County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical, Part 33

Author: Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 885

USA > Ohio > Williams County > County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical > Part 33

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).

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TOWN OF BRYAN.

ENGLISH LUTHERANS.

The English Lutheran Church of Bryan was founded in February, 1875. Rev. F. A. Matthis has had pastoral charge since its organiza- tion. Commencing with a membership of twelve, it now numbers about fifty communicants. The Sunday school employs thirteen teachers, who give instruction to 150 pupils. Cost of building, $4,500, and of lot, $500. The church has a seating capacity for 500 persons. To the faith- ful and tireless efforts of Rev. Mr. Matthis, aided by the divine favor, this church is indebted for its substantial and rapidly acquired prosperity. The church building is located on Bryan street.

FIRST UNIVERSALIST CHURCH,

The First Universalist Church of Bryan was organized July 10, 1870, by Rev. J. F. Rice, with a membership of twenty-one, the original mem- bers being John M. Welker, Mrs. Julia A. Welker, Mrs. S. A. Farr, Mrs. Helen A. Garver, Miss Nellie Farr, Miss Frank Fay, Albert Stin- son, John Miller, Mrs. John Miller, Mrs. P. M. Harris, R. S. Owen, F. E. Fay, William Ayres, Mrs. William Ayres, Ephraim Dawson, Mrs. A. M. Dawson, Miss Clara A. Dawson, Mrs. Clarissa Owen, Mrs. Myra Moores, Mrs. Augusta Lawton and Miss Alice E. Owen. Rev. J. F. Rice preached for it for the first nine years. It is to his untiring industry and unwavering zeal that the church owes its existence and great success. Mr. Rice, though not living with the church at any time, and preaching for it only every alternate Sabbath, was more than ordinarily successful, which may be largely attributed to the fact that he is a strong preacher and a man of great social power. The church now has a membership of 111, nearly all of whom were received into fellowship by Mr. Rice. Rev. H. L. Canfield supplied the church for one year every alternate Sabbath. The second pastorate was begun in August, 1880. Rev. G. L. Perin, a graduate of Canton Theological Seminary, was elected pastor. Mr. Perin is still preaching for the church every Sunday at a salary of $900. Dur- ing Mr. Perin's pastorate thus far, nine members have been added. The church held religious services for several years in Long's Hall, north side of Court Square. In 1875 and 1876, the first and only church edifice was erected at a cost of $8,000. The church is a beautiful brick ; in size, 37x57 feet ; Gothic in style. The main audience room is neatly frescoed, and has elegant stained glass windows. It has a large and commodious basement with Sunday school room, furnace rooms, kitchen, pantry, and what is very rare in a church, a beautiful fountain of clear, cold water. The church is situated on the southeast corner of Main and Maple streets. The present officers are: Moderator, Hon. S. N. Owen ; Trustees, J. M. Welker, E. G. Fay and O. C. Ashton ; Treasurer, E. T.

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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.

Binns. The Sunday school, in connection with the church, was organ- ized about January 1, 1870, and has now an enrolled membership of 110. an average attendance of about sixty to eighty. With one brief interval, it has been under the constant superintendence of J. M. Welker, Esq., whose energy and devotion have been unremitting.

CATHOLICS.

There are in Bryan devout and pious Catholics ; but their numbers are small, and a missionary priest, at stated periods, holds service. They have a church edifice. Few as are the numbers of these worshipers. they command a high degree of respect from co-religionists, on account of the firmness they manifest in holding fast to their faith.

JEWS.

Those of this persuasion form only a small per cent of the religious element, and have no rabbi or synagogue. They are, however, held in high esteem as citizens.

INSTITUTIONS OF BENEVOLENCE AND SOCIALITY.

In all the agencies designed to elevate the standard of useful and rational enjoyment, Bryan occupies no secondary place in rank among her sister towns. Of the I. O. O. F., there are Fountain City Lodge, No. 314; Williams Encampment, No. 102, and Bryan Circle, No. 9. P. C. Of the Masonic Fraternity, there are Bryan Lodge, No. 215, and Northwest Chapter, No. 45. Knights of Honor have Hospitable Lodge. No. 1650.

LITERARY SOCIETIES BY LADIES.

In Bryan are three literary societies, aside from an incipient library association, which is under the general management of the three. These are two " Thame " Societies and the " Chautauqua Circle." These societies were organized by and are under exclusive control of women. who have demonstrated that the religious, intellectual and moral culture of the sex reflect a high degree of credit upon themselves.

GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC.

Evans Post, Bryan, G. A. R., was organized October 17, 1881, with the following-named charter members : E. R. McDonald, F. H. Miller, M. M. Boothman, D. Graves, J. Hively, J. W. Leidigh, N. B. Shouf, J. R. McNary, C. R. Spicer, C. C. Crummel, D. Davis, J. P. Caldwell, W. M. Johnston, W. J. Carroll, S. E. Richards, J. Bauer, M. Enterman, John H. Shouf, A. Gribbons, J. S. Moore, A. Dubois, J. C. Horton, J. G. Lauby, J. E. Partee, J. H. Stuart, T. H. Himes ; John S. Kounts,

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E. M. Ogler EDITOR BRYAN PRESS.

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TOWN OF BRYAN.

Department Commander ; George S. Canfield, Assistant Adjutant General ; E. R. McDonald, Post Adjutant ; J. P. Caldwell, Post Com- mander, and J. W. Leidigh, Post Quartermaster. The present member- ship numbers 127, and its officers are : J. P. Caldwell, Commander ; John Horton, Senior Vice ; M. M. Boothman, Vice ; T. Himes, Chap- lain ; J. W. Leidigh, Quartermaster ; J. R. McNary, Officer of the Day; E. R. McDonald, Adjutant. It will be observed that the numerical growth of Evans Post during the brief time that has elapsed since its organization has been remarkably rapid.

EARLY SCHOOLS OF BRYAN.

In the contract made with A. J. Tressler to teach the Bryan School, 845. for three months, was agreed upon, being at the rate of $15 per month. The average attendance at his school was, according to the best recollection of Mr. Tressler, from twenty-five to thirty-five pupils. As late as 1862, there was but one public school building, that one being near the Methodist Church. It was without a bell or any school apparatus. There were three departments-High, Secondary and Primary. The number of enrolled pupils was 224. The Bryan Normal School was opened Jan- uary 1, 1864, with an enrollment of forty pupils, and soon numbered 100; and its annual catalogue exhibited an enrollment of about two hundred, in which were instructed a large per cent of the leading educators and pro- fessional men of the present in this and adjoining counties. In 1874, the normal and graded schools were united, and C. W. Mykrantz, the Princi- pal of the Normal, was chosen Superintendent, and has continued unin- terruptedly to hold this place. There are no public schools in Ohio, probably, of towns even more populous, where the public schools are un- der more judicious management. This high school building was used a brief time for an experiment of establishing a commercial college, but failed for want of adequate support. Their 1868 sign, " College," is yet upon the front wall.

BURIAL GROUNDS.

The places of interment for the early dead of Bryan were at Pulaski, Williams Centre, or at other more convenient but temporary locations on private property, but not intended as permanent abodes for the remains of those who had gone before. Population being sparse, and the region healthy, there were few deaths. But in the early part of 1841, and some months after the town was platted, a place of sepulture, then a wild but pleasant locality, was selected, which it was believed that no wants of commerce or demands for residence places, would ever covet, and where the ashes of deceased kindred and friends would forever rest in consecrated ground. The place chosen was an elavated one, on the south side of Lynn

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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.

Run, and many feet above high-water mark of that stream. Portland street now passes on the west side of these grounds, and they were nearly west of the place where Mr. Warner's flour-mills and Mr. Halm's brewery are now established. But commerce, however, as in almost every like in- stance, adopts the almost cruel logic of Jefferson that "the earth belongs to the living," and that no power is able to resist its invasion of any soil, however sacred, when greed requires it for its uses ; and after manufact- uring and residence wants clamored at the gateways of this first burial- place, two new cemeteries-the Fountain Grove, south of Bryan, in Pu- laski Township, and Brown's Cemetery, two miles northwest of Bryan, in Centre Township, were established, and the remains of nearly all the dead were exhumed and transferred to one or the other of those places. But some had no surviving friends, and their bodies yet rest in the old grounds where they were originally deposited. Thomas Wyatt's body was first buried there, and his ashes have never been disturbed. The second inter- ment was a daughter of Thomas Shorthill, and from some cause her re- mains were suffered to continue in the old grounds.

FOUNTAIN GROVE CEMETERY ASSOCIATION.

The first meeting for the purpose of effecting such an organization was held on the 26th of January, 1855, when Messrs. John Will, David M. Crall, Levi Schlott, Robert Pitcairn, Alvira Spencer and William Yates were elected a Board of Trustees, and Albert R. Patterson, chosen Clerk. At a meeting of the trustees, held February 2, 1855, Robert Pit- cairn was elected President of the Board, and by-laws were adopted. William A. Stevens was chosen Treasurer. Several years seem to have elapsed before there was a regular sexton employed to have charge of the cemetery. The first appointed was O. L. Brown, and the present one is Matthias Blossing. Both these gentlemen were competent to discharge faithfully the duties conferred upon them, and they have rendered the grounds highly attractive. The principal officers now, in addition to the sexton, are : John W. Pollock, President; Dr. A. L. Snyder, Execu- tive Trustee ; A. C. Dillman, Secretary. Mr. Youse states that John Will was most prominent in the selection and supervision of the present cemetery.

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PULASKI TOWNSHIP.

BY H. S. KNAPP.

SETTLEMENT.

In October, 1833, Judge John Perkins removed from Brunersburgh, with his sons, Isaac and Garrett, and son-in-law, John Plummer, and these, accompanied by John Moss, George Lantz, Henry Jones and a Mr. Hood, established themselves on Beaver creek, and named their colony Pulaski. Judge Perkins built a grist and saw mill on the Creek, which, it is believed, was the first erected within what now are the limits of Will- iams County.

ORGANIZATION.

At the session of the Commissioners of Williams County, held at De- fiance, August 8, 1837, it was ordered, that the " south half of the south tier of sections in Town 7 north, Range 3 east, be taken from said town and added to Town 6, in said range, and upon petition the name of said town is changed from Beaver to Pulaski, and the said Township of Pulaski is hereby organized ; and the Auditor is ordered to give notice of an elec- tion to be held at the house of Alonzo Rawson, on the 26th inst., for the purpose of electing the necessary officers for the government of said town- ship." The Alonzo Rawson above mentioned belonged to one of the most eminent pioneer families of Northern Ohio, his three brothers being the late Abel Rawson, a distinguished lawyer who settled in Tiffin, in 1826, and Dr. L. Q. Rawson, who settled in Lower Sandusky (now Fre- mont) in 1827, and Dr. Bass Rawson, of Findlay, one of the early pio- neers of Hancock County. Alonzo Rawson opened the first stock of goods at Lafayette (since changed to Pulaski), in a house built by him- self, and afterward sold to A. W. Boynton, when Mr. Rawson removed from the county. The same building and rooms are now occupied as a store by Aaron Stoner. At this time there was no white settlement in the township, except at what is now Pulaski, and its inhabitants, like those at Williams Centre, then anticipated that when the seat of justice would finally leave Defiance for a point near the geographical center, it would settle permanently at Pulaski. No dreamer then contemplated the erection of Defiance and Fulton Counties, and the destruction of the origi- nal county lines.

ELECTIONS AND VOTERS.

At an election for Justice of the Peace held in Pulaski Township, April 6, 1840, Reuben II. Gilson, David Pickett and David Landaman

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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.

acting as Judges, and Alonzo Rawson and Jabez Jones as Clerks, the following persons voted : Daniel Davidson, David Pickett, Reuben H. Gilson, Robert Thompson, Isaac Swagger, Daniel Wyatt, Sr., William Kilpatrick, Isaac Perkins, James Mckinley, Philetus S. Gleason, Jabez Jones, Ezra Wilson, George B. Jones, Alonzo Rawson, John Kaufman, David Landa- man, Alfred Shepard, John Oakes, Henry Johnson, George Shook, John Beavers, Seymour Montgomery, Aquilla Caszet, Peter Deck, John Harris. Benjamin Smith, Barnabas Peddycoast, William Johnson, John Flannahs, J. R. Capsil, Daniel Wyatt, Jr., Samuel A. Baker, Benjamin Kent, George Everett, John Perkins and Garrett Perkins.

The above election being held the year Bryan was platted and named, there were then, of course, no voters on the space now occupied by the town.

A special election was held in Pulaski Township, November 28, 1840; David Landaman, James McKindley and John Hanna, Judges ; and George Lantz and Ezra Wilson, Clerks. The election was called to make choice of a Justice of the Peace. Thirty-six votes were cast, of which Daniel Wyatt received sixteen and Ezra Wilson twenty ; no poli- tics at this election.

October 12, 1842, at the general election held in Pulaski Township, sixty-four votes were cast, of which Wilson Shannon, Democratic candi- date for Governor, received forty-nine votes, and Thomas Corwin, the candidate of the Whig party, thiry-four votes. Those who voted were : William A. Stevens, Benjamin W. Evans, Ezra Wilson, Thomas C. Mc- Curdy, Thomas Kent, Jacob Youse, Seymour Montgomery, Isaac Swag- ger, Robert Traylor, Daniel Kite, Benjamin Kent, Jasper Fulkerson, Robert Thompson, George L. Higgins, Daniel Wyatt, Andrew J. Tress- ler, John Dinsmore, Thomas J. McDowell, Andrus Dutcher, George Shook, James B. Godwin, John Oakes, Henry Wilson, John McDowell, Isaac Perkins, John Perkins, John A. Alexander, David Landaman, James Alexander, R. H. Gilson, David Harris, George B. Jones, William Oxenrider, John Harris, Jabez Jones, William Johnson, William Johnston. Henry Johnson, Thomas Shorthill, Adam R. Bowlby, William I. Bowlby. Jacob Beavers, John Kaufman, John E. Traylor, William Kilpatrick, John Wyatt, Henry Deivert, Philetus S. Gleason, George Lantz, John Clam- pet, David Picket, Andrew Hamilton, James Shorthill, George Mather, Volney Crocker, Jacob Over, John J. Hill. John D. Martin, Garrett Perkins, Aquilla Caszet, George Everett, Benjamin Smith and James McKinley.

At the election in Pulaski Township, hold on the 11th of October, 1843. Bryan had commenced business life, and E. HI. Leland. Adam R. Bowlby and Daniel Langel were Judges, and N. M. Landis and John

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PULASKI TOWNSHIP.

Cameron acted as Clerks. The following-named persons voted : Daniel Landaman, E. H. Leland,* Thomas Kent,* Daniel Langel,* S. R. Brown, Henry Trevitt, * N. M. Landis, * John Cameron,* James Short- hill,* John Perkins, Isaac Swagger, John Johnson, Robert Traylor, Jesse Lantz, Jacob Teems,* William Cronk, David Harris, John Oaks, John A. Alexander, William Kilpatrick, George Lantz, William Yates, Benja- min Kent, Jr., David Wyatt, Jacob W. Guver, Garrett T. Hitt. William Stough, Andrew Hamilton, Edington Sterner, Sylvester Lewis, A. W. Boynton, James Guthrie, Jacob Beavers, Adam R. Bowlby, Charles Young, George Beavers, Thomas Kent, Sr.,* Christian Harris, David Pickett, Benjamin Smith, John Peticord, John Hanna, Jacob Youse, * Jumes B. Godwin, Hezekiah Hanna, Jabez Perkins, Seymour Montgom- ery,* John Clampet, John Kaufinan, * Lewis Rose, * Andrew J. Tressler,* George W. Kent, Reuben H. Gilson,* Jacob Over,* John P. Wyatt,* Benjamin Kent, Sr., William Johnson, Hustin Brown, John Godwin, John Harris, Garrett Perkins, Samuel Myers, * Daniel Davidson, Thomas J. McDowell,* Philetus S. Gleason, William Earlston, Daniel Tharp, Ashford Kent, William I. Bowlby, Heman Harman, George B. Jones, Jeremiah Beavers, James Mckinley, Samuel K. Miller, John Traylor. William Oxenrider, John Collins, Washington Leonard, Alonzo Rawson, Jabez Jones, Isaac Perkins and John McDow ell .*

October 18, 1846, at a special election, Daniel Langel, David Tharp, and David R. Bowlby, Judges, and Andrew J. Tressler and Joshua Dobbs, Clerks of said election, there were 105 votes cast. As it may, for obvious reasons, be matter of interest to know who then voted, the names of the electors are given as follows : Francis M. Case, Jacob Stauer, Joseph Mankin, William A. Stevens, John B. Alexander, Jacob Over, Daniel Langel, Andrew J. Tressler, Thomas Kent, Leonard Naftager, E. H. Leland, Isaac Swagger, Solomon S. Little, Thomas H. Blaker, Levi Cunningham, Peter Himes, George Keckler, John Stauer, William Peoples, Thomas Stakes, Peter Deck, Sr., William Yates, Henry Batlo, James S. Gurwell. Sanford W. Smith (sworn), George Snalling, John Sadoris, John Mattocks, Ezra Wilson, Joseph S. Johnson, R. H. Gilson, David W. Harris, George Shook, John Godwin, James Alexander, Daniel Tharp, Samuel Kent, Alfred Shepherd, Adam R. Bowlby, Robert Tomp- son, N. M. Landis, John Kaufman, Jacob Youse, Barnet Brown, John Perkins, Joseph S. Boynton, Jeremiah Beavers, John Paul, James B. Godwin, Isaac Perkin. John P. Wyatt, Jacob Beavers, George B. Janes, Washington Leonard, Robert Russell, Stephen I. Doughton, J. E. Wash- burn, M. D. Doughton, Henry Carbaugh, George Lantz, Samuel Paul,

. At this election eighty-three votes were given, of whom theun marked with an asterisk (*) were citizens of Bryan, and on the basis of an average of five members of a family to each one who voted, a fair estimate of the population of the town at that date can be maule.

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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.

George W. Beavers, James S. Guthrie, William I. Bowlby, Jeremiah Scarnell, Samuel K. Miller, Joshua Dobbs, James B. Akey, Benjamin Smith, Jonathan Davis, Henry Johnson, Joel F. Pool, William B. Yates, Stephen Kent, Elias Johnson, James Earlston, John Shaw, George W. Kent, Thomas Shorthill, John Oaks, John Lantz (sworn), Michael Lickel, Elijah Athey, James Oxenrider, Joseph Fulton, Jacob Teems, Charles Case, A. W. Boynton, Daniel Wyatt, Jabez Jones, James Mc- Kinley, Jared Griswold, Volney Crocker, Moses Johnson, William Stough, Elijah Perkins, John A. Molbash, Garrett Perkins, Jabez Perkins, Will- iam Oxenrider, Jr., Joseph Dixon, Thomas Kent, Benjamin Kent, Giles HI. Tomlinson. Total, 105.

Only a few of those above recorded are now residents of Bryan. Even within the comparatively brief space of thirty-six years, the larger num- ber have passed the portals of the tomb, while some have removed, and of these a majority have died in other homes. Charles Case settled in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he became prominent at the bar and represented that district in Congress. Subsequent to the civil war, he occupied a responsi ble place connected with the United States Internal Revenue service at New Orleans. Others in the list might also be mentioned, who removed to other sections, and afterward often regretted that they had not re- mained in Bryan, and " let well enough alone."

JUSTICES OF THE PEACE.

Following embraces a list of names and dates of commissions annexed thereto : Payne C. Parker, June 4, 1825; George Lantz, June 8, 1827; Jabez Jones, June 20, 1834 ; H. C. Conoway, December 31, 1836; Harman Doolittle, May 15, 1837. [The foregoing were elected in the territory then comprising three townships, of which Pulaski was one, and after Pulaski was organized as a district township, the following were chosen]: David Pickett, January 24, 1838; Ezra Wilson, December 24, 1840; George Lantz, April 29, 1840: Adam Bowlby, December 27, 1845; William A. Stevens, February 1, 1842; John Godwin, De- cember, 31, 1843; Alonzo Rawson, February 13, 1844 ; Giles H. Tom- linson, December 7, 1844; William Stough, February 22, 1847; W. Mckean, October 26, 1850; Adam R. Bowlby, February 14, 1852; Adam R. Bowlby, January 13, 1855; William Stough, April 13, 1855; Edwin J. Evans, April 13, 1855; William H. Ogden, January 18, 1858; Edwin J. Evans, April 16, 1858; William Stough, April 16, 1858: William H. Ogden, January 10, 1861; Elen Langel, April 9, 1861 ; Henry Gilbert, April 17, 1863 ; Edwin J. Evans, April 23, 1864 ; Elen Langel, April 23, 1864 ; John H. Palmer, April 23, 1864 ; Eli T. Rich- ardson, November 25, 1864 ; William H. Ogden, April 10, 1867 ; Ed-

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PULASKI TOWNSHIP.

win J. Evans, April 10, 1867 ; William Stough, April 15, 1869; Cyrus S. Bowman, October 21, 1869 ; George E. Long, May 12, 1871; Will- iam Stough, April 9, 1872; Milton B. Plummer, April 16, 1874; Will- iam Stough, April 13, 1875; M. B. Plummer, April 17, 1877 ; John S. Williams, April 10, 1878; William F. Roop, October 21, 1879; Jacob Teems, April 17, 1880; George C. Coy, April 18, 1881.

ENUMERATION OF ADULT MALES.

Following is a list of white male inhabitants over the age of twenty- one years in the township of Pulaski, Williams County, Ohio, on the first day of May, 1848, as taken by Andrew Tressler, Township Assessor : James B. Akey, James Alexander, J. A. Alexander, S. H. Alderman, David Beechler, James Bell, John Beavers, Adam R. Bowlby, William I. Bowlby, Jacob Beavers, Jeremiah Beavers, George Beavers, John A. But- ler, A. W. Boynton, S. S. Case, John Cameron, Henry Caszet, Aquilla Caszet, John Collins, Volney Crocker, William Cronk, John Clampet, Peter Deck, Samuel Deck, Isaac Deck, M. D. Dowton, Daniel Davidson, Benjamin W. Evans, John Earlston, George Everett, John Fields, Samuel Fowler, Benjamin Gardner, James B. Godwin, John Godwin, P. S. Gleason, Calvin Gleason. R. H. Gilson, James T. Guthrie, Andrew Hamilton, John Hart, William Hilton, Peter Himes, John Hanna, Hezekiah Hanna, John Himes, Garrett T. Hitt, William Johnson, John Johnson, Henry Johnson, George B. Jones, Jabez Jones, Thomas Kent, Benjamin Kent, Thomas Kent, Sr., George Kent, Ashford Kent, Will- iam Kilpatrick, Benjamin Kent, Sr., John Kaufman, N. M. Landis, E. H. Leland, Daniel Langel, Reuben Lewis, James McDowell, Thomas I. McDowell, Samuel Meyers, Samuel K. Miller, James Mckinley, Noah B. Mackey. Jacob Over, William Oxenrider, John Oaks, John Peticord, Garrett Perkins. John Perkins, Jabez Perkins, David Pickett, Isaac Per- kins, Joel F. Pool, James Shorthill, W. A. Stevens, David M. Shoe- maker, Alfred Shepard, Benjamin Smith, George Shook, Isaac Swagger, William Stough, Simon Sines, G. H. Tomlinson, Daniel Tharp, Jacob Teems, Allen Tingley, Robert Traylor, John E. Traylor, Robert Thomp- son, Andrew J. Tressler, John P. Wyatt, Daniel Wyatt, Henry Wolfe, Alpheus Willson, Isaac Warfield, Ezra Wilson, William Yates, Jacob Youse, George Lantz, Jesse Lantz, Seymour Montgomery, Alonzo Raw- son, Lewis Rose, John Paul-total, 111.

The Peter Himes, above named, was shot and killed by Benjamin F. Everett, while endeavoring to enter the dwelling of the latter during the night. No one believed that the intents of Himes were larceny or rob- bery ; yet his proceeding was unlawful. Everett gave himself up to the legal authorities, by whom he was tried and acquitted.

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HISTORY OF WILLIAMS COUNTY.

TOWNS IN PULASKI.

The place known as Pulaski never had a town organization. The first white population having gathered there, the elections, the post office, and the small amount of trade then in the township, all centered at that point. The first schoolhouse and the first house of worship were also established at Pulaski.

Bryan is the only town that has ever been incorporated in the town- ship. The date of its charter and of its first and present town officers are recorded in their appropriate place. It was incorporated with certain other towns named in the act, by a law passed by the Ohio Legislature March 7, 1849, at & period when the cities and towns in the State derived all their municipal powers from special acts of the General Assem- bly. Many so-called cities of Ohio have assumed the burdens, and under- taken to wear the habiliments of "cities," whose population and taxable wealth at the time they started out with the self-imposed yoke were much less than what Bryan can now exhibit.

FIRST PLACES OF CHRISTIAN WORSHIP.

Religious meetings in the early settlement of Pulaski, as of other townships, were held at private houses, and often in the forests, and as schoolhouses were erected they were used outside of schoolhours, on Sundays and evenings. The old-fashioned Methodist camp-meetings were always beld in the best selected groves-God's own temples-and gener- ally gathered from far and near the best elements of backwoods life, and also a few of the baser sort ; for even in those more pure and primitive times, there were a few who would attend these meetings for purposes quite different from those that governed the good people who were zeal- ously active in them. But some of the class who came to sneer and mock, returned home contrite, praying men.

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County of Williams, Ohio, Historical and Biographical, Part 33

Author: Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Number of Pages: 885

Author: Weston A. Goodspeed, Charles Blanchard
Publication date: 1882
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 885