  to  Miss 
Rachel  H.  Philips,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
in  1844.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children, 
viz :  Samuel  L.,  deceased,  Charlie,  Sarah  E.,  and 
John. 

DUSENBERRY  JOHN,  Bedford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in  1850  in 
this  county.  His  father  was  born  in  1799  in 
eastern  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  this  county  in 
1832.  He  was  married  in  1835  to  Miss  Rebecca 
Stevens,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1810. 
He  died  in  1879,  and  she  died  in  1880.  They 
were  the  parents  of  seven  children,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  being  the  youngest.  He  is  un- 
married, and  lives  on  the  old  farm. 

DWYER  JOSEPH  W.,  Tuscarawas  township; 
was  born  in  Coshocton,  Ohio,  October  6,  1832; 
married  Emma  A.,  daughter  of  John  G.  and 
Emma  (Denman)  Titus,  October  21, 1858.  Has  one 
child  living,  named  David  G.  Commenced  life  as  a 
merchant.  Owned  and  published  the  Coshocton 
Age  from  1856  to  1866.  Appointed  postmaster  of 
Coshocton,  Ohio,  by  President  Lincoln  in  March  • 
1861,  declined,  and  was  appointed  clerk  in  treasury 
department  at  Washington  City  in  same  month, 
and  for  a  while  was  assistant  private  secretary  to 
Secretary  Chase,  subsequently,  being  promoted 
through  the  various  grades  to  be  chief  in  charge 
of  commissary  accounts  in  the  treasury  depart- 
ment. Resigned  this  office  to  accept  the  office  of 
pension  agent  for  the  Columbus,  Ohio,  pension 
district.  It  being  a  new  district,  he  etitered 
upon  the  new  duties  and  organized  tjie  office  in 
September,  1864,  which  office  he  continued  to 
hold  until  June,  1869,  with  the  exception  of  an 
interim  of  six  months,  during  President  Johnson's 
swing  around  the  circle.  '  His  successor  failing 
of  confirmation  by  the  Senate,  Dwyer  was  reap- 
pointed by  President  Johnson. 

At  the  close  of  his  second  and  last  term  as 
pension  agent  at  Columbus,  he  received  notice 
from  the  chief  accounting  officer  of  the  treasury 
department  at  Washington,  that  his  accounts  were 
closed  on  the  books  of  the  department,  and  that 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


673 


"during  his  last  term  of  office,  he  disbursed 
nearly  two  millioiis  of  dollars  to  pensioners,  with 
promptness  and  efficiency  that  meets  the  entire 
approbation  of  this  department." 

Allen  Rutherford,  third  auditory  of  treasury 
department,  on  closing  up  his  accounts  and  turn- 
ing over  the  office  to  his  successor,  was  appointed; 
by  President  Grant,  chief  of  supervisors  and  de- 
tectives in  the  internal  revenue  service,  head- 
quarters at  Washington.  Holding  this  office 
until  December,  1869,  when  a  vacancy  occurred 
by  the  death  of  Charles  Hedges,  of  Mansfield, 
Dwyer  was  appointed  supervisor  of  internal  reve- 
nue for  Ohio  and  Indiana,  with  headquarters  at 
Coshocton,  Ohio,  holding  this  office  until  July  1, 
1872,  when  his  resignation  was  accepted  by  Hon. 
John  W.  Douglass,  commissioner  __of  internal 
revenue,  in  the  following  words :  "  I  regret  tha;t 
you  feel  compelled  to  take  this  step,  not  only  on 
account  of  the  pleasant  personal  relations  which 
do  now  and  ever  have  existed  between  us,  but 
chiefly  because  the  Government  is  about  to  lose 
the  services  of  an  intelligent,  courageous  and  in- 
corruptible officer." 

On  retiring  from  the  foregoing  office  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  three  United  States  com- 
missioners to  visit,  inspect  and  accept,  if  com- 
pleted in  accordance  with  the  law,  the  Central 
Pacific  railroad.  He  met  Messrs.  Sullivan  and 
Brown,  his  fellow  commissioners,  at  San  Fran- 
cisco, California,  fr6m  whence  they  made  a  minute 
inspection  of  the  whole  road  and  all  its  branches, 
culverts,  bridges,  gry,des,  etc.,  and  upon  their  re- 
port the  government  accepted  the  road  as  fin- 
ished, and  gave  to  its  company  the  subsidy  of 
bonds  and  lands  voted  by  congress. 

This  ended'his  services  in  official  position.  He 
accepted  employment  with  the  Atlantic  and  Pa- 
cific railroad  company  and  was  their  agent  at 
Washington,  and  among  other  duties,  endeavored 
to  induce  congress  to  organize  the  Territory  of 
Oklahoma  out  of  the  present  Indian  Territory 
and  open  it  up  to  white  settlement,  and  to  this 
end  invited  both  houses  of  congress  to  visit  the 
Territory.  Over  two  hundred  members  accepted 
the  invitation  and  made  a  trip  to  that  country, 
extending  their  visit  to  Galveston,  Texas  and  to 
New  Orleans.  Nothing  came  of  the  organization 
of  the  Territory,  but  the  building  of  the  Eads'- 
jetties  below  New  Orleans  at  the  mouth  of  the 
gulf  was  the  outcome  and  result  of  this  excursion. 

During  his  official  career  he  found  time  to  de- 
vote to  farming  and  stock  raising,  and  for  a  time, 
when  pension  agent  at  Columbus,  jjublished  the 
Farmer's  Chroniele.  He  engaged  actively  in  what- 
ever would  improve  and  interest  the  farming 
community,  and  to  this  end  was  one  of  the  pro- 
moters of  the  ".Patrons  of  Husbandry  "  in  its  in- 
fancy, and  has  now  in  his  possession  the  third 
charter,  issued  by  the  originators  of  the  institu- 


tion, authorizing  the  late  secretary  Klippart,  of 
the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  Dugan  and  others, 
to  organize  a  grange  at  Coshocton.  He  is  now 
a  farmer  and  stock  raiser  near  Coshocton  and  a 
ranchman  in  New  Mexico.  He,  with  his  partner, 
Mr.  John  S.  Delano,  of  Denver,  have  upon  their 
New  Mexico  ranch  over  1,400  cattle,  6,000  sheep, 
and  200  horses. 

EARLEY  WILLIAM  M.,  Oxford  township  ; 
farmer  ;  Evansburgh ;  was  born  in  this  township 
in  1854,  and  was  married  September  21,  1873,  to 
Miss  Emma  Mclntire,  in  Pennsylvania.  Their 
children  are,  Rebecca  Jane,  deceased,  Desmond, 
deceased,  and  Seburtis  Mack.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  M.  E  Church  in  West  Lafayette. 

EASTER  DAVID,  Bedford  township ;  farmer  ; 
postofflce,  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1820  in  Payette 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  this  county 
in  1830.  His  father  was  born  in  1783  in  Bedford 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  died  in  1839,  his  wife 
in  1871.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  children ; 
David  being  the  eighth  child. 

ECKELS  RICHARD,  Jackson  township;  post- 
office,  Roscoe ;  born  in  IBelmont  county,  Ohio,  in 
1816,  settled  in  this  county,  in  1822;  son  of 
Thomas  and  Margaret  (Porterfield)  Eckels,  and 
grandson  of  Richard  and  Elizabeth  Eckels,  and 
of  Gabriel  and  Jane  Porterfield  j  married  in  1842 
to  Martha  Porterfield  (first  wife),  and  in  1849,  to 
Mary  E.  Nichols,  daughter  of  John  and  Rachel 
Nichols.  Mr.  Eckels  is  the  father  of  ten  children, 
seven  living  and  three  dead.  Three  are  married, 
two  living  in  this  county,  one  in  Columbus,  Ohio. 

ECKERT  C.  C,  Coshocton;  proprietor  of  C.  0. 
D.  store,  grocer,  baker  and  dealer  in  produce, 
No.  430  Main  street,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  Mr.  Eck- 
ert  was  born  in  Ragersville,  Tuscarawas  county, 
August  22, 1850.  His  first  business  engagement 
was  with  his  father  under  the  firm  name  of  C.  A. 
Eckert  &  Son,  in  general  merchandising,  in  which 
he  continued  about  six  years.  He  then  went  west 
and  engaged  in  dealing  in  groceries  and  -miner's 
supplies  at  Central  City,  Dakota,  where  he  re- 
mained one  year,  after  which  he  returned  to 
Coshocton  in  1877,  and  established  his  present 
business.  He  occupies  pleasant  and  commodious 
rooms  in  the  Eckert  block,  where  he  carries  a 
large,  first-class  stock  of  staple  and  fancy  grocer- 
ies and  cotifectioneries.  He  also  deals  in  all  kinds 
of  country  produce,  and  has  a  large  bakery  at- 
tached, where  he  does  an  extensive  business  in 
baking  bread,  plain  and  fancy  cakes  and  pies  of 
all  kinds.  He  also  roasts  all  grades  of  coffees, 
which  are  of  a  very  superior  quality. 

EDWARDS  J.  T.,  M.  D.,  Pike  township ;  born 
in  1830,  in  this  county.     His  father  was  born  in 


674 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


1799,  in  Baltimore  county,  Maryland,  and  came 
to  this  county  about  1825.  He  was  married  in 
1828,  to  Miss  Catharine  Lee,  of  this  county,  who 
was  born  in  1804,  in  Pennsylvania.  He  died  in 
1875,  she  died  in  1874.  They  were  the  parents  of 
two  children.  Dr.  Edwards  being  the  oldest.  He 
began  reading  medicine  in  1853,  under 'Dr.  Bus- 
sell,  of  Mt.  Vernon,  and  attended  his  first  course 
of  lectures  in  1855-6,  and  graduated  in  1857.  He 
has  been  here  ever  since.  He  was  married  in 
1847,  to  Miss  Sarah  S.  Marquand,  of  this  county. 
She  was  born  in  1833,  in  this  county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  five  children,  viz :  Belle  B.,  Russell 
C.;  Birdie,  deceased,  Edwin  S.  and  Gracie. 

EHRICH  HENRY,  Crawford  township;  shoe- 
maker ;  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  in  1850.  Son 
of  Nicholas  Ehrieh  and  Margaret  (Nye)  Ehrieh, 
both  natives  of  the  State  of  Bavaria.  Mr.  Ehrieh 
emigrated  to  America,  February  23,  1869,  and 
located  in  Massillon.  He  worked  as  a  hand  in 
the  shop,  until  1873,  when  he  opened  a  shop  of 
his  own  in  Chili,  and  still  continues  to  work  at 
his  trade  there.  In  August,  1873,  he  married 
Catharine  Shoemaker,  of  Crawford  township. 
Her  parents,  William  Shoemaker  and  Margaret 
(Wentz)  Shoemaker,  are  both  of  German  ances- 
try. Mr.  Ehrieh  has  a  family  of  three  childreen : 
Charles  .Tacob,  born  June  12,  1874;  Margaret, 
August  23,  1877 ;  Ehza  J.,  January  23,  1879. 

ELDER  CYRUS,  Jefferson  township;  born 
January  25, 1834,  in  Jefferson  township,  Coshoc- 
ton county,  Ohio,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  lives; 
son  of  John,  a  native  of  Antrim  county,  Ireland, 
and  Esther  (McConnell)  Elder,  and  grandson  of 
John  Elder  and  John  McConnell,  natives  of  Ire- 
land. Mr.  Elder  came  to  Virginia  in  1804,  and 
remained  there  till  1806,  when  he  came  to  Co- 
shocton county,  where  he  lived  till  his  death,  in 
1852.  At  that' time  his  sons,  Cyrus  and  William, 
became  possessors  of  the  home  farm.  Thej'  have 
since  divided  it,  Cyrus  getting  the  homestead, 
310  acres.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  A. 
Waite,  October  4,  1866,  daughter  of  John  and 
Mary  (Boyd)  Waite,  and  granddaughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Sarah  (Maines)  Boyd,  and  of  \\'illiam 
and  Margaret  (Milligan)  Waite.  Their  children 
were  Elwood,  William  J  ,  Honorah  M  ,  John  F., 
and  James  H.  Mr.  Elder  was  in  the  100-day's 
service,  a  member  of  Company  E.,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  regiment,  0.  N.  G. 

ELLIOTT  MISS  KATE,  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship ;  teacher  ;  postoffice,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  Miss 
Elliott  received  a  good  common-school  education, 
also  attended  the  national  normal  school,  at  Leb- 
anon, Ohio  She  taught  the  first  school  in  the 
Barnes  district,  Keene  township,  in  1869,  and  has 
been  constantly  employed  ever  since,  often  teach- 
ing as  much  as  nine  and  ten  months  in  the  year. 


She  has  been  a  successful  teacher,  having  taught 
two  years  in  the  Coshocton  schools.  She  has 
taught  many  schools  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  always  giving  satisfaction.  She  is  at 
present  engaged  in  the  Lafayette  schools. 

ELLIOTT  SIMON,  Jefferson  township;  mould- 
er; postoffice,  Warsaw;  was  born  in  Millersburg,. 
Holmes  county,  Ohio,  December  15,  1832;  son  of 
Thomas  and  Lucy  (Sanders)  Elliott,  and  grand- 
son of  John  Elliott,  and  Nathan  and  Mary  Ban- 
ders. Mr.  Elliott  is  of  Irish  descent.  Until  about 
the  age  of  sixteen  he  attended  school  and  worked 
with  his  father  in  the  wagon  shop.  He  then  be- 
gan the  moulder's  trade  in  the  foundry  at  Ros- 
coe,  and  remained  there  about  two  years.  He 
went  to  Walhonding  in  1848,  and  remained  until 
the  year  1864,  and  the  next  spring  went  to  Kan- 
sas, where  he  followed  farming  fourteen  years, 
and  on  account  of  his  wife's  ill  health  he  returned 
to  Coshocton  county  and  resumed  his  trade.  He 
has  a  small  foundry  in  Warsaw,  and  has  a  very 
fair  line  of  custom.  He  married,  October  3, 1857, 
Miss  Electa  Butler,  daughter  of  Allen  and  Mar- 
garet (Smith)  Butler.  Edward  L.,  born  August  25, 
1866,  in  the  Osage  Indian  Reserve,  in  Kansas,  is 
their  only  child.  Mr.  Elliott  is  a  nephew  of 
Charles  Elliott,  the  founder  and  editor  of  the 
Western  Christian  Advocate,  of  Cincinnati,  who 
never  went  to  school,  but  was  master  of  five  dif- 
ferent languages,  and  was  at  one  time  elected  a 
college  president. 

ELLIOTT  R.  M.,  Lafayette  township;  tinner; 
postoffice,  West  Lafayette ;  learned  his  trade  in 
Coshocton,  and  has  worked  at  the  business  about 
seven  years,  and  at  the  present  time  is  working 
for  F.  M.  Familton ;  was  married,  in  1877,  to  Miss 
Miller,  of  this  township.  They  have  had  two 
children :  William,  two  years  of  age,  and  Agnes,, 
an  infant.  Mr.  Elliott  has  lived  in  this  township 
about  two  years,  and  is  steady  and  industrious. 

ELLIOTT  ANDREW,  Perry  township ;  post- 
office.  New  Guilford;  born  in  West  Virginia,  in 
1798 ;  son  of  John  and  Charity  EUiott ;  married 
in  1825,  to  Miss  Margaret  McLewee,  daughter  of 
George  and  Katherine  McLewee.  Mr.  EUiott 
died  in  1858.  They  had  eleven  children,  viz: 
Charlotte,  deceased ;  Simon,  Katherine,  deceased ; 
George,  Isabelle,  John,  James,  deceased;  Jane, 
deceased;  Andrew,  M.  E.  and  Francis  A.,  de- 
ceased. Mrs.  Elliott  still  lives  upon  the  old 
homestead. 

ELLIOTT  GEORGE,  Perry  township;  postof- 
fice. New  Guilford;  born  in  this  county,  in  1831; 
son  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  (McLewee)  Elliott, 
and  grandson  of  John  and  Charity  Elliott,  and  of 
George  and  Katherine  McLewee.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1861,  to  Miss  Margaret  Dengan,  daughtr 
of  Thomas  and  Margaret  Dengan.    Mr.  Elliott 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


675 


spent  some  six  years  of  his  life  in  the  gold  regions 
01  California.  He  sailed  from  New  York  on  the 
ship  northern  light,  in  October,  1853,  and  return- 
ed in  1869.  Mr.  Elliott  at  one  time  came  near 
being  buried  alive,  while  engaged  in  mining  ope- 
rations in  California. 

ELLIOTT  WILLIAM  B.,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; farmer;  was  born  in  the  State  of  New  York, 
in  1825,  and  came  to  this  county,  with  his  parents, 
in  1828.  His  father,  John  H.  Elliott,  emigrated 
to  this  country  from  Ireland,  about  1823,  and 
located  in  Keene  township.  He  removed  to 
White  Eyes  in  1832.  William  B.  began  working 
at  the  carpenter  trade  in  1847,  and  followed  his 
trade  for  about  thirty  years.  He  taught  school 
during  the  winters  for  fifteen  or  sixteen  terms; 
In  1851,  Mr  Elliott  married  Miss  Mary  Boyd, 
daughter  of  William  M.  Boyd,  who  was  born  in 
1831,  in  Keene  township.  They  have  two  chil- 
dren: Milton,  born  in  1852,  and  Almarinda, 
born  in  1855,  both  of  whom  are  unmarried  and 
live  at  home.  Mr.  Elliott  bought  and  located  on 
the  farm  where  he  now  resides,  in  the  spring  of 
1852.  Mr.  Elliott  has  served  in  the  office  of  town- 
ship assessor  two  terms,  land  appraiser,  one  term, 
and  one  term  each  of  clerk  and  treasurer  of  town- 
ship. His  father  is  deceased,  and  his  mother, 
who  is  a  very  old  lady,  lives  in  the  township. 

ELLIOTT  COLONEL  JOHN  S.,  Coshocton,  of 
the  firm  of  Elliott  &  Marx,  114  and  116  Main 
street,  is  a  native  of  Keene  townshij);  born  May 
11,  1817;  son  of  Findley  and  Catharine  (Strong) 
Elhott,  of  Irish  ancestry.  He  was  raised  on  the 
farm.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  was  elected 
justice  of  the  peace  of  his  native  township  and 
served  nine  consecutive  years.  Esquire  Elliott 
was  appointed  by  Governor  Corwin  lieutenant 
colonel  of  the  State  troops,  and  served  until  the 
forces  were  disbanded  by  act  of  the  Legislature. 
He  came  to  this  city  in  1862,  and  has  served  two 
terms  as  mayor ;  also,  president  of  the  National 
Temperance  Christian  Union  of  this  city  three 
years,  and  president  of  the  Coshocton  Agricul- 
tural Society  for  a  number  of  years.  He  was 
married  first  to  Miss  Margaret,  daughter  of 
George  McCaskey,  of  White  Eyes  township,  and 
by  this  union  had  one  son — Alonzo  Milton.  His 
second  wife  was  Miss  Margaret  Morrison,  who 
died  some  thirteen  years  since.  The  above  firm 
is  doing  a  very  extensive  business  in  farming 
implements  and  heavy  machinery.  In  1880  'they 
sold  three  thousand  two  hundred  pounds  of  wire 
to  bind  grain  cut  by  machines  sold  by  them. 

ELLIOTT  &  MAKX,  General  Agency,  Nos. 
■414  and  416  Main  street,  Coshocton.  This  house 
was  first  established  in  1860.  by  William  Elliott, 
deceased,  and  was  conducted  by  him  until  1862, 
when,  in  consequence  of  his  demise  his  brother, 
John  S.  Elliott,  succeeded  to  the  business  which 


he  conducted  and  greatly  enlarged  during  the 
years  of  1878-9,  after  which  J.  W.  Cullison  was 
associated  with  him  under  the  firm  name  of 
Elliott  &  Cullison.  This  firm  continued  until 
1871,  when  Mr.  Cullison  was  succeeded  by  H. 
Marx,  changing  the  firm  nairie  to  Elliott  &  Marx. 
This  firm  carries  a  large  stock  of  agricultural' 
implements  and  does  a  general  agency  business 
in  which  they  furnish  repairs  for  all  kinds  of 
machinery  promptly  on  receipt  of  order.  They 
keep  posted  in  all  the  improvements  of  the  age, 
and  deal  in  the  best  articles  in  the  market.  They 
also  furnish  on  lowest  rates  and  best  terms,  mow- 
ers, reapers  and  binders,  grain  drills,  plows  and 
points,  field  rollers,  sulky  cultivators,  hay  rakes, 
corn  planters,  straw  cutters,  cider  mills,  corn 
crushers,  farm  and  church  bells,  post  hole  diggers, 
wood  pumps,  churns,' clothes  wringers,  washing 
machines,  road  scrapers,  threshing  machines,, 
farm  engines,  wheelbarrows,  sewer  pipes,  fruit 
dryers  and  bakers,  ceiling  and  sheathing  paper,  etc. 

ELLIS  GEORGE  W.,  Tuscarawas  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Canal  LewisvHle;  born  Janu 
ary  18,  1841, Jn  Keene  township;  son  of  Andrew 
W.  Ellis,  and  grandson  of  Samuel  Ellis.  His- 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Mary  A.  Crablet,. 
daughter  of  William  Crablet.  George  W.  was 
raised  on  the  farm.  ■  When  about  eighteen  he 
learned  the  shoemaking  trade  and  followed  it 
about  thr.ee  years,  and  has  spent  his  entire  life  to 
the  present  time  in  this  county.  He  came  to  his 
present  residence  in  1867,  and  has  remained  to 
the  present  time.  He  was  married  March  11,. 
1869,  to  Miss  Annie  E.  Reynolds,  daughter  of 
Abraham  Reynolds,  whose  father's  name  was 
Abraham.  Her  mother's  maiden  name  was 
..Eliza  Binning.     Mary  S.  is  their  only  child. 

ELY  JONATHAN,  Crawford  township;  teach- 
er; postoffice.  Chili;  born  February  19,  1857,  in 
Crawford  township;  son  of  Frederick  and  Mary 
Magdalena  (Yost)  Ely.  He  was  educated  in  the 
public  schools  and  national  normal  school  at  Leb- 
anon, Ohio.  He  has  successfully  taught  two 
terms  of  school,  beginning  his  first  teaching  Oc- 
tober 13, 1879,  and  is  succeeding  first  rate. 

EMERSON  ANDREW,  Keene  township ;  farm- 
er ;  born  December  3,  1838,  in  Keene  township ; 
son  of  George  and  Olive  Emerson,  and  grandson 
of  Jacob  Emerson,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,. 
Andrew  and  Lydia  (Fulton)  Weatherwax.  He 
was  married  December  21,  1858,  to  Phoebe,, 
daughter  of  John  and  Phoebe  (Stonehocker) 
Dickey.  They  had  the  following  children :  George,, 
born  December,  1859 ;  Ella,  died,  February  28, 
1861,  and  Angeline,  February  1,  1863. 

EMERSON  W.  H.,  Oxford  township;  deceased; 
was'  born  in  this  county,  in  1833;  is  a  son  of 
Timothy  Emerson,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Ana 


676 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


l^orris,  in  1855.  The  result  of  this  union  was 
seven  children,  as  follows:  William  F.,  Mary 
Anara,  Timothy  C,  Henry  Siegel,  Sherman. El- 
mer, U.  S.  Grant,  Sheridan  and  Alverton  She  is 
a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church,  at  Wesley  chapel; 
her  father's  name  was  William  Norris.  Mr.  Em- 
erson owned,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  253  acres 
of  good  land  in  this  township,  and  was  respected 
as  an  honest,  upright  man,  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends.     He  died  on  the  17th  of  April,  1874. 

ENGLISH  J.  M.,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Tyrone ;  born,  in  1830,  in  this  county. 
His  father,  Patrick  English,  was  born,  in  1800,  in 
Pennsylvania.  He  removed  to  Harrison  county, 
and  was  married,  in  that  county,  to  Miss  Susan- 
nah Dickerson,  of  the  same  county,  who  was 
born  in  1796,  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania. 
They  came  to  this  county  in  1827.  He  died  in 
1857.  She  died  in  1870.  They  were  the  parents 
■of  eight  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being 
the  sixth.  He  was  married,  in  1852,  to  Miss  Isa- 
bella Stephens,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1837.  They  are  the  parents  of  twelve  children, 
eleven  of  whom  are  living,  and  two  are  married. 

EVERHART  DAVID,  White  Eyes  township ; 
•Chili,  postoffice;  farmer;  born  March  8,  1834,  in 
White  Eyes  township;  sop  of  Frederick  and 
Elizabeth  (Miser)  Everhart,  formerly  of  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania.  David  was  raarr 
ried,  January  16,  1862,  to  Miss  Sophia,  daughter 
of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Stilgenbower)  Gonter,  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania.  This  union  has  been 
blessed  with  six  children,  five  living,  Calvin, Mary, 
Elizabeth,  Saloma,  Walter,  Maggie,  Ellie,  and  one 
died  in  infancy,  not  named.  Mr.  Everhart  has 
obtained  a  comfortable  farm  home,  and  exerts  a 
■good  moral  influence  in  his  community. 

EVERHART  SAMUEL,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship ;  farmer ;  born  in  this  county  in  1832.  His 
father,  Henry  Everhart,  came  to  this  county  from 
Tuscarawas  county.  Samuel  remained  at  homie 
until  he  was  twenty-five  years  old,  and  married 
Miss  Florinda  Hoobler,  of  Tuscarawas  countv,  in 
1857.  Mrs.  Everhart  was  born  in  1839.  They 
have  had  a  family  of  six  children,  one  of  whom 
is  deceased.  Those  living  are  Eliza  J.,  born  in 
1868,  is  married  to  Peter  Farney,  and  lives  in  Tus- 
■carawas  county;  Isaac  B.,  born  1859;  Catharine, 
born  18G4;  John  A.,  born  1872;  Delia  M.,  born 
1879.  Mr.  Everhart  has  always  resided  in  this 
county. 

EVERHART  CHARLES,  West  Water  street, 
Coshocton  ;  livery  man;  born  September  1,  1866, 
in  Franklin  township;  son  of  Michael  Everhart, 
native  of  Virginia,  and  of  English  ancestry. 
Young  Everhart  was  raised  on  the  farm,  where 
he  remained  until  he  established  his  present 
business  at  this  place,  in  August,  1880.    He  keeps 


on  an  average  seven  good  horses  and  rigs  to  suit, 
such  as  carriages,  buggies,  etc. 

EXLINE  H.  A.,  Washington  township;  farm- 
er ;  postoffice.  West  Carlisle ;  born  in  1822,  in  this 
county.  His  father  was  born  in  1777,  in  Loudon 
county,  Virginia,  and  was  married  in  1805,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Betz,  of  the  same  county,  who  was  born 
in  1789.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1818.  He 
died  in  1850  and  she  died  in  1860.  They  were 
the  parents  of  three  children,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  youngest.  He  was  married  in 
1844,  to  Miss  Mary  Gault,of  this  county,  who  was 
boi'n  in  1827.  She  died  in  1856.  They  were  the 
parents  of  three  children,  viz:  Ehzabeth  E.,  Elsie 
A.  and  Flora  B.  He  afterward  married,  in  1861, 
Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Yunker,  of  this  county,  who 
was  born  in  1833.  They  are  the  parents  of  three 
children  living,  viz:  Nora  M.,  John  H.  and 
Charlie  B. 

IF" 

FAIR  DANIEL,  Clark  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Clark's;  born  in  Somerset  county, 
Pennsylvania,  August  4,  1831 ;  son  of  Charles 
and  Catharine  (Keefer)  Fair,  and  grandson  of 
Christopher  and  Elizabeth  (Hofman)  Fair.  He 
moved  to  Holmes  county,  Ohio,  with  his  parents 
in  1836,  when  he  was  but  five  years  of  age ;  and 
at  the  age  of  eighteen  he  began  to  learn  the 
blacksmith  trade  with  Shrock  &  Miller,  in  New 
Carlisle,  Holmes  county,  remaining  about  nine 
months.  From  there  he  went  to  South  Bend, 
Indiana,  where  he  finished  his  trade  with  Pres. 
Whitten,  remaining  about  eighteen  months.  He 
then  went  to  Mishawauka  and  engaged  with 
Graham  &  Japen,  and  remained  about  six  months. 
From  there  he  came  to  Farmerstown,  Holmes 
county,  and  began  business  for  himself,  where  he 
remained  nine  years;  then  sold  his  shop  and  be- 
gan the  mercantile  business,  and  continued  at 
that  six  years,  when  he  sold  his  store  and  pur- 
chased his  present  farm  of  237  acres,  in  Clark 
township,  and  has  engaged  in  farming  since,  and 
is  a  successful  and  energetic  farmer.  He  was 
married  April  4,  1854,  to  Lucinda. Snider,  daugh- 
ter of  Abram  and  Mary  (Fox)  Snider,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Abram  Snider  and  Jacob  and  Mary 
Fox.  She  was  born  October  14,  1829,  in  New 
Philadelphia,  Tuscarawas  county.  They  have 
six  children :  Phineas  F.,  born  January  21, 1855; 
William  H.,  born  August  5,  1857;  Charles  B., 
born  February  11, 1860;  Lorenzo  D.,born  March 
24,  1863;  Lyman  S.,  born  December  24,  1866; 
Bellmina,  born  January  15,  1870.  Mr.  Fair  is  a 
member  of  Millersburg  Lodge  No.  126,  F.  A.  M., 
of  which  he  was  made  a  member  in  1864. 

FAMILTON  JOHN,  Linton  township;  mer- 
chant at  Plainfield ;  born  in  Tuscarawas  county, 
July  3,  1854;  son  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Mid- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


677 


dleton)  Faniilton.  His  father  moved  from  Port 
Washington,  Tuscarawas  county,  to  Lafayette,  in 
1869.  John  remained  with  him  there  till  1875, 
when  he  purchased  Osborn's  store,  at  Bacon  post- 
office,  this  township.  He  remained  there  till  the 
fall  of  1877,  at  which  time  he  moved  his  stock  of 
goods  to  Plainfield  and  opened  a  store  there. 
The  following  year  a  partnership  -was  formed 
with  Lewis  Carhart,  which  was  dissolved  in  1879, 
and  Nicholas  Faniilton,  his  brother,  was  then  ad- 
mitted as  a  partner.  Nicholas  died  February, 
1880,  and  since  then  Mr.  Familton  has  conducted 
the  business  alone.  He  was  married  June  4, 
1878,  to.  Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William 
Gorseline,  of  Lafayette  township. 

FAMILTON  T.  H.,  Lafayette  township;  mer- 
chant ;  born  in  Harrison  county,  in  1829,  and  came 
to  West  Lafayette  in  1869 ;  was  married  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Middleton,  of  Tuscarawas  county,  in 
1852;  they  have  had  six  children :  Nicolas,  deceased; 
Dora,  deceased;  John,  Frank,  George  and  Will. 
Before  he  started  business  here,  a  pound  of  coffee 
or  a  yard  of  cloth  could  not  be  purchased  in  the 
place,  but  in  his  store  to-day,  you  can  find  any- 
thing usually  kept  in  a  first-class  dry  goods  and 
grocery  house.  His  numerous  patrons  have  found 
him  an  honest  and  obliging  gentleman,  and  his 
prices  compare  favorably  with  any  house  in  the 
county. 

PARQUHAB,  FRANKLIN,  Perry  township; 
postoffice,  New  Guilford ;  born  in  this  township 
in  1835;  son  of  Caleb, and  Katharine  Farquhar, 
and  grandson  of  Samuel  and  Phebe  (Yarnall) 
Farquhar,  and  of  John  and  Ellen  (Murray)  Yar- 
nall. Mr.  Farquhar  is  one  of  a  family  of  ten  chil- 
dren, six  of  -whom  are  still  living. 

PARQUHAB  S  AMUEL,  Pewy  township ;  post- 
office,  New  Guilford;  farmer  and  stock  raiser; 
born  in  this  county  in  1838;  son  of  Samuel  Y. 
and  Mary  (Trimble)  Farquhar,  who  came  here 
from  Maryland ;  grandson  of  Samuel  and  Phebe 
Farquhar,  and  of  John  and  Ellen  (Murray)  Trim- 
ble. He  was  married  in  1869  to  Miss  Harriet  Blue, 
daughter  of  Daniel  and  Clara  Blue.  They  have 
five  children,  viz :  Bollie  M.,  Mary  L.,  Lyman  L., 
Minnie  P.  and  Carrie.  He  enlisted  in  1861  in 
Company  K,  Twentj'-fourth  regiment  0.  V._  I., 
Captain  Ginnis,  and  participated  in  the  following 
,  battles :  Greenbriar,  Nashville,  Pittsburgh  Land- 
•ing.  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga.  He  was  dis- 
charged in  1864. . 

FELLER  GOTTLIEB,  Crawford  township; 
proprietor  of  a  tannery  at  Chili ;  born  in  Naflen, 
Kirchdorp,  Amt  Belb,  State  of  Switzerland,  July, 
1835;  son  of  John  Feller  and  Barbary  (Krebs) 
'  Feller,  natives  of  the  ^ame  place.  Mr.  Feller 
emigrated  to  America  in  1854,  and  settled  on 
Stone  creek,  Tuscarawas  county,  and  started  a 


tannery  at  Chili  in  1863,  where  he  has  followed 
the  business  successfully  ever  since.  In  1863,  he 
married  Catharine  Lebold,  of  Tuscarawas  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  the  following  named 
children:  John,  born  November  3,  1863;  Mary 
Ann  Senora,  August  31,  1865;  Jacob  Edward, 
August  10,  1868 ;  Catharine  Amelia,  October  28,. 
1870;  Frederick  Albert,  September  - 11.  1872; 
Clara  Matilda,  March  21, 1876,  and  Lissette  Caro- 
line, August  4, 1878.  One  died  in  infancy,  Jacob 
Henry.  Mr.  Feller  ownes  quite  an  extensive- 
tannery,  the  largest  in  that  section  of  the  county.- 
He  also  carries  on  the  saddlery  and  harnes.'!  mak- 
ing business  in  connection  with  the  tannery.  Mr.- 
Feller  and  family  belong  to  the  B.  M  church  at 
Chili. 

FELVER  BIZARRE,  Oxford  township;  car- 
penter ;  Orange  postoffice,  Evansburgh ;  was 
born  in  1840,  in  the  town  of  Coshocton ;  son  of 
John  Felver,  a  cooper  by  trade,  who  died  in  1842.- 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  1861 
to  Miss. Josephine  Richmond,  of  this  township. 
They  have  three  children,  as  follows :  Alice,  de- 
ceased, aged  eight  months  and  six  days;  Harriet, 
aged  seventeen,  and  Edward,  fifteen  years  of  age, 
Mr.  Felver  has  been  working  at  his  present  trade 
about  five  years,  having  worked  first  at  coopering 
under  James  Butler.  He  is  a  natural  mechanic, 
and  is  honest  and  well  spoken  of.  He  has  fol- 
lowed several  vocations,  starting  out  at  boating, 
then  coopering,  then  railroading,  and  was  in 
Terre  Haute,  tidiana,  for  some  four  years,  where 
he  was,  for  some  time,  on  the  police  force  of  the 
city.  He  has  also  v^forked  for  the  Massillon  and 
Canton  bridge  companies. 

FERGUSON  VINCENT,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer;  son  of  Andrew  Ferguson,  who  came  from 
Ireland  in  1806  and  located  in  Jefferson  county, 
and  was  married  in  this  county  to  Mary  Roader- 
ick,  January  6,  1825,  whose  parents  were  natives 
of  Maryland.  He  was  born  in  this  township  in 
1843.  -His  father,  Andrew  P.,  was  born  April  2, 
1795,  and  died  in  1879.  His  mother  was  born 
October  4, 1810,  and  died  in  1866.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  was  married  in  1866,  to  Miss  Rachel 
Bates,  of  Tuscarawas  county,  who  became  the 
mother  of  three  children :  Harry,  Halston,  de- 
ceased, and  Homer,  deceased.  Mr.  Ferguson 
keeps  good  stock  on  his  farm  of  438  acres,  vv^hich  , 
his  father  bought  in  1835.  He  has  been  township 
treasurer  in  his  township  for  the  past  seven  years, 
and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Protest- 
ant Methodist  church.  Of  the  fourteen  brothers 
and  sisters,  one  brother  and  five  sisters  are  living. 

FERRELL  J.  M.,  White  Eyes  township;  i^aer- 
chant  and  postmaster  at  Avondale ;  born  in  Mc- 
Connellsville,  Morgan  county,  April,  1833;  son  of 
Joseph  Ferrell,  who  was  born  in  Mercer  county, 
Pennsylvania,  about  the  year  1801,  and  emigrated 


678 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


to  Morgan  county  in  1826.  He  married  Hannah 
Daugherty,  in  1827;  returned  to  Pennsylvania, 
in  1836;  lived  there  two  years;  moved  to  White 
Eyes,  and  settled  on  a  farm  purchased  of  Elisha 
Swigart.  His  wife  died  in  1864.  He  married 
Mrs.  Mary  Johnson,  in  1867,  and  died  in  1879 
J.  M.  Ferrell  married  Nancy  M.  Maxfield,  of 
Orange,  and  lived  in  Orange  until  1856,  when 
he  moved  to  Kansas.  On  the  breaking  out  of 
the  rebellion,  he  left  Kansas,  and  returned  to 
White  Eyes.  He  enlisted  in  the  Fifty-first  0.  V. 
I.,  in  Company  I,  under  Captain  Heskett,  and 
served  three  years.  After  the  close  of  the  war, 
he  located  in  Avondale,  and  sold  goods.  His 
wife  died  in  1873.  Their  children  are,  Hattie, 
born  in  1856,  married  David  Tipton,  in  1877,  and 
now  resides  in  Johnson  county,  Kansas;  J.  E., 
born  in  1866,  clerks  in  the  store,  with  his  father; 
Emzy,  born  in  1869,  and  Walter,  born  in  1872. 
Mr.  Ferrell  married  Miss  Mary  Funk,  in  1875. 
Mr.  Ferril  has  been  longer  in  business,  in  Avon- 
dale,  than  any  other  person  doing  business  there 
now. 

FERRELL  JOHN,  Coshocton ;  street  commis- 
sioner; born  July  13,  1819,  in  County  Donegal, 
Ireland;  son  of  William  and  Nancy  (Lane)  Fer- 
rell. He  came  to  America  in  1849,  landing  at 
Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained 
two  years  and  fired  an  engine.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1851  and  located  in  Keene  township, 
where  he  mined  coal  about  five  years,  then  came 
to  this  city,  in  1861,  and  remained  several  years, 
then  returned  to  Keene  township  and  farmed 
until  1872,  when  he  again  came  to  this  city  and 
has  remained  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Ferrell 
was  appointed  street  commissioner  in  April,  1874, 
and  has  been  reappointed  until  he  is  now  serving 
his  fourth  term.  Mr.  Ferrell  was  married  in  the 
fall  of  1842,  to  Miss  Jane,  daughter  of  John  Mc- 
Gee,  of  Scotland.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
four  children,  Matilda,  married  to  Henry  Ondian, 
now  residing  in  Porter  county,  Indiana,  Agnes, 
William,  married  to  Miss  Ella  Mateer,  of  this 
city,  and  John. 

FILLMAN  PETER,  New  Castle  township; 
postofflce.  New  Castle  ;  was  born  in  Oldenburgh, 
Germany,  on  the  3d  of  May,  1832.  He  is  a  son 
of  John  and  Catharine  Fillman,  and  grandson  of 
David  Fillman.  He  attended  school  from  the 
age  of  five  until  he  was  fourteen,  after  which  he 
began  to  learn  the  tailoring  trade'  with  Bartholo- 
mew Ludwick,  in  Fishback,  Germany,  finishing 
his  apprenticeship  at  the  end  of  three  years.  He 
then  traveled  for  four  years  on  the  Continent, 
eeeipg  the  sights,  of  which' he  gives  many  inter- 
esting narratives.  After  he  finished  his  rambles, 
he  entered  the  German  army  to  serve  his  time 
there,  but  at  the  end  of  eighteen  months  he  made 
good  his  escape,  and  embarked  for  America, 


landing  in  June,  lSo5,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
remained  there  until  the  following  September, 
when  he  came  to  Port  Washington,  Ohio,  and 
engaged  with  Charles  Detman  to  work  at  his 
trade,  remaining  there  until  the  summer  of  1857, 
when  he  went  to  Dresden,  Muskingum  county, 
and  worked  for  Alexander  Marten,  and  in  the 
fall  of  the  sa"me  year  came  to  New  Castle,  Co- 
shocton county,  where- he  has  remained  ever 
since,  following  his  occupation.  He  is  also  pro- 
prietor of  the  Buckeye  hotel,  and  is  doing  well, 
both  at  tailoring  and  hotel  keeping.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  .Fulks,  daughter  of  John  and 
Jane  Fulks,  who  was  born  in  Coshocto»  county. 
Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  four  children, 
viz :  John,  Dorca,  Sophia,  and  Mary.  John  was 
born  September  22, 1861 ;  Dorca,  July  28, 1864 ;  So- 
phia, December  19, 1868 ;  and  Mary,  March  6, 1870. 
Mr.  Fillman  was  made  a  member  of,  the  Masonic 
fraternity  in  the  year  1868,  and  in  the  year  1872 
he  joined  the  I.  0.  0.  F.  He  is  a  kind,  genial 
man,  and  welcomes  rich  and  poor  alike  to  his 
hospitalities. 

FUNK  DAVID,  White  Eyes  township;  Chili 
postoffice ;  farmer ;  was  born  September  20, 1842, 
on  the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides.  He  is  the 
son  of  Jacob  and  Anne — daughter  of  Abraham  and 
Margaret  (Peck)  Miller — Funk,  who  were  the 
parents  of  eleven  children,  six  living :  Abraham, 
Morgan,  Margaret,  Ellen,  Sarah  and  David.  The 
latter  was  married  May  14,  1872,  to  Miss  Harriett 
A.,  daughter  of  Simon  and  Sophia  (Grimm) 
Stough ;  horn  January  18, 1850.  This  union  has 
been  blessed  with  two  children,  John  Grant  and 
EUma  Dottie.  Jacob  Funk,  referred  to  before, 
is  a  native  of  West  Virginia,  but  when  about  four 
years  of  age  was  -taken  to  Washington  CTjunty, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  until  about 
1845,  when  he  came  to  his  present  residence  with 
only  about  $700,  but  now  has  an  ample  compe- 
tence for  his  old  age,  raising  and  assisting  to  start 
in  the  world  his  family  of  sons  and  daughters. 

FINLEY  R.  E.,D.  D.  S.,  of  the  firm  of  Finley 
&  Wernett,  Coshocton ;  was  borri  August  28, 1840, 
in  New  Salem,  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania. 
He  is  the  son  of  Eli  H.  Finley,  and  grandson  of 
Ebenezer  Finley,  one  of  the  first  settlers  at  Red 
Stone  "Old  Fort,"  near  the  Monongahela, in  Wes- 
tern Pennsylvania.  He  there  shared  the  perils, 
hardships  and  privations  of  pioneer  life  m  the 
wild  forest,  infested  with  savage  Indian  warriors. 
Young  Finley  spent  his  childhood  and  youth  on 
the  farm  with  his  father.  At  twenty-three  years 
of  age,  he  entered  Dunlap's  creek  academy,  and 
on  completing  his  studies  there,  in  1865,  com- 
menced the  study  of  dentistry  with  Dr.  R.  J. 
Cunningham,  of  Wooster,  Ohio;  next  read  with 
Dr.  William  Mitchell,  a  graduate  of  Philadelphia 
dental  college.    He  next  formed  a  partnership 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


679 


with  Dr.  C.  M.  Kelsey,  of  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio, 
and  remained  with  liim,  studying  and  practicing 
in  the  adjoining  country  and  villages,  until  Octo- 
ber, 1870,  when  he  entered  the  Ohio  dental  col- 
lege, at  Cincinnati,  and  was  graduated  with  the 
usual  honors  of  the  class  of  1870-71.  On  receiv- 
ing his  diploma.,  he  located  at  Dresden,  and  en- 
tered into  partnership  with  Dr.  E.  A.  Wernett,  a 
student  of  the  Ohio  dental  college.  Soon  after 
forming  the  new  firm,  they  came  to  this  city  and 
succeeded  Dr.  Moffitt,  corner  Main  and  Fifth 
■streets,  their  present  location.  Drs.  Finley  & 
Wernett  have  greatly  improved  and  furnished 
their  parlors  in  a  most  elegant  and  tasteful  man- 
ner. 

FINLEY  JOHN  A.,  Clark  township;  farmer; 
postoflBce,  Clark's;  born  in  Holmes  county,  Ohio, 
October  18,  1851;  son  of  George  and  Priscilla 
(Vanbuskirk)  Finley,  and  grandson  of  Aaron  and 
Alice  Finly,  and  Joseph  Vanbuskirk.  His  father 
was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  his  mother 
in  Carroll  county,  Ohio.  His  grandfather  came 
from  Ireland.  He  spent  his  youth  attending 
school  and  assisting  his  father  on  the  farm.  At 
the  age  of  nineteen  he  began  a  two-years'  course 
at  Vermilion  institute,  in  Haysville,  Ashland 
county.  After  that  he  engaged  in  farming,  and 
has  continued  successfully  to  the  present.  He 
was  married  August  6,  1874,  to  Miss  Martha 
Frizell,  daughter  of  WiUiam  H.  and  Elizabeth 
<Sowash)  Frizell,  and  granddaughter  of  John  and 
Ellen  (Kelly)  Frizell  and  Daniel  and  Catharine 
(Spring)  Sowash,  also  great  great  granddaughter 
of  Jacob  Spring  and  Absolom  Frizell.  She  was 
born  December  12,  1851,  in  Holmes  county,  and 
"became  the  mother  of  three  children,  viz :  Emma, 
born  May  18,  1875;  George  C,  born  October  3, 
1878,  and  William  W.,  born  August  10,  1880. 

FISHER  HON.  J.  C,  Coshocton ;  editor  of  the 
Democrat;  was  born  December  16,  1840,  in  Mus- 
kingum county,  Ohio.  At  thirteen  years  of  age 
he  moved,  with  his  father,  to  a  farm  in  Licking 
■county,  where  he  remained  until  1866,  when  he 
took  charge  of  the  above  named  paper,  which  he 
has  conducted  until  the  present  time.  His  edu- 
cation was  obtained  in  the  public  schools  aiid 
teaching  schools,  also  a  four  years  course  at  the 
Denison  university.  He  was  elected  to  the  State 
senate  from  the  eighteenth  district  in  1873,  and 
re-elected  in  1877.  He  was  also,  by  Governor 
Allen,  appointed,  in  1875,  member  of  the  Ohio 
State  Fish  Commission,  for  three  years,  and  by 
Governor  Bishop  re-appointed,  in  1878,  for  a  like 
term.  He  was  married  December  15,  1869,  to 
Miss  S.  A.  Hawthorne,  of  Coshocton.  The  re- 
sult of  this  union  is  two  daughters,  viz :  Annie 
and  Shirly.  Mr.  Fisher  has  succeeded  well  as  an 
•editor  and  legislator. 

FISHEE  GEORGE  W.,  Franklin  township; 


stone  mason;  born  August  20,  1850,  in  Mus- 
kingum county ;  son  of  Clark  and  Mary  (Myers) 
Fisher.  His  great-grandfather,  Daniel  Fisher, 
was  born  in  Milford,  Massachusetts,  in  1752,  and 
died  in  1820,  was  the  owner  of  a  large  estate,  ex- 
ceeding 1,000  acres,  at  Newfane,  Vermont.  Dan- 
iel Fisher,  son  of  the  above,  was  born  February 
16,  1776,  and  died  August  17, 1862.  He  married 
for  his  first  wife,  Millicent  Durren,  of  Newfane, 
Vermont,  in  1797.  Clark,  the  eldest  child  by  this 
marriage,  born  April  23, 1798,  died  July  1,  1874, 
engaged  in  farming  in  Vermont,  and  in  1833 
moved  to  Canada  East,  in  the  spring  of  1885  he 
removed  to  New  York,  and  in  1838  came  to  Co- 
shocton county;  remained  till.  1849 — except  one 
year,  1846-47,  spent  in  Mercer  county — then  went 
to  Muskingum  county,  having  engaged  in  teach- 
ing school  since  he  quit  Vermont.  He  kept  a 
boarding  house  in  Zanesville  a  while,  then  on  the 
pike  near  Sonora.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  reared  in  Muskingum  county,  and  about 
1872  came  to  this  township.  He  was  married, 
April  11,  1875,  to  Martha  E.  Adams,  born  May  8, 
1852,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Susan  Adams,  of 
this  county.  They  have  two  children — Charlie 
Clark,  born  June  10, 1876,  and  Bertha  Elsie,  born 
October  6,  1879. 

FITCH  JAMES,  farmer;  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship ;  Canal  Lewisville  postoffice ;  born  November 
30,  1844,  in  Lafayette  township ;  son  of  John  M. 
Fitch  and  grandson  of  David  Fitch,  of  Irish 
ancestry.  His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Hes- 
ter McCleary,  daughter  of  Abraham  McCleary, 
a  native  of  Maryland.  James  was  raised  on  the 
farm  and  has  always  lived  in  this  county.  He 
came  to  his  present  residence  in  1878.  He  was 
married  August  11,  1860.  to  Miss  Lucy  Jane  Bab- 
cock,  daughter  of  Abel  Babcock,  of  Linton  town- 
ship. His  children  are,  Samuel  H.,  Jesse,  Cla- 
rinda  and  Wilbert  A. 

FITCH  JOHN  M.,  deceased,  Layfayette  town- 
ship; son  of  David  Fitch;  was  born  in  Guernsey 
county,  in  1820.  He  was  married  in  1845,  to  Miss 
Hester  McClurg,  who  waS  born  in  Virginia,  in 
1823.  Their  children  were  James,  Elizabeth, 
Lucinda,  Louisa,  John,  Margaret,  Hannah,  David, 
Sarah,  Susannah,  George,  Hattie,  Prank  and 
Hester.  Six  are  married,  the  rest  are  at  home. 
Mr.  F.  died  in  1874,  aged  fifty-four  years.  He 
was  a  man  of  .good  principles,  honest  in  all  his 
dealings.  He  has  always  lived  in  this  county 
and  since  their  marriage  they  have  lived  on  the 
farm,  where  his  widow  now  lives.  By  his  own 
industry  he  acquired  the  home  he  left  to  his 
family.  They  are  a  prosperous  family  and  have 
the  respect  of  all  their  acquaintances  and  friends. 

FLEMING  ALFRED,  plasterer;  postoffice. 
West  Lafayette.  He  was  born  in  this  township, 
in  1854;  learned  the  plastering  trade  with  Mid- 


680 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


dleton  Brothers;  is  an  ingenious  mechanic,  and 
doing  an  extensive  business.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Virginia,  and  was  married  to  Eliza  A. 
Gorseline.  They  had  eight  children,  viz:  Wil- 
liam, John  B.  Franklin,  Alfred,  Simpson,  Hester, 
deceased,  Charlie  and  Persian,  deceased.  The 
father,  Thornton  Fleming,  has  deceased. 

FLYNN  JOSEPH,  engineer  at  paper-mills; 
born  March  13,  1847,  in  New  York  city ;  son  of 
Patrick  Flynn,  a  native  of  Ireland.  Young 
Flynn,  when  a  small  boy,  sold  newspapers  at  the 
newsboys'  home.  New  York  city.  When  about 
sixteen  'years  of  age,  came -to  this  county,  and 
worked  for  Washington  Darling,  about  two  years; 
also  worked  for  Anthony  Wimmer,  about  one 
year;  then  came  to  this  city,  and  engaged  in  the 
mill  where  he  is  now  employed.  Mr.  Flynn  was 
elected  constable,  in  1869,  and  re-elected,  in  1880, 
which  office  he  now  holds.  He  was  married, 
July  19, 1868,  to  Miss  Mary  Reynolds,  daughter 
of  Abraham  Reynolds,  of  Canal  Lewisville. 
Their  children  are,  Susan,  William,  Eliza,  Ellie, 
Josie-  and  Matilda. 

FORBES  J.  P.,  Coshocton;  born  April  28, 1855, 
in  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio;  son  of  T.  J.  Forbes; 
American  born,  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  He 
obtained  a  rudimentary  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  Uhrichsville,  Ohio,  and  finished  his 
studies  at  New  Hagerstown  academy,  Carroll 
county,  Ohio,  and  Denison  university,  Granville, 
Licking  county,  Ohio.  In  1877  Mr.  Forbes  en- 
tered, as  a  student,  the  law  office  of  F.  Douthitt 
and  read  one  year,  and  then  came  to  this  city 
and  finished  his  reading  with  G.  H.  Barger,  and 
was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  supreme  court 
of  the  State  pf  Ohio,  March  4, 1879.  In  the  same 
year  he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  recent 
preceptor,  under  the  present  firm  name  of  Bar- 
ger &  Forbes.  Attorney  Forbes  was  married 
December  30,  1879,  to  Miss  Maria  E.  Hay,  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  Hay,  deceased. 

FORKER  W.  R.,  Coshocton ;  insurance  agent, 
Norris  block.  Main  street ;  born  August  28,  1849, 
in  West  Carlisle,  Pike  township ;  son  of  Daniel 
Forker,  of  English  ancestry.  W.  R.  was  brought 
up  on  the  fann  till  seventeen,  when  he  began 
teaching  school  and  taught  three  terms.  At 
twenty-one  he  began  clerking  in  West  Carlisle, 
and  remained  two  years.  In  February,  1854,  he 
went  to.  California,  but  returned  in  July,  1855, 
and  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother  Sam- 
uel in  the  mercantile  business  at  West  Carlisle. 
In  1858  he  went  to  Missouri  and  taught  school 
one  term,  but  returned  in  the  fall  of  same  year. 
In  the  spring  of  1859  he  came  to  Coshocton  and 
served  as  deputy  auditor  for  his  brother  Samuel 
four  years.  He  also  served  as  city  mayor  and 
justice  of  the  peace  of  Pike  township.  In  1866  he 
was  elected  county  auditor,  and  re-elected  in  1868. 


In  1874  he  engaged  in  the  hardware  business, 
which  he  continued  till  1878  when  he  established 
his  present  agency.  Mr.  Forker  was  married 
April  11, 1866,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.,  daughter  of  N. 
R.  Welch,  of  this  city.  Their  children  are  Julia 
A.,  Grace  W.,  Early  and  William. 

FORNEY  A.  Z.,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Linton  township,  April  14,  1828 ;  son  of 
Joseph  and  Susan  (Mistimen)  Forney;  grandson 
of  Abram  and  Polly  (Forney),  and  of  James  and 
Catharine  (Bartmess)  Miskimen.  His  grand- 
father Forney  moved  his  family  from  Baltimore, 
Maryland,  in  1812.  His  father  settled  in  this 
county  about  1826.  Mr.  Forney  is  the  oldest  of 
six  children.  He  was  married  October  7,  1849, 
to  Huldah  Doty,  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Maria 
(Shaw)  Doty,  born  in  New  Jersey,  and  came  to 
this  county  when  a  little  girl.  His  children  are 
Clark  D.,  Harriet,  Joseph  W.,  Franklin,  John^ 
Sarah,  and  Rachel. 

FORSYTHE  JAMES,  Oxford  township;  farm- 
er ;  postoffice.  White  Eye  Plains ;  was  born  near 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  1847 ;  son  of  Samuel  and 
Mary  (Whiteside)  Forsythe ;  came  to  this  county 
with  his  parents  when  about  six  years  of  age, 
where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  married  to 
Rebecca  Lisk,  of  this  county,  in  1851,  who  was 
the  daughter  of  James  Lisk.  His  father  passed 
away  in  1872 ;  his  mother  is  still  living.  He  has 
been  township  treasurer  of  this  township.  He 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist  church. 
He  owns  two  hundred  and  fourteen  acres  of  land 
in  the  best  part  of  this  township. 

FORTENBACHER  CASIMER,  Jefferson 
township;  wagonmaker;  postoffice,  Warsaw;  born 
in  Londenbach,  Baden,  Germany,  March  8, 1840; 
son  of  Andrew-  and  Gertrude  (Weimer)  Forten- 
bacher.  He  commenced  work  at  his  trade  at  the 
age  of  eighteen,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  he 
enlisted,  October  10, 1861,  in  Company  B,  Forty- 
sixth  0.  V.  V.  I.,  and  was  mustered  out  of  service 
July  23, 1865,  at  Louisville,  Kentucky.  He  took 
part  in  the  following  engagements:  Battle  of 
Shiloh,  siege  of  Corinth,  battle  of  Vicksburg, 
Mission  Ridge,  the  campaign  to  Atlanta,  Sher- 
man's march  to  the  sea,  and  the  battle  of  Golds- 
borough.  He  was  never  wounded.  After  the 
war  he  took  a  trip  west,  but  being  disappointed 
he  returned  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  carried  on  a 
shop  about  five  years.  After  leaving  Columbus 
he  located  in  Warsaw,  this  county,  and  has  been 
carrying  on  his  shop  to  advantage  since,  having 
a  very  fair  trade.  He  married,  November  16, 
1876,  Miss  Emma  Buckalew,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  Buckalew.  Two  children,  Igna- 
tius and  Lamburt,  were  born  to  them. 

FORTUNE  ISAAC,  Jackson  township;  born 
in  Coshocton,  in  1837 ;  son  of  Isaac  and  Lucinda 


'-^iscsssi 


BIOGKAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


683 


Fortune ;  married  in ,  to  Susan  Johnston, 

daughter  of  James  and  Ellen  Johnston.  Mr.  For- 
tune has  been  twice  married.  His  second  wife 
was  Gordie  Hanna.  He  had  two  children  with 
each  wife.    Postofltice,  Roscoe. 

FOSTER  CORNELIUS,  Jefferson  township; 
bom  in  March,  1844,  in.  Coshocton  county;  son  of 
William  R.  and  Elizabeth  (Davis)  Foster,  and 
grandson  of  Miser  and  Hannah  (Randies)  Foster, 
and  of  William  Davis.  Mr.  Foster  was  brought 
up  on  a  farm  and  edjacated  in  district  schools. 
He  lived  at  home  with  his  parents  till  about  the 
age  of  twenty-eight,  when  he  married  Miss  Caro- 
line Speckman,  in  March,  1872,  daughter  of  John 
and  Rose  (Fredrick)  Speckman,  and  granddaugh- 
ter of  George  and  Christina  •  (Davis)  Fredrick. 
He  now  owns  a  small  farm,  and  by  honest  indus- 
try makes  a  good  living  for  himself  and  family. 
Angeline,  Charles  P.  and  Viola  G.,  are  the  names 
of  their  children. 

FOSTER  JAMES,  Jefferson  township;  mer- 
cha,nt;  postoffice,  Warsaw ;  born  in  Jackson  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  October  12, 1830 ;  son  of 
William  and  Sarah  A.  (Drake)  Poster.  Mr.  Fos- 
ter was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  he  went  to  school  at  West  Bedford, 
and  attended  there  two  years,  then  went  to  Jack- 
son and  attended  a  select  school  for  six  months, 
after  which  he  began  teaching  common  schools, 
and  continued  ten.  years.  He  then  engaged  as 
clerk  with  Dr.  Stanton,  in  a  dry  goods  store,  and 
continued  about  one  and  a  half  years,  then 
formed  a  partership  with  Isaac  Hogland,  pur- 
chased the  goods  of  Mr.  Stanton,  and,  in  1874,  Mr. 
Ebenezer  Foster  became  his  partner.  He  after- 
ward purchased  his  partner's  share,  and  since 
then  his  been  doing  the  business  himself.  He 
has  a  good  paying  custom.  His  average  sales  are 
about  $16,000  per  year.  Mr.  Foster  was  married 
October  24, 1872,  to  Miss  S.  S.  McCoy,  daughter 
•  of  Uriah  and  Elizabeth  (Wolfe)  McCoy,  and 
granddaughter  of  WiUiam  and  Harriet  (Wal- 
raven)  McCoy,  and  James  and  Sarah  (Meredith) 
Wolfe.  This  union  has  been  blessed  with  three 
children— Louis  A.,  born  in  September,  1873, 
died  March  14, 1877;  Gladys  Pearl,  born  October 
10, 1874,  and  Glenwood  Mc,  born  March  14, 1878. 

FOSTER  RALPH,  Keene  township;  farmer; 
born  February,  1822,  in  Keene  township ;  son  of 
James  and  Nancy  (Ford)  Foster,  and  grandson 
of  John  and  Catherine  (Blain)  Foster  and  of  Wil- 
liam and  Jane  Ford,  all  natives  of  Ireland.  He 
was  married  December  2, 1845,  to  Madeline  Wil- 
son, daughter  of  John  P.  and  Grace  (Vale)  Wil- 
son. Their  children  were  Catherine,  Augusta, 
Etta,  William  E.  and  Mary. 

FOWLER  RICHARD,  Linton  township ;  farm- 
er;  born  July  22, 1818,  on  the  farm  he  now  occu- 

30 


pies,  in  Linton  township;  the  son  of  Richard  and 
Jane  (Elson)  Fowler.  His  father  was  an  early 
settler  in  the  county.  Mr.  Fowler  was  married 
July  13, 1842,  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Francis  Wells, 
of  Tuscarawas  township.  The  children  born  unto 
them  are  John  W.,  Richard;  Isabel,  deceased; 
Francis,  Jeremiah ;  Mary,  deceased ;  Hiram  and 
William  Albert. 

FOSTER  JOHN,  Monroe  township ;  son  of 
John  and  Catharine  (Boyd)  Foster;  was  born 
February  9, 1823,  in  Donegal,  Ireland,  came  to 
America  with  his  parents  in  1825,  and  settled  in 
Coshocton  county,  where  he  has  since  lived;  is  a 
farmer;  was  married  in  December  of  1855.  to 
Miss  Ann  J.,  daughter  of  W.  H.  and  Martha  (Mc- 
Bride)  Burklew;  are  the  parents  of  two  children. 

FOX  MARTHA,  Clark  township;  postoffice, 
Helmick;  widow  of  Ira  Fox;  was  born  in  Ire- 
land, June  13,  1841;  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Jane  Buchannan,  who  came  from  Ireland,  in  1847. 
She  was  married  to  Ira  Fox,  August  21,1861; 
son  of  Ely  and  Louvina  (Andrews)  Fox;  born 
January  25,  1816;  died,  February  8,  1879.  She  is 
the  mother  of  seven  children,  viz :  James  H.,  born 
December  14,  1862;  Thomas  L,born  July  6,1864; 
Isabel  J.,  born  June  6,  1866;  Cora  E.,  born  January 
9, 1869;  Joseph  D.,  born  January  9, 1872;  Wilmer 
M.,  born  July  18,  1874;  George,  born  April  26, 
1878. 

FOX  EDWIN,  Clark  township;  postoffice, 
Helmick;  born  in  Clark  township,  Coshocton 
county,  November  23,  1852;  son  of  Ira  and  Rox- 
anna  (Davis)  Fox,  and  grandson  of  Ely  and  Lou- 
vina (Andrews)  Fox.  He  was  raised  on  the 
farm,  and  has  spent  most  of  his  time  at  farming, 
but  has  also  worked  at  carpentry,  and  is,  at  pres- 
ent, partner  in  a  saw-mill,  with  George  Lowe  and 
Henry  Markley.  He  was  married,  February  23, 
1873,  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Akin,  daughter  of  James 
and  Sarah  (Moore)  Akin.  She  was  born  in  Beth- 
lehem township,  July  24, 1852.  They  are  parents 
of  four  children:  George,  deceased;  Cora  E.,  Ira 
N.  and  Rose. 

FOX  ELY,  Clark  township ;  farmer ;  postoffice, 
Helmick;  born  May  8, 1827,  in  Clark  township, 
on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides ;  son  of  Ely_ 
and  Louvina  (Andrews)  Fox.  His  father  and 
mother  were  both  born  in  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
his  father  in  1789,  and  his  mother  in  1794.  They 
moved  to  Clark  township  in  1822,  entering  a 
tract  of  land  of  one  thousand  acres,  two  hundred 
and  fifty  of  which  is  now  owned  by  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  and  on  which  he  now  lives.  His 
father  was  a  ship  carpenter,  and  lived  in  Zanes- 
ville,  Ohio,  in  1812,  and  assisted  in  building  the 
first  (Buckingham)  bridge.  His  grandfathers 
were  both  soldiers  of  the  revolutionary  war.  He 
was  married  February  17, 1849,  to  Elizabeth  Mc- 


684 


HISTOfiY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Coy,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  McCoy,  from 
whom  he  was  divorced.  He  was  married  again 
May  17, 1862,  to  Ann  M.  Bills,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam A.  and  Almira  (Fulton)  Bills,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Allanson  Bills  and  Sampson  and 
Elizabeth  (Quigly)  Fulton,  who  was  born  in 
Wheeling,  West  Virginia,'  July  18,  1832.  They 
are  parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  Ivey  I.,  born 

March  7, ;  Mary,  February  23, 1868 ;  William 

A.,  June  19,  1864 ;  James  E.,  September  24,  1865, 
deceased ;  Hannah  A.,  July  20,  1867 ;  Edwin  G., 
December  16, 1868;  and  Martha  J.,  December  29, 
1876.  Mr.  Fox  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war,  be- 
longed to  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
Second  O.  N.  G.,  and  served  about  four  months. 

FOX  AMOS,  Clark  township ;  farmer ;  postof- 
fice,  Helmick;  born  in  West  Zanesville,  Muskin- 
gum county,  Ohio,  June  29, 1801 ;  son  of  Eli  and 
Louvina  (Andrews)  Fox,_and  grandson  of  Amos 
Fox.  He  removed  from'  Zanesville  with  his  pa- 
rents, to  Clark  township,  when  he  w^s  ten  years 
of  age,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  He  is 
one  among  the  oldest  settlers  of  the  township,  and 
owns  a  farm  of  356  acres  Mr.  Fox  was  married 
October  19, 1837,to  Miss  Chrissa  Ann  Stover,  daugh- 
ter of  Michael  and  Phebe  Stover.  She  was  born 
in  Virginia,  December  14, 1806,  and  came  to  Ohio 
at  six  years  of  age.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  John,  deceased ;  Thomas,  deceased  ;  Ira, 
Michael  H.,  Louvina,  Matthias  and  Rebecca.  John 
belonged  to  Company  F,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  L,  under 
Captain  James  Crooks.  He  enlisted  September 
17, 1861,  and  died  October  26, 1863,  near  Chicka- 
mauga,  Tennessee,  where  he  is  buried. 

FERGUSON  S.  T.,  manager  of  Coshocton  Com- 
inonwealth,  of  the  firm  of  Ferguson  Bros.,  pub- 
Mshers  and  general  job  printers;  born  in  Plarri- 
son  county,  Ohio,  August  24;  1848 ;  resided  there 
until  between  sixteen  and  seventeen  years  old, 
when  he  enlisted  in  the  One  Hundred  and 
Eighty-fifth  O.  V.  I.,  and  served  as  a  private  in 
Company  I  until  the  close  of  the  war,  then 
served  on  the  Pan  Handle  railroad  in  the  capacity 
of  brakeman,  freight  conductor  and  passenger 
conductor,  for  over  eleven  years.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  January,  1874,  to  Miss  Maggie  Ferguson, 
of  Canonsburgh,Pennsylvania,and  has  one  child — 
Carrie,  who  is  now  six  years  of  age.  In  the  year 
■  of  1878  he  left  the  railroad  and  engaged  in  the 
foundry  and  machine  business  at  Newcomers- 
town,  Ohio,  and  was  burned  out  shortly  after 
engaging  in  that  business,  when  he  located  at 
Coshocton,  Ohio,  and  is  one  of  the  partners  of 
that  popular  sheet  called  the  Coshocton  Comnwn- 
wealth.  The  paper  was  started  on  January  1, 
1880,  the  most  inauspicious  time  for  such  an 
enterprise,  but,  through  his  efficient  manage- 
ment, it  has  been  entirely  successful,  and  reached 
the  acme  of  excellence,  and  far  surpassed  the  ex- 


pectations of  the  proprietors.    It  will,  in  the  near 
future,  become  the  paper  of  Coshocton  county. 

FERGUSON  W.  M.,  editor  Coshocton  Common- 
wealth; of  the  firm  of  Ferguson  Brothers,  pub- 
lishers and  general  job  printers;  native  of  Harri- 
son county,  Ohio,  and  was  born  July  29,  1857; 
youngest  son  of  Benjamin  M.  and  Cynthia  (Has- 
kins)  Ferguson.  Went  to  school  until  about 
fifteen  years  old,  when,  without  having  ever  been 
under  instruction,  took  up  the  "art  preservative," 
in  company  with  a  younger  companion,  and  pub-' 
lished  a  small  paper.  In  two  years  he  left  home 
and  engaged  in  the  office  of  the  Cadiz  Sentind, 
serving  a  three  years'  apprenticeship,  being,  how- 
ever, promoted  to  the  foremanship  after  first  six 
months.  He  next  went  to  Newcomerstown,  Tus- 
carawas county,  there  establishing  a  paper  called 
The  Eye,  and  successfully  managing  it  for  over  a 
year,  when  he  disposed  of  his  interest  and  retired 
for  a  short  time,  next,  with  his  brother,  purchas- 
ing an  office  in  Coshocton  and  starting,  January 
1, 1880,  the  Coshodmi  Com,monweatth,  which,  as  a 
result  of  their  industry,  energy  and  persistent 
efforts,  has  now  grown  into  a  large,  influential, 
independent  weekly,  ranking  among  the  very 
best  county  papers  in  Ohio.  The  prosperity  of 
the  Commonwealth  is  evinced  in  the  fact  that  a 
new  power  press  and  outfit  of  type  has  just  been 
added  to  its  office. 

FRECK  W.  C,  New  Castle  township;  postof- 
flce,  Walhonding ;  was  born  in  Holmes  county, 
August  25,  1851 ;  son  of  Christian  and  Julia  (Mi- 
ser) Freck.  He  attended  school  until  the  age  of 
fourteen,  at  which  time  he  began  to  learn  the 
shoemaker's  trade  with  Henry  H.  Geiger,  of  New 
Bedford,  Coshocton  county.  From  there*iie  went 
to  Meadville,  Pennsylvania,  and  engaged  with 
Carpenter  &  Mathews  in  building  the  court-house 
of  that  place.  He  then  went  to  Garretsville,  Ohio, 
and  assisted  in  building  the  college  and  bank  in  ■ 
that  place,  and  from  there  he  went  to  Cuyahoga 
county,  and  assisted  in  building  the  court-house 
in  that  county ;  after  which  he  went  to  Millers- 
burg  and  served  as  clerk  with  R.  C.  &  J.  T.  Max- 
well, in  a  retail  clothing  establiehment,  and  re- 
mained two  years.  He  then  went  to  Liiiia,  Ohio, 
and  engaged  with  Koch  &  Levi,  retail  clothers, 
and  after  remaining  with  them  one  year  he  went 
to  St.  Louis,  and  engaged  in  a  wholesale  clothing 
store  with  L.  E.  Green  &  Co.,  and  remained  with 
them  three  years.  His  health  being^  impaired  he 
took  a  trip  through  the  West,  visiting  Colorado 
and  the  Hot  Springs,  and  on  returning  home  to 
New  Bedford  he  clerked  for  G.  C.  Brenner  in  a 
general  dry  goods  store  eighteen  months,  after 
which  he  formed  a  partnership  in  general  mer- 
chandising under  the  firm  name  of  Freck  &  Fair, 
doing  business  a  year,  when  he  bought  the  en- 
tire stock  and  moved  it  to  Walhonding  on  the  1st 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


685 


of  March,  1879,  where  he  has  since  been  doing  a 
fair  business.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Selecta  C. 
Fair  August  16,  1877,  daughter  of  Penice  and 
■Catharine  Fair,  who  was  born  July  8,  1859,  in 
Holmes  county,  Ohio.  They  have  been  blessed 
with  two  children,  viz :    Charles  and  MoUie. 

PEEDEEICK  J.  M.,  Jefiferson  township ;  farm- 
er; postofRce,  Warsaw;  born  in  York  county, 
Pennsylvania,  July  13,  1825;  son  of  Jacob  and 
■Christina  (Frederick)  Frederick,  who  came  from 
Wurtemberg,  Germany,  and  grandson  of  Casper 
and  Barbara  Frederick,  who  came  to  Monroe 
township,  Coshocton  county,  when  he  was  but 
•eight  years  of  age.  He  never  received  any  school- 
ing, as  there  were  no  schools  until  he  was  fifteen 
years  old.  He  was  married,  November  19,  1846, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Parrot,  daughter  of  John  and  Dora 
(Bateman)  Parrot,  who  came  from  Ireland.  She 
was  born  March  13,  1826,  died  June  19,  1854. 
They-  had  four  children,  viz:  Eobert  C,  born 
■October  4, 1847;  Dorenda  A.,  born  September  3, 
1849;  Martha  J.,  born  October  6,  1851 ;  and  Wil- 
liam W.,  born  November  8,  1853.  He  was  mar- 
ried, November  20, 1854,  to  Mrs.  Phebe  Brillhart, 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Susan  (Whitzel)  Brill- 
hart,  born  June  12,  1833.  The  children  of  this 
marriage  were ;  Mary  J.,  born  February  18, 1857 ; 
Samuel  J.,  born  August  14,  1859;  Sarah  L.,  born 
September  3,  1862;  Elizabeth  A.,  born  January 
•22, 1865;  Laura  M.;  born  August  18,  1867;  Eosa 
■C.,  born  October  13,  1869;  Emma  C,  born  April 
14, 1872;  Harriet  G.,  born  October  10,  1875,  died 
J'une  19,  1879.  Mr.  Frederick  is  a  member  of  the 
M.  E.  church  and  has  been  for  the  past  thirty-five 
years;  is  a  highly  respected,  pious  man,  and  has 
Taised  a  large,  intelligent  family. 

FEEDEEICK  BENJAMIN  J.,  Bethlehem 
township;  farmer;  son  of  John  C.  Frederick; 
was  born  August  27, 1856,  in  Bethlehem  town- 
ship. Mr.  Frederick  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and 
has  always  followed  that  occupation.  He  was 
married  February  12, 1878,  to  Miss  Katie  Lay- 
man, of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  February, 
1860.  They  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  James 
Clayton,  born  in  August,  1880.  Mr.  Frederick's 
father  and  mother  died  in  January,  1879,  aged  re- 
spectively eighty  and  sixty  years.  They  were 
among  the  first  settlers  of  the  township. 

FEEDEEICK  JOHN  G.,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  John 
C.  and  Mary  A.  (Frieze)  Frederick;  was  born, 
April  10,  1828,  in  Bethlehem  township,  Coshoc- 
ton county.  Mr.  Frederick's  father  was  one  of 
the  old  pioneers  of  the  county.  John  G.  Fred- 
erick was  married,  October  31,  1850,  to  Miss 
Emma  Curran,  of  this  county.  They  are  the 
■parents  of  five  children,  viz:  Laura  E.,  born  De- 
cember 11,  1852;  Silva  F.,  born  May  14,  1859; 
MilUe   S.,  born  July  16,  1863;  Perry  W.,  born 


October  19,  1865;  Carrie  A.,  born  June  10,  1871. 
Two,  Laura  E.  and  Silva  F.,  are  married.  Millie 
S.  was  educated  at  the  National  normal  school,  at 
Lebanon,  Ohio,  and  is  now  teaching  school.  Mr. 
Frederick  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always 
followed  that  occupation.  He  has,  by  industry, 
secured  a  fine  farm,  in  Bethlehem  township.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Frederick  are  prominent  members  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  church,  and  are  es- 
teemed by  all  who  know  them. 

FEEDEEICK  E.  C,  Jefferson  township ;  was 
born  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio ;  son  of  John  M. 
and  Sarah  J.  (Parrott)  Frederick.  He  lived  on  a 
farm  until  the  age  of  sixteen,  when  he  accepted 
the  position  of  clerk  in  W.  &  J.  W.  Stanton's  dry 
goods  store,  where  he  continued  till  the  dissolu- 
tion of  that  firm,  when  he  engaged  with  Jackson 
Hay,  of  Coshocton,  in  th^  same  business,  where 
he  labored  for  five  years.  In  1870,  he  engaged  in 
the  hardware  business,  in  partnership  with  G.  E. 
Gamble,  and  in  1872,  he  sold  his  hardware  inter- 
est to  his  partner,  then  formed  a  partnership  with 
James  Frederick,  and  opened  up  another  hard- 
ware store,  which  they  managed  successfully  till 
1874,  when  they  had  a  burn-out  and  lost  every- 
thing. He  then  traveled  with  J.  Kitzmiller  & 
Co.,  of  Canton,  Ohio,  for  four  years,  on  a  salary  of 
$6.00  per  day.  After  this  he  went  into  the  hard- 
ware business  again,  under  the  firm  name  of  C. 
Kaser  &  Co.,  and  are  at  present  doing  a  lively 
business  at  Warsaw,  Ohio.  Mr.  Prederfck  was 
married  to  Miss  Lizzie  Myers  in  March,  1870, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Wilhelmina  Myers. 
Their  children  are  Clara,  May  and  Eussell  C. 

FEEDEEICK  JOHN,  .  Jefferson  township; 
born  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany,  January  21, 1813; 
son  of  John  George  and  Christina  (Deaner)  Fred- 
erick, and  grandson  of  Casper  and  Barbara  Fred- 
erick and  John  Deaner.  He  came  to  America 
at  the  age  of  nineteen,  landing  in  Baltimore  after 
a  voyage  of  eleven  weeks  on  a  Holland  vessel. 
From  there  he  came  to  Bethlehem  township,  Co- 
shocton county,  and  after  remaining  there  about 
two  years,  moved  to  Jefferson  township,  where  he 
has  resided  since.  He  is  one  of  the  first  settlers 
of  the  township,  is  a  highly  respected  citizen, 
owns  a  farm  of  320  acres,  well  improved.  Mr. 
Frederick  was  married  September  10,  1837,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Brillhart,  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Susan  ( Whitezel)  Brillhart,  of  Buckingham  coun- 
ty, Virginia.  Mrs.  Frederick  died  December  3, 
1879.  He  is  the  father  of  ten  children,  viz :  Su- 
san; Samuel,  deceased;  Pollie,  George,  David, 
Louis,  William,  Benjamin ;  Christina  and  Julia, 
deceased.  He  has  twenty-four  grandchildren  and 
one  great-grandchild. 

FEEESE  WILLIAM^  L.,  farmer;  postoffice, 
Mohawk  village;  born  in  1845,  in  this  county .^ 
His  father  was  born  in  1808,  in  Frederick  county. 


686 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Maryland,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1834.  He 
was  married  in  1835  to  Miss  Annie  M.  AA'eather- 
wax,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1815,  in  New 
York.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  fifth.  He  was 
married  in  1877  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Ogle,  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1855.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  one  child,  Asbury. 

FREW  W.  C,  M.  D.,  Coshocton ;  born,  October 
31,  1844,  in  this  city ;  son  of  John  Frew,  a  native 
of  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  of  Irish  an- 
cestry. He  was  raised,  and  received  a  primary 
education,  in  his  native  city.  In  1862,  he  en- 
tered the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Harbor, 
and  was  graduated,  in  1866.  In  the  same  year, 
he  began  the  study  of  medicine,  with  Dr.  Harris, 
of  this  city.  In  1867,  he  entered  Long  Island 
college  hospital,  at  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and  at- 
tended three  courses*  of  lectures,  receiving  the 
degree  of  M.  D  ,  in  1869,  and  served  one  year  in 
the  Long  Island  college  hospital  house,  as  physi- 
cian and  surgeon.  He  began  practice  in  this 
city  in  ■  1870,  and  has  continued  to  the  present 
time  (1880).  Dr.  Frew  was  married,  January  2, 
1877,  to  Miss  L.  V.  Hackinson,  daughter  of  Robert 
Hackinson,  of  this  city. 

FREY  FREDERICK,  New  Castle  township; 
postofiftce,  Walhonding;  born  September  3, 1820, 
in  Pfalz  of  Bavaria  in  Germany ;  son  of  George 
^nd  Elizabeth  (Eresman)  Frey,  grandson  of 
Frederick  and  Catharine  Eresman,  all  natives  of 
Germany.  Mr.  Frey  came  to  America  with  his 
parents,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1837,  stopped  in 
Buffalo  a  month,  then  came  to  New  Castle  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  and  has  lived  here  ever 
since.  The  first  four  years  of  his  sojourn  in  this 
county  were  spent  working  on  the  Walhonding 
canal,  then  in  process  of  construction.  After  its 
completion,  he  engaged  with  Mr.  Noah  Butler  to 
work  on  the  farm,  and  remained  several  years, 
then  began  farming  for  himself,  and  has  been 
successful.  He  has  a  good  farm  of  160  acres  in 
the  northern  part  of-  New  Castle  township.  He 
married  Miss  Dorothj'  Branstool,  June  13,  1846, 
daughter  of  Godfrey  and  Ehzabeth  Branstool, 
who  was  born  in  the  year  1827,  in  Alsace,  France. 
They  have  eight  children,  all  living,  viz :  George, 
born  May  24, 1848;  Elizabeth,  born  December  1, 
1849;  Mary,  born  March  6, 1862;  John,  born  Feb- 
ruary^ 12,  1856;  Lewis,  born  October  25,  1857; 
Caroline,  born  February  29,  1862 ;  William,  born 
October  20, 1865,  and  Clara,  born  January  10, 1870. 

FROCK  MICHAEL,  Keene  township ;  farmer; 
born  October  28,  1847,  in  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio;  son  of  George,  born  May  21,  1824,  and 
Rachael  Sheneman,  born  September  29,  1829, 
grandson  of  Michael,  born  May  9, 1785,  and  Eliza- 
beth (Seldenright)  Frock,  and  of  Christian  and 
Catharine  (Moore)  Sheneman.    He  was  married 


to  Miss  Mary  IMcCaskey,  born  April  4, 1844.  ^he- 
is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Eliza  (Graham) 
McCaskey,  and  granddaughter  of  George  Mc- 
Caskey.  Their  children  were — William  G,  born 
April  7,  1875 ;  Solernma  D.,  December  24,  1876,. 
and  Donella  May,  August  22, 1878. 

FROCK  GEORGE,  White  Eyes  townshisp;, 
farmer;  born,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  re- 
sides, in  1824.  His  father,  Michael  Frock,  was 
born,  in  Chester  county,  Georgia,  in  the  year- 
1795,  and  was  married  in  Georgia.  He  emi- 
grated to  Tuscafawas  county  in  1814,  and  came 
to  White  Eyes  township  in  1818 ;  bought  eighty 
acres  of  land,  and  entered  the  balance  of  the 
200  acres  where  his  son  George  now  lives.  Ke 
was  the  fifth  settler  in  the  township;  came  here 
before  it  was  organized,  and  had  to  cut  his  way 
through  the  woods,  from  Sugar  creek  to  his  farm. 
He  was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace,  and  served 
in  that  office  three  terms.  His  son  George  has  his 
first  docket,  which  is  quite  a  curiosity.  It  is 
made  out  of  coarse,  unruled  paper,  and  is  bound 
in  buckskin  and  pasteboard.  The  first  entry  was- 
made  in  1824. 

The  first  law-suit  was  against  James  Hender- 
son. Pat.  Ravenscroft  charged  him  with  killing  a 
dog  and  scalping  it,  and  drawing  on  it  the  prem- 
ium paid  by  the  State  for  wolf  scalps.  He  was 
bound  over  to  the  court  of  common  pleas.  In  the 
same  year,  a  Sabbath-breaker  was  fined  seventy- 
five  cents.  Another  was  charged  with  "  swearing 
two  finable  oaths,"  tried,  found  guilty,  and  was 
fined  fifty  cents,  twenty-five  cents  for  each  oath.. 
He  styled  some  of  his  cases  "  assault  and  struck," 
and  in  several  places  where  an  adminstrator  was 
plaintiff,  he  entered  it  thus :  "  A.  B.,  administrator 
for  the  State  of  C.  D.,  dec'd."  A  large  portion  of 
the  docket  was  filled  with  suits  for  bastardy. 

The  following  is  a  fair  specimen  of  some  of  the 
entries :  "Appeared  before  me,  Michael  Frock, 
a  justice  of  the  peace  for  said  township,  on  the 
7th  day  of  August,  William  Cutshall  personally 
appeared  and  paid  one  dollar  for  to  fight  fisti- 
cuffs with  John  Shook,  on  the  23d  day  of  July- 
Received  by  me,  Michael  Frock,  J.  P."  This 
docket  is  highly  prized  by  the  family,  and  they 
have  also  miany  other  ancient  papers  that  are  in- 
teresting to  the  antiquarian.  Michael  Frock  was 
of  German  descent,  and  had  a  good  German  edu- 
cation ;  but,  judging  from  his  papers,  his  English' 
was  defective.  He  served  the  township  as  trus- 
tee several  terms ;  was  an  honorable  gentleman, 
and  highly  esteemed.  He  enjoyed  hunting,  and 
was  fond  of  relating  his  adventures  with  the 
wild  animals  that  prowled  through  the  woods 
that  surrounded  his  home  in  pioneer  times.  He- 
was  drafted  in  the  war  of  1812. 

He  died  in  1871,  age  eighty-five  years,  and  his 
wife,  who  was  well  known  in  the  community  as- 
an  obstetrician,  died  in  1856,  at  sixty-nine  years- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


687 


of  age.  Their  family  consisted  of  the  following 
children :  Anna  Mary,  married  Jacob  Nihart  and 
lives  ifi  Williams  county;  Jacob,  married  Cath- 
arine Sompsel,  and  are  both  deceased;  Michael, 
married  Susan  Nihart,  and  they  are  both  dead; 
John,  died  when  about  fifteen  years  old ;  Djniel, 
married  Catharine  Lint,  and  lives  in  Indiana; 
Christina,  was  married  to  Wash  Richardson,  and 
has  deceased;  George, married  Rachel  Shoneman, 
June  25,  1846,  and  their  children  are :  Michael, 
born  October  28,  1847,  married  Mary  MoClosky 
in  1870,  lives  in  Keene  township,  and  his  wife 
has  deceased;  Margaret, born  November  14, 1650, 
married  Danied  Arney  in  1879, and  lives  in  Clark 
township;  Leah  E.,  born  January  24,  1858,  mar- 
ried Thomas  Doak  in  1873,  and  is  a  widow;  John, 
born  September  8,  1855,  married  Sarah  Sampsel 
in  1879,  and  lives  on  his  father's  place ;  Rachel, 
feorn  December  17, 1862,  is  unmarried,  and  lives 
at  home. 

FRY  J.  P.,  New  Castle  township ;  was  born  in 
December  1823,  in  Pfalz,  Bavaria,  in  Germany; 
.son  of  George  and  Elizabeth  C.  Eresman  Frj', 
grandson  of  William  Pry  and  Frederick  Eres- 
man, all  natives  of  Germany.  In  August,  1837, 
he  arrived  in  America,  stopping  in  Buffalo  until 
September,  when  he  came  to  Coshocton  county 
and  worked  on  the  canal  ind  farm  for  seven  years. 
He  then  leased  land,  cleared,  and  farmed  until 
1848,  when  he  purchased  a  small  farm,  since 
which  time  he  has  been  gradually  advancing  and 
now  has  over  400  acres  of  land.  He  was  married 
to  Miss  Anna  Braustool,  on  the  29th  of  June,  1849, 
daughter  of  Godfrey  and  Elizabeth  Braustool, 
and  they  have  had  seven  children,  viz :  William, 
John,  Jacob,  Levi,  Elizabeth,  Elvina  and  Louie. 
Mrs.  Fry  died  November  2,  1861.  He  afterwards 
.  married  Miss  Barbary  Breidenbucher,  daughter 
of  George  and  Margaret  (Olier)  Breidenbucher, 
granddaughter  of  George  and  Barbery  (Weimer) 
Olier,  natives  of  France,  and  by  their  marriage 
had  five  children,  viz  :  Daniel,  Franklin,  Samuel, 
Edward  and  Otto. 

PRY  W.  S.,  Perry  township;  born  in  this 
■county  in  1840 ,  Son  of  Samuel  and  Darcus  (Cul- 
lison)  Pry,  grandson  of  John  Pry  and  of  Jesse 
.•and  Notie'  Cullison.  He  was  married  in  1861,  to 
Miss  Caroline  Crowther.  They  are  the  parents 
'of  three  children,  viz:  William  A.,  Willis  and 
Emmet. 

PRY  JONAS,  Jackson  township;  postoffice, 
Warsaw;  was  born  in  this  county  in  1836;  son  of 
Jonas  and  Mary  (Crowther)  Pry,  and  grandson  of 
Enoch  Fry  and  James  and  Delilah  Crowther. 
Married  in  1860,  to  Miss  Sarah  P.  Hughes, 
•daughter  of  William  Hughes.  Mr.  Pry  is  the 
father  of  three  children,  viz :  Lincoln,  Joshua 
and  William  P. 


C3- 

GAMBLE  SAMUEL  K.,  groceries  and  provis- 
ions. East  Chestnut  street,  at  the  intersection  of 
Chestnut  and  Main  streets,  Coshocton.  Mr. 
Gamble  is  a  native  of  Cookstown,  Tyrone  county, 
Ireland,  where  he  was  born  June  12,  1846.  He 
emigrated  to  America  in  the  spring  of  1865,  and 
located  in  Coshocton,  where  he  engaged  as  sales- 
man in  the  grocery  of  W.  G.  Mofltit,  where,  he  re- 
mained one  year.  After  this  he  engaged  m  rail- 
roading and  coal  mining,  until  1879,  when  he  es- 
tablished his  present  business.  He  carries  a  good 
stock  of  staple  and  fancy  family  groceries,  and 
confectioneries,  stoneware,  woodenware,  sugar- 
cured  and  pickled  meats,  salt  fish,  flour,  salt,  and 
all  kinds  of  canned  goods ;  also  deals  in  all  kinds 
of  country  produce. 

GAMBLE  G.  R.,  Jefferson  township;  merchant; 
postoffice,  Warsaw  :  born  in  New  Castle  township, 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  August  8, 1842 ;  son  of 
Romulus  and  Margaret  (Riley)  Gamble.  He  was 
raised  on  a  farm,  and  educated  in  the  graded 
schools  of  New  Castle ;  remaining  on  the  farm 
until  twenty-six  years  of  age.  In  the  spring  of 
1870  he  opened  a  hardware  store  in  Warsaw,  in 
partnership  with  R.  C.  Frederick,  and  continued 
in  that  business  until  1878,  when  he  sold  his  in- 
terest in  the  hardware,  and  purchased  the  half 
interest  in  Nickol's  store,  where  he  is  at  present, 
doing  a  lively  business.  They  deal  extensively 
in  grain  also.  He  was  married  in  December, 
1868,  to  Miss  Lizzie  Cratz,  of  Cosl^octon,  daughter 
of  Leopold  and  Marilla  Cratz.  They  are  blessed 
with  four  children :  Romulus,  Milla,  Maggie  and 
Lou  Ella.-  Mr.  Gamble  is  a  gentleman  of  stand- 
ing, a  thorough  business  man,  and  respected  by 
all  who  know  him. 

GAMBLE  LEVI,  Jefferson  township;  teacher 
and  civil  engineer;  postoffice,  Warsaw;  born  in 
Huron,  December  10,  1834 ;  son  of  James  and 
Elizabeth  (Ashley)  Gamble,  and  grandson  of 
William  and  Nancy  (Robison)  Gamble,  and  of 
Warden  and  Susannah  (Turner)  Ashley.  His 
grandfather.  Gamble,  came  from  Ireland,  in  an 
early  day,  and  settled  near  Philadelphia  Penn- 
sylvania. From  there  he  came  to  Zanesville, 
and,  after  remaining  there  for  some  time,  moved 
to  Delaware  county,  and  thence  to  Huron  county, 
where  he  died.  He  was  father  of  twelve  chil- 
dren, of  whom  James  the  youngest,  moved 
to  Coshocton  county,  in  1837;  located  in  New 
Castle  township,  and  served  as  justice  of  the 
peace,  for  about  twelve  years.  He  was  sent  to 
the  Legislature,  from  this  county  in  1860,  and 
served  one  term,  and,  in  1,862,  was  elected  mem- 
ber of  the  board  of  public  works,  in  which  ca- 
pacity he  served  until  March  18,  1864,  when  he 
died,  in  Iris  fifty-eighth  year.  Levi  is  the  only 
son,  and    followed  teaching,  from   the    age  of 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


twenty  to  1S64,  at  which  time  he  was  appointed 
civil  engineer  on  public  works,  and  served  one 
year.  He  was  appointed  county  surveyor,  by 
the  county  commissioners,  in  June,  1865,  and 
served  twelve  years.  Mr.  Gamble  is  at  present 
teaching.  He  was  married,  January  6,  1868,  to 
Miss  Mary  A.  Bucklew,  daughter  of  Nathan  and 
Mary  A.  (Chambers)  Bucklew,  and  granddaugh- 
ter of  Parker  and  Elizabeth  (Mathena)  Bucklew, 
and  of  WiUiam  A.  and  Anna  (Smock)  Chambers. 
She  was  born  September  30,  1845  in  Clark  town- 
ship. They  are  the  parents  of  three  children: 
James  H.,  born  December  16,  1869;  Nathan 
Ward,  September  21,  1871,  and  Clyde  A.,  March 
9, 1873.  I 

GAEDNEE  SAMUEL,  leather  and  findings, 
Sixth  street,  Coshocton ;  was  born  in  Saratoga, ' 
New  York,  December  22,  1823 ;  son  of  Jabez  and 
Sarah  (Brone)  Gardner,  of  American  ancestry. 
Young  Gardner  lived  until  nine  years  of  age,  at 
Troy,  New  York,  from  thence  moved  to  Utica, 
New  York,  from  which  place  he  came  to  this  city, 
in  1844.  Mr.  Gardner  learned  the  shoemaking 
trade  when  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  has 
followed  it  as  a  secondary  business  to  the  present 
time.  About  the  year  1849,  he  learned  tele- 
graphy and  was  an  operator  about  five  years.  He 
was  appointed  collector  of  tolls  on  the  Ohio  and 
Walhonding  canal,  June  1,  1861,  and  served  to 
April  15,'  1880.  In  April,  1871,  he  was  elected 
justice  of  the  peace,  .and  served  three  consecutive 
terms.  He  was  also  elected  county  infirmary 
director  and  served  two  terms.  .  He  was  married 
Septembr  1, 1844,  to  Miss  Margaret  E.,  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Jennette  (McFarland)  Vanvalkin- 
burg.  New  York  State.  They  have  brought  up  a 
family  of  seven  children,  viz  :  Clinton  J.;  Jennie 
and  Julia,  twins;  Kate,  Benjamin,  Mamie  and 
Ellie. 

GAEDINEE  JAMES  A.,  Pike  township;  post- 
office,  West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ; 
born  in  this  county  in  1829;  son  of  Archibald 
^nd  Martha  (Stewart)  Gardiner.  Mr.  Gardiner's 
father  settled  in  this  county  in  1819,  and  died  in 
1868;  and  his  mother  died  in  1879.  He  is  a 
grandson  of  Hugh  and  Barbara  (Neal)  Gardiner, 
and  of  William  and  Anna  Stewart.  He  was 
married  in  1852  to  Miss  Minerva  J.  Beckham, 
daughter  of  William  and  Nancy  Beckham.  They 
are  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz  :  WilliaJii  H., 
Samuel  A.,  Cteorge  N.,  Martha  E.,  and  Nannie  A. 
One  is  married  and  lives  in  Licking  county. 

GAULT  JOHN,  Pike  township;  postoflice, 
WestCarhsle;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
this  county  in  1837;  son  of  Adam  and  Sarah 
Gault,  and  grandson  of  Adain  and  Margaret 
Gault.  I-Ie  was  married  in  1867  to  Miss  Susan 
M.  White,  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Sarah  White. 


They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz :  Sarab  ■ 
I.,  Darl  F.,  and  Tilden  A.    • 

GAULT  ADAM,  Perry  township;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle;  born  in  Mercer  county,  in  1806, 
settled  in  this  county  in  1814;  son  of  Adam  and 
Margaret  (Stewart)  Gault,  and  grandson  of  James- 
and, Margaret  Gault,  and  of  William  and  Margaret 
(Neal)  Stewart.  He  was  married,  in  1831,  to 
Miss  Sarah  Miller,  daughter  of  Francis  and  Isa- 
bella Miller.  Mrs.  Gault  died  in  1876.  They  had 
nine  children,  viz :  Isabella,  Margaret,  John,  Anna, 
William,  Eliza  and  George. 

GAULT  W.  E.,  Coshocton ;  attorney;  born  Jan- 
uary 20, 1848,  in  Pike  township,  this  county;  son 
of  Adam  Gault,  who,  at  an  early  day,  came  to  this 
county  from  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania. 
In  his  childhood  and  early  youth  he  faithfully 
performed  the  duties  of  a  farmer  boy.  His  rudi- 
mental  education  was  obtained  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  county.  In  1869,  he  entered 
Wittemberg  College,  Springfield,  Ohio,  and  was 
graduated  in  1873.  In  the  same  year  he  entered 
as  a  student  in  the  law  office  of  Messrs.  Nicholas 
&  James,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  July  20, 
1875,  since  which  time  he  has  pursued  his  profes- 
sion. June,  1879,  Mr.  Gault  was  appointed  a 
member  of  the  board  of  school  examiners,  which 
position  he  now  honorably  fills. 

GEESE  GEOEGE,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Avondale ;  born  in  Cnmberland  coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  May  28,  1808;  son  of  George 
and  Catharine  (Stall)  Geese,  and  grandson  of  Con- 
rad Geese,  who  was  of  German  descent.  He 
came  to  White  Eyes  township,  Coshocton  county, 
in  1837,  remained  there  two  yeai^,then  moved  to 
Crawford  township,  remained  there  one  year,  then 
came  to  his  present  location,  where  he  has  been 
a  resident  ever  since.  He  was  married  in  May, 
1831,  to  Miss  Mary  McFadden,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Barbara  McFadden.  She  died  April 
1,  1864.  They  became  the  parents  of  fourteen 
children,  eight  of  whom  are  living,  viz:  William, 
Samuel,  George,  Jacob,  Christian,  Henry,  Sarah 
and  Jane.  He  married,  in  February,  1855,^Mis9 
Margaret  Wimer,  who  died  in  1863.  He  then 
married  Mrs.  Sarah  Fuller,  daughter  of  John  and 
Susannah  (Noel)  Bowman,  and  granddaughter  of 
Nicholas  and  Mary  (Slonacre)  Noel,  of  German 
descent,  and  became  the  mother  of  two  children, 
Alonzo  and  Harry. 

GEESE  CHEISTOPHEE,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; a  native. of  Cumberland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania; emigrated  to  this  county  about  1837. 
April  27,  1845,  he  married  Miss  Jennie  Kimble. 
She  was  a  native  of  Jefferson  county,  was  born  in 
1818,  came  to  this  county  with  her  parents,  who- 
were  among  the  first  settlers  of  White  Eyes. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


b89 


Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geese  were  the  parents  of  four  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  hving,  viz:  Columbus  and 
Washington.  Columbus  was  born  March  22, 1846, 
in  White  Eyes ;  remained  af  home  until  he  was 
married,  which  was  in  1868,  to  Miss  Catharine 
Endlich,  she  is  a  native  of  the  county,  was  born 
in  1847,  and  is  of  German  ancestry.  They  have 
four  children — Elmer  E.,  Clarinda  C,  Laura  J., 
Cordelia  M.  Washington  Geese  was  born  August 
22,  1848,  and  is  married  to  Elizabeth  Cutshall. 
Christopher  Geese  bought  the  farm,  where  his 
son  Columbus  now  lives,  in  1857.  Before  Mr. 
Geese  came  to  this  county,  he  followed  naviga- 
tion. He  made  eighteen  trips  across  the  Atlan- 
tic, and  was  captain  of  a  crew  on  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers  for  some  time.  He  was  on  the 
water  about  twenty-eight  years,  and  came  to  this 
count}'  in  1845.  He,  at  one  time,  owned  about 
800  acres  of  land  in  White  Eyes.  The  elder  Geese 
died  September  26,  1870,  aged  sixty-five  years, 
and  his  wife  died  October  21, 1863,  and  they  are 
both  buried  at  Kimbles.  Columbus  Geese  was 
elected  clerk  of  White  Eyes  and  is  serving  out 
his  term  now,  he  is  also  a  notary  public. 

GEIDEL  CHARLES  H.,  of  the  firm  of  Hack, 
Geidel  &  Co.,  general  merchants,  Roscoe,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Geidel  was  born  June  28,  1852,  in  Newark, 
New  Jersey ;  son  of  John  Conrad  and  Maria  L. 
(Beatzel)  Geidel.  In  1856  they  came  to  Roscoe, 
where  young  Geidel  was  brought  up.  In  1871  he 
entered  the  room  (where  he  is  now  partner)  as 
a  clerk.  In  September,  1880,  he  entered  the  rail- 
way mail  service  on  the  Pittsburgh,  Cincinnati 
&  St.  Louis  Railway.  This  position  he  resigned 
November  6,  1880,  and  became  a  member  of  the 
present  firm  January  1,  1881.  Mr.  Geidel  was 
married  December  29,  1881,  to  Miss  Sadie  A. 
Huthchins. 

GEIGER  HENRY  H.,  Crawford  township; 
boot  and  shoe  manufacturing;  postoffice,  New 
Bedford,  Ohio;  born  in  Somerset,  Somerset  coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  August  27,  1830;  son  of  Henry 
and  Susannah  (Hess)  Geiger.  In  1840  became  to 
Holmes  county,  and  in  1845  to  Crawford  town- 
ship, and  in  1849  located  in  New  Bedford  where 
he  has  since  resided,  excepting' six  years  spent  at 
Coshocton.  Mr  Geiger  was  mail  carrier  between 
Coshocton  and  New  Bedford  from  1861  to  1863. 
He  was  married  January  6, 1856,  to  Miss  Drusilla, 
daughter  of  Charles  and  JBlizabeth  (Kreiger)  Sren- 
kle.  By  this  union  he  had  four  children :  Ellen 
S.,  Elmer  E.,  Elizabeth  A.  and  Henry  S.  Mr.  Gei- 
ger was  appointed  postmaster  at  New  Bedford  in 
1864  and  held  the  office  two  years,  and  was  re-ap- 
pointed in  1877,  and  has  since  held  it. 

GETZ  ERNHEST,  Crawford  township;  of  the 
firm  of  Getz  &  Brother,  marble  cutters;  post- 
office.  New  Bedford,  Ohio;  born  June  18,1859,  in 
Berlin  township.  Holmes  county;  son  of  John 


and  Annie  Mary  (Schiller)  Getz.  His  childhood 
and  early  youth  were  spent  on  the  farm  and 
attending  school,  one  term  of  which  was  at  the 
Lebanon  normal  school.  When  about  twenty 
years  old  he  began  his  present  trade.  Mr.  Getz 
takes  an  active  part  in  the  prf  sent  literary  soci- 
ety of  New  Bedford,  being  the  editor  of  the  soci- 
ety's paper.  The  above  firm  is  doing  a  line  bus- 
iness in  cemetery  and  other  work  in  their  line. 

GIANQUE  DAVID,  Clark  township;  fcrmer 
and  shoemaker;  postoffice,  Helmick;  born  in 
IJolmes  county,  Ohio,  in  September,  1850 ;  son  of 
David  and  Sophia  ( Williard)  Gianque,  and  grand- 
son of  David  Gianque.  His  father  came  from 
Switzerland.  He  learned  his  trade  with  Benja- 
min Gessaker  of  Wilmont,  Holmes  county,  re- 
mained there  two  years,  then  came  to  Clarke 
township  and  after  remaining  four  years  removed 
to  Holmes  county,  where  he  remained  three 
tears.  He  then  moved  back  to  Clark  township, 
purchased  a  farm  and  has  been  here  since,  work- 
ing at  his  trade  and  farming.  He  has  a  very  fair 
trade.  He  was  married  November  10,  1873,  to 
Miss  Caroline  Fulmer,  daughter  of  George  and 
Mary  (Shedecker)  Fulmer,  who  was  born  No- 
vember 11,  1848,  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio,  where 
her  parents  settled  on  coming  from  Switzerland. 
They  have  two  children — Benjamin  P.,  born  May 
25,  1875,  and  Nellie  May,  born  August  30, 1878. 

GIFFIN  FRANKLIN,  Perry  township ;  post- , 
office.  New  Guilford;  born  in  Knox  county,  Ohio, 
in  1846;  son  of  Hiram  and  Mary  (Trimble)  Gif- 
fln,  and  grandson  of  William  and  Elizabeth  Gif- 
fin,  and  of  William  and  Anna  Trimble.  He  was 
married  in  1869,  to  Miss  Laura  J.  Blue,  daughter 
of  Peter  and  Mary  Blue.  Mr  Giffin  is  the  father 
of  six  children,  viz :  Charles  E.,  Alice  M.,  Edward 
H.,  John  W.,  Raymond  D.  and  Lloyd  E. 

GILMORE  H.  W.,Washington  township ;  farm- 
er; postoffice,  Wakatomaka;  born  in  1856,  in  this 
county.  His  father  was  born  in  1830,  in  Green 
county,  Pennsylvania;  was  brought  in  same  year 
to  this  county,  and  was  married  in  1855,  to  Miss 
Ella  J.  McAdow,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1836r  in  this  county.  He  died  in  1877.  They 
were  the  parents  of  four  children,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  being  the  oldest.  He  was  married  in 
1877,  to  Miss  Ettie  McGinnis,  of  Muskingum 
county,  who  was  born  in  1856.  They  are  the  pa- 
rents of  two  children,  viz :  Oscar  E.,  deceased,  and 
Charlie. 

GIVEN  WILLIAM,  Jefferson  township;  born 
in  January,  1806,  in  County  Tyrone,  Ireland ;  son 
of  John  and  Rebecca  (Moore)  Given,  and  grand- 
son of  James  and  Sarah  (Boak)  Moore.  He  fol- 
lowed farming  in  Ireland  until  the  age  of  twenty- 
six,  when  he  came  with  his  mother  and  brother 
James,  and  settled  in  Brooke  county,  Virginia, 


690 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


where  he  remained  until  1840,  when  he  came 
with  a  colony  of  twenty -eight  persons,  his  mother 
and  brother  James  included,  to  Coshocton 
county.  They  purchased  large  tracts  of  military 
land,  known  as  the  "  Bell  section,"  and  in  a  short 
time  all  became  rich.  Mr.  Given  married  Miss 
Margret  Alexander  in  1832,  daughter  of  James 
and  "Eebecca  (Hamilton)  Alexander.  The  chil- 
dren of  this  marriage  are :  Eebecca  A.;  Isabelle, 
deceased,  and  Sarah.  Mrs.  Moore  died  in  Vir- 
ginia in  1839.  JMr.  Moore  then  married  Miss 
Margret  McParland,  who  was  born  in  1824,  and 
died  October  27,  1853,  being  the  daughter  o* 
Robert  McFarland.  Their  children  were  :  John 
J.,  Robert  and  William,  all  living  in  Coshocton 
county.  John  married  Miss  Nora  McNabb,  in 
September,  1877,  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania, 
daughter  of  John  and  Susan  (Adams)  McNabb, 
and  granddaughter  of  Jacob  and  Rachael  (Pow- 
ell) Adams,  and  of  John  McNabb.  William  and 
an  infant  son  that  is  not  yet  named,  are  their  only 
children. 

GLAZE  ZACHARIAH,  Franklin  tOAvnship; 
born  October  7,  1837,  in  Montgomery  county,  In- 
diana. His  great-grandfather  emigrated  from 
England  to  Delaware,  and  his  grandfather  from 
that  State  to  Montgomery  county,  Indiana.  In 
his  youth  he  clerked  in  a  store.  In  Jaunary, 
1862,  he  married  Anna  Engle,  of  Frederick  coun- 
ty, Maryland,  who  died  two  years  after.  In  1864 
he  came  to  Ohio.  In  1867  he  enlisted  in  the 
United  States  army,  and  served  three  years,  eigh- 
teen months  at  Florida  Keys  and  eighteen  months 
at  Boston  Harbor,  Massachusetts.  In  March,  1874, 
he  married  Mrs.  Elvira  Simon,  and  is  the  father 
of  two  children,  viz :  Albert  Alonzo  and  Milber  J. 

GLOVER  JOSI  AH,  Coshocton ;  dealer  in  books, 
sheet  music,  etc.,  421  Main  street.  Mr.  Glover  is 
a  native  of  this  county,  and  was  born  October  30, 
1830;  son  of  Joel  and  Elizabeth  (Shannon)  Glo- 
ver. He  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
this  county  and  at  Smithfield,  Jefferson  county. 
At  Smithfield  he  learned  the  carriage  and  wagon 
making  trade.  On  completing  his  trade  he  trav- 
eled for  some  time  in  Illinois,  working  at  his 
trade  at  diflTerent  places.  In  1850  he  returned  to 
Coshocton,  and  in  1853  he  resumed  his  trade, 
which  he  followed  until  1871,  when  he  established 
his  present  business  in  which  he  has  been  suc- 
cessful, having  a  fine  stock  of  school  and  miscel- 
laneous books,  sheet  music  and  musical  instru- 
•  ments,  pictures  and  picture  frames.  Mr.  Glover 
is  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county  in  music, 
and  has  done  more  than  any  other  to  develop  this 
fine  art,  having  been  a  teacher  since  1850.  Tie 
was  married,  first,  in  September,  1853,  to  Miss 
Malona  L.,  daughter  of  William  W.  and  Louisa 
(Lee)  Jamison.  By  this  marriage  he  had  two 
children,  viz :  Samuel  L,,  deceased,  and  William  J. 


Mr.  Glover  was  afterward  married  to  Miss  Leonora 
E.,  daughter  of  Timothy  A.  and  Mary  A.  (Wood- 
ruff) Condit.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, viz:  Alfred,  deceased;  Edwin  W.,  Ada  L., 
Frank  E.,  Mary  and  two  infants,  (twins), not  named, 
died  in  infancy.  Timothy  A.  Condit,  named 
above,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Coshocton 
county.  He  was  born  in  Orange,  Essex  county, 
New  jersey,  in  November,  1809,  and  came  to  Co- 
shocton county  in  October,  1834.  He  identified 
himself  at  once  with  every  plan  that  would  ad- 
vance his  adopted  county  and  State.  In  politics 
he  was  a  strong  Whig,  and  had  the  distinctive 
honor  of  being  the  only  member  of  the  legislature 
from  this  county  elected  by  the  Whig  party. 
This  was  in  1850.  He  was  a  friend  of  education 
and  always  ready  to  help  the  poor,  which  gave 
him  a  leading  position  with  the  best  men'  of  his 
community.  He  died  leaving  a  wife  and  four 
daughters,  all  of  whom  moved  to  the  West  ex- 
cepting Mrs.  J.  Glover.  Mrs.  Condit  and  one 
daughter,  have  deceased. 

GOODIN  S.  R.,  Jackson  township;  postoffice, 
Roscoe;  born  in  this  county,  in  1844;  son  of 
Amos  and  Katharine  Goodin,  and  grandson  of 
Samuel  and  Sarah  Goodin;  married,  in  1874,  to 
Mary  Underwood,  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Lucy 
Underwood.  Mr.  Goodin  is  the  father  of  two 
children,  viz :  Sylva  and  Willis. 

GOODIN  SAMUEL,  Jackson  township;  post- 
office,  Roscoe;  born  in  Perry  county,  Ohio;  son 
of  Amos  and  Katharine  Goodin,  and  grandson  of 
Samuel  and  Sarah  Goodin;  married,  in  1866,  to 
Katharine  Rush,  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Mary 
Rush.  Their  union  has  been  blessed  with  two 
children,  viz :  John  and  Charles. 

GORH AM  WILLIAM,  New  Castle  township; 
born  November  23, 1808,  in  Kent  county,  Parish 
Westwell,  England ;  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah 
(West)  Gorham.  He  followed  farming  in  his  na- 
tive country  till  his  twentieth  year.  He  left  Liv- 
erpool April  7,  and  landed  in  New  York  June  15, , 
1828;  settled  in  Middlefield,  New  York,  and 
moved  from  there  to  Cherry  Valley,  New  York ; 
then  to  one  or  two  other  places,  including  Put- 
nam, Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  New  Castle,  Dres- 
den, Coshocton,  and  finally  to  New  Castle  in  1835, 
where  he  yet  remains  In  1834  he  began  to 
study  astrology,  which  he  is  now  practicing.  Be- 
fore this  he  had  no  particular  trade.  He  now 
has  correspondence  from  all  parts  of  the  United 
States  as  a  fortune-teller.  He  married  Miss  Sa- 
rah Scott  February  20, 1840,  daughter  of  Arthur 
Scott,  who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  Their 
children  were  Elizabeth,  deceased;  Mary  A.,  Ad- 
aline  C,  Ebenezer  S.,  Louisa  Jennie,  Raphael  A., 
and  Amelia  L.  He  cleared  a  great  deal  of  land 
in  New  Castle. 


BIOGKAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


691 


GOSSER  .MICHAEL,  Franklin  township; 
farmer ;  postoffice,  Wells  Creek,  Ohio.  Mr.  Gos- 
ser  was  born  May  29, 1S43,  in  Linton  township ; 
son  of  George  and  Magdalene  (Long)  Gosser. 
Mr.  Gosser  enlisted  in  Company  G,  Eightieth  0. 
V.  I.,  and  served  nearly  four  years.  He  was  mar- 
ried November  19, 1867,  to  Miss  Margaret,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Barbara  (Haag)  Hennel.  They 
are  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz:  Barbara 
Catharine  and  Henry  Edward.  Mr.  Gosser  is  of 
German  and  Mrs.  Gosser  of  French  ancestors. 

GOSSEE  GEOEGE,  Coshocton;  manager  groc- 
ery, bakery  and  boarding-house,  Second  street, 
between  Chestnut  and  Main ;  was  born  in  France 
December  17,  1833;  son  of  George  Gosser.  In 
1840  he  came  to  America,  with  his  parents,  and 
settled  with  them  in  Linton  township.  At  the 
age  of  fourteen  he  began  life  for  himself,  and 
worked  at  several  occupations.  In  1863  he  came 
to  this  city.  Mr.  Gosser  was  married  April  2, 
1857,  to  Miss  Annie  Michael,  daughter  of  David 
Michael,  of  Linton  township.  They  have  had 
seven  children,  one  of  whom  (David),  is  dead. 
Their  six  living  children  are  William,  George 
W.,  Samuel,  Charles,  Clarence  and  Frank. 

GOESELINE  WILLIAM,  Lafayette  township ! 
merchant ;  postoffice,  West  Lafayette ;  started  his 
present  business  in  1878,  dealing  in  dry  goods 
and  groceries.  Previous  to  1878,  he  taught 
school  eight  j'ears,  three  years  in  the  graded 
schools  of  West.  Lafayette  and  three  years  in 
Frazysburgh. 

GOULD  JOSEPH  H  ,  Keene  township ;  born 
October  11, 1842,  in  Summit  county,  Ohio ;  son  of 
J.  T.  and  Eunice  Gould,  and  grandson  of  John 
and  Olive  Gould,  and  John  and  Eachel  Walker. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  came  to  Coshocton 
county,  and  was  employed  on  the  public  works. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  D,  First  O.  V.  A.,  Sep- 
ternber,  1861,  served  about  a  year  and  was  mus- 
tered out,  on  account  of  disability.  He  applied 
to  re-enlist,  but  was  rejected.  In  1865  he  learned 
the  blacksmith  trade  in  Mill  Fork,  and  has 
worked  at  it  since  in  various  localities  in  this 
vicinity,  and  also  in  Illinois,  for  three  years.  He 
is  at  present  situated  in  Keene.  Married  May 
26,  1866,  Mary  E.  Hughes,  daughter  of  Absolom 
and  Susan  (Hawk)  Hughes,  born  August  4, 1846. 
Their  children  are  Sarah  E.,  born  September  28, 
1867 ;  Eunice  V.,  October  13, 1868 ;  Cora  E.,  July 
24, 1871,  deceased;  Wilham  J.,  October  25, 1873; 
Eachel  E.,  August  1875;  Joseph  M.,  July  21, 
1877,  and  Emma  J.,  April  8, 1879. 

GEAHAM  CHAELES  H.,  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship; postoffice,  Canal  Lewisville;  merchant  of 
the  firm  of  Henderson  &  Graham,  Canal  Lewis- 
ville; was  born  July  7,  1850,  in  the  county  of 
Sligo,    Ireland;    son   of  Thomas   Graham.     His 


mother's  maiden  name  was  Charlotte  Martin. 
They  came  to  America  in  1853,  and  located  in 
Franklin  township.  Young  Graham  was  raised 
on  the  farm,  where  he  remained  until  about 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  entered  the  store 
of  Burns  &  Hack  as  clerk,  with  whom  he  remained 
three  or  four  years,  and  subsequently  clerked  for 
C.  F.  Burns,  and  for  Hamilton  Brothers  and  Bal- 
chire  &  Burns.  In  1880,  the  present  firm  was  es- 
tablished, which  carries  a  general  stock  of  goods 
suited  for  the  retail  trade.  They  also  deal  exten- 
sively in  grain.  Mr.  Graham  was  elected  justice 
of  the  peace  April  5,  1880,  which  oflSce  he  now 
holds.  He  was  married,  April  10, 187fl,  to  Miss 
Lizzie  Clendening,  of  Canal  Lewisville.  This 
union  has  been  blessed  with  one  son — Bernard. 

GEAHAM  THOMAS,  Clark  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Clark's;  born  in  Ireland,  June  25, 1828; 
son  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Wilkinson)  Graham, 
and  granddaughter*  of  James  Graham  and  Eliza- 
beth Wilkinson.  He  came  to  America  when  he 
was  nine  years  of  age  with  his  mother,  four 
brothers  and  one  sister,  and  settled  in  Clark 
township,  where  he  has  resided  since.  He  was 
married  July  25,  1854,  to  Miss  Massey  Casey, 
daughter  of  John  and  Hannah  Casey,  who  was 
born  in  Holmes  county,  March  20,  1830.  Her 
father  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  1812.  They  are 
the  parents  of  six  children — John  T.,  deceased ; 
Mary  H.,  deceased ;  Hannah  M.,  born  March  3, 
1860 ;  Martha,  born.  December  7,  1863 ;  William 
J.,  born  September  12,  1868;  Nannie  M.,  born 
October  18,  1871. 

GEAHAM  EOBEET,  Clark  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Clark's ;  born  in  Ireland,  June  25, 1826 ; 
son  of  Thomas  and  Mary  '(Wilkinson)  Graham, 
and  grandson  of  James  Graham  and  Elizabeth 
Wilkinson.  He  came  to  White  Eyes  township,. 
Coshocton  county,  in  1839,  and  remained  until 
1842,  when  he  moved  to  Keene,  where  he  learned 
the  shoemaker  trade  with  John  Boyd,  and  fol- 
lowed that  occupation  twenty- three  years;  from 
there  he  moved  to  Bloomfield  and  worked  at  his 
trade  seventeen  years;  then  purchased  the 
Bloomfield  mills,  and  followed  milling  six  years; 
then  moved  to  Medina  county  and  dealt  in  grain 
two  years;  then  came  back  to  Clark  township 
and  purchased  a  farm,  and  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  since.  He  was  married  April  19,  1847, 
to  Miss  Mary  Eamsey,  daughter  of^  Henry  and 
Margaret  (Cullen)  Eamsey.  She  was  born  in 
Keene,  August  15, 1829;  died  June  21, 1852.  They 
were  blessed  with  three  children  :  Eichard,  born 
March  19, 1848 ;  Mary  J.,  April  27, 1850,  and  Wil- 
liam T.,  June  11, 1852.  He  was  married  June  22, 
1853,  to  Marian  Edwards,  daughter  of  Jesse  and 
Harriett  (Lilley)  Edwards,  and  granddaughter  of 
Jourdan  and  Mary  (Wren)  Edwards,  and  John 
and  Frances  (Smith)  Lilley ;  born  June  22, 1880, 


692 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


in  Sussex  county,  Virginia,  and  has  been  the 
mother  of  six  children :  F.  O.,  born  August  23, 
1854 ;  Walter,  born  October  7,  1856,  died  July  6, 
185S;  Delano  E.,  born  November  6,  1S60,  died 
March  8,  1865 ;  Cora  A.,  born  December  8,  1862, 
died  March  21,  1865;  Kobert,  born  May  2,  1867, 
and  Herbert,  born  August  26, 1872.  Mr  Graham 
joined  the  F.  and  A.  M.,  at  Coshocton,  in  1854. 

GRAHAM  JAMES,  Clark  township  ;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Clark's;  born  in  Ireland,  March  29, 
1818 ;  son  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Wilkinson)  Gra- 
ham, and  grandson  of  James  Graham  and  Eliza- 
beth Wilkinson.  He  came  to  America  in  1839, 
settled  in  White  Eyes  township,  and  remained 
there  until  1846,-  when  he  moved  to  his  present 
location,  where  he  has  remained  sinCe.  He  was 
married  in  Ireland,  April  13,  1839,  to  Catharine 
Peoples,  daughter  of  James  and  Catharine  (Bon- 
ner) Peoples,  who  is  a  second  cousin  of  Mr.  Bon- 
ner of  New  York.  They  are  the  parents  of 
eleven  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living,  viz : 
Catharine  B  ,  Mary,  Margaret,  John,  Eebecca, 
Hannah  M.,  and  Francis. 

GEAHAM  JOHN  C  ,  Pike  township;  postof- 
fice. West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ;  born 
in  this  county  in  1847 ;  son  of  William  and  Eliza- 
beth (Crawford)  Graham.  He  was  married  De- 
cember 24,  1868,  to  Jliss  Mary  M.  Norris,  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  and  Mariah  Norris.  They  are  the 
parents  of  four  children,  viz :  George  E.,  Etta  M., 
Ollie  B.  and  Luna  E.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
is  a  grandson  of  Alex,  and  Jane  Graham,  and  of 
John  and  Nancy  Crawford.  Mr  Graham's  father 
emigrated  from  Ireland  to  this  country  at  a  very 
early  day,  and  died  April  9,  1880. 

GEAHAM  ALEX.,  Pike  township;  postoffice, 
Wakatomaka,  tliis  county;  farmer  and  stock 
raiser ;  born  in  1844 ;  son  of  James  and  Matilda 
Graham,  and  grandson  of  Alex,  and  of  John  and 
Isabella  McKee.  Pie  was  married  in  1865  to  Miss 
Sarah  A.  McKee,  daughter  of  James  and  Isabella 
McKee.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children, 
viz :  James  E.,  Lenna  B.  and  George  C. 

GEEEE  JOHN,  Jackson  township;  Eoscoe 
postoffice;  born  in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  in  1820, 
settled  in  this  county  in  1840;  son  of  John  and 
Mary  Greer,  and  grandson  of  William  and  Mary 
Critchtield.  Married  in  1850,  to  Mary  Finncd'l, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Nancy  Pinnell.  Mr. 
Greer  is  the  father  of  seven  children,  three  of 
whom  (Mary  F.,  Alexander,  Martha)  have  de- 
ceased. The  living  are  Emma  E.,  Charles  W., 
Eobert  A.,  Mattie  B. 

GROSS  JOHN,  Tuscarawas  township;  grocer; 
postoffice,  Coshocton,  Ohio;  born  in  Bavaria, 
Germany,  December  24,  1818;  son  of  Martin  and 
Barbara  (Huffman)   Gross.     Mr.  G.  was  an  en- 


listed soldier  in  his  native  country  for  seven 
years,  but  was  exempt  from  active  military  duty 
o-\ving  to  the  general  peace  of  the  kingdom  at 
that  time.  In  1847  he  was  married  to  Miss  Cath- 
erine, daughter  of  Philip  and  Christian  (Kuegler) 
Metzger.  They  became  the  parents  of  ten  chil- 
dren, viz :  Philip  P.,  Margaret,  married  to  John 
Ingham ;  Martin,  married  to  Sophia  Schumacher; 
Elizabeth,  deceased;  Peter,  married  to  Catharine 
Gass;  Christian,  deceased ;  John  A.;  Matthias  and 
George,  deceased.  The  first  four  named  of  these 
children  were  born  in  Germany.  Mr.  G.  located 
first  in  Cleveland  on  his  arrival  in  America  in 
1850,  next  in  New  Philadelphia,  afterwards  in 
Coshocton,  where  he  arrived  in  1857.  He  has 
occupied  his  present  residence  since  1865. 

GROVE  W.  H,  Jefferson  township;  born 
April  5,  1845,  in  Jefferson  township,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio;  son  of  David  and  Mary  (Stagger) 
Grove.  Mr  Grove  was  brought  up  on  a  farm 
and  educated  in  district  schools.  His  parents 
died  when  he  was  quite  young,  and  left  him  to 
battle  with  the  world  among  strangers.  At  the 
age  of  fifteen  he  began  school  teaching,  and  fol- 
lowed teaching  in  winter  and  farming  in  sum- 
mer until  the  age  of  twenty-one,  since  that  time 
has  devoted  ifts  entire  attention  to  farming  and 
threshing.  He  has  established  quite  a  reputation 
as  a  thresher.  He  was  married  May,  1867,  to- 
Miss  Elizabeth  Hohenshell,  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Sarah  (Kenter),  Hohenshell.  Marvin  L., 
Eramit  0.,  Lulu  G.  and  William,  are  the  names 
of  their  children. 

GUENTHEE  FEANCIS  JOSEPH,  Coshocton ; 
engineer ;  was  born  in  1839,  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sjdvania;  son  of  Francis  Joseph  and  Vaberga 
(Waggoner)  Guenther,  who  was  of  German  an- 
cestry. Young  Guenther,  when  a  boy,  began  do- 
ing work  about  an  engine,  and  has  followed  the 
same  to  the  present  time.  He  is  now  engineer 
at  the  Coshocton  planing-mills.  Mr.  Guenther 
was  married  about  the  year  1863. 

GUITTARD  FRANCIS  JOSEPH,  M.  D.;  post- 
office, New  Bedford;  born  September  28, 1828,  in 
Alsace,  France,  now  Germany;  son  of  Joseph 
and  Genereuse  (Georer)  Guittard.  He  came  to 
America  in  1847,  and  located  in  Erie  count}', 
New  York,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm  a  few 
years.  About  1849  he  came  to  Middletown, 
Holmes  county,  and  clerked  in  store,  and  read 
medicine  during  his  leisure  time,  rmtil  1863, 
when  he  began  reading  with  Dr.  Pomerene,  and 
attended  the  Clevelancl  medical  college  in  the 
winter  of_  lS54-'55;  commenced  practice  in 
Jlarch,  18.50,  in  New  Bedford.  Pie  was  subse- 
quently graduated  at  the  Cleveland  hospital 
medical  college,  and  received  an  Ad  eundem  de- 
.gree  at  Wooster  university  medical  department, 
at  Cleveland.    Dr.  Guittard  was  married  in  Octo- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


69? 


ber,  1856,  to  Miss  Lydia,  daughter  of  George  and 
Sarah  (Tambough)  Myers.  They  had  eight 
children:  Rosa  Lee;  C.  O.,  deceased;  Alvin  M., 
Victor  G.,  Francis  G.,  Virgil  D.,  Sarah  E.  and 
Claud  B.  The  doctor  has  been  successful  in  his 
profession,  having  the  confidence  and  respect  of 
the  community. 

HACK  M.  G.,  postoffice,  Roscoe;  merchant,  of 
the  firm  of  M.  G.  Hack  &  Co.,  Main  street;  born 
April  7,  1848,  in  Roscoe ;  son  of  Peter  Hack,  a 
native  of  Germany.  M.  G.  was  raised  in  his  na- 
tive village.  At  sixteen  years  of.age  he  went  into 
a  store  as  clerk  for  Le  Rettilley,  McClintock  & 
Co.,  and  remained  until  1871,  when  he  became 
partner  in  the  firm  of  Burns  &  Hack,  at  Canal 
Lewisville,  where  they  conducted  business  until 
1874,  when  they  moved  to  this  place,  and  con- 
tinued the  business  in  Roscoe  until  1878,  when 
the  present  firm  was  formed  Mr.  Hack  was 
married  September  20,  1876,  to  Miss  Alice  E. 
Burns,  daughter  of  John  Burns,  of  Roscoe.  They 
have  two  children,  Rosa  Lena  and  Burns  Ray- 
mond. This  establishment  has  a  full  stock  of  dry 
goods,  groceries,  queen  and  glassware,  boots  and 
shoes,  hats  and  caps,  carpets,  clothing,  trunks,  etc. 

HACK  T.  B.,  merchant  tailor,  415  Main  street, 
Coshocton,  0.  He  was  born  January  3,  1852,  in 
Roscoe,  and  brought  up  in  his  native  village.  At 
the  age  of  thirteen  he  began  the  tailoring  trade 
with  his  father.  At  twenty-one  he  became  cut- 
ter for  several  establishments.  In  1877  he  be- 
came traveling  salesman  for  Goodheart  Bro.  & 
Co.,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  did  business  for  this 
firm  until  August  6,  1880,  when  he  established 
his  present  business.  This  house  is  one  of  the 
first-class  business  places  of  the  city,  employing 
ten  tailors,  two  clerks  and  one  cutter. 

HACK  CAPTAIN  PETER,  cutter  for  his  son, 
T.  B.,  merchant  tailor.  Captain  Hack  was  born 
April  7, 1816,  in  Odenbach,  Bavaria;  son  of  Mi- 
chael Hack.  Peter  was  brought  up  on  a  farm 
until  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  his 
trade.  In  1837,  came  to  America  and  located  at 
Roscoe.  In  1861,  erthsted  in  Company  G,  Eight- 
ieth 0.  V.  I.,  and  was  commissioned  first  lieuten- 
ant, and  after  serving  one  year  he  was  commis- 
sioned captain  of  Company  F,  same  regiment, 
and  served  tcrthe  close  of  the  war.  It  is  but  jus- 
tice to  state  here  that  Captain  Hack  was  never  an 
inmate  of  the  hospital,  but  always  at  his  post  of 
duty.  At  the  close  of  the  war.  Captain  Hack  re- 
turned to  his  home  in  Rosdoe,  since  which  time 
he  has  followed  his  present  trade.  He  was  mar- 
ried June  29, 1845,  to  INIiss  Rosalena;  daughter  of 
Gotleib  Adams,  a  native  of  .Prussia.  They  are  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  viz:  Albert  W.,  M.  G., 
John  M.,  T.  B.,  Louisa,  C.  PI.,  Edward  P. ;  Char- 
lotte, deceased,  and  Mary. 


HAGER  G.  W.,  Coshocton ;  tobacconist  and 
cigar  manufacturer ;  was  born  June  14,  1849,  in 
Greene  county,  Pennsylvania.  His  father,  Jacob 
Hager,  was  born  in  Hagerstown,  Maryland,  of 
German  ancestors.  Young  Hager  remained  at 
home  until  1%  was  about  twenty-one  years  old. 
Then  he  engaged  in  several  employments  for  a 
few  years,  after  which  he  went  into  the  cigar 
shop  of  Isaac  Hooper  of  Waynesburgh,  the  coun- 
ty seat  of  his  native  county,  and  remained  about 
three  years ;  then  worked  in  several  shops  in 
this  and  his  native  State.  In  1879  he  established 
his  present  shop  in  this  city,  where  he  is  doing  a 
good  business  manufacturing  cigars  and  dealing; 
in  tobacco  and  smoking  supplies.  ,  Mr.  Hager 
was  married  September  16,  1879,  to  Miss  Emma 
H.  Fitz,  daughter  of  John  Pitz,  of  Muskingum 
county. 

HAHN  ADAM,  Franklin  township;  born  in. 
Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio,  December  27,  1838; 
son  of  Peter  and  Margaret  (Marhofer)  Hahn^ 
who  emigrated  from  Germany,  in  1833.  He 
learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  with  his  brother 
Peter,  in  Rogersville,  Tuscarawas  county.  When 
about  twenty-one  years  old,  he  moved  to  Frank- 
lin township,  Coshochton  county,  and  followed 
his  trade,  at  Wills  creek,  until  about  1873;  then 
turned  his  attention  to  farming.  He  was  mar- 
ried, in  1863,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Michael 
and  Catherine  (Sandels)  Strohecker,  who  emi- 
grated from  Alsace,  France,  to  Muskingum 
county.  By  this  marriage,  he  had  four  children, . 
viz :  John  Henry,  George  Valentine,  Mary  Cath- 
erine and  Howard  Edward. 

HAINS  JOSEPH  R.,  Bedford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born,  in  lt^.52,in 
this  county.  He  was  married,  in  1877,  to  Miss 
Arminta  Taylor,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1858.     They  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  Salina.. 

HAINS  SAMUEL, Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in  1850,  in  this 
county.  His  father,  Amos  Hains,  was  born  in 
1820,  in  this  county.  He  was  married  in  1840  to 
Miss  Rebecca  Drake,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  -1823,  in  Virginia.  He  died  m  1864. 
They  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  Samuel 
being  the  fifth.  He  was  nifirried  in  1873  to  Miss 
Annie  Norris,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1855.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,, 
viz :    May  B.,  George  O.,  and  Edgar  B. 

HAINS  LEVI,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in  1817,  in  this 
county.  His  father  was  born  in  1782,  in  Bedford 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  married  in  1803 
to  Miss  Hannah  Lybarger,  of  the  same  county, 
who  was  born  in  1784.  They  moved  to  Licking 
county  in  1810,  and  to  this  county  in  1811.  The 
Hains'  cabin   was  the    third    in  the  township. 


«94 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Richard  Shelton's  being  the  first,  and  Ezra  Mor- 
ton's the  second.  Mr.  Hains  died  in  1863;  his 
wife  in  1849.  They  were  tlie  parents  of  eight 
children,  the  subject  of  this  slcetcli  being  the 
sixtli.  He  was  married  in  1843  to  ]^ss  Lucinda 
Troutman,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1838, 
in  Kjaox  county,  Ohio.  They  are  tlie  parents  of 
■eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  are  living. 

HAINES  HIRAM,  Bethlehem  township;  farm- 
■er;  son  of  Daniel  Haines;  was  born  in  1834,  in 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio.  Mr.  Haines'  father 
came  to  this  county  in  1802,  and  was  one  of  the 
•earliest  settlers.  When  he  came  to  this  county 
it  was  generally  a  wilderness,  inhabited  by  Indi- 
ans and  wild  animals.  He  died  November  6, 
1878,  at  an  advanced  age.  Hiram  Haines  was 
raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  alwaj's  followed  that 
•occupation  He  was  married  in  1860,  to  Miss 
Mary  C.  Milligan,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
in  1836.  They  became  the  parents  of  two  children, 
•viz :  Uriah  F.,  born  November  8, 1862,  and  Emma 
D.,  born  December  27, 1863.  Mr  and  Mrs.  Haines 
.are  influential  members  of  the  Evangelical  church 
at  Princeton,  Ohio. 

HAINES  HENRY,  Bedford  township;  team- 
■ster;  postofiice.  West  Bedford. 

HAULER  BROTHERS,  GEORGE  J.  &  C.  J., 

2.52,  Main  street,  Coshocton ;  butchers ;  born  and 
raised  in  this  city ;  sons  of  Adam  and  Catharine 
(Mank)  Haller.  George  J.  learned  the  plasterer's 
trade,  ^and  worked  at  it  one  year.  He  was  mar- 
ried November  30,  1879,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.,  daugh- 
ter of  George  and  Mary  (McGigen)  Mofiitt,  of 
this  city.  The  father  of  these  two  brothers  was 
a  butcher,  and  the  sons  were  brought  up  to  their 
present  occupation.  They  took  possession  of 
their  present  shop  January  4,  1881,  and  keep,  a 
fine  assorted  supply  of  sausages,  fresh  and  cured 
meats. 

HALL  JOHN  H.,  Lafayette  township;  farm- 
er ;  postoffice.  West  Lafayette ;  was  born  in  West 
Virginia,  in  1821 ;  son  of  DennfS  Hall ;  came  to 
Ohio  in  1865,  and  located  in  Linton  township,  and 
•came  to  this  township  in  1870;  was  married  in 
1846,  to  Miss  Ingraham,  of  West  Virginia,  daugh- 
ter of  Jabob  Ingraharh.  They  have  had  ten  chil- 
dren, Elihu  W. ;  Jacob  I.,  deceased  in  1866,  in  his 
seventeenth  year;  Nancy  A.,  Edith  M., Mary  V., 
J.  H.,  William  M.,  Arthur  Lee,  Sarah  J.  and  An- 
derson Monroe.  Mr.  Hall  is  industrious  and 
well  spoken  of  by  all. 

HALL  WILLIAM  R.,  Coshocton ;  proprietor  of 
coal  mine;  was  born  April  2, 1821,  in  County  Dar- 
hfim ,  England ;  son  of  Lancelet  and  Eleanor  (Jack- 
son) Hall,  and  grandson  of  Lancelet  Hall  and  Wil- 
lianr  Jackson.  He  landed  at  New  York  September 
1, 1849;  located  at  Massillon  until  August  16, 1850, 


when  he  came  to  this  city,  where  he  has  remained 
to  the  present  time.  He  was  married  February  11, 
1843,  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  George  and  Mary 
Lamb,  of  Darham  county,  England.  This  union 
was  blessed  with  eleven  children,  viz:  Luke, 
married  to  Mary  Bassett;  Mary,  burned  to  death 
when  about  three  years  of  age;  William,  died  on 
the  sea  when  about  eight  months  old ;  Lancelet, 
married  to  Mary  Elizabeth  Frazie;  Isabelle,  mar- 
ried to  John  Conlej';  William  R.,  married  to 
Clara  Rice ;  John,  ]\Iary  Anne ;  George,  de- 
ceased, and  Alice.  When  Mr.  Hall  started  busi- 
ness in  America  he  had  only  one  sovereign,  but, 
by  honest  industry,  he  has  secured  a  comforable 
home,  and  raised  a  large,  moral  and  respectable 
familj'. 

HAMERSLEY  ISAAC  L.,  Linton  township; 
farmer  and  shoemaker ;  born  in  Linton  township, 
June  18,  1817;  first  child  of  Peter  and  Lydia 
(Fuller)  Hamersley,  and  grandson  of  Isaac  and 
Mary  (Wirick)  Hamersley  and  of  Thomas  and 
- —  (Hayes)  Fuller.  His  great-grandfather,  John 
Hamersley  emigrated  from  the  northern  part  of 
Ireland,  in  pre-revolutionary  times,  and  six  of 
his  seven  sons  were  soldiers  in  the  revolution. 
Mr.  Hamersley's  father  was  born  in  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1795,  and,  in  1805,  moved 
with  his  father  to  Belmont  county.  One  year 
after,  they  moved  to  Guernsey  county,  and,  in 
1816,  he  married  and' settled  in  Linton  township. 
In  the  fall  of  1825,  Isaac's  father  and  grandfather 
built  a  pirogue  on  Wills  Creek  and  moved  their 
families  by  water  to  Lawrence  county,  Indiana. 
They  remained  their  till  1833,  then  returned  to 
this  county.  On  their  way  home,  while  en- 
camped at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  river,  they 
witnessed  the  grand  meteoric  display  of  that  yesn. 
Mr.  Hamersley,  in  1841,  married  Sarah  Ann, 
daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Johnson)  Fuller. 
Their  children  are  Henry,  deceased;  Thomas, 
deceased,  and  Peter.  Two  of  his  boys  gave  their 
lives  to  their  country.  Thomas  died  at  home 
shortly  after  his  return  from  the  seat  of  war, 
from  disease  contracted  there.  Henry  fell  a  vic- 
tim of  typhoid  fever,  at  Winchester,  June  4, 1863. 
Both  were  inembers  of  company  B,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Twenty-second  0.  V.  I. 

HAMILTON  JOHN,  White  Eyog  township; 
farmer  ;  was  born,  in  1805,  in  the  county  of  Ty- 
rone, Ireland.  He  married  Miss  Mary  Fair, of  the 
same  county.  They  came  to  this  county,  in  1842; 
settled  in  Keene,  but  afterward  located  in  White 
Eyes, ,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  They 
have  had  seven  children,  two  of  whom  have  de- 
ceased. Margaret,  born  in  1840,  is  married  to 
Jonas  Brown.  Thomas,  born  1842,  is  married  to 
Miss  Margaret  Boyd,  daughter  ol  R.  R.  Boyd,  and 
lives  in  White  Eyes.  Claudius,  born- in  1848,  is 
married  to  Angie  Jack,  of  this  township,  and  is 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


69& 


now  living  at  Bakersville.  Mary  Ellen,  born 
July  4,  1853,  is  single,  and  lives  at  home.  John, 
born  in  1859,  lives  at  home.  Mr  Hamilton  and 
his  family  are  members  of  the  White  Eyes  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  church.   . 

HAMILTON  CLAUD,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer,  born  in  1804,  in  the  couny  of  Tyrone, 
Ireland.  In  1882  he  married  Miss  Mary  A.  John- 
son, who  was  a  native  of  the  same  place,  and  was 
born  in  1814.  They  have  a  family  of  six  daugh- 
ters and  two  sons — Margaret,  Matilda  J.,  Elizabeth, 
Mary  A.,  John  A.,  Lucinda  D.,  Sarah  J.  and 
Thomas  J.  All  are  married,  except  Mary,  Sarah 
and  Thomas,  who  are  at  home.  Lucinda  married 
Dr.  K.  A.  Calvin,  of  Pennsylvania,  and  is  now 
living  in  Crawford  county,  Pennsylvania;  John 
married  Miss  Libby  Miser,  daughter  of  Joseph 
Miser,  and  is  living  in  this  township;  Matilda 
married  Rev.  J.  N.  Crawford,  a  minister  of  the 
M.  E.  church,  and  they  reside  in  Pennsylvania ; 
Elizabeth  married  William  Calhoun,  a  farmer, 
who  lives  in  Oxford  township.  Mr.  Hamilton 
and  his  family  came  to  this  country  in  1872,  and 
located  on  the  place  where  he  now  lives,  within 
the  limits  of  Avondale.  Mrs.  Hamilton  died 
January,  1 866.  Mr.  Hamilton  and  family  belong 
to  the  M.  E.  church  at  Kimbles. 

HAMILTON  SAMUEL,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship ;  farmer ;  born  October  10,  1835,  in  Keene 
township;  son  of  William  and  Mary  (McCaskey) 
Hamilton.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Ireland, 
and  his  mother  was  born  near  Steubenville,Ohio, 
and  he  came  to  this  county  when  but  a  child 
with  his  parents.  The  parents  of  Mrs.  (Adams) 
Hamilton  were  natives  of  Ireland,  emigrated  to 
the  United  States  about  the  year  1821,  settled  in 
Jefferson  county,  and  came  to  this  county  in 
1833.  They  were  married  about  1833,  and  located 
on  the  farm  in  White  Eyes  township,  where  Mrs. 
Adams  now  resides.  On  July  4,  1860,  Samuel 
Hamilton  married  Miss  Adams,  who  was  born  in 

.     After  their  marriage  they  moved  upon  a 

farm  of  eighty  acres  in  White  Eyes  township, 
which  Mr.  Hamilton-inherited,  and  subsequently 
added  to  it  the  163  acres  on  which  he  now  re- 
sides. They  became  the  parents  of  the  following 
named  children :  Monterville,  born  August  23, 
1862,  died  when  six  and  a  half  years  old  ;  Emma 
Plorinda,  born  November  26,  1864;  Olive  Vesta, 
born  May  23,  1870;  Elnier,  born  May  17,  1872; 
Edgar  Lloyd,  born  August  21, 1877 ;  Leroy,  born 
October  23,  1879. 

HAMERSLEY  THOMAS  J.,  Linton  town- 
ship; farmer:  born  in  Guernsey  county,  Ohio, 
March  24,  1825 ;  son  of  Peter  and  Lydia  Hamers- 
ley.  (See  sketch  of  Isaac  L.  Haniersley).  Mr. 
Hamersley  has  lived  in  Linton  township  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  life.  He  was  married  in 
1860,  to  Mary  Adams,  daughter  of  Francis  and 


Charlotte  (Hogle)  Adams,  of  Columbiana  county, 
and  has  four  children,  Charlotte,  Lydia,  Lizzie 
and  Francis. 

HAMILTON  C.  C,  Adams  township ;  mer- 
chant ;  postoffice,  Bakersville :  born  in  Keene 
township,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  February  21,. 
1845 ;  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Fair)  Hamilton,  and 
grandson  of  Thomas  Hamilton.  He  remained  at 
home  with  his  parents  until  twenty-one  years  of 
age ;  -graduated  at  Eastman's  business  college,  at 
Poughkeepsie,  New  York,  in  1866,  and  in  1867, 
began  business  as  a  merchant,  at  Avondale,  Co- 
shocton county ;  remained  there  about  ten  years,, 
when  he  traded  his  store  for  land,  and^  attended 
to  insurance  business  for  about  two '  years.  He 
then  traded  his  land  for  a  store  in  Bakersville, 
where  he  is  at  present  doing  a  very  fair  business,, 
keeping  everything  usually  kept  in  his  line.  He 
was  married  December  24,  1868,  to  Miss  Angle 
Jack,  daughter  of  John  and  Jane  (Pord)  Jack,  and 
granddaughter  of  George  Ford.  They  are  the- 
parents  of  six  children,  viz  :  Edwin,  deceased ; 
Jennie  M.,  Alfred  E.,  Wilford  C,  William  A.  and 
Mary  M. 

HAMILTON  J.  P.,  Washington  township; 
farmer;  postpfHce,  Wakatomaka;  born  in  1826^ 
in  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  and  came  to  this  coun- 
ty in  1831,  with  his  father,  who  was  born  in  1792,. 
in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  came  to  Ha,r- 
rison  county  in  1805,  and  was  married  in  1816,  to- 
Miss  Alfreda  Bailey,  of  that  county,  who  was  born 
in  1793,  in  Boston.  She  died  in  1863.  They  are 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  fifth.  He  was  married  in  1868,, 
to  Miss  Susan  Cornell,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1840.  They  are  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, viz:  Robert  L.,  Maria  A.,  William  W.,  Lu- 
cinda J.  and  Albert  D. 

HAMMONTREE  FRANKLIN,  Monroe  town- 
ship ;  was  born  April  6,  1821,  in  Loudon  county, 
Virginia;  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Brown) 
Hammontree,  and  grandson  of  David  and  Mary 
(Beech)  Hammontree,  and  of  John  and  Lydia 
(Burson)  Brown.  The  Bursons  and  Browns  were 
revolutionary  soldiers.  He  lived  in  his  native 
State  till  about  the  age  of  fifteen,  when  he  went 
to  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  and  remained  there  two' 
years ;  from  there  he  went  to  Washington  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  near  Beverly,  where  he  remained  about 
twenty-three  years, in  the  cabinet  business.  After 
leaving  there  he  went  to  Coshocton  county  and 
bought  a  farm,  where  he  has  been  engaged  in 
farming  ever  since.  He  married  Miss  Eliza  J. 
McDonald  in  August,  1842,  who  was  born  June 
12,  1822,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth 
Featherston  (Haw)  McDonald,  and  granddaughter 
of  Thomas  Wilkison  Hazard  Featherston  and 
Margaret  (Poland)  Haw.  Their  children  are: 
Rufus,  born  July  3, 1850;  Ruth  A.,  born  June  11, 


<696 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


1845;  Elmer  P.,  born  May  10,  1853;  Frank  L., 
born  January  9,  1856;  Hattie  M.,  born  May  21, 
1859;  Nanny  M.,  born  December  10,  1861,  and 
William  E.  E.,  born  June  30,  ISGS.  Mr.  Ham- 
montree  enlisted  in  Company  E,  One  Hundred 
and  Forty-third  Kegiment,  O.'N.  G.,  in  May,  1864, 
and  was  discharged  in  September,  1864. 

HANKINS  DANIEL,  Franklin  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Wills  Creek.  Mr.  Hankins 
was  born,  February  15,  1828,  in  Franklin  town- 
ship, on  the  farm  now  owned  by  McBane;  son  of 
William  and  Amelia  (Pigman)  Hankins;  a  na- 
tive  of  Virginia,  of  English  ancestry.  He  came 
to  Franklin  township,  at  a  very  early  day.  He 
was  a  farmer,  and  renowned  anctioneer.  He  was 
peculiarly  adapted  to  this  profession,  being 
sought  many  times  to  go  a  great  distance  to 
auctioneer  important  sales.  He  was  born  April 
14,  1787,  and  his  wife  was  born  October  11,  of 
the  same  year.  They  were  married  June  24, 
1813,  and  became  the  parents  of  eleven  children, 
viz:  Lucinda,  deceased;  Jane,  formerly  married 
to  Elijah  Duling,  now  deceased  ;  JMoses  P.,  emi- 
grated to  Missouri;  Anne,  married  to  Lewis 
Eodruck ;  Nathaniel  L.,  deceased ;  Mary,  mar- 
ried to  Orange  Hagle;  Cassandra,  married  to 
-John  G.  Parker,  and  John  (the  last  three  live  in 
Minnesota) ;  Daniel,  Elizabeth  (Daniel's  twin  sis- 
ter), married  to  John  C.  McBane,  of  Franklin 
township;  Catherine,  married  to  Martin  B. 
Hewett,  now  resides  in  Illinois.  Daniel,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  married,  October  7, 1852, 
to  Miss  Louisa,  daughter  of  Isaac  and  Nancy 
(Barrow)  Shambaugh.  Mr.  Shambaugh  was  a 
native  of  Virginia,  of  German  descent,  and  a  sol- 
dier in  the  war  of  1812.  Daniel's  children  are, 
Nancy  C,  married  to  William  Fitz,  of  Zanes- 
ville,  Ohio ;  Alice  A.  B.,  married  to  John  L. 
Ganner,  of  Franklin  township;  Mary  Ellen, 
Isaac  Edward  and  Elizabeth  J. 

H  ANLON  WILLIAM,  Keene  township ;  born 
in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  May  13,  1818;  a  son  of 
Allen  and  Susan  (Ford)  Hani  on,  natives  of  Ire- 
land. He  lived  in  his  native  county  with  his  par- 
ents till  1852,  when  he  came  to  Ohio  and  bought 
the  farm  where  he  now  lives.  He  was  married 
-January  29,  1845,  to  Miss 'Mary  Stark,  daughter 
of  James  and  Elizabeth  McGee.  They  had  the 
following  named  children  :  Edwin  M.,  born  De- 
cember 3,  1845-;  Eliza  J.,  March  23,  1849;  Susan 
J.,  December  8,  1850;  Robert  R.,  March  23, 1853; 
Marv  v..  May  16,  1865;  Usher  A.,  November  21, 
1858";  Ida  M.,  June  2,  1863;  infant  son  died  Sep- 
tember 30,  1865. 

H ANLON  HON.  ALEXANDER,  Coshocton; 
judge  probate  court;  born  March  2,  1816,  in  Jef- 
ferson county,  near  Steubenville ;  lived  on  a  farm 
until  twenty  years  of  age,  then  worked  at  the  car- 
penter's trade  two  more  years,  and  came  to  this 


county  in  1841,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  car- 
pentering until  1875,  when  he  was  elected  judge 
of  probate  court;  was  re-elected  in  1878.  He 
married  Ehzubeth  Mitchell,  of  Mill  Creek  town- 
ship, June  17,  1854,  and  is  the  father  of  six  living 
children,  viz:  John  A.,  F.  H.,  W.  B.,  Clara, Laura 
and  M.  L.  L.  His  parents  came  to  America  from 
Ireland  when  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and  were 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Jefferson  county. 

HARDMAN  JAMES, Bedford  township;  farm- 
er ;  postoffice,  West  Bedford ;  born  in  1835,  in 
this  county.  His  father  was  born  ■  in  1*790,  in 
Pennsj'lvania,  and  married  Miss  Hannah  Hains, 
of  the  same  county.  He  died  in  1851 ;  she  died 
in  1864.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven  chil- 
dren, the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  young- 
est. He  was  married  in  1859,  to  Miss  Nota  J. 
Richard,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1842, 
and  died  in  1870.  They  were  the  parents  of  two 
children,  viz :  Leonard  and  Belle.  He,  in  1872, 
married  Miss  Matilda  Lydick,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1839.  They  are  the  parents  of 
two  children,  viz  :     Allie  E.  and  Bertha. 

HARDY  HON.  JOHN,  Oxford  township,  was 
born  January  31,  182;j,  near  the  village  of  War- 
rensburgh,  Warren  county.  State  of  New  York; 
son  of  William  and  Mary  (MoCoffrey)  Hardy. 
He  is  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage,  his  father  and 
mother  having  emigrated  from  Londonderry, 
Ireland,  to  New  York  in  1824.  When  about 
twelve  years  of  age  he  removed  with  them  to 
Ohio,  when  they  settled  in  the  wilderness  near 
Newcomerstown,  Tuscarawas  county.  By  per- 
severence  and  close  application  young  Hardy  ac- 
quired about  as  good  an  education  as  our  log- 
cabin  school-houses  could  bestow.  From  the 
age  of  sixteen  to  eighteen  he  was  employed  as 
clerk  in  a  store  by  the  firm  of  Minnich,  Nugen 
&  Co.',  in  Newcomerstown,  Tuscarawas  county, 
after  which  he  attended  two  terms  at  the  Green- 
field Academy,  in  Fairfield  county,  Ohio.  He 
afterwards  engaged  in  teaching  a  district  school 
and  taught  for  six  years  consecutively  in  the 
same  district.  On  giving  up  teaching  he  engaged 
in  the  employment  of  the  State  of  Ohio  as  as- 
sistant engineer  on  the  northern  division  of  the 
Ohio  Canal,  until  the  state  leased  the  public  works. 
He  afterward  acted  as  superintendent  at  different 
places  for  the  lessees  till  the  breaking  out  of  our 
civil  war  in  1861.  In  1864  he  married  Miss 
Emily  Stewart,  daughter  of  John  Stewart,  of 
Washington  township,  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio. 
In  1865  he  bought  the  farm  in  Oxford  township, 
Coshocton  county,  on  which  he  built  his  present 
residence,  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  twice 
elected  representative  of  Coshocton  county,  first 
in  the  fall  of  1877,  to  the  Sixty-third  General 
Assembly,  and  was  re-elected  in  1879  to  the 
Sixty-fourth.    He  is  at  present  living  rather  re- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


697 


tired.  He  says  he  has  had  enough  of  pubho  Ufa, 
that  he  has  his  boat  safely  and  quietly  moored  in 
Shady  Bend  of  the  Tuscarawas  river  and  has  no 
desire  to  again  launch  it  out  on  the  cross  currents 
of  men's  interests  and  pasSions. 

HAERAN  CHARLES  J.,  Crawford  township;, 
farmer ;  postoffice,  Chili,  Ohio ;  ■«  as  born  in  De- 
cember, 1851,  near  Biron,  Germany ;  son  of  Jacob 
and  Margaret  (Portz)  Harran.  Young  Harran 
■came  to  America  in  1853.  His  parents  located 
in  Tuscarawas  county,  where  he  remained  until 
About  1866,  when  he'  came  to  his  present  resi- 
dence in  Crawford  township.  His  father  died  in 
June,  1868.  Mr.  Harran  was  married  October 
2, 1880,  to  Miss  Catharine,  daughter  of  William 
and  Nancy  McCaskey,  of  White  Eyes  township. 
Mr.  Harran  has  given  his  entire  attention  to 
farming,  in  which  he  has  succeeded  well. 

HARRIS  JOSIAH,  M  D.,  Coshocton ;  descend- 
ed from  a  very  ancient  family  of  New  England  ; 
and  is  from  the  seventh  generation  from  Thomas 
Harris,  an  associate  of  Roger  Williams;  whose 
name  first  appears  on  the  records  of  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  in  1736.  Dr.  Harris  was  born  July 
19,  1807,  at  Winthrop,  Me.,  and  was  accustomed 
in  childhood  and  youth  to  the  hard  farm  labor  of 
the  New  Englander.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he 
entered  Monmouth  academy,  and  remained  one 
year;  then  entered  the  Wesleyan  college,  Ken- 
nebec county,  Maine,  and  spent  four  years  there 
studying  and  teaching.  In  the  spring  of  1850  he 
went  to  Georgetown,  D.  C,  and  taught  in  a  pri- 
vate family  for  a  short  time.  Then  traveled  in 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  In  the 
fall  of  1830  he  settled  at  Luthersburgh,  Washing- 
ton county,  Maryland,  and  took  charge  of  Luth- 
ersburgh seminary,  and  remained  there  until 
1837.  In  the  meantime  he  attended  medical  lec- 
tures in  the  University  of  Maryland  at  Baltimore, 
and  was  graduated  with  the  honors  of  M.  D.  in 
1837,  in  which  year  he  came  to  this  city,  where 
he  has  continued  the  practice  of  his  profession 
until  the  present  time  (1880).  Dr.  Harris  held 
the  office  of  associate  judge  for  several  years 
prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  present  State  consti- 
tution, which  abolished  said  office.  The  doctor 
possesses  good  literary  and  scientific  attainments, 
and  has  been  a  member  of  the  school  board  of 
examiners  both  in  the  county  and  city.  Dr. 
Harris  has  been  married  three  times —first,  May 
27, 1841,  to  Miss  Magdalene  Zigler,  daughter  of 
Lewis  Zigler,  Washington  county,  Maryland  ;  the 
result  of  this  union  was  one  child,  a  son,  Lewis, 
who  died  in  infancy.  Dr.  Harris  was  next  mar- 
ried January  16, 1844,  to  Miss  Amelia  D.  Lewis, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Webster  Lewis,  of  Cumberland 
county,  Pennsylvania.  His  last  marriage  was  on 
April  12, 1865,  to  Miss  Caroline  Frew,  daughter 
-of  John  Frew,  of  Coshocton,  Ohio.      The  result 


of  this  marriage  was  four  children,  two  of  whom 
are  deceassd,"  viz :  Charles  and  Frank ;  and  two 
are  living,  viz:  Mary  Louise  and  John  Marshall. 
Dr.  Harris  has  a  wide  professional  reputation, 
and  is  highly  respected  at  home  for  his  moral 
and  social  qualities. 

HAETSOCK  JOHN,  Tuscarawas  township; 
blacksmith;  postoffice.  Canal  Lewisville.  Mr. 
Plartsock  was  born  August  29, 1884,  in  New  Castle 
township;  son  of  Henry  Hartsock,  and  native  of 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  Mary, 
daughter  of  Ivan  Rogers.  John  was  brought  up 
on  a  farm;  went  to  his  trade  at  the  age  of 
eighteen,  in  Walhonding;  came  to  his  present 
village  in  1855,  but  worked  as  a  journeyman  in 
Warsaw  and  Walhonding,  returning  to  his 
adopted  home  in  1857.  Mr.  Hartsock  was  mar- 
ried August  24,  1866,  to  Miss  Jane,  daughter  of 
Abraham  and  Caroline  (Parker)  Brink.  They 
are  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz:  The  first 
died  in  infancy ,  William  and  James  L.  are  living. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hartsock  took  a  child  from  John  T. 
Simmons,  which  they  named  Andrew  Jackson, 
and  raised  him  to  maturity. 

HAVERICK  VINCENT,  Monroe  township; 
was  born  in  February,  1825,  in  Bavaria,  Germany ; 
son  of  Aloysins,  who  was  born  in  1786,  and  Mary 
A.  (Ament)  Haverick.  He  learned  the  boot  and 
shoe  and  stonemason  trades  in  Germany.  He 
came  to  America  April  22, 1842,  and  settled  in 
Jefferson  township,  Coshocton  county,  where  he 
lived  five  years.  From  there  he  moved  to  Knox 
county,  where  he  remained  about  twelve  years, 
then  returned  to  Warsaw  and  worked  at  the  boot 
and  shoe  trade  until  1867,  when  he  removed  to 
Monroe  township,  where  he  has  followed  farming 
ever  since.  His  brothers  and  sisters  are  Michael 
J.,  born  in  1809 ;  Mary  A.,  Roduck,  Francis  and 
Helena.  Mr.  Haverick  was  married  to  Hester  A. 
Majors,  November  36,  1846,  daughter  of  William 
and  Margaret  (Sapp)  Majors.  Their  children 
were  James  L.,  a  merchant  in  Iowa;  William, 
Mary  A.,  George  H.,  Margaret  J.,  Frances ;  Lewis, 
deceased,  and  ISTormanda,  deceased.  Mrs.  Haver- 
ick died  in  March,  1863,  and  in  April,  1864,  Mr. 
Haverick  married  Miss  Accy  Foster,  daughter  of 
William  and  Elizabeth  (Davis)  Poster,  and  grand- 
dauehter  of  William  Davis,  and  of  Moses  Foster 
and  Elizabeth  (Raymond)  Foster.  Elizabeth, 
Kernelons,  Joseph  and  Clara  were  tl^g  names  of 
their  children. 

HAWK  ANDREW,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Bakersville,  Ohio  Mr.  Hawk  was 
born  February  4, 1825,  in  Carroll  county,  Ohio. 
His  parents  are  of  German  descent ;  his  father  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother  of  Jeffer- 
son county,  Ohio.  Mr.  Hawk  was  raised  on  a 
farm,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1827.    When  he 


698 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


came  to  this  county  it  was  generally  a  wilder- 
ness, with  now  and  then  a  cabin  surrounded  by 
a  cleared  lot.  Mr.  Hawk  was  married  May  5, 
1848,  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Walters,  of  Guernsey 
county,  Ohio.  They  became  the  parents  of  five 
children :  Mary  E.,  Margaret  A.,  fiachel  E.  and 
Tolethe  E.  are  living.  The  other  one  died  in 
infancy.  His  wife  died  February  8,  1863.  He 
was  married  May  10, 1865,  to  Miss  Lavina  Lan- 
ders, of  Coshocton  county.  Her  father  was  of 
German  and  her  mother  of  Swiss  descent.  They 
are  the  parents  of  seven  childreji :  William  T. 
Sherman,  Howard  A.,  Edgar  K.,  Avilla,  Charles, 
Rutherford  B.  Hayes,  and  John,  all  of  whom  are 
living.  Mr.' Hawk  was  in  the  mercantile  bus- 
iness during  1850  and  1861,  in  Bakersville,  Ohio. 
He  has  since  followed  farming,  and  has  acquired 
a  good  farm  and  property. 

HAY  JAMES,  Coshocton;  born  in  the  County 
Derry,  Ireland,  January  6,  1806,  and,  at  eleven 
years  of  age,  came  to  America  with  his  parents,  and 
settled  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania.  Mr. 
Hay  was  married  October  6,  1834,  to  Miss  Jane 
Burns,  daughter  of  Samuel  Burns,  of  this  city. 
By  this  marriage  he  became  the  father  of  six 
children,  four  of  whom  are  deceased,  viz  :  Hous- 
ton, Samuel,  Elizabeth  and  Mary;  and  two  are 
living,  viz:  Sarah,  married  to  James  Wilson,  of 
this  city,  and  William,  not  married.  Mr.  Hay 
has  been  a  very  successful  business  man.  Mr. 
Hay  died  Saturday  evening,  September  24, 1881. 

HAY  GEORGE  A.,  Coshocton;  mayor  and 
notary  public;  was  born  November  16,  1855,  in 
Coshocton ;  son  of  Houston  Hay,  American  born, 
of  Irish  descent.  Young  Hay  received  a  rudi- 
mentary education  in  the  public  schools,  and,  at 
the  age  of  seventeen,  entered  the  preparatory  de- 
partment of  Denison  University,  at  Granville, 
and  was  there  four  years.  When  twenty-one 
years  old  he  entered  the  Junior  class  of  Princeton 
college,  and  was  graduated  in  June,  1879.  Mr. 
Hay  was  elected  mayor  April  1, 1880,  and  took 
the  oath  of  office  on  the  20th. 

HAY  JOSEPH  H.,  Coshocton;  boot  and  shoe 
dealer;  was  born  February  21,  1848,  in  Canal 
Lewisville,  this  county.  He  is  a  son  of  Jackson 
Hfiy,  native  of  Ireland.  Young  Hay's  first  school- 
ing was  obtained  in  his  native  village  and  finished 
in  this  city.  Mr.  Hay  obtained  a  practical  busi 
ness  knoWedge  clerking  for  the  firm  of  R.  &  H. 
Hay,  also  in  the  hardware  store  of  S.  Harbaugh, 
both  of  this  place,  then  in  his  father's  dry  goods 
store  in  his  native  village.  In  1865  he  came  to 
this  place  with  his  father  and  continued  with  him 
as  clerk  until  the  business  was  sold  out  to  the 
firm  of  Meyers,  Pocock  &  Co.,  Mr.  Hay  continu- 
ing with  the  new  firm  until  1874,  when  he  en- 
gaged as  clerk  in  his  father's  bank  (First  Na- 


tional), and  in  the  same  year  established  his  pres- 
ent business  which  he  has  continued  to  date.  Mr. 
Hay  carries  a  large  stock  of  boots  and  shoes,  hats 
and  caps,  umbrellas,  etc.  Mr.  Hay  was  married 
August  10, 1870,  to  Miss  F.  E.  Ranna,  daughter 
of  Joseph  Ranna,  of  this  city.  This  union  was 
blessed  with  two  children,  both  living,  viz  :  Harry, 
born  July  10, 1872,  and  Charles  S.,  born  October 
15, 1875. 

HAY  HOUSTON,  Coshocton;  merchant;  of 
the  firm  of  Hay  &  Mortley,  corner  of  Second 
and  Main  streets ;  also  proprietor  of  the  Coshoc- 
ton iron  and  steel  works,  for  the  manufacturing 
of  springs  and  axles ;  was  born,  February  4, 1818, 
in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania;  son  of 
John  Hay,  who  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  Young 
Hay  remained  on  the  farm  until  ten  years  of 
age,  when,  with  his  father,  he  moved  to  Elders- 
ville,  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  re- 
mained there  three  years;  then  came  to  this 
State,  and  located  at  Martinsburgh,  Knox  county, 
where  he  lived  two  years.  In  May,  1835,  he 
came  to  this  city,  and  entered  as  a  clerk  in  the 
store  of  Renfrey  &  Hay,  where  he  remained  ten 
years.  In  1843,  he  engaged  as  a  clerk  with  Ham- 
ilton Meek,  and  remained  two  years.  In  1845, 
he  was  appointed  collector  of  tolls  on  the  Ohio 
canal,  at  Roscoe.  In  1852,  he  became  one  of  the 
firm  of  R.  &  H.  Hay.  In  1867,  James  S.  Wilson 
was  taken  into  the  firm,  which  continued  until 
June  1879,  when  the  present  firm  was  formed. 
The  building  of  this  firm,  on  the  corner  of  Sec- 
ond and  Main  streets,  is  forty-five  feet  by  seventy- 
five  feet,  three  stories  and  basement,  and  all  oc- 
cupied. They  carry  a  large  and  complete  stock 
of  dry  goods,  groceries,  boots  and  shoes,  carpets, 
seeds,  etc.  In  1874,  Mr.  Hay  parchased  the  Co- 
shocton iron  and  steel  works,  for  the  manufacture 
of  springs  and^  axles.  This  shop  averages  forty 
pairs  of  springs  and  100  axles  per  day.  Mr.  Hay 
was  married,  July  1,  1852,  to  Miss  Detiah  C. 
Roberts,  of  Licking  county.  The  union  was 
blessed  with  four  children,  all  living,  viz :  Kate, 
George  A.,  John  H.  and  Warner. 

HAYS  JOHN  E.,  Tiverton  township;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Yankee  Ridge,  Ohio ;  born,  in  1844,  in 
this  county.  His  father,  Zachariah  Hays,  was 
born,  in  1814,  in  England.  He  came  from  Eng- 
gland  to  Rhode  Island,  a,nd  was  married  there ; 
his  wife  was  born  in  England  also.  After  mar- 
riage, he  removed  to  this  countj^,  and  died,  in 
1859.  They  were  the  parents  of  four  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  second.  He 
was  married,  in  1867,  to  Miss  Delilah  Draper,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1847.  She  died  in 
1870.  They  were  the  parents  of  one  child,  , 
Dehlah.  He  was  again  married,  in  1879;  this  time 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Reese,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1860. 


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BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES^? 


705 


HEBALL  W.,  Jackson  township;  postoffice, 
Eosooe;  born  in  Maryland  in  1820;  moved 
-with  his  father  to  Coshocton  the  same  year, 
where  he  has  continued  to  live  ever  since.  He 
is  a  son  of  John  and  Anna  Heball ;  married  in 
1866,  to  Dolly  Bible,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Mary 
Bible. 

HECK  HENRY,  Bethlehem  township ;  farmer ; 
was  born  in  1832,  in  Germany.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1838,  and  located  in  Monroe  township. 
He  was  married  in  1856,  to  Miss  Nancy  Burrell, 
of  this  county.  They  became  the  parents  of  six 
•children,  viz :  Emma  H.,  born  November  10, 
1861;  Richard  C,  born  July  17, 1863;  Rebecca  J., 
born  in  1865.  The  other  three  are  dead.  Mrs. 
Heck  died  in  1866.  Mr.  Heck's  second  marriage 
was  in  June,  1867,  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Darling,  of  this 
•county ;  who  was  born  July,  1837.  Mr.  Heck  has 
always  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  and 
has  a  good  farm.  He  has  also  cleared  all  his 
land,  it  being  a  wilderness  when  he  came  to  this 
county. 

HEFT  PETER,  Pike  township;  postofllce, 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1805;  settled  in 
this  county  in  1838;  son  of  Peter  and  Mariah 
(Schoch)  Heft,  and  grandson  of  Peter  and  Eliza- 
beth (Dihel)  Heft,  and  of  Jacob  and  Magdaline 
"Schoch.  He  was  married  in  1845,  to  Miss  Mar- 
garet Gault,  daughter  of  William  and  Sarah 
Gault.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  viz : 
George  W. ;  Sarah,  deceased ;  William  H.,  Anna 
M.,  Perry  0.,  Mary  J.,  Amanda  K,  John  C,  Adam 
*T.  and  James  M.    Five  are  married. 

HEINZLE  JOHN,  grocer  and  confectioner, 
Main  street,  Coshocton.  Mr.  Heinzle  is  a  native 
•of  Australia,  and  emigrated  to  America  in  1871. 
He  first  stopped  a  short  time  in  Cincinnati,  after 
,  which  he  came  to  Coshocton  and  engaged  in  quar- 
rying stone,  in  which  he  continued  until  1876, 
when  he  engaged  in  the  grocery  business,  in 
which  he  still  continues.  He  has  a  good  stock  of 
:staple  and  fancy  groceries  and  confectioneries, 
and  a  first-class  stock  of  restaurant  goods,  con- 
sisting of  brandies,  wines,  gins,  beer,  ales  and 
whiskies  of  the  best  American  brands,  and  im- 
ported brandies,  wines  and  gins.  He  also  has  a 
■street  stand,  where  he  sells  candies,  nuts,  fruits, 
cigars,  etc. 

HENRY  PROFESSOR  E.  E.,  Coshocton ;  su- 
perintendent Coshocton  public  schools;  born  Aug- 
ust 8, 1841,  in  Bainbridge,  Geauga  county,  Ohio ; 
son  of  John  Henry,  who  was  American  born  of 
Scotch  ancestry.  Henry  spent  his  childhood  and 
early  youth  on  a  farm.  At  eighteen,  he  entered 
the  Eclectic  institute  at  Hiram,  James  A.  Garfield, 
principal.  On  April  23  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
vpany  A, O.  V.  I.,  being  one  of  the  first  two 

31 


students  who  enlisted  from  that  institute,  in  the 
three  months'  service,  and  re-enlisted  for  three 
years;  was  mustered  out  in  1864;  was  wounded 
at  Antietam  and  was  for  several  months  an  inmate 
of  Libby  prison.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  re- 
turned and  resumed  his  studies,  and  was  gradua- 
ted by  the  Western  Reserve  college,  at  Hudson, 
Ohio.  His  first  teaching  was  done  in  this  State; 
he  also  taught  in  Indiana  three  years,  and  in  Kan- 
sas Citj'  three  years.  Was  married  May  16,1872, 
to  Miss  Annie  Langworthy,  of  Worthington,  Ind- 
iana. 

HENRY  CHARLES  P.,  Cosfiocton;  barber,  of 
the  firm  of  Henry  &  Hill,  284  Main  street;  was  born 
January  29,  1847,  in  Newark,  Licking  county; 
son  of  William  Henry,  a  native  of  Rockbridge 
county,  Virginia.  At  twelve  years  of  age  Charles 
went  to  his  trade  with  his  father.  At  seventeen 
he  enlisted  in  Company  K.,  Forty-second  U.  S. 
Colored  Volunteers,  was  commissary  sergeant 
and  served  fourteen  months,  when  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  On 
his  return  he  attended  school  during  the  day  and 
worked  in  his  father's  shop  evenings  and  morn- 
ings, until  October,  1869,  when  he  came  to  this 
city  and  became  partner  with  C.  Dorsey,  and 
continued  the  partnership  until  1874,  when  Mr.  ^ 
Henry  continued  the  business  alone  until  Sep- , 
tember  6,  1880,  when  the  above  firm  was  formed. 
Mr.  Henry  was  first  married  August  29, 1872,  to 
Miss  Mary  L.  Norman,  of  Newark.  This  union 
was  blessed  with  three  children,  one,  Mary  Louise, 
deceased,  and  two  living — Ora  D.  and  Blanch  E. 
Mrs.  Henry  died  August  31,  1878.  Mr.  Henry 
married  January  12, 1880,  Miss  Eva  Norman,  of 
Newark.  He  came  to  this  city  without  any  finan- 
cial means,  but  has  become  the  owner  of  a  good 
real  estate  property. 

HENDERSON  A.  M,  FrankUn  township;  phy- 
sician at  Wills  Creek ;  born  in  Carroll  county 
March  2, 1839,  son  of  William  H  and  Mary  Hen- 
derson. He  came  with  his  father  to  Tiverton 
township  when  about  six  months  old,  and  lived 
there  on  the  farm  till  he  was  twelve  years  old, 
when  his  father  moved  to  New  Castle  township, 
where  Mr.  Henderson  remained  till  he  was  twen- 
ty-two, when  he  began  clerking  in  Edward's  dry 
■goods  store  in  Coshocton,  at  the  same  time  read- 
ing medicine  and  reciting  to  Dr.  Ingraham.  This 
he  continued  more  than  three  years.  In  1867 
he  attended  lectures  of  the  Starling  Medical  Col- 
lege, Columbus,  Ohio,  graduating  February  26, 
1869.  He  came  to  Wills  Creek  March  26,  1869, 
and  has  practiced  medicine  successfully  there 
since.  Married  July  8,  1867  to  Miss  Henrietta 
Lynch,  daughter  of  Hugh  Lynch,  of  Coshocton. 
They  have  had  three  children,  viz :  Mabel  A,, 
deceased,  Hattie  A.  and  Nellie  M. 

HENDERSON  JAMES,  White  Eyes  township; 


706 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


farmer ;  born  in  White  Eyes,  in  1840 ;  is  the  son 
of  George  Henderson,  and  is  of  Irish  descent. 
Mr.  Henderson  was  married  in  1868,  to  Miss 
Emma  Eoss,  who 'was  born  in  this  county  in 
1844.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children : 
Henry  J.,  Isaac  R.,  Catherine  M.,  and  William 
N.  Mr.  Henderson  has  always  resided  in  White 
Eyes. 

HENDERSON  B.  F.,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer ;  was  born  in  this  township  in  1847,  and 
is  the  son  of  George  Henderson.  Mr.  Hender- 
son married  Miss  Malinda  Normon,  daughter  of 
Christian  Normon,  in  1868.  Mrs  Henderson 
was  born  in  1850.  They  became  the  parents  of 
four  children,  one  of  whom  has  deceased.  Hat- 
tie,  Edmond,  and  Christian  are  living.  Mr.  Hen- 
derson and  wife  belong  to  the  U.  B.  church. 

,  HENDERSON  FRANK,  Oxford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Evansburgh;  son  of  Alexander 
Henderson;  was  born  in  Muskingum  county, 
October  20,  1840,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1868; 
was  out  five  months  in  company  H,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Sixty-second  0.  N.  G.  He  was  married, 
March  20,  1865,  to  Mary  Wolf,  daughter  of  John 
Wolf.  Their  children  were  Dora,  William,  Frank, 
Leroy  and  Myrtle.  He  is  a  member  of  the  M. 
E.  church,  has  been  school  director  for  several 
terms,  owns  eighty-six  acres  of  land  in  this  town- 
ship, and  is  a  highly  esteemed  citizen. 

HESKETT  J.  W.,  M.  D.,  Bedford  township; 
postoffice,  West  Bedford;  born,  in  1851,  in  this 
county.  His  father,  B.  F.  Heskett,  was  born,  in 
1823,  near  Martinsburgh,  Virginia;  came  to  this 
county  in  1836,  and  was  married,  in  1848,  to  Miss 
Hannah  M.  Barcroft,  of  this  county.  She  was 
born,  in  1828,  in  Jefferson  county.  He  was  killed 
in  battle  at  Murfreesborough,  January  2,  1863. 
He  was  captain  of  company  C,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I. 
She  died  in  1854.  They  were  the  parents  of  three 
children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the 
second.  He  entered  the  office  of  Dr.  H.  C.  Dicus, 
of  Martinsburg,  Knox  county,  but  now  of  Utica, 
Licking  county,  as  student,  in  1870,  and  attended 
a  course  of  lectures  at  the  Cincinnati  College  of 
Medicine  and  Surgery  in  the  winter  of  1872-3. 
He  came  back  and  and  read  '.mother  year,  when 
he  attended  another  course,  receiving  a  diploma 
in  the  spring  of  1874.  He  was  married,  in  1874, 
to  Miss  A.  E.  Coulter,  of  Martinsburgh,  Knox 
county,  who  was  born  in  1858,  in  Jeflerson  county, 
Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  children, 
Leo  B.  and  Daisy  V. 

HESLIP  JOSEPH  S.,  Linton  township; farm- 
er ;  born  December  22, 1827,  in  Linton  township ; 
son  of  Joseph  and  Eleanor  (Walgamot)  Heslip; 
has  always  lived  in  this  township;  enlisted  in 
1864,  in  Company  K,  Nineteenth  O.  V.  I.;  served 
on  detailed  duty  as  headquarters  guard  for  Sher- 


man in  his  Georgia  campaign.  Married  August 
13, 1867,  to  Esther  J.  Lovill,  daughter  of  John  W, 
and  Eliza  J.  (Gillespie)  Lovill ;  her  father  emi- 
grated from  London,  England,  in  1830;  her 
mother  was  from  New  York.  Mrs.  Heslip  was 
born  in  Ashtabula  County,  March  24,  1838,  and 
moved  with  her  parents  to  Guernsey  county 
when  six  months  old.  '  Their  children  are  Eliza 
Ellen,  William  Osborn,  Clara  Jane,  Ada  Eliza- 
beth, Elma  Susan ;  Sadie  Bell,  deceased  ;  Bertha, 
deceased,  and  Matilda  Ann.  George  Milton  Stone, 
the  son  of  a  deceased  sister  of  Mrs.  Heslip,  is  their 
adopted  child. 

HICKSON  WILLIAM;  postoffice,  Roscoe; 
manufacturer  of  boots  and  shoes ;  born  in  the 
county  of  Meath,  Irelahd,  December  2,  1845.  At 
twelve  and  one-half  years  of  age,  he  began  an  ap- 
prenticeship to  a  shoemaker,  and  upon  its  com- 
pletion in  1861,  while  yet  a  mere  youth,  left  his 
native  land  and  his  friends,  and  sailed  for  Amer- 
ica. Arriving  at  New  York,  he  found  employ- 
ment there  at  his  trade,  and  worked  at  it  till  1865; 
he  then  came  to  Roscoe,  and  has  here  followed 
his  vocation  uninterruptedly  since.  April,  1880, 
he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  for  Jackson 
township ;  was  married  April,  1863,  to  Miss 
Bridget,  daughter  of  James  Meady,  and  has  a 
family  of  three  children,  Margaret  A.,  William, 
James  and  Maria  Isabelle. 

HILL  WILLIAM  M.,  Coshocton ;  barber,  of 
the  firm  of  Henry  &  Hill;  234  Main  street;  was 
born  March  20,  1850,  in  Taylor  county.  West 
Virginia;  son  of  John  Hill,  deceased.  William 
M.  was  raised  on  the  farm  until  fifteen,  when  he- 
became  servant  to  Lieutenant  Colonel  Pierpont, 
and  remained  with  him  four  years,  and  until  the- 
close  of  the  war.  In  1870  he  went  into  the  bar- 
bershop of  George  Mickens,  at  Grafton,  West 
Virginia,  and  remained  one  year,  after  which  he 
successively  worked  at  Mannington,  West  Vir- 
ginia; Bellaire,  Ohio,  and  Newark,  Ohio.  August 
20, 1878,  he  came  to  this  city  and  worked  with 
Mr.  Henry,  of  the  above  firm,  until  September 
6',  1880,  when  he  became  partner.  Mr.  Hill  was 
married,  March  30,  1880,  to  Miss  Lucy  Clinton, 
of  Zanesville,  Ohio. 

HILL  A.  J.,  Coshocton;  insurance  agent;  was 
born  in  Guernsey  county,  July  4,  1884;  son  of 
David  M.  and  Elizabeth  (Gorden)  Hill.  A.  J.  was 
brought  up  and  schooled  in  town  and  city.  His 
life  has  been  principally  spent  in  merchandising. 
In  June,  1853,  Mr.  Hill  was  married  to  Miss 
Annie  E.,  daughter  of  Adam  and  Mary  (Huf- 
man!  Kimble.  They  have  been  the  parents  of 
the  following  children,  viz  :  Ray  T.,  Osten  D.,51. 
Lizzie,  Ernest  C,  George  F.,  Jennie  A,,  Annie  B. 
and  Sarah  B.,  deceased.  In  1868  he  formed  the 
firm  of  McCleary  &  Hill,  wholesale  grocers,  Cam- 
bridge, Ohio,  and  did  a  very  successful  business. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


707 


He  was  also  partner  in  the  firm  of  Thompson  & 
Hill,  boot  and  shoe  dealers,  Cambridge,  Ohio. 
From  this  place  he  went  to  Massillon,  Ohio,  and 
was  proprietor  of  the  Tremont  House  for  two 
years.  Then  he  moved  to  Newcomerstown, 
where  his  wife  died,  November  2,  1876.  He 
came  to  this  city  in  1877,  and  the  spring  of  1880 
took  the  agency  of  the  Jelloway  Mutual  Aid  As- 
sociation, in  which  he  is  doing  a  very  satisfactory 
business. 

HILL  GEORGE  ROSCOE ;  teacher;  born  Jan- 
uary 23, 1840,  in  Roscoe,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio ; 
son  of  James  and  Catharine  (Dunlap)  Hill,  na- 
tives of  Ireland,  who  came  to  America  in  1832 
and  located  at  Lockport,  New  York.  In  1837 
they  came  to  Roscoe,  where  the  father  died,  No- 
vember 16,  186ft  Young  Hill  obtained  a  good 
elementary  education  at  the  public  schools  of  his 
native  village.  At  the  proper  age  he  began  brick 
laying,  at  which  he  worked  about  ten  years,  dur- 
ing the  summer  seasons.  When  about  twenty- 
five  he  began  his  present  profession,  in  which  he 
has  been  very  successful. 

HIMEBAUGH  WILLIAM,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; farmer;  born  in  Harrison  county,  Febru- 
ary, 1818.  His  father,  Peter  Himebaugh,  was  a 
native  of  Northumberland  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  of  German  ancestry.  William  remained 
at  home  until  he  was  eighteen,  when  he  appren- 
ticed himself  to  a  cabinetmaker  at  Cadiz.  In 
1840  he  came  to  this  county,  and  he  and  his 
brother,  Peter,  started  a  shop  at  Chili,  where  they 
continued  in  the  furniture  business  for  eight 
years,  William  teaching  school  during  the  winter. 
In  1843  he  married  Miss  Sarah  Alexander,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Alexander.  Mrs.  Himebaugh  is  a 
native  of  the- county  Tyrone,  Ireland,  and  was 
born  April,  1825.  Her  father,  John  Alexander, 
was  educated  at  Dublin.  He  studied  medicine 
at  the  same  place,  but  never  practiced  his  profes- 
sion. He  came  to  Buffalo,  New  York,  in  1825; 
hved  there  a  short  time,  then  moved  to  Pitts- 
burgh, where  he  staid  a  couple  of  years;  then 
came  on  to  White  Eyes  township  and  purchased 
the  farm  on  -which  he  resided  till  his  death,  in 
18.54,  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  He  was  the  sec- 
ond justice  of  the  peace  in  the  township,  and 
held  that  office  until  he  was  too  old  to  serve.  He 
was  a  ready  writer,,  and  an  occasional  contributor 
to  the  newspapers. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Himebaugh  became  the  parents 
of  two  children— Milton,  born  July,  1845,  enlisted 
December,  1861,  at  camp  Meigs  in  Company  G, 
Eightieth  0.  V.  I.  He  was  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Jackson,  Mississippi,  May  14,  1863,  at  the  age  of 
seventeen  years  and  ten  months.  He  was  clerk 
of  the  brigade  commissary  department,  but  at 
the  battle  of  Jackson  he  took  a  musket  and  went 
into  the  battle,  and  received  a  ball  near  his  heart 


while  fighting.  He  was  patriotic  and  brave,  and 
a  young  man  of  great  promise.  William  A.  was 
born  May  28, 1857,  is  reading  law,  and  is  the  only 
child  living.  Mr.  Himebaugh  moved  to  Wash- 
ington county  in  1848,  and  returned  to  Chili  in 
1852.  He  was  elected  county  auditor  in  1854, 
was  installed  in  March,  1855,  and  was  re-elected 
in  1856.  H  e  is  the  only  Republican  in  the  coun- 
ty who  has  held  a  county  office  two  terms  in  suc- 
cession, and  the  only  one  who  has  ever  held  the 
office  of  county  auditor.  In  1861  he  bought  and 
moved  on  to  the  old  Alexander  place  in  White 
Eyes,  remained  there  uiitil  1875,  when  he  went 
to  Avondale,  and  in  1877  located  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides. 

Mr.  Himebaugh  was  a  strong  and  influential 
union  man.  June,  1863,  was  appointed  by  the  pro- 
vost marshal  enrolling  officer  of  a  district  includ- 
ing Crawford  township.  The  mostinteresting  event 
that  occurred  while  discharging  his  duty  in  Craw- 
ford, took-  place  on  Madison's  run,  in  the  vicinity 
of  where  a  lodge  of  the  "  Golden  Circle  "  was  in 
the  habit  of  holding  its  meetings.  He  called  on 
a  young  man  who  was  working  Jh  the  cornfield 
for  the  purpose  of  enrolling  him.  When  asked 
for  his  name  and  age  he  replie^,  "  I  don't  go  mit 
dis  abolition  war.  I  fights  nix  for  de  nigger.  I 
gives  no  name  and  I  gives  no  how  old."  Mr. 
Himebaugh  replied,  "All  right,  sir,  there  is  an- 
other way  of  getting  your  name  and  age,"  and 
turned  to  go  to  his  horse.  While  passing  from 
the  field  to  the  road  he  saw  two  other  persons 
cross  the  fence,  with  clubs  in  their  hands,  and 
join  the  Dutchman  in  the  field. 

When  about  200  yards  away  he  heard  some 
loud  swearing  from  the  Dutchmen,  but  could  not 
understand  what  they  were  saying.  He  had  to 
go  by  the  Dutchman's  house  in  order  to  get  to 
his  horse,  and  the  three  followed  him,  keeping  at 
a  distance,  and  pretty  quiet  until  Mr.  Hime- 
baugh was  past  the  house,  then  they  hastened 
their  pace,  and  as  soon  as  they  saw  they  could 
reach  the  house,  the  Dutchman  interviewed  in 
the  field,  began  swearing,  "  Now  you're  as  far  as 
you  gets,  for  I  shoots  you."  He  then  went  into 
the  house  and  came  out  with  a  gun  on  his  arm, 
still  swearing  that  he  would  shoot.  Mr.  Hime- 
baugh stood  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  fence  with 
his  hand  on  his  revolver  waiting  for  a  motion 
from  the  Dutchman,  and  telling  him  at  the  same 
time  that  he  was  ready  to  open  the  ball  at  any 
time.  The  other  two  were  afraid  to  show  them- 
selves after  they  got  into  the  house. 

However,  the  Dutchman  did  not  shoot,  but  con- 
tinued his  murderous  threats,  while  Mr.  Hime- 
baugh walked  deliberately  to  his  horse  that  was 
hitche'd'a  few  rods  distant,  when  he  found  the 
saddle  girth  was  cut.  One  of  the  trio  was  then 
immediately  dispatched  post  haste  to  a  magician 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  got  him  to  use  all  his 


70S 


HISTOEY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


power  in  the  black  art  to  put  a  stop  to  "  dis  en- 
rolling bizness."  But,  regardless  of  the  shot-gun 
and  the  conjurations  of  the  charmer,  the  enroll- 
ment of  Crawford  was  completed^ 

The  Dutchman  was  indicted  by  the  United 
States  grand  jury  at  Cleveland,  was  arrested  and 
lay  in  jail  and  the  dungeon  for  a  long  while  at 
that  place.  The  other  two  ran  oflf  and  have  not 
made  their  appearance  since. 

From  1862  to  1869  Mr.  Himebaugh  was  United 
States  revenue  assessor.  He  has  been  justice  of 
the  peace  in  White  Eyes  township  for  twelve 
years,  and  holds  that  office  at  present. 

HINDS  ELISHA,  deceased,  Adams  township ; 
farmer;  son  of  Ezra  and  Elizabeth  Hinds;  was 
born  August  28, 1801,  near  Elizabethtown,  New 
Jersey.  He  came  to  Steubenville,  Ohio,  and  re- 
mained thirteen  years ;  he  then  removed  to  Car- 
roll county,  Ohio,  and  remained  until  April,  1836, 
when  he  came  to  Coshocton  county,  and  settled 
in  Adams  township,  where  he  remained  until 
his  death.  Mr.  Hinds  was  married  February  10, 
1822,  to  Miss  Nancy  Berry,  of  Steubenville,  Ohio. 
They  became  the  parents  of  nine  children,  viz : 
Elias,  Westley ;  David,  deceased ;  May  J.;  Elisha, 
deceased;  Johrf;  Hannah,  deceased;  an  infant 
not  named,  and  Lewis.  His  wife  died  February 
6, 1864.  He  was  married  August  8,  1854,  to  Miss 
Margaret  Huff,  of  Brownsville,  Pennsylvania 
They  became  the  parents  of  one  child,  James, 
who  was  born  December  4,  1855.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hinds  united  with  the  M.  JE.  church,  December, 
1840,  and  remained  members  until  death.  They 
were  descendants  of  the  "Pilgrim  Fathers." 
Mr.  Hinds'  father  served  in  the  revolutionary  war. 

HOGAN  DANIEL,  Coshocton ;  restaurant,  gro- 
cery and  liquor  dealer,  446  Main  street;  was  born 
May  1,  1850,  in  Waynesburgh,  Virginia;  son  of 
Patrick  Hogan,  a  native  of  Ireland.  Mr.  Hogan 
came  to  this  county  in  1860,  and  clerked  for  J.  G. 
Stewart  three  and  one-half  years,  and  for  L.  E. 
Miller  four  years.  From  Eoscoe  he  went  to  War- 
saw and  established  a  grocery ;  in  a  few  years  he 
went  to  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  and  established 
a  restaurant,  from  whence  he  came  to  this  city 
and  established  his  present  business,  in  1873,  after 
having  shipped  horses  a  short  time.  Mr.  Hogan 
was  married  July  12, 1873,  to  Miss  Nancy  Pain- 
ter, daughter  of  John  W.  Painter,  of  Westmore- 
land county,  Pennsylvania.  This  union  was 
blessed  with  three  children.  Wellington,  Pearl 
and  Belle.  Mr.  Hogan  commenced  life  for  him- 
self a  poor  boy,  but  has  succeeded  well  in  his 
business. 

HOGLE  JOHN,  Bethlehem  township;  farmer; 
son  of  Michael  and  Polly  (Langdon)  Hogle;  was 
born  November  7, 1816,  in  Bethlehem  township, 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  postoffice,  Warsaw, 
Ohio.    Mr.  Hogle's  father  came  to  Bethlehem  ' 


township  in  1814,  and  found  it  a  wilderness,  in- 
habited by  Indians  and  wild  animals ;  he  was  of 
Holland  Dutch  descent.  John  Hogle  was  married 
April  12, 1842,  to  Miss  Lydia  A.  Skillman,  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  February  22, 1822,  in  New 
Jersey.  They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
viz :  Wflhelmina  S.,  Leander,  Charlotte  L.,  Har- 
riet, Mary,  Lizzie,  Annie  W.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ho- 
gle have  been  influential  members  of  the  M.  E. 
church  forty  years.  Mr.  Hogle  has  been  justice 
of  the  peace  in  his  township  twelve  years,  and  is 
esteemed  by  all  who  know  him.  He  owns  one  of 
the  finest  farms  in  this  county. 

HOHENSHELL  JACOB,  farmer;  Washing- 
ton township;  postoffice,  Wakatomaka;  born  in 
1810,  in  Wesmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  married  in  1832,  to  Miss  Sarah  Keister,  of 
the  same  county,  who  was  born  in  1813.  They 
came  to  this  county  in  1854.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  fourteen  children,  seven  boys  and  seven 
girls;  three  boys  and  five  girls  are  still  living. 

HOLL  EICHAED  S.,  Newcastle  township; 
postoffice,  Newcastle;  was  born  in  Lancaster, 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  December  25, 1829;  son 
of  Jacob  and  Lydia  (Potts)  Holl,  grandson  _  of 
Peter  and  Christina  (Miller)  Holl,  and  Ephriam 
and  Esther  Potts.  He  attended  school  during  his 
youth,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  began  to  learn 
the  carpentry  and  pumpmaking  'trade,  serving 
the  proper  time.  He  has  been  engaged  in  car- 
pentry ever  since.  He  came  to  Newcastle  in 
1855,  and  on  August  5,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the 
U.  S.  service  under  Captain  Nichols,  Company  H., 
Ninety-seventh  regiment,  0.  V.  I.  He  went  with 
his  company  to  Camp  Lew  Wallace,  Covington, 
Kentucky,  and  while  there  received  an  injury 
while  assisting  in  unloading  of  medical  stores, 
and  was  taken  to  West- End  Hospital,  Cincinnati, 
until  he  became  convalescent  and  was  then  re- 
moved to  Camp  Dennison,  where  he  remained 
until  he  received  his  discharge  on  December  25, 
1862,  and  came  home.  He  has  never  recovered 
from  his  injury.  After  coming  home  he  was 
unable  to  do  anything  for  a  year,  and  since  then 
he  is  able  to  perform  only  light  work  about  half 
his  time.  He  was  appointed  postmaster  in  New- 
castle, in  October,  1869,  and  has  filled  that  office 
since.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Spind- 
ler,  on  the  31st  of  January,  1850,  daughter  of 
Frederick  and  Sarah  (Campbell)  Spindler.  Mrs. 
Holl  was  born  August  18,  1828,  in  Lancaster 
county,  Pennsylvania.  They  have  had  seven 
children,  viz:  Lydia,  born  November  20,  1850; 
Sarah,  born  November  6,  1852,  died  August  23, 
1878;  Thomas  J.,  born  September  9, 1854;  Mary 
E.,  born  July  16,  1856;  Hortense,  born  January 
26,  1859,  died  July  12,  1859;  Ei  chard  A.,  born 
March  8,1861;  Lovd  N.,  born  March  12,  1865, 
died  October  16, 1870. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


709 


HOOD  OLIVER  T.,  White  Eyes  township; 
born  in  Ireland,  in  1832;  came  to  America  in 
1842,  and  to  this  county  in  1852,  and  located  in 
White  Eyes'  township.  He  commenced  the 
mechanical  trade  as  a  machinist  in  his  eleventh 
year,  entering  a  large  machine  shop  in  Glasgow, 
Scotland,  but  afterward  turned  his  attention  to 
engineering.  He  came  to  Montreal,  Canada,  and 
took  charge  of  the  steamer  Rollin  Hill,  on  the 
St.  Lawrence  river.  In  the  spring  of  184?,  he 
came  to  Oswego,  New  York,  and  had  charge  of 
the  steamer  Victoria,  running  on  the  Bay  of 
Fundy  in  the  summer  of  1847.  In  the  fall  of  1847, 
he  went  into  a  machine  shop  at  ISTiagara  Palls. 
,In  the  spring  of  1848,  his  parents  moved  upon  a 
farm  in  Canada,  where  he  remained  with  them 
until  1850,  when  he  came  to  Erie,  Pennsylvania, 
and  took  charge  of  a  steamer  on  Lake  Erie,  where 
he  remained  until  1852,  when  he  came  to  this 
county.-  He  was  married,  September  16, 1852,  to 
Mary  J.  Graham,  whojvas  born  in  Steubenville, 
the  daughter  of  Benjamin  Graham,  a  resident  of 
this  county.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  children, 
five  living.  S.  W.  was  born  in  1854,  in  this  county. 
He  was  married,  July,  1880,  to  Miss  Sadie  Mar- 
shall, of  Allegheny  City,  Pennsylvania.  She  was 
born  in  1856.  8.  W.  is  a  saddler  by  trade,  and  is 
carrying  on  business  at  Avondale.  The  names 
of  the  other  children  are  as  follows,  viz:  Maggie, 
Rebecca,  Jane  and  Sarah  K.,  and  are  all  at  home. 
Mr.  Hood  has  followed  carpentering  since  1866. 
He  has  been  elected  justice  of  the  peace  of  White 
Eyes  township,  and  is  holding  that  office  at  pres- 
ent. He  and  his  family  are  members  of  the  U. 
P.  church  at  Avondale. 

HOOK  ISAAC,  Bethlehem  township;  farmer; 
son  of  John  Hook;  was  born  December  16, 1826, 
in  this  township,  and  has  always  remained  a 
resident.  His  father  came  to  this  county  in  1812, 
and  located  in  Bethlehem  township.  He  was  one 
of  the  old  pioneers,  the  township  being  generally 
a  dense  forest  when  he  came  here.  Isaac  Hook 
was  married,  in  1850,  to  Miss  Kezia  Burrell,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1829.  They  are  the 
parents  of  nine  ohildred,  viz :  S,  M.,  born  in  1»61 ; 
E.  Annie,  born  in  1853;  Howard  M.,  born  in 
1855;  Susan,  born  in  1857;  Jennie,  born  in  1859; 
Harvey,  born  in  1862;  William,  born  in  1868;  Mil- 
dred, born  in  1870,  and  George,  born  in  1872. 
All  the  children  are  residents  of  this  county. 
Mr.  Hook  has  always  been  a  resident  of  this 
county,  and  has  followed  agricultural  pursuits. 

HOOTMAN  HENRY  JACOB,  Linton  town- 
ship; farmer;  born  December  9,  1824;  son  of 
Henry  and  Eleanor  (Parmer)  Hootman.  (Por 
ancfstry  see  Isaac  Hootman).  When  three  years 
old  his  father  moved  to  Oxford  township,  where 
Henry  remained  till  he  was  twenty-one;  he  then 
lived  in  Lafayette  township  until  1869,  when  he 


moved  to  Linton  township ;  married  November 
27,  1850,  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  Andrew  and 
Mary  (Rodruck)  Ferguson,  of  Lafayette  town- 
ship. Their  children  are  Henry  B.,  Emma  D., 
Andrew  H.,  and  William  Tecumseh  Sherman. 
Mr.  Hootman  enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hun- 
dred and  Ninety-fourth  0.  V.  I.,  February  15, 
1865,  and  served  eight  months. 

HOOTMAN  ISAAC;  farmer;  born  in  Lafay- 
ette township  October  27,  1818;  son  of  Henry 
and  Eleanor  (Farmer)  H*ootman.  His  maternal 
grandfather,  Frederick  Parmer,  was  Irish  born; 
his  paternal  grandfather,  Christopher  Hootman, 
was  a  Hessian,  and  was  drafted  into  service  when 
only  fourteen  years  old ;  belonged  to  a  regiment 
as  drum-major  employed  by  the  English  in  the 
American  war,  and  was  wounded  and  taken  pris- 
oner at  Trenton.  When  released  at  the  close  of 
the  war  he  adopted  America  as  his  home,  and 
settled  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  died.  His  son  Henry,  father  of  Isaac, 
came  to  Lafayette  township  in  1815,  and  about 
1828  moved  to  Oxford  township ;  he  afterwards 
sold  out  here  and  moved  to  Lawrence  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  died.  Except  a  few  months 
spejit  in  Indiana,  Isaac  has  always  lived  in  this 
county.  He  was  married  in  1841  to  Sophronia 
Hammersly,  bqrn  October  22,  1822,  daughter  of 
Peter  Hammersly,  of  Linton  township..  Their 
children  are  Henry,  Ruhama,  Thomas  ;  Eliza 
Ellen,  deceased ;  Seth ;  Jacob,  deceased ;  George, 
Lydia,  Manda,  Dora ;  Eber,  deceased. 

HOOVER  CHRISTIAN,  Crawford  township; 
farmer ;  postoffice.  New  Bedf6rd ;  born  October 
18,  1841,  in  German  township.  Holmes  county, 
in  the  house  in  which  he  now  resides ;  son  of  Jacob 
and  Elizabeth  (Snyder)  Hoover.  He  has  spent 
his  entire  time  on  the  farm  where  he  was  born. 
He  was  married  March  16,  1863,  to  Miss  Mary, 
daughter  of  Anthony  and  Elizabeth  (Varnse) 
Gouser.  Five  children  were  born  to  them,  viz; 
Francis  M.,  Rebecca  Elizabeth,  Martha,  Albert 
A.  and  Mary  Margaret.  Mr.  Hoover  has  a  com- 
fortable home  for  himself  and  family. 

HOSELTON  WILLIAM,  Coshocton;  saloon 
and  resturant,  Third  street,  between  Main  and 
Chestnut;  was  born  April  22,  1832,  in  Circleville, 
Pickaway  county;  son  of  Joseph  Hoselton,  Sr.,  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania;  served  as  major  in  the 
war  of  1812,  and  was  present  at  the  surrender 
of  General  Hull.  Young  Hoselton  was  raised  in 
his  native  village.  At  fifteen  he  began  canal  boat- 
ing, which  he  followed  about  fifteen  years.  He 
spent  the  years  1856-7  in  the  West.  In  1861  he 
learned  the  carpenter  trade,  and  followed  it  and 
butchering  until  1877,  when  he  estabhshed  his 
present  business.  Mr.  Hoselton  was  married 
May  9, 1859,  to  Miss  Eveline  Prescott,  of  Circle- 
ville.   This  union  was  blessed  with  five  children, 


710 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


viz :  Charles  D.,  Fannie  E.,  Emma  L.,  William  J. 
and  Samuel  T.  Hoselton. 

HOSTETTER  A.  J.,  Keene  township;  born 
January  12, 1840,  in  Keene  township ;  son  of  Ja- 
cob and  Harriet  (Martin)  Hostetter,  of  German 
birth.  At  the  age  of  five  years  he  moved  to 
Holmes  county,  where  he  spent  about  twenty 
years,  and  then  three  in  Ashland  county.  He 
next  moved  to  Indiana,  where  he  remained  until 
1876,  when  he  returned*  to  Coshocton  county. 
He  has  followed  cabinetmaking  for  thirteen 
years.  Mr.  Hostetter  enlisted  in  1862  in  Com- 
pany B,  Sixteenth  regiment  O.  V.  I.,  and  was  dis- 
charged in  1864.  He  re-enlisted  in  Company  B, 
First  regiment  0.  V.  I.,  and  remained  in  service 
until  the  close  of  the  war,  having  been  engaged  at 
Mill  Springs,  Cumberland  Gap,  and  in  the  num- 
erous battles  which  were  fought  in  Sherman's 
Georgia  campaign.  He  was  married  February 
20,  1867,  to  Susan  E.  Beaird,  born  in  1850,  daugh- 
ter of  Henry  and  Elizabeth  (Miller)  Beaird. 

HOUSER  CHARLES,  farmer;  Washington 
township:  postoffice,  Wakatomaka;  born  in  1814, 
in  Hampshire  county,  Virginia.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1819  with  his  father  C.  D.  Houser.  He 
was  born  in  1769,  in  Germany,  and  came  to  Vir- 
ginia in  1785.  He  married  Marion  Thompson, 
of  the  same  county,  who  was  born  in  1773.  He 
died  in  1853;  she  died  in  1851.  They  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children.  The  subject  of  this  is 
the  sixth.  He  was  married  in  1832  to  Miss  Re- 
becca Garee,  of  Licking  county,  who  was  born  in 
1818.  » 

HOWE  A.  D.,  Coshocton ;  foreman  in  axle  de- 
partment of  steel  works;  was  born  March  16, 1860, 
in  Lodi,  Otsego  county.  New  York;  son  of  George 
H.  Howe.  At  the  age  of  thirteen  he  went  on  a 
farm,  where  he  remained  two  years.  In  April, 
1865,  he  commenced  his  present  business,  at 
Springfield  Center,  Otsego  county,  New  York, 
and  remained  two  years,  then  worked  two  years 
in  Herkimer  county.  New  York.  He  came  to 
this  city  in  1871,  and  was  one  of  the  first  who 
worked  in  the  present  works,  becoming  foreman 
in  September,  1878,  which  position  he  has  held 
to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Howe  was  married  July 
19,  1863,  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  Isaac  Sparts, 
of  Menden,  Herkimer  county.  New  York.  They 
have  two  children,  Clarence  D.  and  Mildred  M. 

HOWE  GEORGE  H.,  Coshocton ;  boxmaker, 
in  spring  and  axle  works ;  was  born  in  Otsego 
county.  New  York,  in  1827 ;  commenced  work 
in  cotton  factory  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  con- 
tinued four  years;  then  learned  the  carpenters' 
trade,  and  followed  it  until  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany D,  One  Hundred  and  Fifty-second  N. 
Y.  V.  I.  He  was  honorably  discharged  in  July, 
1864,  and  returned  to  New  York  and  engaged  in 


buggy  axle  manufacturing,  where  he  continued 
until  1876,  when  he  engaged  in  his  present  posi- 
tion. Mr.  Howe  chose  Harriett,  daughter  of 
Leonard  Perkins,  of  Oneida  county.  New  York, 
for  a  partner  to  share  the  joys .  and  sorrows  of 
life  with  him.  They  were  blessed  with  five 
children,  viz :  Albert,  Charles,  Ida,  George,  and 
Eggert,  deceased. 

HOWELL  JOHN,  fruit  grower;  Washington 
township;  postoffice,  Wakatomaka;  born  in 
1814,  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1827,  with  his  father,  who  was  born  in 
1767,  in  Virginia.  He  was  married  in  1797,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Bonham,  of  Virginia,  who  was 
born  in  1777.  They  came  to  Belmont  county  in 
1814.  He  was  in  the  war  of  1812.  John  was 
married  in  1837,  to  Miss  Phoebe  A.  Seward,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1813,  in  Luzerne 
county,  Pennsylvania.  She  died  in  1879.  They 
are  the  parests  of  eight  children.  Mr.  Howell 
has  thirty  acres  of  orchard.  His  gross  sales  for 
1879  were  $2,000. 

HOWLETT  JOHN,  Sr.,  Bedford  township; 
carpenter;  postoffice.  West  Bedford;  born  in 
1819,  in  Ohio  county,  West  Virginia.  He  was 
married  in  1848  to  Miss  Elizabeth  J.  Steele,  of 
the  same  county,  who  was  born  in  1829.  They 
came  to  this  county  in  1861.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  nine  children,  viz:  Franklin,  Albert; 
Gabriel,  deceased;  John,  James;  Charles,  de-. 
ceased;  Sarah  E.,  Harry  and  Ida  May.  Mr. 
flowlett  is  a  carpenter,  having  worked  on  many 
fine  buildings. 

HOWSER  A.  B.,  Jackson  township;  Roscoe 
postoffice;  born  in  this  county  in  1851;  son  of 
Jacob  and  Elizabeth  Howser,  an'd  grandson  of 
Andrew  and  Mary  (Carson)  Loekard;  married 
in  1875  to  Mary  A.  Norris,  daughter  of  William 
and  Rebecca  J.  Norris.  They  have  one  child — 
Curtis  S. 

HUGHES  JAMES,  Bedford  township;  farm- 
er; postoffice,  West  Bedford;  born  in  1809  in 
Belmont  county,  Ohio,  and  came  to  this  county 
in  1821,  with  his  father,  who  was  born  in  1767  in 
New  Jersey.  He  married  Miss  Francis  Launney, 
of  Winchester,  Virginia,  and  died  in  1824.  She 
died  in  1867.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the 
third.  He  was  married  in  1860  to  Miss  Rebecca 
Hardman,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1822. 
She  died  in  1863.  He  was  married  in  1872  to 
Miss  Lottie  Robinson,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1839,  in  Harrison  county.  They  are  the 
parent?  of  three  children,  viz :  Luella  J.,  James 
A.  and  Francis  U. 

HUGHES  JOHN  D.,  Keene  township;  car- 
penter; born  June  26, 1840,  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn 


BIOGRAPHICAL  ,  SKETCHES. 


711 


«ylvania;  son  of  John  and  Eliza  J.  Hughes,  and 
grandson  of  Kobert  and  Mary  A.  (Robinson) 
Hughes,  and  of  John  and  Nancy  (Hasson)  Dun- 
can. He  remained  in  Pittsburgh,  till  1878,  when 
he  came  to  Keene,  and'  married  Miss  Rebecca 
FuUerton,  of  Irish  extraction,  who  was  born 
June  20,1844;  daughter  of  Robert  and  Anna 
(Aiken)  FuUerton,  and  granddaughter  of  Robert 
FuUerton.  Three  children  have  been  born  unto 
them:  William,  February  2,1868;  Eliza  J.,  Oc- 
tober 15,  1871,  and  Mary  E.,  October  12,  1874. 
Mr.  Hughes  enlisted  in  the  Thirteenth  Pa.  V.  I., 
Company  F,  and  was  discharged  August  28, 1861 ; 
re-enhsted  September  6,  1861,  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Second  Pa.  V.  I.,  Company  L,  and  mus- 
tered out  September  9,  1864.  He  was  engaged 
.at  Williamsburg,  Antietam  and  Fredericksburg. 
At  Wiljiamsburg  he  was  severly  wounded.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  militia  that  helped  to  sup- 
press the  great  Pittsburgh  riot,  in  1878. 

HUGHES  WILLIAM  H.,  Coshocton ;  carpen- 
ter and  contractor ;  was  born  April  9,  1840,  in 
Muskingum  county.  Me  is  a  son  of  Henry  C.  R. 
Hughes,  American  born,  of  Irish  ancestry. 
Young  Hughes  was  raised  on  the  farm  until 
.about  fifteen  years  of  age,  when  he  began  to 
learn  the  cabinet  trade,  which  he  followed  until 
1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company  A,  Ninth  O. 
V.  C,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  On 
returning  from  the  war  he  resumed  his  trade  at 
Roscoe,  where  he  followed  it  until  1869,  when  he 
•changed  to  his  present  trade.  In  1871  he  came  to 
this  city,  and  has  successfully  followed  the  car- 
penter and  contracting  business  to  the  present. 
Mr.  Hughes  was  married  August  8,  1866,  toMiss 
Jennie  Mirise,  daughter  of  John  Mirise,  deceased, 
formerly  of  Roscoe.  This  union  has  been  blessed 
with  five  children,  viz  :  Frank  G.,  Alice  Blanche, 
Edie  Belle,  Charles  H.  and  William  Longdon. 

HURLBUTT  L.  H.,  Coshocton;  manager  for 
D.  M  Moore,  custom  clothier,  422  Main  street; 
was  born  in  1832,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut;  com- 
menced his  trade  when  fourteen  years  of  age;  at 
twenty  he  established  a  shop  at  Norfolk,  Connecti- 
cut, and  continued  business  six  years.  His  health 
failing,  he  went  south  and  remained  two  years, 
then  returned  and  located  at  Stanford,  Connecti- 
cut, and  remained  twelve  years.  He  was  em- 
ployed as  cutter  in  Dunkirk,  Newark  and  Dayton. 
In  1878  he  took  his  present  position.  He  was 
married  in  1853,  to  Miss  E.  Holcomb,  of  Water- 
bury,  Connecticut.  Their  children  are  William 
L.,  J.  A.  and  Perry.  This  establishment  employs 
twenty-five  hands,  and  turns  ofT  from  twenty -five 
to  thirty  suits  per  week.  Mr.  Moore  buys  direct 
from  the  mills.  This  is  a  branch  of  the  Newark 
store,  which  employs  from  fifty  to  sixty  hands. 

HUTCHINSON  W.  S.,  Coshocton;  grocer,  cor- 
ner of  Walnut  and  Sixth  streets.    Mr.  Hutchin- 


son is  a  native  of  this  city,  born  December  31, 
1848 ;  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Co- 
shocton, and  made  his  first  business  engagement 
as  salesman  with  William  Ward,  in  general  mer- 
chandising. He  afterward  served  the  firms  of 
Hay  &  Wilson,  D.  Brelsford  &  Co.,  and  J.  H. 
Klosser,  when  in  February,  1878,  he  purchased 
the  stock  of  Williams  Bros.,  since  which  he  has 
been  engaged  in  the  grocery  business.  He  carries 
an  extensive  and  first-class  stock  of  staple  and 
fancy  groceries  and  confectioneries,  stove  and 
wooden  ware,  sugar-cured  and  pickled  meats,  fish, 
flour  and  salt,  also  deals  in  all  kinds  of  country 
produce. 


INGRAHAM  J.  B.,  Coshocton,  Ohio;  physician 
and  surgeon;  born  November  9,  1821,  in  Harri- 
son county,  Virginia;  son  of  Jacob  and  Maria 
(Modisett)  Ingraham.  His  paternal  ancestors  are 
English,  and  his  maternal,  Welch  and  French. 
He  was  brought  up  a  farmer-boy  until  eighteen, 
when  he  began  teaching  school,  and  taught  three 
schools.  In  1844,  he  located  at  Athens,  Athens 
county,  Ohio,  and  at  once  began  reading  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  Carpenter,  and  began  practice  at 
Savannah,  Athens  county,  Ohio,  in  1847  ;  his  next 
location  was  at  Logan,  Hocking  county,  Ohio, 
where  he  was  married,  March  7,  1847,  to  Miss 
Sarah  E.,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Field- 
ing) Guthrie.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine'chil- 
dren,  viz  :  Maria, Olivia,  now  Mrs.Dr.  T.  J.  Smith ; 
Sarah  E.,  Charles  M.,  Prances  Ellen,  now  Mrs.  Dr. 
H.  L  Mann;  Emma  G.;  John  G., deceased;  Rose 
E.,  Edgar,  Floyd  and  Robert  Jay.  June  4, 1848, 
Dr.  Ingraham  located  at  Plainfied,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  practiced  unttl  April  1, 
1864,  when  he  came  to  Coshocton.  He  has  been 
eminently  successful  in  his  professional  practice, 
especially  as  a  surgeon. 

IRVINE  J.,  Coshocton;  attorney  at  law;  was 
born  December  24,  1822,  at  Wooster,  Ohio,  where 
he  remained  until  he  was  ten  years  old,  when 
with  his  parents  he  went  to  Fredericksburgh, 
where  on  finishing  his  education  he  began  teach- 
ing school.  He  taught  in  Ashland  county,  and 
also  in  the  schools  at  Fredericksburgh  At  the 
age  of  twenty-four  he  entered  as  a  student  the 
law  office  of  Sapp  &  Wilker,  and  was  admitted  to 
practice  about  the  time  war  was  declared  between 
the  United  States  and  Mexica  In  May,  1847,  he  ■ 
enlistel  in  Company  G,  ff'tS  0.  V.  I.  as  second 
lieutenant,  and  in  September  of  the  same  year  ' 
he  was  elected  captain  of  the  company  at  Mata- 
moras,  Mexico,  and  was  honorably  discharged  in 
1848  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  On  receiving  his  dis- 
charge he  came  to  his  present  location,  and 
taught  school  one  year ;  then  resumed  his  present 
law  profession.  In  April,  1861,  he  enlisted  as 
colonel  of  the  Sixteenth  0.  V.  L  and  served  three 


712 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


months.  In  1863  he  recruited  company  M,  Ninth 
O.  V.  C.,  and  was  commissioned  its  captain,  and 
subsequently  major,  and  served  until  August  2, 
1865.  In  June,  1853,  Col.  Irvine  was  married  to 
Miss  Annie  Hum«igkhquae.  They  became  the 
of  two  children,' Samuel  and  Mary. 


parents  i 


JACQUET  JOHN  M.,  Coshocton;  pastor  of 
St.  George  congregation ;  born  August  20,  1817, 
in  Prance;  son  of  Claude  Jacquet;  educated  at 
Lyons, .  Prance,  and  ordained  there  -in  1844; 
came  to  America  in  1846,  and  was  employed  in 
the  diocese  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  until  1855, 
in  which  year  he  became  pastor  of  St.  Mary's 
church,  at  Batesville,  Noble  county,  Ohio,  where 
he  remained  till  1869 ;  he  then  removed  to  Co- 
shocton, and  has  remained  here  since,  officiating 
as  pastor  of  the  St.  George  church,  in  the  city ; 
and,  in  addition,  having  charge  of  five  small  mis- 
sions, viz:  One  in  Pranklin,  one  in  Linton,  and 
one  in  Monroe  townshij),  this  county;  one  in 
Dresden,  and  one  in  Muskingum  township,  Mus- 
kingum county. 

JAMES  E.  W.,  Coshocton ;  attorney ;  born  Feb- 
ruary 11, 1887,  in  East  Union,  this  county ;  son  of 
Thomas  James,  who  was  American  born,  of  Eng- 
lish ancestry.  Young  James  spent  his  early  life 
on  a  farm  and  going  to  public  schools.  In  1854, 
he  commenced  a  more  thorough  course  of  edu- 
cation, during  the  summers  attending  succes- 
sively West  Bedford  academy,  Oberlin  college, 
Spring  Mountain  academy  and  Meadville  col- 
lege, JPennsylvania,  and  teaching  in  the  winters. 
August  15,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  com- 
pany K,  Thirty-second  O.  V.  I.  During  the  first 
year  he  rose  successively  to  second  and  first  lieu- 
tenants. In  February,  1863,  he  was  commissioned 
captain.  He  resigned  soon  after  the  fall  of  At- 
lanta, Georgia.  Captain  James  was  appointed 
judge  advocate  on  General  Legget's  staff  and  re- 
ceived several  honorable  mentions  during  his  mil- 
itary services.  In  the  spring  of  1865,  he  entered, 
as  a  student,  the  law  office  of  Messrs.  Nicholas  & 
Williams.  During  his  reading,  he  took  the  law 
course  at  Michigan  university,  and  was  graduated 
in  March,  1867,  soon  after  which  he  commenced 
the  practice  of  law,  forming  the  firm  of  Nicholas 
&  James.  Captain  James  was  married.  May  16, 
1871,  to  Miss  Cornelia  A.  Denver,  daughter  of 
Patrick  Denver,  of  Clinton  county,  Ohio.  The 
result  of  this  union  is  one  chikl,  a  daughter, 
Mary. 

JAMES  THOMAS,  Bedford  township;  post- 
oflBce  West  Bedford  :  born  in  1812,  in  this  county. 
His  father  Elias  James  was  born  in  1785  in  Lou- 
don county,  Virginia,  and  was  married  in  1806, 
to  Miss  Nancy  Pry,  of  the  same  county,  who  was 


born  in  1786.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1809_ 
He  died  in  1860,  she  died  in  1863.  They  were 
the  parents  of  six  children,  the  subject  of  this, 
sketch  being  the  third.  He  was  married  in  1833,. 
to  Miss  Sarah  0.  Cochran*  of  this  county,  who 
was  born  in  1815.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  only  one  of  whorn  is  living.  E.  W. 
was  a  member  of  the  Thirty-second,  0.  V.  I.  He 
went  in  as  a  private  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain. The  names  of  the  deceased  children  are 
James  P.,  Melvina,  Rebecca  J.,  Rachel  V.,  Rutb 
v.,  Nancy  E.,  and  Sarah  K. 

JEFFRIES  V.  0.,  Coshocton;  carriage  and 
wagon  manufacturer,  north  Second  street;  born. 
November  22, 1841,  in  White  Eyes  township;  son 
of  William  Jeffries.  Young  Jeffries  was  raised 
on  the  farm,  where  he  remained  until  he  was. 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  his 
trade  with  E.  McDonald,  after  which  he  worked 
with  Conrod  &  Shepler,  of  Marysville,  Union 
county;  and  four  years  under  instructions  at 
Columbus;  also  for  A.  D.  Manners,  of  this  city.. 
In  the  spring  of  1876  he  established  his  present, 
shop,  where  he  is  receiving  a  full  share  of  the 
patronage  in  his  line  of  business.  Mr.  J.  keeps 
eight  or  ten  hands  employed  at  his  shop.  Mr; 
Jeffries  was  married  December  21, 1880,  to  Miss 
Ada  L.,  daughter  of  George  Morgan,  of  this  city. 

JELLEY  ROBERT  D.,  Keene  township ;  farm- 
er ;  born  December  1, 1841,  in  Mill  Creek  town- 
ship; son  of  Samuel  and  Lydia  Jelley,and  grand- 
son of  James  and  Mary  (Hazlett)  Jelle;^,  and  of 
Robert  and  Elizabeth  Davidson,  natives  of  Ire- 
land. He  was  married  October  22,  1867,  to 
Christina,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Susannah  Best,, 
and  granddaughter  of  John  and  Christina  (Reve- 
naugh)  Best,  and  of  Peter  and  Susannah  Miller,  of 
German  lineage.  They  have  one  child,  Ehza- 
beth  M.,  born  September  1)^1869. 

JENNINGS  JOSEPH,  Franklin  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Coshocton  county,  September 
23,  1845;  son  of  Joseph  Jennings,  Sr.,  an  early 
settler  of  this  county;  enlisted  in  Company  M, 
Ninth  0.  V.  C,  October  22, 1863,  and  remained  in 
service  until  mustered  out  in  1865.  Among  the- 
engagements  he  participated  in  were  Decatur,, 
Alabama,  those  about  Atlanta,  Aiken,  Chappel 
Hill,  Nashville,  Tennessee,  etc.  Since  his  return, 
he  has  engaged  in  farming.  He  was  married 
September  8,  1870,  to  Rebecca  Simon,  born  April' 
27,  1847,  daughter  of  WiUiam  Simon,  who  was. 
born  in  Fairfield  county,  and  whose  parents  emi- 
grated from  Germany.  His  children  were,  Ar- 
minta,  Viola,  William  Marshall,  John  Harley,  Sa- 
ra Bell  and  Olvy  Pearl. 

JOHN  E.  Y.,  deceased,  Tiverton  township;: 
born  March  1, 1821,  in  this  county,  and  was  mar- 
ried in  1848,  to  Miss  Hannah  Spurgeon,  of  this 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


715 


county,  who  was  born  in  November,  1824.  He 
died  March  12,  1876.  They  were  the  parents  of 
four  children,  only  one  o£  whom,  Polantes,  is 
living.  Mr.  John  followed  the  business  of  sales- 
man, selling  goods  in  Walhonding  and  Warsaw. 

JONES  SAMUEL,  Lafayette  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  West  Lafayette,  Ohio;  son  of  David  P. 
and  Margaret  (Hunt)  Jones;  was  born  April  20, 
1842,  in  England.  He  came  to  this  country  in 
1845,  and  located  in  Linton  township,  this  county. 
He  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  fol- 
lowed that  occupatien.  Mr.  Jones  was  married 
June  29,  1865,  to  Miss  Debby  J.  Wiggins,  of  this 
county.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  children, 
viz:  Rosella,  born  June  29,  1866;  Ida  M  ,  born 
August  23,  1867;  Charles  B.,  born  August  26, 
1869;  Samuel  H.,  born  January  19,  1872;  David 
P ,  born  December  9,  1877,  died  March  8,  1878, 
and  Debby  P.,  born  January  21, 1876.  Mr.  Jones 
served  four  months  as  a  private  in  Company  E, 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  0.  V.  I.,  under 
General  Butler. 

JONES  SMITH,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
White  Eyes  Plains  postoffice ;  son  of  Wesley  and 
Mille  A.  (Medley)  Tones,  both  natives  of  Ohio. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Belmont 
county,  in  1841,  and  came  »to  this  county  when 
about  three  years  of  age.  He  was  married  to 
Miss  Margaret  Ann  Wolf,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Wolf,  deceased.  They  have  not  been  blessed  with 
any  children.  He  is  at  present  township  trustee, 
being  elected  on  the  Republican  ticket,  although 
the  towhship  is  Democratic,  which  shows  his  pop- 
ularity. He  took  part  in  the  late  war,  going  out 
in  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-ninth 
0.  V.  I.,  and  serving  twenty  months,  going  out 
as  a  private  and  discharged  as  a  sergeant.  Mr. 
Jones  and  wife  are  members  of  the  Protestant 
Methodist  church  of  this  township,  and  are  both 
highly  esteemed  by  their  neighbors.  He  owns 
fifty-three  acres  of  good  land  in  this  township. 

JONES  REV.  A.  P.,  Virginia  towiihip.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  at  Westfield,  Me- 
dina county,  Ohio;  son  of  Sylvanus  and  Alvira 
Jones.  Mr.  Johns  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  till 
the  age  of  eighteen  years.  He  then  went  to 
school  at  Baldwin  university,  at  Berea,  Ohio,  he 
also  spent  two  years  at  the  Wesleyan  university, 
at  Delaware,  where  he  graduated.  H  e  then  entered 
the  North  Ohio  Conference,  of  which  he  re- 
mained a  member  until  1863,  when  he  enlisted 
in  the  Thirty-fourth  Regiment  0.  V.  I.,  Army  of 
the  Cumberland,  served  about  eighteen  months 
as  a  private.  He  afterward  served  in  various  ca- 
pacities :  first  as  clerk,  then  in  the  executive  de- 
partment of  the  hospital,  then  as  chaplain  till  he 
was  mustered  out  of  the  service.  On  his  return 
he  again  entered  the  conference,  and  is  still  a 


member    of    it      He    married    Miss    Cordelia 
Thatcher,  in  August,  1859. 

JOHNSTON  J.  H.,  Jefferson  township;  was 
born  September  .iO,  1884,  in  Scotland,  and  while 
yet  an  infant,  he  was  brought  by  his  parents  to 
Canada,  where  he  was  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
and  educated  in  a  Canadian  free  school.  At  the 
age  of  twenty,  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and 
settled  in  Hancock  county.  West  Virginia,  where 
he  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  under  John 
Dixon,  and  followed  it,  in  Virginia,  about  seven 
years ;  then  went  to  California,  workedathis  trade 
about  sixteen  months;  then  returned  to  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  worked  at  his  trade  until  1875,, 
when  he  went  to  Texas,  to  look  for  a  location;, 
remained  there  about  fifteen  months,  and  fol- 
lowed farming;  then  returned  to  Jefferson  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  where  he  is  now  pursu- 
ing his  old  occupation  of  blaoksmithing.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Rebecca  J.  Neptune,  Sep- 
tember, 1857,  who  was  born  June  3, 1834;  daugh- 
ter of  Davis  and  Elizabeth  (Hull)  Neptune,  and 
granddaughter  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  Hull, 
Their  children  were,  Elizabeth,  deceased ;  John 
T.,  born  January  2,1862;  George  D.,  August  2,. 
1863;  Ahoe  M.,  September  28,  1865;  James  H., 
September  2,  1868;  Charles  G.,  February  2, 1871; 
Samuel  A.,  September  7, 1862,  and  Sarah  J.,  May 
20,  1876,  born  in  Texas.  Mr.  Johnston  enlisted 
in  Company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second 
0.  N.  G.,  and  served  his  country  100  days. 

JOHNSON  JAMES,  Frankhn  township;  born 
in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  March  10,  1815;  son  of 
John  and  Rebecca  Johnson.  In  1818,  his  father, 
a  weaver,  moved  to  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  and 
seven  years  later  to  Utica,  New  York  James  re- 
mained here  till  he  was  twelve  years  old,  then 
worked  on  the  Erie  canal  till  he  was  twenty-five, 
when  he  learned  the  cooper  trade,  working  at  it, 
in  Newark,  Wayne  county,  and  Phelps,  Ontario 
county.  New  York,  till  the  fall  of  1848.  He  then 
moved  to  Roscoe,  this  county,  and  followed  his 
trade  till  the  spring  of  1852,  when  he  moved  to 
Franklin  township.  He  built  a  cooper-shop  at 
Conesville,  doing  the  cooper  work  for  the  distil- 
lery, and  also  shipping  his  barrels.  About  1868, 
he  quit  coopering  and  engaged  exclusively  in 
farming.  He  was  married,  in  1841,  to  Matilda 
Cornell,  daughter  of  John  Cornell.  His  two  chil- 
dren were  named  John  and  Sarah  Minerva. 

JOHNSON  HENRY,  deceased;  Lafayette 
township ;  was  born  in  Orange  county,  New 
York,  in  1800,  and  came  to  Ohio  in  1837 ;  previous 
to  coming  here,  he  run  a  dairy  in  Orange  county, 
noted  the  world  over  for  its  butter  and  butter- 
makers.  He  was  married  October  23,  1822,  to 
Miss  Clarinda  Burt,  of  Orange  county,  New  York. 
They  had  three  children,  viz :  Sarah,  Catherine 


714 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


and  Clara.  Mrs.  Johnson  passed  away  in  1873, 
and  Mr.  Johnson  in  1879,  his  death  resulting 
from  being  struck  in  the  breast  by  a  horse  which 
was  scared  at  a  steam  thresher.  Mrs.  Johnson 
was  a  cripple  the  best  part  of  her  life  from  rheu- 
matism, caused  prinaipally  by  the  hard  work  in- 
cident to  an  early  settler's  life.  Clara,  the  young- 
est daughter,  owns  the  home  farm  of  200  acres, 
which  is  the  one  first  settled  upon  by  her  father, 
and  owns  240  acres  south  of  the  home  farm.  The 
house  where  she  is  at  present  living  is  the  oldest 
frame  house  in  the  valley,  atone  time  a  tavern,  in 
the  early  days  of  this  county,  and  was  the  place 
for  holding  elections  for  some  time.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Johnson  were  both  leading  members  of  the 
Baptist  church  here,  in  fact,  Mr.  Johnson  may 
truthfully  be  said  to  have  built  the  Baptist  church 
in  this  place,  and  his  home  was  sometimes  called 
ihe  "preacher's  home,"  on  account  of  the  hospi- 
tality extended  to  them. 

JOHNSON  JESSE,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer ;  born  in  Jefferson  county  about  1817,  and 
was  the  son  of  Derrick  Johnson.  Jesse  was  mar- 
ried in  1841  to  Miss  M.  J.  Dennison  of  Jefferson 
county ;  she  was  born  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania.  They  had  nine  children,  all  of 
whom  have  deceased  except  the  three  youngest, 
two  boys  and  one  girl — Charles,  Ernst  and  Grace. 
Orace  is  married  to  John  Adams,  a  stock 
dealer  of  Coshocton,  and  resides  at  that  place. 
Charles  lives  at  home  with  his  mother,  and  farms 
the  place.  Ernst  has  been  attending:  school  at 
Coshocton  for  the  last  three  years.  Mr.  Johnson 
came  to  this  township  in  the  spring  of  1861,  and 
located  on  the  farm  where  his  widow  resides.  He 
■died  September  15,  1868,  aged  62  years,  and  was 
interred  at  Kimbles.  'They  lost  four  of  their 
children  within  two  weeks. 

JOHNSON  DR.  M.IRO,  Roscoe,  Ohio.  Dr. 
Johnson  was  born  March  14,  1810,  in  Cheshire 
county.  New  Hampshire;  son  of  Adam  and 
Martha  (Breed)  Johnson,  ivho  were  of  English 
ancestors.  The  doctor's  grandfather  was  a  soldier 
in  the  French  and  English  wars  of  1754-55,  and 
^Iso  in  the  revolutionary  war.  Young  Johnson 
was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  where  he  remained 
until  he  was  twenty  years  of  -age,  when  he  began 
reading  medicine  with  Dr.  Samuel  Lee,  the  first 
physician  in  Coshocton,  Ohio.  After  three  years' 
study  he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at  the  Ohio 
medical  college  at  Cincinnati.  On  his  return 
from  the  lectures  he  became  a  partner  with  his 
preceptor,  with  whom  he  remained  six  years, 
and  since  which  time  he  has  practiced  medicine 
at  his  present  place,  Roscoe.  Dr.  Johnson  was 
married  November  15,  1838,  to  Miss  Eliza  L., 
daughter  of  Thomas  L.  Rue,  of  Coshocton,  but 
formerly  of  Pennington,  New  Jersey.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  four  children,  viz:  Sarah  L.. 
Jane,  married  to  John   M.  Adams,  of  Jackson 


township;  Elizabeth,  deceased,  aged  19  years; 
Guy,  married  to  Miss  Lone,  now  residing  in  Iowa. 
Mrs.  Johnson  died  in  1854,  and  is  buried  in  the 
old  cemetery  at  Roscoe. 

JOHNSON  William  a.,  clerk;  Coshocton; 
was  born  June  28, 1823,  in  this  city;  son  of  Adam 
and  Sarah  Williams,  daughter  of  Colonel  Wil- 
liams the  pioneer  settler  of  this  city.  Johnson, 
Sr.,  was  a  native  of  Maryland.  At  the  age  of  thir- 
teen young  Johnson  began  the  printing  business 
in  the  Coshocton -Demcwai,  and  in  1845  he  became 
owner  of  half  the  office,  which  he  held  about  one 
year.  In  1846  he  became  editor  and  proprietor 
of  the  Crawfordsville  Review,m  Indiana, and  con- 
ducted it  one  year,  then  removed  to  Iowa  and  lo- 
cated at  Ottumwa, Wapello  county.  He  afterwards 
purchased  the  Des  Moines  Republican,  and  con- 
ducted it  nearly  two  years.  Then  returned  to  his 
native  city  a  wiser  if  not  wealthier  man,  and  be- 
came foreman  of  the  Coshocton  ^p'e, which  position 
he  held  under  Burt,  Hillyer,  Dwyer  &  Harris.  He 
was  appointed  postmaster  by  President  Lincoln, 
but  was  victimized  by  President  Johnson.  In 
1861  he  enlisted  as  musician  of  Fifty-first  regi- 
mental band,  but  was  discharged  by  act  of  con- 
gress in  1862.  He  also  served  under  the  govern- 
ment as  assistant  assessor,  also  as  assessor,  then 
again  assistant  assessos  of  internal  revenue,  also 
deputy  provost  marshal  oE  this  county,  after 
which  he  retired  to  private  life.  Mr.  Johnson 
was  married  in  April,  1845,  to  Miss  Doratha, 
daughter  of  John  and  Susannah  (Jennings)  Ostler. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  eleven  children; 
three  died  in  infancy,  not  named;  Louisa,  Mary 
v.,  Luella,  William  A..  Jr.,  George  W.,  Charles 
M. ;  Adah,  deceased ;  Mary  A.  and  Paul  B. 

JOHNSON  C.  B.,  New  Castle  township;  post- 
office,  New  Castle;  was  born  in  Tompkins  county, 
New  York,  April  30,  1840;  son  of  Henry  L.  and 
Ocee  Ann  (Brown)  Johnson,  and  grandson  of  Rob- 
ert and  Mary  (Carney.)  Brown.  He  worked  on 
the  farm  and  attended  school  until  the  age  of 
eighteen,  aWvhich  time  he  came  to  West  Bedford, 
this  county,  and  learned  the  harness-maker  trade 

with  Philips,  and  from  there  he  came  to 

New  Castle,  and  worked  with  William  Lyons. 
In  June,  1861,  he  volunteered  in  the  United 
States  service  in  Company  D,  Twenty-fourth  0. 
V.  I.,  under  Captain  Givens,  and  remained  in  the 
service  until  January,  1863.  His  first  encamp- 
ment was  at  Camp  Chase,  four  miles  west  of  Co- 
lumbus, and  in  July,  1861,  was  removed  from 
there  to  Bellaire;  thence  to  Pittsburgh,  Pennsyl- 
vania; thence  to  Clarksburg,  West  Virginia, 
where  he  was  taken  ill  and  was  sent  to  the  hos- 
pital, and  was  there  several  days.  He  then,  with 
three  comrades,  followed  the  command  to  Cheat 
Mountain,  a  distance  of  104  miles,  camping  each 
night  among  the  enemy. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


715 


From  Cheat  Mountain  he  went  to  Greenbrier, 
and  there  took  part  in  the  fight,  then  came  back 
with  his  regiment  to  Cheat  Mountain,  and  from 
there  was  ordered  to  Clarksburg,  and  thence  to 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  under  General  Wilson. 
Prom  Louisville  he  went  into  winter  quarters  at 
Camp  Wickliffe,  and,  in  February^  1862,  was  or- 
dered to  West  Point,  Kentucky,  and  down  the 
Ohio  to  Paducah,  thence  up  the  Cumberland  to 
Port  Donelson,  expecting  to  assist  in  the  fight  at 
that  place,  but  didn't  reach  there  until  the  morn- 
ing of  the  surrender.  From  there  he  went  to 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  was  taken  sick 
and  sent  to  the  hospital,  and  afterward  detailed 
to  hospital  No.  14  as  hospital  clerk,  and  remained 
nine  months  and  twenty-seven  days,  when  he  re- 
ceived his  discharge  and  went  home.  He  was 
never  wounded 

He  then  went  to  Mt.  Vernon,  Knox  county, 
Ohio,  and  worked  at  his  trade  with  with  George 
Hawk  for  nine  months,  and  in  1864  moved  to 
Bladensburgh,  Knox  county,  and  from  there  to 
Roscoe  and  carried  on  a  shop  for  two  years,  and 
in  the  fall  of  1867  moved  to  New  Castle,  where 
he  has  resided  ever  since.  In  1874  he  patented 
the  diamond  trace  buckle,  for  which  he  received 
about  $1,000.  He  has  served  three  terms  as  jus- 
tice of  the  peace  in  New  Castle  township,  and  is 
at  present  proprietor  of  Union  Hotel,  doing  a 
fair  business.  He  has  been  twice  married.  His 
first  wife  was  Miss  Martha  Baltzall,  to  whom  he 
was  married  March  7,  1863.  Slje  was  the  daugh- 
ter of  Joseph  and  Lydia  Baltzall,  and  died  July 
12,  1865.  He  married  his  second  wife.  Miss 
Charity  E.  Fulkerson,  July  7,  1867,  daughter  of 
Thomas  and  Lydia  Fulkerson,  who  is  the  mother 
of  four  children,  three  of  whom  are  living  viz : 
Blanche,  born  July  6,  1868;  George,  born  Octo- 
ber 10, 1879;  Robert,  born  February  21,  1877. 

'JOHNSON  ROBERT  Is.,  New  Castle  town- 
ship ;  postoffice.  New  Castle ;  was  born  March  15, 
1838,  in  Tompkins  county.  New  York;  son  of 
Henry  and  Ooee  Ann  (Brown)  Johnson,  and 
grandson  of  Robert  and  Mary  (Carney)  Brown. 
He  attended  school  and  assisted  his  father  on  the 
farm  until  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  at  which 
time  he  went  to  Illinois,  remaining  there  about  ten 
months,  working  for  Mr.  Williams,  of  Crawford 
county,  then  came  to  Virginia  township,  Coshoc- 
ton county,  and  from  there  went  to  Bedford 
township,  and  worked  with  Elias  James,  and  at- 
tended school  during  the  winter  of  1859. 

In  the  spring  following,  he  went  to  West 
Bradford,  and  in  the  fall,  to  Simmons'  run,  near 
Xenia,  Ohio,  and  worked  there  until  the  spring 
of  1861,  when  he  came  to  New  Castle,  and  worked 
with  Jesse  Nickols,  until  the  first  of  June,  when 
he  enlisted  in  the  United  States  service,  Com- 
pany K,  Twenty-fourth  0.  V.  I.,  under  Captain 
Given;  went    to  Camp    Chase;  from    there    to 


Bellaire,  and  thence  to  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylva- 
nia ;  was  then  ordered  to  Clarksburg,  West  Vir- 
ginia, and  thence  to  Cheat  Mountain;  from 
there  went  to  Greenbrier,  and  took  part  in  the 
engagement  at  that  place;  from  there  he  re- 
turned, with  his  regiment  to  Cheat  Mountain; 
from  thence  to  Clarksburg;  thence  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  and  from  there  to  winter  quarters,  at 
Camp  Wickliffe,  and,  in  February,  1862,  went  to 
West  Point  Kentucky;  from  there  to  Paducah; 
thence  up  the  Cumberland,  to  Fort  Donaldson, 
to  assist  in  the  engagement  there,  but  did  not 
arrive  until  the  morning  of  the  surrender. 

From  there  he  went  to  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
thence  to  Savannah,  Georgia,  then  to  Shiloh,  ex- 
pecting an  attack.  On  the  morning  of  the  8th  of 
February,  he  marched  with  his  regiment  against 
the  enemy,  had  a  battle  and  routed  the  enemy. 
From  there  he  went  to  Corinth  and  assisted  in 
the  siege,  thence  to  Beech  bottoms,  thence  to  luka 
Springs,  thence  to  Nashville  and  Murfreesborough, 
Tennessee,  where,  on  account  of  sickness,  he 
was  taken  to  convalescent  camp,  remained  there 
about  six  weeks;  was  then  detailed  as  teamster  to 
Bowling  Green,  then  to  Louisville,  thence  to  Nash- 
ville, when  he  was  taken  to  hospital  on  account 
of  injuries  received  from  a  mule,  where  he  re- 
mained until  he  was  discharged,  January  27, 1863, 
and  then  came  home.  He  married  Miss  Mary 
A.  Smith,  August  17,  1865.  He  then  learned  the 
harnessmaker  trade,  in  New  Castle,  with  his 
brother,  Charles,  with  whom  he  was  a  partner 
about  four  years,  when  he  sold  his  interest  and 
went  into  the  barbering  business  at  Mount  Ver- 
non, Knox  county,  and,  after  a  time,  came  back 
to  New  Castle,  where  he  is  at  present  engaged  at 
harnessmaking  and  barbering,  doing  a  fair  busi- 
ness. 

JOHNSON  JOHN,  Pike  township;  postoffloe. 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser  ;  born  in 
this  county  in  1846;  son  of  John  and  Mary  John- 
son, and  grandson  of  John  Johnson,  and  of  Jo- 
seph and  Mary  Hawker.  He  was  married  in  1868 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Frampton,  daughter  of  Garrett- 
son  and  Eliza  A.  Frampton.  I'hey  are  the  pa- 
rents of  two  children,  viz  :  Clarence  G.  and  Ste- 
phen D.  Mr.  Johnson  enlisted  in  1864,  in  Com- 
pany F,  Nihety-seventh  0.  V.  I.,  Capt.  Lemmert, 
Army  of  the  Cumberland.  Mr.  Johnson  partici- 
pated in  the  following  battles,  to- wit :  Rocky  Face 
Ridge,  May  9,  1864;  Resaca,  Georgia,  May  14 
and  15,  1864;  Adairsville,  May  17,  1864;  Burnt 
Hickory,  May  27,  1864 ;  Muddy  Creek,  June  18, 
1864 ;  Kenesaw  Mountain,  June  27,  1864 ;  Peach 
Tree  Creek,' July  20, 1864;  Atlanta,  Georgia,  July 
22  and  23, 1864;  Jonesborough,  September  1,1864; 
Lovejoy  Station,  September  2,  1864;  Spring  Hill, 
November  29,  1864;  Franklin,  November  80, 
1864;  Nashville,  December  16  and  16,  1864;  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  Stone  River,  and  Chicamauga.   He 


716 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


was  wounded  at  Nashville  December  16,  1864; 
and  was  mustered  out  at  Powder  Horn,  Texas, 
October  21, 1865. 

JOHNSON  WILLIAM,  Pike  township;  post- 
office,  Fallsburgh ;  farmer  and  stockraiser ;  born 
in  England  in  1819 ;  came  to  the  United  States  in 
1852,  and  settled  in  this  county  in  1870;  son  of 
Daniel  and  Mary  (Topps)  Johnson,  and  grandson 
of  William  and  Mary  Johnson,  and   of  Thomas 

and Topps.     He  was  married  in  1858  to 

Miss  Levina  Lane,  daughter  of  Joshua  and  Sarah 
Lane.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  viz : 
Mary  and  Sarah,  both  deceased ;  Margaret,  John, 
Terrissa,  George  E.,  Harriett,  and  Elizabeth. 
The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  died  in 
1867. 

KANE  FRANK;  was  born  in  Herkimer 
county.  New  York,  July  18,  1828;  lived  on  a 
farm,  and  went  to  Fairfield  academy  until  the 
age  of  fifteen,  and  then  went  to  learn  the  currier 
trade;  followed  it  .three  years,  then  moved  to 
Otsego  county.  New  York,  and  followed  pattern 
making  for  twelve  years.  After  this  he  left  New 
York  and  went  to  Schenectady  City,  and  resumed 
his  trade  of  pattern  making  for  a  time,  after 
which  he  returned  to  Otsego  and  followed  the 
same  business  for  two  years;  then  came  to  Co- 
shocton, Ohio,  and  has  worked  at  pattern  making 
for  the  Iron  and  Steel  Co.,  up  to  the  present 
time.  Mr.  Kane  married  Julia  H.,  daughter  of, 
Philip  Baker,  of  Richfield  Springs,  Otsego 
county.  New  York.  This  union  has  been  blessed 
with  two  children,  viz :  Charley  B.  and  Cora 
Kane. 

KASER  CHRISTIAN,  Jefferson  township; 
postoffice,  Warsaw ;  born  in  Wurtemberg,  Ger- 
many, November  23,  1815 ;  son  of  Frederick  and 
Johanna. (Slumf)  Kaser.  -  In  his  youth  he  learned 
the  shoemaker  trade,  and,  at  the  age  of  eighteen, 
began  doing  for  himself,  worked  at  promiscuous 
work  for  twenty  years,  then  came  to  America  in 
1848,  landing  in  New  York  after  a  voyage  of 
eighteen  days.  From  New  York  he  went  to 
Dutch  Bedford,  remained  there  a  short  time, 
then  came  to  Jefferson  township,  Coshocton 
county,  where  he  has  resided  since.  He  was 
married  February  29,  1849,  to  Miss  Sophia  Gam- 
ertsfelder,  daughter  of  Christian  and  Johanna 
(Verner)  Gamertsfelder.  She  was  born  Novem- 
ber 3,  1814,  in  Stiltzbaugh,  Wurtemberg,  Ger- 
many; Ciime  to  America  in  1833,  landing  in  Bal- 
timore after  a  voyage  of  eighty-one  days,  on  the 
vessel  Elizabeth.  They  are  the  parents  of  two 
children — John  and  Christian.  John  was  born 
in  Mill  Creek  township  May  25,  1851.  He  at- 
tended district  school  and  assisted  his  father 
until  the  age  of  twenty-one,  since  which  time  he 
has  farmed  for   himself.      He  is  an  energetic 


young  man,  respected  by  all  who  know  him.  He 
was  married  January  1,  1876,  to  Miss  Anna  E. 
Miller,  daughter  of  John  W.  and  Caroline  Miller, 
who  was  born  June  3, 1852,  in  Jefferson  township, 
died  May  31, 1879.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
one  child  (Samuel),  born  September  29, 1875. 

KASER  C,  Jefferson  township ;  was  born  May 
2, 1855,  in  Jefferson  township,  Coshocton  county. 
He  lived  on  a,  farm  until  the  age  of  eighteen, 
when,  after  attending  school  for  some  time  at 
Warsaw,  he  began  teaching  and  taught  one  year, 
then  went  back  to  the  farm  where  he  remained 
two  years,  after  which  he  attended  the  Ohio  Cen- 
tral Normal  school,  at  Worthington,  Franklin 
county.  He  is  now  engaged  in  selling  hardware 
in  partnership  with  R.  C.  Frederick,  at  Warsaw, 
where  they  are  doing  a  good  business.  Mr. 
Kaser  was  married  to  Miss  Louisa  Meyers,  May 
5,  1880,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Wilhelmina 
Myers.  C.  Kaser  is  a  son  of  C.  and  Sophia 
(Gamertsfelder)  Kaser. 

KASER  JOHN  C,  Jefferson  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Christian  and 
Sophia  F.  (Gamertsfelder)  Kaser;  was  born  May 
25, 1851,  in  this  county.  He  was  raised  on  the 
farm,  and  has  always  followed  that  occupation. 
He  was  married  December  31, 1865,  to  Miss  Annie 
E.  Miller,  of  this  county.  They  became  the  pa- 
rents of  one  child,  viz :  Samuel,  born  September 
29, 1866.  His  wife  died  May  30, 1879.  Mr.  Kaser's 
second  marriage  .was  on  February  24,  1881,  to 
Miss  Maggie  Fisher,  of  this  county.  He  is  farm- 
ing his  father's  place  at  present. 

KETCHUM  SAMUEL,  deceased;  the  only  son 
of  Abner  and  Clarinda  (Belcher)  Ketchum ;  was 
born  in  Moroe,  Orange  county,  New  York,  No- 
vember 8, 1827,  and  came  here  with  his  parents 
in  May,  1840;  was  married  February  24, 1851,  to 
Eleanor  L.  Lowry,  of  Linton  township.  They 
had  four  children,  as  follows :  Abner,  Laura,  Rob- 
ert and  Hattie.  Mi.  Ketchum  died  June  29, 1871. 

KERNS  W.  P.,  Adams  township;  postoffice, 
Bakersville;  wagonmaker;  born  in  Holmes  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  May  8,  1851;  son  of  John  and  Sarah 
(Snider)  Kerns,  and  grandson  of  Mary  Snider. 
He  begjin  his  trade  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  with  his 
father,  and  remained  seven  years,,  after  vjfhich  he 
took  charge  of  the  shop  himself  and  continued  it 
for  some  time.  He  then  worked  at  carpentering 
for  about  three  years,  after  which  he  came  to 
Bakersville  and  resumed  his  former  occupation, 
where  he  has  a  very  flattering  trade.  He  is  a  first- 
class  mechanic,  and  manufactures  wagons,  bug- 
gies and  everything  in  his  line  in  the  very  best 
style.  Mr.  Kerns  was  married  in  1875,  to  Misa 
Emma  Hixon,  daughter  of  Jonathan  and  Susan 
Hixon,  and  granddaughter  of  Abraham  Hixon. 
She  died  April  10, 1878.  They  have  two  children, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


717 


viz:  Harden  W.  and  Orlando  C.   He  was  married 
ISfovember  5, 1880,  to  Miss  Ella  Steward. 

KEISER  MICHAEL,  Clark  township;  miller; 
postoffice,  Clarks;  born  in  Tuscarawas  county, 
Ohio,  March  16,  1844;  son  of  John  and  Louisa 
{Kerstetter)  Keiser,  and  grandson  of  Daniel  and 
Mary  Keiser  and  Michael  Kerstetter.  He  learned 
his  trade  with  Daniel  Schaef,  of  Bakersville,  and, 
in  1874,  he  became  proprietor  bi  the  Bloomfield 
mills,  where  he  is  at  present,  doing  a  very  fair 
husiness.  .He  was  married,  April  5, 1868,  to  Miss 
Sarah  Beck,  and  is  father  of  three  children: 
Benjamin,  born  February  16,  1869;  Sarah,  born 
January  2,  1874,  and  Almira,  born  October  6, 
1876.  Mr.  Keiser  served  three  years  in  the  late 
war,  in  company  E,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
sixth  0.  V.  I. 

KEIST  WILLIAM  C, Linton  township;  farm- 
■er;  born  in  Linton  township,  November  5, 1837; 
.son  of  Nathan  and  Elizabeth  B.  (Clark)  Keist, 
grandson  of  William  K.  and  Catherine  (Williams) 
Clark,  and  of  Philip  and  Nancy  (Holt)  Keist; 
His  grandfather  Keist  was  born  in  Germany, 
.and  settled  in  Loudon  county,  Virginia.  His 
grandfather  Clark,  during  the  war  of  1812,  em- 
igrated from  Washington  county,  Maryland,  to 
Eranklin  township,  and  worked  a  short  time  on 
the  Miller  section,  then  enhsted  in  the  army, 
and  participated  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames; 
returning,  he  settled  in  Linton  township,  where 
Mr.  Keist's  mother  was  born.  H  is  father  was  born 
in  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  and  about  1838  came 
to  Muskingum  county,  and  two  years  later  to 
Linton  township.  Mr.  Keist,  April  14,  1859, 
married  Alcinda  Gale  Ingraham,  born  in  Harri- 
son county,  Virginia,  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Maria  (Modisette)  Ingraham.  Their  children  are 
James  B.,  born  February  22,  1860;  Clark,  de- 
ceased, born  January  22,  1862;  Ella  V.,  July  22, 
1864;  Benjamin  F.,  December  31, 1866;  Arthur 
•G.,  deceased,  February,  13,  1868 ;  Olivia  E..,  May 
24,  1871;  Mary  L.,  March  2,  1875,  and  Louis  M., 
March  13, 1880. 

KITCHEN  J.  T.,  Coshocton;  city  marshal; 
born  March  14,  1837,  in  this  city;  son  of  Joel 
Kitchen,  a  native  of  Virginia,  of  Irish  ancestry. 
When  about  twelve  years  of  age  he  was  employed 
in  the  coal  works  of  Jewitt  &  Co.,  and  subse- 
quently in  another  company,  making  about 
twenty-one  years.  He  was  elected  to  the  office 
which  he  now  holds  April  1, 1878.  Mr.  Kitchen 
was  married,  first,  December  27,  1859,  to  Miss 
Adeline  UfFner,  daughter  of  John  Ufifner,  of 
Licking  county.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
•nine  children,  one  of  whom,  Joseph,  is  deceased. 
■The  eight  living  children  are :  Charles  T.,  Clara, 
Frank,  Milton,  Herbert,  William,  Niona  and 
Harry.    Mrs.  Kitchen  died  June  24, 1877.    Mar- 


shal Kitchen's  second  marriage  was  on  June  19, 
1880,  to  Miss  Catharine  Eeed,  of  this  city. 

KING  W.  H.,  Coshocton,  Ohio;  of  the  firm  of 
King  &  Ferrell,  foundrymen,  North  Fifth  street. 
Mr.  King  was  born  February  1,  1841,  in  Lancas- 
ter county,  Pennsylvania;  son  of  William  King. 
W.  H.  enlisted,  in  1861,  in  Company  F,  Fifty- 
first  O.  V.  I.,  and  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran,  in  1864, 
and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
wounded  in  the  hip,  at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga, 
which  disabled  him  for  a  few  days.  He  was  in 
every  engagement  of  his  corps  (twenty  battles), 
besides  many  skirmishes.  He  was  discharged  at 
Galveston,  Texas,  but  was  not  mustered  out  until 
he  returned  as  far  as  Columbus.  At  the  close  of 
the  war,  he  engaged  in  the  foundry  business,  at 
Eoscoe,  with  the  following  successive  partners, 
viz:  Hiram  Taylor,  James  Hay  and  James 
Mirise.  In  the  winter  of  1881,  Mr.  King  estab- 
lished business,  alone,  at  his  present  place,  and, 
April  25,  of  the  same  year,  the  present  firm  was 
formed.  This  firm  starts  under  very  favorable 
auspices,  both  members  of  the  firm  being  skilled 
workmen,  and  having  large  experience  in  their 
business.  Mr.  King  was  married,  December  25. 
1855,  to  Miss  Margaret,  daughter  of  Daniel  King, 
of  Crawford  township.  They  are  the  parents  of 
seven  chidren. 

KIME  JOSEPH,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
Evansburgh  postoffice ;  son  of  Daniel  and  Cath- 
erine (Canel)  Kime;  was  born  in  1830,  and  came 
from  Knox  county  to  this  county  in  1851 ;  was 
married  in  1854,  to  Miss  Sarah  Wolf,  of  this 
township,  and  they  have  one  child,  George  P., 
who  has  been  a  great  sufferer  for  the  past  five 
years.  Mr.  Kime  was  county  commissioner 
from  1863  to  1869,  aud  is  one  of  the  leading  citi- 
izens  of  the  township.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  Baptist  Church. 

KINSEY  J.  I.,  Monroe  township;  was  born 
December  18, 1839,  in  Tiverton  township,  Coshoc- 
ton county;  son  of  Samuel  and  Susannah  (Beam) 
Kinsey,  and  grandson  of  Jacob  Beam.  He  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  he  began  farming  for  himself,  and  followed 
it  for  ten  years.  Since  that  time  he  has  followed 
huckstering,  and  has  acquired  wealth  enough  to 
keep  him  and  his  family  comfortably.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  Harriet  Lanning,  in  April,  1865, 
daughter  of  Israel  and  Susannah  (McCoy)  Lan- 
ning, and  granddaughter  of  Jacob  and  Margret 
Moore,  and  of  William  and  Harriet  (Walraven) 
McCoy  Their  children  are  Alberta,  born  Feb- 
ruary 12, 1866;  Blanche,  May  7, 1872,  and  Clare, 
August  8, 1875. 

KIRKEE  GILBEET,  Jackson  township;  post- 
office,  Eoscoe ;  born  in  Jackson  township,  Coshoc- 
ton county,  June  8, 1831 ;  son  of  William  and  El- 


718 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


moner  (Welling)  Kirker;  married  September, 
1852,  to  Miss  Rhuellen  McCoy,  daughter  of  Jo- 
seph and  Sarah  McCoy.  Mr.  Kirker  is  the  father 
of  nine  children,  viz:  W.  H.;  Louisa,  deceased; 
Sarah ;  Mary  E.,  deceased ;  Joseph  M.,  Martin  D., 
Charity,  Gilbert  S.,  Emma  S. 

KLINGLER  tMATHIAS,  Jefferson  township; 
born  June  13,  1837,  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany; 
son  of  Mathias  and  Elizabeth  (Spade)  Klingler, 
and  grandson  of  George  and  Rosannah  Klingler, 
and  of  Christian  (Plowfelder)  Spade.  Mr.  Kling- 
ler followed  furniture  making  till  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  when  he  learned  engineering,  and 
run  an  engine  on  the  Minden  railroad  for  thi;ee 
years  and  six  months.  In  1866,  he  came  to  the 
United  States,  lived  in  Philadelphia  six  months, 
spent  one  year  in  Montgomery,  Pennsylvania, 
then  came  to  Crawford  township,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  has  followed  the  carpenter 
trade  with  good  success.  He  was  married,  in 
June,  1866,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Shy,  daughter  of 
Frederick  and  Catharine  (Shoemaker)  Shy. 
Frederick,  Henry,  Willirm,  Jacob  and  Catharine 
are  the  names  of  their  children. 

KLINE  CHARLES,  Crawford  township;  shoe- 
maker ;  postoffice.  Chili ;  born  in  1848,  in  Bava- 
ria, Germany;  son  of  George  and  Christifia 
(Shaw)  Kline,  both  natives  of  Bavaria.  Charles 
Kline  emigrated  to  America  in  1860,  located  in 
Phillipsburgh,  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio,  and  ap- 
prenticed himself  to  a  shoemaker  there.  He 
worked  in  shops  in  several  places  in  the  State 
until  1868,  when  he  came  to  Chili  and  opened  a 
shop  for  himself,  where  he  has  worked  at  his 
trade  up  to  the  present  time.  In  1868  he  married 
EUzabeth  Miller.  Their  children  are  :  Mary, 
George,  Amelia,  Elizabeth,  Lilly,  Christina  Mar- 
garet and  Charles  Frederick.  Mr.  Kline  and 
family  are  members  of  the  Reform  church. 

KLEINKNECHT  CHRISTIAN,  Crawford 
township ;  farmer  and  carpenter ;  postoffice.  New 
Bedford;  was  born  February  27, 1852,  in  Holmes 
county;  son  of  Jacob  and  Catherine  (Baad) 
Kleinknecht.  Wlien  a  child  he  came  to  Craw- 
ford township,  in  which  he  has  resided  to  the 
present  time.  At  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  went 
to  the  carpenter's  trade,  which  he  has  principally 
^  followed  to  the  present.  Mr.  Kleinknecht  was 
married  December  25,  1873,  to  Miss  Mary  Mar- 
garet Price.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren viz :  Jonathan  and  Mary  Alice. 

KNIGHT  GEORGE,  New  Castle  township; 
farmer  and  tanner;  was  born  in  Harrison 
county,  Ohio,  April  6,  1810;  son  of  Peter  and 
Elizalaeth  (Fivecoat)  Knight,  who  both  lived  to  a 
great  age.  His  father  was  born  and  raised  in 
the  city  of  Philadelphia;  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade, 
and  a  member  of  the  Enghsh  Prostestant  church; 


and  his  grandfather  was  a  German  Reformed 
minister.  Mr.  Knight  is  one  of  six  children,  three 
sons  and  three  daughters. '  His  brothers  are  both 
living,  one  in  the  city  of  Baltimore,  the  other  in 
Iowa.  One  sister  is  also  living.  His  father  died 
the  year  that  he  was  born.  He  has  an  English 
education,  such  as  could  be  gathered  in  his  time. 
He  began  the  tanner  trade  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
with  William  Frost,  of  St.  Clairsville,  Belmont 
county,  Ohio,  and  worked  with  him  about  four 
years,  then  went  to  New  Athens,  Harrison  county, 
Ohio,  and  engaged  with  Mr.  Hawthorn,  from 
thence  to  Wooster,  Wayne  county,  and  worked 
with  Mr.  David  Robison,  and  from  there  he 
went  to  Millersburg,  Holmes  county,  and  formed ' 
a  partnership  with  Lyman  Shafer,  which  lasted 
four  years. 

In  the  fall  of  1833  he  received  a  new  partner, 
Andrew  McMonagh,  and  remained  partner  with 
him  eighteen  months,  when  he  sold  his  interest 
and  came  to  New  Castle,  and  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  his  old  partner,  Lyman  Shafer,  in  a 
tannery,  saddler  shop  and  store,  the  partnership 
lasting  about  twelve  years.  He  then  sold  his  in- 
terest in  these,  returned  to  Millersburg,  bought  a 
tannery,  and  for  eight  years  did  the  most  success- 
ful business  of  his  life.  He  then  returned  to 
New  Castle,  bought  a  farm,  and  opened  another 
tannery,  and  has  been  tanning  and  farming  for 
the  past  twenty-five  years,  in  New  Castle  town- 
ship. He  has  been  successful  throught  life,  has 
never  drank  any  intoxicating  liquors  from  his 
boyhood.  He  and  his  wife  united  themselves 
with  the  Presbyterian  church  when  they  were 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  and  are  still  faithful, 
and  highly  respected  by  all.  Mr.  Knight  had  an 
uncle  who  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  revo- 
lution, and  another  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812, 

He  was  married  March  6, 1835,  to  Miss  Keziah 
Boggs,  daughter  of  Ezekiel  and  Mary  (Tipton) 
Boggs,  granddaughter  of  Alexander  and  Sarah 
Boggs,  and  Absolam  and  Keziah  (Boran)  Tipton. 
Mrs.  Knight  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  June 
26,  1815.  They  have,  had  nine  children,  viz : 
Margaret  A.,  born  Sej)tember  18,  1837,  the  wife 
of  a  Presbyterian  minister  (Rev.  Mr.  Beldenj  of 
Centreville,  Iowa),  she  is  a  graduate  of  Washing- 
ington,  Pennsylvania,  Female  seminary ; '  Wil- 
liam S.,  born  August  17, 1839,  graduated  at  Wash- 
ington College,  Pennsylvania,  and  at  the  Western 
Theological  seminary  at  Alleghany,  and  is  a  min- 
ister of  the  Presbyterian  church,  at  Carthage,  in 
Jasper  county,  Missouri ;  Hervey  B.,  born  July 
20, 1841,  also  a  graduate  of  Washington  college 
and  Western  Theological  seminary,  at  Allegheny, 
and  is  a  Presbyterian  minister ;  Lymon  S.,  born 
November  7,  1843,  is  a  professor  of  music  and 
teacher  of  the  higher  branches  in  Congress, 
Wayne  county,  Ohio;  Mary  E.,  born  November 
19, 1845,  graduated  at  Steubenville  Female  sem- 
inary and  is  teacher  in  the  Coshocton  schools; 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


719 


Peter  B.,  born  March  17, 1848,  graduated  in  Pitts- 
burgh IBusiness  college  and  is  clerking  in  a 
wholesale  establishment  in  Atchison,  Kansas; 
Maria  J.,  born  December  3,  1850,  wife  of  Dr. 
Richardson,  of  Monravia,  Iowa;  George  L.,  born 
July  25,  1853,  attended  school  at  Wooster  uni- 
versity, and  is  at  present  reading  law  with  Camp- 
bell &  Vorhees,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  They  are  all 
members  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Two  of 
Mr.  Knight's  sons  volunteered  in  the  U.  S.  ser- 
vice during  the  rebellion. 

KE.AUSS  JOHN  D.,  FrankKn  township ;  farm- 
er ;  postofBce,  Wills  Creek ;  born  April  16, 1850, 
in  Licking  county;  son  of  Christian  and  Henri- 
etta (Keller)  Krauss,  natives  of  Germany,  who 
came  to  America  about  the  year  1842.  Mr.  John 
D.  Krauss  was  married  January  10, 1875,  to  Miss 
Eliza  Anne,  daughter  of  John  G.  and  Catherine 
( Hackney)  Kaufman,  natives  of  Germany.  They 
are  the  parents  of  one  child,  named  Clara  Ulalah. 
They  located  at  their  present  residence  March  8, 
1878. 

KEAUSS  THOMAS  C,  Franklin  township; 
farmer ;  postoffice.  Wills  Creek ;  son  of  Christian 
and  Henrietta  (Keller)  Krauss.  Mr,  Thomas  C. 
Krauss  was  married  September  25, 1876,  to  Miss 
Mazie  Jane,  daughter  of  Moses  and  Martha  A. 
(Sticl^les)  Wilkins,  natives  of  Ohio.  Mrs.  Krauss 
was  born  on  the  farm  on  which  she  now  resides. 
They  became  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz : 
Henrietta,  Clemence  W.  and  Lillie  Frances.  Mr. 
Christian  Krauss,  mentioned  above,  was  born 
November  3, 1819,  in  Wurteraberg,  Germany.  On 
completing  his  education,  he  learned  the  shoe- 
maker's trade,  at  which  he  worked  in  Switzerland 
and  France.  His  widowed  mother  needing  his 
assistance,  he  returned  to  her,  with  whom  he  re- 
mained the  two  years  previous  to  his  coming  to 
America,  where  he  landed  July  6,  1842,  and  lo- 
(3ated  at  Newark,  Licking  county.  Here  he  met 
his  betrothed,  with  whom  an  engagement  had 
been  made  in  Germany,  several  years  previous, 
on  condition  that  she  would  come  to  America, 
which  she  did  in  1841,  landing  in  New  Orleans. 
But  both  being  true  to  their  plighted  troth,  they 
were  rnarried  when  they  met  at  Newark.  They 
became  the  parents  of  the  following  children: 
Annie  C.  W.,  decased;  Elisha,  Catherine;  Henri- 
etta 0.,  deceased.  Mr.  Krauss  lived  at  several 
places  in  Coshocton  and  Licking  counties.  In 
1862,  he  enlisted  in  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh 
0.  V.  I.,  and  served  about  six  months,  receiving 
an  honorable  discharge  on  account  of  sickness. 
Some  years  ago,  by  the  imprudence  of  a  railroad 
•conductor,  he  was  seriously  injured,  for_  which 
the  company,  after  a  long  and  tedious  litigation, 
was  compelled  to  pay  him  |2,200. 


LACEY  GEORGE,  Franklin  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia,  August  20, 
1823;  son  of  William  Lacey.  In  the  spring  o{ 
1832  his  father  moved  his  family  to  Muskingum; 
county,  and  three  years  later  to  Virginia  town- 
ship, where  Mr  Lacey,  December  16,  1843,  mar- 
ried Phoebe  Tilton,  who  was  born  in  Virginia 
township,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Phoebe  Tilton.  About  the  year  1848  they  moved 
to  Lafayette  township,  and  lived  successively  in 
Lafayette  township;  Richland  county,  Illinois; 
Lafayette  township;  Tuscarawas  township;  Frank- 
lin township;  Muskingum  county,  and  back 
again  to  Franklin  township  two  years  ago.  Mr. 
Lacey  has  seven  children  living,  viz:  George  W., 
Nancy  Elizabeth  (Donaker);  Jesse  Sanford,  Susie 
Ann,  Lawrence  L.,  Ida  B.  and  May  Eleanor.  He 
has  lost  two  boys,  Joseph  T.  and  James  R.  The 
former  enlisted  in  the  Ninety-seventy  O.  V.  I., 
Company  I,  in  1862,  and  was  killed  in  the  battle 
of  Mission  Ridge ;  James  died  in  early  childhood. 
Mr.  Lacey  was  married  a  second  in  February, 
1880,  to  Marinda  Frost,  of  Licking  county. 

LAHM  JOHN  A.,  of  the  firm  of  J.  A.  Rimer  & 
Co.,  merchants;  postoflice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio;, 
born  January  10,  1853,  in  Germany;  son  of  Simon 
and  Catharine  (Miller)  Lahm.  Young  Lahpi 
was  raised  on  the  farm  until  seventeen,  when  he 
began  working  in  a  woolen  factory  and  attended, 
school.  His  first  experience  in  merchandising 
was  clerking  at  Beck's  mills.  Holmes  county, 
where  he  remained  four  years.  He  next  clerked 
at  Millersburgh  a  short  time.  Also  clerked  at 
Helmick  about  three  years,  after  which  he  at- 
tended the  commercial  college  at  Zanesville,  and 
obtained  a  diploma.  He  subsequently  clerked 
at  Barnesville  and  Helmick,  and  at  New  Bedford 
for  feieorge  A.  Rimer,  where  he  was  employed 
when  the  above  firm  was  formed,  January  21, 
1879.  This  firm  is  doing  an  extensive  business, 
having  a  full  stock  for  a  combination  village  store. 

LAHNA  JACOB,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  Bacon  Run,  Ohio;  born  June  6, 1843, 
in' Adams  township,  Muskingum  cotmty;  son  of 
Jacob  and  Rosanna  (Sandel)  Lahna,  a  native  of 
Alsace,  France.  He  came  to  America  with  three 
children,  and  located  in  Adams  township,  Mus- 
kingum county;  and  came  to  Linton  township, 
Coshocton  county,  about  1847,  and  located  on  the 
farm  now  owned  by  his  heirs.  Jacob  Lahna  en- 
listed in  February,  1865,  in  Company  I,  One 
Hundred  and  Ninety-fifth  0.  V.  I.,  and  served 
until  December  of  same  year.  Mr.  Lahna  was 
married  June  10, 1867,  to  Miss  Sarah,  daughter  of 
Michael  and  Anne  (Lash)  Wagner,  who  is  of 


720 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


<Jerman  ancestry.  They  became  the  parents  of 
eight  children :  Mary  A.,Eosanna;  Ehzabeth,  de- 
ceased ;  Matilda,  deceased ;  Agatha,  John  M.  and 
Sarah  Adaline. 

LAKE  JOHN,  Pike  township;  postofflce,  Fra- 
-zeysburg,  Muskingum  county ;  farmer  and  stock 
raiser;  born  in  this  county  in  1854;  son  of 
Joseph  and  Jane  (Riley)  Lake,  and  grandson  of 
Spencer  and  Martha  Lake.  He  was  married  in 
1876,  to  Miss  Laura  McConnell,  daughter  of 
Daniel  and  Mahalay  McConnell.  They  have  one 
child,  viz :  Ura. 

LAMBEESON  SAMUEL,  Coshocton;  of  the 
firm  of  Barney,  DeMoss  &  Co.,  Empire  Mills, 
Eoscoe,  and  proprietor  Washington  Mills,  Tus- 
carawas township ;  born  March  14,  1814:,  in  Vir- 
ginia; son  of  Samuel  Lamberson, deceased.  When 
young  Lamberson  was  only  four  years  of  age  he 
was  sadly  bereft  of  the  kind  care  and  influence  of 
a  loving  mother,  she  being  suddenly  killed  by  the 
falling  of  a  chimney.  When  yet  a  child  he  came 
to  New  Philadelphia,  Tuscarawas  county.  When 
•about  twelve  years  of  age  he  went  to  the  hatter's 
trade  with  Samuel  Burns,  and  served  about  seven 
years,  after  which  he  went  into  the  store  of  Smelt- 
zer  &  Eansom,  of  Eoscoe,  where  he  remained 
about  seven  years.  He  then  became  partner 
with  Arnold  Medbery  in  a  store  at  Canal  Lewis- 
•ville.  This  firm  continued  about  four  years,  when 
Mr.  Lamberson  became  sole  proprietor,  and  con- 
ducted the  store  about  twenty  years.  In  1872  he 
came  to  this  city  and  bought  his  present  resi- 
dence, 671  Main  street.  Mr.  Lamberson  served 
one  term  as  county  commissioner,  and  declined 
to  be  a  candidate  for  a  second  term  after  having 
been  nominated.  He  also  served  as  treasurer,  the 
unexpired  term  of  Samuel  Ketchana,  one  year, 
and  was  elected  and  served  the  succeeding  term 
in  the  same  office. 

Mr.  Lamberson  is  the  father  of  four  children, 
viz :  Caroline,  married  to  John  Cassingham,  Esq., 
of  this  city ;  Louisa,  Charles  and  Samuel  Lam- 
Tserson,  Jr. 

LAMBEESON  CHAS.  A.,  Coshocton;  packer 
in  Empire  Mills,  Eoscoe,  0.;  was  born  Septem- 
ber 11, 1861,  in  Canal  Lewisville ;  son  of  Samuel 
Lamberson,  a  native  of  Virginia.  Young  Lam- 
Taerson  attended  public  schools  until  May,  1880, 
when  he  came  into  the  above  mills,  where  he  is 
now  employed. 

LANNING  SILAS,  Monroe  township;  born 
August  30, 1846,  in  Monroe  township,  Coshocton 
county,  0.;  son  of  Israel  and  Susannah  (McCoy) 
Lanning,  and  grandson  of  Jacob  and  Margaret 
(Moore)  Lanning,  and  of  William  and  Harriet 
(Walraven)  McCoy,  and  great  grandson  of  John 
and  Eebecca  McCoy.  He  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm,  and  educated  in  district  schools  and  Spring 


Mountain  academy.  At  the  age  of  23  he  began  the 
blacksmith  trade  under  George  Osburn,  of  Ma- 
rion county,  Iowa;  served  an  apprenticeship  of 
two  and  a  half  years,  then  returned  to  Spring 
Mountain,  where  he  is  now  working  ^tt  his  trade. 
Mr.  Lanning  was  married,  November,  1866,  to 
Miss  Phoebe  Wing,  a  native  of  New  York,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  and  Phoebe  (Titus)  Wing,  grand- 
daughter of  William  E.  and  Phoebe  (Cuthburt) 
Wing,  and  granddaughter  of  Stephen  and  Phoebe 
(Marsh)  Titus.  Their  children  are :  Darvin,  born 
October  20, 1867;  Mond,  February  14, 1869;  Alva, 
March  25, 1871,  and  Harold,  December  16,  1874. 
At  the  age  of  17  he  enlisted  in  Company  G,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-second  0.  N.  G.,  and  served 
100  days. 

LAPP  MICHAEL,  Franldin  'township ;  born 
in  Alsace,  France,  September  28,  1829;  son  of 
Henry  and  Magdalena(Zimmer^  Lapp.  In  June, 
1830,  he  arrived,  with  his  parents,  at  Zanesville ; 
was  raised  in  Muskingum  county;  is  a  carpenter 
by  trade,  and  worked  at  it  many  years,  when  a 
young  man.  In  1854,  he  moved  to  Linton  town- 
ship, and,  three  years  later,  to  Franklin  town- 
ship. In  connection  with  farming,  he  does  a 
general  saw-mill  business,  sawing  more  lumber 
than  perhaps  any  man  in  the  county.  He  is  also 
a  contractor  for  bridges,  school-houses,  etc.,  and 
has  constructed  and  prepared  lumber  for  many 
buildings.  Mr.  Lapp  has  been  twice  married ; 
first,  to  Dorotha  M.  Snite,  born  in  Tuscarawas 
county,  daughter  of  John  T.  Snite.  By  this  mar- 
riage, he  had  ten  children,  viz:  Henry,  John  F,, 
Louisa,  Mary  D.,  William,  Solomon  C,  Alice  E., 
Caroline,  Albert  and  Frank.  His  second  wife 
was  Lucinda  Miller,  who  was  born  in  Virginia, 
and  came  to  Ohio  about  1864;  daughter  of  Ste- 
phen Miller.  Harvey,  David,  George  and  Anise 
are  the  issue  of  this  marriage. 

LA  SEEEE  J.  J.,  grocer  and  provisions,  No. 
146  Second  street,  Coshocton.  Mr.  La  Seere  is  a 
native  of  Allegheny  City,  Pennsylvania,  and 
came  to  Ohio  in  1839,  and  Icoated  at  Putnam, 
Muskingum  county,  where  he  remained  until 
1848,  when  he  come  to  Eoscoe,  where  he  fol- 
lowed coopering,  and,  in  June,  1880,  he  estab- 
lished the  grocery  business  at  his  present  loca- 
tion, where  he  carries  a  good,  fresh  stock  of  staple 
and  fancy  groceries,  confectioneries,  provisions, 
fruits  and  vegetables,  sugar-cured  and  pickled 
meats,  sliced  hams,  fish,  flour,  Jjread,  and  all 
kinds  of  canned  goods ;  also  deals  in  all  kinds  of 
country  produce. 

LAUEIE  J.  H.,  Coshocton;  proprietor  saloon 
and  restaurant,  corner  Main  and  Third  streets;  wab 
born  January  11,  1839,  in  Bavaria, Germany;  son 
of  Christopher  Laurie.  Young  Laurie  attended 
school  until  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  en- 


BIOGRAPHIC  A.L  SKETCHES. 


723 


tered  Kaiserslantern  seminary,  and  remained 
two  years,  then  returned  home  and  remained 
one  year.  In  1856  he  came  to  America,  landing 
at  Baltimore,  Maryland.  Soon  after  his  arrival 
he  became  a  steamboatman  on  the  Adriatic,  ply- 
ing beween  Pittsburgh  and  New  Orleans,  and 
remained  on  this  boat  three  years.  He  was  suc- 
cessively a  bridge  builder  on  the  Pan  Handle 
railroad,  coal  miner,  near  Steubenvilie,  Ohio,  and 
oil  operator,  near  Marietta,  Ohio,  from  thence  he 
came  to  this  city  in  1861,  and  mined  four  years. 
Then  engaged  in  merchandising,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  1872,  when  he  purchased  and  fitted 
up  the  Central  House,  and  was  proprietor  for 
two  year,  when  he  sold  out  his  hotel  and  estab- 
lished his  present  business.  Mr.  Laurie  was 
married  in  August,  1861,  to  Miss  Catharine  Stone, 
of  Washington  county,  Ohio.  This  marriage  was 
blessed  with  four  children,  two  deceased,  Willie 
Edward  and  Clara;  and  two  living,  Tillie  and 
Haddie  Laurie.  Mr.  Laurie  is  now  doing  a 
good  business. 

LAUDENSCHLAGER  THOMAS,  Crawford 
township;  farmer;  postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio; 
born  October  10,  1857,  in  Crawford  township; 
son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Sheets)  Laudenschla- 
ger,  natives  of  Germany,  but  came  to  America  in 
1846.  His  father  died  in  1859,  leaving  his  mother 
a  widow,  with  three  children,  David,  Elizab&th 
and  Thomas.  Afterward,  his  mother  married 
Michael  Link,  with  whom  Thomas,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  now  resides  in  Crawford  township. 

LAWRENCE  G.  W.,  Clark  township;  postof- 
fice, Clark's;  farmer;  born  in  Cheshire  county. 
New  Hampshire,  November  15,  1823;  son  of 
Jesse  and  Susannah  (Farwell)  Lawrence,  and 
grandson  of  Martin  Lawrence  and  Richard  Ear- 
well,  all  of  Scotch  descent.  He  came  to  Keene 
township,  Coshocton  county,  with  his  parents  in 
1826,  remained  there  about  one  year,  then,  came 
to  Mill  Creek  township,  and  lived  there  about 
thirty-three  years,  after  which  he  moved  to  Clark 
township,  where  he  has  remained  since  on  a 
farm  of  113  acres,  adjoining  the  village  of  Bloom- 
field.  He  has  been  twice  married,  the  date  of  his 
first  marriage  being  May  28, 1848,  to  Miss  Lydia 
Ross,  daughter  of  Nathan  and  Sarah  Ross ;  born 
December  11,  1824,  and  died  March  12,  1862. 
They  were  the  parents  of  two  children;  J.  Ross, 
born  March  1, 1850,  and  Harry,  born  January  20, 
1853.  His  second  marriage  was  on  March  5, 1863, 
to  Miss  Rachel  Cox,  daughter  of  Elijah  and 
Christina  Shepler.  She  was  born  in  Harrison 
county,  Ohio,  March  8, 1832.  They  are  parents 
of  three  children;  Don  Carlos,  born  February,  12, 
1864;  Willie  G.,  born  April  26,1868,  and  Jesse  B., 
born  September  1, 1875. 

LAWRENCE  L.   H.,  New  Castle  township; 


farmer ;  postoffice,  New  Castle ;  was  born  in  New 
Castle,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  March  11,  1831 ; 
son  of  George  P.  and  Phcebe  (Butler)  Lawrence, 
and  grandson  of  Jonathan  and  Mary  (Horten) 
Lawrence,  and  Thomas  Butler,  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  the  county.  He  attended  district 
school  and  worked  on  the  farm  until  the  age  of 
eighteen,  then  attended  college  at  the  Ohio-uni- 
versity at  Delaware  one  year.  His  father,  was 
one  of  the  first  occupants  of  the  village  of  New 
Castle,  then  called  Liberty.  He  is  now  one  of 
the  oldest  residents  of  New  Castle  township.  He 
was  a  partner  in  a  store  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
with  A.  S.  Lawrence  and  J.  K.  Leighow,  and  re- 
mained about  two  years ;  then  engq,ged  in  mer- 
cantile business  with  Jonathan  Coggins,  and  con- 
tinued a  partner  with  that  gentleman  three  years, 
when  he  sold  his  interest  and  turned  his  atten- 
tion to  farming  and  stock  raising,  and  has  con- 
tinued in  that  business  up  to  this  time.  He  has 
been  successful  through  his  entire  career;  is 
kind,  genial,  and  highly  esteemed  by  all  his  ac- 
quaintances and  neighbors.  He  resides  on  a 
farm  one  and  a  half  miles  southwest  of  New  Cas- 
tle. His  paternal  ancestors  were  Pennsylvanians, 
and  his  mother  was  of  Irish  descent.  He  was 
married  August  9,  1855,  to  Miss  Eliza  Nichols, 
daughter  of  Eli  and  Hachel  (Lloyd)  Nichols, 
of  Belmont  county,  who  was  born  August  9, 
1833,  in  Loydville,  Belmont  county.  They  have 
but  one  child,  Eugene,  born  April  18,  1857,  who 
is  now  farnaing  and  dealing  in  stock  in  Kansas. 

LAWSON  WILLIAM,  Coshocton;  photo- 
grapher ;  was  botn  in  Monongalia  county,  West 
Virginia,  February  29,  1842;  son  of  Alexander 
Lawson,  American  born,  of  Scotch  ancestry. 
Young  Lawson  spent  his  childhood  on  the  farm, 
and,  when  twelve  years  of  age,  he  entered  a  store 
as  clerk,  and,  at  twenty,  began  to  learn  the  art  of 
photography,  with  Snedeker,  of  Mattoon,  Illinois. 
He  was  also  employed  at  Gallion,  Ohio,  and  in 
London  Ohio,  before  he  came  to  this  city,  and 
took  charge  of  his  brother's  gallery.  Mr.  Law- 
spn  was  married,  March  15,  1877,  to  Miss  Maij, 
daughter  of  Dr.  De  Long,  of  Hardin  county, 
Ohio.  One  child,  Georgie  E.,  was  born  to  them, 
January  16, 1878,  in  Gallion,  Ohio.  Mr.  Lawson 's 
rooms,  located  in  the  Hays  building,  on  Second 
street,  are  well  fitted  up,  with  all  the  modern  in- 
struments and  accessories,  making  it  a  first  class 
photograph  gallery. 

LAWSON  ELISHA,  Coshocton;  liveryman; 
was  born  February  7,  1842,  in  Virginia;  son  of 
Alexander  and  Susannah  (Gould)  Lawson,  of 
Scotch  ancestors.  Elishaleft  home  whenaboirt  nine 
years  of  age.  He  has  traveled  extensively  in  the 
South  and  West.  June  11,1861,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  I,  Eighth  Pennsylvania  Reserves  or 
Thirty-seventh  Pa.  V.  I.,  at  Wajmesburg,  Penn- 


32 


724 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


sylvania,  and  served  three  years  At  the  battle 
of  the  Wilderness  he  received  two  wounds  in  the 
right  arm;  he  was  once  captured,  but  soon  re- 
captured, at  the  second  Bull  Run  battle.  At  the 
close  of  the  war,  ilr.  Lawson  engaged  in  photo- 
graphy, and  followed  it  about  twelve  years;  he 
then  determined  to  go  to  South  America,  but 
when  he  reached  Matamoras,  Mexico,  he  was 
taken  sick  with  fever ;  and,  advised  by  his  physi- 
cian to  return  north,  which  he  did,  stopping  in 
the  Blue  Grass  region  of  Kentucky,  where  he  re- 
mained until  he  regained  his  health.  Then  he 
came  to  Ohio  and  resumed  the  photographic  art, 
and  followed  it  for  five  years  or  until  the  fall  of 
1880,  when  he  engaged  in  his  present  business. 
Mr.  Lawson  is  a  special  admirer  of  fine  horses, 
which  would  be  readily  inferred  by  any  one  \-is- 
iting  his  stables  and  seeing  his  stock ;  especially 
two  blooded  mares,  Hazards,  his  favorites. 
Though  the  Hazards,  by  man}',  are  considered 
very  wild,  vicious  and  unmanageable;  Mr.  Law- 
son  believes  them  to  be  pretty  as  a  gold  dollar, 
generally  as  sound  as  a  silver  dollar,  fleet  as  the 
wind,  harmless  as  a  dove  and  kind  as  a  kitten. 
Mr.  Lawson  was  married  October  4, 1873,  to  Miss 
Hersey  daughter  of  James  Alfred  and  Mary 
(Borlan)  Maekey.  They  are  the  parents  of  two 
daughters,  viz :  Edna  and  Frankie. 

LAWSON  DR.  DAVID,  Jefferson  township; 
postoffice,  Warsaw;  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pa., 
in  April,  1824;  son  of  David  Lawson.  Mr.  Law- 
son  went  to  school  until  the  age  of  twenty ;  then 
went  to  Muskingum  county  in  1835,  engaged  at 
weaving  for  some  time.  He  began  the  study  of 
medcine,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  with  Dr.  David 
Barnes,  of  Coshocton  county,  and  read  three  years 
and  attended  lectures  at  the  Western  Reserve  med- 
ical college  at  Cleveland,  O.  He  began  the  practice 
of  medicine  in  1849  at  Elizabethtown,  Licking 
county,  and  continued  there  one  year;  then  came 
to  Warsaw,  and  has  been  practicing  here  since. 
In  1872  he  opened  a  dry  goods  store  in  Warsaw, 
since  which  time  he  has  partially  withdrawn  from 
practice.  He  is  doing  a  very  fair  business  and  is 
highly  esteemed  by  all  his  numerous  acquaint- 
ances. Dr.  Lawson  was  married  in  1852  to  Miss 
Mary  J.  Magaw,  daughter  of  James  and  Matilda 
Elder.  They  have  had  three  children — David  J., 
Edgar  J.  and  Willard  J. 

LA"VMAN  D.  A.,  Lafayette  township;  post- 
office,  ^^'est  Lafayette,  0.  Mr.  Layman  was  born 
December  24,  1854,  in  Keene,  O.,  and  has  re- 
mained a  resident  of  this  county  all  his  life.  His 
parents  were  of  German  descent.  Mr.  Layman 
was  raised  on  the  farna  until  sixteen  years  old, 
when  he  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  which  he 
has  since  followed.  Mr.  L.  was  married  August  23, 
1877,  to  Miss  Isabella  Frederick,  of  this  county. 
They  became  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz : 


Irvin,  born  April  11, 1878,  and  Nora  C,  born  Oc- 
tober 15,  1880.  Mr.  Layman  has  followed  his  oc- 
cupation in  Millersburgh,  ^^'arsaw.  Spring  Moun- 
tain and  Manchester.  He  came  to  West  Lafay- 
ette in  the  fall  of  1879  and  has  since  remained, 
controlling  the  wagon  and  blacksmith  shops,  do- 
ing a  good  business  and  giving  satisfaction  in  all 
his  work. 

LAYMAN  JAMES  N.,  Keene  towiaship;  born' 
in  Mercer  county,  Pennsylvania,  July  22,  1829. 
Both  his  parents,  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Swagerd) 
Layman,  were  Pennsylvanians  by  birth  Since 
he  was  fifteen  years  old  he  has  followed  black- 
sniithing.  He  came  to  Ohio,  locating  in  Keene 
when  twenty-three  years  of  age;  married  Sep- 
tember 1,  1850,  to  Catharine  Spigler,  born  No- 
vember, 1831,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Margaret 
(Witseman)  Spigler.  Their  children  were  Syl- 
vester, born  Julv  25,  1851;  James  A.,  Mav  16, 
1853;  David  A.,  December  25,  1854;  WiUiam  C, 
deceased,  June  30, 1856;  Margaret  M.,  deceased, 
June  10,  1858;  Catharine  M.,  February  22, 1860; 
Mary  K,  August  5,  1861;  George  W.,  October, 
1868;  Charles  E.,  August  4, 1868;  Grant  N.,  Au- 
gust 31,  1872;  Minnie  Recrisca,  August  3, 1874, 
and  Martha  B.,  August,  1876.  In  1860  Mr.  Lay- 
man united  with  the  Metlrodist  Episcopal  church. 

LEAR  THOMAS,  Coshocton;  dealer  in  boots 
and  shoes,  hats  and  caps,  Main  street ;  born  De- 
cember 25,  1846,  in  Gloucestershire,  England ;  son 
of  Stephen  Lear,  deceased.  AVhen  fourteen  years 
of  age,  he  came  to  America  witli  his  parents, 
landing  at  New  York  City  in  I860,  and  immedi- 
ately went  to  Frostburgh,  Allegheny  county, 
Maryland,  and  from  there  came  to  this  city,  in 
November,  1862.  Mr.  Lear  followed  mining  un- 
til 1876,  when  he  established  a  grocery,  which  he 
continued  until  August,  1879,  when  he  estab- 
lished his  present  business.  Mr.  Lear  was  mar- 
ried September  8,  1871,  to  Miss  Mary  Higgs, 
daughter  of  John  Higgs,  of  this  city.  They  have 
had  five  children,  one  (Thomas)  deceased;  the 
four  living  are  Annie  Laurie,  John  S.,  Mary 
Annie  and  Thomas  Lear,  Jr.  Mr.  Lear  is  doing 
a  moderate  business. 

LEAR  HENRY,  Coshocton,  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship; miner;  was  born  December  29,  1840,  in 
Gloucester  county,  England ;  son  of  Stephen  and 
Mary  (Nat)  Lear.  Landing  at  New  York  in  1860, 
he  afterward  located  in  Allegheny  county,  Mary- 
land, and  renaained  there  until  1867,  when  he 
came  to  his  present  residence.  Mr.  Lear  was 
married  in  September,  1862,  to  Miss  Sarah  Louis, 
of  Maryland.  They  have  been  blessed  with  eight 
children,  viz:  Rosanna;  James  Henry  and  Ste- 
phen Marshal,  twins ;  Clara  Jane,  Thomas  Mil- 
ford,  Mary  Elizabeth,  Charles  Emery  and  Minnie. 
Mr.  Lear  has  succeeded  well  in  the  land  of  his 
adoption. 


BIOGBAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


725 


LEAVENGOOD  I.  N.,  Monr.oe  township ;  teach- 
er; postof&ce,  Spring  Mountain/  Ohio;  son  of 
Daniel  and  Mary  E,  (Lower)  Leavengood;  was 
born  May  14,1862,  in  Monroe  township,  Coshocton 
county.  Mr.  Leavengood  was  raised  on  the  farm 
until  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  then  attended 
school  two  years,  at  Princeton  and  Spring  Moun- 
tain. In  1878,  Mr.  Leavengood  removed  to  Iowa, 
and  remained  two  years,  engaged  as  book- 
keeper with  the  St.  Louis  and  Council  Bluflfs 
railroad.  In  1879,  he  made  atrip  through  Kansas 
and  Nebraska,  returning  to  Ohio  January,  1880. 
In  April,  1880,  he  removed  to  Mansfield,  Ohio, 
and  is  at  present  engaged  in  teaching.  He  has 
also  been  engaged  as  clerk  in  the  Mansfield 
savings  bank.  He  taught  his  first  school  near 
Mansfield,  Ohio. 

iEE  DE.  S.  H.,  druggist.  No.  132  Second  street, 
Coshocton.  Dr.  Lee  is  a  native  of  this  city,  and 
was  born  January  16,  1820.  He  received  his  pre- 
paratory education  from  a  lady  instructor  whom 
his  father,  with  three  other  families,  had  em- 
ployed to  teach  their  children,  after  which  he  en- 
tered the  freshman'  class  of  1888,  at  Kenyon  col- 
lege, where  he  was  a  class-mate  of  K.  B.  Hayes. 
He  then  entered  the  sophomore  class  at  Marietta 
college,  and  was  graduated  in  1842 ;  after  which 
he  returned  home  and  read  medicine  with  his 
father  and  attended  lectures  at  New  York  City, 
and  was  graduated  by  the  New  York  medical 
college  in  1845.  He  then  entered  upon  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession  at  Canal  Dover,  where  he 
practiced  about  four  years,  after  which  he  went 
to  Peru,  Indiana,  where  he  served  the  people 
with  success  and  acceptance  for  seven  years.  He 
then  returned  to  Coshocton,  where  he  has  re- 
mained ever  since  with  the  exception  of  two 
years  that  he  was  surgeon  in  the  United  States 
army.  He  was  commissioned  assistant  surgeon 
•of  the  Eightieth  0.  V.  I.,  after  which  he  served  as 
contract  surgeon,  and  in  1864  he  was  commis- 
sioned surgeon  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
third  0.  N.  G.  He  returned  home  in  1865  and 
■established,  the  drug  business,  in  which  he  is  very 
■pleasantly  located,  and  keeps  a  large  first-class 
stock  of  pure  drugs,  chemicals,  patent  medicines, 
toilet  articles,  fancy  goods,  notions,  school  books, 
paints,  oils,  dye  stufis,  varnishes,  etc. 

LEE  GEORGE  C,  Coshocton;  residence  on 
Chestnut  street;'  was  born  in  New  Castle,  this 
county,  May  12,  1855;  son  of  Benjamin  S.  Lee,  a 
native  of  New  York  State,  and  Elizabeth  (Shafer) 
of  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  came 
with  his  parents  to  this  city  when  about  seven 
years  of  age,  and  received  a  good  education  in 
the  public  schools  of  the  city.  In  1876  he  was 
appointed  deputy  sheriff  of  the  county,  and 
served  two  years.  During  his  term  he  assisted 
•at  the  hanging  of  Ept,  September  29,  1876.    He 


was  elected  city  clerk  in  April,  1878,  and  served 
two  years.  Mr.  Lee's  father  died  August  2, 1874. 
Since  his  death,  George  C.  has  had  charge  of  his 
father's  estate. 

LEE  H.  W.,  Perry  township;  New  Guilford 
postoffice ;  born  in  this  county,  in  1826 ;  son  of 
William  and  Isabelle  (Richard)  Lee,  grandson  of 
Ezekiel  and  Mary  Lee,  and  of  Henry  and  Mary 
Richard,  and  married  in  1861,  to  Miss  S.  E.  Bon,- 
nett,  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Mahaley  Bonnett. 
Mr.  Lee  is  the  father  of  eight  children,  viz:  Wil- 
liam G.,  Lewis  H.,  M.  B.,  J.  W.,  Katharine  J., 
Laura  L.,  and  Henry  Harrison.  Mr.  Lee's  grand- 
father was  a  revolutionary  soldier. 

LEE  J.  W.,  Perry  township;  New  Guilford 
postoffice;  born  in  this  county,  in  1828;  son  of 
William  and  Isabella  (Richard^  Lee,  grandson  of 
Henry  and  Elizabeth  Richard.  He  was  married 
November  7, 1850,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Wolf,  daugh- 
ter of  Absalom  and  Mary  Wolf.  They  have  three 
children,  viz:  M.  P.,  C.  A.,  and  M.  B.  One  of  his 
sons  is  a  practicing  physician  and  surgeon  of 
Columbus,  Ohio.  ^, 

LYBARGER  E.  L.,  Monroe  township;  born 
September  27,  1841,  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio;  son 
of  James  T.  and  Amelia  (Crum)  Lybarger,  and 
grandson  of  Andrew  Lybarger,  who  came  to 
Coshocton  county  from  Pennsylvania  in  1808,  and 
settled  in  the  town  of  Coshocton.  He  was  a  sol- 
dier under  Captains  Harris  and  Williams,  and 
was  under  Hull  "at  the  time  of  his  surrender. 
His  great-grandfather,  James  Thompson,  was  a 
revolutionary  soldier,  and  also  a  pioneer  settler 
of  Coshocton  county.  Mr.  Lybarger  was  born  in 
Blatchlysville,  Wayne  county,  and  lived  there  till 
the  age  of  four  years,  when  his  parents  moved  to 
Millford,  Knox  county,  where  he  lived  till  1861, 
excepting  two  years  he  lived  at  Danville.  He  en- 
listed in  Company  K,  Forty-third  Regiment,  O.V. 
I.,  under  Captain  Walker  and  Colonel  J.  L.  Kirby 
Smith.  The  battles  he  participated  in  are  as 
follows  :  Capture  of  New  Madrid,  Island  No.  10, 
Ft.  Pillow,  first  battle  of  Corinth,  luka,  second 
battle  of  Corinth,  Vicksburg,  Dalton,  Resaca, 
Kennesaw  Mountain,  the  capture  of  Atlanta, 
Pokataligo,  Salkehatchie,  Bentonville,  Columbia, 
and  the  surrender  of  Joe  Johnson  at  Raleigh. 
He  was  mustered  out  July  18, 1866,  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky.  Mr.  Lybarger  enlisted  as  a  private, 
and  gradually  rose  in  rank  till  he  became  captain. 
After  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  home  and  . 
pursued  the  study  of  law  two  years ;  then  engaged 
in  the  mercantile  business  at  Spring  Mountain, 
where  he  has  continued  ever  since.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  S.  W.  Rodgers,  in  January,  1866, 
daughter  of  Dr.  and  Catharine  (Hawn)  Rodgers, 
of  Millwood,  and  granddaughter  of  John  Hawn, 
who  was  a  settler  of  Knox  county,  and  also  a 


726 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


wealthy  man.   Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lybarger  are  of  Irish 
and  German  descent. 

LEIGHNINGER  ASA,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer;  was  horn  in  this  county  in  1836;  son  of 
George  Leighninger  ;  was  married  in  1860  to 
Miss  Sarah  Foster,  a  native  of  England,  who 
came  to  this  country  when  quite  young.  They 
have  had  six  children,  viz  :  Norah,  IT.  Grant,  Ern- 
est, Ida;  George,  and  an  infant,  Isoth  deceased. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Protestant 
Methodist  church.  Mr.  Leighninger  owns  130 
acres  of  land  in  this  township;  and  twenty-four 
acres  in  Oxford  township,  and  is  an  enterprising 
farmer. 

LEIGHNINGER  HIRAM,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  West  Lafayette;  was  horn  in 
this  county  in  1822;  son  of  George  and  Mary 
Leighninger;  was  married  to  Miss  Susannah 
Loos,  daughter  of  Daniel  Loos,  October  30, 1847, 
and  had  the  following  children,  viz :  an  infant, 
deceased;  Seldan  ;  Ernma  J.,  deceased;  Clara,  an 
infant  son,  Maria ;  Olive  and  an  infant  son,  both 
decased;  Elmer  and  Alta  Carvetta.  Mr.  Leigh- 
ninger is  a  prosperous  farmer,  and  ovras  eighty- 
eight  acres  of  fine  land ;  has  held  offices  of  trust 
in  his  township,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Protestant  Methodist  church,  Mr. 
Leighninger  having  been  a  memiber  for  the  past 
thirty  years. 

LEIGHNINGER  B.  F.,  Lafayette  township; 
postoffice.  West  Lafayette ;  wtis  born  in  this  town- 
ship, in  1838;  son  of  George  and  Mary  (Wolfe) 
Leighninger.  His  father  died  in  1841;  his 
mother  is  still  living,  aged  eighty-four  years. 
He  was  married,  in  1870,  to  Nelia  Conaway, 
daughter  of  Michael  and  Elizabeth  (Lovelace) 
Conaway,  both  Virginians.  They  have  three 
children :  Ella  M.;  Charley  C,  deceased,  and 
Clyde  H.  Mr.  Leighninger  was  a  member  of 
Company  E.,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second 
0.  N.  G.,  holding  the  commission  of  Second 
Lieutenant ;  was  in  general  hospital,  at  Fortress 
Monroe,  three  weeks,  with  the  typhoid  fever, 
and  had  charge  of  forty  of  the  sick  and  disabled, 
in  their  transportation  home.  In  1866,  Mr. 
Leighninger,  in  company  with  B.  F.  Fleming, 
was  engaged  very  extensively  in  the  lumber 
business,  in  Southern  Indiana;  running  their 
own  mill,  buying  and  selling,  and  carrying  on 
quite  a  successfvil  business,  when  he  was  stricken 
with  the  lung  fever,  and  remained  sick  four 
months ;  and,  seeing  he  could  not  endure  the  ex- 
posure and  hardships  incident  thereto,  he  sold 
his  entire  interest  to  Mr.  John  Grove,  of  Har- 
rison county. 

In  early  life,  Mr.  Leighninger,  with  his  broth- 
ers Levi,  Asa  and  Lewis,  formed  a  partnership, 
with  the  home  farm  of  180  acres,  after  they  had 


bought  out  the  heirs,  as  their  capital,  and  worked 
together  unfil  1856,  when  Levi  withdrew  and  lo- 
cated on  a  hill-farm  in  Oxford  township,  known 
as  the  Mushrush  farm.  In  1859  Lewis  withdrew, 
the  possessor  of  a  fine  farm  of  100  acres  near 
West  Lafayette ;  the  partnership  between  Isa  and 
B.  F.,  continued  until  last  spring,  when  the  stock 
was  divided  between  them,  giving  to  each  a  fine 
farm,  well  stocked  and  improved.  The  farm 
owned  by  B.  F.  was  bought  April  1,  1867,  and 
known  as  the  Ralph  Phillips  farm,  Mr.  PhiUips 
having  entered  it  and  owning  it  until  the  pur- 
chase by  the  Leighningers.  The  farm  is  one  of 
the  best  improved  in  the  county,  and  is  set  off 
by  one  of  the  prettiest  houses  on  the  plains,  sup- 
plied with  all  the  modern  improvements,  and 
everything  in  fact,  tending  to  make  a  pleasant 
home.  There  never  was  a  more  prosperous  and 
happy  combination,  all  things  considered,  than 
this,  inasmuch  as  there  never  was  a  jar  during 
the  years  that  their  interests  were  a  common  one,, 
and  was  the  means  of  giving  them  all  comforta- 
ble homes. 

LENNON  ANTHONY,  farmer;  Tuscarawas 
township ;  postoffice.  Canal  Lewisville ;  born  May, 
27, 1836,  and  brought  up  on  the  farm  which  he 
now  owns.  His  father,  "James,  was  a  native  of 
Kildare  county,  Ireland;  his  mother,  Keziab 
Thonipson,  was  daughter  of  Samuel,  and  grand- 
daughter of  James  Thompson,  who  was  a  revolu- 
tionary soldier.  She  was  born  April  13, 1809,  in 
Ashtabula  county,  the  same  year.  Anthony  was- 
married  January  28, 1860,  to  Miss  Emily,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Lydia  (Butler)  McGiffln,  of 
Keene  township.  This  union  has  been  blessed 
with  one  child,  Carrie  Rose. 

LENNON  JOHN,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer;  a  native  of  Tuscrawas  township;  born 
in  1833.  His  father,  James  Lennon,  was  a  native 
of  county  Kildare,  Ireland ;  emigrated  to  Canada,, 
and  landed  at  Quebec  in  1818 ;  remained  there 
about  two  years,  and  then  removed  to  Lockport,, 
New  York,  where  he  worked  on  the  Erie  canal 
two  years.  He  next  came  to  Ohio,  worked  on 
the  Miami  canal,  and  came  to  this  county  after 
the  letting  of  the  Ohio  canal,  about  1826,  on 
which  he  was  a  contractor.  After  the  canal  was 
finished,  he  bought  a  farm  in  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship, on  which  his  widow  n6w  resides,  aiid  lived 
there  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1854. 
His  widow  was  born  in  this  county,  in  1807. 
Her  ancestors  were  New  Englanders,  and  were 
from  Trenton,  New  Jersey. 

In  1858  John  Lennon  married  Miss  Lydia 
Sowers,  a  native  of  Jackson  township.  He  lo- 
cated on  a  farm  in  Tuscarawas  township,  and 
was  elected  sheriff  of  Coshocton  county,  in  1873, 
and  was  installed  in  January,  1874.  He  was  re- 
elected in  1875.    Ept,  the  murderer  of  young 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


727 


Wertheimer,  was  the  only  criminal  ever  hung  in 
the  county,  and  Mr.  Lennon  officiated  at  his 
hanging.  After  serving  two  terms  he  moved 
upon  his  farm,  in  White  Eyes  township,  in  1880, 
where  he  now  resides.  He  now  holds  the  office 
of  assessor  of  White  Eyes  township.  He  has  a 
family  of  three  children,  James,  born  December 
4, 1860,  William  born  July,  1863,  and  Howard, 
born  April,  1868. 

LENJSrON  JAMES,  farmer;  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship; was  born  March  7,  1832.  September  10, 
1861,  he  enlisted  in  Company  H,  Fifty-one  0.  V. 
I ,  and  served  three  years.  Mr.  Lennon  was  mar- 
ried October  10,  1867,  to  Miss  Emeline,  daughter 
of  Amos  and  Mary  (Coyle)  Markley.  They  are 
the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  Samuel,  An- 
thony, Mary  E.,  Ualosia  B. ;  two  infants,  de- 
ceased, and  Amy  M. 

LENHAET  JACOB,  Crawford  township ;  mer- 
chant; Chili;  born  in  Shanesville,  Tuscarawas 
county,  in  1836 ;  son  of  Peter  Lenhart  and  Mag- 
dalena. (Deeds)  Lenhart,  both  natives  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. He  left  home  in  1857,  clerked  in  dry 
goods  stores  in  Bedford  and  Illinois  for  a  number 
of  years.  Enlisted  March,  1865,  and  was  dis- 
charged at  the  close  of  the  war  same  year.  Mr. 
Lenhart  married  Miss  Emma  Winklepeck,  of 
Chili,  May  18, 1879,  They  have  one  child,  Edward 
Stewart,  born  April  29,  1880.  Mr.  Lenhart  has 
been  owner  of  a  dry  goods  store  at  Chili  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  he  and  Charles  Stein  are 
in  partnership  now. 

LE  RETILLEY  JAMES,  retired  merchant. 
Main  street,  Eoscoe ;  was  born  April  26, 1821,  in 
Muskingum  county ;  son  of  James  Le  Retilley, 
a  native  of  the  Isle  of  Guernsey,  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  an  early  period,  and  located  in  Guernsey 
county,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  salt. 
In  1826  James  Le  Retilley,  Sr.,  with  his  family, 
came  to  Roscoe  and  engaged  in  merchandising, 
■which  he  continued  until  his  death  in  1851. 
Young  Le  Retilley's  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Elizabeth  Taylor,  daughter  of  William  Taylor,  a 
native  of  Virginia.  Young  Le  Retilley  was  train- 
ed to  the  mercantile  business  from  boyhood, 
having  assisted  his  father  in  the  store  at  a  very 
early  age.  He  has  had  an  active,  varied  and  suc- 
cessful business  experience,  having  been  an 
active  partner  in  the  tirms  of  Burns  &  Le  Retilley, 
Burns  &  Co.,  and  Le  Retilley  &  Burns.  He  also 
conducted  the  mercantile  business  alone  for  sev- 
eral years ;  contracted  for  and  built  four  miles  of 
the  C.  C.  &  I.  C.  R.  R.,  which  he  completed  in 
two  years.  Mr.  Le  Retilley  was  married  Octo- 
ber 27, 1845,  to  Miss  Eliza  Ferguson,  daughter  of 
Matthew  and  Mary  Ferguson,  of  Roscoe.  They 
became  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz ;  Bertha 
And  George,  deceased ;  Edward  and  Elsworth. 


LEVENGOOD  JOHN,  Crawford  township; 
postoffice,  New  Bedford;  teamster;  was  born 
May  10, 1842,  in  New  Bedford.  In  1858,  he  went 
to  the  shoemaker's  trade,  at  which  he  worked 
until  enlisting,  in  September,  1861,  in  Company 
H,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  in  which  he  served  during 
the  war,  having  re-enlisted  as  a  veteran,  January 
1, 1868.  He  was  actively  engaged  in  all  the  bat- 
tles in  which  his  regiment  particijpated,  and  was 
wounded  in  the  leg,  by  a  gun-ball,  near  Kingston. 
Mr.  Levengood  was  married,  February  25,  1863, 
to  Miss  Magdalena,  daughter  of  Josiahand  Eliza^ 
beth  (Bowman)  Rinehart.  Mr.  Levengood  has 
adopted  a  child  of  Emmanuel  Rinehart,  named 
Louisa  Alice. 

LEVITT  SYLVESTER,  Keene  township;  was 
born  August  6,  1831,  at  Kingsville,  Ashtabula 
county,  Ohio ;  son  of  Gideon  and  Mary  (Stickler) 
Levitt,  and  was  a  farmer.  He  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany H,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  O.  V,  L, 
May  1,  1864;  died,  in  West  Chester  county. 
New  York,  July,  1864.  He  had  married  Miss 
Mary  A.  Whittemore,  November  26, 1856 ;  daugh- 
ter of  Daniel  B.  and  Lavina  (Goodhue)  Whitte- 
more. Their  children  were  Julius  M.  and  Syl- 
vester G.  Julius  is  married  to  Florence  Bald- 
win, and  lives  in  Hopedale,  Ohio,  engaged  at 
school  teaching.     Sylvester  is  going  to  school. 

LINK  MICHAEL, Crawford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  New  Bedford;  born  October  11,  1817, 
in  Wurtemberg,  Germany;  son  of  John  and  Ro- 
sanna  (Wegerle)  Link.  After  quitting  school,  at 
fourteen  years  of  age,  he  worked  in  a  vineyard 
until  he  was  twenty  years  old,  when  he  entered 
the  military  service,  and  served  six  years  in  the 
infantry.  After  his  discharge  he  worked  most  of 
the  time  in  a  vineyard,  until  September  1, 1852, 
when  he  landed  in  New  York  City,  and  immedi- 
ately located  in  a  country  locality  of  said  State, 
where  he  remained  thirteen  years,  after  which  he 
came  to  his  present  residence,  in  Crawford  town- 
ship, in  1865.  Mr.  Link  was  married  June  17, 
1844,  to  Miss  Magdalene,  daughter  of  Charles  and 
Catharine  (Frihofer)  Graft.  They  have  four  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  dead.  John  is  now  re- 
siding in  the  State  of  New  York.  Mr.  Link  was 
married  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Conrad 
and  Elizabeth  (Fink)  Sheets.  They  have  one 
child,  Emanuel,  born  June  2,  1866.  Mr.  Link 
has  succeeded  well  in  America,  having  a  good 
farm  and  comfortable  home. 

LING  HARRISON,  Keene  township;  farmer; 
born  November  11, 1840,  in  Keene  township ;  son 
of  Peter  and  Darcus  Ling,  and  grandson  of  Peter 
and  Elizabeth  Ling,  and  of  Charles  and  Mary 
(Umphort)  Russell.  He  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm  and  received  only  a  common  school  educa- 
tion.    January  26,  1871,  he  married  Anna  M., 


728 


HISTOEY  or  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


daughter  of  Samuel  and  Catharine  Munn,  and 
granddaughter  of  Samuel  and  Anna  (Thomas^ 
Munn,  and  of  Frederick  and  Sarah  (Patterson) 
Yant.  Ora  Maj',  born  November  8,  1872,  is  their 
only  child. 

LINT  JACOB,  Clark  township;  postoffice,  Hel- 
mick;  farmer;  born  in  Holmes  county,  Ohio, 
April  4,  1839;  son  of  Conrad  and  Sarah  (Quig) 
Lint,  and  grandson  of  Henry  and  William  Quig. 
He  has  always  been  a  farmer  and  owns  a  farm  of 
106  acres.  His  dwelling  was  destroyed  by  fire 
April  1,  1878.  On  the  25th  of  August,  1864,  he 
married  Miss  Eleanor  Teeling,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam and  Matilda  (Rush)  Teeling,  granddaughter 
of  Eobert  and  Eleanor  (Morehead)  Teeling  and 
Nathaniel  Eush.  She  was  born,  April  16,  1841, 
in  Holmes  county.  They  are  the  parents  of  three 
children— Mary  Ellen,  born  February  4,  1867; 
Eda  C,  born  April  12, 1870,  and  Emma,  born  Sep- 
tember 9,  1878. 

LODEE  ISAAC,  Jackson  township;  born  in 
Jackson  township,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  son 
of  Aaron  and  Eebecca  Loder.  Mr.  Loder's  father 
came  from  Allegheny  county,  Pennsylvania,  to 
this  county,  in  1816.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  married,  December  16, 1879,  to  Miss  Mary  E. 
Baughiiian,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Margaret 
Baughman.  Mr.  Loder  is  one  of  a  family  of  nine 
children,  all  living  but  two.  Mr.  Loder  is  a  grad- 
uate of  Delaware  universitv.  He  is  engaged  at 
present  in  teaching.    Postoffice,  Eoscoe. 

LONG  JAMES,  teacher  in  Coshocton  public 
schools ;  was  born  April  12,  1855,  in  New  York 
City;  son  of  John  and  Annie  Long.  Young 
Long  was  left  an  orphan  At  the  age  of  six  years. 
He  resided  with  amarried  sister  untilabout twelve 
yearsof  age,  when  he  privately  left  for  the  west  in 
quest  of  fame  and  fortune  and  landed  in  Coshoc- 
ton, Ohio,  in  the  spring  of  1867,  soon  after  which 
he  engaged  to  work  on  a  farm  in  Franklin  town- 
ship. In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  engaged 
with  Joseph  Eoyer  with  whom  he  remained 
about  five  years  and  worked  on  the  farm  and 
attended  school  the  two  last  winters.  In  August, 
1873,  he  entered  Otterbein  university,  at  Wester- 
ville,  Ohio,  which  institution  he  attended  two  or 
three  terms.  December  8, 1873,  he  took  charge 
of  his  first  school  (district  school  No.  1,  Adams 
township).  June  20,  1879,  he  was  elected  a 
teacher  in  the  Coshocton  public  schools,  which 
position  he  now  holds.  In  the  fall  of  1878,  he 
entered  as  a  law  student  in  the  office  of  Attorney 
W.  S.  Crowell,  of  this  city. 

LOOS  WILLIS,  Lafayette  township;  harness- 
maker.  West  Lafayette ;  was  born  May  14, 1857 ; 
son  of  Charles  W.  Loos,  of  this  township;  learned 
his  trade  in  Coshocton,  with  Stirensan  &  Son; 
deals  in  everything  in  his  line,  and  by  strict  at- 


tention to  business  and  square  dealing  has  built: 
up  an  excellent  trade. 

LOOS  DANIEL,  Oxford  township;  farmer;. 
West  Lafayette,  Oxford  township;  was  born  in 
Middletown  township,  Cumberland  county,, 
Pennsylvania,  December  20, 1807 ;  son  of  George 
Loos,  who  was  a  Pennsylvanian,  as  was  his 
mother.  Mr.  Loos  came  to  his  present  home 
with  his  father,  in  1811 ;  was  married  October  11, 
1827,  to  Miss  Sarah  Waggoner,  and  they  were- 
blessed  with  nine  children,  as  follows :  Hiram,, 
born  August  14,  1828,  and  died  October  28,  1828;. 
Adam,  born  December  28, 1829;  Susannah,  born 
August  2,1882;  George,  born  July  16,  1835,  and 
died  Aiigust  21, 1838;  Eebecca  J.,  born  Novem- 
ber 2,  1837;  Isa  H.,  born  March  11, 1842;  Henry,, 
born  August  21, 1846,  and  died  same  year;  Jere- 
miah B.,  born  May  13,  1848,  and  Emily,  born 
March  5, 1851.  Mrs.  Loos  passed  away  Septem- 
ber 14, 1869.  Daniel  Loos  was  married  to  Fred- 
rica  Long,  January  25,  1S69,  whd  was  born  in 
the  kingdom  of  Bavaria,  June  6,  1819,  daughter 
of  Michael  Velger.  She  was  married  to  Freder- 
ick Long,  in  1840,  the  year  of  her  arrival  in, 
America,  and  settled  in  this  county.  At  the  age' 
of  fourteen  she  joined  the  Lutheran  church,  and 
in  1869  became  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Protestant  church.  Mr.  Loos  united  with  the- 
same  church  in  1843.  He  has  represented  his 
circuit  twice  as  delegate  to  conference,  and  has- 
fllled  in  a  most  satisfactory  manner  all  the  offices^ 
of  the  church,  and  has  held  other  offices  of  trust 
in  his  township. 

LOOS  ASA  H.,  Oxford  township ;  was  married 
to  Sarah  H.  Whitmire,  November  30, 1865.  Their- 
children  are  Ira  M.;  Irvin  A.,  deceased  at  the 
age  of  three  years,  and  Virgil.  He  and  his  broth- 
er Jeremiah  own  140  acres  of  good  land  in  this 
township. 

LOOS  JEEEMIAH,  Oxford  township;  was^ 
married  to  Elizabeth  J.  Wolf,  in  1868.  Zelma  C. 
is  their  only  child. 

LOOS  PHILLIP,  Oxford  township;  farmer ,- 
postoffice.  West  Lafayette  ;  was  born  nr  Middle- 
ton  township,  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,, 
in  1799,  and  was  married  to  Sallie  Ann  Haines, 
a  Virginian,  in  1827.  Their  children  were  Wil- 
liam H.,  Harriet,  George  H.,  Levi,  Mary  C,  Al- 
fred B.,  John  Emery,  Adam,  Joseph  and  Frank- 
lin. His  sight  failed  him  some  years  ago,  and  for 
the  past  four  years  he  has  dwelt  in  almost  total 
darkness.  He  owns  eighty  acres  of  land,  and  he 
and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Prot- 
estant church. 

LOOS  ADAM,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
Evansburgh ;  was  born  in  Cumberland  county,. 
Pennsylvania,  in  1803,  and  came  to  Ohio  when. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


729 


about  eight  years  of  age.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Wiggins  in  1838,  and  they  have  had  six  children, 
an  follows :  Louisa,  deceased ;  Sarah  Jane ;  Becky 
Ellen,  deceased;  Susannah,  deceased;  Margaret 
Ann  and  Elmira.  The  three  living  are  married 
to  well-to-do  farmers.  Mrs.  Loos  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  church,  and  Mr.  Loos 
gives  it  his  support.  He  is  a  man  well  pre- 
served for  one  of  his  age,  and  is  esteemed  by  his 
-fellow-citizens. 

LOEENZ  GEOEGE,  grocer  and  baker,  Fourth 
and  Main  streets,  Coshocton.  Mr.  Lorenz  is  a  na- 
tive of  Bavaria,  Germany,  where  he  was  born  Jan- 
uary 4, 1849.  He  emigrated  to  America  and  lo- 
cated at  Chili,  Ohio,  where  he  engaged  in  shoe- 
making,  havipg  learned  that  trade  while  in  Ger- 
many. He  remained  in  Chili  about  one  year, 
and  then  went  to  Hamilton,  Dayton  and  Ports- 
mouth. He  came  to  Coshocton  in  1873,  and  es- 
tablished the  grocery  and  baking  business  in 
which  he  still  continues,  and  has  a  large  stock  of 
staple  and  fancy  groceries  and  confectioneries, 
also  deals  in  all  kinds  of  countrj'  produce.  He 
has  an  extensive  bakery  in  connection,  where  he 
produces  a  large  amount  of  bread,  plain  and  fancy 
cakes  and  pies  of  all  kinds. 

LOEENZ  JOHN",  merchant;  Chili,  Crawford 
township;  son  of  John  and  Christina  (Euter) 
Lorenz,  natives  of  Bavaria.  Mr.  Lorenz  was 
born  in  Oderheim,  Bavaria,  January  12,  1844. 
•  When  fifteen  years  old  he  emigrated  to  Amer- 
ica, and  clerked  in  a  store  in  this  state,  until 
he  went  into  the  mercantile  business  at  Chili, 
in  the  spring  of  1865,  where  he  has  contin- 
ued in  business  up  to  the  present  time.  Mr. 
Lorenz  began ,  at  Chili  with  a  small  capital,  but 
by  industry  and  close  application  to  business,  he 
has  succeeded  in  building  up  a  good  business 
and  has  accumulated  considerable  property.  He 
married  Maggie  Slarp,  in  1868.  Her  parents, 
Peter  and  Elizabeth  (Zinkhonj  Slarp,  are  both  of 
German  ancestry.  They  have  a  ■  family  of  six 
children — Mary  Elizabeth,  Elian ora,  Charles  Ed- 
win, William  Henry,  Minnie,  and  Laura.  Mr. 
Lorenz  and  family  are  members  of  the  Evangel- 
ical church. 

LORENTZ  HENEY,  Coshocton;  restaurant 
and  saloon  and  grocery,  450,  Main  street;  is  a 
native- of  Bavaria,  Germany;  worked  on  the 
farm  until  twenty-one  years  old,  when  he  entered 
the  Bavarian  army,  serving  four  years,  during 
which  time  the  army  was  engaged  in  the  French 
and  Prussian  war.  At  the  close  of  the  service, 
he-  came  to  America,  landing  in  New  York  City, 
and  came  immediately  to  this  city.  After  work- 
ing on  the  railroad  two  years,  he  established  his 
present  business,  in  November,  1873.  Mr.  Lo- 
rentz  was  married,  March  11, 1874,  to  Mrs.  Eliza- 
beth Edwards,  of  this    city.     The  union    was 


blessed  with  three  children;  Henry  J.,  William 
C.  and  Susannah.  Mr.  Lorentz  has  succeeded 
well  in  business. 

LONSINGEE  JOHN  G.,  Tiverton  township ; 
postoffice,  Yankee  Eidge,  Ohio ;  born  in  1851,  in 
this  township.  His  father,  F.  W.  L.  Lonsinger, 
was  born  in  1823,  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany. 
He  came  to  New  York,  in  1846,  and  to  this 
county,  in  1848.  He  was  married,  in  1850,  to 
Miss  Magdaline  Bower,  of  this  county,  ^  ho  was 
born  in  1830,  in  Bavaria.  They  are  the  parents 
of  fourteen  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
being  the  oldest.  He  was  married,  in  1874,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Kirch,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1852,  in  Bavaria.  They  are  the  parents 
of  three  children :  Clara;  Nettie  P.,  deceased, 
and  Lucy. 

LOVELESS  ALEXANDEE,  Adams  township ; 
farmer  and  stock  dealer;  postoffice,,  Newcomers- 
town  ;  was  born  April  27,  1828 ;  son  of  Stephen 
H.  and  Eleanor  (Armstrong)  Loveless,  and  grand- 
son of  Samuel  Armstrong.  He  began  the  black- 
smith trade  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  with  John  B. 
Dunlap,  of  Shanesville,  Ohio,  remaining  with 
him  about  two  years ;  then  worked  at  different 
places  about  a  year ;  after  which  he  began  busi- 
ness on  his  own  responsibility,  in  Bakersville, 
which  he  continued  for  flfteer^  years.  He  then 
sold  his  shop  and  bought  a  fami,  and  has  been 
devoting  his  time  to  farming  and  stock  dealing 
since.  He  is  an  energetic  and  highly  respected 
citizen.  He  was  married  September  11,  1851,  to 
Miss  Martha  Watson,  daughter  of  Eobcrt  and 
Agnes  (Muntz)  Watson  She  died  September  1, 
1859.  They  had  two  children,  viz :  Stephen  H. 
and  Agnes  J.  He  married  November  14,  1861, 
Miss  Susannah  Conaway,  daughter  of  Charles 
and  Frances  (Arnold)  Conaway,  and  granddaugh- 
ter of  Charles  and  Eachel  Conaway,  who  was 
born  September  24,  1837.  They  have  five  chil- 
dren, viz :  Charles  E.,  born  December  20,  1862; 
Frances  E.,  December  4,  1866 ;  Frederick  J.,  July 
20,  1868;  Eloise  T.,  March  11,  1872;  and  Garfield, 
November  5, 1880. 

LOVE  JOHN,  Keen'e  township;  farmer;  born 
July,  1806,  in  Ireland;  son  of  James  and  Jane 
(McKee)  Love,  grandson  of  Samuel  and  Susan 
(Kirskadden)  Love,  and  of  Thomas  McKee.  Mr. 
Love  followed  farming  in  Ireland  till  the  age  of 
twenty,  when  he  came  to  America  and  settled  on 
the  farm  where  he  now  lives.  He  was  married, 
January,  1838,  to  JMiss  Jane  McConnell,  born  in 
Ireland,  June  3, 1812,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah 
(Eodgers)  McConnell.  Their  children  were : 
Sarah  J.,  born  December  28,  1838;  James,  de- 
ceased, October  28, 1840;  Mary  A.,  deceased,  Sep- 
tember 2,1842;  Catharine,  deceased,  September 
2,  1842;  Samuel,  May  5,  1846;  Ellen  F.,  deceased, 
July  12,  1849;  Emma,  September  1,  1854;  John 


730 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


M.  May  2,  1857,  and  Miranda,  October  23,  1859. 
Mrs.,  Love  died,  May8,  1876.  Alice  Love,  sister 
of  John,  vras  born,  January,  1818,  in  Ireland. 

LOVE  JOHN,  Keene  township,  more  com- 
monly called  John  O'Love ;  was  born  in  Febru-. 
ary,  1795,  in  Molinmore  parish, Donegal, Ireland; 
son  of  Thomas  and  Susan  (Osborn)  Love,  and 
grandson  of  John  and  Nellie  (McKee)  Love,  and 
of  John  and  Bess  (Ellis)  Osborn,  and  great-grand- 
son of  Elizabeth  Forquer.  He  was  married  to 
Eleanor  Love,  who  was  born  in  Mar6h,  1798,  in 
Molinmore  parish,  Donegal  county,  Ireland; 
daughter"  of  James  and  Jennie  (McKee)  Love, 
and  granddaughter  of  Samuel  and  Susan  (Kirs^ 
kadden)  Love,  and  of  Robert  and  Fannie  (Mc- 
Kee) McKee.  They  were  married  February  19, 
1821,  and  are  both  yet  living.  Their  children 
were  as  follows :  Jane,  born  February  15,  1826, 
married  to  Joseph  Love,  and  resides  in  Iowa  City, 
Iowa,  the  husband  and  one  child  dead ;  Ann,  born 
September  10,  1828,  married  in  April,  1847,  to 
William  R.  Johnston,  resides  in  Galesburgh,  Il- 
linois, with  two  children — husband  and  two  chil- 
dren are  dead ;  James,  born  January  8,  1833,  died 
March  15,  1852 ;  Thomas,  born  July  8,  1835,  mar- 
ried January  18, 1872,  to  Mary  J.  Endsley,  who 
was  born  May  11, 1845,  daughter  of  Thomas  and 
Matilda  (Karr)  Endsley,  and  granddaughter  of 
John  and  Jennie  tBlaine)  Endsley,  and  of  John 
and  Nancy  (Welcn)  Karr.  Their  children  were: 
Robert,  born  April  1,  1873 ;  Susie,  born  January 
28,  1875;  James  R.,  born  January  27,  1877; 
Thomas,  born  April  27, 1878,  and  Carrie  B.,  born 
.  November  26,  1879. 

Susan  Love,  born  August  24, 1838,  was  married 
in  April,  1859,  to  Andrew  Karr.  They  had  seven 
children,  all  living  in  Coshocton  county.  Thomas 
enlisted  in  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
third  Regiment,  0.  N  G.,  in  July,  1863,  and  was 
discharged  in  May,  1864. 

LOVE  JOSEPH,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  March  1, 
1836.  His  father  was  born  in  county  .Donegal, 
Ireland,  and  emigrated  in  1834  to  Philadelphia, 
and  in  1846  to  this  township.  His  three  brothers 
followed  him  to  America  and  preceded  him  to 
this  county.  William  and  Alexander,  two  early 
settlers  of  Linton  township,  were  great-uncles  to 
Joseph.  He  began  teaching  in  1855,  and  has 
taught  in  this  and  adjoining  counties  for  fifteen 
years.  He  was  married  August  22, 1861,  to  Mar- 
garet Rusk,  a  lady  of  Scotch-Irish  descent.  Her 
father,  William  Rusk,  emigrated  from  Antrim 
county,  Ireland,  to  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  about 
1840,  and  to  this  county  in  1858.  M!r.  Love's  fam- 
ily consists  of  seven  children,  William,  Ella  Jane, 
Margaret  Ann,  George  Rusk,  Robert  M.,  Emily 
S.  and  Bessie. 

LOWER  JEREMIAH,   Crawford    township; 


farmer  and  sewing  machine  agent;  postoffice. 
Chili,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  was  born  in  Craw- 
ford township,  March  26,  1836;  son  of  George 
and  Susannah  Lower;  was  married  February 
28,  1856,  to  Mahala  Lower,  daughter  of  Benja- 
min' and  Catherine  Lower,  born  in  Crawford 
township  October  28,  1836.  Children  born  to 
them  were  as  follows :  Amanda  Rachel,  born 
September  12,  1857;  Mary  Ellen,  born  April  22, 
1860;  Susannah  Catherine,  born  June  13,  1862; 
George  Francis  and  Elizabetli  Anne,  born  January' 
19,  1865;  Clara  Etta,  born  May  11,  1867;  Sarah 
Jane,  born  September  16,  1872;  Oscar  Warren, 
born  June  21, 1875.  Mr.  L.  commenced  teaching 
school  in  1855,  and  taught  for  twenty-one  years. 
The  confinement  not  agreeing  with  his  health 
he  gave  up  teaching  and  commenced  farming 
and  selling  the  American  sewing  machine.  He 
was  elected  and  served  as  a  justice  of  the  peace 
for  the  term  of  three  years;  was  a  Democrat 
from  his  youth  to  the  present,  casting  his  first 
presidential  vote  for  Stephen  A.  Douglass. 

LOWERY  DAVIS,  Jackson  township;  post- 
office  Tyrone ;  born  in  Washington  county,  Penn- 
sylvania ;  settled  in  Coshocton  county,  in  March, 
1835;  spn  of  Thomas  and  Mary  Lowery,  and 
grandson  of  James  and  Mary  Lowery.  Mr. 
Lowery's  people  are  of  Irish  descent.  He  was 
married  January  13,  1842,  to  Martha  Foster, 
daughter  of  Moses  and  Hannah  Poster.  Their 
union  was  blessed  with  six  children,  five  of  whom 
are  living,  viz :  James  M.,  Thomas  C,  J.  W., 
Davis  J.,  Martin  S.,  all  married  and  living  in  this 
county. 

LUKE  I.  D.,  Crawford  township ;  attorney  at 
law,  notary  public  and  insurance  agent;  post- 
office,  New  Bedford;  born  August  28,.  1831,  in 
German  township.  Holmes  county ;  son  of  George 
and  Mary  (Davidson)  Luke.  He  was  brought  up 
on  the  farm  by  his  grandfather,  Jacob  Luke,  un- 
til about  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  came  to 
New  Bedford  and  assisted  his  uncle  in  the  hotel 
until  seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he  taught  one 
term  of  school,  after  which  he  clerked  for  different 
parties  in  stores,  for  several  years,  then,  with  Lu- 
decker  as  partner,  conducted  a  store  at  Nashville, 
Holmes  county,  and  subsequently  a  branch  store 
at  New  Bedford.  On  closing  out  these  stores,  he 
again  clerked  in  New  Bedford  until  1856,  when 
he  went  to  California  and  sought  the  precious 
metals  by  placer  mining.  In  June,  1859,  he  re- 
turned to  New  Bedford  and  resumed  clerking.-' 

Soon  after  he  entered  as  a  student  the  law  office 
of  Messrs.  Barcroft  &  Voorhes,  attorneys,  and 
was  admitted  to  practice  at  Millersburg,  in  June, 
1861.  In  September,  1861,  he  enlisted  as  a 
private  in  Company  H,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  and 
served  until  the  spring  of  1864,  when  he  resigned 
on  account  of  disability.    During  his  service  he 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


731 


was  appointed  sergeant-miajor  of  the  regLnient, 
and  commissioned  second  and  first  lieutenant  of 
his  company.  In  June,  186-5,  he  went  to  St. 
Louis,  Missouri,  and  remained  one  year.  Then 
he  crossed  the  plains  to  New  Mexico,  and  was 
allured  by  the  glittering  stories  of  the  placer 
mines  of  Grant  county  to  seek  their  treasure. 
At  these  mines  he  remained  about  a  year  and  a 
half;  thence  to  Arizona,  and  from  there  to  Fort 
Mogave,  where  he  entered  the  quartermaster  de- 
partment of  the  U.  S.  regulars,  and  remained  six 
months.  Quitting  this  position,  he  engaged  with 
the  Colorado  River  Steam  Navigation  Co.,  at  the 
company's  yards  at  Sonora,  Mexico,  and  re- 
mained there  three  years.  In  the  spring  of  1872 
he  returned  to  New  Bedford.  Attorney  Luke 
was  married  first  in  the  fall  of  1872,  to  Miss  Bar- 
bara, daughter  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  (Krieger) 
Sprenkle.  By  this  marriage  he  had  three  chil- 
dren: Harvey,  Clifford  D.  and  Paris  T>.  Mrs. 
Luke  died  in  1875.  He  was  married  February 
5, 1876,  to  Miss  Pauline,  sister  of  his  first  wife. 
This  union  has  been  blessed  with  two  children : 
Benjamin  R.  and  George  A. 

LYNCH  A.,  Perry  township;  West  Bedford  post- 
office;  born  in  this  county,  in  1834;  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Elizabeth  (Wolf)  Lynch,  and  grandson 
of  Peter  Lynch ;  married  in  1862,  to  Miss  S.  E. 
White,  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Sarah  White. 
Mr.  Lynch  is  the  father  of  two  children,  vi^ : 
Florence  E.,  and  William  L. 

LYNCH  CORNELIUS,  Perry  township;  post- 
office.  West  Bedford ;  born  in  this  county,  in 
1837;  son  of  Wilham  and  Elizabeth  (Wolf)  Lynch; 
grandson  of  Peter  Lynch  Mr.  Lynch's  father 
settled  in  this  county  in  a  very  early  day,  and 
sunk  the  first  well  ever  sunk  in  Bedford  township. 
He  was  a  hatter  by  trade.  Mr.  Lyinch,  in  1856, 
married  Miss  Darcus  A.  Fry.  Mrs.  Lynch's 
grandfather  was  a  revolutionary  soldier.  Their 
union  was  blessed  by  three  children,  viz :  Sarah 
v.,  William,  and  Lewella. 

LYNDE  EZRA  H.,  tinner;  Main  street,  Co- 
shocton, Ohio;  was  born  April  23,  1823,  in  Dun- 
kirk, New  York;  son  of  William  R.  Lynde,  Ameri- 
can born,  of  French  descent;  raised  on  a  farm 
until  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went  to 
Newark,  and,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  entered  Gran- 
ville college,  where  he  remained  eighteen  months; 
learned  his  present  trade  with  Chancy  Humphrey. 
After  completing  his  apprenticeship,  he  worked 
for  his  brother  in  Newark  three  years ;  also  worked 
three  years -in  St.  Louis,  Missouri;  after  working 
in  other  places,  and  after  leaving  St.  Louis  on 
account  of  the  cholera,  came  to  this  place,  in 
1849,  and  followed  daguerreotyping  one  year,  then 
returned  to  his  present  trade,  establishing  his 
business  in  the  present  location,  in  1852.  In 
1855,  he  moved  to  Burlington,  Iowa,  where  he 


followed  his  business  about  three  years,  then  re- 
turned to  the  place  he  left  in  1852,  and  is  now 
doing  a  good  business.  He  was  married,  Sep- 
tember 18, 1854,  to  Miss  Anna  M.  Ransom,  daugh- 
ter of  Alonzo  Ransom,  of  this  place.  They  have 
had  three  children,  viz :  Francis,  deceased ;  Charles 
E.,  deceased,  and  William  R. 

LYONS  WILLIAM,  Adams  township;  farm- 
er; postoiflce,  Bakersville,  Ohio.  Mr.  Lyons  was 
born  March  19,  1840,  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  was  raised  on  the  farm.  He 
removed  from  Washington  county  in  1844  and 
settled  in  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio.  In  1860  Mr. 
Lyons  lost  his  right  arm  by  an  accident  at  a 
threshing  machine.  He  commenced  teaching 
school  in  1869,  and  taught  successfully  for  five 
years.  Mr  Lyons  was  married  December  31, 
1869,  to  Miss  Nancy  J  Stonehocker,  a  school 
teacher  of  Coshocton  county.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  five  children:  Mary  A.,  Louisa  J.,  Wil- 
liam H.,  Eliza  W.  and  John  C,  all  of  whom  are 
living.  Mr.  Lyons  came  to  this  county  in  1874, 
and  has  remained  ever  since,  following  the*  occu- 
pation of  a  farmer. 

LYONS  GEORGE,  Perry  township;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle ;  born  in  this  county  in  1843 ;  son 
of  John  and  Matilda  (Crawford)  Lyons.  He  was 
married  in  1864,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Gault,  daugh- 
ter of  Adam  and  Sarah  Gault.  Mr.  Lyons  is  the 
father  of  three  children,  viz :  Fanliie,  Anna  and 
Edmund. 

IMIa 

McBANE  J.  C,  Franklin  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  September  30, 
1826 ;  son  of  Jesse  and  Mary  McBane.  His 
grandfather  McBane  emigrated  from  the  high- 
lands in  Scotland  to  America,  locating  near  Balti- 
more, Maryland,  on  a  place  which  is  now  within 
the  city  limits  In  1831  his  father's  family  came 
to  Lafayette  township,  where  he  grew  to  man- 
hood, receiving  the  education  which  the  country 
schools  afforded  ;  was  married  March  20, 1853,  to 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  Hawkins,  an 
early  settler  in  this  township,  who  came  from 
New  Jersey.  The  years  1854-5  were  spent  in 
Clark  county,  Illinois.  In  1856  he  moved  to 
Franklin  township  and  has  lived  here  since.  He 
has  three  children,  viz :  Olivia,  Helen  ani  .Jesse. 
Olivia  was  married  December  24, 1879,  to  James 
W.  Maxwell,  of  Harrison  county.  Mr.  McBane 
was  elected  county  commissioner  in  1876,  and  is 
now  serving  his  second  term. 

MoCAIN  ADAM,  Perry  township;  postoffice. 
New  Guilford;  born  in  this  county,  in  1845;  son 
of  John  an  Sarah  (Dunn)  McCain;  married  in 
1868,  to  Miss  Hester  J.  Mowrey,  daughter  of 
Martin  and  Mary  Mowrey.  Mr.  McCain  is  en- 
gaged in  keeping  hotel,  at  present;  also  keeps  on 
hand  a  variety  of  notions  for  sale. 


732 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


McCAMMANT ,  Lafayette  township; 

carpenter ;  postoflfice,  West  Lafayette ;  born  Oc- 
tober 25,  1824:,  in  Brooke  county.  West  Virginia; 
son  of  James  McCammant,  native  of  Washing- 
ton county,  Pennsylvania ;  raised  on  a  farm,  but 
also  learned  the  gunsmith's  trade,  and  worked  at 
that  and  farming,  until  1852,  when  he  learned 
'  the  carpenter  trade,  and  conducted  both  trades 
and  run  the  farm  until  recently,  but  gives  his 
entire  time  at  present  to  carpentering.  He  left 
West  Virginia,  in  1837,  and  went  to  Perry  county, 
remaining  until  1839;  then,  for  a  short  time, 
lived  in  Muskingum  county,  and  settled  in  La- 
fayette township,  in  1840.  He  was  married, 
April  8,  1847,  to  Miss  Rachel  A.  Shafer,  daughter 
of  Peter  Shafer,  of  Albany  county.  New  York. 
They  have  eight  children,  viz  :  Mary,  William 
W.,  married  to  Melissa  Shroyer;  Sarah  E.,  mar- 
ried to  Samuel  Garselin;  Emily  J.,  Josephine, 
Ida,  James  and  George  Edgar. 

McCLAIN  GEORGE,  Linton  township  ;  farm- 
er; born  in  Lafayette  township,  November  27, 
1837;  son  of  Isaac  and  Elizabeth  (Stringer)  Mc- 
Clain,  and  grandsoh  of  Thomas  McClain,  one  of 
the  earliest  pioneers  of  Lafayette  township.  In 
1872  Mr.  McClain  moved  from  Lafayette  to  Lin- 
ton' township.  He  was  married  in  1870  to 
Louisa  Summers,  daughter  of  John  L.  and  Mar- 
garet (Michael)  Summers,  now  of  Muskingum 
count}'.  His  children  are  Ada,  Maggie,  Edward, 
Lewis  and  Clarinda,  deceased. 

McCLAIN  H.  F.,  Plainfield,  Linton  township ; 
grocer  and  saloon;  postoffice,  Plainfield.  Mr. 
McClain  was  born  April  28,  1853,  in  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio.  He  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and 
followed  that  occupation  until  twenty-two  years 
of  age.  He  was  married  July  18,  1876,  to  Miss 
Lydia  Hootman,  of  this  county.  They  became 
the  parents  of  two  children — Sophronia  E.  and 
Freddie.  In  1875  Mr.  McClain  removed  to  Plain- 
field,  Ohii^,  and  started  a  general  grocery  and 
saloon.  He  has  successfully  followed  the  busi- 
ness ever  since. 

McCLAIN  RICHARD,  deceased,  Lafayette 
township;  was  born  in  Linton  township,  in  No- 
vember, 1823,  and  was  married  in  1848,  to  Miss 
Catherine  Elson,  of  this  township.  They  have  had 
ten  children,  as  follows:  Jennie  ;  Seth,  deceased  ; 
Ella,  Arthur,  Lizzie,  Lyde,  Noah;  Laura,  de- 
ceased; Charles  and  Jesse.  Mr.  McClain  was  a 
man  of  note  in  this  township,  having  held  numer- 
ous township  offices,  and  was  county  treasurer 
two  terms.  In  a  newspaper  account  of  his  life, it 
is  said  that  his  youth  and  manhhod  were  passed 
at  a  time  when  men  were  honest,  and  integrity 
and  uprightness  of  character  were  prized  jewels 
among  men.  He  possessed  these  in  an  uncom- 
mon degree,  as  evidenced  by  the  high  apprecia- 
tion of  his  neighbors  and  friends  throughout  the 


county.  His  courage  and  patriotism  were  co- 
equal, and  he  defended  his  country  with  the  same 
devotion  to  duty  that  actuated  him  in  his  event- 
ful and  successful  life.  When  a  young  man,  he 
enlisted  in  the  Third  Ohio  infantry,  and  with 
other  comrades  from  this  place,  served  in  the  war 
with  Mexico,  in  1846^8.  At  the  breaking  out  of 
the  rebellion,  in  1861,  the  firing  on  Fort  Sumter 
aroused  him,  and  he  was  the  first  in  this  county 
to  organize  a  company,  which  served  three 
months  as  part  of  the  Sixteenth  Ohio,  with  dis- 
tinction. Upon  his  return,  he  immediately  assist- 
ed in  recruiting  and  organizing  the  Fifty-first 
Ohio,  one  of  the'  best  regiments  in  the  service. 
He  was  elected  major  at  the  organization,  and 
was  afterward  promoted  to  lieutenant  colonel, 
and  then  to  colonel,  after  the  promotion  of  Col- 
onel Stanley  Matthews.  He  participated  with 
his  comrades  in  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  and 
others  of  the  campaign.  At  Chickamauga  he  was 
captured,  and  after  one  year  spent  in  Libby 
prison,  was  exchanged  and  returned  to  the  com- 
mand of  his  regiment,  serving  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  Upon  his  return  home,  he  was  nomi- 
nated and  elected  treasurer  on  the  Democratic 
ticket,  though  he  had  been  an  uncompromisng 
Republican.  When  his  term  expired  he  was  re- 
elected by  being  the  candidate  of  both  parties, 
which  was  sufficient  recommendation  of  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  duties.  He  was  one  of 
the  most  efficient  officers  the  county  ever  had. 
Colonel  McClain  died  of  malarial  fever,  March  31, 
1880. 

McCLAIN  THOMAS,  Monroe  township ;  was 
born  February  15,  1826,  in  Lafayette  township, 
Coshocton  county;  son  of  John  and  Elizabetlj 
(Maple)  McClain,  and  grandson  of  Thomas  and 
Massa  (Marts)  McClain,  who  were  natives  of  Ire- 
land, and  of  Jacob  (Sagatha)  Maple,  who  were 
natives  of  Germany.  Mr.  McClain  was  born  and 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  educated  in  district 
schools.  He  lived  in  his  native  place  till  the  age 
of  thirty-four,  when  he  removed  to  Tuscarawas 
county,  where  he  followed  farming  and  stock  deal- 
ing for  four  years ;  then  came  to  Monroe  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  where  he  is  now  the 
owner  of  a  neat  little  farm  of  about  100  acres. 
He  was  married  to  Miss  Ruhama  Marlatte,  April 
IS,  1847,  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Susan  (Ham- 
ersly)  Marlatte,  and  granddaughter  of  Michael 
and  Catharine  Hamersly,  who  were  natives  of 
England.  Their  children  were  John,  Jeremiah, 
and  Thomas,  deceased;  Seth  is  married  to  Al- 
meda  Severns,  a  farmer  in  Jefferson  township, 
this  county ;  Anderson,  Christopher,  Jacob,  Mary 
J.,  Martha  E.,  and  George  H.  Pendleton  are  at 
home.  Benton  C,  Andrew  B.,  and  Margaret  have 
also  deceased. 

McCLAIN  SETH,  Coshocton  ;  farmer ;  corner 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


733; 


of  Third  and  Chestnut  streets ;  born  in  July, 
1818;  son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Williams) 
McClain,  His  grandfather,  Seth,  came  from 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania.  Young  Seth 
was  raised  in  Linton  tOAvnship  until  he  was  four- 
teen years  of  age,  when  he  entered  as  a  clerk  the 
dry  goods  store  of  Thomas  C.  Rickerts,  of  Co- 
shocton. He  afterward  clerked  for  Meek  & 
Johnson.  In  1849  he  took  the  hazardous  over- 
land trip  to  California,  making  the  trip  in  four 
weeks  and  six  days,  being  the  first  man  from 
this  county  to  enter  San  Francisco.  He  re- 
mained in  the  Golden  State  two  years ;  then  re- 
turned and  clerked  for  Medberry,  in  Roscoe, 
commanding  the  highest  salary  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, 1500  hrst  year  and  $1,000  for  the  second 
year.  He  was  a  candidate  for  sheriff,  and  only 
lacked  a  few  votes  of  being  elected  when  the 
deijiocratic  majority  in  the  county  was  about 
800!  He  bought  Medberry's  stock,  and  did  a 
business  of  $80,000  per  year.  Next  closed  out 
his  store  to  S.  C.  Burrell  &  Sons,  and  engaged  ex- 
tensively in  buying  and  shipping  live  stock.  Mr. 
McClain  was  married  in  February,  1864,  to  Mary, 
daughter  of  John  and  Sophia  (Clark)  Frew. 
They  have  one  child,  Lewis,  born  November  18, 
1866.  Mr.  McClain  was  previously  married  to 
Sarah  Frew,  sister  of  his  present  wife. 

McCLAUGHRY  GEORGE  H.,  Linton  town- 
ship; farmer;  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Virginia, 
September  12, 1882;  son  of  James  and  Rebecca 
(Brooks)  McClaughry,  grandson  of  James  and 
Catherine  (Ellsworth)  McClaughry.  His  grand- 
father, James  was  a  Scotch  emigrant,  his  grand- 
mother a  native  of  New  York  City.  In  1853  he 
entered  Linton  township,  and  has  been  here 
since;  married  February  14,  1855,  to  Martha 
Wiggins,  daughter  of  Thomas  Wiggins ;  his  chil- 
dren are  Sarah  V.,  Harriet  J.,  Amanda  R.,  Ells- 
worth and  Mary  Isabel.  Mrs.  McClaughry  died 
in  1867,  and  he  married  a  second  wife,  Laura 
Latham,  born  in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia, 
daughter  of  George  Latham;  a  single  child 
•  blesses  this  marriage,  Georgie  L.  Mr.  McClaugh- 
ry enlisted  .February,  1865,  in  Company  A,  One 
Hundred  and  Ninety-fourth  0.  V.  I.,  and  was  in 
service  about  nine  months. 

McCLEEARY  SETH,  Linton  township ;  farm- 
er; born  in  Franklin  township,  June  26,  1827; 
son  of  George  and  Sarah  (Tanner)  McCleeary, 
and  grandson  of  William  McCleeary,  who  emi- 
grated from  Scotland  at  eighteen,  and  of  Marga- 
ret (Slagel)  McCleeary,  a  lady  of  German  descent. 
In  1813  his  granddaughter  came  to  Linton  town- 
ship, and  some  years  later  his  father  moved  to 
Franklin  township.  In  1851  he  married  Miss 
Mahala,  daughter  of  Samuel  Roderick,  and  in 
1852  he  moved  to  Linton  township,  where  his  wife 
died  soon  after,  leaving  two  children,  John  and 


Mahala ;  and  in  the  winter  of  1853,  Mr.  McCleea- 
ry went  to  California,  where  he  remained  nearly 
three  years,  engaged  in  mining.  He  returned  ta 
his  father's,  and  April  11,  1857,  he  married  Eliza- 
beth Roderick,  daughter  of  Absolom  Roderick,, 
of  Tuscarawas  township.  By  this  marriage  he 
has  six  children,  viz  :  Melissa,  Elma,  Bessie,  Sarah, 
George,  and  Efiie  Bell. 

McCLEARY  J.  W.,  Tuscarawas  township;, 
postoiHce,  Coshocton ;  born  in  Franklin  township,. 
April  16,  1849;  son  of  James  T.  and  Naomi  (Wol- 
ford)  McCleary.  His  grandfather  was  George  A. 
McClearj',  and  his  great-grandfather  was  William 
McCleary.  Mr.  McCleary  was  raised  to  farming, 
which  business,  with  slight  exception,  he  has  fol- 
lowed successfully  to  the  present  time.  He  was- 
married  to  Miss  Rose  Anne,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Moore,  of  Tuscarawas  county.  Four  children  were 
born  to  them, viz:  Samuel  A.,  Mary  Geneva,  James- 
Philip  and  Wolford. 

McOLUGGAGE  JOHN,  Bedford  township;, 
farmer;  postofBice,  Tyrone ;  born  in  1809,  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  married  in 
1832,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Guthrie,  of  the  same  coun- 
ty, who  was  born  in  1811.  They  removed  to  Alle- 
gheny county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1836,  and  came  to 
this  county  in  1846.  They  lived  near  Bloomfield,. 
this  county,  until  1863,  when  they  removed  to 
their  present  location.  They  are  the  parents  of 
nine  children,  three  of  whom  are  living,  viz:^ 
Ellenora,  Robert  and  Elizabeth  H. 

McCLURE  JAMES,  Coshocton;  proprietor  of 
restaurant  and  saloon,  622  Main  street;  was  born 
March  22,  1843,  in  Keene  township ;  son  of  Alex- 
ander McClure,  a  native  of  Ireland.  Young  Mc- 
Clure's  first  work  was  with  his  father  at  the  car- 
penter trade.  At  fifteen  he  went  into  the  Co- 
shocton Democrat  office  to  learn  type-setting,  and 
from  this  office  he  went  to  the  Coshocton  Age^ 
working  about  five  years  in  all  In  1861  he  was- 
the  second  man  in  the  county  to  enlist  in  the 
three  month's  service,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
war.  He  served  in  Company  A,  Sixteenth  O.  V. 
I.  In  1862  he  re-enlisted  as  second  sergeant  in 
Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  O.  V.  I.^and  served 
to  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  promoted  to 
first  sergeant,  second  lieutenant,  first  lieuten- 
ant and  to  the  command  of  the  company,  which 
he  obtained  at  Huntsville,  Alabama.  At  the 
close  he  carne  to  this  city  and  established  his 
present  business.  Mr.  McClure  was  married 
October  18,  1865,  to  Miss  Rebecca  C.  Mosier, 
daughter  of  Philip  Mosier,  deceased,  formerly  of 
Adams  township,  Muskingum  county.  This 
marriage  was  blessed  with  four  childrer^  viz  : 
Kate  H.,  Charles  A.,  Lulu  May,  and  Willie  V., 
deceased.  Mr.  McClure  is  doing  a  very  good 
business  at  present. 


73i 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


McCONNELL  THOMAS,  Bethlehem  town- 
ship ;  farmer  and  stock  dealer ;  son  of  Matthew 
McConnell,  was  born  in  July,  1843.  Mr.  McCon- 
nell  enlisted,  in  September,  1861,  for  three  years, 
in  company  I,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  under  Captain 
James  Cook.  He  served  in  the  Fourth  Division 
under  Generals  Grant  and  Sherman.  He  was 
in  the  battles  of  Chickamauga  and  Lookout  Moun- 
tain, and  marched  with  Sherman  to  the  sea.  He 
returned  October,  1864,  after  having  been  in 
active  service  over  three  years.  He  was  married, 
in  1866,  to  Miss  Mary  Miller,  of  this  county,  who 
was  born  August  19, 1847.  Mr.  McConnell  moved 
to  Indiana  in  the  spring  of  1866,  and  remained 
eight  ijionths,  when  he  returned  to  this  county, 
where  he  has  since  lived.  They  became  the 
parents  of  three  children,  viz :  Minnie,  born  JMav 
23,  186S;  Edward  R.,  born  April  10,  1870,  and 
Matthew,  born  February  6,  1874. 

McCONNELL  ALEXANDER,  Bethlehem 
township;  farmer;  son  of  Matthew  McConnell; 
was  born  April  6, 1845,  in  Bethlehem  township, 
Coshocton  count}'.  Mr.  McConnell  was  raised  on 
the  farm,  and  has  followed  farming  all  his  life. 
In  1863  he  enlisted  as  a  private  in  Company  G, 
One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  regiment,  6.  V. 
I.,  and  served  100  days.  He  was  married  in 
1869  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Overholt,  who  was  born 
in  1842,  in  this  county.  They  are  the  parents  of 
three  children,  viz:  William  T.,  born  in  1871; 
Cora  May,  born  in  1874,  and  Abraham  H.,  born 
in  1879. 

McCONNELL  MATTHEW,  Bethlehem  town- 
ship; farmer ;  born  in  1810,  in  Donegal  county,  Ire- 
land. He  came  to  this  county  in  1832,  and  located 
in  Keene  township.  He  was  married,  December 
81, 1840,  to  Miss  Mary  Laughhead,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1819,  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsyl- 
vania. They  are  the  parents  of  eleven  children, 
BIX  of  whom  are  living,  viz :  Thomas,  born  in 
1843;  Alexander,  born  in  1845;  Edward  R.,born 
October  4,  1847;  Wilham  T.,  born  May  21,  1850; 
Martha  J.,  born  February  3, 1854,  and  Mary  C, 
born  in  1862.  Mr.  McConnell  has  lived  on  the 
same  farm  ever  since  he  came  to  this  county,  and 
has  followed  farming  and  stock-raising.  He  and 
his  wife  are  fnembers  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
at  Keene. 

McOOY  JOSEPH,  Virginia  township  ;  born  in 
Coshocton  county,  in  1850;  son  of  Daniel  and 
Mary  McCoy,  and  married  in  De^fmber  1873. 
His  children  are  Minnie  M.  and  Verna  P.  Post- 
■ofKce,  Dresden. 

McCOY  DANIEL,  Virginia  township;  born  m 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  January  7,  1812;  son  of 
Josepn  Milly  McCoy.  He  was  married  August 
28,  1866.  His  second  wife  was  Susan  Norris,  and 
his  children  were  Jacob,  Leroy,  Katharine,  Beam, 


W.  R.,  Emily,  Margaret,  John  Morris,  George 
and  Joseph.    Postofflce,  Dresden. 

McCOY  HENRY,  Jackson  township;  born  in 
this  county,  in  1837 ;  son  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Mc- 
Coy ;  married  in  1857,  to  Martha  Roberts,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  Roberts.  Mr.  McCoy  is  the  father  of  five 
children,  four  living  and  one  dead  Postoffice, 
Roscoe. 

McCOY  JOSEPH,-  Jackson  township;  post- 
office,  Roscoe;  born  in  East  Virginia;  settled  in 
Coshocton  county,  1807;  son  of  Joseph  and  Mil- 
lie McCoy,  and  grandson  of  John  and  Nancy 
McCoy;  married  in  18 —  to  Sarah  Ogle,  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Millie  Ogle.  Mr.  McCoy  is  the 
father  of  ten  children,  all  living  but  two.  Mr. 
McCoy  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Coshocton 
county,  and  still  lives  enjoying  the  fruits  of  his 
earh'  toil. 

McCOY 'WILLIAM,  Jackson  township;  born 
in  Virginia  township,  Coshocton  county;  son  of 
Joseph  and  Sarah  McCoy;  married  in  1844  to 
Catharine  Johnson,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Cla- 
rinda  Johnson.  Mr.  McCoy  is  the  father  of 
twelve  children,  five  living  and  seven  dead.  All 
married  but  one.    Postoffice,  Roscoe. 

McCOSKEY  GEORGE,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer ;  born  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania, 
in  1815.  His  father,  George  McOoskey,  was  a 
native  of  Ireland;  was  married  in  that  country; 
emigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1812,  and  set- 
tled in  Pennsylvania.  He  remained  in  that 
State  six  years;  came  to  White  Fyes  in  1818, 
and  settled  on  a  farm  that  was  all  in  woods.  He 
was  the  father  of  six  children,  but  two  of  whom 
are  living.  He  died  in  1871,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
three  years,  and  his  wife  Margaret  died  in  1866, 
at  the  age  of  seventy-eight  years.  George,  tlie 
subject  of  this  sketch,  was  apprenticed  to  learn 
the  carpenter  trade  in  1838,  and  has  worked  con- 
tinuously at  the  trade  since  then.  In  1848  he 
married  Miss  Eliza  Christy.  She  was  born  in 
this  county,  August  11,  1823.  They  have  one 
child,  a  daughter,  born  July,  1844,  who  is  married 
to  William  Lockard,  and  is  living  on  the  adjoin- 
ing farm.  Mr.  McCoskey  located  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides  in  1859. 

McCOSKEY  WILLIAM,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; a  native  of  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia; son  of  George  McCoskey ;  was  married 
to  Miss  Eliza  Graham,  who  was  a  native  of  Ire- 
land, and  Was  born  in  1813.  They  were  the 
parents  of  three  children— one  deceased,  Wil- 
liam; two  living,  G.  W.  and  Margaret.  Mrs. 
McCoskey  died  June,  3845.  William  was  mar- 
ried, December  1852,  to  IMiss  Nancy  McCoskey, 
a  native  of  Jefferson  county.  They  became  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  five   of  whom  are  liv- 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


735 


ing.  G.  W.  was  born  in  1.S44,  and  was  married, 
November,  1807,  to  Miss  Joanna  Hamilton,  the 
daughter  of  Samuel  Hamilton.  They  have 
seven  children:  Ida  M.,  Eva  M.,  William  J., 
Eliza  B.,  Emma  S.,  Hestella  and  Arosta,  all  living. 
G.  W.  has  never  left  the  county,  and  now  resides' 
between  Avondale  and  Chili. 

McCULLOUGH  GEOKGE,  deceased ;  born  in 
the  county  of  Donegal,  Ireland;  came  to  this 
county  about  1830.  He  was  married,  December 
3, 1850,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Lockard,  the  daughter  of 
Robert  Lockard,  and  she  was  born  in  1822  They 
had  seven  children,  viz :  Malinda,  Mary  A.,  Martha, 
J.,  deceased;  Sadie  A.,  Stewart,  deceased;  Frank- 
lin H.  and  Emma.  Mary' A.  is  married  to  John 
P.  Benjamin,  of  Avondale,  a  shoemaker  by  trade. 
The  others  are  at  home.  Mr.  McCullough  died 
February  28,  1866.  He  located  on  the  farm  where 
his  widow  now  resides,  before  his  marriage.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  at  Kimbles. 
Franklin  is  the  only  son  living;  is  at  home  with 
his  mother  and  farms  the  place. 

McCULLOUGH  WILLIAM,  deceased;  born 
in  1787,  in  Delaware,  and  was  married  in  1818. 
His  wife  was  born  in  1796.  They  came  to  this 
county  in  1834.  He  died  in  1869.  They  were 
the  parents  of  eight  children,  viz:  Margaret,  de- 
ceased; Elizabeth,  deceased;  Samuel;  Ann;  Mar- 
tha, deceased;  Rebecca,  deceased;  Lydia,  de- 
ceased, and  Mary. 

McCUNE  SAMUEL, Linton  township;  farmer; 
born  April  8,  1824,  in  Linton  township ;  the  son 
of  James  McClure,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Linton  township;  married  December  2,  1852,  to 
Hester  Ann  Higer,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Mary 
Higer,  of  Oxford  township.  Children :  Mary  E., 
James  W.,  Jerry  C,  Joab,  Jane,  Arabella,  Agnes, 
Flora  Ellen,  Sarah  Ida  and  John  A.  Logan.  Mr. 
McCune  enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hundred 
and  Ninety-fourth  O.  V.  I.,  and  remained  in  serv- 
ice about  eight  riionflis,  doing  duty  in  Virginia 
and  Washington  City. 

McCUNE  JOHN,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
born  February  17, 1813,  in  Linton  township ;  son 
of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Craig)  McCune,  grand- 
son of  John  and  Jane  (Jenkins)  McCune,  who 
were  foremost  in  the  settlement  of  Linton  town- 
ship. Mr.  McCune  has  been  twice  married ;  first 
in  1835,  to  Sarah  McDowell,  daughter  of  James 
McDowell,  of  Stark  county.  Children:  Mary 
Craig,  James,  Nathaniel;  Martha,  deceased;  Sa- 
lina  Jackson  and  Ellen  R.  Wiggins.  His  second 
wife  was  Miss  Nancy  A.  Glenn,  and  their  children 
were  johii  and  Robert. 

McCURDY  DANIEL,  Bedford  township; 
farmer  ;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1826,  in 
this  county.    His  father,  Daniel,  Sr.,  was  born  in 


1780,  in  county  Tyrone,  Ireland.  He  moved  to 
Philadelphia  in  1798,  and  to  Jefferson  county  in 
1802.  He  was  married  in  1809,  to  Miss  Jane 
Richey,  of  that  county^  who  was  born  in  Fayette 
countjr,  Pennsylvania,  in  1791.  They  came  to 
this  county  in  1817.  He  died  in  1862,  she  died 
in  1869.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, Daniel  being  the  fifth.  He  was  married  in 
1853,  to  Miss  Rachel  Loder,  of  this  couHty,  who 
was  born  in  1833,  in  this  county.  They  were  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  viz :  Rebecca ;  Mary  S.,. 
deceased ;  William  A.;  Clement  L.,  deceased ;. 
Francis  A.,  Rosella,  May  B.,  Echo  P.  and  Fan- 
ny D. 

McCURDY  W.  C,  Bedford  township  ;  farmpr ; 
postoffice.  West  Bedford ;  born  in  1849,  in  this 
county.  His  father,  John  McCurdy,  was  born  in 
1826,  in  this  county.  His  grandfather  came  from 
Ireland.  John  was  married  in  1847,  to  Miss 
Nancy  Adams,  of  this  county,  and  died  in  1872. 
She  died  in  1855.  They  were  the  parents  of  three 
children,  the  subject' of  this  sketch  being  the  old- 
est. He  was  married  in  1874,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Jobe,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1850,  in  this- 
county.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children, 
viz :  Otis,  deceased ;  Otto  and  J.  F.  The  first  tw& 
were  twins. 

McDonald  WILLIAM,  Virginia  township;, 
born  April  17, 1825,  in  Muskingum  county,  Jef- 
ferson township,  Ohio;  son  of  George  and  Anna 

(Lovett)  McDonald,  grandson  of  Berry  and  

McDonald,  of  Daniel  and  Mary  (James)  Lovett, 
The  McDonalds  are  of  Scotch  descent,  and  the 
Lovetts  are  of  German  descent.  Mr.  McDonald 
was  brought  up  as  a  farmer,  and  was  educated  in 
the  district  schools.  About  the  age  of  twenty 
years  he  commenced  business  for  himself  in  his 
native  county.  He  remained  there  one  year,, 
then  moved  to  the  farm  on  which  he  now  resides, 
in  Virginia  township,  Coshocton  county.  He 
married  Miss  Jane  McClannahan,  March  21, 1845, 
daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Lemert)  Mc- 
Clannahan. Their  union  was  blessed  with  seven 
children,  four  of  whom  are  married,  and  three 
still  remain  with  their  parents,  viz :  Alex.  Mel- 
vina  and  James. 

McDONALD  JOHN,  Virginia  township ;  bom 
in  this  county,  December  23,  1847 ;  gon  of  Wil- 
liam and  Jane  McDonald  and  grandson  of  George 
and  Nancy  McDonald,  and  John  and.  Elizabeth 
Clanahan ;  married  September  7, 1871,  to  Rachel 
Markley,  daughter  of  J.  B.  and  Margaret  Mark- 
ley.  They  have  three  children,  viz :  Orpha  J., 
John  W.,  and  Stacy  B.  Mr.  McDonald  enlisted 
February  29, 1864,  in  Company  H,  Eightieth  Ohio 
Regiment,  Captain  Freeman ;  and  was  with  Sher- 
man in  all  his  engagements  during  his  march  ta 
the  sea.    Postoffice,  Willow  Brook. 


736 


HISTOKY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


McDonald  J.,  farmer;  Washington  county; 
postofSce,  Dresden;  born  in  18-47,  in  this  county. 
His  father  was  born  in  1821,  in  Musliingum 
county,  and  was  married  in  1842,  to  Miss  Frances 
O.  Moore,  of  the  same  county,  wlio  was  born  in 
1823,  in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia.  They  came 
to  this  county  in  1843,  and  are  the  parents  of 
nine  children.'  The  subject  of  this  slvetcli  being 
the  third.  He  was  married  in  1872,  to  Miss  Sarah 
A.  Lake,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1852. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz : 
Lemmert  J.,  French  and  Nora  D. 

McDowell  JOHN,  Coshocton;  blacksmith; 
was  born  May  20, 1836,  in  the  County  of  Tyrone, 
Ireland ;  son  of  James  McDowell,  deceased.  He 
was  apprenticed  at  about  the  age  of  sixteen  to 
Robert  McDowell,  and  served  five  years.  Shortly 
after  completing  his  apprenticeship  he  set  out 
for  America,  and  landed  in  May,  1860,  and  worked 
a  few  weeks  in  the  State  of  New  York  and  came 
to  this  city  June  9,  1860,  and  has  made  it  his 
home  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  McDowell  was 
married  July  3, 1866,  to  Miss  Kate  Dolen,  of  this 
city.  This  union  was  blessed  with  six  children, 
two  deceased,  viz:  Mary  and  Ellen;  and  four 
are  living,  viz :  Charles,  Joseph,  John  and  Fran- 
cis James.  For  about  two  years  Mr.  McDowell 
worked  at  his  trade  as  a  government  emplo.ye  in 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland.  He  is  now  doing 
a  good  business  at  his  shop  No.  543  Main  street. 

McDonald  G.  a.,  proprietor  of  McDonald 
House,  Coshocton,  Ohio ;  was  born  September  11, 
1831,  in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia ;  son  of  Thom- 
as and  Mary  (McGruder)  McDonald.  Mr.  Mc- 
Donald came  to  this  State  and  located  at  Mount 
Vernon,  where  he  remained  four  years  prior  to 
•coming  to  this  city,  in  1862.  Here  he  engaged 
-in  the  photograph  business,  and  continued  in  it 
until  1875.  In  1868  he  added  furniture  and  un- 
dertaking to  his  business.  In  1876  he  first  en- 
gaged in  his  present  occupation.  He  was  mar- 
ried September  9, 1858,  to  Miss  Caroline,  daugh- 
ter of  Prosper  and  Melissa  (Mervin)  Rich.  They 
are  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz :  Minnie  B., 
Jennie,  Fannie  and  Herbert.  Mr.  McDonald  is  a 
genial,  hospitable  and  popular  landlord. 

McFAELAND  EZEKIEL,  Adams  township; 
farmer ;  postoifice,  Newcomerstown,  Ohio.  Mr. 
McFarland  was  born  May  6,  1816,  in  Adams 
township,  and  has  lived  in  the  township  ever 
since.  His  father  was  of  Irish  descent,  and  w.as 
one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of  this  county.  When 
he  came  to  this  county  it  was  a  wilderness,  in- 
habited by  Indians,  bears,  wolves,  and  other  wild 
animals.  He  was  compelled  to  leave  his  place 
three  diflferent  times  and  fly  for  his  life  on  ac- 
count of  the  depredations  of  the  Indians  He 
was  an  old  liunter,  and  killed  many  bears  and 
■deer.    Mr.  McFarland  was  raised  on  the  farm, 


and  has  followed  that  occupation  all  his  life,  ac- 
quiring by  his  own  industry  a  good  farm  of  485 
acres.  He  was  married  October  4,  1888,  to  Miss 
Isabella  Corbit,  of  Coshocton  county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  eleven  children:  Robert,  Susan- 
nah, Jane ;  Andrew,  deceased ;  Hannah,  Margaret, 
George;  Mary,  deceased;  Catharine,  John  and 
William.  Jlr.  McFarland  is  one  of  the  oldest 
settlers  of  Adams  township.  Mrs.  McFarland 
was  born  April  6, 1818,  in  Adams  township.  The 
fathers  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  McFarland  both  served 
in  the  war  of  1812. 

McFAELAND  IMATTHEW,  Bedford  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice,  West  Bedford;  born  in 
county  Tyrone,  Ireland,  in  1816 ;  came  to  this 
county  in  1834,  and  was  married -in  1851,  to  Miss 
Mary  Campbell,  of  Licking  county,  who  was 
borii  in  1820.  ;Mr.  McFarland  has  lived  in  the 
village  of  West  Bedford  since  1838,  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  business,  from  1838  to  1845. 

McFADDIN  HUGH,  Tuscarawas  township; 
Coshocton  postoffice;  farmer;  was  born  in  Har- 
rison county,  March  20,  1830;  son  of  George 
and  Elizabeth  (Kelley)  McFaddin,  and  grandson 
of  Joseph  McFadden,  formerly  of  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania.  Hugh  was  brought  up  on 
the  farm,  and  to  this  industry  he  has  devoted  his 
entire  attention,  making  it  a  complete  success, 
having  a  first-class  farm,  supplied  with  an  abun- 
dance of  choice  fruit,  and  stocked  with  the  best 
blood  of  sheep  and  other  domestic  animals. 
He  came  to  his  present  residence  in  1855,  and 
was  married,  in  1856,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Park- 
hill,  who  was  born  in  1833.  The  family  consists 
of  the  parents  and  four  children :  Stewart  K., 
George,  Maggie  E.  and  Carrie  B. 

McGIFFIN  WILLIAM  AND  JOHN,  Keeue 
township;  were  born  in  Keene  township,  Coshoc- 
ton county.  William  was  born  November  24, 
1841,  and  John  December  9, 1844.  They  are  sons 
of  William  and  Lydia  (BiStterfield)  McGiffin,  and 
grandsons  of  Arch.  McGiffin.  They  were  born 
and  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  educated  in  com- 
mon schools.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  William^ 
went  to  Illinois,  from  there  to  California,  and  re- 
mained there  until  1867,  when  he  returned  home 
and  in  partnership  with  his  brother,  purchased 
the  old  home  farm,  and  they  have  been  devoting 
their  attention  to  that  ever  since.  William  was 
married  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Shurtz,  January  3, 1875, 
daughter  of  Isaac  and  Mary  (Smith)  Shurtz,  and 
granddaughter  of  George  and  Mary  (Lee)  Smith. 
Their  children  are  Holhz  C,  born  July  21, 1876 ; 
Carl  A.,  August  24, 1877,  and  Ada  Glenn,  April 
25,  1879. 

McGILL  ROBERT  T.,  Coshocton,  Ohio ;  stock 
dealer.  Mr.  McGill  was  born  October  13,  1861, 
in  Roscoe,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  son  of  David 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


787 


and  Isabelle  (Cox)  McGill,  both  natives  of  Ire- 
land. The  first  four  years  of  Mr.  McGill's  busi- 
ness life  was  clerking  in  stores.  He  was  elected 
assessor  of  the  city  and  township  in  the  fall  of 
1881.  Mr.  McGill  was  married  May  25,  1880,  to 
Miss  Annis,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Free- 
tague)  Elson,  of  Coshocton. 

McKEAG,  ROBERT,  deceased,  Linton  town- 
ship, was  born  in  the  year  1805,  in  County  Derry, 
Ireland.  He  emigrated  to  America  about  1850, 
when  his  son,  James,  was  four  and  Robert  two 
years  old.  He  first  settled  in  Knox  township, 
Guernsey  county,  and  engaged  in  farming. 
About  five  years  later  he  removed  to  Linton 
township,  where  he  remained  till  the  time  of  his 
decease,  July  11,  1875.  His  wife  died  February 
21,  1874.  Their  children  are  James,  Robert, 
Sarah  (Banker),  Margaret,  Mary  Jane  (Estep), 
Isabel  and  Eliza  (Stephen). 

McKEE  EGBERT,  Pike  township;  farmer 
and  stock  raiser ;  postoffice,  Frazeysburg,  Muskin- 
gum county  ;  born  in  this  county,  in  1834 ;  son  of 
Patrick  and  Elizabeth  (Ashcraft)  McKee,  who 
came  to  this  county  in  1815,  from  Ireland.  He 
was  married  in  1861,  to  Miss  Eliza  Morris,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Nancy  (Clinton)  Morris. 
They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  viz ;  Eliza- 
beth E.,  Edison  L.,  Emma  W.,  Mary  E.,  French, 
Barton  S.,  Cora  A.,  Patrick  H.,  Minnie  J.  and 
John  W. 

McKEE  T.  A.,  Washington  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Dresden;  born  in  1881,  in  this  county. 
His  father  was  born  in  1800,  in  Ireland,  and  came 
to  Philadelphia  in  1818,  and  to  this  county  in 
1827.  He  was  married  the  same  year,  to  Miss 
Isabella  Crawford,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
in  1810,  in  Ireland.  He  died  in  1871,  she  died  in 
1855.  They  were  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  third.  He 
was  married  in  1858,  to.  Miss  Henrietta  Frey,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1840.  They  are  the 
parents  of  two  children,  viz :  Eugene  and  Em- 
mett 

McKEE  GEORGE  W.,  Washington  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Dresden;  born  in  1845,  in 
this  county.  His  father  was  born  in  1811  in 
Knox  county.  He  married  Miss  Nancy  Hender- 
son of  this  county,  who  died  in  1849.  They  were 
the  parents  of  six  children.  In  1850  he  married 
Mrs.  Jones  of  this  county.  They  are  the  parents 
of  eight  children;  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
being  the  fifth  child  by  the  first  wife.  He  was 
married  in  1866  to  Miss  Nancy  E.  McDonald  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1843.  They  are  the 
parents  of  seven  children  viz :  Melvin  S.,  Rosa- 
lind, Francis  A.,  Mary  E.,  Charles  D.,  Frank  L., 
aqd  Luellie  M. 


McKEE  J.  L..  Perry  township ;  postoffice,  West 
Carlise ;  born  in  Washington  township,  this 
county,  in  1840;  son  of  James  and  Isabella  (Craw- 
ford) MoKee.  He  was  married  in  1874,  to  Miss 
C.  A.  Lee,  daughter  of  John  W.  and  Elizabeth 
Lee.  Mr.  McKee  is  the  father  of  two  children, 
viz  :  Raleigh  L.,  and  Lula  B. 

McMORRIS  G.  W.,  Washington  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Dresden  ;  born  in  1824,  in  this 
county.  His  father  was  born  in  1780,  in  Hamp- 
shire county,  Virginia.  He  was  married  in  1815, 
to  Miss  Winiford  Rector,  of  Fauquier  county, 
Virginia,  who  was  born  in  1785.  They  came  to 
this  county,  in  1817.  He  died  in  1850.  She  died 
in  in  1839.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren, the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  sixth. 
He  was  married  in  1850,  to  Miss  Martha  McCon- 
nel,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1833.  She 
died  in  1854.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren. 

McMURPHY  GEORGE,  Oxford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Newcomerstown;  son  of  Wil- 
liam and  Catharine  (Stanley)  McMurphy;  was 
born  in  this  township,  in  1882,  his  parents  being 
natives  of  the  State  of  Delaware.  George  was 
married  in  1855,  to  Jane  E.  Forsythe,  of  this 
township;  they  have  had  the  folllowing  children: 
Ernest  D.,  Mary  A.,  Minnie  B.,  Blanche;  Samuel, 
deceased.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Protestant  Methodist  church,  and  he  is  a  mem- 
ber if  the  Masonic  fraternity.  He  lived  in  Tus- 
carawas county  eleven  years  after  he  was  married; 
now  owns  eighty  acres  of  land,  and  is  esteemed 
by  his  fellow  citizens. 

McNABB  ISAAC,  Bedford  township;  carpen- 
ter; postoffice,  Warsaw;  born  in  1829,  in  this 
county.  His  father  was  born  in  1796,  in  Brooks 
county,  Virginia,  and  was  married  in  1820,  to 
Miss  Mary  Hoge,  of  Belmont  county,  who  was 
born  in  1800,  in  Hampshire  county,  Virginia. 
They  came  to  this  county  in  1821,  and  both  died 
in  1868.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren, Isaac  being  the  third.  He  was  married  in 
1853,  to  Miss  Delilah  Devinia,  of  this  county,  who 
was  born  in  1838,  in  Carroll  county.  They  have 
one  child,  Rezon. 

McNABB  JAMES,  Sr.,  Coshocton ;  carpenter 
and  superintendent  of  the  bleaching  department 
of  the  paper  mills;  born  February  7,  1822,  in 
Mahoning  county ;  son  of  Patrick  McNabb,  a  na- 
tive of  Ireland.  He  was  raised  on  the  farm  until 
about  twenty  years  of  age,  when  he  began  his 
trade  with  William  Logan^  with  whom  he  re- 
mained'two  years.  In  1845  he  went  to  Wells- 
burgh,  West  Virginia,  and  was  engaged  in  a 
paper-mill  until  1872,  when  he  came  to  this  city 
and  engaged  in  his  present  position.  He  enlisted 
May  5, 1861,  in  Company  G,  First  Virginia  V.  I., 


738 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


(three  months'  men),  and  re-enlisted  September 
11,  1861,  in  Company  B,  First  Virginia  V .  I.,  for 
three  years,  and  served  his  term  of  enlistment. 
He  was  slightly  wounded  at  Winchester,  March 
23,  1862;  was  captured  September  11,  1863,  at 
Mooresfield,  West  Virginia,  and  held  in  Libby 
prison  and  Belle  Island  until  March  16,  1864, 
when  he  was  paroled.  He  was  married  March 
31,  1844,  to  Miss  Jane  Kimberland,  daughter  of 
John  Kimberland,  of  Brooks  county,  West  Vir- 
ginia. They  have  had  eight  children,  three  of 
whom,  John,  Campbell  and  Harding,  have  de- 
ceased, and  Robert,  Catharine,  William,  Laura 
Belle  and  James  S.  are  living.  Mrs.  McNabb  de- 
parted this  life  in  the  full  faith  of  glorious  im.- 
mortality,  June  — ,  1880. 

McNA:p,Y  CHARLES  A.,  Coshocton;  general 
pump  dealer,  gas  fitter  and  plumber,  133  Second 
street;  born  July  10, 1856,  in  Fishkill,  Dutchess 
county,  New  York;  son  of  Isaac  McNary,  a  native 
of  New  York,  of  Scotch  descent.  Young  McNary's 
first  work  was  farming;  leaving  this  he  became  a 
machinist.  In  April,  1874  he  came  to  this  city 
and  engaged  in  the  gas  business.  In  1876  became 
successor  to  J.  H.  Carman  and  continued  the 
business  at  the  old  stand  two  years,  then  removed 
to  his  present  place  where  he  has  more  ample 
room  for  his  much  increased  business,  which. ex- 
tends throughout  this  county  and  a  part  of  Tus- 
carawas county.  Mr.  McNary  was  married  De- 
cember 22,  1880,  to  Miss  Jennie,  daughter  of 
James  H.  and  Jane  (Shaw)  Knapp,  of  Fishkill, 
Dutchess  county,  New  York. 

McMANUS  MARTIN,  Coshocton,  wholesale 
and  retail  liquor  dealer,  corner  of  Main  and 
Fifth  streets ;  was  born  October  1, 1852,  in  Steu- 
ben ville  ;  son  of  Patrick  McManus,  deceased,  who 
was  a  native  of  Ireland.  At  fourteen  young  Mc- 
Manus, went  on  the  railroad  as  water  boy'  on  a 
construction  train  for  two  svimmers,  going  to 
school  in  the  winter.  He  was  then  promoted  to 
flagman,  which  responsible  duty  he  filled  for  two 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  he  was  advanced 
to  fireman,  which  labor  he  performed  for  three 
years.  He  was  then  advanced  another  step  to 
that  of  engineer,  which  position  he  held  until  the 
death  of  his  father,  September  6,  1878,  when  he, 
being  the  oldest  son,  continues  his  fatlier's  busi- 
ness at  the  above  place. 

McNAUGHTON  &  CO.,  druggists.  No.  444 
Main  street,  Coshocton.  M.  W.  McNaughton, 
managing  partner  of  this  firm,  is  a  native  of 
Licking  county,  where  he  was  born  September 
22, 1847,  and  received  his  education  in  the  dis- 
trict schools.  He  followed  farming  until  1867, 
when  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business  in  com- 
pany with  D.  Wilkin,  under  the  firm  name  of  D. 
Wilkin  &  Co.,  at  Utica,  Ohio.  This  firm  contin- 
ued to  do  business  until  1868,  when  he  came  to 


Coshocton  and  engaged  in  the  same  business 
here,  with  Mr.  Wilkin  as  partner,  and  the  firm 
name  was  chan'ge'd  to  McNaughton  &  Co.  They 
occupy  pleasant  and  convenient  rooms,  20x40, 
where  they  carry  a  large  first  class  stock  of  pure 
drugs,  chemicals,  patent  medicines,  fancy  goods, 
toilet  articles,  trusses,  cigars  and  tobacco.  Pre- 
scriptions carefully  compounded. 

McNEIL  GEORGE  C,  of  the  firm  of  McNeil 
and  Johnson,  general  provisions,  family  grocery 
and  bakery,  430  Main  street,  Coshocton,  Ohio. 
Mr.  McNeil  was  born  in  Warsaw,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  September  3,  1854 ;  son  of  Harri- 
son and  Julia  (Cassingham)  McNeil.  In  1872, 
George  C.  entered  the  steel  works,  and  remained 
there  six  years ;  after  which  he  engaged  as  travel- 
ing salesman  for  J.  W.  Pinkerton,  the  grocer,  of 
Zanesville,  Ohio.  With  this  firm  he  remained 
three  years.  In  May,  1881,  the  present  firm  was 
established.    Their  future  is  auspicious. 

Joseph  K.  Johnson,  Jr.,  of  the  firm  of  McNeil  & 
Johnson,  family  groceries  and  bakery,  480  Main 
street,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  Mr.  Johnson  was  born 
January  7, 1859,  in  Coshocton,  Ohio,  and  brought 
up  in  his  native  city.  He  is  the  son  of  William 
K.  and  Elizabeth  (Humrickhouse)  Johnson;  was 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Coshocton  and 
the  Pennsylvania  M.  academy,  at  Chester,  Penn- 
sylvania. After  leaving  the  academy,  he  en- 
gaged with  his  brother  Thomas,  civil  engineer 
on  the  extension  of  the  Lake  Erie  and  Western 
railroad.  May  16,  1881,  he  becarde  partner .  in 
the  above  firm. 

McVEY  J.  S.,  New  Castle  township ;  was  born 
January  2, 1811,  in  Washington  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, came  to  Ohio  in  1814,  settled  in  Perry 
township,  Coshocton  county,  and  was  brought  up 
on  a  farm  until  the  age  of  twenty-one.  He  then 
engaged  as  clerk  with  John  H.  Pigman,  and  re- 
mained with  him  about  two  years;  and  then 
formed  a  partnership  with  Benjamin  Cochran  in 
general  merchandise,  which  lasted  two  years, 
when  he  purchased  the  entire  stock  and  carried 
on  the  business  by  himself  until  1842.  He  then 
moved  to  Muscatine  county,  Iowa,  and  formed  a 
partnership  with  John  H.  Sullivan  in  the  milling 
business,  which  lasted  two  years.  He  then  traded 
his  interest  in  that,  as  part  paj'ment  on  his  pres- 
ent mill  property  in  Walhonding,  where  he  has 
remained  since,  doing  a  good  business  in  milling 
and  buying  and  selling  wheat,  grinding  about 
four  hundred  bushels  daily,  besides  custom  work. 
He  married  Miss  Eleanor  Trimble  in  the  year 
1839,  daughter  of  William  and  Ann  (Duncan) 
Trimble,  who  became  the  mother  of  five  chil- 
dren, viz :  Leander,  Franklin,  Martha,  Catherine, 
and  John.  Franklin  is  living  in  Blandons ville, 
Illinois.  Martha  married  Dr.  J.  R.  Gamble,  and 
also  resides  at  Blandonsville,  Illinois.  . 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


741 


McVEY  LEONARD  F.,  New  Castle  township ; 
farmer ;  born  July  7,  1843,  in  Perry  township ; 
•son  of  Joseph  S.  and  Eleanor  (Trinible)  McYey. 
When  young  McVey  was  a  boy,  he  worked  in  a 
flouring-mill,  where  he  remained  until  he  was 
-about  twenty-four  years  of  age,  when  he  engaged 
in  merchandising  at  New  Castle,  continuing 
one  year  in  that  place,  after  which  he  moved  his 
-store  to  Walhonding,  where  he  conducted  his  busi- 
ness until  April  1880,  when  he  came  to  his  pres- 
-ent  farm  residence.  Mr.  McVey  was  married 
February  12,  1871,  to  Miss  Mary  Ellen,  daughter 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Biggs)  Butler.  They  are 
.  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz :  Joseph  S  ,  John 
■C.,  Paulina  V.,  Mary  Catherine  and  Emma  Lo- 
rena. 

MACKEY  JOHN,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
"Newcomerstown ;  son  of  James  M.,  who  was  a 
Marylander.  His  mother  was  Elizabeth  Case.  Both 
are  deceased.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born 
in  Brownsville,  Pennsylvania,  in  1818,  and  came  to 
Ohio  when  a  child  with  his  parents ;  was  married 
to  Margaret  Rosenberry,  in  August,  1880;  They 
are  both  members  of  the  United  Brethren  church. 
He  has  been  supervisor  a  number  of  years,  and 
has  for  years  been  a  member  of  the  school  board. 
His  son  John  took  an  active  part  in  the  war,  serv- 
ing in  the  Fifty-first  regiment  three  years.  He 
is  the  father  of  nine  children,  viz:  Sarah,  John, 
Mary  A.,  Nancy,  Catherine,  Perry,  Liza,  James, 
Luther,  and  Grayton,  deceased. 

MADDEN  T.  J.,  Coshocton ;  painter ;  was  born 
February  2,  1824,  in  this  city ;  son  of  Sanford  F. 
Madden,  a  native  of  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  of 
'Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  His  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Mary  KnofT,  of  New  York.  Young 
Madden,  when  a  boy,  worked  with  his  father  at 
the  carpenter  trade,  he  also  learned  painting, 
which  trade  he  has  followed  until  the  present  time. 
He  enlisted  June  8,  1846,  in  Company  B,  Third 
0.  V.  I.,  for  the  Mexican  war.  Col.  Curtis  com- 
manding, and  served  one  year,  his  term  of  enlist- 
ment, after  which  he  worked  four  months  in  the 
ordinance  department  as  a  governmant  employe, 
and  then  returned  to  his  home  in  this  city.  Mr. 
Madden  was  crippled  in  the  right  arm  by  a  fall 
from  a  pair  of  derricks,  during  which  time  he 
•served  as  city  assessor  and  constable.  He  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  school  board  in  April, 
1878,  which  office  he  holds  at  present.  Mr.  Mad- 
den was  married  September  24,  1854,  to  Miss 
Mary,  daughter  of  Caleb  Penn,  a  relative  of  Wil- 
liam Penn,  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania.  Mrs. 
Madden  is  a  daughter  of  Mary  Laflfer,  whose 
father  was  killed  while  on  picket,  by  the  Indians, 
near  BuflPalo,  New  York.  Thej^have  been  blessed 
with  seven  children,  viz :  Wilhs,  deceased ;  Lellia, 
■Sallie;  Willis  and  Iowa,  deceased;  Charles  and  Lina. 

33 


MAGEE  ROBERT,  Bethlehem  township;  farm- 
er ;  was  born  August  2,  1824,  in  Donegal  county, 
Ireland.  He  came  to  this  county  with  his  parents 
in  1840,  and  located  in  Bethlehem  township,  on 
the  farm  on  which  Robert  now  lives.  The  coun- 
try was  then  a  wilderness.  They  cleared  the 
land  and  built  a  cabin,  which  still  stands.  Rob- 
ert's father  was  a  blacksmith,  and  worked  at  his 
trade  for  a  number  of  years.  Robert  was  mar- 
ried in  1860,  to  Miss  Nancy  Stewart,  of  this 
county.  He  enlisted  in  Company  A,  but  was 
transferred  to  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and 
Forty-third  regiment  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  four 
months. 

MAGEE  GEORGE,  Coshocton;  farmer;  born 
September  26,  1853,  in  New  York  City ;  son  of 
George  Magee,  an  American  of  Irish  descent. 
Young  Magee,  at  the  early  age  of  nine  years,  be- 
came restive  under  the  parental  restraint,  and 
availing  himself  of  an  opportunity  to  go  West 
with  a  company  of  boys  in  care  of  Eli  Trott, 
stopped  in  this  city,  and  was  selected  from  a 
number  of  boys  by  A.  J.  Reynolds,  who  became 
his  foster  father,  with  whom  Mr.  Magee  yet  makes 
his  home.  The  boy's  mother,  learning  through 
the  postmaster  at  Roscoe  of  his  whereabouts, 
came  for  her  son,  but  finding  him  in  a  comfort- 
able home  which  he  was  unwilling  to  leave,  she 
permitted  him  to  remain. 

MAGNESS  JAMES,  Linton  township;  farmer ; 
born  in  Green  county,  Pennsylvania,  June  8, 
1820.  His  great-grandfather  emigrated  from  Ire- 
land to  America  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  on  the  voyage  James  was 
born.  They  settled  in  Indiana,  near  Georgetown, 
where  the  Sea-born  James  grew  to  manhood,  and 
married  Hannah  Wise.  They  have  six  chil- 
dren, Levi,  George,  Brooks,  Samuel,  Nancy  and 
Deborah  The  mother  died  while  the  children 
were  young,  and  James  married  again.  The  sons, 
Levi,  and  George  (the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch),  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  under  Generals 
Scott  and  Brown ;  participated  in  the  battles  of 
Lundy's  Lane,  in  which  George  was  wounded. 
In  the  spring  of  1816  the  two  moved  to  this  tovra- 
ship.  George  returned  to  Green  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  married  a  widow,  Rachel  (Whit- 
latch)  Trimble,  of  German  descent.  By  this  mar- 
riage there  were  four  children,  Levi,  Nancy, 
James  and  George.  In  1823  they  moved  to  La- 
fayette township.  Here  Mrs.  Magness  died,  and 
George  Magness,  for  a  second  wife,  took  Mary, 
daughter  of  William  and  Rebecca  Evans,  of  Ox- 
ford township.  This  latter  marriage  resulted  in 
nine  children,  four  of  whom  survive.  Mr.  Mag- 
ness afterward  moved  to  Linton  township,  where 
James  was  reared.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  be- 
gan teaching,  and  has  followed  it  in  winter  (farm- 
ing in  summer),  until  within  a  few  years,  a  proof 


742 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


-of  signal  success  in  this  profession.    November 

15. 1842,  he  married  Eebecca,  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard and  Rebecca  Piatt.  .By  this  marriage  eight 
children  were  born,  Lorenzo  W.,  died  in  infancy; 
Walter  S.,  died  in  the  army  near  Petersburg, 
Virginia,  July,  1864;  Samuel  B.,  Ehzabeth  J.; 
Nancy  R.,  married  to  William  H.  Snedbaker,  of 
Jackson  township ;  Civita,  married  to-  Charles  H. 
Hyatt,  of  KnoXj county,  Missouri,  and  Sarah  A. 
Mrs.  Magness  died  June  28, 1878. 

MAGNESS  FIELDING  H.,  Linton  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Linton  township,  February  16, 
1889;  son  of  George  and  Mary  (Evans)  Magness. 
His  father  was  an  early  sejjtler  in  this  township. 
His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  William  and 
Rebecca  (Fowler)  Evans,  who  settled  on  Bacon 
run  in  1806.  Mr.  Magness  now  resides  on  the 
farm  his  father  first  owned  in  Linton  township. 
In  1860  he  married  Miss  Catharine,  daughter  of 
Lewis  Wellsyof  Albany  county.  New  York.  By 
this  marriage  he  has  had  four  children :  George 
L.,  Lewis  Wells,  Addie  and  Charles  H.  Charlie 
is  the  only  child  who  survives.  In  September, 
1864,  Mr.  Magness  became  a  member  of  Com- 
pany F,  Fifteenth  O.  V.  I.,  and  remained  in  serv- 
ice till  June,  1865.  The  scene  of  his  military  life 
was  chiefly  in  Georgia,  with  Sherman. 

,  MAGEAW  JOHN  C,  boot  and  shoe  dealer, 
418  Main  street,  Coshocton,  was  born  February 

27. 1843,  in  Warsaw ;  son  of  James  Magraw,  de- 
ceased; born  in  Pennsylvania,  of  Scotch-Irish 
ancestry.  At  sixteen,  young  Magraw  was  appren- 
ticed to  learn  the  boot  and  shoemaker's  trade, 
with  James  Hutchison  and  completed  it  with 
Samuel  Hollibaugh ;  soon  after  which,  he  enlisted 
in  company  A,  Ninety-sixth  0.  V.  L,  in  August, 
1862,  and  served  three  years.  On  his  return 
home,  he  resumed  his  trade,  with  Samuel  Hol- 
libaugh, as  partner,  with  the  firm  name  of 
Hollibaugh  &  Magraw.  This  firm  continued 
but  a  few  years,  when,  being  dissolved,  Mr.  Ma- 
graw opened  shop,  and  worked  about  one  year, 
doing  custom  work,  then  added  a  stock  of  boots 
and  shoes.  In  1872,  he  came  to  this  city,  and 
opened  a  store  in  his  present  room,  where  he  has 
a  complete  stock  of  boots  and  shoes,  hats  and 
caps.  Mr.  Magraw  was  married,  September  5, 
1867,  to  Miss  Mary  Cook,  daughter  of  James  B. 
Cook,  of  Martinsburgh,  Knox  county,  Ohio. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  five  children,  one, 
James,  having  died.  The  four  living  are,  Clara 
B.,  Fred.  Bronson,  Raymond  Cook  and  Mary  Ma- 
tilda. In  the  spring  of  1881,  Mr.  Magraw  was 
appointed  postmaster  of  this  city,  which  office 
he  now  holds. 

MAGRUDER  GEORGE, Perry  township;  post- 
ofBce,  West  Carlisle ;  born  in  this  coimty  in  1847 ; 
son  of  William  and  Eleanor  (Henderson)  Ma- 
gruder,  and  grandson  of  George  A.  and  Elizabeth 


(Billingsley)  Magruder,  and  of  William  and  Ara- 
bella Henderson.  He  was  married  in  1871  to 
Miss  Hattie  U.  Westlake,  daughter  of  Samuel 
and  Sarah  A.  Westlake.  They  have  three  chil 
dren,  viz :  Charles  C,  Gertrude,  and  one  un- 
named. 

MALATT  JOHN  L., Lafayette  township;  gro- 
cer; West  Lafayette ;  son  of  Budd  Malatt;  was 
born  in  1839,  and  married  in  1863  to  Catharine 
A.  Trenor.  They  have  had  eight  children,  four 
of  whom  are  living,  viz :  John  M.,  Charles  E., 
Bertha  E.,  and  Maggie.  Mr.  M.  went  out  in  the 
Eighty-fifth  0.  V.  I.,  in  1862,  for  three  months ; 
then  in  the  Fifty-first  the  same  year  for  nine 
months ;  and  in  1865  in  same  regiment  for  one 
year. 

MANGOLD  JOHN  L.,  Coshocton ;  tobacconist, 
of  the  firm  of  T.  W.  Hagar  &  Co.,  406  Main 
street,  was  born  October  16,  1856,  in  Adamsville, 
Muskingum  county;  son  of  Henry  Mangold,  a 
native  of  Germany.  Young  Mangold  was  raised 
and  educated  in  his  native  town.  When  about 
fifteen  years  of  age  he  wentto  Zanesville  as  clerk 
in  a  grocery  store,  and  remained  one  year,  when 
he  returned  to  Adamsville.  Here  he  learned  his 
trade,  which  he  followed  in  Zanesville  and  this 
city.  The  present  firm  was  founded  June  10, 
1880,  and  is  composed  of  young  men  of  energy 
and  business  ability.  Mr.  Mangold  was  married 
October  13, 1880,  to  Miss  OUve  Smith,  daughter 
of  Oliver  Smith,  deceased,  of  this  city. 

MANNER  A.  D.,  Coshocton ;  buggy  dealer  and 
livery  man ;  was  born  in  Greencastle,  Franklin 
county,  Pennsylvania ;  son  of  Alexander  Manner, 
deceased,  who  was ,  a  native  of  Kentucky.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  raised  in  Newark,  Ohio. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  learn 
the  harness  and  saddlery  trade,  with  Henry  Wil- 
son, of  Newark.  On  corppletinghistrade  he  was 
a  journeyman  for  about  two  years.  He  also 
learned,  the  carriage  trimming  business,  with 
John  E.  Shannon,  at  Mount  Vernon.  After  hav- 
ing worked  in  several  shops,  he,  in  the  spring  of 
1857,  established  a  partnership  with  E.  McDon- 
ald, in  which  they  manufactured  carriages,  etc., 
and  were  proprietors  of  the  American  House 
(hotel).  This  firm  having  dissolved,  in  1860,  Mr. 
Manner  established,  a  harness  and  saddler  shop 
and  livery  business  at  Roscoe.  In  1865,  he  re- 
turned to  this  city  and  continued  his  business 
here.  At  present,  his  son,  James  B.,  is  associated 
with  him  in  the  livery  business.  They  are  doing^ 
a  full  average  share  of  the  business  in  their  line, 
keeping  on  an  average  nine  horses,  and  a  full 
stock  of  rigs  to  suit.  Mr.  A.  D.  Manner  was  mar- 
ried first  to  Miss  Diadema  Sparks,  of  Lickings 
county.  Before  her  decease  they  were  blessed 
with  one  child,  a  son,  James  B.  Mr.  Manner  af- 
terward married  Miss  Mary  Jane  Gaves,  of  Mus- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


743 


kingum  county.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
three  children,  one  of  whom  is  deceased,  and  two 
are  living,  viz  :  William  H.  and  Emma  I.  James 
B.  Mannner  was  married  April  19,  1876,  to  Miss 
Josephine  McClure,  daughter  of  Alexander  Mc- 
Clure,  of  this  'city.  This  union  has  been  blessed 
with  one  child,  a  son,  Carl  Alexander. 

MAB.KLEY  DAVID,  Tuscarawas  township; 
farmer;  was  born  October  13, 1819,  in  this  town- 
ship; son  of  Frederick  and  Rachel  (Cartmill) 
Hartley.  David's  father  came  to  Coshocton 
county  in  1808  and  located  in  Bethlehem  town- 
ship on  the  Walhonding  river.  His  ancestors 
came  from  Maryland  and  are  of  German  descent. 
David's  father  died  when  the  boy  was  but  nine 
years  old,  from  which  age  Mr.  Markley  has  de- 
pended entirely  on  his  own  industry  and  man- 
agement for  success,  and  it  is  but  just  -to  state 
here  that  he  has  by  honest  and  judicious  econ- 
omy obtained  an  ample  competence  for  his  fam- 
ily and  himself,  and  to  do  a  liberal  share  in  as- 
sisting in  all  charitable  and  religious  enterprises 
of  his  neighborhood.  He  also  takes  a  live  inter- 
est in  education.  Mr.  Markley  was  married  July 
9, 1842,  to  Miss  Selina,  daughter  of  Leraand  Ann 
(Felch)  Payne.  Mrs.  Markley's  grandmother  was 
Sarah  Knox,  sister  of  General  Knox.  They  are 
the  parents  of  fourteen  children,  nine  of  whom 
aredeceasedrViz:  Caroline,  William  F.,  Christena 
Prances,  George  E.,  Charles  D.,  Mary  Malissa, 
Judge  Harper,  Lily  May  and  Edward ;  and  five 
living,  viz :  Samuel  Asberry,  Minerva  Catharine, 
Emma,  Annie  E.  and  David,  Jr. 

MAKKLEY  FREDERICK,  Virginia  town- 
ship ;  born  in  Coshocton  county,  in  1841 ;  son  of 
John  B.  and  Margaret  Markley,  and  grandson  of 
Benjamin  and  Nancy  Markley.  He  was  married 
in  1867,  to  Lovina  Lockard,  daughter  of  Andrew 
and  Mary  Lockard.  He  is  the  father  of  six  chil- 
dren, five  living  and  one  dead.  He  was  a  soldier 
in  the  late  war,  having  enlisted  in  1861,  in  Com- 
pany H,  Fifth  artillery,  Army  of  the  Cumberland. 
Mr.  Markley  was  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Stone 
River,  Chickamauga  and  Mission  Ridge,  and  was 
discharged  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  October  5, 
1864.    Postoffice,  Willow  Brook. 

MARKLEY  W.S.,  Coshocton,  Ohio,  of  the  firm 
of  Markley  &  Eckert,  hvery  men.  Mr.  Markley 
was  born  March  12,  1851,  in  Bethlehem  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  son  of  Adam 
Markley,  deceased.  Young  Markley  remamed  at 
home  on  the  farm  until  1876,  when  the  above 
'  firm  was  estabUshed.  They  keep,  on  an  average, 
ten  to  twelve  horses  and  rigs  to  suit,  such  as  ba- 
rouches, buggies,  sample-wagons,  sleighs,  etc. 

MARSHALL  OWEN,  Jackson  township;  farm- 
er; born  April  10,  1804,  in  Hampshire  county, 
Virginia;  son   of   Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Mc- 


Kern)  Marshall.  Owen  is  the  oldest  of  a  family 
of  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  His  paternal 
ancestry  is  English,  his  maternal  Irish.  In  1809 
he  was  brought  to  this  county  by  his  parents 
who  located  about  one  and  a  half  miles  south  of 
Coshocton  city,  where  his  father  remained  until 
his  death,  March  4,  1814,  and  was  buried  in  the 
Coshocton  burying  ground.  He  served-  as  a  sol- 
dier under  Gen.  Harrison  in  the  war  of  1812. 
After  the  death  of  his  father,  the  widow  and 
family  moved  to  Bedford  township,  where  Owen 
remained  until  he  was  twenty-two  or  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  when  he  came  to  his  present 
residence.  It  was  all  a  virgin  forest,  and  con- 
tained only  forty  acres,  bought  with  money  earn- 
ed by  days'  work  at  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents 
per  day ;  but  by  hard  work  and  good  economy 
he  added  to  the  little  beginning  until  he  obtained 
a  large  farm  well  improved.  Mr.  Marshall  was 
married  August  18,  1833,  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter 
of  Crispin  and  Elizabeth  (Polaet)  Tredway.  They 
are  the  parents  of  eight  children,  viz :  irhomas, 
Crispin  T.,  Owen,  Jr.,  Elizabeth  Jane,  Mary  M., 
Nancy  Ellen,  Allen  M.,  and  Irwin,  deceased.  Mr. 
Marshall  with  his  father  attended  the  first  court 
held  in  Coshocton  county.  It  is  also  justice  to 
state  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marshall  have  raised  a 
family  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  are  intelli- 
gent and  highly  esteemed  by  a  large  circle  of 
friends. 

MARQUAND  JOSEPHUS,  Virginia  township; 
born  in  this  county,  and  was  a  son  of  Charles  and 
Elizabeth  Marquand;  married  April  1,  1862,  to 
Jane  Adams,  daughter  of  John  and  Emma  J.  Ad- 
ams. Their  union  was  blessed  with  five  children, 
viz:  Emma  J.,  William  T.,  Elizabeth  S.,  Anna 
Mary  and  Jennie  B.  Mr.  Marquand  died  in  1872. 

MARQUAND  JOSEPH,  Virginia  township; 
born  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  January  23, 
1853;  son  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth  Marquand. 
He  married  January  1, 1868.  Harry  Marquand 
is  their  only  child.    Postoffice,  Adams'  Mills. 

MARSHALL  J.D.,  Coshocton ;  carriage  painter, 
311  Second  street;  was  born  July  24,  1837,  in 
Warren  county ;  son  of  John  S.  Marshall,  a  na- 
tive of  Virginia,  of  Irish  ancestry.  He  was 
raised  in  Zanesville.  At  fourteen,  he  went  to 
the  confectionery  trade  and  worked  one  year. 
The  next  year,  he  began '  his  present  trade  with 
Ball,  Ward  &  Co.,  of  Newark.  On  completing 
his  trade,  he  worked  as  a  journeyman  in  this 
city.  In  1861,  Mr.  Marshall  enlisted  in  Company 
K,  Sixteenth  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  three  months ; 
re-enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and 
Twelfth  O.  V.  L,  and  was  commissioned  captain, 
in  March,  1862,  and  resigned  in  November  of  the 
same  year.  In  1875,  he  established  his  present 
shop,  where  he  does  all  kinds  of  carriage  and 


744 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ornamental  painting.  Captain  Marshall  was 
married,  May  17, 1864,  to  Miss  Sarah  Elizabeth 
Carter,  daughter  of  Frister  Carter,  of  Washing- 
ton township.  This  union  was  blessed  with  six 
children,  viz  :  Cora  B.,  Minnie  Frances,  Ella  A., 
Hattie,  May  Belle,  Fannie  S.  and  Sarah  Amelia. 

MARSHALL  A.  M.,  Jackson  township ;  born 
in  this  county  in  1849;  son  of  Owen  and  Mary 
Marshall;  married  in  December,  1874,  to  Clara 
McCoy,  daughter  of  William  and  Catharine  Mc- 
Coy. Mr.  Marshall  is  the  father  of  three  child- 
ren, viz:  Arizona,  William  0.,  Mary  K.  Post- 
office,  Roscoe. 

MARTIN  L.  W.,  principal  of  Roscoe  public 
schools;  Roscoe  postoffice;  born  August  2,  1845, 
in  Martins  Ferry,  Belmont  county;  a  son  of 
Ebenezer  Martin,  an  American  born,  of  English 
descent;  lived  on  a  farm  and  attended  public 
schools  till  the  age  of  twenty-one  years.  He 
went  west  and  remained  two  years,  when  he  re- 
turned and  began  teaching  in  his  native  town, 
and  taught  there  five  years.  In  1879  he  came  to 
Roscoe  and  was  elected  to  his  present  position. 
'  Professor  Martin  was  married  December  18, 
1873,  to  Miss  Emma  Beazel,  daughter  of  Harvey 
Beazel,  of  Martins  Ferry,  and  is  the  father  of  two 
children— Sidney  and  Harvey. 

MARTIN  JAMES,  Mill  Creek  township;  farm- 
er; postoffice.  Mound;  born  in  1846, in  this  coun- 
ty. His  father,  James  ■  Martin,  was  born  in  1796, 
in  Ireland.  He  came  to  this  country  in  1820, 
landing  in  Delaware.  He  lived  in  that  State  for 
a  short  time,  when  he  removed  to  New  York, 
and  remained  there  only  a  few  years,  when  he 
went  back  to  Delaware,  where  he  was  married, 
in  1828,  to  Miss  Jane  Martin,  of  Delaware  She 
was  born  in  1806.  They  came  to  this  county  in 
1842.  She  died  in  1859.  Thpy  were  the  parents 
of  ten  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living. 

MARTTER  JOtiN,  Coshocton ;  restaurant  and 
saloon,  Main  street,  four  doors  east  of  town  hall, 
between  Second  and  Third  streets;  was  born  De- 
cember 9,  1839,  in  Linton  township.  His  parents 
were  French.  He  remained  on  the  farm  until 
he  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  when  he  went 
West,  remaining  about  one  and  a  half  years;  then 
he  returned  home  and  farmed  until  1863,  when 
he  came  to  this  city,  and  was  the  first  to  make 
street  sprinkling  and  express  delivery  a  success. 

In  1871  Mr.  Martter  was  elected  marshal  and 
constable,  serving  four  years  in  the  first,  and  six 
years  in  the  last  office.  May  1, 1876,  he  estab- 
lished his  present  business,  but  was  entirely 
burned  out,  with  no  insurance,  in  March,  1880. 
Mr.  Martter  immediately  began,  and  in  a  few 
months  completed,  the  building  of  his  new  brick, 
four  doors  east  of  town  hall,  Main  street,  between 


Second  and  Third  streets,  where  he  is  at  present 
located,  succeeding  well  in  business. 

Mr.  Martter  was  married  October  6,  1861,  to 
Miss  Mary  E.  Roof,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Roof, 
of  Linton  township.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
nine  children,  one,  Francis,  having  deceased. 
Their  children  living  are  as  follows :  John  Ed- 
ward, George,  Joseph,  James,  Bertha,  Agnus, 
Cora  and  Mary. 

MARTTER  J.  P.,  Coshocton ;  foreman,  at  Beech 
Hollow  coal  mines ;  was  born  February  24,  1844, 
in  Linton  township ;  son  of  John  Martter,  a  native 
of  France.  Young  Martter  remained  on  the  farm 
until  June  1, 1861,  when  he  enlisted  in  Company 
K,  Twenty-fourth  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  three  years 
and  one  month,  when  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged at  Columbus  Ohio.  After  his  discharge, 
he  was  employed  eight  months  as  government 
clerk  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  At  the  close  of 
the  war,  he  traveled  in  the  West,  visiting  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Iowa,  Minnesota,  Wis- 
consin and  Michigan.  Returning  to  his  old 
home  in  1869,  he  farmed  until  1872,  when  he 
came  to  t|jis  city  and  engaged  in  the  planing- 
mill  one  year,  and  at  the  paper  mills  two  and  a 
half  years,  also  two  years  at  the  Home  Coal  Com- 
pany. Whilst  working  for  the  above  firms,  Mr. 
Martter  had  his  right  arm  broken  at  two  different 
times,  his  right  leg  broken  and  his  right  ankle 
and  both  knees  dislocated.  He  is  now  foreman 
at  the  Beech  Hollow  mines.  His  consort's 
maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Hamer,  daughter  of 
Jacob  Hamer,  of  Jefferson  township.  They  have 
had  four  children,  viz :  James  W.,  Charles,  Albert 
C.  and  Norah  F.  Mrs.  E.  Martter  conducts  a  boot 
and  shoe  store,  122  Second  street. 

MASON  BENJAMIN  F.,  Jefferson ;  contractor 
and  builder  of  public  works ;  postoffice,  Warsaw, 
Ohio;  son  of  Benjamin  and  Hannah  J.  (Latham) 
Mason;  was  born  May  2,  1844,  in  Clarksburg, 
Virginia.  Mr.  Mason  was  raised  on  the  farm. 
He  came  to  this  county  in  1855,  and  has  been  a 
resident  since.  He  was  married  December  25, 
1864,  to  Miss  Salina  Linebaugh,  of  this  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  viz :  Ida  W., 
born  September  9, 1865.  Mr.  Mason  has  followed 
his  present  occupation  ten  years,  and  has  built 
many  bridges  and  done  much  other  public  work 
for  the  county. 

M ASTON  D.,  Jackson  township;  postoffice, 
Tyrone;  born  in  this  county  in  1831;  son  of 
Peter  and  Lena  Maston.  The  father  of  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in 
1803;  died  in  this  county  February  9, 1870.  The 
mother  died  January  22,  1856.  The  subject  of 
this  sketch  is  one  of  a  family  of  twelve  children, 
eight  of  whom  are  still  living;  all  married  but 
one.    We  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mr.  P.  S. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


745 


Maston,  a  younger  brother  of  Mr.  Maston's,  and 
must-  acknowledge  our  thanks  for  favors  shown 
us  on  that  oecasion. 

HASTEN  JAMES  E.,  farmer;  Washington 
township ;  postoffice,  Wakatomaka ;  born  in  1838, 
in  this  county.  His  father,  Edward,  was  born  in 
1814  in  Virginia,  and  was  married  in  1836  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Thomas,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1804  in  Virginia.  They  are  the  parents 
of  two  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being 
the  oldest.  He  was  married  in  1867  to  Miss  Mary 
¥.  Bell,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1839,  in 
this  county.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren living,  viz  :  Kore  E.,  Ella  M.  and  Susan  E. 
Mr.  Masten  enlisted  in  1861  in  the  Eightieth  0. 
V.  I.,  and  served  three  years  and  nine  months. 
He  was  at  the  battles  of  luka,  Corinth,  Jackson, 
Mission  Eidge  and  at  the  siege  of  Vicksburg. 

MAXWELL  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township; 
postoffice,  Eoscoe ;  born  in  this  county  in  1825 ; 
son  of  Robert  and  Mary  (Carr)  Maxwell,  and 
grandson  of  Robert  and  Dora  Maxwell;  married 
in  1847  to  Dianna  Bible.  Mr.  Maxwell  is  the 
father  of  seven  children,  viz :  Malinda;  Mary,  de- 
ceased; Josephine,  Elnora,  Almeda,  Alice  and 
Prank.  All  are  married  but  two,  and  living  in 
this  county. 

MEEK  H.,  Franklin  township;  born  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania,  April  15,  1811 ;  son 
of  Isaac  and  Permelia  Meek,  and  grand  son  of 
John  Meek,  and  of  Matthias  Luse.  In  1826,  he 
came  to  Zanesville,  and  there  learned  the  tailor 
trade,  working  at  it  a  year  or  two  as  journeyman; 
then,  in  1833,  he  came  to  Coshocton,  where  he 
followed  tailoring,  till  1838.  From  that  year,  to 
1855,  he  was  engaged  in  mercantile  business,  in 
Coshocton,  and  then  moved  to  Franklin  town- 
ship, where  he  has  since  been  engaged  in  farm- 
ing and  in  stock  raising.  He  was  married  in 
1832,  to  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Christian  and 
Anna  Spangler,  of  "Zanesville.  By  this  mar- 
riage, he  had  four  children,  viz  :  Hamilton,  Anna, 
David  and  Christian,  of  whom  only  David  sur- 
vives.. Christian  was  killed  at  Stone  River.  In 
1842,  he  married  Sarah  Tuttle,  daughter  of  Phi- 
neas  and  Thankful  Tuttle.  His  children  by  this 
marriage  are :  Charlotte,  James  H.,  Mary  B.; 
Henry  T.,  deceased,  and  Elizabeth  E. 

MEEK  J.  F.,  editor  of  the  Coshocton  Age;  was 
born  July  20,  1856,  in  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio, 
and  educated  in  the  public  schools  of  Newcom- 
erstown.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  commenced 
learning  the  art  of  telegraphy,  and  soon  obtained 
a  situation  on  the  P.  W.  &  B.  R.  R.  as  operator. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  became  a  typo  and  local 
writer  for  the  Newcomerstown  Argus.  At  twen- 
ty-one^  in  company  with  A.  W.  Search,  the  pres- 
ent editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Toledo  Daily 


Morning  Cuminercial,  he  took  charge  of  the  Age, 
which  he  subsequently  bought  and  now  edits. 
His  paper  is  well  received,  having  a  circulation  of 
more  than  2,000  copies. 

IMEREDITH  C.  H.,  New  Castle  township; 
born  September  9, 1828,  in  New  Castle  township, 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio ;  son  of  Jesse  and  Soven- 
iah  Horn,  and  grandson  of  Obed  and  Rebecca 
(Draper)  Meredith,  and  of  C.  Horn  and  Sarah 
Wolf.  Mr.  Meredith  is  a  genius  and  has  worked 
at  milling,  carpentei'ing  and  farming.  At  the 
age  twenty-one  he  began  life  for  himself ;  married 
Miss  Mary  J.  Bailey  January  15,  1826,  who  was 
born  July  3,  1845,  daughter  of  James  and  Eliza- 
beth (Isminger)  Bailey,  granddaughter  of  Will- 
iam and  (Carter)  Bailey,  and  of  John  and  Sarah 
A.  (Staggers)  Isminger.  Their  children  were 
Elizabeth  M.,  married  to  Joseph  Severin,  who  re- 
sides in  Indiana;  Jesse  R.  (at  home) ;  Rebecca  V., 
married  to  Leonard  Hains,  saddler  in  Coshocton ; 
William  H.,  married  to  Miss  Mary  N.  Barett; 
Sarah  S.,  and  R.  E.  J.,  who  live  at  home. 

METHAM  PREN,  Jeflerson  township;  farm- 
er ;  born  April  30, ,  in   JelTerson  township, 

Coshocton  county,  Ohio ;  son  of  Pren  and  Eliza 
(Bowman)  Metham,  and  grandson  of  Pren  Met- 
ham,  who  was  born  in  London,  Etigland,  and  of 
James  Bowman,  who  lived  to  be  ninety-seven 
years  old.  His  great-grandmother  lived  to  the 
great  age  of  one  hundred  and  six  years.  Mr. 
Metham  is  a  mixture  of  German,  French  and 
English  blood.  Mr.  Methani's  grandfather  was 
in  the  British  navy  at  the  time  of  the  American 
revolution;  his  grand tathe'r  Bowman  was  in  the 
American  army  at  the  same  time.  He  also  had 
two  uncles  in  the  war  of  1812.  Mr.  Metham  en- 
listed in  Cornpany  F,  Eightieth  O.  V.  I.,  in  the 
fall  of  1861.  He  was  commissioned  Second  lieu- 
tenant by  Governor  Dennison,  then  raised  a  com- 
pany of  which,  he  was  made  captain ;  soon  aftei 
was  promoted  to  rank  of  major,  to  succeed  Major 
Lanni-ng,  who  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Corinth, 
Mississippi.  After  the  death  of  Colonel  Bartleson 
he  was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  The  principal 
battles  in  which  he  was  engaged,  were  the  de- 
feijse  at  Paducah,  Jonesborough,  the  siege  of  Cor- 
inth, the  second  battle  of  Corinth,  Vicksburg, 
Port  Gibson,  Raymond,  Mississippi,  Jackson, 
Champion  Hill,  Big  Black,  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
Chattanooga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Ridge, 
siege  of  Atlanta,  and  finally,  on  the  march  with 
Sherman  to  the  sea.  He  was  present  at  Ford's 
Theater  when  Lincoln  was  assassinated,  started 
in  pursuit  of  Booth,  but  was  misled  by  going 
into  a  door  that  led  to  the  ladies  dressing-room, 
instead  of  going  to  the  street.  After  the  close 
of  the  war  Colonel  Metham  settled  down  to  farm- 
ing for  a  quiet  life.  He  was  married  September 
7,  1864,  to  Miss  Sarah  A.  Proudfit,  daughter^)! 


746 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


John  and  Catharine  (Crouse)  Proudfit,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Raifsnider) 
Crouse,  and  of  John  Proudfit,  descendants  of  the 
original  John  Proudfit,  who  was  beheaded  in 
Scotland.  Their  children  are:  Alvia,  Austin, 
Lincoln,  John  Pren,  Ella  and  Gertrude. 

METZ  JACOB,  Crawford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio;  was  born,  Septem- 
ber 16,  1834,  in  Crawford  township;  son  of  Jacob 
and  Barbara  (Long)  Metz,  of  Wertemberg,  Ger- 
many. Mr.  Metz,  from  boyhood  to  the  present 
time,  has  given  his  undivided  attention  to  agri- 
culture and  husbandry.  Mr.  Metz  was  married, 
in  January,  1858,  to  Miss  Mary  Anna,  daughter 
of  William  and  Anna  (Rickey)  Beaird.  They 
had  three  children,  viz :  Sarah ;  Louise,  deceased, 
and  Phebe,  deceased.  Mrs.  Metz  died  June  15, 
1866.  Mr.  Metz  was  married  April  5,  1868,  to 
Miss  Sarah,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Rebecca 
(Humel)  Holderbaum.  They  had  two  children : 
George  W.  and  Andrew  J.  Mr.  Metz  has  held 
the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  three  terms  and 
of  notary  public  one  term.  At  the  present  time, 
he  has  the  contract  for  carrying  the  United 
States  daily  mail  from  Stone  River  office  to  Mil- 
lersburg.  He  also  has  in  his  possession  the  origi- 
nal deed  for  his  farm,  signed  b}'  President  Andrew 
Jackson. 

MISKIMEN  JOHN,  deceased;  born  July  12, 
1815,  in  Linton  township ;  son  of  James  Miski- 
men;  of  pioneer  note  in  Linton  township.  He 
was  married  in  1841,  to  Rachel  Burt,  daughter  of 
Daniel  and  Sarah  (Fought)  Burt,  born  in  Orange 
county,  New  York,  and  moved  with  her  parents 
to  Oxford  township,  when  sixteen  years  old.  Af- 
ter their  marriage  they  lived  in  Oxford  township 
till  1869,  when  they  moved  to  near  Newcomers- 
toWn,  Tuscarawas  county.  Mr.  Miskimen  died 
there  July  10, 1870,  his  wife  surviving  until  April 
6, 1876.  They  had  seven  children,  viz :  Daniel, 
Frank,  Charlotte,  Mary,  John  C,  George  W.  and 
Rachel  A.  John  C.  now  resides  in  Linton  town- 
ship. 

MIKESELL  DANIEL,  Perry  township;  post- 
office.  New  Guilford;  born  in  this  county, in  1832; 
son  of  Jacob  and  Sarah  (Shuss)  Mikesell.  Mr. 
Mikesell  is  one  of  a  family  of  nine  children,  three 
boys  and  six  girls,  six  of  whom  are  still  living. 
He  is  the  grandson  of  George  and  Susan  (Long) 
Mikesell,  and  of  George  and  Catharine  Long. 
He  was  married  in  January,  1856,  to  Miss  Anna 
Crawford,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  Craw- 
ford. They  have  seven  children,  viz  :  Elcie  A., 
deceased ;  Oscar  M.,  Mary  A.,  "William  T.,  Ettie 
B.,  Emma  M.  and  Orpha  J.  Mr.  Mikesell  is  at 
present  a  justice  of  the  peace  of  Perry  township. 

MIZER  WILLIAM,  Tuscarawas  township; 
Coshocton  postoffice;  merchant  and  farmer;  was 


born  in  Shanesville,  Tuscarawas  county,  August, 
1826.  He  is  a  son  of  Philip  and  Margaret 
(Shultz)  Mizer,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania.  Wil- 
liam was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  where  he  re- 
mained until  the  fall  of  1856,  when  he  engaged 
in  merchandising  at  Bakersville,  where  he>  con- 
tinued until  1866,  when  he  returned  to  farming, 
which  he  followed  until  1870,  when  he  resumed 
merchandising,  with  A.  Ley  as  partner.  This 
firm  conducted  two  stores,  one  at  Shanesville  and 
the  other  at  Port  Washington.  In  1875  they  sold 
the  Shanesville  store,  and  came  to  his  present 
residence  in  April,  1880,  one  mile  south  of  Co- 
shocton. Mr.  Mizer  was  married  February  14, 
1850,  to  Catharine,  daughter  of  Michael  and 
Sarah  (Bensinger)  Riggle,  of  Adams  township. 
They  have  had  five  children,  viz :  Sarah  M.  v.; 
Philip,  deceased;  Elizabeth,  and  Hattie. 

MILLS  JOSEPH,  New  Castle  township;  farm- 
er; postoffice.  New  Castle;  was  born  in  New 
Castle  township,  April  30,  1844:  son  of  Sam- 
uel and  Priscilla  (Morford)  Mills,  grandson  of 
Joseph  and  Mary  (Exline)  Mills,  also  grandson 
of  William  and  Mary  (Fulks)  Morford.  He  at- 
tended school  and  worked  with  his  father,  on  the 
farm,  until  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  at  which 
time  he  married  and  began  tilling  the  soil  for 
himself.  He  is  an  enterprising  young  farmer, 
and  highly  respected  by  all  who  know  him.  He 
entered  the  army  in  February,  1865,  under 
Captain  Brophy,  of  Knox  county,  Company  A, 
One  Hundred  and  Ninety-fourth  O.  V.  I.,  and 
continued  imtil  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  Martha  Preston,  daughter  of 
Jonathan  and  Harriet  (Horner)  Preston,  Decem- 
ber 27,  1870.  Mrs.  Mills  is  granddaughter  of 
Bernard  and  Mary  (For wood)  Preston,  and  Wil- 
liam and  Sasannah  Horner,  all  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania. She  was  born  in  Licking  county,  Ohio, 
June  7, 1838.  This  union  has  been  blessed  with 
two  children,  viz :  Harriet  V.,  born  February  2, 
1873,  and  Bernard  P.,  born  November  10, 1878. 

MILLIGAN  ANTONY,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer ;  was  born  September,  1821,  in  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio.  His  father  was  one  of  the  first 
settlers  of  Bethlehem  township,  and  came  from 
Virginia.  Mr.  Milligan  was  married,  in  1845,  to 
Miss  Susannah  Randies,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1818.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  viz  :  John  E.,'  born  in  October,  1847; 
Benjamin  F.,  born  in  May,  1849 ;  Anderson,  born 
October  13,  1851;  Margaret  A.,  born  Novem- 
ber 28, 1856 ;  Francis  Marion,  born  October  21, 
1859.  The  other  three  are  dead.  All  are  mar- 
ried except  Francis  M.,  who  is  still  at  home. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Milligan  are  honored  members  of 
the  Methodist  Protestant  church. 

MILLIGAN  J.  C,  Keene  township;  postofl&ce, 
Roscoe ;  born  in  Keene  township,  September  4, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


747 


1838;  son  of  Cuthbert  and  Dorotha(Reed)  Milli- 
gan,  and  grandson  of  Elizabeth  Milligan.  He 
enlisted  in  Company  D.,  Sixteenth  O.  V.  I.,  in 
April,  1861,  was  at  the  charge  on  Philippi  and 
was  mustered  out  in  August.  He  re-enlisted  in 
September,  1864,  in  Company  K.,  —  O.  V.  I.,  and 
was  appointed  orderly  sergeant,  also  served  9, 
short  time  as  captain,  was  with  Sherman  on  his 
famous  march  to  the  sea,  and  engaged  at  Atlanta 
and  Fort  McAlister.  After  the  grand  review  at 
Washington  he  was  discharged.  Mr.  Milligan 
was  married  October  2,  1862,  to  Elizabeth  McCul- 
lough,  daughter  of  "William  and  Keziah  (Beard) 
McCullough.  Their  children  were :  Alice  K., 
born  September  4,  1863 ;  Flora  E.,  born  June  16, 
1865;  Mary  L.,  born  February  1,  1867;  Cfoarles 
A.,  born  March  21,  1869;  James  E.,  born  April 
15, 1871;  Sarah  J.,  born  April  15, 1873;  William, 
born  June  3,  1877,  and  John  H.,  born  November 
1, 1879  (deceased).  Mrs.  Milligan  died  November 
5, 1879  and  was  buried  at  Prairie  Chapel  cem- 
etery. 

MILLER  FRANK,  Roscoe ;  cooper ;  born  in 
Oldenburg,  Bavaria,  May  9, 1817 ;  son  of  George 
Miller;  followed  coal  mining  in  his  native  coun- 
try, and  came  to  America  in  1842,  and  settled  in 
Massillon,  Ohio,  where  he  worked  as  a  common 
laborer  until  November  6,  1843,  when  he  com- 
menced the  cooper  trade  with  Henry  Rinks,  with 
whom  he  worked  fifteen  months,  and  in  Massil- 
lon about  six  years ;  came  to  Roscoe,  and  after 
working  for  Medbery  about  thirteen  and  Glassen 
ten  years,  started  a  shop  of  his  own  in  1872,  where 
he  has  done  a  good  business  up  to  the  present 
time.  He  was  married  to  Margaret  Fritz,  daugh- 
of  Charles  F.  Fritz,  of  Wurtemberg.  Their 
children  are  Charles,  born  November  18,  1851; 
Frank,  born  October  4, 1853 ;  John,  born  Febru- 
ary 12, 1856 ;  and  Lewis,  born  February  16, 1858. 

MILLER  JOHN  C,  Franklin  township;  boot 
and  shoemaker;  postoffice,  Wills  Creek,  Ohio; 
born  in  Linton  township,  January  18, 1842;  son 
of  Isaac  and  Rebecca  (Clark)  Miller.  When  a 
youth,  he  worked  in  a  saw-mill  and  attended 
school.  November  2, 1861,  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany G,  Eightieth  0.  V.  I.;  re-enlisted  in  January, 
1864,  as  a  veteran,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the 
war,  serving  through  all  the  minor  grades  of 
oflace  to  that  of  second  lieutenant.  At  the 
close  of  the  war,  he  began  working  at  his  present 
trade.  His  first  shop  was  estabhshed  at  Frew's 
Mills;  next  at  Coshocton;  from  there,  he  re- 
turned ro  Frew's  Mills,  his  present  location. 
Mr.  Miller  was  married,  July  3,  1866,  to  Miss 
Alice  C,  daughter  of  Addison  and  Jane  (Pocock) 
Syphert.  They  become  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren :  Howard,  Eena,  Ventner,  Isaac,  Addison, 
Cora  Alice,  Leroy  and  John. 


MILLER  LEVI,  Adams  township;  postoffice, 
Barkersville ;  miller;  born  in  Tuscarawas  county, 
February  7,  1826;  son  of  Henry  and  Barbara 
(Cease)  Miller ;  grandson  of  Jacob  and  Catharine 
(Stootsman)  Miller,  and  of  George  Cease.  His, 
father  entered  land  in  Tuscarawas  county,  in 
1801,  and  moved  there  in  1804;  was  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  Tuscarawas  county.  The  subject 
of  this  skdtch  is  the  youngest  of  thirteen  children. 
At  the  age  of  seven  years,  he  began  carding  wool, 
and  followed  that  trade  until  he  was  about  seven- 
teen years  of  age.  He  then  began  the  milling 
business  with  his  father,  and  remained  with  him 
until  he  reached  manhood,  when  he  began  his 
former  occupation,  carrying  on  a  factory  in 
Shanesville,  Ohio,  manufacturing  cloth  and  all 
kinds  of  woolen  fabrics  for  a  period  of  fourteen 
years ;  after  which  he  moved  to  Rogersville,  where 
he  was  in  the  milling  business  for  four  years, 
then  sold  his  mill  and  lived  a  retired  life  for 
three  years ;  then  came  to  Bakersville,  and  built 
the  Eureka  City  mills,  and  has  been  engaged  in 
that  occupation  ever  since.  He  has  a  very  good 
trade,  doing  mostly  custom  work,  Mr.  ]>Iiller 
was  married,  October  4,  1849,  to  Miss  Catharine 
Ohl,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Catharine  (Dusman)Ohl, 
granddaughter  of  Henry  Ohl,  and  John  and  Eliza- 
beth Dusman.  She  was  born  in  Trumball  county, 
Ohio,  December  12, 1824.  They  are  the  parents 
of  five  children,  viz ;  George  W.,  deceased ;  Albert, 
df^ceased;  Priscilla,  deceased;  Caroline,  born 
June  15,  1854,  and  Charles  A.,  born  March  22, 
1858.  Caroline  is  married  to  Alvin  Peairs,  of 
Adams  township,  and  has- four  children;  Charles 
is  married  to  Elizabeth  Miser,  and  lives  in  Bakers- 
ville ;  is  engaged  in  milling  with  his  father,  and 
has  one  child. 

MILLER  HENRY,  Jefi'erson  township;  insur- 
ance agent;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Con- 
rad and  Sarah  (Scott)  Miller;  was  born  August 
11, 1844,  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio.  His  father  was 
a  Virginian,  "and  his  mother  a  Pennsylvanian. 
They  came  to  Ohio-  in  1830,  and  located  near 
Wooster,  Ohio.  At  that  time  there  were  but  few 
houses  in  what  is  now  the  city  of  Wooster.  The 
people  were  obliged  to  go  on  horseback  to  Zanes- 
ville  for  salt,  and  the  nearest  wheat  market  was 
Massillon.  Mr.  Miller  was  raised  on  a  farm  near 
Napoleon,  Holmes  county,  Ohio.  He  came  to 
Coshocton  county  in  1876.  He  was  married  May 
4, 1876,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Lowery,  of  this  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  viz :  Harry 
M.,  born  February  18, 1877,  died  March  3, 1877; 
an  infant,  which  died  when  but  three  days  old, 
and  Miller  J.,  born  February  9, 1880.  In  1869 
Mr.  Miller  went  on  the  road  to  sell  medicine  and 
notions,  and  followed  the  occupation  four  years. 
He  was  then  engaged  in  the  fruit  tree  business 
for  three  years.  He  is  at  present  operating  fire, 
life  and  accidental  insurance,  and  is  doing  a. 


748 


HISTORY  -OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


fiouishing  business,  representing  several    first- 
class  companies  in  this  county. 

MILLER  JOHN  H.,  Linton  townsBip ;  farmer; 
born  September  5,  1832,  in  Muskingum  county; 
son  of  George  and  Elizabeth  Miller,  who  moved 
from  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  about  1828.  When 
about  sixteen  years  old  his  father  and  family 
moved  to  Vinton  county,  but  John  rerpained  in 
Muskingum,  and  when  about  twenty-one  came 
to  Linton  township,  and  ha§  been  here  pretty 
much  since.  He  was  married  to  Susannah 
Werts,  daughter  of  John  and  Eliza  (Bainter) 
Werts,  and  has  four  children :  Maria  Ellen,  Solo- 
mon C,  Mary  Elizabeth,  and  John  Alvin. 

MILLER  HARRISON,  Bedford  township; 
postoffice.  West  Bedford ;  farmer  and  justice  of 
the  peace ;  born  in  1818,  in  Harrison  county, 
Ohio,  and  was  married  in  1839,  to  Miss  Mary  Ann 
Wheeler,  of  the  same  county,  who  was  born  in 
1820,  and  died  in  1858.  They  were  the  parents 
of  nine  children.  He  went  to  Jefferson  county, 
and  in  1860  married  Mrs.  Story,  of  that  county. 
They  have  two  children.  They  came  to  Tusca- 
rawas county  in  1867,  and  to  this  county  in  1875. 
Mr.  Miller  always  worked  at  the  carpenter  trade 
until  1870,  vshen  the  asthma  compelled  him  to 
quit  it,  and  he  has  since  been  farming. 

MILLER  ANDERSON,  Keen  townshij);  born 
in  Keene  township,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  Jan- 
uary 28, 1850.  He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and 
educated  in  the  district  schools,  and  i.s  engaged 
in  farming  at  present.  For  his  ancestry,  see  his 
father's  (Sam.uel  Miller's)  biography,  in  another 
part  of  this  work.'  He  married  Miss  Mary  A. 
MoClure,  November  26,  1873,  a  daughter  of  Rob- 
ert and  Jane  (Spangler)  McClure,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Nathan  and  Mary  (Stewart)  McClure, 
and  of  George  and  Rebecca  (Cleigett)  Spangler. 
Their  children  were  Nora  B.,born  November  24, 
1874;  Line  J.,  January  11, 1877,  and  Samuel  Mc- 
Clure, December  9,  1879. 

MILLER  SAUL,  Keene  township,  born  in  Cos- 
hocton county,  Ohio,  September  18,  1815 ;  he  is  a 
son  of  Nicholas  and  Mary  (Darling)  Miller;  grand- 
son of  Henry  and  Cynthia  McCarta,  and  of  Robert 
and  Cynthia  (Sever)  Darling.  He  was  born  on  a 
farm  aad  brought  up  to  that  occupation,  and  has 
continued  farming  until  the  present.  He  has 
more  than  700  acres  of  land  in  the  valleys  of'  the 
Tuscarawas  and  Walhonding.  Mr.  Miller  was 
married  to  EMzabeth  Miller  November  7,  1839, 
daughter  of  Michael  and  Ada  (Tanner)  Miller, 
who  was  born  May  8,  1819,  and  died  September 
20,  1879.  They  had  the  following  named  chil- 
dren :  Edith,  born  December  14,  1840 ;  Squire, 
August  21,  1842;  Franklin  D.,  June  16,  1844; 
Eliza  A.,  May  24, 1846;  Alexander,  May  20, 1848 ; 
Wilson  C.  and  Anderson  D.,  January  28,  1850; 


Mary  J.,-May  17,  1852;  Howard,  November  8,. 
1854;  Isabel,  March  14,  1859;  and  Ehzabeth  M.^ 
December  12, 1861. 

MILLER  W.  S.,  Keene  township ;  was  born  in 
Coshocton  county,  November,  7, 1847.  He  lived 
on  a  farm  with  his  parents  till  the  age  of 
eighteen,  when  he  went  to  the  Baldwin  universty 
to  school.  After  his  education  was  finished,  he 
returned  to  the  farm,  and  has  been  engaged  in 
the  business  of  farming  ever  since.  He  married 
Miss  Sue  J.  Hanlon,  daughter  of  William  and 
Mary  (Stark)  Hanlon ;  granddaughter  of  Allen 
and  Susan  (Lord)  Hanlon,  and  of  James  and 
Elzabeth  (McGee)  Stark,  and  great  granddaugh- 
ter of  James  McGee.  They  have  one  child,  Cora 
May,  born  November  16, 1873. 

MILLER  ISAAC  W.,  deceased ;  was  born  De- 
cember 10,  1814;  died  December  30,1873.  He- 
was  married  to  Sarah  Morgan,  in  1837,  who  died 
in  1866.  He  married  Miss  M.  J.  Cochran  in  1869,. 
who  became  the  mother  of  one  child,  M.  J.  El- 
son. 

MILLER  WARREN,  Lafayette  township;  farm- 
er; postoffice.  West  Lafayette,  Ohio;  son  of  Isaac 
W.  and  Sarah  (Morgan)  Miller;  was  born  March 
4,  1856,  in  Lafayette  township,  this  county.  His 
parents  were  of  Irish-German  descent,  but  were 
born  and  raised  in  this  country. 

Mr.  Miller  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  al- 
ways followed  that  occvipation.  He  owns  a  fine 
farm  of  202  acres,  situated  in  the  Tuscarawas  val- 
ley, near  the  village  of  West  Lafayette. 

MILLER  BASIL, Lafayette  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  West  Lafayette ;  was  born  September- 
17, 1833,  on  the  farm  where  he  is  now  living ;  son 
of  Daniel  and  Deborah  (Rickells)  Miller.  He  was 
married  in  1856,  to  Miss  Susan  Ravenscraft, 
daughter  of  James  and  Mary  Ellen  (Cresap) 
Ravenscraft.  They  have  had  six  children — 
Daniel,  Harriet  Ellen,  Laura,  James  Banner, 
Hutoka  and  Orlando.  Mr.  Miller  ownes  about 
200  acres  of  good  land,  lives  in  a  substantial 
brick  residence,  is  well  spoken  of,  and  has  been 
director  of  School  District  No.  6,  for  fifteen  or 
more  years.  Mrs.  Miller  is  a  member  of  the 
Baptist  church. 

MILLER  JOHN  F.,  Perry  township;  farmer 
and  stock  raiser ;  postoffice.  West  Carlisle ;  born 
in  Washington  township,  this  county,  in  1849; 
son  of  John  and  Nancy  (Lyons)  Miller,  and  grand- 
son of  Francis  and  Isabel  Miller,  and  of  John  and 
Lyons ;  married  in  1876,  to  Miss  Anna  Mike- 
sell,  daughter  of  Jacob  and  Sarah  Mikesell.  They 
have  two  children,  viz :  Clara  E.  and  John  J. 
Mr.  Miller  spent  several  years  of  his  life  in  the 
West,  visiting  a  number  of  States  during  his  stay. 
His  grandfather  Lyon  was  in  the  war  of  1812. 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


749- 


MILLER  IRWIN,  Coshocton ;  boot  and  shoe 
manufacturer ;  was  born  November,  1841,  in 
Clinton,  this  county ;  son  of  David  Miller,  a  na- 
tive of  Pennsjilvania,  of  German  and  Irish  ances- 
try. Young  Miller  was  educated  in  the  public 
schools  of  his  native  town.  He  worked  about 
one  and  one-half  years  at  his  trade,  before  enlist- 
ing in  Company  B,  Eightieth  0.  V.  I.,  and  served 
to  the  close  of  the  war,  and  was  never  off  duty  or 
in  the  hospital.  On  his  return  he  resumed  his 
trade  at  Newcomerstown,as  a  journeyman,  and 
worked  about  four  months,  when  he  began  busi- 
ness for  himself,  at  West  Lafayette,  and  remained 
about  one  year,  from  which  place  he  came  to  this 
city,  where  he  has  continued  his  business.  Mr. 
Miller  was  married  January  1,  1866,  and  is  the 
father  of  three  children,  all  living,  viz:  WiUiam 
A.,  Mary  and  Catharine.  He  is  doing  a  leading 
ness  in  custom  work. 

MILLER  A.  J.,  Coshocton  ;  brick-maker;  born 
February  27,  1829,  in  Allegheny  county,  Mary- 
land ;  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Poland,  and  grand- 
son of  Christopher  Miller.  "He  was  brought  up 
on  a  farm,  and  continued  farming  until  about 
the  year  1862,  when  he  abandoned  agriculture, 
and  was  engaged  in  various  pursuits  until  1870, 
when  he  established  his  present  business,  and 
now  makes  from  800,000  to  1,000,000  brick  per 
year.  Mr.  Miller  was  married  October  24,  1852, 
to  Miss  Mary  Jane  Timmons,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Maria  (Banks)  Timmons.  Mr.  Miller 
is  strictly  abstemious  in  his  habits,  not  using 
alcoholic  drinks  or  tobacco  in  any  form. 

MILLER  M.,  proprietress  grocery,  bakery  and 
confectionery,  628  Main  street,  Coshocton.  P.  I. 
Miller,  business  manager  and  baker  of  this  es- 
tablishment, was  born  in  Portsmouth,  Ohio,  July 
15, 1839,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Roscoe 
when  quite  young.  He  received  his  education 
in  the  public  schools  of  this  county,  and,  when 
about  sixteen  years  old,  he  engaged  in  learning 
the  baking  business,  in  which  he  served  three 
years.  He  then  went  to  Zanesville,  where  he 
served  the  firms  of  J.  H.  Palmer,  C.  Stolzenbach 
and  Gill  &  Leslie ;  after  which  he  went  to  Dres- 
den, and  was  in  the  employ  of  A.  Gudhold,  with 
whom  he  remained  until  1857,  when  he  came  to 
Coshocton  and  embarked  in  business  for  himself, 
and  has  conducted  the  grocery  and  baking 
business  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  four 
years  that  he  was  in  the  United  States  service. 
He  enlisted  in  the  first  call  for  three  months' 
men,  in  Company  A,  Sixteenth  O.  V.  I.,  and, 
after  this  term  of  service,  he  enlisted  in  the  three 
yeafs'  service,  in  Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  O. 
V.  I.,  in  which  he  was  p'romoted  to  second  ser- 
geant, and  served  eighteen  months,  when  he  was 
honorably  discharged  on  account  of  disability. 
He    enhsted    again,  in  1863,   in    Company  F, 


Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  in  which  he  served  as- 
sergeant  of.^ambulance,  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  when  he  returned  home  and  gave  his  at- 
tention to  his  business.  He  occupies  commodious 
rooms  twenty  by  100  feet,  where  he  carries  a 
Ih-st-class  stock  of  staple  and  fancy  groceries  and 
confectioneries.  He  ■  also  has  an  extensive 
bakery  attached,  and  produces  a  large  amount 
of  bread,  plain  and  fancy  cakes,  and  pies  of  all 
kinds.  Specialties,  oysters  and  ice  cream, in  their 
seasons. 

MITKIFF  REUBEN,  Virginia  township;  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  in  1807,  and  settled  in  Belmont 
county,  Ohio,  in  1810.  He  then  moved  to  Coshoc- 
ton county,  where  he  died  in  February,  1880. 
He  was  a  son  of  Isaac  and  Elizabeth  (Sheperd)' 
Mitkiff.  Jlr.  Mitkiff  was  a  faithful  and  devoted, 
member  of  the  Methodist  church.  He  married 
Rebeca  Perkins  in  1831.  His  widow  survies  him,, 
and  resides  on  the  home  farm.  Postoffice,  New 
Moscow. 

MOODE  MRS.  SARAH,  Bedford  township; 
postoffice,  West  Bedford;  born  in  1823,  in-Bedford 
county,  Pennsylvania.  She  came  to  this  county 
in  1832,  and  was  married  in  1841,  to  John  Tipton, 
of  this  county.  He  was  born  in  1817.  They 
moved  to  Indiana  in  1862.  He  died  in  1853. 
They  were  the  parents  of  three  sons,  viz  :  Jacob 
A.,  James  T.  and  John  W.,  all  deceased.  She 
came  back  to  Coshocton  county  in  1858,  and  was 
married  in  1859,  to  Richard  Moode,  of  this  coun- 
ty, who  was  born  in  1786,  in  Maryland.  He  died 
in  1867.  Mr.  Moode  was  a  lawyer  of  abilify.  He 
was  a  school  teacher,  and  owned  a  large  tract  of 
land. 

MOORE  JAMES,  Pike  township;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
Ireland,  in  1808;  came  to  this  county  in  1835; 
son  of  Robert  and  Margaret  (Gardener)  Moore, 
and  grandson  of  John  and  Rosa  Moore.  He  was 
married,  in  1838,  to  Miss  Jenette  Patton,  daughter 
of  James  and  Mary  Patton.  They  are  the  parents 
of  nine  children,  viz:  Margaret,  Mary,  Sarah, 
Samuel,  Anna,  Robert,  James;  William,  deceased, 
and  Ella.  All  are  married  but  two.  Mr.  Moore's 
father  died  in  1826,  and  his  mother  in  1S3S. 

MOORE  SAMUEL,  Tuscarawas  township;  far- 
mer; born  March  4,  1816,  on  the  farm  where  he 
now  resides,  two,miles  south  of  'the  county  seat, 
in  the  Muskingum  valley.  His  residence  is  on 
a  beautiful  knoll  overlooking  the  Muskingum 
river.  Samuel  Moore's  father,  John  D.  Moore, 
was  one  of  the  worthy  pioneers  of  the  county, 
having  settled  in  it  about  the  year  1810,  His 
grandfather,  William  Moore  ,was  a  native  of  Pen- 
nington, New  Jersey.  Samuel's  mother  was  Mary 
M.,  daughter  of  George  Miller,  of  Lafayette  town- 
ship.   He  was  born  near  Romney,  Hampshire 


750 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


county,  Virginia.  Samuel  Moore  has  been  a 
very  successful  farmer,  having  550  acres  of  land 
in  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Muskingum.  He  was 
elected  county  commissioner  in  1870,  and  re- 
elected for  the  following  term,  serving  two  terms. 
He  was  married,  December  15,  1840,  to  Miss 
Susannah,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Eosapna  (Baker) 
Hershmen.  They  became  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  viz :  John  D.,  Philip  H.;  Mary  E.,  de- 
ceased; Rose  Ann,  Samuel  H.,  Adelia  M.  and 
Susannah,  deceased.  Mrs.  Moore  died  March  11, 
1855. 

MOORE  PHILIP  H.,  Franklin  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Tuscarawas  township,  August 
7,  1843,  son  of  Samuel  and  Susannah  (Hershman) 
Moore,  and  grandson  of  John  D.  Moore,  one  of 
the  pioneer  settlers  of  Coshocton.  Mr.  Moore 
enlisted  December  10,  1861,  in  Company  H, 
Eightieth  0.  V.  I ,  and  was  discharged  in  March, 
1865.  This  regiment  belonged  to  the  Western 
Army.  He  was  at  the  engagement  at  Corinth, 
the  siege  of  Vickaburg,  then  Chattanooga,  where 
he  was  twice  wounded,  through  the  right  arm  and 
right  side,  was  confined  to  the  hospital  about  four 
months,  then  rejoined  his  regiment  and  was  with 
Sherman  in  his  Georgia  campaign,  present  at 
Resaca  and  the  engagements  between  it  and 
Atlanta,  and  thence  to  Savannah.  From  this  city, 
he  marched  to  Beaufort,  South  Carolina,  where 
he  was  discharged.  He  was  married  in  1871,  to 
Miss  Mary  V.  Welsh,  daughter  of  William  R. 
and  Mary  B.  (Lamberson)  Welsh,  By  this  mar- 
riage he  had  two  children,  viz :  Vinnie  W.  and 
Susannah.  Mr.  M.  moved  to  Franklin  township 
in  1871,  and  has  been  engaged  in  farming. 

MOORE  JAMES,  Jefferson  township ;  born  July 
8, 1815,  in  county  Tyrone,  Ireland.  At  the  age  of 
fifteen  he  came  with  his  parents  to  St.  Johns, 
New  Brunswick.  The  family  was  composed  of 
his  father,  Rebecca,  Robert,  Sarah,  James,  John, 
William,  Mary  A.  and  Margaret,  his  mother 
having  died  in  Ireland.  Mr.  Moore's  father  was 
■offered  a  great  amount  of  land  to  remain  under 
the  British  crown  in  Canada,  but  he  left  old  Ire- 
land for  his  freedom,  and  refused  the  offer,  came 
and  settled  in  Brooks  county,  Virginia,  remained 
there  three  years,  then  came  to  Harrison  county, 
Ohio;  lived  there  five  years,then  came  to  Coshoc- 
ton county,  Jefferson  township,  and  bought  the 
farm  where  he  now  lives.  He  is  a  son  of  James 
a,nd  Margaret  (McMains)  Moore,  and  grandson  of 
James  and  Sarah  (Boak)  Moore,  and  of  Robert 
and  Mary  (Buchanan)  McMains.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1848,  to  Miss  Sarah  Given,  daughter  of 
William  and  Margaret  (Alexander)  Given,  and 
granddaughter  of  John  and  Rebecca  (Moore)  Giv- 
en, and  of  James  and  Rebecca  (Hamilton)  Alex- 
ander. Their  son  James  resides  at  home,  and  is 
a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church. 


MOORE  JOHN,  West  Lafayette ;  farmer ;  born 
October  23,  1841,  in  Tuscarawas  township ;  son 
of  Samuel  Moore,  a  native  of  Virginia.  John 
was  raised  on  the  farm.  In  1865  he  located  in 
Lafayette  township  on  the  farm  where  he  now 
resides.  Mr.  Moore  was  married  August  81, 
1864,  to  Miss  Sarah  Waggoner,  daughter  of  David 
Waggoner,  of  Coshocton  City.  Samuel  W.  is 
their  only  child.  Mr.  Moore  is  a  successful  and 
intelligent  farmer. 

MOORE  C.  F.,  Bedford  township;  hotel  keeper 
and  farrner ;  postoffice.  West  Bedford ;  born  in 
1817  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio.  He  was  married 
in  1846  to  Miss  Sarah  Brown  of  the  same  county. 
She  .was  born  in  1827.  They  came  to  this  county 
in  1851.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children, 
viz :  Martha  E.,  deceased ;  Tilly  S. ;  Adaresta  F., 
deceased,  and  Charles  A.  They -have  kept  hotel 
in  West  Bedford  for  seven  years.  Mrs.  Susannah 
Holmes  Moore,  mother  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  at  the  raising  of  one  of  the  first 
churches  that  was  built  west  of  the  Ohio  river. 
She  was  born  November  22,  1793,  and  died  Feb- 
ruary 10, 1876.  Jacob  Moore,  grandfather  of  C. 
F.,  was  a  spy  among  the  Indians  for  five  years, 
reporting  at  the  fort  in  Warren  every  night, 
when  not  too  far  away. 

MOORE  SILAS,  Monroe  township ;  was  born 
November  3, 1817,  in  Harrison  county, Ohio;  son 
of  Richard  and  Hannah  (Black)  Moore,  and 
grandson  of  Sylvanus  Moore.  He  lived  in  Har- 
rison county,  on  a  farm,  and  went  to  district 
schools  until  the  age  of  sixteen,  when  he  came 
with  his  foster  parents  to  Coshocton  county.  His 
parents  died  while  he  was  yet  quite  young,  and 
he  made  his  home  with  William  Smith  until  the 
age  of  twenty-three.  At  nineteen  he  began  teach- 
ing school,  and  followed  that  in  the  winter  for 
nine  successive  years,  since  that  time  farming  in 
Monroe  township,  Coshocton  county,  has  been 
his  occupation  He  was  married  first  to  Miss 
Mary  McCoy,  October  8,  1840,  daughter  of  Wil- 
liam McCoy.  The  children  by  this  marriage  are 
William,  Harriet,  Nancy,  Sarah  M.,  Martha  J., 
Leonidas  H.  and.  Hamlin.  Mrs.  Moore  died 
August  2,  1864;  Mr.  Moore  then  married  Mrs. 
Susannah  Weatherwax  (maiden  name  McCoy), 
June  8, 1865,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  (Stehn- 
ens)  McCoy.  Elmer  E.  born  August  10,  1866, 
was  the  only  child  of  this  marriage. 

MOORE  SAMUEL  M.,  Bedford  township; 
school  teacher;  postoffice.  West  Bedford;  born 
in  1839,  in  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio ;  married  in 
1866,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Spencer,  of  Belmont 
county,  Ohio,  who  was  born  in  1847.  They  came 
to  this  county  in  1875,  and  are  the  parents  of  five 
children,  viz :  Ina  J.,  Mary  E.,  Amanda  B , 
Darius  S.,  and  John  C.    Mr.  Moore  has  made 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


751 


teaching  a  specialty  for  twenty-one  years.  He 
was  county  surveyor  for  one  term  in  Tuscarawas 
county. 

MOOEE  S.  H.,  Tuscarawas  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  Mr.  Moore  was  born 
April  6,  1849,  on  the  farm  where  he  now  lives, 
and  where  his  father,  Samuel  Moore,  Esq.,  was 
born.  He  was  married  February  7, 1872,  to  Miss 
Sarah  Anne,  daughter  of  Elias  Barcroft,  of  Frank- 
lin township.  They  are  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, viz :  Ettie  Viola,  Emma  Gale,  Ada  Belle, 
Sarah  Sophia,  Hiram  Bennet. 

MOFFITT  W.  G.,  Jackson  township;  postoffice, 
Eoscoe ;  born  in  Ireland  in  1832 ;  settled  in  this 
county  in  1853;  son  of  George  and  MaryMoffitt; 
married  in  1868  to  Mary  Gamble,  daughter  of 
William  Gamble.  Mr.  Moffitt  is  the  father  of 
ten  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living,  viz: 
Mary  E.,  Lizzie,  Anna  J.,  Sarah  C,  Georgiana, 
William,  Fren. 

MOHLEE  GEOEGE  W.,  school  teacher;  Tus- 
carawas township;  postoffice.  Canal  Lewisville; 
born  April  6,  1841,  in  this  county.  His  father, 
Peter  Mohler,  was  born  in  1814,  in  Maryland. 
He  was  married  in  1838  in  Adams  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  Miss  Eosanna  Frederick,  of  that 
county.  She  was  born  in  1813  in  Germany. 
They  came  to  this  county  in  1838.  They  are  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  all  boys,  six  of  whom 
are  living.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  sec- 
ond. He  enhsted  in  the  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.  March, 
1864,  and  was  mustered  out  September,  1865. 
He  was  the  only  man  in  the  regiment  that  vot«d 
for  Morgan  for  governor  of  Ohio  in  1865.  He 
was  married  in  1869  to  Miss  Clara  A.  Belser,  of 
this  county.  She  was  born  in  1852.  They  are  the 
parents  of  five  children,  viz :  Minnie  G.,  Horace 
P. ;  Eosa  D.,  deceased ;  Edna  C.  and  Maud  F. 

MOEEHEAD  SAMUEL,  Keene  township;  born 
in  Brooks  county,  Virginia,  in  September,  1809; 
son  of  Eobert  and  Margaret  (Morrow)  Morehead. 
Until  eighteen  he  remained  on  the  farm,  then 
was  employed  in  flat-boating  on  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers.  In  1833  he  moved  to  Mill 
Creek  township,  and  followed  farming  till  1878, 
when  he  came  to  Keene,  and  is  living  a  retired 
life.  He  was  married  in  February,  1837,  to  Mar- 
garet, daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Scott) 
Morehead.  Their  children  were  Eobert,  dec- 
eased, born  January  9,  1838 ;  Charles,  deceased, 
born  July  1,  1839;  Hosea,  July  8,  1841;  James, 
deceased,  August  22,  1843,  and  Nathan,  April  1, 
1846.  Mrs.  Morehead  died  November  27, 1874, 
and  Mr.  Morehead  was  united  in  marriage  May 
18,  1875,  to  Harriet  Zink,  daughter  of  Leonard 
and  Eachel  (Light)  Zink,  who  became  the  moth- 
er of  two  children,  Margaret  J.,  born  June  25, 
1877,  and  Samuel,  February  1, 1879. 


MOEBISON  WILLIAM,  farmer;  postofllce, 
White  Eyes  Plains ;  was  born  in  Canada,  in  1826 ; 
.came  to  the  United  States  at  the  age  of  six  years 
with  his  parents,  who  located  in  Detroit,  Michi- 
gan, where  he  received  his  education  and  spent 
his  boyhood  days.  In  1838  they  moved  to  Eos- 
coe, this  county.  His  father  was  a  sub-contractor 
in  building  Walhonding  canal.  In  the  fall  of 
1838  they  moved  to  Athens  county,  and  worked 
on  the  Hocking  valley  canal,  till  it  was  finished. 
In  1843  William  engaged  in  boating  on  the  Ohio 
canal,  first  as  a  driver ;  and  was  captain  of  a  boat 
for  several  years.  He  was  engaged  on  the  c&nal 
for  twenty-one  years,  during  which  time  he  was 
a  heavy  shipper  of  grain,  produce,  lumber,  flour, 
and  whisky.  He  supplied  this  market  with  lum- 
ber for  many  of  the  first  frame  houses  built  in 
this  county.  He  was  married  in  1865  to  Eachel 
Starker,  who  was  born  in  Oxford  township.  Mr. 
M.  owns  a  farm  with  good  builcfings,  and  is  a 
first-class  farmer,  and  a  live  Eepublican,  and  was 
a  boat  boy  at  the  same  time  with  President  Gar- 
field. 

MONTIS  SAMUEL,  Keene  township;  was 
born  in  Eichland  county,  Ohio,  September  2, 
1880.  He  lived  in  his  native  county  until  about 
the  age  of  eight  years,  when  he  moved  with  his 
parents  to  Knox  county,  where  he  followed  farm- 
ing for  forty  years.  In  1878  he  removed  to  Co- 
shocton county,  where  he  is  following  his  old  oc- 
cupation of  farming,  as  well  as  the  ministry,  to 
which  he  was  elected  by  the  German  Baptists,  in 
1870.  He  now  has  charge  of  the  Coshocton  con- 
gregation. Mr.  Montis  was  married  to  Miss 
Louisa  Stimate,  January  6, 1854.  She  is  a  daugh- 
ter of  John  Stimate.  They  are  the  parents  of 
seven  children,  viz  :  Mary  B.,  Lillie  D.,  William 
M.,  Lauren  A.,  Martin  M.,  Eda  A.  and  Ida  M. 
Mr.  Montis  was  a  son  of  John  and  Susan  (GrifFeth) 
Montis,  and  a  grandson  of  George  Montis. 

MOEEIS  G.  S.,  Lafayette  township;  physician; 
postoffice,  West  Lafayette;  was  born  in  Belmont 
county,  Ohio,  October  21,  1850;  son  of  Joseph 
and  Mary  (Brock)  Morris ;  was  on  a  farm  until 
sixteen  years  of  age,  when  he  attended  school  at 
Franklin  college ;  then  went  to  Mount  Union  ; 
then  took  a  course  of  lectures  at  the  Ohio  med- 
ical college,  Cincinnati,  in  1873,1874  and  1875. 
He  practiced  in  Winchester,  Guernsey  county, 
about  eighteen  months ;  then,  after  a  visit  West, 
located  at  Plainfield,  this  county ;  then  moved  to 
where  he  now  resides,  where  he  has  succeeded, 
by  strict  attention  and  quite  successful  practice, 
in  building  up  a  good  business.  He  was  married, 
January  11, 1876,  to  Miss  Bessie  Middleton,  of 
Jackson  township,  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Amanda 
(Titus)  Middleton. 

MOEEISON  WILLIAM,  Oxford  township; 
farmer;  postoffi.ce,  White  Eyes  Plains;  was  born 


752 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


in  Canada  in  1826,  and  came  to  tlie  United  States 
at  the  age  of  six  years  with  his  parents,  who  lo- 
cated in  Detroit.  Here  he  attended  school  and 
spent  most  of  his  boyhood  -  days,  when  the  State 
of  Michigan  was  a  territory.  They  remained 
here  till  1837,  and  then  moved  to  Boscoe,  Coshoc- 
ton county,  where  his  father  was  engaged  in 
building  the  Walhonding  canal.  There  they 
remained  till  the  fall  of  1888,  then  went  to  Athens 
county  and  worked  on  the  Hocking  Valley  canal 
till  it  was  finished.  In  1843  Mr.  WiUiam  Morri- 
son engaged  in  boating  on  the  Ohio  canal,  first  as 
a  driver,  and  afterward  captain  of  the  canal  boats 
Mohawk,  Eoscoe  Belle,  the  War  Eagle  and  Rob- 
ert Hay.  The  two  latter  he  assisted  to  build. 
He  continued  till  about  1864,  making  a  period  of 
twenty-one  years.  He  was  well  acquainted  with 
Captain  Meyers,  who  employed  James  A.  Garfield 
as  a  boat  boy. 

He  returned  to  this  county  in  1848,  and 
was  captain  of  a  boat,  transporting  flour  from 
Eoscoe  mills  and  whisky  from  the  distillery  at 
Coshocton,  to  Cleveland,  and  on  return  he  pur- 
chased lumber  and  goods  and  brought  to  this 
market,  he  supplying  the  lumber  for  a  number 
of  the  houses  in  this  county  that  were  built  in 
those  days.  He  was  married  September  1865,  to 
Miss  Rachel  Starker,  who  was  born  in  Oxford 
township,  this  county.  They  located  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides.  Mr.  Morrison  owns  a 
beautiful  farm  in  this  township,  with  a  residence 
built  in  modern  style,  showing  taste  and  enter- 
prise. He  is  one  of  the  intelligent  and  progres- 
ive  farmers  of  this  county. 

His  father,  WiUiam  Morrison,  Sr.,  was  born  in 
Queens  county,  Ireland,  and  belonged  to  the  reg- 
ular British  army.  He  was  brought  to  Canada, 
in  1813,  by  the  British  government,  and  was  in 
all  the  battles  from  Quebec  up  to  Lundy  Lane; 
was  wounded,  and  draws  a  pension.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  Canada.  Mrs.  Morrison  was  born  in  the 
county  of  Whitlow,  about  1798,  and  is  still  living 
with  her  son  Eobert,  in  Muskingum  county.  She 
is  a  remarkable  woman,  has  a  good  memory  and 
enjoys  good  health. 

MOETLEY  EDWAED  M.,  grocer  and  con- 
fectioner, corner  of  Main  and  Fifth  streets,  west 
of  railroad,  Coshocton.  Mr.  Mortley  it*  a  native 
of  McConnellsville,  Ohio,  where,  he  was  born 
March  31, 1854,  and  where  he  received  his  edu- 
cation, and  made  his  first  business  engagement, 
which  was  in  1873,  under  the  firm  name  of  Mort- 
ley &  Lackey,  in  the  grocery  business,  and  con- 
tinued one  year.  He  then  went  to  Zanesville 
and  served  the  firm  of  Mortley  &  Pinkerton, 
wholesale  grocers,  for  three  years,  after  which 
he  went  to  Frazysburg,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
the  grocery  business  for  himself  about  two  years. 
In  June,  1879,  he  located  in  Coshocton,  and  estab- 
lished the  grocery  business  in  the  old  Cro'yley 


stand,  where  he  carries  a  largs  first  class  stock  of 
staple  and  fancy  groceries  and  confectioneries, 
stoneware,  woodenware,  sugar  cured  and  pick- 
eted meats,  salt  fish,  flour  and  salt. 

MOETLEY  D.  H.,  Coshocton ;  merchant,  of  the 
firm  of  Hay  &  Mortley,  corner  of  Main  and  Sec- 
ond streets;  was  born  March  8, 1820, in  the  coun- 
ty of  Kent,  England ;  son  of  John  Mortley,  de- 
ceased.    At  the  age  of  sixteen  young  Mortley, 
without  an  accompanying  relative,  took  jjassage 
for  America,  and  arrived  at  New  York  City  in 
May,  1836,  and    came    immediately  to  Eoscoe, 
arriving  in  July,  and  commenced  work  with  his- 
brother,  a  carpenter,  and   continued  with  him 
four  years.     The  next  year  was  spent  clerking  at 
Jacobsport  and  in  the  county  auditor's  office.    In 
March,  1841,  Mr.  Mortley  went  to  McConnellsville, 
Morgan  county,  and    was    county   clerk  about 
twelve  years.    In  1850  he  was  one  of  the  secre- 
taries   of  the    constitutional    convention   which 
framed  the  present  constitution  of  the  State  of 
Ohio.     The  original  copy  was  written  and  en- 
grossed upon  parchment  by  Mr.  Mortley  ;  also  all 
the  proceedings  of  the  convention  were  written 
by  him.     Subsequent  to  his  county  clerkship  he 
was  in  the  mercantile  business  until  about  1871, 
when  he  was  elected  first  clerk  of  Malta  national 
bank,  Malta,  Ohio,  which  position  he  resigned  in 
1873,  and  engaged  in  the  wholesale  grocery  busi- 
ness at  Zanesville,  Ohio,  being  senior  member  of 
the  firm  of  Mortley  &  Pinkerton.      In  1879  he- 
bought  out  the  interest  of  James  S.  Wilson,  of 
the  firm  of  Hay  &  Wilson,  of  this   city,  forming 
the  firm  of  Hay  &  Mortley,  as  first  stated.    Mr. 
Mortley  was  married  October  17, 1844,  to  Miss  E. 
J.  Sherwood,  daughter  of  William  Sherwood,  of 
Malta,  Ohio.    This  union  was  blessed  with  four 
children,  viz  :  Mary  E.,  married  to  Dr.  P.  C.  Mc- 
Lean, of  New  Cumberland,  West  Virginia;  Hat- 
tie  G.,  married  to  John  W.  Pinkerton,  now  of 
Zanesville,  Ohio;  Kate  S.,  married  to  W.   W. 
Pyle,  editor  of  the  daily  morning  Times,  Zanes- 
ville, Ohio;    and  Edward  M.,  married  to    Miss 
Dawson,  of  McConnellsville,  Ohio.     In  1862,  Mr. 
Mortley  volunteered  and  was  commissioned  by 
Gov.  Tod  quartermaster  of  the  One  Hundred  and 
Twenty-second  0.  y.  I.,  and  was  honorably  dis- 
charged at  the  hospital  at  Georgetown,  D.  C,  in 
December,  1863. 

MOWEY  ABRAHAM,  deceased,  Bethlehem 
township;  was  born  in  1810,  in  the  Shenandoah 
valley,  Virginia.  He  came  to  this  county  with 
his  parents  in  1834,  and  was  married  in  1844,  to 
Miss  Mary  Konkle,  of  Knox  county,  Ohio,  who 
was  born  in  1822.  They  became  the  parents  of  six 
children,  viz  :  Elvira,  born  January  11, 1849,  mar- 
ried to  Mr.  Alex.  Miller,  of  Keene  township ;  Wil- 
liam, born  in  1850,  married  in  1876,  to  Miss  Mary 
Wood  of  Keene  townsship,  who  was  born  in  1857. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


753 


William  follows  farming  and  stock  raising,  and 
•owns  a  good  farm  of  285  acres ;  George  S.  was 
born  April  22,  1854,  married  October  19, 1876,  to 
Miss  Isabella  Miller,  of  Keene  township,  who  was 
born  March  14, 1857 — they  are  the  parents  of  two 
children ;  Holland  W.  was  born  January  22, 1858, 
is  single  and  lives  at  home  with  his  mother  and 
farms  the  homestead  ;  Henry  E  was  born  in  1862, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  months; 
Mary  S.  was  born  June  7,  1864,  is  single  and  lives 
.at  home.  Abraham  Mowry  died' November '11, 
1877,  aged  sixty-seven  years.  He  was  a  general 
farmer  and  stock  raiser,  and  by  his  industry  and 
steady  habits  accumulated  good  property.  He 
-was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

MOWEY  GEORGE  S.,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Abra- 
ham and  Mary  (Gonkle)  Mowry;  was  born  in 
1854,  in  Coshocton  county.  Mr.  Mowry  was 
raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed  that 
-occupation.  He  was  married,  in  1876,  to  Miss 
Isabella  Miller,  of  this  county.  They  are  the 
parents  of  one  child,  Gladus.  M.  Mowry  is  a 
successful  farmer,  and  is  esteemed  by  all  who 
know  him,  as  a  man  of  business  and  integrity. 

MOWEY  WILLIAM,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Abra- 
ham and  Mary  (Conkle)  Mowijy;  was  born  De- 
cember 12, 1851,  in  this  county.  Mr.  Mowry  was 
raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed  farm- 
ing. He  was  married  May  30,  1877,  to  Miss  May 
Wood,  of  this  county.  They  are  the  parents  of 
one  child.  Ward,  born  in  June,  1881.  Mr.  Mowry 
is  an  extensive  and  prosperous  farmer,  and  owns 
a  fine  farm,  situated  in  the  valley  of  the  Killbuck. 

MUEPHEY  WILLIAM  P.,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; is  a  native  of  this  county,  was  born  in  1820, 
and  is  the  son  of  William  Murphey  who  emi- 
grated to  this  county  in  1807  from  Maryland. 
William,  Sr.,  was  married  to  a  Miss  Shipley,  of 
Pennsylvania.  They  had  four  children,  all  of 
whom  are  living.  William,  Sr.,  entered  the  reg- 
ular army  and  served  four  years ;  he  took  part  in_ 
what  was  known  as  the  Florida  war  in  1805.  He 
volunteered  in  the  war  of  1812,  but  never  went 
into  active  service.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty 
years,  and  his  wife  died  at  the  same  age,  just  one 
year  later.  William  P.  was  married  December, 
1842,  to  Miss  Cynthia  Deeds,  who  was  born  in 
Pennsylvania  in  1820,  and  was  the  daughter  of 
Adam  Deeds,  who  came  to  White  Eyes  at  an 
early  date.  They  have  eight  children,  viz :  John 
D.,  Samuel,  James,  Johnson  W.,  Sabina,  Milton, 
Mary  and  Nelson.  John  D.  is  a  Protestant  Meth- 
odist minister,  and  is  preaching  at  Jacobsport. 
He  is  married  to  Miss  McWrarth,  of  this  county. 
Samuel  is  a  farmer  and  resides  in  Indiana,  and  is 
married  to  Kate  Boyd,  of  this  county.  James 
lives  at  home.    J.  W.  is  a  school  teacher,  and  is 


preparing  himself  for  the  law;  Captain  Crom- 
well, of. Coshocton,  is  his  preceptor.  The  rest  are 
at  home.  William  P.  is  a  carpenter  by  trade,  and 
has  worked  occasionally  at  his  trade  for  the  last 
thifty-five  years.  He  was  a  minister  of  the 
United  Brethren  church  until  the  last  twelve 
years,  during  which  time  he  has  been  connected 
with  the  Christian  Union  denomination.  He  has 
labored  in  the  ministry  for  the  past  thirty-iive 
years.  He  lives  on  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  on 
which  he  located  in  1865. 

MUEPHY  MILTON,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer;  was  born  in  1859,  in  this  county,  and  is 
the  son  of  W.  P.  Murphy.  He  was  married, 
September  24,  1880,  to  Mrs.  Minerva  Cutshall, 
who  was  born  in  1856.  She  is  the  daughter  of 
Newton  Huff,  of  Oxford  township.  She  had  one 
child  by  her  first  marriage,  Charles,  born  1875. 

MUEPHEY  FRANKLIN  P.,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice.  West  Lafayette,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Murphey  was  born  January  20,  1852,  in  Co- 
shocton county,  Ohio.  He  was  married,  January 
1,  1874,  to  Miss  Louisa  Yasbinder,  of  Tuscarawas 
county,  Ohio.  They  became  the  parents  of  three 
children :  Philip  A.,  Francis-  M.  and  Charles  T. 
In  the  spring  of  1874,  Mr.  Murphey  removed  to 
Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio,  and  engaged  in  the 
mining  business,  remaining  two  years.  He  then 
returned  to  Coshocton  county,  and  has  since 
been  farming. 

MUEPHEY  WILLIAM  E.,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice.  West  Lafayette,  Ohio; 
son  of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Jones)  Murphey ; 
was  born  October  30, 1839,  in  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio.  Mr.  Murphey  was  raised  on  a  farm,  and 
has  always  been  a  citizen  of  this  county.  He  was 
married  August  28,  1862,  to  Miss  Ehzabeth  Gard- 
ner, of  Coshocton  county,  Ohio.  They  became 
the  parents  of  seven  children :  Francis  M,  de- 
ceased; Laura  E.;  George  F.  and  Hannah  M.  E., 
deceased ;  Sarah  W.,  Catharine  A.  and  Celia  A. 
Mr.  Murphey  enlisted  in  the  United  States  ser- 
vice September  5,  1862,  and  was  honorably  dis- 
charged June  20,  1865.  He  was  a  member  of 
Company  K,  Sixty-second  0.  V.  L  He  was  with 
Grant  at  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appomattox, 
also  at  the  surrender  of  Petersburg. 

MURPHEY  F.  M.,  White  Eyes  township; 
teacher ;  postoffice,  West  Lafayette,  Ohio ;  son  of 
James  and  Elizabeth' (Jones)  Murphey;  was  born 
June  18,  1845,  in  Keene  township,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio.  He  received  a  good  common 
school  education,  and  wa*  at  Otterbein  university 
during  the  year  1867.  He  also  attended  the  na- 
tional normal  school,  at  Lebanon,  Ohio,  during 
the  year  1873.  H  e  taught  his  first  school  in  White 
Eyes  township,  in  1867,  and  has  been  constantly 
engaged  in  teaching  ever  since.  He  is  one  of  the 


754 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


oldest  and  most  successful  teachers  in  the  county, 
always  commanding  the  highest  wages.  All  of 
his  teaching  has  been  in  Coshocton  county.  He 
is  at  present  engaged  as  principal  of  the  Lafayette 
schools,  which  position  he  lias  held  for  two  years. 

MURPHY  HUGH,  Coshocton;  brickmaker; 
was  born  November  20, 1837,  in  Coshocton  city; 
son  of  Charles  and  Annie  (Campbell)  Murphy, 
natives  of  Ireland.  His  mother  died  when  Hugh 
was  a  child.  He  was  principally  brought  up  by 
"William  Burns,  of  this  city,  but  spent  several 
years,  when  a  boy,  in  Zanesville,  and  settled  in 
this  city  in  1855.  He  was  married  May  2, 1859, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Jane,  daughter  of  John  Pish,  of 
this  city.  Six  children  were  born  to  them, 
namely,  Mary  Anne,  WilUam,  Sarah  Jane ;  Aggie, 
deceased ;  Annie,  deceased,  and  Eddie,  deceased. 
Mrs.  Murphy  died  in  1874,  and  Mr.  Murphy  mar- 
ried Miss  Edith,  daughter  of  John  Sherrard, 
whose  children  are  Makra,  Frank  and  J.  Poster. 
Mrs.  Murphy  has,  on  Second  street,  four  doors 
south  of  Chestnut  street,  a  full  line  of  millinery, 
fancy  goods  and  notions  of  every  kind.  Dress- 
making, cutting  and  fitting  done  to  order. 

MURRAY  ADAM,  Perry  township;  post- 
office.  New  Guilford;  born  in  "West  "Virginia 
February  22,  1812;  son  of  Adam  and  Margaret 
Murray;  settled  in  this  county  in  1820;  married 
in  1885,  to  Miss  Chariott  Elhott,  daughter  of 
John  and  Chariott  Elliott.  They  are  the  parents 
of  twelve  children,  viz  :  Margret,  John,  Andrew, 
dead;  "William,  Fannie,  Simon;  Katherine,  dead; 
George,  dead;  Mary  E.,  Elhott;  Andrew,  dead, 
and  Thomas.  Four  are  married,  two  living  in 
Iowa,  and  two  in  this  State.  "William  enlisted  in 
1861  in  Company  A,  Seventy-sixth,  0.  "V".  I.,  cap- 
tain Lemert.  He  was  connected  with  the  Army 
of  th^  Cumberland  and  did  good  service  for  his 
country  until  discharged  in  1865.  Mr.  Murray 
had  another  son  (John)  who  enlistod  in  the  army 
from  "Wayne  county,  in  1861,  Company  G.,  Sixty- 
fourth  regiment,  0.  V.  I.,  Captain  Leeper,  and 
participated  in  the  battles  of  Murfreesborough, 
Lookout  Mountain  and  Stone  River.  He  was 
discharged  at  Columbus  in  1865. 

« 

MULLET  NICHOLAS,  Clark  township ;  farm- 
er ;  postoffice,  Helmick ;  born  in  Switzerland, 
February  1 ,  1829 ;  son  of  Benjamin  and  Barbara 
(Zimmerman)  Mullet,  and  grandson  of  John 
and  Catharine  Mullet.  He  came  to  America  in 
1832,  with  his  parents,  came  to  Holmes  county, 
Ohio  and  settled  in  "Walnut  township,  where  he 
remained  about  four  years,  when  he  moved  to 
Clark  township,  Coshocton  county,  and  has  been 
a  resident  of  the  township  since.  He  is  the  fourth 
of  a  faqiily  of  ten  children.  He  was  married  Oc- 
tober 11, 1863,  to  Catharme,  daughter  of  John  and 
Rosannah    (Nyfeler)  Schneebarger,  and  grand- 


daughter of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Rup)  Schnee- 
barger, and  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Anlicker)  Ny- 
feler. She  was  born  April  14,  1846,  in  Can  tone 
county,  Switzerland.    They  have  no  children. 

MYERS  JAMES,  Perry  township;  postoffice. 
New  Guilford;  born  in  "Virginia,  in  1800;  son  of, 
Henry  and  Isabelle  Myers  ;  settled  in  this  county 
in  1824,  and  was  married  in  1849,  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Taylor,  daughter  of  Abraham  and  Mary  Tay- 
lor. The  subject  of  this  sketch  died  in  1876. 
They  had  seven  children,  viz  ;  Mary,  deceased ; 
Henry  A.,  deceased;  Olive,  Bullzora,  Joseph  L. 
Mary  and  James  K. 

MYSER  JOSEPH,  Adams  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Bakersville ;  born  in  Jefferson  county, 
Ohio,  March  15, 1812;  son  of  Jacob  and  Catharine 
TFaucler)  Myser,  and  grandson  of  Adam  and  Eve 
(Miller)  Miser,  and  of  Philip  and  Mary  M.  Fancier. 
He  is  of  Pennsylvania  German  descent.  Mr. 
Myser  came  to  Coshocton- county  at  three  years 
of  age ;  remained  at  home  until  the  age  of  twenty- 
five,  when  he  married  and  began  farming  for 
himself,  in  Crawford  township;  remained  there 
about  three  years,  then  removed  to  "White  Eyes 
township,  and  after  remaining  there  about  two 
years,  moved  to  Port  "Washington,  in  Tuscarawas 
county,  and  remained  there  about  nine  months, 
and  then  moved  back  to  Crawford  township.  Af- 
ter remaining  there  about  six  months,  he  moved 
to  Adam^  township,  where  he  at  present  resides, 
on  a  farm  of  300  acres,  in  the  normwest  corner  of 
the  township.  He  was  married  February  18, 1837, 
to  Miss  Catharine  Shanks,  daughter  of  James  and 
Christina  (Helwick)  Shanks,  and  granddaughter 
of  AndTew  and  Catharine  (Truck-Miller)  Hel- 
wick, and  of  James  and  Catharine  (Beam)  Shanks. 
Mrs.  Mj'ser  was  born  August  14,  1819.  Their 
union  has  been  blessed  with  twelve  children,  viz  r 
M.  Jennie,  Calvin,  Amanda,  Susannah,  Libbie, 
James,  Joseph,  Adaline,  Olive,  Joanna,  Howard 
and  "Willard.  They  are  all  teachers,  and  form  a 
very  interesting  family.  Mr.  Myser  is  a  member 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  church  (general 
synod);  has  been  a  member  since  he  was  twenty 
years  of  age.  A  part  of  the  family  belong  to  the 
same  church  with  their  father.  The  remainder, 
except  one,  belong  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church.  Mr.  Myser  is  one  of  the  old  land-marks 
that  is  left  standing  in  the  county.  His  son  Cal- 
vin served  three  years  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion 
as  a  soldier,  and  carries  several  ugly  scars. 

NELDON  JACOB, Perry  township;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle;  born  in  Pennsylvania,  in  1811; 
settled  in  tliis  county  in  1813 ;  son  of  Henry  and 
Catharine  Neldon,  and  grandson  of  John  and  Eve 
Neldon.    He  was  married  in  1840  to  Mary  Fry, 


BIOGRAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


755 


daughter  of  John  and  Charlotte  Fry.  Mr.  Nel- 
don  is  the  father  of  five  children,  viz :  Jeremiah. 
Lucinda,  Francis  M.,  and  Henry  S. 

NELDON  T.  B.,  Perry  township;  postoffice, 
New  Guilford  ;  born  in  this  county  in  1862 ;  son 
of  G.  W.  and  Elizabeth  (Blake)  Neldon,  and  grand- 
son of  John  and  Nancy  Neldon,  and  of  Thomas 
and  Temperance  (Taylor)  Blake.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  1876,  to  Adaline  Blue,  daughter  of  Daniel 
and  Clara  Blue. 

NELDON  RANSOM,  Perry  township  postof- 
fice, New  Guilford  ;  born  in  this  county,  in  1831 ; 
son  of  John  S.  and  Nancy  (Bailey)  Neldon,  grand- 
son of  John  Neldon,  and  of  Edward  and  Rutha 
Bailey ;  married  in  1860,  to  Miss  Mary  Cullison, 
daughter  of  Jeremiah  and  Rebecca  Cullison.  Mr. 
Neldon  is  the  father  of  nine  children,  viz :  Daniel 
W.,  Nancy  J.,  V.  S.,  Rebecca,  Ella,  Laura  L., 
Leora,  Emma  E.  and  Nina  0. 

NELDON  G.  W.,  Perry  township ;  farmer  and 
stock  raiser;  postoffice,  New  Guilford;  born  in 
this  county,  in  1827 ;  son  of  John  S.  and  Nancy 
(Bailey)  Neldon,  grandson  of  John  Neldon,  and  of 

•  and  Rutha  Bailey ;  married  in  1852,  to  Miss 

Elizabeth  Blake,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Tem- 
perance Blake.  They  are  the  parents  of  three 
children,  viz :  Thomas  R.,  Leora  and  Orville.  Mr. 
Neldon's  grandfather  was  in  the  war  of  1812. 

NELDOJSr  SAMUEL,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Fred- 
erick Neldon,  was  bom  May  3,  1818,  in  Coshoc- 
ton county,  Ohio.  His  father  came  from  the 
Cumberland  Valley,  Virginia,  and  was  ope  of  the 
oldest  settlers  of  the  county.  He  died  at  the  age 
of  eighty-seven  years.  Samuel  Neldon  was  mar- 
ried February  18,  1840,  to  Miss  Jane  Steward  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  May,  1829,  in  Jeffer- 
son county,  Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  viz :  Margaret,  U.  J.,  William,  George, 
Elizabeth,  Samuel,  Joseph,  Henry,  and  Odea  A. 
Four  are  married.  Mr.  Neldon  was  raised  on 
the  farm,  and  has  Always  followed  that  occupation. 
He  has  always  been  a  "resident  of  this  county, 
and  has  been  honored  by  office  in  his  township 
for  a  number  of  years,  serving  as  trustee,  etc. 
He  is  at  present  justice  of  the  peace. 

NEFF  ISAAC  M.,  Tuscarawas  township ;  farm- 
er; postoffice,  Coshocton  ;  born  April  28, 1822,  in 
Coshocton  ;  son  of  Captain  Joseph  Neff,  and  grand- 
son of  Martin  Neff,  who  came  to  America  with 
General  Lafayette,  and  served  in  the  war  for  inde- 
pendence, at  the  close  of  which  he  located  on  the 
Brandy  wine,  in  Pennsylvania.  Joseph  Neff  came 
to  Zanesville  in  1803,  and  to  Coshocton  in  1804. 
He  assisted  in  cutting  the  trees  on  the  streets  of 
Zanesville.  Isaac  Neffs  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Rachel  Workman,  daughter  of  Isaac  Work- 


man, who  served  with  Captain  Joseph  (Isaac  M.'s 
father)  in- the  war  of  1812.  Captain  Joseph  Neff 
served,  six  years  in  the  United  States  army. 
After  leaving  the  service  he  settled  in  Coshocton, 
where  he  died  in  the  seventy-eighth  year  of  his 
age.  Young  Neff  was  raised  in  Coshocton,  and 
was  married  June  10,  1861,  to  Miss  Virginia 
Flack,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Catherine  (Con- 
ley)  Flack.  Thomas  Flack  was  for  many  years  a 
prominent  editor  of  this  county.  They  have 
three  children,  viz :  Charles  M.,  Carrie  R.  and 
Jessie  Cornelia. 

NICHOLAS  JOHN  D.,  Coshocton;  attorney; 
was  born  September  8,  1824,  in  Howard  county, 
Maine.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  the  shoemaking  trade,  in  which  he 
continued  until  1852,  when  he  entered  as  a  stu- 
dent in  the  law  office  of  Judge  Sample,  and  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  1854.  In  1856  Mr.  Nich- 
olas was  elected  to  the  office  of  prosecuting  attor- 
ney, and  served  during  the  term.  Colonel  Nich- 
olas served  as  captain  of  Company  A,  in  the  Six- 
teenth O.  N.  G ;  also,  as  captain  of  Company  H,. 
Fifty-first  O.  V.  I.,  and  as  lieutenant  colonel  of 
the  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  O.  N.  G.  Col- 
onel Nicholas  was  married  December  24, 1846,  to 
Miss  Sarah -E.  Hutchinson,  daughter  of  Samuel 
Hutchinson,  of  Roscoe.  The  result  of  this  union 
was  six  children,  two  deceased,  viz:  P.  B_ 
Shelley  and  Camilla;  and  four  living,  viz:  Vir- 
ginia, married  to  I.  T.  Smith,  residing  now  in 
Adair  county,  Iowa;  Lettiliia,  married  to  David 
L.  Lanning,  of  Columbus,  Ohio ;  Samuel  H.,  and 
Fannie,  married  to  William  Burns,  Jr.,  of  this 
city.  Colonel  Nicholas'  father  was  a  native  of 
Wales,  but,  about  the  year  1820,  he  emigrated  to 
America,  and  settled  in  Maryland.  While  visit- 
ing friends  in  Jefferson  county,  Virginia,  he  was 
taken  sick  with  fever,  from  which  he  died  in 
February,  1846. 

NICHOLAS  SAMUEL  H.,  Coshocton;  law 
student;  born  March  25,  1856,  in  Roscoe;  son  of 
Colonel  John  D.  Nicholas,  of  the  law  firm  of 
Nicholas  &  James.  His  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Sarah  Hutchinson,  daughter  of  Samueli 
Hutchinson.  Mr.  Nicholas  received  a  good  pri- 
mary education  in  the  public  schools  of  .Roscoe 
and  in  this  city,  and  in  1874  he  entered  Kenyon 
college,  at  Gambler,  Ohio,  and  attended  three 
years,  but,  owing  to  ill  health,  had  to  quit  the 
confinement  and  labor  of  the  student,  and  recu- 
perate his  health  by  physical  labor  on  the  farm 
and  at  carpenter  work.  In  the  fall  of  1868  he 
entered  Wooster  university  and  attended  one 
year,  but  again,  owing  to  declining  health,  had  to 
give  up  college.  In  early  youth  he  began  read- 
ing law,  but  his  health  prevented  his  continuing 
at  that  time.  He  again  resumed  the  study  of 
law  about  two  years  since.  He  also  took,  an 
active  part  in  the  political  campaign  of  1880. 


-756 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


NICHOLS  WILL  AED,  White  Eyes  township ; 
a  native  of  New  York  State ;  was  born  in  Sep- 
tember, 1832,  and  came  to  this  county  with  his 
■parents,  wlien  but  a  child.  February,  1860,  he 
married  Miss  Nancy  A.  Henderson,  the  daugh- 
ter of  George  Henderson,  who  was  born  in 
April,  1839.  They  have  a  family  of  nine  chil- 
dren: Charles  F.,  Hattie  A.,  Edwin,  George  H., 
Willard,  James  A.,  Frank,  Lewis  A.  and  Ivy  E., 
all  living.  Mr.  Nichols  has  lived  in  this  township 
■since  his  inarriage,  and  owns  200  acres  of  land 
where  he  resides.  He  is  trustee  of  White 
Eyes.  In  1849,  he  went  to  California;  was  in 
that  State  about  two  years,  engaged  in  mining; 
he  went  by  land  and  returned  by  w^ater. 

NORMAN  WILSON  0.,  Adams  township; 
young  farmer;  postoflfice,  Evansburgh;  born  in 
Adams  township,  July  31, 1859 ;  son  of  Isaac  and 
Harriet  (Norris)  Norman,  and  grandson  of  George 
and  Barbara  (Workman)  Norman,  and  William 
and  Rebecca  (Tipton)  Norris,  and  great-grandson 

■  of  Benjamin  and  Margaret  Norman,  and  Isaac 
Workman,  and  Anna  Norris,  and  Silvester  and 
Mary  Tipton.  His  father  was  born  in  Coshocton 
county,  May  1, 1817.  His  mother  was  born,  March 
17,  1823,  in  Adams  township,  Coshocfon  county. 

'  They  were  married  November  28, 1839,  and  are 
the  parents  of  ten  children,  six  of  whom  are 
living,  viz :  Sylvester,  born  March  1,  1841 ;  Re- 
becca, born  December  1,  1845;  Mary  A.,  born 
October  22,  1846;  George  W.,  born  August  16, 
1852,  and  Francis  M.,  born  July  18,  1855.  His 
brother,  Sylvester,  was  a  soldier  in  the  Ninety- 
seventh  0.  V.  I.,  three  years.  Wilson  is  a  promis- 
ing young  farmer,  highly  respected  by  all. 

NORMAN  JOHN  W.,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer;  born  in  Oxford  township,  October  7, 1825 ; 
son  of  Isaac  and  Isabel  (Wise)  Norman,  both 
natives  of  the  United  States;  married  January 
28, 1849,  to  Susan  McCleary,  who  was  born  Janu- 
ary 22,  1827.  They  have  seven  children,  viz : 
Melissa,  Isaac,  Sarah  Isabel,  Hannah,  Hester,  Hat- 
tie  Nena,  James  Lester.  Melissa  married  Sam- 
uel Dougherty  in  November,  1867,  and  they 
have  four  children  living.  Isaac  married  Leah 
Brown  in  the  fall  of  1876;  and  they  have  two 
children.  Sarah  Isabel  was  married  to  Andrew 
Schrack  in  1874,  and  they  have  one  child.  Mr. 
Norman  was  a  well-to-do  farmer. 

NORMAN  WILLIAM,  Keene  township;  shoe- 
maker at  Keene ;  born  in  June,  1837,  Mill  Creek 
township;  son  of  Javas  and  Barbara  Norman, 
who  was  the  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Catherine 
(Young)  Weaver.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  Mr. 
Norman  began  his  apprenticeship  of  two  and  a 
half  years  in  Holmes  county,  under  Jacob  Miller. 
When  it  was  completed  he  opened  a  shop  in 
Chili,  and  five  years  later  he  went  to  Bakersville, 
.and  remained  till  he  came  to  Keene,  about  1870. 


He  has  a  flourishing  trade,  which  shows  him  to 
be  an  excellent  workman  He  was  married  May 
15,  1859,  to  JNIiss  Matilda  Redd,  daughter  of 
Lewis  and  Elizabeth  (Horn)  Redd,  of  German 
descent.  Their  children  are — William  F.,  born 
in  March,  1SG2;  Ella  J  ,  born  in  March,  1864; 
Augustus,  in  September,  1867 ;  Joseph,  in  April, 
1870;  Hattie,  October  2,  1873,  and  Vesta,  in  April, 
1876. 

NORRIS  ISAAC,  Oxford  township;  black- 
smith ;  postofiice,  Evansburgh ;  was  born  in  this 
county,  in  1841;  son  of  Charles  and  Margaret 
(Hamill)  Norris;  was  married  in  1863,  to  Miss 
Harriet  E.  Richmond,  daughter  of  Edward  Rich- 
mond, of  this  township.  The  fruits  of  this  union 
has  been  five  children,  viz :  Frank,  Charles,  Leo- 
nora ;  Edward,  deceased,  and  Seth.  Mr.  Norris  is 
a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  has  been  at  the  busi- 
ness here  about  thirteen  years,  besides  the  time 
spent  at  his  trade  in  the  army.  He  took  an  act- 
ive part  in  the  late  war,  going  out  in  Company  C, 
Fifty-first  O.  V.  I.,  and  served  four  years  and  two 
months,  re-enlisting  at  Shell  Mound,  Tennessee. 
He  is  school  director  and  is  honest  and  industri- 
ous. His  son  Edward,  a  bright  boy,  met  his  death 
March  28, 1879,  in  his  eighth  year,  being  in  com- 
pany with  a  play-mate,  he  was  crushed  to  death 
by  the  caving  in  of  a  coal-bank  on  the  premises 
of  James  Addis. 

NORRIS  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township;  Ros- 
COQ  postofB.ce ;  born  in  this  cotinty  in  1835 ;  son 
of  Daniel  and  Mary  (McCoy)  Norris,  and  grand- 
son of  William  and  Sarah  (Graves)  Norris,  and 
of  Joseph  and  Mary  McCoy;  married  in  1855,  to 
Rebecca  J.  Lockard,  daughter  of  Andrew  and 
Mary  Lockard.  Mr.  Norris  is  the  father  of  five 
children,  viz :  Mary  A.,  G.  0.,  Sarilda  L.,  Henri- 
etta E.,  Maro  A.  Mr.  Norris'  father  settled  in 
this  county  in  1809. 

NORRIS  J.  W.,  Bedford,  township;  farmer; 
postofiice,  Mohawk  Village ;  born  in  1851,  in  this 
county,  and  was  married,  in  1872,  to  Miss  Caro- 
line Middleton,  of  this-  county,  who  was  born  in 
1850.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz : 
Charles,  deceased;  George  E.,  Chester  C,  and  an 
infant. 

NORRIS  G.  W.,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postofiice,  West  Bedford;  born  in  1823  in  this 
county.  His  father,  Thomas  Norris,  was  born  in 
1796,  in  Maryland,  and  was  married  in  1817  to 
Miss  Sarah  Stills  of  Belmont  county,  who  was 
born  in  1801.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1820. 
She  died  in  1876.  They  were  the  parents  of 
twelve  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being 
the  fourth  He  was  married  in  1845  to  Miss 
Sarah  Horton  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1828.  She  died  in  1845.  He,  in  1846,  mar- 
ried Miss  EUzabeth  McNabb  of  this  county,  who 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


759 


■was  born  in  1827.  They  are  the  parents  of  five 
•children,  viz :  John,  Milton,  Sarah  A.,  Mary  C, 
and  George,  deceased. 

NOEEIS  MILTON,  Perry  township;  postof- 
fice,  West  Bedford;  farmer;  born  in  this  county, 
in  1852;  son  of  G.  W.  and  Elizabeth  Norris,  and 
grandson  of  Tliomas  and  Sarah  A.  (Stills)  Norris, 
and  of  George  and  Mary  (Hogue)  McNabb.  He 
was  married  in  1872,  to  Miss  Martha  J.  Shrigley, 
daughter  of  John  and  Mary  T.  (Barton)  Shrig- 
ley. They  are  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz : 
William,  Mary  E.,  Edwin  O.;  Charles  Elmer,  de- 
ceased, and  one  unnamed. 

NOERIS  E.,  Bedford  township;  postoffioe. 
West  Bedford ;  born  in  1809  in  Allegheny  coun- 
ty, Maryland  ;  moved  to  Belmont  county,  Ohio, 
in  1813,  and  to  this  county  in  1820  with  his  fath- 
er, who  was  born  in  1769  in  Maryland.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  Dager  of  the  same  county, 
who  was  born  in  1775.  He  died  in  1835 ;  she 
died  in  1855.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven 
children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the 
ninth.  He  was  married  in  1832  to  Miss  Mary  A. 
Humphrey  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1814  in  JelBferson  county.  They  were  the  parents 
of  nine  children,  viz :  Sarah  J.,  deceased ;  Nancy, 
Clara,  Stephen,  Wilson;  Martha  E.  and  an  infant, 
both  deceased ;  John,  and  Viola. 

NORRIS  THOMAS  M.,  Pike  township;  post- 
of&ce  West  Carlisle;  farmer  and  justice  of  the 
peace;  born  in  Green  county,  Pennsylvania, 
January -39,  1851;  son  of  Thomas  and  Maria 
(Phillips)  Norris.  He  was marriedin  1871,  to  Miss 
ElizalDeth  A.  McKee,  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Jane  McKee.  They  are  the  parents  of  four 
children,  viz:  Ora  J.,  Daniel  F.  and  Ama  M., 
deceased. 

NOBLE  JOSEP H, Bethlehem  township;  farm- 
er ;  was  born  June  22, 1811,  in  Fermanagh  county, 
Ireland.  He  came  to  the  United  States,  with 
his  parents,  in  1823,  and  located  in  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania.  His  father,  Joseph  Noble,  Sr.,  was 
born  November  27,  1766,  in  Ireland.  He  was 
married.  May  22,  1794,  to  Miss  Catherine  Wilson, 
who  was  born  January  1, 1774._  They  became  the 
parents  of  eleven  children,  viz :  George,  Cathe- 
rine, James  I,  Jane,  Alexander,  Mary  Ann, 
James  II,  Joseph,  William,  John  and  Elizbeth. 
Pour  are  at  present  living.  James  II  lives  in 
Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  and  John  at  Fremont, 
Ohio.  Joseph  Noble  Sr.,  died  July  6,  1859.  His 
wife  died  February  25, 1869.  Joseph  Noble  was 
a  baker  by  trade.  He  removed  from  Philadel- 
phia, in  1829,  and  located  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained  four  years. 
He  then  came  to  Ohio,  where  he  has  since  resided 


NOBLE  JOHN,  Lafayette  township;  farmer; 
postofiB.ce,  West  Lafayette ;  was  born  in  this  county, 
in  1830;  son  of  David  Noble;  was  married  to  Miss 
Wagner,  of  this  county,  in  1852;  they  have  had 
nine  children.  Mr.  Noble  has  always  followed 
farming  and  has  lived  about  seventeen  years  at 
his  present  home.  • 

NOLA.ND  JOHN,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoflfioe.  Tunnel  Hill,  born  in  1840  in  this  county. 
His  father,  William  Noland,  was  born,  in  1808,  in 
Pennsylvania;  came  to  this  county  in  1811,  and 
married  Miss  Catharine  McParland,  who  ,  was 
born  in  1813.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren, the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  third. 
He  was  married,  in  1863,  to  Miss  EUzabeth  Mc- 
Bride,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1844. 
They  are  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz;  Martha 
D.,  deceased;  Jason  F.,  Ettie  B.,  Odessa  and 
Earnest. 

NOLAND  HIRAM  Pike  township;  postoflace, 
West  Carlisle;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  in  1807;  son  of  Pierce  and  Abigal 
^Geary)  Noland,  and  grandson  of  Pierce  and  Mary 
(Doster)  Noland,  and  of  Cornelius  and  Mary 
Elliott.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  settled  in  this 
county  in  1811.  He  remembers  quite  well  when 
there  were  but  few  houses  in  the  town  of  Coshoc- 
ton, one  being  a  public  house  kept  there  at  that 
time  by  Colonel  Williams.  Mr.  Noland  has  been 
blind  for  a  number  of  years,  but  still  retains  his 
mental  faculties  remarkably  well.  It  is  quite  in- 
teresting to  sit  and  hear  him  tell  of  the  incidents 
which  happened  in  his  early  days ;  how  he  used 
to  visit  the  Indian  camps,  and  of  the  forms  they 
went  through  in  receiving  visitors,  etc.  Mr.  No- 
land  was  married  in  1834,  to  Miss  Nancy  Huff, 
daughter  of  George  and  Mary  (Mahony)  Huff. 
They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  Jack- 
son A.;  Pierce  W.,  deceased;  George;  Amanda, 
deceased;  Martha;  Julia,  deceased ;  and  Nancy 
J.  All  are  married  but  two.  Mr.  Noland's  wife 
died  in  1850.  He  has  a  son  practicing  medicine 
in  the  West. 

NOLAND  HENRY,  Pike  township ;  postoSice, 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ;  bora  in 
this  county  in  1826;  son  of  Pierce  and  Abigail 
(Geary)  Noland.  The  father  of  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  came  to  this  county  from  "Virginia, 
about  the  year  1811,  and  died  in  1835.  Mrs.  No- 
land  died  in  1855.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  married  in  1855,  to  Miss  Martha  E.  Ash- 
craft,  daughter  of  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  this 
country.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children, 
viz:  Sampson  P.,  deceased;  Sarah  M.,  Jacob  M., 
Mary  J.,  Flora  E.,  George  T.,  Laken  M.,  Minnie 
B.,  Madison  L,,  and  EflBe  E.,  deceased. 


34 


760 


HISTOfiY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


o 

ODOR  EEV.  A.  W.,  Jackson  township ;  postof- 
fice,  Roscoe ;  born  in  Orange  county,  Virginia, 
in  1822 ;  settled  in  this  county  in  1830 ;  son  of  EI- 
Tvood  and  Nancy  (Wigfield)  Odor,  and  grandson 
of  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Moore)  Wigfield;  married 
Septfember  25, 1856,  to  Maloney  C.  Piatt,  daughter 
of  Robert  and  Margaret  Piatt.  Mr.  Odor  is  the 
father  of  two  children,  viz :  J.  W.  and  E.  P.  Mr. 
Odor  pursued  a  regular  course  of  studies  at  Den- 
ison. university  until  his  health  failed  him.  He 
was  then  engaged  in  teaching  for  some  seven 
years.  Ordained  to  preach  by  the  Regular  Bap- 
tist church  in  1853,  and  has  followed  that  calling 
ever  since. 

OGILVIE  F.  M.,  Keene  township;  born  Au- 
gust 19, 1844,  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio ;  son  of 
Thomas  and  Christina  (Johnson)  Ogilvie;  a 
grandson  of  Thomas  and  Jane  (Taylor)  Ogilvie, 
and  great  grandson  of  Thomas  Ogilvie,  Sr.,  who 
was  an  Englishman'  by  birth;  grandson  of  John 
and  Elizabeth  (Peterson)  Johnson.  P.  M.  Ogilvie 
was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  educated  in  dis- 
trict schools.  At  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  began 
school  teaching,  and  taught  two  years  in  Illinois 
and  one  in  Missouri.  He  enlisted  in  Company 
I,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I.,  in  the  fall  of  1861,  and 
served  till  the  spring  of  1863,  when  he  was  mus- 
tered out.  In  September  of  the  same  year  he 
re-enlisted  in  Company  D,  Forty-fifth  111.  V.  I., 
and  continued  till  July,  1865,  when  he  was  mus- 
tered out  for  the  last  time.  The  principal  bat- 
tles he  was  engaged  in  are.  Stone  River,  Mission 
Ridge,  Lookout  Mountain,  Atlanta,  Nashville, 
Siege  of  Vicksburg  and  Chickamauga.  He  was 
married  to  Miss  !Emma  Richardson  October, 
1869,  a  daughter  of  Lemuel  and  Jennie  (Turner) 
Richardson.  They  have  four  children — George 
W.,  Mary  May,  Thomas  and  Katie. 

OGILVIE  JAMES,  Keene  township;  was  born 
in  West  Virginia,  April  15, 1788;  son  of  Thomas 
and  Jane  (Taylor)  Ogilvie;  a  grandson  of  Thomas 
Ogilvie,  Sr.,  who  came  to  America  sometime  be- 
.  fore  the  revolutionary  war,  and  was  one  of  the  pa- 
triots who  braved  the  storm  of  battle  for  American 
liberty.  James  lived  in  his  native  State  till  1810, 
when  he  came  to  Coshocton  county,  where  he  en- 
listed and  served  through  the  war  of  1812,  then  re- 
turned to  his  farm,  where  he  has  continued  ever 
since.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Christina  John- 
son, of  West  Virginia,  a  daughter  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  (Peterson)  Johnson.  They  had,  seven 
children  :  Thomas,  Johnson  and  Eliza  are  living. 
Mr.  Ogilvie's  first  wife  died  March,  1843;  after 
this  he  married  Mrs.  Catherine  Thursthammer, 
who  was  born  March  14,  1795,  a  daughter  of 
Charles  and  Catharine  (Cost)  Thursthammer. 

OGLEVIE  THOMAS,  Bethlehem  township; 


farmer ;  son  of  James  Oglevie,  of  Keene  town- 
ship, who  came  to  this  county  from  Virginia,  in 
1809,  was  born  in  1820.  He  was  married  in 
December,  1842,  to  Miss  Rachel  O'Donald,  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1852.  Her  parents 
were  of  Irish  descent.  They  are  the  parents  of 
four  children,  viz :  Francis  M.,  born  August  20,. 
1844;  Josephine  M.,  born  November  26,  1845;  J. 
J.,  born  July  29,  1848,  now  living  in  Virginia.. 
The  other  one  is  dead.  Francis  M.  served  three 
years  as  a  private  in  Company  I,  Fifty-fourth 
regiment  0.  V.  I.,  and  was  with  Sherman  on  his- 
famous  march  to  the  sea.  Mr.  Oglevie  has  always 
resided  in  Bethlehem  township,  owns  a  good 
farm,  and  is  esteemed  by  all  his  acquaintances. 

OGELVIE  JOHNSON,  Bethlehem  township;, 
farmer ;  son  of  James  Ogelvie,  of  Keene  township ; 
was  born,  February  7,  1813,  in  Coshocton,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Ogelvie  was  raised  on  the  farm  and  has- 
always  followed  that  occupation.  He  was  married, 
in  November,  1838,  to  Miss  Margaret  Norman,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  November  12,  1818. 
They  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  viz :  William,, 
born  in  1840;  John  W.,  born  in  1841;  Malona, 
born  in  1844;  James  G.,  born  in  1847 ;  Benjamin 
H.,  born  in  1849;  Laceann,  born  in  1853,  and  A. 
G.,  born  in  1856.  William  and  Malona  are  mar- 
ried and  live  in  Franklin  county.  James  and 
Albert  G.  are  in  California,  engaged  in  business. 
Mrs.  Ogelvie  died  in  August,  1856.  Mr.  Ogelvie 
was  married  again,  April,  1860,  to  Mrs.  Sophia 
Westerwilt,  of  Franklin  county.  They  have  one 
child,  Oscar  T.,  born  February  26,  1861.  Mr. 
Ogelvie  removed  to  Delaware  county,  in  1852. 
He  went  from  there  to  Franklin  county,  in  1857 ; 
thence  to  Hocking  county,  remaining  eighteen 
months,  and  returning  to  Coshocton  county  in 
1866.    Mr.  Ogelvie  owns  a  good  farm  of  240  acres. 

ORR  WILLIAM,  Bedford  township;  farmer 
and  blacksmith;  postoffice,  Warsaw;  born  in 
1824,  in  Newcastle  county,  Delaware,  and  came 
to  this  couiity  in  1838,  with  his  father,  who  ivas 
born  in  1791,  in  Ireland.  He  came  to  Delaware 
in  1816,  and  was  married  in  1818,  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Little,  of  Delaware.  She  was  born  in  1798,. 
in  Ireland,  came  to  this  country  in  1815,  and  died 
in  1872.  He  died  in  1852.  They  were  the  pa-  - 
rents  of  eight  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
being  the  third.  He  was  married  in  1850,  to  Miss. 
Elizabeth  Tredway,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
in  1826.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
viz :  Mary  E.,  Olive  J.,  A.  F.;  Emma  P.,deceased; 
Ida  B.,  deceased;  John  T.;  Ella  M.,  deceased; 
William  E.  and  Joseph. 

OVERHOLT  JOHN,  Keene  township;  post-' 
office,  Keene;  born  October  10, 1831,  in  Tuscara- 
was county ;  son  of  Abraham  and  Elizabeth  (Har- 
baugh)  Overholt.    He  learned  the  shoemaker's. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


761 


trade  under  John  Hamilton, and  for-twenty  years 
followed  it  exclusively.  He  has  since  taken  up 
farming  in  connection  with  his  trade,  and  is  an 
industrious  and  careful  farmer  and  stock  raiser. 
He  was  married  February  17, 1856,  to  Miss  Cath- 
arine, daughter  of  William  Saunders,  of  this  town- 
ship. Their  children  were :  Reo  A.,  born  Decem- 
ber 2i,  1856;  James  M.,born  September  21,1859; 
Orlando  A.,  born  February  26,  1862;  William  C, 
born  November  7, 1869;  and  Charlie  R.,  deceased, 
born  July  14, 1873. 

OXLEY  JOSEPH,  Perry  township;  farmer 
and  stock  raiser  ;  postofflce,  New  Guilford ;  born 
in  this  county,  in  1839 ;  son  of  Ohio  and  Hester 
A.  Oxley :  married  in  1865,  to  Miss  Martha  J. 
Bonham,  daughter  of  Evan  and  Mary  (Worley) 
Bonham.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children, 
viz :  George  Mc,  Mary  A.,  Isa  M.  and  John  M. 

OXLEY  OHIO,  Perry  township;  postofflce. 
West  Carlisle;  born  in  this  State,  in  1804;  son  of 
Jeremiah  and  Elizabeth  Oxley;  died  in  1863. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in  1833,  to 
Miss  Hester  Stewart,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Su- 
san (McDowell)  Stewart.  They  are  the  parents 
of  six  children,  viz:  Elizabeth;  John,  deceased; 
Joseph ;  Jeremiah,'deoeased ;  Thomas  S.,  deceased, 
and  G.  W.,  who  was  born  in  this  county,  in  1849 ; 
married  in  1876,  to  Margaret  Johnston,  daughter 
of  John  and  Mary  (Dugan)  Johnston.  They  have 
three  children,  viz  :  Charles  E.,  Hettie .  M.  and 
Emma  E.  Mr.  Oxley's  father  was  in  the  war  of 
1812.  Jeremiah  enlisted  in  the  U.  S  army  in  1862, 
and  died  at  Vicksburg  in  1863. 


PARK  SAMUEL,  White  Eyes  township;  far- 
mer; born  in  Ontario,  February  23,  1833;  son  of 
WiUiam  and  Mary  A.  (Boyd)  Park,  natives  of 
Ireland.  Samuel  Park  came  to  this  country  and 
settled  in  White  Eyes  in  1854.  Married  in  1858, 
Miss  Boyd,  daughter  of  Wilham  M.  Boyd.  They 
have  seven  children:  William  Melville,  born 
November  21, 1858 ;  Joseph  Erastus,  born  August 
4, 1860;  Alexander,  born  October  24, 1864;  Nancy 
L.,  born  April  26, 1867 ;  Margaret  A.,  born  April 
1,  1870;  Samuel  Elza,  born  October  21,  1872. 
Joseph  Erastus  died  January  3,  1868;  James 
Renwic  died  January  8,  1868,  and  Samuel  Elza 
died  May  24, 1874.  William  Melville,  the  eldest, 
who  makes  his  home  with  his  parents  commenced 
teaching  in  the  summer  of  1879,  has  taught  most 
of  the  time  since  and  expects  to  follow  school 
teaching,  for  a  while,  at  least. 

PARK  WILBER  F.,  White  Eyes  township; 
teacher;  postofflce,  Avondale,  Ohio;  born  Feb- 
ruary 29, 1860,  in  White  Eyes  township;  son  of 
William  and  Nancy  (Ross)  Park.  Young  Park 
was  iDrought  up  on  the  farm  until  the  age  of  six- 


teen, when  he  taught  his  first  school  at  Elder's 
school-house,  Jefferson  township,  and  has  taught 
seven  terms  successfully. 

PARKER  EZRA,  Linton  township;  resides  in 
Plainfield ;  born  January  3,  1824,  in  Belmont 
county.  His  father,  George  Parker,  was  a  native 
of  North  Carolina;  the  son  of  Jacob  and  Ehoda 
(Belmon)  Parker.  His  grandmother,  Rhoda 
Belmon,  was  born  in  Prance.  His  mother,  Ra- 
chel, was  the  only  child  of  Joseph  and  Mary 
(GelJDreath)  Jones;  her  father,  Joseph,  was  of 
Irish  birth,  emigrating  from  the  northern  part 
of  Ireland  to  Georgia  about  1776 ;  her  mother, 
Mary  Gelbreath,  was  born  in  Wales.  In  1838, 
Ezra  left  Belmont  county  and  went  to  Washing- 
ton county,  and,  from  that  time  to  the  present, 
has  been  engaged  in  a  great  variety  of  pursuits, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned,  engineering  in 
the  government  employ;  managing  oil  works; 
keeping  drug  store,  hotel,  etc.  In  1872,  he  came  to 
Plainfield  and  has  since  been  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Parker  Brothers,  proprietors  of  the  extensive 
water-mill  located  at  Plainfield.  He  is  also  en- 
gaged in  the  jewelry  trade.  Mr.  Parker  was 
married,  in  1848,  to  Miss  Lucy,  daughter  of  Rich- 
ard Ross,  of  Washington  county.  His  wife  died 
in  September,  1870,  leaving  one  child,  William 
E.,  now  a  druggist  in  Beverly,  Ohio.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1872,  Mr.  Parker  was  married  to  Mary 
M.  Betts,  daughter  of  William  Betts,  of  Morgan 
county.  By  this  marriage  he  has  two  children : 
Lucy  B.  and  Ora  L. 

PABKHILL  D.  R.,  Mill  Creek  township; 
farmer ;  postofflce,  Keene ;  born  in  1858  in  Mill 
Creek  township.  He  was  married  in  1880  to 
Miss  Annie  Richey  of  this  county.  She  was  born 
in  1856  in  this  county. 

PARKHILL  W.  B.,  Keene  township;  born  in 
Mill  Creek  township  December  15,  1856 ;  son  of 
Robert  and  Mary  Parkhill,  and  grandson  of  Da- 
vid and  Margaret  (Davidson)  Parkhill,  and  of 
James  and  Nancy  (Ford)  Foster.  His  father 
died  July  7, 1864.  He  received  his  education  at 
Keene  academy  under  the  instruction  of  Mr. 
Finley,  attending  school  in  Keene  six  years.  He 
is  now  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in 
KeenCi  having  opened  a  dry  goods  establishment 
March  5,  1880. 

PARKHILL  WILLIAM,  Keene  township; 
farmer ;  born  April  23, 1844,  in  Mill  Creek  town- 
ship, Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  a  son  of  David 
and  Matilda  (Beard)  Parkhill,  and  grandson  of 
David  and  Margaret  (Patent)  Parkill,  and  of 
William  and  Ann  (Rickey)  Beard.  He  was  mar- 
ried February  4,  1873,  to  Miss  Amanda  Spering- 
er,  daughter  of  William  and  Catharine  (Hyder) 
Speringer.  They  have  but  one  child,  Florence, 
bom  October  2, 1874. 


762 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


PAEBISH  J.  J.,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoffioe,  Mohawk  Village ;  born  in  1850,  in  this 
county.  His  grandfather,  Joseph  Parish,  was 
born  in  1777,  in  Virginia.  He  came  to  Belmont 
county  while  yet  a  boy.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Lundy,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania. 
They  came  to  this  county  in  1817.  He  died  in  1866 
— she  died  in  1850.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten 
children,  John,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  being  the  youngest.  He  was  born  in  1818, 
and  was  married  in  1843,  to  Miss  McNeely,  of 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  who  was  born 
in  1818,  and  died,  in  1864.  They  were  the  parents 
of  seven  children.  He,  in  .1866,  married  Miss 
Louisa  Dawson,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1830,  in  Virginia.  He  died  in  1880.  They  had 
one  child — J.  J.  Parish,  married  in  1880,  to  Miss 
Natinie  Moore,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1855. 

PETTIT  JOSEPH,  Clark  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Helmick;  born  in  Monroe  township, 
Coshocton  county,  September  19,  1843;  son  of 
George  and  Sarah  (Maxon)  Pettit,  and  grandson 
of  Nathaniel  and  Abigail  Pettit,  and  James  and 
Barbara  (Carpenter)  Maxon.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother,  of  New 
York.  He  has  been  a  farmer  all  his  life,  and  has 
a  good  farm,  situated  in  the  southwest  part  of  the 
township,  which  is  well  adapted  to  the  raising  of  all 
kinds  of  grain.  He  was  married  November  23, 
1873,  to  Alma  Matticks,  daughter  of  Jacob  and 
Jane  (Matticks)  Matticks,  and  granddaughter  of 
John  and  Edward  Matticks.  She  was  born  in 
€lark  township,  July  27,  1829.  They  have  two 
children,  viz:  Mary  N.,  born  January  20,  1875; 
Crenofa  A.,  born  December  7,  1877.  His  father 
died  December  31, 1880,  at  the  age  of  eighty  years, 
one  month  and  four  days.  His  mother  is  still 
living,  and  is  now  seventy-one  years  of  age. 

PEAIES  ALVIN  A.,  Adams  township;  stock 
and  wool  dealer;  postoffice,  Bakersville,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Peairs  was  born  in  Salem  township,  Tuscara- 
was county,  March  6,  1848 ;  son  of  John  W.  and 
Sarah  (Heart)  Peairs,  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry. 
Young  Peairs  was  educated  in  the  public  schools 
and  at  Eastman's  National  Business  College,  at 
Poughkeepsie,  where  he  was  graduated  in  1865. 
Mr.  Peairs  was  married  in  October,  1871,  to  Miss 
■Caroline,  daughter  of  Levi  and  Catharine  (Owell) 
Miller,  of  German  descent.  They  are  the  parents 
of  five  children,  viz:  Lilian,  John  W.,  Bernis, 
Charles  and  Myrtle. 

PECK  J.  P.,  Oxford  township ;  merchant  and 
grain  dealer,  Orange;  Evansburg  postoffice;  son 
of  Richard  A.  Peck,  of  New  York  State ;  born  in 
1834 ;  was  married  in  1864,  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Day, 
of  this  county,  and  has  two  children,  viz :  Jennie 
W.  and  Hettie  H.  He  embarked  in  business 
liere  in  1857,  and  has  been  in  his  present  location 


since  1867.  The  style  of  the  firm  is  J.  P.  Peck  . 
&  Co.,  his  brother,  Alfred  Peck,  being  his  partner. 
They  deal  in  all  kinds  of  dry  goods  and  grocer- 
ies, and  buy  and  sell  large  quantities  of  grain 
and  farm  produce  generally.  Mr.  Peck  is  a 
member  of  the  M  E.  church,  and  is  one  of  the 
leading  men  of  this  township. 

PEACOCK  PEOFESSOB  C.  L.,  teacher  of 
dancing  schools;  was  born  October  23,  1857,  in 
Springfield  Corners,  New  York;  son  of  Stephen 
B.  and  Mary  (Winslow)  Peacock,  of  Engish  an- 
cestry; was  raised  on  farm;  when  about  twelve 
years  of  age  went  to  steel  works  to  turn  boxing, 
remaining  in  the  works  until  sixteen  years  of 
age,  and  then  attended  public  schools  one  year ; 
came  to  this  city  in  December,  1872,  and  has 
made  this  his  home ;  began  teaching  in  1878,  and 
has  now  about  175  young  people  receiving  in- 
structions from  him.  Many  of  them,  belong  to 
the  leading  families  of  the  city. 

PECK  ALFEED,  member  of  the  firm  of  Peck 
&  Co.;  was  born  in  1836,  and  was  married  in 
1859,  to  Miss  Sarah  Norris,  of  Tuscarawas  county. 
The  result  of  this  union  has  been  three  children, 
as  follows,  viz :  Adella,  Lenora  and  Eay  Ansan. 
He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  M.  E. 
Church,  and  he  is  considered  one  of  the  leading 
business  men  of  this  county,  and  a  patron  of  all 
educational  enterprises. 

PEPPEE  JOSIAH,  Virginia  township;  born 
in  Maryland,  in  1823 ;  son  of  Walter  and  Char- 
lotte Pepper;  died  in  1869.  He  was  married  in 
November,  1854,  and  was  the  father  of  eight 
children,  one  of  whom  died.  Postoffice,  Adam's 
Mills. 

PEEKINS  SAMUEL,  Virginia  township;  born 
in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  January  16,  1834.  In 
J/fay,  1857,  he  moved  to  Coshocton  county,  Ohio ; 
son  of  Fielder  and  Delia  Perkins.  He  married 
Miss  Margaret  Barkhurst,  in  1860.  Mr.  Perkins 
has  five  children,  viz :  Maria  E.,  John  H.,  Aga- 
line  T.,  Nelson  L.,  and  Lethi  U.  Postoffice,  New 
Moscow. 

PERKINS  J.  W.,  Virginia  township;  born 
May  12,  1833,  in  Coshocton  county;  son  of 
Thomas  and  Mary  (Wagner)  jPerkins,  and  grand- 
son of  John  and  Perella  Perkins,  and  of  Joseph 
and  Eebecca  (Beal)  Wagoner.  Mr.  Perkins  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  went  to  school  at  Wester- 
ville  seminary^  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  years 
began  school  teaching,  and  has  taught  every  year 
since,  except  two.  He  is  also  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. He  was  married  October  12,  1854,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Treg.  Mr.  Perkins  has  seven  children 
living  and  two  dead.    Postoffice,  New  Moscow. 

PHILLIPS  THOMAS,  Linton  township;  farm- 
er; born  July  6,  1828,  in  Linton  township;  son  of 


BIOGKAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


763 


George  and  Susannah  (Lemons)  Phillips,  a  pio- 
neer of  this  township;  He  was  married,  May  22, 
1850,  to  Amanda  Banker,  daughter  of  Jacob 
Banker,  of  Guernsey  countj'.  By  this  marriage 
he  has  had  eight  children :  Quincy  Ann,  deceased ; 
Eliza  Jane,  deceased;  Sarah  (Gaumer),  John, 
Mary,  Martha,  George  B.  and  William  Baxter.  . 

PHILLIPS  JOHN  L.,  Washington  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Wakatomaka;  born  in  1813,  in 
Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  canae  to  this 
county  with  his  father,  in  1815,  who  was  born  in 
1781,  in  the  same  county.  He  was  married,  in 
1812,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Larr,  of  the  same  county, 
who  was  born  in  1792.  He  died  in  1863.  She 
died  in  1874.  They  were  the  parents  of  ten  chil- 
dren, the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  oldest. 
He  was  married,  in  1836,  to  Miss  Eliza  J.  Stevens, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1816.  She  died 
in  1876.  They  were  the  parents  of  eleven  chil- 
dren two  of  whom,  Jonathan  and  William,  were 
members  of  the  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I.  William  was 
a  prisoner  for  over  eighteen  months.  Both  were 
in  the  service  three  years. 

PHILLIPS  GEORGE  N.,  Washington  town- 
ship; farmer;  postofflee,  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in 
1846,  in  this  county.  His  father  was  born  in  1790, 
in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  mar- 
ried, in  1813,  to  Miss  Mary  Tharp,  of  the  same 
county.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1814.  She 
died,  and  he  afterward  married  Miss  Elizabeth 
Crumley,  of  Harrison  county,  who  was  born  in 
1804.  They  were  the  parents  of  five  children, 
viz :  Susannah,  Sarah,  Rachel,  Eli  and  the  subject 
of  this  sketch. 

PHILLIPS  RICHARD,  Adams  township; 
■farmer;  postofiice,  Evansburgh;  born  in  Cayuga 
county,  New  York,  September  18,1820;  son  of 
Elijah  and  Keziah  (Smith)  Phillips,  and  grand- 
son of  Richard  and  Francina  Phillips.  He 
came  from  New  York  in  1838,  located  in  Lafay- 
ette township,  remained  there  fifteen  years,  then 
moved  to  Adams  township,  where  he  has  been  a 
resident  since,  on  a  farm  of  about  200  acres,  one 
and  three-quarter  miles  north  of  Evansburgh. 
He  was  married  January  26,  1846,  to  Miss  Nancy 
Miller,  daughter  of  Francis  and  Nancy  (Wiggins) 
Miller,  and  granddaughter  of  George  Miller.  She 
died  November  10,  1856.  This  union  was  blessed 
with  three  children,  viz:  Thomas,  born  August 
19,  1848,  deceased  April  2,  1880;  George  H.,born 
^December  6,  I860,  and  Emilv,  born  May  12,  1854. 
He  married  March  80,  1865,  Miss  Elizabeth  Cut- 
shall,  who  became  the  parents  of  the  following 
children,  viz  :  Elijah,  born  June  29,  1868 ;  Elsie, 
born  July  1,  1870;  Richard,  born  November  19, 
1872 ;  Robert,  born  October  1, 1874,  and  Jessie, 
born  July  1,  1876. 

PHILLIPS  WILLIAM,  Keene  township;  farm- 


er; born  August  12, 1851,  in  Coshocton  county; 
son  of  Bailey  and  Nancy  (Croi)  Phillips,  and 
grandson  of  Bailey  and  Anna  (Frazy)  Phillips, 
and  of  Duncan  and  Sallie  (Morrison)  Croi.  He 
was  married  to  Mary  E.  Evans,  October  12,  1875, 
who  was  born  November  16,  1858,  daughter  of 
Alexander  and  Mahala  (Cochran)  Evans.  Mr. 
Phillips  worked  at  the  carpenter  trade  about  five 
years.  Their  children  were  Amanda  J.,  born 
September  13, 1877,  and  Laura  C,  born  February 
15,  1879.       , 

PHILLIPS  JOSEPH,  Monroe  township;  bom 
January  1, 1830,  in  Alsace,  France ;  son  of  Joseph 
and  Eva  R.  (Strauser)  Phillips,  and  grandson  of 
Anthony  Phillips,  and  of  Odle  Strauser.  While 
he  was  very  young  his  parents  brought  him  to 
Ameri<'a  and  settled  in  Erie  count}'.  New  York, 
where  they  lived  ten  years,  and  then  came  to 
Holmes  county,  Ohio,  where  his  parents  died. 
He  was  married  to  Mary  Winkley,  February  2, 
1S62,  who  was  born  in  Lancashire,  England,  De- 
cember 17, 1841,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Cath- 
arine (Robison)  Winkley,  and  granddaughter  of 
William  and  Mary  (Womsley)  Robison.  Their 
children  are :  Albert,  born  January  16,  1863;  Jo- 
seph E.,  born  April  29, 1865;  Japies  W.,  born  De- 
cember 26,  1870;  Rosella,  born  August  22,  1875, 
and  Flora,  born  April  14,  1872. 

PHILLABAUM  ALEXANDER,  White  Eyes 
township ;  farmer ;  born  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  December,  1838.  He  is  the  son  of 
George  Phillabaum,  who  came  to  this  township 
about  1844.  His  father  was  married  to  Miss  Sa- 
rah Miller  of  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  they  became  the  parents  of  eight  children. 
Alexander  remained  at  home  until  he  was  mar- 
ried, which  was  in  1867,  to  Miss  Magnolia  Geese, 
daughter  of  Christopher  Geese,  who  was  born  in 
1849  in  this  county.  He  has  a  family  of  six  chil- 
dren, viz :  Manda,  Sarah  B.,  Victoria,  Emma  J., 
George,  and  Mary.  Mrs.  JPhillabaum  died  De- 
cember 28,  1877,  aged  twenty-eight  years,  and  is 
buried  at  Kimbles.  He  moved  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides  in  1868.  He  has  served  as 
treasurer  of  White  Eyes  township  six  times,  and 
holds  that  office  now. 

PHABION  JOHN,  Coshocton;  blacksmith; 
was  born  February  15,  1829,  in  Wurtemberg, 
Germany ;  son  of  Martin  Pharion.  John  attend- 
ed school  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age, 
then  was  apprenticed  three  years,  and  after 
completing  his  apprenticeship  he  worked  in 
several  countries  of  Europe.  In  1850  he  caine 
to  America  and  first  worked  at  Williamsport,  in 
New  York;  he  also  worked  at  several  other 
places  in  the  same  state.  In  1855  he  settled  in 
this  city  and  opened  shop  at  the  corner  of  Lo- 
cust and  Second  streets,  where  he  still  remains. 
He  and  his  son,  John  G.,  are  doing  good,  active 


764 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


business  in  general  smitliing,  repairing  and 
shoeing.  Mr.  Pharion  was  married  July  18, 
•  1864,  to  Miss  Mary  Shutzly,  daughter  of  Conrad 
Shutzly,  of  New  York  State.  The  result  of  this 
marriage  was  seven  children,  two  having  died, 
viz :  Annie  and  Charles ;  the  five  living  children 
are  John  G.,  Mary,  Catherine,  George  and  Maro 
Allen.  John  G.  was  married  December  31,  1878, 
to  IMiss  Barbara  Doll,  daughter  of  John  Doll,  de- 
ceased, formerly  of  Clinton  township.  The  re- 
sult of  this  union  has  been  blessed  with  one 
child,  a  daughter,  Annie. 

PICKRELL  J.  M.,  Jackson  township ;  post- 
office,  Roscoe;  born  in  Virginia,  Hanover  county; 
settled  in  this  countj'  in  1847  ;  son  of  James  and 
Mary  A.  Pickrell,  and  grandson  of  Kelley  and 
Francis  Pickrell,  and  of  William  S.  and  Sarah 
Smedley.  Married  December  27,  1846,  to  Al- 
meda  Bailey,  daughter  of  James  and  Nancy  Bai- 
ley. Mr.  Pickrell  is  the  father  of  twelve  children, 
nine  of  whom  are  still  living,  viz:  F.  M.,  J.  M., 
H.  B.,  Alpheus,  Arnold,  G.  B.  Mc,  John  M.,  Fran- 
cis R.,  Sarah  E. 

PICKRELL  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township; 
Roscoe  postoffice ;  born  in  Virginia,  in  1820 ;  set- 
tled in  this  county  in  1852;  son  of  James  and 
Mary  Pickrell;  married  in  1848,  to  Sarah 
Stephens,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Stephens ; 
died  in  1876.  Mr.  Pickrell  is  the  father  of  seven 
children,  viz:  John,  Josephine,  S.  P.,  Marrow, 
Albert,  Shrighley,  and  William  J. 

PINE  A.  T.,  Pike  township;  saddler;  born  in 
1824,  in  Guernsey  county ;  came  to  this  county 
in  1829.  He  was  married,  in  1845,  to  Mary  A. 
Donaker,  of  Muskingum  county,  who  was  born 
in  1824,  in  that  county.  They  are  the  parents  of 
eight  living  children;  Margaret  J.,  Cochran,  A. 
W.  Pine,  James  C.,.  Edmund  L.,  Charles  L., 
French  W.,  Laura  B.  and  Anna  M.  He  has  been 
in  the  business  for  twenty-one  years  in  this 
place. 

PIGMAN  JAMES  H.,  Bedford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Warsaw;  born  in  1835,  in 
Knox  county;  came  to  this  county  with  his 
father,  who  was  born  in  1793,  in'  Maryland. 
His  father  came  in  1810,  and  was  married,  in 
1821,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Hooker,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1805,  in  Maryland.  They 
moved  to  Knox  county  in  1824.  He  died  in 
1867,  They  were  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  eighth.  He 
was  married,  in  1865,  to  Miss  Lorinda  Jackson, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  in,  1844.  They  are 
the  parents  of  eight  children,  viz:  Joseph  E., 
WiUiam  C,  Dora^B.,  Minnie,  Milton  0 ,  Ward, 
Clara  M.  and  Charlie. 

PIGMAN  WILLIAM  H.,  Bedford  township; 
farmer-;  postoffice,  West  Carlisle;  born  in  1832, 


in  this  county.  His  father,  James  W.  Pigman, 
was  born  in  1808,  in  Maryland.  Came  to  this 
county  in  1814,  and  was  married  in  1826,  to  Miss 
Rachel  Hooker,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1807,  in  Maryland.  He  died  in  1869.  They  were 
the  parents  of  six  children,  William  being  the 
second.  He  was  married  in  1864,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Lynch,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1886,  and 
died  in  1865.  They  were  the  parents  of  seven 
children.  His  second  marriage  was  in  1866,  to 
Mrs.  Billman,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1836.    They  are  the  parents  of  one  child. 

PIGMAN  BEN,  Perry  township-;  New  Guilford 
postoffice ;  born  in  Perry  township,  this  county, 
in  1839 ;  son  of  J.  W.  and  Rachel  (Hooker)  Pig- 
man,  and  grandson  of  Joseph  and  Ruth  Pigman. 
Mr.  Pigman  has  been  twice  married ;  first  to  Miss 
Mary  E.  Crowther,  who  became  the  mother  of 
two  children:  Miles  H.,  Flawra  M.  In  1871  Mr. 
Pigman  married  Miss  Hannah  Botts,  daughter  of 
Morgan  and  Drucilla  Botts,  who  are  the  parents 
of  five  children,  viz :  H.  B.,  Frank,  J.  W.,  Susan, 
and  one  unnamed.  Mr.  Pigman  is  at  present 
serving  his  second  year  as  justice  of  the  peace  of 
Perry  township. 

PL  ATT  MAJOR  THOMAS  J.,  Linton  town- 
ship ;  merchant  in  Plainfield ;  born  in  Plainfield 
December  16,  1840;  son  of  Thomas  and  Eliza 
(Harbison)  Piatt,  whose  children  are  Allen  H.,. 
Mary  J.  (Smith),  Thomas  J.,  John  P  ,  Robert  V., 
Joseph  H.,  Agnes  (Vickers),  and  Isabel  (Norris), 
His  grandparents,  Robert  and  Margaret  (Parker) 
Piatt,  were  of  Irish  birth.  His  grandfather, 
Robert  Harbison,  moved  to  Linton  township 
from  Baltimore  in  1830.  In  1857  he  entered  the 
store  of  Jefferson  &  Co.,  at  Thornville,  Ohio,  and- 
remained  there  till  he  entered  the  army.  His 
father,  himself  and  three  brothers  (all  who  were 
old  enough)  were  in  the  war  at  one  time.  Mr. 
Piatt  enlisted  April  21, 1861,  in  Company  F,  Sev- 
enteenth 0.  V.  I.,  for  the  three  months  service ; 
and  re-enlisted  for  three  years  October  11,  1861, 
in  Company  D,  Sixty-second  0.  V.  I.,  was  appoint- 
ed first  sergeant  November  16,  1861,  and  was 
with  his  regiment  at  the  battle  of  Winchester, 
Virginia,  March  28, 1862 ;  at  Harrison's  Landing 
July  10,  1862;  and  for  meritorious  conduct  he 
was  promoted  to  second  lieutenant  of  his  compa- 
ny July  13,  1863;  and  was  commissioned  first 
lieutenant  at  Morris  island.  South  Carolina.  His 
regiment  took  an  active  part  in  the  assault  on 
Fort  Wagner,  its  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
amounting  to  about  seventy-five.  He  became 
captain  of  his  company  October  24, 1863,  and  was 
at  the  taking  of  Fort  Gregg  and  tlie  siege  of 
Charleston  ;  was  commissioned  and  mustered  as 
major  of  his  regiment  in  front  of  Richmond, 
Virginia,  December  26,  1864,  and  was  in  active 
service  during  all  the  campaign  before  Richmond 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


765 


and  Petersburg,  and  at  Lee's  surrender;  was 
■commissioned  lieutenant  colonel  June  16,  1864, 
but  not  having  the  complement  of  men  required 
by  army  regulation,  could  not  be  mustered  to  ac- 
cept the  rank.  By  an  order  from  the  war  de- 
partment, August  1,  1865,  the  Sixty-second  and 
•Sixty-seventh  Ohio  regiments  were  consolidated, 
the  Sixty-second  losing  its  identity ;  and  all  sur- 
plus officers  of  both  regiments  were  mustered 
out  of  service.  He  was  reta,ined  as  the  major  of 
the  Sixty-seventh  0.  V.  L,  and  was  mustered  out 
with  the  regiment  December  7,  1865.  Upon  his 
return  he  formed  a  mercantile  partnership  at 
Plainfield  with  David  Brelsford,  and  retired  April 
1868 ;  was  on  the  road  one  year  for  Jewett  &  Co., 
of  Newark;  then  purchased  remnant  of  stock 
Tselonging  to  Jonathan  Wiggins,  and  has  con- 
ducted a  successful  business  since.  Married 
June,  1867,  to  Miss  Ella  C,  daughter  of  Charles 
F.  Sangster,  and  has  three  children — Harry  C, 
Anna  S.,  and  Nellie  Lee. 

PLATT  EGBERT  V.,  Linton  township  ;  born 
July  8,  1848,  in  Linton  township ;  son  of  Thomas 
and  Ann  Eliza  (Harbison)  Piatt.  At  the  age  of 
thirteen  he  began  working  on  the  farm  of  Thomas 
Dwyer,  of  Lafayette  township,  and  when  Dvvyer 
sold  out  to  Colmer  Bell  in  1863,  continued  on  the 
farm  with  him  until  May,  1864,  then,  though  not 
.  yet  sixteen,  volunteered  in  Company  G,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-third  O.  N.  G.,  and  served 
the  United  States  six  months  on  James  river. 
Upon  his  return  he  attended  school  in  Lafayette 
till  1867,  then  went  west  to  Caldwell  county, 
Missouri,  engaging  in  farming  pursuits  for  three 
years,  and,  subsequently,  merchandising  for  A. 
K.  Bell,  in  Lathrop,  Missouri,  one  year.  He  then 
went  with  Bell  and  Woodraansee  to  Cawker  city, 
Kansas,  as  salesman,  and  remained  till  they 
■closed  their  business,  three  months  later.  He 
returned  to  Missouri,  and,  in  the  spring  of  1872, 
came  back  to  Plainfield.  He  has  since  been  a 
salesman  here  in  the  store  of  his  brother,  T.  J. 
Piatt.  He  was  married  April,  1875,  to  Miss  Eva, 
•daughter  of  J.  B.  Parker,  and  has  one  child — 
Emmet  P. 

PLATTE  H.  W.,  agent;  was  born  March  23, 
1848,  in  Linton  township;  son  of  James  Platte, 
American  born.  H.  W.  was  raised  on  the  farm 
where  he  remained  until  about  twenty-five  years 
of  age,  when  for  four  years  he  worked  at  the 
carpenter  trade,  then  went  into  the  coal  business, 
in  which  he  is  engaged  at  present. 

PLOWMAN  JANE,  Jefferson  township;  daugh- 
ter of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Rodehaver)  Butler, 
and  granddaughter  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth 
(Severns)  Butler;  was  married  July  19,  1849,  to 
Mr.  William  H.  Plowman,  son  of  Jonathan  and 
Catharine  (Spencer)  Plowman.  He  was  born 
October  28, 1828,  in  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania,  died 


February  28,  1861,  in  Walhonding,  where  he  had 
been  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business.  Mrs. 
Plowman  is  of  English  and  German  descent. 
Her  father  was  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  1812.  She 
is  the  mother  of  five  children,  viz :  Mary  E.,born 
May  19,  1850,  died  February  20,  1850;  Juhette, 
born  January  o,  1852;  Jennette,  born  October  19, 
1857 ;  Elnora,  born  April  20,  1855,  died  Septem- 
ber 12,  1855,  and  Frank  W.,  born  March  20,  1859,. 
died  March  4,  1870.  The  mother  and  her  two 
daughters  are  milliners  and  dressmakers,  doing 
a  prosperous  business.  They  are  proprietresses 
of  the  Sherman  House,  in  Warsaw,  Coshoc*on 
county,  conceded  to  be  an  excellent  hotel. 

PORTER  JOSEPH  W.,  Bedford  township; 
farmer ;  postofflce,  Warsaw  ;  born  in  1813,  in  Jef- 
ferson county,  Ohio,  and  was  married  in  1842,  to 
Miss  Mary  Dean,  of  that  county,  who  was  born  in 
1817.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1848.  She 
died  in  1865.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  chil- 
dren, viz :  Curtis,  deceased ;  Mary  J.,  Elizabeth  A., 
Hannah ;  Margaret  M.,  deceased,  and  Vilda.  The 
last  named  was  married  in  1873,  to  Albert  Saurs, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1847,  in  Pitts-  ■ 
burgh.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children, 
viz:  Curtis,  William,  Dennis  and  Mary  Pearl. 
Vilda  and  her  husband  live  on  the  home  farm. 

PORTER  WILLIAM,  Keene  township;  farm- 
er ;  born  March  5, 1824,  in  Jefferson  county ;  son 
of  John  and  Margaret  (Dinsmore)  Porter,  and 
grandson  of  William  Dinsmore.  Mr.  Porter  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm  and  remained  in  his  native 
county  until  thirty  years  old ;  he  then  came  to 
Coshocton  county,  and  has  here  been  engaged  in 
farming  and  stock  raising,  and  now  owns  a  farm 
of  300  acres,  which  he  has  acquired  by  intelligent 
work  and  careful  management.  He  was  married 
February  20,  1852,  in  Jefferson'  county,  to  Miss 
Eliza  J.  Stark,  who  was  born  Septemer  29, 1827, 
daughter  of  James  and  Elizabeth  (McGee)  Stark, 
and  granddaughter  of  James  and  Elizabeth  Mc- 
Gee, who  were  natives  of  Scotland.  His  children 
are  Curtis  C,  born  February  12, 1853  ;  Frank  H., 
November  18,  1854 ;  Wiley  B.,  March  31, 1857 ; 
Mary,  September  11,1859;  Benton,  June  26, 1862; 
Ross,  August  11,  1864,  and  Ed.,  September  17, 
1866. 

POWELL  THEODORE,  Adams  township; 
postoffiioe,  Evansburgh;  farmer;  born  in  Adams 
township,  October  23,1855;  son  of  Thomas  H.  and 
Mary  (Starker)  Powell,  and  grandson  of  Thomas 
and  Henrietta  (Howells)  Powell,  and  of  John 
Starker.  He  attended  school  at  Xenia  and  New 
Market,  and  is  an  energetic  young  man.  He  was 
married  September  24,  1879,  to  Miss  Nora  Emer- 
son, daughter  of  Henry  and  Ann  (Norris)  Emer- 
son, and  granddaughter  of  Timothy  and  Nora 
(Preston)  Emerson,  and  of  William  Norris.  Mr. 
Powell's  father  and  mother  are  still  living.    His 


766 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


father  was  born  in  Herefordehire,  England,  May 
7,1809;  came  to  America  in  1817,  landing  in  New 
York;  from  there  went  to  Eichmond,  Virginia, 
rented  a  farm  near  there,  and  remained  there 
several  j-ears;  then  moved  to  Steubenville,  and 
after  remaining  there  a  short  time  he  came  to 
Adams  township,  Coshocton  county,  where  he 
has  remained  ever  since.  He  was  married  in 
1830,  to  Miss  Mary  Starker,  daughter  of  John 
Starker.  She  was  born  January  17,  1814.  They 
are  the  parents  of  nine  children,  six  of  w"hom  are 
living,  viz:  Edwin,  David,  Charles,  Wellington, 
Theodore  and  Louisa. 

POWELL   F.  W.,  Adams  township;  farmer; 

gostoffice,  Evansburgh;  born  in  Adams  township, 
oshocton  county,  Ohio,  June  30,  1828;  son  of 
Thomas  and  Henrietta  (Howells)  Powell,  and 
grandson  of  William  Powell  and  Henry  Howells, 
who,  came  to  this  country  on  a  visit  soon  after  the 
revolution,  and,  on  his  return  to  England,  tried 
to  induce  his  wife  to  nrove  to  America,  but  she 
would  not  come.  Mr.  Powell  is  cousin  to  Wil- 
liam C.  Howells,  of  Ashtabula  county,  and  has 
^  always  been  a  farmer.  He  was  one  time  engaged 
in  mercantile  business  in  Orange.  He  has  been 
elected  to  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  three 
times,  and  has  also  filled  the  offices  of  clerk  and 
treasurer  of  the  township.  He  lives  on  a  farm  of 
640  acres,  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Adams  town- 
(  ship.  Mr.  Powell  was  married,  October  13,  1852, 
to  Miss  Margaret  Leach,  daughter  of  Archibald 
and  Sarah  Ferguson.  She  was  born  June  29, 
1826.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz: 
Caroline  L.,  John  T.  F.,  Francis  J.  and  Sarah  H. 
He  was  first  a  free  soil  or  anti-slavery  man,  and 
voted  that  ticket  when  there  yere  but  four  or 
five  in  the  township,  but  is  now  a  Eepublican. 
Had  at  one  time,i  during  the  rebellion,  fifteen 
nephejvs  in  the  United  States  army,  five  of  whom 
lost  their  hves. 

POWELL  EDWIN,  White  Eyes  township; 
faimer  ;  born  September  3, 3843;  sen  of  Thomas 
H.  and  Margaret  (Howell)  PoT\'ell,  who  were  na- 
tives of  England.  Edwin  Powell's  heme  was  a 
depot  on  the  "underground  railroad,"  and  he 
was  his  father's  principal  help  in  assisting  the 
coloreel  emigrants  from  a  land  of  bondage  to 
freedom.  His  falher  was  a  strong  union  man 
and  abolitionist,  his  son  inherited  Ihe  same  prin- 
ciples, and  when  the  war  broke  out  he  manifested 
his  patriotism  by  going  to  the  front  in  the  de- 
fense of  his  country.  He  enlisted  August  13, 
1861,  when  hut  eighteen  years  of  age,  in  Company 
G,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  0.  V.  I,  Sec- 
ond Brigade,  Third  Division  and  Sixth  Corps. 
He  was  taken  prisoner  at  Winchester,  June  15, 
1863,  confined  at  Belle  Island  and  Libby,  and  was 
paroled  October  1, 1863.  After  he  was  captured 
at  Winchester  he,  with  some  other  prisoners, 
were  marched  ninety  miles  to  Staunton,  guarded 


by  a  detachment  of  rebel  cavalry  who  had  seen 
service  in  the  front.  They  treated  the  prisoners 
very  kindly,  and  when  they  reached  Staunton, 
where  the  prisoners  took  the  railroad  for  Eich- 
mond, the  rebels  warned  them  that  they  would 
receive  rough  usage«from  the  "Home  Guard  "  at 
Eichmond,  whom  they  characterized  as  cowardly 
wretches. 

He  was  ni  ordinary  health,  when  captured,  but 
was  treated  so  badly,  -nhile  in  prison, that  he  was 
nothing  but  a  wreck  when  released ;  he  weighed 
but  ninety  pounds,  an  average  weight,  when  in 
good  health,  being  about  145  pounds.  Eations 
were  issued  twice  a  day,  and  were  of  an  inferior 
quality,  consisting  of  bean  soup  and  mule 
meat.  They  were  so  nearly  starved,  at  one  time, 
that  he  and  some  others  killed  the  lieutenant's 
dog,  and  eat  it.  This  was  thought  to  deserve  se- 
vere punishment,  and  the  authorities  refused  to 
issue  rations  until  the  name  of  him  who  had 
killed  the  dog  was  revealed.  At  the  end  of  two 
days,  their  craving  for  food  was  so  great  that 
they  gave  up  the  guilty  Yank,  and  he  was 
bucked  and  gagged,  and  left  in  that  condition  for 
twenty-four  hours.  The  rebels  rifled  Mr.  Powell's 
pockets,  when  he  entered  Belle  Island,  and 
again  in  Libby,  and  took  everything  of  value  he 
had  about  him,  except  |26  he  had  concealed  in  his 
cap;  one  ten-dollar  bill  he  had  chewed  up,  and 
put  in  a  blouse-button,  and  a  twenty-dollar  bill, 
concealed  in  the  same  way,  in  another  button. 

The  prison  discipline  was  arbitrary  and  strict, 
and  new  prisoners  who  were  but  little  acquaint- 
ed with  lhe  regulations  would  sometimes  step 
across  the  dead  line,  and  all  such  were  shot  with- 
out ceremony.  Some  one  was  shot  nearly  every 
day,  and  the  boys  .believed  that  the  guard  was 
promised  a  furlough  for  every  Yankee  he  shot. 
The  apartments  and  clothes  of  Mr.  Powell  and 
his  feUow-prisoners  were  allowed  to  become  so 
filthy  that  they  were  compelled  to  fight  the  gray- 
backs  whole  days  at  a  time  until  they  were 
covered  with  blood.  He  entered  the  service  as 
a  private,  was  made  third  corporal  and  was  pro- 
moted to  fifth  duty  seargent.  He  served  till  the 
close  of  the  war,  was  mustered  out  at  Baily's 
Cross  Eoads,  near  Washington,  June,  1665,  and 
was  discharged  at  Columbus.  His  regiment  was 
in  over  eighty  engagements.  While  at  Win- 
chester he  was  visited  by  his  mother,  who  was 
taken  prisoner  with  him,  and  she  was  put  in 
Castle  Thunder.  (See  Thomas  H.  Powell's 
sketch).  After  the  war  he  lived  at  home  with 
his  parents  until  1869,  when  he  went  to  Inde- 
pendence, Montgomery  county,  Kansas,  and 
entered  160  acres  of  land.  He  lived  on  it  two 
years,  returned  to  White  Eyes,  and  traded  his 
Kansas  land  for  a  large  farm  in  White  Eyes,  on 
which  he  now  resides.  His  firstvote  was  cast  for 
Abraham  Lincoln,  while  in  the  Shenandoah  valley. 


BIOGEAPHICAL   SKETCHES. 


767 


POWELL  THOMAS  H.,  Adams  township; 
farmer;  born  in  1809, in  Herefordshire,  England; 
son  of  Thomas  J.  Powell  and  Henrietta  (Howell) 
Powell,  who  were  natives  of  England,  and  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States  in  1817.  The  father 
of  Thomas  J.  Powell  was  steward  to  Lord  Ox- 
ford, and  'his  father-in-law  was  engaged  extens- 
ively in  the  manufacture  of  woolen  goods,  and 
was  induced  to  come  to  the  United  States  by 
Genera!  Washington,  and  establish  a  factory  in 
New  England.  Thomas  J.  followed  the  mercan- 
tile business  for  a  few  years  and  brought  a  part 
of  his  stock  of  goods  with  him  when  he  came  to 
this  country. 

He  landed  with  his  family  at  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia, where  he  sold  his  goods  and  rented  a  farm 
of  Mrs.  Haganbottom,  on  the  James  river,  seven 
miles  below  Richmond.  Work  on  the  farm  was 
performed  by  slave  labor,  he  having  rented  a 
number  of  slaves  with  the  farm.  One  of  the  Ran- 
dolphs, who  belonged  to  the  Randolph  family  of 
revolutionary  fame,  was  Mrs.  Haganbottom's  son- 
in-law,  and  was- on  terms  of  social  intimacy  with 
the  Powell  family.  In  1818,  after  living  there 
thirteen  months,  he  moved  to  Steuben ville,  Ohio. 
His  treatment  of  the  slaves  was  the  same  he  had 
given  his  white  servants  in  England,  and  when 
h^  left  for  Ohio,  the  slaves  bid  their  old  master 
and  mistress  a  very  affectionate  farewell,  and 
said,  "  God  bless  you  master  and  mistress,  we 
shall  never  forget  you."  He  brought  with  him 
from  the  old  country  about  130,000,  but  lived  ex- 
travagantly while  in  Virginia,  and  had  but  little 
when  he  came  to  Steubenville. 

He  rented  a  farm  on  the  Mingo  bottoms,  in 
Jefferson  county,  and  hired  a  man  to  teach  him 
to  farm.  While  there  a  disastrous  fire  consumed 
nearly  everything  they  had.  After  this  misfor- 
tune he  thought  of  going  to  Canada,  but  Camp- 
bell induced  him  to  take  a  seven-years  lease  on 
his  farm  in  Adams  township.  He  visited  his 
prospective  home  in  Adams  township  during  the 
winter,  and  on  his  return  to  his  family,  reported 
that  the  people  in  Coshocton  would  not  make 
very  desirable  neighbors;  that  they  were  rough, 
and  some  were  half  naked  and  ran  wild  in  the 
woods. 

In  the  spring  of  1820  he  brought  his  family 
out,  and  stopped  for  a  while  with  Judge  Evans, 
of  Oxford  township,  ■nho  treated  them  very 
kindly,  and  the  judge  and  his  boys  helped  them 
get  their  cattle  and  things  across  the  river,  which 
was  swollen.  They  reached  the  Campbell  farm 
in  safety  and  in  time  for  the  spring  work.  The 
cabin  on  the  Campbell  farm,  put  up  by  Colwell, 
was  the  first  cabin  built  in  Adams  township. 
The  door  was  so  low  that  they  had  to  stoop  to 
enter  it.  Pie  being  unused  to  manual  labor, 
without  money,  on  a  farm  nearly  all  in  woods, 
with  neighbors  few  and  far  between,  his  new- 


made  friends  in  Coshocton  county  expressed 
fears  that  the  English  folks  would  starve.  His 
fine  library  that  he  had  brought  with  him  to 
Steubenville,  he  traded  for  a  flock  of  sheep. 

Mrs.  Powell  exchanged  her  chinaware  for  nec- 
essaries, and  gave  a  neighbor  woman  a  fine  silk 
shawl  to  learn  her  how  to  milk.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  his  lease  of  the  Campbell  farm,  Mr.  Powell 
was  in  still  more  straightened  circumstances  than 
when  he  came  to  the  county.  He  next  took  a 
contract  on  the  Ohio  canal,  and  engaged  a  farm 
ill  Jefferson  county,  and  desired  to  go  there  where 
his  family  could  enjoy  better  educational  facil- 
ities, but  his  family  prevailed  on  him  to  stay  here. 
He  went  to  England  that  summer  and  sold  a  life 
estate  his  oldest  son,  Thomas  H.,  had  in  some 
land  there,  returned  and  purchased  1,080  acres 
in  Adams,  where  his  sons,  Thomas  H.  and  Wash- 
ington now  reside.  He  met  with  better  success 
on  his  own  land,  become  wealthy  and  retired  to 
Bakersville,  where  he  died. 

Thomas  H.Powell  married  Mary  Ann  Starker,  a 
daughter  of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers,  whose  par- 
ents were  natives  of  New  Jersey.  He  was  in  part- 
nership with  Watkins  in  the  mercantile  business 
at  Evansburgh  for  three  years,  then  moved  on  to 
a  farm,  where  he  how  resides.  In  1849  he  joined 
the  M.  E.  church  and  imbibed  Abolition  princi- 
ples. His  home  was  a,  depot  on  the "  under- 
ground railroad,"  and  he  and  his  family  assisted 
hundreds,  and  perhaps  thousands,  of  slaves  to- 
freedom.  He  continued  in  the  good  work  for 
twenty-five  years  or  more,  notwithstanding  the 
censure  and  threats  of  the  opposing  political 
party.  Some  of  his  enemies  charged  that  he 
built  his  store-house  with  the  profits  derived 
from  his  connection  with  the  underground  rail- 
road, but  instead  of  being  profitable  it  was  a  great  ^ 
expense.  Jlinisters  thought  he  was  doing  very ' 
wrong,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  aban- 
don it,  but  he  met  them  with  the  abolition  argu- 
ments, and  told  them  that  he  was  willing  to  eri- 
dure  abuse  and  hatred,  for  he  felt  confident  that 
he  was  doing  right,  and  that  future  events  would 
justify  him  in  the  minds  of  all  men. 

His  children  are  Edwin,  David,  Wellington, 
Charles,  Theodore,  Louisa  and  Elizabeth.  Eliza- 
beth is  dead,  and  all  are  married  but  Edwin  and 
Charles.  Enwin  was  a.  soldier  in  the  late  war  ; 
enlisted  in  1861,  in  his  eighteenth  year,  in  Com- 
pany G,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  0.  V. 
I,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
taken  prisoner  at  Winchester,  got  sick,  and  his 
mother  visited  him,  and  took  care  of  him  for  a 
while;  but,  while  there,  the  enemy  took  Win- 
chester, carried  off  Mrs  IPowell  and  her  compan- 
ion, Leah  Brown,  and  imprisoned  them  in  Castle 
Thunder.  Mrs  Powell  was  not  heard  from  for 
nine  weeks,  and  her  husband  and  friends  in  the 
North  feared  that  she  had  declared  her  union  and 


768 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


abolition  principles,  and  that  she  had  been  sum- 
marily dealt  with  by  the  enemy. 

J'OWELSON  VALENTINE,  Linton  township; 
farmer ;  born  December  2, 1812,  in  Linton  town- 
ship ;  son  of  Conrad  and  Katie  (Johnson)  Powel- 
son,  who  came  from  Hampshire  county,  Virginia, 
in  1808,  and  lived  in  Franklin  township,  on  the 
Bobinson  section,  till  1811,  when  they  came  to 
Linton  township.  Mr.  Powelson  was  married  in 
1841,  to  Ellen  Thrapp,  daughter  of  Joseph  and 
Jemima  (Campen)  Thrapp.  Five  of  their  nine 
<!hildren  survive:  Erastus  N.,  Alfred  Playfair, 
Valentine  P.,  Joseph  Thrapp  and  Morgan  Evart. 

POWELSON  JACOB,  Coshocton,  Ohio ;  ■  was 
born  July  10,  1818,  in  Linton  township ;  son  of 
Xewis  and  Rachel  (Powenel)  Powelson,  of  Ger- 
man ancestors.  Lewis,  named  above,  came  to 
Linton  township  from  Virginia  about  the  year 
1817.  He  had  an  extensive  experience  in  pioneer 
life,  having  spent  many  a  day  among  the  wild  Li- 
dians  of  Virginia  and  Ohio.  He  was  a  skilled 
huntsman  in  the  chase  for  deer,  wolves  and  bear. 
Jacob  Powelson,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  followed  agriculture 
until  within  the  last  three  years,  when  he  retired 
from  hard  labor,  and  now  has  only  a  general  su- 
pervision of  his  farm.  He  came  to  this  city,  his 
present  residence,  in  1869.  Mr.  Powelson  was 
married  February  22,  1842,  to  JNIiss  Eliza,  daugh- 
ter of  Robert  and  Amelia  (Cook)  West.  They 
are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  Lavina, 
Raigon,  Anderson,  Elmira,  Thomas,  Perry  and 
Rachel. 

POCOCK  COLONEL  E.  J.,  Coshocton;  mer- 
chant, of  the  firm  of  Pocock  &  Sons,  general  dry 
goods,  shoes  and  groceries;  was  born  June  21, 
1843,  in  Keene ;  son  of  Joshua  Pocock,  American 
born.  E.  J.  Pocock  was  raised  on  the  farm, 
where  he  remained  until  Septeinber  11,  1861, 
when  he  enlisted  in  Company  H,  Fifty -first  O. 
'\'.  I.,  and  served  nearly  four  years.  During  his 
term  of  service  he  was  commissioned  second 
lieutenant,  first  lieutenant,  and  served  on  the 
■Staff'  of  the  commanding  officers  of  the  Second 
Brigade,  First  Division,  Fourth  Army  Corps. 
He  was  recently  elected  colonel  Seventeenth 
regiment  0.  N.  G.  In  the  spring  of  1866  Colonel 
Pocock  commenced  merchandising  at  Clark's, 
where  he  remained  until  the  spring  of  1873, 
when  he  came  to  Coshocton  and  formed  the 
present  firm,  which  ranks  among  the  best  in  the 
city.  He  was  married  October  15,  1865,  to  ]\Iiss 
j\[ary  A.  Hunt,  daughter  of  Judge  Hunt,  de- 
ceased, formerly  of  Millersburg,  Holmes  county. 
This  union  was  blessed  Avith  three  children,  viz : 
Carrie  Adelia,  Madeline  W.,  and  Lucy  H. 

POMERENE  J.  C,  Co.shocton;  atttorney:  was 
born  June  27, 1835,  in  Holmes  county,  Ohio ;  son 


of  Julius  Pomerine,  deceased,  is  American  born, 
of  French  and  German  extraction.  He  spent  his 
childhood  and  early  youth  on  a  farm.  At  the 
age  of  seventeen,  he  entered  Mt.  Union  college, 
and  attended  that  institution,  at  different  times, 
during  the  summers,  taught  school  during  the 
winters,  until  he  was  twenty-two  years' old,  when 
he  entered  as  a  student  the  law  office  of  Messrs. 
Hogland  ct  Reed  and  read  one  year.  Then  he 
entered  the  Ohio  State  and  Union  Law  college  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  was  graduated  in  1859.  In 
November,  of  the  same  year,  commenced  the 
practice  of  law  with  Col.  Josiah  Given,  under  the 
firm  name  of  Given  &  Pomerene,  and  continued 
in  said  firm  until  May,  1861,  when  he  conducted 
his  practice  alone.  In  1862  he  formed  a  partner- 
ship with  Benjamin  S.  Lee,  firm  name  Lee  ct 
Pomerene.  In  May,  ISGS,  he  formed  the  present 
partnership,  viz:  Spangler  &  Pomerene.  Mr.' 
Pomerene  was  married  April  8,  1862,  to  Miss 
Irene  Perkey  daughter  of  Dr  John  F.  Perkey,  of 
Hancock  county,  Ohio.  He  is  the  father  of  three 
children,  viz :  William  R.,  Frank  E.  and  Helen. 
Attorney  Pomerene  has  a  wide  reputation  as  an 
able  counsellor  and  as  a  man  of  strict  integrity. 

PRICE  GEORGE  W.,  Crawford  township; 
blacksmith;  postoffice.  New  Bedford;  born  Jan- 
uary 3,  1854,  in  Crawford  township;  son* of 
'Squire  Jonathan  Price ;  raised  on  the  farm,  but 
worked  two  years  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  In 
the  spring  of  1876  he  went  to  his  present  trade. 
Mr.  Price  was  married  in  August,  1874,  to  Miss 
Lucy,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Louisa  (Baad) 
Stroup.  They  have  four  children,  viz :  Mary  E., 
William,  Emma  and  Josephine.  Mr.  Price  is 
one  among  the  good  workmen  of  the  country. 

PRICE  JONATHAN,  Crawford  township; 
farmer  and  carpenter;  postoffice.  New  Bedford, 
Ohio;  was  born  in  Tuscarawas  county,  ]May  31, 
1829;  son  of  Jonathan  and  Margaret  (Deetz) 
Price.  When  about  four  years  of  age  he  came 
to  Coshocton  county,  and  at  eighteen  went  to  the 
carpenter's  trade,  which  he  has  followed  in  con  - 
nection  with  farming  to  the  present  time.  Jlr. 
Price  was  married  in  ^May,  1851,  to  Miss  Mary, 
daughter  of  George  and  Catherine  (Schweitzer) 
Smitli.  Their  children  are :  Jfary  Margaret, 
George  W.;  Jacob,  deceased ;  William  B.,  Sarah 
C,  Henry  E.,  Elizabeth  A.,  Simon  P.,  and  Jona- 
than, Jr.  Mr.  R.  served  two  terms  as  justice  of 
the  peace  (six  years)  of  Crawford  township. 

PRICE  WILLIAM  H.  H.,  deceased;  son  of 
Colonel  William  and  Sarah  (Butler)  Price;  was 
born  December  6,  1817,  in  Preston,  Virginia. 
Mr.  Price  came  to  Coshocton,  this  county,  in  1833. 
From  early  youth  he  was  connected  wilh  a  hotel. 
At  the  time  of  his  death,  he  was  the  oldest  hotel 
proprietor  in  the  State  of  Ohio,  having  been  the 
proprietor  of  a  hotel  for  more  than  thirty  years. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


769 


His  general  reputation  was  that  of  a  genial,  hos- 
pitable landlord.  Held  almost  the  entire  trade 
during  the  long  period  which  he  kept  hotel  in 
Coshocton.  Was  sheriff,  and  was  the  only  sheriff 
that  has  been  elected  in  opposition  to  the  Demo- 
cratic party  in  the  county.  He  was  a- rank  aboli- 
tionist. Was  married,  March  4,  1841,  to  Miss 
Rebecca,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Sydney  (Brown) 
Morrison.  This  union  has  been  blessed  with  five 
children,  viz:  Hellen  M.,  Mary  E.;  Samuel  M., 
present  proprietor  of  Price  House,  one  of  the 
best  hotels  in  the  city;  George  W.  and  Marie 
Louise.    Mr.  Price  died  April  1,  1880. 

PRIWER  REV.  E.  H.  0.,  Crawford  township ; 
]S"ew  Bedford  postoffioe;  pastor  German  Evan- 
gelical Lutheran  churches  of  New  Bedford,  Co- 
shocton county,  and  Good  Hope,  Holmes  county. 
He  was  born  December  12,  1845,  in  Berlin,  Ger- 
many. He  was  educated  at  Herrmansburgh, 
Germany,  and  Capital  University,  Columbus, 
Ohio;  came  to  America  in  1873;  took  his  pres- 
ent and  first  pastorate  in  1876.  He  was  married, 
June  22,  1876,  to  Miss  Augusta,  daughter  of 
Henry  and  Hannah  (Tesset)  Yunge.  This  union 
has  been  blessed  with  two  children :  Josephine 
A.  C.  and  Trangott  0.  H. 

PRESTON  L.  B.,  Perry  township;  postoffice. 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  dealer  ;  born  in 
this  city  in  1847;  son  of  Bernard  and  Mary 
(Westlake)  Preston,  and  grandson  of  Silas  A. 
and  Maria  (Brown)  Preston ;  married,  in  1869, 
to  Miss  Julia  A.  White.  They  are  the  parents 
of  five  children,  viz :  Ora,  J.  W.,  Gibert,  Hays 
and  Edward. 

PRESTON  BERNARD,  Perry  township ;  farm- 
er and  stock  raiser ;  postoffice.  West  Carlisle. 
Mr.  Preston  also  learned  the  harness  and  saddle 
business  in  his  younger  days,  but  has  been  living 
on  the  farm  some  fifteen  years.  He  was  born  in 
Belmont  county,  this  State,  in  1822,  settled  in  this 
\  founty  in  1838;  son  of  Silas  A.  and  Maria  (Brown) 

Preston;  married  in  1844,  to  Miss  Mary  West- 
I  lake,  daughter  of  George  and  Anna  Westlake. 
They  are  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  viz : 
William  W.,  deceased  ;  L.  B.;  John  H.,  deceased ; 
Anna  M.;  James  H.,  deceased;  Silas,  Sarah,  Ada- 
'line,  George,  Bernard,  Charles  B.  and  Albert  D. 
Four  are  married  and  are  living  in  thip  county. 

PY  CELESTIAN,  Monroe  township;  born  Oc- 
tober 20,  182-3,  in  Otsoen,  France;  son  of  Jo- 
seph and  Mary  (Cheney)  Py,  and  grandson  of 
Nicholas  and  Mary  (Dechens)  Py.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  began  the  miller's  trade,  and  followed 
it  for  sixteen  years ;  then  clerked  for  a  railroad 
company  three  years.  In  order  to  get  a  cheap 
home  he  embarked  for  America,  and  settled  in 
Coshocton  county,  where  he  now  has  a  farm  of 
140  acres.    He  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret 


Cartie  in  1855,  daughter  of  Michael  and  Julia 
(Arnold)  Cartie.  Their  children  are  Mary,  born 
August  22,  1860;  Adaline,  March  20,  1863;  Cath- 
arine, September  13, 1866 ;  Victor,  September  13, 
1870,   and  Albert,  July  23,  1873. 

RANDLES  JOHN,  Jackson  township;  postof- 
fice, Roscoe ;  was  born  ilear  Cadiz,  Harrison  coun- 
ty. May  21,  1814.  His  father,  Abram  Randies, 
was  born  in  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  and  in  his 
youth  emigrated  to  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  where, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  married  Elizabeth 
Cheney.  In  March,  1817,  before  John  was  three 
years  old,  his  father  moved  to  Jackson  township, 
Coshocton  county,  settling  about  eight  miles  from 
Coshocton,  on  the  road  leading  to  Mt.  Vernon,  in 
the  midst  of  an  unbroken  wilderness.  On  this 
road  their  nearest  neighbors  were  eight  miles 
distant.  Here  John  was  reared  to  manhood,  en- 
during all  the  privations  incident  to  pioneer  life. 
The  oldest  of  seventeen  children,  he  became  his 
father's  main  support  in  reducing  the  barbarous 
wilds  to  a  civilized  state.  Savage,  howling  wolves 
prowled  about  the  lonely  cabin  at  night,  disturb- 
ing the  sleep  of  the  family.  Deer  and  turkeys 
were  abundant,  and  bears  were  occasionally  seen. 
John  threaded  the  dismal  forests  in  every  direc- 
tion, visiting  every  mill  within  thirty  miles  of 
home.  He  was  married  in  August,  1835,  to  Mary, 
daughter  of  Samuel  Oilman,  of  this  county,  and 
by  this  union  had, six  children,  viz :  Jemima  E. 
(Clark),  Jackson;  Thomas  J.,  deceased;  Nancy 
J.  (Shaw),  William  W.,  and  Hester  A.  (Eckert). 
His  wife  having  died,  he  married,  in  1857,  Jane 
Hornbaker,  who  became  the  mother  of  five  chil- 
dren, viz :  Catharine ;  John  H.,  deceased ;  John 
A.,  Charles  and  Dollie.  Mr.  Randies  lived  on  the 
old  place  till  1850,  when  he  bought  and  moved  to 
a  farm  adjoining  Roscoe.  In  1857  he  moved  to 
Roscoe,  and  has  lived  there  since,  except  five 
years,  1865-70,  spent  in  Coshocton. 

RANDLES  J.  A.,  Bethlehem  township;  farmer; 
son  of  John  Randies ;  was  born  in  1833,  in  this 
county.  He  was  married  in  1860,  to  Miss  Han- 
nah Foster,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1829. 
They  became  the  parents  of  ten  children,  viz: 
Elizabeth,  William,  Jane,  Perlina,  Emiline,  Emer- 
son, Martin,  Cornelius,  Ella,  and  Charles.  Mr. 
Randies  has  always  been  a  resident  of  Bethlehem 
township,  and  has  been  a  successful  farmer,  es- 
teemed by  all  his  neighbors. 

RAMER  JESSE,  Keene  township;  farmer; 
born  November  19,  1820,  in  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship; son  of  Henry  Ramer,  a  sketch  of  whose 
life  is  given  elsewhere.  At  the  age  of  twelve 
years  he  came  with  his  father  to  Keene  town- 
ship and  has  lived  there  since ;  was  married 
Februafiy  22, 1855,  to  Sarah  A.,  daughter  of  Peter 


770 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


and  Dorcas  (Russell)  Ling,  and  granddaughter 
of  Charles  and  jMary  Eussell.  They  had  the 
following  children :  Mary  E.,  born  January  22, 
1856;  George  "W..  (deceased),  born  January  26, 
1858;  John  B.,  (deceased,)  born  April  4,  1860; 
Benjamin  F.,  May  11,  1862;  Emily  D^  May  22, 
1867,  and  Fanny,  (deceased),  November  19,  1870. 

RAMEE  STEPHEN,  Keene  township ;  farmer; 
bom  April  6,  1831,  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio; 
son  of  Henry  Ramer.  He  married  Miss  Margaret 
Wilson  August  11, 1867,  Avho  was  born  August  29, 
1850,  daughter  of  William  P.  and  Olive  (Cortright) 
Wilson,  and  granddaughter  of  John  and  Rebecca 
(Cay)  Wilson,  and  Abrani  and  Margaret  (Dust- 
hammer)  Cortright.  Their  children  were  Olive 
A.,  born  August  6,  1868;  B.  B.,  deceased,  born 
August  25,  1869 ;  Lewis  H.,  born  September  20, 
1870;  Charles  W.,  deceased,  born  November  24, 
1871;  Orley  B.,.borri  September  29,  1873;  Eda, 
deceased,  born  May  29, 1875;  Katie  Blanche,  born 
October  2, 1876 ;  Harly  B.,  deceased,  born  Decem- 
ber 13  ,1877,  and  Jennie  Perlorlo,  born  December 
19,  1878. 

RAMER  HENRY,  Keene  township;  born  May 
17,  1796,  in  Strasburg,  Pennsylvania;  son  of  Adam 
and  Mary  (Lenhart)  Ramer,  and  grandson  of 
Stophle  Lenhart.  He  went  to  Tuscarawas  county, 
Ohio,  in  1806,  and  remained  there  until  1821, 
when  he  came  to  Coshoctan  county  and  located 
where  he  now  resides.  Farming  has  always  been 
his  occupation.  Trie  was  married,  January  3, 
1820,  to  Miss  Catharine  Jones,  born  August  10, 
1800.  They  have  had  the  following  children: 
John,  born  April  10,  1828 ;  Isabelle,  September  8, 
1831;  Stephen,  April  6,  1834;  Emily,  November 
16,  1836;  Thomas,  June  6,  1839;  Catharine,  No- 
vember 20, 1840,  and  Angehne,  October  31,  1842. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Eamer's  first  wife,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Delila  Shinier,  January  1, 1861. 

EAMEE  HENEY  P.,  born  September  1,  1845, 
in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio.  For  ancestry  see  his 
father's  biography  elsewhere.  His  occupation 
is  farming.  He  was  married,  February  29, 
1872,   to  Miss   Nancy   E.   Kent,  who   was   born 

1842,  a  daughter  of   Isaac  and  (Sutten) 

Kent.  They  have  had  the  following  children : 
Ida  A.,  born  December  23,  1872,  and  Lulu  M., 
December  29, 1876. 

EAMEE  JOHN,  Keene  township;  farmer; 
born  in  this  county  April  10,  1828 ;  son  of  Henry 
Earner ;  married  May  7,  1S64,  to  Sarah  A,  E. 
Wheatcraft,  born  June  14, 1834,  daughter  of  Sam- 
uel and  Chloey  A.  (Potter)  Wheatcraft,  and 
granddaughter  of  Samuel  Wheatcraft  and  Elisha 
Potter.  Their  children  were :  Clement  L.,  born 
July  9,  1SG5;  Elrado  Ellsworth,  born  January 
10,  1867,  and  Clarinda  Ammarilah,  ApriVl,  1870. 


EALSTON  EOBEET  G.,  Crawford  township ; 
school  teacher;  born  February  7,  1853;  son  of 
Eobert  Ealston,  who  was  a  native  of  the  County 
of  Armagh,  Ireland^  emigrated  to  this  country 
and  settled  in, Crawford  township,  in  1845.  Soon 
after  his  arrival  his  wife  died.  His  second  wife, 
Sarah  J.  (Elliott)  Ealston,  to  whom  he  was  mar- 
ried, in  1846,  is  the  mother  of  Eobert  G.  His 
father  died  September  11, 1863.  Eobert  G.  com- 
menced attending  Muskingum  college  in  1879, 
and  is  a  member  of  the  graduating  class  of  1881> 
He  taught  his  first  school  in  1873,  has  taught 
several  terms  since  then  and  expects  to  follow 
teaching  as  his  profession.  Mr.  Ealston  ranks- 
among  the  leading  teachers  of  the  county. 

E AMSEY  THOMAS,  Bedford  township ;  farm-  ' 
er;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in  1825,  in 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania;  came  to  Har- 
rison county  in  1837,  and  was  married  in  1850,  to 
Miss  Louisa  A.  Carson,  of  the  same  county.  They 
came  to  this  county  in  1870,  and  are  the  parente 
of  four  children,  viz :  William  F.,  Mary  M., 
Lydia  J.  and  T.  C.  Mr.  Eamsey  has  a  good  home 
and  a  farm  of  216  acres. 

REDD  JONATHAN,  White  Eyes  township; 
farmer ;  native  of  this  townshsp,  and  was  born  in 
1854.  His  father,  Lewis  Redd,  was  born  in  1807, 
in  Pennsylvania,  came  to  this  county  in  1833,  and 
settled  in  this  township ;  he  is  living  with  his  son 
Benjamin.  In  1878,  Jonathan  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  McCoskey,  daughter  of  James  McCos- 
key,  who  was  a  native  of  this  township,  and  re- 
sided on  the  farm  where  Mr.  Redd  now  lives,  un- 
til the  summer  of  1880,  when  he  moved  with  his 
family  to  Oregon.  Mr.  Redd  has  one  child,  Ernst 
Winfield,  born  June  20, 1880. 

REDD  LEWIS,  White  Eyes  township;  farmer"; 
born  in  1807,  in  Washington  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  1813,  he  married  Elizabeth  Horn.  He 
farmed,  and  distilled  whisky  during  the  winters, 
for  four  years ;  came  to  this  county  in  1837,  and 
settled  in  this  township.  He  moved  to  Chili  in 
1841,  kept  tavern  there  for  two  years,  and  then 
moved  upon  the  farm  where  he  now  resides. 
His  children  are  as  follows:  Benjamin,  born  in 
Pennsylvania,  March  18,  1833;  married  Eliza' 
Everhart,  April  29,  1858,  who  died  February  29, 
1864.  In  1865,  he  married  Miss  M.  J.  Reed,  and 
they  have  a  family  of  four  children  :  Mina,  born 
September  6,  1866;  Ida,  born  May  17, 1869;  Lewis 
J.,  born  jMnrch  23,  1873;  William  C,  born  Jan- 
uary 25,  1875.  Benjamin  enlisted  in  1861,  in  the 
Sixth  0.  V.  I.,  sharpshooters,  and  served  three 
years  and  ten  months,  and  was  home  on  furlough 
but  once.  Slahala  Redd  was  born  September  11, 
1835,  married  Elijali  Bechtal,  and  lives  in  Martin 
county,  Indiana. 

Matilda  was  born  October  30,  1837;  married 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


771 


William  Normon,  and  resides  in  Keene.  Eliza- 
beth was  born  November  16, 1840;  married  Will- 
iam Vansickle,  and  died  in  the  winter  of  1866. 
Sarah  J.  was  born  March  29, 1843,  and  died  in 
1862.  Seata  was  born  April  12,  1845,  and  died 
in  1869.  Margaret  was  born  June  24,  1847 ;  was 
married  to  John  MoCosky,  in  1878.  William  H. 
■was  born  October  20, 1849,  and  died  in  October, 
1874.  Andrew  J.  \f as  born  December  23,  1851 ; 
married  Susan  Miller  in  1877.  Jonathan  W.  was 
born  March  12,  1854;  married  Elizabeth  Mc- 
'Coskey  in  1877.  George  W.  was  born  March  24, 
1856;  now  lives  in  Indiana.  Lewis  Fremont  was 
born  in  1860,  and  died  when  two  years  old. 

EEED  L.  H.,  Virginia  township;,  born  in 
Coshocton  county  in  1840;  son  of  Aaron  and 
Lydia  Reed,  grandson  of  Jesse  and  Sarah  Reed, 
and  was  married  in  1860  to  Evahne  Wright. 
He  is  the  father  of  five  children.  Edward  B., 
Effie  A.,  Zebra  E.,  Charles  W.,  (dead),  and  Wil- 
liam E.    Postoffice,  Willow  Brook. 

.  EEED,  JOHN  H.,  Bedford  township ;  black- 
smith and  farmer  ;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill ;  born 
in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia,  in  1838,  and  came 
to  this  county  in  the  same  year  with  his  father, 
Aaron  Reed,'  who  was  born  in  1804  in  the  same 
county  in  Virginia.  He  was  married  in  1827  to 
Miss  Lydia  Herndon,  of  the  same  county,  who 
was  born  in  1802.  He  removed  from  this  county 
to  Jasper  county,  Rhnois,  in  1868,  where  he  now 
lives.  His  wife  died  in  1876.  They  were  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  third.  He  was  married  in  1856 
to  Miss  Nancy  Smith,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1885.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  viz :  Marion  S.,  Albert  L.,  William  D., 
Franklin  E.,  Rebecca  J.,  Emma  F.,  Aaron  E.,  and 
John  M. 

REED  Mc,  Clark  township;  farmer;  postof- 
iice,  Clark's ;  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  June 
8, 1825;  son  of  Thomas  and  Nellie  (Stone)  Reed, 
and  grandson  of  Thomas  Reed  and  Benjamin 
■Stone.  His  parents  came  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  in  the  year  1808,  and  in 
1833  they  moved  to  Clark  township,  Coshocton 
-county.  Mr.  Reed  is  the  seventh  in  a  family  of 
ten  children,  eight  of  whom  are  living.  He  was 
married  October  14, 1858,  to  Miss  Susannah  End- 
sley,  daughter  of  James  and  Christian  (Baker) 
Endsley,  and  granddaughter  of  John  and  Jane 
(Blain)  Endsley,  and  Zacha,riah  and  Susan  (Wash- 
burn) Baker.  She  was  born  March  1,  1838,  in 
Clark  township,  where  she  has  lived  all  her  life. 
They  are  the  parents  of  the  following  children  : 
Mary  C,  born  October  12, 1857 ;  Wilham  M.,  born 
November  24, 1860 ;  Charles  H.,  born  May  17, 
1864,  and  Chflord  E.,  bom  June  26, 1869. 

EENNER  HENRY,  Crawford  township ;   car- 


penter at  Chili;  born  May  14,  1854;  son  of  H. 
Renner  and  Charlotta  (Novice)  Renner,  both  na- 
tives of  Germany.  In  October,  1875,  he  married 
Margaret  C.  Miser,  daughter  of  Samuel  Miser. 
They  have  a  family  of  three  children,  viz  :  Will- 
iam 0.,  born  February  ,19, 1877 ;  Clara  Elizabeth, 
April  16,  1878,  and  an  infant,  July,  1881. 

REPPART  DAVID  S.,  Adams  township;  farm- 
er; postoffice,  Evansburgh ;  born  in  Berks  coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania,  Jaauary  12, 1826 ;  son  of  Daniel 
and  Hannah  (Stephen)  Beppart,  and  grandson  of 
Daniel  Reppart,  and  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth 
(Lewis)  Stephen,  and  great-grandson  of  William 
Lewis.  He  worked  on  the  farm  until  the  age  of 
twenty-one ;  then  hired  to  Mr.  Maddox,  of  Har- 
rison county,  Ohio,  by  the  year,  and  remained 
with  him  twenty  years.  He  was  then  a  soldier 
for  about  eleven  months,  after  which  he  went  to 
Iowa,  and  remained  there  about  one  year ;  then 
came  back  to  Ohio  again,  and  engaged  with  Mr. 
Maddox  for  another  year,  then  worked  one  year 
for  an  uncle  of  his.  Mr.  Maddox  then  married 
and  came  to  Coshocton  county,  and  has  been  a 
resident  of  this  county  since.  He  was  married 
April  4, 1867,  to  Miss  Amanda  Norman,  daughter 
of  George  and  Susannah  (Walcott)  Norman,  and 
granddaughter  of  John  and  Christina  (Roderick) 
Norman,  and  of  James  and  Susannah  (Cohagan) 
Walcott,  children  of  Susannah  Walcott.  She  was 
born  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  June  11, 1887. 
Thpy  have  one  child,  George  Walter,  born  Sep- 
tember 8, 1871. 

RENFREW  THOMAS  and  ALEXANDER, 
farmers;  Keene  township;  postoffice.  Canal  Lew- 
isville.  They  were  born  in  this  township,  and 
raised  on  the  farm.  They  attended  the  district 
schools.  Alexander,  after  attaining  his  majority, 
served  in  the  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.  during  the  late 
war.  These  men  are  sons  of  Alexander,  Sr., 
and  Nancy  (Carnahani  Renfrew.  Alexander, 
Sr.,  was  born  January  25,  1807,  and  was  the  son 
of  Jacob  Renfrew.  Thomas  Renfrew  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Margaret  Craig,  February  23, 1876. 
She  was  born  January  23,  1844.  She  is  the 
daughter  of  William  and  Maria  (Murry)  Craig. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Renfrew  are  the  parents  of  one 
child,  Bessie,  who  was  born  April  7, 1877. 

REYNOLDS  WILLIAM,  Jefferson  township; 
postoffice,  Warsaw;  barber;  born  May  3,  1861, 
in  Coshocton  county;  son  of  Thomas  and  Re- 
becca (Oarr)  Reynolds.  Mr.  Reynolds  went  with 
his  parents,  at  the  age  of  three  years,  to  Indiana, 
and  remained  there  until  the  age  of  eight ;  then 
came  back  to  Coshocton  county,  and  followed 
farming  until  the  age  of  twenty;  then  began  the 
carpenter  trade,  with  his  father,  and  worked  at 
that  about  nine  years.  He  then  opened  a  barber 
shop,  in  Warsaw,  and,  by  his  gentlemanly  man- 


772 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ners,  has  gradually  extended  his  business,  until 
he  now  has  a  very  fair  amount  of  patronge. 

EICHESON  JOHN,  Tuscarawas  township ;  su- 
perintendent county  infirmary;  postofiice,  Co- 
'  shocton ;  was  born  February  10,  1842  in  Holmes 
county ;  son  of  James  and  Maria  (Highlands) 
Richeson,  of  Irish  ancestry.  John  was  raised  on 
the  farm,  and  came  to  this  county  about  1859 
and  located  at  Canal  Lewisville.  In  the  spring  of 
1861  he  enlisted  in  Company  E,  Second  0.  V.  I., 
and  served  to  the  close  of  the  war  in  Gen.  Sher- 
man's command.  Mr.  Richeson  was  married 
March  1, 1866,  to  Miss  Jane,  daughter  of  George 
and  Mary  (Lee)  Smyth,  of  Muskingum  county. 
Their  children  are  Dora  and  Jesse.  Mr.  R.  was 
appointed  superintendent  of  the  county  infirm- 
ary in  1872,  and  reappointed  each  succeeding 
spring  to  1880. 

BINE  BENJAMIN,  farmer;  Washington 
township ;  postoffloe.  West  Carlisle ;  born  in  1817, 
in  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
brought  to  this  county  in  1818.  He  was  married 
in  1844  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Camp,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1826.  They  are  the  parents  Of 
twelve  children,  viz :  Lucinda,  deceased ;  Amanda, 
deceased;  Mazy  E.,  Mary  E.,  David  W.,  William 
B.,  Violet  L.,  Francis  M.,  Ida  E.,  Benjamin  A., 
Eliza  A.  and  Lauer  E. 

BINE  ISAAC  H.,  Pike  township;  postoffice, 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ;  born  in 
this  county  in  1833;  son  of  Jesse  and  Margaret 
(Wheeler)  Rine.  He  was  married  in  1853  to 
Miss  Sarah  E.  Smith,  daughter  of  Richard  and 
Sarah  R.  (Taylor;  Smith.  They  are  the  parents 
of  six  children,  viz:  Emma  C,  deceased;  Alice 
M.,  Austin  L.,  Sylvia  B.,  Clara  F.  and  H.  M. 
Three  are  married. 

RINE  JESSE  W.,  Perry  township ;  farmer  and 
stock  raiser ;  postofllce.  West  Carlisle ;  was  born 
in  this  county  in  1825;  son  of  Jesse  W.  and 
Margaret  (Wheeler)  Rine,  and  grandson  of  Cas- 
per Rine  and  of  Gilbert  Wheeler;  married  in 
1847,  to  Miss  Hannah  Toothman,  daughter  of 
Jacob  and  Margaret  (Gault)  Toothman.  Mr. 
Rine  is  the  father  of  eight  children,  viz :  Gilbert 
W.,  Samuel  A.,  John  Milton,  Jessie  ^W.;  Martha 
D.,  deceased ;  Margaret  M.,  deceased','  Thomas  H., 
deceased,  and  Adam  G.,  deceased. 

RINE  J.  C,  Perry  township;  postoffice.  New 
Guilford;  born  in  this  county  in  1831;  son  of 
John  and  Matilda  Rine,  and  grandson  of  Ru- 
dolph and  Barbara  A.  (Conaway)  Rine,  and_  of 
Casper  and  Margery  Conaway.  He  was  married 
in  1861,  to  Hannah  Taylor,  daughter  of  Abraham 
and  Mary  Taylor.  Mr.  Rine  is  the  father  of  six 
children,  viz:  Rudolph,  Mary  E.,  Matilda  I., 
Liza  E.,  John  S.,  and  Zora  E. 


RINE  WILLIAM  T.,  Perry  township;  New 
Guilford  postoffice;  born  in  this  county  in  1841; 
son  of  John  and  Matilda  Rine,  and  grandson 
of  Rudolph  and  Barbara  E.  Bine.  He  was 
married  in  1869  to  Miss  Mary  L.  Norri  s,  daugh- 
ter of  William  and  Nancy  ISTorris.  They  .have 
seven  children,  viz :  Margery  E.,  Minna  J., 
Leweva  M.,  Clara  M.,  Alanzo  L.,  (dead),  Milton 
Millard,  Arley  M. 

RINE  WILLIAM,  Perry  township;  New 
Guilford  postoffice ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ; 
born  in  this  county  in  1831 ;  son  of  William  and 
Nancy  Rine.  He  was  married  in  1861  to  Miss 
Martha  A.  Busa,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  A. 
Busa.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine  children, 
viz  :  Sarah  M.,  Nancy  A.,  John  W.,  George  H., 
Alfred  W.,  James  C,  Mary  E.,  Samuel  T.  and 
Eliza  E. 

RIDGELY  G.  G.,  Coshocton;  freight  Agent  of 
P.,  C.  and  St.  L.  R.  R.;  born  January  21,  1832,  in 
Baltimore,  Maryland ;  son  of  Archibald  G.  Ridgely, 
a  native  of  Baltimore,  whose  ancestors  came  to 
America  from  Glocester  county,^  England,  in 
1632,  and  who  was  a  United  States  marshal  for 
about  twenty  years.  Young  Eidgely  at  the  age 
of  seventeen  entered  a  jobbing  and  dry  goods 
house  in  his  native  city ;  at  nineteen  years  of  age 
he  came  to  this  city,  and  was  a  dry  goods  clerk 
until  1856,  when  he  established  a  dry  goods  store, 
which  he  continued  three  years;  then  became 
banking  clerk  in  Rickett's  bank,  where  he  re- 
mained till  March  7, 1865,  at  which  time  he  as- 
sumed his  present  duties.  Mr.  Eidgely  was  mar- 
ried October  30, 1853,  to  Miss  Henrietta  Ricketts. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  three  children — 
Thomas  R.,  married  to  Miss  Hattie  Switzer, 
daughter  of  M.  Switzer,  Newark,  Ohio,  Anna  H. 
and  Mary  B.  Mr.  Ridgely  is  heir  to  a  realty  in 
Maryland,  which  was  transferred  by  Leonard 
Calvin,  in  1632,  to  one  of  Mr.  Ridgely's  ancestors 
and  has  been  in  possession  of  the  family  since. 

RIDGWAY  DAVID, Franklin  township;  farm- 
er ;  born  February  12,  1829,  in  Belmont  county ; 
son  of  Basil  and  Mary  Ridgway.  His  grand- 
father moved  from  Maryland  to  Belmont  county 
about  1808,  when  his  father  was  about  four  years 
old.  David  was  only  ten  months  old  when  his 
father  came  to  Muskingum  county,  Ohio.  He 
has  lived  since  in  Marion  county,  Ohio;  Ma- 
rion county,  Iowa;  Linton  township,  in  this 
county,  and  in  Muskingum  county,  until  he 
moved  to  Franklin  township  in  1876.  He  was 
married  January  17, 1856,  to  Mary,  daughter  of 
David  and  Sarah  Ruse,  and  granddaughter  of 
John  and  Mary  (Fitzgerald)  Ruse,  and  of  Garri- 
son and  Jane  (Vanander)  Vermillion,  who  came 
from  Loudon  county,  Virginia,  with  her  father, 
in  1846.    They  have  eight  children,  viz :    Louisa, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


773 


Francis  William,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Clegget  C.,' 
Mary  Ellen,  Anna  Elmira,  Sophia  and  Clara  May. 

RICKETTS  &  JACOB,  hardware  dealers,  234 
Main  street,  Coshocton,  Ohio.  B.  Worth  Ricketts, 
the  senior  member  oE  this  firm,  was  born  Octo- 
ber 12,  1847,  in  Tuscarawas  county,  near  Gnaden- 
hutten ;  son  of  Robert  F.  and  Julia  A.  (Thistle) 
Ricketts,  and  grandson  of  Benjamin  and  Nancy 
Ricketts,  who  were  pioneer  settlers  of  Coshocton 
county.  Mr.  Ricketts  'was  brought  up  on  the 
farm,  until  seventeen,  when  he  entered  Harlem 
Springs  college,  and  subsequently  attended  the 
Ohio  Wesleyan  university  and  INIount  Union 
college.  He  began  his  present  business  in  1874, 
in  this  city,  firm  name  G.  W.  Ricketts  &  Co.  In 
1877,  Mr.  Ricketts  purchased  his  partner's  in- 
terest in  the  firm,  and  conducted  the  business 
alone,  until  January,  1880,  when  the  present  firm 
was  formed.  They  carry  a  complete  assortment 
of  general  hardware,  having  the  largest  stock  of 
the  kind  in  the  county.  Mr.  Ricketts  was  mar- 
ried, October  8,  1877,  to  Miss  May,  daughter  of 
Sanford  and  Elizabeth  (Watkins)  Rose,  of  this 
city.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  children  viz  : 
T.  H.,  deceased,  and  Earl  Thistle.  Robert  Jacob, 
junior  member  of  the  firm,  was  born  January 
10,  1856,  near  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio;  son  of 
E.  P.  and  Mary  L.  (Ricketts)  Jacob.  Mr.  Jacob 
was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  taught  school 
four  terms.  He  was  married,  April  4,  1878,  to 
Miss  Abbie,  daughter  of  John  and  Catherine 
(Whedon)  Wallace.  John  Wallace  was  a  descend- 
ant of  the  family  of  Sir  William  Wallace,  one  of 
Scotland's  greatest  heroes.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jacob 
are  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz :  William  W. 
and  Edna  P. 

RICKETS  THOMAS  HUGH,  prosecuting  at- 
torney; postofiice,  Coshocton;  was  born  Decem- 
ber 9,  1845,  in  Frankhn  Township;  son  of  F. 
Rickets,  native  American  of  English  descent. 
Young  Rickets  remained  on  the  farm  until  he 
was  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  enlisted  in 
Company  I,  Twelfth  0.  V.  C,  and  served  to  the 
close  of  the  war.  On  his  return  to  his  peaceful 
home  he  attended  school  one  year,  and  then  en- 
tered Ohio  Wesleyan  university,  and  remained 
two  years,  when  he  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law  in  the  office  of  A.  L.  Neely,  of  New  Philadel- 
phia, Ohio,  and  read  about  one  year.  In  1868  he 
entered  the  law  department  of  the  New  York 
State  university  at  Albany,  and  was  graduated  in 
1869  with  the  title  of  B.  L.  In  this  year  attorney 
Rickets  was  married  June  30  to  Miss  Annie 
Powell,  daughter  of  Hon.  T.  W.  Powell  of  Dela- 
ware, Ohio.  Soon  after  his  marriage  he  located 
at  Clinton,  Iowa,  where  his  wife  and  infant  son 
died  in  1870.  He  next  practiced  his  profession 
in  Chicago,  Illinois,  with  attorney  S.  F.  Brown  as 
partner.    They,  for  the  time  being,  reached  be- 


yond their  profession  and  invested  in  the  lumber 
and  manufacturing  business,  in  1873;  which  en- 
terprise, in  common  with  others,  went  down  in 
the  financial  wrecks  of  that  period.  In  the  spring^ 
of  1876  he  resumed  his  profession,  and  estab- 
lished an  office  in  this  city.  In  the  spring  of  1878- 
he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city,  and  in  the  fall 
of  the  same  year  was  elected  to  the  office  which 
he  now  holds. 

RICKETS  BENJAMIN  F.,  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship; farmer ;  postoffice,  Coshocton;  born  in  La- 
fayette township  November  20,  1840;  son  of  Bar- 
zilla  Rickets,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  came  to- 
this  township  in  1847,  and  to  his  present'  resi- 
dence in  1856,  with  his  parents.  He  was  brought 
up  on  the  farm  where  he  has  wisely  remained, 
engaged  in  agriculture  and  husbandry ;  having 
all  his  stock  selected  and  bred  from  the  best 
blood  in  the  country. 

RIDEBAUGH  JOSIAH, Perry  township;  post- 
office,  Mohawk  Village ;  farmer  and  stock  raider;, 
born  in  Carroll  county  in  1884 ;  son  of  George 
and  Margaret  Ridebaugh;  married  in  1860  to 
Miss  Mary  E.  Cullison,  daughter  of  Ephraim  and 
Harriet  Cullison.  They  are  the  parents  of  two- 
children — John  William,  deceased,  and  George  F. 

RICHARDS  JOHN  J.,  Perry  township;  post- 
office,  New  Guilford;  farmer  and  stock  raiser; 
born  in  Frederick  county,  Virginia,  in  1804; 
settled  in  this  county  in  1822 ;  son  of  Henry  and 
Elizabeth  Richards,  and  grandson  of  Michael  and 
Elizabeth  Richards,  and  of  Cary  and  Isabelle 
Caldwell.  Mr.  Richards  has  been  twice  married, 
first,  to  Miss  Margaret  Cullison,  who  became  the 
mother  of  nine  children,  viz :  Henry,  Samuel, 
Ehzabeth,  J.  W.,  Margaret  J.,  William  R.,  Louisa 
M.;  Jessie  L.,  deceased,  and  Eliza  C,  deceased. 
In  1841  he  married  Miss  Mary  Smith,  daughter 
of  Henry  and  Susan  Smith,  who  were  blessed 
with  ten  children,  viz :  Mary  E.,  Susan,  W.  B., 
Sarah  K.,  Mahala  A.,  R.  Z.,  Rebecca  A.,  R.  M.,  T. 
F.,  and  J.  T.  M.  Mr.  Richard  had  four  sons  in 
the  United  States  army,  who  rendered  gallant 
services  for  their  country.  His  son  Elijah  was 
killed  at  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge. 

RICHARD  ELIJAH,  Perry  township;  postof- 
fice. New  Guilford ;  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio, 
in  1816;  settled  in  this  county  in  1825;  son  of 
Henry  and  Elizabeth  (Copeland)  Richard,  and 
grandson  of  Carey  M.  and  Elizabeth  (Snapp) 
Richard;  married  in  1837,  to  Maria  Cullison, 
daughter  of  Jesse  and  Nota  CuUison.  They  have 
four  children.  W.  H.  was  married  to  Mary  J. 
Morgan  in  1868.  They  have  nine  children.  Mr. 
Richard's  grandfather  was  in  the  war  of  1812. 
Mr.  Richard  is  engaged  in  selUng  dry  goods  and 
notions  in  East  Union,  Ohio. 


774 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


KICHARDSON  JAMES,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  son  of  Joseph  Richardson ;  was  born  De- 
cemb^  13,  1823.  Joseph  Richardson  came  to 
this  county  at  an  early  day,  when  it  was  a  wilder- 
ness inhabited  by  Indians  and  wild  animals. 
James  Richardson,  Jr.,  was  iharried  November  3, 
1848,  to  Miss  Sarah  Carr,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1828.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  chil- 
dren, viz:  Julia  A.,  Alonzo  and  Leander.  Mrs. 
Richardson  died  August  25,1855.  Mr.  Richard- 
son married  Miss  Ethliah  Dunlap,  of  this  county. 
They  are  the  parent^  of  five  children,' viz :  James 
B.,  Joseph  K.,  Elmira,  Seth  and  Howard.  Mr. 
Richardson  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  al- 
ways remained  a  resident  of  this  county. 

RICHMOND  JOHN,  Oxford  township;  mer- 
chant and  farmer;  postoffice,  Evansburgh,  Ohio; 
son  of  Edward  and  Martha  (Nott)  Richmond; 
was  born  March  1, 1881,  in  Salina,  New  York.  He 
came  to  this  state  with  his  parents  in  1822,  and 
located  in  Morgan  county.  His  parents  formerly 
■came  from  Vermont  While  in  Salina  his  father 
was  engaged  in  the  salt  trade.  He  also  sold  goods. 
After  they  came  to  Morgan  countj'  he  w-as  en- 
gaged in  the  carpenter  trade.  Mr.  Richmond 
■came  to  this  county  with  his  parents  in  June, 
1824,  and  located  on  the  hanks  of  the  Walhond- 
ing  six  miles  above  Roscoe.  In  1826,  they  moved 
to  Roscoe.  Mr.  Richmond's  father  was  engaged 
as  a  stone-cutter,  and  boarded  hands  engaged  in 
the  construction  of  the  Walhonding  canal.  In 
June,  1828,  the  family  moved  to  Oxford  township 
and  engaged  in  the  building  of  the  Ohio  canal. 
Mr.  Richmond's  mother  died  in  March,  1829. 
His  father  kept  tavern  and  a  station  on  the  Ohio 
■canal  from  that  time  up  to  his  death  in  1846. 

Mr.  Richmond  was  married  March  3,  1836,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Reed,  of  this  county.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  six  children,  viz:  Catharine 
A.,  George  U.,  John  E.,  Mary  E.,  James  J.  and 
"William  H.  Mr.  Richmond  had  followed  boat- 
ing from  his  bDyhood  until  he  married.  He 
then  purchased  a  boat  and  followed  boating  for 
fifteen  years.  During  that  time  he  was  also  en- 
gaged in  the  dry  goods  and  grain  business.  In 
April,  1850,  Mr.  Richmond  started  on  an  over- 
land journey  to  California,  as  captain  of  a  com- 
pany of  fifteen  men.  They  were  on  the  road 
four  months  and  fifteen  days.  While  in  Cali- 
fornia he  was  engaged  in  mining  and  trading. 
He  returned  by  vessel  July  4,  1852,  via  Panama. 
Mrs.  Richmond  died  in  February,  1852.  He  mar- 
ried November  28, 1852,  Miss  Elizabeth  Higbee, 
daughter  of  J.  C.  Higbee,  Esq.  They  became  the 
-parents  of  five  children,  viz :  Elizabeth  N.,  Jesse 
P.,  Charles  H.,  Francis  A.  and  Lottie  C.  His 
wife  died  in  June,  1864.  His  third  marriage  took 
place  in  January,  1865,  to  Mary  J.  McClain,  of 
this  county.  Mr.  Richmond  has  been  engaged 
in  farming  and  mercantile    business.      He  has 


amassed  a  fortune.  Starting  in  the  world  a 
poor  boy,  meeting  reverses  after  reverses,  he 
nevertheless  by  his  own  honest  labor  accumu- 
lated a  fortune.  He  has  alwaj's  worked  hard, 
and  has  been  regarded  as  honest  and  upright  in 
his  dealings,  thereby  gaining  the  esteem  of  all 
who  knew  him.  He  operates  largely  in  grain 
and  wool.  He  owns  a  splendid  farm  of  over  600 
acres,  a  dry  goods  store,  a  ware-house,  and  town 
property  in  the  town  of  Orange.  Mr.  Richmond 
had  two  sons  who  served  in  the  rebellion.  James 
J.  was  a  member  of  Company  C,  Fifty-first  Regi- 
ment, O.  V.  I.  He  died  at  Green  Lake,  Texas, 
and  was  buried  there.  John  E.  was  a  member  of 
Company  H,  Eighty-eighth  Regiment,  O.  V.  I. 
He  served  three  months,  and  was  then  discharged 
on  account  of  sickness. 

RICHMOND  JOHN  E.,  Oxford  township ;  farm- 
er; postoffice,  Evansburgh;  was  born  in  this 
township,  in  1842;  soil  of  John  Richmond.  In 
1870,  he  commenced  the  dry  goods  and  grocery 
business  at  Orange,  and  went  out  of  it  in  April, 
1880,  and  is  now  living  on  a  farm  of  168  acres. 
He  was  married,  in  1863,  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Wood, 
of  this  township,  daughter  of  Thomas  Wood.  The 
result  of  this  union  has  been  four  children,  as  fol- 
lows: Charles  M.,  sixteen  years  old;  Harry  M., 
twelve  years  old;  Mary  E.,  ten  years  old,  and 
Noah  M.,  eight  years  old.  He  has  been  school 
director  for  the  past  nine  years,  in  No.  6  school 
district.  He  owns  and  lives  in  a  substantial  new 
residence  and  is  highly  esteemed.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  M.  E.  church  at  Orange. 
He  served  four  months  in  company  F,  Eighty- 
eighth  0.  V.  I. 

RICHIE  WILLIAM, Keene  township; farmer; 
born  in  Donegal,  Ireland,  August,  1808 ;  son  of 
George  and  Susan  (Williams)  Richie,  and  grand- 
son of  William  and  Martha  (Hogg)  Richie,  and 
of  Charles  and  Mary  (Cunningham)  Williams. 
Mr.  Richie  followed  weaving  in  his  native 
country  until  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  when  he 
came  to  America,  and  took  up  the  occupation  of 
a  quiet  farmer.  He  has  spent  thus  much  of  his 
life  in  single  blessedness. 

RICHIE  RICHARD,  Keene  township ;  farmer ; 
born  December,  1812,  in  Donegal,  Ireland;  came 
to  America  when  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and 
settled  in  Coshocton  county ;  son  of  George  and 
Susan  Richie,  and  grandson  of  William  and 
Martha  (Hogg)  Richie,  and  of  Richard  and  Mary 
(Cunningham)  Williams.  He  was  married 
December  23,  1839,  to  Margaret  Marshall,  who 
was  born  in  January,  1815,  in  Jefferson  county, 
Ohio,  daughter  of  Joseph  .and  Elizabeth  Mar- 
shall, and  granddaughter  of  William  and  Jane 
(Lemmon)  Marshall,  and  of  Robert  and  Jane 
(Riddle)  Adams.  Their  children  were  :  Ehza- 
beth,  born  December  30,  1840;   Susannah,  de- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


777 


•ceased;  Jane,  deceased,  born  October  17,  1844; 
.Sarah  M.,  born  March  26, 1847 ;  Joseph  M.,  born 
May  29,  1850;  George  W.,  born  November  2, 
1852,  and  Anna  M.,  born  October  19,  1856.  Mrs. 
Eichie  died  September  15, 1880. 

EINNER  G.  A.,  Crawford  township;  postoffice, 
New  Bedford ;  of  the  firm  of  G.  A.  Rinner  &  Co., 
merchants;  born  January  8,  1859,  in  New  Bed- 
ford; son  of  George  0.  Rinner,  predecessor  of 
the  above  firm.  After  obtaining  a  good  elernen- 
tary  education  in  the  pubhc  and  select  schools  of 
■his  native  township,  he  took  a  commercial  course 
at  the  Cleveland  Spencerian  business  college,  and 
received  a  diploma  from  the  college,  receiving 
100  per  cent  on  examination.  May  31,  1879.  On 
returning  home  he  resumed  clerking  in  his  fath- 
er's store,  which  position  he  held  when  the  above 
firm  was  formed. 

RINNER  GEORGE  C,  Crawford  township; 
retired  merchant ;  postoffice,  New  Bedford,  Ohio ; 
born  August  18, 1831,  in  Langelischwarz  Kerfen- 
steuthuen,  Hessen,  Germany;  son  of  John  and 
Margaret  (Saleman)  Rinner.  At  thirteen  he  quit 
school  to  clerk  in  a  store  at  Fulda,  on  the  Tulda. 
"This  position  he  held  until  he  started  to  America, 
where  he  arrived  June  2, 1851,  and  located  at  Ap- 
pleville,  where  he  attended  school  and  worked  on 
a  farm  one  year.  Then  he  clerked  in  Wooster 
and  Nashville,  Holmes  county,  each  about  one 
year.  He  commehced  business  in  New  Bedford, 
as  clerk,  in  1854,  first  forvLandecker  &  Co.,  after- 
ward for  Bell.  Then  he  became  partner  in  the 
firm  of  Rinner  &  Pocock,  subsequently  Rinner, 
Pocock  &  Doak,  which  was  succeeded  by  the  firm 
of  Rinner  &  Cox,  which  firm  continued  until  the 
death  of  Mr.  Cox,  in  1874.  After  that  Mr.  Rinner 
■continued  business  alone  until  he  sold  out  to  his 
son,  George  Albert,  and  J.  A.  Lahm,  January  21, 
1879.  Mr.  Rinner  was  married  April  8,  1858,  to 
Nancy,  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Christiana  (Shep- 
ler)  Cox.  Seven  children  were  born  to  them,  viz : 
George  Albert;  Flora,  deceased ;  Ida  Rachel,  de- 
ceased ;  Elijah  Calvin,  Mary  Etta,  Amanda  Jane 
•and  John  Sheridan.  Mr.  Rinner  started  in  this 
-country  with  about  $100,  but  by  faithful  attention 
to  business,  retires  with  a  competency.  He  en- 
joys the  respect  of  a  wide  acquaintance. 

RICHCREEK  W.  D.,  Jackson  township ;  post- 
■office,  Tyrone ;  born  in  Harrison  county,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1820 ;  settled  in  this  county  in  1837 ;  son 
of  John  and  Nancy  Richcreek,  and  grandson  of 
Philip  and  Sarah  Richcreek ;  married  in  1839 
to  Estis  Philips,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
Philips.  Mr.  Richcreek  is  the  father  of  nine 
■children,  all  married  but  two,  viz :  George  and 
William. 

RICHCREEK  DAVID  W.,  Bedford  township; 
farmer  and  thresher;  postofiice,  Tyrone;  born 

35 


in  1852  in  this  county.  His  father,  D.  W.,  was 
born  in  1802,  in  Jefferson  county,  Virginia,  and 
came  to  Muskingum  county  in  1821.  He  was 
married  in  1843  to' Miss  Nancy  M.  Tidball,  o 
Muskingum  county, -who  was  born  in  1821  in 
Allegheny  county,  Pennsylvania.  They  came  to 
this  county  in  1848.  He  died  in  1880.  They 
are  the  parents  of  eleven  children,  six  of  whom 
are  living.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  mar- 
ried in  1877  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Dickey  of  this  coun- 
ty, who  was  born  in  1849.  They  are  the  parents 
of  two  children,  viz :  Estelle  B.,  and  an  infant. 

RICE  De.  G.  W.,  Adams  township ;  postoffice, 
Bakersville;  was  born  in  Shanesville,  Tuscara- 
was county,  Ohio,  August  24, 1854;  son  of  J.  W. 
and  Elizabeth  (Fisher)  Rice;  grandson  of  John 
Rice  and  John  Fisher ;  great-grandson  of  Peter 
Fisher.  His  parents  came  from  Pennsylvania. 
He  attended  school  until  the  age  of  seventeen, 
when  he  began  teaching,  in  which  capacity  he 
continued  seven  years.  While  teaching  he  read 
medicine,  and  during  the  winters  of  1878-79, 
and  1879-80,  attended  lectures  at  the  medical  de- 
partment of  Wooster  university,  at  Cleveland, 
Ohio.  He  began  practicing  in  April,  1880,  at 
Bakersville,  and  is  making  fine  progress  in  his 
profession.  He  was  married  September  2,  1875, 
to  Miss  Hester  Flexer,  daughter  of  Daniel  and 
Mary  Flexer,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
August  26, 1855.  They  are  the  parents  of  three 
children:  Charles,  born  August  13,  1876;  Wil-  ' 
liam,  born  November  23,  1877,  and  Harry,  born 
January  25,  1880.' 

RIPPL  JOHN  GEORGE,  Adams  township; 
blacksmith;  postoffice,  Bakersville;  born  in  Bak- 
ersville, March  22, 1857;  son  of  Joseph  and  Maria 
A.  (Busier)  Rippl,  and  grandson  of  Joseph  and 
Mary  (Fisher)  Rippl.  He  began  his  trade  in 
1876,  learning  it  of  his  own  accord,  never  serving 
an  apprenticeship,  and  is  now  a  first-class  work- 
man, doing  an  extensive  business  in  ironing  and 
trimming  wagons.  He  was  married  November 
27,  1879,  to  ^Miss  Elizabeth  Gintz,  daughter  of 
John  and  Caroline  (Copple)  Gintz.  She  was  born 
February  11, 1859,  in  Tuscarawas  county. 

RIPPL  FRANCIS  J.,  Adams  township;  post- 
office,  Bakersville  ;  wagonmaker ;  born  in  Bakers- 
ville, January  30,  1860  ;  son  of  Joseph  and  Maria 
A.  (Busier)  Rippl,  and  grandson  of  Joseph  and' 
Mary  (Fisher)  Rippl.  His  father  and  mother 
came  from  Austria  in  1860.  He  began  his  trade 
July  16, 1880,  with  his  father,  and  is  making  fine 
progress,  being  an  energetic  young  man  and  a 
great  reader  and  lover  of  literature.  He  has  two 
brothers  and  two  sisters. 

RILEY  ORANGE,  Jefferson  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Warsaw;  born  in  Jefferson  township, 
Coshocton  county,  November  14,  1849;  son  of 


778 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Reuben  and  Hilpa  (Darling)  Eiley,  and  grandson 
of  Isaac  and  Mahala  (Severns)  Darling.  He  has 
always  been .41  resident  of  this  township,  except- 
ing one  year  that  he  was  in  Illinois.  He  was 
married,  February  5,  1874,  to  Miss  Anna  M. 
Simpson,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Eliza  (Moffat) 
Simpson,  who  died  April  20,  1876.  Etta  V. 
is  their  only  child.  He  was  married  Septem- 
ber 26,  1877,  to  Miss  Ruth  Simpson,  sister 
of  his  first  wife,  who  was  born  June  27,  1843. 
Anna  M.,  born  September  13,  1878,  is  their 
only  child.  Mrs.  Riley  has  two  sisters  living, 
Isabella  and  Flora  J.  Isabella  is  one  among  the 
first  class  teachers  in  the  schools  of  Coshocton 
county.  Mrs.  Simpson,  the  mother  of  these  three 
girls,  is  the  daughter  of  John  Moffat,  who  died 
February  25,  1877.  He  was  a  blacksmith,  and 
worked  in  the  employ  of  Robert  Fulton,  and  did 
the  smithwork  of  the  first  three  steamboats  that 
ever  ran  on  the  Ohio  river.  He  was  a  son  of 
Alexander  Moffat,  who  served  seven  years  in  the 
war  of  the  revolution  as  a  minute  man,  was  taken 
prisoner  at  Fort  Montgomery,  and  remained  a 
prisoner  nine  months.  He  was  a  son  of  Hugh 
Moffat,  who  was  born  in  Orange  county.  New 
York,  whose  father,  a  farmer,  with  three  brothers, 
Presbyterian  ministers,  came  from  Antrim  county, 
Ireland,  and  settled  in  Orange  county,  New  York, 
some  time  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

ROLLER  CASPER,  Franklin  township;  farm- 
er; postoffice.  Wills  Creek,  Ohio ;  was  born  Sep- 
tember 23, 1834,  in  Alsace,  France;  son  of  Andrew 
and  Barbara  (Sandle)  Roller.  Andrew  Roller 
was  born  in  Weidenberg,  Germany,  in  1808.  His 
father,  Jacob  Roller,  was  one  of  a  family  of  eight 
sons,  four  of  whom  came  to  America  and  served 
in  the  revolutionary  war.  Two  settled  in  South 
Carolina,  and  two  in  Virginia.  Some  of  their 
descendants  are  now  residents  of  those  States, 
and  have  filled  offices  of  trust  at  Washington,  D. 
C.  Jacob  Roller  was  a  wealthy  man,  but  sold  out 
in  1813  and  moved  to  Alsace,  France,  with  two 
sons  and  three  daughters.  He  suddenly  lost  all 
his  wealth  "by  exchanging,  with  the  banks,  his 
specie  for  paper,  which  the  next  day  became 
worthless.  He  then  became  a  village  school- 
teacher, and  taught  a  German  school  for  twenty- 
four  years.  His  sons,  Jacob,  seventeen,  and  An- 
drew, five  years  of  age,  became  shepherds,  which 
occupation  they  followed  until  1837,  when  An- 
drew came  to  America  and  settled  in  Franklin 
township,  this  county.  He  was  the  father  of  ten 
children,  eight  sons  and  two  daughters,  five  of 
whom  are  dead.  Of  those  living,  Casper,  William 
H.  and  Elizabeth  live  in  Linton  township; 
George,  in  Franklin  township,  and  Philip  J.,  in 
Douglas  county,  Ilhnois.  Casper  Roller,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  married  March  5, 1852,  to 
Ehzabeth,  daughter  of  James  M.  and  Mary  (Nel- 
son) Brannon.    They  are  the  parents  of  eight 


children,  viz:  George  McClelland,  deceased ;  Cas- 
sius  Clay,  Edward  Henry,  Jessie  Roe,  John 
Floyd,  Annetta  Delle,  Casper  Herbert  and  Lizzie 
Agnes.  Mrs.  Roller  was  first  married  to  Samuel 
Erwin.  They  became  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren, viz:  William  Augustus  and  James  Mad- 
ison. 

ROBISON  J.  C,  Pike  township;  postoffice,. 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ;  born  in 
Licking  county,  in  1816;  settled  in  this  county 
in  1813;  son  of  John  and  Bulah  (Rakestraw> 
Robison,  and  grandson  of  jMaximillian  and  Lu- 

cinda  Robison,  and  of  John  and Rakestraw. 

He  was  married,  in  1841,  to  Miss  Nancy  E.  Coul- 
ter. They  are  the  parents  of  eight  children, 
viz:  Rush,  John  W.;  Samuel,  deceased;  Joseph 
B.;  James  R.,  deceased;  Richard  A.,  Elonzo  L, 
and  Susannah  B.  Two  are  married.  Mr.  Robi- 
son's  grandfatlier  was  three  years  in  the  revolu- 
tionary war.    His  father  was  in  the  war  of  1812^ 

ROBINSON  E.  LETTS,  deceased;  Frankhn 
township ;  was  born  January  26,  1818,  in  Frank- 
lin township;  the  son  of  Col.  Jarnes  Robinson. 
He  was  married,  in  1844,  to  Miss  Mary  J.  Roe^ 
daughter  of  Rev.  Jesse  Roe,  who  was  a  pioneer 
Methodist  minister  in  'Muskingum  county.  Mr. 
Robinson  was  a  life-long  resident  of  his  native 
township,  engaged  in  farming  and  stock  rais- 
ing. His  children  are  James  W.,  Anna  M.,  Sallie 
J.  (Bell),  S.  Roe,  L.  Viola  and  Edmund  L.- 
ROBERTSON JAMES,  Keene  township ;  farm- 
er; born  in  Derry  county,  Ireland,  May,  1808 p. 
son  of  Matthew  and  Rebecca  (Anderson)  Robert- 
son, and  grandson  of  Rebecca  Denny.  In  1812' 
he  left  his  native  land  for  America,  but  was  cap- 
tured by  the  British  on  the  sea  and  detained  at 
Halifax  two  years.  He  there  witnessed  the 
burial  of  the  gallant  captain,  James  Lawrence. 
Upon  his  release  his  father  came  to  Coshocton 
county.  Mr.  Robertson  was  married  March  11, 
1829,  to  Eliza  McFetredge,  born  May .  22,  1808. 
Her  ancestry  is  as  follows : ,  Parents,  James  and 
Elizabeth  (McDonald;  McFetredge,  natives  of 
Ireland;  paternal  grand  parents,  Archibald  and 
Eliza  (Cochran)  McFetredge;  maternal  grand 
parents,  John  and  Mary  (Loyd)  McDonald.  Their 
children  are:  Levina  (j.,  born  January  8,1830; 
William,  deceased,  January  31,  1832;  Mary  L., 
deceased,  July  29,  1833;  James  M.,  deceased, 
March  25,  1835;  Elizabeth  C,  March  26,  1837; 
Annie  J.,  February  28,  1839;  Rebecca  A.,  Au- 
gust 31,1841;  John,February  23, 1843;  Amanda, 
January  17,  1845;  Joseph  R.,  Jlarch  24,  1847; 
Milo  R.,  deceased,  June  15,  1850;'  Louisa,  April 
28,  1853,  and  Lewis  K.,  March  31,  1855.  John 
was  in  the  100-days'  service,  and  Joseph  served 
his  country  till  the  close  of  the  war.  -iLewis  K.. 
married  Maggie,  daughter  of  Robert  and  Marga- 
ret (Hood)  Boyd,  September  16, 1880. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


779 


ROBINSON  A.  S.,  Monroe  township ;  was  born 
in  1811,  in  Fairfax  county,  Virginia;  son  of  A. 
S.  and  Elizabeth  (Duval)  Robinson,  and  grand- 
son of  John  C.  and  Verlinda  (Summers)  Robin- 
son, and  of  William  and  Nancy  (Johnson)  Du- 
val. Mr.  Robinson,  while  very  young,  was  taken 
by  his  parents  to  Prince  Williams  county,  where 
he  lived  until  1821.  After  the  death  of  his 
father  he  lived  with  his  grandfather  Robinson, 
in  Fredrick  county,  Virginia,  two  years.  '  From 
there  he  went  with  his  grandfather  to  Hamp- 
shire county.  After  living  there  two  years,  he 
left  his  grandfather  and  went  to  Loudon  county ; 
then  to  Prince  Williams  county;  then  back  to 
his  mother;  thence  to  Loudon  county  again, 
staying  but  a  year  or  two  in  each  place.  In  1830 
he  began  the  wagon-makers'  trade,  serving  an  ap- 
prenticeship of  two  years.  After  spending  one 
year  in  Fredrick  county,  he  came  to  Perry 
county,  Ohio;  followed  farming  there  two  years; 
farmed  eight  years  afterward  in  Muskingum 
county;  then  was  a  minister  in  the  Protestant 
Methodist  church  for  nkie  years.  Ever  since 
then  he  has  followed  farming,  near  Spring 
Mountain,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio.  He  married 
Miss  Mahala  Lyder,  February  9,  1832,  in  Loudon 
county,  Virginia.  She  was  born  in  December, 
1806;  daughter  of  Lewis  and  Susannah  (Brad- 
field)  Lyder,  and  granddaughter  of  Jacob  and 
Margaret  Lyder,  and  of  Jonathan  Bradfield. 
Their  children  were  as  follows :  Susannah,  de- 
ceased ;  Samuel,  married  to  Frances  Menifee, 
whose  children  were  Charles,  Mary  E.,  George  _T., 
Lou  A.,  and  Letitia,  deceased.  John  W.  married 
Miss  Martha  Duval,  whose  ^children  are,  Clifford 
L.,  Emma,  Joseph,  William  A.,  Roberta,  and 
Dinkej'.    Arthur  L.  lives  at  home. 

ROBISON  D.  C,  Perry  township;  New  Guil- 
ford postofRce ;  born  in  this  county,  in  1845;  son 
of  John  and  Mary  (Torrence)  Robison,  and  grand- 
son of  John  and  Mary  Torrence.  '  He  went  West 
in  1865,  and  returned  to  this  State  in  1880,  and 
was  married  in  1866,  to  CaroUne  Cochran  Mr. 
Robison  is  the  father  of  three  children,  viz :  Ella 
M.,  John  and  Lillie  M.  Mr.  Robison  has  been 
engaged  in  teaching  school  for  the  past  fifteen 
years.  Entered  Ohio  Wesleyan  university  in  18(52, 
staying  there  some  three  years.  Volunteered  in 
First  U.  S.  Engineer  Regiment,  Company  I,  Cap- 
tain John  L.  Thomas.  Mr.  Robison's  senior,  was 
a  revolutionary  soldier. 

ROBINSON  L.  W.,  Coshocton ;  general  super- 
intendent Union  Coal  Mining  Company;  was 
born  September  19, 1855,  in  Hudson,  Ohio;  son 
of  Warren  Robinson,  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
and  Sarah  Woodward,  a  native  of  Maine.  When 
aboujfceven  years  of  age  he  moved  to  New  Ha- 
ven mth  his  father's  family  to  be  educated,  and 
received   a  good  elementary  education  in  the 


public  schools  of  that  city ;  was  then  placed  under 
a  private  tutor  for  three  years.  At  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  he  entered,  Yale  college,  and  was 
graduated  at  the  age  of  twenty-one.  After  com- 
pleting his  college  course  he  engaged  as  en- 
gineer in  the  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania,  and  was 
transferred  to  this  place  to  take  general  charge 
of  the  company's  interests  here,  and  do  the  en- 
gineering of  the  place.  Mr.  Robinson  was  mar- 
ried September  9,  1880,  to  Miss  (DoUie)  Ruth 
May,  daughter  of  Lewis  De  Moss,  Esq.,  of  this 
city. 

ROBINSON  W.  H.,  Coshocton;  insurance 
agent.  Equity  building;  was  born  January  11, 
1812,  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania ;  son  of  Will- 
iam Robinson,  American  born  of  Scotch  ances- 
try ;  lived  on  a  farm  until  the  age  of  ten  years, 
when  with  his  parents  he  moved  to  Savannah, 
Georgia;  attended  school  until  the  age  of  seven- 
teen, then  went  to  New  York  City  and  attended 
school  there  a  short  time,  from  which  city  he 
moved  to  Orange,  New  York,  and  was'  appren- 
ticed to  the  carpenter  trade,  and  served  four 
years.  In  1836,  came  to  this  city  and  followed 
his  trade  until  1871,  when  he  established  his  pres- 
ent agency,  and  conducted  it  to  the  present  time. 
His  first  marriage  was  January  6, 1834,  to  Miss 
Sarah  Anne  Matthews,  daughter  of  James  Mat- 
thews, of  Orange,  New  York.  By  this  marriage 
he  became  the  father  of  six  children,  two  of  whom, 
Esther  M.  and  Charles  C.,have  died.  Their  living 
children  are  Mary  E.,  married  to  Calvin  Skinner, 
of  this  city ;  Harriet  N.,  married  to  James  Stone- 
bock,  now  residing  at  Crystal  Plains,  Smith  coun- 
ty, Kansas ;  William  H.,  married  to  Louisa  John- 
son, of  this  city,  and  Sarah  Frances.  Mrs.  Robin- 
son died  February,  18(54.  Mr.  Robinson  after- 
ward married  Miss  Susan  C.  Deman,  and  by  this 
marriage  became  the  father  of  two  children,  viz  : 
Clara  D.  and  Howard. 

RODEHAVER  G.  H.,  New  Castle  township; 
postoffice,  Walhonding;  was  born  in  Jefferson 
township,  Coshocton  county,  in  February,  1846 ; 
son  of  David  and  Louisa  (Butler)  Rodehaver; 
grandson  of  Noah  and  Rebecca  (Cox)  Butler; 
was  educated  at  Coshocton ;  brought  up  on  the 
farm  until  the  age  of  twenty-one ;  then  engaged 
with  ShafTner  Brothers,  merchants,  in  Warsaw, 
one  year.  He  then  engaged  with  Cassingham  & 
Crowley,  grocers,  for  three  years;  then  went  into 
the  boot  and  shoe  business  in  Coshocton,  remain- 
ing in  it  two  years,  when  he  was  employed  by 
Fleek  &  Sherwood,  of  Newark,  Ohio,  as  shipping 
clerk  two  years;  then  returned  to  Coshocton 
and  clerked  for  Cassingham  &  Co.  one  year,  when 
he  purchased  a  half  interest  in  the  firm,  contin- 
ued a  year,  dissolved  the  partnership  and  went 
to  New  Orleans  and  engaged  in  the  erection  of 
iron  bridges  six  months;    after  which  he  re- 


780 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


turned  to  Coshocton  and  engaged  with  C.  A. 
Eckert  in  the  grocery  and  baking  business  one 
year,  after  which  he  moved  to  Walhonding, 
where,  in  the  spring  of  1879,  he  began  merchan- 
dizing for  himself,  and  is  having  a  fair  trade. 
He  married  Miss  Mary  F.  Dixon,  March  13, 1870, 
daughter  of  Robert  Dixon.  He  is  father  of  four 
children,  viz:  Emma,  Willie,  Minnie,  (deceased), 
and  Frank. 

ROOT  J.  W.,  Tuscarawas  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Bloomfield,  Holmes  county ;  son  of  L.  L. 
Root  and  Clarissa  (Morgan)  Root,  who  are  na- 
tives of  Connecticut.  J.  W.  Root  came  to  this 
county  when  a  child,  with  his  parents,  in  1840. 
May  20,  1866,  he  married  Nancy  E.  Thomas, 
daughter  of  Levi  Thomas  and  Annie  (Salyards) 
Thomas.  They  became  the  parents  of  the  fol- 
lowing named  children:  Annis,  Clara,  Lyman, 
John,  L.  L.  and  Alpha. 

ROSS  GEORGE,  Coshocton ;  saddler  and  har- 
ness-maker; born  October  15,  1826,  in  the 
County  Donegal,  Ireland;  son  of  Hugh  Ross. 
Young  Ross  lived  on  a  farm  until  fifteen  years  of 
age,  when  he  went  to  his  trade  and  worked  six 
years  in  his  native  island,  then  came  to  America, 
landing  in  New  York  City,  August  1, 1851,  where 
he  worked  at  his  trade  a  few  years.  He  came  to 
this  city  in  March  1853,  and  worked  on  the  rail- 
road nineteen  years  as  foreman  of  repairs,  after 
which  he  worked  two  years  in  the  steel  works  of 
this  city.  After  leaving  the  steel  works  he  re- 
sumed his  trade,  which  he  has  followed  to  the 
present  time.  By  industry  and  good  manage- 
ment, he  has  acquired  a  competency.  Mr.  Ross 
was  married  August  6,  1860,  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Hill,  daughter  of  James  Hill,  of  Roscoe  Her 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Dunlap. 
James  Hill  and  Charles  G.,  are  their  children. 

ROSE  JOHN  J.,  Coshocton,  O.;  of  the  firm  of 
D.  Rose  &  Son,  Main  street.  Daniel  Rose,  of  the 
above  firm,  came  to  Roscoe  about  the  year  1834. 
His  parents  were  from  the  island  of  Guernsey. 
His  father  built  the  foundry  in  Coshocton  county, 
at  Roscoe.  D.  Rose  was  married  in  1860,  to  Miss 
Alcinda  G.  Rickets,  whose  parents  were  natives 
of  Virginia.  D.  Rose  is  the  father  of  six  sons, 
.viz :  John  J.,  of  the  above  firm,  who  was  married 
January  5,  1876,  to  Miss  Weltha  L.,  daughter  of 
Alonza  and  Carlotte  (Denman)  Ransons.  They 
are  the  parents  of  one  child,  viz :  Carlotte  R. 
The  other  sons  are  :  Charles  P.,  Marion,  William 
E.,  A.  R.,  and  Walter  B.  The  above  firm  was 
formed  in  1876,  with  a  small  cash  capital,  the 
senior  member  having  lost  almost  everything  by 
fire  and  the  junior  member  having  a  small  capi- 
tal made  by  plastering  at  which  he  worked  about 
six  years,  but  by  adhering  to  the  policy  of  cash 
purchases  they  have  been  very  successful,  now 


having  the  most  extensive  trade  in  their  line  in 
the  county.  , 

RODERICK  SIMON,  Linton  township;  farm- 
er; born  near  Dayton,  September  26,  1825;  son  of 
Samuel  and  Mary  Ann  (Crampton)  Roderick. 
His  father,  a  miller  by  occupation,  about  1813, 
came  with  his  brother,  John,  from  Maryland  to 
Linton  township,  remained  a  year  or  two,  returned 
to  Maryland,  married,  and  then  moved  to  Mont- 
gomery county,  where  he  remained  till  1826, 
then  came  to  Linton  township  and  resided  here 
till  his  decease.  Mr.  Roderick,  in  1851,  married 
Margaret  McCleeary,  daughter  of  George  Mc- 
Cleeary^.  She  having  died,  he,  in  1866,  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter 
of  Thomas  Williams  and  granddaughter  of  Rich- 
ard Williams. 

ROGERS  JAMES  L.,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer ;  was  born  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  Feb- 
ruary 19, 1840;  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary  (Burk- 
head)  Rogers,  and  is  the  sixth  of  ten  children. 
He  came  to  this  county  in  1866,  and  was  married 
April  15, 1877,  to  Miss  Harriet  Burt,  being  the 
thirty-third  marriage  anniversary  of  her  father, 
the  well-known  Judge  James  M.  Burt.  ■  They 
have  had  four  children,  viz :  J.  Burt,  Maggie, 
Mary  Anna,  and  Lewis  Bradner.  Mr.  Rogers 
enlisted  in  Company  F,  Ninety-eighth  0.  V.  I., 
organized  in  Harrison  county  in  August,  1862, 
and  served  two  years  and  ten  months,  taking  part 
in  every  engagement  in  which  his  regiment  was 
engaged,  a  few  of  which  were  the  battles  of  Per- 
ryville,  Chickamauga,  Missionary  Ridge,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Atlanta,  Jonesborough,  Peach  Tree 
Creek,  Rome,  Georgia,  and  Bentonville,  North 
Carolina.  He  was  in  Sherman's  march  to  the 
sea,  witnessed  the  grand  review  at  Washington, 
traveled  over  5,000  miles  while  out,  never  rode 
but  one-half  a  day  in  an  ambulance,  was  never 
sick  a  day,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Cleveland  as 
a  second  lieutenant  in  June,  1865,  although  he 
had  entered  the  service  as  a  private.  He  and  his 
wife  are  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal, 
church. 

RODRUCK  LEWIS,  Franklin  township;  farm- 
er; born  in  Franklin  township,  March  19,1824; 
son  of  Thomas  Rod  ruck,  who  was  born  in  Hamp- 
shire county,  Virginia,  and  emigrated  to  this 
township  May  1,  1811,  with  his  father,  Lewis 
Rodruck.  In  1823  his  father  married  Mary  Hines, 
who  came  from  Virginia  in  1822.  Mr.  Rodruck 
enlisted  in  the  Nineteenth  0.  V.  I.  in  1864,  and 
remained  in  service  nine  months,  serving  with 
Sherman  in  his  Georgia  campaign.  He  was  mar- 
ried January  21,  1849,  to  Ethalinda  Hawk,  who 
became  the  mother  of  two  children,  viz; ^ary 
Elizabeth,  who  died  in  infancy,  and  John  Blvin. 
He  was  married  September  17,  1863,  to  Ann, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


781 


daughter  of  William  Haukins,  an  early  settler  of 
Franftlin  township. 

EOYER  ADAM,  Franklin  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Wills  Creek;  born  May  17,  1843,  in 
Loraine,  France  (now  Germany);  son  of  Nicho- 
las and  Anne  (Lago)  Royer.  Adam  came  to 
near  Sonora,  Muskingum  county,  with  his  pa- 
rents, who  remained  there  about  six  years  prior 
to  coming  to  Adam's  present  residence,  in  Frank- 
lin township,  which  he  obtained  by  paying  $1,200 
to  each  of  six  other  heirs.  He  has  since  bought 
forty-two  acres  adjoining  the  homestead.  Mr. 
Royer  was  married,  November  10, 1868,  to  Miss 
Susan,  daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Susannah 
(Michael)  Roof.  Her  father  was  a  native  of 
Germany,  and  her  mother  of  Switzerland.  Mr. 
Royer,  by  this  marriage,  became  the  father  of 
six  children  :  Alice  Jane,  John  Nicholas,  Emma 
Agnes,  Cora  May,  Harvy  Edward  and  Delia 
Anne. 

RUSSEL  JOHN  N.;  farmer;  postoffice,  West 
Lafayette;  was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  in 
1817,  and  was  married  in  1838,  to  Harriett  Will- 
iams, who  was  born  in  the  same  county,  in  1820. 
They  had  nine  children,  six  living,  viz :  Emily, 
Williams  A.,  Similda,  Sue,  Freeman,  and  Leila 
Adda.  The  deceased  are,  Francis,  John,  and  an 
infant  daughter.  Mr.  Russell  came  to  Coshocton 
county  in  1865,  and  locate i  in  this  township,  and 
owns  a  good  farm,  and  is  an  intelligent,  enter- 
prising and  progressive  farmer. 

s 

SALRIN  JOSEPH,  Franklin  township;  born 
in  France,  Department  of  Moselle,  Canton-  of 
Foulquemont,  Vittoncourt  village,  April  10, 1812; 
son  of  Stephen  Salrin.  He  left  his  native  land 
March  5, 1846,  for  America,  and,  coming  by  way 
of  New  Orleans,  landed  at  Zanesville  June  10. 
He  located  at ,  Adamsville,  following  his  trade, 
cabinet  making,  until  1852,  when  he  moved  to  his 
present  home  in  Franklin  township.  He  has 
here  engaged  in  farming  and  also  worked  at  his 
trade  to  some  extent.  In  1839  he  married  Made- 
laine  Nichols,  and  has  had  six  children,  viz: 
Basil ;  Justin  Albert,  of  Brown  county,  Illinois ; 
Laura,  a  sister  in  St.  Francis  hospital,  Columbus, 
Ohio;  Madelaine,  deceased;  Nicholas,  deceased, 
and  Joseph.  Basil,  Justin  and  Laura  were  born 
in  France,  the  others  here.  His  wife  died  Feb- 
ruary 29, 1876. 

SALRIN  BASIL,  Franklin  township;  farm- 
er; born  in  France,  June  12,  1839;  eldest  son  of 
Joseph  Salrin.  When  seven  years  old  he  came 
with  his  father  to  Muskingum  county,  where  he 
lived  until  1852,  then  moved  to  Franklin  town- 
ship, and  has  lived  there  since.  He  married, 
October  7, 1874,  Anna  Marraine,  born  in  France, 


in  June,  1860,  and  emigrated  to  America  August 
13,  1874.  Their  family  consists  of  three  boys, 
viz:  Joseph  Basil,  Ernst  Alexander  and  Frank 
Sherman. 

SALRIN  ANDREW, Franklin  township;  farm- 
er; born  near  Metz,  France,  May  10,  1848.  His 
parents,  Andrew  and  Barbara  (Mitchell)  Salrin, 
emigrated  with  their  three  children  directly  to 
this  township,  from  France,  in  1853.  His  two 
sisters,  both  older  than  himself,  are  now  living  in ' 
the  West,  Victorine  fDavid)  in  Kansas,  and  Mary 
(Sherrest)  in  Chicago,  Illinois.  He  was  married 
January  10. 1872,  to  Martha  Jane,  oldest  daughter 
of  WilliamM.  Clark,  of  FrankUn  township.  The 
children  born  of  this  marriage  are  Francis  Ann, 
Mary  Ellen,  Andrew  Wilham ;  Barbara  Elizabeth, 
deceased,  and  Emma  Jane. 

SALRIN  JOSEPH  M.,  FrankHn  township; 
farmer;  born  September  25,  1849,  in  Franklin 
township ;  married,  in  1872,  to  Mary,  daughter  of 
Charles  Schmueser,  of  Muskingum  county.  By 
this  marriage  he  had  two  children,  viz:  Mary 
Bertha  and  Joseph  Milton.  His  wife  having  died 
May  9,  1879,  he  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Samuel  Moffet,  of  Guernsey  county,  March  28, 
1880. 

SANGSTER  COLONEL  CHARLES  F.,  La- 
fayette township;  farmer;  postoffice,  Plainfleld, 
Ohio.  Colonel  Sangster  was  born  September  15, 
1810,  in  Fairfax  county,  Virginia,  sixteen  miles 
from  Mount  Vernon.  He  is  son  of  James  and 
Priscilla  (Ford)  Sangster.  His  father  was  of 
Scotch  descent;  his  mother,  of  English  descent, 
her  father  being  a  minister  of  the  Church  of 
England  and  her  mother  a  descendant  of  the 
Barry  family  of  Ireland.  Mr.  Sangster  was 
raised  on  a  farm.  He  removed  to  Loudon  coun- 
ty, Virginia,  in  1836,  where  he  remained  until 
1849.  He  then  came  to  Linton  township,  Cosh- 
octon county,  Ohio,  where  he  lived  until  1866; 
(he  then  removed  to  Lafayette  township,  where 
he  has  since  resided.  Colonel  Sangster  was 
married  February  24,  1845,  to  Miss  Sallie  E. 
Gore,  of  Muskingum  county,  Ohio.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  Ella  C, 
James,  Annie,  MoUie,  Charles  and  Laura,  twins, 
and  Hattie.  Two,  James  and  Ella  C,  are  mar- 
ried. In  1852  Colonel  Sangster  was  chosen  pres- 
ident of  the  first  agricultural  society  organized 
in  Coshocton  county  He  was  re-elected  the  fol- 
lowing year,  and  again  in  1857.  In  1857  Colonel 
Sangster  was  elected  to  the  Ohio  legislature,  and 
served  two  years.  He  was  elected  infirmary  di- 
rector and  served  six  years.  In  1880  he  was 
chosen  by  the  eighteenth  senatorial  district  as 
member  of  decennial  board  of  equalization,  run- 
ning between  one  and  two  hundred  ahead  of  his 
state  ticket,  which  shows  the  esteem  in  which  he 


782 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


is  held  by  his  countrymen.  He  is  at  present  en- 
gaged in  the  duties  of  his  office.  In  1832  Colonel 
Sangster  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
church,  and  has  ever  since  remained  an  influ- 
ential and  efficient  member.  He  has  always  mani- 
fested an  interest  in  educational  matters,  holding 
office  and  otherwise.  * 

SANDEL  CASPER,  Franklin  township ;  farm- 
er; born  in  Muskingum  county,  April  1,  1841; 
son  of  Valentine  and  Saloma  (Sauer)  Sandal. 
His  father  was  born  in  Alsace,  France.  In  1869 
he  moved  from  jMuskingum  county  to  Franklin 
township  and  lived  here  ever  since.  He  enlisted 
August  12, 1862,  in  Company  A.,  One  Hundred 
and  Second  0.  V.  I.,  and  was  discharged  June 
30,  1865.  He  saw  service  principally  in  Tennes- 
see, Kentucky  and  Alabama,  was  in  the  battle  of 
Decatur,  Alabama.  Married  January  23,  1868, 
Harriet  Barclay,  .daughter  of  Joseph  H.  Barclay, 
oE  Muskingum  county.  Their  children  are : 
William  Howard,  John  Francis  Barclay,  Theraby 
May,  and  Chester  Valentine. 

SAUNDERS  WILLIAM,  Keene  township; 
farmer ;  born  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  about 
1810;  son  of  Joseph  Sanders.  At  the  age  of  thir- 
ty-five he  emigrated  to  this  county  and  has  been 
a  farmer  all  his  life.  He  was  married  in  1829,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  and  Catharine 
(Markley)  Miller  and  granddaughter  of  John 
Miller.  His  children  were  John,  deceased ;  Cath- 
erine, Isabelle,  Harrison,  and  Elmira,  deceased. 

SAYER  STEPHEN  D.,  deceased;  born  in 
Orange  county.  New  York,  1814  He  came  to 
this  county  in  1837,  and  was  married  to  Sarah  A. 
Morgan,  who  was  a  native  of  the  same  county  in 
New  York,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1813.  They 
had  eight  children,  viz :  Lydia,  Samuel  K.,  Mary 
A.,  Robert  F.,Ehzabeth,  Thomas,  Caronand  Will- 
ard,  six  of  whom  are  living.  All  those  living  are 
married  except  Lj'dia,  who  is  staying  with  her 
mother.  Samuel  K.  lives  in  Iowa,  Elizabeth  in> 
Tuscarawas  county,  Mary  Ann  in  Indiana,  the  rest 
in  this  county.  Mr.  Sayer  located  on  the  farm 
where  his  widow  now  resides,  when  he  first  came 
to  this  county.  He  died  March  1879,  aged  sixty- 
five  years.  Samuel  K.  enlisted  in  Company  H, 
Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  at  Coshocton.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  at  Chickamauga,  was  confined  in  Libby 
prison  and  endured  the  hardships  of  that  place. 
Thomas  enlisted  in  the  100-day  service  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-fourth  0.  N.  G.  He  took  sick 
and  died  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia,  and  was 
buried  there. 

SAYER  R.  F.,  Coshocton;  miller,  of  the  firm  of 
Sayer,  Balch  &  Co. ;  was  born  April  23,  1842,  in 
White  Eyes  township ;  son  of  Stephen  D.  Sayer, 
native    of  New  York,  of    English   origin.    Mr. 


Sayer  remained  on  the  farm  until  he  was  about 
thirty-four  years  old.  In  1865  he  went  "West 
taking  a  wagon  train,  and  settled  in  Carroll 
county,  Missouri,  where  he  remained  seven  years, 
after  which  he  returned  to  the  old  homestead 
and  remained  three  years.  January  10,  1876,  he 
came  to  this  city  and  engaged  in  his  present  bu- 
siness, which  he  has  closely  followed  to  the  pres- 
ent writing.  Mr.  Sayer  was  married  April  23, 
1866,  to  Miss  M.  J.  Balch,  daughter  of  John  W. 
Balch  of  Lafayette  township.  This  union  was 
blessed  with  six  children ;  two  deceased — Sadie 
M.  and  Eugene  Ellsworth;  the  four  living  chil- 
dren are  Laura  .M.,  Elmer  E.,  Josephine,  and 
Emma  J.  Mr.  Sayer  is  doing  a  good  business  in 
custom  and  merchant  work. 

SCHOOLEY  MAIL'EN,  Jefferson  township; 
was  born  in  September,  1820,  in  Belmont  county, 
Ohio.  Ijle  is  the  son  of  Mailen  and  Honor  (La- 
fevor)  Schooley,  and  grandson  of  Henry  Lefevor, 
who  was  a  native  of  France.  Mr.  Schooley  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  till  the  age  of  eighteen, 
when  he  began  the  carpenter  trade,  under  Henry 
Schooley, and  served  seven  years;  but  during  this 
time  he  worked  at  the  manufacturing  of  boots 
and  shoes  in  the  winter  season.  Since  that  time 
he  has  devoted  his  entire  attention  to  the  shoe- 
maker trade.  In  1848,  he  opened  a  shop  in  Knox 
county,  and  continued  three  years;  from  there 
he  went  to  Jefferson  township,  Coshocton  county, 
where  he  yet  remains,  and  is  following  his  trade 
with  good  success.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  J.  CuUison,  in  February,  1843,  daughter  of 
James  and  Sarah  Culhson.  One  child,  Thomas 
0.,  born  November  8, 1844,  is  the  issue  of  this 
marriage.    Postoffice,  Mohawk  Village. 

SCHLEGEL  FREDERICK,  Crawford  town- 
ship; farmer;  postoffice,  New  Bedford;  born 
September  28, 1846,  in  Crawford  township ;  son 
of  David  and  Elizabeth  (Barkley)  Schlegel.  His 
father's  nativity  was  Germany;  his  mother's, 
Ohio.  Young  Schlegel  has  been  accustomed  to 
farm  life  from  infancy.  He  was  married  March 
27, 1874,  to  Miss  Catharine,  daughter  of  Balthaser 
and  Catharine  (Hothem)  Pretcens.  Three  child- 
ren were  born  to  them— Charles  Henry,  Her- 
bert Balthaser  and  Mary  Martha.  Mr.  Schlegel 
has  made  farming  his  special  vocation,  and  has 
been  successful. 

SCHWEIKERT  GOTTLEIB,  Crawford  town- 
ship; wagonmaker;  postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio; 
was  born  March  16,  1849,  in  Wurtemberg,  Ger- 
many. At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  left  school  and 
went  to  his  trade,  which  he  has  followed  to  the 
present  time.  He  came  to  America  in  July,  1866, 
and  located  at  New  Bedford.  Mr.  Schweikert 
was  married  June  14, 1873,  to  Miss  Mary,  daugh- 
ter of  Frederick  A.  and  Elizabeth   (Magenan) 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


783 


JBaad.  By  this  union  he  had  three  children,  viz; 
Maggie  E.;  Annie  L.,  deceased,  and  Mary  Annie. 
JMr.  Schweikert  is  considered  a  first-class  work- 
man. 

SOHUTZBACH  FRANK, Crawford  township; 
painter;  postoffice.New  Bedford,  Ohio ;  was  born 
February  6,  1847,  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany ;  son 
of  Xavier  and  Anna  Mary  (Dilger)  Schutzbach ; 
-came  to  America  in  1866,  and  located  at  Wash- 
ington City,  D.  C,  where  he  remained  about  one 
year,  working  at  his  trade ;  also  worked  in  Phil- 
adelphia He  came  to  New  Bedford  about  1868. 
Mr.  S.  was  married  October  18,  1868,  to  Miss 
Bachel,  daughter  of  John  and  Mary  (Seidel)  Hal- 
terbaum.  They  have  one  child,  John  Charles. 
Mr.  S.  is  considered  a  first-class  workman  in 
graining  and  house  painting. 

SCHUMACHER  JOHN,  Crawford  township; 
farmer ;  postof&ce.  Chili ;  born  December  15, 1821, 
in  Bavaria,  Germany;  son  of  Frederick  and  Eliza- 
beth (Klide)  Schumacher.  Quitting  school  at 
fourteen,  he  came  to  America  in  1836,  and  stopped 
in  New  Jersey  for  nine  months,  then  located  in 
Bucks  township,  Tuscarawas  county,  where  he 
remained  until  the  fall  of  1871,  when  he  came  to 
"Ms  present  residence.  Mr.  Schumacher  was  mar- 
riedi  in  December,  1844,  to  Miss  Catharine,  daugh- 
ter of  Philip  and  Elizabeth  (Smith)  Stilgenbaner. 
Twelve  children  blessed  their  union,  four  of  whom 
•died  in  infancy  and  eight  are  living,  viz :  Caro- 
line, Frederick,  Catharine,  Mary,  Phihp,  Charles, 
John  and  Magdalena.  Mr.  Schumacher  began 
business  for  himself  without  any  capital  but 
Tiardy  hands  and  an  honest  good  will.  In  1846, 
he  bought  a  small  piece  of  timber  land  in  Adams 
county  and  moved  to  it  with  his  young  wife;  but 
the  only  shelter  they  had  was  a  log  house,  with 
only  a  bed  quilt  to  close  the  doorway.  But  now 
he  has  an  abundance  for  himself  and  family,  also 
ior  his  mother,  who  is  eighty-one  years  old  and 
lives  with  her  devoted  son. 

SCOTT  JOHN  W.,  Crawford  township;  farm- 
er; postofflce,  Chili;  born  in  Brooke  county. 
West  Virginia,  February  20,  1830 ;  son  of  James 
V.  and  Ellen  (Tumbleson)  Scott,  of  Pennsylva- 
via;  was  brought  to  Ohio  when  about  seven 
years  of  age,  and  to  his  present  residence  in  1878. 
Mr.  Scott  was  married,  first,  October  81, 1851,  to 
Miss  Lavina,  daughter  of  Vincent  and  Eleanor 
(Cordery)  DeWitt.  They  have  had  six  children: 
"Vincent,  deceased;  James;  Osee,  deceased;  Ma- 
rion, Mary  C.,  and  Rebecca  Jane,  deceased.  Mrs. 
Scott  died  January  21,  1871.  Mr.  Scott  has  ac- 
ceptably served  three  terms  as  township  assessor. 
He  married  Miss  Sarah  Everhart  for  his  second 
wife. 

SCOTT  JOHN  L.,  farmer;  postoffice.  West 
Xafayette  ;  was  born  in  Keene  township,  in  1854, 


and  was  married,  in  1876,  to  Mary  Catherine 
McCary,  who  was  born  in  White  Eyes  township, 
in  1857.  They  have  three  children,  viz :  Will- 
iam K.  John  E.  and  Oda.  He  is  engaged  in  farm- 
ing. 

SELLS  B.  F.  CAPTAIN,  Coshocton,  Ohio; 
livery  man,  west  Main  street.  Mr.  Sells  was 
born  November  12, 1824,  in  Coshocton,  Ohio ;  son 
of  Abraham  and  Phebe  (Hart)  Sells.  Mr.  Sells 
chose  the  cabinetmaking  business,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  June,  1846,  when  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany B,  Third  0.  V.  I.,  for  the  Mexican  war. 
The  company  left  Coshocton  in  cahal  boats  June 
5, 1846.  He  served  one  year  in  General  Taylor's 
command.  After  his  discharge  he  came  home 
and  followed  his  trade  until  the  fall  of  1852,  when 
he  was  elected  county  auditor.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term  of  office  he  again  resumed  the 
furniture  business,  which  he  followed  until  Sep- 
tember 30, 1862,  when  he  recruited  Company  D, 
One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second  O.  V.  I.,  and 
was  commissioned  its  captain,  and  served  until 
March,  1864,  when  he  was  honorably  discharged. 
.After  his  discharge  he  was,  for  some  time,  en- 
gaged in  furnishing  horses  for  the  government, 
which  was  merged  into  his  present  livery  busi- 
ness. Captain  Sells  was  married  February  6, 
1849,  to  Miss  Ehza,  daughter  of  William  and 
Ehzabeth  (Ludington)  Shaw.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  eight  children,  viz:  William,  Howard 
A.,  Joseph  B.,  Emma  Adeha,  Clara  E.,  B.  F., 
Charles  and  John. 

SENFT  CHARLES,  Jefferson  township;  post- 
office,  Warsaw ;  born  in  Baden,  Germany;  son  of 
George  A.  and  Elizabeth  (Banner)  Senft,  and 
grandson  of  George  Albright.  His  father  was 
born  April  11,  1790.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  until  the  age  of  16,  then  went  to  Baden 
to  learn  the  saddler's  trade  with  Wilhelm  Isen- 
holdt,  and  served  an  apprenticeship  of  three 
years.  He  then  traveled  as  a  journeyman,  and 
worked  one  year  in  the  city  of  Charles-rest,  in 
Baden,  then  one  year  in  Zurich,  Switzerland. 
He  then  came  to  America,  landing  in  the  city  of 
New  York  on  the  10th  of  May,  1845.  From  there 
he  went  to  Buffalo  and  worked  at  his  trade  about 
eighteen  months,  then  to  Uricksville,  Tuscarawas 
county, Ohio,  and  engaged  with  Christopher  Mid- 
daugh,  and  worked  for  him  six  months;  from 
thence  to  Canal  Dover,  in  the  same  county,  and 
worked  with  Simpson  Shandler  eighteen  months; 
thence  to  Rogersville,  and  engaged  for  three 
months  with  John  Groft;  then  to  New  Bedford, 
Coshocton  county,  and  worked  two  years  with 
John  Gard;  then  came  to  Warsaw  and  began 
business  on  his  own  responsibiUty,  and  has  been 
there  about  thirty  years.  He  was  married  Febru- 
ary 25,  1849.  to  Miss  Barbara  Baad,  daughter  of 
Adam  and  Barbara  (Erb)  Baad,  and  granddaugh- 


784 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ter  of  Christain  Frederick  and  Agnes  (Shriver) 
Ott.  Their  children  are  as  follows:  Margaret, 
born  October  11,  1850,  deceased;  Christianna, 
born  February  11, 1855;  William,  born  Jpnnary 
28,  1857;  Louis,  bom  July  24,  1859;  George  A., 
born  January  27,  3862;  Charles  J.,  born  May  10, 
1866;  Jacob  G.,born  December  6,  1868;  Nettie, 
born  October  6,  1872,  deceased,  and  Agnes,  born 
June  24,  1876. 

SEWAED  G.  W.,  proprietor  of  Arlington 
House,  corner  of  Main  and  Railroad  streets,  Co- 
shocton, Ohio ;  was  born  March  5, 1837,  in  Beth- 
lehem township,  Coshcton  county,  Ohio;  son  of 
Albert  Seward,  Esq.;  mother's  maiden  name  was 
A.  Cranes;  was  raised  on  the  farm;  enlisted  in 
1861,  in  Company  K,  Thirty-second  0.  V.  I.,  and 
served  eighteen  months  in  that  regiment,  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  surrendered  to  the  enemy  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  and  after  being  exchanged,  went  down  the 
Mississippi  and  ran  the  blockade  at  Vicksburg. 
After  tlie  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  he  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Signal  Corps,  and  served  for  the 
Seventeenth  Army  Corps  until  the  surrender  of 
Atlanta,  Georgia,  when  he  was  honorably  dis- 
charged. Mr.  Seward  was  married  August  SO," 
1877,  to  Miss  Sadie  M.  Richeson,  daughter  of 
James  Richeson;  mother's  maiden  name  was 
Maria  Highland.  This  union  was  blessed  with 
one  child,  a  son,  Clyde  L.,  born  October  23, 1879, 
in  Coshoction,  Ohio. 

SEVERNS  JACOB,  Coshocton;  sheriff  of  Co- 
shocton county ;  was  born  April  16, 1832,  in  New 
Castle  township,  Coshocton  county,  and  raised  on 
the  farm;  married  September,  1865,  to  Miss 
Elizabeth  Dillin,  daughter  of  "William  Dillin,  of 
Perry  township.  In  the  fall  of  1856  Mr.  Severns 
moved  with  his  wife  to  Schuyler  county,  Illinois. 
During  their  stay  there  a  son  was  born  to  them, 
but  died  at  the  age  of  sixteen  months.  In  1868 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Severns  returned  to  their  native 
county,  but  Mrs.  Severns  survived  their  return 
only  a  few  weeks,  having  contracted  consumption 
in  their  western  home.  Mr.  Severns  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Eliza  Dillin,  of  Perry  township,  in 
1860.  The  result  of  this  union  was  one  daughter 
and  two  sons,  viz  :  Eva,  William  E.  and  John  L. 
Mr.  Severns  was  elected  to  the  office  of  sheriff  in 
1877,  and  re-elected  in  1879.  SherifT  Severns  is  a 
very  efficient  and  competent  public  officer. 

SHAEFFER  EMANUEL,  Coshocton ;  general 
smithing  shop;  was  born  October  1,  1822,  in  Co- 
lumbiana county;  son  of  Nathaniel  Shaeffer,  a 
native  of  York  county,  Pennsylvania,  of  German 
ancestry.  Young  Shaeffer  spent  his  childhood 
at  New  Lisbon,  Ohio,  and  in  youth  worked  at 
different  employments.  At  eighteen  commenced 
his  trade  at  New-  Lisbon  with  Hiltabiddle;  also 
-worked  in  carriage  shop  of  Polland  &  Wells  of 


same  place.  He  then  formed  a  partnership  with 
David  Kisinger,  which  continued  one  year;  then 
established  a  shop,  which  he  conducted  until 
1851,  when  he  began  traveling,  and  worked  in 
several  different  States  for  four  years.  In  1855' 
he  settled  in  this  city,  and  has  remained  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Shaefter  recruited  Company 
I,  Ninety-seventh  0.  V.  I.,  and  was  commissioned 
its  captain,  but  owing  to  sickness  resigned  in 
1863.  Capt.  Shaeffer  was  first  married  Decem- 
ber 18,  1845,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Baxter  of  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania,  who  became  the 
mother  of  three  children,  viz :  Charles,  deceased ;, 
Samuel  L.,  and  Mary  Lettitia.  The  mother  of 
these  children  died  in  October,  1851.  Captain 
Shaeffer  was  afterward  married,  August  16, 1855,. 
to  Susannah,  daughter  of  John  Miller  of  this 
county,  who  became  the  mother  of  eight  chil- 
dren, viz :  Almeda,  John  W.,  Sarah  E.,  Louis  C.,, 
Charles,  Roberta,  Leonora,  and  Hattie.  The  cap- 
tain and  his  son,  Samuel  L.,  are  doing  a  very 
active  business  in  general  smithing  and  machine 
repairing. 

SHAFER  EDMUND;  farmer;  postoffice, Plain- 
field;  was  born  in  this  township  in  1847,  and 
was  married  in  1870,  to  Jennie  Scott,  who  was- 
born  in  Oxford  township  in  1851.  They  have 
three  children :  Samuel,  Steward  and  Emma> 
He  is  engaged  in  farming  the  home  farm. 

SHAFER  GEORGE;  farmer;  Lafayette  town- 
ship ;  postoffice.  West  Lafayette ;  was  born  in 
Albany  county.  New  York,  in  1822,  and  came  to 
Ohio  when  quite  small;  was  married  in  1847,  to 
Miss  Margaret  Smith,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania. 
Their  children  were :  Jacob,  deceased ;  George 
W.,  Martha  E.,  John  F.,  Mary  C,  William  W.,. 
Benjamin,  Edward ;  Lizzie  S.,  deceased,  and 
Jennie.  George,  the  eldest  son,  was  out  in. 
the  three-months  service,  and  was  a  member  of 
Company  H,  Eighty-eighth  0.  V.  I.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  owns  116  acres  of  good  land  in  this- 
township,  and  is  regarded  as  an  honest,  indus- 
trious citizen. 

SHAFER  A.,  Lafayette  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Jacobsport;  was  born  m  Albany 
county,  New  York,  in  1809,  and  came  to  this 
township,  in  1836;  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  resi- 
dents of  this  township.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Maria  Davis,  of  Schnectady  county.  New  York^ 
in  1886.  They  have  had  six  children  :  Steven, 
deceased ;  Elizabeth  A.,  Peter,  Catharine,  Baxter 
and  Alonzo.  Mr.  S.  was  county  commissioner 
one  term,  township  trustee  two  terms,  and  super- 
visor numorous  times.  His  parents  were  New 
Yorkers  of  German  descent.  He  owns  240  acres 
of  land  and  although  at  an  advanced  age,  is  in- 
dustrious, and  regarded  as  one  of  the  prominent 
men  of  the  township. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


785 


SHANNON  NATHAN  E.,  Mill  Creek;  post- 
office,  Keene ;  born  in  1851,  in  this  county.  His 
grandfather,  Nathan  Shannon,  was  born  in  1796, 
in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania.  He  came 
to  Harrison  county  in  1805.  He  was  married 
twice.  His  first  wife  dying,  he  married,  in  1818, 
Miss  Mary  Endsly,  of  Harrison  county,  who  was 
born  in  1799,  in  Cumberland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania. They  were  the  parents  of  eleven  children. 
John  P.,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
is  the  third  child.  He  was  born  in  1825,  in  Jef- 
ferson county,  Ohio;  came  to  this  county  in  1826, 
with  his  father,  and  was  married,  in  1850,  to  Miss 
Sarah  A.  McConnell,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1830,  in  county  Donegal,  Ireland.  They 
are  the  parents  of  one  child,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  He  was  married,  in  1877,  to  Miss  Emma 
A.  Clark,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1856, 
in  this  county.  They  are  the  parents  of  one 
child,  John  Earl. 

SHANNON  J.  J.,  Mill  Creek  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Keene ;  born  in  1847,  in  this  county. 
His  father,  J.  M.  Shannon,  was  born  in  1800,  in 
Pennsylvania.  He  came  to  this  county,  in  1828, 
and  was  married  the  same  year,  to  Miss  Jane 
Johnson,  who  was  born  in  1810,  and  died  in  1863. 
They  were  the  parents  of  eleven  children.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  eighth.  He  was 
married,  in  1880,  to  Miss  M.  A.  Foster  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1849,  in  this  county. 
Wm.  B.,  brother  of  the  subject  of  this  article, 
was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
June  27,  1864.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Fifty- 
first  0.  V.  I. 

SHANNON  WILLIAM,  Bedford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Tyrone;  born  in  1835,  in  this 
county.  His  father  was  born,  in  1804,  in  Payette 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  Harrison 
county  when  a  child.  He  was  married,  in  1826, 
to  Miss  Sarah  Stone,  of  Harrison  county,  who 
was  born  in  1806,  in  Jefferson  county.  They 
came  to  this  county  in  1831.  She  died  in  1877. 
They  were  the  parents  of  nine  children,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  being  the  fourth.  He  was  mar- 
ried, in  1859,  to  Miss  Elenora  McCluggage,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1839,  in  Allegheny 
county,  Pennsylvania.  They  are  the  parents  of 
eight  children,  three  of  whom  are  living,  viz: 
Sarah  E.,  Lulu  B.  and  Bertie  F. 

SHANNON  CYRUS  W.,  Monroe  township; 
born  April,  1855,  in  Clark  township,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio;  son  of  Jeremiah  and  Sophia  (Buck- 
master)  Shannon,  and  grandson  of  Isaac  and 
Sarah  (Stone.)  Shannon,  and  Richard  and  Eliza- 
beth (Mattock)  Buckmaster.  He  has  spent  the 
most  of  his  life  thus  far  in  educating  himself. 
He  was  married,  October,  1880,  to  Miss  Mary 
Brillhart,  daughter  of  John  and  Jane  Billhart. 


SHANAMAN  ELIJAH,  Mill  Creek  townships 
farmer;  postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio;  was  born 
in  Holmes  county,  April  6,  1860,  and  is  the  son 
of  Jonathan  and  Barbara  Shanaman. 

SHARPLES  JAMES,  Bedford  township;  P, 
0.  Warsaw;  born  in  1823  in  Jefferson  county, 
Ohio,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1833  with  his 
father,  who  was  born  in  1778  in  England.  _  He 
was  married  twice.  His  second  wife's  maiden 
name  was  Miss  Elizabeth  Marsdow.  She  was 
born  in  1788.  They  came  to  Jefferson  county,. 
Ohio  in  1819  or  '30.  She  died  in  this  county  in 
1850.  He  went  back  to  Jefferson  county  in  1856 
and  died  there  in  1861.  They  were  the  parents 
of  six  children,  James  being  the  fifth.  He  was 
married  in  1847  to  Miss  Ann  E.  Gelsthorpe,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1826  in  ■  England. , 
They  are  the  parents, of  eleven  children,  viz: 
Thomas  S.;  Eliza  A.,  deceased ;  Alonzo,  Russell ; 
Sarah  E.,  deceased;  James  B.,  Mary  E.;  Alice  E.; 
deceased,  an  infant,  deceased;  Nannie  R.,  and 
Ida  M. 

SHARPLES  RUSSELL,  Bedford  township;, 
farmer ;  P.  0.  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1853  in  this 
county,  and  was  married  in  1877  to  Miss  Clara 
Tredway,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1857. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  children,  namely : 
I  Etta  and  an  infant  daughter. 

SHAW  DANIEL,  Bedford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Warsaw ;  born  in  1821,  in  this  county. 
His  father,'  James  Shaw,  was  born  in  1790,  in 
Harford  county,  Maryland,  and  was  married  in 
1820,  to  Miss  Sarah  Tredway,  of  the  same  county, 
who  was  born  in  1798.  They  came  to  this  coun- 
ty in  1820.  He  died  in  1862,  and  she  died  in 
1870.  They  weare  the  parents  of  twelve  chil- 
dren, the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  oldest. 
He  was  married  in  1848,  to  Miss  Athalia  Wright, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1823.  They  are 
the. parents  of  eleven  children,  viz  :  Viola,  James 
W.,  William  H.,  Sarah  L.,  Lewis  C,  Mary  M., 
Meda,  (deceased),  Libby,  Nathan  E.,  Sabina  and 
an  infant,  (deceased). 

SHAW  JAMES,  Jackson  township ;  postoffice, 
Roscoe;  born  in  this  county  in  1828;  son  of 
James  and  Sarah  Shaw,  and  grandson  of  Joshua 
Shaw;  married  in  1859,  to  Mary  Courtwright, 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Susan  Courtwright.  Mr. 
Shaw  is  the  father  of  six  children,  viz  :  Frank, 
Sarah,  Charles,  Lewis,  James  M.,  Eward  E., 

SHAW  J.  W.,  Coshocton;  sewing  machine 
agent;  was  born  September  14, 1838,  in  the  County 
of  Sligo,  Ireland.  His  father,  William  Shaw,  is 
yet  living  in  Ireland.  J.  W.  worked  on  the  farm 
until  he  was  about  twenty-eight  years  of  age, 
when  he  came  to  America  and  settled  in  this 
city,  in  1867.     He  farmed  two  years,  then  en- 


786 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


gaged  in  his  present  business,  which  he  has  fol- 
lowed up  to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Shaw  is  doing 
.a  good  share  of  the  trade  in  his  line  in  this  place 
and  vicinity.  He  was  married  November  19, 
1863,  to  Miss  Martha  Morrow,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Morrow,  of  the  County  of  Sligo,  Ireland. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  five  children,  one 
deceased,  viz :  Thomas,  and  four  are  living,  viz  : 
William,  James,  Sarah  and  Mariah. 

SHAW  D.  R.,  queensware  and  glassware 
dealer.  Second  street,  Coshocton.  Mr.  Shaw  is  a 
native  of  this  city,  and  was  born  March  1,  1836; 
.son  of  Hon.  B.  R.  Shaw,  American  born,  of 
English  ancestry.  At  fifteen  years  of  age  he  en- 
tered the  dry  goods  store  as  clerk;  at  eighteen 
was  appointed  deputy  postmaster.  At  twentj'- 
■one  he  bought  a  farm  and  managed  it  eight  years ; 
at  twenty-nine  returned  to  the  city  and  engaged 
in  the  hardware  business ;  at  forty  changed  his 
business  from  the  hardware  to  that  named  above, 
in  which  he  has  almost  the  exclusive  trade  of  the 
jplace  and  vicinity.  Mr.  Shaw  served  as  quarter- 
master sergeant  of  the  One  Hundred  and  Forty- 
third  0.  N.  G.  for  five  months.  He  has  very  ac- 
ceptably filled  the  office  of  township  clerk  and  as 
member  of  city  council,^and  is  at  present  presi- 
dent of  the  board  of  'directors  of  the  M.  E. 
church,  of  this  city.  Mr.  Shaw  was  married 
December  23,  1856,  to  Miss  Alpha  J.  Benson, 
daughter  of  John  Benson,  of  Perry  township, 
and  cousin  to  James  A.  Garfield.  This  union 
was  blessed  with  four  children,  one  of  whom 
died  in  infancy,  and  three  are  living,  viz :  Emma 
Frances,  William  Walter,  and  Benjamin  Lewis. 

SHEAFER  WILLIAM,  Newcastle  township); 
farmer  ;  was  born  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, October  22, 1831 ;  son  of  John  and  Cath- 
arine (Price)  Sheafer,  and  grandson  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  Sheafer,  and  of  WiUiam  and  Jane 
Price.  He  spent  his  boyhood  days  attending 
public  school  and  working  at  farm  work.  He 
went  to  Knox  county  in  the  year  1834,  and  in 
1886  moved  to  Newcastle,  where  he  now  resides. 
He  is  an  enterprising  farmer  and  an  obliging 
neighbor.  Mr.  Sheafer  was  married  to  Miss  Pau- 
line Lewis,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Mary  McVey. 
Her  father  was  of  Welsh  and  her  mother  of  Irish 
descent.  She  was  born  in  East  Union,  Coshocton 
county,  December  7,  1843.  They  have  been 
blessed  with  one  child,  viz :  John,  born  May  9, 
1875. 

SHEARN  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township;  Ros- 
coe  postofRce;  born  in  South  Wales,  in  1826;  set- 
tled in  this  county  in  1851 ;  son  of  Henry  and 
Hannah  (Gulifer)  Shearn;  married  in  1854,  to 
Zillah  Stubbs.  Mr.  Shearn  is  the  father  of  seven 
children, viz :  Jonah, deceased;  Williain, deceased; 
Bettie  H.,  born  February  18, 1859 ;  Sarah  E.,  born 
October  28,  1860;  Ester,  born  August  21,  1863; 


Susannah,  born  October  5, 1865 ;  Joseph  B.,  born 
October  30, 1867.  Elizabeth  H.  was  married  in 
1877,  to  Martin  H.  Carter.  ' 

SHEPLER  A.  J.,  Coshocton,  photographer, 
west  Locust  street;  was  born  in  Coshocton  coun- 
ty, August  22, 1842;  son  of  Peter  Shepler,  of  Ger- 
man and  French  extraction;  was  brought  up  on 
the  farm  until  the  age  of  seventeen,  when  he  be- 
gan to  learn  photography  at  Millersburg,  Ohio. 
He  has  traveled  extensively,  working  in  most  of 
the  principal  cities  of  the  West.  By  special  re- 
quest, in  Anthony's  Phctographio  Bidletin,  he  de- 
scribes the  process  bj'  which  he  produced  pic- 
tures-exhibited  at  the  Chicago  exposition  in  1874. 
Also,  in  the  Philadelphia  Phctcgrapher,  Mr.  Shep- 
ler's  improved  method  of  vvorldngatank  for  wash- 
ing prints,  is  given.  He  is  very  successful  in  his  art. 
Mr.  Shepler  was  married  September,  1860,  to  Miss 
Nancy,  daughter  of  James  and  Mary  A.  Gray,  of 
Holmes  county.  Their  children  are  named  Laura 
E.,  Eddie  L.,  James  P.  and  Henry  V. 

SHIELDS  JOHN,  Bedford  township;  black- 
smith; postoffice.  West  Bedford ;  born  in  1819,  in 
Harrison  county;  came  to  this  county  in  1844, 
and  was  married  in  1844,  to  Miss  Jane  Harrisoii, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1820,  and  died  in 
1860.  They  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  viz : 
Thomas  H.,  Wilham  J.,  Margret  J.,  Minerva  A., 
S.  P.  and  Mary  E.  He,  in  1867,  married  Miss 
Mary  Hillary,  of  this  county,  who  was,  born  in 
1834,  in  Licking  county.  Mr.  Shields,  besides 
being  a  blacksmith,  also  makes  hayrakes  and 
wagong. 

SCHOTT  M.  J.,  foreman  in  the  Empire  mills, 
Roscoe,  Ohio;  was  born  November  5,  1848,  in 
Eoscoe';  son  of  Nicholas  and  Caroline  (Rosen- 
berger)  Schott.  Young  Schott  began  life  a  poor 
boy;  but  by  careful  economy  and  industry,  he  has 
been  quite  successful.  Mr.  Schott  was  married 
to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  John  and  Margaret 
Clark.  They  are  the  parents  of  one  child,  viz: 
Caroline  Estella.  Mrs.  Schott  was  born  October 
9, 1850,  in  Sandusky,  Erie  county,  Ohio.  When 
two  years  of  age  she  was  abducted  from  her  par- 
ents, by  Clarinda  Montgomery  (maiden  name 
Mathews),  an  aunt  of  the  child.  She  was  taken 
first  to  Utica,  New  York ;  then  to  Newark,  Ohio ; 
thence  to  Mt.  Vernon,  Ohio,and  finally  to  Roscoe, 
where  she  was  rescued  by  the  neighbors  of  the 
party  holding  the  child,  then  about  ten  years  of 
age.  She  was  taken  by  Mrs.  Smith,  one  of  the 
knid  deliverers,  with  whom  she  found  a  comfort- 
able and  happy  home  until  her  marriage,  as 
stated  before. 

SHAW  WILLIAM,  proprietor  Central  Hotel, 
corner  Main  and  Second  streets,  Coshocton,  Ohio, 
Sir.  Shaw  was  born  ]March  5,  18:34,  in  Leesburg, 
Ohio ;  son  of  Uriah  and  Sarah  (True)  Shaw.    Mr. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


787 


S.  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  where  he  re- 
mained until  he  was  about  twenty-eight  years  of 
age,  when  he  began  merchandising  in  Eogers- 
ville,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  about  twelve  years, 
when  he  sold  out  his  stock  and  moved  to  Avon- 
dale  and  took  charge  of  the  Avondale  House, 
which  he  kept  three  years  and  established  a  wide 
reputation  as  a  good  landlord.  In  the  spring  of 
1881  he  took  charge  of  his  present  house,  which 
in  his  care  has  become  very-popular.  Mr.  S.  was 
married  first  August  20,  1857,  to  Sarah  Garver, 
who  died  without  children,  in  li>72.  He  was 
married  the  second  time  February  26,  1874,  to 
Mrs.  Martha,  daughter  of  George  and  Sarah  (Tor- 
ton)  Wilson.  Mrs.  Shaw  was  married  first,  Au- 
gust 26, 1866,  to  Hugh  Leonard.  They  became 
the  parents  of  two  children,  viz :  Mary  Grace 
and  Josie  Bell.    Mr.  Leonard  died  July  12, 1872. 

SHEOYER  0.  A  ,  Frankhn  township;  born  in 
Franklin  township,  August  21,  1842;  son  of  An- 
drew J.  Shroyer;  enlisted  August  22,  1862,  in 
company  D,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty-second 
Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry;  participated  in  the 
battles  of  the  Wilderness,  Spotsylvania  Court 
House,  Cedar  Creek,  Fisher's  Hill,  etc.  At 
Winchester,  while  in  the  Hospital,  was  captured 
and  imprisoned  in  Libby,  and  afterward  on 
Belle  Island,  but  was  exchanged  about  six  weeks 
afterward;  married  October  24,  1867,  to  Mary 
Craig,  of  Lafayette  township,  and  has  two  chil- 
dren, viz :  Jennie  L.  and  Rose  Estella. 

SHULTZ  ALEXANDER,  Adams  township ; 
farmer ;  postoffice,  Evansburgh ;  born  in  Jefferson 
county,  September  24,  1841;  son  of  Jacob  and 
Eliza  J.  (Cook)  Shultz,  and  -  grandson  of  Henry 
Shultz  and  Jesse  Cook.  He  enlisted  January  1, 
1862,  in  Company  G,  Eightieth  O.  V.  I ,  under 
Capt.  Marshall,  went  into  camp  at  camp  Meigs, 
thence  to  camp  Chase  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  thence 
to  camp  Joe  Holt,  thence  to  Paducah,  Kentucky, 
and  from  there  to  Hamburg,  Tennessee,  thence 
to  camp  Clear  Creek,  Mississippi,  and  from  there 
was  sent  to  Evansville  hospital,  Indiana,  where 
he  remained  seven  months,  and  from  there  came 
home,  having  received  Ms  discharge  on  the  8th 
of  February,  1863,  on  account  of  disability.  He 
has  devoted  most  of  his  time  since  then  to  farm- 
ing; was  also  proprietor  of  Shultz  House  in 
Chili  for  eight  years.  He  lived  one  and  a  half 
years  in  Tuscarawas  county.  From  there  he 
moved  to  Adams  township,  this  county,  where 
he  is  at  present  living,  in  very  prosperous  con- 
dition He  was  married  January  20, 1867,  to  Miss 
Catharine  E  Geese,  daughter  of  Samuel  and 
Lydia  (Killian)  Geese,  and  granddaughter  of 
Catharine  Geese,  and  John  and  Elizabeth  (Long) 
Killian.  Mrs.  Shultz  was  born  in  Cumberland 
county,  Pennsylvania,  January  10,  1848,  and 
came   to  Ohio  in  May  of  the  same  year.    They 


have  two  children — Edgar  G.,  born  June  4,  1868, 
and  Lydia  J.,  born  January  3,  1870. 

SHULTZ  JACOB,  farmer;  White  Eyes  town- 
ship ;  a  native  of  Belmont  county,  and  was  born 
February,  1819.  In  1840  he  married  Miss  Eliza 
J.  Cook,  of  JeffeTson  county.  They  have  four 
children  living :  Alex.,  born  1841,  is  married  and 
lives  in  Adams  township;  Elizabeth,  born  Janu- 
ary 1848,  is  married  and  lives  in  Davis  county, 
Indiana;  Laura  B.,  born  August  28,  1863,  and 
Agnes  C,  born  January  21,  1866,  are  unmarried 
and  live  in  Chili.  Mr.  Shultz  enlisted  in  1861  in 
Co.  C,  Seventy-seventh  Pennsylvan'a  Regiment. 
He  was  in  the  battles  of  Liberty,  Hoovers'  Gap, 
Pittsburg  Landing,  Chickamauga,  and  a  number 
of  skirmishes.-  He  was  in  the  service  over  three 
years.  He  is  now  living  on  a  farm  of  eighty  acres 
south  of  Chili. 

SHRIGLEY  GEORGE  J.,  carpenter  and  con- 
tractor, of  the  firm  of  Shrigley  and  Hughes,  Co- 
shocton, Ohio.  Mr.  Shrigley  was  born  August  4, 
1844,  in  Adamsville,  Salem  township,  Muskingum 
county,  son  of  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Werts) 
Shrigley.  They  were  natives  of  Loudon  county, 
Maryland.  Young  Shrigley  was  brought  up  on 
a  farm;  in  1869,  went  to  his  trade;  came  to  this 
city  in  1868.  He  enlisted  in  company  E,  One 
Hundred  and  Sixtieth  O.  K  G.,  and  served  four 
months.  Mr.  Shrigley  was  married,  October  11, 
1866,  to  Miss  Lyde,  daughter  of  Rev.  J!  H.  and 
Rebecca  (Sample)  Rogers.  They  are  the  parents 
of  two  children,  viz :  Clara  Belle  and  Hamilton  H. 

SICKER  JOHN  H.,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
born  August  25,  1819,  in  Albany  county.  New 
York ;  son  of  John  and  Charlotte  (Kirker)  Sick- 
er; grandson  of  Lewis  and  Margaret  (Fratt) 
Sicker,  and  of  Henry  and  Margaret]  (Campbell) 
Kirker.  His  grandmother  Kirker  was  from 
Holland ;  his  other  grandparents,  from  Germany. 
His  grandfather  Sicker,  born  in  Wittemburg, 
Germany,  crossed  the  ocean  at  seventeen  years 
of  age,  about  1755,  as  a  German  soldier  in  the 
English  service,  and  served  in  the  •'Canadian 
war.  By  permission  of.  his  general  he  re- 
mained here,  working  on  a  farm  in  Schenectady 
county.  New  York;  while  there  his  employer 
sent  him  with  two  slaves  to  a  Mr.  Fratt,  in  Al- 
bany county.  Fratt  invited  him  to  remain  over 
Sunday;  he  stayed,  loved  and  married  his  daugh- 
ter. In  1835  Mr.  Sicker  moved  with  his  parents 
to  Linton  township,  and  has  lived  here  since. 
In  1839  he  married  Jane  Rodruck,  daughter  of 
Lewis  Rodruck.  Children  living  are — Charlotte, 
Margaret  J.,  Rebecca,  John  L.,  Anna,  Elmira 
and  Alice. 

SIMMONS  CALVIN,  farmer ;  Tiverton  town- 
ship; postoffice,  Gann,  Knox  county;  born  in 
1834,  September  28,  in  this  county.    He   was 


7SS 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTOlSr  COUNTY. 


married  in  1859,  to  Miss  Rebecca  J.,  daughter  of 
S.  Day,  of  Coshocton  county,  who  was  born  May 
3,  1840,  in  Knox  county,  and  died  December  4, 
1863.  They  were  the  parents  of  two  children, 
A-iz  :  Edwin  E.,  born  December  22, 1859 ;  William 
E.,  born  September  29,  1863.  He  .was  married 
December  18,  1866,  to  Miss  Eda  H.  Bailey, 
daughter  of  John  Bailey,  of  this  township,  who 
was  born  August  27, 1840.  They  are  the  parents 
of  two  children  :  Carlos  H.,  born  April  10,  1868, 
and  Benjamin  B.,  born  December  6,  1869. 

SIMMONS  ABRAHAM;  farmer  and  Justice 
of  the  Peace;  Tiverton  township;  P.  O.  Gann, 
Knox  county;  born  in  1832,  in  this  township.  His 
grandfather,  Abraham  Simmons  was  born  in 
1764,  in  Massachusetts,  and  was  married  in  1794, 
to  Miss  Polly  Borden,  of  Massachusetts,  who  was 
born  in  1778.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1817. 
He  died  in  1846.  She  died  in  1855.  They  were 
the  parents  of  six  children,  the  oldest  child,  Ben- 
jamin, being  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch.  He  was  born  in  1796,  in  Massachusetts, 
and  was  married  September  19th,  1820,  to  Miss 
Lovey  GifBn,  of  Knox  county,  who  was  born  in 
1861  in  Indian  "Wheeling.  He  died  December 
4, 1874.  They  were  the  parents  or  five  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  fourth.  He 
was  married  in  November  1854  to  Miss  Margaret 
Winslow,  of  this  township,  who  was  born  in  1838. 
They  are  the  parents  of  five  children — John, 
died  August  9th,  1880;  Hetty,  Benjamin,  died 
September  6th,  1863  ;  Mary  L.,  died  May  6th, 
1879,  and  Sarah  E.  Abraham  Simmons'  grand- 
father Robert  Giffin,  was  born  in  1776,  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  was  married  in  1800  to  Miss  Hetty 
Harris,  of  Virginia.  She  was  born  in  1779.  They 
came  to  St.  Clairsville  Ohio  in  1800,  and  to  this 
county  in  1807  They  moved  to  Knox  county  in 
1812,  and  moved  back  to  New  Castle,  this  county, 
in  1847.  He  died  in  1847.  She  died  in  1851. 
They  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  Lovey, 
the  mother  of  Abraham  Simmons,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch,  being  the  oldest. 

SINDEN  WILLIAM,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer;  was  born  in  Sussex  county.  Parish  Pen- 
hurst,  England,  in  1849;  came  to  America  and  to 
this  county  in  1855.  He  was  married  in  1874  to 
Miss  Margaret  Shirer,  of  Muskingum  county. 
They  have  had  two  children,  Harriet,  aged  three 
years,,  and  Clare,  one  year.  Mr.  Sinden  has  lived 
on  what  is  known  as  the  Miller  farm  for  the  past 
eight  years,  and  is  honest  and  industrious.  He 
visited  his  native  country  during  the  war. 

SISLEY  PERRY,  Bedford  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  Fayette  county, 
Pennsylvania,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1859, 
with  his  mother,  his  father,  Jacob,  having  died 
in  1827.  in  Pennsylvania.  His  mother  died  in 
1865.    They  were  the  parents  of  seven  children, 


the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  sixth.  He 
was  married  in  1870,  to  Miss  Eliza  A.  Ogle,  of 
this  county,  who  was  born  in  1853,  in  this  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  four  children :  Lora  J., 
William  K.,  Silas  T.,  and  Charlie  N. 

SKINNER  WILLIAM  T.,  Keene  township; 
farmer;  born  February  6,  1800,  in  Hartford, 
Connecticut;  son  of  Nathaniel  Skinner,  a  revolu- 
tionary soldier,  born  July  28,  1745,  and  Margaret 
(Hunt)  Skinner,  born  September  14, 1757.  By  a 
previous  marriage  to  Rebecca  Bigelow,born  Jan- 
unary  10,  1750,  his  father  had  two  children— 
Rhoda  and  Mary.  His  two  grand  fathers  were 
John  Skinner  and  Alexander  Hunt.  He  was 
married  May,  1831,  to  Mary,  daughter  of  Timothy 
and  Polly  (Trowbridge)  Emerson,  born  in  1806. 
Their  children  are:  Julia,  born  March  22, 1832; 
Adeline  P.,  October  28, 1836;  Timothy,  deceased, 
born  in  1843,  and  Mary  E.,  in  the  fall  of  1854. 
Mrs.  Skinner  died  in  February,  1860. 

SMAILES  S.  H.,  Virginia  township ;  born 
June  7, 1839,  in  Washington  township,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio ;  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (McCoy) 
Smailes.  Mr.  Smailes  was  brought  up  on  a  farm, 
and  was  educated  in  district  schools.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  years  he  began  life  for  himself. 
When  the  rebellion  broke  out  he  enlisted  in 
Company  I,  Ninety-seventh  Regiment,  O.  V.  I., 
and  was  in  the  army  of  the  Curnberland,  serving 
from  August  13,  1862.  Mr.  Smailes  was  engaged 
in  the  battles  of  Chattanooga,  Chickamauga, 
Resaca,  Dalton  and  Kingston,  and  was  mustered 
out  of  the  service  July  27, 1865.  In  the  month 
of  ]\Iarch,  1869,  he  opened  a  store  in  Moscow, 
where  he  still  continues  to  do  business.  He  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  A.  Spayde,  January  2, 1869, 
daughter  of  John  and  Margaret  Spayde.  They 
were  blessed  with  four  children. 

SMART  J.  S.,  superintendent  of  paper-mills, 
Coshocton  ;  born  May  16, 1843,  in  Queen's  coun- 
ty. Long  Island,  New  York;  son  of  Robert  T. 
Smart,  a  native  of  New  York  City,  of  English  an- 
cestry. At  eighteen  years  of  age,  young  Smart 
took  charge  of  his  father's  paper-mills,  at  Troy, 
New  Yorif.  In  1869  he  went  to  Great  Bend,  New 
York,  and  superintended  a  paper-mill.  In  1873  he 
built  and  was  part  owner  of  a  paper-mill  atBloss- 
ville,  Oneida  county.  New  York,  firm  name  of 
Holisead,  Parry  &  Smart ;  sold  his  interest  in  1875 
and  moved ,  to  Michigan,  and  superintended  a 
paper-mill  until  1878,  when  he  settled  on  a  farm 
m  Nebraska,  and  remained  one  year,  when  he 
sold  a  part  of  the  farm  at  a  good  profit  and  came 
to. this  city  and  entered  upon  his  present  duties. 
Married  September  29,  1864,  to  Miss  Margaret 
Martin,  daughter  of  James  G.  Martin.  They  have 
had  three  children,  one  of  whom,  Grace,  died  in 
infancy.  Frank  Everet  and  Harry  are  the  two 
living  children. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


789 


SMITH  MISS  EMILY,  Adams  township; 
teacher;  postoffice,  Avondale;  was  bc*n  in  Adams 
township;  daughter  of  Daniel  and  Mary  (Funk) 
Smith,  and  granddaughter  of  Edward  and  Han- 
nah (Mo]-ris)  Smith,  and  of  Michael  and  Savina 
(Slusher)  Punk;  also  great  granddaughter  of 
Edward  and  Elizabeth  (Davison)  Smith,  and  of 
Bazel  and  Margaret  Morris,  Peter  Punk,  and 
Frederick  and  Margaret  (Huntsiker)  Slusher. 
Her  father  was  born  in  Washington  county, 
Pennsylvania,  December  29,  1808,  anji  came  to 
Clark  township  in  1836.  Her  mother  was  also 
Jaorn  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  Oc- 
tober 1, 1803.  They  were  married  June  16,  1833. 
Emily  has  one  brother,  Edward,  and  one  sister, 
Melinda.  She  is  a  teacher  of  common  schools, 
and,  as  such  has  always  met  with  success. 

SMITH  CHRISTIAN,  Adams  township;  tin- 
ner; postoffice,  Bakersville;  born  near  Berne,  in 
Switzerland,  May  3, 1844;  son  of  Peter  and  Mary 
(Cower)  Smith.  He  came  to  America  with  his 
parents  when  he  was  but  four  years  of  age, 
landing  in  New  York  after  a  voyage  of  eight 
weeks.  From  there  he  went  to  Stark  county, 
Ohio,  where  he  remained  about  fourteen  years. 
He  enlisted  in  Company  A,  One  Hundred  and 
Fourth  O.  V.  I.,  under  Captain  Sterl,  and  served 
three  years.  After  coming  home  he  worked  at 
his  trade,  which  he  had  learned  with  his  father 
before  the  war.  He  spent  several  years  in  Mis- 
souri, and,  in  1872,  came  to  Bakersville,  where  he 
established  himself  in  business.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  May,  1874,  to  Miss  Mary  Shannon,  daugh- 
ter of  Isaac  Shannon,  and  granddaughter  of  Will- 
iam Shannon.  They  have  one  child,  Peter,  born 
May  3, 1875. 

SMITH  JOSEPH,  Coshocton;  barber;  born 
June  7, 1857,  in  Zanesville ;  son  of  Joseph  Smith, 
born  in  Germany.  When  eight  years  old  he  came 
to  this  city  with  his  father,  and  attended  the  pub- 
lic schools  here  until  he  was  thirteen  years  old, 
when  he  went  into  the  Coshocton  iron  and  steel 
factory  to  work,  and  continued  there  until  June, 
1876,  when  he  began  his  trade,  and  finished  it  in 
two  years,  since  which  time  he  has  been  em- 
ployed in  the  same  shop,  on  a  salary. 

SMITH  M.  S.,  grocer  and  confectioner,  corner 

Second  and  Chestnut  streets,  Coshocton ;    — 

Smith,  business  manager  and  salesman.  This 
firm  was  established  July  1, 1879,  and  occupies 
pleasant  and  commodious  rooms  in  J.  Gundishei- 
mer's  building,  twenty-two  by  forty  feet,  where 
they  carry  a  good  stock  of  staple  and  fancy  fam- 
ily groceries,  confectioneries,  stoneware,  wooden- 
ware,  sugar-cured  and  pickled  meats,  river  and 
Dover  salt,  flour,  salt  fish,  oysters  in  season,  tobac- 
cos and  cigars ;  also,  pays  cash  for  all  kinds  of 
country  produce. 


SMITH  GEORGE, Coshocton;  blacksmith;  born 
November  8,  1861,  in  Lafayette  township ;  son  of 
John  Smith,  born  in  Pennsylvania,  of  English 
ancestry.  Young  Smith  was  raised  on  the  farm. 
At  the  age  of  twenty  he  went  into  his  father's 
shop  to  learn  his  trade.  In  1868,  he,  with  his 
father,  moved  to  Illinois,  but  only  remained  eight 
months,  when  all  came  back  to  the  old  home- 
stead in  Lafayette.  On  returning,  George  worked 
at  Jacobsport,  from  which  place  he  came  to  this 
city  and  established  a  shop  on  Second  street, 
where  he  is  doing  a  fair  business  in  smithing  and 
shoeing.  Mr.  Smith  was  married  in  April,  1878, 
to  Miss  Mary  Duffey,  of  Lafayette.  The  result  of 
this  marriage  is  a  son,  named  Charley. 

SMITH  WILLIAM, Oxford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Evansburgh;  son  of  George  Smith,  de- 
ceased; was  born  in  England,  in  1834.  His 
father  was  born  in  England  in  1810,  and  came  to 
this  country  in  1844,  and  died  in  1873.  His 
mother  was  born  in  1806,  and  died  in  1880.  He 
was  married  to  Miss  Ann  Taylor,  of  this  county, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Taylor,  in  1859.  The  chil- 
dren are  as  follows:  John  Wesley,  born  in  1860; 
George  Clifford,  born  in  1862;  Joseph  Sherman, 
born  in  1864;  William,  born  in  1867;  Emma, 
born  in  1868 ;  Sarah  Catherine,  born  in  1870 ; 
Franklin,  born  in  1872;  Burt,  born  in  1875,  and 
Richard,  born  in  1878.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Smith  are 
both  members  of  the  M-  E.  church,  and  are  re- 
spected citizens  of  this  township.  He  was  super- 
visor one  year  in  this  township;  owns  some  336 
acres  of  land,  in  a  high  state  of  cultivation,  etc. 

SMITH  THOMAS  P.,  Oxford  township ;  farm- 
er ;  postoffice,  Newcomerstown ;  was  born  in  Eng- 
land, and  was  married  in .  1857,  to  Miss  Everall, 
daughter  of  John  Everall,  of  this  township,  who 
came  from  England  in  1830.  Their  children  are 
as  follows :  Lawrence  Wellington,  Laura  V.;  Mary 
A.,  deceased ;  Harriet  E.,  John  T.,  M.  E. .  A., 
George  W.  W.  and  Lotta.  He  has  been  trustee 
for  two  years  in  this  township,  and  school  direct- 
or. He  owns  a  farm  of  230  acres  in  this  county, 
and  is  a  representative  citizen.  He  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  United  Brethren  church. 

SMITH  MRS.  ISABELLA  E.,  Keene  town- 
ship ;  widow  of  James  P.  Smith ;  born  in  Rhode 
Island,  September  25,  1811;  son  of  William  C. 
and  Hannah  (Richmond)  Smith.  She  was  born 
March  5,  1816,  near  Adams,  New  York.  The 
daughter  of  Samuel  and  Lucinda  Crowell,  and 
granddaughter  of  Solomon  Crowell,  and  Phineas 
and  Sybil  Leonard.  When  a  year  old  she  moved 
to  Sackett's  Harbor  and  there  lived  till  about 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  when  she  came  to  New 
Haven,  Holmes  county,  Ohio,  where  she  married 
Mr.  Smith,  a  dry  goods  merchant  of  this  place, 
November  14, 1838.    In  1842  they  moved  to  St. 


790 


HISTORY  0^  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Louis,  where  Mr.  Smith  died  of  throat  disease, 
April  3,  1863.  In  1868  she  returned  to  this 
county.  Their  children  were :  Alice  (Sertrude, 
born  October  1, 1840,  and  married  January  24, 
1860,  to  Francis  C.  Sprague,  and  resides  in  St. 
Louis ;  Charles  F.,  born  October  20, 1842 ;  Frances 
R.,  born  August  12, 1848;  Carrie  B.,  born  July  8, 
1855,  and  married  to  H.  Bell,  of  St.  Louis ;  and 
WilUam  C,  born  July  24,  1852.  Mrs.  Smith  has 
one  graijdchild,  Lulu  B.  Sprague,  born  Septem- 
ber 10, 1866. 

SMITH  JOSEPH,  Jackson  township;  post- 
■  office,  Tj'rone ;  born  in  Fayette  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1803 ;  son  of  James  and  Mary  Smith, 
and  grandson  of  Thomas  and  Mary  Smith ;  mar- 
ried, in  1827,  to  Elizabeth  Hastings,  daughter  of 
James  and  Martha  Hastings;  settled  in  Jackson 
township  in  1834.  Mr.  Smith  is  an  old  and  much 
respected  citizen  of  Jackson  township,  and  is 
widely  known  as  "  Uncle  Jo  Smith."  He  is  the 
father  of  twelve  children,  seven  of  whom  are 
dead  and  five  living.  He  had  one  son,  George 
W.,  who  gave  up  his  life  for  his  country.  He 
was  a  member  of  Company  H,  Ninety-seventh 
0.  V.  I. 

SMITH  MRS.  NANCY,  Bedford  township; 
postoffice,  New  Bedford ;  born  in  1802,  in  Jeffer- 
son county,  Ohio;  was  married,  in  1822,  to  Mr. 
William  Smith,  of  the  same  county.  He  was 
born  in  1801,  in  Virginia;  came  to  this  county 
in  1834,  and  died  in  1864.  They  were  the  pa- 
rents of  eight  children,  viz :  Mary  A.;  Ruth,  de- 
ceased; Matilda,  James  L.;  Richard  M., deceased; 
Nathaniel,  deceased;  Susan,  deceased;  and  Al- 
fred L.  Richard  and  Nathaniel  were  in  the 
Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.  Immediately  upen  the  death 
of  Mr.  Smith,  she  purchased  the  property  where 
she  now  lives. 

SMITH  THOMAS,  Bedford  county,  farmer; 
P.  O.  Warsaw ;  born  in  1846  in  this  county.  His 
father,  George  W.  Smith,  was  born  in  1810,  in 
Virginia,  and  was  married  in  1838  to  Miss  Lu- 
cinda  Bricker,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1814  in  Pennsylvania  He  died  in  1850.  They 
were  the  parents  of  six  children,  Thomas  being 
the  fifth.  He  was  married  in  1868  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth J.  Carrell,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in 
1.84S.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  viz : 
David  C, infant,  deceased;  Perry  F.,  Charley  G.; 
John  N.,  deceased,  and  Nelly.  Mr.  Smith  en- 
listed in  February,  1864,  in  Company  F,  Fifty- 
first  Ohio  Volunteer  Infantry,  Col.  Wood  com- 
manding. He  was  mustered  out  in  November, 
1865. 

SMITH  HENRY  M.,  Bethlehem  township, 
farmer;  was  born  May  20,  1838,  in  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania.  He  was  married  January 
10, 1861,  to  Miss  Isabella  Golden,  of  Washington 


county.  They  had  one  child,  J.  Alva,  born  in 
1S62.  Mr.  Smith's  wife  died  April  10, 1864.  Mr, 
Smith  enlisted  as  a  private  in  the  Eighty-first  0. 
V.  I.,  of  Washington  county,  and  served  eighteen 
months.  He  came  to  Coshocton  county  in  1862, 
He  was  married  October  22,  1866  to  Miss  Martha 
J.  Milligan,  of  Coshocton  county,  who  was  born 
December  4,  1842.  They  are  the  parents  of 
seven  children,  viz :  Jesse  P.,  Sarah  E.,  Celia  J., 
Mary  L.,  James  H.,  John  H.  and  an  infant.  Mr. 
Smith  has  always  followed  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer,  and  has  accumulated  some  property. 

SMITH  T.  J.,  M.  D.,  Tuscarawas  township; 
postoffice,  Canal  Lewisville;  was  born  November 
30,  1846,  in  Washington  township ;  son  of  James 
M.  Smith,  a  native  of  Ohio.  James  M.  Smith  wa^. 
raised  on  the  farm  until  about  17  years  of  age, 
when  he  began  teaching  school,  and  taught  two 
terms,  and  in  the  meantime  attended  school  until 
he  was  nineteen  years  old,  when  he  began  the 
reading  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Edwards,  of  West 
Carlisle,  and  attended  lectures  at  the  Cincinnati 
college  of  medicine  and  surgery,  and  was  gradu- 
ated February  16, 1879,  with  the  title  of  M.  D.. 
Dr.  Smith  first  practiced  his  profession  at  Plain- 
field,  where  he  remained  five  years,  then  located 
in  Coshocton  ahd  practiced  there  a  short  time, 
and  then  went  to  his  present  location,  where  he- 
has  an  extensive  practice.  Dr.  Smith  was  mar- 
ried April  14,  1870,  to  Miss  Olivia  Ingraliam, 
daughter  of  Dr.  Ingraham,  of  Coshocton.  This- 
union  has  beeru  blessed  with  one  child,  Stella  J. 
In  connection  with  his  general  practice.  Dr.. 
Smith  has  been  physician  to  the  county  infirm- 
ary two  years. 

SMITH  WILLIAM,  M.  D.,  Pike  township; 
born  in  1825,  in  this  county.  His  father,  Edward, 
was  born  in  Ireland,  in  1792.  He  came  to  this 
countf'y  in  1812,  and  to  this  county  in  1815.  He- 
married  Jliss  Jane  Richardson,  of  this  county,, 
who  was  born  in  Virginia.  He  died  in  1872.. 
She  died  in  1876.  They  were  the  parents  of 
seven  children.  William  Smith  began  to  read 
medicine  in  1848,  under  Dr.  Simmons,  of  Bed- 
ford, this  county.  He  practiced  under  an  act  of 
the  State  Legislature,  it  granting  a  diploma  after 
ten  years  reputable  practice.  He  was  married 
in  1855,  to  Miss  Mary  J.  ]McKee,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1836,  in  this  county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  one  child,  JIaria  A.,  deceased. 

SNEDIKEB  G.  P.,  Jackson  township;  Roscoe 
postoffice ;  born  in  Ohio  county.  West  Virginia, 
in  1823,  settled  in  this  county  in  1846;  son  of 
Jacob  and  Eleanor  Snediker,  and  grandson  of 
Garrett  and  Elizabeth  Snediker,  and  of  Joshua 
and  Margaret  Porter.  He  was  married  in  1856, 
to  Rutha  McCoy.  His  second  wife  was  Edith 
Ingraham.  Mr.  Snediker  is  the  father  of  eleven 
children.    The  names  of  those  living,  are  i  Will- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


791 


iam,  Sarah  A.,  Martha  J.,  Margret,  James,  Joseph, 
Lanra  Loverna  and  Charles  K. 

SNIDER  J.  T.,  Keene  township;  physician; 
born  in  Knox  county,  Ohio,  December  2,  1851 ; 
son  of  J.  F.  and  Mary  (Dean)  Snider,  both  born 
in  Germany,  and  grandson  of  J.  T.  Snider  and 
Carl  Dean,  of  Lichten,  Germany.  His  father  en- 
listed November,  1861,  in  Company  K,  Forty- 
third  0.  V.  I.,  and  re-enlisted  in  the  same  com- 
pany in  1863 ;  served  to  the  close  of  the  war,  but, 
broken  down  in  health,  he  died  soon  after  his  re- 
turn. Dr.  Snider  attended  school  a.t  New  Castle 
from  twelve  to  seventeen,  then  taught  school  five 
years  in  Ohio,  and  two,  in  Illinois.  He  then  be- 
gan the  study  of  medicine  under  Dr.  McElwee, 
and  graduated  at  the  medical  department  of  the 
Wooster  university,  in  1877,  and  began  practicing 
at  Mohawk  in  March,  1877,  and  in  October,  1878, 
came  to  Keene. 

SNOW  DARIUS,  Monroe  township;  was  born 
in  May,  1840,  in  Monroe  township,  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio;  son  of  Alonzo  and  Catharine  (Mc- 
Bride)  Snow,  and  grandson  of  Darius  Snow.  He 
was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and  educated  in  the 
district  school.  His  father  digd  while  he  was 
quite  young,  and  the  responsibility  of  taking  care 
of  his  mother  and  sister  was  a  duty  which  he 
performed  faithfully.  He  married  Miss  EHza- 
beth  Blubaugh,  in  January,  1860,  who  was  born 
in  March,  1842,  daughter  of  Benjamin  S.  and 
Charlotte  (Heckle)  Blubaugh,  and  granddaughter 
of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Sapp)  Blubaugh.  i  Their 
children  were:  Mary  F,  born  April  23,  1861; 
Eliza  B.,born  December  23, 1862;  Alonzo  B.,  born 
December  i%  1864;  Nancy  Jane,  born  June  31, 
1869;  Martha,  born  July  13,  1873;  John,  born 
July  2, 1875,  and  one  not  yet  named,  born  July 
20, 1877. 

SNYDER  DANIEL,  Coshocton  ;  miller,  of  the 
firm  of  Sayer,  Balch  k  Co.;  was  born  October  26, 
1843,  in  Tucarawas  county ;  son  of  Peter  Snyder, 
a  native  of  Switzerland.  Young  Snyder  was 
brought  up  on  the  farm,  where  he  remained  un- 
til twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he  went  West 
and  stopped  in  Indiana,  where  he  remained 
about  two  vears,  then  removed,  suffering  from  a 
bad  case  of  fever  and  ague.  On  recovering  his 
health  he  went  to  Starke  county  and  remained 
one  year.  At  twenty-four  years  of  age  he  began 
the  carpenter  trade.  After  working  at  the  trade 
two  years,  he  again  visited  the  West,  stopping  in 
Indiana  one  year,  then  going  to  Kansas  City, 
where  he  did  the  carpenter  work  of  several  build- 
ings in  that  city.  In  January,  1871,  he  returned 
to  the  city  and  stopped  at  Chili  a  short  time, 
then  came  to  this  city  and  followed  his  trade  un- 
til August  1880,  when  the  above  firm  was  formed. 
Mr.  Snyder  was  married  March  28, 1875,  to  Miss 


Catharine  Madison,  daughter  of  Joseph  Madison^ 
of  Chjli.  This  union  has  been  blessed  with  two 
sons,  "Charles  C.  and  Frank  Snyder. 

SNYDER  S.  W.,  Coshocton;  dealer  in  pelts, 
hides,  furs,  tallow,  dried  fruits,  etc.  ,  Mr.  Snyder 
is  a  native  of  this  county,  and  was  born  June  23,. 
1840.  He  received  his  education  in  the  district 
schools,  and  learned  the  harnessmaking  business. 
After  serving  his  time  he  embarked  in  business 
for  himself  at  Roscoe,  in  1866.  He  also  com- 
menced at  the  same  time  to  deal  in  hides,  pelts, 
furs,  etc.,  in  connection  with  the  harness  business, 
which  he  continued  for  twelve  years,  when,  in 
1873,  he  relinquished  the  harness  business  and 
has  since  given  his  entire  attention  to  the  present, 
department,  in  which  he  does  a  business  of  about 
$36,000  per  year.  He  also  has  a  half  interest  in 
the  firm  of  Snyder  &  Andrews,  in  the  livery  bus- 
iness, and  in  which  they  have  a  stock  of  eleven 
head  of  horses  and  eleven  vehicles,  consisting  of 
single,  and  double  carriages,  buggies  and  ba- 
rouches, all  of  which  are  in  good  condition,  and 
afford  first-class  accommodations  for  the  travel- 
ing public.  Mr.  Snyder  is  a  self-made  man  in  the 
strictest  sense  of  the  word,  having  been  always- 
dependent  on  his  own  efforts,  and  in  commencing, 
life  his  only  capital  was  his  energy,  perseverence 
and  integrity,  and  at  present  he  owns  valuable 
real  estate,  besides  doing  a  successful  business. 

SNYDER  NOAH,  Crawford  township;  jew- 
eler ;  postoffice.  New  Bedford,  Ohio ;  born  April 
16, 1855,  in  German  township,  Holmes  county. 
He  was  brought  up  on  the  farm.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  he  began  teaching  school  and  taught  three 
terms,  after  which  he  farmed  three  years.  In 
the  spring  of  1880,  he  took  a  prospecting  trip  to 
the  West,  visiting  the  States  of  Illinois,  Michigan  . 
and  Indiana,  and  returned  in  the  same  year,  sat- 
isfied to  "  let  well  enough  alone  "  for  the  present. 
In  December,  1880,  he  established  his  present 
business,  m  which  he  is  having  good  success. 

SNYDER  B.  M.,  Crawford  township ;  farmer ;. 
postofBce,  New  Bedford ;  born  October  -31, 1844, 
in  German  township.  Holmes  county;  was 
brought  up  on  the  farm,  where  he  remained  un- 
til 1865,  when  he  engaged  in  oil  producing  in 
Noble  county  one  year,  and  was  subsequently  en- 
gaged one  year  each  in  the  mill  business  and 
ware-house  at  Millersburg,  Holmes  county,  then 
with  a  portable  saw-mill,  until  1878,  since  which 
time  he-has  given  his  entire  attention  to  farming, 
Mr.  Snyder  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  of 
Crawford  township  in  1877,  and  re-elected  in 
1880.  'Squire  Snyder  was  married  June  14, 
1872,  to  Miss  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Ferdinand 
and  Elizabeth  Smith.  Mrs.  Snyder  was  born  on 
the  farm  where  they  now  reside.  They  are  the 
parents  of  two  children — Edwin  F.  and  Mary 
Ehzabeth. 


792 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


SP ANGLER  E.  T.,  Coshocton ;  attorney  of  the 
firm  of  Spangler  &  Pomerene ;  was  born  Janu- 
ary 26,  1832,  in  Zanesville,  Ohio;  son  of  *Hon. 
David  Spangler,  who  was  American  born,  of 
German  ancestry.  When  E.  T.  was  but  one 
year  old,  he  was  brought  to  this  place  by  his  pa- 
rents. Young  Spangler  spent  his  childhood  and 
early  youth  attending  school.  At  the  age  of 
.sixteen  years,  he  entered  Kenyon  college,  at 
■Gambler,  and  was  graduated  in  1852.  On  his  re- 
turn home  he  entered,  as  a  student,  the  law  office 
■of  his  father,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1854.  He  first  practiced  with  his  father,  until 
'his  decease,  in  October,  1856.  He  then  formed  a 
partnership  with  his  brother,  A.  H.,  the  firm 
name  being  E.  T.  &  A.  H.  Spangler,  which  firm 
continued  about  two  years.  From  its  close,  E.  T. 
continued  his  practice  alone,  until  1868,  when  the 
•present  firm  was  formed.  Attorney  Spear  was 
married,  in  May,  1868,  to  Miss  Helen  King, 
■daughter  of  Attorney  Samuel  D.  King,  of  New- 
•■ark,  Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of  one  child, 
Charles  E.,  born  in  June,  1869. 

SPECK  JOSEPH,  Jeflferson  township;  postof- 
fice,  Warsaw;  born  in  Baden,  Germany,  Novem- 
'ber  7, 1808;  son  of  Starnus  and  Avon  Speck.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  began  the  blacksmith 
trade  with  Ignatius  Storts,  and  served  three 
years,  then  worked  as  a  journeyman  one  year. 
He  then  served  six  years  in  the  German  army; 
then  sold  clocks  two  years ;  then  embarked  for 
America,  and  after  a  voyage  of  eight  months 
'landed  in  New  York,  and  from  there  he  came  to 
-Jefferson  township,  Coshocton  county,  where  he 
has  remained  a  resident  ever  since.  After  com- 
ing to  this  country  he  sold  clocks  one  year,  and 
■since  then  has  been  farming.  He  was  married 
in  May,  1837,  to  Miss  Caroline  Gamertsfelder,  who 
died  January  6, 1844.  They  had  two  children,  viz : 
Christian  and  John.  He  married,  in  June,  1844, 
Miss  Margaret  Straum.  They  had  seven  children, 
viz:  Gotlieb,  Joseph;  Caroline,  deceased;  David, 
WilHam,  Daniel  and  George. 

SPECKM  AN  JOHN,  Jefierson  township ;  shoe- 
maker ;  postoffice,  Warsaw ;  was  born  in  Jefier- 
■son  township,  Coshocton  county.  May  15,  1846; 
son  of  John  and  Rose  A.  (Frederick)  Speck- 
man,  and  grandson  of  George  and  Christina 
E-rederick,  natives  of  Canstadt,  Wurtemberg, 
Germany.  He  lived  on  the  farm  until  the  age 
of  seventeen,  at  which  time  he  enlisted  in  Com- 
pany I,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I.,  and  served  twenty 
months.  He  was  engaged  in  the  battles  of  the 
Atlanta  campaign,  imder  Gen.  Sherman ;  then, 
under  Gen.  Thomas,  was  in  the  battle  of  Frank- 
lin, Tennessee;  was  afterwards  sent  to  Texas, 
-and  was  among  the  last  troops  discharged  at  the 
■close  of  the  war.  He  was  married  July  1,  1869, 
.to  Miss  Matilda  McPeek,  daughter  of  James  and 


Margaret  (Boyd)  McPeek,  of  Harrison  county. 
They  have  three  children,  viz :  J.  M.,  born  No- 
vember 17, 1871;  George  W.,  born  July  19, 1874; 
and  Dora  A.,  born  October  31,  1875.  Mr.  Speck- 
man  began  the  shoemaker's  trade  in  1867  with 
F.  Seal,  and  served  seven  months  apprenticeship. 
He  then  began  business  for  himself  in  Princeton, 
and  worked  there  about  eight  years.  Then  came 
to  Warsaw  and  opened  a  shop,  where  he  is  doing 
a  good  business  in  shoemaking. 

SPENCER  W.  K.,  Bedford  township ;  teacher ; 
postoffice,  West  Bedford ;  born  in  1843,  in  Mus- 
kingum county,  Ohio;  came  to  this  county  in 
1852,  with  his  mother,  his  father  having  died  in 
1846  in  Muskingum  county.  W.  K.  Spencer  was 
married  in  1873,  to  Miss  Ada  Thompson,  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1865.  They  are  the 
parents  of  four  children,  viz  :  Maud,  Amos  P., 
Charlie  C.  and  Blanche  D.  Mr.  Spencer  began 
teaching  in  1867  and  has  made  it  a  business,  al- 
ways teaching  in  this  county,  and  principally  in 
town.  He  entered  the  army  November  15, 1861, 
as  a  member  of  General  McLaughlin's  Independ- 
ent Cavalry,  and  was  in  the  ■  service  for  four 
years,  being  honorably  discharged  November  16, 
1865.  He  participated  in  forty-five  battles  and 
skirmishes. 

SKINNER  C,  Coshocton  ;  soap  manufacturer, 
junction  of  Second  and  Water  streets ;  born 
April  25,  1832,  in  Madison  county;  son  of  Madi- 
son Skinner,  deceased,  a  native  of  Virginia,  of 
German  descent.  Young  Skinner  was  raised  on 
a  farm,  which  he  left,  in  1864,  and  followed  saw- 
ing, wiih  a  portable  mill,  when  he  established  h'is 
present  business,  and  has  continued  till  the 
present  time.  He  was  married,  October  4, 1855, 
to  Miss  Mary  A.  Robison,  daughter  of  W.  H. 
Robison,  of  this  city.  They  have  had  four  chil- 
dren, viz:  William  M.,  deceased;  Sarah  Ella, 
Callie,  Frances  and  Alfred  Luther.  Starting 
business  with  a  very  limited  capital,  he  has,  by 
honest  industry,  accumulated  some  of  this 
world's  goods,  represented  by  three  valuable  resi- 
dences in  this  city. 

SPBAGG  HENRY,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
born  in  Green  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1814;  son 
of  Benajah  and  Nancy  (Barkheimer)  Spragg. 
His  grandfather,  David  Spragg,  a  sailor,  was  a 
native  of  England;  his  grandfather,  Barkheimer, 
a  native  of  Germany.  Then  he  was  twelve  years 
old,  he  came  with  his  father  to  Muskingum 
county,  and  remained  there  till  1868,  when  he 
moved  to  Linton  township.  He  was  married,  in 
1839,  to  Maria  C.  Johnson,  daughter  of  Richard 
Johnson,  of  Muskingum  county.  Their  children 
are:  Harriet  (Miller),  Nancy  J.  (Morris),  Eliza 
A.  (Hagan),  Richard,  Rachel,  Hiram  and  Harri- 
son. 


FARM  AND  RESIDENCE  OP  FRANCIS  WOLFE 


BANKLIN  P.  O.),  COSHOCTON  COUNTY,  OHIO. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


797 


SPURR  ABRAHAM,  Virginia  township ;  born 
in  Coshocton  county,  in  1840;  son  of  John  and 
Jane  Spurr.  He  was  married,  in  1839,  to  Mary 
A.  Ervine.  Mr.  Spurr  has  had  fourteen  children, 
seven  living  and  seven  dead.  One  son  died  while 
in  the  United  States  service  at  Nashville.  Post- 
office,  Adams'  Mills. 

STAFFORD  ISAAC,  Bethlehem  township; 
farmer;  was  born  in  England  in  1810.  He  was  a 
blacksmith  by  trade.  He  came  to  this  county  in 
1840,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Susannah  Laycock, 
of  England.  They  became  the  parents  of  three 
children,  viz:  Reuben,  born  in  1828,  John  and 
Isaac,  Jr.,  born  in  1837.  Mr.  Stafford  enlisted  in 
1862,  in  Company  H,  One  Hundred  and  Twenty- 
second  Regiment,  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  three  years. 
He  was  honorably  discharged  July  25,  1865.  He 
was  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Winchester.  Reu- 
ben Stafford  was  employed  by  the  United  States 
marshal  to  arrest  deserters.  He  was  shot  while 
attempting  to  make  an  arrest.  Isaac  Stafford,  Jr., 
enlisted,  in  the  One  Hundred  and  Fortythird 
Regiment  0.  V.  I.,  for  100  days.  He  was  married 
September  19, 1869,  to  Miss  Sophia  Lown,  of  this 
county.  They  became  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, viz:  John  L.,  William  E.,  Myra  P.,  Cora  E. 
and  Ida  M. 

STANFORD  J.  W.,  Jackson  township ;  Rosc9e 
postof&ce ;  grocery  and  provision  store.  Main 
street;  born  in  Jackson  township,  October  27, 
1843 ;  son  of  John  Stanford,  American  born,  of 
English  ancestry.  Young  Stanford  was  raised 
on  a. farm  until  seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he 
enlisted  in  Company  D,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  and 
served  two  years.  He  was  wounded  at  the  bat- 
tle of  Stone  River ;  was  discharged  on  account  of 
disability.  On  his  return  home  he  attended 
Spring  IVIountain  academy,  one 'year  ;.then  read 
medicine  with  Dr.  Sapp,  and  attended  one  course 
of  lectures  at  the  medical  college,  Columbus,  and 
practiced  in  the  southern  part  of  this  county  two 
years.  In  1872  he  established  his  present  busi- 
ness. Dr.  Stanford  was  married  first,  September 
13,  1866,  to  Miss  Mary  E.,  daughter  of  John 
Chalfant,  of  Lafayette  township,  and  they  have  one 
child — Nettie  May.  Mrs.  Stanford  died  in  June, 
1871.  He  was  married  June  13,  1872,  to  Miss 
Sarah  E.,  daughter  of  George  Edwards,  of  Ros- 
coe.  Their  children  are— Guy  Y.,  Eddie  and 
Susan  Lettitia.  Dr.  Sanford  is  doing  a  good, 
steady  business,  and  owns  the  property  in  which 
it  is  conducted. 

STANFORD  J.  A.,  Jackson  township ;  born  in 
Coshocton  county,  Jackson  township;  son  of  J. 
M.  Stanford,  and  grandson  of  Joshua  and  Nancy 
Stanford ;  marriefl,  in  1873,  to  Nancy  J.  Donley, 
daughter  of  William.and  Margaret  Donley.  Mr. 
Stanford  is  the  father  of  one  child,  Rosette. 
Post  office,  Tyrone. 

36     . 


STANTON  JOHN  W.,  Clark  township ;  post- 
office,  Helmick;  farmer  and  stock  raiser;  born 
in  West  Bedford,  Coshocton'  county,  October  19, 
1840;  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  (Pepper) 
Stanton,  and  grandson  of  John  Pepper.  His 
father  came  from  Connecticut,  attended  school, 
and  assisted  on  the  farm,  until  he  was  twenty 
years  of  age,  when  he  entered  the  army,  volun- 
teering in  Company  K,  Thirty-second  0.  V.  I., 
and  served  as  a  private  about  two  years,  when  he 
was  promoted  to  the  office  of  adjutant,  and 
served  one  year  in  that  capacity,  after  which  he 
came  home,  remained  about  two  weeks,  when  he 
ag^in  entered  for  three  months,  in  the  One  Hun- 
dred and  Forty-second  0.  N.  G.  Aftei;  serving 
his  time,  he  again  came  home,  and  engaged  as  a 
merchant,  in  Warsaw,  Coshocton  county,  con- 
tinuing in  the  business  about  a  year,  when  he 
traded  his  stock  for  his  present  farm  of  320  acres, 
in  Clark  township,  on  which  he  now  resides,  and 
which  is  in  a  fair  state  of  cultivation.  Mr.  Stan- 
ton is  largely  engaged  in  grain  and  stock  raising. 
He  was  married,  February  22,  1865,  to  Miss 
Anna  Wilson,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  A. 
(Sykes)  Wilson,  who  was  born  in  Martinsburg, 
Virginia,  June  18,  1843.  Her  father  is  proprie- 
tor of  the  woollen  mills  in  Roscoe.  They  are 
parents  of  six  children :  Mary,  deceased ;  Will- 
iam T.,  born  October  14, 1867 ;  George  N.,  Octo- 
ber 10,  1869;  Perry  C,  deceased;  Lillie  M.,  De- 
cember 15, 1874 ;  Frank  S.j  August  18, 1877. 

STARKER  JACOB,  Oxford  township ;  farmer ; 
postoffice,  Newcomerstown;  son  of  George  and 
Hannah  (Tingler)  Starker;  was  born  in  the, State 
of  Ohio.  His  father  was  born  in  Essex  county. 
New  York,  and  his  mother  near  Elizabethtown, 
same  State.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born 
in  this  township,  near  his  present  home,  July  4, 
1824,  and  has  since  resided  in  this  county.  His 
father  came  to  this  State  June,  1814,  and  his 
mother  in  January,  1815.  Mr.  Starker  was  mar- 
ried in  1856,  to  Miss  Hannah  E.  Read,  of  Tuscar- 
awas county,  daughter  of  John  'B.  and  Rebecca 
(Hammel)  Read.  The  fruits  of  this  union- has 
been  eight  children,  as  follows :  Laura  D.,  Isadora 
L.,  DoUie  F.,  Charley  R.,  Willie  M.,  Thomas  D., 
Jerry  C.  and  Caraminta. 

Isadore  is  in  Denver,  Colorado,  and  the  other 
children  are  at  home  attending  school,  Mr.  Stark- 
er believing  in  giving  his  children  a  good  edu- 
cation. Mr.  Starker  has  an  account  book  kept 
by  his  father,  dating  back  close  to  1800,  and  kept 
in  pounds,  shillings  and  pence.  Mr.  Jacob  Star- 
ker owns  128  acres  of  good  land,  and  is- surround- 
ed by  a  bright  family  and  all  the  comforts  of  a 
pleasant  home.  He  has  lived  on  the  home  farm 
fifty-one  years,  the  other  six  years  having  been 
spent  on  his  father-in-law's  farm  in  Tuscarawas 
county — from  the  spring  of  1856  until  the  spring 
of  1861.     His  grandfather,  Aaron  Starker,  spent 


798 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


seven  years  in  the  revolutionary  war.  His  fore- 
fathers were  Germans.  His  father  was  a  carpen- 
ter, and  was  expert  in  the  use  of  tools,  making 
coffins  in  the  early  times.  He  is  honest  and  out- 
spoken in  his  views,  and  what  he  says  he  means, 
and  is  one  of  Oxford's  solid  men.  Mrs.  Starker 
is  a  niece  of  the  late  poet  and  artist,  Thomas 
Buchanan  Read.  After  the  battle  of  Pittsburgh 
Landing  he  presented  her  with  a  horse  which 
was  captured  at  that  battle  and  presented  by 
Gen.  Eosecrans  to  Mr.  Read.  Laura  has  been 
married  three  years ;  is  the  wife  of  Arthur  Mc- 
Clane,  (living  in  Coshocton),  who  is  the  son  of  the 
late  Col.  Richard  McClane  of  Lafayette  township. 

STEIN  CHARLES,  Crawford  township ;  mer- 
chant; postoffice,  Chili;  born,  in  1853,  in  Bavaria; 
son  of  Charles  Stein  and  Phoebe  (Daum)  Stein, 
both  natives  of  Bavaria.  Charles  emigrated  to 
America  in  1867,  and  settled  in  Tuscarawas 
county  with  his  parents.  He  came  to  this  county 
in.  1875;  clerked  in  a  store  until  1878,  when  he 
and  Jacob  Lenhart  went  into  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness at  Chili,  where  they  still  have  a  dry  goods 
store.  Married,  in  1879,  Elizabeth  Ott;  They 
have  one  cjiild,  Wilbert. 

STEVENSON  PETER,  Je.,  Coshocton,  saddle 
and  harness  manufacturer,  199  Second  street. 
At  the  above  number  Mr.  Stevenson  is  doing  a 
very  fair  business  in  his  line,  carrying  in  stock 
everything  that  can  be  found  in  a  first-class  har- 
ness and  saddlery  shop.  Mr.  Stevenson  was  born 
March  1, 1828,  in  Harrison  county;  son  of  Peter 
Stevenson,  deceased,  who, died  at  the  advanced 
age  of  ninety-six;  American  born,  of  English 
descent.  Young  Stevenson  lived  on  the  farm 
until  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and  in  1841  com- 
menced his  trade  with  John  Woods,  of  Zanes- 
ville,  and  remained  five  years  at  |3  per  month, 
and  one  year  at  iC  per  month;  came  to  Keene 
and  worked  as  foreman  for  Nathan  Bassett  one 
year,  then  bought  out  his  shop  and  carried  on  for 
himself  at  Warsaw  two  years ;  thence  returned 
to  Keene,  from  which  place  he  came  to  this  city ; 
was  married  May  31, 1852,  to  Miss  Sarah  Jane 
Duncan,  of  Millersburg,  Holmes  county.  They 
have  had  seven  children:  Alonzo  L.,  John  D., 
William  P.,  Ella  E.,  Edward  B.,  Prancis  J.,  and 
Gillie  May. 

STEWART  JAMES  R.,  Coshocton;  carriages 
and  wagons,  corner  Water  and  Mulberry  streets; 
was  born  July  29, 1853,  in  New  York  City.  At 
five  years  of  age  he  came  to  this  city  with  his  pa- 
rents; at  nineteen  years  of  age  entered  as  an  ap- 
prentice to  learn  carriage  wood-work  with  E. 
McDonald,  and  served  three  years,  and  one  year 
as  a  journeyman,  arid  then  established  a  shop, 
where  he  is  doing  an  active  business,  necessita- 
ting an  enlargement  of  his  shops.    Mr.  Stewart 


was  married  May  3, 1877,  to  Miss  Jennie  M.  Tor- 
rens,  of  Licking  county.  This  union  has  been 
blessed  with  one  child,  George  Prancis. 

STEWART  WILLIAM  A.,  Bethlehem  town- 
ship; farmer;  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  came  to 
this  county  in  1858.  He  enlisted,  in  October, 
1861,  in  company  H,  Eightieth  0.  V.  I.,  and  was 
engaged  in  the  battles  of  Corinth,  Vicksburg, 
Jackson,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Ridge,  and 
others  of  less  importance.  He  was  wounded  at 
Vicksburg,  and  returned  home  in  the  spring  of 
1868.  He  remained  at  home  only  thirty  days, 
re-enlisting  in  the  same  company,  and  was  honor- 
ably discharged  in  1865.  He  was  married,  in 
1876,  to  Miss  Martha  Moore,  of  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  who  was  born  August  11,  1841. 
She  was  the  daughter  of  Aaron  Moore,  who  was 
born  in  the'  county  of  Donegal,  Ireland,  in  1813. 
He  came  to  this  county  in  1835,  and  located  in 
Philadelphia,  where  he  carried  on  the  boot  and 
shoe  business  until  1877,  when  he  came  to  Hve 
with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Stewart. 

STICKLE  ELI  J.,  Coshocton,  attorney;  was 
born  August  14, 1854,  in  Licking  county ;  son  of 
Thompson  Stickle,  of  German  ancestors,  his 
mother  being  of  English  extraction.  Young 
Stickle  is  the  fifth  of  a  family  of  ten  children. 
He  was  raised  on  the  farm.  At  about  twenty 
years  he  began  going  to  school  and  teaching 
school,  which  he  continued  until  May,  1878,  when 
he  entered  as  a  student  the  law  office  of  Camp- 
bell &  Voorhes,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
May  1880.  He  was  married  September  8,  1880, 
to  Miss  Emma  A.,  daughter  of  John  and  Eliza- 
beth (Helfrey)  Miller,  of  Utioa,  Ohio. 

STILL  JAMES,  born  in  August,  1828,  in  Co- 
shocton county,  Bedford  township ;  son  of  Jacob 
and  Elspey  (Lockard)  Still,  and  grandson  of 
Gabrial  and  Cloa  Still,  and  of  James  and  Mar- 
garet (Wilson)  Lockard.  He  is  a  farmer  by  oc- 
cupation; had  three  brothers  in  the  Union  army; 
was  inarried  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Conner,  of  ancestry 
same  as  Isaac  Conner,  named  elsewhere  in  this 
book.  James  L.  was  born  December  24,  1861; 
is  now  going  to  school,  and  is  their  only  child. 

STILGENBAUER  JACOB,  Adams  township  ; 
farmer;  postoflSce,  Bakersville;  born  in  Bucks 
township,  Tuscarawas  county,  July  12, 1836;  son 
of  Jacob  and  Catharine  (Groce)  Stilgenbauer,  and 
grandson  of  Philip  and  Elizabeth  Stilgenbauer, 
who  came  from  Prussia.  He  resided  about 
thirty-six  years  in  his  native  county,  and  from 
there  moved  to  Adams  township,  Coshocton 
county,  where  he  has  a  farm  of  130  acres,  well 
improved.  He  was  married  Blebruary  26, 1857, 
to  Miss  Catharine  Schar,  daughter  oi  Nicholas 
and  Elizabeth  Schar.  She  vJas  born  September 
23, 1836.    They  are  the  parents  of  nine  children. 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


799 


-viz  :  Sophia,  born  April  8,  1868 ;  Charles,  born 
December  12,  1860;  Jacob,  born  November  30, 
1862;.  Catharine,  born  January  13,  1865;  Mary, 
born  May  20,  1867;  Louisa,  born  March  17,  1869; 
Emma,  born  April  13,  1871,  and  Albert,  born 
May  18,  1878. 

STILLINGER  J.  P.,  Tiverton  township;  post- 
oflBce,  Yankee  Ridge,  Ohio;  farmer;  born  August 
8,  1829,  in  Hesse  Darmstadt,  Germany;  came  to 
Franklin  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1830,  and  to 
Knox  county  in  1833.  He  was  married  in  1853, 
to  Rebecca  Conner,  of  this  county,  who  was  born 
May  27, 1828.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1856, 
and  are  the  parents  of  twelve  children,  viz  :  Jen- 
nie, born  July  5, 1854;  Mary  E  ,  born  October  13, 
1855,  died  June  13, 1859 ;  infant,  deceased,  born 
December  7,  1856;  John  A.,  born  December  12, 
1857,  died  October  31, 1860 ;  Hattie  A.,  born  March 
7, 1859,  married  July  4,  1879,  to  William  H.  Coop- 
er, of  this  county;  Lucinda  E.,  born  April  25, 
1860,  died  November  9,  1861;  Susannah,  born 
January  30,  1862;  William  P.,  born  October  7, 
1863,  died  January  12, 1876;  George  M.,  born  Oc- 
tober 8,  1865;  Emily  E.,  born  June  5,  1867  ;  Ben- 
jamin P.,  born  April  5, 1869;  and  an  infant  daugh- 
ter, deceased,  born  December  18, 1872. 

STILWELL  A.  H.,  Coshocton;  attorney  at 
law,  office  and  rooms  over  commercial  bank; 
was  born  April  30,  1850,  in  Holmes  county;  son 
of  Asher  and  Helen  (Boyd)  Stilwell;  his  pater- 
nal ancestry  is  English,  his  maternal,  Irish. 
Young  Stilwell  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and 
educated  in  the  public  schools  of  his  native 
county  and  the  high  school  at  Millersburg,  also 
Spring  Mountain  academy,  and  at  Fredericks- 
burg, Wayne  county.  At  eighteen  he  began 
teaching  and  taught  four  terms.  Studied  law  in 
1870  and  71,  with  Judge  Follett,  of  Newark, 
Ohio,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  by  the  Su- 
preme court  in  1872.  He  began  the  practice  of 
law  at  Dresden  Muskingum  county,  where  he  re- 
mained nearly  two  years.  In  December,  1874, 
he  came  to  this  city  and  continued  in  the  prac- 
tice of  his  profession.  In  October,  1876,  attorney 
Stilwell  was  elected  prosecuting  attorney  of  Co- 
shocton county,  and  re-elected  in  October,  1880, 
which  office  he  now  efficiently  fills. 

STOCKMAN  J.  S.,  Coshocton,  boot  and  shoe 
manufacturer  and  dealer;  was  born  December 
29,  1827,  in  Harrison  county;  son  of  Philip 
Stockman,  American  born  of  German  descent. 
Young  Stockman  worked  with  his  father  in  a 
flouring-mill  until  he  was  seventeen  years  old, 
and  worked  for  a  time  at  carpentering,  but  found 
it  too  hard  for  him,  as  he  had  been  seriously  dis- 
abled by  a  fall  from  a  cherry  tree  when  a  boy. 
He  then  entered  as  an  apprentice  to  his  uncle 
James  Means,  of  Cadia,  Ohio,  to  learn  shoemak- 


ing,  but  owing  to  ill  health  he  was  induced  to 
work  on  a  farm  for  one  year.  When  about 
twenty-one  years  old  he  came  to  this  county  and 
opened  a  shop  for  himself  at  Chili,  from  which 
place  he  removed  to  Auburn,  DeKalb  county, 
Iowa,  and  remained  about  ten  years,  working  at 
his  trade.  From  there  he  went  to  Knoxville, 
Marion  county,  Iowa,  and  stayed  three  years.  In 
the  year  1871  Mr.  Stockman  came  to  this  city 
and  established  his  business,  which  he  has  fol- 
lowed to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Stockman  was 
married  first  to  Miss  Little,  daughter  of  James 
Little,  of  Chili.  The  result  of  this  union  was 
four  children,'  three  of  whom  died  in  infancy  and 
one  survives,  viz:  William  A.  Mr.  Stockman 
afterward  married  Miss  Martha  Reed,  daughter 
of  Daniel  Reed  of  this  county.  The  result  of 
this  union  was  two  children,  both  living,  viz : 
Mary  Bell  and  Jennie  May.  Mr.  Stockman  is 
doing  a  good  business  in  custom  work. 

STOKUM  ADAM,  Tuscarawas  township;  farm- 
er ;  postoffice,  Coshocton,  Ohio ;  born  July  4, 1844, 
in  Linton  township ;  son  of  Christopher  and  Mary 
Anne  (Lutz)  Stokum.  Adam  enlisted,  in  1865,  in  ' 
company  K,  One  Hundred  and  Ninety-fifth  0.  V. 
I.,  and  served  nearly  one  year.  Mr.  Stokum  was 
married,  March  22, 1877,  to  Miss  Nancy,  daughter 
of  Charles  and  Susan  (Rogers)  Wells,  natives  of 
Washington  county,  Pennsylvania.  This  union 
has  been  blessed  with  two  children,  Lubertie 
and  Daisy  Odessa.  Mr.  Stokum's  father  died 
November  12, 1878. 

STCfNEBROOK  HIRAM,  Adams  township; 
teacher  and  proprietor  of  woolen  mills ;  postof- 
fice,  Bakersville ;  born  August  31,  1840,  in  Salem 
township,  Tuscarawas  county.  His  parents 
came  to  that  county  in  1835  and  settled  in  the 
woods  on  a  small  tract  of  land,  with  only  means 
sufficient  to  pay  for  their  land  when  first  bought 
from  the  government,  and  by  industry  and  rigid 
economy  they  secured  means  to  carry  them 
through  life,  leaving  their  estate  to  their  chil- 
dren unincumbered.  They  raised  a  family  of 
three  children — one  son  and  two  daughters.  His 
father  died  November  19, 1870,  at  the  age  of  sixty 
years,  four  months,  twenty-one  days ;  and  his 
mother,  March  18,  1880,  aged  sixty-nine  years, 
four  months,  twenty-nine  days,  having  lived  over 
forty  years  on  the  same  old  homestead.  He  was 
sent  to  common  school  until  fifteen  years  of  age, 
after  which  he  was  sent  to  the  Ohio  Wesleyan 
university,  at  Delaware,  Ohio,  during  the  years 
1857-58;  and  after  returning  home  he  com- 
menced teaching,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and 
continued  in  that  profession  until  August,  1862, 
when  he  enlisted  as  sergeant  of  Company  G,  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-sixth  0.  V.  I.;  and  after 
remaining  in  that  capacity  over  two  years,  was 
promoted  to  lieutenant,   and    was    soon   after 


800 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


assigned  to  the  command  of  Company  C.  of 
the  same  regiment,  and  remained  in  command 
until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  participated  in 
the  battles  of  the  AVilderness,  Spottsylvania, 
Cold  Harbor,  Winchester,  Fisher's  Hill,  Cedar 
Creek,  Locust  Grove,  Virginia,  Monocacy,  Mary- 
land, siege  of  Petersburgh,  capture  of  Rich- 
mond and  surrender  of  General  Lee,  and  many 
other  engagements.  He  was  mustered  out  of 
the  service  in  June,  1865,  and  returned  home 
to  begin  a  quiet  life.  He  was  married  September 
28, 1865,  to  Miss  Emaline  Thompson,  daughter  of 
James  and  Jane  A.  Thompson,  who  are  both  de- 
ceased. She  was  born  November  19,  1843,  and 
became  the  mother  of  seven  children,  viz :  Ar- 
della  J.,  born  November  14, 1866,  died  Novem- 
ber 24,  1868;  Alonzo  0.,  born  November  7, 
1867;  Halley  B.,  born  February  17,  1869; 
Harrv  G.,  born  April  19,  1870 ;  James  O.,  born 
November  12, 1871,  died  March  2, 1876;  Florence 
B.,  born  December  28,  1872;  Emma  0.,  born  May 
129,1874;  Wilham  born  May  11,  1877,  and  Ma- 
rion, born  September  16, 1880.  He  is  proprietor 
of  the  Bakersville  woolen  mills,  and  also  teacher 
of  the  Bakersville  school. 

STONEHOCKER  DANIEL,  White  Eyes  town- 
ship ;  farmer ;  born  in  White  Eyes,  in  1820 ;  son- 
of  Jacob  Stonehocker,  who  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia, and  emigrated  to  this  State  in  1812,  and 
settled  in  Tuscarawas  county ;  moved  to  White 
Eyes  about  1816,  and  located  on  the  farm  where 
his  son  Daniel  now  resides.  His  father  married 
Elizabeth  Winklepleck,  of  Pennsylvania.  They 
had  eight  children,  Daniel  being  the  only  one 
now  living.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  married 
Miss 'Mary  Sherid,  of  Tuscarawas  county,  who 
was  born  in  1828,  in  the  same  county.  'They 
have  three  children,  George,  Jacob  and  Elizabeth, 
all  of  whom  are  living  at  home.  Mr.  Stonehock- 
.  er  has  always  lived  on  the  place  where  his  father 
first  settled.  His  father  died  at  the  age  of  seven- 
ty-one years,  and  his  mother,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
five  years. 

STONEHOCKER  WILLABD  W.,  White  Eyes 
township ;  physician ;  a  native  of  the  township, 
and  born  in  1855.  His  father,  Jacob  J.,  was  born 
in  White  Eyes  in  1816,  and  married  Sarah  Win- 
klepleck, May  18, 1851.  They  became  the  parents 
of  the  following  children :  Jessie  M.;  Jacob,  de- 
ceased ;  Michael ;  John  E.,  died  October  1871 ; 
Ellen,  Hester  and  Harriet.  Willard's  grand- 
father, Jacob  Stonehocker,  was  married  to  Eliza- 
beth Winklepleck.  They  were  both  natives  of 
Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Stonehocker  came  to  this 
county  in  1816,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  set- 
tlers. Willard  W.  attended  the  Columbus  med- 
ical college  two  years,  graduated  March  8, 1881, 
and  expects  to  practice  medicine  as  his  profes- 
sion, but  has  not,  as  yet,  selected  a  location. 


STORM  NICHOLAS,  Mill  Creek  township; 
farmer ;  postofEce  ,New  Bedford ;  born  in  1828  in. 
this  township."  His  father,  John  Storm,  was  born 
in  1777  in  Kentucky.  He  was  married  in  1803- 
to  ]\Iiss  Elizabeth  Slonaker  of  Westmoreland 
county,  Pennsylvania.  She  was  born  in  1784. 
They  came  to  this  county  in  1819.  He  died  in 
1863 ;  she  died  in  1854.  They  were  the  parents 
of  thirteen  children.  The  subject  of  this  sketchi 
was  married  in  1846  to  Miss  Judah  Stull  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1828  in  this  township. 
They  are  the  parents  of  nine  children,  six  of 
whom  are  living. 

STOVER  ARCHIBALD,  Monroe  township;: 
was  born  September  24, 1829,  in  Monroe  township,. 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  son  of  Michael  and 
Phoebe  (Dickey)  Stover,  grandson  of  Michael 
Stover,  and  grandson  of  John  Dickey.  He  was 
brought  up  on  a  farm,  educated  in  district  schools 
and  Spring  Mountain  high  school.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-one  he  began  the  tinner's  trade  under 
Charles  Harmany  of  Holmes  county,  and  served 
three  years.  Ever  since  the  completion  of  his 
apprenticeship,  he  has  worked  at  his  trade  in 
Spring  Mountain.  July  1, 1880,  he  was  appointed 
mail  carrier  between  Spring  Mountain  and  Hel- 
mick  for  four  years.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Kittie  Pettit  m  November  1864,  daughter  of" 
Joshua  and  Mary  (Brillhart)  Pettit,  and  grand- 
daughter of  Samuel  and.  Susannah  (Whiteshell) 
Brillhart.  Their  children  are  Emily,  Logan,. 
Winfred,  and  Harry  Glide. 

STOVER  A.  J.,  Monroe  township ;  was  born 
in  November,  1835,  on  the  farm  where  he  now 
lives,  in  Monroe  township.  He  is  a  son  of  Mi- 
chael and  Phoebe  (Dickey)  Stover,  who  are  na- 
tives of  Rockingham  county,  Virginia,  and 
grandson  of  Christopher  and  Catharine  Stover,, 
and  of  John  Dickey.  The  Stovers  are  of  Ger- 
man descent,  and  the  Dickeys  Irish.  Mr.  Stover 
enlisted  in  Company  I,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1861,  and  served  under  Captain  J. 
Crooks,  Colonel  Stanley  Mathews  and  General 
Nelson.  He  was  first  lieutenant  during  the  100- 
days'  service.  He  was  married,  in  May,  1870,.  to 
Sarah  J.  McNeil,  daughter  of  Archibald  and 
Sarah  (Bucklew)  McNeil,  and  granddaughter  of 
Archibald  and  Mary  McNeil,  and  of  Samuel  and 
Hannah  Bucklew.  Their  children  were  Lizzie 
L.,  born  June  2,  1871 ;  Oraz,  born  October  27, 
1872 ;  Marion  C.  and  Jane  Z  ,  twins,  born  Octo- 
ber 5, 1880. 

STROUSE  JOHN,  farmer ;  Tiverton  township ;: 
postofflce,  Walhonding,  Ohio;  born  December 
13,  1829,  in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania;  He 
came  to  this  county  in  1834,  witli  his  parents. 
His  father  died  in  January,  18'72.  His  mother  also- 
died  in  1872.  They  "were  the  parents  of  nine  child- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


801 


Ten,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  seventh. 
He  was  married  in  1848  to  Miss  Uretta  Brown,  of 
Holmes  county,  who  was  born  in  1827,  in  Colum- 
iDiana  county,  Ohio.  They  were  the  parents  of- 
six  children,  three  of  whom  are  living,  viz : 
Northana  C,  Sarah  E.  and  Lydia.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  June,  1862,  to  Miss  Barbara  Brown,  sister 
•of  fiis  first  wife,  who  was  bom  in  1835.  They  are 
the  parents  of  eight  children,  six  of  whom  are 
living,  viz :  Aaron,  William  L.,  Edward,  Uriah 
W.,  Lola  M.  and  Arrilla. 

STROUSE  GEORGE,  Sb.,  farmer;  Tiverton 
township;  postofiice,  Gann,  Knox  county;  born 
in  1819,  in  Pennsylvania.  He  came  to  this 
■county  with  his  father  in  1834,  who  died  in  1872 
His  mother  also  died  in  1872.  They  were  the  par- 
ents of  ten  children,  the  subject  of  this  sketch  be- 
ing the  oldest.  He  was  married  in  1844  to  Miss 
Lavina  Camp,  of  Holmes  county,  who  was  born 
in  1821,  in  Columbiana  county.  They  are  the 
parents  of  nine  children,  viz:  Uretta  M.,  Anna 
■C.,  Mary  J.,  Elmira,  James  K.,  Charles  A.,  George 
L.,  Johnson  and  Taurus  E.,  deceased. 

STUART  MRS.  EDY,,  Bethlehem  township ; 
-Wfs  born  in  May,  1802,  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio. 
Her  father,  Robert  Giffen,  was  of  Scotch  descent, 
and  came  to  this  country  in  1807,  and  located  in 
'New  Castle  township.  His  daughter  Edy  was 
married  in  1824,  to  Mr.  Matthew  Stuart,  who  was 
laorn  in  1802,  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  He 
was  a  blacksmith ;  came  to  this  county  in  1825, 
iind  was  engaged  to  superintend  the  construction 
of  the  Ohio  can&,l.  He  also  assisted  in  the  con- 
.struction  of  the  Milan  and  Huron  canal,  and 
/built  several  divisions  of  the  Walhonding  canal. 
He  was  engaged  extensively  in  the  United  States 
•Government  improvements  of  the  Ohio  river. 
He  constructed  the  levee  at  Cairo,  Illinois,  now 
an  important  military  post.  He  also  aided  in  the 
construction  of  several  railroads.  Mr.  Stuart 
'emigrated  overland  to  California  in  1849,  leaving 
his  family  in  Coshocton.  After  spending  a  few 
years  in  that  State,  he  returned  home,  and 
located  near  Columbus,  Ohio.  He  died  October 
5, 1862,  aged  sixty  years. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stuart  became  the  parents  of 
five  children,  viz:  Robert,  born  May  12,  1825; 
Oaroline,  born  May  6, 1826 ;  Carmelia,  born  July 
■28,  1832;  Ewing,  born  in  1838,  died  January  3, 
1841,  and  Columa  E.,  born  January  5, 1844.  Rob- 
•ert  Stuart  was  employed  as  a  receiver  of  public 
moneys  in  the  general  land  office  at  Olympia, 
Washington  Territory.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Abby  H.  Hunt,  of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  She 
was  of  Puritan  ancestry  and  a  graduate  of  Tre- 
mont  college.  After  graduation,  she.  accepted  a 
position  as  bookkeeper  in  a  large  manufacturing 
«stabhshment.  The  firm  failed  and  she  went  to 
Springfield,  Massachusetts,  and  engaged  in  busi- 


ness. In  1866,  shp  sailed  to  San  Francisco,  Cali- 
fornia, to  take  charge  of  the  office  business  of  a 
relative,  which  position  she  held  for  five  years, 
when,  on  account  of  failing  health,  she  was  com- 
pelled to  go  north.  She  went  to  Washington 
Territory,  and  became  acquainted  with  Hon. 
Robert  G.  Stuart,  and  was  married  to  him. 

After  marriage,  she  volunteered  to  reply  to  all 
letters  of  inquiry  received  in  regard  to  the  terri- 
tory and  its  advantages.  During  the  summer  of 
1875,  she  wrote  a  pamphlet  of  sixty  pages,  des- 
cribing the  territory.  The  Legislature  published 
6000,  copies  of  the  pamphlet  for  gratuitous  dis- 
tribution. Caroline  Stuart  was  married,  April  8, 
1851,  to  Samuel  Denman,  who  was  bofti  in  New 
Jersey,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1832.  They 
became  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz:  Mary 
Stuart  Denman,.born  May  17, 1852;  and  Charles 
Lyon  Denman,  born  in  1854.  Carmelia  Stuart 
was  married  July  28,  1832,  to  Mr.  Francis  Wolf, 
of  this  county. 

STUDOR  JOHN,  Franklin  township.  Mr.  Stu- 
dor's  parents,  Jacob  and  Catharine  (Erhart),  emi- 
grated from  Alsace,  France,  near  Strausburg,  to 
this  township,  in  1835.  His  father,  born  in  1806, 
had  served  in  the  French  army  seven  years.  John 
is  the  sixth  child  of  a  family  of  seven,  as  follows ; 
Magdalene  (Trottman),  of  Linton  township; 
EUzabeth  (Beck),  deceased ;  Jacob,  of  Muskingum 
county;  Catherine  B.  (Mayer),  of  Coshocton; 
Caroline,  John  and  Mary  Ann  (Hohn),  of  Mus- 
kingum county.  He  is  a  farmer,  and  was  mar- 
ried April  9,  1869,  to  Elizabeth  Hershman,  by 
which  marriage  he  has  four  children,  viz :  Jacob 
Edward,  Milton  Elmer,  Plenna  Allen  and  Estella 
Vern. 

STURGEON  C.  L.,  Coshocton,  Ohio;  of  the 
firm  of  Sturgeon  &  Selby,  merchants,  424  Main 
street.  Mr.  Sturgeon  was  born  October  21, 1855, 
in  Mount  Holly,  Knox  county,  Ohio;  son  of  Will- 
iam Sturgeqn,  who  was  born  in  Washington  ^ 
county,  Pennsylvania,  January  22, 1824,  and  Mary  • 
(Baker)  Sturgeon,  born  near  Danville,  Knox  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  November  23, 1829.  She  died  Novem- 
ber 2,  1868.  Her  grandmother  was  a  Talbot,  and 
was  in  the  direct  line  from  the  Earl  of  Shrews- 
bury. Her  immediate  parents  were  Pennsylva- 
nia Germans.  William  Sturgeon's  parents  were 
natives  of  Pennsylvania,  of  English  and  Scotch 
ancestry.  His  father  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-, 
two  years,  and  his  mother  at  sixty-six.  William 
Sturgeon  and  Mary  Baker  were  married  October 
17,  1854,  and  became  the  parents  of  seven  chil- 
dren, viz:  Cliff  rd  L.,  Melville  S.,  Clara  Victoria, 
Ada  E.,  Elmer  E.,  Lizzie  I.  and  Charles  W.  Clif- 
ford L.  attended  the  public  schools  until  nineteen, 
when  he  entered,  as  a  student,  in  1876,  the  Ohio 
Wesleyan  university,  and  remained^ne  year.  In 
1877  he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  brother. 


802 


HISTOIIY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Melville  S.,  and  his  present  partner,  firm  name, 
Sturgeon  Brothers  &  Co.  In  the  spring  of  ISSl 
the  above  firm  was  formed,  Melville  S.,  withdraw- 
ing. 

E.  O.  Selby,  of  the  above  firm,  was  born  in 
Knox  county,  Ohio,  May  30, 1857;  son  of  Profes- 
sor J.  B.  and  Isabel  (Sturgeon)  Selby,  who  were 
the  parents  of  eight  children,  viz :  Milton  Clif- 
ford and  Charles,  deceased,  and  Walter  L.,  E.  0., 
Mina  B.,  Lillie  M.  and  Oscar  E.,  living.  The  five 
were  born  in  Knox  county,  and  the  others  at 
Spring  Mountain,  Coshocton  county,  where  their 
father  was  principal  of  the  Spring  Mountain 
academy  for  a  number  of  years  prior  to  his  going 
West,  wlfere  he  died  in  1871.  His  widow  and 
children,  excepting  E.  O.,  are  now  on  the  farm 
which  he  purchased  there.  E.  O.  was  clerk  in  a 
store  and  bank  in  the  West  prior  to  his  locating 
in  Coshocton. 

SQUIEE  J.  S.,  Jackson  township;  farmer; 
postoflS.ce,  Roscoe  ;  born  October  24,  1846,  on  the 
farm  on  which  he  now  resides.  When  about 
eighteen  he  went  into  a  drug  store  as  clerk,  at 
Worthington,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  two 
years.  In  May,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  Company  G, 
One  Hundred  and  Fortieth  O.  N.  G.,  and  served 
four  months.  He  was  elected  justice  of  the 
peace  of  Jackson  township  in  the  spring  of  1880, 
which  oflBce  he  now  holds.  In  1876  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  board  of  education  for 
his  township,  and  held  the  office  three  years. 
He  was  married  January  19,  1869,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Anne,  daughter  of  Garret  Snedecker,  of  Jackson 
township,  but  a  native  of  Knox  county.  They 
became  the  parents  of  four  children,  viz:  Emma 
E.,  Nora,  James  William,  and  Lucretia. 

SUMERS  JOHN,  Lafayette  township;  farmer; 
postoffice.  West  Lafayette,  Ohio;  son  of  John  and 
Margaret  (Mitchel)  Sumers;  was  t)orn  April  8, 
1862,  in  Zanesville,  Ohio.  His  parents  are  of 
German  descent.  He  came  from  Zanesville  when 
four  years  old  and  located  in  Coshocton,  remain- 
ing two  years.  He  then  removed  to  Linton  town- 
ship with  his  parents,  and  remained  eight  years ; 
then  removed  to  Oxford  township,  remaining  five 
years.  Plis  parents  then  returned  to  Zanesville, 
and  he  has  since  remained  in  Lafayette  township. 
Mr.  Summers  was  married,  September  13,  1872, 
to  Miss  Melissa  Loos,  of  this  county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  three  children,  viz :  William,  de- 
ceased; Asa,  deceased,  and  Leona. 

SWIGAET  JAMES  H.,  farmer;  White  Eyes 
township;  born  in  Harrison  county  in  1824; 
son  of  Joseph  Swigart,  who  was  the  father  of 
three  children  ;  James  is  the  only  one  living,  and 
he  was  left  fatherless  at  the  age  of  three  years.  In 
1846  he  married  Miss  Eozena  Hamilton,  of  Tus- 
carawas county.    She  was  a  native  of  that  county, 


and  was  born  in  1829.  They  have  five  children  ;■ 
Mary  E  ,  born  1848,  and  is  married  to  Henry 
Swigart;  Elisha  A.,  born  in  1850,  is  married  to 
Althea  Ewing,  the  daughter  of  Daniel  Ewing,  of 
this  township ;  INIargaret,  born  in  1854,  and  Wes- 
ley born  in  1861,  are  both  single  and  live  at 
home.  Mr.  Swigart  lived  in  Harrison  county  .un- 
til he  was  twenty  years  ef  age.  In  1844  he  moved 
to  Tuscarawas  county,  and  came  to  White  Eyes 
in  1862,  and  he  is  now  the  largest  land  holder  in 
the  township. 

T 

TAPE  LEWIS,  Coshocton;  proprietor  barber 
shop,  opera  house  block,  Main  street ;  born  Oc- 
tober 19,  1850,  in  Germany ;  son  of  Philip  Jacob 
Tafe.  Lewis  remained  at  home  until  seventeen, 
working  with  his  father,  in  a  jewelry  store,  and 
going  to  school.  In  1867,  he  came  to  America, 
landing  in  New  York  City,  and  immediately 
went  to  St.  Charles,  Missouri,  and  learned  his 
trade;  remained  two  years;  then' went  to  St. 
Louis,  and  remained  six  years;  then  came  to 
Dennison,  Ohio,  four  years,  working  at  his  trade 
all  the  vshile.  In  January,  1879,  he  came  to  this 
city,  and  established  his  present  shop.  Mr.  Tafe 
was  married,  June  2,  1879,  to  Miss  Ida  Eliza 
Rolley,  daughter  of  Daniel  Roily,  of  Trentpn^ 
Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio.  This  union  was  blessed 
with  three  children,  one,  Elvira,  dead,  and  two- 
living,  Oscar  L.  and  Victoria  C.  Mrt  Tafe  i& 
doing  a  good  moderate  business. 

TALLMADGE  HENRY,  Jackson  township; 
Roscoe  postoflSce ;  born  in  this  county,  in  1832  y 
son  of  Joseph  and  Frances  Tallmadge,  and  grand- 
son of  Moses  and  Rebecca  Tallmadge ;  married,^ 
in  1854,  to  Mary  WiUiams,  daughter  of  Lewis 
and  Rebecca  Williams.  Mr.  Tallmadge  is  the 
father  of  ten  children,  viz :  Sarah  A ,  Rachel, 
Benjamin,  Rebecca  F.,  L.  E.,  Rosa  J.,  Mary  S., 
William  H.,  James  H.  and  Hannah  C. 

TAYLOR  LYMAN,  farmer;  postoffice  .Warsaw; 
born  in  1855,  in  this  county.  His  father,  John 
Taylor,  was  born  in  1818,  in  Muskingum  county, 
Ohio,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Sabina  Dennis,  of 
Knox  county,  who  was  born  in  1821.  They  are 
the  parents  of  six  children,  the  subject  of  this- 
sketch  being  the  fourth.  He  was  married  in 
1878,  to  JMiss  Sylvia  Frederick,  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1859,  in  this  county. 

TAYLOR  JOHN,  Jefierson  township;  born 
October,  1818,  in  Jefferson  township,  Muskingum 
county,  Ohio;  son  of  Samuel  Taylor,  who  was 
elected  captain  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  seryed 
under  General  Miller  and  Colonel  Heath.  He 
enlisted  in  Allegheny  county,  Maryland,  and 
served  his  country  with  distinction.  Hismother 
was  Mary  Taylor,  born  in  Hartford  county,  Mary- 
land.   His  parents  came  to  Muskingum  county 


BIOGEAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


803 


in  1814.  He  is  a  grandson  of  John  and  Hannah 
'Eaylor,  and  Ezra  and  Elizabeth  (Brown)  Taylor. 
He  was  educated  in  the  old  log  school-house,  yet 
standing  on  his  farm.  Mr.  Taylor  filled  the  office 
of  county  commissioner  six  years,  justice  of  the 
peace,  fifteen  years,  and  land  appraiser,  one.  In 
1824  he  came  with  his  father  to  Coshocton 
county,  being  his  father's  only  child,  he  lived 
with  hini  till  his  father's  death.  He  was  married 
May  12,  1842,  to  Miss  Sabina  Dennis,  of  Knox 
county,  daughter  of  Philip  and  Elizabeth  (Horn) 
Dennis,  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  Their  children 
were  Samuel,  deceased  ;  Dennis,  Mary ;'  Elizabeth, 
deceased ;  Arminda,  Lyraan,  Norman  and  Clara. 
Mary  married  David  Walker,  deceased,  and  re- 
sides with  her  parents ;  Arminda  married  Joseph 
Haines,  a  farmer  of  Bedford  township;  Lyman  is 
a  farmer  in  Bedford  township,  and  Mar:cied  Syl- 
via Frederick;  Clara  is  at  home,  single.  Both  of 
Mr.  Taylor's  grandfathers  were  patriots  in  the 
revolutionary  war,  and  served  under  Washing- 
ton. His  grandfather  Taylor  served  seven  years, 
was  taken  prisoner  five  times  and  wounded  once, 
in  the  breast,  where  he  carried  an  ounce  ball  for 
a  number  of  years,  the  extraction  of  which  finally 
caused  his  death. 

TAYLOR  DENNIS,  Jefferson  township;  was 
born  in  December,  1845,  in  Jefferson  townspip, 
Coshocton  county;  postoffice,  Warsaw;  son  of 
John  Taylor,  who  was  a  native  of  Muskingum 
county,  and  Sabina  (Dennis)  Taylor,  who  was  a 
native  of  Knox  county.  For  further  ancestry, 
see  his  father's  (John  Taylor's),  biography.  Mr. 
Taylor  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  educated  in 
district  schools.  He  lived  at  home  with  his  parents 
until  the  age  of  twenty-two,  when  he  married 
Miss  E.  A.  Porter,  in  December  1867,  daughter  of 
Joseph  and  Mary  (Dean)  Porter,  who  was  born 
in  January,  1856."  The  following  children  were 
born  to  them:  Emma,  born  October  30,  1868; 
John  P.,  Februarv  29,  1872;  J.  W.,  June  8, 1875; 
Iva  M.,  September  1, 1877,  and  Mary  M.,  October 
30,  1879.  Mrs.  Taylor  is  a  grancjdaughter  of 
Samuel  and  Mary  (McCurdy)  ,Dean,  and  of  Eliz- 
abeth Wilky. 

TAYLOR  E.  T.,  Virginia  township;  born  Sep- 
tember 17,  1819,  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Margaret 
Taylor ;  married  in  1841  to  Louisa  Walraven. 
Mr.  Taylor  has  eleven  children,  viz ;  William, 
May,  Mary  Jane,  John  P.,  Caroline,  Louisa,  Sam- 
uel B.,  James  H.,  Margaret  L.,  Clare  I ,  and  John 
P.     Postoffice,  Dresden,  Muskingum  county. 

TAYLOR  HIRAM  A.,  engineer  in  Coshocton 
iron  and  steel  works ;  was  born  September  20, 
1838  in  HoUingsworth,  Lancashire  county,  Eng- 
land ;  son  of  John  and  Maria  (Dainkrey)  Taylor. 
In  1814  he  accompanied  his  parents  to  America, 
■who  locate^  in  Coshocton.    Mr.  Taylor  was  mar- 


ried September  20,  1860,  to  Miss  Ellen,  daughter 
of  Washington  and  Georgiana  (Fisk)  Burt.  They 
are  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz :  Elmer  B., 
died  in  infancy ;  Annie  M.,  Amy  B. ;  Ada  K., 
died  in  infancy,  and  Nellie.  September  20, 1861, 
Mr.  Taylor  enlisted  in  Company  E,  Fifty-first  O. 
V.  I.  He  was  appointed  fourth  sergeant,  and  be- 
came first  sergeant  and  followed  the  fortunes  of 
the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  until  after  the  bat- 
tle of  Lookout  Mountain,  when  his  regiment 
veteranized.  On  application  Sergeant  Taylor 
was  appointed  third  assistant  engineer  in  ^  the 
navy,  but  before  being  mustered  in  he  declined 
the  position,  and  was  assigned  to  duty  under 
Provost  Marshal  Wisewell,  where  he  remained 
until  October  3,  1864,  when  he  was  honorably 
discharged. 

TEALE  WILLIAM,  Jackson  township;  born 
on  Santa  Cruz  Isle,  in  1828;  son  of  Martin  and 
Mary  A.  Teale;  settled  in  Coshocton  county,  in 
1837 ;  married  in  September,  1863,  to  Catherine 
Loder,  daughter  of  Aaron  and  Rebecca  Loder. 
Mr.  Loder  is  the  father  of  five  children,  viz :  Ida 
J.,  William,  Franklin,  Etha,  Alberta.  Mr.  Teale 
is  engaged  in  farming  and  stock  raising.  Post- 
office,  Roscoe. 

TIDBALL  N.  B.,  Coshocton;  butcher;  of  the 
firm  of  Shaw  &  Tidball,  440  Main  street;  born  in 
Belmont  county,  in  1836;  son  of  attorney  John 
C.  Tidball,  who  came  to  this  city  in  1848,  and  died 
in  1863.  N:  R.  was  married  first  in  1865,  to  Miss 
Amanda,  daughter  of  Jefferson  Brelsf  erd,  a  farmer 
of  this  county.  Their  children  are :  Annie  M., 
Frank  B.,  Elizabeth,  Stella  A.,  and  Addash.  Mr. 
Tidball  enlisted  first  in  Company  A.,  Sixteenth. 
0.  V.  I.  (three  months  men)  and  re-enlisted  in 
Company  H.,  Eightieth'  0.  V.  I.,  December  2, 
1861,  and  resighed  in  July,  1863,  on  account  of 
ill  health.  Hp  enlisted  as  a  private,  but  was  com- 
missioned second  lieutenant  in  each  company 
named  above  and  captain  of  Company  D.,  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-third  0.  N.  G.  Mrs.  Tidball 
died  in  February  1863,  and  is  buried  at  Coshoc- 
ton. Captain  Tidball's  second  marriage  was  in 
August,  .1880,  to.  Miss  Sarah  F.,  daughter  of  R.  F. 
Baker,  of  this  city.  Captain  'Tidball  was  super- 
intendent of -the  yards  of  the  penitentiary  two 
years,  under  Governor  Hayes. 

TIMMONS  JOHN,  Coshocton;  carpenter  and 
contractor ;  was  born  December  25, 1843,  in  Lin- 
ton township.  He  is  son  of  William  Tinpmons, 
American  born,  of  Scotch-Irish  ancestry.  Young 
Timmons  was  raised  on  ihe  farm  until  about 
fifteen  years  old,  when  he  began  the  wagon  making 
trade  and  worked  two  years,  then  returned  to 
farming  for  two  or  three  years,  after  which  he 
went  to  his  present  trade  with  James  Williams. 
On  completing  it,  he  worked  for  some  time  in 


80i 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


Franklin  township.  In  the  fall  of  1862,  he  en- 
listed in  companjr  C,  Ninth  O  V.  I.,  and  served 
to  the  close  of  the  war,  being  in  one  engagement 
three  or  four  days  after  Lee's  surrender.  On  his 
return  home  from  the  war,  he  resumed  his  trade 
in  this  city,  which  he  has  successfully  followed  to 
the  present.  Mr-  Timmons  was  married,  in  Jan- 
uary, 1862,  to  Miss  Resilva  Williams,  daughter  of 
Thomas  Williams,  of  Linton  township.  This 
union  was  blessed  with  three  children,  two  de- 
ceased and  one  living — Simon  W.  Timmons. 

TINGLE  JOE  E.,  Franklin  township ;  born  in 
Franklin  township,  April  29,  1855;  son  of  Eldred 
D.  and  Elizabeth  Tingle,  and  grandson  of  John 
Tingle  and  of  James  Eice.  His  father,  a  car- 
penter by  trade,  was  born  in  Guernsey  county, 
and  moved  here  about  1845.  His  mother  was 
born  in  Franklin  township.  He  is  the  youngest 
of  three  children,  viz :  Anna,  John  and  Joseph. 
When  about  nine  years  old  he  moved  to  Tusca- 
rawas township,  on  what  is  now  the  Moore  farm, 
two  miles  south  of  Coshocton.  There  he  re- 
mained till  some  time  after  his  mother's  death, 
which  occurred  December  14,  1867;  then  spent 
two  years  at  Kenyon  college,  Gambler,  Ohio.  At 
fifteen  he  began  railroading,  as  brakeman  on  the 
Pan  Handle  road,  and  after  three  years  spent 
here  he  went  on  the  I.,  B.  and  W.  railroad,  be- 
tween Indianapolis  and  Peoria,  for  a  year.  Ee- 
turning  to  Coshocton,  he  worked  in  the  steel 
works  about  eighteen  months  at  an  iron  lathe, 
and  then  was  employed  as  fireman  on  the  Pan 
Handle  road  till  December,  1876,  when  he  turned 
his  attention  to  farming  and  stock  raising.  He 
was  married  February  29,  1876,  to  Sadie  Tingle, 
daughter  of  John  Tingle,  a  physician  of  Cam- 
bridge, Guernsey  county,  and  has  two  little  chil- 
dren, viz  :  Edna,  and  Atta  Eice. 

THOMPKINS  JAMES  M.,  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship; Canal  Lewisville  postoffice;  carpenter; 
born  September  22,  1832,  in  Eappahannock 
county,  Virginia;  son  of  James  and  Mary,  and 
grandson  of  Jonathan  Thompkins  and  William 
Bailey.  James  M.  was  raised  on  the  farm.  He 
came  to  this  county  in  1847,  and  first  located  in 
Jackson  township,  from  which  he  removed  to 
Jefferson  township.  In  1870  he  was  appointed 
superintendent  of  county  infirmary,  which  po- 
sition he  held  for  two  years.  On  leaving  the  in- 
firmary, he  moved  to  Warsaw,  and  came  to  his 
present  residence  in  1876.  In  1872  he  learned 
the  carpenter  trade,  which  he  has  followed  to  the 
present  time.  Mr.  Thompkins  was  married  Au- 
gust 1',  1857,  to  Miss  Mary  Chambers,  daughter  of 
John  Chambers,  of  Bedford  township.  Her 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Elizabeth  Maston. 
Their  children  are :  Isaac  E.,  Charles  E.,  Sarah 
M.,  W.  Frank,  Ahce  Lutilla  and  William  Allen. 

THOMPSON  JOHN,  Bedford  township;  mer- 


chant; postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill ;  born  in  1817,  in 
Muskingum  county,  Ohio;  came  to  this  county 
in  1819,  with  his  father,  William  E.,  who  was 
born  in  1774,  in  Hampshire  county,  Virginia. 
He  was  married  in  1795  or  69  to  Miss  Sarah  Tay- 
lor, of  the  same  place,  who  was  born  in  1781. 
They  came  to  Muskingum  county  in  1809.  He 
died  in  1850.  She  died  in  1860  They  are  the 
parents  of  seven  children,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  being  the  fifth.  He  was  married  in  1845 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Sheppard,  of  Zanesville  Ohio, 
who  was  born  in  1826.  They  are  the  parents  of 
five  children,  three  of  whom  only  are  living,  viz : 
Thomas  W.,.  George  E.  and  Willard  S.  Mr. 
Thompsoix  was  a  member  of  the  Thirty-second 
O.  V.  I.  He  entered  the  army  August,  1861,  and 
was  discharged  in  1864.  He  was  taken  prisoner 
at  Harper's  Ferry,  and  remained  in  prison  five 
months.  He  was  in  the  Seventeenth  Corps,  under 
General  McPherson,  and  was  in  the  battles  at 
Vicksburgh  and  Atlanta,  and  in  several  lighter 
engagements. 

THOMPSON  GEOEGE,  Jefi'erson  township; 
born  in  Washington  township,  Coshocton  county, 
May  21,  1828;  son  of  Joshua  and  Emily  (Will- 
iams) Thompson.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
but  twelve  years  of  age,  leaving  a  widow  and 
large  family  for  him  to  care  for,  he  being  the 
eldest  child.  The  labor  of  bringing  up  the 
younger  brothers  and  sisters  devolved  princi- 
pally upon  George,  as  did  also  the  care  of  the 
farm.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  weijt  to  West 
Carlisle  to  learn  blacksmithing  with  A.  H.  Ly- 
ons, and  served  one  year ;  then  went  to  Eosooe 
and  worked  two  years  with  William  Thomas; 
then  went  to  West  Bedford  and  worked  at  ma- 
chine making  seventeen  years ;  then  to  Midberry, 
and  on  account  'bf  ill  health  his  time  was  divided 
between  the  farm  and  shop  for  seven  years.  He 
married  March  28,  1859,  Miss  Mary  Haynes, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Margaret  (Martin) 
Haynes,  and  soon  after  moved  to  Illinois,  and  re- 
mained three  years,  working  at  his  trade.  He 
then  came  back  to  Coshocton  county,  where  he 
has  successfully  applied  his  time  to  his  trade  to 
this  time.  Mrs.  Thompson  died  in  1869,  and 
three  years  afterward  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Severns,  daughter  of  William  and  Hannah 
(Treadway)  Severns.  Flora  B.;  Endora  M.,  de- 
ceased ;  Mary  M.  and  Louvina  I.  were  the 
children  of  the  first  marriage,  Millie  B.  and  Mina 
A.  of  the  second  marriage. 

THOMPSON  SAMUEL  G.,  Keene  township; 
farmer ;  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  January 
5, 1809 ;  son  of  Moses  and  Catharine  (MoGuire) 
Thompson,  and  grandson  of  Thomas  'Thompson. 
His  father  was  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812 ;  his 
maternal  grand  parents  were  John  and  Mary 
(Tipton)  McGuire,  he  having  been  a  revolution- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


805 


ary  soldier.  They  came  to  Mill  Creek  township, 
Coshocton  county,  in  1815,  with  his  father,  who 
built  his  first  cabin  March  26, 1816,  his  being  the 
third  family  in  the  township.  He  was  married 
April  4,  1844,  to  Esther,  daughter  of  John  and 
Ann  (Sweeney)  Carson,  and  granddaughter  of 
James  Carson,  who  was  one  of  two  children  of  a 
large  family,  who  survived  an  attack  of  yellow 
fever  in  Philadelphia.  Mr.  T's  family  is  as  fol- 
lows: Robert  William,  born  January  26,  1845; 
Mary  E.,  July  3,  1847;  Sarah  C,  September  26, 
1849,  died  December  25, 1868 ;  John  C,  December 
15, 1851,  and  A.  Jennie,  October  26, 1856. 

THOMPSON  T.  M.,  Coshocton;  of  Thompson 
Brothers,  manufacturers  of  foreign  and  domestic 
marbles;  was  born  February  14,  1830,  in  Gran- 
ville, Licking  county,  Ohio.  BLe  is  son  of  R.  M. 
Thompson,  American  born,  of  Scotch-Irish  an- 
cestry. Young  Thompson  was  educated  in  the 
schools  of  his  native  village.  In  1850,  he  came  to 
this  place  and  engaged  in  farming,  which  he  fol- 
lowed for  five  years.  In  1855,  the  present  firm 
was  formed,  which  has  continued  to  the  present 
time. 

Thompson,  James  M.,  of  the  above  firm,  and 
brother  of  T.  M.,  was  born  September  8,  1833,  in 
Granville,  Licking  county,  Ohio.  These  brothers 
were  associates  in  childhood  and  youth,  and  part- 
ners in  business  to  the  present  time.  James  M. 
Thompson  was  married,  June,  1861,  to  Miss 
Hilpha  B.  Lamb,  daughter  of  R.  M.  Lamb,  of  Co- 
shocton. This  union  was  blessed  with  five  chil- 
dren, one  deceased,  Annie,  and  four  living,  viz : 
Jessie,  Mattie,  Nora  and  Nellie.  This  firm  deals 
extensively  in  foreign  and  domestic  marble  and 
Scotch,  red  and  American  granite,  doing  general 
cemetery  work. 

TREAD  WAY  G.  S.,  Coshocton;  wool  mer- 
chant. Chestnut  street ;  was  bornOctober  8,  1843, 
in  Jefferson  township;  son  of  Thomas  Tread- 
way,  a  native  of  Hartford  county,  Maryland,  of 
English  ancestry.  Young  Treadway  was  raised 
on  the  farm,  where  he  remained  imtil  nineteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  entered  Spring  Mountain 
academy,  where  he  remained  one  year;  after 
which,  he  entered  the  dry  goods  store  of  Will- 
iam Sturgeon,  as  clerk,  where  he  remained  six 
months  In  May,  1864,  he  enlisted  in  the  One 
Hundred  and  Forty-second  0.  N.  G,  in  which  he 
served  six  months,  participating  in  the  seige  of 
Petersburg  and  other  engagements  of  the  Poto- 
mac army.  On  his  return,  he  enlisted  for  one 
year;  then  entered  Iron  City  commercial  col- 
lege, remaining  six  months,  and  was  graduated. 
He  then  remained  three  years  aa  clerls:  in  the 
store  of  John  G.  Stewart,  at  Rosco.  In  1870,  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  John  Orr,  firm  name, 
Treadway  &  Orr,  dry  goods  merchants,  Warsaw. 
This  firm  continued  imtil  February,  1873,  when 


the  entire  stock,  books  and  buildings  were  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  In  the  following  summer,  he 
bought  wool  extensively,  for  William  Shields, ' 
Newark,  Ohio.  Early  in  the  year  1874,  he  went  into 
the  wholesale  house  of  Hains,  Stranathan  &  Co., 
Zanesvile,  and  remained  one  year  In  the  spring 
of  1876,  he  became  partner  in  the  firm  of 
Thomas  Lee  &  Co.,  wool  commission  merchants, 
Philadelphia,  and  remained  in  the  city  two  years. 
In  the  spring  of  1878,  he  engaged  with  H.  C. 
Judd  &  Root,  commission  wool  merchants,  of 
Hartford,  Connecticut,  with  whom  he  yet  re- 
mains. Mr.  Treadway  was  married  to  Miss 
Catherine  Lynch,  of  Roscoe,  arid  was  blessed 
with  one  child,  Karnia  D.  Mrs.  Treadway  died, 
and  Mr,  Treadway  was  married,  December  31, 
1876,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Linebaugh,  daughter  of 
Noah  Linebaugh,  of  Warsaw. 

TREADWAY  T.  F.,  Perry  township;  postof- 
fice.  West  Bedford ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser.  Mr. 
Treadway  keeps  some  very  fine  thoroughbred 
sheep.  He  was  born  in  this  county  in  1848 ;  son 
of  Thomas  and  Mary  (Dennis)  Treadway,  and 
grandson  of  Crispin  Treadway  and  of  Isaac  Den- 
nis ;  married  in  1870,  to  Miss  Elvina  Dickison, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Mary  Dickison.  They 
have  one  child,  viz :  Thurz  Maud. 

TREADWAY  REASON,  Jackson  township; 
postoffice,  Roscoe ;  born  in  this  county  in  Sep- 
tember, 1832;  son  of  Thomas  and  Olive  Tread- 
way, and  grandson  of  Crispin  and  Elizabeth 
Treadway ;  married  September  19, 1866,  to  Mary 
Welling,  daughter  of  Wiiyam  and  Rebecca 
Welling.  Mr.  Treadway  is  the  father  of  three 
children,  viz  :  Ohve  R.,  Effie  V.,  Thomas  A.  Mr. 
Treadway  enlisted  in  1862,  Company  I,  One 
Hundred  and  Twenty-third  regiment  Illinois 
volunteers,  army  of  the  Tennessee.  Mr.  Tread- 
way was  engaged  in  the  following  battles,  viz  : 
Perrysville,  Chickamauga,  Kenesaw,  Milton 
Heights,  Rock  Springs,  and  others. 

TREDWAY  CRISPEN,  Bedford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  Tunnel  Hill;  born  in  1834,  in 
lihis  County. .  His  father,  Thomas,  was  born  in 
1799,  in  Hartford  county,  Maryland.  He  came 
to  this  county  in  1817,  and  was  married  in  1825, 
to  Miss  Olive  Severns,  of  this  county,  who  was 
born  in  1802.  She  died  in  1838.  They  were  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  Crispen  being  the 
seventh.  He  was  married  in  1856,  to  Miss  La- 
vina  James,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1840. 
She  died  in  1876.  They  were  the  parents  of  six 
children.  His  second  marriage  was  in  1878,  to 
Miss  Susan  Leas,  of  this  county.  They  have  one 
child.  Mr.  Tredway  has  lived  on  the  same  farm 
twenty-four  years. 

TROTTMAN  JOHN,  Franldin  township; 
school  teacher ;    postoffice,  Wills  Creek,  Ohio 


806 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


born  April  3,  1858 ;  son  of  George  and  Magda- 
lena  (Studer)  Trottman.  His  father  is  a  native  of 
Baden,  Germany;  his  mother  of  Metz,  France. 
They  were  the  parents  of  fourteen  children,  two 
deceased.  Seven  daughters  and  five  sons  are 
now  living.  John,  first  named  above,  began  his 
first  teaching  in  the  summer  of  1880. 

TJ 

ULMAN'  JACOB,  Monroe  township ;  was  born 
December  13, 1816,  in  Berne,  Switzerland ;  son  of 
Jacob  and  Mary  (Sagaser)  Ulman.  At  the  age 
of  two  and  a  half  years  became  with  his  parents 
to  America,  and  settled  in  Bucks  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  lived  there  three  years ;  then  moved 
to  Columbiana  county,  Ohio,  and  remained  there 
about  six  years ;  from  there  he  went  to  Carroll 
county,  Ohio,  and  lived  there  twenty  years; 
thence  to  Holmes  county,  where  he  spent  eight 
years ;  from  there  to  Monroe  township,  Coshocton 
county,  where  he  follows  farming  and  black- 
smithing.  Mr.  Ulmap  is  a  blacksmith  by  trade. 
The  names  of  his  brothers  and  sisters  that  came 
to  this  country  are  Mary,  Peter,  Elizabeth,  Bar- 
bara, Ann,  Rosannah,  John,  Samuel,  Louisa,  and 
Issaac.  He  was  married  first  to  Frances  Houze 
in  1839,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Nezbet) 
Houze.  Their  children  were  Orlando,  deceased ; 
Albert,  Franklin,  Eliza,  and  William.  After  the 
death  of  Mrs.  Ulman  in  1864,  Mr.  Ulman  mar- 
ried Mrs.  Marissa  (Yorker)  Harris,  February  25, 
1870,  daughter  of  Peter  and  Lucinda  (Tilden) 
Yorker.  Mr.  Ulman 's  present  wife  is  the  mother 
of  one  child,  Franklin  L  ,  who  resides  with  his 
mother.  Albert  married  Miss  Letta  Dunman, 
and  resides  in  Nodaway,  Missouri ;  Franklin 
married  Lydia  Weatherwax,  and  resides  in  Co- 
shocton; Eliza  married  Thomas  Johnson.  Will- 
iam is  teaching  school  in  Holmes  county. 

UNDERWOOD  LEWIS,"  Jackson  township; 
P.O.  Roscoe;  born  in  Washington  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1823;  married  to  Lucy  A.  Stiffee, 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  Stiffee ;  settled  in 
this  county  in  1867 ;  son  of  Obed  and  Mary  Un- 
derwood, and  grandson  of  Obed  and  Nancy  Un- 
derwood, and  of  George  and  Francis  Myers. 
They  have  eleven  children,  seven  living,  viz: 
Jacob,  Mary  L.,  Nancy  E.,  Leroy,  Dora  B.,  Rebecca 
J.  and  Lewis. 

VALENTINE  WILLIAM,  Bethlehem  town- 
ship; farmer;  son  of  Andrew  Valentine;  was 
born  in  1806,  in  Bedford  county,  Pennslvania. 
He  was  raised  on  the  farm  and  has  always  fol- 
lowed that  occupation.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Polly  Baker,  of  Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania, 
who  was  born  in  1808.  They  came  to  this  county 
in  1830,  and  have  since  resided  here.    They  be- 


came the  parents  of  six  children,  viz :  Jacob,  Eliza- 
beth, Martha,  Margaret,  Rachel  and  Hiram,  all  of 
whom  are  married  except  Rachel.  Mrs.  Valen- 
tine died  in  1846,  aged  thirty-eight  years.  Mr. 
Valentine  afterward  married  Miss  Abigail  Grif- 
fen,  of  Coshocton  count)',  who  was  born  in  1816. 
They  are  the  parents  of  six  children,  viz:  Daniel, 
Benjamin,  Rebecca  J.,  Steward,  Margaret  and 
Samuel,  all  of  whom  are  married  and  living  in 
this  county. 

VANCE  ISAAC,  Lafayette  township;  was 
born  in  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  the  16th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1845,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1852 ;  was 
married  to  Sarah  Angeline  Shoyer,  April  2, 1872. 
They  have  had  three  children :  Luella,  age  seven 
years;  Thurman  Allen,  deceased,  and  Nancy 
Elizabeth,  aged  two  yeara.  He  lives  two  miles 
west  of  West  Lafayette ;  owns  fifty  acres  of  land; 
believes  in  education,  and  gives  his  children  all 
the  advantages  offered  in  that  direction  ;  is  hon- 
est and  well  spoken  of  by  his  neighbors. 

V ANDUSEN  SYLVESTER  R.,  butcher ;  post- 
office.  West  Lafayette ;  was  born  in  this  county. 
He  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war,  enlisted  in  No- 
vember, 1861,  a  member  of  Company  G,  Eightieth 
O.  V.  I.,  and  was  in  the  following  engagements : 
Corinth,  Jackson,  seige  of  Vicksburg,  Missionary 
Ridge,  and  in  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea ;  and 
was  honorably  discharged. 

VAN  SICKLE  GEORGE,  Lafayette  township ; 
farmer ;  postoffice.  West  Lafayette ;  was  born  m 
Harrison  county,  in  1840 ;  and  was  married  to 
IVfiss  Anna  Wiggins,  in  1871.  Their  children 
were  Harry,  Thomas,  Magnolia,  Ella  and  George 
E.  .  Mr.  Van  Sickle  took  an  active  part  in  the  late 
war,  going  out  in  Company  H,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I. 
and  served  two  years  and  over.  Mr.  Van  Sickle 
lives  on  a  farm  of  his  father-in-law,  T.  M.  Wig- 
gins Mrs.  Van  Sickle  belongs  to  the  Baptist 
church. 

VICKERS  L.,  farmer ;  Washington  township ; 
P.  0.  Dresden ;  born  in  1819  in  Fauquier  county, 
Virginia,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1827  with 
his  father,  who  was  born  in  1790  in  Prince  Will- 
iam county,  Virginia.  He  married  Miss  Hen- 
rietta Romine,  of  the  same  countv,  who  was  born 
in  1792.  He  died  in  1863.  She  died  in  1873. 
They  were  the  parents  of  six  children,  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  being  the  second.  He  was 
married  in  1844  to  Miss  Mahala  McKee,  of  this 
county,  who  was  born  in  1821.  They  are  the 
parents  of  six  children. 

VOORHES  ABRAHAM  C,  Coshocton;  law 
student ;  born  in  Scio,  Harrison  county,  April  9, 
1856;  son  of  George  Voorhes,  a  native  of  this 
State.  Abraham  C.  was  raised  on  a  farm  until 
fourteen  years  of  age,  when  he  came  to  this  city; 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


807 


in  1877  and  1878  he  attended  Hopedale  college, 
Harrison  county,  then  entered  the  law  office  of 
Campbell  &  Voorhes,  of  this  city,  as  law  student, 
with  whom  he  is  still  reading. 

VOORHES  CAPTAIN  RICHARD  MARION, 

attorney  at  law,  Coshocton,  Ohio;  was  born  in 
Harrison  county,  Ohio,  October  6,  1838;  youngest 
son  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Goshill)  Voorhes; 
educated  at  Hopedale,  Harrison  county,  Ohio; 
studied  law  with  his  brother,  Hon.  C.  F.  Voorhes, 
then  of  the  law  firm  of  Barcroft  &  Voorhes,  Mil- 
lersburgh,  Holmes  county,  Ohio;  admitted  to  the 
bar  July  6,  1860,  locating  immediately  thereafter 
at  Coshocton,  Ohio,  where  he  is  still  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  practice  of  the  law.  He  was  one  of 
the  first  men  to  volunteer  from  Coshocton  county 
in  the  three  months'  service,  in  the  war  of  1861 ; 
"  perhaps  was  the  first  signer  of  the  volunteer  roll 
from  Coshocton  county,  his  company  (Company 
A)  going  out  with  the  Sixteenth  Ohio  Volunteer 
Infantry,  serving  through  the  term  of  enlistment 
in  the  campaign  of  West  Virginia.  After  the 
nluster  out  of  the  three  months'  men.  Captain 
Voorhes  re-enlisj;ed  in  the  service  as  a  private  m 
Company  P,  Sixty-fifth  O.  V.  I.,  on  the  28th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1861,  joining  the  company  at  Millersburgh. 
•He  was  promoted  to  captain  of  said  company  on 
the  30th  day  of  November,  A.  D.  1861.  He,  with 
his  company  and  regiment,  participated  in  the 
battles  of  Pittsburgh  Landing,  seige  of  Corinth, 
Perrysville  and  Stone  River.  He  was  severely 
wounded  in  the  latter  engagement,  on  the  31st 
day  of  December,  1862,  while  engaged  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight.  Being  disabled  from  active 
service  by  reason  of  his  wound,  he  was  afterward 
transferred  to  the  veteran  reserve  corps,  and 
commissioned,  by  the  president  of  the  United 
States,  a  captain  in  said  corps,  which  position  he 
held  until  November  18, 1865,  when  he  resigned 
and  returned  to  his  home  at  Coshocton,  Ohio, 
where  he  has  resided  ever  since,  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  the  law.  He  was  married  on  the  27th 
day  of  November,  1862,  to  Miss  Georgianna, 
daughter  of  Washington  and  Georgia  (Fisk) 
Burt.  They  have  three  children,  two  boys  and 
one  girl,  viz:  Marion  Campbell,  ]3urt  Fisk  and 
Georgianna. 

WABLE  WILLIAM,  Bedford  township;  farm- 
er ;  postofiice,  Tunnel  Hill ;  bqrn  in  1815,  in  Har- 
rison county,  Ohio.  He  came  to  this  county  in 
1830,  with  his  mother,  his  father  having  died  in 
1816,  in  Harrison  county.  She  died  in  1862.  They 
were  the  parents  of  six  children,  the  subject  of 
this  sketch  iDcing  the  youngest.  He  was  married 
in  1832,  to  Miss  Ella  Welling,  of  this  county,  who 
was  born  in  1813,  in  Harrison  county.  They 
were  the  parents  of  eight  children,  four  of  whom 
are  living. 


WAGNER  JOHN,  Coshocton.  His  father, 
Philip  Wagner,  deceased,  was  a  native  of  Bavaria, 
Germany ;  his  mother's  maiden  name  was  Bar- 
bara Fox.  The  family  came  to  America  in  1837, 
and  settled  at  Roscoe,  where  he  remained  but  a 
short  time,  then  to  a  place  near  Warsaw,  from 
thence  he  moved  to  Tiverton  township  and  en- 
gaged in  farming,  which  business  he  followed 
until  his  death,  October  8,  1874.  When  Philip 
Wagner  came  to  Roscoe  he  had  but  $8.50  in 
money,  but  he  had  that  which  was  better  than 
gold,  an  honest  heart,  determined  will,  and  a 
strong  hand,  which  he  used  untiringly  until  he 
had  earned  and  saved  enough  to  secure  forty 
acres  of  land.  To  this  beginning  he  added  until 
he  had  a  good  farm  of  270  acres.  John  Wagner, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  born  December  8, 
1835,  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  and  shared  the  for- 
tunes of  his  father's  laborious  and  trying  life  un- 
til November  27,  1859,  when  he  was  married  to. 
Miss  Elizabeth  Kaiser,  of  Holmes  county,  Ohio. 
This  union  was  blessed  with  three  children,  one 
deceased,  and  two  living,  viz:  John  P.  and  Mar- 
garet Emma.  Mr.  Wagner  visited  Dallas  county,, 
Iowa,  with  a  view  to  settle  there,  in ,  1868.  But 
owing  to  the  extreme  severity  of  the  winter  and  * 
the  ill  health  of  Mrs.  Wagner,  returned  to  the  old 
neighborhood  in  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until 
1876,  when  he  came  to  the  city  to  attend  to  the 
duties  of  the  office  of  treasurer  to  which  he  had 
been  elected  the  previous  year. 

WAGNER  M.  C,  Virginia  township ;  born  in 
1819;  son  of  Joseph  and  Rebecca  Wagner,  and 
grandson  of  Peter  and  Rachel  Wagner.  He  was 
married  November  18,  1841,  to  Mary  Marquand. 
Mr.  Wagner's  family  consists  of  the  following,, 
viz:  John,  Martha  M.,  Joseph,  Mary,  James  D., 
William  G.,  Lydia,  Jane  G.,  Elizabeth  M.,  Louisa 
T.,  and  Margaret  C.  Postofiice,  Moscow.  He  is- 
a  farmer. 

WAGONER  ELIJAH,  Franklin  township; 
farmer ;  born  in  Muskingum  county;  son  of  John 
and  Barbara  Wagoner.  His  father  was  born  July 
18,  1793,  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  emigrated  from  that  State  to  Muskingum 
county  shortly  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812; 
married  in  December,  1850,  to  Elizabeth  Sturtz^ 
whose  parents  brought  her  from  Pennsylvania  to 
Muskingum  county  when  six  years  old.  Mr. 
Wagoner  moved  to  Franklin  township  in  March, 
1855 ;  his  three  children,  viz :  Lavinia  (Wirtz), 
Mary  Ann  (Aronhalt)  and  Melinda  Catharine, 
are  all  living  in  this  township. 

WAGONER  JOHN,  Franklin  township;  farm- 
er; P.  0.  Coshocton,  Ohio;  born  June  21,  1834, 
in  Adams  township,  Muskingum  county ;  son  of 
John  and  Barbara  (Shurtz)  Wagoner,  natives  of    ■ 
Pennsylvania,    of   German    descent.     John  re- 


808 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


mained  with  his  father  on  the  farm  until  he  be- 
■came  twenty  one  years  of  age,  when  he  began 
teaching  school  in  the  winter  ai.d  working  on 
the  farm  in  the  summer  seasons,  In  1859  he  lo- 
cated on  the  Robinson  farm  in  Tuscarawas  town- 
ship, and  remained  four  years.  He  came  to 
Franklin  township  in  1863,  and  to  his  present 
residence  in  1859.  Mr.  Wagoner  was  married 
August  18,  1858,  to  Miss  Catharine,  daughter  of 
Valentine  and  Elizabeth  (Buchanan)  Zimmer, 
natives  of  Alsace,  France.  They  became  the 
parents  of  six  children :  Ada  Alice,  married  to 
Andrew  Brannon ;  Henry  H.;  Elizabeth  F.,  de- 
ceased ;  Judson  E.,William  A .  and  Alta  Theodosia. 
Mr.  Wagoner  was  elected  Justice  of  the  Peace  of 
Franklin  township,  in  April  1870,  and  was  re- 
elected three  times,  now  serving  his  fourth  terni 

WAGONER  HARRISON,  Coshocton  ;  carpen- 
ter and  contractor;  born  Septenaber  2,  1.S21,  in 
Muskingum  county;  son  of  John  and  Barbara 
(Shurtz)  Wagoner,  and  cai^ie  to  Tuscarawas 
township  in  1854,  and  to  this  city  in  1870.  Mr. 
Wagoner  was  raised  on  the  farm  until  nineteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  went  to  his  trade,  which 
lie  followed  three  years;  then  rented  a  farm  and 
■conducted  it  four  years,  when  he  bought  a  farna, 
which  he  worked  in  connection  with  his  trade 
for  about  seven  years  prior  to  coming  to  this 
-county.  Since  coming  to  this  city  he  has  given 
his  entire  attention  to  contracting  and  building. 
Mr.  Wagoner  served  about  four  months  in  Com- 
pany E,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-third  0.  N.  G. 
He  was  married  March  19,  1843,  to  Miss  Malinda. 
daughter  of  John  Shroyer,  of  Mviskingum  county, 
Her  mother's  name  was  Elizabeth,  daughter  of 
Peter  and  Susannah  Wertz.  Their  children  are 
— Mary  Elizabeth;  Barbara  Jane,  deceased;  Eliza 
Annie,  Margaret,  John  Oliver  and  George  Bar- 
tholomew. 

WAITE  R.  D.,  Coshocton;  dental  surgeon; 
son  of  John  Waite,  deceased;  was  born  March 
16,  1851,  in  Canada  West.  His  father  died  when 
the  son  was  but  three  years  old.  Soon  after,  the 
boy,  with  his  mother,  moved  to  a  fafm.  in  White 
Eyes  township,  this  county.  Here  on  this  farm 
the  son  learned  what  it  is  to  "  earn  his  bread  by 
the  sweat  of  his  brow."  When  about  twenty 
years  old  he,  with  his  mother,  came  to  this  place, 
and  young  Waite  commenced  the  study  of  dent- 
istry with  Dr.  F.  O.  Jacobs,  and  was  recognized 
by  the  State  as  a  practitioner  in  1873,  since  which 
time  he  has  been  engaged  in  his  profession,  at 
his  present  rooms,  226  Main  street,  Coshocton, 
Ohio.  These  rooms  are  pleasantly  located  and 
handsomely  furnished.  Dr.  Waite  is  asplf-made 
man,  having  educated  and  established  himself  in 
his  profession  by  his  own  energy  and  persever- 
ance. 

WALKER  JOHN,  Bedford  township;    farm- 


er ;  postoflfice,  West  Bedford  ;  born  in  1838,  in 
this  county.  His  father,  James  Walker,  was 
born  in  1802,  in  Ireland.  He  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  1823,  and  settled  at  Albany,  New  York. 
He  was  married  in  1826,  to  Miss  Jane  Little,  of 
Albany,  who  came  from  Ireland  in  1822.  They 
came  to  this  county  in  1827.  He  died  in  1840, 
she  died  in  1879.  They  were  the  parents  of  six 
children.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  is  the  fifth. 
He  was  married  in  1866,  to  Miss  Narcissa  M. 
Barnes,  daughter  of  Judge  Barnes,  of  this  county. 
She  was  born  in  1844,  in  Jefferson  county.  They 
are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  viz :  Blanche, 
deceased ;  Charles  B.,  William  J.,  Frank  and 
Fred.,  who  are  twins,  and  Wade  and  Worth, 
deceased.  Mr.  Walker  has  lived  in  town  since 
1866. 

WALKER  WILLIAM,  Coshocton ;  clerk  in 
county  treasurer's  office ;  born  October  4,  1833, 
in  Smithfield  township,  Jefferson  county ;  son  of 
Nathaniel  Walker,  a  native  of  the  County  of  Don- 
egal, Ireland.  William  was  raised  on  the  farm 
until  about  twenty  years  of  age,  when  he  began 
teaching  school  and  taught  eight  years,  then  re- 
turned to  the  farm  where  he'  remained,  four 
years,  then  followed  merchandising  until  1871, 
when  he  was  elected  county  auditor  and  re-, 
elected  in  1873,  and  remained  one  year  as  deputy 
after  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  office.  He 
began  his  present  duties  September,  1880.  Mr. 
Walker  was  married  September  2,  1862,  to  Miss 
Catharine  Lockard,  daughter  of  John  Lockard, 
deceased,  of  Crawford  township.  They  have 
three  children,  Viz:  John  M.,  Clement  L.  and 
Laura  E. 

WALTON  D.  C,  Fafayette  township;  telegraph 
operator;  postotfice,  West  Lafayette;  was  born  in 
Tuscarawas  county,  in  1852;  son  of  David  AValton ; 
was  raised  on  a  farm,  which  he  left  in  186S  and 
commenced  learning  his  art  at  Port  Washington. 
After  working  in  different  places,  he  came  here 
in  1873,  where  he  has  since  remained.  He  was 
married  to  IMiss  Emma  Hunt,  of  Jluskingum 
county,  daughter  of  Seth  Hunt.  They  have  had 
three  children :  Edgar,  Carle  and  Anna.  Mr. 
Walton  owns  a  pretty  property  in  the  village  and 
is  a  highly  respectixble  citizen. 

WALSH  WILLIAM,  Keene  township;  born 
in  Orange  county,  New  York,  December  19,1810; 
son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  Walsh,  and  grandson 
of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Walsh-  and  William 
and  Hannah  Wood.  ,  His  grandfather  Walsh  was 
a  revolutionary  soldier.  Mr.  Walsh  was  raised 
on  a  farm,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  learned  the 
wagonmaker  trade.  He  lAoved  to  Keene  town- 
ship when  twenty-six  years  old,  and  after  work- 
ing a  year  at  carpentering  opened  his  present 
wagon  shop  at  Keene.  His  lirst  marriage  was 
with  Eliza  Thayer,  October  13, 1841,  who  was  the 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


809 


daughter  of  Ephraim  and  Sallie  (Green)  Thaj^er, 
and  granddaughter  of  Bartholomew  and  Ehzabeth 
(Blanchard)  Thayer.  Bartholomew  was  a  soldier 
of  the  revolution.  By  his  first  wife  Mr.  W.  had 
two  children,  Mary  E.,  born  September  9,1842; 
and  Sarah,  April  6, 1845.  He  married  Miss  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Jolm  Mt^Michael,  April  26, 1853,  who 
became  the  mother  of  two  children,  Ehza  J.,  de- 
ceased, born  March  19,  1854,  and  Frances,  April 
8,  1S57. 

WARD  WILLIAM,  Coshocton;  bookkeeper; 
born  April  19,  1830.  in  Paris,  Pennsylvania ;  son 
of  Richard  and  Martha  (Hay)  Ward.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen,  he  left  his  native  .village  and  spent  five 
years  in  Indiana;  then  came  to  Coshocton;  here 
he  engaged  as  clerk,  for  a  while ;  then  began  the 
mercantile  business  for  himself — first,  in  dry 
goods;  afterwards  in  drugs.  In  1872.  he  became 
conneeted  with  the  Coshocton  iron  and  steel 
wbrks,  serving  in  the  capacity  of  shipping  clerk; 
subsequently,  he  was  made  secretary,  and,  when 
the  firm  closed,  was  secretary,  cashier  and  di- 
rector. He  was  then  appointed  assignee,  by  the 
court.  In  1874,  he  took  charge  of  the  books  for 
H.  Hay,  the  present  proprietor.  Mr.  Ward  was 
married,  in  1862,  to  Miss  Frank  Hutchison,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Hutchison,  of  this  city.  Death  has 
claimed  the  three  children  born  unto  them, 
Willys  Kerr,  Katie  and  an  unnamed  infant. 

WARING  DAVID,  deceased,  Bethlehem  town- 
ship; farmer;  was  born  in  1780,  in  Essex  county, 
Virginia.  His  parents  were  of  English  descent. 
Mr.  Waring  came  to  this  county  in  1830,  and 
settled  in  Bethlehem  township.  He  was  married, 
in  1811,  to  Miss  Louisa  Beynhan,  of  Essex  county, 
Virginia,  who  was  born  in  1791.  They  became 
the  parents  of  nine  children,  viz:  Elizabeth  E., 
Maria  L.,  Martha  A.,  William  T.,  Henrietta, David, 
James  8.,  Arthur  L.  and  Mary.  Six  are  at  present 
living.  Mr.  Waring  was  a  man  of  integrity,  and, 
by  his  own  industry,  accumulated  some  property. 
He  followed  agricultural  pursuits  all  his  life,  and 
died  February  24,  1864,  aged  eighty-four.  Mrs. 
Waring  died  December  18, 1832,  aged  forty-one 
years. 

WEATHERWAX  JOHN  A.,  Monroe  town- 
,  ship;  farmer;  postoffice.  Spring  Mountain;  was 
horn  March  16,  1841,  in  the  village  of  Spring 
Mountain,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  son  of  Jacob 
and  Susannah  (McCoy)  Weatherwax,  and  gr.and- 
son  of  Adam  and  Elizabeth  (Felton)  Weather- 
wax,  and  of  John  and  Sarah  Weatherwax  He 
was  educated  at  Spring  Mountain  academy,  and, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  began  teaching  school,  and 
followed  that  business  for  two  years.  About  this 
time  the  late  civil  war  broke  out,  and,  Mr. 
Weatherwax,  being  possessed  of  patriotic  princi- 
ples, enlisted  in  Company  I,  Fifty-first  Regiment 
O.  V.   I.,  September,  1861,  and  served    fifteen 


months,  when  he  was  discharged  on  account  of 
sickness,  caused  by  takiag  cold  while  having  the 
measles.  Thinking  himself  sufficiently  recovered 
'for  the  service,  he  re-enlisted  >vith  the  lOO-days'' 
men.  Since  the  close  of  the  war  he  has  followed 
farming,  and  very  successfully.  He  has,  at  pres- 
ent, over  two  huijdred  acres  of  land.  Mr. 
^7eatherwax  was  married  to  Miss  Sevilla  Will- 
iams October  5, 1864.  She  is  a  daughter  of  John 
R.  and  Elizabeth  (Fowler)  Williams,  and  grand- 
daugnter  of  Richard  and  Elizabeth  (Bracken) 
Williams,  and  of  Richard  and  Jane  (Elsin)  Fow- 
ler ;  also,  great  granddaughter  of  James  and  Re- 
becca (Johnson)  Williams,  and  of  Archibald  and 
Hannah  (Roberts)  Elsin,  and  of  John  and  Chris- 
tina (Hopkins)  Elsin.  Their  children  were  i 
Jacob  0.,  born  July  19, 1865;  William  R.,  March 
18,  1867;  Cora  J.,  February  18,  1869;  Warner^ 
February  21,1871;  Abram,  August  1,  1874,  and 
Ada,  August  27, 1878. 

WEATHERWAX  ABRAM,  Clark  township ; 
farmer  ;  postoffice,  Helmick ;  born  in  Clark  town- 
ship, Cosh(3cton  county,  January  18,  1825-;  feon  of 
Andrew  and  Lydia  (Felton)  Weatherwax,  and 
grandson  of  John  L.  Weatherwax  and  Olive  Fel- 
ton. The  Weatherwaxes  came  from  Holland  at 
an  early  day  and  settled  in  New  York  State; 
from  there,  emigrated  to  Ohio.  His  father  came 
to  Clark  township  in  1821,  and  raised  a  family  of 
seven  children,  Abram  being  the  youngest.  He 
owns  235  acres  of  fine  land,  and  is  an  enterpris- 
ing and  successful  farmer.  He  was  married  to 
Miss  Naomi  Pettit,  daughter  of  George  and  Han- 
nah (Severn)  Pettit,  who  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, August  31,  1824,  and  died  August  27, 1875. 
They  have  had  six  children — George,  born  July 
8, 1848 ;  Lydia,  born  May  11, 1850 ;  Sarah  E.,  born 
February  29,  1852,  died  March  11,  1857;  Nancy 
A.,  born  August  2, 1854;  Louvina  A.,  born  June 
18,  1857 ;  Mary  W.,  born  October  2, 1859.  George, 
Lydia,  Louvina  and  Mary  are  married.  Mary  is 
married  to  Mr.  William  H.  Burrell,  son  of  Ar- 
chibald and  Charity  (Norman)  Burrell,  and 
grandson  of  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Clark)  Burrell, 
and  Joseph  Norman.  He  was  born  in  Beth- 
lehem township,  Coshocton  county,  February  5, 
1852.  Mr.  Burrell  is  a  teacher  of  common 
schools ;  has  had  seven  years  experionce  and  is  a, 
successful  teacher.  They  have  only  one  child — 
Frank  D.,  born  September  1, 1880. 

WEISNER  ANDREW,  dealer  in  stoves,  house- 
furnishing  goods  and  tinware,  141  Second  street, 
Coshocton,  Ohio.  Mr.  Weisner  is  a  native  of  this 
county,  and  was  born  in  Roscoe,  November  26, 
1865,  and  was  educated  in  the  public  schools  of 
this  county.  His  first  business  engagement  was 
learning  the  tinner  trade  with  the  firm  of  Hirt 
&  Palm,  with  whom  he  served  three  years.  At 
the  expiration  of  this  term  in  1878,  he  bought  out 


.810 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  firm,  and  has  since  been  conducting  the 
business  himself.  He  manufactures  all  kinds  of 
tin,  copper  and  sheet  iron  ware,  does  roofing  and 
.spouting,  and  deals  in  all  kinds  of  cook  and  heat- 
ing '  stoves,  granite  iron  ware,  pressed  tinware 
and  general  house-furnishing  goods.  INIr.  Weis- 
ner  has  thus  far  made  a  succ^s  of  business,  and  is 
■Si  young  man  of  energy,  business  tact  and  integ- 
rity. 

WEIR  JOHN  C,  hotel  keeper;  postoflBce, 
West  Lafayette ;  is  a  native  of  Guernsey  county. 
His  father  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  who  came  to 
America  in  1819.  Mr.  Weir  came  to  West  Lafa- 
yette in  1875,  and  established  the  present  hotel — 
Weir  House — having  been  engaged  in  the  same 
"business  in  Guernsey  county  for  several  years. 
With  years  of  experience,  Mr.  Weir  is  prepared 
to  meet  the  wants  of  the  people.  He  has  built 
an  extensive  addition  to  his  building,  having 
ample  room.  He  has  also  erected  a  new  and 
commodious  barn.  With  these  late  improve- 
ments he  is  fully  prepared  to  accommodate  the 
public.  Mr.  Weir  was  married  to  Jafte  Stewart, 
who  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  came  with  her 
parents  to  America  when  a  child.  They  have 
four  children,  viz:  William,  deceased;  Sarah 
Ellen,  Edward,  and  Charlie. 

WELKER  DAVID,  Linton  township;  farmer; 
Tjorn  in  Union  township,  Kxox  county,  January 
11, 1816;  son  of  David  and  Sarah  (McMillan)  Wel- 
ker ;  the  second  of  a  family  of  eight  children.  His 
father  moved  from  Allegheny  county,  Pennsylva- 
nia, to  Knox  county,  before  the  State  government 
was  formed,  being  among  the  foremost  settlers  of 
Knox  county.  His  mother,  also  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, settled  there  soon  after.  His  grandfather, 
Robert  McMillan,  was  a  revolutionary  soldier, 
■serving  seven  years.  Mr.  Welker  remained  in 
Knox  county  till  his  removal  to  Linton  town- 
ship, about  1838.  He  has  lived  here  since.  He 
was  married  October  1835,  to  Miss  Maria, 
daughter  of  Jonas  and  Sallie  (Gaumer)  Fox,  of 
Muskingum  county.  The  children  by  this  mar- 
riage are  George,  deceased;  Sarah,  deceased; 
'Susan',  deoeased;  Ellen  (Lawrence),  Sylvester, 
Hiram,  and  David,  deceased.  His  wife  died 
December  29, 1852.  He  was  a  second  time  united 
in  marriage  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Jackson,  May  10, 
1857.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Beeker  and  Mary 
(Bainter)  Jackson.  Children:  Charles,  Lemon, 
Flora,  Paul,  John  and  Margaret. 

WELLING  THOMAS,  Mill  Creek  township ; 
farmer  and  stock  raiser;  postoffice.  New  Bed- 
ford, Ohio;  was  born  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio, 
.January  15, 1823;  son  of  Henry  and  Mary  Well- 
ing, and  was  married,  September  29,  1844,  to 
Catharine  Cox,  daughter  of  Elijah  and  Christena 
•Cox,  born  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio,  August  20, 


1827.  The  children  born  to  them  were  John, 
Elijah,  Sheridan,  Henry,  Jacob,  Samuel,  George. 
T.,  Nancy,  Albert  and  James. 

WELLING  S.  D.,  Pike  township;  carriage- 
maker  ;  born  in  1835,  in  New  Haven,  Harrison 
county,  Ohio;  came  to  this  county  in  1850,  with 
his  father.  He  learned  the  trade  in  Wheeling, 
West  Virginia,  and  was  engaged  in  the  business, 
in  1858,  in  Carlisle.  He  enUsted,  August  15, 
1861,  in  Company  K,  Thirty-second  0.  V.  I., 
Colonel  Thomas  Ford,  commander.  He  was  in 
a  large  number  of  battles,  among  these,  Vicks- 
burg,  Atlanta  and  Macon.  He  was  mustered  out 
August  7,  1864.  He  engaged  in  the  carriage 
business  in  February,  1865,  and  has  been  in  the 
business  ever  since.  He  makes  spring  work, 
consisting  of  buggies  and  spring  wagons  and 
sleighs.  He  is  the  patentee  and  owner  of  a 
patent  carriage  top. 

WELLS  JOHN  M.,  Tuscarawas  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  Coshocton;  was  born  in  Harri- 
son-county, August  22,  1822;  son  of  Francis  and 
Nancy  (Moffett)  Wells,  natives  of  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  grandson  of  Charles  D. 
Wells.  John  M.  was  married,  June  4,  1848,  to 
Miss  Lucinda,  daughter  of  James  and  Annie 
(Douglas)  Conner.  They  have  been  blessed  withj 
eleven  children,  viz:  James,  deceased;  Perry  F.; 
John  H.,  deceased;  Hiram  D.,  Isaiah  P.,  Luella  J., 
Samuel  Thompkins,  Charles  Howard,  Hattie  M., 
Harvey  E.  -and  Mary  A.  Mr.  Wells  is  a  man 
highly  esteemed  by  his  acquaintances. 

WERNETT  F.  A.,  D.  D.  S.,  of  Finley  &  Wer- 
nett,  Coshocton ;  born  March  27,  1842,  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania.  His  father  was  a  French- 
man, born  on  the  day  of  the  birth  of  Louis  Napo- 
leon. His  mother's  name  was  Catharine  Romine, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Romine,  who,  with  his  father, 
accompanied  Napoleon  to  Moscow,  in  Russia,  and 
was  at  the  famous  battle  of  Waterloo.  She  was  a 
neice  of  Romine  the  great  land  holder,  who  ex- 
erted a  powerful  influence  in  the  French  revolu- 
tion, in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
At  the  age  of  eignt  years,  his  father  came  to 
America  and  settled  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylva- 
nia. Young  Wernett's  childhood  was  spent  in 
his  native  city.  At  fourteen  he  went  to  Wooster, 
Ohio,  and  attended  public  school  about  four  years, 
then  returned  to  Pittsburgh  and  attended  school 
one  year.  In  the  spring  of  1860  he  returned  to 
Wooster  and  clerked  in  the  store  of  J.  B.  Childs 
until  1863,  when  he  went  to  Mount  Vernon,  Ohio, 
and  clerked  for  L.  Munk  until  January,  1866, 
when  he  settled  on  a  farm  in  Fayette  couny,  Illi- 
nois. But  not  being  schooled  to  this  business, his 
efforts  to  induce  mother  earth  to  yield  to  him  her 
increase  were  a  decided  failure.  In  the  fall  of 
1869  Mr.  Wernett  returned  to  Mount  Vernon 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


811 


and  commenced  the  study  of  his  profession  with 
Dr.  Kelsey.  At  the  close  of  his  reading  he  at- 
tended two  courses  of  lectures  at  the  Ohio  college 
of  dental  surgery,  and  graduated  with  the  usual 
honors  of  the  class  of  1871-2.  Soon  after,  the 
present  firm  was  formed,  and  his  interest  and 
success  have  been  mutually  shared  with  his  part- 
ner, Dr.  Finley.  Dr.  Wernett  was  married  to 
Miss  Normanda  Sapp,  of  Mount  Vernon.  The 
result  of  this  union  was  four  children,  viz:  Will- 
iam H.,  Pauline,  Francis  and  Mary  Louise. 

WERTS  SOLOMON  H.,  Lintoi^  township; 
farmer ;  postoffice,  Coshocton;  born  January  30, 
1815,  in  Loudon  county,  Virginia ;  son  of  Peter 
and  Susannah  (Huff)  Werts,  born  of  German 
descent.  In  1816  they  came  to  Muskingum  coun- 
ty, where  Solomon  H  was  brought  up,  working 
in  the  blacksmith  shop  with  his  father,  and  on 
the  farm.  He  came  to  his  present  residence  in 
Linton  township  in  1848.  On  March  22,  of  the 
same  year,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Malinda, 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Elizabeth  (Sturtz)  Gau-, 
mer.  They  became  the  parents  of  six  children, 
viz:  Susannah,  married  to  William  S.  Simon; 
Elizabeth,  married  to  Lewis  B.^Barcroft;  Mary 
Catharine,  deceased  ;  Jacob  Howard;  George  R., 
deceased,  and  John  0.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Werts  be- 
gan in  this  county  with  120  acres  of  woodland, 
and  with  a  little  help  from  their  parents,  they 
now  own  over  550  acres  of  good  and  well  im- 
proved land. 

WERTS  JACOB  F.,  Franklin  township ;  farm- 
er; born  September  9,  1846, in  Linton  township; 
son  of  John  Werts,  an  early  settler,  who  was  born 
in  Loudon  county,  Virginia.  His  grandfather, 
■George  Peter  Werts,  was  an  emigrajat  from  Ger- 
many. He  enlisted  in  the  spring  of  1864,  in 
Company  F,  Fifty-first  O.  V.  I.;  was  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Franklih,  Resaca  and  Buzzard's  Roost. 
At  Kenesaw  Mountain  he  was  struck  by  a  shell 
and  confined  to  hospital  several  weeks;  rnustered 
out  October  3, 1865,  in  Texas,  and  reached  home 
November  3, 1865.  He  married  Lavina,  daughter 
of  Ehjah  Wagner,  October  21, 1869,  and  has  three 
children,  viz :  Laura  Idella,  Carrie  Luberta  and 
.Sylvester. 

WIER  SAMUEL,  White  Eyes  township;  farm- 
er; born  March  18, 1829;  son  of  John  Wier  and 
Margaret  (Boyd;  Wier,  who  were  natives  of  the 
county  Tyrone,  Ireland.  His  father  died  before 
the  family  came  to  the  United  States,  and  his 
mother  died  in  White  Eyes,  June,  1868.  The 
family  emigrated  to  this  country  in  1-844,  and 
located  on  a  farm  in  White  Eyes.  Samuel  Wier 
was  married  April  4,  1854,  to  Eleanor  Elhott, 
•daughter  of  John  H.  EUiott,  who  was  one  of  the. 
-earliest  settlers  of  the'  township.  They  have  a 
family  of  three  children :  Allen,  born  March  23, 
1856;  Martha  Jane,  born  November  24, 1862,  and 


_  xet  A.,  born  April  27,  1871.  Mr.  Wier 
bought  a  farm  in  1854,  and  moved  upon  it  in 
1855.  He  sold  that  farm  in  1868,  and  bought  the 
Brown  place,  where  he  now  resides,  and  added  to 
it  the  Dunlavy  farm,  in  1875. 

WHITE  L.  P.,  Pike  township;  grocer;  born 
in  1847,  in  this  county.  He  was  married  in  1868,^ 
to  Miss  Phoeba  Billman,  of  this  county.  She 
was  born  in  1845,  in  this  county.  They  are  the 
parents  of  two  children — Presley  B.  and  Clarence 
H.  In  May,  1874,  he  bought  a  stock  of  groceries 
in  Mt.  Vernon  of  $205.  He  continued  in  this 
room  until  1880,  when  he  went  iuto  the  room  he 
now  occupies.  He  had  no  shelving  at  first,  but 
kept  enlarging,  until  he  now  has  the  finest  room 
in  town. 

WHITE  DANIEL,  Pike  township;  manufac- 
turer and  dealer  in  shoes ;  West  Carlisle ;  born 
in  in  1828,  in  this  county.  His  father.  Lewis, 
was  born  in  1802,  in  Fauquier  county,  Virginia. 
He  was  married  in  1851,  to  Miss  Maria  Watson, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1832,  in  Harri- 
son county.  They  are  the  parents  of  six  chil-  , 
dren — Nancy  J.,  deceased ;  William  L.,  James  B.; 
Charles  H.,  deceased ;  Mary  I.  and  John  L.  They 
carya  stock  of  ready  made  boots  and  shoes.  He 
manufactures  and  repairs  work,  and  the  son  is  a 
shoemaker  and  harnessmaker. 

WHITE  JAMES  B.,  Pike  township;  jeweler; 
born  in  1856,  in  this  county.  He  was  married 
in  1877,  to  Miss  Avila  Billman,  of  Sullivan  county, 
Indiana.  He  commenced  the  jewelery  business 
in  February,  1878,  with  46.90  worth  of  stock. 
He  now  has  a  stock  of  jewelry,  watches  and 
clocks  and  silverware. 

WHITESIDES  JENKIN,  Oxford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  White  Eyes  Plains;  son  of 
James  and  Mary  Whitesides,  both  natives  of 
Chester  county,  Pennsylvania;  was  born  in  same 
county  and  Oxford  township,  in  1814,  and  went 
from  there  to  Tennessee,  and  then  came  to  this 
county.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Neigh- 
bor, of  Tuscarawas  county,  in  1836.  Their  chil- 
dren are  as  follows:  William;  James,  deceased; 
Sarah  Jane,  deceased;  Thomas  Jefferson,  Samuel 
F.;  Isabell,  deceased ;  Nettie,  deceased,  and  Jenkin 
L.  He  has  held  the  office  of  Justice  of  the  peace 
for  twenty-six  years,  beating  the  Knownothing 
candidate  when  there  was  a  majority  of  fifty-two 
against  him,  and  is  popular  and  one  of  Oxford's 
most  respected  citizens;  owns  168  acres  of  the 
home  farm,  and  is  well  situated  as  to  this  world's 
goods. 

WHITMER  GEORGE,  Crawford  township; 
farmer;  postoffice,  New  Bedford;  born  July  2, 
1816,  in  Union  county,  Pennsylvania;  son  of 
Jacob  and  Mary  (Row)  Whitmer.    He  came  to 


812 


HISTOEY  OF-  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


German  township,  Holmes  countv,  when  quite 
young,  and  remained  there  until  October  28, 
1838,  when  he  was  married  to  Miss  Catharine, 
daughter  of  Peter  and  Sarah  (Moore)  Young.  Of 
their  fourteen  children,  seven  have  died,  viz: 
Jacob,  Michael,  George  W.,  and  four  died  not 
named.  The  seven  living  children  are :  Elizabeth, 
married  to  James  Alexander  Naragon ;  Joel,  mar- 
ried to  Catharine  Arive;  Edward,  married  to 
Mary  Harning;  Eebecca;  William,  married  to 
Clara  Gonser;  Daniel  and  Joseph.  Mr.  Whitmer 
came  to  his  present  residence  in  1839,  with  his 
young  wife,  it  being  then  an  unbroken  forest. 
He  "took  out  the  first  grub,"  and  has  induced 
mother  earth  to  yield  to  him  an  abundance  of  her 
increase,  which  he  now  enjoys  with  the  partner 
of  his  youth. 

WHITTEMORE  D.  G.,  Keene  township; 
merchant  in  Keene ;  born  in  Keene  township  in 
the  year  1840 ;  son  of  D.  B.  and  Lavina  Whitte- 
moore.  His  grandparents  were  Ebenezer  and 
Lydia  (Richards)  Whittemore,  and  Eobert  and 
Lucinda  (Collins)  Goodhue.  His  grandmother, 
Lydia's  parents,  were  Daniel  and  Eunice  (Sumei- 
by)  Richards.  Wm.  Whittemore  was  his  great- 
grandfather. Mr.  Whittemore  begun  business 
in  general  merchandise  in  Keene,  in  1868,  with 
his  father,  and  in  1873  purchased  his  father's  in- 
terest, and  has  since  conducted  the  business  alone. 
His  cash  sales  per  year  amount  to  ahout  $18,000, 
which  shows  an  extensive  trade.  He  was  mar- 
ried May,  1878,  to  Miss  C.  C.  Foster,  daughter  of 
Ralph  Foster,  of  Keene  township,  and  has  one 
child,  George  F. 

WIGGINS  THOMAS,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer.  His  father  and  mother  were  natives  of 
Virginia.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born 
in  this  county  in  1811,  and  was  married  to  Miss 
Mary  Miller  in  1837.  They  have  had  seven  chil- 
dren, viz :  George,  Sarah,  Hannah,  Ehnira ;  Jane, 
deceased ;  Wilham,  and  Thomas.  Thomas  Wig- 
gins was  a  trustee  of  this  township  from  the  tinie 
the  railroad  was  built  till  1875,  when  he  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  infirmary  director,  which 
office  he  holds  at  present.  He  owns  645  acres  of 
land,  and  is  comfortably  situated. 

WIGGINS  THOMAS  T.,  Lafayette  township ; 
farmer ;  son  of  T.  M.  Wiggins ;  was  born  Novem- 
ber 6,  1843,  and  married  to  Eliza  PhiUabaum 
November  17,  1864.  Their  children  are  as  fol- 
lows :  an  infant,  deceased ;  Sarah  Alice,  born 
September  27,1866;  Henry,  born  May  19,1868; 
Ross  E.,  born  January  23,  1870;  Mary  M.,  born 
September  27, 1873;  Ida  J.,  born'  July  17, 1874; 
Lola  B.,  born  July  12, 1876,  and  Ira  F.,  born  No- 
vember 8, 1878.  Deaths:  Henry  L.,  died  March 
11, 1872,  aged  two  years,  four  months  and  twenty- 
two  days;  Lola  J.,  died  August  26, 1875, aged  one 
year,  one  month  and  eight  days.    They  have  225 


acres  of  land  belonging  to  his  father.  He  has 
been  supervisor  in  this  township,  and  is  honest 
and  industrious. 

WIGGINS  WILLIAM,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer;  postoffice.  West  Lafayette,  Ohio;  son  of 
Thomas  M.  and  Mary  M.  (Miller)  Wiggins;  was 
born  June  23,  1842,  in  this  county.  His  parents 
were  born  and  raised  in  this  county,  and  ar.e 
among  the  oldest  inhabitants.  Mr.  Wiggins  was 
raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed  that 
occupation.  He  enlisted,  in  the  fall  of  1862,  in 
Company  E,  Fifty-first  0.  V.  I.,  and  served  one 
year.  He  was  married,  October  29,  1863,  to  Miss 
Lydia  Marlatt,  of  this  county.  They  became 
the  parents  of  one  child,  Mary  0.  Mrs.  Wiggins- 
died  March  13,  1867.  He  was  married,  March 
29, 1868,  to  Miss  Jennie  Smith,  of  this  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  children,  viz: 
Charles  C,  and  Sarah  E. 

WIGGINS  EDWARD,  Lafayette  township; 
farmer ;  P.  0.  West  Lafayette ;  [son  of  Isaac  Wig- 
gins, deceased ;  was  born  in  this  township  in  1829, 
and  married  in  1870  to  Mrs.  Miller,  of  this  town- 
ship. Their  children  were  as  follows:  Jennie, 
born -July  2, 1871;  Eddie,  born  February  4,1873; 
Emma,  born  December  22,  1876.  Their  step- 
children were  Delia,  born  October  4,  1862,  ar^d 
Isaac,  born  December  22,  1863.  Mr.  Wiggins 
took  part  in  the  late  war,  going  out  in  the  Fifty- 
first  0.  V.  I.,  and  was  out  two  years.  He  owns 
one  hundred  acres  of  real  estate,  and  enjoys  the 
esteem  of  his  neighbors. 

WIGGINS  BENJAMIN,  Linton  township;  re- 
tired farmer;  Plainfleld;  born  in  Linton  town- 
ship, July  13, 1820 ;  the  son  of  Edward  and  Mary 
(Greentree)  Wiggins.  His  parents  emigrated  to 
his  native  township  in  1807,  from  Brooke  county,. 
Virginia.  His  grandfather  Wiggins  emigrated  - 
from  Ireland  to  the  wilds  of  Virginia  at  an  early 
day,  and  there  selected  as  much  land  as  he  want- 
ed by  blazing  the  trees  around  the  tract  with  a 
tomahawk.  Mr.  W.  was  married  November  14, 
1839,  to  Jamima,  stepdaughter  to  George  Mag- 
ness.  Their  children  are  Charity,  deceased ;  Ed- 
ward; Thomas,  deceased;  Seth,  deceased;  Sam- 
uel, John,  Harvey,  Mary  (Williams),  Amanda 
(Workman),  and  Benjamin,  deceasad. 

WILCOX  GEORGE,  Franklin  township;  farm- 
er; born  April  6,  1834,  in  Muskingum  county;, 
son  of  Charles  Wilcox.  His  grandfather,  James 
Wilcox,  emigrated  at  an  early  day  to  Muskingum 
county,  from  Vermont.  Mr.  Wilcox  lived  in 
Muskingum  county  till  about  1870,  then  moved 
to  Franklin  township,  this  county,  and  has  resided 
here  ever  since.  He  was  married,  in  1861,  to 
Mary  J.,  daughter  of  Sylvester  Preston,  of  Mus- 
kingum county.  Their  family  consists  of  seven 
children,  viz :  James  Marion,  Dorothy  Elizabeth, 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


815 


Alice  Bell,  Ann  Eliza,  John  P.,  George  L.  and 
Hannah  J. 

WILCOX  CHARLES,  Franklin  township'; 
farmer ;  born  in  Muskingum  county.  May  12,  ISM; 
son  of  Charles  Wilcox,  born  in  Muskingum  county, 
and  grandson  of  James  Wilcox,  one  of  the  first 
■occupants  of  Franklin  township.  Enlisted,  in 
1862,  in  company  E,  Second  O.  "V.  I.,  and  served 
a  year,  during  which  he  was  engaged  at  Stone 
Eiver.  He  again  enlisted,  in  1864,  in  company 
K,  One  Hundred  and  Ninety-fifth  0.  V.  I.,  and 
served  about  a  year.  He  married,  in  1866,  Cynthia 
Clark,  daughter  of  Hugh  Clark,  of  Muskingum 
county.  Their  children  are:  Nancy,  Elizabeth; 
Jesse  0,  deceased;  Franklin  P.,  deceased;  Elenora, 
deceased;  William  Allen;  Carrie,  deceased;  Sam- 
uel, and  an  unnamed  infant. 

WILCOX  IBA,Franklin township;  blacksmith; 
P.  0.,  Wills  Creek  ;-born  April  21, 1852,  in  Musking- 
um county;  son  of  John  and  Sarah  A.  (Crumbaker) 
Wilcox.  He  went  to  his  trade  when  about  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  and  established  business  for 
himself  first  at  Mohawk  Village,  where  he  re- 
mained until  March,  1877,  when  he  opened  a  shop 
at  Frew's  Mills,  where  he  is  doing  business  in 
general  smithing.  Mr.  Wilcox  was  married  Sep- 
tember 13,  1874,  to  Miss  Mary  Josephine,  daugh- 
ter of  Findley  and  Elizabeth  (Hawk)  Smith. 
They  became  the  parents  of  one  child,  Nora 
Ellen,  born  August  16,  1877.  Mrs.  Wilcox  died 
December  8, 1878.  His  only  sister,  Alice  B.,  died 
March  2,  1879.  They  are  both  buried  at  Mays- 
ville. 

'  WILLIAMSON  ISAAC,  Clark  township ;  farm- 
er; postpfflce,  Helmick;  born  in  New  Jersey, 
March  28,  1819;  son  of  Piatt  and  Sarah  Wil- 
liamson. He  came  to  Zanesville  with  his  parents 
when  an  infant,  an*,  lived  there  about  seventeen 
years,  at  which  time  he  moved  to  Clark  town- 
ship, where  he  has  remained  sijjice.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Louisa  Matticks,  February  21, 1841, 
daughter  of  Jacob  and  Jane  Matticks,  born  July 
4,  1825,  and  died  October  10,  1852.  They  had 
four  children,  viz:  Piatt,  born  January  28,  1842; 
William  H.,  born  September  8, 1844 ;  Jacob  A., 
born  November  17, 1846;  Sarah  J.,  born  February 
3,  1851,  died  September  22,  1852.  His  second 
marriage  was  February  2,  1854,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Martin,  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Mac- 
key)  Martin,  and  granddaughter  of  James  Mar- 
tin, and  Andrew  and  Sarah  Mackey.  She  was 
born  in  Holmes  county,  Ohio,  March  27,  1819. 
Their  children  are  Elizabeth,  born  February  17, 
1856,  died  September  27,  1857;  John  M.,  born 
September  5, 1857,  and  Anna  A.,  born  December 
7, 1862. 

WILLIAMSON  PIATT,  Monroe  township; 
was  born  in  January,  1842^  in  Clark  township, 


Coshocton  county;  son  of  Isaac  and  Louisa 
(Matticks)  Williamson,  and  grandson  of  Piatt 
Williamson  and  of  Jacob  and  Jane  Matticks. 
He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  and  attended  dis- 
trict schools.  August  15,  1861,  he  enlisted  in 
Company  K,  Thirty-second  0.  V.  I.,  and  served 
till  December  14,  1868,  when  he  veteranized  and 
served  till  July  20, 1865,  under  Generals  McPher- 
son  and  Howard.  He  was  in  the  following  bat- 
tles: Cheat  Mountain;  McDowell,  Virginia; 
Cross  Keys,  Harper's  Ferry,  where  he  was  taken 
prisoner  and  paroled  next-day.  He  participated 
in  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  Champion  Hills,  and 
Atlanta,  and  was  with  Sherman  on  the  march  to 
the  sea.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned 
home,  and  married  Miss  Eliza  Brillhart,  August 
24,  1865,  daughter  of  david  Brillhart,  whose  an- 
cestry is  given  elsewhere  in  this  book.  Their 
only  child  was  Samuel  D.  B.,  born  December  31, 
1866. 

WILLIAMS  JAMES  M., Coshocton ;  attorney; 
was  born  July  22,  1850,  in  Plainfield,  this  county ; 
son  of  the  Hon.  Heslip  Williams,  formerly  State 
senator,  now  deceased.  He  attended  the  public 
schools  until  April  11,  1864,  when  he  entered  the 
army  as  a  member  of  the  Third  Regular  Cavalry, 
Company  C,  Seventh  Army  Corps,  in  which  he 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  In  1866  he 
commenced  teaching  school,  and  graduated  June 
56,  1873,  at  Allegheny  college,  Meadville,  Penn- 
sylvania. He  commenced  the  study  of  law  August 
14,  1873,  with  Messrs.  Spangler  &  Pomerene,  of 
Coshocton,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  Septem- 
ber 16,  1875.  He  commenced  the  practice  of 
law  July  1,  1877.  January  14,  1878,  he  was  ap- 
pointed colonel  on  Governor  Bishop's  military 
staff,  and  served  two  years.  Colonel  Williams 
was  married  May  21,  1879,  to  Miss  Mary  S.  Brock- 
way,  only  daughter  of  Charles  B.  Brookway,  of 
Ripley,  Chatauqua  county.  New  York. 

WILLIAMS  M.  H.,  Monroe  township;  was 
born  July  24, 183S,  at  East  Plainfield,  Coshocton 
county;  son  of  John  R  and  Elizabeth  (Fowler) 
Williams,  and  grandson  of  Richard  Williams. 
Mr.  Williams  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  and 
educated  in  Coshocton  and  Spring  Mountain.  He 
has  followed  farming  all  his  life,  except  eight 
years,  when  he  was  in  the  milling  business  with 
his  father  and  brother.  He  married  Mary  J. 
Weatherwax  October  6,  1864,  who  was  born  May 
18,  1847,  granddaughter  of  Adam  and  Elizabeth 
(Felton)  Weatherwax,  and  daughter  of  Jacob 
and  Susannah  (McCoy)  Weatherwax;  also  grand- 
daughter of  John  and  Sarah  (Stevens)  McCoy. 
Their  children  are  Lizzie  S.,  born  in  1865,  and 
Howard  D.,  born  February  26, 1870. 

WILLIAMS  WILLIAM  H.,  Lafayette  town- 
ship ;  physician ;  was  born  in  Tuscarawas  county, 
in   1820,    and   came   to   this   county   in    1860; 


37 


816 


JHISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


attended  the  university  of  New  'York;  in  l?50and 
1851,  and  commenced  practice  in  1852;  was 
married  in  November,  1875,  to  Miss  Alice 
Powers.  They  have  two  children— Austin  Apollo 
and  Louis  Odeseus.  Dr.  Williams  was  at  one 
time  engaged  in  a  large  practice  here,  and  vicin- 
ity, but  confines  himself  to  office  practice  at 
present,  as  he  is  engaged  writing  a  work  on  the 
book  of  Revelations,  which,  he  hopes  to  have 
completed  some  time  during  the  year  1881. 

WILLIAMS  JAMES  F.,  Jackson  township; 
miller;  Eoscoe  postoffice;  was  born  in  Linton 
township,  March  17,  1835 ;  son  of  John  R.  Miller, 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  of  Welch  ancestry. 
He  was  brought  up  on  a  farm,  where  he  re- 
mained until  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age, 
when  he  commenced  his  present  business,  which 
he  has  principally  followed  until  the  present 
time.  Mr.  Williams  was  married,  ii^  October 
1856,  to  Miss  Margaret  E.,  daughter  of  J.  D. 
Johnson.  Their  three  children  are  George  M., 
Charles  E.  and  Ida.  Mr.  Williams  is  doing  a 
first  class  merchant  and  custom  business.  The 
building  of  this  mill  was  begun  April  1, 1880, 
and  commenced  doing  work  August  1,  of  the 
same  year. 

WILLIAMS  H.  A.,  Jackson  township;  post- 
office,  Tyrone,  born  in  this  county  in  1864  ;  son 
of  Lewis  and  Sophia  Williams,  and  grandson  of 
James  and  Rachel  Williams.  Married  in  1878, 
to  Clemma  Sutton,  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Jane 
Sutton.    He  is  the  father  of  one  child,  Ray  M. 

WILLIAMS  W.  D.,  FranMin  township ;  teach- 
er; postoffice,  Coshocton ;  born  January  19, 1856, 
in  Putnam  county,  Ohio;  but  came  to  Coshocton 
county  in  January,  1879 ;  son  of  David  M.  and 
Elizabeth  Anne  (Roberst)  Williams.  W.  D  ,  not 
being  born  to  wealth,  he  of  necessity  was  com- 
pelled to  work  industriously ;  his  education  was 
therefore  neglected  until  the  spring  of  1879, 
when  he  gave  his  attention  to  study,  and  by 
September  4,  1880,  he  began  his  first  term  of 
teaching,  in  which  he  has  succeeded  well. 

WILLIAMS  C.  M.,  Clark  township;  farmer 
and  fur  dealer ;  postoffice,  Clark's ;  born  in  Holmes 
county,  Ohio,  January  23,  1836;  s.on  of  John  M. 
and  Lydia  (Courtright)  Williams,  and  grandson 
of  Charles  and  Susan  (Carpenter)  Williams  and 
Jacob  Courtright.  His  grandfather  is  closely 
connected  with  the  early  history  of  the  county, 
being  one  of  the  pioneers.  He  was  married 
December  1, 1857,  to  Miss  Sarah  Miller,  daughter 
of  Abram  and  Nancy  (McNeal)  Miller,  and  grand- 
daughter of  George  and  Mary  (Good)  Miller,  and 
of  Archibald  and  Mary  (Airly)  McNeal  She 
was  born  in  Clark  township,  March  22, 1835.  Her 
parents  came -to  this  county  at  an  early  day,  and 
settled  in  Clark  township. 


WILLIAMS  JOHN  R.,  Linton  townshipr- 
farmer ;  born  March  28,  1802,  in  Westmoreland 
county,  Pennsylvania ;  son  of  Richard  and  Eliza- 
■  beth  (Bracken)  Williams.  In  1808  he  came  with 
his  father  to  Linton  towhship,  where  his  father 
died  November  28, 1830.  When  a  young  man,- 
Mr.  Williams  worked  some  at  house  carpenter- 
ing and  cabinet  making,  but  he  has  farmed  prin- 
cipally. He  was  married  November  27, 1828,  tO' 
Elizabeth  Fowler,  born  February  28,  1808,  the 
daughter  of  Richard  and  Jane  (Elson)  Fowler,, 
married  February  5, 1807,  and  granddaughter  of 
Archibald  and  Hannah  (Roberts)  Elson.  They 
have  had  eight  children,  viz  :  Richard,  deceased;. 
John  F.,  James,  Marion;  Elizabeth,  deceased;. 
William  M.,  who  died  at  Fortress  Monroe,  August,. 
1864;  Sevilla  (Weatherwax)  and  Warren. 

WILLIAMS  DR.  HESLIP,  deceased,  Linton 
township.  Dr.  Williams  was  born  in  Guernsey 
county.  May  4, 1815;  the  son  'of  Levi  and  Han- 
nah (Lemon)  Williams.  His  father  was  born  in 
Virginia,"and,  when  only  fifteen  years  old,  served' 
under  "  Mad  Anthony "  Wayne,  in  his  Indiaru 
campaign,  and  afterward  moved  to  Guernsey 
county.  Mr.  Williams,  read  medicine,  at  Win- 
chester, in  that  county,  and,  in .  1836,  began  a 
long  and  eventful  practice  in  Linton  township.. 
He  represented  his  county  in  the  State  legislature, 
both  as  representative  and  senator.  He  was 
married,  September  6, 1842,  to  Miss  Charlotte, 
daughter  of  Jarnes  and  Catherine  (Bartmess) 
Miskimen,  pioneers  of  Linton  township,  and 
grand  daughter  .of  David  and  Rachel  (Free)- 
Miskimen.  Her  grandfather  David  was  a  native 
of  Ireland.  Their  children  are  Sarah  H.  (Kirk), 
Levi  Dwight,  James  M.,  Wilbur  G.,  i^mma  C  ,. 
Laura  E.,  Charles  E.  and  George  L.  John  en- 
listed in  Company  I,  Sixty-ninth  0.  V.  I.,  in  1862, 
and  died  January  24, 1863,  >from  a  wound  re- 
ceived at  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro',  a  few  days 
previous. 

WILLIS  S.  W.,  Bethlehem  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Warsaw,  Ohio;  son  of  Stephen  and 
Mary  (Severns)  Wilhs;  was  born  March  21,1846, 
in  Jefferson  township,  Coshocton  county,  Ohio. 
Mr.  Willis  was  raised  on  the  farm  until  fifteen 
years  of  age.  He  then  enlisted  in  Company  F, 
Eightieth  0.  V.  I.  He  was  in  the  service  one 
year,  serving  under  Generals  Thomas,  Pope, 
Rosecrans  and  Grant.  He  was  engaged  in  the 
battles  of  luka,  and  Corinth,  Mississippi.  He 
was  wounded  at  Corinth,  and  honorably  dis- 
charged because  of  his  wounds,  December  19, 
1862.  In  1868  Mr.  Willis  removed  to  California 
and  remained  nine  years,  engaged  in  the  book 
and  stationfery  business.  He  served  nine  years 
as  postmaster  in  Auburn,  California.  He  came 
back  to  Coshocton  county  in  the  fall  of  1877. 
Mr.  Willis  wag  married  June  6,  1872,  to  Miss 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


817 


Martha  J.  Frederick,  of  this  -county.  They  are 
the  parents  of  two  children,  viz:  William  K., 
born  April  8,  1873,  and  Nellie  Grace,  born  June 
15, 1880.  Mr.  Willis  is  following  the  occupation 
of  farmer,  and  owns  a  fine  farm  in  Bethlehem 
township. 

WILMAN  R.  A.,  Tuscarawas  township ;  pro- 
^fision  and  grocer  dealer,  Canal  Lewisville ;  was 
born  in  October,  1822,  near  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia; son  of  John  Wilman.  His  mother's  maiden 
name  was  Elizabeth  Hall.  When  an  infant  he 
came  to  Jefferson  with  his  parents  and  was 
raised  on  the  farm,  and  came  to  this  county  in 
January,  1847.  He  worked  in  Roscoe  and 
Various  other  parts  of  the  State  at  chair  painting. 
In  May,  1868,  he  went  to  Illinois  and  engaged  in 
merchandising,  and  remained  until  October, 
1874,  when  he  returned  and  located  at  Warsaw, 
and  established  a  grocery,  which  was  entirely 
destroyed  by  fire,  April  4,  1875.  He  re  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  same  businesss  and  con- 
tinued about  a  year,  when  he  bought  his  present 
comfortable  and  convenient  property,  in  which 
he  is  doing  a  pleasant  retail  business  Mr.  Wil- 
man was  married  August  9, 1849,  to  Miss  Ellen 
E.  Thomas,  daughter  of  Philip  Thomas,  of  Jack- 
son township.  They  have  eight  children,  viz: 
Winfield  Scott ;  Robert,  who  is  married  and  now 
residing  in  Illinois;  Sada  A.,  Josephine,  married 
to  Wesley  Babs,  now  residing  in  Edgar  county, 
Ellnois ;  William  L.,  Stephen,  John  D.  and  Ed- 
ward. 

WILSON  ROBERT  W.,  Oiford  township; 
farmer;  postofifice,  White  Eyes  Plains;  son  of 
Robert  and  Margaret  Wilson ;  was  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania, in  1816;  married,  in  1844,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Craig,  of  this  county.  Their  children  were  as 
follows:  Jerusha,  Isabel,  Robert  W.,  Mary  E., 
Arnall ;  Charles,  deceased.  Mr.  Wilson  has  held 
offices  of  trust  in  the  township,  owns  120  acres  of 
•  land,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
Presbyterian  church. 

WILSON  GEORGE  B.,  New  Castle  township; 
postoffice.  New  Castle;  was  born  December  2, 
1819,  in  Bethlehem  township,  Coshocton  county. 
I  His  father,  John  Wilson,  was  of  Irish  descent. 
His  mother,  Rebecca  (Kay)  Wilson,  was  of  Ger- 
man descent.  He  remained  with  his  parents 
until  he  reached' his  manhood,  working  on  the 
farm  and  attending  school  occasionally.  He  then 
worked  four  years  by  the  month,  after  which  he 
began  farming  for  himself  and  has  followed  farm- 
ing successfully  ever  since.  On  the  1st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1861,  he  volunteered  in  the  United  States 
service,  to  serve  for  three  years  or  during  the 
war,  under  Captain  Metham,  Company  F, 
Eightieth  O.  V.  V.  L  He  entered  his  first 
engagement  at  luka,  under  General  Nelson, 
from  there  he  was  ordered  to  Vicksburg,  and 


then  to  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta,  and  from 
thence  with  General  Sherman  on  his  famous 
march  to  the  sea,  and  from  the  sea  to  Columbia, 
South  Carolina,  thence  to  Goldsboro'  North  Car- 
olina, and  from  Goldsboro'  to  Richtnond,  and 
thence  to  the  city  of  Washington  and  attended 
the  grand  review,  and  from  there  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  thence  to  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  where 
he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service  in  July,  1865. 
He  then  came  to  Columbus,  Ohio,  and  received 
his  discharge  on  the  25th  of  August,  1865.  Dur- 
ing his  entire  term  of  soldiering  he  never  was 
wounded.  He  filled  all  the  offices  from  first  cor- 
poral to  first  lieutenant.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Maria  Butler,  September  4,  1844,  daughter  of 
James  and  Elizabeth  Butler,  and  granddaughter 
of  Thomas  Butler.  They  have  been  blessed  with 
seven  children,  viz :  Charles,  Elvira,  Sarah,  James, 
Clara,  Frank  and  Polina. 

WIMMER  M.  W.,  Franklin  township ;  school 
teacher ;  posteffice,  Coshocton:  His  father,  An- 
thony Wimmer,  Sr.,  was  born  May  9,  1804,  in 
Alsace,  France;  son  of  Thomas  and  Barbara 
(Rickets)  Wimmer,  who  were  -the  parents  of 
eight  children,  viz:  Thomas,  George,  Michael, 
Lorenzo,  Jacob,  Mathias,  Anthony,  and  Loudon. 
Anthony  Wimmer,  Jr.,  was  married  in  Novem- 
ber, 1827,  to  Magdalena  Shue.  They  came  to 
America  and  landed  in  New  York  City  Septem- 
ber 28, 1830.  They  became  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  viz :  Wilhelmine,  who  died  in  France; 
George,  deceased;  Magdalena,  married  to  Fred- 
erick Hornung,  now  residing  in  Dresden,  Ohio ; 
Catharine,  deceased;  Joseph,  deceased ;  Anthony, 
married  to  Margaret  Armbrueler,  now  residing 
in  Kansas;  Barbara  (deceased),  married,  to  Wen- 
del  Hendrick;  Lorenzo,  married  to  Magdalena 
Hiser;  and  Michael  W.,  married  October  25, 1870, 
to  Adaline  Gunther.  The  last  named  are  the 
parents  of  four  children,  viz:  Nora  May;  Amelia, 
deceased ;  *  Alice  and  Frank  Longdon.  M.  W. 
Wimmer  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  but  early 
devoted  himself  to  education,  and  at  an  early 
age  began  the  profession  of  teaching,  in  which 
capacity  he  has  been  very  successful.  He  has 
also  been  elected  arid  served  two  terms  as  county 
auditor,  and  now  holds  the  office  of  notary  public. 

WINSLOW  DR.  J.  W.,  Monroe  township;  born 
September  2, 1838,  in  Tiverton  township,  Coshoc- 
ton county,  Ohio;  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Harris)  Winslow,  grandson  of  John  Harris,  and 
great-grandson  of  William  Winslow.  He  was 
brought  up.on  a  farm  and  attended  district  schools 
until  he  was  twenty  years  old ;  he  then  went  to 
school  at  the  Spring  Mountain  academy  a  short 
time,  then  taught  school  in  th^  winter  season 
and  went  to  school  in  summer  for  three  years. 
He  then  took  up  the  study  of  medicine  under 
Dr.  W.  R.  Wing,  and  read  three  years ;  attended 


818 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


lectures  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  in  1861;  then 
practiced  till  1869,  when  he  took  another  course 
of  lectures  at  Columbus ;  then  returned  to  Spring 
Mountain  and  resumed  his  practice,  where  he 
continued,  having  a  fair  practice.  Dr.  Winslow 
was  married  to  Miss  Harriett  Moore,  daughter  of 
Silas  and  Mary  (McCoy)  Moore,  October  8,  1863. 
Their  children  are :  Edward  E.,  born  August  24, 
1864;  Gladys  A.,  born  May  15,  1873,  and  Mattie 
G.,  born  July  28,  1876. 

WOLF  JACOB,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
postofflce,  White  Eyes  Plains ;  was  born  in  Cum- 
berland comity,  Pennsylvania,  in  1802,  and  came 
to  Ohio  with  his  parents  in  1806.  He  was  mar- 
,  ried  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Leighninger  of  this  town- 
ship; who  became  the  parents  of  four  children, 
as  follows :  Margaret,  Sarah,  Hiram  and  George. 
Jacob's  wife  died  in  August,  1879.  He  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Baptist  church,  and  is  an  honest  and 
industrious  citizen,  working  as  if  he  was  still  'in 
the  prime  of  life.  He  is  one  of  liie  oldest  men 
in  Oxford  township. 

WOLF  FRANK,  farmer;  Oxford  township; 
P.  O.  West  Lafayette;  was  born  in  1842;  son  of 
John  and  Sarah  (House)  Wolf,  both  of  this  State. 
Mr.  Frank  Wolf  was  married  in  the  year  1867, 
to  Miss  Nancy  E.  Foster,  of  Keene  township.  The 
fruits  of  this  union  has  been  four  children: 
Addie,  deceased;  Mary,  L.,  deceased ;  Eddie,  Jesse, 
deceased.  He  owns  ninety-four  acres  of  land  in 
this  township.  They  are  membera  of  the  Protest- 
ant Methodist  church.  He  took  dS  active  part  in 
the  late  war,  going  out  in  Company  C,  Fifty-first 
O.  V.  L,  in  the  fall  of  1861,  and  taking  part  in  all 
the  battles  in  which  that  regiment  was  engaged, 
and  was  mustered  out  November  4, 1865. 

WOLF  ^ HENRY,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
postoffice,  Evansburgh;  was  born  in  1819,  in  this 
township;  was  married  November  18,  1852,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Fletcher,  of  this  township.  They 
have  had  the  following  children :  Eliza,  born  in 
1853;  Walonia,bornin  1855;  Albert,  born  in  1858; 
Lutie,  born  in  1865,  and  Carrie,  born  in  1869. 
Lutie  died  October  2,  1867.  They  own  about 
400  acres  of  the  finest  land  in  this  township,  or 
in  Coshocton  county,  and  are  surrounded  by  all 
the  comforts  of  an  elegant  home.  They  are 
members  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  church,  and 
are  esteemed  for  living  up  to  their  professions. 
He  has  been  a  school  director  for  a  number  of 
years,  believes  in  education  in  all  its  branches, 
and  supports  the  same  in  a  financial  way  that  is 
most  encouraging  to  the  cause  of  education. 
Eliza  was  married  to  Mr.  Burne  and  resides  in 
Harrison  county,  and  Malonia  was  married  to 
Mr.  Leland  ai^^  resides  in  Knox  county,  Ohio. 
The  rest  of  the  children  are  at  home. 

WOLF  WILLIAM,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 


postoffice.  White  Eyes  Plains,  Ohio ;  son  of  Philip 
and  Margaret  (Wagner)  Wolf;  was  born  Feb- 
ruary 27,  1821,  in  Oxford  township,  this  county. 
His  parents  were  of  German  descent,  and  came 
from  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania.  Mr. 
Wolf  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  fol- 
lowed that  occupation.  He  has  also  been  an  ex- 
tensive dealer  in  stock  for  forty  years.  He  drove 
cattle  over  the  mountains  before  there  was  a  rail- 
road in  the  State.  Mr.  Wolf  was  married,  April 
6,  1848,  to  Miss  Mary  Forsythe,  of  this  county. 
They  became  the  parents  of  one  child,  Emma  A. 
Mrs.  Wolf  died  April  7, 1851.  He  was  married,  in 
1864,  to  Miss  Louisa  Loos,  of  this  county.  They 
became  the  parents  of  one  child,  Ella,  deceased. 
Mrs  Wolf  died  in  1869.  Mr.  Wolf  was  married, 
in  1871,  to  Mrs.  Fransanna  Culbertson,  of  this 
county.  Five  children  were  born  to  them,  viz : 
Violgt;  Lilian,  an.  infant,  not  named;  Jemima 
and  Henry  W.  Mr.  Wolf  owns  a  fine  farm,  of 
440  acres,  situated  in  the  Tuscarawas  valley.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Wolf  are  influential  members  of  the 
Protestant  Methodist  church,  and  are  esteemed 
by  all  their  acquaintances. 

WOLFE  GEORGE  L.,  farmer;  postoffice,  Ev- 
ansburgh; was  born  in  Oxford  township,  and 
was  married  to  Anna  Foster,  who  was  born  in 
England.  They  had  three  children,  Elmer  J., 
Oreha  D.,  and  an  infant,  deceased.  Mrs.  Anna 
Wolfe  died  in  1877,  and  was  buried  in  White 
Eyes  Plains  cemetery.  Mr.  Wolfe  married  Olive 
A.  Maxwell,  who  was  born  in  this  county.  Mr. 
Wolf  owns  a  beautiful  farm,  and  has  erected  a 
fine  residence. 

WOLF  MILL-TON  N.,  Oxford  township;  farm- 
er; postoffice,  Evansburgh;  was  born  in  this  town- 
ship, in  1837;  son  of  Phillip  Wolf,  and  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Harriet  A.  Emerson,  daughter  of 
Timothy  Emerson,  in  1861.  They  have  five  chil- 
dren, as  follows :  Norah  E.,  Lulie  L.,  Clariden  C, 
Minnie  L.  and  Ina  M.  They  live  on  148  acres 
in  Oxford  township.  He  is  a  member  of  the  M. 
E.  church.  He  served  four  months  in  Company 
E,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  0.  V.  L,  and 
is  a  good  citizen. 

WOLF  HIRAM,  Oxford  township;  farmer;* 
Evansburgh,  postoffice ;  son  of  Jacob  Wolf ;  was 
born  in  1829 ;  married  in  1853,  to  Miss  Hannah 
House,  their  children  being — Clara  Ellen,  born 
in  1855 ;  James  Irwin,  born  in  1860;  Mary  Net- 
tie, born  in  1866,  and  Jennie  Alta,  deceased,  aged 
five  and  a  half  years,  born  in  1872.  Mr.  Hiram 
Wolf  has  held  offices  of  trust  in  the  township, 
and  he.  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Baptist 
church.  He  lives  on  his  farm  of  ninety-three 
acres,  and  is  possessed  of  other  real  estate  in  this 
township. 

WOLF  GEORGE  L.,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


819 


postoffice,Evansburgh;  son  of  Jacob  and  MaryE. 
(Leighninger)  Wolf;  was  born  July  3,  1836,  in 
this  county.  His  parents  .were  of  German  de- 
scent, and  came  from  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Wolf 
■was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed 
that  occupation.  He  was  married  April  14, 1861, 
to  Miss  Annie  Poster,  of  this  county.  They  be- 
came the  parents  of  three  children,  viz :  An  in- 
fant, not  named;  Elmer  J.  and  Orelia.  Mrs. 
Wolf  died  October  26,  1077.  He  was  married 
February  20,  1879,  to  Miss  OUa  Maxwell,  of  this 
county.  Mr.  Wolf  owns  a  fine  farm  of  137  acres, 
situated  in  the  Tuscarawas  valley. 

WOLF  JOHN,  Oxford  township;  farmer; 
postofJice,  Evansburgh,  Ohio ;  son  of  Philip  and 
Margaret  (Wagner)  Wolfe ;  was  born  August  29, 
1813,  in  Oxford  township,  and  is  the  oldest  living 
resident  of  the  township.  Mr.  Wolf  was  raised 
on  the  farm,  and  has  always  followed  that  occu- 
pa,tion.  He  was  married  June  2,  1836,  to  Miss 
Sarah  House,  of  Knox  county,  Ohio,  who  was 
born  November  15,  1817.  They  became  the 
parents  of  ten  children,  viz :  Samuel  H.,  born 
May  20,  1837;  Margaret.  A.,  born  October  30, 
1888,  and  died  February  5,  1841;  Mary,  born 
October  14,  1840;  Francis  H.,  born  October  11, 
1842;  David,  born  October  28,  1844,  and  died  in 
the  .army  November  12,  1864;  Henry,  born  Feb- 
ruary 26, 1847,  and  died  June  6, 1847;  Ehzabeth, 
born  October  12, 1849;  John  W.,  born  February 
6,  1851,  and  died  December  14,  1868;  Richard 
W.,  born  March  13, 1853,  and  Rebecca  J.,  born 
February  6, 1856. 

Mr.  Wolf's  second  marriage  took  place  Octo- 
ber 29, 1857,  to  Miss  Lavenia  Howard,  of  Knox 
county,  Ohio.  They  became  the  parents  of  eight 
children,  viz :  Joseph  C,  born  July  30,  1858 ;  Ar- 
minda,  born  March  8, 1861,  died  March  31,  1862 ; 
Almeda,  born  July  6, 1862;  Luella  J.,  born  Octo- 
ber 7, 1864;  Jason  G.,  born  February  13,  1866; 
Addie,  born  November  8,  1868,  died  March  3, 
1869 ;  Nettie,  born  June  22,  1870.  ,  His  second 
wife  died  September  30, 1870.  He  was  married 
the  third  time,  August  -24,  1871,  to  Miss  Lavina 
Page,  of  Stark  county,  Ohio.  Mr.  Wolf's  pareiits 
came  from  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  are  of  German  descent.  In  1837  Mr.  Wolf 
moved  to  Knox  county,  Ohio,  and  remained  ten 
years.  He  then  returned  to  this  county  and  has 
since  remained.  Wr.  Wolf  has  dealt  extensively 
in  stock  for  twenty  years.  He  owns  a  splehdid 
farm  of  305  acres,  situated  in  the  Tuscarawas 
valley,  near  the  town  of  Orange.  Two  of  his 
sons,  David  and  Frank,  were  in  the  army.  Da- 
vid was  wounded  in  the  battle  of  Chicamauga, 
and  died  from  the  wound.  They  were  members 
of  Company  C,  Fifty-first  regiment,  O.  V.  I. 
Frank  served  three  years. 

WOLFE  L.  B.,  dealear  in  white,  bronze  monu- 


ments, statuary,  etc.,  139  Second  street,  Coshoc- 
ton, Ohio;  born  June  2,  1834,  in  Evansburgh,  Ox- 
ford township;  son  of  Philip  and  Elizabeth, 
daughter  of  Rev.  Jacob  Meek,  of  Tuscarawas 
county.  He  spent  his  early  life  at  the  tanning, 
sadlery  and  harness  business.  In  December, 
1866,  he  enlisted  in  Company  K,  Captain  G.  ,H. 
Stewart,  Fourth  U.  S.  C,  Colonel,  later  GeneVal 
E.  V.  Sumner.  He  reported  for  duty  in  the 
spring  of  1857,  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas,  and 
assisted  in  the  survey  of  the  southern  boundary 
of  Kansas,  which  required  exactly  six  months. 
This  was  the  first  to  succeed,  after  two  previous 
attempts  had  failed,  from  the  hostilities  of  the 
Indians  and  scarcity  of  water  in  the  American 
desert. 

The  subsequent  fall  and  winter,  the  command 
was  engaged  to  keep  the  peace  and  guard  the 
elections  in  Kansas.  March  18,  1858,  he  started 
for  Utah  under  command  of  Col.  Huflfman,  to 
escort  supplies  for  Col.  Johnston,  at  Fort  Bridger. 
At  Laport  creek,  sixty  miles  west  of  Fort  Lara- 
amie,  on  the  morning  of  April  1,  the  snow  was 
three  feet  deep,  all  having  fallen  the  previous 
night.  One  quart  of  corn  for  each  horse  was 
all  the  grain  they  had  ;  and  for  ton  days  the  only 
feed  the  horses  got  was  the  bark  from  Cottonwood 
poles  which  were  cut  and  carried  to  the  horses. 
Only  one  horse  died ;  the  others  kept  in  good 
condition.  Going  through  the  South  Pass,  they 
arrived  at  Fort  Bridger  July  4,  in  a  severe  snow 
storm.  They  returned  under  command  of  Capt. . 
Dessashore,  through  Bridger's  Pass,  via  Fort  Lar- 
amie, to  Fort  Leavenworth,  having  been  absent 
eight  months  and  traveled  2,200  miles.  Remain- 
ing about  two  weeks,  they  started  for  Fort  Riley 
under  Major,  afterward  General,  Sedgwick. 

In  1859  the  command  was  ordered  to  the  Santa 
Fe  crossing  of  the  Arkansas,  to  guard  the  Santa 
Fe  travel  from  Kansas  City  to  Santa  Fe,  from  the 
Kiawa  and  Comanche  Indians.  Returned  in  the 
fall  to  Fort  Riley  for  winter  quarters.  After  re- 
maining about  two  weeks,  were  ordered  back  to 
the  Pawnee  fork  of  the  Arkansas  to  establish  a 
post,  guard  mail  stations  and  mail  trains  from 
that  point  to  Santa  Fe.  At  this  place  the  com- 
mand remained  about  one  month,  and  built  a 
sod  corral  and  winter  quarters.  Leaving  a  de- 
tachment of  thirty  men,  they  returned  to  Fort 
Riley,  On  this  march  they  were  caught  in  a 
"  northwester,"  which  froze  their  horses  so  badly 
that  they  could  not  stand,  and  had  to  be  shot.  One 
man's  lower  limbs  were  frozen  so  that  they  had 
to  be  amputated. 

In  the  spring  of  1860,  he  was  ordered,  under 
Major  Sedgwick,  to  scour  the  plains  for  Comanche 
find  Kiawa  Indians.  In  the  fall,  their  command 
was  ordered  to  "  Big  Timber  "  of  the  Arkansas, 
where  they  built  Fort  Lyons,  where  they  re- 
mained during  the  winter  and  next  summer.  In 


820 


HISTORY  OP  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


the  fall,  he  was  discharged,  having  served  five 
years  and  witnessed  many  thrilling  incidents, 
among  which  was  the  fata;l  shooting  of  Pawnee,  a 
war  chief,  while  attempting  to  escape,  after  having 
been  captured.  Returning  home,  he  resumed 
his  trade,  learned  when  a  youth.  In  the  summer 
of  1863,  he  was  unanimously  elected  captain  of 
Company  E,  Sixty-ninth  Battery,  and  was  ordered 
out  in  the  100-days'  service,  and  served  four 
months.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  he  again  re- 
sumed his  trade,  and  continued  until  the  spring 
of  1880,  when  he  assumed  his  present  business, 
in  which  he  has  succeeded  beyond  his  most  san- 
guine expectations.  His  first  job  was  put  in  the 
Waggoner  cemetery,  in  Oxford  township,  over 
the  remains  of  Mrs.  Switzer  and  family.  Captain 
Wolfe  was  married,  September,  1862,  to  Miss 
Sarah  J.,  daughter  of  Adam  and  Rebecca  (Wig- 
gins) Loos,  of  Oxford  township.  They  have  had 
five  children,  viz :  Adam  Cooper,  deceased;  Lanna 
Jane,  Iv4n  Milton,  Esther  Ella  and  Chat  Lambert. 

WOLF  WILLIAM,  Coshocton;  county  aud- 
itor ;  was  born  May  11,  1833,  in  Keene  township, 
this  county.  Mr.  Wolf  was  engaged  in  farming 
until  1871,  when  he  went  into  the  tanning  busi- 
ness in  Monroe  township,  this  county,  and  con- 
tinued the  business  until  he  was  elected  to  the 
office  of  auditor  of  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  in 
1875,  and  re-elected  to  the  same  office  in  1877.  Mr. 
Wolf  was  married  February  19,  1861,  to  Miss 
Malinda  Manning,  of  Tuscarawas  township.  This 
union  was  blessed  with  three  children,  viz :  Or- 
lando D.,  Eugene  and  Ida  May.  Mr.  Wolf's  faith- 
er,  George  Wolf,  was  of  French  or  German  ex- 
traction. His  mother's  maiden  name  was  Han- 
nah McGuire. 

WOLFE  SAMUEL;  farmer;  postoffice,  Mt. 
Vernon.  He  was  born  in  Cumberland  county, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1810;  came  to  Ohio  in  1829,  and 
was  married  in  1830,  to  Sidney  Ooker,  who  was 
born  in  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1810.  They  had  three  daughters,  namely :  Mary 
Ann,  born  in  1832,  and  was  married  to  Charles 
Matheny,  and  resides  in  Coshocton  county ;  Su- 
sannah, born  in  1838,  and  was  married  to  John 
Matheny,  and  are  residents  of  Coshocton  county ; 
Permilla,  born  in  1844.  Mr.  Wolfe  emigrated  to 
Coshocton  county  in  1831,  and  lived  there  forty- 
four  years.  In  1873  he  moved  to  Pike  township, 
Knox  county.  He  owns  an  improved  farm,  m 
good  cultivation,  with  good  buildings,  and  is  a 
farmer  after  the  Pennsylvania  style,  and  is  an 
honest,  industrious  man. 

WOLFE  GEORGE,  Keene  township;  was  born 
April  3,  1802,  in  Cumberland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania; son  of  Philip  and  Margaret  (Wagoner) 
Wolf,  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  grandson  of 
John  Wolfe.  He  came  to  Ohio  in  1810,  and  set- 
tled in  Oxford  township,  Coshocton  county.    Mr. 


Wolfe  is  a  tanner  by  trade  and  for  fifty  years  has 
worked  at  his  trade  in  connection  with  farming. 
He  married  Miss  Hannah  McGuire  February,. 
1826,  who  was  born  in  1804;  daughter  of  Francis 
and  Mary  (Miller)  McGinn.  The  names  of  the 
children  are  as  follows :  Francis,  Margret,  Will- 
iam, Mary  A.,  George  W.j  Thomas  and  Joseph. 
After  the  death  of  his  first  wife  Mr.  Wolfe  mar- 
ried to  Mrs.  Alice  Salyard  Thomas,  born  Septem- 
ber 9,  1829,  daughter  of  William  and  Juha  (Mof- 
fatt)  Salyard ;  granddaughter  of  John  and  Mary 
(Ayers)  Salyard,  and  great-granddaughter  of 
Equilla  and  Nancy  (Sleeper)  Mpffatt.  Equilla  was 
a  soldier  in  the  revolutionary  war.  Mrs.  Thomas 
gave  birth  to  four  children :  Nancy,  William ,  John 
and  Mary;  Mrs.  Wolfe  to  four:  Jacob,  Judge, 
Julia  and  Alpha. 

WOLFE  JOSEPH  B.,  Franklin  ■  township ; 
farmer;  born  in  Keene  township,  October  20, 
1845;  son  of  George  and  Hannah  Wolfe.  His 
father  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and  carried  on  a 
tannery  in  connection  with  farming  He  moved 
to  Franklin  township,  March,  1871;  married, 
October  31,  1872,  to  Cynthia  P.  Shannon,  daugh- 
ter of  John  Shannon,  of  Mill  Creek  township. 
They  have  one  child,  Clara  Belle. 

WOLFE  THOMAS,  Franklin  township;  born 
April  25, 1841,  in  Keene  township ;  son  of  George 
and  Hannah  Wolfe;  remained  there  till  1865, 
when  he  came  to  Franklin  township,  and  has 
lived  there  ever  since,  engaged  in  farming.  He 
was  married,  December  31, 1862,  to  Mis  AnnieJ 
daughter  of  Isaac  White  of  Clark  township. 
By  this  marriage,  he  has  five  children,  viz : 
Power,  Charles  P.,  Zenona,  Lulu  and  W.  Clyde. 

WOLFE  FRANCIS,  Franklin  township; 
farmer ;  eldest  son  of  George  and  Hannah  Wolfe ; 
born  December  19,  1826,  in  Oxford  township. 
His  father  was  a  son  of  Phillip  and  Margaret 
(Wagner)  Wolfe,  who  came  from  Carlisle,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  Oxford  township  in  1808.  His  moth- 
er was  the  daughter  of  Francis  and  Elizabeth 
(Miller)  McGuire,  who  emigrated  from  Romney, 
Virginia,  to  the  Tuscarawas  valley,  near  New- 
comer's town,  about  1804,  and  in  1807  came  to 
Lafayette  township.  Mr.  Wolfe  moved  to  Keene 
township  when  four  years  old,  and  remained 
there  till  he  came  to  Franklin  township  in  1850. 
He  was  married  February  28,  1854,'  to  Camilla 
Stuart,  daughter  of  Matthew  and  Eda  (GifTen) 
Stuart.  Her  maternal  grandfather,  Robert 
Griften,  was  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  New 
Castle  township.  Her  father  was  a  contractor  in 
Coshocton.  Their  children  are  five  in  number, 
viz:  Charles,  Robert  S.,  Edith,  Perry  C,  and 
Howard  A. 

WOLFE  WILLIAM,  Linton  township;  re- 
sides in  Plainfield;  born  April  28, 1843,  in  Lafay- 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


821 


•ette  township;  son  of  David  and  Eliza  (Gilbert) 
Wolfe.  His  fatlier  was  from  Carlisle-  county, 
Pennsylvania.  He  was  a  member  of  the  One' 
Hundred  and  Forty-second  O.  N.  G.  After  his 
return  he  farmed  a  while,  and  in  1871  begun 
business  with  James  F.  Williams  in  a  planing 
mill.  In  1878  a  grist  mill  was  added,  and  March 
1880,  he  purchased  his  partner's  interest,  and 
has  since  conducted  the  business  alone.  His 
•custom  is  large  and  increasing,  covering  a  radius 
•of  many  miles.  He  was  married  in  1863  to  Miss 
■Catherine,  daughter  of  William  and  Elizabeth 
Fowler.  Their  children  are  Eva  May,  William 
F.,  Malvern  E.,  and  Laura,  deceased. 

WOODWARD  S.  P.,^:,inton  township;  born  in 
Tuscarawas  county,  July  5, 1844;  son  of  J.  M.  and 
Tamar  (Dicken)  Woodward,  grandson  of  Presley 
.and  Jane  (McFee)  Woodward,  and  of  Stephen 
Dicken.  His  grandfather,  Presley  Woodward, 
•came  from  near  Fredericktown,  Virginia,  to  Jef- 
ferson county  about  1818,  here  his  father  was 
born.  His  grandfather  Stephens,  came  to  Tusca- 
rawas county  from  near  Cumberland,  Pennsylva- 
nia. His  mother  died  when  he  was  two  years 
old.  In  1855  his  father,  previously  a  carpenter,  en 
tered  the  Protestant  Methodist  ministry,  and  his 
place  of  residence  was  frequently  changed.  His 
family-lived  in  Monroe  county,  in  Illinois,  in  Iowa, 
in  Tuscarawas,  Monroe,  Belmont,  Guernsey  and 
Coshocton  counties  successively.  Here  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  left  his  father's  family.  He'  had 
begun  teaching  school  in  Guernsey  county  in  1861, 
:and  continued  it  in  Coshocton  till  the  spring  of 
1866,  when  he  became  salesman  in  David  Brels- 
iord's  store  in  Plainfield.  In  November,  1871,  he 
Taegan  business  for  himself  in  Plainfield,  but  in 
January,  1874,  sold  out  his  stock  of  goods  and  has 
been  teaching  since.  He  was  a  member  of  Com- 
pany E,  One  Hundred  and  Forty-second  O.  N.  G., 
.serving  four  months.  From  1872  to  1879  he  filled 
the  office  of  township  clerk,  and  in  April,  1879, 
was  elected  Justice  of  the  peace.  Married  June  3, 
1866,  to  Miss  Belle,  daughter  of  David  Brelsford, 
.and  they  have  three  children,  viz :  J.  D.,  C.  B.  and 
Verne  L. 

WORKMAN  WILLIAM,  Keene  township; 
farmer;  postoffi[Ce,Roseoe,  Ohio;  son  of  General 
Jesse  H.  Workman;  was  born  January  14, 1833, 
in  Bethlehem  township,  this  county.  .  His  father 
was  of  German  descent,  and  came  from  Maryland 
in  1800,  and  settled  on  the  banks  of  the  Walhond- 
ing,  above  Roscoe.  He  went  from  there  to  Co- 
.shocton  and  engaged  in  the  tanning  business, 
which  he  followed  for  thirty  years.  He  then 
moved  to  his  farm  near  Coshocton,  where  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He  died  in 
August,  1876,  aged  seventy-three  years.  He  was 
commander  of  the  musters  of  the  military  com- 
panies at  Coshocton,  and  thereby  received  the 
title  of  brigadier  general. 


William  and  Barbara  MaVkly,  the  grandfather 
and  grandmother  of  William  Workman,  came 
from  Frederick  county,  Maryland.  William  Mak- 
ly  died  November  25, 1835,  aged  fifty-five  years. 
Barbara  Markly  died  March  16, 1877,  aged  ninety- 
eight  years.  Adam  Markly,  the  gteat-grandfath- 
er  of  Wilham  Workman,  came  from  Frederick 
county,  Maryland,  in  April,  1808,  and  settled  in 
Bethlehem  township,  this  county.  He  brought 
with  him  eight  sons  and  four  daughters,  viz: 
Martin,  William,  John,  Frederick,  Amos,  David, 
Abraham,  Benjamin,  Hester,  Catharine,  Elizabeth 
and  Anna. 

William  Workman  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and 
has  always  followed  that  occupation.  In  April, 
1877,  he  went .  to  California  on  account  of  his 
health,  intending  to  make  it  his  permanent 
home,  but,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  State,  he 
returned  in  September  of  the  same  year,  and  has 
since  remained,  engaged  in  farming. 

WORKMAN  JESSE  H.,  Tuscarawas  township ; 
postofflce,  Coshocton;  farmer;  born  June  12, 
1859,  in  Coshocton ;  son  of  Jesse  H.,  a  native  of 
Maryland,  and  grandson  of  Isaac  Workman, 
whose  father  was  a  native  of  Holland.  His 
mother's  maiden  name  was  Eliza  Helabrant. 
She  died  in  1866  and  his  father  in  1876 ;  they 
are  buried  in  the  Coshocton  cemetery.  Jesse 
Workman  is  at  present  proprietor  of  a  375  acre 
farm,  one  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Coshoc- 
ton, in  the  Tuscarawas  valley. 

WORKMAN  H.  B.,  Tiverton  townshij);  farm- 
er; postoffice,  Gann,  Knox  county;  born  in  1838, 
in  this  county.  His  father,  James  Workman, 
was  born  in  1812,  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio,  and 
came  to  this  county  in  1824.  He  was  married  in 
1833,  to  Miss  Hannah  Walker  of  this  county, 
who  was  born  in  1816.  He  died  in  1878,  she  died 
in  1858.  They  were  the  parents  of  eight  chil- 
dren. The  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  sec- 
ond. He  was  married  in  1860,  to  Miss  Isabella 
Parmenter,  of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1841, 
near  Hornesdale,  Pennsylvania.  They  are  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  viz :  Albert,  Calona  B., 
Ida  J.,  Alexander,  Mary  E.,  Irvin,  Nettie  and 
Pery  W. 

WORKMAN  STEPHEN,  Tiverton  township; 
farmer ;  postoffice,  Gann,  Knox  county ;  born  in 
1824,  in  this  township.  His  father,  Abraham, 
was  born  in  1779,  in  Maryland.  He  was  married 
in  Virginia,  in  1800,  to  Miss  Gracie  Conner,  who 
was  born  in  1782.  They  came  to  this  county  in 
1820.  He  died  in  1860,  and  she  died  in  the  same 
year.  They  were  the  parents  of  twelve  children, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch  being  the  eleventh. 
He  was  married  in  1847,  to  Miss  Mary  Johnston, 
of  this  county,  who  was  born  in  1830,  in  Richland 
county.  She  died  in  1877.  They  were  the  parents 
of  sixteen  children,  twelve  of  whom  are  living. 


822 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


WEIGHT  JOHN  W.,  M.  D.,  Coshocton  ;  bom 
July  17,  1842,  in  Harrison  county,  Ohio;  son  of 
Benjamin  Wright,  who  Avas  American  born  of 
English  ancestry.  His  mother's  maiden  name 
was  Lucinda  Eager,  daughter  of  Conrod  Eager, 
founder  of  Eagirsville,  Tuscarawas  county,  Ohio. 
Young  Wright  spent  his  childhood  and  early 
youth  on  the  farm.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  com 
menced  teaching  school,  and  taught  seven  con- 
secutive years,  during  which  time  he  read  medi- 
cine with  Dr.  William  Vanhorn.  In  the  winter 
of  1864-5  he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at 
Cincinnati  college  of  medicine  and  surgery.  In 
the  summer  he  attended  a  course  at  Starling' 
medical  college,  in  1867  a  course  at  Well's  Eye 
and  Ear  hospital  in  Philadelphia,  .Pennsylvania, 
and  in  June,  1873,  was  graduated  at  the  first  named 
college  with  the  title  of  M.  D.  Dr.  Wright  first 
entered  upon  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Port  Washington,  Ohio,  and  remained  two  years ; 
then  for  the  same  period  at  Eagersville.  In  the 
spring  of  1869  he  came  to  this  city,  and  opened 
an  office  in  his  present  residence.  Main  street. 
January  14,  1880,  he  established  his  office  in  Co- 
lumbus, Ohio,  considering  that  point  as  oflFering 
superior  inducements  for  the  practice  of  his 
specialty,  the  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  the  eye 
and  ear.  Dr.  Wright  was  married  August  9, 
1864,  to  Miss  Belle  Hesket,  daughter  of  John 
Hesket,  Esq.,  sheriff  of  this  county,  This  union 
was  blessed  with  six  children,  all  living,  viz: 
Frances  Neva,  Nellie  Corena,  John  Hesket,  Hal- 
stedy  Columbus  Chnton,  and  Mary  Lucinda.  Dr. 
Wright  has  successfully  performed  several  diffi- 
cult surgical  operations  in  this  county,  among 
which  is  the  operation  for  cataract,  which  he  has 
removed,  thereby  giving  sight  where  there  was 
total  blindness. 

WEIGHT  HENEY,  Virginia  township;  born 
October  24,  1817,  in  this  county ;  son  of  Joseph 
and  Elizabeth  (McCoy)  Wright.  He  was  raised 
a  farmer  and  educated  in  the  district  schools. 
At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  commenced  business 
in  hfe  for  himself.  He  married  Emily  Croy, 
August  22,  1841.  They  had  six  children,  viz: 
Emanuel,  Lucinda,  B.  F.,  Catharine,  William  O., 
Isadora  A.  Two  are  living  in  this  township,  one 
in  Washington  township,  and  three  in  Jackson. 

WEIGHT  LOYD,  Virginia  township;  born 
in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio;  son  of  Joseph  and 
Ehzabeth  Wright;  married  in  1839,  to  Eachel 
Houser,  who  died  July  5,  1878.  Their  union  was 
blessed  with  eight  children,  viz:  Henry,  Mary, 
Margaret  J.,  William,  Malissa,  John,  Laura,  and 
Elizabeth.    Postoffice,  New  Moscow. 

WEIGHT  HIGHLAND,  Virginia  township; 
born  in  Eastern  Virginia,  May  21,1811;  settled 
in  this  county  in  the  years  1835,  and  was  married, 


April  19,  1885,  to  Miss  Mary  Wright,  who  died  in 
1862.  Mr.  Wright  has  nine  children  living  and 
seven  dead.  Postoffice,  Willow  Brook,  Coshocton 
county. 

WEIGHT  LEWIS,  Perry  township ;  postoffice,. 
West  Carlisle ;  farmer  and  stock  raiser ;  born  in 
this  county,  in  1839;  son  of  William  and  Martha 
(Clark)  Wright,  and  grandson  of  Edward  and 
Elizabeth  Wright;  married,  December  16,  I860,, 
to  Miss  Martha  E.  Cochran,  daughter  of  Montra- 
ville  and  Elizabeth  (Ashcraft)  Cochran.  They 
are  the  parents  of  five  children,  viz:  Malissa^ 
Sylva  J.,  Dora  A.,  deceased;  Joseph  A.  and 
Wheeler  0.  .      « 

WEIGHT  NATHAN,  Jefferson  townships 
born  February  19,  1798,  in  Bedford  townshjp ;. 
son  of  Nathan",  Sr.,  and  Hannah  (Warly)  Wright, 
and  grandson  of  Acre  and  Elizabeth  Warley, 
American  born.  He  came  to  Coshocton  county, 
in  1814.  He  was  a  blacksmith  and  sicklemaker. 
Mr.  "Wright  was  married,  August  22,  1822,  to 
Elizabeth  Eipley,  daughter  of  John  and  Eliza- 
beth (Sheets)  Eipley.  Their  children  were  Atha» 
liah,  Darius,  Acre,  Ethan,  Ellen,  Hannah,  Lucas, 
Mary,  William  Cass  and  Almeda,  all  living. 

WEIGHT  DAEIUS,  postoffice,  Warsaw;  was 
born  in  Bedford  township,  Coshocton  county, 
January  17,  1825.  He  worked  with  his  father 
in  the  shop,  and  on  the  farm,  until  the  age  of 
twenty-two,  when  he  began  business  for  himself, 
in  his  father's  shop,  where  he  remained  two  yeairS, 
then  went  to  Washington  township  crossroads, 
and  opened  shop,  and  carried  on  business  the_re 
about  twenty-two  years ;  then  came  to  Warsaw, 
and  has  been  engaged  in  smithing  in  this  village 
since  that  time.  He  has  a'fair  amount  of  trade, 
and  a  splendid  shop.  Mr.  Wright  was  married 
to  Miss  Elizabeth  Grove,  daughter  of  David 
Grove.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight  children : 
Nathan,  Mary  E.,  Lurintha,  Sarah,  William, 
Hampton,  Franklin  D.  and  Darius  E. 

WEIGHT  B.  F.,  Jackson  township ;  born  in 
Virginia  township,  Coshocton  county;  son  of 
Henry  and  Emily  Wright;  married  in  1871  to 
Martha  McCoy,  daughter  of  William  and  Catha- 
rine McCoy.  Mr.  Wright  is  the  father  of  five 
children,  viz  :  Edward, 'Earl  L.,  Mertie  L,  Arit- 
ta,  Harry  G.    Postoffice,  Eoscoe. 

Z 

ZIMMEE  VALENTINE,  Franklin  township; 
farmer ;  born  December  9, 1834,  in  Allegheny, 
Pennsylvania.  His  father  was  a  locksmith,  and 
was  born  October  1,  1797 ;  emigrated  from  Al- 
sace, France,  landing  at  Baltimore,  June  9, 1830, 
and  after  farming  awhile  in  Muskingum  county, 
worked  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  eight  years 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES. 


823 


in  a  cannon  manufactory.  Mr.  Zimmer  was 
married  in  1865,  to  Elizabeth  Grass,  born  July 
10,  1837;^  daughter  of  David  and  Elizabeth  Grass. 
Their  children  are — William,  born  March  5, 
1858;  David,  March  18, 1860;  John,  July  10, 1864; 
Rosa  Caroline,  March  1,  1869 ;  George  Henry, 
May  8,  1871,  and  Ann  Eliza,  January  14, 1874. 

ZIMMERMAN  JACOB,  Adams  township; 
farmer;  postoffioe,  Bakersville;  born  in  Switzer- 
land, near  Berne,  January  28, 1838 ;  son  of  Chris- 
tian and  Anna  (Margh)  Zimmerman.  He  came 
to  this  country  October  28,  1854,  when  he  was 
but  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  came  to  Tuscara- 
was county  and  remained  there  eighteen  years, 
then  moved  to  Adams  township,  this  county 
and  has  been  a  resident  of  this  place  since.  Mr. 
Z.  was  married  November  30,  1859,  to  Sarah 
Young,  daijghter  of  Abraham  and  Anna  (Harger) 
Young,  and  granddaughter  of  Christian  Young, 
born  August  16,  1840,  in  Tuscarawas  county. 
They  are  the  parents  of  nine  children,  as  follows : 


Ira,  born  August  13,  1860 ;  Christian,  born  June 
10,  1862;  JohnVF.,  born  November  12,  1868^ 
David,  born  October  22,  1865;  Minnie,  born  No- 
vember 3, 1867  ;  Susan,,  born  April  10, 1869;  Dan- 
iel, born  July  3,  1871 ;  Abraham,  born  Jnne  23, 
1873,  and  Anna  E.,  born  November  24,  1875. 

ZUGSCHWERT  CHRISTIAN;  saloon  and 
grocery,  140  Secpnd  street;  born  August  31,1822, 
in  Wurtemberg,  Germany.  His  father's  name 
was  Adam  Zugschwert.  At  fourteen  years  of 
age  he  went  to  the  shoemaking  trade,  which  he 
followed  twenty-seven  years.  He  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1849,  worked  a  few  months  in  New  York 
and  Buffalo,  and  came  to  this  city  in  the  Same 
year.  In  1864  he  began  his  present  business,  in 
which  he  is  doing  moderately  well.  Mr.  Zugsch- 
wert was  married  February  1, 1856,  to  Miss  Lena 
G/isbaoh,  of  Franklin  township.  They  are  blessed 
with  five  children,  viz :  Lizzie,  Annie,  Adam, 
Wilham  and  Martha. 


«24 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


WHITE    BRONZE    MONUMENT — SEE    PAGE    831. 


ADDENDA. 


The  following  biographies  and  other  matters  of  historical  importance  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  printers  too  late  for 

insertion  in  their  proper  places. 


AGNEW  JOAB  M.,  miller  in  Empire  mills, 
Eoscoe,  Ohio.  Mr.  Agnew  was  born  June  21, 
1816,  in  Princeton,  New  Jersey,  of  Irish  ancestry. 
He  was  brought  up  in  a  hotel,  where  he  remain- 
ed until  he  was  twenty-one  years  of  age,  when  he 
came  to  Roscoe.  In  1842  he  commenced  mill- 
ing, which  occupation  he  has  followed  to  the 
present  writing;  Mr.  Agnew  has  assisted  to 
Duild  two  large  flouring  mills,  one  of  which  was 
burned,  and  has  been  miller  in  the  finest  mill  in 
the  county  for  twenty-five  years.  Mr.  Agnew 
has  in  his  possession  an  ivory  cane  weighing  one 
and  a  half  pounds,  which  was  presented  to  his 
grandfather,  Joab  Mershon,  by  Richard  Stogdon, 
one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence; also  a  seven-bladed  razor,  with  shift- 
ing handle,  making  a  razor  for  every  day  of  the 
week.  These  razors  are  from  150  to  200  years 
old,  having  been  an  heirloom  for  six  generations. 
He  also  has  a  seven-dollar  continental  bill,  which 
his  grandfather  received  as  pay  for  services  in 
the  revolutionary  war. 

BERRY  WILLIAM,  Perry  township;  New 
Guilford  postoffice;  born  in  Belmont  county, 
Ohio,  March  1, 1820;  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Yost)  Berry,  and  grandson  of  John  Berry,  and 
of  Peter  Yost.  Mr.  Berry's  father  settled  ysi  this 
county  in  1828,  and  died  in  1857.  Mr.  Berry  has 
been  twice  married ;  first,  to  Miss  Gernuma  Lee, 
with  whom  he  had  eight  children.  Mrs.  Berry 
was  killed  by  a  horse  running  away  with  her. 
Mr.  Berry  married  Miss  Jane  Dillon,  in  1874, 
daughter  of  John  and  Keziah  Dillon.  Mr.  Berry 
has  been  twice  elected  to  the  office  of  county 
commissioner,  and  is  now  serving  his  second 
term. 

BURNS  SAMUEL,  the  progenitor  of  the  present 
Burns  family;  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county, 
Pennsylvania,  March  12,  1770.  Of  his  parents, 
nothing  is  known  more  than  they  were  of  Scotch- 
Irish  origin,  and  come  to  this  country  at  an  early 
date,  and  he  made  his  home  with  them  until  his 


seventeenth  year.  He  had  three  brothers, 
James,  John  and  William,  all  of  whom  served  in 
the  war  of  the  revolution.  William  died  in  the 
service,  of  camp-fever.  John  was  taken  prisoner 
at  Quebec,  and  he  and  two  others  made  theif  es- 
cape by  approaching  one  of  the  sentinels,  on  the 
walls,  to  whom  they  offered  an  empty  bottle  to 
take  a  drink.  As  he  tipped  the  bottle  up  John 
Burns  struck  him  under  the  chin,  and  knocked 
him  off  the  walls.  They  then  made  their  escape 
across  the  frozen  river,  enduring  terrible  suffer- 
ings from  hunger  and  exposure,  before  reaching 
the  American  army. 

Samuel  Burns,  when  fourteen  years  of  age, 
came  to  Wheeling  Creek,  West  Virginia,  and 
from  thence  to  Pittsburgh,  where  he  took  passage 
on  a  boat  to  New  Orleans.  He  related  that  on 
his  passage  down  the  river  there. were  but  two 
river  settlements  on  the  Ohio,  one  at  Marietta 
and  one  at  a  place  called  Limestone.  Arriving 
at  New  Orleans,  he  took  passage  on  an  ocean  ship 
and  sailed  for  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  Arriv- 
ing there  he  went  to  Pine  Grove  Iron  Furnace, 
near  Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  remained 
until  married  in  the  year  1792  to  Mrs.  Jane  Lam- 
bertson,  and  moved  to  Millerstown,  Shenandoah 
county  Virginia.  He  then  worked  for  four 
years  learning  the  hatter's  trade.  He  then 
moved  to  Waynesburg,  Augusta  county,  Virginia, 
where  he  lived  for  a  period  of  seventeen  years. 
He  then  came  to  New  Philadelphia,  Ohio,  in  the 
fall  of  1815,  where  he  remained  until  April,  IS^C, 
when  he  came  to  Coshocton,  coming  down  the 
Tuscarawas  river  in^  a  canoe  with  his  family, 
where  he  followed  his  trade  until  old  age  ren- 
dered him  unable  to  endure  the  hardships  of 
that  trade.  He  also  served  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace  for  many  years,  and  was  familiarly  known 
as  "  Squire  Burns."     He  died  September  21, 1852. 

Jane  Burns,  his  wife,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Jane  Leggett,  was  born  near  Carlisle,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  the  year  1767;  was  first  married  to 
Richard    Lambertson,   grandfather    of    Samuel 


826 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTOK  COUNTY. 


Lambertson,  of  this  city.  He  being  killed  at 
a  raising  near  Bedford,  Pennsylvania,  she  re- 
turned to  her  father's,  where  she  remained  until 
she  was  married  to  Samuel  Burns,  as  before 
stated.  Her  father  was  born,  in  Ireland  and  sold 
for  his  passage  to  this  country.  Her  mother  was 
born  near  Little  York,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  of 
Pennsylvania  Dutch  descent,  her  maiden  name 
being  Sarah  Yost.  Jane  Burns  died  Novembe'r 
29,  1845,  being  78  years  old.  She  was  the  mother 
of  ten  children,  three  of  whom  died  at  an  early 
age.  The  eldest  of  the  family  was  Mary  Burns 
Crowley,  born  February  5,  1796.  She  married 
John  Crawley,  Sr.,  of  this  place,  and  was  the 
mother  of  four  children,  one  of  whom  is  one  of 
our  prominent  grocerymen,  John  Burns  Craw- 
ley.   She  died  February  24, 1834. 

Joseph  Burns,  Sr.,  was  born  March  11,  1800, 
in  Waynesburgh,  Augusta  county,  Virginia. 
He  was  sixteen  years  of  age  when  he  came  to 
this  county.  He,  and  the  rest  of  the  family,  with 
the  exception  of  his  mother  and  youngest  sister, 
walked  the  whole  distance  from  Waynesboro'  to 
New  Philadelphia.  He  early  showed  a  dislike 
for  his  father's  trade,  and,  when  eighteen  years 
of  age,  wrote  for  General  Adam  Johnson,  then 
clerk  and  auditor  of  this  county.  In  1821  he  was 
elected  county  auditor,  which  ofEice  he  held 
until  1838,  when  he  resigned,  having  been  elected 
a  member  of  the  State  Legislature,  serving  in 
that  capacity  from  1838-40.  In  1843  he  was 
elected  county  clerk,  which  office  he  filled  a  term 
of  eight  years.  In  1857  he  was  elected  congress- 
man from  this  district,  where  he  served  his  coun- 
try for  two  years.  He  then  engaged  in  the  drug 
business  in  the  town  of  Roscoe,  where  he  re- 
mained in  business  until  elected  probate  judge 
in  the  year  1869.  He  remained  in  said  of- 
'  fice  until  his  death,  which  occurred ,  May  9, 1875. 
When  the  old  State  militia  was  in  order  he  was 
a  prominent  officer,  having  been  elected  to  the 
rank  of  a  major  general,  and  was  known  by  all 
as  General  Burns.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he 
was  made  a  pension  agent,  and  was,  perhaps,  the 
most  successful  person  holding  that  office  here. 
Never  exacting  as  to  fees,  and  always  free  with 
his  purse  among  his  friends  and  fellow-citizens, 
he  left  at  the  end  of  his  days  only  a  moderate 
portion.  Many  men,  with  more  greed,  or  less 
honest  or  frugal,  would  have  amiassed  fortunes 
with  his  opportunies.  He  was  twice  married, 
his  first  wife  was  Rebecca  Lewis,  and  his  second 
wife  was  Mrs.  Alexander  Hay.  His  oldest  son, 
William,  was  educated  at  West  Point,  and  was, 
during  the  late  war,  a  brigadier  general.  He 
had,  in  all,  six  sons  and  two  daughters,  five  of 
those  and  his  widow  survive  him. 

William  Burns,  the  only  surviving  one  of  the 
Burns  brothers,  was  born  in  Waynesboro',  Vir- 
ginia, December  20, 1802,  and  came  to  this  county 


with  his  father's  family.  In  the  fall  of  1816,  De- 
cember 4,  he  commenced  carrying  the  United 
States  mail  to  Zanesville,  Freeport,  Harrison 
county,  and  Mt.  Vernon,  for  his  father.  On  the 
road  to  Freeport  (at  the  head  of  White  Eyes 
plains),  there  was  but  one  house  to  the  distance 
of  twenty-one  miles.  On  the  ridge  road  to  Mt. 
Vernon,  after  leaving  lower  Roscoe,  there  was  a 
distance  of  fifteen  miles  without  one  house.  He 
served  at  this  for  about  one  year.  When  his 
brother  Joseph  left,  he  took  his  place  in  the 
hatter  shop,  and  followed  the  trade  until  1842, 
when,  owing  to  large  importations  of  hats  on  the 
canal,  brought  from  eastern  cities,  and  sold  at 
lower  prices  than  they  could  be  made  here,  he 
quit  the  trade  and  engaged  in  farming.  He  fol- 
lowed this  occupation  until  the  year  1866.  Be- 
ing desirous  of  living  an  easier  life,  he  quit  farm- 
ing, and  has  since  been  living  a  retired  life  in 
this  city.  He  was  married  twice.  His  first  wife 
was  Mary  McGuir.e,.-whdi  died  in  1844,  two  years 
after  marriage.  He  was  again  married  December 
17, 1 856,  to  Eleanor  M.  Ferguson,  of  Roscoe,  daugh- 
ter of  Mathew  Ferguson,  of  that  place.  He  had, 
in  all,  two  children,  one  of  which  died.  William 
Burns,  Jr.,  his  only  son,  is  now  engaged  in  the 
business  of  a  watchmaker  and  jeweler.  Was 
born  June  29, 1859, in  Coshocton,  Ohio.  William 
Burns,  Sr.,  is  now  in  his  seventy-eighth  year,  and 
enjoying  good  health.  He  is  regarded  as  one  of 
the  most  prominent  pioneers  of  the  county. 

Sarah  Burns,  fifth  child  of  Samuel  and  Jane 
Burns,  was  born  September  28, 1804.  She  was 
never  married,  making  her  home  with  her  brother, 
William  Burns,  and  at  time  of  death,  and  some 
time  prior,  with  her  younger  sister,  Mrs.  James 
Hay.  She  died  in  the  year  1867,  July  27,  of  can- 
cer of  the  breast,  of  which  disease  she  suffered 
many  years. 

John  Burns  was  born  in  Waynesboro',Virginia, 
September  18,  1805.  He  came  to  this  county 
with  his  father's  family,  and  worked  at  the  hat- 
ter's trade  until  twenty-four  years  of  age,  ■Q'hen 
he  went  to  Chillicothe  with  his  brother-in-law, 
John  Siiieltzer,  where  he  remained  one  year,  he 
then  came  to  Roscoe,  and  clerked  with  Smeltzer 
and  his  successors,  (Medberry  &  Ransom)  until 
1838,  when  he  was  made  a  partner,  under  the 
name  of  Medberry,  Burns  &  Co.  In  1840  he  re- 
tired from  the  firm  and  entered  into  partnership 
with  Samuel  Moflatt,  for  the  sale  of  dry  goods. 
In  1845,  MofFatt  retired  and  the  firm  was  changed 
to  Burns  &  Le  Retilley,  and  remained  so  until 
1860,  when  he  bought  Le  Retilley  out  and  con- 
tinued to  do  business  in  his  own  name  until  his 
death.  He  was  married  in  1837,  to  Rachel  Retil- 
ley, by  whom  he  had  four  children,  one  son  and 
three  daughters,  the  eldest  daughter  being  the 
wife  of  one  of  our  prominent  attorneys,  J.  M. 
Compton.  Allhischildrenandhis  widow  still  sur- 


ADDENDA. 


827 


viyehim.  He  died  July  SO,  1871.  His  good  sense 
and  his  integrity  were  marked  qualities.  Thor- 
oughly interested  in  public  affairs,  and  always  a 
zealous  partizan,  and  ready  to  help  his  friends  to 
public  office,  he  never  had  any  desire  in  that  di- 
rection for  himself,  and,  it  is  believed,  never  held 
any  official  position.  He  was  a  pains-taking  and 
successful  business  man. 

Nancy  Burns  (Smeltzer)  was  born  August  20, 
1807,  in  Waynesboro',  Virginia.  In  1826  she  was 
married  to  John  Smeltzer,  afterward  of  Troy, 
Ohio.  Her  husband  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  legislature  of  1827-8,  afterward  engaging  in 
the  firm  of  Medberry  &  Ransom.  She  removed 
to  Koscoe  and  lived  there  a  few  years.  She  then 
moved  to  Troy,  Ohio,  where  her  husband  died. 
She  then  moved  to  Lima,  Ohio,  where  she.  now 
resides.  She  was  the  mother  of  four  children, 
only  one,  a  daughter,  now  living,  and  with  whom 
she  makes  her  home. 

Jane  Burns  (Hay)  was  born  in  Waynesboro', 
Virginia,  August  25, 1811.  She  was  married  to 
James  Hay  in  1834,  and  is  the  mother  of  six  chil- 
dren, two  of  whom  are  now  living,  her  daughter 
Sarah  being  married  to  the  late  James  Wilson,  a 
prominent  business  man.  She  has  been  lately  be- 
reaved of  her  husband,  who  died  September  24, 
1881.  A  noteworthy  fact  of  the  Burns  family  is, 
they  all  reached  a  ripe  old  age,  and  are  all  highly 
respected  for  their  integrity  and  good  sense. 


DEMOCRATIC  STANDARD. 

The  Democratic  Standard,  Coshocton,  Ohio,  was 
established  October  1, 1881,  by  H.  D.  Beach,  editor 
and  proprietor.  It  is  an  eight-column  folio  in 
size  and  Democratic  in  politics.  It  pays  partic- 
ular attention  to  gathering  the  local  news  of  the 
county  and  is  in  a  prosperous  condition. 


LIST  OP  DECliASED  SOLDIERS. 

In  the  following  communication  from  J.  M. 
Oompton  will  be  found  many  additional  names 
of  deceased  soldiers: 

The  following  is  a  list  of  soldiers  who  entered 
the  Union  army  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion 
from  Coshocton  county,  and  who  lost  <their  lives 
in  battle  or  died  from  wounds  received  or  disease 
contracted  while  in  the  service,  and  is  as  near 
correct  as  can  at  this  time  be  made : 

FIEST  OHIO  ARTILLERY. 

George  Wilson,  died  November  6, 1868. 
James  D.  Evans,  died  at  Camp  Nelson,  1862. 

NINTH  OHIO  VOLUNTEER  CAVALRY. 

John  Glass,  died  at  Athens,  Alabama,  April  15, 
1864. 


Lewis  Barton,  died  at  Athens,  Alabama,  May 
27,  1864. 

Daniel"  Senter,  died  at  Mooresville,  Alabama, 
June  8,  1864. 

B.  P.  Wright,  drowned  on  the  Sultana,  April, 
1865. 

Abert  Wells,  killed  by  guerri'llas  in  the  year 
1865. 

Robert  Deems,  killed  by  guerrillas  in  the  year 
1865.  ^  ■^ 

Lewis  Longbaugh,  killed  by  guerrillas  in  the 
year  1865. 

Franklin  Felton,  died  in  Virginia  in  1864. 

Fortieth  o.  v.  i. 

Thomas  Hicks,  starved  to  death  at  Anderson- 
ville. 

sixteenth  o.  v.  I. 

John  Lynch,  died  February  15, 1862. 

twenty-fourth  0.  V.  I. 

John  Jennings,  died  at  Andersonville. 
John  Powelson,  died  at  Andersonville. 

thirty-second  o.  v.  I. 

Alfred  Bailey,  died  at  Chestnut  Mount^-in,  Vir- 
ginia. 

Addison  Carnes,  died  in  army. 

Thomas  C.  Seward,  drowned  in  the  attempt  to 
run  the  blockade  at  Vicksburg. 

John  Beall,  killed  at  Atlanta.,  Georgia,  in  1864. 

FIFTY-'FIRST  o.  v.  I. 

Capt.  WilliamPatton,  died  at  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, in  1862. 

Martin  Roberts,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
in  1862. 

Thomas  Hutchinson,  died  at  home,  Roscoe, 
Ohio,  in  1864. 

Ed.  Conn,  killed  at  Stone  River  in  1862. 

Gabriel  Kingkade,  died  in  Tennessee. 

James  H.  MoMichael,  died  in  1863. 

Samuel  Bagnall,  died  in  the  South  in  1862. 

James  Cooper,  died  at  Annapolis,  Maryland,  in 
1864. 

William  Wales,  killed  at  Stone  River  in  1862. 

George  Murphy,  killed  at  Stone  River  in  1862. 

Christian  Meek,  killed  at  Stone  River  in  1862. 

Benjamin  Day,  died  at  Muifreesborough  in 
1862. 

William  Welch,  killed  at  Stone  River  in  1862. 

McDonald  Fortune,  died  in  the  south  in  1862. 

Sidney  Brown,  killed  at  Stone  River  in  1862. 

Samuel  Paine,  died  in  the  south  in  1868. 

Captain  Samuel  Stevens,  killed  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain  in  1864. 

James  Stevens,  died  in  the  south. 

William  Blackford,  died  at  Columbus,  Georgia, 
a  prisoner. 


828 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


William  Smith,  blown  up  on  a  steamboat. 

William  H.  Dickerson,  missing  at  battle  of 
Chickamauga  in  1863. 

Levi  Williams,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
1864. 

Martin  Lateer,  died  on  the  way  home. 

Chrispin  Ott,  killed  at  Chickamauga  battle 
in  1868. 

Laben  Ogle,  died  at  Murfreesborough,  in  1863. 

Thomas  Reed,  killed  at  battle  of  Nashville,  in 
1864. 

Thomas  Wright,  died  at  home  during  war. 

William  N.  Stanton,  killed  at  Roscoe,  Georgia, 
in  1854. 

Joseph  Martin,  died  at  Nashville,  in  1864. 

Abram  Steel,  starved  to  death  at  Anderson ville. 

Harrison  B.  Turner,  died  at  Harper's  Perry, 
in  1864. 

Jacob  Fulks,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee  in 
1862. 

D.  L.  Lash,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  1863. 

John  Bowen,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in 
1862. 

Samuel  McCoy,  brought  home  and  died. 

Leander  Stone,  died  crossing  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico. 

John  Chalfant,  died  in  the  army. 

John  Wesley  Norris,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennes- 
see, in  1863. 

Daniel  Weaver,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

Thomas  Smailes,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

J.  N.  Coreler,  died  at  Murfreesborough,  in 
1863. 

Joseph  Coreler,  same  as  above. 

William  Kimball,  died  at  Murfreesborough. 

Philip  H.  Gashbaugh,  wounded  and  died  at 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  in  1864. 

William  Starkey,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
in  1862. 

Frederick  Blosser,  killed  at  Memphis,  Tennes- 
see. 

Philip  Williams,  died  in  the  army. 

Captain  B.  P.  Hesket,  died  from  the  ejffects  of 
wounds  received  at  Stone  River. 

John  Q.  Winklepleck,  died  from  eflfects  of 
wounds  received  at  Stone  River. 

Robert  DeWalt,  died  at  Nashville,  of  disease,  in 
1862. 

Everhart  Caton,  died  at  Camp  Wickliff,  Ken- 
tucky. 

Henry  Crossgraves,  killed  at  Stone  River,  in 
1863. 

George  Morton,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  in 
1863. 

Cyrus  Richeson,  died  from  wound  received  at 
Mission  Ridge. 

David  Carnahan,  died  at  Camp  Wickliffe,  Ken- 
tucky,' in  1862. 

David  Gibson,  died  at  Washington,  in  hospital, 
in  1862. 


James  Brister,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in 
1862. 

Lester  P.  Emerson,  died  in  hospital  at  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee. 

William  Shannon,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge  in 
1864. 

John  Armstrong,  died  in  the  South. 

B.  CuUison,  died  in  Texas  in  1865. 

James  Atkins,  died  in  the  South. 

Frank  Landers,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
in  1862. 

James  Fox,  died  at  Nashville  in  1863. 

John  McCuggage,  died  in  the  South. 

George  Ferguson,  died  at  Macon,  Georgia. 

Andy  Ellis,  missing  in  battle. 

Orimell  Richardson,  killed  in  battle. 

FIFTY-SECOND  0.  V.   1. 

Cyrus  Denman,  died  March  16, 1863. 

SEVENTY-SIXTH  O.  V.    I. 

Jacob  Clurman,  died  in  service. 

Jackson  Hughes,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee. 

EIGHTIETH  O.  V.  I. 

J.  T.  Drummond,  killed  at  luka,  Mississippi,  in 
1863. 

George  Roe,  died  of  hiccough  during  the  ad- 
vance on  Corinth,  in  1862. 

Cone  Culter,  killed  at  Jackson,  Mississippi,  in 
1863. 

G.  B.  Boyd,  died  in  the  army. 

H.  L.  Magness,  died  in  the  army. 

Sidney  N.  Brown,  died  in  the  army. 

Captain  John  Kinney,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge 
in  1863. 

Leander  Kinney,  son  of  the  above,  killed  at 
Mission  Ridge. 

Reuben  A.  Mack,  died  in  the  army. 

John  T.  Murrell,  brought  from  Tennessee,  and 
died  at  home  iii  1863. 

John  Mowery,  died  in  the  South,  and  is  buried 
at  home. 

George  Adams,  killed  at  Resaca,  Georgia,  in 
1864. 

John  Bechtol,  died  at  Memphis,  Tennessee. 

Charles  Infield,  died  and  is  buried  at  Clear 
Creek,  Mississippi. 

Sylvester  Levitt,  buried  at  Manchester,  New 
York. 

John  P.  Davis,  died  at  Brandy  Station,  Vir- 
ginia. 

William  Nash,  shot  himself  accidentally  at 
Corinth,  Mississippi. 

John  Wise,  killed  at  Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  in 
1863. 

Henry  Ross,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge  in  1868. 

John  Hout,  died  at  Cairo,  Illinois. 

Albert  Spellman,  killed  by  cars  at  Nashville, 
Tennessee. 


ADDENDA. 


sag- 


Alexander  Tees,  died 'at  "Wilson's  Landing, 
Mississippi,  while  battling. 

Thomas  Hines,  died  at  Eook  Island,  Illinois, 
in  1864. 

Levi  Cross,  died  at  TMurfreesborough,  Tennes- 
see, in  1862. 

Abel  Fuller,  killed  in  battle. 

John  Feiler,  died  in  the  south. 

John  Mills,  killed  at  Jackson,  Mississippi,  in 
1863. 

John  N.  Henderson,  died  at  Corinth,  Misssis- 
sippi. 

George  Traxler,  died  at  Paducah,  Kentucky, 
in  1862. 

Samuel  Compton,  died  at  Paducah,  Kentucky, 
in  1862. 

James  Longhead,  died  at  Vicksburg,  Missis- 
sippi, in  1863. 

Lieutenant  William  Doyle,  died  at  Rienza, 
Mississippi,  in  1862. 

Jonathan  Longshore,  killed  at  Mission  Ilidg« 
in  1863. 

Eli  Cross,  died  at  Rock  Island,  Illinois,  in  1863. 

Jonas  Thatcher.  ' 

Major  Richard  Lanning,  killed  at  battle  of 
Corinth,  Mississippi,  in  1862. 

Patrick  S.  Campbell,  died  in  the  army  in  1862. 

NINETY-SEVENTH   0.   V.   I. 

George  McCrary,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
in  1863. 

James  S.  Wilson,  buried  at  Jeffersonville,  In- 
diana. 

Jabez  Norman,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in 
1863. 

Cassady,  killed  in  line  of  battle. 

Charley  Norman,  wounded  in  battle  and  died 
at  home  while  on  furlough,  in  1863. 

Abrara  Balo,  killed  at  Rockyface  Ridge,  in 
1864. 

Salathiel  Wright,  died  at  Nashville,  Tennessee, 
in  1863. 

Daniel  Simon,  died  at  Murfreesborough,  Ten- 
nessee, in  1863. 

Richard  Cassmer,  killed  near  Nashville,  Ten- 
nessee, in  1862. 

James  Thomas,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
in  1864. 

Albert  Taylor,  killed  on  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
Tennessee,  in  1864. 

William  Thomas,  died  at  Murfreesborough, 
Tennessee,  in  1863. 

Samuel  Browing,  died  from  wounds  received 
at  Stone  River. 

Joseph  Thornsley,  died  from  wounds  received 
at  Mission  Ridge. 

William  Ray,  died  at  Murfreesborough,  Ten- 
nessee, in  1863. 

Peter  Ray,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  in  1863. 

John  Worthington,  killed  in  battle. 


George  W.  Smith,  died  at  Gallatin,  Tennessee, 
in  1863 ;  is  buried  at  home. 

Julian  Suit,  died  and  was  buried  at  Silver 
Springs,  Tennessee. 

William  Collins,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
in  1864. 

Jesse  Devina,  died  in  Kentucky,  in  1862. 

Joseph  Turnbull,  killed  in  battle,  in  1863. 

Elijah  Richards,  killed  at  Kenesaw  Mountain, 
in  1864. 

Samuel  H.  Lynch,  died  after  reaching  home, 
in  1863. 

Thomas  Young,  died  from  disease,  at  Nashville, 
in  1863. 

Joseph  Lacy,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  in  186S. 

Alonzo  Barton,  died  at  Danville,  Kentucky,  in 
1862. 

Charles  Funk,  died  from  disease,  at  Pulaski, 
Tennesse,  in  1864. 

William  Rogers,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  in 
1863. 

Adam  Weiser,  died  at  Nashville,  in  1863. 

John  Blackburn,  killed  at  Franklin,  Tennessee. 

Daniel  Owens,  killed  at  Mission  Ridge,  in  1868.. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND  TWENTY-SECOND  O.  V.  I. 

John  Carsbier,  died  in  Virginia,  in  1863. 

John  Darr,  died  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  in 
1864. 

Corporal  Stevens,  died  at  Winchester,-  Vir- 
ginia. 

Martin  Vance,  killed  at  Cold  Harbor,  Virginia. 
,    Thomas  Mullen,  died  Alexandria,  Virgina. 

Robert  Brink,  killed  at  Opequan  creek,  Vir-  , 
ginia. 

Lieutenant  Joseph  Work,  killed  at  the  Wilder- 
ness battle,  Virginia. 

James  Saxon,  killed  by  bushwhackers,  in  Vir- 
ginia. 

Henry  Hoagland,  killed  by  bushwhackers,  in 
Virginia. 

John  Norris,  died  in  Danville  prison,  Virginia. 

Corporal  Keefer,  died  at  Cumberland,  Marj'- 
land. 

Thomas  Nelson,  died  at  Cumberland,  Mary- 
land. 

William  Roderick,  died  at  Winchester,  Vir- 
ginia.. 

Joseph  O'Donald,  died  at  home,  during  the  war. 

James  Fields,  died  at  Coshocton,  during  the 
war. 

Henry  Force,  killed  at  Cedar  Creek,  Virginia. 

John  Rovy,  killed  at  Cedar  Creek,  Virginia. 

Thomas  Pherson,  died  at  Winchester,  Virginia, 

First  Sergeant  Josiah  Norman,  wounded  and 
died  in  service. 

Ezekiel  Poland,  killed  at  Cold  Harbor,  Vir- 
ginia. 

Emerson,  killed  at  Winchester  Virginia, 


830   " 


HISTORY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


ONE  HUNDRED  AND    FOETY-SECOND   O.  N.  G. 

Daniel  Maloane,  died  at  home  from  disease  con- 
tracted in  the  service. 

WiHiam  Dodd,  died  in  the  army. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND    FORTY-THIRD   O.    N.    G. 

Joel  Glover,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing,  Virginia, 
in  1864. 

Reuben  Jennings,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing, 
Virginia,  in  1864. 

Addison  E.  Hay,  died  at  Hampton  Roads,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1864. 

John  Dennis,  died  ]at  Wilson's  Landing,  Vir- 
-ginia,  in  1864. 

F.  C.  Sayre,  died  at  Fortress  Monroe,  Virginia, 
in  1864. 

Hiram  Church,  died  from  disease  on  return 
home. 

Eli  Seward,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1864. 

Daniel  Overholt,  died  at  Portsmouth,  Virginia, 
in  1864. 

John  Walters,  died  at  Portsmouth,  Virginia,  in 
1864. 


John  Clark,  died  at  Hampton  Roads,  Virginia, 
in  1864. 

William  Steward,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing, 
Virginia,  in  1864. 

Thomas  Scoot,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1864. 

Edward  McMichael,  died  at  Wilson's  Landing, 
Virginia,  in  1864. 

Franklin  Miller,  died  in  the  army  in  1864. 

Elias  West,  died  at  City  Point,  Virginia,  in 
1864. 

Samuel  Bechtol,  died  at  Hampton  Roads,  Vir- 
ginia, in  1864. 

The  soldiers  from  this  county  whose  regiments 
were  not  known,  and  who  died  or  were  lost  in 
the  service,  are  as  follows  : 

William  A.  Ricketta,  Hiram  Compton,  Stephen 
Compton,  Alexander  Lockard,  Oscar  Bunn,  Perry 
Riper,  Thomas  Brown,  Allen  Brown,  Reuben  A. 
Mack,  Lanceon  Kimble,  James  Raney,  Thomas 
Raney,  Hamilton  Raney,  Christopher  Cott,  J.  W. 
Jobe,  and  William  Griffee. 


ADDENDA. 


831 


WHITE   BRONZE. 

Captain  L.  B.  Wolfe,  general  agent  for  the 
"  Monumental  Bronze  Compan}- "  of  Bridgeport, 
Connecticut,  at  Coshocton,  furnishes  the  follow- 
ing regarding  an  article  now  attracting  very  gen- 
eral attention : 

No  article  appears  more  important  at  present 


A  little  over  seven  years  ago  the  first  experi- 
ments were  made  in  this  country  in  producing 
cemetery  work  from  refined  New  Jersey  zinc, 
and  given  the  trade  name  of  "  White  Bronze,"  it 
being  a  light  colored,  non-corrosive  metal,  pos- 
sessing far  greater  enduring  qualities  for  this 
purpose  than  any  of  the  different  kinds  of  stone 
now  used.  The  beginning  of  this  enterprise  was 
on  a  small  scale.    Soon  the  fact  was  developed 


than  the  white  bronze  for  monumental  and  ceme- 
tery purposes.  Professor  Ogdon  Doremus,  of  New 
York  City,  asks :  "  Why  was  this  not  thought  of 
years  ago?"  The  accompanying  cuts  exhibit 
some  of  the  designs,  and  the  following  is  a  brief 
history  of  its  rise  and  progress:  The  Monu- 
mental Bronze  Company  is  located  at  Bridgeport, 
Connecticut. 


that  a  good  idea  was  embodied  in  the  under- 
taking, and  a  company  in  Bridgeport,  Connecti- 
cut, was  not  slow  in  accepting  an  offer  to  de- 
velop the  matter,  and  became  the  sole  manu- 
facturers. Step  by  step  the  work  went  on,  until 
a  point  was  reached  where  a  large  increase  of 
capital  was  necessary,  in  order  to  meet  the  grow- 
ing demand  for  the  work.    In  the  winter  of 


832 


HISTOEY  OF  COSHOCTON  COUNTY. 


1879-80,  the  Monumental  Bronze  Company  was 
organized,  with  a  capital  of  1300,000,  and  so  rapid 
has  been  its  growth  in  popular  favor,  that  the 
company  was  compelled  to  establish  a  new  man- 
ufactory in  the  winter  of  1880-81  in  Detroit, 
Michigan,  making  a  combined  capital  now  in- 
vested in  their  business  of  $500,000. 

Up  to  January  1, 1881,  there  were  standing  in 
the  different  cemeteries  of  the  land  over  8000  of 
these  monuments,  they  having  sold  in  1880  over 
1000  jobs.  From  January  1,  to  July  1, 1881,  there 
were  over  2000  jobs  sold,  and  both  manufactories 
crowded  to  their  utmost  to  fill  orders.  The  com- 
pany now  has  under  contemplation  the  establish- 


ing of  a  third  manufactory.  So  closely  is  the 
artistic  combined  with  the  mechanical,  that,  from 
a  small  photograph  of  the  living  or  dead,  they 
can  put  the  portrait  on  their  work,  showing  every 
lineament  of  the  features  just  as  plainly  as  the 
picture  represents  them..  They  also  manufacture, 
in  connection  with  their  beautiful  monuments, 
statuary,  medallion  portraits,  portrait  busts,  etc. 
All  scientific  works  endorse  its  durability,  and  we 
will  quote  from  the  standard  authority  of  the 
scientific  world,  i.  e.  Watt's  Dictionary  of  Chemis- 
try :  "  When  zinc  is  exposed  to  the  air  or  placed  in 


water,  its  surface  becomes  covered  with  a  gray 
film  of  oxide,  which  does  not  increase.  This  film 
will  resist  the  chemical  effects  of  the  atmosphere 
at  all  times." 

The  American  Machinist  asserts  that  zinc  is  four 
per  cent  harder  than  granite — zinc  being  twenty- 
six  and  granite  twenty-two.  Why  sup€(rior_  to 
stone  ?  It  never  rusts  or  cracks  by  the  action 
of  the  atmosphere,  and  will  not  grow  moss 
upon  its  surface.  Quite  the  contrary  is  the 
case  with  marble  and  granite,  both  of  which  will 
moss,  crack,  chip,  and  granite  will  rust.  Granite 
is  formed  of  alumina,  feldspar,  hornblende,  iron, 
mica,  potash  and  silica.  Our  climate  dissolves 
the  feldspar  and    potash,  and  the    iron   rusts. 


Marble  is  the  crystalized  carbonate  of  lime,  and 
corbonic  acid  in  the  air  is  a  solvent,  hence  it  gets 
dingy  and  rough  after  a  few  years  exposure  to 
the  action  of  the  elements.  Both,  being  porous, 
absorb  moisture  and  are  great  feeders  of  moss 
and  cryptogam  ous  plants.  Hence  it  is  that  the 
white  bronze  is  one  of  the  important  discoveries 
of  the  day.  The  Detroit  manufactory  now  has 
,  completed  a  medallion  portrait  of  our  late  Presi- 
dent Garfield,  which  is  pronounced  perfect  by 
his  friends.  The  company  is  also  designing  a 
statue  of  him,  heroic  size,  in  white  bronze. 


ADDENDA. 


BARGAR  CAPT.  G.  H.,  of  the  firm  of  Bargar 
&  Forbes,  Attorneys  at  Law,  Coshocton,  0.,  son 
of  Dr.  Valentine  and  Ahce  (Lee)  Bargar.  Oapt. 
Bargar  read  law  with  his  uncle,  B.  S.  Lee,  gradu- 
ated at  Columbus  Law  School  in  1861 ;  served  as 
Captain  of  Company  G,  122d  0.  V.  I.,  from  the  fall 
of  1861  to  Dec,  1864;  elected  Clerk  of  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  Coshocton  county,  and  served 
six  years.  Married  in  1863  to  Miss  Sophia  J., 
daughter  of  Wm.  and  Maria  Lakin.  Family  of 
six  children,  viz  :  Minnie  Alice,  Byron,  Gilbert, 
William,  Fannie  and  Fred.  Elected  as  repre- 
sentative to  Legislature  from  Coshocton  county 
in  the  fall  of  1881. 

JUDD  LLOYD  T,  dealer  in  pianos  and  organs, 
158  Second  street,  Coshocton.  He  was  born  Au- 
gust ,  27,  1849,  in  Fairfield  county,  Connecticut. 
He  is  a  son  of  William  and  Elizabeth  F.  (Seeley) 
Judd.  His  ancestors  came  to  America  in  the 
"  Mayflower,"  and  settled  in  Connecticut,  where 
they  became  numerous  and  influential.  Both 
his  great-grandfathers  served  in  the  war  of  the 
revolution,  and  his  grandfather  Judd  in  the  war 
of  18]  2.  In  1868,  Wm..  Judd,  with  his  family— 
excepting  Elizabeth,  who  had  married  David 
Runyan,  and  who  lived  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. — came 
to  Miami  county,  Ohio,  where  they  remained 
tiU  1874,  when  they  came  to  Coshocton.     His 


family  consists  of  the  following  children,  viz  : 
Harriet  (deceased),  John  S,  who  was  mortally 
wounded  at  Spottsylvania,  May  12, 1864,  and  died 
at  Army  Square  Hospital,  D.' C,  May  30;  Wm. 
Arthur  (deceased) ;  EUzabeth  V.,  Lloyd  T.,  Alice, 
Edward,  Ida,  Stella  and  Ora. 

SNYDER  S.  P.,  M.  D.,  Crawford  township,  was 
born  May  5, 1852,  in  German  township,  Holmes 
county,  Ohio,  son  of  Peter  and  Elizabeth  (Sower) 
Snyder.  Young  Snyder  began  teaching  common 
schools,  October  21, 1872,  and  ended  March  16, 
1878,  teaching  in  all  seven  terms.  He  began 
reading  medicine  in  April,  1876,  with  Dr.  P.  J. 
Lenhart,  of  Chili,  and  remained  under  his  instruc- 
tion six  months,  then  taught  one  term  of  school. 
In  the  spring  of  1877  he  resumed  his  medical 
studies  with  Dr.  J.  Guittard,  of  New  Bedford,  and 
completed  under  his  instructions.  September 
26, 1878,  he  entered  the  medical  department  of 
Wooster  University  at  Cleveland,  and  was  gradu- 
ated with  the  first  honors  in  a  class  of  forty, 
March  4,  1880.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  the 
Doctor  began  practice  in  New  Bedford,  and  has 
been  eminently  successfal.  Dr.  Snyder  was 
married  May  13,  1877,  to  Miss  Amanda,  daughter 
of  John  and  Melinda  Luke.  They  afe  the  pa- 
rents of  one  child,  viz :  Myrtle. 


ERRATA 


Page  310. — Thomas  Comp&eZZ,  being  dead,  should 
be  omitted  from  the  list  of  practicing  lawyers  in 
Coshocton. 

Page  642. — The  name  Burkmaster  should  be 
Buckmastor. 

Page  732.— The  name  McCammant  should  be 
J.  J.  McCammant. 

Page  774. — Data   of   John    Richmond's    birth 
should  be  changed  from  1881  to  1817. 
Page  787,  First  column,  third  line  from  top— 


Bogersvitte  should  be  RagersvUh ;  same  page  and 
column,  18th  line,  Josie  should  be  Jessie. 

Page  797. — Date  of  Abraham    Spurr's  birth 
should  be  1810  instead  of  1840. 

Page  803.— Date  of  Mary  Porter's  birth  should 
be  1846  instead  of  1856. 

Page  803,  first  column,  second  line  from  the 
bottom — The  date  should  be  1844  instead  of  1814. 

Page  804,  second  column,  fifth  line  from  the 
top— 69  should  be  96. 


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