USA > Ohio > Ashland County > A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County > Part 30
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HENRY WORST.
Henry Worst, in the year 1814, entered the north- east quarter of section 14. This quarter was regarded as a choice one, and several persons who had been exploring the country had selected it, and sat out for the Canton Land Office, within a few hours of each other, to make the entry. In this instance, "the race was to the swift." In company with William McMul- len, who had selected the adjacent quarter, Mr. Worst had reached Wooster, traveling on foot, and had called at the tavern of that little place for refresh- ments. While their food was being prepared, in- formation reached them that they would be soon followed by two men on horseback, known to be after the same land. Without waiting for their re- freshments, they immediately pushed forward and reached Canton in advance of their pursuers, and made the entries they had shown. On March 20th,
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1815, Mr. Worst and family removed to his land. He had emigrated from Pennsylvania. His household consisted of his wife and eight children, the only sur- vivors of whom, now residents of Ashland County, are Samuel Worst, who occupies the old homestead, and Mrs. Margaret, wife of John Keener, of Jackson Township. Mr. Worst is now (February, 1862) in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
HENRY ZIMMERMAN.
Henry Zimmerman emigrated from Centre County, Pennsylvania, to Jackson Township, during June, 1823. Within the same year he purchased, of Daniel Goodwin, eighty acres in section 3, Perry Township, which he improved, and upon which he now resides. When he removed to this place his wife and five children constituted his family.
CHAPTER XVI.
Jackson Township.
THIS township was surveyed in 1807, by Mansfield Ludlow, and organized on the 12th of February, 1819, out of the territory of Perry.
Population in 1820
236
" 1830.
888
" 1840. 1645
" 1850 less east tier sections 1538
" 1860 " " " " 1511
Voters at the October Election of 1827.
The following is a list of the persons voting at the October election, 1827, as copied from the original
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poll-book, and certified to by Jesse Matthews, John Bryan, and Jacob Kiplinger, Judges; and Thomas McBride and Shadrach Bryan, clerks. Those to whose names is attached the asterisk (*) are de- ceased; and those with the dagger (+) are removed from the township. Those to which no sign is at- tached continue residents of the township.
Martin Shaffer,t Michael Morkle, t Thomas McBride," George Long,t John Bryan,* Jacob Kiplinger,* Jesse Matthews, John Kiplinger,t Adam Keny, * Shadrach Bryan, Joseph Chilcoat, t Dan- iel Bryan,t Michael Kiplinger, Lawrence Swope, Peter Kiplin- ger,t John Tanyer,t William Brosser,t John Meason," Isaac Lyons," John A. Smiley, t Robert Smilie,* Wm. Harris,t Moses Kitchen," Jacob Hellman," Jacob Berry, Peter Kane, John Kelley,t Hanson Hamilton, Nicholas Shaffer, Tate Brooks,* Philip Brown, t Daniel Goodwin," Amos McBride,t Jonas H. Gier- hart, t Samuel Chacy, t John Johnsonbaugh,t Adam Burge,* Noah Long," Thomas Smith," Solomon Mokle, t James George," Na- thaniel Lyons," William Smith, John Duncan," Henry Kiplin- ger, t Benjamin Drodge,t Martin Fast,* Josiah Lee, Samuel McConahey,t Peter Henry,t Matthias Rickle, Henry Kiplin- ger, t John Harbaugh," John Nelson,t Thomas Cole, John Rickle," John Laflor," James Fulton," Peter Berk,t William Anderson, t John Vavalman, Charles Hay, Michael Rickle, Henry Shissler, Hankey Priest, James Durfy,* Stephen Cole .*
Whole number of voters, 67; of whom 26 have re- moved, 24 are deceased, and 17 continue residents of the township.
There are three towns in the township, namely: Perrysburg, Albany, and Polk.
PERRYSBURG.
This town was laid out October 13, 1830, by Josiah Lee and David Buchanan, and was surveyed by Rob- ert Buchanan. Its population, in 1860, amounted to one hundred and fifteen. In the census of former
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years its population had not been taken separately, but had been merged in that of the township. There is a Methodist Episcopal Church building in the vil- lage, and a good school-house. There is also 1 tavern, 2 stores, 1 grocery, 4 boot and shoe shops, 1 black- smith shop, and 1 wagon and carriage shop. The name of the post-office is Albion.
ALBANY Was laid out April 23, 1832, by Jacob Kiplinger.
POLK Was laid out May 12, 1849, by John Kuhn. Its population, in 1860, was 116.
CHURCHES IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL.
There are two in the township-one at Perrysburg and one at Polk.
The church building at Perrysburg was erected about the year 1839, as appears by the deed of Rob- ert Buchanan to the trustees, which bears date May 11, 1839. Rev. Leonard B. Gurley was presiding elder, and Rev. John Mitchell preacher in charge. The officers of the church, when the building was dedicated, were, Henry Eldridge and Robert Bu- chanan, class-leaders; John Hazard, John Mont- gomery, John S. Bryan, Henry Eldridge, Thomas Cole, Alexander Smith, Belding Kellogg, and Ezra W. Reed, trustees; Thomas Cole, circuit steward. There were at this time about thirty-eight members. The present preachers in charge are, Rev. Philip R.
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Roseberry and the Rev. J. R. Wood. Class-Leaders : A. C. Reed, Henry Berry, and Samuel Berry. Circuit Steward: Stephen Cole. Trustees: Henry Berry, Wil- liam Spencer, Abner C. Reed, Chester Matthews, Jonas Wiltrout, Samuel Berry, and Stephen Cole. There are at present sixty members.
The present church building, at Polk, was erected in the fall of 1839.
The deed of John Bryan and wife to John Bryan, Shadrach Bryan, Elisha Chilcote, Leonard Richard, Joseph High, David Proudfit, and Peter Bowman, trustees, is dated the 23d day of January, 1840. The preacher in charge was Rev. George Howe, of Ashland. The building was not formally dedicated, but the first sermon was preached by Rev. George McClure. John Bryan was class-leader, and William Millington, of Ashland, circuit steward. When the church building was erected there were about sixty members. The trustees, in 1862, are, Samuel T. Urie, Shadrach Bryan, William Ruffcorn, Daniel Brown, John Chilcote, John Gordon, and Stephen Barrack. The class-leaders are, William Ruffcorn, Stephen Barrack, and John Howman. Circuit stew- ard, Shadrach Bryan. The membership for 1862 amounts to fifty.
The church, at Polk, when the building was erected, was attached to the Ashland circuit, Mans- field District; and the church at Perrysburg belonged to the Congress Circuit, Wooster District.
GERMAN REFORMED AND LUTHERAN CHURCH.
This union society, composed of members from Orange and Jackson Townships, was organized in the winter of 1829-30. The original trustees of the
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church were, John Keen, Sr., and John Kuhn. Rev. Henry Sonedecker was the pastor. The membership amounted to about forty. The first church building, constructed where Polk now stands, was commenced in 1827, and the first services were held in the build- ing in the summer of the following year, although the society at this time was not formally organized. The members from Orange Township subsequently with- drew and formed a distinct society; and, in 1840, the Jackson Township Church erected the present house for public worship, half a mile west of Perrysburg. The building is 35 by 40 feet, and contains seats for three hundred persons. The German Reformed pas- tor is Rev. E. T. H. Whaler; Michael Bower, elder; and Jacob Kiplinger and Jacob Hines, deacons. The number of members is about fifty. The Lutheran pastor is the Rev. Mr. Voglesang; Samuel Bennage, elder; and Abram Bennage and David Holmes, dea- cons. The membership amounts to about fifty-five.
SNOWBARGER'S MEETING-HOUSE
Is situated on the south line.of Jackson Township, about half a mile west of Lafayette, upon land pur- chased for the purpose by John Snowbarger. The building had been some years previously erected by the "seceders" as a house of worship; but was aban- doned by them, and afterward occupied as a dwell- ing. Mr. Snowbarger donated the building for the use of the German Baptists, of the Ashland and Mo- hican Districts, on the 29th of September, 1856. Both the Mohican and Ashland Districts held meetings in this house. The building will seat two hundred per- sons. [Further information relating to this church will be found under the head of "German Baptists, or Tunkers."]
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UNITED BRETHREN.
This denomination organized its first "class" in Jackson Township, in September, 1860. In 1861, under the name of "Otterheim Chapel," a church building was erected near the southwest corner of the township. The size of the building is 30 by 36 feet, and will accommodate with seats about two hundred and fifty persons. The preacher in charge is Rev. Mr. Crubaugh, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Dillon.
GERMAN REFORMED.
This church was organized March 30, 1851, under the pastoral charge of Rev. Joseph M. Dixon. Orig- inal trustees, Jacob Kiplinger, Adam Lover, and Daniel Stick. Elder: Henry Kiplinger. Deacons: John Kauffman and Peter Frantz. Number of mem- bers, twenty-nine. The church building, 35 by 45 feet, was erected in the summer of 1851.
Rev. D. R. Moor is the present pastor; John Heif- ner, elder; and Samuel Fluke and Henry Wicks, deacons; William Davidson, Samuel Fluke, and Henry Wicks, trustees. Number of members, fifty- two.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS FOR 1862.
Clerk, Isaac Holt-Trustees, William Berry, J. Wicks, and John Russell-Assessor, John C. Horn-Treasurer, John Keen, Jr .- Constables, Jonathan Buzzard and Joshua Rickel.
JUSTICES OF THE PEACE IN JACKSON TOWNSHIP SINCE 1831.
1831. John Keene, elected.
1831. Michael Debolt, elected.
1834. Michael Debolt, re-elected.
1834. Thomas Smith, elected.
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1835. Philip Shutt, elected.
1835. Robert Buchanan, elected.
1837. John Keene, re-elected.
1838. Robert Buchanan, re-elected.
1840. James Culbertson, elected.
1841. James McCoy, elected.
1842. David Young, elected.
1844. James McCoy, re-elected.
1845. James McCoy, re-elected.
1846. Christian Fast, elected.
1846. John Keene, Jr., elected.
1848. James Stephenson, elected.
1849. Philip Shutt, re-elected.
1851. Joseph C. Bolles, elected.
1851. Charles Hoy, elected.
1852. Jacob Fast, elected.
1854. Joseph C. Bolles, re-elected.
1855. Jacob Fast, re-elected.
1857. Joseph Bolles, re-elected.
1857. Jacob Fast, re-elected.
1860. Edward McFadden, elected.
1860. Jacob Fast, re-elected.
REMINISCENCES OF THE PIONEERS OF JACKSON TOWNSHIP.
JACOB BERRY.
Jacob Berry emigrated from Pennsylvania, in 1819, and resided two years with his brother, Peter Berry, who had leased the land in section 16, Perry Town- ship, now owned and occupied by Isaac Cahill, Esq. In 1821 he leased the northwest quarter of section 16, Jackson Township, and subsequently entered at the Wooster Land Office the land upon which he now resides. His wife and nine children composed his family when he removed to Jackson Township. Of these, all except three are now living in said town-
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ship-Jacob and Peter being residents of Illinois, and Margaret, wife of Eli Fast, being a resident of Rug- gles Township.
JOHN BRYAN.
John Bryan removed from Fairfield County, Ohio, to Mohican Township, in April, 1815. His family at this time consisted of his wife and sons, Shadrach, John J., Silas A., and Caleb, and daughter Ruth, (the latter the widow of the late William Millington, Esq., of Ashland.) In 1824 Mr. Bryan removed his family to the southeast quarter of section 18, Jackson Town- ship-being the same land upon which now stands the greater part of the town of Polk. Mr. Bryan died on the 7th of February, 1848, at the age of seventy years.
Shadrach (eldest son of John Bryan) married in 1829, and since 1830 has owned and occupied a por- tion of the quarter originally entered by his father.
Reminiscences of the Early Settlement of Mohican Township.
The intelligence of the murder of the Seymour and Ruffner families by the Indians having reached the neighborhood, Benjamin Bunn concluded it prudent to look to his means of defense. Accord- ingly, he took his rifle from the hooks, stepped to his cabin door, and discharged its contents in the air. The report was heard by Vachel Metcalf, (who had not, at the time, received the murder news,) and he seized and instantly discharged his gun. Bunn then fired the second shot, and so they replied back and forth until thirteen guns were fired. Thus the few helpless families in the neigh-
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borhood became aroused and panic-stricken. East of Jeromeville, two miles, a few families had settled, namely: William Bryan, James Conly, and Elisha Chilcote. The men, women, and children all collected at the cabin of William Bryan. Their whole warlike resources consisted of one old gun, one axe, and a butcher-knife. Thus armed, they awaited in agony the fate they feared was in store for them.' In the neighborhood of Bunn and Metcalf, there were the families of James Slater and James Bryan. They learned the facts in the case, and began the erection of a fort. Still farther down the Mohican was an- other small settlement of the Collier's and others. They also heard the guns, and became desperately alarmed. J. Collier and family betook themselves to the cornfield. The dog of Collier did not seem to understand the necessity of silence, and commenced making some noise in trying to get over the fence; upon which his master seized him, and determined to cut his throat. Fearing, however, that his knife might not do prompt and effectual execution, and that the howls of the dog might be increased during the process of throat-cutting, he stayed his hand, and quietly laying the fence down, succeeded in secreting the family among the tall corn. Leaving them here, he started for Wooster; and, when near the town, he heard the morning gun fired by the soldiers in. camp at Wooster. Concluding that the firing must proceed from an army of British and Indians, he instantly changed his course, and started in double-quick for the south, and was not heard of for months after- ward.
Early on the next morning after the receipt of in- telligence of the murders on the Black Fork, the men
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of the settlement met in council and determined to build immediately a fort for the protection of the families of the neighborhood. So, without wasting & week or two in efforts to elect a chairman or speaker of their body, they at once proceeded to the erection of the fort, which was built after the usual style of the day. Trees of the proper size were felled by some, -while others with their ox-teams dragged them to their proper places. The building was of two stories, the walls enlarging from the base, so that the upper story projected two feet beyond the lower story on all sides. In the lower room the women and children were quartered, while the men occupied the upper one, in which port-holes were cut, through which to fire their trusty rifles. After the erection of the building, the space of one acre of ground was surveyed off and inclosed with a palisade twelve or fourteen feet high. This was constructed by digging a trench four feet deep and then setting in logs of the proper height, split once in two, and set close together, the flat side out-thus presenting a wall which could not readily be scaled. But one place of ingress or egress was made; which, after the horses and cattle of the settlement were driven inside, was firmly closed, and in this inclosure they remained the greater part of one year. The fort was erected on land owned by Vachel Metcalf, on an elevation that overlooked all the immediate vicinity. The occupants of the fort would go out during the day, and try to raise corn and other vegetables-always being armed and guarded.
THOMAS COLE. 1 .
Thomas Cole immigrated to Jackson Township from Fairfield County, Ohio, in August, 1819. His
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father had previously entered for him the southeast - quarter of section 8, being the same land upon which he now resides. His family at this time consisted of his wife and one son, (Stephen Cole, who now resides upon a portion of the quarter above mentioned.)
Roughing it in the Bush.
The first night of their arrival upon their land was passed by the family in their wagon. On the second day a linen tent was erected to afford shelter for the family until a cabin could be constructed. His mare (the only one he had) broke loose, and, after a two- mile chase, Mr. Cole drove her into an angle formed by a tree top and the fence of Martin Fast, and from which she could not extricate herself. In order to relieve her, he let down the fence, when she passed into the field and again eluded his efforts to secure her. There was blazed timber leading to the house of Jonas H. Gierhart, and these blazes he followed, and procured another horse for the purpose of tolling his own into a stack yard, and thus enabling him to secure her. This plan, after considerable delay, was successful. By the time he had returned the borrowed horse to Mr. Gierhart, however, and reached home with his mare, the second day of his experience in wilderness life was nearly closed. The third day was Sunday, and was passed beneath their linen tent. With the night came a heavy rain, and to add to their discomfort, their child became ill. To secure the little one from the rain which beat through the canvas, Mr. Cole sat upright in bed, with the cover- ing resting upon his head, his body thus forming & "center pole," and making a more secure tent within the tent, until the storm had abated. On the follow-
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ing morning, his child was convalescent. The suc- ceeding days of the week, until Saturday, were spent chiefly in collecting materials for his cabin. On that day, by the aid of neighbors from his own and adja- cent townships, he had his cabin raised. Several days elapsed, however, before the house was suffi- ciently completed to afford shelter. The family of his brother, Stephen Cole, occupied the cabin with him during the first year.
About the commencement of October, Mr. Cole made a visit, on horseback, to the house of Mordecai Chilcote, in Orange Township, seven miles distant, to procure a bag of oats for his horse. While there his neighbor insisted upon Mr. Cole visiting his potato field, and taking home a bag partly filled. The de- tention thus caused prevented his reaching home, as night overtook him in the woods, and he found it im- possible to proceed. He had dismounted, and while engaged in searching out the path, leading his horse meanwhile, the saddle turned, unobserved by him, and the bag of oats slid off. When he discovered his loss, he made his beast fast to a tree, and returned to look for his bag of oats, but his search was fruitless. Taking his saddle from his horse, he placed it beside a tree and used it as a pillow for his head, until about midnight, as he supposed, when a rain commenced falling, and, being thinly clad, he turned the flaps of the saddle into a covering. When day appeared, he recovered his lost bag of oats, and pursued his travel homeward.
In the year 1840, Mr. Cole was licensed by the Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church as a local preacher, and his license has been renewed annually since. Before being licensed as a preacher,
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he had been for many years an exhorter in the church.
JOHN DAVOULT.
John Davoult removed with his wife from Harrison County to what is now Jackson Township, in March, 1816. His father had previously entered the quarter upon which Philip Glessner now resides. At this date there were only six houses upon Muddy Fork, which were occupied by the families of Messrs. David Noggle, Thomas Johnson, Cornelius Dorland, Isaac Matthews, Benjamin Emmons, and Noah Long.
JAMES A. DINSMORE.
James A. Dinsmore, then of York County, Penn- sylvania, in February, 1814, entered the south half of section 26, in Jackson Township, where he now re- sides. He had previously traveled from Wooster, in company with Cornelius Dorland, who was moving a family into Perry Township.
JONAS H. GIERHART.
Jonas H. Gierhart, an immigrant from Maryland, removed to Jackson Township on the quarter section upon a part of which is now situated the town of Polk, in July, 1817. The township was then unor- ganized, and formed a part of Perry. At the first election after the organization of the township, Charles Hoy and himself were elected justices of the peace. During the first year of his residence in the township, he traveled three days in search of his estray horses, without meeting a human being or habitation. This place, and the country around it for several miles, was without a white inhabitant-his nearest neighbor being William Bryan, residing about two miles south
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of him; while on the same range of townships north, he believes there was not a single white family be- tween him and the lake. When he came to the country with his wife and child, he placed the two latter in temporary charge of the family of Martin Hester, (being the place owned by David and Henry Fluke,) in Orange Township, about three miles distant from the tract he owned. The land above mentioned was in its wild condition, not a tree or shrub being cut, and of course without a cabin to afford him and his little family shelter. On the first day he made a small clearing, and preparation for raising a cabin. This work he done himself, although utterly inex- perienced in the use of the woodman's axe, as he had never in his life chopped a cord of wood, made a fence rail, or cut down or even deadened a tree, having previously worked only upon farms long cultivated. On the second day his wife requested to visit the home her husband was engaged in preparing, and accompany him to it with their child. They accord- ingly sat out on horseback, and in due time reached the place, when he proceeded with his work, and Mrs. Gierhart employed herself with her needle and the care of their little child. One of the mares had been belled and hobbled, and, with her mate, was permitted to range for such food as the woods afforded. Thus the day nearly passed, and toward evening the sound of the bell had disappeared, and Mr. Gierhart, taking in his arms his little child, and leaving his wife under the shelter of a tree, started in search of his beasts. His animals had wandered a much greater distance than he had supposed; but he finally recovered the one that had been hobbled, and, mounting it with his child, sat out on his return to his wife. He had not
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traveled far before he discovered that he was unable to find the blazed timber; and concluded it the safer way to make for the Jerome Fork, where he would be enabled to intersect the trail that led from Martin Hester's to his land. . On his way he met an old hunter, named John McConnell, to whom he explained his situation, and asked aid in finding his way back to his wife. Mr. McConnell gave it as his opinion that he could not that night reach the place, but pro- posed that he remain at the house of Mr. Hester, then not far distant, until morning. On their way to Hester's, they struck the blazes which led to the place where he had parted with his wife; and, com- mitting his child to the care of Mr. McConnell, with directions to leave it with Mrs. Hester, he determined, against the protest 'of Mr. McConnell, who assured him of the impossibility of success, (as night was then rapidly approaching,) to go to the relief of his desolate wife. He accordingly pressed forward on his way, guided by the blazed trees, and continued until the darkness rendered the marks upon the trees undistinguishable. Here was before him a "night of terror" indeed-such a one as he had never passed, and never dreamed that he would be called upon to pass. The thought of a helpless wife, in the depth of a wilderness of which the savage beast was the almost undisputed monarch, and no possible hope of affording any relief before the dawn of another day, was enough to wring any soul with agony. Despite the darkness, he plunged blindly forward a few rods in what he supposed might be the right direction, and then, im- pressed with the utter hopelessness of proceeding far- ther, halted; and, raising a voice, the power of which was made terrible by his agony, called to his wife.
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Its echoes reached her, and were recognized. She sent forth her answer, but her voice having so much less compass than that of her husband, the sound did not reach his ear. In his despair he laid himself down beside a tree, and maintained his sleepless vigils until the return of the morning, when he re- sumed his search, and finally came upon the trail he was seeking. Pursuing it rapidly, he soon reached Mrs. Gierhart, who had wisely maintained her posi- tion throughout the night, notwithstanding the dis- traction of mind which her anxiety for the safety of her husband and child, her own lonely situation, and the distant howling of the wolves, were all calculated to inspire. Some time after their joyful meeting, and while they were yet recounting to each other the ex- perience of the preceding night, their ears were saluted by the blowing of horns, and soon they were met by neighbors, who had been alarmed by Mr. McConnell, and who had started forth at the first dawn of day in pursuit of the lost husband and wife.
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