History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 56

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams
Number of Pages: 896

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JOHN BISHOP.

To preserve the memory and hold in respect the deeds and services of the pioneers who have devoted their lives and energies to leveling the forest and taming the wild luxuriance of a new country, must ever be grateful to those who survive. While this is true, in regard to the world's great men in military life, it is equally true in all discoveries of science, as well as in building up of new communities, in prosperity, intelligence, virtue, and wealth. It has often been the case, that in the age in which the pioneer lives, his invaluable services fail to be appreciated, yet those who survive, have generally made liberal amends for any apparent neglect. The present generation is under lasting obligations to those who encountered the dangers, and endured the hardships of our new settlements to prepare the way for the ad- vance of the standard of civilization, where hitherto the wild native roamed free and unmolested. We should long remember these fathers and mothers for such in calculable services in the cause of human improvement; for they deserve to be held in remembrance in all com- ing time as public benefactors. This sentiment, we

*Norrt -Jonathan Link built a block-house on Middle Wheeling creek, in 1780, near the present town of Triadelphia. Tb: was killed in it by the Indians in the fall of 1731.

trust, actuates all the members of the Pioneer society of Ashland county.

John Bishop was born January 22, 1793, in Frederick county, in the State of Maryland. At the age of thir- teen years, his parents removed to Green county, Penn- sylvania. His father, being in moderate circumstances, John was hired to work for a neighbor named William Estel, for ten shillings per month:, and having amassed sufficient ineans, came to Licking county, Ohio, during the war of 1812. That county was then sparsely set- tled, and the pioneers had to endure many privations in the midst of war. Here he found employment for one year. He was then twenty years old, and remained one year. In 1814 be returned to Pennsylvania and induced his father's family to accompany him to Licking county. At the close of the war, in 1815, he came to Orange township, then Richland, now Ashland, county. He found the pioneers of that region few and greatly scat- tered. It was not uncommon to meet the red toen in the woods, who were friendly to the whites, and often hunted in our forests. His first work consisted in dig- ging the foundation of a new mill erected by Martin Mason, on the present site of Mr. Leidigh's mill in the west part of Orange township. There were then no villages in the township and none in the county. The mill was put in running order, to do a small business in ISI6. In 1820, he aided in the erection of the first school-house in the township in the Hiffner settlement. In 1819, March 9, he married Miss Catharine Hiffner, daughter of Jacob Hiffner, a revolutionery soldier, who died about 1849. This lady was the choice of his youth, and he lived in great peace with her until about 1876, when she left earth for a happy home prepared for all the good. Mr. Bishop could exclaim with the poet:

She's the star I missed from heaven, Long time ago,

and has now gone to join her in the happier land, never more lo part.

There were ten children when the Bishop family ar- rived in Ohio. There are still living: Jacob, Catharine Weedinan, and Elizabeth Young, all of whom now reside in the State of Illinois. Mr. Bishop leaves several mem- bers of bis family in Ashland county. He resided about sixty-four years in this county, most of the time on his late homestead north of Orange.

Mr. Bishop had always been an industrious, anpre- tending farmer, and, by economy and uprightness had acquired a good property, which he divided among his children. As a citizen, socially and morally, he occupied a high place in the respect of his neighbors. He was among the earlier pioneers of the township -- the Met- calis, the Fasts, the Norrises, the Youngs, and the Uries. He helped to clear its forests, make its roads, erect its school-houses, and aid the pioneers by his kind offices. As a citizen he was kind and gentle in his manners, and. as a Christian, exemplary among his neighbors. He was a faithful member of the Methodist Episcopal church for more than half a century, and deemed death but gain for the true Christian. Although regarded as a member of the Pioneer and Historical society of the

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

county, advanced age and exposure prevented his meet- ing with his pioneer associates frequently.

Mr. Bishop died, after a brief illness, March 12, 1879, aged eighty-six years, one month, and eighteen days. His work is done, and he has gone to rest. May he find the reward of the good and true.

JOHN CORY

was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, May 17; 1800. His father, Aaron Cory, was born in New Jersey in 1772, and came to Washington county when a young man, in 1793, and married Miss Elizabeth McGuire, sister of the late Thomas and Hugh McGuhe. He and his family, consisting of his wife and children, removed to what became Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 1802. That region had been the home of the Delaware Indians prior to the expeditions of Williamson and Colonel William Crawford, in 1781-2, and was long a favorite re- sort for Indians of that nation, after the Corys came in- to the country. The Delawares were much attached to the preaching and teaching of the Moravian missionary, Rev. John Heckewelder, and visited Goshen in memory of the past. Here the Corys and Carrs became ac- quainted with many leading Indians, among whom were George Hamilton and Philip Ignatius, who participated in the fight with General Wayne at Fallen Timbers in 1795, and often spoke of the wonderful manner in which he conducted the campaign. These Indians, with others, often visited Mr. Cory in Perry township, Wayne county, after his removal in subsequent years. In the year 1814 Aaron Cory located two quarters of land in Wayne and Richland counties, one in section twenty-nine in Perry, and one in Montgomery township, known as the old An- dress farm, at the land office at Canton. In 1817 Aaron Cory and his son John, the oldest member of his family, visited Perry township with the view of improving his land. They cleared about ten acres, and Mr. Cory re. turned to Tuscarawas county. John remained, and con- tinued the improvements in the summer season, for two years, returning home during each winter. In the spring of 1819, Aaron Cory and family, consisting of his wife and eight children, John being the oldest, removed to the farm in Perry township. Mr. Cory remained about eight years, and then purchased a new home, and located in Crawford county, where he died in 1834, aged about sixty years. John took possession of the home farm in Perry township, and married Miss Elizabeth Cantwell, sister of the late Colonel James Cantwell, who fell at the second battle of Bull Run, during the late war.

Jolin Cory continued to reside on the old farm until 1867, when he sold it and purchased in Morrow county, whence he removed. Here he had the misfortune to lose, by death, the wife of his youth, in 1872, aged about sixty-five years. He felt the separation most keenly, and was never fully reconciled to ber death Mrs. Cory wis an excellent lady, and possessed of great firmness, good judgment, and Christian forbearance, in a large degree. Of late years M :. Cery has resided in Sandusky town-

ship, Richland county, at the residence of a daughter, Mrs. Stevens, where he died.

His family consists of Anne Mariah, wife of Peter Spangler, of Evansport, Defiance county, Ohio; Aaron F. Cory, of Hixville, Defiance county, Ohio; Sarah, wife of Dr. J. McKune, of Marion county, Ohio; Martha J., wife of George Palmer, of Marion county, Iowa ; Will. iam W. Cory, esq., of Ottumwa, Iowa; John F. Cory, of - Hixville, Defiance county, Ohio; and Rhoda A., the wife of Lewis Stevens, of Richland county, Ohio. The. members of the family above enumerated are all living, and were generally present at the funeral of Mr. Cory.

The Corys, on the mother's side of the house, were French, and on that of the father's and grandfather's, of Scotch descent, and originally settled in New Jersey, some time before the American Revolution. Mr. Cory, at the time of his decease, possessed a Bible printed in France in 1727, which is said to have been originally the property of his great-grandfather, Joseph Freeman. The Bible was purchased in France about the time his ances- tors settled in New Jersey.

Mr. Cory often, in his conversation, dwelt upon the . early reminiscences of settlement in Perry township, the wildness of the forest, the hardships of the pioneers, the difficulty of procuring milling, and the thinness of the settlements. He related, with much merriment, the experience of himself and father during the first sum- mer, whilst engaged in making their first improvements. They erected, against a large log, a camp cabin, eight by ten feet, of small logs or saplings, and covered it, the roof all sloping one way, by clapboards, to keep out the wet. It had no floor, and was open in front. A fire was built a few feet from the front, to keep off the wolves, which at night were quite numerous. The only furni- ture of the cabin consisted of a riffe, two axes, twoor three knives, a fork or two, two or three pewter plates, one or two tin cups, an iron pot for cooking, s skillet for frying ineat, and two or three home-made stools. They slept on their blankets spread on leaves in their cabin. In this solitary home they were often joined by the late John Carr, sr., who lived a few miles away, in their work. One evening, while preparing supper, Mr. Cory had the misfortune to upset the skillet in fiying meat. The oil immediately took fire, and with a great blaze was, with the meat, consumed. The fragrance of the consuming fat was wafted on the evening breeze, and snuffed by the hungry wolves, which speedily gathered in the distance, and commenced a hideous serenade, nos daring to ap- proach, having great fears of the fire. Tr. this manner, Mr. Cory began his improvement in Perry, about sixty- two years ago. Such has been the change that has, almost imperceptibly, gone on in a singh life time.

It may be remarked that Mr. Cory was an intelligent, honest, and kind-hearted gentleman. He was noted for his Christian bearing and generous impulses. In his politics as in lits religious views, he was firm and fixed, and never shrank from the issue. For a long series of years he was a most exemplary member of the Metho. dist Episcopal church. He met the Grenad monter, Death, fearing not, but conscious that his work was wel!

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

done, and he had nothing to regret, but was ready to go. Just as the morning of the fourth of July, 1870, com- menced to dawn, the good old pioneer was ushered into the presence of all those who had long since departed to a better and, we trust, a happier world. May he rest in peace.

JOHN CARR, SR.,

was born in Maryland, and came to Washington county, Pennsylvania, about 1790, and married Margaret Mc- Guire, sister of the late Thomas and Hugh McGuire, and during the border wars acted as an Indian spy a short time, when the Bradys, the Poes, as well as Frank McGuire, Robert McGuire, and the Wetsels, scouted along the western border of Pennsylvania. From Wash- ington county, Pennsylvania, John Carr removed into Tuscarawas county, Ohio, where he remained until about IBro, when he came to Mohican township, then in Wayne, now in Ashland, county, with his family, and settled on what is now known as the Chessman farm, about half a mile northwest of Jeromeville, which he subsequently sold to John Ewing, sr., and purchased what is now the Horn farm, on the east line of Mont- gomery township, where he died in 1837, aged about sixty years. Mrs. Carr died there also. His children were: Thomas, Nicholas, Nancy, Hugh, Joshua, Ben- jamin, John, Samuel, Margaret, Aaron, Susan, and Curtis, by his first wife, and Aquida and David by. the second wife. When the people became alarmed in Mo- hican, in the fall of 1812, because of the menacing con- duet of the Indians, Mr. Carr and bis family took refuge upon the Tuscanawas, until all danger and threats had been so far removed as to warrant a return to his cabin. Mr. Carr is understood to have been on friendly terins with the Indians of Mohican township, many of whom bad resided in other days, at Goshen, on the Tuscarawas. In fact, it has often been suggested, that so warm was his attachments for many of the Jerome Indians, and so deep their regard for Mr. Carr, that he probably would have remained unmolested in bis cabin, near the fort, had be chosen to do so, during the war. The Indians often called on him, after the war, in their hunting excur- sions in Mohican. He was a good inan.

JAMES CLARK

was born in Chambersburgh, Pennsylvania, October 7, 1790, and in youth attended the common schools of his neighborhood. In 1797 his parents removed to Wash- ington county, in the same State, where he grew to man- hood. War having been declared against Great Britain in 1812, by the United States, all those capable of bear- ing arms in the contest were either drafted or volunteered for the service. Washington county during the Revolu- tion and subsequent struggles, had suffered severely by the incursions of the red men from Sandusky and the Scioto. From the temper evinced by the mother coun- try, it was apgehended that so far as her agents could

corrupt and inflame the passions of the tribes of the northwest against our people they would do so. Her agents secretly gave to the force red men ammunition, blankets, and arms, as the price of human scalps. They regarded the Americans as rebels in rebellion, and in a relentless war expected to subdue our people. The bor- der settlers were aroused, and a most determined effort was put forth to turn back the red fiend, headed by Brit- ish bayonets, and thus parry every attempt to subdue our country a second time. The young men of Washington county, in 1813, of the proper age, were drafted into the service. Mr. Clark was among those who drew a place in the service, and was soon enrolled. The heroic vic- tory on Lake Erie, by Commodore Perry, and the brave conduct of Captain Crogan, turned back the red hordes of the northwest, headed by British bryonets, and thas repelled invasion, by lake and land, and by the time the troops of western Pennsylvania had reached l'itts- burgh, a lull in the contest soon caused a declaration of peace. and Mr. Clark and his comrades were discharged without further service. He was in no battle, but evinced his readiness for the fray.

In 1814 he entered, at the land office, his late home in Orange township. When he visited his land he came by way of Wheeling, Zanesville, Coshocton, up the Walhond- ing, the Lake and Jerome forks, by Finley's, to the block- house on Jerome's farm, and thence up the stream by what became the home of Jacob Young, to his own loca- tion northwest of what is now the village of Orange, on the waters of Mohican. In 1818 he built a small cabin on his land, and kept bachelor's hall during the summer season, doing his own cooking, grubbing, chopping, and preparing his land, and in the fall returned home and engaged in teaming to "old Pitt." In this manner he continued to labor on his land, each summer, for sesen successive years. When he came out in 1818, he was accompanied by his brother John, and stayed all night at Uniontown, now Ashland, at the cabin hotel of Joseph Sheets, just opposite the present hardware store of Mr. Stull, on the north side of Main street. Mr. Sheets de- ceased several years since; but Mrs. Nancy Sheets, the former landlady, resides in South Ashland, possessing a good deal of energy, and quite a vigorous mind, for an aged lady. For some time after his arrival wild game was abundant. Mr. Clark was a good marksman, and easily procured plenty of venison, wild turkeys, and oc- casionally a black bear. These he dressed and cooked according to his taste. Wolves were very numerous and bold. He related that on several occasions, having no door to his cabin, wolves ventured in during the night and actually carried away meat and other articles On one occasion he killed and dressed a large, fat turkey, expecting to enjoy the luxury of roasting and eating the same. On going to bed he hung it up in his cabin : but when he arose next morning he found that during the night some howling, hangry wolf had carried it away and devoured it while he slept.

He was repeatedly visited by bands of Delaware In- dians, from the Fee Lands, during their encampment and hunts in the neighborhood. These Indians were

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HISTORY OF ASHI AND COUNTY, OHIO.

very poor, and miserably clad. They were always appar- ently hungry, and in a begging humor. . They often got cornmeal and other food from him, and agreed to pay bim in deer skins and peltry for it, but invariably forgot to remember the agreement. Mr. Clark, in his prime, was fully six feet high, and would weigh one lumched and eighty pounds. He was very resolute in his man- ner, and frank in his interviews with the Indians, and hence was never uncivilly treated by them. These In- dians had a number of wigwams, or bark huts, three- quarters of a mile northwest of him, in what is now Troy township. Old Tom Lyons, Jonacake and his squaw, Catottawa, and other Indians, often come to his cabin, on their hunting excursions. He was also visited on several occasions by the eccentric, but harmless, Johnny Appleseed, who was engaged in planting, on Mason's run, a nursery in advance of the pioneers.

These were solitary times; but Mr. Clark often stated that, being busily engaged in clearing and preparing his farm, tine passed rapidly, and he really enjoyed himself working, and occasionally traversing the wild forests in search of game. When he entered the township, he was of the opinion there were not over sixteen or seventeen families in it. Joel Mackerel, John Bishop, and Peter Biddinger were his nearest neighbors. Mr. Biddinger was a blacksmith, and also repaired guns and tomahawks for the Indians.

. At that time two shillings a day, and twenty-five cents a hundred for cutting and splitting twelve foot rails, in trade, was the customary price. He often traveled five miles on foot, to help roll logs or raise a cabin, and was really glad to assist in this manner all new settlers. There were no improved roads; all was new, and no road fund to repair highways. The willing hands and stout arms of the resolute pioneer had it all to do, and right cheerfully did they perform the task. It was some years before the advantages of good schools were enjoyed by the rising generation.

Mi. Clark dwelt on the reminiscences of the past, the growth of the country in population, intelligence and wealth, and regarded the change that had occurred in this region, as simply wondrous in the last sixty-one years. In 1830 he married Miss Charlotte Myers, daughter of Jacob Myers, of Clearcreek, by whom he had four sous: Josephus, John, M. L., and James M. Clark, and two daughters, Mary A. McBride and Mrs. C. Sharrick. Mrs. Clark died in 18;1, and Mr. Clark subsequently married a Miss Marshall, who, at an advanced age, survives her husband, ard resides at the home of James M. Clark, on the old homestead. Mr. Clark and his aged lady enjoyed the filial attentions of the family, and esteem of all his pioneer neighbors, and life ebbed (quietly away, and at eighty-nine years he became gradu- ally feeble, and gently passed over the dark river to a better and happier land July 7, 1879.

A deep veneration for the memory of these fathers and mothers of a new country perviales therling generation. In the last twelve months. Lave parted with over twen. ty five of the pioneers of the county, who have been gath ered to their fathers. Fre long the last will disappear

from among as. It is a grateful duty we owe them to smooth their departing hours by kind and respectful at- tention, ere we are called upon to enjoy the Suits" of their toil and valor.

JAMES KILGORE

was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, Decem !- ber 21, 1795. He removed, with his parents, to Fairfield county, Ohio, in December, 18og, when about fourteen years of age. In r$10, his father located in Franklin county, on Alum creek, about two miles east of the present site of Columbus. He resided in a cabin, at this point, when the city of Columbus was surveyed and numbered in lots, and helped erect the first cabin. in iSTI. This cabin was owned by Adam Hare, and stood on the corner of Broad and High streets. The Kilgores helped cut the trees and roll the logs on Broad and High streets, and hauled the stone for the founda- tion of the old capitol building from Black Lick, nine miles east of Columbus.

In 1812, after the surrender of General Hull at De- troit, a great panic took place in the county of Delaware, and extended to Franklin, resulting from what was then known as Drake's defeat, in the southern part of what is now Marion county. Captain Drake was leading a new company of pioneer settlers from Delaware county, to recruit some advanced station near Upper Sandusky, in prevent surprise by the Indians, then largely in the inter- est of the British. By way of testing the courage and steadiness of the new troops, after the company had en- camped, and placed a guard about the camp, and retired to rest, the captain managed to send out a few soldiers, who were to return from the forest in a short time, cry- ing, "Indians! Indianst" and Gre in quick succession, and thus arouse the soldiers from then slumber. In due time the false alarm took place. The new soldiers were greatly tenified, many taking the back track, and giving the alarin all along the road to Delaware, while the set- tlers immediately became panic-snicken, and, almost itta body, fled toward the settlements in Franklinton and Chillicothe. John Brickel, who was engaged on the ap per branches of the Scioto, six miles above Columbus, in the willing business, and others in the neighborhood, fled to Franklinton, then the capital of the State. to the stockade. A requisition was immediately made for the service of all able flodied men and youth, who were notified to report for duty at the stockade. James Kil. gore, then about seventeen years of age, took i is father's old gun and obeyed the call. In crossing the Scioto, at a ford near the site of the present National bridge, ne overtook a woman and three children on their way to the stockade. He remained at the stockade a few weeks on guard duty, and when the excitement over the Drake stampede had subsided, southern Oldo and Kentucky having sent forward a large number of tingje, to peernit the army of the northwest, he returned home At the close of the war. the Kilgores receenpied then ol eden on Alum rack, and continued their improvenation for six or eight years.

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HISTORY OF ASHLAND COUNTY, OHIO.

After Columbus became the fixed capital of the State, the growth of the new city was quite rapid. The Kil- gores participated in its improvement, and Mi. James Kilgore often stated that he saw the erection of the first cabin, in what is now the most valuable part of the city, and if nature had endowed him with a sufficient fore- sight, he might have owned some of the most valuable locations. Like General Cass (when asked how he made so much real estate in Detroit, responded: "Buy a farm, young man, and have them build a city on it"), he long since felt that the only mistake was that he did not purchase in the city, instead of in Ashland county. In 18rS, he located in Stark county, where he married in 1821. In 1827, he purchased a half-quater of land, then in Richland, but now of Ashland county, and re- moved to it, and continued to reside there until his decease.

In 1873 he had the misfortune to lose, by death, his excellent lady. She deceased at the age of seventy-six years. At the time of her death their family consisted of one son and five daughters. One son fell in the bat- tle of Chickamauga, in the war of 1862-5. The other, Silas, lives on the homestead, and with whom the old gentleman resided at the time of his demise, July 4, 1878. Mr. Kilgore is believed to have been a member of the Presbyterian church for more than fifty years. In politics he was an old time Whig of the strictest order. He was in full possession of all his faculties to the last, and was very fond of relating his pioneer experiences. Upon the organization of the Ashland County Pioneer and Historical society he became an active member, and retained a high regard for the society. Thus, one by one, the pioneers pass away. ' May their exemplary lives and great sacrifices long impress the rising generation. Peace to their ashes.

SYLVANUS PARMELY

was born in Wilmington, Vermont, March 31, 1784. He was the oldest son of John Parmely, of English de- scent. He married Miss Louis Gould, in Somerset, Ver- mont, where he resided several years. In 1816 he came to the Western Reserve to select a home. He traveled the entire distance on horseback. At that time the lands of the Reserve townships were being surveyed into lots and sections. Mr. Parmely assisted in survey- ing Sullivan township during that season. The survey- ing party camped in the forest, and procured food from Harrisville during the period of the survey, by means of pack-horses. In the fall he returned to Connecticut, and in the spring of 1817 removed his family, accompa- nied by six other families, to Sullivan center. These families were his father, John Parmely, his brother, Asahel Parmely, his brother-in-law, Thomas Rice, James Palmer and their families. A few months later this lit- the colony was joined by Henry, Benjamin and Khesa Close and their families. The first mentioned families came in os tearas, with the exception of Mr. Rice, who drove a span of horses From Harrisville to Sullivan

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History of Ashland County, Ohio, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 56

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros Publication date: 1880 Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams Number of Pages: 896

Author: Hill, George William, b. 1823; Williams Bros
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: [Cleveland] Williams
Number of Pages: 896