USA > Ohio > Jackson County > A history of Jackson County, Ohio, Volume I > Part 15
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
THE FIRST RAILROAD-Jackson county is largely what the railroads have made it, for its mineral wealth would never have been developed without them. Only Jackson, Keystone and
167
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY
Buckeye furnaces had been built before the railroad. The first was not far from the Little Scoto, while the others were on the Little Raccoon and could ship their product by water direct. It is doubtful whether they would have been built, had it not been proposed to establish slack water navigation on the Raccoon. The "Raccoon Navigation company," consisting of James Riggs, Nich- olas Thevenin, Alexander Williams, James Lewis, Charles Giles, Joseph S. Coombs, A. Bentley and Moses R. Matthews, was in- corporated for that purpose, February 4, 1848, with a capital stock of $100,000. The commissioners of Gallia, Jackson and Athens counties were authorized to subscribe to said stock "any amount not exceeding $20,000 each." A survey was made, but the probability of the early building of the Iron railroad killed the enterprise.
One of the most important events in the history of the county was the coming of Professor William Williams Mather in 1838. To him must be given the credit for bringing to the atten- tion of capitalists, its great mineral wealth, and for taking the first important step toward its development. Mather was a de- scendant of Cotton Mather and was born at Brooklyn, Ct., May 4, 1804. He graduated from West Point and remained in the army until 1836, when he resigned to come to Ohio to take charge of the first Geological survey. He began the work in June, 1837, assisted by Caleb Briggs, Jr. The work was suspended in a few months, but not until Mather had made a practical survey of Athens, Hocking, Jackson, Scioto, Lawrence and Gallia counties. Frances Mather, a sister of the geologist, was the wife of Rev. David C. Bolles, of Licking county. Bolles invested largely in Jackson county mineral lands in the early part of 1838, and soon moved his family here. Mather bought a tract of land from Bolles, February 22, 1838, and moved his family here from Co- lumbus later in the year. Mather and Caleb Briggs, jr., assistant on the survey, bought a second tract from Bolles, which included a coal mine. While living in this county Mather discovered the great possibilities of this mineral region, and began to devise a plan for developing it. He associated himself with a number of
168
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
capitalists and organized the "Ohio Iron Manufacturing Com- pany" to manufacture iron, glass, pottery and fire brick, make salt and saw marble. The company was incorporated March 6, 1845, with a capital of $300,000. It was to begin operations within three years and to build a furnace in Jackson county within six years. It was authorized to build a railroad from said furnace to the Ohio river, the Ohio canal, the Hocking canal or all of them. It was empowered also to build furnaces in Athens, Gallia, Law- rence and Scioto counties. This brilliant scheme never material- ized, although Mather and a company built the Oak Ridge fur- nace in Lawrence county; but it called the attention of capitalists to our resources. Mather was more a student than a business man, and he succeeded better as professor at Marietta and the Ohio university, than in building furnaces. He died of heart disease at Columbus, February 26, 1859. Rev. Bolles, his brother- in-law, had died within two years of his removal to this county. His monument stood in the old Presbyterian cemetery and bore the following inscription only :
"Sacred to the memory of Rev. David C. Bolles, who died April 20, 1840, aged 47 years."
Briggs, mentioned above, settled in Lawrence county and be- came a member of the "Ohio Iron & Coal company," which laid out Ironton. He was a native of North Rochester, Massachusetts, where he was born May 24, 1812. He died at Ironton, September 24, 1884.
The example of Mather in organizing the "Ohio Iron Manu- facturing Company" was followed with better success, by the promoters of the "Ohio Iron & Coal company," incorporated March 23, 1849. It consisted of John Campbell, Joseph W. Dempsey, Henry Blake, James O. Williams, Caleb Briggs, James W. Means, John Ellison, George Steece and James A. Richey, and was or- ganized to develop the resources of Lawrence county. Its incor- porators contemplated the building of a railroad beginning at the · Ohio river in Upper township, Lawrence county, and penetrating the iron region to the north, but the building of this railroad was
169
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
left to another company organized under the following act, passed March 7, 1849.
AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE IRON RAILROAD COMPANY.
Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio, That James Rogers, Robert B. Hamilton, Hiram Camp- bell, Henry Blake, John Peters, J. Culbertson, William D. Kelley, Anderson Dempsey and John E. Clark, of the county of Law- rence; and Daniel Hoffman, George P. Rogers and John Adair, of the county of Jackson, are hereby created a body corporate, with perpetual succession, by the name of the Iron Railroad company, with power to construct a railroad from the Ohio river, in Upper township, in Lawrence county, to the south line of Jackson county, with the right at their discretion of continuing it in a northerly direction, to the line of the Belpre & Cincinnati Rail- road company.
Sec. 2. The capital stock of said company may be an amount not exceeding $500,000.
Sec. 3. The said company shall have all the power, and be sub- ject to all the restrictions and provisions of the act regulating railroad companies, passed February 11, 1848.
An act was passed March 7, 1850, authorizing the commis- sioners of Jackson county to subscribe $100,000 to the capital stock of this railroad, and the matter was submitted to a popular vote at the spring election, hield April 1, 1850, with the follow- ing result: 1
For subscription, 1,128; against subscription, 376. The strong- est opposition was in Bloomfield, where the vote stood 114 to 106. The citizens of Bloomfield have nearly always taken a similar stand on other questions, especially that of pike building.
The promoters of the Iron railroad failed to push their enter- prise and their procrastination proved fatal, as far as Jackson county was concerned. It happened in this way. The boom in Lawrence county had aroused the people of Portsmouth. The re-
170
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
sult was the incorporation of the "Scioto & Hocking Valley Rail- road company," February 20, 1849, with a capital stock of $200,000. The Portsmouth promoters were B. F. Conway, Joshua V. Robinson, C. A. M. Damarin, Peter Kinney and John Mc- Dowell. The proposed road was to run from Portsmouth to New- ark by the way of Piketon, Chillicothe, Circleville and Lancaster. Unfortunately for the enterprise, Scioto and Pike counties refused to subscribe to its capital stock, and the proposed route had to be abandoned. Portsmouth was too anxious for a railroad to let the matter drop, and its capitalists began to covet the $100,000 sub- scription by Jackson county to the Iron railroad. The Scioto & Hocking Valley officials went to work and secured $128,000 from Portsmouth. They then proposed to build the railroad through Jackson, if the county would transfer to them the money sub- scribed to the Iron railroad. The proposition was favorably re- ceived. Portsmouth was already a town of importance, and in- mediate communication with it, was more to be desired than de- ferred communication with Ironton, the terminus of the Iron railroad, a mere hamlet at that time. Before the transfer could be made, Jackson county had to be relieved of liability to the Iron railroad. This relief was secured March 20, 1851, by the repeal of the act, authorizing the commissioners to subscribe to that road. The commissioners were assured of the result and had already made the subscription. The following journal entry tells the story:
March 18, 1851 .- The Honorable John Callaghan, John S. Stephenson, and Moses Hays, commissioners of Jackson county present, met for the purpose of a subscription of $100,000 to the Hocking & Scioto railroad, to be raised by the taxpayers of Jack- son county to pay the interest on the loan for 15 years, when the county pays the principal and interest, if any there be. To which a borrow of that was negotiated.
The transfer of this subscription had a vital bearing on the after history of Jackson county. It built Oak Hill mostly in Jef- ferson township instead of in the "flatwoods" of Madison. It gave birth to Berlin and Wellston and deferred the development
171
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
of Jackson and Washington townships 30 years. It knit a bond, political as well as commercial, between Jackson and Scioto, in- stead of Jackson and Lawrence.
The first work on the road was done in Scioto county in 1850, but operations did not begin in earnest until Jackson county had made its subscription. The contract for building the first five miles south of Jackson was awarded immediately afterward, the contractors being Henry and Lawrence Myers. They came here from Maine. Henry was married here to Electa McQuality, a daughter of James McQuality, who lived so many years on Main street. The first load of ties was delivered on this section April 1, 1851, and occasioned this local:
The work on the railroad near this place has commenced in real earnest. The merry sons of the Emerald Isle are pouring in in goodly numbers and the digging has actually commenced. -Standard, May 22, 1851.
Work at the Scioto end of the road had already been con- tracted for to within two miles of Webster. There was left a link of nineteen miles to connect with the section of the Myers Bros. The contract for this link was awarded June 1, 1851. The greater part of the grading of the road was completed by August, 1852, and tracklaying began at Portsmouth. Fourteen miles of track were laid before December 1, 1852. The track into Jackson county was laid shortly afterward, and the new era began.
THE FIRST BANK-The breath of coming prosperity reached Jackson in 1851. Laborers came to build the railroad, merchants came to share the increased business, and the natives awakened from a lethargy of half a century. These causes gave birth to a bank. The necessity for it had become apparent, and its organization was hastened by the following editorial:
There is perhaps no place in Ohio where there is greater need of a bank than in our own county. We have heard a good deal of talk about making an effort to organize a bank here. We pre- sume there will be but little difficulty in raising the requisite
172
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
amount of capital. Nothing but a want of concert of action on the part of those interested prevents the speedy organization of a bank in this place. Will not the friends of the measure meet together and consult about the matter-Standard, May 22, 1851.
The "friends of the measure" got together, and before long the following card appeared in the Standard:
CITIZENS' BANK-Bennett & Co. have established a bank in Jackson, and are prepared to loan money on short time, in large or small sums, upon approved security, and also purchase good negotiable paper and county orders on favorable terms. Office for the present over the auditor's office. Bank open from 10 o'clock a. m. to 12 m.
August 7, 1851.
J. W. LAIRD, Cashier.
Bennett & Co. consisted of Walker Bennett, T. R. Stanley, J. M. Steele. James Farrar and J. W. Laird. T. R. Stanley had been prosecuting attorney, and the bank opened for business in his office. The building stood on the east side of the Court House and belonged to the county. It was two stories high, with two rooms and a hall on each floor.
THE MATHER CEMETERY-Prof. W. W. Mather was ap- pointed to begin the geological survey of Ohio in 1837. This work brought him to Jackson county, and after the work on the survey was discontinued in 1838, he settled in Jackson. The family boarded at first with Mr. Jacob Westfall. Mather soon purchased the land of Rev. David C. Bolles on Salt creek, and erected a fine residence for those times. The mansion stood on a slope over- looking Salt Creek valley, and not far from the top of the hill where the cemetery is now. It was a picturesque spot then, when the virgin forest had not yet been touched, but it must have been a very lonesome place for a family that had lived in cities. The house was removed years ago by W. W. Pierce, who purchased the land from Prof. Mather, but the cellar and well still remain. The cellar seems to have been under the whole house. The well is
173
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
about one hundred feet deep and no water was found. Later, water gathered in it, and now stands at about sixty feet. The survivors of the old orchard are scattered about, and all goes to show that Prof. Mather endeavored to secure for his family all the comforts of the times.
Here the family lived for about ten years. Then death came, and Mrs. Mather was taken. Upon her death Prof. Mather laid out a cemetery upon the point overlooking the mansion and deeded it to the township. In a year or two afterward, he removed to live in Columbus, where he died in 1859 of heart disease. The inscription on Mrs. Mather's tombstone is as follows:
"Here lie the earthly remains of Emily Maria Mather, wife of William W. Mather, who died November 19, 1850, aged 40 years. A triumphant death in the firm unwavering faith and Christian hope of eternal life in heaven. She was a good wife, a kind neigh- for, a tender mother and a faithful Christian."
On the north side of her grave lie the remains of her infants. The inscriptions on the stones are as follows:
"Cotton Mather, infant son of W. W. and E. M. Mather, died 1849."
"Increase Mather, infant son of W. W. and E. M. Mather, died 1840."
Among the other graves is that of Jonathan Walden, who died January 13, 1857, aged 51 years, 1 month and 25 days; that of Mrs. Jane Milliken, who died November 23, 1868, aged 80 years, 4 months and 20 days, and that of John Finn, who died October 13, 1864.
MT. ZION CEMETERY-This cemetery was deeded to the M. E. church by James R. Meacham in 1843. He was born in Mont- gomery county, Virginia, January 17, 1800, and came to this county in 1834. He was the son of Elijah Meacham, who was born and died in Virginia, dying at the age of 102 years, of heart disease, never having been ill an hour all his life.
.174
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
The first person buried in this cemetery was Thomas Oliver, a revolutionary soldier. He died February 23, 1844, aged 80 years, 9 months and 13 days. Hiram Oliver, of the Ninety-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, is his only surviving son. Following is a list of other veterans buried in it: James M, son of B. and C. Arthur, died April 21, 1891, aged 56 years and 13 days. James Walker, died September 1, 1881, aged 65 years, 9 months and 12 days; member of Company K, Fifty-sixth Ohio volunteer infantry.
The following are the inscriptions on the monuments of six pioneers buried here: "Benjamin Branscomb, died January 7, 1862, aged 69 years and 26 days." "Mother Tabitha, wife of B. Branscomb, died December 10, 1891, aged 95 years." "Joseph Wil- son, died May 26, 1871, aged 86 years, 1 month, 9 days." "Jane, wife of J. Wilson, died June 10, 1873, aged 82 years, 4 months and 16 days." "Mary Hunsinger, died December 12, 1863, aged 61 years." "Samuel Hunsinger, died January 12, 1869, aged 72 years, 2 months and 23 days."
AN OLD TIME WEDDING-The following account of a wedding in the backwoods was written by Davis Mackley, in 1873:
It was perhaps as early as 1826 that old George Corn settled on the hill about a mile south of the place where Jefferson Furnace is now located. He came from Old Virginia, and he had been a soldier in the war of the Revolution. He had been married twice, and he had a large family. I have often heard him remark that he was the father of twenty children. He was a small man, but his sons were all remarkably stout, healthy men. William Corn, one of his sons, married Polly Massie, a daughter of Robbin Massie, and Peter Corn married Rebecca, another daughter, while Big Jep, their brother, married Lucy Corn.
It had been known in the neighborhood for some time that Big Jep and Lucy were going to be married, and as our family and the Corns and Massies were on very friendly terms, we were all in- vited to the wedding. We went soon after breakfast, and found the women busily engaged in making arrangements for dinner.
175
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
It was about a mile from George Corn's residence to that of Robbin Massie, the path running along the top of a ridge the most of the way. About eleven o'clock we heard a shout a distance of half a mile down the ridge, and soon we heard the clatter of horses' feet, and here came two men, their horses at full speed. The men had red spotted cotton handkerchiefs bound around their heads, and they were leaning forward, their faces nearly on the necks of the horses. As there was only a narrow path through the woods, the man who got before had much the advantage, as it was somewhat difficult for one horse to pass the other; but about a hundred yards from the fence, the hindmost man struck through the woods, and his horse jumped over a large log, and he struck in ahead of the other, and secured the bottle in much triumph. The people at the house were all standing out waiting and watching. One of them held out the bottle to the successful horseman, who took it and both trotted their horses back until they met the wedding party, consisting of about forty persons, men and women, Big Jep and his " attendance " being in front. The bottle passed all the way back along the people, each taking a taste of the whisky it contained. The bottle was what is called a decanter, holding about a quart, and having flanges around the neck and mouth. It was dressed off with red, white and blue ribbon. The wedding party then rode up to the house. The fence was torn down, and they all rode around the house three times, when they alighted and went in. Big Jep shook hands with Lucy and took a seat by her side, and in a short time they were married. Big Jep was a fine looking man. He must have been six feet, three or four inches high, straight and well made. He was a very quiet man, and an inoffensive, good citizen.
I will not describe the manner in which the parties were dressed, nor the dinner. The afternoon and night were enjoyed by all. Everybody appeared to be in a good humor. The old men sat out on logs near the house, and told stories about Indian wars, bear hunts, etc. The young folks as now, said and did many things that were not the most wise; but young folks will have their ways. I remember one performance which interested me, and the other little boys immensely. Pete Corn went through a performance
176
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
which he called " Pattin' Juber." He slapped both hands on his thighs in rapid succession, patted his feet, whistled and groaned all at once, and in regular time, while a lot of young folks danced to this original music.
WELLSTON'S BEGINNING-The following graphic letter from the pen of Coates Kinney appeared in the Cincinnati Commer- cial, and is too good to be forgotten:
Wellston, Jackson Co., O., Dec. 20, 1873.
Wellston is as yet a mère geographical expression. There is no town of that name. The place is at this writing only a town-site. But, in view of the prospective certainty that before the close of 1874 there will be at least three or four hundred houses here, I think I may be allowed the (geographical) expression to date a letter from it, giving your readers some facts about the region whose soil is to evolve this sudden town, with yet greater wonders of wealth, from its bosom.
The Portsmouth branch of the Marietta and Cincinnati rail- road, which extends from Hamden, a little village in the edge of Vinton County, to Portsmouth on the Ohio River, passes through what appears to be one of the poorest, but is actually one of the richest districts of its extent in this country. The land is rough and uninviting, but beneath its surface there is incalculable treasure. Jackson county, hitherto figuring as one of the most miserable little tracts in the State turns out to be the principal storehouse of this treasure. Inexhaustible veins of iron underlie its surface in all directions-which alone is wealth-and the woods here have been almost all cut off for charcoal to render it into iron with. But one day it was discovered that below the seams of stone coal which the natives had long been digging from the hills for domestic use, and thus saving their wood for the charcoal pits, there lay another seam, so similar to charcoal in appearance and behavior in the fire, that it was at once tried in the furnaces. The result was, it made iron but a small per cent. inferior to that made with charcoal.
Here were riches incredible. The whole country bottomed.
177
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
with a layer of the finest smelting coal some four feet thick, ac- cessible in the valleys by shafts of from twenty-five to seventy-five feet deep; great veins of iron cropping out everywhere along the hills, and inexhaustible quantities of limestone on every hand. It was too immense a windfall for the wild little county to realize all of a sudden. The staid old inhabitants knew that the rugged surface of their land was worth a little something, even after all its timber had been done into charcoal; for it still pastured sheep and yielded them wagon-loads of ore that they could barter for groceries and dry goods at the furnace stores; but they were slow to comprehend that the mighty genii of God lay darkling under their sheep pastures. The few home iron men who were in the secret were not fanatical about proselyting outsiders, but went noiselessly to work handling the good thing among themselves. The little old paralyzed town of Jackson suddenly sprang up and spread out into busy population and business in a surprisingly brief space of time. Then some of the owners of the surface up the country began to see it. It leaked out a little, and prospectors from abroad came in and made them see it more. The price of land started upward, and gentle speculation set in.
That is the point reached at the present writing. Land has but just started into speculative figures, and shrewd calculators are beginning to take it in. Prominent among these calculators is the celebrated "Lightning-Calculator," Hon. Harvey Wells. Wells is Hon. because he is a member of the Constitutional Convention. He has also the distinction in that body of being the youngest member thereof, and of having been elected as a Republican to represent a Democratic constituency. Vinton county is Democratic by some four hundred majority ; and yet, by about that majority, he carried it against the regular Democratie nominee. He did this by light- ning calculation and extravagant energy, as well as by great personal popularity. With the same calculation and energy he has been gobbling coal and iron lands here. Such gobbling is technic- ally termed optioning, so called because, the land owner being tied up to a certain price for a certain period, "the party of the second
178
HISTORY OF JACKSON COUNTY.
part" has his option for that period to take the land or not, at the stipulated price.
Weli, this Wellston is one of the results of Well's optioning. Hon. H. S. Bundy, member of Congress from this District, has a thousand acre farm that lies here like the hollow of your hand- scooping down close to the precious coal seam, and catching the ore veins and limestone ledges as they slope up to the horizon on all sides. The Portsmouth branch of the Marietta and Cincinnati railroad ents it in two. A finer site for a town it is difficult to imagine. With a mere bagatelle of capital, but with a good deal of home credit for a " visionary " young man, Wells put the Bundy farm in a parenthesis at $105 an acre. By the co-operation of Colonel S. N. Yeoman, of Fayette county, a keen and nervy antici- pator of values, this farm, with the appurtenances of coal shaft and furnaces, has just been stocked at about a quarter of a million. The plat of Wellston occupies the most eligible portion of the farm, on both sides of the railroad, its main street running parallel with the track, and its Broadway crossing it and terminating both ways on the hilltops. Two largest sized furnaces will be put in process of building immediately, and simultaneously a hundred and fifty dwelling houses.
This movement will be the first fair opening of the region, and will be the beginning of enthusiasm. There must be a rush of speculators here; for "where the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together." There can be no doubt about the presence of the careass in this case. The wonder is that the eagles have not found it before. Where good and abundant iron ore, and the best of coal for smelting it, and the limestone for fluxing it all lie together in the same ground, and that ground only a hundred and thirty miles from a great city by railroad, the conjunction of ad- vantages is so rare that it can be calculated upon to attract capital and labor largely, because it can be depended upon for large returns to the same. This is not an experiment any longer. * *
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.