USA > Ohio > Athens County > A Brief History of Athens County, Ohio > Part 2
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AN OLD TOBACCO HOUSE
cattle and sheep. This is especially true in Ames Town- ship. It is well suited for dairying. At one time a large quantity of cheese was produced. The sheep industry was formerly quite extensive, there being more than a hundred thousand of these animals owned in the county. In an
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ATHENS COUNTY
earlier day considerable flax and a great quantity of tobac- co were raised, but these crops are no longer planted. Much wheat is produced on the ridges. Formerely a great deal of maple syrup and sorgum molasses were produced, but many of the sugar trees have been cut down and people do not raise much sorgum and little of either are now manufactured.
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Fruit :- While the county has always been a good fruit county, it has only been in later times that the raising of fruit, especially apples and peaches, has been conducted on a large scale. The soil is just suited to these fruits and with modern methods of prunning and spraying, Athens County could be made the best fruit county in the state. Some twenty years ago, she was the banner peach county in Ohio, but the San Jose scale got on the trees and many orchards were destroyed.
Manufacturing :- The article most needed and the scarcest for the pioneers was salt. Sometimes the fresh meat had to be preserved with hickory ashes. At first the price reached six dollars a bushel and the salt had to be carried on horse-back a great distance.
The nearest point it could be had was in Muskingum County on Salt Creek. Five men could make about 100 pounds every twenty-four hours. Later the salt-springs at Jackson were used.
Strange the white man did not use the ones near Beaumont or Salina, as it was formerly called. It was not until 1820 that wells were bored and preparation begun for the manufacture of, salt in that neighborhood. The town of Chauncey grew up about the salt-works and for a time it looked as if a thriving place would result. But Chauncey never grew much until the coal mining developed in more recent years.
It was named for Elihu Chauncey, a capitalist of Philadelphia, who was interested in the salt-works. His
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partner was a celebrated banker, Nicholas Biddle, who was President of the United States Bank when President Jack- son destroyed it.
The works at Salina lasted to more recent years. Some of the kettles in which the brine was boiled can yet be seen. One of them is used as a watering-trough along the road between Beaumont and Floodwood.
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AN OLD SALT KETTLE
Salt was also produced about two miles below Athens at a place called Harmony. It was quite an industry about the time of the Civil War. For more than twenty years, about fifty thousand barrels were produced anually in the county.
Mining :- The coal industry for the past forty years has been by far the most important in the county. Ever since the Hocking Canal was dug in 1840, coal was shipped from the neighborhood of Nelsonville. When the railroads were built, especially the Hocking Valley and the Kanawha and Michigan, the growth was rapid. Nelsonville, Buchtel,
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ATHENS COUNTY
Glouster, Jacksonville, grew quickly because of the coal mining. It is estimated that since 1875, one hundred and fifty million tons of coal have gone from this county.
The Coal Seams :- The principal seam is known as the Great Number Six, or Nelsonville vein, which has a thick- ness of about six feet. All the coal seams as well as the other veins of rock slope toward the southeast on an aver- age of about thirty feet to the mile. That is why in some places the mines open on the sides of the hill. This is called "drift mining" which we can see above Nelsonville. Again, farther to the east and south, along the sides of the valleys, as below Nelsonville, they reach the seam by a "slope" opening, cut beneath the hill. By the time Canaan- ville is reached it is necessary to sink a "shaft" about 400 feet before they find the coal. Horses are taken down into these shafts and kept there to haul the cars to the opening of the shaft.
Above the Number Six Vein is another one known as Number Seven. It is about four feet thick. This is worked in the Sunday Creek Valley. The mine at Millfield is in this seam.
In the Federal Creek Valley, as at Broadwell and Lathrop, still another vein is mined, known as Number Eight. It is about eight feet thick.
Iron :- Some iron was for a time manufactured in the county. There were once two furnaces in operation, at Buchtel and Floodwood. However, because of the thin veins and great cost of mining, it was not found to pay.
Grindstones :- In the neighborhood of Amesville a fine grit stone is found from which grindstones are made.
Brick :- The great deposits of shale and clay have produced a new industry, that of brick manufacturing. Athens County shale beds are almost inexhaustible. The great plants at Athens and Nelsonville make bricks by hundreds of thousands.
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ATHENS COUNTY
ROADS
It was not long until roads threaded every part of the county, connecting one village with another. About twenty years ago, the county began to build many miles of stone pikes. This could be easily done on account of the native limestone in our hills. Nelsonville, Amesville, Albany, Coolville, and Jerseyville, were all connected with good hard roads to the county-seat. They are now pretty well worn out. Miles of brick road are being constructed and soon Athens County will be well supplied with good roads everywhere.
Using the Streams :- At first the pioneers made good use of the streams, in traveling from one place to another. With woods everywhere, the streams always had an abund- ance of water in them. The pioneer could then push his canoe up many a small creek, where it would be impossible now. Many of them came to the county with their families, household goods, and sometimes pigs, sheep, and cows loaded on a raft made of small logs tied together with poles. These were pushed up the streams by means of long poles as oars.
Marketing :- When they had things to sell, as furs, corn, or pork, they would load these same rafts and float them down the river to the Ohio, where several men join- ing would build large rafts on which they would go all the way to New Orleans. The men would then walk back.
A Long Journey :- Some of the pioneers brought their spinning wheels with them. Those who did not had often a hard time to get any. Josiah True of Dover township carried a few bear and deer skins forty miles to Zanesville and returned with a spinning-wheel. He walked the entire distance and made the trip in two days.
The Hocking Canal :- It was a great thing for Athens County when the Hocking Canal from Carrol in Fairfield County was completed to Athens in 1840. It at once made
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a great change in the prices people had to pay for their necessities as well as in what they had to sell. Before, farmers often could get no more than thirty cents a bushel for their wheat and they had to pay as high as $4.00 a pound for tea. After the canal came, the price of wheat rose to seventy-five cents, and the cost of tea was nearly cut in two.
It was a wonderful help to the coal and salt business. In 1843, 127,853 bushels of coal and 10,279 barrels of salt were carried from Athens County over the canal. The biggest year's business was in 1880 when nearly $20,000 in toll was paid. From 1840 till 1894, when it was abandoned, the canal earned nearly $300,000. Passengers paid five cents a mile to travel by the slow going canal boats drawn by a horse or a mule. The bed and the locks of the canal can yet be seen in many parts of the county.
Ship Building :- In 1811, Captain Caleb Barstow built a vessel to sail the sea, on the south bank of the Hocking River, about a mile below the mouth of Federal Creek, in Rome township. In the spring of 1812, the vessel was launched and it took a cargo all the way to New Orleans. Whether it ever went to sea or not is not known. The name given her was the "Enterprise."
Ferries :- Before bridges were built ferries had to be provided at the crossings of the streams. Where the water was shallow, travelers would ford their way. The ferry boats were scows which were poled or rowed along. It was pretty expensive traveling, since money was scarce. A man on foot paid three cents; for a man and horse, ten cents; for a loaded wagon, fifty cents. One of the first ferries over the Hocking River was a few rods below the south bridge in Athens. It was called Coate's Ferry.
Bridges :- The first bridge built in the county was one over Federal Creek near its mouth in 1808 by Elijah Hatch. It was a clumsy affair and did not last long. At first the
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bridges were privately owned and people had to pay toll, to cross on them.
Mills-The pioneers had difficulty in getting their corn- meal ground. Many of them had their own "hominy- blocks," but the meal was always coarse. To get it ground right, they had to carry the corn on a horse or on their own backs all the way to the Marietta settlements.
Soon a few got hand mills. The neighbors would flock to get their corn ground. It was a slow process. One man would grind a quart of meal, and then he would let the next one grind a quart. Then they got larger mills to which a horse was hitched. The first water-mill, a rude affair, was built by John Hewitt (1800) on Margaret's Creek about a mile above its mouth.
In 1805 a dam, the first to be built in Ohio, was put across the Hocking a mile east of Athens. Here a good mill was built, and for over a hundred years it and others erected at the dam continued to exist. Mill and dam are now both gone. Some of the early mills had carding fac- tories, where wool and flax could be woven, as well as meal ground.
The Military Record of Athens County :- Among the first settlers of Athens County were many who had served in the Revolutionary War. With the exception of Washing- ton County, no county in the state had more of these Revo- lutionary heroes than Athens. Scarcely a cemetery is there which does not contain one or more graves of men who helped the young nation in securing its independence. Such men made the very best pioneers and cur county was fortunate in having them as its first citizens
In the War of 1812, Athens County was asked to fur- nish sixty men. There was no trouble in finding that num- ber. Rome Township furnished more than any other one in the county.
The Mexican War :- One company of seventy-eight
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men under Captain Robert G. McLean, served in the Mex ican War. York township furnished a large number of them. The company was gone about one year. It belonged to the command of General George W. Morgan.
A Fine Record :- It was in the great Civil War that Athens County showed her loyalty to the nation. Few counties in the United States have a better record. More than half of her men, able to bear arms, served in the
Athens County's Most Distinguished Citizen GENERAL CHARLES H. GROSVENOR (Courtesy of Athens Messenger)
armies of the north. In addition, nearly two thousand made up the militia to repel Morgan's raid, and nearly two hundred, the "squirrel hunters," as they were called went to protect Cincinnati. The best thing about it all is that none of these men had to be drafted. They were all
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ATHENS COUNTY
volunteers. A fine monument to their honor and memory stands on the Uuniversity Campus at Athens. The most distinguished of Athens County soldiers was General Charles H. Grosvenor, who still lives. He, under General Thomas, opened the battle of Nashville, one of the best planned battles ever fought on American soil. Later Gen- eral Grosvenor became a prominent lawyer and represented Athens County in Congress for twenty years.
Spanish American War :- In this war Athens County again showed its willingness to do its full share. One company under Captain F. S. Lowry, was drafted into the service, but it never saw any fighting, for the war was over too soon. It got no farther on the way than Camp ' Meade in Virginia.
The Underground Railroad :- The "Underground Rail- road" was like the guinea-pig; neither a pig nor a guinea; only called that. It is the name of the system used to help slaves, escaping across the Ohio, to their freedom in Canada. There were many well-defined routes of travel through Ohio, upon which people lived who were always ready to hide slaves for a time and then aid them on their way. Their stopping places were called stations, and the people conductors. Such a route ran through Athens County. It started on the Ohio River near Cheshire, Gallia County, crossed Meigs County by way of Harrisonville, and came into Athens County passing through Albany, Athens, and Amesville.
Hundreds of slaves from Virginia were thus helped to freedom by slavery-hating citizens of Athens County. The father of Bishop Moore was one of these conductors. The Bishop, when a boy had to curry the horse every evening. Often he noticed in the morning how covered with mud it was. He often wondered about it. When he became older, he understood that his father had taken the horse out at night, while David was asleep, to carry some run-away slave on his journey.
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ATHENS COUNTY
A Taste of War :- "Morgan is coming! Morgan is coming!" This was the cry which startled the citizens of Athens County about the middle of July, 1863, when a gal- loping horseman rode over the hills, and like Paul Revere, aroused the "country folk to be up and to arm." "Then there was hurrying to and fro," for the iron hoof of war was aproaching. The silver spoons and the silver watch and the gold ear-rings, heirlooms in the family, were hid- den behind the soap jar in the dingiest corner of the smoke-house. Horses were quickly taken across ditches and through brier-patches to some remote ravine for safe hiding. Of all the things the dashing Confederate cavalry leader, General John Morgan, wanted worst of all were fresh horses to take the place of his worn-out ones. Militia- men had quickly gathered to head him off while a troop of Federal Cavalry were at his heels. They were making it pretty warm for him and he was anxious to get back across the Ohio river. He tried it in Meigs County and got only a part of his men over. With the remainder he struck across the state hoping to make a crossing farther up. It was on this race between himself and General Shackelford that he passed through the northwest corner of Athens County. Morgan reached Nelsonville about ten o'clock in the morning. He burned some canal boats, fired the river bridge and rested his men till about two o'clock in the afternoon. He went only two miles farther that day, en- camping for the night in a wheat field where a part of the village of Buchtel is now located.
General Shackelford came into Nelsonville at four o'clock, six hours after the Raiders. His men and horses were dirty, tired, and hungry. Morgan as he went along had taken the best horses and Shackelford was obliged to take what was left. It was out of the question to try to capture Morgan that day. The next morning when Shackel- ford reached the top of the hill from where he had seen the enemy in camp, the evening before, he discovered that
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the wily Morgan had slipped out during the night and had headed toward Perry County.
The people were greatly relieved when a few days later they learned that he and his men had been captured and the leader himself had been put into the Ohio Peniten- tiary for safe keeping.
He destroyed about $15,000 worth of property in Ath- ens County. Many stories are told about his men as they made their way through southern Ohio. A farmer was hauling a load of hay along the road. His team was halted, the harness stripped from the horses and there the farmer sat upon his load of hay, an astonished individual. They passed a doctor and politely took him off his horse, handed his saddle-bags to him, and the doctor had to trudge home on foot.
SCHOOLS
The pioneers of Athens County were not slow in pro- viding schools for their children. The first buildings were crude affairs. They were only pens of unhewed logs; the spaces between the logs being filled with "chink" and mud. One end of the building contained the big fire-place before which the children sat, and while their faces were roasting, their backs would be freezing.
The benches had no backs. There were low ones for the little fellows and high ones for the big boys. These benches were split from trees. The writing desks were along the walls of the building. A log had been left out above this place and when the opening was covered with greased paper they had a window.
Wooden pegs were driven into the logs upon which the caps were hung. The teacher sat upon a high chair before a high desk. Behind him within easy reach was an abundance of rods. The writing pens used by the pupils were made by the teacher from quills. The teacher often "boarded around" among the pupils.
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BRIEF HISTORY OF ATHENS COUNTY
The first school in the County was in Athens township, a few miles from Athens. The first building in the town itself was of brick (1806). In 1857 the different schools joined and the Union School was built. In Ames township, the first school (1802) was taught by Charles Cutler, a graduate of Harvard University. Thomas Ewing was one of his pupils. He was followed by another Harvard grad. . uate. Ames township had very good schools from the beginning. In 1852 an academy was started there which did excellent work for many years. A log school house was built near the mouth of Federal Creek in 1804. Like all the other early schools, it was not free, as we know schools today. But they were subscription schools, since every pupil had to pay for the privilege of attending.
Two academies were started in Rome township which continued for a long time. One was called the Miller Academy and the other Savannah Academy. Sometimes more than a hundred students would attend. These acade- mies were something like our high schools. Graduates of the Ohio University often served as the teachers. Trimble township had its first school in 1822. Among the early school teachers, were many women. The salaries paid to the teachers in those days was quite small. One teacher got only $1.50 a week.
Other academies in the county were located at various points. The Pleasant Valley Academy at Jerseyville was organized in 1857. There was also a good one at Coolville, while Albany had two. Atwood Institute at one time en- rolled more than eighty pupils. There was, likewise, a school there for colored people, Enterprise Academy, which was largely attended. A successful academy once existed in Dover township near Jacksonville, called Wethee College. The opportunities for education have al- ways been of the best in Athens County. Its common schools, its academies, and its college have produced many fine, strong men and women. Today the common schools
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are better equipped, the high schools are everywhere, and the University is better prepared to give Athens County boys and girls a chance.
It is a strange contrast between the old log schools which your grandfathers attended and the splendid build- ings in Buchtel, Nelsonville, Glouster, Jacksonville, Chaun- cey, Athens, and other towns where you are now pupils.
CHURCHES.
The organization of Churches came at the same time as the schools. It seems that the Methodists were the pioneers in building churches in Athens County. As early as 1799 the Reverend James Quinn, a traveling Methodist missionary traveled up the Hocking river and Federal creek to Amesville. From here he crossed to the site of Nelsonville. At the foot of a tree the good man knelt and prayed. He went on to Logan where he found three families to whom he preached. On his return he passed through Athens and on the first Sunday in January, 1800, he preached to the people there.
Another Methodist Missionary was Reverend Father Young. In 1804 he stopped at the home of Daniel Stewart in Rome township and preached to a few families and organized a congregation. The famous Bishop Asbury frequently passed through Athens County. On one of his journeys, in 1810, he held a very successful camp-meeting near Athens. The Methodists organized the first church in Athens in 1800; in Alexander township at Center Stake; in Ames township; in Carthage in 1812; in Lodi in 1820.
A Baptist Church was founded in Rome township in 1803. The Presbyterians founded their church in Athens in 1809, the Reverend Jacob Lindley, the first President of the University, being the pastor. At the end of the first fifty years (1850) there were but twenty-four churches in the county; two Baptists, twelve Methodist, eight Presbyter-
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ian, one Catholic, and one Universalist. Ten years later, the number had increased to sixty-two.
All the churches are partially supported by the income from the lands in "Section 29." A section is each township was given by the United States government for the sup- port of the churches. This is to continue forever. The same applies to the schools. "Section 16" of every town- ship was given for education.
THE COON-SKIN LIBRARY.
In the same year Ohio became a state the people of Ames township met for the purpose of providing them- selves roads. Before the meeting was over they discussed another matter. There were few books in the neighbor- hood and these had been read over and over until every- body knew them nearly by heart. So the idea of a library came into their minds. It would be cheaper for all the neighbors to go together and buy the books needed. The plan was a good one, but money was so very scarce and it took money to buy books. There was just one way by which it might be done and that is the way they did it.
The woods were full of' game. The fur of these animals was very valuable. The men and boys were good hunters and it was not much of a trick to gather in a short time enough furs to buy a wagon-load of books. When they had collected what they though was sufficient, they turned them over to a Mr. Brown who was going to Boston in a light spring wagon. He had no trouble in selling them. There was over seventy-five dollars worth and he took the money and bought fifty-one books with it. In due time he returned to Ames township. The people came to meet him and as the books were poured out on the floor of a log cabin, it was a glad sight to the men and women, and the boys and girls of the neighborhood who eagerly grasped for them. Now the people would have an abundance of read-
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ing during the long winter eventngs. The library was known as the "Coon-skin Library," and it lasted for a great many years. From time to time other books were added and hundreds of young people got a taste for good reading. A branch library was established in Dover town- ship. Some of these old books can yet be seen in the Carnegie Library at the Ohio University.
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SOME ATHENS COUNTY TOWNS
Nelsonville was laid out in June 1818. It was named after Daniel Nelson, who owned the land. For years it has been the center of the mining interests of the Hocking Valley.
The first settlers reached the present site of the town in 1814. The same year Daniel Nelson purchased a large tract of land and built his cabin. The mill was constructed the next year.
A wealthy Englishman, by the name of George Court- auld laid out a town where the street car barns now are. His town was called Englishtown and its form was that of a semi-circle. The people were to own all the property in common. However his plan was not carried out for he soon died and his friends went back to England.
The first bridge across the Hock-hocking was at Nel- sonville (1827). This same year they established a town library.
The first coal taken from Nelsonville to Columbus, was in 1830. There were two wagon loads of it. The trip was so long and the roads so bad that it took six horses to draw the fifty-eight bushels, which was delivered in Colum- bus for four cents a bushel.
The first church society organized in Nelsonville was the United Brethren.
The founder of the town donated the land where the Central School Building now stands.
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Albany was laid out in 1832.
Buchtel was founded in 1876. It was named after its founder, John R. Buchtel, of Akron, Ohio, who built a fur- nace there.
Glouster was established about 1880.
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BRIEF FACTS ABOUT ATHENS COUNTY
Because the town of Athens grew up around the Uni- versity, it was named for the ancient city of Athens, Greece, the seat of ancient culture and learning.
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