USA > Ohio > Ashland County > A History of the Pioneer and Modern Times of Ashland County > Part 7
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36
In May, 1841, F. A. Shearer was pastor.
8
Digitized by Google
106
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
On the 10th of July, 1841, William Dunlap, Sam- uel Gault, and Joseph Mckibbin were ruling elders.
December 25, 1841, the additional names of John Bebout and William Andrews appear as elders.
Mr. Shearer's name as pastor, last appears under date of September 4, 1842.
September 25, 1843, Sylvanus Cook, George Ship- ley, and George Mackie were elected elders.
October 21, 1843, the name of Rev. A. K. Barr appears as moderator and as stated supply.
November 3, 1844, the name of Rev. W. C. Kniffin, pastor, first occurs.
On the 1st of April, 1846, the ruling elders all resigned; and on the second Monday of April of the same year, Joseph Mckibbin, Abraham F. Shaw, George D. Shipley, Lyle Kerr, John Gault, George Mackie, and Sylvanus Cook were elected. Lyle Kerr and John Gault declined to serve; the others named accepted, and Mr. Shaw was ordained, the others having been ordained before. At this meeting William Dunlap terminated his official connection with the church as clerk, and himself, wife, and daughter obtained a letter of dismissal from the church on the 1st of June, 1846-the family then being upon the eve of a removal to Illinois.
On the 25th of February, 1848, A. F. Shaw was chosen clerk of the session.
February 27, 1848, the name of Rev. W. T. Adams first occurs as pastor.
August 23, 1850, the name of Rev. William Bonar appears as supply.
January 17, 1851, Mr. George Mackie and wife , were, at their own request, dismissed from this church.
Digitized by Google
107
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
December 19, 1851, the name of Rev. J. N. Shepard appears as moderator and as supply.
November 13, 1852, the name of Rev. James Ander- son appears as supply.
April 23, 1853, the name of Rev. Jacob Coon ap- pears as supply.
June 30, 1854, the name of Rev. Alexander Scott appears as supply.
February 23, 1856. The session resolved that an election be held by this church on Monday, 25th instant, for an addition of three members to the present session.
February 25. At the election held in pursuance of foregoing resolution, Mr. William Hanna and Dr. Thomas Hayes were chosen ruling elders, they being the only persons who received a majority of all the votes cast.
June 28, 1856. This day Rev. Alexander Scott was installed pastor of this church. Rev. Mr. McDer- mot preached the sermon on the occasion, and Rev. John Robinson gave the charges to the pastor and people.
On the same day, Dr. Thomas Hayes was ordained and installed as ruling elder. Mr. Hanna declined serving.
[Prior to this last date, Revs. Mr. Scott, Mr. Coon, Mr. Anderson, Mr. Shepard, Mr. Bonar, and Mr. Barr were stated supplies. Rev. James Hanna was the im- mediate predecessor of Mr. Scott as stated supply.]
April 27, 1861. Robinson S. Davis and William Hanna having been previously (on the sixth of April) duly elected ruling elders, were this day ordained to that office by prayer and the laying on of the hands of the session.
Digitized by Google
108
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
The membership of the church, in November, 1861, amounted to one hundred and eighteen. It was organ- ized, as will be seen in the proceedings above copied, with twenty-seven members.
The church building, as originally constructed in 1835, would seat three hundred persons. In the summer of 1861, the building was enlarged and other- wise improved internally and externally, and will now accommodate with seats three hundred and thirty-five persons.
FREE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The Free Presbyterian Church of Savannah was organized on the 24th day of February, 1851, by F. M. Finney, minister, and Alexander Thom and Geo. Mackie, elders; fourteen members constituted the whole church.
Since their organization, they have occupied the building originally erected in 1834 by the Associate Reformed Church. The building will seat about two hundred persons.
UNITED PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH.
The United Presbyterian Church was organized in June, 1858, combining chiefly the members of what were before known as the Associate and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian churches. The churches thus united at Savannah numbered at the time of the new organization about eighty members.
Rev. J. Y. Ashenhurst, now of Hayesville, was in- stalled as first pastor. The Rev. William Bruce has been stated supply since April, 1861.
The congregation worship in the building of the Free Presbyterian Church.
Digitized by Google
109
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
ASSOCIATE REFORMED CONGREGATION.
The Associate Reformed Congregation of Savannah was organized in September, 1831, the late Rev. James Johnston, D.D., presiding. About the same time the Rev. James Arbuthnot was installed as pastor. The Associate Reformed Congregation of Plymouth (now Auburn) was connected with the same pastoral charge; James Duff and Ephraim Welsh were chosen and ordained as ruling elders. William McMeeken, Sen., was chiefly instrumental in founding the congregation. Among the early mem- bers were the following, to wit: William McMee- ken, Sen., Hance McMeeken, William McMeeken, Jun., H. T. McMeeken, C. Welsh, James Duff, Robt. Chambers, James Short, A. H. Paxton, John Hearst, P. Loughridge, Thomas Dunlap, Robert Foster, Geo. Crayton, Samuel Means, Joseph Marshall, and John Custard.
The first house of worship was built in 1834.
At this date (1861) Thos. Calhoun and Ephraim Welsh are elders; Andrew Graham, A. H. Paxton, and James Hearst are the Trustees; James Hearst, Treasurer.
The present church building was erected about 1845. It is capable of seating three hundred and seventy-five persons.
DISCIPLE CHURCH.
The church in Clearcreek Township was organized in the year 1830. The present building, near the south line of the township, was erected in 1853. Its dimensions are 30 by 40 feet, and its cost $500.
David Bryte and Joseph Harvuot were the elders
Digitized by Google
110
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
at the date of the organization, and the former con- tinues his relations as such. In 1844, Abner Mercer was chosen elder in place of Mr. Harvuot, deceased. Peter Vanostrand and Philip Shriver are the present deacons. The church was organized with seventeen members. It has now fifty-two members.
OFFICIAL RECORD.
Election, April 3, 1826.
At an election held at Thomas Ford's, Clearcreek Township, April 3, 1826, John Freeborn, Jacob Foulks, and John Bailey were elected Trustees; Jared N. Slonecker, Clerk; Elias Ford, Treasurer; John Owens, Thomas Munhollen, and Joseph Wright, Supervisors; Thomas Mulhollen and Hance McMeeken, Overseers of the Poor; John Jackson and Joseph Marshall, Fence Viewers; and Ephraim Palmer, Constable.
ABRAHAM HUFFMAN, JOHN BAILEY, DAVID BURNS,
Judges.
JOHN BRYTE,
J. N. SLONECKER, } Clerks.
POPULATION OF CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP IN 1828.
This may be very closely inferred from the follow- ing official lists of householders in the four districts into which the township was then divided.
Digitized by Google
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY. 111
Names of Householders in District No. 1.
1. William Gilchrist.
2. Thomas Munhollen.
3. Hance McMeeken.
4. Matthew Harper.
5. James Poag.
6. William Shaw.
7. James Haney.
8. Patrick Elliott.
9. John Haney.
10. Thomas Haney.
11. Joseph Fast.
12. Joseph Marshall.
13. George Downer.
14. Robert Morfert.
15. Jacob McClain.
16. Alexander Porter.
17. John Downer.
18. Robert McBeth.
19. William McMeeken, Jr.
20. John Hendricks.
21. Moses Dayhuff.
22. Thomas C. Cook.
23. John Jackson.
24. John Freeborn.
25. Thomas Brink.
26. James Anderson.
27. Sylvanus Kellogg.
28. John Smith.
29. John Cornelison.
30. Joseph Jackson.
31. Joseph Davis.
32. Richard Freeborn.
33. Adam Smith.
34. William McMeeken, Sr.
35. Ephraim Palmer.
36. Robert Houston.
37. Lewis Crow.
38. John Cuppy.
39. Joseph Wright.
40. John Bailey.
41. Abel Bailey.
42. Widow Youngblood.
43. Casper Wagner.
Names of Householders in District No. 2.
1. William McHarry.
2. Joseph McKibbin.
3. James Gribben.
4. William Freeman.
12. David Stratton.
5. John Bennett.
13. Jeremiah Abbott.
14. Nicholas Goldsmith.
15. Vincent Goldsmith.
16. Thomas G. Whitelock.
Names of Householders in District No. 3.
1. John Owens.
2. David Blann.
3. Joseph Scott.
4. John Prosser.
5. Nathaniel Bailey.
6. Jacob Foulks.
7. James Laughton.
8. Matthew Laughton.
9. Alex. McCready.
10. Casper Snook.
11. Abraham Clayburg.
12. Henry Fisher.
13. John Scott.
14. Alfred Skinner.
15. Nicholas Peterson.
16. Thomas Fisher.
Digitized by
6. Samuel Freeman.
7. Robert Patterson.
8. James Jackson.
9. John Rigdon.
10. Elijah Potter.
11. William Price.
112
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
Names of Householders in District No. 4.
1. Abraham Huffman.
2. Isaac Van Metre.
3. John Brown.
4. Thomas Sprott.
5. Mary Vanostrand.
6. Thomas Wright.
7. Samuel Huffman.
8. John Cooper.
9. William Andrews.
10. Isaac Harvuot.
11. Joseph Harvuot, Jr.
12. Joseph Harvuot, Sr.
13. John Mc Williams.
14. John Aton.
15. Thomas Ross.
16. David Burns.
17. Jared N. Slonecker.
18. Thomas Ford.
19. George Beymer.
20. Elias Ford.
21. Job Cusey.
22. John Cook.
23. Joel Crampton.
24. Jacob Akright.
25. John Bryte.
In District No. 1 43
2 16
" 3 16
¥
4 25
Total number of householders in 1828. 100
OFFICERS ELECTED IN APRIL, 1829.
William Gilchrist, Thomas Ford, and Abraham Huffman, Trustees; Elijah Ford and James Ander- son, Constables; Joseph Davis and Thomas G. White- lock, Fence Viewers; Alexander Porter, Treasurer; Thomas Haney, John Cuppy, John Freeborn, John Mc Williams, and James Loughland, Supervisors; John Bennett and Samuel Freeman, Overseers of the Poor; and Joshua Ross, Clerk.
TOWNSHIP OFFICERS IN 1862.
Trustees-A. F. Shaw, John Bryte, and E. T. Gar- rett. Clerk-M. C. Percival. Assessor-John Gibson. Treasurer-David Stem. Constables-John Swineford and John Neff.
.
.
Digitized by Google
113
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
SAVANNAH.
Since the erection of Ashland County, Savannah is the only town in Clearcreek Township. Prior to that event, the town of Olivesburg was included in the township. When originally laid out by John Haney, on the 25th of December, 1818, the town was known by the name of Vermillion, although quite as generally known by the public as Haneytown. The town being pleasantly situated, and on a leading thoroughfare, was a place of considerable business, and at one time a prominent candidate for the seat of justice of a new county. When the county was erected, in 1846, and the county seat established at Ashland, the business of Savannah began to decline, and its downward course continued until about five years since, when an educational enterprise undertaken by some of its leading citizens arrested its declining tendency, and the business and moral influence of Savannah is now more healthful than at any former period.
Savannah Male and Female Academy.
"On the 29th November, 1858, the friends of edu- cation in Savannah and vicinity met for the purpose of considering the practicability of founding an aca- demical institution in Savannah to afford facilities of an educational character equal to any of like grade in the land.
"At this meeting a plan was submitted by Rev. A. Scott for consideration, which, after thorough discus- sion and amendment, was adopted as a basis of organ- ization, and is as follows :-
"We, the undersigned, citizens of Savannah and vicinity, desiring to promote the cause of godliness,
Digitized by Google
114
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
good learning, and the social, civil, and religious pro- gress of ourselves and families, do hereby form our- selves into a joint stock company for the purpose of founding and organizing a literary institution of the second class, to be called THE SAVANNAH MALE AND FEMALE ACADEMY.
"The institution to be placed under the care of a Board of Trustees elected by the association, and shall consist of fifteen members, divided into three classes, of five each :-
"First class to hold office three years.
"Second " " " " two years.
"Third " " one year.
"The institution to be Christian but not sectarian.
"The Trustees are invested with the power to be- come a body corporate in law, to purchase a site, erect a building, control it in all its interests, employ teach- ers or whatever may tend to the advancement of its interests.
"The outlines of the plan of organization being given, and a sum sufficient to warrant the farther prosecution of the enterprise being secured, the sum of thirteen hundred dollars was speedily offered on subscription. The people, or rather subscribers, met December 10, 1858, to select a body of Trustees.
"The following is a classified list of the first set of Trustees elected :-
Three Years.
Two Years.
One Year.
John Ingram.
R. Newton.
James Hearst.
Thomas Hays.
A. Rumfield.
J. N. Slonecker.
Alex. Scott.
J. R. Bailey. J. McCutchin.
A. F. Shaw.
John Bryte.
Wm. S. Shaw.
D. G. Templeton.
S. Gault.
M. Fanchear.
On motion, adjourned.
JAMES E. HAYS, Chairman.
WM. S. SHAW, Secretary.
Digitized by Google
115
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
"December 13, 1858. Board of Trustees met and organized, after which the following gentlemen were appointed officers of the Board, viz .:-
"D. G. Templeton, President.
"A. Rumfield, Vice-President.
"John Ingram, Secretary.
"Mead Fanchear, Treasurer.
"The Trustees being now in working order, the erection of a site for the academy was next con- sidered. Various propositions were made, when John Haney, Esq., the original proprietor and projector of Savannah, came forward and generously gave a quit claim deed to the Trustees for the use of the public square, as a site for the academy. This met with unanimous and grateful approval. A plan of building 30 by 44 feet, two stories high, was then agreed upon, and let to Messrs. Thomson & Bowman, for $1535, who speedily erected a satisfactory building.
" While these things were in progress, a committee was appointed to draft a constitution for the govern- ment of the Board of Trustees, which embraces the following items: 1st. The Board to adopt the corpo- rate name of Board of Trustees of Savannah Male and Female Academy. 2d. Officers elected annually by ballot. Association meets in June of each year to elect Trustees, and failing in this the existing Trustees to continue in office.
"The choice of a principal for the academy was a matter of vital importance for the well-being of the institution, as subsequent events have shown. All were anxious to obtain the BEST man possible, and yet much diversity of opinion prevailed respecting whom that man might be. Finally, Mr. E. J. Rice, of Sullivan, was elected and took charge of the
Digitized by Google
116
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
academy, continuing its principal for two years. Concerning him it may be said he possessed admin- istrative qualities of a high order, and had many warm friends. During most of Mr. Rice's principal- ship, the female department was under the guidance of Miss Foster and Miss Rice, graduates of Mount Holyoke, Mass., than whom very few better teachers are to be found.
"These teachers were somewhat aided in their labors by the co-operation of a faculty elected by the Board of Trustees, and consisted of the following named gentlemen: Rev. A. Scott, Professor of Moral Science; Rev. R. Newton, Professor of History; Dr. J. Ingram, Professor of Natural Science.
"The course of study embraced everything neces- sary to a complete course in the female department, and to place gentlemen in an advanced position in college.
"The discipline of the institution was entirely committed to the principal, and was generally re- garded as quite thorough. Vocal and instrumental music received a liberal share of attention, and in the former quite a number of students excelled. A new piano, said by good judges to be one of the very best, is in possession of the institution.
"At the end of two years Mr. Rice resigned his situation as principal of the institution. This resig- nation, happening immediately before the beginning of a new term, was peculiarly unfortunate for the in- terests of the academy, as there was then neither time nor opportunity for negotiating with another principal before the term of school would begin. In this unhappy dilemma, Rev. A. Scott and Dr. J. Ingram, at the urgent solicitation of trustees, took
Digitized by Google
-
117
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
charge of the academy, each devoting such a portion of time to teaching as other duties would permit. In this they were aided by Misses Stafford and Rutan.
"In the spring of 1862, the Board of Trustees elected as principal C. K. Geddes, A.M., of Williams- burg, Pennsylvania, who immediately came and took charge of the institution. This gentleman was assisted by Miss M. Boynton, of Delaware, Ohio, taking charge of the female department.
"The institution is now in a flourishing condition, as much so, at least, as the pressure of the war times will permit.
"Taking all the circumstances of the case together, the class of inhabitants being religiously and morally inclined, with a decided taste for intellectual pur- suits; the size of the village being better adapted than a large place for such an institution; the easy access to the place by stage or railroad; the decidedly healthy character of the village and surrounding country, and, above all, the rigid Christian but non sectarian discipline exercised over every student attending the academy; these considerations make the situation specially adapted to the purposes which its enlightened and liberal founders intended it should be-an institution calculated 'to promote the cause of godliness, good learning, and the social, civil, and religious progress of ourselves and families.'"
POPULATION AND BUSINESS.
The first instance in which the population of Sa- vannah was taken separate from the Township of Clearcreek was in 1860, when it amounted to three hundred and thirty-six.
Digitized by Google
118
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
The town contains five churches; one academy; one public school; three physicians; two dry-goods stores; one tavern; three grocery and provision stores; three wagon and carriage shops; two tanner- ies; one steam saw and grist mill; three blacksmith shops; three boot and shoe shops; two harness and saddle shops; one clothing store and manufactory; and one tailor shop.
REMINISCENCES OF THE PIONEERS OF CLEARCREEK TOWNSHIP. JOHN ATON.
John Aton removed to the northwest quarter of section 26, Clearcreek Township, in . April, 1821. He was a native of, and had, up to the time named, resided in Alleghany County, Pennsylvania. When he removed to his land, he was unmarried, and while making his improvements during the first two years after his arrival, he boarded at the house of John Mc Williams, who occupied the northeast quarter of the same section, being the same land now owned by Andrew Ekey. In April, 1823, having in the mean time married Miss Margaret Ferguson, and erected a cabin, he removed upon his own land.
This Mr. McWilliams referred to was the first set- tler of section 26, having removed to the country a year or two after Abram Huffman; and, having resided upon this land about eighteen years, removed to Illinois, where he died. On the second Sabbath after his removal into his cabin, Mr. McWilliams re- ceived a call from a band of about seventy Indians, which so frightened him and family that they fled to the house of their neighbor, Mr. Burns-leaving their visitors in possession of their house and premises.
Digitized by Google
119
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
The Indians, however, disturbed nothing, and had no intention of doing so, and were evidently much grieved at the fear their presence had created.
A few months after this affair, an Indian, aged about sixty years, named Isaac George, called one morning upon Mr. Mc Williams, and met there, among others, a visitor at the house from Pennsylvania, named Charles Russell, who, with Mr. McWilliams, had just concluded preparations for a trip to Mans- field. After they had started on their journey, this Indian informed Mr. Aton and the family that some thirty years previous, he, with another Indian, captured, at his : home in Washington County, Pennsylvania, this identical Mr. Russell, then a boy of about twelve years of age; and at the close of a hard day's travel, they made a supper on a turkey roasted in Indian style, with its feathers and entrails. To secure their prisoner at night, the Indians placed withs over the boy, and planted themselves one on each side of him, their bodies resting upon the ends of the withs. The boy, how- ever, was sleepless; and during the night his cap- tors rolled their bodies off the ends of the withs, which released their prisoner, and afforded him an opportunity of making good his escape. On the re- turn of Mr. Russell, the statement of Isaac George, the Indian, was repeated to him, and he confirmed its truth in every particular-adding, however, that had he recognized in the Indian one of his captors, he would have cast his body into the flames. The mysterious part of the matter was, in the almost in- stant recognition by the Indian, in the mature man of gray hairs, of the boy he had more than a quarter of a century before so deeply wronged.
Digitized by Google
120
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
ABEL BAILEY.
Abel Bailey immigrated, with his father's family, consisting of five brothers and two sisters, to section 16, Green Township, in the spring of 1816. The family originally emigrated from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, and, prior to their removal to Green Township, had resided two years in Jefferson, and seven years in Columbiana County, Ohio.
From Green Township, the family, in 1818, re- moved to the southeast quarter of section 14, Clear- creek Township, which they purchased at the govern- ment land office. In the fall of 1819, Mr. Abel Bailey (having in the mean time married) removed with his wife to the farm now owned by Mr. Stout, in Ver- million Township, on the head waters of Honey Creek. This land (being a quarter section) he pur- chased of his brother-in-law, John Murphy; and after having remained upon it four years, sold to George Hendrickson, and returned to Clearcreek Township, upon the farm which he and his father originally purchased, and which he has since made his home. This land was entered in the name of John Bailey, (father of Abel,) in the fall of 1815, several months prior to the residence of the family in Green Town- ship. Mr. Bailey's family, therefore, is identified with those who composed the very first settlers of Clearcreek.
When Mr. Bailey first came to the township, the nearest mill was Shrimplin's, on Owl Creek, between thirty and forty miles distant, where all his bread- stuffs were obtained. Occasionally the stock of the neighborhood would become exhausted, when they would be compelled to boil the wheat and eat it in milk.
Digitized by Google
121
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
JOHN BRYTE.
John Bryte immigrated to Clearcreek Township in April, 1819. He was at this time a boy of nineteen years of age, and had emigrated from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He tarried a few days with his uncle, Nathaniel Bailey. He worked four years as a jobber or laborer, and in this time cleared, un- aided, one hundred acres of land, besides accomplish- ing considerable other labor. The proceeds of this four years' of toil were one hundred dollars in cash, and a horse, saddle, and bridle, valued in those times at about forty dollars. In 1824, he married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Ford. With his brother-in-law, Elijah Ford, he conducted a distillery on section 16, and continued in this business two years, ending April, 1826. This enterprise proved a failure, and he purchased of Patrick Miller, Washing- ton County, Pennsylvania, fifty acres in section 26, (forming part of the farm upon which he now re- sides,) and in one day erected his cabin, and on the day following removed with his family into a house without floor or chimney. Mr. Bryte was the first clerk of Clearcreek Township, and has since held several official positions of responsibility derived from his fellow-citizens, and from the Executive of Ohio, twice receiving the appointment of Director of the Ohio Central Lunatic Asylum.
JAMES BURGAN.
James Burgan emigrated from Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and reached Vermillion, Clearcreek Township, on the 12th March, 1826. He was then without a family, and prosecuted his trade of black-
9
Digitized by Google
122
HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY.
smithing. His prices for work were about the same, when he found the material, as those charged at present-but his iron cost him about double the rates at which it may now be obtained-his iron then cost- ing him 12} cents and English steel 37} cents per pound; and his cash receipts for work were scarcely sufficient to pay for his stock. Mr. Burgan discon- tinued his blacksmithing business in the spring of 1859, and purchased a farm of one hundred and forty- three acres, two miles south of Savannah, where he at present resides.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.