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OSNE-M-OGY COLLiZCTlOhi
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 00826 7822
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
OF
COSHOCTON COUNTY
OHIO.
A COMPLETE PANORAMA OF THE COUNTY, FROM THE
TIME OF THE EARLIEST KNOWN OCCUPANTS
OF THE TERRITORY UNTO THE
PRESENT TIME
I 764- I 876
Entered according to Act of Congress in t!ie 3^ear
1876, in the ofHce of the Librarian of Congress,
By WILLIAM E. HUNT
CINCINNATI
EOBEET CLAEKE & CO., Printers
1876
PREFACE.
Jt. /*-(•;' Jt i3,l_ #• ,-■3
The tastes of the preparer of this volume disposed him to
undertake it ; a residence in Coshocton of twenty years, and
peculiar relations and associations of favorable sort, gave hira,
as friends claimed, at least a certain fitness to do it ; and the
Centennial year seemed to be the proper occasion. Amid ill-
health and other hindrances wholly unanticipated when the
work was begun, the book has been written. If it does not
meet all expectations, it is hoped it will not disappoint any
reasonable ones. It could scarcely be expected that a work of
the sort should be entirely free from errors, but great care has
been taken to make it at least correct as far as it goes. Of
course, in the line of personal history, regard must be had to
the limits and scope of the work. It only purports to be a
panorama — not a series of finished portraits, with every shadow
and light. Mere mention of every person and thing not amiss
in such a volume would indefinitely extend it and add to
cost. To those who have kindly assisted in its preparation,
I shall ever feel grateful ; and I can confidently say that if there
had been on the part of some others such help as those kind
friends rendered, and as a little public spirit, local fame and de-
nominational interest might well prompt, the book would be a
better one. As it is, I respectfully submit it as at least an
honest endeavor to put in convenient and permanent form
something of the record of a locality of classic (American)
interest, and to trace the steps whereby we have reached our
present position as a county.
WM. E. HUNT.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGES.
Territorial Limits and Subdivisions of the County — Date of
Organization of County — Xames and Date of Organization of
Townships, Villages, etc 1-5
CHAPTER II.
Indian Occupancy, and Early Military Expeditions — The Pre-
Historic Race — The French Rule — The Delavvares — Their
Towns in Coshocton County — Netawatwees, or King New-
comer — Killbuck, White Eyes, etc., etc. — Boquet's Expedi-
tion — The Coshocton Campaign — The Revolutionary War —
The Character of Indians, and subsequent whereabouts 6-15
CHAPTER III.
Notes on Settlement of County and Growth in Population 16-22
CHAPTER IV.
Notices of the Earliest Settlers, and other Points of Interest
pertaining to each Township 23-34
CHAPTER V.
Same Subject continued 35-48
CHAPTER VI.
Advancement of County in Wealth, Matters of Taxation, etc... 49-51
CHAPTER VII.
Something about Roads, Ferries, Bridges, Canals, Steamboats,
and Rail Roads 52-59
CHAPTER VIII.
County Buildings and County Officers — Complete lists of latter. 60-68
CHAPTER IX.
Kelations to State and National Government — Members of the
Legislature, Congress, etc 69-71
CHAPTER X.
The Courts and the Bar 72-82
(V)
vi Contents.
CHAPTER XI.
PAGES.
Notes on Agricultural Affiiirs— Extent of this interest— Corn,
Wheat, etc. — Hogs, Fine Cattle, Blooded Horses, etc. —
County Agricultural Society— County Fairs, etc 83-94
CHAPTER XII.
Notes on Manufacturing and Mining 95-107
CHAPTER XIII.
Notes on Merchandizing, Banking, Tavern-keeping — Trans-
portation Business, etc 108-115
CHAPTER XIV.
Physicians — Health Items — Medical Remedies of the Pioneers. 116-122
CHAPTER XV.
Newspapers — Coshocton County Authoresses, etc 123-127
CHAPTER XVI.
School Matters , 128-138
CHAPTER XVII.
Military Affairs 139-150
CHAPTER XVIII.
County Bible Society — S. S. Association — Temperance Move-
ments — Secret Orders 151-158
CHAPTER XIX.
Miscellaneous Matters — 1. The Pre-Historic Race. 2. Ancient
Burial Grounds. 3. Meaning of the names Muskingum,
Tuscarawas, and Walhonding. 4. Prose Legend of the
Walhonding. 5. Heckwelder's Famous Ride. 6. Temper-
ance Crusade among the Indians. 7. The Gnadenhutten
Massacre. 8. Curious Stories Touching Captives Reclaimed
by Boquet. 9. Description of the Hunting-Shirt. 10. The
Houses and Furniture of the Pioneers in Coshocton
County. 11. Louis Philippe at Coshocton. 12. How to
Raise a Large Family. 13. Indian Stories. 14. Backwoods
Sports 159-177
CHAPTER XX.
Miscellaneous Matters— 1. The Killing of Cartmill, the Post
Boy. 2. Shocking Murders in Coshocton County. 3. Col-
Contents. vii
ored People in Coshocton County. 4. Fires in Eoscoe — An
Incident and a Joke. 5. A Bundle of First Things.
6. Relics and Curiosities in Personal Possession. 7. Coshoc-
ton Wags in Early Days. 8. The Treasury Robbery.
9. Humors of the Crusade 178-191
CHAPTER XXL
The Churches — General Statements — Detailed Accounts of
the Baptist,JChinstian, Catholic, and Lutheran Churches 192-204
CHAPTER XXIL
The Churches — Detailed Accounts of the Methodist Episcopal,
Methodist (Protestant), Presbyterian, United Presbyterian,
Protestant Episcopal, Christian Union Churches, etc 205-231
CHAPTER XXIIL
Brief Biographical Sketches — Charles Williams. Thomas L.
Rue. James Renfrew. Abraham Sells. Dr. Samuel Lee.
James Robinson. Thomas Darling. Benjamin Jlicketts.
John Carhart. James Le Retilley. Thomas Johnson. Jo-
seph Burns. John Burns. John Johnson. Wm. K. John-
son. Robert Hay. John Elliott. Taliaffero Vickers. Wm.
Brown. Alexander Renfrew. Eli Nichols. Nathaniel
Conklin. G. W. Silliman. Robert M. Lamb. David
Spangler. Peter Humrickhouse. Arnold Medberry. Mat-
thew Scott. John Lockard. Sharon Williams. Isaac Dar-
ling. Matthew Trimble. William Pancake. Reuben
Whittaker. James W. Pigman. Samuel Brillhart. Mat-
thew Ferguson. John C. Tidball. Joseph B. Crowley.
Clark Johns. C. C. Nichols. Wm. B. Glover. Joel Clark
Glover. Thomas Carroll, Jr. Robert S. McCormick. Asa
G. Dimmock. M. C. McFarland. Samuel Ketchum. Sam-
uel Morrison. John Morgan. Charles S. Barnes. Wm.
Henderson. Geo. Darling. Samuel Squire. Nicholas Bas-
sett. W. H. Vickers. Thompson Carnahan 232-264
\Many scores of sketches, scarcely less brief than many of these, will he found
in other parts of this work.']
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS
COSHOCTON COUNTY
CHAPTER I.
TERRITORIAL LIMITS AND SUBDIVISIOXS OF THE COUNTRY.
The territory embraced in what is now the State of Ohio
(and even a large territory adjacent *) was at one time
divided into only three counties — viz.: Washington,
Hamilton, and Wayne. The boundaries of Washing-
ton county, as constituted in 1788, were as follows: "Be-
ginning on the bank of the Ohio river, where the western
boundary line of Pennsylvania crosses it, and running with
that line to Lake Erie ; thence along the southern shore of
said lake to the mouth of the Cuyahoga river ; thence up
said river to the portage between it and the Tuscarawas
branch of the Muskingum river; thence down that branch
to the forks at the crossing above Fort Laurens (near the
present town of Bolivar) ; thence with a line to be drawn
westerly to the portage of that branch of the Big Miami
on which the fort stood that was taken by the French in
1752, until it meets the road from the Lower Shawneetown
to Sandusky ; thence south to the Scioto river ; thence
with that river to its mouth, and thence up the Ohio river
to the place of beginning."
Out of this territory nearly thirty counties as they now
exist have been erected. The northern central part of
Washington county was, in 1804, erected into Muskingum
* Including parts of what are now the States of Indiana and Illi-
nois, and most of Michigan and Wisconsin.
2 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
county, and in 1811, by the Legislature then in session at
Zanesvillc, the northern part of Muskingum county was
setoff under the name of Coshocton* county; Guernsey,
Tuscarawas, Knox, and Licking having all been previously
organized. As originally constituted, Coshocton county
embraced a considerable part of what is now Holmes, ex-
tending to the Greenville treaty line, six miles north of
Millersburg; but that county having been organized in 1824,
the limits of Coshocton 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 Guernse}^, Tuscarawas,
and Coshocton, with ISTew Comerstowu as the county-seat.
There was also a movement contemplating a county, with
Walhonding as the county-seat. But that instrument ren-
dered 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, containing four thou-
sand acres, and subsequently some of these into forty
lots, of one hundred acres each, for the accommodation
of soldiers or others holding warrants for that number of
acres. What land was not required for the satisfaction of
the militar}'' warrants was subsequently sold by act of Con-
gress, under the designation of Congress land. Twenty-
two and a fraction of these original townships were em-
braced within the limits of Coshocton county as finally
fixed in 1824. Owing to the inconvenience arising from
the intermediate rivers, part of Tuscarawas township was
attached to the one west of it.f As the population of the
*ThG name is unquestionably a modification of the name of the old
Indian town at the forks of the Muskingum — Qi osclxachgunli — as some-
what variously spelled according to sound by the old chroniclers in
different languages. Different and quite contradictory definitions of
the name have been given.
t After the Ohio canal was made, and before the bridges were built.
Territorial Limits and Subdivisions. 3
townships warranted, they were named (having been pre-
viously designated as yet in all conveyances by numbers),
and elections for justices of the peace and other officers
ordered by the county authorities.
The townships first organized were Tuscarawas, Wash-
ington, Xew Castle, and Franklin, in 1811. The territory
adjacent embraced in originally surveyed townships was
connected with these for purposes of government and tax-
ation, and afterward set off and organized as population
might require. Oxford was thus set o±f in the fall of 1811,
and Linton in 1812. Perry township was organized in
1817; the election for officers was appointed to be held in
April, at the house of Elias James. Mill Creek was orga-
nized in July of the same year, and the election held at the
house of John P. Wilson. Pike was organized in August,
1818, the .election being at the house of James Bryan. The
next township organized was White Eyes, in 1823 ; then fol-
lowed Tiverton and Monroe and Keene the next year. Bed-
ford was organized in 1825, and Bethlehem and Jeffierson
in 1826 ; Crawford, Virginia, and Jackson in 1828, and
Clark in 1829. Adams tow^nship was organized in 1832,
and Lafayette (the last) in 1835.
There are in the county at this writing one incorporated
village — Coshocton — and the following other villages, viz.:
Roscoe, Warsaw, West Carlisle, West Bedford, Jacobsport,
ISTew Castle, Walhonding, East Union, Keene, ]^ew Bed-
ford, Bakersville, Chili, Canal Lewisville, Spring Moun-
tain, New^ Princeton, West Lafayette, Linton Mills, Mo-
hawk Aallage, Plainfield, Evansburg, Orange, Bloomfield.
Moscow, and Avondale.
Coshocton was laid out in 1802, by Ebenezer Bucking-
ham and John Matthews, who called it Tuscarawas. In
1811 it became the county seat, and its name was changed
to Coshocton. At that time a number of blocks of town lots
at the southern end were vacated and laid out into what
were designated as south out-lots, answering to those called
east out-lots, being east of the present Fifth street. The
town plat embraced a territory about three-quarters of a
mile square. The first addition to the town plat was
Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Lamb's — a strip of several subdivided acres on the north-
east, in 1837. For more than thirty years there was no fur-
ther addition. Then, just east of Lamb's, Dr. S. H. Lee's
addition was made. In 1869, the corporation limits were
extended so as to include these additions; also the ground
of the Aii'ricultural Society, still further east, subdivided
at a later day, and that included in John Burt's sub-
division and liickett's subdivision, together with adjoin-
ing tracts, making the village plat embrace territory a
mile and a half square. The first subdivision was the
" county commissioners'." The original proprietors of the
town donated the square south of the present public square
to " the public ;" but when the town was made a county
seat, on petition of the proprietors, and subject to the
approval of the lot-holders of the town, the Legislature
authorized the county commissioners to subdivide that
square and sell the lots, and use the proceeds for the erec-
tion of public buildings.-'' The next subdivision was
De La Mater's ; and the principal ones of later date are
James M. Burt's, Williams', John Burt's, Spangler's, John-
son's, Triplett's, Agricultural Society's, Steel Works, and
Rickett's.
In 1808, a town cj^lled New Castle was laid out by Robert
Giifin, but does not seem to have come to much. In 1830,
John Clark laid out one called West Liberty ; and the new
town and the old name became one some time thereafter.
In 1816, James Calder laid out Caldersburg. After the
Ohio canal was built, Ransom and Swayne made an addi-
tion on the north, and the town thus extended was called
Hoscoe, after a then famous English author, Wm. Roscoe.
Thomas Johnson laid out the town of Plainjield in 1816.
*The ownership of the public square has been much discussed.
Originally it was given to "the public." It was never given to the
town nor formally to the county, but impliedly in 1811 to the latter.
The commissioners have controlled it from that time on. They
authorized certain citizens of the town to build a school house on the
square; they also leased a piece of it to the Presbyterians, and pro-
l)Osed to lease another i)iece to the Methodists.
Territorial Limits and Subdivisions. 5
It has been of late supplanted by the adjoining village of
Jacobsport, laid out by Jacob "Waggoner in 1836.
West Bedford was laid out, in 1817, by Micajah Heaton.
Keene was laid out, in 1820, by James Beal ; Farwell's
addition being made in 1839.
Wm. Brown and Wm. Henderson laid out West Carlisle
in 1821, and John Gonser, New Bedford, in 1825. Evans-
burg was laid out, in 1830, by Isaac E%^ans ; Canal Leiois-
ville, in 1832, by Solomon Vail and T. Butler Lewis ; War-
saw, in 1834, by Wm. Carhart — additions since by Eldridge
and N. Buckalew ; Chili, in 1834, by John and Samuel
Fernsler ; Walhonding, in 1841, by "Wm. K. Johnson, G. W.
Silliman, and T. S. Humrickhouse ; Bakersville, in 1848, by
John Baker; West Lafayette, in 1850, by Robert Shaw and
Wm. AVheeler — Rue's and Ketchum's and James M.Burt's
additions made since; and Mohawk Village, in 1859, by
James and William Thompson.
The old-time chronicles telL of Lima, Newport, Mays-
ville, Birmingham, Zeno, Providence, l^ew Princeton,
Cavallo, and Rochester; but these, and even others, never
got beyond the infantile condition, and some of them are
now entirely undiscernable by the eye.
Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER II.
INDIAN OCCrPANCY, AND EARLY MILITARY EXPEDITIONS.
When the English-speaking white man first came into
the territory now embraced in Coshocton count}^, it was in
the occupancy of tlie Delaware Indiana. It is quite cer-
tain 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
claiming 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. Some have been pleased, without any very
clear evidence, to believe t^at the famous French explorer
La Salic, more than two hundred years ago, traversed these
valleys.
Indefinitely before that period was the pre-historic race,
who have left their traces in numerous mounds and circles
and grave-yards, proving their number and power, and per-
plexing the men of subsequent times, concerning which
things some statements and speculations will be found in
anotber part of this volume.
The Delawares, crowded out by the white settlers about
the Delaware river and in Eastern Pennsylvania — their In-
dian name means ''People from the Sunrise" — found a
home to tlieir taste in the beautiful and fertile Tuscarawas,
"SValbonding, and Muskingum valleys.
Tlicir language at least will abide in the land as long as
the names just mentioned, and also tliose of White Eyes,
Mohican, and Killbuck continue to be accepted as the de-
signations 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 five considerable
Indian towns, the houses being built of bark and limbs and
logs, and arranged in lines or on streets. One of these
Early Military Expeditions.
towns was called White E^^es (Koijuethagachton) town, in
the neighborhood of Lafa3^ette. Two other towns were
located — one three and the other ten miles up the Wal-
honding — and were called the Monsey towns, the more dis-
tant 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 their base
and bloody passions. The lower town w\as Wengimunds'.*
The fourth town was Goschacbgiink, occupying that part
of the present town of Coshocton (a name said to be a
modification of the name of the old Indian town) between
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 Il^etawatwees,
their great chief, and was often visited by the famous coun-
cilors, White Eyes and Killbuck (Gelelemend), 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 now 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. Edwards in conjunc-
tion with him), the famous Moravian missionary.
At the request of Netawatwees, Killbuck, and White
Eyes, the town was established in close proximity to the
capital (which afterward was sometimes distinguished as
"the heathen town "), in hope of its Christian influence
thereupon. On the 12th of April, 1776, Zeisberger, with
eJohn Ileckewelder as his assistant, at the head of eight
families numbering thirty-five persons, encamped on the
site of the future town, and began the next morning the
work of felling the trees for the houses. The town grew
rapidly ; the mission work prospered greatly ; a grandson
* There was also a small Shawnee town in Washington township on
the Wakatomica.
8 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
t»f old Xotawatwecs and many of the liead men at the cap-
itol were baptised into the Christian faith, and became resi-
dents of the town. The place soon fitted the name, " a
meadow beantifnl by nature, and brightened by the hght of
srraee." At one time the Christian Indians from all the
Tnscarawas towns were gathered into Lichtenau to escape
tlio evil infiuences and persecutions to which they were ex-
posed through the machinations of evil-disposed white
men, and, even worse, apostate and bloody-minded Indians.
They remained for over a year, then returning to the Tus-
carawas valley.
The Indian towns about the forks of the Muskingum
were the objective points of two famous military expedi-
tions. The first, both in order of time and importance, has
been usually designated as " Boquet's Expedition."
The Indians of the Northwest having started on the war-
path. General Gage, whose headquarters were at Boston, in
the spring of 1764, directed Colonel Boquet to organize a
corps of fifteen hundred men, and to enter the country of
the Delawares and Shawnees at the same time that General
Bradstreet was engaged in chastising the Wyandots and
Ottawas of Lake Erie, who were then infesting Detroit.
As a part of Colonel Boquet's force was composed of
militia from Pennsylvania and Virginia, it was slow to as-
semble. On the 5th of August, the Pennsylvania quota
rendezvoused at CarHsle, where three hundred of them de-
serted. The Virginia quota arrived at Fort Pitt on the 17th
01 September, and uniting with the provincial militia — a
part of the Forty-second and Sixtieth regiments — the army
moved from Fort Pitt on the 3d of October. When Col-
onel Boquet was at Fort Loudon in Pennsylvania, between
Carlisle and Fort Pitt, urging forward the militia-levies,
he received a dispatch from General Bradstreet notifying
him of the peace effected at Sandusky. But the Ohio In-
dians, particularly the Shawnees of the Scioto river, and
some of the Delawares of the Muskingum river, still con-
tinued their robberies and murders along the frontiers of
Pennsylvania ; and so Colonel Boquet determined to pro-
ceed with his division, notwithstanding the peace of Gen-
Early Military Expeditions.
era! Bradstreet, which did not inchide the Shawnees and
Delawares. From Fort Pitt, Boquet fn'oceeded westward
along the Ohio and Little Beaver and across the highlands
to the waters of Yellow creek, then to Sandy creek, and
along it to a point near the present village of Bolivar.
There he erected a stockade and completed his arrange-
ments. The Indians being convinced that they could
not succeed in any attempt against him, made a treaty of
peace, engaging to restore all their white prisoners. The
expedition then passed down the Tuscarawas on the north
side, and encamped on the high ground between the rivers
near the Indian town at the forks of the Muskingum, and,
erecting a stockade, there awaited the arrival of the pris-
oners. On the 9th of ITovember, two hundred and six
captives had been delivered, and on the 18th, the army
broke up its cantonment and marched for Fort Pitt, arriv-
ing there on the 28th of the same month.
The second expedition is commonly known as the "Cosh-
octon Campaign." It was undertaken in the summer of
1780, and grew out of the deepened feeling of antipathy
to the Indians because of some recent depredations and
outrages committed upon settlers in Pennsylvania, West-
ern Virginia, and Eastern Ohio. It was also understood
that the Delawares, contrary to pledges, were joining the
British.
The number of regulars and militia was about eight
hundred, under the command of General Broadhead. It
marched from Wheeling directly to the Tuscarawas valley.
A part of the militia were anxious to go up the river and
destroy the Moravian villages, which they regarded as at
least shelters and half-way houses for Indian marauders,
but they were restrained from executing their project by
special exertions of General Broadhead and Colonel Shep-
herd. They kept on toward Coshocton, and observing
some Indian scouts (one of whom was shot) a few miles
therefrom, they made a forced march and surprised both
Goschachgunk and Lichtenau, capturing, without tiring a
gnu, all the Indians then in them. Among those captured
in Lichtenau were several Christian Indians from Gnaden-
lo Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
hutten. These were released promptly by the commander
of the expedition, and started in a canoe for their home, but
some of the militia followed after and fired at them. For-
saking their canoe, they took to the hills, and all except
one, who was wounded, reached their home in safet3\ Six-
teen of the other prisoners, having been pointed out by
Pekilon, a friendly Delaware chief who was with the army
of Broadhead, were doomed to death by a council of war,
and having after dark been taken a little waj^s from the
town, were speedily dispatched with spear and tomahawk
and scalped. Having destroyed the towns, the army, at
eleven o'clock the next day, set out on its return. The
prisoners (twenty odd in number) were under guard of the
militia, and, after marching about half a mile, these com-
menced to use their knives and tomahawks, slaughtering
all of them, except a few women and children, who were
taken to Fort Pitt and subsequently exchanged for a like
number of white ones. Tradition locates the site of this
butcher}' near a spring about three-fourths of a mile east
of Coshocton, on a tract of laud now owned by Mrs. S. H.
Collier.* Goschachgunk and Lichtenau were both subse-
quently rebuilt, to some extent, and became for some years
the home of more intense haters of the white race, by rea-
son of the associations of the place. But the towns never
* Among the militia of this expedition was tlie famous Indian killer,
Lewis Wetzel, from Western Virginia. Just before the exiaedition set
out on its return, an Indian chief appeared on the opposite bank of the
river proposing " a talk." lie was invited over by General Broadhead,
and assured of safety. But while he was talking, Wetzel slipped up
behind him, and, drawing a tomahawk which he had concealed in his
hunting-shirt, sunk it in the chief sskull, instantly killing him. Legends
of Wetzel's shrewdness and courage are abundant, and there is no
doubt he was one of the most successful trappers and hunters and In-
dian fighters of his time. He and his friends had .suffered much at
the hands of the Indians. He moved, in 1795, to the frontier, on the
Mississippi, tliat he might trap the beaver and hunt the buffalo and
deer, and occasionally shoot an Indian. The exploit (not in some
lights very creditable, but showing his intense antipathy to the red-
skins) above mentioned was his only one performed in Coshoaton
county as reported by his admirers.
Early Military Expeditions. ii
again reached tlie proportions attained before the " Broad-
head Campaign."
Usually, and as to the great mass of them, the Delaware
Indians entertained very friendly feelings for the whites.
In their old home in Pennsylvania, from the day of Wm.
Penn's treaty down, they had received a treatment calculated
to produce such feelings, and the iniluenee of the Moravian
missions among them was felt unto the same end. Far
more Indian blood than white was shed about the forks of
the Muskingum, and there is neither dark and bloody battle-
field nor site of sickening family massacre within the limits
of the county of Coshocton. The numerous bullets found
in after' times, in the plowed fields near Coshocton, were
doubtless from the volleys fired by the expeditions, 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. Accepting the idea of the poet, that " peace
hath her victories as well as war," it may be claimed that
one of the grandest of these was won at Goschachgunk,
the Delaware capital. When the Kevolutionary War
broke out, it was a matter of the utmost importance to the
colonists to secure at least the neutrality of the Indian
tribes, and efl:brts were accordingly made. Two treaties
were made at Pittsburg in successive years — 1775 and
1776 — binding to neutrality the Delawares, and some of the
immediately adjacent nations.
At the opening of 1777, the hatchet sent from Detroit
(the British headquarters), was accepted by the Shawnees,
Wyandots, and Mingoes. Rumor had it that it was also to
be sei^t to the Delawares, and if they declined it they were
to be treated as common enemies, and at once attacked by
the British and their Indian allies. The famous chief
Cornstalk himself came to Goschachgunk, reporting that
despite his efforts the Shawnees were for war; parties
were already out, and ammunition was being forwarded for
their use from Detroit. Even a portion of the Delawares
had been already pledged to take up arms. At this crisis —
so threatening to the colonists — a o-eneral council of the
Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Delawares mot at tlie capitol, on the 9th of March, 1777.
Sonic of the young warriors appeared with plumes and
war paint. After earnest discussion and eloquent speeches,
especially from White Eyes, it was resolved to decline the
hatchet should it he offered. Three times during that sum-
mer 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
[icoplc stood, month after month, as a mighty wall of pro-
tection to the western colonists. Looking to the plainly
discernible natural consequences of a diff"erent decision in
that grand council, it is not without reason that the claim
may be made, that one of the grandest victories for the
colonists in the American Revolutionary war was won at
the Delaware capitol, at the forks of the Muskingum.
Subsequentl}', indeed, by the machinations of renegades
like Simon Girty (who was several times at the capitol),
and the taunts of the tribes, a part of the nation was led
to join the British Indians ; but these were too few, and it
was too late to do the colonists much harm, especially with
the wisest and bravest of the nation committed to peace
and friendliness with the Americans. In 1778, the right-
ful authorities of the nation made a complete treaty of alli-
ance with the commissioners of the United States, therein
providing for carrying out a cherished project of White
Eyes, that the Delaware nation should be represented in
the Colonial Congress, and become, as a Christian Indian
state, one of the United States. By the neighboring tribes
the Delawares were often taunted with being unduly gen-
tle — " women " — and were alwa^'s remarked upon as having
too numy captives ; making exertions to secure a^ such
those commonly ai)pointed by other Indians to the toma-
hawk or stake. On one occasion, as already noticed, at
their principal village, there were turned over to Boquet's
forces two liundred and six captives, of whom thirty-two
men and fifty-eight women and children were from Vir-
ginia, and forty-nine men and sixty-eight women and
Ea7'ly Military Expeditions. 13
children from Pennsylvania. These were not indeed all
captured by the Delawares ; but a large proportion was, and
others of them would doubtless have been butchered but
for the influence of the Delawares, who would sometimes
arrange with the tribes further south and west for their
captives. The legend of the Walhonding (White Woman),
telling how the captive virgin wildly fled from the camp
and threw herself from an uprearing and overhanging
rock,* into the seething waters of the storm-swollen river,
choosing death rather than captivity, is significant of the
horrors attending captivity, even among the Delawares. f
It is, however, most likely that she was a captive of the
Monsey or Wolf tribe of Delawares, who were, perhaps,
the worst representatives of the nation. Experience and
tastes no doubt differed among the captives. It is said
that some of the captives delivered to Boquet were com-
pelled to go with him, and some escaped after the expe-
dition started toward Fort Pitt, and returned to the free
forest life. Simon Girty and two brothers were cap-
tured when young, and, having been adopted by the
Indians, continued in their preference of Indian life.
Despite all that has been said or may be claimed, it is no
doubt true that even among the Delawares the savage
nature was frequently displayed, especially when in the bad
company of other tribes ; and they were not without much
blame at the mouths of the whites, for cruelties upon the
hapless settlers, whose settlements to the east and south
of them they invaded, and who, individually or in small
hunting or scouting parties, might fall into their hands.
It can not be doubted that their treatment of Colonel
Crawford out in the Wyandot country, when they bound
him to a stake, fired numerous charges of powder into his
flesh, cut and beat and burned, and by every possible tor-
ture put him to a lingering death, was Indian, fiendish.
Yet it is to be remembered that the Delaware Indians
* Near the residence of Mrs. C. Denman, four miles northwest
of Coshocton.
f See a very different legend in Chapter XIX.
14 Historical Collections, of Coshocton County.
doing these things Avere confessedly the more bloody-
minded part that had tnrned away from those at the forks
of the Musking-um and set np their lodges in the Wyandot
eonntrv : that they were incited by the Shawnees and
"Wyandots, and regarded their work as a retaliation for the
bloody massacre of the Christian Indians at Gnadenhiitten,
and other outrages that their race had suffered at the hands
of those who were crowding them out of the land.
The great chief Netawatwees died about the opening of
the Revolutionary war, and White Eyes in 1778.*
Killbuck ("deer-killer") was the successor of a chief
having the same name, whose town was on Killbuck creek,
between Millersburg and Wooster, and who died, a very
old man, in the Wyandot country, and was often desig-
nated Killbuck, Jr. When baptized by the Moravian mis-
sionaries he took the name of William Henry. Less
shrewd and eloquent, he was a worthy associate and suc-
cessor of White Eyes. He was even more pronounced in
his religious views and less Avavering. Adhering to the
fortunes of the Americans and Moravians, he at length (in
1810) died at Goshen, near JSTew Philadelphia.
Killbuck, aided by the other Christian Indians, for a
time still held the nation very much in hand ; but by 1780
Captain Pipe got the ascendancy at Goschachgiink, 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. After the massacre at Gnaden-
hiitten, the few remaining Delawares graduall}^ retired to
* White Eyes (so called from the unusual proportion of white in his
eyes) died near Fort Laurens, on the Tuscarawas, on the 10th of No-
vember, 1778, of small-pox. General Mcintosh's colonial forces were
at that time encamped near by. His death was a marked event of
the time. His broad views and truly eloquent expression of them can
not be questioned. His fair dealing with the whites, and his earnest
and steadfast efforts for the civilization and cliristianization of his
race ought not to be forgotten. A successor to the name— perhaps a
degenerate .son of this sire— was killed in what is now Columbiana
county, in 17'.)7, by a young man named Cari)enter, whom he was,
while under the inlluence of tire-water, assailing and threatening.
Early Military Exf editions, etc. 15
the West or were taken to Canada; and in 1795 their
country, of which Coshocton county forms the central
part, and in which was their capitol (removed from New
Comerstown), became bv treaty the possession of the
United States. Until after the war of 1812, a few strag-
gling members of the nation, especially the Guadenhiitten
ones, moved about in the country, hunting, disposing of
pelts, or possibly visiting the graves of their ancestors.
In 1819 there w^ere eighty Delawares near Sandusky, Ohio,
and two thousand three hnndred in ISTorthern Indiana.
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 tnrned away from its
loved haunts in the Tuscarawas and "Walholding valleys.*
* The sources of information for the foregoing chapter are mainly
Doddridge's Notes, Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, de Schweinitz's
Life and Times of Zeisberger, and Mitchener's Ohio Annals ; in which
■works those interested in Indian history and legends will find much
to their taste. See also Chapter XIX, this volume.
i6 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER III.
NOTES ON THE SETTLKMKNT OF THE COUNTY* AND GROWTH OF POPULATION.
The military expeditions mentioned in preceding chapter,
besides accom[tlisliing the immediate object for which they
were undertaken, drew attention to the excellencies of the
country. Wonderful stories about " the forks of the Mus-
kingum " were told by the returning soldiers. The father
of Geo. Beaver, of Keene township, was in Boquet's expe-
dition. John Williams (brother of Charles) afterward set-
tled in Mill Creek township, was in the Coshocton cam-
paign ; and among the earlier settlers were several whose
relatives had been in Broadhead's forces. The first white
man known to have come into the territory now embraced
ill Coshocton county, with the purpose of abiding in it,
was Charles Williams. 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 Paraire" (four miles above Cos-
hocton), and there raised that season a patch of corn, be-
sides fishing, hunting, and prospecting. The next 3'ear 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 staying with him
for the season, went on up into what is now Holmes
county, in the Kill buck valley. The same year, 1801, a
settlement was made in Oxford township by Isaac Evans
and others, who arc reputed as having raised some corn
and picked their land the preceding year. The Robinson
and Miller settlement in Franklin township was made
about the same time. The Ilardestys are reputed as hav-
ing been in Washington township the same year. A little
later the Millers and Thomas Wiggins were located in
Lafayette township. Nicholas Miller, James Oglesby, Geo.
* See notices of early settlers by townships in next cliapter.
Notes on the Settlcmetit of the County^ etc. 17
McCullough, Andrew Craig, Isaac Hoagland, Benjamin
Fiy, and Barney Carr are repored as on the Lower Wal-
honding in 1805. In 1806, Philip Waggoner, Geo. Loose,
John AVolf, and Geo. Leighninger settled in Oxford town-
ship, and the McLains were in Lafayette. In the same
year the Darlings, the Butlers, John Bantham, and John
Elder went to the tapper Walhonding valley. In 1807,
Francis McGuire, who had been living above Xew Comers-
town, moved down to the locality known as the McGuire
settlement, above Canal Lewisville. Then came Moore,
Workman, JSTeff, Lybarger, Thompson, the Bakers, Cant-
well, and Whitten to Coshocton ; and Meskimens, John-
ston, and Harger to the Wills Creek region ; and Mitchell,
Markley, and Williams to the north of Coshocton ; and
Pigman, Chalfant, I^orris, Slaughter, Woolford, Wright,
Staftbrd, Meredith, John, and Severns into the western part
of the country. No regular census of the country was
taken until 1820. In 1810, Muskingum county, embracing
the present Muskingum, 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 understated to 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 jorobably
be a large statement as to population at the time the
count)''y was organized in April, 181 1. Immediately after the
organization, the immigration was large. The war of 1812,
while temporarily checking the growth of the country, and
especially the iuHow of population, was yet an advantage,
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
'^ndholders, owning tracts of land varving in size from
Mrty-five acres to four thousand and five acres. The list
^^"■hese, and the townships as now named in which they
resiin(j^ is as follows :
■^^mrawas — John D. Moore, Nicholas Miller, Henry
i8 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Miller, John Xoble, Isaac Workman, and Charles Will-
iams.
New Castle — David John, Thomas John, Obed Meredith,
T. Ilankins, John Wolf, >ratthew Duncan, David and Mar-
tin Cox, and Robert Giffin.
Washington — Payne Clark, Mordecai Chalfant, Isaac Hol-
loway, Peter Lash, Geo. Smith, and Frederick Woolford.
Franklin — 0. Davidson, Valentine Johnston, Catharine
Johnston, Michael Miller, Sr., Wm. Robinson, James Rob-
inson, Benjamin Robinson, Jos. Scott, James Tanner, Wm.
Taylor, Abraham Thompson, John Walmsly, and Jacob
Jackson.
Oxford — Jacob Reed, David Donglas, Henry Evans, Isaac
Evans, John Junkins, George Looze, John Mills, Wm.
Mulvaiu, Jas. Mulvain, John Mulvain, Andrew McFarlane,
Ezekiel McFarlane, Samuel McFarlane, Benjamin Xorman,
George Onspaugh, Wm. Peirpont, Geo. Stringer, Philip
Wolf, Philip Waggoner's heirs, and James Welch.
Linton — Hugh Addy, Wm. Addy, Wm. Evans, James
McCune, John McCune, James Meskimens, Joseph Scott,
Geo. McCune, and Amos Stackhouse.
Pike — Daniel Ashcraft.
Keene — George Armory, Elizabeth Armory, and John
Colver.
Tiverton — Isaac Draper.
Jejferson — Joseph Butler, Thomas Butler, and Robert
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 McGuire, Thomas
McLain, Elijah Nelson, Matthew Orr, Lewis Vail, and Jane
Wiggins. |tt^ ^f7)
Bedford — James Craig, Ezra*Horton, and Thomas H~'"
ton.
Bethlehem — Henry Crissman, Benjamin Fry, John 'ti^f"
fer, John Thompson, Geo. Skinner, and Wm. Trimhe.
A number of these landholders were heads of q^ite con-
Notes on the Settlement of the County, etc. 19
siderable families, and upon some of the largo tracts were
several tenants. A list of those who were croppers and
hired men, and of those occupying town-lots, and of those
who were on their lands under contract for purchase, is not
accessible. It is, however, known that besides those whose
names appear in this list, and their children, the following
persons were residents of the county at that time, several
of them having been so for a number of years preceding :
Eichard Fowler, Wm. Lockard, James Willis, Joseph Har-
ris, C. P. Van Kirk, Peter Casey, Geo. Carpenter, Joseph
ISTeff, Wm. and Sam'l Morrison, Jas.Jeflries, Dr. Sam'l Lee,
Wright Warner, A. M. Church, Thos. L. Rue, Wm. Whit-
ten, Thomas Means, Thomas Foster, Barney Carr, James
Oglesby, Geo. Bible, John Bantham, Wm. Bird, Jas. Cal-
der, Wm. Mitchell, Lewis Vail, Asher Hart, John Will-
iams, Adam Johnston, John Dillon, Abel Cain, Joseph
Vail, Rezin Baker, Israel Baker, John Baker, James
Buckalew, Benjamin Burrell, Joseph Burrell, James Cant-
well, Barney Cantwell, J. G. Pigman, J. W. Pigman, John
Elder, Archibald Ellson, Samuel Clark, Ezekiel Parker,
Andrew Lybarger, John Hershman, Peter Moore, the Mc-
Lains, Wm. Biggs, Geo. and Levi Magness, Richard Hawk,
Isaac Shambaugh, and Elijah Newcum.
At the October election, in 1814, there were one hundred
and three electors in Tuscarawas township, which, how-
ever, embraced at that time not only the township proper
on both sides of the river, but also all the territory north
of the Tuscarawas, 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, i^eldon, Ravenscraft, Norris,
Winklepleck, McNabb, Slaughter, Mulford, Stafford, Cre-
sap, 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
20 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
of stories of laborious efforts and wearying hardships in
clearing and planting and building. The large inflow of
population involved a great deal of exposure. The conveni-
ences 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 prevalent, carrying oft" many of the settlers and dis-
couraging immigration. Milling facilities were still poor
and remote. Corn nieal and bacon afforded, in many cases,
almost the whole support. Even whisky, the panacea of
those days, was not yet 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 increase of
only a few over four thousand, making the population in
the latter year 11,162. 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 of the county decreased.
Still the immigration was not heavy, especially in the earlier
part of the period. Reports of the sickliness of the river
region and of the rough ways of the settlers had gone
abroad. It may be stated in this connection that the ad-
vancement of the county in both population and wealth
has been regarded by many as having been hindered in all
its earlier stages by the fact of there having been a large
number (thirty-three) of four-thousand-acre tracts taken
up by military land warrants, and held mainly by non-resi-
dents, cultivated 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 year 21,590 inhab-
itants. This large increase was largely owing to the open-
ing of the Ohio canal.
The immigration of that period was of a much more
miscellaneous sort, and having almost nothing of the old
Virginian and Marylander element, so prominent in the
first settlement of the county. New York, Western Penn-
sylvania, Eastern Ohio, Germany, and Ireland were most
largely represented.
Notes on the Settlement of the County^ etc. 21
The population of the county in 1850 was 25,674; in
1860, 25,032; and in 1870, 23,600. It will be seen by
these figures that there was a decrease within the twenty
years from 1850 to 1870.
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 con-
nection that the cities and larger towns of the State show
the chief gains attributed to it. Thus, while Coshocton
county lost during that time above noted, the town of Co-
shocton more than doubled its population, which in 1840
was 845, and in 1870, 1,757— being in 1875 about 2,800.
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 enlargement of the stock
interest, the development of manufacturing interests, and
even the casualties of war, have all had to do with this
generally diminished population, especially in the rural
districts, 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
1850, when the maximum population was attained, and
also for 1870 :
1850. 1870.
Adams 1,419 1,113
Bedford 1,221 918
Bethlehem 822 850
Clarke 833 867
Crawford 1,552 1,245
Franklin 9G6 972
Jackson 2,037 1,767
Jefferson 929 1,059
Keene 1,078 787
Lafayette 1,040 920
Linton 1,592 1,600
Mill Creek 872 586
Monroe 760 832
New Castle 1,229 1,005
Oxford 1,112 1,140
Perry 1,340 932
2 2 Jlistorical Collections oj" Coshocton County.
Pike 1,080 773
Tivorton 842 804
Tuscarawas 1,593 2,725
Virginia 1,226 1.014
Washington 998 768
Whito Eves 1,132 923
Notices of Earliest Settlers^ etc. 23
CHAPTER IV.
NOTICES OF SOME OF THE EARLIEST SETTLERS, AKD OTHER MATTERS OF IN-
TEREST PERTAINING TO EACH TOWNSHIP.
TUSCARAWAS TOWNSHIP.
The first " settlement " made in the county was in this
township. Charles "Williams,* a native of Marj^land, re-
siding for a time in "Western Virginia, and yet later on the
Lower Muskingum, came up the river in a canoe, and lo-
cated on the site of Coshocton, early in the year 1801 ; hav-
ing spent part of the preceding year in what is now Beth-
lehem township, but without definite purpose as to place of
settlement. George Carpenter, a brother-in-law of Will-
iams, and "William and Samuel Morrison, came soon after-
ward, but, after stopping to help "Williams raise a crop of
corn, passed on up the Ivillbuck, becoming the earliest set-
tlers in what is now Holmes county. Another brother-in-
law of "Williams, John Hibits, came a little later, and sub-
sequently located in the Upper Walhonding valley. Sev-
eral of the early residents w^ere " croppers," and after a
time picked up a piece of land and settled in some other
township.
Nicholas Miller, from Virginia, came in about 1803 —
spent his long life in farming, dying at a good old age.
John I). Moore (father of Commissioner Moore), also from
Virginia, came a little later — was an easy-going, quiet
farmer, dying many years since in the towmship. Peter
Moore was a regular trapper and fisher. John Noble had
a little farm near the ford, three miles below Coshocton ;
for a time kept a ferry there in later years. J. Fulton
was from Maryland — lived on the place best known as the
Ricketts farm, about a mile southeast of Coshocton. He
had a mill (run by the water of a big spring), making more
corn-meal and w^hisky than anything else, said to have
* See " Biographical Sketches."
24 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
been the first mill setup in Coshocton county. Among others
recognized as very early settlers were J. "Workman, from
Virginia (the father of General Jesse Workman), a farmer ;
Joseph Netf, from same State, a tailor ; Asa Hart, from New
Jersey, a blacksmitli ; Andrew Lybarger (grandfather of
Representative E. L. Lybarger), from Pennsylvania, a
tanner; Wm. Whitten, a general business man, the first
justice of the peace ; Dr. Samuel Lee ;* Thomas L. JRue ;*
Adam Johnson (a son-in-law of Charles Williams and the
father of Matthew, diaries, and Wm. A. Johnson), the first
county clerk and auditor ; Wilson McGowau, from Mount
Holly, New Jersey, a gentleman of the continental style,
wearing a " queue," and nourishing a gold-headed cane ;
Alex. McGowan, a younger brother of the above, who set
up as a physician of the Tompsonian school, but was chiefly
occupied in public office, having been many years auditor,
etc. ; Cornelius Van Kirk (a verj' stalwart man), the first
tax-collector and sheriff; James Cantwell, a farmer ; Geo.
McCullough, an Indian scout and hunter ; James Winders
and Geo. Arnold, corn-raisers, and, as reputed, general
" whisky punish ers."
These were all settled in the township before the county
was organized, in 1811 — many of them years before.
FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.
The list of earliest settlersinFranklin township includes
the names of James Robinson, Benjamin Robinson, John
Robinson, Wm. J. Robinson, Michael Miller, Jacob Jack-
son, James Tanner, John Walmsley, W^illiam Taylor, Abra-
ham Thompson, Joseph Scott, John G. Pigman, Obadiah
Davidson, Valentine and Jane Johnson, Geo. Littick, Isaac
Shanbaugh, Philip Ilershman, and Lewis Roderick. One-
half of the township was originally owned by Michael Mil-
ler, Sr., and the Robinsons, each having a four-thousand-acre
tract. James Robinson, William Davidson, and John G. Pig-
man were men of more than the average (for their day) ed-
ucation and force of character. None of those taking part
* See " Biographical Sketches."
Notices of Earliest Settlers, etc. 25
in the organization of the township are now living, but the
descendants of many of them are still well known in the
township. The earlier settlers were nearly all from Vir-
ginia.
The German element, for some years quite prominent in this
township, first became noticeable about 1835. About 1840,
there was a considerable immigration of French. Of later
years, the Germans have been outnumbered by the French,
the former having moved largely to the west. James Rob-
inson, of this township, was a member of the Legislature,
and also an associate judge of the county. G. A. Mc-
Cleary has also been in the Legislature. Henry Schmeser
has served as county commissioner. Isaac Shambaugh was
the discoverer of the Wills creek oil springs. Louis Rod-
erick was a preacher connected with the German Baptists
(Dunkards). He held services mainly at the house of
Philip Hershman for more than thirty years, and- was well-
known throughout the county. He died a few years since
in Lafayette township at the advanced age of ninety-tive
years. Mrs. George A. McCleary is reputed as the first
child born in the township. She was a daughter of James
Tanner. Isaac Shambaugh is doubtless the oldest person
now living in the township. He came from Virginia in
1816, and is nearly ninety. He was a soldier in the war of
1812, as was also Robert Hawk, of this township.
NEW CASTLE TOWNSHIP.
Robert Giffin was among the earliest settlers in New
Castle township. He was, for a number of years, the
largest landholder in it ; but, after a time, sold out his
interest there and became more largely identified with
Knox county. Edith Hull, a very early tax-payer in the
township, was Giflin's sister. They are reported as being
from the State of Delaware.
Thomas Butler and Joseph Severns are reputed as
having come into the township about 1806. They were
both from Virginia — the south branch of the Potomac.
They were connected with Robert Darling, and he and
they removed to Ohio about the same time. Mr. Severns
26 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
(lied in 1857, being about eighty years of age. A son, of
same name, died near New Castle, in 1850. A grandson is
now living near Coshocton. Samuel Severns, the oldest
son of Joseph, yet living on the old farm on Severn's Ridge,
in New Castle township, is, at this time, about eighty-four
years old. Another son, William, has reached the good old
age of seventy-five years. A son of Mr. Butler, James, is
now living just over the line in Jefferson township, at the
advanced age of eighty-three years ; and another son,
Felix, about sixty-seven years old, resides on the old home
place. Few, if any, people have given character to the
upper Walhonding valley beyond the Butlers. Both Jo-
seph Severns and Thomas Butler were out in the war of
1812.
Martin and David Cox were early settlers, keeping the
post-office, for the township, for many years, at Cox's Cross
roads. John Eli owned the farm on which New Castle now
stands, though the town was laid out by John Clark under
the name of West Liberty. The Meredith family was one
of the earliest and best known in this township. They were
from A-^irginia. Squire Humphrey lived, at an early day,
on the tract now owned by Loyd Nichols. M. Duncan
made his mark, in early times, by building a large stone
house, as also did the two Johns — David and Thomas —
(7 who were among the earliest, coming from New Jersey.
■^9 iJ[a. \N. J ohn - CI . Pigman was a prominent settler in New Castle;
but is reported more fully in Perry, within whose geo-
graphical limits, as ultimately fixed, he lived. John Wolf
was another early settler.
The mother of Thomas Dwyer, of Coshocton, came into
New Castle with her son-in-law (she then being a widow),
Benjamin Farquhar, in 1808. They were from Maryland.
Of Eli Nichols, long a prominent citizen of this township,
mention is elsewhere made.
This township is the home of one of the professors of
the occult sciences, Wm. Gorham, who claims to be able to
discover hidden things, whether of the past or the future,
and has sometimes created a sensation in the classic Owl
Creek valley.
Notices of Earliest Settlers ^ etc. 27
One of the noticeable people of ISTew Castle township,
some years ago, was one Walter Turner, an Englishman,
who figured at a saw-mill in an effort to make the same
water do duty several times — pumping it up again into the
race after it had run over the wheel.
New Castle was one of the four townships organized
before the county was organized (Tuscarawas, Washing-
ton, and Franklin being the others) ; and it is understood
to have been named after ISTew Castle in Delaware.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP.
The first settlers of this township were John Hardesty,
Jacob Cray, Mordecai Chalfant, Peter Lash, Francis Staf-
ford, Frederick Woolford, James Williams, Bradley
Squires, and George Smith. These were all in before
1811. John Hardesty was from Maryland, and came into
the territory afterward embraced in Washington township
before the State of Ohio was admitted. He was a regular
frontiersman, and kept moving with the tide of emigration
westward while his years admitted. He died some years
ago in St. Louis. Edmund Hardesty, also from Maryland,
came into the township in 1811 ; died a few years ago in
Hlinois. Mordecai Chalfant came from Pennsylvania in
1808; was for some time an associate judge of the county.
George Smith w^as from Virginia. Bradley Squires was
from Vermont. Jacob Cray came from Wheeling, Va., in
1808 ; was a farmer ; died about 1864. Thomas Hardesty,
coming from Maryland about 1811, still lives in the town-
ship. Walter McBride, farmer and carpenter, came from
Pennsylvania in 1814 ; he is now more than seventy years
of age.
The township was named at its organization by Mordecai
Chalfant. Through his influence, a small mill was built
in 1810. In 1811 a school-house was erected, and also a
church (M. E.), w^hich still goes by the name of Chalfant's
meeting-house.
OXFORD TOWNSHIP.
It is believed by some that the first settlement made in
the county was made in this township. It would seem
28 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
that, lit all events, the same season that 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.
Williams had come up the Muskingum, and the four above
named had come down the Tuscarawas. The Bakers af-
terward went over into Linton township, and were among
the very earliest settlers there. Isaac Evans brought his
family in 1801, and remained in the township until his
death. He was a captain in the war of 1812 ; was also
one of the associate judges of the county. He built a mill,
and was extensively engaged in farming. In 1806 Philip
Waggoner, from near Carlisle, Pa., came in, and soon
thereafter a brother-in-law, George Loose, and another
named Philip Wolf, and still another, George Leigninger,
all from Cumberland county. Pa. John Junkin, John
Mills, and William and Joseph and John Mulvain, and An-
drew and Ezekiel and Samuel McFarlin were all quite
early settlers. Moses Morgan was an early settler, and
well known as the keeper of the tavern at the forks of the
road to Cadiz and iTew Philadelphia.
LINTON TOWNSHIP.
Among the earliest and best-knowm settlers in Linton
township may be mentioned the following : The Addys,
the Bakers, the McCunes, the Meskimens, the Heslips,
Thomas Johnson, George Magness, the McLains, P. Fowler,
and George Smith.
The Addys were from Delaware. One of the family
(the mother of Rev. John Baker) is perhaps the oldest
person now resident in the township, being in her eighty-
eighth year. They came to Ohio in 1806. The Bakers
were from Pennsylvania. Rezin (father of Rev. John and
Lane) came into the county as early as 1802, and remained
until his death, in 1842, in his sixty-second year. The
family removed from Pennsylvania to Harrison county,
and Rezin, just as he had tiiirly attained his majority,
passed on out west, and hired out with John Fulton, living
near Coshocton until he had earned enough to buy a farm
Notices of Earliest Settlers, etc. 29
in what is now known as the north bend of Will's creek,
of which tract he took possession in 1808. His wife was
in Harrison connty, and she and two children were removed
hy death, he afterward marrying Miss Add}'. Three other
families hearing the name of Baker (Charles and Esaias
and Basil), relatives of the above, came in at a very early
day, and w^ere recognized as of the "bone and sinew" of
the township. The McCunes were also from Pennsylvania,
and came in abont 1806. The Meskimens were from Vir-
ginia (Potomac valley), and were originally quite large
landholders. James Meskimens was a man of more than
ordinary force, and was of the tirst board of county com-
missioners. Joseph Heslip, now living at an advanced
age, in his youth had a passion for a life on the ocean wave.
His father thought " the wilderness " would afford as much
variety and spice, and prevailed upon him, after he had
made a voyage or two, to settle upon a large tract, on part
of which has since been built " the Linton mills " and the
little circumjacent village. The elder Mr. Heslip was a
minister, and was much observed in the neighborhood be-
cause of his regard for the Sabbath, in a day when the
chief use made of it was to hunt and iish.
As early as 1808 Andrew Tairare built a little mill 011
Wills creek, about fifty rods above where the mill now
stands, but a freshet soon swept it away. A few years
later Mr. Loose built a mill near the mouth of Bacon run,
making, wnth the volunteered help of the neighbors, a race
some eighty rods long. But that was the day of liard toil.
A walk of ten or twenty miles for a quarter of tea by a
boy was nothing unusual, and a journey to Cambridge or
Zanesville for a little flour was a common thing. Of
Thomas Johnson an extended account is given in the
" Biographical Sketches."
George Magness was from Maryland ; was in the war of
1812. Of the McLains, mention is made in Lafayette.
Fowler and Smith were from Virginia ; both in war of
1812. These all died at an advanced age in the township,
and are still represented therein by descendants.
30 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Among the more }»rominent families of later date have
been the Shafer, Sibley, Bassett, Love, Glenn, and Hes-
kett.
PERRY TOWNSHIP.
Among the earliest settlers in Perr}^ township who have
attracted most attention were the following : Samuel Far-
quliar ; came from Maryland with six sous and five daugh-
ters ; lived to be over ninety years of age, and none
of his children liave died under eighty. They were
Quakers in their religious views, farmers as to employ-
ment. John Pritchard, a Baptist preacher ; Wm. Coulter,
from Bedford, Pennsylvania, who did most of the survey-
ing in the western part of the count}'', and, it is said, with
" a grape-vine chain ;" Joshua Cochran, originally from
Dublin, Ireland, directly from Maryland, who had six sons
and five daughters ; also his sons-in-law, John and Solo-
mon Smith, all coming in about 1814 ; Joseph W. Pigman,
a famous Methodist Episcopal preacher, who was associate
judge, and was also in the Legislature. He came from Cum-
berland, Maryland.
The first residents of the township to pay taxes on real
estate were Andrew Billman, holding southwest quarter of
section twenty, and Ann James, holding the northeast quar-
ter of same section, and the southeast quarter of section
twelve. That was in 1817. Several of those who at that
time were non-resident tax-payers, as, for instance, John
Berry, Samuel Farquhar, John Pritchard, and Peter Dillon,
soon took possession of their lands.
William Dillon, father of Israel Dillon, the present clerk
of the court, came from Greene county, Pennsylvania, to
the township about 1815 ; entered and cleared a quarter
section of land, continuing to occupy it until his death, in
18G2, he being then sixty-eight years of age. He was a
zealous Baptist.
Dr. E. G. Lee, the first physician in the towhship, came
from Mount Vernon, and laid out a town called J^ew Guil-
ford. Calvin Ilill, also from Mount Vernon, built a store-
room on one of the lots, and kept the first store. The next
year David McIIenry opened a hatter's shop.
Notices of Earliest Settlers^ etc. 31
Soon after ISTew Guilford was laid out, John Conway, who
owned the quarter section of land next east of that on
which Guilford was located, started a town on his land,
calling it Claysville. The rivalry between the towns was
disastrous to both. After some years, they were consoli-
dated under the name of East Union by act of the Legis-
lature. The plat of ISTew Guilford is now all used for farm-
ing purposes, having been practically vacated.
MILL CREEK TOWNSHIP.
Richard Babcock purchased a quarter section of land in
this township, and settled on it in 1812 with his family.
They came originally from Vermont, but had stopped for a
time in Harrison county. Mr. Babcock was killed by a
run-away team about 1823. His widow died a few years
later. His youngest son resided upon the home farm until
his death, in 1874. His grandson, Daniel, now lives upon
the place.
Solomon Vail purchased and settled on a tract im-
mediately south of Babcock, in 1815. He removed to Il-
linois, and there died. His widow still lives— probably the
only one of the parents among the first settlers. Vail had
a hand-mill, on which a few of the settlers did their own
grinding. He afterward, assisted by his brother-in-law,
built the first mill on the creek. It was a primitive affair,
truly, grinding only Indian-corn, which was about all there
was to grind for several years. The stones for the mill were
hauled from Mansfield by Thomas Elliott, who was to i-e-
ceive for his labor a pair of shoes, which Vail, who was a
sort of "jack of all trades," was to make for him.
In March, 1816, Moses Thompson, from Jefferson county,
but originally from Ireland, took possession of his Mill
creek " cabin," which he had built after the most approved
"back-woods" style of the day. He died in 1862 on the
same place. He was the first clerk of the township. His
son S. T. Thompson resides near Keene. In 1817, there
was quite a number of settlers came in. Henry Grimm
(afterward associate judge), Thomas Moore, Joseph Beach,
and John P. Wilson— these, as the former, came from
32 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Eastern Ohio. With the exception of Babcocks and Mrs,
Bible (whose father's name was Tipton), now eightv-five
^•ears old, none of the descendants of settlers prior to 1820
are now in the township. The Sheplons and the Mitchells
came in somewhat later. The township is largely peopled
by those coming from Jefferson and Harrison counties.
The township was originally very heavily timbered, and
most of the early settlers were poor and had very hard
worlv to get their lands. Wolves and other wild animals
were numerous, and sheep could be raised only b}' the
closest attention. Many of the people wore deer-skins,
others linsey. Still, there, as elsewhere, those who made
due exertion soon had enough to eat and wear. As to
drink, as soon as grain was raised, wdiisky was at hand
and freely dispensed. The first " gathering " of men with-
out whisky was at the raising of John Shannon's barn, say
abont 1835.
The first school in the township was taught by David
Grimm, son of Henry. The pupils came from remote
points, and had nothing scarcely but bridle paths to come
by. The first church built w^as the Protestant Episcopalian
at the Knob. Among the earlier settlers of this township
was John Williams, He was a brother of Colonel Charles
Williams, and the father ot Wm. G. Williams, a former county
treasurer, and of Joseph AVilliams, now of Coshocton.
He was in the Revolutionary AVar. At its close he settled
near AVheeling ; was in the Moravian campaign (the cruel-
ties of -svhich he always condemned) ; also w-as in the Cos-
hocton campaign. He moved to Coshocton about 1812;
came into Mill Creek about 1817, and there died in 1833,
when al)out eighty years of age.
PIKE TOWNSHIP.
Daniel Ashcraft, from Peimsylvania, came to what is
now Pike township, and entered the first quarter of land
taken up in that township. His son, Jonathan Ashcraft,
now eighty-four years of age, w^as the first man to plow a
furrow in that township. He also had a saw-mill. Alex-
ander Graham, also from Pennsylvania, came into Pike
Notices of Eat'liest Settlers^ etc. 33
township in 1819. He died in Jul}^, 1844. One of his
sons, William, still resides in the township, and is seventy-
two years of age. Daniel Forker came into the township
in 1824, from New Jersey. He worked at shoemaking for
a number of years in the town of West Carlisle, and then
bought a farm about three miles south of the town, where
he still lives, being about eighty-four years of age. He
served many years as justice of the peace, and also was
county commissioner. Two of his sons, Samuel and Wm.
R., have held the office of county auditor. John Rine
came from Maryland about the year 1819, and is still living
in the township, being over eighty years of age. He was
a soldier of the war of 1812, and now a pensioner. Peter
Ault, in 1814, came from Belmont county, Ohio. He died
in 1844. He was a cooper. Augustine White, Joshua
Lemert, Pierce Noland, and Payne Clark were all from
Virginia. Clark came in in 1808, farmed extensively for
several j^ears, and then removed to Indiana. Lemert came
in 1810, and was for years a prominent citizen of the town-
ship. His descendants are still well known in the region.
White came in 1818; reared a large family ; died in 1852.
ISToland came in 1814 ; was a farmer ; died in 1834. Adam
Gault came into the township in 1815 ; was from Pennsyl-
vania ; died in 1846. About 1817, Samuel Perkins, from
Pennsylvania, entered the tract on which West Carlisle is
now situated.
WHITE EYES TOWNSHIP.
The first freeholder in this township was John Hender-
son, who was in possession of four hundred and eighty acres
of land in 1818. His brother, George, is understood to
have been interested with him, and they were both occu-
pants. They were from Beaver county, Pennsylvania.
George died on his farm in White Eyes, at advanced years,
in 1868.
In 1818, Michael Stonehocker settled in White Eyes.
He was from Jefterson county, Ohio, not far from Smith-
field. The next year Jacob Stonehocker, brother of Mich-
ael, and John M., the father of both Michael and Jacob,
came to White Eyes. John M. died in a few years.
3^ Historical Collections of Coshoctoti County.
Michael removed to Powsheik county, Iowa, m 1865. Ja-
cob died in Wliite Eyes.
Michael Frock was born in Chester county, Pennsyl-
vania, ]\Iay 9, 1785. He married Elizabeth Seldenright, in
1807. In. 1818, they came to White Eyes. He was the
iirst justice of the peace of that township. His wife died
in 185G, and himself in 1871.
Abner Kimball, from New Hampshire, settled in White
Eyes in 1818 ; died in 1870.
John McPherson, from Virginia, was a resident of White
Eyes from 1821 to 1834. He was a soldier in Anthony
Wayne's army.
Robert Boyd, from county Donegal, Ireland, came to
White Eyes in 1824. He died in a few years. His sons
are yet well-known citizens of the neighborhood.
The Ravenscrafts were among the best known citizens
of White Eyes for many years. They were freeholders in
1820. One of the family (William) was a Revolutionary
soldier. James was county surveyor for some years. He
died in the township about 1854.
John Carnahan came to White Eyes in 1826, and in the
following year his father and the rest of the family, viz. :
Adam, James, Ellanor, Andrew, Thompson, William,
Nancy (now Mrs. Alex. Renfrew), Eliza, and Hugh. Most
of these are still in the laud. The family came originally
from AVestmoreland county, Pennsylvania. John, the first
named, died November 21, 1869, being sixty-six years old.
His wife (Sarah Marshall, of Jefierson county) died Janu-
ary 30, 1872, aged about seventy-three years.
George McCaskcy, from Donegal county, Ireland, came
to White Eyes in 1819, and remained on the same farm
until his death, in 1871. He was eighty-six years of age.
His wife died in 1862, in her eightieth year.
Wm. liimebaugh, long a resident of this township, was
countv auditor.
Notices of Earlier Settlers, etc. 35
CHAPTER V. 1248178
SOME NOTICES OF THE PRINCIPAL EARLY SETTLERS, AND OTHER MATTERS OF
INTEREST PERTAINING TO EACH TOWNSHIP.
Thompson has been a prominent name in the heraldry of
Bedford township from the start. The name, familiar and
in good repute in all that region, was among the first, if
not the first, heard in the township as that of a settler.
James Thompson, a native of New Jersey and a soldier in
the Revolutionary War, settled near West Bedford, in 1808.
Henry Haines and his bachelor brother, John, came in about
the same time. They were from Bedford count}^, Pennsyl-
vania ; as also was Miefearel Heaton, who laid out the town yvi^L^^^Y
of West Bedford. Heaton set up the first loom in the ^
township, and for many years his own and his wife's fame
was good in connection with '• the fine linen," which was
quite a thing in that day. Thomas and Edward Smith
came in about the close of the war of 1812. The story
was long current that the latter accompanied some Amer-
ican soldiers on their return home from Canada, where he
had been in the British army.
The first resident land tax-payers were Ezra and Thomas
Horton. They had some blooded-stock, and were well up
in " the horse talk " of their day. Elias James still lives
on the place in the township where he settled at a day giv-
ing him rank among " the earliest settlers," paying taxes
on it since 1822, but occupying it at a still earlier day. The
family was from Virginia. John MclSTabb entered, before
much land was taken up in the township, the place now oc-
cupied by his son. So, likewise, did Thomas Norris, Sr.
Daniel and James McCurdy, long known in the township,
were among the pioneers. So, too, were Bennett Browner,
Nathan Evans, Edward McCoy, Henry Rine, Wm. Rich-
ards, and Hugh Barrett.
The township got its name through the influence of the
settlers who had come from Bedford, Pennsylvania.
36 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
VIRGINIA TOWNSHIP.
In Vii'ijinia township, as in some others, there were some
who spent a single season taking a little tract bj^towahawk
title, or beginning a little clearing, and then selling out their
claims to some one coming along a few months later. The
first settler, properly so called, in this township, was proba-
bly Joseph Tilton, coming in about 1804. He was from
Maryland. Considerably beyond the four score, he still
lives in the township. His descendants are, for the most
part, in the west. Joseph Wright and Joseph McCoy came
together into the township, December 24, 1806. Mr.
"Wright died, April 1, 1867, being eighty-seven years of
age. Probably no one was more prominent in the town-
ship. His oldest son, Willis, is now a resident of Coshoc-
ton. Another son, Thomas, still lives in the old home
township. Mr. McCoy, a number of years ago, was injured
by a horse in his stable, and died from the efi'ects of the
injury, being in his eighty-seventh year. His children (one
of them now eighty-two years of age), are well-known
residents of Virginia or Jackson townships. Wm. Norris
settled in Virginia township in 1808, and remained until
his death, which occurred many years ago, at advanced
years. One son, Daniel, died in 1875, aged eighty-one
years. Another son, Samuel, still lives in the township,
as also other descendants. These three families were all
from the south branch of the Potomac, and were somewhat
intermarried. Kancy Hays was a daughter of J^orris —
afterward married to Joseph McCoy. Mrs. Hays was a
tax-paying landholder in 1814. Elisha Compton, now of
Roscoe, married her daughter.
Henry Slaughter settled in Virginia township in 1812.
He died in 1858, in his eighty-seventh year. Alex. Slaugh-
ter and Dr. Slaughter are his sons.
Beall Adams also came into Virginia in 1812, settling
upon three hundred and twenty acres of land. He died, at
advanced age, some years ago. Two of his sons are still
in the township. John Graves — the father of Weslev, of
Notices of Earlier Settlers, etc. 37
Jackson township, and also of Joseph — came into A'irginia
in 1814.
The descendants and snccessors of the early settlers, as
they themselves did, have given their attention almost
exclnsively to agricultural affairs.
The township was called Virginia, in remembrance of
the old home of most of the early settlers.
KEENE TOWNSHIP.
Geo. Bible is recognized by many as the first settler in what
is now Keene township. He came from Virginia very early
in the century; was a good example of the Daniel Boone
type of pioneer; loved the solitude of the woods, and was
happiest roaming them, with no companion save dog and
rifle, or sitting by his cabin fire " far from the haunts of
busy men." James Oglesby w^as a ver}' earl}^ settler in the
towniship, some say the earliest. He also came from Vir-
ginia, and is said to have traveled up the Muskingum and
Walhonding rivers, in true Indian style, in a canoe. Bar-
tholomew Thayer and Samuel Wiley were Eevolutionary
soldiers — taking up lands with their land warrants. Mr.
Thayer and his wife were buried on their farm, near Keene.
He died in 1826 — about seventy years of age; she in 1825,
at same age. A son, over ninety years of age, is reputed
as still living at Elyria, 0. Jesse Beal, the founder of
the town of Keene, was from Kelson, Cheshire county,
IST. H. He died about 1835, being some forty-five years
of age.
Adam Johnson (father of Dr. M. Johnson, of Roscoe)
and Dr. Benjamin Hill were born in Cheshire county, N.
H. ; came to Keene about 1820. The doctor returned to
]!Tew England and died, after burying his wife, Avho lies in
the Keene burial-ground. Mr. Johnson was a good repre-
sentative of Continental days; strong in body and mind;
dignified in manner; wore a queue; had knowledge of
the Latin language ; was a student of the philosophies.
James Pew was a soldier of 1812, still living in the
township. The Farwells came in about 1825, from
Cheshire county, N. H. Benton and Farwell built the
38 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
first grist and saw-mill iu the township. Eobert Farwell
kept hotel for many years in Keene. William Livingston
was a justice of the peace, shrewd in judgment, but keeping
such a docket that it was nicknamed " Bulwer's Novels."
He died in 1840, aged seventy-two years. Andrew and
Elisha Elliott and Henry Eamsey were well-known resi-
dents of Keene township, all immigrants from Ireland.
Ramsey kept store in Keene about 1835. All three are
dead.
Timothy Emerson was a citizen of Keene township from
1818 until 1873; came from Ashby, Mass. He reached
the good old age of ninety-six ; was a farmer ; died Octo-
ber 30, 1873, just as arrangements were about being carried
out for removal to Granville, where two children resided.
He was greatly beloved — " a good man."
Jonas Child, Chancery Litchfield, Calvin Adams, Samuel
Stone, and Jacob Emerson were early and active citizens
of Keene township, and long dwelt in it. They were all
from ISTew England.
John Sprague, born in Cheshire county, N. H., in 1796,
came to Keene in 1834 ; recently removed to Illinois.
It will be observed that many of the early settlers of
Keene township were from Cheshire county, 1*^. II., the
county-seat of which is Keene, and hence the name of the
township.
The oldest man now living in the township is doubtless
John Crowley, a Virginian by birth, who came into the
county about 1816. He is verging on to a century in years ;
was for some time sherift", and held other ofi^ices, including
that of member of the legislature.
John Daugherty lived fifty odd years on the farm near
Keene, where he died about ten j^ears ago. George Beaver
is also a very old man, full of memories of the pioneer
times.
The death of two " centenarians," Mr. Humphrey, aged
one hundred and three, and Mr. Oglesby, about one hun-
dred, is reported as having occurred in one day.
The claim is that Keene township can show the longest
Notices of Earlier Settlers^ etc. 39
roll of very old people. Still people do sometimes die even
in Keene.
JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
The first resident tax-paying landowners in Jackson
township were the Fosters (Samuel, William, David, Ben-
jamin, Moses, and Andrew). The family was originally
from Virginia, but came to Jackson township from Har-
rison county, Ohio, in 1816. The father died soon after
the removal. David died some twenty years ago, and Sam-
uel some two years. Moses and Andrew removed to the
west a number of years ago. William still lives at ad-
vanced years where he first settled upon his marriage.
Barney and Thomas Cantwell were very early settlers in
that part of Jackson township which originally belonged
to Tuscarawas. The run just below Roscoe was long
known as " Cantwell's run." Abel Cain was another very
early settler.
About 1814 a man by the name of Sible built a small
distillery on the farm just south of Eoscoe, now 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 thunder-gust mill, as it only ran 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."
Brown was from Massachusetts ; first located, in 1814, at
Rock run, three miles south of Coshocton. In 1816 he
settled on a tract about a mile and a half west of Roscoe,
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
number of years (until he united with the church) he de-
pended 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 neigh-
bor Sible's corn-juice, sweetened with neighbor Creig's
40 Histoi'ical Collections of Coshocton County.
maple-sugar (see below), was always equal to the demands
thus made. Later in life Mr. Brown engaged in the making
of brick. He remained in the vicinity until he died, in
February, 1871, aged eiglity-four years. He was for many
years a useful and highly esteemed citizen.
About 1815 a man by the name of Creig bought forty
acres of land, and built a cabin a little south of Robert
Crawford's residence, on the tract now owned by Burns
and 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 coiiee,
tea, whisky, etc. Mr. Creig died about 1826, and the family
removed from the county.
Theophilus Phillips was from the State of New Jersey.
He lived in Zanesville several years, and in 1815 entered and
settled upon the farm now best known as the Dr. Roberts'
farm, in the western part of Jackson township. In 1816
he sold this tract, and built a cabin in what is now Roscoe,
and having lived in that a few years, he built, in 1821,
the first brick house in the vicinity, using it for a tavern
for a number of years. He moved to Indiana about 1845,
and there died in 1858, being seventy-four years old. His
daughter, Mrs. Hutchinson, is still living in Roscoe, under-
stood to be the only person resident in Roscoe in the day
of the opening of the "Phillips' tavern."
Reuben Hart was a brother-in-law of Phillips, also from
New Jersey, and in 1816 occupied the farm next to Phil-
lips, now known as the Wallace Sutton farm.
Wm. Starkey came from Virginia in the spring of 1815,
worked for a time in Carhart's tannery, one mile north of
Roscoe ; afterward lived for a time in Coshocton, but is an
old settler in Jackson.
John Denioss (father of Lewis Demoss, of Empire Mill)
came from Virginia, and settled in Jackson township in
1817. He bought out Samuel Brown, as elsewhere stated,
and lived on the tract until his death, March 4, 1840.
Abraham Randies and Thomas J. R9,mphey came from
Virginia, about 1817. They have both been dead many
Notices of Earlier Settlers, etc. 41
years. John Randies, son of Abraham, is supposed to be
the oldest citizen now in the township that was born in it.
CLARK TOWNSHIP.
The earliest settlers in Clark township are understood
to have been the following : Parker Buckalew, from Vir-
ginia, came in about 1817, settling in Killbuck valley ;
Isaac Hoagland, from Virginia, was here at a very early
day ; Abraham Miller, also a Virginian, came in about
1819 ; Andrew Weatherwal^ a I^ew Yorker, arrived about
same date ; Piatt Williamson, from Virginia.
These were all farmers, and encountered the hardships
and perils in that line of work.
About 1820, Eli Fox, originally from the State of New
Hampshire, but directly from Zanesville, built a mill on
Killbuek, to which the settlers had to blaze paths. The mill
was burned in 1829. Before it was built the people went to
Knox county for flour, or got it at Zanesville, as well as
other goods, which they received in exchange for logs cut
on the banks of the Killbuek, and rafted down to that
place.
John and William Craig, from Western Pennsylvania,
fixed their stakes on Doughty's fork of Killbuek before
1820.
Joel Glover, from Jefferson county, long holding the im-
portant office of justice of the peace, and who (as well as
his children) has " stood high " among his fellow-citizens,
dates his location among the hills of Killbuek, 1829.
It is understood that the township was named in honor
of old Samuel Clark, long a county commissioner, who was
among the earliest and most highly esteemed citizens of the
Killbuek valley.
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.
In 1818, the tax-paying landholders in Jefferson township
were Joseph Butler, Thomas Butler, Robert Darling,
Stephen Meredith, and Abner Meredith. They were all
from Virginia. Darling and the Butlers came in 1806 ; the
Merediths a little later. They and their descendants have
been well known in the land. One of Darling's sons
42 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
(Thomas) was for years county commissioner. They were
all farmers.
Henry Carr came from Virginia in 1805, and, after rais-
ing a few crops in the prairie in Bethlehem township, set-
tled in Jefferson. He was the grandfather of ex-sheriff
J. H. Carr.
Colonel Wm. Simraous, a Virginian, who had been a
colonel in the Revolutionary War, received for his services
" Simmons section," the southeast quarter of this town-
ship, and settled thereon about 1819. He died at a good
old age, and was buried on his farm. The family was one
of the few who brought a carriage with them to the count3^
A sou, C. W. Simmons, was in the Legislature; now re-
sides in Iowa at very advanced age. A daughter was mar-
ried by General Wm. Carhart.
John Elder emigrated from Ireland to Virginia in 1804,
and thence came with the Darlings to the Walhonding
valley, in 1806. After making several other locations, he
settled in Jefferson township about 1820. He died in 1851,
on his farm, now occupied by his son, Cyrus Elder, a little
west of Warsaw. He was a full-blooded, count}- Antrim,
Presbj^terian. 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 Thompsons, Givens, and Moores have also long been
among the well-knoAvn citizens of this township, and the
two lirst named were very early settlers in it, coming from
r£.LCUA^^^ <^^> > ^ D yl^ '^^ e^r Eftistew) 0h4o. The Tredaways have also
been long in the land.
CRAWFORD TOWNSHIP.
The early settlers in Crawford township were almost,
without exception, Pennsylvania Germans, and the leading
element of the township is even j-et of at least German
descent; Protestant as to religious faith. Most of the
tracts of land originally taken up were small, and it is the
most densely populated — more inhabitants to the square
mile — of any of the townships in the county. In 1822 the
Notices of Earlier Settlers, etc. 43
resident landholders were Philip and John Fernsler,
George and William Gotshall, John and Jacob Lnke, John
Smith, Daniel Salsbnry, John Albert, and William Stall.
These were all in the township a little before that time,
but then were tax-paying residents. The township was
organized in 1828, and from 1830 to 1850 the inflow of pop-
ulation was very great, the township having in the latter
year some 1,500 people in it. The Crawfords and Hime-
baughs and Lorentzs and Lowens and Everharts and
Wiuklplecks and Doaks are reported as old and well-
known families of this township. From 1850 to 1870 the
population of Crawford fell off nearly three hundred, and it
is said many of the old " first families " in point of settle-
ment are now scarcely represented in it. The name of the
township is said to have been given in honor of Associate
Judffe Crawford, who held a considerable tract of land in
it, and was very popular.
MONROE TOWNSHIP.
Among the pioneers of Monroe were James Parker,
William Tipton, Daniel and Jeremiah Fetrow, William
Grifiith, Thomas J. Northrup, William Bailey, Anthony
Evans, and Jonas Stanberry.
The population has never been very distinctly marked
as to nationality. In later years there was for a time a
considerable inflow of Germans, but the tide, even in respect
to these, soon ebbed rather than flowed. The modesty of
the people, or the fact that there has actually been little of
general interest in "the previous condition" of the early
settlers or the movements of the township, makes these
notices exceedingly brief. The capital of the township
was originally designated Van Baren, but a change having
been determined upon, the gallant citizens, it is said, con-
ferred the honor of selecting the new name upon the wife
of the principal of the academy (George Conant, now of
Coshocton), and she, with an eye to natural fitness, called
it Spring Bloimtain. The region may be called the high-
lands of the county, and the population likely to be drawn
to it, as hitherto it has been, will be chiefly of the frugal
44 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
and contented sort. It has furnished what indeed some of
the more fertile and famous townships have not — a mem-
ber of the legislature (Hon. E. L. Lybarger), to say noth-
ing of the present auditor and of other county officers.
Evidentl}^ the early settlers gave the township a good
" send-otf."
TIVERTON TOWNSHIP.
In 1817, the only settler who had got his name into the
books as a resident land-owner in this township was Isaac
Draper. He had indeed been in for some time before, as
were a few others; but getting a name and a place in a
new country even yet takes some time. "Tomahawk
titles" were no longer recognized; but transfers of titles,
and verifying of lines, etc., took time when nothing else did.
A few years later than Draper's entering, the following
were in Tiverton : Thomas Borden, Wm. Humphrey, Mat-
thew and William Hirt, Charles Ryan, James and John
Conner, Wm. Durban, John Holt, and Isaac Thatcher.
Tiverton has always been a sparsely settled township —
her people almost purely agricultural, frugal, hardy,
boasting of the good health found in their highlands.
Some of the early settlers came in from counties in Ohio,
somewhat further east or south ; but a very noticeable ele-
ment was of New England or New York origin. Several
of the older branches of the early settlers have paid the
debt of nature — in almost every case attaining to a good old
age, and passing away as quietly as they had lived ; but
the families of forty years ago in Tiverton are, in noticeable
degree, the families of to-day.
AVhen the Walhonding canal was being built, some
expectation was indulged of Tiverton attaining quite a
degree of commercial importance, and especially of its
i?oc/ic.s7(T reaching prominence as a manufacturing point;
but this failed with the failure to extend the canal.
BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP.
"When this township was organized, the honor of naming
it was given to the then oldest resident of the region, who
Notices of Earlier Settlers, etc. 45
was Wm. Speaks, a Revolutionary soldier, and he named
it Bethlehem.
Very early in the century, say about 1801, Wm. and
Samuel Morrison, Ira Kimberly, and James Craig lived in
what is now Bethlehem township. The first three were
from Virginia. Craig, after a few years, moved to Coshoc-
ton, where he and all his family died, about 1814, of " Cold
Plague." John Bantham and Henry Carr came to Bethle-
hem about 1806 — the former from Virginia, the latter from
near Baltimore, Md. The Burrells were early settlers in
the township. Joseph Burrell died in the township in
August, 1874, being about eighty-eight years of age.
Benjamin Fry, occupying the laud about " Fry's Ford,"
was also an early settler. Adam Markley, about 1808,
came in with a large family — eight sons and four daughters.
They were all farmers, and nearly all have been buried in
this county. Barbara Markley, in her ninety-first year,
and probably the oldest person now living in the township,
is the widow of Wm. Markley. John Markley, killed by
Geo. Arnold, at an election in Coshocton, in 1816, was of
this family; also David Markley, now living at Lewisville.
Samuel Clark came from Virginia to Coshocton county
about 1801, settling a few years later in Bethlehem, and
there dying, a few years since, at a good old age. He was
a justice of the peace during nearly all his active life; was
also county commissioner several times. Gabriel Clark
came about same time. Three sons of Samuel Clark
(William, John, and Gabriel), with many descendants, are
still living in the county.* Michael Hogle, John Merri-
hew, and David Ash settled in the township, April, 1814.
They were all from Vermont. Michael Hogle raised a
family of nineteen children ; removed to Illinois in 1845,
and died there in June, 1846.
The first mechanic (blacksmith) in the township was
Albert Torrey, about 1814.
* William Clark died, April 14, 1876, of lung fever, at his home in
the township. He had been for some time a justice of the peace.
Was sixty-five years old.
46 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
The first school (in a log liouse) was taught by Charles
Elliott, afterward the famous Methodist preacher, editor,
and college president.
ADAMS TOWNSHIP.
One-half of this township was military land, and the
other half Congress land. Much of the latter was entered
after the township was organized, which was in 1832.
"Wm. Addy was the first tax-paying freeholder (in 1819).
Among the earliest settlers were Robert Corbit ; James
Jones, who, while the region was yet a part of Oxford
township, served as justice of the peace, and his brother
Wm. Jones ; Wm. Norris, from Virginia, whose distinction
was that of having twenty-one children ; Thomas Powell,
an emigrant from England ; John Baker, the founder of
Bakersville, coming from New Jersey ; another branch of
the Norris family settled near Bakersville, and of a some-
what later date, but still in before the township was organ-
ized ; the Campbells from Steubenville, and the Walters
from Eastern Ohio. The first justice of the peace was
Patrick Steele Campbell, who held the office until his
death in 1850« Vincent DeWitt, and Leonard Hawk were
early settlers, and the latter name is still represented in
the township. The Mysers and Shannons, too, have long
had a place " in the land."
LAFAYETTE TOWNSHIP.
Although Lafayette township was the last to be organ-
ized, the territory in it was among the first occupied. As
early as 1801, Charles and Esaias Baker were raising corn
on what is now known as the Colonel Andrew Ferguson
farm. In 1802, George and Wendell Miller came out from
Virginia, and continued to dwell in the township until they
died at advanced years. Thomas Wiggins, also from Vir-
ginia, came in about the same time. In 1804, Francis
McGuire, who had lived in the same locality (on the south
branch of the Potomac, near Romney), whence the Millers
and Wiggins had come, moved to the Tuscarawas valley
Notices of Ea7'lier Settlers, etc. 47
above iN'ew Comerstown, and in 1807 came on down the
valley to the localit}^ in Lafayette township still known as
the " McGuire settlement." The family were carried in a
wagon which was driven along on the bank of the river,
sometimes in it, and they afterward used the wagon-bed as
their shelter and sleeping-place until a cabin could be built,
which, in the want of help to any considerable extent from
neighbors, took more time than in after years. Mr.
McGuire died on the place thus taken up by him in 1853,
being about seventy-six years of age.
In 1804, Seth McLain, also from Virginia, settled near
the Bakers, putting up a cabin near the fine spring which
now supplies Colonel Ferguson's house. After residing
some ten years, the " settlers " discovered they were on
the " Higby section " of military land, and moved over into
Linton township, becoming thus early settlers therein.
McLain married one of the Sells, whose connec-
tions had settled further up the river. His son James
(father of Seth and Colonel R. W. McLain) died a couple
of years ago, aged about seventy-five years. Thomas
McLain came into Lafayette township in 1805, and re-
mained until his death. A son (Isaac) is probably the old-
est citizen now in the township, about seventy-two years
of age.
Joseph C. Higbee, from Trenton, Xew Jersey, settled ou
his military section about 1820, and remained there until
his death, about 1873, in the seventy-fourth year of his
age. It is said his death was hastened, if not caused, by a
violent abuse he received from some one who, it is believed,
purposed robbery. His first wife was Miss Hackinson.
One of his daughters was married to Rev. Mr. Southard,
who was for a time a minister of Trinity Church, New
York. Another is said to have married Mr. Hay, a lawyer, in
Pittsburg. John Richmond, of Orange, married a daughter
by the second wife. As illustrating "the style" of the
man, the story was long current in the neighborhood, that^
when he first came to the country, then in comparatively a
wilderness condition, he brought with him six dozen rufiled
shirts.
48 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
James M. Burt and Andrew Fergnson, long prominent
citizens of the toAvnship, do not lay claim to being among
the " old settlers," but they were in the neighborhood be-
fore it was organized.
Advancement of County in Wealthy etc. 49
CHAPTER VI.
ADVANCEMENT OF COUNTY IN WEALTH, TAXATION, ETC.
The wealth of the first settlers of Coshocton county was
almost wholly in their bold hearts and brawny arms. Some
of them readily carried all their stufi:' in a small watercraft
or on horseback. A few of them had in addition their
broad, uncleared acres. Many of these were entered with
land-warrants at nominal cost. Many acres were bought
for from one to three dollars apiece. Even as late as 1830,
the farm now occupied by J. W. Dwyer was bought at nine
dollars an acre. It had, however, it is only fair to say, been
sold for ten dollars, and the lower price above given was
owing in part to the depression in lands on the east side of
the river, in consequence of the canal having been built upon
the other side. About the same time, some good lots in
Coshocton were sold at sherifi:''s sale for from six to ten
dollars. A few years later, after the bridges had been
built, the land again changed hands at fifteen dollars per
acre. Some of the early settlers spent the first season in
bark or branch huts. The rifle and fishing-line secured
much of the subsistence. It is claimed that old Michael
Miller lived for weeks upon bear and deer meat, most of
the time being even without corn-bread. For many years
barter was the only kind of trade, and at first the skins of
wild animals entered into it largely.* As late as 1825, the
only surplus products of the county were ginseng, maple
sugar, honey, bacon, and whisky. But lands were being
cleared and improved, and appreciated every year. Do-
* Bear and deer meat occasionally graced the tables of the settlers
as late as 1830. Bagnell and Retilley, of Roscoe, about that time
traded for many a venison ham at twenty-five cents apiece. Still
later, General Burns took a wolf-skin as pay for a marriage-license.
Rattlesnakes were never quite so plenty after the exploit of Joseph
Williams, who reports himself as having killed eighty -four in the sum-
mer of 1812.
50 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
mestic stock was increasing rapidly, and soon hogs and
cattle were marketed in large numbers. Droves were taken
east, and store-goods brought back. After the opening of the
Ohio canal, the advancement of the county, in wealth as in
population, was quite marked. Even the mineral resources
of the county began to be regarded as elements of wealth.
Coal was shipped to Newark and Columbus. Flour, bacon,
and whisky, and even dried fruits,* became very considera-
ble features of commercial transactions. Then fine cattle
and sheep began to count largely. The opening of the
railroad gave an impulse to the improvement and advance-
ment of the county unequalled by anything else in its his-
tory. Butter and eggs and domestic fowls soon had more
in them than would pay all the taxes of the people. Shij)-
mentsof coal in an extensive and systematic way began, and,
despite occasional interruptions, steadily grew, bringing
into the county large sums to flow into other wealth-
bearing channels. Better buildings were erected in both
town and country, and fitted with more costly furniture. f
Much improvement was made in farm appliances, the grow-
ing scarcity of labor, especially during the war, necessitat-
ing these. Manufacturing interests were much enlarged ;
and at length when, in 1875, an examination was made by
the proper officers, it was found that the valuation for tax-
ation of the real and personal property was $13,672,770.
As the valuation in 1850 was only $5,026,561, it appears
that even duly allowing for the fact that the later valuation
was aflected by the current inflation, the county has in the
last twenty-five years more than doubled its wealth ; and
this, too, in the face of a diminishing population, as else-
where noted. Of the total valuation about nine and a half
millions are in real, and the other four in personal property.
The principal items of the latter are as follows : horses,
* " Johnny Appleseed," an eccentric but far-seeing man, had fre-
quently journeyed from Wheeling to Mansfield, donating his little
sacks of seeds, and planting his little nurseries in out-of-the-way places
suited for them.
fin 1850, there were only fourteen pianos in the county; in 1875,
one, hundred and twelve.
Advancement of County in Wealthy etc. 51
$488,000 ; cattle, §269,000 ; sheep, $265,000 ; Logs, $75,000 ;
bank and other corporation stocks, $569,000 (of which in
town of Coshocton, $189,000) ; moneys, $469,000 ; book
accounts, credits, etc., $1,110,000 (of which $472,000 in
town of Coshocton) ; merchants' stocks, $232,000 ; car-
riages, $150,000.
TAXES.
Land subject to taxes was, in the early days, divided into
three classes. Of the one hundred and thirty-eight resident
land-holders in 1814, only Robert Darling, Isaac Evans,
Patrick Miller, James Meskimens, Benjamin Robinson, and
Charles "Williams had " lirst class " land. James Meski-
mens, on one hundred and sixty acres of first class and
five hundred and sixty of second class land paid in that
year fourteen dollars taxes. Besides the tax on land there
were license fees paid into the county treasury for keeping
taverns, ferries, and stores. Taxes on personal property
were specific, and not according to value. In 1822 horses,
mares, mules, and asses were each taxed thirty cents ; neat
cattle, ten cents per head, and town-lots one-half per cent,
on their returned value.
The taxes collected in 1812, amounted to something over
$1,000, of which $260 were paid over to the State. The
county treasurer for 1816 reported the collections at $1,319.
In 1822, the number of resident tax-payers was 1279. In
1825, the collected tax was $2,932.34, and the delinquent
list counted up some $700. The tax collected in 1840 was
$23,000. The State tax alone in 1875 was $42,417. The
paying of the bonds given by the county and townships
for the railroad ; the great improvements in school line ;
the construction of half a dozen large and many more small
bridges (many of them of iron), and the erection of the new
jail and sheriff's house and court-house, have for some years
demanded very heavy local taxation. The levy for 1875,
for county purposes, was $68,414, and for other local pur-
poses $80,523.
The indebtedness of the county, March 1, 1876, is an in-
considerable sum, and the townships and villages are in
debt but a few thousands in the aggregate.
52 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER VII.
SOMETHING ABOUT ROADS, FERRIES, BRIDGES, STEAMBOATS, CANALS, AND
RAILROADS.
Some of the earliest settlers of Coshocton county came
into it by the route taken by Broadhead's military expe-
dition, and others by that taken by Boquet's expedition —
the former from "Wheeling, and the latter from Pittsburg
to the Tuscarawas valley. The roads were of course In-
dian 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 rivers and creeks.
While yet a part of Muskingum county, the road through
Coshocton from Marietta to Cleveland had been made.
In 1812, the legislature provided for roads from Cam-
bridge to Coshocton ; from the head of White Eyes plains
to Cadiz, and from Coshocton westwardly. Congress ap-
propriated 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 designated
by the legislature. Many roads laid out in early times have
in more recent years been somewhat altered, but the chief
ones are in alignment wonderfully near the old Indian trails.
An immense propoi^tion of the time occupied in the sessions
of the county commissioners has been from the beginning,
even to this writing, taken up with road matters. With all the
alterations and improvements, Coshocton county has even
yet little to boast of in the way of roads. There is not
prabably at this writing a mile of turnpiked or macadamized
road in the county. Fortunately in many parts of the
county, especially along the valleys, the natural grade is
such and the soil of such composition as to give for most
of the year quite fair facilities for traveling.
Roads ^ Ferries, Bridges, Steafnboats, etc. 53
FERRIES.
Ferries were established very early in the century at
Coshocton and near New Comerstown. Later they were
numerous on the Tuscarawas and AValhonding rivers and on
Will's creek and Killbuck creek. The business was never
a very remunerative one to those operating the ferries, and
the appliances rather rude. In 1817 the price of license for
the ferry at Coshocton was put at sixteen dollars, and for
the upper Tuscarawas at seven dollars. The authorized
charge for ferriage was : for footman, six and one-quarter
cents ; horse and rider, twelve and one-half cents ; loaded
two-horse wagon, seventy-five cents. As might be ex-
pected, the attention of the ferryman was not always close.
A witness in the court once declared that he " had been en-
tertained (detained) for two hours waiting in the rain for
the coming over of the ferryman." At another time the
ferryman in charge declining on account of ice to come
over, a settler famed for his courage and strength, and
fresh from a visit to his girl " up the country," swam over
the river, and not stopping to fully dress, " threshed " the
ferryman and a dozen bar-room loafers in the tavern near
by. At the ferry at the mouth of Will's creek John H.
Hutchinson lost a valuable pair of horses, and barely es-
caped with his own life, the flat having been carried away
by the force of the swollen stream, when the horses had
not got a complete footing, and were dragged down by the
wagon, which was heavily loaded with iron castings being
brought from Zanesville for the Coshocton mill. It is said
that one of the earlier ferrymen (perhaps an employe of
W^illiams) at Coshocton for a time hved with his family in
the trunk of an immense tree, quite after the big kind now
attracting so much attention in the Yosemite (California)
region.
Sanuel Morrison seems to have been the last licensed
ferryman at Coshocton, and James M. Burt's father at the
upper Tuscarawas ferry.
54 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
BRIDGES.
A toll-bridge was built for the county over Killbuck in
1818 by Adam Johnston, at a cost of $495. Thomas John-
ston and others, authorized by the legislature, built one over
"Will's creek. After many years this was turned over to the
county, on condition that it should be repaired and kept up.
A bridge was built over the Tuscarawas at Coshocton in
1832 by Elisha Gibbs, Robert Hay, and William K. John-
son, under the supervision of James Renfrew, Samuel Lee,
and Benjamin Ricketts, who were designated for the pur-
pose by the county commissioners, and especially repre-
sented the citizens, who made donations (amounting to
$1,200) for the building of this bridge, in order to have it a
free bridge. It was carried away in a freshet about a year
after it was finished.*
In 1836 a contract for the present bridge over the Tusca-
rawas, and also the one over the Walhonding at Roscoe
was made with William Renfrew, James Hay, Thomas
Johnson, and Robert Hay. The Tuscarawas bridge was
finished in 1837, and the other in the following year. The
contractors received for both bridges $19,900. That was a
large sum for a county exjDenditure in those days, and there
was some difiiculty in obtaining it. Sealed proposals for
the loan were invited, without response. General Burns
was sent by the commissioners to Baltimore to get the
money, but failed. Ten thousand dollars of it were at
length obtained through the Bowmans of Brownesville,
Pa., legal custodians for some parties in Columbiana county,
Ohio, and the other $10,000 from the " Ohio Life and Trust
Company." For the first ten years the county was to pay
only the interest and in the second ten the interest and
$2,000 per year of the principal.
The next considerable bridge erected was a wooden one
at Walhonding about 1854. It got out of shape, and was
regarded by many as insecure, and was rebuilt in 1860.
* " Sal's Gut," a bayou near the Tuscarawas bridge troubled the old
settlers a good deal, but it was at length filled.
Roads, Ferries, Bridges, Steamboats^ etc. 55
Again giving way, it was superseded by an iron bridge in
1872. Some of the material in the old bridge was used in
the masonry 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
Bachman Brothers and IST, 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 re-
placed by the Cincinnati Bridge Company (of which for a
time the Coshocton Iron and Steel Works was a partner) in
1875.
The next bridge built was the Meskimens bridge, on the
upper Tuscarawas, about 1854, costing some $10,000. This
also was disturbed and somewhat rebuilt. The river having
in 1861 cut a new channel, necessitated a new bridge a few
hundred yards east of this one, the cost of which was about
$9,000.
In 1868-9, the "Warsaw and Fry's Ford bridges (wooden)
were built. John Shrake, of Newark, was contractor for
masonry on both. The superstructure of the former was
contracted for by B. & J. Haggerty, and of the latter by
John Hesket. The masonry of the Warsaw bridge cost
$6,765 ; of the Fry's Ford, $6,709. The superstructure of
the former cost $8,893, and of the latter, $6,100.
The Orange bridge w^as built in 1870 ; the masonry — IN".
W. Buxton, contractor — cost $8,311 ; the superstructure
(iron), J. W. Davenport, contractor, cost $7,258.
An iron bridge was built over the Mohican, a little above
Walhonding, in 1871. 'B,. W. Buxton constructed the piers
and abutments for $4,465, and the Massillon Iron Bridge
Company furnished the superstructure for $5,070.
The Lafayette bridge (iron) was built in 1873 ; stone-
work by -N". W. Buxton ; cost, $6,290; superstructure by
Cincinnati Bridge Company (J. W. Shipman & Co., of Cin-
cinnati, and Coshocton Iron and Steel Works) ; cost, $8,746.
The commissioners are proposing to mark the centennial
year by building a bridge near Morris' Ford (two miles be-
low Coshocton), and another at Robinson's Ford (seven
56 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
miles below Coshocton), over the Muskingum river. The
masonry of the upper one has been let to S. II. Moore, of
Tuscarawas township, and of the lower one to Perry Collins,
of Knox county. The superstructure of both is to be fur-
nished by the Smith Bridge Company, of Toledo. They
will be sixteen feet wide (wooden), and cost, together, some
$21,000.
STEAMBOATS.
Until the Ohio canal and Muskingum imjorovements were
made, steamboats occasionally came up to Coshocton. The
original proprietors of the town designated certain lots on
the river bank as " warehouse lots," looking to shipments
by river. By act of the legislature, the Muskingum, Wal-
honding, and Tuscarawas rivers, and Killbuck, Mohican,
and Will's creeks, within Coshocton county, have been de-
clared " navigable streams."
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 Jacobsport by
Mr. Parker, proprietor of the mill, and was running as a
pleasure and burden boat for short distances on Will's creek.
CANALS.
That part of the Ohio canal (from Cleveland and Lake
Erie to Portsmouth, on the Ohio river) lying in Coshocton
county was built in 1827-30. Among the chief contractors
were the following citizens of the county, viz. : Thomas
Johnston, Wm. 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 Coshocton, who
had a contract, and was killed while superintending his
work by a falling rock. An amusing incident was the ex-
ploit 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 declared
she would shoot a man on the other side of the river, who
was only an old bachelor, and, therefore, as she alleged, of
Roads ^ Ferries, Bridges, Steamboats, etc. 57
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 Cleve-
land, 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 adjoin-
ing counties.
The Walhonding canal was commenced in 1836, and fin-
ished in 1842. In the engineering corps were William H.
Price, Charles J. Ward, John Waddle, Jacob Blickensder-
fer, Henry Fields, and 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. Mofiitt, Isaac Means, John Crowley, W. K.
Johnson, and others. This canal lies wholly within the
county, extending from Roscoe to Kochester, twenty-five
miles. It cost $607,268.99, or an average of $24,290.76
per mile.
The first superintendent of the Ohio canal, residing at Ros-
coe, was S. R. Hosmer, now of Zanesville. Alonzo Ransom,
James Hay, John Mirise, James Carnes, andWm. E. Mead,
also held this ofiice. The first collector was Jacob Welch,
from Boston, Massachusetts, who (and also John M. Sweeny)
had been in the engineering corps under Leander Ransom.
At his death E. Bennett was appointed. The following
persons have held that position, viz. : John D. Patton (now of
Washington City), Houston Hay (of Coshocton), Chauucey
Bassett (now in Illinois), Wm. M. Green (ex-postmaster of
jDayton), C. H. Johnston (of Coshocton), James Gamble
(deceased, of Walhonding), and Foght Burt (now in Illi-
nois).
The superintendents of the Walhonding canal were Lang-
don Hogle, John Perry, Wm. E. Mead, and Charles H.
Johnston.
The first canal-boat launched in the county was called
the " Renfrew," in honor of James Renfrew, a merchant of
Coshocton. It was built by Thomas Butler Lewis, an old
Ohio keel-boatman.
It was intended to have the Walhonding canal extended
58 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
to the northwestern ^jart of the State, but there was already
(1842) much talk of a speedier mode of conveyance. The
work had been very expensive, and the members of the
legislature from districts where canals were not regarded
as practicable were indisposed to continue the appropria-
tions. In the days of the prosperity of the canals, several
gentlemen were required to look after their interests in the
capacity of collector, superintendent, and lock-tender, but
of late years Samuel Gardiner has held all these otfices, and
served besides as justice of the peace and county infirmary
director.
RAILBOADS.
The Steubenville and Indiana Kailroad (now merged in
the Pittsburg, Cincinnati and St. Louis Railw^^y) was built
1850-54 — that part of it in Coshocton county in 1852-53.
It 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
N"orthern Indiana and Chicago. But the movements of
another company anticipated part of this plan, and the road
was built to Newark. A few individual 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 hold-
ers of it for 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 ; Virginia, $15,000 ; for all of which bonds were is-
sued. Subsequently, in processes of consolidation and ex-
tension, nearly one-half of this stock was relinquished,
leaving the rest in possession of the county and townships,
No dividend has ever been paid on it, and it is all regarded
as practically sunken. 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 Illi-
nois), John Frew, J. W. Rue, John, Ninian, and Geo.
Ross. Neither these nor any other citizens specially con-
Roads ^ Ferries, Bridges, Steamboats, etc. 59
nected with the building of the road, reaped much benefit
from it, but many have gained immensely, and the general
advancement of the county tlfough it has in amount ex-
ceeded many times over all that was ever invested in it.
Until comparatively recent years, one of the board of direc-
tors 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 ^N'ew York city.
In 1872, a railroad was located (as a branch of the Cleve-
land, Mt. A'^ernon and Columbus Railroad) through Clark,
Bethlehem, Jefl'erson, Bedford, and "Washington townships,
and some work was done on it. But " the panic " of 1873
prevented any further progress for some three years. At
this writing fresh efibrts are being made to complete the
work.
The Massilon and Coshocton Railroad, branching from
the Cleveland, Tuscarawas Valley and "Wheeling Railroad
near Massilon (Beach city), and running to Coshocton, was
located in 1875, and by the hearty assistance 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. Slayton, J. C. Fisher, E.
T. Spangler, and J. C. Pomreue, of Coshocton, have been
actively and oflicially connected with this enterprise. Sev-
eral other railroads, notably one from Liberty, in Guernsey
county, to Coshocton, and thence up the Walhonding val-
ley (a part substantially of T. S. Humrickhouse's projected
" Lake Michigan and Tidewater " Railroad) ; but up to
this writing no effective measures have been taken in rela-
tion to them.
The first agent of the S. & I. Railroad at Coshocton was
John Frew ; then J. W. Rue ; then E. Denmead ; then G.
G. Ridgely (1864).
At West Lafayette, J. W. Rue was the first ; then S.
Ketchum ; then Robert Beall.
At Oxford the agent is James Coles. J. Sawyer has been
for many years the agent of the Adams Express Company
at Coshocton.
I
6o Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER VIII.
COUNTY BUILDINGS AND OFFICERS.
FoK a number of years the courts of Coshocton county
were held in Colonel Charles Williams' tavern, near the
corner of (now) Water and Chestnut streets. Williams was
one of the county commissioners at the time the first court
was held, and then, and for some years afterward, the only
tavern-keeper in the town. He received thirty dollars a
year rent for the court-room, and two dollars per term for
room occupied by juries. Asher Hart occasionally fur-
nished a jury-room. When Alex. 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 Wm. Whitten," standing near corner of Second
and Main streets (now), the site of part of the present " Cen-
tral Hotel," and the courts were held there for some four
years.
In 1819, the clearing and fencing (with post and rail
fence) of the public square was let to Charles "Williams and
Adam Johnston.
In 1821 the commissioners determined to take some
measures for building a court-house, and the auditor was
directed to write letters to the townships touching the mat-
ter, " as an address to the feelings of the people." Twenty-
eight hand-bills, pressing the necessity for such a building,
were ordered to be printed and posted up in the several
townships. Subscription papers were prepared, soliciting
all sorts of building material, and in addition pork, rye,
oats, and corn. At the next meeting of the commissioners
it w^as determined to receive only money on subscription.
At the April meeting in 1822 a plan was settled upon — a
brick building, one story, thirty-two by forty feet, em-
bracing a court-room and two small rooms for juries. No-
tices inviting proposals were ordered to be printed in the
County Buildings and Officers. 6i
Zanesville Messenger and Tuscarawas Chronicle ; the bids to
be opened July 9, 1822. On that day the letting was post-
poned until December, and the plan was somewhat changed.
At the December meeting of commissioners it was con-
cluded not to build at all unless citizens would aid by sub-
scription, and papers were ordered to be again circulated,
it being agreed this time to receive, as at first proposed,
produce as well as building materials and money. The
letting was fixed for April 18, 1823. At the April session,
however, the plan was again changed, and it was resolved
to have a house forty by forty feet and two stories high.
On the day of the sale (April 18th), Peter Darnes bid
$2,185. The commissioners were not willing to award, and
adjourned until next day. Then the contract was given to
Charles Williams, he being authorized and instructed to
associate with him Peter H. Darnes, Abraham Richards,
and Andrew Daugherty. It was substantially finished in
1824. The contract price was $1,984. A small allowance
was afterward made for extra work, etc. The belfry was
completed in 1830 under the supervision of John Elliott.
The bell, still in use on the new court-house, was purchased,
at the request of the commissioners, by William K. John-
son in 1834.
The structure was sold in April, 1875, and removed by
M. Johnston, a grand-son of the original contractor.
It will thus be seen that the building stood for somewhat
more than fifty years. Before it was finished a grand ball
was given in it, and during all its history it was used for
business, political, educational, and religious meetings, and
was doubtless beyond anything else the theater of agents
and operations afiecting and manifesting the character and
condition of the people of Coshocton county. Like the
men of the day in which it was built, it had a measure of
incurable roughness and few trappings, but was thoroughly
square and true and strong and abundantly useful.
The matter of building a new court-house having been
agitated for several years, was submitted to a vote of the
people in the fall of 1872, and decided against by a very
large majority. The following winter the legislature passed
62 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
a special enabling act,* and the matter was proceeded with
steadily, according to the requirements of the law and of
the case. The contract for the new building was in due
time let to S. Harold & Co., of Beaver county, Pa. Work
was begun in 1873. The plans had been prepared and the
work was superintended by Carpenter & Williams, of Mead-
ville, Pa.
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 fol-
lowing month. The contract price was some sixty-five
thousand dollars. Additions, extra work, furniture, and
appliances vastly added to that sum, and the whole cost
may be put down at a round $100,000. On either side of
the old court-house there were built, in 1834, county offices
(brick), one story, about forty by thirty feet. William C.
Blodgett was the contractor, and the contract price was
$1,360.
In 1849 an additional story was built on the north build-
ing by William McFarland. In 1854 the south building
also received an additional story, and W. II. Eobinson and
William Welch were the contractors. These buildings
were sold and removed at the same time with the old
court-house. Just on the site of the present court-house
stood the first jail, built of logs by Adam Johnston for
$1,397 ; some $900 of this sum being the proceeds of sales
of lots in south public square ; also the second jail of
brick. The latter, with sherifi"'s house adjoining, was built
for $2,200 by Eldridge & McGowan in 1836. The present
jail, built of stone, and sherifiT's house of brick, were built
in 1873. The whole cost of this undertaking was about
$30,000. The contractors were M. Johnston and A. Wim-
mer, the former being a grandson of Charles Williams, the
contractor for the first court-house. The plan was fur-
*0n the urgent solicitation of the citizens of Coshocton, who, by
their course in the matter, drew upon themselves the censure of many
in the rural districts. A vigorous effort was made by the village of
Warsaw to have the new court-house built there.
County Buildings and Officers. 63
nished by Carpenter & Williams, of Meaclville, Pa., who
were consulting superintendents, John Dodd, of Roscoe,
being the acting superintendent.
The county infirmary was erected (on the farm of two
hundred acres, two miles east of Coshocton, purchased at
$15 per acre from W. K. Johnson & Co. in 1848) by E. Da-
vis and others in 1849. It is a two-story brick building,
and cost about $3,900. Subsequently an adjoining tract of
land was bought from Henry Wheeler for $2,500, making
the wdiole farm nearly four hundred acres.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS.
The first county commissioners, elected in April, 1811,
were Charles Williams, James Meskimens, and Mordecai
Chalfant. The following shows the incumbents and time of
service in that oflice :
Charles Williams 1811-13 Isaac Darling 1843-49
Mordecai Chalfant 1811-18 Jas Ravenscraft 1844-47
James Meskimens 1811-21 Samuel Lamberson 1845-48
James Calder 1813-17 Alex. Matthews 1847-50
Squire Humphrey 1817-19 George Wolf. 1848-51
Samuel Clark 1818-29 Francis Buxton 1849-52
Samuel Clark 1831-33 Henry Schmueser 1850-56
Robert Darling 1819-25 Thomas Darling 1851-54
Robert Boyd 1821-24 Lewis Swigert 1852-55
John G. Pigman 1824-26 Owen Evans 1854-57
Benjamin Ricketts 1825-28 Abraham Shaffer 1855-58
Gabriel Evans 1826-33 James E. Robinson 1856-59
Richard Moode 1828-31 Wm. Doak 1857-63
John Mitchell 1829-32 Wm. Hanlon 1858-64
John Quigley 1832-34 Jas. M.Smith 1859-65
Andrew Ferguson 1832-38 Thomas Darling 1863-69
Joseph Neff. 1833-36 Joseph Keim 1864-70
Daniel Forker 1834-43 Thomas McKee 1865-71
Eli Fox 1836-39 Joseph S. McVey 1869-75
Arnold Medbery 1838-44 John Taylor 1870
Samuel Winklepleck 1839-42 Samuel Moore 1871
J. D. Workman 1842-45 William Forney 1875
COUNTY AUDITORS.
The first clerk (now called auditor) to the commissioners
was Thomas L. Rue, but after a few meetings he ceased to
64 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
attend, and Adam Johnston was appointed to his place, and
held the office until 1821. The salary at that time was forty
dollars per year. The following persons have held that
office since Johnston ; the dates following being the dates
of their appointment or election :
A. M. McGowan 1821 Wm. Himebaugh 1854
Jos. Burns* 1824 Samuel Forker 1858
J. W. Ruef 1838 C. H. Johnston 18G2
H. Cantwell 1848 W. R. Forker 1866
H. Rahauser 1850 Wm. Walker 1871
B. F. Sells 1852 Wm. Wolf. 1875
COUNTY CLERKS.
The following is the list of persons who have held the
office of clerk, with the date of their appointment or elec-
tion :
Adam Johnston 1811 A. M. Williams 1854
John Frew 1829 Lemuel Kinsey 1857
A. M. McGowan 1836 Chas. K. Remick 1863
Joseph Burns 1843 G. H. Barger 1869
B. R. Shaw 1851 Israel Dillon 1875
COUNTY TREASURERS.
The first treasurer of the county was Wm. Whitten,
holding office from 1811 to 1817. Dr. Samuel Lee succeeded
him, and held the office until 1825. The pay of the office
for a few years was five per cent., then three per cent, on
moneys received, and amounted to from forty to sixty dollars
per year prior to 1818, Dr. Lee was succeeded by James Ren-
frew, who agreed to serve for three per cent., and obligated
himself " not to speculate on the county's money." John
B. Turner was treasurer for 1827 and 1828. A. M. McGowan
for 1829 and 1830. Samuel Rea % became treasurer in 1831.
* Resigned.
t Appointed, and afterward elected.
X Rea was a son of the well-known Rev. John Rea, of Harrison
county. He studied law, and was a man of ability. But he was of too
social a turn — fond of " good fellows " — a fine violinist, lie was
drowned at Fry's Ford, on Walhonding river, in 1834, on his way home
from a convivial party which had been keeping late hours. His estate
and securities satisfied the county's claim.
County Buildings and Officers. 65
In December, 1832, he was removed from office and a
suit begun against his securities for a " shortage " of
nearly $2,000. Robert Hay was appointed in Rea's stead,
and held the office until 1834. Wm. G. Williams was
elected in 1834, and held the office until 1846. Benjamin
Bonnett succeeded him in 1846. In 1849, he left the county
very abruptly, sending in his resignation.* J. W. Rue was
appointed to complete the term of office, ending in 1850.
Wm. P. Wheeler held the office 1850-52. Lewis Demoss
was his successor, and served two terms, going out in 1856.
Samuel Ketchum was treasurer from 1856 to 1859 ; in Oc-
tober of the latter year, owing to the hue and cry about the
treasury robbery,f he resigned, and Samuel Lamberson fin-
* His cash-box was discovered to be in a very bad shape, and his se-
curities were required by the county to respond. He is understood to
have gone to California.
•j- Ketclium was found by some persons who heard his outcry n seem-
ingly exhausted condition in the treasurer's office, about midnight,
January 21. 1859. He alleged that having kept the office ojjen to i^ay
some witnesses from abroad who desired to take a late train, two men
came in, and, throwing a shawl over his head, bound and gagged him,
and took what moneys were in the safe, reported afterward at about
$20,000, the lai'ger part of it State moneys. Subsequently he confessed
that the thing was a job, and implicated James M. Brown, from whom
he said he had in a strait borrowed some money. They were indicted
by the grand jury. A change of venue having been asked by Brown,
the case was tried in Licking county, and on law points carried to the
Supreme Court at Columbus, but in 1870 Brown was sentenced to pay
double the amount abstracted, and spend five years at hard labor in
the Ohio penitentiary. Ketchum plead guilty, after Brown was sen-
tenced, and received the same sentence. While in the jDenitentiary,
Ketchum failed rapidly in health, and in this view, having been par-
doned, came to his home in West Lafayette, and there died in the
summer of 1872, a sad, penitent victim of his own folly, and possibly
of the wiles of even more cunning and unscrupulous men. Brown
was pardoned by Governor Allen in 1874. A considerable sum was
realized by sale on execution of some of the property held in Coshoc-
ton by Brown, but finding the legal complications increasing, growing
out of claims put forward by his relations, the commissioners com-
promised on a less amount than originally assessed. The State, how-
ever, obtained $10,000, and the county nearly the amount lost. But
nearly or quite all that amount was expended in the legal proceedings
connected with the case, and the treasury never got back its own.
66 Historical Collections of Coshocton County,
ished the term, and, being elected and re-elected, served
until 1864. His successor was Samuel Burrell, 1864-68.
Then Thos. Jones came into office, and held the place for
two terms, 1868-72. Richard "W. McLain was in the office
from 1872-76. John Waggoner succeeded him, and is the
present incumbent.
COUNTY KECORDERS.
The first recorder was Adam Johnson, appointed in 1811,
and dying in 1829, Jos. Burns was put into his place, and
held it until 1836, when Geo. "W. Price was appointed. He
died in 1840, and Eussell C. Bryan took his place 1840-46.
The following is the succession, with date of election ; G.
F. Cassingham, 1846 ; John F. Williams, 1855 (resigned in
1857, and R. M. Hackinson filled out his time) ; A. McNeal,
1858 ; C. W. Stanford, 1861 ; L. L. Root, 1864; and M. W.
Wimmer, 1870.
SHERIFFS.
C. Van Kirk 1811-15 Samuel Morrison 1845-49
Chas. Williams 1815-19 Samuel B. Crowley 1849-53
Chas. Miller 1819-21 Richard Lanning 1853-55
John Smeltzer 1821-23 W. H. H. Price 1855-57
John Crowley 1823-27 David Rodahaver 1857-61
T. Butler Lewis 1827-29 John Hesket 1861-65
John Crowley 1829-33 James Sells* 1865-68
J. H. Hutchinson 1833-37 Thomas Piatt 1868-69
Saml. Morrison 1837-41 Joshua H. Carr 1869-73
Jos. C. Maginity 1841-45 John Lennon 1873
PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.
Wright Warner was appointed, at the September term
of court, in 1811, for seven years, but resigned in 1814.
Alex. Harper was then appointed, and continued until
1823, when, having been elected judge, he was succeeded
by Chas. B. Goddard, who served until 1827. W. Silliman,
David Spangler, and Richard Stillwell served for terms of
court until 1830 (March term), when Noah H. Swayne was
* Sells left the county very abruptly, and his bondsmen had certain
claims to satisfy. Piatt succeeded him by virtue of being at the time
coroner of the county.
County Buildings and Officers. 67
appointed for a full term. But in 1833, Josephus Ricketts
having been ele.cted, came into office. He resigned in 1834,
and G. W. Silliman was appointed and afterward elected
in 1835, and liis health failing in 1841, the latter part of his
term was filled out by T. S. Humrickhouse by appoint-
ment. In 1843, and also in 1845, Thomas Campbell was
elected. Then the succession was Wm. Sample in 1849;
John T. Simmons in 1851 and 1853; John D. Nicholas in
1855; and Charles Hoy in 1857 and 1859. Hoy, in 1860
resigned, and Thomas Campbell finished his term. In 1860,
Richard Launing was elected, but in the second year of his
service resigned his oflice to take that of Major in the army,
and Thomas Campbell filled out his term. In 1862, Asa G,
Dimmock was elected, and again in 1864 and 1866. His
health having failed, and he having resigned and removed
in the spring of 1868, R. M. Voorhes was appointed to com-
jDlete his term, and having been elected in the fall of 1868,
and also in 1870, continued in the oflice until it was taken
by the present incumbent, Wm. S. Crowell, who was elected
in 1872.
COUNTY SURVEYORS.
The first county surveyor was Wm. Lockard, appointed
in 1812. He served until 1817, when James Ravens-
craft became surveyor. He resigned in 1819, and AVm.
Coulter was appointed until 1824. Wm. G. Williams then
came into oflice, and served till 1830. Jas. Ravenscraft was
in the oflice from 1830 to 1836. Then came John M.
Sweney, and then John M. Fulks. Henry Seevers was Fulks'
successor, and served until 1852, when Lemuel Kiusey was
elected. C. W. McMorris was elected in 1855 ; R. L. Baker
in 1858; T. F. Latham in 1861 ; he having resigned, Levi
Gamble was appointed in 1864, and then elected in 1865
and 1868. John A. Ilanlon was elected in 1871, and Ceo.
Miller in 1874, being in oflice at this writing.
CORONERS.*
The following j»ersons have held the office of coroner,
viz. : David Bookless, Geo. Leighninger, James Ravens-
* The list is not comiilete as to the earlier ones.
68 Historical Collections of Coshoctofi County.
craft, Abraham Sells, Benj. Coe, Thomas McAnnally, Ad-
dison Syphert, James T. McCleary, Jos. Hitchens, Wm.
Jeffries, Thomas Piatt, Nicholas Schott, and Joh^ Richeson.
INFIRMARY DIRECTORS.
The following have served the county as infirmary direc-
tors : Lewis Row, Jas. Jones, Henry Wheeler, Isaac W.
Miller, John M. Johnson, Stephen D. Sayer, Thomas
Dwyer, D. E. Langhlin, Geo. McCune, J. C. Frederick,
Wm. Simons, James McBriar, John Chambers, JSTathan
Buckalew, John Hawley, Wm. McCoy, C. F. Sangster,
Samuel Gardiner, and Thomas Wiggins.
Connection with State and National Affairs. 69
CHAPTER IX.
CONNECTION WITH STATE AND NATIONAL AFFAIRS.
STATE SENATORS.
For some years after its organization, Coshocton county
was combined with Guernsey and Tuscarawas in a state
senatorial district. From 1820 to 1830, the district was
made up of Coshocton and Tuscarawas, and after 1824,
Holmes, which was in that year organized. Still later,
Knox and Coshocton made the district. Since 1850, Coshoc-
ton and Tuscarawas have formed the district.
The first citizen of Coshocton elected state senator was
Wilson McGowan, serving 1821-22. Samuel Lee was sena-
tor, 1826-27; Charles Miller, 1828-29; James, Eavens-
craft, 1834-36 ; James Matthews, 1838-39 ; John Johnson,
1842-43 ; F. W. Thornhill, 1845-46 ; Andrew Ferguson,
1850-51; Wm. Heslip, 1854-55; A. L. Cass, 1858-59;
Wm. Stanton, 1864-65; James M. Burt, 1866-67, also
1870-71; John C. Fisher, 1874-75.
REPRESENTATIVES.
The representative was elected, until 1820, by Tuscara-
was and Coshocton. Occasionally, at a much later day, to
make the proportionate representation, Coshocton would
elect a representative, and then Coshocton and Knox or
Guernsey together, would have an additional representa-
tive.
In 1814, Charles Williams was elected representative by
Tuscarawas and Coshocton ; in 1816 and also in 1818-20, and
1823, Joseph W. Pigman was chosen ; in 1817, Squire Hum-
phrey. In 1820, Coshocton itself became a representative
district, and James Robinson was the representative, 1820-21,
also 1824; Charles Williams, 1825 ; John Smeltzer, 1827-28 ;
IT. H. Swayne, 1829 ; James Robinson, 1830 ; Charles W.
Simmons, 1831; James Matthews, 1832; John Crowley,
70 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
1833-34-35; Samuel Whitmore, 1836; James Matthews
and F. W. Thornhill, 1837 ; Joseph Burns, 1838-40 ; Jesse
Meredith, 1841-42 ; Geo. A. McCleary, 1843; Jesse Mere-
dith, 1844; Heslip Williams, 1844-45;* Joseph Williams,
1846-47; James M. Burt, 1848-49; Timothy C. Coudit,
1850-52; Geo. McKee, 1852-54; John Pierson, 1854-56;
Patrick Thompson, 1856-58; C. F. Sangster, 1858-60;
James Gamble and J. N. Fellows, 1860-62; Andrew J.
Wilkin, 1862-64 ; F. W. Thornhill, 1864-70 ;t John Baker,
1870-72 ; B. C. Blackburn, 1872-74; John Baker, 1874-76;
E. L. Lybarger, 1876.
In 1812, Coshocton county gave Return J. Meigs, can-
didate for governor, 65 votes ; and to Thomas Scott, opposing
candidate, 21 votes. In 1814, 248 votes were cast for
Thomas Worthington, and one for his opponent. In 1824,
Jeremiah Morrow received 634 votes, and Allen Trimble
531 votes, for governor. In 1834, Robert Lucas got 885,
and John Findley, 705 votes. In 1844, Mordecai Bartley
got 1,749, and David Todd, 2,156 votes. In 1855, WilUam
Medill got 2,007, and Salmon P. Chase, 2,064. In 1865,
J. D. Cox got 1,979, and G. W. Morgan, 2,374. In 1875,
R. B. Hayes got 2,321 ; and Wm. Allen, 2,913.
In the state constitutional convention of 1851, Coshoc-
ton county was represented by John Johnson ; and in that
of 1874, by Wm. Sample, Esq. The opposing candidates
were Captain J. M. Love and E. T. Spangler, Esq.
James M. Burt represented the Coshocton and Tuscara-
was district 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 appointed by the governor to fill the vacancy
in April, 1864. He was elected in October, 1866, and held
thus the legal term of three years. |
*Dr. Williams is reported as the author of the famous "Liquor
Law," passed by that Legislature,
f Speaker of the house, session of 1868-69.
X Removed to Indianapolis in 1875.
Connection with State and Natio7ial Affaii-s. 71
John C. Fisher was appointed a member of the Fish
commission in 1875 by Governor Allen.
CONGRESSMEN.
Coshocton county has furnished four congressmen to
represent the district of which it has formed a part, under
the decennial apportionments. David Spangler, Esq., was
the first of these — elected by Coshocton, Holmes, Knox,
and Tuscarawas counties. He was re-elected — thus serving
from 1833-37. The next was James Matthews, Esq., also
serving two terms, 1841-45. John Johnson was the con-
gressman, 1851-53 ; and Joseph Burns, 1857-59. Since
1870 the district hasbeen composed of Coshocton, Lick-
ing, Muskingum, and Tuscarawas counties.
MISCELLANEOUS.
J. "W. Dwyer was for some time (in Delano's adminis-
tration of internal revenue affairs) supervisor of internal
revenue for the northern district of Ohio, with office at
Coshocton. He was, at a later date, pension agent, with
office at Columbus. W. A. Johnson served, for several
years, as deputy Dnited States Internal revenue assessor;
and John Frew and James Dryden, and Dr. S. H. Lee as
deputy collectors.
U. S. POSTMASTERS AT THE CAPITAL OF THE COUNTY.
Adam Johnson, 1811-29; postoffice on "Water street:
Wilson McGowan, 1829-30; postoffice on Third street:
Wm. K. Johnson, 1830-45; postoffice on Second street:
C. H. Johnson; on Water street: E. F. Baker; on Second
street: Samuel Rich, 1853-54; on Chestnut street; H. iST.
Shaw, 1854-61 ; on Second street : Asa L. Harris, 1861-64;
on Second street : A. H. Fritchey, part of 1864; on Second
street: W. A. Johnson, 1864-65 ; on Second street; K. M.
Voorhees, 1865-68; on Main street one month, then back on
Second st. : T. W. Collier, 1869 ; Main street, corner of Fourth ;
between Third and Fourth ; between Fifth and Sixth.*
* In the " Opera House," erected by J. Heskett, A. Miller, and John
Timmons, in 1873-74. Size, 44 by 100; cost said to be $25,000.
72 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER X.
THE COURTS AND THE BAR.
The first term of the Court of Common Pleas for Coshoc-
ton county was held on the 1st day of April, 1811. By the
legislature the county was placed in the judicial district
over which Hon. William Wilson, of Licking county, was
president judge. William Mitchell, Peter Casey, and Isaac
Evans, three substantial citizens of the county, were also
designated as associate judges. The court sat in the parlor
of Colonel Charles Williams' hotel, as elsewhere stated.
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 importance as
one of the head men of the new county and the host of the
court. It is said new hunting-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 associates were on hand,
and the court "sat" with becoming gravity. Cornelius
Van Kirk was sherifi", and the court appointed Adam John-
ston clerk for the term. Johnston was also appointed re-
corder for the term of seven years, and the only other busi-
ness transacted at that term was the ordering of elections
for justices of the peaee for the townships of Tuscarawas,
Washington, and ISTew Castle, one each, and for Franklin
two. The legislature had provided for three terms of court
for that year, as was done for many years thereafter. The
second term was held in September. At that Judge Wilson
was present, as also the three associates already named. The
full-blown dignity of the court was then attained. Thomas
L. Rue was appointed clerk 'pro tern. A grand jur}^ was
sworn, consisting of the following persons, viz : James
Turner, James Craig, Benjamin Fry, Samuel Clark, Samuel
Hardesty, John Harrison, Isaac Workman, Charles Miller,
Michael Miller, Windle Miller, Henry Miller, Philip Wag-
The Courts and the Bar. 73
goner, Francis McGuire, and John Mills. The jury re-
ported " no business." The docket showed three cases. In
two the writs were quashed, and the other case was " contin-
ued." At the December term the judges were again all pres-
ent, and business began to grow more lively. Adam John-
ston was appointed clerk for seven years. Elections for
two more justices of the peace were ordered for Tuscarawas
township and one for Oxford. The most important case
tried was that of Charles Williams against Adam Markley ;
verdict, nine dollars and sixty cents damages for plaintifi'.
Lewis Cass (afterward so prominent even in E'ational af-
fairs) was Williams' attorney.
The legislature had provided that no term of the court
should extend beyond twelve " working days." For the
first few years actually from one to five days were occupied.
The cases were largely criminal, and especially relating to
crimes against the person, assault and battery and slander
abounding. The sums involved in civil suits seem insignifi-
cant in these days. Pretty large figures were, however,
sometimes put upon the records, as, for instance, when a
decree was, without resistance, taken requiring Matthias
Denman * to execute a certain conveyance on penalty of
having to pay $30,000. Among the curiosities as now re-
garded of the criminal proceedings of the early days is the
sentence passed at the December term in 1814 upon one
Zeba French, convicted of passing a counterfeit note of the
" Miami Exporting Company," viz., that he should be tied
to the public whipping-post and receive thirty-nine lashes
upon his bare back ; also be fined twenty dollars and costs,
and be imprisoned thirty days in the county jail. The two
" unpardonable sins " with the early settlers of most coun-
tries have been passing counterfeit money and stealing
horses.
Judge Wilson continued as president judge until 1822,
when he was succeeded by Alexander Harper, of Zanes-
* He was the grand-father of A. D. and Martin Denman, living in
Springfield, N. J., and at that time a very large landholder in Coshoc-
ton county.
74 Historical Collections of Coshocton County,
ville.* He served two terms, and was succeeded in April,
1836, by C. AV. Searl, also of Zanesville. Richard Stillwell,
of Zanesville, was the next president judge. Owing to ill
health he was not able to attend for several terms of court
in Coshocton. About the end of his term of ofiice Coshoc-
ton county was placed in another district, and James Stew-
art, of Mansfield, became president judge, lie w^as present
at only a few terms of the court before the change was
made under the new constitution. The first judge to sit at
Coshocton under that instrument was Martin Welker, then
of Holmes county, now judge of the United States District
Court for the IlTorthern District of Ohio. Having served
one term of five years, Judge Welker was succeeded in 1857
by "William Sample, of Coshocton. He served for nearly
two terms — ten years — (C. F. Downing, of Wayne county,
serving two months in consequence of Sample's resigna-
tion), and was succeeded in 1867 by William Reed, of
Holmes county, the present incumbent.
Under the old constitution three citizens were designated
by the legislature to occupy the bench as associate judges.
Their terms of ofiice were the same as those of the presi-
dent judges, viz., seven years. The following citizens
served in that capacity: Isaac Evans, William Mitchell,
Peter Casey, Lewis Vail, Joseph W. Pigman, Thomas
Johnson, Benjamin Robinson, Mordecai Chalfant, John
Mitchell, James Robinson, John Crawford, James Le Re-
tilley, Robert Crawford, Benjamin R. Shaw, Samuel Elliott,
Josiah Harris, and James M. Burt. Messrs. Casey, John-
son, John Crawford, and Le Retilley were reappointed.
John Mitchell served for a brief time, filling a vacancy.
Messrs. Harris and Burt served only a few months, having
been inducted just before the adoption of the new constitu-
tion, by which the ofiice was abolished. B. R. Shaw now
resides in Knox county. Messrs. Harris and Burt are still
in the county. The others are all dead, and their sepul-
* Harper bad frequently visited Coshocton as a lawyer, and for several
years had acted as prosecuting attorney for Coshocton county. He
was exceedingly popular with the bar and also with the citizens. A.
H. Spangler and A. H. Fritchey are witnesses— by their names— for
this appreciation by both classes.
The Courts and the Bar. 75
cliers, except that of Peter Casey, who was buried in what
is now Hohnes county, are with us to this day. For the
times and their work, it is claimed that these gentlemen
were, almost without exception, well chosen. 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 system.
There was little claim, by or for these associate judges, of
any special knowledge of the law, and the system under
which they served came in time to be regarded as a sort of
wagon with five wheels — a third estate 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 w^as that telling of the man who declared that it was
terrible to be brought before a court of a thousand men —
the president judge being one (1), and the three associates
the three ciphers (000).
Under the old Constitution, a term of the Supreme Court
of the State was to be holden in each county. In pursu-
ance of this order, the first term of that court was held in
Coshocton in 1814, and every year (except one) thereafter
until 1851. The judges who were first detailed were W.
W. Irwin and Ethan Allen Brown. Afterward came P.
Hitchcock, Jacob Burnet, John C. Wright, Charles R.
Shernan, Rufus P. Spalding, and others — indeed, most of
the judges of the Supreme Court.
Under the Constitution of 1851, a District Court was
provided for, and has annually sat in Coshocton. For
some years one of the three judges required for this court
must be of the Supreme Bench, but under a more recent
law the court is made up of the Common Pleas judges of
the district.
The Probate Court having special relation to social con-
ditions and primary cognizance of all forms of disposal of
property, whether by assignment, testament, or ordinary
rule of inheritance, together with concurrent jurisdiction
in certain matters of criminal sort, was organized under the
Constitution of 1851. It is in daily (week day) session for
some kinds of business, wdiile for criminal and some other
matters terms are appointed. The first judge of this
76 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
court was Thomas Campbell, Esq., of Coshocton, who came
into office in 1852, and served (the prescribed term) until
1855. C. S. Barnes, of Bedford township, was the next in-
cumbent. Then John T. Simmons, Esq., of Coshocton,
served two terms, 1858 to 1864. M. C. McFarland, Esq.,
of Coshocton, served from 1864 to 1870.
Joseph Burns, of Coshocton, was the next judge, taking
the office in 1870. He died in May, 1875, and Governor
Allen appointed F. "W. Thornhill, of Coshocton, to serve
until the fall election, and at that he was elected to till out
Burns' unexpired term. Alex. Hanlon, of Mill Creek
township, at the same time was elected for the full term,
and is the present incumbent.
THE BAR.
Wright Warner was the first lawyer resident in Coshoc-
ton, coming to the place in the spring of 1811. At the
September term of the court in that year, he was appointed
prosecuting attorney for the county. In a little time he
incurred the displeasure of Colonel Williams, and there
was a rencounter, followed by several lawsuits for assault
and battery, slander, etc., and in 1814 he left the place, re-
moving to IsTew Philadelphia, where, for a number of ^^ears,
he was in practice, serving also as prosecuting attorney of
Tuscarawas county. Nearly cotemporaneous with him was
Aaron M. Church — a New Englander and protege of Dr.
S. Lee. He died very suddenly with the " cold plague "' in
1815. Neither the amount of business done by these gen-
tlemen (Warner received sixty-five dollars for his year's
service as prosecuting attorney, and Church left property
valued at forty -five dollars), nor their experience was very
encouraging to other lawyers to settle in the place. In-
deed, for several years the little legal business done seems
to have been attended unto by " foreign lawyers," chiefly
from Zanesville, such as Lewis Cass, Alexander Harper,
Wyllis Silliman, E. B. Munroe, S. W. Culbertson, and
Ebenezer Granger.* The next resident lawyer seems to
*One lawyer set up in 1819, but the poor fellow was driven, by dull
times, to picking up a little in a merchant's store, and soon " lit out."
He may have done better in later years, and so his name is withheld.
The Courts and the Bar. 77
have been Wm. G. Carhart, in practice about 1821. His
practice does not seem to have absorbed his time, and other
matters increasingly received his attention. He was of the
Carhart family, still well represented in the county. He
was born near the mouth of Little Miami river ; studied
law in Louisville, Kentucky ; came to Coshocton county in
1821 ; was a partner in a store, in a tannery, in the " Union
Flouring Mill ;" went to California, and is now living in
Ottumwa, Iowa.
About 1825, Samuel Rea commenced practice. He was
from Harrison county ; was elected county treasurer ; con-
tinued to practice more or less until his death, which oc-
curred (by drowning, as detailed under head of county offi-
cers,) in 1834. The next resident lawyer was ISToah H.
Swayue, coming primarily from Virginia, but directly from
Belmont county, in 1827. He was prosecuting attorney
for several years; in 1832 removed to Columbus, and is
now on the bench of the United States Supreme Court, in
Washington, D. C.
James Matthews, born in Columbiana county, read law
with Hon. H. H. Leavitt, of Steubenville ; came to Coshoc-
ton in 1829 ; was in the Legislature and in Congress ; re-
moved to Knoxville, Iowa, in 1855.
Geo. Willys Silliman, native of Muskingum county, ed-
ucated at Ohio University and at West Point Military
Academy; studied law and was admitted at Zanesville;
came to Coshocton about 1830. Soon went to Spain as
bearer of dispatches from United States government to C. P.
Van Ness ; returned to Coshocton in 1833 ; served several
years as prosecuting attorney, holding the office till his
death. Went to Europe in summer of 1843, and died at
sea on the return voyage.*
The lawyer next becoming a resident was David Spangler.
He was born in Sharpsburg, Maryland ; came to Muskingum
county in 1802 ; studied with Alexander Harper ; admitted
in 1824 ; came to Coshocton in 1832 ; was two terms
(1834-38) in Congress ; died in 1856.*
*See " Biographical Sketches " in this volume.
78 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
T. S. Humrickhouse, born in Fayette county, Pennsyl-
vania ; graduated at Washington College ; studied law with
T. M. T. McKennan, of Washington, being admitted in
1832. In November of that year came to Coshocton ;
abiding a year to acquire citizenship, was admitted at Lan-
caster in 1833 ; served a few terms of court as prosecuting
attorney for G. W. Silliman ; disabled by accident in 1847,
and soon gave up practice ; now in the nursery and sheep
business.
Josephus Ricketts, born in Muskingum county; read
with N. H. Swayne ; succeeded him as prosecuting attorney ;
resigned, and soon gave up practice ; removed to Millers-
burg and went into real estate operations ; now in Toledo.
Thomas Campbell, born in Jefferson county (Steuben-
ville) ; came with his father's family to Adams township,
Coshocton county, in 1831; studied at Franklin College ;
came to the town of Coshocton in 1835 ; taught school and
read law with James Matthews ; commenced practice in
1841 ; has been prosecuting attorney and probate judge.
Thomas W. Flagg was born in Rochester, New York ;
came to Coshocton in 1838 ; commenced practice in 1840 ;
gave up practice and was chiefly engaged in newspaper
work ; died May 16, 1863.
J. M. Love, from Virginia, was engaged in engineer's
department on the Muskingum improvement ; read law in
Zanesville ; came to Coshocton in 1842 ; was in military
service (Mexican war), 1846-7; removed in fall of 1851 to
Iowa; now judge of United States District Court.
Lewis Lewton, practiced from 1842 to 1845 ; removed to
Cadiz, Ohio.
Wm. Sample, born in Crawford county, Pennsylvania ;
studied law in Steubenville with Oliver C. Gray ; admitted
March 3, 1843; came to "Coshocton November, 1845 ; was
prosecuting attorney one term (two years) ; elected judge
of Court of Common Pleas, 1856, and served two terms
(ten years) ; in 1866 removed to Wooster, and subsequently
to Newark, returning to Coshocton in 1873.
A. R. Hilyer, born in Essex county. New Jersey ; came
to Coshocton in 1837 ; clerked, taught school, studied law.
The Courts and the Bar. 79
and was admitted in 1847 ; was editor of " Coshocton Age"
for two years ; removed to Iowa ; now publishing a paper.
James Irvine, born in Wayne county ; studied law with
Sapp & Welker, of Millersburg, and admitted there in
1846 ; went to Mexican war in 1847 ; came to Coshocton
in 1849 ; taught school and posted up, and in 1850 went
into partnership with J. S. Love ; was in military service
in late war in 1861, and also 1863-65.
John C. Tidball, born in (now) Lawrence county, Penn-
sylvania ; graduated at Jefferson college ; labored as a
Presbyterian minister some seventeen years at Island creek,
Jefl'erson county, and at Morriston, Belmont county ; stud-
ied law with C. C. Carroll, of Belmont county, and was
admitted in 1843 ; came to Coshocton in 1848 ; died in
1863.*
John T. Simmons, a native of Maryland, resided for a
time in Belmont county ; came to Bedford township, Cosh-
octon county, 1842 ; taught school and farmed, being the
champion tobacco raiser of the county ; studied under
Wm. Sample, and was admitted in 1850 ; was prosecuting
attorney two terms, also probate judge two ; prompted by
tastes, and driven by necessities of family, turned to farm-
ing for a few years during the war.
B. S. Lee, born in Genessee county, l!T. Y., September 12,
1812 ; came to the county (Newcastle township), in 1838 ;
studied with "William Sample ; admitted September 26,
1850; moved to Coshocton about 1859; died August 2,
1874.
C. C. Leonard, from Knox county ; practiced a few years,
part-of- th o tim e ia-^^af^n^i^sbip-wtt h J. D ;-J?ieholft8, about
1855 ; removed in 1857 to Illinois, and was, a few years later,
killed by being run over by a locomotive.
E. T. Spangler, born in Muskingum county ; was brought
to Coshocton when one year old ; graduated at Kenyon
College ; studied with father (David Spangler), and admit-
ted in 1853 ; by United States Supreme Court at Washing-
ton in 1860.
See " Biographical Sketches."
8o Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
A. II. Spangler, born in Coshocton county ; graduated at
Kenyon ; studied law with father (David), and admitted in
1853 ; practiced a few years ; gave attention to other mat-
ters ; now in banking business at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
John E. Irvine (brother of James), admitted in 1853 ;
went to Mississippi to teach ; returned to Coshocton in
1859, and in 1866 removed to Monmouth, IlL, where he
continued to practice until his death.
A. M. Williams, born in Culpeper county, Ya. ; came to
Coshocton covmty N"ovember, 1833; was a "forty-niner"
in California ; studied with Matthews and Stone ; admitted
in 1853; clerk of court in 1855-58; gave up practice in
1867 ; since connected with Coshocton Planing Mill Com-
pany.
John D. Nicholas, born in Howard count}^, Md. ; read
law under direction of William Sample ; admitted in 1854 ;
was in military service some time in 1861 and again in
1864-65 ; was prosecuting attorney one term.
J. C. Pomerene, born in Holmes county ; studied under
William Reed, of Millersburg, graduating at " Ohio State
and Union Law College ;" admitted in 1859, and came that
year to Coshocton.
R. M. Yoorhees, born i*ii Harrison county ; studied law
with Barcroft and Voorhees, of Millersburg; admitted
July 6, 1860 ; came same month to Coshocton, and went
into partnership with Thomas Campbell ; was in military
service in 1861-65 ; spent the summer of 1866 at Independ-
ence, Mo. ; was post-mas^ter at Coshocton in 1866-67 ; pros-
ecuting attorney 1868-1872; admitted to United States
District Court at Cleveland in 1875.
Gilbert H. Barger, born in Coshocton county ; studied
with B. S. Lee ; graduated at Cleveland Law School in
1861 ; commenced practice in 1862 ; same year went into
army; returned to practice in 1868; served as clerk of
court from 1870 to 1876.
L. L. Cantwell, native of Coshocton ; studied law under
Charles Hoy, being admitted by Supreme Court January 9,
1867 ; has been justice of the peace ever since; served two
terms as mayor of Coshocton.
The Courts and the Bat'. 8i
E.W.James, born in Coshocton county; studied with
Nicholas and WiUiams ; graduated at Law School of Mich-
igan University ; admitted in 1867 ; spent a few months in
practice at Kansas City, Mo.
J. M. Compton, a native of Coshocton county; studied
with Lee and Pomerene ; admitted in 1869; has been mayor
of Coshocton two terms.
A. H. Stillwell, born in Holmes county ; studied with C.
FoUett, of N^ewark; admitted in 1874; practiced for a
time in Muskingum county ; came to Coshocton Decem-
ber, 1874.
W. R. Gault, native of Coshocton county ; graduated at
Wittenberg College ; studied profession with Nicholas and
vJt^ Jones; admitted July 20, 1875.
T. H. Ricketts, native of Tuscarawas county ; studied
with A. Neeley, of New Philadelphia ; graduated at Albany
(N. Y.) Law School ; practiced in Iowa and in Chicago,
111. ; was recognized as an attorney by District Court at
Coshocton in July, 1876.
A. E. Creighton, of Coshocton county ; studied at Woos-
ter University ; read law with William Sample, of Coshoc-
ton ; was admitted by District Court July, 1876.
A. J. Wilkin, from Washington county, Pa. ; was an ad-
mitted attorney in 1856, but soon turned to other avoca-
tions; was in legislature ; now resides in New Comerstown.
Asa G., Dimmock and Richard Lauing were about the
same time recognized attornies. Each was prosecuting at-
torney, but not otherwise much concerned with court prac-
tice.
Josiah Given, from Holmes county, entered upon practice
in Coshocton county in 1857 ; he gave up practice to enter
the army in 1861 ; removed to Iowa, where his name now
floats at the head of a county paper as its candidate for
next president.
William Humrickhouse studied with his brother Thomas,
and was admitted in 1853, but soon found more congenial
employment ; now merchandising.
W. N. Cochran, a native of the county ; studied his pro-
fession at Newark ; practiced a few months of 1874-75 ;
82 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
he gave up practice to become a partner (financial and legal
man) in an extensive live-stock dealing firm in Pittsburg,
Pa., where he now resides.
B. F. Church, having read law with Leonard and Nicho-
las, practiced at the Coshocton bar, residing in Monroe
township from 1857 to 1875 ; he removed in the latter year
to Holmes county.
Charles Hoy, from Ashland county, was admitted to the
bar in 1853, and has practiced most of the time since.
W. C. Mayhugh, of Jacobsport, is an admitted attorney,
but not in practice.
Robert Beer studied law in his home county (Ashland),
and having studied further at Coshocton, was admitted by
District Court in 1853 ; in 1857 he entered upon the study
of theology, and is now pastor of the Presbyterian church
in Valparaiso, Ind.
I. Y. Heslip, M. C. McFarland and L. F. Horton, were
also recognized attorneys at the Coshocton bar, but not in
practice.
Under the old state constitution a specific tax from two
dollars and fifty cents to five dollars per year was assessed
on each practicing attorney by the county commissioners.
Agricultural Notes ^ etc. 83
CHAPTER XI.
AGRICULTURAL NOTES — COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY — FAIRS, ETC.
The agricultural interests of Coshocton county lifive in
all its history vastly exceeded all others in the amount in-
vested and the revenue derived. Manufactures, mines, and
commerce never have, even combined, borne any imposing
proportion to agriculture. There are in the county some-
thing more than three hundred and fifty thousand acres of
land, and it is estimated that with the exception of some
fifty thousand* all have been productive of crops, of fruit,
or pasturage.
The number of cultivators of the soil probably reached
its limit about 1850 ; since which time, there has been little
increase in the number of acres tilled. From the outset
among the crops raised " corn " has been " king." More
acres of it have been planted, and more bushels gathered,
than of anything else. In 1857, when the cultivation of
this crop reached its maximum, when there was much dis-
couragement in relation to the growing of wheat in conse-
quence 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 wheat crop has always in Coshocton county ranked
next to corn in amount 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-warehouses 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 a million of
bushels was reported as the yield. About 1850, the Hessian
fly made its appearance ; it w^as succeeded by the weevil ;
* Taken up mainly by roads, rivers, canals, etc.
84 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
then there was serious trouble about winter freezing, and for
twenty years this interest was much depressed. About 1870,
farmers began to take good heart again, and in 1874 there was
a magnificent crop. The crop of 1875 was very seriously
aftected by an unusually rainy season just at the harvest
time. In earlier and better days the average yield was
quite up to eighteen or twenty bushels per acre, but in late
years thirteen to fifteen is regarded as good. In the days
of high prices, three dollars and twenty-five cents per
bushel was paid for good wheat — the lowest price now
within the memory of men hereabouts was twenty-five
cents.
Kye was more cultivated in earlier days than now, but
was never a very big item in Coshocton county. In 1867,
the largest acreage for a number of years was put in, viz. :
Four thousand seven hundred acres.
In 1862, the barley crop was reported at three thousand
bushels, and has never been much above that.
Flax in early days received considerable attention. Dur-
ing the war (1861-5), when cotton goods got so high, re-
newed interest was manifested in this crop. In 1862, there '
were sixty acres of it planted.
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.
From 1820 to 1835, maple-sugar and syrup were " big
things." Even as late as 1865, there were reported as pro-
duced in the county four thousand pounds of the sugar,
and three thousand gallons of syrup.
In a good season, forty thousand bushels of Irish potatoes
are produced in the county. The Colorado beetle, in 1872-5,
aflected the yield, but not so largely as they increased the
labor in caring for the crop.
In 1868, an average season, thirty thousand tons of hay
.were produced.
The average amount of butter annually made in the
Agi'icultural Notes, etc. 85
county for the last twenty years has been about half a mil-
lion pounds.
There have been several efforts in the cheesery line, 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 con-
stant and regular effort in the matter of furnishing the
milk, and competition was heavy, and the factory, after
running seven or eight years, was closed.
A considerable amount of tobacco has been raised in
Coshocton county. More than forty years ago there was
the " tobacco fever." The farmers all went to raising it ;
the supply exceeded the demand, and there was considerable
disgust. In 1858, there 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.
SHEEP.
The first Merino sheep of thorough blood brought into
this county were bought by old 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 is left of them.
Fine-wooled sheep, of uncertain and mixed blood, were
gradually introduced by farmers from eastern counties, and
from the Pan Handle and Western Pennsylvania, between
1830 and 1836 or 1837, when Beaver & Bowman brought
out from Washington county, Pennsylvania, about two
thousand, and placed them on Bowman's section, adjoining
Coshocton. This movement proved a failure, most of the
sheep dying the next spring, and the remainder being dis-
posed of and scattered so as to leave no trace.
About 1842, S. T. Thompson and one or two of his
neighbors brought from W^ashington county, Pennsylvania,
a few sheep, and founded flocks. These were the first really
good Merinos that have left their mark, and still exist.
Wm. Renfrew, Sr., soon after brought out from the same
86 Historical Collections of Coshocton County:
county flocks a few good black-tops and a few lighter-
colored, which he bred separately, and the descendants of
which still remain.
In 1846, or thereabouts, Wm. Batchelor and George
Wolf brought out a few sheep obtained from General Har-
mon in the State of I^ew York ; they were selected by Mr.
Batchelor, and, compared with what were here before, were
heavier-wooled and stronger sheep. They did well.
In 1850, Howe & Batchelor brought out from Vermont
a French ram, of thorough Merino blood, which had been im-
ported 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 Ham-
mond, of Addison county, Vermont. These are the kind
now recognized on all hands as the best, and improving all
other fine-wooled sheep. They have been added to from
time to time by Mr. Batchelor and others.
In 1834, Isaac Maynard emigrated from England, and
settled in this county. He brought with him a small flock
of South Downs and a few Lincolnshires. The Lincoln-
shires were entirely lost, and most of the South Downs. In
1842 or thereabouts, Wm. Henderson, Dr. Edmund Cone,
and James Meskimens furnished old Mr. Bache with money
to go to England, and bring back with him some sheep.
He brought back quite a number of Ellman South Downs
and a few Leicestershires, or, as sometimes called, Dishleys
or Bakewells, which were divided among the owners. The
Leicestershires soon disappeared, but the South Downs are
the source of most of the South Downs now in the county.
They have been added to by Bluck and others, who pur-
chased rams at difi'erent times from various sources. The
Cotswolds have been of late tried by various parties — those
of Judge Thornhill, Wm. Hanlon, Robert Moore, and J.
W. Dwyer having attracted much attention and commenda-
tion.
In the times of high prices during the war, one dollar
and five cents per pound was paid for a few choice fleeces.
Agricultural Notes^ etc, 87
Many were sold at one dollar per pound — one fleece brought
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 raising, thous-
ands of the poorest sheep were killed and fed to hogs, the
pelts selling for about as much as the live sheep. Thirty
years ago there was some talk in certain localities of the
county about the sheep having sore feet, but about 1866
there was much complaint of " foot rot." Remedies were
devised, and care was taken in the selection of pasturage,
and the evil soon passed away.
A Coshocton county "Wool-growers' Association was or-
ganized about 1864. In February, 1876, the ISTational
Merino Sheep Breeders' Association was organized at Cos-
hocton, in a meeting attended by delegates from Pennsyl-
vania, West Virginia, Missouri, and other states.
FINE CATTLE.
In comparatively early times, John Meskimens, Judge
Robinson, and Daniel Miller brought some fine cattle into
the county. More than thirty years ago, Frank McGuire
and Geo. Wolf bought some superior stock in this line
from E. P. Prentiss, of Albany, New York, and afterward
some from D. D. Campbell, of Schenectady, New York.
About 1851, Arnold Medberry and Samuel Brown made
purchase of some very fine cattle from Dr. Watts, of Chilli-
cothe. In 1855, Thomas Darling imported a lot from Ken-
tucky, and not long thereafter Samuel Moore, Frank Mc-
Guire, and T. S. Humrickhouse became prominently
connected with the same line of work. John G. Stewart, a
few years ago, exhibited a very superior herd, and has
taken much interest in that kind of " stock." J. W.
Dwyer has of late also interested himself greatly, especially
in the Jerseys and Alderneys.
HOGS.
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 original stock not being very good, and Uttle
88 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
eflbrt being made to improve it, long snouts and blue skins
were 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
themselves in the same line. G. W. Silliman, after his visit
to Europe, took an interest in the Berkshires, and brought
into the county some of that breed. The Chester Whites
became and continued great favorites. The Leicestershires
have found many approvers, and are just now with many
the favorites.
In early days, one and a half cents per pound was con-
sidered a fair price for hogs, live weight. In 1864, Wm. E.
Hunt got fourteen cents a pound for a few Chester White
hogs, but he must have received the usual " Preacher's
favors," inasmuch as farmers McGuire and Moore got only
eleven and three-fourths cents for their best specimens.
BLOODED HORSES.
" 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 race-course was not then, as now, circular and
leveled and rolled, but they had one from the earliest days
down. There was one on the Butler place up the W^al-
honding. The road to Lewisville has been used. But the
favorite track for years was on what is now Fifth street in Cos-
hocton, along which two parallel narrow tracks were cleared.
" Tests of speed " were there made — not witnessed by ele-
gantly dressed ladies and gentlemen, such as now-a-days
throng the county fair-grounds, but by 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." They did not then sell
" pools."
Among those actively interested in the horse line, the
following may be named : One of the Butlers, in New Cas-
tle township, had charge of two horses belonging to Peter
Casey, one of the first associate judges of the county,
Agricultural Notes ^ etc. 89
brought ill before 1812. They were called " Whistle
Jacket" and " Highflyer." Colonel Williams, of Coshoc-
ton, bought in from Virginia a horse, long famed in this re-
gion, called " Medley." Robert Farwell brought from New
England to Keene township " Sir Archie." Joseph W.
Rue, about 1830, introduced " 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 " Pre-
mium," and A. G. Wood one called " Sir Charles." Sam. ^
Baker's horse was " Snowball." •■^' -j- WCLAAjtiCJi
In 1866, D. L. Triplett and Wm. Bachelor brought from
Kentucky "Abdallah," who met the sad fate of being
burned to death in a stable consumed in the fall of 1869.
The County Horse Fair Association was organized in
1866.
FRUIT CULTURE.
The first orchards planted in Coshocton county were, for
the most part, if not entirely, from seedling trees. Top
grafting upon these was afterward resorted to in a small
degree, but without materially changing the general char-
acter of the fruit, except in a few instances. Some of the
early settlers coming in from Maryland and Virginia
brought with them sprouts from the orchards 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, consisting of the kinds
brought out by the Ohio company, when they settled at Ma-
rietta. Mr. Hart propagated 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 Matthews, also of the Marietta sorts. The Rob-
insons had a few trees of the same.
William Meskimens, on Will's creek, practiced grafting
po Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
in a small way, and had bearing apple trees of the kinds
common in Western Penns3'lvania.
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 kinds.
Old Mr. McFetridge had planted an orchard, not then yet
in bearing. He brought his trees from Steubenville, and
they were of the kinds grown in the Kneisley nurseries.
A nurseryman in Fairlield 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, 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 1838.
Old John Elliott planted an orchard of the same kind on
his farm in Bethlehem township. Every tree of this lot
was true to name, and the whole selection proved most ad-
mirable.
Richard Moode, near West Bedford, 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 grafting 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 promise of being valuable, and has con-
tinued that sort of work to this day.
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
varieties.
About 1838 Robert Seevers started a nursery at West
Carlisle, and many of the orchards in the Avestern town-
ships were stocked by him.
Agricultural Notes, etc. 91
t
Kellis Hord started one near Bakersville. Others in dif-
ferent parts of the county tried the business, but few of
them continued long in it.
Traveling grafters, between 1840 and 1850, abounded in
the county, but have not left very distinct traces.
For the last twenty years very heavy importations of fruit
trees have been made. In one year the sales of tree-peddlers
reached nearly $8,000. Those who experimented most
largely in the purchase of these trees do not exult much at
their success. An immense proportion of the trees died,
and many of the varieties which were most highly com-
mended proved really very inferior ; and it has been dis-
covered that it is sometimes better to go to a home nursery
and get a few good varieties than to get a larger list pressed
upon them by some one from without.
Joseph K. Johnson probably planted the largest peach
orchard ever set out in the county — some eighty acres — on
his place, about a mile east of Coshocton,
Among the most successful fruit-growers of late, as indi-
cated by county fair displays and premiums, have been
John Yance and Hugh McFadden, of Tuscarawas town-
ship ; Simeon Ellis, of Washington ; William McCormick,
of Keene ; and William C. Saunders, of White Eyes.
In this connection it may be stated that in 1855 J. K.
Johnson planted quite a considerable vineyard on his place,
one mile east of Coshocton, and for a few years soon there-
after 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 pur-
poses. From the experiment, as made by him, there was
no disposition on the part of himself or neighbors to en-
large this interest.
Some years subsequently, J. B. Elliott and F. Seward es-
tablished a vineyard in Keene township, but the operation
was not accounted a large success.
A Mr. Shitz, in Crawford township, is perhaps the only
one now operating in this line in the county. Most excel-
lent grapes of such varieties come into the county as indi-
vidual tastes approve, are grown in domestic way, and soils
92 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
and other elements of success are found in many parts, and
abound in a half dozen townships.
COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY — FAIRS.
As early as 1835, the county commissioners, under pro-
visions of law, directed a call to be issued for a meeting
looking to the formation of a county agricultural society.
But nothing efiective was done under that call, or in any
other way, for many years. The association of those chiefly
interested in the cultivation of the soil progressed slowly.
Tlw matter at length was taken up by such men as Dr. H.
Williams, Colonel C. F. Sangster, Dr. E. Cone, Judge Burt,
John Davis, and determined and successful efforts accom-
plished the organization.
The presidents of the society, as obtained from accessible
sources,^ have been Heslip "Williams, E. Cone, James M.
Burt, John Meskimens, Wm. Hanlon, J. S. Elliott, and J.
C. Campbell.
Secretaries : John Humrickhouse, C. H. Johnston, W. R.
Forker, L. L. Cantwell, David Lanning, and Geo. Miller.
Treasurers : Wm. K. Johnson, Matthew Johnston, J. L.
Eue, John A. Hanlon.
In the board of managers, besides the gentlemen above
named, the following have served : A. D. Denman, T. S.
Humrickhouse, Thomas Darling, Francis McGuire, Wm.
Renfrew, Samuel Moore, James E. Robinson, D. L. Trip-
lett, Frank Stafford, J. M. Smith, E. L. Robinson, Joseph
Dickenson, Francis Wolf, Adam Pifter, John Mulligan, Geo.
Factor, Peter Stevenson, J. M. Denman, Wm. McCoy, B. C.
Blackburn, Seth Christy, Wm. Hesket, Hugh McFadden,
Saul Miller, S. C. Burrell, John Hogle, Philip Moore,
Lewis Demoss, G. W. Wolf, Marion Darling, Alex. Dins-
more, Thomas McConuell, Wellington Darling, E. J. Po-
cock, T. H. Burrell, John M. Adams, John Waggoner,
Samuel Gardiner, J. H. Carr, Joseph W. Dwyer, Calvin
*The earlier records can not be found, after much inquiry. Plenty
of people in this, as in other matters, "can tell who can tell" where
they are.
Agricultural Notes^ etc. 93
Boyd, Joseph Love, Joseph Burrell, M. L. Norris, and John
Richardson.
• For a number of years the expenses of the society, iu-
chidiug the premiums, were defrayed by annual fees paid
by the members. Any one may become a member by the
payment of one dollar per year ; receiving, also, four tick-
ets of entrance to fairs.
The first fair under the auspices of the society was held
at Jacobsport, in 1850. The fairs for several years there-
after were held in the public square at Coshocton. From
the first there was a choice selection of stock, and a grad-
ual increase in other lines. The Elliotts and John Davis
soon had some good displays of agricultural implements.
The farmers' wives and daughters warmly seconded their
husbands and fathers.
The fair of 1856 was not remarkable for display, but the
talks among farmers and stock-breeders had their effect in
awakening interest, and then settled these annual gather-
ings as things to be kept up. That year an arrangement
was made for leasing for a term of years the John Burt
fair ground (since laid out into lots), extending from Sev-
enth street to the foot of tlie blutt", and from Main street to
the south side of Iliram Beall's property. This tract con-
tained about nine acres. It was properly fenced, and build-
ings and stalls erected on it, and the fair of 1857 was held
there. By 1865, these grounds became insufiicient, and in
that year the society purchased from Dr. S. H. Lee twenty
acres, about four hundred yards east of the Burt tract, and
proceeded to fit up more extensive and, as was supposed,
more permanent buildings. The amount paid for these
grounds was $3,200. To assist the society in purchasing
these grounds, the county commissioners agreed to donate
$500, and to loan the society $500 more, to be repaid out
of their receipts whenever the commissioners should require.
It is understood that this was repaid when the grounds
were sold by the society, as they were in the winter of
1872-3, having been cut up into lots, the society having in
November, 1872, purchased of J. W. Dwyer the grounds
now used for fair purposes. These grounds, lying a quarter
94 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
of a mile south of the Burt fair ground, include a large
grove (which was a chief attraction in the purchase), and
are more convenient in the matter of access to water, not
lying so high above the river level as the Lee ground. The
amount of laud embraced is thirty-four and fifty-eight one-
hundredth acres, and the cost of it $10,488. Of this, from
proceeds of sales of old grounds and otherwise, some $4,000
have been paid. For improvements on the new ground nearly
$6,000 have been expended. The fair receipts for 1875 were
$2,389, and the premiums paid about $1,500.
It is not understood that there are any granges of the
Patrons of Husbandry in the county, but there are several
"farmers' clubs ;" those of FraukUn, Linton, and Lafayette
townships being seemingly the most vigorous and suc-
cessful.
The " Centennial Fourth of July celebration " for Cosh-
octon county was held on the grounds of the society, and
under its auspices. Messrs. Elliott, De Moss, Dwyer, and
Miller were the committee of arrangements. Despite the
frequent showers of rain, there was a very large attendance
of people from all parts of the county, the number present
being in excess of any company of people assembled pre-
viously in the county. Music and flags and banners lent
interest to the occasion. Thomas Campbell, Esq., was the
president of the day. The Declaration of Independence
was read by J. M. Compton, Esq. R. M. Voorhees, Esq.,
read a sketch of the history of Coshocton county, prepared
by Rev. William E. Hunt (previously appointed, but de-
tained from the ground by illness). William Sample, Esq.,
delivered an "Address on the Agricultural Interests of
Coshocton County." Appropriate songs were sung by the
whole company, led by J. Glover and by the Welsh Quar-
tette, under the leadership of E. Prosser.
Notes on Manufacturings Minings etc. 95
CHAPTER XII.
NOTES ON MANUFACTURING, MINING, ETC.
MILLING.
The earliest settlers relied for the most part on hominy
or pounded corn. The hominy block was an indispensable
article. The finest particles of the crushed grain were
made into cakes and the coarser boiled. The hand-mill
was the next appliance ; then the little neighborhood mills,
turned by a run or a horse ; then the " one run of burr "
mills were set up — one or two in a township. One of the
earliest settlers tells how, having grown weary of hominy
meal, and having heard that there was a power mill be-
tween Dresden and Zanesville, he put some grain in his
canoe, and started down the river from near Oxford. The
mill was discovered to be quite a patent aflair. Two canoes
had been fastened just at a ripple in the river, and a small
paddle-wheel set between the boats, and this, turned by the
rippling waters, furnished the power to turn a large sized
hand-mill.
In the " Notices of some of the Earliest Settlers by Town-
ship," in a preceding part of this volume, mention has
been made of many of the " corn-crackers," as the primitive
mills were often designated. Of the earlier mills the more
famous w^ere those of Isaac Evans and Michael Miller.
Probably the first mill that rose much above the dignity of
a "corn-cracker" was that built in Linton township by
Thomas Johnson and Jacob Waggoner in 1817, having four
run of burrs.
J. F. Monroe & Co. erected the mill near the mouth of
"Will's creek (now Frew's mill) about 1820.
The mill in Perry township now operated by Adam Gault
was built at a very early day.
Soon after the Ohio canal was opened, Medberry, Ransom
96 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
& Co. built the " Roscoe mill" (upper), which was burned
in 1853.
In 1840 the "Union mill " was built in lower Roscoe by
the Union Mill Company (R. M. Lamb, Dr. S. Lee, and John
Frew, of Coshocton ; Wm. and John Carhart, Jos. Le Retil-
ley and George Bagnall, of Roscoe ; and Peter Marquand,
of Will's creek). Becoming embarrassed, the company
sold this mill to D. E^. Barney & Co., of Cleveland, and it
was by them sold to Arnold Medberry. It was burned in 1 855.
J. S. McVey started his mill at Walhoding about 1844,
having enlarged and refitted for the purpose the Gamble
distillery.
About 1846, the Linton mill was built by J, V. Heslip,
Joseph Heslip, and M. L. Norris. In 1850, Robert Long
started the mill at Warsaw; it afterward passed into the
hands of JST. Rector, subsequently was run by Burrell &
Donley, and then by Robert Darling & Son. In 1 856, the
Empire mill in Roscoe was started by A. Medbery. After
his death (in 1862) it was bought by F. E. Barney, Lewis
Demoss, S. Lamberson, and D. L. Triplett. These gentle-
men, within a few years, have added very largely to the
machinery, and extended the buildings, making the estab-
lishment one of the largest in the State of Ohio.* In 1874,
the Beebe Brothers started their mill in Lower Roscoe.
Robert D. Boyd also built one at Wild Turkey Lock. In
183-, a flouring-mill was built, corner of Second and Main
streets, by James Renfrew & Co. After a few years it was
burned down, and subsequently another, on the same site,
was erected by a company, embracing the principal mer-
chants of the town of Coshocton and a few others. It was
not very successfully run, and after some years passed into
the hands of Love & Hay, distillers, as elsewhere noted. In
1875, C. Balch & Co. started the " City Mill," the large
brick mill just east of the freight depot in Coshocton. The
following is the list of mills now in operation in addition
to those already indicated, viz. : New Princeton, operated
* Joab Agnew and N. Schott have been so long with this establish-
ment as to make them seem part of it.
Notes on Manufacturings Mining, etc. 97
by Beck & Brother ; Helmick Mills, Beck and Miller ;
Clark's Mill, Beck & Co.; West Bedford, Darr ; Chili,
John Bowman ; Avondale (formerl}^ Boyd's) Mill, Thos.
Elliott ; Emerson's Mill, near Orange.
The manufactnre of whisky must be fairly set down as,
for many years, one of the leading industries of Coshocton
county. Much of the wealth of the county has come
through it. A number of substantial citizens have been
connected with it. It had the credit of being, for
the most part, honestly carried on ; and the article made
had a good reputation. Even a clergyman of the county
advised his remote friends, " if they must have whisky, to
be sure and get Coshocton county whisky." Passing by
ruder and smaller still-houses, a noticeable one was in oper-
ation, nearly forty years ago, near Walhonding, conducted
by James Gamble, and a little later, one at that place by
Collins, Gamble, and others. Another was on Lower
Wills creek, operated by Munroe and others. A few miles
below lioscoe was a quite substantial structure, turning out
large quantities of corn-juice from 1830 to 1840, owned by
John Frew & Co. (the Bowmans, of Brownsville, Pennsyl-
vania). In later times there was a large whisky-mill at
Conesville, operated by Cone, and then J. W. Beebe, and
then Barney, Corning & Co., during whose administration
the establishment was burned. It was rebuilt by Beebe,
and a second time burned.
Wm. Renfrew and Robert Hay commenced operations in
this line in 1831-2, in Upper Roscoe. The firm afterward
became Love & Hay (Samuel Love afterward removed to
Champaign county, Illinois, being in first, and afterward
his brother Thomas Love). Subsequently, the distillery in
Roscoe havingburned,they came over to the old flouring-mill
at the corner of Main and Second streets in Coshocton, and
there continued for many years.* In 1863, T. Love & Co.
sold a thousand barrels of their whisky to parties who im-
mediately shipped it to California, and brought back, as the
*Frecl. Schreidwill long be remembered as one of the chief attaches
of this concern.
pS Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
return cargo, thirty thousand barrels of flour. The very-
heavy capital involved and to some extent imperiled in
the seasons of highest prices for corn, and especially the
diflSculties of competing with less honest distillers, who
would run " crooked " whisky, and the ample returns al-
ready secured, led to the giving up of the business. There
is at this writing no recognized still in the county, and no
whisky has been made in the county for some ten years.
Andrew Lybarger was the first man to start a tannery,
setting up in that line, about 1808, in Coshocton, on the
northwest corner of Second and Walnut streets. This yard
afterward passed into the hands of John and Joseph K.
Johnson, and, at a still later day, was owned by Andrew
Wilkins. It was abandoned some years since. Probably
the tannery next started was the one a mile above Roscoe,
by the Carharts. N'ot long after was one at East Plain-
field under the control of Thomas Johnston. Among the
old establishments of this sort was one near Keene, oper-
ated by Geo. Wolf — afterward by Sprague ; one at East
Union, started by McVey and Bonnett, now run by the.
Blues ; and one near West Bedford, under Wm. Renfrew.
At this writing there is a tannery at Plainfield, run by
Lewis Carhart; one at Coshocton, by H. N. Shaw & Sons ;
at Roscoe, by J. & H. Carhart ; at New Princeton, by Wm.
Wolfe; at East Union, by the Blues; at New Castle, by
Jonathan Knight ; at West Carlisle, by Lewis Bonnett ; and
one at Chili, by Gotlieb Feller.
The first iron foundry in the county was started in Cosh-
octon by George Conwell and Morris Burt. It still stands
on the lot just south of Dr. Wm. Stanton's residence, cor-
ner of second and Locust streets. The Roses, of Roscoe,
started the Roscoe foundry. The Coshocton one passed
into the hands of J. C. Maginity, and the Roscoe one into
Mr. Brown's, and these parties consolidated, making the
Roscoe foundry the principal and, after a time, the only
one. It is now operated by Henry King, of Coshocton,
and James Mirise, of Roscoe.
John Taylor for many years carried on a machine-shop
,in Coshocton, on the premises used for a tannery by H. N.
Notes on Manufacturing, Mining, etc. 99
Shaw & Sons. His son, Hiram, and Henry King, some
eight years ago started a foundry near the Tuscarawas
bridge, and operated it (having James Hay also for a part-
ner for a time) until they removed to Koscoe.
A few years ago, a young man, named Edward Kirk,
from Pittsburgh, started the foundry on Fifth street in
Coshocton. It afterward passed into the hands of T. C.
Ricketts, and was operated by Kirk and Robert Hay, then
by Ricketts & Evans, and, still later, by Hirt, Palm &
Evans.
In May, 1871, a stock compan}^ was formed, called the
" Coshocton Iron and Steel Company." The company pro-
ceeded to erect quite extensive buildings, and put in them
the machinery for making springs and axles and iron
bridges. The president of the company was Houston Hay ;
vice-president, F. E. Barney ; treasurer, T. C. Ricketts (and
they, with Lewis Demoss and John Davis, were directors).
The secretary was John A. Barney. James W. Shipman
was general manager. He had formerly operated an estab-
lishment of the same kind at Fort Plain, E". Y., and the
company bought the machinery of his establishment and
removed it to Coshocton. This arrangement was made
after a committee had visited the works there. Everything
needful pertaining to the concern was obtained either from
Shipman or other parties. For a time everything went
well; but, after running some three years, the company
made an assignment. The Avorking capital had all been
borrowed at high rates of interest ; a boiler had exploded
(June 10, 1873), entailing several thousands of dollars of
loss ; very large sums were paid for salaries and wages, and
in some cases not much return in the way of service made ;
and these and other causes soon swamped the company, and
more or less embarrassed the stockholders. The establish-
ment was idle for a number of months, and was then
bought on the second offer at sheriff's sale by Houston
Hay, who held nearly one-third of the stock of the original
company. The price paid was $33,334. Hay soon started
the axle department, and not long after, in partnership with
J. W. Dwyer, resumed work in the spring department.
lOO Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
This is, at this writing, tlie largest iron manufacturing es-
tablishment in the county, giving employment to nearly one
liundred men and boys. George Ayres is the superintendent
of the axle department, John Hoban of the spring shop,
and Farley Connerty of the foundry.
Some twenty years ago a small foundry was started at
Walhonding, and is still operated in a limited way.
There are in the county deposits of iron ore — at least
one large deposit of black-band (on tlie farm of William
Hanlon, near Coshocton) — but as yet nothing has been done
in either shipping or working these mineral riches.
More than forty years ago certain gentlemen came from
Bucks county. Pa., and undertook the erection of a furnace
near New Princeton, in Monroe township; but, after cut-
ting immense quantities of cord-wood, and doing some
work in building, the enterprise was abandoned. One of
the principal operators (B. F. Williams) removed to Kich-
mond, Ind.
A couple of miles northeast of Coshocton is a black-
marble quarry. It is claimed to be of the sort used for
tiling, etc. A movement was made a few years ago to
utilize this, but the project was not well braced, and the
capital requisite was not secured. Another effort was made
in 1876, with some promise of success.
There was a carding-mill, in very early days, at Plain-
field. At a later day, one near Warsaw and another at
Bakersville. The first complete mill was started in 1833
in upper Roscoe by Samuel Moftat. After a few years it
was burned down, and another built by C. S. Miller and S.
Moftat. Miller went to California, and Moftat died, and
the property passed into the hands of Thomas Wilson in
1855. With this enterprise, Wilson McClintock, afterward
removing to Butler, 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. Wilson pro-
ceeded promptly, after the fire, to build the large brick mill
now operated by him, upon a site a little west of the old
one, drawing water from the Walhonding canal, instead of
the Ohio canal.
Notes on Manufacturing, Minings etc. loi
James Taylor operated a woolen mill in Coshocton for
some years about 1840. Within a few years one has been
erected by a stock company at Bakersville.
The paper-mill in Coshocton was built in 1863. Thomp-
son Hanna (of Steubenville for many years) was its pro-
jector and builder. Messrs. Hay, Johnson, Spangler, Den-
man, and others countenanced the movement, and aided
with the loan of funds. Daniel W. Hanna and Robert Sin-
clair (son and son-in-law of Thompson Hanna) afterward
operated the mill. Want of working capital — made more
oppressive by a boiler explosion * and other misfortunes —
caused a failure of the proprietors. After some temporary
arrangements, the property came into the hands of John
W. Cassingham and A. D. Harvey, of Coshocton, and Hugh
McElroy, of Pittsburg, Pa., and has been by them success-
fully operated for some years.
Among; the more considerable saw-mills of the earlier
days were those of Isaac Evans, on Evans' creek, Thomas
Johnson on Will's creek, and Sherry Odell on Mill creek.
At a later day, mills were set up in Upper Roscoe, at
Wild Turkey lock, and at Warsaw.
The Coshocton Planing Mill Company commenced ope-
rations in 1869. The company was originally composed of
Addison M. Williams, Martin Weiser, and W. H. Robin-
son, Jr. Robinson soon withdrew, and Dr. Wm. Stanton
became a partner for a time. For several years the estab-
lishment has been owned and operated by Williams &
Weiser. The building first used was Jackson Hay's old
warehouse, from Canal Lewisville, which the company took
down, hauled to Coshocton on wagons, and re-erected.
Very considerable additions have been made to this orig-
inal structure.
A planing-mill was attached to the Roscoe saw-mill by
James W. Beebe, about 1871, now owned and operated by
Adams & Gleason.
Within a few years, planing-mills have been set up at
*By this explosion, John Freeman was killed and John Sherrod se-
riously hurt. It occurred in 1866.
I02 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Jaeobsport and Warsaw, the latter now operated by Butler
& Leavengood, and the former by Wolf & Williams.
There are still several water saw-mills doing considerable
in their way, but a very large part of work in this line has
been done for some years by portable steam mills. Among
those most largely operating with these have been Messrs.
Stafford, Talmadge, Seward, and Joseph Elliott,
The first hatter's shop in the county was probably set up
in East Union. Morris Burt was the first in this line in
Coshocton. M. Ferguson worked in it for more than a
quarter of a century in Roscoe. James II. Donohew, a
veteran of the line, now represents the interest in the
county at Coshocton.
The first brewery in Coshocton was started in the house
opposite the ofiice of Dr. J. Harris, on IS'orth Second street,
about 1852, by L. Mayer.
Lewis Beiber built the brewery on IS'orth Fourth street
in 1866. The one in lower Roscoe was started some years
later by C. Mayer.
The Coshocton brewery is at this time operated by Chas.
Boes.
A small soap-factory was built twenty-five years ago near
the bridge in Coshocton by J. Mayer. Some six years
ago, the establishment was bought by W. H. Robinson, Jr.,
and C. Skinner, and torn down, to be replaced with the
" Coshocton Soap Works," now owned and operated by D.
Adams.
B. F. Sells for a time operated a small soap-factory, at
the west end of Main street, about 1858.
J. K. Marsh was the first to manufacture cigars on any
noticeable scale — running into the millions. He set up in
Coshocton in 1870. A Mr. Ilorton made a few some years
before.
The manufacture of flour and whisky made the cooper-
ing business at one time quite an important industry.
Among the long-engaged in this line were, of the earlier
days, Jonathan Fisk and J. Huff", and of later times, John
Mulligan, Robert Crawford, N. Schott, and K. Klossen, of
Roscoe, and C. Marks, of Warsaw.
Notes on Manufacturings Mining, etc, 103
In 1857, E. McDonald and Alex. Manner, from Dresden,
set up a carriage manufactory on West Walnut street.
After a couple of years, Manner engaged in other business.
In 1869, McDonald erected the extensive shops still oc-
cupied by him on South Third street.
The shops on Sixth street, now occupied by Alex. Man-
ner, were erected by G. A. Pieffer & Sons, of Dresden, in
1869. In 1873, Manner bought these premises at assignee's
sale, and has since operated there.
Darius Wright for many years carried on wagon-making
at Cross Roads, on a scale to become largely known
through the county. He is now operating in Warsaw.
Geo. Schleich was the first to do much in this line in
Coshocton ; subsequently J. Glover undertook the same
line of work, and was succeeded by C. W. Frew, who after-
ward removed to Illinois.
A. Fritz was also engaged for a time in the same line,
and was succeeded by Jeffries & Van Allen.
There has been since 1860 a noticeable carriage and
wagon-shop, at West Carlisle, in charge mainly of Mr.
Welling. There has also been for three years past a con-
siderable amount of work in this line done at New Bed-
ford.
John Shields, at West Bedford, has for many years man-
ufactured threshing-machines and haj'-rakes.
John Irwin for a number of years turned out a large
number of plows, but he removed, two years since, to
Iowa, and this business is now chiefly carried on by King
& Mi rise, of Roscoe.
The Coshocton gas-works were built in the winter of
1873-4. The contractor was B. Van Steenberg, of New
York, who also at the outset was the heaviest stockholder
— selling his interest subsequently to Houston Hay. The
company was first organized in 1872, F. E. Barney, L.
Demoss, John G. Stewart, H. K Shaw, and AV. E. Hunt,
directors. H. K. Shaw was succeeded by H. Hay, who,
with the others above named, are the present directors.
The local papers of that day say, " The success of the
enterprise is to be attributed to F. E. Barney and Wm. E.
I04 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Hunt." Isaac McNar^-y has been superintendent from the
start.
H. N. Shaw k Sons (in connection with their more ex-
tended tanninir operations), in 1875, undertook the manu-
facture of boots and shoes on a larger scale than had been
previous!}' attempted.
The latest manufacturing enterprise is that in charge of
J. W. Bebee (United States Yeast Company) — the making
of dry yeast. In the winter of 1875-6, he entered upon
this work in Lower Roscoe, and is at this writing shipping
several hundred pounds a day.
«
MINING.
Probably the first coal-bank opened in Coshocton county
w^as that of Morris Burt, a mile east of Coshocton, say
1834.
As early as 1836, Matthew Scott mined on his place, in
Virginia township, and shipped to Columbus several cargoes
of coal.
A few years later, the " Licking and Coshocton Coal
Company " commenced quite extensive operations at Coal-
port, and continued shipping by canal to Newark until
about 1860, when the works were taken by others.
In 1856, Foght Burt, from his mine on his farm, about
a- mile southeast of Coshocton (now in possession of W. K.
Johnson's heirs), made a four-feet ten-inch rai'lroad to con-
nect with the S. & I. R. R., making the junction a little
south of the freight-depot. At first horses were used to
haul the cars; afterward a small locomotive ("Little
Giant"), T. II. Burt being the engineer. A considerable
amount of money was put in the enterprise, and much ef-
fort made by Mr. Burt and his sons, R. W. and T. H.,
but the project was a costly failure, owing, as is said, to the
failure of the S. & I. R. R. Co., " from inability possibly," says
R. "W. Burt, to meet expectations of assistance in building
the coal road, and afterward in furnishing cars.
Not long after the railroad was built Edward Prosser
opened a mine about a mile northeast of Coshocton.
The Rock-Run Coal Company commenced operations
Notes on Manufacturing, Mining, etc. 105
about the same time, and the " Shoemaker bank" was next
opened.
The coal business received a great impulse about 1868,
through the operations of Colonel J. C. Campbell and Al-
bert Christy, who leased large tracts, and organized the
" Coshocton Coal Company'," enlisting A. H. Spangler very
thoroughly. This company bought out Prosser's Beech
Hollow bank, and Shoemaker dying, the territory held
by him was also embraced in their leases. The Miami
Company was formed buying from the Coshocton Company
the Shoemaker leases ; also the ISTew York Company taking
some territory two miles south of the town of Coshocton.
Several companies were also organized to operate in the
old Coalport field. These, with some changes in organiza-
tion, continue. The New York Company's mine passed
into the control of the Union Company, now under the
management of Colonel Wood. The Miami Company was
supplanted by the "Penn Twyn."
In 1870, F. E. and J. A. Barney, D. L. Triplett, S. H.
Lee, G. W. Ricketts, E. Prosser, and others formed the
" Home Coal Company." Prosser, after a year or so, sold
his interest in that company, and opened a mine three and
one-half miles southwest of Coshocton, near the canal,
shipping by that chiefly to Newark. This bank is still
under his control. He also, in connection with J. AV. Cas-
singhara and T. Dudley (of Piqua), purchased the Home
Company bank. These gentlemen also operate the " Penn
Twyn," and are thus the heaviest coal operators in the
county at this writing.*
Of the old Coshocton Company, Colonel J. C. Campbell
is the president, having the controlling interest in the
stock.
Vast amounts of coal of confessedly superior quality
have been shipped from these mines, and whatever the re-
sult to some of the stockholders and operators, large pecu-
*As much as 126,000 bushels (5,000 tons) have been shipped in one
month.
io6 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
niary advantages to the county have been derived from
them.
The difficulties connected with the matter of transporta-
tion arc alleged to be the chief drawbacks to a more suc-
cessful prosecution of business at any of them.
Besides the merchant mines already mentioned (eight),
there are now a number of home supply mines, of which
the principal are those of William Hall, J. Lear, William
G. Hay, and J. Burt, of Tuscarawas township ; and D.
Markley and R. Boyd, of Keene township.
Besides the territory embraced in the leases of the com-
panies above referred to, the Morgan Run Ooal and Mining
Company has several (three) thousand acres covered by its
leases, but as yet unworked. It is expected that these
lands will be penetrated by the Massilon and Coshocton
Railroad, whose projectors are largely interested in them.
The undeveloped coal wealth of the county seems at this
time properly to demand the use of large figures for its
statement.
COAL OIL STILLS AND OIL WELLS.
From 1857 to 1860 a good deal of money was expended
in the making of coal oil in Bedford township, where there
are very fine beds of cannel coal. Parties from Boston,
New York, and Pittsburg, including such men as Ezra
Cornell, of New York ; A. E. Kittredge, of Boston ; and
Robert Forsythe, of Pittsburg, erected stills and opened
mines, and made things for a time very lively. But the
oil wells in Western Pennsylvania soon set aside the coal
oil. Considerable quantities of the coal were afterward
shipped to the gas-works at Newark and elsewhere. There
was at one time much " oil fever" in Coshocton county.
Messrs. Montgomery and Cowdery came in, and driving
about in an elegant conveyance, with silver-mounted har-
ness and whip, made many anxious to get " into oil."
They took leases, and gave people to understand that oil
abounded in the county. A few of the citizens have reason
to remember them, and would rather not hear much about
oil stocks.
Certain gentlemen of Coshocton and Roscoe, under the
Notes on Manufacturings Minings etc, 107
leadership of F. E. Barney, T. C. Ricketts, and others,
formed a "test" company, and sunk a well near the Em-
pire mills in Roscoe, to the depth' of some seventeen hun-
dred feet, at a cost of some $6,000, but did not strike oil
in paying quantities. Several holes in the ground were
also made on Will's creek, and some gentlemen of Coshoc-
ton and elsewhere got into companies " on the ground
floor."
During the war and soon after, a great many oil leases
were taken on ground in New Castle township, and par-
ties, chiefly under the management of Peter ISTeft', of Cin-
cinnati, sunk some wells. I^o oil of consequence was
found, but there was an immense outflow of gas, and this
has recently been turned to account in making lamp-black
of very superior quality and in considerable amount.
Soon after the settlement of the county, salt was manu-
factured on a small scale at Rock Run, three miles south
of Coshocton. A few miles further down the river, just
over the line of the county (in Muskingum), are, at this
writing, quite extensive salt works, with which John H.
Klossen, of Coshocton and Roscoe, has for some years been
connected. They were operated for years by Retilley &
Bagnall, of Roscoe.
Potteries, in the region of New Castle (where excellent
materials are found), have been very successfully carried
on by the Richs and their successors.
George Bagnall, about 1860, began operations in that
line in Lower Roscoe, and afterward sold out to Mr. Rich,
who now carries on the business. Bagnall removed to
New Comerstown.
The Coshocton Stone Company (Thomas H. Johnson, of
Columbus, and John A. Hanlon andL. L. Cantwell, of Cosh-
octon) have for a year past been operating in their quarry
(on the Ohio canal and the projected route of the Massillon
and Coshocton railway) and in their yard in Roscoe, where
they have steam stone- saw apparatus. They are at this
writing shipping a contribution of stone for the Ohio build-
ing at the Philadelphia Centennial Fair.
lo8 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER XIII.
MERCHAXDIZING, BANKING, TAVERN-KEEPING, ETC.
Merchandizing was, of course, for many years on a very
limited scale. The " goods " had to be brought from Pitts-
burg, Steubenville, or Zanesville, either in wagons or by
steamboat. For many years, of even later times, it was a
common practice to drive stock on east, and in exchange
get supplies of goods. Colonel Williams was a " trader."
The first regular " storekeepers " in Coshocton county
seem to have been Hedges and Hammond. James Calder
was probably the next merchant.
Among the men who achieved a reputation in this line
in the earlier days were James Renfrew, Benjamin Rick-
etts, John Smeltzer, and Robert Hay, of Coshocton ; Thos.
Johnston, of Plainfield ; the Mulvains, of Oxford town-
ship; Wm. Brown, of West Carlisle; Chas. E. Marquard,
at New Guilford ; John H. Pigman, at Clayville ; Samuel
Holmes, of West Bedford ; Welch, of Roscoe ; Samuel
Ramsey, of Keene ; F. W. Thornhill, of West Carlisle,
West Bedford, and New Guilford (East Union); G. V.
Lawrence and E". Shafer, at New Castle.
The three principal business places in 1820, and for years
after, were Coshocton, Caldersburg, and Plainfield.
Of a somewhat later date than above named merchants,
we have Wm. Renfrew, W. K. Johnson k Co., John Burns,
Bagnall & Le Retilley, John Frew & Co., T. C, Ricketts,
R. M. Lamb, Arnold Medbery, H. Meek, Humrickhouse &
Co., Samuel Lamberson, John G. Stewart, Jackson Hay,
H. N. Shaw, F. X. Fritchey, D. Bretsford, at Jacobsport ;
R. Cochran, at West Carlisle ; H. Beall, at Keene ; Seth
McLain, in Roscoe; R. Boyd, at Keene ; the Denmans and
the Shoffners, at Warsaw ; Wilson & Thompson, at West
Bedford.
There was, of course, a vast enlargement of this interest
Merchandizing^ Banking, Tavern-kee-ping, etc. 109
after the canals were built, and a very great one along the
line of the railway after it was opened.* With this multi-
plication of establishments has come a division into depart-
ments in the larger places, and the same store is now no
longer expected, as in the olden times, to have laces and
silks and soap and nails. There are, at this writing, in
Coshocton and Roscoe only forty-six stores, with nearly- as
many more shops and saloons, etc. The keepers of some
of these, as of others in the county, will doubtless be able
to secure honorable and extended mention in " Chronicles
of 1976."
"We append the list for the use of a subsequent historian :
LIST OF PRINCIPAL BUSINESS HOUSES IN COSHOCTON COUNTY
IN MAY, 1876.
Coshocton — Dry Goods, etc. — Hay & "Wilson, J. Pocock &
Sons, J. H. Klossen, Mrs. W. W. Walker, A. F. Maltby.
Drugs, etc. — J. Anderson, Dr. S. H. Lee, J. Wilkin, M.
W. McNaughton, J. W. Wright, F. S. Faulkner, L. E.
Disney.
Hardware, etc. — Darling & Bonnet Bros., G. W. Ricketts
& Co., Forker & McDonald.
China Goods, etc. — B. R. Shaw.
Books and Music — J. Glover.
Periodicals, etc. — F. X. Fritchey.
Boots and Shoes, etc.— H. N. Shaw & Sons, J. G. Magaw,
Jos. H. Hay.
Family Groceries — Rue & Son, Humrickhouse & Crow-
ley, A. H. Thomson, L. F. Decker, Williams Bros., Charles
Eckert, Lorentz & Long, C. Schweiker, C. Zugschwert, J.
Bo wen, Bachman Bros.
Furniture — J. Waggoner, D. Rose & Son.
* In 1856 the stores in Coshocton were all on Second and Chesnut
streets, viz: T. C. Ricketts,' dry goods; R. & H. Hay, dry goods; H.
Meek, dry goods; A. N. Milner, dry goods; J. W. Dwyer, dry goods;
Dryden k Co., drugs and books; Wm. McKee, drugs and books; S.
Harbaugh, hardware; F. X. Fritchey, grocery; Mrs. E. II awley, gro-
cery; II. N. Shaw, boots and shoes; Cassingham & Shaw, leather and
findings; G. F. Wilcoxen, boots and shoes; J. Waggoner, furnituro;
and R. M. Hackinson, drugs.
no Historical Collections o/ Coshocton County.
Wholesale Liquors, etc. — V. McManns, Maro J. Smith.
Grain and Lime, etc. — A. H. Thomson, J. Mulligan.
Restaurants, Bakeries, etc. — B. Stevenson, Mrs. G. A.
McDonald, P. Miller & Co.
Marble — Thompson Bros.
Pumps, Gas Fixtures, etc. — J. H. Carman.
Meat Shops— H. Shaw, Burrell & McGill, J. Enoch, Ho-
selton & Harrison.
As^ricultural Warehouse — J. S. Elliott.
Watches and Jewel r}- — W. W. Bostwick, J. Bostwick,
R. B. Black.
Millinery, etc. — Misses Baker, Mrs. ]!^. R. Tidball, Miss
Hay.
Saddlery — S. Snyder, Rezin Baker, G. Baker.
Tailoring— P. Hack & Sons, H. Cantwell, D. C. Beach.
Clothing — J. Wertheimer, J. Strouse.
Roscoe — Dry Goods, etc. — Burns & Hack, Crawford & Re-
tilley, Moore & Caton.
Hardware — Harrison & Johnston.
Groceries — L. R. Miller, C. W. Stamford.
Leather — J. & H. Carhart.
Saddlery — A. N. Compton.
Tinware— E. F. Lynde.
Drugs, etc. — John Adams, C. Ferguson.
Canal Lewisville — Burns & Hack.
Keene—GoodiQ—D. G. Whittemore, A. & W. B. Finley.
Saddlery — W. Sprague.
Warsaw — Goods — Jas. Foster, Bard & Carr, Clark, Buck-
alew Bros., C. Strome.
Drugs — Lawson & Son.
Hardware — G. R. Gamble.
Furniture — Joseph Tiralla.
Saddlery — A. Kaufman.
Hotel — N. Linebaugh.
New Bedford — Renner & Burbacker, A. J. Bowman.
Chili — John Lorentz, Sol. Dewitt, J. J. Lenhart.
Bakersville — Wm. Forney.
Avondale — J. M. Ferrell.
Willow Brook — W. Wright.
Merchandizing^ Bankings Tavern-keeling ^ etc. iii
Bacon Run — S. Osborne.
Clark's — Pocock & Doak.
Spring Mountain — Baker and Lybarger.
Helmick — O. Miller, Beck Bros.
Mohawk Village — J. W. Given, "W". Crago.
New Castle— L S. McYey, W. Butler.
Walhonding — L. F. McVey.
Bast Union — Dr. Balston, J. W. Allen.
West Bedford — Thomas Jones.
West Carlisle — Thomas W. Thompson, Lewis Y. Cox,
Perry White.
Frew's Mills — D. G. Cooper.
West Lafayette — T. Familton, Leggett & Beall.
Orange — J. B. Peck & Co., J. Richmond & Son.
Jacobsport — T. J. Piatt & Bro., Jonathan Wiggins, J.
Hugh Johnston.
Saddlery— T. P. Latham, D. Duling.
Linton Mills — T. J. McCartney, Johnston Maple.
BANKING.
The merchants of the earlier day received deposits, and
settled any eastern claims in any wise arising against their
customers. The first parties who undertook the business
in regular way of selling eastern exchange, and doing a
full deposit, discount, and exchange banking business, were
W. K. Johnson & Co., about 1852. They operated at first
in the rear room of those now occupied by J. G. Stewart,
and then in the office he occupies. After W. K. Johnson's
death, the firm was J. K. Johnson & Co. (the company being
John Johnson). After the latter's death, David and John
H., sons of Joseph, were received into the firm, and the
business was thus conducted until their removal to New
York City, about the 1st of January, 1872. Since that
time, the establishment is designated "Johnson's Bank" —
John G. Stewart, proprietor.
T. C. Kicketts started the second banking-house, about
1855. He also organized the "First National Bank" in
January, 1872 (commencing business March, 1872) — T. C.
Kicketts, president, and Baxter Ricketts, cashier. In the
112 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
winter of 1873-4, it was reorganized, Jackson Hay becom-
ing president, Houston Hay vice-president, and H. C. Her-
big cashier. Its original capital was $50,000 ; its present,
$90,000.
The Merchants' in 1838, and even later, put out their
" scrip," and in 1861 the treasurer of Coshocton county
gave out many "pieces of pasteboard" as money; but this
was the first bank of issue in the county.
About 1856, the south room in the frame building on
Second street, next north of B. Shaw's china and glass
store, had over it the sign " Bank," and was the head-
quarters of one who afterward became quite famous in
certain monetary transactions — i. e. James M. Brown.
In August, 1868, the " Coshocton Savings and Building
Loan Association " was incorporated. Its directors have
been F. E. Barney, James M. Burt, Wm. E. Hunt, Hiram
Beall, Thomas Campbell, T. C. Ricketts, E. T. Spangler, J.
B. Ingraham, J. G. Stewart, D. L. Triplett, H. Hay, J. C.
Pomerene, and J. S. Wilson. J. W. Cassingham was sec-
retary 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 business in 1875, having at that time, by
installments of stock and profits, nearly $100,000 of assets,
which were paid out to the stockholders.
TAVERN-KEEPERS.
One of the most prominent features of a country is the
public house or tavern, and no proper sketch of a region
or people can ignore this feature. For some years Charles
Williams was the only man in the county holding himself
out in the capacity of landlord, or having business enough
to warrant the taking out of a license. In the earlier days
travelers expected and received entertainment at almost
any house where they pleased to stop. Hospitality was
the pride of the whole people, and those agreeing to sup-
ply the travelers' wants were not niggardly in doing so.
The appliances were sometimes of a rude sort; but the
Merchandizing, Banking, Tav em-he e f in g, etc. 113
fare was good and the welcome hearty, if the latch-string
were out at all.
Illustrative of the primitive way they had in those days
of entertaining travelers, the cheapness of the viands, and
the anxiety of the early settlers to treat strangers well, we
reprodnce from Mr. Melishe's journal* his account of a scene
between himself and a landlady : " When near Coshocton,
I stopped for breakfast at a small roadside tavern. I was
anxious to be gone as soon as possible, and urged the land-
lady to make all the haste she could. She said she would
have the breakfast ready in a minute ; but the first indica-
tion I saw of dispatch was a preparation to twist the necks
of two chickens. I told her to stop, and she gave me a
look of astonishment. ' Have you any eggs ?' said I. 'Yes,
plenty,' replied she, still keeping in a sitting posture, with
the chicken in her hand. ' Well,' said I, 'just boil an ^gg,
and let me have it. with a little bread and tea, and that will
save you and I a deal of trouble.' She seemed quite em-
barrassed, and said she never could set down a breakfast to
me like that. I assured her I would take nothing else.
' Shall I frj' some ham for you along with the eggs ? ' said
she. 'No,' said I; 'not a bit.' 'Well, will you take a
little stewed pork?' ' jSTo.' 'Shall I make some fritters
for you ? ' ' IsTo.' ' Preserve me, what will you take, then V
' A little bread and tea, and an ^gg.^ ' Well, you're the
most extraordinary man that I ever saw ; but I can't sit
down to a table that way.' So I allowed her to take her
own way, assuring her I would take mine as to eating.
She detained me about half an hour, and at last placed
upon the table a profusion of ham, eggs, fritters, bread and
butter, and some excellent tea. All the time I was at
breakfast she kept pressing me to eat; but I kept my own
counsel, and touched none of the dishes except the bread,
the tea, and an ^gg. She aiiected great surprise, and when
I paid her the ordinary fare, a quarter of a dollar, she said
she didn't want to take anything."
A man once told how he had traveled from Wheeling to
* Written in 1816.
114 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Knox county, passing through Coshocton, on a silver shil-
ling. Selecting his house, he would ask for entertainment,
and, -when about to leave, state that he had only this shil-
ling, producing it, and that it was invariably refused.
An invariable attendant of the early tavern was " the
bar," with its decanters and glasses arranged on a shelf
behind the counter. The great glory of the tavern was
"the ball." A gentleman happened at old Charley Will-
iams' at the time of the usual "court week" dance, and
nearly fifty years after gave a graphic, inimitable account
of the affair. Becoming at length tired of the revel, he
stole away to his bed, but in a little time two of the party
came up to him. When on the landing of the stairs, com-
ing down in obedience to their behests, he shrewdly put
the candle out, and, slipping past them, got into a nook,
where he rested, if not sleeping, until the next morning.
The host, as well as the guests, was decidedly festive that
night ; but the next day he apologized to his stranger guest,
and blamed the frolic on " them Zanesville lawyers."
Among the more famous keepers of public houses, besides
Williams, were Wilson McGowan, Benjamin Ricketts, B.
E. Shaw, Samuel Morrison, J. C. Maginity, in Coshocton ;
Theophilus Phillips, and Barcus and Mrs. li. Johnston,
of Boscoe ; B. Magness, of Linton township ; Moses Mor-
gan and P. Wolf, of Oxford township; Robert Farwell, in
Keene ; Joseph Butler, in New Castle ; Stryker Morgan,
three miles east of Coshocton ; Augustine White, of West
Carlisle ; F. A. Stafford, in Virginia township ; Moses L.
!N"eal, Coshocton ; Ellis D. Jones, first in Roscoe, then in Cosh-
octon ; and Wm. Tidball, who was the tirst keeper of wdiat
is now the City Hotel, and had before taking that won a
reputation up in Clark township. W. H. H. Price is now
growing gray in the business.
TRANSPORTATION BUSINESS.
Doubtless the citizens of Coshocton county best known
.in direct connection with the transportation business on the
• canal Avere Captain Isaac Evans and Captain Wm. Mor-
irison, both with good reputations ; the former dead, the
Merchandizing^ Banking, Tavern-keej)ing, etc. 115
latter still living in the county. ^Neither this sort of work
nor the stage-coach business ever seems to have had a large
place among Coshocton county interests. Among " the
drivers " there were possibly some whose experiences would
be freighted with romantic interest were they set out ; but
they are, if recorded at all, in some tablet of memory now
moss-grown and illegible.
Above the general surface there rises the history of the
canal-driver boy, who afterward was governor of Iowa —
Wm. Stone — originall}- from the State of New York, but
spending his boyhood and young manhood in Coshocton.
A good many " bare-foot Bills," both in and out of
Coshocton county, have gotten well on in the world. For
the comfort and encouragement of the present generation
let it be recorded.
ii6 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER XIV.
PHYSICIANS STATISTICS AS TO HEALTHFULNESS OF COUNTY PIONEER MEDI-
CAL REMEDIES.
There is record evidence to show that, in all, not fewer
than a hundred and sixty persons have practiced medicine
in Coshocton county. With the exception of some twelve
or fifteen, these have all been " regulars."
The first resident physician was Dr. Samuel Lee. His
hiography is given elsewhere in this volume. A ride of
twenty miles was in his practice a common occurrence,
and for consultation he went to Mansfield, in Richland
county. His active practice covered more than forty years.
The next physician who seems to have made his mark
distinctly enough to be readilj^ traced was Dr. Hiram
Wright. He was a Canadian, coming to Coshocton di-
rectly from Western Kew York. He remained in the
county until about 1831, when he removed to Knox county,
and not long thereafter died.
In 1831 the physicians of the county were S. Lee, Lewis
Colby, Thomas Heslip, William Emerson, Jared Cone, G.
R. Morton, Benjamin Hill, and E. G. Lee. Of Dr. S. Lee
information is given above and elsewhere.
Dr. Benjamin Hill came to Keene township in 1824 from
Cheshire county, N^. H. Though very young, he had been
in the Revolutionary war in its last year as an assistant to
an army surgeon. He was quite eccentric, as people
judged ; rough in speech, but kind of heart, and especially
tender toward the brute creation, horses, dogs, cats, etc.
His medical hobb}^ was that all diseases were produced by
miasmatic influence. His wife died about 1834, and he re-
turned to New England, and died soon after.
Lewis Colby was a well-educated physician, coming, it is
understood, from Vermont to Keene about 1828. In a few
years he went to Louisiana, and there died after a brief pe-
riod of practice.
Physicians^ etc. 117
Thomas Heslip was of the well-known Linton township
family by that name, and he practiced for a time near Ja-
cobsport.
William Emerson read medicine with Dr. Lee, and, after
attending lectures in Cincinnati, practiced in connection
w^ith him, having his residence and office in Koscoe. That
was about 1828. He was a promising young man. Died
of pneumonia in 1833.
Jared Cone was at West Carlisle about 1828 ; practiced
there some years, and then went to Dresden, whence he re-
moved to Missouri.
Dr. E. G. Lee was at East Union, one of the two towns
united under that name having been laid out by him. He
came from Knox county, and went back there after some
years.
George R. Morton was at Coshocton ; came from Korris-
town, Pa., about 1880; about 1835 he removed to San-
dusky city, and there died a few years since.
With the vast throng coming into the county from 1830
to 1845, there was a due proportion of those proposing to
practice the healing art. Some of these did not abide very
long, and others did not acquire a very extensive practice,
and were chiefly occupied with other pursuits. Among
these may be mentioned, as pertaining to the earlier day,
Henry Miller, afterward so distinguished in business circles
in Columbus, who practiced medicine for a short time at
Warsaw, as also his brother Jonathan, afterward of Frank-
lin county ; or A. T. Walling, now^ Congressman from the
capital district. Or of still later day, Dr. E. Cone, of
Washington township, afterward a M. E. preacher, and who
recently reported himself as "grower of peaches and ap-
ples on sheep lands." Or, in still more recent times. Dr.
B. C. Blackburn, who was for a time a merchant, and sub-
sequently a farmer, and has even taken somewhat to poli-
tics, representing the county in the legislature. And, by
the way, the doctors seem to have been in favor in this
matter, the county having sent to the legislature Dr. S. Lee,
Dr. Williams, Dr. Stanton, Dr. Cass, Dr. Fellows, and Dr.
Blackburn.
ii8 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Among the physicians who, by long residence and prom-
inence in their profession, are worthy of notice, in addition
to those ah-eady named, may be mentioned Dr. Willetts, for
man}' years at N'ew Castle ; Dr. Delamater, who removed
to Indiana, and there died in 1874 ; Dr. Barger, of ISTew
Castle, who was killed by the explosion of a boiler of a
steamboat at Louisville, Ky., while on a trip to the west in
1843; Dr. James, who removed from the county about
1846 ; the Madisons, both dead ; Silas Sapp (brother of
Enoch), who removed to Indiana, and there died in 1870 ;
R. R. Simmons (brother of John T.), removed to Harrison
county about 1860 ; I- N. Fellows, who died in 1869; L.
Howard, who met with his death in Keene at the time of
receiving a blow at the hand of his brother-in-law, who was
convicted of manslaughter about 1859.
The veteran physician of the county, at this writing, is
Dr. Maro Johnston, of Roscoe. He is a native of the
county, and studied with Dr. Samuel Lee, of Coshocton ;
attended lectures at Ohio Medical College of Cincinnati ;
commenced practice in Roscoe in June, 1833; uninterrupt-
edly in practice.
Heslip Williams, native of Guernsey county, where he
studied and practiced for a time, commenced practice at
Jacobsport in 1835,; was in legislature ; otherwise steadily
in practice.*
Josiah Harris, from Maryland, graduated in the medical
department of the University of Maryland ; came to Cosh-
octon county in 1837; practiced in Roscoe until 1840, and
then removed to Coshocton.
William Stanton, native of Hartford county, Ct. ; studied
with Dr. Sears, of Albany, IST. Y. ; came to Coshocton
county in May, 1838 ; was at West Bedford five years, and
then removed to Warsaw. He gave up practicing in 1849,
and has since given attention to farming, merchandising,
etc. He removed to Coshocton in 1868.
George Day, native of Jeiferson county ; came in 1839
to Oxford township, where he still resides ; attended one
* Died August 6, 1876 (while these sketches were passing through
the press), of heart disease, aged sixty years.
Physicians^ etc. 119
course of medical lectures at Ohio Medical College, Cincin-
uati.
A. L. Cass, from Muskingum county, studied with his
relative, Dr. John Andrews, of Steubenville ; graduated at
the University of New York ; came to Coshocton county in
1842 ; and with brief exception, while in the State Senate,
practiced uninterruptedly until the summer of 1874. At
that time he was prostrated by disease, and has not yet re-
sumed practice. At this writing he is residing at Pitts-
burg.
W. H. Vickars, of Muskingum county, studied with Dr.
Watkins ; commenced practice at Otsego about 1840 ; re-
moved to Coshocton count}^ (Jacobsport) in 1845 ; and there
died in 1873.
J. B. Ingraham, a native of Harrison county, Virginia,
studied with Dr. Carpenter, of Athens, Ohio ; attended
lectures at Starling Medical College in Columbus ; came to
Linton township in 1848 ; removed to Coshocton in 1864 ;
uninterruptedly in practice.
David Lawsou studied with Dr. Russell, of Mt, Vernon,
and commenced practice in 1849 ; lately in drug-store at
Warsaw.
Samuel McElwee, native of IsTew Jersey, studied chieHy
with Dr. A. McElwee ; holds diploma of Cleveland Medical
College; commenced practice in 1849 at iS'ew Castle; and
has been there ever since.
E. Sapp, native of Knox county, studied with Dr. Houts,
of Danville, and came to Coshocton in 1850. For a few
years he gave special attention to dentistry.
David McElwee studied with his brother, S. McElwee ;
established at East Union.
N". Blackman, of Warsaw, studied with Dr. Barnes, of
West Bedford.
John Anderson, native of Guernsey county, read with
Dr. Kortz ; commenced practice in the fall of 1848 at Port
Washington, Tuscarawas county ; then in Keene, Coshoc-
ton county. He came to Coshocton in 1868, and has since
been engaged in the drug and book business.
I20 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
S. H. Lee, native of Coshocton, studied witli his father,
Dr. S. Lee ; commenced practice at Canal Dover, Tusca-
rawas county ; practiced from 1849 to 1856, at Peru, Indi-
ana; then returned to Coshocton; was surgeon in Ohio
Vohmteer Lifantry in 1862, 1863, and 1864. lie gave up
practice in 1865, and has since been engaged in the drug
business.
J. T. Edwards, native of the county, tead with Dr. Rus-
sell, of Mt. Yernon ; graduated at University of IS'ew York
in 1857 ; and has since been in practice at West Carlisle.
In addition to those indicated in the foregoing list as
still in practice, the following others may be named : J. W.
Wright, J. W. Brady, J. C. Brower, W. C. Frew (native of
county), at Coshocton ; John C. Davis, at Orange ; Wm.
Bancroft and A. H. Garber, at Jacobsport ; W. H. Wil-
liams and A. J. Hughes, at West Lafayette ; B. W. Chap-
man and E. P. Stuart, at Bakersville ; Peter Lenhart,
Chedister, and Yolz, at Chili ; M. J. Love (native of
county), at Keene ; S. M. Carr and Beach, at Clarks ; John
Moore (native of county) and JST. Calhoun, at Warsaw ; J.
W. Winslow, at Spring Mountain ; , at West
Bedford; Wm. Smith (native of county), at West Carlisle;
A. M. Henderson, at Frew's Mills ; J. M. Smith (native of
county), at Canal Louisville ; T. Ralston, at East Union.
A county Medical Society was formed about 1855, hold-
ing meetings at intervals until about 1867, when the or-
ganization was practically abandoned. Under the State
Constitution prior to 1851, the county authorities assessed
a speciiic tax upon the physicians practicing in the county,
running from three to five dollars per year.
Lest some readers might conclude from the number of
physicians who have been in Coshocton county, that it was
an unusually sickly region of country, it may be well to
state that the statistics for many years show an average
death-rate of one to everyone hundred and thirty -three in-
habitants per year. In 1874, when the population of the
county was about twenty-four thousand, the deaths reported
were one hundred and seventy-seven.
Physicians, etc. 121
From 1840, on for a number of years, a traveling dentist
occasionally visited Coshocton. The poor fellow finished
his course about 1858 by hanging himself (while in a de-
pressed condition of mind, produced by discouragement in
business and hard drinking) in a stable then standing in
rear of the " Central House." The first resident dentist
was Dr. E. Sapp. He was succeeded by Disney & ]SIoffitt.
Dr. Jacobs next undertook this work. Disney & Moffitt
were succeeded by Finlay and Wernett, and Jacobs by Dr.
Wait.
Among the more notable practicers of the so-called " ir-
regular " schools of medicine, have been Dr. Alexander
McGowan, of the " Thompsonians ;" Dr. Martin Roberts,
who learned his " arts of healing " from the Indians in
Western ISTew York ; Drs. Wilson, Walling, Waddell, and
Farquhar, of the " Uriscopians ;" Drs. Von Ruedegish,
Alder, and Burr, of the " Eclectics."
The first Homeopathic physician to settle in the county
was Dr. W. W. Smith, who came to Coshocton just after
the war of 1861-5. He removed to Pennsylvania in 1874.
At this writing Dr. N. M. Shurick represents that school,
having commenced practice in 1875.
The medical remedies in the days of the first settlers,
ere the doctors had come around, may have some interest
for some young readers. The diseases of children were
nearly all ascribed to worms. For the expulsion of these
a solution of salt was given, or some scrapings of pewter
spoons, or some copperas gathered near coal-bank runs.
A very general remedy for burns, swellings, etc., was a
corn-poultice, made of pounded corn. Poultices of scraped
potatoes or raw turnips and slippery-elm bark were often
used. For the croup (called the bold hives) the juice of
roasted onions or garlic was given. For fevers a tea of
snake-root. The itch, which was very common, was
cured by an application of brimstone and lard. Rheu-
matism, and swellings generally, were treated with oil of
rattle-snakes, bears, geese, coons, ground-hogs, and pole-
cats. White w^alnut-bark tea was a great favorite. If it
122 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
was intended for an emetic the bark must be stripped up
the tree; if for a purge, down. Some had great faith in
charms. The erysipelas, or St. Anthony's tire, could, as
some believed, be cured by circumscribing it by the blood
of a black cat, etc.
Netusfafers . 123
CHAPTER XV.
NEWSPAPERS.
The old citizens tell how they and their cotemporaries
used to watch for the arrival of the stage from Zanesville
bringing the Weekly Messenger. Wm. K. Johnson and
other young store-clerks of that day read themselves hoarse
for the edification of the customers and loafers, a number
of whom were not very good readers, and then, besides, a
paper wonld thus go fartiier. A President's message, only
four days from Washington, was a wonderful thing.
One Dr. Maxwell (who, besides printing the paper, had
on sale in the oiEce " Godfrey's cordial," " Bateman's
drops," etc.) is credited with having started the iirst paper
in Coshocton county — the Coshocton Spy — in the latter
part of 1825. It was a sheet twelve inches by eighteen,
issued with much irregularity. The concern, after a brief
career, was turned over to John Frew, who had furnished
supplies from his store for some time. Maxwell went to
Mount Vernon, and, in consequence of criminal charges,
subsequently fled the country, and the paper was put in
charge (as foreman) of one O'Hara, Frew being still the
publisher, and steadily paying a little for this honor.
O'Hara at length fell a victim to delirium tremens, and
Burkit E. Drone became the editor and printer, having also
a half interest in the ownership of the paper. After a
time, Joseph Medill, afterward famed in Cleveland, and still
later and more largely in Chicago, as editor of the Tri-
bune and mayor of the city, became associated with the
paper. The name of the paper at that time was the
Democratic Whig. Drone went to Cincinnati, and Me-
dill also removed, and the paper became the property of H.
Guild, who at length suspended publication, as some of his
predecessors had done. The name at that time was The
Eepublican. After some time the office became the prop-
124 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
erty of R. W. Burt (now in the internal revenue service at
Peoria, Illinois). How he got it and what he did with it
we let him tell :
" In August, 1853, Mr. II. Guild, the editor and proprietor
of the old Whig newspaper in Coshocton called on me and
desired to sell me his interest in it. He had ceased its pub-
lication two or three months previousl}^, having lost hope
in its success. I told him I was not a Whig, had been a
Democrat, but was now a Freesoiler; that my party in
Coshocton count}^ only included about fifty people, and that
I saw little or no prospect of establishing a paper in ad-
vocacy of my own principles. I also distrusted my ability
to do justice to my own cause, never having had any ex-
perience as editor, nor even as a printer. I gave him no
encouragement, and he went away. But in truth he had
awakened a desire ill my mind to engage in the work of
publicly advocating my principles, which I believed would
finally triumph. I thought over the matter, talked with
my father and some leading Whigs and independent Dem-
ocrats, and finally embarked in the enterprise. I was as-
sisted greatly by Hon. James Matthews, and his brother-in-
law, Thomas W. Flagg, was taken in as associate editor.
I called the paper the Progressive Age. The first num-
ber was published in September, 1853, and was outspoken
on the subject of slavery extension and the fugitive slave
law, and strongly advocated the cause of temperance. Wra.
A. Johnston was foreman in the printing ofiH.ce. I sent
the paper to all the old subscribers of the Whig paper, and
also to all the Democrats whose names I could get. I soon
found plenty of papers returned ' not taken out of the post-
oflice.' In two months, however, after my first issue, I had
only about two hundred and fifty subscribers, but I did not
get discouraged. In a few months, by most persistent
efibrts, my subscription-list was greatly enlarged, and at
the end of a year it had reached seven hundred. The fol-
lowing year the Age took part in the formation 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
JVezvs-pa^ ers . 121;
gave it a firmer footing. I continued the publication about
three 3'ears, and the Republican party was in power in the
county when I sold the paper to A. R. Hillyer, who pub-
lished it about a year, and then sold it to J. "W". Dwyer. I
assisted Dwyer about a year, and then left the count3^"
J. W. Dwyer succeeded Hillyer, making out of the paper
very little direct pecuniary gain. He left it to take office
in the treasur}^ department under S. P. Chase.
Asa L. Harris, from Columbus, became the proprietor of
the paper in 1861. He changed the name from Progressive
Age to Coshocton Age. About the close of the war, Harris
went to Georgia to become postmaster of Augusta (having
served in like capacity in Coshocton) ; and the paper, after
being run for a time by J. W. Dw3'er and "VY. A. Johnston,
became, in 1866, the property of its present publisher, T.
W. Collier, who had resided in Cadiz and Xew Philadel-
phia, and had been in service as adjutant of the Eightieth
Regiment, O. V. I. The present circulation of the paper
is reported at 1,200 copies.
In 1831 John Meredith began the publication of a paper
at East Union, Perry township. It was called the Castle of
Liberty. In 1832 it was removed to Coshocton, and was
published until after the presidential election in that year,
when it was discontinued. It advocated Democratic prin-
ciples and the re-election of General Jackson to the presi-
dency. James Matthews assisted in the editorial depart-
ment for a time.
About 1836 the publication of a Democratic paper, called
the Western Horizon, was begun at Coshocton. Wm. G.
Williams, then county treasurer, was the proprietor, and
Russell C. Bryan the editor. For a time John Oliver man-
aged the paper. Subsequently Messrs. Weeks, Wagstatf,
T. W. Flagg, and Chauncey Bassett were connected with
it. In 1840 its publishers were Flagg & Bassett. It was
then about half the size of the Democrat of to-day, and
bore that name. About 1845 A. W. Avery, who had been
a minister of the M. P. Church in Coshocton, was its ed-
itor. He removed to Illinois. In the fall of 1850, A. T.
Walling, now member of Congress from the Columbus dis-
126 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
trict, was editor and publisher of the paper. In 1853 Rich
and Wheaton were publishing it. In the spring of 1856,
Asa G. Dimniock, who had edited the Cadiz Sentinel and
the Cosmopolite at Millersburgh, and had just iinished his
service as warden of the Ohio Penitentiary, became editor
and publisher. When nominated for prosecuting attorney
in 18(32, he disposed of the paper to A. McJ^eal, 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 from McNeal's death
until after the election, when Dimmock resumed, and soon
thereafter (November, 1862) J. McGonagle, formerly of the
Cadiz Sentinel, became a partner with Dimmock, and con-
tinued for some two years. He removed to Shelby, 0. In
the spring of 1866, the present publisher, John C. Fisher,
of Muskingum county, who had been connected with the
!Newark Advocate, 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,
Pa., and Fisher became the proprietor and editor of the
paper, continuing as such unto this writing, except that
during Mr. Fisher's absence in the State Senate it was
edited by W. R. Gault and other temporary editors, and
that during the summer of 1875, for a few months, W. C.
Brownlee (now of Chillicothe) was associated with him.
It is understood that in its earlier history the paper fre-
quently required the help of its party friends, and none
of its numerous publishers have been 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
1,000 copies.
For a couple of years (1849 and '50), a paper, called the
Practical Preacher, was published some months, at Coshoc-
ton, by Rev. Mr. Wirick, then residing at Jacobsport,
■who was the Methodist preacher on the circuit.* He
* Beside sermons, the paper contained comnaunications of literary
and miscellaneous sort. Among these were a few sketches of the
News^a-pers . 127
had been a printer before becoming a minister. Rev. Mr.
Calhoun and other ministers furnished matter for publica-
tion. It was printed in the Age ofhce — did not thrive —
was short-lived.
H. C. Beach and Beach & Elliott, about 1870, and again
in 1874, published for brief periods an independent and
literary paper.
At least two ladies of Coshocton — Mrs. E. W. James and
Mrs. E. T. Spangler — have made some reputation as paper
and magazine writers. The latter is also the author of a
book, the Physician's Wife,
Mrs. Louise Morrison Hankins — a Coshocton -born lady,
now of New York City — has achieved considerable fame
as a magazine and book writer.
history of Coshocton, partly historical and partly "bar-room stories."
The writer of these, in a recent letter, says that the historical matter,
then published in the Preacher, is found in Howes Historical Collections
of Ohio, Doddridge's Notes, and other readily accessible publications.
128 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER XVI.
SCHOOL MATTERS.
School matters did not receive much attention nor attain
any noticeable prominence for many years after the organ-
ization of the county. The demands of pioneer life were,
as is commonly the case, too heavy in other directions to
allow of as much time or means for these things as they
might in other conditions receive. But there was not
much disposition on the part of many to create or improve
facilities. There was some study and very earnest eflbrts
on the part of individuals to get something of "book
learning," and a very marked individual proficiency in
the three great underlying primarily utilitarian attain-
ments of reading, writing, and cyphering; but practically
no schools before 1820. About that time, the policy of
the State was thoroughly settled and well shaped, and
stimulated what of interest there was in localities. The
Congress of the United States, in 1803, had granted to the
State the one-thirty-sixth of all the lands in the United
States Military District for the use of schools in the same,
and the Legislature provided for the leasing thereof. But
these leases yielded little or no revenue beyond the expense
of managing them, and in 1827 they were sold, and the
proceeds taken as a loan by the State (now a part of the
irreducible debt), with the agreement to pay to schools six
per cent, interest on the amount annually. These lands in
Coshocton county were appraised by James Robinson and
Richard Fowler, and staked out by James Raven scraft.
The sale of them was superintended at first by Samuel
Rea. Afterward James Hay was appointed for this work,
and he declining, Robert Hay was designated. The sum
paid to the county from this fund has been for many years
about $800.
In 1821 school districts (school aftairs having been hith-
School Matters.
29
erto in the hands of township trustees, and almost wholly
dependent upon voluntary efforts) were fully arranged for,
and the householders in such districts were authorized to
select a school committee and a collector and treasurer, and
the committee was authorized to receive donations of sites
for building, and to assess taxes on their district, as also to
receive from the township the rents of the school lands.
In 1825 a school tax was directed to be raised in every
county, and yet more com[)lete and practicable arrange-
ments as to districts and directors were made. On certain
conditions a tax, not exceeding in amount $300, could be
levied for building a school-house. Rate (or tuition) bills
could be arranged for and relied on where the tax was
insufficient.
Under these provisions, " Dr. S. Lee and his associates,"
being householders of the district, got from the county
commissioners the privilege of erecting a brick school-
house (20 by 20) on the southwest quarter of the square,
in 1828. Before that, a room in a private house was used.
At a few points in the county, family and neighborhood
schools of small proportions were carried on for a few of
the winter months.
In Coshocton, James Madden, from Virginia, crippled as
to one hand, gave instruction in the " elements," especially
in writing, in which he was a "proficient."* Then it was,
too, that Moses L. ISTeel,! a '* Down-Easter" — a regular ge-
nius — handled the ferule, and otherwise, especially by a
remarkably fine penmanship, made his mark sufliciently
plain to be read to this day. About the same time, David
Grimm was teaching in Millcreek, and the father of Dr.
M. Johnson in Keene township.
Among the teachers of the earlier day were Wm. B.
Hubbard, who subsequently went to Columbus, and be-
came famed as a railroad " magnate ; " Koah II. Swayne,
now Judge of the United States Supreme Court, and Chas.
* He subsequently moved up the Tuscarawas to the Kavenscraft
neighborhood, and taught for some time.
f He subsequently kept a tavern in the town of Coshocton.
130 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Elliott, afterward the famous Methodist minister and col-
lege president. Out about West Carlisle, Robert McCormic
was acquiring fame as a teacher; in Coshocton, Jackson
was, after the approved methods of the time, training some
of our now well-knoAvn citizens, and Thomas O'Neil was
giving his youthful vigor to Keene and Lafayette town-
ships. What stories of rude appliances and clumsy tricks
of big incorrigible boys and of nice homespun girls the
chronicles of that period do tell !
Under the law of 1825, there were to be appointed in
each county three school examiners, and in 1826 the Court
of Common Pleas appointed for (Coshocton county Samuel
E-ea, Wm. Carhart, and Andrew Grim. A year or two after
the law providing for a larger number, 1^. H. Swayne, Rob-
ert Hay, Wm. Wright, Wm. Hazlett, Henry Barnes, Wm.
Carhart, and Samuel Rea were appointed. A few years
later we iind in this position T. S. Humrickhouse, Alex.
McGowan, W. K. Johnson, James Matthews, Jos. Burns,
and Dr. Geo. R. Morton ; and at a yet later day J. W. Rue,
Bradley Squires, Richard Moode, Thomas Campbell, Wm.
Sample, Dr. Josiah Harris, and Rev. H. Calhoun.
The examiners could individually examine. One of them
gives the following as illustrative of the examination then
in vogue : A man who had been teaching for some time,
came to his office. After hearing the applicant read a. few
lines, the examiner said : " What is that little mark ? "
(pointing to a comma.) " Oh ! that's one of them there
stops that you see in all books." Examiner. " Well, what
is it for? or what does this particular one indicate?" Ajy-
plicant. " Why, it indicates a stop, of course ; they're all
stops." Pressed with a few more questions, the applicant
insisted on being tried in arithmetic, claiming that he was
specially well qualified in that. Examiner. " Well, what is
arithmetic?" Aiyplicant. "Arithmetic! why, it's a book
about figgers," etc. The man wrote a really fair hand, and
was posted in practical arithmetic, and got a certificate.
Grammar was not then required to be taught in the schools.
Erom 1830 to 1850, the system inaugurated from 1820 to
School Matters. 131
1830 was not greatly modified by the Legislature, and was
being more and more efficiently carried out, and more
widely extended. Districts were multiplied with the rap-
idly incoming population ; new school-houses were being
built, and teachers were multiplied. The appliances were,
even at the best, still rude ; methods mechanical. Dr. Harris,
the veteran county school examiner, coming into the county
about 1838, visited several schools accounted the best, and
reports them as exceedingly limited in their range of study —
the highest branch being geography — and crude in their
methods.
In the latter part of this period, say from 1840 to 1850,
there was a growing conviction that thorough and extended
scholarship had not been 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 educa-
tion gave rise to a number of private schools and acade-
mies. In this work at Coshocton were engaged Rev. E.
Buckingham, and especially Rev. Addison Cotfey, both of
the Presbyterian Church. The latter built quite a good
brick house (now occupied by old lady Ricketts), with the
view of making room for boarders, and had for his school-
house the building now occupied by W. R. Forker — both
buildings being on south Fourth street. The Rev. Mr.
Sturgis, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, started an
academy at Keene. There was a good school at West Car-
lisle, under Mr. Stevenson ; and an academy at West Bed-
ford, which was very successful under W. R. Powers.
About the same time, there was an academy at A^an Buren
(now Spring Mountain), in Monroe township, of which Dr.
Haldeman had charge, and afterward Prof. Geo. Conant.
This was under the control of a conference of the M. E.
Church. The removal from the county of some of the
gentlemen, especially Messrs. Buckingham, Cofley, and
Sturgis, involved tke discontinuance of some of these in-
stitutions, and others were less, or not at all, in demand,
by reason of improvements in the public school system.
The West Bedford Academy, as a combined private and
public school, is still in operation.
132 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Taking advantage of the "Akron law" (so called be-
cause, as first passed, it had relation to the city of Akron, but
it was afterward extended in its application), passed in 1849,
the citizens of Coshocton proceeded to establish a graded
school. Wm. K. Johnson, Joseph C. Maginity, J. G. Smith,
Joseph Guinthur, and Jacob Waggoner, were chosen by the
citizens as the board of education. The school examiners first
appointed were Thomas Campbell, VVm. Sample, and Kev.
H. Calhoun.* Wm. R. Powers, formerly of New York
State, then of Utica, Ohio, was employed as superintend-
ent, assisted in the higher department by Miss Sailie Elder
(Mrs. Geo. Dewey). There were two primary schools, pre-
sided over by Miss Araminta Bodelle (Mrs. H. N. Shaw)
and Miss Caroline Stewart (Mrs. Samuel Denman). Soon
a secondary school was started, and taught by Miss Elder,
her place in the higher school being supplied by Miss Delia
Roberts (Mrs. Houston Hay).
The schools at that time held their sessions in a little
frame school-house on the north school-house lot, and in the
basement of the Methodist Episcopal and Second Presby-
terian churches. The little brick school-house on the pub-
lic square had become dilapidated, and, owing to the loca-
tion, objection was made to repairing it.f Among the
last teachers in it were Messrs. Alexander, Henrigh, James
Irvine, and James Dryden.
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
* The following other gentlemen have served in this capacity : T. S.
Humrickhouse, Kev. P. H. Jacob, Dr. J. Harris, A. R. Hillyer, J. C.
Tidball, Kev. W. E. Hunt, John E. Irvine, Rev. C. W. Wallace, M.
C. McFarland, Rev. S. M. Hickman, J. C. Pomrene, J. R. Johnson, G.
W. Cass. The board at present is : Dr. W. C. Frew, W. R. Gault, and
W. S. Crowell, Esqs.
f Kindred to this building was one with a 1§blet over the door, bear-
ing the inscription, " Know thyself'' about a mile southeast of Coshoc-
ton, in the Orangeville district, where the Burts from Orange county,
New York, and the Denmans and Condits, from Orange, New Jersey,
'lived. It was torn down in 1872.
School Matters. 133
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 in the north end of the town, given by the original
proprietors of the town for the purpose. The latter carried
the day. The building (a two-story brick, thirty by eighty
feet, with belfry, all in Grecian style of architecture) was
finished in 1855. A. IST. Miluer, a merchant and general
operator, took the contract at about |4,500. A small al-
lowance was subsequently made, bat 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,
etc., by George Hay. The bell was added six or eight
years afterward — purchased by the fines paid in that year
by violators of the liquor law. 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 Wm. Sample.
The following names appear in the list of those serving
in this capacity subsequently : John Frew, Thomas Camp-
bell, H. jN". Shaw, James Drj^den, J. G. Stewart, Henry
Davis, W. H. Robinson, A. J. Wilkin, J. C. Pomrene, A.
H. Spangler, D. F. Denman. The board at this time em-
braces J. M. Compton, J. S. Wilson, H. N. Shaw, C. H.
Johnston, Henry Davis, and W. W. Walker.
To meet the demands by reason of the increased popula-
tion, the board in 1871 erected a two-story brick on the
Denmead and Taylor lots, in John Burt's subdivision. H.
Davis and Harrison Waggoner were the builders.
In 1874, a small frame was erected on the north school-
house lot, and the accommodations being still insufficeut,
two primary schools were set up in a private house on Chest-
nut street just east of the railroad.
In 1876, an imposing three-story front addition was built
on the Burt tract. The plans were furnished by Johnson*
& Kremler, of Columbus, and the work done by the Cosh-
* T. H. Johnson, of this firm, was born and i-cared in Cosliocton.
134 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
octon Planing Mill Company — the contract price being
$10,885.
AV. R. Powers, as superintendent of " Coshocton Union
School," Avas succeeded (removing to West Bedford) in 1854
by W. A. McKee (now of Knoxville, Iowa), and he in 1857
by T. Y. Milligan (now pastor of old Presbyterian church
in Steubenville), and he in 1859 by John Giles (now of
Springfield, Massachusetts), and he in fall of 1864 by C.
Forney (now of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania), and he in 1868
by Geo. Conant, the present principal. There are at this
time ten assistant teachers.
In 1870, the Presbyterian 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 parson-
age) whereon to erect a boarding-house, to a board of trus-
tees appointed by the session, but including representative
members of other denominations, to the number of two-
thirds of the board, if the community would assist in se-
curing not less than ^5,000, wherewith to erect the board-
ing-house. Over $4,000 dollars were subscribed (all but
$300) by members of the Presbyterian church, but the com-
munity manifested so little interest in this movement to se-
cure 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 con-
tributed within the church.
A few years later. Rev. Mr. Lee, of the Methodist Epis-
copal church, the president of an institution called the " One
Study University," undertook to establish a branch or feeder
of that university, under the name of " Coshocton College,"
but this eifort also was quite abortive — the concern leading
a feeble life for a year or so, and then passing away.
Outside of the public schools at this writing the only
work in this line being done is at Bloomfield, where Rev.
T. D. Duncan, of the Presbyterian church, is conducting a
small classical school, and by Rev. Mr. ISTunemacher giving
lessons in German to quite a large class.*
^Pvev. Wm. E. Hunt has, during his twenty years' residence in Cosh-
octon, given instruction in the classics to a number of scholars, and
School Matters. 135
The citizens of Roscoe, at a meeting held at the house
of C. W. Simmons, on the loth of March, 1851, voted,
according to law, for a union school, and on the 29th of the
same month elected the following board of education, viz :
John Carhart, John Dodd, John Burns, James Hill, Maro
Johnson, and Arnold Medberry. A month later a site for
a school house was purchased for $250, and a contract was
made with S. W. Brown, Dennis Chapim and Samuel
Hutchinson for the erection of a brick building, one story,
to cost $2,450. When the building was completed some
complaint was made as to the workmanship, and the price
actually paid was $2,352. The board employed B. W. Lewis,
of Ashland county, as principal, and H. Stephens and
Charles Hoy were employed as assistant teachers, each to
labor half the time. The board of examiners was com-
posed of Dr. M. Johnson, James Hill, and James Le Retil-
ley. Mr. Lewis, after teaching two months, was compelled
to resign on account of his health ; and, on his recom-
mendation, Charles R. Shreve, of Massilon, was elected
principal. He continued in that position until 1858. The
principals since have been R, N. Smith, 1859-61 ; C. S. W.
Griffith, 1861-62 ; M. Travis, 1862-63 ; S. Cox, 1863-64 ; A.
W. Oder, 1865 ; R. Hogue, 1866 ; G. E. Campbell, 1866-69;
W. Nicholas, 1869-70; G. E. Campbell, 1870-72; T. Car-
nahan, 1872 to present time. The assistant teachers, at
this time, are Eliza Hutchinson and Juliet Gardiner. The
present board of directors are Henry Carhart, J. C. Harri-
son and Robert Dickerson.
From 1865 to 1876, there has been much improvement
in school buildings and appliances throughout the county.
Besides the new school-houses in Coshocton, very creditable
structures have been erected in a considerable number of
localities, and these, and many of the older but still good
houses, have been fitted up with the modern and attractive
style of desks, etc.
fitted for college the majority of those who have gone in that time.
Among these last were J. R. Johnson, T. H. Johnson, P. S. Campbell,
G. W. Cass, Joseph K. Cass, Miss Jennie Nicholas, Charles Ingraham.
136 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
One of the neatest school-houses in the county, outside
of Coshocton, is that at West Lafayette — a two-story brick,
with belfry. It was built in 1873. T. H. Familton, Velzer
Shaw, and Lewis Leighuinger, were at the time directors.
Wm. Gorseline was at that time, and had been for a period
before, in charge of the school. H. W. Harbaugh is, at
this writing, in charge of it.
There is alst) a very nice two-story frame building in Ja-
cobsport, built in 1873. The directors, at the time, \^ere L.
Carhart, T. P. Latham, and Alonzo Sibley. The teachers,
at present, are S. P. "Woodward and Miss Anna Johnson.
In 1871, a good school-house was erected at "Warsaw.
The directors then were N. Buckalew, Joseph Orr, and
John Lenhart. John Crawford is the Centennial year prin-
cipal of the school. There is a good school-house (two-story
frame) at Keene, in which John M. Finley is "the pre-
siding genius." The school-house at East Union is a good
two-story frame. New Castle also has a very creditable
building.
The school-house at West Carlisle, and the academies at
Spring Mountain and West Carlisle, though not new build-
ings, are all good and well fitted up — each being a frame
two-story structure. Canal Lewisville has a neat brick
school-house, and the district just east of Coshocton one —
both recently built.
The following statistics give a distinct view of the school
affairs in the county for the year 1875 : Number of school
districts, 139 ; number of persons engaged in teaching
during the year, 235; number of pupils enrolled, 7,692;
average daily attendance, 3,839 ; amount paid for sites and
buildings, $5,452 ; contingent expenses, $7.981 ; for teach-
ers' wages, $39,280 ; average of teachers' wages per month,
$40.00.
The veteran school teachers of the county are M. D.
Van Eman, of Bethlehem township, and James Magness,
of Linton township.
A complete list of those who have been engaged, in all
the years past, in teaching, would embrace the names of
very many hundreds of the excellent women and vigorous
School Matters. 137
men of the county. Of those who, at this writing, may be
designated as teachers, not to repeat those already men-
tioned, the following may be named as most acceptable and
successful. Mrs. Conant, Mrs. Carnahan, Misses II. Ilogle,
Ida Pugh, S. Sample, Isa Campbell, Sallie Anderson, Tip
Elliott, Ella Johnston, Pauline Weiser, Cassie Raymer,
Rebecca J. Trego, Mary Gorham, Elizabeth Magness, Ellen
Horn, Nora Crawford, Linda Lanning, Jennie M. Myser,
Lyda Hutchins, Melissa Stonehocker, Kate Elliott, Eliza
Hutchinson, Elizabeth L. Barnes, Eliza J. Creightou, Bell
Simpson, i^annie Jones, Maggie S. Phillips, Sarah E. Bu-
chanan, Juliet W. Gardner, Lucy Dodd, Charlotte Hogle
Kate Boyd, and Emma Massa ; and Messrs. John Wagner,
S. P. Woodward, II. K. Knaval, J. M. Williams, W. K.
Spencer, Jas. D. Phillips, H. S. Mulford, Edgar Carroll,
Wm. C. Thomas, Sam'l A. Boyd, S. P. Snyder, J. F. My-
ser, J. F. Hastings, F. M. Murphy, Lewis V. Cox, Geo. W.
McDonald, J. B. Barcroft, Jas. S. Beall, Jas. P. Lawyer, C.
C. Emerson, Wm. Gorsline, H. T. Wheeler, Wm. Fulks,
Jno. W. Bell, Jacob Brewer, F. M. Ogilvie, 0. M. Seward,
Geo. D. Hill, W. S. Kilpatrick, D. A. Barcroft, Jonathan
Lenhart, Wilber G. Williams, Isaac Loder, and H. B.
Barnes.
Under the old law, the school examiners held their oiRce
for two years. The number for some time was at least two
in each township, and the changes were frequent, so that
the list would embrace scores of names. If a man, in
those days, was not a school examiner, one of three things
miijht be concluded — either he would not be bothered with
the office, or he had not any noticeable literary attainments,
or he was not politician enough to secure the appointment.
Under the law (in force since 1851) vesting the appoint-
ment in the 'probate judge, and providing for only three
examiners for the county, the following is the list, with
term of service : C. R. Shreve, teacher, 1851-59* ; John
E. Irvine, teacher, 1851-54*; Wm. R. Powers, teacher,
1851-56*; John T. Simmons, Esq., 1854-56; Rev. II. Cal-
houn, 1856-58*; Wm. A. McKee, teacher, 1854-58;* J.J.
* Removed from county.
138 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
McSuitt, 1856-60; Dr. Josiah Harris, 1858, still iu office;
M. C. McFarland, deput}' county clerk, 1859-65 ; Rev.
Wm. E. Hunt, 1860-74*; John M. Finley, teacher, 1865-
76; W. S. Crowell, Esq., 1874 ; M. W. Wimmer, 1876, still
iu office.
With the impulse given, teacher's institutes, under the
auspices of the County Teachers' Association, were inaug-
urated about 1852. By the state law a small amount could
be drawn, for this work, from the county treasury, upon
the condition that a like amount be contributed by the
teachers and friends of education.
Probably the most enthusiastic friends of this undertak-
ing, in its original form, were C. R. Shreve, principal of
the Roscoe school, and Rev. H. Calhoun, and Dr. J. Harris,
of Coshocton. After a few annual meetings — partly owing
to the removal from the county of Mr. Shreve and Mr.
Calhoun — the institute work was discontinued. Under the
law setting aside, for this purpose, the fees paid by appli-
cants for teachers' certificates, the institute was revived
about 1865, and there has since been an annual effi)rt (and
for one year, two) in that direction. Dr. J. Harris, Wm.
E. Hunt, Prof. Geo. Conant and wife, Prof. T. Carnahan
and wife, W. C. Thomas, Wm. Gorsline, W. Nicholas, R.
Compton, Geo. Hill, Misses H. Hogle, and Ida Pugh have
been officially and prominently connected with this w^ork.
The officers for 1876 are as follows : President, J. T. Moore ;
Executive Committee, Wm. Gorsline, T hoas as Carnahan,
and Eph. Ellis ; Secretary, E. L. Retilley ; Treasurer, Ida
A. Pugh.
Among the instructors and lecturers engaged in connec-
tion with this work have been Professors Tappan, Marsh,
Kidd, Ilenkle, White, Mendenhall, Andrews, Williams, T.
W. Harvey, Knisely, and other gentlemen, well known in
connection with such matters, residing elsewhere than in
Coshocton county. Prof. Conant and Mrs. Conant, Dr. J.
Harris and Rev. Wm. E. Hunt, have also been employed
in the capacity of instructors and lecturers.
* Resigned.
Military Affairs. 139
CHAPTER XVII.
MILITARY AFFAIRS.
Military spirit has in all its history been largely mani-
fested in Coshocton county. " Fighting blood " abounded
among the early settlers. ]S[early every neighborhood had
its champion wrestler or fighter. Personal combats were
frequent — often accounted a fitting close for every public
day, ranking along with horse-racing and rifle-shooting.
Pages could be written showing the strength and prowess
of some of the old-time heroes, especially as detailed by
some of their boon companions. At a term of court held
in 1813, twelve indictments were found " for fighting at
fisticuffs by agreement," including one against the sheriif
of the county. In these appear the even yet well known
names, Yan Kirk, Markley, Hill, Cantwell, Williams, Cain,
Roderick, JSTewcum, and Clark.
A citizen, coming in some fifteen years later, details how
he frequently heard little companies of men quietly talk-
ing together and discussing the question as to who was
"the best man." And upon the facts coming out it would
always appear that this phrase did not denote the man of
mind, and heart, and good character, but the man of mus-
cle — the brawniest, bulliest fellow !
The " musters " were the big occasions, brightening the
eyes of citizens generally, and affording a fine field for am-
bition, and producing a large crop of Majors, Colonels, and
Generals. Thus came Generals Johnston, Burns, Mere-
dith, Workman, etc.; Colonels Swigert, Ferguson, Ravens-
craft, etc.; and Majors Frew, Robinson, etc. Much might
be written presenting the tamer or the more ludicrous as-
pects of the "corn-stalk" musters, and trainings, and drill-
ings of the " citizen soldiery." But these things were in
nowise peculiar to Coshocton county, and all the old chron-
iclers tell of them.
140 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Tom Corwin once pictured* the militia general and the
parade as follows :
" "We all in fancy now see the gentleman in that most
dangerous and glorious event in the life of a militia gen-
eral on the peace establishment — a parade day ! The day
for which all other days of his life seem to have been made.
We can see the troops in motion — umbrellas, hoe and axe-
handles, and other like deadly implements of war over-
shadowing all the field — when, lo ! the leader of the host
approaches ; ' far oft' his coming shines.' His plume white,
after the fashion of the great Bourbon, is of ample length,
and reads its doleful history in the bereaved necks and
bosoms of forty neighboring hen-roosts ! Like the great
Suwaroft*, he seems somewhat careless in forms and points
of dress ; hence his epaulettes may be on his shoulders,
back, or sides, but still gleaming, gloriously gleaming in
the sun. Mounted he is, too, let it not be forgotten. Need
I describe to the colonels and generals of this honorable
house the steed which heroes bestride on such occasions ?
No, I see the memory of other days is with you. You see
before you the gentleman from Michigan, mounted on his
crop-eared, bushy-tailed mare, the singular obliquities of
. whose hinder limbs are described in that most expressive
phrase, 'sickle hams;' her height just fourteen hands,
'• all told.' Yes, sir ; there you see his ' steed that laughs at
the shaking of the spear;' that is, his 'war-horse whose
neck is clothed with thunder.' Mr. Speaker, we have glow-
ing descriptions in history of Alexander the Great and his
war-horse, Bucephalus, at the head of the invincible Mace-
donian phalanx ; but, sir, such are the improvements of
modern times, that every one must see that our militia gen-
eral, with his crop-eared mare with bushy tail and sickle
ham, would literally frighten off" a battlefield a hundred
Alexanders. But, sir, to the history of the parade day.
The general, thus mounted and equipped, is in the field
*In a speech in the House of Representatives, February 14, 1840,
in answer to lion. Isaac E. Crary, of Michigan. Corwin several times
spoke at Coshocton — the last time in 1860.
Military Affairs. 141
and ready for action. On the eve of some desperate enter-
prise, such as giving order to shoulder arms, it may be,
there occurs a crisis — one of the accidents of war which
no sagacity could foresee or prevent. A cloud arises and
passes over the sun ! Here an occasion occurs for the dis-
play of that greatest of all traits in the character of a com-
mander — that tact which enables him to seize upon and
turn to good account events unlooked for as they arise,
l^ow for the caution wherewith the Roman Fabius foiled
the skill and courage of Hannibal. A retreat is ordered,
and troops and general, in a twinkling, are found safely
bivouacked in a neighboring grocery ! But even here the
general still has room for the exhibition of heroic deeds."
Hot from the tield, and chafed with the untoward events of
the day, your general unsheathes his trenchant blade,
eighteen inches in length, as you will well remember, and
with an energy and remorseless fury he slices the water-
melons that lie in heaps around him, and shares them with
his surviving friends. Other of the sinews of war are not
wanting here. Whisky, Mr. Speaker, that great leveler of
modern times, is here also ; and the shells of the water-
melons are tilled to the brim. Here, again, Mr. Speaker, is
shown how the extremes of barbarism and civilization
meet. As the Scandanavian heroes of old, after the fa-
tigues of war, drank wine from the skulls of their slaught-
ered enemies, in Odin's halls, so now our militia general
and his forces, from the skulls of melons thus vanquished,
in copious draughts of whisky assuage the heroic tire of
their souls, after the bloody scenes of a parade day. But
alas for this short-lived race of ours, all things will have an
end ; and so even it is with the glorious achievements of
our general. Time is on the wing, and will not stay his
flight. The sun, as if frightened at the mighty events of
the day, rides down the sky ; and at the close of the day,
when ' the hamlet is still,' the curtain of night drops upon
the scene —
" ' And glory, like the phoenix in its fires,
Exhales its odors, blazes, and expires.' " ^
142 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
WAR OF 1812.
It was proposed originally that this work, as giving
special prominence, though far from exclusive attention, to
the days of " the fathers," should contain a list of all the
soldiers of the war of 1812. But success has not crowned
efforts in this direction. The recollection of the few sur-
vivors is unreliable and incomplete; the statements made
by those supposing themselves informed contradictory.
Repeated applications to the War Department were de-
clined, with information that, while answers will be given
in relation to individuals, when company, etc., are given,
lists will not be furnished or allowed.
There are reports that, at the outset of the war, a con-
siderable number of citizens, chiefly from the south and
west parts of the county, joined a company that was being
raised by Lewis Cass. This detachment was surrendered
by Hull, and sent home on parole.
Under a requisition from the governor. Judge Isaac
Evans responded with a full company, marching to Frank-
linton (across the Scioto from Columbus), where they were
mustered into service, and furnished with uniforms and
United States muskets. They were in the forces of Gen-
eral Harrison. Their period of service was six mouths.
There is information of a company in service, under
command of Captain Isaac Meredith, raised in the north-
western part of the county.
Captain Tanner is reported to have taken a company
from the southern part of the county, and mention is also
made of Captain Beard's company.
By the kindness of Matthew Johnston, Esq., the muster-
roll of Captain Adam Johnston's company is here given.
MUSTER-ROLL OF CAPTAIN ADAM JOHNSON's COMPANY OF
RIFLEMEN,
Detailed for the protection of " the Mansfleld frontier,"
under command of Colonel Charles Williams, by order of
Return J. Meigs, Governor of Ohio :
Adam Johnston, captain; William Morrison, lieutenant;
Military Affairs. 143
Abraham Miller, ensign; Thomas Foster, first sergeant;
John M. Miller, second sergeant ; Frederick Markley, third
sergeant ; Robert Culbertson, fonrth sergeant ; John H.
Miller, first corporal; Zebedee Baker, second corporal;
John M. Bantham, third corporal ; John D. Moore, fourth
corporal.
Privates — Samuel Morrison, Edward Miller, Isaac M.
Miller, Michael Miller, Isaac Hoagland, George Arnold,
James Bncklew, John Baker, Matthew Bonar, Joseph Neff,
Allen Moore, Benj. Workman, James Winders, John Mc-
Kean, Windle Miller, John G. Miller, Isaac G. Miller, George
McCullough, Daniel Miller, Joseph McFarland, Andrew
Lybarger, Henry Carr, Matthew Williams, John Steer-
man — 24.
It will be observed that this force was a volunteer rifle
company. The men, as they went out, wore new yellow
hunting-shirts, trimmed with white fringe, and each carried
his own trusty rifle and tomahawk and scalping-knife. The
company was summoned to the field under the impulse
given by the account of the massacre of the Copeland fam-
ily, near Mansfield, by some Indians. It was mustered into
service August 25, 1812, and mustered out September 25th
of the same year.
Colonel Charles Williams went along with the force in the
capacity of scout and general adviser, and in expectation of
taking charge of a regiment, if occasion might oiFer or ne-
cessity require.
Thomas L. Rue was with the force as sutler, and Dr. S.
Lee was the mustering-in surgeon.
One of the sentinels of the company shot a cow, mistaking
it in the dark for an Indian. An Indian, supposed to be a
scout, was discovered behind a tree and killed and scalped,
the scalp being an adornment of one of the riflemen for
years afterward.
In addition to those whose names appear in the foregoing
list the following are reported as having rendered service
in the war of 1812 : Peter Moore, Charles Miller, John G.
Pigman, Thomas Johnson, Richard Johnson, Andrew Mc-
Clain, Samuel Elson, Francis Smith, W. R. Clark, James
144 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Williams, Levi Magness, George Magness, Richard Fowler,
Rezin Baker, Richard Hawk, Isaac Shambaugh, James
Oglesby, James Wiley, Elijah Newcum, James Butler,
Robert Corbit, Thomas Butler, Joseph Soverns, and Isaac
Meredith.
Some of the saltpeter used for making powder for the
war of ]812 was collected a few miles south of Roscoe.
The " caves " formed by projecting rocks had in the decom-
posed stone on their floors a great deal of nitrate of lime,
which, being leached with wood-ashes and exposed to the
air and sun, gave nitrate of potash, a high-priced material
in those war times, wherewith to make powder.
MEXICAN WAR.
On the first call for troops for the Mexican war, more
than a hundred citizens of Coshocton county sprang to
arms, although the whole State of Ohio was asked to fur-
nish only some 2,400.
On the 5th of June these embarked on a canal-boat at
Roscoe, destined for the " Halls of the Montezumas."
Upon reaching Camp Washington, near Cincinnati, a full
company was mustered into the service, and became part
of the Third Ohio regiment.
A considerable number of the Coshocton boys went into
what was commonly spoken of as the Union company,
made up of soldiers from Muskingum, Morgan, and Cosh-
octon counties.
The full Coshocton company was officered as follows :
Captain, Jesse H. Meredith ; First Lieutenant, J. M. Love ;
Second Lieutenant, S. B. Crowley ; Third Lieutenant, Jos.
D. Workman. Seven of this company were lost by the
casualties of war. This force was under General Taylor,
but was not in any considerable battle.
There was also a considerable number of Coshocton
county boys in Captain Hart's (afterward Captain Irvine's)
company, which became part of the Fourth Ohio regiment.
This was raised under the call for troops in 1847. The
term of service of the first forces was one year, and they
Military A fairs. 145
met at Cincinnati the second lot of soldiers.* The latter
were in several of the sharpest engagements of the war,
being with General Scott.
It is reported that there are now in the connty only seven
Mexican war survivors, the rest having died or removed.
Joseph Sawyer sports the medal of the Veteran Associa-
tion, a handsome bronze shield, made out of cannon cap-
tured in the war.
THE WAR OF 1861-5.
The people of Coshocton county, as those of all other
localities, were watching with intensest interest the occur-
rences of the winter of 1860-61. Whatever the personal
sympathies, political attachments, or peaceful proclivities,
none were indifferent. When Lincoln, in the latter part of
February, passed through the town of Coshocton on his
way to the national capital, he was greeted b}'' an im-
mense throng of anxious citizens. The news of the fall of
Sumter caused hereabouts as elsewhere a thrill that passed
and repassed along the nerves of the people. Many of the
settlers had come 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, even among
these, and as promptly as in any county the masses of the
people were up in arms. Under the first call of the presi-
dent, two companies of men were enlisted for three months'
service. One of them was commanded by Captain James
Irvine,f and the other by Captain R. W. McLain. They
were mustered into the Sixteenth Ohio Regiment, of which
Irvine became colonel, John D. Nicholas taking command
* Charles McCloskey, of Coshocton (now of Steubenville), at the
time of the Mexican war, was a soldier in the regular army, and one
of the storming party or "forlorn hope" at the capture of the City of
Mexico, when he was terribly wounded, and for a long time near to
death. Upon his return to Coshocton, after his recovery, a salute was
fired by some of his old comrades, and, by the premature discharge of
the cannon, Joseph Sawyer and John Richards lost each an arm, car.
ried away by the rammer.
f R. M. Voorhees, Esq., lays claim to having been the first man to
put his name on paper in the recruiting of this company. It is said
that N. R. Tidball claims the same distinction.
146 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
of the company. The regiment, as will be remembered,
was sent to Western Virginia, and smelled a little powder
at Philipi. These forces were sworn in for three months'
service, and rendered it. Before this time was up, how-
ever, it became manifest that the suppression of the rebel-
lion was to be no ninety days' job. Promptly, Josiah
Given, Esq., who had seen service in the Mexican War, set
about raising another company for three years' service,
under the second call of the president, and in a little time
another hundred of the youth and strength of Coshocton
county were mustered in, and became part of the Twenty-
fourth Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. There soon fol-
lowed another hundred, entering the Thirty-second Regi-
ment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, with Captain Stanley, First
Lieutenant C. C. Nichols, and Second Lieutenant Geo.
Jack. Then, indeed, were the piping times of war. At
every cross-road was a recruiting station. Within a few
months, nearly a thousand men were recruited. The most of
these were mustered into the Fifty-first and Eightieth Reg-
iments Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which rendezvoused at
Camp Meigs, near Canal Dover. In the Fifty-first were
Companies D, F, II, and I, commanded respectively by
Captains John G. Patton, D. W. Marshall, John D. Nich-
olas, and James Crooks, and about one-half of Company C,
commanded by Captain Hesket, was also made up of Cos-
hocton boys. Of this regiment R. W. McLain was made
lieutenant-colonel, and D.W. Marshall, adjutant, both of Cos-
hocton county. In the Eightieth Regiment there were three
companies and a considerable part of a fourth. The com-
missioned ofiicers of the three companies were as follows :
Company F, Captain Pren Metham ; First Lieutenant
James Carnes ; Second Lieutenant F. H. Farmer : Company
G, Captain Wm. Marshall ; First Lieutenant Peter Hack ;
Second Lieutenant John Kors : Company H, Captain G.
W. Pepper ; First Lieutenant John Kinney ; Second Lieu-
tenant J. W. Doyle. The major of this regiment was
Richard Lanning.*
* He was killed at the battle of Corinth, Miss., October 4, 1802. He
was connected with one of the old families of the county ; was a
Military Affairs. i^*j
While the Fifty-first and Eightieth were being collected,
J. V. Heslip raised a considerable squad in this county, for
the Sixty-ninth Eegimeut Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and R.
W. Burt, formerly a resident of the county, came up from
E'ewark and enlisted a few Coshocton boys for a regiment
being raised in Licking county. In the summer and fall of
1862, four companies were raised for the Ninety-seventh
and One Hundred and Twenty-second Regiments Ohio Vol-
unteer Infantry. Of one of those in the Ninety-seventh,
E. Shafl:er was captain, Martin Weiser first lieutenant, and
G. W. Smailes second lieutenant. Of the other, C. C. Nich-
ols Avas captain; N. McLain first lieutenant, and C. H.
Matthews second lieutenant.
Of those in the One Hundred and Twenty-second, B. F.
Sells and Dr. 0. C. Farquhar were captains, Joseph Work
and G. H. Barger first lieutenants, and James M. Sells and
Anderson second lieutenants. About the time these
companies were being raised. Colonel James Irvine, com-
missioned to raise a regiment of cavalry, secured some fifty
men in Coshocton county, who were mustered in the Ninth
Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. In the summer of 1868, a draft
was ordered. The enrollment reporte'el, in August of that
year, three thousand and nine persons in the county subject
to military duty. Of these some eight hundred were of the
second class (between thirty-five and forty-five years of age,
and not subject to duty until the first class, from twenty-
five to thirty-five, was exhausted). On the day fixed for
examination of claims for exemption, there was a pretty
good mass-meeting iu the public square in Coshocton.
Many claims were justly made and allowed. The horrors
of the draft were largely diminished as the whole process
was better understood. The results of it in securing sol-
diers iu Coshocton county are not readily accessible ; but it
is believed that they were not widely different from those
in the country at large, as follows : On the 19th of October,
1863, the provost-marshal general reported that of every
farmer in earlier years ; afterward studied law, and was prosecuting
attorney of the county when commissioned. He was about fifty years
of age. His body was sent home, and lies in the Coshocton Cemetery.
148 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
one hundred and fifty men drafted, thirty never reported,
being thoroughly disinclined to the service or confident of
their legal right to exemption. Of the one hundred and
twenty reporting, seventy- two were excused. Of the forty-
eight held for service, twenty-four paid the commutation,
sixteen furnished substitutes, and the balance, being eight,
went to the field. In an efibrt to arrest drafted men in
Crawford township, three men were shot. A few of the
citizens of Coshocton county, excited by stories of personal
outrage and ofiicial mismanagement, gathered their old
shot-guns, and repaired to Napoleon, Holmes county,
whence fearful accounts of resistance to the draft were
soon sent out ; but no Coshocton comity blood was there
spilled.
An incident of the Napoleon excitement was the march
of a detachment of bronzed soldiers, in charge of a small
gun, which had been sent by the governor to Napoleon,
down the Walhonding valley to Coshocton, where they
took the cars for Camp Chase.
During the Morgan raid excitement Coshocton became
the depositor}^ of the treasures of the banks of Cadiz, which
were brought hither and put in the vault of Joseph K.
Johnson & Co.'s bank. Morgan, on his way to Columbus,
after his capture, spent a few minutes in Coshocton.
The men drafted or going as substitutes were allowed
the privilege of going into companies and regiments in
which their friends and associates were, and the ranks of
some of these were thus increased. The generous provision
made by the township for the relief of the families of
those in the service, and the bounties ottered, bore their
fruits in the enlistment of many scores of men in the sum-
mer and fall of 1863 ; and, while no new organizations were
formed, several hundred men went during that season out
of Coshocton county into the military service.
In the fall of 1863, some seven volunteer military com-
panies were, by state authority, organized and drilled un-
der the name of Ohio National Guards. On the 25th of
April, 1864, these were ordered by the governor to take the
field. They rendezvoused at the fair-ground in Coshocton,
Military Affairs. 149
and after a few days proceeded to Columbus. After inspec-
tion, some five 'hundred men were selected out of the nearly
seven hundred men, and two companies were placed in the
One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment, and three in the
One Hundred and Forty-third Regiment. The companies
in the One Hundred and Forty-second Regiment had the
following commissioned officers : Captains L. B. Wolf and
Caleb Wheeler ; First Lieutenants John Weatherwax and
D. L. Lawson ; Second Lieutenants B. F. Leighninger and
.™™ — _. On the staff of the regiment was A. H.
Fritchey, quartermaster. Of the One Hundred and Forty-
third Regiment, John D. Nicholas was lieutenant-colonel.
The commissioned officers of the companies were as follows :
Captains IST. R. Tidball, Jno. L. Dougherty, and Jas. Ririe ;
First Lieutenants D. F. Denman, A. J. Stover, and James
Crawford ; Second Lieutenants John Willis, D. Rose, and
!N"at. Elliott, They were mustered into the United States
service, May 13, 1864, and mustered out September 13th,
of the same year,
A few men were secured in Coshocton for the gun -boat
service. Dr. S. H. Lee and Dr. A. G. Brown, of Coshoc-
ton, and Dr. Edwards, of West Carlisle, represented Cosh-
octon in the medical department, and Rev. G. W. Pepper,
of the Methodist Episcopal church at Keene, was chaplain,
as well as captain of a company. And there was no arm
of the service that did not find some of its strength in
the warm hearts and brawny arms of Coshocton county
boys.*
It is not in the plan of this work to trace the career of
those entering the military service after leaving the county.
They were absorbed in the larger bodies of which they
became part, and the record of these is in the general his-
tory of the war. They were given by the county to this
service, and most of them proved worthy representatives of
it. It is estimated that in all there entered the service
* Major-General William Burns, of the regular United States array,
and Lieutenant Poe, of the United States navy, were horn and hred
in Coshocton county.
150 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
nearly twenty-five hundred men, and of these between
three and four hundred fell by the casualties of war.
There is not a graveyard in Coshocton county but holds
the ashes of some of them, and scores of them rest in
" the south-land."*
To promote enlistments and serve as counselors in rela-
tion to all military matters, the following persons acted, by
appointment of the governor, as a military committee for
Coshocton county : A. L. Cass, Houston Hay, Seth Mc-
Lain, J. D. Nicholas, and D. Rodahaver. Soldiers' aid so-
cieties were formed in almost every school district, gather-
ing up comforts and delicacies for the camps and hospitals
in which were the " boys." Rev. A. McCartney, of Keene
township, and Joseph Elliott and Rev. C. "W. Wallace, of
Coshocton, visited the " Army of the Cumberland " as dele-
gates of the United States Christian Commission.
* In the Coshocton Cemetery is buried a young Confederate soldier,
who died in the cars when near Coshocton while being transported
as a prisoner of war.
Bible Society^ S. S. Association, etc. 151
CHAPTER XVIII.
BIBLE SOCIETY — S. S. ASSOCIATION — TEMPERANCE MOVEMENTS — SECUET
ORDERS.
The Coshocton County Bible Society was organized in
April, 1830. It has distributed by sale and gift some six
thousand dollars' worth of Bibles and Testaments in the
county, and paid over to the American Bible Society for
its benevolent work in the home and foreign field some
twelve hundred dollars.
SUNDAY-SCHOOL ASSOCIATION.
Some ten years ago, a county sunday-school association
was formed, but after a brief period became extinct. W.
H. Robinson was Pres. ; Dr. E. Sapp, V. P. ; J. Glover,
Treas. ; J. R. Johnson, Cor. Sec; W. J. Moffit, Rec. Sec
In the summer of 1876, a new association was organized.
Pres., Joseph Frew ; Sec, L. Disney ; Treas., J. G. Magaw.
TEMPERANCE MOVEMENTS.
The various temperance movements of the country at large
have always been to greater or less extent engaged in by
the people of Coshocton county. And in few regions has
there been either more need for the work or more faith-
fulness in it. Records which, if given in detail and in such
way as to make the account one of personal and local in-
terest, would perpetuate family shame and mortify personal
and local pride, tell in general that Coshocton county has
contributed its full quota of victims to " the monster evil."
From the days of the Washingtonians, on through Sons
of Temperance, Cadets of Temperance, Good Templars,
"Women's Leagues, there have always been those to " lift
up the standard against the enemy." The records of many
of these organizations and societies are not now to be had,
and it is not deemed best to make herein transfers from
them, at best only partial.
152 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
The following facts may be noticed :
In earl}^ days, every shop, tavern, and trading-place sold
whisky. In 1820, there were not less than thirteen such
places in Coshocton county, then including the lower half
of Holmes county, and having a population of 7,086.
In 1849 there were seven persons licensed, and some thirty
indicted for selling without license.
In 1876, with a -population of some 23,000, there are in
the county forty-five drug-stores, saloons, etc., paying tax
to the United States government on sales of liquor.
In 1856, there were two very large distilleries in Coshoc-
ton county ; in 1876, none.
The first " raising " reported to have been conducted with-
out liquors was that of John Shannon's barn, in Keene
township, in 1834.
Lodges of Good Templars are at this date reported in
West Bedford, Mohawk Village, and Coshocton ; and Wo-
men's Leagues in Warsaw, Jacobsport, and Coshocton.
Among the more noticeable movements, we mention
two, partly because the record of these was more distinctly
made and can now be readily traced.
In the month of March, 1870, in the village of Coshoc-
ton, a meeting was called (and held in the Frame Presby-
terian Church) to devise, if possible, some more efiicient
measures looking to the removal of the evils of intemper-
ance from our community. After some discussion, it was
resolved to put in the field, at the approaching spring elec-
tion, a ticket pledged to pass and enforce the " McConnells-
ville Ordinance," as it was commonly called, or some
other of similar sort. Each of the great parties had al-
ready presented its ticket. In due time, after a brief but
vigorous campaign, the following "Citizens' Ticket" was
elected : Mayor, Hiram Beall ; Clerk, H. 0. Smith ; Treas-
urer, G. F. Cassingham; Marshal, John Taylor; Council-
men, F. E. Barney, W. S. Tidball, Wm. E. Hunt, Geo.
Ross, J. S. Williams, and Josiah Glover.* The average
* Thomas Campbell was appointed corporation attorney, and Nicho-
las Tidball street commissioner.
Bible Society^ S. S. Association^ etc. 153
vote for the gentlemen on this ticket was one hundred
and forty-three ; the total number of votes cast in
the corporation that year being three hundred and
fifty.
The ordinance having been passed, and vigor displayed
as to the enforcement of all temperance laws, four saloons
were closed entirely, and the others put under much re-
straint. But eminent legal ability soon discovered weak
places, and the delinquents always got the benefit of them,
and of doubts. The tax-payers grew restive under the ex-
penses of trials, etc., and public sentiment, never really as
to majority, but only by plurality, on the side of this move-
ment, failed to support the movement, and in due course
put into the controlling municipal places those who, while
preserving the form of the ordinance, had no sympathy
with its spirit.
The recent famous " Crusade," or '• Prayer Work," or
" Women's Whisky War," as variously termed by the jour-
nals of the day, may be said to have been commenced in
Coshocton, February 15, 1874.
On the evening of that day (Sabbath) a mass meeting of
" the friends of temperance " in the village of Coshocton
was held in the Methodist Episcopal Church, to consider
the new movement, and the propriety of inaugurating it
here. The meeting was presided over by the mayor, and
addressed by a number of speakers, the general drift of
whose remarks was in favor of " the movement" already
sweeping up from the southwestern part of the state, and
immensely "written up" in the papers.
On the 21st of February (Saturday), " the visiting band "
of women, led by the venerable Mrs. D. Spangler (after fre-
quent conferences among themselves, and direct or indirect
conference with those who professed that " the secret of the
Lord was with them;" and who, " knew that the Lord was
in this movement," and that all the pains and toils would
be light when the success was achieved), began their visi-
tation of the saloons. The day was exceedingly stormy ;
efi^brts were confined to pleading with those in the business
154 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
to give it up. After some days, the prayer exercises were
entered upon. Usually the ladies were allowed to come
into the premises, the proprietor often, however, being out
at the time. But at length the exercises were conducted
upon the pavement, often in the chill March winds and amid
the rain and snow. Meanwhile public meetings were held
every evening, at which addresses were made by popular
speakers more or less in sympathy with the work, and rela-
tions of the experience of reformed drinkers and reports of
the women's work were given in. At these great crowds
were present, filling the largest rooms available — the Meth-
odist Episcopal Church, Central Hall, the Presbyterian
Church, and the Opera House. Morning prayer meetings
of large proportions also were held. Pledges were circula-
ted ; the newspapers and the lawyers were completely en-
listed to put no hindrance in the way, but rather to help
"the women," with whom, in their sorrows and general
purposes, there was as yet almost universal sympathy, what-
ever might be thought of some of the methods. Still, no
" surrenders " were made, and it was evident, possibly with
a view to what followed, that larger sales than ever were
being made, especially by a drug store or two, whence flasks
were being largely carried out, which probably came into
play when the saloons were more closely guarded, or even
practically closed.
At length "pickets" were set in each drinking place
or as a guard before the door. Two women, often closely
blanketed and with warm bricks at the feet, sat hour after
hour, until relieved by others sent out by "the oflicer
of the day," by authority of " the League." At length,
after days of uneasiness and nights of anxiety and devising,
the establishment having the smallest stock and doing the
smallest trade surrendered, with the understanding that the
liquors should be purchased by the League or its friends,
and also the U. S. internal revenue license. And then fol-
lowed another and another — the liquors were poured into
the gutter, the brass band played, the church and court-
house bells rang, the men shouted, the women sang and
cried and prayed ; the strange enthusiasm was felt in every
Bihle Society, S. S. Association^ etc. 155
home to g-reater or less extent. Then came a lull. Prose-
cutions, under the temperance ordinance, were now tried.
Money was wanted, and came in slowl3\ Somehow a great
deal of liquor was still drunk. Although a few hundred
dollars' worth had been captured, it was known that there
were thousands of dollars' worth still in the town. With
little observable signs of trade — none when the pickets were
around — the breath of many still had the odor of beer, or
what even seemed more discouraging, whisky; because
indicating a readiness to take the stimulant in even more
concentrated and damaging form. One man coming out of a
meat shop connected with a saloon, with a large basket
exhibiting some fine beefsteaks only, he was closely watched,
and was detected in distributing flasks to his thirsty old
customers assembled in a hay-mow.
Curiously enough, as some thought, the establishments
which had females connected with them were the most per-
tinacious in their rejection of all terms proposed by the
League. Still the women held on, evincing the depth of
their feeling and the strength of their purpose. At length
more surrenders, mainly of empty barrels and old fixtures,
were made. These were, in two cases, sold at auction —
the proceeds to go to the proprietors.* Glasses brought
five dollars a piece, and other things in similar proportion.
But now the actual results of this work, as done else-
where, were beginning to come out in the papers. Little
difficulties began to grow up inside " the League." It Avas
apparent that some were chiefly interested in the move-
ment from its bearing upon personal notoriety, political pre-
ferment or supposed party gain, or sexual advancement or
denominational popularity. Soon there was talk about
bad faith and broken pledges, of divers sorts. An election
was approaching, and interest began to center in it. The
temperance people were unfortunate in their selection of a
ticket, and on the first Monday of April received an unmis-
takable blow. A few weeks later the temperance ordinance,
passed by the temperance council of 1870, was ''modified,"
* And, it is said, ultimately were used to enlarge and refit the estab-
lishment subsequently conducted by a relative of the former owner.
156 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
and to be brief, in six months after "the movement" was
inaugurated, there were more drinking houses in Coshocton
than before it was begun.
What Occurred at the county seat, with slight mutations,
occurred at the villages all through the county. Probably
the point of most interest after Coshocton was Warsaw,
which, like Coshocton, has always been a little unfortunate
in having some of the meanest whisky or whisky-drink-
ers in the country. To their credit, be it said, that many
who "signed the pledge" during this movement, are still
keeping it, as some of them had done before for many
months, in connection with other movements ; and several
of those who then relinquished the business have not since
engaged in it.
Whatever results followed — whatever extravagances
marked its course — no thoughtful one can deny, that in
the attention aroused to the monster evils of intemper-
ance in the discussions pertaining to it, in the more thor-
ough instruction of the young, the crusade accomplished
much good. The estimate of female influence and essen-
tial divinity may be lower. The idea that those who can
not prevail with God, and over the passions and appetites
of those whom they love and by whom they are loved —
their fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons — to the inducing
of them to give up the use of drinks, can yet without fail
prevail over those, it may be, alien to them in race and
religion, to resist their passion for easy living and the love
of gain ("the accursed thirst for gold," as the poet says),
may not be so generally accepted as it once was; but the
crusade was no failure, in at least some important aspects.
And though, with some, " distance may lend enchantment
to the view," its work in Coshocton county was as eifective
as elsewhere, where it encountered the same conditions.
And what is true of this is also true of the many move-
ments preceding it. People who talk of " no progress" in
this great subject, must surely look out only to the narrow
circle of their own personal grievances, or have queer ideas
of progress. They certainly can not stand with the writer
of these sketches, and see the river of fire in its tortuous
Bible Society, S. S. Association, etc. 157
flow along the years covered by this work. They would
at least see indications that the springs of the river were
very certainly, if gradually, losing their volume and depth
of color. Even in the face of the saddening and disgrace-
ful fact that there are in Coshocton county to-day so mau}^
drinking places and so much intemperance, no one who has
studied the whole movement will say there has been no
progress, unless determined to argue in advance "that the
former days were better than these days." From the days
that church authorities in Coshocton county must spend
hour after hour in cases of discipline arising out of intem-
perance — from the days that a popular politician could haul
a barrel of whisky to the public square, in front of the
polls, and, tying a couple of tin-cups to the barrel, after
knocking out the head, sing out : " Come on, boys ! "
there would seem to have been at least some change.
From the days when every store kept liquors to the days
of back rooms and screens — from the time when the use
of liquors was universal to even those in which it is even
very general, some progress has been made.
SECRET ORDERS.
Of the Masonic Fraternity, there are four Lodges and
one R. A. Chapter in the county, viz :
Coshocton Lodge, Ko. 96, organized in 1846.
Samaritan R. A. Chapter, No. 50, organized 1852.
Wakatomica Lodge, j!no. — , West Bedford.
Plainfield Lodge, ^o. 224, East Plainfield, Oct. 20, 1852.
Warsaw Lodge, Ko. 255, Warsaw.
Clinton Lodge, Ko. 42, of Coshocton, suspended 1836.
The Thornhill and the Roscoe Lodges also suspended.
Of the I. 0. O. F., there are three Lodges and one En-
campment, viz :
Coshocton Lodge, No. 44, instituted August 2, 1845 ;
Coshocton Encampment, No. 191, instituted July 7,
1875;
Sarah Lodge (Daughters of Rebecca), No. 25 ; all of Cosh-
octon.
158 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Bedford Lodge, No. 446, of New Bedford, instituted Jime
29, 1870.
There are several other Secret Associations, among which
may be named :
OuARGA Tribe, I. 0. Red Men ;
Crescent Camp, I. 0. of Knights ;
Coshocton Lodge, Knights of Pythias ; all of Coshocton.
In early days there was a famous society called the
" Hoo ! Hoo ! Society," composed of a rollicking set of fel-
lows. Unfortunately for the historian, all their proceedings
were conducted by " a dark lantern," but it is said that get-
ting "on the gridiron" or "riding the goat" were tame
things compared with their rites and ceremonies.
Miscellaneous Matters.
159
CHAPTER XIX.
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.
1. Tl\e Prc-Historic Race. 2. Ancient Burial Groxmds. 3. Meaning of the
names 3Iuskivgum, Tuscarawas, and Walhonding. 4. Prose Legend of
the Walhonding. 5. Heckiv elder s Famous Ride. 6. Temperance Cru-
sade among the Indians. 7. Gnadenhuiten Massacre. 8. Curious Stories
Touching Captives Reclaimed by Colonel Boquet. 9. Description of Hunt-
ing-Shirt. 10. The House and Furniture of the Pioneers in Coshocton
Countg. 11. Louis Philippe at Coshocton. 12. How to Raise a Large
Family. 12. Indian Stories. 13. Bachvoods Sports.
THE PRE-HISTORIC RACE.
Doddridge, in his " JSTotes on the Settlement of "Western
Pennsylvania and Virginia," etc., says, touching the earth
forts, mounds, grave-yards, stone-hatchets, and other evi-
dences of a race preceding the Indians :
"Most writers represent these as peculiar to America;
but the fact is, they are also in Europe and Asia. Large
groups of mounds are met with in many places between
Moscow and St. Petersburgh, in Russia. When the people
of that country are asked if they have any tradition con-
cerning them, they answer in the negative. They suppose
they are the graves of men slain in battle, but when or by
whom constructed they have no knowledge. Kearly all
the mounds which have been opened in Asia and America
have been found to contain more or less charcoal and cal-
cined bones. Some have thought that these mounds were
used for altars for sacrifice, the offerings being the prisoners
taken in battle. The great antiquity of these relics can
not be questioned. A curious fact is that they are not
found in any great numbers along the shores of the main
oceans. This circumstance goes to show that those by
whom they were made were not in the practice of navi-
gating the great seas. That they contain nothing with
even hieroglyphics is evidence of a high antiquity. An-
i6o Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
other evidence of the great age of these rude remains o±
antiquity is that there is not even a regular traditionary
account of their origin."
Doddridge gives reasons at length for rejecting the idea
that there was any considerable degree of civilization
among the people making them. He is inclined to think
they were of Asiatic origin, though not holding the idea
that they were " the lost tribes of Israel." He is not so
wild as some in his estimates of their numbers, wanting
something more than one swallow to make a summer, and
not familiar with or disposed to accept the processes of the
modern anti-biblical " scientists," who made so much out
of that tremendous " sell," the Cardifi' giant, to disparage
the scriptural account of man.
ANCIENT BURIAL GROUNDS.
"In the county of Coshocton, as we pass west on the
Pan-Handle railroad, three miles or thereabouts from the
county-seat, is seen to the right a large plain in the river
bend of several hundred acres, and on the east bank of the
river, a few hundred yards distant, a large mound, forty feet
high, with trees thereon. In its vicinity, Zeisberger settled
Lichtenau, in 1776, and he was attracted to the spot from the
numerous evidences of an ancient race having been buried
there, more civilized than the Indians of his day. The mis-
sionaries have left but meager details of what they there
found, but enough to clearly prove that its inhabitants un-
derstood the use of the ax, the making of pottery, and
division of areas of land in 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
preservation, so that the disembodied spirits, on coming out
of the graves, would first see the rising sun, and make their
proper devotional gestures to their great Spirit or God.
From af)proximate measurement this grave-yard contained
ten acres, and has long since been plowed up and turned
Miscellaneous Matters, i6i
into corn-fields. The race of beings buried there averaged
four feet in height, judging from the size of the graves and
layers of ashes. Estimating that twenty bodies could be
buried in a square rod, this human sepulcher, if fall, would
have contained over thirty thousand bodies, and the ordi-
nary time required to fill such a grave-yard would not be
less than five hundred years in a city the size of Coshocton
of the present day, assuming that the generations averaged
thirty-three years of life. One skeleton dug up from this
grave-yard is said to have measured five and one-half feet,
and the skull 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 south-
west 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 ordinary
size, similar in every respect to those found near Coshocton.
But, on opening the graves, they found the skeletons depos-
ited in stone coflins, 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
full-developed, large-sized man, except in length, the legs
having been cut ofiF at the knees and placed alongside the
thigh bones. From this fact many scientific men conjec-
tured that there must have been a custom among the inhab-
itants of separating the bones of the body before burial,
and that accounted for the small size of the graves. The
skeletons, however, 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 certain tribes
of the western Indians to keep their dead unburied until
the flesh separated from the bones ; and when the bones be-
came clean and white, they were buried in small coffins.
The Nanticoke Indians of Maryland had a custom of ex-
huming their dead after some months of burial, cutting off
i62 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
from the bones all the flesh and burning it, then drying and
wrapping the bones in clean cloths, and reburying them ;
and, whenever the tribe removed to new hunting-grounds,
the bones of their dead were taken along. It is known
that this tribe removed to "Western Pennsylvania, and por-
tions of them came to the Muskingum valley with the
Shawanese. Zeisberger had two Nanticoke converts at
Schoenbrunn, and one of whom (named Samuel Nanticoke)
affirmed — as tradition goes — that this pigmy grave-yard at
Lichtenau was their burying-groimd, and contained the
bones of their ancestors, carried from one place to another
for many generations, and found a final resting place in
these valleys, when their posterity became too weak, from
the wastage of war, to remove them elsewhere." — Mitchen-
er's Ohio Annals.
When the Walhonding canal was being built, a number
of skeletons in the sitting posture were unearthed. On
the Powelson place, just east of the town of Coshocton, a
skeleton was dug up, having upon the head a curious
shaped metallic cap or earthen-ware vase. It was forwarded
to the Academy of l^atural Sciences in Philadelphia, by
Rev. Wm, E. Hunt, in 1869.
MEANING OF THE NAMES MUSKINGUM, TUSCARAWAS, AND WAL-
HONDING.
The Tuscarawas river was long embraced with the Mus-
kingum river, as we now call it, under the one designation
— the Muskingum extending from Marietta to the head-
waters in Summit county. Afterward the Tuscarawas was
called the " Little Muskingum." The best accredited
meaning of the name Muskingum is " Elk's Eye " — the em-
blem of placid, quiet beauty.
Tuscarawas, according to Heckewelder (as good authority
as any in these things), means " Old Town," the oldest In-
dian town in South-eastern Ohio being on it near the pres-
ent Bolivar.
The Walhonding is, with unvarying testimony, said to
mean " The White Woman."
Miscellaneous Matters. 163
PROSE LEGEND OF THE WALHONDING.
Christopher Gist, when looking up lands for George Wash-
ington's Virginia Land Company, was at " White Woman's
Town," January 14, 1751. He says the town (it stood near
the junction of Killbuck and White Woman creeks) was
so called from the fact that the ruling spirit in it was a
white woman, who had been taken captive in New Eng-
land, when she was not above ten years of age, by the
French Indians, and had subsequently become the wife of
" Eagle Feather." She is reported as having been one of
the •' strong-minded " of her day, and " wore the leggins."
She had several children, and was even outstripping the
Indian in Indian qualities. Her name was Mary Harris.
According to this story, the river was named from the
town. Those who prefer this account to the more poetic,
and perhaps equally truthful, one given in the chapter of
this work entitled " Indian Occupancy," can do so without
hurting the feelings of the writer of the book, who has not
talent nor time to settle conflicting Indian legends.
heckewelder's great ride.
" There came to Goschachgiink, in the spring of 1778,
some disafiected persons from Pittsburg, 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
Delawares. The Americans, they said, had been totally
defeated in the Atlantic States ; driven westward, they were
now about to wage an indiscriminate war against the In-
dians. Such reports produced a general excitement in the
nation. Captain Pipe, who had been eagerly watching for
an opportunity to supplant White Eyes, and overthrow 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?
164 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
White Eyes barely succeeded in having the declaration of
war postponed for ten days, that time might be given to as-
certain whether the reports were true or false. But this
did not hinder preparations for the conflict. Goschachgiink
rang with the war-song ; rifles were cleaned and tomahawks
sharpened. In order to prevent the rising of this nation
and its numerous grandchildren, peace-messages must at
once be sent to Goschachgiink. Such messages were pre-
pared, but not a runner could be induced to take them.
General Hand's oflers of the most liberal rewards were all
in vain ; the risk was too great.
" In this emergency, Heckewelder and Schebosh volun-
teered their services. Riding three days and two nights
without stopping, except to feed their horses, in constant
danger from the war-parties that lurked in the forests, they
reached Gnaddenhiitten an hour before midnight of the
fifth of April. The next day was the ninth of the stipu-
lated term. Ko 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 Heckewelder 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 Goschachgiink at ten o'clock in the morning. The
whole population turned out to meet him, but their faces
were dark and sinister. There was no welcome given.
Not a single Delaware reciprocated his greetings. He ex-
tended 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 Amer-
icans, 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 aflairs. A council was
Miscellaneous Matters. 165
called ; the missives of General Hand were delivered 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 congenial tribes." — From De Schweinitz's Life and
Times of Zeisbcrger.
A TEMPERANCE CRUSADE AMONG THE INDIANS.
"In the year 1773, Rev. David Jones, a Baptist
minister, was sent out from Philadelphia city to the Scioto
and Muskingum valleys, with the view of establishing a
mission. On arriving at Schoenbrunn he found Zeisberger
had planted his colonies along the Tuscarawas, and as they
gave evidence of success, Jones proceeded on south and
spent some time among the Shawanese, but found no en-
couragement for a mission among them. He, therefore, re-
turned up the Tuscarawas valley to 'New Comerstown, in
the vicinity of the present town of that name. Here the
Indians were having a great feast and dance, in which
whisky, procured from traders, was the principal performer.
Under its influence they refused Jones permission to
preach, shut him up in one of their huts, and put a guard
around him, and some proposed to kill him ; but one of
the chiefs, called Gelelemend, or Killbuck, interfered and
saved his life.
" After the Indian feast was over they listened to
the preacher, and he, having spoken much against the
use of whisky, made such an impression on the mind of
the chief Killbuck, that he became a convert then, and
was ever afterward opposed to its use. While Jones re-
mained at " the New Comerstown," Killbuck destroyed all
the liquor on hand, and notified the traders that if they
brought any more whisky among the Indians they (the
traders) would be scalped. This aroused their enmity
against the preacher, and threats being again made by
some of the drinking Indians against his life, the chief had
him escorted up the river to Gnadenhutten settlement, and
from there to Schoenbrunn, from which place the Dela-
wares saw him safe to Fort Pitt, it being midwinter, and
i66 Histoi'ical Collections of Coshocton County.
the snow, as Jones states in his journal, some four to five
feet deep." — 3Iitchener's Ohio Annals.
THE GNADENHUTTEN MASSACRE.
Although this was not an event taking place in Coshoc-
ton county, yet as some of the ancestors of the settlers in
Coshocton county had to do with it, and the occurrence
bore important relations to the Indians whose cherished
seat was once in Coshocton county, and to the settlement
of the count}', a brief account is here given.
In 1781, the Moravian Indians were required to abandon
the Tuscarawas valley mission stations and repair to De-
troit. Amid the rigors of the winter they were taken to
Sandusky and there held for a time. A scarcity of pro-
visions was, however, soon felt in the new location, and in
February, 1782, about a hundred and fifty of the Indians
returned from the Sandusky region to the Tuscarawas re-
gion to get supplies of corn which had been raised the
season before, and left in the field unhusked. While they
were husking and gathering the corn they took up their
residence again ii^ Gnadenhutten and Salem.
Meanwhile the settlers in Western Pennsylvania were
experiencing some great outrages at the hands of some red-
skins. A band had attacked the home of a man named
Wallace, murdered his wife and five children, impaling one
of the children with its face toward the settlements and its
belly toward the Indian country, and had carried ofi" John
Carpenter as a prisoner. In the latter part of 1781, the
militia of the frontier came to a determination to break up
the Moravian villages on the Tuscarawas. For this pur-
pose, a detachment of men, under the command of Col-
onel Williamson, avowing only the determination to make
the Indians move further away or taking them prisoners to
Fort Pitt. When they reached Gnadenhutten they found
but few Indians, the removal of most of them to Sandusky
having already been eft'ected. A few were captured and
taken to Fort Pitt and delivered to the commandant there,
who, after a short detention, sent them home again. This
procedure greatly displeased the settlers, who were demand-
Miscellaneous Matters. 167
iiig a more vigorous policy. Colonel Williamson, hitherto
a very popular man, was losing his place of honor among
the frontiersmen. At length, in February, 1782, a new ex-
pedition under his command set out. This was gathered
under the impulse of stories that the Indians released by
the commandant at Fort Pitt had, the night after they were
liberated, crossed the Ohio and killed a family by the name
of Monteur ; that an Indian who had been captured after
the killing of a family on Buffalo creek had reported that
the leader of the baud was a Moravian. Williamson's ex-
pedition reached the Tuscarawas valley on the 7th of
March. Upon pretense of friendly council, and only with
the purpose of arranging for the greater peace and pros-
perity, and especially to take some steps so as to relieve
them from their unpleasant situation as between "two
fires," of bad Indians and vengeful whites, the corn-gather-
ers were all called in and actually made prisoners.
The militia now tried to criminate the Indians, charg-
ing that despite their peaceful professions they were war-
riors, and had taken part in the war against the Amer-
icans ; that they had harbored and fed, in their towns,
British Indians on their march to the American frontiers ;
that their horses were, many of them, stolen ; that their
houses, in their appliances, and their clothing gave evidence
that they had helped to plunder the farms and attack the
settlements ; that, at any rate, they kept a half-way house
for marauding Indians and received stolen goods.
The prisoners appealed to the knowledge of the soldiers
themselves as to the general public friendship for the
whites ; to the efforts they had made successfully for years
to keep the nation of which they were part from joining
with the British Indians ; they explained the necessity which
compelled them to entertain British Indians, but showed
that they had, at the same time, persuaded many a war-
party to turn back ; and, further, that when the American
general, Brodhead, had come into their country, on his ex-
pedition against Goschachguuk, they had furnished his army
too with provisions ; they admitted often receiving articles
of clothing and utensils from other Indians for entertain-
1 68 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
ment ; and reminded their captors that they were civilized
Indians, dressing like the whites, working their horses like
them, and using the same household utensils, mechanical
tools, and agricultural implements.
But thepe explanations were not accepted. A council of
war was held. The officers, unwilling to assume the
responsibility, agreed to submit the question to the men.
They were, accordingly drawn up in line; Colonel Will-
iamson stepped forward, saying : " Shall the Moravian
Indians be taken prisoners to Pittsburgh or put to death?
All those in favor of sparing their lives advance one step
and form a second rank." Thereupon sixteen (some reports
say eighteen) men stepped out of line, leaving an immense
majority for the sentence of death.
The mode of execution then created some debate. It
was at one time proposed to set iire to the houses in which
the captives were and roast them alive; but it was finally
determined to kill them and get their scalps as trophies of
the campaign. On the 8th of March, the captives (twenty-
nine men, twenty-seven women, and thirty-four children)
were placed in the " slaughter-houses," as they were desig-
nated — the males in one, the females in another — and then
butchered with tomahawks, mallets, war-clubs, spears, and
scalping-knives. Only a part of the militia were engaged
in this dreadful work. Others were gathering up the plun-
der and making preparations for the march to another
town. After the massacre all the houses of the village
Avere burned. The Indians in the second town got timely
alarm and fled. Two lads escaped — the one having received
a blow that only stunned him, and the other having been
scalped. The whole number killed was ninety.
The Eev. Philip Doddridge, a Presbyterian minister, who
lived in Western Virginia, where many of Williamson's
troops lived, speaking of this massacre, says :
" Should it be asked what sort of people composed the
band of murderers of these unfortunate people, I answer
that they were not miscreants and vagabonds. Many of
them were men of the first standing in the country — many
of them men who had recently lost relations by the hands
Miscellaneous Matters. 169
of the savages. Several of the latter class found in the
houses of the murderers articles which had been plundered
from their own houses, or those of their relations. One
man, it is said, found the clothes of his wife and children
who had been murdered by the Indians a few days before ;
yet there was no unequivocal evidence that these people
had any direct agency in the war. Whatever of property
was found with them had been left b}^ the warriors from
the regions beyond in exchange for provisions. When
attacked by our people they might have defended them-
selves, but they did not. They never fired a single shot*
They were prisoners, and had been promised protection.
Every dictate of justice and humanity required that their
lives should be spared. The complaint of their villages
being half-way houses, if well founded, was at an end, be-
cause the people had been removed to Sandusky the fall
before. It was, therefore, an atrocious and unqualified
murder. But by whom committed? By a majority of the
campaign? For the honor of my country, I hope I may
safely answer this question in the negative. It was one of
those convulsions of the moral state of society in which
the voice of the justice and humanity of the majority is
silenced by the clamor and violence of a real minority.
Very few of our men imbrued their hands in the blood
of the Moravians. Even those who had not voted for sav-
ing their lives, retired from the scene of slaughter with
horror and disgust. Why then did they not give their
votes in their favor? The fear of public indignation re-
strained them from doing so. They thought well, but had
not heroism enough to express their opinion. In justice
to the memory of Colonel Williamson,! have to say that,
although at that time very young, I was personally ac-
quainted with him, and from my recollection I say that he
was a brave man, but not cruel. Had he possessed the
authority of a superior oflicer in the regular army, I do not
believe that a single Moravian Indian would have lost his
life. But he possessed no such authority. He was only a
militia officer, who could advise, but not command. His
only fault was a too easy compliance with popular opinion
170 Historical Collections of Coshocton County,
and popular prejudice. On this account his memory has
been loaded with unmerited reproach."
In the summer of 1872 (some ninety years after the mas-
sacre), ten thousand citizens of the Tuscarawas valley
assembled at Gnadenhutten to witness the unveiling of a
handsome monument erected through the efforts of the
"Gnadenhutten Monument Society" to the memory of the
Christian Indians who fell the unresisting victims of the
Williamson expedition.
After some excellent music by an immense band of
traiued singers, accompanied by instrumental music, the
Rev. Dr. De Schweinitz, Bishop of the Moravian Church
of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, delivered an oration of rich
historic interest and rare beauty of expression.
At the close of the oration, amid music of suitable sort,
four Indians of the Delaware tribe, two of them lineal de-
scendants of the massacred Indians, stripped the canvas,
and exposed to full view the monument. This is of gray
stone, wnth base and die and shaft, in all about thirty -five
feet high. On the die is the inscription: "Here perished
ninety Christian Indians in 1782," and on the base the
simple legend, "Gnadenhutten."
The assembly having been dismissed for dinner (basket
and otherwise), was again summoned to the stand, and the
exercises of the afternoon opened by a hymn in the Dela-
ware language, sung by the Indians and their missionary,
the Rev. Mr. Riennecke, from Canada.
Brief addresses were made by Mr. Riennecke and each of
the Indians, and Rev. "Wm. E. Hunt, Presbyterian minister
from Coshocton, Ohio, made a few remarks congratulating
the Monument Society upon the accomplishment of its
work, declaring that the monument belonged to the whole
Christian world, and would not only commemorate the
Christian virtues of the deceased, but speak to all coming
generations of the undying fame of all who do and sufier
for the Master.
After a few remarks by Rev. Mr. Harmon, pastor at
Gnadenhutten, the benediction was pronounced by Bishop
De Schweinitz, and the assembly thus dismissed.
Miscellaneous Matters. 171
Among those present were many of the dignitaries of
the Moravian Church, such as Bishop De Schweinitz and
his brothers Francis and Mier, Dr. Riennecke, the Wollfe
brothers, and others ; but the thousands present witnessed
the interest of the whole people of the Tuscarawas valley, and
especially those of classic and Christian taste and feeling,
in the secluded spot now marked so unmistakably, and
even hitherto well known, by all interested in the annals
of heroism and the legends of the Christian faith.
CURIOUS STORIES TOUCHING CAPTIVES RECLAIMED BY BOUQUET.
Sherman Day's History of Pennsylvania gives the fol-
lowing curious facts :
" Among the captive children surrendered to Colonel
Bouquet, at the ' Forks of the Muskingum,' was one whom
no one claimed at the time the people were summoned to
the fort for the purpose of identifying and reclaiming their
lost ones, and whose after-history is full of romance. In
1756, the wife and child of a Mr. John Gray, living near
Carlisle, Pennsylvania, had been taken by the Indians.
When Gray died, he willed one-half of his farm to his
wife, and the other half to his child, in case they should
ever return from captivity. The wife soon got away from
the savages, returned home, and, finding her husband's will,
proved it, and took possession of the farm. She went to
look for her daughter among the Bouquet captives, but,
failing to recognize her, was persuaded to claim as the
missing daughter the unclaimed little girl above spoken of,
and thus secure the whole farm. Taking her home with
her, she brought up the strange child as if her own, care-
fully keeping the secret. The girl grew up as the daughter
of John Gray, married a man named Gillespie, and took the
Gray estate. This changed hands several times up to the
year 1789, when some of the collateral heirs of John Gray
obtaining information about the spurious Jane Gray, com-
menced suits to recover the land, being some four hundred
acres of the best land in Mifiiin county, Pennsylvania.
After legal contests, running through forty -four years, the
case was disposed of against the reputed daughter, and the
172 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
property reverted to the brothers and sisters of the original
John Gray.
"At the time of the reclamation, one woman failing to
recognize her lost child was lamenting her loss, and telling
how^'she continued still to sing every evening the favorite
hymn of the lost child. ' Sing it now,' said the sympa-
thizing officer, and she sang :
' Alone, yet not alone am T,
^ Though in this solitude so drear ;
I feel my Savior always nigh,
He comes my every hour to cheer.'
" She had sung thus far, when the daughter, having her
sight quickened by the old sound, rushed forward, and the
joy of the restoration was complete."
DESCRIPTION OF THE HUNTING-SHIRT.
Among the earliest settlers of Coshocton county, as else-
where in the West at the same time, the hunting-shirt was
almost universally worn. For the information of our
younger readers, we append a description :
" This garment was a kind of loose frock, reaching half
way down the thighs, with large sleeves, open before, and
so wide as to lap over a foot or more when belted. The
cape was large, and sometimes handsomely fringed with
a raveled piece of cloth of a different color from that of
the hunting-shirt itself. The bosom of this dress served as
a wallet to hold a chunk of bread, cakes, jirk, tow for
wiping the barrel of the rifle, or any other necessary 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 bullet-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 linsey, sometimes of coarse
linen, and a few of dressed deer-skins. These last were
very cold and uncomfortable in wet weather." — Doddridge's
Notes.
Miscellaneous Matters. 173
THE HOUSES AND FURNITURE OF THE PIONEERS OF COSHOCTON
COUNTY.
The house was built of logs laid one upon another, all
being notched, so that the end and side logs would hold
each to the other. The roof was made out of boards split
out of short blocks or pieces of logs, called " clap-boards."
The cracks between the logs were stopped with clay. A
door was made by sawing or cutting the logs on one side
of the house, so as to make an opening about three feet
wide. The opening was secured by upright pieces of tim-
ber, three inches thick, into which holes were bored into
the ends of the logs, for the purpose of pinning them fast,
and helping to keep the logs in their place. The door
was made of clap-boards, such as were on the roof. At one
end was the fire-place, made of a few stones, and the chim-
ney, formed of sticks daubed over with mud. There was
a little opening that could be covered by a board for a
window, or sometimes an opening covered over with apiece
of greased-paper or rag.
As to the furniture, there was a table made by splitting
a log and putting some sticks for feet on the rounded side.
A few chairs were sometimes made in the same way. Some
wooden-pins were driven into the logs, whereon to lay clap-
boards for shelves for dishes, etc. A forked-stick was set
in the floor, which was either made of split-logs, called
"puncheons" or of earth, and into the fork of this one
end of a stick was put, the other going into the log in the
side of the house. Upon the rest thus made some sticks
were placed, the other end of them going in between the
logs which formed the wall of the house. Into these wall-
logs were driven a few wooden-pins, whereon were hung
the gowns of linsey belonging to the women, and the hunt-
ing-shirts of the men. Usually two small forks or bucks'
horns were fastened up, whereon rested the rifle and shot-
pouch, etc. Kot a nail nor a piece of glass was anywhere
used. A wooden latch for the door was made, and a string
of leather or flax ran through a hole in the door to the
outside, and when " outsiders " were not wanted this string
1 74 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
was pulled in. The " latch-string out " was thus the sign
of hospitality. The table-ware consisted of a few earthen-
ware or pewter dishes, and an iron pot or skillet, or both,
and some wooden bowls or trenchers, or perhaps a few
gourds, made up the kitchen and table furniture. A hand-
mill or a mortar and pestle to prepare the grain for cooking
was a housekeeping utensil found in some families, but
many did not command these, and one served sometimes
for several neighbors. The most " fore-handed " men that
came into the county had for some years little or nothing
better than these things.
LOUIS PHILIPPE AT COSHOCTON.
Among the accepted traditions of Coshocton is one that
old Colonel "Williams kicked out of his tavern the above-
named famous Frenchman, who, having been compelled to
flee his own country, was traveling in America about the
close of the last century.
Louis was on the throne when G. "W. Silliman visited
Paris, and he reported upon his return that the king,
in an interview, had spoken of his travels in the Western
country, and stated that he had been very shabbily treated
at a tavern at the forks of a river, whose landlord was de-
scribed in such way as to satisfy Silliman that it must have
been "Williams.
The latter, upon being spoken to, said he remembered
the circumstance. That Louis had complained of the ac-
commodations as very unbefitting a king, and that he had
informed him that all the people in this country were sov-
ereigns, and that, if he did not like what satisfied them, he
could get out of the house, and he would help him out,
as he then did, with the toe of his boot.
It is said, however, that, as a historical fact, Louis Phil-
ippe was on shipboard, on his way back to France, before
"Williams kept any tavern at the forks.
In later years, there was living in Coshocton a somewhat
famous character, who, when in liquor, always fancied
himself "Andrew Jackson." It may have been that 'Will-
iams' French king was a man of the same style.
Miscellaneous Matters. 175
People who fancy that the importance of either Williams
or the town may be increased thereby can still " hold the
tradition," and possibly find some way of removing the
little anachronism alleged in the case.
HOW TO KAISE A LARGE FAMILY.
One of the " old settlers," who had reared a very large
family, though a comparatively very poor man, was asked
how in the world he had done it. " No trouble at all,"
said the old man. " Commenced with a pot of mush, and
as each child came, just put in a little more water and gave
a few more stirs."
INDIAN STOmES.
" Indian stories," among many of the old settlers, were
largely the stock in trade. A man was not much in the
old-time bar-rooms, who could not tell some tall stories.
The fact is thoroughly established that after 1795 there
were very few Indians within the territory afterward em-
braced in Coshocton county. In Tuscarawas county, some
years later, there were some of the Christian Indians ; but
such as were found in the region of Coshocton were strag-
gling bands, or sellers of game, or individual strollers.
For thirty years before 1795 the whites had been seeking
to occupy the land, and the Indians struggling to maintain
their hold ; and about that time the whole upper Muskin-
gum valley and the Tuscarawas valley were almost unin-
habited, the two races having scourged each other out of
them.
Despite all this, stories were told of how frightened the
wives and children of the first settlers were, who could
hear at night the Indians prowling about the huts and
cabins in which they were sleeping.
One of the old fellows, who attached great importance
to Indian experiences, was once, when somewhat set up
with liquor, relating some wonderful things, when some
one, interrupting him, asked him if there were many In-
dians in the county when he came into it. Eying his
questioner sharply, he answered, " Indians plenty ! I guess
there were. Why, when I came, if a man got off the canal-
176 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
boat and took a few steps into the woods, lie would get shot
just full of arrows." This a quarter of a century after the
Indians were all removed !
BACKWOODS SPORTS.
In "house raisings," "corn huskings," "fox hunts," and
" rifle matches," the early settlers, who had no special in-
terest in horse races or " listicufis," found largely their
amusements. In some parts of the county, a custom pre-
vailed in relation to observing Christmas and New Year's
day that has been thus reported :
The country around was wild, and but little cultivated.
A rifle was an indispensable article for house-keeeping,
even before the hewed-out log cradle, or the harrow made
by taking a forked stick and driving some wooden pins in
it. On the days above named, thirty or forty " neighbors "
would come together, some of them coming for twenty
miles, and, as noiselessly 'as possible, getting in a circle
around a previously selected house, about two or three
o'clock in the morning, they would all fire their rifles and
simultaneously give a yell. The sequel of the matter was
they were all invited into the house and furnished with
something hot to eat or drink.
If our readers do not think they would have enjoyed that
kind of sport, perhaps they might have enjoyed the follow-
ing :
Weddings were big things in the pioneer days. The
" neighbors " for twenty miles around would commonly be
invited. The understanding was that those coming in by
certain roads would gather at a designated place on each
road, about two miles from where the wedding was to take
place. And then for a race !
The mother of the groom was provided in advance with
a supply of bottles of whisky, and as the foremost of the
horsemen on each road came in he was presented by her
with a bottle, and an elegant ruflQer was placed upon the
horse's neck, ornamented also with gay-colored ribbons.
When the horsemen were all in, the hills echoed and re-
Miscellaneous Matters. 177
echoed the shouts of the people, who were braced for this
by copious draughts from the bottles.
In the earlier days the amusements may have had more
of what is now called " coarseness " than some of the mod-
ern ones, but then they were generally more health -promot-
ing, and, according to every testimony, full as " clean " as
the latter.
Elements of evil could readily be found in either, and
those not less than these had their true character beneath
the exterior.
It is certain the social life of the people was not less joy-
some than now. For a few years, there were not apples
enough in the county for " a bee," but they after a time had
a place.
In the townships largely peopled by Kew Englauders and
Western Pennsylvanians, the singing-school afibrded the
diversion as well as often sometliing better.
And then " sparking " was much in vogue — just the thing
for a new country — said, indeed, to have originated there.
The process was readily learned, generally practiced, and
so familiar that old people never stop to inquire about it,
but very young do, and for these let it be told how it was
done.
The log houses in those days, it will be remembered, had
but one room, or, if more, commonly but one with a tire-
place. Bed time came, and the children crawled up a lad-
der into the loft; the old folks went to bed in a quiet way in
one corner of the room. The wood fire has been glowing
and cracking all through the evening, b*it has pretty well
burned out, and, " for sake of the old people," the frag-
ments are drawn together and slightly covered over with
ashes, and thenceforth there is only a dull red glow, with
now and then a " spark " springing with a slight snap from
the wood. Now was the time for the bashful lover and coy
maiden, and then were carried on the love afiairs, designated
in one locality and set " sparking," and in another " court-
ing," and in another " paying and receiving attentions," but,
in one phrase or another, everywhere readily recognized
and approved.
1 78 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER XX.
MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS.
1. The Killing of Carimill, " the Post-Boy." 2. Shocking Murders in Cosh-
octon County. 3. Colored People in Coshocton County. 4. Fires in Ros-
coe — An Incident and a Joke. 5. A Bundle of First Things. 6. Relics
and Curiosities in Personal Possession. 7. Coshocton Wags in Early
Days. 8. The Treasury Robbery. 9. Humor of the Crusade.
THE MURDER OF WILLIAM CARTMILL, THE POST-BOY.
The whole Tuscarawas valley was excited in 1825 by the
murder of William Cartmill. He was shot from his horse,
while carrying the mail, at a point just beyond the line of
Coshocton county, in what in those days was called " the
"Wilderness," near by a station on the Marietta and Cleve-
land railroad, a few miles south of New Comerstown, now
called Post Boy. Cartmill was a resident of Coshocton, a
brother of Mrs. Richards, who died January, 1876. John
Smeltzer, a trader of Coshocton, who had taken a drove of
horses on east, was, at the time, on the road some miles be-
hind the post-boy ; and it has always been the idea of many
people in Coshocton that the assassin mistook his man,
and, when killing the mail-carrier, supposed he was shoot-
ing Smeltzer, and would get a considerable part of the
price of the drove of horses sold by him. A man named
Johnson, out hunting, was the first to discover Cartmell,
and declared he was drawn to the spot by hearing the
crack of a rifle. The mail-bag was rifled. The neighbors
aroused by Johnson arrested him, and he was put into jail
in New Philadelphia. The foot-prints on the ground just
at the spot where the murder was committed were subse-
quently measure^, and did not tally at all with those made
by him. "While still in jail, he told the sheriti" that he had
just caught a glimpse of the murderer as he glided into
the woods, and thought he would recognize him if he
should see the man again. The entire male population of
Miscellaneous Matters.
179
the locality where the crime was conimitted were requested
to meet at the jail at a time appointed; and they having
done so, Johnson carefully scanned each one, and finally
selected out of the crowd one John Funston, declaring
" that is the man." Funston at once sharply answered
him, " You are a liar." He was, however, put into jail,
and, after a trial and conviction, confessed the crime.
The murder took place on the 9th of September, 1825,
and the execution upon the gallows in New Philadelphia
was on the 28th of December in the same year. Of course
Johnson was released.
The horse which Cartniill rode belonged to T. L. Rue,
and J. W. Rue, of Coshocton, made a business trip on it
the same Fall to Cincinnati.
By the way, Cartmill's sister, mentioned in the forego-
ing, had a very peculiar experience in relation to the violent
deaths of no less than three of her near family connections.
Her brother's case is given above. Her first husband, John
Markley, was killed on election day in 1816, at Coshocton,
by a stab from the hands of a man with whom he had an
altercation, and who came upon him unawares and escaped.
Her son by her second marriage, Joseph K. Richards, had
been in a saloon, and some words had passed between him
and a man named Ward. Richards had left the place and
crossed the street, when an injury was received (either from
a stone thrown, or as a consequence of a fall directly after
being hit with the stone), that caused his death. This oc-
curred in the fall of 1868.
SHOCKING MURDERS IN COSHOCTON COUNTY.
It is perhaps not best to keep fresh the recollection of
those sad manifestations of the weakness and wickedness
of human nature which .have come out in great crimes.
Of course Coshocton county has not been without its share
of these things. Some of them committed under the influ-
ence of drink, and others growing out of family difficulties
based upon jealousy, or unexpectedly arising out of some
broil, to the after grief of those having part in them, we
may well pass by. And yet they all may be useful to teach
i8o Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
a community that extravagant and unregulated passion of
any kind is a root full of cost and curse of every kind.
One thing is noticeable, and that is this, that although nu-
merous persons have been indicted for murder in the first
degree, there has never yet been a case of capital punish-
ment.
George Arnold and John Markley having previously had
one or more altercations, the former, on an election day in
1816, in Coshocton, approached stealthily and plunged a
knife into the latter, causing his death in a little while.
Arnold's reputation as a " rough " was so great, and the
confused amazement of the bystanders so great, that he
was allowed to escape, never more to be heard of in " these
parts." This having been the first shocking murder com-
mitted in the county, made an impression not yet efl:aced
nor overshadowed by occurrences of later date.
In the estimate among horrors, perhaps no case has gone
beyond that of the Mrs. Wade murder.
At the March (1849) term of the Court of Common Pleas
John Gearhart was tried for murder in the killing of one
Matilda Wade on the 28th day of September, 1848. Rich-
ard Stillwell, president judge, andB. R. Shaw, Sam'l Elliott,
and James Le Retilley, associate judges, were on the bench.
Thomas Campbell was prosecuting attorney, and William
Sample, Esq., assisted in the prosecution. The defendant's
attorneys were David Spangler, J. C. Tidball, and James
Matthews. The grand jury at the October (1848) term had
indicted him for murder in the first degree, James Moore, of
Jefferson township, being the foreman. The petit jury
were Joel Glover, D. W. Burt, Samuel Winklepleck, John
Carnahan, Abraham T. Jones, Thomas Boggs, Daniel
Forker, S. C. Crichfield, Joshua Clark, James Whittaker,
Stephen Donley, and Andrew Ferguson.
The proof showed that Mrs. Wade, the wife of a drug-
gist in Roscoe, was doing some washing for herself in the
basement or cellar of the hotel where she was boarding.
In a little time she was missed, and blood was found where
she had been at work. Her husband was sent for, and, as
there was an unused cistern near where she had been wash-
Miscellaneous Matters. i8i
ing, aiid traces of blood to it, he was let down into it, and
found his wife at the bottom. She was drawn up, and it
was found that her head had been nearly severed from the
body. The defendant had been employed to tend the sta-
bles and chop wood, etc., and was seen, a few minutes be-
fore the woman was found, whetting his axe. Upon this
axe and upon the defendant's clothing blood was found.
The plea on the trial was " not guilty " — the line of defense
" insanity." The jury convicted of murder in the second
degree. Gearhart was sentenced to the penitentiary for
life. He died with cholera about three months after being
placed in the penitentiary.
The killing of Abraham Wertheimer, and the trial and
conviction of Frank Ept therefor, are still fresh in the
minds of our citizens.
On the morning of November 21 (Sabbath), 1875, Isaac
Wertheimer, a clothing merchant in Coshocton, was called
on at his house by a friend, who stated that he had failed
to secure some needed articles of wearing apparel the night
before, and would like to have him go with him to the
store. W". asked him why he himself had not gone to the
store, observing that his son Abraham was sleeping there,
and could have attended to the matter. The reply was he
had been there, but could get no response. Impressed with
the idea that something might be amiss, the father speedily
accompanied the man, and, upon entering the store, the
body of young Wertheimer (twenty years of age), welter-
ing in gore, and evidently dead some hours, was discovered
on the couch he was accustomed to sleep on. Alarm was
given, and in a little time the excited crowd became firm
in the conviction that the murder had been committed by
a journeyman tailor named Frank Ept, who was missing.
It was learned that a fast train, which usually went east
about two o'clock in the morning, had been behind time
that morning, not being in Coshocton until eight, and
chances of escape by railroad had probably failed the culprit.
Patrols were sent out in every direction, and the whole
country aroused. Late in the afternoon, word came of the
capture of the supposed murderer near Port Washington,
i82 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
in Tuscarawas county, twenty-two miles east of Coshocton,
near the line of the railroad ; and about dusk, amid the in-
tensest excitement of an immense crowd gathered about
the doors of the jail, Ept was lodged in it.
At the February (1876) term of the Court of Common
Pleas, a grand jury, composed of the following persons,
viz.: John McFarland, l^ew Castle township; Benton
Clark, Jackson township; William Biggs, of same town-
ship; Daniel McConnell, of Washington; Henry Schmueser,
of Franklin ; Henry K Shaw, of Tuscarawas ; Oliver
Crawford, of Crawford ; Thomas Martin, of Franklin ; E.
C. Haight, of Jackson ; John Seitzer, of Oxford ; Thomas
Smailes, of Virginia; John Mulligan, of Tuscarawas;
James B. Heslip, of Linton ; L. J. Bonnell, of Tusca-
rawas ; and Waldo Adams, of same township (Henry
Schmueser being the foreman), indicted Ept for murder in
the first degree, the return being made February 11, 1876.
On the 22nd of February, the judge (Wm. Reed) appointed
Wm. Sample and R. M. Voorhees, Esquires, to act as attor-
neys for the accused, who was arraigned on the 26th, and
plead not guilty. The case was continued until the May
term. A special jury, consisting of Geo. Stringfellow^ of
Tiverton township ; Abraham Weatherwax, of Clark ;
John Johnson, of Bedford ; Daniel Fair, of Clark ; R. W.
Thompson, of Keene ; Laban Headington, of Clark ; High-
land Wright, of Virginia; Moses Finley, of Virginia; F.
W. Powell, of Adams ; James Workman, of Tiverton ; Wil-
lard Nichols, of White Eyes; and Robert Doak, of Craw- •
ford, were sworn May 5, 1876. The court-room was
crowded during the whole trial, ending with a verdict of
guilty of murder in the first degree, on Sabbath morning,
May 14, 1876, at nine o'clock. W. S. Crowell, Esq., pros-
ecuting attorney, was assisted by John D. Nicholas, Esq.
The testimony showed Ept (native of Bavaria, born in
1842, having been some three years in this country, having
father and mother and other relatives in Columbus, Ohio)
to have been working for some time with Isaac Werth-
eimer ; to have gained access to the store on the fatal night
by a plea of being sick ; to have killed young Wertheimer
Miscellaneous Matters. 183
with a dull hatchet and tailor's goose ; to have tried to
break open the safe ; to have packed up a good supply
of fine clothing in a new satchel, along with the bloody
tailor's goose ; to have taken the watch and revolver,
etc., of young- "Werthei me r ; to have left the store and
gone up to the railroad about the time the fast train was
due, and to have stealthily pursued his way along and near
the railroad track until his capture, which was eftected by
John Bolton, James Reed, and Isaac Mulatt, all of Cosh-
octon. The defence set up was insanity — " homicidal
mania."
Sentence was pronounced by Judge Reed, on May 24th,
fixing the 29th of September, 1876, as the day for execution
by the gallows.
COLORED PEOPLE IN COSHOCTON COUNTY.
Pryor Foster was the first colored man of note in Cosh-
octon county. He was the reputed agent of the " Under-
ground Railroad." About 1839, several "fugitives" stopped
with him on their way to Canada. The United States offi-
cers were in hot pursuit, but Foster and those in sympathy
with him, or so far respecting him individually that they
would not involve him in trouble, fixed matters, so that for
a time they were safe, lodging the fugitives among some
rocks up the Walhonding. They were, however, ultimately
recaptured and taken south.
Several of the old families from Virginia were followed
to their new homes, in the north-western territory, by some
of their servants. The Robinsons had two or three ; the
Darlings brought one ; and " Aunt Letty Thomas " came
with the Simmons family. The latter was for many years
at service, and afterward kept a boarding-house. She
started an eating-house in 1855, for the railroad at Coshoc-
ton (then the principal eating station), and made it a favor-
ite place for the hands and passengers. The business proved
profitable, and she enlarged and extended the building
until it was substantially the "Hackinson House" of to-
day. She removed to Oberlin, and later to Washington
City. The Waring family came in at an early day from
184 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
near Richmond, Virginia, settled on Killbuck, and, by their
becoming conduct, long enjoyed the esteem of the whole
community. One of the young men studied at Wilberforce
University at Xenia, and became quite a successful teacher
in Ohio and among the freedmen in Tennessee. In 1855,
the only colored people in the county were the Warings
and Aunt Letty Thomas' family. In 1878, there were
about thirty. Old Mr. Darling set up, on a farm in Knox
county, the colored man who came in with him, but he
did not do well. An effort was made to " abduct " those
who had come in with the Robinsons, and place them in
bondage in Kentucky. But in some unaccountable way
(their captors claimed not by them), they were shot at
Chillicothe. This was not long after they had first come
to the county. C. Dorsey was the first of his racp to do
jury duty — served in a corporation case, 1875.
FIRES IN ROSCOE ; AN INCIDENT AND A JOKE TOUCHING IT.
Roscoe has had a noticeable experience in the matter of
fires. The store of D. L. Triplett, the brick hotel adjoin-
ing, the " Union Flouring Mill " in the lower part of the
town, the M. E. church, the brick hotel (standing where
the Hutchins House now is), and other buildings in the cen-
tral part, the Roscoe Flouring Mill, two woolen factories,
and the distillery in the upper part of the town, are readily
recalled as among the chief conflagrations. By the way, it
is said that when the distillery burned, one of the most
prominent temperance men in all the region was most vig-
orously at work, with coat off, to stay the ravages of the
fire. Some one twitting him afterward about this, he
claimed that after all he had been thoroughly consistent,
for his main efforts had been directed to saving the water
wheel !
A BUNDLE OF FIRST THINGS.
The first marriage in Coshocton county was that of John
Hershman and Elizabeth Baker, by William Whitten,
J. P., in Coshocton, May 1, 1812.
The first white child born on the territory now in Cosh-
Miscellaneous Matters. 185
octon county, or, at all events, among the white settlers,
was Joseph Evans, a son of Isaac Evans, born October 3,
1801. He grew up to manhood, and spent most of his life
in the county as a farmer and a canal-boat captain. He
removed to Illinois in 1853, and died August 23, 1867. His
son, Isaac Evans, lives in Peoria, 111., having as his wife the
great-grand-danghter of an old neighbor of his grand-
father, Phebe Wagoner.
The first brick house built in Coshocton was that at the
northeast corner of Second and Chestnut streets. The first
in Roscoe was built by Theophilus Phillips, and used as a
hotel, as was also the one in Coshocton. These houses were
both as good in their day as the " Price House," in Coshoc-
ton, of to-day, with its three stories and handsome one hun-
dred feet front.*
The first bell in the county was the one now on the court-
house, bought in 1834. When the canal-boat bringing it
got within the county the captain commenced to ring it,
and continued to do so at intervals until Roscoe was
reached, where a vast and pleased crowd greeted it. The
bell was bought for the commissioners in Troy, N. Y., by
W. K. Johnson, and cost $131.
The first coal-burning cooking-stove used in the county
was set up by William Tidball in 1856, when opening what
is now the " (yity Hotel," in Coshocton. By the way, Mr.
Tidball himself is almost old enough to find a place among
" first things," being now ninety-five years of age. Pie was
born in Alleghany county. Pa., and spent the active years of
his life in Holmes county. He had a good deal of enter-
prise for an old man when he set up that stove.
* Erected in 1875 by the Coshocton Planing Mill Company, corner
of Sixth and Walnut streets, at a cost of $20,000.
1 86 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
RELICS AND CURIOSITIES IN PERSONAL POSSESSION.
John Burt, of Coshocton, has a watch (tortoise-shell,
bound with gold case) belonging to his grand-father (Foght).
It was carried by the elder gentleman through the Revo-
lutionary war.
"Aunty" Hay, near Coshocton, has a bible brought from
Ireland, more than a hundred years old.
J. W. Rue, of Coshocton, has two books— saved from his
father's library when it was burned — one a hundred and j
fifty and the othOT two hundred years old.
F. W. Thornhill has a doctor's lance, with Avhich a sur-
geon in the Revolutionary war used to bleed the patriots
and the Hessian prisoners.
M. L. ISTorris, near Coshocton, has a padlock-key, picked
up in Chicago, which he avers is the one that locked the
door of the stable in which Mrs. O'Leary was milking the
cow that kicked over the lamp that started " the great fire."
T. C. Ricketts has the set of books kept in his father's
store from 1819 on for some years. John Smeltzer is un-
derstood to have been the book-keeper. The penmanship
is admirable ; the ink was good. The accounts show that
somebody used a good deal of whisky in the days of the
forefathers. Some of the customers came all the way from
near Millersburg, in what now is Holmes county, after a
quart, paying only twelve and one-half cents for it. The
election and muster days can be readily discerned by the
increased sales of "the juice."
James M. Burt, of Lafayette township, has a silver to-
bacco-box bearing the imprint of a bullet, received while it
was in the pocket of his grand-father (Foght) at the battle
of Monmouth, in the Revolutionary war.
Miscellaneous Matters. 187
Joab Agnew, of Roscoe, has a whale-bone cane, with
gold head, presented to his father by Commodore Stockton,
of the United States navy.
THE TREASURY ROBBERY, AND THE TRIALS.
Brief mention of the robbery of the Coshocton county
treasury has been made in another place in this volume,
but additional details are here given.
On the night of January 21*, 1859, about one o'clock, the
attention of Hiram Taylor, who was passing through the
public square at the time, was arrested by sounds of some
one, as if in distress, coming from the county treasurer's
office, that being in the up-stairs room on the north side of
the building, just north of the court-house.
He gave the alarm, and soon the sherifl" and some other
parties were assembled, and proceeded to the office of the
treasurer. Bursting open the door, they found Mr.
Ketch um, the treasurer, tightly bound, and with a gag in
his mouth, displaced enough to allow him to make some
outcry.
The court-house bell was rung, and soon a considerable
company of citizens was gathered, and the town generally
alarmed.
The treasurer told his story — how that having remained
in the office to pay, at special request, some witnesses in a
case in progress that evening, so that they might take a
late train home, two men (one with a big shawl) had
come into the office and made inquiries about a little back
tax ; and that while he was intent upon the books, looking
the matter up, the one cast the shawl over his head, and
the other seized him, and by their united exertions he was
bound and gagged. The keys were taken, and the moneys
taken out of the safe, and the robbers withdrew.
Much sympathy was expressed for the treasurer, and at
a public meeting of citizens of Coshocton, and some from
the county, this sympathy found expression in resolutions
which read a little strangely now-a-days. The meeting
•urged the commissioners to spare no expense or eftbrt in
the ferreting out and punishing the bold miscreants who
1 88 Historical Collections of Coshocton Contity.
had injured the treasurer and robbed the people. It also
advised that Wm. Bachelor, Esq., be employed to go about
almost at will in search of the criminal. And there was
much hurrying to and fro. But no clue was announced.
At length, two men were put on trial ; but the treasurer
could only swear that one of them looked like one of the
men that came into his office.
After a time, legislative relief was sought, and the treas-
urer and his sureties freed from the charge of the amount
stolen.
Time passed on. Ketchum stepped out of his office by
" resignation," but showed no signs of guilt — only seemed
worried by his " misfortune."
Among other plans looking to discovery of the robbers,
the commissioners of the county requested by special mes-
senger that banks should be on their lookout for such
money as w^as taken — nearly all of it being in bills on the
State Bank of Ohio.
In May, after the robbery, notice came from the Bank of
Cadiz that a package of stained and musty bank-notes had
been presented at their bank for redemption by James M.
Brown, of Coshocton. Brown was called upon for an ex-
planation, and his statement was written down and pre-
served ; but as it could not be discovered that he was using
more money than he had apparently been using before the
robbery, the suspicions against him died out and were for-
gotten.
Years passed away, and no clue to the robbery could be
obtained. Brown, how^ever, was closely watched. While
no offense had ever been proven on him, he had estab-
lished a reputation from boyhood for being eager in the
pursuit of money — keen to acquire it, and close to hold
it. He had been for some time engaged in "shaving"
operations, and had not by some of these helped his repu-
tation, though evidently tilling his purse. He was mak-
ing money rapidly in a year or two after the robbery, and
no one could tell just how.
In December, 1864, he w^as charged with burglary on •
Ward's drug-store, and at next term of court indicted
Miscellaneous Matters. 189
*
therefor. About this time he was not to be found
in Coshocton, nor thereabouts. An unsuccessful attempt
was made to bring him from Canada, where he was after
a time discovered operating largely in gold, and with, it
was reported, some $58,000 in ready funds.
In 1865, facts enough had come to light to warrant the
grand jury in finding an indictment for robbing the treas-
ury, and another for receiving the money stolen. The state
proposed a trial in December, but Brown obtained a change
of venue to Licking county, and by some informality in
proceedings could not then be compelled to go to trial
there unless he chose, which he did not.
Meantime, testimony was increasing to show that Brown
never got his moneys where he alleged — chiefly from some
parties in Kentucky. Just at this stage the attorney-general
of the State commenced civil process against Brown for the
state's proportion of funds abstracted from the treasury,
attaching all his property — his farm, a mile below Coshoc-
ton, and many valuable properties he had within a few
years purchased in the town. Quarters were now getting
close.
At this time. Brown commenced suit in Franklin county
against Ketchum for the balance on a note given by him
to Brown for $18,000. He alleged it was money loaned
to Ketchum in his line of business as a broker. Ketchum
said it was" hush " paper given without any consideration ;
that in June, 1857, he had discovered a " shortage " in his
accounts as treasurer, and had got Brown at that time
to lend him that amount ; that he repaid it, and Brown
insisted as a matter of comity upon getting occasionally
sums from the treasurer ; that, to prevent exposure of his
deficits, he borrowed on other occasions, but that ulti-
mately Brown had the advantage, and threatened to
have Ketchum prosecuted as a defaulter. On the 22d
of January, 1859, the commissioners were to examine
the treasury. To cover up the deficiency the sham
robbery was planned. On the 21st of January, 1859,
Brown came into the ofiice, and suggested the carrying out
of the plan, stating that he (the treasurer) must be diacov-
190 Historical Collections of Coshocton County,
ered next day and go to the penitentiary anyhow ; that he
agreed to the arrangement, provided Brown would give
up the $18,000 note, on which he had, as alleged, paid him
$14,000 (as the credits on the notes showed), and also give
up a $2,000 note, secured by mortgage on Ketch um's house in
Lafayette; that Brown promised to do all this, hut said he
did not have the notes with him, but that after the smoke
had blown away he would give up all notes, and give him
a good portion of whatever he could get out of the
safe that night. The bargain was made ; Brown tied the
treasurer, put the gag in his mouth, and carried away every
dollar, amounting to some $16,000 or $18,000, including the
whole sum in the treasurer's private safe.
This was the treasurer's statement, as forced out of him
by Brown's suit in Franklin county. And now another
indictment was in place.
April 16, 1867, Samuel Ketchum and James M. Brown
were indicted for embezzlement, by simulated fraud, from
county treasury, and put under bonds of $20,000 each.
Brown got a change of venue to Licking count3\ The
trial began January 14th and closed February 2d, by the
jury failing to agree. A subsequent trial, begun March 18,
1869, worked Brown's conviction. This also was held in
Newark.
On law points the case was carried to the Supreme Court,
but sentence was finally passed, and Brown and Ketchum
were fellow prisoners in the Ohio Penitentiary, as elsewhere
noticed. The attorneys for the State were A. G. Dimmock,
K. M. Voorhees, E. T. Spangler, Wm. Sample, and C. Hoy;
and for Brown, Nicholas and James. Campbell and
Voorhees were Ketchum's attorneys.
Sheriff John Hesket (who was a bondsman of Ketch-
um), Colonel James Irvine, C. II. Johnson, and James M.
Sells (and Sheriff Rankin, of Licking county), are recog-
nized as having played prominent parts in these famous
cases.
COSHOCTON WAGS IN EARLY DAYS.
No greater "wags" ever lived than two Coshocton
boys, Bill and Sam . Old Deacon E 1 had
Miscellaneous Matters. 191
raised a nice lot of watermelons, and, just as they were
ready for use, found the boys were after them. The two
above-named were his apprentices at the time, and finally,
as helping the old gentleman to discover what boys had
been on hand, proposed to try " the track," when, lo ! to
the old man's horror, it was discovered that his own shoes
just fitted the tracks ; the boys, when they went to the
patch, taking the precaution to "hook" the old gentle-
man's shoes as the first step.
A couple of festive youths from the rural districts, on one
occasion, came to town, and inquired of one of the above
wags if he could direct them to a house of certain (here
nameless) sort. He, after a little hesitation, suggested that
they might go about dusk to a certain house which had
just been left vacant, and matters would be all right. He
then notified his cronies, and while the aforesaid young
men were seeing the lions in the groceries, etc., they hastily
gathered into the old house a few articles of furniture and
utensils, giving the place an inhabited appearance. At the
appointed time, one of the town "b'hoys," arrayed in female
apparel, received "the guests" at the door, and they were
just beginning to feel at home, when in rushed a party of
young men, who made things so lively for the rustic gen-
tlemen that they were glad to escape with their lives !
HUMORS OF THE CRUSADE.
Among the humors of "the Crusade" was the case of one
"Christ" S h. He had been put on trial for violating
the beer ordinance. The case being about over, there was
some little talk between the justice and the lawyers about
the penalty, and especially about going to jail. At this
juncture, "Christ" broke out with — "Jail! oh me can no
go to shall. Vy, vot would become of mine shop and mine
bakery? Now, dare is Christ E 1; he got uuthing to
do, vy can't he go to shall, and leve me alone ?" The point
made was a double one, especially in view of the fact that
the "substitute" proposed having been out of employment
for some time, had been acting as a sort of Deputy Mar-
shal, especially iu Crusade cases.
192 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE CnURCUES — GENERAL STATEMENTS — DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF THE BAPTIST,
CHRISTIAN, CATHOLIC, AND LUTHERAN CHURCHES.
There are in Coshocton county, at this time, some
eighty congregations, representing the various religious
bodies. These congregations own church buildings costing
about $225,000. Ten of the congregations are reported as
owning parsonages, which cost some $15,000 in all, rang-
ing from $500 to $5,000 apiece.
Many of the earlier settlers of the county did not have
much appreciation of the clergy, and were not more in-
clined to the church than to the school, and none of the de-
nominations made much headway for nearly a score of
years after the county was organized. Some of the set-
tlers, however, invited the ministers of their old homes to
come and preach to them in the wilderness, and these re-
sponded. Ministers passing to and fro stopped and conducted
religions services. Of course, at that day, there was no
need to carry rifles to the meeting-places to protect from
the Indians, as in the days of the fathers in Western Penn-
sylvania. " Grove-meetings " were often held. Some log
churches were built, but even these were arranged for fire,
and were not in this like the first sanctuaries in New
England, and they had puncheon floors, and at least split-
log seats ; and while there were " backwoods " appliances,
there was little to now recall in amazement. Now and
then there were at the services " some fellows of the baser
sort," and it is said that on more than one occasion the
preacher had occasion to display his muscle as well as
mind and heart.
Some of the doings would call to mind the story of the
fjreacher, who, upon sending his hat around for a collec-
tion, exclaimed as he surveyed its contents : " Thank God,
I got my hat back from this crowd." One of the earliest
Religious Institutions. 193
preachers was reported to have been " a great fighter " in
his old Maryland home, and, it was said, lost a piece of his
nose, it having been bitten by his antagonist in a fight be-
fore he came into the church. People came from a long
distance to church, all usually on horseback. Poverty and
ignorance and their glazed-eyed daughter indift'erence
were in the way to the success of the churches; but, after
all, most of the trials were mutual to people and ministers,
a,nd had in them very little of romantic interest or striking
character. What weariness and pain came to individuals
— what struggles were required by godly women and noble
men — in the building of the church even to its present
height, in this county, would take more than a volume to
tell. And yet these were of such sort as that they must
appear in individual history, or necessarily lead to invidi-
ous discrimination, and even then to tiresome repetition.
BAPTIST CHURCHES.*
Previous to 1825, we have no solid history of this de-
nomination of Christian workers, more than that there
were a few pioneer Baptist preachers, who traveled and
preached the gospel in dwellings, school-houses, etc.,
wherever and whenever opportunity and circumstances
made it their duty. As among the most prominent of
these self-sacrificing ministers, we mention the names of
Elders Stephen Korris, Wm. Spencer, and Amos Mix.
But there were other ministers and devoted laymen, who
aided much in planting the gospel in this county at that
time.
The first Baptist church organized in Coshocton county
was the White Eyes Plains. This church was organized
at the house of Isaac Evans, on said plains, November 5,
1825, by Elders S. ISTorris and Wm. Spencer, with fourteen
members. Elder Norris was the first pastor, and labored
for them three years, when he was succeeded by Elder
"Wm. Spencer, who continued with them until about the
* By Elder A. W. Oder.
194 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
year 1831, at which time the church numbered about
twenty-four members.
Their places of worship were dwellings, school-houses,
etc., in Oxford and Lafayette townships. In the later part
of 1847, they completed a house of worship in the village
of West Lafayette, having previously been at times nearly
prostrate in power and influence.
At the time of the formation of the Coshocton Baptist
Association, August 25, 1845, this church had a member-
ship of thirty-four, as nearly as can be ascertained from
their records, which at times were badly kept.
In the year 1850, the church built another house of w^or-
ship, near the center of Oxford township, to accommodate
the eastern portion of the church, making it also a regular
place of worship.
In 1870, the church having increased largely in num-
bers, efficiency, and territory, divided into two separate
and independent bodies. That portion which remained
with the eastern part retained the name ot the White Eyes
Baptist Church, and the other portion took the name of the
West Lafayette Baptist Church. Since the separation, both
have been doing good work for the Master, and are having
regular service, and also keeping up good Sabbath -schools.
The "White Eyes church has a membership of about fifty,
and Elder E. B. Senter is their successful pastor. The
West Lafayette church has about sixty-five members, un-
der the well-received ministry of Elder J. F. Churchill.
The order of the pastors that have labored with the White
Eyes Plain church is as follows : Stephen ITorris, William
Spencer, Pritchard, S. Price, L. Gilbert, H. Sayer,
L. L. Ptoot, II. Broom, A. W. Odor, J. G. Whitaker, L.
Rhineheart, and E. B. Senter, who was serving them at
the time they separated, and who continues with the White
Eyes church. The ministers that have labored with the
West Lafayette church since it became an independent body
are E. B. Senter, G. W. Churchill, and J. F. Churchill, wdio
is yet with them.
Jefferson Regular Baptist Church, located in Jefferson
Religious Institutions. ip5
township, was organized in May, 1840, by Elder B. White,
with six members. It grew rapidly, and, in 1846, its member-
ship was nearly one hundred, and in 1850, one hundred and
thirty. Subsequently, 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, and
since 1860 it has not been able to sustain preaching, and in
fact is no longer to be properly called a church. The min-
isters that have labored for this church are as follows : B.
White, William Mears, L. Gilbert, J. M. Winn, R. R.
Whitaker, S. W. Frederick, A. AV. Odor, under missionary
employ, and A. W. Arnold. The old frame house of wor-
ship is almost a wreck. There are probably eighteen mem-
bers.
Toniika Regular Baptist Church, situated in Washington
township, was organized January 5, 1828, with but three
members, by Elder Amos Mix, who was its first pastor.
For several years they had no house of worship, and the
first one they built was a log one. In 1845, their member-
ship had increased to about seventy -five. They have had
their misfortunes and successes alternately, and at present
have a frame-house of worship, capable of seating from
three hundred to four hundred persons, and a membership
of nearly sixty, with a good working Sabbath-school.
Their pastor, Elder S. C. Tussing, closed his services with
them a short time ago. The order of the pastors who have
labored for them since their organization is as follows : A.
Mix, J. Frey, Sr., William Mears, L. L. Root, L. Gilbert, H.
Sampson, J. Frey, Jr., S. West, R. R. Whitaker, B. Alen,
E. B. Smith, J. W. Reed, A. W. Odor, E. Frey, J. C. Skin-
ner, and S. C. Tussing.
Clark Township Regular Baptist Church was organized
June 19th, 1833, by T. G. Jones and E. Otis, with eleven
members. Shortly after the organization, the church li-
censed one of her members, B. 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
196 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
years. This church did not grow rapidly, and at no time
could it boast a large membership, yet it has lived, and con-
tinues to this day to hold forth the word of life through
the labors of S. W. Frederick, who is their present pastor.
After Elder White closed his labors as pastor of the church
they went into strife and contention, until finally they di-
vided into three separate bodies, but were afterward united
as before, Elder White again becoming the pastor of the
church. At this time the church has a membership of about
thirty-five. They have a new frame house of worship,
capable of seating three or four hundred persons. The
order of pastors is as follows, viz : B. White, Am-
merman, H. Sampson, J. W. Dunn, and S. W. Frederick.
Mill Fork Regular Baptist Church, located in Virginia
township, about eight miles southwest of Coshocton, was
organized May 1st, 1840, by Elders William Mears and
L. Gilbert, with fifty-two members. After the organiza-
tion, the church grew rapidly, and in a few years had over
one hundred members. Having reached a membership of
one hundred and forty, the number decreased, and at pres-
ent it is about eighty-five. Since 1850, this church has sent
four of its members into the ministry, viz.: J. W. Reed,
E. B. Seuter, F. C. Wright, and A. W. Odor. The present
pastor is Elder S. C. Tussing. The ministers that have
served this church as pastors are as follows : Wm. Mears,
L. Gilbert, T. W. Grier, L. L. Root, J. G. Whitaker, R. R.
Whitaker, T. Evans, E. Smith, A. W. Odor, J. C. Skinner,
and S. C. Tussing. They have a commodious frame house
of worship, built in 1870.
Mohawk Regular Baptist Church, located in Perry town-
ship, was organized about the year 1841 or 1842. In 1846
the membership was forty-nine, and in a few years was
about one hundred ; but since that time has been gradually
decreasing until 1870, when it was thirty-five. The pres-
ent membership is about fifty. They have no minister
at the present time. They have a small frame house of
worship, in tolerably good repair. The ministers that
Religious Institutions. 197
have labored as pastors are as follows ; S. Wickham, J.
Frey, jr., R. R. Whitaker, A. W. Arnold, E. B. Senter, and
S. W. Frederick.
Tiverton Regular Baptist Church, located in Tiverton
township, was organized in 1841. In 1854 there were
about fifty members, and in 1860 over one hundred. Since
that time the number has decreased, and although the
membership is about seventy it can not be properly called
an active church. They have a strong and capacious frame
house of worship, but it is not in proper repair. The minis-
ters that have labored with this church as pastors are as fol-
lows : L. Gilbert, R. R. Whitaker, R. W. Lockhart, B. M.
Morrison, A. W. Arnold, and S. W. Frederick. The Sun-
day school still manifests some life.
White Eyes Regular Baptist Church, located in White
Eyes township, was organized in 1839, with fourteen mem-
bers. For a time after the organization the church pros-
pered, and in 1854 had a membership of sixty. From that
time the number has decreased, and more than a year ago
they met and disbanded, having at that time about fifteen
members. Their house of worship is a small frame one,
quite old. The ministers who have served this church as
pastors are as follows : H. Sayer, B. White, R. R. Whita-
ker, A. W. Odor, J. W. and H. Broom.
Monroe Regular Baptist Church, located in Monroe town-
ship, was organized in 1847, under the name of the Wolf
Creek Church, and was subsequently changed to Monroe.
When first organized she went forward, with seeming zeal
for success, and in a fe\v years had a membership of over
sixty. In 1867 she changed her location, at that time hav-
ing a membership of only twenty-seven. At present they
report fifty-five members, but have no house of worship,
using a school-house for that purpose. The ministers that
have served as pastors to the Monroe church are as follows:
J. M. Winn and L. L. Root, the latter having served the
church for over twenty years and still continues.
198 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Pleasant Hill Regular Baptist Church, located about five
miles west of Roscoe, in Jackson township, on the graded
road, was first organized in 1845, with about forty mem-
bers. They advanced steadily for a few years, but in about
fifteen years became virtually extinct. In 1862 they were
reorganized, being named the Rock Hill Church. They
made some progress, and in 1869 built a comfortable house
of worship on its present site, being renamed Pleasant Ilill.
The ministers who have served as pastors of this church,
from its first organization, are as follows : L. L. Root, H.
Sampson, J. G. Whitaker, R. R. Whitaker, W. S. Barnes,
A. W. Odor, S. W. Frederick, and E. B. Senter, who is their
.present pastor.
Evan's Creek Regular Baptist Church, located in Adams
township, was organized in 1845, with about twenty mem-
bers. In ten years the membership was about fifty. From
that time the number began to decrease, and in 1866 they
ceased to be a church. They once had a log house of wor-
ship, but it has ceased to be serviceable. 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.
Perry Regular Bajytist Church, located in the western part
of Perry township, and formerly a branch of the Tomaka
Church, was organized in 1860 as an independent body,
with twenty-seven members. They have been slowly but
steadily advancing, their number now being about forty.
They have a small but neat frame house of worship, in tol-
erably good repair. The ministers that have labored with
them as pastors are as follows: S. West, R. R. Whitaker,
E. B. Senter, A. W. Odor, E. Frey, and A. W. Arnold.
Darling's Ran Regular Baptist Church, located in Jefi:er-
son township, was organized in 1866, with ten members.
They advanced 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-
Religious Institutions. 199
house for that purpose. They have had as pastors Elder
W. S. Barnes and Rev. H. Clark. They have no pastor at
present.
Harmony Regular Baptist Church, located in Monroe town-
ship, was organized in 1866, with ahout twenty members.
Since that time it has steadily advanced, having at the
present time over sixty members. They have no house of
worship, using a school-house instead. They contemplate
building soon. They have had as pastors A. "W. Arnold
and J. K. Linebaugh. The latter is still with them.
Canal Lewisville Regular Baptist Church was organized in
1866, with twenty members. Since that time the number
has increased to about forty. They have a small frame
house of worship not very well adapted to the purpose.
As pastors, they have had Elders L. L. Root, W. S. Barnes,
and S. W. Frederick.
Chestnut Ridge Regular Baptist Church, located in Tiver-
ton township, was organized in 1873, with about twenty
members. It has been striving for three years to do work
for the Master, and the membership has increased to twenty-
seven. They have built a comfortable frame house of wor-
ship, and paid off all the incumbrances. They meet regu-
larly, and have a good Sunday school. Elder J. K. Linebaugh
preached for them before their organization, and has contin-
ued to do so up to the present time.
Chestnut Hill Regular Baptist Church, located one and a
half miles east of Coshocton, was organized in 1875, with
twenty members. They have no house of worship, but use
the district school-house. They have a good Sabbath school
kept up throughout the year, and at the present time have
a membership of twenty-four. They have been visited oc-
casionally by different ministers, and for some time were
regularly supplied with preaching by Rev. H. Clark. At
present they are under the oversight of Elder J. F. Churchill,
of West Lafayette.
200 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
A Regular Bcqjtist Church was constituted at Coshocton
on the 23d of August, 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 con-
ducted by Elders John Pritchard, Geo. C. Sedgewick, Wm.
Spencer, and Wm. Purdy. Elder Sedgewick Rice was the
minister until May 5, 1838, when he was at his own request
released. He died sometime 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 breth-
ren for several years, until it seemed to have become practi-
cally dissolved about 1848. The McGowan, Bryant, Welch,
Burt, Coe, Carhart, Farwell, Loder, Miller, Estinghausen,
Whittemore, Babcock, Sprague, Elliott, Wright, and Oder
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.
Keene Regular Baptist Church was organized in 1850, with
about twenty members, several of whom had been members
of the church which had been organized and kept up for
several years in the town of Coshocton, but at the above
date had ceased to exist. The Keene Church built a good
frame house of worship, but never made a successful ad-
vance, and in 1866 failed to report to the association, hav-
ing ceased to be a church proper. The house has since
been burnt, and naught remains. The ministers who la-
bored with this church were J. M. Winn, B. White, M. J.
Barnes, and T. Evans.
There were at different times four other organizations of
Baptist Churches in Coshocton county beside the ones
already noticed, but they were not of sufficient importance
to merit a sketch.
The probable number of Regular Baptists in Coshocton
county is not far from 950.
Religious Institutions. 201
CHRISTIAN CHURCHES.
There is a Christian church, having at present one hun-
dred and fifteen members, in Virginia township. It was
organized by Elder J. W. Marvin, of Knox county, Ohio,
in ] 832, starting with five members, of whom two are yet
living. For some twelve years the congregation met in
the woods, or a barn, or a school-house. In 1844, a frame
meeting-house (twenty-eight by thirty-two feet) was erected,
which, in 1873, was replaced by a better and a larger house
of worship. The pastors of the church have been J. W.
Marvin, James Hays, Wm. Bagley, Jacob Harger, A. E.
Harger, A. Bradfield, B. Rabb, Wm. Overturf, M. M. Lohr,
E. Peters, and John "W. Wright, at present in charge.
The whole number of members enrolled in connection
with this church during its history is two hundred and
thirteen. Formerly there were three other active churches
of this communion — the West Bedford, the Antioch, and
the Severns — each with a good house of worship for the
day and locality ; but they are now almost extinct.
It is understood that there is at least one congregation
of German Baptists known as " Dunkards," gathered in
the Saul Miller neighborhood, quite small, having no house
of worship, and without much ministerial service.
No organized society of " The Disciples " has been re-
ported as at this time in existence, although there is a con-
siderable number of adherents of that church in the
county.
CATHOLIC CHURCHES.
There are four of these in the county. The oldest — aS'^.
31ary's, of Linton township — was organized about 1840.
A small log building was used by the congregation until
about 1873, when this was replaced with a neat frame.
This church and the few scattered Catholics elsewhere in
the county were for years ministered unto by priests from
Zanesville, who would make three or four trips a year,
traveling on horseback. About 1855, the Rev. T. Bender,
of Cincinnati, was appointed pastor of the Newark church,
having also the charge of the Coshocton county Catholics.
202 Histo7'ical Collections of Coshocton County.
He went vigorously to work, and by 1857 had succeeded in
gathering and establishing the church of St. Nicholas in
Franklin township, and the church of St. Elizabeth in
Monroe township. Each of these erected small log-houses
of worship, built by the labor of the members, who also
furnished the ground and materials. These congregations
have both been greatly depleted by emigration to the Far
AVest, and they have made little or no progress since their
organization. They have been mainly supplied by week-
day services by the resident pastor of Coshocton.
In 1858, the Rev. Serge De Stchaulepinkofi' (a Kussian
priest, who, on becoming Catholic, had been compelled to
leave his country) was sent to Coshocton, and was the first
resident pastor. Under his direction, St. George's church,
of Coshocton, was built. He continued in charge for some
three years, and was succeeded at short intervals by Fathers
Andres, Ranch, and ISTordmeyer — all sent by Rev. J. B.
Purcell, archbishop of Cincinnati.
In January, 1869, Rev. John M. Jacquet was appointed
pastor of Coshocton by the Right Rev. J. H. Rosecrans,
who, the year before, had been made first bishop of Colum-
bus. In the membership of the St. George's church, there
has been no great change for some years. Through the in-
strumentality of Father Jacquet, both the church building
and the pastoral residence have been much improved, and
all debts against the charge paid oif. The country churches
have also been repaired and much improved.
The total membership in the county is about seven hun-
dred, of which some four hundred are communicants.
LUTHERAN CHURCHES.
There are three evangelical (English) Lutheran churches
in the county. The oldest of these is Zion Church, in
Crawford township. It seems to have been gathered and
organized through the labors of Rev. E. Greenwald (long
settled in IsTew Philadelphia), about 1832. Rev. J. B. Reck
succeeded 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. Yunge took charge of the church, and
Religious Institutions. 203
in 1846 Eev. E. Melsheimer, who died in 1849. In 1850
Rev. A. U. Bartholomew became pastor, and in 1859 Rev.
M. M. Bartholomew. Rev. S. S. Samson took charge in
1862, and Rev. David Sparks in 1864. The present pastor,
Rev. J. W. Myers, has been in charge some ten years.
The elders have been Andrew Eichmier, Jacob Myser,
Henry Grimm, John Smith, A. Winklepleck, William
Stall, and Frederick Everhart. The Mysers, and Wiiikle-
plecks, and Frocks, and Doaks, and Everharts, and Michael
Grill, John Smith, James Christy, Frederick Barrick, and
i^icholas Storm have been among the more prominent
members, who have varied in number from thirty to
eighty. The congregation has a good house of worship in
Chili.
About 1840 an effort was made for a church in Franklin
township, and an organization was effected and building
secured, but, after some years, the enterprise was aban-
doned. About 1856 Rev. S. Kammerer began preaching
in that (the Wertz) neighborhood, and a church building
about thirty by forty feet was erected, and a congregation
called St. PauVs organized. Rev, A. IST. Bartholomew be-
came pastor, and continued for twelve years. He was suc-
ceeded byRev. J. S.Sleutzin 1870, and he in 1872 by the pres-
ent pastor, Rev. John Weber. This church and the church
at Adamsville, in Muskingum county, have always been
joined as a pastoral charge. Daniel Gaumer gave the land
for the church and burial-ground. The church building is
of frame, aud cost about $1,500. The elders have been
John Wertz and Zachariah Glaze. The number of mem-
bers at the organization was thirty ; at this time it is about
ninety.
The third church is at West Carlisle — a neat frame
building. But few services have been held for several
years; and the congregation, especially since the removal
of Mr. Billman from the township, is very feeble.
There is a church near New Bedford, a little way over
the line in Holmes county, with which a considerable num-
ber of residents of Coshocton county are connected.
204 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
St. John's Evangelical Lutheran {German) Church, at New-
Bedford, was organized by Rev. G. Doepken in 1854, and
ministered unto by him for twenty years, at the end
of which time he removed to Marietta. The minister
at present is Rev. 0. Primer. The house of worship, a
large frame, was built in 1855. At its organization there
were connected with the congregation some twenty-iive
families ; in 1876 there are about sixty-five families.
Among the more prominent have been the Schaumeeker,
Schmelz, Schmidt, Schlegle, Baad, Steel, and Holt families.
The church is in connection with the Joint Synod of Ohio.
Religious Institutions. 205
CHAPTER XXII.
*
THE CHDRCHES — DETAILED ACCOUNTS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL, METHO-
DIST (pROTESTANT), PRESBYTERIAN, UNITED PRESBYTERIAN, PROTESTANT
EPISCOPAL, CHRISTIAN UNION, ETC.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCHES.
In relation to the Methodist Episcopal churches south of
the rivers, the following has been furnished by Rev. B. F.
Beazelle, the pastor of the one in Coshocton :
The first preacher who occupied tliis territory was the
Rev. John Mitchell. That was in 1812. He was most
likely the first Methodist preacher of Coshocton county.
He organized three classes that year — one near where
Plainfield now is, one at Maysville (Marquands), and one
in the Robinson neighborhood, now called Bethany church.
Religious services have been maintained in these places
ever since, and after the lapse of nearly two generations,
the fruit of this " handful of corn " is seen in a comforta-
ble and tasteful house of worship at each place, and larger
and more vigorous societies than perhaps ever before.
They were at first connected with the Tuscarawas cir-
cuit, Muskingum district, Western conference. Subse-
quently, it is said, they formed a part of Norwich circuit.
Not later than 1820, they were included in Muskingum
circuit. From 1813-23, the district was called Muskingum
also, then for a time Lancaster.
That old Tuscarawas circuit included within its bounda-
ries the following circuits and stations : Zanesville, now of
the Ohio conference, Norwich, Sonora, Adamsville, Cam-
bridge, Liberty, Washington, Milnersville, Plainfield, and
Coshocton, of the Pittsburg conference, and parts of what
are now Dresden and Roscoe circuits in the North Ohio
conference, and doubtless other territory which can not be
designated.
Bishop Morris, writing in 1839, says : " The Muskingum
2o6 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
circuit, when the Rev. Charles Elliott was my colleague, in
1818-19, included what is now called Zanesville station,
Putnam circuit, Cambridge circuit, and parts of others;
and the following year, when Samuel Brockunier and James
Gilruth were my colleagues, we so enlarged it as to include
Washington, Coshocton, and other intermediate settlements.
Those familiar with the country can see the extent of our
plan by running a supposed line from Zanesville on through
the settlements of Jonathan's creek to Wolf creek, below
McConnelsville; thence up the river to Putnam; then by
a zie-zae: route on to the bend of Wills creek, and all the
neighborhoods down to Cambridge; thence to Washing-
ton, Sugar creek. Wagoner's plains, Coshocton, and John-
sou's plains ; and finally, by numerous angles, right, acute,
and obtuse, back to the place of beginning. This, when I
went to it, was a four weeks' circuit ; but when I left, it
required a tour of six weeks, with little rest for man or
horse. Our first year's work resulted in a small decrease,
chiefly on account of strictly enforcing the rules of the dis-
cipline, and laying aside many delinquent members ; but
the second year we received about two hundred new mem-
bers, which, after deducting all losses, gave us a considera-
ble increase."
About the year 1833, as nearly as I can tell, " the radi-
cal split,'' as it was commonly called, occurred. This rup-
ture was produced originally by the question of "lay dele-
gation," and led to the formation of the Methodist Pro-
testant Church, in 1828, This event was very disastrous
in its consequences to the appointments of which we have
been speaking. The Plainfield society, then perhaps sixty
in number, was reduced to eight. This little band, headed
by Judge Thomas Johnson, continued faithful to the old
church and its principles, and continued to meet on a week
day, for preaching, in the school-house. From this fact, I
infer that the seceding party, by odds the largest, retained
the original house of worship.*
*A house of worship was erected, chiefly by Judge Johnson, in 1835.
Subsequently, the congregation erected a building (frame) in Jacobs-
I^ort. For the erection of this, M. L. Norris (afterward so extensively
Religious Institutions. 207
The Marquand appointment was for a number of years
seriously enfeebled, but through unflagging faith and labor,
under the leadership of the earnest men, Marquand and
Ballentiue, quiet and order were again restored.
At Robinson's, the society shared a similar fate. At
times, prosperity would seem to return, when, by deaths,
removals, or other untoward events, it would seem to be
left in the same or worse condition. But the little com-
pany of earnest men and women, chief of whom, I believe,
was Judge Robinson, stood firm, and the result is the sub-
stantial success of to-day. Judge Johnson died in 1840,
having, however, lived to see prosperity restored to the
church of his love. Judge Robinson fell at his post in
1856. Peter Marquand passed from earth about eight years
ago; and Hugh Ballentine removed to the West some
year's since, where he still lives.
For about five years prior to the organization of the
Coshocton circuit, those appointments were connected with
the old Roscoe circuit, which, during that period, was
served by .the following-named preachers: Blanipied,
Lynch, McDowell, Cooley, Goof, Lowell (who died of
small-pox in Dresden, and was succeeded by Perkins),
Camp, Brown, and Kalog. During that time, David
Young and W. B. Christie served as presiding elders. I
am not certain that this list is correct, nor can I give the
date of appointment or length of service of any one. As
we approach our own time, however, our information is
more abundant and accurate.
Rev. I. IST. Baird, D.D., now of Allegheny City, Pa., in
a letter to the writer, says : " I was sent to Coshocton in
the summer of 1840. Found the territory I was to organ-
ize into a circuit to be bounded by the Muskingum river
from Coshocton down to the mouth of Wills creek; up
the same to the neighborhood of Linton ; then north to the
plains near Evansburgh; thence down to the place of be-
*ginning. There were societies at East Plainfield, Mar-
engaged in building operations in Coshocton) had the contract. This
building was somewhat enlarged and greatly improved in the summer
of 1875.
2o8 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
quand's, and Robinson's. There was no society in Coshoc-
ton indeed, but one member was found there, Sister Span-
gler, still with you. Thomas C. Ricketts had, a little be-
fore that, united with the church in Roscoe— was yet on
probation, and afterward came to us when we organized.
There was a brother Conwell, also, who had been a mem-
ber of the church somewhere, and joined us when we or-
ganized. 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 struggling enterprize
there is indebted for its success. Her noble husband,
though not a member, was always helpful in every way."
In 1841, Dr. Baird organized a class near the present
Mount Zion appointment, the planting from which sprang
the church of that name. In 1854, the following appoint-
ments were attached to the charge: Liberty, Hopewell,
Peoble's, and Early's. The arrangement not proving mu-
tually agreeable, at the end of one year they were detached.
In 1855, the church at Lafayette was founded, which in
recent years has attained considerable strength. . 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. Maysville, Mount Zion, and Plainfield formed an-
other, under the latter name. Lafayette, by request, was
next year placed in the Plainfield circuit. For nine years,
Robinsons and Coshocton constituted one pastoral charge ;
but in 1868 the former was again included in the Plainfield
circuit, since when the latter has been a station.
The first quarterly conference of the original Coshocton
circuit was held at Bethany church, October 17, 1840. It
will be of interest to know the names of the men consti-
tuting that body, Avhich have been furnished me from the
original record by one of the members: Rev. Edward Tay-
lor was the Elder; Rev. I. N. Baird the Preacher; James
Robinson, Robert Johnson, David Richason, Hugh Ballen-'
tine, T. C. Ricketts, and John M. Johnson, the Stewards.
Exhorters : E. Davis and Charles Grimes. Leaders : Adam
Religious Institutions. 209
Wallace, John Chamberlain, Charles "Wilcox, and Thomas
Elliott. This, I believe, is the entire list.
We have seen that, at the organization of the circuit in
1840, no society of the Methodist Episcopal Church existed
in Coshocton ; but for some years previous the Methodist
Protestant Church had maintained one. Different men
had, however, 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, Wm. B. Christie, John Dillon, and oth-
ers, no doubt, of whom I have no certain knowledge.
As to the founding of the church in Coshocton, Dr. Baird
further says : "I preached in the court-house, and organ-
ized the first class of twelve members in the old jury-box.
It was during my second year that some steps were taken
toward building a church. I can not now recall the stage
of the work when I left in 1842. I left a considerable soci-
ety — near seventy members, I think — and was succeeded
by Rev. John J. Swayze, at that time the most popular
man in the pulpit, in the conference." The twelve mem-
bers of that first class were : Elizabeth Spangler, Thomas
C. Ricketts, George E. Conwell, Felix Landis, David Frew,
Benjamin R. Shaw, Henrietta Shaw, Nancy Decker, Mar-
tha Wallace, Mary Wallace, Abraham Sells, and Lucy
Thomas.
Fortunately, from the original record-book, I am enabled
to transcribe the following : " At a meeting held in the
town ot-' Coshocton, May 9, 1842, by the friends and mem-
bers of the M. E. Church, for the purpose of consultation
as to the propriet}^ of erecting a house for public worship —
Wm. McFarland having been called to the chair, and B. R.
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
committee of five persons was appointed to secure a loca-
tion and solicit subscriptions. Thomas C. Ricketts, James
Robinson, David Frew, and Wm. McFarland composed the
committee. An additional committee, consisting of James
LeRetilley, Theophilus Phillips, and Samuel Hutchinson,
2IO Historical Collections of Coshocton County,
was appointed to secure subscriptions in Roscoe. At a
subsequent meeting, David Frew, B. R. Shaw, and George
E. Conwell were elected a building committee.
After some good-natured difterence of opinion, the pres-
ent location was agreed upon for the church, the ground
then being owned by Joseph Rue. Whether their friends
of to-day regard their selection as a fortunate one, I can
not say.
A vote of thanks for the liberal subscriptions of the com-
munity is recorded, and then, among other things, the fol-
lowing: ^^ Resolved, That we accept the proposal of Mr.
John Elliott to erect said building for the sum of $2,500,
as per contract" — pa3'ing him at the same time $1,099, the
amount of subscriptions then obtained.
A complete list of the contributors, with the amounts of
their contributions, is also preserved. The men of that
time — for we are to remember that all this took place a
generation ago — believed in the pay-as-you-go plan. Nu-
merous records of minor subscriptions were made during
the four years the church was building; but when it 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 Rev. Wesley
Kenny, D.D., then of Wheeling, more recently of the Phil-
adelphia Conference, lately deceased. Since that time it
has been repaired and improved at ditferent times at an ag-
gregate expense of not less than double its original cost. In
1862, the parsonage property was secured. In the spring
of 1863, the Pittsburg Conference held its annual session
in it.
The Sunday school was organized August 8, 1845, with
George E. Conwell superintendent, Russell C. Bryant sec-
retary, and W. Wells librarian.
THE PREACHERS.
1812-13, John Mitchell ; 1813-14, John Clingan; 1814-
15, WiUiam Dixon ; 1815-16, Joseph Kinkead ; 1816-17,
William Knox ; 1817-18, John Waterman and Thos. Carr;
1818-19, John Tivis and Samuel Glaze ; 1819-20, Thos. A.
Religions Institutions. 211
Morris, S. R. Brockunier, and Jas, Gilruth ; 1821-22, Jas.
Hooper and Archibald Mcllroy ; 1822-23, Leroy Sworm-
stedt and M. M. Henkle ; 1823-24, Burnis Westlake and
David Young; 1824-25, Wm. Cunningham; 1825-26, Ed-
ward Taylor and Ezra Brown ; 1826 27, Zarah H. Costou,
M. Ellis (sup.); 1827-28, Cornelius Springer and James
Callahan ; 1828-29, Joseph Carper and C. Springer ; 1829-
30, Joseph Carper and Wm. B. Christie ; 1830-31, Alfred
M. Lorrain and Gilbert Blue ; 1831-32, Jacob Delay and
Wm. Young; 1832-33, John W. Gilbert and Levi P. Mil-
ler; 1833-34, J. W. Gilbert and Charles C. Leybrand;
1834-35, James McMahon, Cyrus Brooks, and Samuel Har-
vey (until 1840, names given above); 1840-42, Isaac N.
Baird ; 1842-43, John J. Swayze ; 1843-44, John D. Rich;
1844-45, Thomas McLeary; 1845-46, E. Jacob; 1846-47,
James Henderson ; 1847-49, D. P. Mitchell ; 1819-50, C.
Wyrick; 1850-51, D. Trueman ; 1851-52, C. A. Holmes;
1852-54, J. E. McGaw; 1854-55, H. Sinsabaugh and K. S.
Hogue; 1858-59, T. Davidson and H. M. Close; 1859-60,
T. Davidson and J. J. Neigh.
PREACHERS OF PLAIXFIELD CIRCUIT SINGE 1860.
1860-62, George McKee ; 1862-64, Joseph Shaw ; 1864-
65, John Crisman ; 1865-66, same (left, his place filled by
W. L. Dixon); 1866-67, T. H. S. White; 1867-68, J. E.
Storkey ; 1868-69, same, and M. C. Harris ; 1869-70, J. W.
Weaver and T. W. Anderson; 1870-71, J. W. Weaver and
J. W. Tokmd; 1871-72, same, and H. W. Rader; 1872-73,
A. V. Galbraith and T. S. Luccock (sup.); 1873-75, A. V.
Galbraith ; 1875-76, H. H. Pershing.
PREACHERS OF COSHOCTON SINCE 1860.
1860-62, S. M. Hickman ; 1862-63, W. R. Fonts ; 1863-
65, W. D. Stevens; 1865-67, E. W. Brady (who, retiring
before the expiration of his term, was succeeded by J. W.
Bushong, who served during the remainder of the term) ;
1867-68, E. Birket ; 1868-71, S. Crouse ; 1871-73,' J. D.
Vail; 1873-76, B. F. Beazell.
Of statistics prior to the foundation of the Coshocton cir-
212 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
cuit, we know nothing. The contribution — or, at all events,
the allowance — of the entire circuit the first year (1840) for
the support of the gospel, was $100 for the preacher and $10
for the presiding elder.
Benevolent collections were of course not thought of, and
Sunday schools were yet in the future. The entire mem-
bership of that year was about 60. The membership of
these two charges, as shown by the conference minutes of
1875, is 640. The amount paid for ministerial support the
same j'ear, $2,1 20, and for benevolent purposes, $640. There
are also six Sunday schools, with an aggregate attendance
of 600 scholars.
Of the churches to the west and north of Coshocton (in
North Ohio Conference) we have these notes :
The first {Chalfant'' s) meeting-house in Washington town-
ship was built in 1811, and the church there is regarded by
many as the oldest in the county. There is a good church
at Moscow, in that township. In the northwest part of the
county the Methodist church was planted at several points
in New Castle and Perry townships, concentrating at East
Union, at a very early date, largely through the zealous
efibrts of Joseph W. Pigman, a famous class leader and
local preacher, settled in that locality, of whom mention
is elsewhere made in this volume.
Churches were subsequently established at West Bedford
and West Carlisle, which, with varying numbers, have al-
ways been accounted (especially the former) as among the
more important ones in the county.
The West Bedford church antedates the other several
years, and is one of the oldest churches in the county. It
was organized about 1819.
i^oscoe.— From 1820 to 1826, there had occasionally been
a sermon preached in Roscoe (then Caldersburg),in the din-
ing-room of a tavern kept by one William Barcus; but in
1826 two Methodist ministers were appointed by the An-
nual Conference to the Circuit in which Roscoe was em-
braced, and in the spring of that year the first class was
Religious Institutions. 213
formed by those ministers (their names were Abner Gongh
and H. 0. Sheldon). The persons forming the class were
Theophilus Phillips, Mrs. Samuel Brown, James Le Retilley
and wife, Mrs. William Barcus, Rachel Le Retilley, and
Joseph Shoemaker and wife. Meetings continued to be
held in the same tavern until about 1828, about which time
Samuel Brown joined, and the meetings were after that held
at his house until 1831, in which year they built them a
nice little brick church, twenty-four by forty feet. A lit-
tle 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 Sunday 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 cus-
tom 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 exercises he be-
came powerfully convicted, and then and there joined the
church.
In 1853, the old church being too small, they con-
cluded to build a larger one. The old one was torn down,
and one erected forty by sixty feet; and in March, 1874,
it was burned and rebuilt the same year at a cost of
$8,000, exclusive of materials out of old building. It is
a handsome brick, same size as old one, with brick tower
and fine bell. The windows are of stained-glass, and the
pulpit and pews are very neat ; manufactured at Richmond,
Indiana. It was dedicated December 27, 1875.
The Branch church, some six miles west of Roscoe, has
long been associated with that church in a circuit, and
takes rank as one of the older and stronger country
churches.
Warner Cha'pel, on Bowman's section, three miles south
of Roscoe, is a neat brick building, the erection of which
was accomplished some six years ago, largely through the
214 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
efforts of the Austins, Biggs, and others formerly connected
with Roscoe. It is a point in the Roscoe circuit.
Three miles further south is the Conesville church. Frank
Wolf was largely instrumental in securing this church.
The building is a good brick one of moderate dimensions.
The Warsaw Methodist Society 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^ Weath-
erwax 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 a thousand dollars. 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
communicants at this time is fifty, and the church is in more
prosperous condition than for several years.
The Mohawk Village Methodist church was organized in
the fall of 1840. In the preceding year a company from
Ireland had settled in the Mohawk valley, until that time
a comparative wilderness. They were followed the next
year by other families of the same connection. The first
company embraced James Moore, deceased (father of Rob-
ert Moore), James Moore, Sr., John Moore, and William
Moore. Those coming the next year were William and
James Given, William and James Thompson, and William
Moore, all now living. And these families, with Thomas
Treadaway and wife, composed the society at its organization.
In 1841, there was an addition to the settlement, including,
besides others, John Moore and family, and the well-known
James and Robert of the present day. For about a year
from the organization, the meetings were held in the Whit-
taker school-house ; then a school-house was built in the
settlement, and meetings held in that. In 1849, the church
was built — worth some |1,500. Within a few years it has
Religious Institutions. 215
been repaired and very much improved as to its interior.
It stands near a refreshing spring of water, and is convenient
and attractive in all its appointments and arrangements.
The minister first in charge was liev. Mr. Camp. Rev.
Leonard Parker succeeded him, and Rev. Henry Whitte-
more (still preaching in Northern Ohio Conference) succeeded
Parker. Under his ministry quite a noticeable number were
added to the society. Rev. Homer J. Clark followed
Whittemore. Then came Austin Coleman, during whose
ministry the church building was erected. Just prior to
building the Methodist Episcopal church, he held a pro-
tracted meeting in the Baptist church, which had been built
the year before. During this revival there were a great
many valuable accessions. The history of the society has
been marked by great prosperity. The number of mem-
bers at this time is eighty-seven.
In relation to the church at Keene, two respectful appli-
cations, at some months interval, were made to the minister
in charge for information. Both were unanswered. An
intelligent gentleman was then commissioned to make di-
rect personal application. His answer is in these words :
"Nothing can be learned of the early history of the M. E.
Church here that can be made available for your purposes.
There seem to be no 'records' to refer to, and there is no
member to consult who was living here at the time the
church was organized. I can get no information from the
Rev. Mr. Disney, and succeed no better with his laymen.
I can only abandon the fruitless search."* The society is
an old one, and the building a good frame.
At Canal Lewisville a very neat frame church was built
in 1872, chietiy through the efforts of David Markley. The
appointment is one in connection with Kecne, and the con-
gregation has had a pleasant history and enjoyed great
prosperity.
In 1874, mainly by the efforts of John Richmond and
J. B. Peck, a tasty and convenient Methodist church was
* Was not this the church in which Rev. Charles Elliott, D.D., and
other worthies of Methodism were trained ?
2i6 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
built at Orange, and a congregation formed, supplied for
the present from New Comerstown.
The church at Bakersville was organized about 1848, and
is now enjoying its second house of worship (dedicated
February 7, 1875), the old one having become unadapted
to the size and character of the congregation. Making
part of this charge are several appointments in the county
round about, chief of which is "White Eyes. The number
of members at Bakersville at this time is about seventy,
and in the whole charge some two hundred and twenty.
The church at Bloomjield was built during the summer
of 1871. It was dedicated January 14, 1872. Its cost
was about $2,500. The congregation was organized with
a membership of twenty. Thirty-three were soon there-
after added under the labors of Rev. A. E. Thomas, the
minister at that time in charge. The present membership
is about seventy-live. The Sunday-school has ahvays been
a most interesting department of this church. It was or-
ganized in March, 1872, with E. J. Pocock as superin-
tendent.
The whole number of members of the M. E. Church
in the county is reported at sixteen hundred.
METHODIST (PROTESTANT) CHURCHES.
The Methodist (Protestant) Church dates its organiza-
tion in Coshocton county in 1830. The first movement
seems to have been at Jacobsport, where to this day prob-
ably the strongest organization is found. The building is
a commodious frame.
On the plains above Lafayette a church (the appointment
was called "Phillips'") was organized at an early day in
the histor}' of the denomination, which has always since
manifested much vigor. It occupies a substantial brick
building.
At Coshocton, some thirty years ago, the M. P. Church
was a comparatively strong one, with the best house of
worship (the brick on Locust street bet-ween Second and
Tiiird) and largest congregation of the place. It soon
thereafter began to decline, and for a number of years has
Religious Institutions. 217
not attempted to hold any service. The building has of
late years been occupied by the German Lutherans.
The interest of the M. P. Church about Coshocton has of
late years been concentrated at Moore's school-house, two
miles below Coshocton, where there is at this time quite
a fair congregation.
Besides the points thus far noticed as occupied by this
denomination, there are appointments at Littick's, in Frank-
lin township ; at Union Church, in Oxford township ; at
"Wolfe's ; at Bird's Run, in Linton.
The pioneer organizer among the early Methodist Pro-
testants was Theophilus Richison.
Among the more prominent ministerial laborers in the
advancement of the interests of this denomination have
been Cornelius Springer,* N. Sneethen, J. Dolby, William
Munhall, Israel Thrapp, Joseph Hamilton, John Baker,
D. Truman.
Among those connected with the various organizations
in the earlier days were : In Coshocton, David Waggonerf
and wife, and Zebedee Baker and wife ; in Franklin town-
ship, Isaac Shambaugh and wife, the Litticks, Browning,
Bancroft, and Maston ; at Moore's school-house, the Moores,
the Porteus', and McBanes; at Jacobsport, John Davis, S.
V. Powelson, the Bakers, Chappies, and Magness ; in La-
fayette township, the Loozes and Phillips, etc.
It is said that there are some fifteen localities (all south
of rivers) at which services under the direction of this de-
nomination are held ; and the number of members in the
county is estimated at some five hundred.
PRESBYTEKIAN CHURCHES.
Coshocton Church. — The largest Presbyterian church in
the county is that of Coshocton. It can hardly be called
* Recently died in Zanesville at a very advanced age, and greatly
beloved.
f Residing just out of Coshocton, in the southeast. lie is a son of
Phillip Waggoner, elsewhere mentioned as one of the first settlers in
Oxford township ; now in his seventy-sixth year.
2i8 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
the oldest, it being in fact a twin church with that at
Keene. Ministers traveling to, or living in the counties
west and south, occasionally preached in the town from
1812 until 1818. In the latter year, Rev. James Cunning-
ham, then living in Utica, Licking county, supplied what
was denominated " the congregation of Coshocton and
Mill creek," in which were fifteen communicants. The
separation of the congregation seems to have occurred
about 1833, about which time Rev. Geo. Warner was
preaching to the church. Rev. i^athaniel Conklin followed
him. The first elder at Coshocton was James Renfrew,
and a little later John Elliott was elected. The former
had served as an elder in the united church of Coshocton
and Mill creek, and the latter had served at Keene before
removing to Coshocton. The services were held at first in
private houses, and then in the court-house. In 1824,
James Renfrew started a Sunday-school. It was held in
the currying-shop of the tannery on the northwest corner of
Second and Walnut streets. In April, 1834, the county
commissioners gave Samuel Lee, William K. Johnson, John
Porter, and their associates, a lease of a site for a church on
the southwest quarter of the public square, and the congrega-
tion, by a great and protracted effort, put up a substantial
frame building, thirty by forty-two feet. It stands at this
writing on the northeast corner of Fourth and Main streets
— used for stores. Rev. Joseph S. Wylie, the first pastor of
the church, began his labors in 1835, and remained pastor
about six years, passing to Apple creek in Wayne county,
and afterward to Florence, Pennsylvania, where he died.
Eight members made up the original organization of the
Coshocton church. There was a steady increase until
1838. In that year fourteen members withdrew, and were
organized into a second Presbyterian church. Rev. Addi-
son Cofley, coming from Lebanon, Ohio, began preaching
to the old church as stated supply, August 8, 1841, and was
installed pastor in 1843. Shortly before Mr. Coff"ey came,
Jacob Elliott and Jonathan Fiske* had been ordained elders,
* Father of Rev. Ezra Fiske, D.D., of Greencastle, Indiana.
Religious Institutions. 219
and in his pastorate (ending September 2, 1847), David
Noble, Samuel Wheeler, Eolla Banks, J. F. Traxler, and
Wm. Loder. From 1847, when Mr. Cofiey removed to
Peoria, Illinois, to the fall of 1851, the church was supplied
by Eev. H. K. Hennigh and Rev. R. Robe, now in Oregon.
Rev. Prosper H. Jacob (now of Knoxville, Iowa) was pastor
from 1851 to 1854. In his pastorate, "Wm. Sample, Wm.
Laughead, and Jos. K. Johnson were installed elders. Rev.
T.J. Taylor (who died in Illinois, 1867) supplied the church
for a few months in 1855-6.
Wm. E. Hunt (licensed by Steubenville Presbytery), the
present pastor of the church, became such May 14, 1857,
having supplied the churches of Coshocton and Keene from
the July preceding. At that time there were fifty-six mem-
bers of the church. At the time of Mr. Hunt's installation
the Johnson Brothers (John, Joseph K., and Wm. K.) pro-
posed to give lot 314 (on Main street) and the house then
on it for a parsonage, provided the rest of the congregation
would build an addition, all of which was done. In 1866,
the brick church (forty-three by seventy feet, two towers,
steeple one hundred feet, slate roof, frescoed walls, stained
glass windows, etc.), corner of Fourth and Chestnut streets,
was begun and finished in spring of 1868, at a cost of
$15,500"* The synod of Ohio met in it that fall. In May,
1867, T. S. Humrickhouse, T. C. Ricketts, and James R.
Johnson were installed elders.
The second church was organized January 12, 1839, and
in the following spring Rev. E. Buckingham, from New-
ark,! became the pastor. Samuel Lee and A. R. Hillyer
were the first elders. Mr. Buckingham remained until
April 22, 1846. During his ministry, eighty-four were
added to the fourteen original members of the church, and
a frame house of worship was erected on Fourth street be-
tween Main and Chestnut streets, now " Equity Building."
* The carpenter work was done by W. H. Eobinson ; the brick work
by C. Daugherty, of Newark, Ohio.
t Afterward at Canton, Ohio; died March, 1876.
2 20 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Phineas Tuttle and James Hill were elected elders March
27, 1843.
Rev. H. Calhoun (now of Ironton, Ohio), was stated sup-
ply of the church for eleven years from April, 1846, and
was followed for brief periods by Reverends Mussey, John
Henderson, and "Wm. Bridgeman. From IN'ovember, 1861,
to November, 1865, Rev. C. W. Wallace (recently of Mon-
roe ville, Ohio), supplied the church.
A. D. Denman and Josiah Glover were elected elders
September 23, 1860; Chester Wells, September 13, 1862;
and W. H. Robinson and Dr. S. H. Lee, March 11, 1863.
A temporary arrangement was entered into July 1,1867,
by which the first and second churches were to worship to-
gether under the ministry of Rev. Wm. E. Hunt, pastor of
the first church, each church retaining its organization.
This arrangement continued until the formal union was ac-
complished in virtue of the action of the General Assemblies,
under which the churches had respectively been. This was
consummated September 11, 1870. The united church took
as the corporate name " The Presbj^terian Church of Cosh-
octon," and engaged Rev. Wm. E. Hunt as pastor. At the
time of union, there were on the roll of the first church one
hundred and twelve names, and on that of the second church
seventy-four. In 1871, the brick parsonage next the
church was built at a cost of about $5,000. The old par-
sonage was sold for $2,500, and the second Presbyterian
church building was sold in 1873 for $3,000.
The elders at this time are William Sample, A. D. Den-
man, T. S. Humrickhouse, S. H. Lee, T. C. Ricketts, W.
H. Robinson, Josiah Glover, and James R. Johnson. The
number of members in April, 1875, was one hundred and
seventy. A large proportion of the funds for the new brick
church was raised through the instrumentality of the
" Ladies' Society — they having in the outset purchased
the lot, costing $1,000.
Eeene (Township) Church. — As stated in the preceding
sketch, Rev. James Cunningham, living in Utica, Licking
Religious Institutions. 221
county, as early as in 1818, occasionally preached to what
was denominated the Congregation of Coshocton and Mill
Creek, The prominent members of the congregation (in
which were fifteen communicants) were James Renfrew and
Samuel Lee, of Coshocton, and Timothy and Jacob Emer-
son, in the neighborhood of Keene. Services were held in
pleasant weather under the trees of the forest, standing on
the site of the present church of Keene. The church prob-
ably became the church of Keene distinctively in 1833.
The oldest sessional record now accessible is dated July
14, 1827. On that day the Rev, Thomas Barr preached,
and fifteen members were received into the church. The
elders were Timothy Emerson and James Renfrew. The
church was supplied during 1828 and 1829, Rev. James
Culbertson and Rev. J. B, Morrow, among others, preach-
ing. Rev. George Warner then " supplied" for two years.
In 1832, Rev. Wm. Cox preached, and the session received
ten members. Rev. N^, Conklin was stated supply for two
years ending June 1836. Rev. J. S. Wylie followed Mr.
Conklin, and served for 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 min-
isterial charge. Rev. B. I. Lowe followed Mr, Wylie, re-
maining as stated supply for two years. From 1841 until
1843, the church was supplied by Presbytery. Rev. John
B. Whitham was installed pastor July 7, 1843. In 1844, a
division occurred, and a New School church was organ-
ized. After a little time this was reorganized as a " Free
Presbyterian " church, which, after a feeble life, protracted
through a dozen years, became extinct.
Of the old church Rev. J. W. Knott became pastor, June
28, 1845, remaining in charge until October, 1847. Rev.
Samuel Hanna (son of Rev. A. Hanna, of Wayne county)
became pastor, November 11, 1848, and continued his labors
un|il his death, in 1850. His memory is still among the
people as " ointment poured forth." Rev. John Trubit,
Rev. William Edgar, and Rev. C. C. Bomberger supplied
the church from 1850 until July, 1856. At that time Rev.
William E. Hunt began to preach, and continued until the
222 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
next year, when, beiug invited to spend the whole time at
Coshocton, the Keene church called Rev. li. W. Marquis,
then preaching in the Linton and Evans creek churches.
He was installed i^oveniber 14, 1857, and continued as pas-
tor until his death, in May, 1875, and is now gratefully re-
called as " the faithful 'pastor.'" Since his death, the church
has been supplied by Kev. A. Cone. In 1832, John Elliott
and Nathan Shannon were added to the session. John El-
liott was afterward dismissed to Coshocton. Timothy Em-
erson died in 1874. The present elders are ISTathan Shan-
non, Joel Glover, Robert McClure, Liverton Beall, James
Leggett, and W. H. Crawford. Rev. I. N. Shannon, pas-
tor of the church of Terre Haute, Indiana, and also of Mt.
Vernon, Ohio, was a child of this church, his father, Nathan
Shannon, having long been an honored elder in it, and his
own body rests in its grave-j^ard.
The church building, standing on a gentle acclivity, em-
bracing several acres, dotted with young forest trees, is a
large frame structure, most substantially built. It was
erected in 1834 by Charles Farwell. The number of com-
municants in 1875 was one hundred and twenty-eight.
West Carlisle Church. — This church was organized on the
first day of November, 1828. Rev. James Cunningham
(originally from Washington county, Penn., first settled
near Marietta, afterward at Utica), had been preaching
occasionally in the neighborhood, for some time, and con-
tinued to preach for the church until 1834. Rev. Jacob
Wolf then served the church for about a year, and after he
left Mr. Cunningham again preached for the congregation
a couple of years. In 1838 and 1839 the church was sup-
plied by Rev. Enoch Bouton and Rev. Nathaniel Conklin.
Rev. J. Matthews seems to have been the first pastor —
installed November 11, 1840. Until 1846 he gave it half
his time, and then the whole time until 1853. During Jiis
time the church building still in use was erected. In 1853,
C. C. Bomberger was ordained and installed pastor, giving
to this church half his time. During the war the congre-
gation was greatly distracted, and finally divided, Mr. Bom-
Religious Insiittitions . 223
berger and a considerable portion of the congregation j^ut-
ting themselves in connection with the Presbytery of Louis-
ville (Declaration and Testimony), and the new church
coming afterward under the care of the Presbytery of Cen-
tral Ohio in connection with the Synod of Kentucky.
After several years of embarrassment, with only occasional
supplies, John Foy was ordained and installed in 1870.
During his pastorate the church rallied to a considerable
extent, and the house of worship was repaired and improved
at a cost almost equal to its original cost. Mr. Foy removed,
in 1874, to Martinsburgh, Knox county, and the church
since has been supplied chiefly by Rev. S. Mehafiey. At
its organization the number of members was twenty-four.
In 1860 there were eighty-six ; in 1874, one hundred. The
first elders were Thomas McKee, James Crawford, and
Adam Gault. Subsequently the folloAving have served :
A. II. Lyons, Christopher Crothers, John Lyons, Jas.
McKee, Robert Crouch, Wm. Harvey, Geo. McKee, D. D.
Johnson, Lewis Bonnett, and Thomas McKee. Those in italics
compose the session at this time.
Jefferson Church. — This is situated in Jefterson township,
about one mile south 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 old John Elder. The church was
organized August 19, 1837. A colon}' 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 principal ministerial labor has been rendered by Rev-
erends Matthews, Bomberger, John Moore, and Foy. It
had, at the outset, twenty-four members — had, in 1875,
about seventy. The elders first elected were Thomas
Lower}', Isaac Skillman — subsequently Wm. McCullough,
James Anderson, James Douglass, Matthew Elder, Wm.
Crouch, J. V. Stevenson, John 31cCliiggage, Cyrus Elder,
D. E. Laughlin. Those in italics constitute the session at
this time.
*See sketch of that church.
224 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Clark Church.— The Clark (township) church was organ-
ized March 22, 1834. Rev. N". Conklin and others had
occasionally preached in the region, a number of Presb3^te-
rian families having therein settled. John P. Kerr and
Thomas Guthrie were the first elders. There were twelve
members.
The services, for three years, were held in the house or
barn of Wm. Craig. The first church building was erected
in 1837, by Geo. Weatherwax. Cost, about $200. The
site of the building originally donated was deeded to trus-
tees May 19, 1846, by Wm. Craig and wife, in considera-
tion of one dollar. In 1867, a new edifice was erected— a
good-sized and neatly-built frame structure.
The ministers of the church have been: N. Conklin,
1834-38; Messrs. Washburn, Turbit, and Gordon were sup-
plies from 1838 to 1845 ; S. M. Templeton, 1845-47; Sam-
uel Hanna, 1847-51 ; John M. Boggs, 1851-56 ; R. W.
Marquis, 1857-72; A. S. Milholland, 1871-75 ; T. D. Dun-
can, April 11, 1875.
The elders : John P. Kerr, Thomas Guthrie, Robert Hus-
ton, George Weatherwax, Thomas Shannon, Wm. Weather-
wax, Geo. R. Altman, James Endsley, Jr., and John T.
Crawford. Those in italics composing the session at this
time.
The original membership was almost wholly from West-
ern Pennsylvania. There were twelve members at the or-
ganization; in 1876, one hundred and fifteen.
Linton (township) Church. — Was organized August 15,
1833. Ten persons presented certificates from other
churches (most of them from the church on Island creek,
Jefferson county), and five persons asked to be received
into the church on examination, among them John Glenn,
afterward an elder. The church was supplied by Revs. N.
Conklin, N. Cobb, J. Matthews, D. Washburn, S. Hanna,
Wm. Lumsden, and Robert Robe, for nearly nineteen years.
Rev. R. W. Marquis was the first pastor ; settled April 10,
1852, and remained in charge until the fall of 1857. The
church was then supplied for a time by Rev. J. B. Akey.
Religious Institutiotis. 225
In 1860, Rev. John Moore, D.D., became pastor, and con-
tinued as such for some two years. Rev. G. W. Fisher was
the next pastor, 1864-68. After being supplied for two
years, the church called to the pastorate Rev. J. B. Steven-
son, and he was in the place more than a year. Rev. W.
B. Scarborough, the present pastor, took charge in 1872.
At the organization of the church, there were fifteen
members ; now there are ninety-three.
The first elders were Alex. Matthews, Sr., and Alex. Mat-
thews, Jr. Being unacceptable to the congregation, they
were soon removed. Eldredge Foster, J. Fort, John Glenn,
and "Wm. Love were in the ofiice. All dead.
The present session is composed of A. Shaffer, A. Sib-
ley, John Glenn (second), and Robert Daugherty.
The congregation is using its second house of worship.
The first was an old wagon-maker's shop, repaired and re-
fitted. The present is a very neat frame building, erected
in 1868.
Mr. John Gunby, residing at Snow Hill, Maryland, but
owning land in the vicinity of this church, left it a legacy
of $1,000 in 1874.
Evans' Creek Church. — The first house of worship stood
on a hill, about a mile out of Bakersville, overlooking the
creek. It was a log one. The present is a neat frame
structure, in Bakersville, built in 1861. The church was
organized April 29, 1833.
During almost its entire history, it has been associated
with the Linton church, having the same pastors, except iu
the case of Rev. John Moore, D.D.
The elders have been: James Jones, David Walters,
Wm, Shannon, Robert Lyons, John Buck^ David G. Miller,
and John Miller. Those in italics are the present session.
The number of members at this time is seventy-three.
Eoscoe Church. — The Roscoe church was organized April
25, 1847. Rev. II. 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
2 26 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
the oreranization there were fifteen members. Under the care
of Mr. Calhoun, and also at a later day under the labors of
Rev. C. W. Wallace, Rev. S. P. Hildreth, and Rev. H. C.
McBride, considerable accessions were received to the
church ; but it has, at this writing, hardly as many as when
first organized. The elders have been James Hill, George
Bagnall, T. Carnahan, S. Sayre.
Chiefly through the spirited exertions of Mrs. P. W.
Medbery, a good frame building was erected about 1849.
In 1847 a church was organized at "the Valley," on the
road from Coshocton to Newark, six miles west of Coshoc-
ton, and a squared-log church built. Rev. P. H. Jacobs, of
Coshocton, and Rev. C. C. Bomberger supplied it from
1847 to 1860.
The neighborhood had at first a few Presbyterian fami-
lies, but death and removal 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 efibrt was made, but with no better success than the
first. To this second congregation, Rev. John Moore, D.D.,
while settled in Jefierson church, ministered. In the first
organization, William Crooks was an elder; in the second,
John McCluggage. The church never numbered a score
of members.
At East Union, in early days, an unsuccessful efibrt to
estabhsh a Presbyterian church was made ; also at Waka-
tonita Cross-Roads.
After "the split" of 1838, attempts were made to start
" New School " churches at Linton and Keene, but there
was no success at either place.
The whole number of Presbyterian communicants in the
county at this time is about eight hundred and fifty.
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN.
An "Associate Reformed Presbyterian" Church was
planted in Adams township nearly forty years ago. Its
Religions Institutions. ii*j
chief friends were the Campbells, Daughertys, McFaddens,
Funks, Smiths, and Warrens. The principal ministerial
service was rendered by Rev. D. F. Reed, the congregation
being associated with Millcreek. A house of worship was
built about 1840, but it was many years ago burned, and
the church became, after a time, extinct.
In relation to the other United Presbyterian churches, a
member of the Amity church communicates the following :
The United Presbyterian Congregation of Amity, Keeue
township, is composed of the Associate Reformed Congre-
gation of Millcreek and the Associate Congregation of
Keene, which occupied substantially the same territory.
The first members of the A. R. Church came to Keene
township during the summer and fall of 1817, of whom
Robert Boyd was the first, who came May 4, 1817. He was
an educated man, and w^as considered by some of his friends
as at one time the best scholar west of the mountains. His
wife was a sister of Rev. Gilbert McMaster, D.D., of the
Covenanter Church, father of Rev. E. D. McMaster, of the
0. S. Presbyterian Church. He came from Ireland when
quite a young man. His father, William Boyd, was au
elder in Rev. Kerr's Church, Cookstown, Tyrone county,
Ireland, father of Revs. Joseph and Moses Kerr, of Pitts-
burg, Pa. The first preaching they had was in the summer
of 1818, by Rev. George Buchanan, of Steubenville. He
preached occasionally afterward; and Robert Boyd and
George Ford, formerly elders in his congregation at Steu-
benville, acted as a session here. George Ford said there
was no other organization between this and Steubenville.
After 1822, Revs. David Proudfit, David Norwood, and
Moses Kerr supplied occasionally.
The first communion was held in the fall of 1828, by
Rev. Samuel Findley, D.D. The members at that time
were Robert Boyd and wife, George Ford and wife, John
Wilhams and wife, Thomas Hamilton and wife, Joseph
Marshall and wife, Robert Boyd (Jr.) and wife, Mrs. Xaucy
Foster, Mrs. Sarah Ford, et al.
228 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
In 1834 George Marshall, Samuel Hamilton, and John
Irvine were elected elders.
Robert Boyd died I^ovember 25, 1826. George Marshall
died September 30, 1834 He was a solid farmer, and the
father of Colonel William Marshall.
George Ford lived until some ten years ago, dying at a
very advanced age. He was a man of strong will and ar-
dent piety.
John Irvine removed a few years since to Iowa.
The brick church was erected in 1834. The present
frame church was erected in 1856.
Rev. D. F. Reid settled as first pastor in 1841, in connec-
tion with Millersburg and White Eyes, and labored with a
good degree of success for about sixteen years.
AVilliam Richie and Richard Richie w^ere ordained elders
November 10, 1857.
The Associate Congregation of Keene was organized
August 26, 1838. Robert Boyd and Robert Karr were or-
dained elders. Rev. Samuel Irvine officiated. Members :
Robert Boyd and Elizabeth, his wife, Robert Karr and
wdfe, William Boyd, John Karr and wife, Sarah Boyd, John
Boyd, John Elliott and Martha, his wife, Robert Tidrick
and w^ife, John. Williamson and wife, James Johnson, Sam-
uel Boyd and Nancy, his wnfe, and John Loder.
Revs. S. Irvine, Joseph McKee, Samuel Hindman Mc-
Cleans, 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, w^hen he was released from this part of
his charge. He was a strong advocate of temperance and
opponent of slavery. The most striking instance of his
labors here was a sermon that he preached from the text
" Thou shalt not surely die." A Universalist preacher, by
the name of Eaton, was making quite an excitement, and
drawing a number of influential and enthusiastic followers
after him. Mr. Henderson gave four weeks' notice that he
would preach on the subject in the Keene 0. S. Presbyte-
rian Church. There was a large audience to hear him, and
Religious Institutions. T.'lf^
he handled the subject in such a man ner that Uuiversalism has
had a quietus on it in these parts ever since. August 26,
1853, James T. Boyd and James Boyd were ordained and
installed elders.
In November, 1854, Rev. John P. Scott was settled one-
third his time in connection with Millersburg and labored
one year and nine months with success, when he was re-
leased from this branch of his charge.
June 16, 1855, John Williamson and James McKenzie
w^ere ordained and installed elders.
September 4, 1858, the A. R. Congregation of Mill-
creek and the Associate Congregation of Keene formally
went into the United Presbyterian Church.
July 1, 1859, Rev. William A. McConnell was settled as
pastor of the congregations of Millcreek, White Eyes, and
Keene.
Pursuant to a notice given on the last Sabbath in April,
the congregations of Millcreek and Keene voted unani-
mously to consolidate into one congregation and session,
under the name of Amity. This " action was ratified " by
Presbytery, October 15, 1861.
The session was Rev. W. A. McConnell, George Ford,
John Irvine, William Richie, Richard Richie, James T.
Boyd, John Williamson, and James Boyd.
Mr. McConnell 'labored Avith ability and success until
some difficulties arose. He resigned his charge at the meet-
ing of Presbytery, June, 1864, on the ground that he had
not got the encouragement 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 one hundred and
thirty members. Amity has had no settled pastor since.
The membership at present is forty-seven.
The 'Rev. J. C. Boyd, of Utica, Ohio, and the Rev.
Joshua W. Wait, of Lincoln county, Tennessee, were
reared in this congregation.
The congregation of Arondalew^^ organized autumn of
1873, Rev. Andrew McCartney ofliciating. Elders Robert
C. Warren, Claudius Hamilton, James T. Boyd, and John
230 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
Doherty. Membership, about forty-five. They have a
very neat frame building.
PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL.
Bishop Mcllvaine preached in Coshocton in the old Pres-
byterian church, standing on the square while it was not yet
quite completed, 1835. Several unsuccessful movements
have been made looking to the organization of a congregation
of the P. E. church in Coshocton. For more than a year,
preaching by a minister of that church was kept up in Ros-
coe. Rev. C. Sturgiss lived for some time, about 1844, in
Keene, conducting an academy and preaching to a little
flock at '' the Knob," in Millcreek township, where, through
the influence of John Mitchell and others, a church was or-
ganized about forty years ago. There is, at that place, a
neat little stone church, but only a few members, and there
has been no service for nearly two j^ears.
A movement was made for a church of this order at
jN'ewcastle, and services were conducted for some time by
the professors at Gambler, but little headway was made.
Rev. J. D. Nunemacher is preaching to a congregation
(without organization) composed mainly of Lutherans, in
Coshocton, following in a line of work carried on for twenty
years. There is also a congregation of similar sort at Hel-
mick, in Clark township.
At " Ramur Meeting-house," in Keene township, there
is gathered a " Christian Union " church — a denomination
growing out of the late war, proclaiming as one of its
cardinal doctrines, " no politics in the church."
Another organization of same kind was organized in
East Union, in 1866, and numbered over a hundred mem-
bers. Still another church of this order is on Severns'
Ridge in New Castle township.
UNITED BRETHREN.
Twenty-five years ago there was a considerable church
of the " United Brethren" worshiping in the Ramur Meet-
Religious Institutions. 231
ing-house in Keeue township, but during the late civil war
it was so divided and distracted as to become practically
extinct, and was supplanted by the " Christian Union "
church, now worshiping in same building.
It is understood that there are two respectable congrega-
tions of United Brethren in the east part of the county, one
in White-eyes and one in Crawford township, but no de-
tailed accounts of them have been obtained.
232 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
CHAPTER XXIIl.
BRIEF BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
Charles Williams, the first white settler in Coshocton
county, was unquestionably one of the most remarkable of
its citizens. He was born near Hagerstown, Maryland, in
1764. In his boyhood, the family removed to "Western
Virginia, near Wheeling. He married there Susannah
Carpenter, ''and moved to the neighborhood of the salt
works on the Muskingum, ten miles below Coshocton, and
subsequently to " the forks of the Muskingum." Of hardy
stock, he grew up in the severest discipline of pioneer
life. He was a successful trapper, hunter, Indian scout,
and trader, and held every office (being almost all the time
in some) in the county possible for a man of his education,
from road supervisor and tax-collector to member of the
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 popular 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, the controlling
spirit. He died in 1840 (in his seventy-sixth year), leaving
a considerable number of relatives, many of whom are
still in the county. Two of his children were burned to
death by the destruction by fire of the cabin built by him
when he first settled at Coshocton. It is said that one of
his daughters (the mother of C. H., Matthew, and Wm. A.
Johnston), when twelve years old, was in the habit of doing
the milling for the family, taking the grain on horseback
to Zanesville, and bringing back the flour. The family was
emphatically of the Pioneer sort.
Thomas L. Hue, appointed as clerk of the court in
1811, and candidate for the legislature in 1814, was the
Brief Biografhical Sketches. 233
oldest son of Eev. Joseph Kue, of Pennington, New Jer-
sey — a well-known Presbyterian minister. He came to
Coshocton county in 1811 ; a little later, went to New Or-
leans, coming back the overland route. He married Miss
Fulton, and for some years gave himself to the manage-
ment of a large tract of land (since known as the Rickett's
lands) near Coshocton, acquired by that alliance. After-
ward he was engaged in trade with C. Van Kirk. He died
in Roscoe, February 17, 1871 (aged eighty-eight years), at
the house of Dr. M. Johnson, who had married his only
child. He was a brother of Joseph W. Rue.
James Benfrew^ one of the earliest merchants in Coshoc-
ton county, and for a few years county treasurer, and other-
wise connected with public affairs, was born at Lisburn,
county Antrim, Ireland, in 1767. He brought to America
a healthy bod}^, a strong mind, and a little of this world's
goods, which were steadily increased until his death. He
commenced keeping store in Coshocton about 1815. In
1820, while in Pittsburg, whither he was in the habit of
going for goods, he married Mrs. Johnson, a widowed
sister of old Dr. Kerr, of the A. R. Presbyterian church in
that city. The children of this woman found in Mr. Ren-
frew a most worthy step-father. He was an admirable
counselor and helper while living, and a generous friend
when dying. Both himself and his wife were most zeal-
ous Presbyterians, and sought to have all connected with
them honor the Lord. Beside the Johnsons (John, Jos.
K., and Wm.), Robert Hay was an object of Mr. Renfrew's
interest and business training, and always spoke in high-
est terms of him. Wm. Renfrew (quite prominent as a
merchant and otherwise) and James Renfrew, Jr., were
children of Mr. Renfrew by a connection formed prior to
his coming to Coshocton. He had no children by the
widow Johnson. Mr. Renfrew died in 1832, being in his
sixty-fifth year.
N
Abraham Sells was for more than half a century a resident
of Coshocton county. His father's family located very early
234 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
in the century near New Comerstown. Abraham learned
his trade of cabinet-making at Marietta, and set up in
Coshocton in 1814. He was for some time a justice of the
peace, and also coroner of the county. He died September
22, 1869, in his seventy-sixth year. His widow, now about
his age at death, resides in Coshocton with her son B. F.
Sells.'
Dr. Samuel Lee was for more than sixty years a resident
of Coshocton. He was born, and spent his boyhood, on a
farm near Pultney, Vt. Having studied medicine at Cas-
tleton, Vt, he came to Ohio in 1809 on invitation of, and
along with, Rev. Timothy Harris, of Granville, Licking
county, who was then minister of the church of Granville,
and had gone to visit his friends in the east, and act as a
sort of emigration agent. The trip to Ohio was made on
horseback. The Doctor was always specially interested in
horses, and once remarked that the first thing he ever
owned was a horse, and he guessed it would be the last
thing he would give up. After he had been in Granville
about two years (in which time he married Miss Sabra
Case, who was an help-meet indeed, and who preceded him
to the grave some three years), he came to Coshocton on
the hunt of an estrayed or stolen horse. The town was
then a mere hamlet, and wanted a physician, and he removed
at once. Practice was then no play. A ride of forty miles
in visiting a patient was of common occurrence. The perils
and exposures of the new country gave the Doctor plenty
of work, and his originally vigorous constitution and active
habits were heavily taxed, and drafts made upon them bear-
ing heavily upon his later years. For years before his death
he was much crippled and very hard of hearing. He died
at the house of his son, Dr. S. H. Lee, on the 19th of March,
1874, having completed within four days his eighty-ninth
year.
Dr. Lee had undoubted adaptations for his time and
place. The roughness and freedom and economy of pio-
neer life did not misfit him. He was very genial ; could
tell a good story, and crack a joke with tlie jolliest of the
Brief Biog^'aphical Sketches. 235
men and women of his day. He used to tell with zest how
he had taken aback some old ladies who had been sum-
moned to attend a young unmarried woman who had been
" unfortunate," and was then in straits, by proposing very
gravely " a corn poultice," a favorite application of that
day, and pretending that he did not understand the case,
being misled by the fact that the woman was an unmar-
ried one.
His patriotism and philanthropy are pleasant things in
the remembrance of his friends. Although holding public
office but twice — that of county treasurer, in ver}^ early
days, and that of State senator in 1826-27 — he was always
interested in public affairs. While an intense hater of the
system of slavery, he was anything but bitter to those who
were entangled, by their birth and surroundings, in that
system. There are abundant evidences of his friendly dis-
position in his readiness to go on their official bonds, and
otherwise stand for his neighbors. His conscientiousness
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. Among those
with whom he had to do, he could, with a lancet and a lit-
tle calomel, and jalap and a corn poultice, effect all that
many now-a-days can do with the nicer instrumental appli-
ances and amply furnished apothecary shops. He was not
what might be called a scholarly man, but always the friend
of intelligence. The first school-house built in Coshocton
was on a site granted to Dr. Lee and his associates. By
industry and economy he always lived comfortably, and at
his death left a considerable portion.
He really reared two sets of children — his own and those
of his daughter who married Robert M. Lamb — beside hav-
ing some care over the children of another daughter, Mrs.
Jamieson.
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 corner of Fourth
and Main streets.
236 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
His shrewdness and strict honesty in business transac-
tions were prominent features in his character. His cred-
itors were generally few, and debtors many.
Before leaving his ]^ew England home, Dr. Lee openly
committed himself to the service of God, and espoused the
religion that stood him in stead unto the last.
For adherence to his convictions of duty in a religious
wa}', he was well knt3wn ; and in exhibiting gave and bore
much. For thirty-five years he was an elder in the Pres-
byterian church.
Feeble in body and failing in mind^ for some time in
latest years, he never forgot the Bible and his family wor-
ship, and wanted to he reckoned a child of God.
James BoUnson came with his father's family into the
locality now known as Franklin township, Coshocton
county, then the JNTorthwestern territory, in 1801. He was
born in Clarksburg, Harrison county, Virginia, in 1787.
He served one term as associate judge, and two terms in
the legislature ; but he seems to have taken most interest
in his broad acres, and to have been chiefly famed as a
large land-holder and enterprising farmer. He was also
very actively interested in the Methodist Episcopal church,
being chiefly instrumental in the planting of the Bethany
church, where his descendants still worship. He died May
7, 1856.
Thomas Barling was born in Hardy county, Virginia,
N'ovember 7, 1799. His father brought the family to the
Walhonding valley (near Warsaw) in 1806. The journey
was made on horseback, the mother having an infant on
the horse before her, and the httle boy, Thomas, holding
on to her, as he rode behind.
His life was mainly given to farming. He was, however,
a public-spirited citizen, and for a number of years served
the county as a commissioner, the record of which service
appears in another part of this volume. In later years, he
was much interested in blooded cattle, and introduced
some valuable stock into the valley in which he lived. He
Brief Biogra-phical Sketches. 237
died December 27, 1874, being seventy-iive years and about
one month old.
He married Miss Demie Butler, and reared a considera-
ble family ; and bis family connections enter largely into
the social fabric of the Walhonding valley, as well as ex-
tending into other localities.
Benjamin Ricketts was born near Cumberland, Maryland.
Learning his trade as a hatter in that town, he afterward
opened a shop at Marietta ; still later, had one in Zaues-
ville. Giving up his shop, he set up a store in West Zanes-
ville. He commenced selling goods in Coshocton in 1818,
and in the spring of 1820, brought the family to the town.
His successful prosecution of business was most clearly ap-
parent in the accumulations attending it. He became a
large land-holder and well-known citizen.
He served one term as county commissioner. He and
the opposing candidate were " tied " on the vote, and by
lot the office devolved upon Mr. Ricketts. He was never
much enamored of public office, and, it is understood, never
held any except this one.
His church connection was with the Methodist Episco-
palians.
Like many, indeed nearly or quite all, of the successful
and prominent men of Coshocton county, Mr. Ricketts was
greatly aided in all his life's work by his wife, who, at the
good old age of nearly eighty-five years, is still living in
Coshocton. She was from Hampshire county, Virginia ;
was married when about sixteen years of age, in 1807.
Mr. Ricketts died July 1, 1857. His descendants and
connections are many, and few families have been better
known " in the gates " than his.
John Carhart stood for more than half a century before
the people of Coshocton county as a steadfast worker and
zealous Christian man.
He was born near Dresden ; learned the tanner's trade in
Zanesville; came to near Roscoe (one mile north) about
1821, and set up a tannery. He was also in mercantile line
238 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
for a time — was one of the partners in " Union Mill ; " lat-
terly, gave whole attention to leather business.
Early in life, identified himself with Baptist church, and
was steadfast in the faith. Was an enthusiastic Sunday-
school man ; and, as none of his own views were in the
place, co-operated zealously with the Alethodist Episcopal
and Presbyterian schools.
He died December 6, 1873, being a little more than
seventy-three j-ears old.
James Le Hdilley was born in the Isle of Guernsey, in
1788. He came to this country in 1806, settling in Guern-
sey county, where was a settlement of people from the
island of the same name. Removing to Muskingum
county, at a point about ten miles below Coshocton, he
engaged in the manufacture of salt, along with George
Bagnall. They made about six bushels a day at three dol-
lars a bushel, or exchanged 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, largely rendered the business of
lietilley & Bagnall unprofitable, and they removed to
Caldersburg (Roscoe). Retilley and William Wood set up
a dry-goods store (in a log-cabin), the first in the place.
After a few years Wood retired, and the firm became Bag-
nall & Retilley, and for years was very prominent in trade
circles, doing a very large business.
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.
He was twice married. His second wife (the daughter of
T. Emerson of Keene), now resides in Granville. His de-
scendants are still well known in the land.
Thomas Johnson, by the documentary history of the
county, and the concurrent testimony of survivors, was one
of the most prominent and spirited citizens. He was born
in the parish of Glentubert, Monaghan county, Ireland,
on the IGth of March, 1783. Early in youth he manifested
Brief Biographical Sketches. 239
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 bring-
ing them to the wilds of America. Thomas remained with
his father until he was twenty-four years of age, and had
brothers grown up. lie then told his father he was deter-
mined 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 ISTew York
with but one sovereign in his pocket. He there met with Jo-
seph T. Baldwin, of Newark, New Jersey, who offered to em-
ploy him. He remained with Mr. Baldwin for three years.
In 1808, he married Sarah Parker. About this time his
parents and three brothers, Richard, 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 1808 he and his
father's family came to Coshocton county, where they
bought a quarter section of land from Esaias Baker, on
which now stand the old homestead and also the village of
EastPlainfield and cemetery, in which his first son, William,
was the first to be buri'ed. In 1812, he and his brother,
Richard, were in the army under General Harrison. He
held the ofiice of justice of the peace, and was long an
associate judge of the Court of Common Pleas. He and
Jacob Waggoner built the first mill of any note on Will's
creek, of four run of burrs, that tapped a radius of twenty
miles. From 1820 to 1830, he ran several flat-boats to New
Orleans and other points south. He nearly lost his life the
first cholera season. In running the dam at Zanesvillc one
time he and two of his oarsmen were thrown out of the boat
by the oars striking the pier of the bridge. Mr. Rankin,
being a good swimmer, got out, William Smith was drowned,
and he was rescued from the water by the exertions of sher-
iff' Daniel Brush. Once, finding yellow-fever prevailing in
New Orleans, and markets dull, he concluded to coast out
his load of provisions, and poled his boat up the Tennessee
as far as Florence, where muscle shoals prevented his further
passage. He had large contracts on the Ohio canal. Owing
240 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
to the higli banks and mud bottoms, there was a difficulty
in fording Will's creek at his mills, and the commissioners
being unable or unwilling to assist in bridging said stream,
he petitioned the legislature, in 1834, to authorize him to
build a bridge and collect toll. This was the first bridge span-
ning Will's creek in Coshocton county, and remained a toll-
bridge about twenty years, when his son made a free-will of-
fering of the bridge to the county commissioners, they agree-
ing to repair and keep it up. He was connected with the
building of the bridges that span the Tuscarawas and Wal-
honding rivers between Coshocton and Roscoe. From 1838
to 1840 he had heavy contracts on the Walhonding canal.
In 1812, the pioneer Methodist preacher founded this settle-
ment, and the Johnson family were the first to unite in
church fellowship. " Thomas was appointed leader of the
class, and also steward, which office he held to the day of
his death. His house was always the preacher's home.
About 1835, he built the largest meeting-house iu the vicin-
ity, on his land and principally at his own expense, giving
it by will to the trustees of Coshocton circuit, and their suc-
cessors in office. After a protracted sickness, which first
made itself manifest while attending court in Coshocton, he
died, August 20, 1840, in full resignation and in great peace.
■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. Robert Johnson, his youngest
brother, moved from near Plainfield, twenty years ago, and
settled in Colwell county, Missouri, being in his seventy-
eighth year, and the only survivor of the old stock.
Joseiph jBMr??s.— His father, Samuel Burns, removed from
Waynesburg, Augusta county, Virginia (where Joseph was
born), to Ohio, iu 1815. The family were about a year in
New Philadelphia, and then came down the river in a
pirogue, or large canoe, to Coshocton, making their loca-
tion in this county in 1810. Joseph was at that time about
sixteen years old, having been born March 11, 1800. Fa-
vored by nature with a good appearance and great affabil-
Brief Biographical Sketches. 241
ity of manner, and being skilled in the art of penmanship,
he was soon a young man of note in the neighborhood.
His first appearance in public capacity was probably in
1818, when he served as clerk at an election in Tuscarawas
township, at which his father was one of the judges. In
1821 he was run by his friends for the office of auditor, and
perhaps that time and once afterward, when he ran for a
second term in Congress, were the only occasions in which
he did not secure the coveted position. This work, under
the heads of "County Oflicers" and "lielations to State
and N^ational Governments," will show the ofiices of public
sort filled by him. Except a brief period in his youth spent
in farming, and another in his maturer life spent in keeping
a drug-store, his whole active life of more than fifty years
was spent in public work. Never very 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 por-
tion. Many men with more of greed, or less honest or fru-
gal in general habits, would have amassed great wealth with
his opportunities. The afl'ection of the large Virginia and
Marjdand elements in the population of the county for him
was something worthy of study. The stock of which he
came was the old Scotch-Irish, so largely prominent in the
whole history of the country. His parents were Presbyte-
rians, and his philosophy and faith partook of the old Cove-
nanter cast. He always had some taste for military aftairs,
and was a major-general of the militia.
He was twice married — his first wife was Rebecca Price,
and his second was Mrs. Alex. Hay. One of his sons was
educated at West Point, and was during the war a briga-
dier-general, and another was clerk of the United States
District Court of Iowa for some years. He had in all six
sons and two daughters, and these with his widow survive
him.
His latter days were rendered distressful by tlie nature of
his disease — dropsy of the chest; but he continued, until
within a few hours of his death, to transact at his home
such of the business of his office (that of probate judge) as
must receive his personal attention. Rising from his bed.
242 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
and essaying to take a few ste[)S, he sank to the floor, and
in a moment was done with the burdens and honors of life,
which he had received so largely and borne so bravely. lie
was a little more than a month beyond his seventy-fifth
year.
John Burns Avas born in Waynesburg, Augusta coun-
ty, Virginia, in the year 1807. He moved with his father's
family to ISTew Philadelphia, Tuscarawas county, in 1815,
and in April, 1816, they moved to Coshocton county, as has
been detailed in connection with the sketch of his brother,
Joseph Burns. He remained with his father until 1828,
when he went to Chillicothe as a clerk with his brother-in-
law, John Smeltzer, and remained there one year. He then
came to Eoscoe, and clerked in the dry-goods store of John
Smeltzer and his successors (Medbery & Ransom) until
1838, when he became a member of the firm, under the
name of Medbery, Burns & Co. In 1840 he dissolved his
connection with Aledbery, and formed a connection with
Samuel Moifitt for the sale of dry goods, under the firm
name of Burns & Moflitt. He continued in said firm until
1845, when Moflitt retired, and the firm was changed to
Burns & Retilley, and remained so until 1860, when he
bought Retilley out, and continued in business in his own
name until his death. He died July 31, 1871, aged sixty-
four years.
His good sense and integrity were marked qualities.
Thoroughly interested in public affairs, and always a zeal-
ous partisan, and ready to help his friends to oflice, he
never had any desires in that direction for himself, ai\d it
is believed never held any ofiicial position. He was a pains-
taking and successful business and family man.
John Johnson was a prominent citizen of Coshocton county
for nearly half a century. He was born in county' Tyrone,
Ireland ; came to America in 1816, and to Coshocton about
1820. Under the direction of his stepfather, James Ren-
frew, and after the manner of his time, he learned the tan-
ner's trade. He was a member of the well-known mer-
Bi'ief Biographical Sketches. 243
chandising and banking firm, AV. Iv. Johnson k Co. For
some years, about 1840, he resided at Walhonding, He
represented Coshocton district in the upper house of the
Legislature, and was also a member of the lower liouse in
Congress. He was a member of the State Constitutional
Convention 1850-51. Ilis health was not firm for some
years before he died, and on this and other accounts he was
not so much engaged with public affairs 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
was averse to display, and believed in "solid" things. He
was a devout adherent of the Presbyterian church, in the
faith of wiiich he iiad been thoroughly trained. He died
February 5, 18G7. His wife was Miss Harriet Humrick-
house, and he died without issue.
Willinm K. Johnson was born in County Tyrone in Ire-
land, and when only seven years of age was brouglit to
America. The famil}-, after a .brief stay in Baltimore,
came to Pittsburg, where a brother of Mrs. Johnson (Rev.
Dr. Kerr) was living. About 1820 Mrs. Johnson was mar-
ried to James Renfrew, then doing business in Coshocton,
and the Johnson children thus and then came to Coshocton.
At first a clerk, and then a partner in the mercantile busi-
ness, and afterward in banking and in real estate opei-ations.
William K. Johnson was for many years regarded as a
representative business man of the county. He had the
confidence of the whole community, and his name was a
synonym for integrity, sobriety, diligent application to
business, and great prudence. By all the sons of the Em-
erald Isle, especially, he was looked to as a wise counselor^
His approbation of any matter of town and county interest
was regarded as quite important in order to its accomplish-
ment. His views and actions have very largely shaped the
social and business affairs 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 coun-
cil of Coshocton. He was postmaster for some fifteen
244 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
years, lie was connected with the Steuben ville and In-
diana raih'oad, as a director, from its organization until his
death. lie was one of the most regular attendants and
spirited supporters of the Presbyterian Church. In the
earlier years of its history, he superintended the Sabbath-
school, and led the congregational singing. For a number
of years he served the County Bible society as its treasurer
and depository. 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. His death occurred in
comiiaratively early years, he being about fifty years old.
He died Monday (having been in his place of business on
Saturday), December 10, 1860.
Bohert Hay was born in County Derry, Ireland, in Feb-
ruary, 1801. He came to America in 1817, and was em-
ployed in stores in Pittsburg for two years, and then came
to Coshocton in the employ of James Renfrew. After a
clerkship of a few years, he became a partner with Mr.
Renfrew, and subsequently 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 business 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 3^ears as county treasurer, but
w'as never inclined to public station. In the regular pros-
ecution of his business as a merchant and distiller, he
steadily increased his worldly estate, and by the vast accre-
tions in connection with the excise tax in the earlier part
of the war, left at his death the largest estate ever admin-
istered upon in Coshocton county.
Brief Biographical Sketches. 245
He married Miss Mary Corbin, of Granville, 0., in 1858.
She and one child preceded him to the grave, and two
children survived him. He died, after a few days' illness,
May 3, 1869, at the house of his brother James, which for
some time he had made his home.
John Mlliott, for many years commonly designated as
" Deacon Elliott," belonged to a family of mark, all win-
ning considerable fame, despite what would be accounted
an unfavorable condition at the start. The family came
from Ireland. The mother's piety seems to have been as
strong a determining force in the children as the hard sense
of the father. One of the sons, Samuel Elliott, was asso-
ciate judge of the county; another, Charles, became a very
prominent minister in the M. E. Church. The deacon was
thrown, in early life, into Presbyterian surroundings, and,
though not favorably aftected at first, after thorough study,
adopted that form of Christian faith, and held to it through
all his life with notable pertinacity. He united with the
church under Rev. Elisha McCurdy, of Western Pennsyl-
vania. After learning thoroughly the carpenter's trade, he
spent some time in erecting mission buildings — church,
school-house, and dwellings — for the use of the Presbyte-
rian missionaries among the Sandusky Indians. He was a
citizen of Coshocton county about forty years. The tirst
Presbyterian Church of Coshocton and the Methodist Epis-
copal Church of same place, and some others in the coun-
try, were built by him. About 1855 he went to Iowa, with
the purpose of making that his home, but in a few years
returned to Coshocton, and, after working a few years,
ended his days in August, 1860. Strong sense and stead-
fast piety were characteristics of the man. Indifferent as to
personal appearance, and exceedingly blunt in expression,
he compelled the respect and regard of all who became to
any extent acquainted with him. He was one of the two
first chosen elders of the Presbyterian Church of Coshoc-
ton, and an almost never-failing attendant upon the church
prayer-meetings, which he always found time to attend.
He married Miss Blythe, of Fayette county. Pa. She
246 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
lived only a few years, and left one son (John B. Elliott),
at whose home the old deacon died, September 2, 1868,
being sixty-eight years old.
Dea. Taliafero Vickers was a leading citizen in Washing-
ton township. He was born in Prince William's county,
Virginia, on the 22d of September, 1789. He came to
Coshocton county in 1827. Early in life, he identified
himself with the Baptists, and he died in the Wakatomika
Baptist Church on Sunday, Februar}- 19, 1863. He had
gone to the church in his usual health, and his last utter-
ance was an " amen " spoken while the minister was read-
ing Rev. 1:18. A moment after, the attention of the con-
gregation was drawn to him, and those going to him found
him dead.
Wm. Brown was for eighteen years, from 1822 to 1840, a
merchant and general business man in West Carlisle, of
which town he was one of the original proprietors. He
was born in Franklin county, Pennsylvania ; spent a few
years, before coming to Coshocton county, at St. Clairs-
ville, Belmont county. His parents were from Germany,
spelling their name Braun. His wife was Scotch-Irish.
B}' the combination of the virtues of the two races, the
Browns won for themselves great consideration in their
neighborhood, and, though starting in their wedded life
with very little, amassed quite a respectable fortune. Mr.
Brown was for man}^ years a justice of the peace and post-
master 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 rille, 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 s[)orts, 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 verv earnest and faithful man in his relisfious
B7-icf Biographical Sketches. 247
duties. Family worsliip was on no excuse intermitted ;
the Sabbath was sacredly regarded ; and when, as before
and after a communion in the church, there was preaching,
the store was shi)t, although he loved business, and avowed
his intention to give himself steadily to it, and to make
money for his family. His house Avas the " minister's
hold,'' and he was one of the most active members of the
Presb^'terian church from its organization, contributing
largely of his means to it, and especially in the erection of
the building still in use by the congregation.
In 1840, he removed to Logansport, Indiana, and there
died March 4, 1859. His wife, inheriting a considerable
estate from her father, gave it all to foreign missions. One
of the sons, Wm. L. Brown, Acting Brigadier-General of
the Indiana Infantry, was killed at the second battle of
Bull Run. Three sons became Presbyterian ministers. J.
C, who died while pastor at Valparaiso, Indiana ; Hugh
A. was a missionary to Cliina, and has been for many years
pastor of a church in Virginia ; and Frederick T. (the only
child born in Coshocton count}', and who even yet glories
in being a Buckeye), wlio had charge of a church in Cleve-
land, then of one in Alexandria, J). C, then was in St.
Paul, Alinn., and is now at Ann Arbor, Mich.
Alexander Renfrew came from Union county, Pennsyl-
vania, where he was born August 18, 1801, to Coshocton
county in 1826, and remained therein until his death on
his farm in Keene township, February 13, 1872. He mar-
ried Miss Carnahan in 18-33, who, with three chiklren,
survives him. Starting in life Avitli little, he, by a life of
inclustr}^ and frugality, anuissed a very considerable estate.
Public life had little attractions, and his record is that of a
quiet citizen, a successful farmer, and a busy man, mani-
festing the virtues of domestic and business life.
Eli Nichols was for forty years a well-known citizen of
Coshocton county. He was for many years, ending with
his death, the largest land-owner in the county, being in
occupancy of the quarter townshi[) of Xcw Castle, now
248 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
held by his son, Lloyd Xicliols. He came from Belmont
county, Ohio.
His death occurred at his home, after an illness of only
two days. His age was seventy-two years. His wife pre-
ceded him to the grave but a few months.
His interest in education, and especially his attachment
to the [»ublic-school system, was often avowed.
He was born and reared in the Quaker 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 hencefor-
ward 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, whatever 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 " Spirit-
ualism," and much of his time in his declining years was
given to study of this, and he became a full believer in it,
continuing in this faith unto the last of earth.
Rev. Nathaniel Conklin was for many years a most zealous
and successful minister of the Presbyterian Clmrch in
Coshocton county. He studied at Princeton, iSrew Jersey ;
preached for some ten years at Frankfort, Sussex county,
in that state, and came to this county about ISS-t. He la-
bored at Coshocton, Keene, Clark (where he organized the
church), West Carlisle, and near Warsaw (where he organ-
ized the church), in the days of the feebleness of all the
churches in this region.
After leaving Coshocton county, about 1844, he labored
for a time at Muskingum church, near Dresden. He then
removed to Indiana, taking charge of the Covington church
in that state. Broken by his missionary labor, he returned
to his old home state, and, as he was able, supplied some
churches there.
Brief Biographical Sketches, 249
He died in 1866. His wife died in 1837, and lies in the
Keene chnrchyard ; and a son, born while he labored at
Keene, Rev. IST. W. Conklin, is now pastor of a large and
vigorous church in ISTew York city.
G. W. Silliman was the son of a lawyer (Willys Silli-
man) practicing at Zanesville, and a nephew of Lewis Cass.
He pursued his academical studies at Ohio University, and
afterward at the military academy at West Point. Having
read law with his father in Zanesville, he was admitted, and
soon thereafter came to Coshocton (about 1830). He was
sent as bearer of dispatches to C. P. Van Il^ess, minister
from the United States to Spain. He returned to Coshoc-
ton in 1833 ; was soon elected prosecuting attorney, and by
re-election continued in the oiRce for ten years. In 1843,
he went on a voyage to Europe for his health, but was not
greatly beneiited, and on his return voyage grew rajiidly
worse, and died at sea. His remains were brought to New
York, and interred in Greenwood Cemetery.
In 1834, he married Miss Ann Johnson, who survived
him many years, dying in 1864. There was one child,
Willys Cass Silliman, who survived the father only about
two years. Mr. Silliman's reputation is that of genial,
scholarly gentleman.
Robert 31. Lamb was from Eastern Virginia. He came
to Coshocton, and was employed as miller in the Coshocton
Steam Mill, about 1834; afterward, as one of the Union
Mill Co., was concerned with the building and running of
the Union Mill, in lower Poscoe. He went to California in
1849, and died of cholera in San Francisco the next year»
in the forty -first year of his age.
He married a daughter of Dr. S. Lee, and by her had
three children, two of whom, Mrs. J. M. Thompson and
Miss Emily, are residents of Coshocton ; the third, Mrs.
Barse, living at Michigan City, Indiana.
David Spavgler was born at Sharpsburg, Md., December
24, 1796. In 1802, the family removed to Zanesville, Ohio
2^o Historical Collections of Coshocton County
Here the father established himself in trade as a black-
smith, and David, as his age and strength admitted, was a
helper, and continued at the forge and anvil for years, learn-
ing lessons of patient toil, and endurance, and self-reliance
of vast advantage in later years. Subsequently, the father
engaged in mercantile business, and in this, as in the
other, David, as the eldest son, was his chief assistant.
Study, however, was not neglected, and David prolited dil-
igently by his opportunities in that line, limited as they
were.
When twenty-five years of age, he commenced the
study of law with Alex. Harper, and was admitted to prac-
tice at a term of the Supreme Court of the State, held in
Cleveland in 1824. lie commenced practice in Zanesville.
In I80O, he was nominated for representative for Muskin-
gum county in the legislature, and polled far more than his
(Whig) party vote, though not elected. In 1832 he came
to Coshocton. Professional business poured upon him from
the start, and beside he soon was taking a leading part in
politics. In the fall of the same year in which he came
into the county, he was nominated for representative from
the Twelfth (then) Congressional District, and such was the
esteem and popularity in which, as a law3^er riding the cir-
cuit, that he was elected by a round majority, although the
district (composed of Cosliocton, Knox, Holmes, and Tus-
carawas counties) had been hitherto in the hands of the
opposite party. He was re-elected by the same constitu-
ency in 1834, by a still more decisive vote. Mr. Spangler
was thoroughly satisfied with the political experience thus
had, and proclaimed his determination to give his whole
attention thereafter to professional practice. In 1844, his
party, then in the ascendancy in the state, nominated him?
b}^ convention asseml)led at Columbus, for Governor, but
"he declined the nomination, insisting upon his tastes for
private life, and his need of attention to professional busi-
ness, and the claims of his family, especially those of his
two sons, then in course of education. While in Washing-
ton city in his first term as congressman he was admitted
to practice in the United States Supreme Court, arguing a
Brief Biographical Sketches. 251
case carried up from Ohio, and prevailing for liis client.
From 183l) to 1856, in which year he died (October 18), his
office and home, his neighljors and friends, received the
whole of his time and attention. For some years before
his death his health was far from vigorous. He was, it
will be observed, about two months less tlian sixty years
old.
His parents were members of the M. E. church, as was
also the lady wdiom he married (December, 1829), Miss
Elizabeth Grafton Etherington, of Baltimore, Md., and he
was always awake to the interests of that body and ex-
ceedingh' helpful to it, although never a member. In the
heaviest of his business and height of his fame, he would
give active aid in the Sabbath-school and in the musical
department of the church.
He was initiated into the Masonic body about the time
tie attained his majority, and served in the cajtacity of
"Worshipful Master, Representative to Grand Lodue, of
which he was S. G. Deacon, Grand Orator, and Deputy
Grand Master. In 1846, the Lodge formerly established
having become defunct, he, in connection with others, se-
cured a dispensation for a new Lodge (Xo. 96), of which,
for many years, he was W. M.
His sympath}' and readiness to associate freely with the
masses — his great industry and energy — and his keen in-
sight of human nature and ready wit were qualities giving
him his place and power in public life. And with this is
our present ^concern. 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 subse-
quently coming from him that the lirst time he ran he got
in that township (a Democratic stronghold) one vote, and
the second time tioo. A 3'oung lady came to his office to
have him commence proceedings for " rape." After hear-
ing the story, he said it was important he should know the
case, and informed her that there was an offense called
"rape," and one calknl " rapee," and that the hitter cov-
ered the case of the mildest possible resistance. She con-
252 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
eluded the latter was her case, as he keenly suspected from
the first.
A minister of his church once undertook to deliver a
learned controversial discourse, having very much to say
about '= the original." Coming out of church, he quietly ob-
served to a prominent lawyer of the place, of another faith,
" That was a remarkable discourse ; remarkable, sir ; re-
markable, sir; and especially remarkable, because neitherthe
preacher (as he knew) nor any of his hearers had any
knowledge of that original language."
Teter Humrickhouse was only a few years a resident of
Coshocton county, but as the paternal ancestor of one of
the most prominent families of the county, may well find
brief mention here. He was born in Germantown, Pa.,
August 26, 1783. His father soon after moved to Hagers-
town, Md. After the manner of his time, he learned a
trade, that of carriage-maker. In 1814, he removed to
Brownsville, Pa. He came to Coshocton in 1834, and here
died, August 23, 1839. He was the father of Thomas, and
John, and Wm. Humrickhouse, and also of the wives of
John Joseph K. and Wm. K. Johnson, of John G. Stew-
art, and James Irvine, all being resident in Coshocton.
Mrs. Kincaid, of Greenfield, Ohio, is also his daughter.
Arnold Medberry was born in I^Tew Berlin, Chenango
county, iSTew^ York, March 24, 1806. He came to Iloscoe
in the fall of 1832, and remained a citizen of that })lace
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 connection with
the public works, were features of the locality where car-
ried on. Indomitable energy and ceaseless activity were
his characteristics. He was undaunted before that which
would have made many quail. He thought nothing of tak-
ing his buggy, riding thirty miles to Mt. Vernon, and then
taking the cars, thus reaching Cleveland in a few hours.
Losing two flour-mills by fire, he within a few hours had
amtters all arranged for building yet a third. A zealous
Brief Biogra-phical Sketches. 253
politician, he yet had little desire for office. He was, how-
ever, postmaster of Roscoe 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 princi-
pal lessees, and continued in that relation until his death.
A single anecdote illustrates his keen discernment and dis-
position to have the best in ever}' line attainable. A
wagon-maker having built him a wagon, called for his in-
spection and acceptance of it. He discovered, by close
examination, a few places stopped up and made to appear
smooth and good by putty. The wagon-maker 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 Avas
the rule with him in his relations to his employes, and what
he thus demanded 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 Dcnman, survived
him several years, dying at the home of her daughter in
Kansas. His two sons died in each case as they were
approaching manhood. Two of his daughters are living
in Kansas, the other in Columbus.
Matthew Scott was born in county Donegal, Ireland,
in 1795. He came to America in 181G, 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 consid-
erable body of land ; as a man of diligence and integrity,
of more than ordinary intelligence, and of fair education,
Mr. Scott was long had in repute in the region where he
dwelt. As an enthusiastic son of Erin, and a most earn-
est and liberal adherent of the Presbyterian church, he was
254 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
known l)y tlionaands. In 1856, he made a visit to the old
hind. He was for several years a director of the Western
Theological Seminary at Pittsburg. lie was a member of
the general assembly of the Presbyterian church, meeting
in Peoria, Illinois, 1863. lie was always a w^arm friend
of the colored people, and was chiefly instrumental in es-
tablishing a school for the education of colored girls,
called " Scotia Seminary," in ISTorth Carolina. Having no
children, and his wdfe having died before him, he gave
almost his whole estate — of some $25,000 — for educational,
missionary, and other benevolent purposes, in connection
with the 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
poor health. Early on the morning of the 13th of Sep-
tember, 1872, the family of the brother with whom he had
been staying for some days, w^ere 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.
John Lockard died near Chili, September 20, 1868, in his
eightieth year. He was a native of county Donegal, Ire-
land; emigrated to America in 1819; settled near Steuben-
ville, but after a few years removed to Coshocton county.
Sharon Williams died at his residence in Keene tow'nship
on the 19th of August, 1868. He emigrated from Virginia
in 1812, and resided in the same vicinity until his death,
being a period of fifty-six years.
Isaac Darling died at his residence in Jeflferson township,
March 26, 1869. He was born in Eastern Virginia in 1796,
and emigrated with his parents to Ohio in 1806, settling at
his manhood upon the place on which his early life was
spent, and remaining there till his death. He was for many
years a prominent member of the Jefi'erson Baptist church.
By'ief Biographical Sketches. 255
Matthew Trimble died at his home in Perry township,
March 13, 1871. He was a native of Donegal, Irehiud;
had been many years in Coshocton county, lie was sixty-
six years of age. Was a devout member of the Protestant
Episcopal church.
William Pancake died May 26, 1867, in "Warsaw. He was
born in Harrisburg, Pa., and in early life removed to Colum-
biana county, and thence, after a few years, to Coshocton
county, where he mai-ried, and became a permanent resi-
dent. He was in his seventy-fifth 3'ear. Had been many
years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Reuben B. Whltfaker, for more than forty years a resident
of Coshocton county, died on his farm, in Jeflerson town-
ship, on the 11th of April, 1868, in the sixty-eighth year
of his age.
JRev. James W. Pigman was born near the town of Cresap,
Allegheny county, Md., in 1806; settled in Coshocton in
1810. His connection with the Methodist Episcopal church
commenced in 1837, and he continued as a local preacher
rfiitil 1866, when he became a minister in the Christian
Union church, and so continued until his death, which
occurred in Perry township October 26, 1869.
Samuel Brilhart died at his home, in Monroe township,
September 23, 1870, in his sevent3^-sixth year. He emi-
grated from the State of Virginia in 1836 ; was one of the
pioneers of Monroe township. He was a member of the
Nazarene Baptist church, and left quite a large family.
Mattheio Ferguson, a well-known resident of Roscoe,'died
of apoplexy on March 4, 1871, in the eightieth year of his
age. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1792, lived for a time
in Zanesville, then ten years in Coshocton, passing thence
to Roscoe, where was his home for thirty-seven years. He
was a hatter by trade. He was several times elected a
justice of the peace. He married Miss Mary Smeltzer in
256 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
1819, by whom he had twelve children. He was a " char-
ter meniber oi' Coshocton Lodge of Masons."
Jolin C. Tldball was born June 5, 1801, in what then was
Allegheny county (now Lawrence), Pa. He graduated at
Jeft'erson College; was ordained a minister in the Presbyte-
rian church, in 1826, at Island Creek, O. He subsequently
preached at Morrisville, Belmont county. His unques-
tionable ability was connected with a certain measure of
eccentricity which frequently involved him in more or less
of trouble, often leading to expostulations on the part of
his brethren in the ministry, under which he grew some-
what restive. While in Belmont county, he became more
and more dissatisfied with the position of his own and
also ■ of kindred churches upon the matter of slavery.
Meanwhile his health was quite impaired. In this state of
things, he turned to the law, and having read with Carlo
C. Carroll, of Belmont county, was admitted to the bar,
practically demitting the ministry. He came to Coshocton
in 1848, and practiced more or less until his death. His
keen insight and earnest and impassioned deliver}' were
marked features in his practice; but calm investigation
and cool judgment were not always so apparent, and Ifis
success in business was only moderate. His thorough clas-
sical education made him a valuable man in school matters,
and to his efforts must, in some considerable amount, be
attributed the deepened and enlarged interest in education
apparent in the town of Coshocton soon after he came into
it. He connected himself with first the one and then the
other of the Presbyterian churches of Coshocton, and main-
tained his position as a Christian man unto the last. He
had in earlier days paid no little attention to medical mat-
ters, and was ready on all occasions to visit the sick, and
make himself useful in times of affliction. He was a very
zealous politician — intensely anti-slavery. He had, how-
ever, little dis[)Osition to carry his partisanship into his
social relations, and was in every way a kind neighbor and
clever citizen. He had a large vein of humor, and keenly
relished the ludicrous. His power of facial expression was
Brief Biogra-phical Sketches. 257
wonderful — quite in the style of his friend, Sam Galloway,
of Columbus.
In the summer of 1863, he got word of the serious illness
of a son, then in the army at Vicksburg, and against the
counsels of his friends he went to visit him. The son
recovered before the father reached the place ; but the old
gentleman took sick, struggled back home, and died in a
few days, on the 11th of August, 1863.
While preaching at Island Creek, he married Miss Hun-
ter, who, with her children, N. R., Haddasah, and W. S.
Tidball, still live in Coshocton. Theophilus Tidball, of
Bedford township, is a foster-child, adopted when an in-
fant.
Joseph B. Crowley was, as the son of an old citizen (John
Crowley), much in public service, as a soldier in the Mexi-
can war, and for his manly appearance and social habits
very highly esteemed by a large circle of acquaintances.
He was born October 24, 1837, and died in the prime of
his manhood, being at the time of his death fairly entered
upon his thirty-seventh year. He married, in 1855, Miss
Louisa Williams, who, with one child, survived him.
Clark Johns was born in New Castle township, and died
in Coshocton, in his young manhood, June 13, 1863. The
" lot " having designated him for a soldier, he, taking his
privilege, enlisted in one of the companies which had gone
out from Coshocton, where his home and business had been
for some time. He was soon promoted to be lieutenant ;
was taken sick, sent home, and died in a few days, on date
above given. He married the daughter of John Burt, and
left her and one child.
C. C. Nichols, son of Eli Nichols, of New Castle town-
ship, died in hospital at Clifton, Tennessee, January 14,
1865. He was forty-two years of age, and held the rank
of captain in the 183d regiment of Ohio volunteers. His
remains were finally placed in the home cemetery. " He
was," says a friend, " the child of ups and downs." He
258 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
was present at the lirst sack of Lawrence, Kansas, and
gave his aid in making that state a free state. He after-
ward spent some time in Colorado, and took an interest in
laying out St. Charles, which afterward became Denver
City. He undertook the opening of an expensive gulch,
and spent all he had on it, without avail. In the fall of
1863, he entered the military service, continuing therein
till his death.
Wm. B. Glover w^as born in Clark township, April 26,
1832. While teaching school in Indiana he enlisted in the
21st Indiana regiment, and afterward became a lieutenant
in heavy artillery service. "While engaged in the siege of
Port Hudson he was taken sick and placed in hospital.
Thence he was brought by his father to his home in Cosh-
octon county ; and here, after being home some three
weeks, died, on the 18th of June, 1864.
Joel Clark Glover^ brother of the above, was born De-
cember 6, 1846; and, having enlisted in the army, died in
September, 1864, at Wilson's Landing, near Richmond,
Virginia.
Many noble young men like these fell, as they, during
the late war of the rebellion, but few families have such a
noticeable record as that of which they were members. At
one time no less than six sons were in the militarj' service,
and two others w^ere represented by substitutes.
Thom.as Carroll, Jr., M. D., was born in Keene, in 1838.
After attending medical lectures, he commenced practice
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Entering the medical de-
partment of the army, he was stationed in Washington
City, and afterward in Philadelphia. He died while acting
assistant surgeon at Jackson Barracks, New Orleans, Lou-
isiana, April 23, 1867. His remains were brought to
Keene.
Robert S. McCorrnick was the son of a substantial farmer
in Keene township. In his twentieth year (1861) he en-
Brief Biographical Sketches. 259
listed in Capt. Wm. MarslaaH's company of the Eightietti
regiment, O. V. I. He was wounded at Mission liidge and
captured, and for fourteen months sultered all the horrors
of Andersonville, whereby he was made a mere skeleton,
although when he enlisted being six feet two inches in
height and weighing 200 pounds. At length being ex-
changed, he was brought to Savannah and there detained
by military movements. He afterward laid sick for a mouth
at Annapolis. In the summer of 1864 he reached his home,
receiving an honorable discharge at end of term of enlist-
ment. For many months he sought to recover his health,
at his home and in a health institute in New York State,
but in vain. He died at home, January 26, 1866. He was
one of that great company of victims of the selfish ambi-
tion, greed, and cruelty which possessed the men who
brought about the terrible " "War of the Rebellion."
Asa G. Dimmock was well known to the people of Cosh-
octon county, as being for ten years editor and publisher
of the Coshocton Democrat. He was also, for two terms,
prosecuting attorney of the county, and at that most im-
portant era in its history, the robbery of the county treas-
ury, made his mark in that capacity. He was the son of a
Baptist clergyman, was bred to the newspaper business,
and was connected largely with the press, editing or pub-
lishing papers in Harrison, Holmes, Wayne, and Erie
counties. He was in the Ohio State Senate as a member
and also as clerk. He also served several years as warden
of the Ohio penitentiary. In 1867 his health very seriously
failed him, and on May 17, 1869, he died at the house of
his sister, in Montrose, Penn., in the fifty-sixth year of his
age. Of exceedingly pleasant manner, shrewd in manage-
ment, and exceedingly self-sacrificing, he was always popu-
lar, commonly poor. He was twice married — had one
child by first wife. His surviving widow resides at Alil-
lersburg.
31. C. 31cFarland was a son of one of the most substantial
citizens of Bedford township. His youth was spent on the
26o Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
farm, at school, in teaching, and in reading law. He was
for several years deputy clerk of the court and county
school examiner. In 1863, he was elected probate judge,
and subsequently re-elected, keeping, it is said, the records
of the office in unusually neat and correct manner. Before
his second term expired, his health was greatly impaired.
Having spent some months in vain efforts to re-establish
his health, he at length died at the house of his father-in-
law in Newark, on the 12th of July, 1870, in the thirty-
sixth year of his age.
He was a man of more than usual talent, literary taste,
and social excellence. He married a daughter of Judge
Wm. Sample, and by her had one son.
Samuel Ketchum died June 29, 1871, aged about forty-
three years. His father was from the State of ISTew York.
With good common education, he entered upon active life.
He was well known as the treasurer of Coshocton county, and
from his difficulties growing out of that position he found re-
lief only in death. Having plead guilty to the charge of em-
bezzlement, he was sentenced to the penitentiary for five
years, and became an inmate of that institution on the 1st
of March, 1870. His health rapidly failed him, and in
fifteen months he was pardoned, on representations made
by the warden and physician, by Governor Hayes, and re-
turned to his home. While in prison, he professed thorough
penitence, and claimed to have little hope for the present life,
and none for that to come, save by the mercy of God in
Christ Jesus. In the hope of this mercy, he passed away
— recognized by the world as a mau of considerable refine-
ment and of generous impulses, to be pitied, however much
blamed. An aged, faithful mother, a wife true when all
else failed, and two children bitterly lamented his death.
Samuel Morrison died in Coshocton on the 20th of August,
1871, in the seventy-third year of his age. He was boru
in Virginia ; was brought to Coshocton county when only
two years of age ; he grew up with the county ; held sev-
eral offices of trust, among others that of sheriff. His
Brief Biographical Sketches. 261
death was the result of an apoplectic stroke. His wife
died some time before he did. Of his children (seven
daughters), Mrs. R. W. Thompson is dead ; Mrs. Banks in
Minnesota ; Mrs. Marvin in Michigan ; Mrs. Hankins in
l^ew York ; Mrs. Eev. Robftrt Beer in Indiana ; Mrs. Kep-
ner in Columbiana county ; and only Mrs. W. H. H. Price,
of Coshocton, is in the county.
John Morgan died at his residence, a few miles east of
Coshocton, September 14, 1866, in the seventy-ninth year
of his age. He was born in New Jersey, October 9, 1789.
He was among the earlier settlers of Coshocton county,
cultivating a farm until old age and illness interfered. He
was for twenty -five years a member of the White Eyes Bap-
tist church.
Charles S. Barnes w\as born in Faj^ette county, Pennsyl-
vania, in 1798. The family removed to Jefferson county,
when Charles came to Coshocton county, settling as a farmer
in Bedford township, and becoming one of its most highly
esteemed citizens. He was probate judge from 1855-1858.
He was for man}'^ years a class leader and steward in the
Methodist Episcopal church. His death occurred on the
17th of May, 1866, at his home in West Bedford. Several
of his children abide in the township.
William Henderson died at his residence, in ISTew Castle
township, in 1866, having been many years a farmer and
stock-man in Coshocton county. He was in his seventy-
first year ; came from Pennsylvania ; was married in 1837 ;
connected by the marriage of his children with several of
the prominent families in the west part of the county.
George Darling, youngest son of Isaac and Jane Darling,
died at Holton, Kansas, October 30, 1870, aged twenty-five
years. His mother had gone on a visit to a daughter in
Kansas, and was there taken sick with typhoid fever. Af-
ter a lingering illness, her recovery was despaired of, and
her friends notified. George went to be with her in her
262 Historical CoUections of Coshocton County.
last moments, and was himself smitten with the same dis-
sease, and in one week died, the mother following in a few
hours. The bodies were brought to the old home, near
Warsaw. George had only been married a few months (to
Miss Foster), and was a very popular young man, and the
circumstances of the death made the* event a notable one
in his old neighborhood.
Samuel Squire, Sr., died on the 24th of l^ovember, 1874,
at his residence in Jackson township, in the sixty-eighth
year of his age. He was brought as a child to Coshoc-
ton county, in 18^4, being then eight years of age. His
parents came from Kutland county, Vermont. He took
possession of the place where he died, in 1832. He was a
deacon. in the Regular Baptist church. He left children
and a large circle of relatives.
Nicholas Bassett came from Mohawk valley, E"ew York,
and settled in Linton township, more than forty years ago.
He died on the 11th of March, 1875, in the eighty-ninth
year of his age. A friend says : " He was a very active and
energetic man in the days of his strength ; firm in purpose
and vigorous in action ; a man of noticeable sort in speech
and movement. His politics and his religion (the one
Democratic and the other Presbyterian) were two things
never lost sight of."
Samuel H. Scott, brother of Matthew elsewhere men-
tioned, was for some forty years a citizen of Virginia town-
ship, engaged in farming. He had been out of health, was
coming to his home from Adams' mills, walking on the
railroad-track, was overtaken by a freight-train, and mis-
calculating as to time failed to get out of the way before
the train, then " slowed " very much, struck him. The
nervous shock in his enfeebled and diseased condition was
too much for him, and he died in a few days, his death oc-
curring March 5, 1875. He had been for many years a
member and for a few years an elder in the Presbyterian
Brief Biographical Sketches, 263
church. His wife (Miss Jane Denny) survives him, without
children.
Dr. W. li. Vickers died in Linton township on the 12th
of February, 1875. On the evening of the 11th, he left
his home, in Jacobsport, to visit a patient, Mr. M. B.
Carr, one mile beyond Linton. He found Mr. Carr very
low with pneumonia, who, also, as well as to administer med-
icine, asked the doctor to write his will. The doctor, after
finishing the patient's will, conducted the evening devo-
tions for the family, and was about to retire to bed, about
eleven o'clock, when he complained to Mrs. Carr of feel-
ing unwell, and asked for a little water and camphor, which
were got for him, and after taking some he went to bed
with one of Mrs. Carr's sons in an adjoining room. The
next morning he was discovered to be serious!}^ ill, and,
having been removed to his home, died about four o'clock
in the afternoon. He had established himself very thor-
oughly in the regards of the community, and was a prom-
inent member of the Methodist Episcopal church.
Thompsoyi Carnahan was born in White Eyes township,
April 24, 1841, and died in Adams township (on a little
farm which for some years had been to him a retreat after
his work as a teacher was done), July 13, 1876. Obtaining
the elements of a good education in the district vschool, he
himself commenced to teach in 1860. In the summer of
that year he attended the ISTormal School at Hopedale, in
Harrison county, and having taught during the ensuing
winter, took another term at Hopedale in 1862. In the fall
of 1862, he went into the army, enlisting in the Ninth Ohio
Volunteer Cavalry. He continued in service two years,
and having been wounded at Big Shanty, Georgia, returned
home and resumed his work as a teacher. In 1866, after
attending one term, he graduated at the Poughkeepsie
(New York) College. Having taught several of the most
prominent of the country schools, and the one at Bakers-
ville, he became the teacher of the grarnmar school in Cosh-
octon in 1871. The next year he took charge of the Ros-
264 Historical Collections of Coshocton County.
coe schools, and continued there until smitten by the dis-
ease (paralysis) that laid him low in death. Always some-
what out of health, his conscientious faithfulness led him to
unduly tax himself with his professional work, and about
a month before his year was up, and some two months be-
fore his death, he reluctantly ceased to teach. But the bow
had been drawn too far, and the string was already virtually
broken. Returning after the school year was closed (his
wife having Unished his work therein) to his farm near
Bakersville, he for a time seemed to improve, but soon sank
down in a peaceful death.
Conscientious and carefully trained in the principles of
the holy Christian religion from his childhood, he made a
profession of his faith in the Presbyterian church, at Bak-
ersville, in 1870, and subsequently was an elder in the
Presbyterian church of Roscoe.
With no special advantages of worldly sort and despite
poor health he attained a scholarship that had merit above
what his modesty disposed him to widely manifest, and
showed what industry and conscientiousness may achieve
even in comparatively early years. He married, in 1869,
Miss Eliza J. Stonehocker, who, having herself been much
engaged in teaching, proved a worthy help-meet in his
school work, as otherwise.
'^71 ?i
